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Kimberley Diamonds said it has commenced open-pit mining operations at its Lerala diamond mine, in Botswana.

The company said Monday that plant construction would be completed this week with re-commissioning expected to commence later this month.

Diamond sales were slated for June, it said.

Kimberley said the construction of the tailings dam extension also started last month and was progressing on schedule to accept tailings in this month.

Dry tailings conveyor system started in March, it said.

Basil Read Mining Botswana was awarded a mining contract for Lerala last February.

Lerala was projected to treat 1.4-million tonnes of ore a year and produce an average of 357 000 carats per year.



Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished




The first training centre for highly-skilled jewellery professionals started operating recently in Nansha District, Guangzhou, China, as reported in JNA.

The training centre, located in Guangzhou Nanhua Technical School for Industry and Trade, will work closely with other institutions from France, the US and Hong Kong to provide internationally recognised training programmes.

The centre is now collaborating with Hong Kongs Vocational Training Council for the development of a number of jewellery design programmes.

Skilled workers in the jewellery industry are in very great demand in Guangzhou, which is the jewellery manufacturing hub of mainland China. Designers and managers in the field are also much sought after. Many of them are already hired by big companies even before their graduation, Xiong Ying, vice chairman of Guangdong Golden Jewelry and Jade Industry's Association, was quoted as saying.

The budget will be US$3.4 million for the first phase of development of the centre, he added.



Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished




Buyers and suppliers of jewelry, diamonds and colored gemstones from more than 20 countries in Latin America and around the world will gather at the World Jewelry Hub in Panama City from June 20 to June 23 for the Second Latin American Diamond and Jewelry Week.

A commercial and networking event that is specifically designed to bring together players from both the regional and global trades, the week will also spotlight the growing role of Panama in the jewelry and gemstone business.

Established as the only dedicated gemstone and jewelry trading center in all of Latin America, and home to the region's only recognized diamond exchange, the World Jewelry Hub registered about $140 million worth of turnover in its first 10 months of operation.

Among the highlights being planned for the Second Latin American Diamond and Jewelry Week are the first major diamond and gemstone auction to be held in Latin America, and the first meeting of Latin American Women in the Jewelry Industry. There will also be a roundtable discussion led by a leading economist, which will look at issues facing the industry and economies of Latin America and the world, WJH reported.



Alex Shishlo, Editor of the Rough&Polished European Bureau in Brussels




Previously, another satirical show Extra 3 broadcasted a song accusing Erdogan of crackdowns on protests and press freedoms. Insulting a foreign head of state is illegal in Germany, and Bohmermann could face jail time up to three years if found guilty. But there is a discussion here about the limits of what could be considered satire

. Chancellor Merkel ahhirmed that that Germany has freedom of opinion and artistic expression but at the same time promised to carefully checking the note from Turkey in the coming days. For the chancellor freedom of opinion, art and science is one of our countrys greatest assets and non-negotiable, from the inside or from the outside, announced government spokesperson Steffen Seibert at a press conference on Tuesday. I believe that the boundaries of freedom of opinion have been crossed here. However, it remains to be seen whether this can be seen as a piece of art, because much more is allowed in art, Ulrich Schellenberg, President of the German Lawyers Association said.
Suppliers offer many versatile options to railroads for precise placement and removal of materials needed along the rights-of-way.

{besps}April16_materials{/besps} {besps_c}0|1materials.jpg| GREXS Self Powered Slot machine picking up ties.{/besps_c} {besps_c}0|2materials.jpg| Herzog Railroad Services, Inc.s, Automated Conveyor Train can carry up to 98 tons of material to a jobsite.{/besps_c} {besps_c}0|3materials.jpg| Lorams Raptor Rail Handling System was designed with tight work windows in mind.{/besps_c}

Suppliers offer many versatile options to railroads for precise placement and removal of materials needed along the rights-of-way.

With safety as priority number one, railroads look to the industry suppliers for machines to handle materials for the rights-of-way in a quick, efficient and cost-effective mannor. Manufacturers are providing multi-functional and at-the-ready machines to step up to the task.

Brandt

Brandt Rail Services has recently released its new RTB130, which the company says, is the most powerful and productive hi-rail backhoe available on the market. It is based on the John Deere 710K Chassis and is said to be ultra-stable with front to rear balance configuration with the heaviest tools mounted on the rear arm. The RTB130 has a 52 gpm of hydraulic flow to handle tough tasks.

Brandt also has the On Track Material (OTM) Tracker System, which is the safest most productive OTM handling system in the world, explained Shaun Gettis, sales manager. It allows you to safely walk along the top of cars to distribute or pick up OTM in an extremely efficient and timely manner. It is the go-to system for Class 1s in North America.

While some in the industry are unsure and unsteady about the industry, Brandt remains positive about the rail market today.

We are continuing to innovate to produce productive and safe solutions for the rail industry, Gettis noted. We are in this for the long haul and know the rail industry has always found ways to be innovative and pull out of soft markets.

Gettis says that Brandt builds its products around safety and that the company is continually enhancing products to be more ergonomic, safe and easy to operate. This allows the operators to be able to focus on the task at hand and the environment around them. Brandt also offers in-depth training for all of its products with decades of experience with a team of support representatives. Gettis notes that customers are always welcome to invite them back at any time for follow-up training for new operators or even refresher classes.

Custom Truck and Equipment

Custom Truck and Equipment (CTE) is carrying an all new material handling loader line that incorporates pressure compensated, load-sensing technology. CTE says this technology is new in the material handler loader market and is comparable to the European standards used in their knuckle-boom cranes.

The market is tougher today than it ever has been in regards to budgets, but there seems to be a break out in contractor markets over railroads, explained Kevin LaValley, Rail Division sales manager. Quick delivery dates can be the most challenging aspect of a contractor-driven market, but for customers with an immediate need, we have a vast rental fleet at their disposal.

Everyone is always pushing for ways to make handling safer and, at the same time, looking for increased capacity, notes LaValley.

He says CTE always tries to go to the field once the trucks are delivered for an in-service orientation, ensuring operators have firsthand contact with the company and to ensure the safe operation of the equipment CTE provides.

GREX

GREX says its Self Powered Slot (SPS) machine continues to play a vital role in railroad maintenance. The SPS, according to GREX, is a versatile tool capable of many tasks including ditching, aggregate delivery, removal of spoils, rail and tie pick up or set-out. In addition, the units have seen extensive use in landslide mitigation and casualty (flooding) work. Because the unit is self-powered, the consist is able to work with a GREX operator and customer employee in charge.

The SPS allows customers to maximize work windows and deploy a unit at a moments notice, noted the company. Perhaps the units greatest attribute is its ability to take on a variety of assignments. One of its most unique offerings has been the tie set-out solution, which allows railroads to develop an optimized tie unloading delivery plan. By using data collected by Aurora and Aurora Xi (GREXs automated tie inspection services), the tie set-out solution uses precise location data to place ties exactly where they are needed. Ultimately, this improves tie gang productivity by reducing the time in which ties are being handled.

GREX notes that it is not uncommon for a unit to be assigned to a territory where its work assignments can change from week to week and customers will often use the SPS to bring material from a quarry to a jobsite for exact placement and once unloaded, send the unit out for a quick cleanup of the right-of-way.

The SPS makes quick work of tasks that can otherwise consume a departments entire day or week, such as removal of legacy ties and rail. Since the SPS is truly open from end to end, customers can fill it entirely with no regard to length of rail, GREX explained.

The company says its SPS fleet has grown considerably in recent years to meet customer demand. The newest units boast a larger prime mover that provides considerably more horsepower. The company says it is wise to pair the older Slot Machine with one of these newer units, doubling the capacity of the consist to 1,100 tons, ideal for aggregate hauling projects.

Herzog

The railroad industry was in need of a machine that could surpass the desired expectations and requirements, noted Tim Francis, vice president of marketing at Herzog Railroad Services, Inc. (HRSI). The Automated Conveyor Train (ACT) was put to the test last summer after rain washed out the tracks in South Carolina and it performed flawlessly.

HRSIs ACT consists of 30 cars, each with the capacity to carry 98 tons of material. The acceptable material size ranges from sand up to five inch B stone plus/minus. The operator of the ACT also has the capability of selecting the specific car to unload first, last and throughout the entire unloading process. This allows the ACT to carry and unload commodities of varying size to the same or multiple job locations, depending on the scope of the project(s). Each car is equipped with an independent belt underneath the HRSI-designed hopper. This allows the ACT to unload material in curves of up to 13 degrees and at a super elevation of up to five inches.

The discharge car on the ACT has many benefits, as well, explained Francis. This car is outfitted with a 35-foot long boom that can deliver material at up to 2,000 tons per hour, approximately 50 feet from track center. The material can be off loaded at 45 degrees to either side of the machine and up to 18 degrees above level. The discharge car also has an automated plow directly in front of the lead set of trucks. This allows material to be unloaded directly in front of the machine and we can strike it off without having to push a tie along in front of us.

Additionally, a camera in the operator cab allows for an unobstructed view of the plow so the operator can verify that it is working as intended. Lastly, the discharge conveyor is set up with a positive lock. This allows Herzog to work on the field side without concern of inadvertently swinging back to and fouling the live track side. The entire machine was also built within plate c standards.

Loram

Loram Maintenance of Way, Inc., says its Raptor Rail Handling System sets a high standard for the rail handling industry in terms of speed, performance and reliability, as well as in safety.

Over the past few years, rail traffic has been at record breaking levels, explained Scott Diercks, director of marketing and business development. As a result, railroads continue to need enhancements, which will result in increased performance and productivity in the shortened window for maintenance. Obviously, the ultimate goal is to complete more work during a season and, hopefully, reduce unit costs in the process.

Loram points to new technologies, which allows customers to do a better job of assessing needs and planning the associated work plans. Diercks says these technologies are helping focus the efforts on the areas that will generate the greatest payback.

In addition to the new technologies, railroads are coordinating equipment with work gangs and areas with major track outages, noted Diercks Utilizing these work blocks allows Loram longer periods of uninterrupted work time, which translates into more effective utilization of the maintenance time provided.

Loram says its Raptor Rail Handling System out performs traditional rail handling systems with double the production and with reduced staffing requirements, he says.

Raptors rail handling system retains total control of the rail while loading and reloading, explained Diercks. This significantly reduces the need for human interaction and leads to an outstanding safety record.

Increased rail traffic is responsible for the greater need for maintenance, however, this also means shorter work windows.

Diercks notes that this is the reason the railroads are looking for equipment with increased performance and productivity.

Loram is constantly looking for creative ways to make our equipment more productive, while maintaining or lowering unit cost and providing for the work to be done safely, he said. Efficient increases in productivity are vitally important, but not at the expense of safety. Although there is a large amount of work to be done, getting it done safely is of greatest importance. When in doubt, take the safe course of action.

Mitchell Rail

Mitchell Rail offers a 180-degree Swing Loader based on the Caterpillar 930M, which has a 20,000-lb. lift capacity. The machine has been installed on many different size Caterpillar wheel loaders since the late 1980s that feature parallel-lift to lift loads vertically.

Parallel-lift offers operators great visibility down the center of the lift arms, noted Estel Lovitt, president. This is particularly useful in material handling and laying rail where you need to see the ground or work area in front of the machine. With parallel-lift, the operator has the ability to lift materials off the ground in a parallel motion so the material raises flat, rather than rolling back. The parallel-lift linkage has true wheel loader geometry with automatic bucket/fork positioner, adjustable in-cab and automatic lift and bucket kickouts, adjustable in-cab.

Lovitt says budgets are always tight, but having a multi-purpose machine, such as a Cat930M with the Mitchell Swing-Loader system and Friction Drive hi-rail gear is very cost effective because the machine has less idle time and railroads and contractors experience improved machine utilization to perform more functions in tight work windows.

Railroads have been asking for improved machine utilization by requesting the Mitchell Weight Transfer Coupler and Train Air Brake System for moving rail cars with the Swing Loader, Lovitt said. Additionally, they are asking for better stability over the side. For better stability, Mitchell offers Swing Loader Systems for larger Caterpillar Wheel Loaders, such as the Cat950M/962M wheel loaders. With these larger wheel loaders, more railcars can be moved at a time, as well as offering improved stability when working with loads throughout the 180-degree swing arc.

NMC Railway Systems

The latest addition to the NMC Railway Systems product line is the newly-updated NMC CTC08E Tie Crane. The CTC08E Tie Crane is designed specifically for railroad tie placing and material handling projects. The compact design of the tie crane allows for increased lift capacity with exceptional swing speed and, with its precise tool control, the machine is able to deliver enhanced tie handling agility. As a Tier 4 final unit, it doesnt require DEF fluid and regeneration is totally transparent to the operator and does not require stopping. It also boasts a fuel burn average of less than two gallons per hour.

The CTC08Es ability to work in a systems gang allows the operation to run smoothly down the track lines with minimal disruptions, explained Mark Anderson, sales manager. At NMC Railway Systems, weve seen growth in the need for a more compact piece of material handling equipment that still has the capabilities to move up and down the track lines. Operators of the NMC CTC08E Tie Crane can handle concrete and wood ties in a more efficient manner. The innovative on-track drive solution on the tie crane also allows for greater visibility and enhanced tie placement and accuracy. Designed to provide maximum power for material handling and transport, the tie crane is engineered to enhance ease of use for its operators.

The updated crane offers additional comforts, including ground serviceability, pilot controls, air suspension seat and a 70dB(A) cab.

Operators can now work with railroad ties, as well as other material handling applications in a safe, well-equipped cab area, Anderson noted.

Omaha Track

There have not been any significant new innovations to material handling hi-rail trucks (grapple trucks) in the past few years, according to John Gallo, business development manager at Omaha Track Equipment. While creep drive systems were one of the most requested features a few years ago and remain so today, Gallo says today he sees more inquires for knuckles with train air for movement of railcars with these trucks.

The market seems to be softening with a downward trend of the Class 1 railroad capital spending programs, explained Gallo. The majority of our grapple trucks are being sold to railroad contractors. The contractors have little flexibility when it comes to equipment delivery. Once they are awarded a contract, they generally are on a tight timeline; therefore, at Omaha Track Equipment, our attempt is to have work ready equipment available when it is needed.

Omaha Track Equipment offers grapple trucks, as standard, equipped with 1/3 cord bypass-type grapples (other grapple styles, such as butt grapples are also available depending on the users application). Also as standard, Omaha Track Equipment provides trucks with pintle hitches for towing trailers and material carts. In most cases, the end user is selecting magnet packages, as well. For normal duty cycle usage, the company now provides battery (electric) powered magnet systems. For heavy duty cycle usage, a hydraulic motor driven generator magnet system is a must. Another optional feature that is requested more often than not, Gallo says, is a creep drive system. The creep drive system allows the truck to be driven on track at very low speeds from the upper operators seat. Other optional features that are being requested are clam bucket attachments, hydraulic tool circuits and knuckle with train air for moving railcars.

RCE

In the past year, Rail Construction Equipment Compnay (RCE) has expanded the Railavator (hi-rail excavator) product line to include smaller and larger-sized equipment. With more Railavator options now available, RCE can provide a wide range of material handling tasks on or off the track, including tie and rail handling and distribution, scrap and material reclaiming and even larger tasks that require heavy lifting capabilities, such as track panel handling and placement. Combine these units with RCEs

Swing Loader swing crane and the company says it can offer material handling units to fit anyones needs.

Currently, the railroads are dealing with a large amount of emergency track repair issues due to the weather, especially down south, explained Dennis Hanke, sales manager. Machine versatility remains a top priority to customers.

Vaia Car

Vaia Car has come out with a new product, the Vaia Car RT-5 Trailer, which is a simple device that can, in many cases, significantly reduce the cost and increase the efficiency of specific operations.

The Vaia Car RT-5 on/off-track trailer can be used with any vehicle that has an air braking system. The company notes that it works especially well with the Vaia Car 504, 704 and 804 series excavators. The RT-5 was designed to move track materials from off-track worksites to their point of use without transferring material from a ground carrier to a rail transport, thus increasing efficiency, reducing labor and promoting safety as material does not have to be transloaded to get to the jobsite.

The market is generally good, explained Davide Vaia, chief executive officer of Vaia Car. The strong dollar makes it more attractive for European manufactures.

Railroads are spending enormous sums to maintain their infrastructure. These are not expenditures passed on to the taxpayers as is the case for trucks on the highways.There are constantly ways being sought to maximize work windows with minimum disruption to rail traffic.

When it comes to demand, Vaia says that safe, reliable and efficient are always in demand with other features specific to individual machines. Safety issues are always of prime importance, he notes. European railway safety specifications are very strict and all equipment producers must comply to be accepted by the railways. It is an ongoing process with continual improvement, the company says.

V&H

V&H Inc., Trucks, is now carrying the brand new Palfinger Epsilon with A-frame outriggers. The company says this loader has a greater lifting capacity and a longer reach than its competitors in its class.

The market is a little soft so far this year, explained V&H. The railroads are tightening up their budgets with a little glimmer of hope off in the horizon of a small upswing in business. V&H Inc. has equipment priced for all budgets and a large inventory of used equipment to accommodate the needs of our customers. V&H has rental units available, which enables customers to have the equipment they need without a long term commitment.

As for what is being asked of the industry, V&H says the rail market is continuing to ask for greater lifting capacities on the loaders, along with ways to be more efficient as they pick up the material.

Training and customer service is important to V&H. The company has a complete training facility in Marshfield, Wis., to assist in training employees and customers, has a full-time trainer on staff and webinars available monthly.
Use determines a given maintenance strategy, but planning determines that strategy's cost effectiveness.

{besps}April16_Challenges{/besps} {besps_c}0|1challenges.jpg| A diagram of a typical ballasted track section.{/besps_c} {besps_c}0|2challenges.jpg| Automatic tamping machine of track and turnouts. In this image, the machine is a Plasser & Theurer UNIMAT 08  475/4S.{/besps_c} {besps_c}0|3challenges.jpg| An example of typical light maintenance of the track structure.{/besps_c}

Use determines a given maintenance strategy, but planning determines that strategys cost effectiveness.

This article addresses conventional railroad systems throughout the world. It mentions the key points highlighting cost-effective maintenance strategies of permanent way components. Track has been termed the permanent way.1 The permanent way components of the track are rails, crosstie (sleepers), fasteners, ballast, sub ballast and soil formation.

There are ballasted, as well as non-ballasted track structures. Both types of track structures have their own advantages and disadvantages. Normally, the installation cost of non-ballasted track structures is more than that of ballasted track structures, whereas the maintenance cost of non-ballasted track structures is less than that of ballasted track structure.

A turnout is defined as an arrangement of a switch and a frog connected by closure rails, by means of which rolling stock may be diverted among different tracks.3 A turnout could produce high lateral forces and accelerations, which require slower operating speeds and can have adverse effects on ride quality and component life.3

The maintenance of a conventional track structure should be such that it should follow, or tends to follow, the requirements of an ideal permanent way.4 There are various requirements that an ideal permanent way should possess, e.g. the gauge should be uniform and correct, both rails should be at the same level in straight track and at proper super elevation in a curved track; the permanent way should be properly designed so that the load of the train is uniformly distributed over the two rails, the fasteners and the ties; the track should have enough lateral strength; the curve radii and super elevation should be properly designed for the intended operating speed and prescribed uncompensated centrifugal acceleration; the track must have a certain amount of elasticity; all joints, points and crossings should be properly designed and offer a degree of robustness. The drainage system of the permanent way should be as perfect as possible and, in summary, all the components of the permanent way should satisfy the design requirements and should have adequate provision for easy renewals and repairs.

Track needs regular maintenance to remain in good order, especially when high-speed train operations are involved. Improper maintenance will impose speed restriction along the affected track route to avoid accidents. In the past, track maintenance was purely performed using manual labor. At that time, trackmen used to fix irregularities in horizontal alignment (using lining bars) and vertical alignment (using tamping jacks) of the track structure. During the course of time, maintenance of track was facilitated by use of a variety of specialized machines, such as the ballast cleaning machine (BCM), Universal Tamping Machine (UTM), etc. Nowadays, maintenance of track structure is more mechanized compared to earlier times. Mechanized maintenance has obvious advantages when compared to manual maintenance.

The railroad companies should not wait to do emergency restoration work after an accident due to track maintenance failure. Rather, they should perform routine and special inspections of permanent way components on a regular basis and perform necessary manual, as well as mechanized maintenance. Maintenance should be followed by inspection of the permanent way. The various types of inspections used to inspect the conventional track structure (particularly in Indian Railway) are inspection by foot, push trolley inspection, motor trolley inspection, foot plate (engine) inspection and rear vehicle inspection.

The author would like to mention the most common manual maintenance practice followed in most of the Asian countries.2 The manual permanent way maintenance is largely done by gangs consisting of gangmen under the supervision of a gangmate. The most common system of routine manual (non-mechanized) track maintenance is known as through packing. This includes the following steps:

Opening of ballast and loosening of rail fittings;

Examination of track and squaring of sleepers (ties);

Gauging, sleeper (ties) packing and re-packing of joint sleepers (ties);

Boxing the ballast section and clean-up.

The author would also like to mention the need for a low-cost maintenance strategy of existing turnouts.

Points and crossings are vital and the most weak part of the track structure, which requires baby care otherwise in time it will lead to many accidents/interruptions to normal traffic, if not maintained properly,2 N.R. Kale et al., wrote in their research on points and crossings maintenance on Indian Railways.

The following strategy is based on the authors 2011 AREMA Conference paper Higher Diverging Speed Turnout Design in the Same Footprint. Special trackwork, including turnouts, can reduce a track sections capacity by requiring speed restrictions in order to extend the turnouts service life and can be an expensive component to replace once that its service life ends. Modifying a rail systems existing turnouts to be able to handle higher diverging speeds could increase line capacity and improve the dynamics and mobility of the system. A hypothesis developed by the author was presented at the AREMA 2011 Annual Conference in conjunction with Railway Interchange 2011 and proposes the possibility that developing low-cost upgrades to a systems turnouts for higher diverging speeds may result in lower life-cycle costs and increased capacity by reducing lateral forces and acceleration, as well as component wear.3

The railroad industry spends hundreds of millions of dollars every year on railroad track maintenance activities, routing large crews and heavy machinery throughout its extensive railroad networks. Effective planning saves on maintenance costs and resources and affects the safety and operational efficiency of the maintenance activities.8

The author would like to emphasize the need of proper planning in maintenance activities to achieve better operational efficiency, less maintenance cost and aiming for zero accidents. Railroad companies are advised to start with basic manual/mechanized maintenance practices and then go for more sophisticated maintenance practices to achieve better operational efficiency, less maintenance cost and aim for zero accidents.

Future work

With an increasing pace of changes in technology and the current economic downturn, organizations around the world are focused on more cost-effective and value-added technology related to the maintenance practices of conventional track structures and associated infrastructures. The author continues with his research on various cost-effective maintenance practices for conventional track structure. Operations research techniques offer opportunities to facilitate and improve the decision-making process. One of his thoughts includes the use of the Operation Research Principles for dealing with various cost-effective maintenance practices for conventional track structure. The author will provide a more in-depth look at this subject at the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA) 2016 Annual Conference & Exposition, Aug. 28-31 in Orlando, Fla.

Acknowledgement

The author acknowledges the help of Ms. Purnima and Prayaga Prasad in peer reviewing this article. The author sincerely thanks his professors at New York University and supervisors at Metropolitan Transportation Authority-New York City Transit for their help and encouragement.

References

1. Hay, W.W. Railroad Engineering. New York: Wiley, 1982. Print.

2. India. Indian Railways. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Indian Railways. Indian Railways. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.

3. Prasad. A. Turnout Design: Higher Diverging Speed in The Same Footprint. Paper presented at 2011 Annual AREMA Conference, Minneapolis, Minn., Sept. 18-21, 2011.

4. Rahul, B. G. Component Parts of a Permanent Way (n.d.): 1-26. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.

5. Transportation Engineering II (CVL 007). Introduction to Railway Engineering (T.E 2). N.p., 23 Mar. 2015. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.

6. Skanska. Rail Mechanization. Rail Mechanization-Product & Services-Skanska. N.p., 11 Aug. 2014. Web. 22 Mar. 2016.

7. Spall, N. Rail Industry Focus. Significant Civil Engineering at Farnworth Tunnel Nears Completion. Rail Technology Magazine, 28 Dec. 2015. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.

8. Ouyang, Y. Improving Railroad Track Maintenance Scheduling with Operations Research Techniques. TR News. Issue Number 286, pp. 55-56.

Disclaimer

Even though the author works for MTA-NYCT, any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material does not reflect the views or policies of MTA-NYCT nor does mention of trade names, commercial product or organizations imply endorsement by MTA-NYCT. MTA-NYCT assumes no liability for the content or the use of the materials contained in this document. The author makes no warranties and/or representation regarding the correctness, accuracy and or reliability of the content and/or other material in the paper. The contents of this file are provided on an as is basis and without warranties of any kind, are either expressed or implied.

About the author

Avinash Prasad works for MTA-NYCT as a civil engineer levelIII. He has had more than 27 years of professional experience mostly with MTA-NYCT and foreign railways. Being a professional in the United States and foreign railroad companies in various capacities (employee/consultant), the author has extensive experience of various maintenance practices for conventional track structures. He is a registered professional engineer and land surveyor in multiple states and a Doctor of Philosophy Candidate at New York University. The author is member of AREMA since 2000 and a committee member of Rail (2007-2011), Track (2007-present) and High Speed Rail Systems (2011-present). His technical papers were presented at earlier AREMA conferences and published in Railway Track & Structures magazine.
A third party candidate has not played a major role in U.S. presidential for a number of years, but the results of a new NBC News/SurveyMonkey poll suggest that a third party could receive enough support to affect the outcome of the election this year.

The weekly election tracking poll found that voters are roughly split in a potential matchup of the respective frontrunners, with 38 percent supporting Hillary Clinton and 36 percent favoring Donald Trump.

Another 16 percent said they would vote for a third party candidate, while 8 percent said they would abstain from voting.

The support for a third party is significant considering no third party candidate received more than 1 percent of the vote in the 2012 presidential election.

The poll found even stronger 19 percent support for a third party candidate in a potential matchup between Clinton and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex. Clinton tops Cruz 37 percent to 32 percent.

The strong third party support partly reflects the contentious battle taking place between Trump and Cruz in the race for the Republican nomination.

If Trump is the GOP nominee, 26 percent of Cruz supporters said they would vote for a third party, while 28 percent of Trump supporters said they would vote for a third party if Cruz is the nominee.

Additionally, the NBC News/SurveyMonkey poll is not the only survey to show significant support for a third party candidate.

A Monmouth University poll released last month found former New Mexico governor and Libertarian Party frontrunner Gary Johnson with 11 percent support in a potential three-way race also involving Clinton and Trump.

"A vigorous third party campaign is a very real possibility this year, but it is not yet clear what the impact could be," said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute

He added, "Including Johnson's name in our polling seems to be more of a placeholder for voters who are not particularly thrilled with either major party choice right now."

In an interview with Gannett New Jersey, Johnson suggested the poll could help him get a podium at the general election debates, something that has not happened since Ross Perot's independent run in 1992.

The NBC News/SurveyMonkey survey of 12,692 adults was conducted April 4th through 10th and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.3 percentage points.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

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US welcomes ceasefire in Yemen, parties' commitment





TOKYO, April 12 (Saba)  The U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry welcomed on Tuesday the start of the cease-fire announced by the United Nations in Yemen and the confirmation of the concerned parties commitment.



Kerry, who is visiting Japan to participate in the ministers meeting of the Group of Seven, urged in a summarized statement on his account on Twitter" to seize the opportunity to deliver humanitarian aid and progress in the peaceful resolution.



He said "I welcome the start of a cease-fire in Yemen and urge all parties to seize the opportunity to allow humanitarian aid to enter and to continue forward in a peaceful solution."



A UN-brokered ceasefire agreement began in Yemen on Sunday midnight and is scheduled to last till the end of peace talks in Kuwait set to begin on April 18.



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[13/April/2016]
UN envoy calls warring parties in Yemen to respect ceasefire





GENEVA, April 12 (Saba) - The UN special envoy to Yemen called on the parties to the Yemeni crisis to fully respect the ceasefire in order to create a favorable environment for the talks to be held on April 18 in Kuwait.



In a statement aired by the United Nations radio on Tuesday, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said that the parties to the Yemeni crisis have committed to the terms and conditions of the cease-fire, which "is critical and urgent and much needed."



The UN envoy warned that Yemen can not lose more lives, calling on all parties and the international community to support this agreement firmly, until the cessation of hostilities constitutes a first step in the return of peace to the country.



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[13/April/2016]
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

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The Tennessee Department of Children's Services has achieved all 136 provisions set forth in the Brian A. consent decree, according to an order signed Monday in federal court.

The agreed order from U.S. District Court Judge Todd J. Campbell means that DCS is "in maintenance" with the requirements of Brian A. The department must maintain this level of performance through the end of 2016 before it can finally exit the federal consent decree.

"I'm elated by what we've accomplished, but the work doesn't stop,'' said DCS Commissioner Bonnie Hommrich. We will sustain what we have achieved, and we will continue to improve. Nothing changes. Today, tomorrow and going forward, we will remain focused on providing quality care to children and families.

Working with the plaintiffs, Children's Rights Inc., and the Technical Assistance Committee, which serves as both a support to the department and as a monitor for the federal court, DCS has essentially built a new statewide foster system over the past 15 years.

Many of the improvements have been in place for several years now. Monday's order recognizes that all of the new systems are delivering as intended.

"Public child welfare is incredibly complicated, and we will never be perfect," said Commissioner Hommrich. "But today's achievement validates all of the hard work by so many. It's a tribute especially to our dedicated staff members, who often perform in difficult, contentious and heartbreaking circumstances. I'm very proud of them. They deserve our thanks and praise.

We also want to acknowledge the countless community partners who work tirelessly every day to support and protect vulnerable families and children."

Under Brian A., DCS emphasizes family-like settings for children who come into state care. It works hard to keep sibling groups together. It focuses on getting kids to permanency as quickly and safely as possible, said officials.

Among the improvements designed to achieve those goals:



A high performing child abuse hotline

A well-trained and resourced child protective services workforce

A dedicated staff of foster-care and adoption staff committed to high-quality services for the children they serve

A strong foster-home system

An emphasis on family placements, rather than institutional settings, for children in foster care

A workforce development program that includes salary improvements, a reduction in caseload ratios and a stipend program for social workers pursuing their degrees

A sophisticated provider network that delivers an array of services for foster children

A well-being staff of nurses, therapists and educational specialists

Performance-based contracting that rewards outcomes, not how many days foster children stay in care.

A state-of-the-art information system, TFACTS

A statewide staff of attorneys who specialize in public-child welfare law

A strong relationship with the University of Chicago's Chapin Hall, a national leader in delivering the performance monitoring tools critical to DCS' continuing success

A wide range of partnerships, such as Casey Family Programs, the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth, Blue Select, the Tn. Department of Health and Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services

A robust quality assurance program

Child and family teaming. For each child in custody, DCS case managers establish a team of family members and supporters to get the children safe, healthy and back on track.

A child death review process, modeled on similar systems in aviation and health care, that identifies better ways to keep children safe

Evidence from around the country indicates that in many cases, it is better for children, birth families and foster families -- and more cost-effective for the government -- to offer intensive services in the home. Tennessee is participating in a new federal waiver program that encourages states to reduce custody times safely and effectively.

Tennessee has 6,815 children in state custody who are covered by the Brian A. provisions.








Here are the Halloween and fall events happening in Salina

As people in Salina get ready for fall, there are several events happening on Halloween and the days before it.
Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi has been delivering some interesting remarks lately in relation to the issue of election petitions.

Coming from the leader of this country who gloats about transparency, accountability and justice regularly, his behavior has raised many eyebrows.

And rightly so.

You see, at the beginning of the month in a story titled Associate Minister wanted, it was revealed that the Prime Minister had been searching for the former Associate Minister of the Prime Ministers Office, Lafaitele Patrick Leiataualesa.

Tuilaepa said he had been trying to find his Associate Minister in relation to a petition he filed against another Member of Parliament of the Human Rights Protection Party (H.R.P.P).

Tuilaepa was referring to Lafaitele taking newly elected woman M.P for Alataua West, Aliimalemanu Alofa Tuuau to Court over allegations of bribery and treating.

As one of six petitions filed with the Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration, the hearing is scheduled for this week.

But the leader of the H.R.P.P. is apparently not happy.

Its not a problem if its (petition) from another party, said Tuilaepa, adding his disappointment that some of those that have filed petitions hold positions in the church.

Its an internal matter, he said referring to the allegations. I believe that time will pass and the candidates will be reminded that it is between them and a brother and might reconsider to put it asideespecially being from the same party

At that time, he reminded Lafaitele that there was still time to reconsider and he had believed that God was speaking to some of the petitioners.

Now obviously that hasnt worked because as far as we are concerned, Lafaitele is persisting with his petition.

But at another constituency, Tuilaepas tactic has worked.

Yesterday, we found out that the Speaker of Parliament, Leaupepe Toleafoa Faafisi, has been spared from a petition alleging election corruption against him.

It follows a village meeting where the petitioner and another former MP, Aiono Tile Gafa, agreed to withdraw his petition.

Speaking during the meeting, Aiono Tile expressed his frustrations and what led him to file the petition. He said he was more concerned about the future of the constituency because he found out that many names on the election roll do not belong there.

Aiono Tile said this was hugely disappointing and he felt that something has to be done for the sake of transparency and good governance.

My concern is that the future of Fasitoo-uta will be determined by people who dont belong here, he said.

Although it was a difficult decision (to file a petition) but I wanted to correct this wrong.

Well that was until Mondays meeting where Aiono Tile said he had accepted the advice from the village and that he would withdraw the petition.

The meeting by the way was attended by Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, who also holds the Aiono title.

And in light of Aionos decision, Prime Minister Tuilaepa praised him immodestly.

Thank you Aiono, he said, you are a true hero.

Tuilaepa said the decision could only be achieved through the leadership of villages who are strong and united.

Lastly he thanked Aiono for having a kind heart to forgive and forget.

Now lets think about justice and the need to do the right thing by the law and God for a minute.

Is it immoral to file an electoral petition to correct corruption and wrongdoing?

Doesnt it worry us when the government and village matai join forces to derail the course of justice?

Why do we need the Court system then? If the Prime Minister insists on unity that hides the truth and denies justice, why do we need laws?

Who needs a Parliament then, one headed by a Speaker who knows very well that he is lucky to be there?

The reality in Samoa is that on a daily basis, ordinary folks are being jailed and held accountable for very minor infringements. Why cant we just forgive and forget all lawbreakers then? Why dont we just abolish the Justice system if all that we need to do to solve the issues is a simple hand shake and some feel good speeches?

This is the irony of all ironies. Whats happening in Samoa today has all the hallmarks of a system where corruption is legalised, legitimised and allowed to flourish while the people standing up for justice and the truth are made to feel like they are the scourges of society. What do you think?
Dear Editor,

Prime Minister Tuilaepa should be addressing the issue of why Samoa is 6th on the list for tax havens, why Mossack Fonseca has offices in Samoa, and his relationship with China whose many officials have been pointed out in this scandal.

He should be reassuring the people of Samoa that nothing will come of these ties. Im not sure if that Casino project with China is still alive, but if it is its obvious its a building for the sole purpose of facilitating dirty money from China and elsewhere to be laundered.

Wendy Wonder








The Clarence Sebastian Foundation (C.S.F) held its Annual General Meeting on the weekend at its headquarters in Maugafiafia.

It was a time for fellowship and brain storming to reflect on and contemplate what lies ahead for its members and stakeholders.

At the moment, The Clarence Sebastian Foundation is the only operating Centre of its kind for Albinos to the east of New Zealand.

There are 300 people in Samoa who are albinos  its not easy for them in a country where the sun shines most of the time (during the day) and the humidity is stifling.

The social stigma is pronounced as most Samoans are dark skinned.

The Clarence Sebastian Foundation Board has a vision to eventually extend its support out to our South Pacific neighbours such as Tahiti, Tonga and Fiji.

Through the Clarence Sebastian Foundation, it has become the Boards mission and hope to promote awareness in educating families and the community and provide medical support by means of financial aid and research.

Samoans with albinism have limited access to health resources and information about albinism.

As a result, their skin is extensively sun damaged by early adulthood and they have no assistance with their vision impairment, which is often within the legally blind range.

This can then limit their education and career choices and they may find themselves having to work in labour jobs out in the sun, instead of predominately indoor occupations.

Now entering its fifth year since its inception there are always challenges facing the staff, parents and supporters of the foundation yet support from the community and donors such as the Embassy of Canada, JP Fitness, EFKS Vailele and Bishop Sam Williams make things just that bit more bearable. Heres hoping for a safe and prosperous year for the Clarence Sebastian Foundation (CSF).
Consultant Larry Wallace on Monday told the Cleveland City Council that 27 applications have been received for the city manager post, but only 15 of them qualified.

The cut-off date for receiving the applications is April 22 at 5 p.m. A selection committee will narrow down the list as will a representative from a search firm, then the two will merge the lists into one of no more than 10 candidates. These will be interviewed via Skype on April 29 and a final group vote will take place later that day. The results of the vote will then be presented to the council. Mr. Wallace said there are seven-eight states represented so far and three applicants are from Bradley County.

he council also voted to approve a new 911 contract on recommendation from the Bradley County Commission that approved it previously. It will be funded 50 percent from the county and 50 percent from the city and will increase appropriations to 911 by $100,000. for each of the next two years.

Rezoning issues came before the council on Monday. Amending the zoning of .98 acres located on Stephens Road N.E. from R-1 Single Family to R-2 in order to build townhouses drew 13 neighbors in opposition to the change. Apartments already in the vicinity have created problems and the homeowners of single family houses do not want others. The change was denied by the planning commission and the city council agreed to unanimously deny the change.

Property at 4020 North Ocoee St. was approved for a change from R-1 Single Family Residential to P-1 Professional Institutional on recommendation from the planning commission. It was recognized that the nature of development in the area has changed and the property is now surrounded by other property that is no longer R-1.

Approval was also given to allow the reconstruction of existing single family residential uses within the industrial districts in the event they are destroyed. The purpose of doing this was so that banks and insurance companies will replace a house if needed.

A final update was given on the new gym at Cleveland High School, which is now almost complete with most systems installed. The official opening is scheduled for April 24 at 4 p.m. It was described as a building that the city can be proud of.

At a previous meeting, the owner of rental property requested that he be able to vote in the citys elections, but was denied because he did not meet the requirements specified in the citys charter. Owners outside of Cleveland have been restricted by resident requirements in the charter and a 50 percent ownership requirement. Other cities in Tennessee were cited as examples for allowing absentee owners to vote in a city election. The original issue came about to prevent a group of people from buying a small, worthless property for the purpose of being able to vote in the city. With the current arrangement only two people will be allowed to vote because of ownership of one piece of property.

Currently a rezoning request must be advertised by posting a notice on the property 15 days from the public hearing. This timeline then becomes three days before the planning commission meeting, which leaves very little time for comment and for people to notice the signs. Recognizing this as being a problem, Councilman Richard Banks suggested moving the requirement to five to seven days before the planning commission meeting.

There are areas on Paul Huff Parkway that are prone to accidents with a large number of people leaving shopping centers and restaurants while trying to get onto I-75, which requires crossing three lanes of traffic. A traffic study by Cannon and Cannon was proposed for the cost of $26,500. Councilman Banks said the citys own traffic engineers should be able to fix the problem without spending so much. He added that the easiest solution would be to not allow any left turns.

Councilman Bill Estes preferred professional advice about the traffic problem. City Attorney John Kimball said if egress was taken away from properties, the city would have to compensate the owners. The problem areas are leaving Wendys, Target and a gas station. The vote was delayed for two weeks for Police Chief Mark Gibson to compile a list of wrecks that have occurred in the area and where the cars were coming from.
The Samoa Tourism Exchange (S.T.E) 2016 was officially launched last night by the Minister of Tourism, Lautafi Fio Purcell, during a reception at the Samoa Cultural Village Fale.

In attendance was Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, Cabinet Ministers, Associate Ministers, Heads of Ministries, members of the tourism industry and members of the business community.

The reception was also held to welcome trade and media representatives from Australia, New Zealand, American Samoa, Fiji, China, South Korea, Canada, USA, Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom who will be meeting with local operators for product updates, selling tips and experience properties for themselves.

The Samoa Tourism Exchange is an annual conference for the stakeholders to discuss important tourism topics.

Since 2011 it has become an annual dedicated business to business event for the travel and hospitality industry, said Lautafi.

It has expanded to becoming one of the major tourism exchanges in the South Pacific region. It is also a chance for Samoas growing industry to discuss and enhance business partnerships with key overseas travelers, trade and media.

Lautafi added that this years Exchange aims to primarily equip product and contracting managers from selected source markets with firsthand knowledge, experiences and passion needed to facilitate joint marketing and sales opportunities.

This year also has a record of 59 travel and trade media representatives with invested interest in Samoas tourism products who have registered to participate in the S.T.E 2016.

The S.T.E is also proof of Samoas push for excellence stated in the Tourism Forum 2016 last month.

This year has been widely promoted as visit Samoa 2016 and we will continue to make each year a special year following our public and private sector partnership commitment in striving for excellence to deliver premium experiences that will exceed expectations, Lautafi said.

We continue to thank all our buyers and sellers for travel holidays to our beautiful Samoa, and for accepting our invitation to the S.T.E 2016.

We would also like to hear from you on how we are going to improve our products and what else Samoa can do to ensure your clientele satisfaction.

S.T.E 2016 will continue today with exhibitions at the Samoa Conference Centre, T.A.T.T.E building.
The government has denied any wrongdoing in relation to the Panama Papers leak, one of the biggest tax haven leaks of recent times.

It has also defended the actions of a Samoan diplomat who was found to have routinely assisted Mossack Fonseca in creating shell companies.

The denial is made in a statement issued by the Office of the Press Secretariat on Monday night, regarding questions about the governments involvement in the scandal.

The statement also assures that government will strengthen its efforts to ensure Samoa is not used by money launderers and tax evaders. The statement is published below in verbatim:

The Government of Samoa wishes to address recent news coverage concerning Samoa and the leaked "Panama Papers", where government's involvement through several of its agencies has been highlighted by a few news organisations.

Samoa's international financial centre is monitored and supervised by S.I.F.A (Samoa International Finance Authority), under which ten licensed trustee companies currently operate. Mossack Fonseca and Co (Samoa) Limited is one of these ten licensed trustee companies.

Incorporation of international companies is the normal activity of trustee companies and clientele is spread across the globe. The services offered are frequently used and provided in many jurisdictions worldwide including the United States and the United Kingdom.

It is legal and common for companies to establish commercial entities in different jurisdictions for a variety of legitimate reasons - including conducting cross-border mergers and acquisitions, estate planning and restructuring and pooling investment capital from investors residing in different jurisdictions who want a neutral legal tax regime that does not benefit or disadvantage any one investor.

As one of the many jurisdictions offering international financial services, Samoa prides itself in leading efforts to ensure the conduct of offshore businesses in Samoa is regulated and supervised.

This is shown through the various legislative amendments and revisions of a regulatory nature that ensure compliance with international standards set by bodies such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (O.E.C.D), the Financial Action Task Force (F.A.T.F)/Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering (A.P.G), the Group of International Finance Centre Supervisors (G.I.F.C.S) and the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (I.A.I.S), to name a few.

S.I.F.A is the Regulator and Supervisor of international company incorporations and licensed entities such as trustee companies; although trustee companies themselves are domestic entities, registered with the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Labour.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade is vested with the apostilling function, including the certification of company applications, based on advice and following a review by S.I.F.A.

S.I.F.A returns the apostilled documents to the Trustee companies for them to continue their services based on the instructions from their client companies. The fees charged by Trustee Companies to the companies requiring their services is a direct arrangement between these two parties.

On occasion, especially when companies are based in countries not party to the Hague Convention (e.g. Philippines, Vietnam, UAE), further certification is required by our Missions.

This means that our Missions affix a certification stamp - which simply verifies the Chief Executive Officer of M.F.A.T's signature - before forwarding such documentation to the embassy of the country where the company is based, or they can also return it to the trustee company based in Samoa, depending on the specific instructions.

Where Missions are required to forward these documents, trustee companies are expected to meet the full cost of registration of these documents with foreign embassies as well as meet the full cost of courier and/or postal service charges.

In the case cited in the media report, Mossack Fonseca, after receiving the documents from SIFA, requested the Canberra Mission to arrange authentication by Australia's D.F.A.T, and to forward the same to the UAE Embassy for further legalization.

In reference to Samoa's High Commission in Australia, the involvement of a senior diplomat officer at the time as inferred by the media report, was not in any way improper.

It is a standard administrative function of our Mission to ensure documents that have been duly endorsed by the relevant authorities in Samoa are remitted to the respective embassies concerned.

The correspondence alluded to involved clearance of a courier cost that the Mission was required to pay as Mossack Fonseca did not provide a return address, and in this particular instance, adequate funds to cover the courier costs. The administrative duties performed by the Foreign Affairs diplomat in this case did not, and does not, warrant the attention or clearance of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who is the Prime Minister of Samoa.

The regulation of the local offshore industry rests with S.I.F.A specifically, but in matters concerning A.M.L/C.F.T (Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing)  S.I.F.A shares the load with the Money Laundering Prevention Authority (M.L.P.A) and the Samoa Financial Intelligence Unit (S.F.I.U), which are both under the auspices of the Central Bank of Samoa.

In matters concerning tax and the exchange of information for tax purposes, S.I.F.A assists Samoa's competent authority, which is the Ministry for Revenue.

In matters concerning mutual assistance in criminal matters or proceeds of crime, SIFA assists the Office of the Attorney General and the National Prosecutions Office, where necessary.

Samoa, through SIFA, is actively involved in the Peer Review Group of the O.E.C.D Global Forum on Transparency and the Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes.

The P.R.G has spearheaded the drive to ensure there is a level playing field when it comes to implementing the O.E.C.D Tax Initiative that led initially to the exchange of information for tax purposes on request, to the recently adopted standard of automatic exchange of information.

Samoa has an active anti-money-laundering and counter terrorist financing regime with highly capable staff across a range of agencies.

In February of this year, the Central Bank of Samoa's S.F.I.U started a proactive operation, "Operation Signpost", to uncover professional money laundering in Samoa.

Samoa is not a blacklist country in the international community, neither by the Asia Pacific Group or the Financial Action Task Force, which are the main compliance and assessor players in terms of money-laundering and counter-terrorist financing regimes worldwide.

This is due to Samoa's strong legal frameworks to address money-laundering and counter terrorism activities, which are in accordance with international best practice standards and compliance.

The Central Bank of Samoa and Financial Intelligence Unit have made assurances that Samoa will redouble its efforts to ensure Samoa cannot and will not be used by money launderers and tax evaders.
Congressman Chuck Fleischmann invites high school students from Tennessees 3rd Congressional District to participate in the 2016 Congressional Art Competition.



The Art Competition is held annually to recognize the artistic talents of the countrys high school students. The main goal is to support and foster creativity among Americas youth. The winner of the art competition will have their artwork displayed in the U.S. Capitol for one year. Also, the winner will be awarded a trip to Washington, D.C. to attend a reception and see their artwork hung inside the U.S. Capitol.



The competition is open to all high school students who live in Congressman Fleischmanns District. All submitted entries must be original in concept, design, and implementation. The artwork must be submitted to one of Congressman Fleischmanns three District offices by April 20. No late entries will be accepted.



The public is invited to attend the Public Display and Art Exhibition that will be held at Chattanooga State Community College on April 25  May 1 from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Note that weekend times may vary. Additionally there will be a District Awards Ceremony and Reception, Sunday, May 1 at 2 p.m. in the same location. The address is: Chattanooga State Community College, Humanities Bldg., 4501 Amnicola Hwy. in Chattanooga.

For more information about artwork qualifications, framing guidelines, rules, and submission details, visit: http://fleischmann.house.gov/artcompetition or contact Michelle Harstine in Congressman Fleischmanns Chattanooga Office at 423-756-2342.


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A former high-profile city detective who later went to federal prison testified Tuesday that Billy Hawk made incriminating statements to him about the death of Johnny Mack Salyer, whose body was found in a 55-gallon drum in the Tennessee River in 1981.

Terry Slaughter said Hawk, who had been arrested along with Salyer on drug charges, asked him, "Would my case be better if he wasn't here to testify?"

Slaughter, who is now 72 and who said he has suffered two strokes, said he told Hawk, "It would be better to do it in the county and not the city or I would have to investigate it."

Slaughter said at a hearing before Criminal Court Judge Don Poole in the "Cold Case" that was revived last year that Hawk called him on the day the body was found in the barrel and asked him if it had yet been identified.

The ex-detective said, "It was quite evident to me that Billy had been in on the murder."

Slaughter said he did not know if Hawk actually carried out the killing himself, but he said he believes he was involved in it.

He said at one point Hawk told him Salyer had been killed at a cabin in Georgia. He said Hawk took him to the cabin.

Slaughter told of being released during the middle of a five-year sentence and being wired to try to get Hawk to talk about the Salyer case. Defense attorneys said, though there were four or five meetings over five days, that Hawk did not make any incriminating statements. The conversations were recorded. One of the meetings was at the Hawk family bowling alley in Brainerd.

At the end of his cross-examination, Slaughter said he and Hawk "were involved in things that shouldn't have been happening. I don't think you would want me to tell you about that."

After he left the witness stand, Slaughter stopped near where Hawk was sitting and glowered at him. He said Hawk had called him "a punk." Slaughter said, "I'm not a punk."

District Attorney Neal Pinkston called two TBI Crime Lab experts to say that it was very unlikely that any usable evidence could have been obtained from the 55-gallon drum, which was not retained by the state.

Mike Mathis, former city detective who heads the Cold Case Unit in the DA's office, said he was advised that the drum went to the hospital along with the body. He said the morgue at the time was next to the Erlanger Hospital emergency room.

He said there was such a foul odor from the drum that it seeped into the emergency room. He said it was then moved to the county highway department, where large pieces of evidence were apparently stored at the time.

But he said the drum still smelled so bad that it was smashed and disposed of.

County Medical Examiner Dr. James Metcalfe said when the body of the victim was exhumed last year and examined in Knoxville it was found there was a bullet hole to the chest and a bullet was still in the body.

He said he could not explain why there was no initial autopsy. Dr. Jack Adams, the medical examiner at the time, listed the manner of death as undetermined.

There were four X-rays found with the initial report, but none of them showed the chest. Dr. Metcalfe said he did not know why there was not a chest X-ray.

The defense is trying to block testimony by former detective Slaughter. Attorney Jonathan Turner said he is "a crooked cop" who had been convicted of lying and has no credibility.

The defense said it would be prejudicial to go into the fact that Hawk had been charged in a drug case. It was noted that the drug charges were dismissed and expunged, except for one case not related to victim Salyer.



Judge Poole is to rule later on the defense motions relating to the barrel, the missing chest X-ray and the Slaughter testimony.



Defense attorneys are Jim Logan, Bill Speek and Mr. Turner.

Lance Pope is also prosecuting the case.


Hollywood, FL -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/12/2016 -- An Executive hanger and commercial real estate are currently up for sale by its owner close to Orlando and Daytona. This recently announced Florida Airplane Hangar For Sale is a golden opportunity for all those who are searching for an airplane hangar, office space, manufacturing space and warehouse space, in a location ideal for both individuals and companies. This land is owned, not rented. The property is located at Massey Ranch Airpark at 435 Airpark in Edgewater, Florida in Volusia County.



The owner of this airport real estate has provided detailed information about the property. The details are as follows:



Location: The Hangar For Sale In Florida is located in Massey Ranch Airpark, which is a publicly licensed airport and has been since 1957. It is operated by Massey Ranch Airpark, Incorporated. The Airpark features a 4,360? paved and lighted runway and does not have a control tower. Also, within the Airpark, there is a residential area to the east of the runway and a commercial/industrial section to the west of the runway, which is where this property is located. All properties have direct taxiway access.



Airplane Hangar: Airplane Hangar For Sale is located in building 1 and measures about 9,840 square feet with the main hanger 4-piece sliding door measuring 60 ft. x 16 ft. It also has 4 exterior doors along with two interior roll-up doors (16ft. x 12ft. and 10ft. x 10ft.) and two exterior roll-up doors (12ft. x 15ft. and 10ft. x 10ft.) the 10 x 10 roll up doors accesses to 1800 square ft. workshop. The airplane hangar also has a large workshop, office, two bathrooms and one shower as well.



Main office: The main office is also located in building one, upstairs above the workshop of the airplane hangar. The main office has a large common space from which the main hangar can easily be overlooked. The area of the office is about 1800 square ft. and is accessible by doors at the top of 2 different sets of stairs, one inside and one outside. The main office has 4 more offices, reception, a bathroom with a shower and a kitchen.



Aircraft manufacturing space: This space is located in building 2 and also based upon a large area of about 10,440 square ft. Aircraft Manufacturing Space is not only ideal for manufacturing aircraft, but also maintaining big airplanes, a machine shop, and various other uses. The space has 6 exterior entry-exit doors and 3 exterior roll up doors (8ft. x 10ft., 10ft x 10ft. and 12ft. x 15ft.) The interior roll up door in the hangar (16ft. x 12ft.) opens to connect up to 2 spaces. Additionally, this manufacturing space has a covered fenced space of about 630 square ft.



Warehouse and Office: There are 2 warehouse spaces, each with it's own office; one is in building 3 while the other is in building 4. The warehouse and office located in building 3 has a total space of about 2,153 square ft. The office has 2 exterior doors, one of these doors is a covered entry or exit door and leads to and from a parking lot. The other warehouse located in building 4 is the smallest among all the offices and is 1,388 square ft. This office also has a large roll up door and 2 interior doors that lead to the office. This warehouse has 2 separate offices as well and it's own covered entry-exit door leading to the parking lot.



Each of the offices has its own parking. There are 31 marked parking spaces and 4 aircraft tie-downs which are located just outside the hangar door.



About The airpark real estate property

The airpark real estate property basically based on 2.5 acres of land and is located at Massey Ranch Airpark at 435 Airpark in Edge water, Florida in Volusia Country. For further details log on to (http://www.floridaairplanehangarforsale.com/)



Media Contact: Joe Martin
Kaneohe, HI -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/12/2016 -- Hawaii and Florida are a paradise for termites because of the year-round warm, moist climate. They are the most harmful insects, causing more than $500 million worth of damage each year. Fortunately, Made Rite Inc. has introduced an innovative snap-on baseboard system that allows homeowners to check their walls for termite infestation without causing undue damage. Contractors and homeowners have complained that the current use of the vinyl cove base baseboard system is messy to install and can damage the existing wall panels upon removal. The new patented 2-part system eradicates the old system's issues by creating a covered channel behind the outer baseboard profile that clips to the wall-attached inner profile. Made Rite's Snap-on Baseboard has received massive national attention for its use in termite detection. It has been used by numerous contractors and do-it-yourself homeowners who seek quick and easy projects.



Made Rite's Snap on Baseboards were developed in Hawaii, where the subterranean termite is known for causing critical structural damage. Unfortunately, most homeowners are simply unaware of subterranean termites that enter their home. It isn't until after the home shows signs of structural damage that homeowners discover the infestation. By that time, it is too late and the consequence is a hefty repair bill. Snap on Baseboards now allows Pest Control companies and homeowners to monitor what is happening inside their walls. In addition to their offices in Kaneohe, Made Rite operates a distribution center in College Park, Georgia that effectively allows them to reach customers all across the country with ease.



Snap on Baseboards are now being installed in homes with basements. This system allows homeowners to raise their drywall by 3" off the floor, effectively preventing damage to the drywall from any flooding. The Snap on Baseboards can be snapped off and allow the walls to dry out, reducing mold issues and costly drywall repair. The Baseboards can be removed and replaced at will for wall inspection, or access and update a variety of electrical and data cables. They are easy to install and convenient anywhere modular access is necessary. This system was cited as one of the best tools for inspection and prevention. It is popular with contractors because of its fast installation, durability, and resistance to termite & water damage. CEO and Founder of Made-Rite, Zane Watson commented, "We take pride in our baseboard's revolution. Contractors no longer have to perform messy glue installations, or damage walls when removing trims for termite inspection". Moreover, the baseboards were designed to not rot, absorb moisture, or soften.



About Made Rite Inc.

Made Rite Inc. is an innovative company that takes pride tasks faster, better, and in making products that help customers with specific needs while protecting the environment. They aim to manufacture products that help customers perform tasks efficiently. The team at Made Rite worked with the modular industry for over five years, striving to develop products that save their clientele time and money.



http://m-rite.com/

877-777-1028
Minneapolis, MN -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/12/2016 -- Recently, Mageworx has announced the development of the improved version of Magento 2 extension. This has become an innovative solution, which is expected to offer unlimited opportunities in ecommerce advancement. This involves the elimination of content issues, search engine optimization and website indexation improvement. New Magento 2 options will make it possible to provide clients with gift cards, advanced multi-store functionality, an ability to download files and product attachments, cross-linking, SEO meta templates and more.



Mageworx is a US-based company, the foundation of which dates back to 2008. Since that time, the company has distinguished itself as a first-class developer of Magento SEO and product management solutions, which are currently the most popular and widespread in the business. A few years later, they opened the representative office in Belarus (Minsk), which contributed to the popularity of the company and made it even more well known and recognizable around the world.



As of today, the company works hard in order to make Magento 2 extensions both functional and useful for each and every client. This is what the developers working for the company tell about it: "Magento has always offered unique ecommerce experience. Today, it additionally provides functional and technical changes to make Magento 2.0 version more advanced to open a new chapter in ecommerce. Using Magento 2 will help you fundamentally improve your store." http://www.mageworx.com/magento2-extensions.html



In order to help their clients enrich their marketing experience, Magwork has already developed a number of Magento 2 options, including SEO Suite Ultimate Solution, Gift Cards, Store and Currency Auto Switcher, File Downloads and Product Attachments, SEO Meta Templates, Product Custom Options Templates, Improved Order Management processing, Search and Sitemap Suite and other options. With the improved scalability and performance of Magento 2 as well as its unlimited customization options, enhanced products security and advanced quality code, this tool will help you get the most out of your ecommerce experience.



Apart from the advanced solutions, the software has already offered to its clients, MageWorx does not plan to stop at its current achievements. It is currently working at the release of the improved Magento 2 extensions. These include custom option templates, search auto complete free solutions, currency switcher, shipping suite, better pricing strategy for customers, dependent customs options and image (color) swatch, multi fees, extra product services and options, improved store navigation, abandoned cart recovery, gift registry, search AutoComplete search suite etc.



Among the most valuable and powerful Mageworx Magento 2 extensions, one can point out Magento 2 SEO Suite Ultimate and Magento 2 Order Management. The first option is very effective in solving duplicate content issues, improvement of HTML sitemaps, advanced indexation and crawling settings, SEO for layered navigation pages, creation of new cross-links for internal linking structure and other purposes. http://www.mageworx.com/magento-2-seo-extension.html



Magento 2 Order Management extension, in its turn, ensures improved functionality, smooth order processing workflow, easy and quick editing of Magento 2 orders and order billing details, product and order shipping modifications as well as extended order comments functionality. It makes it possible to modify orders without cancelling them, edit products from the older lists or edit them, select new products and preview the "Grand Total" section. http://www.mageworx.com/magento2-order-management-extension.html



All in all, Magento 2 extensions offer more functionality and extra features customer may choose from. MageWorx experts aim at expanding the possibilities provided by Magento 2 to help their client expand their business horizons, build powerful business management systems and introducing other options clients need to develop their business.



About MagWorx

MagWorx is a company which focuses on the development of the popular Magento 1 and 2 products. The company is located in the USA, but it also has the local office on Minsk (Belarus). Having developed Magento 1 version, they are currently working at the development of innovative and highly effective Magento 2.0 solution to help their clients expand their businesses and create strong reputation among their competitors. They have already created a number of Magento 2 products and much more of them are still being developed. The company works 24/7 to meet the needs of their clients.



Content Info:

Address: 222 South Ninth St, Suite 1600, Minneapolis, 55402 MN, USA

Tel.: +1 612-293-9492

E-mail: support@mageworx.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mageworx

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mageworxteam

Google+: https://plus.google.com/+Mageworx/videos

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mageworx

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCITO0Hy4HrEd9hj78lwrhuw

Website: http://www.mageworx.com
Indianapolis, IN -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/12/2016 -- Firmly positioned as a leading business broker firm in Indianapolis, Indiana Equity Brokers provides top-notch quality buying and selling services for small and mid-sized businesses. For nearly 20 years, they have been in this business of providing reliable assistance for selling or buying businesses with their expert advisory services and exceptional leadership. They have time-proven business processes that help them attain great success and a wide client base in the industry. With the help of their award winning team of brokers, they have sold hundreds of companies spanning practically every industry. One of the renowned business brokers in Indianapolis, IEB ensures a high level of confidentiality all through the process that helps the seller in maintaining the value of the business.



Indiana Equity Brokers is a reputed business broker for buying or selling businesses of any domain. The professionals at Indiana Equity Brokers understand the true valuation of a business and help clients strike a great deal. They have a large database from where they find potential buyers for their clients. They work with the sole objective of exceeding expectations of their clients in terms of selling price and the time it takes to sell. Business owners who are looking for business brokers to sell their business can rely on Indiana Equity Brokers to help them cut a good deal.



Talking more about selling businesses, one of the representatives of the firm stated, "At Indiana Equity Brokers, we know there are no shortcuts to selling a business. We know that it takes hard work, persistence, and experience to sell a business to the right buyer at the best price. We know these things because since 1996, we have sold hundreds of businesses and have become the premier firm in the industry. No other firm in Indiana has as many high quality businesses for sale. More and more business owners are now choosing Indiana Equity Brokers for their needs."



About Indiana Equity Brokers

Indiana Equity Brokers (IEB) is one of the nation's leading firms specializing in the sale of small and medium-sized businesses. Their focus is to provide confidential and professional representation to owners who want to sell their business. They sell businesses located in Indiana and market them to buyers across the country. Since 1996, the professionals at Indiana Equity Brokers have sold hundreds of companies spanning practically every industry. Their award winning brokers have been recognized as some of the highest volume producing business brokers in the country.



For more information, please visit: www.indianaequitybrokers.com



Contact Details:

Indiana Equity Brokers - Central

Address: 5750 Castle Creek Drive, Suite 275

Indianapolis, IN 46250

Telephone: 317-333-6655
Consumer preferences and poor dairy processing techniques have made East Africa a hotbed for brucellosis, a fever disease spread by contaminated milk, a study warns.

The disease, which is caused by Brucella bacteria shed in livestocks urine, milk and other bodily fluids, is spreading across East Africa, says an article in the latest issue of the African Crop Science Journal.

Vaccination of livestock has been used in many countries to greatly reduce the impacts of this disease. Jo Halliday, Glasgow University

Some communities in East Africa prefer raw milk to processed dairy products, the researchers point out. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that nomadic cattle farmers like the Maasai often do not use prevention methods, such as milk pasteurization and veterinary care for livestock.

The disease has been largely contained in Sub-Saharan Africa. But it is still common in Kenya and Tanzania, the researchers found.

The scientists screened samples from about 2,300 animals and 1,140 people in selected areas of Kenya and Tanzania. They found the disease in 22.7 per cent of the human samples, far above the 3-8 per cent incidence level found in previous pan-African studies.

In both countries, screening of the disease should be considered in patients who have not responded to treatments for malaria, as both diseases cause similar symptoms and can be hard to distinguish, the paper says.

The most common species of Brucella bacteria are found in cattle and goats, says the studys lead researcher Andrew Chota, an agricultural scientist at the Tanzania Veterinary Laboratory Authority, a government agency.

Jo Halliday, an epidemiologist at Glasgow University in the United Kingdom, tells SciDev.Net that controlling brucellosis is important to avoid animal deaths and illness in humans, which both cause economic losses.

Vaccination of livestock has been used in many countries to greatly reduce the impacts of this disease, says Halliday, who has conducted studies on brucellosis in Tanzania. She adds that other control options include boiling or pasteurization of milk to prevent animal to human transmission via this route of infection.

The most important way to control brucellosis, according to Chota, is to raise awareness of the disease and the economic losses it can cause to farms and families.

Once that knowledge is well disseminated, he says, people would see the value of control strategies like boiling milk, buying pasteurized milk and hiring trained veterinarians to help with calving and the handling of placentas and aborted foetuses.
Lead is known to be particularly hazardous to the health, and Newark Public Schools have been known to have high levels of exposure for at least six years. This is especially alarming, considering that exposure to high levels of lead is known to be linked to developmental problems in children.

According to The New York Times, drinking water in these schools were found to have high levels of lead for at least as long as six years back, but the data have only recently released.

It was said that about one in eight water samples taken from these public schools during the academic years 2010 to 2011 and 2011 to 2012 containted above 15 parts per billion of lead. Still, it was only a month ago that the Newark School Officials drew attention to the problem, when lead levels in the water were found to be elevated in about half of the schools in the city.

In March, over 300 samples were taken in Newark and were then tested by four state-approved labs. Of those 300, NJ.com noted that 76 of them were above the required action level, and district superintendent Christopher Cerf ordered water fountains to be turned off in the schools with high lead levels, distributing bottled water for the children instead.

The likely origin of such high levels of lead may come from old plumbing, but at this point, it is not clear where the state could obtain money for replacement. Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey said that at the moment, there is not immediate danger, but other lawmakers have already called on more public money to be spent on fixing the problem.

Representative Donald M. Payne Jr, meanwhile, is already in talks about holding a news conference along with the city's mayor Ras Baraka and State Senator Ronald L. Rice, as they plan to call on Congress to pass a bill that would require states to receive federal funding for programs that could help schools test water for lead.

High lead levels are as much a problem for homeowners in other states as well. Despite the alarming levels seen in Newark schools, Time reported that a home in Flint, Michigan, tested with over 13,200 parts per billion.
Shark populations have decreased, and contrary to popular belief, climate change is not the culprit. In fact, the reason for such decline is closer to home: human danger.

A landmark study published in Frontiers in Marine Science showed that effective shark conservation, as studied in Indonesia, is only effective when protection through no-fishing zones is combined with efforts of local communities by managing their own fisheries and by finding alternative, sustainable livelihoods.

This is especially interesting, considering that the largest shark-fin industry is located in the heart of the Coral Triangle. According to Science Daily, this is a region on the Indian and Pacific Ocean that is home to the world's most diverse coral reefs -- known as the Amazon of the Seas.

In this area is an environment that sustains an industry that is responsible for over 3 million shark deaths every year. The reported annual catch is around 100,000 tons.

Shark fins are especially tempting for Indonesian fishermen because they have a high monetary value, making shark fishing one of the most lucrative livelihoods for coastal regions. The enormous profits have transformed coastal villages to cash-based communities.

Unfortunately, the shark populations have dropped in recent years. This is due mainly to the increase in the supply of shark fins to the global market -- which lead to overexploitation of the shark populations. This problem does not only affect the sharks and the biological ecosystem but the marine tourism industry as well. This is why it is necessary to protect both sharks as well as the local economy, and conservationists are already calling for better management of these areas -- sharks are still being harvested for their fins despite the population declines.

Although it is easy to say that these communities have to do the right thing, fishermen in the area expressed their dilemma in finding sustainable livelihoods due to the remoteness of the areas they are living in, and some of their found alternatives involve high personal or environmental risk that can hardly be sustainable, and instead undermines the benefits of successful conservation strategies on the local level.
A few miles across Arizona, Mexico and Utah, the federal government has been cleaning up what is left of uranium mining within the Navajo nation. This is done because of the fatal consequences of uranium contamination where a number of Navajo people died of cancer and kidney failure. What is even worse can be seen in the CDC study showing uranium in babies born now.

As reported on NPR, between 1944 and 1986, 4 million tons of uranium were blasted by mining companies out of Navajo land. The ore was used for making atomic weapons. When the Cold War petered out, the mining companies abandoned over five hundred mines.

Maria Welch works for the Southwest Research Information Center as a field researcher. She surveys Navajo families for the Navajo Birth Cohort Study, involving 599 participants thus far. The Southwest Research Information Center (SRIC) works with state and local groups as well as with federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in measuring the effects of uranium on Navajo people.

In one of her surveys involving infant-feeding practice, she found out that the Navajo tribe lacked the running water, and also learned that mothers mix their baby formula with just tap water as cited on Southwest Research Information Center. Furthermore, it was revealed that 27% of the study's respondents have high levels of uranium in their urine.

Many of these mining companies were already gone after by the U.S. Justice Department. The Environmental Protection Agency, since 2008, has taken away thousands of cubic yards of mine waste. It has also rebuilt almost fifty contaminated homes according to Jared Blumenfeld, EPA Regional Administrator. However, he believed that the work is not yet over. "We're spending a lot of time making sure that the polluters pay, so it isn't the federal taxpayer," Blumenfeld said.

A whopping $1 billion was very recently paid by Anadarko Petroleum and its subsidiary Kerr-McGee to Navajo Nation for cleanup as well as to compensate the Navajo families who have been living with the impacts of uranium contamination. On the other hand, the federal government had just begun the cleanup although it has already known about the detriments of uranium contamination decades ago.
Penniless New Yorkers live longer than impoverished inhabitants of other American cities, a new detailed research suggested.

The findings may appear surprising because NYC is considered to be one of the most expensive cities in the world, with unequal opportunities for the poor to find affordable housing, or the time and money required to look after themselves.

The JAMA research, however, found out that despite the gap between the lifestyle of its rich and poor inhabitants, New York is a model city whose cumulative numerous factors result in a longer life span. The affluent city has a high tax base, and the local government puts in a lot of money on social services for low income residents. In addition, it has low rates of smoking. A major chunk of the population consists of immigrants, and it has been suggested that they tend to be healthier compared to native born Americans.

Apart from this, the city also has its share of pro-health policies and amenities that help in promoting good health such as strict anti-tobacco agendas, ban on trans-fat, as well as a fair share of walkable sidewalks. As per the report, longevity is related more on healthy habits than access to medical care, because there is a correlation between a shorter lifespan and being obese or a smoker.

"There remains this misconception in our society that health is determined by health care," said Dr. Steven Woolf, professor and director of the Center on Society and Health at Virginia Commonwealth University. "Behaviors have a huge influence on health outcomes."

According to the research, NYC may not be the best place for impoverished children to get equal opportunities on the economic front; however the residents in the low income group have access to a healthier lifestyle that leads to a longer life span, as compared to the poor residents of other cities in U.S.
America's new USS Zumwalt is so furtive that it will go to the sea with reflectors so other ships can see them. The concept of the new navy destroyer is just like a smaller vessel on radar.

Washington Post reported that Lawrence Pye, a lobsterman, said that the 610- foot ship appeared to be like a 40-to-50 foot fishing boat on his radar. "It's pretty mammoth while it's that close to you," said Pye.

The Navy figured out that it is good for warfare, but it is less ideal when the destroyer is operating in extreme weather and routing busy shipping channels. They also examined the use of onboard reflectors to enhance its radar visibility. On the other hand, the Zumwalt destroyer has advanced radar that can perceive ships from distances. The chance of collision is small.

Daily Mail reported that the Navy examined the ship's radar signature without the brooding material that is hoisted on its halyard last month, according to Capt. James Downey, the project manager. They want to know how stealthy the ship is.

USS Zumwalt also features a composite deckhouse, new guns, a "tumblehome" hull and electric propulsion. It has a length of 600 ft. (180m) and a beam of 80.7 ft. (24.6 m). Its displacement is about 14,564 long tons (14,798 t).

The weapons of the ship include a RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM), 20x MK 57 VLS module, 70-100 LRLAP rounds, Tactical Tomahawk, two X MK 11057 mm guns, Vertical Launch Anti-Submarine rocket (ASROC), and two X 155 mm/6 caliber Advanced Gun system with 920 X 155 mm rounds total.

About 200 shipbuilders, residents and sailors gathered and watched the largest 600-foot Navy destroyer that glided past the Fort Popham last Monday. There will be more tests that will be conducted when the warship returns this month before it will be turned over to the Navy. It will be assigned in October in Baltimore and will be operational in 2018.
Herman Walldorf Commercial Real Estate on Tuesday announced two tenants at Southside Centre, the redevelopment project underway at 1700 Broad St. in Chattanoogas Southside. Dr. Charles Chip Crump and Dr. John Tapp, both internal medicine physicians of Parkridge Medical Group Diagnostic Center, and Dr. Michael C Patterson, DDS of Chattanooga Family Dental Center will open new offices at Southside Centre late this summer.

Operating under the umbrella of Hospital Corporation of America, Parkridge Medical Group Diagnostic Centers Southside location will offer primary care services under Dr. Crump and Dr. Tapp. Drs. Crump and Tapp are currently practicing out of Parkridge Medical Groups Diagnostic Center on the Parkridge Medical Center campus. In 2015, Dr. Crump was voted Chattanooga's #1 General Practice Doctor by the Chattanooga Times Free Presss Best of the Best contest.

Dr. Pattersons dental practice, Chattanooga Family Dental Center, renews its commitment to the Southside in a move to this new facility a few city blocks from their present location on Chestnut Street, said officials. Chattanooga Family Dental Center will continue to offer a full range of dental care for patients of all ages.

Walldorfs Benjamin Pitts, with Jason Lehn, manages leasing at Southside Centre for developer, John Straussberger, and helped land the two tenants. These two practices give the Southside community access to excellent health and dental care and anchor the commercial side of this project, Mr. Straussberger said. We want this project to be a great example of adaptive reuse for our city. This building was built as a car dealership, Hailey Chevrolet, in 1951, and then ABC Building Supply was here for a number of years, and we are turning it into a mix of high-end apartments, offices and retail.

Parkridge Health System continues to move forward in bringing healthcare services to growing communities in the Chattanooga market, said Darrell Moore, president and CEO of Parkridge Health System. The establishment of an internal medicine practice at the Southside Centre will complement the other services being offered, giving area residents access to a broader range of medical services.

Southside Centre has about 9,000 square feet of additional available commercial space. Mr. Straussberger said they are working on getting a restaurant into part of that space. Were one of the last downtown commercial offerings with parking on-site, Mr. Straussberger added.

For more information regarding leasing opportunities, contact Benjamin Pitts at 756-2400.
FLORENCE, S.C.  A soon-to-open design studio on North Dargan Street is getting a huge boost with free flooring and a web episode featuring a renovation expert you might have seen on HGTV.

I just have to pinch myself, Liz Mellette Andrews said late Monday morning after she and business partner Gracelyn Oharra Elmendorf took a break from filming all morning.

I wish I could win a floor, joked Nicki Huggins, lead designer for the nationally syndicated show, Fix It & Finish It, which promises and delivers renovations in a day.

Oharra Mellette Interiors new location was buzzing with activity on Monday that will continue today as Huggins and a film crew shot footage of Quick-Step flooring being installed in the 1,400-square-foot space. They also plan on interviewing Andrews and Elmendorf as well as Mayor Stephen Wukela and Ben Zeigler, who will talk about historic preservation, downtown redevelopment and the history of Florence and North Dargan Street.

Two years ago at the High Point Market in North Carolinas furniture and design mecca, Andrews and Elmendorf met Michelle Corley of Quick-Step flooring. Corley took a quick liking to the design duo.

I just love their story as best friends and design partners, Corley said. Its just a fabulous story.

Corley said her company made the flooring donation, as theres interest in downtowns roaring comeback as well as learning more about the two women and how they approach their profession. Having an expert such as Huggins help tell the storys before, during and after aspects for an episode that will be featured on the companys website was a no-brainer, she said.

They personally love and have a passion for their work and seeing downtowns renewal is really interesting, Corley said. The big draw is their personal sense of style that they call comfortable elegance. Theyre such a delight  just wonderful women.

Capturing the process of transformation is the gist of the episode, Corley said, noting that Huggins will return for more filming when the studio opens its doors in the near future.

Andrews and Elmendorf both said the filming theyd done thus far was fun and exciting.

For us, its such a positive move to get all our supplies in one place to make life easier and to have a place for our clients to come and see all our inventory, Andrews said.

Just before taking a lunch break, Elmendorf said, Its been a journey.

I never in my life thought Id be doing something like this, she said.

The design business requires a lot of energy, said Elmendorf, who likened it to solving a Rubiks cube constantly.

No stranger to working out solutions, Huggins said shes on hiatus from Fix It & Finish It, and said the No. 1 question people ask is, Did they really do a renovation in one day?

We really did it in a day, said Sam Pietsch, the director of photography for the show who is also at the helm for this project.

We love this, Huggins said. To be able to do what we do and work with (parent company) Mohawk (Industries) and Quick-Step has been great.

She also feel strongly about redevelopment, which she called an an American story.

Coming from California, it looks like a movie set, said Huggins, referring to the construction downtown. Florence is great. We love the South and the opportunity to get to come back and work in the South.

Zeigler, an attorney with Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd P.A., said Monday afternoon that he probably will film his segment today. He has been involved for years with downtowns revitalization and currently serves as president of the Florence County Historical Society.

Its a good story, as the thrust of downtown redevelopment is aesthetic in nature, he said. Its a great nexus there  a new business engaged in creating new spaces but also focused on doing it in a way that is respectful of historical character and making that preservation distinctive. Its kind of a microcosm of what the whole historical rehab process has been.
FLORENCE, S.C.  The city of Florence confirmed an agreement at its regular council meeting Monday that will bring a $13 million investment with 60 new jobs to the southeast corner of Evans and Dargan streets in downtown Florence.

The project has been code-named Project Tulip and will be announced by the developers in several weeks.

The city will provide approximately $2.2 million in incentives for infrastructure redevelopment to facilitate the service industry project. The city also will provide the East Evans Street land tract to the developers.

Florence Mayor Stephen J Wukela said the publics benefit on a project of this magnitude greatly exceeds the publics cost.

This continues the trend of development and redevelopment in downtown Florence, he said. A $13 million investment not only brings us an enormous amount of tax revenue and hospitality revenue, it brings more people into the downtown area.

City officials estimate that the project will bring about $10.4 million of tax revenue into the city.

Infrastructure changes include a street extension at the intersection of Dargan and East Evans streets. That intersection will be turned into a typical four-way cross, with traffic signals at each street. Sidewalk and storm water upgrades also are a part of the plan.

The project includes approximately 110 parking spots in the downtown area as well.

This incentive helps correct a very difficult intersection and creates a lot of energy that will continue the growth downtown, Wukela said.

According to the agreement between the city and the developers, construction will begin by March 2017. Completion is projected by June of 2018.
This month, more than 150 local Comcast NBCUniversal employees and their families, friends and community partners will make change happen as they volunteer at four different projects in Chattanooga as part of the 15th annual Comcast Cares Day.

Comcast Cares Day, which takes place each April during National Volunteer Month, is Comcast NBCUniversals companywide celebration of their year-round commitment to service and the nations largest single-day corporate volunteer effort in the country.

At Comcasts signature project in Chattanooga on Sunday, April 24, Comcast volunteers will guide local youth from area community centers and churches, through the Chattanooga Aquarium utilizing the organization's app to provide an interactive learning environment. At the end of the tours, Comcast volunteers will help connect dozens of families to Comcasts Internet Essentials, the nations largest high-speed Internet adoption program aimed at bridging the digital divide and getting high-speed Internet access into the homes of more families. For more information or to register for this project, visit: https://www.comcastinthecommunity.com/Project/Detail?projectId=6890.

Comcast employees will volunteer at the Room at the Inn on Saturday, April 30, to rebuild steps, clean out beds, re-mulch playgrounds and perform several other beautification projects. Additionally, volunteers will assemble care packages for shelter residents. To get more information or to register for this project, visit: https://www.comcastinthecommunity.com/Project/Detail?projectId=7619

Comcast is also hosting a clean-up day for the Chattanooga Community Kitchen, and a company blood drive to benefit Blood Assurance of Chattanooga as a part of the 2016 Comcast Cares Day projects in Chattanooga.

This year, the company expects more than 100,000 Comcast and NBCUniversal volunteers to participate in more than 800 projects across the country and around the globe. To date, volunteers have contributed more than 4 million service hours to improve nearly 7,000 projects in the U.S. and around the world since Comcast Cares Day started in 2001.

As we celebrate our 15th annual Comcast Cares Day, we are so proud to join with the Chattanooga Aquarium, the Room at the Inn, and all of our 2016 community partners to make a difference in Chattanooga, said Andy Macke, vice president of External Affairs at Comcast. Its truly amazing whats possible in a day, when hundreds of volunteers donate their time to make a difference in the lives of others. Im inspired by the communitys response to Comcast Cares Day 2016, and I thank the participants who help to make this effort a success.

The Comcast Foundation will also provide grants to local community partner organizations across the country on behalf of everyone who volunteers on Comcast Cares Day. The grants will help Comcasts community partners continue their mission of serving the community throughout the year. To date, the Comcast Foundation has awarded more than $18 million in grants to local non-profit organizations who have partnered with us on Comcast Cares Day.

Additionally, this Comcast Cares Day the company is folding in the broad support and amplification of two other company partnerships: Global Citizen, who organize the annual music and advocacy-focused Global Citizen Festival curated by Coldplays Chris Martin that has aired on MSNBC for the past few years, and Red Nose Day, a special television event with top musical and comedy performances that debuted on NBC last year. These initiatives aim to end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and tackle climate change globally and in the United States. By amplifying our support of these initiatives on Comcast Cares Day, Comcast NBCUniversal is providing additional ways to help drive positive change in communities, said officials.




The Lodge Cast Iron National Cornbread Cook-off will be part of the 20th Annual National Cornbread Festival April 23-24. The Lodge Cornbread Cook-off begins at 3 pm. on Saturday, April 23, on Second Street's cook-off stage.

Lodge Manufacturing Company and Michael P. Hennen Hospitality and Culinary Center announced the competitors are:

Crystal Schlueter, Southern Croque Monsieur On Poppy Seed Cornbread, Northglenn, Co.

Ronna Farley, Cornbread-Topped Cordon Bleu Skillet, Rockville, Md.

Karen Harris, Mexican Style Cornbread with Chipotle Shrimp Salad, Littleton, Co.

Naylet LaRochelle, Bayou Smoky Shrimp and Fried Cornbread Green Tomato Arepas, Miami, Fla.

Paula Todora, Open Face Beef Chile Cheeseburger Hoe Cakes, Fort Worth, Tx.

The judges for this year's contest are representatives or various print media outlets and food professionals. They include:

Josh Miller, Taste of the South Magazine, Birmingham.

Mary Constantine, Knoxville News Sentinel, Knoxville

Pam Lolley, Southern Living Test Kitchen, Birmingham

Bob Carlton, Birmingham News/AL.com, Birmingham

Chef Shannon Johnson, Michael P. Hennen Hospitality and Culinary Center, Chattanooga

Sponsored by Lodge, Five Star Range Company and Martha White, The Lodge Cast Iron National Cornbread Cook-off is a main dish contest, with competitors required to use a cup of Martha White Cornmeal and a Lodge Cast Iron Skillet or Dutch Oven for the preparation of recipes.

Lodge accepted recipe submissions for the cook-off and Chef Shannon Johnson of the Michael P. Hennen Hospitality and Culinary Center at Chattanooga State Community College tested the recipes. The winner of the Lodge Cornbread Cook-off will receive $5,000 and a Five Star Range.

As part of Lodges commitment to culinary education, the company and Michael P. Hennen Hospitality and Culinary Center developed a collaborative relationship to enhance the careers of new culinary professionals and enrich the flourishing food community in the Tennessee Valley, said officials.

At 1 p.m., the Martha White Past Judges Cook-off will begin Second Streets cook-off stage. The Martha White Cornbread Cook-off is comprised of bloggers and past judges of the National Cornbread Cook-off. A 4-H Cornbread Cook-off, consisting of nine-year-old competitors, kicks-off at 9 a.m.

Contestants for the Martha White Past Judges Cook-off include:

Chris Chamberlain, Nashville Scene / Food Republic, Nashville

Jennifer Justus, Food Writer and Cookbook Author, Madison, Tn.

Mary Constantine, Knoxville News Sentinel, Knoxville

Bob Carlton, Birmingham News / AL.com, Birmingham

Chef Walter Lambert, WVLT-TV Knoxville, Knoxville

The winner of the Martha White Cook-off will receive $2,000 and will donate the money to their favorite culinary charity.

Judges for the Martha White Past Judges Cook-off include:

Linda Carman, Martha White

Pat Powell, J.M. Smucker Company

Christy Jordan, Southern Plate

Stacey Little, Southern Bite

Chadwick Boyd, Food & Lifestyle Expert

Founded in 1896 by Joseph Lodge, Lodge Manufacturing Company is the largest domestic manufacturer of Cast Iron Cookware and the oldest family-owned cookware company in the country. Two great-grandsons and a great-great grandson are on the management team.

Chattanooga State offers an AAS degree in Hospitality Management. The degree offers four specific concentrations: Culinary Arts, Hotel Management, Food and Beverage Management and Tourism.

The Culinary Arts curriculum is taught in the Michael P. Hennen Hospitality and Culinary Center, a state-of-the-art culinary kitchen, which opened in 2015. Specific required training in the Center helps to prepare students to assume positions as trained culinary professionals in a variety of foodservice settings including full service restaurants, hotels, resorts, clubs, catering operations, contract foodservice and health care facilities, said officials.

The focus of the Hennen Center is to provide Chattanooga and the surrounding area with a well-educated and skilled hospitality workforce to meet a growing demand. The goal of the program is to directly link with the community to continually improve the guest experience in local restaurants, hotels and regional attractions. These operations provide over $1 billion to the local economy annually.






Chairman Lamar Alexander on Tuesday said there is already disturbing evidence that the Education Department is ignoring the law that Congress passed in December and told the Education Secretary he would use every power of Congress to make sure the law is implemented the way we wrote it.

Chairman Alexander said that in a negotiated rulemaking session, your department proposed a rule that would do exactly what the law says it shall not do . Not only is what youre doing against the law, the way youre trying to do it is against another provision in the law.

Chairman Alexander was chairing the second of six planned oversight hearings on the law passed last year to fix No Child Left Behind. Education Secretary John King was todays witness.

As Secretary, you have sworn to discharge your duties faithfully, and in your confirmation hearing, you said you would abide by the letter of the law. The importance of the hearing today is to make sure that you and your employees are doing just that, Chairman Alexander said.

In writing the law last year, Congress debated and ultimately chose to leave unchanged a provision in the law often referred to as comparability, first put in there in 1970, that says school districts have to provide at least comparable services with state and local funding to Title I schools and non-Title I schools.

The law specifically says that school districts shall not include teacher pay when they measure spending for purposes of comparability.

At Tuesdays hearing, Chairman Alexander said: To accomplish your goals on comparability, you are using the so-called supplement not supplant provision that is supposed to keep local school districts from using federal Title I dollars as a replacement for state and local dollars in low-income schools.

The department is forcing school districts to include teacher salaries in how they measure their state and local spending and require that state and local spending in Title I schools be at least equal to the average spent in non-Title I schools.

The chairmans prepared remarks are below:

Mr. Secretary, I urged the president to nominate an Education Secretary because I thought it was important to have a confirmed Secretary when the department was implementing the new law fixing No Child Left Behind.



As Secretary, you have sworn to discharge your duties faithfully, and in your confirmation hearing, you said you would abide by the letter of the law.



The importance of the hearing today is to make sure that you and your employees are doing just that.



Last year this committee worked to pass a bill that fixed No Child Left Behind. The legislation signed by the president passed the House 359  64. It passed the Senate 85-12. The president called it a Christmas miracle.



The reason we were able to achieve such unusual unanimity and consensus is that people had gotten tired of the Department of Education telling them so much of what they ought to be doing.



It wasnt just Republicans or governors who were fed up, it was school superintendents, teachers, principals, parents, state legislatures, school boards, and chief state school officers.



There hasnt been a broader coalition thats helped to pass a law in a long time.



The Department of Education had become a national school board, telling Washington state how to evaluate teachers, telling Kansas what their standards must be, and telling Tennessee how to fix failing schools.



The legislation we passed got rid of all that. And thenit went furtherto the extraordinary length of putting in statute explicit prohibitions on the department in anticipation of another effort at regulatory overreach.



Its a dramatic change in direction for federal education policythe Wall Street Journal read it and said its the largest devolution of federal control to the states in a quarter-century.



But it isnt worth the paper its printed on if not implemented properly.



Today, were holding our second hearing of at least six to oversee the implementation of this law and already we are seeing disturbing evidence of an Education Department that is ignoring the law that each of this committees 22 members worked so hard to craft.



It wasnt easy to pass a law that most of us could agree to. As I said last year, there were crocodiles at every turn.



One of them was an issue people call comparability. Theyre talking about a provision in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, first put in there in 1970, that says school districts have to provide at least comparable services with state and local funding to Title I schools and non-Title I schools.



The law specifically says that school districts shall not include teacher pay when they measure spending for purposes of comparability.



This committee has debated several times whether or not teacher pay should be excluded. Senator Bennet felt very strongly about his proposal to address this, and I felt strongly about mine.



Ultimately the United States Congress made two decisions about this issue, as reflected in the law we passed:



First, we chose not to change the comparability language in law, so the law still says teacher pay shall not be included:



Second, we added a requirement that school districts report publicly the amount they are spending on each student, including teacher salaries, so that parents and teachers know how much money is being spent and can make their own decisions about what to do with it, rather than the federal government mandating it be used in comparability calculations.



The law that the president signed in December didnt do one thing to change the law that teacher salaries not be included.



But heres what your department did on April 1  you tried to do what Congress wouldnt do in Comparability by regulating another separate provision in the law.



In a negotiated rulemaking session, your department proposed a rule that would do exactly what the law says it shall not dothat is, force districts to include teacher salaries in how they measure their state and local spending and require that state and local spending in Title I schools be at least equal to the average spent in non-Title I schools.



If your proposed rule were adopted, it would:



Require a complete, costly overhaul of almost all the State and local finance systems in the country

Require forcing teachers to transfer to new schools

Require states and school districts to move back to the burdensome practice of detailing every individual cost on which they spend money to provide a basic educational program to all students, which is exactly what we were trying to free states and districts from under this law.

According to the Council of Great City Schools, it would cost $3.9 billion just for their 69 urban school systems to eliminate the differences in spending between schools .





But Im not interested in debating today whether what youve proposed is a good idea or a bad one  the plain fact of the matter is that the law specifically says you cannot do it.



Not only is what youre doing against the law, the way youre trying to do it is against another provision in the law.



To accomplish your goals on comparability, you are using the so-called supplement not supplant provision that is supposed to keep local school districts from using federal Title I dollars as a replacement for state and local dollars in low-income schools.



According to a Politico story published on December 18, the former Secretary of Education said: Candidly, our lawyers are much smarter than many of the folks who were working on this bill.



We in Congress were smart enough to anticipate your lawyers attempts to rewrite the law.



So we included specific prohibitions in the supplement not supplant provision that would prohibit you from doing the very thing you have proposed.



Section 1118(b)(4), says Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize or permit the Secretary to prescribe the specific methodology a local educational agency uses to allocate State and local funds to each school receiving assistance under this part.; and



Section 1605, says Nothing in this title shall be construed to mandate equalized spending per pupil for a State, local educational agency, or school.



Ill use every power of Congress to make sure the law is implemented the way we wrote it, including our ability to use the appropriations process and to overturn such regulations once they are final.



In addition, if you try to force states to follow these regulations that ignore the laws we wrote, Ill encourage them to request a hearing with the department. And if they lose, Ill tell them to take you to court.



Second, Im not the only one who can read the law. Youre going to come right up against the broad coalition of groups who helped pass this law  the governors, school superintendents, teachers, principals, parents, state legislatures, and school boards.



Theyve already sent you a letter saying that Regulations and accompanying guidance should clarify how supplement, not supplant is separate and distinct from maintenance of effort and comparability, and steer clear of anything that would change or modify any of those provisions beyond the statutory changes already signed into law.



Wisconsin Superintendent Tony Evers, a member of the rulemaking committee, said last week that "Congressional intent isn't necessarily being followed here.



Noelle Ellerson of the school superintendents association, says that the prohibitions in the law, in tandem with Congress' deliberate act of leaving comparability unchanged, makes a seemingly tight case against expanding supplement not supplant.



Youve testified here and in the House of Representatives that you will abide by the letter of the law.



Its not abiding by the letter of the law to require local school districts to use teacher salaries and equalize spending between Title I and non-Title I schools when the law prohibits you from doing that.



Its not abiding by the letter of the law to use the supplement not supplant provision to achieve your goals for Comparability when Congress debated this issue and chose to not make any changes in the law.



Im making a point of this today because were at the beginning of the implementation of a law that affects 3.4 million teachers and 50 million students in 100,000 public schools.



Im determined to see that the law is implemented the way Congress wrote it.



I think its important at the beginning of this implementation to make sure that you and those who work at the department understand that.
The Lee University Choral Union, Chorale and Symphony Orchestra will present a concert of masterworks on Tuesday, April 19, at 7:30 p.m. in the Conn Center. The performance will be conducted by Dr. Jonathan Rodgers, Dr. William Green, and Maestro Robert Bernhardt.

The program will feature The Last Words of David by Randall Thompson, Requiem by Maurice Durufle, and Shicksalslied (Song of Destiny) by Johannes Brahms.

"We are looking forward to a wonderful evening of music by our very talented students, including a choir of over 100, an orchestra of more than 50, and wonderful works by Brahms and Durufle, said Dr. Rodgers. It has been several years since they have been programmed on a Masterworks concert at Lee, and we are excited to feature their work on the Conn Center stage this year."

The evening will also include the announcement of Lee Universitys recipient of the annual Presser Scholarship, an award given to students who demonstrate outstanding accomplishments in music performance at accredited colleges and universities across the country.

Choral Union is a blend of both music majors and non-music majors, and it specializes in choral music and major masterworks.

Lees Chorale is an ensemble of vocalists who are selected by audition. An emphasis is placed on the diversity and breadth of traditional choral literature.

The Symphony Orchestra is an ensemble of select instrumentalists who perform operatic, choral, and other major symphonic works.

Dr. Rodgers, assistant professor of music at Lee, directs Choral Union and Ladies of Lee. He joined Lees faculty in 2013. He currently teaches choral conducting and literature classes, oversees the choral conducting curriculum, and supervises choral conductors in the graduate program.

Dr. Green, dean of the School of Music at Lee, oversees a broad program of undergraduate and graduate music degrees. In addition to conducting the Lee University Chorale and Festival Choir, he also teaches graduate and undergraduate conducting.

Maestro Bernhardt serves as an artist-in-residence at Lee and conductor of the Lee University Symphony Orchestra. He was recently named Principal Pops Conductor of the Grand Rapids Symphony in Michigan and is a frequent guest conductor for the Boston Pops and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.

This is a free, non-ticketed event, and members of the community are invited to attend. For more information, please contact the Lee University School of Music at 614-8240 or email music@leeuniversity.edu.




The company already has collective bargaining agreements covering its directly-owned fleet, said a statement from the ITF. Maersk Group vessels (owned or chartered) total around 500 ships.

ITF maritime coordinator Jacqueline Smith applauded the companys pledge. This is welcome news, she said in the ITF statement. It shows that Maersk Group is reaching for high standards and behaving in a responsible and praiseworthy manner.

This closes a circle that has been kept open by, in some cases, vessel providers who have told Maersk they have agreements on board when we know they havent, she added.

The news from the company was announced at a meeting of the ITF Maersk network (which is made up of seafarers and dockers unions with members based on vessels or in ports operated directly or indirectly by the Maersk Group) in Copenhagen, Denmark.

That meeting reflected the ITF Maersk networks commitment to positive engagement with the company, and included attendance at the companys AGM.

Its in everyones interests for Maersk and the ITF to have a positive relationship. Millions of the transport workers represented by our unions work for Maersk directly or via subsidiary companies and we are committed to making sure they have decent terms and conditions. As a key industry player we think Maersk wants that too, which is why good faith open dialogue is the only thing that makes sense moving forward, Smith concluded.
Chittagong: At least 10 workers were injured in a fire at a ship-breaking yard at Sitakunda of Chittagong on Sunday.

The injured workers--Saiful, 22, Noab Ali, 27, Milon Mandal, Belal, 25, Roni, 26, Razzaque, 40, and Shahid, 28, were admitted at Chittagong Medical College Hospital with severe burn injuries. Others were treated in local clinics.

The victims hailed from different areas of Jamalpur district.

Police said the fire broke out as gas cylinder was exploded at about 1:00pm when the workers were cutting the tank of a ship at ZN Enterprise Ship Breaking Yard at Madam Bibirhat leaving the workers injured. [16/08/10]





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Dhaka: Bangladesh plans to upgrade Mongla, its second largest port, and to build a third sea port at Kuakata. The twin moves are aimed at providing greater sea access to neighbours India, Nepal and Bhutan. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has already been signed with David Wignal Associate, a Singapore-based private company. The upgradation of Mongla port to international standards could cost $3 billion, Mongla port authority chairman Commodore M. Faruk told United News of Bangladesh (UNB) news agency. ?The project includes construction of international standard jetty, a power generation plant and a water treatment plant, industrial park and container terminal. It will ensure utilisation of port through transit trade with India, China, Nepal and Bhutan. ?As per the agreement, all development work are scheduled to be completed by 2030. ?The government has simultaneously started the groundwork for the country's third seaport at Kuakata to facilitate India, Nepal and Bhutan to transit goods, The Daily Star newspaper said Monday. ?Kuakata is currently a sea resort and tourist destination in Patuakhali district. It is located 320 km south of the national capital. ?A technical committee that visited Kuakata last month and recommended the site for a port, submitted its report to the shipping ministry last week. [17/08/10]

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Hong Kong: Rapidly expanding Hong Kong-listed Brightoil Petroleum plans to buy five very large crude carriers (VLCC) for $537.5 million, the company said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The Chinese oil trader said on Monday it had signed a letter of intent on July 23 with third parties to purchase the five new vessels.

The first four will be constructed and delivered to the company by the second half of 2012, with the remaining one to be delivered by first-quarter 2013, the statement said.

The purchase will be funded by bank financing and internal resources, it said.

The contract for the transaction will be finalised no later than August 31, it added.

Brightoil's filing was in response to a query by the Hong Kong bourse on unusual price and trading volume in its shares, which have fallen by 9.5 percent in the past two trading sessions.

The company plans to set up a trading house, Brightoil International Petroleum, with teams to trade fuel oil, middle distillates and crude in Singapore, Europe and the U.S., court documents show.

Brightoil's detailed plans were submitted to the Singapore High court by Quek Chin Thean, former global head of BP's fuel oil desk, as part of his defence to a breach-of-contract suit by the oil major.

The bulk of the former traders from BP's global fuel oil team and Asia marine fuels desk which Brightoil had hired for the new Singapore-based trading firm started work this week. [18/08/10]





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Singapore: Seatrade Asia Week editor Marcus Hand headed to Manila this week and the latest issue of the regional e-newspaper has a strong crewing focus. On the front page there's news that officer wages are spiralling for large bulkers. Previously the officer shortage had seen salaries for tanker masters and senior officers shoot through the roof. With the enormous influx of new bulker tonnage this year, this wage escalation has spread to capesizes.

Inside the newspaper there are exclusive reports on the topsy turvy state of Indian iron ore exports, as well as an update from Sovcomflot on a groundbreaking aframax voyage along the Northern Sea Route of the Arctic.

Given that it is late August and people are gradually heading back to work Seatrade Asia Week took the opportunity this week to provide readers with an in depth guide to the best maritime conferences held in the region in the coming three months.

Seatrade Asia Week comes out 50 times a year and is priced at just $300 a year. Moreover, we are running a special offer right now. Subscribe by September 10 and receive an additional two months free. To subscribe click here . [27/08/10]





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Colombo: A vast new port has opened on the southern tip of Sri Lanka - financed and built almost completely by China.

The facility is a showpiece among a series of big new infrastructure projects as Sri Lanka looks to rebuild following last year's defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels, which brought to an end the long-running civil war.

In a ceremony at Hambantota, the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa paid tribute to the port's backer. He said the offer by China to build the port has served as a reminder of the two countries' traditional friendship. [16/08/10]

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Seoul: The world's second-largest shipyard, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co, is aiming to generate 30% of its sales from wind power by 2020 as pollution concerns spur demand for alternative energy, writes Bloomberg.



The company expects to generate as much as 9 trillion won ($7.5bn) in wind-power sales in 2020, from about $25m this year, Chief Strategy Officer Koh Young Youl said in an interview in Seoul. The company earned 99% of its revenue from building ships and offshore equipment last year.



"It's a very ambitious target and it won't be easy," Koh said yesterday. "Still, the market potential for wind power is very big, partly because there's a lot of interest in going offshore as the space on land runs out."



Daewoo, which already makes turbines, may also run wind farms, build vessels for installing offshore units and open a generator factory in China as Korean shipbuilders seek new businesses to meet competition from Chinese yards. Wind-power capacity worldwide may rise 21% a year through 2014, according to the Global Wind Energy Council.



"It is our plan to eventually be able to provide a full chain of services for wind energy -- from making turbines to operating mills," Koh said. The Seoul-based shipyard is developing its first offshore wind turbine, he said.



The shipbuilder's wind-power sales may reach $800m in 2012, Koh said. The company in January said the company's sales will likely reach 12.4 trillion won this year. [26/08/10]





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Oslo: Flex LNG is adamant that Samsung Heavy Industries will not cancel a series of high-priced newbuildings despite much speculation on the lack of funding for the project. ??The Oslo-listed company said it has been given assurances by the South Korean yard that it has no intention cancelling a quartet of LNG floating production storage and offloading units. The ships have a combined order value of some $4bn. ??The newbuildings, signed for between 2007 and 2009, have looked to be in jeopardy as tight credit markets hampered Flex's efforts to raise cash. ??"The company acknowledges the current challenging fund raising environment it faces and the impact that this has on the ability of the group to finance its funding requirement," a statement by the owner on the Oslo bourse read yesterday. ??"Following the raising of $10m of additional capital as part of the listing on Oslo Axess on 30 October 2009, the company expects to have sufficient financial resources to enable it to continue trading and to meet its payment obligations until the next hull payments are due to be made to Samsung in November 2010." ??Flex failed to give a resumption notice for construction of the vessels by 31 May handing Samsung the contractual right to axe the orders as well as another contract. [27/08/10]





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Dubai: Goltens today confirmed that it has leased a 23,000sq meter plot in Dubai Maritime City in order to develop a ship repair facility. The contract, for Industrial Precinct plots 6 and 7, will see occupancy of the area for 25 years. Goltens will start construction immediately and hopes to move into the new, more centrally located Dubai facilities by 3rrd quarter 2011.



Pointing out that the company is the first to sign up for a plot in Dubai Maritime City - Industrial Precinct (DMC), Goltens Worldwide Services President Paul Friedberg said, "Finalising our agreement with the ship repair yard, Drydocks World, Jadaf Dubai, we can embark on building a new facility to consolidate all of our services in an optimum fashion under one roof, introduce some new services and provide additional capacity for future expansion. Despite a global shipping recession, there is a steady flow of ship repair activity and business. Our new workshop and repair/maintenance center will be our hub for the Middle East."



The 2.27 million square metre Dubai Maritime City - Industrial Precinct is divided into the Maritime Centre, the Industrial Precinct, The Academic Quarter, the Marina District, the Harbour Residence, and the Harbour Offices. The Maritime Centre District is the centrepiece of Dubai Maritime City and will serve as an international hub for maritime business. [20/08/10]









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Hanoi: Japan's Mitsui.O.S.K Lines Ltd, Nippon Yusen KK and Itochu Group, are planning a joint-venture with Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) to construct a large container port in Haipong, reported the Japan's newspaper Nikkei on August 12.

The project will have a total investment capital of US$350 million, 51 percent of which comes from Vinalines. The rest is equally divided among the three Japanese groups.

When completed in 2015, the port will handle about 855,000 teu, about half the total handling capacity of Vietnam's northern port.

Nikkei also reported that the Japanese government is considering lending Vietnam US$940 million to improve the infrastructure of its northern region.

While Vietnam has seen a boom in the number of decent ports opening up in the south of the country of late, terminal investment up north has been lacking with only Maersk and SSA expressing interest to develop facilities there. [13/08/10]





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Manila: International Container Terminal Services Inc (ICTSI) has denied construction of its new berth in Manila is illegal. At the weekend Manila vice mayor, Francisco Domagoso alleged the berth six at Manila International Container Terminal was being carried out "in secret" without the permission of the city government. "The development of a new berth is part of ICTSI's contractual obligations to the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), and ICTSI has obtained approvals from the PPA pertaining to the development. Some of the approvals were from the city authorities, but obtained through the PPA," ICTSI said. The office of the mayor of Manila blamed overlapping jurisdiction between the PPA and other agencies. It said there was no need to "browbeat or harass" parties caught inbetween. [24/08/10]

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Manila: International Container Terminal Services Inc., the largest Philippine port operator, plans to spend $600 million expanding facilities in Latin America as economic growth spurs trade. The company will make the investments in Argentina, Mexico and Colombia during the next two years, Chairman Enrique Razon told reporters today after a shareholders meeting in Manila. The terminal operator previously announced plans to spend $123 million upgrading facilities in Manila, Brazil, Ecuador and Madagascar this year. ?The company expects volumes across its operations to continue growing this year, with all of its terminal performing "well," Razon said. ?Stockholders also approved a new class of shares at the meeting. The terminal operator fell 1.1 percent to close at 32.85 pesos in Manila. [12/08/10]





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Chicago Hospital Delivers 17 Pairs Of Twins In One Week

By Mae Rice in News on Apr 12, 2016 7:19PM



Parents hold their newborn twins at Advocate Children's Hospital in Oak Lawn (photo via Facebook)

In the first week of April, Advocate Children's Hospital in Oak Lawn delivered 17 pairs of twins. Dr. Brett Galley, a neonatologist in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit, told ABC News that this is a stunning figuretypically, the hospital delivers 10 pairs of twins per month.

"[I]t's been like Noah's Ark around here  the babies are coming in twos," Galley told the Tribune.

The influx of twins has put the hospital close to its maximum, USA Today reported. They have capacity for 57 newborns, and as of April 8, they had 45.

Hospital employees are going to great pains not to confuse the twins, who look alike, share a last name and share a birth date. "We have a lot of fail safes to make sure we don't confuse the twins," Galley told the Tribune. "We treat each baby as an individual."

It's common for babies, especially twins, to be born prematurely; Galley told the Tribune that the current wave of twins at the hospital are no exception. They were born between 26 and 36 weeks into their mothers' pregnancies, he said.

To celebrate the tremendous number of babies, the hospital posted a Facebook album titled "Twins galore!", last updated on Friday.







One photo in the album reveals that there are twin doctors on the staff at Advocate Children's HospitalDr. Richard Kampanatkosol, a neonatologist, and Dr. Ronald Kampanatkosol, a pediatric critical care physician.


Mumbai: Ports in India will be allowed to outsource all future clean-up operations to global agencies with expertise in the area. According to the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency, the Ministry of Shipping agreed on this after reviewing India's preparedness to handle oil spills, writes the Business Times.



'We are most likely going to outsource it, as it is not possible for ports to buy all the equipment which runs into several hundred crores (billions of rupees). We are planning to authorise the ports to outsource the job of clean-up to people who have prior experience in handling such cases,' Rakesh Srivastava, joint secretary in the ministry, said.



The ministry came to this conclusion after the government's disastrous experience in combating the spill from a damaged ship, MSC Chitra (pictured), at the mouth of Mumbai harbour.



'We are not equipped to handle an oil spill of even 700 tonnes,' said a senior government official involved in the Mumbai clean-up operation. 'The equipment needed for cleaning up the oil slick is very expensive and its maintenance is very difficult,' the official told PTI. 'The equipment needed for cleaning up the oil slick (near Mumbai) is very expensive and its maintenance is very difficult.'



The ministry has created a contingency fund for clean-up operations.The money has been collected by ports, which handle oil imports and exports, by charging 50 paise ($0.01) per tonne from oil passing through these ports. 'We will prepare an approved list of people or companies which handle oil spills . . . technical people from all over the world,' Srivastava said. [25/08/10]





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London: INTERTANKO's Council will be invited at its October meeting in Singapore to appoint Joe Angelo, deputy managing director to succeed Peter Swift as managing director on his retirement on 31 December, 2010. In addition, Katharina 'Kathi' Stanzel has been appointed deputy managing director. INTERTANKO had an overwhelming level of interest in the position and some highly qualified and capable individuals were shortlisted.?"We are grateful and flattered by some of the names who threw their hat into the ring," said Graham Westgarth, INTERTANKO's chairman. "Ultimately however, we felt that Joe and Kathi working together to lead INTERTANKO through its change of MD was an optimal solution."?Joe Angelo has worked for INTERTANKO for six years, first as director of regulatory affairs and the Americas. Prior to joining INTERTANKO he held various senior roles in the United States Coast Guard, lastly as director of standards for marine safety, security and environmental protection, where he led U.S. delegations at the International Maritime Organization. As the existing deputy managing director, he ensures continuity and stability to INTERTANKO's membership upon Peter's departure.?"Joe is a well respected figure not only within INTERTANKO but also in the corridors of the IMO and the international shipping community. Having initially not been available for selection we are delighted this subsequently changed and are pleased that he agreed to take up the challenge," said Westgarth. Kathi Stanzel joins INTERTANKO from the International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPC). A marine biologist by profession, she has worked in senior technical advisory and claims management roles within the marine pollution sector. [30/08/10]





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Almaty: Kazakhstan aims to handle half of the Caspian Sea's commodity cargoes by 2013 after expanding its fleet of oil tankers with the help of private investors, the country's transport minister said. The larger fleet will allow Central Asia's top oil producer to ship 57 percent more crude via the Caspian port of Aktau by 2014, in preparation for the launch of major new projects, Minister of Transport and Communications Abelgazi Kusainov said.?"Today, we ship 30 percent of all cargoes in the Caspian. We are already acquiring large tankers and by 2013 intend to have a 50 percent share of all cargoes, primarily oil and grain," Kusainov told Reuters in an interview.?Kazakhstan is one of five countries with a coastline on the Caspian Sea. The others are Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia and Turkmenistan.?Kazakhstan, which has attracted over $100 billion in foreign investment since gaining independence two decades ago, is home to the Kashagan oilfield, the world's largest oil find in four decades which is due to start output in the next few years.?Kashagan, a project run by several international energy majors, will eventually be able to ship 56 million tonnes of crude per year. In its first phase, annual shipments of 7.5 million tonnes will move by tanker and rail by 2013.?The existing Tengizchevroil venture, run by U.S. oil major Chevron, also is expected to contribute to a rise in crude production when it completes an expansion to raise output by between 60 percent and 90 percent by 2016. [16/08/10]





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Kuala Lumpur: As struggling Malaysian Merchant Marine (MMM) posts a RM5m loss its directors again cast doubt over the company's future. MMM reported a loss for the first quarter ended 30 June of RM5.16m, with revenues of just RM288,000 for the period. "The company and the group are no longer viable operating concerns. The board is in discussions with several parties on the company's future but is pessimistic that any of these discussions will lead to a fruitful conclusion," MMM said. [31/08/10]

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Mumbai: Geneva headquartered Mediterranean Shipping Company has stated that its vessel MSC Chitra was not to blame for the collision with the merchant vessel Khalijia on Saturday. In a statement to the press, MSC said that it has performed a preliminary review of the vessel's black box recorder. It states "While the precise circumstances of the collision will be determined by an inquiry by the Mumbai authorities...from the recording it is clear that the MSC Chitra was properly proceeding outbound within the main navigation channel when the Khalijia 3, with salvors' escort tugs in attendance, left what we believe was the Khalijia 3's anchorage position, and crossed the fairway ahead of the MSC Chitra heading generally southbound and turning to port.



"For reasons not known to us the Khalijia 3 unexpectedly continued turning to port, and came back to cross the fairway again, now heading in a generally northbound direction, and struck the MSC Chitra on the MSC Chitra's port side while the MSC Chitra was still properly navigating in the main channel. Therefore, it would appear that under the rules of navigation the Khalijia 3 was significantly in error. We of course await the results of the full inquiry in due course."



The incident led to an oil spill and container recovery operation at Mumbai harbour leading to the closure of Jawaharlal Nehru port (JNPT) and Mumbai Port until completion of the operation - estimated Sunday. Vessels are currently choosing to detour and sail towards Gujarat to berth at ports like Mundra and Pipavav. [12/08/10]





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Singapore: Issue 20 of regional e-newspaper, Seatrade Asia Week , has just hit subscribers' inboxes. Inside are reports from dedicated correspondents from Asian shipping's hubs . On the front page Mumbai correspondent Shirish Nadkarni describes the incredible obstacle course facing ships trying to enter his home port in the wake of spilled containers from a collision a couple of weeks ago. Inside, Katherine Si hears of a huge tanker build up in China while attending a conference in Dalian, while Jacintha Stephens reports from Kuala Lumpur on MISC's new boss's vision for Malaysia's leading shipping line. Sam Chambers reports on Toll Group's massive new China logistics outlay announced from Shanghai this week. In Hong Kong, Barry O'Rorke analyses growing multimodal links between China and Southeast Asia, while the newspaper's editor, Marcus Hand in Singapore, picks apart the latest numbers from Neptune Orient Lines and other containerlines which show box freight rates are nearing a four-year high.

?No other shipping title has invested in such a wide, expert network of Asian correspondents. Seatrade Asia Week comes out 50 times a year and is priced at just $300 a year. To subscribe click here .





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The BigRoll Barentz is a Finnish Swedish 1A Ice Class MC vessel is the first in a series of four was handed over to its owners on 8 April by Cosco Dalian Shipyard.

BigRoll Shipping said the vessels are specifically designed for the marine transportation of major modules and equipment for large energy projects both on and offshore in extreme environments.

The BigRoll Barentsz is being immediately deployed on a multi-year contract with Yamgaz, the consortium of Technip, JGC Corporation and Chiyoda for module transportation as part of the Yamal LNG project.

Yamal in the Russian Arctic is ice bound for 7-10 months a year and the vessel is capable of operating in temperatures down to minus 50 degrees Celsius.
Oslo: For the first time ever, a bulk carrier with non-Russian flag is using the Northern Sea Route (NSR) as a transit trade lane to transport iron ore from the Northern part of Norway to China via Arctic and Russian waters, reports the Norwegian Shipowners' Association.



The vessel departs from the port of Kirkenes in Northern Norway in early September. One of the world's few modern heavy ice-class bulk carriers - Nordic Barents - will carry a cargo of iron ore concentrate via the NSR through Arctic and Russian waters to China, thereby shortening the distance to China by about one third.



The ship will load 41,000 tons before setting course for China. Tschudi Shipping Company through its subsidiary Tschudi Arctic Transit and Nordic Bulk Carriers, working with Russian maritime authorities, are behind the Nordic-Russian venture.



"We are very excited about the opportunities the NSR will generate," says Felix H. Tschudi, Chairman of the Norwegian Tschudi Shipping Company and the largest shareholder of Northern Iron, the Australian-listed owner of the Sydvaranger iron ore mine. "It has been our ambition for years, so we are very happy to finally have the opportunity to do this voyage. The Northern Sea Route can be of great importance for the companies in northern Scandinavia and on the Kola Peninsula which ship oil, gas, minerals and other raw materials to the increasingly important Asian markets." [26/08/10]

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Shanghai: Chinese shipbuilder New Times Shipbuilding (NTS) has signed a contractual agreement with GL's maritime software developer Friendship Systems. The contract includes the licensing of engineering software and design support for the development of a large crude oil tanker. By introducing the simulation-driven design software, the DanHua Port-based shipyard aims to improve the efficiency of its products, streamlining its design work and increasing its competitiveness.



Friendship-Framework is a CAE software system for the simulation-driven design of optimal functional surfaces like ship hulls, rudders, propellers and other maritime systems exposed to a flow regime. The development of optimally task-suitable, energy efficient, high performing designs is achieved in a streamlined design process which is built around integrated simulation. Parametric modelling, variant generation and assessment, as well as hydrodynamic optimisation are key design steps which are fed by the simulation results and lead to an optimal design.



NTS boasts extensive shipbuilding facilities, which include dry docks for 150,000 dwt and 300,000 dwt vessels and also operates a marine design and research institute and a technology centre. Since 1996, the shipyard has delivered about 100 vessels of all types, mainly bulk carriers, oil tankers and container ships. According to the company, a present 114 vessels are in the order book amounting to a total of 13,800,000 dwt. [18/08/10]





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London: Sovcomflot reports that its SCF Baltica aframax tanker has arrived in Pevek, thereby completing the first and most navigationally demanding stage of its historic Arctic voyage from Murmansk to China.



With an escort of nuclear-powered ice-breakers, the ship covered the 2,500 nautical miles between Murmansk and Pevek in 11 days. The vessel's route took her through the Barents Sea (North of Cape Zhelaniya on Novaya Zemlya Island); the Vilkitsky Strait, which ended in the Taimyr ice field, then through the Sannikov Strait, the Laptev Sea and ice fields of the East-Siberian Sea.



The tanker and her cargo of 70,000 tonnes of gas condensate (owned by OAO NOVATEK) completed this stage of her voyage ahead of schedule. According to Sovcomflot this underlines the real scope to reduce transit times for cargoes along the Northern Sea Route. The voyage also confirms the economic potential of the Northern Sea Route, for delivering hydrocarbons to the countries of Asia-Pacific Region.



Sergey Frank, Sovcomflot President and CEO, said: "The Arctic voyage of the tanker SCF Baltica has confirmed the possibility of operating large ice-class tankers along the NSR. Statistics collected during the voyage will form the foundation of a unique data base, which will allow the preparation of similar voyages for large vessels in future. Sovcomflot is planning to send a Suezmax vessel of at least Ice Class 1A Super along the NSR, enabling it to pass through the fields 100 per cent covered with ice along the way."



SCF Baltica is expected to arrive at her discharge port - Ningbo (China) in the People's Republic of China - in the first half of September 2010. [26/09/10]



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Illinois Has 10th Case Of Zika Confirmed As Virus Gets 'Scarier'

By Mike Ewing in News on Apr 12, 2016 3:24PM



(Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Public health officials confirmed a 10th case of the Zika virus in the state on Monday, saying the patient may have contracted it during a recent trip to Haiti. All of Illinois confirmed Zika cases originated abroad, as it's still relatively rare and unlikely to spread in the continental U.S.

This latest case comes as federal agencies call for more resources to help fight the mysterious disease.

Everything we look at with this virus seems to be a bit scarier than we initially thought, Dr. Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a press conference on Monday.

Zika is known to cause microcephaly, or a smaller head than expected, in infants when a pregnant mother is infected. But Schuchat said theyre learning it may cause an even broader range of complications, including prematurity and eye problems. It also may cause problems throughout the pregnancy instead of just in the first trimester as initially thought. The latest Zika case reported in Illinois is not a pregnant woman, although two of the prior reported cases were pregnant.
Brussels: UN Chief Ban Ki-moon has appointed former French culture minister Jack Lang to be the United Nations special advisory on piracy, writes AFP quoting Washington's envoy to the global body.



US ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice Wednesday welcomed the appointment in a statement to the Security Council as it assessed the options for confronting piracy, particularly off Somalia and the Horn of Africa where the crimes have 'taken on troubling modern form.'



'The United States welcomes the secretary-general's appointment of Jack Lang as the UN Special Advisor on Piracy,' Ms Rice said. 'We look forward to working closely with him and coordinating our efforts.'



Mr Lang is a member of parliament for France's Socialist party. Last year right-wing President Nicolas Sarkozy made him a special envoy on North Korea, after sending him to Cuba to help renew ties with Communist rulers there.



Unofficial figures show 2009 was the most prolific year yet for Somali pirates, with more than 200 attacks - including 68 successful hijackings - and ransoms believed to exceed US$50 million (S$68 million) in total. [26/08/10]





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Singapore: Yangzijiang Shipbuilding has bagged over $900m in newbuilding contracts over the last two months. The Chinese shipbuilder said it had entered into 28 shipbuilding contracts since 1 July worth a total of $914m. The contracts comprise eight containerships and 20 bulkers. Yangzijiang said five contracts worth $127.4m had become effective on the receipt of initial deposits, 15 contracts worth $489m were pending the receipt of deposits. The remaining eight newbuilding contracts are options. "We are pleased with the progress of the Group in entering into more new shipbuilding contracts. We are in continuous dialogue with the ship-owners and would do our best to materialize all of these contracts and would work towards the successful and timely delivery of each vessel," said Ren Yuanlin, executive chairman of Yangzijiang. [31/08/10]

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Jiangsu: Yangzijiang Shipbuilding is investing RMB107m in additional land to expand its shipbuilding operations. Jiangsu Yangzi New Shipyard is acquiring 147,532 sq m of land with 500m of coastline on a 50-year lease from the local government in Jiangsu. The land includes a 374m wharf currently under construction, which is expected to be completed in September. "With the acquisition, the production area of the group will be readjusted to a more efficient layout. Its strategic location and proximity to the exiting production area will give the group an extended shipbuilding capacity without incurring any substantial management costs," Yangzijiang said. The land was purchased at a 32% discount as part of a government incentive scheme. [24/08/10]

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Police Fatally Shot Lawndale Teen During 'Armed Confrontation'

By Mae Rice in News on Apr 12, 2016 5:47PM



Brandon

Police fatally shot 16-year-old Pierre L. Loury on Tuesday, in an incident that began with a car stop, followed by a foot chase and an "armed confrontation" in the 3400 block of West Grenshaw Street. No officers were injured and a weapon was recovered at the scene, police said in a statement.

Police initially stopped Loury at 7:40 p.m., according to their statement, because his car matched the description of a car involved in a previous shooting. When officers tried to apprehend him, he ran away on foot, and police chased him down.

Loury was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital after the shooting and pronounced dead at 8:27 p.m., according to the Tribune. The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed Loury's identity to the Sun-Times.

The Independent Police Review Authority is currently investigating the shooting, and the unnamed officer who shot Loury has been placed on routine administrative leave for 30 days, per new Chicago Police Department policies around fatal police shootings. The policy was instituted this past December, after the fatal shootings of 19-year-old Quintonio LeGrier and his neighbor, 55-year-old Bettie Jones.
Find Out Which Foods Have The Most Pesticides Before You Shop

By Anthony Todd in Food on Apr 12, 2016 6:36PM



According to EWG, strawberries are the most likely to contain pesticide residue. Photo via shutterstock.

Organic food can be super expensive, and it's sometimes difficult to decide what is worth buying organic if you can't afford (or don't have access to) organic versions of every kind of produce. That's why the Environmental Working Group's "Dirty Dozen" guide is so greatevery year, they tell consumers which types of produce have the most pesticide residue.

Not all veggies and fruits are created equalsome retain more pesticides by the time they get to market than others. And it's not always directly correlated with how much pesticide is dumped on the produce in question. According to CNN, three-quarters of produce tested by the USDA contained some pesticides, and 7 percent of strawberries contained pesticide levels in excess of what is allowed by federal law. So it's worth paying attention.

The "Dirty Dozen" refers to the dozen types of produce with the most pesticide. These include, in order:

Strawberries Apples Nectarines Peaches Celery Grapes Cherries Spinach Tomatoes Bell Peppers Cherry Tomatoes Cucumbers

In addition, Kale and hot peppers are on the list, because, while they don't contain much pesticide, the types they contain are particular toxic. They've also got a list of the "Clean 15" (the produce with the least pesticide - eat a lot of avocados and sweet corn) and plenty of other information and their methodology in the full report.

Conveniently, pretty much all of the produce items you need to be most carful about are grown locally, and farmers market season is right around the corner. Don't always assume the produce you buy at farmers markets is organic, but you can almost always ask the producer to get all the information on their crops.


Press Release

April 12, 2016 Cayetano to Bongbong: This is about the people's money not elections

(Kicker: Alan vows to hound Marcos on corruption charges) "This is not about the elections. This is about returning the people's money." Vice presidential aspirant and Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano said this as he stood by the points that he presented during last Sunday's PiliPinas 2016 Vice Presidential Debate hosted by CNN Philippines at the University of Sto. Tomas (UST). During the debate, Cayetano drew attention to the issues of corruption hounding his rival, Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. He particularly cited the plunder allegations that the Marcos family faced during martial law and Sen. Marcos' alleged involvement in the PDAF scam. In an exclusive interview with the Inquirer on Monday, Cayetano narrated how Marcos approached him on stage after the debate and told him, "it won't work," mocking his attempt of pressing his rival on the record of his family's ill-gotten wealth and torture accusations. Cayetano said he never expected Marcos to say those words to him, but he noted that he remains unfazed by Marcos' reaction. "I will not relent in pursuing the truth behind his family's ill-gotten wealth. Senator Marcos has to understand that this is not about the elections or politics. This is about returning the people's money, money which he and his family used to enrich themselves and fund their return to power," Cayetano stressed. Cayetano clarified that what he did was not a political strategy. "I would have done the same thing to any official involved in a corruption anomaly, whether or not I am running for a position in government," he said. "Hangga't hindi naaalis sa posisyon ang mga korap at ang naging produkto ng pagnanakaw ng mga nakaraang administrasyon, hindi matitigil ang gulo, hindi magkakaroon ng tunay na pagbabago. Ito ang tanging dahilan kung bakit patuloy akong lumalaban, 'di dahil sa pulitika, kundi para sa kapakanan ng bawat Pilipino," Cayetano ended.
Press Release

April 12, 2016 CHIZ WANTS SIMPLIFIED TAX PAYMENT SYSTEM TO AVOID YEARLY RUSH TO FILE ITR Independent vice-presidential bet Sen. Francis "Chiz" Escudero said the annual rush to file income tax returns could be avoided if only the government simplifies its complicated tax payment system. While Escudero acknowledged the Bureau of Internal Revenue's (BIR) constant reminders for taxpayers to remit their dues early to avoid the long queues leading to the April 15 deadline, the senator said much has to be done to encourage the prompt payment of taxes like simplifying the system. "Our tax payment system is so complicated that small businesses need to hire an accountant to be able to pay the correct taxes," said the veteran lawmaker. "Not only does it discourage the prompt payment of taxes, our tax payment system also promotes corruption. We have to simplify it to avoid discretion on the part of BIR personnel. Discretion equals corruption. Minimize discretion, you minimize corruption. Eliminate discretion, you eliminate corruption," he pointed out. A study done by international audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) last year ranked the Philippines 127th among 189 economies reviewed in terms of ease of paying taxes for businesses. The Philippines even trailed strife-torn countries like Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan in the study called "Paying Taxes 2015," which is an annual research done by PwC and is included in the "Doing Business" project by the World Bank Group. The study found that in the Philippines, it takes 193 hours for a business to comply with 36 required payments. It put the average taxes and contributions paid by a Philippine employer at 42.5 percent, or 6 percent higher than the average tax rate in the Asia Pacific. The veteran lawmaker said the tax issue is not just about lowering tax rates but simplifying tax payment procedures as well to encourage compliance especially among micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and self-employed professionals, who comprise the second largest class of workers in the country. "Self-employed workers and owners of MSMEs do not have the luxury of time because they rely mainly on themselves to run and market their business, find clients, do the work, and attend to administrative matters," the senator said, as he noted that MSMEs comprise 99 percent of all businesses in the Philippines. Escudero, a staunch advocate of tax reforms, said the Secretary of Finance, who has the authority to promulgate the manner in which income taxes are paid and tax returns prepared, can consider adjusting the schedule for filing tax returns. The former chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance lessening the frequency of filing tax returns might encourage more self-employed workers to register with the BIR and acquire a legal personality because tax compliance would not be such a burden anymore.
Press Release

April 12, 2016 CHIZ ASKS PNP CHIEF TO RELIEVE 'LP GENERALS' Sen. Francis "Chiz" Escudero on Tuesday asked Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Director General Ricardo Marquez to immediately relieve the four police generals identified in the "confidential meeting" with a campaign staff of Liberal Party (LP) candidates on April 2 at a hotel in Cubao, Quezon City. In a letter formalizing his complaint to the PNP chief, Escudero said relieving the top-ranking police officials of their duties is in order pending the outcome of a thorough investigation into possible violation of laws on electioneering or partisan political activity. "The [PNP] shall play a crucial role in the upcoming 2016 elections. We cannot permit a dodgy incident like the encounter of the four police generals to overshadow the integrity and credibility of the forthcoming May 9, 2016 elections," Escudero said in his letter-complaint addressed to Marquez. "Unscrupulous police officers bent on exercising partisan political activity for personal gain and self-aggrandizement have no place in the [PNP]," the veteran lawmaker added. Escudero's complaint was based on a newspaper report saying that four high-ranking PNP officials were seen in a meeting with people identified with Mar Roxas at the Novotel Hotel, which is a stone's throw away from his residence and headquarters of the administration presidential bet. The four police officials are identified as Director Generoso Cerbo Jr., chief of the PNP directorate for intelligence, and Chief Superintendents Renier Idio, Bernardo Diaz and Ronald Santos. Journalists attending a workshop spotted the generals, who were in civilian clothes, in the company of retired PNP Deputy Director General Marcelo Garbo Jr., a known Roxas supporter. A member of Roxas' staff identified as Thea Reyes and retired Lt. Gen. Rey Ardo of the Western Mindanao Command were also seen in the meeting. Escudero questioned the timing of the so-called "confidential meeting" of four police generals with personalities identified with Roxas, which happened barely a month before the May 9 polls. The running mate of presidential candidate Sen. Grace Poe reminded Marquez that the 1987 Constitution "clearly prohibits any officer or employee in the civil service to engage, directly or indirectly, in any electioneering or partisan political campaign." Escudero also cited a similar provision in the Civil Service Law which bars officers and employees in the civil service to engage directly or indirectly in partisan political activities or take part in any election except to vote. He said the Omnibus Election Code also provides that "any officers or employee in the civil service, except those holding political offices; any officer, employee or member of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, or any police force, special forces, home defense forces, barangay self-defend units and all other para-military units... who, directly or indirectly, intervenes in any election campaign or engages in any partisan political activity, except to vote to preserve public order, if he is a peace officer shall be guilty of an election offense." Under Section 264 of the Omnibus Election Code, election offense is punishable by a jail term of not less than one year but not more than six years without probation, as well as perpetual disqualification from holding public office and deprivation of the right to suffrage. "Mindful of these constitutional and statutory provisions, all the members of the [PNP] were ordered to remain apolitical. Ironically, gauging from the news reports, it would appear that the high-ranking officers of the police force, specifically the four generals identified were the first to disobey your orders and violate the mandate of the constitutional and statutory provisions cited above," Escudero said. He added: "Meeting with personalities identified with Roxas is obviously a partisan political activity. Clearly, their actions undermine the series of internal reforms you have done to professionalize the police force and to strengthen the public trust it has achieved under your stead." As a noble profession, Escudero said the police service "demands not only a specialized knowledge and skills but a high standard of ethics and morality." "PNP members should inhibit themselves from soliciting political patronage on matters pertaining to assignments, awards and promotions. Its officers must set good examples for the other members to follow," said Escudero, an independent candidate.
Press Release

April 12, 2016 BACOLOD BISHOP TO BONGBONG MARCOS: KEEP YOUR COOL, CONTINUE TO SERVE THE PEOPLE Negros Occidental Bishop Vicente Navarra today gave his blessings to vice presidential candidate Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos Jr. saying he should maintain his composure in the midst of attacks and remain friends with everyone including his detractors. This developed as Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Maranon, a member of the ruling Liberal Party, expressed admiration on the way Marcos handled himself in the vice presidential debate at the University of Santo Tomas last Sunday. "I was nervous the whole time when they were ganging up on you but I admire how you handled it and kept your cool," Maranon told Marcos at the start of their meeting at the provincial capitol. Marcos was in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental on the second-day of his Unity Caravan in Western Visayas. But Marcos told Maranon that he was expecting the tirades. "We expected it so we prepared for it. Alam mo naman ang politika. There's no use fighting back. I just had to answer and give the people my plans and platforms," he told the governor, who had openly endorsed the administration ticket. While in Bacolod, Marcos together with members of his family paid a courtesy call on Navarra and held a private meeting with the prelate at the Bishop's Residence. After their meeting, Navarra told the media that he had told the senator to keep his cool and remain friends with everyone. "We discussed everything under the sun and I told him to keep his cool and treat everyone his friends and continue with his desire to serve if he gets elected vice president," Navarra said. Before going to Bacolod, Marcos also visited Iloilo Archbishop Angel Lagdameo at the Archbishop's residence in Jaro. Lagdameo said he will pray for Marcos. Upon arriving in Bacolod, Marcos was greeted by a large crowd who waited for him at the port to welcome him. In a press conference at the Sugarland Hotel, Marcos said he has always considered himself Ilonggo by choice because married an Ilongga from Negros Occidental. The senator is married to lawyer, Loiuse Araneta of Bago City. "As I know almost everyone here in Negros are Ilonggo by birth but I have always considered myself an Ilonggo by choice because I am married to an Ilongga from Negros Occidental so I have always had a special feeling for Bacolod and Negros Occidental," he said. Aside from Bishop Navarra and Governor Maranon, Marcos was scheduled to meet with sugar barons of Negros Occidental in the afternoon.
BONGBONG MARCOS SOARS IN AIRPORT MOCK POLLS

As far as airport officials and employees are considered, there is no contest in the vice presidential race.

This after vice presidential candidate Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos Jr. flew above and beyond his rivals in the vice presidential derby in a mock poll conducted by the Samahang Manggagawa sa Paliparan ng Pilipinas (SMPP) and the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA).

Marcos blew away the competition with 425 votes out of the 611 votes cast with 82 votes coming from Terminal One, 28 from Terminal Two, 180 from Terminal Three, 50 from Terminal Four, and 85 among the corporate workers.

It was not even a close contest as erstwhile rival Senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero trailed at second place, registering 50 votes.

Camarines Congresswoman Leni Robredo came in a close third to Escudero with 49 votes, followed by Senator Alan Peter Cayetano with 46 votes, while Senators Gregorio "Gringo" Honasan and Antonio "Sonny" Trillanes came in last with 10 and 7 votes, respectively.

Meanwhile, in the presidential race, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo "Rody" Duterte came in first place with 306 votes. Vice President Jejomar "Jojo" Binay came in second with 181 votes, followed by Senator Grace Poe with 52 votes. Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago was at fourth place with 32 votes. Former DILG Secretary Manuel "Mar" Roxas II came in last with 23 votes.
POE: KILLING CRIMINALS DOES NOT GUARANTEE PEACE AND ORDER

SURIGAO DEL NORTE--Peace cannot be achieved through violent means, independent presidential candidate Sen. Grace Poe said as she reiterated her call for a just society that respects due process and the rule of law.

Speaking at a campaign sortie in Surigao del Norte, Poe said the government has to be tough in addressing crime and illegal drugs, but it also has to be just and responsible.

"Hindi lang po patayan ang solusyon palagi. Hindi tayo magtitiis nang matagal. Ang kailangan lang ay organisado. Ang kailangan lang ay makatarungan, sapagkat kung nagkamali tayo sa ating desisyon at may naapektuhang isang inosente, hindi na po matatapos ang gulo," the independent presidential candidate said.

"Ang kailangan po natin ay katarungan at hindi karahasan sapagkat hindi po puwedeng maggagantihan tayong lahat dahil sa pambibintang," Poe said.

The senator said it takes both incorruptible leadership and people participation to make communities safe and drug-free.

"If there are any members of our police who will abuse their powers, I will make sure that they do not remain in their post for another day," Poe said.

Poe, who said she will declare illegal drugs as a national security threat if she wins, plans to tap the president's intelligence fund to intensify crime-busting efforts by giving incentives to informants and rewarding crime-free barangays.

"I will make sure that if your barangay remains drug-free and crime-free, meron po kayong reward sa gitna ng taon at sa dulo ng taon. At sa mga kababayan naman natin na magsusumbong kung sino ang mga nagtutulak ng droga, sa intelligence fund din, hindi ako magdadalawang-isip na magbigay ng ilang milyon para lamang makulong lahat ng 'yan," she said.

Under her "Gobyernong may Puso," Poe said she will prioritize addressing poverty, which she believes is the root of crime. If people have decent jobs and food on the table, crime rates will subsequently go down, she said.

In her first trip to Mindanao this week, Poe reiterated her commitment to allocate one-third or P1 trillion from the national budget to the region, where 13 out of the 20 poorest provinces can be found.
Among the capital's largest cultural gigs, Meet in Beijing Arts Festival, has unveiled its 2016 program, comprising more than 100 theater performances and outdoor shows as well as two major exhibitions showing across Beijing from April 25 to May 30.

Buzz Brass Quintet is among cultural groups from Canada, the guest country of honor, at this year's Meet in Beijing Arts Festival. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Now in its 16th year, the festival will bring together nearly 400 Chinese artists and more than 400 international artists from 25 countries, including the United Kingdom, Spain and France.

Canada will be the guest country of honor at this year's festival, organizing officials told media last week.

Picking a main guest country each year has been the festival's tradition since it started.

This year, the opening show, titled Spring in China and Canada, will be held on April 25 at the National Center for the Performing Arts. It will feature five Canadian arts and cultural groups, including the Ottawa Bach Choir, the Ensemble Caprice Baroque Orchestra and a troupe from Vancouver's renowned dance school, the Goh Ballet Academy.

Chinese conductor Zhang Guoyong will lead the Qingdao Symphony Orchestra and work with the Montreal-based Buzz Brass Quintet. Canadian soprano Katherine Whyte will also join in the show, performing an excerpt from the classic Chinese opera, The White Haired Girl.

Mark Rowswell, a well-known Canadian scholar and TV host, who is better known as Dashan among Chinese audiences, was named the image ambassador for the guest of honor event.

Rowswell, 50, who is widely known for his mastery in spoken Chinese and performing the traditional Chinese folk art, xiangsheng, or crosstalk, will do a standup comedy show at Tianqiao Performing Arts Center on April 24.

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The list of companies rumored to be interested in buying Yahoos core business includes giants of technology and telecommunications.

Now it also boasts a British tabloid.

The Daily Mail, known for its salacious stories, has acknowledged considering a bid for Yahoo.

The company has been in contact with a number of parties who are potential bidders, wrote a DailyMail.com spokeswoman in an email to The Chronicle.

Analysts say the Daily Mail could join forces with a private equity firm to buy the troubled Sunnyvale search pioneer and may be interested in Yahoo to expand its U.S. presence. The Daily Mails interest was first reported this weekend by the Wall Street Journal.

Discussions are at a very early stage and there is no certainty that any transaction will take place, wrote the DailyMail.com spokeswoman, declining further comment.

The list of rumored Yahoo suitors continues to grow. But some analysts question how many of the companies named so far, from Google to Facebook, are actually serious about exploring a deal. Yahoo has pushed the deadline back for initial bids a week to Monday, according to the Wall Street Journal.

That could be an indication that the bids so far have been weak and Yahoo is waiting for more buyers to come forward, said Martin Pyykkonen, a managing director at Rosenblatt Securities.

Yahoo is basically saying, Well give everybody more time, Pyykkonen said. Its obvious the seller is not in the drivers seat on this.

Yahoo announced it was exploring a sale of its core business in January, and in February it set up a formal process for evaluating offers from companies.

Last week, Bloomberg reported that Google was considering buying Yahoos core business. But several analysts said they thought it was unlikely Google would buy Yahoo, especially since Google has already beaten Yahoo in the search business, and any attempted purchase could raise antitrust issues.

But even if Google doesnt place a bid, analysts said it would still make sense for Google to take a look at Yahoos financials, as part of Googles fiduciary duties to shareholders in exploring a deal.

Its very possible the Google (news) is to get people thinking that there is a bidding war to get the price up, but (Google) may not be really interested, said Rob Enderle with advisory services firm Enderle Group.

Yahoo declined to discuss potential buyers and did not respond to a Chronicle inquiry on the timing of initial bids. Google declined to comment.

Many equity analysts believe the most serious buyer for Yahoo is Verizon, which purchased AOL in a $4.4 billion deal last year.

Verizons CEO and chief financial officer have publicly said they would be interested in looking at Yahoo. Buying Yahoo would allow Verizon to use the Sunnyvale companys search technology on AOL and other Verizon properties. And telecommunications companies like Verizon are looking to diversify their revenue.

This is Verizons to lose, said Robert Peck, an analyst with SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. They have the most synergies (with Yahoo). Verizon can afford to pay the most.

Some other strategic buyers may also be interested in bidding on Yahoo if the price is right.

Some strategic buyers think its overpriced, said a person familiar with the bidding process. They dont think they have the manpower to turn it around. He said several potential bidders have expressed that they would only participate if they partnered with private equity firms on a deal.

Yahoo has not disclosed how much it wants for its core business. But tech news site Recode reported Yahoo is asking for $10 billion.

Yahoo is under pressure to sell, pushed by activist shareholders who are threatening to replace the companys board. At their annual meeting this summer, shareholders will vote on a slate of board nominees put forward by hedge fund Starboard Value, which wants a sale. If Yahoo doesnt have a deal in place by that meeting, that strengthens Starboards chance of winning board seats, analysts said.

For now, Yahoo seems to have many potential bidders willing to take a look at a deal, even if they arent ready to commit.

It seems like everyone and their mother is looking into this as a potential acquisition candidate, Doshi said.

Wendy Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: wlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thewendylee
Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood doesnt know if hell go to court to force Google to comply with a subpoena or sue the Internet giant for violating state law.

When Hood subpoenaed the company in October 2014, the company sued in federal court, claiming the federal Communications Decency Act and other laws mean the company cant be sued for what others post on the Internet. The company won an injunction freezing Hoods inquiry, but the attorney general appealed and the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday threw out Googles suit.

A spokesman for Google says the companys still evaluating the ruling and doesnt know if it will appeal.

Hood says hes trying to determine whether Google aids criminal activity by helping people find illegal drugs or pirated music. He said he thought Google had made some strides after earlier complaints, but said that it was still possible to type buy oxy into the search engine and have it autocomplete the phrase to buy oxycodone and suggest a list of sellers.

Medicine

Leukemia drug

The Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved a type of drug that targets a subset of leukemia patients with a genetic abnormality that makes the cancer harder to treat.

Venclexta was approved for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia who have relapsed or werent helped by a prior treatment and who are missing the part of chromosome 17 that kills cancer cells. Venclexta was developed by partners AbbVie South San Franciscos Genentech.

Chronicle News Services
Number of the day

$5.1 billion

Thats the amount of a settlement that Goldman Sachs reached with state and federal officials over the banks role in the subprime mortgage crisis. Goldman is the last of the big U.S. banks to settle with the national working group that was set up in 2012 to investigate how Wall Street exacerbated the mortgage bubble and ensuing financial crisis. The settlement is a $2.4 billion civil penalty, $1.8 billion for consumer relief and $875 million in cash, with the states of California, Illinois and New York getting some of the cash.

Tax relief is only brief

April 15 has been drummed into our heads for decades as the deadline for paying income taxes, but this year is an exception  even though the 15th falls on a Friday. In 2005, the District of Columbia established April 16 as Emancipation Day, honoring the 1862 day when President Abraham Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act, freeing slaves in the district. Its celebrated on Friday this year, and since its an official public holiday in Washington, the government considers it a national holiday  meaning its also a holiday for the IRS. So file by midnight Monday and all will be well.

Doh!

Add Tesla to the list of automakers having recalls, with a twist. The Palo Alto company is recalling 2,700 Model X SUVs not because of airbags, but because the third-row seats were built with latches that failed under safety testing, meaning the the seats could fold forward during a crash or sudden stop. Page D2

The Daily Briefing is compiled from San Francisco Chronicle staff and news services. See more items and links at www.sfgate.com. Twitter: @techbriefing
The vast majority of the Western global workforce recently surveyed by Glassdoor in a large recent survey is in favor of knowing how much other employees in similar roles make at their companies. Of 4,300 polled adults in the United States, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Canada, and the Netherlands, 70 percent state they believe the notion of "salary transparency" is a good idea. However, despite the opinion, only about one-third of employees  36 percent  report that their company actually discloses that information to the workforce.

Furthermore, the survey proves that not only do women still tend to make less money than their male counterparts doing the same job, they also are less aware of how much they should be making in a given position. Glassdoor's survey says that in the U.S., 65 percent of men know "how pay is determined" at their company, while only 53 percent of American women share in that understanding.
Behind an open microphone, young women assembled in a single-file line. One by one, they stepped forward Monday to speak to the group gathered on stage: founders, chief executives, technologists and fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff.

What began as the question-and-answer portion of the inaugural stop of Minkoff and Intels joint college tour had turned the UC Berkeley auditorium into a confessional.

College students from an array of majors  fashion, business, journalism, engineering, art and computer science, to name a few  laid bare their fears and insecurities before the panelists.

Am I too old to be applying for internships, asked one. How do you make peace with leaving behind a friend whos just no good for you, asked another. I want to work in fashion, but I hate New York, confided another.

Alexandra Bernadotte, the founder of education startup Beyond 12, who sat on Mondays panel, said young, ambitious women dont often have the opportunity to hear successful people like Minkoff and other celebrated women in their fields say aloud what so many of them have already felt: This is really hard. And as much as I might feel qualified to do this, there are days where it really sucks.

Hearing that from others, several panelists said, can be very empowering.

We dont give women a lot of outlets to have these conversations, Bernadotte said. Women need to hear that we all have days where we doubt ourselves, we all have days where we dont have a lot of confidence. The power of an event on a day like today is giving yourself permission to say yes, this is hard.

Campus visits

Allowing college-age women to identify with successful women in aspirational industries is a key part of what Minkoff and Intel hope to accomplish in their partnership to promote women in the science, technology, engineering and math fields. The partnership itself, which was announced last year at a U.N. womens event, will include campus visits on the West and East coasts, hackathons and design ideation camps in which college-age women will be connected with mentors and introduced to career opportunities in STEM-related fields.

Part of her goal, Minkoff said, is tackling the messages sent about what kind of women work in tech.

Ive heard women in tech say well, if we do show we care about ourselves, we get taken for granted that were stupid or self-centered, Minkoff said. I think its been a societal message that were trying to fight to say no, you can be smart and pretty. You can pursue a career in tech and still work in fashion.

Minkoff, whose fashion brand of the same name features casual luxury handbags, accessories, footwear and, increasingly, tech wearables, said young women may not naturally equate interests in fashion, art or writing with tech.

But, she said, the lack of women in tech fields is increasingly having an impact on industries beyond stereotypical Silicon Valley software startups as tech becomes a natural asset to women in a variety of industries including in fashion, retail, art and design.

Fat mirrors

She recalled the recent installation of smart dressing rooms in the flagship Rebecca Minkoff store in New York that allow customers to flip through different looks while shopping and enable a dressing room to record what items are brought in and out. Everything looked perfect, she said, until they brought in two women to test them out.

The entire team was made up of men, Minkoff said. So when the two girls went in to try it out, right away, they said This is a fat mirror. We are not shopping at a store with this mirror. And no man would have known barely what that term was. So it was sort of an aha moment for me to see that if a woman had been on the team, she would have known that you have to consider the mirror and how it makes a woman look. Its just those small details of a womans user experiences that can make such a difference.

About 100 young women attended the event at UC Berkeley. They were each given white tote bags with a message emblazoned on the side: Its time for women to even the score.

Intel, whose CEO Brian Krzanich announced last year that the company would improve its own diversity to reflect the percentage of women and underrepresented minorities in the United States by 2020, and pledged $300 million to aid in the effort, said it has a vested interest in increasing the number of women in tech-related majors.

Intel broadens reach

Partnering with Minkoff, said Renee Wittemyer, Intels director of policy, innovation and research, is an effort to broaden the companys reach beyond those women who may already be looking to work in computer science-related fields.

Minkoff and Intel will host the next event on its Unleash Your Creativity with Technology college tour on Wednesday at the University of Southern California. In the fall, the tour will hit East Coast campuses.

Minkoff, who lives in New York, said she plans on being at every single one.

Showing them that this is possible, and that I did it, so you can do it, too, she said. Nothing like this existed when I was coming up and so many things can seem unattainable, so if you can make something feel a little more attainable for someone else, thats what I want to do.

Marissa Lang is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mlang@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Marissa_Jae
Contra Costa County Sheriffs Department / Contra Costa County Sheriffs Department

The Contra Costa County Sheriffs Office announced a man they have been searching for since February is in custody after he allegedly beat an unconscious Florida man at an Orinda house party.

A U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force, joined by Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff Warrant Service Unit, detained Falealea Tytus Maka, 21, on Wednesday near San Leandro. He was later booked into jail on suspicion of attempted murder, among other charges.
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The second phase of the business aviation base being built at the Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport will commence operation in 2019 offering ground support and business aircraft maintenance in a broader capacity.

"The second phase will be completed in 2018 and start operation the year after," said Lu Xun, deputy general manager of the Shanghai Hawker Pacific Business Aviation Service Center.

"Another hangar of the same size will be built to the south of the existing facility," Lu added.

In 2015, a total of 5,536 business flights departed from Shanghai International Airport; up 15.5 percent year-on-year, accounting for more than one-third of the nation's total.
The California Highway Patrol announced no one was harmed after someone shot at a taxi Sunday on a freeway in Richmond, the latest in a string of Interstate 80 shootings that have killed and injured several people since November.

Officers responded to a 911 call around 8:30 p.m. Sunday reporting the incident. Two passengers were riding in the cab traveling east on I-80 in Richmond, when a minivan with two gunmen pulled alongside the taxi and opened fire, according to a statement from Officer John Fransen, a CHP spokesman.

The taxi pulled off the freeway to a nearby parking lot after the van sped off. The passengers ran away once the car was parked, while the driver stayed on the scene. No injuries were reported.

At least nine similar shootings have occurred near that area of the freeway in the past five months, according to past CHP reports.

Among them:

A woman was uninjured March 15 after an unknown man fired from a car that pulled alongside hers on eastbound I-80 near Richmond Parkway, California Highway Patrol said.

On Feb. 8, a man was critically injured after a shooting on I-80 in Pinole.

A man driving on I-80 in Richmond died in late February after a gunman in another car shot him near Richmond Parkway as well.

On Jan. 11, three people were injured, including a 2-year-old child, when an assailant fired at a car headed east on I-80 near Richmond Parkway.

A teenager and a man in his 20s showed up at a nearby hospital with gunshot wounds that were not life-threatening. Officials believed they were the targets of that shooting.

About a month before that shooting, on Dec. 17, a man was wounded in a car-to-car shooting on the freeway near San Pablo Dam Road in San Pablo.

In November, one man was killed and three others were injured in three separate shootings on Interstate 80.

CHP asks anyone with more information on Sundays incident to call (800) 835-5247 or the Special Investigations Unit at (510) 622-4609.

Jenna Lyons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJourno
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The Shotwell Street homeless encampment where a man recently was shot and killed by San Francisco police was quiet Monday, after a weekend of sweeps to clear out the tents and force residents to leave.

Black garbage bags sat where tents once stood at the base of trees. The colorful chalk art that decorated the sidewalk had faded from the rain. Near where 45-year-old Luis Gongora was gunned down Thursday, candles flickered at a makeshift memorial of flowers and signs.

Camp residents said there had been several sweeps over the weekend, with police officers telling them they had to move and Department of Public Work crews cleaning up the debris.

After every sweep, a handful of residents left, only to return again a short while later.

They shoved us out, and then we came back, said Markael Raybon, 38. They did it again and we came back. The guy last night said, Man, you guys arent getting the memo.

Mayor Ed Lee announced a crackdown on the citys homeless encampments following the fatal shooting of Gongora, declaring them safety hazards and saying that it was time to focus on why the police were called to the scene in the first place.

Police said city homeless outreach workers  who had responded to a report of a disturbance in the homeless encampment on Shotwell  had called 911 to say a man was waving a large kitchen knife.

Officers first fired beanbag rounds, but they were not immediately effective, according to police. Officers then were forced to fire seven bullets when Gongora charged at them with the knife, police said.

Some witnesses at the scene, however, contradicted the police account. And surveillance video obtained by The Chronicle showed an officer almost immediately pointing his beanbag gun upon arriving at the scene. On the video, the entire incident unfolded within 30 seconds of the officers stepping out of their patrol cars.

On Monday, a woman seen on the video running away on the opposite sidewalk spoke to The Chronicle to describe what she saw, though a car blocked her view during the actual shooting.

He was sitting on the ground, his back against the wall, Christine Pepin said. He was waving his hands a little bit in the air, but it wasnt at all aggressive. It seemed to me that he was gesticulating, just trying to communicate with the officers. My take of the situation was that he wanted to talk to the officers, but they werent responding.

She said she thought at first that she was seeing the end of a chase or some other incident.

I thought I missed something, that I had just gotten there at a bad time, she said. But after I saw the video, I realized I had gotten there when the officers had just gotten there.

Pepin said she gave her information to police investigators but still has not heard from them. Though she lives in Sunnyvale, she takes a dance class at a studio on Shotwell twice a week and is familiar with both the street and the encampment. The residents never caused her any trouble, she said.

They were simply trying to build a small community for themselves, she said. Theyre on the margins of society and theyre trying to have a normal life again. Living in a tent on the street isnt normal by any means, but I think they were trying to have something that makes sense.

And that community was shattered, residents said, not just by the death of Gongora, but by the subsequent sweeps forcing them out of the tents they called home.

We all lost everything in Luis, said Raybon. I didnt want to leave, but they were saying we had to. They were going to clear the street, one way or another.

Three tents remained at the north end of the street on Monday, though the residents of one were packing up to leave for the homeless Navigation Center. Christine Falvey, a spokeswoman for the mayor, said clearing the camp and connecting residents with services was a priority for Lee.

Including the couple packing up on Monday, Falvey said outreach workers were able to move nine people in all from the Shotwell encampment into the Navigation Center.

Raybon was offered a bed there, he said, but he wanted to make sure everybody at the encampment could get a spot before hed leave. He said especially after Gongoras death, the community needs to support each other.

I dont think there is a person here (in San Francisco) who got to know Luis the way we got to know him, Raybon said. We will always be impacted by him.

Vivian Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: vho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @VivianHo
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An incident initially described by police as a random home robbery, turned out to be a fight between two woman in a San Francisco home that led to one being struck by a frozen turkey swiped from the freezer, police said Tuesday.

The incident happened at a home on the 700 block of Kirkwood Street in Hunters Point around 4:30 a.m. on Monday, according to the San Francisco Police Department.
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Financially troubled UC Berkeley will eliminate 500 staff jobs over two years to help balance its budget by 2019-20, The Chronicle has learned.

Chancellor Nicholas Dirks sent a memo to employees Monday informing them of the job reductions and said they will amount to a modest reduction of 6 percent of our staff workforce.

Berkeley employs about 8,500 staffers, from custodians to administrators. Faculty members will not be affected. Dirks said the reductions will be done in part through attrition and did not mention layoffs.

But the campus is in the process of laying off about 60 employees, spokesman Dan Mogulof said without identifying the departments theyre from.

Some staff members in at least one area, residential student services, were told by managers two weeks ago that they should prepare to be laid off, sources said. Other departments are bracing for similar news.

The job elimination message comes as the campus is projecting a deficit of $150 million this fiscal year  6 percent of its operating budget of $2.5 billion, which campus officials have blamed largely on state allocations that have not kept pace with campus needs.

Berkeleys deficit was $109 million last year and $12 million in the 2013-14 fiscal year, campus officials told The Chronicle in February.

The campus will receive at least $200 million in loans and debt restructuring from University of California headquarters and is identifying other areas to cut and raise more cash.

An estimated $50 million will be saved by eliminating the jobs, Dirks said in the memo, which offered few details.

The news was greeted with anger by some labor union leaders, who criticized Berkeley and the entire UC for what they say is excessive spending on executive salaries at the expense of lower-paid workers.

My concern and the publics concern is that UC Berkeley is going to start cutting the people it can ill afford to lose  the people who clean buildings, who work in food services or health clinics, said Todd Stenhouse, spokesman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents such workers at Berkeley.

Theres a very clear need for those front-line services. But the question is whether there really is a need to hemorrhage resources on executives.

Meanwhile, campus sources say that departments have been told to reduce their budgets by 10 percent and can choose how to do so. Employees say they are hopeful that large numbers of layoffs can be avoided by leaving vacant positions unfilled or by shrinking programs.

Dirks said he expects other savings to come from reducing travel expenses and spending less on students health insurance premiums, among other efforts.

Nanette Asimov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: nasimov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @NanetteAsimov
Why is an Iranian film from 2006 getting a U.S. release 10 years later?

Easy. It is becoming increasingly apparent that Asghar Farhadi is one of the worlds top filmmakers, and theres an appetite for his work.
Ruling in a Bay Area robocall case, a federal appeals court said Tuesday that a company cant scuttle a proposed class-action suit it is facing by trying to buy off the lead plaintiff.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco addressed an issue that the U.S. Supreme Court left unresolved in a ruling in January: whether a company or person accused of violating the rights of large numbers of people can avoid large-scale liability by setting aside enough money to meet the demands of the plaintiff, or plaintiffs, who seek to represent the entire group.

No, the appeals court said, because defendants facing class-wide lawsuits cant elude them by picking off lead plaintiffs. Instead, the court said, a plaintiff is entitled to reject the offer and ask the trial judge to approve the suit as a class action.

The suit accuses Allstate Insurance Co. of violating a federal law that prohibits unsolicited, automated nonemergency calls to someones cell phone. The 1991 law provides for damages of $500 per violation, or $1,500 for willful violations.

The suit was filed by Richard Chen of San Mateo County and joined later by Florencio Pacleb of Los Angeles County. Both said they were not Allstate customers but received a series of unsolicited calls from the insurer on their cell phones in early 2013 and heard only automated voices when they picked up the receiver. They sought to represent all recipients of unwanted cell phone calls nationwide and estimated their number in the tens of thousands.

Allstate immediately proposed to settle their cases by offering $15,000 to Chen and $10,000 to Pacleb, along with their legal costs and a promise not to call them in the future. The company then asked a federal judge to dismiss the case, saying the dispute had been resolved. Chen accepted the offer, but Pacleb declined it, arguing through his lawyers that he wanted to pursue the class action.

In a separate case in January, the Supreme Court ruled that a plaintiff with an ongoing claim was entitled to a fair opportunity to seek class-action status, but stopped short of saying what would happen if the company that was being sued put the money the plaintiff was seeking into an escrow account.

Allstate promptly placed $20,000 in an escrow account payable to Pacleb  doubling its previous offer  and argued again that the case was over, since it had relinquished control of the funds and agreed to all of the plaintiffs demands. Business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, filed supporting arguments.

But the appeals court said Pacleb hadnt settled his case and is entitled to an opportunity to expand it into a class action. That will be up to Chief U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton of Oakland, who had denied Allstates previous attempt to dismiss the suit.

As the Supreme Court has recognized, the class action device is often the only effective means of pursuing relief on behalf of injured persons, Judge Raymond Fisher said in the 3-0 ruling.

Attorney F. Paul Bland of the nonprofit group Public Justice, which represents Pacleb, said the court rejected this idea that you can pick off a couple of people and keep the money from everyone else you cheated.

Allstates lawyer could not be immediately reached for comment.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko
China remained in 2015 globally "one of the most popular investment location for foreign direct investment (FDI) with the United States and the European Union," Douglas van den Berghe, CEO of Investment Consulting Associates, said Monday.

While the number of global FDI projects in 2015 declined 7.4 percent year on year to 11,900, its combined FDI value surged in 2015 by 8.6 percent compared to 2014 to reach 712.68 billion U.S. dollars, van den Berghe noted.

Van den Berghe made the remarks when presenting the key findings of the annual AIM Investment Report 2016 at the 6th Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) in Dubai, which started on Monday and runs through Wednesday.

The report was commissioned by the ministry of economy of the AIM's host nation, the United Arab Emirates.

The Dutch expert said the world's second economy also remained the largest source of outward FDI and further enhanced its position in 2015.

"Combined China and India represent 80 percent of all FDI projects sourced from the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa)," said van den Berghe, quoting figures compiled by UK-based research firm fDi Markets.

China's top global position in relation to FDI in 2015 stands especially in contrast to the sluggish trend in the emerging economies overall as they suffered setbacks last year in comparison to 2014.

"Falling commodity prices, especially for oil and minerals, depreciating currencies, and declining stock market indices have all contributed to a climate of gloom about emerging markets in general," the report said.
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BART officials had to cough up nearly

$1.1 million to civilian members of the agencys police union for work the district had already paid rented guards to do, according to an arbitration ruling obtained by The Chronicle on Tuesday.

The payout comes as the cash-strapped transportation agency plans to ask voters to shell out billions for upgrades to its outdated and failing system, and as officials and transportation workers have agreed to a tentative deal to raise pay over four years.

The ruling last month stems from work that BART management hired nonunion, independent contractors to do, starting three years ago when the agency began replacing outdated fire alarm systems at several stations.

During the retrofit, BARTs community services officers  uniformed civilian employees who are members of the police union  should have been put in charge of watching the stations in case a fire broke out, Ronald Hoh, the arbitrator in the case, said in the December ruling.

Instead, BART hired a private security company for the job, which the union said violated its contract with the agency.

We disagree with the arbitrators decision, but we are bound to honor it, BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said. The arbitrator determined we made an error in staffing for an unusual situation.

On March 18, officials cut checks totaling $1,088,982 that averaged out to about $30,000 in lost pay for each of the agencys roughly 40 community services officers, attorneys for the BART Police Officers Association said.

This was by far the biggest grievance award Ive ever been a part of, said Sean Currin, the police unions attorney. Hopefully, this will discourage other public safety agencies from attempting to illegally subcontract law enforcement services.

The work began in 2013 when the district hired private company Blocka Construction to replace its 40-year-old alarm systems at six BART stations in San Francisco and one in Daly City.

Part of the deal, though, was that someone given the fire watch job would monitor the stations during the construction.

But rather than assigning community services officers who carry radios rather than guns  to the costly graveyard-shift work that would have included overtime pay, Blocka hired private security guards.

Among their jobs, workers from Unlimited Staffing were in charge of monitoring a temporary fire alarm, overseeing the new construction, and making sure all fire extinguishers were in place.

As part of their contract, BARTs community services officers do a variety of jobs, which include monitoring construction sites and equipment during off-hours, reporting crimes to agency dispatchers, issuing parking citations and conducting security sweeps of parking facilities.

BART argued that the fire watch duties were not part of the unions contract and that the community services officers had never done that kind of work before.

Representatives for the union, though, said the position was nearly identical to work it had done in the past.

Community services officers were in charge of monitoring the Transbay Tube for a year and a half after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. They also watched over construction sites in Orinda and Hayward and fire and security alarms in district buildings, Currin said.

Javier Fregoso, 46, has been a BART employee for 26 years, and a community services officer for eight. He brought up the issue with the union in 2014 after spotting security guards at the 16th Street Mission Station in San Francisco.

I questioned them about what was going on, he said of the guards. I said, Hey, what exactly are you supposed to be doing here? They said, We have a whistle and blow it if there is a fire.

Fregoso took the matter to union president, Officer Keith Garcia, who filed a grievance on May 6, 2014.

At that time, even the chief agreed with me, Garcia said Tuesday, referring to former BART Police Chief Gary Gee. But BARTs position was that it did not violate our contract, and they denied the grievance.

After listening to arguments from both sides during two hearings over the summer in Oakland, Hoh concluded that the work done by the private guards was similar to that performed by community services officers, and sided with the union.

The award  which essentially has BART paying twice for the same work  is the latest public matter involving the agency to draw negative attention.

In recent weeks, a mysterious power surge between the Pittsburg-Bay Point and North Concord stations knocked scores of cars out of service, prompting weeks of transportation delays and ire from commuters.

And days before the electrical malfunction, The Chronicle reported that nearly two-thirds of BARTs cameras on board trains were decoys following a still-unsolved public killing aboard a train that was not captured on video.

All the while, the agency is pursuing a $3.5 billion bond measure for transit improvements.

BART managers on Monday, though, announced a tentative deal with workers to raise pay over four years. Officials painted the deal as a victory that would avert possible shutdowns like two in 2013, when workers walked off the job and stranded riders.

The new contract bumps the average union salary in 2021 to about $77,000 a year. BART would not say how much money the deal will cost the agency.

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky
It's 2016, and the ninth annual DogFest is upon us.

The festival, which benefits McKinley Elementary school in San Francisco, welcomes "dogs, kids, and parents of both breeds" to Duboce Park in San Francisco on Saturday, April 16 for "inflatable obstacle courses," games, "doggie vendors," and a silent auction.
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In the first 11 months after a terrorism crackdown launched in May 2014, Xinjiang police bust 81 terrorism cases based on public tip-offs. [Xilu.com]

The government of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has offered the public rewards of up to five million yuan (US$774,000) for information on terrorism.

Those who provide police with significant information on planned attacks, hijacking, assassinations, poisoning, blasts or sabotage of key infrastructure facilities, can get 200,000 yuan to 5 million yuan, the government said in a statement on Monday.

Lesser rewards are on offer to anyone providing terror information deemed less significant, and informants can apply to be rewarded with government jobs or social insurance, according to the statement.

Previously, the authorities in regional capital Urumqi offered up to one million yuan for terror information.

In the first 11 months after a terrorism crackdown launched in May 2014, Xinjiang police busted 81 terrorism cases based on public tip-offs.
Sandra Phillips will retire from her job as curator of photography at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art on June 30. We asked her to share with Chronicle readers a selection of works among the 11,000 that have entered the SFMOMA collection during her tenure, her thoughts on the pictures and what led to their acquisition. For more on Phillips, read the full San Francisco Chronicle story here.

 Charles Desmarais





David Goldblatt, Meeting of the Worker-Management Liaison Committee of the Colgate-Palmolive Company (1980): A picture made in South Africa during a time of high social and political anxiety, this is a moment at a meeting of an organization created to alleviate racial and economic tension. The intention is benign, of course, and the man to the right believes he is being helpful, but running through the photograph from top to bottom is a long line that separates the two men, putting them almost on different planets while giving them equal weight. Clearly the black African man is deeply uncomfortable. Seeing this picture also reminds me of the many older men in our own culture, comfortable and secure, who have thought themselves open-minded and helpful on all kinds of personal subjects when talking to a younger woman. Except that the woman would disagree.









Larry Sultan, My Mother Posing for Me (1984): I find this an especially kind and thoughtful picture. First, its a visual description of a kind of household: You see accoutrements of high suburbia in Southern California. Then there is his dad watching the ballgame on TV, back to us (and to the photographer), and his mother, dressed girlishly, presenting herself as a person younger than her body tells us she is. Her whole attention is focused on her son making the picture. She has clearly posed this way many times before, but for her husband years before the moment recorded here. What I find so wonderful is that the photographer understands all this  the true age of his mother, and the way she lives  and sees it all with real understanding and love.





Robert Adams, Longmont, Colorado (1973): It took me a long time to understand Robert Adams work  it looks so deceptively normal, so uninflected. Here he has photographed a young suburban mother in the local Grand Union or Safeway in Colorado. Her baby, neatly packaged up in his carrying case, is fast asleep in the shopping cart. It seems completely normal, what we see every time we step into a big store ourselves. But as you continue to look, you see her expression, which is perhaps lost, or confused  perhaps trapped is too strong. The fluorescent lighting is normal but also unsettling, the stacks of goods on the shelves all bottled and packaged  nothing green or irregular or natural there; there is no living thing except the two people in the picture. Even the cart is a kind of cage. When we walk into supermarkets, we are confronted by pictures of beautiful women who are smiling as they lift out sparking glassware from their dish racks or feed their puppies, but the real consumer here seems in need of what is not in the supermarket: sunshine and the pleasures of a cool breeze.

Dorothea Lange, Cafe Near Pinole, California (1956): What a loving picture! Lange lived in Berkeley and in her youth was a famous portraitist of society people in San Francisco, before she became interested in the great migration of poor farmers fleeing from the Dust Bowl and coming to the Central Valley to work in the agriculture industry. This picture was taken later, after the Depression and after the war, when the dust had settled and the lives of people returned to normal. Its a quiet celebration of ordinary days and commonplace events: light quietly falling inside a modest cafe in a modest Bay Area town. She makes us look at the details: the wire coat hanger on the back wall, the electric fan sitting on a vending machine glowing radiantly, and the cowboy resting from his labors in comfort in this ordinary and peaceful community cafe.

Cecil Stoughton, Lyndon Johnson, Flanked by Lady Bird Johnson and Jacqueline Kennedy, Aboard Air Force One (1963): I think this must be one of the most poignant pictures ever made. We bought this picture when we organized a show about photographys special ability to make voyeuristic and invasive images. This photograph describes a moment of extraordinary emotionality, a moment when the people in it reveal their inner selves in an extreme situation. While it is certainly invasive and makes us uncomfortable to look at it, I am grateful for the humaneness and special insight you can see here. This picture was made on Air Force One just hours after John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. It was made either shortly after or just before Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as president, as these people were flying from Dallas back to Washington, D.C., with the body of the dead president also on the plane. You can feel how traumatized Jackie is, how gently Lady Bird Johnson tries to engage her, how reassuring Lyndon Johnson tries to be, and how hopelessly alone the former first lady is.

Don Ross

Carleton Watkins, Mt. Broderick, Nevada Fall, 700 ft., Yo Semite (1861): This picture represented a new step for our department. Before I came to SFMOMA, the administration decided that it was a modern museum, and therefore needed to divest itself of all non-modern art. The museum decided to deaccession  that is, to sell  19th century photographs. But when the new museum building was built  the Botta building  we reversed that decision, and this picture was included in the opening show of the new museum of that time. It was made by Carleton Watkins, arguably the best 19th century American artist of the American West. It is startlingly modern: The blank sky  so justly placed, so intrinsic to the success of the picture  is a cloudless abstraction. It accentuates the beautiful form of the bare rock and the tiny, cascading river to the right. The utter simplicity and directness of the composition show why we needed to reconsider that earlier rash decision, and to consider photography as a continuum from its beginnings, a modern form of expression since its inception.





Henry Wessel, Southern California (1985): Isnt this how most of us think of Southern California? Self-indulgent, well-fed, well-tanned, hanging out at Ocean Sands and thinking only, or at least chiefly, of himself? He is cute, too. The photograph is straightforward: It shows this young guy in his element. It makes no judgment of him. It also makes us a relish the sunny warmth, the beauty of the crisp shadows, and the culture that for all its ostentation acknowledges these simplicities.

UNKNOWN

Daido Moriyama, Yokosuka (1970): Moriyama is best known for his grainy pictures of what he sees on the streets  photographs that are marked by a sense of foreboding and executed with immediacy. This picture was made in a city near Tokyo that housed a large American base, a troubling presence to many Japanese, especially for the women. It was made in a split second  the girl was probably soliciting soldiers and is running from authorities, so quickly she has lost her shoes. It must have been unbearably uncomfortable to leap all over the trash as she makes her escape. Its a picture about eroticism; certainly her dress is short and revealing. It is also, thankfully, made without judgment.
Executives of Yitel, a hotel run by Home Inns & Hotels Management Inc, bow at a press conference in Beijing on April 6 when they apologize for problems at a hotel during an alleged attack. [Photo/Xinhua]

On the night of November 21, 1949, Beijing shut down all of its 244 brothels and took in more than 1,200 prostitutes for reeducation and medical treatment. The People's Daily declared in its editorial the following morning: "From now on, in the people's capital city, whorehouses have disappeared and prostitutes have been liberated."

On April 7 this year, reporters from the Beijing News investigated illicit prostitution in the capital's budget hotels and found that on-call prostitutes are widely available at the hotels. The newspaper commented the next day: "Cheap hotels have become a den for prostitution."

Although prostitution became illegal in China after the Communist Party took power in 1949, the industry continues to prosper. Gail Hershatter, a historian at the University of California, wrote a book entitled "Dangerous Pleasures" on the history of prostitution in Shanghai from the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) to the 1990s. She remarked that prostitution is a core symbol of China's politics, economy, history, and spiritual culture.

China's internal migrant population numbers in hundreds of millions. The female-to-male sex ratio is about 100 to 120, markedly higher than the world average. And the income gap between genders in China is so wide that the government won't even disclose the statistics. All of these factors contribute to a societal need for prostitution.

Some prostitutes were abandoned children in villages, who went through childhood without parents. Some young women have said in interviews that they will go home after making enough money. To some extent, the industry is a metaphor of many of the social and economic problems in China that cannot be solved by public security organs single handedly.

Even in some countries where prostitution is lawful, the supervision and administration of the industry have always been controversial. France passed a bill on April 4 which will punish pimps but not prostitutes. Sex workers fiercely oppose the bill, arguing that the law will do more harm than good.

On April 3, a woman was assaulted by a man working for a prostitution ring outside of her room in a budget hotel in Beijing. Were it not for another woman's help, she would have been dragged away by the man. The hotel did not apologize and the police did not take concrete actions until the woman posted the video online, pressing the authorities to investigate.

The case has shaken people's confidence in the safety of their living environments. The reaction from the hotel and police has made people feel helpless.

The man was captured on April 8. It is believed that he mistook the woman as a prostitute moving in on his turf.

It is likely that the public security department will launch a new anti-prostitution campaign in the city. The only effects will be causing prices to soar. Such a movement's symbolic meaning is bigger than its actual effects.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
(From L to R) France's Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, Italy's Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni, Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Britain's Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, Canada's Foreign Minister Stephane Dion and E.U. High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini lay wreaths in front of the cenotaph at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima on April 11, 2016. G7 foreign ministers met in Hiroshima from Sunday to Monday as the first of a series of ministerial talks ahead of the G7 summit to be held in Mie Prefecture in May. [Xinhua/POOL]

John Kerry has become the first U.S. secretary of state to visit the Hiroshima memorial in Japan, built in memory of the victims of the first atomic bombing. Kerry was joined by other foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G-7) industrialized nations, including Japan, during the symbolic trip. He laid a floral wreath and remained silent for one minute in respect of the victims.

More than 140,000 people died when a U.S. B-29 bomber dropped a uranium bomb nicknamed "Little Boy" at 08:10 local time on August 6, 1945. The device exploded 600m above what is now known as the Hiroshima Peace Dome. It is said that 70,000 people died immediately after the blast, while another 70,000 people perished in the following twelve months due to injuries or other complications connected to the bombing.

I wonder what was racing through Mr. Kerry's head as he placed the wreath at the memorial and stood in silence. Could he hear a massive thud, followed by a deafening silence? Could he see the mushroom cloud growing up from the ground? How could he not hear the cries of the thousands of half-dead, injured, and maimed people left in the bomb's wake? Anyone visiting such a place and not having such emotions cannot be considered a normal person.

All wars are inhumane in that they deform the dignity of mankind. But their brutality is just one aspect; worse is the bloody legacy which continues to haunt living people long after a war's end. The same is true about the two world wars. The second one was more traumatic, and a large part of the lingering trauma is due to the use of lethal atomic bombs. After the first bomb, a second bomb fell on Nagasaki three days later and ended the war.

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Presidential candidate of Popular Force party Keiko Fujimori waves to her supporters, in Lima, Peru, on April 10, 2016. The Popular Force party of Keiko Fujimori gained a majority in Congress, as the presidential frontrunner is heading to a June runoff, though her rival remains unknown due to the neck-and-neck results between two contenders, exit polls showed Sunday. (Xinhua/Luis Camacho)

Peru's presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori, of the right-of-center Popular Force party, on Monday consolidated her lead over rivals in Sunday's general elections.

With 82.6 percent of the votes counted, the results showed Fujimori garnered 39.55 percent of the votes, giving her a wide 17-point lead over her closest rival, the National Office of Electoral Processes said.

Runner up Pedro Kuczynski, of the conservative Peruvians for Change party, secured 22.11 percent of the votes for a chance to compete in a June 5 presidential runoff against Fujimori.

Third-placed candidate Veronika Mendoza, of the left-leaning Broad Front, garnered 18.27 percent of the votes.

Another seven candidates shared the remainder of the votes.

Peru's election laws require a candidate to garner upwards of 50 percent of the votes for an outright win in the first round, otherwise the two leading candidates must face off in a runoff.

Pre-election polls showed Fujimori -- the daughter of disgraced former President Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000), who is serving a lengthy prison sentence for corruption and human rights violations -- was the strongest candidate going into the elections, with the big question centering on who the runner-up would be.

Nearly 23 million Peruvians, including 900,000 living abroad, registered to vote in Sunday's elections for a president, 130 members of Congress, and five representatives to the Andean Parliament, which takes office July 28 for a five-year term.
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U.S. President Barack Obama says the biggest mistake of his presidency was a lack of planning for the aftermath of the fall of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, with the country spiralling into chaos and grappling with violent extremists.

Asked in a Fox News interview to name the "worst mistake" of his presidency, the US leader said it was "probably failing to plan for the day after what I think was the right thing to do in intervening in Libya."

Obama has repeatedly acknowledged that the United States and its allies could have done more to prevent Libya's descent into chaos following the NATO-backed uprising that led to Gaddafi's death in 2011.

He expressed regret over the handling of the aftermath in a lengthy interview with The Atlantic magazine last month, calling the situation in Libya "a mess."

Obama also sharply criticized British Prime Minister David Cameron and former French leader Nicolas Sarkozy for their roles in the Libya campaign, saying in particular that Cameron became "distracted."

Since Gaddafi's death, Libya has descended into near-anarchy, ruled by rival militias vying for power while the Islamic State group has gained influence.

The head of a UN-backed unity government arrived earlier this month in Tripoli to begin garnering support for his administration.

Asked by Fox News to name the worst moment of his White House tenure, Obama said it was the day he traveled to Newtown, Connecticut, after a gunman shot 20 children and six adults at a school in December 2012.

His biggest accomplishment? "Saving the economy from a great depression."

And his best day in the White House?

"The day that we passed health care reform," Obama said.

"We sat out on the Truman Balcony with all the staff that had worked so hard on it and I knew what it would mean for the families that I'd met who didn't have health care."

When asked what he most looked forward to upon leaving office next year, Obama replied: "Being able to take a walk outside."
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Campaigning kicked off Tuesday for two lower house by-elections that will take place on April 24, with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party-led coalition going head-to head with the newly-formed main opposition Democratic Party for a single-seat constituency in Hokkaido, with a separate campaign also beginning in Kyoto.

The by-elections, ahead of the upper house elections scheduled for this summer, mark the first time since the general election in 2014 that the ruling bloc and its opposing camp have squared off in an election.

But while the two camps will both be vying for the Hokkaido No. 5 single-seat constituency, only the opposition candidates will be competing for the Kyoto No. 3 single-seat constituency.

It is also the first time the Democratic Party, formed in March between the then Democratic Party of Japan and the smaller Japan Innovation Party, has tested its clout in public, in a contest that is widely seen as a litmus test for the public's support for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's economic and security policies, both of which have drawn flak from the electorate.

Despite saying publicly on a number of occasions that he had no intentions of doing so, Abe has recently conceded that he is, in fact, mulling the idea of dissolving Japan's more powerful lower chamber of parliament and calling a snap election at the same time as the upper house election this summer.

The Hokkaido race will provide further evidence as to Abe's intentions in this direction, depending on the results, although political commentators are generally in consensus that the Japanese leader intends to hold a double election in a bid for his ruling LDP to win a super majority in both chambers of parliament and be able to enact legislation more swiftly.

Ultimately, as Abe has admitted, he plans to formally amend Japan's pacifist constitution on the back of forcing legislation through both houses of parliament last year in a bid to broaden the operational scope of Japan's Self-Defense Forces. For Abe to achieve what he has described as his legacy, the prime minister will need to garner the majority of support from the public in a referendum on the controversial issue.

According to the latest media polls, however, almost half of Japanese people disagree with the current security laws which recently came into effect, with 48 percent of people polled by public broadcaster NHK saying they do not approve of the new security laws, which mark the biggest shift in Japan's security policy since WWII, while 42 percent said they did approve.

In terms of the most important issues in picking candidates for the summer's upper house elections, the respondents said that social security and economic-linked issues were the most important, followed by a possible sales tax hike, and thereafter issues pertaining to national security and the constitution.

A separate poll also showed that the support rate for Abe's Cabinet has dropped to 42 percent, while the disapproval rate has risen to 39 percent, in a sign that the hawkish leader's security-driven plans, by way of a double election and a referendum, may not be as elementary as first thought, with the opposition camp looking to rally the public for further support, particularly away from Abe's military goals.

As for the by-election campaigns kicking off Tuesday, following the death of the Liberal Democratic Party's Nobutaka Machimura, a former foreign minister and lower house speaker, who passed away last year, Machimura's son-in-lawYoshiaki Wada, 44, will be running for the LDP, while independent Maki Ikeda, 43, will be running with the backing of the Democrats and three other opposition parties.

The parties united in supporting Ikeda against the LDP are all calling for the scrapping of Abe's new controversial security laws.

The Kyoto by-election is for an empty seat in the lower house following LDP lawmaker Kensuke Miyazaki stepping down after revelations of an extra marital affair came to light, causing widespread public indignation. The LDP has opted not to field a candidate, while the Democratic Party and Social Democratic Party are backing Kenta Izumi, 41, who previously lost to Miyazaki in 2014.

In the Kyoto by-election, the Initiatives from Osaka party and the Party for Japanese Kokoro, are also fielding candidates.
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Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong will participate in the Paris climate agreement signing ceremony to be held later this month at the UN headquarters in New York, the UN Spokesperson's Office said Monday.

However, a reported meeting between UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the foreign minister on the sidelines of the ceremony cannot be confirmed, the office said in a note.

More than 130 countries have confirmed that they will sign the Paris Agreement at the ceremony on April 22, the first day that the agreement will be open for signature, according to the UN.

Adopted by the 196 parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Paris Agreement sets a target of keeping the global average rise in temperature below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and preferably below 1.5 degrees.

On the basis of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, developed countries agreed to raise US$100 billion a year by 2020 to help developing countries transform their economies.
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Last month, the story of a 25-year-old man who's living inside a plywood box parked in his friend's living room became the latest installment in San Francisco's crazy housing market.

In a city where the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is currently $3,590, Peter Berkowitz's tale of paying only $400 a month in rent and squeezing into some 32-square-feet of space became the stuff of legend.

"It fits all my needs where I have a private, sound-proof place where I can keep my belongings," Berkowitz said in an interview with SFGate. "I'm saving thousands of dollars a year. It's a solution that works for me. I don't want to spend so much money on rent."

After media outlets across the country covered the story and the London Guardian ran an editorial by Berkowitz, he began hearing from people who wanted to live in similar humble, inexpensive accommodations. Berkowitz announced in a story on Hoodline this week that he would begin selling custom pods.

Those plans were quickly stopped by the San Francisco's chief housing inspector Rosemary Bosque who told Hoodline that "pods are illegal and a violation of housing, building, and fire safety codes."

"He would have to completely open it up or look at something different, such as a bed with a frame, with curtains, something that was open to the room," Bosque said in the Hoodline interview. "This would be the case for anywhere in the country with respect to building and inhabitability codes."

As SFGate reported in an earlier story on March 30, 2016, Berkowitz could actually afford to pay more in rent. He's a successful illustrator who has been busy with freelance work ever since one of his cartoons made it into the New Yorker.

The thing is that he doesn't want to pour all of his money into high-priced San Francisco rentand so that's why he came up with the idea for the pod.

Berkowitz moved into his box in early March. He built the structure with friends and the highest quality plywood he could find at Home Depot. The result is a simple box that's eight-feet long, four-and-a-half-feet tall and wide enough to accommodate a twin mattress. The box has a door, windows and a skylight. A desk folds down from the wall and over his lap when he wants to work on his illustrations in bed. Behind the headboard of his bed, there's space for his clothes, which are few. He says he owns only five pairs of pants and three pairs of shoes.

So far, he's finding the accommodations comfortable and says the only thing he'd do differently if he were to rebuild is make the box taller.

RELATED: Engineer lived in moving truck in Google parking lot

Berkowitz was originally looking for a two-bedroom apartment with a friend. "It only took us a quick visit at Craigslist to realize that it was too expensive," he said.

He got the idea to build a structure that could be moved into an apartment with extra space and started emailing people on Craigslist, but nobody jumped on the opportunity. And then Berkowitz mentioned his plan to a friend living in a three-bedroom apartment with four other roommates and a spacious living room. "He was excited," Berkowitz said. "And the other roommates liked the idea because they are all now paying less rent."

Berkowitz doesn't think his situation is extreme. "I'm very happy living in this," he said. "I feel like what I'm doing is presented as this extreme action. I'm trying to do something less extreme. The people who are in really extreme situations are living on couches or in partitions."

He added, "I've made something beautiful that's a pleasant and serene space to live in. It hasn't changed my life that much. It's very much a comfortable bedroom. In my pod I don't have any roommates. When I had a regular bedroom, I'd spend most of my time on my bed anyway. I have a full apartment I have access to. If I'm going to be reading or doing illustrations, I might come into here to focus."
Yuri Milner, the Silicon Valley billionaire who has already committed $100 million to SETI, the search for alien life in the universe, said Tuesday that he is adding a second $100 million to expand the quest by sending fleets of tiny robot spacecraft into interstellar space.

The one-time Moscow physicist envisions thousands of ships he calls nanocrafts, someday speeding at 100 million mph to star systems light-years away, powered only by the pressure of light beams from arrays of space-borne lasers.

Milners money will finance research and engineering programs designed to prove that concepts for the project he calls Breakthrough Starshot could become possible within a generation, he said.

His first $100 million grant targeted expansion of the UC Berkeley-based SETI listen program, whose astronomers at observatories around the world are listening and looking for radio signals and bursts of laser light that might be carrying messages from intelligent civilizations across the universe.

Scanning for stars

Under the Berkeley program, astronomers at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory at Green Bank, W.Va., have begun scanning a few hundred stars for SETI radio signals, said Andrew Siemion, an astronomer at the project in Berkeley. And the new telescope at UCs Lick Observatory near San Jose, known as the Automated Planet Finder, has been programmed to scan for strange optical signals that could be coming in laser beams from ET, Siemion said.

No signals have been received yet, he said, but things are going great.

Milner, whose fortune is estimated at nearly $3 billion, announced his new donation Tuesday in New York, where he was joined by Stephen Hawking, the famed English cosmologist. Advances in technology are coming so fast today that the elements of an interstellar SETI search should all be possible within a generation, Milner said.

At Tuesdays announcement, Hawking, who is on the board of directors for Milners project, said he lent his support to Milners initiative.

Transcend our limits

The limit that confronts us now is the great distance between us and the stars, Hawking said. Milners commitment, he added, should lead earthbound space explorers to transcend our limits.

Earth is a wonderful place, but it might not last forever, he said. Sooner or later, we must look to the stars. Breakthrough Starshot is a very exciting first step on that journey.

Milner acknowledged that the concept calls for the most rapid advances in miniaturizing virtually every technology now used for this generations space travel, communication and lasers.

A single chip, for example, would be a gram-scale wafer weighing less than an ounce and carrying miniaturized cameras, thrusters, power supplies, and systems for navigation and communication, he said.

Swarms of nanocrafts

A single mothership would carry swarms of nanocrafts to high orbits at once, he said. The tiny spacecraft would carry huge, lightweight sails  each no more than a few hundred atoms thick, he said  propelled by the pressure of light beams from phased arrays of earthbound, mountaintop lasers generating hundreds of millions of kilowatts at a time.

We hope to demonstrate the lightweight payload and sail technologies within a decade, said Avi Loeb, a Harvard astrophysicist who heads Milners advisers for the Breakthrough Starshot project, in an email interview. Interstellar travel is challenging, but based on these technical advances, we believe there is a path forward without obvious show-stoppers. If we are lucky, its a couple of decades.

The immediate goal, he said, is to find out if we can potentially overcome all the challenges involved.

Milner proposes sending the first fleet of hundreds of tiny spacecraft to hunt for SETI signals from planets around Earths closest stars, the Alpha Centauri system, which is 25 trillion miles, or 4.37 light-years away.

Speedy nanocrafts

Todays fastest spacecraft would take at least 30,000 years to get there, but the nanocrafts, Milner envisions, would speed there in only 20 years, he said.

Pete Worden, the former director of NASAs Ames Research Center in Mountain View, and now executive director of Milners Starshot initiative, noted that he and the projects scientists are conferring with NASA leadership, and said many of its most advanced concepts are based on progress already under way at the space agencys research centers.

David Perlman is The San Francisco Chronicles science editor. Email: dperlman@sfchronicle.com
DAMASCUS, Syria  Syrian government troops pushed an offensive Tuesday against militants in the countrys north on the eve of parliamentary elections  a vote that is expected to rubber-stamp an assembly loyal to President Bashar Assad ahead of a new round of peace talks in Geneva resuming this week.

Damascus says the vote, which will be held only in areas controlled by the government, is constitutional and separate from the talks aimed at ending the war. But the opposition says it contributes to an increasingly unfavorable climate for negotiations amid fierce fighting that threatens an increasingly crumbling cease-fire engineered by the U.S. and Russia.

The new offensive, launched by Syrian troops and their allies Tuesday, seeks to retake an important hilltop village south of the city of Aleppo from militants, including al Qaedas local affiliate.

Al-Manar TV, run by Lebanons Hezbollah militant group, which is fighting alongside Syrian government forces, reported the offensive to retake the village of Tel al-Ais. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist-run monitoring group, said clashes were ongoing around Tel al-Ais and the nearby village of Khan Touman.

The Observatory said dozens of troops and pro-government fighters were killed in Tuesdays clashes in Aleppo province, without providing precise figures.

Tel al-Ais overlooks a supply line connecting the capital, Damascus, to the northern city of Aleppo, parts of which have been held by groups opposed to the government since 2012. Militants captured Tel al-Ais earlier this month after heavy fighting despite the U.S.-Russian-brokered truce, which excludes the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front.

The Syrian National Coalition, an Istanbul-based opposition group, said the offensive in Aleppo is a violation of the cease-fire, warning that the agreement will lose all meaning if the attacks continue unheeded.

The fighting comes as U.N.-brokered indirect peace talks are set to resume on Wednesday in Geneva, where the U.N. envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, will be meeting with an umbrella opposition coalition backed by Saudi Arabia, the United States and other Western powers.

The Syrian government says its delegation will arrive in Geneva on Friday, once the balloting in the parliament elections is completed.

De Mistura has said this upcoming round of talks will focus on a political transition in Syria, but government officials say any talk of Assads departure is a red line.
UNITED NATIONS  The United Nations took a historic step Tuesday to open up the usually secret process of selecting the next secretary-general, giving all countries the chance to question candidates on such issues as how they would resist pressure from powerful nations, tackle sex abuse by U.N. peacekeepers and improve efforts to achieve peace.

Montenegros Foreign Minister Igor Luksic was the first of eight candidates to face members of the U.N. General Assembly, citing his small Balkan nations multiethnic and multicultural diversity as well as his experience as a former prime minister and defense minister in seeking the United Nations top diplomatic post.

General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft called it a historic moment ... without precedent at the United Nations.

As the United Nations grapples with multiple crises and the organization deals with some fundamental questions regarding its own role and performance, finding the best possible candidates to succeed Ban Ki-moon is absolutely crucial, Lykketoft said. For the first time since this organization started 70 years ago, the process for selecting and appointing the next secretary-general is being generally guided by the principles of transparency and inclusivity.

Under the U.N. Charter, the secretary-general is chosen by the 193-member General Assembly on the recommendation of the 15-member Security Council.

In practice, this has meant that the councils five permanent members  the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France  have veto power over the candidates. That will not change in deciding whom to recommend to succeed Ban, whose second five-year term ends Dec. 31.

But Lykketoft told the assembly Tuesday that he views the question-and-answer sessions, which will continue through Thursday, as a potential game-changer for the United Nations.

If there is a critical mass of countries supporting one single candidate, I dont think the Security Council will be coming up with quite a different name, he said. But if there are many, many candidates and no clear favorite, it could very well be that the absolute final word will be from the Security Council.

By tradition, the job of secretary-general has rotated among regions and Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe have all held the top U.N. post. East European nations, including Russia, argue that they have never had a secretary-general and it is their turn. There has also never been a woman secretary-general and a group of 56 nations are campaigning for the first female U.N. chief.

There are currently four women and four men who have thrown their hats in the ring  six from Eastern Europe, one from Western Europe and one from the Asia-Pacific region.
Gender Pay Gap

Today is

, which marks how far into the year that women must work to "catch up" to men's earnings from last year.

Here's

in New Mexico.

Rate Hike Protests

Public Service Company of New Mexico wants the Public Regulation Commission to approve a double-digit rate hike, but

at the start of a three-week hearing on the matter.

Fort Bayard Mismanagement

A new report assembled by staff at the New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee has revealed

, a 140-bed nursing home outside Silver City. That has state Rep. Howie Morales

to stop the abuse and neglect of the most vulnerable citizens of New Mexico.

Finance Reports Filed

Dan Boyd reports, With control of both chambers of the New Mexico Legislature at stake in this years general election,

and political action committees. Heres a look at how the cash race is shaping up for

Going Green

New Mexico In Depth data journalist Sandra Fish discovered that House Majority Leader Nate Gentrys latest reports show

Of that, $10,000 came from Ultra Health LLC and its founder, Duke Rodriguez, a former Lovelace Medical Center executive. The Scottsdale, Ariz., based for-profit recently took over management of Santa Fes New Mexico Top Organics, as

.

Another Judge Recusal

We all figured this was going to happen, and now it has. David Thomson, the final 1st Judicial District judge, has recused himself from

. Steve Terrell reports:

Accreditations Challenged

New Mexico

and 11 other state attorneys general have asked the federal Department of Education to revoke the recognition of the much-criticized Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools.

Zika Funding

Public health officials and the Obama administration want Congress to allocate

to combat Zika, the mosquito-borne virus.

As summer approaches, officials are warning that mosquito eradication efforts, lab tests and vaccine research may not be able to catch up. There are 346 cases of Zika confirmed in the continental United States - all in people who had recently traveled to Zika-prone countries, according to the most recent CDC report. Of those, 32 were in pregnant women, and seven were sexually transmitted.

Santa Fe Reporter
Fonterra's board and shareholders' council successfully opposed a remit to shrink its board at last year's annual meeting and the outcome of this week's first-ever governance overhaul may hold that line while proposing other changes to ensure the best spread of boardroom skills.

New Zealand's biggest exporter is scheduled to release a set of proposals to refresh its governance structures - both at board and shareholders' council level - on Thursday, with the aim of putting any proposed changes to its structure before shareholders for a vote in May. Auckland-based Fonterra hasn't changed its governance and representation arrangements since being set up 15 years ago although it undertook a full review in 2013.

A majority of Fonterra's farmer-shareholders supported a proposal to reduce the board to nine from 13 at the annual meeting last October but the vote fell short of the 75 percent needed, including a requirement for 50 percent support of the shareholders' council, who echoed the board's view that a better option was to make any changes under a governance review already under way. A booklet issued on Feb. 1 posed questions on whether the board was the right size and had the right collection of skills, raised the same issues about the shareholders' council, and asked whether more needed to be done to nurture the next generation of leaders.

"I'm pretty happy with the status quo. I don't see a major change coming," said Wayne Langford, a farmer in Golden Bay and vice-chair of Federated Farmers' dairy industry group. "The review has been very good for helping farmers understand the structures within Fonterra."

Langford unsuccessfully stood for the council last year and says he would like to see the council "step up" in terms of addressing issues with Fonterra's board, but he was supportive of the current board size and said existing selection processes tended to weed out unsuitable candidates. The remit on shrinking the board had been timely in as much as it came as dairy prices were plunging and some farmers were looking around for someone to blame, he said.

But shareholders and former Fonterra directors Colin Armer and Greg Gent, who drove the calls for a reduced board, say tweaks to governance won't cut it.

"Tweaks don't solve very much at all when people want substantive change," Gent said. "Our number one goal would be to get a single-digit number of directors. A small board means there is no room for passengers. More urgent is that we need a massive change to the Fonterra council. It was set up to provide a constructive challenge to the board but that's not what they do."

Gent described the council as being "like a parliament in size" although it was "probably failing to attract a big cross section of farmers". Others were blunter, but wouldn't put their names to comments such as that council membership was "a junket" and councillors were more likely to agree with the board than challenge it.

Fonterra's February booklet listed 14 areas of skill needed on its board, including experience running a $1 billion-plus business; global experience; audit, financial and risk management skills; knowledge of manufacturing and the global commodities trade; experience at a senior level in consumer goods; a track record of commercial/value creation. It posed similar questions for the Shareholders' Council: does it have the right focus; does its representation model "reflect the global nature of our business"; is the councillor selection process right?

Rural Equities chairman David Cushing says a $1 billion-plus business needs "outstanding directors" while retaining the right balance of farmers and independent directors appointed for their business acumen. The right mix was probably slightly fewer farmers.

"Changes are required and absolutely there is room for improvement," he said. "We would have thought that was a pretty common call around farmers." Fonterra had committed a lot of capital in developing its own dairy farms in China and in a minority stake in a Chinese distribution company, Beingmate Baby & Child Food Co, the wisdom of which would become clearer over time. But Cushing said he preferred the Synlait Milk model, where Chinese capital was invested in a New Zealand business, he said.

Fonterra wants to strengthen its governance and representation to ensure it can meet goals including lifting the volume it collects to 30 billion litres of milk both in New Zealand and in overseas markets from 22 billion litres now, and driving revenue to $35 billion over the next decade from $18.8 billion. It also wants to become the world's number one ingredients supplier, and the number one or two consumer and food-service business in New Zealand, Australia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Chile, China, Brazil and Indonesia.

Federated Farmers dairy industry chair Andrew Hoggard said it was a challenge to draw the right skills from a pool of farmers but that is offset by the need to preserve farmer representation.

"This is a co-op so it is about having that touchstone to farming reality," he said. "It would be very easy to lose track of what the core responsibility of the co-op is all about - a decent milk price and a good return on what we produce."

Hoggard said a common complaint among farmers was that the council was "just yes men" and he cited guidance released by Fonterra on palm kernel last year - something that had a bearing on shareholders' on-farm activities - where the council wasn't consulted.

"But they do ask hard questions and do a good job. You can have robust debate about change behind the scenes," he said. Councillors sometimes felt they didn't have the freedom to say what they liked in public because the media latched onto to it as evidence of "rift at Fonterra".

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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BENGALURU: Panamanian prosecutors have visited the offices of the Mossack Fonseca law firm to look into its allegations that a computer hacker was behind the leak of a trove of financial documents about tax havens the firm set up to benefit influential people around the globe.

Public ministry spokeswoman Sandra Sotillo said the visit to the offices of Mossack Fonseca on Monday was made by investigators from the intellectual property prosecutor's office.

The firm filed a complaint charging the security breach shortly before media reports appeared last week using the documents to detail how politicians, celebrities and companies around the globe were hiding assets in offshore bank accounts and anonymous shell companies.

"Finally the real criminals are being investigated," firm co-founder Ramon Fonseca said in a message to The Associated Press.

Fonseca has maintained that the only crime which can be taken from the leak was the computer hack itself. He has said he suspects the hack originated outside Panama, possibly in Europe, but has not given any details.

Panama's government has said it will cooperate with any judicial investigation arising from the documents.

Some critics of the government have called for a rapid investigation of the law firm, which is one of the most important in the world for creating overseas front companies.

Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela has defended the country's financial sector, which is considered of strategic importance for the economy. But Varela has also promised the international community that he is willing to make reforms to make the sector more transparent.

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BALLIA (UP): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting the district on May 1 to distribute free gas connections to below the poverty line (BPL) families.

"PM's visit has been finalised at a programme held at the residence of Union Minister Mahesh Sharma. He will be distributing free gas connections to BPL families here," BJP MP Ravindra Kushwaha said.

BJP district president Devendra Yadav said the official programme for PM Modi's visit is still awaited.

"Though no official programme has been received yet, the party organisation has informed regarding this," Yadav said.

PM's visit assumes significance as BJP is trying to reach out to the people ahead of the 2017 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting the district on May 1 to distribute free gas connections to below the poverty line (BPL) families.

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PANAJI: The US Navy aims at stationing 60 percent of its surface ships in Indo-Asia Pacific region by 2019, catering to various missions including counter-terrorism, a senior naval official said today.

"We already have 60 per cent of US submarines in the Indo-Asia Pacific region. The goal is to have 60 per cent of the US surface ships in this region by 2019," Vice Admiral Joseph P Aucoin, Commander of Seventh Fleet of the US Navy, based out of Yokosuka, Japan, told reporters.

He was on board the US Naval ship Blue Ridge, currently anchored at Mormugao Port Trust near here.

Aucoin said 10-15 more US surface ships in the region will make it to 60 per cent. It is not just the number of ships, but the best of ships are being positioned in this region, he said.

He said three of the common missions for the US and India in this region are counter-terrorism, maritime security and humanitarian relief during disaster.

"Maritime security is crucial for the free flow of the trade through sea lanes. Almost 90 per cent of the total trade happens in the sea. We are working closely with India and south and east Asian countries," the Vice Admiral said.

Aucoin said during his India visit, he is going to meet his Indian counterpart to discuss Malabar naval exercises scheduled for June this year.

The navies of USA, India and Japan would be participating in it. During the Goa visit, Vice Admiral Aucoin visited the Indian Navy's INS Hansa base here.

"India has amazing naval capabilities. There can be a great synergy between two nations," he said.

"India can be a great partner with the US as both the countries share similar capabilities," he said.

Meanwhile, US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter and Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar today visited the US Naval ship Blue Ridge, which arrived here from Mumbai last week.

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MUMBAI: A 'water train' with 10 wagons carrying water for parched Latur in Marathwada region, which is battling the worst drought ever, today left from Miraj in western Maharashtra.

The train is expected to reach Latur later today. The railway wagons meant for supplying water to Latur had reached Miraj from Kota in Rajasthan yesterday.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said yesterday that Maharashtra government and Railway Ministry were working hard to bring relief to people in drought affected region.

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had said, "50 Tank Wagons steam cleaned reached Miraj for Latur."

On April 8, one of two goods trains carrying 50 wagons of water for drought-affected areas of Latur departed from Kota workshop for Miraj in Pune division.

The second goods train consisting of 50 wagons is expected to be ready for water loading around April 15, a Railway official earlier said.

"As per instructions from the Ministry of Railways, Kota workshop received two goods trains consisting of 50 tank wagons (BTPN) each for deployment in drought-affected areas of Latur during the summer season and the trips of the trains will be arranged as per the requirement," he said.

The carrying capacity of these wagons is 54,000 litres of waters per wagon.

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GURGAON: Bullish on India, US-based global management consultancy giant Korn Ferry Hay Group has embarked on an ambitious plan to support for free 100 startups from the country that have potential to grow big, its CEO Stephen D Kaye said today.

Kaye also said he is seeing emergence of a "more global India" that has a tremendous talent base and the consultants working with the Group here are capable of servicing some of the most prestigious clients around the world.

"We see a very capable and bullish India market. India is now a country that is living up to its potential, growing quickly with world class companies," Kaye told PTI in an interview here.

The group, whose clients include governments, public sector companies, family-owned enterprises as well as listed private sector companies from across the world including many top Fortune-500 firms, is present across 56 countries and has a significant presence in India.

Talking about the group's ambitious NextBig100 programme, Kaye said the Group is supporting the next big-100 startups in India and would help them as they go through various growth stages.

"We are working alongside those companies to help them move forward and to support the development of business in India. We are very much part of the local business community in which we work. We not only work with business leaders but also want to support the entire business community.

"We can help them think through some of the critical issues as they go through these various phases. A lot of growth is also going to come from these startup companies and we will play a role by supporting them for free, that's our contribution to the economy," said Kaye who is currently on a visit to India.

Talking about the Indian market, Kaye said he is excited about the opportunities that exist in the country, including for his Group, which has nearly 7000 consultants working with it across the world.

"We are also excited about the tremendous talent that exists within India that we are able to deploy for clients not only in India but are global clients also.

"Over the last year, we had consultants in India working on some of the most prestigious accounts around the world and we also see innovations coming out that we need to capitalise upon," he added.

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Coal-fired pizza is coming to Richmond Valley -- the estimated time of arrival, according to co-owner Joe LaRocca, is about four months. Oh, and it's not just any coal-fired version of a pie: It's Campania's, a quickly expanding brand of restaurants with locations in Eltingville and Bay Ridge.

Indeed, La Rocca and Paul Montella are the proprietors behind the operation that anticipates a Campania also in Miami, FL. The intention is someday to franchise the concept that combines a succinct roster of Italian food with gourmet pizza marked by a pleasantly charred crust.

The latest Campania is under construction at 240 Page Ave., former home to Dock's Clam Bar which shuttered last week. (Dock's, by the way, should not to be confused with Cole's Dockside, a Great Kills seafood restaurant who's namesake comes from proprietor Larry Cole.)

La Rocca, at 31, is a seasoned restaurateur with venues in his repertoire such as former Restaurant 101 of Eltingville and Bay Ridge plus Nove, formerly of Eltingville at 3900 Richmond Avenue where Campania now lives. Those prior upscale ventures proved successful. But La Rocca and his family changed up their formats over the years so as to freshen the menu with nouveau Italian fare and more seafood.

Campania met with raves in Bay Ridge two years ago. In Eltingville, the restaurant sees lines out the door on weekends. Recipes were developed by Theresa La Rocca, Joe's Mom.

As for the other principal in the budding businesses, Paul Montella's resume includes Nucci's North, Nucci's South, an institutional food service catering company and New York City's first Sonic hamburger outpost. Said Stefanie Montella in September of the couple's endeavor into fast food with the Oklahoma City-based company: "I'm so nervous. I can't believe it's here. I can't believe it's happening."

But it has happened; and, after years of red tape with construction, that Richmond Valley Sonic, says Montella, is among the busiest outposts in the country.

In the meantime, La Rocca supervised the build-out of Campania on Page Avenue earlier in the week. Workers stripped the dining room of seafood-themed bric-a-brac and started pulling apart the bar. The plan is to extend the bar section a bit and, on the return by the kitchen, install a coal-fired oven that, so far, has made Campania's pizza almost-famous.
Trump Clinton.jpg

GOP front-runner Donald Trump and Democratic front-runner former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are keeping their leads in New York, according to a new poll. (Advance composite photo)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton continue to hold the leads in their respective primaries, with Clinton garnering a large portion of support from black voters over opponent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, according to a poll released Tuesday.

For the Quinnipiac University poll, 550 Republican likely primary voters, with a margin of error of +/- 4.2 percentage points, and 860 Democratic likely primary voters, with a margin of error of +/- 3.3 percentage points, were interviewed on land lines and cell phones from April 6 through 11.

A poll late last month showed Trump and Clinton leading among likely Republican and Democratic voters, respectively.

Clinton leads Sanders 65-28 percent among black voters, and 53-40 among likely Democratic primary voters in the state, according to the poll.

Trump has courted 55 percent of likely Republican primary voters in the state, followed by Ohio Gov. John Kasich with 20 percent and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas with 19 percent.

"Black voters matter for Secretary Hillary Clinton in the New York Democratic primary," said Quinnipiac University Poll Assistant Director Maurice Carroll. "She leads Sen. Bernie Sanders in many New York demographic groups except the young folks and very liberal voters, but it's a huge lead among black voters that gives her a comfortable double-digit margin."

"Gender counts, too. New York women like the idea of nominating the first woman president."

Likely Democratic primary voters between the ages of 18 and 44 years back Sanders over Clinton 55-36 percent, while older voters back Clinton.

Liberal Democratic voters tend to favor Sanders, Democratic women tend to favor Clinton and white voters are divided, with 50 percent for Clinton and 45 percent for Sanders.

Clinton leads 53-37 percent in New York City and 55-40 percent in the suburbs.

Trump leads among every group of likely Republican voters in the state, from Tea Party members to moderate to liberal Republicans, among men and women and voters of every age group and in every region of the state.

White born-again Evangelical Christians are more closely divided, with 41 percent for Trump, 37 percent for Cruz and 16 percent for Kasich.
Monk Parrot.jpg

These two monk parrots were observed just two weeks ago building a nest behind PS 13

(Michael Shanley)

If you have seen a tropical green parrot with blue wingtips that looked more like it belonged in the forests of South America than on Staten Island, you've seen one of the monk parrots that have become naturalized to urban life in New York.

While pet birds occasionally escape from their owners, they usually don't get together with many others of their own species to form a functional community that becomes established and continues to grow. The Monk parrot is an exception. Also known as the Quaker parrot, this species has become established in many cities across America and beyond.

A few have even made their way here to Staten Island.

First appeared here in the late 1960s

New York City's population of monk parrots dates back to the late 1960s. It is commonly believed that they got their start here when a shipment of these birds broke loose from a damaged container at Kennedy Airport, though many other theories have been suggested.

One way or another, these hardy birds survived and began to build nests. Over the years their population has grown and spread to areas surrounding their largest stronghold in Brooklyn. Though a bit reluctant to cross wide stretches of water, some even made their way to Staten Island.

I remember one of their large colonial nests at Mount Loretto sometime in the seventies. Since then their population has been kept more or less in check, though small numbers still persist and may occasionally be bolstered by migrants from Brooklyn crossing the Narrows.

According to the website "BrooklynParrots," two nests were removed from power line poles on the west bound side of the Verrazano Bridge last year. Other nests still exist in nearby neighborhoods on the north shore. The Christmas Bird Count a few months ago noted a total of eight individuals.

A pair of monk parrots made the news in 2015 when they built a nest in Westerleigh. This pair had escaped from nearby residents, but both birds appear to have been part of the local population - one here and the other from Brooklyn - before becoming pets.

Nests are impressive

Once monk parrots have moved into the neighborhood their presence is hard to miss. Beyond being rather noisy, this species lives in large colonial nests that have many separate apartments for as many as 20 mating pairs. Built of sticks that are carefully interwoven, these nests can reach the size of a small car and may weigh more than 200 pounds.

Telephone poles, especially those with transformers, are frequently utilized for nest building - much to the consternation of utility companies, which must remove them to avoid the high potential for the damage the birds may cause especially since transformers generate heat and the nests made of twigs are quite flammable.

Many cities have feral monk parrots

Native to Argentina, these birds are adapted to a climate with warm summers and cold winters. As such they are well prepared for the climate in this part of the world. In the 1960s and 70s they were popular pets and at least 60,000 were imported to the United States. Argentina was more than happy to export them since their feeding habits caused them to be classified as agricultural pests there.

New York isn't the only place monk parrots have become "naturalized" members of the bird population. Escaped pets have formed successful colonies around the world in places as diverse as Spain, Israel, Easter Island, British Columbia, and Japan. In the United States, feral monk parrots can be found in at least 13 states. Many states have passed laws regulating their ownership or making their possession illegal due to their propensity for going feral and possibly becoming an agricultural pest.

Not in Manhattan

Despite their dispersal to the outer boroughs, monk parrots have yet to take Manhattan. Part of their failure there is due to the persistence of the Parks Department in discouraging them from nesting, particularly in Central Park. Two other environmental factors also deter monk parrots from Manhattan. These are the lack of phone poles since power and phone lines are underground, and the tall skyscrapers. The lack of phone poles limits nesting sites. Manhattan skyscrapers have become home for peregrine falcons and red-tail hawks, which often prey on other birds - so it should be no surprise that monk parrots have not established any permanent residence there. They've done well enough spreading in other directions to Long Island, Connecticut and New Jersey.
James Powell is wrong about the 99.99% AGW consensus Posted on 12 April 2016 by Andy Skuce This is reposted from Critical Angle with slight modifications and updates. In a recent article in Skeptical Inquirer, geologist and writer James Lawrence Powell, claims that there is a 99.99% scientific consensus on Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW). You might think that after all of the harsh criticism that the 2013 Cook et al. paper (C13) has received from climate contrarians that we would be pleased to embrace the results of a critique that claims we were far too conservative in assessing the consensus. While it certainly does make a nice change from the usual rants and overblown methodological nit-picks from the contrarians, Powell is wrong to claim such a very high degree of agreement. He makes many of the same errors that contrarian critics make: ignoring the papers self-rated by the original authors; and making unwarranted assumptions about what the no-position abstracts and papers mean. Powells methodology was to search the Web of Science to review abstracts from 2013 and 2014. He added the search term climate change to the terms global climate change and global warming that were used by C13. He examined 24,210 papers co-authored by 69,406 scientists and found only five papers written by four authors that explicitly reject AGW. Assuming the rest of the abstracts endorsed AGW, this gives consensus figures of 99.98% (by abstract) and 99.99% (by author). His definition of explicit rejection would align roughly with the seventh level of endorsement used in C13: Explicitly states that humans are causing less than half of global warming. In the abstracts from 1991-2011, C13 found 9 out of 11,914 that fit level 7, which using Powells consensus calculation assumptions, would yield 99.92%. So, there is probably not much difference between the two approaches when it comes to identifying an outright rejection paper. Its what you assume the other abstracts sayor do not saythat is the problem. C13 also counted as reject AGW abstracts that: Implies humans have had a minimal impact on global warming without saying so explicitly, e.g., proposing a natural mechanism is the main cause of global warming. These are more numerous than the explicit rejections and include papers by scientists who consider that natural causes are more important than human causes in recent warming, but who do not outright reject some small human contribution. Competing Climate Consensus Pacmen. Cook on the left, Powell on the right. Perhaps the simplest argument that shows that Powell is wrong is that surveys conducted in the past ten years consistently show a stubborn, small minority of scientists who dismiss the mainstream expert view on AGW. These studies include polls of scientists, analyses of the published literature and examination of the public statements of scientists (see the references below). In a new paper that is currently in press we found that consensus increases with the degree of climate science expertise of the populations studied. When the studies are limited to publishing climatologists, the consensus ranges from 84- 98%. The specific criteria chosen for what constitutes endorsement or rejection of the consensus also influences outcomes. There are a few scientistsand even a very few who actively publish in the peer-reviewed literature on climatologywho reject or play down the human role in recent climate change. In the second part of the C13 paper, we asked the authors of the articles whose abstracts we had analyzed to rate their own papers. We received self-ratings on 2141 papers, among which 39 (1.8%) were self-rated as rejecting AGW. Of the 1189 authors who responded, 28 (2.4%) wrote papers that rejected AGW to some degree or other. The dissenters are but a small percentage of the many thousands of scientists working on climate change. They may or may not be doing good science, but it would be foolish to deny that they exist. The no-position abstracts and papers Powells main beef is that we ruled out of the calculation of consensus the two-thirds of the abstracts that did not take a position on AGW. Since the analysis of the abstracts was limited to the text, we could not guess what the non-expressed opinions of the authors were. Powell: [James] Hansen had a total of six articles in Cook et al.s no position category. A number of other prominent climate scientists show up there as well. These include (with the number of articles): R. Bradley (3), K. Briffa (2), E. Cook (5), M. Hughes (2), P. Jones (3), T. Karl (5), M. Mann (2), M. Oppenheimer (3), B. Santer (2), G. Schmidt (3), the late S. Schneider (3), S. Solomon (5), K. Trenberth (7), and T. Wigley (3). Cook et al. ruled them all out of the consensus calculation. It is maybe worth noting that the fact that we classified abstracts by many prominent mainstream climate scientists as no-position rebuts the notion that we regularly cheated by looking up the authors of the abstracts and classifying them accordingly. Powell continues: (with my emphasis) Most of these authors, like Hansen, also have articles in one or more of the three endorsing categories. Again, we see that the Cook et al. method is about language and the subject of articles rather than whether their authors accept AGW. Bingo. It wasnt an opinion poll and we didnt try to guess what the authors think about AGW generally, we just relied on their specific abstracts. Many papers on the impacts of global climate change did not mention a human cause. A good number of papers on impacts looked only at local or regionalnot globalclimatic change. The majority of the paleo-climate papers did not mention the modern era at all. By assuming that no-position abstracts or papers are tacit endorsements, Powell makes the same error that contrarian critics make when they claim that the no positions count as rejections or dont-knows. By making such assumptions you either end up with results that the consensus is implausibly large or absurdly small. Powell, arguing from personal incredulity: Since it is inconceivable that any climate scientist today could have no opinion on the subject, if 97 percent accept AGW it follows that 3 percent reject it. Studies like Doran and Zimmerman (2009) and Verheggen et al (2014) do actually get a few dont know answers from samples identified as climate scientists. Some of these dont knows may in fact be cant say answers to questions that the scientists think were poorly framed. But it is surely likely that, in a sample of scientists that contains a minority that outright denies the major human influence on climate, there may also be a few who are genuinely uncertain about it. Powell: A scientist who has evidence that AGW is false will be eager to say so and to present that evidence. Who among us would not love to be that scientist! This is a valid point. Mainstream scientists will be inclined to reserve the limited space of their abstracts for reporting novel results, therefore, statements of the obvious (endorsement of the consensus) may well go unmentioned. On the other hand, a result that goes against the grain of the consensus is, by definition, a novel result and is more likely to be explicitly reported. The C13 methodology, therefore, may well have systematically overestimated the relative level of rejection of AGW. (There was at least one exception to this, though, see the Footnote.) Plate tectonics Powell examined 500 recent articles on plate tectonics and found that none of them explicitly endorsed the theory and none rejected it. He claims that if you applied the C13 methodology to plate tectonics you would get a meaningless result. I did my own little survey on a smaller, not very representative sample. I also found no explicit endorsements and no rejections at all. I was generous with what I considered to be an implicit endorsement, as I wrote: It was sufficient for the abstract [to merit an implied endorsement rating] only to mention a plate tectonic process (e.g., displaced continents, sea-floor spreading, continental collisions etc.). Even so, this only amounted to 5 out of the 65 articles that I looked at, about 7%. Nevertheless, if you include implicit endorsements as C13 did for AGW, the methodology works just fine for plate tectonics and produces a 100% consensus. Anecdotally, I dont recall reading a single paper that doubts plate tectonics that was published in the forty years since I graduated in geology. The last geologist I met who was a continental drift denier was a professor who taught my introductory geology class at the University of Sheffield in 1972. Of course, theres no doubt any more, plate tectonics is accepted by virtually everyone and I wouldnt quibble with anybody saying that the scientific consensus on plate tectonics approaches 100%. There were a few stubborn drift deniers who hung on for a a decade or two after the late 1960s (particularly in the Former Soviet Union), but they are nearly all dead now. However, in the public domain, plate tectonics is not like climate science. There has never been any political or ideological controversy about moving continents, even as the sometimes bitter scientific debates raged. There were no newspapers running editorials talking about the lack of consensus, no politicians denying the science because they cant or wont accept the policy implications, and no large industries and political parties deliberately manufacturing doubt. Nobody stole the geologists private communications looking for damning comments that they could take out of context and use to falsely accuse them of fraud. The plate-tectonic deniers after the late 1960s were mostly older geologists who had invested their careers in developing geological models that had quickly become obsolete. A certain stubbornness is to be expected among curmudgeons whose students suddenly claim to know more about their subjects than they do. In contrast, some of todays AGW contrarians are non-climatologists and were drawn to the subject because of the political implications of emissions mitigation. There are also a few real climatologists who object to the current consensus, not because it threatens the basic physical models that they are familiar with, but because they think that the AGW prognosis is overstated and less certain than is generally reported. These scientists are few. Some of them may well be politically or religiously motivated, many of them may enjoy the notoriety that taking a contrarian stance brings, a handful may be paid by industrial interests to produce contrarian deliverables. But they exist. No true Scotsman There may not be many scientists who doubt the human cause of recent climate change but, because of politics, their influence is exaggerated and the public has been quite deliberately misled about the level of consensus in climate science. Still, I think it is counter-productive to claim that the number of dissenters is near-zero. To claim that only 1 in 1000 or 10,000 experts rejects or is uncertain about AGW can only be justified by classifying the doubters as not true climate scientists. This is similar to the well-known logical fallacy of no true Scotsman that redefines the credentials of someone based on his views or actions. The names of the few dissenters are relatively better known to the public (thanks to Rupert Murdoch and the Republican Party) than the many thousands of climate scientists who toil away in relative obscurity.To claim that thedoubters are an insignificant minority invites disbelief. As a young researcher I remember the advice of an older geophysicist from the University of Glasgow, Adam C McLean (a true Scotsman), who counselled me and others never to exaggerate our arguments, because it makes them easier to contradict. (To this day, I try to screen everything I write, cutting out all of the adverbs that I can, in particular, very.) Powell argues that if there were a small percentage of dissenting scientists, even as low as 3%, the public perception would be that those scientists could turn out to be a group heralding a coming paradigm shift in climate science. Indeed, thats how some of the dissenters portray themselves, as Galileos fighting the orthodoxy. The AGW consensus is not, however, based on an immutable sacred text, but rather is a consequence of a consilience between constantly updated, multiple lines of evidence and basic physical theory. Moreover, the would-be Galileos are mutually incoherent. They do not present an alternative scientific model in the way that the fixists and mobilists did in the continental drift debate. Rather, contrarians put forward a number of different objections such as: its the sun; its ocean cycles, its undersea volcanoes, its planetary cycles, its cosmic waves; the CO2 comes out of the ocean; its all too uncertain and so on. They disagree as much among themselves as they do with the mainstream science. It is certainly true that the public has been misled about the scale of scientific dissent on AGW. The most vociferous critics of C13 are those who like to portray the dissenters as a substantial and repressed minority, not as a 3% fringe group. However, whether the dissenters make up 10%, 3% or 0.001% is immaterial: thats still a marginal proportion in the publics eyes. The contrarian pundits insist that the dissenting scientists make up such a large minority that AGW dissent should be given equal time in the press, congressional hearings and the classroom. Thats nonsense, of course. Powell claims that there is virtually no publishable evidence against AGW. That is why scientists accept the theory. He is right, to the extent that much of the published contrarian literature is bad science, is infrequently cited and, in most cases, ought never to have been published. But hes wrong to claim that 99.99% of scientists publishing today accept AGW. That is not truealthough I wish it wereand it is foolish to make such a strong claim that can be so easily contradicted. There is one positive thing to say about Powells work. Unlike the AGW-doubting critics of C13, he does not just talk about his problems with the C13 methodology. He backed up his criticism with replication work of his own and produced an independent estimate of the AGW consensus. Although I disagree with his result, at least he presented one. References Anderegg, W. R. L., Prall, J. W., Harold, J., & Schneider, S. H. (2010). Expert credibility in climate change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 107, 12107-12109. Bray, D (2010) The scientific consensus of climate change revisited. Environmental Science & Policy, 13, 340-350. doi: 10.1016/j.envsci.2010.04.001. Carlton, J. S., Perry-Hill, R., Huber, M., & Prokopy, L. S. (2015). The climate change consensus extends beyond climate scientists. Environmental Research Letters, 10(9), 094025. Cook, J., Nuccitelli, D., Green, S.A., Richardson, M., Winkler, B., Painting, R., Way, R., Jacobs, P., & Skuce, A. (2013). Quantifying the consensus on anthropogenic global warming in the scientific literature. Environmental Research Letters, 8(2), 024024+. Doran, P., & Zimmerman, M. (2009). Examining the scientific consensus on climate change. Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union, 90, 22. Oreskes N. (2004) Beyond the ivory tower. The scientific consensus on climate change. Science, 306:1686. Powell, J. (2015). The Consensus on Anthropogenic Global Warming. Skeptical Inquirer. Available at: http://www.csicop.org/si/show/the_consensus_on_anthropogenic_global_warming Rosenberg, S., Vedlitz, A., Cowman, D. F., & Zahran, S. (2010). Climate change: a profile of US climate scientists perspectives. Climatic Change, 101(3-4), 311-329. Verheggen, B., Strengers, B., Cook, J., van Dorland, R., Vringer, K., Peters, J., Visser, H. & Meyer, L. (2014). Scientists views about attribution of global warming. Environmental science & technology, 48(16), 8963-8971. Footnote on over-reporting rejection abstracts Astrophysicist Nir Shaviv complained (archived blogpost) that C13 misrepresented his paper, rating it as an explicit AGW endorsement (level 2), when in fact his work showed that part of the 20th Century warming was due to solar activity. He wrote (screenshot): I couldnt write these things more explicitly in the paper because of the refereeing, however, you dont have to be a genius to reach these conclusions from the paper. Ill admit that his abstract fooled us, in the same way that his entire paper got past his reviewers. So, it is not always the case that contrarians will clearly report their novel results in an abstract. This piece was earlier reposted on Facebook, where some readers questioned whether arguing over small differences in percentage consensus is worthwhile. To a degree, they are right. If people use a high percentage of expert agreement as a heuristic to help make up their own minds on AGWor any other issue requiring specialized knowledgethey may not care if it is 90% or 100%. However, Powell's criticism is quite plain and, clearly for him, the difference between 97.1% and 99.99% is significant: "If there were a 3 percent minority on AGW it would matter, but there is not. The 97% consensus is false." To date, no response has been published in Skeptical Inquirer, although there is one in the works.



This week, there will be a peer-reviewed response to a critic claiming that the 97% figure is too high (stay tuned). In the interest of balance, we need to respond not only to those who say we exaggerated the consensus on AGW, but also to those who argue we exaggerated the amount of dissent. 0 0 Printable Version | Link to this page
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home World Muslims help Christians rebuild church in Bulgaria

Muslims helped both in raising funds and in restoring a Christian church in the small Bulgarian village of Kozlets, and the mayor expressed that this an example of tolerance among those of different faiths.

According to Haskovo.net, the bell tower of the hundred-year old Church of the Archangel Michael was in brink of collapse. Village mayor Kadir Beynur explained that the Christians in the village were worried that it would fall down and crush the roof on top of them. With this, they decided to raise funds, and Christian Today says the Muslims in the community were able to come up with around 800, or more than US$1,100, to restore it.

With the money raised along with the materials donated and labor offered to them, they were able to not only fix the bell tower but also to renovate the interior of the church, change the windows, and fix the fence. The church sexton said that everything was donated, from the tables to the floor mats.

"This is an absolute sign that not only people becoming more strong in faith, but in a village where there are Muslims and Christians, all have played their part, rolled up their sleeves and taken care of their houses of prayer," Beynur said. "Kozlets is a true example of tolerance, especially in these times when it is so important and necessary."

The example set forth by the villagers of Kozlets shows that people of different faiths can live in one area in peace and even help each other. It is a deed much needed amidst the violence happening in the other parts of the globe.

Kozlets is located in Haskovo, a province in the south of Bulgaria that has a rich history, with the first settlement dating back to 5,000 BC. The village currently has 600 residents, about 60 of whom are Christians. The people of different faiths reportedly celebrate each other's holidays there.

The church will re-open on May 1, the date of the Orthodox Easter.
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Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 125 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 157 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f01e2790)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 948 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f02b4f98)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f01e2790)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1302 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 955 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f02b4f98)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f01b7da8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1300 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 433 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f02b4f98)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f02b4f98)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612ee50c4e0)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f02b34e0)') called at (eval 592) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f02b34e0)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
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Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 125 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 157 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f01fcdc8)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 948 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f00f2568)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f01fcdc8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1302 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 955 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f00f2568)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f0271648)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1300 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 433 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f00f2568)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f00f2568)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612ee50c168)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f035f0e0)') called at (eval 592) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f035f0e0)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
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/var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17

/usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149



Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 125 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 157 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f035bbc8)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 948 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f0ae2760)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f035bbc8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1302 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 955 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f0ae2760)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f027ae58)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1300 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 433 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f0ae2760)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f0ae2760)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612ee50c4e0)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f01e8608)') called at (eval 592) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f01e8608)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
System error

error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.

context: ... 21: </%method> 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: </%perl> 28: <table width="90%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 29: <tr> ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25

/usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:948

/var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17

/usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149



Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 125 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 157 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f02ec7a0)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 948 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f021d178)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f02ec7a0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1302 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 955 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f021d178)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f022e228)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1300 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 433 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f021d178)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f021d178)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612ebd606b0)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f03d8220)') called at (eval 592) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f03d8220)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
System error

error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.

context: ... 21: </%method> 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: </%perl> 28: <table width="90%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 29: <tr> ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25

/usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:948

/var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17

/usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149



Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 125 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 157 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f01012f8)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 948 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f03f2250)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f01012f8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1302 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 955 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f03f2250)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f010b4f0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1300 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 433 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f03f2250)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f03f2250)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612ee50bd00)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f05f9d80)') called at (eval 592) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f05f9d80)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
System error

error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.

context: ... 21: </%method> 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: </%perl> 28: <table width="90%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 29: <tr> ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25

/usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:948

/var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17

/usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149



Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 125 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 157 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f02797a8)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 948 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f01f5320)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f02797a8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1302 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 955 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f01f5320)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f026aeb8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1300 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 433 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f01f5320)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f01f5320)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612ee50d610)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f0244ea8)') called at (eval 592) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f0244ea8)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
System error

error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.

context: ... 21: </%method> 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: </%perl> 28: <table width="90%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 29: <tr> ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25

/usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:948

/var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17

/usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149



Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 125 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 157 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f01e8498)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 948 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f01b69e0)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f01e8498)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1302 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 955 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f01b69e0)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f01fe958)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1300 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 433 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f01b69e0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f01b69e0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612ee888f50)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f01d4a90)') called at (eval 592) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f01d4a90)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
home Entertainment 'Star Wars Rebels' season 3 news, spoilers: Series expected to come out in Fall

The adventures of the Ghost crew continues as Starwars.com confirmed on November 2015 that animated series "Star Wars Rebels" will be renewed for a third season. The show is speculated to return to TV screens this year, most likely in the Fall.

Currently in production, Disney XD general manager, Marc Buhaj said in a press statement via Den of Geek that the elements from a "Star Wars" franchise fans have come to love will be incorporated in the show, including "adventure, hope and the battle between good vs. evil."

"The show continues to tell fun, heartfelt, exciting new Star Wars stories week after week, and it's beloved by fans of all ages. Season 3 will see our rebel heroes face new obstacles and find new allies in their fight against the Empire," Lucasfilm SVP of development Kiri Hart said.

Like every new installment, the third season will bring forth new characters viewers can anticipate. Grand Admiral Thrawn from Heir to the Empire is rumored to be introduced, dubbed as "the largest cameo role" in the show's history, as noted by Making Star Wars. Also making an appearance is Ezra with an updated look. He will sport a shorter hair as an indication of the passage of time, and he will wield a lightsaber similar to Luke's alternate saber. His new saber is also an indication that he will get a better hold of his powers for next season.

Executive producer Dave Filoni recently caught up with IGN to discuss Ahsoka's fate, and he said that there's more to the character that the fans need to know. However, the show might not be the perfect avenue for that, saying, "I would just say that there are probably a and I'll give you this as we go back a ways a there are probably more stories to tell with Ahsoka Tano but I would not believe that that would happen necessarily on 'Star Wars Rebels.'"
Public schools in areas already battling with surging enrolments will be pushed to breaking point over the next decade as the number of school-aged children swells by two to three times the state average, new data shows.

Some desperate parents are looking to move their children to the country with little relief in sight for stretched schools in the Waverley, Canada Bay, Sydney and Ryde local government areas.

Enrolments have skyrocketed by between three to five times the NSW average over the past four years across these Local Government Areas, according to a Fairfax Media analysis of Department of Education figures.

And it is set to worsen. Over the next 10 years, the population aged 5-19 will balloon in these areas by more than 25 per cent. In areas of Sydney's south west, such as Camden, this figure will soar past 55 per cent, according to Department of Planning projections.
The nine-year-old girl who always volunteered to sit on the priest's lap to steer his car  knowing what he would do to her  because she wanted to protect her younger cousin from being touched.

A family driven out of town by their neighbours after the father reported a local teacher for abusing his daughter. The Aboriginal boys on the mission who laughed off the abuse at the hands of their superintendent. A toddler tied up in the kitchen and abused by her foster father.

More than 5000 people have reported child sexual abuse in private sessions to the royal commission. Credit:Dmitri Maruta

These are some of the more than 5000 stories recounted by victims in private sessions to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse over the past three years.

The abuse was perpetrated by adults against children. It happened across the nation in homes, schools, places of worship, sporting clubs, workplaces, orphanages, health services, juvenile justice centres.
The federal government's only majority Indigenous public service agency has been offered half the pay rise available across the rest of the Commonwealth bureaucracy.

Workers at Aboriginal Hostels Limited, which is two-thirds Indigenous-staffed, have been offered a pay rise of just 1 per cent a year, while other public service outfits have been offered 2 per cent a year.

Struggling: An image on the Aboriginal Hostels Limited Facebook page.

If accepted, the proposal would see the agency, already the public service's lowest-paying employer, fall further behind.
Oslo: Norway's main church has voted in favour of allowing same-sex marriage, becoming the latest of a small but growing number of churches worldwide to do so.

Last year the French Protestant Church allowed gay marriage blessings, while in the US the Presbyterian Church approved a change in the wording of its constitution to include same-sex marriage.

Norwegian Church Council leader Kristin Gunleiksrud Raaum (80) and chairman of the Oslo diocesan council Gard Sandaker-Nielsen (81) vote with others to marry same-sex couples. Credit:NTB/AP

In a vote at the annual conference of the Norwegian Lutheran Church on Monday 88 delegates out of 115 backed same-sex marriage.
Washington: When Edward Lin was a Navy lieutenant, he was selected to speak to a group of people who were about to be naturalised as US citizens along with him at a ceremony in Honolulu. He and his family left Taiwan for the US when he was 14, he recalled, and he needed a translator to help him register for school when he arrived.

"I always dreamt about coming to America, the 'promised land'," Lin said, according to a Navy account of the December 2008 ceremony. "I grew up believing that all the roads in America lead to Disneyland."

More than seven years later, Lin faces charges of espionage, attempted espionage and patronising a prostitute in a rare spying case involving an active-duty member of the US military. It's a steep fall for a lieutenant commander who has served on some of the Navy's most advanced maritime surveillance aircraft. An espionage conviction can carry the death penalty, although no American has been executed for spying since 1953, when the married couple Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were put to death for passing military secrets to the Soviet Union about the atomic bomb program.
From the time he fished for Murray cod with his parents on the Murray River banks, and trekked into the southern alps, Simon Stratford has grown to love the outdoors.

He was in the mountains when he asked his girlfriend, Melissa Kamp, to marry him, and later exchanged vows with her at Mount Buffalo.

New ACT Parks and Conservation ranger, Simon Stratford, is one of the lucky ones out of hundreds of applicants to become a ranger. Credit:Elesa Kurtz

After conservation and land management studies at university he worked for the federal government, compiling an environmental impact assessment around Melbourne, the first of its kind on impacts of an expanding urban population.

Then he left for a job he never dreamed of, only to discover a record 290 people had applied for only 11 position as rangers with ACT Parks and Conservation. When told recruiters had whittled this down to 60 he gave himself no chance.
Canberra multimillionaire Matt Bullock has sold his online transaction company for more than a thousand times the money in his bank when he started it.

When the Pearce man developed eWAY 18 years ago, he had $50,000 to his name. On Friday, he sold it to American payment technology services giant Global Payments for $US50 million.

Canberra entrepreneur Matt Bullock at home in Pearce. He has just sold his online transaction company eWAY for $US50 million. Credit:Rohan Thomson

Understandably, Mr Bullock feels a great sense of achievement from his brainchild that grew to doing 5.8 billion online purchases last year, or about a quarter of all internet transactions in Australia.

"What this shows is that you can do anything in Canberra," he said.
St Kilda forward Josh Bruce is set to recommit to the club and sign a long-term deal in coming days, turning down significant offers from at least two other clubs.

The 23-year-old, who was originally drafted to Greater Western Sydney, is believed to be close to signing a four-year deal worth more than $2 million.

Josh Bruce: Set to re-sign with the Saints despite offers from other clubs. Credit:Getty Images

Fairfax Media understands Bruce received sizeable offers from Essendon and Fremantle, but has preferred to stay at the up-and-coming Saints.

The Saints now have a strong group of key position players for the future, with Bruce and Paddy McCartin viewed as 10-year players, and the suspended Jake Carlisle  who can play at either end of the ground  to return in November.
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Delta Air Lines, the trans-Pacific alliance partner of Virgin Australia, says it is not currently considering the purchase of a stake in the Australian carrier but it has not ruled out buying shares in the future.

Analysts have pointed to US-based Delta as a potential buyer of Air New Zealand's 25.9 per cent stake in Virgin Australia, although it could only buy 19.9 per cent of the Australian carrier on the initial purchase to comply with takeover provisions.

Delta Air Lines has a trans-Pacific joint venture with Virgin Australia.

Singapore Airlines is viewed as the most likely player to make a full takeover bid for Virgin Australia, particularly if Chinese rivals take a close look at the Air New Zealand stake.

Singapore Airlines last week raised its stake in Virgin to 23.11 per cent but as of January it had Foreign Investment Review Board for a 25.9 per cent stake, which when combined with the Air New Zealand holding would give it majority control.
The digital currency industry is facing calls for proper regulation amid claims an Australian-founded bitcoin exchange is on the brink of collapse.

Igot, which was founded in South Australia by New York-based entrepreneur Rick Day, owes thousands of dollars to Australian customers, the ABC's 7:30 program revealed on Monday.

The company has denied it is insolvent and said it will return the money to customers.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission, which is charged with regulating financial products and services under the Corporations Act, said it was powerless to act on the claims because bitcoin was not considered a financial product or service.
Payments business Fastacash is predicting a multibillion-dollar boom in money transfers between people via social media apps such as Facebook and WhatsApp, as it eyes a potential Australian listing.

The Singapore-based firm, reported to be planning a float on the ASX, is one of several companies targeting the potential for consumers to use social media apps to send money, as well as pictures or videos, to friends or family.

Social media apps could be a key growth area within digital payments. Credit:Bloomberg

Chairman and chief executive Vince Tallent said in an interview that Australia was an important potential market for remittance payments via social media, especially among foreign students or migrants from Asia sending money to their families.

The business is betting that since many of these people already use social media to communicate, they will also want to transfer money to friends, family or businesses over social apps.
An alcoholic beverage marketed in a plastic soft drink bottle is being investigated by Liquor and Gaming NSW.

The wine-based "bubbly" beverage, Giggling Goat, is among recent brands of alcopops to hit the shelves of liquor stores around Australia, in packaging that has been questioned for its similarity to that of soft drinks.

The watermelon-flavoured drink, which comes in a 1.25 litre plastic bottle, has a label which reads "8 per cent. Alcoholic drink," however groups have raised concerns that the beverage is marketed at minors.
It's rare that a bulldozer needs protection  but a specialised machine has been kitted out with custom armour to clear a parcel of prime land in Melbourne's west.

Explosives giant Orica is using a remotely operated bulldozer to clear soil at its Deer Park property of nitroglycerine, which can remain in the ground undetonated for years.

Orica is using a remotely operated bulldozer to clear nitroglycerine from Deer Park.

The one-off machine, which has specially designed blast protection shell, is turning and sampling soil to make sure the land is free of the chemical.

Orica used the site to manufacture nitroglycerine  a component of the common industrial explosive TNT  from the mid 1870s until the late 1980s.
Money talks, or so the saying goes.

And Australians are certainly giving their two cents' worth about the nation's new $5 banknote, which is due to come into circulation later this year.

"Ken Done just threw up on a sheet of polymer," quipped Colin Claridge on Twitter, after the design was unveiled by the Reserve Bank of Australia on Tuesday.
The timing was far from ideal when Meegan Fitzharris informed Chief Minister Andrew Barr, by letter last week, that she would take "any necessary action to avoid a real or perceived conflict of interest" over her husband's work on behalf of bidders seeking to redevelop Manuka Oval. For, just hours later, the Labor frontbencher admitted she had been briefed on the very same proposal by her spouse, Pierre Huetter, in February. Mr Huetter is a development manager for Dowse Projects, a Canberra firm retained by the GWS Giants to promote the Manuka redevelopment proposal that it's undertaken with Melbourne construction firm Grocon.

Just after the redevelopment proposal became public, Dowse offered to brief ACT MLAs on February 18. Present at the Fitzharris briefing, held in her ministerial office, was Mr Huetter, GWS and Grocon representatives and a representative of the Territory and Municipal Services Directorate. Since it was a "broad-brush overview" only with no decisions made or opinions sought  and since the redevelopment is in her Molonglo electorate  Ms Fitzharris said she felt no obligation to recuse herself. The letter to Mr Barr indicates she had second thoughts about the wisdom of that decision.

ACT government minister Meegan Fitzharris and husband Pierre Huetter in 2011. Credit:Lyn Mills

That's to be welcomed. However, nothing Mr Barr has said about this judgement-lapse indicates he understands the necessity and requirement of political decision-makers to avoid "real or perceived conflicts of interest". His first reaction was to suggest he had "seen nothing to suggest there is any conflict in this situation"  and to hint that the scrutiny was a result of Ms Fitzharris' sex.

Having played the gender card at the weekend, Mr Barr claimed this week it was "unreasonable to expect partners, family members of politicians to have to completely abandon their careers"  a frankly specious argument that only underlined his slender grasp of the dynamics of public perception and political trust.
New and very expensive bridge structures? Light rail will also need its own maintenance depot. Light rail is very inflexible to future needs. Why the unseemly rush to commit us all before the election with its extreme cancellation cost? Stage 1 to Gungahlin may well seem cheap compared to future extension costs. Canberra development really took off with the NCDC in 1957, but I am appalled by recent city developments which are turning us into a copy of Sydney and Melbourne with all their disadvantages  and now our future city transport system is to adopt antique technology with the ugliness of poles and overhead wires which we have largely managed to avoid. We have (had?) a lovely city but there is a social cost to development. Could we please have some realistic answers to hidden consequences ? Derek Wrigley, Mawson

Trains preferred Felix MacNeill (Letters, April11)is mistaken. Both of Perth's planned light-rail projects havebeen cancelled and replaced with buses, due to excessive cost. Professor Peter Newman promoted Perth's very successful heavy-rail project, a solution that Canberra needs but unfortunately we didn't reserve any suitable routes. Vancouver is only at the planning stage for introduction of streetcars. It currently has three lines of elevated driverless light/heavy rail "SkyTrain" and numerous buses, many of which are fully electric. Chris Emery, Reid

Nimbies have to share Greg Cornwell (Letters, April 9) says nimbies are simply trying to "protect their suburb and lifestyle". Perhaps, but they should remember that they don't own"their" suburb, only a block of land in it (and, in Canberra, not even that), and that they onlylive in "their" suburb temporarily. And other residents in the suburb, probably the silentmajority, realise that nothing in life remains unchanged  and that includes the character of "their" suburb, as the population (and thus the need to house people more densely) grows. Also, nimbies should realise that other people, with different tastes in housing, will also want to share in the benefits of living in "their" suburb (particularly if it's an inner suburb), and that it's selfish to not recognise and accept that. R. S. Gilbert, Braddon

Emotional literacy vital Bravo, Sarah Fitt (Letters, April9), in making the point about boys being unable to convey their feelings and that "someone has got to have a better idea" for addressing the issue of late-night violence. In 2007, I established the Canberra Emotional Literacy Forum, and this was one of the main aims of the forum. I have been unable to attract the attention of any politician, journalist or academic in this concept and the forum is dormant. However, anyone with an interest in promoting the idea of helping children (and adults) understand their own emotions and behaviour is welcome to email me at kenjane.fraser@bigpond.com. Ken Fraser, Kambah Road rules apply to all

I don't know which is worse: the flagrant flouting of road laws by members of the Saudi embassy or the supine response from DFAT's chief of protocol that heis "not happy" and will call inthe Saudi ambassador to express strong concern ("Saudi diplomats find fast excuses to justify their flouting of road rules", April 11, p1). Surely we can be stronger than this and tell the ambassador that serial traffic offenders will be made persona non grata. Perhaps the chief of protocol, Chris Cannan (or the envoy), could enlighten Canberrans as to why this dangerous flouting of road rules is countenanced. Eric Hodge, Pearce Rich want status quo Jane Caro's article "Maybe it's class warfare behind opposition to Gonski" (Times2, April 11, p5) hits the nail on the head about the argument against Gonski funding for all schools.

It is clear to me that the conservative establishment that supports the private school system in this country is determined at all costs to stop the Gonski education system. The establishment sees it as a threat to the class system, in this case the rich schools or the rich class. Yes, it's alive and well , this offensive viewpoint that only divides our people and produces a third-rate education system. All my schooling was in the private system. I had no better education than anyone else; in fact (to my shame) at times I thought I was better than state school kids. That's what the class system of private schools does to children. The evidence shows that without private schools  such as in Finland  and with a Gonski system, they produce the best educated children in the world without pretending that class is more important than equality. Michael Gardiner, Coombs Trade deals more about corporate profits than people's wellbeing

There has been a recent spate of trade deals with China, Japan and Korea, and the signed but not yet ratified Trans-Pacific Partnership. Despite many requests for the Productivity Commission to carry out independent cost-benefit analyses of these deals, this government has always refused. Evidence from past trade deals, notably the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement, has revealed only negligible impacts on our economy, and in some cases aworsening in the balance oftrade. Academics tell us toexpect negligible if any economic benefits. If it's not about the economy, we might well ask what is going on? I think we've just had a few clues. Problems with unsafe building materials imported from one of our major trading partners have prompted calls for a royal commission to look into the steel industry, but the government has replied that we have obligations under trade treaties to accept these imports. Similarly, it has rejected callsfor an inquiry into the banking industry, lestoverseas investors be frightened off by our insistence on standards being met. These trade agreements, they say, are ushering in the new services economy, and we must not hinder the process. On the other hand, re-establishing the Australian Building and Construction Commission, with its draconian limitations on union powers to protect workers, apparently sends just the right message to overseas investors.

Could all this really be about remaking Australian society along neo-liberal lines, without the need of an electoral mandate, and putting the profits of tax-dodging overseas corporations ahead of the health, safety and wellbeing of workers and the community? Pauline Westwood, Dickson Just in the last few days, we'veheard Treasurer Scott Morrison demur on some obvious measures to save astrategic local industry thatunderwrites the town of Whyalla as it would contravene free trade agreements. Then there's American firm NuCoal, which is lining up the US government to press the Australian government for nearly $1 billion in compensation over a failed deal. Again, that's under thegeneral terms of an FTA ("Public interest must come first", Forum, April 9, p6). The benefits of FTAs have been questioned in terms of how long it takes to accrue net gains for the economy and how modest the percentages turn out to be (according to this or that method of calculation).

One thing is clear. The loss ofsovereign action within our borders is more immediate, and, worse, it is impossible to quantify the outcomes of likely future compensation claims. An Australian government is now apparently unable to give Australian orders to anAustralian company on Australian soil. And why? Because of new allegiances to superpower trading partners. Ross Kelly, Monash Better access needed In the article "Chinese investment in Australian property doubles as FIRB real estate approvals overall jump 75 per cent" (domain.com.au, April 9), we learn that Chinese investment is expected to double or triple by 2020. Sydney and Melbourne are now unaffordable property markets for most Canberrans and especially for their children, who may want to enter the jobs market in the bigsmoke.

Are Sydney and Melbourne going the way of Vancouver property, a storehouse for foreign embezzled cash andhot money? We should restrict the purchase of Australian residential property and land for residential development toAustralian citizens and permanent residents. Australians need better access to housing, not bigger prices. John Haydon, Lyneham No idea on Defence Does Frank O'Shea ("Defence spending just a gigantic waste of public money", Forum, April9, p6) have the most basicunderstanding of matters military? From his column, I can only conclude that he does not.

If he believes Defence always gets what it asks for, he should try talking to the Defence planners and learn how difficult it is to decide what can be asked for within a budget, what has to be deferred or outright rejected, and then get procurements approved, even those considered vital. If Mr O'Shea believes the only purpose of a submarine is to sink "enemy shipping", he should arrange a briefing from the proud men and women who crew the navy submarines and learn more about what they do, and at the same time apologise for calling them "macho gunslingers with shining medals and egos to match". I am all for free speech, but if I am going to write some 800 words about a subject and havethem published in a major newspaper, I would try to grasp some of the core concepts regarding that subject. That way I would not look like an ignorant fool. Evan Burton, Callala Bay, NSW Cars are big enough

Amanda Vanstone's op-ed piece about who should build our new submarines ("Home-built subs are a must", Times2, April 11, p4) was in many ways typical of her work: sprawling, ill-defined and full of opportunistic digressions. Put simply, her argument was that the Japanese can't be trusted to adapt their domestic submarine technology to Australian requirements or topass on their knowhow. Whatever the validity of these views, she chose to adorn them with the suggestion that the Japanese designers would need to overcome their mindset to build things small, to accommodate our larger submariners. The Japanese have for decades built cars bigenough to fit Australians, even Vanstone. Paul Feldman, Macquarie Sex Party ticks boxes

Congratulations, Ross Fitzgerald ("It's never too late to make a foray into politics", Times2, April11, p5). Like you, I found it arevelation to discover a party based on fundamental human rights and, for the same reason as you, I joined the Australian Sex Party. In the face of so much racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia and prejudice, it's heartening to see the support from people who get past the name and take the trouble to read the party's policies. Fred Pilcher, Kaleen Swedish show us rehabilitation works

Not only are disproportionate Indigenous detention rates for minor offences a disgrace, as labelled by the Australian Bar Association, they are a violation of human rights, particularly against children, whose mental health may be damaged by their experience ("Indigenous detention rates a'disgrace"', April 8, p1). A ray of hope for progress shines from the November 2014 Longford lecture in London by the head of Sweden's Prison and Probation Service, Nils Olsen, saying: "Our role is not to punish, loss of freedom being punishment itself. Our role is rehabilitation." As a result of re-education, teaching of skills, sport, good fresh food and regular exercise, reoffending rates have fallen to 40per cent less than half of Britain's and the rest of Europe's rates. Since 2004, four of Sweden's prisons have closed and several others have been mothballed for lack of prisoners. Sweden's enlightened example is being followed in Kenmore, in northern South Australia, where the first Aboriginal TAFE college has been established, teaching a variety of skills from motor-vehicle repair to cooking, providing Aboriginal students with marketable qualifications to enable them to earn a living. Minister for Indigenous Affairs Nigel Scullion recognises the need for "tackling the acknowledged drivers of crime, including unemployment and poor educational outcomes". But he dodges his responsibilities by saying mandatory sentencing is "primarily a matter for states and territories".

Bryan Furnass, Hughes Why no women? Each of the 81 photographs in the Canberra Museum and Gallery's Bush Capital exhibition was taken by amalephotographer. Aren't there any female photographers in Canberra? Megan Mears, Watson

TO THE POINT TOO SELF-IMPORTANT Barnaby "Chopper" Joyce appears to be the only living Australian who believes he is too important to spend time travelling as a normal person to visit his constituents ("Joyce chartered $2211 chopper for town visit just 120km from office", April 9, p7). With luck, we'll maybe see him sitting on the back bench with Bronwyn Bishop, hoisted on his own petard of self-importance. W. Book, Hackett THE KEY TO SUCCESS

A $300,000 dinner and chartered helicopter flights might be "living within our means" for some. The rest of the hard hats must learn to be agile and innovative and aspire to become top hats. Come on, working class. We can get there if we use offshore funds; stack our super and negative-gear our multiple properties. Stop struggling and join the most exciting time to be Australian. Jeff Bradley, Isaacs SOMETHING'S ROTTEN Something must be dead on Manuka Green. I can smell it from here. J. Pearson, Phillip

CLEAR DECLARATION No omission and no coyness at all, Jeremy McGrane (Letters, April 9). The byline for my comment piece ("Manuka Oval can set a design benchmark", Times2, April 7, p5) advised very clearly that I have agreed to act as jury chair for the Manuka Green design competition, should it proceed. Shelley Penn, Williamstown, Vic A VERY SLOW ARRIVAL Cynthia Moloney's optimism (Letters, April 8) that Malcolm Turnbull is practising the bridge stratagem of the "slow arrival" reminds me of an argument I overheard. The wife identified several of her husband's faults. "I hide my light under a bushel," he replied. "Must be a damned small bushel," she said. Must be a damned slow arrival.

Bill Browne, Lyneham PUPPET OF THE UNIONS In calling for an early election, your correspondent, Carolyn Doyle (Letters, April 9) notes that "at least Billy Boy Shorten won't be puppet for the far right". Of course not; his puppetry commitments to the CFMEU and TWU will be taking up all his time. Kym MacMillan, O'Malley EXECUTIVE EXPLETIVES?
Bob Russo has died as he lived, quietly and gently. His 95-year life is the story of the Italian migrant in Melbourne.

While many Italians have made Melbourne their home, here in this one long but unassuming life we see a century-long segment of Italo-Australian history.

In 1920, the year of Bob's birth, his father Giuseppe left Alicudi, the most remote of the Aeolian Islands, to come to Melbourne. The islands have given Melbourne so many well-known names: Taranto, Santamaria, Bongiorno, Zagame, Dimattina are but a few.

Together with his mother and two older brothers, Bob remained on Alicudi for two years before following his father. Such women, often referred to as "white widows", could spend years without their husbands, waiting for a new home to be established.

As for many Italians, Sydney Road, Brunswick was the first port of call until the move to the suburbs to start the obligatory fruit shop. Growing up at the back of his father's fruit shop in Centre Road, Bentleigh in the 1930s was formative. Barefoot, dirty children would frequently stop at the shop for vegetable scraps or spoilt fruit. He learned the value of a strong family and developed the unshakeable work ethic that never left him.

It was through the difficult times of the Great Depression that Bob, who demonstrated early his remarkable intellect, won a scholarship to attend De La Salle College in Malvern. He had been there less than six months when, at the age of 13, his father took him out of school to work in the shop.
The revelations about offshore accounts contained in the so-called Panama Papers are sensational, but they are unlikely to put an end to these tax havens favoured by the world's rich and powerful.

Rather, the disclosures are a reminder that these shelters have been around for close to a century, and have proved remarkably resilient even as they periodically aroused public outrage and calls for reform. In fact, an earlier scandal may have laid the foundation for the tax havens that are now under scrutiny.

Switzerland's Banking Act of 1934 demanded "absolute silence" of any and all Swiss custodians of cash. Credit:Bloomberg

Switzerland has become shorthand for hidden money, and with good reason: The country has long sought to attract foreign capital to its banking system by offering a mixture of secrecy, preferential tax treatment and creative corporate structures.

The process began before World War I, when the Swiss canton of Zug amended its laws to make it easy for foreigners to establish corporations and holding companies. Zug, which may be home to as many as 29,000 such companies today, helped begin this tradition of courting foreign capital. (The canton made headlines in 2001, when US President Bill Clinton pardoned Marc Rich, a convicted US tax evader who had sought refuge in Zug).
For example, Article 10 of the UN Declaration on Social Progress and Development calls for: "The elimination of poverty; the assurance of a steady improvement in levels of living and of a just and equitable distribution of income." Exactly what is meant by a "just and equitable distribution of income"? How is this to be determined, and who is to determine it?

Real rights are something tangible, and certain. They must guarantee us freedoms which are secure, and a certain stake in the common wealth of our society. Anything less than this is an expectation or an aspiration, but not a right.

Why is this so? In part because of inherent weaknesses in the way nearly every Bill of Rights is framed, and in part because of the vagueness about what constitutes a right, and how it is to be protected.

The Queensland Parliament is considering creating a Bill of Rights. This fills me with fear because the greatest threat to individual rights is, ironically, a poorly thought out Bill of Rights.

Vague though well-meaning statements, such as this, do nothing to create a certain system of rights. A right should be stated to be so clear in its meaning that it gives rise to little debate, and to little chance of being diluted.

This leads to another issue, which is the inherent weakness in the way nearly all Bills of Rights are constructed. Typically, they are declarations of rights which are deemed to be granted to citizens (as if citizens had no rights to begin with). The rights are then put in some sort of list. Often these lists are compiled by a sampling of various international treaties, even if they are at odds with each other.

But what happens when the exercise of my right, and your right come into conflict? At that point neither right is guaranteed, and both of us go off to court to seek some determination. Now neither right is certain.

Suppose our Bill of Rights says that we are all to have the right to freedom of speech, as well as the right to freedom of association. What happens if People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals decide to protest against feedlotting cattle, and stop people from entering a National Farmers Federation meeting? The farmers are seeking to exercise their right to freedom of association, which is guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. The protestors are seeking to exercise their right to freedom of speech, which is guaranteed by the same Bill of Rights. Whose right should prevail? How is the court to decide?

Under a Bill of Rights, such conflicts between competing individual rights will inevitably occur again and again, and each time they do, the very concept of a right as a freedom which is certain will be eroded away. In fact a Bill of Rights is almost an invitation to test each and every right time and again in the courts. Ultimately this puts them at risk.
Public art lab to take over Queen Victoria Market

Artists are set to take over the Queen Victoria Market precinct in October.

Natalie King, curator, Public Art Melbourne Biennial Lab. Credit:TarraWarra Museum of Art

A call-out  closing on Friday, April 29  seeks 10 artists to take part in the Public Art Melbourne Biennial Lab.

Public Art Melbourne is a program run by the City of Melbourne and its inaugural biennial, curated by Natalie King, will take place during the Melbourne Arts Festival.
Led Zeppelin founders Jimmy Page and Robert Plant have lost their bid to avoid a trial that may rewrite the history of rock'n'roll over song-writing credits for the 1971 classic Stairway to Heaven.

A federal judge in Los Angeles ruled that a jury must decide whether the British rockers ripped off the opening licks of Taurus, recorded by a band named Spirit that once played concerts with Zeppelin.

Led Zeppelin were known to draw inspiration from other musicians. Their Stairway to Heaven is one of the most successful rock songs of all time. Credit:Armado Gallo

The judge dismissed some claims in the lawsuit and also said the plaintiff can get only half of any jury award of damages.

The lawsuit was brought in 2014, 43 years after Stairway to Heaven was released, on behalf of the late Randy California, Spirit's guitarist and the composer of Taurus.
Neanderthals went extinct about 40,000 years ago. We're not exactly sure what led to their demise, but climate change and competition over prey from Homo sapiens all may have played roles.

Another thing that may have helped kill off the Neanderthals in Europe? Infectious diseases, carried by humans who left Africa and made their way to Europe.

A Neanderthal man.

That's according to researchers at Cambridge and Oxford Brookes universities who analysed ancient DNA and pathogen genomes. They published their findings in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.

"Humans migrating out of Africa would have been a significant reservoir of tropical diseases," lead author Charlotte Houldcroft of Cambridge's Division of Biological Anthropology, said in a release. "For the Neanderthal population of Eurasia, adapted to that geographical infectious disease environment, exposure to new pathogens carried out of Africa may have been catastrophic."
London: The American music producer David Gest, who was also a former husband of entertainer Liza Minnelli, has died in London on Tuesday.

Gest, who was aged 62, was found in the Four Seasons hotel in the Canary Wharf business district of the city.

The producer, whose credits included a TV musical special about pop star Michael Jackson, married actress and singer Minnelli in 2002. They separated the following year.

Gest appeared in the 2006 series of British reality TV show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here, and his popularity with viewers led to other television work, including his own show called This Is David Gest.
The families of four Australian passengers on board the doomed Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 are suing the company for not doing enough to prevent the flight from mysteriously flying off course and disappearing.

Close friends Robert and Catherine Lawton and Rodney and Mary Burrows were four of 239 people on board the Boeing 777 aircraft which vanished not long after it took off from Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014.

The two Queensland couples were travelling together and headed for Beijing.

At the time Rodney and Mary Burrows had recently sold their Brisbane home in Middle Park home and were preparing to travel after downsizing.
The rape conviction of Sydney man Luke Lazarus has been quashed and a retrial ordered after the state's highest court upheld his claim that the judge in his trial misdirected the jury.

Mr Lazarus, 24, had spent 11 months in jail over the rape of a woman in an alley behind a Sydney nightclub but was released in February after the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal granted him bail with a $50,000 surety pending the outcome of the appeal.

At that point the court left open the possibility of an acquittal but on Tuesday the three-judge appeal panel ordered a retrial.

Outside court Mr Lazarus said: "I'm looking forward to a retrial and I'm excited to clear my name in the future."
Late last year, Jayden Burleigh reflected on the devastating death of his little brother Lachlan in a triple fatal car crash in the Blue Mountains.

"Let your little light shine Lachie Burleigh. I miss your physical presence like nothing else," Jayden wrote in an online tribute to his 17-year-old brother.

"My little bro man, thank you for giving me that special strength. It's just really hard for me right now trying to fathom turning this into a reality."

Now, the Burleigh family from Warriewood on Sydney's northern beaches have been dealt another crushing blow, following the unexpected death of Jayden, 22, on the weekend, a short time after he was hospitalised for a redback spider bite.
A Sydney father has pleaded guilty to bashing his two-year-old son, leaving the toddler with a severe brain injury. In Parramatta District Court on Tuesday the 41-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent.



The boy was taken to The Children's Hospital at Westmead at about 8.30pm on July 30, 2014 suffering significant injuries to his head and body. The father pleaded guilty to bashing his two-year-old son. He had been living with his parents and his older brother at North Rocks, in Sydney's north-west. Specialist detectives from the State Crime Command's Child Abuse Squad commenced an investigation which lead to both parents being charged.

In May last year he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of recklessly causing grievous bodily harm, however he was due to face trial on the more serious charge today. The boy's mother, who also cannot be named for legal reasons, is serving a jail term of three years and nine months for her part in the case. Documents tendered to Parramatta Local Court following the couples' arrests alleged she witnessed the attack and did not intervene or seek immediate medical attention. The police facts sheet indicated the boy could have been injured for up to two days before his parents took him to hospital. The 26-year-old woman was charged with failing to provide for her son thereby putting him in danger of death and of hindering a police investigation.
A Sydney solicitor has been ordered to take legal ethics classes after launching an extraordinary tirade at a Federal Court judge, accusing him of being "vindictive," "immature" and having an "infant school" understanding of language.

Solicitor Michael Griffin, who is also an actor, wrote a furious email after Justice Lindsay Foster made a decision that did not go his way in July 2014.

Sydney solicitor Michael Griffin. Credit:Facebook

"I consider that your conduct in this matter is questionable and further that the Australian public and democratic values require and deserve a higher standard of decision making," Mr Griffin wrote when he was working for The People's Solicitors.

"Your decision was likely made without good faith and with bias," he said.
He is the third man to be charged with that offence following a double shooting in Condell Park on Saturday that left Mr El Masri in a critical condition and another man dead. Safwan Charbaji was shot dead after a confrontation in Sydney's south-west. Credit:YouTube It is understood police have been told a dispute over an outstanding debt could be a possible motive. Investigators allege the version of events Alameddine told them was "flawed" and he appeared "cagey", Bankstown Local Court heard on Tuesday. Police tape outside a neighbouring business after a shooting at the A Team Body Work shop in Condell Park. Credit:Nic Walker

El Masri was found with a single gunshot wound to his face after being driven to the general admissions side of Bankstown Hospital in a white Toyota hatchback after 1pm on Saturday. It is understood a few minutes later, another car carrying two friends and 32-year-old Safwan Charbaji, turned up outside the hospital's emergency department. Blood on the road at Condell Park where two men were shot. Credit:Nic Walker At almost the same time, Fairfax Media has been told, a police car turned up. Officers spotted Mr Charbaji's lifeless body in the front passenger seat and when the door was opened, a number of unspent bullets tumbled out of his lap.

With Mr Charbaji was his brother-in-law Mohamad Abul Hamid Elmir and friend Adam Sam Abboud, both 22. Both men were later charged with concealing a serious indictable offence with police alleging they were not telling them the whole truth as to how their friend ended up with a fatal gunshot wound. It is understood Elmir told police he was driving with Mr Charbaji when shots were fired from a passing car and hit Mr Charbaji. However, investigators believe the double shooting occurred at nearby Ilma St in Condell Park on the street outside A Team Body Works smash repairs. The smash repairs is linked to well-known convicted criminal Walid "Wally" Ahmad.

Ahmad, a former bouncer at Sam Ibrahim's Kings Cross nightclub, was jailed in 2005 after shooting dead Mayez Danny at a Greenacre wrecking yard in 2002. CCTV taken from Condell Park after the weekend shooting showed a group of people fighting for about half an hour before four to six gunshots rang out on the industrial street. However homicide detectives are still trying to piece together who shot who in the gunfight given the number of people involved. Police prosecutor Marissa Peek told Bankstown Local Court on Tuesday the prosecution was concerned with inconsistencies in versions Alameddine provided. The court heard Alameddine turned up to the police station at 11pm on Monday and named himself as the driver of the Toyota Corolla that drove Mr El Masri to hospital.

He told police he was there to get his car and said "it was a bad scene", according to police facts. But the police formed the view there was "something not there or lacking" in Alameddine's version. Defence lawyer Elias Tabchouri said his client had gone to the police "on his own free will". "What evidence is there that he has in anyway mislead the police?" he said. Mr Tabchouri said he echoed comments made in a hearing of the two other men charged over the weekend that the case was "flawed and weak".

It would also be expected Alameddine was highly traumatised, Mr Tabchouri said, given what he said he saw on Saturday. In granting Alameddine bail, Magistrate Ross Hudson said the crown case against him was not strong. "...but contains initial flaws in it based on the facts I have read today," he said. Alameddine was granted bail on the conditions he not contact prosecution witnesses, live at his parents house and report to police three times a week. Outside court Mr Tabchouri said the situation was traumatic for everyone involved.
Police have asked the public to "remain vigilant" after two men on a black moped were involved in bag snatching incidents at the Gold Coast on Tuesday.

A 19-year-old woman was walking along North Street, Southport at 2.45pm when two men on a moped rode slowly behind her before grabbing her bag and riding off.

About an hour later, a 28-year-old woman was walking along Queen Street, Southport when the two men attempted to snatch her handbag. However the woman held onto her bag and the two men rode off.

No one was injured during the incidents.
Brisbane's new-look council has been sworn in at City Hall, but not without some controversy over the allocation of committee memberships.

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk, who was sworn in separately last week, used his inaugural address of his second full term to outline his administration's stated aim to make Brisbane "the best it can be".

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk delivers the first speech of his second full term at the swearing in of the 2016-20 Brisbane City Council. Credit:Glenn Hunt

"We have a comprehensive program that has been outlined and it is designed to take Brisbane forward," he said.

"I've always said that each administration must add to, and build on, the successes of previous administrations, regardless of their political colour."
Lawyers for "Postcard Bandit" Brenden Abbott have 24 hours to file an application for a Supreme Court review as they try to stop the infamous bank robber being extradited to Western Australia.

Deputy Chief Magistrate Terry Gardiner on Tuesday ordered the 53-year-old be extradited to the state, where he faces up to 16 years behind bars.

But Abbott's lawyers successfully requested the order be suspended pending an application to review the decision being lodged in the Supreme Court.

If the review is lodged in time, Magistrate Gardiner ordered the suspension persist until it is finalised.
He famously drew fire from enemy insurgents, now Victoria Cross winner Ben Roberts-Smith is ready face the biggest challenge in Australian television.

Mr Roberts-Smith was on Tuesday formally appointed general manager of Seven Brisbane, the Queensland metropolitan arm of Seven West Media.

Ben Roberts-Smith is the new boss at Seven Brisbane. Credit:Channel Seven

It was added to his existing duties as general manager of Seven Queensland, the regional Queensland arm of the same company.

He is now in charge of Seven's largest television footprint in the country, responsible for the metro and regional operations of the network from the border to the Cape and everything in between.
"I was completely transparent with everyone at Macquarie that I had this side business, which actually worked well because a lot of the guys ended up buying suits off us," Mr Wakefield said. "It kind of spread from there, then those guys we would supply to would have other guys ask them where'd they get that suit from and it would just keep going. "We started pop-up stores, partnered with cafes and restaurants to try and get our name out there, eventually finding a permanent location in Sydney." This is where McGowan's background came in handy. Before InStitchu, he was working at CBRE after graduating from UTS with a property economics degree. At first we ordered suits for ourselves, but once others started to ask where we got them from, we realised we could make some money out of these. James Wakefield

"Working with locations, especially with lease lengths has really tapped back into it [his property background]," McGowan said. "We made sure with things like our showrooms that we didn't get stuck in long- term, expensive leases, and instead found spots for a short-term ones so we can move around and adapt if need be." What made it even more appealing is that they realised they could do the business with no initial overhead costs. "Our customers order the suit, then we'll order it from the factory, whereas a traditional retailer has to go out and buy all the inventory and stock it," Mr Wakefield said. "Because we're not carrying big overheads we don't have to charge over the top to offset those risks."

For them, the global financial crisis hit at just the right time. The big suit factories in China were receiving less bulk orders from overseas, so they had to adapt their business models to survive. This meant that smaller players such as InStitchu could convince factories to produce made-to-order suits at a relatively inexpensive cost. Despite this, they're still being made in just the same places big name suits are. "When you go over to the factories in China, you see big name European brands being made right next to ours," Mr Wakefield laughed. Striking deals with high quality, made-to-measure garment manufacturers in China, the duo's store is able to undercut the big guys by thousands, selling tailored suits for between $400 and $1000. There are three showrooms in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane where customers can come in, get measured up while picking out their fabrics and suit design then they can submit their order from there. However, the online factor of InStitchu is what sets them apart.

After getting your measurements, you can load them up in your account on the website, so when you need your next suit you can order a tailor-made design right from your computer. If the suit needs alterations, InStitchu will offer to alter it for free, and if it's still not right, they'll give you a full refund. "The average customer is reordering their next suit every 122 days," Wakefield said. That's important, because if a person is more likely to re-order a suit, they're more likely to recommend it to a colleague or friend. And for InStitchu, word of mouth is a major avenue for their growth. Initially the guys wanted it to be an online-only business, but customers began requesting the ability to have their suit fitted before ordering. This is where the current business was born.

Their first showroom was in the Sydney CBD on Erskine Street, but as the business has grown, they now have a suite in the trendy 350 George Street building in Sydney's Martin Place as well as in Melbourne and Brisbane. All of their locations are there for businessmen who make up the majority of their sales, with the pair even setting up pop-up stores in big office buildings. "Building management love it," Mr Wakefield said. "It's so hard to attract new tenants, with buildings now offering services such as dry cleaning and food delivery, having suit fitting is just something else they can use to attract new business." While the pair have no real computing background, the use of payment systems such as Braintree have made it really easy to get it off the ground and integrate with just the help of some freelance web designers.
A woman wearing a black scarf over her face was also with the two men, who packed a basket of laundry in a car before driving off. Police drive past the house in Perth Street, West Heidelberg where Sanaya Shaib had been living. Credit:Jason South Neighbours on Perth Street remained tightlipped about the shocking crime on Tuesday, indicating that they did not want to comment. It has also been confirmed that Sanaya was treated by paramedics at the West Heidelberg home of a relative, Habib Ali, on April 3, a week before she was found dead. Sofina Nikat with her daughter Sanaya. Credit:Facebook

It is understood the 15-month old had suffered a seizure. Sanaya and her mother Sofina Nikat had been staying at Mr Habib's Perth Street home at the time of her alleged abduction from a nearby park. A CCTV camera near a footbridge over the creek where Sanaya Sahib's body was found. Credit:Liam Mannix Her body was discovered semi-submerged in Darebin Creek. On Monday, Fairfax Media revealed Sanaya grew up in an environment of dysfunction and violence.

Her family say Sofina Nikat (centre) has been taken to a secret location. Credit:Channel Ten In the past week, the 15-month-old was in close contact with two men facing serious criminal charges. One of the men is charged with serious family violence offences, including assault with a weapon. Neither man can be identified for legal reasons. Sanaya Sahib's uncle, Habib Ali , speaks to media on Monday. Credit:Jason South It has also emerged that Darebin councillors were strongly advised during a briefing with Victoria Police on Monday night not to comment about whether CCTV in the park where Sanaya was reportedly abducted was operational, for fears it could jeopardise the investigation.

While police in Melbourne are hunting for a man matching the description given by Sanaya's mother, Sofina Nikat, homicide detectives are also expected to examine links between the men, who were close to the family, and the toddler's death. Ms Nikat was taken to a safe house on Sunday afternoon and is understood to have been instructed not to make contact with the relatives whose house she had been staying at in Perth Street, Heidelberg West. It is not known if police have questioned the child's father, Sameer Sahib, who was estranged from Ms Nikat after the relationship ended acrimoniously. A relative said Mr Sahib was not in a position to talk. It is understood that homicide detectives have not spoken with Ms Nikat or her relative, Mr Ali. Ms Nikat, 22, said her daughter was snatched from her pram by a stranger as they were walking in Olympic Park about 10am on Saturday.

They had been staying at Mr Ali's home, which is less than two kilometres from where the child's body was discovered. The property was searched by forensic investigators on Sunday afternoon. Homicide detectives have refused to reveal if CCTV cameras captured the final moments of the 15-month-old's life. Footage could have corroborated her mother's account that the toddler was abducted by a stranger. There are several cameras in the area where the toddler's body was discovered at 2.45am on Sunday, about 10 kilometres north-east of the city centre.

But a Victoria Police spokeswoman refused to make any comment, while a representative of Darebin Council also refused to confirm if the cameras had been operational over the weekend. It is understood councillors  including those on a panel which has been overseeing the installation of the CCTV  were told by police in strict terms not to comment on the status of the cameras. While CCTV had been installed for months, it is believed council was working through the considerable "red tape" that must be addressed regarding privacy, storage of footage, and costs. It is unclear whether this work had been completed, but minutes from an October 5 council meeting suggest they were not operational at that time. The cameras were installed under the Northland Precinct Action Plan under a partnership between shopping centre management, council and Victoria Police.

Council listed the operation of the cameras as a priority for completion before July, but it is believed they have not been discussed at any subsequent council meeting. It is therefore unclear whether "governance documents," which had to be finalised before the system could be operated, have been completed. "The [CCTV] project aims to increase perceptions of safety and reduce crime," the October 5 minutes state. "The location has been chosen due to its isolation, low perceptions of safety, its use as an access route pre- and post-offending and its potential as a vibrant community space." On Monday, Mr Ali warned residents in the Heidelberg community to be vigilant.

Mr Ali also thanked the family that found Sanaya's body in Darebin Creek, to the rear of Northlands Shopping Centre, in the early hours of Sunday. Speaking to the media outside his home, Mr Ali said: "I would like to tell the neighbours around this area to be very, very careful, especially with the kids  don't go out in parks alone or at night or in the morning. Just be very, very careful". Mr Ali said he wanted the person responsible for his niece's death to be caught as soon as possible. "I appreciate what police are doing, they're doing a very great job and I'm pretty sure they'll come to a quick conclusion and justice will be served," he said. "It's very frustrating and whoever is out there, whoever has done it, I hope that he is caught as soon as possible and dealt with.
Four prisoners have managed to overpower eight police officers - hospitalising two - in a bid to break out of a Melbourne police station.

Victoria Police will now conduct an internal review of security following the attempted escaped at the Moorabbin police station on Monday night, but Police Association secretary Ron Iddles says the real issue is police cells being used to house suspected criminals who should be in prison.

The prisoners attacked four police officers who were in the cells to place them on lock-down just after 10pm.

The men assaulted the officers, before one of the prisoners grabbed a bottle of capsicum spray.
Many were found to be substantiated in the 115-page report, which also contains much evidence of misbehaviour by councillors and council staff. The report included an allegation that a manager frightened a pregnant staff member by wielding an axe, when she asked for a chemicals shed at her workplace to be better ventilated. "Ventilation, I will give you f..ing ventilation," the manager is found to have said. "The manager then took to the walls of the shed with an axe," the report found. "The employee returned to work two years later and requested induction training," the report found, only to be "abused and sworn at for her trouble in front of other staff". The report found Cr Lyons - who was unrepentant on Tuesday - regularly bullied staff, particularly those he worked closely with, "resulting in the resignation of one staff member and the physical relocation of another".

He also, the report found, regularly used aggressive language with staff. "F*** me, I'm the mayor, I don't need to be meeting with someone one week and then meeting with them the next," he is said to have told one council employee. Cr Lyons, who fronted media outside his Geelong home on Tuesday morning, said his removal was unjust. "It is a disgrace. The state government is intent on stopping this council from serving its people," he said. "We should not be removed from office. We should not be a victim of party politics. Shutting down democracy is not good for Geelong." He said he had not observed any culture of bullying but had encouraged "robust debate" on council.

"I was delivered to bring some old school grey-suited mentality into a modern 21st century smart city. I make no apologies for that. I was bullish  I'm certainly not a bully," he said. "Is my council dysfunctional? I don't think it is. Today we're seeing politics played out in the poorest fashion." But the wider culture of Geelong Council was given a forensic examination by commissioners, who found that the treatment of women in the workplace particularly "reflected outdated and stereotypical views that belonged in the past". And its human resources practices were "redolent of another time", it said. The report also found: A "deep-seated culture of bullying" and harassment, with staff complaints ignored

No long-term vision for the city and

a breakdown in the relationship between the mayor, councillors and staff

that the council should be suspended for two years - not four as the government wants And it found councillors regularly getting involved in issues where only officers should have played a role. One councillor got involved a live tender, pressuring council staff to meet with one of the competing companies.

On another occasion, the report finds, "a councillor known ... for 'going off his cruet' became so aggressive at a community meeting that the police had to be called". On Tuesday night, the government was negotiating with all parties in the upper house over when the council would be sacked, and for how long. Local Government Minister Natalie Hutchins said the structure and system of the council was broken and that no individual was to blame. She said one in four employees had experienced bullying, and that fixing the council would "take years". Opposition leader Matthew Guy said the government was rushing an important debate, and that the community should be given a chance to digest report. He also said that the culture issues at the council predated Mr Lyons' tenure at the council.
The head of an illegal abalone syndicate who dived for the delicacy and delivered it to customers' doors has been sentenced to what authorities believe is a record jail term for unlawful abalone poaching.

A County Court judge on Tuesday described Van Nguyen as the top of one of two co-existing pyramids of abalone poachers, who would dive with associates near Warrnambool, buy his colleagues' catches and then sell his yield throughout Melbourne's western suburbs.

Poached abalone can be bought for about $55/kg in Victoria, whereas the commercial price is about $130/kg. Credit:Eddie Jim

Nguyen, 54, a father of four daughters from Cairnlea, was jailed for two years and eight months and must serve 16 months before he is eligible for parole.

His jailing brought to 13 the number of people involved in the two syndicates to be prosecuted in Victorian courts this year, and came two months after the other group's head, Phong Hoai Thuy Nguyen [no relation], was jailed for two years for selling illegally-poached seafood from a shopping trolley outside a St Albans grocery store.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says he will raise the concerns mining contractors have over Rio Tinto's move to double its payment period from 45 to 90 days.

The decision to extend the contractor payment period has drawn fire from the West Australian Nationals, who are accusing the mining giant of corporate bullying that could cause small businesses to fail.

Nationals MP Brendon Grylls said Rio Tinto's decision was 'blatantly unfair'. Credit:Erin Jonasson

Nationals MP Brendon Grylls said Rio Tinto's "blatantly unfair" decision, designed to free up cash and reduce its working capital, would force smaller businesses to lean on banks while waiting for payment.

"Rio Tinto are refusing to use cash that they've got within their bank, but instead they're forcing their suppliers to go to their banks and seek an overdraft to meet these changes in payment terms and that's blatantly bloody unfair," Mr Grylls told ABC Radio on Tuesday.
The two Australian university students injured in a shooting in New Orleans last week have recovered enough to be moved out of intensive care in a US hospital.

Jake Rovacsek and Toben Clements were shot in the early hours of April 6 after driving from the Bourbon Street tourist strip to the Algiers neighbourhood.

The Kalgoorlie goldfields-based WA School of Mines pair had been in the US for the International Collegiate Mining Competition.

Curtin University Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Terry said in a statement while both students are still hospitalised, she was very pleased to advise their condition continued to improve.
Taipei: In a in a bizarre diplomatic row, Taiwan has accused China of abducting groups of Taiwanese from a Kenyan police station and deporting them to China.

Kenyan police broke through a police station wall and threw tear gas canisters to force a group of Taiwanese on to a Chinese plane on Tuesday, the Taiwan's foreign ministry said.

A complex relationship: the Chinese and Taiwanese flags.

"The 15 locked up at the police station steadfastly refused to be deported [to China]," said Antonio Chen, the chief of the ministry's department in charge of West Asian and African Affairs.

"So police broke through the wall, threw tear gas and then about 10 police entered with assault rifles," he said.
PHILIPSBURG:--- On Wednesday, 6th April, the Government of Sint Maarten hosted the 3rd Annual Quadripartite Meeting. The meeting was formulated in 2014 as a forum for representatives of the governments of The French Republic (led by the Ambassador for Regional Cooperation for the Antilles-Guyana Mrs. Veronique Bertile), The Kingdom of the Netherlands (led by Director of the Western Hemisphere Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr. Joost Reintjes), Saint-Martin (led by President of the Collectivity Mrs. Aline Hanson), and Sint Maarten (led by our Prime Minister Mr. William Marlin) to discuss issues of mutual interest.

The agenda of the 50-delegate strong meeting touched on issues related to military cooperation between both the French and Dutch state on the island and the Police Cooperation Treaty, which will regulate the manner in which armed forces exercise their authority in instances of transnational policing. Matters related to ongoing cooperation in the areas of Education, Health, and Social Welfare, were discussed particularly where it pertained to truancy, streamlining and correcting access to social premiums, pensions, and documentation requirements for persons resident on one side, but employed on the other and the possible legal avenues for the sharing of information between both sides of the island. Minister Emil Lee closed this agenda point with a brief presentation on his vision for complementary specialized medical services on either side of the island. In so doing he hopes to minimize duplication, increase efficiency, and improve the overall medical standards on both sides of the island. Though high on the agenda, the pilot project that will see a joint sewage treatment plant servicing the communities of Marigot, Cole Bay, and Simpson Bay was not as concretely discussed as a meeting to iron out a number of technical concerns was scheduled for the following day. Though representatives from both sides of the island meet regularly to discuss matters related to cooperation, the Quadripartite Meeting offers an opportunity to have political backing given to the work carried out by the technocrats. Prime Minister William Marlin lauded the work carried out by all parties noting that opportunities such as these are ones to identify areas which still require our added attention and to keep abreast with the progress being made in the spirit of continued dialogue and cooperation.

At the end of the Quadripartite Meeting, Prime Minister William Marlin, on behalf of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Mrs. Anne Laubies, Prefet-deleguee of Saint Barthelemy and Saint-Martin, on behalf of the French Republic signed the Sea Border Demarcation Treaty. Negotiations on the sea border started in 1996 and concluded in 2015. The aim of these negotiations were to agree upon our western and eastern maritime borders.

Prime Minister Marlin closed the meeting confirming a number of follow-up meetings ensuring continuity in the ongoing work and in preparations for the 4th Annual Meeting which will take place in Paris in Spring 2017.
DataStax Announces DataStax Enterprise Graph, the Only Scalable Real-Time Graph Database

SANTA CLARA, CA  (Marketwired)  04/12/16 

Powers cloud applications that need to manage complex and highly connected data

Graph-specific use cases include master data management, recommendation & personalization, security & fraud detection, IoT & networking

Part of the only multi-model, scalable, distributed database management platform that includes key-value, tabular, JSON/document and graph data capabilities

DataStax Enterprise Graph early access program participants include Kaiser Permanente, Cambridge Intelligence and Linkurious

, the leading provider of database software for cloud applications, today announced DataStax Enterprise (DSE) Graph, a scale-out graph database built for that need to manage highly connected data. Built on the foundation of Apache Cassandra and Apache TinkerPop, the open source graph computing framework, DSE Graph delivers continuous uptime, predictable performance and scalability for modern systems dealing with complex and constantly changing data. DSE Graph will be generally available in Q2.

: #DataStax announces @DataStax Enterprise Graph, the only scalable real-time #graph #database bit.ly/1StyiDI

We evaluated DataStax Enterprise Graph against traditional databases for some of our large banking customers and found that DSE Graph improves performance by an order of magnitude when working with data sets that include a large number of nodes and relationships  on use cases such as client data for financial services, said Anil Gurnani, Banking and Capital Markets Solution, Mphasis.

Were seeing growing demand from customers who are ready to utilize graph databases for their cloud applications, but they need a truly scalable and production-ready platform that has the enterprise-class functionality required to be successful, said Robin Schumacher, VP of Products, DataStax. DSE Graph provides them exactly what they need because its built on the foundation of Apache Cassandra and imports all of DSEs enterprise functionality, including advanced security, built-in analytics and enterprise search functionality, visual management and monitoring, and much more.

As stated in the July 25, 2015 report, Making Big Data Normal With Graph Analytics, authored by Gartner analysts Mark Beyer and Nick Heudecker:

Graph is an excellent method of evaluating, expressing and analyzing previously unrecognized relationships in data. Instead of examining and analyzing data as a set of discrete and unrelated atomic elements, graph allows for the exploration of the frequency, strength and direction of relationships in data. The report also advises, graph can be used by the business when traditional analytics fails to identify what is causing a business process to behave in unexpected ways. It also supports networks of people, processes and machinery as well as forms multifaceted recommendation engines, multiple transaction analysis engines including fraud models, and more.(1)

DataStax Graph is inspired by the open source graph database. Aurelius, the team behind Titian was acquired by DataStax in 2015 and the team has built a new set of software that extends significantly beyond the basic capabilities of Titan while still maintaining backwards compatibility. This backwards compatibility allows existing Titan and other users of TinkerPop supported graph databases to migrate with little or no effort. DSE Graph inherits Cassandras key benefits including constant uptime, read/write/active-everywhere functionality, linear scalability, predictable low-latency response times and operational maturity. DSE Graph also incorporates enterprise-class extensions found in DataStax Enterprise including advanced security, built-in analytics, enterprise search, visual management monitoring and development tooling.

DataStax Enterprise Graph is a complete solution for developing and managing graph functionality in cloud applications and includes:

: delivers advanced graph database functionality that includes an adaptive query optimizer, automatic graph data partitioning, a distributed query execution engine, and graph-specific index structures all designed to increase performance for online graph applications. DSE Graph is built with TinkerPop, which is the industry standard framework and language for graph databases.

: updated to provide full provisioning, management and monitoring for DSE Graph.

: a new web-based solution that helps developers visualize graphs and write/execute graph queries.

: available for all popular development languages and enhanced to support the Gremlin graph language in addition to CQL and DSE Analytics/Search APIs.

There are a variety of use cases where a graph database is a better fit than other database management systems including relational or general NoSQL database systems.

A company must understand the data relationships across its multiple business units to create a holistic view of its customers. A graph model consolidates disparate data for use by both business intelligence tools and business applications.

Enterprises need to understand how to quickly and effectively influence customers to purchase their product. Graph analysis is the most effective tool for handling recommendation and personalization tasks in an application and making key decisions from the value found in data.

In a complex and highly interrelated network of users, entities, transactions, events and interactions, a graph database can help determine which interaction is fraudulent, poses a security risk or compliance concern.

As IoT use cases commonly involve devices or machines that generate time-series information such as event and status data, graph databases work well because the streams from individual points create a high degree of complexity when blended together. Additionally, analytics involved in tasks such as root cause analysis, involve numerous relationships that form along the data elements and tend to be of much greater interest when examined collectively versus in isolation.

As stated in the August 4, 2015 report, Market Guide for NoSQL DBMSs, authored by Gartner analysts Nick Heudecker, Merv Adrian and Etisham Zaidi(2), the future of DBMS architectures and deployments will be multimodels. Gartner also states by 2017, all leading operational DBMSs will offer multiple data models, relational and NoSQL, in a single platform.

Because todays modern cloud workloads involve numerous components that differ in their data model support requirements, a database that provides multi-model capabilities will deliver a simplified and more agile solution for quickly bringing cloud applications to market. DSE Graph, part of DSEs multi-model platform, provides support for Cassandras key-value and tabular data models, JSON/document models and graph, with each data model inheriting Cassandras key benefits and DSEs enterprise grade functionality.

DSE Graph will be sold as an option to either a DSE Standard or DSE Max subscription and will be generally available in Q2.

To learn more about DSE Graph, please join us at taking place April 19-20, 2016 in London.

: a new website launched today by the TinkerPop community and DataStax to provide a place to discuss and share information about TinkerPop Gremlin, the industry standard language for graph databases.

DataStax, the leading provider of database software for cloud applications, accelerates the ability of enterprises, government agencies, and systems integrators to power the exploding number of cloud applications that require data distribution across datacenters and clouds, by using our secure, operationally simple platform built on .

With more than 500 customers in over 50 countries, DataStax is the database technology of choice for the worlds most innovative companies, such as Netflix, Safeway, ING, Adobe, Intuit, Target and eBay. Based in Santa Clara, Calif., DataStax is backed by industry-leading investors including Comcast Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Meritech Capital, Premji Invest and Scale Venture Partners. For more information, visit or follow us .

(1) Gartner, Making Big Data Normal With Graph Analytics, Mark Beyer and Nick Heudecker, July 25 2015

(2) Gartner, Market Guide for NoSQL DBMSs, Nick Heudecker, Merv Adrian, Etisham Zaidi, August 4 2015

Wendy Hynes

DataStax

408.503.0279
New Report Reveals Subscription Economy Tools Market Reaching $100 Billion Through 2020

FOSTER CITY, CA  (Marketwired)  04/12/16  At this years Subscribed Conference, , Inc., the worlds leading provider of subscription billing, commerce and finance solutions, unveiled a that estimates the global market for Subscription Economy SaaS tools will be more than $100 billion through 2020, with 20 percent of Fortune 1000 companies adopting these solutions. The report forecasts the total addressable market (TAM) for Zuoras Subscription Billing platform will be nearly $15 billion by 2020, growing at a 50 percent compound annual growth rate.

We have claimed that all companies are moving to the Subscription Economy, and this study shows that to be true, said Zuora CEO Tien Tzuo. Its clear to us that the shift to subscription business models requires Relationship Business Management (RBM) tools that will drive deep subscriber relationships and create opportunities to monetize virtually anything. We will continue to lead the industry in supporting our customers need for rapid innovation, flexibility, and agility to grow and prosper in the future.

The MGI report is a comprehensive study of Subscription Economy SaaS services and tools, described as Agile Monetization Platforms (AMPs), which includes nine categories: agile billing, financials, order management, e-commerce, customer support, CPQ (Configure-Price-Quote), contract management, revenue recognition, and mediation. The study includes 34,796 companies in 116 countries across 10 major geographic regions. The report accounts for almost $50 trillion in revenue, or 60 percent of worldwide GDP and more than 70 percent of North American GDP. North America has led the move to these SaaS services and tools, and over the next 24 months, markets beyond North America will accelerate adoption, led by Japan, China, Germany and the UK.

Companies are no longer focused on just shipping products. They are building new services and experiences for their customers  experiences that deliver outcomes, not assets. This requires companies to move from selling units to monetizing relationships. In order to meet the changing needs and expectations of todays customers, businesses are realizing they need to offer new services that can be monetized in more flexible ways. The rise of the Internet of Things creates further possibilities to offer whole new classes of services and experiences from established industrial companies  creating an unprecedented opportunity for a mix of recurring and usage-based pricing models.

The report further suggests that because these new SaaS services and tools can support rapid scaling for topline growth and increased customer engagement via data and analytics, spending for these solutions is now being prioritized. Similarly, companies seeking to improve their efficiency by consolidating a number of out-of-date and disparate systems through a new monetization platform will also benefit, fueling additional demand.

As enterprises attempt to shift to new subscription and on-demand business models, they realize their existing business systems are wholly inadequate, said MGI Research Analyst Andrew Dailey. In fact, in some industries, legacy business tools are delaying business model migration, creating an existential threat for some well-known companies. In addition, recurring revenue business models require new approaches to product management, sales, marketing, and even finance.

At $50.441 billion, North America is the largest geographic component of the overall TAM. On a combined basis, Asia (East Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia), at $24.847 billion, is the second largest component, and Europe, at $22.757 billion, is the third.

More than 80 percent of the overall TAM is represented by companies with over $1 billion in annual revenues.

Industrials at $26 billion, Information Technology at $22 billion, and Consumer Discretionary at $14 billion represent the top three opportunities for Subscription Economy services and tools. Energy, Consumer Staples, and Financials also have a five-year TAM of more than $5 billion.

IOT adoption will be a significant factor in driving spending, as increasing control capabilities and data collection will stimulate innovation with new pricing models.

In the report, Mark Sisco, Director of Operations at NCR, is quoted as saying, Ability to switch from Capex to Opex has been one of the main drivers from NCR to explore new business models. The subscription model has allowed us to introduce offerings that are very robust, quite affordable and easy to access by small customers who dont have a lot of technical knowledge or a lot of capital to outlay.

Matt Anderson, Chief Digital Officer at Arrow Electronics, is quoted as saying, If you had a pacemaker that had sensors in it you could charge for a subscription for heartbeats! If you had shoes that had sensors in them you could charge for how many kilometers do you want to walk per month! Those kinds of business models never existed before.

Additional Resources

 by Tien Tzuo, CEO of Zuora

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Zuoras Relationship Business Management (RBM) solution helps enable businesses in any industry to launch or shift products to subscription, implement new pay-as-you-go pricing and packaging models, gain new insights into subscriber behavior, open new revenue streams, and disrupt market segments to gain competitive advantage. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Zuora also operates offices in Atlanta, Boston, San Francisco, London, Paris, Munich, Beijing, Sydney, Tokyo, Amsterdam, Vienna, Copenhagen and Stockholm. Zuora clients come from a wide range of industries, including media, travel services, consumer packaged goods, cloud services, and telecommunications. Clients include Financial Times, Schneider Electric, Box, Honeywell, NCR, RTL, The Guardian, YP.com, BlueJeans, Shutterfly, TripAdvisor, and Vivint.

 2016 Zuora, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Zuora, Relationship Business Management (RBM), Subscribed and Subscription Economy are trademarks of Zuora, Inc.

Third party trademarks mentioned above are owned by their respective companies. Nothing in this press release should be construed to the contrary, or as an approval, endorsement or sponsorship by any third parties of Zuora or any aspect of this press release. To learn more about Zuora, please visit.
Twentyseven Global Announces 5-Year 44 Percent Compound Annual Growth

KANSAS CITY, MO  (Marketwired)  04/12/16  was founded in April of 2008 on the principle of offering high quality software development talent to the small and midsize business market to solve IT talent shortage problems. The company aims to help high-growth companies create and sustain competitive advantage through the use of information technology. Today, Twentyseven Global stands six times as big as it was in 2010, experiencing a 44 percent compound annual growth rate between 2010 and 2015.

Steve Roatch, CEO of Twentyseven Global, said, Our premise that there is unmet demand for quality software development services in the mid-market has proven to be true. Weve had the opportunity to work with some great companies.

In a from the company, Twentyseven Global discussed how its combination of onshore and offshore development has solved increasing IT shortages in Kansas City and Denver. Midsized companies are currently being forced to spend heavily on recruiting firms, hire expensive consulting boutiques or risk handing over their projects to hard to manage offshore teams.

Roatch said, Over the next couple of years we are going to see incredible wage pressure in IT. While that means we will have to compete for local talent, the IT wage pressure will actually benefit us. Companies are going to be drawn to our unique onshore/offshore business model, where we are able to source high quality software engineering teams while leveraging our onshore management and consulting expertise to make the projects successful.

The local onshore teams have the project management, architecture, consulting and quality control skills required to make projects successful, while the offshore team has an ample supply of software development talent. Often times with traditional offshore firms, clients are offered little to no local project management, or worse, have their projects staffed with brand new project managers or freelance developers.

Twentyseven Global has cultivated a partnership with its offshore team in Vietnam for more than six years. The company has access to over 2,000 software developers in Vietnam and visits on a regular basis to work on methodologies, deliverable templates and tools, as well as overall business culture. This helps to create a team atmosphere between the onshore and offshore offices. Learn more about the team in Vietnam.

Some of the companys most recent accomplishments include helping develop custom applications for Play-it Health and Happy Food Co. Twentyseven Global partnered with Play-it Health to create its health tech mobile application, Plan-it Med, through the companys startup program, Factory 27. Plan-it Med is making waves in the digital health industry and is currently being piloted with different hospitals across the nation to evaluate the apps effectiveness. For Happy Food Co., Twentyseven Global helped build out the Eat Well Platform, which is a custom web-based application that enables customers to join as members, browse menu items, select and reserve meal packages and then pay for them.

Looking to the future, Roatch has the bar set high in order to keep Twentyseven Global a leader in the technology industry.

Roatch said, Maintaining this rate of growth is challenging but exciting. We see no signs of a slowdown. We are fortunate to have an outstanding team and sustaining clients who grow each year and are happy to refer us to new clients.

Twentyseven Global is a global custom software engineering company with offices in Kansas City, Denver and Vietnam. The firm combines experienced on-site leadership with its offshore development center to produce exceptional results. Twentyseven Global aims to help high-growth companies create and sustain competitive advantage through the use of information technology.

Contact:

Valerie Jennings

816.221.1040
Tom,I just recently completed a taper off of Lorazapem in which I was taking 4-6mg daily (was on Clonazepam for close to a decade before that). My p-doc used a method similar to the "Ashton Manual" method and I just recently finished and I am benzo free. It took about 5 months, and although it was relatively painless I still had some "uncomfortable" times after each cut in dose and at the end. The taper method does work, but you have to be patient and you have to do your part. There is no way I could taper off of alcohol because I had the mental obsession for it as well as the physical craving, but I didn't have a mental obsession for benzos so I found that I was able to stick to the taper plan pretty well.I also quit Ambien cold turkey right in the middle of my taper (might not want to try this at home). I ran out of pills on a Friday and was not going to be able to get any more until Monday at the earliest. After 3 days of c-t I just decided to keep going. It didn't seem to affect my taper routine, I was just wide awake to experience a lot more of it for about a week.MemphisBlues makes a lot of good points about finding the right p-doc to help you with this. I had one p-doc who told me that since I had been on benzos for so long it would just be easier to keep me on a maintenance dose. When I started seeing my current p-doc he was happy that I wanted to get off of the benzos and the Ambien and was willing to work with me to achieve that goal. It really comes down to you and your p-doc though. I can give you my experience on the matter but it should not be taken as medical advice.I have worked in the medical field for many years (as well as a patient for 2 heart surgeries), and I always try to stress that the doctor works for the patient. I always try to take an active role in my relationships with my docs, and yes my surgeons too. In order to do this I need to educate myself on my condition(s) so I am able to discuss all of my options when it comes to my care. When I had my heart valve surgeries I didn't just blindly let my surgeon select which valve was going to be used. I researched them all and had an informed discussion with him, then WE made the best choice based on my needs and his expertise.If you have 3 p-docs sitting in a room one might tell you to go cold-turkey, one might tell you to rapid taper, and one might tell you to slow taper. LOL a fourth might poke his head in the door and tell you to just stay on a maintenance dose. They are all professionals and I wouldn't question their ability to practice medicine, but having researched bezo addiction, tapers, and withdrawal symptoms I can make an informed decision on what I think is best for me.
Noie: End result all that matters for this one, for this Irish team

Notre Dame needed this one, even against a program like UNLV, to keep moving forward toward exactly who knows what
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NASA

The space shuttle Columbia, NASA's first orbiter, is showered with lights in this nocturnal scene at Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., during preparations for the first flight (STS-1) of NASA's new reusable spacecraft system. This photo was taken in March 1981 ahead of Columbia's April 12, 1981 launch.

Soaring Into History

NASA

A remote camera at the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A captured this scene as the maiden flight of space shuttle Columbia begins on April 12, 1981. Astronauts John W. Young, STS-1 commander, and Robert L. Crippen, pilot, were aboard Columbia as it begins a 54-hour orbital mission.

STS-1 Mission Solid Rocket Boosters Jettisoned

NASA

On April 12, 1981, astronauts John Young and Bob Crippen launched into space on space shuttle Columbia on the STS-1 mission  NASA's first mission aboard a reusable spacecraft. STS-1 was NASA's first manned mission since the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975. In this image, the two solid rocket boosters are aglow after being jettisoned.

Who Will Fly Shuttles First?

NASA

On March 22, 1978, NASA held a press conference to announce the first space shuttle crews. The eight men shown here were picked to fly the first four shuttle missions (STS-1 to STS-4) in two-man teams. They are: right to left, astronauts John W. Young, Robert L. Crippen, Joe H. Engle, Richard H. Truly, Fred W. Haise Jr., Jack R. Lousma, Vance D. Brand and C. Gordon Fullerton. Young and Crippen are commander and pilot, respectively, for the first OFT mission. Other crews are comprised of Engle, commander, and Truly, pilot; Haise, commander, and Lousma, pilot; Brand, commander, and Fullerton, pilot.

Meet Columbia

NASA

The space shuttle Columbia riding "piggyback" on NASA 905, a 747 carrier aircraft, is only seconds away from landing on Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle landing facility, ending a 2,400-mile ferry flight from California on March 24, 1979. The T-38 chase plane at left is flown by Donald "Deke" Slayton, manager for the orbital fight test (OFT) program.

Young and Crippen: History's 1st Shuttle Flyers

NASA

These two astronauts were the prime crewmen for the first flight in the Space Transportation System (STS-1) program. Astronauts John W. Young, left, commander, and Robert L. Crippen, pilot, will man the space shuttle orbiter 102 Columbia for the first orbital flight test.

Sunrise Space Shuttle

NASA

An early morning scene at the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39, with the space shuttle Columbia in position on Pad 39A at right in March 1981. The shuttle launched into space on April 12, 1981.

STS-1: A Mission's Emblem

NASA

This is the official insignia for the first space shuttle orbital flight test (STS-1). Crew of the 102 Columbia on STS-1 will be astronauts John W. Young, commander, and Robert L. Crippen, pilot. The art work was done by artist Robert McCall.

Liftoff!

NASA

The space shuttle Columbia begins a new era of space transportation when it lifts off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla, on April 12, 1981. The reusable orbiter, its two fuel tanks and two solid rocket boosters (SRB) has just cleared the launch tower.

Boosters Separate

NASA

The twin solid rocket boosters separate from the external tank of NASA's space shuttle Columbia after its April 12, 1981 launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Columbia's STS-1 mission was NASA's first manned mission since the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975.

Columbia's Space Pilot

NASA

Astronaut Robert L. Crippen, pilot for STS-1 takes advantage of zero-gravity to do some rare acrobatics on the middeck of the space shuttle Columbia in Earth orbit during the two-day mission between April 12 and April 14 in 1981.
This cutaway shows a concept B330 space habitat for astronauts designed by Bigelow Aerospace. The private spaceflight company has teamed up with launch provider United Launch Alliance to put a huge private space habitat in orbit by 2020.

Two aerospace companies are teaming up to launch giant space habitats to orbit, with the first such liftoff targeted for 2020.

Bigelow Aerospace will loft its giant, expandable B330 modules  each of which will provide one-third as much usable volume as the entire International Space Station (ISS)  aboard United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rockets, representatives from both companies announced today (April 11).

The agreement marks the first commercial partnership between a launch provider and a space-habitat provider, ULA representatives said. [Bigelow Aerospace's Inflatable Space Stations in Images]

Two B330s should be ready to go by 2020, and the goal is to launch at least one of the modules that year. The first B330 would ideally be attached to the ISS, which would require NASA's approval, said Bigelow Aerospace founder and president Robert Bigelow. But the module could also operate on its own, flying freely in space, he added.

"Each [B330] is able to be its own space station," Bigelow said during a press briefing today at the 32nd Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado. "They need no other habitats, modules or anything of the sort."

This United Launch Alliance diagram shows how the launch provider's Atlas V rocket will carry a Bigelow Aerospace B330 expandable habitat module into orbit. The private space habitat is slated to launch in 2020 under a deal between the two companies. (Image credit: United Launch Alliance)

This first orbiting B330  which is so named because it contains 330 cubic meters, or about 11,650 cubic feet, of internal volume  could house visiting space tourists and accommodate a variety of scientific experiments, Bigelow said. Indeed, it's likely that these modules will serve multiple purposes and customers, operating on a time-share basis.

"We're offering discrete quantities of time  a matter of one or two weeks to maybe 45 days  to various kinds of clientele, and also certain areas onboard the spacecraft that we have permission for that clientele to locate packages and experiments that was the motivation for them to be there," Bigelow said.

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)

Bigelow and ULA president and CEO Tory Bruno see their companies' partnership as a watershed moment for humanity's exploration and exploitation of space.

The first B330s should allow for greatly expanded opportunities for researchers, companies and space tourists in low Earth orbit, they said, and the modules could eventually allow for human habitation on and around the moon, and even as far away as Mars.

"We are standing on the very threshold of an expanded and permanent human presence beyond our planet," Bruno said at today's briefing. "This is a very bright future, and you and I right now are standing here, looking right into it."

Bigelow Aerospace founder Robert Bigelow speaks with reporters on April 11, 2016 during the announcement of a partnership with United Launch Alliance to launch an expandable space habitat for astronauts by 2020. (Image credit: Calla Cofield/Space.com)

Las Vegas-based Bigelow Aerospace specializes in building habitats that launch in a compressed configuration and expand greatly once they reach space. Such expandable modules offer much more usable volume per unit launch mass than do traditional rigid structures.

Bigelow has already flown three expandable modules in space  the free-flying Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 prototypes, which launched in 2006 and 2007, respectively, and the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, which just arrived at the ISS aboard SpaceX's Dragon cargo capsule this weekend.

The goal of BEAM  which offers just 5 percent the volume of a B330  is to prove out expandable technology for human use on orbit. It will stay attached to the ISS for the next two years.

The partnership between Bigelow and ULA is very much a work in progress, and there's still a lot to work out in terms of how the launch of the first B330 (and any others that follow) will be funded, Bruno and Bigelow said.

NASA might end up paying for the first launch if the B330 goes to the ISS, Bruno said. But he stressed that other opportunities could present themselves as well.

"It's premature to talk in specifics about these kinds of things," Bigelow said.

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.
Fifty-five years ago today (April 12), cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin made history. He climbed into his Soviet Vostok 1 capsule and launched into space, ushering in the era of human spaceflight. Space fans mark Gagarin's feat each year with Yuri's Night, a series of cosmic shindigs and parties around the world to celebrate all things space, and this year's events promise to be ones to remember.

There are more than 200 events planned for Yuri's Night this year as the global space party enters its 16th year. Even Disney is marking the occasion, with its Disney Junior TV animated sci-fi show Miles from Tomorrowland teaming up with Yuri's Night to help kids learn how to how to plan their own space parties.

The celebrations actually started over the weekend, with a flagship event in Los Angeles at the California Science Center, the home of NASA's space shuttle Endeavour. (Today is also the 35 anniversary of NASA's first space shuttle flight, STS-1, aboard Columbia). That event featured Yuri's Night co-founder Loretta Whitesides and Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin, European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Christoforetti and hundreds of revelers. [First Man in Space: Yuri Gagarin's Legacy in Photos]

In Russia, today is an official holiday (called Cosmonautics Day), and four events are planned in and around Moscow to mark the occasion and you can bet the six crewmembers on the International Space Station will celebrate Yuri's Night in orbital style. This year, Yuri's Night is also offering a limited-edition 2016 #BeAnAstronaut patch on its website to celebrate.

"At both the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station and McMurdo Station in Antarctica, scientists and explorers will once again raise a traditional toast to Yuri from the bottom of the world," Yuri's Night representatives wrote in an April 9 statement.

"The team is at full throttle while more registrations continue to pour in." Yuri's Night Chairman & President Dr. Ryan Kobrick said in the statement. "It's hard to express how excited we are to help connect hundreds of stellar registered events in over 50 cities on all 7 continents all celebrating human spaceflight. The Disney Junior Miles from Tomorrowland partnership is the most impactful educational program we have ever been a part of, and we are honored to work with the best storytellers in the universe!"

The list of Yuri's Night parties around the world is long and varied. In Cologne, Germany, the Odysseum museum is hosting a two-hour roundtable talk on "Mission to Mars" to discuss the challenges of exploring the Red Planet. Meanwhile, students at the Federal University of Technology in Akure, Nigeria will present a play "Voyage to Mars." Other celebrations include star parties, space station sightings and film screenings.

You can find out if there's a Yuri's Night event by visiting: https://yurisnight.net/events/

Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
NEW YORK  Stephen Hawking wants humanity to reach the stars.

The famed cosmologist, along with a group of scientists and billionaire investor Yuri Milner, unveiled an ambitious new $100 million project today (April 12) called Breakthrough Starshot, which aims to build the prototype for a tiny, light-propelled robotic spacecraft that could visit the nearby star Alpha Centauri after a journey of just 20 years.

"The limit that confronts us now is the great void between us and the stars, but now we can transcend it," Hawking said today during a news conference here at One World Observatory. [Stephen Hawking: 'Transcending Our Limits' With Breakthrough Starshot (Video)]

"With light beams, light sails and the lightest spacecraft ever built, we can launch a mission to Alpha Centauri within a generation," he added. "Today, we commit to this next great leap into the cosmos. Because we are human, and our nature is to fly."

The Starshot spacecraft will consist of a wafer-size chip attached to a super-thin sail. This paired duo will be launched to space aboard a mothership, and then propelled to the stars by laser light beamed from a high-altitude facility here on Earth.

Such a craft, Milner said, could be accelerated up to 20 percent the speed of light  fast enough to make it to the Alpha Centauri system, which lies 4.37 light-years away, just two decades after launch. (It would take a conventionally propelled probe about 30,000 years to make such a trip.)

An illustration depicts the Breakthrough Starshot Nanocraft, revealed at a press conference on April 12, 2016. (Image credit: Breakthrough Prize Foundation (via Livestream))

"We call it the Nanocraft," Milner said. "Our interstellar sailboat."

The Nanocraft "could capture images of possible planets and other scientific data and send them back home in a beam of light," Milner added. "If this mission succeeds, it will tell us as much about ourselves as it will about Alpha Centauri.

"Breakthrough Starshot is based on technology either available or likely to be available in the near future," Milner said, adding that all of its work is based on data in the public domain.

The postage-stamp-sized space probes of Breakthrough Starshot could make a flyby of planets around Alpha Centauri within 20 years after launch. See how Breakthrough Starshot could work in our full infographic (Image credit: by Karl Tate, Infographics Artist)

Developing and proving out Starshot technology will be time-consuming and expensive; sending Nanocraft to Alpha Centauri will probably end up costing about as much as the largest scientific experiments operating today, team members said.

But subsequent missions should be much cheaper, and economies of scale will allow many Nanocraft to launch on a single flight to provide redundancy and increase photographic coverage of the target star system. (The chip at the heart of each Nanocraft costs about as much as an iPhone to produce, Breakthrough Starshot representatives said.)

Today's announcement comes on the 55th anniversary of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin's historic launch on Vostok 1 in 1961, a mission that ushered in the era of human spaceflight. Milner, who was born in Moscow, has said he was named in honor of Gagarin. Today is also the 35th anniversary of NASA's first space shuttle flight, STS-1, aboard Columbia.

"The human story is one of great leaps," Milner said in a statement. "Fifty-five years ago today, Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space. Today, we are preparing for the next great leap  to the stars."

Breakthrough Starshot's board consists of Hawking, Milner and Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Facebook.

This is not the first time Hawking and Milner have worked together: Hawking helped unveil Milner's 10-year, $100 million initiative to search for signs of intelligent life called Breakthrough Listen last July. That project, which is billed as the most powerful search ever for extraterrestrial life, will survey 1 million stars in the Milky Way closest to Earth. The 10-year project will also scan the 100 closest galaxies to our own for any traces of intelligent life.

Milner, meanwhile, is also funding the Breakthrough Message project, which will award up to $1 million in prizes to people who craft the best messages to send out to any intelligent life that may be listening.

Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
This is an image of the deep radio map covering the ELAIS-N1 region, with aligned galaxy jets. The image on the left has white circles around the aligned galaxies; the image on the right is without the circles.

A highly sensitive radio telescope has seen something peculiar in the depths of our cosmos: A group of supermassive black holes are mysteriously aligned, as if captured in a synchronized dance.

These black holes, which occupy the centers of galaxies in a region of space called ELAIS-N1, appear to have no relation to one another, separated by millions of light-years. But after studying the radio waves generated by the twin jets blasting from the black holes' poles, astronomers using data from the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) in India realized that all the jets were pointed in the same direction, like arrows on compasses all pointing "north."

Top 10 Astronomical Discoveries Of All Time

This is the first time a group of supermassive black holes in galactic cores have been seen to share this bizarre relationship and, at first glance, the occurrence should be impossible. What we are witnessing is a cluster of galaxies, that all have central supermassive black holes that have their axes of rotation pointed in the same direction.

"Since these black holes don't know about each other, or have any way of exchanging information or influencing each other directly over such vast scales, this spin alignment must have occurred during the formation of the galaxies in the early universe," said Andrew Russ Taylor, director of the Inter-University Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy in Cape Town, South Africa. Taylor is lead author of the study published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

In other words, though each of these galaxies are currently independent from one another, they likely originated from the same small-scale mass fluctuation, shortly after the Big Bang, and therefore used to have some commonality on a quantum scale. These objects were all spawned in the same compact region of primordial space some 13.8 billion years ago that, as the universe expanded, drifted apart into the mature galaxies we see today in that distant volume of space.

ANALYSIS: Mysterious 'Cold Spot': Fingerprint of Largest Structure in the Universe?

But the fact they remain highly correlated provides an incredible opportunity for astronomers to see how the small scale structure of the early universe influenced the large-scale structure of our universe today.

The researchers hope to use this surprising discovery to perhaps better understand the conditions in which they formed, but the discovery will be a huge challenge to explain as there's no cosmological model that can currently account for it.

"This is not obviously expected based on our current understanding of cosmology. It's a bizarre finding," said collaborator Romeel Dave, of the University of the Western Cape, South Africa.

Needless to say, the researchers have plenty of hypotheses about what influenced the primordial universe to produce such a fine-tuned group of black holes. Perhaps powerful magnetic fields influenced primordial matter in such a way to seed the group of synchronized black holes. Maybe the influence of a hypothetical dark matter particle (such as axions) had a role to play or cosmic strings might have somehow influenced their evolution. For now, it's anyone's guess.

ANALYSIS: Did Some Black Holes Survive the Big Bang?

Interestingly, the discovery of these aligned black holes came about by accident. In preparation for the completion of the South African MeerKAT radio telescope and Square Kilometre Array (SKA)  which is set to become the more powerful radio telescope on the planet  the researchers used the powerful GMRT to find the faintest radio signals possible so targets could be found for MeerKAT and SKA to further investigate. Both systems will be many times more powerful than the radio observatories we currently have available, so it looks like they already have a vexing puzzle to solve.

"We're beginning to understand how the large-scale structure of the universe came about, starting from the Big Bang and growing as a result of disturbances in the early universe, to what we have today," added Taylor, "and that helps us explore what the universe of tomorrow will be like."

Learn more about how the primordial universe shaped the large scale structure of our cosmos in my recent DNews video of giant galactic walls!

Originally published on Discovery News.
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Turkey To Closely Monitor Actions

"From now on, it is of course a process to be conducted by the German authorities and to proceed within the framework of the German legal system," he said. "However, we would like to underline that assaults which contain such insults and are voiced with vulgar expressions targeting the president of a country and a people have no relation either with freedom of expression or with freedom of press. This is an insult and a crime anywhere in the world." He said officials would closely follow the actions taken by the German justice system.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus also made similar remarks during an appearance in the southeastern city of Sanliurfa on Monday, where he said that Bohmermann's words weren't just an insult to Erdogan, "but all 78 million Turks." He said Bohmermann's poem represented a "serious crime against humanity" that had "crossed all lines of indecency." He called the poem unacceptable. "This is why we as the Republic of Turkey want this insolent man to be punished immediately under German law for insulting a president." However, Kurtulmus also insisted his country "absolutely did not want to place political pressure on Germany."

Turkey's Most Common Political Charge

Erdogan's actions in recent days come as little surprise. There are currently around 2,000 cases pending in Turkey in which the defendants are accused of insulting the president. No one, it seems, is immune from the accusation. Youth have even been charged on the basis of comments posted on Facebook and Twitter, and opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu faced the government's wrath after daring to call Erdogan a "tinpot dictator."

There's also novelist Perihan Magden, who wrote that Erdogan acts like a "wild tiger, like a wild animal trapped in a corner." In the case of journalist Onur Erem, all it took to get charged was noting in an article that when you type the word "Erdogan" into Google, its autocomplete feature suggests the words "thief" and "murderer" -- in other words, the terms people most often use as part of their Erdogan searches.

In Turkey, under Paragraph 299 of the Turkish Penal Code, a person can be sentenced to up to four years in prison if convicted of insulting the president. Another paragraph criminalizes "degrading the Turkish nation, the State of the Turkish Republic or the Organs and Institutions of the State." Based on the number of cases, however, it is Erdogan who is insulted most often. Disparaging the president has become the most common political crime charged in Turkey today.
NEW CAST MEMBERS FOR BROADCHURCH 3 ANNOUNCED AHEAD OF FILMING OF THE FINAL SERIESAward winning drama Broadchurch resumes filming in Dorset this summer with an impressive ensemble cast confirmed to appear in the third and final series.David Tennant and Olivia Colman reprise their roles as DI Alec Hardy and DS Ellie Miller with Jodie Whittaker and Andrew Buchan returning to play Beth and Mark Latimer.They will be joined by National Television Award winner Julie Hesmondhalgh, BAFTA winner Georgina Campbell along with Sarah Parish, Charlie Higson and Mark Bazeley who take significant roles in the eight part series to be co-produced for ITV by Kudos, Imaginary Friends and Sister Pictures.Arthur Darvill also returns as local Vicar Paul Coates, Carolyn Pickles as newspaper editor Maggie Radcliffe and Adam Wilson as Ellies son Tom.The new series will herald a brand new case for Miller and Hardy with the detectives reuniting to investigate a serious sexual assault.This is the final chapter of Broadchurch, said Chris Chibnall. We have one last story to tell, featuring both familiar faces and new characters. I hope its a compelling and emotional farewell to a world and show that means so much to me.The series explores the consequences of a serious sexual assault as a Dorset community comes under the scrutiny of Hardy and Millers investigation. Based on a year of research with Dorset-based organisations who specialise in dealing with victims of sexual assault, and police advisors who specialise in investigating crimes of sexual violence, Broadchurchs final chapter looks at the emotional cost to all of those involved and the irreparable damage to friendships and relationships.ITVs former Director of Drama Steve November and Controller of Drama Victoria Fea have commissioned the new series.Broadchurch is as ever stylishly written, provocative and thought provoking, said Victoria. Were pleased with the direction Chris and Jane have taken this series and the extraordinary cast theyve assembled.Broadchurch will be executive produced by Chris Chibnall (Malaterra, The Great Train Robbery, Torchwood) for Imaginary Friends and Jane Featherstone (River, Humans, Gracepoint) for Sister Pictures. Dan Winch (IndianSummers II, What We did On Our Holiday) will produce the final series. Broadchurch is a co-production with Kudos, an Endemol Shine Group company.Broadchurch has been an important part of my life and I am so delighted and privileged to be working with Chris and the team again as we embark on the very final series, said Jane Featherstone. We will return to the town and characters we know so well as they find themselves caught up in a new and compelling story which will test the strength of the community and the people who live there, and will, I hope, be a fitting end to this trilogy.On behalf of co-producers Kudos Chief Executive Officer Diederick Santer said:Kudos are delighted to be working in partnership with Chris and Jane once again, on what promises to be the thrilling final chapter of Broadchurch.The series will be directed by Paul Andrew Williams (The Eichmann Show, Murdered by My Boyfriend), Daniel Nettheim (Doctor Who, Humans, Line of Duty) and Lewis Arnold (Banana, Prey, Humans).Filming will commence this summer in Bridport, West Bay and Clevedon, which have featured as locations in Broadchurch series one and two.
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This week the IRT is sent to Paris because an American woman was murdered and her body staged. Given the importance of the tourist trade between the US and France, the government has made a request for the FBIs team to get involved.





About the Author - Prpleight Prpleight is a screenwriter and senior software engineer with solid geek cred. When not writing code, screenplays, or watching TV (sometimes she does all three at the same time), she uses her broadsword Bessie to battle evil. She's been a frequent contributor to the SpoilerTV discussion boards for several years now. All Reviews) Recent Reviews

As I was watching the woman, in the teaser, talk about walking home at night in Paris, I could only think shes not from a major city. I was a little surprised when she said she was from Nashville. Later in the episode, a young woman from San Diego, CA exhibited the big city instincts I had been looking for. She knew something was wrong pretty quickly and made the killer work very hard to kill her.The first victim had her eyes removed and, what I presumed was the instrument used was left in her eye sockets. The second victim had her head removed, and the third her heart cut out and left in her hands. The team spends the bulk of the episode operating under the theory that these women are surrogates for the woman the Unsub actually wants to kill.While examining the evidence from the first crime, Seger finds a piece of evidence that leads the team to a picture of the Unsubs car and the fact that he is running a gypsy cab. The Commissaire wants to put out an alert to the public, but the team advises against it. They caution that letting the Unsub know theyre getting close will cause him to become unpredictable.I liked the Commissaire. He didnt appreciate the IRTs arrival but he wasnt a jerk. He was professional and, though he disagreed with the teams recommendations, he listened to their reasoning and made informed decisions. He decided to warn the public about the murders and the car. He admits that the IRT was right about what would happen when he did that and takes their advice to increase police presence until the Unsub is caught.The other prediction that the IRT made regarding the public announcement came to pass as well. The Unsubs next attack was unpredictable. He killed a French woman and was interrupted when trying to stage her body because he had been forced to abandon his MO.But this isnt what turned the case around. It was what he did to the French victim. He stuffed butterflies into her stomach. Seger realizes that the killings and staged scenes werent practice runs for the focus of the Unsubs obsession but love notes, of a sort, to the object of his affection. I have butterflies in my stomach. Im blinded by love. I have my heart in my hands. I lost my head. They need to find the woman the Unsub is obsessed with before the Unsub finds her.The butterflies lead them to the name of the Unsub, Paul Mossier. They learn that he was remanded to a psychiatric hospital with hands down the worst security I have ever heard of. It defied common sense.The object of Pauls affections is an American woman, Amy Wallace, who volunteered at the hospital and got Paul into art. A month prior to the first murder she quit and is due to leave Paris because shes engaged. The hospital gave Paul Amy Wallaces address. The MENTAL hospital gave a FORMER PATIENT the address of a former employee. I cannot fathom that that is considered a good policy in any mental institution in the world.Paul, armed with the address the genius at the mental hospital gave him, showed up at Amys door anxious to show her his art project. Amy, not being an idiot, realizes rather quickly that hes not a good guy to have in her home. Unfortunately, she cant get away. Her reaction upon seeing the art piece is predictable. Luckily, the police arrive in time to save her.I liked a lot about the episode. It had a lot of elements that I love about Criminal Minds. I like the twist of having the stage scenes be love notes. My one issue with the show is that I dont feel as though Im getting to know the characters. I enjoy procedurals, but I need to like the characters as well and Im not getting that yet.What did you think about the episode?
04/17/2016 (09:01PM - 09:30PM) (Sunday) : When one of Martina's (Carrie Preston) patients moves in and refuses to leave, the rest of the family starts to turn to her for advice. Mike (Patrick Warburton) realizes that he misses his mother, Shea (Miranda Cosgrove) gets a boyfriend and Stella (Mia Serafino) gives Martina's patient a makeover. Stacy Keach and Carlease Burke also star. Betty White and Jane Leeves guest star.05/01/2016 (09:30PM - 10:00PM) (Sunday) : When Mike (Patrick Warburton) stumbles across a Viagra pill, he and Martina (Carrie Preston) decide to takes it once for fun, but then become worried about going back to business as usual. Meanwhile, Stella (Mia Serafino) starts a YouTube channel but can't handle the mean comments, and Shea (Miranda Cosgrove) finds her own magic pill she can't give up. Stacy Keach and Carlease Burke also star.05/02/2016 (10:01PM - 11:00PM) (Monday) : THE TEAM PROTECTS A YOUNG GIRL WITH TIES TO A TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONWhen a mysterious young girl with a tattoo connection falls into Borden's (Ukweli Roach) care, he brings her case to the FBI team-- but her ties to a terrorist organization prove dangerous for all of them. Meanwhile, a conflicted Jane (Jaimie Alexander) starts to grow close to Weller (Sullivan Stapleton) again, and friendship blossoms between Borden and Patterson (Ashley Johnson). Also starring Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Rob Brown and Audrey Esparza.05/03/2016 (09:00PM - 10:00PM) (Tuesday) : DR. RHODES AND DR. DOWNEY DISAGREE ON A PATIENT'S EMERGENCY HEART SURGERY - When Dr. Rhodes (Colin Donnell) and Dr. Downey (guest star Gregg Henry) treat a patient with a multitude of health and heart issues, they uncover he might be misdiagnosed and disagree over the best course of action. Dr. Choi (Brian Tee), riding along with paramedic Sylvie Brett (guest star Kara Killmer), responds to a call for a man with a leg injury, but complications arise in getting to him since the home is wrought with excessive hoarding. Meanwhile, treating a patient who was bitten by her own dog, Dr. Manning (Torrey DeVitto) and Sarah (Rachel DiPillo) have suspicions about the reason for the injury and what it might mean. Meanwhile, Goodwin (S. Epatha Merkerson) ensures that everyone is on their best behavior when the Joint Commission makes a surprise visit to Chicago Med to evaluate and rate the hospital's standards. Oliver Platt, Nick Gehlfuss, Yaya DaCosta and Marlyne Barrett also star.05/03/2016 (10:00PM - 11:00PM) (Tuesday) : DAWSON PUTS HER LIFE ON THE LINE TO SAVE A YOUNG BOY AND OTIS FEARS FOR THE WORST - Dawson (Monica Raymund) makes an attachment to a young boy she rescues in an apartment blaze while Kidd's (guest star Miranda Rae Mayo) big idea for Molly's turns into a disaster. Lt. Severide (Taylor Kinney) makes a pitch for the house to upgrade some of their fire masks but hits a wall in his efforts, prompting Lt. Casey (Jesse Spencer) to use his political influence to pull a few strings. Meanwhile, Cruz (Joe Minoso) and a reluctant Brett (Kara Killmer) bring in a secret weapon in their efforts to get Otis (Yuri Sardarov) to see Dr. Halstead (guest star Nick Gehlfuss) and take a blood test. Eamonn Walker, David Eigenberg, Christian Stolte and Steven R. McQueen also star.05/04/2016 (08:00PM - 09:00PM) (Wednesday) : When a transgender woman is diagnosed with breast cancer, Alex (Melissa George) and Ji-Sung (Maya Erskine) fight to save her life and her identity. Meanwhile, a beautiful consultant from another hospital forces Jesse (Don Hany) to confront his feelings for Alex. Also starring Dave Annable, Shelley Conn, Joshua Leonard and D.L. Hughley. Guest starring Candis Cayne, Brianne Davis, Andrew T. Lee, Caitlyn Larimore, Rudy Martinez, and Megan McNulty.05/04/2016 (09:00PM - 10:00PM) (Wednesday) : RICHARD BELZER RETURNS AS DETECTIVE JOHN MUNCH - A young model is raped by a renowned fashion house photographer, who looks to his successful brother to make the charges disappear. Starring Mariska Hargitay, Ice T, Kelli Giddish, Raul Esparza and Peter Scanavino. Also guest starring Andy Karl, Virginia Gardner, Sandrine Holt, Griffin Dunne, Tom Pelphrey, Fisher Stevens and Jonathan Bock.05/04/2016 (10:00PM - 11:00PM) (Wednesday) : AN INVESTIGATION IS LAUNCHED AFTER AN ABANDONED NEWBORN BABY IS FOUND BY THE LAKEFRONT. - Responding to a call about a suspicious duffle bag at the Chicago Lakefront, Voight (Jason Beghe) is horrified to discover that the bag contains the frigid and unmoving body of a newborn baby. Determined to find the culprit who abandoned the infant, Intelligence receives a promising lead based on information provided by Chicago Med and Ruzek (Patrick Flueger) helps zero in on a potential suspect. Meanwhile, Voight is surprised to hear that his son is in town and Burgess (Marina Squerciati) and Roman (Brian Geraghty) grow closer. Also starring Jon Seda, Jesse Lee Soffer, Sophia Bush, Elias Koteas, LaRoyce Hawkins and Amy Morton. Guest starring Oliver Platt, David Eigenberg, Torrey DeVitto and Samuel Hunt.05/05/2016 (09:00PM - 10:00PM) (Thursday) : When Reddington (James Spader) links an elegant, powerful and extremely dangerous woman to the recent tragic events, the task force is forced to play a deadly cat and mouse game to stop her before she strikes again.05/05/2016 (10:00PM - 11:00PM) (Thursday) : Jackson (David Lyons), Gil (Michael Raymond-James) and Shawn (Larenz Tate) make an emotional return to Quitman in search of answers about the disappearance of a former inmate. Meanwhile, Marina (Claire van der Boom) is excited to land a big new client Diana Stockman (guest star Sharon Lawrence) at the law firm. Bre Blair, Conor O'Farrell, Deidrie Henry and Demetrius Grosse also star.05/06/2016 (09:00PM - 10:00PM) (Friday) : THE BALANCE OF POWER IS AT STAKE - SHAUN TOUB, SHARON LEAL, DAMIEN PUCKLER AND JACQUELINE TOBONI GUEST STAR - Nick (David Giuntoli) leans on Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell) and Rosalee (Bree Turner) as he worries that he may lose everything as he continues to battle Black Claw. Renard (Sasha Roiz) ramps up his campaign as election time nears. Elsewhere, Adalind (Claire Coffee) is faced with a very difficult decision in order to protect her children. Meanwhile, Hank's (Russell Hornsby) relationship with Zuri (guest star Sharon Leal) takes an unexpected turn and Wu (Reggie Lee) tries to gain control of his new reality. Bitsie Tulloch also stars.05/08/2016 (09:30PM - 10:00PM) (Sunday) : Stella (Mia Serafino) scores Pearl Jam tickets for Mike (Patrick Warburton) through her boyfriend, but when Mike finds out the guy is married, he struggles with whether or not to tell her. Meanwhile, Martina (Carrie Preston) and Bob (Stacy Keach) bond at a shooting range and Alice (Carlease Burke) teaches Shea (Miranda Cosgrove) how to "play it cool" with the guy she's seeing.




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Betta Male  Detective Nina Meyer searches for clues about Adams history as she watches his therapy sessions, while a guilty Claire attempts to keep a furtive eye on Ben after Hanks dressing-down. The family prepares to support Claire at the gubernatorial debate, as Hanks guest leads him to find proof of who really kidnapped Adam. Meanwhile, Detective Meyer worries about her missing partner, Agent Clements, and Ben gets a visit from someone from his tortured past, on The Family, SUNDAY, APRIL 24 (9:00-10:00 p.m. EDT).The Family stars Joan Allen stars as Claire Warren, Alison Pill as Willa Warren, Rupert Graves as John Warren, Margot Bingham as Detective Nina Meyer, Liam James as Adam Warren, Andrew McCarthy as Hank Asher, Zach Gilford as Danny Warren, Floriana Lima as Bridey Cruz, Madeleine Arthur as Young Willa and Rarmian Newton as Young Danny.Guest starring are Grant Show as Governor Charlie Lang, Michael Esper as Pock-Marked Man/Doug, Felix Solis as Gus, Armando Riesco as Detective Cory Sanchez, Matthew Lawler as Agent Gabe Clements, Zoe Perry as Jane, Jamie Jackson as Lyle and Alfredo Narciso and Jonah.Betta Male was written by Mark K. Turner and Davita Scarlett and directed by Michael Offer.
Kin Man Hui / San Antonio Express-News

Sonitor Technologies, which has offices in Stamford and Oslo, has raised $9.5 million in new funding as it sells a wireless system to help hospitals track down the location of equipment as it is needed, as well as patients and staff.

Sonitors system is based on ultrasound technology, with its location tracking accurate down to the bay level in hospital wards. Sonitor was founded in 1997 in Norway by Dr. Ole Hovind, who became frustrated by the time wasted by hospital staff in searching for equipment and patient charts. The company determined airborne ultrasound as the best platform to accurately locate moving objects in complex buildings like hospitals.
STAMFORD  The Ferguson Library is billing this Thursdays Novel Affair benefit as a fun-filled evening of food, wine and networking.

The event is also the largest fundraiser of the year for the library, which relies on public support to fund its programs.

Library President Alice Knapp said last springs event, which attracted nearly 300 people, generated about $200,000.

The library hopes to at least match that amount on Thursday with most tickets selling for $125 a person.

The city provided $7.7 million of the librarys $8.9 million budget this year. The librarys remaining revenue is generated by providing passports, the Starbucks on its premises, the Friends of the Ferguson Library, its foundation and other sources.

Contributions will account for $710,300 of this years budget, along with $50,000 in grants.

Were on the margins, Knapp said. Every single year, every penny is allocated.

Knapp will request the citys Board of Representatives Fiscal Committee on April 19 to allocate $7.9 million for the library in the 2017 fiscal year. The library expects to need to raise $732,000 in contributions and earn $80,000 in grants next year.

Knapp said she will explain how the library helps people achieve their goals.

It could be as simple as filling out the application for a job or a drivers license, and you dont have the skills to do it because its online, she said. Or, you dont have the money to buy books or go to the movies, and you can connect with culture for free.

The Novel Affair event began six years ago during the recession, when the city denied the librarys budget request.

We started to do it in 2010 when our budget was cut, Knapp said. Eighty-five percent of our budget comes from the city, so when they cut our budget, we had to start to fundraise the difference.

The entire first floor of the library has been transformed for the event, which runs from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Tawa Indian Cuisine, Tavern 489, Remos Brick Oven Pizza, Napa & Co., Hudson Grille, BevMax and Half Full Brewery are among the 16 restaurants, caterers and breweries participating in the event.

Its a fabulous event, Knapp said. You walk in and the library is totally transformed.

Jeanne Peloso, a library volunteer and co-chairwoman of the event, called it a roving cocktail party where you get to eat and drink your way through all kinds of restaurants and wineries.

The dress is business casual, and the idea is to encourage people to come right after work.

The first time I went, I had so much fun and ran into such a cross section of movers and shakers in Stamford, she said.

This years event will honor Ernest N. Abate, partner in the law firm of Abate & Abate of Stamford, and former speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives.

For more information, visit the librarys website at fergusonlibrary.org.

Julie.alterio@scni.com; 203-964-2263
WASHINGTON  Fairfield County is the Northeastern territorial edge of the mosquito most commonly associated with transmitting the Zika virus, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention map distributed Monday by the White House.

But senior public health officials cautioned against panic and agitation, saying the 346 cases of Zika in the continental U.S. are all the result of travelers infected while visiting tropical locations such as Brazil, Puerto Rico and elsewhere in the Caribbean.

I dont think its anything to panic about or get agitated about, but we cant just make the assumption that a Zika outbreak would be as easy to control as other mosquito-borne diseases such as Dengue fever and Chikungunya virus, said Anthony Fauci, chief of infectious diseases at the National Institutes of Health.

So while we hope were not going to see a sustained local outbreak, we need to be prepared, Fauci told reporters.

Zika causes only mild symptoms, but among pregnant women in Brazil and the Caribbean it has been implicated in an uptick in births of children with small heads, called microcephaly.

The mosquito most frequently implicated in Zika transmission, Aedes aegypti (also known as the yellow-fever mosquito) is common to the Southern and Western U.S., with its Northeastern border ending on Long Island and Southwestern Connecticut.

A second type of mosquito, Aedes albopictus (the Asian tiger mosquito), is present throughout Connecticut. But Fauci and Anne Schuchat, principle deputy director of the CDC, said it is less efficient than Aedes aegypti at spreading the disease.

While not wanting to sound alarms, both officials said they were surprised at the potential implications of a serious outbreak in the U.S.

The more we learn, the more concerned we actually get in some respects with regard to what this virus can do, Fauci said.

As the U.S. enters its warm-weather season, mosquitoes potentially could bite someone with Zika and transmit it to another person with the next bite.

Also, researchers have found Zika can be sexually transmitted. Federal health officials have been working with state and local counterparts to prepare for the diagnosing and testing that would be necessary to detect a rash of Zika cases.

Health officials at all levels ``need to be ready because we may not be lucky and avoid it, Schuchat said.

The Obama administration has reprogrammed $510 million from Ebola-virus-related programs to fund Zika preparedness. But the White House nevertheless is asking for a $1.9 billion emergency appropriation to fight Zika worldwide and prepare for thwarting it at home. Republicans so far appear to be lukewarm.

dan@hearstdc.com
Five years ago, Presley Eze, a licensed practical nurse from West Hartford, was arrested outside Trader Joes when, police said, he was holding a long sword and appeared to be high on PCP.

Though hes been arrested four times since and was found wandering barefoot in the snow in 17-degree weather in 2013, the state Board of Examiners for Nursing concluded that Eze, 29, has maintained his sobriety and is now safe to practice nursing with reasonable skill and safety.

The board made that decision March 23 when it imposed a four-year probation on Ezes nursing license with many conditions. He must have periodic drug and alcohol tests and visit support groups at least eight times a month.

Records show the board members concluded that Eze has fully accepted responsibility for his misconduct. At the same meeting, the board also disciplined seven other nurses.

On May 11, 2011, Eze was charged at the West Hartford grocery store with breach of peace, risk of injury to a minor and possession of weapons in a motor vehicle, the boards memorandum of decision said.

In August of 2011, he was charged with driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, the memo said. Three months later, he was convicted of criminal trespass in connection with the sword incident and received a suspended sentence of one year and probation for two years, the memo said.

In April of 2012, Eze was charged with disorderly conduct after his parents told police he was behaving aggressively, the memo said. A month later, he was convicted of DUI and received a six-month suspended sentence and was placed on probation for 18 months.

On Jan. 2, 2013, West Hartford police found Eze in the snow in his pajamas and sent him to a local hospital for evaluation for substance abuse, the memo said. Three months later, he was charged with DUI again, the memo said.

Five times in 2013, Eze tested positive for PCP and opiates, the memo said. His attorney, Richard Brown of Hartford, said Eze has maintained his sobriety for a long time and was never accused of harming a patient.

Hes never let his personal issues affect his profession, Brown said. The conditions [of his probation] are such that theres no tolerance. If he fails a drug test, he loses his license.

In other business on March 23, the nursing board revoked the license of Lisa Kuba, a licensed practical nurse from West Haven. While employed at All Pointe Homecare of Cheshire in June of 2015, Kuba falsified patient records, abandoned a patient, violated professional boundaries with one or more relatives of a patient and drank alcohol at work, board records show.

The board also:

 Suspended the license of Gregory Klimaytis, a registered nurse from Redding, pending a hearing on charges that he violated probation by skipping drug tests. In 2013, the board had placed his license on probation for four years after he admitted stealing a painkiller, abusing alcohol and falsifying records, board records show.

 Suspended the license of RN Samantha Angelini of East Granby, pending a hearing. Records show she is accused of abusing Ritalin, Adderall, Percocet, marijuana, Suboxone, alcohol and cocaine in 2013 and 2014.

 Suspended the license of RN Dawn C. Palmer of Danielson, pending a hearing on charges that she violated probation by testing positive this year for opiates, records show.

 Approved a four-year probation for Dorsey Saunders, an LPN from Bridgeport. In a consent order she signed, Saunders admitted that while working at the Fairview of Fairfield nursing home, she stole and abused oxycodone and fentanyl in 2015.

 Approved a two-year probation for RN Amy B. Tagg of New Milford. In a consent order, she admitted stealing Percocet and Dilaudid for personal use in 2011 from Danbury Hospital when she was working there. She also excessively used Focalin, a stimulant, in 2015, the consent order said.

 Placed a one-year probation on the license of RN Karen Greenland of Windsor. In a consent order, she admitted that she failed to write down a prescription order for a patient and failed to notice that the medication was not called for in the patients plan of care, the consent order said.

This story was reported under a partnership with the Connecticut Health I-Team (www.c-hit.org).
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When the water crisis still ravaging Flint, Mich., went national in April of 2014, it set off a national firestorm over the role of local governments in ensuring clean and safe drinking water. Flint officials switched the city's water supply over from Detroit to the Flint River, a move that drew scrutiny from the get-go.

Now, residentsand millions across the countrywant answers.

Vox Media recently mapped the risk of lead exposure in drinking water across America, using a method Washington State's Department of Health developed that focuses on two factors: the age of the houses and poverty. Researchers found these two factors correlated best with determining risk.

The report took this methodology and replicated it nationally across census tracts, or small permanent statistical subdivisions of a county that are updated by local participants every 10 years. These subdivisions generally include a population of 1,200 to 8,000 residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Since these tracts do not correspond with an exact zip code, we've approximated the area with the closest town on the map.

Their findings? There remain a lot of risky areas across the country and southwestern Connecticut is no exception. Vox's report found the risk of lead exposure in water was high across southwest Connecticut's major metro areas, including Danbury, Stamford, Norwalk, and Bridgeport.

The data compiled in Vox's report is to assess risk levels across the country and shouldn't be confused with actual reports of lead exposure to anyone. We've listed the census tracts areas with a risk level of 6 or greater out of 10 in the slideshow above. In many cases, just because someone lives in a high risk area, they may never have an issue with encountering lead exposure of any type in their lifetime.

"It's a hard message when you're talking about lead exposure," Elisabeth Long, an epidemiologist with Washington State, told Vox. "And we don't want to be alarmist, but also [we want to] give more people more information about where they live."

As Vox points out, states are not required to report lead exposure statistics to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

State-wide data from Connecticut in 2014 to the CDC shows 520 children tested positive from blood lead levels (BLL) greater than or equal to 10 micrograms per deciliter. According to the CDC, a measurement of 5 micrograms per deciliter indicate a child with a BLL much higher than most children's levels.

Check out the slideshow above to see which areas have an elevated risk of lead exposure according to Vox's report.

Click here to view the full write-up on Vox.
A SOS defied the doubters with a 21% rise in sales in the first-half of the online fashion retailers financial year.

The AIM darling racked up sales of 667.3 million, an increase of more than 20% and up 25% once exchange rate movements are stripped out. The result was above analyst expectations of 663 million.

Pre-tax profits surged 18% to 21.2 million, which was also better than the market was anticipating.

Sales were impressive in the UK, the EU and the US  the groups key markets.

Chief executive Nick Beighton, who took over from founder Nick Robertson in September, said: We've had a good start to the year and I'm pleased with progress on a number of fronts. These results demonstrate improving momentum in the business.

Beighton confirmed the group was on track to meet sales and profit guidance.

Last week, the company revealed it was pulling the plug on its in-country operations in China, where it made a 2.7 million loss in the first half. ASOS said it expects further losses of 1 million before trading there ends as it took a 10 million write-down as previously warned.
L et me highlight some of the many arguments in favour of Brexit:

First, the EU is badly placed to prosper in the future global economy. Globalisation, technical change, communication and innovation are changing the outlook. Geography is no longer a barrier to trade. Economies that will succeed need to be flexible, adaptable and control their own destiny. Brexit allows us this. In contrast, the EU has become centralising, regulating and controlling, the opposite of what is needed for jobs and future success.

Second, there is a mistaken view that if we remain we can somehow change the EU to make it fit for purpose. We are always told the EU will reform but it never does. The EU never addresses its major problems such as high youth unemployment, depression in Greece or mass migration.

Third, the EU could get even worse. The EU is expected to be the slow-growth region of the world economy in coming decades. Remaining in the EU carries considerable uncertainty because we dont know what will happen to the euro. To paper over the economic cracks the eurozone will have to centralise further towards political union. Although the UK does not have to join the euro, within the EU we will find it hard to avoid any fallout from it.

Fourth, Brexit will allow us to trade with the EU and deliver lower food prices. There are too many scare stories about the Single Market. The EU is a customs area. It sets an external tariff with those outside the EU. This is aimed at protecting agriculture and manufacturing, and results in people across the EU paying more for the prices of these things compared with world markets. With Brexit, people would suddenly face cheaper prices for food, as we would be paying world prices.

Many people dont appreciate that we do not need a trade deal to trade with countries. We do not have a trade deal now with China, the USA, or vast chunks of the world with which we trade. With Brexit we could still trade freely with the EU. Because of globalisation, average tariff rates across the world are now low, averaging 1.09%. Firms selling into the EU would still have to adopt EU regulations for their products, just as those exporting to the US accept US regulations too.

Fifth, Brexit will safeguard workers rights. Existing EU rules on areas such as maternity and other rights are already written into UK law. They will remain and in future be determined by UK voters and Parliament, not Brussels bureaucrats. Mass migration that comes with EU membership also prevents low-skilled wages from rising, and adds to pressure on housing and public services. We could better control migration numbers with Brexit.

Sixth, the country would save considerable money from Brexit. Some areas say we should stay in because they receive EU funding, but we give the EU the money in the first place. These areas, such as scientific research, can be covered fully with some of the large savings from our EU contribution. The rest could be spent on public services.

Dr Gerard Lyons is chief economic adviser to Mayor Boris Johnson. His forthcoming ebook is The UK Referendum: An Easy Case to Leaving the EU
L ord McFalls New City Agenda naturally hit the headlines with its calculation that British banks and building societies have paid out almost 53 billion in fines and compensation from their UK retail arms since 2000. The line that the 37.3 billion which PPI mis-selling has cost is four times the bill for staging the London Olympics is certainly eye-catching.

But it was the subsidiary table (see below) from the former chairman of the Treasury Select Committees outfit that grabbed my attention. This compares bonuses, dividends and misconduct costs from 2010 to 2014. Updated to include 2015, they would not look much better with the exception of Lloyds. Although still by the far the worst PPI mis-seller, it has started ratcheting up its dividends and has now paid 2.5 billion to shareholders. The total misconduct cost has risen to 52.7 billion.

But ignoring the individual banks performance (or underperformance), it is the totals at the bottom of each column that matter. They are bonuses 32.6 billion, dividends 31.5 billion and retail misconduct costs 32.9 billion. Strangely, the numbers are not a million miles (or a billion pounds) apart.

Of course there has been the usual outcry that even in these anti-banker times, bonuses outstripped dividends. But the figures highlight just how much damage the banks misdemeanours (and this does not even include Libor, forex rigging and the like) have cost shareholders in dividends. Without the misconduct costs, dividends could have been double what they were.

Thats some incentive for investors to make sure banks behave themselves better going forward.

A hostel to hit the right note with opera-goers?

Mention the word hostel and you probably conjure up a mental picture of backpackers and school parties sleeping in dormitory-style rooms in some of the less salubrious parts of the capital.

Not necessarily so, Safestay founder and chairman Larry Lipman tells me. His business (the latest venture from the man who brought you Safestore and sold it for 200 million a decade ago) is a series of upmarket hostels with one in Edinburgh, one in York and two in London. Those in the capital are in Elephant and Castle and  the most recent opening  Holland Park, backing on to the Open Air Opera venue.

According to Lipman, if you drop into either of the London hostels at breakfast time (4 extra), you are likely to see as many suits as you are ripped jeans and flip-flops.

Why so?

Lipman says: Loads of City firms are now paying staff 100 cash if they need to stay overnight for work or to attend some kind of function.

Rather than spend it on a cab home or a night in a Premier or Holiday Inn, they are spending 20 on a room with us and pocketing the other 80 or spending it on something else.

I wonder how many opera-goers this summer might reckon its easier to pop next door for a nights sleep after the final chords of The Queen of Spades rather than trek home?

Brexiteers should praise EU for mobile work

As sure as Leicester City will win the Premier League will be the outcry from the Leave campaign if  and its a very big if  EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager allows Threes 10.25 billion bid for O2 to go ahead.

I can hear the cries of foul and European bureaucratic interference springing from the Brexiteers lips already. Everything is nicely teed up for them, what with our own Competition and Markets Authoritys epistle to Vestager against the deal yesterday and telecoms czar Sharon Whites opposition to it for the past few months.

The CMA and White argue that reducing the UKs mobile operators from four to three will mean far less competition and so lead to higher prices. Neither accepts that the kind of remedies which have been batted back and forward between Brussels and Three owner Hutchison for the past three months will be strong enough to promote more competition.

So if Vestager (pictured) rules in favour of the deal, albeit with so many provisos that it may no longer make commercial sense, the Leavers will howl.

But perhaps they should stop a moment and look at what Brussels has done for the mobile phones industry over the three decades of its existence and how much has benefited the consumer. By far the biggest action taken by the EU has been on roaming charges  what you pay for making or receiving calls, texts or data while travelling on the continent. From the summer of next year they will be abolished, having only 10 years ago been at obscene levels.

But the EU has also worked hard on other tariffs, cross-border telephony (and with the exception of a standardised charger) technology standards across the industry. All those things could not have been achieved by a single-country regulator sitting in London trying to bring Europe into line.

Oh, and if the UK were to leave Europe, would the countrys mobile phones industry and its followers and journalists still be able to attend the annual jamboree in Barcelona every February?
N ervous City workers are shunning the search for new jobs after the usual merry-go-round of post-bonus job switches came to a grinding halt last month, triggering fears of a bleaker time for job hunters.

Londons jobs market was dealt a further blow as global investment bank Nomura said it planned to close some of its European businesses, which will lead to the loss of up to 600 jobs, many of them in London.

The Tokyo-based firm, which employs nearly 3500 people in Europe, plans to close equity research, sales, derivatives and underwriting operations for European shares with more details set to be revealed next month.

The operations were inherited when it snapped up Lehman Brothers London operations after the US bank collapsed in 2008, triggering the global financial meltdown.

A drastic slowdown in the economy, poor corporate earnings and nervousness about the EU referendum has sparked fears of a return of that period, sending a chill through the jobs sector.

Bankers looking to jump to more lucrative roles after the traditional bonus season in February have shelved their plans, according to recruiter Morgan McKinley, with many choosing to stay put.

The news about lower growth, lower M&A activity and reduced profits is feeding into a general atmosphere of nervousness and jobseekers desire to look for new opportunities, Morgans Hakan Enver said. London jobseekers fell by a quarter in March from February, down to 12,998 from 17,219, while the number of jobs on offer also fell by a fifth to 7215 from 8325.

US banks like JPMorgan, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Citi are set to report quarterly numbers this week, with analysts forecasting one of the worst earnings seasons in recent years due to losses made from bad loans in the commodity sector. The bleak mood was underscored by results from jobs firm Michael Page today, which said UK profit growth last quarter was zero compared with 2.1% last quarter and 12.5% in the quarter before.

Chief executive Steve Ingham said companies were increasingly looking to hire temporary staff instead of permanent hires because of nervousness about the future.
T he least surprising revelation of the Panama Papers is that filthy money is being recycled through London property, that the profits made by dictators and criminals are made safe and clean through the medium of luxury riverside developments and, specifically, that one of President Assads associates bought, among other things, a flat in the legendarily ugly St Georges Wharf development in Vauxhall.

We knew this, didnt we? Pope, Catholic, bears, woods. But it is still shocking to see this nasty truth so clearly. At least, it ought to shock. This laundering makes London property development, and the planners and politicians who are supposed to oversee it, accomplices in crimes that greatly increase the sum of human misery, danger and suffering. It can help enemies of this country, and it promotes actions that could come back to damage Britain and our allies.

It also exposes the plain stupidity of a central idea of our outgoing mayor, his right-hand man Sir Edward Lister, and national government, which is that investment is to be encouraged at almost any cost, with the help, for example, of relaxing planning rules. For the wealth they are so keen to attract is not creating new neighbourhoods to be proud of, or meeting Londons most pressing needs. Rather they are making this city into a very big Monte Carlo.

In a less publicised development last week, the Government relaxed planning controls such that launderettes can be made into flats. Humble but essential social facilities will be traded for a quick buck for their lucky owners. (And consider what sort of home the typical launderette  on the pavement, with light from only one end  will make.)

At this point in the debate youll often hear the argument that London was built by speculators and traders, from its Georgian and Victorian streets and squares, to its docks, to the reckless buccaneers who built much of the Tube. To object to any aspect of the creative power of capital is to be a Londonophobe, a denier of the bounties of its wealth.

This argument, as I show in my book, Slow Burn City, is less than half the story. It overlooks the extraordinary public interventions that were not only visionary and ambitious but also imaginative and unprecedented: Joseph Bazalgettes sewerage system, the invention of council housing, the reform of those underground buccaneers flawed legacy into London Transport, the clean air Acts.

There are also the effects of mass popular actions, such as those that saved Hampstead Heath, Epping Forest and commons all over London from development, or the movement in the 1970s to rescue the wildernesses that had grown up on odd industrial wastelands  Camley Street Natural Park in Kings Cross, the Gunnersbury Triangle. London would not be the great city that investors love so much if it had not been for these actions.

Our current leaders are of a generation that did well out of buying property in the 1980s and are apt to confuse their large dollop of good luck with financial genius and to believe that trading property is the best form of business imaginable. Their wish to accept investment from almost any source, with as few conditions as possible, is short-sighted, wrong, bad business and a betrayal of London. London should have launderettes, not money laundries.

Slow Burn City: London in the Twenty-First Century by Rowan Moore is published by Picador, 20
I n their desperation to avoid responsibility for refugees, Europes leaders have struck a dirty deal with Turkey. It is a scandal, not a solution, and should be decried by us all, as it will be by the history books.

One week since the first boat of desperate people was sent back to Turkey  including it seems 13 people denied their right to claim asylum at all  there can be no doubt it is not a safe country for refugees to live in.

Turkey has forced people fleeing for their lives from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan to return to the countries from which they fled. Others remain abandoned outside camps without access to healthcare, education or the means to support themselves.

Until EU governments, including our own, co-operate to provide safe routes and reception for refugees, exploitation and abuse will continue, with only the smugglers profiting.

The conditions that compel refugees to attempt dangerous sea crossings remain and are only compounded by Turkeys worsening treatment of refugees. Wishing reality away and pretending to have found solutions while failing to secure guarantees from Turkey for refugees protection is a shameful dereliction of duty.

Steve Symonds, refugee programme director, Amnesty International UK

In the face of the biggest refugee crisis since the Second World War, one of the most successful relocation schemes, which promises a safe home in the UK, has an impressive take-up rate of at least 90 per cent. Sadly it is operated by people smugglers and exploited by traffickers. The international community including the UK must step up and do better.

Rather than people-smugglers, the international community should control the destination of vulnerable people  and before they get to Europe. We should not duck the legal and moral responsibility to ensure refugees are given a safe sanctuary.

The problem with the EU-Turkey deal is that it is likely to increase the risks and price tag on the journeys of vulnerable refugees such as lone children. Most of the EU is in an unsavoury race to the bottom to be as unwelcoming as possible to refugees.

The UK needs to take the lead in providing safety to thousands of lone children, and give details of its January 28 commitment to do so.

We dont need to parade an arbitrary number of refugee places, but vulnerable refugees and particularly children need a genuine, upfront commitment to safety.

David Burrowes, MP for Enfield Southgate (Con)

While Turkey must be helped in the fight against terrorism and handling the refugee crisis, joining the EU is altogether different. With 97 per cent of its land area in Asia, Turkey is barely a European nation and hardly democratic either. Human rights are routinely abused. As it is also struggling financially, Turkey has a long way to go before it should be considered for entry into the EU.

Giorgio Loukas

Westminster must bar this skyscraper

Londoners will be watching how Westminster City Council proceeds today in its decision-making regarding the West End Green development on Edgware Road in Paddington, a proposal which offers very few benefits to the community and lots of profit to the developer. By approving a 30-storey building that is eight levels higher than it should be, Westminster council is risking alienating a huge number of constituents, as well as sparking lengthy battles between developers and objectors.

Until a few years ago Westminster council was regarded as a model for protection of historic assets, measured engagement with future development and for its sound and clear policies. It is surprising then that within a very short time its objective now is only to serve economic advantage.

I would urge councillors to take into serious account the many objectors and consider the grave consequences of what they would be allowing. Westminster does need to grow but this can be done without destroying its character.

Barbara Weiss, co-founder, Skyline Campaign

The tax tangle of the Prime Minister

What a tangled tax web David Cameron has woven. After admitting that he did in fact profit from an offshore trust set up by his father, he also claims he sold his stake in 2010 so he could be transparent. But why? It is perfectly legal under UK law to invest in an offshore trust and Mr Cameron would have known this. If he doesnt think holding shares in this way makes an individual transparent, why did he intervene to prevent a tax crackdown on offshore trusts?

The reality is that tax avoidance is something Cameron and George Osborne both allow and if they were serious about tackling it, the likes of Vodafone and Google would be stumping up billions of pounds, not millions.

Julie Partridge
T he Queens 90th birthday is being celebrated with a series of guided walks through Londons royal history.

They will trace the British monarchy from its earliest days when William the Conqueror rode into town for his coronation and had the celebrating crowd slaughtered as he thought it was an uprising, through to the present at Buckingham Palace.

The walks by the City of Westminster Guide Lecturers Association will also pass the Banqueting House where Charles I was executed in 1649 and carry on through Horse Guards Parade where the elaborate Trooping the Colour is the centrepiece of the Queens official birthday.

Walkers will also be shown statues of the Queens mother and father and learn how love for an American divorcee changed the face of the monarchy. The story of how a shy and retiring man overcame his disability to lead his country in its greatest hour of need will also be told  the subject of the hit film The Kings Speech starring Colin Firth.

50 free things to do in London 1 /66 50 free things to do in London A Cockroach Tour at the Science Museum Get a bug's eye view of the human race with the Science Museum's Cockroach Tour. Step into their shells (literally) and explore how science and technology are influencing our climate. Every Saturday and Sunday at 2pm and 4pm.



sciencemuseum.org.uk Columbia Road Flower Market Come rain or shine, this East End institution peddles its colourful flora every Sunday from 8am-3ish. You'll get the best bargains as it starts to warm down. Check out the adjacent galleries, coffee shops and boutiques which open up at the weekend too. columbiaroad.info Getty Climb up Big Ben Did you know you can wear yourself out climbing up all 334 steps of Big Ben to hear the Great Bell chime the hour up-close? As well as taking in stunning views across London, you can also explore behind the clock faces. Guided tours only at 9am, 11am and 2pm every Monday-Friday. Book ahead.



parliament.uk Getty In-store gigs at Rough Trade East Brick Lane's independent record shop hosts regular free gigs from the likes of Kendrick Lamar (pictured), Gabrielle Aplin and Foals. Wristbands are given out one hour before kick-off.



roughtrade.com Getty Kerb Street Food Markets Making cities taste better one street food market at a time, Kerb are the ultimate foodie guerillas. Find them at King's Cross (Tuesday-Friday), the Gherkin (Thursday) & UCL (last Wednesday of every month). Feast with London's best traders including Mother Flipper burgers and the Meringue Girls (pictured).



kerbfood.com (Picture: David Loftus) Hackney City Farm Give your kids a dose of the countryside in the concrete jungle at one of London's city farms. Our favourite is Hackney City Farm, which is packed with donkeys, pigs and chickens. Open from 10am4.30pm every day except Monday.



hackneycityfarm.co.uk Play table tennis at PING Tables at Earl's Court hangout PING are free on a first come, first served basis. Don't miss tournament Tuesday. Games of Beer Pong are positively encouraged.



weloveping.com Alfie's Antiques Market A hidden gem full of gems, this Marylebone market is an indoor haven for antiques, vintage, collectables and 20th Century design. Open 10am-6pm Tuesday to Saturday.



alfiesantiques.com Gigs and club nights at the Social This central London bar has been going for 15 years. Theres a great range of weekly club nights with a mixture of resident and guest DJs spinning the tunes from house and disco to funk and hip-hop, plus showcases of some of the best new bands around.



thesocial.com Lunchtime concerts at St-Martin-in-the-Fields Every Monday, Tuesday and Friday at 1pm you can listen to tomorrow's classical music stars, from pianists to choirs, play and sing for free at this beautiful church on the edge of Trafalgar Square. No ticket required. stmartin-in-the-fields.org Nike Training Club You can register for these free womens exercise classes via Facebook around two weeks in advance. Theres yoga, running and general fitness training sessions held in a mixture of indoor and outdoor locations including Clapham Common, Victoria Park and the exercise space in the Nike Town shop.



facebook.com/NikeTrainingClubUK Walk the Tamsin Trail in Richmond Park Walk, run or cycle around the seven mile perimeter of London's largest royal park and try to spot a herd of Red Fallow deer (pictured). Don't worry - there are plenty of tea stops along the way.



royalparks.org.uk Popcorn at Heaven One of London's biggest weekday club nights, Popcorn is one for hedonists who like to dance to house, hip hop and even cheese for seven hours on a Monday night. Just grab a wristband from G-A-Y Bar in Soho for free entry.



popcorn-heaven.com The Queen's House at Greenwich Designed by Inigo Jones in 1616, this Italian Renaissance-style mansion marked a departure from Tudor architecture and houses a fine art collection of maritime paintings. Open Daily 10am-5pm.



rmg.co.uk Guided tours of Tate Modern Tate Modern is spectacular to look at just from the outside (approach from the Millennium Bridge for the best view) and you can also join a free tour lasting 45 minutes and led by in-house experts, at 11am, 12pm, 2pm & 3pm. No booking required unless for a group of more than 10.



tate.org.uk Karaoke at Paradise by Way of Kensal Green Think you've got the X-factor? Hire the private karaoke room (which takes up to 25 guests) for no fee every Monday and Tuesday. Boy George (pictured) has had a go. There's even a button to press to order booze. Call 020 8969 0098 to book.



theparadise.co.uk Friday Night Skate Can you hold your own on rollerskates? Join a marshalled street skate (bladers welcome) which meets at Wellington Arch in Hyde Park at 8pm every Friday. Weather dependent.



lfns.co.uk Evensong at Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey is always open to those who wish to worship. Come for the evensong service to hear the dulcet tones of the Abbey choir. Every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday at 5pm or Saturday & Sunday at 3pm.



westminster-abbey.org Meditate at Inner Space Those who need some respite from the grind of life can drop in to Inner Space for free lunchtime and evening meditation and positive thinking classes.



innerspace.org.uk Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace Everyone should watch the Queen's Guardsmen in action at least once in their life. The changing of the guard takes place at 11.30am on odd days (2, 4, 6 etc) throughout the month.



royal.gov.uk Ain't Nothing But The Blues Bar This Soho stalwart claims to serve up the best blues on this side of the pond seven nights a week. From Sunday to Thursday, entry is free all sweet night long and it's free before 8.30pm on Friday and Saturday.



aintnothingbut.co.uk Watch a trial at the Old Bailey Anyone can attend the public galleries of London's premier criminal court the Old Bailey to watch trials in session. Be warned, you can't take in bags, cameras or mobile phones and there's no cloakroom. Open Monday to Friday, 10am-1pm and 2pm-5pm.



cityoflondon.gov.uk Rex Features New Act Night at the Comedy Cafe Theatre Forget big arenas and ticket prices to match, this night in Shoreditch is where many a comedy star, including Jimmy Carr and Mickey Flanagan, cut their teeth. Every Wednesday at 7.45pm.



comedycafetheatre.co.uk Natural History Museum Volcanoes, dinosaurs and a full-sized blue whale skeleton are just some of the wonders of the Natural History Museum.



nhm.ac.uk NHM The Curve Gallery at the Barbican Centre The Curve is always hosting exciting installations that carry no charge but might come with queues, such as Random International's Rain Room (pictured).



barbican.org.uk Gigs at Birthdays This mini bar/club has staged many a free gig, including an impromptu one from Bloc Party (pictured) that prompted massive queues. Make sure you refuel upstairs first.



birthdaysdalston.com Ceremony of the Keys This 700-year-old ceremony is the nightly locking up of the Tower gates. Its a popular event and for dates in 2014 youll need to apply in writing, but online bookings are being taken for January 2015 onwards.



hrp.org.uk Piano recitals at Bar Nightjar Recently voted the world's second best bar for its stupendous cocktails, this Old Street speakeasy also does a fine line in live music. Most nights there's a charge, but entrance to Piano Tuesdays is on the house.



barnightjar.com Whitechapel Gallery Around since 1901, the Whitechapel Gallery can be counted on for pioneering new talent in contemporary art - think Rothko and Frieda Kahlo. The best part? Admission to exhibitions is free.



whitechapelgallery.org Turner Collection at Tate Britain The Clore Gallery at Tate Britain boasts the world's largest collection of Turner paintings. Over 300 oil paintings, sketches and watercolours chart his development from boyhood to mature master and elevator of landscape art.



tate.org.uk Turner, Joseph Mallord William 1775-1851, Norham Castle, Sunrise c.1845 (Tate) Portobello Road Antiques Market Yes you will have to wade through SLR-wielding tourists, but wandering up the two-mile Portobello Road is still a good day out: roam antiques stalls, stock up on bargain bowls of fruit and veg, and explore the fashion market. Open every Saturday from 9am-10am.



portobellomarket.org Rex Features Backpacks, trails & workshops at the V&A Borrow a backpack for your mini art fiends (suitable for 5-12 years) and embark on hands-on activities, jigsaws, stories, puzzles and games to be enjoyed in and around the V&A. No need to book, available every day from the Sackler Centre.



vam.ac.uk Victoria and Albert Museum, London Mediatheque at BFI Southbank Like old movies? The BFI has a ready-to-watch archive of nearly 3000 films and TV series. Simply log on at a viewing station and get reacquainted with old classics from London Town (pictured) to Ab Fab.



bfi.org.uk Courtesy of BFI Mediatheque The Alibi Dalston hotspot The Alibi is always free entry. Don't miss the dive bar's film (Monday) and karaoke (Tuesday) nights .



thealibilondon.co.uk Lunchtime recitals at The Royal Opera House The ROH holds regular lunchtime recitals where you can catch rising orchestral and choral stars. Seats can be reserved online nine days before the concert and always go fast. They also run free backstage tours for nosey parkers.



roh.org.uk Peter Mackertich courtesy of the Royal Opera House Good gym 'Do good, get fit' is the mantra at play here. Join this group of runners and and you'll be sent on community-helping missions such as visiting the elderly. Everyone wins.



goodgym.org Angel Comedy On most Saturday nights the likes of Tony Law (pictured) will tickle your ribs for free from 8pm.



angelcomedy.co.uk The Wellcome Collection One for curious cats, this free gallery is all about medicine, life and art through the ages. Make the most of the library, cafe and temporary collections such as Death: A Self-Portrait (pictured). Don't miss their uber-popular Thursday night events.



wellcomecollection.org Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Lunchtime music at the Royal Festival Hall Find a seat in the Clore Ballroom and simply listen. You'll be treated to jazz, folk and world music from rising stars and established ensembles. Every Friday



southbankcentre.co.uk Parliament Hill The view from here is one you need to see and will revive even the most world-weary Londoner, especially on a clear day. And there's a lido nearby for brave swimmers.



cityoflondon.gov.uk The Wallace Collection A treasure trove in a historic townhouse setting, the Wallace Collection allows you to gawp at old masters, vintage armour, porcelain and furniture. Open to art buffs seven days a week, 10am-5pm.



wallacecollection.org Be in the BBC audience Get your 15 minutes of fame and apply for tickets to be in the audience of a BBC TV show. These guys are entranced by Question Time...



bbc.co.uk Friday nights at Catch Every Friday is free at this Kingsland Road bar and club. Expect anything from live bands to Nineties dance, indie and hip hop.



thecatchbar.com Speakers' Corner Speeches and debates have been taking place at the north-east end of Hyde Park since the 1800s. Stop by to hear wide-ranging views on a huge variety of topics. Or why not rock up and give a speech yourself?



royalparks.org.uk



Pic: Alex Lentati British Museum Not only is it a rather stunning piece of architecture, the British Museum is also an archive of fantastic art and artefacts from all over the world, including the Rosetta Stone and Elgin Marbles. Find anything from African textiles to a virtual autopsy of an Egyptian mummy. Open daily 10am-5pm.



britishmuseum.org Trustees of the British Museum Borough Market Rain or shine, Borough Market is a great place to refuel after a walk down the river, with hog roasts, lamb burgers and many other culinary delights. A real London institution. Full market open Wednesday-Saturday.



boroughmarket.com Lectures at LSE LSE puts on regular public lectures and everyone is welcome. Expect star speakers - past guests include Kofi Annan (pictured), Bill Clinton and Mervyn King.



lse.ac.uk  LSE / Nigel Stead Broadway Market Sandwiched between London Fields and the Regent's Canal, this old Hackney market is now a hipster hunting ground. Get on your fixie and munch on the trendiest galettes, store up on fresh veg and have a mooch around the vintage clothes stalls. It's easy to while away a day at the cafes which spill on to Broadway. Open on Saturdays 9am-5pm.



broadwaymarlet.co.uk Eric Huang Flickr CC World music and exhibitions at Rich Mix East London's premier cultural centre, Rich Mix hosts open mic spoken word nights, exhibitions, acoustic music (with free cake!) in its bar.



richmix.org.uk Museum of London 450,000 years of London history are on display in the permanent galleries at the museums City and Docklands locations and you can even browse a number of collections online.



museumoflondon.org.uk

After visiting the other royal palaces along the Mall the walk concludes at Buckingham Palace, the monarchs London home since 1837.

Each walk starts opposite the Palace of Westminster, is about two hours long, and is led by a qualified Westminster guide with commentary at each of the 11 stops. They start on Saturday April 16 and end on Friday April 22.

Tickets cost from 10 per person to 25 for a family. To book go to eventbrite.co.uk.

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Review at a glance









A t the heart of Brad Birchs unsettling new play is Nick, a 28-year-old teacher being eaten away by worry.

Vince Leighs Mr Boyd, the schools devious head, insists that hes just finding his feet, but Nicks anxiety is sky-high. He keeps dreaming that there are bombs buried beneath the playing fields, which threaten to blow up the entire community. Although hes persuaded that these devices are simply relics of the Second World War, there are other possibilities. Its conceivable that hes stumbled on a sinister government plot  and he wonders if the bombs are oozing toxic fumes that may be responsible for the pupils violent behaviour.

At the same time hes grappling with the politics of the workplace, alongside sardonic colleague Jo (Alice Haig). Hes also struggling to make sense of his relationship with his curiously detached girlfriend Chloe (Shvorne Marks)  and of her relationship with her brash boss Martin (Leigh again, gloriously smug). Ciaran Owens does a great job of conveying Nicks descent into an increasingly frazzled bewilderment, and Mel Hillyards lean yet occasionally startling production savours the surrealism of the writing.

Birchs play is an at times winningly droll picture of existential angst that captures the malaise of confused twenty-somethings. But its also a portrait of the education system being debased by private agendas, and its offbeat 75 minutes cant quite do justice to the meatiness of that subject.

Until April 30, Orange Tree, Richmond (020 8940 3633, orangetreetheatre.co.uk)

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Y oure staring at the ceiling, you look at the clock - its 4am and you need to be up and alert in three hours.

No, you havent been propping up the bar on a wild night out, nor have you been kept awake by Londons noise pollution problem - youve simply been tossing and turning while intrusive and frightening thoughts take over your mind.

We all experience disruptive and troublesome nights' sleep at one time or another - eighty per cent of people say their worries whirlwind out of control at night.

But for those who suffer from continued night anxiety, getting a good nights rest can be nothing short of a herculean task. Not only are these nocturnal nights frustrating to suffer through, they'll also leave you feeling sluggish, irritable and lethargic the next day.

Sound familiar? Here, Chief Executive of Anxiety UK Nicky Lidbetter explains exactly what sleep anxiety is and how you can achieve a more restful slumber tonight.

What is night anxiety?

When we are in a state of anxiety, one of the most noticeable signs we may first see is that we have trouble sleeping.

This is because people living with anxiety often find their adrenaline levels are running higher than normal, making it difficult to wind down at the end of a long day. This, in turn, can create a cycle of worrying about not being able to get to sleep as well as having thoughts and fears of waking up in the night with anxiety.

Why are people more likely to experience anxiety at night?

Anxiety can often seem greater at night time due to the lack of distractions. Our days are often frantic and, at night, when activity slows, were forced to confront our thoughts.

A lack of sleep can lead us feeling tired, run down, irritable and ultimately sleep deprivation can be very anxiety provoking. Therefore it is important that you take steps in order to help yourself get a restful night sleep. When people with anxiety or depression were surveyed to calculate their sleeping habits, it turned out that most of them slept for less than six hours a night.

Studies have shown that sleep deprivation can actually fire up certain brain regions that affect our emotional processing, boosting feelings of anxiety. Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, found that when a person is sleep deprived, activity in the amygdala and insular cortex brain regions is increased and these effects are even more amplified in people who are already natural worriers.

Rex

How can I reduce my worried thoughts in the evening?

Curb the caffeine

Avoid drinks that contain caffeine as these possess stimulant properties that will prevent you falling asleep. Milky drinks are very helpful and have been associated with 'good sleep'.

Go for a run

Activities that involve physical and mental stimulation help improve sleep quality - for example, regular exercise or reading. Moderate exercise can lead to feelings of tranquillity, personal satisfaction and well-being that can help with sleep but be careful not to exercise too strenuously close to bedtime as this will mean it is harder to get to sleep due to circulating increased adrenaline levels.

Give yourself a bedtime

Get into a regular bedtime routine. Go to bed and get up at the same time each day - set the alarm and get up, even if you did not fall asleep until the early hours. Dont try to catch up sleep by having naps, but if you really need one it should not last more than 20 minutes.

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Assess your sleeping space

Ask yourself the following questions: Is your room warm enough? Is your room quiet enough? Is your room sufficiently dark? Is the bed comfortable? Also ensure that the bedroom is not an extension of the office i.e. no laptops or electronic devices, TVs etc.

Be mindful

Try having a warm bath before going to bed. Practising yoga or meditation could help you to unwind your mind or relax with some calming music or lavender oils which can be very relaxing. If you find you cant put your worries aside, set up a specific time each day to consider the issues that worry you and agree not to reflect on these thoughts at night.

For more information and advice on sleep anxiety visit anxietyuk.org.uk

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A biker is in hospital with serious head injuries after a suspected hit-and-run with another motorcyclist in south London.

The 21-year-old man was riding along Imperial Way in Croydon at around 10pm on April 6 when he crashed into another motorcyclist.

Police said the second biker fled leaving the injured man lying in the road.

Paramedics rushed the victim, who is from Lewisham, to a south London hospital where he remains in a serious but stable condition.

Officers today appealed for the second motorcyclist to come forward.

Detective Constable Clay O'Neill, from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: This person appears to have left the scene leaving a seriously injured man laying the in street.

"Any information we receive will be kept in complete confidence."

No arrests have been made and enquiries continue.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at the Catford Serious Collision Investigation Unit on 020 8285 1574 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
T he owner of a care agency shut in a UK Border Agency immigration raid which led to an elderly woman starving to death has been jailed for three years.

Gloria Foster, 81, was left alone without food or water for nine days after Carefirst 24, the care company she was paying 2,000 a month to look after her, was shut down for using illegal workers.

Surrey County Council failed to provide alternative care for former Shell secretary Mrs Foster, and she was abandoned in her ground floor flat in Banstead, Surrey.

The pensioner suffered from high blood pressure, dementia and type 2 diabetes and had been receiving visits from Carefirst 24 four times-a-day to be cleaned, dressed and fed.

Following the care companys closure, she was found suffering from dehydration, starvation and kidney failure, was covered in her own faeces and urine, and died 11 days later on February 2 2013 in Epsom Hospital.

Mahendrasing Caussyram, 51, and his wife Saraspedy Caussyram, 54, who ran Carefirst 24, were found guilty at Croydon Crown Court of facilitating breaches of immigration law.

Gloria Foster, 81, was left alone without food or water for nine days / Cascade News

A raid of one of the firms offices in Sutton in January 2013 found 12 of its 54 workers - mainly Filipino students - were in the country illegally.

None of them paid tax or National Insurance and some worked 24 hours a day for less than half of minimum wage.

As a result the company, which had lucrative contracts with a number of hospitals and local authorities in south London and Surrey, was closed.

Mr Caussyram, who was also convicted of breaching immigration law by engaging self-employed workers contrary to their visa restrictions, was jailed for three years last Friday and disqualified from being a company director for five years.

His wife received a twelve-month sentence, suspended for two years, with 150 hours community service.

Sentencing the pair, Judge Peter Gower QC said: There is clear compelling evidence that CareFirst 24 was engaging migrant workers on a self-employed basis in breach of their visas and or after their visas had expired.

Equally clear is that the directors of CareFirst 24 undertook an active role in the recruitment of such workers and in controlling the companys position as regards the legality of their working on its behalf.

After the sentencing, Mrs Fosters family and friends said they were pleased that justice had been done.

Her friend, Vivien Saunders, 69, said the closure of the care home directly contributed to Mrs Fosters death.

She told the Standard: I definitely think the council should implement more thorough checks, they should be very clear on who they are using.

If they did this in the first place then they wouldnt have had to shut the home down straight away like this disaster.

If they hadnt employed illegal immigrants then this might not have happened.

Her brother-in-law, Anthony De-Keyzer, 87, said he thought the judge had handed down fair sentences.

He added: Obviously there was someone to blame, the firm clearly shouldnt have employed people who werent allowed to be in or work in the country.

In a damning inquest ruling in September 2014, Surrey coroner Richard Travers ruled Mrs Foster died of natural causes contributed to by neglect.

The gross failure to provide Mrs Foster with the care she required during that period contributed to her death, he said. Absolutely nothing was done about providing Mrs Foster with alternative care.

Speaking after the inquest verdict, a spokesman for the council said: We would again like to say how sorry we are for our failure to help Gloria Foster get the support she needed.

We should have done more and we completely accept that.

While we have already made changes following this dreadful case, well continue to do all we can to prevent anything like this happening again.
P olice have charged a 28-year-old with the murder of a man allegedly stabbed to death in west London.

Azeem Issa, 28, of west London, will appear at Croydon Magistrates Court tomorrow

He is accused of murdering 28-year-old Sahil Roy, who was found collapsed on a housing estate in Isleworth on Sunday afternoon.

Police and London Ambulance Service were called to the scene in Summerwood Road at 4.05pm. Mr Roy was pronounced dead more than an hour later at 5.18pm.

A post mortem examination gave his cause of death as a stab wound to the throat, police said.

Detectives continue to appeal for witnesses and ask anyone with information to call the incident room on 0208 7214005 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
T wo men who stole for than a dozen classic Mini motor cars from across the south east have been jailed for a total of six-and-a-half years.

Stephen Fiddimore, 36, of Shearwater, Longfield, in Kent pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal motor vehicles and was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison.

Sam Metten, 28, of Polsteads, Basildon, in Essex denied the offences, but was found guilty of conspiracy to steal motor vehicles after a week-long trial and jailed for three years.

The Metropolitan Polices Organised Vehicle Crime Unit investigated the activities of both men, who ran an eBay business from a lock-up garage in Horton Kirby, Kent, dealing exclusively in classic Mini cars and vehicle parts.

On April 28 last year officers executed multiple search warrants at addresses across Kent and Essex, and seized property linked to the defendents' criminal enterprise.

Jailed: Stephen Fiddimore and Sam Metten / Metropolitan Police

Police also confiscated two cars from the defendants' home addresses, which were found to have been stolen and cloned.

Fiddimore and Metten had used their specialist knowledge to break into the vehicles and hotwire the immobilisers in order to drive them away.

The men were convicted of taking 13 cars in totsl, but detectives believe that the pair may have been responsible for the theft of more than 40 vehicles across London, Kent and Essex between August 2014 and May 2015.

Detective Inspector Caroline Clooney, of the Mets Organised Vehicle Crime Unit, said: "These men systematically targeted the owners of classic Minis across the south east. Many of the vehicles had been lovingly restored and were the owners pride and joy.

"Discovering that their cars had been stolen obviously caused them much distress and inconvenience.

I am pleased with the sentences handed down and hope it sends out a message that the Met is serious about tackling car crime and will always seek to destroy the activities of individuals involved in it."

The pair were sentenced on Monday at Inner London Crown Court.
P olice investigating the "brutal" murder of a British man in San Francisco during a street robbery have released sketches of two suspected attackers.

Tourist Paul Tam, 44, was knocked to the ground and stabbed as he walked with his niece near the city's cathedral on the evening of February 18.

Detectives previously released shocking CCTV footage of the attack in the Japantown neighbourhood of the Californian city, which showed Mr Tam being chased into the street before being knifed.

The website manager, who worked for Manchester University, was taken for treatment at San Francisco General Hospital where he died on March 24.

CCTV of British tourist stabbed in San Francisco new

The robbers took Mr Tam's bag which reportedly contained his passport, money, mobile phone and bank cards.

On Monday police issued sketches of a man and a woman wanted in connection with the deadly mugging and offered a $5,000 (3,500) reward for information leading to their arrest.

A San Francisco Police Department spokesman said: "On Thursday, February 18 2016 at approximately 8.30pm, two victims were attacked during a street robbery on Post Street, between Franklin and Gough Street.

"During the course of the robbery one of the victims was attacked with a weapon. The two robbery suspects fled on foot.

Killed: British tourist Paul Tam was stabbed during a street robbery in San Francisco / Facebook

"On Thursday, March 24 2016, the victim who had been attacked with a weapon succumbed to his wounds and died.

"The victim was a 44-year-old man who was a tourist from the United Kingdom. Video evidence was recovered that captured the brutal murder and composite sketches of the suspects have been drawn."

The suspects were described as a "black adult male approximately 5ft 10in with a heavy build who last seen wearing a dark hoodie and blue jeans" and a "black/mixed race adult female approximately 5ft 4in, small build with dreadlocks or braids".

A spokeswoman for the Foreign & Commonwealth Office said previously: "We can confirm the death of a British national on March 24 in San Francisco and we are providing consular assistance to the family at this difficult time."

Additional reporting by the Press Assciation.
S cotland Yard today issued an alert to women walking home from the Tube after a series of sex attacks on women in west London.

The warning comes after a 24-year-old woman was grabbed from behind and attacked as she walked from East Acton station.

Detectives said they are investigating a possible link to three previous sex attacks in the Acton area and released a CCTV image of a man they want to speak to about the offences.

Police are asking women to be vigilant when walking home from Tube stations and while using their mobile phones or headphones.

The latest incident happened on Wednesday, March 9 when the 24-year-old woman was assaulted as she walked from the station between 10.25pm and 10.40pm.

The suspect is described as being of white or Asian appearance, aged between 20 and 32, 6ft, of slim build with dark hair. He wore a dark parka-type coat with a fur-trimmed hood and shows with light coloured soles.

On January 3, a woman in her teens was grabbed from behind by a suspect who reached round to her chest as she listened to music while she walked along St Andrews Road.

On January 25, a woman in her 20s who had left East Acton station was on her mobile phone when a man grabbed her in Hoylake Road before he ran away.

And on February 4, a woman in her 30s was attacked by a man who made suggestive comments as she walked along Trinity Way. He also fled the scene.

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Scotland Yard said there is currently no forensic evidence to link the attacks but the incidents are now being investigated by the Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command.

Detective Inspector Ash Hornsby, who is leading the investigation said: It is essential we identify and speak to the man in the CCTV image.

I would ask the public to look carefully at the image and, if anyone recognises the male, or has any information as to who he is, or where he can be found, to contact us immediately.

"I would also urge anyone who was in any of these locations on the days and times of these offences and who may have seen any assault or anything suspicious to get in touch.

"Equally, if anyone has been the victim of an as yet unreported assault then they are urged to contact police."

Anyone with any information is requested to call police on 0207 161 9702 or via 101 or anonymously through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via crimestoppers-uk.org
A n animal lover whose cat was found dead in south London with its tail lopped off today called on police to step up efforts to catch the psychopath thought to be responsible for up to 50 horrific pet slayings.

At least four more animals have been reported dead within a few miles in little more than a week, having suffered what investigators describe as trademark mutilations.

Charity Peta is now offering a 5,000 reward for the capture of the Croydon cat ripper.

A stray ginger cat was found decapitated in Thornton Heath on Saturday after Buddy, a six-year-old tabby, was discovered dead with his tail chopped off and collar removed in Forest Hill.

Buddy's owner Niro Kavanen

Buddy did not come home for dinner last Wednesday and his owner Niro Kavanen was putting up missing posters when a neighbour found his cat dead in a nearby parking area.

Mr Kavanen, 26, said: On Friday my stepdad called me. I could hear from his voice I should go home. I instantly burst into tears  not even knowing what happened but I assumed the worst. I saw his tail had been cut off and his collar removed.

Buddy would always come to me when he was scared. They need to catch who is doing this  if nothing else, just raise awareness there is this psychopath going around.

Animal welfare group South Norwood Animal Rescue and Liberty (Snarl) believe many, if not all, of the recent pet killings were by the same person.

Founders Boudicca Rising, 44, and Tony Jenkins, 51, are compiling evidence, including from vets, and say the cat rippers methods include beating the animal to death before removing its head, paws or tail.

Ms Rising said: The cuts are made after death. Its a clean cut with a bladed instrument  that has been confirmed by post mortems.

A tortoiseshell called Lulu was found decapitated in Kingston on 2 April; a Persian cat, Bertie, was found dead the next day near Frimley; and last Tuesday, a cat called Merlin was found decapitated and disembowelled in Petts Wood.

An RSPCA spokesman said it was too early to say whether the deaths were linked.

Anyone with information can call police on 101 or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. To report incidents to Snarl call 07961 030064 or 07957 830490.
T he family of a royal protection police officer hit and killed by a HGV in a motorway accident said the world will be a darker place without him today.

Sergeant David Jennings, 48, stopped on the hard shoulder of the M25 on the anti-clockwise carriageway, between junctions 29 and 28 in Essex.

Detectives believe he had pulled over after hitting the central reservation. He got out of his car but was hit shortly before 9pm on March 31. Police said the driver stopped before leaving the scene.

Sgt Jennings served in the Mets Royalty and Specialist Protection Command.

A statement released on behalf of his family said: We have lost a devoted father, husband, brother and son who was dependable, hard-working and completely rooted to his family.

He was committed to his job and was loved and respected by his family and friends.

"He will be deeply missed and the world will be a darker place without him. Chief Superintendent Bert Moore of the Royalty and Specialist Protection Command said: Dave was a consummate professional who displayed all that is good about the Met Police.

Detectives are appealing for witnesses to call them on 020 8597 4874.

A 28-year-old man arrested on suspicion of causing death by careless driving has been bailed until July.
A grandmother dived into the River Lea this afternoon to save her grandchild who had fallen into the water.

All police officers on duty in Hackney also rushed to the scene when they received a call saying a toddler had fallen from Lea Bridge Road.

However, the youngster's grandmother had managed to jump in after her and bring the child to safety before emergency services arrived, at about 1.45pm today.

Both the 18-month-old girl and her grandma were given first aid on the riverbank before being taken to hospital.

Neither is believed to have sustained any serious injuries during the incident.

The MPS Hackney Twitter account tweeted about the fall, saying: "Call to a baby fallen into the canal off Lea Bridge Road saw the whole response team rush to the scene.

"All officers wanting to help, thankfully adults had retrieved the child and we have given immediate first aid. The child should be ok."

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson added: "A young child, 18-months-old fell into the canal at Waterworks Lane, Lea Bridge Road, E5.

"Thankfully adults went in after and rescued her, all available police units rushed to scene and were able to give first aid to the child and her grandma who had also entered the water.

"LAS have taken both to hospital for treatment. It looks like there will not be any serious injury."
L ondon firefighters have condemned a new craze sweeping America in which people film themselves setting fire to spray from an aerosol can.

The trend, called the "fire spray challenge", was branded extremely dangerous by the London Fire Brigade, which is attempting to stop it from spreading to the UK.

Thousands of videos of people attempting the challenge - and often firing huge flames from spray cans - have appeared on social media.

London Fire Brigade's group manager for community safety, Mark Hazelton, said: "A number of young people in the States think that it's clever and funny to set fire to aerosol cans and post videos of the experiment on social media, but I can assure you it's not, it's really stupid and extremely dangerous.

"It could lead to severe burns and could cause a serious fire, especially as many of the videos appear to show young people starting these fires in their own homes.

"There is apparently no limit to the lengths some people will go to in order to gain popularity on social media.

"It concerns me that these crazes sometimes spread across the Atlantic so I'd encourage parents over here to talk to their children about how dangerous it is to set fire to anything, let alone the highly flammable contents of an aerosol can."

So far, there have been more than 4,000 posts on Instagram using #firespraychallenge while the Twitter account @firechallenge has over 14,000 followers.

Some of the most popular videos have clocked up around 100,000 views.

The craze follows on from the "fire challenge" which involved people pouring flammable liquid over themselves before setting it alight.

An 11-year-old boy in Lincolnshire suffered serious burns in December last year when he took part in the challenge.

Officials today called for parents to discuss fire safety with their children to ensure the craze is not replicated.
F lood alerts remained in place today across parts of London after astronomical high tides caused the River Thames to burst its banks.

The Environment Agency issued warnings for a stretch of the river from Putney Embankment to Teddington Weir.

Forecasters said the tide is expected to reach a height of 4.40 metres in Richmond at around 7.15pm this evening.

Putney Embankment, Chiswick Mall, Thames Bank at Mortlake and parts of Twickenham could all be affected by flooding, the Environment Agency said.

Although the flood alerts remain in place, the tide levels are falling, according to the agency.

Heavy rainfall over the weekend saw several vehicles, including one of London's iconic black cabs, trapped by high spring tides along Putney Embankment on Sunday evening.

In Richmond, Surrey Search and Rescue stepped in to rescue two men who were trapped in a white BMW and two women, who became stranded on a bench in the rising waters.
A n English schoolgirl has reached the semi-finals of the world renowned Menuhin Competition for young violinists, making her the first Briton reach to progress the penultimate stage in 33 years.

Louisa Staples, 16, from Battersea, is one of nine still competing for the trophy, making her the first Briton to reach the semis since 1983.

Founded in 1983 by the American violinist Yehudi Menuhin, widely regarded as one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century, the competition has since become a showcase for some of the world's brightest violin proteges.

The competition has returned to London this year for the first time since 2004, in order to celebrate the centenary of Menuhin's birth.

The winner of this year's competition stands to win 10,000, and will receive a year-long loan of a golden period Stradivarius violin - rumoured to be worth more than 5 million.

The only other Briton to reach the finals was Tasmin Little, a semi-finalist in 1983, who has since gone on to be awarded an OBE for her award-winning career as one of the nation's most successful classical violinists.

Since then the competition has been dominated by American, Russian and Chinese students, but now Louisa has been given the opportunity to win the coveted prize in her first international event.

Speaking before the semi-final, which takes place at the Duke's Hall at the Royal Academy of Music this Wednesday, Louisa said she was feeling "excited, nervous - and a tad apprehensive".

"I'm very excited, it's my first competition, so I'm thrilled to be through to the semi-finals," she said.

"But it's very stiff competition, so I've been trying to stay calm and just focus on practising ahead of the event."

Brought up in a family of string musicians, Louisa attended Broomwood Hall School, Balham, before entering the Menuhin School in Surrey, aged eight.

With her eyes set firmly on becoming a professional violinist, Louisa spends up to six hours a day practising, although she pointed out that she does take the "occasional" day off.

"My parents have been incredibly supportive, and have really helped me to pursue my ambitions," she added.

"Getting this far in the competition is far further than I ever expected, but I'm making sure I don't get too stressed. It's important not to overdo it."

If she makes it through to the final, Louisa will join three other competitors at the Royal Festival Hall on Saturday April 16, where their performances will be live streamed to audiences across the world.

The final will begin at 7.30pm and will include performances from the Royal Academy Symphony Orchestra.
Z ac Goldsmith hit back at claims he was running a divisive campaign today saying it was absurd for senior Labour figures to describe it as racist.

The Tory mayoral hopeful said his campaign had been overwhelmingly positive and suggested it was Labour that was trying to ferment division.

He denied that he had singled out the Gujarati, Tamil and Sikh communities for targeted leaflets and letters from David Cameron.

I have sought to reach out to every community in London and I have used every tool available for me to do that, he said.

Mr Goldsmiths campaign has been criticised for leafleting minority ethnic voters warning them that Sadiq Khan would put their family heirlooms at risk. The Tories have also attacked him over his links with extremists.

Labour MP Yvette Cooper described attacks on Mr Khan as a full blown racist scream while her colleague Chuka Umunna accused the Tories of basically just pointing at Sadiq and screaming hes a Muslim at the top of his voice.

However, after his campaign launch today in Wimbledon, the Tory MP rejected the criticisms of racism.

It is an absurd thing to say. I dont even know how to answer that. My campaign has been an overwhelmingly positive campaign, the thread that has run through every piece of literature I have put out is about my action plan for London, he said.

Mr Goldsmith said after his rivals selection he had been warned by a senior Labour figure that the race would get very, very messy, very, very quickly.

He denied that mainstream Muslims would be put off going into politics drawing attention to Mr Khans extremist links.

The implication is that a majority of Muslims share platforms, give oxygen, provide cover, even excuses for people with extremist views, who preach hate, and that is not the case. The overwhelming majority of Muslims do not, he told reporters.

Im not suggesting, nor have I ever suggested, that Sadiq Khan has extremist views, that is not the point. The idea that its not legitimate to raise those concerns is extraordinary.
Z ac Goldsmith put Londons economy at the centre of his bid for City Hall today as he promised to create 500,000 new jobs over the next four years.

The Tory mayoral candidate said he would deliver job opportunities by keeping the economy strong and investing in Londons infrastructure needs.

At his side for the manifesto launch was Boris Johnson who warned the next mayor would not add up to a tin of beans unless he focused on the economy.

Mr Goldsmith told supporters his pledge to build 50,000 new homes a year would create 195,000 new jobs while investing in the transport network - including Crossrail 2 and the Night Tube - would deliver another 286,000.

A further 20,000 would come from policies on expanding tech hubs and broadband.

According to official figures, over 438,000 jobs have been created in London over the last four years, more than double Mr Johnsons original target.

However, the capitals unemployment rate is 6.3 per cent - with 290,000 currently out of work, many of them young Londoners.

Mr Goldsmith said: Im determined that all Londoners should enjoy our citys success which is why I will freeze mayoral council tax and create jobs.

Under Boris we have recovered from Labours great recession, and my action plan for Greater London will build on that success and secure half a million more jobs for Londoners.

You can only deal with transport congestion, build houses and improve London if you keep the economy strong. Thats why the Khan-Corbyn experiment, with the promise of council tax hikes and a 1.9 billion black hole, would be so damaging for London.

Mr Goldsmith has pledged to tackle the capital's housing crisis by doubling home-building to 50,000 a year and giving Londoners the first chance to buy new homes.

He has said he will continue to invest in the transport network, rather than cutting or freezing fares as proposed by Mr Khan, and would bring suburban rail under City Hall control.

He would also bring in tougher rules on HGVs and encourage greener vehicles to crack down on air pollution, while creating new pocket parks and protecting the green belt from development.

Mr Goldsmith has said he would protect neighbourhood policing and put 500 more officers on the transport network at night.

The Richmond MP is currently trailing Labour rival Sadiq Khan in the polls and will be hoping his focus on job creation will help distract Londoners from the woes of the Government over the past few weeks, from party infighting on Europe to the Prime Ministers tax revelations.

Mr Johnson, introducing the Tory hopeful, warned London businesses faced their most serious threat if Mr Khan - who has said he wants to be Londons most pro-business mayor ever - won City Hall.

He said: London is an economic beacon for the whole country and the Mayors job doesnt add up to a can of beans unless they can keep the economy strong.

We need a Mayor who will invest in transport, invest in skills and stand up for business. None of the problems London faces can be solved if businesses dont succeed and our economy doesnt grow.

Mr Khan, however, accused the Tory candidate of running a bleak and divisive campaign which he criticised for being devoid of ideas on the real issues facing Londoners.

He said: Four years of Zac Goldsmith in City Hall would mean four more years of soaring housing costs and rising transport fares making our city even less affordable.
S tudents were today warned if you snooze, youll lose as they were urged to drag themselves out of bed on June 23 to vote for Britain to stay in the EU.

Senior Labour MP Chuka Umunna also stressed that pro-Europe students risked a hangover that lasts a lifetime if they failed to vote and Brexit campaigners succeeded in taking the UK out of the EU.

Streatham MP Mr Umunna and universities minister Jo Johnson today visited Queen Mary University of London and appealed to students to register to vote in the referendum on Britains EU membership and ensure they cast their vote.

Ministers are concerned that while polls show most people in the country want Britain to stay in the EU too many of them will not vote - allowing the Brexiteers to win.

Mr Umunna told The Standard: My message to students and young people is simple  in this referendum, if you snooze, youll lose.

Young people in London and the rest of the country have more to lose than anyone else on June 23 but they are less likely than anyone else to vote.

Theres a real risk that if you dont vote, you may end up with a hangover that lasts a lifetime and one that was inflicted on you by Nigel Farage and his friends.

Orpington Conservative MP Mr Johnson added: Young people are going to be some of the hardest hit if we vote to leave the EU - lost job opportunities, lost networks, lost life chances.

Register to vote: its your future, you should decide it.

The In campaign also published figures which showed that more than 1,700 students from London, including 120 students from Queen Mary University, benefited from the EUs Erasmus scheme in 2013/14 to allow them to spend a period studying in other European countries.

Meanwhile, former Foreign Secretary David Miliband stepped into the row over Britains borders arguing that it was spurious to claim that the country would regain control over them by quitting the EU.

He told BBC radio: Its perfectly understandable and reasonable for people to make a decision about immigration and about refugees but they should do so on the basis of the facts, not the fantasy.

The facts are that Britain controls its borders in terms of who comes in, whether they be migrants, economic migrants, or refugees who are alleged to be being let in by the EU.

But Brexit campaigners stress that free movement means that the UK is not able to stop hundreds of thousands of other EU citizens coming here, many in search of work.

Senior Tory MP Nigel Evans also accused the Government of spiv Robert Mugabe antics after its decision to spend 9.3 million of taxpayers money on a nationwide mailshot making the case for staying in the EU.
D avid Cameron, George Osborne and Boris Johnson were rebuked by Tory grandees today for rushing to publish their tax returns after the Panama Papers row.

Former party leader Lord Hague said war-time hero Winston Churchill was among historic statesmen whose chaotic personal finances would have seen their careers ruined if forced into the spotlight, and warned against expecting politicians to be perfect.

Former Tory treasurer Lord Ashcroft said making all politicians open their finances to scrutiny would do more harm than good and would put normal people off entering politics.

The backlash followed the hasty publication of earnings and taxes paid by the leaderships of all the main parties after allegations of aggressive tax avoidance by the rich and powerful. They revealed:

Boris Johnson made twice as much money as the Prime Minister, totalling 2 million over four years, and paid tax totalling nearly 1 million.

Tax returns compared: David Cameron, George Osborne, Jeremy Corbyn and Boris Johnson

Last year he was paid 143,911 as Mayor, but also earned 266,667 for a weekly newspaper column, 224,617 in book royalties, and 694 in bank interest. He paid 276,000 tax on a 612,000 income.

The Chancellor received a 44,647 dividend from his familys wallpaper manufacturing firm, Osborne & Little, which had not paid taxes for seven years due to previous losses.

Mr Osborne also earned 33,562 from renting out his Notting Hill home and 120,526 as an MP and minister, taking his total income for 2014/15 to 198,738. He paid 72,210 in tax.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was fined 100 for submitting his tax return after the deadline. He declared 1,850 in earnings for speeches on top of his 70,795 salary as an MP, paying tax of 18,912.

The EU was also unveiling a crackdown on multinationals such as Google that are suspected of shifting earnings to countries with lower tax rates.

Lord Hague warned against making other ministers and MPs list their earnings, saying normal people with simple tax affairs often did not make the best leaders. Those personal circumstances are not necessarily a good guide to how good they will be as a prime minister, a chancellor or anything else, he said.

Churchills tax return would have been more difficult to defend in public yet he became the greatest war-time leader. Pitt the Younger had chaotic personal finances.
B BC journalists are threatening to strike over their evening meal allowance, which may be cut from 16 to 10.

Currently staff can claim up to 16 for a meal on expenses, which are paid from licence fees, every time they work a late shift.

Bosses wish to cut this by 6 in a bid to save an estimated 300,000 a year.

The BBC is currently battling to save 800million a year.

The National Union of Journalists said: "Staff say the cut to expenses will mean they will be subsidising the BBC from their own wages."

Sue Harris, NUJ national broadcasting officer, told the Daily Mail: "Why should our members pick up the tab? These are legitimate expenses which staff incur as they do their jobs often during unsocial hours.

TODO: define component type apester

"The talks to discuss the changes of rates have been a farce and our patience has run out. Our members are angry and if the management insists on foisting this unfair deal, we will be a balloting for strike action."

A number of other proposals have been put forward to reduce the BBC's expenses bill.

Staff may be banned from taking first class trains or using black cabs to get around London.

But unions reps suggest the corporation could look to save in other areas, such as private healthcare and car perks for senior managers.
T he parents of a woman who died after weight-loss surgery are taking legal action against the hospital where she received care.

Janet and Jim Blakes daughter Kim, 33, was one of six patients to die following treatment by Dugal Heath, who was a consultant general surgeon at The Whittington Hospital in Archway. He was struck off in February.

The Blakes are seeking compensation on behalf of Kims daughter Chloe, 12, following her mothers death in 2010.

Janet Blake, 67, who lives with her husband and Chloe in north London, said: It was the right decision to strike [Mr Heath] off. One person dying was bad enough  he should have been struck off before six died.

We are taking action on behalf of our granddaughter who has to live without her mother. The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service, which removed Mr Heath, 59, from the medical register, found no suggestion that he was directly responsible for the six deaths.

However, they found he committed errors and his deficient professional performance was a risk to patients. This included accidentally damaging internal organs during surgery, subjecting patients to the wrong procedures, and failing to spot signs that one patient was deteriorating after an operation. Kim Blake, who was registered blind, underwent a gastric bypass. She died, severely malnourished , from complications of bariatric surgery, an inquest at Poplar coroners court heard.

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal found Mr Heath had failed to carry out an adequate examination of her intestine, where there was believed to have been an obstruction, and made numerous clinical errors during her care.

Ms Blake, of Kentish Town, complained of severe pain and vomiting after the procedure, but Mr Heath said her symptoms were psychological.

Mr Heath, who was not at the hearing, stayed at the Whittington for two more years after Ms Blakes death. Between 2010 and 2012, other patients died and he was found to have made a series of errors in their care. They included Jane White, 39, who suffered complications after a gastric bypass. In another case, an 84-year-old patient with kidney failure underwent the wrong procedure.

Mr Heath was eventually excluded from working at the Whittington in December 2012, pending investigations, after concerns were raised.

Whittington Health NHS trust said it was truly sorry. It said it had cooperated fully with the investigation into Mr Heath and had improved its bariatric service since his departure.

At his 1.2 million house in Kingston, Mr Heath refused to comment on any of the allegations against him, saying: I dont want to talk to you.
B roadcasting watchdog Ofcom received nearly 30 complaints following the new episode of Britains Got Talent.

Most related to the graphic nature of sword swallowing act Alexandr Magala, while others condemned Simon Cowells language.

An Ofcom spokesman told Standard Online: We received 28 complaints about Britains Got Talent on ITV this weekend. Well assess these complaints before deciding whether to investigate or not.

Two viewers also objected to language from Simon Cowell for taking the Lord's name in vain, and using the term "b****y".

Britain's Got Talent London Auditions 1 /10 Britain's Got Talent London Auditions Oh so talented David Walliams is escorted by a bulked up bunch of Adonis's (Picture: Yui Mok/PA Wire) Designer style Amanda Holden working a geometric cut Balenciaga top (Picture: Yui Mok/PA Wire) Going for gold Alesha Dixon accessorsing heavily with a selction of gold jewellery (Picture: Yui Mok/PA Wire) Shaking it up Simon Cowell swapped his trademark blue jeans and white t-shirt for a navy top and black suit trousers (Picture: Yui Mok/PA Wire) Riding in style David Walliams shuns a traditional car arrival for four bulky men (Picture: Yui Mok/PA Wire) Heading in Alesha waves to fans before heading inside to start the judging (Picture: Anthony Harvey/Getty Images) Sunny Simon An assistant helps to adjust Simon's sunnies (Picture: Yui Mok/PA Wire) Feet on the ground David posing for photos after riding in in style (Picture: Anthony Harvey/Getty Images)

Another viewer objected to the cruel use of performing animals in reference to Lucy Heath and her dog Trip Hazard.

Viewers watched in horror on Saturday night as Magala carried out his death defying act in front of the judges.

The Russian speaking daredevil swallowed a long sword before sliding head first down a pole.

Cowell deemed it the most dangerous act weve ever had.

He continued: I actually thought you were going to die, this will be one of those auditions I will never forget.

Follow @StandardShowbiz for more entertainment news.
A s the months of 2016 roll onwards, the nation is faced with a significant choice  to leave or remain in the EU.

The prospect of Brexit (Britain exiting the EU) has got everyone talking, but for many the pros and cons of the Leave and Remain camps are a mystery.

Shedding some light on the discussion is the BBCs Nick Robinson, whose two-part documentary delves back into the UKs history in the EU.

Whatever the future holds, its all speculation, he argues  but the past is there for us to observe in a factual way.

That means a history trip into the creation of the European Union, from Winston Churchills significant role to the initial reluctance of the French to get involved.

While Churchill was instrumental in bringing the EU together, talking up the idea of a United States of Europe even before the arrival of World War II, it still remains a source of contention as to what he meant: a union in which Britain took the lead, or was just an element.

Best TV dramas 2016 1 /38 Best TV dramas 2016 The Missing The addictive and twisty second series of the BBC's crime anthology series BBC/New Pictures/Robert Viglasky Dark Angel Joanne Froggatt stared as Victorian mass murderer Mary Ann Cotton in this ITV drama ITV Close to the Enemy Stephen Poliakoff's post-war drama thriller BBC/Little Island Pictures Ordinary Lies The BBC anthology drama returns with more twisted tales BBC/Red Productions/Adrian Rogers The Night Of Riz Ahmed stars in HBO's critically acclaimed crime mini-series HBO Cold Feet The classic ITV comedy-drama returns - and it's just as good as it ever was ITV Victoria ITV have given Poldark some stiff competition with this period drama about a young Queen Victoria ITV Poldark The BBC's hit drama returns with more brooding, and less naked scything BBC/Robert Viglasky One of Us The BBC kept everyone guessing with this claustrophobic four-part whodunit Ripper Street The fan-favourite Victorian police drama returned for Series 4 BBC/Tiger Aspect 2016/Bernard Walsh The Secret Agent Toby Jones led the cast in the BBC's Joseph Conrad adaptation BBC/World Productions/Mark Mainz/Matt Burlem The Living and the Dead The BBC's gothic romance debuted in full on iPlayer BBC Preacher AMC's adaptation of Garth Ennis' cult comic book is available week-by-week on Amazon Prime Amazon / AMC Versailles A raunchy royal romp around the court of King Louis XIV, spicing up Wednesdays on BBC Two Canal +/ BBC Locked Up The Spanish prison drama came to the UK thanks to Channel 4's Walter Presents series Channel 4 / Global Series Peaky Blinders The Birmingham-set gangster thriller was more popular than ever in its third series BBC/Caryn Mandabach Productions Ltd/Tiger Aspect/Robert Viglasky The A Word The BBC gave us a nuanced and emotional take on autism BBC/Fifty Fathoms Marcella Anna Friel stars in ITV's British take on the Scandi-noir thriller ITV Grantchester James Norton is back as the crime-solving vicar ITV / Lovely Day Stag The comedy-thriller from the team behind The Wrong Mans is both hilarious and chilling BBC/Des Willie/Hal Shinnie/Matt Burlem Vinyl Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger present a glossy drama about the Seventies music industry HBO American Crime Story: The People vs OJ Simpson Cuba Gooding Jr leads an all-star cast in a dramatic re-telling of the 'trial of century' BBC/Fox Happy Valley Sarah Lancashire returned as Sgt Catherine Cawood for a second series of the gritty crime thriller BBC/Red Productions/Ben Blackall The X Files Mulder and Scully return for a brand new set of mysteries War and Peace The BBC's epic adaptation of the Russian literary classic BBC/Mitch Jenkins Call the Midwife The BBC period drama moved into the Sixties for Series 5 BBC/Neal Street Productions/Sophie Mutevelian Dickensian Charles Dickens' most famous characters collide in this historical soap BBC Jericho ITV's British western set in the wilds of Yorkshire Silent Witness The hugely popular detective drama returns for a 19th series

With interview input from the likes of David Cameron and Tony Blair, this is vital viewing for anyone who hasnt quite made their mind up yet.

BBC Two, 9pm
A junior at Chadron State College plans to spend her summer being a tour guide for the Nebraska State Historical Society museum at Fort Robinson State Park.

MacKenzie Carroll, a history major with a minor in museum studies at CSC, will be a historical interpreter for people who visit the museum. Among other things, she has been working through a robust reading guide in order to develop her talking points. Some of the materials are pamphlets, which have been handed out at Fort Robinson, two 3-inch binders that have been collected over time at Fort Robinson and five different books on Fort Robinson history and Native American history. The internship will earn Carroll three credit hours and she will be completing 150 hours by the end of the semester.

Im still pretty excited but I have a lot of stuff to remember, said Carroll, it will definitely give me experience working with professionals who are in the field already, it will also give me experience in working with the public.

Carroll plans to work in a historical preservation field and believes it will give her the skill of working with the public.

There are three requirements for the internship: To know the history of Fort Robinson and its involvement in the Red Cloud Agency all the way up to World War II, know the history of the buildings at Fort Robinson and know how the Nebraska State Historical Museum operates at Fort Robinson.

Deena Kennell, director of career and academic planning services at CSC, said the Nebraska State Historical Society sponsored the internship. As part of the internship, Carroll will guide people in the museum and talk about the history of the fort and of the area. Carroll said she thinks the area is beautiful in general and her favorite part of Fort Robinsons history is the time of the Red Cloud Agency.

I appreciate it on a personal level because I didnt know Nebraskas history all that well. Im not from Nebraska, so I got to learn more about it and how influential it is to the construction of America, said Carroll.

She chose museum studies as a minor because it was a good add-on to her history major, but she also really loves the subject of museums and how it correlates with history.

Its the first time we had an intern with them and they approached us about it is an exciting thing, said Kennell. They recognized the resources we had in the degree program.

Kennell would like to continue to work with the NSHS in the future to recruit students to fill different positions. She anticipates that would be the case in the future.

As the director of career and academic planning, Kennell helps students identify internship locations and monitor learning goals. Students will submit weekly goals and information about their activities they are involved with throughout the internship. At the end of the internship there will be a portfolio that the students turn in, this covers everything that happened during the internship, this is graded by a CSC professor. Kennell said that in any given semester, there are 70-90 students who will do an internship.

Kennell said that these internships are done from all over and a lot of students tend to be more open to traveling to different places in the summer because the campus is closed.

There are some good opportunities in the area as well, said Kennell.

Sarah Polak, director of the Mari Sandoz Center and Museum Studies professor, said it is rewarding to be recognized by NSHS for Chadron States museum studies program. The program is the only one in Nebraska, which is made possible through the partnership of a paid internship.

The partnership is great, and hopefully its a start of more internships with the historical society and other organizations, said Polak.

A lot of the students who have the museum studies minor work in the Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center. This involves a lot of work with museum displays, preservation work and marketing for events.

Polak said that students in the museum studies program will create exhibits on campus, give tours of museums or historical sites, create educational programs and provide care for collections. Polak said that those interested in the Sandoz Center will do their internship there but are not required to.

Polak said some students in museum studies end up working at museums in the region. One of the recent graduates from the program is Amanda Gibbs, Archive Assistant with Legacy of the Plains Museum.
Community Hospital plans to build a 5,000 square-foot physical therapy and rehabilitation services clinic on its campus at 2000 Campbell Drive in Torrington. Construction is expected to begin this summer and be complete by the end of the year.

The free-standing building will sit on the northwest corner of the hospital campus and face east. It is across the street from Banner Health Clinic. The project is valued at $2.1 million and will be paid for by Banner Health.

Dr. Kyle Telford, senior rehabilitation services manager, said the clinic shows the commitment of Community Hospital to physical therapy and rehabilitation services for area residents. We will have a dedicated space to continue to provide excellent care for our current patients and to grow our business in the sports community.

Telford recognized the active population in the community including athletes of all ages. New equipment in the rehab services building will target therapies specifically for that group. It will also provide up-to-date equipment for those who may be recovering from a variety of conditions including orthopedic, neurologic, balance or needs after surgery.

Since Banner Medical Group recruited orthopedic surgeon Dr. Dale Adishian, to Torrington, Telford said his department has seen an increase in the demand for physical therapy. Dr. Adishian is great at trying a more conservative approach to treating certain types of pain or injury and referring those patients for rehabilitation as an alternative to surgery when that is appropriate, Telford said. Hes been great to work with, stopping by regularly to visit with patients who are in the clinic and to coordinate care.

Currently, the therapists occupy different areas inside Community Hospital for a total space of about 1,500 square feet. Telford said plans are to bring the entire staff, which numbers just under 10, into the new clinic. The clinic will offer a large gym, consultation rooms, a dedicated area to care for patients with wounds, massage therapy, a changing room with lockers, a work room with nine workstations for staff and a staff break room. The clinic was designed to have large windows for natural lighting.
Western Nebraska Community College is hosting a Health Professions Open House April 13 at 6 p.m. in the John N. Harms Advanced Technology Center on the Scottsbluff Campus.

The open house is free and open to students, parents, and the public to discuss health career opportunities. Attendees will be able to visit with WNCC faculty and staff about a career in healthcare including Basic Nursing Assistant, Emergency Medical Technician, Health Information Technology, Nursing, Phlebotomy, Radiology Technologist, and Surgical Technology.

The open house provides opportunity for anyone who might be interested in pursuing a career in healthcare to come in and see what is available right here in the panhandle, said Surgical Technology Director Rob Frey. It also opens a channel for them to meet the faculty, see classrooms, labs and technologies, speak with current students about the programs, and meet professionals from these careers who are currently employed in this region.

It is our hope that it not only encourages individuals to enroll here at WNCC, but also helps them to make a more informed decision about their future, he added.

Light refreshments will be served. The event will conclude at 8 p.m.

For more information, contact WNCC Admissions Office at 308.635.6010 or admissions@wncc.edu.
The Nebraska Legislature has advanced Sen. Beau McCoys LB10 to final reading. This bill would give all five of Nebraskas electoral votes for president to one candidate in a winner-take-all format. By all accounts this is a giant leap away from democracy and is a clear effort on McCoys part to nullify a good number of voters presidential votes.

McCoy, a conservative Republican, knows that most of Nebraskas votes will most likely go to a Republican presidential candidate. Just for the sake of argument, lets say Candidate A wins 55 percent of Nebraskas statewide popular vote and Candidate B had 45 percent, but did have the most votes in District 2.

Out of our 5 electoral votes, four would go to A and 1 would go to B, not an exact science but at least a close representation of Nebraska voters.

Under McCoys bill, all five would go to A. If you were one of those folks voting for B, too bad. Your vote for president will not count at all. How does this advance democracy? It does not. It is a clear partisan move to bolster McCoys Republican Party in an already very red state.

Would McCoy introduce this legislation if he was a Democrat? Of course he wouldnt, which is exactly the problem with this bill. It is partisan politics at its worse when we already have a nation struggling under the weight of partisan bickering.

Currently, only two states in the country have proportional electoral votes, Nebraska and Maine. We are the only two states that have it right, while the other 48 have it wrong. We in Nebraska should set the example as we do in the Unicameral. We are the only nonpartisan single body legislature in the country. It is more transparent and accountable to voters, which is just the opposite of what McCoys bill would do.

What is McCoy afraid of, the voter? Does he not trust us to make a legitimate vote? Does he think the state should speak for us when it comes to presidential votes instead of our own ballot? The answer to these questions is yes, or at least his LB10 would indicate as much.

This bill should not pass, and any senator voting for it will be signaling their trust in government is stronger than in the people of Nebraska.
Five different programs have been recognized as part of the mission of Scottsbluff Public Schools. The programs are Sixpence, Early Childhood Special Education Services, Preschool, ReConnect and LifeLink.

Each one serves a unique purpose and brings about a special sense of learning style. The programs work with students based on the students age and their needs.

One of the programs, Sixpence is a home-based visitation program. There are home visits which take place in order to work with parents so they understand what they could be doing for their children to develop correctly. This program assists qualifying parents of children birth to age 3. Part of what the home visitors do is get parents connected to Sixpence so they can have a support network as well as educate parents about different educational opportunities.

At our Sixpence building weve been offering socializations with family socials. Weve been consistently getting 75 people at each event and think that is pretty exciting, said Betsy Skelcher, assistant director of student services at Scottsbluff Public Schools.

Another aspect of what Scottsbluff Public Schools is doing is Early Childhood Special Education Services, which is a service for young children with disabilities. There is a home-based service which provides services for children birth to age 3 with disabilities, then community, preschool, and other home services for children with disabilities age 3 to 5.

At Bear Cub Preschool, there has been a focus on the social and emotional aspect of childrens development as the teachers have been awarding students through the use of a paw print.

They are given to students when they make some good positive behavioral choices. It reflects what they did was outstanding. They are put on a bulletin board, said Skelcher.

At the other end of the childhood spectrum is ReConnect, which helps students who might have difficulties in traditional schooling as well as students who have dropped out, have truancy issues, or might be parents who are in school. The program is entering its third year and has helped about 100 students a year. The program graduates 25-30 students a year and there are 15 graduates that are readying for graduation for school this summer.

We recognize that a lot of children dont progress through school in a traditional manner. Often times they can benefit from a transition program which the state allows us to do, said Rick Myles, superintendent of Scottsbluff Public Schools.

Mario Chavez, director of student outreach for Scottsbluff Public Schools, said that the main area of focus is credit recovery and getting students career ready or helping them to transition to other educational pursuits.

When they graduate we also take a picture of them. There is a wall of graduates, because we want to show that they graduated. Also, we want them to come back two-three years later to show say this is where I started, this is where graduation began and this is where I ended up, said Chavez.

Students that graduate from ReConnect receive a Scottsbluff Public Schools diploma. Students graduate depending on when they are able to meet the requirements. It is a year-round program and the instruction is web-based.

It is one-to-one, they do have to attend in a live seat in order to enroll in our program, but the instruction is in an online program with assistance from myself or a counselor or para-educator who is in the building, said Chavez.

Other instruction might come from teachers at Scottsbluff High School and students can take a binder course, where they can take learn from a binder for a course they might have missed.

Chavez said that there is about a 50/50 split for students who end up working in the community, compared to those who might enroll at Western Nebraska Community College.

LifeLink is another program which is provided by the Educational Service Unit 13. It is a transition service for those who have disabilities and are looking to meet the goal of independent living.

Six to eight students are served under the LifeLink program. The program takes place at Western Nebraska Community College and the student can take classes based on abilities and what they are allowed to do. Eighty percent of students who graduate from the program find a working position.

The goal of the program is to get the students to reach a certain level of independence. A large part of LifeLink is a program called the R-Pad Apartment Program where students will learn independent learning skills such as cooking, laundry and clothing care, safety, shopping and other life and organizational skills.
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His announcement comes as fallout widens over the law he signed last month that would limit protections for gay, lesbian and transgender people.

McCrory said he's using an executive order to expand the state equal employment policy to include sexual orientation and gender, as well as affirming private businesses' rights to establish their own bathroom policies.

He also says he will ask lawmakers to file legislation later this month allowing people to sue in state court over discrimination. That right had been wiped out by the law.

But the statement said that his order will maintain gender-specific restroom and locker room access in government buildings and schools. He once again condemned a Charlotte ordinance passed earlier this year that allowed transgender people to use bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity, calling it "a solution in search of a problem."

The state law was passed partly in response to the Charlotte measure.

But it went further than repealing the Charlotte law by overruling LGBT antidiscrimination measures passed by local governments around the state. It also excluded sexual orientation and gender identity from the state's antidiscrimination policy. The law also required transgender people to use the bathroom corresponding to the sex listed on their birth certificate.

McCrory acknowledged outcry over the law, saying he'd listened to "feedback" from people for several weeks.

He said that "based upon this feedback, I am taking action to affirm and improve the state's commitment to privacy and equality."

His announcement came hours after Deutsche Bank announced that it's halting plans to add 250 jobs in North Carolina because of the law.

The German bank with a large U.S. presence adds another loud voice to a chorus of business leaders who have urged the repeal of the law by Republican leaders who promote the state as business-friendly.

Previously, the bank had planned to add the jobs through next year in Cary. But on Tuesday the bank said it was freezing those plans.

Co-executive officer John Cryan said in a news release that "as a result of this legislation we are unwilling to include North Carolina in our US expansion plans for now."

He said the bank may revisit the plans later. The bank currently employs 900 people at a Cary software development center, and it said it plans to sustain that existing operation.

Previously, PayPal reversed plans to open a 400-employee operation center in Charlotte, and more than 130 corporate CEOs signed a letter urging the law's repeal. A number of states and cities have restricted public employee travel to the state.

This week, the law prompted several more groups to cancel planned conventions or gatherings in the state.

Ryan Smith, a spokeswoman for the Greater Raleigh Convention & Visitors Bureau, said five groups totaling about 1,000 attendees have already canceled. She said in an email the canceled events would have brought $730,000 to the area.

Smith said another 16 groups are considering cancellations of events expected to have an impact of $24 million.

The B Lab, a group organizing a gathering for socially conscious companies, says that it's relocating the event that was expected to bring 550 attendees to Durham in October. Certified B Corporations are for-profit but meet strict criteria for social and environmental responsibility.

Charlotte tourism officials have previously said that several events were canceled around that city.

Some major music acts have also responded to the law. Bruce Springsteen canceled a Greensboro show over the weekend because of it.

Jimmy Buffett, meanwhile, said that he considers the law "stupid" but will proceed with scheduled shows in Raleigh and Charlotte this month. He said future dates would depend on whether the law is repealed.

Buffett wrote on his blog that tickets to his shows sold out long before the law was enacted. "I am not going to let stupidity or bigotry trump fun for my loyal fans this year," he said.

Supporters of the law on Monday held their biggest rally yet, drawing several hundred supporters.
Tuesday, 12 April 2016 22:22:03 (GMT+3) | Sao Paulo

Brazil exported 14,900 mt of wire rod in March, 16 percent less than in February, according to the ministry of development, industry and foreign trade, MDIC.





The average FOB price of $451/mt points to the mesh grade product sold at $419/mt and the drawing grade product sold at $463/mt, price deals probably closed in January.





A major producer in the southeast told SteelOrbis that he is exporting the drawing grade product to the US at $500/mt, FOB conditions.





In March, the main destinations of the Brazilian wire rod were the US (7,000 mt at $492/mt), Latin America (5,500 mt at $403/mt) and Asia (1,500 mt at $457/mt), all FOB conditions.





The exporters were ArcelorMittal (11,000 mt), Gerdau (3,600 mt) and the Votorantim Group (300 mt).


Updated at 1:11 p.m.

Anheuser-Busch InBev told European Union regulators it would sell beer brands including Peroni and Grolsch to win quick approval for its $105 billion takeover of SABMiller.

The offer by the Budweiser brewer comes two months after it announced it was in exclusive talks to sell the SABMiller brands to Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. for 2.55 billion euros ($2.9 billion).

"This proposal concerns the European premium brand families of Peroni, Grolsch and Meantime and their associated businesses in Italy, the Netherlands, U.K. and internationally, excluding certain U.S. rights," the Leuven, Belgium-based company said in an emailed statement.

The European Union set a new May 24 deadline to rule on approving the deal or opening a longer investigation after the companies made an offer last week, regulators said on their website on Tuesday. The EU didn't say what the companies were prepared to do to allay any antitrust concerns.

A-B InBev has already flagged plans to sell SABMiller's beer brands that might overlap with its own in Europe. Such early concessions involving a sale of a business unit can allow the EU to approve a deal quickly without opening a so-called Phase II probe lasting at least four months.

Trevor Stirling, an analyst at Sanford C Bernstein, said he would have been surprised if the concessions made to the European Union didn't include the Asahi sales.

"I'm at a loss as to what remedies A-B InBev can offer in terms of further divestments," he said in a telephone interview.

London-based SABMiller didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

________

Our earlier story, by Reuters, posted at 5:54 a.m.

BRUSSELS  Anheuser-Busch InBev has submitted concessions to European Union antitrust regulators to try to secure approval for its $100 billion-plus takeover of SABMiller, the largest ever deal in the consumer goods industry.

The European Commission said it would now decide by May 24 whether to clear the deal, a filing on its website showed without giving further details.

A-B Inbev has already struck a deal to sell SABMiller's Peroni and Grolsch brands and their related businesses in Italy, the Netherlands and Britain to Japan's Asahi Group Holdings to fend off EU regulatory worries.

The SABMiller acquisition would allow A-B InBev to expand into countries such as Colombia and Peru and crucially, Africa.

The world's top brewer is also selling SABMiller's stake in U.S. joint venture MillerCoors to Molson Coors Brewing TAP and SABMiller's stake in its CR Snow venture to China Resources Beer to address competition concerns in other regions.
BERLIN  Germany plans to back an EU proposal that would allow the continued use of glyphosate in weedkillers, according to a letter from the agriculture ministry.

Glyphosate is used in many herbicides including Monsanto's Roundup, but has provoked a dispute between EU and U.N. agencies over whether it might cause cancers.

The EU last month delayed a decision on whether to approve a European Commission proposal to extend the authorization of glyphosate for 15 years until 2031. The existing authorization is due to lapse in June.

In the German letter, first reported by daily Suddeutsche Zeitung, the ministry's plant protection unit says it agrees with the assessment of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which issued an opinion that glyphosate was unlikely to cause cancer.

The EFSA's conclusion was at odds with the view of the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which has classified glyphosate as "probably carcinogenic to humans."

Environmental campaigners have called for a ban and a German environmental group said earlier this year it had found traces of the chemical in 14 of the country's most popular beers.

The EFSA study focused on glyphosate as a single active substance, but the European Commission has said it would seek to identify whether some products should be banned because of the substances they combine with glyphosate, which could add to risks.

France's health and safety agency said last week it was poised to ban weedkillers that combine chemicals glyphosate and tallowamine because of concerns over possible health risks.
KANSAS CITY, Mo.  General Motors plans to build a small Cadillac at its Fairfax assembly plant in Kansas City, Kan., instead of a plant in Michigan, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Monday.

Chris Bonelli, plant communications manager at GMs Orion Assembly plant near Detroit, confirmed that automaker has scrapped a $245 million investment in the Orion plant and will shift planned production of a new model to Kansas City, possibly three years out.

Sources told the Journal that the car destined for Fairfax production is a Cadillac luxury product designed to compete with other premium small cars. GM officials declined to verify the Cadillac name.

The Fairfax plant now has three shifts building the new Chevrolet Malibu and the Buick LaCrosse. LaCrosse production at Fairfax will be phased out this spring, and new LaCrosse production will be shifted to Detroit, Bonelli said.

About 3,230 union employees and about 270 salaried workers at Fairfax have been informed of the production changes. Bonelli said Malibu production should keep them busy for quite some time.

No date has been announced for the new model to begin production at Fairfax, and Bonelli said GM isnt saying yet whether the new model will require plant expansion.

Were not confirming the brand or type of product yet, Bonelli said. All we said production-wise was that it would be built in the next few years.

Last year, GM spent about $174 million to upgrade Fairfax in preparation for building the redesigned Malibu.

The gain at Fairfax is a loss for the Orion plant, which previously had been told it would get the new car model.

Bonelli said the switch from Orion to Fairfax was decided after an asset utilization and capital efficiency analysis that showed cost benefits for GM to build the new model at Fairfax.

The new model report is more good news for the Kansas City areas automotive industry. Ford Motor Co.s assembly plant in Claycomo employs more than 7,000 workers who build the top-selling F-150 pickup truck and the new Transit utility van.

The Kansas City region also is home to a growing number of auto parts suppliers who collectively employ more than 1,800 workers. The feeder industry is choosing to locate production facilities and warehouses near to the two major assembly plants to improve logistics.

The Orion assembly plant will begin to build the Chevrolet Bolt electric car at the facility later this year.
SAN FRANCISCO  A former top Federal Reserve policy adviser called Monday for the Fed's 12 regional outposts to be made government entities, rather than owned, as they have been since their inception more than a century ago, by the banks they regulate.

Banks own shares in their regional Fed bank and appoint six of the nine members of the board, including three bank executives. While the Fed's powerful Washington-based Board, including the Fed Chair, is a government entity, the regional Fed banks are not. The U.S. central bank is the world's only major central bank that is not fully public.

Dartmouth College Prof. Andrew Levin also called for seven-year term limits for all Fed policymakers, and stronger outside oversight of the U.S. central bank including annual reviews of monetary policy.

Policymakers often serve a decade or more before retiring, and the details of monetary policymaking have always been a closely guarded secret, with transcripts of meetings released only after a five-year interval.

Levin, who advised Fed Chair Janet Yellen when she was Fed vice chair, released the proposals via the Fed Up Coalition, a network of community organizations and labor unions calling for change to the U.S. central bank. It is unclear how they will be received by other Fed critics who have called for even more sweeping changes, or the institution itself, which has largely resisted reform proposals.

A Fed spokeswoman declined to comment on the proposals, as did representatives of several regional Fed banks, with St. Louis Fed President James Bullard saying he would need to review the proposals before discussing them.

Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan said that while he is "very sensitive" to the issues the coalition has raised, bankers "haven't influenced me, other than I've been able to get their insight as to what they're seeing." The banking industry, he added, "is a very critical industry for us and we regulate it, and it's essential to business and the health of business in this district and the country."

The Fed has come under increasing fire in recent months from both Democrats and Republicans for what they say is a lack of accountability and transparency, with lawmakers and presidential candidates calling for a wide range of limits on the Fed's powers.

In response, some current and former Fed officials have begun to call for steps to placate the U.S. central bank's harshest critics.

Levin on Monday also called for the process of appointing Fed bank presidents to be more transparent and to involve the public. Currently Fed bank presidents are chosen in a closed-door process run by each bank's board and approved by the Washington-based Fed Board.
Updated at 3:22 p.m.

WASHINGTON  In 2011, Ken Paxton, then a state lawmaker, met the founder of a local technology company at a Dairy Queen outside Dallas. Paxton would allegedly later tell federal investigators that he planned to invest $100,000 in the company during the meeting, but that the executive didn't want his money.

"I can't take your money. God doesn't want me to take your money," the executive said, Paxton recounted for investigators, according to court documents. Instead, Paxton said the executive gave him 100,000 shares in the company, Servergy, as a gift.

But those 100,000 shares were not a gift, according to a complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday. Rather, the agency claims they amounted to a payment from Servergy for Paxton's help in recruiting other investors. Paxton, who now serves at Texas attorney general, allegedly used his connections to persuade friends, business associates and even a fellow lawmaker, to invest $840,000 in the company, according to the complaint.

Paxton allegedly did not tell prospective investors that he was being compensated to help Servergy raise money or that he had not invested his own cash. The SEC on Monday charged him with securities fraud.

"People recruiting investors have a legal obligation to disclose any compensation they are receiving to promote a stock, and we allege that Paxton  concealed the compensation [he was] receiving for touting Servergy's product," Shamoil T. Shipchandler, director of the SEC's Fort Worth office, said in a statement.

Paxton is also facing similar criminal charges in Texas related to his relationship with Servergy.

Paxton, a Republican who has been attorney general since January 2015, did not return calls for comment. His attorney, Bill Mateja, told the Texas Tribune, that he not reviewed the SEC's civil complaint.

"As with the criminal matter, Mr. Paxton vehemently denies the allegations in the civil lawsuit and looks forward not only to all of the facts coming out, but also to establishing his innocence in both the civil and criminal matters," Mateja told the media outlet.

According to the SEC's complaint, technology company Servergy raised $26 million between 2009 and 2013 by telling investors that it had developed a "revolutionary" new server that was in wide demand and used 80 percent less power than other servers. To recruit investors, the company, which was low on funds, said it had received orders from well-known customers, including Amazon, according to the SEC.

Instead, "the CTS-1000 was based on outdated technology that was being phased out of the industry," according to the SEC complaint.

Servergy has settled with the SEC for $200,000. But cases against the company's founder and Paxton are continuing.
The U.S. government's lawsuit against ValueAct Capital targets one activist investor but could call into question routine practices across the $16 trillion mutual fund industry, according to attorneys and industry representatives.

The U.S. Department of Justice last week alleged that the hedge fund improperly classified two company investments as passive  and therefore exempt from disclosure requirements  while taking an activist role with executives. ValueAct disputes the claim.

Some communications the government cites as evidence are similar to discussions that are increasingly common between traditional, buy-and-hold funds and companies in their portfolios.

The case comes as active and passive investors work more together to pressure management at underperforming companies. Activists court passive shareholders before launching such a campaign, and passive investors recruit activists to agitate, several activist managers told Reuters.

Traditional funds may need to reassess their compliance with disclosure laws, according to a memo to clients from Davis Polk, a New York law firm with expertise in financial services.

"Such an institution will have to examine whether it can claim to have a truly 'passive' intent," said the memo, issued in response to the ValueAct case.

Those firms could include, for instance, T. Rowe Price Group , BlackRock Inc and Vanguard Group. Spokespeople at those companies declined to comment, and representatives of seven additional fund firms contacted by Reuters declined to comment or said executives were unavailable. The Justice Department also declined to comment.

An industry trade group said the case could restrain shareholders from addressing important issues with corporate executives and board directors.

"The DOJ case could have a chilling effect on dialogs between companies and their shareholders," said Amy Borrus, deputy director at the Council of Institutional Investors, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit whose members include pensions, endowments and major mutual funds.

For a graphic showing the increase in company shareholder communication programs, visit this site.

Competition for better returns has led some big mutual fund firms to take a more active role, weighing in on issues such as CEO pay and corporate governance. Vanguard Chairman and CEO William McNabb, in a speech last June in New York, described how the firm increasingly addresses matters of concern with companies in its portfolio.

"We've become more targeted in whom we mailed letters to and more prescriptive in our language," McNabb said.

For example, Vanguard sent out 500 letters in March 2015 to independent chairs and lead directors outlining six principles of corporate governance, McNabb said.

SIX WORDS

At the heart of the ValueAct case are six words in a 40-year-old law that requires disclosure of certain investments to assist the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission in antitrust review of mergers. The intent is to prevent investors from secretly buying up stakes to agitate for industry consolidation.

The Hart-Scott-Rodino Act requires all buyers of voting securities worth more than $76.3 million to notify the government, unless they were bought "solely for the purpose of investment."

The government alleges ValueAct failed to disclose a $2.5 billion position in two companies that planned to merge  oilfield services peers Halliburton Co and Baker Hughes Industries Inc.

ValueAct is fighting the case and has said that its outreach to the companies was standard shareholder input and not active investing. The firm declined to comment for this story.

Among the evidence asserted by the government is a December 2014 meeting with the Baker Hughes chief financial officer, where ValueAct's chief executive discussed gaps in the company's North American margins and other underperforming areas. The government also cited a ValueAct email sent to Halliburton's CEO in July 2015 to schedule a meeting about executive compensation.

Davis Polk points out in its client memo that it's common for investors with stakes deemed passive to discuss those topics with corporate management.

"It does seem to be...a typical subject of discussion," wrote the firm, which represents Baker Hughes in the merger.

BLURRED BOUNDARIES

John Briggs, an antitrust attorney with the law firm Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider LLP, called the case a one-off enforcement effort against ValueAct that does not necessarily signal a broader crackdown or a change in legal interpretation.

But Briggs agreed that the case highlights the blurring boundaries between activist and traditional fund managers. A ValueAct win could further cloud the issue, while a government victory could prompt major investors to dial back pressure on companies.

A managing director at a large asset manager, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that he and his colleagues routinely discuss business improvement and executive compensation with company executives, believing such topics do not cross legal lines. The ValueAct case could change that interpretation, the manager said.

The lawsuit could take months or years to resolve. Any resulting limits on fund managers result could clash with a separate effort led by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the early 1990s encouraging more dialog between investors and public corporations.

"The idea was that you want to free up those conversations, since more conversations allow more accountability," said University of Delaware finance professor Charles Elson, who follows corporate governance. "Anything that pushes things in a different direction is problematic."
Q  I would like the recipe for the pea salad served at Mother-in-Law House Restaurant in St. Charles.  Jackie Fuhrman, Granite City

A  You know, a princess could live here! a young guest once declared, impressed by the tall windows, original oil lamps and antique tables with white tablecloths at Mother-in-Law House. And maybe one did because way back in 1866, the structure was built as a home with a dividing wall: one side for a man with a homesick French bride, the other for his mother-in-law.

Owner Donna Hafer is still tickled by the princess idea. A serial entrepreneur, Hafer has owned a dress shop, a newcomer greeting service, a museum for Haviland china and another restaurant. I loved them all, she says. They become like daughters, the businesses. Shes also a big fan of St. Charles historic Main Street where Mother-in-Law sits. The restaurants quiet brick patio is great for people-watching one way, river-watching the other.

Mother-in-Law House Restaurant Pea Salad Yield: About 4 cups

With one menu for lunch and another for dinner, Were really two different restaurants, Hafer says. At lunch, Hafer recommends the signature chicken salad and giant burgers cooked to order  and french fries. People say we have the best fries, she says. In the evening, to get the quintessential Mother-in-Law House experience, she recommends starting off with bacon-wrapped water chestnuts followed by chicken Veronique. For dessert? Theres no choosing, so one of each, housemade peach cobbler and coconut cream pie.

The restaurants pea salad originated with Hafers mother and has been on the menu at Mother-in-Law House for 35 years. Its one of a dozen salads in a complimentary salad bar during dinner. This week only, a complimentary serving will also be available at lunch, just ask.

Its so easy to make, really just dump and stir. Hafer says. Anymore, nobody has a lot of time.

Mother-in-Law House Restaurant

500 South Main Street, St. Charles

Special Request is written by Town and Country resident Alanna Kellogg, author of the online recipe column KitchenParade.com and veggie evangelist at the food blog about vegetables, A Veggie Venture.

To request

a recipe
Update: The original version of this column contained the wrong date for a highway commission meeting. The headline was misleading because of that incorrect date and has been changed.

When a federal judge in Texas handed down a $663 million fraud verdict last summer against the Dallas-based maker of guardrails used on highways all over the country, a lot of people started seeing dollar signs, including a few in Missouri.

Since that June verdict, which stemmed from a whistle-blower complaint, Trinity Industries Inc. has faced a slew of lawsuits from states, cities and counties, as well as several wrongful death actions filed by individuals.

At issue is whether Trinity improperly changed the design of the end-terminals on guardrails that are supposed to absorb impact to protect accident victims from harm. The company is fighting allegations that the changes made to the design create a possibility that shards of metal will break off and cause physical harm or death to drivers or passengers.

In Missouri, one lawsuit in particular bears watching.

Filed in November by Jackson County, the lawsuit seeks class action status in alleging negligence by Trinity in designing the ET-Plus guardrail end terminals that are found throughout the state. The lawsuit alleges the terminals are defective, unsafe and unreasonably dangerous.

The proposed members of the class  which would have to be approved by the judge  include the city of St. Louis, St. Louis County and the Missouri Department of Transportation, or MoDOT.

Missouri has been at the forefront of the national debate over the Trinity guardrail end terminals.

In 2014, Missouri was one of the first states in the nation to stop using the Trinity ET-Plus end terminals. That decision came after a University of Alabama study paid for by the nonprofit Safety Institute and the Missouri transportation commission found the Trinity terminals were nearly four times more likely to be involved in a fatal wreck.

Now Jackson County  with the state potentially riding along  is suing Trinity for potentially hundreds of millions of dollars.

The lawsuit was filed by John Schirger of the Kansas City law firm Miller Schirger.

The Miller in Miller Schirger is Stephen R. Miller, who happens to be the vice chairman of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission, which oversees the transportation department. Miller was the chairman of the commission at the time the lawsuit was filed.

It would seem quite a potential conflict of interest for Millers six-attorney firm to file a lawsuit with such a direct connection to the transportation commission. While MoDOT is not yet a member of the class, and the commission would have to approve such a move in a future vote, the potential for Miller to profit from his public service is obvious.

So how did Millers firm get the Jackson County business?

Jackson County counselor W. Stephen Nixon didnt return calls for comment. He has been criticized lately for the countys habit of issuing no-bid contracts, including a consulting contract recently to former county executive Mike Sanders.

Asked about the lawsuit and the potential for conflict of interest, Miller said, I cant comment on that.

The commissions ethics policy requires any attorney who believes their firm is handling a case that might be adverse to the commission or MoDOT to file a disclosure.

When asked for any disclosures Miller made to the commission regarding a lawsuit against Trinity Industries, the commission produced only minutes from a closed meeting in February 2015.

In that meeting, held Feb. 3-4, MoDOT director Dave Nichols addressed the commission regarding guard rail end treatments legal issues. After discussion began about the possible procurement of counsel, Miller recused himself.

Heres where it gets even more curious.

In its letter to me, signed by Pamela J. Harlan, the secretary to the commission, the state asserts that Millers recusal in a closed meeting is attorney client privilege and exempt from disclosure under the Missouri Sunshine Act.

In other words, even if Miller did disclose a potential conflict of interest, the commission believes it could keep that from the public.

It didnt  at least once I asked about it  but what happens the next time some member of the public seeks accountability from the states transportation commission? What good is disclosing a conflict of interest involving public money if the public isnt allowed to know about it?

Trust us, the commission seems to be saying. Thats not going to fly in the Show-Me State.
UPDATED at 11 a.m. Tuesday with more details

ST. LOUIS  St. Louis police kept busy Monday night responding to calls of three people shot and one person found dead in a vehicle in separate incidents around the city.

Just before 6 p.m., a male in his teens was shot once in the abdomen in the 600 block of South Taylor Avenue in the Central West End. He was taken to a hospital and was in critical condition, police said.

The scene is near the Washington University medical school campus. The university sent out an alert about the incident.

At about 8:30 p.m., police were called to an alley off the 4800 block of Riverview Boulevard. A man was found shot inside a car there. He had been shot and was pronounced dead at the scene.

At about 9 p.m., police responded to a call of a man in his 20s shot at on 23rd Street in the Hyde Park neighborhood. The man later died at a hospital, police say.

At about 9:30 p.m., a man, 26, suffered a graze wound to his abdomen in a shooting at Cleveland and Thurman avenues in the Shaw neighborhood.

Resident and St. Louis Public Radio reporter Rachel Lippmann, who was walking her dog nearby at the time, said she heard a man yell Give me everything! and heard one pop and a car speed off. The victim then came screaming and stumbling to her side of the street, she said, and was conscious when police responded.

Also, at about 9 p.m., a police vehicle and another vehicle collided at 14th and Market streets in downtown St. Louis. A possibly malfunctioning light signal may have contributed to the crash, police said. Nobody was seriously hurt, they said.
Expect a quick sniffing when you get to Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.

Dogs with special training to detect explosives will be stationed in each terminal during peak travel times within the next several weeks, said Jim Spriggs, the states federal security director.

The dogs are trained to follow the smell of explosives through the air, which police dogs already stationed at the airport cannot do.

Those police dogs focus on sniffing out threats in things like baggage. The new Transportation Security Administration dogs  which are stationed at more than 100 airports and transit systems  will smell people.

Theyre trained to pick up scents as people move through the facility, Spriggs said.

The dogs dont need passengers to stop to do their job.

And if the dog doesnt detect any suspicious smells, passengers may be cleared to go through the TSAs PreCheck screening  that allows preapproved passengers to bypass the main line and keep their shoes on.

One such dog is Eette, a 5-year-old yellow Labrador retriever and Hungarian vizsla mix.

For the past few years, she and her TSA handler, Jasmine Bourne, were stationed in Orlando, Fla. Now theyll be at Lambert.

Its a real-time threat assessment, Bourne said of the dogs abilities.

On Tuesday, she and Eette demonstrated what passengers can expect to see. They stood near the TSA gates at Terminal 2, where Southwest flights come and go, as passengers made their way to the security gates.

Eette, wearing a vest emblazoned with the TSA badge and a do not pet sign, briefly smelled the legs of those who walked by her, sometimes lifting or turning her head a bit to get a whiff of bags and purses.

Another dog, a German shorthaired pointer, is set to join her at Lambert in the coming weeks, said Jon Erwin, field canine coordinator for the TSA.

The dogs are trained at Lackland Air Force Base just outside San Antonio. The average cost to train a dog and handler is $24,000, the TSA said.

The first letter of Eettes name signals her litter. Such dogs are named in memory of victims of the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Sadie Ette, 36, was killed in the north tower of the World Trade Center.
JEFFERSON CITY  Missouri lawmakers would be barred from investing their campaign funds to buy businesses or rake in big investment totals under the latest bid to clean up the image of the capital city.

With a month remaining in the Legislatures annual session, the measure is among four ethics proposals that appear to be on track for final approval.

The investment ban is designed to address situations similar to what former House Speaker Steve Tilley did with his campaign account when he left office to become a lobbyist. Tilley, a Republican from Farmington, bought shares in a bank. Records show the account continues to earn interest off the investment.

Rep. Jay Barnes, R-Jefferson City, who is spearheading ethics legislation in the House, didnt specifically mention Tilley in explaining the genesis of the proposal, but he did say the plan was one more step toward addressing the everything-goes atmosphere of Missouri politics.

Candidates get funds for purposes of campaigns, not for running businesses, Barnes said. I think its a positive change. No single bill is going to be a panacea to all ills in government.

Thus far, the House and Senate have advanced plans to address the hiring of campaign consultants, the investment of campaign funds and the imposition of a six-month cooling off period before lawmakers can become lobbyists.

In addition, citizen appointees to special commissions would have to disclose more financial information in order to shed more sunlight on whether they are benefiting from their position.

Those efforts are part of what Republican leaders called their No. 1 priority entering the session in January after the 2015 session was marred by the resignations of two former lawmakers who left office amid allegations of inappropriate behavior toward interns.

Democrats, however, say the attempt at polishing the image of the Legislature is falling short with little over four weeks left before the scheduled May 13 adjournment.

We havent dealt with the real issue and that is campaign contribution limits. And until we do that, we really havent done anything. Weve taken extreme baby steps, said Assistant Minority Floor Leader Gail McCann Beatty, D-Kansas City. Weve got a long way to go.

Missouri is the lone state with no limits on campaign contributions, no limits on gifts from lobbyists and no time constraints on lawmakers who want to become lobbyists.

A lobbying gift ban and the revolving door ban on lawmakers heading into the lobbying world are mired in the Senate, where Republicans have resisted moving forward on the initiatives.

Democratic Sen. Scott Sifton of Affton warned during a floor speech on Monday that the majority partys push to enact voter identification requirements, crack down on Planned Parenthood and approve an anti-gay marriage law could derail the GOP ethics push.

We need to get this done rather than run the risk of getting sidetracked on something else, said Sifton.

The message from Sifton was clear: Democrats dont want to be blamed if reform efforts falter.

Barnes said the package of bills is still a good step toward fixing the atmosphere under the statehouse dome.

This is the nature of human beings and we pass laws to do our best to make the process open, accountable, democratic and fair. You cant fix everything with a bill. Youre not going to make people stop being human with a bill, Barnes said.

The legislation is House Bill 2203.
JEFFERSON CITY  For the second time in as many weeks, Missouri Republican senators paused debate on a contentious voter ID measure after Democrats stalled a vote on the bill.

Last week, GOP senators paused debate on the bill after Democrats held the floor for about three hours. At the time, Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard, R-Joplin, said that the bill would come up again.

On Monday, Democrats held the floor for two hours before state Sen. Will Kraus, R-Lee's Summit and Senate bill sponsor, asked that the bill again be laid over.

The bill would require that Missouri voters show a photo ID before they cast ballots. But Democratic opponents argue that this will mean trouble and confusion for an estimated 220,000 Missouri registered voters who lack a photo ID.

State Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis, cast the voter ID debate as a civil rights issue, saying that the law would disenfranchise African Americans and minorities. She has also said it would make it harder for students, older people and poor people to cast ballots.

"What is this really about?" Nasheed asked state Sen. Shalonn "Kiki" Curls, D-Kansas City.

"It's about suppression and it's about rolling back the Voting Rights Act of 1965," Curls responded. "And whether the members of this chamber feel as if that's their personal intent, that's the intent of this national movement."

Nasheed continued, "It seems to me they're just knocking on the doors of Jim Crow saying 'let me in!' Open me up! Open me back up!"

Democrats point to studies that suggest such laws tilt control of government toward Republicans by lowering turnout among Democratic-leaning voters. They also say in-person voter impersonation fraud  lying about who you are at the polls  is rare and not a problem worth solving.

Republicans counter that they are just trying to ensure the integrity of elections. They say that exemptions carved out for those born before 1946, those with disabilities, those with religious objections to having their photo taken and those who can't pay for an ID mean the law isn't meant to disenfranchise anyone.

Nasheed offered an amendment soon after the bill was brought up again Monday that would allow the state automatically register to vote anyone receiving government assistance.

The bill, House Bill 1631, would only go into effect if a constitutional change is approved by voters. To put the change before voters, the Senate will also need to pass House Joint Resolution 53. The GOP Senate majority has yet to bring up that resolution.

GOP senators will bring up the voter ID bill later on in the session, said Majority Floor Leader Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City. The Legislature adjourns for the year on May 13.
JEFFERSON CITY  Missouri could become the latest state to try and transform bridges and roadways into cash money.

Just as sports stadiums are named after their corporate sponsors, legislation pending in the Missouri House would allow the state to lease naming rights to sections of highways and bridges to companies.

Motorists could someday be crisscrossing the Show-Me State on the Hooters Highway or the Overstock.com Overpass.

Rep. Bart Korman, R-High Hill, said auctioning off the naming rights of state resources is a way to generate dollars without raising taxes.

Whats 200 miles of Interstate 70 worth? Korman said. In looking at alternative ways to fund transportation, this is what I came up with.

Other states have gone down similar paths during lean budget times as a way to forego tax increases. Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, for example, launched a mostly unsuccessful plan in 2003 to sell the naming rights to state buildings.

Virginia and New York have already considered corporate naming rights for roadways.

It is not clear how much money the idea might generate, but transportation funding has been a thorny topic in the Legislature this spring. The Senate last week endorsed a plan to ask voters to raise the gasoline tax by 5.9 cents per gallon, but its not clear whether the House will act on it. Gov. Jay Nixons administration has studied turning rural sections of Interstate 70 into a toll road. Other funding ideas include more cost-sharing with local governments.

Under Kormans plan, two sets of highway officials would have to sign off on the naming rights in order to ensure roadways arent sponsored by inappropriate companies.

Lets say Hustler magazine would want to spend $10 million for a stretch of (Interstate) 270, Korman said. Hopefully two different bodies would create some kind of check and balance.

A House panel could take the issue up as early as Tuesday.

The legislation is House Bill 2382.
ST. CHARLES COUNTY  St. Louis Zoo officials made their first pitch Monday night to the St. Charles County Council for a sales tax increase to help fund the popular attraction that now gets government funding only from St. Louis and St. Louis County.

But the council chairman, Joe Cronin, offered a different idea to raise more money: Drop the zoos historical free admission policy and charge a $5 or $10 fee to get in.

Cronin, a Republican from St. Paul, told zoo officials that a sales tax is regressive, having more impact on a working family in Wentzville than somebody thats eating lobster in Ladue.

Cronin, who runs a lawn equipment store, added that sales tax hikes hurt small businesses like his. Every time the sales tax goes up, were more and more at a disadvantage to online retailers, he said.

Matthew Geekie, president of the St. Louis Zoo Association, held fast to the zoos long-standing opposition to admission charges.

He said attendance might go down and people would buy fewer items there if admission was no longer free.

Jeff Rainford, another association representative, added that a public opinion poll conducted for the group in February showed that residents of St. Charles County and other parts of the metro area strongly support keeping the zoo free even if it means a sales tax increase.

The people ... have an emotional attachment and a great deal of pride in a free zoo, said Rainford, a former top aide to St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay. Its a big part of St. Louis identity.

Under a bill pending in the Missouri Legislature, a sales tax hike of as much as one-eighth (0.125) percent could be put on the ballot in St. Charles, Jefferson and Franklin counties  as well as in the city and St. Louis County. Local governing bodies would have to sign off on such elections.

However, Geekie said Monday its likely that an amount less than the maximum actually would be sought. The sales tax would supplement St. Louis and St. Louis County property taxes that have long helped fund the zoo.

The issue was aired during a work session, but no vote was taken.

Zoo officials said the sales tax infusion is needed because revenue from the property tax is flat, operating costs are increasing and the zoo has $52 million in deferred maintenance needs. That figure increases each year, they said.

Were a century old now, said zoo President Jeffrey Bonner.

Councilmen undecided

In interviews after the session, Councilman Joe Brazil, R-Defiance, said he agreed with Cronins preference for an admission charge. But the two stopped short of saying theyd vote against putting a sales tax on the ballot.

Four other councilmen were undecided on the sales tax. Im open to it, said Mike Elam, R-Dardenne Prairie. He said he wondered if an admission charge would lead to fewer people paying voluntary membership fees to a zoo booster group like he does.

Zoo officials met last week with Franklin County officials. Presiding Commissioner John Griesheimer said Monday he believes the county commission at some point would support putting a zoo sales tax on the ballot but hes skeptical of doing it as soon as the November election.

He said more time may be needed to explain to voters why additional money is needed.

The St. Charles County body on Monday also was briefed on a proposed property tax increase to fund senior citizens programs. The money would address transportation, medical, nutrition and other needs of people at least 60 years old.

The request came from a nonprofit group called Seniors Count of Greater St. Louis, which is pushing similar measures in St. Louis County and St. Louis.
CREVE COEUR  Creve Coeur city officials are considering lowering the speed limit on Ladue Road, west of Interstate 270, to comply with recommendations from the Missouri Department of Transportation.

The city council heard from Police Chief Glenn Eidman on Monday night about a three-mile stretch of the road that was the subject of a recent speed study conducted by MoDOT at the citys request.

The study found that crash rates in the area are higher than the statewide average, due in part to a lack of shoulder space and issues with turning, Eidman said. MoDOTs recommendation is for a 5-mile-per-hour reduction from the current posted speed limit of 45 mph.

The affected portion of Ladue Road stretches past western city limits to Route 141 through Town and Country and Chesterfield. Eidman said MoDOT also will ask those cities to comply with the speed limit change.

Council members expressed initial favor for the reduction.

I think that the traffic far exceeds what the road was initially set up for, said Councilman Robert Hoffman.

The council also is considering a policy change that would allow officials to attend meetings through videoconferencing in the case of personal emergencies. The change would reflect updated state law that provides more flexibility for those situations.

If passed, individual members would be allowed to attend meetings, including participating in votes, by videoconference up to twice a year.

The council will vote on both matters at the next meeting on April 25.
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.
Paapa Essiedu who stars as Hamlet at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. Photo: Manuel Harlan/RSC.

PAAPA Essiedu, 25, was brought up in east London by his mum. He studied drama at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Three years after graduating, the young actor, who is of Ghanaian descent, was chosen to be the Royal Shakespeares new Hamlet. Here he talks to Gill Sutherland.

Here at the Herald we loved this new Hamlet  its been given a huge reboot, and many have commented that its like seeing the play with fresh eyes. Is that sort of response a relief? I suppose, because from day one we were talking about how to make people connect with it in a way that they havent before. And with a play like Hamlet obviously its so well known, it feels like every single line you say is a quote, so any contemporary production of it gains from finding something new or giving the audience a fresh perspective. We are just happy that people have been able to buy into our idea of the play. Its such a brilliant play and there are so many different ways of doing it. So we felt, why not be bold?

Did director Simon Godwin come with a readymade idea for the production, or is it something that you all contributed to? No. The world that we have created has been fused by the whole creative company, so me, the other actors, Simon, the designer, musicians, and the composer, Sola Akingbola, who has given the musical landscape of the play real identity and character. So its something that has come from all of us over the course of the rehearsal period.

How did the role come about? I auditioned for it a couple of times, which is bizarre, because that never happens. When I got the call from my agent saying they would like you to audition for Hamlet, I was like: Does anyone ever audition for Hamlet?! Because usually you get the theatre and the director and they say right I want X as Hamlet, because its become very a la mode of late for it to be a star name vehicle. So I auditioned, and Simon came to see me when I was in Romeo and Juliet last year in Bristol, we had a chat and I got offered the part.

So what do you think clinched it? The audition went well. Simon and I had an open chat about a lot of things: the play, love, life, death, about our lives. It felt like a really fruitful exchange.

As an actor you must have enormous self-belief, and to take on Hamlet almost a feeling of invincibility. Do you have that? Theres definitely no sense of invincibility! I suppose, especially with our production, my confidence comes from the group. We help each other and feed off each other. The group effort makes it a hell of a lot easier than working in isolation  to try and climb this big mountain by yourself.

Have you seen other Hamlets on stage and has that been useful? Ive seen quite a few in my time! I saw Benedict Cumberbatch and thought he was great, really brilliant  he spoke the language in an accessible manner. But for some reason I didnt find that at all intimidating, watching it I felt like it was more do-able. Its a hugely taxing role, how are you coping with that? Its really demanding: physically, emotionally, mentally, psychologically  it draws on every inch of you as a person and as an actor, so by the end of each show Im absolutely knackered!

What else do you do in your down time to turn the old cogs in the brain off? Today is my first day off and Im spending it talking to you! Seriously, Im looking forward to seeing what Stratford has to offer, obviously its a beautiful provincial town. Id like a walk in the country, get in contact with nature and all that stuff. And I want to learn how to drive; being a Londoner Ive never really needed it before, so I thought I might as well. To relax I do quite a lot of yoga, great for easing the mind and getting the heartbeat down.

It seems incredible in this day and age, but you are the first black Hamlet at the RSC. What do you make of that, are you feeling the responsibility? For me I got offered the opportunity to play Hamlet and took it so, I didnt even think about the context. Obviously it feels to me that its not right that its taken so long for it [there to be a black Hamlet] to happen. If you look at multiculturalism in the UK today, we have a huge kaleidoscope of ethnic diversity, and I think theatre should always reflect what you see in real life; and for such a large and inclusive institution as the RSC, that is what you would expect.

1460025081_tmp_ARTSHamlet

What was your first encounter with Shakespeare? We did Romeo and Juliet in GCSE English and I hated it! I didnt grow up versed in Shakespeare, and when your first interaction with it is through text books on a rainy Tuesday afternoon in a classroom, its difficult to get inside it. But I remember when I first watched the Baz Luhrmann film of Romeo and Juliet [1996], I was like wow, Shakespeare doesnt have to be all ruffs and tights, and the language can be really accessible! The beautiful thing about Shakespeare and his stories are they are universal and transcendent and everyone can connect to them and be excited by them. Its about finding a means to do that.

Did you always have a clear plan to be an actor, was there a get-out clause? It absolutely wasnt my plan. I was meant to go to UCL where I had a place to study medicine [laughs like a mischievous schoolboy]. Mum took it hard, but when youre 17 you dont really know what you want to do with the rest of your life. So I think its important to be brave and follow your passions. If youre really passionate about it it will last  that passion will bring you joy, and fortunately that happened for me.

Has mum been to see the show yet? Shes not been up yet, I was like: Lets get it settled down a bit first. And yeah, Im one of those actors that if I know someone is in the audience then, I will be like looking out for them, trying to see where they are sat. I probably shouldnt say that. Thats a beautiful thing, though, having a relationship with the audience  a two-way thing, thats all right isnt it?!

Whats next? The RSC has got me to the end of the year. Im in King Lear as Edmund. So I will be knocking around Stratford for a bit! And Im involved with Shakespeare Live, the BBC broadcast from the RSC, so Im feeling the 400th vibe!

Hamlet runs at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre on 13th August.
Quickplay and You.i TV Announce Joint Partnership to Deliver Compelling Next Generation Experiences for Premium OTT Services

Partnership will deliver cross-platform front-end user interfaces and scalable, leading managed video solutions for Pay-TV operators

Toronto, Canada( )

Quickplay, the global expert in powering premium video to any device, has today announced a new partnership with You.i TV, creator of a multiscreen application development platform for video applications, enabling Pay-TV operators and content programmers to build custom multiscreen applications. The joint solution will offer customers a highly scalable, flexible multi-tenant platform powered by Quickplays virtual head-end, combined with an industry-leading front-end user interface (UI) to deliver a compelling premium OTT video service across all connected devices, including iOS, tvOS, Android, Amazon Fire, Xbox, PlayStation, Roku, Smart TVs and RDK set-top boxes.

You.i Engines front end technology solution removes the complexity of building custom multiscreen applications by outputting a single codebase that can be used to build and maintain highly interactive, fully branded interfaces. The custom rendering engine accesses the GPU to enable app performance beyond whats possible in native applications, and grants designers unprecedented control of the UI layout and motion via a direct plugin with Adobe Creative Cloud. Quickplays managed video platform provides the backend service via a software defined headend, delivering secure streaming of nearly 700 live channels and hundreds of thousands of hours of encoded VOD content. Quickplay also handles all of the adaptive streaming and content management, including DRM solutions, user entitlements, dynamic advertising insertion, banner ad support, multi-language support, and featured content from over 200 premium content providers.

You.i Engine grants operators and content providers unprecedented freedom to build truly delightful, immersive custom applications on every screen, and unshackles them from the fragmented, proprietary device marketplace, said Jason Flick, CEO of You.i TV. This partnership enables our customers to leverage the additional cost, time-to-market and service quality benefits of QuickPlays software-defined headend capabilities and 24/7 managed service for Next Generation TV services.

The partnership continues Quickplays strategy of providing operators and content programmers with truly open and best-of-breed solutions to the market. Quickplays partnership program also includes leading providers in User Experience (UX), to prevent vendor lock in and provide an open, modular approach that allows operators and content programmers to evolve, better leverage their assets and keep pace with rapid market changes, while achieving lean and agile operations. Quickplay also joined forces with Nokia in September 2015 to enable PAY TV operators to evolve their legacy IPTV platforms to the next generation of TV services to Deliver Next Generation TV Services.

You.i TVs reinvention of how TV operators and programmers build multiscreen applications is driving success with major content brands in Canada and the United States, said Wayne Purboo, CEO and co-founder of Quickplay. Our work with the You.i TV team on existing opportunities for OTT services will play a key role as we continue to build our partner ecosystem to provide the most open, efficient, scalable and robust solution in the market for operators and content programmers to take advantage of Next Generation TV Services.

Quickplay will be exhibiting at NAB 2016 from 18-21 April in South Hall  Upper - 10702CM, where representatives will demonstrate the latest platform enhancements enabling Next Generation TV, including Quickplays market leading solutions in LTE-Broadcast. You.i TV will also be demonstrating its You.i Engine on demo pods in the Quickplay booth.

About Quickplay

Backed by a decade of experience, Quickplay is the global expert in powering TV over any device, allowing premium video service providers to focus on growing their business. Quickplays proven services leverage an open platform, cloud economics, and best-of-breed partners so providers can move faster, operate leaner, and offer the best TV experience anywhere. With facilities and experts in Toronto, San Diego, Singapore, Chennai, and Frankfurt, Quickplay enables one billion viewers around the globe to fast forward to a next generation of TV with over 700 live channels, 4,000 live events each year, and two million securely-managed premium content assets. Quickplay has successfully launched multiscreen video services for the likes of Verizon, AT&T, Rogers, Bloomberg, Bell and TELUS, HOOQ and AccuWeather.

About You.i TV

You.i TV is the company behind You.i Engine, a UI framework built on the principles of video-game engines: artist-driven, cross-platform code with GPU-driven performance. Designers work in the tools they love and export directly into You.i Engine, where developers use the You.i Engine SDK to bring the app together with pre-built bridges to popular video backend technologies and common video views. The result is breathtakingly immersive, custom TV apps that run fluidly on every screen  Android, iOS, tvOS, Amazon, Xbox, PlayStation, Roku, Smart TVs, RDK set-top boxes, and many more.
Anheuser-Busch, a unit of AB InBev SA (NYSE: BUD), announced an agreement to acquire Devils Backbone Brewing Company, the leading and fastest-growing craft brewery in the state of Virginia. Devils Backbone will be the latest partner to join the diverse portfolio of craft breweries within The High End, the company's business unit comprising unique craft and import brands.

"I am extremely pleased to announce the partnership of Devils Backbone Brewing Company with Anheuser-Busch. While we are joining a creative group of craft breweries in the division, Devils Backbone will retain a high level of autonomy and continue its own authentic DNA within The High End framework," said Steve Crandall, co-founder and CEO of Devils Backbone Brewing Company. "The existing management team plans to stay on board for many years, while continuing to innovate and bring locally crafted Virginia beer to the nation."

In 2008, founders Steve and Heidi Crandall opened the doors to Devils Backbone Brewing Company in the Virginia Heartland, after being inspired by a ski trip to northern Italy in 1991 where they had their first taste of Germanic style beer. After success with the first brewpub, Basecamp, the decision was made to break ground on the Outpost facility, in Lexington, Virginia. Originally projected to produce 10,000 barrels of beer in its first ten years, the Outpost produced almost 45,000 barrels in its first three. Steve credits much of this early success to the excellent network of distributors within his system, which is weighted heavily towards Anheuser-Busch.

Today, the Outpost Brewery & Taproom in Lexington serves as the primary production brewery while the Basecamp Brewpub & Meadows in Roseland, serves as a visitor destination. Devils Backbone takes full advantage of the scenic 100-acre Basecamp property surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains, offering a variety of opportunities for guests to enjoy the outdoors. In 2015, the two locations hosted more than 500,000 guests.

"Devils Backbone has captivated beer drinkers in Virginia since opening its doors eight years ago," said Felipe Szpigel, President, The High End. "From the beginning, they have shown creativity and talent with the great beers they brew, and they've been able to use the authentic offerings at Basecamp Brewpub & Meadows to cultivate a fun, outdoor lifestyle that resonates with everyone. Pair these qualities with dynamic leadership and a dream to do something bigger, and you have the recipe for an even more promising future."

While best known for its flagship Vienna Lager, which accounted for nearly 60% of Devils Backbone volume in 2015, the portfolio also includes other award-winning year-round favorites like Eight Point IPA and Schwartz Bier. Developing beers with personality and individual integrity of flavor has helped enable Devils Backbone to win four National titles: 2014 Great American Beer Festival Mid-Size Brewery & Brew Team, 2013 Small Brewing Company & Small Brewing Company Brew Team, 2012 Small Brewpub & Small Brewpub Brewer, 2010 World Beer Cup Champion Brewery, and the Virginia Craft Brewers Fest Best of Show medals in 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012.

First Beverage Group acted as financial advisor to Devils Backbone Brewing Company. Anheuser-Busch's partnership with Devils Backbone is expected to close in the second quarter, subject to customary closing conditions. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Today at Box World Tour Europe, Box (NYSE: BOX) announced Box Zones to provide enterprises with the choice to store data regionally across Europe and Asia. Box Zones will help businesses centralize critical content and enhance productivity, while addressing local data storage requirements. By leveraging Amazon Web Services (AWS) and IBM Cloud, Box Zones will allow content in Box to be stored in Germany, Ireland, Singapore and Japan based on customer needs. Box Zones joins services like Box KeySafe and Box Governance as the latest way that Box provides customers with choice and flexibility in how they deploy Box.

Businesses today are more connected, collaborative and global thanks to the power of the cloud, said Aaron Levie, co-founder and CEO of Box. Yet for many companies, local laws and regulations have forced them to make technology tradeoffs that limit their success and place a drag on employee productivity and collaboration. Box Zones will help power digital transformation for enterprise customers across Europe and Asia and accelerate our international presence.

Today, more than 57,000 businesses, including 59% of the Fortune 500 rely on Box for secure content management and collaboration. Multi-national businesses like Amadeus, AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, General Electric, P&G and Schneider Electric have teams spanning the globe that require secure international collaboration to be successful.

"At Royal HaskoningDHV, we have more than 6,500 employees around the world and Box Zones addresses many of the major challenges that we face," said Roland Daane, Corporate Information Manager, Royal HaskoningDHV. "With this news, we're thrilled that Box is giving us even more choice around how we control and secure our content. This lets us focus on our goal of combining global expertise with local knowledge to deliver a multidisciplinary range of consultancy services in over 150 countries."

Box Zones will support the needs of customers that require regional content storage without sacrificing any of Boxs modern collaboration features like document watermarking, granular permission controls, commenting and tasks, wide-ranging file preview, as well as deep integrations with the tools businesses use the most, like Office 365 and Salesforce.

"Security is the top priority for AWS and our customers. With the recent launch of Box KeySafe running on AWS, Box offers companies of all sizes greater control over their business-critical, sensitive content, and furthers that mission with today's introduction of Box Zones, said Terry Wise, Vice President of Worldwide Partner Ecosystem, Amazon Web Services, Inc. We believe customers should have the freedom to choose where and how their data is stored. With Box Zones leveraging Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), customers can better meet the highest levels of security and regulatory compliance required in their respective geographies.

"As enterprises turn to cloud as an innovation platform, data is at the center," said Robert LeBlanc, senior vice president, IBM Cloud. "Box Zones on the IBM Cloud, with new technology from the recent acquisition of Cleversafe, will provide a platform for clients who prefer to store data in country for performance, security or other advantages. We look forward to expanding our partnership with Box and helping serve clients in Europe and Asia through our network of IBM Cloud Data Centers.

Pricing and Availability

Box Zones is scheduled to be available next month for an additional fee and leverages Amazon S3 on AWS Regions in Germany, Ireland, Japan and Singapore. Box Zones is also scheduled to be available via IBM Cloud in Europe and Asia later this year for an additional fee.
Engility Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: EGL) announced it has been awarded a prime position on the $461 million Program Management Support Services 3 (PMSS-3) Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract by the U.S. Army.

This multiple award, five-year contract vehicle will provide a full range of innovative, world-class support services and solutions to the Army Program Executive Office Enterprise Information Systems (PEO EIS) as it leverages technology to achieve information dominance for the U.S. soldier. PMSS-3 will enable users from PEO EIS headquarters, directorates, program, project and product offices, and organizations related to PEO EIS to support various missions and command, control and communications activities.

The award of PMSS-3 continues Engilitys relationship with PEO EIS, which began under PMSS-1 and 2. The win enables Engility to expand on its current work by delivering assets and expertise to the U.S. Army in the areas of:

Enterprise Design, Integration, and Consolidation Support

Information Systems Security Support

Business Process Reengineering (BPR) Support

Contingency Planning Support

Systems Operation and Maintenance Support

Integrated Logistics Support

Project and Product Management Support

Other Information Technology-related Services and Support

Engility has proudly supported PEO EIS in their vital enterprise IT mission for the past 12 years, said Engility CEO Lynn Dugle. The Army continues to be a valued Engility customer. We are delighted to continue our support for PEO EIS as it manages $3.5 billion in IT investments and fielded systems around the world, providing information dominance for every soldier.
Halyard Health, Inc. (NYSE: HYH) announced today its agreement to acquire privately held CORPAK MedSystems (Corpak), headquartered in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. The acquisition is an all-cash transaction for a total consideration of $174 million, funded with a combination of current cash and Halyard's revolving credit facility and is expected to close in the second quarter. Corpak, a portfolio company of Linden Capital Partners, develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of high-quality, branded enteral access devices.

Corpak has a long history of innovating enteral access solutions to improve patient outcomes, safety and comfort. The company's leading portfolio of nasogastric tubes complements Halyard's existing enteral feeding products and creates a complete offering of enteral feeding solutions for patients and caregivers. Corpak's sales for fiscal year 2015 totaled approximately $54 million.

"We are excited to integrate Corpak's innovative products into our market-leading enteral feeding portfolio enabling us to serve our doctors and their patients more broadly," stated Robert Abernathy, Halyard Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Corpak's business aligns well with our existing Medical Devices segment with slightly higher sales growth and similar gross margins. This first acquisition is an important step in achieving our strategic vision of transforming Halyard into a leading medical devices company, and positioning our business for future growth."

The transaction is expected to be $0.05 accretive to Halyard's fiscal year 2016 adjusted dilutive net earnings per share excluding acquisition, integration-related and intangible amortization charges. As such, the company is updating its previously announced full year 2016 adjusted diluted EPS guidance to $1.50 to $1.70. In 2017 the transaction is expected to be approximately $0.15 accretive.

"Corpak achieved above-market growth through our focus on innovation, team and culture, and strategic realignment to become the 'Preferred Enteral Partner,'" said Frank McCaney, Chief Executive Officer of Corpak. "We believe that Corpak is well positioned for continued achievement and long-term success with Halyard, a company that understands our business, supports our goals and embraces our values."

"Linden is proud to see Corpak find a great home with Halyard," said Brian Miller, a Linden Managing Partner. "During our seven-year ownership, Linden pursued its value creation plan that included an expanded strategy, an enhanced leadership team, a non-core divestiture, multiple joint ventures and acquisitions, new headquarters, direct international expansion, and intensive research and development for new product launches."

Transaction closing is subject to approval under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act and other customary closing conditions.

Robert W. Baird & Co. served as Halyard's exclusive financial advisor and Alston & Bird LLP served as outside legal counsel for Halyard in connection with this transaction.

Houlihan Lokey, Inc. served as Corpak's financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel in connection with this transaction.
Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR), the industry leader in network innovation, today provided certain preliminary estimated financial results for the fiscal first quarter ended March 31, 2016.

Revenue for the first quarter of 2016 is now expected to be in the range of $1,090 million to $1,100 million, below the Company's previous guidance of $1,150 million to $1,190 million, due primarily to weaker than anticipated demand from Enterprise and timing of deployments of certain U.S. and EMEA Tier 1 Telecoms. The Company now expects non-GAAP net income per diluted share of $0.35 to $0.37, compared to the Company's previous guidance of $0.42 to $0.46 per diluted share.

(Street sees Q1 EPS of $0.45 on revenue of $1.18 billion)

The above information is preliminary and subject to completion of quarter-end financial reporting processes and review.

"Although we expect results to be lower than our initial guidance for the first quarter, we remain constructive on fiscal 2016 and expect growth from new products to contribute to our topline, coupled with our ongoing focus on cost discipline to drive non-GAAP operating margin expansion for the full year," stated Rami Rahim, chief executive officer of Juniper Networks.

Conference Call Webcast for First Quarter 2016 Financial Results

Juniper Networks will release full preliminary first quarter financial results on Thursday, April 28, 2016 after the close of the market. The Company's senior management will host a conference call that day at 2:00 pm PT.

To listen to the conference call, the toll free dial-in number is 877-407-8033, international callers dial +1-201-689-8033. Please dial in ten minutes prior to the scheduled conference call time. The call will also be webcast live and archived on the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at http://investor.juniper.net.
Rexford Industrial Realty, Inc. (NYSE: REXR) announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a private REIT that owns a portfolio of nine industrial properties for a total purchase price of approximately $191.0 million, or approximately $125 per square foot, exclusive of closing costs. The acquisition is not subject to a diligence condition. The Company intends to fund a portion of the acquisition through the exercise of an accordion on a recently closed $125.0 million unsecured term loan for an additional $100.0 million in proceeds.

The acquisition of this institutional quality portfolio is another example of the Companys ability to leverage deep local relationships to source high-quality, well-located assets in off-market or lightly marketed transactions, stated Howard Schwimmer and Michael Frankel, Co-Chief Executive Officers of the Company. This accretive acquisition is expected to be completed at below replacement cost and enables the Company to expand our operating leverage as we increase our square footage by 50% in Orange County, in particular, which is one of our key target markets. We are pleased to demonstrate the continued execution of our strategy to accretively grow our portfolio in infill Southern Californias supply constrained industrial markets to create long-term shareholder value.

The portfolio consists of nine properties totaling 1,530,814 net rentable square feet on 79.8 acres, and is 100% leased to twelve tenants with a staggered lease roll and a weighted average remaining lease term of 4.5 years. Two of the buildings were constructed in 2015 and most of the other assets were renovated in the past three years. The properties are located in four of the Companys core infill Southern California markets, including Orange County, Los Angeles-San Gabriel Valley, Inland Empire West, and Central San Diego.

The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2016 and is subject to customary closing conditions.
By Sudarshan Varadhan

(Reuters) - Business Wire, the press release distribution company owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc, resumed services after it suffered a four-hour outage on Monday, delaying the release of many company statements including Alcoa Inc's earnings report.

The disruption was due to a power outage at a third party co-location facility, Chief Operating Officer Richard Deleo said in an emailed statement.

The outage was not related to a cyber attack, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Business Wire's feed went down just before the U.S. stock market closed, with the last release reaching Reuters at 3:44 p.m. ET. The feed at Reuters resumed at 07:15 p.m. ET.

Business Wire's system is fully operational again, Richard Deleo, Chief Operating Officer of the company said in a statement.

For most of that time, Business Wire's website carried a message that read, "The Business Wire site is currently unavailable, but will be back shortly." It asked users to access news releases via Yahoo Finance and other websites.

Business Wire handles the press release dissemination for thousands of companies, including more than half the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Alcoa Chief Executive Klaus-Christian Kleinfeld told CNBC on Monday that the glitch at Business Wire had delayed the release of the metal company's quarterly earnings report, which marks the unofficial beginning of earnings season.

Many companies such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Twitter Inc have moved away from using the services of companies such as Business Wire and its peer PR Newswire Association LLC, choosing instead to release their statements on their websites or through social media.

(Reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan, Subrat Patnaik and Arunima Banerjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Andrew Hay)
By Ann Saphir and Jonathan Spicer

SAN FRANCISCO/RUSTON, La. (Reuters) - A former top Federal Reserve policy advisor called Monday for the Fed's 12 regional outposts to be made government entities, rather than owned, as they have been since their inception more than a century ago, by the banks they regulate.

Banks own shares in their regional Fed bank and appoint six of the nine members of the board, including three bank executives. While the Fed's powerful Washington-based Board, including the Fed Chair, is a government entity, the regional Fed banks are not. The U.S. central bank is the world's only major central bank that is not fully public.

Dartmouth College Professor Andrew Levin also called for seven-year term limits for all Fed policymakers, and stronger outside oversight of the U.S. central bank including annual reviews of monetary policy.

Policymakers often serve a decade or more before retiring, and the details of monetary policymaking have always been a closely guarded secret, with transcripts of meetings released only after a five-year interval.

Levin, who advised Fed Chair Janet Yellen when she was Fed vice chair, released the proposals via the Fed Up Coalition, a network of community organizations and labor unions calling for change to the U.S. central bank. It is unclear how they will be received by other Fed critics who have called for even more sweeping changes, or the institution itself, which has largely resisted reform proposals.

A Fed spokeswoman declined to comment on the proposals, as did representatives of several regional Fed banks, with St. Louis Fed President James Bullard saying he would need to review the proposals before discussing them.

Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan said that while he is very sensitive to the issues the coalition has raised, bankers "havent influenced me, other than Ive been able to get their insight as to what theyre seeing." The banking industry, he added, is a very critical industry for us and we regulate it, and its essential to business and the health of business in this district and the country.

The Fed has come under increasing fire in recent months from both Democrats and Republicans for what they say is a lack of accountability and transparency, with lawmakers and presidential candidates calling for a wide range of limits on the Fed's powers.

In response, some current and former Fed officials have begun to call for steps to placate the U.S. central bank's harshest critics.

Levin on Monday also called for the process of appointing Fed bank presidents to be more transparent and to involve the public. Currently Fed bank presidents are chosen in a closed-door process run by each bank's board and approved by the Washington-based Fed Board.

(Reporting by Ann Saphir; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)
INDIANAPOLIS, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Socius, an award-winning business consulting company specializing in providing ERP, CRM, and Business Intelligence solutions from Microsoft Dynamics, NetSuite, Sage and SYSPRO, has hired Roman Cortez as a business development consultant in Indianapolis, Indiana. Socius currently serves business clients from its headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, and its 28 additional locations across the United States. Cortez' Indianapolis representation of Socius will strengthen the company's presence in the Midwest.

"We're proud to have this highly-experienced individual join our team as a business development consultant," said Jeff Geisler, CEO and Senior Managing Director of Socius. "The expertise Roman brings to the company will be a great asset to our Indianapolis clients as we continue to offer more sophisticated business intelligence solutions."

Cortez brings more than 20 years of business development experience to the position. Throughout his career, he has been successful at developing strong client relationships and business partnerships with all levels of management and staff.

Socius helps companies with ERP, CRM, Cloud and Business Intelligence solutions in industries ranging from supply chain, manufacturing and distribution, to healthcare and financial services. To learn more about how Socius can help businesses leverage technology, visit www.socius1.com, or contact Roman Cortez directly at 614-914-4562.

About Socius:

Socius (www.socius1.com) is a strategic business consulting partner that provides comprehensive business management solutions to help companies leverage technology to fuel their growth and profitability and compete more successfully in today's economy. As a Gold Certified Microsoft Partner, a Sage Authorized Partner, and the largest NetSuite Partner in Ohio, Socius represents the most trusted accounting, enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), and business intelligence and analytics technologies on the market. Backed by over 30 years of award-winning experience, Socius proudly serves clients throughout the country from its headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, and its 28 additional locations.

For more information, contact: Erin Paulson, Marketing Manager614-798-0770[email protected]

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160412/354341LOGO

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/experienced-business-development-consultant-roman-cortez-joins-socius-300250104.html

SOURCE Socius
COLUMBUS, OH -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 -- Huntington Bank has been named the winner of the 2016 TNS Choice Award for Consumer Retail Banking in the 20-state Central Region of the U.S. This marks the fourth time in the past five years that Huntington has won the recognition and led the Central Region. TNS presented the award to Huntington for both attracting and retaining customers at rates better than any of the top 10 banks in the Central region. TNS also recognized Huntington as earning the highest overall customer satisfaction rating, and as having the most favorably regarded bank brand.

"To win the TNS Choice Award four out of five years is a real testament to our colleagues' commitment to look out for our customers. It is a great example of consistent and focused execution year over year," said Steve Steinour, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Huntington.

"We are grateful to our customers for their recognition of our bankers who deliver such outstanding service," said Mary Navarro, Huntington's retail and business banking director. "Our bankers are focused on doing the right thing for our customers. They know that a good customer experience is knowing and understanding their customer's needs and providing convenient ways to bank. This recognition, among others, continues to tell us that we are executing consistently on our strategies."

"The TNS Choice Awards are not simply recognition of doing one thing well. Recipients put many elements together in a way that yields success in the marketplace." said Charles Schembri, vice president of multi-client programs and manager of the TNS Choice Awards, which are well-known in the industry for recognizing banks that outperform their competitors in acquiring, retaining, share of wallet, and developing customers.

Huntington leads the Central Region, which consists of the following 20 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.

Winners of the TNS Choice Award are determined by using data from TNS's multi-client research programs. These results are determined using several different metrics, each providing an indication of how individual firms are performing vs. their competitors. The award goes to the one provider with the highest score.

About TNS

TNS advises clients on specific growth strategies around new market entry, innovation, brand switching and stakeholder management, based on long-established expertise and market-leading solutions. With a presence in over 90 countries, TNS has more conversations with the world's consumers than anyone else and understands individual human behaviors and attitudes across every cultural, economic and political region of the world.

Please visit www.tnsglobal.com for more information.

About Huntington

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated is a $71 billion asset regional bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, with a network of more than 750 branches and more than 1,500 ATMs across six Midwestern states. Founded in 1866, The Huntington National Bank and its affiliates provide consumer, small business, commercial, treasury management, wealth management, brokerage, trust, and insurance services. Huntington also provides auto dealer, equipment finance, national settlement and capital market services that extend beyond its core states. Visit huntington.com for more information.

The Huntington National Bank is an Equal Housing Lender and Member FDIC. and Huntington  are federally registered service marks of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated.

Source: Huntington Bancshares Incorporated
WASHINGTON, DC -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 -- The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies has presented two back-to-back popular items titled "Courthouse Steps Teleforum Preview: Regulatory Crimes: Clay v. U.S. Oral Argument" and a podcast "Courthouse Steps Teleforum Call: Regulatory Crimes: Clay v. U.S. Oral Argument". In these two pieces, John J. (Jack) Park, Jr., of counsel to the law firm Strickland Brockington Lewis, LLP, first previews the oral argument in U.S. v. Clay in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals and then follows up with a live post-argument analysis of it in a recorded podcast. U.S. v. Clay has gained national attention in the legal community as a prime example of overcriminalization of regulatory disputes where businesses make reasonable efforts to comply with unclear laws and where civil and administrative remedies would be more appropriate than criminal prosecution. A decision in the case is expected shortly.

In the Federalist Society Podcast preview of the argument, Jack Park noted that the case "raises important questions about the nature of regulatory prosecutions," particularly in determining "what conduct constitutes a crime and what mental state is required to prove criminal conduct." The U.S. v. Clay case arises out of a contract dispute between WellCare, a Florida Medicaid provider, and the State of Florida over how much unused Medicaid funds WellCare should have been returned to the State of Florida. The so-called "80/20" law in question provided that WellCare was required to spend 80 percent of the funds on certain behavioral health care services and return amounts under 80% that were not spent. As Park explained, after consulting "WellCare's attorneys, including outside counsel who formerly worked for the Florida regulators," WellCare counted payments made to its affiliate as being within the spending obligation. So did some of WellCare's competitors. As Park further explained, there was an "absence of any clear Florida statute or regulations" to show that WellCare's method of computing the refund was unreasonable. Despite this good faith and reasonable interpretation of the law, WellCare executives were prosecuted, whereas its competitor was only sued in civil court. The central issue on appeal is "whether a crime was even committed," argues Park.

After attending the oral argument in the Eleventh Circuit in Jacksonville, Florida on October 2, 2015, Jack Park analyzed it in a live Federalist Society "Courthouse Steps Teleforum" one-hour podcast. In his observations, Park noted that bulk of the questioning during the rare two-hour oral argument came from Circuit Judge Frank Hull to Seth Waxman, former Solicitor General of the United States and counsel to the former CEO of WellCare. The other judges on the panel were Circuit Judge Gerald Tjoflat and visiting District Court Judge James Hall. Per Park's analysis, Judge Hull's questioning focused on the provisions of the lengthy contract between WellCare and Florida, grilling the government attorney as to what gave WellCare notice that its use of a subsidiary were not allowed. As for the mens rea issue, Judge Hull stated during the argument that even she "was confused about [the] template [expense reporting form]," and suggested that the prosecution's position was weaker for the 2006 period than that for 2005 where the jury acquitted the defendants of any wrongdoing. Finally, Park observed that Judge Hall was particularly concerned about the prosecution's use at trial of the after-the-fact restatement of earnings filed by WellCare with the Securities and Exchange Commission, telling the government attorney that the use of such evidence was "big time prejudicial." Park concluded the podcast stating that the government should inform a regulated company "what's the rules of the road" before criminally prosecuting executives and that there are sufficient civil and administrative remedies to handle these kinds of regulatory disputes.

The Federalist Society's Teleforum Preview of the U.S. v. Clay oral argument was published on September 30, 2015, and the Courthouse Steps post-argument podcast was first aired live from Jacksonville, Florida on October 2, 2015. The Federalist Society is a well-respected national organization based in Washington, D.C. and dedicated to advancing principles of individual liberty, traditional values, and the rule of law. Jack Park previously served as the Deputy Attorney General of Alabama and participated in three Supreme Court victories on behalf of Alabama. Park was also a Visiting Legal Fellow in the Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C.

Regulatory Crimes: Clay v. US Oral Argument - The Federalist Society: http://www.fed-soc.org/blog/detail/courthouse-steps-teleforum-preview-regulatory-crimes-clay-v-us-oral-argument

To access The Federalist Society Courthouse Steps post-argument Teleforum Podcast, visit: http://www.fed-soc.org/multimedia/detail/regulatory-crimes-clay-v-us-oral-argument-podcast

For more information about the WellCare Criminal Prosecution Case, visit: http://www.nacdl.org/USvClay/

John J. Park, Jr.Strickland Brockington Lewis LLPMidtown Proscenium Suite 22001170 Peachtree Street NEAtlanta, Georgia [email protected]

Source: Sbllaw.net
A worker paints a tank of Brazil's state-run Petrobras oil company in Brasilia, Brazil in this September 30, 2015, file photo. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino/Files

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian police arrested former senator Gim Argello on Tuesday, federal prosecutors said, as part of a two-year corruption investigation that has given momentum to impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff.

The probe centered on state-run oil producer Petroleo Brasileiro SA (NYSE: PBR) has uncovered systemic corruption at multiple companies and at the highest levels of government since the Workers' Party took power in 2003. Rousseff herself is not being investigated.

The 28th round of police raids in the so-called "Operation Car Wash" probe was based on evidence that Argello, from the centrist PTB party, took bribes to ensure executives at major infrastructure companies would not be summoned by an investigative congressional committee in 2014, prosecutors said.

"These are alarming facts because they strongly suggest that a congressional investigative committee, which has an important role in our democracy, was used by a senator for corruption instead of fighting it," prosecutor Athayde Ribeiro Costa said in the statement.

Prosecutors said construction firms UTC Engenharia SA and OAS SA [OAEP.UL] paid Argello 5 million ($1.44 million) and 350,000 reais ($100,519), respectively. Executives at those firms were arrested at earlier stages of the probe.

Other builders are being investigated, according to the statement.

In an emailed response, an OAS spokeswoman said the company was providing all information requested by police and will continue to collaborate as needed. OAS requested bankruptcy protection last year.

A UTC representative said the company would not comment on ongoing investigations.

Tuesday's police raids took place in the states of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro and in the federal district. Potential crimes under investigation include corruption, money laundering and criminal association.

Dozens of executives from Brazil's top construction and engineering firms have been charged with bribery and money laundering, and about 50 politicians are being investigated for receiving kickbacks off contracts with Petrobras.

The lower house of Brazil's Congress is expected to hold a key vote on Rousseff's impeachment on Sunday. If two-thirds of members vote in favor, the case will be sent to the Senate.

Caught in a political storm fueled in part by Brazil's worst recession in decades, Rousseff has lost key coalition allies in Congress. A lower house committee on Monday voted 38-27 to recommend her impeachment.

It would be the first impeachment of a Brazilian president since 1992 when Fernando Collor de Mello faced massive protests seeking his ouster on corruption charges.

($1 = 3.4819 reais)

(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu; Writing by Silvio Cascione; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
Gjorge Ivanov, President of Macedonia, addresses the 69th United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters in New York September 26, 2014. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

By Kole Casule

SKOPJE (Reuters) - Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov ordered a halt on Tuesday to all criminal inquiries into allegations of a vast government wiretap operation, prompting the opposition to demand his resignation for a move it said amounted to a "coup d'etat".

Macedonia, a poor Balkan country of two million people on the front line of Europe's refugee crisis, has been in turmoil since the opposition accused then-Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and his counter-intelligence chief in February last year of orchestrating the wiretapping of more than 20,000 people.

Ivanov's decision on Tuesday to shelve all investigations into the scandal, an action also sharply criticized by the European Union as contrary to the rule of law, looks set to compound rather than ease the crisis.

"I have decided to put an end to this agony for Macedonia," Ivanov told reporters, announcing he would sign a decree bringing a halt to all legal proceedings against politicians over the wiretap allegations.

Opposition Social Democratic leader Zoran Zaev, who made the original allegations, rejected Ivanov's decision as a "coup".

"We want Gjorge Ivanov to resign. If he doesn't do that, he will lead the state to the brink. This today is a coup d'etat. We will use all tools that we have to stop it," Zaev told a news conference, adding that he would call for a protest against the decision.

Several hundred protesters gathered soon afterwards, throwing eggs at Ivanov's office and ruling party headquarters and pushing and shoving with police.

The EU commissioner in charge of relations with would-be member states, such as Macedonia, condemned Ivanov's decision as contrary to the rule of law and questioned whether a general election planned soon could be credible.

The EU's Johannes Hahn said recent actions by the Macedonian leadership had jeopardized the former Yugoslav republic's prospects of closer relations with the EU and NATO.

EU DEAL

The opposition released a slew of phone-taps last year that they said had been made by allies of Gruevski and which it said exposed government control over journalists, judges, public sector recruitment and the manipulation of elections.

Ivanov is an ally of Gruevski, who backed the president's election, though the president's powers are limited under Macedonia's parliamentary system.

The EU brokered a deal with Macedonia under which a special prosecutor was appointed to investigate the revelations and Gruevski agreed to an early election, now expected in June. The opposition has already pledged to boycott the election.

The special prosecutor launched criminal proceedings in February against two former ministers on suspicion of intimidating voters.

Gruevski and his center-right VMRO-DPMNE party denied any wrongdoing.

Shortly before he aired the wiretapping allegations last year, Zaev was charged with conspiring with an unidentified foreign intelligence service to topple the government.

It was not immediately clear whether Ivanov's decision to halt all criminal proceedings applied to Zaev, but the opposition leader said that, in any case, he would reject such a step. "I neither ask for nor will accept amnesty," he said. "We are not all the same and we are not all criminals."

Ivanov said he was intervening because the long-running crisis had seriously damaged Macedonia, which closed its border in March to thousands of migrants hoping to reach northern Europe, leaving them bottled up in Greece.

"Politics (has) turned itself into who will open more criminal proceedings or submit criminal charges against one another," Ivanov said. "The thing is so tangled up that nobody can untangle it."

Arsim Zekolli, a former Macedonian ambassador to the main European security and rights watchdog OSCE, told the Balkan Insight news website that Ivanov's decision was to be expected "in a country where it is common knowledge that it is run by one political party and where crime and corruption flourish."

"We have no parliament, no judiciary and a police controlled by a political party...This is indescribable, Zekolli said.

(Additional reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic in Belgrade and Alastair Macdonald in Brussels; Writing by Adrian Croft; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Peru's Finance Minister Alonso Segura talks to the press prior to the 2015 IMF/World Bank annual meetings event in Lima, October 6, 2015. REUTERS/Mariana Bazo

By Marco Aquino

LIMA (Reuters) - Peru's next president must be "very careful" not to jeopardize the country's long-term economic stability and credit ratings with new stimulus spending aimed at boosting growth, Finance Minister Alonso Segura said on Tuesday.

Keiko Fujimori and Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, Peru's presidential candidates, have proposed widening the fiscal deficit temporarily to help pay for new infrastructure projects after a decade-long mining boom ended.

Economic growth in the global minerals exporter dropped off sharply in 2014 as commodity prices tumbled but has been slowly rebounding from surging output from new copper mines.

Segura said Peru's economy would likely expand by 3.8 or 3.9 percent this year before surpassing the potential growth rate of 4 percent in 2017.

"An economy that is recovering and registering sustainable growth doesn't need fiscal stimulus... it needs countercyclical policies," Segura said told Reuters.

Peruvians will choose between Fujimori and Kuczynski in a second-round presidential election on June 5. Markets rallied after the two conservatives pushed out a leftist rival in Sunday's general election to emerge as the run-off pairing.

But whoever takes office on July 28 will oversee the economy's transition as prices for the country's key mineral exports continue to slump.

"You have to be very careful because you're not going to be able to generate enough resources and if you veer off your fiscal trajectory you put the economy's sustainability and fiscal credibility at risk," Segura said.

Fujimori, the center-right daughter of imprisoned ex-president Alberto Fujimori, has vowed to tap the finance ministry's nearly $7 billion fiscal stabilization fund and sell bonds to finance a "shock" of roads, reservoirs, canals and other public works across Peru.

Wall Street favorite Kuczynski would cut taxes and wants to boost the role of the private sector in developing infrastructure.

Peru, rated A3/BBB+/BBB+ by Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch, posted a budget deficit equal to 2.1 percent of gross domestic product last year and expects a similar gap in 2016.

"We're already spending substantially more, almost double what we spent seven or eight years ago," Segura said.

Fujimori's economic adviser said she would widen the budget deficit to an unspecified new figure but leave it at zero at the end of the five-year term in 2020. Kuczynski proposed raising it to 3 percent before leaving it at 1 percent.

President Ollanta Humala, a former leftist military officer who turned to the right in political leanings after assuming power in 2011, is not running for office again because of term limits.

(Reporting By Marco Aquino, Writing by Mitra Taj; editing by Bernard Orr and Bill Rigby)
People wait to enter Peking Union Hospital in Beijing, China, early in the morning on April 6, 2016. Picture taken April 6, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

By Adam Jourdan

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - As day breaks, hundreds of patients wait to see doctors in a line that snakes around the Peking Union hospital in Beijing. Many will wait in vain - "scalpers" like Yu Wei have already illegally bought and sold appointment tickets for the day ahead.

Yu, 32, makes a living touting the tickets that Chinese hospitals sell in advance for consultations. His tickets will get a patient in front of a doctor in two days, he says, compared with a wait that can be up to a fortnight.

Dodging passing police patrols as part of his daily routine, Yu charges 850 yuan ($131) for a "special care" appointment ticket - almost three times the face value. He told Reuters he keeps 200 yuan from each sale, with the rest of the profit going to hospital insiders who he said help him secure the tickets.

"The city's upper middle class are always willing to pay this amount or even higher - as long as they can get an appointment," Yu said, speaking between frequent phone calls that he said came from would-be clients. In the background, other scalpers competed for custom, shouting out their prices.

The street crime casts light on the scale of the challenge President Xi Jinping faces as he looks to overhaul a creaking and underfunded public health system to deliver on a promise of affordable and accessible care for all.

In line with this drive, authorities have tried to crack down on healthcare corruption and police say they have detained some 240 scalpers in Beijing alone this year. Many patients and doctors say, though, the time-served practice is just a symptom of deeper issues: a dearth of doctors and low salaries meaning graft is endemic.

"Scalpers are a real headache for us," a spokeswoman for the Peking Union hospital surnamed Chen told Reuters by phone. "There's a crackdown on them, but it's a hard problem to cure."

The spokeswoman added the hospital and its doctors were victims of scalpers and were not involved in the practice.

DOZENS OF SCALPERS

A viral video earlier this year of a woman with her sick mother raging against scalpers brought a public outcry and calls for arrests and tough jail sentences. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3lUF5XXnuw)

Authorities have promised to intensify their crackdown. But when Reuters visited hospitals in Shanghai and Beijing, dozens of scalpers operated in plain sight, loudly offering tickets for sale.

A spokesman at the Beijing city health department said police needed to "strengthen" their efforts, and it would take some time to see any real results. China's national health ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Feng Jianqi, a police officer involved in leading the crackdown on scalpers in Beijing, said the police could not resolve the issue alone. Part of the problem was that so many patients wanted to see the same doctors, he said.

"It's just not realistic to totally eradicate scalpers. It's just too hard," he told Reuters by phone.

The problem is acute for patients like Cao Dongxian. The middle-aged school teacher traveled to Beijing in May last year from his home in Shandong province after local doctors refused to carry out a risky intestinal cancer operation.

State insurance coverage is limited in China, meaning patients often have to pay a large part if healthcare costs themselves, especially those with major long-term diseases like cancer or diabetes.

Keen to avoid paying scalpers, Cao spent months queuing in hospital lines for repeat tests before doctors eventually said his cancer needed an urgent operation. Cao was then told he would have to begin queuing again: this time for a hospital bed.

"It was October by the time I got to have my operation ... more than four months," Cao said. "On top of that your body's in pain - it really hurts."

'MARKET PRICE'

In hindsight, Cao said he wished he had gone to scalpers straight away. Doctors also appear resigned to the practice, as wealth spreads in China and patients accept the reality that paying more will bring speedier treatment.

"(Basic) appointment fees don't reflect the economic value of doctors' skills and experience," said Wu Yuan, an eye doctor at the Peking University First Hospital in Beijing.

"Scalpers are simply selling the doctor's appointment at a price the market is prepared to pay," Wu said. He said the practice was routine but that he had no knowledge of any doctor involvement in ticket resales.

Even as China's hospitals suffer, the broader market for drugs and services is a lure for firms like e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding and hospital operator Phoenix Healthcare, attracted by a wider healthcare bill that is set to hit $1.3 trillion by 2020.

For patients like Cao or Zhang Pengyu, a 38-year-old realtor from the outskirts of Beijing, scalpers are source of frustration and anger, but sometimes a necessary evil.

He waited unsuccessfully for three nights to see an ear, nose and throat doctor at Beijing Tongren Hospital. He finally gave in to scalpers, paying 3,000 yuan for a 10-minute appointment that should have cost just 200 yuan.

"I wanted to queue myself and not pay so much money, but I just couldn't wait any more. I didn't have time," said Zhang.

(Reporting by SHANGHAI newsroom and Adam Jourdan; Additional reporting by Elaine Tan in MANILA and Natalie Thomas in BEIJING; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
A worker from United attends to some customers during their check in process at Newark International airport in New Jersey, in this file photo dated November 15, 2012. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

(Reuters) - United Continental Holdings Inc (NYSE: UAL) will likely comply with two hedge funds' request and add directors to its board, including an independent chairman, CNBC reported on Monday.

An agreement with the funds, PAR Capital Management Inc and Altimeter Capital Management LP, may come within the next week, CNBC reported, citing unidentified sources.

The funds, which together own about 7 percent of the U.S. airline, launched a fight for control in March, proposing a slate of directors led by former Continental Airlines Chief Executive Gordon Bethune to shake up the board of the poorly performing airline.

United tried to placate shareholders by expanding its board by three directors in March. The new appointments included James Whitehurst, former chief operating officer of Delta Air Lines Inc (NYSE: DAL) and Robert Milton, former chief executive of Air Canada (NYSE: AC).

United declined to comment.

Altimeter and PAR could not immediately be reached for comment.

(Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Peter Cooney)
By Mohammed Mukhashaf

ADEN (Reuters) - A truce aimed at ending more than a year of war in Yemen appeared to be largely holding on Monday, although residents said fighting was still going on in parts of the country.

The U.N.-brokered ceasefire is meant to precede peace talks in a country that has become the face of rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran. It seemed to be holding up despite "pockets of violence", U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in New York.

Artillery fire, gun battles and air strikes by a Saudi-led coalition were reported across Yemen, but a spokesman for the Iranian-allied Houthi movement said on Monday the group would respect the cessation of hostilities.

"We express our condemnation of air strikes and the military advances made in some fronts since this morning," Mohammed Abdel-Salam said in a statement on his Facebook page.

The Houthis said they had set up committees in six provinces to prevent escalation and coordinate aid efforts with the United Nations.

Earlier on Monday, the Yemeni government and its Houthi adversaries blamed each other for violence in the city of Taiz. Saudi-owned al-Arabiya TV accused the Houthis of launching a ballistic missile, in violation of the truce.

The Soviet-era Tochka missile was fired into the battle-scarred northern desert province of al-Jawf but was intercepted in mid-air, the network reported.

Residents reported air attacks in support of government forces in the provinces of Taiz, al-Jawf and on the outskirts of Sanaa, the capital.

"There's continuous shelling in the downtown and the suburbs, and we can hear explosions across the city," said Jameel Abdo Ahmed, a civil servant in the battered frontline city of Taiz. Another resident said: "Nothing's changed."

A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reports of continued air strikes.

PEACE TALKS SET

U.N.-sponsored peace talks are set to begin on April 18 in Kuwait, bringing together the Houthis and the Saudi-backed government. The Houthis forced the government out of the Sanaa in 2014, in what they called a revolution against corruption.

Saudi Arabia and its allies from the Sunni Muslim Gulf states began a military campaign in March last year to prevent the Houthis and forces loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh from taking control of the whole country.

The Saudi-led coalition expelled enemy fighters from the southern port city of Aden in July, but Houthi forces continue to hold the capital and tracts of the country, with the help of Saleh loyalists. More than 6,200 Yemenis have been killed in the war.

The Saudis fear the Houthis, who belong to a Shi'ite sect, will spread the influence of Iran, their Shi'ite rival, in the Arabian Peninsula.

The United Nations special envoy for Yemen said a committee of military representatives from both sides would work to make the truce hold.

"Now is the time to step back from the brink," Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said.

The truce terms included commitments for unhindered access for relief aid. Nearly half of Yemen's 22 provinces are on the verge of famine, the U.N. World Food Programme has said.

The foreign minister in the Saudi-backed government, Abdel Malek al-Mekhlafi, told al-Arabiya TV: "This truce is in its early stages, violations may occur in the beginning, but we hope the next few hours will see more discipline towards the ceasefire."

(Additional reporting by Mohammed Ghobari in Cairo and Sylvia Westall in Dubai; Writing by Noah Browning and Tom Finn; Editing by Robin Pomeroy and Larry King)
UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

FORM 6-K

REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER

PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16

UNDER THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Report on Form 6-K dated 12 April 2016

(Commission File No. 001-35053)

INTERXION HOLDING N.V.

(Translation of Registrants Name into English)

Tupolevlaan 24, 1119 NX Schiphol-Rijk, The Netherlands, +31 20 880 7600

(Address of Principal Executive Office)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F.

Form 20-F x Form 40-F 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1): 

Note: Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1) only permits the submission in paper of a Form 6-K if submitted solely to provide an attached annual report to security holders.

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7) ): 

Note: Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7) only permits the submission in paper of a Form 6-K if submitted to furnish a report or other document that the registrant foreign private issuer must furnish and make public under the laws of the jurisdiction in which the registrant is incorporated, domiciled or legally organized (the registrants home country), or under the rules of the home country exchange on which the registrants securities are traded, as long as the report or other document is not a press release, is not required to be and has not been distributed to the registrants security holders, and, if discussing a material event, has already been the subject of a Form 6-K submission or other Commission filing on EDGAR.

This report contains Interxion Holding N.V.s press releases announcing the private offering of 150 million of 6.00% Senior Secured Notes due 2020.

The company expects to close the transaction on 14 April 2016, subject to customary closing conditions, with net proceeds of approximately 155 million.

This Report on Form 6-K is incorporated by reference into the Registration Statement on Form S-8 of the Registrant originally filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 23, 2011 (File No. 333-175099) and into the Registration Statement on Form S-8 of the Registrant originally filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 2, 2014 (File No. 333-196447).

Exhibit 99.1 The press release Interxion Holding N.V. Announces Private Offering of 150 million of 6.00% Senior Secured Notes due 2020, dated 11 April 2016.

SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

INTERXION HOLDING N.V. By: /s/ David C. Ruberg Name: David C. Ruberg Title: Chief Executive Officer

Date: 12 April 2016

Exhibit 99.1

Press release 11 April 2016

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO ANY PERSON LOCATED OR RESIDENT IN ANY JURISDICTION

WHERE IT IS UNLAWFUL TO DISTRIBUTE THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.

Interxion Holding N.V. Announces Private Offering of 150 million of 6.00% Senior Secured Notes due 2020

Amsterdam, The Netherlands  11 April 2016 - Interxion Holding N.V. (Interxion, we, us, or the Company) (NYSE: INXN) today announced that it intends to offer, subject to market and other conditions, 150 million aggregate principal amount of its 6.00% Senior Secured Notes due 2020 (the Notes). The Notes will be guaranteed by certain subsidiaries of the Company. The Notes are being issued under the indenture dated July 3, 2013 pursuant to which the Company has issued 475 million in aggregate principal amount of 6.00% Senior Secured Notes due 2020.

The Company expects to use the net proceeds of the offering (i) to pay for capital expenditures related to expansions of its existing data centres and for new data centres, (ii) to pay fees and expenses incurred in connection with the offering, and (iii) for other general corporate purposes.

The Notes and the guarantees thereof have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act), or applicable state securities laws. Accordingly, the Notes will be offered only to qualified institutional buyers and to persons outside the United States in reliance on Rule 144A and Regulation S under the Securities Act, respectively. Unless so registered, the Notes may not be offered or sold in the United States except pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. Prospective purchasers that are qualified institutional buyers are hereby notified that the seller of the Notes may be relying on the exemption from the provisions of Section 5 of the Securities Act provided by Rule 144A.

This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state.

Neither the content of Interxions website nor any website accessible by hyperlinks on Interxions website is incorporated in, or forms part of, this announcement. The distribution of this announcement into certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law. Persons into whose possession this announcement comes should inform themselves about and observe any such restrictions. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

Forward-looking Statements

This communication contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events may differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results and future events to differ materially from Interxions expectations include, but are not limited to, the difficulty of reducing operating expenses in the short term, the inability to utilise the capacity of newly planned data centres and data centre expansions, significant competition, the cost and supply of electrical power, data centre industry over-capacity, performance under service level agreements, certain other risks detailed herein and other risks described from time to time in Interxions filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Interxion does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking information contained in this report.

Contact:

Jim Huseby

Investor Relations

Interxion

Tel: +1-813-644-9399

[email protected]
A Taranaki man assaulted a tourist because he was upset about being overtaken.

A terrified tourist fled into a service station shop to escape a Taranaki man who had objected to being overtaken a few minutes earlier.

Joshua Mose, of Stratford, pleaded guilty to assault with intent to injure, when he appeared in the Hawera District Court on Tuesday.

Police prosecutor Steve Hickey said Mose, 23, was driving on SH3 north with his partner and children towards Eltham on March 12 at 10.30am, when he was overtaken on a passing lane by the victim.

The defendant took exception to being passed and followed the victim's vehicle into Eltham, where he pulled into a petrol station. Mose parked his car and crossed the road to the service station, taking off his shirt as he went. After a brief conversation with the victim, the victim apologised and Mose punched him in the face and also kicked him twice.

The victim fled into the service station shop. He had suffered redness and the start of bruising on his neck and was extremely frightened, said Hickey.

READ MORE:

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* Police investigate tourist assault at backpackers

The defendant had told police at the scene he was sorry for his actions, Hickey said.

"This is an appalling demonstration of road rage aggravated by the fact its an assault against a tourist. It certainly doesn't do anything for New Zealand in terms of being a safe place to visit. People should be able to drive on a road and do overtaking manoeuvres without fear of being set upon," said Judge Lynne Harrison.

"What makes it worse is it was witnessed by your partner and children."

Counsel Kelly Marriner said her client had wanted to contact the victim to apologise but because the victim was a tourist and had left the country, this was not possible.

"He accepts that his behaviour was not acceptable. His intention when he first approached th victim was to confront him about it but he lost his cool."

She said Mose had been out of trouble for a number of years and had a partner and children who were a stabilising influence on him.

Judge Harrison sentenced him to 100 hours community work with six months supervision and conditions requiring him to address his anger issues.
A vicious dog attack on a pregnant woman only stopped once a neighbour rattled a fence to distract them.

It allowed her time to dial a pin code to unlock a door and seek refuge inside the house.

Initially alerted by the young woman's "blood curdling screams", neighbours climbed through a window to treat bloody wounds to her legs and arms.

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Emergency services were called to Glenrowan Ave, in Christchurch, about 7.30pm Tuesday after a dog attack on a woman, believed to be 23 years old and 30 weeks' pregnant.

The two dogs involved  described as staffordshire, terrier and mastiff-type breeds  were unregistered.

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ALICE CANNET/Stuff.co.nz Kiwis say we have to be cautious around potentially dangerous dogs but they shouldn't be banned.

A tenant said the young female dog, Narla, was on heat, and was the aggressor in the attack. He claimed his own dog, Deizel, tried to defend the woman as she fought off Narla in the dark.

Narla was a stray dog rescued from the red zone five months ago. She belonged to a friend who dropped her at the house at the weekend to breed with Deizel  a 2-year-old staffordshire bull terrier.

Neighbour Linda Steven was in her garage before other residents came streaming our of their houses.

"We heard heard these blood-curdling screams, I thought it was the dogs fighting and the kids shouting."

STOCK IMAGE It is the third serious dog attack in Christchurch since last Thursday.

Corye Whyte, who lived next to the property, ran outside and tried to lure the dogs away from the woman, who was home alone at the time.

"We started banging on the gate just to get the dog away from her just to give her enough time to get inside. It worked. And then, as soon as she was inside that's when we rung the ambulance."

The woman, who was heading from a modified granny flat at the rear of the property into the house, dialled a pin code to unlock the door and escape the attack.

The dogs were behind a fence, but there was no access to the house from the front yard. Whyte and others climbed in through the front window to treat her.

"It was pretty messy. There was a lot of blood. One foot was pretty bad, and her other one had a couple of bite [marks] on it, and her forearm had a bite, and the [other arm] had a couple of puncture wounds."

Whyte, who once bred staffordshire dogs, said Narla was "more involved" than Deizel.

[Deizel] doesn't have a nature of biting, kids can jump all over him and stuff like that.

"It was more [Narla]. Because she was on heat I think it was more the excitement sort of thing. The owner of the older dog didn't know the nature of [her]."

TENANT DEFENDS DOG

Deizel's owner believed his dog tried to defend the woman from Narla, who had earlier broken free from a collar used to tie her up.

He said the woman received a "small bite" from Deizel during attack, but he believed it was accidental as he tried to fend Narla off.

"Deizel was trying to defend her, and he's realised f... that's a human hand and let her go. He's carried on and pushed the other dog. If Deizel was involved, the injuries would have been absolutely tremendous."

He said he earlier warned his flatmates "don't trust" Narla because of her rough background, including a period as a stray dog in the Avondale red zone.

In the days leading up the attack, Narla was aggressive towards another flatmate. Deizel bit her to defend him, the man said.

"The only way Deizel will be put down is if it's court-ordered."

DOGS SEIZED

The Christchurch City Council said it received a complaint a woman was attacked by "a dog or dogs".

A spokeswoman said the council had seized both dogs. It had no record of either dog, as they were not micro-chipped or registered.

"Council has not received or obtained formal statements from either the victim or dog owner at this stage."

Acting Senior Sergeant Kath Pomfrett said police helped ambulance staff climb through a window to get to the woman. She had bites to both legs and an arm.

"Animal control are investigating further in regards to potential prosecution," she said.

In 2015, the Christchurch City Council's 11 field animal management officers responded to 1276 priority one dog complaints, which included attacks on people.

National debate has recently reignited over banning dangerous dog breeds after a spate of attacks.

A pit bull staffordshire cross was destroyed after mauling Caleb Ross, 2, at his Woolston home on Friday. The boy was rushed to hospital with three "deep bites" to the upper left part of his head.

He received seven stitches and was discharged on Sunday.

The attack happened just a day before 7-year-old Darnell Mikaere Minarapa-Brown was mauled by his uncle's pit bull terrier in Auckland.

A 72-year-old woman was set upon by a dog last Thursday, while cycling near her Christchurch home. She sustained serious leg injuries and had to undergo surgery, including a skin graft that transferred skin from her left thigh to the site of the wound on her left shin.
Severe coastal erosion at Punakaiki's Beach Camp is threatening one of the country's prime campgrounds.

Erosion at one of New Zealand's prime campgrounds has reached a "critical point" with 11 metres of land swallowed by the sea in the past month.

Craig Findlay, the manager of the Punakaiki Beach Camp on the West Coast, said erosion had almost reached a point of no return at his site in the village famous for the Pancake Rocks.

"It's now at the point it's critical that something needs to be done. If we do nothing the campground will be lost. At the rate it's going I don't think it'll survive the winter," he said.

Punakaiki Beach Camp is about 700m from the Pancake Rocks.

The 3-hectare camground, with capacity for 250 guests, has 25,000 visitors a year. It is about 700m north of Punakaiki's pancake rocks which attract about 500,000 visitors a year. The village has about 100 ratepayers.

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Findlay and his wife, Sue, have leased the campground from the Buller District Council for the past two years.

Joanne Carroll Punakaiki campground manager Craig Findlay is worried about the threat of severe coastal erosion

Originally a Department of Conservation site, the council purchased the buildings and operated it until leasing the campground to the Findlays.

Findlay said a rock wall was built along the southern end of the beach about 10 years ago, paid for by 33 ratepayers.

"The council could have paid to extend the sea wall to protect the camp 10 years ago, but they didn't because they said it was too expensive. Now we are back to where we began," he said.

Stuff.co.nz Coastal erosion is a serious issue in New Zealand. At Punakaiki, a king tide caused the loss of 11 metres of coastline earlier this year.

The Findlays owned a house behind the seawall and paid $5000 a year towards its construction and maintenance.

Findlay said he was two years into a 20-year lease, but he did not know how much longer the camp could operate as the sea was threatening a wetland area where the campground's sewerage was treated.

A storm last month took 8m of land. Since then another 3m had disappeared with king tides at the weekend "nibbling away" the beach.

Large trees protecting the campground from rough seas and southerly winds were threatened.

"Once they go, it is all downhill from there," he said.

"If we hadn't built the sea wall we wouldn't have any houses there now, and if we don't extend it to protect the campground it will be gone too," he said.

After a rating district meeting in November, the regional council had commissioned an engineer to write a report that will be put to a community meeting on April 20.

"Without the campground accommodation options would be severely cut. We have the Pike 29 Memorial Great Walk coming in 2018. It will end just over the road. We need to be able to cater for these people," Findlay said.

Buller Mayor Garry Howard said the campground was a vital community asset.

"We are very concerned about the level of erosion. We really need to see some protection there. I am anxious that the right safeguards are put in place. It is critical and urgent. We don't want to lose any more of the camp especially the wet land area."

He said the West Coast Regional Council was responsible for coastal erosion protection.

"If you're asking if the Buller District Council is going to pay for a sea wall the answer is no," he said.

He said the existing rock wall had contributed to the erosion at the campground.

"It has created an eddy at the end that is eating into the campground," he said.

The council was calling for more than 50 volunteers to assist with "Operation Sand Bag" at 8am on Saturday.

"Council will coordinate the sand bagging of 150 metres of coastline immediately in front of the Punakaiki Motor Camp, with 3500 sand

bags, as a short term solution for protecting the area," he said.

Regional council chief executive Chris Ingle said it could not pay for a rock wall.

"Coastal erosion is a landowner issue. We do get involved if a group of landowners want us to facilitate protection work at their cost," he said.

The regional council was looking for "adequate, but not expensive" solutions, he said.

*Comments have now closed on this story*
Motorists are encountering fog on the roads throughout the Waikato.

Police are urging motorists to drive to the foggy conditions after a series of early morning crashes in the Waikato.

Police were called to a crash on River Rd, near the Horotiu Bridge Rd, at 7.30am on Wednesday.

A car struck a light pole, Senior Sergeant Ray Malcolm, of Waikato police said.

No one was reportedly trapped in the car but the pole was brought down and debris scattered the road, he said.

Meanwhile between Tahuna and Mangataparu another car had crashed on the Morrinsville-Tahuna Rd.

Northern Fire Communications shift manager Dallas Ramsay said fire crews were assisting ambulance at 8am.

Any injuries were unknown.
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Arson is being put down as the cause of a fire which tore through a Rangiuru home.

An investigation in the Monday afternoon fire is underway as police and fire safety officers examine the scene this morning.
Fonterra isnt Fanshawe Street in Auckland  its the dairy farmers on every rural highway and side road who work hard and support their local communities, says dairy farmer Doug Leeder.

Doug, who is currently chairman of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, was closely involved in the restructuring of the dairy industry which led to the formation of Fonterra.
Objections to the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary are ignoring the need for leadership in marine conservation, overstating the impacts in respect of fishery and Treaty settlement obligations and underestimating the opportunities for economic and scientific gain, Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith said today in response to a group of prominent Maori leaders.

The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary covers one of the most pristine and unique environments on Earth. It includes the second deepest ocean trench at over 10 kilometres  deeper than Mt Everest is tall  and an arc of 30 underwater volcanoes  the largest anywhere on earth. It is home to six million seabirds of 39 different species, over 150 species of fish, 35 species of whales and dolphins, three species of sea turtles  all endangered  and many other marine species like corals, shellfish and crabs unique to this area, Dr Smith says.

Just as our forebears set aside significant areas of our land like the Tongariro and Fiordland National Parks, we need to recognise the increasing pressures on the ocean environment from mining, over-fishing, and pollution and create protected areas at sea.

The claim that this new sanctuary undermines the 1992 Treaty of Waitangi fishery settlement is incorrect. The Government always retained the right to create protected areas where fishing would be disallowed and has done so in over 20 new marine reserves since. Some of these reserves have had more impact on settlement and customary fishing rights than the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary. Maori and Te Ohu Kaimoana (TOKM) would also be aware of our international obligations with the Aichi targets of setting aside at least 10 per cent of our oceans in marine protected areas.

It is material that not one tonne of fish has been taken from the proposed Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary by Maori since the 1992 settlement despite over three million tonnes being caught elsewhere. There are five non-Maori fishing companies affected but they have only caught an average 20 tonnes out of a national annual catch of 650,000.

Global fishing markets are becoming more sensitive to issues of sustainability and marine conservation. Maori and other quota holders would do far better for their shareholding by leveraging the value of New Zealand setting aside one of the largest global ocean sanctuaries for nature. There are also significant scientific gains nationally and internationally from having areas of ocean undisturbed from mining, fishing and other human activity.

The claim that there has been no consultation with iwi is also incorrect. The two iwi with statutory acknowledgments Ngati Kuri and Te Aupouri have long supported the sanctuary and have advocated for its establishment alongside Pew Charitable Trusts, World Wide Fund for Nature New Zealand, and the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society. They have had a key influence over the bill establishing the sanctuary and will have an ongoing role in its management. I and my officials have also met with iwi leaders, TOKM and other iwi on the sanctuary. The drive for this Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary has come from tens of thousands of New Zealanders including the two local iwi who do not want every last corner of our ocean exploited for economic advantage.

The first reading of the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill had unanimous support from all parties in the Parliament. The Bill has been referred to the Local Government and Environment Select Committee for public submissions with a report back to Parliament by 2 August 2016. The Government remains committed to this important national and global contribution to protection the ocean environment.

SOURCE: Office of Dr Nick Smith
Police have arrested a man in connection to a fire which burned a Rangiuru home to the ground on Monday.

Te Puke Detective Sergeant Trevor Brown says the 41-year-old man has been charged with arson and will appear in the Tauranga District Court on Friday.

No one was home when the single storey wooden building on McMeeking Road was seen on fire at about 3.30pm yesterday.

Three fire trucks from Te Puke attended, along with water tankers from Greerton and Te Puke.

Fire crews managed to extinguish the fire, but the house burned to the ground. A car parked near the house was also destroyed in the fire.

An investigation by police and fire safety officers was launched soon after, with a number of people who were at the address on Monday being spoken to.
An initiative to improve the sustainability and profitability of New Zealands forage grazing systems has the buy-in of everyone representing the pastoral sector.

The pastoral industry Forage Strategy Steering Group has been set up and its chairman, Richard Green, says one of the key lessons from the previous Forage Review Strategy in 2011 is the power of aligning the sectors resources by involving all the organisations which support farmers.
Wellington Police are requesting assistance from the public to locate a man in relation to an indecent assault which occurred in Lambton Quay on Monday, April 11.

At around 2.30pm that day, a woman walking along Lambton Quay towards the Wellington Railway Station was approached by the man, who grabbed her by the waist and tried to kiss her.

The man, thought to be in his 20s, is described as Caucasian, around 510, of skinny build, with pale blue eyes and short brown hair.

He has a distinctive accent and was last seen wearing a maroon coloured dress shirt and grey dress pants.

Police believe that he may be frequenting the Wellington CBD area.

If you have seen this man, or know who he is, please contact Constable Natana Collier-Repia on 04 381 2000.

Source: New Zealand Police.
Three Senegalese men, whose arrest resulted in a protest in front of Benalmadena police station on Sunday, have been released with charges

The protesters in front of the police station in Benalmadena. :: A. GOMEZ

Around a hundred men of sub-Saharan origin gathered outside the Benalmadena police station on Sunday in protest against the way in which the town's authorities have decided to act against illegal street vendors.

This followed the arrest of three Senegalese men in the area close to the Castillo Bil-Bil in an operation against this type of illegal trading in the town. According to municipal sources, eight officers were on patrol in the area, where they spotted a group of vendors. After these men refused to identify themselves, the officers proceeded to apprehend them "using minimal force", a move that resulted in injuries to four of the officers. None of the injuries have been described as serious. The men were then transported to the National Police office in Torremolinos.

This led to the mobilisation of the Senegalese community in front of the Local Police station in Benalmadena, as they decried the "cruelty and overzealousness" of the town hall's latest stance. For its part, the town hall has described the latest initiative as "very efficient", but is now forcing the pedlars into large groups of eight or ten, making them harder to detain.

The local councillor responsible for Security, Javier Martin, met with members of the community to discuss the matter on Monday but insists that numerous attempts have been made to "integrate them, to construct cooperatives, and to get them involved in Benalmadena's street markets," all to no avail.

"The Local Police cannot turn a blind eye to this sort of illegal activity," he said. "The local government is striving to explore all possibilities to ensure that the area's commerce is all above board."

The three detainees were released on Monday, awaiting trial.
Port St. Lucie police said they suspect a man who was driving a white Chevrolet Sonic on March 29 at L.A. Fitness broke into three cars that day.

SHARE Port St. Lucie police are looking into several car burglaries from the last few weeks.

By Staff Report

PORT ST. LUCIE  Police investigating a string of car burglaries in the last two weeks said they have an image of what may be the burglar's car.

The eight burglaries were reported between March 26 and Friday, Port St. Lucie police said. Three happened at L.A. Fitness in the 10600 block of Southwest Village Parkway on March 29. Lyngate Park, Traditions Medical Center, the St. Lucie Surgery Center and the St. Lucie County Civic Center were the other locations.

Surveillance cameras from L.A. Fitness on March 29 captured the image of a suspect peering through car windows and driving away in a newer model white Chevrolet Sonic with temporary tags.

Anyone with information about these crimes can call either police at 772-871-5001 or Treasure Coast Crime Stoppers at 800-273 TIPS (8477).
By Laurie K. Blandford and Will Greenlee of TCPalm

Port St. Lucie neighbors Fernandas Jones, Floyd Steele and Eber Suazo developed a strong bond and were like family, spending time fishing and boating.

Jones, 51, invited Steele, 45 and Suazo, 35, to go fishing Sunday, but they couldn't make it.

"We were close," Suazo said. "Every time we go fishing together we have a good time."

Jones, his 9-year-old son, Jayden, and Jones' 70-year-old stepfather, Willis Bell, died during that trip after Jones's 24-foot Sea Ray boat sank. Robert Stewart, a 45-year-old cousin of Jones, was the sole survivor.

"That's my dude," Steele said Monday of Jones, whom he knew for 10 years. "He's everything."

Suazo said he last talked to Jones Saturday night. Jones, a Palm Beach County sheriff's corrections deputy, was getting his boat and fishing rods ready. They talked about angling and Jones' plan to fish in an area three to four miles off Hobe Sound or to Peck's Lake.

The fateful day

Fernandas, his son, Bell and Stewart left Sandsprit Park about 8:15 a.m. Sunday and headed out the St. Lucie Inlet to go fishing, officials said.

About 9:15 p.m. that night, Suazo became concerned when the group hadn't returned, according to a sheriff's report. He went to Sandsprit Park and found Jones' truck and trailer still parked at the boat ramp.

"It was not their habit to stay out late, certainly not until dark," Martin County Sheriff William Snyder said.

Suazo called the Martin County Sheriff's Office and told deputies Jones was an experienced boater who never returned from a fishing trip later than 3 p.m.

Officials were able to ping a cellphone used on the boat off a Hobe Sound tower, Snyder said. It was used to make a routine call some time before 9 a.m. Sunday, but no distress call was made.

After 9 a.m., everything disappeared, which Snyder said is consistent with the boat being submerged and the phones being ruined.

By midnight and into early Monday, officials from the U.S. Coast Guard and Martin, St. Lucie, and Palm Beach counties' sheriff's offices were searching for the group using boats and helicopters.

Their search efforts were difficult because it was dark and rough on the water, Snyder said. The boat also had a dark bottom, making it even more difficult to see in the dark.

The bodies of Jones and his son were found about 500 yards away from each other south of the St. Lucie Inlet on the shoreline after Bell was found about 200 yards south of the House of Refuge, officials said.

A sheriff's helicopter spotted Stewart walking on the beach near where Jones and his son had been found, officials said. Stewart was taken to Martin Medical Center in critical condition before he was upgraded to serious late Monday afternoon, said hospital spokesman Scott Samples.

Before Stewart went to the hospital, he told deputies what happened.

"They went fishing," Snyder said. "They got outside to about 80 feet (deep) of water and turned the engine off to go fishing, and the boat swamped immediately. It filled up."

The boat didn't capsize, but it sank, Snyder said. All four of them clung to the boat for an unknown period of time until they had to let go, one by one.

First, Bell let go of the boat, said Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman Carol Lyn Parrish. Then, Jones drifted off.

Stewart told deputies he held on to Jayden, who was wearing a life vest, for as long as he could.

"Eventually, he was not able to continue doing so," Snyder said, "and the child drowned."

It's unknown how long Stewart stayed with the boat, which eventually came ashore about a mile and a half south of the St. Lucie Inlet.

At some point, Stewart felt sand beneath his feet, and he crawled up onto the beach, Snyder said. Stewart may have fell asleep or passed out, but he heard the sheriff's helicopter and began waving.

Officials didn't know if the three adults were wearing life vests.

No signs of problems

Weather may have been a factor in the accident, Parrish said. A small craft advisory was in effect Sunday, according to the National Weather Service in Melbourne. Winds were 16 to 22 mph, and waves were up to 6 feet.

"There are no obvious signs of problems," said Parrish after an initial examination of the boat that was manufactured in 1995.

Fernandas, who was hired Oct. 27, 2014, with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, worked the midnight shift as a corrections deputy, said Palm Beach County sheriff's spokeswoman Teri Barbera.

Suazo described Jones as a wonderful man and a hard worker who always had a smile.

"That's the part we're going to miss," Suazo said. "I think he make a big hole in all of our hearts  we are like family."

Jones loved fishing and boats, Steele said.

"He went out on the boat for the first time, and you could not get him off the boat," Steele said. "I'd put my life in his hands any time (in a boat)."

Marcie Forgue, a sister-in-law of Jones and the aunt of Jayden, read a prepared statement at her home.

Jones, his son and Bell "died tragically doing what they loved to do, which was fishing," she said.

"They will be missed," Forgue said, "and they were loved by all."

Staff writer Elliott Jones contributed to this report.
By Isadora Rangel of TCPalm

Registered Democrats will vote May 7 on the delegates who will represent Florida at the Democratic National Convention this summer.

The Florida Democratic Party is expected to provide a list of delegate candidates in the next two weeks, said Martin County Democratic State Committeeman Dave Dew.

The convoluted process has several dictates:

Voters must cast a ballot in the congressional district in which they live. For the Treasure Coast, that means District 8 representing Indian River County and District 18 representing Martin and St. Lucie counties.

Voters must ask for either a Hillary Clinton or a Bernie Sanders ballot, depending on who they want to win the presidential nomination. Each ballot will contain the names of delegate candidates who pledged to vote for either Clinton or Sanders at the convention.

In District 18, Clinton supporters will vote for four delegates and Sanders supporters will vote for two delegates. In District 8, it's three for Clinton and two for Sanders. The number of delegates is based on two things: the March 15 Florida primary results, in which Clinton beat Sanders 64.4 percent to 33.3 percent, and each congressional district's turnout.

Voters must vote for a specific number of men and women. If there's an uneven number, there will be further instructions on the ballot.

Dew expects 300 voters to cast ballots in Martin and St. Lucie counties. About 50 to 100 are expected in Indian River County, according to Mary Greene, the Democrats' House District 8 chair.

Delegate candidates had until April 7 to apply.

Florida's 140 delegates will meet May 21 in Orlando to choose 28 more delegates from among party leaders and elected officials, 46 at-large and 18 at-large alternates for the Philadelphia convention, which is from July 25 to July 28.

Florida Republican Party leaders picked their delegates last month and this month.

DELEGATE ELECTIONS

What: District 18 (Martin/St. Lucie counties)

When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 7

Where: Martin County Democratic Executive Committee, 948 S.E. Central Parkway, Stuart; Longshoreman's Association, 503 N. Seventh St., Fort Pierce; IBEW Local Union, 7652 U.S. 1, Port St. Lucie

Information: 772-221-0405

What: District 8 (Indian River County)

When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 7

Where: 1344 Apollo Blvd., Melbourne

Information: 321-725-2217; emfl415meeg@aol.com

Note: Voters must bring their voter ID or any valid picture ID
Melvin Bivens, of Port St. Lucie, fishes along Melody Lane in downtown Fort Pierce. (FILE PHOTO)

SHARE

By Keona Gardner of TCPalm

FORT PIERCE  Fishing will always be welcome here, but finding a spot where anglers, non-fishermen and business owners can coexist is not as easy.

The city has received complaints from business and condo owners about anglers leaving trash, fishing lines and rotting fish parts along the sidewalk of Melody Lane, which historically has been used for fishing.

City staff Monday presented three sites for new fishing piers to City Commission: the east end of Citrus Avenue, where it meets the Indian River Lagoon, and extension of the new Melody Lane fishing pier and under the new North Beach bridge

The options come a little more than a month after the City Commission rejected a fishing ban along most of the downtown riverfront, including the popular Melody Lane.

That ban was intended to address long-standing complaints from residents and businesses about what fishermen left along the sea wall at Melody Lane. However, it dies at a March meeting, when the public answered back with a 300-signature petition against the ban.

The city built a pier on the lane in January to move fisherman off the sidewalk. But fisherman have said the 10-foot-wide, 200-foot-long pier is inadequate to handle the number of fisherman and their gear.

The City Commission on Monday took no vote on the new options but instructed staff to research them and make a formal presentation at a regular commission meeting.

The fastest way to address space issue is to extend the Melody Lane Pier by at least 50 feet, said City Engineer Jack Andrews. However, the city would have to prove to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection that the structure would allow sunlight to the sea grass below, Andrews said.

City officials could not provide cost estimates.

To give fishermen more space, the city is also considering widening the Melody Lane sidewalk by removing the strip of grass between the sidewalk and the curb, Reals said.

City crews have pressure-washed the sidewalk and sea wall and installed trash cans to help tidy the area, said Public Works Manager Mike Reals.

The city also plans to install larger trash cans to handle more waste, Reals said.

In addition to finding more public access to fishing pier, the city wants to build public restrooms downtown, where visitors now use the facilities at the Fort Pierce branch library or at restaurant.

Restrooms could be built at the south end of Melody Lane near St. Andrews Episcopal School or behind the library near Marina Square, Reals said.

Commissioner Edward Becht asked staff to talk with St. Lucie County about sharing the cost of a new downtown fishing pier.

"The people who used the fishing piers are county residents, and I think people forget that 42,000 people who live in the city are county residents, too. They just happen to live within the city limits of Fort Pierce," Becht said.

___________________________

The Fort Pierce City Commission have received complaints from condo owners and business owners about trash fishermen leave at Melody Lane in downtown. In January, the city spent $625,000 to build a 10-foot wide, 200-feet long pier off the lane into the lagoon. However, fishermen said the new pier is too small to accommodate the anglers with their gear.

Below are options the city is considering to end the fishing dispute:

A new pier: The city could build a new fishing pier on city-owned land at the east end of Citrus Avenue where it meets the Indian River Lagoon. Cost was not available.

A larger pier: The city could extend the new Melody Lane Fishing Pier at least 50 feet in an "L" shape pattern. Cost for the extension was not available.

New North Beach Bridge: A long term plan is to create fishing piers under the new North Beach Bridge when the Florida Department of Transportation replaces the current draw bridge with a high span bridge in 2017-2018. The new bridge would be built above the existing drawbridge. Crews during the dismantling of the old bridge would remove the moving portion and the remaining section would be used as a fishing pier.
Apple has been deluged with complaints from users who say the latest version of its mobile operating system is breaking links and crashing apps.

Following iOS 9.3 on iPhone 6splus update links in safari no longer open, then safari crashes  any ideas how to fix? Same problem in Chrome, user John MacDonald posted Monday on Apples support page on Twitter.

Another user, Armando Couri Filho, had similar problems. My IPhone 6 is not opening links from Safari, Mail and WhatsApp. What should I do? he asked Apple support.

Clicking on links in the new iOS update causes safari to freeze. Ive had to switch to using @googlechrome and @firefox, noted Ohanes Kalayjian.

Whats causing the problem with links in iOS 9.3? So far, Apple has been mum on the subject, but according to one news report, the issue could be with Universal Links, which Apple introduced in iOS 9.0.

Universal Headache?

Universal Links allow Web links to be opened directly from within apps running under iOS without first opening Apples Web browser, Safari.

The Universal Links are stored in a database in iOS, and if an app contains too many, they will crash not only the app, but Safari too, according to TechCrunch.

However, that doesnt explain why apps without any Universal Links are crashing, nor does it explain other problems, such as iOS refusing to verify updates because it says a device is not connected to the Internet when clearly it is.

For users who have installed the new version of iOS, there doesnt seem to be a quick fix. Turning off JavaScript in Safari has helped some users, but not all, BGR reported. Others have avoided the problem by using Googles Chrome browser, but that too seems to be an inconsistent fix.

Of course, unlike with some desktop operating systems that allow an update to be rolled back to a previous version that worked fine, once most users commit to a new version of iOS, theres no turning back.

There are good reasons for that no-rollback policy, noted Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst atMoor Insights & Strategy.

Many more times than not, the latest software is safer and better, he told TechNewsWorld.

Whats more, backgrades are very complex and if not done precisely, the backgrade could break all functionality, Moorhead added.

More Regression Testing Needed

Kevin Krewell, an analyst withTirias Research, has the new iOS running on his iPhone and hasnt experienced any problems with it yet, he said.

However, any time theres a major change in an operating system, theres always the risk of problems, he told TechNewsWorld

I would be concerned that Apple is not doing enough regression testing on applications to catch these things before they ship new software, Krewell said.

Although Apple always has touted its commitment to software excellence, the latest iOS fumble may be a sign its succumbing to the pressures plaguing all software makers, according to Moorhead.

Apple should take a look at their development process as insiders are starting to question their commitment to software quality, he said.

Apple is racing top speed across many different, complex platforms, and every software developer, including Microsoft and Google, are issuing software with bugs, Moorhead continued.

The whole software industry has taken a fast-fail approach to get code out and let users find fixes, he said. This is particularly happening in consumer environments.

Too Many Apps

Given the size of Apples app ecosystem, the problem of getting everything to work right is a mighty one for the company, which released seven beta versions of iOS 9.3 before sending it to users.

Its hard when your ecosystem is so large, but they should have stats on which apps are most popular and test for those, Krewell said.

Part of the problem is the amplification of software. There are so many different apps, its getting harder and harder for Apple to keep track of the apps you have on your phone, he added.

While it is true that OS updates need to go through intense scrutiny before being pushed to customers, its sometimes impossible to test for all in-the-wild scenarios, added Adrian Liviu Arsene, a senior threat analyst withBitdefender.

The issue here, he said, is how fast will Apple fix the bug, how many apps trigger the crash, and whether it will persist even after the fix.
The federal program for improving the operation of thousands of government data centers has entered a new phase that will impact significantly how electronic information is stored and managed. Proposed updates to data center operations will affect providers of data management products and could spur the use of cloud technology.

Commercial vendors and others with an interest in federal data center information technology have been invited to comment on the proposals by April 1.

Federal CIO Tony Scott recently released proposals for major changes in government policy regarding federal data centers. The proposals include prohibiting government agencies from developing new data centers  or significantly expanding existing centers  unless such efforts are approved by the CIO and theOffice of Management and Budget. The office of the federal CIO operates as a unit within OMB.

The approval policy was revealed in the March 2 Federal Register in which Scott outlined a revision of the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative, or FDCCI, of 2010. A new Data Center Optimization Initiative will supersede the previous program. OMB presented the DCOI as a draft and will finalize the proposal after assessing public comment.

A Focus on Performance

This draft policy improves upon metrics for measuring successful management of data centers; sets federal governmentwide three-year targets for those metrics, closures and cost savings to be achieved from data centers; and takes steps to further federal incorporation of cloud alternatives, Scott said.

While the proposed approval process doesnt necessarily preclude data center development, he referenced the policy as a development freeze. The policy proposal includes the following key components:

New or expanded data centers: Agencies seeking OMB/CIO approval for data center development must provide an analysis of alternatives, including opportunities for cloud services, interagency shared services and third-party colocation. Requests also must include an explanation of the net reduction in the agencys data center inventory that would be facilitated by the new or expanded data center. Expansion of existing centers must meet the same requirements.

Agencies seeking OMB/CIO approval for data center development must provide an analysis of alternatives, including opportunities for cloud services, interagency shared services and third-party colocation. Requests also must include an explanation of the net reduction in the agencys data center inventory that would be facilitated by the new or expanded data center. Expansion of existing centers must meet the same requirements. Cloud-based alternatives: In conformity with the administrations Cloud First policy, agencies shall use cloud infrastructure where possible, taking into consideration the cost, elasticity, and resiliency benefits of provisioned environments when planning new mission or support applications, Scott said.

In conformity with the administrations Cloud First policy, agencies shall use cloud infrastructure where possible, taking into consideration the cost, elasticity, and resiliency benefits of provisioned environments when planning new mission or support applications, Scott said. Cloud environments are scalable and allow agencies to provision resources as required, on-demand  an aspect that could be related to matching need with capacity rather than absorbing the cost of having excess data center capacity. Encouraging shared services: Vendors will be particularly interested in the designation of theGeneral Services Administration as the data center shared services managing partner. GSA will be charged with establishing and maintaining a data center shared services marketplace and coordinating shared services for interagency consumption. Related GSA functions will include coordinating with OMB to define qualifying operating standards for interagency shared services providers, creating guidance materials for becoming such a provider, and identifying and approving candidate providers. GSA also will create an online inventory of qualified interagency shared services providers.

Vendors will be particularly interested in the designation of theGeneral Services Administration as the data center shared services managing partner. GSA will be charged with establishing and maintaining a data center shared services marketplace and coordinating shared services for interagency consumption. Shrinking data centers: Agencies must continue to shed duplicative and inefficient data center capacity. The policy requires agencies to principally reduce application, system and database inventories to essential enterprise levels by increasing the use of virtualization to enable pooling of storage, network and computing resources. Compliance options include using provisioned services such as Software as a Service, Platform as a Service and Infrastructure as a Service as much as possible. Such options could boost cloud investments measurably. Another option for agencies would be migrating to better optimized data centers within the agencys data center inventory. Importantly, the proposal provides some rigorous optimization metrics related to consolidation. They include a clarification of the definition of data center for purposes of meeting consolidation goals and stipulate that by the end of fiscal 2018, agencies should reduce government-wide annual costs attributable to physical data centers by at least 25 percent, versus 2016 levels. In addition, agencies are required to meet energy-consumption standards related to data center operation.

GAO Offers Consolidation View

The OMB policy proposal was released almost simultaneously with a report by theGeneral Accountability Office on the status of federal data center consolidation. In general, GAO said the government was making progress, but many of the achievements in consolidation were attributable to a relatively few agencies.

In summary, we found that the 24 departments and agencies participating in FDCCI have collectively made progress on their data center closure efforts, but fell short of OMBs initiative-wide goal for agencies to close 40 percent of all noncore centers by fiscal year 2015, David Powner, director of IT management issues at GAO, said in the report.

Agencies had identified 10,584 data centers and closed 3,125 through fiscal year 2015. However, the departments of Agriculture, Defense, Interior and Treasury accounted for 84 percent of these total closures.

Nineteen of the 24 agencies reported achieving an estimated US$2.8 billion in cost savings and avoidances from fiscal years 2011 to 2015, GAO found. However, the departments of Commerce, Defense, Homeland Security and the Treasury accounted for 86 percent of the savings. If agencies continue with announced plans, another $5.4 billion could be saved by 2019.

With 2,000 more centers to close or consolidate and $5.4 billion on the table, the new approval process makes sense, Powner told the E-Commerce Times.

Regarding the impact of elements in the DCOI proposal that will further facilitate consolidation, I think the push needs to come from meeting the optimization metrics, that will result in additional closures and costs savings, he said.

Commercial Providers Respond to Proposal

The new DCOI represents continued progress toward realizing savings based on consolidation and more energy-efficient, highly utilized data centers, said Jim Menard, managing director ofAccenture Federal Services.

The focus on measurement of data center optimization, cost savings and closure metrics will help to create transparency and drive agency accountability for DCOI goals, he told the E-Commerce Times.

The proposed policy is a positive development because it indicates that OMB and the government are actually evolving with the transitions and transformation of data centers and the applications it hosts, while simultaneously moving towards achieving cost savings and increased operational efficiencies, said Kapil Bakshi, distinguished systems engineer atCisco Federal.

This policy can actually be viewed as a catalyst for government agencies looking to reach new levels of efficiency and enhanced service delivery, he told the E-Commerce Times.

The DCOI in a sense is catching up with IT developments that already are underway and becoming available through commercial providers.

Cisco has been working hard to focus on these and related aspects as part of our data center and cloud initiatives for the past few years because we anticipated these transitions taking place in the industry and customers, Bakshi said, noting that the policy encourages cloud migrations, shared services and optimization.

Cisco has been boosting capabilities with hybrid cloud strategies where multiple clouds and data centers are used to host applications and services in a shared environment.

This structure allows these applications to be portable and interoperable in standards fashions, and very much aligns with the DCOI, Bakshi said. The company has been investing in FedRAMP-compliant SaaS offerings, which conform to the proposed transition to cloud and interagency shared services.

As far as the DCOI goals for optimization, sustainability and energy efficiency, Cisco is working on hyperconverged infrastructure offerings that eliminate silos to bring compute, network and storage into a common operating environment, he said.

Accenture also has identified infrastructure as an operational target.

In addition to the data center facilities themselves, action can be taken to improve the infrastructure running inside federal data centers, said Menard. Accentures vision for digital government includes transformation to an intelligent infrastructure that can monitor itself, predict demand based on utilization and trends, learn through advanced analytics, and protect itself from constantly evolving threats.
Earlier this month, it was reported that PayPal had cancelled its plans to open a global operations center in Charlotte, North Carolina, as a protest against the state's recently passed anti-LGBT law. Now, another firm is taking a stand against House Bill 2. This time, it's adult website xHamster, which is blocking all North Carolina IP addresses from accessing its content.

The controversial law supersedes ordinances protecting LGBT people from discrimination and prevents transgender people from using bathrooms and locker rooms that do not match the gender on their birth certificates. A number of companies, including Google, Facebook, Apple, and IBM, have spoken out against theHouse Bill 2, and more than 80 CEOs signed a letter to North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory, urging him to repeal it.

In addition to denying North Carolina residents access to its mountains of porn, xHamster - which is one of the biggest websites of its kind and ranked 91st most popular site in the world - is presenting residents of the state with an informative popup that shows some of the searches performed by certain North Carolinians.

"We have spent the last 50 years fighting for equality for everyone and these laws are discriminatory which xHamster.com does not tolerate," an xHamster spokesperson said in a statement to the Huffington Post. " As of today, access to XHamster.com is blacked out in the state of North Carolina until further notice. Judging by the stats of what you North Carolinians watch, we feel this punishment is a severe one. We will not standby and pump revenue into a system that promotes this type of garbage. We respect all sexualities and embrace them."

There are, of course, one or two other sites on the internet that provide this sort of material, but xHamster's stance will no doubt help shine more light on the issue. With Bruce Springsteen cancelling his concert in Greensboro, a White House review, a pending federal lawsuit, and North Carolina's suitability as a location for sporting events being called into question, could the power of protest result in the law being repealed?

Image credit: Luis Molinero / shutterstock
Kepler spacecraft is in emergency mode, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said in a statement.

Charlie Sobeck, Kepler and K2 mission manager at NASA's Ames Research Center announced that after a scheduled contact with mission operations engineers last April 7, it was discovered that Kepler is presently in emergency mode (EM), the spacecraft's lowest operational mode.

The team is working on recovering from EM, as it consumes significant amount of fuel. Since the spacecraft is 75 million miles away from Earth, even with the speed of light, communication takes about 13 minutes for the message to travel from the spacecraft and back.

For this, the spacecraft now has priority access to ground-based communication on NASA's Deep Space Network.

The spacecraft was fully operational and in good condition last April 4.

According to the mission engineers, the spacecraft entered into EM about 36 hours prior to maneuvering towards the center of the Milky Way. The extended mission's purpose is to continue planet hunting and provide study material for supernovae, young stars, and other astronomical objects using gravitational microlensing.

The agency said that they will provide further information about the spacecraft once it has more updates.

Launched in 2009, Kepler's primary mission was to look for planets outside the Solar System. The mission, which was completed in 2012, detected about 5,000 exoplanets, more than 1,000 of which were confirmed.

The team hopes to restore Kepler's operations back to normal as it did before. In July 2012, one of the gyroscopic reaction wheels that help aim the spacecraft failed. The second wheel failed in May 2013. The K2 mission began in 2014 and proceeded by using the sun's radiation pressure to orient the spacecraft.

"The chance for the K2 mission to use gravity to help us explore exoplanets is one of the most fantastic astronomical experiments of the decade," said Steve Howell, project scientist for NASA's Kepler and K2 mission.

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A steam-powered moon buggy may assist humans as they colonize the moon, a new report suggests. Although this may seem like a steampunk-inspired fantasy at a science fiction convention, the idea does have some merit.

Mining water from the lunar poles, as well as asteroids, could provide a supply of inexpensive fuel for explorers as they travel around our planetary companion. The hydrogen and oxygen extracted from that water could even be utilized by engines sending spacecraft and satellites from one location to another.

"We need to stop relying on our own planet for resources. We can use near Earth asteroids for solar thermal steam propulsion directly. It's a very simple system and could help small spacecraft refuel in space. It's also very practical to use on a planet," Phil Metzger of the University of South Florida said to attendees at a meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society held in London.

Steam engines on Earth depend on pressure from the heated vapor to push on cylinders, usually turning a piston. For use in space, steam would be heated by energy from solar panels and sent out of an exhaust, driving the vehicle to its intended destination.

Researchers at the Swamp Works team working for NASA have been devising methods to take full advantage of the resources available on the moon.

The moon only has roughly 17 percent of the gravity found here on Earth. Because of this, only a small impulse is required to send a vehicle forward.

As humans continue on a quest to land a human crew on Mars, many researchers are starting to view the moon as an important base to the Red Planet. A rocket leaving Earth for Mars would be up to 68 percent lighter if astronauts picked up material on the moon before venturing on to their main target.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has announced plans to build a lunar habitat from materials found on the moon, utilizing a 3D printer. This plan is currently scheduled to begin sometime in the mid-2030s.

Robotic probes sent to the moon could explore the lunar surface to ice deposits, which may be utilized for fuel and oxygen for life support. Other minerals discovered during these missions could also be used for shelter, fuel and other purposes. Even on Mars, a 150-pound vehicle powered by steam could travel 18 miles before needing to be refueled.

A human mission to Mars becomes significantly easier, and less expensive, if supplies are picked up on the moon, And a steam-powered moon buggy may provide a means of quickly collecting needed materials.

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A revolution is coming, and it does not involve pirates, knights or fighters. It is rather a campaign called #SleepRevolution that is set to spark national conversation about the importance of sleep and the hazards of sleep deprivation.

More specifically, the campaign from Huffington Post centers on the Sleep Revolution College Tour, which will go to 50 campuses across the United States. The team aims to raise awareness by imparting the latest on sleep science.

The website partnered with different brands to help its members achieve their goals. The companies will help set up sleep fairs and slumber parties, provide tools for enhanced sleep and help transform lives.

What Sleep Means For College Students Nowadays

The sleep crisis in college campuses nowadays has deepened. People from different universities describe how sleep is generally perceived in their respective institutions.

Fernando Hurtado from the University of Southern California says he feels like not getting enough sleep is a significant badge of honor, even saying how some people have started to perceive a campus library as a hotel because students always stay there late.

For Luis Ruuska from the University of Tennessee, sleep is not a priority in the campus. Seeing well-lit dorms and apartments is not an uncommon thing.

A more striking scenario provided by Madeline Diamond from Bucknell University is getting Snapchats of people sharing how late they stayed in the library like it's a competition.

What they do not know is that sleep deprivation can do more harm than good. An example of which is having an increased risk of sustaining injuries due to odd behavior after lack of sleep.

Why Did The Sleep Culture Change?

In today's world, the youth has developed a sense of FOMO or fear of missing out. This notion urges them to stay awake and do things as much as they can, whether it be partying, studying or checking their social media accounts, day in and day out.

In one study by California State University, researchers found that college students feel anxious when they get separated from their smartphones and that they are likely to be glued to their gadget screens until the very last minute before they fall asleep. What's more, the team found that the participants often wake up in the middle of the night to check their phones.

Another contributing factor of lack of sleep is the youth's drive to excel academically, while still having a great social life. Of course, they cannot do everything, so the tendency is to cut off the things they think they can forego, and for most people they'd rather let go of sleep.

"Up against this unforgiving definition of success, sleep doesn't stand a chance," writes The Huffington Post's editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington, who released her new book entitled The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time.

The team from the Sleep Revolution College Tour will be giving away free copies of the book during the event, in the hopes of strengthening students' understanding of the importance of sleep.

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"Simulpubs," or simultaneous publications, of best-selling manga series under Kodansha Comics will now be offered through Amazon and ComiXology, the company announced last April 8.

Fans outside of Japan can finally obtain copies of their favorite manga titles simultaneously with their releases in Japan's "Bessatsu Shonen" magazine. Unlike before when fans had to exercise loads of patience, they can now read manga series alongside Japanese readers without delay. The report, however, informs the public that these immediate English issues will not be available for Japanese residents.

General Manager of Kodansha Advanced Media, Alvin Lu, says that a "simulpub initiative" such as this had never been formerly accomplished. Their partnership with the online store platforms provides worldwide subscribers with latest releases on the dot, effectively eliminating long waiting times for official English translations.

Previously, manga readers in the Western region and areas outside of Japan had to wait for a lengthy amount of time before they could get translated copies of the release. Even more so, translated versions could only be available if the manga had an immense fan base.

Dan Casey, from Nerdist, comments that the "inaccessibility" of official releases is the "worst part" of being a manga fan. More often than not, most fans could not endure the arduous task of patiently waiting and had to go through more "resourceful" channels.

They would visit sites that published "scanlations" or scanned pages of manga series translated and uploaded by fans. These methods are what Casey describes as "murky, legally gray waters of [scanlations] and fansubs." Still, these communities acknowledge the fact that they aren't the official platforms and suggest that if readers like the manga, they should support its artist by obtaining it legally.

With Kodansha Comics' previous announcement, legally, they now can.

Also included in the announcement are latest versions of manga series already uploaded onto the Amazon and ComiXology platform on April 8. From titles such as Attack on Titan: Chapter 80 and The Heroic Legend of Arslan: Chapter 34, to 1,900 previous chapters from available titles under Kodansha Comics.

The list of titles involved in the bunch are: As the Gods Will: The Second Series, Fairy Tail, Fuuka, GTO Paradise Lost, The Seven Deadly Sins, UQ Holder and Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches, for weekly release; Inuyashiki and Space Brothers, for bi-weekly release; Ajin: Demi-Human, Attack on Titan, Kiss Him, Not Me, The Heroic Legend of Arslan, Magatsuki, Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth Side: P4, and Sweetness and Lightning for monthly release; and finally, semi-regularly release of Princess Jellyfish.



Photo: Mike Grauer Jr. | Flickr

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The news of e-cigarette ban doesn't seem to have gone down too well with vaping advocates in Ontario. Hundreds of people marched on April 9 to Queen's Park to protest against the newly proposed ban on vaping in the Canadian province.

Vaping is the action of inhaling and exhaling vapor produced by a vaporizer in the form of an e-cigarette or similar device. The new legislation bans vaping in venues where regular tobacco smoking is already prohibited.

E-cigarettes apparently help curb the deadly habit of tobacco smoking from traditional paper rolled cigarettes. However, the pros and cons are still under heavy debate from experts.

Some health experts say e-cigarettes are a new and emerging health risk and are no better than the threat imposed by tobacco. "This is not a good thing. This is not something that is helping people quit. What it is doing is exposing people [to] unknown risks that may actually in some instances be worse than what we know of from traditional smoking." said Brett Belchetz, an emergency room doctor.

The protesters of the new rule, most of them carrying their vaporizer or e-cigarette, were seen waving signboards that read "Tobacco kills, vaping saves lives," "The constitution is on our side," "I quit smoking through vaping," and "Fix Bill 45," among others. The new rule is slated to be instated in July.

A law professor from University of Ottawa, David Sweanor, who was present at the rally and an advocate of e-cigarette usage, said the change will dampen the spirit of people who are looking to curb their smoking habit. "[They're] preventing people from using these products, finding out how it works. They're treating them just like cigarettes in terms of where they can be used. They simply are not like cigarettes," said Sweanor.

The people who have participated in the protest and held the rally are predominantly the ones who have been relying on e-cigarette or vaping as a tobacco cessation strategy. Others included shop owners who allow sampling of vaporizers, and whose business is at stake now.

The ban on e-cigarette and medical marijuana usage, wherever regular cigarettes are prohibited, will come in effect from July, according to Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne. "We have made a determination that smoking, whatever it is whether it's vaping, whether it's medical marijuana, whether it's cigarettes  that there should be restrictions on that. And so the rules will apply to marijuana, to medical marijuana, to vaping as they do to cigarettes." said Wynne.

Photo: www.ecigclick.co.uk

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When three men stranded on an uninhabited island in the Pacific were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard, it was like that Tom Hanks' movie, Castaway, but in real life.

On April 4, three mariners were sailing in the South Pacific when their 19-foot skiff was tossed by huge waves in the middle of the sea. Lucky for them to have their life vests on because they had to swim through the night to find safety.

After swimming for almost 2 miles, they reached Fanadik, a deserted island of the Federated States of Micronesia, which is hundreds of miles north of Papua New Guinea.

The following day, the U.S. Coast Guards got the report about the missing men, and together with the Navy and AMVER - a voluntary global ship reporting system - immediately set out to conduct search and rescue operations.

With the help of a Navy plane, the rescuers spotted the three men waving orange life vests beside the "HELP" sign made of palm tree fronds. The stranded men had to wait for three days to be found, but finally help has come.

The initial operation lasted for 17 hours, while on April 7 the crew was found after two hours of searching.

The castaways were picked up by a boat and safely taken to the island of Pulap, which is 4 nautical miles away from Fanadik.

"Our combined efforts, coupled with the willingness of many different resources to come together and help, led to the successful rescue of these three men in a very remote part of the Pacific," said Lt. William White, public affairs officer of Guam.

White added that the stranded men were first seen because of the fire. Without the fire, it would have taken the rescuers more hours of searching for them.

As of March 28, Coast Guards 14th District have conducted seven separate rescue operations. With the aide of 10 vessels and six AMVER aircrews they were able to save 15 lives.

"The Coast Guards 14th District covers an area of responsibility more than 12.2 million square miles of land and sea, an area almost twice the size of Russia," said Jennifer Conklin of Coast Guard Command Center in Honolulu.

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Efficient payment methods through Apple, Samsung and Google may be meeting competition from Japan. Not just a brand, but the entire nation itself.

The Japanese government is set to test out its latest technology this summer that requires only two fingers scanned by a device during payment procedures. Field tests will involve 300 shops, hotels, restaurants and other establishments.

The participants were reportedly chosen from areas such as Yugawara in Kanagawa Prefecture, Kamakura, Atami in Shizuoka Prefecture and Hakone. The establishments weren't chosen at random but rather strategically, as these are in frequented tourist spots in the country.

The main reason the Japanese government is undertaking the experiment is to increase the number of tourists visiting the country by about 40 million in the year 2020, during which Tokyo's Olympic and Paralympic Games will be occurring. The promise of an efficient payment method will supposedly attract more tourists. That and the other features the tech carries along with it.

Aside from replacing cash, the fingerprint scanning method can also identify a person, eliminating the need to carry around a passport. A law in Japan for local inns and hotels requires tourists to present passports whenever they check in to Ryokan rental sites. Their fingerprints, however, can now carry their identity authentication.

Another feature of the tech also includes a one-time tax exemption process that will be filled out once the tourist arrives at Japan's airport, along with other requirements. Once that is done, any other tax exemption procedures will be gone as their fingerprints will carry the data, along with their bank account and identity.

These data will also be collected and monitored to pinpoint tourist spending patterns. Supposedly, these observations will help the Japanese government further improve the tourist experience by implementing laws and management programs backed up by the data. This will then attract more foreigners into their country.

It is important to note that registration for the program is optional for tourists. Reports have hinted that tourists may be wary of the risks involved in such an experiment and giving out something as private as their unique fingerprint is a reason for concern.

Of course, the government promises to observe discretion and label tourists anonymously as to not infringe on their privacy. Maximum security will also be exerted as well as utilizing the data to increase protection from identity theft.

Photo: Ishan Manjrekar | Flickr

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Secretary of State John F. Kerry visited the atomic bomb memorial and museum in Japan.

Along with other foreign dignitaries, Kerry toured the Hiroshima Peace Memorial museum that displays debris left of the bomb that the United States dropped during the final days of the World War II.

The foreign ministers emotionally laid wreaths at the skeletal ruins of the sole building left at ground zero. During the visit, about 800 students from neighboring schools were waving the flags of different diplomats as a sign of hope that soon the world would be rid of nuclear weapons.

The line-up of diplomats during the ceremony showed that warring nations of before have now come to peace and are standing with each other as allies.

Honored to be 1st Sec State to visit Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum & Park. Here is what I wrote in the guestbook. pic.twitter.com/suQSxMCLs1  John Kerry (@JohnKerry) April 11, 2016

"Everyone in the world should see and feel the power of this memorial," Kerry wrote in a guest book after touring the museum. "It is a stark, harsh, compelling reminder not only of our obligation to end the threat of nuclear weapons, but to rededicate all our effort to avoid war itself. War must be the last resort - never the first choice. This memorial compels us all to redouble our efforts to change the world, to find peace and build the future so yearned for by citizens everywhere."

Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida hopes the visit of foreign diplomats to the museum help raise global awareness about nuclear disarmament.

"I'm hoping that we can create a momentum for a world free of nuclear weapons by agreeing on issues of nuclear disarmament among the nuclear powers and the non-nuclear powers among the G-7 nations, and send a message to the world," Kishida said.

American Apology Under Way?

Analysts believe that Kerry's visit to Hiroshima Peace Park as a pre-emptive measure for U.S. President Barack Obama's potential visit to Japan next month. However, the Japanese are not expecting that the U.S. leader will issue an apology for the two bombs dropped at Nagasaki and Hiroshima that resulted to an estimated 350,000 total deaths in a five year span.

Kerry believes that the visit's goal is not to look at the past and point fingers. It is about building a bilateral relationship that transcends events of the past.

"It's about the present and the future particularly, and the strength of the relationship that we have built, the friendship that we share, the strength of our alliance, and the strong reminder of the imperative we all have to work for peace for peoples everywhere," Kerry said prior to his meeting with Japan's foreign minister.

On the other hand, many foreign relation experts encourage Obama to visit and talk at ground zero. Obama, in his numerous visits to Japan, has expressed intent to visit Hiroshima but has not done so yet. They believe that Obama's visit to Hiroshima would raise important issues to highlight that nuclear weapons have detrimental consequences.

Kishida voiced that he would greatly appreciate a visit, as it would allow foreign ministers to see the reality of atomic bombings.

Asked whether Kerry would issue an apology, a State Department official shared that more than the apology, it is important that the two countries agree on one thing - the future should be free of war.

John F. Kerry is the first Secretary of State to visit Hiroshima Peace Park.

To see the reality of atomic bombs, you can watch a rare HD footage of an atomic detonation here.

Photo: Mig Gilbert | Flickr

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AnTuTu has a new top 10 smartphones for the first quarter of this year, listing the 10 most powerful handsets based on their performance.

While many expected Samsung to rule the top, the Galaxy maker is actually in the second spot, followed by Apple in the third.

So, which one gets the crown?

Well, based on AnTuTu's top 10, top honors go to none other than Xiaomi, the Chinese smartphone maker that has been rapidly rising to glory. The Xiaomi Mi 5 is leading the top 10 smartphones in Q1 2016, outperforming both Samsung and Apple's flagships to take the top position.

The Xiaomi Mi 5 scored the best performance at 136,875, followed closely by the Samsung Galaxy S7/S7 Edge with 134,599, while Apple's iPhone 6s/6s Plus comes in third with 133,781.

Rounding out the top five are the Huawei Mate 8 and Meizu Pro 5, which scored 91,157 and 86,322, respectively.

"Compared with the top 10 of last year, 2015 Q1: Samsung Galaxy S6  76912; 2015 Q2, Samsung Galaxy S6  76912; 2015 Q3, Meizu Pro 5  86322; 2015 Q4, Huawei Mate8  91157. We are glad to see the r[a]pid growth of Chinese brand," notes AnTuTu.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 5, LETV Max, iPhone 6, the standard edition of the Vivo Xplay5 and the Samsung Galaxy S6 take the 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 spots, respectively.

The latest top smartphones list from AnTuTu not only show the impressive growth of Chinese OEMs, but also the great boost in performance thanks to Qualcomm's powerful Snapdragon 820.

The iPhone 6s was in "absolute advantage" when it launched last year, but Snapdragon 820-powered Android flagships have since hit the scene and outperformed Apple's flagship. The iPhone 7/7 Plus will pack an extra kick with a new A10 processor, but until then, it seems that Android is in charge.

It's worth pointing out, however, that resolution influences performance, resulting in different scores for smartphones with the same chip and RAM.

This means that, even if two smartphones have the same Snapdragon 820 powerhouse under the hood, a handset with a 2K display will have higher hardware requirements than one with a 1080p resolution. For this reason, the Xiaomi Mi 5 with a 1080p resolution has a higher score than the Samsung Galaxy S7/S7 Edge with a 2K display.

Similarly, the Meizu Pro 5 with a 1080p resolution scores higher than the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 with a 2K resolution.

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A Fitbit Charge HR activity tracker might have just saved a 42-year-old man's life, leading doctors to electrically-shock his heart based on Fitbit data.

The man ended up in the emergency room after having a seizure, and doctors noticed that he had atrial fibrillation, meaning that his heartbeat was fast and irregular. Fitbit data helped doctors determine whether or not it was caused by the seizure, so they'd know if an electrical cardioversion would be suitable.

The patient had the seizure 20 minutes before getting to the E.R., but doctors were initially unsure if his atrial fibrillation was chronic or triggered by the seizure. This difference is crucial, because there's the risk of a stroke.

If the condition was chronic, the electrical cardioversion could trigger a stroke. If, on the other hand, it was not chronic and instead caused by the seizure, not performing that electrical cardioversion to address the arrhythmia could also trigger a stroke.

Luckily, the man's Fitbit tracker helped solve this puzzle and led doctors to perform the cardioversion, shocking the man's heart back to normal.

"During the patient's examination, it was noted that he was wearing a wrist activity tracker (Fitbit Charge HR, Fitbit, San Francisco, Calif.), which was synchronized with an application on the patient's smartphone, recording his pulse rate as part of a fitness program," the medical staff explain in a report.

Doctors accessed the app on the patient's smartphone and noticed that the baseline rate doubled around the time of the seizure.

Simply put, the man's Fitbit proved that it was the seizure that caused the atrial fibrillation, which, in turn, gave doctors the green light to perform the cardioversion.

A cardioversion uses electricity to shock a patient's heart rate back to normal, in such cases.

This marks the first time ever that a fitness tracker served such an important role in a person's diagnostic and treatment. So far, trackers such as Fitbit and others did hold great promise in helping medical staff, but doctors mainly use them to encourage or monitor the patient's activity.

For the 42-year-old man, however, the Fitbit Charge HR assisted doctors in making a special and crucial medical decision, likely saving his life in the process.

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In 2015, Chinese scientists reported successfully editing the human genome using CRISPR technology, which drew awe and stirred ethical debates at the same time.

The gene editing tool  the bacterial protein-derived innovation that allows scientists to cut and paste certain portions of DNA  has even emerged as Science magazines 2015 Breakthrough of the Year.

The controversial gene splicing technique has taken a stab at a number of diseases and even spurred the experimental-phase gene drive, which is hoped to extinguish Zika-causing mosquito populations.

Last week, a separate team of scientists in China did it again: they said they have edited human embryonic genes to help make them resistant to HIV infections, the second published experiment of its kind.

The team from Guangzhou Medical University, led by stem cell scientist Yong Fan, reported collecting 213 fertilized human eggs from April to September 2014. Donated by 87 patients, the eggs were unfit for implantation via in vitro fertilization due to their extra set of chromosomes.

They employed CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to cause a mutation into some embryos that crippled the immune cell gene CCR5. Some people naturally carry the mutation, which alters the protein in a way that blocks the virus from entering and infecting T-cells, and thus become resistant to HIV.

According to results, four out of 26 targeted human embryos were modified. Not all chromosomes, though, obtained the specific mutation, either containing unmodified CCR5 or harboring different forms of mutation.

Nature sought comment from Fan, who had not responded by the time of the report.

This paper doesnt look like it offers much more than anecdotal evidence that it works in human embryos  Its certainly a long way from realizing the intended potential, commented stem cell biologist George Daley. He added that the main takeaway in the paper is the use of CRISPR in introducing a precise genetic alteration.

For Daley, the experiment was far from achieving its goal of producing a human embryo with all copies of CCR5 rendered inactive.

On the other hand, the issues should be resolved in non-human primate studies first, if to ask Xiao-Jiang Li, a neuroscientist from the Emory University in Georgia.

In April 2015, a different team in China announced that it successfully modified a gene associated with a blood disease in human embryos. The modification done in this world-first was not viable and therefore, could not have led to a live birth.

Thus, both studies have pointed to results that are "comforting and disturbing" at the same time, according to Dr. Peter Donovan, a biological chemistry and developmental cell biology professor at the University of California.

[T]his group of researchers also reproduced another finding described by the first group, namely that this type of gene editing also causes off-target effects," he said.

These failures have led to conclusions that CRISPR is not yet ready for use in human embryos, with much work needed to be done as long as researchers do not get to the point of implanting viable genetically engineered embryos into a living womans uterus.

At the International Summit on Human Gene Editing in 2015, scientists from the U.S., the UK and China were in agreement that viable human embryos can be used for research, but it would be unacceptable to alter the DNA of these embryos in clinical settings.

Fans team appeared to echo these sentiments, writing that attempts to generate genetically modified humans through early-embryo modification needs to be strictly prohibited until the ethical and scientific kinks are ironed out.

However, it looks like experiments on genetically altered embryos are forging ahead.

Early in 2016, British regulators green-lit experiments on viable embryos, with Francis Crick Institute researchers set to use CRISPR to snip out genes that hinder healthy fetal development.

The findings of this study were published in the Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics.

Photo: Caroline Davis | Flickr

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Small islands are at risk of suffering from freshwater scarcity, paving the way for them to dry out in the future, a new study has found.

Scientists from the University of Colorado Boulder have developed a new model to predict the effects of climate change on small islands. In the process, they found that previous analyses of these places underestimated the number of islands that can go barren by mid-century.

From 50 percent, the number of islands possibly becoming arid in the future is actually 73 percent, putting approximately 18 million people "computationally disenfranchised," as described by study lead author Kris Karnauskas.

Karnauskas says these islands are already facing problems of sea level rise, but new data show that they are also at risk of having vulnerable rainwater.

"The atmosphere is getting thirstier, and would like more of that freshwater back," he says.

The Unfortunate State Of Small Islands

Small islands are among the most unfortunate places in the face of the changing climate. They are vulnerable to sea level rise, scarce resources and hazards of economy. To add to that, thousands of these islands are said to be too small to be considered in global climate models (GCMs) that scientists are not able to include them in studies investigating the impacts of climate change.

One particular area that scientists may have overlooked is the data on these islands' freshwater systems. As per GCMs, the percentage of islands getting wetter and drier are tied at 50 percent each. However, these models do not consider what occurs in unaccounted-for islands. In fact, Karnauskas and colleagues discovered that 73 percent of the islands will turn drier due to increased evaporation.

Underestimation of environmental situations appears not to be rare, as a recent study found that scientists have also undervalued the potential of sea level rise over the next century.

The Problem With Global Climate Models

The main dilemma of GCMs is that they are not completely sharp in terms of coming up with very detailed information of small objects, particularly tiny islands.

GCMs divide the Earth into grids, with each grid measuring about 240 x 210 kilometers (149 x 130 miles). Such dimensions are quite big for areas with small islands that it becomes impractical to include these tiny specks into the models.

Karnauskas compares the situation to pixels. If they are too big to consider the tiny freckles on a nose's image, then those freckles would go unnoticed. For these freckles to be resolved, extreme fine pixels are needed. Unfortunately, GCMs are not designed to have that feature.

The scenario of the unnoticed element in a grid box is applicable to many islands all across the globe. Part of this problem is that scientists are not able to determine the effects of climate change to these islands' freshwater situations.

Understanding The Water Situation In Small Islands

The primary method for determining how climate change affects freshwater supplies is to identify the evaporation and precipitation situations in the area.

Determining precipitation is easy and existing GCMs are able to detect this regardless if it is over land or over water. Even in tiny areas like Easter Island in Polynesia, experts are able to determine how much precipitation is most probably going to fall from the sky.

The biggest challenge then is identifying evaporation rates. This is because the models do not show the lands, it only depicts an all-water picture. Scientists cannot calculate evaporation of these lands based on the bodies of water surrounding the tiny islands because oceans follow different physical principles of evaporation.

Not being able to know the rate of evaporation leaves scientists baffled as to the true situation of freshwater supplies in tiny islands.

Karnauskas and colleagues then created a way to determine what is really going on in these small islands. He draws a cube diagram on a white board, which represents a three-dimensional image of an ocean grid cell. He prompts predicting where the tiny island ought to be in the cube and use the atmospheric information directly above it.

The method developed by the team is said to be feasible because the islands are so small that the climate directly above it is not much different from the climate over the ocean. This has been proven in an investigation of an island as big as Maui, where scientists were able to discover that weather centers at airports have little variations from the weather of stations hundreds of kilometers offshore.

Karnauskas calls this technique as "blind pig test," which is said to be successful if scientists are not able to distinguish whether what they are investigating is above land or above the water. This situation only means that experts do not need to have land information. As long as they know the situation in the atmosphere above it, then they can most likely predict the evaporation situation in that area.

Small islands may face drier situations far more than previously predicted, but with the new framework developed by the team, scientists may have more accurate information about the effects of climate change, which may help mitigate the severity of the situation.

The study was published in the journal Nature Climate Change on April 11.

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On Monday, officials from the Los Angeles County animal control clears "Dog Whisperer" Cesar Millan of any wrongdoing following an animal cruelty investigation. The probe started after French bulldog-terrier mix attacked a pot-bellied pig during an episode in Nat Geo Wild's Cesar 911 aired on February 26.

Simon, the aggressive bulldog mix, bit the pig in the ear and drew blood. Later in the same episode, Simon was leashed to the same pig who appears to be taking him for a walk around the pen. Cesar explained it was an attempt to train Simon to co-exist with the pigs.

"After a comprehensive investigation by our officers, we presented a very thorough and complete report to the District Attorney's office and they were unable to find anything to charge Mr. Millan with. It's a fair decision," said animal care and control Deputy Director Aaron Reyes.

Nat Geo Wild said that the pig was immediately tended to after the biting incident. The pig did not show signs of distress and quickly healed.

"The clip caused some concern for viewers who did not see or understand the full context of the encounter," said National Geographic Wild in an official statement.

The investigators examined the full clip "several times." The review of the footage, along with veterinary reports and interviews of the people involved, did not show any negligence or any intent to hurt the animal.

In the footage, the pig's ear was shown bleeding but the investigation found Simon merely nipped the pig and did not bite or tear the skin off.

Reyes added that the pig's injuries appeared "worse than they really were." The evaluation found no evidence that the pig was positioned as bait. The witnesses also felt that the biting incident was an accident.

The probe lasted nearly a month and throughout, Millan kept that no crime took place in the Cesar 911 episode. Following the case wrap-up, Millan said that he and his team are "100 percent dedicated to the proper care of all animals."

The Simon incident in February took place in Millan's Santa Clarita 45-acre dog-training facility. Reyes added that Millan's facility doesn't have any history of animal cruelty cases.

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Backplane, the startup company backed and promoted by pop icon Lady Gaga, has run out of cash.

The company, which allowed individuals to create niche-based communities made up of like-minded people connecting through shared interests, used up the $19 million that it has raised since it was founded in 2011.

According to TechCrunch, Backplane has gone out of business, with the company selling its assets to a group made up of a mix of new and previous investors in the startup.

Backplane was able to raise $12.1 million in 2012 from Lady Gaga, her manager Troy Carter and top Silicon Valley venture capitalists, with the company posting a valuation of $40 million. This was despite the fact that Backplane was not much more than a fan website for Lady Gaga at the time, as it created Lady Gaga's LittleMonsters.com, with the startup then also looking to launch social networks for brands.

Backplane was able to raise $5 million more since then, but after three years, there has been no progress on the startup's product. There were reports that the company was failing, and the startup attempted to bounce back by pivoting to Place.xyz, hiring a new CEO in Scott Harrison and restructuring into a self-serve social network maker mobile app.

A total of 15,000 communities have since been created on Backplane, with plans to create apps for LSU and Burning Man. However, all this was not enough.

Upon using up its funds, Backplane could not get its investors to put more money into the company. Liquidation preferences for certain investors in case the startup exited scared away new investors, and previous reports on the struggles of Backplane hurt its capabilities to raise funds. A Chinese investor was supposed to lead a fundraiser for $2.5 million to inject new money into Backplane, but those plans fell through.

Backplane has now burned out, serving as an example of the dangers of raising funds at valuations too high and how a company can be bled dry by lavish lifestyles, with its founders running two fancy offices at the same time.

The startup, while out of money, is not yet completely buried, however.

"The system continues to operate and efforts are under way to continue business operation and release a number of new apps," Harrison said.

The group that purchased the startup's assets will attempt to relaunch Backplane, with partners such as Lady Gaga to become paying clients and not just strategic partnerships.

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Facebook announced at its F8 developer conference in San Francisco on Tuesday that Messenger will now feature chatbots in the app that will communicate with users to provide customer service, content and interactive experiences.

That's right, Facebook Messenger is the latest platform to integrate the artificial intelligence in its app, but we can't say that we didn't see this announcement coming. Reports have surfaced over the past few days that the company would be announcing the bots during the conference. Rightfully so, as Messenger continues to compete against related apps like Kik and Line, which already use the AI.

Chatbots are virtual agents that are powered by artificial intelligence that can communicate with users to help them with tasks such as booking a hotel room or online shopping, and provide information. The idea is that they can ultimately replace 1-800 numbers and be a direct way to communicate with a company without getting the runaround.

Since Facebook says that more than 50 million companies use its social network, with one billion business messages sent each month, it only makes sense that it would finally add bots to Messenger.

"We're excited to introduce bots for the Messenger Platform," David Marcus, Facebook's VP of Messaging Products, said. "Bots can provide anything from automated subscription content like weather and traffic updates, to customized communications like receipts, shipping notifications, and live automated messages all by interacting directly with the people who want to get them."

Facebook is launching bots for the Messenger Platform with companies like Spring, Poncho, CNN and more.

For example, you are chatting with a friend on Messenger and just found out they are having a bad day. The user can then message the 1-800 Flowers bot to get suggestions and place an order without having to download a separate app, go to the website, call or even enter in their credit card information (if that info is already in the Facebook app). This is all done in Messenger.

Users will be able to start a conversation with the Spring bot to help them find a price on an item they want from the retailer, or options that would go with a particular item. This makes it feel like the user it talking to a personal stylist or friend while they are shopping.

Or they can ask the CNN bot about a brief overview about a particular article they are curious about when they don't have the time to read it in full.

Users will also have the ability to block a bot if they no longer want to communicate with it.

Facebook also announced that, starting today, developers and businesses are able to create their own conversational bots. The company will provide them with the documents to build their bots for Messenger, which must first be approved before they enter the platform.

Now that Facebook has made this announcement, there is no denying that chatbots are taking over apps. Microsoft launched its AI chatbot Tay, which was a disaster after the Internet turned on her, but the company still wants bots everywhere.

Far better examples of these bots really working include those in apps like Line and Skype. Slack's latest bot in beta from Taco Bell allows users to place an order for pick-up from the app. Telegram just released a whole bunch of bots for music, stickers and YouTube, and Kik just opened its own bot shop with companies like Sephora and Vine using the AI.



Source: Facebook

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Before saying what the Bad Thing is: Last year alone  it was in 2009  nine containers of hazardous waste imported from Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Barcelona by three different companies in Tamil Nadu were caught at the port in a clear pointer to rural India becoming a waste bin for the developed world.

I hate the Times of India, but I, sadly, have to quote it: Is India a global trash can? And heres the quote: And so, 103.7 metric tonnes of Barcelona's garbage  from shredded plastic carry bags to used diapers and napkins  arrived last August at the nondescript port of Tuticorin in southern India.

And yes, we are, in case you didnt know! Sorry! For the exclamation marks! In case you dont like it! But its terrible! Read! The TOI article for how this has been! Happening!

And now, saying what the Bad Thing is: Apple is trying to get into the Indian smartphone market by selling pre-used phones.

The iPhone maker is (probably) about to become the first company to sell used phones in this country as an industry. Its second attempt in as many years. This time, the stakes are higher ... warning government officials in private that it'll open the floodgates to electronic waste, jeopardize local players, and make a farce of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Make in India program to encourage local manufacturing.

There have been several backlashes. I can hear a real English-sounding voice (I mean English-English) on Bloomberg. (From a Chinese / Korean person. Pardon the racialisticness or racialism or what you call it.) Its fun! (Sorry Edwin Chan!)

Thanks to Edwin (he obviously has a Chinese name apart from his Oxford name), but yeah, he speaks the truth.

Heres the crunch. What of the above is the worst?

E-waste and local competition are bad things, yes. But This Thing That Will Make India A Global Trash Can is the worst. Local manufacturing goes to the dogs. Modi is right. Modis Thing is a farce. (?)

On a lighter note  a much lighter note  the same author speaks about bringing digital banking to 1.2 billion people. I appreciate Saritha Rai for providing me the links, but this one  where all the countrys people have bank accounts: Im sorry. Right next to where I live, people live under a flyover. Some ask for money.

Some ask for a vada-pav.

Apple iPhone, e-waste recycling
Anonymous hack numerous Italian job-seeking portals and leak information online

To protest against the new labour laws in Italy, the duo of Anonymous Italia and LulzSec ITA hacked several job-seeking portals and leaked personal details of CEOs, Managers and other employees of hotshot companies.

On Saturday, April 9, the hackers announced the leak as part of a new operation called #NessunDorma, which translated from Italian means Nobody Sleeps.

The hacktivists from Anonymous Italia and LulzSec ITA also defaced one of the employment agencys websites and left a deface page along with the guy Fawkes logo. The groups also released a list of 45 employment agencies that were targeted during the operation.

The two groups began their operation as a warning to corporations activating in Italy. The first stage of the campaign was to raise awareness of the countrys complex conditions for local and foreign workers, against new labour laws and temporary employment agencies, corporations, unions and politicians.

The hacktivists are also unsatisfied with Giuliano Poletti, Minister of Labour and Social Policies, and Matteo Renzi, Prime Minister of Italy, who are preparing new laws that benefit corporations more than Italys working force.

According to the press release, The new labour laws mean poor wage for workers, more profit for corporations and more government and union corruptions. In this case, billion Euros will be transferred to corporations and their allies. We know this is typical exploitation. We know government, corporations and unions dont care workers. We are against this exploitation laws. We think we are able to protect our rights by struggle. We dont want laws like Job Act.

The hackers are demanding a minimum wage of 8 per hour and compulsory health insurance for Italys workers employed under a temporary contract.

According to Anonymous and LulzSec, their data dump contains four million records, of which 1.8 is actual user data, all amounting to 1.5 GB. They also claim to have half a million job-seeker evaluations and 7,000 contact details for major companies activating in Italy. While some of the details belong to Italian employment agencies, some of it doesnt.

The data was published in six different archives hosted on file hosting service MEGA. When put together, all six files only hold 300 MB of data.

The little data that was checked by Softpedia reveals that each hacked website followed the same pattern, holding dumped data in HTML files, database info in TXT files, and optional screenshots of the admin panel in image format.

Hackers got all the aforementioned leaked details after breaching the server of Engitel, a Milan-based web agency providing e-commerce solution to the companies. Risk Based Security researchers claim that all these websites are related to each other, as they were built by Engitel. It has been reported that data from Engitel is also included in the leak.

Prior to this operation, Anonymous Italy had carried out DDoS attacks against various regional government Web portals because of Italys involvement in the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project.

In addition, a sixteen-year-old teenager from Udine was arrested for launching DDoS attacks as part of the Anonymous #OpSafePharma campaign two weeks ago.
Japan designing the worlds first invisible train that will be out in 2018

When it comes to technology and inventions, Japan has always been ahead in the race. It already has the bullet train since last two years that carries its passengers across the country at speed of up to 580 km/hour. Now, Seibu Railway Co. wants to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2018 by launching a new line of speedy commuter trains that will blend into the landscape.

Seibu Railway Co. is a Japanese conglomerate based in Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan. Its principal businesses are in railways, tourism, and real estate. Its railway operations are in northwest Tokyo, and Saitama prefecture.

Architect Kazuyo Sejima from the Japanese firm Sanaa, who recently received a Pritzker Prize  the Nobel Prize of architecture, has designed a train that wont be completely invisible but super-reflective. Essentially, it merges into its surroundings by reflecting them off its pristine mirrored surfaces.

The Pritzker prize is awarded to architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision, and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture.

Sejimas website suggests she favors minimalism in design, which is certainly true of the new Seibu train concept. She was quoted as saying: The limited express travels in a variety of different sceneries, from the mountains of Chichibu to the middle of Tokyo, and I thought it would be good if the train could gently co-exist with this variety of scenery. I also would like it to be a limited express where large numbers of people can all relax in comfort, in their own way, like a living room, so that they think to themselves I look forward to riding that train again.

Many ambitious architects have come forward to suggest that this design can actually be applied to existing trains. The Seibu Railway Co. has given Sejima the permission to redesign both the exteriors and the interiors of the Red Arrow express commuter train for its 100th anniversary.

The exterior on the Red Arrow commuter train will be coated with semi-transparent and mirrored surfaces. Sejima claims the surfaces will be something never seen before now. The interior will feel like a living room so that passengers can relax while travelling. The current exterior is expected to be replaced with semi-transparent and mirrored panels, while the traditional boxy shape will be re-structured to look like a silver bullet. No details have been provided on the environmental impact of the train.

This invisible train is likely to hit the tracks with seven eight-car trains in the year 2018. It will be covering some over 178 kms (111 miles) throughout Japan. It will run through different terrains including the mountains of Chichibu, Tokyo and more, which suggests that the train would blend into different types of scenery. The vehicles will be built by Hitachi Ltd., a company which builds Japans 200 mph Shinkansen trains.
The U.S. Navys New Zumwalt Destroyer is so stealthy it has to use special reflectors to make friendlies aware of its presence

The U.S. Navys new Zumwalt-class guided missile destroyer (DDG 1000) is so stealthy that the military branch has decided to outfit the ship with giant reflectors so that it will be visible to other ships in times of fog or heavy ship traffic.

The Navy destroyer is designed to look like a much smaller vessel on radar, and it lived up to its billing during recent builder trials.

Lawrence Pye, a lobsterman, told The Associated Press that during a recent outing, the 610-foot ship on his radar screen looked like a 40- to 50-foot fishing boat. He watched as the behemoth came within a half-mile while returning to shipbuilder Bath Iron Works.

Its pretty mammoth when its that close to you, Pye told the news service.

Zumwalt program manager Capt. James Downey said that despite its size, the warship is 50 times harder to detect than current destroyers. Thanks to its angular shape and other design features, its stealth could better even more once the testing equipment loaded onto the ship for trials is removed.

The Navy tested Zumwalts radar signature with and without reflective material hoisted on its halyard during sea trials last month. The target was to get a better idea of exactly how stealthy the ship really is, Downey said from Washington, D.C.

The reflective material that will be used aboard the Zumwalt will look like metal cylinders. Other vessels have also used the material during difficult navigation conditions, such as in heavy fog or busy ship lanes.

The possibility of a collision is remote. The Zumwalt has sophisticated radar to notice vessels from miles away, allowing plenty of time for evasive action.

However, the civilian mariners are worrying that they might not see it during bad weather or at night, and the reflective material could save them from being alarmed.

The destroyer is unlike anything ever built for the Navy.

It features a wave-piercing tumblehome hull, composite deckhouse, electric propulsion and new guns besides having a shape designed to deflect enemy radar.

Before being delivered to the Navy, more tests are expected to be conducted when the ship returns to sea later this month for final trials. The warship is due to be commissioned in October in Baltimore, and will undergo more testing before becoming fully operational in 2018.

Other cutting edge technologies on the Zumwalt include a composite deckhouse, a nearly silent electric propulsion system, and an advanced gun system with 155 mm guns, long range land attack projectiles, and the possible addition of a railgun.
Not everything is hunky dory at Google, insiders reveal the worst things about working there

If you thought that working in worlds biggest Internet search company was just fantastic, you are in for a serious shock. Remember working in one of the top places in the United States doesnt mean its a dream come true. Here, we are talking about the search giant Google. Some current and former Googlers in a popular Quora thread have mentioned some of the biggest disadvantages to their jobs, of which many of them revolve around the competitive pressure that comes from working with so many smart and talented people.

Dmitry Belenko, an ex-Googler writes that once he started working for Google, he had a difficult time coming to terms that he was no longer a big fish in a small pond and that he was no longer the best at everything:

The overarching disadvantage is that your ego will be bruised quite thoroughly. Google hires some amazing people, and until you realize that you cant be amazing at everything, you will feel like an imposter. Then youll find your own niche (or not), and youll be all right. Mine was already bruised by Microsoft Research (which at the time hired even better people, believe it or not; dont know how it is now), so I didnt have that problem.

Current Googler Lutz Enke echoes the same feeling:

Your colleagues at Google are very smart. Many individual contributors would be in leadership positions at many other companies. (a) This might feel limiting if you are such an individual contributor and would prefer to manage a large team; and (b) you might feel less smart, as youre constantly exposed to so many smart people.

However, not every former or current Googler felt this way about their colleagues. Actually, self-described reluctant Googler Robert Menke thinks that his colleagues are greatly exaggerated:

Googles hiring process tends to pull in people who are computer-science heavy and software-engineering light, which means that the code base is a horrific mess more reminiscent of an undergraduate project than a shipping product. The engineering practices are straight out of the 1980s. I doubt anyone over a level 6 has ever read The Mythical Man-Month. Silver bullets abound yet the werewolves keep coming.

While this is an interestingly honest confession, we can guess that this might not go too well with his co-workers.

Talking about other disadvantages of working at Google, former Googler Jesse McGrew writes that he feels working at Google has left him out of touch with a lot of the software thats being designed outside the company:

Besides creating a long learning curve, and making it difficult to explain to your non-Google friends what you do all day, this also means that once you leave Google, much of the experience you gained there wont transfer. Having Google on your resume is prestigious, but if the company youre hoping to join built their product on Ruby, React, Bootstrap, Heroku, Docker, Nagios, Redis, MySQL, and MongoDB, itll take a lot of prestige to make up for being unfamiliar with all of those. Even transferring your C++ experience to another company might be difficult, since Google has unique requirements for C++.

In the end, ex-Googler Joel Johnson has elaborate list of what can go wrong with working in Google

You will likely:

Become a cog

Work on nothing worthwhile

Be underutilized

Deal with politics and peer pressure

Regress (skills-wise) as an Engineer

Not be promoted regularly, even with good performance

Not have a great manager

Find yourself in a competitive environment (whether due to a large number of overqualified co-workers, or due to their competitive one upping nature)

It is important to note that despite of all the complaints above, Google has been regularly featured in Glassdoors top 10 best places to work. Hence, the poor experiences listed here do not appear to reflect on the company as a whole.

You can check out the whole Quora thread at this link.
Last week, SpaceX and Blue Origin marked new milestones in building reusable launch vehicles. SpaceX successfully landed a Falcon 9 first stage on a drone ship, while Blue Origin made its third launch and landing with the New Shepard suborbital vehicle. Each company continues to build experience unmatched and so far unchallenged by traditional launch providers, with the prospect to lower costs and increase launch rates in the near future.

SpaceX's CRS-8 space station supply mission for NASA lifted off on Friday, April 8, at 4:43 p.m. Eastern time from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Its primary goal to put the Dragon cargo capsule into orbit for a rendezvous with the International Space Station was met around 10 minutes after liftoff.

The first stage of the CRS-8 flight returned to land onboard the drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You" around 8 minutes and 35 seconds after lift performing three rocket burns before touching down slightly off-center on the moving drone platform. The landing was all the more dramatic due to high windows on the final landing approach and ocean waves pitching the platform up and down a couple of degrees.

It was the first successful landing of a Falcon 9 first stage on a drone ship after four previous attempts and the second successful landing of a Falcon 9 first stage, the first touching down on a landing site at Cape Canaveral.

Drone ship landings are expected to make up half to a third of Falcon 9 first stage returns, according to the company. Launching communications satellites into geosynchronous orbit requires more fuel and speed, making a landing at sea easier and more viable than having to return to the Cape with nearly empty tanks.

But landing at sea is a much trickier business. The drone ship is a much smaller target and is moving around in three dimensions, making the task of putting a first stage on it much more challenging, more akin to landing a helicopter on a ship.

Once back in port, the recovered first stage will be trucked back to one of SpaceX's launch pads at Cape Canaveral and undergo a series of 10 hot fire tests on the ground to qualify it for reuse in another launch. It would be the first piece of pre-flown SpaceX hardware to be qualified for another launch; the first returned stage is set to go on display outside the company's headquarters later this year.

Reuse of the first stage is expected to drop launch costs considerably. A fully new Falcon 9 launch lists at $61.2 million, with flights reusing a first stage expected to cost around $40 million. Satellite company SES has said it would be willing to fly on the first reusable flight, assuming it could get a decent discount.

But the company still has to clock in more experience in recovering and reusing boosters. Musk tweeted in January that he expects to have around a 70 percent landing success rate in 2016 and hopefully improve to 90 percent in 2017. Ultimately he'd like to get to the point where it is routine to bring back the first stage on the ship, hose off the outside, clean it up, refuel, and get ready to go again.

Launch pricing might get knocked down a couple million dollars more if SpaceX can also recover and reuse the outside payload fairing that protects satellites on the trip to space. Currently, the clamshell fairing falls away and drops into the ocean, but SpaceX is looking at recovering it.

SpaceX hasn't discussed how many flights they expect to get out of a reused Falcon 9 first stage. Is it two, five, ten? One hundred? More flights per first stage mean more profit, but each reuse launch represents some risk until there's a solid engineering flight history established. The Falcon 9 first stage is designed to complete its mission to boost a payload into space even if it loses an engine and has demonstrated the ability to do so in the past.

Finally, if one first stage flying back for reuse isn't exciting enough, what about three? The Falcon Heavy will use three Falcon 9 core first stages to put up to 117,000 pounds into low Earth orbit. SpaceX expects to fly back all three first stages for landing and reflight. List price for Falcon Heavy is $90 million. The company hasn't discussed what a reusable Falcon Heavy launch might cost, but one can imagine what a heavy rocket with lower launch costs might do to existing providers and the space industry as a whole.

Edited by Stefania Viscusi
A 40 anos de Malvinas

"Revisar el pasado es pensar el futuro". La frase de la presidenta de Telam, Bernarda Llorente, resume el espiritu del documental coproducido entre la agencia de noticias y el canal publico de TV sobre la cobertura que los medios de comunicacion hicieron del conflicto, plagada de censura y mentiras. Una autocritica necesaria para mirar hacia adelante en un (ya viejo) contexto de fake news y negocio informativo.
In addition to Xi, the new Standing Committee is composed of Wang Huning, director of the Political Research Office of the CCP Central Committee, and Zhao Leji, secretary for the... | Read More
Aspen Medical co-founder Glenn Keys says a new deal signed with Singapore's peak business chamber group will save Canberra businesses years in developing networks and finding trade partners.

The Canberra Business Chamber chairman signed a memorandum of understanding with the Singapore Business Federation on Tuesday, joined by ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr and senior government bureaucrats.

Aspen Medical co-founder and Canberra Business Chamber chairman Glenn Keys. Credit:Melissa Adams

As part of the agreement, a new online social network for ACT based businesses will be connected with Singapore firms through the federation. The Canberra International Support Network initiative allows emerging businesses to learn and connect with those who have already been successful overseas.

The federation is the island city-state's peak business group, brining together more than 22,500 Singapore companies, and local and foreign business chambers, to promote trade, investment and effective industrial relations.
The other ACT finalists included Geraldine Freeman, who has cared for her sister's son Treyley since he was six-months-old and as he struggled with autism. She was nominated by his paediatrician Mary Burke and described as "a shining example of sisterly love and sacrifice". The other finalist was mum-of-three Alison Cerritelli who was nominated by her teenage daughter Nathalie for her unconditional love through tough times and for always being available to listen. "She helps anyone who needs it. She is a mother to all," Nathalie said. Mrs Kelly, who works in communications for the AFP, and her husband Sean also have a younger son Aidan, four. Liam was diagnosed in 2013 when the family were three weeks into what was meant to be a year living in Batemans Bay.

The then nearly four-year-old had a burning fever but never any of the other symptoms of leukemia such as pale skin and bruising. The family took him to the hospital as they had not yet found a GP at the time and it turned out to be a fortuitous decision because the hospital took blood tests, diagnosed the leukemia and told Mrs Kelly her son could have been days from death without treatment. "That day we were flown to Sydney and we never came back," she said. "We lived at Ronald McDonald House for about three months. And then the ACT Government, actually, helped us to get in to a unit in Randwick. So there were four of us living in a one-bedroom unit for a year." After a year, the family was able to return to Canberra, with Mrs Kelly continuing to take Liam to Sydney for two to three days a week. All up it was two years of chemotherapy, lumber punctures, blood transfusions and steroid treatments for Liam, who is now in year one at Holy Trinity Primary School in Curtin.

"He's a little trouper. I don't think I could be as brave," she said. They got through with the support of family and friends who also helped fundraise for them when both parents could not work. "It's so nice now that we are on the other side to thank people for everything they did for us," Mrs Kelly said. "It's also a good opportunity to draw attention to the need for more funding and research into cancer which affects children." Mrs Kelly was nominated by her mother, Mary Ford, of Calwell.

Despite everything she was going through, Mrs Kelly also comforted mothers she met in the children's cancer ward, which was a very confronting place for parents, according to Mrs Ford. "I once found Dannielle sitting on the floor of the parent's shower area comforting a mother who was distraught about her child's cancer," she said. Mrs Ford said her daughter's optimism and belief in Liam never wavered."Their little family still has a long road to travel with many challenges to still face, but with the love of a mother like Dannielle, Liam is truly blessed," she said. Barnardos Australia spokeswoman Manisha Amin said the calibre of nominations of great mothers from across Australia had been incredible this year. "Barnardos Mother of The Year aims to recognise women who defy limits of love and care to change the course of the next generation, giving children the gifts of love, security and hope - and this year we've once again been blown away by the nominations," she said.



"Dannielle, in particular, is an example of a mother who seeks to nurture not only her own children and family, but also extends the compassion and empathy of a mother to grown adults, evidenced through her support of other mothers with very sick children.

"I'd like to congratulate all the exceptional mothers who have been nominated this year, and especially Dannielle."
The ACT government has been criticised for taking "way too long" to decide the fate of the Canberra Services Club with the future of a controversial land swap deal that would see it move elsewhere in Manuka still up in the air.

Club president, Michael Kinniburgh, said given almost five years had passed since the original building burnt down in 2011 the organisation's 4000 members, who range in age from 18 to nearly 100, had been very patient.

Canberra Services Club president Michael Kinniburgh in front of the old Manuka site of the club. Credit:Jeffrey Chan

"We need, in the next four to six weeks, some sort of documentary communication that says 'you [the land swap and the new home plan] are still on, don't you worry about that' I think that's only fair," he said.

Mr Kinniburgh said while this year's Anzac Day program would almost certainly be the last to be held at the site of the former clubhouse due to the redevelopment of the Manuka precinct, there was no clear indication of where the 2017 event would be held.
While Tad Kahsai will be laid to rest on Wednesday, his children vow their questions surrounding his death won't be.

As they peel down the missing person posters dotted throughout Canberra and prepare to say their final farewells, Rezina, Vanessa and Adam Kahsai continue their push for an inquiry or inquest into the response to their father's disappearance.

Adam, Vanessa and Rezin Kahsai. The funeral for their father, Tad, below, will be held as questions remain surrounding his death. Credit:Rohan Thomson

The siblings said they felt validated after a meeting with ACT Policing on Tuesday about their concerns on the way in which their father's case was handled.

But they still believe the only way they'll learn what truly happened to him is through an official inquiry or inquest.
When David Jolly answered his phone and learned he was commissioned to create the Australian War Memorial's Gallipoli Centenary art, he could not believe it.

"But then I got sent the paper work and realised that they actually wanted me to do it," he said.

Australian artist David Jolly with some of his works. Credit:Rohan Thomson

"That was the start of an incredible journey."

The Melbourne-based artist created seven paintings in response to the Anzac Day centenary dawn service at Gallipoli, which were unveiled at the Australian War Memorial on Tuesday.
New parents who take at least six months out of the workforce to raise a child will no longer have to fret about losing their coveted Qantas frequent flyer status for up to 18 months.

The airline has introduced a parental leave pause program for its silver, gold and platinum members, allowing them to keep their perks even if they don't fly enough as is usually required to maintain their tier level. The benefits, depending on their status, include lounge access, bonus points offers and preferred seating options. It will apply to men and women as well as those welcoming a foster or adopted child.

In addition, Qantas has increased its family transfers points limit and removed the restriction on the number of transfers so that members can transfer up to 600,000 points a year to family members, up from 400,000 previously.

Qantas Loyalty chief executive Lesley Grant said the changes had been prompted by feedback from members wanting more flexibility from their frequent flyer membership, particularly when they were "grounded" with new children.
The union representing finance workers will not endorse Labor's plan for a royal commission into the industry until there are more details about the proposal, but wants any such inquiry to focus on the pressure on staff to hit sales targets.

Finance Sector Union national secretary Fiona Jordan on Tuesday said she was "cautious" about supporting the royal commission proposal, and wanted to speak with union members more broadly on the issue, and ensure it was not an attack on people who work in banks.

Ms Jordan said the union would not form a position on the proposal without seeing terms of reference  which shadow treasurer Chris Bowen says would be devised if Labor wins the election.

"The concerns initially that I'm receiving are that obviously this shouldn't be an attack on workers in the finance sector," Ms Jordan told Fairfax Media.
The Victorian government is concerned about the prevalence of gambling advertising in the community. Credit:Victor J. Blue

William Hill local competitor ASX-listed Tabcorp has long called for changes to Australian gambling advertising.

Pushing the boundaries

Tabcorp chairwoman Paula Dwyer said at the company's annual meeting in October that a well regulated gambling industry was in everybody's best interests, and this included "nationally consistent and clear regulations around gambling advertising".

"The growth in online betting, wagering advertising and the propensity of some wagering operators to push the boundaries has created challenges for regulators and the communities in which we operate," said Ms Dwyer.

"Last year [2014], there was $89 million spent on wagering advertising across Australia. That was up 34 per cent on the prior year. Our concern is not only that advertising is regulated differently in every state and territory, we also share the community's view that there is too much gambling advertising."

Last year, there was $89 million spent on wagering advertising across Australia. That was up 34 per cent on the prior year. Tabcorp chairwoman Paula Dwyer

Fairfax's attempts to contact William Hill were unsuccessful. The bookmaker is one of several which has started wagering on video games or e-sport.

According to Deloitte almost 150 million people across the world watch e-sport, with the industry's overall revenue leaping 25 per cent to to $US500 million ($663.78 million) in the past year.

It is tipped for another 25 per cent revenue jump in 2016, and 75 per cent of its audience are millennials, aged 18-34, Deloite added.

The industry's growth has seen a flurry of corporate activity. Online retailing giant Amazon bought Twitch.tv for nearly $US1 billion in 2014, while Swedish media company Modern Times snapped up a majority stake in ESL, the oldest e-sport company for $US87 billion in 2015.

Locally, resource company Volta Mining has transformed itself into eSports Mogul, which has secured a 10-year licence to operate the online platform of eSports Hero  a New York-domiciled company  across the Asia Pacific region, including China. eSports Hero director Gernot Abl said his children spent more time watching other people play video games than regular television.

But advertising on websites is vastly different from spruiking on regular television.

'Limited control'

Ben Willee, the general manager of Melbourne-based advertising agency Spinach, said both advertisers and site owners had "limited control" on where their ads appeared online.

"It would be a complicated process to understand exactly how a particular advertisement ended up on a particular site," Mr Willee said.

"Depending on how and when they [a site owner] are receiving those ads, they have limited control over who the advertisers are. Basically there is a tool called an SSP, or a sell side platform, and that's a computer that controls what ads they receive from an advertising exchange."

But an advertiser can override the technology, Mr Willee said.

"You can remove specific sites from your campaign if there is a concern they are not your target audience or it may be construed as outside your category guidelines.

"It's the same argument that's been kicking around tele forever and a day, if you advertise booze in a sporting match, kids are going to see it. Until the technology gets better, they are going to have that limited control."

Nevertheless, the Victorian government is concerned about the prevalence of gambling advertising in the community, particularly when it comes to children and young people.

"This is a complex issue which crosses borders and we need to start having a national conversation about how to best tackle this issue," a government spokeswoman said.
The union representing 2000 workers at collapsed steelmaker Arrium has joined forces with aggrieved lenders to dump the troubled group's administrator Grant Thornton and install rival corporate undertaker KordaMentha to oversee a painful restructuring.

Federal Court Justice Jennifer Davies was set to issue orders appointing KordaMentha's Mark Mentha, Bryan Webster, Martin Madden and Cassandra Matthews as administrators following Grant Thornton's resignation after a hearing in Melbourne late on Tuesday.

Arrium's banks, including ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and NAB, and the Australian Workers' Union (AWU), used their muscle to oust Grant Thornton just six days after the firm was appointed by the Arrium board under controversial circumstances. This brought to a head simmering tensions behind the scenes between the banks and the Arrium board and senior management.

A furious South Australian Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis, who had warned against deposing Grant Thornton because of the urgency required in trying to restructure Arrium, said the change in administrator was "regrettable" and disruptive at a time when thousands of steelworkers at the Whyalla plant as well as Arrium workers in NSW, Victoria and Queensland faced an uncertain future.
BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto will have competition on the copper acquisition trail, with former ASX-listed miner PanAust keen to buy assets with its new-found financial strength.

PanAust was acquired by Chinese state-owned entity Guangdong Rising Asset Management just over one year ago, and PanAust's managing director Fred Hess said the new ownership structure had opened new possibilities for the Brisbane-based company.

PanAust managing director Fred Hess says the copper miner has more financial firepower since being acquired by Guangdong Rising Asset Management in 2015. Credit:Glenn Hunt

"One of the benefits that we see now as a wholly-owned subsidiary of a Chinese SOE is that we probably have much greater financial capacity than what we had previously," he said this week.

"As a result of that, particularly in the current environment, it opens up some opportunities that would not have otherwise existed for us, both in terms of focusing on the existing organic growth opportunities that we have and also looking further afield at the potential for acquisitions."
Wesfarmers' new department stores chief Guy Russo is under pressure to assess whether to accelerate the turnaround strategy at Target or come up with a new strategy following a sharp fall in earnings in the December-half.

Wesfarmers shareholders and analysts said the accounting scandal at Target had underscored the poor performance of the mid-market retailer, which has suffered a 70 per cent in earnings over the last five years.

Mr Russo, who took the helm of a restructured department store division in February, needed to decide quickly whether to step up changes introduced by former Target managing director Stuart Machin or come up with a strategy that differentiated Target from Kmart, Woolworths' BIG W and Myer, they said.

Mr Russo is expected to detail his plans for Target at Wesfarmers's annual strategy day in June.
Coles shoppers are paying a hefty premium on some groceries when they shop online and use the supermarket's supposedly free "click and collect" service or home delivery.

Fairfax Media compared in-store and online prices on 10 popular brand label items at Coles and found eight of them were 10 per cent more expensive for online shoppers.

Coles charges between $4 and $14 to deliver orders under $150 in metropolitan areas, depending on when the customer is available to receive it.

Online orders can also be collected from some stores using its "click and collect" service, which it advertises as being free.
In the mid-1950s Blackburn won a scholarship to Huddersfield School of Art. At the Royal College of Art (1959-62), where he studied alongside David Hockney and R.B.Kitaj, Blackburn focused on landscapes. He was introduced to the potential of pastels by the Viennese colourist Gerhart Frankl, who became his mentor.

David Blackburn was born in Huddersfield to Wilfred Blackburn, a painter and decorator, and his wife Nora. He attended the local grammar school. He described the West Yorkshire moors of his youth as "a myth-making place" and grew to "love the drizzle and mist of the North of England with its sense of decay". The black lines on his Yorkshire paintings represent the grit-stone walls which divided areas of the moors.

"It's essentially transformation that interests me, not representing what's in front of me," he explained. "It's something inside my head."

Although titled specifically  Desert Beach, Freeway and Hillside Evening  Blackburn's works were rarely hampered by regional accuracy. They were more concerned with the sublime and strove to capture the inexpressible elements of the natural world.

A visit to the Recent Australian Painting exhibition at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in 1961 also introduced him to the vibrant canvases of Arthur Boyd and Fred Williams. Blackburn's early work drew on his studies of textiles and printmaking, incorporating single threads of colour through monochromatic panels. After leaving the RCA he travelled widely across Europe and then, in 1963, to Australia. He later recalled looking down from the window of a Boeing 707 and being enthralled by a "vast, hot, flat country, which most definitely was not English". In Australia he worked at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.

During the 1960s he produced the Creation and Metamorphoses series, which were to be some of his most important works. His Creation drawings were, he explained, his way of dealing with nuclear anxiety through a sequence of works on paper dealing with the genesis of life. Metamorphosis would be a lifelong subject.

In the 1970s Blackburn continued to work in both Britain and Australia, taking teaching posts at Merton College, Oxford (where he knew W.H.Auden), the University of Manchester and Melbourne University. In Australia he had to adapt his eye to a markedly different landscape. "I couldn't understand how one could draw where there was no apparent foreground, middle distance and background. Only space," he said.

In 1981 he was a visiting professor at Georgetown University in Washington DC. The urban sprawl of America moved Blackburn to attempt more geometric compositions: "I always think of the Australian drawings as horizontals and the American ones as verticals." After visiting the American West, he introduced a vibrant palette including tangerine orange and cerulean blue to a series of Californian beach scenes.

He later returned to live in Yorkshire. During the 1980s and 1990s he exhibited widely in America, Australia and Britain, including retrospectives at Dulwich Picture Gallery (1986) and Huddersfield Art Gallery (1994), and showed new work frequently at Hart Gallery (London and Chicago). In 1991 he was the subject of BBC and ITV documentaries.
Though he never spoke publicly about his role, Dagan was central to the Israeli part of the program, conferring regularly with senior members of then-president George W. Bush's administration. Ultimately, Israel did not use its military option. And last summer, the world powers reached a deal with Iran to curb its nuclear program, which Israeli leaders consider an existential threat to their country. In 2007, Dagan provided US officials with the pictures that proved that Syria had been building a nuclear reactor with North Korean help. The Bush administration declined to bomb it but, after much debate, Israel destroyed it in an air raid in September of that year. Bald and stocky, Dagan was regarded by reporters as humourless, though always eager to court them, and readily outspoken. He criticised Israel's political leaders for failing to pursue seriously a peace initiative with the Palestinians, and last year he again lashed out at Netanyahu shortly before the general elections returned him to office for a third consecutive term. "How did it happen that the country, stronger by far than all the countries in the region, is incapable of carrying out a strategic move that will improve our situation?" Dagan asked at a rally in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv calling for political change. "The answer is simple: we have a leader who is fighting one campaign only, the campaign for his political survival."

Having emerged from the shadows, Dagan said at the rally that he was "not a man of speeches" or a member of any political party. "The only party I am loyal to every day is the state of Israel," he said. He was born Meir Hubermann on January 30, 1945, in Kherson, in what is now Ukraine. He was the son of Holocaust survivors. Other reports said he was born on the floor of a train, as his parents travelled between Poland and the Soviet Union. He immigrated to Israel with his family in 1950, two years after the state was founded, and enlisted in the Israeli military in 1963. He served in the paratrooper brigade and fought as a company commander in the Arab-Israeli War of 1967. Rising through the ranks, he was tasked by Ariel Sharon, the general who became prime minister of Israel, to establish a special unit to combat militancy in the Gaza Strip in the 1970s. He was later appointed commander of the South Lebanon region. He retired from the military in 1995 with the rank of major general. Dagan then joined Israel's counterterrorism bureau under then-prime minister Shimon Peres and was later appointed head of the bureau. He returned to the military in the late 1990s, joining the general staff and serving as a special adviser to the chief of staff. It was Sharon who appointed Dagan to lead the Mossad, where he served as director under three prime ministers: Sharon, Ehud Olmert and Netanyahu.

Israel does not acknowledge responsibility for operations abroad, but Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite organisation, blamed Israel for the 2008 assassination of Imad Mughniyeh, a senior commander of the group, whose car exploded in the heart of Damascus, the Syrian capital. In a more embarrassing episode on Dagan's watch, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, accused Israel of killing one of its senior officials, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, in a Dubai hotel room. Israelis initially celebrated the 2010 operation but then the Dubai police released images showing some of the 17 people suspected of being in the hit squad bumbling about in almost comical disguises. Yaakov Perry, a lawmaker and former chief of Shin Bet, described Dagan as "one of the builders of the foundations of the theories of the war against terrorism, of special operations in the military and within the intelligence community". Marking Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day in April 2010, the popular Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot printed the photograph of Dagan's grandfather on its cover. Speaking at the Tel Aviv rally, Dagan's voice broke with emotion as he linked his personal connection to the Holocaust with his lifelong mission of trying to safeguard Israel.
That might increase, though, if creditors can retrieve the $21.5 million which the company made in political donations to um, the PUP? Hey, that name sounds familiar! Nickel and dimes The report from the administrators was not flattering about Mr Palmer, and it's worth quoting from in detail, because it really doesn't pull any punches. "We have considered the evidence available and are of the view Sections 180, 181, 182, 183 of the act may have been breached. Further, there are indications the directors may be in breach of their common law and fiduciary duties Our observations indicate Mr Palmer, a former director of the company, appears to have acted as a shadow/de facto director of QN at all material times from February 2012 up to the date of our appointment on 18 January 2016."

What's more: "It is our view the donations made by Queensland Nickel to Palmer United Party have appropriated assets otherwise available to Queensland Nickel and its creditors for the benefit of a director-related entities, and because of these transactions, caused detriment to Queensland Nickel Based on the evidence available to date, the administrators have conducted investigations on the basis that Mr Palmer is a shadow/de facto director of QN, and owed the same duties to QN as the formally appointed director, Mr Mensink [aka Clive Mensink, nephew of Palmer]." These findings are being reported to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, who will establish whether Palmer has criminal charges to face. So seriously, Dio: now is definitely the time to register some URLs, assuming there any that contain "wang" are still available. And while there's a clear political gain to the government - Fairfax is all but certain to return to the LNP at the next election - it's hardly painting the greatest picture for a government determined to fight the election on a platform of corporate tax cuts and industrial protection rollbacks. After all, add the allegations of Palmer's continued involvement in Queensland Nickel to the revelations of the Panama Papers, a quarter of Australia's largest public companies having no rules preventing them paying bribes as a matter of course in overseas countries and evidence of malfeasance in the banking sector - why, it all looks suspiciously as though the rich and powerful individuals and institutions which Turnbull seems determined to reward have been merrily playing Australia's taxpaying class for chumps. Mind you, that assumes that ASIC has the resources to investigate Palmer at all - which is not exactly cut and dried, since it's apparently barely able to do anything.

Touch me, I'm ASIC! You might recall that there are loud demands for a royal commission into the financial sector at the moment from the likes of Labor, the Greens and independent MPs and senators, but the calls are also coming from an increasing number of government backbenchers, although the PM has been resisting the call on the grounds that ASIC is perfectly able to deal with this silly little endemic corruption kerfuffle. "ASIC has all of the powers of a royal commission; all of the powers of a royal commission plus much more," he insisted on Monday. "It has the ability to initiate prosecutions, to take action, to issue fines, to ban people from trading, from operating as company directors, or in financial services," he insisted. Which begs the obvious question: so why isn't ASIC apparently initiating prosecutions, taking action, issuing fines and/or banning people from trading, operating as company directors or in financial services? The problem is partially optics: everything Turnbull says regarding ASIC might be true, but seeing the ex-banker PM argue that the banks shouldn't have to face a royal commission into the banking sector looks a bit you know, top-hat-wearing-y. So why has ASIC hitherto failed to act against the financial sector on the existing evidence?

When is a regulator not a regulator? Well, for one thing because the organisation has been systematically defunded over the past few years, thereby ensuring that it hasn't got resources to bring to bear on any sort of investigation. Indeed, Crikey did a downright forensic examination on how ASIC's funding has been slashed over the last few years (short version: Labor increased funding but put future "efficiency dividends" in place, cuts which the Abbott/Turnbull government kept while also reducing the organisation's funding). There's also the point that ASIC has been under sustained criticism for being too chicken to ruffle the banks' feathers - a Senate committee report from 2014 described them as "a timid, hesitant regulator, too ready and willing to accept uncritically the assurances of a large institution that there were no grounds for ASIC's concerns or intervention." High praise! That particular report was co-authored by independent, Green and Labor senators, so you can accurately predict how seriously the Abbott government took it. Expect a small one-off grant to ASIC to make the problem go briefly away, though.
Two men created and sold fake paintings by famous Australian artist Brett Whiteley for more than $3.6 million, a court has heard.

Supreme Court Justice Michael Croucher, when outlining the Crown case to the jury on Monday against art dealer Peter Gant and fine art restorer Mohamed Aman Siddique, said the pair had allegedly been involved in a joint criminal enterprise.

Blue Lavender Bay was sold for $2.5 million to Sydney Swans chairman Andrew Pridham in 2007.

Justice Croucher said Mr Siddique was accused of creating three paintings - Blue Lavender Bay, Orange Lavender Bay and Through the Window - in the style of Brett Whiteley, who died in 1992.

The judge said the Crown claimed Mr Gant then passed the artworks off to unsuspecting buyers as original 1988 Brett Whiteley paintings.
A key witness in the art fraud trial of two men accused of creating and selling fake Brett Whiteley paintings for more than $3.6 million took photographs of the unfinished artworks as they were being produced, a court has heard.

Book binder Guy Morel told the Supreme Court on Tuesday he was shocked to see the "forgeries" and contacted police.

Blue Lavender Bay was sold for $2.5 million to Sydney Swans chairman Andrew Pridham in 2007.

Mr Morel, who worked at well-known art conservator and restorer Mohamed Aman Siddique's studio in Easey Street, Collingwood, said he did not tell Mr Siddique he was taking the photographs.

Mr Siddique is accused of taking part in a joint criminal enterprise with art dealer Peter Gant to create three paintings - Big Blue Lavender Bay, Orange Lavender Bay and Through the Window - in the style of Brett Whiteley, the famous Australian contemporary artist who died in 1992.
An art dealer's estate wants the current owners to return the work, with authorities saying a criminal procedure is now underway. The estate claims the painting is held by the International Art Centre, in turned owned by art world heavyweight David Nahmad.

Swiss prosecutors raided a storage facility to "sequester" the 1918 work, Seated Man with a Cane, by Amedeo Modigliani meaning it cannot be moved.

A $A25m Modigliani painting claimed to have been looted by Nazis during the French occupation has been held in Switzerland following a legal stoush over its ownership.

The Nahmad link was revealed in the so-called Panama Papers, a collection of 11 million documents held by the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, which were passed to a German newspaper and then shared with the International Consortium of Journalists.

The family of Oscar Stettiner, a Jewish art dealer, claimed he originally owned the painting before fleeing Paris in 1939. Since 2011, Stettiner's grandson Philippe Maestracci has been attempting to recover the work through the US courts, which have struggled to establish the ownership of the painting.

The case has made transparent much art world corruption, with fusion.net reporting that Mossack Fonseca's attempt to keep assets and their ownership secret weas "tailor-made for servicing the international art world".

The site's investigation unit reported that it was no surprise, amid the high-profile scandals in the Panama Papers, that "art is something of a constant".

"Mossack Fonseca was constantly helping to shuffle billions of dollars' worth of art in and out of shell companies based in tax havens around the world."
A painting found in the attic of a house in south-west France two years ago was attributed to the Italian master Caravaggio by private French experts who hailed its discovery on Tuesday as a great event in the history of art.

The work, which depicts biblical heroine Judith beheading an Assyrian general, was found by the owners of a house near Toulouse as they investigated a leak.

It could be worth 120 million euros ($A178 million), the Eric Turquin art expert agency said in a statement.

The painting is thought to have been painted in Rome in 1604-1605 by Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio, and is in exceptionally good conditions, despite having been forgotten in the attic for probably more than 150 years.
As well as directing the adaptation of Tim Winton's bestselling novel, Baker is playing a reclusive surfer named Sando.

Yearning: Simon Baker, Samson Coulter and Ben Spence in the first photo for the film Breath , which has started shooting in Western Australia. Credit:Nic Duncan

Elizabeth Debicki, Richard Roxburgh and Rachael Blake have joined the shoot for Breath, which has started in Western Australia.

For his debut feature film as director, Simon Baker has assembled a top-flight cast alongside two rising young surfers.

Newcomers Samson Coulter and Ben Spence play Pikelet and Loonie, two teenagers who form an unlikely bond with the charismatic Sando and his wife Eva in the 1970s.

Inspired: Tim Winton is pleased the film is being shot in the Western Australian locations of his novel. Credit:Louise Kennerley

Debicki (The Great Gatsby, The Night Manager) will play Eva, with Roxburgh (Moulin Rouge, Rake) and Blake (Sleeping Beauty, Truth) as Mr and Mrs Pike.

Having spent almost a year searching for the right teenagers to play Pikelet and Loonie, Baker said he was thrilled with the cast.

"Tim's book viscerally captures the restless curiosity and yearning for identity that often defines our coming of age," he said.
Disability advocates have slammed the federal government's "astounding silence" over a landmark Senate report, which called for a royal commission into disability abuse more than four months ago.

Amid debate over whether there should be a royal commission into the financial sector, there is frustration that desperate pleas for a high-level national investigation into disability abuse have so far been ignored.

Disability abuse has been described as "ongoing and endemic".

Samantha Connor, who gave evidence to the Senate inquiry last year, said abuse was "ongoing and endemic" and "nobody seems to be doing anything about it".

"I just look at [the banks debate] and go, 'what?' Are these people's priorities? The behaviour of banks rather than human life?" she told Fairfax Media on Tuesday.
Bankers Association chief Steve Munchenberg has refused to rule out a mining tax-style ad campaign to fight Labor's proposed royal commission into the banking and finance sector.

The head of the nation's banking lobbying cautioned the lobby group is not "actively considering" an ad campaign at this time, ahead of an expected July 2 double dissolution election, but said it remained on the table as one of a range of options under consideration.

And marketing consultant Toby Ralph, who has worked on 50 election campaigns across 3 continents including for the former Howard government, said he had "no doubt the banks can run a campaign that will turn the political opportunism of a royal commission into an electoral nightmare for Labor".
"The development of fully autonomous systems able to conduct military targeting operations which kill and injure combatants or civilians may be closer than many of us had imagined," the delegation's statement said.

At a United Nations meeting on "lethal autonomous weapons systems" in Geneva, Switzerland, the Australian delegation on Monday night called on the world to come up with agreed rules about how to handle the rapid pace in technology in military artificial intelligence.

Australia has warned the world that artificially intelligent killer robots "may be closer than many of us had imagined" and nations need to work harder to tackle the future threat they may pose.

"It is an appropriate time to consider the risks of such weapons systems and to make sure we understand fully what might constitute misuse as well as legitimate use of emerging technologies."

The Terminator movies imagined a future where killer robots posed a threat to humanity: some warn that the threat is real.

The Geneva meeting is the third gathering on artificially intelligent weapons held by the UN's disarmament branch. Last year, some of the world's most prominent scientists and technology entrepreneurs including physicist Stephen Hawking, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak signed a letter warning about the dangers of autonomous weapons, which they said would be technologically feasible "within years, not decades".

The Australian statement to the UN meeting on Monday said the world still had "some way to go" in agreeing whether there should be limits on autonomy given to weapons systems such as aerial drones and, if so, how to create and enforce global rules.

"We should not underestimate the complexity of this task  As an international community, we remain some way from common understandings and universal acceptance of the potential use of [lethal autonomous weapons systems], and a long way from being able to set enforceable standards for their use," it said.
"Either we can't spell, or they can't read," traditional owner Vince Forrester says of the thousands of tourists who scale Uluru each year, against the wishes of local Aboriginal people.

"There are all these [signs in] different languages asking 'please don't climb'. I feel disappointed that they really haven't got it yet."

The Turnbull government last week announced the privately run Big Uluru Trek would begin in August - a 100-kilometre five-day desert hike from Amata to Uluru that would provide a new tourist drawcard and boost investment. It raised the prospect that the controversial rock climb might finally be banned.

The climb traces the route taken by the ancestral Mala men on their arrival at Uluru, and traditional owners consider that tourists who take the walk are disrespecting this spiritual significance.
I recently came across a curious and extremely helpful little red book  it contained the reflections of arguably Australia's greatest investor, Kerr Neilson. Neilson has built investment management firm Platinum Asset Management into one of Australia's most successful and respected international equities managers.

What separates Neilson from his peers is his personal insight into investor behaviour. While not explicit, reviewing the insights suggests these are not just actions Neilson has observed in others, but mistakes he has made and learnt from himself.

Kerr Neilson is arguably Australia's greatest investor. Credit:Angus Mordant

Some would argue that the best investors are those who can reflect on their own behavioural biases.

Here are some of my favourite insights from the book:
Influenza expert and infectious disease paediatrician from the University of Sydney, Dr Robert Booy, said the vaccination has two effects: "A couple of proteins stimulate human immune cells to make antibodies and T-cells to fight those particular strains of flu." Dr Jenny Smiley gives Elizabeth Moore a flu jab. The government recommends jabs for everyone over 6 months old. Credit:Sylvia Liber SVZ Do the vaccines give us flu? Yes and no. Technically, the vaccine is "killed" and so delivers only a small amount of inactivated virus, said Dr Barr. Our body reacts to the components of influenza virus in the mix, he said. "It's a much smaller response, some of symptoms may appear, but they are very short lived." Why is 2016's jab being called a "super vaccine"?

Flu strains are termed "A" (H1 and H3) or "B". Last winter, a record 100,571 cases of laboratory-confirmed influenza cases were reported in Australia, 60 per cent of which were B viruses. Last year's government vaccination targeted three strains of the virus, two A strains and one B strain. This year's government flu immunisation is a quadrivalent, or four-strain, vaccine. The new vaccine includes an additional B strain known as the Brisbane strain, alongside the Phuket (B), Hong Kong (A) and California (A) strains. Strains are named for the locations in which they were first isolated. Australia is preparing for the flu season, which usually hits its peak in July-August. How do we predict the flu strains for the winter ahead? Australia, like most countries, takes a lead from the World Health Organisation, which has six collaborating centres for influenza, based in Melbourne, Atlanta, London, Tokyo, Beijing and Memphis. The group meets twice a year to make recommendations as to which viruses may strike the following winter, said Ian Barr, acting director of Melbourne's WHO collaborating centre. WHO recommendations are then scrutinised by the Australian Influenza Vaccination Committee. Australia usually follows the recommendations, and has not veered from WHO advice since before 2000. This winter's northern hemisphere pandemic was the A, H1 strain, so it's very likely we'll have the same here, he said.

Will the vaccination target the right strain of flu? "We don't know for sure, it's not quite crystal ball gazing," said Dr Barr. "We take the latest data we have in terms of trends and which viruses are circulating and try to predict which ones will be in circulation in 6-12 months, when these vaccinations will be needed." New viruses come along, he said, and once the machinery of vaccine production starts rolling, it's virtually impossible to change the vaccine formulation. "We're looking for next virus that is likely to dominate, that's the trick." The flu jab is 50 to 60 per cent effective and is available free of charge of all at risk groups. Credit:Getty Images

So, does the jab work? It varies from year to year, but both Dr Barr and Dr Booy said the vaccine is usually 50 to 60 per cent effective. "I call that a good vaccination," said Dr Booy. "Excellent would be over 90 per cent effective." 2000 to 3000 Australians die from the preventable disease annually, a figure that he believes we could "do better at" reducing - in part by having the vaccine. The overwhelming majority of research finds in the flu jab's favour, though a 2013 report in the British Medical Journal by Peter Doshi criticised the promotion of influenza vaccines in the USA as "one of the most visible and aggressive public health policies today." Closer to home, Peter Collignon, professor of microbiology at the Australian National University, has raised concerns over whether the vaccination may increase susceptibility to new strains of flu and questioned its effects on mortality rates. How many people have the shot each year?

No-one really knows. According to the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register, almost 72,000 children under the age of seven received the influenza vaccination in 2015. In 2014, the figure was 47,000. However, not all vaccination providers routinely send this information to the Register. There is no national register for recording immunisation amongst adults (including against influenza), though from September, the new Australian Immunisation Register is hoped to capture all vaccinations from cradle to grave. How much does it cost? The government has set aside $31.3 million for up to 4.48 million free doses of the new flu booster, which became available last week. High-risk groups such as those mentioned above and pregnant women and young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are not charged for the vaccination. Both types are available privately, with the quadrivalent jab costing around $25 plus the GP consultation. The trivalent jab can cost as little as $9, with many pharmacies now providing flu vaccines. What do doctors recommend?
A woman who racially abused and assaulted a teenage girl on a Sydney train during an outburst of unprovoked violence has been jailed for one year.

Nicole Boyle, 35, called the 15-year-old girl of Asian heritage a "chink", dragged her by her hair into the aisle of a Lidcombe-bound train and then slapped her across the face.

The incident was one of two separate racist tirades unleashed by Boyle on June 8, 2015. She pleaded guilty last year to assault and using offensive language in a public place.

In facts accepted by the court, the teenager had been travelling with two friends on the train when Boyle and her friend boarded their carriage at Parramatta just before 2pm on June 8 last year.
Federal Labor is willing to compromise on new owner-driver truck rates, which the Turnbull government will ask parliament to freeze.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says he's open to seeing a longer implementation time for a decision by the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal.

Bill Shorten has dodged questions about his stance on personal income tax cuts, and how he would deal with bracket creep. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

"Labor is certainly up for sensible compromise about the pace in which the new minimum conditions are rolled out," he told reporters in Melbourne on Monday. "Of course common sense can prevail."

But he defended the rates and the tribunal, set up by the Gillard government, saying there was a link between owner-drivers' and truck drivers' low rates of pay and the safety of other road users.
We will see what happens to that bid over the next couple of weeks. There are a few other potential buyers. And yet there is an important lesson. We constantly get told that the likes of Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook are becoming too powerful, threatening to take over the world as they rapaciously expand, and trample over rivals in the process.

And yet, as it turns out, it is true. With the company in the early stages of exploring "strategic alternatives"  usually investment banker speak for "selling some other mug the thing before it all goes pop"  the Daily Mail has cropped up as one of the companies exploring buying part or all of the business.

Back in 2000, at the height of the dotcom bubble, it would have made a better than average April Fool's joke. Running a story that the Daily Mail was thinking about taking over the web giant Yahoo would have raised some wry smiles, in much the same way as the Brighton Argus buying Apple might do today.

But, in fact, internet giants are subject to the same laws as any other business. Sooner or later they start to decay and die, just like most huge corporations. We should worry about their power far less.

Yahoo was one of the first great superstars of the internet era. It was created back in 1995 by Jerry Yang and David Filo as "Jerry and David's Guide To The World Wide Web", which was given the slicker name of Yahoo a year later  it stands for Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle". It was the first successful way to make sense of all the information that was suddenly available on the internet, and became the portal through which people started to surf. It listed in 1996, funnily enough exactly 20 years this week. Very quickly it expanded into games, email and web hosting. At its peak, it had market value of $US128b ($168b), a level it hit in January 2000. To take just one example, that was double the value of Walt Disney  not bad for a five-year-old business.

If it had managed to keep that up, it would now be worth $US300b, or slightly more than Amazon. Instead it is worth just $US33b, and a huge chunk of that is accounted for by its stake in the Chinese web giant Alibaba. Some analysts reckon the rest of the company is worth slightly less than nothing. Over the last decade, it has been through more changes of management than Chelsea, although with even less long-term success. The latest, Marissa Mayer, arrived with great fanfare from Google but, despite lots of initiatives, has never managed to get it growing again. With break-up predators circling, a sale, either as a whole or in parts, now looks the best option.

In reality, its fate was sealed when Google came along with a simpler and more effective way of searching the web. Its core product started to slide, and after that there was not much it could do. The interesting point, however, is that it will be the first of the major internet giants to disappear. Sure, there were flaky dotcom companies that crashed soon after they were launched. But Yahoo was not like that. It was a decent, smart company, with real customers, that simply got over-taken by an even smarter competitor, and never recovered.

We hear a huge amount about the power and reach of today's web giants. Amazon is unfairly bulldozing small retailers. Google is trampling on newspapers and publishers. Apple is bullying suppliers and locking down whole industries. Facebook is controlling vast quantities of personal data for its own greedy ends. None of them pays fair amounts of tax, or respects local communities.
"She's a bitch and has bad breath."

"This girl is a 0/10. I would not bang her even if they paid me."

These are some of the degrading comments that have been posted on a Facebook page which rates the appearance of students attending one the country's most prestigious institutions, the University of Melbourne.

University of Melbourne law student Laura Blandthorn is now on a mission to close the page, which she says perpetuates rape culture, sexism and disrespect.
Former disability discrimination commissioner Graeme Innes has lodged a complaint with the Human Rights Commission after two Uber drivers refused to accept his guide dog in Sydney.

And while Mr Innes has since said he will withdraw the complaint after Uber told him they had disciplined the drivers, the matter is another blow to the popular ride-sharing company.

Uber has faced mounting criticism from disability advocacy groups over its accessibility.

Mr Innes, who is vision impaired and assisted by his guide dog, said he ordered an Uber cab in March to pick up his daughter from hospital but the driver refused to transport the guide dog.
He believes Mr Cruel is still alive, and could be one of the 27,000 people interviewed about the case, which involved the abduction of young girls, many of them private school students, from their homes in Melbourne's eastern suburbs. In May 1992, Karmein Chan's mother and her sisters perform a service at the spot where the child's body was discovered in Thomastown. At the time of Spectrum closing, there were 32 suspects that could not be eliminated. Attacks on three girls, and the murder of Karmein, were linked, but police could not rule out that Mr Cruel was also responsible for a series of attacks on children in and around Hampton, further south than his other offences, Mr Fontana said. "Someone in the community who is an associate or who knows the offender in this case will have information that is relevant to this investigation. "This series of crimes had a significant impact on the community, I know even with my own family, the impact on my children at the time, a lot of people were worried.

"Not to solve the case has lingered on my mind, personally. I'm still in contact with families." At the time, Spectrum was the most expensive and exhaustive investigation ever conducted by Victoria Police. While it did not solve the Mr Cruel case, Mr Fontana said several other offenders were charged with unrelated matters and taskforce detectives succeeded in new laws that better protected children. Taskforce Apollo, established in 2010, spent six months reviewing hundreds of thousands of pages of evidence gathered by Spectrum and transferring them into an electronic format. Detectives again interviewed several suspects, and tried to confirm their alibis, but were unable to do so. These suspects included seven that had been nominated to the FBI in 1994. Several new suspects that were nominated to police after Spectrum disbanded, including John, whose partner spoke to police in outer suburban Melbourne in 2011, were also investigated by Apollo detectives.

The statements made by John's former partner paint him as a sadistic predator who abused her for decades. He spoke about Karmein during sex, was often nervous when stories about her featured on television news, and appeared upset when her killer was dubbed "Mr Cruel". But he never explicitly said he was involved in the case. The former partner said John also regularly commented about another cold case, which remains unsolved after more than a decade, implying that he knew the culprit, or helped bury the body in regional Victoria. The case cannot be named, as to do so may identify the suspect. As he was self-employed and travelled regularly across Melbourne for work, John could justify disappearing for hours at a time "on a job", which could provide cover for his offending, she said.

But, while police considered the claims serious enough to take several statements from the woman, some of her information appeared contradictory, fanciful, or impossible to confirm. A victim of Mr Cruel said aeroplane noise was incredibly loud at the property where she was abused. While the Moonee Ponds property that John had access to was near a flight path, it did not match the layout reported by the victim. The statement also included a claim about a human leg being uncovered in a suburban backyard, which John became frantic about before explaining that it was a dead dog. It referred to John abusing the women when she was a teenager, and being known as a man who had used drugs to assault other young women and girls, but no reports were made to police at the time of the assaults. John was alleged to have access to a gun, and have had several boxes of slides that contained images of home pornography. But the gun did not match the description of that used in either Karmein's murder or the other abductions, and the slides were supposedly destroyed.

Attempts to contact John were unsuccessful. Eleven days after Karmein was abducted, with her family and friends still hoping for her safe release, the FBI sent an offender analysis of Mr Cruel to Victoria Police. It contained information marked "not for public release", and information that could be released, but not until five days after the analysis had been received as it would possibly jeopardise Karmein's safety. "The release of the victim is a very stressful event for such offenders and any increased stress may have unforeseen and tragic consequences," the FBI warn. The analysis states that the offender probably worked at a school and was regarded as "nice guy" with a genuine interest in children.

"It is imperative that the material to be released publicly focuses on dispelling the myth of the "monster"," the analysis states. Mr Cruel probably lived near the property where his suspected first victim  who has never been publicly identified  was abducted from in Lower Plenty. The analysis does not touch on a theory which was popular among some of the highly-regarded detectives which formed Spectrum but found to carry little weight by those working on Taskforce Apollo. That theory centred on there being two offenders  one responsible for the abductions, and another responsible for the murder, which was motivated by a dispute with the Chan family. The theory was supposedly strengthened by certain evidence, including graffiti daubed on the Chan's car referring to "payback" and "Asian drug dealer" on the night of the abduction, the fact Chan was killed, while other victims were released, and that abductions of children were a method of extortion favoured by Chinese criminals.
Christopher Saunders admits that dropping out of high school would have been easy.

"It was always in the back of my head," he said.

Different paths: Koori students celebrate graduation. Credit:Justin McManus

"There were a lot of distractions. Parties, girls. Everything that is in the movies happened."

But the Koori student from St Patrick's College in Ballarat pushed on  and last year became the first person in his family to complete high school.
The creation of the proposed Great Forest National Park  assuming logging was ceased  would likely close the Yarra Ranges timber industry, leading to at least 264 job losses, a new report warns.

Many of the timber workers left jobless have limited or no qualifications that would lead to employment elsewhere, and live in areas with limited employment opportunities, the report said.

Harold Fox, proprietor of Powelltown Sawmills, says the proposed Great Forest National Park would mean the end for his business. Credit:Jason South

The report, which was prepared for local councillors by consultants and presented to them recently, queries what impact the establishment of the proposed national park would have on job creation. "The level of any employment opportunities associated with the establishment of the proposed Great Forest National Park are in question," it said.

The proposed park would need to generate a substantial increase on current visitation to the area's existing parks and reserves "in order for there to be any substantial increase in employment and/or investment," it said.
A motorcyclist killed in Melbourne on Tuesday has become the twenty-sixth rider to die on the state's roads this year.

Tuesday's fatal crash, which happened in Canterbury about 5pm, adds to an alarming spike in motorcycle deaths that has prompted serious concerns within Victoria's road police.

There has been an alarming spike in motorcycle deaths this year.

The 26 motorcycle deaths since January is more than double what it was at the same time last year. In 2015, the number of motorcyclists killed for the entire year was 30.

A police spokeswoman on Tuesday said the male rider had crashed with a car on Canterbury Road, between Wattle Valley Road and Willanda Avenue.
"Chilling" is a word now used to describe the Heidelberg West street where baby Sanaya was staying before her death.

As news broke that the 14-month-old's mother had been charged with her murder, Perth Street's residents mingled out the front of their homes, the enormity of the situation palpable.

All attention was fixed on the abode of Habib Ali. The home where 22-year-old Sofina Nikat brought Sanaya days before her little body was found in nearby Darebin Creek.
Charges have been formally filed against the 60 Minutes team currently imprisoned in Lebanon over a failed child recovery operation.

Reporter Tara Brown and three other members of the 60 Minutes team are facing several charges relating to kidnapping, a spokeswoman for Channel Nine confirmed.

Brown, producer Stephen Rice, cameraman Ben Williamson and sound recordist David Ballment appeared briefly before a judge in Baabda, near Beirut, on Tuesday afternoon, local time. They are among nine people reportedly under investigation in the case: two British, two Lebanese and five Australians.

A full court hearing is expected on Wednesday, local time. Fairfax Media understands they are facing up to four charges, which include kidnapping and causing injury, charges which could result in lengthy custodial sentences if convicted.
Federal-Mogul Powertrain Earns Its 14th Automotive News PACE Award

Company honored for its Hybrid Induction Welding (HIW) Manufacturing Technology

SOUTHFIELD, Mich., April 12, 2016; Federal-Mogul Powertrain, a division of Federal-Mogul Holdings Corporation , was the recipient of a 2016 Automotive News PACE Award at a ceremony on April 11 in Detroit for its Hybrid Induction Welding process for pistons. The prestigious award recognizes automotive suppliers for superior innovation, technological advancement and business performance.

Hybrid Induction Welding is an innovative, Federal-Mogul-developed steel piston manufacturing process that welds various steel material combinations together for an exceptional weld quality that enables significant cost, weight, durability and performance advantages for the companys OE customers.

Were extremely honored to receive this prestigious award from PACE, said Keri Westbrooke, Director, Engineering and Technology, Federal-Mogul Powertrain. Our commitment to innovation within Federal-Mogul Powertrain enables best-in-class powertrain products that deliver the highest levels of performance and reliability for our customers around the world.

Federal-Mogul Powertrain has had a successful history with PACE, the recipient of 14 awards since 2006. The company received two PACE awards in 2015 for its MicroTorq seal and DuroGlide low friction ring pack technologies; one in 2014 for its lead-free engine bearings; two PACE awards in 2013 for its IROX Engine Bearings and High Modulus Bonded Piston Technology; an award in 2012 for its Two-Dimensional Ultrasonic Testing for Raised Gallery Pistons; two awards in 2011 for its EcoTough-coated piston and LKZ-Ring oil control ring and two awards in 2010 for its DuraBowl piston reinforcement process and High Precision Electro-Erosion Machining (HPEEM) manufacturing process. The company also was honored with PACE Awards for its High-Temperature Alloy (HTA) gaskets and Goetze Diamond Coating (GDC) for piston rings in 2007 and for its Monosteel diesel piston in 2006.

The 22nd annual PACE (Premier Automotive Suppliers' Contribution to Excellence) Award was presented by Automotive News, EY and Transportation Research Center Inc. (TRC Inc.). The competition was open to suppliers who contribute products, processes, materials or services directly to the manufacture of cars or trucks. The Automotive News PACE Award is accepted around the world as the industry symbol of innovation.

Federal-Mogul earned the Automotive News PACE Award following an extensive review by an independent panel of judges including a comprehensive written application and site visit. For complete details of the Automotive News PACE Award, visit www.autonews.com/pace.

About Federal-Mogul

Federal-Mogul Holdings Corporation is a leading global supplier of products and services to the worlds manufacturers and servicers of vehicles and equipment in the automotive, light, medium and heavy-duty commercial, marine, rail, aerospace, power generation and industrial markets. The companys products and services enable improved fuel economy, reduced emissions and enhanced vehicle safety.

Federal-Mogul operates two independent business divisions, each with a chief executive officer reporting to Federal-Mogul's Board of Directors.

Federal-Mogul Powertrain designs and manufactures original equipment powertrain components and systems protection products for automotive, heavy-duty, industrial and transport applications.

Federal-Mogul Motorparts sells and distributes a broad portfolio of products through more than 20 of the worlds most recognized brands in the global vehicle aftermarket, while also serving original equipment vehicle manufacturers with products including braking, wipers and a range of chassis components. The companys aftermarket brands include ANCO wiper blades; Champion spark plugs, wipers and filters; AE, Fel-Pro, FP Diesel, Goetze, Glyco, Nural, Payen and Sealed Power engine products; MOOG chassis components; and Ferodo, Jurid and Wagner brake products.

Federal-Mogul was founded in Detroit in 1899 and maintains its worldwide headquarters in Southfield, Michigan. The Company has more than 53,000 employees globally. For more information, please visit www.federalmogul.com.
IN CONTEXT:TACH Auto Bailout Archive - Opinion, News and Outrage

LOS ANGELES, April 12, 2016 -- LIVE ANOTHER DAY, a new documentary feature film from Argos Pictures about the bailout of the US auto industry, will make its world premiere on Saturday, April 23, at the 2016 Myrtle Beach International Film Festival.





Paul Ingrassia

Based on the book "Crash Course," by Pulitzer Prize-winner, LIVE ANOTHER DAY reveals for the first time the truth behind the collapse of General Motors and Chrysler and the government rescue of these companies. The product of years of extensive research and interviews with the major players in this drama, the film shows how the American car industry evolved to become an oligopoly (the "Big-Three" automakers) engaged in an irrational battle with a labor union monopoly (the UAW) until ultimately the companies lost the ability to focus on their customers. Difficult decisions to address structural burdens like crushing healthcare and pension liabilities were dodged by all parties who preferred simply to "live another day," rather than tackle the problems they faced. This unwillingness to act, when combined with the housing and financial crises of 2008, left the once-almighty automakers with no option but to plead for a lifeline from the United States Government.

The Government's intervention came with its own set of controversies, from protecting a political ally by removing the focus on the UAW as a source of the auto companies' problems, to pushing the boundaries of long established rules of bankruptcy and corporate governance, to giving away an American industrial icon, Chrysler, to a troubled foreign company, Fiat. In the end, the bailout cost US taxpayers an estimated $10-$15 billion. By exposing this important drama in a new light, LIVE ANOTHER DAY is sure to generate a new round of conversation and controversy.

In LIVE ANOTHER DAY, these remarkable events are described by the key players themselves: "Big Three" CEOs, the UAW President and union members, senior members of President Obama's Automotive Task Force, bankers, journalists, analysts, former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, Tennessee Senator Bob Corker and even world-renowned car aficionado Jay Leno. The film also includes an original soundtrack as well as songs by Aretha Franklin, Foreigner, John Hiatt, The Temptations, and Mick Jagger.

According to the film's co-director, Didier Pietri, "Our goal with LIVE ANOTHER DAY was to provide a comprehensive portrayal of the largest industrial rescue in American history. With the merits of the bailout still being debated in the 2016 campaign and questions arising about the sustainability of the auto industry's comeback, this story is as relevant today as ever."

"The tale of the automakers might foreshadow governmental crises across America as well," co-director Bill Burke adds. "With unfunded benefits in many states reaching unsustainable levels, politicians on all sides should look at the history of the Big-Three and act soon to address these issues, or the next federal bailout might be for an entire state."

LIVE ANOTHER DAY will be shown on April 23, 5:00pm at the Carmike Cinema Broadway 17, 1175 Celebrity Circle, Myrtle Beach, SC 29577. A panel discussion will follow featuring Didier Pietri and Bill Burke as well as industry leaders from the film.

About the Myrtle Beach Film Festival

Celebrating its 11th year in 2016, the Myrtle Beach International Film Festival (MBIFF) has received prestigious awards in the movie scene including; "Top 25 film festivals to submit to in the world," by Movie Maker Magazine, and "one of the best in the world" by Film International. The MBIFF has a reputation for outstanding films and continues to be a venue for up and coming filmmakers as well as seasoned professionals. This year's festival will run April 20-23. Tickets may be purchased at http://www.myrtlebeachfilmfestival.com/.

About Argos Pictures

Argos Pictures is an independent documentary feature film company founded by Bill Burke and Didier Pietri. It specializes in the development, production and marketing of original content based on best-selling and award-winning books. www.argospictures.com
MOSCOW  Russian President Vladimir Putin has surprised his countrymen once again. In a remarkable power play, Putin has reshuffled the aces in Russias law enforcement system and tossed a huge number of cards in the air. In less than a week, he liquidated the federal drug control and immigration agencies, firing more than 50,000 people, including his longtime ally from the KGB, Russian drug tsar Victor Ivanov. Putin then let Russians know that he had created a new force, called the National Guard, a powerful structure that includes more than 180,000 interior ministry troops plus special police units.

Putins shakeup creates a military and police force of up to 400,000 well-trained servicemen loyal to him personally. The newly appointed commander is one of Putins most trusted men, a former undercover KGB agent named Victor Zolotov, a man with the massive build and intimidating face of a bodyguard who has been responsible for the security of the Russian leadership for almost 20 years.

When The Daily Beast asked Putin supporters why Putin decided now to form what amounts to a vast Praetorian guard, they said (privately) that the Russian president is terrified a new Russian revolution will be staged by Washington.

Of course the president is concerned, he can see that the United States wants to overthrow him, like they did to [Libyan strongman Muammar] Gaddafi, or look what they have done in Ukrainethey dream of seeing Russia fall apart, so Putin takes measures to prevent a Ukrainian-style coup, Sergei Markov, a member of the Dumas Public Chamber, told The Daily Beast.

So (after reinforcing Russian military bases in the Middle East with the newest weapons the Kremlin could afford) Putin has focused on building a domestic army to conduct military operations inside the country.

President Putin announced the creation of the National Guard on April 6, and on April 7 he spoke at a media forum called Truth and Justice about the West trying to destabilize Russia via the offshore banking scandal known as the Panama Papers.

Theyve plowed through offshore [funds], he said, but [Putin] is not there. There is nothing to talk about. But the task has been assigned! So what have they done? Theyve created an informational product by finding some acquaintances and friends, Putin said, with undisguised irritation that his best friend Sergei Roldugin is involved in the scandal.

On Sunday, one of Russias top television shows, Vesti, charged that the Panama Papers investigation has been ordered by the U.S. State Department, CIA, and other U.S. special services interested in discrediting the Russian president.

Why would Putin need billions of dollars, where could he possibly spend them? Markov asked rhetorically. If he had to escape to Europe they would immediately squash him and for as long as he is in power, he does not need money.

As for Putins friends, Markov said, naming no one in particular, they steal.

As a result of Putins major police reform, thousands of law enforcers, who just last month were on duty catching drug dealers and illegal immigrants, are now left without jobs or being rehired as part of the National Guard forces. The idea that the unemployed officers might begin to sell drugs does not seem to worry the president, Moscow political scientist Dmitriy Oreshkin tells The Daily Beast. Putin is too paranoid about losing his own power, so, today the officers loyalty to him personally is the priority. That was why Putin chose to appoint his personal bodyguard, Zolotov, to command the National Guards.

On Monday, the cover of The New Times Magazine showed a little figure of Putin surrounded by monstrous giants with a one-word headline: Paranoia.

Officially, Putins new almighty National Guard forces were created to defend Russian citizens rights and freedoms. It seems that rights and freedoms in Russia are in serious danger, if 400,000 military men were urgently needed for their defense, the magazine said.

The major reorganization of forces was prepared in full secrecy; the decisions were made quickly, without any discussions either with parliament or with civil society. The news was a total surprise for all members of parliament, Duma Deputy Dmitry Gudkov told The Daily Beast. We could only guess why the president decided to create a national guard.

One theory suggests that Putin once again played his favorite multi-dimensional chess game so he could take control over the fearless but politically problematic Chechen police, who until recently were under the command of the authoritarian, eccentric, and often menacing Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov.

Public opinion experts do not see any obvious reasons for Putin to be concerned about his future. The presidents approval rating moved down slightly from 89 percent to 82 percent, so there is no sign of a revolutionary situation, says Denis Volkov, spokesman for the Levada Center polling and research firm.

Putins spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters that the idea to merge various police units was studied for a long time and that the decision was not connected with forthcoming elections in Russia.

With the price of oil having dropped by almost $100 per barrel and the economy shrinking, the Kremlin had to come up with a plant to prevent or control public anger. There are two ways to compensate for this $100 per barrel, pro-Putin political analyst Yuri Krupnov told The Daily Beast. Either offer a major industrialization, develop a few dozen industries, or tighten the bolts, keep people under pressure.

Deputy Gudkov contends, Putin will obviously continue tightening the bolts in his handsuntil he breaks them.
One of Donald Trumps top aides once lobbied Congress to kill an effort to move the United States embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Paul Manafort, the aide dubbed Trumps new right-hand man and his point-person on delegate strategy at the coming Republican convention, worked the corridors of power in Washington for the Saudi government in the 1980s.

The promise of moving the American embassy to Jerusalem has been a mainstay of political appeals to the pro-Israel community for many years. But in 1984 Manafort lobbied on behalf of the Saudis against House and Senate legislation that would have pressed the U.S. government to make this move, according to a Foreign Agents Registration Act disclosure, which requires that lobbyists working for foreign governments publicize their work.

For work in the six months preceding December 1984, Trumps new delegate wrangler was paid $200,000which, taking into account inflation, would be worth more than $450,000 today.

Efforts to change the location of the U.S. embassy in Israel have an enduring symbolic resonance with many pro-Israel voters. The Israeli government has declared Jerusalem as its capital, but its status has been disputed as part of the broader Arab-Israeli conflict.

Legislation known as the Jerusalem Embassy Act was passed by both the House and Senate in 1995, and became law after President Bill Clinton declined to either sign or veto it. But every president since then has declined to enforce the law, arguing that it was not Congress place to legislate foreign policy.

Trump has been uncertain on whether the American embassy should be located in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem. In December Trump provoked boos from an audience of Republican Jews after he declined to recognize Jerusalem as the undisputed capital of Israel.

But while addressing an American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference last month, Trump reversed course and pledged to change the location of the U.S. embassy. We will move the American embassy to the eternal capital of the Jewish people, Jerusalem, he said.

Manaforts work for the Saudis could put his boss in hot water on this issue yet again. Trump opponent Sen. Ted Cruz, on the other hand, has co-sponsored legislation to press the president yet again to move the U.S. embassy in Israel.

Manaforts ties with the Saudi government also conflict with his new bosss suggestions earlier this year that the Saudis were involved in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Who blew up the World Trade Center? It wasnt the Iraqis, it was Sauditake a look at Saudi Arabia, open the documents, Trump said in February, in an apparent reference to the 28 redacted pages in from 2003 Senate report on the 9/11 attacks. A 60 Minutes report this week suggested the possibility of a Saudi support network for the terrorist hijackers while there were in the United States, bringing the issue yet again into public view.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Manaforts work for the Saudis didnt stop with his lobbying on the location of the U.S. embassy in Israel: His work was evidently sufficient for him to maintain the client. Throughout 1985, he was paid to advise the Saudi government on U.S. arms sales to the Saudis, energy policy, and Americas relationship with Saudi Arabia more broadly. For this Manafort was paid more than $300,000, or more than $660,000 in current terms.

And in the first half of 1986, Manafort lobbied the Reagan White House, the State Department and Congressional staff on a proposed arms sale to Saudi Arabia, netting him a quarter-million dollarswhich today is worth more than half a million.
SPECIAL REPORT: London Wine Fair preview

This years London Wine Fair, being held at at Kensington Olympia, May 3-5, will play host to the largest and most diverse content to date, says show director Ross Carter.

The exhibition company Brintex has announced that there will be more than 100 sessions during the three days of the fair, spanning: Industry Briefings; Masterclass tastings; the new Pop-Up Tastings; The View Tastings; and Speakers Corner as well as specific events taking place on exhibitor stands. This year, for the first time, visitors will be able to sign up to these sessions via the new Bottlebooks booking system, which also allows attendees to search and download details of specific wines and wineries exhibiting. The full content will be available from mid-April.

The Industry Briefings, which will be hosted in The London Room, include the inaugural London Wine Fair Grapevine Debate, chaired by drinks journalist Richard Siddle. Tony Edwards, author of The good news about booze and University College London Pharmacologist, Professor David Colquhoun, will debate Is drinking good for your health?" Chief executive of The Wine & Spirit Trade Association, Miles Beale, will update the industry on the growth of English Wine; its future and potential impact on the UK wine market. And, there will be a taster preview of the International Cool Climate Wine Symposium 2016, which takes place in Brighton, May 26-28.

The Masterclass Theatre (A50, West Hall) will showcase regional and producer-led tastings. These include: Vineyards of Hampshire, with Sunday Telegraph wine writer, Susy Atkins, presenting a selection of wines illustrating the distinctive style of the county; and Tejo: Warm Days  Cold Nights  Cool Wines! presented by wine writer, Dr Jamie Goode and winemaker Martta Reis Simoes from Quinta da Alorna, who will explore the diversity of wines from this upcoming Portuguese region.

Over in the new Pop-Up Tastings, renowned Australian winemaker, Larry Cherubino, will present a tutored tasting: Great Southern at a glance, which will include the wines from the Great Southern Wine Region, with its five sub-regions of Denmark, Frankland River, Mount Barker, Porongurup and Albany. The variety of soil types and weather conditions results in distinct characteristics in many of the classic grape varieties and Cherubino will explore these diverse flavours in this tasting of six grape varieties. Awin Barratt Siegel is hosting a Masters of Riesling and Pinot Noir Tasting on May 5 in the Gallery Room. This will be the first opportunity for the trade to taste the 2015 Rieslings and the 2014 Pinot Noirs from the top producers of Germany and Alsace, who will be pouring their wines. Producers include: Dr Loosen; Leitz; Villa Wolf; and Julien Schaal, amongst others.

Speakers Corner, will again host a selection of informal, yet informative sessions. Vana Koutsomitis, runner up in last years The Apprentice (broadcast on BBC1), will talk about the pros and cons of the exposure and how it has helped build the VinobyVana brand, with innovative social media techniques to break the mould in a traditional industry. Surrey-based Hogs Back brewery has recently collaborated with Sussex-based chocolatier, Montezumas to create the Montezumas Chocolate Lager. Rupert Thompson, owner and managing director at Hogs Back and Helen Pattinson, co-founder of Montezumas, will discuss the venture in When Chocolate Meets Beer, and how the wine trade can learn from such innovations in the brewing sector. Joe Wadsack (wine judge, winemaker and broadcaster), will return to host a daily Challenge Joes Nose session, in which he will blind taste wines submitted by exhibitors.

Many exhibitors will be hosting themed on-stand tastings, including specialist importer, Connoisseur Estates, which will conduct a series of pop-up tastings on their stand (Z30), demonstrating different styles and regional interpretations of classic grape varieties: Tuesday, May 3  Chardonnay (Champagne, Oaked South African, Un-oaked from New Zealand); Wednesday, May 4  Pinot Noir (Champagne, Sparkling Argentinian, New Zealand); Thursday May 5  Cabernet Franc (Bordeaux, South Africa, Argentina). The tastings will be hosted by winemakers Philip Costandius from Oldenburg Vineyards, Mauricio Vegetti from Gauchezco Wines and Laurent Autreau from Champagne Autreau alongside export directors Dan Taylor from Tohu Wines and Marielle Duplantier from GRM Bordeaux.

There will also be daily tastings taking place adjacent to fine wine area, The View Tastings. This includes The Federation of the wine producers of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, who will host a generic tasting on Wednesday, May 4; their first presence at the London Wine Fair for several years. Amongst the participants are: Vignobles Mousset-Barrot; Domaine Pierre Usseglio et Fils Chateau La Nerthe; Domaine de la Charbonniere and Laurence Ferauds Pegau.

Sake is set to exhibit at the fair for the first time, a reflection of the growing importance of this category in the capital and beyond. The Sake Pavilion, which will be located the West Hall on stand C34, awill be curated by Sake Samurai, Natsuki Kikuya of the Museum of Sake, and will feature a selection of sake brewers and distributors: Daishichi Brewery; Sekiya Brewery; five artisan Sake producers from ENTER.Sake, the label set up by renowned techno DJ Richie Hawtin; and the UKs well-established Sake distributors: Tazaki Foods; Ueno Gourmet; Bibendum PLB; and SAKE at UK.

Natsuki Kikuya will also host a Sake Masterclass at The Fair: Journey in the sake glass: has Japan's mystic drink ready to take off in London? Attendees will be taken on a journey of sake regions by tasting, introducing different styles and production process unique to each brewery, and how the range can fit on to the drink menu. The Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) will host a sake session in their new-format Pop-Up Classroom at the show. How to taste sake will be hosted by Sake Samurai, Antony Moss MW, giving a sneak-peek of the new WSET Level 1 Award in Sake, launching in August.

Commenting on this years content, show director, Ross Carter, says: Education has always been a key component of The Fair, alongside diversity and discovery. 2016s vast array of debates, tastings and seminars  the most in the shows history  will give visitors and exhibitors a platform of unrivalled content.

Dates & Times

Tuesday, May 3: 10.00  18.30

Wednesday, May 4: 09.30  18.00

Thursday, May 5: 09.30  17.00

Venue

Kensington Olympia, Olympia London, Hammersmith Road, Kensington, London W14 8UX. The London Wine Fair will be held in the Grand and West Halls this year.

For a full timetable of sessions, please visit: http://bottlebooks.londonwinefair.com/masterclasses

12 April 2016 - Felicity Murray The Drinks Report, editor
An Austin man who saw his daughter graduate early from Texas A&M University has died.

Jim Brewer, 57, passed away last week after a battle with pancreatic cancer. In late march, Texas A&M arranged to hold a graduation ceremony for Brewer's daughter, Jenny, in Austin.

Brewer graduated from Texas A&M and was a member of the Corps of Cadets.

One of the last things on my bucket list was to see my daughter graduate, but I didn't think I was going to make it, Jim Brewer said before the March ceremony.

Brewer is survived by his wife, Lisa, and three children: Mike, Nick and Jenny.
Playful smiles, raucous laughter and prideful glances characterized Monday evening as ex-White House officials Chase Untermeyer, Mary Kate Cary and John H. Sununu gathered on the Texas A&M campus to discuss a man for whom they each openly express their admiration  former President George H.W. Bush.

The trio  along with moderator and former Bush administration colleague Fred McClure, executive director of the George Bush Presidential Library Foundation  shared memories from when they served together. The 41st president and his wife Barbara were in the audience at the Annenburg Presidential Conference Center.

Cary, who served as a speech writer and recently produced a documentary titled 41 On 41, noted that in recent years, interest in Bushs time in the oval office has soared.

George Bushs popularity is increasing, I think, as time goes on, Cary said. There is a tremendous hunger for stories about his life.

While doing the interviews for the documentary, Cary said she and her team discovered a goldmine of stories in nearly every interaction they had.

One of our challenges in making 41 On 41 was to actually narrow down the tremendous number of people who had fantastic stories about President Bush and get it down to just 41 people, Cary said. There are many people in those 4,059 [interviews] who did not make it into the film who think they were number 42.

Sununu, former New Hampshire governor and Bush administration chief of staff, said he believed the rising interest in Bush is largely due to the underappreciated status he endured while he was in office, though presidential scholars said at the time that history would remember him more fondly.

This president, in four years, passed more good legislation than any president except Lyndon Johnson and Franklin Roosevelt, Sununu said. I think taken as a whole, it truly was a fantastic presidency.

In his 2015 book The Quiet Man: The Indispensable Presidency of George H. W. Bush, Sununu said that he set out to offer his perspective on Bushs four-year term in the most accurate way he could with the help of the various historical resources and materials available on the administration.

He specifically praised Bushs Presidential Library and Museum in College Station as an unbelievable collection of Bushs tenure.

Untermeyer, Cary, McClure and Sununu took time to share the lighter side of Bush as well, each sharing their own personal anecdotes about the humor and the positive atmosphere that he was able to foster with his staff.

I really think one of the important assets that President Bush developed within his White House was a comfortable sense of humor amongst those of us that were operating with him on a close basis under the circumstances that are in a White House, Sununu said. There can be a lot of tension, and humor was I think one of the great tools that the president had.

Beyond the direct achievement and the relationships that he built during his administration, Cary also credited Bush with inspiring a culture of service throughout the nation.

Specifically, she quoted his often used phrase, from now on in America the definition of a successful life must include service to others.

I would make the argument that because of President Bush, you can take off the beginning of that, Cary said. I think that any definition of a successful life does now include service to other. President Bush doesnt get nearly the credit that he deserves for that key change in America.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been charged in federal court with allegedly misleading investors in a technology company.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed the charges Monday in a Sherman-based court. They are similar to the allegations Paxton faces in a pending indictment handed up by a Collin County grand jury last year.

Paxton is named in the SEC's complaint along with William Mapp, the founder and former CEO of Servergy Inc. Paxton is accused of raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for Servergy without disclosing he was making a commission. The case stems from when Paxton was a member of the Texas House  before he was elected attorney general in 2014.

"People recruiting investors have a legal obligation to disclose any compensation they are receiving to promote a stock, and we allege that Paxton and White concealed the compensation they were receiving for touting Servergys product," Shamoil T. Shipchandler, director of the SECs Fort Worth regional office, said in a news release on the complaint.

Paxton has pleaded not guilty to the three felony counts he faces in the criminal case.

Bill Mateja, an attorney for Paxton, said that Paxton's legal team has not reviewed the SEC's civil lawsuit.

"As with the criminal matter, Mr. Paxton vehemently denies the allegations in the civil lawsuit and looks forward not only to all of the facts coming out but also to establishing his innocence in both the civil and criminal matters."

According to the SEC, Paxton persuaded five investors to put $840,000 into Servergy  and did so without attempting to confirm Mapps claims about the sales of its data servers and their technological capabilities. A month later, Paxton received 100,000 shares of stock in the company.

In marketing materials and investment presentations, the Servergy CEO said he had preorders for the servers from the online retailer Amazon, the semiconductor giant Freescale and the Canadian software engineering firm Koerr. He also maintained that an independent testing laboratory had found the product needed up to 80 percent less cooling, energy and space compared with other servers on the market. All of those assertions were untrue, according to the SEC filing.

Paxton pitched the company to his friends, business associates, law firm clients as well as members of his investment group. Among those in the investment group who later bought shares in Servergy was Paxton's colleague in the Texas House, state Rep. Byron Cook, R-Corsicana.

Based on prior dealings in the group, members trusted each other to consider the interests of the group as a whole and not exploit one another for a member's personal benefit. Similarly, prior experiences in the group established that the member who recommended an investment would monitor the investment going forward and represent the group's interests, the filing states. Despite a duty to do so, Paxton knowingly or recklessly failed to inform any member of the investment group that he was being compensated by Servergy for recruiting investors.

The SEC said Paxton told investigators that the shares were a gift from Mapp, not necessarily a commission. According to the complaint, Paxton claimed he accepted the shares only after Mapp refused to accept an offer from Paxton to invest $100,000 of his own money in Servergy.

I cant take your money. God doesnt want me to take your money, Mapp told Paxton during a meeting at a Dairy Queen during the summer of 2011 in McKinney, according to the SEC.

In May 2014, the state securities board fined Paxton for similar conduct. At that time, Paxton, who was then running for attorney general, admitted he solicited clients for an investment firm without disclosing that he would be paid a percentage of the fees the firm collected from their business.
"We were shocked," said Lee, a Houston police captain, recalling his and his wife's reaction to the streets where UT-Austin's boundaries end and the city of Austin begins. "The conditions around the campus are unreal."

He and other parents found shuttered storefronts along the Drag  the popular strip on Guadalupe Street along the campus' western boundary  covered with graffiti. Homeless individuals camped out along trash-strewn sidewalks, bus stops and buildings. And aggressive, even confrontational, panhandlers approached students.

"We're New York-New Jersey people," said Kate Moore, whose daughter is a UT sophomore. "We're used to homeless people. But that Drag just scares the living shit out of me. I don't understand how that's allowed to be there."

Complaints about the homeless who gravitate to UT-Austin's western edge are nothing new. But the beating death of 18-year-old freshman dance student Haruka Weiser on campus last week has Longhorn parents renewing calls for UT and local officials to do something about the Drag's state and to step up security in and around a campus that sees some 70,000 people on an average day.

"It didn't take a criminal justice genius to sit there and take a look at what's going on at that campus," Lee said.

Worry among parents is compounded because a 17-year-old, Meechaiel Criner, a homeless foster care runaway from Killeen, was charged in the slaying after surveillance video appeared to capture him following Weiser shortly before she went missing.

"When something like this happened it didn't shock me, honestly," Lee said. "I sat and told my wife, I said: 'You watch when they catch the suspect, it's going to be one of these people that these parents have been complaining about.' They have been complaining and been complaining for something to be done."

Much of the complaining by parents has been done through emails to the university and on a little-known, private Facebook page run by the university for parents. Although The Texas Tribune has not been able to access the site, parents have forwarded screenshots of postings urging a phone and email campaign by parents to area lawmakers and university officials, asking for a better security plan and for something to be done about the Drag.

"Help me share our collective voice and encourage your students to do the same," one parent posted over the weekend. Their suggestions run a gamut from what seems attainable  more bicycle officers, better lighting  to what are sure to be a tougher sells like banning anyone from sleeping or loitering within 2,500 feet of campus and student housing.

"The situation on the Drag occasionally smacks of an open air asylum," another parent said on the UT Parents Association page, according to screenshots of the page.

On Monday, the Tribune sent a request to a university spokesman to discuss the conversation taking place among parents on that university-monitored Facebook page. The university did not immediately respond.

An online petition to Remove The Homeless Off Of Guadalupe Street had garnered 624 signatures by late Monday, many from students and parents.

"There's a perception that comes out that the university is overrun by the homeless," University of Texas Police Department Chief David Carter told the Tribune. "That's not true."

Carter's department has 80-plus officers who patrol the 434-acre campus and assist Austin Police Department off-campus.

Carter conceded, however, that there's been a rise in the number of homeless individuals crossing the Drag and other boundaries  like Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to the south and East Dean Keeton Street along the north  and being found in campus buildings or sleeping in classrooms and stairwells.

"It's shifted in the past couple of years," said Carter, an Austin Police Department veteran who was named UT's police chief in 2013. "There's more anecdotes of homeless people threatening students or disorderly behavior causing concern. That's when we created a full-time bicycle unit."

A year ago, for example, one homeless man stabbed another during a fight inside the Student Union Building.

But homelessness, and problems caused by vacant storefronts, are issues that will need a more collaborative approach involving city and perhaps state leaders. The university, he said, has been meeting for months with city leaders to work on a better solution to the Drag's host of ills.

"You can't rely on the police to solve the problems of the homeless," Carter said.

Parents like Lee, Moore and others wonder aloud if it's time to move the churches along the Drag that offer meals and help to the homeless. They argue that while the work with the homeless is well meaning, the churches inadvertently help lure a criminal element to campus.

Moore said she's not anti-homeless but said a definite cleanup of the Drag is needed because in its current state it does nothing but attract a loitering criminal element.

"Make it safe," she insisted.

In recent months, there have been a number of arrests of individuals, mostly homeless, who were found to be using the illegal synthetic marijuana known as K2. Carter confirmed that the drug is something his officers see off campus, used mostly by the homeless.

"K2 is not something you see in the student population," Carter said. "But we definitely do see it in the rise of the West Campus homeless population."

Carter would not comment on the criticism from parents that the churches need to move or restrict their outreach.

"I think it's a legitimate question about where these services are provided and if it's the right place," he said.

John Elford, senior pastor at University United Methodist Church, which is located on the Drag and offers free meals to homeless youth on Thursdays and another meal to anyone in need on Saturdays, as well as free clothing, does not see their presence as a threat.

"If we were rehabbing people who are just out of prison, then sure, I would agree that it's a bad idea to do that next to a university campus," Elford said. "However, homelessness, as (Austin Police) Chief Art Acevedo pointed out, is not a crime, and I'm not sure there's any evidence that points to the homeless being a greater criminal risk than any other group."

After Weiser's body was found last week, UT President Greg Fenves announced that the Texas Department of Public Safety would be conducting a review of campus safety.

On Monday, Fenves reiterated his stance on whether campus access should be restricted. It's not an option, he said.

"We are a public university. We are going to maintain an open campus," Fenves said, adding that he does not see a scenario in which the campus would surround itself with walls or locked gates. That, he said, "is actually inimical to a public institution."

Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.
When Rosalie phoned me from Utopia, she said, "It's not so much the physical starvation as the traumatising of my people, of whole communities. We are duped all the time. White Australia sets up organisations and structures that offer the pretence of helping us, but it's a pretence, no more.

"If we oppose it, it's a crime. Simply belonging is a crime. Suicides are everywhere. (She gave me details of the suffering in her own family). They're out to kill our values, to break down our traditional life until there's nothing there anymore."

Australia's dirty secret: 'the Intervention'

Barkly Regional Council says its aged care packages get through and protests that the council is "the poorest of the three tiers of government and is very much dependent on [Northern] Territory and [Federal] governments for funds to provide such services to the bush."

Barbara Shaw, the council's president, agreed that it was "totally unacceptable that people should be starving in a rich and well-developed country like Australia" and that "it is disgusting and wrong that Indigenous people experience deep poverty such as this."

The starvation and poverty and the division often sown among Indigenous people themselves as they try to identify those responsible stem in large part from an extraordinary episode known as 'the Intervention'. This is Australia's dirty secret.

In 2007, the then Prime Minister, John Howard, sent the army into Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory to "rescue children" who, claimed his minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Mal Brough, were being abused by paedophile gangs in "unthinkable numbers".

Subsequently exposed as a fraud by the Australian Crime Commission, the Northern Territory Police and a damning report by child medical specialists, 'the Intervention' nonetheless allowed the government to destroy many of the vestiges of self-determination in the Northern Territory, the only part of Australia where Aboriginal people had won federally-legislated land rights.

Here, they had administered their homelands with the dignity of self-determination and connection to land and culture and, as Amnesty reported, a 40% lower mortality rate. Distribution of food was never a problem.

A grim determination to eliminate the Aboriginal way of life

It is this 'traditional life' that is anathema to a parasitic white industry of civil servants, contractors, lawyers and consultants that controls and often profits from Aboriginal Australia, if indirectly through the corporate structures imposed on Indigenous organisations.

The remote homelands are seen as an ideological threat, for they express a communalism at odds with the neo-conservatism that rules Australia and demands 'assimilation'.

It is as if the enduring existence of a people who have survived and resisted more than two colonial centuries of massacre and theft remains a spectre on white Australia: a reminder of whose land this really is.

I know these communities and their people, who have shown me the conditions imposed on them. Many are denied consistent running water, sanitation and power. That basic sustenance should join this list is not surprising.

According to the Credit Suisse Global Wealth report, Australia is the richest place on earth. Politicians in Canberra are among the wealthiest citizens; they like to hang Indigenous art on the white walls of their offices in the bleakly modern Parliament House.

Their self-endowment is legendary. The Labor Party's last minister for indigenous affairs, Jenny Macklin, refurbished her office at a cost to the taxpayer of $331,144. During her tenure, the number of Aboriginal people living in slums increased by almost a third.

When Professor James Anaya, the respected United Nations Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous people, described 'the Intervention' as racist, the opposition spokesman on indigenous affairs, Tony Abbott, told Anaya to "get a life" and not "just listen to the old victim brigade." Abbott was promoted to prime minister of Australia; he was evicted last year.

Where are the boycotts against apartheid Australia?

When I began filming Indigenous Australia some thirty years ago, a global campaign was under way to end apartheid in South Africa. Having reported from South Africa, I was struck by the similarity of white supremacy and the compliance, defensiveness and indifference of people who saw themselves as liberal.

For example, black incarceration in Australia is greater than that of black people in apartheid South Africa. Indigenous people go to prison, are beaten up in custody and die in custody as a matter of routine. In despairing communities, children as young as ten take their own lives.

Yet no international opprobrium, no boycotts, have disturbed the surface of 'lucky' Australia. As Rosalie's call reminds us, that surface should be shattered without delay.

John Pilger is a writer, documentary film-maker, producer, director, and reporter. In 2003 he was awarded the prestigous Sophie Prize for '30 years of exposing injustice and promoting human rights.' In 2009, he was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize.

Watch John Pilger's film 'Utopia'.

This article was originally published on John Pilger's website.

Follow John Pilger on Twitter@ @johnpilger.
Coral polyps and their colourful zooxanthellae algae have a tightly coupled relationship, where each aids the other. The algae are autotrophic photosynthesisers, which means they make their own food by using sunlight to split carbon dioxide molecules and form sugars. Coral polyps are much more complex heterotrophs - they use fine-meshed sieves to sweep up suspended organic matter from sea water.

For the algae, a coral reef represents the perfect place to live. There, they are safe and secure within a strong structure, near the surface and so able to receive large amounts of energy from the sun along with coral polyp waste, which helps promote photosynthesis.

In fact photosynthesis is so productive that the algae produce more food than they can consume. This surplus is greedily gobbled up by the coral polyps. It's a win-win situation - what biologists call a mutualistic symbiosis.

However, just like any biological process there are environmental limits. Higher temperatures along with very bright sunshine can impact both coral polyps and their algae and their relationship breaks down, leading to the expulsion of the algae and bleached coral.

The response of scientists - and the Australian government



Bleaching can also be driven by pollution, particularly agricultural run-off and sedimentation from activities such as dredging. These two factors threaten the more southern portions of the Great Barrier Reef which at least so far have dodged some of the very worst bleaching as sea temperatures have been lower.

The northern stretch of the reef is more remote and better protected from human impacts, but it has borne the brunt of extreme temperatures.

Given that scientists have been warning about a significant bleaching episode for some time now, one may have hoped for a coordinated response to this predictable disaster. There have indeed been related developments.

While biologists were in the air and under the water scrambling to understand the severity of this latest bleaching event, the Queensland Government approved mining leases for the A$21.7 billion Carmichael coal mine and associated new rail line in the Galilee Basin.

If all of this coal is extracted and burnt, some 4.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide will be released into the Earth's atmosphere. Given climate change's obvious impact on the Great Barrier Reef, some scientists have pointed out the fundamental contradiction in a government stating that it is both committed to protecting the reef and developing these new coal mines.

As if adding insult to injury, the vast majority of the Galilee Basin coal will be shipped out of the deep water port of Abbot Point which is within the Great Barrier Reef UNESCO world heritage site. Those shipping the coal will be able to wave goodbye to the reef in more than one way as they transport it to power stations in India, China and Japan where it will be burnt and so contribute to further warming and further bleaching.

Where will it all lend?

At times like this, it's hard not to anthropomorphise - to see the Great Barrier Reef and other coral reefs around the world turning white not due to bleaching, but in shock at our sustained attack on the natural world.

The events unfolding off the coast of north eastern Australia are dramatic, but are also just the latest manifestation of the mass extinction event humans have initiated. This not only drains the colour from the Earths' most magnificent aquatic ecosystems, but robs us of biological beauty across the world.

We will all lead diminished lives because of it.

James Dyke is a lecturer in Sustainability Science at the University of Southampton.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
"Such individuals will undergo the same process as licenced trapped cats, placed within quarantine facilities at HWP and undergo health, genetic and pelage screening and subsequently either included in the conservation breeding for release programme or euthanized based on the results of the screening process."

The documents obtained by Wildcat Haven include SNH minutes, emails and policies relating to conservation of the Scottish wildcat. They also show that the Action Plan receives funding from the taxpayer, the Heritage Lottery Fund and several other sources.

The 2 million Heritage Lottery Fund and tax-funded Scottish Wildcat Action Plan project, also known as 'Save Our Wildcats' and 'Scottish Wildcat Action', is driven by SNH and RZSS (which owns Edinburgh Zoo and Highland Wildlife Park) and signed off by Scottish Environment Minister Aileen McLeod.

The project also incudes the Scottish Government, Chester Zoo, Scottish Wildlife Trust, National Trust for Scotland and The Royal School of Veterinary Studies Edinburgh University.

Another way: humane sterilisation

Wildcat Haven runs a project based entirely on compassionate conservation. It has created a vast, 800 square mile safe region in the West Highlands, by humanely sterilising the domestic and feral cat population, in partnership with landowners and local communities.

Wildcat Haven and its lawyers held a meeting with SNH and RZSS Edinburgh Zoo in last month to raise a range of concerns relating to the Action Plan, and requested that the Action Plan be suspended pending investigation. But this request was refused, and RZSS Edinburgh Zoo confirmed that it had already killed feral domestic cats under the license after they failed genetic tests.

Claire Bass praised Wildcat Haven's approach for being both humane and effective: "I've had the opportunity to see Wildcat Haven's team in action as they create support in communities and implement humane approaches.

"Given Wildcat Haven's successes, it seems illogical that the Scottish Government's Action Plan insists on compromising animal welfare in this way, whilst simultaneously purporting to support humane feral cat controls. We join Wildcat Haven in urging for an immediate suspension of this lethal plan."

SNH confirmed in the meeting with Wildcat Haven that the Heritage Lottery Fund was fully aware of all activities taking place under the Action Plan. An HLF spokesperson said:

"The Heritage Lottery Fund is supporting a project run by leading conservation organisations to raise awareness of how the public can help endangered wildcat species through identifying, neutering and vaccinating feral cats. This is done in a humane way and does not involve the killing of any animal. It is not for us to comment on elements of the wildcat action plan that are not covered by National Lottery funding."

'Barbaric and entirely unnecessary'

Dr Paul O'Donoghue, Chief Scientific Advisor to Wildcat Haven, and previously an advisor to Scottish Wildcat Action, having left the project in 2014 due to grave concerns with the Action Plan, commented:

"I am deeply saddened to discover the animal welfare compromises that are being made. Neutering has proven to be incredibly effective in the Wildcat Haven fieldwork area for humanely managing feral cat populations and Scottish Natural Heritage are fully aware of the results from our work under their licence; hundreds of square miles of safe habitat for wildcats.

"In contrast, we have seen no evidence that the approach taken by the Action Plan to date has reduced the risk posed to wildcats from feral cats in any of its priority areas. Instead of following the evidence we have provided to them, Scottish Natural Heritage has chosen to allow the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland to trap feral cats, only to shoot them in the face with a shotgun. It is barbaric and entirely unnecessary.

"This process also carries an inevitable risk to wildcats being shot through misidentification in the trap, and an equally unacceptable risk that someone's pet could be killed in this way. We urge Scottish Natural Heritage to place a moratorium on the Scottish Wildcat Action Plan in its current form in order to deal properly with the wide range of concerns we have raised."

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By Adam Beam And Bruce Schreiner, Associated Press
Photos by JIM PEARSON / SPECIAL TO THE GLEANER Timekeeper Tony Hollway holds up the 30 seconds card during the "Measure the Candidates" forum hosted by Kentucky Farm Bureau Monday at the Ballard Convention Center in Madisonville.

SHARE Eddie Melton, of Webster County, asks candidates from the 1st Congressional District a question on national farm policy during the "Measure the Candidates" forum hosted by the Kentucky Farm Bureau Monday at the Ballard Convention Center in Madisonville. Candidates (from left) are James Comer, Mike Pate, Miles Caughey Jr., Jason Batts and Samuel Gaskins. JIM PEARSON / SPECIAL TO THE GLEANER 1st Congressional District candidate Samuel Gaskins (D) speaks during the "Measure the Candidates" forum hosted by Kentucky Farm Bureau Monday, April 11, 2016 at the Ballard Convention Center in Madisonville, Ky. JIM PEARSON / SPECIAL TO THE GLEANER 1st Congressional District candidate Miles Caughey Jr. (R) speaks during the "Measure the Candidates" forum hosted by Kentucky Farm Bureau Monday, April 11, 2016 at the Ballard Convention Center in Madisonville, Ky. JIM PEARSON / SPECIAL TO THE GLEANER 1st Congressional District candidate Mike Pape (R) speaks during the "Measure the Candidates" forum hosted by Kentucky Farm Bureau Monday, April 11, 2016 at the Ballard Convention Center in Madisonville, Ky.

By Erin Schmitt of The Gleaner

Protecting farmers by reining in the Environmental Protection Agency was something the candidates running for Kentucky's First Congressional District could all agree on regardless of political affiliation.

Five of the six men running to fill the retiring U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield's seat were given a chance to speak at the "Measuring the Candidates" forum held Monday night at the Ballard Convention Center in Madisonville. Democrat Tom Osborne was the only candidate not present.

Kelly Thurman, the McLean County Kentucky Farm Bureau State Director, acted as moderator for the forum. Each of the candidates was given three minutes to speak about four topics related to forum sponsor Kentucky Farm Bureau's priority issues, as well as a chance to give brief opening and closing remarks.

Republican James Comer, the former commissioner of agriculture who also served 11 years in Kentucky's House of Representatives, said that with his farming background, he would be a strong voice in Congress for family farmers.

Mike Pape touted his experience serving as Whitfield's field director for 21 years, which included working on many farm bills. Miles Caughey Jr., a Republican farmer with a military background, said none of the other candidates would be willing to get in peoples' face like he will.

Republican Jason Batts, an Army Reserve Captain and Hickman County Attorney, repeatedly spoke against career politicians and said he knows what service over self is. Democrat Samuel Gaskins, a medically retired military officer, asked for voters support to do right by Kentuckians.

One of the key questions all the candidates weighed in on was what would be their priorities to reduce government spending and government debt.

Batts noted that small businesses and equal treatment are staples of a good economy. As a small-business owner, he said he knows how to balance a budget.

"We have to get our fiscal house back in order," Batts said, adding this could be aided by passing a balance budget amendment. He also advocated implementing a flat tax rate and eliminating the death tax.

Comer said the "No. 1 reason" he's running for Congress is to balance the budget. He would do so by reducing the number of federal employees. Pape also called for cutting federal employee positions and introducing entitlement reform.

The biggest problems facing government is fraud, waste and abuse, said Gaskins. The government must be held accountable for its spending, he said.

Caughey said there needs to be fair tax and fair trade. He also would like to see all immigration cease until all Americans are put back to work.

Talking about international trade, Comer said that the U.S. needs to have trade deals where America is treated fairly and his top priority with respect to if he would vote on for a trade deal is if it would benefit agriculture.

"We need to make sure that before it comes to our soils, that it's actually safe enough for our families and something we wouldn't be afraid to send somewhere else," said Gaskins.

Pape said that everything the U.S. does in international trade should be predicated on a safe food supply. The U.S. has the safest food supply in the world as far as he's concerned, but he worries about food from other countries brought onto American soils.

Batts endorsed fair trade that treats American workers as well as it does international workers. He added the U.S. has to ensure that any trade deal holds incoming goods to the same standards as outgoing goods.

Speaking about environmental issues, each of the candidates agreed that the Environmental Protection Agency had overstepped its boundaries.

"The job of an agency is to regulate, not legislate and that's what they do," said Batts. Comer, Batts and Pape all said they would cut funding to the EPA.

Talking about National Farm Policy, Caughey said that the government needs to make sure that farms are insured and make sure land that's not productive is not insured.

"You may need a doctor once a month, but you need a farmer three times a day," said Gaskins. "That's how important they are."

One audience member polled the candidates on whether they support term limits. All the Republicans supported term limits, with Caughey quipping that "If you're not corrupt when you get there, you sure as heck will be after many years."

The lone Democrat Gaskins does not support term limits, stating if someone is doing a good job, let them stay in office.
McVey family expands by hosting Burlington Bees baseball players

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MORMUGAO PORT TRUST, India -- Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Monday that struggles within the Iraq government won't stall the U.S. military campaign to beef up the fight against Islamic State militants in the country.

He said he expects the U.S. to ask other Persian Gulf nations next week to help in a broader effort to rebuild Iraq once the Islamic State group is de

feated. President Barack Obama and other top U.S. officials are expected to attend the U.S.-Gulf Cooperation Council Leaders' Summit next week in Saudi Arabia.

"Economically, it's important that the destruction that's occurred be repaired and we're looking to help the Iraqis with that," Carter said during a visit to the USS Blue Ridge, the U.S. Navy's command ship for the Asia Pacific. He added that the reconstruction will be a "global" effort.

"I believe that will be one of the things that the president will want to raise with the Gulf partners when he meets with them at the end of next week -- their ability to participate in that economic issue," he said.

Carter said, however, that he does not expect the political problems to impede the U.S. plan to increase military support to the anti-Islamic State fight.

The Pentagon is preparing recommendations on ways to increase support for Iraq's ground fight, including a likely increase in American forces. Other options could include using Apache helicopters for combat missions, deploying more U.S. special operations forces or using American military advisers in Iraqi units closer to the front lines.

"We're going to accelerate the military campaign as fast as we can," he said.

Iraqi forces have been preparing operations to retake the northern city of Mosul. While they got off to a slow start, there have been some recent advances, and officials say momentum has been growing in the fight against IS.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, during a visit to Baghdad last Friday pledged $155 million in new U.S. aid to Iraq and offered a show of political support to Iraq's beleaguered Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

Al-Abadi is struggling with ongoing sectarian challenges as the government grapples with economic problems and corruption. U.S. officials have consistently said that the government must quell its sectarian divide in order to defeat the Islamic State across the country and prepare for the aftermath of rebuilding.

Carter's visit to the Blue Ridge came during a stop in the Indian state of Goa, where he met with Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar.

India is the first country on an expansive two-week trip Carter is making to Asia and the Middle East.
STORRS (AP) -- A survey on sexual violence shows students feel safe on University of Connecticut campuses, school officials said Monday.

The university released the results of the anonymous survey of 6,000 random students, which was administered in November 2015 by the Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium. About 1,500 students from Storrs and regional campuses responded.

The school said 5.5 percent of those responding said they have been the victim of a sexual assault, and another 2.6 percent said they suspected they had been assaulted. Of those students who reported experiencing sexual assault, 26.5 percent said they were unable to provide consent because of incapacitation.

Eighty-two percent of respondents agreed that they feel safe on campus. Six percent of students said they disagree or strongly disagree with that idea, and 12 percent neither agreed nor disagreed.

Fifty-five percent of respondents said they know how to report an incident of sexual assault or know the confidential resources available to sexual assault victims. Only 35 percent answered that they knew the university procedures for investigating a sexual assault.

"Based on these results, I have asked our Division of Student Affairs, Title IX Coordinator, Graduate School and other key campus partners to focus concentrated efforts on enhanced prevention programming, and to continue to raise awareness of the support and resources available to anyone in the UConn community impacted by sexual violence," Herbst said in an email to the university community.

The consortium conducted similar surveys at other schools across the nation, but comparative data is not expected to be available for several months, school officials said.

Yale University in December released a survey from the Association of American Universities that found an estimated 25.2 percent of undergraduates there had experienced at least one incident that "does not meet Yale's standard for consent," and 18.1 percent had experienced an incident that involved "force or incapacitation."

But UConn officials cautioned that comparing data from two different survey instruments is not reliable, in part because the two surveys did not ask identical questions.

Yale's survey was sent to all students. UConn's survey used a selection method designed to minimize the likelihood that sexual assault victims would be more likely to respond to the survey than others on campus, school officials said.

The UConn survey's error margin is 2.5 to 3 percentage points, the school said.
WILTON  Wilton Public Schools has named Kathryn Coon as the new principal of Miller-Driscoll School.

Coon comes to Wilton with over 20 years of experience in the Greenwich Public Schools, where she currently serves as Program Coordinator for Special Education.

In her current role, Kathryn supervises all special education services for seven elementary schools, leads the professional development program for the entire Pre-K-12 special education staff and supervises the SRBI program for all of Greenwich Public Schools.

"We are thrilled to have Ms. Kathryn Coon join our schools' leadership team and serve as the next principal of Miller-Driscoll School," said Superintendent of Schools Kevin Smith. "Dates will be scheduled in the coming weeks to enable staff, parents and students to meet Ms. Coon."

Coon will replace Bernadette Hess, who currently serves as interim principal of Miller-Driscoll School. Former principal Cheryl Jensen Gerner retired as principal on Dec. 31, 2015, after 16 years at the post.

Coon began her career as an elementary special education teacher, working for several years as a resource room teacher and then, as a special education teacher co-teaching in K-5 mainstream classrooms.

She later became a Staff Development Associate responsible for assisting teachers with planning and delivering instruction in both special and regular education. From that position she was appointed to serve as Interim Assistant Principal of New Lebanon Elementary School and in 2008 was promoted to her current position.

With a pool of more than 30 candidates, Coon was one of 12 applicants interviewed by a panel of parents, teachers, staff members and administrators.

She was later selected as one of three finalists, which included a presentation and a panel interview with Board of Education members, curriculum coordinators and district administration.

Coon emerged as the unanimous choice for the position. The process concluded with a site visit to Greenwich and reference verification.

According to Wilton Public Schools, Coon's Greenwich colleagues and supervisors spoke highly of her expertise, professionalism and capacity to lead.

"Through the selection process the committee saw strong evidence of her warm, engaging personality, collaborative work with special and regular education teachers, instructional leadership skills, and strong knowledge of curriculum and instruction. It was very clear that she has the right style, skills, and expertise to lead Miller-Driscoll School," school officials wrote in a press release Monday.

Coon received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Connecticut, a Master of Science in learning disabilities from Southern Connecticut State University and her Sixth Year Certificate in educational leadership from the University of Connecticut.

Miller-Driscoll School is a public school for students in Pre-K to Grade 2.

The school is currently undergoing a $50 million renovation project. The two-year project aims to extend the life of the school building and add dedicated space to serve its growing special needs pre-kindergarten population.
Connecticut State College and University System (CSCU) President Mark Ojakian's decision to increase tuition at our community colleges and state universities is a slap in the face to people who are going to college on a budget. What's worse is that he made the announcement in the middle of the system's spring break. Ojakian knows that if the tuition increase is announced while class is in session, students would hear about it and action will be taken almost immediately by students and the faculty unions.

Proper leadership is required to manage a system of higher education, and Ojakian is clearly not the "leader" CSCU needs. In 2011, Ojakian, as Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's chief of staff, wrote the policy that merged the Connecticut Community Colleges (CCC) and the Connecticut State University System (CSUS) into CSCU.
Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois (GSSI) held its 7th Annual Meeting on April 9 at the Holiday Inn in Mt. Vernon, Illinois. During the meeting, approximately 350 Girl Scout members (adults and girls) from throughout southern Illinois elected Board of Director members and received a State of the Council report from Linda Manley, GSSI Board of Director Chair, and Villie M. Appoo, GSSI Chief Executive Officer.

In addition, Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois recognized top Girl Scout volunteers which are the heart of Girl Scouting. GSSIs 4,500 Girl Scout volunteers play an instrumental role in providing leadership programming and opportunities for more than 13,000 girls in southern Illinois. The theme for this years GSSI 7th Annual Meeting was Golden Jubilee which celebrated the 100th Anniversary of the Girl Scout Gold Award.

Keynote speaker for GSSIs annual meeting was 1st Lt. Alyssa Heimerman, who is the Operations and Training Flight Commander at Travis AFB, CA, where she serves as an Aircraft Maintenance Officer. Lieutenant Heimerman is originally from Belleville and was a Girl Scout for many years. She culminated her Girl Scout career by earning the Girl Scout Gold Award in 2009. The lieutenant says earning her Girl Scout Gold Award was a really phenomenal experience as a young leader.

Girl Scouts gave me so many positive thingsconfidence to succeed, open-mindedness and the importance of Communications in leadership, Lieutenant Heimerman added.

Selected to serve on GSSI Board of Directors were: Sarah Anderson from Mt. Vernon, P. Anne Haltenhof from Columbia, Diane Siemer from Teutopolis, Deanna Litzenburg from Edwardsville, Melanie Mills from Charleston and Nancy Smolak from Marion. In addition, P. Anne Haltenhof and Beth Winfrey Freeburg from OFallon were elected to GSSIs Board Development Committee.

These new board members join current GSSI board members: Linda Manley from Highland, Sharon Mayo from Robinson, Susan Bowman from Highland, Sandra Evans from Alto Pass, Anna Henkel from St. Louis, Richard Huntington from Mt. Vernon, Bishop Albert Ingram Jr. from Harrisburg, Sandra Maxwell from Carbondale, John McCraken from Edwardsville, Angie Zahn from Trenton, Carla Nilson from Herrin and Gail Short from Anna. In addition, Jane Childers from Carbondale and Lisa Smith from OFallon on the Board Development Committee.

In addition, delegates selected the Board of Director ex-officio girls who are current Girl Scouts and will serve on GSSIs board as advisory members. The GSSI ex-officio girl members are: Lexi Scrivner from Mt. Vernon and Megan Thompson from Red Bud. Lexi and Megan will be mentored by Caroline Stewart from Belleville and Kayli Worthey from Neoga who are former girl ex-officio board members.

Girl Scouting in southern Illinois would not be what it is today without the dedication, passion and leadership of all of our volunteers, said Appoo. We are honored to elect these new Board Members and recognize our exceptional volunteers as they are the driving force behind carrying out GSSIs mission of building leaders for America. Working together with our volunteers, we are providing important and valuable programs and experience for girls who will make the world a better place for everyone, Appoo added.

Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois is a high-capacity Girl Scout council serving approximately 13,000 girls and 4,500 adult volunteers in 40  counties in southern Illinois. The mission of Girl Scouting states: Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place. Girl Scouts is the world's pre-eminent organization dedicated solely to girls - all girls - where, in an accepting and nurturing environment, girls build character and skills for success in the real world. In partnership with committed adults, girls develop qualities that will serve them all their lives - like strong values, social conscience, and conviction about their own potential and self-worth.

Todays Girl Scouts not only enjoy camping and crafts, but they also explore math and science and learn about diversity, good citizenship, leadership and teamwork. Girl Scouting is the place where girls experience the fun, friendship and power of girls together. Girl Scouting has inspired more than 50 million girls and women since its founding in 1912.
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Linkedin Alpha Amirrachman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 12, 2016

Twelve years ago I wrote in this newspaper that pressure to force the junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi and undergo substantive reforms should not be lessened. I was a staunch defender of the Iron Lady and a fierce critic of the junta. At that time, Indonesia was euphorically going through the Reformation Era and naturally many prodemocracy activists lent solidarity to Suu Kyi and the people of Myanmar.

Now the junta has released Suu Kyi and the country has undergone democratic reforms. Just like Indonesia, Myanmar was also engulfed in sectarian conflict involving conflicting political identities.

So far Indonesia has been able to manage and halt the conflicts relatively well, and its fledgling democracy is getting stronger.

Indonesias military returned to the barracks and interfaith and interethnic dialogues have been routinely conducted to reduce sectarian tension.

Though not perfect, everyone seems to have gradually come to understand that plurality is a fact of life and tolerance coupled with respect for the rule of law is needed to ensure a harmonious and peaceful life.

By contrast, Myanmar is falling into an unimaginable misery. Tension and violence between the Buddhist majority and Muslim minority are scary. Muslim Rohingya face persecution and discrimination against them has even been legalized by the state. As a result, more than 140,000 Rohingya Muslims have been living in severely challenging conditions in refugee camps in Myanmar and other countries, including Indonesia.

The biggest disappointment was when Suu Kyi failed to categorically condemn this ongoing persecution and discrimination against the Muslim minority.

Her past experience of living in a secular and egalitarian Western society did not help to position her flawlessly as a defender of democracy when confronted with the very saddening situation.

It appears that bigoted political pragmatism has won over her sense of humanity, given that Suu Kyi has kept quiet on Muslims quandary to ensure her popular support from the Buddhist majority.

Nevertheless, I dont believe that Suu Kyi would lose the Buddhist majoritys support entirely if she upheld her democratic principles and showed firmly that national interests were above certain religious or ethnic groups interests.

She should at least have been able to halt the political process that legally discriminates against the Muslim minority by ruling out their right to citizenship, on the grounds that a prerequisite for a true democratic nation is the recognition that everyone has the right to live anywhere in the country regardless of her or his religious and ethnic background.

Or if she really feared losing political support, she could have tactfully worked behind the scenes to make sure that the state-endorsed discrimination did not come to pass.

Indeed, some of her political enemies might reuse the old card to discredit her that she is half foreign and lacks patriotism given her marriage to a foreigner, if she was seen to be defending the foreign Muslim minority in her own country.

However, even if she had done this publicly, her international credentials as a Nobel laureate are too strong to be easily wiped out.

Moreover, she could have played a balanced role by also paying attention to the plight of the Buddhist majority under the military-dominated rulers to tame their chauvinistic attitude if she was really a smart, caring and broad-minded politician.

By showing both firm democratic principles and a sense of humanity, the Iron Lady could have led her country into a fierce but positive and productive debate over citizenship to address the humanitarian issues of the Muslim minority.

With her unyielding influence she could have persuaded people not to take the law into their own hands, and appeal to the security apparatus to uphold public order during Myanmars painful transition to fully fledged democracy.

But instead she chose the easy way as a politician. At this very critical juncture of her nations history, to the surprise of many of her international and local supporters, Suu Kyi let her country plunge into a situation where it could be difficult to make a U-turn, as legal discrimination against the Muslim minority has made them effectively stateless.

Now the international community has no choice but to once again put pressure on Myanmars Iron Lady.

Many of the same people who pressured the junta more than 10 years ago to release the once patient and peace-loving democratic icon have now have signed a petition on change.org to have her Nobel Peace Prize retracted.

After successfully pushing the country to undergo a democratic transition, the international community again has a moral responsibility to make sure that Myanmar is on the right path to become a decent member of world civilization.

***

The writer is the executive director of the Center for Dialogue and Cooperation among Civilizations (CDCC) and a lecturer at Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa University in Serang, Banten.

---------------

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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
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Linkedin Zulfa Sakhiyya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 12, 2016

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has just released its 2016 PISA report entitled Low-Performing Students: Why they fall behind and how to help them succeed.

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a triennial assessment of reading, mathematics, and science carried out by the OECD to 15-year old students across 80 countries throughout the globe, including Indonesia.

By referring to the 2012 PISA results, which focused on what students know and can do, this year PISA reveals the reasons why students fail and proposes how to support them. In addition, the report found a strong correlation between socio-economic background and student achievement.

What does this mean? And more specifically, what does it mean for Indonesia? Generally, socio-economic background is the economic and sociological condition that characterizes any individual, usually measured by parents income, education and occupation. In a more critical perspective, it is referred to as social class.

On average across OECD countries, the likelihood of low performance in reading, mathematics, and science is higher for students who are socio-economically disadvantaged, attend schools in rural areas, had not attended pre-primary school (or had attended for a year or less), had repeated a grade and also for students enrolled in vocational programs or schools. This includes Indonesia.

According to the report, poor academic performance is not the result of one single risk factor, but rather of a combination and accumulation of various barriers and disadvantages that affect students throughout their lives. Socio-economic status as factor for student failure, which although does not directly link to achievement, could potentially develop into a risk of failure if its characteristics are experienced in combination.

Pierre Bourdieu, a French sociologist, argues that the economic, cultural and social capital of the family could either promote or inhibit childrens learning in various ways. Further, he believes that society and social class is produced and reproduced by, among others, educational processes.

Is he right? Unfortunately, yes.

Children whose parents have higher educational qualifications and good salaries benefit from accessing a wider range of financial (computers, books, private tutoring), cultural (foreign languages, wider horizon, self-management), and social (role model and network) resources that make it easier for them to succeed academically.

In contrast, children coming from a low socio-economic background suffer from financial hardship and family instability.

Of course, the educational reality is not this simple. There are, by all means, exceptional cases. Children from well-off families might flunk out of schools due to poor parental attention, drugs or other forms of juvenile delinquency. Factors such as childbearing, emotional health, and students behavior and attitudes also influence student performance.

Nevertheless, in Indonesias context, this years PISA findings reverberate with the World Banks report on social inequality. According to the World Bank, the Gini coefficient, which is used to measure income inequality, increased from 0.32 in 2002 to 0.41 in 2013. Although such a measurement and statistical data do not adequately capture the multifaceted inequality and wealth concentration at the top, at least it suggests that inequality has exacerbated at an accelerating pace this last decade in Indonesia.

Widening social inequality means inequality of opportunity in all fields, which potentially leads to rising unemployment, crime rates and intergenerational poverty. These two reports imply that socio-economic background matters when responding to educational problems.

The government has been working hard to address this issue, among others by providing scholarships and free tuition to disadvantaged students, such as Bantuan Siswa Miskin (Aid for Poor Students) and Bidik Misi (Targeted Mission). They are forms of targeted support for the disadvantaged. While this could be an answer to pave the way for the poor to access education, many researches reveal that the dropout rate is still high.

This vicious circle of poverty should be eliminated to respond to the crux of complex educational problems. A country does not have to be wealthy to provide high quality education. Brazil, Mexico and Peru have tailored policies to overcome unequal access to education.

A more comprehensive and integrated approach to educational inequality is badly needed; otherwise 20 million Indonesian children will be deprived from their right to education. All kids deserve to get good education. This is the faith that we uphold in the 1945 Constitution, that every citizen has the right to an education.

***

The writer is a lecturer at the English department of Semarang State University. She is pursuing her PhD at the University of Auckland with the support of the New Zealand ASEAN Scholars Award.

---------------

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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
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Linkedin Dian Arthen (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 12, 2016

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has strengthened its grip on the Southeast Asian market by acquiring a controlling stake in Lazada for US$1 billion.

Lazada is a privately owned e-commerce platform that sells a variety of products in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam.

The deal includes an investment of $500 million in newly issued equity capital of Lazada and the acquisition of shares from a number of Lazada shareholders, according to channelnewsasia.com.

"With the investment in Lazada, Alibaba gains access to a platform with a large and growing consumer base outside China, a proven management team and a solid foundation for future growth in one of the most promising regions for e-commerce globally," said Alibaba president Michael Evans.

Meanwhile, cnbc.com reported that Germany's Rocket Internet would sell a 9.1 percent stake in Lazada for $137 million in cash and be left with an 8.8 percent stake. British supermarket giant Tesco will also sell an 8.6 percent equity stake for $129 million, decreasing its stake in the company to 8.3 percent.

Alibaba was founded in 1999 by Jack Ma. The company twice attracted international venture capital investment in October 1999 and January 2000 totaling $25 million and made it onto the list of the most valuable tech companies after raising more than $25 billion in an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2014. (kes)
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Linkedin Wasbir Hussain (Associated Press) Gauhati, India  Tue, April 12, 2016

With the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge set to visit the world's largest one-horn rhino park in remote northeastern India, conservationists hope the British royals can help raise global alarms about how black-market demand for rhino horns and other animal parts is fueling illegal poaching and pushing species to the brink.

But just days before their Tuesday arrival, park officials said yet another rhino had been poached, bringing the total number of rhinos killed in Kaziranga National Park this year to six.

Poachers shot the rhinoceros and, while it was still alive, sawed off its horn before fleeing before dawn Sunday, wildlife official Subasis Das said. Once the dying animal was discovered, park officials rushed to try to save it but were unsuccessful, he said.

Prince William and his wife, Catherine planned a visit to Kaziranga specifically to focus global attention on conservation. The 480-square-kilometer (185-square-mile) grassland park is home to the world's largest population of rare, one-horned rhinos as well as other endangered species including swamp deer and the Hoolock gibbon.

The park has overseen major conservation success, with its rhino population increasing from just 75 in 1905 to 2,200 last year. Many give credit to Lady Mary Curzon, a British baroness who reportedly persuaded her husband, Lord George Curzon, to take steps to protect the rhino when he was governor general and viceroy of India in 1899-1905 when it was still part of the British Empire.

Britain's Prince William, and Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, take a tour of Gandhi Smriti, where Mahatma Gandhi spent the last 144 days of his life and was assassinated on 30 January 1948, in New Delhi, India, Monday, April 11, 2016.(AP/Saurabh Das)

"The Royals should focus on global awareness and the success of Kaziranga, a conservation story started by Lady Curzon," said industrialist Ranjit Borthakur, who heads the Balipara Foundation conservation group in the state of Assam.

But as the neighboring human settlements continue to expand, the animals find themselves in increasingly tense competition for habitat.

All five of the world's rhino species are under constant threat from poachers seeking their horns to sell on the black market. Demand is high in countries such as China and Vietnam, where people mistakenly believe consuming rhino horns can increase male potency. It does not.

Already six rhinos have been poached this year, after 20 were killed in 2015.

"The Duke will use this visit to speak out against the lies and violence that threaten this valuable species and the communities that rely on it," Buckingham Palace said in a statement. "Traffickers in South East Asia are now marketing Indian rhino horn as 'fire horn' and lying about its increased potency when compared to African horn."

Conservationists say the royal visit couldn't be coming soon enough.

"The British royals' visit will certainly increase the level of awareness on rhino conservation," said Bibhab Kumar Talukdar, who heads the local wildlife protection group Aaranyak. He wants the royals to press China and other countries to curb consumption of rare animal parts, including rhino horns as well as tiger bones and pangolin scales.

"We would expect the Duke and the Duchess to convince them to clamp down on such use," Talukdar said.

The royals are expected to arrive Tuesday evening in the garrison town of Tezpur, in the northeast Indian state of Assam. From there they will travel to an exclusive, 12-cottage jungle resort with thatch rooftops overlooking fields and a river, according to local officials who spoke on customary condition of anonymity.

During a two-day stay, they will meet rangers and take a jeep safari through the park. They will also speak with Karbi tribal villagers who live in a nearby hamlet  a meeting that is expected to boost morale among locals trying to protect the area's wildlife.

"The royals' visit will bring Kaziranga further into the limelight. The villagers around the park will get added encouragement to work harder," said Anowaruddin Choudhury of the Rhino Foundation for Nature in Northeast India.

After visiting the park, the couple will fly to the neighboring kingdom of Bhutan on Thursday morning.
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Linkedin Didi Tang (Associated Press) Beijing  Tue, April 12, 2016

Chinese women are being taken on roller coaster ride by social media, getting bombarded on one side by extreme expectations about physical beauty while getting support for female independence in a society where women who aren't married by their late 20s are considered "leftovers."

In recent months, social media here has been swept by a series of body image crazes. The "A4 waist" fad challenged women see how skinny they were by posting photos of their middles to show that a piece of standard copy paper 21 centimeters (8 1/4 inches) wide covered their waists.

Then "iPhone knees" tested whether a mobile phone would cover the knees, an indication of slender legs. Most recently, the "100-yuan wrist" had women showing they could wrap a bank note around their wrists.

The online fads  slammed by women's advocates as unhealthy and emotionally harmful to women who feel like they don't measure up  come even as Chinese women are attaining higher educational, professional and economic status than ever. Yet as they try to break old barriers, women still feel pressure to meet cultural expectations about getting married in their early 20s, having children and being the main caregiver  as well as traditional notions equating slenderness with feminine beauty.

"Male-oriented aesthetics still dominate the mainstream, and the Internet or the new media have magnified this proclivity," said Beijing-based social scholar Wu Qiang.

Taking the opposite tack  and also garnering lots of attention  has been a four-minute online ad by a cosmetics brand SK-II that depicts the struggles of unmarried women in their late 20s.

The video starts with several women talking in painful tones about the pressures they face from family and society. A few parents also appear, including one father who tells his daughter he won't be able to go peacefully to his grave until she's married off. But it ends with the women speaking confidently about their right to choose their way of life, including one who says she's happy being single.

A computer screen displays blogs showing women taking up online challenges such as an "A4 waist" or "iPhone knees" in Beijing, China, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Online trends challenging women to show an A4 waist or iPhone knees, are a counterpoint to a recent viral advertising campaign taking on the issue of leftover women, those in their later 20s or older who are still unmarried and widely considered by society to be social failures, old maids who are past their prime.(AP/ Ng Han Guan)

"The campaign really is to inspire women to overcome their limitations, to make their own destiny," said Markus Strobel, global president for the cosmetic line, which is owned by Procter & Gamble Co.

Since being posted on the brand's official microblog on April 7, the video has received nearly 5,000 likes and been shared more than 25,000 times. Altogether, the video has been viewed nearly 10 million times globally on all platforms, garnering more than 3.9 million comments, likes, shares and reposts, Strobel said.

The company chose to feature "leftover women" in China because it's a topic much discussed, he said. All characters in the video  the women and their parents  are non-actors discussing their real-life struggles, he said.

Women's rights activist Zheng Churan said she welcomed the ad despite its obvious commercial motives. Too often, however, the stereotype of the "leftover woman" ignores the struggles of poor, less-educated women, she said.

"We only see white-collar, elite women in this ad, but an 18-year-old factory girl pressed into marriage still has no voice," Zheng said.

Fellow advocate Li Tingting said the popularity of the video is a sign that Chinese women have become more independent.

"It's progress, compared to most other ads where women are expected to get married," Li said. "The fact it has gone viral shows there have been changes in women's attitudes."

While seeking to empower women, the ad also speaks to how Chinese women have grown more conscious of their looks than ever. Workplace discrimination has frequently prompted women to undergo cosmetic surgery in hopes of gaining an edge in the job market, and in many cases, attracting a desirable husband.

Before the most recent body image crazes, the test to pass for being slender was whether a woman could wrap one of her arms around her back to reach her navel. Then came a test to see how many coins a woman could balance on her collarbone  supposedly to demonstrate a sculpted figure.

While women's attitudes are changing, those of parents and society are taking much more time. The SK-II video depicts the Shanghai "marriage market," where parents display information about their daughters in public parks in hopes of finding a suitor.

Zheng Lei, a 30-year-old Beijing man, said that while women have worked hard to become attractive, they also have become too picky and demanding.

"They demand the men to have money, houses, cars and urban residency permits. But there are only one thousand men who are able to meet this demand. Of course these women are left," Zheng said. "So women should lower their demands and be realistic."

___

Associated Press video journalist Aritz Parra contributed to this report.
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Linkedin (Associated Press) United Nations  Tue, April 12, 2016

Technology allowing a pre-programmed robot to shoot to kill, or a tank to fire at a target with no human involvement, is only years away, experts say. A new report called Monday for a ban on such "killer robots."

The report by Human Rights Watch and the Harvard Law School International Human Rights Clinic was released as the United Nations kicked off a week-long meeting on such weapons in Geneva.

The report calls for humans to remain in control over all weapons systems at a time of rapid technological advances. It says that requiring humans to remain in control of critical functions during combat, including the selection of targets, saves lives and ensures that fighters comply with international law.

"Machines have long served as instruments of war, but historically humans have directed how they are used," said Bonnie Docherty, senior arms division researcher at Human Rights Watch, in a statement. "Now there is a real threat that humans would relinquish their control and delegate life-and-death decisions to machines."

Some have argued in favor of robots on the battlefield, saying their use could save lives.

But last year, more than 1,000 technology and robotics experts  including scientist Stephen Hawking, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak  warned that such weapons could be developed within years, not decades.

In an open letter, they argued that if any major military power pushes ahead with development of autonomous weapons, "a global arms race is virtually inevitable, and the endpoint of this technological trajectory is obvious: autonomous weapons will become the Kalashnikovs of tomorrow."

According to the London-based organization Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, the United States, China, Israel, South Korea, Russia, and Britain are moving toward systems that would give machines greater combat autonomy. Human Rights Watch is a co-founder of the organization.

The U.N. meeting of experts on the issue, chaired by Germany, continues talks that took place in April 2015 and May 2014.
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Linkedin Liza Yosephine (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 12, 2016

The government has denounced rumors that the Abu Sayyaf terror group set a ransom deadline of April 8 as "false information", amid efforts to free 10 Indonesian sailors kidnapped by the group.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said the purported deadline, which fell on Friday last week, had been invented by the media, and that the government had never mentioned any specific date.

"We don't know where that date came from. Our focus is on getting the hostages released ASAP," he told reporters in Jakarta on Monday.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi reiterated that the Philippine and Indonesia governments were continuing to conduct intense communication and coordination.

In the wake of a deadly battle between Philippine troops and Abu Sayyaf extremists on Saturday, Retno conveyed her "concern, sympathy and condolences" to that nation, while stressing that she was in constant communication with her Philippine counterpart.

Philippine officials reported that 18 soldiers had been killed and 53 others wounded in a day-long encounter with the militants. The fighting in the neighboring towns of Tipo Tipo and Al-Barka on Basilan Island also left five militants dead, including one Moroccan.

Retno added that paperwork related to the Anand 12 barge, which is currently being held by Malaysian authorities after it was found in the waters off Lahad Datu in Sabah state, was still being processed.

The Anand 12 was one of two Indonesian-flagged vessels manned by the 10 Indonesian crewmen kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf group, which has demanded a payment 15 billion (US$1.14 million) in return for the hostages' release. (ags)
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Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 12, 2016

While the houses of Pasar Ikan residents in North Jakarta have already been demolished, few of the low-cost apartments that were supposed to have been prepared for them are ready.

The head of the Rawa Bebek rusanawa (low-cost apartment building) in North Jakarta, Ani Suryani, said that as of Monday, while 204 Pasar Ikan families had been sent there, only 42 single-occupancy apartments with no bedrooms or kitchens were available.

"We hope the construction of apartments for families will finish by December so that we can move them there," Ani told thejakartapost.com, adding that each family would be required to pay a rental fee of Rp 300,000 (US$ 23) per month.

The rental fees of these apartments are more expensive than other low-cost apartments because the Rawa Bebek rusanawa is equipped with elevators.

Meanwhile, the head of the Marunda rusunawa in North Jakarta, Suharyanti, said 77 evictees from Pasar Ikan have moved into apartments there. Unlike in Rawa Bebek, there are still 108 more units available.

The rental fees are also cheaper, namely between Rp 120,000 and Rp 150,000 per month, Suharyanti added.

In both the Rawa Bebek and Marunda apartments, their respective managements would allow the new occupants to conduct businesses on the first floor of the buildings.

The city administration said there were 321 Pasar Ikan families who had registered for places in the Rawa Bebek and Marunda low-cost apartments after their houses were destroyed.

The secretary of the Penjaringan subdistrict in North Jakarta, M. Andri, said evictees who wanted to register to live in low-cost apartments needed to show certain documents, like identity cards, family cards, property tax bills and electricity bills.

Meanwhile, the head of Jakarta Police's operations division, Sr. Comr. Martuani Sormin, said the demolition of 569 illegal buildings took place smoothly, although had initially faced opposition from residents.

"We offered them two options: accepting relocation to low-cost apartments or not," Martuani said during press conference, adding that the residents could file lawsuits with the Jakarta Administrative Court if they could not accept their evictions. (bbn)
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Linkedin thejakartapost.com (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 12, 2016

Indonesian coffee production and exports may fall 10 and 5 percent, respectively, as a result of the El Nino weather phenomenon this year, according to a coffee exporters association. However, local consumption could increase 8 percent.

Association of Indonesian Coffee Exporters and Industries (AEKI) chairman Irfan Anwar reported that last years coffee production reached 650,000 tons, with exports of 480,000 tons and imports of 130,000 tons from countries including Brazil, Vietnam and Colombia.

Domestic coffee production could fall by 10 percent this year as the level of the rainfall and hot weather are not balanced. Besides coffee, other agricultural products could face the same problem because of the uncertain weather, Irfan said in Jakarta on Monday.

El Nino is a natural phenomenon caused by an increase in temperature in the southern Pacific Ocean over two to seven years. It changes global weather patterns, causing massive drought in Southeast Asia, Australia and parts of Africa.

However, Irfan said he was optimistic of seeing an increase in domestic coffee consumption this year given the greater awareness, especially among young people, of good quality coffee, with local coffee lover communities burgeoning.

In 2015, domestic coffee consumption reached 350,000 tons, including coffee imported from Brazil and Vietnam. [] We predict an increase of 8 percent in domestic consumption, even though it may lead to a decrease in exports by 5 percent this year, he said.

Indonesia currently has around 1.1 million hectares of coffee plantations, with production volume rising from 400,000 tons a year in the 1990s to around 650,000 tons in 2002, according to the Union of Indonesian Coffee Exporters' Associations (GAEKI) and the Agriculture Ministry.

The most populated country in Southeast Asia is the world's fourth-largest coffee producer after Brazil, Vietnam and Colombia, according to data from the US Department of Agriculture. (vps)
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Linkedin (Associated Press) Ottawa  Tue, April 12, 2016

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he will offer a full apology in Parliament next month for a government decision in 1914 to turn away a ship carrying hundreds of South Asian immigrants.

The Komagata Maru from Hong Kong arrived off Vancouver only to have almost all of its 376 passengers, nearly all Sikhs, denied entry due to immigration laws at the time.

The ship was eventually sent to Calcutta, and least 19 people were killed in a skirmish with British soldiers. Others were jailed.

Former prime minister Stephen Harper apologized at an event in British Columbia in 2008, but members of the Sikh community have long said an apology should be offered formally in Parliament.

Trudeau had pledged to make an apology during his election campaign last year. (ags)
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Linkedin thejakartapost.com (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 12, 2016

At least 40 families evicted from Kampung Pulo that were provided low-cost rental apartments (rusunawa) in Jatinegara, East Jakarta, are at risk of loosing their new homes as they have failed to pay the rental fees, several residents have said.

As far as I know, there are 40 apartments in this rusunawa that are at risk of, or have received the sealing order from the management, said Irfan, one of the evictees, on Monday.

Most of the residents of those apartments, he continued, have lost their jobs so they could not afford to pay the rent as well as the water and electricity costs. On average, each family in the building had to pay about Rp 600,000 per month.

In August last year, the Jakarta city administration forcefully evicted 1,041 families from the flood-prone Kampung Pulo on the banks of the Ciliwung River as part of a plan to widen' the river from 20 meters to 50 meters.

An estimated 500 families agreed to move to the rusunawa. According to Irfan, the rusunawa management agreed not to charge the evictees anything for the first three months. Starting December 2015, the evictees had to pay Rp 300,000 per month, only for rent.

Gugun, another evictee, said during an interview in February that most of the evictees had lost their income sources. In their old dense settlement at Kampung Pulo, they could run businesses to make a living by selling food or other stuff in grocery stalls.

Now, the rusunawa management only allowed the residents to open kiosks on the buildings second floor. The kiosk owner had to compete with each others to win the limited customers in the apartment building, he added.

Gugun, who lives with two families in his 30-square-meter room in the Jatinegara Barat rusunawa, said he also found it hard to make a stable income. As a freelance electrician, he could not get as many jobs as when he lived in Kampung Pulo.

That is why I prefer to go back to my hometown in Bogor, but I have no money. The Jakarta city administration said we will get 25 percent compensation of NJOP [the taxable value of property] later when the widening of the Ciliwung River is 75 percent complete, he said.

Sandyawan Sumardi, the leader of NGO Sanggar Ciliwung Merdeka, which advocates for riverbank dwellers, said several Kampung Pulo evictees had come to consult with him about the problem in their new home in the apartment building.

About three weeks ago, five evictees came to see me, saying that they couldnt afford to pay the rental fees in the rusunawa. Hence, they intended move back to their relatives' houses around Kampung Pulo, he said on April 1. (vps/ags)
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Linkedin Andi Hajramurni (The Jakarta Post) Makassar, South Sulawesi  Tue, April 12, 2016

The South Sulawesi Police say they are acting against the rampant drug abuse among the province's police personnel.

South Sulawesi Police spokesperson Frans Barung Mangera described the level of police personnel involvement in drug abuse in South and West Sulawesi as "alarming".

The condition of police institutions, especially in South and West Sulawesi, is worrying. These institutions have been penetrated by drug rings. We are striving to clean our own personnel from drug-related offenses. Thats why in our drug investigations, we are prioritizing operations to clean up our institutions [from drug crimes], Barung said in an interview in Makassar on Sunday.

On Saturday afternoon, a police officer from Majene, West Sulawesi, was arrested at Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport in Makassar as he was about to board a flight to Gorontalo. He was found to have on him five sachets of crystal methamphetamine or shabu-shabu.

When questioned, the officer, who remains anonymous, claimed to have been given the drugs by First Adj. Insp. Lukman, a member of the Majene Police. Lukman was subsequently arrested in Makassar.

On Saturday evening, officers from the Palopo Police and Palopo chapter of the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) arrested First. Insp. Syahruddin on suspicion of intention to deal drugs.

Barung said the police would not tolerate any personnel involved in drug-related offenses. Any officer involved in drug crimes will be punished with the heaviest sanction, namely dismissal from the police, as was imposed on Brig. Supardi, said Barung. He was referring to a member of the Baranti Police in Sidenreng Rappang regency who was arrested for possessing 3.4 kilograms of crystal meth last week.

Barung further said: We are now pursuing Brig. Edy Chandra, an officer on the polices most-wanted list. We call on anyone with information on his whereabouts to report to us immediately, said Barung.

Involvement in drug crime is also apparently rife among military personnel, many of whom have been found to serve as drug dealers and couriers.

Military Regional Command (Kodam) VII/Wirabuana said it was continuing to investigate Military District Command (Kodim) 1408/BS Makassar chief Col.Jefri Oktavian Rotti over his alleged involvement in a drugs network. Investigators are pursuing members of the drug ring.

We are striving to discover the drug network involving the Kodim chief so that we might bring an end to the trade in drugs, said Kodam VII Wirabuana commander Brig. Gen. Supartodi. (ebf)
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Linkedin Geir Moulson (Associated Press) Berlin  Tue, April 12, 2016

Germany is considering a request from Turkey to prosecute a TV comedian who wrote a crude poem about the Turkish president, Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said Monday. The request poses an awkward choice for the German leader as she relies on Turkey to reduce the influx of migrants to Europe.

Turkey sent a diplomatic note making "a formal request for criminal prosecution" of comedian Jan Boehmermann, Merkel spokesman Steffen Seibert said.

Boehmermann read the poem on ZDF television two weeks ago to illustrate what he said wouldn't be allowed in Germany, contrasting it with another channel's satirical song that also poked fun at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Germany's ambassador was summoned to the foreign ministry in Ankara last month to hear a protest over that song.

Mainz prosecutors told the dpa news agency late Monday that Erdogan had also filed his own complaint accusing Boehmermann of slander, adding that it would be considered as part of the ongoing investigation.

While the German government defended the song as legitimate free speech, it has strongly distanced itself from the poem. Seibert has said that Merkel and Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu agreed the poem was "deliberately offensive."

Germany's criminal code provides for up to three years in prison or a fine for insulting a foreign head of state. However, it stipulates that such offenses are only prosecuted if the country in question seeks prosecution and the German government allows it.

Seibert told reporters Monday that officials would take several days to decide whether to allow prosecutors to proceed in the case, but stressed that Merkel holds free speech in high regard. It is "negotiable neither at home nor abroad," he said.

German officials have appeared at pains to avoid causing further friction with Erdogan, steering clear of direct criticism of the president in recent weeks amid Turkey's sharp response to German satire. Merkel championed the European Union-Turkey deal for Ankara to take back migrants who travel illegally to Greece.

Seibert said he was stressing Merkel's dedication to free speech "to counter the impression that the freedom of opinion and art ... no longer has the necessary high value for the chancellor just because she, along with other Europeans, wants to resolve the refugee question in partnership with Turkey."

In Turkey, Erdogan spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said that "this kind of attack, including insults and rude statements to a country's president and also targeting a society, has nothing to do with freedom of expression or with press freedom."

"It is an insult everywhere in the world, and it is a crime," he said, adding that "those who publish this kind of ugliness ... apparently are annoyed with improved relations" between Germany and Turkey.

A senior German opposition lawmaker called on Merkel to reject the Turkish call for Boehmermann's prosecution.

Left Party parliamentary caucus leader Sahra Wagenknecht noted that in Turkey, more than 1,800 cases have been opened against people accused of insulting Erdogan since he came to office.

"If Merkel caves in in the Boehmermann case, he will be able to strike at will in Germany as well in the future," she said. (ags)
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Linkedin Liza Yosephine (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 12, 2016

Homegrown ride-hailing application company Go-Jek has piqued the interest of creative filmmakers nationwide, the company's Go-Video competition receiving hundreds of submissions for a total cash prize worth Rp 350 million ($26,667).

Gojek is currently hosting a video competition with the theme "Indonesia chooses Gojek". As the competition enters its final stage, the company has picked 20 entries from 600 videos submitted, judge Robin Moran said on Monday.

Robin, a film director and producer himself, said he was impressed by the quality of the submissions.

"It blew my mind [...] Some of the production values are in line with people who are in the industry, who are making films for cinema," Robin told thejakartapost.com.

There are several categories in the competition, and no contestant can win more than one prize. The judges hope to choose one video that fits each category, he added.

In addition to Robin, a number of other prominent figures from the Indonesian film industry are also involved in the panel, including noted figures like director Joko Anwar and producer Mira Lesmana.

Go-Jek has also invited creative business players to choose winners, such as Keenan Pearce and Ernanda Putra, as well as Go-Jek's own boss, Nadiem Makarim.

Go-Jek chief marketing officer Piotr Jakubowski said the idea of holding the competition was inspired by the creative content that had been uploaded to Youtube by local creators over the last couple of months.

"Why not put out a call for all these creators to join us and see what type of stories that we can inspire them with?" Jakubowski asked.

The competition was announced in January and participants had two-and-a-half months to complete their video.

Explaining the breakdown of the winner categories, Jakubowski said Rp 250 million would be awarded to the Best Picture, while Best Director and Viewer's Choice would each win Rp 50 million.

The public have until Apr. 30 to vote for their favorite from the shortlisted 20 that are in the running for the Viewer's Choice award, he continued, adding that the judges had carefully narrowed them down specifically for said category.

The videos can be seen at http://govideo.go-jek.com.

"We had high hopes and those hopes were just smashed," Jakubowski said, adding that the entries ranged widely, even including variations involving animation and clay animation.

Go-Jek will announce all the winners of the competition at an awards night on May 11. (rin)
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Linkedin Erika Anindita Dewi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 12, 2016

The House of Representatives on Tuesday kicked off the deliberation of revised draft laws on terrorism, with the main objective to provide security institutions with greater power to prevent terrorist acts.

During the plenary session chaired by House Deputy Speaker Taufik Kurniawan on Tuesday, the House approved a special committee (Pansus) that would be tasked to deliberate the bills submitted by the government.

The committee consists of 30 members from Commission I and III overseeing defense and legal affairs.

There are two drafts laws prepared to amend Law No. 15/2003 on the Eradication of Terrorism and Law No. 9/2013 on the Prevention and Eradication of Terrorist Financing.

TB Hasanuddin, an Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician, who is also a member of the committee, stressed the importance to explicitly mention the role of the military in fighting terrorism.

He expressed optimism that the inclusion of the military's role into the law would not face significant opposition during the bill deliberation.

He, however, expressed his pessimism on the deliberation process completing this month due to the differences among members of the committee. The revision will not finish in this current sitting session that will end on April 29," Hasanuddin said.

The additional powers that the revision seeks include the extension of detention to people suspected of planning terrorist attacks, even if the police haven't officially named them as suspects. Law enforcing institutions also demanded an authority to prevent radical preaching. (bbn)
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Linkedin (Inforial) Jakarta, Indonesia  Tue, April 12, 2016

HSBC is once again holding the HSBC Wealth & Beyond Personal Economy Forum, one of the biggest annual educative events in the Indonesian banking industry to conduct in-depth discussions on the topic of wealth management. The grand theme for this years forum is Passion Never Retires. This theme is in line with the commitment of HSBCs ongoing campaign entitled #StartSekarang. The campaign aims to consistently encourage people to immediately start setting up a long-term financial plan, imperative for future welfare.

The HSBC Wealth & Beyond Personal Economy Forum 2016 reflects our commitment to educating the Indonesian people on the importance of a strategic plan to manage and build sustainable welfare. For more than 130 years of its service in Indonesia, HSBC truly understands that the biggest challenge for people in Indonesia in preparing for their future is delayed planning, which is rooted in the habit of procrastinating. We hope that through the HSBC Wealth & Beyond Personal Economy Forum 2016, we can push for a transformation of culture and improved understanding of wealth management, including knowledge of the kinds of banking, insurance and investment products that best suit each persons needs and aspirations, said Blake Hellam, head of retail banking & wealth management at HSBC Indonesia.

According to a study by HSBC entitled The Power of Protection: Confidence in the Future, the biggest concerns among people in Indonesia regarding their latter years are physical health ( 64% ), financial health ( 54% ) and living quality ( 43% ).

Health problems are the biggest concern as they believe they will have a wider impact on other aspects of life. About 72% of the respondents were concerned that health problems would affect their quality of life. They are also worried that this problem will affect their ability to sustain their lives ( 72% ) as well as impact family balance ( 70% ), psychological condition ( 61% ), relationship with spouse ( 57% ) and their role as parents ( 50% ), explained Steven Suryana, senior vice president and head of wealth management at HSBC Indonesia.

The HSBC study reveals that only 33% of the respondents admit a lack of skill and knowledge in managing their finances, as well as not having specific protective measures  although they were willing to learn to be able to manage their financial situation. On the other hand, 67% said they had made financial preparations in the form of saving, investment or insurance, but a lot of them ( 38% ) were not sure if their preparations were adequate to address their needs in the future.

Furthermore, a majority of respondents who had made financial preparations were focusing only on short-term plans to cover urgent needs ( 44% ), and many of them ( 55% ) said they were not well informed about how to address their needs and aspirations, or access to such services. Meanwhile, 36% of respondents said they didnt consider long-term financial planning a priority. Such conditions illustrate how people in Indonesia need educational support from professionals, to help them confidently prepare for a worry-free future.

HSBC Wealth & Beyond Personal Economy Forum 2016 is one of the biggest and most prominent annual events in the Indonesian banking industry. It concerns wealth management and is organized by HSBC, presenting speakers from the Financial Services Authority (OJK), Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX/ BEI) and experts in the field of investment and insurance from some of HSBCs best partners: Allianz, Ashmore, BNP Paribas, Manulife, Schroders, Mandiri Investasi, AXA, Batavia Prosperindo Aset Manajemen, First State Investment and Eastspring Investment, with the participation of 200 final-year university students, more than 1,000 HSBC Premier and HSBC Advance customers, and the general public.

The grand theme for HSBC Wealth & Beyond Personal Economy Forum 2016 is Passion Never Retires. Interesting and relevant discussion themes will be presented, such as:

Wealth Management in Indonesia: The Available Opportunities and Challenges,

Wealth Management: Start Now and Dont Delay for A Guaranteed Future, and

How to Obtain the Most Appropriate Investment Opportunity To conclude the event, HSBC will present a figure who made his name during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, Li Cunxin. During the discussion on the theme Passions Never Retire, Li Cunxin will share knowledge about the importance of early setting of strategic financial plans, and how strong determination and clear vision play a significant role in realizing an aspiration.

HSBC has operated in Indonesia since 1884 and now the bank serves its customer through 38 branches in six major cities across Indonesia. Supported by more than 3,000 employees, today HSBC Indonesia has grown into Indonesia's leading international bank, offering services in commercial banking and global banking for corporate and institutional banking, global markets for treasury capital markets and retail banking and wealth management business.
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Linkedin thejakartapost.com (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 12, 2016

Nine women from Central Java held a rally in front of the Presidential Palace on Tuesday, protesting the development of a cement plant in their hometown in Rembang regency by state-owned PT Semen Indonesia.

The protesters expressed their concerns over potential environmental damage, saying that the plant could contaminate water and degrade their livelihoods, the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) said.

Those nine women are frustrated and want to meet President Joko Widodo, LBH Jakarta lawyer Yunita said, adding that they would keep holding the demo until they had secured a meeting with the President.

Residents of Rembang from 14 subdistricts have held similar such rallies since 2013 to protest the plants development in Watu Putih. Environmentalists have estimated that potential losses could reach up to 51 million liters of water.

The company, however, will go ahead with the construction project.

The construction process started in June 2014, and the plant is expected to start production this year.

The new plant is expected to produce 3 million tons of cement per year. (vps/dan)
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Linkedin Liza Yosephine (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 12, 2016

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo will carry out a series of working visits to a number of European Union (EU) member countries this month to strengthen trade ties and intelligence sharing with the region, as well as four specified countries.

Jokowi will be the first Indonesian president to conduct comprehensive meetings with three EU leaders, namely European Council president Donald Franciszek Tusk, European Parliament president Martin Schulz and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said on Monday.

Additionally, the President will also strengthen bilateral relations on visits to Germany, the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands. Retno noted that it would be the first presidential visit to Amsterdam since President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid visited 16 years ago.

Jokowi's visit, from April 18 until 22, will specifically focus on economic ties and intelligence sharing, she added.

"The visit this time will strengthen traditionally strategic cooperation that Indonesia has with the European Union in the face of new global challenges," Retno said during a press conference on Monday.

In the area of economic relations, the President aims to expand the already strong economic cooperation that exists between Indonesia and the EU, continued Retno.

One of the concrete results to be achieved from the visit is the agreement of a number of business deals, although Retno declined to go into detail.

Jokowi will also lead a delegation from the private sector scheduled to meet with business people in the region to solidify said deals.

Citing recent statistics, the minister said trade with the EU in 2015 was valued at US$26.14 million, making the bloc Indonesia's fourth-biggest international trade partner, and with $2.26 million, its third-biggest investor.

In the area of tourism, Indonesia received almost 1 million visitors from the region last year, Retno said.

Through the visit, Indonesia also aims to strengthen cooperation on handling extremism and terrorism with the region.

Two major European capital cities, Paris and Brussels, have recently been the target of major deadly terrorist attacks that have since been claimed by the notorious Islamic State (IS) group, and a similar attack struck Jakarta in January.

Jokowi will discuss intelligence sharing with EU leaders on issues concerning counterradicalism and counterterrorism, Retno added.

She reiterated Jokowi's insistence on a comprehensive approach that not only emphasized soft power, such as through cultural and religious methods.

Additionally, the visit will also be an opportunity to discuss migration issues, she continued.

Jokowi may bring up the results of the recent Bali Process, Retno said. The event produced a set of consultative mechanisms for response to emergency situations deduced from lessons learned from the sudden influx of Rohingya and Bangladeshi refugees last year. (rin)
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Linkedin Philip Issa (Associated Press) Beirut  Tue, April 12, 2016

A Lebanese state prosecutor has extended the detention of an Australian woman, an Australian TV crew, and others Monday on suspicion of attempted kidnapping after assailants tried to snatch the woman's two children from their father's care in Beirut last week.

Sally Faulkner, along with four Australians, two Britons, and two Lebanese, was brought into police custody last Thursday after a botched attempt was made to seize Faulkner's five-year-old daughter and three-year-old son as they headed for school with their paternal grandmother Wednesday morning.

Faulkner has accused her Lebanese ex-husband, Ali Al-Amin, of moving the children from Australia to Lebanon without her permission in 2015.

The detainees include prominent Australian TV presenter Tara Brown and her crew from Channel Nine TV. A reporter from the station said in an interview broadcast Thursday that the crew was there to cover the story for 60 Minutes.

Michael Brown said it was a "risky operation, a risky story  this desperate Australian mum trying to get her two children home," but said the crew was prepared for the difficulties.

Lebanon's state news agency reported that State Prosecutor Claude Karam would move forward with his investigation after receiving the police report Monday.

An investigative court will take testimonies from the suspects beginning Tuesday. They will be allowed translators and lawyers at their hearings, a judicial official said.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly, said the judiciary would explore whether Faulkner has the right to custody of the children under Australian law, which could serve as a mitigating factor in the investigation.

The children's grandmother, Ibtisam Berri, said she and a domestic worker were taking the children to school last Wednesday when two men jumped out of a parked car and took the children away. She said a cameraman was filming the scene from the car.

At least one of the Britons is being held on suspicion that he planned to smuggle the children out of Lebanon on his boat, docked in a private Beirut hotel, police officials said.

The authorities returned the children to Al-Amin, who told a local TV station that he would not sue his former wife. "She is the mother of my children ... if I were her I would have done the same," he told LBC last Thursday.

He told Al Jadeed TV that Faulkner and Australian security agencies knew he was leaving Australia with the children and denied kidnapping them from their mother.

Lebanon is not party to the Hague Convention, which provides recourse to parents who claim their children have been abducted internationally. (ags)
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Linkedin Erika Anindita Dewi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 12, 2016

The United Development Party (PPP) needs to reconcile immediately to ensure it is prepared to face major upcoming political events, according to a senior member.

Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly said all party members should consolidate to create a strong PPP.

"The PPP could become a great party through reconciliation, as I think most members realize," Yasonna told journalists before attending a meeting with the House of Representatives Commission III overseeing legal affairs and laws, human rights and security at the House complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Monday.

The PPP is set to form a new leadership in the next 14 days following the party's eighth muktamar (national congress) held at the Pondok Gede Haj Dormitory in East Jakarta over the weekend.

The leadership structure is to include all factions, including supporters of Djan Faridz , who was elected party chair at a Jakarta muktamar in November 2014.

Romahurmuziy, chairman of the PPP leadership formed at a Surabaya muktamar in October 2014, was re-elected on Saturday as party chairman by acclamation.

Romahurmuziy will work with a team appointed to form the party's central executive board. Once a board is formed, the party will be consolidated at the regional level.

He promised that he would give a prestigious role to Djan if the latter were willing to acknowledge and join the PPP's central executive board elected at the eighth muktamar.

"I have said that a respectable role will always be available for him," Romahurmuziy said as quoted by kompas.com on Sunday after the closing of the muktamar.

In an earlier statement, Djan insisted he would never acknowledge the results of the eighth muktamar and would press on with a lawsuit against the government for not recognizing his leadership.

Both Yasonna and Vice President Jusuf Kalla have claimed to have talked with Djan regarding the latter's stance.

Speaking on Sunday, Kalla said he had persuaded Djan to accept the results of the eighth muktamar.

Meanwhile, Yasonna said he had requested one of his best friends to speak with Djan. It was reported that the ministers best friend, who was not named, had persuaded Djan to accept the reconciliation.

"The PPP conflict has been ended through the organizing of the muktamar," Yasonna insisted. (ebf)
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Linkedin thejakartapost.com (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 12, 2016

A number of female protesters cemented their feet in front of the State Palace on Tuesday in protest of a cement plant development by state-owned PT Semen Indonesia in their hometown in Rembang regency in Central Java.

The protesters reject the development of the cement firm in their town because it would cause environment problems and also threaten their earnings as farmers in Kendeng, a mountainous area in Rembang, Pati, Blora and Grobogan, tempo.co reported.

Teten Mastuki, chief of presidential staff, reportedly told the women to foil their plan to cement their feet, but the protesters ignored the demand.

Coordinator of the Mt. Kendeng Society Network (JMPPK), Joko Prianto, said that Teten met with the women had met with the women prior to the protest. He (Teten) was worried about the plan and banned [the action], Joko added as quoted by tempo.co.

Earlier in the morning, the protesters had expressed their concern over potential environmental damage, saying that the plant could contaminate water and degrade their livelihoods, a representative from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) said.

Those nine women are frustrated and want to meet President Joko Widodo, LBH Jakarta lawyer Yunita said, adding that they would keep holding the demonstration until they had secured a meeting with the President.

Rembang residents from 14 sub-districts have held similar rallies since 2013 in protest of the cement plant development in Watu Putih. Environmentalists have estimated that potential water loss could reach figures of up to 51 million liters.

The company, however, plan to proceed with the construction project.

The construction process began in June 2014 and the plant is expected to start production this year. The new plant will produce three million tons of cement each year. (vps/bbn)
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Linkedin Andi Hajramurni (The Jakarta Post) Makassar, South Sulawesi  Tue, April 12, 2016

The distribution of drugs has continued to increase in South Sulawesi, forcing security authorities to step up measures to prevent illicit drug trafficking in the province.

In the past week, security authorities have foiled attempts to smuggle a total12.4 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine or shabu-shabu ready for distribution. The narcotics were seized by police and National Narcotics Agency (BNN) officers in separate operations.

Together with the Bone Police, the BNN on Saturday launched a raid in the course of which they seized 8 kg of crystal meth.

On Thursday, the Pinrang Police seized 3.4 kg of crystal meth from the house of Brig. Supardi, a police officer. Previously on Monday, the Parepare Police thwarted an attempt to smuggle 1 kg of crystal meth in an operation at Nusantara Parepare Port.

The Bone Police said the 8 kg crystal meth they confiscated during Saturdays operation had come from two neighboring countries, Malaysia and the Philippines, and had been smuggled into the country via Kalimantan.

The drugs were found at a house in the village of Pattiro Sompe in Sibulue district, Bone, the police said. The house's owner, Andi Burhan, fled before the police arrived.

Bone Police chief Adj.Sr.Comr. Yuliar Kus Nugroho said on Sunday that the BNN was currently stepping up measures to monitor drug distribution in Indonesia and had detected a network intensively supplying crystal meth to South Sulawesi.

Yuliar said that initially, the 8 kg of crystal meth were to have been handed over to a suspected drug dealer identified as Aco in Makassar via Aksan in Palu, Central Sulawesi. However, the South Sulawesi Polices narcotics division arrested Aco on Friday; it appears Acos arrest forced the drug ring to instead channel the drugs to Andi.

Andi Burhan is a new figure. His name is not recorded as being part of the drug rings being pursued by either the BNN or the police. We dont know yet his network. We are still pursuing him, said Yuliar.

Meanwhile, the Pinrang Police said they were continuing to investigate the confiscation of the 3.4 kg of crystal meth belonging to Brig.Supardi, a member of the Baranti Police in Sidenreng Rappang regency.

As of Sunday, investigators had arrested four people suspected to be part of Supardis network. One of them is Edi alias Wilo, who is also suspected to be a courier.

We are still pursuing K, the big boss of the Supardi network, and Brig. Edy Chandra, who is also a drugs courier, Pinrang Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Adri Irniadi said on Sunday.

Edy is a member of the Mamasa Police in West Sulawesi accused of the possession of 1 kg of crystal meth; he has been included on the polices most-wanted list (DPO). Pictures of the officer have been placed in several public places, including Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport in Makassar, Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta, Palopo seaport in South Sulawesi and Mamuju seaport and airport in West Sulawesi. (ebf)
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Linkedin thejakartapost.com (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 12, 2016

Security at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) building was tightened on Tuesday when investigators questioned Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama as a witness in connection to alleged irregularities in land procurement in West Jakarta.

Setiabudi Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Tri Yulianto said the city police had deployed 770 officers to guard the KPK building on Tuesday as hundreds of people were expected to demonstrate there.

We were informed there would be a demonstration when Pak Ahok arrived. It is just a preventive measure against any unwanted incidents, said Yulianto.

Two groups of protesters  the Betawi Brotherhood Forum (FBR) and the Save Jakarta Movement  rallied against the governor.

Ahok was questioned in connection with the procurement of land in 2014 by the Jakarta city administration. A cancer hospital is to be built of the land, which is located next to Sumber Waras hospital.

A report on the city's Rp 755.69 billion (US$55.9 million) purchase of the land was included in a Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) audit of the Jakarta administration's 2014 financial report.

The BPK said the price had been inflated and the land should have been purchased for the same taxable value of property (NJOP) as surrounding buildings. The land, the agency report said, could have been bought for Rp 564.35 billion, which would have saved the city Rp 191 billion.

Ahok has denied any wrongdoing in the case, saying that standard procedure was followed by the city administration. (bbn)
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Linkedin Erika Anindita Dewi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 12, 2016

Amid protest from several factions, including Gerindra, the House of Representatives on Monday authorized House Commission XI overseeing banking and finance affairs to start the deliberations over a tax amnesty bill.

The decision was made during a meeting of the House Steering Committee (Bamus) chaired by House Speaker Ade Komarudin.

The meeting decided that the deliberations would start on Tuesday, although on April 6 the same committee decided that the deliberations would only begin after a consultative meeting between House leaders and President Joko Jokowi Widodo.

"We should pass the tax amnesty bill into a law immediately, to give hope to the national economy," Ade said, adding that he had signed a letter to start the deliberations.

As the deliberation starts, the meeting will be opened by a hearing between Commission XI and a minister assigned by President Jokowi.

Commenting on the decision to start deliberations, House Deputy Speaker Fadli Zon said it was invalid because he had not been invited to the meeting and such a meeting should have been chaired at least by two House leaders.

He insisted that the deliberations could only start after a consultative meeting with the President.

Meanwhile, United Development Party (PPP) faction chairman Dimyati Natakusumah supported Ades move, stressing that the House Steering Committee had agreed with the decision.

Other support came from Golkar Party faction's secretary Azis Syamsuddin, who said there were four factions that wanted a consultancy meeting, while the other six agreed to go ahead with the deliberations.

If the bill is passed into law, the government could offer tax discounts to individuals and companies who want to declare their untaxed wealth. The policy is expected to persuade Indonesians who parked their wealth overseas to bring it back home to Indonesia.

This year's tax revenue target is Rp 1.36 quadrillion (US$102.64 billion), 28.2 percent higher than the Rp 1.06 quadrillion achieved in 2015. (bbn)
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Linkedin (Associated Press) Caracas  Tue, April 12, 2016

Venezuela's chief prosecutor has ordered banks to freeze the accounts of people that the government is investigating in connection with the leaked documents that originated with a Panama-based law firm that helps set up secretive offshore bank accounts and shell companies.

Public prosecutor Luisa Ortega told the television station Globovision on Monday that prosecutors are considering issuing arrest warrants for people named in the "Panama Papers" leak. She didn't say who might be affected.

Venezuelans whose names have appeared in connection to the leak include a former top military officer, a former state oil company official and a security official who worked at the presidential palace during the administration of the late President Hugo Chavez.

President Nicolas Maduro asked Ortega to investigate last week.

Venezuela is reportedly mentioned in 241,000 of the 11.5 million leaked documents. But as the country grapples with a severe economic crisis and worsening political gridlock, the leak has not made much of an impact on the public consciousness.

Venezuelans have less faith in the incorruptibility of their government than any other South American country, according to the watchdog group Transparency International.

Venezuela's socialist administration has for years been dogged by allegations that officials are stealing money from public coffers.

Last year, the country asked foreign governments to share information about large offshore bank deposits amid a spate of reports that $2 billion was siphoned off by corrupt, top-level officials at state-run oil company PDVSA. (ags)
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Linkedin Jim Gomez (Associated Press) Manila  Tue, April 12, 2016

A Philippine diplomat warned Tuesday that any Chinese move to turn a disputed shoal, where the US Navy recently spotted a suspected Chinese survey ship, into an island will escalate the disputes in the South China Sea and asked Washington to convince Beijing not to take that "very provocative" step.

Philippine Ambassador to Washington Jose Cuisia Jr. told a news conference in Manila that a senior US Navy official reported spotting a suspected Chinese survey ship in the Scarborough Shoal a few weeks ago and expressed concern about its presence in the disputed offshore area.

The Philippine military checked but found nothing, possibly because the Chinese ship later left the shoal, he said.

China has said it has completed construction work to turn seven reefs into islands in the disputed Spratlys archipelago in the South China Sea, raising alarm in the region and sparking calls by Asian and Western governments for China to stop taking provocative actions that can lead to confrontations. Beijing says it owns the Spratlys, which it calls the Nansha Islands, and has a right to undertake construction there.

The US Navy sighting of the survey ship in Scarborough, a rich fishing area about 230 kilometers (145 miles) west of the Philippines, has reinforced suspicions that Beijing is eyeing the vast atoll as its next target in its island-making spree, Cuisia said.

"That I think will be very provocative if they will build on Scarborough Shoal," Cuisia said, adding such an action "will further escalate the tensions and the conflict."

The Philippines is incapable of stopping China from constructing an island in the shoal, where Filipino fishermen have been barred by Chinese coast guard ships, Cuisia said. "We hope that the US and other countries ... would convince China not to proceed with that," he said.

Washington does not take sides in the disputes involving China, the Philippines and four other governments but has declared that ensuring freedom of navigation and overflight in the busy waters is in its national interest.

Cuisia said he was involved in a US State Department-brokered deal for China and the Philippines to withdraw their ships simultaneously from Scarborough to avoid a potential clash during a tense standoff in 2012.

China reneged on that deal by refusing to withdraw its ships after the Philippines did and now claims there was no such deal, he said.

"We were shortchanged," Cuisia said.
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Linkedin (Associated Press) Bangkok  Tue, April 12, 2016

Thailand's blunt-speaking prime minister had some advice Tuesday for his country's young women: Don't dress too revealingly, or you will be shunned like a piece of toffee without its wrapper.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha offered the observation to reporters as Thais prepared to kick off their traditional New Year celebration, known as Songkran. The holiday comes at the hottest time of the year and is best known for the enthusiastic splashing of water upon friends and strangers alike, a practice that sometimes takes on a sexual edge, including the molestation of women.

Thailand's military government already had announced that it would try to discourage lewd behavior and dress as inappropriate for the country's culture.

"During Songkran, I ask that women wear proper clothes, Thai style, so they would look good and civilized," said Prayuth, who has two grown daughters. He said that in his opinion, women "are like toffee or candy," which people would not like to eat if already unwrapped.

Prayuth went on to qualify his own advice, saying that some nicely wrapped candy will stay on the shelf for years no matter what.

The prime minister, a former army commander, is best known for blasting his political opponents, but has controversially commented before about what he thinks is appropriate attire for women.

Shortly after two young British tourists were murdered on a beach on the resort island of Koh Tao  the woman was also raped  Prayuth wondered aloud whether tourists wearing bikinis were courting danger.

"This has always been a problem ... they think our country is beautiful and safe and they can do whatever they want, wear bikinis wherever they like. I'm asking if they wear bikinis in Thailand, will they be safe? Only if they are not beautiful," he said in September 2014, after the deaths of David Miller and Hannah Witheridge. He apologized shortly afterward, saying he only meant to warn tourists to be careful.

Prayuth's latest remarks drew criticism from Usa Lertsrisantat, director of the Foundation for Women, who said he should use his influential position to speak in a more helpful way.

"He should be sending a message to people who do not respect women's rights as well," she said. "He warns women not to wear revealing clothes, and he should warn men to respect women's rights, too. Women are not toffees or candies, we are human beings."

"When something bad happens, you can't just say that it happened because of how women dress," she said.
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Linkedin (The Japan News/Asia News Network)  Tue, April 12, 2016

The transport ministry will allow Tokyos Haneda Airport to accommodate more foreign business jets, doubling the number of takeoffs and landings to up to 16 per day by the end of this month, it has been learned.

The Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry aims to attract more small aircraft, which are mainly used for business purposes as well as by affluent individuals overseas, so the measure can help increase the number of foreign visitors to this country.

Small planes are particularly useful for businesspeople in the United States and Europe, who like to use them to conduct negotiations while traveling.

Haneda Airport handled a total of 2,017 takeoffs and landings by foreign business jets in 2015, up 33.1 percent from the previous year, according to a preliminary ministry report. Haneda, which is close to central Tokyo, handled about three times more foreign traffic than Narita Airport in Chiba Prefecture.

Haneda has a limited number of slots for foreign business jets. The airport allocates 15 takeoffs and landings each per day to charter flights, airplanes for official purposes and other uses  of which only a maximum of eight are reserved for business jets.

Haneda also has a limit of four business jet landings a day, in a bid to avoid affecting scheduled flights.

But Haneda is planning to allocate unused slots for charter and other flights to business jets when it has only a handful of such flights, while also eliminating the cap for business jet landings. The airport will expand its parking apron and aim to boost its operation rates by cutting the parking period to five days from the current 10 days, according to officials.

Narita Airport completed a new parking apron in March, which is open for both scheduled flights and business jets. The airport already maintains a longer parking period than Haneda and will likely increase the number of parking aircraft, meaning greater convenience for foreign businesspeople visiting the Tokyo metropolitan area.

The government has been striving to host international conferences and attract affluent visitors like foreign investors, as part of its efforts to increase the annual number of foreign visitors to 40 million in 2020 when Tokyo hosts the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

At the end of March, Narita Airport started offering exclusive lanes at immigration for VIPs. Haneda is considering following suit.
Whats MSPs hottest neighborhood? Most will say the North Loop in Minneapolis. But the Lowertown neighborhood in downtown St. Paul is the one consistently snagging headlines as Americas top hipster zip code. Lowertown may be charting a lower-key path to prosperity than the burgeoning North Loop. But one of Lowertowns newest developments, CHS Field , is surrounded by a growing roster of relocated and expanded businessessome uprooted from the suburbs , others spun out of Lowertowns premier coworking space (COCO), and some born and bred in the districts office lofts and storefronts.High-tech software companies, cutting-edge marketing firms, next-generation publishers, innovative eateries, ascendent breweries: Lowertown has it all. So far, it all is (mostly) coexisting alongside the artists and makers who stabilized the neighborhood after the long, sad march of mid-20century deindustrialization. Those urban pioneers helped preserve much of the areas 19and early 20century building stocka big, beautiful draw for the next wave of Lowertowners.Heres a look at four thriving Lowertown businesses: Where theyve been, where theyre going, and why theyve chosen St. Pauls historic heart as their home base. West Academic may not be Lowertowns sexiest company: West Academic publishes traditional legal textbooks and casebooks, legal audiobooks and software programsthe law students bread and butter (and, perhaps, bane). But the company, which was spun off from Thomson Reuters (the information services conglomerate) a few years back, relocated downtown from its former parents suburban Eagan campus  trading out-of-the-way corporate digs for a hip office in the heart of the city. (In a way, the move was a long-overdue homecoming, as West Academics predecessor division started in downtown St. Paul during the first decade of the 20century.)The move was a transparent attempt to attract young digital nativesthose sought-after millennials  to an industry thats faced more than its fair share of tech-driven challenges. We knew moving to St. Paul would help us recruit talented people, Chris Parton, president and CEO, told The Line last year. People want to workand bein city centers again. Not coincidentally, West Academic is growing: Since moving downtown, the company has added about 30 employees, with plans to hire more this year.An early COCO success story, Docalytics continues to chug along in the coworking pioneers Lowertown space. Co-founder Evan Carothers describes the past two years as a whirlwind of activity for the company: We scaled up and down a few times, built a large remote contract workforce and most recently were acquired by New York-based Contently.Acquired? Yes. But still thriving and potentially part of a big-time growth story. According to Contently , an ambitious online publishing company, Docalytics is an integral part of a coast-to-coast expansion plan that could fundamentally change how electronic content is delivered and consumed.In the near term, says Carothers, Contently is treating Docalytics as its Northern product office. That means a lot of new tech jobs in Lowertown. We are hiring currently [with] the intent to scale to upward of 15 to 20 employees within 18 months or so, says Carothers. We will be staying in COCO until we outgrow the space or find a great local office in Lowertown.Despite Contentlys New York mindset, Carothers adds, the company recognizes the great place Minnesota is to live, work and build a teamand the amazing talent we have here.Not far from Docalytics doorstep, another growing tech company is turning big-money East Coast backing into Lowertown prosperity. Now a wholly owned subsidiary of Washington, D.C.-based Actua, GovDelivery is the preeminent provider of high-tech government communications and marketing solutions.Born and bred in Lowertown, GovDelivery launched several industry cycles agoback in 2000, to be exact, when Facebook was still a gleam in a curly-haired high school kids eyeas a scrappy, underfunded upstart. Today, it has more than 200 employees, 100 million users, an eight-figure revenue stream, and relationships with local and regional governments around the world. Oh, and GovDelivery boasts a virtually unheard-of 99 percent customer retention rate.Like many successful tech companies, GovDelivery figured out how to change one specific niches outdated paradigm. In GovDeliverys case, that niche was government communications. The company took a page from successful private marketing companies specializing in marketing automation, which is now all but ubiquitous. (If you clicked through to this story from The Lines newsletter, youre a marketing automation user. Congratulations!)As a first mover in the public-sector marketing automation niche, GovDelivery has immeasurably improved the quality, speed and efficacy of government communications. We are truly the most widely-used platform by public sector because[weve] been able to learn and adapt things really well out of that [private] marketing automation space, Scott Burns, CEO, told SaaScribe in February. Thats great news for Lowertown.Move over, Punch; theres another Neapolitan pizza game in town. Actually, Big River Pizza has been slanging Minne-politan-style pizza for a while now, thanks to an innovative mobile pizza oven that trawled the streets of MSP at mealtimes. Big Rivers bread and butter was local and regional farmers markets.Last year, Big River Pizzas owners decided they wanted a more permanent presencesomewhere to hang their hat between pizza runs. So they set up shop in the Lofts at Farmers Market , just across the street from the St. Paul Farmers Market and CHS Field.We couldnt be more excited to be...within feet of the Farmers Market, said Steve Lott, Big River Pizzas owner and head chef, said in a news release per the Pioneer Press . We are thrilled to be...in an area with so much activity and vitality[and] to continue to call Saint Paul home.If you dont live or work in downtown St. Paul, Big River Pizza is just one more reason to get down to Lowertown (and, hey, maybe catch a game at CHS Field or tour the St. Paul Art Crawl ). But if youre too busy to make the trek, never fear: Big Rivers mobile pizza oven isnt hanging up its stones anytime soon.Brian Martucci is The Line's Innovation and Jobs News Editor.
Rick Moody is the author, most recently, of Hotels of North America. His other highly acclaimed works include the novels Garden State, The Ice Storm, Purple America, The Diviners, and The Four Fingers of Death; the fiction collections The Ring of Brightest Angels Around Heaven, Demonology, and Right Livelihoods; and the nonfiction books The Black Veil, and On Celestial Music: And Other Adventures in Listening. He is the recipient of the Aga Khan Prize for Fiction, the Addison M. Metcalf Award, a Guggenheim fellowship, and numerous other awards.

Hotels of North America, out this month from Little, Brown, embodies and interrogates a particularly American version of modernity. In addition to his new novel, Moody and I recently discussed literary theory, technology, and the writing process. Our conversation took place over email  sent and received, for the most part, late at night via smartphone.

The Millions: In The Black Veil you describe being converted after diagramming parts of Of Grammatology by Jacques Derrida. Does Derrida remain an influence? How would you say literary theory has informed your concerns as a writer?

Rick Moody: Theory was and is still important to me. I still really admire Derrida and feel that my contact with his early work in English  Of Grammatology above all others, but not to the exclusion of Dissemination, Glas, etc.  was life-changing for me. I also really loved Foucault and Barthes.

Do I keep up with theoretical developments now? I admire Avital Ronells writing a great deal, and clearly Zizek is of interest. But I think the rigorous epistemological thinking of continental philosophy in the 60s and 70s has given way to skepticism, in some quarters, and drives for something like ideological purity at other extremes. The world of theory, that is, is not as it once was. I happened to encounter it at a very fertile moment for the discipline (if thats even the right word). What I loved above all was the language, the hair-splitting, the monstrous clauses, the paradoxes, the neologisms. It felt playful to me, like experimental fiction, which also exerted a powerful pull in those days. Though the purists would say theory was anti-modernist in some ways (thus post-modernist), it still felt new to me, revolutionary, and thus consonant with Pounds modernist credo: make it new. I still want my work to be new in that way, today, if possible. I abhor repeating myself. And I still often think about philosophy. I am no expert, but the philosophical bedrock of theory is something I still am grappling with. This year: Heidegger.

TM: I love Derridas style  for the playfulness you mention, and for its rigor. Though it seems the skepticism you bring up was ushered in by Derrida himself (and de Man)  the infinite drift of language, the impossibility of perfect communication, the indeterminacy of meaning, etc. I guess my question for you is: how do you manage to approach writing in a way that moves beyond postmodern skepticism and exhaustion?

RM: This is a difficult question to answer. In a way, the answer is simply that I dont feel skeptical in my person, in my voice, in my heart. This would be a loaded statement, because besides relying on heart, a decidedly dim-witted and timeworn cliche, the remark implies that there is a stable and perceptible Rick Moody who can with any assurance use the word I. I incline toward the idea that I am just a series of tendencies rather than a reliable person  a society of mind, as I think Marvin Minsky used to say. But lets assume there is a sort of a Rick Moody, an effect of the work attributed to Rick Moody, and that his heart refers to something that we can more or less agree on  a preliminary set of assumptions maybe. This Rick Moody, at least for today, feels that skepticism is a remainder of continental philosophy, a rime thereof, but not an adequate or complete trace product. In Derrida, the style is the way out; the writing is the third term in the opposition between theory and practice. You know all the lingo, I dont have to rehearse it here. The work produced is the solution to the problems laid bare in the work. Its not what you do with the work, its the work itself, the process of it, that indicates the way out. I still believe in this, or it believes in me. The work believes in me. The books dont matter, the reviews dont matter, the career doesnt matter, the students dont matter, though I love the language of all these things. Only the process matters. I have no skepticism about that, and Im not exhausted.

TM: How conscious are you of a works eventual audience  while writing, or during the editing process? Do you consider the reader at all, or does the work enjoy a kind of autonomy?

RM: I never think about audience. But as DeLillo says, I write with standards in mind. I write for the audience that shares the standards, whoever they are.

TM: Speaking of DeLillo, in an earlier interview you discussed his method of working in discrete chunks, which he then glues together. I was fascinated when I read somewhere that he composes with a single paragraph on each page in order to see the sentences more clearly. Whats the unit of composition in your novels? Does this differ from the unit of composition in the stories?

RM: The particular formal method of composition has changed with each book, as each suggests its own thematically-based approach. I will say that having a child has gotten in the way of work a bit  in that I rarely have a long span of consecutive work days now. With Hotels of North America, I therefore tried to devise a unit of composition that favored how I am able to work in this family-friendly moment, which unit of composition consisted of 500 to 1,500 word reviews usually written first thing in the morning. The narrative arc of this book was retrofitted at a later point, in rewrites.

That said, I just spent all summer working on a short story composed in the usual way: written (and rewritten) from beginning to end. And the idea for the next book is similarly organic, to write fast without overthinking. So each work proposes an approach, even as the actual infrastructural attack is more or less consistent. Word processor plus brain plus history of literature plus play plus hard copy plus red pen.

TM: I definitely have questions about Hotels of North America. In general, however, would you say your shorter fiction is more sentence-centric than the novels? I know you train a great deal of attention on the novelistic sentences, but Im wondering how your focus changes with a longer text. A story like Boys (which comes up quite a bit, and which I love) seems to be nearly generated by its initial sentence, Boys enter the house, boys enter the house. Is this as often the case with your novels and novellas?

RM: Theres a story in the as yet unpublished collection #4, the title story, in fact, that repeats the theme-and-variations fugal structure of Boys called She Forgot. (I could write a whole sequence of these now, forgetting stories, so full is my family right now with acute forgetting disorders. I wish I could forget some of the forgetting.) I think it will be recognizable to people who like Boys, and also as a reply to a certain major work of conceptual prose writing that recently got its Library of America edition.

I do think short fiction is good for experiment. A failed idea there will only set you back a couple months. The strategy in the short story, for me, is this: follow the language, not the story, and see where it goes. Doesnt mean theres no story, because thats too easy. But it means the stories are language first. A model would be late Beckett, or, differently, Amy Hempel.

TM: Ill try to ask this next question in a way that isnt reductive. [Hotels protagonist] Reginald Morse and Rick Moody the author share first and last initials. Are any other commonalities merely coincidental? What, if anything, did you smuggle in, and what might have leaked in? When youve drawn on your own experience, do you find the material transformed beyond recognition in the work?

RM: So do Wyatt Gwyon and William Gaddis share initials. To be frank, I didnt realize Reg had the same initials until I was nearly done with the thing. There are other heavily freighted aspects to his name, from my point of view, that have nothing to do with this coincidence you allude to in the department of naming. After all, my initials are HFM, and his are REM.

Is he autobiographical in some way? More so, perhaps, than Morton the ape from The Four Fingers of Death, at least if adjudged by his life circumstances. But in a way I think Morton is the most autobiographical of characters in my work. Or, to put it another way: all characters are autobiographical, more or less. And all literary work is autobiographical, even abstruse nouveaux romans of the Robbe-Grillet or Sarraute variety. I dont see how Hotels of North America is any more so than anything else I have written (I am the guy who wrote Demonology, e.g., or Primary Sources, not to mention The Black Veil). And, in the main, the goal was to try to figure out a way to make a novel, with character and narrative arc, from subliterary material: the hotel review form. I didnt really think about Reg, except that I used whatever was easiest in terms of his life story, because the hard work was in having any story at all worked in around all the hotel stuff.

The rest of the autobiographical question  how much is him and how much me  is not inherently interesting to me. How much of Humboldt in Humboldts Gift is Delmore Schwartz? I dont know, and I dont go to that work for commentary on Delmore. I go to it for the sentences. I am hoping that those who read Hotels of North America are more interested in the slightly outlandish premise and the occasions of pathos that are admixed there than they are interested in crypto-autobiography. Or: if I really wanted to write a lot about myself, Id just write another memoir

TM: In a sense, your response dovetails with Morses purported desire (according to the Rick Moody of the afterword) that the work be read for what it has to say about the world, not for what it has to say about Reginald Edward Morse. What heavily freighted aspects of Morses name were you thinking of? The word remorse is an unavoidable association. Any connection to Samuel Morse, painter and telecommunications pioneer? Art and data transmission seem to be central concerns of Hotels of North America.

RM: I really like the Samuel Morse connection! Thats good! And yes obviously there is the other pun you allude to, lest one should think Reg is all bluster and condescension. I did have a good friend called John Morse in the first grade (this was at Ox Ridge School, Darien, Conn.). He was the gentlest young man, not one of those playground savages you often find among a random sampling of public school boys, even in such a rarified locale as Fairfield County. Anyway, once I was riding around with John Morse on our bicycles over by his house when we were set upon by a pair of Great Danes, larger than we were, and jet black. One knocked me right off my Schwinn Tornado, but having daintily sunk a few incisors into my posterior and its soft tissue, that hulking mass of Fairfield County wealth and privilege just stood there awaiting its mistress, an older lady who was very remorseless! She should have at least given me candy while I wept. Alas, no. Who felt the worst later that day, among the participants catalogued above? And does anyone but me remember that these events took place?

TM: I wanted to ask you about two quotes. In a review of the Tall Corn Motel in Des Moines, Reginald Morse calls the credit rating that most American of data points. Later, in a hilarious (though melancholy) section, Morse describes hotel pornography as being at the heart of travel in America. These passages suggest issues of connectivity and larger systems. Porn seems relevant in that Americans usually consume it alone, but also because of the increasing penetration of the delivery systems involved (cable, the Internet). Like the credit rating, opportunities for slaking desire via consumption seem inescapable now. I was wondering if you saw a connection between these systems, including the Interstate Highway System, I suppose, and the structure of the novel  each section is self-contained, yet branches out in multiple directions in an almost rhizomatic fashion.

RM: I was railing against the Internet in my workshop last night, castigating one of my very talented students for using multiple (fictional) Craigslist posts in his story. The Internet! Where humanism goes to die! Only in its absolute destitution, in the presumption there of delusion and id-driven belligerence, can there be any genuine truth to be found. And yet as Barthes points out: the site of total negation always contains the seeds of affirmation. I began the hotel reviews with the assumption that there was nothing human on the Internet to be found and then I set about constructing the opposite hypothesis. Whether this paradox is successfully employed here remains to be seen, whether total negation can result in affirmation, whether the black hole can emit heat. To address your question more directly: The lure of pornography and the obsession with FICO scores, etc., are like unto one another, yes. There is longing in each of the cases, on Reddit, on Experian, on YouPorn. Many users will be so blunted by human failure and by the narcotic effects of multi-national capital that they dont even know what they are doing in these digital landscapes of auto-constructed fantasy. They dont know what they are longing for, or they think longing is cheesy. Or they experience epiphany only in rhizomatic episodes, compulsive gaming fits, that rarely erupt into narrative arc in the conventional way. If identity consists of quantum mechanical tendencies and probabilities more than actual character, then a rhizomatic accumulation of isolated paroxysms of longing is more formally suggestive of character in this century, especially character interfacing with Internet, more so than the heroic narratives of individualism. It perhaps bears mentioning, now, that I have answered most of these questions in the middle of the night, on handheld device, during bouts of insomnia.

TM: What led you to use the first person for this novel?

RM: I assume you ask this because of my long-standing aversion to the first person. It is true: I dislike a certain kind of confessional and earnest first-person-narrated naturalism. I only get interested when the reliability of the first-person narrator is in question, when the reliability of narration itself is under scrutiny. There are any number of ways of doing this.

Your usage is interesting though: what led me to employ the first person? Sort of as if I had been, under duress, bludgeoning an intruder with a Teflon-coated fry pan! Or as if I had made use of a very bad chess opening: rooks pawn! Its a funny way to put it. I guess I was led to the first person by Ford Madox Ford and Nabokov and by some theoretical voices, critics, of narratorial practice, etc. I was also led there circuitously, having mostly employed either third person or what my student Liz Wood refers to as sneaky first for the vast majority of my published work between 1992 and 2005. Four Fingers of Death has some first (about half). I may simply have wanted to experiment with some new techniques. Travel broadens, as they say.

TM: As an author, whats your take on The Death of the Author? I was practically handed the Barthes essay (as well as The Intentional Fallacy) with my MFA orientation materials, though since then Ive encountered convincing arguments that dont jettison authorial intention  quite the contrary. The phrasing what led you as opposed to why did you choose is perhaps a vestigial symptom of that earlier theoretical commitment; youre right to point it out.

RM: That was never a Barthes essay that resonated with me exactly. I certainly feel a lot of forces speaking through the author, and its certainly the case that a stable, whole individual who is expressing her/himself is somewhat mythic, but death is the wrong word for the situation. Its a bit overwrought. Maybe the allusion is to Nietzsche and Zarathustra. I feel very much alive. The language is the trace of it.

TM: Youve spoken at length on the interrelatedness of music and prose. Im curious whether visual art  particularly photography  has been a complementary influence on your work. Would you say your art criticism comes from the same place as your fiction?

RM: Its funny how this isnt a subject I have talked about much in public when my late sister was a photographer, my first girlfriend in college was a painter (and her family major collectors), my wife is a well-known visual artist, and I teach writing to visual artists very nearly half-time. I studied art history some at Brown, and I loved it. At all points in my development, the visual arts have been present, especially the lessons of the Northern Renaissance, Surrealism, Dada, AbEx, and conceptual art. Smithson and Judd, e.g., are people I think about a lot, and revere. I could name many other names, photographers included. In my creative inner sanctum, I travel freely among the 10,000 forms and dont truly feel that the law of genre is a law that I must respect. I happen not to be gifted with talent in a specific medium of visual art, but my longing for contact with art has motivated all my writing on that subject, which in turn has surely been a source of material inspiration for fiction-making. The new book, in fact, comes directly out of my class in the art department at NYU, and through watching my wife think about her own conceptual footing. It is, in a way, a conceptual art project, in the way that Donald Barthelme was refractive of visual art. Doesnt mean to be heavy-handed about it, or labored about it, but that influence is there, and I am glad to say it aloud.
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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.
Fate of Phuket mural to be decided April 22

PHUKET: The future of a mural painted on a building wall in Phuket Town over the weekend by a Bangkok-based artist, bringing mixed reactions from a number of local residents, has yet to be decided after being discussed at a meeting held by Phuket City Mayor this morning (Apr 12).

culturepoliticspropertyenvironment

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Tuesday 12 April 2016, 04:31PM

The controversial mural on the side of the old Standard Chartered Bank Building on the corner of Phang Nga and Phuket roads. Photo: Darawan Naknakhon

The painting, on a side wall of the old Standard Chartered Bank Building on the corner of Phang Nga and Phuket roads, and done by street artist Pattcharapon Alex Face Tangreun, was completed on Saturday (Apr 9), and following its completion, local residents took to social media to either severely criticise or praise the design.

Following posts about the painting going viral, Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupana held a meeting this morning as a number of local residents said that it should be removed immediately.

Speaking at the meeting today, Mayor Somjai said the building where the mural has appeared is currently in the process of being renovated and that renovations will be complete in June.

We apologies for making people unhappy. Thank you for caring this building, she said.

We will hold a public hearing on April 22 to reach a decision as to whether the painting stays or goes, she added.

It is purported that the painting is part of project by a group called So Phuket entitled F.A.T. Phuket (Food Art Old Town) and is aimed at inspiring more people to visit the Phuket Town area.

The mural shows Alex Faces signature imaginary character, a toddler-rabbit hybrid, holding a lunch box and wearing a traditional BaBa broach and depicts a contrast between Phuket Old Towns architecture and modern artwork with the theme of Phuket's food scene.
Phuket City Mayor resigns over mural fiasco

PHUKET: The Deputy Mayor of Phuket City Municipality handed in his resignation today (Apr 11) following the fiasco surrounding a mural painted on the old Standard Chartered Bank building in Phuket Town.

crimepoliticsculture

By Darawan Naknakhon

Tuesday 12 April 2016, 05:51PM

Phuket City Deputy Mayor Dr Kosol Tang-utai (centre). Photo: Darawan Naknakhon

The mural, done by Pattcharapon Alex Face Tangreun, was completed on Saturday (Apr 9), and following its completion, local residents took to social media to either severely criticise or praise the design.

Following posts about the painting going viral, Phuket City Mayor Somjai Suwansupana held a meeting this morning as a number of local residents demanded its immediate removal. (See story here)

Speaking about his resignation, Phuket City Deputy Mayor Dr Kosol Tang-utai said, I apologise for any miscommunication there has been between the artist and myself.

The idea for this mural was brought up by a group of local people who wanted to do something for Phuket.

A representative from the group sent me a message via Line application which included a draft of the mural. I replied to the message with a Line sticker saying OK. This led the representative to think that I had approved the project, he said.

Dr Kosol said that he later learned, once the mural was complete, that the artist had been arrested for painting it without permission.

I told the artist to inform policeman that I approved the work and that I am a member of The Peranakan Association of Phuket, he said.

I think there has been a problem because of the issue surrounding whether he had permission to do the painting, but this can be resolved.

However, I also heard that the artist received permission from the owner of building, but the problems all stem from miscommunication.

Also, if the painting does need to be removed it can just be painted over, he added.

Dr Kosol then went on to say that he was resigning from his position as Deputy Mayor due to the issue.

The fact is, I dont have the right to make decisions such as approving the mural. But I must say that I like it and want it to stay. But whether it stays or goes is down to the local people, he said.
Policeman shot dogs to protect his wife

BANGKOK: A police major has surrendered to face charges of shooting and killing a stray dog at a block of police flats in Bangkok last week, saying he drew his gun to protect his pregnant wife.

crimeanimalspoliceviolence

By Bangkok Post

Tuesday 12 April 2016, 09:24AM

Police inspector Wasawat Sukthai turns himself in at Phahon Yothin police station in Chatuchak district yesterday (Apr 11) as he admits shooting two dogs, killing one and injuring the other, outside his police flat in Lao Yao subdistrict on Friday (Apr 8). Photo: Apichit Jinakul

Maj Wasawat Sukthai, an inspector at the research division of the Office of Policy Strategy, turned himself in at Phahon Yothin police station in Chatuchak district yesterday (Apr 11).

He admitted shooting two dogs outside his police flat in Lao Yao sub-district on Friday (Apr 8). One of the dogs died, the other was injured.

The incident was shared widely on social media, prompting police to step in.

After surrendering, Maj Wasawat was questioned for 30 minutes at the police station, in the presence of senior police including deputy national police chief Pongsapat Pongcharoen.

The police major offered his apologies over the incident. He claimed about 20 stray dogs in the area had surrounded his wife and were about to attack her on Wednesday (Apr 6), but she managed to escape.

Two days later, the dogs targeted his wife again as they were returning to their flat after a night out together. The dogs appeared vicious and tried to attack his wife, Maj Wasawat said.

He said he lost his temper and fired at them, adding he had to protect his wife and their unborn child, as neighbours had been bitten by some of the same dogs.

Gen Pongsapat said the inspector was charged with animal cruelty, which carries a fine of up to B40,000 and a jail term of up to two years.

He was also charged with carrying and firing a gun in a public place without just cause.

His commander will consider disciplinary action later.

Gen Pongsapat also said the inspector would have to cover the B10,000 treatment costs of the injured dog, which someone has since adopted.

The deputy national police chief said the police would join state agencies in educating the public about the gravity of the punishments associated with the animal cruelty law which has been in effect since December last year.

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How to watch and what to know about South Dakota State at North Dakota
Led Zeppelins Stairway to Heaven has faced a lot of accusations in the 45 years since it was released. Its overplayed, some say, particularly at high volumes by dudes trying to impress other dudes at guitar shops. Its overlong, say others. And, for years, people have said Stairway sounds a lot like Taurus  a song by a much less famous band called Spirit who performed it allegedly while sharing bills with Zeppelin in the late 1960s.

But after decades of gossip, members of Led Zeppelin  specifically, singer Robert Plant and guitarist Jimmy Page, the writers of Stairway  will face a jury trial on May 10. The question: Did they copy at least some parts their most famous song?

While it is true that a descending chromatic four-chord progression is a common convention that abounds in the music industry, the similarities here transcend this core structure, U.S. District Judge Gary Klausner of the Central District of California wrote in a 20-page opinion denying, in part, Led Zeppelins motion for summary judgment. For example, the descending bass line in both Taurus and Stairway to Heaven appears at the beginning of both songs, arguably the most recognizable and important segments . . . . Additionally, the descending bass line is played at the same pitch, repeated twice, and separated by a short bridge in both songs. Citing another opinion, he added: Enough similar protectable expression is here that the issue of substantial similarity should [proceed to the jury].

This case, from our perspective, has always been about giving credit where credit was due, and now we get to right that wrong, Francis Malofiy, a lawyer for the plaintiff, told Reuters. An attorney for the defendants did not respond to requests for comment Monday from Reuters or The Associated Press.

Michael Skidmore v. Led Zeppelin et al. was brought by Michael Skidmore, a trustee for Randy Wolfe of Spirit, who died in 1997. Wolfe, a.k.a. Randy California, wrote Taurus in 1967, the suit said; the two sides cant agree on whether Page and Plant, before they wrote Stairway, heard Spirit play Taurus while playing at music festivals in the late 1960s.

The parties present conflicting versions of the interaction between Led Zeppelin and Spirit at these three events, the judge wrote. The surviving members of Led Zeppelin testified that they never toured with, shared a stage with, or listened to any of Spirits music during these brief encounters. The surviving Spirit members, on the other hand, recalled conversing with the Led Zeppelin members backstage between sets and performing in succession at two of the festivals.

In 1991, Wolfe said Led Zep used to come up and sit in the front row of all [Spirits] shows and became friends . . . and if they wanted to use [Taurus], thats fine, adding, Ill let [Led Zeppelin] have the beginning of Taurus for their song without a lawsuit. But this declaration, the court said, doesnt mean Wolfe abandoned his claim, noting testimony that he had contemplated a lawsuit in the 1980s.

In any case, this spirit of share and share alike is now gone. Both plaintiff and the defendants had experts review the songs to determine whether they were soundalikes. One of Skidmores experts noted the presence of acoustic guitar, strings, recorder/flute sounds, and harpsichord as well as the noticeable absence of bass and drums (and other instruments characteristic of rock and roll) lend both songs a decidedly classical style, particularly evoking a Renaissance atmosphere; a Led Zeppelin expert remarked that such analysis does not mention or reflect, for example, performance techniques, instrumentation and orchestration, or tempo (i.e., performance speed).

Now, though the judge dismissed claims against Led Zeppelin bassist and keyboardist John Paul Jones  who, its said, was the only member of the band who didnt sell his soul to the devil  and Warner Music Group Corp., British nationals Page and Plant will face California-style justice. After all, it was a Golden State jury that awarded the family of Marvin Gaye $7.3 million (later reduced to $5.2 million; all figures are U.S. dollars) after claims Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams and T.I. based Blurred Lines on Gayes Got to Give It Up.

While we respect the judicial process, we are extremely disappointed in the ruling made today, which sets a horrible precedent for music and creativity going forward, Williams, Thicke and T.I. said at the time. Blurred Lines was created from the heart and minds of Pharrell, Robin and T.I. and not taken from anyone or anywhere else.

More at thestar.com

The cinematic rebirth of Led Zeppelin

Q&A: Jimmy Page on the last of the Led Zep reissues END

Led Zeppelin's Toronto memories

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OTTAWACanadas tax agency is hiring lawyers, auditors and investigators in a major effort to go after tax fraudsters who use sophisticated schemes to hide wealth around the world.

National Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier was talking tough Monday, warning that a historic infusion of cash into the Canada Revenue Agency to beef up investigations would leave tax evaders nowhere to hide.

And she praised the Panama Papers for exposing the complex dealings of offshore tax shelters, as the Star first reported here.

It was excellent news last week to hear all this talk about whats been happening in the Panama Papers. It really shows that the system of tax evasion cannot be tolerated, she told a news conference Monday.

Even within some companies, people have decided to reveal the strategies. So it shows there is an assuming of responsibility, she said.

The Star has joined with news organizations around the globe to publish a week of daily revelations from the Panama Papers detailing the extensive moves by the wealthy to shelter wealth offshore. The 11.5 million documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca comprise the largest journalistic leak in history.

The documents also lay bare the challenge for tax collectors.

But on Monday, the to fight against what it branded as aggressive tax avoidance. Its targets are individuals and corporations who use high-risk domains and abusive tax planning to avoid paying taxes.

Some well-off taxpayers avoid paying taxes by hiding their revenue in overseas tax shelters. This is not acceptable, the minister told reporters in Ottawa.

We know that non-compliance overseas is an issue that is worth billions of dollars, Lebouthillier said.

With an extra $444 million promised in the March budget, the CRA plans to hire additional staff to target what it dubs high-risk taxpayers and corporations. In return, the agency expects to collect an additional $2.6 billion in tax revenues over the next five years.

It also plans to boost its information technology capabilities to better sort the overseas financial transactions to detect tax fraud. The agency already tracks all financial transactions worth more than $10,000  about a million a month.

Now it plans to focus its attention on all transactions involving individual jurisdictions known to be tax shelters  starting with the Isle of Man, off the west coast of England. Three other jurisdictions will also be targeted this year but agency officials refused to say which ones.

Lebouthillier said the moves are essential to maintain faith in the tax system.

Those who hide income and assets overseas or who conduct tax evasion . . . will be identified and will pay the consequences, she said.

She predicted that the announcement would soon have some taxpayers ringing their accountants to ask about their chances of getting caught.

There are people who must be feeling nervous this morning, she said.

In the crosshairs of the tax collector:

Tax havens. Since January 2015, the CRA has tracked overseas financial transfers worth more than $10,000. Now it will launch targeted reviews of all transactions involving a single jurisdiction abroad. The first is the Isle of Man, which past transactions involving some KPMG clients have already been flagged by the agency. Quebec Liberal MP Francois-Philippe Champagne said $860 million in funds were transferred there in the last year along. Sixty audits already underway in relation to investments held in the Isle of Man. The CRA intends to contact another 800 taxpayers and corporations to obtain more information about their holdings.

High net-worth, high-income Canadians seen as having the ability to shelter income overseas. The CRA plans to do more regular risk assessments of these individuals and audit, every year, if necessary. People who have the financial flexibility to engage in aggressive tax avoidance are going to be reviewed, detected and audited, the official said. The number of examinations of such taxpayers will jump to 3,000 a year from 600 and is expected to produce $432 million in new revenue.

Promoters. The CRA is stepping up its vigilance of so-called promoters who pitch schemes to minimize taxes. The CRA now plans to probe 200 promoters a year with a warning that it will seek significant fines, even criminal charges. Twenty-five auditors will be dedicated to the file. We actually sit in on some of their sales pitches sometimes . . . so we kind of have a picture of who is out there. We kind of look at how offensive is the scheme theyre promoting and how many taxpayers may be participating in it, the official said.

Multi-national enterprises. The CRA will dedicate another 100 auditors to investigate the tax dealings of high-risk corporations and expects to collect an extra $500 million over five years as a result.

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It was a very Canadian execution  polite, respectful, and mercifully decisive. The reason New Democrats made the decision to oust a party national leader for the first time in their history is, perhaps, even more surprising than the decision itself.

Pundits not familiar with the deep, mostly hidden, roots of the partys DNA seized on the obvious: a division over pipelines. Others said that Thomas Mulcairs progressive virtue was suspect. Theyre both wrong.

New Democrats have fought in conventions over climate change, energy policy, and true socialist values long before Thomas Mulcair stopped shaving. Indeed, to read excerpts from speeches from long-forgotten Canadian socialist parties, one chuckles at how little the partys far left have moved in a more than a century.

It would be interesting to know, looking down from above, what David Lewis thoughts are on the leapers. It was after all his signal contribution to the party to eradicate the earlier Trotskyite and Marxist entryists, first as the Communist-led common front and later as the Waffle. No, like Libertarian conservatives forlorn quest for smaller government, better services and lower taxes, the Birkenstock Left in the NDP has always been with us, and always will  hopefully, though, soon returned to their more traditional perch outside the party mainstream.

The scent of power was what made this decision so unique.

First Jack Layton, and then more decisively, Thomas Mulcair, made it clear that the NDP intended to govern Canada. Dismissed as delusional by the pundits when he first nominated himself for prime minister, Jack Laytons aspiration was greeted with embarrassed blushing within many NDP circles.

By 2011, a majority of party activists had been energized by the prospect of a truly progressive government, for the first time, in Ottawa. By the summer of 2015, so had a clear plurality of Canadians. And then it all evaporated as quickly as an early morning fog. Thomas Mulcair had set a very high bar for success, and was decisively judged on failing to have achieved it on Sunday.

In the sunlight that followed, Canada returned to a more familiar, comfortable path. We cheerfully endorsed a progressive Liberal campaign, many knowing that as sure as night follows the sunniest of days or even ways, the new government would, in the words of MacKenzie King, once more have campaigned from the left, to govern from the right. That every truly centre-left government disappoints their progressive supporters  their transformational promises of real change broken by the exigencies of governing and the demands of the powerful  is true across every democracy.

In Canada, it is the role of the Liberal Party to break progressives hearts. The only question is who scoops up the disheartened. Recently, it has been a very angry, Republican-bred, nasty conservatism, as well as the NDP. Even with a new Tory leader not so keen to stomp all opponents with heavy boots, it is hard to see a unifying Conservative leader, one who can keep Quebec and the West, progressive conservatives and vengeful Harperites, in the same tent.

For the NDP 2019 presents a fateful choice. It can once again indulge its tribal myths about public ownership and an Arctic nation kept affluent and warmed by thousands of acres of solar panels. Or it can pick up the baton that Jack Layton bequeathed to Thomas Mulcair, that of a serious national progressive party disciplined enough to be rewarded with power.

If it chooses the Jeremy Corbyn, Bernie Sanders, Socialist Caucus book of childrens political fairy tales, they will have decisively buried that dream, consigned its achievement to a distant future generation.

They would be better to heed Rachel Notley, impressively seasoned by her painful experience of power, facing the most brutal economic circumstances any Canadian government has in a generation. Her eloquent vision presented to the Edmonton convention got a polite response, and was then undermined by the partys decision to consider a suicidal leap to the left.

That she is politically and even ethically correct is surely incontestable. No truly progressive government would deliberately erase thousands of Canadian jobs. No evidence-based government would be so foolish as to flick off fossil fuel consumption tomorrow. And as she clearly implies, if New Democrats will not turn themselves to finding a principled, environmentally sound, economically credible approach to the painful energy transition ahead, what claim can they make to political relevance?

Thomas Mulcairs graceful exit speech, surrounded on stage by a quiet respectful caucus  many of whom had voted to oust him only minutes before  was another very Canadian political image. Mulcair can now return to his role as the giant in the House, and serve as a party elder during this transition.

If the party uses the next two years to find the next serious leader to whom to pass the torch, Jack Layton and his fellow former leaders will smile down from above. If they join the loony leapers, then Liberals will smile all the way through the next campaign  and probably beyond.

Robin V. Sears, a principal at Earnscliffe and a Broadbent Institute leadership fellow, was an NDP party strategist for 20 years.

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When Toni Morgan applied to Harvard University, she kept it a secret.

Shed been homeless, had lived in shelters, had dropped out of high school and spent most of her adult life working in areas of Toronto prone to poverty and violence. She thought it was a long shot that her application would even get a second glance, and there were voices in her head telling her she didnt belong at the prestigious school.

So when she beat the odds and began a master of education degree at the university last fall, she made it her mission to encourage youth not to feel self-doubt or to believe they cant achieve their dreams just because theyve faced tough times.

To spread that message, the 33-year-old convinced the Toronto District School Board to send around 44 students to visit her at Harvards Massachusetts campus last week. They came from four schools in the Jane and Finch neighbourhood  the low-income neighbourhood where Morgan worked since she was 19, and which has low graduation rates and high numbers of immigrants and people on social assistance.

I told the kids: This is not a trip to tell you to go to Harvard. This is a trip to tell you that the most prestigious university in the world is not out of your reach, Morgan told the Star. Anything can represent Harvard to you. It can be a certain job. It could be a metaphor for something in your life.

It was a message students took to heart as they toured the campus, attended a youth conference and engaged in discussions about black and education issues over four days.

Some, like Downsview Secondary Schools Tinuola Akinwande, admitted they expected to feel like outsiders, amid preppy people with ties, acting stuck up, but instead she and others were pleasantly surprised to feel welcomed and inspired, especially by Morgan.

With the students, Morgan shared how she was accepted at Harvard after returning to high school studies to graduate and then taking almost 10 years to finish an undergraduate degree at Ryerson University  but didnt have the $50,000 she needed to attend. After her story was featured in the Star last year, her crowdfunding request went viral, raising more than $95,000 for tuition and living expenses. She also landed speaking engagements, including We Day. She expects to graduate in a month.

And she wasnt the only inspirational person on campus.

Brandon Williams, a Grade 11 student from C.W. Jeffreys Collegiate Institute, said he connected with a Harvard tour guide who once dropped out of school because he felt education wasnt for him. Eventually, he turned his life around and was accepted to Harvard.

Sometimes I feel like I should quit, because sometimes work is a little too hard for me, but his story inspired me to go hard in school and try my best to get better grades, Williams said.

Tyme Boucaud-Coley, from Winston Churchill Collegiate Institute, said, I know there are a couple of kids who didnt see themselves going to college and (now) theyre talking like, I am going, I am applying and thats that.

Her only regret about the visit was that not every student from her school made the trip, including several who she said needed to be here because they are going on paths that people assign for us.

When she boarded the bus for home Sunday, she was determined to create a black students association at her school like the one at Harvard, to make sure the message of striving to reach your full potential even when the odds are against you isnt lost.

That response, Morgan said later, was humbling; it proves that students have the potential to do great things if you show them whats possible.

Toni Morgan, Harvard University, age 33

The idea to invite students to Harvard came before Morgan even applied to the school. She was working for a poverty reduction program for single mothers in Jane and Finch that aimed to persuade at least 100 women to pursue post-secondary education. When it met that goal, Morgan suggested dreaming bigger and encouraging women to pursue Ivy League degrees. All hell broke loose. I lost half of my team, Morgan recalled. They said, You are setting people up for failure and your dreams are too big. Morgan moved to another job, but stayed fixated on proving people can overcome adversity and achieve greatness.

Nana Boateng, Westview Centennial, Grade 11

When Nana Boateng immigrated to Canada from Ghana in 2013, he started thinking about applying to Harvard for university, but quickly nixed the idea because he thought SATs and finances would make attending the school a hassle. On the trip, a tour guide convinced him to rethink abandoning the idea by pointing out scholarships and programs the school has for making education more accessible. That really encouraged me. It inspired me to want to do more. Now, I am actually thinking of applying to Harvard again, Boateng said.

Tinuola Akinwande, Downsview Secondary School, Grade 11

When Tinuola first envisioned visiting Harvard, she imagined preppy people with ties, acting stuck up and recalled rumours she had heard about alleged racism and prejudice at the school. What she didnt expect was to find a community that made her feel even more welcome than back home. She said Harvard students made her realize the obstacles you might see arent really obstacles. They are imaginary. There are no barriers between us and our dreams.

Tyme Boucaud-Coley, Winston Churchill Collegiate Institute, Grade 11

When Tyme Boucaud-Coley heard she would be visiting Harvard, she wasnt the most enthusiastic student. I wasnt interested at all. I was thinking it was another school trip, she said. That all changed when she arrived and met Harvard students, who reminded her of herself. Toni (Morgan) and the other people I met made me see that I am an activist, Boucaud-Coley said, vowing that she would return home and become more active in her school community and with giving black students a voice.

Brandon Williams, C.W. Jeffreys Collegiate Institute, Grade 11

Brandon Williams wanted to get a taste of college and university life when he and his classmates left Toronto for Harvard last week, but he said, the things I had heard about racism made me think that maybe I dont belong. Now that hes met students who were welcoming and didnt let challenges hold them back, he said, I am going back home to Toronto as a more focused student. It changed me a lot.

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Search Jim Cramer's "Mad Money" trading recommendations using our exclusive "Mad Money" Stock Screener.

Jim Cramer told his Mad Money viewers Monday that he's starting to feel pretty good about the markets. Why? Because the market's diverse leadership is a very bullish sign.

To see just how strong the markets are, Cramer said investors only need to look at the new highs list. There they will find consumer package goods, like Kimberly-Clark (KMB) and General Mills (GIS) , which are soaring as ingredients are getting cheaper, distribution costs are getting lower and the U.S. dollar is weakening.

But then you'll also find housing-related stocks including Sherwin-Williams (SHW) and Home Depot (HD) , which shows that housing is also strong. You will also see Darden Restaurants (DRI) and Domino's Pizza (DPZ) , proving the consumer is alive and spending.

Still others on the list include 3M (MMM) in the industrial space, Broadcom (AVGO) representing tech and Boston Scientific (BSX) in medical devices. The list goes on to include Chubb (CB) in the insurance sector and many more.

When so many sectors are on the move, Cramer said he's learned that's a sign things are improving, not contracting. That's why he's expanding his optimism.

Spotlight on Accenture

Before you buy any stock, you must first know what you're buying, Cramer told viewers. Understanding what a company does is easier for brands you interact with in your daily life, but for companies like Accenture (ACN) , figuring out how they make their money is a little tougher.

Shares of Accenture are up 21% since their February lows, but does that make them cheap or expensive? If the stock pulls back, is that a time to buy more or sort selling? Investors can't hope to answer these questions without knowing the basics.

Accenture calls itself a technology outsourcing company, but in fact the company helps other companies respond to technological change. It has been investing big into digital technology including the cloud, mobile and data analytics so Accenture can help other companies do the same.

For example, when food giant Mondelez (MDLZ) realized its operating margins were lagging its peers, the company called Accenture, which implemented a new, modern budgeting system that has already saved Mondelez $350 million and is expected to save over $1 billion during the next three years.

Shares of Accenture currently trade at 19 times earnings, which is at a premium versus its peers. But Cramer said the company deserves its premium and he would be a buyer.



Cramer's Still Buying

On Dec. 14, Newell Rubbermaid (NWL) announced it was buying Jarden (JAH) for $15.4 billion. With Jarden's board set to vote on the deal this week, is it time to jump into the stock? Cramer took a look.

Both Newell and Jarden have terrific portfolios of brands, so one would think the combined company would have all of those brands, plus an estimated $500 million in cost savings over four years. But some analysts aren't sure, saying the combined company would receive a "conglomerate discount" as bigger usually means harder to manage and harder to understand.

But Cramer called these arguments bogus, saying the combined company will have the scale needed to strike better deals with retailers for both price and placement on store shelves, plus the chance to jettison weaker brands to focus on only the best of the best.

Cramer said he remains a buyer of the new company, which will be called Newell Brands and retain the excellent executive teams from both companies.

Executive Decision: Klaus Kleinfeld

For his "Executive Decision" segment, Cramer spoke to Klaus Kleinfeld, chairman and CEO of Alcoa (AA) , the aluminum maker that plans to break itself up in the second half of next year. Alcoa just reported a 5-cents-a-share earnings beat on light revenue, down 15% from year ago levels.

Kleinfeld said demand for aluminum continues to grow and is expected to be up 5% this year, compared to a 2% increase in supply. That means things are moving in the right direction. Overall, he added, things are not as bad as Alcoa predicted in January. Aerospace remains down but trucks and autos remain stable. Europe, he said, is weaker than forecast but is still growing slowly.

When asked about the investigation into Chinese dumping of aluminum, Kleinfeld said he's glad the process has begun, but it will be a long time until the results are known. So he's adopted a wait-and-see approach.

Kleinfeld also commented on Alcoa's aerospace division, where his company is now able to produce 90% of all jet engine components. He said these new capabilities put Alcoa on a different level with customers.

Cramer said investors should own Alcoa for the breakup, which will unlock a lot of value, but we still don't know exactly when that will occur.

Lightning Round

In the Lightning Round, Cramer was bullish on Mattel (MAT) , UnitedHealth Group (UNH) , Palo Alto Networks (PANW) , Covanta (CVA) , Cisco Systems (CSCO) and Weyerhaeuser (WY) .

Cramer was bearish on Horizon Pharmaceuticals (HZNP) and Acorda Therapeutics (ACOR) .

No Huddle Offense

In his "No Huddle Offense" segment, Cramer said earnings season is now upon us and investors need to be prepared for good news. Yes, the skeptics have already written off this quarter as among the worst ever, but what if it isn't?

What if some CEOs say things are getting better in China? What if the dollar has peaked? What if the tone improves in Europe or Latin America stems its declines? Investors are prepared for the worst but few seem prepared for anything good.

That's a good position to be in, Cramer explained. Some things are getting better. That's why investors need to be prepared for at least a few upside surprises.

To watch replays of Cramer's video segments, visit the Mad Money page on CNBC.

To sign up for Jim Cramer's free Booyah! newsletter with all of his latest articles and videos please click here.

At the time of publication, Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS had a position in CSCO.
The Panama Papers has suddenly made taxes a very sexy issue.

The massive leak of documents tied to the Panama law firm of Mossack Fonseca revealed that Chinese and Russian heads-of-state as well as other government leaders have been stashing millions of dollars in shell companies incorporated in the so-called tax haven.

U.S. companies don't use shell companies to hide their cash from authorities though they do use tax havens such as Panama and the Cayman Islands to shield profits generated abroad from U.S. tax collectors.

At present, U.S. companies hold somewhere between $2 trillion and $3 trillion in cash outside this country. They choose not to repatriate that money because to do so would expose them to a 35% marginal corporate tax rate that applies to revenue generated both within the U.S. and abroad.

Unlike most developed countries, the U.S. tax code, which hasn't gone through a meaningful overhaul since 1986, taxes foreign revenue at the same rate as domestic sales.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz has called for reducing the effective corporate tax rate to 16% while the New York businessman Donald Trump does him one better, proposing to cut it to 15%. Neither Hillary Clinton nor Bernie Sanders have said they're willing to lower the 35% corporate tax rate, insisting that whatever changes are made to the U.S. tax regimen generate more revenue for the government, not less.

"The debate on this issue, like the debate on many issues, is very exaggerated,"Robert C. Pozen, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said in a phone interview in New York. "But if you continue to allow people to defer and shovel money into tax havens, they'll do. You've got to deal with the tax haven problem."

While the parties are far apart on the corporate tax level, they agree something needs to be done to encourage U.S. companies to invest their foreign profits in the U.S.

Sanders argues that U.S. companies should no longer be allowed to defer taxes on foreign profits. The right of deferral is an integral part of current law, allowing multinational corporations to sit on that money indefinitely, susceptible only to local taxes. Sanders says that by ending deferral, U.S. multinationals would have to pay the government around $620 billion.

Of course, ending deferral without setting a lower tax rate for previously generated profits would likely prompt dozens of U.S. corporations to execute "corporate inversions" as Pfizer (PFE) did last year when it merged in 2015 with the Irish drug company Allergan Inc. in a $160 billion transaction.

So, how does the U.S. government devise a tax code that encourages repatriation?

The Cruz plan, like those favored by Pozen, would apply a 10% tax on previously generated foreign profits. Going forward, though, Cruz's 16% tax would cause a revenue shortfall for the government of $8.6 trillion over 10 years, according to the non-partisan Tax Policy Center. Trump's plan would create a gap of $9.5 trillion, increasing the national debt by 80%, the center estimates.

Neither Trump not Cruz lay out how they'd bridge that gap, and it's unclear whether they'd even seek to do so. Cruz, for one, has called for eliminating the IRS as well as the departments of education, commerce and energy as well as that of housing and urban development.

"I don't get the impression that they're thinking about any offsets for their trillions in tax cuts," Hunter Blair, budget analyst at the liberal Economic Policy Institute, said in a phone interview from Washington. "It's mostly that they plan to make it up with enormous spending cuts."

Clinton argues that U.S. corporations use a variety of lenient deductions to pay less taxes their counterparts in Europe and Asia. In recent weeks, her focus has been on preventing companies from using "tax inversion" mergers to relocate outside the U.S.

The former New York senator's favors an "exit tax" to prevent companies from leaving the U.S. tax system through corporate inversions as Medtronic (MDT) did earlier this year when it completed its acquisition of Dublin-based Covidien. Like Clinton, the Economic Policy Institute says that any reform of corporate tax rates should result in a system that is "revenue positive. In other words, generating money that either pays down the deficit or funds programs approved by Congress.

Apple's (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook has called for reforms that would encourage his company to bring back some of the roughly $74 billion in cash the company holds outside the U.S.

Apple stock is a holding in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. See how Cramer rates the stock here. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells AAPL? Learn more now.

The argument in favor of cutting the corporate tax rate is that companies would bring money currently stashed in lower-tax countries or tax havens such as Panama or the Cayman Islands back to the United States to invest in factories and new jobs. The conservative Tax Foundation estimates that 425,000 to 613,000 new jobs would be created depending on whether the rate was lowered to 25% or 20%. Wages, the Foundation says, would increase by 1.9% and 3.6%, over the long-term.

Cruz and Trump are equally adamant that cutting the corporate tax rate would unleash a surge of investment by U.S. corporations, building factories and expanding their workforces within the U.S.

Others are less sanguine, arguing that lower taxes aren't the main reason a company chooses to invest or not, and companies are just as apt to invest in hard assets as they are to use the cash to buy back their own shares. But that hasn't kept proponents of a rate cut, such as CNBC's Larry Kudlow from endorsing Trump's plan while claiming it would "grow the economy...easily pay for itself."

If the corporate tax rate is cut to 25%, Brookings Institution's Pozen says, the government would have a shortfall of between $1.2 trillion and $1 trillion over 10 years. Bridging that shortfall will require closing a number of loopholes such as limiting the interest companies can deduct on their debt. Such a reduction could generate around $400 billion over 10 years.

Other loopholes worth closing would probably include those on hedge funds and corporate jets, but Pozen says that would only generate around $100 billion over 10 years.

To further close the shortfall, Republicans and Democrats will likely to establish a compromise rate on the $3 trillion that U.S. companies hold outside the country. Trump has proposed a rate of 10%, which Pozen says would likely be low enough to actually convince companies to move much of that money back to the U.S.

"Now 10% of $3 trillion is real money, it's $300 billion," said Pozen, who also serves on Medtronic's board of directors.

Democrats, meanwhile, want to eliminate the right of corporations to defer paying tax on income generated outside the country. To do that, Republicans will want to establish a new rate on future income generated outside the U.S. That's important given that U.S. companies currently only pay about 13% of their worldwide income in taxes, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

So, what's a reasonable corporate rate, and how can that shortfall be bridged?

Pozen proposes a rate of 25% for domestic income, and 17% for foreign income while eliminating the deferral.

However, each company would pay a foreign tax rate depending on where they were located. If the company is based in Ireland, where the rate is 12%, they'd pay just 5% to the U.S. If they're in the Cayman Islands, which has a zero rate, they'd be required to pay the full 17%.

"With a 17% global rate, we'd start to see a lot of companies and people would be bringing back profits to the U.S.," Pozen said. "The question is whether you could do it politically, whether people can get serious about this. And right now, who knows?"
Updated to include notes from Deutsche Bank.

Many Starbucks (SBUX) fans will notice something different today while undertaking their daily coffee-buying ritual.

The coffee giant's major changes to its popular My Starbucks Rewards program, originally announced in February, go into effect in the U.S, Canada and Puerto Rico. Among the biggest changes -- and the one that initially drew the most criticism by consumers back in February -- will be that stars and rewards will be awarded based on dollars spent, not the number of visits.

"The intent behind it [the rewards changes] was to level the playing field for our customers, taking into account how often they visit and how much they spend," explained Starbucks president and COO at the company's Mar. 23 annual shareholders meeting.

Said Technomic principal David Henkes, "While it seems to have upset a core constituent, I think most Starbucks customers are loyal to the brand not because of its loyalty program, but because of the quality and experience that they receive -- I suspect there will be some that might stay away for a bit in protest, but I don't see it really having a major negative impact on them."

Still, Starbucks is tinkering with what has been one of the most successful rewards programs in the restaurant business.

In the first quarter ended Dec. 27, members in My Starbucks Rewards surged 23% year over year to 11.1 million. Over 21% of total U.S. transactions were paid using the Starbucks mobile app during the quarter. Starbucks estimates that its My Starbucks Rewards program has grown about 50% in the past two years.

At least one Wall Street analyst has concerns over a possible negative impact from the rewards program changes.

On Tuesday, Deutsche Bank analyst Brett Levy downgraded his rating on Starbucks to hold from buy. The analyst noted that Starbucks shares may have limited upside in coming quarters "given challenging" sales comparisons and changes to the domestic loyalty program that could cause traffic to Starbucks stores to slow as competitors vie for business with new promotions.

Shares of Starbucks fell 2.3% in pre-market trading. Over the past year, shares have gained an impressive 26% compared to a 2.4% decline for the S&P 500.

"Changes to the rewards programs were made as a direct response from customer requests, which should pave the path towards sustained same-store sales momentum over the long-term as it is now more aligned with most loyalty programs (dollar-based rather than transaction-based)," said Jim Cramer, TheStreet's founder and manager of the Action Alerts PLUS portfolio, which owns Starbucks. "We continue to view Starbucks as a core holding given strong execution of its many growth initiatives, powerful yet under-appreciated earnings strength, and resulting ability to generate robust free cash flow."



TheStreet breaks down the changes Starbucks is implementing.



1. How customers accumulate stars and earn rewards is being overhauled.

In the new system, customers will earn two stars for every dollar spent, instead of a star simply for every visit, no matter how much money they spend. For every 125 stars accumulated as a Gold level member, which would cost $62.50 to accrue, members will receive a reward for a free drink or food item.

Under the old system, they'd get a free item after every 12 stars accumulated. As part of the new program, the company also plans to have more double star days each month.

The ability to accrue stars more quickly should help Starbucks to attract people not enrolled in the program. Starbucks estimates that some 75 million customers visit its U.S. stores each month, but less than one in six people are loyalty members.

The new program will be good for hardcore Starbucks drinkers, who spend lavishly on pricey drinks, but not as good for frequent visitors who don't spend as much.

Why can't they leave something that works alone? #StarbucksRewardshttps://t.co/CTSz3aZyKa

2. Simplified levels to achieve rewards.

Starbucks is simplifying its rewards levels to two: green and gold. Previously, Starbucks had three levels: welcome, green and gold. The welcome level on the old program required a person to amass five stars before achieving the green level, which opened the door to scoring a free drink on your birthday. The green level also allowed customers to get free refills on hot and iced coffee.

Now, a user will skip the welcome level and jump right into the benefits of green level membership.

3. Gold status is being extended.

Under a new promotion coined "Go For Gold", anyone who makes a purchase at a Starbucks store from April 12 to May 2 automatically earns gold status for a year. Meantime, if one is already a gold member, it will be extended for another year. For every 125 stars accumulated as a Gold level member, members will receive a reward for a free drink or food item.

4. A redesigned mobile app.

Starbucks is making several changes to its mobile app, initially previewed at its annual shareholder's meeting. First, the app will feature personalized offers to choose from based on a customers' previous purchasing behavior.Said Johnson, "these offers are coming from our personalization engine, where we look at your preferences, we look at your patterns, and we try and recommend things in our offers that are relevant to you."

Second, in partnership with the New York Times, users will see some curated news articles and free content produced by the publication within the app. Users will also have the opportunity to subscribe to the New York Times digital and print publications, and be able to then connect their subscription to the rewards program. So every time a person pays for their New York Times subscription, they would earn Starbucks stars.

Finally, for the first time ever Starbucks will allow people to redeem rewards through its relatively new mobile order and pay option. This means that if a customer places an order ahead of time to be picked up at a Starbucks store, the order can now be paid for with rewards points, provided the user has enough of them.
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) are up by 0.48% to $78.08 in pre-market trading on Tuesday, as the company agreed to purchase a controlling stake in Southeast Asian online retailer Lazada Group for about $1 billion, its largest deal abroad, Reuters reports.

Singapore-based Lazada was founded by Germany's Rocket Internet in 2012 and also operates in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

This gives the Chinese ecommerce giant an opportunity to tap into the region's potential as growth slows at home. However, the market is also competitive and fragmented, with only a small portion of total retail sales conducted online, Reuters noted.

"Southeast Asia has a lot of overlap with China in terms of consumer habits, intra-regional trade and tastes," Duncan Clark, chairman of investment advisory firm BDA China and author of a book on Alibaba, told Reuters.

"Rocket in this case has managed to create a successful, multi-market player in a region which needs scale and breadth to be viable. This has obvious appeal to Alibaba," Clark added.

Under the agreement, Alibaba will buy about $500 million of newly issued Lazada shares, while the rest will be bought from current shareholders.

This includes Britian's largest supermarket operator Tesco, which said it would sell an 8.6% stake for $129 million, valuing Lazada at $1.5 billion, according to Reuters.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings Team has a "Hold" rating with a score of C- on Alibaba stock.

The primary factors that have impacted our rating are mixed.

The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its notable return on equity, robust revenue growth and largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures.

However, as a counter to these strengths, the team finds that the stock has had a generally disappointing performance in the past year.

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: BABA
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Alcoa (AA) stock is declining 4.21% to $9.33 on heavy trading volume this afternoon after the company reported mixed 2016 first quarter earnings after yesterday's market close.

The aluminum maker reported adjusted earnings of 7 cents per share, which beat analysts' estimates by 5 cents per share. Revenue was $4.95 billion for the quarter, below analysts' expectations for revenue of $5.14 billion.

Alcoa is contending with lower prices and margins as China's demand for commodities wanes and one of Alcoa's biggest customers, Boeing (BA), cuts the production of its largest jet in half, according to Bloomberg.

The company now expects that its Engineered Products and Services unit, which will be the largest segment of Alcoa's new auto and aerospace-focused company Arconic, will generate revenue as low as $6 billion this year, down from a previous forecast for $7 billion.

"There will be some disappointment" on the outlook for engineered products, Anthony Young, an analyst at Macquarie Group, told Bloomberg. "This is the cornerstone of Arconic and if that business isn't as good as they previously thought, it may negatively impact the longer-term valuation."

Additionally, Alcoa cut its estimate for 2016 revenue in its Firth Rixson unit to between $1 billion and $1.1 billion from $1.6 billion. Alcoa acquired the aerospace play in 2014.

"It's really disappointing," TheStreet's Jim Cramer said of the division's poor performance in a video this morning. "Of course aluminum prices were down too, but the execution of Firth Rixson is the reason why that stock is going down."

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates the stock as a "hold" with a ratings score of C.

Alcoa's strengths such as its solid financial position based on a variety of debt and liquidity measures that we have evaluated are countered by weaknesses including deteriorating net income, disappointing return on equity and poor profit margins.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: AA

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.
If you were banking on a stock bump from a potential deal between Boeing (BA) and Iran, you might want to stay your hand, analysts say.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Boeing has begun preliminary discussions in Tehran with airlines in Iran about potential sales of its planes and aircraft services.

Boeing shares opened 29 cents down from Monday's $127.91 per share close, but were trading up $1.83 to $129.74 per share at midday.

However, the only real potential "needle mover" for the stock, analysts say, would be Iran agreeing to a sizable order of Boeing 777 aircraft, a model that Boeing would rather sell right now over options such as the smaller and less expensive 787.

Boeing 777 aircraft carry a list price of $320 million, and the company has not sold enough of the current model, according to Cowen & Co. analyst Cai Von Rumohr. A significant order for the pricier 777s would cause Boeing to ramp up production to meet increased demand, which would in turn lead to a jump in stock prices, according to several analysts.

But depending on who you ask in the industry, such an order is either highly unlikely, or at the very least, an uncertainty.

One analyst who requested anonymitydue to his company's compliance policies said it is doubtful that Iran will muster up an order for a significant number of the pricey 777s.

And an informal survey of several industry analysts reveals a similar thought among the majority, pointing to doubts that Iran would represent a large enough market in the near term to warrant the need for such a large and expensive aircraft.

"Could they order a number of [Boeing 777s], sure," Cowen's Rumohr said. "But I'm guessing not, and I wouldn't count on it."

The first company analyst said an order by Iran, which he suspects could amount to something around 40 to 50 aircraft purchased over several years, will not increase production rates.

Analysts think a major factor for Iran increasing its fleet of aircraft, aside from the need to replace planes that are reportedly more than 25 years old, is to turn Tehran into a hub for global travel similar to those of some of its other Middle Eastern counterparts, such as Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

But a second source who requested anonymity because the information is private said traffic flows through the country do not support the future development of a large market.

Sterne Agee CRT analyst Peter Arment is slightly more optimistic, explaining that Iranian Airlines targeted late last year a need for up to 400 airplanes in the next decade.

The carrier currently owns 44 airplanes and recently acquired 118 more from Airbus Group SE, according to Arment, leaving a sizable number of aircraft for the company to obtain. The Wall Street Journal valued the Airbus deal at $27 billion, based on the aircraft's list price.

To Arment, it's possible for Boeing to present Iran a deal consisting of Boeing 787 and/or Boeing 777 aircraft, but cautioned that the company is focused on completing its seven-year backlog of orders.

This renders a substantial short-term deal with Iran less likely, and does not bode well for the chances of Boeing shares climbing closer to their 52-week high of $154.37 low.

And the first analyst went so far as to speculate the stock will trade in a fairly narrow range near its current $127 mark barring a negative catalyst, which this person doesn't foresee any concern for until 2017.

As for Iran becoming the next global travel player in the Middle East, Arment said the hub model has worked for nearby markets such as Dubai, which has capitalized on leveraging the proximity to the growing middle-class populations of travelers in China and India.

But for the moment, Arment and Rumohr are among several analysts who remain hesitant to bet the bank on Boeing on a potential Iran deal prior to getting a better idea of what the deal could entail.
Ford (F) said Tuesday it will renovate its 60-year-old office and laboratory operations in Dearborn, Mich., over the next decade in an effort to promote "innovation and collaboration" among its workers.

Ford declined to put a price tag on the project, though some estimates have it reaching $1 billion or higher. Work will begin immediately and eventually will lead to the creation of two new campuses. One will be for product development, the second for headquarters, business and financial staffs.

The automaker is attempting to enhance its attractiveness as an employer to tech-minded millennials, who presently tend to prefer Silicon Valley, Boston, New York and Austin, Texas, for career opportunities over the industrial Midwest.

"As we continue our transition to being an auto and a mobility company, we are investing in our people and the tools they use to deliver on our vision," said CEO Mark Fields in a statement.

"Bringing all our teams together in an open, collaborative environment will make our employees' lives better, speed decision-making and deliver results for both our core auto business and the emerging opportunities we are pursuing through Ford Smart Mobility," a new business unit.

Rival General Motors (GM) also is renovating its research and development campus in Warren, Mich., and has plans to upgrade its headquarters building in downtown Detroit.

Ford, the No. 2 U.S. producer of cars and trucks, is pursuing a strategy to transform itself from only a designer and manufacturer of vehicles, adding the capability to provide mobility solutions that may include car-sharing, ride-sharing and new models for owning vehicles. The initiative is a response to the advent of autonomous driving technology and related projects and services at companies like Alphabet's (GOOGL) unit, Tesla (TSLA) and Uber.

Alphabet is a holding in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells GOOGL? Learn more now.

Ford and Google have discussed possible collaboration on a self-driving car project, which both companies are pursuing separately. Google boasts prodigious software and artificial intelligence capability, while Ford wants to increase and add those assets. Nearly all automakers openly have expressed apprehension that fast-moving digital companies could overtake them with new mobility products, perhaps rendering them to the role of equipment suppliers.

The scope of Ford's project could change depending on the automaker's financial performance over the next few years and the need for capital in other areas such as developing new vehicle models and advanced technological features. Executives have been frustrated by what they view as an unjustly weak stock price despite strong earnings and improvements to the company's balance sheet and creditworthiness.

Ford's current research and engineering center was dedicated in 1953 by President Dwight Eisenhower. The new installation will include a new 700,000-square-foot design center, while the current design center will be transformed into an event venue. The current world headquarters building was dedicated in 1956 and reflected "thought leading architecture" of that time, Ford said.

Doron Levin is the host of "In the Driver Seat," broadcast on SiriusXM Insight 121, Saturday at noon, encore Sunday at 9 a.m.

This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in the stocks mentioned.
Activist investor Trian Fund Management sold a 9.9% stake in Legg Mason (LM) to Singapore-based investing holding company Shanda Group for $336.8 million.

Legg Mason shares were trading at $31.75, up 0.57%, as of 11:09 am on Tuesday.

The transaction closed on Monday, said Legg Mason spokeswoman Mary Athridge.

Nelson Peltz's (pictured) Trian sold 10.5 million shares at $32 per share, according to a regulatory filing. Trian continues to own 513,743 shares.

"Having a shareholder like Trian is good," Gabelli & Co. stock analyst Mac Sykes told TheStreet on Tuesday. "They tend to be active and they have good long-term results. Not having them aligned with the shareholder base is a negative."

However, "having a Chinese investor may be helpful for [Legg Mason's] expansion, distribution and opportunities in Asia," Sykes said.

Shanda started out as an online game company called Shanda Interactive in 1999. The company later spun off the gaming business and became an investment group. Shanda focuses on value investment opportunities in the financial services, technology and healthcare services industries.

"We are pleased to welcome Shanda as a long-term strategic shareholder," said Legg Mason chairman and CEO Joseph A. Sullivan in a statement. "We look forward to benefiting from their expertise in important areas of growth for us. We want to express our appreciation for Trian Partners, with whom we have had a long-term and constructive partnership during a period of significant change in our company and industry."

Citigroup served as placement agent and exclusive financial adviser on the transaction.

In October 2009, Peltz was elected to Legg Mason's board. At the time, Trian owned 6.95 million shares, or about 4.3% of Legg Mason's stock.

Peltz resigned from Legg Mason's board in December 2014. Trian at the owned about 11.3% of Legg's stock. During the time he was on the board, Legg Mason made senior management and board changes, and reduced overhead, increased cash flow and return more than $2 billion of capital to shareholders.
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Juniper Networks (JNPR) stock is getting hammered, down 8.16% to $22.86 on heavy trading volume Tuesday, after the company yesterday cautioned that its 2016 first quarter earnings and revenue will likely fall short of estimates.

It now expects earnings to be between 35 cents and 37 cents a share for the period, below its previous outlook range of 42 cents and 46 cents a share.

Revenue is projected to be between $1.09 billion to $1.1 billion, compared to its previous forecast of between $1.15 billion and $1.19 billion.

Wall Street was looking for earnings of 45 cents a share on sales of $1.19 billion.

Juniper cited weaker demand from enterprise customers and delayed gear deployments from telecom companies for its downbeat guidance.

In response to the revised outlook, UBS this morning downgraded the company to "hold" from "buy" and lowered its price target to $25 from $31, saying they see longer-term structural concerns.

Based in Sunnyvale, CA, Juniper Networks designs, develops, and sells network products and services worldwide.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings currently has a "Buy" rating on the stock with a letter grade of B.

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, attractive valuation levels 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' author.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: JNPR
Goldman Sachs (GS) has agreed to pay $5.06 billion to settle claims that it misled mortgage bond investors during the financial crisis, but what does the punishment do to deter future bad behavior?

In 2015, Goldman brought in close to $40 billion in annual revenue, relatively unchanged from the previous year, while its share price slipped by around 10%. Nonetheless, CEO Lloyd Blankfein received $22.6 million in compensation, slightly down from his $24 million the year prior. Despite the fines and public shaming, it's business as usual at Goldman Sachs, and the status quo rarely results in changing circumstances.

The $5 billion settlement did little to the company's market cap, along with little tangible change in executive pay. Money was paid in the settlement, but that money affects no one person in any credible way, doing nothing to deter future behavior, aside from finding new ways to operate around the law.

The Goldman story reminds me a lot of another major story that made the news cycle over the last week, the Pfizer-Allergen merger. Pfizer had hoped to merge with Allergen, an Ireland-based company, in an attempt to relocate its domicile and save on its yearly tax expense. Much like Goldman, the move was done in the pursuit of increased profits.

Allergan stock is a holding in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. See how Cramer rates the stock here. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells AGN? Learn more now.

Unlike Goldman, however, the government enacted a potential consequence for Pfizer that ultimately deterred the deal, scrapping the tax savings, and allowing the government to effectively achieve its desired result.

The issue lies in conditioning behaviors. There exists both reinforcement and punishment that dictate future behavior. For example, a positive reinforcement is when a dog does a trick and receives a treat afterwards. The dog is then likely to continue such behavior. Conversely, when the same dog misbehaves, and is subsequently put outside onto the back deck, this is a form of punishment. In this case, the dog may think twice before acting in such a fashion again.

In the Pfizer deal example, the U.S. government was not keen on Pfizer merging for the sole purpose of inverting its domicile to reduce its tax liability. Therefore, the punishment was in the form of new policy that would eliminate such tax savings.

The U.S. government, however, has failed to create a strong enough system of punishment for Goldman Sachs and the larger financial services community. While I don't know what specific punishments would be more appropriate for the crimes committed (I'm not a lawyer), responsibility needs to become less faceless.

Goldman Sachs committed a crime and paid through monetary means for its transgression, but who learned a lesson? Considering business is operating as usual, and no one seems to have been reprimanded personally, the desired punishment looks to have come and gone with little recognition of its existence at all. In this case, nothing has changed, no lessons have been learned, and the $5 billion is a mere accounting one-off transfer on the books.

This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in the stocks mentioned.
Cruise ship line Carnival (CCL) is setting sail to new destinations, and sees solid bookings and earnings growth for the remainder of the year.

The world's largest leisure travel company is preparing for its inaugural voyage to Cuba on May 1. "Bookings are good. There are still a few cabins left," said CEO Arnold Donald, who rang the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

The Cuba cruises will be handled by Carnival's newest brand, Fathom, which is focused on impact travel. Cuba is just one of Carnival's newest locations. The company also remains focused on developing its market-leading position in China, where it increased capacity by 58%.

"China is a tremendous market. It will be the largest cruise market in the world someday," said Donald. "We're the first in China. We're the largest in China." Carnival has six ships based in China, which provides Carnival higher average returns than other bookings. The company is also expecting continued growth in Europe this year, even after recent terrorist attacks.

Carnival recently reported solid earnings for the first quarter and issued an upbeat outlook for 2016. The company said advance bookings for the rest of 2016 were running "well ahead" of 2015 bookings. Carnival has also been able to increase ticket prices, and continues to experience growth in onboard sales.

"The reality is, a cruise is such a great vacation value relative to land-based vacations. So we have lots of room to move on ticket prices and still be a much better deal for the vacationer," explained Donald. As bookings increase, Carnival is also adding four new ships to its fleet this year.

For the second quarter, Carnival has said that it expects to report adjusted earnings in the range of 34 cents to 38 cents per share, compared with 25 cents per share the prior year.
Integrated Device Technology (IDTI) has become the latest chipmaker to become the apple of a Chinese investors' eye and analysts now wonder whether the offer will actually lead to a deal.

Shares of the company spiked Tuesday as high as 23% but finished only up 4.1% to $20.22, after a group of investors said they had launched a $32 per share offer that values the target at about $4.3 billion.

"There's a lot of concern about the legitimacy of the offer," said Wedbush Securities analyst Betsy Van Hees. "The likelihood of this being able to get through CFIUS is highly unlikely."

She further said the board of IDTI will likely do due diligence but ultimately reject the bid, adding that the chipmaker has nicely turned itself around through delivering growth and diversification.

"It's not a company that's itching to get taken over," said Charter Equity Research analyst Ed Snyder, adding that IDTI isn't a company that has stalled and is looking for a buyer. Its current CEO, Gregory Waters, also joined only three years ago, he said.

He added that IDTI has started to deliver strong performance after relatively slow growth over the last couple years.

"The question becomes what do they get from being taken out?" he added. "It would be a nice addition, but it's also in a lot of different businesses. It's not a natural fit to anyone."

Still, Wedbush's Van Hees said all mid-cap and small-cap chipmakers -- including Integrated Device Technology -- are essentially in play.

In fact, IDTI would be a nice tuck-in for Texas Instruments (TXN) and Analog Devices (ADI) , she said, adding that it could also pursue a merger of equals with players such as Cirrus Logic (CRUS) .

The Deal, a sister publication of TheStreet, previously identified IDTI in October as a potential acquisition target for Skyworks Solutions (SWKS) . Industry sources had suggested then that Skyworks should drop out of a bidding war with its peer Microsemi (MSCC) for PMC-Sierra (PMCS) and pursue IDTI instead. Skyworks walked away after a six-week bidding war.

"Consolidation will continue to be a theme throughout the rest of the decade that we're in. We're in a consolidation wave," Van Hees said.

A group of Chinese investors led by Libin Sun disclosed in a 13D filing with the on SEC Tuesday that it has made a preliminary, non-binding proposal to acquire Integrated Device Technology for $32 per share in cash. The offer also included a go-shop provision that would allow the board of the San Jose, Calif., semiconductor company to solicit alternative proposals.
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In this April 9, 2016 photo, a boy runs past gas cylinders displayed on a street for sale in central Rabia, northwestern Iraq. When Iraqi Kurdish forces retook Rabia last year it was a major advance against the Islamic State group, which had swept across northern and western Iraq in the summer of 2014 and declared its caliphate across its territory in Iraq and Syria. Now 18 months later, the town demonstrates the difficulties of returning to the way things were before the IS rampage. (AP Photo/Alice Martins)
The number of anti-Semitic incidents in Austria last year reached its highest level in years, according to a Jewish organisation in Vienna.

IKG or Israelitischen Kultusgemeinde, the Jewish community representative group, reported 465 incidents involving anti-Semitism, an increase of 82 percent from 2014 when there were 255 incidents.

The data was collected by the non-governmental organisation Forum gegen Antisemitismus (Forum against anti-Semitism) and presented by the IKG.

IKG President Oskar Deutsch mentioned that the significant increase of anti-Semitic acts can be partly accounted for by a large number of anti-Semitic remarks made online and especially Islamic anti-Semitic remarks.

In 2014, 85 incidents took place online, rising to 205 in 2015.

IKGs Secretary General Raimund Fastenbauer said there is an increasing concern in our community that  if the proportion of Muslims in Austria continues to rise due to immigration, due to the refugees  this could become problematic for us.

Deutsch called for efforts to tackle this with better integration of migrants into Austria.

Jewish life must be protected in Austria, said Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian in a reaction to the report.

It is the duty of the state to make Jewish people in Austria feel secure, that is for us as Austria a great responsibility, he said.

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) has urged the European Union and its member states to increase efforts to combat widespread anti-Semitic cyber hate, arguing that anti-Semitism in the region did not show any sign of waning.

Around 15,000 Jews live in Austria.

(Source: EJP)
Hillary Clinton has never, really, had a good answer for questions about her decision to set up a private email server to handle all of her correspondence during her four years as the nations top diplomat.

Convenience she insisted when the existence of the server first went public. That morphed into a defiance that, eventually and inevitably, turned into an apology for making an innocent and careless mistake. Now, as the political world waits for the findings from the Justice Departments investigation into Clintons server, the man who beat her in 2008 is offering some guidance to his former foe about how to deal with this whole mess.

I continue to believe that she has not jeopardized Americas national security, President Obama said during an interview on Fox News Sunday. He then added (at some length):

Now what Ive also said is that -and she has acknowledged  that theres a carelessness, in terms of managing e-mails, that she has owned, and she recognizes.

But I also think it is important to keep this in perspective. This is somebody who has served her country for four years as secretary of state and did an outstanding job. And no one has suggested that in some ways, as a consequence of how shes handled e-mails, that that detracted from her excellent ability to carry out her duties.



This is a good answer  both now and whenever the Justice Department releases its finding on the email case. (Sidebar: If Justice indicts Clinton, this conversation is pointless because she will  and would need to  drop out of the race.)

Heres why:

1. Obama acknowledges that Clinton exhibited a carelessness in her email setup  a necessary first step to establishing some credibility as a messenger on the issue. Its clear by now that Clinton should not have set up her email system the way she did. That does not mean, however, that she is guilty of anything other than making a small error in judgment. Which leads me to . . .

2. Obama makes the key point that Clinton would never intentionally endanger the country with her email setup. Yes, she may have been careless. Yes, she shouldnt have done it. But, no, there wasnt any malice in it. That wont sell with Republicans who believe that Clinton (and her husband) are constantly scheming and dancing on the line of legality. But thats not the target audience because those folks will never be convinced. What Clinton will need to do in the post-Justice-Department-ruling world is assuage doubts that the small percentage of undecided voters have about her and how she has handled this issue. Making clear that there was never an ill intent is a good start.

3. Obama, largely, ignores the specific question host Chris Wallace asked him  Can you still say flatly that she did not jeopardize Americas secrets?  and instead goes very broad with his answer about Clintons record as secretary of state. The case Obama clearly wants to make is that its unfair to judge Clinton off of one decision. Instead, Obama argues, the email issue should be properly contextualized as a relatively minor mishap in a broader success story for Clinton at the State Department. Again, conservatives and many Republicans wont buy that logic  seeing Clintons time at State as one disaster after another. Doesnt matter. The key are the people  and, yes, there are still some out there who havent made up their minds about Clinton and the email issue.

Obama has mostly stayed away from the 2016 campaign. But theres roughly a zero percent chance hes not a) following it closely and b) thinking of how he would have handled certain situations and circumstances that have arisen. Remember that he could have very easily said to Wallace, I cant and wont comment on an ongoing Justice Department investigation. He didnt do that  for a reason: He wanted to show Clinton how to best handle this coming email decision (or, at a minimum, show Clinton how he would have handled it.)

Yes, of course, Clinton was watching  either live or via DVR. Will she follow the advice Obama passed her way via a national TV interview? We wont know until Justice makes its big announcement.

(c) 2016, The Washington Post  Chris Cillizza
British Prime Minister David Cameron defended his tax affairs to Parliament, telling lawmakers hed been slow to respond to questions because of anger at seeing his late fathers name attached to stories about offshore evasion.

After a week that saw him move from describing stories about tax as old news to releasing an unprecedented level of detail about his own affairs, the prime minister said Monday hed sold all his shareholdings in 2010 when he became prime minister because he didnt want any conflict of interest.

I didnt want anyone to be able to suggest that as prime minister I had any other agendas or vested interests, Cameron said. He said hed handled the disclosures badly because he was angry about the way my fathers memory was being traduced.

Cameron published details of the taxes hes paid since 2009 on Sunday after a week of negative headlines prompted by documents leaked from Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca linking his father, Ian, to an offshore investment fund. The prime minister said his father was a hard-working man and a wonderful dad, and Im proud of everything he did to build a business and provide for his family.

Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne followed Cameron on Monday by publishing his most recent U.K. tax return. Osborne earned 198,738 pounds ($283,700) with 44,647 pounds of earnings coming from dividends derived from the familys luxury home-decorating company, Osborne & Little, according to the document published on the Treasurys website. He paid 72,210 pounds in tax. The earnings compare with 200,307 pounds for the prime minister for the same period.

The U.K. reverberations were among the political fallout from the Panama leaks that have triggered the resignation of Icelands prime minister, a confidence vote in Malta later this week, street protests in Norway and a pledge by Argentine President Mauricio Macri to put his assets in a blind trust.

The European Union will announce proposals on Tuesday for how to require large companies to make public what they pay in tax in each of the 28 EU countries, and global finance ministers are expected to discuss evasion when they gather in Washington later this week for the International Monetary Funds spring meeting.

Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said the reason people are so angry about tax evasion was that weve gone through six years of crushing austerity under Camerons premiership.

Corbyn also published his tax return for the 2014-15 tax year. The handwritten form, emailed by Labour, showed he paid income tax of 18,912 pounds on a salary of 70,795 pounds. His other taxable income totaled 1,850 pounds, including 1,350 pounds from lectures. Corbyn was fined 100 pounds for submitting the return late, the party said.

Cameron said he doesnt believe most lawmakers should be forced to make their returns public.

We should think carefully before abandoning completely all taxpayer confidentiality in this house as some have suggested, he said. I think there is a strong case for the prime minister and the leader of the opposition, and for the chancellor and shadow chancellor, because they are people who are or who wish to be responsible for the nations finances.

The prime minister said most U.K. overseas territories, including the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands would now share information on company ownership there with the British authorities to cut down on possibilities for tax avoidance.

For the first time U.K. police and law enforcement will be able to see exactly who really owns and controls every company incorporated in these territories  Bermuda, Isle of Man, Jersey, the lot, Cameron said.

(c) 2016, Bloomberg  Robert Hutton
Although terrorists have attacked trains and subway systems in Europe, there is relatively little risk that they will assault similar targets in the United States, according to the nations transportation security chief.

Right now we consider the general risk to be low in the United States domestically against surface transportation, said Peter Neffenger, administrator of the Transportation Security Administration. Thats freight rail, light rail, metro subway systems, over the road buses and the like.

Hundreds of people have been killed or injured in Europe by terrorists who attacked trains and subways or, in one case in France, mowed down pedestrians with a car. The most recent assault was an explosion aboard a Brussels metro train last month that killed 16 people. The most deadly came in 2004, when 10 explosions on four commuter trains in Madrid killed 192 people and injured about 2,000.

Neffenger, in a conversation with reporters on Friday, said that is unlikely to happen in the United States.

It doesnt mean theres no threat, theres no risk, but its relatively low, he said.

Some of his assessment comes from a vast national intelligence network and is classified information, he said, but the rest evolves from common sense or, perhaps, seeing the situation through a terrorists eyes.

We know that there is a huge psychological benefit from the terrorists perspective if you can attack something like the aviation system successfully, because weve put a lot of effort into protecting it, he said.

Terrorists know that any form of attack will show their hand, likely leading to their arrest if they survive the attack.

If youre going to do something, youre going to have to surface yourself in the process of doing so, so I think terror groups, and individuals that want to do harm, want to ensure that if theyre going to expose themselves, they get the maximum return on that exposure, Neffenger said.

That means attacking an airport or airplane, he said, but he was quick to add that TSA works with transit and railroad police, as well as local law enforcement, to protect the non-aviation sector of the transportation system.

I dont know that there would be any way to provide aviation-style security in the public transportation world without changing the entire way we get around, he said. Fortunately, were not seeing credible intelligence threats that tell us that thats an issue for the United States.

(c) 2016, The Washington Post  Ashley Halsey III
Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders opened a series of fresh and fierce attacks against one another on Monday on issues ranging from immigration to fracking as they campaigned across New York ahead of the states contentious primary.

Campaigning in the New York City borough of Queens, Clinton assailed Sanders for his mixed record on immigration reforms and said hes struggled to detail his positions on foreign policy and financial regulation.

I have noticed that under the bright spotlight and scrutiny here in New York, Sen. Sanders has had trouble answering questions, she told reporters after a campaign event at an Indian restaurant in Queens.

Sanders hit back at a rally in the upstate New York city of Binghamton, rallying supporters with a lengthy rift slamming Clinton for promoting fracking as secretary of state and only offering conditional opposition to the practice. The oil and gas drilling method, reviled by environmentalists, has been banned in the state.

Early in the event, Sanders crowd booed loudly when he said Clintons name.

The harsher tone comes just days before they will meet on stage for the first Democratic primary debate in more than a month. Since their last faceoff, the contest has taken a decidedly negative turn, with the two candidates trading a series of barbs over their qualifications for the White House.

Clinton has avoided directly calling for Sanders to exit the race, saying shes campaigned until the end in 2008 and that shes all for a good hard contest. But she denounced the aggressive tone that some of his supporters have taken toward her, saying shed seen reports that her backers have been targeted and harassed.

There seems to be a growing level of anxiety in that campaign, which I hope doesnt spill over into the way that his supporters treat other people, she said.

The April 19 primary in New York has become a make-or-break moment for both the campaigns, with Clinton seeking to avoid the political blow of losing the state she represented for eight years in the Senate. Sanders is hoping to turn a streak of wins into momentum to cut into Clintons more than 200 pledged delegate lead.

Clintons campaign is pushing for big wins in New York and across the northeast, in an effort to gain what theyve termed an all but insurmountable lead in the delegate race. Should Clinton capture the nomination, she will have to unite the party behind her candidacy  a challenge that could be made more difficult if she targets him with tough attacks.

Sanders believes he can win the state  or at least come close  with a coalition of economically struggling voters upstate and liberals in New York City.

He needs to win 68 percent of the remaining delegates and uncommitted superdelegates if he hopes to clinch the Democratic nomination. That would require blow-out victories by Sanders in upcoming big states and small, including the New York primary.

His aides say he plans to stay in the race until the party convention in July.

Meanwhile, Republican front-runner Donald Trump echoed Sanders claims that the system is rigged, erupting on Fox News over his loss of recently-allocated delegates in Colorado to rival Ted Cruz.

Ive gotten millions more votes, not just a couple, millions of more votes than Cruz, Trump declared Monday on Fox & Friends when asked if he views the system as unfair. And Ive gotten hundreds of delegates more and we keep fighting, fighting, fighting.

Cruz completed his sweep of Colorados 34 delegates last weekend by locking up the remaining 13 at the partys state convention in Colorado Springs. He already had collected 21 delegates and visited the state to try to pad his numbers there.

I see it with Bernie too, Trump said, pointing to the Democratic race. Every time I turn on your show  Bernie wins, Bernie wins, Bernie wins. and yet Bernies not winning. I mean, its a rigged system folks.

Cruz spent Monday campaigning in southern California, a state that holds presidential primaries for both parties on June 7, the last day of primary voting. The Texas senators appearance was a reminder that regardless of what happens in New Yorks primary, the presidential nomination on the Republican side  if not for both parties  wont be decided for another two months.

Cruz was scheduled to appear at a rally in Orange County, a Republican stronghold south of Los Angeles, before an evening appearance in San Diego.

The Texas senator has cast himself as more electable than Republican rival Trump, in part because of organizational advantages in the complicated and tedious process of collecting delegates heading into the summer national convention.

(AP)
According to statements quoting Tel Aviv Chief Rabbi and former Chief Rabbi of Israel Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau Shlita, he will step down from his post when he turns 80. The rabbi in the coming months will be marking his 79th birthday G-d willing.

On the one hand, there is about 15 months until Rabbi Lau reaches 80 but on the other hand, such a prominent post does not become vacant too frequently and suitable candidates will undoubtedly soon begin positioning to become a viable candidate. One of the questions is will the next chief rabbi of the city be Ashkenazi or Sephardi. Due to its size, the city is entitled to two chief rabbis, Ashkenazi and Sephardi but Mayor Ron Huldai explains that for as long as he runs the city, there will only be one chief rabbi as is the case today.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Marwan Barghouti is the leader of the Tanzim military faction of Fatah and while he is serving five live sentences in an Israeli prison for his acts of terror, he remains actively anti-Israel and seems to continue playing his leadership role in that arena.

Islamic terror organizations do not necessarily get along with one another but there is an added measure of cooperation against the common enemy, in this case Israel, and it is reported that Barghouti is leading the effort to launch the next so-called intifada with the cooperation of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, Walla News reports.

This next uprising has a number of goals including the retaking of lands occupied by Israel in 1967, which includes Yerushalayim. This effort is dubbed The Peoples Path to Peace and it will be non-violent, perhaps because the terror organizations have learned of late they can enjoy significant success by attacking Israel in the international diplomatic community instead of using violence as was the case in the past.

It appears the terror organizations will increase their reliance on organizations backing its anti-Israel position, led first and foremost by the United Nations. Terrorist leaders have reportedly met in Qatar with Hamas leaders to advance this next stage of the overthrow of Israel, involving senior Hamas officials including Moussa Abu Marzouk and Khaled Meshal.

Some of the measures planned is to compromise the electricity and internet infrastructures to Jewish communities throughout Yehuda and Shomron in addition to forcing thousands of PA (Palestinian Authority) vehicles onto roads used primarily by Jews today. Large protests are also planned in the capital.

On the diplomatic scene; the cancelation of the Oslo and subsequent agreements with Israel and renouncing the PLO recognition of the State of Israel until Israel officially recognizes Palestine. They also hope to actualize a cessation of any and all security cooperation with Israel and halt negotiations with Israel that include third-party involvement such as the US.

Clearly while Hamas and the other terror organizations are eager to move ahead with this agenda, the PA (Palestinian Authority) must approve aspects of it if they hope to implement some of the diplomatic moves mentioned.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
According to reports from Iran, Russia has completed delivery of part one of the sophisticated S-300 anti-aircraft system. The Tashnim News Agency quotes a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Jaber Ansari as confirming the first delivery.

Israeli efforts to prevent the deal were only successful in delaying the delivery a number of years. Senior IDF commanders have stated that if placed in the hands of Iran, the S-300 would complicate any Israeli air strike against that country but it does not pose a threat that cannot be addressed nor does it change the balance of power between the two countries.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Bchasdei Hashem the wave of Islamic terror that began in Israel on erev Rosh Hashanah 5776 has dissipated significantly. Just this week, an ISA (Israel Security Agency  Shin Bet) official briefed the cabinet on the decline in attacks as was reported by YWN-ISRAEL.

The ISA reported to the cabinet that 290 attacks were thwarted since the wave of terror began on Rosh Hashanah and efforts continue to calm the situation on Har Habayis as some are working hard to keep accusations of Israel overrunning Har Habayis in the forefront of the struggle. The ISA is also monitoring the situation, not willing to rule out the possibility that this is the quiet before the storm and the halt in attacks is simply to permit regrouping and planning for and escalation.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
According to a final ruling of the Israel Tax Authority, an internet website may be viewed as a permanent establishment and some sites, which do significant business, may be compelled to pay tax in Israel under certain conditions. The ruling is going to have an impact on some of the worlds largest sites including Google, Amazon, and Facebook.

Many feel that Israeli consumers will suffer for in the case of Amazon for example, fewer persons will be willing to sell to Israelis.

Read the entire article on Globes.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
The family of the terrorist shot dead after stabbing an IDF soldier in Hebron on Purim continues to demand the body back for burial, threatening to turn to the courts if need be. The body remains in the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute following the autopsy, which determined he died by the bullets fired at his head by the soldier after he was already wounded and on the ground.

An uncle told the media the family is simply interested in burying him and that it why they are demanding the return of the body. He plans to take the request to court this week.

He feels Israel fears many people will attend the funeral, adding this cannot be prevented.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Today, Jewish members of the New York City Council announced their endorsement of former Secretary of State Hillary Clintons presidential campaign. The announcement adds to the momentum Secretary Clinton is building across New York State ahead of the April 19 New York Democratic presidential primary. The members endorsing Secretary Clintons presidential campaign include:

Mark Levine, Chair, City Council Jewish Caucus

Ben Kallos, Vice Chair, City Council Jewish Caucus

David Greenfield

Rory Lancman

Dan Garodnick

Mark Treyger

Karen Koslowitz

Barry Grodenchik

Stephen Levin

Helen Rosenthal

Andrew Cohen

Alan Maisel

While she served as U.S. Senator from New York, Secretary Clinton developed an impressive record of standing up for the needs of all New Yorkers. She fought for New York City after 9/11, helped grow small businesses to create jobs, and worked to expand educational opportunities so more New Yorkers could get ahead. During her tenure as the nations top diplomat, she helped build an international coalition to put in place the toughest sanctions in Irans history, and at every turn, she has been a steadfast supporter of Israels right to defend itself against Jihadist threats.

Secretary Clintons long record of fighting for New York and the interests of the Jewish community, has earned her the strong backing of New Yorks leading Jewish elected officials.

Hillary Clinton has delivered time and time again for New York, for the Jewish Community, and for Israel. Whether winning funds to rebuild New York after 9/11 or exposing anti-Semitism in the Middle East and around the world, Hillary Clinton has been there for us. This is not a time for learning on the jobespecially when it comes to the challenges facing Israel. Hillary Clintons unrivaled depth of knowledge, experience and commitment on Israel and so many other high-stakes issues make her far and away the best choice for president, said Council Member Mark Levine, Chair of the City Council Jewish Caucus.

Since the launch of her campaign in my district on Roosevelt Island back in 2015, I have supported Secretary Hillary Clinton for President, said Council Member Ben Kallos. I am excited for the 2016 election and feel privileged to be able to help elect the first female President of the United States.

Hillary Clinton is the strongest pro-Israel Democratic candidate for President, and has a proven record of working with New Yorks Jewish community since her days as our U.S. Senator. Unfortunately, her rival for the Democratic nomination has made it clear that he doesnt value the pro-Israel community. Thats why Im calling on all of New Yorks Jewish Democrats to rally behind Hillary Clinton and to take the time before Pesach to go out and vote for her in the April 19th Democratic Primary, said Council Member David Greenfield.

Democratic supporters of a strong US-Israel alliance have never had a clearer choice: Hillary Clinton has called the US-Israel alliance indispensable and made a clear call for Palestinian leaders to stop inciting violence, stop celebrating terrorists as martyrs and stop paying rewards to their families in her speech to AIPAC. Her opponent skipped AIPAC, de-legitimizes Israels right to defend its citizens from terrorism, and prominently touts his support from some of Americas most virulently anti-Israel and anti-Semitic advocates. Hillary is the clear choice for so many reasons, and her longstanding and informed support for Israel and the Jewish people is one of them, said Council Member Rory Lancman.

I want a president who doesnt need to read a briefing book to understand the complex challenges facing Israel. Hillary Clintons wealth of experience on the ground addressing the very real threats facing the Jewish State make her the clear choice for Democrats, and I am proud to support her, said Council Member Helen Rosenthal.

Secretary Clinton has been a consistent voice of reason in both foreign and domestic policy. Shell provide a steady hand and sound judgment in the Oval Office, and she has my support, said Council Member Dan Garodnick.

Especially in todays 2016 political climate, one can appreciate the measured, responsible and knowledgeable leadership that the candidacy of Hillary Clinton offers. Additionally, her support for the State of Israel is unflagging and resolute, said Council Member Karen Koslowitz.

As a U.S. Senator representing the state of New York, Hillary Clinton could be counted on to address the concerns of the Jewish community and to staunchly support the state of Israel. I am absolutely convinced that she is the best candidate to be President of the United States, and I wholeheartedly support her, said Council Member Barry Grodenchik.

(YWN Desk  NYC)
Who hasnt learned Torah from the Bnei Yissachar, or the Shela HaKadosh? They were Gedolei Hador and their contributions to Yiddishkeit are legendary. Who would imagine that in 2016 their descendants would be living in Brooklyn as assimilated Jews? Recently two young professionals that attended local public schools and secular colleges were introduced to Rav Yitzchok Fingerer, Mora dAsra of the Brooklyn Jewish Xperience (BJX). BJX, a muti-faceted successful outreach/inreach organization and Beis Medrash has impacted many lives in the community. Through Ahavas Yisroel and Torah learning, the Rav and his brother, Rabbi Moshe Fingerer, whet the appetite of these young men to learn more and observe Shabbos for the first time. The first young man went to learn in Israel. Upon returning to BJX he shared the fact that he discovered while in Eretz Yisroel that he is a direct descendent (ben acher ben) of the Shela HaKadosh! In fact, hes a Levi and shares the same name as the Shela. Interestingly, the second fellow discovered that he is descendant of the Bnei Yissachar and other Gedolei Yisroel! Can we imagine the sheer simcha of their Heilige Zeides in Shamayim that their Eineklach have come back?

BJX provides secular Jews with the necessary tools to incorporate Judaism into their lives. While BJX has numerous stories of secular people who have embraced a Torah lifestyle, BJX doesnt limit their activities to outreach. BJX is especially proud of its efforts to be mekarev numerous adults from Chassidic and Yeshivish homes that strayed, said Rabbi Moshe Fingerer, executive director of BJX. BJX brought back the son of a prominent Chassidishe Rebbe who completely walked away from his Yiddishkeit as well as the grandson of one of the Gedolei Hador, among many other Yidden from Yeshivish and Chassidishe families. BJX also offers preventive educational programming and positive role models to Orthodox youth and adults. This summer BJX ran a successful summer vocational program that helped rehabilitate many at-risk youth, enabling them to be accepted into more mainstream yeshivos.

How does BJX perform these miracles and how do they fund their shul, classes, and centers that have saved lives and built Yiddishe families?

The next 24 hours is your chance to not only save a life but to help transform an entire community. Please donate now: www.Charidy.com/bjx. According the the terms of the campaign, we only have 24 hours to raise crucial funds!

BJX opens their doors to college students and young professionals each Pesach with a delectable Seder. All who are hungry come and eat, isnt lip service taken from the Haggadah but actually fulfilled at BJX. The Seder is exclusively geared for people (ages 20-34) who have been unfortunately deprived of a Jewish upbringing and are spiritually famished. They enjoy the beautiful meal and learn about their heritage. BJX needs your support to continue their incredible work of furthering Torah and Yiddishkeit and returning Hashems lost children. TODAY every single dollar you give will be QUADRUPLED (x 4) by generous donors!

BJX is building a community for Jews of all backgrounds to love being Jewish and be connected to their roots. Their helpline is open to address any issue and the BJX staff works tirelessly to keep people inspired and offer encouragement. If BJX cant raise $60,000 today then they will lose everything that was donated. Its ALL or NOTHING.

Please donate now: www.Charidy.com/bjx.
It seems boutiques were the best place to be over the past five years, with smaller outfits including Unicorn, SVM and Rathbones all making it in to the top 10 best-performing fund groups.

By contrast, some of the biggest providers, including Aberdeen, Halifax and M&G, languished in the bottom 10.

One notable big-name exception was Invesco Perpetual, former residence of high-profile manager Neil Woodford, which shot up from 14th to sixth place since last year's survey, with 84.6 per cent of its 26 eligible funds outperforming in the five years to the end of 2015.

Growth is good: a strong rally in equity markets between 2010 and 2015 favoured a growth style over income

Fund groups that lean towards a growth style such as Baillie Gifford and AXA Framlington (at 10th and 18th place respectively) have tended to do well in the past five years, boosted by the prolonged rally in global equities and growth stocks.

By contrast, groups with a value style have struggled.

Chelsea Financial's fundrating service FundCalibre service, which compiled the findings from its annual index, also argues that groups focusing exclusively on active fund management, without offering services such as insurance, retail banking or passive investing, have fared best overall.

It notes that retail banks such as Halifax, HSBC and Santander, which offer actively-managed funds, were all in the bottom quartile of the index.

The Fund Management Equity Index looks at all actively managed equity funds recognised by the Investment Association and compares them with their sector averages across a five-year window.

Each provider's funds are then collated to calculate the groups average fund performance. Fund groups must have a minimum of four qualifying funds to be included in the index.

Best of breed: Unicorn and Stewart Investors bag the top slots again

Once again, Unicorn Asset Management came out on top with a 35.1 per cent outperformance relative to its peers, with all of its four funds outperforming.

This made its performance 50 per cent higher than the average fund's results from the bottom group, NFU Mutual.

Stewart Investors - the fund group created last July out of First State Stewart - came in second place, with all seven of its funds outperforming.

Mixed fortunes: T Rowe Price jumps into the top five while JO Hambro falls out of the top 10 altogether

Winners and losers

Jo Hambro Capital Management slumped 18 places from last year, falling from fifth to 23rd place. Meanwhile, Aberdeen Asset Management had another tough year, moving down 10 places to 11 places to 63rd place as its bias to emerging markets continued to disappoint.

Scottish Widows Investment Partnership, which was acquired by Aberdeen in 2014, also moved down by 11 places, with better European performance dampened by weaker emerging market returns.

On a positive note, Aviva Investors jumped an impressive 25 places from 49th to 24th place, with all but one of their eligible funds beating their sector average in 2015.

And despite a volatile year for the management at Alliance Trust Investment, it shot up 18 places from 38th to 20th place off the back of stronger performance, while Man GLG and Newton both moved up 15 places.

The full list

Standout success: Half of the top 10 groups saw every single one of their eligible funds outperform
A former RBS banker has avoided a 250,000 fine for rate rigging because he is suffering serious financial hardship.

Paul White was involved in setting inter-bank lending, or Libor, rates for Swiss francs and Japanese yen.

The City watchdog found he took the views of traders into account, giving them influence over the market.

Let off: Former RBS banker Paul White has avoided a 250,000 fine for rate rigging because he is suffering serious financial hardship

In one conversation in 2010, White said he would try to push rates 'up a pip' after an external broker asked him to.

And in 2008, the banker agreed to manipulate the rate after being offered 'some sushi rolls'.

White has been banned from working in the industry for life.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said he knew traders who contacted him 'were motivated by financial interests' and had committed 'extremely serious' breaches of its rules.

It said that Mr White was asked by an external broker on June 22 2010 whether he 'got a bit less emotion in the 3's fix (JPY) today?'

He replied: 'unchanged should be the call, u want higher?'.

Temptation: In 2008, White agreed to manipulate the rate after being offered 'some sushi rolls'

The broker said: 'yah, if not a msve prob', with Mr White replying, 'will c what we can do, maybe up a pip'.

Mark Steward, FCA's director of enforcement and market oversight, said Mr White's ban should reinforce the message that 'serious failures will result in substantial penalties'.

He said: 'As a Libor submitter Mr White had an obligation to ensure the submissions he made were proper ones.

'By allowing his submissions to be set, in effect, by those with collateral financial interests in the outcome, Mr White recklessly disregarded the risk - the obvious risk - that his Libor submission might corrupt Libor's integrity.'

The FCA said White was let off because he provided evidence of financial hardship, although this information is not being shared with the public.

It had handed the former RBS trader a warning notice on June 18 2014, but action was halted due to an ongoing criminal investigation from the Serious Fraud Office into some of the bank's staff

The FCA said Mr White's ban was the fourth public action taken against a trader for manipulating Libor submissions.

It has also handed out seven fines for Libor misconduct worth 426 million.

A criminal investigation into Libor rigging was conducted by the Serious Fraud Office. The watchdog has fined seven firms a total of 426million for rigging the inter-bank lending rate.




Is Daisy feeling settled in her relationship with Daniel now or does she still struggle with the ghost of Sinead? I think she is feeling set...
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By Madina Toure

A Whitestone man who fled to Virginia after fatally stabbing his Queens Village girlfriend and hiding her body has pleaded guilty to manslaughter, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.

Luis Zambrano, 30, pleaded guilty March 30 to manslaughter and attempted burglary on an unrelated matter, according to Brown.

Zambrano will be sentenced April 19 to a determinate term of 25 years in prison on the manslaughter charge and a consecutive term of up to three years on the attempted burglary charge, Brown said.

Zambrano admitted he planned to injure the victim, Angie Escobar, 28, which led to her death, the DA said.

Escobar was repeatedly stabbed on or about Sept. 6 and was last seen Sept. 4, Brown said.

Her family reported her missing four days later and her decomposing body was found Sept. 10 in the trunk of her 2004 Nissan Maxima, which had been abandoned near 22nd Avenue and Murray Street in Whitestone, Brown continued.

Zambrano was arrested in Daleville, Va. Sept. 18 and waived extradition to New York, according to the DA.

When pleading guilty to the attempted burglary charge, Zambrano admitted that he broke into the Paradise Alley Bar at 41-09 150th St. in Flushing at about 11:15 a.m. on Oct. 2, 2013 and stole about $100 in cash and three bottles of alcohol, Brown said.
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By Patrick Donachie

The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a historical Bayside house for landmarking status, all but assuring that the property will attain the designation.

The LPC agreed to consider landmarking the Lydia Ann Bell and William J. Ahles House at 39-26 213th St. at a meeting in February. Now that the commission has approved the property for landmarking, the next and final step will be a vote by the New York City Council, which should take place in the next two to four months.

City Councilman Paul Vallone (D-Bayside) said the vote was a long time coming and he did not expect any opposition in the Council to the approval.

Though the LPC does not need the blessing of the Council to designate landmarks, the Council will vote on whether it wants to change the LPCs designation. However, on landmarking votes like this, the Council tends to uniformly vote in step with the Council member who represents the area where the potential landmarked building is, according to Lionel Morales, Vallones director of communications.

Vallone (D-Bayside) represents the area that includes the Bell and Ahles House and joined with Community Board 11 to support the landmarking, which likely assures its passage in the Council.

It was good to see the commissioner took our recommendations, and its good to see the community boards wishes being upheld he said. To preserve a piece of our own Bayside history is a great win for the whole community.

The house was built by Robert Bell as a gift for his daughter Lydia and her husband William in 1873, according to the Historic District Councils informational page on the house. It is considered to be one of the oldest homes still standing in the Bayside area. The house first became considered for landmarking in 2009 after a seven-year push by former City Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside) and community preservationists to advocate for the designation.
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By Madina Toure

Former President Bill Clinton called his wife, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton a world-class change maker at an organizing event he held with U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Flushing) in downtown Flushing Tuesday morning.

Speaking before roughly 300 people, Clinton reminded the audience that after his wife graduated from Yale Law School, she helped register Mexican-American voters and instead of joining a big law firm where she could be making a lot of money, she went to work for the Childrens Defense Fund in Massachusetts. She then moved to Arkansas, where she taught and led legal clinics representing disenfranchised individuals, he said.

He also touted her role in the creation of the State Childrens Health Insurance Program in 1997, a program run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that she supported when he was president. He also cited her vote for the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) and Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) comprehensive immigration reform bill in 2007 while she was a U.S. senator from New York.

Clinton also noted her support of the Safe Schools Improvement Act introduced in 2015 and her desire to increase the number of small businesses.

The reason Hillary ought to be president is that shes a world-class change maker, he said. She may not be the best talkeralthough I think shes pretty goodbut I know this.

He also said Hillary and her Democratic primary opponent, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.), have had a very elevated and fierce debate about the issues facing America compared to the Republican presidential candidates.

But he rejected the notion that only Hillary is part of the Washington establishment, saying that they (Hillary and Bernie) voted together 93 percent of the time.

Meng introduced Clinton. Reshma Saujani, founder and CEO of Girls Who Code, two-time Olympic medalist Michelle Kwan, a former figure skater who now works for Hillary Clintons campaign, and state Assemblyman Ron Kim (D-Flushing), also spoke in support of the candidate.
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By Bill Parry

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton visited the Jackson Diner in Jackson Heights Monday to discuss diversity and discrimination with residents and elected officials.

After walking through the oldest Indian restaurant in the neighborhood, shaking hands and posing for photos, Clinton hammered Republican frontrunner Donald Trump for potentially undermining the safety of our people with his dangerous and divisive language towards Muslims.

People around the world, as well as our country, are hearing this and theyre wondering whats happening in America? she said. When you run for president, the entire world hears you.

Clinton also took Trump to task for his degrading comments about women and minorities. The former secretary of state sat alongside U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights), who spoke of the diverse crowd representing Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Indonesia and Nepal.

Folks here know what its like to be discriminated against, he said. Clinton then remarked that the borough is the most diverse county in the world, but that Queens native Trump does not seem to respect diversity.

I have been speaking out against Trump and I will continue to speak out against him, Clinton said, turning her attention to Democratic rival Bernie Sanders, her opponent in Tuesdays New York primary.

Under the bright lights and scrutiny here in New York, Sen. Sanders has had trouble answering questions on how he would deal with the banks and how he would approach foreign policy. She later said she has the best policies to keep Wall Street from wrecking Main Street again.

Asked about her focus on both Trump and Sanders, Clinton said, I think I can walk and chew gum at the same time.

Borough President Melinda Katz, City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) and state Assemblyman Michael DenDekker (D-East Elmhurst) were among the Queens officials who met with the candidate.

It was wonderful to have our future president in the district, carefully listening to the issues that matter to the community, state Sen. Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst) said after the meeting. Hillary Clinton was very attentive to what our constituents told her. She was preoccupied with issues affecting small businesses, immigrants, the Dream Act, which she expressed support for.

Katz said if Clinton wanted to showcase diversity, she came to the right neighborhood. There are 167 languages spoken in Jackson Heights.

The community welcomed her with open arms, Katz said. Shes been here before as a candidate for the Senate and as first lady, so in a sense its as if she came home.

Crowley hosted Clinton at the Jackson Diner during her Senate campaign in 1999.

Secretary Clinton is someone who will bring our nation together, not divide usand in many ways Jackson Heights, one of the most culturally diverse neighborhoods in the country, was a fitting stop for her to make, Crowley said. It was a wonderful opportunity for members from our South Asian communities and leaders from various faiths to hear Secretary Clintons vision for our country and how she will protect our homeland and our interests abroad without compromising the very values we hold dear.

Shes someone who understands that our nation stands for religious freedom and inclusion, and that we are at our strongest when we come together.
Want to travel to Europe?

Well, it might not be as easy as you think because the European Union (EU) is currently considering requiring U.S. citizens and Canadians to apply for visas before visiting the country of their choice, even if its for a short vacation. Why the change? Because Europeans need visas to enter into U.S. and Canada. CNN Money reports , while Americans and Canadians only need a passport when visiting the EU, visitors to the U.S. from Poland, Croatia, Cyprus, Bulgaria, and Romania need a visa. Romanians and Bulgarians also need visas for Canada.

Mina Andreeva, the spokesperson for the European Commission, shared that the objective here is to achieve full visa waiver reciprocity for citizens of all member states and this is a priority for the European Union. Although representatives for the U.S. government noted that the countries listed above did not meet the requirements for its Visa Waiver program, they noted they are progressing towards it.

Canadas visa policy is also not based on reciprocity and a Canadian spokesperson from the department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada revealed that Canada must be satisfied that countries meet its criteria for a visa exemption.

Because of this, the European Commission must propose reciprocal visa requirements for the nations that dont allow European citizens to enter their countries without a visa, according to EU rules. The deadline for doing so is Tuesday. At a meeting this week, the commission will discuss whether to go forward with the visa suspension or not; if they choose the former the requirement will go into effect four months later.

Because the United Kingdom and Ireland have opted out of the European Unions visa policy, travel to those areas will still be allowed without a visa should this new requirement pass.

SOURCE: MadameNoire
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.
By Lynn Walker of the Times Record News

The storm chasing frenzy is causing headaches for emergency personnel in severe weather situations, such as happened Sunday.

On several occasions Sunday, the control operator for Wichita County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES), the volunteer storm spotter group, had to shoo amateur storm chasers from their closed radio frequency. But the main problem is traffic congestion as amateur chasers converge on roads where severe weather is developing.

"The country is inundated with these people," said Charlie Byars, who is ARES coordinator for nine North Texas counties."

"Safety is our main issue," said Byars, who noted that as many as 100 amateur storm chasers may converge on the area when the potential for tornadoes is high.

He said they will sometimes park in the middle of a road to watch and photograph an approaching storm. His group has begun calling law enforcement to clear away congested roads.

"We do not think storm chasing is a good idea," said Rick Smith, Warning Coordinator for the National Weather Service in Norman, Okla., the bureau responsible for Wichita Falls and much of North Texas. "We don't condone it."

To illustrate the potential danger of chasing, Smith points to an incident in May 2013 where four chasers were killed by tornadoes near El Reno, Oklahoma, two of whom were seasoned chasers.

"That's a sobering reminder that it's not as cool as it looks on TV, Smith said.

He said the tornado-chasing phenomenon began with the release of the movie "Twister," in 1996. The movie, which combined romance, villains, and unrealistic meteorology, glamorized tornado chasing. Since then, video captured by tornado chasers has become regular fodder on some cable TV channels.

Byars said some amateur chasers will drive hundreds of miles from their homes for a chance to photograph a tornado. The phenomenon seems to have special appeal to foreigners who do not have tornadoes in their own countries, he said.

One intruder on the spotter radio network Sunday was an Australian, who continued arguing against his exclusion from the frequency into Monday afternoon.

"We try to be nice. We hate to be rude," Byars said. "But we don't know who these people are or if they know what they're doing."

Intruders on the net are told they are welcome to listen  but not to talk.

In addition to tornado chasers, Byars tells of "tornado safaris" in which companies charge customers thousands of dollars to participate in a tornado hunt.

Storm spotters are different than storm chasers. Members of the local ARES undergo extensive weather and safety training and serve time as trainees until they qualify to spot storms on their own. Spotters are typically assigned to an observation point and move only when they're in danger or asked to move by the network controller. Chasers actively pursue storms, sometimes at high speeds.

Smith praises the value of trained spotter groups such as the one in Wichita Falls, which he calls one of the best in the country.

"They are doing life-saving work," he said.

The spotter group here communicates with the weather service and with emergency managers in area communities who decide if storm sirens should be sounded. While weather technology has become sophisticated, no radar can "see" a tornado, Smith said. Confirming a twister depends on human eyes on the ground.

Sunday night, radar had a strong indication one storm cell could become tornadic and the weather service issued a tornado warning for part of Wichita County. ARES spotters never saw a tornado and none was confirmed.

The Sunday storm produced strong wind and large hail in southwest Oklahoma and gave Wichita Falls 1.37 inches of welcome rain. Another storm before dawn Monday temporarily knocked out electricity to about 2,400 customers in the Wichita Falls area and dropped small hail  but added nothing to the official rain gauge near Sheppard Air Force Base.
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ALBANY  "Is there anything more fun than a Trump rally?" asked the Republican party's front-runner from the stage of the Times Union Center in Albany.

His address to the large crowd of more than 10,000  the lower deck and floor of the arena was filled, the upper deck about four-fifths occupied  was interrupted a few times by anti-Trump activists.

The speech was composed on what's become standard for Trump's rallies: a free-form mix of attacks on his opponents in both parties, punctuated by broadsides against the media, the political establishment, the mismanagement of the economy and other nation's ability to out-negotiate the United States.

A handful of times, Trump interrupted his remarks to call for the removal of a protester. Each time, Trump stopped and let his crowd chant protesters out of the room, though he occasionally would instruct security to "get 'em out of here."

"Send him back home to mom," he said of one protester.

An altercation between Trump supporter Mike Caraher of Albany and an unidentified protester broke out behind the media pen, though it didn't seem to grab Trump's attention. As the protester booed loudly, Caraher stepped into the aisle to confront him, ultimately shoving the protester in the face more than once before the protester was removed.

"I have my personal rights and my personal space," said Caraher after the rally (the spelling of his name is approximate  he declined to spell it for a reporter). "They're going to start yelling about some bulls--t, I'll snatch your ass up."

Here's video of the incident:

Trump slammed his opponent Ted Cruz for his debate remarks criticizing "New York values," which the Texas Republican characterized as liberal orthodoxy.

"We have the greatest values. Nobody has values like us," said Trump.

He castigated the Colorado GOP's decision to assign its delegates in a convention  a process that made Trump a loser in that state. He was equally angry about his failure to secure delegates in Louisiana, a state he actually won.

Referring to his party's nominating process, he said the nation needed to set about "cleaning up this dirty, rotten, disgusting system."

He insisted Hillary Clinton was being protected from justice in the matter of her State Department emails ("a disgrace") but predicted she would win the New York primary. He said everything in her life was "a big, fat, beautiful lie."

Trump was introduced by 2010 Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino, who revved up the crowd with remarks hitting Gov. Andrew Cuomo, President Barack Obama, political correctness ("You can't say Merry Christmas") and the media. He said Trump offended "limp wrists in the liberal Democratic establishment."

"You're participating in a political revolution that you'll be telling your grandchildren about some day," Paladino told the crowd.

Overall, the crowd was peaceful but boisterous.

"We love Albany. We love Albany, right?" Trump said just after taking the podium. "We love New York. We love our country."
Port Washington

Hillary Clinton told a somber Long Island audience Monday that as president she would stand up to the powerful gun lobby.

Sitting alongside activists who shared stories of losing their loved ones to gun violence, Clinton said, "Let's figure out what we're going to do to save lives."

Clinton, the leading Democratic candidate in the White House race, sat down for a discussion on gun safety at Port Washington's Landmark on Main Street, part of a campaign swing across the state ahead of the April 19 New York primary.

She touted her "common-sense agenda" to close loopholes that expand gun ownership, saying that it was too often that she has "looked into the eyes and held the hand of people who ask, 'Why? How can we let this happen?' "

Gun control is one of the issues on which Clinton is to the left of her Democratic rival, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a rural state with lax firearms laws.
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Raleigh, N.C.

Hundreds rallied Monday to defend a North Carolina law limiting protections for lesbians, gays and transgender people, using cheers and a booming public address system to drown out a smaller counter-protest across the street.

About 500 gathered on the grounds of the old Capitol in the largest demonstration yet by supporters of the law, seeking to strike back after more than two weeks of negative publicity along with condemnation from business leaders and other public figures.

Signs reading "No Men in Women's Bathrooms" highlighted a single provision of the multifaceted law that has served as a major rallying point for conservatives: a measure requiring transgender people to use the bathroom corresponding to the sex listed on their birth certificate.

Rally attendee June House said she believes people should use the bathrooms and locker rooms corresponding with their gender at birth. The issue is important to the Fayetteville resident because she ran a fitness center before retiring and continues to swim frequently at another gym.

"When I come out of the shower, it's a semi-nude situation. I think modesty and safety are not what they should be if cross-dressers are in there," she said.

On a nearby sidewalk, nearly 100 people gathered in a counter protest, holding signs such as "Bigotry is Bad for Business" and chanting: "They are up there preaching hate! They do not represent our state!"

The demonstrations reflected a fervor that's expected to keep the debate stoked through the legislative session later this month  and likely through fall elections that include a closely contested governor's race.

Opponents of the law, including the Rev. William Barber, president of North Carolina's NAACP branch, have threatened civil disobedience when the legislative session starts on April 25 if the law isn't repealed. Those who support the law are also planning a rally that day, said Mark Creech of the Christian Action League.

Creech told the crowd at his rally that a "smear campaign" has been deployed against a law that protects small business owners who want to follow their religious beliefs.

He said women and children must be protected from predators who would use antidiscrimination measures as a pretense to enter the wrong restroom.

The state law was passed after Charlotte adopted a non-discrimination ordinance allowing transgender people to use public restrooms in line with their gender identity. The law overrules LGBT antidiscrimination measures passed by local governments. It also excludes sexual orientation and gender identity from the state's antidiscrimination policy.
Albany

The state is giving more time for energy and environmental interests to react to a multibillion dollar plan by the administration of Gov. Andrew Cuomo that would subsidize renewable energy and nuclear power.

Unveiled late Friday by the state Public Service Commission, a cost analysis of the plan projects it could cost the state more than $3.6 billion through 2030 to reach ambitious clean energy goals backed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, but reductions in climate-changing greenhouse gases would create benefits worth more than $8 billion.

While comments to the PSC on the overall Clean Energy Standard (CES) plan are due by April 22, comments on the plan's costs are due by June 6.

The 297-page report projected potential costs and benefits of CES, which would require the state to produce half of its electric power from renewable sources by 2030. Currently, the state gets about 27 percent of its power from renewables, including hydro, wind and solar.

According to the report, the state over the next 15 years would spend about $2.4 billion on subsidies for new renewable energy suppliers, and gain about $4.3 billion in carbon reduction benefits. Another $907 million in subsidies would be earmarked for existing renewable energy suppliers, yielding $622 million in carbon reduction benefits.

The report's executive summary stated that the program would add less than $1 a month to typical residential electricity bills by 2023.

A controversial aspect of the Cuomo plan is the use of renewable energy subsidies to benefit upstate nuclear power plants. Those subsidies to nuclear plants, which emit no greenhouse gas, would cost the state about $270 million, but yield a whopping $3 billion in carbon benefits, according to the report. Nuclear power, however, would not be counted toward the 50 percent renewable target.

On Monday, Jackson Morris, director of the Eastern Energy Project for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the PSC cost report was "a solid bit of analysis."

The monetary value assigned to carbon emission reductions, based on a model from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is "well-established and well-vetted. This is not some sort of theoretical method," he said.

The Business Council of New York State expressed doubts. "We are very concerned that long-awaited study leads to more questions than answers," said council Government Affairs Director Darren Suarez. "We are very concerned that the Clean Energy Standard will cost energy consumers billions and billions of dollars, and could cripple energy intensive businesses and provide few if any environmental benefits, and this study fails to provide a full estimate of the range of cost."

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No comment was available from two other major industry players  the Independent Power Producers of New York, which represents power plant owners; and Multiple Intervenors, a coalition of the state's largest industrial energy consumers. Its members number about 60 and include Alcoa, Cornell University, Corning Inc., Occidental Energy Ventures Corp., Praxair Inc., Quad Graphics Inc., State University of New York, and Wegmans Food Markets Inc.

Last month, a coalition lawyer urged the state to push back comment deadlines since the cost impact study was still not finished.

"The impacts of this mandate on electric customers are unknown, but may be substantial or even staggering," wrote Michael Mager, counsel to the coalition. Having a state deadline for comments before cost estimates have been released is "akin to asking a prospective homeowner to visit a large number of houses for sale and to make a decision thereon without having any information as to the prices of the various houses."

bnearing@timesunion.com  518-454-5094  @Bnearing10
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Albany

The job of an internal affairs investigator in New York state's Corrections Department can be thankless work. So it was a rare occasion last month when officials summoned all 150 members of the unit to the department's training academy here for a pep talk.

The past year had been an unusually bad one for the agency, with the escape of two convicted murderers from the Clinton Correctional Facility in northern New York and a series of federal investigations into brutality by officers.

Not mentioned that morning, but understood by all, was that the internal affairs unit, responsible for investigating wrongdoing by guards, had been an embarrassment for years.

Investigators had often been reluctant to challenge the powerful corrections officers' union, and the disciplinary system was so stacked in the union's favor that a guard could be found guilty of brutalizing an inmate and not be fired.

But the internal affairs unit had been overhauled. It was now prepared to take the fight to the union, Daniel F. Martuscello III, the department's deputy commissioner, declared.

For the New York state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, which has long been seen as subservient to the union, it was an unusual move of defiance, one that could have reverberations across the prison system.

Union leaders have managed to negotiate favorable labor contracts with a long line of governors, including Andrew Cuomo, giving them more control in many cases over personnel decisions than the prison superintendents or even the corrections department's commissioner.

Under the current contract, union seniority rules dictate that superintendents have practically no power to transfer problem officers. Disciplinary rules give an arbitrator, not the commissioner, final say on who gets fired.

Rules governing internal affairs investigations require officers to receive 24 hours' notice before being questioned, and while on the job, a guard cannot be penalized for refusing to answer questions from an outside law enforcement agency.

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Moreover, details of disciplinary measures taken against guards are kept secret from the public, because of privacy protections won by the police and corrections unions over the years.

The result is that a culture of brutality has been allowed to thrive in the prisons, where a few rogue guards, often known on the cellblocks as beat-up squads, administer vigilante justice, while fellow officers look the other way, according to cases documented over the past year by The New York Times and its reporting partner, The Marshall Project.

The unit's current caseload of suspected wrongdoing by officers numbers over 1,000: They include an officer at Southport Correctional Facility, Peter A. Mastrantonio, who has been sued 17 times in brutality cases that have cost the state $673,000 in settlements; and a Great Meadow inmate, Frank Povoski, who was beaten after being quoted in The Times about an inmate's death at the hands of guards.

Michael B. Powers, the union president, said in an interview that while he was willing to work with the corrections department, he would fight to protect his officers "with any and all resources necessary."

Asked whether brutality was a problem, Powers replied, "What are you talking about?"
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Today's best Avast Free Antivirus deals (opens in new tab) Avast Free Antivirus (opens in new tab) View (opens in new tab) at AVAST Software (opens in new tab)

Updated with addition of Avast's Ransomware Shield. This review was originally published May 4, 2020.

Closer to a mini security suite than a basic free antivirus program, Avast Free Antivirus includes an unlimited password manager, a Wi-Fi network scanner and a silent gaming mode. It also gives you full control to adjust its sensitivity and customize its activities to match your wants and needs.

Avast Free Antivirus specs Malware protection: So-so

System impact, background: Light

System impact, scans: Heavy

Windows compatibility: 7 through 10

Email scans: Yes, as a separate free tool

File shredder: No

Game/silent mode: Yes

Hardened/secure browser: Yes, as a separate free tool

Password manager: Yes

Performance scanner: Yes

Ransomware file reversal: Shield only

Rescue disk: ISO built-in

Scan scheduler: Yes

Support options: FAQs, forums

URL screener: Yes, as a separate free tool

Upsell nag factor: Omnipresent

Avast Free Antivirus subscription options: 12 month plan - $0 per month ($0 total cost) (opens in new tab)

But be warned: Avast takes a long time to scan a computer and slows down the system during scans, and the program provides mediocre malware protection that's arguably worse than that of the built-in Microsoft Windows Defender. At least the company says it has stopped collecting and sharing anonymized data about how you use your PC.

Kaspersky Security Free Antivirus offers nearly as many extra features, top-notch malware protection and a nearly nonexistent system-performance impact. It's our choice for the best free antivirus software. If you can do without the extra features and would rather just "set it and forget it" with your antivirus software, then Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition may be best for you.

Read on for the rest of our Avast Free Antivirus review.

Avast Free Antivirus: What's covered and upgrade options

Avast Free Antivirus supports only Windows 7, 8.1 and 10. For Windows XP or Vista, you can install an older version of Avast (opens in new tab) that might not have the latest features but will have the latest malware signatures.

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Think of Avast Free Antivirus as a security suite on the cheap. It includes features you don't normally find with free antivirus software, such as a password manager, a Wi-Fi network scanner, a gaming/movie mode to minimize interruptions, a limited performance scanner and, as of August 2020, a ransomware shield that prevents designated files from being altered.

Kaspersky Security Cloud Free also has a password manager, but it's limited to 15 entries before you have to pay for it.

Avast also sells paid antivirus programs. The cheapest is Avast Premium Security, which costs $60 a year for a single computer, or $80 for up to 10 devices (Windows, Mac or Android). It adds a firewall, a file shredder, an automatic software updater, webcam protection, defenses against spam and a secure folder that can protect key files in a ransomware attack.

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Avast's Ultimate program costs $100 yearly for a single PC. It includes unlimited versions of Avast's Cleanup, Passwords and SecureLine VPN programs, which would cost a total $130 if purchased separately.

Avast Free Antivirus: Antivirus protection

Avast Free Antivirus' malware scanner compares files and programs to a database of known malware and looks for telltale signs of an infection. Suspicious items are uploaded to Avast's lab for analysis, and new malware signatures are pushed out to Avast's 400 million users every few hours. Avast Free Antivirus also scans USB flash drives for malware.

The Avast Online Security extensions for Chrome and Firefox block known malicious websites and web trackers and examine webmail attachments, but the extensions must be downloaded on their own.

Avast Free Antivirus: Antivirus performance

Avast shares its malware-scanning technology with its sister company, AVG. Third-party lab tests reveal that both deliver acceptable but mediocre malware protection.

In all 26 monthly tests carried out in 2018, 2019 and the first two months of 2020 by the German lab AV-Test (opens in new tab), Avast (and AVG) spotted 100% of both "widespread" known malware and "zero-day" unknown malware 14 times, which is commendable.

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

But it failed to detect at least 99.5% of zero-day threats nine times over those two years, which means that a significant amount of the worst kind of malware sailed right past Avast's defenses.

By comparison, Windows Defender missed more than 99.5% of zero-day malware only five times in those two-plus years. Bitdefender did so only twice. And Kaspersky detected 100% of both kinds of malware in all 26 tests.

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Avast's results on evaluations conducted by Austrian lab AV-Comparatives (opens in new tab) were also meh. Its average detection rate of "real-world" online malware from February through May of 2019 was 99.2%, well short of Kaspersky's 100% and Bitdefender's 99.9%, and less than the 99.6% scored by Microsoft.

In July through November 2019, Avast got an average of 99.3%, ahead of Kaspersky's 99.1% and tied with Microsoft (and AVG, naturally), but behind Bitdefender's 99.9%.

In February-March 2020, Avast stopped 99.7% of threats, again tying AVG and Microsoft. Bitdefender was behind with 99.5%, but Kaspersky aced it.

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

AV-Comparatives' tests elicited more false positives than AV-Test's, and Avast performed adequately, racking up only five in the first half of 2019, eight in the second half and five in February-March 2020.

In each half of 2019, Microsoft got 74 and 58, respectively, but suffered only five in February-March 2020 after AV-Comparatives turned off Microsoft's Smart Screen feature. On the other end of the spectrum, Kaspersky consistently got zero, indicating a very well-tuned detection engine.

Finally, Avast scored 98% overall in both of the last two quarterly rounds of 2019 evaluations by London-based SE Labs (opens in new tab), which factors in false positives and how malware is handled after detection. Microsoft got 99% and 100% in those two rounds, while Kaspersky garnered 100% both times.

For SE Labs' January-March 2020 tests, Avast got 98%, same as AVG, while Microsoft got 99% and Kaspersky 100%. Bitdefender was not tested.

Avast Free Antivirus: Security and privacy features

Avast's Secure Browser (opens in new tab) is intended for online shopping or banking, but you'll need to download it separately. Based on Google's Chromium code, Avast's browser forces sites to establish a secure HTTPS connection if possible and doesn't allow extensions.

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Avast's Passwords password manager holds an unlimited number of entries and works with Chrome, Firefox and Avast's Secure Browser. Passwords Premium costs an extra $20 (or comes with the Avast Ultimate paid package) and adds a data-breach monitor and fingerprint logins.

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Avast's Wi-Fi Inspector examines your home network to compile a list of connected devices and ferret out old firmware, insecure passwords and incorrect settings. But Avast's SecureLine VPN client software, once built into Avast Free Antivirus, is now a separate download. It costs $60 a year; there's no more limited free option, but there is a 30-day money-back guarantee.

If a Windows computer is hopelessly infected, Avast Free Antivirus contains software to create a rescue disk on a flash drive or DVD that will boot the system into a secure Linux environment for scanning and repairs.

Avast Free Antivirus: Application-usage data collection

Until a few months ago, Avast and AVG notified you when you first launched the software that, with your permission, it would "collect anonymous data about your computer, network and the websites you visit" and that Avast "may share this data with 3rd parties for analytics purposes." You could opt out of that collection.

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

That was a long-standing practice, but a couple of media reports in January 2020 about where that collected data went generated a public outcry. Avast's stock price tanked, the company said it would end the practice, and the data-collection notification window no longer appears when you first launch Avast Free Antivirus.

(Image credit: Future)

However, there are a couple of new items buried in the "Personal Privacy" part of the Settings. You can now choose whether to share threat data with Avast; to share application-usage data with Avast to "help us with new product development"; to share application-usage data with 3rd-party analytics tools; and to share application-usage data with Avast "so that we may offer you 3rd-party products."

Those last two items sound rather like what Avast said it would no longer do. An Avast spokeswoman clarified to us that Avast no longer shares user data with third parties for purposes of analyzing broader trends in business and marketing, rather than for specifically analyzing the performance and use of Avast's own software.

We realize that Avast Free Antivirus offers a lot for free, but we recommend turning off anything that would result in your data being shared with third parties, even if that data is aggregated and anonymized.

Avast Free Antivirus: Performance and system impact

Avast's Free Antivirus is not only one of the most resource-hungry AV programs we've encountered but is also one of the slowest to scan a drive.

To check system performance, we used our custom benchmark test, which measures how long the CPU takes to match 20,000 names and addresses in an Excel spreadsheet. We used an Asus X555LA notebook (opens in new tab) with a 2GHz Core i3-5005U processor, 6GB of RAM, 59.5GB of files on a 500GB hard drive and the latest version of Windows 10.

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Before loading Avast Free Antivirus, we established a baseline score by measuring the benchmark's completion time at an average of 13.7 seconds. After we installed the program, but without an active scan running, the completion time slowed to 14.3 seconds, indicating a 4.3% background decline in performance.

Active scans exact a heavier toll. Our benchmark's average completion time was 17.7 seconds during Avast's full scans, a drop in performance of 24% from the background level, and 29% from the baseline before Avast was installed.

Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition's scan caused a 26% drop from the background level; AVG AntiVirus Free's scan caused only a 7% performance decline.

If that weren't bad enough, the benchmark time for Avast Smart Scan was 21.0 seconds, a 47% performance drop from the background levels, and a 53% drop from the preinstallation levels. That's four times the performance hit of Kaspersky Free Antivirus.

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

It took Avast an average of 1 hour, 22 minutes and 44 seconds to complete a Full Scan, slightly longer than AVG AntiVirus Free's Deep Scan result. Of the five free antivirus programs we looked at, only Microsoft Defender took longer. Avast's full-scan times also didn't shorten over time, unlike other programs that learn what to ignore and what to focus on.

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Avast Free Antivirus took 3 minutes and 9 seconds to run a Smart Scan, the equivalent of a quick scan that checks the most likely sectors to be infected. That's more than twice as long as AVG AntiVirus Free's similar Computer Scan.

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

AV-Comparatives' Impact Score has a different take, with a score for Avast of 6.2. That ties its corporate cousin AVG for the best among the five programs we looked at. Microsoft Defender was the worst at 27.3.

Avast Free Antivirus: Interface

The interface for Avast Free Antivirus has a dark blue Status page with bright, easy-to-read text saying "You're Protected" when everything is right. When you need to address an issue, that turns to a red "X."

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

On the left is a column of major security activities, including categories for Protection (scanning, quarantine and Wi-Fi Inspector), Privacy (Passwords) and Software (updater and Do Not Disturb mode).

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

The Performance section has links for the Do Not Disturb mode, the Software and Driver Updater applets as well as what Avast calls Cleanup Premium. These features, however, only identify problems  you'll need to either pay for the downloadable applets, or get Avast's Premium package, to make changes.

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

The Status screen also has a Menu link and a powerful Settings screen. In that, you can whitelist safe items and change the interface language; Avast still honors the seafaring with a Pirate Talk option.

Avast Free Antivirus lets you adjust its scanning sensitivity, turn major components on and off, customize its activities and opt out of having data collected from your system. If all you want to do is run Smart Scans, the Start button is part of the Status page. All other scans are two clicks away.

Avast Free Antivirus: Installation and support

Avast Free Antivirus' installation starts with a 223KB installer file that downloads the rest of the program, but be careful because it will also install the Google Toolbar in your web browser unless you opt out. All told, it took a little under 7 minutes to get and install the program.

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

You don't need to set up an Avast online account to use Avast Free Antivirus, but it's a good idea because then you can monitor the status of all your systems running Avast software.

Like other free security programs, except for Microsoft Defender, Avast Free Antivirus offers no telephone tech support. But there are a lot of online resources, including installation help, tips and FAQs and a direct link from the program to the company's support pages.

Avast Free Antivirus: Bottom line

Avast Free Antivirus includes a full-featured password manager, a gaming mode and a Wi-Fi network scanner, which is great. But the software ultimately falls short on protection and performance.

Kaspersky Security Cloud Free offers better protection, a much lower performance hit, lots of customization and nearly as many extra features as Avast.
Avira Free Antivirus is focused on malware protection and offers few extra features, although many can be downloaded for free from the Avira website.

You do get an applet that adjusts the Windows firewall, but Avira's scans had a relatively heavy impact on our system performance, and its malware protection rates have stagnated behind the best antivirus software while other brands have improved theirs.

Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition and Kaspersky Free Antivirus deliver better protection with less system impact and are our top choices in best free antivirus software. For extra features at the cost of less malware protection, try Avast Free Antivirus.

MORE: Best Antivirus Software and Apps

Avira Free Antivirus subscription options: 1 month plan - $0 per month ($0 total cost) (opens in new tab)

What's Covered and Upgrade Options

Avira Free Antivirus 2018 runs on Windows 7 (with Service Pack 1), Windows 8/8.1 and Windows 10. There's no XP or Vista support; for that, there's Panda Free Antivirus.

The program comes with a firewall manager and browser extensions, which rate websites based on reputation and defend against unwanted extensions.

If you want more features, the Avira Free Security Suite adds a password manager, the Avira Phantom VPN service and a system optimizer, although some of these are trialware that you'll need to pay for in the long run.

There are three paid upgrade options. Avira Antivirus Pro (starting at $5 per month or $45 per year for a single PC or Mac) adds protections against ransomware and infected flash drives, plus a hardened browser for online commerce. The macOS component is a contender for best Mac antivirus software.

The Avira Internet Security Suite (starting at $6 a month, or $58 per year, for one Windows PC) adds a software updater to ensure your applications are fully patched.

At the top is Avira Prime, which includes licenses for premium iOS and Android apps as well as PC and Mac software. It adds unlimited VPN usage, a software updater for Windows and Android, and a Windows system optimizer, plus of course one of the best Android antivirus apps.

Avira Prime starts at $10 per month, or $100 per year, for up to five devices. The "unlimited" license, available for $130 per year, or $13 per month, is actually limited to 25 devices.

Antivirus Protection

Like most antivirus software, Avira has a three-layer protection scheme. The traditional malware scanner compares files against a library of known threats. The heuristic monitoring examines code and watches for indications of an infection.

The software uploads copies of suspicious files to Avira's labs for analysis. Whatever is deemed dangerous is added to the malware-signature updates that go out several times a day to Avira's 400 million users.

This data collection necessarily includes customers' system profiles, computer usage habits and browsing histories. You can opt out, but you'll need to make the request via email.

Avira Free Antivirus 2018 scans compressed files and blocks unwanted software, but email attachments are examined when they are opened rather than when they arrive. Avira's Browser Safety extensions for Chrome, Firefox and Opera warn of known malicious websites and block ads and tracking cookies.

You can start a quick scan with a single click from the program's main window, but it takes three clicks to start a full scan. The custom-scan option lets you home in one specific files or folders, but you can also right-click on anything in Windows Explorer to scan it.

MORE: Best Antivirus - Top Software for PC, Mac and Android

Avira Free Antivirus lets you schedule scans for when you're asleep or away, or set them up to run automatically once every day or week.

Antivirus Performance

Avira's malware scanner, shared by all of Avira's Windows antivirus software, is occasionally brilliant but mediocre at other times. It provided only adequate protection from attack in our in-house tests and in third-party lab tests.

Our own tests, conducted from February to June 2018, saw Avira Free Security Suite blocking 96 percent of malware and phishing attempts on malicious websites. That's not enough for an A in antivirus software, where what matters is what you don't catch.

The score was below the 98 percent average detection rate among products tested; only AVG AntiVirus Free scored lower among free antivirus makers.

German lab AV-Test evaluated 18 antivirus products on Windows 10 in March and April 2018, and Avira Antivirus Pro breezed through the detection of previously unknown "zero day" malware with a pair of 100-percent scores.

Avira's scanner was put back a little, however, by widespread known malware, scoring only 99.7 percent detection in March and 99.8 percent in April. Those rates would have been above average just a few years ago, but antivirus protections have improved a lot, and most products we review do better.

Our own tests, Avira Free Security Suite stopped 96 percent of malware. The score was below the 98 percent average detection rate among 14 products tested.

In Windows 10 evaluations in May and June 2018, Avira stopped 100 percent and 99.9 percent of widespread malware, respectively, which is very good. But while Avira also stopped all zero-day malware in May, it snagged only 99.2 percent in June, the same as Avast Free Antivirus but ahead of AVG Internet Security.

MORE: Antivirus Software - Reviews of Free and Paid Versions

Avira's malware detection was also a bit meh in AV-Test's January and February 2018 Windows 7 tests. It snagged 100 percent of zero-day threats in the first month, but only 99 percent in February, matching the category averages. Against widespread malware, Avira scored a low of 98.7 percent in January but rebounded with 100 percent in February.

Over six monthly rounds of tests conducted in the first half of 2018 by Austrian lab AV-Comparatives, Avira Antivirus Pro did well, stopping an average of 99.8 percent of "real-world" (mostly internet-borne) malware, right behind Bitdefender and Kaspersky.

Like those two industry leaders, Avira had high individual-month scores of 100 percent and lows of 99.5 percent, and safely above the industry average of 99.0 percent. Avast, AVG AntiVirus Free, Panda Free Antivirus and Windows Defender all did worse.

Avira scored five false positives (benign items mistakenly flagged as malware) in AV-Test's four round of tests, and six in AV-Comparatives' five rounds. Those scores, in which fewer is better, were better than average.

MORE: 12 Computer Security Mistakes You're Probably Making

SE Labs, based near London, ranked Avira Free Security Suite ninth out of 13 products in its April-June 2018 tests, with an overall score of 94 percent. Avira was docked a few points for allowing infection despite detection of a few pieces of malware (not an unusual situation).

Overall, these scores put Avira Free Antivirus a notch or two behind free antivirus software offered by Bitdefender and Kaspersky, and about the same as Avast, AVG, Panda and Windows Defender.

Security and Privacy Features

Avira Free Antivirus 2018 has a few nonessential extra features. A firewall manager controls Microsoft's own Windows firewall. You also get Privacy Pal (opens in new tab), which fixes 200 common privacy problems, such as online ad tracking, and lets you limit the information you disclose online.

There's also Avira's System Speedup (opens in new tab), which frees up disk space, pushes performance and encrypts files among other useful things, but it's a tease; the application is "limited" unless you pay $32 a year.

Avira's Phantom VPN client and service isn't included with Free Antivirus, but you can get it with the Free Security Suite or install it on its own. There's a maximum of 1GB of free monthly data access, which isn't much; unlimited data costs $10 per month, or $78 per year.

The Security Suite adds a free password manager (opens in new tab), although a premium version is on the way; a software updater (opens in new tab), available in both free and "pro" versions; a shopping adviser (opens in new tab); and a "safe search (opens in new tab)" Chrome extension. Each of these goodies can be downloaded from the Avira website.

But note that in its Privacy Policy (opens in new tab), Avira says that "we work with third parties to provide you with better search results" in Safe Search, and that "if you use Avira Safe Shopping, it is part of our contractual obligation to present you with suitable products from other providers or other providers' conditions for the same product."

Like many antivirus companies, Avira offers a free "rescue disk (opens in new tab)" that you can burn to a CD or load on a bootable flash drive. It boots your PC into a secure Linux environment to thoroughly sanitize your Windows drive.

Performance and System Impact

Avira Free Antivirus' defenses take a fairly heavy toll on system performance, and you might notice slowdowns during a full system scan. It had the heaviest system load of all seven free antivirus products we reviewed in 2018.

To check performance impact, we used our custom OpenOffice benchmark test, which measures how long it takes to match 20,000 names and 20,000 addresses in a spreadsheet. Our testbed was an Asus X555LA notebook with a 2GHz Core i3 processor, 6GB of RAM and 117GB of files on a 500GB hard drive, running Windows 10 with the latest updates.

Avira Free Antivirus 2018's defenses take a fairly heavy toll on system performance, and you might notice slowdowns during a full system scan.

Before we installed Avira Free Antivirus, the OpenOffice benchmark finished in 6 minutes and 58 seconds. With Avira running in the background but not actively scanning, that completion time rose to 7:39, a decline of 10 percent from the baseline and worse than AVG's and Bitdefender's 5 percent losses.

During Avira's full scan, the OpenOffice test took 9:26 to complete, 35 percent slower than the baseline score and 23 percent slower than the background benchmark result. That was one of the biggest slowdowns among the free antivirus products we recently tested.

Avira's quick scan wasn't as bad; the OpenOffice test finished at 8:59. But that's still 29 percent slower than the preinstallation baseline and 17 percent slower than with Avira quietly running in the background.

On our Asus system, Avira's first full-system scan took 1 hour and 14 minutes to look at 914,835 files, about as long as Windows Defender and Panda Free Antivirus took. The scan time didn't get shorter in subsequent runs, indicating that Avira didn't choose to regard certain files as inherently safe.

A quick scan took 1 minute and 37 seconds to churn through 3,377 files. (Scan times will differ from system to system.)

Interface

Avira Free Antivirus' bright, new modular interface is a winner, but some of the screens below the surface are still in Avira's earlier monochromatic, cramped style.

Avira's main screen shows the software's Real-Time Protection and firewall manager, but the Web Protection section is for Pro customers and the empty module next to that is a placeholder.

At the top of the main screen, a green check mark tells you that everything is OK. There's a link to update malware definitions and an offer to upgrade to Avira Antivirus Pro. You can also start a Quick Scan from this screen.

A left-hand navigation bar links to screens for Scan (quick, full, custom or scheduled scans), Modules (real-time and firewall protection), Quarantine (dangerous items) and Activity (tasks). The Settings gear icon at the bottom handles options such as blocking adware, phishing and double-extension files.

Avira's PC Protection section lets you turn on or off everything from boot-scan options to checking files for integrity. It provides a lot of customization, but the interface, which hasn't been updated on this page, is hard to figure out.

A powerful Task Tray icon lets you turn real-time protection on or off, start a scan or update the program. You can also send feedback to the company.

Installation and Support

Avira Free Antivirus installation starts with a 5.2MB installer that also offers to install the Opera web browser. The entire installation process took just under 7 minutes.

Like most other antivirus products, Avira Free Antivirus collects data about what's on your computer and how you use it. To opt out, go to the Avira website and email a request.

You don't need to sign up for an Avira online account, but you should: It will let you track all the products on which you've installed Avira software.

Avira Free Antivirus 2018 has a lot of online-help resources, which is good because it has no phone or email support.

Bottom Line

Avira Free Antivirus 2018 can be customized exactly the way you want, but the program eats up too much of your system's performance without delivering top-shelf malware protection. If you want more features, Avast Free Antivirus has a password manager, a network scanner and a hardened browser, while Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition and Kaspersky Free Antivirus protect best of all without doing much else.

Credit: Tom's Guide


It's no longer just about 4K; Samsung's 2016 lineup of QuadHD TVs boast not only a high pixel count, but a technology capable of producing much brighter and cleaner colors, a revamped interface and remote, and the ability to control all your smart home devices from the screen itself. Available now, we took a first look at Samsung's 2016 SUHD TVs, which start at $1,499.

Samsung's TVs use what's called Quantum Dot technology to produce colors. Tiny particles that are between 2 and 8 nanometers in size produce white light that has stronger peaks at the blue, green, and red spectrums, which allow the sets to produce not only clearer and brighter colors, but do so more efficiently than other types of panels.

For its new TVs, a redesigned user interface pulls in content from Hulu, Netflix, YouTube, and other sources, including Dish, Time Warner, Comcast, and DirecTV. The TVs will also recognize any device you plug into it--such as a Blu-ray player or Xbox--and automatically configure its remote control to work with that device. The interface is completely customizable, and will surface your favorite content.

MORE: Our Favorite 4K (Ultra HD) TVs Available Now

Speaking of the remote, it's a lot more futuristic than your traditional clicker. It has a minimalist look, in some ways similar to the original Apple TV remote, with very few buttons, and a circular d-pad in the middle. The remote also has a microphone built in, which lets you perform voice searches.

But more than just being something to get your Netflix binge on, Samsung is looking to make its TVs the center of your connected home. Starting this summer, its new Series 7, 8, and 9 TVs will have the SmartThings hub built right in, which will enable you to control smart home devices, such as connected locks and lights, right from your TV.

Although we werent overly impressed with any smart home hub, we found Samsungs SmartThings to be the best of the bunch. The hubs installed in the TVs wont be much different from the standalone second-gen SmartThings hub, but itll be one less thing to plug into your router. Plus, if you have a connected security camera, youll be able to watch its feed right on your TV.

Unfortunately, in order to turn the new TVs into a smart home hub, you'll need the SmartThings Extend, a small dongle that connects to the back of the TV and enables the smart hub. While it's free, it won't be included in the box with the TV itself; rather, consumers will have to send away for it. Samsung is also looking to bundle the dongle with other smart home products at retailers.

Not surprisingly, these TVs won't come cheap. The Samsung KS8000, which has a flat display, will be available in a 55-inch model for $1,799, and in a 65-inch model for $2,799. Starting in May, it will be available in a 49-inch model for $1,499, and a 60-inch model for $2,299.

The KS8500 4K SUHD Curved TV is now available now in a 55-inch model for $1,999 and a 65-inch model for $2,999. A 49-inch model will be available in May for $1,699.

The KS9000 4K SUHD TV (which is a flat panel) is available now in a 55-inch model for $2,299, and a 65-inch model for $3,499. A 75-inch model will be available in early June for $6,499.

Lastly, the Samsung KS9500 Curved SUHD TV is available now in a 55-inch model for $2,499 and a 65-inch model for $3,699. A 78-inch model will be available in early June for $7,999.
The Avalanches mythical second album is like the Australian Chinese Democracy, except the long-long-long-awaited sixth Guns N Roses album actually found its way into the hands of fans eventually.

The Aussie beat collectives follow-up to 2000s legendary Since I Left You on the other hand, looks as though it may never see the light of day and fans have pretty much given up hope of ever hearing it.

The follow-up to Since I Left You has reportedly been in production since 2005, which means its officially surpassed the 10-year record set by GNR for being the longest recorded album.

But recent action across the groups online channels  their website, Facebook, SoundCloud, Twitter, and newly minted Instagram  has fans buzzing once again, despite the many, many times theyve had their hearts broken.

The band took to their website and social media channels this morning to upload a mysterious image featuring a golden embroidered butterfly on dark silk cloth, alongside release details for their new album.

Well, no, actually all we have to go on right now is the butterfly, which does come months after Modular Recordings, the bands label, told fans to stand by for news on forthcoming releases from Movement, Bag Raiders and The Avalanches.

Image via The Avalanches

We havent heard anything since then, but with the Splendour In The Grass lineup set to drop tomorrow, fans are speculating over whether or not we might see the Melbourne clique make an appearance at Byron Bay.

Naturally, some fans arent having any of it and you can hardly blame them. Back in June 2014, the band told fans the follow-up to Since I Left You would be ready in three weeks. Plot twist: it wasnt.

Stay tuned to Tone Deaf and well have more details on this story as they emerge.
A band that by now need no introduction, King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard are edging ever closer to the release of their anticipated album number eight, Nonagon Infinity, (out via Flightless/ Remote Control on 29th April).

Following the largely acoustic Paper Mache Dream Balloon last year, the band have revealed Nonagon Infinity, would instead be an ambitious tribute to the heyday of heavy metal, with influences like Slayer and Motorhead which you can hear in the LPs latest single People Vultures.

Being such prolific innovators, we decided to get you ready for this new release by looking back at the (still relatively young) bands already impressive discography.

To spice it up a little, weve decided to rank the records from 7  1 (1 = the best). Of course this list is completely subjective and the efforts of a huge King Gizzard fan. When it comes to King Gizzard its clear quality and quantity come in equal measure.

Also weve only covered purely King Gizzard studio albums, so the bands debut EP Willoughbys Beach and spoken word epic Eyes Like The Sky (a collaborative piece with Broderick Smith) have not been included.

#7  Float Along/Fill Your Lungs (2013)

Starting off the list reluctantly  as each of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizards projects are equally epic in their own way  is Float Along/Fill Your Lungs. In this release King Gizzard really tapped into their third eye to create a very kaleidoscopic and psychedelic experience for the listener of course, with their signature lo-fi touch.

This release touches on themes of the psychedelic awakening of the 60s in Australia weighing up with underground legends such as Love or more obscure, Bubble Puppy (go ahead and look those guys up). Though coming in at #7 King Gizzard have some of their brightest and best anthems on this LP like Head On/Pill and God is Calling Me Back Home, both tracks going to show the vast spectrum of excitement and ideas the band can bring to music.

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Its clear that other Aussie bands like the Babe Rainbow and even Tame Impala have quite possibly taken a leaf out of King Gizzards book with this perfect piece of Australian psychedelia, so Gizz should be envied for putting out work like this. Sadly, the list has to start somewhere but this is in no way to devalue the genius of the bands work.

Float Along  Fill Your Lungs by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard

#6  12 Bar Bruise (2012)

By far the harshest, loudest, most banging and fastest piece of work by King Gizzard is this, their debut album 12 Bar Bruise. This release is really the genesis of the Gizzard sound and from which most elements and ideas featuring in King Gizzards later releases can be traced back to.

The squeals, the fast picking and the WOO! Has all originated from this album. The title track, 12 Bar Bruise was recorded on 4 iPhones just to give you an idea on what level of lo-fi this is (without compromising on quality). This really is the epitome of King Gizzards sound but with some delightful surprises thrown in. The track Cut Throat Boogie sounds like one of The Beatles gone manic, while other tracks like Bloody Ripper sounds it could almost be inspired be Blurs earlier works.

This just shows the diverse range of inspirations that the band tapped into while conceiving this album. But ultimately this album is a fantastic Australian psychedelic (with a little pub rock thrown in) album that represents the stripped back spirit of some of our best artists and sound.

12 Bar Bruise by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard

#5  Oddments (2014)

Beginning in the top 5 is an absolutely quintessential King Gizzard album for first time listeners. Oddments was the second album to be released by the band in 2014 (as we all know just 1 album per year is not enough for this writing and recording factory line of a band).

Yet in this case quality and quantity are equal as Oddments proves King Gizzards diverse writing and production style. This effort is one of King Gizzards more toned down and to the roots albums, without going as far as Paper Mache Dream Balloon. The bands fusion of more of a country, folk feel in the release gives Oddments a different edge to their other work so far.

A rather heavy acoustic and traditional instrumentation alongside the use of very psychedelic pedals and effects gives the album a far out and spaced groove very similarly to Im in Your Mind Fuzz except cranked down and funkier. Overall Oddments really delivers what King Gizzard is all about, psychedelia and groove while showing real progression in the bands sound making this a top pick for most fans.

Oddments by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard

#4  Nonagon Infinity (2016)

This would have to be the most conceptual release under the bands belt as the entire album is to be played on one continuous loop. The continuous loop means rather than an actual album with different and diverse songs this release blends many recurring motifs and ideas to create one lengthy and evolving track that never ends.

Stu has said in a reddit AMA that the band started Nonagon Infinity straight after Quarters but instead decided to take a different path and focus on crafting Paper Mache Dream Balloon as a palate cleanser.

Nonagon Infinity very much leads on from Quarters showcasing more of King Gizzards heavier and faster style, diving back into their roots of Im In Your Mind Fuzz or even 12 Bar Bruise.

Being their most recent record, it really displays the bands development in style and songwriting, combining all the elements of jazz, prog and simple rock to form their very unique sound and although not their magnum opus, this album really delivers.

Nonagon Infinity by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard

#3  Paper Mache Dream Balloon (2015)

Paper Mache Dream Balloon was King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizards answer to folk which mixed with the bands psychedelic music DNA combined to form one beaming, trippy, happy acoustic album.

The most deviant from King Gizzard releases, this album is comprised purely from acoustic instruments such as upright bass, piano, clarinet and yes even a flute. Sounding like the instrumentation from a Sufjan Stevens album or a traditional Balkan band this gives (King Gizzards primary songwriter) Stu Mackenzies already quite intricate and lovely melodies a soft to the touch sound, as if Quarters were sprinkled in fairy dust.

This album is definitely the prettiest of King Gizzards discography as, even as their name suggests, they signature sound is screaming guitars, double punch drums and an occasional WOO screeched into the microphone. Stu and the bands writing style surprisingly fit this unexpected genre extremely well, which gives this album a high place on this list as one of their most accomplishing and interesting albums so far.

Paper Mache Dream Balloon by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard

#2  Quarters (2015)

Maybe the most psychedelic release from King Gizzard, definitely one of the best. Quarters is comprised of four, 10 minute and 10 seconds tracks making this album a 40 minute journey of meticulously crafted, pure psychedelic joy.

King Gizzard really delve into their krautrock and jazz influences here with some very funky and groovy not so much tracks, but motifs in the album.

The opening track The River is a ten minute jam just simply consisting of two chords and yet still somehow manages to hooks you until its rhythmic conclusion. The way this track evolves is very reminiscent of 70s progressive rock legends like Can or King Crimson, whom we suspect the band drew inspiration from.

King Giz have said that most of this album was actually improvised which really impacted on the length and groove of the release in its entirety. It really has to be listened to chronologically, in full to gain as much as possible from it as it is a masterpiece as a whole. Quarters is definitely one of King Gizzards most ambitious and conceptual projects and they have definitely pulled it off, therefore placing it high (#2 for us) on the listening priority for the band.

Quarters! by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard

#1  Im In Your Mind Fuzz (2014)

Theres no doubt in our minds that if any fan were asked for their favourite King Gizzard album, many would immediately mention Im In Your Mind Fuzz.

This album combines everything we love about King Gizzard: the slowjams, the loudjams, the screaming riffs and the trademark WOO in the microphone every once in a while. This is no beast easy to tackle though, the album is quite un-categorisable showing elements of psychedelia, hard rock, and even folk. Strangely enough, this sometimes chaotic pick and mix sound really works.

King Gizzards obsession with continuity really flows through the release as the main riffs and melodies from Im In Your Mind reappear throughout the recording. The other theme of extreme lofi-ism plays prevalently in the sonic spectrum in each of the tracks with distortion just covering the mix like thick syrup.

As the title suggests the fuzz is the most major part of the sound in the record. This would be King Gizzards fuzziest record so far. The superb combinations of these ideas and sounds makes this record stand out from the rest and easily the most recognisable, putting this album in our number one spot.

The bands latest epic Nonagon Infinity, is out via Flightless/ Remote Control on 29th April, pre-order here.
We know 360 can spit a rhyme or two and hes certainly mastered the art of social media, but fans are about to see the Melbourne emcee add another string to his bow with the release of the Aussie independent film Is This The Real World.

The film, directed by Martin Mckenna and featuring Sean Keenan, Greg Stone, Susie Porter, Charlotte Best, hit the international festival circuit back in 2014 where it received widespread acclaim, and is about to see an official Australian release.

360, real name Matt Colwell, recently shared his excitement over the films release via his official Facebook page, telling fans, I really admire the art of acting  its something Ive always wanted to do.

I was extremely lucky to be offered a role in this movie a few years ago and now its finally coming out. Exciting! Sixty makes a few appearances in the trailer for the film, which you can check out below, as bad boy Jimmy.

According to a synopsis from the Lorne Film Festival, Is This The Real World tells the story of Mark, a troubled kid who arrives in a new town and a new school with his fractured family and butts heads with the school principal as he falls in love with the principals daughter.

Sixty plays Jimmy, Marks dangerous and carefree brother who is dicing with the law. According to the films website, Is This The Real World is set to hit Australian cinemas later this year.
"Kansas is much more dependent upon aerospace, oil and gas than most states, and those sectors have been hit hard recently for reasons unrelated to state tax policy. Missouri meanwhile has benefited from thousands of auto manufacturing jobs being restored, but Kansas doesnt manufacture cars. Looking at the remainder of the private sector workforce for neighboring states (at least 96% of total), Kansas outperformed Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma over the last three years and trailed Colorado, which has been the case for a very long time thanks in part to their controlled spending and lower taxes. Kansas also outperformed the region on private sector GDP growth through the first nine months of 2015 . . ."

It seems that just about every Kansas City media outlet has jumped upon the pro-tax bandwagon because it's easy to beat-up Gov. Brownback . . . He has few GOP friends and arguing online for schools and healthcare give people an unearned sense of self-satisfaction . . .Admittedly, our blog community has struggled to offer a balanced perspective because there's simply not a lot of content out there that supports Kansas economic theory . . .But we found this gem that actually makes an interesting case . . .Deets:After wading past all the partisan nonsense . . . What's important is the numbers supported by facts and the reality that financial progress in flyover country is hard to attain no matter political/economic theory prevails.You decide . . .
"Jim LaManno, husband of Terri LaManno, who was killed outside the Village Shalom assisted-living facility in Overland Park, Kansas in April 2014, filed a lawsuit Monday against Walmart, Friendly Firearms LLC and the man who purchased one of the guns for the shooter . . . Also named as defendants in the lawsuit are the companies who operated the gun show where Friendly Firearms allegedly sold one of the weapons to John Mark Reidle, a friend and fellow white supremacist of the shooter, Fraizer Glenn Miller.





"Miller was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Reat Underwood, 14, and his grandfather, William Corporon, 69, outside the Jewish Community Center of Kansas City in Overland Park, and LaManno, 53, outside the Village Shalom assisted-living facility. None of the victims was Jewish, but Miller assumed they were when he shot them."

IS THIS LAWSUIT A RIGHTEOUS CLAIM OR COURTROOM REVENGE ATTACKING THE SECOND AMENDMENT???

Check the legal consequences of a tragic shooting that shocked the metro a couple of years ago . . .Deets . . .And so . . .You decide . . .
Leading leisure travel tour operator Thomas Cook is introducing its new Casa Cook brand of lifestyle beach resorts to the world from Rhodes, Greece on May 1

Thomas Cook is introducing its new Casa Cook brand of boutique beach resorts to the world from Rhodes, Greece on May 1, as Tornos News (Remo Masala officially announced to Greek journalists in Athens today. One of the worlds leading leisure travel groupsis introducing its new Casa Cook brand of boutique beach resorts to the world from Rhodes, Greece on May 1, as Tornos News ( www.tornosnews.com reported on October 29, 2015 and the group's chief marketing officer,officially announced to Greek journalists in Athens today.

In an exclusive interview to Tornos News (www.tornosnews.com) Mr. Masala described Casa Cook's launching as "the hottest hotel opening in the Mediterranean" and disclosed that most Greek destinations are already performing satisfactorily during 2016.

"I am not worried about Greece this year," he stressed adding "most Greek destinations are already doing well and those that still lag behind will catch up during April and May. This year, Catholic Easter was too early for many Europeans to come to Greece because the weather was not warm enough yet. So bookings and traffic reasonably fell a little behind but are expected to catch up in the following weeks. Overall, this year will prove to be a good tourism season for Greece."

Regarding the global prospects for the tourism industry this year, he admitted that "it is not a secret that the whole industry is operating in a pretty challenging environment" but reassured that "there are some markets that are doing well already and there are others that will catch up later as late bookings will be strong this year."

Thomas Cook's chief marketing officer Remo Masala

One of the most beautiful countries in the world

Especially about Greece, he pointed out that "it is one of the most beautiful countries in the world, as far as I am concerned, and it also has a very special energy. It is the second strongest market in the Mediterranean for Thomas Cook after Spain. This year Greece is developing on a general level quite normally and there are also some specific destinations that will catch up with late bookings. Even the refugee crisis could end up having a positive effect eventually, since publicity usually works like this, in this business, and the Greek spirit of philoxenia (hospitality) towards these poor souls is appreciated by travellers all around the world. Overall, I think that the Greeks are handling this crisis very well."

Mr Masala admitted that other markets such as Turkey and Egypt will suffer losses this year because "even though some tourists still fly to these places and are not afraid to stay on the beach, many have switched destinations and moved westward. Spain and Portugal were the first to profit but when Majorca capacity is filled up, for example, demand will shift to other places like Greece."

Elaborating on the Casa Cook concept, he explained that "this new hotel concept is important for Greece because it caters to the new needs of a specific target group living in urban centers. It embodies many special features but, in essence, we can say that it brings an urban flair and bohemian spirit to the beach. Food, for instance, is called Soul Food because it signifies a way of sharing with friends while you eat, something which is not new to Greeks, we have even copied that from the Greeks maybe."

Unfolding his strategy as Thomas Cook's chief marketing officer he concluded:

"I am responsible for customer experience in all of the Thomas Cook brands as well as innovation and, of course, marketing. Casa Cook is a product, a logical consequence, if you like, of all our latest hotel developments and target group research."

The Casa Cook concept

Thomas Cook outlined the Casa Cook concept as follows:

Its time for innovation: an original boutique hotel concept by Thomas Cook brings an urban flair and bohemian spirit to the beach, tailored for those in search of a stylish home away from home.

Opening in May 2016, the 90-room Casa Cook Rhodes in Greece will be the first of the new Casa Cook lifestyle resorts to launch. The affordable adult-only hotel offers inspiring and eclectic design throughout, swim-up pools for every room, laid-back lounge spaces, as well as bikes, a gym and open-air yoga.

With a focus on experience and atmosphere, the bar, restaurant, main pool and lounge areas form the hotels vibrant hub. The kitchen offers day-to-night delights, from smoothies on-the-go to fresh Mediterranean plates for sharing at communal tables.

The relaxing holiday rhythm is easy to come by in a poolside hammock or sunbed and guests can enjoy DJ sets, film nights or sunset drinks during the evening. Sandals, beachwear, home accessories, hammocks and cosmetics are all available at the concept store so travellers can take home a bit of the boho dream.

Breezy beach style with an urban edge

Casa Cook Rhodes is an ensemble of sleek white buildings framed by lush vegetation, wooden decks and pools. To create the feeling of staying with friends, vintage furniture, handcrafted pieces and unique curios infuse the interiors with a characterful bohemian flair. Textured surfaces like wood and canvas, are matched with playful prints and patterns. Tropical designs add a burst of colour and the decor shows off craftsmanship from near and far.

The design language is carried through to the rooms, which are divided among several buildings, each flanked by its own shared pool. All of the five room categories feature swim-up pool access from a private terrace. Inside, rooms are equipped with high-end mattresses, air-conditioning, a mini-bar and free WiFi. Some also feature indoor Jacuzzis  including the two bungalow suites with private pools.

The creators of Casa Cook

Casa Cook Rhodes was developed by Thomas Cook Group plc in collaboration with a team of consultants from the premium lifestyle segment. Michael Schickinger of Lambs & Lions spearheads the conceptual development in close collaboration with interior designer Annabell Kutucu and architect Vana Pernari.

Were excited to introduce a uniquely different brand into the mix  not only within our own Group, but in the hospitality market overall, as Mr Masala said.

The second property of the Casa Cook brand is expected to open in Mallorca, Spain, while further hotels are planned for the summer season of 2017, with more details to be announced soon. Each resort will be individual and unique, yet exhibiting a consistent design language.

Casa Cook is the sixth brand within Thomas Cooks hotel portfolio, each with a unique guest experience catering to different customer segments.

The new concept has been created in line with the company strategy for profitable growth and differentiation, complimenting the existing five hotel brands  SENTIDO, SunConnect, Sunwing, Sunprime and smartline.

Location, reservations ans rates

Kolymbia is located on the Eastern coast of Rhodes, approximately 30km from the airport. Kolymbia Beach is within walking distance, approximately 700m away. Tsambika Beach  one of the islands most beautiful  is a 6km drive.

The hotel is adult-only and room rates, including breakfast, start at EUR 100 per night (approx. 78.50).

Casa Cook Rhodes is bookable online at www.casacook.com or www.thomascook.com, as well as by phone: +44 0844 412 5970 and through Thomas Cook and Co-operative Travel Stores.

Thomas Cook offers packages with prices in May, starting from 481 per person. The price is based on two adults sharing, with breakfast and flights from London Gatwick included. Optional extras may be applicable at the time of booking and prices are subject to availability.

The firm currently operates 49 hotels through franchise in Greece, from the 189 it manages worldwide.

About Thomas Cook

Thomas Cook Group plc is one of the worlds leading leisure travel groups with sales of 7.8 billion and more than 20 million customers in the year ended 30 September 2015. Thomas Cook is supported by 21,813 employees and operates from 15 source markets; it is number one or two (by revenue) in all its core markets. Thomas Cook Group plcs shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange (TCG). Thomas Cook is the worlds best-known name in travel, thanks to the inspiration and dedication of a single man. May 1 is Thomas Cooks 175th anniversary of operation as the first tourism agency in the industry, which launched in 1841.

Under the umbrella Hotels & Resorts, Thomas Cook offers six hotel brands - each with a very distinct character and each one catering to our guests' individual needs and desires. Thomas Cooks most recent hotel brand is Casa Cook, an original boutique hotel concept that brings an urban flair and bohemian spirit to the beach.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
The Swedish Tourist Association has created a dedicated phone number  The Swedish Number - for potential visitors to call and connect with a random Swede

As quirky destination marketing campaigns go, this latest one from Sweden is up there, tnooz.com reports.

The Swedish Tourist Association has created a dedicated phone number  The Swedish Number - for potential visitors to call and connect with a random Swede.

The idea is for visitors to talk to locals about anything from polar bears to meatballs and the Northern Lights.

The destination marketing organisation wants people to be able to get a feel for the culture and mindset of the local folk.

To facilitate the campaign, a cloud-based contact centre for 24/7 incoming calls has been created, which randomly calls one of the ambassadors.

According to the website, most calls are currently coming from Turkey, followed by the US and UK and the line has received almost 3,000 calls since April 6.

Its not the first time Sweden has let its residents do the talking with a campaign, with mixed results, letting locals loose on the @Sweden Twitter handle back in 2012.

Interesting to note that Visit Brussels ran a #callbrussels campaign in January to let potential visitors get a feel for the city amid media reports of a lockdown.

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
Total committed and planned energy investments in the Mena region, including Iran, will reach $900 billion over the next five years, according to a new report published by the Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (Apicorp).



The multilateral development banks report, 'Mena Investment Outlook  Big Plans in Uncertain Times', reveals that despite uncertainties in the regions investment outlook, Apicorp estimates a 19 per cent increase in total Mena energy investment activity over the next five years, representing an increase of $145 billion from the year before, to $900 billion.



Apicorp states that $289 billion of investment has already been committed to projects under execution in the region, while an additional $611 billion worth of development is planned.



Leading the investment drive will be Saudi Arabia, along with the UAE and Kuwait, which will look to invest across the energy value chain. Iraq and Iran will play catch-up and are determined to push their ambitious oil and gas plans forward, but will face many above-ground challenges.



In North Africa, Algeria has vowed to pump billions into its upstream sector. Much is also expected in Egypt as recent gas finds promise to meet rapidly rising power demand. Renewable-energy projects will be at the forefront of efforts to meet rising power demand in Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan.



Commenting on the report, Dr Raed Al-Rayes, deputy chief executive and general manager of Apicorp, said: Global investments in oil and gas fell by 20 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, one of the biggest drops in history. However, against this trend, we expect the Mena region to continue investing heavily as major energy-exporting countries expand the size of their energy sectors and strengthen their positions within global markets.



Despite the increasing investment plans within the Mena region, Apicorp's report also highlights several challenges and constraints that will prove pivotal over the medium term.



Global investments in the oil and gas sector are closely interlinked with oil prices. Although some Mena countries, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, the UAE and Kuwait, announced that they would go ahead with investment plans despite low prices, other countries with low fiscal buffers and competing pressures on its revenues, particularly Iraq, may have to reconsider their ambitious capacity-expansion programmes.



In addition, financing projects has become more challenging. Standard & Poors Ratings has indicated that credit worthiness in the Mena region has deteriorated over the past six months, with average sovereign ratings of BBB. Although recent efforts to attract foreign investment have seen some success, political and economic concerns mean investors will be cautious.



The region is also in turmoil. Persistent conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Libya, and the emergence of a new coalition in Yemen, is reshaping the geopolitical landscape. Conflicts and instability in these countries will keep investments at bay in the near term. Regional instability is unlikely to recede in the immediate future, and investors will be wary of spill-over effects in neighbouring countries.



Dr Bassam Fattouh, an energy sector specialist and advisor to Apicorp, added: 2015 was unsettling for the Mena region at a time of slower global economic growth and low oil prices. Many GCC governments have announced that budget deficits and public expenditure will be tightened in response. But, governments will prioritise critical investments in their energy sectors.



Saudi Arabia has the largest committed and planned investments in the medium term, while the UAE and Kuwait have ambitious programmes throughout the value chain. The GCC will use their investments to maintain the status quo as the major supplier of energy to the rest of the world. Iran and Iraq will also play catch-up, especially as investments in Iran start flowing back after years of sanctions. - TradeArabia News Service


Travelport, a leading travel commerce platform providing distribution, technology, payment and other solutions for the global travel and tourism industry, has appointed Nita Nagi as its regional manager for East Africa.



Nagi joins Travelport from Kenya Airlines where she garnered over 30 years experience in the aviation sector and most recently headed up the airlines regional sales strategy. Her early career began at Emirates Airlines where she worked as a sales manager. Throughout her career, Nagi has proved to be a strategic thinker and results-driven individual, with a deep focus on innovative technology, customer service and project planning in a multi-divisional environment, making her a great choice for Travelport. During her tenure at Kenya Airways, Nita developed and launched unique products for corporate customers, launched KQ Holidays as an ancillary revenue unit, as well as implementing the zero commission structure in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.



Nagii will be based in Nairobi and will report to Shashi Menon, Travelports regional director for East, Central and West Africa. She joins the company at an exciting time in its history in Kenya with the recent investment and launch of a local state of art customer Helpdesk for the countrys travel agency community, as well as the signing of key airline deals with JamboJet, Fly540 and EASAX airlines in the region so far this year.



She said: I am thrilled to join Travelport and look forward to fully embracing my new role. Travelport has been pioneering the travel industrys technology through its innovation and leading products which empower travel agents to grow their businesses and increase revenues and I am excited to be part of its story.



Rabih Saab, president and managing director for Europe, Africa, Middle East and South Asia, added: I am so pleased to welcome Nita to the Travelport team and Im confident that this new appointment will give new depth to our strong team in Kenya and the East African region and support the growth and presence of Travelports unrivalled value proposition in the country. - TradeArabia News Service
The largest telescope show in the United States, the Northeast Astronomy Forum celebrated its 25th anniversary this year with a bang. The show took place at Rockland Community College in Suffern, New York, hosted by the Rockland Astronomy Club as always, and capably managed by Ed Siemenn and his talented staff. One of the shows driving forces, Al Nagler of Tele Vue Optics, was present and all smiles as usual, with a huge crowd surrounding the Tele Vue booth. David and Sandy Nagler also busily showed numerous customers their latest cool stuff.NEAF took place on Saturday and Sunday, April 910, and attracted several thousand astronomy enthusiasts. I was busy talking to people at Astronomy magazines booth essentially all day, as many of you who were there saw. The nonstop stream of interested folks was great to see. Thanks to Astronomys Steve Meni and Dina Johnston for doing such a wonderful job with hosting , as well as our guests from TravelQuest (our tour partner), Caren Banks and Alec Kozak. We had lots of fun hanging out with them.Saturdays talks were magnificent. Alan Stern headlined a packed house with his description of the New Horizons flyby of Pluto, and the audience could hardly get enough of the summaries of what his team has learned about Pluto, Charon, and the smaller moons. And immediately thereafter, a very special session took place in which Sky & Telescopes Kelly Beatty hosted a talk and discussion with Pluto discoverer Clyde Tombaughs children, Annette and Alden, now in their 70s. Their recollections of Clyde and Patsy and the early years, as well as Clydes career progression, were fantastic.Other talks during the two days were also spectacular. Astronomys Editorial Board Member Marcia Bartusiak of MIT spoke about black holes and cosmology. Also from MIT, David Shoemaker described the recent discovery of gravitational waves. Well-known astroimager Chris Go described how amateurs can support the Juno mission to Jupiter. Fred Espenak, Mr. Eclipse, gave a marvelous presentation on next years Great American Eclipse. Gerard van Belle of Lowell Observatory talked about the infamous 2006 IAU Pluto vote. And Lowells Kevin Schindler and W. Lowell Putnam IV described the heritage of Pluto at Lowell.And of course NEAF was continuously busy with the more than 100 vendors who showed their telescopes, binoculars, cameras, and accessories. As always, Celestron had the largest and most spectacular booth display, with Meade, Tele Vue, Vixen, Woodland Hills, Oceanside Photo and Telescope, Astro-Physics, and others displaying impressive stretches of product. On Saturday, I did a book signing at the Cambridge University Press booth for my new title The New Cosmos, and I appreciate all those folks who stopped by to pick up the book and to say hello.I had special fun in seeing and catching up with Richard Berry, my old boss and mentor, who hired me many years ago at Astronomy magazine. Richard is working on a slew of projects as always, and enjoying writing, his telescopes, and drones. And I had great fun catching up with many old friends from Sky & Telescope  Dennis di Cicco, Kelly Beatty, Rick Fienberg. What a wonderful group of guys.Onward to NEAF 2017 and bring on the eclipse!For all images from the trip, visit the Online Reader Gallery Follow Dave Eicher on Twitter , and please check out his Author Page on Facebook.
1 Nyquist Doug O'Neill Uncle MoSeeking Gabrielle, by Forestry We all know by now he missed a couple of days of training with a slightly elevated white blood count, but he never missed an oat and has been back to the track showing great energy. Remember, he did travel cross-country, ran in the Florida Derby, and immediately traveled to Kentucky. Sometimes the stress of traveling, racing, and traveling again right after the race can knock a horses blood count off a bit. The bottom line is that hes settled in at Keeneland and is back in his normal routine. His followers had to be thrilled to see Exaggerators monster performance in the Santa Anita Derby, considering Nyquist has beaten him three times. Add that to the four times hes beaten his stablemate Swipe, and you can see why Nyquist is trainer Keith Desormeauxs worst nightmare. He keeps improving his stock whether he runs or not, and now its just a question if he is ready to win the Kentucky Derby off such a light racing schedule. He would be the first horse in memory to win off one sprint and one two-turn race. I wasnt comfortable putting any horse above him in the top spot; that is until the Santa Anita Derby. Now I have some serious thinking to do in the few remaining weeks. Some question his ability to get 1 1/4 miles, but remember, Uncle Mos broodmare sire is the stamina influence Arch, Uncle Mos best horses all look like they want to run long, and Nyquists female family has major stamina influences Pleasant Colony, His Majesty, Seeking the Gold, Buckpasser, and Arts and Letters, so he traces to Ribot twice. Just as a point of interest, all those stallions mentioned also are superior wet-track influences.

2 Exaggerator Keith Desormeaux CurlinDawn Raid, by Vindication As a big fan of this horse since day one, the temptation was great to make him No. 1, but I couldnt quite pull the trigger, at least until I see his Thoro-Graph figure to make sure its not some outrageous through-the-roof number. Will I get up the nerve next week to actually put him ahead of an undefeated champion whos already beaten him three times? Sounds crazy, I know, but stay tuned. I admit I have some dinosaur in me and am just a believer in the traditional way of preparing a horse for the Derby. Im still not quite sure what were dealing with. Is Exaggerator simply a superior mudder or has he been transformed into some electrifying dynamo of a horse thanks to a major change in running style? Were talking Jekyll and Hyde transformation. No matter which one, give a lot of credit to Keith Desormeaux for trying something so dramatic, most trainers wouldnt be able to pull it off. In fact, Ive never seen one do it to this extent before. For those who think its the slop, yes hes run well in the mud before, but a neck victory in the Delta Jackpot and a second in the Breeders Futurity are a far cry from the freakish performance he turned in Saturday. I commended Desormeaux last year for going old school and starting Texas Red off in a 7-furlong sprint, and he did the same thing this year with Exaggerator, as did his nemesis Nyquist. But Exaggerator has had a more conventional prep schedule since. Exaggerators turn of foot in the Santa Anita Derby was so explosive and he was moving so fast turning for home on that wet slick track, he looked like a speeding dune buggy negotiating a turn on its side wheels and in danger of tipping over. The stunning visual aspect of Exaggerators win aside, lets look into why he was able to make that kind of run as if moving in a different time frame than the other horses. First off, unlike the San Felipe, Danzing Candys suicidal pace of :22, :45 1/5, and 1:10 1/5 set it up for such an explosion from the back of the pack. Second, the :39 3/5 final three-eighths suggested a total meltdown of all those within three or four lengths of the leader. To his credit, however, he went from the half-mile pole to the eighth pole in a rapid :47 2/5, and didnt need to go any faster than the :13 1/5 it took him to come home his final eighth. And his Beyer figure of 103 was faster than anything weve seen so far this year. This horse has had his share of detractors who felt he was distance limited. But he is by Curlin and his tail-female family traces to English and Irish Derby winner The Minstrel and Greentrees Belmont Stakes runner-up Ruritania, a son of major classic/stamina influence Graustark.

3 Brody's Cause Dale Romans Giants Causeway Sweet Breanna, by Sahm Well, I stuck with Brodys Cause at either No. 2 or No. 3 for nine weeks waiting for his debut in the Tampa Derby, but it took him another four weeks after that to finally run the way Ive been expecting him to. Was it his love of Keeneland or is this what were going to see at Churchill Downs? He only earned a 91 Beyer, but his :37 2/5 final three-eighths was excellent. It should be noted, however, that with a solid :46 3/5 opening half, the first three finishers were able to close from 11th, 13th, and 10th, respectively, with pacesetter Laoban running a sneaky good race to hang on and finish fourth. Brodys Causes final eighth in :12 4/5 was just OK, but none of the 3-year-olds in general seem to be coming home all that fast this year. He has won going a mile at Churchill Downs, and remember my original Derby gods angle of Dale Romans being the chosen one this year. Then again, Romans also finished third with the improving late closer Cherry Wine, and has Unbridled Outlaw in Saturdays Arkansas Derby. So that angle looks to be back on the table. Amazingly, the last Blue Grass winner to capture the roses was Strike the Gold back in 1991. Its funny how the race was a much more successful prep when it was run nine days before the Derby. Brodys Cause is inbred three times  to a Kentucky Derby winner, an English Derby winner, and a Belmont Stakes winner, and there is no question of him getting the mile and a quarter.

4 Cupid Bob Baffert TapitPretty 'n Smart, by Beau Genius He turned in one of the better works of the year, drilling 7 furlongs in 1:24 3/5, as Baffert focuses on sharpening him up while building up his stamina. That is the one thing we dont know about him; how effective hell be at 1 1/4 miles. From a speed figure standpoint, his Rebel Thoro-Graph figure was slow in comparison to the runner-up, Whitmore, who covered much more ground and actually had a figure 3 1/4 points faster than Cupids, which is pretty startling to have a runner-up run that much faster than the horse who beat him 1 1/4 lengths. With that said, take away the speed figures and go by the eye test and what Cupid accomplished coming off a maiden victory, and you have to believe he is going to improve as much if not more than his beaten foes, and that what we saw in the Rebel was only the tip of the iceberg. I would expect to see Cupid rate back off the pace this time, as he did in his maiden victory, and improve his speed figure significantly. Remember, his Beyer figure of 95 was right up there with the best of this crop of 3-year-olds, and I expect him to top that, so perhaps the two speed figures are a wash, depending on which ones you choose to follow.

5 Mor Spirit Bob Baffert EskendereyaIm a Dixie Girl, by Dixie Union Once again, there are plusses and minuses to take from his second in the Santa Anita Derby. The positives are that, with his big stride,. he didnt seem all that comfortable in the slop, and he was not hard ridden in the final furlong, yet still kicked in late to get second. But again he did not show any acceleration until the sixteenth pole, and Exaggerator roared by him on the turn like he was moving in slow motion. To look at his chances in Kentucky optimistically, he has run well in the slop at Churchill Downs, he will appreciate the 1 1/4 miles, and this race, on the surface, didnt seem to take a lot out of him. In the San Felipe, he ran his half-mile and three-quarter fractions in :47 1/5 and 1:11 3/5, but in the Santa Anita Derby, he went in :46 flat and 1:10 4/5. That is faster than he wants to go, and he wont go anywhere near that fast in the Kentucky Derby. Also, his race reminded me in a way of Real Quiets second-place finish in the Santa Anita Derby. He was no match for his brilliant stablemate Indian Charlie, but he did run on even terms with him in the final furlong, despite not being persevered with and being allowed to close on his own by Kent Desormeaux once he saw he was beaten. Mor Spirit was 6 1/2 lengths behind Exaggerator at the eighth pole and 6 1/4 lengths behind him at the finish, also being allowed to finish on his own when Gary Stevens saw he was beaten. Real Quiet would go on and prove to be the better horse at 1 1/4 miles, and that is what Bob Baffert is counting on. As I mentioned last week, you cant wait until the sixteenth pole to kick into gear like this colt does, because the vast majority of horses in front at the eighth pole in the Derby do not come back to you. He doesnt have a big turn of foot, so he needs to get in gear earlier to put himself in better position to win, and he has a better chance of doing that from the second tier to mid-pack in the Derby. But the feeling here is that he needs to be within one-to-two lengths of the lead at the eighth pole.

6 Destin Todd Pletcher Giants CausewayDream of Summer, by Siberian Summer Things are never cut and dry anymore and traditional training regimens are slowly disappearing, and as a result Im totally confused what to do about this colt. Because the connections are so closely associated with the Ragozin Sheets, I can understand their fears and concerns about such an early peak performance. You sure cant knock the form of the Tampa Bay Derby, with beaten horses Outwork and Brodys Cause winning the Wood Memorial and Blue Grass Stakes, respectively. Why the change to such an unorthodox schedule? Checking the 33 years of Thoro-Graph figures, no Derby winner has ever run a negative number at 3 as early as March 12, as Destin did. In fact, the only Derby winner to have run a negative number two starts before the Derby was Smarty Jones, who bounced two points from the Rebel to the Arkansas Derby, then was great enough to pair up at Churchill Downs. So, as big speed-figure guys, you can imagine the curve ball Destins owners were thrown when they saw his Tampa Derby figure, and most important the gigantic jump he made from anything hed ever run before, which was even more alarming than the figure itself. Making such a dramatic move and running that fast a number, it put them in a very precarious position, and it basically looks as if by shutting him down until the Derby they have chosen the lesser of two evils, which is trying to win the Derby off an eight-week layoff and never having been farther than 1 1/16 miles, both unprecedented in modern times. Having another race before the Derby could totally knock the horse out, but this way, even if he comes up short in the Derby, they will at least have a horse for the Preakness and/or Belmont, as opposed to not having a horse at all for the rest of the Triple Crown. That is why it is so difficult knowing where to rank this horse. He may be as talented as any of them and has all the tools to win the Derby, but he also is a classic example of a horse peaking too soon and having his entire Derby preparation altered just to get him to the race with some sort of fighting chance. Because of his talent and pedigree, and how much I like this colt, I still have to give him some kind of chance of winning the Derby even with the odds hes up against. Just remember, the next time you complain about a 3-year-old running slower figures in February and March, look at Destin and consider the alternative.

7 Outwork Todd Pletcher Uncle MoNonna Mia, by Empire Maker Guess what? We have positives and negatives to sort out. What else is new? Whether or not this colt is ready to win the Derby off only four career starts, what he has accomplished in a short period of time has been pretty remarkable, and after his last two starts, he has gained the experience of a seasoned veteran. Even though hes had only four starts, two of them have been in sprints, and his first race was way back on Apr. 23 of last year in a 4 1/2-furlong race. So, in essence, hes really coming into the Derby off only three starts. So, just think of a horse with such little experience and seasoning stretching out to two turns for the first time in the Tampa Bay Derby and pushing his stablemate Destin to a track record and a 100 Beyer figure, while finishing seven lengths ahead of the third horse. Then, stretching out again to 1 1/8 miles in the grade I Wood Memorial on a tiring, sticky, muddy track, he breaks from the outside post and goes four-wide into the first turn before hooking up with the speedy Matt King Coal and dueling through swift fractions of :22 4/5 and :46 3/5. Outwork wasnt able to shake free of Matt King Coal until he eased clear at the quarter pole with his ears pricked. Although it was obvious he was tiring in the stretch, he was able to dig down and gamely hold off the challenge of California invader Trojan Nation, who looked like the stronger of the two at the sixteenth pole. But he would not let him get by. Yes, he beat a maiden, who had never even finished second in five career starts, and they crawled home in :40 3/5 for the final three-eighths and :14 for the final eighth, and the time of 1:52 4/5 was the slowest Wood ever and slower than the Gazelle Stakes the same day. Part of that slow final eighth no doubt was Outwork seemingly goofing off a little with his ears straight up. There is a historical look at the slow time in Knocking on the Door. Those were the negatives, but the bottom line is that this colt has crammed so much into two starts off practically no racing foundation and has been forced to become a man in a hurry, being subjected to very fast and very slow races, head to head battles, and handling a quirky surface like Tampa and a quagmire at Aqueduct, which should help give him a good deal of bottom and toughen him up for what will be an arduous assignment on May 7.

8 Gun Runner Steve Asmussen Candy RideQuiet Giant, by Giant's Causeway He turned in a strong 5-furlong breeze in 1:01 and galloped out strongly in 1:14 1/5. I probably dropped him too far down, but things will change over the next couple of weeks. He is another who has looked impressive visually in his two stakes victories at Fair Grounds, but has been running slow figures and beating questionable competition, so we really have no idea how good this colt is. His Thoro-Graph figs have been steady all through his career, but need to get faster by at least several points. He is from one of the successful Ned Evans families, tracing to many of the late Evans good horses. According to Evans former farm manager Chris Baker, who has been reunited with Quiet Giant at Three Chimneys Farm, she was light framed, gangly and immature as a young horse, and as a result, got a late start. She won all her races by huge margins and twice ran 3 3/4 Ragozin numbers, which were fast enough to win most grade I filly races. She has matured into a very attractive scopy mare, and Gun Runner always acted like a sensible, classy colt, who never got sick and always kept out of trouble. Even now, he remains a classy horse in every sense of the word and that is reflected in his ability on the track, where he has developed into an exceptional athlete. The question with him now, in addition to improving on his speed figures, is how hell perform off a six-week layoff and doing something no horse in history has ever done  win the Kentucky Derby straight from the Louisiana Derby.

9 Mohaymen Kiaran McLaughlin TapitJustwhistledixie, by Dixie Union If you were confused where to rank him last week, you might have a better idea this week if you go by the fact that, not only did he run poorly in the Florida Derby, but the three horses who have run second to him in stakes  Flexibility, Greenpointcrusader, and Zulu  have all run poorly in their final Derby preps. Can an undefeated horses reputation plummet to such depths so quickly? Going into the Florida Derby, some were looking at him as a potential Triple Crown winner to follow American Pharoah. He appeared to have it all, with few if any weaknesses. Now, he pretty much has become an enigma, with the improbable task of rebounding from a dismal performance and winning the Kentucky Derby. But there are those who prefer to remain loyal to the colt and are willing to throw out the Florida Derby completely because of the off track and losing too much ground. So, is he simply going backwards, was he ever as good as people thought he was, or can he bounce back and defeat horses who have proven to be far superior to the ones he has beaten throughout his career? Whether you have tossed him or are standing by him, you are putting yourself in a position to look foolish either way. At this point you have to go into the Derby with a combination of hope and skepticism. But remember the saying. There is nothing like a horse to make a person look like an ass.

10 My Man Sam Chad Brown Trappe Shot Lauren Byrd, by Arch What a day for owner Sol Kumin, who saw My Man Sam, owned by his Sheep Pond Partners, close like a rocket to finish second in the Blue Grass and earn a spot in the Kentucky Derby and then watched Exaggerator, in whom he owns 20% for His Head of Plains Partners, romp in the Santa Anita Derby. He was training so impressively as a youngster at Stonestreet Farm he was purchased privately right off the farm, with breeder Jay Bligh keeping 25 percent and Kumins elementary school buddy, who races under Newport Stables, taking 25 percent. One small twist, he was purchased strictly as a grass horse. It took Chad Brown a while to warm up to him, but when he did he insisted he was a dirt horse by the way he moved. What first impressed me about My Man Sam was the long powerful and sustained run he put in finishing second in an Aqueduct allowance race to Matt King Coal. Shipping to Keeneland for the Blue Grass instead of staying home for the Wood, he drew post 14, and, despite the post, was able to duplicate that huge run by slicing through the field from 13th on the far turn, being forced to swing seven-wide at the top of the stretch, and then closing fastest of all to nail Cherry Wine for second. What made this performance so impressive was that he ran down a horse who himself was closing fast from the back of the pack. That is the sign of a true powerful closer. So often we see horses run down speed horses or stalkers and you never know if one is really closing or the other is coming back to him. Cherry Wine was coming home powerfully and My Man Sam still ran him down with a :12 2/5 final eighth. This colt is still improving and the male influences in his female family go from broodmare sire Arch to Smart Strike to Storm Bird to Forli, so plenty of stamina there. His dam is a half-sister to Dixie and Jersey Derby winner Hudson Steele and his fourth dam is a half-sister to grade I Ladies Handicap winner Ida Delia and grade II Las Palmas Handicap winner Nikishka. So there is a good combination of grass and dirt in his pedigree.

11 Suddenbreakingnews Donnie Von Hemel MineshaftUchitel, by Afleet Alex I was seriously considering dropping him off the list and waiting until we saw what he did in the Arkansas Derby, because he currently sits at No. 32 on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard and needs a second-place finish to secure a spot in the field. But I couldnt do it. I just like everything about this horse and will bank on him running big, even though nothing this year surprises me anymore. I also love his pedigree. But it wont be easy if hes going to drop as far back as he did in the Southwest and Rebel Stakes. It all depends on his post again, and I see him running closer to the pace this time. He tuned up for the race with a solid half-mile work in :48 2/5. We know he can place himself anywhere in a race and can come inside, between, and around horses. But with such a large, competitive field expected for the Arkansas Derby hes going to have to have luck on his side as well.

12 Whitmore Ron Moquett Pleasantly PerfectMelodys Spirit, by Scat Daddy I was also considering dropping him for the same reasons as Suddenbreakingnews. But as mentioned earlier, his Thoro-Graph figure for the Rebel was more than three points faster than the victorious Cupid, which gives you an indication just how much ground he lost throughout the race. So, perhaps it wasnt the distance or a lack of a killer instinct that got him beat in his last two starts, as some might suggest. With 24 points, he is No. 24 on the Derby leader board, and needs only a third or possibly fourth-place finish in the Arkansas Derby to earn his spot in the Kentucky Derby. He breezed a half in :48 4/5 and looks to be sitting on a breakout performance if he gets a good trip and can save some ground for a change, especially with Irad Ortiz Jr. knowing him a lot better now after riding him for the first time in the Rebel Stakes. He is another whose distance capabilities have been questioned, because of the nature of his two defeats and his big effort at six furlongs in January, so this will tell us a lot about him and where he fits in the Kentucky Derby picture. He has shown on more than one occasion he has an explosive turn of foot. Ortiz just has to know when to pull the trigger.

KNOCKING ON THE DOOR

Just a side note about OUTWORKS slow time in the Wood. Slow times in general dont bother me if I already know the horse is fast. Better too slow in the final prep than too fast. On a track like that, and for such an inexperienced horse, I can overlook time, because I have seen the best of them run slow final preps before winning the Kentucky Derby. Northern Dancer won the Flamingo in a swift 1:47 4/5. But when he won the Florida Derby in a lethargic 1:50 4/5, Bill Shoemaker took off him to ride Hill Rise. He then ran another slow race in the Blue Grass, in 1:49 4/5, and went on to run the fastest Kentucky Derby of all time. Seattle Slew won his first start at seven furlongs in a track record 1:20 3/5, the won the Flamingo in a blazing 1:47 2/5. Therefore, many people were disappointed to see him win the Wood Memorial in workmanlike fashion in a slow 1:49 3/5. Swale won the Florida Derby in a swift 1:47 3/5, but in the Lexington Stakes in the slop, he was beaten eight lengths, with the winner running the 1 1/16 miles in a sluggish 1:45 2/5. Spectacular Bid won the Hutcheson Stakes in 1:21 2/5 and was a very fast 2-year-old and won the Flamingo and Florida Derby easily in solid time. Just when everyone was expecting a monster effort in the Blue Grass Stakes, Bid easily defeated three overmatched opponents, but ran the 1 1/8 miles in a pedestrian 1:50. Street Sense set a track record winning the Tampa Bay Derby and then was beaten a nose in the Blue Grass Stakes in a plodding 1:51 1/5.

So, with Outwork having already pushed Destin to a track record in the Tampa Bay Derby (his time would have equaled Street Senses track record), I can forgive a slow time in the Wood over a deep tiring muddy track. It is what he got out of the race that is more important.

Theres no denying it. The California horses simply look better than the Eastern horses. Just look at TROJAN NATIONS surprising second-place finish, beaten a head, in the Wood Memorial at 81-1, and even LAOBAN ran a big race in the Blue Grass Stakes, setting some wicked early fractions and still finished fourth at 20-1, beaten only 4 3/4 lengths. And both these horses are maidens. The last maiden to run in the Kentucky Derby was Nationalore in 1998. Triple Crown winner Sir Barton actually was a maiden when he won the Kentucky Derby. The last maiden to win the Derby was Col E.R. Bradleys Brokers Tip in 1933. Of the nine maidens who have competed in the Derby since, the best finish was eighth.

I wouldnt have a clue where to rank Trojan Nation or where he fits in the Derby picture. He does have an excellent pedigree and the Rasmussen Factor (RF), being inbred to Natalma through her son Northern Dancer and daughter Raise the Standard. Despite his head defeat in the Wood Memorial, he is a total unknown, although he did have a well-beaten third behind Cupid two races back and his connections did ship him cross-country to run in this race after he turned in a bullet 5-furlong work in :59 4/5, fastest of 59 works at the distance. You dont see too many maidens with a bullet work at Santa Anita, especially with 58 other horses working at the same distance. Just look at horses like him and MAJESTO, who came off a so-so maiden win to finish second to champion Nyquist in the Florida Derby and earn a spot in the Kentucky Derby. You just never know when young 3-year-olds are going to burst on the scene from out of nowhere.

I actually dont feel SHAGAF ran as bad a race in the Wood as most people think, considering the trip he had from the rail, dropping far back, always looking for running room, and never really getting a clear or a clean run. Just after the start, Adventist came over on him, knocking him off stride slightly, causing him to turn his head in, just enough for him to lose contact with the field. He actually had to run his second quarter in about :23 1/5, while some 8-10 lengths off the pace, which is not how he wants to run. He should have been sitting right off Outworks flank at that point. He showed good acceleration going into the far turn to quickly close in on the field, only to run into a wall of horses and lose all momentum. After having to pause, he got in gear once again and closed in on the leaders, but had to squeeze his way inside Tale of Savall, bumping with him. He finished steadily, but had done too much on that track and no doubt got tired, switching over to his left lead before the wire. The muddy track obviously didnt help him at all, being stuck behind horses, but he tried hard. He was only beaten four lengths, and I can easily see a vastly improved performance stretching out to 1 1/4 miles on a fast track. Many have given up on him, and speed figure-wise, he still looks too slow to be competitive in the Derby, but stranger things have happened, and with his pedigree, the look of class about him, and his overall record, it wouldnt shock me if he surpassed expectations in the Derby.

Although I had to drop either MO TOM, SUDDENBREAKINGNEWS, or WHITMORE to make room for some of last weekends heroes, I felt I should keep the last two and give them a chance to see what they can do in Saturdays Arkansas Derby. That doesnt mean I think any less of Mo Tom, who could hop back on if these two dont run big. There is also CHERRY WINE and ADVENTIST, who could have been added to the Top 12. Both these colts turned in excellent efforts, and I particularly loved the way Adventist ran at the end after appearing rank and throwing his head around early and then basically spinning his wheels and going nowhere in the mud. But he did level off in the final furlong and closed fast, although the :14 final eighth obviously made him look like he was closing faster than he really was. Still, he is an improving colt with a strong pedigree.

The problem with Cherry Wine is that he is No. 23 on the Derby leaderboard and there are good horses like Suddenbreakingnews, Whitmore, CREATOR, DISCREETNESS, and DAZZLING GEM behind him looking to leapfrog him in the Arkansas Derby and get into the Top 20. Even UNCLE LINO, who ran a strong third in the Santa Anita Derby after chasing that blazing pace set by Danzing Candy is ahead of him at No. 22, and the aforementioned Laoban is at 21. So, Cherry Wine, despite his big effort at Keeneland, is not assured of a starting berth at this time. He deserves to be in the Derby, which makes it that much tougher to lose that place spot in the final jump. Cherry Wines pedigree is loaded with major slop influences, so it would have been interesting to see what he would have done in the Wood Memorial, especially with that :14 final eighth.

Speaking of Cherry Wine and Mo Tom, this has not been the best of times for Corey Lanerie, whose brain freeze aboard Mo Tom in the Louisiana Derby has been widely publicized. Lanerie also has been the regular rider of Brodys Cause and Cherry Wine, and guess which horse he rode in the Blue Grass Stakes? Now, having given up the mount on the Blue Grass winner, he has to decide whether to ride Cherry Wine or Mo Tom in the Kentucky Derby. He was certain hed be taken off Mo Tom, but trainer Tom Amoss left him on. Will he now take off that horse to ride Cherry Wine, assuming he gets in the race? He has to be hoping Amoss and/or Romans dont ask him for a commitment now. Imagine choosing Cherry Wine and having him not get in the race and winding up with nothing?

Getting back to the Santa Anita Derby. DANZING CANDY was a big disappointment, not only because he was beaten over 13 lengths, but that he was pushed out of the gate to get the lead and then proceeded to set suicidal fractions. So instead of using the Santa Anita Derby as a prep and learning experience and an attempt to show he can rate, they got just the opposite and now have a one-dimensional speed horse who doesnt know what the word relax means. Thats not the way you want to try to win the Derby unless you can run a freaky race like Spend a Buck, who was allowed to open a huge lead and had the ability and stamina to keep going. UNCLE LINO probably isnt ready for the Derby, but he is a very good horse who is going to win his share of stakes during his career.

The other disappointment in the Blue Grass was ZULU, who was never in the race and staggered home in 12th, beaten nearly 24 lengths. It was odd seeing him with blinkers after only three starts and a good second to Mohaymen, but that likely was not the reason why he ran as poorly as he did. Remember when AMERICAN DUBAI was being highly regarded after his excellent third in the Southwest Stakes? Well, he has totally unraveled with two absolutely dismal performances.

Dale Romans, who has a top contender in Brodys Cause and another serious horse in Cherry Wine if he gets in, may not be finished yet. Dont overlook UNBRIDLED OUTLAW in the Arkansas Derby. He returned in an allowance race at Oaklawn after suffering a setback last fall and ran an excellent race, finishing second to older horses after setting a brisk pace. It was an encouraging first start back and he could break out with a big performance on Saturday.

Also on the Arkansas Derby front, DAZZLING GEM got the green light after breezing a half in :49 2/5. CREATOR breezed his half in :50 2/5. In other works, TOMS READY turned for the Kentucky Derby with a sharp half-mile breeze in a bullet :47 3/5, fastest of nine works at the distance.

Havent seen or heard a peep from the LANI camp. Last I saw he was galloping last week in the dark at Churchill. Could be a lost in translation situation. For those wondering, I havent forgotten him.

To show how difficult it is getting a horse to the Derby, Todd Pletcher had nine promising talented horses on the Derby trail, and it looks as if he will get two of them there  Destin and Outwork, and possibly three if Gettysburg upsets the Arkansas Derby. And Destin never ran in a final prep. Those who didnt make it are Zulu, Donegal Moon, Cards of Stone, Rally Cry, Mo Power, and possibly Gettysburg if he runs poorly. And Azar would need a number of defections to get in the race.

Well, I have to admit, looking back at my first Derby Dozen on Jan. 19, my No. 1 horse, Greenpointcrusader was a bust, thanks to a bizarre racing and training schedule. But hes never been heard from since the Louisiana Derby, so perhaps he didnt come out of that race too well. However, as wrong as I was with him and his path to the Derby, I have to feel good about my original Top 5 as a whole. My No. 2 horse, Brodys Cause, won the Blue Grass Stakes; my No. 3 horse, Mohaymen, won the Fountain of Youth; my No. 4 horse, Nyquist, won the Florida Derby; and my No. 5 horse, Exaggerator, won the Santa Anita Derby. Mor Spirit was at No. 7 and Mo Tom at No. 11; I wont even bother mentioning the others, they were such flops. But the bottom line is I still dont have the slightest idea who is going to win the Kentucky Derby.
Egypts declared intention to hand over control of two strategic Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia has kicked off a storm of vociferous opposition, laced with stinging satire, and dealt a blow to the pride of many Egyptians at a time when they feel their country is vulnerable and under attack from all sides.

The announcement that a team of Egyptian experts has concluded that the islands of Tiran and Sanafir at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba were inside Saudi territorial waters has taken Egyptians by surprise, raising criticism by some that the move amounted to a territorial sell-off to the oil-rich Saudis at a time when Egypts battered economy needs all the help it can get.

Others charged that President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi was running the country without transparency or accountability.

The agreement must be ratified by parliament, a 596-seat chamber packed with the presidents supporters whose adulation for Saudi Arabia went on display Sunday when King Salman addressed the legislature. He was received with a standing ovation and his six-minute address was repeatedly interrupted by applause. Lawmakers also recited poetry praising the Saudi monarch.

The government surprised 90 million Egyptians with a decision that we grew up accustomed to its opposite. Thats what made it worrisome and horrifying, author and analyst Ibrahim Eissa said on his TV show about the declaration that the islands were Saudi.

Tiran is the larger of the two islands and is closer to Egypts southern Sinai coast. It is associated in the mind of many Egyptians with their countrys four wars against Israel between 1948 and 1973, a time of nationalistic fervor and patriotism. More recently, Tiran has become a popular destination for tourists.

Hardly anyone in Egypt had thought of Tiran, the better known of the two islands, as anything but Egyptian territory for generations. But the government now says that Saudi Arabia in 1950 merely placed the islands in Egypts custody to defend them against possible attack by Israel. Now, according to that narrative, Riyadh is able to defend the island and is simply taking its own territory back.

News of the expected loss of the islands broke at a particularly vulnerable time, as the country is reeling from a string of public blunders and a host of seemingly intractable problems.

Egypts economy is ailing after five years of turmoil, an insurgency by Islamic militants has proved resilient and the vital tourism industry has been battered. The crash last October over the Sinai Peninsula of a Russian airliner, killing all 224 people on board, in a suspected terror attack has cut off the flow of Russian tourists who normally frequent the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Mostly desert Egypt is also gripped by fear over the likely reduction of its vital share of the Nile waters as a result of the construction by Ethiopia of a large dam on the river.

More recently, the countrys image abroad has taken a beating over the case of an Italian doctoral student whose torture and killing drew attention to the widespread culture of abuse of Egypts police. Giulio Regenis body, bearing torture marks, was found on a suburban Cairo road Feb. 3, nine days after he disappeared. Italian media and Regenis family have cast suspicion on the Egyptian police, but the Interior Ministry has consistently denied involvement.

Italy recalled its ambassador in Egypt on Friday to protest what it said was Cairos lack of cooperation in the Regeni investigation.

Khaled Ali, a prominent rights lawyer and a former presidential candidate, has filed a court case to demand that the Egyptian-Saudi agreement on the islands be annulled on the grounds that it violated Egypts constitution.

Critics also took to social media networks to denounce the deal, creating the hashtag Awad Sold His Land, an allusion to the villagers taunts in a popular 1960s radio play of a man who sold his plot of farmland  an act that in the past was equated with dishonor in rural Egypt.

Here, here, Pasha, one island for a billion, a pyramid for two and I will throw two statues on top, Egypts best known political satirist, self-exiled Bassem Youssef, tweeted, mimicking the shouts of Egyptian street hawkers selling souvenirs to foreign tourists.
RBI gives nod to Bharti Airtel's payments Bank Unit

Published: April 12, 2016

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given its in-principle approval to Bharti Airtels payments bank venture  Airtel M Commerce Services Ltd (AMCS).

With this AMCS has become the first entity to receive final approval from the RBI to start a payments bank. Airtel M Commerce is a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, a telecom company.

Private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank has upto 19.9 per cent stake in Airtel M Commerce.

Note: The Payments Banks are not allowed to lend. Hence, a tie-up with banks will help them source loans for their customers.

Background

In August 2015, RBI had granted in-principle licences to 11 entities to start payments banks.

The in-principle approval was valid for 18 months, during that time RBI had asked applicants to comply with the licensing norms.

Most of the players who received the payments licences are yet to apply for the final licences. One of them Cholamandalam Distribution Services Ltd. has decided not to go ahead with the venture.

Some of the other players that have received such differentiated licences are Tech Mahindra, Vodaphone m-pesa, Reliance Industries, Fino Pay Tech, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder of the mobile wallet Paytm and among others.

Month: Current Affairs - April, 2016

Topics: Airtel  Banking  Business  Economy  RBI

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Search News Archive : Fast Travel News Promotion Via Search, Social Media + Email Follow Us On : THE AJMAN PALACE HOTEL TO EXHIBIT AT ARABIAN TRAVEL MARKET 2016 Industry: Hotels

The Ajman Palace Hotel has confirmed its presence at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) that will take place in Dubai from 25 to 28 April



(TRAVPR.COM) UAE - April 10th, 2016 - The Ajman Palace Hotel has confirmed its presence at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) that will take place in Dubai from 25 to 28 April, 2016. The luxury 5-star hotel will be showcasing its facilities both at the HMH - Hospitality Management Holdings stand as well as the Ajman Tourism Development Department (ATDD) booth.



Ferghal Purcell, General Manager of The Ajman Palace Hotel, said, "ATM is a leading international travel and tourism trade show and has become a pivotal platform for The Ajman Palace Hotel. It is important for us not only from a group perspective given HMH's strategic presence at the event but also from a destination perspective with the Ajman Tourism Development Department. Both platforms offer The Ajman Palace Hotel the opportunity to maximize its exposure, as well as meet, network and do business with our existing and potential trade partners.



Elaborating on his property's unique appeal Ferghal added, The Ajman Palace Hotel is ideally equipped with world-class facilities to serve international clientele, which is why we are the preferred choice of discerning business and leisure travellers. One of our greatest assets is our meeting facilities including the 1,200 sq metre grand ballroom with a foyer, the largest in the northern Emirates, a conference hall, four meeting rooms, and a VIP function area  all offering inspirational surroundings. In addition to these fabulous event facilities, we have got outstanding accommodation as well as a superb choice of restaurants and lounge options serving cuisines from around the world with a specialty Asian restaurant Dragons Place and an all-day-dining restaurant 'Bistro', lobby cafe, sunset terrace and the rooftop deck Nojoom Lounge. On site are also excellent lifestyle, wellness and recreation facilities."



Now in its 23rd edition, Arabian Travel Market 2016 will showcase more than 2,800 products and destinations from around the world to over 26,000 buyers and travel trade visitors across four days.



Visit The Ajman Palace Hotel on stand HC0420 at Sheikh Saeed Arena at Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.



About The Ajman Palace Hotel

The Ajman Palace Hotel, managed by HMH  Hospitality Management Holdings, is a picturesque sanctuary conveniently located 22 km from Dubai International Airport and 11 km from Sharjah International Airport. Set on a private beach, this alluring hideaway is a heritage resort with a modern spirit. Bringing an unprecedented level of luxury, with captivating views of the Arabian Gulf, the resort is a destination unto itself. Balancing world-class facilities with the legendary Arabian hospitality, it offers 254 rooms, suites and serviced residences, a remarkable range of restaurants and lounges, fabulous meeting and event venues including the largest ballroom in the Northern Emirates ideal for weddings and conventions, as well as an array of leisure and recreation options at Lifestyle Club featuring a Spa and state-of-the-art fitness facility. A magical experience awaits you here.



For more information about the hotel please visit http://www.TheAjmanPalace.com or https://www.hmhhotelgroup.com/subscribenow



For media contact:

Hina Bakht

Vice President

MPJ (Marketing Pro-Junction)

Mob: 050 697 5146

h.bakht@mpj-pr.com

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CONTACT INFORMATION Name: Hina Bakht Company: Marketing Pro Junction Phone: +971 50 6975146 Email: pressrelease@mpj-pr.com Web: PRESS RELEASE TAGS


Search News Archive : Fast Travel News Promotion Via Search, Social Media + Email Follow Us On : NEW WALKING ADVENTURES IN KENYA'S MASAI MARA Industry: Activity Breaks

New for 2016, Basecamp Explorer's signature Mara Walking Trails allow you to fully reconnect with nature and yourself, whilst being designed to share a new angle of the savannah every day.



(TRAVPR.COM) KENYA - April 11th, 2016 - Only allowed inside the private conservancies, like the Naboisho Conservancy, walking on the Savannah is an exceptional experience. The duration of a walking safari is the clients choice, with Basecamps recommended duration being 5 nights, 6 days, but they also offer shorter or longer itineraries depending on guest preferences.



Led by local knowledgeable Masai guides, explore the Naboisho Conservancy and witness a wide variety of wildlife including thriving populations of lions, elephants, cheetah and leopards. The guide will also introduce clients to some of the finer details of the savannah; teaching them how to recognise animal footprints and droppings, which plants have medicinal properties, and who the Small Five are.



Accommodation includes the luxury Wilderness Camp and Eagle View, as well as Basecamp Explorers mobile camp, Dorobo Fly Camp. This camp is designed in admiration and respect for the hunter-gatherers of the Masai people, known as the Dorobo. A stay at Eagle View comes at the end of the trail and is a special way to round of a trip in the Mara. The lodge is perfectly named for its panoramic views which are simply breath-taking.



The itinerary includes 2 walks per day, with the warmest hours spent lounging and lunching in the shade of Acacia Trees.



Included in this walking trail package is full board accommodation, guided walking safaris by the Masai, sunset sundowner, return flight to the Mara from Nairobi, all ground transfers, optional visit to community projects and conservancy fees.



The rack rate for a 5 night, 6 days trip in Green Season (01 April  30 June 2016) is $1905pps or in High Season (02 Jan  31 March, 01 July to 01 Jan 2017) its $2430pps. ### Please contact the person or company listed above for information regarding the content of this press release. TravPR.com are not the issuers of this press release and are not responsible for the accuracy of the content. Share Release :



CONTACT INFORMATION Name: Hannah Cade Company: Kamili Phone: 01664823750 Email: hannah@kamilisafaris.com Web: PRESS RELEASE TAGS
Swaziland is quickly becoming the most sought after African destination in 2016. Tour operators Explore, Tucan Travel and Cox & Kings amongst others are now pushing Swaziland hard with dedicated tours and a vastly increased number of itineraries now including this undiscovered Kingdom.



(TRAVPR.COM) UK - April 12th, 2016 - Swaziland is quickly becoming the most sought after African destination in 2016.

Tour operators Explore, Tucan Travel and Cox & Kings amongst others are now pushing Swaziland hard with dedicated tours and a vastly increased number of itineraries now including this undiscovered Kingdom. UK/South African Tour operator Acacia Africa has offered Swaziland for a number of years but in June will launch six brand new tours in Southern Africa that have The Kingdom of Swaziland as an integral and essential ingredient. Ranging from 4 to 46 days, these tours aim to give an insight into the undiscovered wildlife and culture that many tourists are yet to encounter.

Arno Delport, Sales & Marketing Manager at Acacia Africa comments, Our new overland tours will bolster what are already strong sales for South Africa. Over the last five years sterling has doubled in value against the rand and the budget friendly destination appeals to our core market of youth travellers. And on Swaziland, While it may be southern Africas smallest country, experts are also suggesting that the tiny Kingdom of Swaziland could well become Africas new adventure capital in 2016.

The seven day Kruger, Swazi & Beach kicks off with Big Five game drives in the Kruger. A river cruise at the coastal town of St. Lucia, safaris in the Hluhluwe Game Reserve and optional mountain biking in Swazilands Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary also feature on the itinerary.

On the 19 day Kruger To Cape Town clients will have the opportunity to peer into the heart and soul of ancient cultures on village visits in Swaziland and Lesotho and explore South Africas historic battlefields on a guided tour. Skirting South Africas wild coastline and Indian Ocean beaches adventurers will have their pick of watersports, and with the promise of Big Five and Big Seven wildlife watching the expedition is bound to excite safari-goers.

Additional new overland tours include, the four day Kruger Safari, 12 day Coast, Lesotho & Cape Town, 40 day Southern Africa Adventurer and 46 day Southern Africa Explorer.

For more information and to plan your trip with Acacia Africa, visit their website.

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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 11

Babies delivered at Civil Hospital, Sector 22, requiring special care will not have to be shifted to Government Multi-Specialty Hospital (GMHS), Sector 16. The Civil Hospital has got a Newborn Sick Unit (NBSU) comprising a resuscitation kit, two baby warmers and a photo therapy unit.

Earlier, we had to shift the babies to the GMSH-16 but now, they will get specialised care in the hospital itself, informed Senior Medical Officer Dr Meena, Civil Hospital, Sector 22, adding that there could be no better gift for mothers on the National Safe Motherhood Day.

Our old NBSU was non-functional due to which we had to refer newborns, who needed special care, to the GMSH-16, Dr Meena added.

She said for the convenience of parents, a small counter had also been opened at the hospital which had essentials for newborns like nappies, diapers and clothing etc.

Inaugurated

Earlier, Anurag Agarwal, IAS, Home Secretary-cum-health secretary, UT, inaugurated various initiatives by the Health Department under the Rogi Kalyan Samiti Scheme at the Civil Hospital, Sector 22, in the presence of Prince Dhawan, IAS, SDM (C); Dr Vanita Gupta, Director, health services, and other senior officials of the UT Administration and the Health Department.

Two new dental chairs were inaugurated at the Department of Dentistry, which are fully equipped with X-ray and RVG. A blood storage unit was also inaugurated along with the NBSU. Under the Rogi Kalyan Samiti Scheme, the hospital also got a 24x7 snack bar.

The health secretary said, The initiative has been taken up for the sustainability of the hospital. The administration is keen in bringing latest facilities in all our government hospitals so that the patients get the best treatment.

He also visited the Food Safety Van, which was stationed at the hospital today.

Meanwhile, Dr Vanita Gupta, Director, health services, informed that the blood storage unit would be able to provide blood 24x7 to any patient in need at the Civil Hospital.
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 11

The Health Ministry is planning to make prescription of generic medicines mandatory for doctors of all government hospitals. This was stated by Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers, here today.

For the Jan Aushadhi Scheme (JAS) to be successful, it is essential to establish trust among the masses that generic medicines are therapeutically equivalent to the more costly branded medicines. And for the purpose, good quality affordable medicines should be made available at all Jan Aushadhi stores, especially to the poor and disadvantaged, the minister said.

Further emphasising, Ahir said it was important that all government doctors prescribe generic (unbranded) versions of medicines, which were much cheaper than branded ones.

He also informed that as many as 600 generic medicines would be made available at the Jan Aushadhi Stores and efforts would be made to revive the units that were already functioning, but garnering low patient footfall due to unavailability of medicines.

He added that 278 Jan Aushadhi Stores were now functioning across India, of which 160 had been opened in the current year. The Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (BPPI), Government of India, is putting all efforts to take the figure to 2,000.

PGI Director Prof Chawla said the initiative would prove as a boon for providing affordable medicines to the poor patients. Prof Subhash Varma, Dean, Prof AK Gupta, medical superintendent, and many other senior faculty members of PGIMER, Chandigarh, also attended the function.

Self-managed Jan Aushadhi Store comes up at PGI

The first self-managed Jan Aushadhi Store was inaugurated at the PGI by the Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers, Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, who was accompanied by Dr VK Sabburaj, secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals, and other dignitaries. This is the second Jan Aushadhi store in PGI and fourth in Chandigarh. As many as 440 generic medicines were available at the store. He also flagged off a mobile activation (audio-visual) van displaying Jan Aushadhi creatives that will help in spreading awareness about the scheme among the masses.
Vijay C Roy

Chandigarh, April 11

Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL) is on an expansion spree with a capex plan of over Rs 26,400 crore to augment hydroelectric and thermal power generation in the country as well as other countries like Nepal and Bhutan. The company expects to add around 4000 MW in these two sectors in the next 4-5 years.

Further, having entered into Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Druk Green Power Corporation Limited of Bhutan for executing 600-MW Kholongchu Hydro-Electric Project in Bhutan, it is scouting for a partner for 570-MW Wangchu Project in Bhutan under a joint venture agreement.

The companys flagship 1,500-MW Nathpa-Jhakri Hydro Power Station in Himachal Pradesh was commissioned in 2003-04 followed by Rampur Hydro Power Station, taking the total generation capacity to 1,912 MW in Himachal Pradesh.

We have many projects in our hand which is under different stages of execution. We have plans to develop hydro-power projects in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh. In Uttarakhand, we have plans to execute three projects having total generation capacity of 360 MW and with a total project cost of Rs 3,000 crore. The project is under various stages of clearance from the relevant authorities. As far as Arunachal Pradesh is concerned, we aim to generate 80 MW. The detailed project report (DPR) of the project is being prepared, said RN Misra, chairman-cum-Managing Director, SJVNL.

The company has also forayed into thermal power generation by taking up the 1,320-MW Buxar Thermal Power Project in Bihar for execution. The company has been allotted the Deocha-Pachami Coal Block in West Bengal for sourcing coal for the project. The total cost of the project is Rs 9,600 crore.

The thermal power plant in Uttarakhand and Bihar will be funded through mix of equity and debt.

In Nepal, we are developing 900-MW hydro electric power with a total project cost of Rs 5,700 crore. The project will be funded through equity and debt. The concession term of the project is 25 years. In Bhutan, we are executing 600-MW Kholangchu Project under a joint venture with Bhutanese company Druk Green Power Corporation Limited. The total cost of the project is Rs 3,900 crore and both the company will have equal partnership in the project i.e 50:50, he added. The foundation stone of the Bhutan project was laid on the maiden foreign tour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2014.

He added that the company was scouting for partner for development of 570-MW Wangchu Project in Bhutan under a joint venture agreement. The total cost of the project is Rs 4200 crore and the DPR of the project is also ready.
Srinagar, April 12

Two youth were killed today when Army opened fire in Handwara, about 85 km from here, to disperse a stone-pelting mob which was protesting against an alleged molestation of a girl by some of its personnel.

The killing triggered more protests in the town and had an echo in Srinagar and Pulwama districts of Kashmir.

Army ordered an inquiry into the killing as Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said such incidents had a "negative impact" on the state government's efforts to consolidate peace efforts.

Trouble started with protests by locals in Handwara over alleged molestation of the girl student.

According to the allegations, she was molested by soldiers posted in an army picket in the town, official sources said.

The protesters pelted stones at the army picket after which the soldiers opened fire, resulting in the killing of Iqbal Ahmad and Nayeem Bhat, the sources said.

A police official said the army personnel fled the bunker soon after the death of two civilians.

The protesters then set ablaze the static army bunker in main chowk Handwara and attacked the police station by pelting stones, the police official said.

"The protesters, whose numbers swelled after the news of death of two youth, set ablaze the bunker. They also pelted a barrage of stones on the local police station," the official said, adding police fired teargas shells to chase away the protesters.

The incident in Handwara had an echo in Srinagar, the summer capital of the state, as also in Pulwama in south Kashmir, where protests erupted and stone-pelting incidents were reported at some places, the official said.

Additional police personnel have been deployed in sensitive areas of the city to maintain law and order.

Political parties, such as the National Conference and the Congress, expressed grief and shock over deaths and demanded that a probe so that the guilty could be punished.

Separatist outfit Hurriyat Conference headed by hardline leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani gave a call for a shutdown tomorrow.

Expressing grief over the incident, Mehbooba Mufti, who is here on her maiden visit after taking over the reins of the state, called Lt Gen DS Hooda who informed her that the Army has already ordered an inquiry into the incident and that tangible action will be taken once the probe is completed, an official statement said.

Mehbooba said that security personnel involved in the killing of two youths in Handwara will be handed exemplary punishment, saying such incidents "cannot" be tolerated.

The Army officer informed that he would look into the demand of the locals in Handwara area for shifting of a bunker.

The Chief Minister said such tragic incidents have a huge negative impact on the efforts of the government and the political leadership aimed at consolidating the peace efforts in the State.

She said the security forces must exercise maximum restraint and adhere to the Standing Operating Procedure (SOP) while dealing with the public protests as incidents of innocent killings cannot be tolerated.  PTI
Ravi Krishnan Khajuria

Tribune News Service

Jammu, April 12

India and Pakistan today held a Battalion Commanders level flag meeting at Chakan da Bagh in Poonch district to ensure peace along the de facto border.

Pakistan had violated ceasefire on the Line of Control in the Poonch sector on Saturday night.

Pakistan, which had violated the mutually brokered truce deal after a gap of six months in Poonch sector, however, remained in denial mode. On the contrary, Pakistan blamed us for violating the ceasefire agreement, said an official source.

A residential house and a car were damaged in Pakistani shelling in Shahpur village of Poonch.

We asked them to maintain peace and calm along the LoC in the larger interest of the border population of both the sides, the source added.

A Battalion Commander level flag meeting was held at Chakan da Bagh at 11 today. The meeting was held to take forward the peace process initiated since the Brigade Commander level flag meeting on September 21, last year, said SN Acharya, officiating Defence spokesperson.

The meeting which lasted for nearly 30 minutes, Colonel ranked officers leading the respective delegations acknowledged each others efforts in maintaining peace and tranquility on the LoC in the recent past, Acharya said.

Both sides mutually agreed to the importance of exercising restraint and keeping the communication alive through established mechanisms via hot line messages and flag meetings, he added.

The flag meeting ended on a positive note and both sides reaffirmed their faith in ensuring everlasting peace and tranquility on the LoC by redressing mutual concerns on priority in the future, Acharya said.

As per official data, around 405 incidents of cross-border firing took place along the Indo-Pak border in J&K in 2015, killing 16 civilians.

Of the 405 incidents, 253 incidents of cross border firing were recorded along the 198-km-long international border while 152 were registered along the LoC.

The ceasefire on Indo-Pak border had come into force on November 26, 2003.

The fresh ceasefire violation had come three days after Pakistan suspended the dialogue process with India.
Tribune News Service

Srinagar/Kupwara, April 12

Two youths were killed when security forces opened fire on protesters in north Kashmirs Handwara town, 80 km from here, today. They were holding a protest against an alleged attempt by a soldier to molest a college girl.

Those killed were identified as Mohammad Iqbal (22) and Nayeem Qadir Bhat (24). The killing of civilians sparked a fresh wave of anger in the Valley. The Army has regretted the killings and ordered a probe. Anybody found guilty will be dealt with as per the law, it said.

Protests erupted in Handwara around 3 pm following allegations by locals that a college girl was molested at a public lavatory by soldiers posted at a picket. Locals alleged that as the girl entered a lavatory, the Armymen tried to molest her. The girl raised an alarm. It triggered protests and people tried to march towards the Army post, said Javeed Ahmed, a local resident.

When a crowd tried to storm the bunker and set it on fire, the forces retaliated. Two persons were injured and later succumbed to injuries, Kashmir IGP SJM Gillani said. We have registered a case and started investigations, he said.

The girl said, As I came out from the lavatory, a boy in uniform snatched my bag and started abusing me. A number of youths had also assembled there after which the trouble started. However, the Kashmir IGP said the police were yet to record the girls complete statement.

While the state government has ordered a magisterial probe into the incident, separatists have called for a shutdown on Wednesday.
New Delhi: Two Indian students were stabbed to death while another suffered serious injuries at a medical college in Ukraine on Sunday. Three Ukrainian nationals have been arrested.

Those killed were Pranav Shaindilya and Ankur Singh. While Pranav belonged to Muzaffarnagar, Ankur was from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh. Injured Indrajeet Singh Chauhan hails from Agra.

The Ministry of External Affairs said formalities were being completed to bring the bodies back, and that the Ukraine police had apprehended the accused on Chauhans statement. The police have recovered passports of the Indian students and a blood-stained knife from those arrested. TNS
Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 12

India and the United States today announced an in-principle logistics exchange agreement to enable their militaries to use each others assets and bases for repair and replenishment of supplies. India, however, clarified it does not entail positioning of US troops on its soil.

In a fillip to Make in India programme in defence, the US moved forward in providing technology for making seaborne aircraft carriers and shared two new projects for making fighter jets in India.

The announcements came at the end of talks between Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter.

A joint statement spoke of an in-principle agreement to conclude a Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA). During the Cold War (1945 to 1991), India was firmly in the Soviet-led bloc and often faced international discredit by the US-led NATO grouping. However, the two sides crucially stopped short of a bear-hug-type embrace  possibly at the insistence of New Delhi, which does not want to be seen too close to the US, lest Russia, its oldest ally, and China, its neighbour, get wrong signals.

The LEMOA is the new name for the Logistics Support Agreement (LSA), which the two countries have been discussing since long. On what would be the US response in case an Indian base is attacked when its troops are using it under the proposed agreement, Parrikar clarified: No, this does not mean stationing of US troops on the Indian soil. We have agreed on the finer points. Lets wait for the draft in a few weeks.

The LEMOA provides for sharing military logistics use of each others bases for resupplies and refuelling. India had asked the US to make it India-specific, and not the standard LSA draft, which the US has with its allies like the UK. India will have the discretion of withdrawing in case it feels the US had gone to war with a country which India sees as friendly.

Since 2006, the US has been insisting on signing three pacts which it calls foundational. The other two, the Communication and Information Security Memorandum Agreement and the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement, were not discussed.
Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 12

India and the US on Tuesday announced an in-principle agreement to share military logistics, although India carefully clarified: It does not entail positioning of US troops in its soil.

Despite the verbosity over the past three days of meeting between India and US, the two sides crucially stopped short of a bear-hug-type embrace  possibly at the insistence of New Delhi, which does not want to be seen too close to the US, lest Russia, its oldest ally and China, its neighbour, get wrong signals.

Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, while addressing a joint press conference with US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter, announced the new agreement saying: We have agreed in principle to conclude a logistics exchange memorandum of agreement in the coming months. He said it would take few weeks for the draft to be ready. We have agreed on the finer points. Lets wait for the draft, Parrikar said in response to question posed by a visiting US journalist.

This is the new name for Logistics Support Agreement (LSA), which the two countries have been discussing for decade.

The rechristened LSA will now be called the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA). The LEMOA will be an agreement to share military logistics use each other's land, air and naval bases for resupplies, repair and rest  is in advanced stages of talks. India had asked the US to make it India specific not the standard LSA draft, which the US has with its allies like the UK.

India will have the discretion of withdrawing in case it feels US had gone to war with a country which India sees as friendly.

Since 2006 US has been insisting on signing of three agreements that it calls foundational. The other two  the Communication and Information Security Memorandum Agreement (CISMOA) and the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA)  were not discussed.

The US has been pitching about the much-talked-about Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI), saying it can progress unhindered once India signs the foundational agreements

Carter while answering a question if the US was ready to as reliable a partner as Russia was to India, said: The United States respects India's own independent strategic interests. We know that India works with other countries as well, but we very much appreciate the collaboration with the United States.

Notably, the US presented proposals to produce fighter jets under the make in India programme. Boeing and Lockheed Martin have submitted proposals to have a make in India for fighter jets. India had wanted an assurance from the US on transfer of technology.

Indian Air Force (IAF), Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha On March 4 made it public that the government was planning to start a second assembly line of fighter planes under the Make in India project. The first being the locally made Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), The Tejas.
Toronto, April 12

Almost 102 years after Canada turned away more than 376 migrants, mostly Sikhs from India, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will formally apologise on May 18 for the incident that happened due to discriminatory laws of the time.

Speaking at the Baisakhi celebration in Ottawa on Monday, Trudeau said that Komagata Marus passengers were seeking refuge and better lives, like millions of immigrants to Canada since.

With so much to contribute to their new home, they chose Canada. And we failed them utterly, the Prime Minister said, adding that the passengers were refused entry to Canada due to discriminatory laws of the time.

As a nation, we should never forget the prejudice suffered by the Sikh community at the hands of the Canadian government of the day. We should not and we will not, Trudeau said at the Gurdwara Sahib Ottawa Sikh Society.

He said that he will formally apologise on May 18 in the House of Commons.

The Japanese steamship Komagata Maru, carrying 376 immigrants, mostly Sikhs, from India was denied entry by the Canadian government in May 1914 and was forced to return to India.

Two months later, the ship arrived in Calcutta where British soldiers fired upon the disembarking passengers in which 19 people died.

A painful chapter in the history of Sikhs in Canada, the incident also highlighted the discriminatory immigration policies Canada had followed against Asian immigrants in the 19th century.

Former PM Stephen Harper did apologise for the incident at a public event in British Columbia in 2008, but the Sikh-Canadians were demanding a formal statement in Parliament. Trudeau-led Liberal Party, which has four Sikh ministers in the cabinet, has promised a formal apology during the election campaign last year.  PTI

Political gimmick, says DBYC

Jalandhar: The Jalandhar-based Desh Bhagat Yaadgar Committee (DBYC), which is carrying forward the legacy of the Ghadar Party, said on Tuesday that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus offer to apologise for the Komagata Maru incident could be a political gimmick. Ajmer Singh, vice-president, DBYC, said, Mere apology will not serve any purpose, especially 102 years after the incident. Trudeau will have to explain why the government of the day turned away more than 300 Indians seeking a better life in Canada. TNS

Cong, SAD hail Canadian PMs move

New Delhi/Chandigarh: The Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal on Tuesday hailed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's statement that he would offer a formal apology for 1914 Komagata Maru incident. Welcome, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau's statement... worthy son of the worthy father, Pierre Trudeau!(sic)," Punjab affairs in-charge Shakeel Ahmad said on Twitter. It is indeed very heartening that the Canadian government has decided to apologise on the floor of Parliament by acknowledging the hurt caused to the community, said Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal. PTI
Canberra, April 11

The number of tigers in the wild has risen for the first time in 100 years, marking a major turning point in the big cat's plight against poaching and habitat loss.

Figures collated from national surveys conducted in tiger range states and from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), estimate the number of tigers living in the wild to be around 3,890. That is up almost 700 animals from the 2010 figure, which estimated their numbers at 3,200, ABC reported.

Current tiger estimates across Asia are: 2,226 tigers in India, 433 in Russian Siberia, 371 in Indonesia, 250 in Malaysia, 198 in Nepal, 189 in Thailand, 106 in Bangladesh, 103 in Bhutan, more than seven in China, less than five in Vietnam, two tigers in Laos, and none in Cambodia. Data on tigers in Myanmar was not available.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Australia's national manager for the species, Darren Grover welcomed the news, saying it was the first increase since the turn of the 20th century. "That's great news. It's the first positive trend for wild tiger populations in more than 100 years," he said. In 1900, nearly 100,000 tigers were estimated to be living in the wild. "In those 100 years or so, we've lost around 97 pc wild tigers," Grover said.

A WWF document said the increase was likely the result of major changes made in India, Russia, Nepal and Bhutan, including improved survey techniques and ramped up conservation efforts.  IANS
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 11

The Uttarakhand Police have chalked out an elaborate traffic and security plan for the Char Dham Yatra scheduled to commence in May.

Additional force will be deployed at the crowded junctions to ensure law and order. The police have also identified danger zones along the Char Dham Yatra route.

More than five dozen temporary police posts will be constructed and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel will be deployed at landslide-prone areas along the Char Dham Yatra route. Professional divers and policemen equipped with latest gears will be deployed at 21 identified spots on the banks of the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi.

IG, Garhwal, Sanjay Gunjyal said 78 police stations and 138 reporting police posts would be constructed in Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Uttarkashi, Tehri and Pauri districts of Garhwal division.

The necessary exercise is already on to display warning signboards at 270 identified danger zones along the Char Dham Yatra route, he said.

Gunjyal said the latest modes of communication would be used to update pilgrims about weather, traffic jams or the condition of routes etc. to facilitate the pilgrimage. He said a strict action would be taken against policemen who were found guilty of lethargic attitude during duty hours. He said all necessary preparations would be completed at the earliest.

The police have decided to deploy 200 SDRF personnel and 24 cranes along the yatra route to ensure timely rescue operation in case of any disaster.

The police would deploy 12 DSPs, eight inspectors, 24 SIs, 32 head constables, 260 constables, 56 women constables, 64 Home Guards, and four company of PACs to ensure smooth vehicular flow of traffic and to maintain law and order in the districts during the pilgrimage.
Toronto, April 12

Almost 102 years after Canada turned away more than 376 migrants, mostly Sikhs from India, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will formally apologise on May 18 for the incident that happened due to "discriminatory laws of the time".

Speaking at the Baisakhi celebration in Ottawa, Trudeau said the Komagata Maru's passengers were seeking refuge and better lives, "like millions of immigrants to Canada since".

"With so much to contribute to their new home, they chose Canada. And we failed them utterly," the prime minister said, adding that the passengers were refused entry to Canada due to "discriminatory laws of the time".

"As a nation, we should never forget the prejudice suffered by the Sikh community at the hands of the Canadian government of the day. We should not and we will not," Trudeau said at the Gurdwara Sahib Ottawa Sikh Society.

He further said that he will "formally apologise" on May 18 in the House of Commons, 102 years after the infamous incident, Toronto Star reported.

The Japanese steamship Komagata Maru, carrying 376 immigrants, mostly Sikhs, from India was denied entry by the Canadian Government in May 1914 and was forced to return to India.

Two months later, the ship arrived in Calcutta where British soldiers fired upon the disembarking passengers in which 19 people died.

A painful chapter in the history of Sikhs in Canada, the incident also highlighted the discriminatory immigration policies Canada had followed against Asian immigrants in the 19th century.

Former prime minister Stephen Harper did apologise for the incident at a public event in British Columbia in 2008, but the Sikh-Canadians were demanding a formal statement in the Parliament.

Trudeau-led Liberal Party, which has four Sikh ministers in the cabinet, has promised a formal apology during the election campaign last year. PTI
Geneva, April 12

Switzerland said on Tuesday that it has widened its corruption probe into a Malaysia state-owned fund linked to Prime Minister Najib Razak, with two new individuals indicted over a suspected phony bond deal.

The Swiss attorney general's office (OAG) said the new suspects  who are accused of fraud, bribery and other offences are two United Arab Emirates (UAE) officials who were in charge of sovereign funds based in Abu Dhabi.

In a statement, the OAG said it had evidence that the management of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) violated Swiss embezzlement laws through a fraudulent bond agreement with the UAE officials, with money routed through Swiss banks.

Allegations that billions were looted from 1MDB in a vast campaign of fraud have shaken Najib's government.

The scandal intensified last week when a Malaysian parliamentary committee clearly suggested misconduct had occurred, in the first condemnation from an official body in Kuala Lumpur.

Switzerland opened its own criminal probe into 1MDB last August, targeting two former Malaysian officials "and persons unknown" on suspicion of bribery, money laundering and other offences.

The OAG has said that up to $4.0 billion (3.5 billion euros) of public funds in Malaysia may have been misappropriated, with a portion of the money transferred to Swiss accounts controlled by former Malaysian officials and people based in the UAE.

Concerning the latest allegations, Swiss authorities are scrutinising bonds issued by 1MDB subsidiaries officially intended to finance electric power plant projects in Malaysia.

The OAG statement said that sovereign funds based in Abu Dhabi issued guarantees on the bonds, but that evidence indicated 1MDB subsidiaries did not make proper payments in exchange for those guarantees.  AFP
ISTANBUL, April 12

The Turkish army hit Islamic State targets in northern Syria, in response to cross-border rocket fire that struck a border town in southeastern Turkey for the second day in a row, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.

The military was responding to attacks on Kilis, near the Syrian border, Davutoglu said.

The town is home to an estimated 110,000 Syrian refugees and is frequently targeted by artillery from across the border, a region controlled by Islamic State militants.

"Yesterday and today, rockets belonging to Daesh terrorist organisation landed inside Kilis, wounding 21 citizens," Davutoglu said in the speech to his ruling AK Party in parliament.

"Our armed forces, within rules of engagement, responded immediately and hit Daesh targets," he said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.

One person died of wounds following the attacks on Kilis, hospital sources said later on Tuesday.

In March, two people, including a young child, were killed by rocket fire in Kilis.

Mayor Hasan Kaya said that one rocket on Tuesday struck road works and the other landed inside an empty lot. Some of the wounded were municipal workers, he said.

The Turkish armed forces often respond to such attacks by firing at targets in Syria. Turkey is an outspoken critic of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has supported opposition fighters in the five-year-old war.  Reuters
A roadside safety inspection. Photo: U.S. DOT

A coalition of trucking interests has come out bluntly critical of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrations efforts to put in place its proposed Safety Fitness Determination rule.

In a strongly worded April 11 letter to FMCSA Acting Administrator Scott Darling, the ten signatories, which include the Western States Trucking Association and the Alliance for Safe, Efficient and Competitive Truck Transportation, express considerable concern that the agency is not taking into account deliberatively the widespread concern throughout the motor carrier industry over the timing and details of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the carrier Safety Fitness Determination process.

Rather, the undersigned organizations argue that the agency is choosing simply to dig in and defend its proposal. This is unfortunate and gives us additional reason to question whether FMCSA will properly consider public comments on the NPRM.

The letter references April 7 comments to the media attributed to FMCSA Director of Enforcement and Compliance Joe DeLorenzo as well as analysis of agency data that the writers stated had been conducted by coalition signatories.

However, the opening of the broadside is aimed even higher: At the outset, we do not believe FMCSA should even be conducting this rulemaking at this time, the writers declare.

They then argue that provisions within the FAST Act highway bill that reform the agencys rulemaking procedures underscore that FMCSAs Safety Measurement System (SMS) is not fit for use in establishing SFDs for motor carriers without a compliance review.

The [FAST Act] provisions ordering a withdrawal of SMS)alerts and relative percentiles from public view for property carriers, pending a full study and corrective action, were the culmination of years of expressed frustration by the industry, the letter states. Simply put, SMS as currently constructed does not work due to flaws in methodology and data quality. SMS might be fine as an internal tool for targeting enforcement, but it is not fit for public consumption.

The letter further argues that By FMCSAs own admission, the SFD NPRM rests squarely on SMS data and methodology and the FAST Act includes several provisions that are properly read to bar moving forward with such a rulemaking.

Moving onto referencing DeLorenzos comments to the media, the writers contend that FMCSA continues to argue that the NPRM fully complies with the FAST Act because the SFDs are not based on relative percentiles but rather absolute failure standards calculated using relative percentiles.

Putting aside the obvious sophistry of this claim, Section 5223(b) the very provision FMCSA clings to as supposedly supporting its decision to move forward with the NPRM does not provide the cover that the agency claims, continue the writers.

The coalition then argues that the agency overlooks two very important points about Section 5223(b):

The provision does not merely prohibit use of alerts and relative percentiles. It bars information regarding alerts and relative percentiles. If, in an effort to circumvent the intent of Congress, FMCSA chooses to use relative percentiles to calculate fixed measures, those measures still represent information regarding alerts and the relative percentile for each BASIC.

The legislation is restrictive, not permissive. It does not grant FMCSA authority to move forward with a rulemaking that also uses a means other than information about alerts and relative percentiles to establish SFDs. It states that the agency cannot move forward if its rulemaking proposal uses such methods. Nothing in Section 5223(b) would trump the clear intent of Section 5221(d)(2)(C) that FMCSA hold off on any rulemaking that is so fundamentally intertwined with CSA/SMS until the program is reformed.

The writers cited the other major theme of Mr. DeLorenzos remarks as advising that the proposed SFD rule would allow the agency to assess more than 75,000 carriers a month.

Although conceding that the basis for this claim may be FMCSAs analysis of 2011 data, done for purposes of drafting the SFD NPRM, the letter goes on to state, albeit with all due respect, that this assertion simply is not true at least not in 2016. The actual figure is more than 60% lower.

The coalition details in the letter how exactly it arrived at that conclusion, by way of a preliminary analysis of SMS data published for February and March 2016.

The letter wraps up by stating that the coalitions concerns with the NPRM go far beyond its stated points and include serious problems with due process, Administrative Procedure Act compliance, the regulatory analysis and, of course, the heavy reliance on flawed SMS data and methodology. Those all will be developed in detail in our comments for the [rulemaking] docket.

If FMCSA is to move forward with this process, the writers conclude, we hope that the agency will consider a more circumspect and thoughtful approach.

Related: FMCSA: Safety-Fitness Proposal Gives Carriers Fixed Target
Country

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The term breakfast nook sounds hopelessly trapped in the 1970s, but modern homeowners are embracing the style and practicality of built-in seating in the kitchen.

The idea of the built-in, with the kids piled in it and the pillows can bring the casual fun of a beach house or farmhouse to any home, said Massachusetts-based interior designer Kristina Crestin, featured this season on This Old House.

Maxwell Ryan, founder of ApartmentTherapy.com, said built-in kitchen seating can maximize space in smaller kitchens and highlight a great window view. It can even become the most distinctive design element in your home.

People, especially children, will gravitate toward it, Ryan said. Who doesnt like to get a booth at the diner over a table?

Practical and pretty

For homeowners with an open-plan kitchen, built-in seating creates a cozy gathering place that functions like a formal dining room but is right in the heart of the cooking and socializing.

In smaller kitchens, a nook allows the dining table to be positioned along a wall or in a corner without looking as if it were stuffed awkwardly out of the way.

Built-ins also offer lots of space for storage.

The space underneath a built-in banquette is ripe with possibilities, said stylist and crafter Marianne Canada, host of the HGTV Crafternoon Web series. Closed cabinets can be designed to match your existing cabinetry, or you can add open shelving, she said, to add texture with baskets, show off your cookbook collection, even use it to store large ceramic bowls that take up too much cabinet space.

Just be sure the design of the built-in seating area matches the architecture of the rest of the house, Crestin said. Sketch out what you want and plan carefully before starting construction. If the breakfast nook will include a window, she said, consider the height of the sill and whether it will hit the backs of people seated along the wall.

Also, be sure to use a pedestal table so youre not bumping into table legs when sliding into the seats.

Cool variations

If you cant commit to a fully built-in breakfast area  or if you worry your kitchen will look too much like a roadside diner  Canada suggested adding a banquette to just one side of the kitchen dining area.

This gives you the best of both worlds, she said, an architectural feature that provides storage and easy seating, and the opportunity to mix things up with chairs.

This approach is cheaper to build and easier to remove if you want something different later. One popular option: Extend the bench the entire length of one wall, installing open or closed storage underneath.

A table at one end for kitchen dining, general seating for those times when everyone ends up in the kitchen and a space near the door that serves as a landing area for shoes, backpacks and jackets, Canada said. Add some hooks above the bench and baskets below, and youll find that clutter disappears effortlessly.

Fabrics

One big draw of built-in kitchen seating is the softness and color of the cushions and pillows. A tip from Crestin: Invest in high-quality fabric in a pattern and colors that are neutral enough you can love them for years to come. Then get really creative with fabrics for loose pillows, spending a bit less so you can swap those out seasonally for new ones when the urge strikes.

To highlight the fabrics youve chosen, Ryan suggested painting the backrest area behind the seating in a coordinating color.

You can easily swap out the fabric on the seat or the paint on the backrest anytime you want to shake up your kitchen decor, he said.

And heres a secret: If you love this look but want to avoid the commitment and cost of real built-in seating, you can create a faux version. Ryan suggested installing a large upholstered bench along one wall and painting the wall around it with semi-gloss paint (easily wiped clean) to highlight the space. Add pillows and youve got a perfectly cozy space where guests can lean back and enjoy your kitchen.
TRENTON, N.J.  The departure of one New Jersey resident to Florida has gotten so much attention that lawmakers are calling for changing the state's tax structure, and a key legislative forecaster is raising concerns over revenue uncertainty.

The spotlight turned to hedge fund manager David Tepper this week when legislative budget forecaster Frank Haines cited the billionaire's move to Florida as a potential factor in how much income tax revenue the state brings in. Income tax revenues make up the biggest share of cash in state coffers, and a shift in projections of as little as 1 percent amounts to about $100 million, forecasters say.

It's unclear how much effect Tepper's departure could have, because his tax returns haven't been made public and it's unknown how much taxes affected his move. Tepper didn't return messages seeking comment.

But his move has caught the attention of the usually headline-shy legislative budget office.

"If a very wealthy individual  potentially a significant taxpayer to the state  relocates and relocates not only as we've been reading about it but really relocates for tax purposes ... beyond our reach, then that's something to be aware of," said Haines, the legislative and budget finance officer.

Tepper's move spurred Assembly Republican Leader Jon Bramnick to call for an overhaul of the state's tax system.

"New Jersey can't afford to keep losing taxpayers and businesses," Bramnick said.

New Jersey has the lowest estate exemption level in the country at $675,000, affecting about 3,500 residents in 2014. New Jersey is one of only two states to levy both an estate and inheritance tax, and has a top income tax rate of 8.97 percent.

New Jersey's high tax burden  the state also has the highest property taxes in the country  is regular fodder for Democratic and Republican officials. The prospects for lowering rates are uncertain, with Republican Gov. Chris Christie and the Democrat-led Legislature locked in a debate over how to rescue Atlantic City and fiercely divided over tax policy. Christie has twice vetoed Democratic proposals to raise taxes on the wealthiest residents.

But Tepper's departure also comes as Christie pushes for ending the estate tax and as the state Senate advances a plan to phase it out.

It also comes amid a debate over how big a role the state's tax structure plays in people leaving, with Republicans arguing it's a major factor and many Democrats saying it's a blip.

New Jersey's annual Statistics of Income survey, compiled by the treasury shows the number of tax filers with income over $1 million has gone up by an average of about 6.3 percent from 1997 to 2012, the most recent year for which data is available, while filers with income below $50,000 has fallen by an average of 2.14 percent over the same time period.

Tepper, whom Forbes valued in 2015 at $10.4 billion and ranked that year as New Jersey's richest resident, moved his residence and firm Appaloosa Management from New Jersey to Florida, where there is no income or estate tax. The news was first reported by Bloomberg.
The Sand Springs City Council approved a resolution Monday for a project to improve the railroad crossing at the intersection of Morrow Road and Adams Road.

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) hopes to add two flashing-light signals with gate arms, two additional gate arms at the side streets and complete some work on streets in the area, according to a report.

The total cost of the project is estimated at $398,126. ODOT requested the city contribute a five percent match for the signal work only at a cost of $18,097, a report states.

We were approached by ODOT, Engineer Jesse Vaverka said. They identified this as a place that could be enhanced with these upgrades.

In other news, the council:

 Discussed the fiscal year 2017 budget.

Sand Springs Finance Director Kelly Lamberson said revenue is expected to remain flat.

The FY 2017 budget assumes revenue will remain flat in the early part of the year, Lamberson said. Sales tax is going to be flat...hotel/motel tax is doing well.

She said the overall budget is expected to be reduced 1.9 percent compared to this fiscal year.

 Approved an interlocal agreement with Sand Springs Public Schools.

After the proposal to renew Vision 2025 sales taxes for public safety and economic development passed, the city allocated $250,000 for security improvements at the schools, including video surveillance equipment.

It allows for the schools to move forward on its Vision 2025 efforts, Police Chief Mike Carter said.

 Swore in Officer Daniel Llewellyn.
Its hard to pinpoint when the Tulsa Jail went off the financial rails.

Many possibilities have been suggested. The falling-out between the county and the city of Tulsa. The Oklahoma Department of Corrections decision to pull inmates out of county jails. The Sheriffs Offices ambitious plan to build and operate its own training and 911 call center.

Maybe it was former Sheriff Stanley Glanzs policy that most jail personnel would be fully certified deputies, or his decision to authorize a round of promotions and pay increases without a clear way to pay for them.

Maybe, as some have argued, it is unrealistic to expect a jail to be self-funded.

Whatever the case, new Tulsa County Sheriff Vic Regalado finds himself at the scene of a train wreck that has mangled the departments finances and its relationship with the rest of county government.

I feel like the (County Commission) has been burned by the Sheriffs Office, Commissioner John Smaligo said last week at a Budget Board meeting.

Smaligo said he and the other commissioners had trusted Glanz and his staff on several financial matters, including the ill-fated training center, and now felt betrayed. A proposal by acting Sheriff Michelle Robinette to operate the jail commissary in-house might be worth considering, Smaligo said, but he was not taking TCSOs word for it.

For a change, Smaligo said, I want to see some documentation.

Some people want to know why it took so long for that attitude to emerge. Jail expenses exceeded revenue in each of the last three fiscal years, and will do so again this budget year, which ends June 30.

The proposed 2017 budget projects a $4.3 million revenue shortfall for a $38.1 million budget. Robinette said measures she has recommended could shrink or eliminate the deficit, but the other county officers sounded skeptical.

In truth, officials raised concerns about the jails finances at least as far back as 2013, when it was an issue in the Tulsa mayors race. And for most of its 20 years, the jail has had difficulty making ends meet.

County government can be unwieldy, and no part of county government is more unwieldy than the jail. It is operated by a sheriff who answers in part to no one except the voters, and in part to three interlocking boards: the Tulsa County Criminal Justice Authority, the Tulsa County Budget Board and the Tulsa County Commission.

The Tulsa County commissioners serve on all three. They are a minority on the Budget Board and the TCCJA, generally known as the jail board. Each has some leverage in jail operations, but none has complete control of jail operations, and their precise authority is often hazy.

None, Smaligo says often, can tell the sheriff who to hire or fire or how much to pay his employees.

The proposed budget for FY 2017 is $38.1 million. Most of the revenue comes from a dedicated .25-percent sales tax, which is expected to raise a little over $27 million in the coming budget year.

The other primary revenue source is called the county contribution fund but is actually money paid to the jail, mostly for holding prisoners for other entities such as the city of Tulsa, the Department of Corrections and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Proceeds from all sales taxes, including the jail tax, have flattened just about everywhere. Contract revenue has gone down, chiefly because the Department of Corrections is no longer keeping prisoners at the jail as long. DOC revenue has fallen from almost $3.6 million in 2013 to around $1 million this year.

Tulsa County and the jail board are preparing a lawsuit against the DOC for $9 million they say is owed, and to raise the $27 per diem they say doesnt cover the cost of housing a prisoner. Robinette said she expects more revenue from ICE in the coming year, too.

A proposed jail budget last week projected $2.2 million from the city of Tulsa, which almost everyone agreed was unrealistic. The city and county have been feuding for years over how much the former should pay to keep municipal prisoners in the jail. Last year it was about $700,000. The jail budget proposal has been revised to reflect that amount coming from the city of Tulsa, and it increased the expected deficit.

It seems county officers really began to boil last year when the Sheriffs Office handed out nearly $700,000 in raises while the jail was running a $3.9 million deficit.

About two-thirds of those receiving raises also received a promotion, with the balance, about 30 employees, retaining their same title.

Thirty of those receiving both a raise and a promotion were jail detention officers, who were promoted to a deputy II position, a promotion that included an $11,244 annual raise for a new total salary of about $40,680 per year.

Others receiving raises between 2014 and 2015 included Robinette, who prior to being named interim sheriff saw her salary increase $4,000 per year to $102,360.

Sheriff Department General Counsel Meredith Baker also received a $9,420 annual increase in pay and is now paid $72,648 annually.

During that same period, Glanz redirected inmate phone proceeds from the jail to the cash fee account, which he controlled. The phones bring in about $800,000 a year.

That money, it turned out, was being used to complete the training and 911 call center, which was to be named for Glanz.

The project was originally sold to the Budget Board and jail authority as a potential money-maker that would be utilized by law enforcement and emergency management agencies throughout the region. Instead, its 25 percent over budget and costing the Sheriffs Office $37,000 a month in debt service on an empty shell. Officials plan to build out the 911 call center in hopes of generating cash by hiring out services to other counties and municipalities.

The jail board also began objecting to Glanz policy of starting all deputies in the jail, which effectively made it responsible for TCSOs rookie training costs. The jail has also been paying for 31 deputies on duty at the courthouse and four at the Juvenile Justice Center.

The fact the Budget Board and jail board only recently learned the courthouse deputies were on the jail payroll did not help relations.

Some within the Sheriffs Office say their department, and especially the jail, has been set up to fail, that the jail cannot function properly with the current revenue stream. To win that argument with the rest of the county officers, they will have to first win back their trust.
OKLAHOMA CITY  Oklahoma's secretary of finance says collections to Oklahoma's principal operating fund last month exceeded estimates for the first time since last July.

Finance Secretary Preston Doerflinger said Tuesday that revenue collected by the general revenue fund in March totaled $394 million, $3 million above the estimate on which the state budget is based, but $30 million below March 2015 collections.

Income tax collections last month totaled $152 million, $19.2 million above estimate.

Collections for the first nine months of the fiscal year that ends June 30 were $3.7 billion, $323.8 million below the estimate and about $387 million below last year.

Low energy prices have caused collections to miss the estimate in all but one month this year, prompting a revenue failure in December that was deepened two months later.
A 60 Minutes crew, including reporter Tara Brown, will face kidnapping charges in Lebanon after appearing in court in Beirut.

Brown, senior producer Stephen Rice, cameraman Ben Williamson and sound recordist David Ballment are facing four separate charges, including kidnapping, causing harm and not respecting local authority.

Also appearing in court were Brisbane mother Sally Faulkner and men from British-based Child Abduction Recovery International, including former Scotland Yard detective Adam Whittington. Brown was handcuffed and held by a female military guard.

All appeared individually and before Judge Rami Abdullah, and asked if they wanted legal representation. All declared they wanted a lawyer.

Sally Faulkner spent longer with the judge before emerging red-faced and teary. Its not clear if she is facing charges.

The Australians are expected to defend the charges in coming days.

Lebanese authorities have also claimed to be in possession of footage of the botched kidnapping, which shows the face of a Channel Nine cameraman -but this is unconfirmed.

Passport images for the Nine crew have now been circulated and published online.

Nine released a brief statement confirming the charges but without further comment.

https://twitter.com/tomsteinfort/status/719844307516035072

The crew are said to be in good health and are likely to be granted bail. Nine News boss Darren Wick is on the ground, working with a legal team.

Yesterday Nine advised it was in Lebanon to film Ms. Faulkner after she was reunited with her children. It urged caution in reporting and indicated it was co-operating fully with Lebanese authorities.

There are suggestions Nine has also launched an internal inquiry into the involvement of 60 Minutes in the ordeal.

Australian consular staff in Beirut are continuing to provide ongoing consular assistance, a DFAT spokesperson said.

The Foreign Minister has maintained discussions with her counterpart minister [Gebran] Bassil regarding this case.

Kidnapping charges carry sentences between three years and life.

Source: News, Fairfax, ABC
US writer, producer, content creator and showrunner Javier Grillo-Marxuach (Lost, The 100, Helix, Medium) will appear tomorrow In Conversation event with Werner Film Productions Joanna Werner (Dance Academy, Ready for This, Secret City) at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image.

He is in Australia for The Story Lab initiative which is developing Hereafter, created by Giula Sandler (Glitch) and David Hannam (Carlotta). The Story Lab received close to 500 original television concept submissions, for further development.

Javier Grillo-Marxuach is also developing a Xena: Warrior Princess reboot for NBC.

A Live stream of the ACMI forum will also be available for those unable to attend.

Date: Wednesday 13 April 2016 ACMI, Federation Square, Melbourne

The Story Lab initiative
No Ukrainian servicemen were killed but three soldiers were wounded in the ATO area in eastern Ukraine over the past day.

Spokesman for the Presidential Administration on the anti-terrorist operation, Colonel Oleksandr Motuzianyk said this at the briefing in Kyiv, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"No Ukrainian servicemen were killed but three our soldiers were wounded as a result of the armed hostilities over the past day," Motuzianyk said.

He added that one civilian was wounded in Marinka, Donetsk region, and died while being delivered to hospital.

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A total of 35 Dutch companies, the exporters of flowers and seed materials, are planning to strengthen cooperation with Ukrainian partners.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ukraine Kees Jan Rene Klompenhouwer said this at an opening ceremony of the Flower Expo Ukraine 2016 exhibition, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"We appreciate the cooperation with our Ukrainian partners. Some 35 Dutch floristic companies have expressed a desire to strengthen cooperation with partners in Ukraine, the ambassador said.

According to him, the Ukrainian market has a significant part in a general volume of the Dutch floristic export, which only last year totaled 7 billion euros.

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The United States stresses the importance of forming a new Government in Ukraine in the shortest possible time.

Deputy Spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State Mark Toner said this at the daily briefing in Washington on Monday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"We believe its important that the Rada approve as soon as possible a new cabinet that is committed to implementing needed reforms, in particular those recommended by the IMF, the International Monetary Fund, as well as the European Union," he said, commenting on the resignation of Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

In this regard, he expressed confidence that the new Government of Ukraine would carry out needed reforms and make every effort to implement the Minsk Agreements.

"It is really the joint responsibility of Ukraines president, its prime minister, and all those in government," Toner said.

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Bakil is, just like Hoda, among up to 8000 Yemenis stranded in Egypt. He sought refuge in Egypt for medical reasons after he was injured back in Yemen.  UNHCR/ Y. Khelidy

CAIRO, Egypt, April 12, 2016 (UNHCR) - Thousands of Yemenis who were in Egypt when war broke out at home a year ago are still unable to return to their families, and are running out of ways to survive without help.

Hoda*, 37, came to Egypt for a routine medical check-up following cancer treatment she received in the country four years ago. She travelled with her mother and two sons, fully expecting to return to Yemen. But then war broke out, stranding them in Egypt and splitting up the family. Her husband and the rest of the family remain trapped in Yemen.

As the situation deteriorated at home, Hoda's husband could no longer send her any money. "I have had to rent an apartment beyond my means in a quiet place," she says.

"When I was here in 2012 I had a bad experience with how people treated my youngest son who is autisticI had some gold when I arrived which I sold to get by."

She soon found she could no longer afford to buy her son's medicine or put him in a special needs school. As a result, his condition began to deteriorate. She has also been unable to send her older son to school.

UNHCR is helping Hoda with some cash, and her mother receives health assistance. In Yemen Hoda was a homemaker, raising her boys. Now she is trying to put her skills and degree in business administration to use to make extra money for survival. "I try to tailor some clothes, but I have not sold any of them yet," Hoda says. "Life is simple in Yemen, all the neighbours would help each other, so different from here in Cairo."

Hoda is among an estimated 6,000 to 8,000 Yemenis now stranded in Egypt, either because they were in the country when the war erupted in March 2015, or because they have fled here for safety. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has registered 1,375 of them, and is helping where it can.

UNHCR provides cash, medical help, and education assistance to Yemeni refugees, as well as protection and psycho-social support, with support from its partners Caritas and Catholic Relief Services.

So far, more than 100 people have been given cash to help ease their difficulties, and close to 500 have been received medical treatment. A further 141 have been given education grants to continue with schooling in Egypt while they wait to go home.

But as the conflict continues, the prospects of returning remain dim.

"I wish I could go back to Yemen to reunite with my husband and the rest of the family, but I think sometimes that even if things get better from a security aspect, now, there is still no electricity and no running water," Hoda says, worried for her son.

"What would I do with an autistic child there? But here I am suffering alone."

For Hoda, and thousands of others dreaming of reuniting with their loved ones, the only lasting solution to alleviate their suffering is for peace to come to Yemen.

By Marwa Hashem in Cairo, Egypt

*Name has been changed for protection
Two weeks ago, on 30 March 2016, the Government of Colombia and the ELN (Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional) announced that they would start formal peace talks in an effort to end more than half a century of fighting. UNHCR welcomes this announcement. Today we are calling on the negotiators to give special attention to the rights of victims, especially internally displaced people and refugees.

Colombia's five-decade armed conflict has produced the world's second biggest displacement situation as of today (Syria is currently the biggest displacement situation). Some 6.7 million people are displaced inside the country - around 13 per cent of the entire population. And 360,000 officially recognized refugees have fled abroad: Mostly this has been to Ecuador, which hosts the largest number of refugees in Latin America, and to Venezuela, home to around 170,000 Colombians in need of international protection.

UNHCR supports the active involvement of refugees and internally displaced people in peace negotiations. Our view is that that victims should have access to the negotiating parties, as happened during talks between the Government and the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia), when more than 60 victims had opportunity to participate in the Havana negotiations.

UNHCR believes that a positive outcome to the negotiations will open the way for reintegration of the internally displaced and returning refugees, resulting over time in an improved human rights situation and in economic and social development in remote areas, including the country's borders. In the meantime, Colombian refugees and asylum-seekers will continue to need international protection in asylum countries, and the voluntary character of repatriations should be maintained.

UNHCR is ready to support the Government of Colombia in its efforts to restore the rights of Colombian internally displaced people and returning refugees and address their protection and assistance needs. UNHCR's experience in post-conflict situations throughout the world is that regional solutions frameworks, such as tripartite mechanisms, voluntary repatriation agreements, reintegration strategies and public policy for local integration, especially in urban settings, are key contributions to building a sustainable peace.

In Colombia, UNHCR has been involved in a Transitional Solutions Initiative, which has helped displaced communities obtain housing, land and livelihoods opportunities and has contributed to their enjoyment of basic rights and the strengthening of communities. Some 38,700 people have benefitted in 17 localities. In Ecuador, a separate Comprehensive Solutions Initiative has, in a similar way, helped Colombian refugees and asylum-seekers enjoy their rights to health, education, employment and housing, and provided them with legal support and advice. In Venezuela, local integration efforts focus on the issuance of documentation to help people gain meaningful protection including effective access to health, education, housing and livelihood opportunities.

For further information on this topic, please contact:
Internally displaced children walk home from a UNHCR supported school in Altos de la Florida, Soacha, Colombia.  UNHCR/S.Rich

GENEVA, April 12 (UNHCR) - Peace talks between the Government of Colombia and the rebel National Liberation Army, or ELN, that seek to end more than half a century of fighting are welcome. They should pay special attention to the rights of victims, especially internally displaced people and refugees, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has said.

Two weeks ago, on March 30 2016, the Government of Colombia and the ELN announced that they would start formal peace talks in an effort to end Colombia's five-decade armed conflict that has produced the world's second biggest displacement situation as of today, after Syria.

Some 6.7 million people are displaced inside the Andean nation - around 13 per cent of the entire population. And 360,000 officially recognized refugees have fled abroad, most to Ecuador - which hosts the largest number of refugees in Latin America - and to Venezuela, home to around 170,000 Colombians in need of international protection.

"UNHCR believes that a positive outcome to the negotiations will open the way for reintegration of the internally displaced and returning refugees, resulting over time in an improved human rights situation and in economic and social development in remote areas, including the country's borders," UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards told reporters at a news briefing in Geneva on Tuesday (April 12).

"In the meantime, Colombian refugees and asylum-seekers will continue to need international protection in asylum countries, and the voluntary character of repatriations should be maintained," he added.

Edwards said UNHCR supports the active involvement of refugees and internally displaced people in peace negotiations. He stressed that victims should have access to the negotiating parties, as happened during talks between the Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, when more than 60 victims had the opportunity to participate in the Havana negotiations.

"UNHCR is ready to support the Government of Colombia in its efforts to restore the rights of Colombian internally displaced people and returning refugees and address their protection and assistance needs," he said.

"UNHCR's experience in post-conflict situations throughout the world is that regional solutions frameworks, such as tripartite mechanisms, voluntary repatriation agreements, reintegration strategies and public policy for local integration, especially in urban settings, are key contributions to building a sustainable peace," he added.

In Colombia, UNHCR has been involved in a Transitional Solutions Initiative, which has helped displaced communities obtain housing, land and livelihoods opportunities and has contributed to their enjoyment of basic rights and the strengthening of communities. Some 38,700 people have benefitted in 17 localities.

In Ecuador, a separate Comprehensive Solutions Initiative has, in a similar way, helped Colombian refugees and asylum-seekers enjoy their rights to health, education, employment and housing, and provided them with legal support and advice.

In Venezuela, meanwhile, local integration efforts focus on the issuance of documentation to help people gain meaningful protection including effective access to health, education, housing and livelihood opportunities.
MADAYA/DAMASCUS, Syrian Arab Republic, 8 April 2016  People looked healthier than during my first visit, says a UNICEF health worker, on return from a mission to Madaya in mid-March. The earlier mission, in January, had found the towns residents barely surviving.

There were indeed signs of improvement during the recent mission. A UNICEF team was told that food scarcity continued to keep children and families awake during the cold nights in the Syrian town. However, unlike in previous months, civilians did not complain from hunger, but from the lack of food diversity. Many children get bloated from the lack of protein, said a father, watching volunteers unload aid trucks into makeshift warehouses.

Madayas local health workers confirmed that a high number of children and adults showed signs of oedema caused by protein deficiency. A dearth of trained health workers, medicines, treatments and facilities meant that many of these cases were not being properly diagnosed.

An 8-year-old girl was out alone in the dark to see what assistance the aid agencies had brought. Did you bring tuna cans? she asked. Like many people that UNICEF met in Madaya, she knew that canned tuna is a good and cheap source of protein.

And diapers? Did you bring diapers? she then asked. Her mother had remained home with a 1-year-old baby.


A water advisory for Wellesley College was issued after the institution's water samples tested positive for E. coli bacteria. The students and staff were told to boil their drinking water at specific school buildings including the Weston Terrace, the Child Study Center, Wellesley Community Children's Center and two residential buildings.

"The advisory was issued on the basis of routine testing of our water system, which determined that the portion of the system that reaches those four buildings has tested positive for bacterial contamination," Wellesley College wrote in a statement on their website. "We are currently flushing the system and will continue routine testing throughout the weekend."

E. Coli bacteria found in water supply at Wellesley College https://t.co/cNC63ziFaJ  Bo Snerdley (@BoSnerdley) April 9, 2016

The water advisory means that individuals in the affected buildings should boil their water for at least one minute before drinking it. The boiled water should also be used for brushing teeth, washing dirty dishes, making ice or preparing food. Additionally, residents in affected buildings were also advised to use bottled water.

The college added that the four buildings mentioned are the only ones that are affected. All water sources in other locations of the campus are safe to drink. Miami Herald reports that there were no reports of individuals in the affected buildings getting sick from the bacteria-infested water.

E.coli infections in children are serious...can involve kidney dialysis and an ICU stay...#ecoli #foodsafety https://t.co/JRSmIkukFa  Dr Elizabeth Neary (@bethnearymd) April 4, 2016

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, E. coli is mostly harmless and some of these bacteria live in human and animal guts. However, some strains of E. coli can cause severe stomach cramps, bloody diarrhea, headaches and fever. The infection can be very serious and even life-threatening for infants, young children and senior adults.
Temo Ojeda developed an app that would bridge the citizens of Cuernavaca and the authority after seeing potholes unreported.

Xopan is a mobile app created by Ojeda and his fellows due to his concern on road infrastructure in his hometown. According to the student, the problem on these potholes is mainly because the government isn't informed by the people and the citizens don't have a place to report either.

Explaining further about Xopan, the startup enthusiast said that before it was born, there was no place that can facilitate the people on reporting bumpy roads. This new medium for communication helps the public to have accessible path that would generate immediate response from the government.

How does it work?

According to the Xopan app description, a citizen can report a complaint through the app, take a picture and send it to the local officials for further inspection. The response is in real time, allowing better coordination at both ends.

The report can be about anything from potholes, leaks, dysfunction traffic lights, and any other infrastructure-related problems. Furthermore, citizens can also 'keep an eye' on the officials on social network to check if the issue is settled. The app features saving-mode for drivers who want to file a report later.

The University of Washington student is one of the many tech-savvy who received the Leonard and Bernice Lavin Entrepreneurial Action Program - a center focusing on supporting students like Ojeda in term of finding capitals and networks.

The program allows Ojeda to meet mentors, innovation enthusiasts and companies whom he has sent his resumes to. He wishes to have an internship in one of the startup companies such as Startup Hall.

According to Ojeda, technology has been the easiest way to create something for the communities especially for the poor. Inspired by his road trip to grandparent's home in Acatlan, Guerrerro - he wants to give something bigger for the society with his meaningful ideas that could make a different.
Chariot for Women is a ridesharing service made by a husband and wife from Charlton, Massachusetts. The ride service is exclusive only to women and children under the age of 13 and will launch in the US on April 19. While this is good news for ladies who have had safety issues in similar services, are there repurcussions for excluding the male demographic?

There have been scores of reports of women being assaulted and violated by Uber drivers during their trip. Tech Crunch notes that Chariot for Women only hires women drivers, donate 2 percent of every fare to charity and do not use surge charging. Additionally, the company has a strict driver background checks as they require that all must pass the Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) check sponsored by the company. Another safety feature they will add soon is fingerprinting.

On their website, Chariot for Women describes how their company and exclusive ridesharing service came to be. Michael Pelletz, one of the organizers of the company, is a former Uber driver, who designed the service with women's safety in mind. He recalled all the conversations he had with women who had negative experiences while using the ridesharing services from Uber and Lyft. The service also comes with additional security features for both passengers and drivers.

"Every time the driver starts her day, she has to answer a random security question that changes daily to ensure her identity. When the passenger requests a ride, a safe word pops up on the driver and passenger's phone," they Chariot for Women website said. "If the driver says the correct word, the ride may begin. If the driver doesn't have the same safe word, the passenger then knows immediately not to get into that Chariot, and will then look for the correct vehicle."

Chariot for Women is about making ride-sharing even safer for women, founder Michael Pelletz says. By @TrishaThadani https://t.co/dCIAcr3mJV  USA TODAY (@USATODAY) April 3, 2016

While this new upcoming ridesharing service for women is great, some critics have raised the issue of gender discrimination. ABC News reports that the company will be rebranding under a name called SheHails. The outlet reports that the company temporarily closed because they cannot keep up with the demand and because of numerous accusations from men who cannot acquire the service.

"You can't limit hiring to just one gender," an employment law expert told the outlet. "From a public accommodation aspect, you can't limit who you offer your services to just one gender."

However, Chariot for Women who will be called SheHails soon, says that their business complies with the law, Ars Technica reports. The company's lawyer Chase Liu said that their stringent driver hiring process is a bona fide occupational qualification critical to their clients' need for privacy and safety.
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UW Researcher Part of Team That Defined Links Within Two Supercontinents

Kevin Chamberlain, a research professor in the UW Department of Geology and Geophysics, is co-author of a paper that appears online in Nature Geoscience today (April 11). The paper highlights a technique that he helped develop to test pre-Pangea continental reconstructions. Here, Chamberlain poses with a mass spectrometer and holds a piece of a mafic dike, or black rock, which cuts through white, or granitic, rock (also pictured) that represents continental crust. (UW Photo)

A University of Wyoming researcher contributed to a paper that has apparently solved an age-old riddle of how constituent continents were arranged in two Precambrian supercontinents -- then known as Nuna-Columbia and Rodinia. Its a finding that may have future economic implications for mining companies.

Specifically, the article describes a technique Kevin Chamberlain, a UW research professor in the Department of Geology and Geophysics, and other researchers used to test reconstructions of ancient continents. The paper argues that the rocks or crust now exposed in southern Siberia were once connected to northern North America for nearly a quarter of the Earths history. Those two continental blocks now form the cores of the modern continents of Asia and North America.

Chamberlain was co-author of the paper, titled Long-Lived Connection between Southern Siberia and Northern Laurentia in the Proterozoic, that appeared in todays (April 11) online issue of Nature Geoscience. The monthly multi-disciplinary journal focuses on bringing together top-quality research across the entire spectrum of the Earth sciences, along with relevant work in related areas. The journal's content reflects all the disciplines within the geosciences, encompassing field work, modeling and theoretical studies.

The article highlights a technique that our project (www.supercontinent.org) has been using to test pre-Pangea or ancient continental reconstructions, Chamberlain says. We have been using the ages, orientations and paleo-magnetic characteristics of short-lived (1 million to 10 million years in duration) igneous, mafic dike swarms as piercing points to determine nearest-neighbor continents in the past.

Mafic dikes are dark-colored rocks or minerals that are in a dike formation, which is a sheet of rock that formed in a fracture in a pre-existing rock body. Chamberlain says mafic dikes, like those studied in the paper, can be found in Wyoming. Mafic dikes in the state include the black vein that can be seen in Mount Moran in the Teton Range; the black, horizontal band on the east face of Medicine Bow Peak; and those that crisscross the Granitic Mountains in central Wyoming.

Using labs at UW and UCLA, Chamberlain says his role in the project was to determine the magmatic ages of numerous mafic dikes through uranium-lead radiometric dating. He was one of four geochronology labs on the team and the only one based in the United States.

The linear dikes from these igneous events (large igneous provinces, or LIPs) are relatively narrow, roughly 100 meters or less, but can be 1,000 to 1,500 kilometers in length. They erupt in a radial pattern.

During later rifting, the continents broke into fragments, which later combined into subsequent new continents, such as our modern-day seven continents.

There may have been four or five cycles of supercontinent formation, Chamberlain says.

Each continental fragment preserves a dike swarm record, he explains. By comparing the temporal records called bar codes (since a plot of dike date vs. time looks like a bar code) of older fragments known as cratons (the cores of modern continents), Chamberlain says he was able to test whether the cratons were close enough to share LIP dike swarms. He adds the research team also can determine when the two cratons joined, as well as when they split apart.

In this new study, we believe that northern Laurentia (North America) and southern Siberia were joined for nearly 1.2 billion years from 1.9 billion years ago to 700 million years ago, he says. Geologists are like detectives. It seems like we come to the crime scene after the fact and put together the pieces.

This finding disproves previous constructions of Nuna-Columbia and Rodinia, and establishes new arrangements of the continental blocks within them, he says.

The project determined the ages of nearly 250 mafic dikes worldwide, a number Chamberlain says is large enough to build a database comparison between all of the older continental fragments from roughly 500 million years ago to 2,700 million years ago. The research group also worked on more recent LIPs -- about 400 million to 100 million years ago -- which have importance for oil and gas exploration, and hydrocarbon maturation models.

A consortium of mining companies funded the research project for five years. Their reasoning: That the continental reconstructions for times when major, known metal deposits formed would be useful for prospecting new finds on the conjugate continents, Chamberlain says. These new deposits may be buried under hundreds of meters of younger rock. So, by establishing which continents were next to the known deposits when they formed, the hope is that additional minerals may be found in the future.

A lot of the major metal deposits in the earth formed in the early part of Earths history, Chamberlain says.

Chamberlain collaborated on the paper with researchers at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada; Tomsk State University in Tomsk, Russia; University of Toronto in Toronto, Canada; Lund University in Lund, Sweden; Queens University in Kingston, Canada; Institute of the Earths Crust, Siberian Branch of the RAS, in Irkutsk, Russia; Diamond and Precious Metal Geology Institute in Yakutsk, Russia; Institute of Geochemistry in Irkutsk, Russia; Geological Survey of Canada in Ottawa; and the Kosygin Institute of Tectonics and Geophysics in Khabarovsk, Russia.

A print version of the paper is scheduled to appear in the May issue of Nature Geoscience.
WPRs Ballard Selected for Storytelling Workshop

Caroline Ballard

Wyoming Public Medias (WPM) Caroline Ballard was chosen to participate in National Public Radios (NPR) Audio Storytelling Workshop, where public media creators will bring their ideas to Washington, D.C., for three days of planning, training and collaborating. NPR received more than 100 applications.

Ballards topic, Gender Parity Problem in State Legislatures, builds upon WPMs recent presentation with Leap into Leadership and Leadership Wyoming Class of 2016 that focused on the low number of women in Wyomings Legislature. She will work with Utah Public Radio on a radio series that addresses this issue in states with low female legislative representation.

This award is a testament to the strength of WPM reporters and their ability to report on issues that have state and national implications, says Christina Kuzmych, WPM general manager. Caroline had stiff competition from some of the strongest national public radio stations with news departments of 20 to 30 reporters. The fact that she competed persuasively and won, speaks of the value NPR places on WPMs news operation.

Ballard received a B.A. in global liberal studies from New York University and her M.A. in journalism from Columbia University. Her work has appeared on Marketplace, NPR, the Village Voice and New Yorks WFUV-FM.
At present, it has a 20-member global team looking at operations and the Indian investments will be made by a team in Hong Kong.

Mumbai: With the Indian startup ecosystem growing rapidly, an arm of Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs on April 12 said it is bullish on the space and will be scouting to invest up to USD 10 million in domestic financial technology companies. Goldman Sachs Principal Strategic Investments (GSPSI), which invests from the bank's balance sheet, has two 'legacy investments' in the country, including in NSE and NCDEX, its head Alokik Advani told reporters here.

While GSPSI continues to manage these investments, it is the new opportunities that the arm is excited about and is looking to invest between USD 2-10 million for a minority stake, he said, adding that it is in discussions with some companies. The announcement comes amid a focused thrust on developing the startup ecosystem, which has seen the government launch the 'Startup India' initiative.

Advani said PSI looks for businesses in the financial technology space which can benefit by associating with its parent. Typically, before taking a stake, the relationship with a startup begins with Goldman Sachs becoming a client, he said. GS already has sizeable presence in India's startup hub Bengaluru and PSI is looking at the city as a centre for innovation, he said. Though it has a wide range of segments it invests in, Advani said companies in data analytics and machine learning space interest PSI.

It is also looking at trading technology, market infrastructure, information services, security software and payments, among other areas. When asked about valuations, he said the expectations are coming down with people becoming more realistic. PSI, which has a portfolio of 75 investments including 12 in the Asia Pacific region, stays invested for over five years and will look for a board seat on the company for its minority investment, he added.

Advani, however, refused to give any targets on investments, saying PSI does not operate like a private equity fund, is very opportunistic and generally takes longer to close deals. PSI is already in discussions with bodies such as Nasscom and startups think-tank iSpirit, Advani said, adding that partnering with colleges and educational institutions which are producing new ventures also makes sense for it in India.

At present, it has a 20-member global team looking at operations and the Indian investments will be made by a team in Hong Kong. Advani declined to comment on its investment in NSE, which is headed for an IPO, but said it "continues to work with NSE management in every shape and way we can on their strategic roadmap."
Banners supporting local steel workers are seen outside the Tata steel plant in Port Talbot, Wales. (Photo: PTI)

London: Tata Steel agreed to sell one of its main British steelworks to investment firm Greybull Capital for 1 pound on Monday, saving a third of the 15,000 jobs placed in jeopardy by the Indian conglomerate's decision to sell up in Britain.

Prime Minister David Cameron has been under pressure to keep the plants open to save jobs after Tata, one of the world's biggest steelmakers, said on March 30 it would sell its loss-making British business.

As Tata formally appointed advisers for the sale of its steel assets in Britain, turnaround specialist Greybull Capital LLP said it would buy the Indian company's Long Products Europe division in Scunthorpe, northern England, which employs 4,400.

It declined to rule out further purchases of Tata's British steel assets, including its plant at Port Talbot in Wales, while British Business Secretary Sajid Javid said the government would consider jointly investing with a buyer to secure the sale of the Indian group's other UK assets.

"I've been in contact with potential buyers, making clear that the government stands ready to help," Javid told parliament. "This includes looking at the possibility of co-investing with a buyer on commercial terms."

The sale to Greybull - for a nominal pound or 1 euro - includes a 400 million pound ($570 mln) investment and financing package for the Scunthorpe business, as well as agreements with suppliers and unions on cutting costs.

"We're expecting no redundancies going forward, the business plan calls for no redundancies," Greybull co-founder Marc Meyohas told reporters on a conference call.

The Greybull deal, which is subject to a ballot by union members, includes two additional mills, an engineering workshop and a design consultancy in Britain, plus a mill in Hayange, in northeast France.

The purchase will see the business renamed 'British Steel', in a revival of a historic name last used almost two decades ago.

Cameron, already grappling with a divided ruling party ahead of a June 23 referendum on membership of the European Union, has been scrambling to try to find buyers for Tata's steel operations, to save jobs.

Britain's eurosceptic media has blamed Brussels for preventing London from taking greater steps to protect the steel industry, while the opposition Labour Party has called on Cameron to do more to save the plants.

Tata, which owns iconic brands such as Jaguar Land Rover and Tetley Tea, is offloading its British steel operations, citing a global oversupply of steel and cheap imports from China, high costs and weak domestic demand.

British Steel?

The deal for the Scunthorpe plant, which Tata had been trying to sell since 2014 before revealing talks with Greybull were underway in December, is expected to complete in eight weeks subject to certain conditions being met.

Greybull, which is not taking on pension liabilities, said about half of the 400 million pound package would come from shareholders of Greybull and half from banks and government loans.

"Were expecting the company to be profitable in year one and thats very much the management plan," said Meyohas, who co-founded Greybull in 2008 after 12 years as CEO of technology services company Cityspace.

Though the deal is positive for the Scunthorpe workers, there is deep unease in Port Talbot, Britain's biggest steel plant, where 4,000 people could be out of a job if Tata fails to find a buyer.

Tata appointed KPMG as adviser on the sale process for its UK assets while Slaughter and May was appointed its legal adviser on the sales.

"While very welcome it does not mean that we are out of the woods yet," said Gareth Stace, director of trade association UK Steel.

"A long-term investor is needed, in the very short term, for the remainder of the whole of the Tata Steel UK business, including Port Talbot," said Stace.

Javid said the government had appointed Ernst and Young to act as its financial advisers on any deal for Tata's other British assets.

However, he said that despite government support, he couldn't guarantee there would not be further job losses across the industry.

Scunthorpe produces steel mainly used in construction and infrastructure projects, whereas Port Talbot produces slab, hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized coil which is used in products from cars to washing machines to food cans.

Finding buyers for Port Talbot and Tata's other assets, could take some time given the complexity of any deal, including negotiations over everything from pensions liabilities to energy subsidies.

Greybull said to date it had been wholly focused on the Scunthorpe deal, but declined to rule out future interest in the Port Talbot plant.

"Whether it's Tata or any other assets, we'll review it as and when is appropriate," Meyohas said.

Another potential bidder for the Port Talbot plant is Sanjeev Gupta, the boss of metals trader Liberty House Group.

"Loss-Making"

Gupta told Reuters on Friday that he was serious about making an offer and had the backing of a group with $7 billion of revenues, hitting back at critics who have questioned his capacity to take on a business dragged down by heavy debt and weak sales.

However, much will depend on how much any potential investor is willing to pay to even hope of turning around the business.

"It's a loss-making business and a loss-making business is not worth a lot in itself to buy," Gupta said. "It's more of a question of what are the resources required in turning it around."

Tata, under former Chairman Ratan Tata, bought its UK steel operations in 2007 by purchasing Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus for $12 billion as a way to access the European market.

But the Indian conglomerate, controlled by philanthropic trusts endowed by the Tata family, struggled to turn the steelmaker around.

Like competitors such as ArcelorMittal, the world's top steel producer, Tata has been hit by plunging prices due to overcapacity in China, the world's biggest market for the alloy.

China said on Monday it wants to work with the rest of the world to find an appropriate resolution to overcapacity in the steel sector, after Britain asked Beijing to hurry up and tackle the problem.

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.
New Delhi: The government on Monday said strict investigation would be carried out to find if there was irregularity in the process in cases where leaked documents suggest that 500 Indians floated companies and trusts in Panama.

Whether you take the Panama Papers or the HSBC list or whatever other information we get... For all this information, we are first looking at whether it is legal activity or illegal activity, minister of state for finance Jayant Sinha said adding strict action is being taken and strict investigation is going on.

He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of state finance secretaries here on Monday.

The government has constituted a multi-agency group comprising representatives of central board of direct taxes (CBDT), financial intelligence unit (FIU) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to scrutinise the Panama Papers.

Sinha also said various financial institutions, banks and investigative agencies are making efforts to make willful defaulters of bank loans to pay up.

While bad loans of banks have been rising for more than five years, it has become a political issue embarrassing the government when former promoter of Kingfisher Airlines Vijay Mallya left India after banks applied pressure to get back Rs 9,000 crore he owed to them.

According to data, there are about 7,686 willful defaulters who owe Rs 66,190 crore to public sector banks. Of these, suits have been filed in 6,816 cases and FIR has been lodged 1,669 cases.
Detroit Tigers outfielder Cameron Maybin will move his minor league rehab assignment on his wrist to Triple-A Toledo on Tuesday, according to Jason Beck of MLB.com.

Maybin, who was slated to spit time in center field with Anthony Gose, was placed on the 15-day disabled list on April 3, 2016 retroactive to March 25, 2015 with a hairline fracture in his right wrist. The speedster was traded from the Atlanta Braves to the Tigers this winter.



Cameron Maybin #22 of the Atlanta Braves makes a sixth inning sliding catch against the St. Louis Cardinals at Turner Field on October 2, 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia.

(Oct. 1, 2015 - Source: Scott Cunningham/Getty Images North America)

During four rehab games with High-A Lakeland, Maybin went 3-for-13 with two doubles and two walks. Maybin should jump right back into a role with Gose, which is currently occupied by Tyler Collins.

Barring any setbacks, the outfielder should be cleared and on the active roster sometime later this week.

Along with Maybin, right-handed reliever Alex Wilson will head to play with Triple-A Toledo.

Meanwhile, lefty reliever Blaine Hardy threw an inning for High-A Lakeland on Saturday as he is coming back from a left shoulder impingement.

Last, but not least, left-handed starting pitcher Daniel Norris threw 40 pitches across two innings during his first rehab start for High-A Lakeland. Norris is on the disabled list with a left lumbar spine fracture. In his next start for the Flying Tigers, Norris will toss 55 pitches.

The Tigers outfield, once Maybin returns, will consist of Justin Upton, Anthony Gose, J.D. Martinez, Maybin and Mike Aviles, who can play all the outfield positions along with third base, shortstop and second base. Collins will probably get sent down to Triple-A to open an outfield spot for Maybin.

The 10 overall pick in the 2005 MLB Draft, Maybin, hit .267 with 10 home runs and 59 RBI with the Braves in 2015. The right-handed hitter swiped 23 bases and played outstanding on the defensive end.



Cameron Maybin #25 of the Atlanta Braves hits a single during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park August 19, 2015 in San Diego, California.

(Aug. 18, 2015 - Source: Denis Poroy/Getty Images North America)

Maybin will look to make a serious impact for the Tigers after being traded to the Motor City this winter.
The market share of Nippon Ceramic's 92 cents sensor increased amid the growing interest in the autonomous driving sector. The 1-inch wide sensor was designed for self-driving cars, an expensive business project launched by technology and automobile firms. The shares of Nippon have increased over 40% in the previous three years and market researchers expect the company's profits to double within 2018.

The Japan-based sensor maker, which is widening its production capacity, anticipates demand to increase almost double over the following five years, Bloomberg reported citing Shinichi Taniguchi. Automakers like Ford Motor and Toyota Motor along with technology companies like Google, Alphabet, and Baidu intend to unveil robot cars within the next five years.

IHS Automotive anticipates global revenue for autonomous driver features like backup braking and accident cautioning to double to nearly $17 billion within 2021. Nippon Ceramics seeks to benefit from this growing interest for the autonomous driving market. The demand for self-driving cars will stimulate the sale of sensors and Nippon being the largest sensor maker will gain a major share in the market, Taniguchi said.

The ultrasonic sensor maker intends to invest as high as $9.2 million in order to widen its Philippines manufacturing plant. In addition, the company is negotiating with a self-driving sensors provider in Europe to buy the sensors from an outside source, an approach that might improve its market share additionally. Nippon sells sensors indirectly to automakers. The company first sells the product to firms like Panasonic and Denso, which later install them into electronics structure for General Motors, Ford, Volkswagen and Toyota.

While the US regulators are on the verge of issuing safety guidance for self-driving cars, auto experts want the government to slower the process. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) along with the officials of American Association of Motor Vehicle is working to design a model state rule, which would gradually create the path for a steady rule for the entire nation.

Reuters quoted Paul Scullion, Association of Global Automakers' safety manager, who said that "NHTSA should not bind itself to arbitrary, self-imposed deadlines at the expense of robust and thoughtful policy analysis." The agency has pledged to complete autonomous cars instructions within July. The California government declared a state rule in December, requiring robot cars to poses brake pedals, steering wheel, and throttle when moving on roads.

According to John Simpson, project director at Consumer Watchdog, the autonomous cars cannot manage the daily traffic situations on roads without the interference of human. Meanwhile, the agency has scheduled a summit on April 27 to discuss on the use of robot cars on roads.

NEWSFACTOR reported that Google is aiming to test its robot cars on Phoenix roads to evaluate its performance in the scorching summer condition in Arizona. Till now, the company has tested 54 autonomous cars in the Mountain View of California.

Both automakers and technology firms are racing to introduce their self-driving cars in the market. The race in the robot cars sector has boosted revenue growth of sensor makers like Nippon Ceramics.
Prior to the scheduled Monday meeting with Banca D'Italia, the Italian central bank, markets were advancing. The increase in Chinese industrial demands and expectation on Italian banks' bailout plan have brought European stocks continued last week's gain.

Stoxx Europe 600 increase 0.6%, to regain from 0.8% earlier loss, as investors expected the bailout plan for Italian banks. While China's manufacturers increased their month-on-month prices for the first time since September 2013, which is also boosting iron ore in the commodity sector.

Chief Analyst at Copenhagen's Danske Bank A/S, Allan von Mehren, told Bloomberg that investors expected a recovery and they waited for the sign of recovery for most companies which struggled in the beginning of this year.

"Investors won't find it easy to believe in the rally until they get more evidence of a business-cycle recovery. The good news is that we already know that the beginning of the year was pretty tough for most companies, so the bar has been set pretty low for this earnings season," von Mehren said.

In the European stock market, banking stocks and commodity producers are the highest gainers. Italian lender Intesa Sanpaolo SpA and Spain's Banco Santander SA led the rise. While in the commodity sector Anglo American Plc and ArcelorMittal advanced at least 2.9%.

CNBC reported that Italian banks were trading higher after the nation's largest banks has agreed to meet Treasury and the central bank last Monday. The meeting was set to discuss a detailed bailout plan for the ailing banks which had a huge amount of bad loans.

Italian central bank, Banca d'Italia, had planned to set up a government-backed fund to buy bad loans from the banks. Non-performing loans in Italian banks has acccumulated to the one-fifth of the country's economy, or equal to 359.7 billion ($410.4 billion).

Following the news of the meeting plan, shares of Italian banks move to positive territories. Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena was higher by 7% while Banco Popolare and Unicredit were also increasing.

Reuters reported that Italy's banking index was up by 4.7%, but it is still suffer from continuous loss since the beginning of this year. Shares of Italian banks have dropped more than 30%, compared to a 9% drop for the broader European market this year.

Therefore, analysts warned investors to remain cautious until the Italian central bank announces detail of the bailout. Team of analysts at UBS wrote, "Reports of a possible system-wide fund announcement this week are promising but we remain cautious until details are announced."

On Monday's trade, Stoxx Europe 600 Index continued last week's gain to increase 0.6%. Financial and commodity sectors are leading the gain after expectation on the bailout program for Italian banks.
London: India's economy has the potential to grow between 8 to 10 per cent if the country continues the pace of reforms, Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) Arvind Subramanian has said.

"There is no doubt that India needs to grow very rapidly to be a leading power (of the world). My own view is that India's potential growth is somewhere between 8-10 per cent," Subramanian told a Washington audience.

In Washington ahead of the US visit of the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to attend the annual spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, Subramanian said, "It's worth noting that India has been growing at 6 to 6.5 per cent for the last 35 years."

"It would place India among sustainably fastest growing economy and actually among democracies, non-oil countries...So India's economic transformation has been pretty good," he said.

Subramanian said achieving a growth rate of 8-10 per cent is feasible on a number of factors including the continuation and pace of reforms and global environment that promotes exports."I certainly think it is feasible provided we continue the pace of reforms at a reasonable pace," he said.

"My own view is that if you continue with the current pace of reforms, get a few more things done, 8-10 per cent growth is really realisable," the top economic advisor said. Subramanian noted that in the last one and half years there has been progress made in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI).

"If we can maintain this pace of reforms, may be accelerated India's potential would be realised," he said. At the same time the top Indian economist said that 8-10 per cent growth is also contingent on a reasonable external environment.

"My own view is that no country does 8-10 per cent growth sustainably without its export growing at a significant double digit pace," he said.

"There is a very low possibility or probability that India can grow 8-10% growth without rapid growth in exports. I think, the possibility for India being different from these nations is that perhaps India does not have to do manufacturing, perhaps it can do a combination of manufacturing and services," he said.

Subramanian was participating in a panel discussion at Carnegie on recent call by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for India to be a leading power and a report authored by top American thinker Ashley Tellis in this regard.

"In Modi's vision, a leading power is essentially a great power. However, India will only acquire this status when its economic foundations, its state institutions, and its military capabilities are truly robust. It will take concerted effort to reach this pinnacle," Tellis said.

"There are three obstacles that come in the way of India's rise. First historically India has never desired to be a great power. It was content to be a great civilisation to be recognised as a great country but never pursued the goal of becoming a great power in the sense that conventional great powers are seen in international politics," he said.

So Prime Minister Modi's recent shift advocating that India be a great power can truly be transformational if they do the things required to get them there.

"The second is that India has never built the kind of economy that allows it to generate capital, produce the resources that the state can use to underwrite great power ambitions. There is whole agenda of economic reform that is implicated here and which India has still to complete," he said.

"And the third constraint has been India s own weaknesses with respect to state capacity," Tellis said.The United States at least for the 17 odd years has looked at India as a great power in waiting, because it fundamentally accords with the American national interest.

"US interest consists of maintaining a balance of power in the broader Asian Pacific region particularly because of China's rise." Tellis said.
Pivotal raised its objective price on Facebook's shares from $136 to $154 and restated a buy rating for the company, suggesting 51% upside to Tuesday's ending price. While Alphabet Google's objective price was increased to $970, suggesting 28% upside to Monday's ending price. The parent of Google was promoted to buy by analysts at Pivotal research.

According to Brian Wieser, an analyst at Pivotal, Facebook is still looked with optimistic thought than Alphabet. Although both the companies share the dominant position in the global digital marketing industry, Facebook's emphasis on its key business and its future reforming strategies isolates the firm from its rival's parent company, he added.

Facebook's shares dropped to $109.00, down 1.5% on Monday trading session, rising 11.7% in the past three-month period. The stocks have increased 33% in the past 12 months, exceeding the S&P 500. On an average, 40 analysts polled by FactSet provided the stock with a buy grade and set an objective price of $133.64, MarketWatch said.

Pivotal analysts expect Facebook to record an increase of 50% in its first quarter revenue that comprise a 52% growth in ad revenue, despite the sluggish macroeconomic condition. Wieser said that the company continues to develop helped by many growth factors. Meanwhile, minus foreign exchange rates are expected to impact Alphabet's earnings, but to a smaller level than in the past quarters. Pivotal expects Alphabet's revenue growth rate, excluding TAC, to be 18%.

INVESTOR's BUSINESS DAILY quoted an information, which stated that Facebook experienced a 21% decline in original posts for the period from 2014 middle to 2015 middle. The social media's annual F8 developer meeting commences on April 13 and that chatbot topics are going to hit the sky during the conference. The chatbots are anticipated to create a fresh revenue pool for businesses that seeks to intermingle with their clients on a social media platform.

Shares of Facebook are trading down 7% with a buy point of 117.09. While Microsoft shares are trading down 4% from its December high with a buy point of 56.95. Microsoft stock dropped 0.2% on Monday. Alphabet Google is trading 3% down with a buy point of 777.41. The stock dropped 0.3% during Monday trading session.

According to TechCrunch, Facebook has teamed with Dev Bootcamp to sponsor 20 people to join the 19-week program for free in 2016. The computer education program by Dev Bootcamp envelops javaScript, Ruby, SQL, CSS, HTML, Ruby on Rails, agile and pair programming. Facebook has planned to use a portion of F8 proceeds to contribute $250K to Dev Bootcamp.

Companies like Facebook, Google, and Microsoft are racing to gain from the growing internet exposure, despite the poor macroeconomic condition. These companies are hoping to stabilize their revenue growth amid serious crisis globally.
Government Development Bank (GDB) of Puerto Rico has declared an emergency on Saturday suspending its lending power and freezing most withdrawals. Alejandro Garcia Padilla, governor of the island's central bank has announced the emergency measures aiming to avoid default on a crucial May 1 debt repayment schedule.

The executive order is expected to protect the bank's dwindling liquidity through allowing withdrawals only for the essential public services. However, the order doesn't indicate for a moratorium on the government bank principal or interest payments. The central bank is in talks with the creditors on the $423 million debt repayment schedule, reports Fox News Latino quoting its governor.

Puerto Rico has been facing total debt of around $70 billion and 45% of its population lives beneath the poverty line. Though the island has experienced default in small debt repayment earlier, but a default from GDB's part will pose more serious risks. GDB is now unable to make the debt repayment, according to a report published in Reuters.

Saturday's executive order appears following promulgation of a new law during last week entitling 'The Puerto Rico Emergency Moratorium and Financial Rehabilitation Act'. The law empowers the GDB governor with emergency powers including ability to declare a moratorium on all bond payments, reports CNBC.

GDB depositors such as municipalities and public agencies are barred from withdrawing their money with limited exceptions for the funds related to essential services. The governor's order also suspends minimum reserve requirements at GDB while preventing the bank from lending or making payments against GDB guaranteed debts.
The venture firm Accel has raised a new fund. Its $500 million fund target the next generation of entrepreneurs in Europe and Israel. Up to now, Accel has invested in startup companies located in 19 countries.

Founded in 1983, Accel is well-known as an early and growth-stage venture capital firm. With three decades of experience, Accel has invested and backed hundred of companies including Facebook, Dropbox, Flipkart, Atlassian and Spotify. The firm has offices in New York, Bangalore, and London.

Accel has announced an Accel London V as its new $500 million fund targeting a Series A and B investment in Europe and Israel. This new fund added to the funds recently raised to target startups in the regions. Previously, Accel London IV raised a $475 million fund last two years targeting Series A investment in Europe.

In an interview with Tech Crunch, Accel partner Harry Nelis confirmed the fund will continue to target early stage investment. Most of Accel investments are made on the early stage, in either Series A or Series B investment round.

"Early stage is our sweet spot and where most of our investments are made  we typically invest in Series A and Series B rounds. Although, sometimes we go in a bit earlier when we meet an exceptional entrepreneur with a great idea or we'll write larger checks when there's a strategic opportunity to do so," said Nellis.

Venture Beat reported that total value of Accel's fund which is currently managed in Europe and Israel has reached $2.5 billion. Its London office said to generate $15 billion in exit market value in 2015.

Accel said that its new $500 million fund will focus on early growth investment. The firm also look forward to work with cloud service company offering software-as-a-service (Saas), marketplace and the startups categorized into next generation infrastructure.

"Entrepreneurship is flourishing everywhere across Europe and Israel; we've never seen so many great founders, both gritty and ambitious, come out of the region, and are excited to help them build the next generation of truly great, enduring businesses," Nellis said regarding the target investment.

Meanwhile in an interview with The Telegraph, Harry Nelis said the firm will also monitor the growing financial tech companies in Europe. "We're excited about financial services. We've already backed Funding Circle and World Remit and we believe London is an exciting market because of the combination of technology talent and financial services talent."

Accel, the Palo Alto-based venture firm has raised a new fund, Accel London V. The $500 million fund is targeting the next generation of entrepreneurs in Europe and Israel which ranging from cloud based service, mobile and also financial technology.
Betty Berry

Q: It seems as though I've been renewing my driver's license by mail forever, and now I have a notice that the current renewal must take place at the Department of Motor Vehicles. Why? Also, I'm sure I'll be required to take a written test, and to say the least I'm nervous. Do you have any suggestions for success?

A: Very few people look forward to taking any kind of test, so you are not alone in your concerns. You've asked two very good questions that I'll try to answer.

Many of us have enjoyed the luxury of renewing our licenses by mail. However, according to the DMV, several conditions preclude a person from having that opportunity.

If you have a probationary license or if you have a "failure to appear" on your record within the last two years you will not be issued a renewal by mail. If you have been suspended from driving because of an illegal blood-alcohol content level within the last two years or if your record has a total violation point count greater than 1 you will be invited to the DMV office.

You will also be asked to renew your license in person if you are older than 70 or have received two consecutive four- or five-year extensions.

When renewing your license in person be prepared to take an eye test and the written traffic law test. You will also be required to have your picture taken and give a thumb or fingerprint.

Whether you want to believe it or not, the DMV wants you to pass your test. However, you have the responsibility to be prepared.

You may be asking how you can prepare for the eye test. If you are due to have your regular vision checkup, make sure you arrange to do it before it is time to renew your license. If you do need new glasses to improve your vision you'll be wearing them when you take the test. A word of caution: Make sure you are used to your new glasses before taking the test. On the day of the test make sure the glasses are sparkling clean and properly fitted.

Now let's talk about studying for the written test. To start, get the current California Driver Handbook from your local DMV office. Everything you will be tested on is in this manual.

Study the entire handbook. I found the answer to one question on page 3 and another on page 74. So don't think any of the material is fluff. Read it all.

When you are studying, it may help to make notes in the margin or to underline certain points. Sometimes reading aloud can also help.

After reading the book, take a sample test or two. For questions missed, go back and review that section in the book. Also, a second reading of the handbook is very helpful.

Don't attempt to study while doing another task that requires concentration. Don't attempt to study for long periods. After about 30 minutes your mind is saturated. Take a break and come back to it later.

Get a good night's sleep the night before the test and arrive in plenty of time for your appointment. Make sure you have your license, a working writing instrument and your glasses, if applicable. Also if you wear a hearing aid, make sure the batteries are good.

Go in with a positive attitude and you'll do just fine.

HAPPENINGS:

Thursday: Economic Check-Up, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Senior Concerns Day Care Center, 401 Hodencamp Road in Thousand Oaks. For an appointment call 497-0189.

Thursday: "Will You pass Your Next Driving Test?" seminar, 10:30 to noon at Goebel Adult Community Center, 1385 E. Janss Road in Thousand Oaks. For reservations call 381-2744.

Saturday and Sunday: Dental clinic for Californians in need. Doors open at 5:30 a.m. at Ventura County Fairgrounds. Dental professionals will provide free care. Interpreters will be available to assist those who do not speak English.

Sunday: History Comes Alive presentation on Queen Elizabeth I. Val Rains, dressed in full Elizabethan costume will portray Queen Elizabeth I during her 44-year reign. Presentation is 2-3:15 p.m. at Goebel Adult Community Center, 1385 E. Janss Road in Thousand Oaks. Tickets are $5 and available at the center.

April 20: "Let's Talk About Your Driving Skills" seminar, 1:30-3 p.m. at Westlake Village Civic Center, 31200 E. Oak Crest Drive in Westlake Village. For more information call 495-6250.

April 22: "What Is Elder Abuse" seminar. Patricia Cabuto, victim advocate from the District Attorney's Office will explain the types of elder abuse and talk about restraining orders. 1-2 p.m. at Goebel Senior Adult Center in Thousand Oaks. For reservations call 381-2744.

April 26: The Empowered Caregiver Series seminar "Navigating the Medical Arena  What You Need to Know," 5:30-7 p.m. at Senior Concerns Day Care Center, 401 Hodencamp Road in Thousand Oaks. For reservations call 497-0189.

Betty Berry is a senior advocate for Senior Concerns. The advocates are located at the Goebel Adult Community Center, 1385 E. Janss Road, Thousand Oaks or call 495-6250 or e-mail betty@seniorconcerns.org (please include your telephone number.) You are invited to submit questions on senior issues.
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Camarillo

Senior center hosts various activities

The Pleasant Valley Senior Center will offer a variety of programs at 1605 E. Burnley St.

The AARP Smart Driver Course will go from 1-5 p.m. April 27-28. The eight-hour course is for people 55 and older. Cost for AARP members is $15 and $20 for nonmembers. A registration form and a check made out to AARP is required by April 20.

The Spring Fling Dance will go from 12:30-2:30 p.m. Tuesday. Seniors of Note band will perform. Attendance is free.

There will be a trip to Los Angeles on May 19 with a tour through downtown Los Angeles. The tour features lunch at Philippe the Original and a stop at the Grove Shopping Center and Farmer's Market.

Thousand Oaks

Talk helps make medical decisions

Senior Concerns will present a talk as part of its Empowered Caregiver Series titled "Navigating the Medical Arena: What You Need to Know Now" from 5:30-7 p.m. April 26 at 401 Hodencamp Road.

Betty Berry, certified senior adviser and patient advocate, will lead the talk.

A $10 donation is requested. For more information, visit www.seniorconcerns.org or call 497-0189.

Ventura

Agency shares about its programs

The Ventura Council for Seniors will host an educational forum focusing on the programs and resources offered to the public through the Ventura County Area Agency on Aging at 10:30 a.m. April 21 at the Ventura Adult and Continuing Education center, 5200 Valentine Road.

The event is open to the public, but an RSVP is requested. Call 648-3035 to reserve a spot.
SHARE CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/VENTURA COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE Vincent Mackey, 52, was arrested Thursday in connection with a 1985 murder, officials said. He is currently serving a life sentence for the 1986 murder of his boss.

By Marjorie Hernandez of the Ventura County Star

A man charged with the murder of an Oxnard woman 30 years ago is scheduled to appear for an arraignment on April 22, prosecutors said.

Vincent Mackey, 52, was charged with the murder of 19-year old Isabel Hernandez after the Ventura County Sheriff's Cold Case Task Force reopened the case in 2013.

Mackey appeared in Ventura County Superior Court on Friday, but his arraignment was continued.

Mackey is also facing a special allegation that he used a deadly weapon, a knife, to kill Hernandez. He also faces special circumstances that he committed the murder during a rape and a burglary, and having a prior murder conviction.

Senior Deputy District Attorney John Barrick said Hernandez was staying at her boyfriend's Oxnard apartment for the weekend she was killed on Sept. 28, 1985.

The case remained unsolved for three decades until Oxnard police homicide detective Mike Young was assigned to the Sheriff's Cold Case Task Force, and he reopened the investigation in 2013. A check with the Combined DNA Index System, a databank that contains DNA profiles of people arrested across the United States, matched the DNA collected from the crime scene with Mackey, Barrick said.

Barrick said Hernandez did not know Mackey. Mackey, however, had lived in the same Oxnard apartment with his then girlfriend and her roommate before Hernandez's boyfriend moved in, the prosecutor said.

"When Mackey's girlfriend and her roommate moved out of that apartment, they turned in their keys, but he didn't," Barrick said. "There was no evidence found of forced entry into the apartment."

Barrick said initial investigators found Hernandez was raped before she was stabbed 11 times.

Mackey was already serving life without the possibility parole at Solano State Prison when a warrant was issued for his arrest on Hernandez's murder, Barrick said.

Mackey was convicted in May 1987 for the slaying of his boss, James Sprigg, Barrick said.
File photo

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By John Scheibe of the Ventura County Star

California oil regulators said late Monday afternoon that they have issued two orders to an area company to repair or replace some oil wells and other equipment on Rincon Island.

Rincon Island is man-made and is off Rincon Beach northwest of Ventura.

The orders were issued to Rincon Island Limited Partnership, according to a statement released by California Department of Conservation's Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources.

State officials said inspectors with the department found "numerous violations related to the condition of the equipment." This included valves, pipes and other equipment that was "severely corroded and in an unsafe state of disrepair and dysfunction," state officials said. The order affects more than 75 wells, tanks and other facilities on the island, officials said.

State Oil & Gas Supervisor Ken Harris said officials were worried by "the number of long-term idle wells at this site in the marine environment."

Harris said regulators suspect that the wellhead to an offshore well that was drilled in 1961 and is about 3,000 feet offshore from the island, "may have been damaged by commercial fishing operations sometime before 1990."

They said the company must inspect the ocean floor "within a 100-foot radius of the well," as well as inspect the wellhead and "any production lines attached to the well."

Regulators also said that the oil company posted a $250,000 bond with the Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources for "all the wells on the island," in addition to "a separate $5 million bond with the State Lands Commission  which controls offshore oil leases within three miles of the California coast.

The Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources oversees the drilling, operation, maintenance and final plugging and abandonment of oil, natural gas and geothermal wells in California.
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There was an uncomfortable moment when Donald Trump, of all people, offered a proposal in the immigration debate that sounded eerily similar to something I have been thinking about.

After 25 years of reporting and writing on immigration, I recently found myself trying to come up with a new way to deter illegal immigration into the United States from Mexico.

Then it hit me: remittances. Mexican expatriates in the United States send home nearly $25 billion annually, most of it in wire transfers or bank deposits. Some of it comes from legal permanent residents and U.S. citizens, but much comes from the undocumented.

Pressed to explain how he plans to get Mexico to pay for what he insists will be a "big, beautiful wall" on the border, Trump has included in his immigration reform plan a threat to "impound all remittance payments derived from illegal wages."

And in a new twist, the billionaire suggested he would use the confiscated funds to pay for the wall unless Mexico agrees to a one-time payment of $5 billion to $10 billion.

Of course, Mexico will never give in to blackmail, even though what Trump proposes is a bargain. Every four years, the Mexican economy takes in nearly $100 billion from Mexicans living in the United States. It can afford to kick back a percentage to the house. The real reason Mexico won't do so is because it has no interest in building a wall that may cut into profits by limiting migration to the north.

My idea was a little different. I would not seize the remittances entirely. Government confiscation of private property doesn't seem like something the Republican Party should be toying with.

I would, however, tax the money transfers at 50 percent. My goal wouldn't be to raise funds for a wall that won't be very effective anyway, but rather to discourage illegal immigration.

After all, there is no denying that undocumented immigrants work long hard hours under harsh conditions doing jobs Americans won't do. But it is also true that once they get a job in the United States, these immigrants send much of their earnings home to family in Mexico. And while they live here, they can get free medical care and education for their children. When they retire, some  not all  will return home to Mexico to live in relative comfort in, for instance, a house they paid for with wages earned in the United States. That's not fair.

If it were suddenly no longer economically advantageous to double dip like this, these immigrants might think twice about coming here. They might try harder to find well-paying work in Mexico, or go to another country.

As an added bonus, if the remittances started coming in 50 percent lighter, the Mexican elites currently in denial about the contributions of Mexican workers in the United States might finally acknowledge how dependent Mexico has become on this reliable source of foreign income.

Let's be honest: The wages of undocumented immigrants, while hard-earned, might also be considered ill-gotten gains. They were earned with fake Social Security numbers and being paid to workers who shouldn't even be in this country.

Which brings me back to my favorite, and least popular, solution to America's illegal immigration problem: cracking down on employers. They have benefited from their own form of ill-gotten gains: the profits generated from using undocumented immigrant labor because Americans weren't interested in doing these jobs.

Once a company is accused of using illegal labor, and those charges have been investigated and found to have merit, the government should audit the business and determine how much of its profits were derived from illegitimate labor. Then we can tax that portion of its profits at 50 percent, just like we do the remittances.

Don't hold your breath waiting for Trump to propose something that radical. When it's time to get tough, he zeros in on immigrants over employers because  like most bullies  he only picks on those who can't fight back.

Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com. He writes for The Washington Post Writers Group.


After a sold-out sophomore year RiSE Lantern Festival is set to expand into two days for 2016, Friday, October 7 and Saturday, October 8. This festival which celebrates the collective elevation of peoples hopes, dreams, resolutions, goals and desires  will once again take place at the Moapa River Reservation.

A limited number of pre-sale tickets will go on sale for past attendees and those signed up through the festivals website starting Wednesday, April 13 at 9 a.m. PST.

Over the past couple of years we have really been able to hone and refine this very special event, said co-founder of RiSE Dan Hill. And by expanding to two days I am looking forward to the opportunity to allow even more people to come out and experience the magic, beauty and sense of community that defines RiSE.

Taking place at the Moapa River Reservation (approximately 35 miles northeast of Las Vegas, adjacent to Valley of Fire State Park), the gathering will feature the simultaneous release of thousands of flame-lit paper lanterns, each carrying an individual meaning and together forming something beautiful.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday faulted the Reserve Bank of India for allowing people to run away after taking thousands of crores of rupees as loans from banks and said as a regulator RBI must act as a watchdog.

A Bench of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice Ms. R. Banumathi made this observation after senior counsel Jaideep Gupta, appearing for RBI, submitted that the names of the defaulters of Rs 500 crores or more to public sector banks cannot be disclosed. He said it was extremely necessary to keep these names confidential due to their fiduciary relationship and as per the RBI Act.

The Bench was dealing with a PIL filed in 2003 by NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation seeking an independent investigation into the affairs of HUDCO in granting loans .

The CJI told the counsel if the confidentiality clause prevented RBI from disclosing the names, at least it should disclose the total amount which is in default.

He said people taking thousands of crores to run their empires and then later declare insolvency and resort to BIFR proceedings only to take more loans from other sources. This when poor farmers are driven to suicide unable to pay their small debts and you take action against them by attaching properties.

The court also told the Solicitor General that it has enlarged the scope of the case and will examine all parameters of bad loans and defaults. The bench issued notices to the finance ministry as well as the Indian Banks Association to clarify on huge outstanding of bad loans.

RBI said disclosure of defaulters would adversely affect business climate in the country besides the jobs of thousands of people working in these firms.


photo source Dantri

According to the workers, the companys management board broke a promise to establish a union to protect employees rights.

Besides, workers do not have official working hours. They have to start working at 8 AM until the managers allow them to leave, which is usually at 9 or 10 PM, even on Saturdays. However, the workers are only paid a basic wage of VND3.74 million ($165) a month, with a compensation of VND100,000 ($4.5) for extra hours accumulated during the month.

On the same day, chairwoman of the Haiphong Economic Zone Trade Union Pham Thi Hang attended a working session with the companys representatives to protect their rights.

Accordingly, after the working session, the company promised to establish the union on April 15 and adjust the working hours to suit Vietnamese labour regulations. Furthermore, the company will retain/keep the compensation of VND100,000 ($4.50) for all the extra hours accumulated throughout the month, but agreed to increase the monthly allowance to VND450,000 ($20.2) per person.

However, Bluecom Vina refused to its workers to have two Saturdays off each month, leaving them dissatisfied, which prompted workers not to restart working.

Starting operation in 2015, wholly Korean-owned Bluecome Vina, specialises in manufacturing TV speakers and earphones with a total workerforce of 1,400.
Smoke and flames billow out from The Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai on Nov 29, 2008. (Photo: AFP/Sajjad HUSSAIN)

VIENNA: Austrian prosecutors said Monday (Apr 11) they are probing a possible link between a Pakistani held in Salzburg in connection with last November's terror assaults in Paris and the 2008 attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai.

"Leads pointing to this are being looked into," prosecutors in Salzburg said, adding however that the identity of the Pakistani suspect, who has been in custody since December in the western Austrian city, has not been confirmed.

"Wide-ranging investigations on this question, among others, are ongoing, although the public prosecutors' office has been waiting for information on this from Pakistan since December 2015," they said in a statement.

A source in Paris and the Sunday Times said that the man is thought to be a bomb maker for Pakistani extremist organisations Lashkar-e-Taiba and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.

India holds Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), allegedly linked to Al-Qaeda, responsible for the 2008 Mumbai assault that killed 166 people. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is blamed for a string of high-profile attacks in recent years.

The 34-year-old was arrested in Austria in December along with an Algerian. French investigators suspect that the Islamic State (IS) group, which claimed responsibility for the Paris bombings as well as attacks in Brussels on Mar 22, sent both men to Europe to carry out attacks.

Austrian authorities said in February that they are believed to have been in the same boat bringing around 200 migrants to Greece as two men involved in the Paris atrocities.

While those involved in the attacks were able to travel onwards, the pair were held up by Greek authorities for 25 days because they were carrying fake Syrian passports.

They then arrived in Salzburg at the end of November -- after the Paris killings -- and Austrian police arrested them at a centre for migrants on December 10.

A senior security official in Pakistan told AFP he had no information.

"We are in completely in the dark about such a person... who he is, his identity and his affiliations," the official said.
The collision occurred on Sunday evening when the customer lost control of a BMW 730Li, worth VND4.4 billion (US$197,384), and struck a street sign on Nhu Nguyet Street, Hai Chau District, Da Nang, distorting the hood of the vehicle and resulting in the bumper falling out, according to a police report.

The sedan, available in Vietnam since March 2016, is a model of BMWs 7 series and was part of a roadshow held by a dealer in Ho Chi Minh City for customers in Da Nang to test drive, the document said.

Local police have examined the site and found no fatalities, Lieutenant Colonel Ho Van Minh from Hai Chau District Traffic Police said.

The incident caused no injuries because the driver was protected by the autos airbag and there was no one nearby, the lieutenant colonel said.

According to local auto forums, the version features an inline four cylinder engine that produces 258 horsepower, which can accelerate from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour within 6.3 seconds.

BMW, headquartered in Munich, Germany, is a luxury vehicle, motorcycle, and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916.
Jewellers went on an indefinite strike at the start of March to protest against the proposed excise tax.

Mumbai: More than half of Indian jewellers reopened their shops on Monday after keeping them closed for nearly six weeks in protest over the reintroduction of excise duty on gold jewellery.

The resumption in business could boost demand from the world's second biggest consumer and support global prices trading near their highest in three weeks.

"Jewellers are opening shops after government assured it will simplify implementation of excise duty," said Bachhraj Bamalwa, director at All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation.

"More than half of jewellery shops are now open."

Jewellers went on an indefinite strike at the start of March to protest against the proposed excise tax. The strike was later called off on assurances from the excise department that it would not "harass" jewellers.

Although the national level trade bodies of bullion dealers and jewellers called off the strike on March 19, various regional industry associations decided to maintain it.

But the government still refused to roll back the tax.

"We cannot continue to strike indefinitely. Already few artisans have committed suicide due to the business we lost," said Kumar Jain, a Mumbai-based jeweller.

Jewellery shops in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh opened last month.

On Monday, jewellers from eastern Indian state West Bengal decided to start operations, said Harshad Ajmera, Organizer Secretary of Swarna Shilpa Bachao Committee.

Discounts drop

Gold discounts over global prices are falling as jewellers are now replenishing inventory after opening shops.

Dealers were offering discounts of up to $25 an ounce to the global benchmark this week, down from $40 last week.

"Demand has been picking up due to festivals and the wedding season," said Daman Prakash Rathod, a director at MNC Bullion, a wholesaler in Chennai.

The strike, and higher prices, are estimated to have cut India's gold demand in the March quarter by about two-thirds from a year ago to its lowest in seven years.

"By end of this week nearly all jewellery shops will open," said a Mumbai-based dealer with a private bank.
Indian giant Tata Steel announces the sale of a major British steel division employing 4,400 people, as it formally placed the rest of its steel assets in the country up for sale. (AFP/Lindsey Parnaby)

LONDON: Indian giant Tata Steel announced on Monday (Apr 11) the sale of a major British steel division employing 4,400 people, as it formally placed the rest of its steel assets in the country up for sale.

The government has been racing to find a buyer for Tata's assets - and save 15,000 jobs - after the company's shock announcement last month it was selling its British assets due to a global oversupply of steel, cheap imports into Europe, high costs and currency volatility.

Tata Steel said it had agreed to sell its Long Products Europe (LPE) division, whose chief asset is the Scunthorpe works in eastern England, to Greybull Capital, a British-based family investment office. Long products are items such as steel pipes that are sold by length.

"This transaction will offer a future for the LPE business and its 4,400 employees in the UK," said Hans Fischer, chief executive of Tata Steel's European operations.

Tata Steel is still looking for a buyer for the rest of its British assets including the Port Talbot steelworks on the south Wales coast, Britain's biggest steel plant, which employs 4,000 workers.

The LPE deal is expected to complete within eight weeks, subject to conditions being met. LPE, which will be renamed British Steel, was sold for a nominal 1 (US$1.40). Greybull said it is arranging a 400 million investment and financing package as part of the deal.

The money is provided mainly by a combination of banks and shareholders. The LPE sale also includes two mills, a port terminal, an engineering workshop and a design consultancy, all in Britain, as well as a mill in northeast France which employs 400 people.

After a fortnight of pressure from the opposition, trade unions and the press over the government's handling of the crisis, business minister Sajid Javid was to address lawmakers later on Monday on efforts to find a buyer for Tata's assets.

He flew to India last week to meet company executives and has said the government will make every effort to secure a serious buyer for the Port Talbot plant and other assets.

SOARING CHINESE IMPORTS

"The board of Tata Steel Europe ... has decided to commence the process of divestment of its entire shareholding in its subsidiary Tata Steel UK," the company said in a statement.

Fischer said the industry was facing "challenging market conditions in Europe with the soaring levels of imports from China".

Greybull said the existing LPE management team would stay and run the business.

Trade union members at Scunthorpe are being balloted on whether to accept a three percent pay cut and reduced pension contributions for a year to smooth the deal.

Greybull partner Marc Meyohas said: "We are delighted to have reached agreement for the acquisition of LPE, which we believe can become a strong business, with a highly skilled workforce and great potential.

He said the aim was to avoid redundancies and grow the operation. "At its core, it is a very good business," he said.

Meyohas said the name British Steel was "world renowned" and had an "incredible heritage", but would not be drawn on whether Greybull was interested in buying other parts of Tata Steel's UK assets.

WELSH PLANT LOSING MONEY

Metal processing company Liberty House is looking at the Port Talbot plant, though the group's president Sanjeev Gupta is not keen on taking on its pension and environmental liabilities, and wants relief from high energy prices.

Port Talbot is reportedly losing 1 million a day in the face of high energy costs and plunging prices caused by a chronic global oversupply of steel and a glut of cheap imports, particularly from China.

"We remain very interested in acquiring downstream - steel processing - activities, where we have a proven track record of achieving a positive turnaround," Gupta said, according to The Times newspaper.

He said he wanted to make "a sound judgement on what will be the most economical and sustainable operating model".

Business minister Javid hailed Monday's news as "a step in the right direction for the long-term future of British steel manufacturing in Scunthorpe." "We will continue to work with Tata and Greybull and, as we have said, stand ready to provide funding on a commercial basis if required," he said.
On April 8, ADM Group Investment Joint Stock Company (ADM) and Saijo Denki signed an agreement to distribute smartphone-controllable air conditioners in Vietnam. Accordingly, 40,000 Saijo Denki-branded air conditioners will arrive to Vietnam on April 15.

Saijo Denki representative Thynyawat Chittiphailungsri commented that before setting foot in Vietnam, the company thoroughly researched the market. The company found Vietnamese peoples income on the rise. Besides, Vietnamese people seem to favour Thai products, making it a suitable time to popularise the Saijo Denki brand in the country.

It is the first time that Saijo Denkis products have been present in Vietnam, however, we have numerous advantages over Japanese as well as Korean products. Saijo Denki expects that its products will get a market share between 5 and 7 per cent in the first year and carry on to dominate in the upcoming years, said Dao Tien Duong, ADMs deputy general director.

According to Nguyen Ho Linh, director of AMDs electronic branch, Saijo Denki is the only Thai brand that can compete with Japanese rivals. Besides, it is one of the few air conditioner brands licensed to export to Japan.

Saijo Denki is the first air conditioner controlled by smart phones using GPS Inverter, a combination of the global positioning system (GPS) and Intelligent Inverter application.

Besides, Saijo Denkis products are equipped with a turbo technology that makes cooling 25 per cent faster and uses 40-80 per cent less electricity compared to general air conditioners. Furthermore, Saijo Denkis products have a higher capacity than that of the average appliances in the same price bracket. For example, a Saijo Denki product worth VND11 million ($494.2) has a capacity of a 10,050 British thermal unit (BTU) instead of the 9,000 BTU comparable to other products at the same price.

Established in 1985, Saijo Denki specialises in manufacturing air conditioners and air purifiers. Its products are present in North America, South America, Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia.
Cat Thai Manufacturing Trading Co., Ltd is one of the leading suppliers of components and parts. The World Trade Organisation reported that Viet Nam had impressive export-import growth in 2015. - VNA/VNS Photo An Hieu

This was the conclusion of the "World Trade 2016 and Prospects 2016" report announced by WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo.

The report indicated that Viet Nam's exports soared 7.9 per cent to US$162 billion, and its imports surged 12.3 per cent, reaching $166 billion last year.

While major exporters such as China, Turkey and Italy recorded a falling value of maritime shipped goods, Asian countries, such as Viet Nam, Bangladesh, Cambodia and Myanmar, posted strong growth, it said.

In overview, the report painted a dismal picture of global trade in 2015, with the total goods value dropping 13.2 per cent to $16.5 trillion.

The United States remains the largest importer, with a total value of $2.3 trillion, down 4.3 per cent, followed by China with $1.6 trillion, down 14.2 per cent.

This year, Viet Nam targeted fetching a total of $178 billion from exports, up 10 per cent from a year earlier, and to control trade deficit at 5 per cent.

Experts forecast that this was not a very difficult target as export doors would be further widened after some bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements signed by Viet Nam take effect.

The new investments, coupled with continued market share gains in key products such as electronics, footwear and textiles and apparel, should boost Viet Nam's exports, even if global demand remains weak, the experts said.
Given the severe climatic condition that has been devastating the lives of local people in past months, officials in Loc Ninh, Bu Dop, and Bu Gia Map Districts have decided to get clean water to the dwellers there to alleviate the situation.

Officers from the Bu Gia Map Border Guard, in cooperation with local authorities, have used firefighting water of a local national park to quench the thirst of the people.

The water was sterilized before being distributed to many residents in several communes in the district.

With the objective of ensuring water for residents during the dry season this year, the administration in Bu Gia Map District will continue providing fresh water as long as the people are still short of it.

Clean water has also been distributed to thousands of people in Loc Ninh District on tanker trucks.

Water supplying points have been set up in every residential area in the locality, said Ho Quang Khanh, head of the Loc Ninh Office of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Residents only have to bring necessary tools to fetch water whose quality is ensured, as it was gotten from wells, Khanh stated.

He added that local authorities will drill more boreholes in order for citizens to have access to sufficient water resources.

Meanwhile, in Bu Dop District, public water tanks have been installed in all residential areas and schools to serve the people.

Approximately 4,000 households in the locality are facing an extreme shortage of clean water, many of whom have taken matters into their own hands by digging wells, pumping water from partially flooded areas or those near a river to survive the ordeal.
Investors on the ACB Securities' exchange floor. The VN Index rallied for a fifth day as property Vingroup recorded big gains yesterday. - VNS Photo Viet Thanh

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange gained 1.2 per cent to finish at 579.27 points, jumping 4.2 per cent in the last five sessions.

The HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange added 0.5 per cent to close at 80.66 points, extending its rally of 2.8 per cent for a sixth day.

The property sector was boosted by Vingroup (VIC) on expectations that the company will introduce a new project in the central area of HCM City in the second quarter of this year. VIC surged 6.3 per cent at the end of yesterday.

FLC Group was up 1.6 per cent after the company's management board approved the plan to set up a new branch in the central regional province of Thanh Hoa. FLC was also the most active stock with more than 9.2 million shares being exchanged.

Other property firms such as Kinh Bac City Development Share Holding Corp (KBC), Sao Mai Group Corp (ASM) and Nam Long Investment Corp (NLG) also made gains.

In addition, energy stocks continued their good form as oil prices surged last week on expectations of an agreement on an output freeze reached at the meeting this week between OPEC and other producers and on a decrease of US production.

US crude West Texas Intermediate fell 0.5 per cent to trade at US$39.51 a barrel and Brent crude dropped 0.4 per cent to trade at US$41.79 a barrel, but both showed some recovery on late-day trading.

US crude and London-traded Brent crude surged 8 per cent and 8.5 per cent, respectively, during last week.

Among energy stocks, PetroVietnam Gas Corp (GAS) and PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Service Corp (PVD) gained 2 per cent and 2.5 per cent, respectively.

PetroVietnam Mud Drilling Corp (PVC) and PetroVietnam Coating Corp (PVB) advanced 1.3 per cent and 1.4 per cent.

Construction steel producers such as Vietnam-Italy Steel JSC (VIS), Hoa Phat Group JSC (HPG) and Pomina Steel Corp (POM) also helped lift the markets after they remained among top five producers in the first quarter of the year as they benefited from an anti-dumping policy issued late last month. VIS rose 1.4 per cent, HPG added 2.2 per cent and POM surged 6.3 per cent.

An Pha Petrol JSC (ASP) yesterday jumped 5.1 per cent after the company at the annual shareholder's meeting last Saturday said it may allow foreign capital into the company up to 100 per cent from the current level of 49 per cent.

Both local markets traded nearly 203 million shares worth VND3.36 trillion ($149.7 million), an increase of nearly 27 per cent from last week's daily trading value.
Photo by ASSOCIATED PRESS

Norio Yoshikura, a coast guard official in the Japanese city Nigata, stands by an empty North Korean boat that was found drifting near the city on Jan. 16.


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Shah Rukh Khan said, "You hardly get a chance to meet the people who make you. My work is only for them and if you cant get to see them, touch them, its redundant."

Fans form a big part of Shah Rukh Khans identity and raison detre  something he speaks of with much passion. His upcoming film revolves around these faceless, nameless people that make him the star that he is. Seated at his landmark Bandra residence overlooking the sea, he tells us why they mean so much, how he cant tolerate a badtameez one and much more.

How do you deal with all the fan madness when you step out?

Simple rule. I have told my bodyguards that any fan below the age of 25 has the right to be stupid, silly and childish. No one will say anything to them. I have kids who are 16 and 18 and they do things which cannot make you angry. Till 25 you are allowed to do right, wrong, good or ugly. If I was allowed to do Baazigar at 26, anyone is allowed to do anything.

Does not obliging a fan also mean loss of a ticket?

Ticket loss or not, I dont take to badtameezi nicely. I dont like it because I am not rude to anyone. In my house, even without being a strict father, nobody speaks badly to anyone. Nobody speaks without tameez. I am a big believer of tameez.

If you are not respectful, I cant take it regardless of how old you are  100 years or 1 year old. I am not going to hit you or anything but I will ignore you. I mean, its stupid to throw a bottle on stage to attract attention and say I am your fan. You have to be little sensible.

Tell us about a scary fan encounter...

Once when I was in Chennai, someone pulled my scarf off and it got entangled around my neck; it really hurt. It was after my shoulder surgery. I also hate it if you take my cap off; I will get it back from you  like Ive done before. Thats why I dont wear a scarf, cap, rings or chains at public places anymore. Once, I had a cop trying to protect me in Kolkata. He moved the barrel of his gun in a way that it hit my eye. We are never unkind to girls however, so they can do anything. (smiles). There was this one time when my team member Puneet was trying to stop people from coming close to my car at a parking lot and he got hit by a metal rod  his shin was damaged and he walks with a limp till today. My neck once started to bleed because someone tried to pull my chain.

But how do you handle fans that cross the line?

I have female fans, so if they cross the line its better (smiles). On a serious note, I have never had a bad experience with my fans. I may have had an emotional experience though. This one kid who had ran from home to see me, climbed the pipe outside my old apartment, to the seventh floor just to see me. I had to later call his parents and put him on a train back home.

But despite all the trouble, you always go out of your way to meet everyone

I remember in Berlin once, when Kajol and I were there, there were hundreds of people and the security said that you cant go to them. I said Then I am not coming on the red carpet. When I go on the red carpet, I meet each and every person  sometimes the barricades are broken, but I will say hello to everyone. You hardly get a chance to meet the people who make you. My work is only for them and if you cant get to see them, touch them, its redundant. Its silly being a star if you cant touch your fans.

Will Fan give a closer view about your life, perhaps a more real side to you?

I am playing a superstar, but we were clear that he shouldnt be mistaken for Shah Rukh Khan. Thats why we called him Aryan Khanna. We used the house (Mannat) because there was no bungalow to shoot where crowds could gather. It was very clear; it is not my life story.

This year looks very interesting for you with the upcoming releases...

Every year is exciting as an actor. If a film is not exciting, I wont do it. My level of excitement for a project however, might differ from an audiences level of excitement for the same. I dont differentiate work in terms of how good or bad it is. For me it is about work being exciting. Apart from Raees and Fan I have Gauri Shindes film too. will finish that by the end of this month and take a few months off. I have to get my leg in order.

You have been working non-stop despite the pain, havent you?

Yes, I need time. After the break, I will get back into the system with my next films. We havent locked anything, but for the last 18 months we have been in discussions in Imtiaz (Ali) and Anand (Rai).

Whats your gut feeling about Fan?

Honestly, I dont know yaar. I have no idea how the film will do. Of course, I know how to package a film but sometimes your best efforts dont convert into a blockbuster. Sometimes, not so good enough efforts turn out to be fantastic. I cant tell. Aditya Chopra, Karan Johar  they have a better understanding of what a films business is likely to be. I dont. I am too close to my films and I cannot tell. In fact, I cant even tell about other peoples films.

Director Maneesh once said that he came to Mumbai only to make a film with you

Yes, he keeps saying that he is going to retire after this film. So when I asked him about his retirement the other day, he said, nai sir, abhi ek aur karunga. I must have failed more often than not but he had the patience. He has a very different language of cinema for todays time and a very interesting way of making a film. He has a method and is an educated filmmaker.

What was he like on the first day of the shoot?

Delhiwallas are never scared yaar; they come on the set as if they own it. Thats why half the people think that I am arrogant or Maneesh is arrogant. He is not. Besides, youngsters now have a strange way of respecting each other. The respect is that of equals. Its like if I really respect you, I can say anything to you. If you are offended by that, then you have a problem. The young ADs of Maneesh would come and tell me no sir, this shot was not nice.
Chhay Karno knew he wanted to be an architect when he was in Grade 10, drawing motivation from relatives, who worked as engineers.

He pursued his dream all the way through his bachelors degree at the Royal University of Fine Arts (RUFA) in Phnom Penh, and during further study at Chiang Mai University in northern Thailand.

In 2008, after gaining a masters degree, he returned to lecture at RUFA, and went on to become the deputy dean of the schools Faculty of Architecture.

Besides lecturing, Karno, now 38, has designed tourist resorts, hotels, schools and villas. He is now working on a plan for a new Western International School building, as well as a hotel in Sihanoukville.

Cambodias greatest living architect, Vann Molyvannwho designed most of Phnom Penhs iconic structureshas been his main inspiration, he told VOA Khmer.

I am inspired by Molyvanns architecture style, he said. I am inspired a lot by him in terms of modern Cambodian architecture.

But in recent years Karno also had a chance to be influenced by another great modern architect.

In 2012, Zaha Hadid was approached by Youk Chhang of the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) to design a center that would promote learning and remembrance of the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge.

She accepted, and her firm, Zaha Hadid Architects, set up a working group to develop the design for what will be known as the Sleuk Rith Institute. Karno linked up with the working group as a coordinator.

It was a golden chance, said Karno. This was the first time that a world famous architect worked in Cambodia.

I was very interested since I thought that Cambodia could get a piece of modern architecture in the next decade.

Karno gave a presentation to Hadids working group about the history of Khmer architecture. He organized for about 50 students to work as interns on the project, and they had a unique opportunity to learn from Zaha Hadids team, he said.

It is a good chance for the university to help design a significant building, which will represent humanity and history, he said. I think after being built, the Sleuk Rith Institute will make Phnom Penh, and the Cambodian nation, proud because it is an amazing design.

Those involved say the project is still going ahead, although finding a company capable of realizing Zaha Hadids ambitious designcomplete with the curves for which her work is knownposes a challenge.

Karno said he was hopeful that, despite Hadids death, she will have had a positive impact on Cambodia, despite never having visited the country.

Zaha Hadid is the leader. If this project is successfully built, there will be more well-known architects that come to [Cambodia], he said.

DC-Cams Youk Chhang said Zaha Hadids architectural vision will stay with Cambodia as young architects will learn about her unique style and try to adapt it.

Her vision is still with us, he said. She is outstanding because she has a vision, and because of her curves. When it comes to curves, no one in the world could initiate the curving style like she did.

Phuong Sophean, a secretary of state at the Ministry of Land Management, agreed that Zaha Hadid would influence home-grown designers.

Architects adopt ideas, theories and principals from other architects who have different view on architecture, he said.

After young architects learn all these, they have to form their own wisdom and knowledge in order to construct buildings according to the environment and their own view on architecture.

For his part, Karno couldnt say for sure how Hadids brief involvement with Cambodian architecture would impact local architects, like his students. But, he said, it might at least raise awareness of the importance of their work.

It will make Cambodians realize more the value of architectural design in the nationthat architectural design is crucial, he said. Architecture in the county will be more valued, and they will be more proud.
While much of the world is watching the U.S. presidential race play out, another contest is taking shape that, while not as contentious, could have significant international implications. It is the election of the next U.N. secretary-general.

Eight governments have put forward candidates since the nomination process officially opened in December. For the first time, half of them are women.

On Tuesday, the U.N. opened three days of hearings, and candidates fielded questions on global crises  from climate change to Middle East conflict.

In the past, secretaries-general were chosen behind closed doors, but this year, in another first, the process was opened to public scrutiny.

Each candidate will have 10 minutes to explain his or her vision for the 70-year-old institution and then take questions from member states. There also will be a chance for civil society groups to ask questions via short videos they have already submitted to the president of the General Assembly.

Regional diversity

Traditionally, the role of worlds top diplomat is rotated regionally. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is from Asia; his predecessor, Kofi Annan, was from Africa.

Eastern Europe is hoping it will be its turn this year and has so far nominated six candidates - from Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro and Slovenia.

There is nothing in writing, there is nothing set in stone that says the candidate and next secretary-general has to come from any specific region, cautioned Dan Thomas, spokesman for the president of the General Assembly.

A secretary or a general?

The U.N. describes its top job as equal parts diplomat and advocate, civil servant and CEO. Others have asked whether the job requires a secretary or a general.

With the world facing serious challenges -- including the largest displacement of civilians since World War II, the growing threat of global terrorism and effects of climate change  many diplomats say the organization needs a strong leader at the helm.

Those vying for the post include two current U.N. officials  the head of the U.N. Educational and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Bulgarian Irina Bukova, and New Zealander Helen Clark, who runs the U.N. Development Program (UNDP). Clark was her countrys prime minister for nearly a decade.

Former Portuguese prime minister Antonio Guterres also is in the race. In December, he stepped down as the head of the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR). During his 10-year tenure, the agency went from coping with 38 million displaced persons globally to more than 60 million.

From Eastern Europe, there is former Slovenian president Danilo Turk, who also served as his countrys U.N. ambassador in the 1990s and in a senior U.N. political post under Kofi Annan. The current foreign ministers of Croatia, Montenegro and Moldova also have been nominated, as has been Srgjan Kerim of Macedonia. He is a former foreign minister and was president of the U.N. General Assembly in 2007-2008.

The nominating process remains open. Slovakia is expected to put forward its foreign minister, Miroslav Lajcak, by the end of this month, and there has been wide speculation that Argentina will enter its foreign minister, Susana Malcorra. She resigned her post as chief of staff to Ban Ki-moon at the end of 2015 to become her nations top diplomat. Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd also is tipped to be a possible entrant.

Gradually the generals are coming into the race, said one Security Council diplomat.

Process

The informal dialogue in the General Assembly will give member states an opportunity to hear from the candidates, but the real decision making will happen in the U.N. Security Council.

The 15-nation council will review the candidates credentials and, after a series of secret straw polls, will eliminate contenders until they come up with one name, which will be sent to the General Assembly for approval. That process is not likely to be easy, and the permanent five members  Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States  are likely to have more influence on the outcome than their 10 non-permanent counterparts.

The contest will take several months, with a winner not likely to be confirmed until as late as November. The secretary-general-elect will then have to hurry to prepare to take over from Ban Ki-moon on January 1, 2017. There will be no shortage of crises and conflicts awaiting the new chief.
An Afghan lawmaker threatened a female documentary filmmaker with sexual abuse during a video interview on womens rights.

A video clip of the interview between Afghan parliament member Nazir Ahmad Hanafi and Isobel Yeung became a viral sensation over the weekend when it was posted on the Vice website.

Yeung confirmed details of the incident in an interview with VOA.

Yeung questioned Hanafi about his opposition to the Elimination of Violence Against Women Act, a bill pending in the Afghan parliament since 2009.

What if a husband rapes his wife. Is that domestic abuse? Yeung asked Hanafi on the video. Should the man be punished or should the woman be punished for that, in your opinion?

There is a kind of rape you have and another we have in Islam, Hanafi told Yeung, who then pressed the issue.

I think you should stop it now, the lawmaker said.

As Hanafi turned away from her, he said: Maybe I should give you to an Afghan man" who will sexually overpower you, according to VOA Afghan service staffers who viewed the video.

His remark was widely misinterpreted because of the way it was reported to the filmmaker by a translator, who sought to spare her feelings by using another common Afghan phrase that means to cut off ones nose.

Symbol of domestic abuse

International attention was drawn to domestic abuse in Afghanistan when an Afghan man cut off his wife's nose in February. Living in Taliban-controlled northern Afghanistan, Reza Gul said she had suffered years of abuse before her husband cut off her nose in a fit of rage. She later underwent reconstructive surgery in Turkey.

Talking to Radio Liberty, Hanafi initially denied speaking to Yeung for her documentary.

"I haven't met such a person, Hanafi told Radio Free Afghanistan after the film clip went viral, adding that maybe someone was impersonating him.

"It's very simple to make a video," he said. "There are people who put together a head, a beard and a body in a video that would look more authentic than the real person."

But when further confronted with the video, Hanafi said he was interviewed by Yeung but did not threaten her.

"When we were talking about marriage issues, I told her, 'If you want to know about it, you can marry an Afghan man,' " he told Radio Liberty.

'Tiny taste' of disrespect

It was humiliating to be disregarded in that way, said Yeung, whose documentary aired Sunday on HBO. Throughout the interview, and even before, there was a hostile environment. It was very clear that he did not have much time for me as a person, and so he was not listening to any of my questions.

Hanafi is a conservative Islamic scholar who represents the western province of Herat in parliament.

Yeung, who is calling for Hanafis resignation, said she experienced a tiny, tiny, tiny taste of the amount of disrespect that many Afghan women have to battle every day.

Hundreds of Afghans have taken to social media to condemn Hanafi.

As long he is in parliament, he and people like him will remain a massive obstacle to womens rights in Afghanistan, Yeung said of Hanafi.
The resignation of Ukraine's embattled Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, made official Tuesday, raises hopes for ending a political crisis that has delayed Western financial support and led many to question Ukraines path to reform.

The current speaker of Ukraines parliament, Volodymyr Groysman, is widely expected to be elected as Yatsenyuks successor. Unlike Yatsenyuk, he is a close ally of President Petro Poroshenko and a member of Poroshenko's party.

But Ukrainian media reported Tuesday that a parliamentary vote on a new cabinet, including a new prime minister, has been delayed by disagreements over key ministerial positions.

Critics say if President Petro Poroshenko consolidates power in the new government, it could signal a step backward on Ukraines path to Europe.

Piotr Bourkovsky is head of the department for political systems development at Kyiv's National Institute for Strategic Studies, a think tank under the presidential office.

"Consolidation [of power] itself is not a dangerous thing, he tells VOA. What is dangerous is whether this consolidation would be used for making profits or whether it would be used for moving forward the country."

Pressure to reform?

Yatsenyuk was the latest, and highest profile, official to resign in recent weeks, amid charges that reforms are being implemented too slowly. Economy Minister Aivaras Abromavicius abruptly resigned in February, citing political pressure from parliamentarians to appoint their loyalists to key positions in state-owned enterprises.

In announcing his intention to step down Sunday, Yatsenyuk accused Ukrainian politicians of failing to make real changes.

But Yatsenyuk had lost much public support over the governments handling of reforms and clashed publicly with Poroshenko in February, when the president first asked him and Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin to resign. Shokin, whose office had long been accused of catering to vested interests, submitted his resignation, which was approved in March. Yatsenyuk survived a vote of no confidence, but pressure grew for him to step down.

A consolidation of Poroshenkos power could also help bring about much-needed reforms by putting the responsibility and pressure to deliver more directly on the president and his party.

U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt told journalists Tuesday a promised $1 billion in U.S. financial support would be kept on hold until a cabinet of reformists was in place.

Its not just U.S. assistance, but assistance from the IMF, assistance from the European Union, he said in a press release. All of this depends on the identification of a new Cabinet with clear reform credentials, and in the case of the United States, continued progress on other critical reform benchmarks, including significantly the selection of a new prosecutor general who enjoys the support and confidence of the Ukrainian people, the Rada, and civil society."

Russian view

Yatsenyuk was much disliked in Russia as one of the political leaders who backed the 2013-2014 uprising that overthrew Ukraine's Kremlin-backed then-president, Viktor Yanukovich. During the transition, when Kyiv was weak, Russia responded by annexing Crimea and launching support for separatist rebels in the Donbas.

Analysts say the government shake-up could spur progress with the Kremlin on the Minsk peace agreement to end fighting with Russia-backed rebels in Ukraine's Donbas region. The deal calls for broad autonomy for the southeast region, legitimate elections, and a return of border control to Ukrainian forces.

But a lack of political will on both sides, amid sporadic armed clashes, has so far slowed implementation.



Putin always prefers more centralized kind of power, says the Carnegie Moscow Centers Alexander Baunov, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. So, for him, Ukraine will be more understandable from the point of view who is leading the country."

But political analysts say Putin does not want to see a strengthened government in Ukraine.

"If we see that this resignation and replacement will lead to a continuation of political crisis, says Baunov, that's actually the dream in the Kremlin - to see the big scale, internal political crisis and economic crisis of Ukraine, because that supports the [Kremlin] thesis that revolutions and so abrupt change of power doesn't lead to anything good.
One of the most anticipated pieces of cybersecurity legislation took a step forward late last week in the U.S. Congress, but most analysts have not been kind to the new measure.



The Hill newspaper published a discussion draft of the bill from Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) and Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who head the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.



Discussion drafts are often short on detail, this one only nine pages in length, but they provide valuable insights into the priorities of its authors and the key principles they seek to establish.



The bill would require covered entities, including digital device manufacturers, software manufacturers, electronic communication services ... or "any person who provides a product to comply with court orders seeking access to information or data in an intelligible format or assistance necessary to obtain such data.



That could cover many thousands of individuals as well as private tech companies, and includes emails, texts, contacts or any other information stored and shared digitally, an expansive definition.



George Washington University Distinguished Research Professor in Computer Science Lance Hoffman, who founded the school's Cyberspace Security Policy and Research Institute, says "Its way too vague, there's too few safeguards, and I don't think there's any consequences enumerated if a covered entity doesnt follow the law."



Hoffman says, "Worse though, is where it gets down to covered entities, well that could be anybody. It might even apply to any individual who happens to use an app that obscures data in any fashion."



Susan Hennessey, a Fellow in National Security in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution says the bill "creates a generalized obligation for...covered entities...to preserve some ability to access communications. Thats sort of the formalized back door that Silicon Valley has always warned about.'



Ross Schulman, senior counsel with New Americas Open Technology Institute says the bill mandates, "Thou shalt do this, but doesnt grapple with any of the difficult questions of how one actually goes about doing it."



But Hennessey says the bill "preserves the kind of flexibility that legislation around technology needs to preserve." She told VOA the bill is tethered to responding to court orders and is not a limitless mandate, but a clarification of Congress' expectations regarding encryption.



"This is in some respects what Apple and others have been calling for: a decision from Congress, not the FBI resorting to the All Writs Act. So Congress is saying: we have decided, and this is our expectation," Hennessey says.



Schulman tells VOA the authors of the bill "didnt do a whole lot of hard work to think about the implications. It would make illegal whole swathes of the infrastructure that weve painstakingly put in place over the last 25 years to make the Internet a secure place to live and do business."



Hoffman adds, "Theres little doubt this bill would certainly inhibit innovation in the United States."



"What I would say to members of Congress is first, do no harm. Dont mess up something that's given the U.S. great advantages and continues to do so. What you really need is a solid risk analysis: an examination of the webs architecture, its functioning, and the consequences of any new regulatory action," Hoffman told VOA.



"If you change the Internets architecture, you might be able to build a stronger, more secure system, but it would be a lot less useful.

Hoffman says the debate is difficult because of the balance it seeks to create.

"You're trying to strike a balancing act. On the one hand, you don't want to kill the goose that lays the golden egg  namely Silicon Valley. On the other hand, you don't want to give bad guys tools they can use. The way computer architecture works today, if youre creating a powerful tool for one party, everybody and their brother will get access to it; theres no way to filter the bad guys out."



Schulman says the debate between "privacy versus national security" is shifting "to security versus security." The phones in our pockets are little computers with phone numbers, texts, email, contacts, calendar, he says, so security is now the security of our everyday lives and encryption protects those digital lives.



Schulman says the FBIs argument about going dark is a bit disingenuous.



He says, "Yes, there are some criminals who are using encryption to hide their tracks. But the reality actually is that the FBI now has more data than they can possibly analyze. The worry isnt criminals going dark; its law enforcement being blinded by the light."



Hennessey says the debate has become emotional without getting into specifics of the facts and the law underlying the issues.



"In the United States we determine the scope of privacy through the Fourth Amendment," she says, "and the Supreme Court has determined that we do have Fourth Amendment rights when it comes to our smartphones.



Hennessey says, "What were really faced with here is a moment when technology is exceeding what we have all collectively agreed is the appropriate scope of privacy."



"There can be criticism of the substance" of the bill she says, "but its important to recognize this is the first attempt by Congress to clarify what their expectations are regarding encryption.



"Encryption is only one part of cybersecurity," Hoffman says, not the final answer to the issue because, "you'll always have bad guys doing bad things, and as long as there are computers, theyll be there, too.

"You have to decide what you want, what price you're willing to pay, and what you're willing to give up, and were a long way from that."


Officials in Burundi say at least five people were killed and six injured when gunmen opened fire on a market Monday evening.

Residents in the eastern city of Gisuru say seven criminals fired randomly while running through the market before fleeing.

An official of the Ruyigi province told VOA that five people had been arrested, while the others are suspected to have escaped in the direction of neighboring Tanzania.

Gunshots were also heard in the southern town of Musaga Monday evening. Local police told VOA that multiple people have been brought in for interrogation.

The unidentified gunmen are believed to be associated with exiles in Tanzania led by a former presidential spokesman.The spokesman was fired last year for advising President Pierre Nkurunziza to not seek a third term.

Nkurunziza has ruled the Central African nation since 2005. His re-election last July  which critics call unconstitutional  triggered violence that has killed at least 400 people.
Prosecutors in Lebanon charged an Australian television crew and a mother with abduction after they were allegedly involved in the kidnapping of the woman's two children, Lebanon's state television agency reported Tuesday.

Sally Faulkner, an Australian national, and the four-person television crew were arrested last week after Faulkner allegedly hired a team of retrieval agents to kidnap her two children from their father, with whom they had been staying.

The Lebanese court charged nine people with kidnapping the children, the National News Agency reported. Faulkner and the news team were among those arrested, along with two employees of the U.K.-based organization Child Abduction Recovery International (CARI) and two Lebanese men, officials said.

Faulkner claims the children's father took them to Lebanon last year without permission and never returned them to Australia. The television crew was identified as members of a news team from Australia's Nine Network. The network said in a statement that the news team was "seeking to highlight" cross-border custody disputes.

Footage of incident

The two children disappeared Wednesday while they waited for their school bus.

Security camera video of the incident shows several large men emerging from a parked car and grabbing two young children, believed to be Faulkner's four-year-old son and six-year-old daughter, as they walk with two women. A car then speeds away as one of the women falls to the ground and the other briefly gives chase on foot before walking back to aid the fallen woman.

Local news agencies report the two women are the children's paternal grandmother and nanny.

Police located and arrested the television crew April 7. Faulkner was arrested later in the day at a home in Beirut, where her children were also found.

The children are now staying with their father at his home outside Beirut.
The U.S. contests for the Republican and Democratic presidential nominations have turned into contentious fights for delegates to the parties' national conventions, where the candidates for November's national election will be picked.

Billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump is the Republican front-runner, but he complained Monday that party officials have created a "crooked, crooked system" to keep him from winning a first-ballot victory at the party's July convention in Cleveland, Ohio.

While Trump has won the most state-by-state nominating contests, he is well short of a majority of convention delegates needed to claim the nomination.

"The system, folks, is rigged," Trump told a rally in New York, where both parties are holding primary elections April 19. "It's a rigged, disgusting, dirty system."

Colorado delegates

Trump's ire was aimed at weekend voting in the western state of Colorado, where his chief rival, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, collected all 34 of the state's national convention delegates at a political meeting confined to party activists, not voting open to rank-and file Republicans or the general public, as has been the case in other states.

Cruz scoffed at Trump's complaint, telling supporters in California, "Donald, it ain't stealing when the voters vote against you. It's the voters reclaiming this country and reclaiming sanity."

Republican National Chairman Reince Priebus also dismissed Trump's attack, saying, "The rules were set last year. Nothing mysterious, nothing new. The rules have not changed."

At the moment, Trump, a brash, one-time television reality show host, has 775 of the 1,237 national convention delegates he needs to claim the Republican nomination before the quadrennial event starts, compared to 545 for Cruz and 143 for Ohio Governor John Kasich.

US Presidential Candidate Delegate Count Delegate Count Here is an estimated delegate count for each candidate: Republicans Donald Trump: 898

Ted Cruz: 560

John Kasich: 153 Democrats Hillary Clinton: 1,997

Bernie Sanders: 1,238 Total delegates needed for party nomination: Democrats: 2,383 Republicans: 1,237 * As of April 27, 2016

But to reach the 1,237 figure, a bare majority of convention delegates, Trump would have to win nearly 60 percent of the delegates yet to be chosen in the state contests that extend through early June, a higher ratio than in the victories he has recorded so far.

Convention rules

U.S. political analysts are widely suggesting that if Trump does not win a first-ballot victory at the national convention, he will not win the nomination at all, with many of his delegates abandoning him in subsequent ballots, possibly handing the nomination to Cruz, a conservative firebrand in the halls of Congress in Washington.

Some Republican delegates say they are concerned that numerous national polls in the U.S. show both Trump and Cruz losing the November election to the leading Democratic contender, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, although Cruz fares better against her.

Delegates pledged to Trump based on the voting in the state contests are generally committed to vote for him on the first convention ballot, but can change their mind and vote for another candidate on the second and later ballots until someone reaches the 1,237 figure.

Trump, who lives in a luxury high-rise building in New York, has a wide lead in his home state in pre-election surveys over both Kasich and Cruz, and also leads in several states set to vote April 26. But it is unclear, even if he wins these contests, whether he will be able to claim enough national convention delegates to give him a first-ballot majority.

Kasich, without naming either Trump or Cruz, attacked their policies Tuesday as divisive, telling a group of Republican women in New York that his opponents are "not worthy of the office they are seeking."

Some Republican figures say they want their national convention to nominate someone other than the three remaining candidates.

One possible alternative choice, Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan, called a news conference for later in the day to rule himself out. Ryan was the party's losing vice presidential candidate in 2012.

Democratic race

Clinton, the country's top diplomat from 2009 to 2013, has a wide convention delegate lead over her sole challenger, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, but also has yet to reach a majority.

She has 1,786 convention delegates of the 2,383 she needs to claim the nomination, compared to 1,107 for Sanders. But Sanders, who waged a tough campaign against Clinton's connections to Wall Street financiers, has won seven of the last eight state contests, giving him some momentum heading into the New York contest.

Polls, however, show Clinton with a wide lead over Sanders in New York, her adopted home state where voters twice elected her to the Senate.

Clinton, seeking to become the first female president in the U.S., said she expects to have enough convention delegates pledged to her ahead of July's Democratic national convention.
Belgian police conducted fresh arrests and searches in connection with both the Brussels and Paris attacks Tuesday, even as reports surfaced of a quirky fallout to their success: worries by local prison guards over how to handle the mounting number of detainees.

Two more men, identified as Smail F. and Ibrahim F., were charged with terrorist activities and murders in connection with last month's Brussels bombings that killed 32 people, Belgian federal prosecutors announced. Local media said the two are brothers.

Brussels police also detained three other people for questioning about the November attacks in Paris, following searches of two residences in the capital's Uccle district, the prosecutor's office said in a separate statement.

Official statements offered few details about the detentions, but local media reported that a judge will decide Wednesday whether the three will remain in custody.

Criticism for Belgium

Belgian authorities have faced sharp criticism over intelligence and security lapses linked to both the Brussels and Paris attacks, including the four months it took to capture top Paris terrorist suspect Salah Abdeslam.

While acknowledging shortcomings, Prime Minister Charles Michel has rebuffed foreign criticism over the country's actions  noting, for example, the years it took the U.S. to hunt down and kill al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

Moreover, Belgian police have made a series of arrests before and after the Brussels attacks, sometimes working alongside their French counterparts. Abdeslam was nabbed near his childhood home in Molenbeek days before the bombings at the Brussels airport and metro station. He is now being detained at a high-security prison in the town of Bruges.

A prison photo released Tuesday by the Flemish-language Het Nieuwsblad newspaper shows Abdeslam sporting a beard and shoulder-length hair.

Police techniques

Police have also arrested Mohamed Abrini, the alleged "man in the hat," who was captured on CCTV footage alongside the two Brussels airport bombers shortly before their suicide attacks.

French criminology professor Alain Bauer believes Belgium's record in fighting terrorism is no worse than many other Western nations.

"They are doing the same things we all do, unfortunately," Bauer said, "which is to have a fetish in technology, and to think that Google will provide the answers."

Still, he praised the "good, old-fashioned" techniques of Belgian police, "who are trying to catch suspects using informants, and which is working pretty well."

Guards concerned

The mounting number of detainees is creating a new set of problems. Roughly a dozen terrorist suspects, including Abrini, are now housed in the Forest prison in Brussels, according to local reports, which is close to the site where they are taken for questioning.

Prison guards are concerned.

"We don't have the necessary infrastructure," a spokesman for the guards union, Mohed Bercha, told the Belga news agency. "There are no special cells for them and therefore they're not detained apart [from the general prison population]," he added. "Each time they're moved, it blocks the whole prison."

Two other Belgium prisons are specially equipped to house radicalized detainees, according to Belga. One, the Hasselt prison in eastern Belgium, is still under construction, and unions there are threatening a strike.
The film got delayed due to its casting woes as before roping in Kriti for the lead actress role, Alia Bhatt was brought on board.

If watching them sizzle in the first look of 'Raabta' wasn't enough, brace yourself as more pictures of Sushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sanon will be coming your way. The smoking hot on-screen couple have begun shooting for the film.

An elated Kriti posted a picture and wrote, And..Lets roll!!! #Raabta @itsSSR @homiadajania @Anaita_Adajania #Dinoo

The film got delayed due to its casting woes. Before roping in Kriti for the lead actress role, Alia Bhatt was brought on board. But soon Alia backed out of the project citing date issues.

Later Sushant was also rumoured to have opted out of it and was said to have signed the film adaptation of 'Half Girlfriend' with Kriti.

Sushant Singh Rajput shoots for his upcoming film 'Raabta' in Budapest.

Kriti underwent extensive training in horse riding and also learnt swimming. Few hours back, Kriti posted another picture while preparing for the shot. She wrote, Finally the film that i've been breathing for months starts today.. #Raabta Day1..excited! @itsSSR lets rock it!

Finally the film that i've been breathing for months starts today.. #Raabta Day1..excited! @itsSSR lets rock it!  pic.twitter.com/NFl26I9Os4  Kriti Sanon (@kritisanon) April 12, 2016

Directed by Dinesh Vijan, the film is set to hit the screens next year in February 2017.
Embattled Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff branded Vice President Michel Temer a traitor on Tuesday, saying he is a conspirator trying to engineer a "coup" against her with impeachment proceedings.

Rousseff said Temer and Lower House Speaker Eduardo Cunha "now are conspiring openly, in the light of day, to destabilize a legitimately elected president."

The Brazilian leader, speaking to teachers and students at the Presidential Palace in Brasilia, said Temer and Cunha are working to gather support for her impeachment in a Lower House vote that could occur by the end of this week.

Critics have accused Rousseff of violating financial rules to hide budget problems by shifting around government accounts ahead of her re-election in 2014.

Rousseff was particularly incensed by a recording leaked Monday in which Temer is practicing the speech he would make if she is impeached.

"The mask of the conspirators has fallen," she said. "We are living in strange and worrying times, times of a coup and pretending and treachery. Yesterday they used the pretense of a leak to give the order for the conspiracy."
The Canadian parliament will hold an emergency debate in response to an aboriginal community that has declared a state of emergency following 11 suicide attempts by its members this past weekend. Twenty-eight suicide attempts were reported last month in the Northern-Canadian community of 2,000 people.

Nine of those 11 were minors. A nine-year-old and 12 others were brought to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation Monday, after having been overheard making a suicide pact.

Leaders of the community of Attawapiskat cite underlying despondency and pessimism among their people, as well as an increasing number of prescription drug overdoses in 2016, in trying to explain the widespread tragedy facing their community.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed his commitment to improving living conditions for indigenous people, stating in a tweet Sunday that the news was "heartbreaking."

Isolation, economic challenges

Grand Chief Sheila North Wilson who represents 30 aboriginal communities, said, "We feel isolated  we don't feel part of the rest of the world."

She described the economic challenges facing aboriginal communities throughout the country, saying "the basic needs are astronomical."

The isolated communities are often plagued by unemployment and sometimes lack access to clean drinking water, but all have Internet access, allowing them to see the rest of an affluent nation so different from their world.

Another Canadian aboriginal community in Manitoba applied for federal aid last month after 140 suicide attempts in two weeks.

Canadian aboriginals make up about four percent of the country's population and have lower life expectancies and higher levels of poverty than other Canadians. They also have higher rates of violent crime, addiction and incarceration.

According to Health Canada, suicide is among the top causes of death for indigenous communities in Canada.

Last month, Canada announced it would devote more than $8 billion to improve the living conditions of the aboriginal population.
China has strongly criticized a statement released by foreign ministers at the Group of 7 industrialized countries (G-7) meeting which expressed concern over tensions and territorial disputes surrounding the South China Sea.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang accused the G-7 in a statement of "hyping up maritime issues and fueling tensions in the region," and said China was "strongly dissatisfied with relevant moves taken by the G-7".

The statement also advised the G-7 to "respect the efforts by regional countries, stop all irresponsible words and actions, and make constructive contribution to regional peace and stability".

The G-7's statement made in Japan this week expressed "strong opposition to any intimidating, coercive or provocative unilateral actions that could alter the status quo and increase tensions, and urge all states to refrain from such actions as land reclamation, including large scale ones, building outposts, as well as their use for military purposes."



While the G-7 statement did not explicitly name China, which is not a G-7 member, it contained a message critical of Beijings massive efforts to assert its claims over a string of islands in the South China Sea through new constructions.

It came as the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague is expected to reach a decision soon on a case filed by the Philippines against Beijing.



In January 2013, Manila formally complained about what it called Chinas excessive claim to practically the entire South China Sea. China voiced strong opposition about the case being taken to the international tribunal.

Foreign ministers from the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan met this week in Hiroshima to discuss issues  including regional and global security  paving the way next month for a G-7 leaders summit.
An emotional advertisement about leftover women in China, which has gone viral, has uncovered not only the societys deep-rooted discrimination against single women, but also the Chinese governments inaction in tackling gender inequity issues, analysts say.

The four-minute-long document-style video, part of Japanese cosmetic giant SK-IIs global campaign to inspire women to change their destiny, has resonated with many unwed Chinese women over the age of 27 as it brings out their fear of being stigmatized as "sheng nu" or "leftover women".



In China, women are conventionally viewed as having an incomplete life if they remain unwed and are pressured into marrying in their 20s.



But on the social media site Weibo, there are more encouraging words than harsh criticism about "leftover women," after the video attracted tens of thousands of clicks in just a few days.

User Na Mi Zi commented, Theyre under so much pressure, from a mundane point of view. But really, its more important to just be yourself and happy.

Selena Liu, an unmarried woman in Beijing, told VOA, "What everyone is looking for is different. For me, I am looking for true love. And if it means that I don't get married until I am in my late 30s or when I am 40, then that is ok."



Chinese writer Yuan Ren wrote about the topic in her column for The Telegraph newspaper.

For me, its the vicious attack on single Chinese women that really smarts. If you look at the latest SK-II ad... close family is usually where the most hurtful jabs fire.



SK-II said in a statement that it was adopting a positive approach in helping Chinese women overcome pressure.

And the final message it aims to spread is that Chinese women today are more educated than ever before and are increasingly resisting marriage if being single allows them to achieve more in life, according to Leta Hong Fincher, author of Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China, who played a consulting role in the video.

Grade A women vs. Grade D men

China has more men than women, currently at a ratio of 107 to 100. United Nations data show the world average is 101 men for every 100 women. And among young children, the imbalance is startling - with about 115 boys born in China for every 100 girls.

China's decades-old one-child policy seriously distorted the countrys gender balance.

According to Jiang Quanbao, a professor at Xi'an Jiaotong University's institute for population and development studies, Chinese men had outnumbered women by 36 million in the past three decades before 2010 as an estimated population of 20 million baby girls had likely been aborted.



So, in theory, China should have few worries about so-called "leftover women." On the contrary, "leftover men", also known as bare branches, should be a bigger concern, as it is estimated that at least 24 million Chinese men will be left with no local women to marry in 2020.



Jiang says what is at stake is women are traditionally on the lookout for partners with a higher social status. Now that Chinese women are more educated and financially independent, there are just not enough men with high status, he said.

So the challenge facing Chinese singles today boils down to the mismatch between Grade A women and Grade D men, said professor Jiang.

The Grade A women vs. Grade D men phenomenon means that leftover women usually have a higher social status, while most leftover men are socially-disadvantaged with a lower socio-economic status, Jiang said, adding that the rising cost of a wedding and keeping a wife is the major obstacle for "bare branches" seeking marriage, especially those in rural China.

There is no easy fix to the structural mismatch. But professor Jiang is optimistic that, as time progresses, liberal-minded parents will be eased with the individual choice of their unwed daughters.

Inside the box



But Zhang Jing, founder and executive director of Women's Rights in China, disagreed. She says the sensation with "leftover women" is a big fight against the Communist governments hidden agenda to keep women inside the box of marriage.

[Many of] the governments policies have worsened societys discrimination against women and gender inequity, she said, referring to some state-owned firms hiring of men only and preferred layoffs of female employees.

Zhang also criticized Chinese President Xi Jinping for his lack of vision in addressing gender inequity after he openly encouraged Chinese women to put family harmony first while speaking to the All-China Womens Federation in 2013.

Zhang is concerned that regardless of its economic development, Chinas growing discrimination against "leftover women" may persist for a long time.

China has now become so rich. Theoretically, this is the best time for the Chinese government to encourage, promote and liberate women, she said, adding, But the current economic prosperity has brought no benefits to women. Women are those who are laid off first and those who return home to their cooking chores, she added.

Editor's note: One of the sources quoted in this story, Leta Hong Fincher, is a former VOA correspondent.
A Brazilian congressional committee Monday recommended that President Dilma Rousseff face impeachment for alleged corruption.

The panel voted 38-27 in favor of the motion and will now send its recommendation to the entire lower house. A two-thirds majority is needed there for a trial in the Senate.

The lower house is expected to vote within a week and political observers say the outcome is too close to call.

Rousseff is accused of hiding the details of the poor state of the Brazilian economy to ensure her reelection in 2014.

Her supporters say the charges are part of a coup attempt by her vice president, Michel Temer, who has joined the pro-impeachment camp. But Temer is facing the same corruption charges as Rousseff.

Temer said Monday that a recording of a draft speech he plans to give if he takes over as president was released to the public by mistake. In it, he sounds as if he already has become president.

But Temer says there is nothing in the speech that he has not already said in public.
Voting is underway this week in Sudan's Darfur region on a controversial referendum over whether to unify Darfurs five states into a single administrative unit. The exclusion of voters displaced by fighting since 2003 has many questioning the credibility of the poll.



Sudans government has carved up the Darfur region twice, in 1994 and 2012, creating five states there. Khartoum is in favor of preserving the status quo.



But proponents of unification say it will give Darfur more autonomy and influence, addressing a key driver of conflict since 2003. Rebel groups have long said Darfur is economically and politically marginalized, as well as facing daily insecurity.



Still, many in Darfur say they arent voting this week.



I dont see people enthusiastic in order to vote, It seems that referendum is a boycott by a majority of the people in Darfur, said a man who lives in Al-Fashir, the capital of North Darfur state.





Internally displaced people



The government says internally displaced people (IDPs) living in Darfur will be able to vote. However, people displaced outside the region or the country are not eligible.

According to the government, 3.5 million people are registered to vote. Analysts dispute that number, citing wide discrepancies in the past between government and U.N. figures on IDPs.

The United States says voter registration in IDP camps was inadequate and that the poll cannot be considered credible and will undermine Darfur's peace process.





And some of the rebels, who are boycotting due to ongoing fighting, say while the displaced are being excluded, the government is mobilizing its supporters in the larger towns to vote.



Bushara Manago is with the Mini Minawi faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement army.



You know, how you can conduct this referendummore than three million people in IDP camps, and refugees and the war is still going on. The people, no freedoms of expression, said Manago.



An additional 138,000 people have fled their homes since mid-January because of renewed fighting between government troops and rebel forces loyal to Abdul Wahid.

2011 peace agreement



Sudans Information Minister Ahmed Bilal Osman told VOAs Daybreak Africa that his government was upholding one of the terms of the 2011 peace agreement by organizing the referendum.



But John Hursh, a policy analyst at the Enough Project, a Washington-based atrocity prevention policy group, disagreed.



Its really unclear to me how following through on a peace agreement that is widely considered illegitimate as well is going to do anything to move this situation forward, he said.



Many consider that peace deal to be incomprehensive and poorly implemented.

Rosalind Marsden is an associate fellow at Chatham House and a former British ambassador to Sudan.



For the government, what they hope is to send a signal that by holding the referendum, the conflict in Darfur is over, and I think they then hope they will be able to say the time has come to close the camps for the internally displaced people and that UNAMID, the U.N. African Union peacekeeping mission, should leave. But those who feel that Darfur is still very insecure, are very concerned that the referendum could in fact raise tensions, said Marsden.

The U.N. says more than 300,000 people have died in Darfur since 2003, when rebels there launched a rebellion citing discrimination and marginalization. The government responded by forming militias known as the Janjaweed, that caused chaos in the region.



Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court for charges of crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide in Darfur.



Polling in the referendum ends Wednesday.
Tentative steps have been taken in the past few weeks to try to ease tensions between Ankara and Moscow, which were strained when Turkish jets shot down a Russian bomber operating from a Syrian airbase in November.

A pro-government Turkish newspaper reported both countries had agreed to build monuments to those soldiers who died in each other's territory during the numerous conflicts over past centuries. Also, Moscow lifted a ban on flights to a key Turkish tourist resort.

Former Turkish Ambassador Murat Bilhan, an expert on Russian relations, said powerful mutual interests were driving rapprochement efforts.

"I am very optimistic that these relations will smooth," he said. "Russia needs Turkey because it's a big market for Russian goods and also Russian investments," particularly in the energy field. Also, he said, "Turkey needs Russia, because Turkey needs first of all Russian markets, Russian tourists, also construction. I do not think Turkey could give up" on relations with Russia.

Further impetus has been given to those rapprochement efforts with Turkish police detaining a Syrian Turkmen whom Moscow accuses of killing the pilot of its downed jet. Police reportedly questioned him about the shooting, but he has not been charged. Russia is demanding his prosecution.

No reciprocal moves

But although analysts say Ankara is eager to rebuild relations, and a senior Turkish official says the government has repeatedly reached out to Moscow, its overtures have not been reciprocated.

Carnegie Institute visiting scholar Sinan Ulgen said rapprochement efforts are likely to fail because Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are trapped by their need to protect their strongman reputations.

"The few signs that we have seen of a normalization between Turkey and Russia are just weak signs so far," Ulgen said. "There is no reason to expect that normalization will happen anytime soon, given that the acrimony has also become quite personal between Erdogan and Putin, and they have both cornered one another, in a way. Putin is asking for an apology, an apology that obviously will not come from Erdogan."

A Western diplomat contended that the shooting down of the Russian plane by Turkish jets damaged Putins image as the regions strongman. The diplomat warned that until the Russian leader can extract some kind of reciprocity, bilateral relations are not expected to improve significantly.
European governments are weighing whether to order naval forces to move into Libyan territorial waters to confront people smugglers, a new phase in a nine-month naval interdiction that has seen 83 large smuggler boats destroyed or impounded off the coast of Libya.

EU officials said they are waiting for the new United Nations-mediated government in Tripoli to give the go-ahead for European warships to operate within Libyan territorial waters, despite the fact the new Government of National Accord is struggling to establish its own authority on the fractured North African state.

Britains Prime Minister David Cameron has been at the forefront of European leaders arguing for a more forward-leaning mission for European naval vessels attached to Operation Sophia, which was set up after 800 migrants drowned in the Mediterranean last April.

The naval interdiction wasnt operational until last July.

European summit

At a European summit in March, Cameron said, "What were talking about today is actually busting the business model of these people smugglers, and so therefore breaking the link between getting in a boat and getting settlement in Europe.

The naval interdiction under the command of an Italian, Rear Admiral Enrico Credendino, has had some success in deterring would-be asylum-seekers from making the crossing, and as a consequence there has been a dramatic rise in the number of migrants now held in more than 18 overcrowded Libyan detention centers.

With the sailing season arriving and calmer waters in the Mediterranean, there has been an increase in crossings.

Three times as many migrant crossings from Libya to Europe were made last month compared to March 2015, U.N. officials said.

Most of those making the crossing are economic migrants from sub-Saharan Africa with a large percentage coming from Nigeria, Gambia, Senegal and Mali.

Credendino told the Italian news agency ANSA that Operation Sophia had made life much more difficult for the smugglers, who have stopped using large wooden boats that can carry as many as 500 migrants and now rely on smaller vessels carrying about 100 people.

He said migrants are still drowning in Libyan territorial waters.

Inshore patrols

To save more lives and fight traffickers more effectively, his forces would have to be invited by the national unity government, to patrol inshore, joining Libyan coast guard vessels to intercept migrants as they embark and return them to Libyan shores, he said.

Critics of Operation Sophia worry the interdiction has done little to catch traffickers or disrupt their criminal networks that reach deep into Africa and often end up picking migrants up and then landing them in Italy.

The EU is doing an important job saving lives, but if its primary mission is catching smugglers, it is not doing it, thanks to its own methods, said Sicilian magistrate Carmelo Zucchero. Traffickers now send out unstable dinghies steered by migrants because they know they will be picked up quickly.

More than a quarter-million

Italian officials fear that as many as 270,000 migrants may flood in from North Africa this year, with record numbers making the perilous journey across the Mediterranean from Libya. In 2014, more than 170,000 migrants crossed from Libya to Europe, mostly before the Aegean migration route became more organized.

Officials say 19,000 migrants have arrived in Italy via Libya this year.

The migrant surge is being attributed to the European Union crackdown on asylum-seekers trying to get from Turkey to Greece by crossing the Aegean, forcing them instead to attempt the more dangerous route from North Africa.

Last year, nearly 90 percent of the war refugees from the Middle East and migrants from Africa who arrived in Europe went via Turkey. Libyan smugglers are stepping up their business efforts to once again command the main migration route to Europe.

Admiral Credendino said he expects not only there to be a revival of the Libyan migration route when it comes to African migrants, but a surge of Mideast refugees attempting longer sea crossings to Europe from Lebanon, Turkey and even directly from Syria.

Last year, when Operation Sophia was being set up, Europes defense chiefs feared a shift in objectives and warned their political superiors the planned mission to stop migrant-smuggling boats crossing the Mediterranean could lead to land operations and possible clashes with Islamic States affiliate in Libya or armed groups linked with the highly lucrative trade.

Warnings

The warning was contained in a 10-page classified document by the military defense chiefs of the 28 EU member states, obtained and posted by WikiLeaks.

In it, defense chiefs noted there will be a serious threat to European forces mounting the interdiction, during activities such as boarding and when operating on land or in proximity to an unsecured coastline, or during interaction with non-seaworthy vessels.

They added the potential presence of hostile forces, extremists or terrorists should be taken into consideration.
Police have arrested more than 400 protesters who were demonstrating by the U.S. Capitol in Washington against the role of money in politics, saying the protesters engaged in "unlawful demonstration activity."

Video of the protest Monday showed a police officer saying "If you don't want to be arrested, move on back to 1st street."

U.S. Capitol Police said the demonstrators are being processed using mass arrest procedures. Some of the protestors were led away from the east front of the Capitol in plastic handcuffs.

The protest was organized by a coalition of groups calling itself "Democracy Spring" which said on its website that the demonstration was held "to demand Congress take immediate action to end the corruption of big money in our politics and ensure free and fair elections in which every American has an equal voice."

The demonstrators chanted slogans like "money out of politics." Some of them had marched from Philadelphia to Washington over the past week.

WATCH: Related video of protesters at U.S. Capitol
Italy's foreign minister arrived in Tripoli on Tuesday in support of the new United Nations-backed government, marking the first visit by a top Western official since 2014.

Amid tight security, Paolo Gentiloni was welcomed at Matiga airport in the Libyan capital by Ahmed Maiteeq, deputy prime minister of the unity government seeking to assert its authority.

Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the new government that Western countries hope can unite conflict-hit Libya, was due to meet with Gentiloni at a heavily secured naval base. Italy is Libya's former colonial ruler.Observers say the mission will be seen as a vote of confidence in the unity government and its efforts to end years of political deadlock and conflict.



"I am delighted to be in #Tripoli for Italy's emergency aid and to support al-Sarraj's Government of National Accord," Gentiloni wrote on Twitter.

Italy, France, and other Western nations are increasingly concerned about a powerful Islamic State force in Libya that currently controls the city of Sirte and has perpetrated attacks across the country. These nations have offered to train security forces in oil-rich Libya to fight this growing threat.

Libya has been in a state of chaos since leader Moammar Gadhafi was toppled and killed in 2011, leading to militias and extremist groups carving out fiefdoms and backing rival authorities.

Al-Sarraj arrived in Tripoli just two weeks earlier by sea after being prevented from landing at the airport by the Islamist-backed rival government. This government resigned last week, but a third rival government, 2011's recognized parliament that was forced to leave Tripoli, continues to claim authority.

Mohammad Shoaib, first vice president of this government based in Libya's far east, told the Associated Press on Tuesday that its parliament will assemble April 18 to decide whether to endorse the unity government. With parliament's consent, al-Sarraj's government would be able to convene in Tripoli.
After he retires, Chiranjeevi does not want to settle in Hyderabad, Chennai or his native place in West Godavari district. He wants to settle down in Visakhapatnam. The actor revealed his plans at an audio function of Sarrainodu in Vizag.

Recalling his long association with the city, he said, From the beginning of my film career and afterwards, during my political career, I have visited Visakhapatnam more than any other city. I love this city and have a special relationship with this place and its people.

He recalled that he had shot for films like Abhilasha, Gharana Mogudu, and many others here. If I retire, I want to spend the rest of my life here in Visakhapatnam, he said, asking the crowd: Please search for a small house for me.

Chiranjeevi attended as the special guest for the success function of the Allu Arjun-starrer Sarrainodus music. On the occasion, he praised Allu Arjun for his dedication and his maturity. I have been observing Allu Arjun for the last few years and I really appreciate the way he has changed. Though a few years back he was amateurish but now he is behaving with maturity and dignity. Even the way he talks is impressive, said Chiru, adding that he was proud that he had introduced Arjun as an actor in his film Daddy.

Returning the compliment, Allu Arjun said that it was Chiranjeevi who had created a platform for actors Pawan Kalyan, Ram Charan, Sai Dharam, Varun Tej, Allu Sirish and himself. We are all enjoying success today, but behind the success is Chiranjeevi garus struggle. Both Chiru and Arjun also praised actress Rakul Preet Singh, the female lead of the film.
Kenya has deported another group of Taiwanese nationals to China, after a similar action prompted Taiwan to accuse Beijing of kidnapping.

Taiwan foreign ministry chief of West Asian and African Affairs Antonio Chen, speaking Tuesday, said 37 nationals were put onto a Chinese plane for a flight from the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, to mainland China.

Chan said after 15 of the nationals refused to leave the police station for the airport that Kenyan police fired tear gas in the jail and broke through the wall to force the group out.

The 37 Taiwanese deported Tuesday, along with the eight citizens expelled earlier, were arrested in Kenya in 2014 and charged with cyber crime. A Kenyan court dismissed the charges and gave the group 21 days to leave the country.

The current crisis stems from Taiwan's decades-long struggle to be recognized as an independent entity separate and apart from China's rule. However, Beijing still claims Taiwan as part of its domain, and most governments across the globe, including Nairobi's, do as well.

Asked Tuesday by VOA Swahili service whether the Kenyan government consulted with Taipei ahead of the deportations, Home Affairs Ministry spokesman Mwenda Njoka said: "We don't have that relationship with Taiwan."

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang thanked Nairobi for observing the government's "one-China" policy.

Earlier, Taipei angrily accused Beijing of pressuring Kenya to deport its citizens to China. Officials said it sent diplomats from its outpost in South Africa to Kenya to deal with the situation, because Nairobi sides diplomatically with China over Taiwan.

China has been stepping up pressure on Taiwan's president-elect, Tsai Ing-wen, the leader of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, who disputes Beijings precondition that both sides can talk only as parts of a single China.

"We would like to use public pressure to influence the [Kenyan] government. Secondly we would like to ask human rights groups to issue an investigation into Kenya's police department. And third, we will hire lawyers to file lawsuits against Kenya's police department," said Antonio Chen, Taiwan Foreign Ministry chief of West Asian and African affairs.
Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday touted the benefits of two major U.S. trade pacts that have faced skepticism from some members of Congress, trade groups and presidential candidates.

In a speech to a Los Angeles international policy group, Kerry said the trade agreements have broad benefits that include defending U.S. strategic interests and strengthening national security.

In February, foreign officials signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a massive trade deal involving the U.S. and 11 other Pacific Rim countries  a group whose total gross domestic product constitutes about 40 percent of global GDP. The deal, which includes rules for the international trade of drugs, cars and dairy products, still needs U.S. congressional approval.

The pact has an uncertain future in the U.S., partly because of U.S. lawmakers' concerns that the deal would hurt trade and investment.

In a March letter to President Barack Obama, a bipartisan group of New York lawmakers said they were skeptical that the TPP would fare better than previous trade agreements. They cited provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and said those had resulted in the loss of thousands of jobs in their state.

This is not your parents or your grandparents trade agreement, said Kerry, who added that there was a lot of misinformation floating around about TPP.

He cited critics who have said the plan would cost U.S. jobs. The primary reason old jobs disappear is not trade but technology, and certainly not trade agreements, he said.

Kerry also cited the benefits of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP), an investment agreement being negotiated between the U.S. and the European Union. He said that pact would implement common-sense reforms to remove tariffs, eliminate red tape for goods crossing our borders and promote services.

Kerrys California appearance wraps up a weeklong tour that included stops in Bahrain, Iraq and Afghanistan. He traveled to California from Japan, where he took part in a meeting of the Group of Seven industrialized nations and visited a World War II memorial site in Hiroshima.

PHOTO GALLERY: Secretary of State Kerry's weeklong tour
Liberian education minister George Werner said the government is not privatizing the nations public education system. Rather, he said, it is entering into a public-private partnership education plan.

The government has signed a memorandum of understanding with Bridge International Academies, a low-cost nursery and primary private school chain that uses a technology-based approach to provide standardized education to students in developing countries.

The announcement has sparked a firestorm of criticism from teachers, civil society groups, and even the UN special rapporteur on the right to education.

But Minister Werner said the current performance level of Liberian schools requires drastic action.

We are not trying to privatize public education in Liberia. What we are trying to do is to have a partnership with private providers to manage some schools on behalf of the government. Government will own those schools; government will oversee those schools; the teachers in those schools will be government teachers paid within the regulation of the civil service, he said.

About 1.5 million children are enrolled in primary school in Liberia, but the government said only 20 percent of the children complete 12th grade. Years of civil war have also taken their toll on the nations education system. In 2013, nearly 25,000 students failed the University of Liberia entrance exams.

Werner said the government cannot continue to have students trapped in schools that are not working.

We have come to the conclusion that going forward the government cannot do it alone. The statistics are grim for us; we do not have sufficient trained and qualified teachers; our teacher attendance is poor, and the learning outcome for every student is dismal. So what we are trying to do is to leverage the best of the private sector in terms of management systems and accountability and governance to improve all of these elements and accelerate learning outcomes for our children wherever they are, Werner said.

The pilot project will start with about 50 schools. Subject areas include English, mathematics, science, social studies, and moral education, according to the memorandum of understanding. Each teacher will be supplied with an e-reader tablet running Bridges operating system and applications to which all lessons and a teacher resource library will be published.

UN special rapporteur on the right to education Kishore Singh has said the proposed venture is a gross violation of the human rights of Liberian children and their education.

Werner said there is no one he knows who knows and understands the UN system better than President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. He said Singh missed the mark by prejudging the situation.

He acted on misinformation fed him by the teachers union and their representatives. Let me be frank, the status quo can no longer hold. People who say that the private sector has no role to play in education today are mistaken. I hope they can change their views, Werner said.

The National Teachers Association of Liberia and some civil society group have also come out against the plan, describing it as out of touch with the local culture.

They said Bridges method of using Android mobile phones to teach students, as it does in Kenya and Uganda where most of the teachers used only what is placed on the phone, resulted in the use of unqualified teachers and rote learning.

Werner said the Liberian government will be responsible for overseeing and regulating the partnership schools.

This is a small experiment for a big problem and we have to try it. Weve tried many things and they are not working. As I said earlier, our children can no longer wait. Lets try this; its a pilot. If it works which I believe it will, fine. The government can kill if it chooses to, Werner said.

He said in Kenya, Bridge International Academies operates as a private provider. What is being tried in Liberia is a partnership with the best, vetted private providers to deliver management systems that can improve accountability and governance.

Werner said Liberia has the institutional set up for the technology-based type of learning associated with the pilot.

There are many parts of the country, from Maryland to Montserrado, to Grand Gedeh, Nimba, and Lofa, and Cape Mount where we have Internet connectivity. We havent covered the country in full, but we are well on our way to doing so, Werner said.

According to the memorandum of understanding, All teachers will be assessed with the same instruments, approved by government, and pupil growth will be measured over the course of the pilot so that the Ministry can validate the quality of education provided by teachers.

Werner said work has begun to reform the Liberian teaching workforce, including aptitude tests for teachers to know their training needs so that they can plan better for professional development.

At the moment, there are few incentives for teachers to perform, and you have in many places irregular pay that affects motivation. So it is not that the teacher training that was done after the war was weak, it is that there has not been adequate accountability systems to hold those teachers accountable enough so that they can show up every day to teach; so that they do not use the teaching job as an entry position where they get on government payroll and then take on another job but nobody knows that they have another job, but they are not showing up in the classroom, Werner said.

The memorandum of understanding said the government of Liberia will provide key financial contribution to ensure the success of the pilot project, including The physical premises, buildings, furnishings and fittings of each pilot school.

The Liberian government will continue with costs related to school infrastructure and teachers pay. The rest of the money around $10 million or so is coming from private philanthropists, he said.
Lithuania blacklisted several dozen Russians and Ukrainians for their role in the detention and sentencing of the Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko and two other Ukrainians, Lithuania's foreign minister said Tuesday.

Ukraine expanded sanctions against Russia last month after a Russian court found Savchenko, 34, guilty of complicity in the killing of two Russian journalists and sentenced her to 22 years in prison.

Ukraine called on the European Union to follow suit, and Lithuania became the first EU state to do so. The 46 people it blacklisted are banned from entering Lithuania for 10 years.

Those blacklisted include Russian investigators, prosecutors and judges, as well as separatists from the Ukrainian rebel strongholds of Luhansk and Donetsk, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius told Reuters.

"We blacklisted them to show our solidarity with Ukraine, and to focus attention on the unacceptable and cynical violations of international law and human rights in Russia. We are convinced that the court cases against those people were falsified," Linkevicius told Reuters by phone.

"It would be more effective if the blacklist became Europe-wide. We hope to start such a discussion," he said.

Regarded as a national hero by many in her homeland, Savchenko has been depicted by Russian state TV as a dangerous Ukrainian nationalist with the blood of civilians on her hands.

Russia has ignored calls from the European Union and the United States to free her on humanitarian grounds.

Last year, a Russian court sentenced Ukrainian film director Oleg Sentsov, 39, to 20 years in a high-security penal colony for "terrorist attacks" in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula annexed by Moscow from Ukraine in April 2014.

The military court sentenced a second defendant, Crimea activist Alexander Kolchenko, 26, to 10 years in prison.
Led Zeppelins Stairway to Heaven is one of the most iconic songs in rock and roll, but now a judge says a jury should decide if part of it was plagiarized.

A Los Angeles district judge says the song resembles an instrumental song by the band Spirit.

Stairway to Heaven was released in 1971, but Michael Skidmore, a trustee for Spirits late guitarist, Randy Wolfe, says Wolfe should be given credit for the song.

Spirit toured with Led Zeppelin in the late 1960s.

Zeppelin founders, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, claim they wrote the song in a Welsh cottage, but Skidmore says the two wrote it after hearing the song Taurus by Spirit while the bands allegedly toured together.

This case, from our perspective, has always been about giving credit where credit was due, and now we get to right that wrong, Francis Malofiy, a lawyer for the plaintiff, told Reuters. An attorney for Plant and Page did not comment Monday after requests from Reuters and the Associated Press.

But there is disagreement about how much interaction took place between the bands.

The parties present conflicting versions of the interaction between Led Zeppelin and Spirit at these three events, the judge wrote. The surviving members of Led Zeppelin testified that they never toured with, shared a stage with or listened to any of Spirits music during these brief encounters. The surviving Spirit members, on the other hand, recalled conversing with the Led Zeppelin members backstage between sets and performing in succession at two of the festivals.

District judge Gary Klausner said there was a substantial similarity between the two songs, particularly the first two minutes of Stairway to Heaven.

"While it is true that a descending chromatic four-chord progression is a common convention that abounds in the music industry, the similarities here transcend this core structure," Judge Klausner ruled, according to the BBC.

He added a jury would be better at deciding during a trial expected to start May 10.

Even if a jury rules against Led Zeppelin, Skidmore could only recoup half of any damages awarded due to a contract Wolfe signed in 1967, the BBC reported.
An infamous would-be archaeologist is at it again, suggesting that some unique rock formations he has discovered in present day Bosnia, are proof of an ancient civilization that thrived there 1,500 years ago.

Semir Osmanagic has been combing the hills around Visocica since 2005 claiming the surrounding mountains were part of a giant collection of pyramids that he says could be 15,000 years old.

Since then he has been digging around the mountains but not turning up any archaeologically accepted proof of his claims.

His latest "find" is a large, spherical rock found in a Bosnian forest that he says could be the oldest such rock ever made by humans.

The rock is about 1.4 meters across and he says it has a very high amount of iron content.

Natural formation?

Scientists who have seen the rock say it is likely a natural formation and not a human construct.

But Osmanagic has received plenty of support and funding from the Bosnian government, and he is something of a celebrity in the area.

But to the archaeological world he is a dangerous charlatan.

Anthony Harding, the president of the European Association of Archaeologists called his claims a total absurdity, according to The Telegraph.

"There is some genuine archaeology on the hill and I'm told it's medieval, possibly Bronze Age or Roman, he said. But the speculation that there could be a 12,000-year-old structure beneath is a complete fantasy and anyone with basic knowledge of archaeology or history should recognize that."

In an open letter written ten years ago, a group of scholars denounced Osmanagic that "... disgracefully, threatens to destroy parts of Bosnia's real heritage."

Still, its unlikely Osmanagic will stop pushing his theories or digging in the region.

The sphere is receiving similar scrutiny.

Mandy Edwards of the University of Manchester's School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences told The Daily Mail that the rock might not even be man-made but could have been formed by"precipitation of natural mineral cement within the spaces between sediment grains, called concretion.
Officials from NATO and Russia are scheduled to hold their first formal meeting in almost two years, covering Ukraine, the security situation in Afghanistan, and military activities, the Western alliance said Tuesday.

The meeting scheduled for April 20 at NATO headquarters in Brussels will take place at the ambassadorial level.



NATO suspended all practical cooperation with Russia back in 2014 in response to Moscow's annexation of Crimea.



This meeting is the continuation of our political dialogue, as agreed by NATO Heads of State and Government. At the same time, there will be no return to business as usual until Russia again respects international law, Jens Stoltenberg, alliance head, said in a statement.



Stoltenberg said the NATO-Russia Council meeting will also focus on the need to fully implement the Minsk Agreements  the cease-fire accords regarding Ukraine signed in September 2014 under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).



The alliance head also said there is a need for transparency to avoid future misunderstandings.



In the meantime, Crimeas future remains uncertain, with President Vladimir Putin saying Russia will never give up the Black Sea peninsula and NATO insisting that it will never recognize Russia's annexation.


The Italian Coast Guard said Tuesday it rescued more than 2,000 migrants from the dangerous seas off Libya over the last two days.

About 25 separate operations were needed to rescue the men, women and children from overcrowded boats.

Italian authorities say there were no casualties and that all the migrants were taken to Sicily.

Austria says it is planning to bring back tighter controls of its border with Italy, fearing a new influx of migrants.

Along with beefing up several existing border crossings, workers have started building a new border control checkpoint in the Brenner Pass which links Austria and Italy through the Alps.

The European Union says it is "very concerned."

"If these plans should materialize then we will have to look at them very seriously," spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud said. "The Brenner pass is essential for freedom of movement within the European Union."

Meanwhile, hundreds of migrants have already volunteered to evacuate a camp along the Greek-Macedonian border which has been the scene of violence, squalor and muddy misery.

Buses have been transporting the migrants out of the Idomeni camp to reception centers elsewhere in Greece and hundreds of others will likely follow.

Macedonian riot police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at migrants who tried to cross over from Greece Sunday.

Someone had scattered notices throughout the camp spreading a rumor that the border was open.

Greek authorities accuse the Macedonians of overreacting and is investigating where the false flyers came from.

Hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children trying to escape war, poverty and terrorism in Syria and Iraq have poured into the European Union with the EU struggling to cope.

A deal signed with Turkey would send new migrants arriving in Greece to Turkey in exchange for aid and other benefits for Turks.

Human rights groups criticize the deal, saying the EU is using human beings as political bargaining chips.

One discouraged Iraqi man in Greece told Reuters Tuesday he believes European authorities do not see the migrants as humans.

"Why is Europe not paying them any attention? Why won't they lend their humanitarian eye on them? Is it because we're Arabs? If This happened to Europeans and they came to us Arabs, wouldn't we welcome them?"
It has been nearly two years since Boko Haram militants stormed the northeastern Nigerian town of Chibok and abducted more than 200 schoolgirls. Outside of propaganda videos created by the Islamist militant group, none has been seen since. In Nigerias remote northeast, the families of the missing girls say they are suffering because of their daughters absence.

The fathers sit in the scant shade at a marketplace in the town of Mbalala, waiting for their daughters to come home. They are the parents of four of the 219 girls abducted by Boko Haram militants from a school in the nearby community of Chibok nearly two years ago.

The kidnapping is Boko Harams most infamous crime. It attracted global condemnation and offers of help finding the girls from Nigerias allies.

Nigerias military and political leaders continue to pledge that they will rescue the students.

For the parents of the missing girls, nothing has been the same since the kidnapping.

Whenever he thinks of his missing daughter, Yawale Dunya says he feels feverish and starts shaking.

The government secondary school where the kidnapping happened is now a pile of rubble. Boko Haram burned down the girls dormitory after the kidnapping. The school was later demolished so it could be rebuilt. That has yet to happen, leaving Chibok and the towns around it without a school.

The lack of classrooms is just one of the towns troubles. Boko Haram continues to menace the area. Militants briefly overran Chibok in 2014. In January of this year, suicide bombers killed at least 10 people in the towns marketplace.

It has taken a toll on the people of Chibok, particularly the families of the missing girls. Yakubu Nkeki, head of an association of parents of the abducted schoolgirls, says 18 mothers and fathers have died since the mass kidnapping.

This kind of incident is bring a lot of sickness. You are not in peace of mind, you cant have time properly for your feeding. Youre living in fear, thinking of your young one in the hand of captors. You know, anything might take you and you lose your life, said Nkeki.

In Mbalala, the families of the missing students seek solace in each others company.

When he is together with his friends and co-workers, Joseph Sanda says he is able to distract himself from thinking about his missing daughter. But when he is alone, she is all he can think about.
Pakistan's military chief on Tuesday accused India's intelligence agency of planning subversive activities against his country's recently launched multi-billion-dollar economic cooperation agreement with China.

"I must highlight that India, our immediate neighbor, has openly challenged this development initiative," army chief General Raheel Sharif told a conference in the port city of Gwadar.

The newly built port in southwestern Baluchistan province is central to the so-called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, or CPEC, which is a package of railroads, highways, pipelines and power plants estimated to cost $46 billion.

Sharif said "hostile intelligence agencies" are averse to this grand project, but that Pakistan is determined to protect and develop the CPEC, connecting western China to the Arabian Sea.

"I would like to make a special reference to Indian Intelligence Agency RAW [Research and Analysis Wing] that is blatantly involved in destabilizing Pakistan, the general asserted.

History of suspicion

Pakistan has long accused India of training and funding separatist militants waging a low-level insurgency in Baluchistan.

Last month, Pakistani authorities announced they captured a suspected Indian spy in Baluchistan, identified as Kulbhushan Jadhav. The military also aired video footage of Jadhav saying he was working out of his base in Chabahar in neighboring Iran.

New Delhi has confirmed that Jadhav is a former Indian navy officer, but denied he has anything to do with RAW, saying he had taken early retirement from the military. It also rejected the video confession of Jadhav as induced by torture.

India says it has sought consular access to its detained national, but Pakistan has not yet responded.

Sharif described CPEC as a corridor of peace and prosperity, not only for the people of Pakistan and China, but also for the region and beyond.

"Therefore, it is important for all to leave behind confrontation, and focus on cooperation," he added.
Experts commenting on the study said this was a regretable shortcoming that limited the value of the findings and would need to be changed in future research.

Paris: Scientists said Monday they had found a handful of healthy people each carrying a genetic mutation that should have condemned them to crippling disease or death.

The discovery, made by scanning the genomes of nearly 600,000 normal people, opens up a new approach to finding treatments for cystic fibrosis and dozens of other rare and incurable conditions linked to specific variations in a single gene.

Up to now, medical science assumed that anyone unlucky enough to have one of these so-called Mendelian mutations named after the 19th-century founder of modern genetics was doomed.

"Most genomic studies focus on finding the cause of a disease, but we see tremendous opportunity in figuring out what keeps people healthy," said Eric Schadt, a professor at the Icahn School of Medicine in New York City, and a main architect of the study.

"Millions of years of evolution have produced far more protective mechanisms than we currently understand," he said in a statement.

Together with colleagues Stephen Friend and Rong Chen, Schadt led a team of 30 researchers in sifting through data on nearly 900 genes from each person's genome, looking for the telltale mutations leading to any of hundreds of distinct genetic diseases.

A rigorous process of winnowing left them with 13 individuals who had gene variants that would normally result in one of eight debilitating conditions.

Besides cystic fibrosis, which inflicts severe damage on the lungs and the digestive system, these included Pfeiffer syndrome, characterised by a severe deformation of skull bones, and Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome, a disorder linked to multiple malformations and intellectual disability.

The results were published in Nature Biotechnology.

"These rare individuals must possess some combination of factors -- genetic or environmental that protects them from an otherwise crippling disease," Daniel MacArthur, a genomics researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital who was not involved in the study, commented in the same journal.

The next step would be to locate enough cases of people who have survived to adulthood despite these genetic flaws to identify and eventually duplicate these protective mechanisms.

'Genetic superheros'

Until recently, it would have been technically unfeasible to scan hundreds of thousands of human genomes in this manner.

"This study demonstrates the power of using big data to ask new biological questions," said Anne Wojcicki, co-founder and CEO of personal genomics company 23andMe, which participated in the project by providing access to data on more than 400,000 of its customers.

In a frustrating twist, however, the researchers were unable to follow up with any of the 13 people found because of limitations in the consent policies they had signed.

Experts commenting on the study said this was a regretable shortcoming that limited the value of the findings and would need to be changed in future research.

"Some of the patients may have had disease that went unreported," said Scott Hebbring, a scientist at the Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation and a professor at the University of Wisconsin.

Ada Hamosh, clinical director of the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine at Johns Hopkins University, said mutation for cystic fibrosis were so unlikely in healthy people that the results may have stemmed from a "technical error."

The two cases of Pfeiffer syndrome, he added, could have been so mild as to not be detected as such.

But commentators agreed that the idea of scanning large populations to find individuals who are healthy despite carrying gene variants known to cause disease holds great promise.

"Achieving this goal will require incredibly large sample sizes," measured in millions not thousands, said MacArthur.

It will also need what he called "genetic superheros" to step up and dotate their genomic and clinical data so researchers can pick through them.
A "remarkable" decline in maritime piracy in Southeast Asia has been recorded for the first quarter of this year; however, attacks have significantly escalated in the northernmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Africa.

During the first three months of the year, only 13 maritime crime cases were reported in Southeast Asia, compared to 35 for the same period last year, according to a global report by Dryad Maritime, released early Tuesday in London.

It is the lowest number recorded in 10 years by Dryad, which provides information and analysis on attacks and incidents.

"Primarily, we believe that this is because the criminal gangs have come under a lot of pressure. They've been subject to a proactive effort in law enforcement and also in deterrence," said the consultancy's chief operating officer, Ian Millen.

"This is quite a remarkable turnaround in a little over six months and it's a testament to those who have been involved in combating the crime," Millen told VOA. "The Australians have been involved in assisting the region with some of these issues. If you look at countries in particular  Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh  we see more effective patrolling by these countries, which has helped with the situation, of course."

Recent incidents

So far, Jakarta is the only Southeast Asian port where more than one incident has been reported this year.

The region's most serious recent incident has been the hijack of a tug and barge carrying coal from Indonesia to the Philippines. The tug was ransacked, the tow abandoned and ten crew members kidnapped. The Abu Sayyaf group has issued a $1 million ransom demand.

The Philippine military says 18 of its soldiers were killed and more than 50 others were wounded Saturday in Basilan province during a 10-hour firefight with extremists of Abu Sayyaf, an Islamic State ally.

Gulf of Guinea, an upswing

In the Gulf of Guinea, the north-easternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean, there has been an upswing in maritime piracy, in stark contrast to the trend in Southeast Asia.

Attacks against oil pipelines and facilities ashore around the Niger Delta have escalated there, "deterring major international companies from investing in the region for fear of suffering huge financial and logistical losses," according to the Dryad report.

"It's simple, it's effective, it's profitable and it's low risk, Millen told VOA. "The pirates there are even doing this in the daylight now, and they operate with almost impunity."

There have been 14 attacks on commercial vessels off Nigeria's Rivers and Bayelsa states. However, eight of the raids were thwarted by crews taking evasive maneuvers. But in the six which succeeded, a total of 23 crewmembers were kidnapped for ransom.

"European and American seafarers remain the most lucrative kidnap and ransom target," according to the Dryad report.

"In the Gulf of Guinea, the worrying trend is that we will probably see a lot more [kidnappings]. The good news is that we will probably see a lot less of product tanker hijack," Millen predicted.

Nigeria's navy has not been very responsive and lacks the effectiveness to confront the pirates, according to analysts.

Activity elsewhere

Another significant development is that there has not been an attack on a commercial vessel by Somali pirates in more than two years, according to Oceans Beyond Piracy, an independent non-profit organization established to develop a response to maritime piracy.

Maritime crime throughout the rest of the world continues to decline, with just 15 incidents reported to Dryad in the first quarter of the year. The majority of these case  eight incidents  have been attacks on yachts in the Caribbean.

Notably, there have been no instances of piracy in the Indian Ocean High Risk Area during the first quarter of 2016, but reports of suspicious craft in the Gulf of Aden persist.
As at least 130 countries prepare to sign the Paris climate agreement in New York later this month, environmental experts have warned that enthusiasm for climate change action may be waning in Brazil.

The political and economic crises now rocking the Latin American heavyweight could undermine the key role played by Brazil in shaping the new international deal to curb global warming, they say.

"It is very clear that the federal government is struggling for its political survival. As a consequence, the climate change agenda is frozen," said Carlos Rittl, executive secretary of the Climate Observatory, a Brasilia-based coalition of 35 non-governmental groups.

President Dilma Rousseff faces charges of breaking budget laws to support her re-election in 2014. This week, a committee of the lower house of Congress recommended her impeachment, with a vote in the full lower house expected on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Brazilians are grappling with a major corruption scandal over a kickback scheme at state-run oil company Petrobras, and hard times after a decade of prosperity. The economy suffered its worst slump for a quarter of a century last year and unemployment is rising.

Brazilian diplomats are expected to attend the U.N. signing ceremony for the Paris climate deal on April 22. But there are growing concerns the country's woes could thwart efforts to meet the pledges made in its contribution to the global agreement reached in December.

Brazil has set a target to cut its carbon emissions 37 percent from 2005 levels by 2025, and has indicated an "intended reduction" of 43 percent by 2030.

Greater awareness

Brazil is among the 188 countries that have submitted climate action plans as part of an international effort to limit global average temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius.

But Brazil's contribution will only become law when Congress ratifies the Paris Agreement.

With discussion among parliamentarians focused on the president's impeachment, it is highly likely the Paris deal ratification will take longer than it should, Rittl said.

Nonetheless, Brazilian Climate Change Secretary Jose Miguez believes Congressional approval will come in the next five years, based on the time Brazil took to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, the existing international treaty to curb global warming.

Negotiated in 1997, it was ratified by Brazil in 2002 and entered into force in 2005.

At that time, Brazil had no targets to pursue, as the Kyoto Protocol binds only developed countries to cut emissions.

"The situation regarding climate change nowadays is much more serious - so there is far more awareness among the parliamentarians than there was back in 2002," said Miguez.

It is not necessary to wait for Congress to ratify the Paris agreement before kick-starting action, he added, as business was involved in government discussions on the U.N. plan for two years before it was submitted.

"The agriculture, energy and industry sectors have begun to adapt in order to cut their emissions," he said.

Rittl warned, however, that falling investment in programs such as low-carbon agriculture and wind power - due to the economic slowdown - could have a harmful impact.

Still there are reasons to believe Brazil will stick to its climate pledges despite the political and economic storm clouds, said Jacques Marcovitch, professor and former president of the University of So Paulo.

"Before going to Paris, Brazil signed bilateral agreements with the United States and Germany. These are very strong environmental accords and indicate the country is committed to fulfilling its goals," he said.

Forest key

For Brazil to meet those goals, the agricultural sector will have to act, said Gustavo Junqueira, president of the Brazilian Rural Society. Agriculture is responsible for 37 percent of Brazil's carbon emissions, the same as the energy sector.

Compliance with the Forest Law would help reduce farming emissions, Junqueira added. It is also key to meeting another goal in Brazil's U.N. climate plan: to eliminate illegal deforestation by 2030.

The legislation to protect forests, modified amid controversy a few years ago, establishes a proportion of rural land that must be maintained as forest depending on the region.

In the Amazon biome, for example, where demand for beef and animal feed has fuelled an increase in deforestation, landowners have to set aside 80 percent of forests as a natural reserve.

While the forest code was approved in 2012, there are ongoing challenges to its implementation. A deadline for mapping and registering all rural properties had to be extended to May 2016, for example.

A study released last year by a consortium of Brazilian and international research institutes concluded that implementing the forest code would bring about a major reduction in Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions.

But forthcoming research argues it will not be enough.

Andrea Azevedo, one of the authors of the study to be published soon by the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM), said deforestation would have to be cut by 87 percent to meet Brazil's 2025 emissions goal, and reduced to zero by 2030.

But a lack of land-use planning threatens that, she added.

"We see large land owners clearing forest areas to make a plantation next year without knowing for sure whether that area will be needed. And this has an impact on carbon emissions," she said.

According to official data, emissions from deforestation fell from 58 percent of Brazil's total emissions in 2005 to 15 percent in 2012.

Brazil has also committed to restore 12 million hectares (29.7 million acres) of land by 2030, but has yet to put together a clear plan for this, while it is unclear how it would directly affect agriculture.

A recent survey by Brazil's Instituto Escolhas said the reforestation plan would cost around $14 billion (52 billion reais).

"It is like restoring the entire area of England  removing all the buildings and turning everything into forest," said Sergio Leitao, co-founder of the institute. "We are already late if we want to accomplish the goal on time."
Pope Francis has replaced the Vatican ambassador who arranged a controversial secret meeting between the pontiff and Kim Davis, a Kentucky clerk who went to jail for refusing to comply with a court order to issue same-sex marriage licenses.

The Vatican said Tuesday that Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano submitted his resignation in January after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75.

Vigano is being replaced by French-born Archbishop Christophe Pierre, who previously served as the papal ambassador to Mexico, where Francis visited two months ago.

Bishops are permitted to work past retirement age but can stay on at the popes discretion.

Last September, Francis was embroiled in controversy after Vigano invited Davis to be among those greeting the pope at the Vatican embassy in Washington.

Davis lawyer publicly described the meeting as the popes support of his clients approach to conscientious objection. A Vatican spokesman insisted, however, the meeting was not an endorsement of Davis views on same-sex marriage.
The migrant crisis, serious economic problems, and Russia's return to authoritarianism are threatening the stability of governments in Central Europe and Eurasia, and the existence of the European Union.

That is the message of "Nations in Transit 2016," the latest annual survey of democratic governance from Central Europe to Eurasia by international rights group Freedom House.

Renewed nationalism and the erosion of freedom of movement and other fundamental principles are threatening the consolidation of democracy in Eastern Europe, and with it the entire European project, said Nate Schenkkan, project director of Nations in Transit.

Dictatorships



According to "Nations in Transit 2016," the biggest driver of decline in the former Soviet Union has been Russia's return to authoritarianism under President Vladimir Putin.

The report states that seven of the 15 countries of the former Soviet Union are currently headed by dictators who have been in power for at least 10 years.

Low oil prices, it says, are now threatening the stability of these authoritarian regimes.

Governments in oil producers like Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan built their economies on sand, said Schenkkan. "The profit when oil prices were high went into the pockets of officials connected to the presidents. Now these states must face the consequences after years of failing to diversify their economies or create transparent and accountable systems of government.

Ukraine



On the other hand, Ukraine remains "the single most important opportunity for establishing democracy in Eurasia," the report states.

It says Ukraine outperforms the average of official current and potential EU candidates in the region on three out of seven indicators: civil society, electoral process, and independent media.

But Ukraine scored worse last year on local democratic governance, corruption, judicial framework and independence, and national democratic governance.

This is a pivotal year for Ukraine to take on corruption and impunity, said Schenkkan. Patience is running thin among Ukraines supporters. The government cannot lose the urgency of breaking with the past.

Xenophobic rhetoric

According to Freedom House, the biggest challenge to democracy in Europe is the spread of "illiberal" politics. Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Oban and several other Central European leaders used xenophobic rhetoric to denounce migrants last year, as the flow of refugees and migrants from the Middle East and North Africa increased sharply.

Claiming that Europe faces a Muslim invasion has become standard fare for a range of politicians and political parties in Europe, said Schenkkan. This kind of speech undermines democracy by rejecting one of its fundamental principles, equality before the law. There is a danger that this kind of hateful, paranoid speech will lead to violence against minorities and refugees.
Recent North Korean defections have been touted over the past week by the government in Seoul, but the issue is sparking allegations of political opportunism in South Korea.

Coming just days before legislative elections, Seouls announcements of the new defections has the political opposition and even some independent observers crying foul.

South Korean voters will go to the polls on Wednesday to choose all 300 seats in the National Assembly. President Park Geun-hyes Saenuri Party is expected to win a clear majority, but many of the races are very close and the margin of victory is not assured.

I think it is really bad. It is really the politicization of inter-Korean relations on local politics, said Chung-in Moon, a political science professor with Yonsei University in Seoul.

Seouls announcement on Monday that a senior North Korean intelligence officer had defected to South Korea came only days after it was disclosed that 13 North Korean restaurant staffers had defected.

North Korea analyst Cheong Seong-chang at the Sejong Institute in South Korea criticized the defector announcements as politically motivated moves to promote President Park's tough stance on North Korean sanctions in order to appeal to conservative voters.

Park has been a strong advocate for the tough new United Nations sanctions imposed on North Korea in response to its fourth nuclear test in January and long-range rocket launch using ballistic missile technology in February.

Suspicious timing

South Korea rarely confirms defections by North Koreans because it does not want to compromise sensitive contacts and damage diplomatic relations with the countries through which they travel.

But other than for gaining political advantage, there seems to be little reason for the sudden announcements of these defections.

The South Korean Defense Ministry on Monday said the North Korean army colonel, who was involved in espionage efforts at the Reconnaissance General Bureau, actually defected last year.

Meanwhile, last weeks announcement that 13 workers at a North Korean restaurant had defected seemed overly rushed. Usually Seouls National Intelligence Service will conduct a lengthy investigation to cull useful intelligence and protect the defectors families and others who may have aided in their escape.

It violated the practice that the government should not make public such defections to prevent their families in the North from being put in danger," said Kim Sung-soo, the spokesman for the Minjoo Party of Korea, South Koreas main opposition political party.

South Koreas Unification and Defense Ministries denied political motives, saying the disclosures were made in the public interest.

Parks supporters argue that it is fair and legitimate to underscore the success of her national security policies prior to the election.

I think the argument that the [South Korean government] tried to use the case for the political election is just a judgment depending on the timing not the truth, said North Korean defector and analyst Ahn Chan-il with the World Institute for North Korean Studies in Seoul.

Escape route

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang on Monday confirmed that 13 North Korean workers left China last week, but would not say if they were the same group that defected. He stressed however that the group used valid identity documents and legally came to the country, not North Koreans who have entered illegally.

Both North Korea and China have increased cooperation and border patrols in recent years to prevent defectors from illegally crossing the border.

South Korean media reported that the restaurant defectors were working in the Chinese eastern port city of Ningbo and may have made their way to South Korea through Southeast Asia.

The Seoul government has declined to comment on details of the defection route, citing the issue's sensitivity and diplomatic aspects.

South Korea has banned its citizens from visiting North Korean restaurants because they are suspected of serving as a source of dollars for Pyongyangs nuclear and missile programs.

The North Korean restaurant workers cited the lack of revenue due to the sanctions as one of the reasons for their mass defection.

Election bump

Polls have indicated a spike in the approval ratings for Park and for her Saenuri Party for supporting a tough response to the North Korean nuclear threat, including sanctions and an increased military readiness posture.

Saenuris opponents want to keep the voters more focused on the under performing economy, with youth unemployment over nine percent, jobs moving to lower wage countries and a drop in exports, due in large part to the economic slowdown in China.
A suicide bomber killed at least four people Tuesday in Yemen's southern port city of Aden, as a cease-fire between pro-government forces and Houthi rebels stretched into a second day with some reports of fighting.

The attacker detonated the explosives among a group of army recruits in the city that has become home to the government since it pushed out the Houthis with the help of a Saudi-led coalition.

But the instability in Yemen has also brought al-Qaida militants seeking control in parts of Aden.

The United Nations is sponsoring peace talks next week between the government and Houthis and urged them to make sure their cessation of hostilities holds in order to create a good environment for the negotiations.

The Houthis seized control of the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, in September 2014, but the conflict exploded into a regional fight in March of last year when the rebels marched on Aden and forced President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi to flee to Saudi Arabia.

The Saudis responded by organizing a coalition of militaries to conduct airstrikes in Hadi's defense and later expanded the effort to include ground troops.

A U.N. spokesman said Monday there were "pockets of violence" after the truce went into effect. Much of the reported fighting was in the city of Taiz.

More than 6,200 people have been killed in the Yemen conflict, and the U.N. said more than 80 percent of civilians are in desperate need of food and medical aid.

With the cease-fire in effect, the U.N. is conducting a three-day polio vaccination campaign in Yemen that began Monday with a target of reaching 5 million children.
The Taliban says it has launched its annual spring military offensive in Afghanistan, titled Omari Operation.

In a statement sent to reporters Tuesday, the Islamist insurgent group promised large scale attacks on enemy positions, martyrdom-seeking (suicide) and tactical attacks against enemy strongholds and assassination of enemy commanders in urban centers.

The Taliban said the operation has been named after its deceased leader Mullah Omar, and is part of its 15-year-old jihad against the American invasion and effort to reestablish an Islamic system in Afghanistan.

With the advent of spring it is again time for us to renew our Jihadi determination and operations, the insurgent group said.

Taliban inflicted heavy losses in 2015

The Taliban inflicted heavy casualties on Afghan security forces during the 2015 fighting season, killing nearly 6,000 personnel, including soldiers and police, while another 14,000 were wounded. The militant group also captured more territory then at any point since it was ousted from power in 2001 for harboring al-Qaida.

The U.S.-led military coalition ended its combat mission in 2014, leaving behind some 13,000-troops, mostly Americans, to train Afghan forces and conduct counterterrorism operations.

Afghan leaders blame the withdrawal of international forces for the battlefield and other losses but have vowed to evict Taliban insurgents from areas they now control and keep them from making advances this year.

Peace talks stalled

The U.S., China and neighboring Pakistan all joined hands with Afghanistan to try to arrange peace talks between the Taliban and the Kabul government in early March to prevent the insurgents from launching the spring offensive.

But the Taliban refused to attend and there are fears this years fighting could see more bloodshed in the war-ravaged country.

Afghanistan blames Pakistan

Afghan officials in recent days have alleged that despite its efforts to help in Afghan peace efforts, Pakistan has not taken action against Taliban leaders and their sanctuaries on the other side of the border, charges Islamabad rejected.

It is widely perceived that Taliban commanders are using Pakistani areas, including its southwestern border province of Baluchistan for directing hostilities in Afghanistan. The head of the Afghan intelligence agency recently told the national parliament that the neighboring country's military spy agency is behind the resurgent Taliban.

The insurgent group has made significant advances in the southern Helmand province, which borders Baluchistan. Local Afghan commanders say that five out of 14 districts of the largest poppy-producing Afghan province are under the Taliban's control, while fighting has been waging in several other districts.
Two Turkish soldiers were killed, and at least 50 people were injured, when a car bomb exploded at a military base in Turkey's Kurdish-dominated southeast.

The attack, late Monday, targeted a military outpost in the Hani district of Diyarbakir province. A nearby building housing family members of the military personnel was also damaged in the blast.

Turkish authorities have blamed the bombing on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Thousands of militant and hundreds of civilians and soldiers have been killed in the largely Kurdish southeast since a PKK cease-fire and peace process collapsed in July 2015.

The PKK is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and European Union.
At least eight people were killed Monday and early Tuesday in U.S. airstrikes targeting al-Shabab militants in southern Somalia.

Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said unmanned drones were used in the attacks.

Witnesses and officials told VOA's Somali service that five militants and three civilians were killed in the airstrikes, which hit the al-Shabab-controlled village of Yontoy in Somalia's Lower Juba region.

The Pentagon spokesman put the death toll at 12 militants. He described the airstrikes as "self-defense," saying the targets of the attack "were posing an imminent threat to U.S. personnel."

It was not immediately known whether any al-Shabab leaders were hit. A high-ranking security official in Kismayo told VOA that al-Shabab militants were seen making some movements before the airstrike.

Yontoy is about 24 kilometers north of the coastal city of Kismayo. Officials suspect the village serves as a launching post for al-Shabab militants who attack Kismayo's airport with mortars.

The U.S. has repeatedly used drones to attack al-Shabab. The group's longtime leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane, was killed by a U.S. drone strike in September 2014.
The United States has offered its resources and expertise to the Bangladeshi government as Dhaka investigates the latest in a series of murders of secular bloggers in the Muslim-majority country.

"We've offered assistance to the Bangladeshi government, collaboration on the investigations, FBI assistance," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters Monday in Washington.

He was commenting after last weeks killing of Nazimuddin Samad, a blogger and postgraduate student who often criticized radical Islam and promoted secularism in Bangladesh.

"These are horrific attacks. We urge the Bangladeshi authorities to take them very seriously," Toner added.

International defenders of freedom of expression have accused the Bangladeshi government of not doing enough to stop the attacks. At least six bloggers and a secular publisher have been killed since 2013.

A Bangladeshi government official has said a domestic militant group may be responsible for Samad's murder, although a group affiliated with al-Qaida has claimed responsibility.

Samad was hacked with machetes and shot by motorcycle-riding assailants as he returned from class at Jagannath University in Dhaka. No arrests have been made, but police said people heard the attackers shouting, "Allahu Akbar," meaning God is great, as they fled the scene.

Samad was on a hit list of 84 atheist bloggers that a radical Islamist group compiled and sent to Bangladesh's Interior Ministry.
Srinagar: Two people, including a budding cricketer, were killed in Army firing as Jammu and Kashmirs north-western Handwara area erupted on Tuesday over alleged molestation of a local female student by an Army jawan.

A woman resident, Raja Begum, who was earlier presumed dead after sustaining bullet injuries in the shooting, is alive and has been shifted to a Srinagar hospital for advanced treatment. Her condition is stated to be critical. Police sources here said that the Army opened fire to quell a violent mob in Handwara town, 72 km from here, injuring three persons. One of them died on the sport whereas the other succumbed to the injuries on way to hospital. They have been identified as 21-year-old Muhammad Iqbal, a salesman at a local store, and Naeem Qadir Butt, who represented J&K in Under-19 cricket tournament recently. Seven other protesters were injured earlier in clashes with the police, which swung bamboosticks, fired teargas shells and also warning rifle shots in the air to contain protests. Hospital sources said that one of the slain youth had received fatal bullet wound in abdomen and the other on his head.

Late on Tuesday, the protesters also pulled down the tricolour, which the Army had hoisted at the town square some time ago.

The Army said it regrets the unfortunate loss of life in firing and assured that the guilty would be dealt with as per law. It also said that inquiry into the incident has been ordered. Army deeply regrets the unfortunate loss of life. The matter will be investigated and anybody found guilty will be dealt as per the law, a defence spokesman said here.

CM Mehbooba Mufti, expressing tremendous grief over the killings, said the Army personnel involved in the incident will be handed exemplary punishment. She said she has already taken up the matter with the Army. The chief minister talked to the GOC-in-C, Northern Command, Lt. Gen. D.S. Hooda, who informed her that the Army has already ordered an inquiry into the incident and tangible action will be taken once the probe is completed, a spokesman of the J&K government said, adding that the Army commander has also assured that the demand of the local residents that the Army camp be shifted from Handwara town would be looked into. Such tragic incidents have a huge negative impact on the efforts of the government aimed at consolidating the peace efforts in Jammu and Kashmir, she was quoted as saying.

She also said that the security forces must exercise maximum restraint and adhere to the Standing Operating Procedure (SOP) while dealing with the public protests as incidents of innocent killings cannot be tolerated.

The girl (name withheld by police) alleged that she had by mistake gone to a lavatory adjacent to the Armys 21 Rashtriya Rifles camp at the towns main square where a jawan misbehaved with her and even molested her. As the word spread, surging crowds held protests and also turned violent when police came in their way.

Police said that it tried to persuade the protesters by assuring them that action under law would be taken against the accused after recording the statement of the girl but in vain. The protesters, witnesses said, were demanding the Army should hand the accused jawan over to the police in their presence.

They encircled the Army camp and started hurling rocks at it, prompting the soldiers to open fire, witnesses said. Police officials denied the police or CRPF while containing situation resorted to direct firing at the protesters and said that a video which shows them in action and which has gone viral on social networking sites since was of the violent protests spreading in the area following the killing of two youth.

In the evening, J&K police issued a statement saying that within minutes of alleged incident of misbehaviour with and molestation of the girl by an Army man people in large numbers gathered in Handwara and attacked the Army bunker in the towns main square. They assaulted the personnel deployed there, ransacked the bunker and attempted to set it to fire. In retaliation the security forces deployed used force to disperse the violent rampaging mob. In the process, two persons sustained firearm injuries. They were evacuated to hospital where they, unfortunately, succumbed to their injuries, it said adding J&K Police deeply regrets the loss of life.

The statement also said that a criminal case has been registered in Police Station Handwara and investigation launched to ascertain the facts.

Reports from Handwara said that an Army bunker in the heart of Handwara town was attacked and subsequently set to fire by a mob in reprisal to the killing of the protesters. Handwara is a bastion of regional Peoples Conference whose chairman Sajad Gani Lone elected from the area in the last Assembly elections is an ally of the BJP and a minister in the Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP-BJP government. Demanding an impartial inquiry into the incidents, he said The loss of two youth is very unfortunate. An impartial and time bound inquiry should be taken up into the killing.
The World Health Organization said Monday at least 21 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo have died from yellow fever connected to an outbreak in neighboring Angola.

The WHO said that as of March 22 there were at least 151 suspected cases in the DRC. It warned that with the high number of people moving between the two countries, a high proportion of people susceptible to infection and the presence of the type of mosquito that transmits yellow fever, there is a "serious risk" for the disease to spread further.

The outbreak began in December in Angola's capital, Luanda, and has since spread to most of the country's provinces with more than 1,100 total cases. At least 168 people have died in Angola.

Kenya also reported one death and one other infection from people who had traveled to Angola.

The WHO launched a vaccination campaign targeting 6.5 million people to try to prevent further spread of the disease.
War veterans, who were part of the group that signed the Mgagao Declaration in 1975, a document that thrust President Mugabe to the helm of Zanu, say they are now withdrawing their support for Mugabe.

Some Masvingo residents have rejected the National Peace and Reconciliation Bill, during public hearings, saying it gives the state too much power.

Almost 36 years after Independence the land question still remains unresolved. Tonight we take stock of what some people are saying about the controversial agrarian reforms.

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.

This evening on Livetalk on the Youth Forum our hosts Ntungamili Nkomo and Tatenda Gumbo will be talking about the call by war veterans for the country to reintroduce the controversial National Youth Service. Participate by sending your messages on our WhatsApp number 001 202 465 0318. The number again 001 202 465 0318. Stay tuned!!!!!!

To mark Zimbabwes 36th independence anniversary, Studio 7 will be giving out solar-powered radios for our lucky winners. Simply invite 10 friends to join our VOA Studio 7 Facebook page. Ask them to like our page. Keep their names so we can verify your claim.

We are also running a daily competition for lucky winners. You only need to answer a simple question about Zimbabwes independence. The question today is: When was Zanu formed? The draw will be conducted April 18th. Dont be left out!!
War veterans, who were part of the group that signed the Mgagao Declaration in 1975, a document that thrust President Mugabe to the helm of Zanu, say they are now withdrawing their support for the president.

In the declaration, the war veterans passed a vote of no confidence in then leader Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole. Mr. Mugabe, who was the Zanu secretary general, replaced Sithole in what was widely regarded as a coup.

Some of the 32 war veterans that signed the declaration met Tuesday and stressed that they are withdrawing their support for President Mugabe.

The groups spokesman Bernard Manyadza, who was head of military instructors, says Mgagao Declaration was authored with a view that Mugabe leads the war as a the secretary-general until independence.

"This was done with a view that he leads the armed struggle then the congress to confer the presidentship would be done in Zimbabwe," Manyadza says.

He says some of them even contested the 1977 Special Congress which claims to have endorsed Mr. Mugabe as the legitimate Zanu leader.

"But then the unfortunate development that happened sometime is in Mozambique in 1977 end of 1976 there was a meeting that conferred him as the first secretary and president of Zanu which was not very constitutional."

Manyadza adds that they protested it because the people who have effected that on the constitution were supposed to be delegates as was done in 1963 when Zanu was formed.

Manyadza said though this may seem to be just academic, they know the president has already got the message.

Studio 7 was unable to get a comment from presidential spokesman George Charamba whose mobile phone was unreachable.

In a related development, Movement for Democratic Change founding president Morgan Tsvangirai says President Mugabe should step down for failing to properly run the country.

Tsvangirai told students at the University of Zimbabwe Tuesday that President Mugabes party is even failing to account for diamond proceeds worth $15 billion mined by various parties in Manicaland province.

Tsvangirais party is expected to stage street protests on Thursday over the missing diamond proceeds.
A Zimbabwean woman has escaped from a house where she was living under harsh conditions in Kuwait.

Using an alias Chipo Sanyika for fear of victimization, she says she is now in a half-way house and is appealing for travel assistance to return to Zimbabwe.

She was assisted by the Zimbabwe Embassy to seek refuge at the half-way house. Sanyika is among hundreds of Zimbabwean women and girls that were promised lucrative jobs by suspected conmen only to find themselves trapped in various menial jobs, including commercial sex work.

I ran away on Sunday after the kids went to school and the gate was left open by my former employers. I managed to find my passport and left with the money I received from last month. I had not yet received my salary for this month but the treatment I received was deplorable. I chose to leave with my life and health intact instead of waiting for my pay, says Sanyika.

Twenty women have been rescued and have been repatriated with many others still languishing in Kuwait without any hope of returning home before the expiration of their two-year contracts.

Sanyika says she is lucky to have found her passport in one of the rooms where her former employers children slept and she contacted the Zimbabwe Embassy staff in Kuwait who were able to put her up in a half-way house.

She says her mother in Zimbabwe is unable to assist her with the money needed to purchase a one-way ticket, which on average costs $700.

My biggest challenge is finding the $700 needed to buy a ticket to fly back to Zimbabwe. Unfortunately, my family is not in a position to help and I am appealing to any good Samaritan to assist in whatever way they can. My hopes to find a better future here have now turned into a nightmare, says Sanyika.

Sanyika says she was required to clean a 15-roomed house by herself, was not given enough food to eat and worked undocumented hours that were not in accordance to her contract.

I would work without any rest by the time I ran away my feet and hands were swollen but I was still required to do all the house work including handwashing soiled clothes and looking after the children. The salary I was promised never materialized. I was paid after every month and a half and only a quarter of what had been initially been in offer from the Agents that recruited me, says Sanyika.

She says she had never done housework before and had been an entrepreneur selling second-hand clothing but the deteriorating economy forced her to take up the opportunity in Kuwait which she said looked lucrative in the beginning but turned into a nightmare once she arrived in that country.

I know things are bad at home but I would rather be safe with my family in Zimbabwe than spend any more time here where I have been disillusioned, all I would like to do is to go back home and be with my mum, she says.

Some women rights organisations in Zimbabwe last week protested against the trafficking of girls to Kuwait but their march was disrupted by riot police in Harare although the women have vowed they will continue with their campaign to ensure that the women and girls who are in Kuwait against their will are sent back home.

Seven agents, who were involved in the scam, were brought before a Harare magistrate court and accused of duping the women and young girls by promising them greener pastures in Kuwait that never materialised.

The agents are now out on bail while some of their victims are struggling for life in Kuwait.




Zimbabweans took up arms to fight against colonialism with the land question as a driving force for achieving black majority rule in the southern African nation.

Following a protracted liberation struggle, independence was achieved on April 18th, 1980. Almost 36 years after independence, the land question still remains unresolved with some Zimbabweans saying they were left out of the controversial agrarian reforms, which left over 3,500 white commercial farmers landless. On the other hand, some Zanu PF activists are happy that they are owners of prime land in Zimbabwe.

Some of the people, who were left out of the land reform program that kicked off in 2000 when the ruling Zanu PF party felt the political heat from the then newly formed Movement for Democratic Change, say it is saddening that only the ruling elite and people connected to President Robert Mugabes party were given pieces of land.

One of them is Obious Musaingwa, a Mutare resident, who says he has over the years been sidelined from such programs due to political reasons.

Musaigwa says, To be very honest we have not benefitted from the land reform and the so-called economic empowerment program. Some of us who seem to be non-aligned have not benefitted anything from the political blueprints.

Llyod Gumbo, a Zanu PF youth based in the eastern border city in Manicaland province, agrees, claiming that this has been going on for almost 36 years.

Gumbo says, Actually that issue about economic empowerment and land reform has not benefitted youths like myself, but what we have realized now is that it has benefitted only the politically-connected and senior Zanu PF officials leaving out the key people that should have benefitted.

Another Mutare resident, James Mupfumi who is a researcher with the Centre for Research and Development, says the economic empowerment and land reform programs were noble schemes initiated by President Mugabes government though they have remained a pipedream for many Zimbabweans.

Like any ordinary Zimbabwean, I have not derived any benefit from such initiatives as it is common knowledge that these programs have only gotten into the hands of purely Zanu PF supporters and the inner circle of the ruling party, says Mupfumi.

However, Zanu PF activist and medical practitioner, Bernadette Ndungwani, says the ruling party brought a lot of opportunities to the marginalized black majority in the country.

Ndungwani argues that as an individual, I benefitted a lot from the ruling party as I managed to get an education from their programs to empower blacks as I was able to attend a multiracial school and enroll further at a medical school as a state registered nurse which was unforeseeable for us then. It is with pleasure that I am currently where I am and who I am because of that.

Charles Samuriwo, former spokesman of the Zanu PF Youth League in Manicaland, concurs, adding that he is also a beneficiary of the land reform and black empowerment programs.

However, he says more still needs to be done to include millions of Zimbabweans.

I am a proud beneficiary of the land reform program and a proud beneficiary of the economic empowerment done by the ruling party. I also celebrate these programs that were done to benefit every Zimbabwean  to bring about equity to the majority of us. It is an achievement that we need to take as an achievement by the government of Zimbabwe and not as a Zanu PF achievement.

Tanaka Mukuvaza, a Zanu PF youth, echoes the same sentiments while he appreciates the empowerment programs spearheaded by his party, he is worried about the high levels of corruption within the former liberation movement.

As a citizen and a youth we benefitted at the last minute and it was through unscrupulous means as we are still facing challenges from Zanu PF and government officials who want kick-backs for the efforts they say they did to get the land.

Manicaland Provincial Affairs Minister, Mandi Chimene, says she is also a proud beneficiary of all government programs as she now owns a farm despite her little education and is grateful to President Mugabe.

Thousands of blacks affiliated to the ruling elite are believed to be owners of pieces of land with some of them having multiple farms. A land audit appears to be resented by those in power fearing that they may be exposed if an independent assessment of land ownership is conducted in Zimbabwe.
Some Masvingo residents have rejected the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission Bill in public hearings saying it gives the state too much power to monitor and control commissioners.

Residents of Gutu Growth Point and Masvingo town Monday and Tuesday rejected almost three quarters of the Bill saying it violates some provisions of Zimbabwes constitution.

The Bill is designed to operationalize the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission. One of the people who rejected the Bill was Lloyd Mufudze of Mushayavanhu of Gutu.

The Bill infringes the independence of the Commission guaranteed in Section 235 of constitution which indicates that the Commission reports to parliament not the minister. The Bill must not take away the independence of the Commission by giving the minister too much power to interfere in the business of the institution.

Shylet Gano of Masvingo town echoed the same sentiments, adding that the Bill was silent on issues of reparations and compensation for victims of political violence.

This Bill is silent on compensation and reparations so that people like us who lost their beloved ones, cattle and homes during political violence get to be paid. Government should compensate us but all this in not there in the Bill so how are we going to reconcile with those who took away our things.

Arnold Bhasera of Masvingos Mucheke suburb added that the Bill should be redone before it is passed in parliament as it gives the Minister Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and the president powers that are not in the constitution.

This Bills Clause 3 states that members of the Commission serve a maximum of two terms of up to five years as determined by the president. This is contrary to the constitution provisions of 320(1) which states that all members shall be appointed for five year renewable terms and the president cannot appoint shorter terms.

Justice Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee member Innocent Gonese of the MDC said the committee will present its finding to parliament without doctoring peoples views.

What one must appreciate is that we want to get sentiments from the people so that we take it to parliament and then to the minister and we will take what the public is saying especially that the Bill is not inconsistent with the constitution and we will have to take that as it is.

Human Rights NGO Forums Tinotenda Kambarami, who attended the hearings, said the committee should respect the views of the people.

The people have spoken and have said that some of the clauses are unconstitutional. It shows that the people of Masvingo and Gutu are saying this is not the document we can go forward with and it needs to be fixed.

The public hearings are being done in all the provinces before the Bill is presented to parliament for approval. Parliaments legal committee has already condemned the Bill saying it contravenes some provisions of the countrys constitution.
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She was reportedly murdered by her lover on Sunday night and her body was dumped in the toilet, which was latched from outside.

Chennai: A 23-year old woman, who was forced to quit her job in a BPO, was found dead inside a toilet in a commercial complex in North Beach, on Monday afternoon. She was reportedly murdered by her lover on Sunday night and her body was dumped in the toilet, which was latched from outside.

The incident came to light only on Monday afternoon when one of the tenants of the building, rushed to the restroom only to find the woman lying unconscious there.

The body was subsequently moved to Government Stanley Hospital for post-mortem and fingerprints from the crime scene were recovered. Identified as Vinodhini, (23), who was living with her aunt's family in Angappan Naicken street in North Beach, she was declared dead by the medical team from 108 emergency services.

Inquiries revealed that Vinodhini left her aunt's house on Sunday night on the pretext of meeting a friend and never returned. She was in a relationship with Tamilselvan, who was also her colleague in an ITES company where she was employed until six months ago.

The relationship led to quarrels in her foster family as it was vehemently opposed. The family was raising her after her parents died when she was a child. The family convinced her to leave her job, and advised her against the relationship. Subsequently, she was sent to live with her aunt here in North Beach. The family also ensured she would not look for other jobs. However, Tamilselvan who was in touch with her, reportedly insisted that she come with him.

Cops suspect that Tamilselvan could have sought an audience with her with the intent of convincing her to elope with him and the woman could have refused. Since it was a Sunday night and all the shops were closed, the complex, a few metres away from Vinodhini's residence, had become the spot selected for the meeting.

"She had chosen to part ways with him, which could have angered him. He could have strangled her with his bare hands. He has disappeared since the incident", said a senior police official. Efforts are on to collect all available footage to get the image of Tamilselvan and his friends are also being quizzed about his involvement with Vinodhini.
The noose is tightening on Bates Motel. As Norman Batess facade crumbles, his mother Norma is watching her chance for domestic bliss erode amid violence. As has been the case in the previous years, the midway point of season three feels a bit transitional, as if what happens in Refraction could have been the first act of an action-packed hour. Its the kind of tension-raising move that the creators of Bates Motel have used before, but it can make an episode feel like its treading water. Everything about Refraction works, from the performances to its design and atmosphere. It just seems a bit repetitive, especially with regards to the Dylan/Emma arc. Those kids are darn cute, though.

Sheriff Alex Romero (Nestor Carbonell) and his new wife Norma (Vera Farmiga) are cleaning up the mess left by the home invaders. They broke a stained-glass window that Norma loved, and she feels personally attacked. I love that a character who has done as much wrong as Norma can say something like, I have been so good, with a straight face. (Meanwhile, she probably knows that her son killed Emmas mother and buried her in the front yard.) Alex claims its just a hazard of marrying a law man. As Norma drives to town to find someone to fix her window, How Long by Ace plays  another great bit of time displacement. The Bates family is perpetually torn between the era of the Hitchcock film and today. We see that Chick (Ryan Hurst), the man seeking vengeance against Normas brother Caleb, is following her.

Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore) meets with Dr. Edwards (Damon Gupton). Hes finally ready to get to the root of his problems. He suggests he might need another MRI or medication. Norman has settled down. Hes asking for help. But when he uses the word typical to describe his relationship with his mother, Dr. Edwards thinks he doth protest too much. He raises the subject of Normans father, which leads the young man to get even more defensive. Did Norman kill him out of jealousy? Norman asks if he can call to check on Emma (Olivia Cooke), but he uses his time on the phone to leave a message for mom. Hes working hard to get better. He thinks he can do it. He cries. Its poignant because we know Normans inevitable trajectory. We know about Marion Crane. There is no better.

Emma comes home with Dylan (Max Thieriot) and they talk about moving to Seattle. Emma looks at a drawing of herself with breathing tubes in her nose, noting how much shes changed before she kisses Dylan. The new man in Emmas life tells her father that hes going to Seattle for a job interview, which goes surprisingly well. Well, it goes well when Dylan drops the artifice that he worked at a place called Artful Artifacts, then starts bragging about his mad skills running a marijuana operation. Guess its not that different from working for a hops distributor.

While Dr. Edwards gets a call from televisions most inefficient police force to inform him that Normans charges against his mother arent true, Chick arrives at the Bates Motel. Looking as physically menacing as ever, even with the cane, he pretends to be the guy sent over to fix Normas stained glass. Its a creepy scene, and its hard to believe that Normas radar wouldnt go off around this guy. Shes often too trusting.

Elsewhere, Alex knows that Rebecca (Jaime Ray Newman) was behind the destruction of his new home, and that she was looking for the key he stole from Bob Paris. He warns her to stay away, while also subtly alerting her that the D.A. called looking for information about her.

Meanwhile, Norman runs into a deeply sedated Julian (Marshall Allman). Is this Normans immediate future? He goes outside to see his mother coming down the path. He runs and hugs her  a very different response from her last visit. They both look reinvigorated. Even before a patient gave him a confused look, I wondered if she was really there. They have a chat about their relationship and Normans father; it all feels a bit repetitive. Why isnt this a more consequential scene? Norma does encourage him to get out, for what thats worth. If he can show the doctors hes okay, hell be allowed to go home. Norman wants that more than anything.

Chick, dressed like a character from a Nick Cave song, shows up at the motel again. He drew something perfect for the window, and Norma loves it. He mentions that he knew Dylan and Caleb, and Norma reveals that Caleb was her brother. Chick realizes that Caleb is both Dylans father and uncle. Looks like Norma and Chick may have a common enemy.

When Norman mentions seeing his mother to Dr. Edwards, he drops the bomb: Is it possible your mother wasnt here yesterday? (Would a therapist actually do this? Consider the mental upheaval it could possibly cause!) He knows that Norman called his mother because the calls are monitored  as are guest arrivals, and Norma wasnt there yesterday. Highmore is great here, selling the collapse: I actually felt her. She held me. Her laugh, her voice. And then his wall crumbles. As Norman turns into Norma, he aggressively flirts with Dr. Edwards. (The behavior is exaggerated, to be sure, but the switch needs to be clear to viewers and the good doctor alike.) He asks her what she thinks of Norman. Im his mother, she says. Its a great scene for Highmore, despite some issues with the writing.

After a transitional scene in which Rebecca reveals she still has feelings for Alex, Dylan and Emma share a few moments of domestic bliss. He doesnt officially have the job yet, but feels good about it. Theyre happy. She shows him her giant scar, then he shows off his, Lethal Weaponstyle. They are so in love. Its cute. Of course, that means it will soon end.

Alex comes home to find Norma playing the piano in a bit of doomed domesticity. When she mentions Chick and how the break-in may have been a blessing in disguise, Alex says its handled. She asks if he killed Bob Paris. He doesnt say no. Uh oh, now someone else knows. He says, I had no choice. Again, we have the arc of the two protectors  Dylan and Alex  doing whatever it takes to shield those they love.

Can Alex protect Norma from her own dark desires? Chick comes to the house again and tells her the truth about his injuries  how Caleb beat him, then stole his money and family. He wants to know where Caleb is and thinks that Norma may want him dead, too. Farmiga plays overwhelmed very well here, as Normas desires for vengeance and domesticity struggle in her own heart. Which one will win?

Other Notes:
Photo: Kerry Hayes/Starz

Writer and sex educator Lux Alptraum will be walking through each episode of Starzs The Girlfriend Experience for Vulture, gauging how closely it approximates what its like to be a sex worker, in a series of essays and interviews. Here, she breaks down episode two, A Friend (check out her piece on episode one). Follow along, and read our Girlfriend Experience recaps here.

One of the challenges of evaluating The Girlfriend Experience for accuracy is that there is no one universal sex-work experience. Sex workers get into the industry in a variety of ways, and what they go through on a day-to-day basis can vary wildly from person to person. But I figured if anyone was qualified to weigh in on the shows relationship to reality, it would be a woman whose real life was so close to the shows premise, she felt compelled to make sure none of her former clients happened to be members of its production team.

What makes a bright law student with a competitive internship turn to sex work? For Christine, its still not entirely clear. But for Becka, a 28-year-old lawyer who worked as a girlfriend-experience provider during law school, the answer was pretty simple: money. Doing sex work was my only means of supporting myself while going through school, she told me over the phone. Because law school involves a heavy course load, tons of homework, and a time-consuming (and often unpaid) internship, theres not a lot of time to pursue another job as well. For Becka, the flexible hours and high income associated with escorting allowed her to keep a roof over her head while earning her JD.

The second episode of The Girlfriend Experience draws us further into the world of sex work, showing what happens after Christine accepts that fateful envelope full of cash. She learns the tricks of the trade from Avery; gets connected to Jacqueline, a stylishly appointed woman who promises to connect her with clients in exchange for a 30 percent commission (which, according to Becka, is a relatively accurate rate for a booker); and books her first three clients.

Like Christine, Becka was drawn into sex work through friends who were already in the business. Unlike Christine, full-service sex work wasnt her first foray into the industry. Prior to escorting, shed worked as a stripper for a number of years. When she decided to make the switch, she was fortunate to have a mentor who guided her through the details of sex work and taught her everything she needed to know about avoiding danger (from both clients and the police). In contrast, the way in which [Avery] kind of tricked [Christine] or pushed her into doing sex work [was] quite alarming to Becka. I didnt see [Avery] as a very good friend.

Another difference between Becka and Christine? Becka made every effort to remain as discreet as possible about her work. Being a sex worker, in general, can open you up to a lot of ridicule, and a lot of shaming, by your peers in any school setting, but especially so in law school. When Becka was juggling law school, internships, and sex work, there were often times when she had to respond to clients or update her website while on campus; when she found herself in that situation, she made every effort to ensure no one would see what she was doing.

Christine, on the other hand, flaunts her foray into the sex trade: We find her sitting in the student center, paging through Averys escort site in full view of anyone who might walk by; she peruses nude photos of herself in the same brazen fashion. Later, Avery alludes to the woman who secures her clients for her, asking if Christine is interested in an introduction. If theres one thing that rings true about this exchange, its Averys assessment of what sex work entails. All I really have to do is listen and ask questions, she notes. (And fuck, Christine replies, which Avery admits is part of the gig as well.)

Theoretically, the following scene  which has Christine joining Avery, Garrett, and Martin for another night of drinking  should be set up to show this brand of work in action, and it does, sort of, but as in episode one its all very weird. Though Christine is, certainly, engaging Martin in conversation, her manner remains cold, disaffected, and aloof; not the warm, thrilled vibe a man like Martin would be paying for. (Becka describes Avery and Christine in this scene as weird modernist Barbies transplanted into these really intimate scenarios.)

Post-drinks, Martin and Christine cab it to a hotel, where she shares a drink with Martin and, yes, finally goes full-on sex worker with some breathy, fully clothed sex. Once Christines officially popped her sex-work cherry, its off to meet Jacqueline. Though the shows copy repeatedly refers to Jacqueline as a booker, her role is really more that of a madam. As Becka explained to me, a booker tends to work for a sex worker, managing her website and screening clients, but not exerting much influence over the course of her career. In contrast, Christine and Avery are working for Jacqueline, who wields total control over their marketing, client selection, and even the location where they handle their sessions  something the show seems to downplay (at least for now) with Jacquelines cool insistence that its a non-binding agreement Christine can walk away from at any time.

One of the shows ongoing mysteries is why Christine is so compelled to pursue sex work. A later scene with Jacqueline seems to offer a shred of insight. Christine and Jacqueline take a tour of a beautiful two-bedroom apartment, one that Christine sadly notes is far beyond her budget. What if I cover the deposit? Jacqueline asks, remarking that if Christine continues to see clients, the financials will all work out.

But is a fancy, roommate-free apartment really worth the risk that comes with sex work? Unlike Becka, Christine seems capable of getting through law school without working a side job  and, grateful as she was for the income, Becka was always aware that working as an escort put her in a precarious position. When you enter law school everybody takes this oath to uphold the law and be model citizens, she told me. Law students are required by the bar association, in addition to the school policies, to not engage in criminal activity. Being revealed as an escort could get a law student expelled from school, or prevent her from passing the bar exam (and thus prevent her from practicing law). And Christine is still pursuing a law career: Right after the scene in the new apartment, were taken back to Kirkland & Allen. Why is she taking such a major risk?

Save for one brief date Christine takes with a kindly old widower, the rest of the episode is largely concerned with the Avery-Christine dynamic, which feels truly like a squandered opportunity. The Girlfriend Experience team is doubling down on the idea of sex workers as cold, aloof, and distant  and seeing them extend that to friendships as well feels like a misfire. Sex work can be isolating, and sometimes terrifying, work; without genuine, supportive friendships, it can be hard to survive in the industry. The show had a chance to explore the schism between a sex workers work life and home life; instead, its offered up a scenario in which women who sell sex are universally detached and unfeeling.

In the episodes closing moments, Avery joins Christine in bed. Shes worried, she tells Christine, because Jacqueline wont call her back; somehow this results in Christine and Avery having sex  sex that doesnt feel intimate or loving, but unfeeling and detached. For a show thats ostensibly about women who enjoy sex  so much that theyre willing to do it with strangers in exchange for money  theres a lot of effort made to make that sex seem as menacing and unsexy as possible.

But we can get more into that in a future episode. For now, one final insight from Becka: Law schools are competitive spaces  its a super-competitive profession regardless of whether youre going into corporate law or the nonprofit world. The structure is set up to make it so that law students dont support one another and, in some cases, exploit the perceived weaknesses of their peers. Being a sex worker in law school  can make it really dangerous for a student. If that info goes in the hands of the wrong person, that can really change your future. Whether or not The Girlfriend Experience will tap into that genuine sense of danger remains to be seen.
The producers of Girls pull off no small number of subtle feats while making their show  including convincing Allison Williams to walk barefoot through Chinatown in the remarkable recent episode Panic in Central Park  and that made them ideal guests for the first episode of The City of Scenes, a new limited-run podcast jointly produced by Vulture and Bloomberg that discusses TV and film made in New York City.

Vultures Jada Yuan and Bloombergs Katherine Oliver  a former film commissioner for NYC  talked with Girls executive producers Jenni Konner and Ilene Landress about the logistical challenges of shooting in the city, their favorite location cheats (i.e., parts of upstate New York and Staten Island that theyre pretending are Iowa), and much more. Listen to the episode above or read the transcript below, and check back Friday for the second episode featuring Jessica Jones creator Melissa Rosenberg.

Katherine Oliver: We have a couple of producers with us today who have made New York City a main character in their show. Were lucky to have Jenni Konner and Ilene Landress of HBOs Girls with us today. Jenni honed her skills working alongside Judd Apatow on his series Undeclared, essential watching if you havent seen it. And Ilenes New York shooting experience dates back to The Sopranos. Great to have you both on the show with us.



Jada Yuan: Welcome.

Ilene Landress: Thank you.

Jenni Konner: Thank you. Let me clarify for you that Ilenes New York shooting dates way before The Sopranos. We always say, and I mean this in the best way possible, that she is wildly overqualified to work on Girls.



Ilene Landress: Youre too kind. Im happy its in that light and not just aging me back to the days of, dare I say, The Equalizer.



JK: I wasnt doing that. I was just saying, The Sopranos is probably your best credit.

KO: A producer of long standing in New York.



JY: So I wanted to start off, Jenni and Ilene, with your recent episode, which I loved, centered around Allison Williamss character Marnie called The Panic in Central Park because I think its such a perfect encapsulation of a New York City adventure. Just for listeners, Lena Dunham wrote it and its basically a short film about Marnie running into her ex-boyfriend Charlie, whos played by Christopher Abbott. And what I love about this episode is that they start off in Bushwick, they go to the Plaza Hotel, they steal a rowboat in Central Park, and then it ends up with Marnie walking barefoot through Chinatown. And just as a fan, I want to know, how much of that was shot where we are supposed to believe it was shot? Is that really Chinatown? And what was the conversation you had with Allison Williams like?

JK: Well, first Im going to jump in and say it was brilliantly directed by Richard Shepard, who is one of our main directors here and has great film references all the way through, so between Richards film references and Lenas Panic in Needle Park, we came out with a great episode. For us, its also the most fun to do these ones that are like little movies. One of the great things about working with HBO is that they let us do these weird, wacky episodes where we can just have one character, and its kind of great.

JY: And Richard did the one called One Mans Trash with Patrick Wilson, which is also another classic episode.

JK: And I also live with him.

KO: How convenient.

JK: But yeah, Ilene, this is what she does thats incredible. We write whatever we want to write, and she finds a way to do it. We were not in fact in Central Park, but it sure does look like it, doesnt it?

IL: So heres one of the things about the park. Its funny because this is one of our favorite episodes, and it seems so nicely and neatly contained, but if we deconstruct it  I always hate to take away the magic of just watching it on television  but if we deconstruct it, it took place in a lot of places. That lake and that park is in Staten Island. Where the boat goes over is in Staten Island, but where Marnie goes underwater is actually in the swimming pool at London Terrace, which is on 23rd Street between Ninth and Tenth avenues. When they walk out of the Plaza Hotel, yes, theyre really inside the Plaza Hotel, theyre really outside the Plaza Hotel, they really walk down the street there, but when you see them head off towards the park, we pick them up actually in the park in Staten Island. But the interesting part about the park in Staten Island is that it was actually designed by the same designer as Central Park, so when we found out we couldnt shoot in Central Park, you start looking for parks that have boats, because we needed boats, and parks that would let us shoot. And then we couldnt go in the water in either place, and we really needed to get the actors in the water, so through the magic of the movies, we dumped them out of that rowboat onto basically a deck, a little flotation kind of deck, and had the stunt guys there catching them so that they dont go into the water. And then you go to a swimming pool and you black out the pool and get an underwater camera, and theres your magic.

KO: Unbelievable.

JK: If you knew the number of meetings we had about this, because, first of all, we dont do that many stunts. We certainly dont do underwater stunts. We couldnt do it where it was supposed to be, so we had to fake it in all of these places. But my favorite moment is when I was called down to the set for a rehearsal and Ilene had had the boat from the park that they fall out of shipped over to us at Silvercup Studios in Long Island City for rehearsal, so the actual boat that we flipped is sitting in the middle of our sound stage, so the actors could practice and feel what it felt like. Its pretty crazy. But the one thing to make it easier on ourselves was to go to one of the park lakes that actually has boats. Thats about as close to reality of what there was. But whats interesting about Clove Lake is that it has stone bridges like Central Park does, so it was a pretty good match. And it was dark outside.

IL: Staten Island also did very well as Iowa.

JK: Iowa. We were on the ferry.

IL: Weve actually played Staten Island for Staten Island in one or two episodes, and then the rest of the time Staten Island has been a lot of other places.



KO: Thats the versatility of New York City, but its also to the creativity of people like you on these shows to imagine how you can reinvent these locations to double as other places.

JK: Well, thats what Ilene does. We dream it, and she makes it happen. I went to Tokyo for vacation and fell in love and I thought, Oh my God, everyone here is a Shoshanna. We have to send Shoshanna to Tokyo. And when I asked Ilene, I was so sure she would be like, Were going to shoot Tokyo in Harrison, New York.

KO: But I remember having the conversation with Ilene and I said, You could do Tokyo on Staten Island. Theres a Japanese rock garden on Staten Island.

IL: We did have that conversation.

JY: I dont think one Japanese rock garden on Staten Island suffices for all of Tokyo, does it? Or is it possible?



JK: We got to go to Tokyo, and it was very special for all us.



IL: Tokyo was great. And I breathed a sigh of relief when Jenni came back form Tokyo, because for four years, they kept talking about Shanghai, and Shanghai was one of the few places I probably could not pull off on Girls that easily. So when they finally said Tokyo, I was like, Okay, this is probably something I can work with.

KO: But you did shoot in Chinatown and you had Marnie walking barefoot. Was she really barefoot, and how difficult was it to subject Allison?

JK: She had very light ped things on her feet. We have these things that our wardrobe department uses that are brilliant that you cant see that weve used before. Its still closer to the ground than you want to get in New York City.

IL: Its kind of like a moleskin patch.

JK: Its not my dream, and its not as thick as those sneakers that look like feet. You know, those ones that have toes in them? Its not like that. But there was some level of protection between the ground and her feet.



JY: I liked how authentically black the bottom of her feet were when she arrived and had the conversation with Desi.

JK: That was authentic.

JY: I think weve all experienced that.

JK: But weve shot a lot of that apartment, of that exterior. Its always great. We go usually super early, and its kind of great.

KO: The apartments that you use, are they real apartments, or are they sets, or a combination?

JK: Its a combination.

IL: Yes, its a combination. To this point, because were in the sixth season, our main characters live in sets, although we go to the specific exteriors all the time. And I say sets except that we do go through the front door, we do go up real staircases. Weve used Marnies real staircase. Weve used Hannahs real staircase. Weve used Shoshannas real staircase. But then once you get inside, were generally on a set.



KO: And you need the consistency.

JK: But when we shot the Patrick Wilson episode, for example, we shot at a beautiful brownstone in Fort Greene, and we shot the whole thing there.

KO: Now, youve had Jessa and Adam on a non-date in Coney Island and Elijah, finally, on a date with a real love interest played by Corey Stoll in Times Square. What were those shots like, and how challenging? I mean, Coney Island and Times Square, a lot of people.

IL: You know, those are actually sort of easy ones, I hate to say. Coney Island, the day we were there it was kind of closed down, so the hard part was we just had to open the park that we were going to use, so we were a bit limited. And pretty much all of the people you see are our extras.

JY: That was a question I had.

JK: Times Square, weve shot in Times Square a few times and theres this weird mentality there, because its Times Square, that everyone just moves out of your way if youre shooting. Its like theyre expecting you to be shooting at all times. People literally just formed a circle and kind of watched. We also shot Hannah and her father this season walking down the street in Times Square. Its actually been so simple. There are places that we go that are much more difficult because of different kinds of street traffic and a different kind of awareness of Girls, but Times Square has been actually, I think  I mean, Ilene, tell me if Im just totally misguided, but its been fairly simple when weve shot there.

IL: No, youre totally right on point.



JK: Were also always roaming free when were there, so its great. [Note: We couldnt actually figure out what Jenni said here.]

IL: One of the things that we do in Times Square that helps us help ourselves is that we dont go in with a lot of equipment. The ElijahCorey Stoll shoot was just with a steadicam and kind of a minimal crew. Same thing with Hannah and her father walking down the street. We dont go in there and park a lot of trucks. We go in there with really minimal stuff and a minimal crew and we go for it and make it as naturalistic as possible, which is very different from moving the whole circus in there and doing  Katherine talked about Spider-Man. Well, were not doing that.



JY: So youre saying that circle that gets formed when theyre kissing, was it just natural or did you actually have to tell people to do that?

IL: Well, we had extras.

JK: We had extras, but people were happy to fall into that circle.

IL: Yeah, I mean, when youre talking Times Square where were standing, its a lot of tourists, too, so if they see something happening first of all, being in Times Square with a camera, everyone is in Times Square with a camera. I think also because ABC, Good Morning America shoots so many remotes out there and stuff, people are just used to seeing cameras. And then they see two actors, and, you know, we kind of get the shot before anybody really realizes what were doing.

JK: Absolutely. Were in, were out. And also, yeah, theyre just used to spectacle. In Times Square, theres always someone literally in a bikini with painted body.



KO: Or less.

JK: Yeah, people are like, who cares about you? You guys are wearing clothes.

IL: Basically, were just trying to keep the carts and characters out of the shot. Its not that big of a deal. There are way worse places weve been.



JY: How protected do you have to be in that kind of situation to prevent people from spoiling whats going to happen, from Instagramming or Snapchatting whats going on?

IL: On that, because we didnt identify ourselves  I mean, obviously to the city we identify ourselves in terms of permits, but in terms of the people that were there, like Jenni just said, we get in, we get out. Were gone before anybody really knows what we just did. Unless they really recognize Andrew Rannells, and they might, but they might think, Oh yeah, its Andrew Rannells, but hes a Broadway star.

JK: Right, like it wasnt one of our main regulars. It wasnt one of the girls. And the other thing is that we exist in, especially in Times Squares, this alternate universe where truly no one else knows whats going on. First of all, we dont run a spoiler-y show. Like, Ilene did The Sopranos for all of these years, and they had to really be careful because they were killing people off. Our show is not that full of surprises. There are emotional surprises, but its not that full of who killed who? So the only one we were trying to be really protective of was the Chris Abbott one because that felt really special to us.



KO: We were just going to ask about that.

JK: But Chris looked so different. It was unrecognizable. Like, I think someone posted something, but he just didnt even look like him, and I think we said, Oh, hes visiting sets. But when he was in a scene with five guys or with Marnie or whatever, no one batted an eyelash, especially where we were shooting because that was a pretty industrial neighborhood, so really no one could have cared.

IL: Yeah, and a couple of times with him walking back and forth when we were in the East Village and stuff by the Italian restaurant, he had a sweatshirt on or he put a baseball hat on, so he didnt stand by the monitors or the chairs or anything. We kind of kept it a little bit under wraps.

JK: And he looks like the most handsome guy of everyone in the East Village. Like, he just looks like a super-handsome version. Like, Adam you cant hide because hes enormous, so the minute Adam is walking down the street, its a thing. We dont reveal a lot on the street, so its fine, but Adam is much more a force that we have.



IL: Yeah, theres a lot of guys who kind of look like a version of Chris Abbott. Adam, not so much.



KO: Probably now more so after the popularity of the show, too, you know, sort of the copycat thing.

JK: And Chris is so amazing. I dont know if you saw Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.

JY: I thought he was great.

JK: Hes so great in it. Hes such a talented actor, he can kind of do anything, and I think theres a transformation in him. And it was also really nice for us to complete the circle of the work with him.

KO: Now, Jenny, you not only serve as a producer, but youre also a writer on the show, so has there ever been a location that you wanted to use so badly that you wrote a story line just to involve it?

JK: Yes, it was called Tokyo. I go big or go home. The two places I wanted to film, and one worked, was Tokyo. And then one that didnt work was Marlow & Sons. And those were two places that just I loved. For the most part, turns out, its not a show about me. For the most part, were basically just asking people we know what a location would be. Where would people be at this age if they were all meeting for a drink and they were all coming together? So we ask them.

JY: And its mostly Bushwick.

IL: The actors dont know anymore. My assistant, whos an associate producer on the show, is very good at this because hes a bit of a foodie and hes kind of the right age. If he doesnt know, its within one degree of separation.

JY: So you just have to keep hiring a youngun every year?

JK: And we do. Theres always people a million years younger than us. Theyre better than we are, so we let them do their jobs.

IL: The other thing, its kind of funny, is we get blamed for the gentrification, Girls-ification of certain places where weve never actually been, but people just assume weve been there, which is kind of funny sometimes.



JY: Didnt that happen with the actual Grumpys, which is not where you shot?

IL: We did shoot in the actual Grumpys.

JY: I think there are several actual Grumpys maybe, and I went to a different one really hoping that it was the right one.

JK: We shot in the city. We shot in the one near Broadway Stages.

IL: Yeah, theres one in the city on 20th Street, but the Broadway Stages one, they were great. That was a very good collaboration. But plot-wise, when we had Ray move on to his own place, we actually shoot in a place called Speedy Romeo, which has an amazing look. Its really more of a proper restaurant, but we turned it into a coffee place.



JK: They treat us like kings.

KO: Now, both of you have shot in a lot of different places around the world, and nothing beats the locations in New York City, but to make it possible you need to have a strong crew base. Can you talk a little bit about the New York crew base and how theyre different from others?

JK: Well, Im going to let Ilene address that, but first I want to just sing her praises on something. We have an amazing crew, and our crew gets along like no crew Ive ever seen in my life. And theyre so kind with each other and such family and no one even sleeps with each other. Like, thats how much theyre a family.

KO: Now youre giving too much away.

JK: And one of the reasons is because Ilene and our other producer, Regina Heyman  Gina, to me  I think that they crew up in a very particular way. I would argue, and I may get an argument against this from Ilene, but I find it to be a very female way of crewing up, which is very specific, which is very concerned with the best versions of everyone, but its the best versions of everyone and how they get along with the best versions of everyone else. So does this grip get along with this gaffer? These are the questions that I think women ask that men dont ask. In my experience, working with male producers, they are just like, Get me the best of this, get me the best of that, get me the top one of this. And we get the best, but we also get the best who all get along and respect each other and theres no tension on our set. And so Im not sure that answers our New York question. I will let Ilene answer that, but I do think that there is something inherently female in the way these two women crew up, and I think we are all huge beneficiaries of it.

IL: Thank you for the huge compliment.

JK: Do you agree? You can fight me if you want.

IL: I dont know. I dont ever really think of it as female or male, but I will give you my spin on it, which is putting together the right people for the right job. Its kind of like organizing the right cocktail party or the right dinner party, which I must say that theres nobody more brilliant at organizing a dinner party than Jenni Konner. I think youre a far better cook than I am.

JK: I think thats female instincts.

IL: It is about putting together the right dinner party or the right cocktail party and having people who will play nice together. You want people to disagree, but in a really constructive, productive way. Its not like you just want one opinion. You want varied opinions, but you also want people where theres some give-and-take.

JK: Yeah, but I would argue that that is a female

IL: A female thing? Okay, Ill go with you on it because I just dont know any other way. Theres no argument there. I have to give Gina a lot of credit for the crew, especially in this coming year, where Jenni hasnt even met a lot of them yet. Because its our last season and because New York is so busy, some of our regular crew are on other jobs and they are just not available to start with us. And I think Gina is doing a great job really spending the time to pull in people who will be good fits for this show. And I think Jenni did make a good point where people will just say, Get me the best of this, get me the best of that. I dont really know what the best of this or what the best of that is. I just know how to do it so its the best person for the particular job.

JK: Right, but Ive never heard a male producer say, Treat it like a dinner party. Thats all Im saying. Maybe you guys can all argue with me. I think its a big gender divide.

JY: I see what you guys are saying.

JK: Its one of the reasons that we try to use as many women as possible.

IL: What I would say to Katherines point about New York is its grown so much in, I could say, the last ten years. Its grown so much even in the last five years.

KO: There are almost 40 shows in production right now, so youre competing. Its awfully crowded out on the streets of the city, which is good.

IL: Its very crowded.

JK: You want to know how crowded it is? Two years ago I walked into the trailers of White Collar because they were half a block from ours.



JY: You just accidentally walked in?

JK: I walked into the producers trailer of White Collar, and I was like, Wait a minute, this isnt 

IL: Wait a minute, this is a nicer trailer?



JK: Exactly. Thats exactly right. Why is this trailer so nice?



KO: Its a great business for New York, and theres so much talent here, so its amazing that youre giving these people opportunities to practice their craft in so many creative ways.



JY: You were talking about going into your last year, and Im curious for both of you: What are your favorite places to shoot in and around New York? And also, what are your favorite cheats? Places that youve been able to pretend are other places in New York?

JK: The favorite places to pretend are other places?

JY: Yeah, in New York.

IL: Iowa is probably our best example.

JK: Iowa was pretty impressive, yeah. Harrison, New York, for Michigan is not bad.

IL: Yeah, Harrison has been a lot of things, and Harrison will continue to be a lot of things. Iowa is actually an interesting case study because all along we planned on going to Iowa. We had very high hopes of going to Iowa. One of our assistant location managers was actually from Iowa, and when he went home for the holidays, we sent him scouting. We had pictures. We were planning on going to Iowa. And then we got toward the end of the season when we were actually going to go to Iowa and I kind of looked at them, and everybody was tired and we were sort of stressed out because its a long schedule. And I looked at Jenni and Lena and I said, Do you really want to go to Iowa? And one of the reasons we werent going to Iowa at the beginning, even though those episodes were at the beginning, was because the corn needed to grow. We needed corn fields. Corn fields arent there in April. Corn fields are there in August.

KO: Yeah, I think there are corn fields, there are farms on Staten Island.

JK: Ilene had a second unit on all of the corn fields.

IL: I corn-field-ed my little heart out up in  I dont know where we were  in New Paltz or so.

KO: But then kudos to you again for going upstate to Westchester, to Long Island. You were on Norfolk last season. Its not all about shooting in the five boroughs, but its nice to spread some of the wealth and spread some of the cheer to some of the outside locations in New York.

IL: One of my favorite cheat places, and we used it extensively on Mildred Pierce and weve used it a couple of times on Girls, is Peekskill, New York. Peekskill is a great cheat town. Its a great little town. Its right by the Hudson there.

KO: Its nice to be able to support those communities and the businesses that are there when you go up there.

JY: And also are there corners and restaurants that you love to shoot in, that make you really happy to shoot in?

IL: I like going to Williamsburg.

JK: Williamsburg is great, and Greenpoint is great. We always have such a great time.

IL: Williamsburg is great because on a nice day when its been a day shoot in Williamsburg and then its still light outside, theres lots of fun little bars and restaurants to go have a snack in or have a drink in afterwards. Its nice to be very close to home. Six minutes on the L train and Im back in Manhattan.

JY: We need to wrap up for time, unfortunately, but I wanted to thank you for five seasons so far of really great television.

KO: And its just amazing, like I said, when I served as film commissioner, we pointed to Sex and the City and what that did for businesses, Cosmopolitans, Jimmy Choos, and the businesses of New York City, but Girls has really helped put Brooklyn on the map. And its incredible.

JK: Thats good to hear because I always feel like were undoing what Sex and the City did.

KO: Absolutely not. Girls around the world, and boys, want to visit Brooklyn and experience Brooklyn.

JY: I live in Williamsburg, so Im a little mad at you.

JK: Yes, I know. Every time I meet someone from Greenpoint, Im like, Im so sorry. And I lived in Williamsburg for three years while we were shooting.

KO: Well, thank you for listening to this episode of The City of Scenes. Next time well be talking to Melissa Rosenberg, the executive producer and creator of Netflixs Jessica Jones. Be sure to catch the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival running from April 13 to April 24.
Hyderabad: Two girls including a four month baby, who were being sold by their father, were rescued by officials in Mahbubnagar district on Monday. After a quarrel with his wife Narsamma, over financial disputes, Mallesh decided to sell both his daughters for Rs 20,000.

According to officials, Mallesh and Narsamma had married nearly seven years ago and had two daughters, Geetanjali, 6, and four-month-old Bhulaxmi. The family was residing at Lattupalli village in Bijinapally mandal. A few days ago, the couple had a severe quarrel over financial issues, due to which both stopped talking to each other. Mallesh who was very angry with his wife decided to sell off his daughters.

On Monday after Narsamma went to work, he took his daughters and went to Mahbubnagar, sat near the District Education Office on Railway Station Road and started offering to sell the children for Rs 20,000. Passersby who noticed this informed officials. After officials arrived at the spot, he offered to sell his daughters to them for Rs 20,000 and pleaded with them to take the girls and give money to help him overcome his burdens. The girls were shifted to Shishuvihar and Mallesh was handed over to the police.
Ella Giselle, Caitlyn Jenner, Zackary Drucker, Chandi Moore. Photo: Jeff Lipsky/E!

Winter Laike is a trans musician, storyteller, son, brother, and, less notably, Original Plumbing magazines Mr. Transman NYC 2013. Nicole Pasulka is a non-trans journalist who writes about sexuality and gender. Ahead, we discuss Sunday nights episode of I Am Cait, Guess Whos Coming to Dinner?

Nicole Pasulka: Jenny Boylans train whistle has fallen into Ella Giselles hands and the crew are off to New Orleans. This will be the final leg of their bus trip across the country.

Winter Laike: Caitlyn Jenner is excited that her sister Pam is going to meet them in New Orleans. We havent seen Pam since last season, but Cait says shes been very supportive.

N.P.: On the bus, Kate Bornstein says she loves trans men. Theyre so handsome. Most people think its genitals that make you a man or a woman, she continues, but of course gender goes way beyond what someone has down there.

W.L.: Uh-oh. Is this episode going to be a game of Whats in Your Pants? Asking a trans person  or any person  about their genitals is high up on the list of things not to do. Theyre called private parts for a reason. Thats the position Candis Cayne takes, anyway. Theres a time and place for talking about genitals, and thats probably only if people plan on getting busy.

N.P.: Kate says that when she transitioned in the 80s, it was just assumed that you would have surgery. Its cool that this conversation is happening on TV, with no implied right or wrong answer. Unlike Katie Couric prying about Laverne Coxs and Carmen Carreras bodies, its a group of women sharing their very individual perspectives.

W.L.: For Jenny Boylan, surgery was a given. What I wanted was, in fact, the body, she says. That was a home that I had never been to, that I was always homesick for. The bottom line is that a person should do what feels right. There is no one way to transition, and surgery does not make a person any more or less transgender.

N.P.: Since weve got to end this season with some drama, Caits ex-wife Kris Kardashian is coming along for this trip. Kris and Cait have barely been in contact all year, so Chandi Moore is surprised she will be joining them. Shes still learning about you, Chandi tells Cait. Hows she going to react when thrown into this group?

W.L.: Kris had asked Cait if she was hooking up with Candis, so Cait jokes with Candis about making sure that theyre seen going back to a hotel room together. Chandi tells Cait she has been picking up shade so well. Shes certainly been around these women long enough to learn a thing or two about shade.

N.P.: At Ellas urging, the ladies stop into a bridal shop. Kate pronounces Candis and Cait as trans bride and trans bride.

W.L.: Everyone looks great in their dresses, but this is so awkward. Each episode features some sort of weird flirty thing between Cait and Candis. Just go out already!

After playing dress-up in wedding gowns, the group goes shopping in the French Quarter. A crowd gathers around Caitlyn; theyve been cooped up on the bus so long theyve forgotten Caitlyn is a celebrity. After they make it through the mass of people, Cait spots Sister Pam. Caitlyn always says Sister Pam instead of just Pam. I imagine her walking in wearing a nuns habit. Sister Pam: Back in the Habit.

N.P.: Candis, Cait, and Sister Pam chat about healthy, long-term relationships over beignets. Whats it gonna be like when Kris gets here?

W.L.: In Caits hotel room Jenny insists on firing up the confessional camera. How are you feeling about your ex-wife meeting your new lover, Candis Cayne? she teases Cait. Of course, Cait denies that she and Candis have a thing, insisting that they are just friends. Cait says shes actually looking forward to seeing Kris, and thinks she was very honest with her in the past.

Jenny tries to offer some perspective. If I was your ex-wife, and I loved you, it would hurt my feelings. Jenny asks Cait what she thinks she needs to do to improve their relationship, but Cait doesnt have an answer. Were basically waiting for mayhem. When Kris arrives, she says shes in New Orleans because Cait has been a little M.I.A. Shes been hearing about all these shenanigans and wants to know whats happening.

N.P.: Kris is scary  and personally, I like it. Caits nervous and she should be. Shes been pretending like everythings okay, but clearly it is not. This isnt simply a situation where Caits family has rejected her. Shes been inconsiderate and done hurtful things. Its not about gender, its about life. Kris teases Cait about her party lifestyle because she used to be in bed by 9 p.m. every night. Shes recalling their old life together and its hard to watch.

W.L.: After Cait and Kris make some jokes about their boobs, they meet the rest of the girls for drinks. Kris gets right to the point, asking, What is the most annoying thing about Caitlyn? Cait goes ahead and answers the question for the group: Its her politics. They talk about how awful Caitlyns politician personality is, and everyone is loving it. Well, everyone except Caitlyn.

N.P.: On the ride to the restaurant, Kris keeps misgendering Cait and even makes a joke about killing her after dinner. Uh, what?

W.L.: Oof. Caits pain is clear on her face. Also, Kris always refers to Caitlyn as Jenner. Has she ever called Caitlyn by her first name? At dinner, Jenny asks Kris whether she sees Cait as she is now, or if she thinks of her as the person she was. Kris jokingly compliments Caits eyebrows, then says that she sees Cait as she is now. Kris has a question of her own  and its the dreaded question about genitals. A lot of eyes roll. Chandi lets Kris know that not all trans people decide to have surgery and thats something she needs to understand in order to be an ally. Kris gets it.

N.P.: Jenny has a question for Kris: After being married to Cait for 23 years, does she now question [herself] and who you were? Kris will not admit to that. She and Cait do not agree on whether Cait told Kris that she was trans back in the day. Its likely that Cait wasnt clear and Kris wasnt ready to hear it.

W.L.: After dinner, the group goes out to enjoy some music and dancing. Jenny Boylan is feeling herself on the dance floor, according to Chandi. And, oh, is she feeling herself! Academic by day, go-go dancer by night?

N.P.: Kris and Candis share a sweet moment by the bar. I never would have imagined that she could experience this kind of friendship and happiness, Kris says about Caitlyns new life.

W.L.: The group hangs out on a balcony and tosses beads to the crowd below. Kris brings up the conversation Cait had with Kim about dating men or women. Cait says that she would date a man, but not before having bottom surgery. This seems silly to Kris, who responds by letting Caitlyn know that she can go on a date with a man without sleeping with him.

Its hard to figure out Kriss intentions, but it does seem like shes encouraging Caitlyn to do whatever feels right. This may be the most supportive thing Kris has said to Cait all evening; Kris tells Cait that life is very short and she better figure it out fast. Kris is the anti-Ferris Bueller.

N.P.: Outside, someone is chanting, Bruce go straight! but the girls just laugh it off. Too late for that nonsense. In the van on the way back from the bar, the ladies have formed a mutual admiration society. I cant wait to see you guys again, Kris says. Not you, Jenner, just your friends. Cait plants a big one on Kris. You can almost see their chemistry.

W.L.: Cait ends the episode reflecting on the crazy night and her conversation with Kris. The last thing she needs to do? Have a one-on-one conversation with Kris before she leaves.
Its more complicated than you think. Photo: Getty Images

On last weeks American Idol finale, Jennifer Lopez debuted her new song Aint Your Mama  an anthem feminist in nature but decidedly the opposite in practice, thanks to a dirty little secret: Dr. Luke produced it. Luke is, of course, at the center of Keshas ongoing personal and professional nightmare, and has been largely ostracized in the music industry following Keshas allegations against him. So when the news leaked that Luke was behind Lopezs latest single (which is otherwise pretty great), many understandably demanded she be held accountable for working with an alleged abuser.

But as is the case with many a Big Pop song, its backstory isnt as cut and dry as the idea that J. Lo willingly sought out Dr. Luke to produce her new song, despite the allegations. Meghan Trainor, the songs co-writer, now tells Digital Spy that Lopez apparently was unaware Luke was involved when she first picked the song. I texted her the song and she had no idea  she thought I did it alone by myself at my house, which a lot of people think because I do do that, she swears. Heres the rest of her story: I sent it to her and said, Do you like the song? and she said, I love the song, my kid loves the song  hes made me play it five times already so I know its a hit  when can I cut it?, so I said immediately, Whenever you want!

Trainors explanation implies that J. Lo had no knowledge that Dr. Luke worked on the song before it landed in her texts, but its unclear whether or not she ever found out. (Though its unlikely Lopez wouldnt know Luke, who is credited as both a co-producer and a co-writer on the song, made it.) Still, Trainor insists that Lopez shouldnt be blamed for working with Luke: [It was] not fair on her, not at all  I felt terrible when Jennifer got all the hate for [Aint Your Mama], and its just all ridiculous. Its such a big song for her.

So who, then, is at fault for this egregious oversight? Trainor seemingly wrote and recorded the original version with Luke, but its important to remember that rare is the artist who doesnt answer to their label overlords. You guessed it: Lopez and Trainor are both under the same Sony umbrella as Lukes Kemosabe Records (which is experiencing major layoffs), through Epic Records. In fact, Trainor made sure to name-drop Epics head honcho in her interview: L.A. Reid wants me to work with her on this new record because weve had so much success.

So if youre hungry for a scapegoat, look beyond the two women bearing the brunt of the blame for a change, and pay attention to the suits cutting all the checks.
Spielberg. Photo: Ian Gavan/2013 Getty Images

Steven Spielberg has signed on for another historical drama, as Deadline reports the helmer will hop behind the camera for The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara. Hell direct from a Tony Kushner script, adapted from Pulitzer Prizewinner David Kertzers 1997 book of the same name. The story involves the real 1858 kidnapping of a 6-year-old Italian boy who was secretly baptized and, in accordance with papal law of the time, taken from his Jewish family to a monastery for full Catholic conversion. This Spielberg pic will put Bridge of Spies Mark Rylance on the other end of seizure as Pope Pius IX, the ruler of the Papal States whose refusal to return Mortara sparked international controversy and ultimately underscored problems with the pontiffs secular power. Drama.
The majority judgment is based on series of error apparent on the face of record, and is in ignorance of statutory provisions.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday recalled its July 2013 judgement declaring as unconstitutional the single National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) introduced by the Medical Council of India and Dental Council of India for admission to graduate and post graduate medical and dental courses.

The implication of this order is it is open to it to conduct NEET for admission of students in over 600 medical colleges across the country for this year. This will impact students in Tamil Nadu as well though entrance test is banned in the State through a legislation.

A bench of Chief Justice Altamas Kabir (since retired) and Justices Anil R. Dave and Vikramajit Sen by a majority of 2:1 had on July 18, 2013 had quashed the NEET. Justice Dave in a separate judgement he-ld that the test was valid and the Medical Council of India, the Centre and several others sought review of this judgement.

In a brief order the five-judge Constitution Bench comprising Justices Anil R. Dave, A.K. Sikri, R.K. Agrawal, A.K. Goel and R. Banumathi said We are of the view that the judgement delivered in Christian Medical College v MCI needs reconsideration. We do not propose to state reasons in detail at this stage so as to see that it may not prejudicially affect the hearing of the matters. Suffice it is to mention that the majority view has not taken into consideration some binding precedents and more particularly, we find that there was no discussion among the members of the bench before pronouncement of the judgment. We, therefore, allow these review petitions and recall the judgement dated 18th July, 2013 and direct that the matters be heard afresh.

In its review petition the MCI said If the July 18, 2013 judgement is not recalled, it will seriously prejudice the progress of the process of holding common entrance test which has been evolved over the period of more than five years of deliberations, judicial orders.

The majority judgment is based on series of error apparent on the face of record, and is in ignorance of statutory provisions. In its petition the Centre said ensuring uniform standards for medical education was of paramount interest to the patient.
Baylor University President Ken Starr will participate in a panel discussion about the potential implications of the recent Supreme Court vacancy at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday in Room 127 at the Baylor Law School, 1114 S. University Parks Drive.

Other panel members will be professors Rory Ryan, Brian Serr and David Guinn.

For more information, call 366-9817.

Earth Day story times

The Waco-McLennan County Librarys weekly preschool story-time program, for ages 3 to 6, will feature an Earth Day Celebration theme this week.

10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the West Waco Library, 5301 Bosque Blvd.

10:30 a.m. Thursday at the Central Library, 1717 Austin Ave.

10:30 a.m. Friday at the South Waco Library, 2737 S. 18th St.

The program will include stories, songs, crafts and snacks.

For more information, call 750-5942 or visit www.wacolibrary.org.

Kiwanis Seniors

The Waco Kiwanis Seniors will meet at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at Golden Corral, 618 N. Valley Mills Drive.

David Mosley, who writes the Heartbreak Texas stories for the Tribune-Heralds Waco Today magazine, will be the guest speaker.

Visitors and those interested in membership are welcome to attend.

For more information, call Dick Rood at 399-0072.

Man of La Mancha

The Baylor University School of Music will present a concert version of highlights from the musical Man of La Mancha at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday at the Waco Hippodrome, 724 Austin Ave.

Members of the Baylor Opera Theater and the Baylor Jazz Ensemble will perform.

The original 1965 Broadway production of Man of La Mancha won five Tony Awards, including best musical.

To purchase tickets, call 227-6723.

Caregiving Conference

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will have its fourth annual Caregiving Conference from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 22 at Austin Avenue United Methodist Church, 1300 Austin Ave.

Topics will include dementia, caregiving, legal matters, managing chronic illnesses, mature drivers, scams and frauds.

Cost is $5. A light breakfast and lunch will be served.

Reservations are required by Monday. To reserve a spot, call 757-5180.

Garage sale

The South Waco Community Center, 2815 Speight Ave., will host a community garage sale from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

For $5, sellers can rent two tables from which to display their items.

For more information, call 750-8650.

Lorena AARP meeting

Lorena AARP Chapter 5198 will meet at 11 a.m. Thursday at Ace Buffet and Grill, 301 S. Valley Mills Drive.

For more information, call Jean Woodard at 857-4724.

Submit items for Briefly in printed or typed form to Briefly, P.O. Box 2588, Waco 76702-2588; fax to 757-0302; or email to goingson@wacotrib.com at least one week before an event.
A stretch of Bosque Boulevard near the Extraco Events Center is experiencing a renaissance, with a vacant bowling alley becoming a church and a nearby shopping enclave getting a new look and new tenants, including a Neapolitan-style pizza parlor and a retailer offering supplies for crafting beer and wine.

The improvements are taking shape in the 4600 and 4700 blocks of the thoroughfare, where decades-old Lake Air Lanes has given way to Grace Church, a nondenominational congregation that had been meeting in the auditorium of a local high school and having to haul church-related equipment to Sunday services in a 24-foot-long trailer.

We had our first worship service in the new building this past Sunday, said Jay Mathis, who described himself as the pastor for preaching at Grace Church.

The church typically attracts 450 people to morning worship but may see that number grow because of the overhaul of the bowling center and the 22,000 square feet now available.

Mathis said the 4-year-old church attracts worshippers from all over Central Texas, including McGregor and China Spring, and that about a third are college students.

We wanted to find a building in the heart of Waco, and we had looked downtown and along Franklin Avenue and Waco Drive, Mathis said. This place came on the market about 18 months ago, and it fit a lot of what we wanted in a location. The street carries a lot of traffic, but we also have residential areas nearby.

Bowlmor AMF was asking $875,000 for the building, but the church negotiated a better deal, real estate agent Jim Peevey said. He declined to name the final cost, as did Mathis. The pastor also remained tight-lipped about how much was spent to transform the structure into a house of worship.

Pearson Construction served as general contractor, stripping away all the wiring and heating and air-conditioning equipment down to the steel and brick. ARC Abatement chipped in to remove all asbestos and place a new roof atop the building, which was an expense we had not foreseen, Mathis said.

Since bowling alleys typically remain dark except for the lighting above the lanes, Lake Air Lanes had no windows. That would not do, Mathis said, so crews placed large windows along the front and side, creating a lot of natural lighting for the expansive lobby where visitors will gather.

Now we have a good, functional building with an auditorium, a wonderful nursery area and offices for the staff, Mathis said.

Mathis said he appreciates the crossing currents of land use along and near Bosque Boulevard. The area has come alive with growth and development, with a new headquarters for Texas First State Bank operating at Lake Air Drive and Bosque Boulevard, across the street from the stately home of Alliance Bank of Central Texas.

Nearby, behind OakCrest Funeral Home, the Magnolia Villas subdivision created by Chip and Joanna Gaines continues to fill.

Jerry Wells, an agent with Magnolia Realty, said 36 homes have sold, and Russ Davis Homes has bought four lots to build on.

Nearby, at 4700 Bosque Blvd., Marketplace Shopping Center has become The Market Square, where Moroso Wood Fired Pizzeria has replaced the departed Cafe Cappuccino as the anchor tenant. It will open in early May, owner Dan Moroso said Tuesday, adding, We are absolutely ecstatic at the response weve been getting from the Waco community.

He said residents who have heard about his plans stop by the center to wish him luck and inquire about an opening date.

Moroso said he wants to create a family atmosphere that will feature a large community table, at which diners from different groups can enjoy pizza or other Italian dishes such as pasta, salads, Italian sandwiches, mozzarella and desserts. A chandelier will hover above customers.

Nathan Embry, an agent with Keller Williams Realty, said three spots remain available for lease at The Market Square.

It has been completely remodeled, and were trying to re-create an iconic shopping experience, Embry said. There will be fountains out front, and people can walk around and window-shop, possibly while holding a slice of pizza in their hand. Were really excited about it.

Veteran tenants

Veteran tenants such as Kindlers Gem Jewelers, Hemingways Watering Hole, Wacos All About Travel, Stylus & Co. Hair Designs and ABC School of Massage remain at The Market Square. The remodeling created an additional 3,000 square feet available for use by restaurants or retailers.

Brewmeisters, which sells supplies for making beer and wine, has relocated from Lake Air Drive to about 400 square feet in The Market Square.

I chose this location because I noticed the work being put into it, and with Hemingways already there and the artisan pizza place going in, it just seemed like a natural fit, owner Jarett McMahon said. I am super impressed with all the work being done to the center and am happy to have grabbed a spot there.

He said beer making has become very popular in the northern United States, and it is gaining traction in Texas.

Meanwhile, Mathis, pastor of Grace Church, said the congregation bought the bowling alley knowing we would never add on to the building.

Instead, we hope to grow our numbers here, then in three to five years plant another Grace Church somewhere else, he said.

He said he wants the church to interact with the public in several ways, one being allowing the farmers market that once sold fresh fruits and vegetables on the parking lot of the Extraco Events Center to set up produce stands on the parking lot of the church several times a week.

The presence of the Waco High School campus nearby serves as a reminder that Waco has an unusually large number of students who are homeless, Mathis said. The church would welcome the opportunity to help meet their needs, and that might include church members serving as foster families, he said.

This church has a strong mission intent and the desire to extend the gospel to those around us, Mathis said. The question we seek to answer is, How do we redeem our city? 

And if members want to discuss strategy over a wood-fired pizza at Moroso, so much the better, Mathis said.
Gary Moore is retiring after 19 years as Wacos top public housing official, during which time he expanded the regional reach of the Waco Housing Authority.

But even more change awaits his successor, Milet Hopping, who foresees a day when public housing is no longer part of the agencys job.

Hopping, who has been with the agency 22 years and is senior vice president, will be promoted to interim president-CEO upon Moores retirement in May, and the housing authority board will consider making the position permanent later this year.

Moore, 70, said he has been preparing Hopping for the role for several years, and he said she has a combination of good leadership skills and empathy for struggling families.

What shes going to bring to the agency is a strong sense of being an advocate for the people, he said.

The Waco Housing Authority, created in 1938, is funded by and accountable to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Affairs, but its top official is selected by a local board appointed by Wacos mayor.

The authority oversees 902 public housing units in Waco and 52 in Mart and provides Section 8 federal housing vouchers to low-income families in Waco and other area communities. The authority also operates several market-rent apartments to help shore its finances.

Hopping said Moore has made Waco Housing Authority a stronger organization and made it more visible in the community.

He really made an effort to make it clear what we were and what we were doing, she said. He really professionalized the agency and made sure the staff was certified and cross-trained. Hes very respected around this agency and in our industry.

No public housing has been built in Waco in 42 years, and the number of Section 8 vouchers has been static in recent years.

Still, the housing authority has grown and moved to a larger building at 4400 Cobbs Drive. Thats partly because HUD has assigned the agency to take over low-income housing programs in other communities, such as Hill County, Somervell County and Mart.

Waco Mayor Malcolm Duncan Jr. said the authority has been given more responsibility through the years because it is known for fiscal discipline and good management.

Ive always held Gary in high regard, he said. When we drive people through our public housing, theyre amazed at the condition its in, given its age. The buildings look good, the grounds look good. It looks like model public housing development.

But public housing is not the long-term future of the Waco Housing Authority, given the direction of HUD, Moore and Hopping agreed.

Every indication is that theyre moving away from public housing, Hopping said. Most of these buildings were built a long time ago, and we still have to maintain them. We cant ignore the fact that HUD is very clearly letting us know they dont want us to keep doing that.

The Kate Ross public housing complex on South 11th Street was built in the 1940s and 1950s, Estella Maxey was built in the late 1950s and 1960s, and South Terrace was built in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

HUD standards

In recent years, HUD standards have prompted the authority to put tougher restrictions on residents, requiring them to work if possible and pay a greater portion of their income in rent. About 90 percent of residents have some income, and many have steady jobs, Moore said.

Were much more selective with who can be a resident in public housing, Moore said. Were no longer the housing of last resort.

Moore said downtown developers have approached him about buying the Kate Ross complex, which is across 11th Street from proposed hotels. He said the agency wouldnt ignore an offer, but the complex is not for sale, and any discussions about selling it would have to involve HUD and a rehousing plan for residents.

The public housing model has fallen out of favor since the 1980s, when the Section 8 program started, allowing low-income residents to get vouchers for private housing, with some apartment complexes authorized to qualify residents on-site.

The housing authority issues the Section 8 vouchers but does not oversee the Section 8 complexes, a distinction that Moore said the public doesnt always understand.

In several cases, the housing authority has had to find new housing for residents of failed Section 8 complexes such as Sherman Manor, Parkside Village and Lakewood Villas.

Overall, Moore said, the quality of affordable housing for low-to-moderate-income residents in Waco has improved in the past 19 years.

Were in a much better circumstance than when I came, Moore said. Its because of Wacos community  contractors, developers, city officials and partnerships with Neighborworks, Waco CDC and Habitat.

He said the city and developers have worked together to create quality rental housing through the federal tax-credit program. Those include the Lofts at Old Waco High, Costa Esmeralda and now Barrons Branch apartments.

Hopping said she expects the housing authority will branch into tax-credit housing in the future as it reinvents itself as an advocate for affordable housing, not just an agency to run government housing.

In the meantime, she said, public housing can be useful for families as a temporary landing place as they seek to improve their lives.

Im a big believer that housing stabilizes families, she said. Once theyre stabilized, they can become self-sufficient.

Several years before Moore arrived, Hopping was working with families in programs aimed at helping them save money and become independent.

Hopping said she and Moore developed a rapport during the years that played on their different backgrounds and personalities.

Hopping, who was born in Austin and lived in Latin America during much of her upbringing, got her professional start as a social worker.

Moore, a native of the steel town of Lorraine, Ohio, worked in real estate and served in the Air Force before going to work for housing authorities in Fort Worth, Houston and Greensboro, North Carolina.

Self-help, responsibility

He said his business background and his upbringing in a hardworking family in a black neighborhood caused him to value self-help and responsibility.

As I have grown and articulated my own philosophy about whats going to make people viable, Moore said, I became less empathetic and more encouraging to say, You can do it. I dont want to hear excuses.

Milet, with her social work background, is probably not as direct in that way. She can take the same situation, and people will go out smiling, where with me, people go out scratching their heads. . . . I think her approach will work as just as well, if not better.

Hopping said that in dealing with clients, she and Moore could play good-cop, bad-cop, but his sincerity was never in question.

I will tell you, inside that very black-and-white outlook is a very soft, squishy heart, she said.

Moore said he was not immediately sold on Waco when he interviewed here in 1997, comparing it in his mind to the urban vitality of Houston, where he and his wife were living. But his attitude changed as he got to meet more people in Waco and to see attractions such as Cameron Park and Lake Waco.

My thought was that this was a place I really liked, he said. I thought I would retire here.

Now, though, he will move with his wife to Union, Kentucky, close to where her family lives, but said he will miss Waco. Moore said he hopes to continue working, possibly by teaching classes in real estate.

Ive been working since I was 16, so thats my hobby, he said. I will be doing something.
A 24-year-old man wanted out of Houston eluded officers on a dangerous and lengthy manhunt across Interstate 35 and into drainage tunnels underneath the interstate Monday afternoon, McLennan County Precinct 1 Constable Walt Strickland said.

Jahnaran Goode was pulled over near the Exxon at 1020 S. Fifth St. shortly before 5 p.m., driving a Jeep SUV. When officers checked Goode for any outstanding warrants, officers learned Goode was wanted for a felony larceny warrant out of Houston and attempted to take him into custody.

When we told him to put his hands on the car, he acted like was going to, but then he bolted, Strickland said. He ran across the interstate four or five times, back and forth. Wed get him cornered on one side and hed run across the barriers, stopping traffic and everything.

During the foot chase across the interstate and along the access road, additional officers, including Waco police, Baylor police, Hewitt police, deputies with the McLennan County Sheriffs Office and K9 officers surrounded Goode before he jumped into a creek near the Clay Pot Restaurant.

He got into a drainage tunnel and we tracked him with dogs for well over an hour, Strickland said.  We got into a place where he crawled into a drainage tunnel that we couldnt fit in, so we dont know where he went from there.

Officers from several agencies remained on scene searching for the man before the search was called off. Officers returned to the vehicles location and collected information before seizing the vehicle, Strickland said.

This really was a great effort by everyone that was involved. I mean, we knew where he went, but we just couldnt get to him, Strickland said. We have a great description of him, we know where he lives and we have his car, so now he is not only wanted out of Houston, he is also wanted out of Waco.

Officers said they will continue to search for Goode and are confident they will find him. Anyone with information about Goodes location is asked to contact Waco Crime Stoppers at 753-HELP (4357).
Whos in charge?

Perhaps its time for McLennan County to go look in the mirror and remind itself that we are a self-governing nation and state; that governments are instituted among men to secure the blessings of life, liberty and property; that it governs at the consent of the people; and that the people have spoken with respect to the carrying of firearms in Texas.

In December, the Tribune-Herald reported that the McLennan County Commissioners Court decided to openly disregard new right-to-carry laws and the state attorney generals interpretation that only in courtrooms could firearms be prohibited. This was done while acknowledging the court would risk a lawsuit. Implicit in this decision was the belief that they could have it contrary to the law because surely no one would undergo the expense of a lawsuit against a bigger war chest.

The commissioners court should be reminded that they are not elected as legislators, do not have legislative powers and are not superior to the Texas attorney general in interpretation of the law. The taxpayers of McLennan County do not want to pay for a legal battle between the commissioners court and the attorney general, who happens to have an even bigger war chest.

McLennan County is sure beginning to look like the birthplace of the Full Employment Act for Consultants and Attorneys.

John Mayne, Waco

Religious liberty

John Vickrey, in his April 5 letter, wrote that the Constitution says, Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion. Please re-read the amendment before trying to rewrite history. The correct wording is as follows: Congress shall make no law respecting an (not the!) establishment of religion, meaning respecting one establishment over another.

One need look to the activities of the First Congress, made up of many of the actual Framers and not some treaty made with another country or half of an opinion of Thomas Jefferson, someone who was not even involved in writing the Constitution. Youll see the real feelings of the authors of the Constitution. Try considering the resolution of that Congress directing President Washington to issue a proclamation that began, Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will . . .

That, Mr. Vickrey, is very clear!

Pete Commander, Bellmead

A thousand times

To the gentlemen and ladies who helped me when I fell at the Wooded Acres H-E-B on April 4: I was so shaken from the fall that I dont remember if I thanked any of those who came to my assistance.

In any case, allow me now to publicly thank you a thousand times. You were so kind to help me.

Sandra Spears, Waco
Chennai: A farmers association has approached the Madras high court to direct police to grant permission for a dharna on April 12 or any other subsequent date at Jujuwadi near Hosur-Bengaluru highway, against the proposed construction of two dams by Karnataka.

Justice R. Subbiah, before whom the petition filed by Cauvery Vivasayigal Sangam, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam, came up for hearing, directed Additional government pleader P. Sanjay Gandhi to get instructions and posted the matter for April 12(Tuesday).

The association said it had filed cases in Supreme Court for implementing the Cauvery tribunal award, constitution of Cauvery water management board, Cauvery water regulatory authority and also regarding issues related to illegal and unauthorised construction of Mekedatu and Rasimanal dams by Karnataka.

In the dams case, the Karnataka government had on March 28 sought time in the Supreme Court. The case had been adjourned to July.

While so, same day (March 28), the Karnataka government, through proxies (farmers association) performed bhumi pooja and taken up preliminary work for constructing the dams. If the dams are constructed,

Tamil Nadu would suffer irreparable loss. The Cauvery delta would become a desert and agricultural activities would come to a standstill. The association said the Karnataka government had constructed many dams illegally earlier and appropriated waters meant for Tamil Nadu. Due to this attitude, it had become difficult even to cultivate one crop in a year in Tamil Nadu.

To focus attention of the Union and Tamil Nadu governments, the sangam along with TN All Farmers organising committee, decided to conduct a dharna on Tuesday. A request was made to Hosur police inspector to grant permission.

But there was no reply. However, officials in SPs office informed the sangam that the dharna would not be allowed at Jujuwadi and requested the organisers to change the venue to some other remote area near Krishnagiri.
The BJP and Congress had recently moved the EC seeking removal of Kumar alleging that he was close to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and accused him of "snooping" on opposition leaders, bureaucrats and journalists. (Photo: Twitter)

Kolkata: Controversial Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar was on Tuesday removed from his post by the Election Commission following complaints against him by major opposition political parties in poll-bound West Bengal.

"The Kolkata Police Commissioner is removed from his post. ADG (CID) Soumen Mitra will replace him," an EC source said.

EC sources had earlier said that the issue was under its consideration amid demands by opposition parties in the state for removal of Kumar. Deputy Election Commissioner Sandeep Saxena had said a decision of the issue would be conveyed to the media by the Commission "at an appropriate time."

The poll panel on Tuesday wrote a letter to West Bengal Chief Secretary Basudeb Banerjee, asking him to act on this issue. The ADG (CID) Soumen Mitra has been asked to take over as the new Commissioner of Police in Kolkata Police, EC sources said.

Confirming the development, state Chief Secretary Basudeb Banerjee told PTI, "Yes, Rajeev Kumar is being replaced by the ADG (CID) Soumen Mitra."

The BJP and Congress had recently moved the EC seeking removal of Kumar alleging that he was close to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and accused him of "snooping" on opposition leaders, bureaucrats and journalists.

The BJP had complained to the EC after an alleged failed sting operation against the party's national secretary and former state president Rahul Sinha late last month. Two Kolkata Police personnel had allegedly tried to bribe Sinha in return for help to smuggle out cows to Bangladesh.

Sinha had alleged that it was a conspiracy by the TMC government to trap BJP leaders in the sting operation before the Assembly polls and demanded a CBI probe. Kumar was appointed as Kolkata Police Commissioner in January.
Chennai: A survey conducted by Coastal Resource Centre along with members of the local community at Ennore creek has produced alarming results about the air quality in the suburb. The pollution levels are equivalent to New Delhi with PM 2.5 levels recording 2.3 times higher than the prescribed limits.

Samples taken from the rooftops of residential homes in the villages of Kattukuppam, Mughathwara Kuppam, Athipattu and Ernavur recorded PM 2.5 levels ranging from 105.7 to 141.5 Mg per m3, which exceeds the 60 Mg per m3 level prescribed by Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change(MoEFCC).

As the Tamil Nadu Pollution control board failed to monitor the pollution levels, we sought help from the members of Coastal Resource Centre to take samples, R.L. Srinivasan, president of fishermen cooperative society, told DC.

Neurotoxins accumulated in the atmosphere have led to degeneration of the lifestyle of the fisherfolk and residents who frequent ENT specialists complaining of respiratory problems. Health issues like cold and wheezing keep haunting us once in 20 days. While a private hospital is located 10 kilometres away in Thiruvottiyur, we commute over 15 kilometres to reach GH or Stanley hospital,
By TSgt Brandon Shapiro

When 93-year-old Fred Roberts walked into the bar at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona, all eyes turned toward him and all conversations stopped. Roberts was a World War II P-51 Mustang pilot who tangled with the Luftwaffe on dozens of missions over Europe; the bar was filled with young Air Force fighter pilots who all thought their aircraft were the best on the block. However, those young pilots knew the retired U.S. Army Air Corps Major had flown the best fighter of his time, too, and he had proved it in combat. As soon as the legend sat down, two A-10 Thunderbolt II pilots approached him. Its an honor to meet you, sir, one said. Do you have any advice for a group of young pilots? Roberts chuckled and said, Fly high and fast. But, we are A-10 pilots, sir, the two replied. We fly low and slow.

Whether flying high and fast or low and slow, staying more advanced, adaptable, and prepared than the adversary, has always been at the forefront of the U.S. militarys mindset. This conviction provides a combat advantage for todays pilots, just as it did for Roberts when he flew missions against the Nazis.To showcase the need to maintain our advantage in the skies, a lively lineage of aircraft flies in formation with Heritage Flight; a group of aviation enthusiasts, military veterans, and active duty fighter pilots, who meld the past with the present at air shows across the country. In its 20th year of performance, Heritage Flight combines historic warbirds such as the P-38 Lightning, P-40 Warhawk, P-47 Thunderbolt, P-51 Mustang, and the F-86 Sabre flying in formation with their modern counterparts, the F-16 Falcon, F-22 Raptor, and the newest aircraft in the Air Force arsenal, the F-35 Lightning II.

The multi-generational flight formations practicing in the arid desert air over Tucson were watched by a corresponding group on the ground as Maj. Roberts and fellow P-51 pilot, Bill Lyons, 94, stood alongside young pilots and maintainers based at Davis-Monthan AFB and provided them with a living history lesson about the WWII-era aircraft on the flightline. The Lightning, Warhawk, and Thunderbolt were tremendous aircraft, said Roberts as he pointed around the flightline. Each was reliable, played a pivotal role, and cemented their mark in history. But, it was the Mustang that changed the War (World War II). With bomber losses at an all-time high, and the abandonment of (air campaigns) being considered, the introduction of the P-51 saved the day.

In 1944, the P-51 replaced its fellow Heritage Flight fighter, the P-47, as the primary bomber escort. While the Thunderbolt was a tough and capable dogfighter, it did not have the range to escort the B-17s and B-24s all the way to Germany. The Mustang had the firepower and range to protect the bombers all the way to the Reich and back to England. Aside from the Mustang being a more-than-capable escort, it proved to be an outstanding fighter, instantly gaining respect from the Germans. It was the Nazi Party leader and commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe Hermann Goering who immortalized the aircraft when he said, When I saw Mustangs over Berlin, I knew the jig was up.The flyboys Roberts met the night before in the bar joined him as he made his way around the chocked Warhawk and over to the Mustangs. Trading war stories and aviation banter, the young pilots followed the legend around, clinging to every word.I love joking with young pilots and talking about our ventures, Roberts said. It truly puts a visual to the lineage of the aircraft. Anchoring the expositions commemoration of the past with a composite of World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War-era airplanes, was a group of pilots from the Air Force Heritage Flight Foundation (AFHFF). The AFHFF is a group of civilian aviators from all walks of life who share a simple commonality  love for country, love for the military, and love for aviation. The best thing about being a part of Heritage Flight is the impact that is has on people when they see us at an airshow, said Dan Friedkin, the founder of the Air Force Heritage Flight Foundation and demonstration pilot. The music, the sound of the airplanes, and the visuals, inspire great feelings. It makes people proud to be an American, proud of the U.S. Air Force and happy to see others inspired.

The inspiration that Friedkin referenced has surrounded the U.S. Air Force and Army Air Corps since day one. Korean and Gulf War veterans were just as inspired as the civilian spectators upon seeing the F-86 and F-16 perform close-formation barrel-rolls and low-passes. Seeing the best aircraft from each generation, like the 86 and the 16 is very vivid reminder of how far we have come along, said retired Master Sgt. Bill Cook, a 21 year weapons loader and Heritage Flight spectator. The differences are so drastic that its like taking Dads old 48 Flathead Ford with a three-speed, six (cylinder engine) and running it against a new Ford Mustang. There is no comparison.Although there may be no comparison between the capabilities of the modern fighters and their predecessors, there is one thing that they have in common; the aircraft shocked their adversaries with their advanced capabilities when introduced, but needed to be replaced with more advanced aircraft in order to maintain air superiority over adversaries, both current and potential. While the P-51 was king of the air space over Europe and the Pacific during WWII, it was no match for the jet aircraft introduced in the early 1950s. The arrival of the Soviet-made MiG-15 in skies over Korea ended the Mustangs reign.

The U.S. Air Force answered with the F-86 Sabre, an equal of the MiG-15, but flown by many of the same pilots who racked up kills in the Mustang six years prior. The marriage of battle-hardened pilots with a state-of-the-art jet fighter led to the remarkable kill ratio of 10-to-1, which the Sabre attained during the Korean War. The advent of multi-role fighters, such as the F-4E Phantom, kept pace with the Soviet Union, but in order to assure air superiority in an impending conflict, a giant leap in performance and firepower was needed. Enter the F-16, and its companion, the F-15. With unimaginable maneuverability and multirole flexibility to perform precision strikes, night attacks and beyond-visual-range interception missions, they were pioneers in modern-day avionics and computer-controlled flight surfaces and giving their pilots ownership of the airspace. Serving in the U.S. Air Force and the air forces of our allies, the two aircraft are a combined 178-1 in aerial combat.

As they looked into the Arizona sky, spectators below waved flags and whispered oohs and aahs as the premier fighters of their time all flew together in one formation; telling the tale of 70 years of U.S. Air Force domination. The P-51 flew with its successor, the F-86. Both were joined by the ground-breaking and battle-proven F-16 and the reigning monarch: the F-22 Raptor. Impressing the crowd with its futuristic look and ability to seemingly defy the laws of physics, the fifth-generation fighter boasts a combination of stealth, super cruise, maneuverability and integrated avionics, coupled with improved supportability. It represents an exponential leap in warfighting capabilities and is unmatched by any fighter in the world.The F-22 is jaw dropping  no aircraft should be able to do the things that plane is able to do, said Cook. I guarantee if you took someone from a past generation and explained what the Raptor is capable of, he would look at you like you are full of horse-pucky. With all the marvelous displays and formations being flown, it was actually a familial relationship that had everyone talking. There was no sudden electrostatic discharge or atmospheric pressure change, but still, it was the Lockheed Lightnings that stole the show. In their first side-by-side flight, the P-38 (Lightning) and the F-35 (Lightning II) were the ultimate display of a fighter aircraft developers past and present. Nicknamed the fork-tailed devil by the Luftwaffe and two planes, one pilot by the Japanese, the P-38 showcased its ability to be an adaptable, multirole airplane. Loved by the Americans, and feared by the Axis, the Lightning was flown by Americas two top aces of WWII, Richard Bong (40 victories), and Thomas McGuire (38 victories).

The F-35 is a fifth generation fighter and the Air Forces most advanced strike aircraft. It boasts unprecedented capabilities that combine stealth technology with fighter speed and agility, fully integrated sensors and network enabled operations, and state-of-the-art avionics. The Lightning II will replace the U.S. Air Forces aging fleet of F-16s and A-10 Thunderbolt IIs, which have been the primary fighter aircraft for more than 30 years. Its formation pairings, like the two Lightnings, that epitomize ACCs Heritage Flight mission to present and preserve U.S. Air Force history, showcase the evolution of air power and promote recruitment and retention. However, its the more than half a century of family history that truly resonates with the program. I was enjoying myself on the flightline, preparing to watch the upcoming displays, when I was introduced to a man and woman gathered around the P-47, Cook recalled. Come to find out, her dad was shot down and killed (in December of 1943) flying with the 355th (Fighter Group). It wasnt what she said about the moment that took me aback, it was the way her face glowed with joy. It was if a piece of her family history was finally complete. To me that is what the Heritage Flight program is all about.

This work, Heritage Flight: Heroes, inspiration, joy and closure, by TSgt Brandon Shapiro, identified by DVIDS, is free of known copyright restrictions under U.S. copyright law.

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CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury visits the injured at Medical College Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday. CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, former minister M Vijayakumar, CPM district secretary Anavoor Nagappan and Mayor V K Prasanth are also seen. (Photo: A V MUZAFAR)

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, who visited the site of the fireworks tragedy in Kollam on Monday, said that the UDF government cannot shy away from its responsibility for the accident.

Mr Yechury told DC that the fireworks could not have been carried out without the intervention of ruling partys influential leaders and the government. When the collector and the ADM denied the permission, at whose behest did the police give the nod for fireworks? Only a judicial probe by a sitting judge will be able to find out the involvement of the government and ruling party leaders, he said and demanded adequate compensation for the next of kin of the victims.

He said government jobs should be provided to a member each of the victims families. It was the responsibility of the government to ensure that adequate safety was provided to the life and property of the people.

But in the case of Paravur, all norms had been violated resulting in the loss of so many innocent lives, he said and added that despite such huge tragedy the government was taking it lightly. Had the government and police been vigilant, it could have been avoided.

He urged the centre to declare the accident as a national disaster. Earlier, Mr Yechury visited the site of the mishap and the injured undergoing treatment

in Kollam hospital and Thiruvananthapuram MCH.
The two sides held discussions to address the situation arising out of the recent ceasefire violations in Poonch sector.

Srinagar: In the backdrop of recent exchange of small arms fire between the facing troops, a flag meeting of Indian and Pakistani army officers was held at Chakan-da-Bagh crossing point along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmirs Poonch district on Tuesday.

The battalion commander-level flag meeting was held to take forward the peace process initiated since the Brigade Commander level flag meeting of September 21, 2015, defence spokesman Colonel S.D. Goswami said.

He said, The representatives of the two nations deliberated on the recent ceasefire violations in Poonch sector and (how to) address the issue. He added that in the 30-minute-long the Colonel ranked officers leading the respective delegations acknowledged each others efforts in maintaining peace and tranquillity on the LoC in the recent past.

Both sides mutually agreed to and acknowledged the importance of exercising restraint on the LoC and keeping the communications alive through established reconciliation mechanism of exchange of hotline messages and flag meetings, the spokesman said adding the flag meeting ended on a positive note with both sides reaffirming their faith in ensuring everlasting peace and tranquillity on the de facto border by redressing mutual concerns on priority in the future.

Earlier this week, the facing armies exchanged fire in Shahpur sector of Poonch , breaking a lull of over six months. The Indian Army had alleged that Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing at their positions on the LoC in Shahpur sector of Poonch and that the ceasefire violation by Pakistan started around midnight and continued till 4.30 am on Sunday. They said the Pakistanis used automatics and mortars and that Indian troops responded effectively using same calibre weapons.

In Islamabad, the Pakistani military authorities had alleged that it were the Indian troops who initiated the firing in violation of November 2003 ceasefire agreement. There was no casualty or damage on either side.
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The duo, both MBA graduates and whose fathers were childhood friends, have been in love with each other for the last 12 years. (Representational Image)

Mandya: A group of people claiming to be members of pro-Hindu outfits staged a protest here, opposing a Hindu family's decision to get their daughter married to a Muslim man, calling it an act of "love jihad".

The protesters shouted slogans of 'love jihad' outside the girl's house, while alleging that religious conversion was happening in the name of love and marriage.

The duo, both MBA graduates and whose fathers were childhood friends, have been in love with each other for the last 12 years and are scheduled to get married soon in Mysuru with consent of both their families, according to members of both families.

Alleging that "love jihad" cases are on rise, one of the protesters demanded to know why the girl was being trained on Islamic practices and Quran if it was a true love marriage.

The protesters left the place after police intervened.

Rejecting the protesters' charges, the girl said, "Even if I get married to a Hindu guy, I have to practise traditions of his family. I'm in love with him and I'm getting happily

married with the consent of our parents."

Her father Dr Narendra Babu, a paediatrician, said his daughter's happiness was "more" important to him and religion does not matter at all.

"We have never given importance to religion or caste. We did not know about it. They were in love for last 12 years.

First even I thought it would be difficult as the guy is a Muslim, but later I learnt he is the son of my childhood friend. They are good people," he said.

The boy's father Mukhtar Ahmed said there are no differences between the families on the issue of religion and the family has happily consented to the marriage.

"The girl and boy both are not uneducated, they are MBA graduates. The girl has been abroad also. There is nothing called love jihad. They both were in love and now they are getting married with our consent and blessings," he said.
It has been only one year since Martin Swinburn renovated the kitchen in his Asquith family home, and yet the shiny new space could soon be little more than rubble.

Mr Swinburn's is one of 91 NSW homes that has tested positive to loose-fill asbestos across 28 local government areas, including Hornsby, Ku-ring-gai, North Sydney, Manly, Warringah and Hills Shire.

The news came after Mr Swinburn and his wife registered their home for testing in the state government's "Mr Fluffy" loose-fill asbestos voluntary purchase and demolition program.
Yalumba will host a series of wine tasting and food events.  Craft Beer at Petition Kitchen shows off craft beers matched with a three-course share menu.  Hats Off Dinner at Post is a three-way collaboration between COMO The Treasury's executive chef Jed Gerrard, Post head chef Kim Brennan and pastry chef Rika Shina with each chef preparing and presenting a course. Vanya Cullen will help host a Cullen dinner at Wildflower. Credit:Frances Andrijich  Your Private Dinner Party at Post Private Dining Room offers the ultimate dinner party for 12 at Post. Head chef Kim Brennan will discuss your four-course tasting menu, then on the day just bring your friends and your playlist.

 Shucks, It's Wednesday at Petition Wine Bar & Merchant celebrates hump day with half a dozen freshly shucked Smoky Bay oysters on the house with every bottle of Tasmanian sparkling wine purchased.  Vegan And The Vine at The Raw Kitchen features Yalumba Chief Winemaker Louisa Rose pairing vegan-friendly wines from family vignerons Yalumba with a four course vegan feast prepared by The Raw Kitchen.  Innovators: Cullen Celebration Dinner at Wildflower will be a night of collaboration as two culinary innovators, Cullen Wines executive chef Colin Anderson and COMO executive chef Jed Gerrard present a special menu with wines from Vanya Cullen, one of Australia's pioneers of biodynamic winemaking.  Regional Meet The Makers Dinner at Vasse Felix where multi-award winning chief winemaker Viginia Willcock and executive chef Aaron Carr will show off the latest from Margaret River over a six-course degustation menu.  Murray Street Magic at Steves Bar & Cafe will celebrate the award-winning Murray Street vineyard, one of the standout wine producers from the Barossa with Steves head chef Naomi Bulner offering five courses featuring the best of local produce, each paired with a chosen wine, including the iconic 2005 Gomersal and 2006 Benno.

 Champagne & Canapes at COMO The Treasury with a judicious selection of Champagne and the best of WA sparkling wine, matched to canapes and oysters from the Post kitchen.  Argentinean Wine Dinner at Bivouac is a shared family-style dinner that showcases bold and beautiful wines from Argentina, matched to four courses. Resident Argentinean wine expert Brad Ross guides diners through the flavours and tells stories of his adventures through Mendoza and the Uco Valley.  The COMO Shambhala Wellness Experience will start the day with a slow-pressed juice, followed by a one-hour yoga session with resident instructor Stephanie Johnson, followed by lunch at Post with a dish from the COMO Shambhala wellness menu.  Whisky 101 at The Flour Factory will be a night of spirited education with a Sherry 101 masterclass matched to a selection of cured meats, preceded by a Whisky 101 masterclass, matched to small bites, at Varnish on King.  Whisky, Oysters & Chocolate: The Distillers Edition at Helvetica Bar will offer the chance to sample the latest limited edition Distillers Editions from Talisker, Lagavulin, Oban and Glenkinchie, matched to oysters and chocolate.

 Cooking With Coopers at Must Winebar features Russell Blaikie's show-and-tell of his favourite dishes using beer and going beyond beer-battered food, such as beer-brined meats and even a chocolate hazelnut beer cake, all matched to ales from Coopers.  Buns & Brews at Petition Beer Corner offers a selection of gourmet rolls for April, including pulled pork, slow-cooked smoked brisket and jerk chicken along with a choice of beer from one of their 18 taps.  A Taste of The Great Southern at Petition Wine Bar & Merchant offers the best of Great Southern winemaking and food-producing talent at the Petition popup featuring wine producers 3drops, La Violetta, Howard Park, Express Winemakers, Castle Rock and Larry Cherubino Wines which show how the region is earning a reputation for its cool-climate offerings along with canapes by chef Jesse Blake.  Thai-Inspired Cocktail Masterclass at Long Chim will feature Long Chim's James Connolly teaching the fine art of mixing drinks, Thai style revealing the secrets of the Or Tor Kor Mule, Muay Thai Mai Tai and other signature Long Chim drinks and grazing on David Thompson's bar menu.  State Buildings Cocktail Masterclass at Long Chim and Halford shows off two of Perth's newest cocktail hotspots for a masterclass like no other, beginning at Long Chim shaking, stirring and muddling Thai-inspired cocktails, then moving to Halford, Perth's most decadent lounge bar, for an introduction to the world of contemporary martinis.

 Shorehouse Beach BBQ at The Shorehouse features a beach barbecue with restaurant-quality fare in the open air, including Shark Bay prawns, pork shoulder sliders, cacciucco (Italian bouillabaisse) and the ultimate hot dog with truffled mayonnaise and remoulade.  Perth CBD Progressive Dinner at Two Feet & A Heartbeat is a stroll down St Georges Terrace over three courses with matched drinks. The venues vary from night to night, with all promising conviviality and beautiful food amid historic settings.  Cider and Slider at Angel's Cut and at Must Winebar offers a Thatchers Cider with either a jerk chicken, cayenne pepper mayo with a crunchy slaw on a brioche bun at Angel's Cut or a five-spiced Mt Barker chicken bao with cucumber kimchi and Japanese mayo at Must. The chef duo behind Bo Lan, one of Asia's must-visit restaurants, are also in town, with a special culinary showcase of their Thai skills through a progressive menu at Apple Daily Bar on April 27 ($120), while Masterchef favourite Gary Mehigan will talk about what goes on behind the scenes of the hit reality show while answering questions from the audience at the special event In Conversation with Gary Mehigan, on April 23 at Heath Ledger Theatre ($35). "There is so much to appreciate about the WA food scene right now and we want as many people as possible to be part of the experience we're offering," WAtoday editor Simon White said.
"A real tour de force," Dr Randall Bateman, a professor of neurology at Washington University in St Louis who was not involved with the research, said of the paper.

That is the conclusion of a paper, published in the journal Nature Biotechnology, in which researchers searched databases containing genetic sequences from nearly 600,000 healthy adults and found these remarkable 13.

Somewhere in the world are 13 incredibly lucky people. Although they do not know it, each inherited a mutated gene that causes a fatal or terribly debilitating disease in infancy or childhood - but these people are adults, and healthy.

The new paper is among the first fruits of a research direction that geneticists have discussed and dreamed about for years, said Eric Green, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute. Until now, with the accumulation of large databases of people who have had their genomes sequenced, it had not been possible to find people who met such criteria.

But the triumph is not complete. When the people in the databases provided their DNA for analysis, they signed agreements guaranteeing that they would remain anonymous. So the researchers cannot go any further.

"You can imagine the level of frustration," said the study's lead researcher, Dr Stephen Friend, the president of the non-profit Sage Bionetworks and a genomics professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. "It is almost as if you got to take the wrapping off the box but you couldn't open the box."

The finding, though, is a proof of concept, he and others say. Now, Friend and his colleagues, Eric Schadt and Jason Bobe of Mount Sinai, are beginning the next phase of their project, which they call the Resilience Project. That will involve recruiting at least 100,000 people who will agree to have their genomes sequenced and to be contacted only if they have a mutated gene that should have made them ill or killed them, but did not.

The study was prompted by Friend's frustration. He spent years in academia and biotech companies searching for ways to fix genetic defects that cause disease. Success was rare, because even when researchers knew that a gene-destroying mutation was causing a disease, they rarely found a drug to restore the gene.
A senior Kerala High Court Judge has suggested the ban of high decibel fire crackers in all temples on Monday. (Representational Image)

Ernakulam: Kerala High Court on Tuesday banned the use of sound-making fireworks display in all places of worship in state between sunset and sunrise, three days after the fire tragedy in Kollams Puttingal temple claimed 111 lives.

The bench also sought state government's opinion on a CBI probe into the fire that broke out in the Puttingal Devi Temple complex early on Sunday when sparks emanating from a fireworks display ignited a store room filled with crackers and pyrotechnic material.

Read: Kollam collector blames police for Kerala temple inferno

A senior Kerala High Court Judge has suggested the ban of high decibel fire crackers in all temples in the state and sought immediate judicial intervention by the court to stop man-made tragedies like Kollam mishap.

In a letter to Registrar General of the HC, Justice V. Chitambaresh had said, The time is more than ripe for immediate judicial intervention to stop such man-made tragedies by banning the use of high decibel explosive fire crackers.

Read: Kollam temple fire: Police chief under scanner

The Devaswom Bench comprising Justices Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan and Anu Sivaraman will considered the petition. Justice Chitambaresh said, The right to profess, practice and propagate the religion of ones choice under Article 25 of the Constitution of India does not take in the freedom to use dangerous crackers.

Pyrotechnics display using Amittu, Gundu, Kathinavedi etc have to be banned and at best only low decibel Chinese-type crackers can be permitted for display, he said.

No nod for even normal fireworks

The fireworks at Paravur Puttingal Devi temple that claimed 111 lives were carried out without any permission, even for a small-scale show. The local police and revenue authorities remained mute spectators to the blatant violation allegedly due to political pressure.

Read: Kerala temples spend Rs 1,500 crores annually on fireworks

It has also come to light that the temple authorities had spread a false propaganda that they had got permission to carry out normal fireworks and even announcements in this regard were made.

The police and revenue officials failed to act even as they were aware that no permission was granted. Though the temple authorities had sought fresh permission for firework with 15 kg gun powder and the local police recommended that it may be allowed, no permission was granted.
An attempt to extradite Queensland's so-called Postcard Bandit Brenden Abbott to Western Australia on his release from a Brisbane jail is perplexing, his lawyers say.

Abbott, 53, was last month granted parole and was on Monday transferred from the Woodford Correctional Centre to the Brisbane Correctional Centre at Wacol in preparation for his release.

That is likely to happen early on Tuesday morning, when his lawyer Brendan Nyst anticipates Abbott will be immediately re-arrested and taken to the Brisbane watch house for an extradition hearing.

West Australian Police have confirmed they will seek his extradition so that he can face the remainder of his sentence there for various crimes, including breaking out of jail.
The mother of 14-month-old Sanaya Sahib has been charged with her murder after making a "full confession" to police.

Sofina Nikat, 22, of Mitcham, faced an out-of-sessions court hearing at the West Melbourne police station at 6pm on Tuesday.

She was arrested at 8.35am on Tuesday in Mont Albert.
The federal government has agreed to give Western Australia an extra $260 million towards the controversial Perth Freight Link project, this time for a tunnel.

Instead of a surface upgrade of Stock Road and Leach Highway, the new plan involves a tunnel from the Stock/Winterfold Road intersection to the Stirling Highway/High Street intersection in Fremantle.

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann. Credit:Andrew Meares

Announcing the agreement on Tuesday, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said the tunnel would reduce impact on properties and improve productivity and safety in a "major win for local residents and freight operators".

He said the agreement would allow planning work for the second stage to progress - including environmental approvals.
Oshin is a fun-loving boy, but is frightened of hospitals. Credit:Elle Borgward Others felt the associated burdens were such that palliative care was an ethical option, though this would likely include some conventional therapy and active symptom management. Oshin's mother Angela Kiszko at first asked the committee to delay treatment to allow her to trial nutrition-focused therapy for six to eight weeks to help Oshin recover from surgery, and the delay was granted. By the second meeting in March, she and Oshin's father Colin Strachan actively withheld consent. Oshin's 'birthday table' of his favourite things. Credit:Elle Borgward While the committee understood Ms Kiszko did not believe nutritional therapy would cure her son, it noted that a family friend appearing in support of her had absolute belief in 'curative' natural therapy and doubted this attitude would be helpful.

It reported that while consenting adults were free to choose such paths, it was "ethically indefensible to impose such irrational beliefs on the lives of others". After the second meeting, the committee noted Oshin's parents were actively withholding consent for treatment, which it said was "a chance the vast majority of parents faced with the same agonising choice would take". It recognised the doctors' duty to promote treatment and said when chances of survival were higher, and potentially less of a burden long-term, treatment would be the only ethical option. It maintained, however, if careful assessment showed the burdens of treatment would outweigh the benefits, and if Oshin's parents consented to some form of conventional therapy, a palliative approach could be ethical in Oshin's case. Oshin's parents and doctors were then left to negotiate the report after the March 8 meeting, but were told that the divided nature of the committee indicated any court action should be approached cautiously.

But a March 17 MRI confirmed the tumour was on the cusp of an "irretrievable progression", the judge noted. Doctors continued to believe full treatment was appropriate but that each passing day could make the difference whether active or palliative treatment was appropriate. Ms Kiszko's affidavit to the court said that in her final phone call with a member of hospital on Monday, March 21, she asked for the palliative option involving reduced chemotherapy but was told it was "off the table". The judge found doctors had provided consistent advice about the chances of survival under "full and immediate treatment", but because there was no sample dealing with children whose treatment was delayed, it was impossible for doctors to predict Oshin's chances. Child and Adolescent Health Service chief executive Professor Frank Daly released a statement saying that while parents generally decided on treatment, the hospital had a duty of care.

The oncology staff were internationally recognised experts who worked daily with parents to make decisions in children's "best interests". Given the disagreement, the court application was a last resort to get independent judgment on what these were. Professor Daly said the treatment recommended was based on internationally recognised protocols, and while doctors acknowledged "potentially significant" side-effects, the alternative was death within months. Staff involved in providing treatment "in these difficult circumstances" had full support. The judge noted in his ruling that the parents could use "compelling evidence of a workable alternative" to challenge his decision, or the coming radiotherapy action.
Overwhelming majorities of Arab teens and young adults now strongly oppose the terrorist group, the survey suggests, with nearly 80 per cent ruling out any possibility of supporting the Islamic State, even if it were to renounce its brutal tactics.

Washington: Two years after proclaiming a new "caliphate" for Muslims in the Middle East, the Islamic State is seeing a steep slide in support among the young Arab men and women it most wants to attract, a new poll shows.

"Tacit support for the militant group is declining," concludes a summary report by the poll's sponsor, ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller, a public relations firm that has tracked young Arabs' views in annual surveys for the past nine years. Other recent surveys have found similarly high disapproval rates for the Islamic State among general populations in Muslim-majority countries.

Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi addresses inhabitants of Mosul in 2014, shortly after the group's conquest of the city. Credit:AP

The new poll, based on face-to-face interviews with 3500 respondents ages 18 to 24, suggests that young Arabs are both increasingly fearful of the terrorist group and less swayed by its propaganda, compared with previous years. More than half the participants ranked the Islamic State as the number one problem facing the Middle East, and three out of four said they believed that the group would ultimately fail in its quest to establish an Islamic caliphate in Iraq and Syria.

The survey suggests that religious fervour plays a secondary role, at best, when young Arabs do decide to sign up with the Islamic State. When asked why Middle Easterners join the group, the participants listed joblessness or poor economic prospects as the top reason. Only 18 per cent cited religious views - a "belief that their interpretation of Islam is superior to others" - and nearly as many picked sectarian tensions between Sunnis and Shiites as the chief motivating factor.

Young Arabs from countries with high unemployment rates were more likely to list economic hardship as a top reason for wanting to join Islamic State, the survey found. The results align with the findings of other researchers who have noted that many recruits use religion mostly as a rationalisation.
Police sources said that the revenue officials could not wash off their hands.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kollam city police commissioner P. Prakash having a good track record is now under a cloud for succumbing to political pressures and allowing the fireworks at Paravur Puttingal Devi temple, defying the district administrations ban.

The young IPS officer had recommended permission for a small-scale cracker work endorsing his subordinates views and also allegedly failed in initiating any action to stop the illegal firework that claimed over 100 lives.

Even as Mr Prakash preferred to be tight-lipped on the circumstances in which he favoured the nod for the fireworks, sources close to him said that there were pressures from all political parties to allow the show.

Kollam district collector A. Shainamol, who is also a young IAS officer, went by the law despite the pulls and did not pay heed to the last- minute report of the city police commissioner recommending small fireworks. But he seemed to have been carried away by the high-level influence, it is believed.

The temple authorities even made announcements that they had got permission for the fireworks and even hailed some political leaders for helping them obtain it. The firework contractors stocked explosives in the store room. All these happened in the presence of scores of policemen who were supposed to enforce the additional district magistrates orders, said a revenue official.

Meanwhile, police sources said that the revenue officials could not wash off their hands. The local revenue officials were also duty-bound to act against any violations of the ADMs order banning the fireworks, senior police officer said.

He was said to have been handpicked by state police chief T.P. Senkumar to head Kollam city in April last, and he had played a key role in tracking notorious criminal Antony Varghese alias Aadu Antony.
Politicians broke a coconut before the train as it is considered as auspicious in Indian culture. (Photo: DC/Shyam Bhattad Latur)

Mumbai: A special train carrying five lakh litres of water to quench the thirst of drought stricken Latur city in Marathwada region, reached there Tuesday early morning and was welcomed by a priest reciting mantras and smiling politicians who broke a coconut before it.

Local BJP politicians performed the jal puja, while Congress leaders broke a coconut before the train as it is considered as auspicious in Indian culture. Interestingly, when the local media asked the priest what he was reciting, he could not give recall what it was but said it was for 'peace'.

BJP leaders celebrating the arrival of the water express in Latur (Photo: DC/Shyam Bhattad Latur)

"We performed jal puja as it is our tradition. We perform puja for all occasions like Diwali, Ganesh festival so I do not think that there was anything wrong. We, of course, thanked the Centre and the state government and also the people who brought water here," Shailesh Lahoti, BJP city president said.

The priest who performed the jal puja said that he chanted a peace mantra. "I prayed before the train, the peace mantras. It is very common before starting any new thing. The arrival of a train is very auspicious and will change fortune of the city. As per the Panchang (Indian calendar) good monsoon is predicted across the country," Raj Joshi, the priest said after performing the jal puja.

The train carried five lakh litres of water to the drought stricken city (Photo: DC/Shyam Bhattad Latur)

Immediately after arrival of the train, the mayor of the city who belongs to Congress, Sheikh Akhtar jumped into the tracks and broke a coconut. "The BJP is trying to take credit of the water. But I and Congress party pursued the matter and got the water," Sheikh said.

While engine super-wiser Prashant Janrao said that it was a sad moment for him to carry water through wagons. "I have carried oil and other essential commodities before this. This is the first time that I am carrying water through wagons. It is sad to see water scarcity in a small city like Latur," Janrao said.

Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samitee president Avinash Patil lashed the rituals performed before the train. "It is ridiculous. The drought is not natural. Its man made. We need to take deliberate efforts to change the situation and now distribute water equally among the people. However, performing Puja or following any other ritual will not help the people in any way," he said.

The train with 10 wagons carried 50,000 litre of water from Miraj in western Maharashtra to Latur in Marathwada region. It reached the Latur city on Tuesday early morning. The city has been facing severe drought and water scarcity is very acute. The city people receive water every fortnight through tankers of the government. Many people have reportedly migrated to Mumbai, Pune and other cities as water is not available.
Mumbai: The Maharashtra Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed the Dance Bar Regulation Bill, which has provisions for stringent actions against the violators.



The Bill was cleared by the Legislative Council on Monday, paving the way for reopening of the dance bars.



Minister of State for Home, Ram Shinde tabled the Bill in the Assembly and it was passed unanimously without any debate.



The new Bill fixes accountability on the owner in case of violation of rules, exploitation of women employees, or in cases of obscenity.



Owners or operators face up to up to five years in jail and fines of up to Rs 25,000 for violations. Separate rules are being formulated on this, based on the provisions of the Bill.



According to the new conditions, dance bars must be at least a kilometre from any education or religious institution, their timings restricted between 6 PM and 11.30 PM, and liquor not to be served in the performance area.



The Bill also bans running bars in the residential buildings and permits them in semi-residential ones only if the three-fourths residents consent.



The Bill also has a provision to repeal amendments to Section 33 (A) of the Maharashtra Police Act that were earlier struck down by the Supreme Court.



The Supreme Court, during hearings between October 2015 and March 2016, struck down two amendments through which the Maharashtra government banned dance bars.



The court, however, clarified the Maharashtra government has the power to contain 'obscenity' and safeguard women who work at the bars.



Following this, the Maharashtra Cabinet decided to bring in a new law to regulate dance bars.
Mumbai: The Maharashtra government will appoint an experts' committee to suggest measures to solve Mumbai's water woes, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said in the Legislative Assembly here today.



The committee will prepare a roadmap for equal distribution of water and suggest measures to prevent leakages and provide round-the-clock water to the megapolis. It will submit its report in the next two months, the CM said.



The Chief Minister conceded that over 27 per cent or some 900 million litre of water gets wasted everyday in the city.



Replying to a calling attention motion of Yogesh Sagar (BJP), Fadnavis said the distribution in the island city and the suburbs should be equal and on the basis of population.



The BMC (civic body) supplies 960-975 million litres daily (MLD) of water to the island city's 31 lakh population, 920-930 MLD to eastern suburbs' 30 lakh population, while the area from Goregaon to Dahisar, with a population of 30 lakh, gets only 620 MLD of water. This is an injustice to the suburban region, Sagar said.



"The government should appoint a committee to study feasibility of equal, population-based distribution," he said.



Sagar also said the committee should not have any serving or retired BMC officials, because they may favour no change in the existing water distribution network.



Fadnavis said the government will come up with a roadmap for solving all water-related issues of Mumbai. "Committee will suggest how to provide 24-hour water to the city, its equal distribution and solution to the leakages," he said.



The government will ask the municipal commissioner to take suggestions from the legislators for fixing the terms of reference of the committee, he said.
By WestKyStar & Pam Spencer, City Information Officer Apr. 12, 2016 | 10:32 AM | PADUCAH, KY

The second quarter artwork for the 2016 Mayors Art Club currently is on display featuring the entries for the Dogwood Art & Photography Contest and paintings by artist Michael G. Crouse. The public can view the artwork through the end of June. With the exception of holidays, City Hall is open Monday through Friday, 8 am until 4:30 pm. Depending upon the Mayor's meeting schedule, access to the artwork in her office may be periodically restricted.The artwork of Michael G. Crouse is on display in the Mayors office at City Hall. Crouse is a multi-media printmaker whose work encompasses the printmaking processes of relief, lithography, intaglio, screen-printing, and monotype. He has produced prints and mixed media work for more than forty years. Crouse has a diploma from Kendall School of Design, a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Atlanta College of Art, and a Masters of Fine Arts degree from the University of Michigan. For 26 years, he taught printmaking courses at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Crouse, a native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, has spent quite a bit of time in Europe, both as a student and as a contributing artist. In 2006, Michael founded BrokenStone Press in Paducahs Lower Town Arts District. He also has served as a director for the Yeiser Art Center in Paducah and taught art courses at West Kentucky Community & Technical College. Crouses prints have been exhibited in galleries throughout the U.S. in addition to England, South Korea, Canada, Vietnam, the Netherlands, and Spain.In the Mayors reception area at City Hall, 52 entries including the winners for the Dogwood Art & Photography Contest are on display. The three winners in the art category are 1st place-Frank Bennett; 2nd place-Katherine English, and 3rd place-Nancy Calcutt. The three winners in the photography category are 1st place-Basil Drossos, 2nd place-Phyllis Russell, and 3rd place-Paul Grumley. The Paducah Civic Beautification Board teamed up with the Paducah School of Art & Design to coordinate the contest.The artists or art groups confirmed at this time to participate in the 2016 Mayors Art Club are as follows: Charlotte Erwin, 1st quarter Jason Bailey, 1st quarter Michael G. Crouse, 2nd quarter Dogwood Trail Art and Photography Contest Winners, 2nd quarter Char Downs, 3rd quarterEach quarter of the calendar year, two artists or art groups have the opportunity to display their artwork in the Mayors office and reception area on the second floor of City Hall. This is the fourth year for the Mayors Art Club. For more information, visit http://paducahky.gov/mayors-art-club
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By West Kentucky Star Staff

Apr. 12, 2016 | FULTON, KY

By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 12, 2016 | 08:43 AM | FULTON, KY

The Fulton County Sheriff's Department says an inmate who escaped from the Fulton County Detention Center in Hickman, Kentucky was captured early Tuesday morning in the Radcliff / Fort Knox area of Hardin County.



Michael Shane Hunter, 40, is originally from Hardin County, according to Louisville TV station WAVE-TV.



Kentucky State Police told West Kentucky Star that Hunter walked out of the sally port of the Fulton County Detention Center while on work detail on Sunday.



Fulton County Jailer Ricky Parnell tells West Kentucky Star that two deputy jailers in Fulton County, Monica Mayes and Jason Smith, were arrested in connection to Hunter's escape. Parnell says they remain behind bars after an internal investigation showed they were involved in Hunter's escape. Parnell says he is unable to give additional details due to the ongoing investigation, but he did confirm that Mayes and Smith have been fired.



Hunter was serving time for theft by failure to make required disposition of property, fleeing or evading police and flagrant non-support.



He will be transferred back to Fulton County in the coming days.




By The Associated Press Apr. 12, 2016 | 04:50 PM | FRANKFORT, KY

Republican Gov. Matt Bevin has vowed not to call legislators back to Frankfort should they fail to approve a two-year operating budget by Friday.

Bevin said he would not reward lawmakers' inability to do their jobs by paying them more money. The Legislative Research Commission estimates it would cost taxpayers $62,784 per day.

If lawmakers don't pass a budget and Bevin does not call them back for a special session, parts of state government would shut down on July 1. Bevin said many programs near and dear to people's hearts would not be funded.

He said Democratic House Speaker Greg Stumbo would be to blame.

House and Senate budget negotiations resumed just as Bevin made his remarks. Stumbo spokesman Brian Wilkerson said it could be some time before Stumbo could respond.
By The Associated Press Apr. 11, 2016 | 06:45 PM | FRANKFORT, KY

Republican Senate President Robert Stivers says a lawsuit against the state's Republican governor will fail because it was filed at the wrong time.

Democratic Attorney General Andy Beshear has asked a judge to order Gov. Matt Bevin to rescind an order cutting the budgets of state colleges and universities. Beshear said Bevin should have gotten legislative approval first.

Stivers, who is an attorney, noted the budgetary period for colleges and universities does not expire until June 30. He said any lawsuit would have to come after that date.

Stivers also noted that House Democrats included language in their budget proposal to prevent Bevin from cutting college budgets. He said Democrats included that language because they knew Bevin had the power to do it.
By The Associated Press Apr. 11, 2016 | 06:38 PM | FRANKFORT, KY

Democratic Kentucky House Speaker Greg Stumbo says he believes a judge will order Republican Gov. Matt Bevin to rescind his order cutting state appropriations for colleges and universities.

Attorney General Andy Beshear, also a Democrat, sued Bevin on Monday for cutting the budgets of state colleges and universities without asking the state legislature. Beshear said Bevin overstepped his authority.

Stumbo, who once served as Kentucky attorney general, has sued Republicans governors before. As attorney general, he challenged former Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher's decision to enact a budget after the state legislature failed to do so. The state Supreme Court sided with Stumbo in that case.

Stumbo said Bevin has the power to reduce budget allocations only if there is a revenue shortfall.
William and Kate visited the Salaam Baalak Trust, an organisation supporting some of the most vulnerable young persons living in the streets in Delhi. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Prince William and Kate Middleton on Tuesday spent their morning interacting with a group of homeless young boys currently living at a shelter here. The royal couple, during their interaction, did some of the regular activities with them such as reading and drawing.

On their second day in the capital city, William and Kate visited the Salaam Baalak Trust, an organisation supporting some of the most vulnerable young persons living in the streets in Delhi.

"The couple met young boys who are currently living at the shelter and spent time with them doing some of the regular activities such as reading and drawing," a statement from the Kensington Palace said.

The couple also had the chance to meet two Salam Baalak City Walk Guides, it said. The Trust is famous for its city walks, guided tours of Delhi streets by rescued children who used to live there before.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambdrige first visited the Trust's Contact Centre near New Delhi Railway Station where they learnt that 1200-1500 children arrive into the capital on trains each year, often travelling alone, to escape a range of personal circumstances.

The royal couple are on a week-long tour of India and Bhutan that began on Sunday. Today, they also met with a group of Indian women to know about a range of issues affecting women and girls in the country.

The meeting was convened at the personal request of the Duke who wanted an opportunity to hear directly from women working to support other women and girls, the statement said.

The royals also met acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal and heard about her inspirational campaign 'Stop Acid Attacks', it said.

Laxmi was attacked when she was 15, by a 32-year-old man after she rejected his marriage proposal. Her story has now become inspirational to women globally.

"She explained her decision to stop covering her face in order to encourage other victims not to hide and also spoke of her successful fight for tougher legal restrictions on sale of acid. The Duke thanked her for her bravery," it said.

Among others, the royal couple also met with Sunita Jaiswal, a survivor of domestic abuse and journalist Soumya Menon. During the meetings, they were informed about a range of support and initiatives provided for women and girls through organisations such as Save the Children as well as Indian government-supported programmes.
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Displacing accepted ideas of western drama is at the heart of the experimental style of this play. Tennessee Williams became fascinated by Japanese traditional theatre forms after meeting Yukio Mishima, the novelist and playwright, in 1957. His subsequent trip to Japan cemented this interest and is reflected in the dialogue's stilted, unfinished sentences, and an expectation that the audience must complete the meaning, just as a reader completes the sense of a Haiku.

However, this doesn't necessarily make for easy viewing. After its premiere in 1969, no one attempted In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel again until 1983, three months after Williams' death.

It deals with Miriam, a rich, arrogant but frustrated wife who relieves her lust for life by stalking vulnerable young men at home in the Hamptons, as well as on foreign jaunts like this one to Toyko. Meanwhile, locked away in his hotel room her husband Mark, a successful but tormented artist in the vein of Jackson Pollock, crawls naked around his canvasses and feverishly shouts at them as if they were women betraying him.

We see Miriam at work fondling the wretchedly reluctant barman (Andrew Koji) after handing over a wad of cash, but thankfully Mark's antics are painted in words rather than seen.

Linda Marlowe is a stunningly elegant, poised and utterly ruthless Miriam, so terrified of getting old that she carries a suicide pill just in case. This is an impressive tour de force from Marlowe, whose cool calculations steer the production's narrative, such as it is, to a conclusion that would be poignant if Miriam had left us any room to feel sorry for her.

Shambling, rambling Mark is played with gusto by David Whitworth as a man pushed to his limits by the agony of his work, and the indifference of his wife. The voice of reason comes with the arrival of Mark's dealer Leonard, given a cool assurance and a welcome sense of decency by Alan Turkington.

Nicolai Hart-Hansen's gorgeous set design is cleverly raked to give a glamorous sweep to the length of the hotel's opulent bar, and one can only hope he's allowed for a decent amount of padding beneath the flooring, as the leads are both required to take numerous uncomfortable-looking tumbles. Costume designer Jonathan Lipman has perhaps gone a bit overboard with the artist's painty suit, but he dresses Miriam impeccably and Leonard is entirely elegant.

Director Robert Chevara is a Tennessee Williams specialist, and together with this spirited and committed cast, he has created a strong show that manages to maintain its momentum despite the staccato dialogue style and the long monologues. But this may be a play for die-hard Williams enthusiasts, willing to embrace these curiously cold and calculating characters.

In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel runs at the Charing Cross Theatre until 14 May.
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Jumping back and forth in time between 1948 (the foundation of the state of Israel), to the present day and various points in between, Scenes from 68* Years tells a collection of stories of daily life under occupation in Palestine.

What feels initially like a barrage of different characters, times and places eventually settles down into a few distinct narrative threads, but the five-person cast (there are seven actors billed, but two of them have only small single roles) are each portraying so many characters that these temporal and geographical leaps are always confusing. Jumping to and fro also makes it hard to follow individual character journeys, so we're never able to develop relationships with the women and men that playwright Hannah Khalil presents us with.

The show is at its strongest in the longer scenes, when the actors are given the chance to settle into their characters. Peter Polycarpou does a nice turn as a Palestinian shopkeeper keeping a cheery outlook as he waits, in vain, for supplies to arrive over the border, while Janine Harouni captures the excruciating lack of self-awareness of a Jewish emigre talking about her return' to Jerusalem to a young Arab man whose mother was evicted by the Israeli state.

The issue is that director Chris White has done nothing to differentiate between time periods or geographical locations. This might be deliberate  nothing ever changes; perhaps Israelis and Palestinians aren't so different after all  but if so, it's a point made at the expense of both narrative clarity and dramatic tension.

It's not the only directorial failing  there's no consistent approach to sound design, with recorded music, singing and rudimentary drumming by the cast all thrown in at various points for no discernable reason. Set design too is muddled: some props are mimed, others are there on stage; why, we have no idea. It feels like watching a play at an early stage of rehearsals.

The casting, meanwhile, is horribly unbalanced, the company mostly full of attractive 20-somethings when what's required is an even spread of ages from children to old people. Several of the cast are strong in some roles, but distractingly weak in others, particularly when it comes to the younger characters.

By focusing on the everyday, Scenes from 68* Years seeks to reveal truths about life under occupation. This approach can offer a compelling route into the subject, but get it wrong  as this play does on so many levels  and all you're left with is the mundane.

Scenes from 68* Years runs at the Arcola Theatre until 30 April.

Running time: 95 minutes
FLAT ROCK PLAYHOUSE TO PARTNER WITH SAFELIGHT

Flat Rock Playhouse announced today a new partnership with Safelight, Hope & Healing for Families, whereby the local non-profit agency that provides support for victims of interpersonal violence, sexual assault and child abuse, will manage the dining hall and all of the concessions for both the Mainstage and Playhouse Downtown. During the high season at Flat Rock Playhouse, the dining hall provides food for 24 Apprentices and 8 Interns working at the Playhouse. Three meals a day, six days a week are provided at no cost to those participating in the Flat Rock Playhouse Apprentice and Internship programs. Professional actors and Playhouse staff will also be able to dine in the dining hall, should they choose to elect for a meal plan or punch card program.

Safelight runs one of the largest shelters in Western North Carolina for abused women, men and their children. Services are free and available to victims of interpersonal violence in shelter and outreach (non-shelter). It is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Over time, Safelight has evolved from a strictly crisis-driven agency to one striving to develop longer-term services addressing community needs such as low-income housing and the availability of medical, mental health and substance abuse resources. They have also created job training programs for their residents and non-residents in The Safelight Resale Shop (formerly The Purple Ribbon) andDandelion Eatery.

Dandelion, a local eatery in downtown Hendersonville, opened in 2013 and is exclusively staffed by women making a new start for themselves. While working atDandelion, these interns are trained to re-enter the workforce by either working front or back of house. Dandelion has also been praised for their use of locally sourced fresh produce and baked goods. This partnership with Flat Rock Playhouse, overseen by Dandelion chef Anna Masteller, will be similar in terms of staffing and quality.

"We couldn't be more excited or proud to partner with Safelight, says Flat Rock Playhouse Producing Artistic Director Lisa K. Bryant. Their dedication to the community is exemplary, and their successes on behalf of the families they attend inspire. That we have the opportunity to help expand their mission and good works at any level is, frankly, an honor. Dually, the quality of their products will exponentially enhance our patron's experience when visiting the Playhouse, while the cultural impact it will have on our artists as they relish delicious meals together is sure to be significant."

Safelight is thrilled to partner with Flat Rock Playhouse to provide concessions for their theatre productions and summer programs through Dandelion Eatery, our job training restaurant, says Safelight Executive Director Tanya Blackford. At Dandelion, interns learn the job skills they need to secure stable employment and provide financial security for themselves and their families. This opportunity with Flat Rock Playhouse means we will be able to expand the Dandelion internships we offer to even more survivors of violence or trauma.

In addition to running the dining hall for Flat Rock Playhouse, Safelight will be managing the concession stands at both venues, providing delicious baked goods and treats to attending patrons.



"This partnership is one of the most exciting things to come together in my two years at the Playhouse, says Flat Rock Playhouse Director of Development Ashley Pirsig. Our patrons are going to be blown away by the delicious and creative concession stand offerings including signature cocktails, organic air-popped popcorn, even hot offerings like grits bowls and flat breads."The concessions partnership with Safelight will take effect with the opening of Million Dollar Quartet at the Flat Rock Playhouse Mainstage on April 28th and run through the closing of A Celtic Christmas in December at the Playhouse Downtown.
New Delhi: Two Indian students at a medical college in Ukraine were stabbed to death while another sustained injuries in the attack even as the police have apprehended some Ukraine nationals in the case.

I am sorry two Indian students Pranav Shandilya of Muzaffarnagar and Ankur Singh (Ghaziabad) were stabbed to death in Ukraine on April 10. Inderjeet Singh Chauhan (Agra) is recuperating in hospital, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted.

She said based on the statement of Chauhan, the police have apprehended Ukraine nationals while they were trying to cross the border.

Passports/ documents of the Indian students and blood-stained knife were reportedly recovered from them, MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

Our Embassy is in touch with authorities and monitoring the case. My condolences to bereaved families. We promise them all help, the minister said.

The students, who were from Uzhgorod Medical College (Ukraine), were stabbed by three Ukrainian nationals at around 3 am on Sunday. Shaindilya was a third year student while Singh was a fourth year student.
Hyderabad: AICC general-secretary Digvijay Singh on Tuesday said here that the Congress will not allow those leaders who left the party when it was facing critical times and joined the TRS for political benefits.

Addressing a TPCC meeting organised in connection with the 125th birth anniversary of B.R. Ambedkar at a private function hall here, Mr Singh expressed confidence that Congress will bounce back to power in the 2019 elections owing to failures of TRS government that only makes promises without bothering to implement them.

I knew some of leaders left us and joined the TRS only for the sake of posts. I am telling you all today that we wont allow these leaders to rejoin the Congress at any cost, the partys general-secretary said.

Other leaders who addressed the gathering strongly criticised both the NDA government headed by Narendra Modi and the TRS government led by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for not implementing the Sub-Plan earmarked for SCs and failure to fulfil several promises given to Dalits, including providing three acres of farm land to each Dalit family.

Mr Singh said both the BJP and RSS, who have been known for their anti-Dalit stance through their political history, were now trying to woo the Dalits by announcing a few schemes.

He said it has been the Congress tradition of working to uplift Dalits, minorities and the weaker sections of the society and it never went back on its promises.

Contrary to the Congress tradition, the present Narendra Modi government has made it a point to divide the society in the name of caste and creed with the view to suppress the Dalit community in the country, he said.

Reminding the TRS president of his promise to make a Dalit the first Chief Minister of Telangana, former union minister S. Jaipal Reddy asked Mr Chandrasekhar Rao what happened to his promise made before the elections.

He said that just setting up a 125-feet tall Ambedkar statue would not undo the injustices done by the TRS government all these months.

TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, TPCC working president Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, AICC SC Cell convener Koppula Raju and other leaders also spoke.
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This article was published 12/04/2016 (2385 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO  Morneau Shepell Inc. has formed a strategic alliance with Indias leading provider of employee assistance programs.

The Toronto-based company  a leading provider of employee assistance programs in North America, and one of the worlds largest  says its combining forces with 1to1Help.net of Bangalore, India.

Employee assistance programs, or EAPs, arrange services that may help workers deal with personal, medical or mental health problems such as depression and suicide-prevention.

Morneau Shepell says the two companies will work together to provide EAP services to employees of multinational companies.

The company  founded in 1966 by the father of Canadas current finance minister  provides a number of human resources services to its clients and their employees.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau had been executive chairman until October, when he resigned the post following his election as a member of Parliament.
Hyderabad: Justice Challa Kodandaram of Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday granted an interim order directing the authorities and the Cyberabad police commissioner not to allow outsiders to meddle in the affairs of the University of Hyderabad and disturb the academic atmosphere there.

The judge granted the interim direction while dealing with a petition by Professor Gali Vinod Kumar, seeking a direction to the varsity to restore peace and academic atmosphere on the campus.

Prof. Kumar urged the court to direct the Vice-Chancellor and the police commissioner to take steps and ensure outsiders and political leaders were not allowed into the campus and deliver provocative speeches. This he said, was spoiling the educational career and academic atmosphere in the campus.

Nazeer Khan, counsel for the petitioner, while narrating the recent developments on the campus after suicide of research scholar Rohith Vemula, urged the court to direct the authorities to prevent the entry of outsiders into the varsity. The judge said that he was granting the interim order keeping in view the ensuing examinations.

Maoists death: Experts refuse to form opinion

Forensic experts of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, on Tuesday informed the Hyderabad High Court that it would difficult for them to express their opinion based on the video footage with regard to post-mortem of two Maoists killed in an encounter in Warangal in 2015.

A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Dilip B. Bhosale and Justice P. Naveen Rao was hearing a PIL by Chilaka Chandrasekhar, civil liberties activist, seeking a CBI probe into the deaths of Maoists Shruti and Vidyasagar near Tadwai mandal of Warangal district.

The petitioner alleged that the police killed the alleged Maoists after brutal torture and family members of the deceased noticed injuries caused by torture on the bodies.

The bench earlier sought expert opinion from the AIIMS by sending the video footage recorded while conducting the post-mortem of the bodies.

The forensic experts wrote that without examining the post-mortem report, it would be difficult for them to reach a conclusion.

While considering the letter, the bench asked S. Sharath Kumar, TS special counsel, to furnish the post-mortem report and other documents as sought by the forensic experts and also furnish the mobile numbers of doctors who conducted the post-mortem. If necessary, video conference should be arranged for the forensic experts to contact the Warangal doctors, the court said.

Asking the forensic experts to submit their opinion by June 15, the bench asked Mr Kumar to coordinate with the police, doctors and the experts and see that the task work was completed by June 15.

Plea against election of Vidyasagar dismissed

The Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday dismissed an election petition by K. Naresh Kumar challenging the election of K. Vidyasagar Rao from Korutla Assembly constituency in Karimnagar district.

Mr Kumar, who lost against Mr Rao of the TRS in the 2014 elections, moved the petition stating that though he had contested on Shiva Sena ticket, the returning officer failed to allot the correct party symbol resulting in confusion among the voters and in the victory of the TRS candidate.

He urged the court to declare the election void and it set aside. Justice M.S. Ramachandra Rao dismissed the plea on the ground that it was devoid of merit.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 12/04/2016 (2385 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA  Adapting to a changing climate used to be considered a cop-out or admission of defeat for policy makers and advocates when it came to addressing carbon emissions.

But the twin goals of stopping climate change before its most devastating impacts are fully felt and adapting to the changes already underway must now be considered together, a former White House climate adviser told an Ottawa adaptation conference Tuesday.

Adaptation Canada 2016 is a three-day national symposium thats examining everything from energy sector risks and opportunities to municipal infrastructure, forest management, shoreline erosion, public health and biodiversity.

We are swimming in challenges and really looking for opportunities, Kathy Jacobs, a scientist who advised President Barack Obamas White House science and technology policy from 2010 to 2014, said in a keynote address to open the conference.

The University of Arizona professor said the politically unpopular topic of managing potential climate impacts has been superseded by real-world changes already underway and the need to prepare for more dramatic impacts still to come.

Most engineers and many scientists were taught that there is a stationary set of assumptions you can use, said Jacobs. Maybe theres variability, but theres a historic range of variability and we can plan within that. But were sort of moving past that historic variability.

Gradual, long-term trends are not how societies feel a changing climate, said Jacobs.

Were experiencing it in the context of extreme events  whether its floods or its droughts or its invasive species. Its extreme events and cascading effects.

Federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna opened the conference by noting that the people of Canadas Arctic are already facing life-changing impacts.

While human history is one of climate adaptation, said McKenna, the current rate of global climate change is unprecedented compared to past changes that society has experienced.

Adaptation and climate resilience is the theme of one of the four policy working groups established this spring in Vancouver by the prime minister and the premiers, said McKenna, who noted the adaptation group was holding its first meeting Tuesday afternoon on the margins of the symposium.

On Wednesday, a group of former Environment Canada engineers and researchers will use the conference to launch a new, web-based platform that can be used to assess future climate impacts and how they might affect specific sectors in specific regions of the country.

The Climate Change Hazards Information Portal uses algorithms to crunch data from 40 of the most recent global climate models, historical meteorological information and other data such as building codes, dam safety guidelines and design standards for transmission towers in order to provide risk assessments that are as practical as possible for specific end-user groups, Erik Sparling, the director of Risk Sciences International, said in an interview.

These include design engineers, farmers, emergency management and community planners.

Sparling said the platform includes incident analyses so, by example, engineers can look up the number of roof collapses in the Halifax area caused by recent unprecedented snow loads  and design future buildings accordingly.

Peering into the future to assess climate change risks can come across as a crystal ball kind of activity, Jacobs had earlier told the conference, but thats no excuse to avoid proactive adaptation.

Managers make decisions about the future every day using imperfect information, she said.

I dont understand why climate change has such a high bar, said Jacobs.

Why is it that we can manage the economy and we can manage for population growth, when we have actually less information about human behaviour than we have about whats going on with the climate?

 Follow @BCheadle on Twitter
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 12/04/2016 (2385 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A former Scouts Canada volunteer has been sentenced to four years in prison for sexually abusing a Winnipeg teen involved in the program.

Larry Kiska, 46, pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation for having sex up to 100 times between May 2012 to December 2013 with the girl he met through Scouts after she turned 16.

Provincial court Judge Lindy Choy handed down her decision on Tuesday after hearing legal arguments earlier this year.

The victim previously told court the time with Kiska were the worst two years of my stolen young life and that she has attempted suicide and been under psychiatric care after coming forward to police.

You, Larry Kiska, told me you loved me and cared for me I realize now I was just scammed. Used for what you didnt get at home, she said in a victim impact statement. I will forever be left wondering why.

Crown attorney Debbie Buors told court the pair first had sex after everyone at a Scout camp had gone to sleep and they snuck out to a field with blankets. They went on to have sex numerous times including when the victim had a day off from high school.

They would usually get together in Kiskas car, but also stayed overnight for several nights in his home during a two-week period when his wife went out of the country for her mothers funeral. The sex escalated to using handcuffs and blindfolds on her.

Buors told court that Kiska also exchanged sexually explicit photos with the teen, and he continued the relationship even though his wife and Scouts Canada told him to stay away from her.

I have hurt many people, Kiska told court in February. I see how I abused my position of trust I was the adult and should have said no.

Defence counsel Mike Cook said Kiska wanted to plead guilty immediately after he was charged for what he called morally reprehensible actions. Kiska had no previous criminal record and he has been married for 20 years, with two children ages 16 and 12.

An internal memo, obtained last year by the Free Press, shows Scouts officials were first made aware of what they called concerns about Kiska in June 2012. They conducted an internal investigation that uncovered no criminal activity. Yet the organization suspended Kiska immediately, then terminated his services in September, 2012.

John Petitti, a spokesman for Scouts Canada, previously told the Free Press they handled the matter properly. He said officials spoke to several parties, including the young girl and her family, as part of their investigation. Petitti said no allegations of criminal activity were brought forward at the time.

If there were, we would have gone immediately to police, Petitti said. However, Scouts Canada still decided to take action against Kiska because it was clear to them he had violated a major rule within the organizations code of conduct.

You are never to be alone with a youth member, except in an emergency, Petitti said. Other volunteers had raised concerns about his compliance with that rule. Every one of our volunteers is well aware of it. With the violation of that rule, theres no room for it in our organization.

Kiskas lawyer said the victim was not forthcoming with Scouts officials in 2012.

They questioned her about my client but she did not respond to their inquiry, said Cook. I understand the complainant did not want the matter pursued.

Petitti said no other members have come forward to either Scouts Canada or police with similar allegations against Kiska, who began volunteering with the organization in 2007. He completed all training and police-screening requirements prior to working with youth, Scouts Canada said.

www.mikeoncrime.co
Opinion

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This article was published 12/04/2016 (2385 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Canada has now welcomed roughly 26,000 Syrian refugees since November, which from a distance may seem generous. The truth is that not only is this number small but the method by which the naturalized refugees are selected is deeply troubling.

The immediacy and the urgency of undocumented refugees within Europe cannot be the ethical responsibility only of the country on whose ground desperation pitches its tent.

Ive worked with the refugee community in France, Britain, Italy and elsewhere for some time. That work took me to Frances infamous Calais Jungle last winter, where I experienced both the expected and unexpected; all the tragedy and squalour, the humour and the colour. I returned to the jungle recently and was shocked at the unrecognizable landscape. It looks now like a shipping port of container goods.

A migrant child rides a bicycle at a camp set, outside Calais, France. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

The French government had recently ordered the site be demolished. It claimed this was due to sanitation issues when realistically the decision had as much to do with monitoring and control as humanitarian interest, as the camp had expanded to almost 6,000 residents from 1,500 in a year.

The displaced people I had met just a few months before, who were beginning to re-establish a space of cultural stability and personal identity, were gone. The nightclub they had recently built, the communal space for rap-battles, is now replaced with a collection of sterile and uniform storage units containing the more-vulnerable refugees who couldnt vacate the camp.

I witnessed this on the same day Prime Minister Justin Trudeau boasted about Canadas controlled and monitored screening process of the refugees. But was pride really in order?

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has been going through the established channels of the UNs refugee agency to make contact with those considered most vulnerable or deserving, such as complete families, women at risk and members of the LGBTI community. The contacted individuals are then put through a rigorous screening process to assess their health and any possible security risks. Like that golden number of 25,000, this process seems abstractly reasonable. But heres the rub:

In order for individuals to be registered as a refugee by the UN, their testimonials must be recorded, verified and updated  a process most nations have adopted. It sounds simple, but verifying your story when the majority of the people who could support it are not a phone call away or when the necessary documentation has been confiscated or lost at sea, is difficult if not impossible.

I have heard time and time again how individuals have felt pressured or manipulated to alter their story in order to reach an impossible standard of categorical clarity for them to be believable. This is tragically common when speaking to refugee women in detention centres who have found their accounts of sexual assault or of bartering their bodies for safe travel met with doubt and a request for a testimonial that was more verifiable. The trauma they have endured is largely beyond the imagination.

In other words, being a refugee and registering as one are not the same thing. Because of this, thousands of individuals are falling through the chasm, having their applications set aside until they can be proven  often a euphemism for rejection.

A lamentable case in point is the claim by Europol  the European Communitys law enforcement agency  that 10,000 refugee children have gone missing, thought to be victims of gang abuse and sex slavery. These are all children who do not have registered refugee status.

Canadas acceptance of 26,000 displaced individuals and the countrys attempt to provide stability and support is, of course, admirable, but the method of selection is not. This crisis cannot be boxed up into stackable container units or put through unrealistic registration trials. It is a time that cries out for humanity and Canada is covering its ears to the unverifiable voices that make them the most vulnerable.

Im sometimes ashamed to speak about my countrys five-phase plan to my European colleagues who think of Canada as a country of progress, tolerance, and kindness. Often we are, always we can be, but sometimes we arent. This is a Canadian moment in time, really, and the world is waiting.

Lucy Rose Coren is a freelance dramaturg and theatre-maker living in the U.K.
Opinion

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This article was published 11/04/2016 (2386 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NDP Leader Greg Selinger laid a page from his 2014 tax return on his kitchen counter, inviting reporters on Sunday to look at his declared income. The man whos hoping to keep his job says its all about transparency. But declaration of income is not the same as a persons net worth, where money and investments are held.

Somehow this is supposed to show Manitobans their premier has nothing to hide. I have no foreign holdings or accounts, he stated. Give him a pass on the Panama Papers litmus test, then. And by implication, according to the NDP, Tory Leader Brian Pallisters refusal to release his tax return for that one year is hiding something. Nefarious, no?

The NDP stunt was carefully managed, with the premier welcoming the media into his humble St. Boniface home, a nice contrast to the $2-million mansion Mr. Pallister lives in. House envy? Of course not. Mr. Selinger says that in the midst of the offshore-accounts scandal that has caught up a number of global leaders, Manitobans must be assured their politicians are not evading taxes and hiding pertinent financial information.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS files NDP Leader Greg Selinger chats with reporters in his home Sunday.

Yet, if Manitobans are interested in knowing where politicians have stashed their cash, they can inspect any MLAs declaration of assets, including interests they hold in corporations, property, stocks etc. That detail is filed at the beginning of each legislative session and members must update the material if the details change mid-session. This is part of the legislative assemblys conflict of interest act, kept on file to ensure no MLA or minister votes or acts on matters that could financially benefit them or their families.

On Sunday, Mr. Selinger said he and his wife own a cottage on a Lake of the Woods island and his wife owns a second cottage. Mr. Pallister, meanwhile, told reporters he owns property in Costa Rica, and pays Canadian taxes on interest from an account he has there.

Thats reasonable disclosure. What the NDP is trying to do, however, is paint Mr. Pallister as a wealthy guy  a sin, apparently, for a man who would be premier. The point of the stunt, presumably, is to reveal the Wellington Crescent resident is out of touch with ordinary, struggling Manitobans. But thats a stretch given that many and maybe most of the 99-per-centers in this province could say the same about Selinger, whose combined family income is north of $275,000.

If Mr. Selinger really believes the Opposition leader is hiding income from the taxman, he should say that. Instead, the party issued a news release posing a number of inflammatory questions: What is Mr. Pallister afraid of? What is in his tax return that he is hiding from the people of Manitoba?

They might have said the same, or more, about Liberal Leader Rana Bokhari, who released a page from her 2013 Revenue Canada statement, indicating the room she has in RSP contributions, which also gives her annual income. Asked for her 2014 statement, she said she didnt have it at hand, doesnt know if she filed one.

The Panama Papers controversy served as an excuse for the tax-return challenge, but the NDP merely dusted this one off from the 1988 campaign, when it was in similarly desperate shape. Then-leader Gary Doer laid his on the table, and so did his competition. It made no difference to the NDPs fortunes. Mr. Selinger says disclosing tax returns is merely good form for a political leader. If so, why just now? It didnt work in 1988. Unless Mr. Pallisters wifes name is found hiding in the client base of a law firm on a small, hot island nation, the NDP likely will ride this one, again, all the way to the other side of the House on April 19.
Strike continues at Racine Case tractor factory with no clear end in sight

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I was an ambassador of Wits

After 26 years at Wits dedicated parking officer, Michael Bodibe, dons his uniform for the last time.

For years Michael Bodibes presence on the Braamfontein Campus brought the feeling of both fear and reassurance.

The recently retired parking officer shared his story and what working at Wits meant to him. In this job, I was an ambassador of Wits. Every day I came across new people, local and international visitors who needed help with directions around the University. I made it my duty to help them have a positive experience at Wits.

A parking officer, Bodibe brought order to the busy road and parking spaces on campus. The seriousness with which he approached his job was appreciated by many because it meant that they could proceed with their activities with ease. This firmness has also been a source of rage for those who violate the Universitys road and parking rules.

On Thursday, 31 March 2016, Bodipe was manning his work station at the Wits Planetarium traffic circle for the last time having reached retirement age.

Even on his final day, his energy and dedication was just as high as he cheerfully directed cars, service trucks and graduation guests. Smiles quickly changed to shock at the news that Bodibe was retiring.

Having worked at Wits for 26 years, Bodibe said that the people are what he will miss most at the University.

The people here are warm and accommodating.

Many memories are shared as we sit down to lunch. One of his proud and saddest moments was in August 2011. Bodibe was patrolling the grounds when he realised that a student was standing on the ledge of the Amic Deck bridge that stretches over the busy M1-highway. His swift action stopped the suicide attempt.

This incident, although rare, illustrates the complex nature of the job. Parking attendants and guards often have to strike a balance between applying rules and being human.

The issue of illegal parking and issuing of parking fines or clamping in extreme cases are not things that he liked dealing with during his time.

Sometimes people had compelling reasons for being late, and you have to show compassion for their circumstances instead of going into an argument. You get into an argument and you mess up that persons entire day, Bodibe said.

Growing up in Soweto, the father of three aspired to be a bookkeeper. However, the political upheavals of the time interrupted his schooling. Bodibe said that his years at Orlando West High School were abnormal as the school was constantly under police surveillance having the likes of Tokyo Sexwale, who was his classmate. At one point he and other classmates were ordered to report to the police once a week to prove that they were still in the country and not involved in political activities.

Although he did not have the opportunity to fulfil his professional ambitions, Bodibe said he made the best of his job as a parking attendant.

Having given so many years to the University, Bodibe is now looking forward to spending his retirement at home with his wife and being a mkhulu to his grandchildren.
Chennai: With Assam and West Bengal going to the polls, the focus of the BJP leaders will shift to Tamil Nadu. Following the partys national chief Amit Shahs Tiruchy visit on April 13, a high profile contingent of party leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will hit the campaign trail in the state.

Though the schedule of the leaders is under preparation, Union ministers: Sushma Swaraj, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Smriti Irani and M. Venkaiah Naidu, besides partys MP Hema Malini would be touring the state individually and garner votes for the partys candidates and those of their allies.

Shah, who will address a huge rally in Tiruchy, would introduce the party candidates. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Tamil Nadu early next month for campaigning, BJP state president Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan said on Monday without divulging further details on the PMs visit.

It has been planned to work out a schedule for about 20 national leaders of the party to undertake the campaign for the May 16 Assembly elections. Their tour programme would be clubbed with their campaign schedule in the neighbouring poll bound Kerala.

I strongly believe that Vijayakanths DMDK lost its significance after it decided to align with PWA. When such is the case, the rebel group will hardly make an impact, she said when sought for her reaction to the newly floated Makkal DMDK.

The DMKs manifesto, Tamilisai said, would not be taken seriously by the electorate who had given that party opportunities in the past to rule the State.

The DMK had failed to deliver and hence the electorate will not take their poll promises seriously this time, she added.
Chennai: With all alliances in place for the Assembly elections on May 16, Tamil Nadu is set to witness a blitzkrieg of high-voltage campaigning involving not just the state leaders but also the stars from the north, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, besides her lieutenant-son Rahul Gandhi.

The BJPs top netas are expected to fly into the Dravidian state soon after party president Amit Shah addresses a poll rally at Tiruchy on April 13. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will campaign in Tamil Nadu early next month, BJP state president Dr Tamilisai Sounderarajan told reporters on Monday. She refused to give out details, obviously because she herself did not get the confirmed dates from the PMO.

The AICC headquarters on Akbar road in New Delhi is also busy drawing up the campaign schedules of its top leaders. Party president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi will share the dais with the DMK chief M Karunanidhi, according to TNCC president EVKS Elangovan. That could, perhaps, be the first time that Rahul would be meeting the grand old Dravidian on a public platform.

With the elections completed in Assam and West Bengal, the BJP and the Congress leaders in the national capital are planning their campaign trips down south in such a manner that they could club the halts in TN and Puducherry with those in neighbouring Kerala  all three go to polls on May 16.
Mutual admiration: W&M and the admitted Class of 2020

Welcome to W&M: Students look for their names on a banner during last year's Day for Admitted Students at William & Mary. Photo by Stephen Salpukas Photo - of - Hide Caption

You could say it was love at first sight for Michaela Flemming.

I walked onto campus and literally knew right away that W&M was where I was meant to be, she wrote in a Facebook post. If youve ever seen Say Yes to the Dress, I looked like one of those brides who just found their dress.

On March 23, Flemming found her love reciprocated when she was one of 5,093 students to be offered admission to William & Mary. More than 1,000 of those students and their families are expected on campus Saturday for the annual Day for Admitted Students, but the celebration has been ongoing since the offers were made.

Since Ive been accepted, Ive only gotten more and more excited to attend, Flemming wrote.

The admissions committee pored through 14,380 applications this year, offering admittance to 35.4 percent of the applicant pool. The university is expected to enroll a total of 1,520 freshmen in the fall, including 20 members of the St Andrews William & Mary Joint Degree Programme.

Eighty-six percent of the admitted students with a class rank are in the top 10 percent of their classes, and the median SAT score for the group is 1420.

Seven percent of the admitted students are international, and 35 percent are students of color. Additionally, students in all 50 U.S. states  along with Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands  received offers of admission.

"Beyond their impressive accomplishments and talents, what really stands out to me about the Class of 2020 is the way they've already come together as a community, said Tim Wolfe, associate provost for enrollment and dean of admission. I'm confident they will prove to be an excellent fit for William & Mary."

As soon as the offers went out, students took to social media to express their excitement, tagging their posts with #WM2020. Current students and alumni also posted on social media with the hashtag, welcoming the new students to the Tribe and reminiscing about when they received their own offers of admission to W&M. The posts have been collected on Storify and Tagboard.

The Office of Undergraduate Admission also recently launched a social media campaign  #whyWM  to show admitted students why alumni and current members of the campus community love the university. The campaign also seeks to hear from admitted students, like Flemming, about what drew them to the Tribe.

Better question: why wouldnt you want to go!!? wrote Alicia Draper on Facebook.

The campaign will run through mid-May, and the posts are being aggregated on Tagboard.
Historically, China has been the least obstructive member of the United Nations Permanent Security Council (comprising the United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France and China). The exclusive membership of the P5, which is rightfully sought by India, grants the power to veto and therefore enables any member to prevent the adoption of any substantive draft resolutions  the criticality of which is in the formal declaration (on behalf of the UN) of an individual, group or country to an act of commission or omission, directly or indirectly, within the context of the proposed draft and its implicit perceptions.

Since 1945, the Chinese have exercised the veto power just 11 times  though, for such a reluctant participant it has habitually snubbed India on Pakistan-related terror issues. In June 2015, China blocked an Indian resolution to question Pakistan on releasing Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, key commander of the terror group Lashkar-e-Tayyaba who was accused of the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai that had led to the loss of over 160 lives. This, in the face of overwhelming evidence, as corroborated by various international intelligence agencies.

So to that extent China blocking Indias bid to ban the terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammads chief and mastermind of the Pathankot terror attack, Masood Azhar, follows an established Chinese diplomacy and policy pattern. If in the earlier case of Lakhvi the Chinese line was that India had failed to provide enough information, this time the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Hong Lei, stated that China acted on such issues on facts and rules in an objective and just manner.

He probably gave away the real reason when he said, The Chinese side has always been in communication with relevant parties on the listing issue, alluding to the real arrangement of the famed irreplaceable, all-weather friendship of Pakistan and China that invariably converges on such platforms and issues, masked in vague diplomatic semantics.

This consistency of selective interventions at the cost of standing out as the lone opposing voice and vetoing Indian proposals amongst the P5 members played out three times when India sought to get Jamaat-ud-Dawa (political arm of Lashkar-e-Tayyaba in Pakistan) added to the UNSCs terror list (finally added to the sanctions list in December 2008). Even the leaked 2010 US state department cables revealed how the Chinese placed technical holds at Pakistans request to block UNSC sanctions against Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Al-Akhtar Trust (charity front for Jaish-e-Mohammad, designated as a terrorist support organisation by the US), or even list the dreaded terrorist Syed Salahuddin of the Hizbul Mujahideen.

Unsurprisingly, such unstinted support to Pakistani positions on untenable logic led the Pew Research Center to report in 2014 that the Pakistanis have the most favourable opinion of the Chinese, outside of China. Therefore, the strategic development of the Pearl Port in Gwadar, the $46 billion mega-infrastructural China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the joint development of the JF-17 Thunder fighter aircraft and Chinese help in building the Khushab nuclear reactor are all symptomatic of the Pakistani-Chinese equation of, geopolitical quid-pro-quo.

The single-party regime in China has allowed for a consistent and overtly strategic roadmap of Chinas vision, diplomacy and an unflinching quest to challenge the hegemonic run of the US. The world at large, and the West in particular, has been successfully lulled into believing that the opening of the Chinese economy would automatically lead to the emergence of a liberal, democratic and pacifist instinct  towards that end unprecedented acts of technology transfer, business opportunities and most-favoured nation (MFN) status have been extended by the Western powers, whilst the odd behavioural streaks, like Chinas recent veto, have been tolerated as it was India-centric.

If anything, the Chinese have dug in their heels with aggressive military build-ups, asserting their military footprint in the restive South China Sea with surreal brazenness and maintained duplicitous stand on global terror, as exposed by its support to Pakistan and North Korea, even at the cost of international outrage. Reality is, unlike its ready condemnation and support for proposals against the Taliban and ISIS which have a global impact (especially for the Western nations), it realises that it can get away by selectively cocking a snook at India.

The essential reality, post Chinese President Xi Jinpings visit to India in 2014 and the reciprocal visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May 2015, has exposed the hollowness of the initial claims of personal chemistry and the highest level receptions  fact remains, that even prior to the UN veto snub, the promised investments between India and China only stuttered in. Flare-ups on the India-China border continue with a certain regularity.

Theres dangerous meddling in the fragile Indo-Nepal sentiments are stoked with condescending concern for Nepals plight by China. Even economically, India still has a massive trade deficit with China, which increased by about 34 per cent in 2014-15. Suggested semblance of thaw between the two suspicious nations has changed little on ground  there is still no respite to the Chinese restrictions on import of value-added Indian goods and services such as pharmaceuticals and IT expertise.

Embarrassing reneging on the principal of reciprocity by Pakistans joint investigation team (JIT) on Pathankot and the flanking Chinese intransigence vis-a-vis India has a vital lesson on Indias focus on managing optics versus the Pakistani-Chinese realpolitik. India has to go beyond the theatrics of frenzied NRIs, ultra-nationalistic chest-thumping and charm offensives  it has to grind itself for the long haul of professional diplomatic engagements and hardnosed realpolitik. Initial enthusiasm for managing international headlines and appropriating the most internationally-savvy credentials, needs to be sobered down and handled with less fanfare and more dexterity.

The Pakistanis have reiterated their stand of duplicitous absurdities, the Nepalis are increasingly cosying up to the Chinese and China continues with its strategic chicanery. The US, amidst all this, ends up giving F-16s and attack helicopters to Pakistan (ostensibly to take on terrorists!). In the end, India ends up looking silly, sulky (pointing to the imminent Islamist threat within China and its dangerous import to them in the days to come), and amateurishly over-enthusiastic about country-hopping, but really ending up with a disgruntled neighbourhood like never before.




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Almost 102 years after Canada turned away more than 376 migrants, mostly Sikhs from India,

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will formally apologise on May 18 for the incident that happened due to "discriminatory laws of the time".

Speaking at the Baisakhi celebration in Ottawa yesterday, Trudeau said that the Komagata Maru's passengers were seeking refuge and better lives, "like millions of immigrants to Canada since".

"With so much to contribute to their new home, they chose Canada. And we failed them utterly," the prime minister said, adding that the passengers were refused entry to Canada due to "discriminatory laws of the time".

"As a nation, we should never forget the prejudice suffered by the Sikh community at the hands of the Canadian government of the day. We should not and we will not," Trudeau said at the Gurdwara Sahib Ottawa Sikh Society.

He further said that he will "formally apologise" on May 18 in the House of Commons, 102 years after the infamous incident, Toronto Star reported.

The Japanese steamship Komagata Maru, carrying 376 immigrants, mostly Sikhs, from India was denied entry by the Canadian government in May 1914 and was forced to return to India.

Two months later, the ship arrived in Calcutta where British soldiers fired upon the disembarking passengers in which 19 people died.

A painful chapter in the history of Sikhs in Canada, the incident also highlighted the discriminatory immigration policies Canada had followed against Asian immigrants in the 19th century.

Former prime minister Stephen Harper did apologise for the incident at a public event in British Columbia in 2008, but the Sikh-Canadians were demanding a formal statement in the Parliament.

Trudeau-led Liberal Party, which has four Sikh ministers in the cabinet, has promised a formal apology during the election campaign last year.
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Washington: A US Navy flight officer with knowledge of sensitive American intelligence collection methods faces espionage charges over suspicions he passed secret information to Taiwan and possibly to China, US officials said.

US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, identified the suspect as Lieutenant Commander Edward Lin, who was born in Taiwan and later became a naturalised US citizen, according to a Navy article profiling him in 2008. Lin was a flight officer assigned to the Special Projects Patrol Squadron, with experience managing the collection of electronic signals from the EP3-E Aries II signals intelligence aircraft, officials said.

Information about how the US Navy carries out such signals collection operations could be highly valuable to a foreign government. A heavily redacted Navy charge sheet twice accused the suspect of communicating secret information and three times of attempting to do so "with intent or reason to believe it would be used to the advantage of a foreign nation".

The suspect was also accused of engaging in prostitution and adultery. The document was redacted to blot out Lin's name and did not identify what foreign country or countries were involved. The US officials said both Taiwan and China were possibly those countries but stressed the investigation was still ongoing.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest confirmed that a Navy officer was in custody on espionage charges at Navy Consolidated Brig in Chesapeake, Virginia but declined to offer additional information. A US official told Reuters that Lin was apprehended at an airport in Hawaii, possibly while attempting to leave the country. He has been held in pretrial confinement for the past eight months or so, US officials said.

The US Navy profiled Lin in a 2008 article that focused on his naturalisation as a US citizen, saying his family left Taiwan when he was 14 and stopped in different countries before coming to America. "I always dreamt about coming to America, the 'promised land,'" he said. "I grew up believing that all the roads in America lead to Disneyland."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said he was not aware of the details of the case. He did not elaborate. China's Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Taiwan's Defense Ministry said it had no information on the case. Taiwan's Foreign Ministry declined to comment. Lin enlisted in the Navy in 1999 and held a variety of positions over his 17-year carrier, including working on the staff of an assistant secretary of the Navy from 2012 to 2013. He served on the Norfolk-based aircraft carrier Eisenhower from 2009 to 2010.
Selina Bidace

By: Feng Qian

A man of the United Kingdom, was jailed for assaulting his girlfriend after she refused to have sex with him.

The woman called police after Xavier Prevatt, 25, beat her up and broke her nose.

Prevatt accused Selina Bidace, of cheating on him because she refused to have sex with him. Bidace said that she was unable to have sex because she was having her period.

Prosecutors said that Prevatt, lured his girlfriend to Primrose Hill park in London, so they can talk, but instead, he demanded sex.

When she refused, Prevatt threatened to rape her in front of her son.

He then beat her, punched her and broke her nose while telling the victim: ayouare not going to use your looks to get a new man.a

Prevatt pleaded guilty to assault at the Blackfriars Crown Court, and he was sentenced to two years in prison.
Young children (illustration)

By: Mahesh Sarin

A father killed his young children by forcing them drink poison before committing suicide after his wife ran out of the home and did not return, police in Zimbabwe said.

Macheke police said that 40-year-old Tendai Tambanda, and his two children, Elton, 7, and Stallion, 12, were all pronounced dead at the Marondera Hospital.

According to the police investigation, the trouble started when Tambanda had an argument with his wife. After the fight, Tambandas wife stormed out of the home, and did not return.

She did not let anyone know where she was heading. After a few days, Tambanda became extremely depressed and decided to kill himself and his children.

Tambanda forced their children to drink a poisonous substance before drinking some himself. After the heinous act, Tambanda went home to his brother and told him what he had done.

The brother quickly took Tambanda and his children to the Marondera Hospital, but they all died of poisoning.
Russian servicemen check for mines in Palmyra, Syria. Russian combat engineers arrived in Syria on a mission to clear mines in the ancient town of Palmyra, which has been recaptured from Islamic State militants in an offensive that has proven Russias military might in Syria despite a drawdown of its warplanes. (Photo: AP)

Washington: The United States is "very, very concerned" about an increase in Syrian violence just ahead of planned peace talks in Geneva this week, a State Department spokesman said on Monday, blaming Syrian government forces for the escalation in fighting.

"We are very, very concerned about the recent increase in violence and that includes actions that are in contravention of the cessation of hostilities," spokesman Mark Toner told a news briefing. He said Secretary of State John Kerry conveyed the US concerns in a phone call with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, on Sunday. "We would say that the vast majority of violations have been on the part of the regime," Toner said when asked who was to blame for violations.

Kerry wanted to make sure that in the next days leading up to peace talks "every extra effort is made in order to sustain and solidify the cessation of hostilities," Toner said. Washington's worries come as the Syrian army appeared to send reinforcements to the ancient city of Aleppo, threatening a fragile truce in the run-up to the second round of peace negotiations.

The ceasefire was agreed in February between the United States, which backs Syrian opposition groups, and Russia, which together with Iran supports the Syrian government. UN-sponsored talks aimed at ending the five-year conflict are meant to resume on Wednesday. The first round made little progress with no sign of compromise over the thorniest issue, the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Toner said the United States wanted to make sure that opposition forces were not attacked as the Syrian army seeks to take Aleppo. "If they are attacking members of the Syrian opposition who have signed on to the cessation of hostilities, then those are violations of the cessation of hostility," Toner said, adding: "We need greater clarity what is actually planned, who are they targeting."
Attempted Late Night Robbery in Wrexham

This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Apr 12th, 2016

North Wales Police are appealing for witnesses to an attempted robbery in a Wrexham village late last night.

The incident took between 10:30pm and 10:50pm on Monday April 11th on Church Street, in Rhosllanerchrugog, near the Oriental Tandoori Takeaway.

The male victim, who is in his early 20s was assaulted by a man who tried to steal his bag. The offender, who is described as 5ft 11ins tall and wearing black clothes ran off empty-handed down Wern Lane after he was disturbed by the lights of an approaching motorist.

A female motorist stopped her car and assisted the victim, who was not seriously hurt.

Police are keen to speak to motorist and to anyone else who may have information that could assist the investigation.

Call 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 quoting reference U052087.
Other aid groups voiced concern about the revelation that the name of the Red Cross had been usurped in shady financial dealings. (Photo: AFP)

London: Some of the world's biggest aid agencies voiced concern on Monday that they may be further exposed to risk from the murky world of offshore finance after the latest release of the Panama Papers showed the name of the Red Cross was falsely used.

The cache of documents revealed how Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca created dummy foundations, with one of its fictitious beneficiaries listed as the "International Red Cross".

The misappropriation of the International Committee of the Red Cross' (ICRC) name was condemned by the Swiss-based agency and other international aid organizations concerned about the reputational risk this may carry for the sector as a whole.

The leaked emails, which first appeared in European newspapers, suggested the law firm used the humanitarian organisation as a cover when facing down demands for information from prying banks and financial institutions.

"It has become difficult to withhold the identity of the beneficiary," one of the alleged emails from an unnamed Mossack Fonseca staffer said.

"This is the reason why we created this structure, that is, appointing the International Red Cross (sic). So it is not complicated," the leaked 2009 email said.

The ICRC said it was not previously aware that the name of its organization had been misappropriated and would investigate.

But the leaked emails exposed the risk charities take in accepting private donations, whose origins can sometimes be hard to trace.

An ICRC spokeswoman, Jenny Tobias, said the organization "cannot be 100 percent sure" other private donors do not have links to the Panamanian law firm, as it has "neither the means nor the expertise" to examine each and every fund or trust.

The agency, which depends on the generosity of governments for more than 80 percent of its funding, has a number of due diligence procedures in place for all donations, including anonymous ones, over 100,000 Swiss francs ($105,000), she said.

"We strive to ensure the funds we receive will not contravene our principles of action and jeopardize our humanitarian operations for those most is need," Tobias said.

'Lack of Morals'

Other aid groups voiced concern about the revelation that the name of the Red Cross had been usurped in shady financial dealings.

"This shocking lack of morals is damaging not only to charities but to the people we work to help in the poorest parts of the world," said Ben Jackson, chief executive of Bond, a network of 450 charitable organizations.

Oxfam said the use of the Red Cross name was "concerning".

"This is another example of why the secrecy and shady practices surrounding tax havens needs to be urgently addressed," an Oxfam spokesman said.

Mossack Fonseca did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the documents regarding the Red Cross first published on Sunday in France's Le Monde, together with Swiss newspapers, Sonntags Zeitung and Le Matin Dimanche.

Tobias said the ICRC was concerned about the potential impact on the safety of its 1,500-strong global workforce which prides itself on remaining neutral in conflict and disaster zones.

"Trust by all actors is essential to protect its staff and enable its humanitarian action for those most in need," Tobias said.

The name of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) also appeared to have been falsely used in Mossack Fonseca paperwork.

The nature conservation organization said it had no knowledge of and had never given consent to the use of its name by "so-called Panamanian foundations".

The latest Panama Papers leaks add to a slew of files revealing financial arrangements of prominent global figures, including friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin, relatives of the prime ministers of Britain and Pakistan, as well as Ukraine's president.

The scandal broke more than a week ago when an investigation was published, with German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung saying it had received a cache of 11.5 million leaked documents from Mossack Fonseca.

It then shared them with more than 100 other international news outlets and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
Alpha Natural Resource has filed a petition with the US Bankruptcy Court in Richmond, Virginia asking permission to shred its collective bargaining agreements with the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). The move threatens the living standards of the companys 610 current unionized employees, as well as 4,800 retirees and dependents.

The UMWA has been in negotiations with Alpha since December to maintain its contracts on the basis of imposing deep concessions on miners. In January, Alpha delivered the UMWA a proposal which would save the company $60 million through reductions in wages, benefits and working conditions. The proposal also includes language, which would nullify the collective bargaining agreements entirely if unionized facilities assets are sold, a move currently underway.

For its part, the UMWA has delivered only a single counterproposal on March 9, which included $2 million in concessions, the maintenance of collective bargaining agreements and language, which would facilitate it extending its franchise into Alphas non-union operations. The UMWA bureaucracy is solely concerned with maintaining its flow of membership dues. In the end, it hopes it can cut a deal similar to those reached in the bankruptcies of Patriot Coal and Walter Energy, which will allow it to continue representing miners.

The Bristol, Virginia-based Alpha, which operates coal mines in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, western Virginia and Wyoming, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on August 3, 2015, at the time claiming it had $10.1 billion in total assets and $7.1 billion in debts. In its March 28 petition, the company complained it lost $126 million in the first two months of the year on top of the $1.47 billion it lost in 2015.

Alpha is currently operating on a $692 million financial package from Citigroup and has hired the notorious Jones Day law firm to oversee its bankruptcy. Jones Day specializes in anti-worker legal services and was involved in, among others, the bankruptcies of American Apparel in October 2015, Radio Shack in February 2015, the city of Detroit in 2013 and Hostess in 2011.

As detailed in Alphas petition, the company has implemented a brutal cost-cutting campaign between 2012 and its bankruptcy filing in 2015, idling or closing more than 80 mines and laying off some 6,000 non-union workers and 450 union workers. Since 2013, Alpha has cut more than $173 million in benefits to non-union workers, including eliminating prescription drug coverage, three holidays and employer matches to 401(k) retirement programs. It also implemented premiums for dental and vision coverage and dumped its retirees onto the Affordable Healthcare Act exchanges with reduced subsidies from the company.

However, as the March 28 petition makes clear, the attacks have only deepened since its June 2015 bankruptcy filing. Since then, Alpha has idled or converted to contract-mining status an additional 10 mines in Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, while laying off another 1,419 non-union workers and 248 union workers.

Alpha says its union legacy obligations are daunting and complains of having spent $52.9 million on health care benefits in 2015 alone while its accrued retiree health care obligations had ballooned to $872 at the time of its bankruptcy filing. While implementing wage cuts and freezes on its non-union workforce, Alpha claims that since 2011 wages have increased more than 15 percent.

According to its restructuring plan, Alpha seeks to achieve $200 million in annual cost savings, including about $60 million of which it says must be wrenched from its UMWA employees. If these savings cannot be achieved, the company warns it will be forced to liquidate its assets.

In a move reminiscent of the bankruptcies at Patriot and Walter Energy, Alpha has secured court approval to sell some of its core assets; however, all the potential qualified bidders have indicated that they will not purchase any assets, which retain UMWA labor and legacy obligations.

Alpha was formed in 2002 with just seven employees and rose over the course of the next decade to become the nations second-largest coal company through various acquisitions. It produces both thermal coal used in electricity generation and metallurgical coal for steelmaking. The company is heavily dependent on exports to the global market, including Europe and China, from which it derives nearly 40 percent of its revenue.

Following the deadly explosion at Massey Energys Upper Big Branch (UBB) mine in April 2010, which killed 29 West Virginia coal miners, Alpha acquired the beleaguered company in a $7.1 billion deal in June 2011 and subsequently reached a $210 million settlement with the Obama administration granting immunity from any future corporate criminal liability associated with the UBB disaster. Following the acquisition, Alpha employed 14,500 employees and operated 145 coal mines and 35 coal preparation plants.

Alphas acquisition of Massey gave it control of Masseys prized metallurgical coal holdings just as metallurgical coal prices were peaking in 2011 at $330 per ton, driven in part by the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan and several typhoons disrupting the Australia coal industry that year. The move represented an optimistic bet on the global economy and continued demand for metallurgical coal from the emerging economies, in particular China.

However, in 2012 the economic crisis inaugurated in 2008 finally caught up with the coal industry, which has since entered an historic decline. Last year, Chinas economic growth slowed to its lowest rate in 25 years and analysts with Goldman Sachs forecast that benchmark metallurgical coal prices will fall to $75 this year. More than 1.5 million coal miners and steelworkers are facing layoffs.

According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), US coal production in 2015 reached its lowest level since 1986. A January report in Bloomberg Business noted the historic rout being suffered by the coal industry, claiming, Over the past five years, the industry has lost 94 percent of its market value, from $68.6 billion to $4.02 billion.

In addition to the collapse of the metallurgical coal market, thermal coal has also faced increasing competition from cheap and abundant natural gas, the result of the development of horizontal drilling techniques and the increased use of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, of the nations underground shale formations. In its Short-Term Energy Outlook released in March, the EIA forecasted, 2016 will be the first year that natural gas-fired generation exceeds coal generation in the United States on an annual basis.

All of this has led to a raft of high-profile coal company bankruptcies, including Arch Coal in January, Walter Energy in July 2015, James River Coal in April 2014, Edison Mission Energy in December 2012 and Patriot Coal, first in July 2012 and again in May 2015. Last month, Peabody Energythe worlds largest coal producerannounced it was on the verge of filing for bankruptcy with coal producers Foresight Energy and Cloud Peak Energy indicating they are not far behind.

The UMWAs response to the collapse of the coal industry and the attacks of the coal companies has been to promote the Democrats and the passage of the Miners Protection Act, legislation which would free up funds from the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund to pay for retired miners health benefits, a move largely to protect the UMWAs financial interests. Hostile to any struggle to unify miners internationally against the global energy giants, the UMWA has joined the coal industry to promote economic nationalism.

At its most recent solidarity rally held on April 1 in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, the union bused in some 5,000 miners and retirees from surrounding states for a march and speeches from union bureaucrats and Democratic Party politicians, which invoked religion and stoked nationalism.

One speaker was Ron Baker, a member of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Union and a coordinator of the reactionary nationwide boycott of Mexican-made Nabisco products. He spent his speech blasting the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Trans-Pacific Partnership for sending American jobs overseas.
Nearly one month after returning to work, 2,000 workers at Allegheny Technologies Inc. (ATI) are being subjected to a management dictatorship with the full complicity of the United Steelworkers union (USW). The conditions now faced by ATI workers demonstrate the magnitude of the betrayal carried out by the USW in the contract it forced through on March 1.

The USW called the sellout agreement ending the seven-month long ATI lockout a victory. The title of the contract summary handed workers before the ratification vote was How ATIs Assault on Our Contract Imploded. After ratification, USW International President Leo Gerard claimed, The strength and solidarity of our union paid off with a fair contract that contains virtually none of the drastic concessions ATI sought to arbitrarily impose.

In fact ATI workers have been thrown back decades. After isolating locked-out ATI workers from the hundreds of thousands of workers engaged in contract battles in steel, auto, telecommunications and other industries, the USW forced through a contract that gives in to all of ATIs major demands. The agreement essentially reduces workers to the status of casual laborers, completely at the mercy of the company and its USW accomplices.

ATI workers began to return to the factories on March 14, exactly seven months after the lockout began. Once back on the job they confronted a bosses dictatorship. Workers were informed that the USW had agreed to suspend grievance procedures for 60 days. ATI bosses took this as a blank check to subjugate and humiliate workers.

For four of the seven months during which they were locked out, ATI workers did not receive adequate health care coverage, and one month they spent without unemployment benefits. During this time they received insulting grocery cards from the USW of $50-100 a week instead of strike pay. As a result, most workers were forced to drain their savings.

After all this, the USW is saying workers must now front money for medical bills while their health insurance is restored piecemeal, thus forcing workers to rely on future reimbursements from a company that locked them out for seven months.

In addition, with the complicity of the USW, ATI appears to be cheating workers out of compensation they are owed. Although workers were supposed to receive supplemental unemployment benefits from ATI, workers report discovering this fact only after the deadline to submit the paperwork has passed. One worker reports receiving a paycheck that does not include the $1 an hour raise promised in the contract.

The conditions at ATI are a stark warning to the 12,000 USW members who have been without a contract since September 1 at the worlds largest steel manufacturer ArcelorMittal. Undoubtedly the ATI contract will serve as a model for what these workers can expect.

Workers returned to find vandalized and damaged facilities, the product of seven months of scab labor. Workers report finding the locomotive shop littered with human feces, left by departing Strom Engineering scabs. Many machines were broken, either from incompetence or sabotage. Maintenance workers reported that their lockers had been broken into and their tools stolen.

Even as scabs were defiling ATIs facilities, the company provided numerous amenities it had previously withheld. Workers report finding new heating and air conditioning units installed, and new safety walkways with guardrails.

Workers report that much of the remaining workforce has not been called back, even at the plants that are still operating. Roughly 200 older workers retired under duress during the lockout. Even so, younger workers report being uncertain as to whether they will be called back full time.

Those that have been called back are working regularly scheduled 12-hour shifts. They are often forced to work on several machines per shift, effectively doing the jobs of multiple workers. At the same time, some workers report being forced to wait idly for hours.

They say the scheduling is because its an emergency situation, explained one worker. One of the reasons we went out was for scheduling. Before the lockout, workers at ATIs Brackenridge plant were regularly scheduled seven days a week, for 10-12 hours a shift. One Brackenridge worker reported working over 4,000 hours in one year, equivalent to 80 hours a week.

These scheduling practices are permitted under the contract language agreed to by the USW. Indeed, workers can be forced to work up to 16-hour days with no notice under emergency situations.

In effect, management has free rein. While the USW agreed to waive the arbitration process 60 days, this may be extended for the time period the company says is necessary to restore production.

Even with hundreds of workers on layoff, ATI bosses continue to perform many of the jobs they took over during the lockout. Operation of ATIs seven internal trucks has been almost entirely taken over by management personnel. Bosses also operate cranes and forklifts. The USW had led workers to believe that contract language allowing bosses to do their jobs was only for the purpose of training new workers.

Workers report that a large number of outside contractors have been brought in to perform maintenance work, even as experienced maintenance workers remain laid off. This increase in contracting is also permitted under the new contract during so-called surge conditions.

External trucking was contracted out before the lockout. As a result, the current truckers are largely the same people who crossed the picket line throughout the lockout.

Health care coverage, which ATI cut off in November 2015, was not immediately reinstated after the contract was ratified. Instead, workers were forced to re-apply for coverage, a process that can take weeks. There was a week or two where we didnt know how we were covered, one worker reported. I heard stories about people going to the doctor, and hearing that their coverage hadnt started yet. The union told them to just keep their receipts, and the company would reimburse them.

ATI, like steel companies all over the world, is faced with a major downturn in the industry, as steel demand plummets, particularly in China. Global steel overcapacity is over 300 million tons, substantially more than all US steel production capacity. As a result, the price of benchmark hot-rolled coil steel fell from over $600/ton in February 2013 to under $300/ton in December 2015.

Like unions the world over, the USW is determined to keep domestic steel companies profitable by attacking the living standards of steelworkers in the US, and promoting economic nationalism to turn US workers against their brothers and sisters in other countries.

Only days after the contract ratification, the USW launched an anti-dumping lawsuit against Chinese sheet and strip steel, in direct partnership with ATI and other US-based steel companies.

The bitter experience of ATI workers demonstrates the pro-company, anti-worker character of the USW. Workers can win nothing within the straitjacket of the corporatist trade unions. We urge workers to form rank-and-file committees independent of the USW and management to fight for their interests.
The installation of a new president and government in Burma on March 31 has been hailed in the international press and by the United States and its allies as the unfolding of democracy. President Barack Obama issued a statement declaring that it represents a historic milestone in the countrys transition to a democratically elected, civilian-led government. He praised the countrys people, institutions and leaders for ensuring a peaceful transition of power.

In reality, the new National League for Democracy (NLD)-led government, in which the military still hold major levers of power, is the result of closed-door wheeling and dealing between NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi and top army generals. It has nothing to do with the democratic rights of the Burmese people.

Obama has given his stamp of approval to the new regime not because it represents a step toward democracy, but because it will be more oriented to Washington than toward Beijing. Indeed, Obama counts the shift by the Burmese junta away from China in 2011 as a significant achievement of his pivot to Asia, which is aimed at undermining Chinese influence throughout the Indo-Pacific region.

However, tensions remain between the military and the NLD that are evident in the formation of the new government. While the military embraced the NLDs policies of reorienting to the West and opening up to foreign investors, the generals are determined to prevent civilian interference in their affairs, preserve their substantial economic interests and retain the ability to intervene politically should the need arise.

The junta drew up the present constitution to ensure that Suu Kyi could not assume the powerful post of president, which has gone to her nominee and close collaborator Htin Kway. Suu Kyi and the NLD, which represents sections of the Burmese ruling elite who were marginalised economically and politically under the junta, have sought to expand their role in the government.

Suu Kyi has taken on four key ministerial postsforeign affairs, education, electric power and energy and minister of the presidents officein the 18-member cabinet. As foreign minister, she will have a seat on the powerful National Defence and Security Council (NDSC). The council remains under the control of the military, which appoints six of its 11 members.

The constitution gives the NDSC sweeping powers, including exercising legislative, executive and judicial powers during a declared state of emergency. It also has the right to recommend names for the president to grant amnesties, and thus might be used to challenge cabinet decisions on the release of political prisoners.

The military has a strong presence in the cabinet and government overall. Three serving lieutenant-generals appointed by armed forces commander General Min Aung Hlaing fill the posts of defence, home affairs and border affairs ministers. Under the constitution, the military also nominates its appointees to 25 percent of parliamentary seats.

To further placate the military, Suu Kyi has appointed two retired generalsAung Ko as religious affairs minister and Thein Swe as labour, immigration and environmental minister. Both were members of the military-dominated United Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) that was routed in national elections last November.

In an interview with Voice of America, Aung Ko defended the USDP governments promotion of Burmese Buddhist supremacism and anti-Muslim chauvinism. He said the regimes over support for Buddhism had been misunderstood: while Buddhists were full citizens, religious minorities were not deliberately oppressed and the countrys Muslims were the largest group of associate citizens.

Aung Kos reference to Muslims as second-class citizens provoked outrage inside Burma and overseas. The systematic discrimination and persecution of the Muslim Rohingya minority, many of whom are denied citizenship, permeates the entire political establishment, including the NLD. Not accidently, the NLD ran no Muslim candidates in last Novembers election.

The appointment of ex-general Thein Swe as immigration minister is a clear concession to the military. The old parliament rejected the militarys demands that the immigration post be reserved for a general. Suu Kyi has de facto conceded the position to the military, and, with it, control of Rohingya refugees.

Of the remaining cabinet posts, four have gone to NLD members who are trusted Suu Kyi loyalists. Another five have been allocated to so-called independents, business figures or technocrats. The remaining position of ethnic affairs minister has been given to the Mon National Party.

To try to consolidate her position in this unstable, divided cabinet, Suu Kyi has moved to establish a new cabinet-level post of state counsellorin effect, a de facto prime minister with wide powers to consult the parliamentary and executive branches of government. The upper house of parliament on March 31 voted 137 to 70 to create the position, against the opposition of the military, and specifically nominated Suu Kyi for the job. The lower house passed the legislation last week despite military nominees standing in protest.

Since releasing her from house arrest in 2010, the military has forged close working relations with Suu Kyi, who has been systematically promoted by the US and its allies as an icon of democracy. Under the previous USDP government, she served as a virtual ambassador at large, promoting Burma to foreign investors and pushing for the removal of international sanctions.

The generals, however, fear being marginalised, with their interests threatened, if Suu Kyi emerges as the countrys de facto political leader within Burma and on the world stage. Commenting to the Wall Street Journal about the installation of Suu Kyi as state counsellor, former Lieutenant General Khin Zaw Oo warned: The relationship between the NLD and the military will be impacted.

Having assumed her new role, Suu Kyi announced that the hundreds of political prisoners arrested under the military and still in detention would be freed. Last Friday, the police dropped 199 cases against political activists around the country. Those freed included dozens of student activists in central Tharrawaddy who had been detained for more than a year over an education protest in March 2015.

While the decision to release the political prisoners will further exacerbate tensions with the military, Suu Kyi is desperate to shore up her image as democrat amid criticism of her close collaboration with the generals. She needs to muster her support as the governments next steps, particularly in extending pro-market restructuring, are likely to be highly unpopular.
A leaked transcript published April 1 by WikiLeaks of a March 19 teleconference between leading International Monetary Fund (IMF) officials Delia Velculescu, head of the IMF Representative Mission to Greece and Poul Thomsen, director of the IMFs European Department, lifts the lid on the underhand and criminal methods employed to enforce austerity on the Greek working class.

The leak was timed just before the commencement of talks on April 4 between Greeces pseudo-left Syriza government and the quartet of its creditorsthe European Commission, European Central Bank, IMF and the European Stability Mechanism. The purpose of the talks is to agree on further austerity measures to be implemented by Syriza and its xenophobic coalition partners, the Independent Greeks, in return for its next loan tranche worth 5.7 billion.

The discussion between Thomsen and Velculescu centered on differences between the European Union (EU) and IMF regarding how to enforce the terms of Greeces third austerity package, signed by Syriza Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras last August.

Referring to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Thomsen is quoted as saying, Look you, Mrs. Merkel, you face a question. You have to think about what is more costly: to go ahead without the IMF, would the Bundestag say The IMF is not on board?or to pick the debt relief that we think that Greece needs in order to keep us on board?

The German government, leading the rest of the EU behind it, is opposed to a haircut of Greeces 300 plus billion debt, given that it holds the biggest portion of it. Following a meeting with IMF chief Christine Lagarde on April 5, Merkel reiterated this position by claiming that a Greek haircut is legally not possible in the Eurozone.

The IMF has long stated that its participation in Greeces third Memorandum is conditional on a partial write-down of the debt, in return for even more draconian austerity measures than those currently being imposed.

On the conference call, Velculescu complained that the EU is backtracking on the issues of pension reform, income tax credit, VAT and the wage bill, while Thomsen stated that if [Greece] come around to give us 2.5 percent [of GDP in tax hikes and pension-wage-benefits cuts]... we should be fully behind them.

Thomsen and Velculescu expressed concerns that the prospect of resolving differences over Greece could be long and drawn out and further exacerbated by the June 23 Brexit referendum called by the British government on whether the UK remains in the EU.

According to Thomsen, The Europeans are not going to have any discussions for a month before the Brexits and so, at some stage they will want to take a break and then they want to start again after the European referendum.

To avoid this scenario, Thomsen and Velculescu expressed the need for a credit event to force the EU and Greece to accept the IMFs line and avoid prolonged negotiations. The transcript states:

Thomsen: What is going to bring it all to a decision point? In the past there has been only one time when the decision has been made and then that was when they were about to run out of money seriously and to default. Right? [Emphasis added]

Velculescu: Right!

Velculescu then states the IMF could put an ultimatum to Germany in April, motivating this exchange:

Thomsen: But that is not an event. That is not going to cause them to That discussion can go on for a long time. And they are just leading them down the road why are they leading them down the road? Because they are not close to the event, whatever it is.

Velculescu: I agree that we need an event, but I dont know what that will be. But I think [Jeroen] Dijsselbloem [president of the Eurogroup] is trying not to generate an event, but to jump start this discussion somehow on debt, that essentially is about us being on board or not at the end of the day.

This extraordinary exchange is an expression of the gangster-like modus operandi of the financial elite, who will stop at nothing to preserve their wealth and stranglehold over societyeven if it means bankrupting and destroying an entire country. It gives the lie to the claim that blind market forces dictate the fate of the Greek economy, as opposed to conscious policy decisions designed to assert and preserve the class rule of the global financial aristocracy.

The public outcry in Greece following the revelations was not matched by Syriza. In a letter to Lagarde, addressed Dear Christine, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras tamely asked whether Thomsens and Velkuleskus position reflects the official IMF view and whether  Greece can trust, and continue negotiating in good faith with IMF officials who express views such as those expressed in these publications. He concluded his letter by groveling, As always, I would be happy to talk to you any time on these issues, as I am sure your share my concern.

In reply Lagarde claimed that any speculation that IMF staff would consider using a credit event as a negotiating tactic is simply nonsense.

Without a shred of evidence, she essentially blamed the Greek government for the transcript being made public and demanded the [Greek] authorities ensure an environment that respects the privacy of [the IMF teams] internal discussions and take all necessary steps to guarantee their personal safety.

Anxious to comply with Lagardes diktat, Tsipras government sent 15 armoured police vans and riot police to surround the Hilton hotel in Athens where officials of the quartet were meeting with the governments economic team. This was in response to a small 300-strong protest, organised by public sector trade union federation ADEDY with the participation of pseudo-left outfits Popular Unity and Antarsya.

Alongside its private sector counterpart, GSEE, ADEDY has called countless one-day general strikes over the last six years in order to dissipate workers anger, while one austerity package after another has been forced through the Greek parliament. This treachery culminated in their endorsing a Yes vote in last Julys referendum, in opposition to the overwhelming No vote by the population against, on whether Greece should accept a third memorandum of austerity.

The talks are continuing this week in Athens. Germany is anxious to prevent any wrong signals being sent regarding a let-up in continent-wide austerity, with Greece at its epicenter, while the US-led IMF is anxious to maintain its tough stance globally. Speaking to Bloomberg, Jacob Kirkegaard, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, said, The IMF is gearing up for new clients in the emerging economies. That is not best done by being soft on Greece.

Syriza, which came to power in January last year on a mandate to oppose austerity, is now despised by many who voted for it. According to a poll published by the University of Macedonia April 1, it trails the conservative New Democracy by eight points.

Syriza is keen to demonstrate to the creditors it will do all required to continue austerity and fulfil a 15 billion privatisation programme. Last Friday, Syriza announced the government had sold a controlling stake in the countrys largest port, Piraeus, for 368.5 million to Cosco, the Chinese state shipping group.

The Financial Times noted, Tsipras opted to host the signing ceremony at his own office, underlining his governments newfound enthusiasm for infrastructure deals with foreign investors.

While the deal was being signed, hundreds of Piraeus port workers protested and were attacked by riot police in a park close to Tsipras office.

The transcript of the IMF discussion can be read here.
At a meeting on March 23, the Clubs and Societies Committee (C&SC) of the University of Melbourne Student Union (UMSU) rejected the application of the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE), youth movement of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP), to affiliate a club on campus for the fourth time in two years, on explicitly anti-democratic grounds.

As in each of its previous applications, the IYSSE had met the unions requirements for affiliation, including presenting over fifty expressions of interest from students for the establishment of a club.

The basis of the Committees decision last month was that in opposing the abrogation of its democratic right to form a club in 2015, the IYSSE had defended the principle that all students should be able to establish clubs of their choice, without hindrance from any university or student body.

The Committee cited the IYSSEs Open Letter of April 16, 2015, which stated: First and foremost, the notion that the C&S Committee, or any other organisation, should be able to determine which clubs can or cannot be formed undermines the fundamental rights of students to organise and exercise freedom of expression. All students should be permitted to establish whatever clubs they choose, whether their interests be cultural, spiritual, political, sporting or academic.

In other words, asserting that students have fundamental political and democratic rights is considered by the C&SC to be an offense warranting permanent proscription. That the Committee is counterposing its own right to wield arbitrary authority to the most basic democratic norms, including the rights to freedom of political speech and association, is a warning to the entire student body at University of Melbourne and at universities across the country. The Committee is establishing a precedent for the banning of student clubs and organisations on every campus .

The C&S Committee consists of seven students chosen from the executive members of affiliated clubs on campus: Gulsara Kaplun of the Secular Society, Kayley Cuzzubbo of Potter Heads, Jacinta Cooper of the Science Students Society, Julianna Rozek of Horticultured, Nicholas Hynes of the Arts Students Society, Alexander Tashevski-Beckwith of the Political Interests Society and Angela Keyte of the Physics Students Society. Fiona Sanders, the Clubs and Societies Coordinator employed by UMSU, along with Ryan Davey and Yasmine Luu, the C&SC office bearers, were also present at the meeting. Luu and Davey were elected to the position at the end of 2015 on the More Activities! ticket. The office bearers who presided over two rejections of IYSSE applications last year, Stephen Smith and Claire Pollock, were also members of the More Activities! student faction.



Minutes for the March 23 meeting, where the ban decision was taken, have not been published, nor has a single Committee member or office bearer spoken out publicly against it.

In seeking to justify their position, the C&SC has issued a series of libelous accusations against us, centring on the claim that the IYSSEs principled campaign against the Committees previous decisions constituted an exercise in intimidation. Given that the C&SC is seeking to falsify the public record, it is necessary to review the events of the past two years.

In April 2014, the C&SC rejected an IYSSE application to form an affiliated club, on the grounds that we had overlapping aims with the pseudo-left Socialist Alternative club. In response, the IYSSE issued a detailed statement exposing the political gulf that separated the pro-imperialist agenda of the pseudo-lefts from the socialist and internationalist aims of the IYSSE clubs. The Committee refused to reconsider its ban.

In April 2015, the Committee again rejected an IYSSE application on the discredited grounds of overlapping aims with Socialist Alternative. With no avenue of appeal, the IYSSE turned to the longstanding tradition of issuing an open letter, reviewing in detail the unbridgeable divide between the program of Socialist Alternative, including its support for the US regime-change operations in Syria and Libya, and the pro-austerity Syriza government in Greece, and the program and traditions of the world Trotskyist movement, fought for by the IYSSE. Once again, the Committee upheld its decision.

In August, 2015, the C&SC rejected a third IYSSE application, this time on the Orwellian grounds that we had publicly opposed its previous decisions. This, the Committee claimed, demonstrated that it could not have a good faith working relationship with the IYSSE. In response to letters of protest from students and workers at the University of Melbourne, at other Australian universities and internationally, Stephen Smith, a 2015 Clubs and Societies Officer, issued an email acknowledging that our aims did not, in fact, overlap with those of Socialist Alternativean extraordinary admission that the grounds upon which the IYSSE had twice been prevented from forming a club had been false.

Smith sought to obscure this fact by alleging that our April 2015 Open Letter was defamatory and that the IYSSEs campaign against the Committees decision had been an exercise in harassment and intimidation. He did not provide the slightest evidence for these claims. Instead, he centred his accusations on our decision to issue the open lettermaking clear that the Committees real concern was that its actions had been brought to the attention of the broader student body. The Committee was essentially asserting that disagreement with its decisions was unacceptable. The basis of a good faith working relationship would be unquestioning acceptance of the Committees right to curtail student activities, including of political organisations, even if carried out upon transparently false grounds. In response, the IYSSE issued another open letter, in September 2015, refuting Smiths allegations. This letter was never answered.

Now, the Committee is making explicit the anti-democratic logic behind Smiths arguments, and reviving the slanders contained in his email.

The false accusations of intimidation were aimed at creating the conditions for the IYSSE and our members to be victimised and targeted by university authorities if we launched a public campaign against the Committees latest ban. The Committees resort to such tactics, along with the shifting pretexts it has employed to deny the IYSSE our right to affiliate over the past two years, underscore the politically-motivated character of its attack.

By denying the IYSSE the right to conduct political work as an affiliated club at the University of Melbourne, one of the countrys elite sandstone universities, the Committee is preventing students from encountering a revolutionary, socialist program in opposition to the accelerating drive to war. Ours is the only youth organization apprising students of Australias integration into the advanced US preparations for war against China, in opposition to the conspiracy of silence being maintained by the Liberals, the Labor Party, the Greens and the pseudo-left organisations, such as Socialist Alternative. We alone are fighting to build an international anti-war movement to prevent a new and catastrophic global conflagration and to turn students to the working class, the only social force capable of ending the profit system and halting the descent into barbarism.

These political positions are anathema to the official political climate that has been cultivated at universities over the past three decades. The conception of campuses as centres of critical inquiry, dissent and vigorous intellectual debate has been abandoned by university authorities and the entire political establishment. Instead, they have been transformed into bastions of intellectual conformity, thoroughly corporatised and subjected to decades of government funding cuts.

According to the Australian, the University of Melbourne has the highest revenue of any university in the country, with $2.2 billion in 2015, and is ranked 177 in the list of the largest revenue generating organisations in the country. At the same time, between 2012 and 2013, revenue from federal grants declined by over $40 million. The university is thus heavily dependent upon private endowments, corporate partnerships and the exorbitant fees extracted from international students. Undoubtedly, the authorities are anxious to prevent activities on campus that would displease wealthy donors.

We therefore demand that the C&S disclose the full contents of any discussions held with university administration, other sections of the student union or any other parties regarding the banning of the IYSSE. We likewise insist that the minutes of the March 23 meeting be made public.

The erosion of democratic rights at University of Melbourne takes place in the context of moves towards authoritarian forms of rule in Australia and internationally, amid the deepest economic crisis since the 1930s and the emergence of flashpoints for war in every corner of the globe. In France, the Socialist Party government has provided a glaring example of the dangers this poses before the working class and young people. It has used the Paris terror attacks late last year to institute a state of emergency, banning protests and creating the framework for virtual martial law. These measures have already been invoked this year to arrest and detain environmental activists planning protests at the Paris Climate Summit last November.

If the C&SCs decision is allowed to stand, it will clear the way for political proscriptions and censorship at campuses across the country and more broadly. That is why the IYSSE calls on students, staff and academics, and all workers and youth opposed to the assault on democratic rights, to support our campaign against political censorship at the University of Melbourne. The IYSSE will hold meetings, lectures and extensive campaigns demanding that the C&SC reverse its decision, as part of the fight to defend fundamental political and democratic rights at universities and educational institutions everywhere.
Not long ago, a bitter conflict raged in Europe between advocates of sealing off Europes borders and supporters of a European solution to the refugee crisis.

The German chancellor, who insisted most explicitly on a European solution, was praised to the skies by liberal journalists and politicians as the refugees chancellor, who had finally discovered her heart for the vulnerable and persecuted. The Greens and sections of the Left Party joined in. There were even suggestions that Merkel be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Merkels opponents accused her of national betrayal and violation of the Constitution.

Now, everyone can see what a European solution means: sealing off Europes borders. War refugees, who have risked the life-threatening journey across the Aegean Sea, are detained, mistreated and sent back to Turkey, where they are interned once again by the Turkish government and then returned to their country of origin.

The concentration camps on Greek islands surrounded by barbed-wire fences, the batons and tear gas canisters with which Macedonian border police assault defenceless refugees, and the bureaucratic ruthlessness with which desperate people are bullied and expelled throughout Europe recall the grimmest chapter in German history.

German interior minister Thomas de Maiziere recently declared in an interview that people wishing to live in Germany had to know German culture and recognise our basic values. He added that everyone must know what happened at Auschwitz. Given the conditions along the borders of Europe and in the internment camps, refugees can understand this only as a personal threat.

The World Socialist Web Site has repeatedly warned that Merkel and the advocates of a European solution are not concerned with the fate of the refugees. In October of last year, we wrote that Merkel was trying to buy time: She appears with refugees and strikes the pose of a Mother Theresa, while she works intensively on sealing off Europes external borders and restricting the right to asylum.

One month later, we explained that the conflicts within the German government had less to do with the treatment of refugeesall factions encourage deterrence measures and the restriction of the right to asylumthan with the orientation of foreign policy. Merkels opponents were calling for a total shutdown of the borders, while her supporters feared that this could tear apart and destroy the European Union. The latter were of the opinion that Germany needs the European Union to be able to play the role of a world power again, and can therefore not afford to overplay the nationalist card.

It is now clear that Merkels European solution is no less brutal than the policy of her nationalist opponents. This has, however, not stopped her defenders from continuing to support her. The Greens are preparing to form a government with Merkels Christian Democratic Union (CDU) at the federal level. Left Party politician Gregor Gysi has also recommended that his party collaborate with the CDU.

Although there is still massive popular support for the refugees, nobody within the media or official politics defends them any longer. Interior Minister de Maiziere told a party meeting that it was necessary to remain tough in the face of ugly pictures from the Greek-Macedonian border. He added that This can be withstood.

In Greece, Syriza, the Left Partys sister party, is the main accomplice of Merkel and the EU in the brutal treatment of refugees. The Tsipras government has robbed refugees of their rights by changing the law and deployed the police and military to round them up and deport them.

The attacks on refugees not only expose the right-wing character of these parties, they also shed a revealing light on the character of the EU. It is not an instrument to unite the continent, but a tool of the most powerful financial and industrial interests to subordinate Europe to their diktat, attack the working class, and arm the police and military.

The crackdown on refugees flows from the austerity measures with which the EU has plunged broad layers of the working class in Greece and other European countries into severe poverty. The ruling class has responded to growing social tensions and anger by stoking up xenophobia, strengthening the state apparatus, and preparing authoritarian forms of rule. It is preparing the way for far-right and fascist forces, which are gaining ground in many European countries. The measures directed against refugees today will be imposed on the entire working class tomorrow.

The protection of refugees, the defence of democratic rights, the resistance to social attacks and the struggle against war and militarism are inseparable. There is not a single establishment party in Europe prepared to lift a finger to achieve these aims. The building of a new workers partyone that organises opposition to war, dictatorship and welfare cuts, and provides an independent political perspectiveis therefore the most urgent task.

Such a perspective is advanced only by the Socialist Equality Party and the International Committee of the Fourth International. We fight for a socialist programme to unite the international working class in the struggle against capitalism. Our answer to the European Union of the banks and corporations is the United Socialist States of Europe.
A picture taken on March 22, 2016 shows the Eiffel Tower in Paris illuminated in colours of the Belgian flag in tribute to the victims of terrorist attacks in Brussels. (Photo: AFP)

Vienna: Austrian prosecutors said on Monday that they were probing a possible link between a Pakistani held in Salzburg in connection with last November's terror attacks in Paris and the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.

"Leads pointing to this are being looked into," prosecutors in Salzburg said, adding however that the identity of the Pakistani suspect, who has been in custody since December in the western Austrian city, has not been confirmed.

"Wide-ranging investigations on this question, among others, are ongoing, although the public prosecutors' office has been waiting for information on this from Pakistan since December 2015," they said in a statement.

A source in Paris and the Sunday Times said that the man is thought to be a bomb maker for Pakistani extremist organisations Lashkar-e-Taiba and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.

Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), allegedly linked to Al-Qaeda, is responsible for the 2008 Mumbai assault that killed 166 people. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is blamed for a string of high-profile attacks in recent years.

The 34-year-old was arrested in Austria in December along with an Algerian.

French investigators suspect that the Islamic State (IS) group, which claimed responsibility for the Paris bombings as well as attacks in Brussels on March 22, sent both men to Europe to carry out attacks.

Austrian authorities said in February that they are believed to have been in the same boat bringing around 200 migrants to Greece as two men involved in the Paris atrocities.

While those involved in the attacks were able to travel onwards, the pair was held up by Greek authorities for 25 days because they were carrying fake Syrian passports.

They then arrived in Salzburg at the end of November -- after the Paris killings -- and Austrian police arrested them at a centre for migrants on December 10.

A senior security official in Pakistan said he had no information.

"We are in completely in the dark about such a person... who he is, his identity and his affiliations," the official said.
On Monday, US Secretary of State John Kerry visited the Japanese city of Hiroshima, the target of the first nuclear bomb ever used in wartime. On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city, killing between 70,000 and 146,000 civilians outright. Three days later, on August 9, the US dropped a second nuclear bomb on the city of Nagasaki, killing a further 39,000 to 80,000 civilians.

The Obama administration made clear that Kerry, the highest-ranking US official ever to visit the city, was not coming to apologize for these terrible crimes. There is no effortto seek an apology from the United States, nor is there any interest in reopening the question of blame for the sequence of events that culminated in the use of the atomic bomb, the State Department said Monday.

Declaring that the peaceful, stable international system that we have built in the decades since World War II are not a given, Kerry said the bombing of Hiroshima reminds everybody of the extraordinary complexity of choices in war and of what war does to people, to communities, to countries, to the world. He did not seek to reconcile this hypocritical statement with the fact that he is a representative of the state responsible for the crime.

Kerrys visit took place against the backdrop of a major escalation of Washingtons belligerent actions against China. Not since the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 has the danger of war and the use of nuclear weapons been so acute.

The main purpose of Kerrys trip was to cement US alliances in East and Southeast Asia for the military encirclement of China. The ceremony at the site of the 1945 bombing followed a summit of G7 foreign ministers in Hiroshima, which issued a pointed statement warning China (although not by name) against intimidating, coercive or provocative unilateral actions that could alter the status quo and increase tensions.

Last week, the New York Times reported that the United States was preparing a third freedom of navigation operation in the South China Sea, in which the US will send a warship within 12 nautical miles of territory claimed by China. Admiral Harry Harris, the head of the US Pacific Fleet, has been agitating behind the scenes for the next such action to include military operations, potentially including the firing of weapons.

As Kerry was speaking, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter was in the midst of a visit to India, which the US is seeking to integrate into its anti-China alliance. From there, Carter will move on to the Philippines, which is receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in exchange for its cooperation in the US war drive. Carter will visit a location less than 100 miles from the disputed Spratly Islands archipelago claimed by China.

Japan, together with Australia, forms the linchpin of Washingtons anti-Chinese alliance. To this end, the US has encouraged the aggressive remilitarization of Japan, promoting the very tendencies that led to the deaths of millions of people and horrendous war crimes during Japans invasion of China and other countries in the Pacific in the 1930s.

Earlier this month, a reinterpretation of Japans pacifist constitution, agreed to in 2014, went into effect, allowing the Japanese military to fight wars abroad in support of its allies, including the United States. Last week, Japans Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the countrys constitution did not prohibit it from possessing nuclear weapons.

The deepening US-Japanese anti-China alliance is at the heart of a sweeping remilitarization of the Asia-Pacific region, where military spending increased by six percent last year. The Philippines and Indonesia, key US allies in the gang-up against China, increased their military spending by 25 percent and 16.5 percent, respectively.

Within US military and policy-making circles there is open talk of a Second Pacific War, in which, as one expert put it, 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.

In his remarks, Kerry praised President Barack Obamas efforts to create and pursue a world free from nuclear weapons. In reality, despite Obamas vow early in his presidency that the US would not develop new nuclear warheads or pursue new military missions or new capabilities, the US government is in the midst of a $1 trillion program to upgrade its nuclear stockpile.

In 2011, the latest year for which figures are available, the US spent $61.3 billion on its nuclear weapons program, more than all other countries combined. The amount was nearly 10 times more than China and almost 100 times more than North Korea.

Despite claiming in 2009 that it would reduce the role of nuclear weapons in our national security strategy, the White House made explicit in a 2010 strategy document that the US military maintains the right to use nuclear weapons without being attacked, including against countries that do not possess nuclear weapons themselves.

Behind the scenes, the US military, politicians and think tanks are drawing up plans for a preemptive nuclear strike. A report published last month by a leading policy think tank, entitled Rethinking Armageddon, elaborates scenarios in which the United States carries out nuclear first strikes against both North Korea and Russia.

In this context, Kerrys visit must serve as a warning to the working classes of Asia and the entire world.

The use of nuclear bombs against Hiroshima and Nagasaki, under conditions in which the Japanese government was actively seeking terms of surrender, was not, as the official US narrative claims, a measure to hasten the end of the war. Rather, the nuclear incineration of hundreds of thousands of people was intended to communicate, particularly to the Soviet Union, that the United States would stop at nothing to secure its hegemony in the postwar order.

With Europe and the Pacific all but destroyed by the war and US industry dominant throughout the world, the use of nuclear weapons was a calculated tactical decision. As the American historian Gabriel Jackson wrote in 1999, In the specific circumstances of August 1945, the use of the atom bomb showed that a psychologically very normal and democratically elected chief executive could use the weapon just as the Nazi dictator would have used it.

Today, the United States, wracked by internal maladies and facing the protracted decline of its economic power, has only one trump card to secure its preeminent place in the global capitalist pecking order: the threat to use its enormous military and nuclear arsenal. This makes the danger all the more acute.

Workers and young people across the world must take a warning from these developments, which threaten the very existence of human society. The struggle against war depends on ending the capitalist system, which is its source.
Britains prime minister, David Cameron, used his statement to parliament on the Panama Papers leak to mount a robust defence of the super-rich, while dispensing a few sops in the form of pledges to crack down on tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance.

Camerons statement was occasioned by the disclosure that he had personally benefited from Blairmore Holdings, established by his late father, Ian. The offshore company, which managed investments on behalf of wealthy individuals and banks, is amongst more than 200,000 based in the tax haven of Panama and managed by the law firm Mossack Fonsecathe subject of the leak.

The papers lift the lid on just some of the extensive tax-avoidance measures taken by the super-rich and banks. Half of the offshore companies listed by Mossack Fonseca are registered in British-administered tax havens, placing the UK at the apex of a global network of corruption and parasitism that is estimated to involve some $30 trillion in hidden personal wealth.

Enormous anger at the revelations meant that Camerons initial insistence that it was a private matter could not wash. He was eventually forced to acknowledge that he had held shares in Blairmore, from which he derived 19,000, but argued he had given them up when he became prime minister.

Cameron subsequently faced allegations of avoiding Inheritance Tax duties (IHT), when he had received two gifts of 100,000 from his mother, one year after he inherited 300,000 from his fatherjust below the limit at which IHT becomes applicable.

In an effort to put an end to the scandal, Cameron told parliament that he had published his tax returns for the last six yearsan unprecedented first for a serving prime minister. But while there was a strong case for the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition and Chancellor and Shadow Chancellor, to make such disclosures, he opposed this being extended to all MPs.

In a clear threat to his critics, he warned that many individuals, businesses and organisations use offshore funds including, he said, the Guardian, the Trades Union Congress and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyns local council, Islington.

Cameron rejected the deeply hurtful and profoundly untrue allegations made against my father, claiming that Blairmore had been set up as a commercial entity to trade in dollar securities, and not to avoid taxes.

He was proud of his father, he insisted, who had done nothing wrong. People had the right to make investments to support their families, he continued, with many parents wanting to help their children when they buy their first car and get a deposit on their first home. Those who criticised such tax measures were the enemies of aspiration.

Such comparisons are entirely bogus and self-serving. While the prime minister and his wife, Samantha, are multimillionaires, from families of wealthy landowners, stockbrokers and aristocrats, the vast majority of the UK population are too poor to make use of such tax plans. Their efforts to provide for their children involve real sacrifices, made even more onerous by vicious government-mandated austerity.

Cameron made his statement on the day that changes to the universal credit systempayments to top up low wagescame into effect. Tens of thousands of low-paid families will lose up to 200 a month as a result. They have no chance of helping their children, under conditions in which the younger generation has been especially targeted by government cuts. Nor do the millions subject to pay cuts and pay freezes, or the thousands facing job lossesas at Tata Steel.

Moreover, it is not only a matter of the benefits that Cameron has personally derived from such tax schemes. He leads a government that legislates on behalf of the super-rich and that has used government policy to aggressively protect a wealthy minority at the expense of working people.

In 2013, Cameron wrote to the president of the European Council to oppose a central register of beneficial ownership of offshore trusts. This was at the same time he was insisting that Greece and other countries implement savage spending cuts that have reduced many to poverty.

Similarly, in the same budget that Osborne outlined the universal credit changes, he announced the IHT threshold would rise to 500,000 and up to 1 million for married couples and civil partners. Only 3 percent of the UK population are deemed wealthy enough to qualify for IHT.

Osbornes own tax summary for 2014/2015 revealed that he had earned 198,738 of taxable income last year, including 44,647 in dividends from Osborne & Little, the wallpaper firm co-founded by his father. According to reports, the company has not paid corporation tax for the last seven years.

Camerons claim to be clamping down on tax evasion and avoidance are meaningless. The information-sharing measures proposed for British crown dependencies and overseas territories are voluntary. As for an official inquiry into any wrongdoing arising from the Panama Papers, it is to be overseen by Her Majestys Revenue and Customs (HMRC). HRMCs executive chair, Edward Troup, was a partner at a top City law firm that acted for Blairmore Holdings and other offshore companies named in the Panama Papers.

It is to preserve this class set-up that Camerons nominal opponents have closed ranks to fend off demands for his resignation.

Despite bitter divisions within the Conservative Party and ruling circles over the referendum on June 23 on British membership of the European Union (EU), all factions insist the prime minister has nothing to account for.

This includes London mayor Boris Johnson and UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage, who are leading the campaign to exit the EU against Cameron. Farage especially rejected calls for MPs to publish their tax dealings. The former stockbroker said that he was worried where we are going with this.  Its a private thing.

Charles Moore, in the right-wing anti-EU Telegraph newspaper, empathised with the prime minister, writing, You often hear of people being trapped in poverty, but it is also possible to be trapped in wealth. This is David Camerons fate. The same newspaper denounced class-war rhetoric against successful companies and ambitious individuals.

Likewise, the Daily Mail argued that it had been a critical friend of the prime minister, and had attacked him for dreadful mistakes, including attempts to skew the EU referendum debate. 

But this paper believes the lynch mob has run wildly out of control, it stated. Enough of this madness. Instead of grovelling before the politics of envy mob, it said, the prime minister should be shouting from the rooftops the moral case for low taxation.

There is indeed a class war, but it is one that has been led by the ruling elite against workers and youth over decades. Ian Camerons setting up of investment funds in tax havens followed the decision of Tory prime minister Margaret Thatcher to abolish capital controls in 1979. It was part of a series of measuresincluding the smashing up of nationalised industries and the dismantling of the welfare stateaimed at benefiting the City of London and the super-rich. The result was rampant speculation, criminality and greed that triggered the 2008 financial crash, and that in turn has been used to deepen the offensive against working people.

The Labour Party and the trade union bureaucracy have played the key political role on behalf of the bourgeoisie throughoutsabotaging workers struggles and, under the Blair and Brown Labour governments, directly facilitating the nefarious activities of the financial oligarchy.

While in parliament, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn attacked six years of austerity and raised further questions about Camerons personal tax dealings, he studiously avoided calling for the prime minister to resign.

More fundamentally, none of the measures Corbyn proposed to clean out tax havens would alter the class injustices revealed by the Panama Papers. Breaking the stranglehold of the super-rich over economic life requires the development of a mass movement of working people against the capitalist profit system. But it is precisely this that Corbyn, and the party he heads, aims to prevent at all costs.
A centerpiece of the political campaign of democratic socialist Bernie Sanders is his oft-repeated call to break up the big banks. The Vermont senator has won broad support from workers and especially from young people by tapping into deep anger over the growth of social inequality and the domination of American economic and political life by Wall Street.

To the shock of the entire political and media establishment, including the Democratic candidate himself, the Sanders campaign has revealed that in a country where socialism has been virtually banned from public debate for nearly three-quarters of a century, millions of working people favor socialism over capitalism. Sanders bid to upend the predicted coronation of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as the Democratic presidential candidate has revealed the contempt and hatred felt by masses of people for the entire political establishment and the capitalist system it upholds.

Sanders, however, has made clear that the aim of his so-called political revolution is to corral more votes for the Democrats and revive popular support for a party that has long served as a political instrument of the very banks against which he rails, no more so than during the eight years of the Obama administration.

The most radical of his campaign slogansand the one that generates perhaps the greatest enthusiasm from votersis his pledge to break up the banks. But is this a socialist or anti-capitalist measure?

With Sanders, it is not tied to a call for the transformation of the property relations, based on private ownership of the banks and corporations, that underpin the rule of the financial oligarchs. On the contrary, Sanders forswears any attack on private ownership of the means of production and finance, omitting even demands for public ownership of basic utilities that were a staple of left-wing political programs, including those of some bourgeois liberals, for a good part of the last century.

Sanders call to break up the big banks has in recent days emerged as a major issue in the increasingly bitter nomination battle between himself and Clinton. With her campaign in deep crisis following Sanders crushing victory in last weeks Wisconsin primary, Clinton seized on an interview with the Vermont senator published by the New York Daily News to attack his banking policy and portray it as reckless and ill-conceived.

In the interview, Sanders had difficulty explaining how he would actually implement his demand for reducing the size and economic clout of the biggest banks. In the end, he said he would leave it up to the banks themselves to decide.

In defending his slogan, he said the following: Well, by the way, the idea of breaking up these banks is not an original idea. Its an idea that some conservatives have also agreed to. Youve got the head ofI think its the Kansas City Fed, some pretty conservative guyswho understands.

Sanders misspoke. He meant the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and its new president, Neel Kashkari. Indeed, since taking office as the head of the Minneapolis Fed on January 1, Kashkari has aggressively argued for what he calls ending too big to fail by placing a cap on the assets of the biggest banks and forcing them to reduce their size and economic influence.

On April 4, Kashkari hosted the first of a series of symposia at the Minneapolis Fed to promote the demand for breaking up the big banks, and his institution has announced that by year-end it will publish a detailed plan for reining in the size and power of the Wall Street giants.

The list of participants, beginning with Kashkari himself, makes clear that downsizing the mega-banks is a policy being promoted by a definite, albeit minority, faction within the American ruling class, including elements within the financial bureaucracy. Kashkari, a life-long Republican, is not only a former Goldman Sachs banker and one-time official in the Bush Treasury Department, he was in charge of administering the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) bank bailout in the aftermath of the September 2008 financial meltdown.

He left government and took a lucrative executive position at the bond giant Pimco in 2009. He resigned from the firm in 2013 to mount a run for California governor, which he lost in the following years election. He was named Minneapolis Fed president last November after receiving a 5-0 vote of approval by the top Fed officials in Washington.

In February, Kashkari gave a speech to the Brookings Institution in which he announced the Minneapolis Feds campaign on the issue of too big to fail and breaking up the biggest banks. Stressing that another major financial crisis was inevitable, he categorically asserted that the Dodd-Frank bank regulatory reform signed into law by Obama in 2010 would not prevent a second massive government bailout of Wall Street.

While defending the 2008-2009 bailout as the only alternative to a full-scale depression, he said, I believe the biggest banks are still too big to fail and continue to pose a significant, ongoing risk to our economy. He called for consideration of a range of options including:

* Breaking up the large banks into smaller, less connected, less important entities.

* Turning large banks into public utilities by forcing them to hold so much capital that they virtually cant fail (with regulation akin to that of a nuclear power plant).

* Taxing leverage throughout the financial system to reduce systemic risks wherever they lie.

The April 4 symposium featured presentations given by Anat Admati, a professor at Stanford Universitys Graduate School of Business, and Simon Johnson, former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund and current professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technologys Sloan School of Management, each of which was followed by a panel discussion. Admati called for drastically raising the capital requirements of big banks, and Johnson argued for setting an asset cap of 2 percent of US gross domestic product, or $350 billion, beyond which banks would be forced to sell off assets and downsize.

There are currently seven US banks that, under Johnsons plan, would be broken up: JPMorgan Chase ($2.42 trillion in assets), Bank of America ($2.15 trillion), Citigroup ($1.77 trillion), Wells Fargo ($1.75 trillion), US Bankcorp ($416 billion), Bank of New York Mellon ($377 billion) and PNC Financial Services Group ($362 billion).

The panelists for the most part argued against the measures advocated by the speakers. However, the audience included James Bullard, president of the St. Louis Fed, who, while not endorsing the proposals, welcomed the discussion on the issue of too big to fail.

Both Johnson and Kashkari declared their belief in capitalism and presented their proposals as a means of upholding free market principles and defending the system. I think an exemption from bankruptcy is a big problem. I dont think thats capitalism, Johnson said.

In his closing remarks, Kashkari noted that he had invited Wall Street bank representatives to participate in the symposium but they had refused. Striking something of a populist pose, he complained that nobody was prosecuted following the 2008 crash, and added, We need to look at accountability, some kind of penalty or criminal liability.

The following day, the Minneapolis Fed announced that its next forum on too big to fail would take place May 16 and the participants would include former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.

While Kashkaris proposals on downsizing the big banks are at odds with the official position of the Fed and the views of leading officials such as Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen, there is no doubt that he is carrying out his campaign with the knowledge and tacit support, or at least toleration, of the central banks Board of Governors.

What is driving the agitation of Kashkari and other members of the financial establishment in support of curtailing the size and power of the big banks? It is not accidental that this position is being advanced by the Minneapolis branch of the Fed. None of the mega-banks are headquartered in the region covered by the Minneapolis Fed, which has long promoted the interests of medium and small banks within the Federal Reserve system.

More fundamental, however, is the growing sense within the ruling elite that a new financial crisis is looming and the fear that such a development could trigger an uncontrollable social and political upheaval, with revolutionary implications. At the April 4 forum in Minneapolis, both Johnson and Kashkari were categorical on the inevitability of a new financial panic that would, unless forestalled by transformational measures taken in advance of such a crisis, result in another huge government bailout of the banks.

As for the potential political consequences of such a turn of events, the advocates of breaking up the banks within the ruling elite are haunted by the indications of mass opposition to the economic and political establishment in the US election campaign. Following the Minneapolis Fed symposium, Kashkari told the Minneapolis Star Tribune, I look at a lot of the political anger in the country, again on both sides of the aisle, as directly stemming from the financial crisis. And thats a reminder to me that there are lingering costs to societies when they go through the intense crisis that we went through in 2008 and 2009. We need to move while we still remember.

Sanders advocacy of breaking up the big banks while retaining the framework of private ownership of the financial system and upholding the profit system as a whole, far from being a socialist demand, reflects the position of a faction within the ruling elite itself.

Similar tendencies are emerging internationally in response to the deepening crisis of world capitalism, marked by the slowdown in China, stagnant or declining trade and economic growth, and mounting moves in the direction of trade and currency warfare. In many cases, quasi-reformist policies are linked to economic nationalism and protectionism.

In the UK, for example, demands for penalties and tariffs against foreign steel, promoted by the trade unions and sections of the Labour Party and pseudo-left, are growing in the aftermath of the announcement by Tata Steel that it plans to scrap its operations within Britain. Similar demands are being advanced by the unions and their political allies in Germany, France and other parts of the continent.

In Brazil, which is facing its deepest slump since the 1930s, economists on both the right and the nominal left of the bourgeois political spectrum are calling for autarkic policies such as capital controls and currency devaluation.

Such nationalist policies are deeply reactionary. They serve to pit workers in one country against workers in other countries, while lining workers up behind their national employers on the basis of corporatist arrangements to cut wages and benefits, impose speedup and suppress the class struggle. In the name of enhancing the competitiveness of the capitalists of each country, workers of all countries are thrown into a fratricidal race to the bottom.

In the campaign of Kashkari and his co-thinkers against too big to fail banks, there is a similar economic nationalist bias. In his February speech to the Brookings Institution, Kashkari made clear that his orientation was entirely focused on the US banking system and economy, despite the reality of a highly integrated global financial system. If other countries want to take extreme risks with their financial systems, he said, we cant stop thembut the United States should do what is right for our economy and establish one set of rules for those who want to do business here

In the name of fighting economic inequality and Wall Street domination, Sanders promotes economic nationalism in a virulent form. He denounces international trade deals not from the standpoint of the interests of the working class in the US or any other countrywhose living standards and working conditions are indeed harmed by trade agreements forged to further the profit interests of transnational corporationsbut rather from the standpoint of corporate sectors threatened by globalization and their allies in the trade union bureaucracy. It is not capitalism that is the problem, according to Sanders, but foreign workers and immigrants.

In an interview last July, Sanders denounced the concept of open bordersthat is, the right of workers to live and work in whatever country they choose with full democratic and citizenship rightsas a right-wing proposal, which would make everybody in America poorer. He went on to explicitly defend the concept of the nation state.

Sanders economic nationalism goes hand in hand with the central purpose of his election campaign, which is to revive illusions in the Democratic Party and preempt the development of an independent and genuinely socialist political movement of the working class.
This is the second of a two-part article on Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers Union. Part one was posted on April 11.

Anti-communist, anti-immigrant, anti-Semitic

The Gandhi-like image that Chavez sought to cultivate was a pacifist mask to disguiseas it had for the Indian leader himselfa reactionary political program. Gandhi sought to pressure British imperialism into a settlement with the Indian bourgeoisie that would forestall a revolutionary upheaval of the Indian masses. Chavez sought to appeal to sections of the American bourgeoisie to make concessions that would prevent a mass radicalization among the farmworkers.

Chavez launched his political career on the basis of anti-communism. In 1967, he opened the first purge of the farmworker movement expelling and shaming disloyal members. In particular, farmworkers and organizers who raised opposition to Chavezs orientation toward the Democratic Party and his alliance with Reuther and the AFL-CIO were kicked out of the union on trumped-up charges of sympathy for communism.

Chavezs anti-communism was bound-up with a fierce American nationalism. Contrary to popular belief, Chavez was a strong opponent of unifying Mexican and American workers. To the contrary, he possessed a deep personal and political hatred of immigrant workers.

In the early 1970s, Chavez and the UFW set up a little-known operation titled the Wet Line. Under this sordid practice, UFW leadership sent teams of thugs to attack, beat, and rob migrant workers attempting to cross into the United States from Mexico. The title for the operation came from the derogatory term wetback used for migrant workers, because so many of them waded or swam across the Rio Grande.

The UFW spent $80,000 a week on the Wet Line operation. According to official protests lodged by Mexican trade unionists, hundreds of workers were attacked and tortured by UFW gangs. Houses of migrants were firebombed, cars were set alight, and workers were whipped, disrobed, cut, and left for dead in the cold desert night. Two men were castrated by UFW thugs while others were drowned. Tapes of UFW executive board meetings proved that Chavez conspired with his cousin, Manuel Chavez, to bribe Mexican officials to attack Mexican workers so the UFW could cut expenses for their terroristic campaign against immigrants.

Also in the 1970s, Chavez developed the Illegals Campaign by which he sought to scapegoat migrant workers for a series of defeats suffered by the UFW as workers grew disillusioned with UFW-negotiated sellout contracts. Chavez attacked the Nixon administration and US Border Patrol for their ostensibly lax immigration policy and set out to compile lists of undocumented workers that the UFW wanted to expose to the government for deportation. In one impoverished neighborhood of Fresno, Chavez claimed he had a list of 2,200 undocumented workers who he was prepared to denounce for deportation.

Chavezs militant xenophobia undercuts his well-advertised image of non-violence and pacifism. Theyre wets, you know, he once told his sidekick, Dolores Huerta. Theyre wets, and lets go after them.

Chavezs nationalism and anti-communism paved the way for the emergence of more openly anti-democratic and corrupt currents in the UFW. Further purges were organized against farmworkers and organizers who Chavez vilified because they opposed his authoritarianism from the left. When nine farmworkers sued Chavez for expelling them from elected positions, Chavez filed a spurious libel lawsuit alleging $25 million in damages, far beyond what the farmworkers possessed. He later acknowledged this was an effort to intimidate the workers lawyer.

In 1981, during a factional fight for control of the union, Chavez also distributed a leaflet denouncing two Jewish members of the opposing faction as the two Jews. The leaflet said there was a Jewish conspiracy to take over the union and Chavezs wife, Helen, shouted death threats from the convention floor. The targets of the threats were supporters of UFW lawyers Marshall Ganz and Jerry Cohen.

The UFW collapses

During the 1980s, the UFW lost the vast majority of its contracts as thousands of workers left the union or voted for decertification. The political climate had shifted against the union, in the wake of the 1981 destruction of the PATCO strike by the Reagan administration, the isolation and defeat of militant struggles at Phelps Dodge Copper, Greyhound, Eastern Airlines, Hormel and dozens of other locations.

In California, Republican George Deukmejian won the governorship in 1982, and the state government passed to Republican Party control for the next 16 years, undermining the principal prop for the UFW, the corporatist structure established under the Agriculture Labor Relations Act. When disputes arose, the state automatically sided with the growers, and the union consistently capitulated.

As the UFW lost its dues base, it transformed itself from a union into a business under the banner of Latino empowerment. In the 1980s, the UFW opened a print shop and contracted with the Democratic Party to print mailers and newsletters for its candidates. Chavez made a secret agreement with millionaire real estate developer Celestino Aguilar to purchase foreclosed houses and flip them for profit. Aguilar and the UFW established American Liberty Investments to develop apartments in the Central Valley and set up the Ideal Minimart Corporation to construct strip malls and a check-cashing store. The UFW had become a housing vulture and central valley slumlord.

Millions of dollars in the UFWs Martin Luther King pension plan were invested in Aguilars real estate developing projects, with Chavezs younger brother Richard receiving millions in construction contracts. As Miriam Pawel writes in her book, The Crusades of Cesar Chavez, By 1989, the Martin Luther King Jr. fund [MLK] was a private foundation with $8 million in principal, effectively accountable to no one but Cesar Chavez. Each year, MLK doled out between $600,000 and $700,000 to other UFW-related enterprises. Money earned by a generation of farmworkers, who had been told their sacrifice would provide services for all farmworkers, had become a subsidy for a growing bureaucracy increasingly removed from the fields.

As his organization collapsed and lost legitimacy in the eyes of hundreds of thousands of farmworkers, Chavez spent the last years of his life charging almost $4,000 per event to speak at dozens of college campuses across the world. His speeches included calls for students to register to vote for the Democratic Party.

Today, conditions for the 2 to 3 million farmworkers are little changed from before the UFW emerged on the scene. Over half of all farmworkers are undocumented and the median income for all farmworkers is just $7,500 per year. Child labor is legal in agriculture, with 12-year-olds forced to work long days. Because most farmworkers are undocumented, they are not eligible for US social programs. Only 2 percent of farmworkers use Social Security, and less than 15 percent receive Medicaid.

Piece rate payment is legal under US labor law for agricultural workers, with orange pickers in Florida paid just 85 cents for each 90-pound box of oranges they fill. Federal minimum wage laws do not apply to one-third of farmworkers on smaller farms, and wage theft by foremen and growers is regular. Today, there are thousands of agricultural workers who are not paid for their work and are essentially modern slaves. Sexual harassment of female farmworkers is widespread.

Poor conditions are not just for farmworkers. Poverty in agricultural areas of the country has skyrocketed in recent years for all sections of the working class. According to the 2010 US Census, Californias Central Valley is one of the poorest regions of the US. Fresno is the second poorest metropolitan region of the US, while Bakersfield-Delano and Modesto are the fourth and fifth poorest. Each area was once a center of UFW activity. Meanwhile, profits for the California agricultural industry are reaching new records. In 2013, revenue reached $34 billionthe highest figure ever.

Conclusion

The development of a mass movement of agricultural workers independent of the corporatist unions and the two parties of big business today requires a critical appraisal of the myth of the UFW and Cesar Chavez. Farmworkers are entitled to feel proud of their past victories in struggles against California growers, the police, and the courts, but they should not confuse this with illusions in the legacy of the UFW or Cesar Chavez. What failed was not this or that tactical method, but the essentially pro-capitalist character of his program.

Farmworkers hold the key to an agricultural industry without which the economy of the worlds most powerful capitalist country cannot function. But the fight against inequality and poverty requires the building of a political movement that places central emphasis on the unity of migrant workers with not only their permanent resident and naturalized coworkers but with the American working class as a whole.

Today, the UFW is marking the fiftieth anniversary of the march on Sacramento with a series of radio advertisements encouraging workers to register to vote to elect Democratic Party candidates from our race.

The racialism of La Raza and Latino nationalism, of which Chavez and the UFW are icons, only serves to divide the working class and keep it tied to a bankrupt political establishment controlled by the banks and corporations. Farmworkers have nothing in common with the wealthy and satisfied layers who preach of racial unity while supporting the Democrats and President Obama, who has deported over 2 million undocumented workers to the violence and poverty of Central and South America.

Obamas anti-immigrant policies have created fertile conditions for the emergence of the fascistic campaign of Republican Donald Trump, whose proposal to deport all 11 million undocumented workers would require placing entire sections of the US under martial law. The increasingly prominent position played by anti-immigrant proposals during the primary elections of both parties underscores the very real danger facing immigrants if left defenseless and tied to the two parties of Wall Street.

The struggle to end the brutal exploitation and poverty of farmworkers requires the adoption of a socialist program, including the nationalization of the banks and major agribusiness corporations under workers control. This requires a conscious struggle for the international unity of the working class and the independence of the workers movement from the parties of the bourgeoisie.
Having forced their members to work without a contract for eight months the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) announced Monday that they will call a strike April 13 at 6am if no agreement is reached. If the walkout takes place it would involve some 40,000 workers on the East Coast of the US, from Massachusetts to Virginia.

Verizon is among the largest and most profitable corporations in the US and one of the largest telecom firms in the world. The main issues are pensions, shifting of health care cost to workers, job security and Verizons demand to be able to transfer workers across a wide geographic area for extended time periods with little or no advance notice.

Unless this company has a major change in direction and gets back on track, we will be on strike on Wednesday at 6am, CWA President Chris Shelton said in a Monday afternoon conference call. A strike is a last resort but Verizon has forced us there.

Facing the disgust and anger of rank-and-file workers, CWA officials postured as opponents of corporate management, even though they have spent decades boosting corporate profits through union-backed cost-cutting.

Weve worked hard in negotiations to find common ground, but working people at Verizon and across the country have had enough of the corporate greed that is destroying our families and our economy, said CWA District 1 Vice President Dennis Trainor. Verizon is pulling down $1.8 billion a month in profits right now, and theyre trying to destroy the good family-supporting jobs of the workers whove made those profits.

For workers health care has long been one of the most contentious matters. In 1989, workers conducted a bitter four-month strike against what was then NYNEX to maintain health care benefits. During the struggle one striker, Gerry Horgan, was run down by a strikebreaker and killed on the picket line.

By 2011, the CWA abandoned any resistance to health care concessions. Striking workers were fully prepared and willing to dig in and fight the company but by the second week of the walkout, the CWA bureaucracy sent the workers back to work with no contract and then later imposed a deal full of concessions, including major givebacks on health care.

With Obamas so-called Cadillac Tax provision on supposedly over-generous health benefits set to go into effect during the anticipated span of the next contract Verizon has doubled down on its efforts to shift even greater health care cost to workers.

Verizon is demanding to cap pensions for older workers. In 2003, the CWA signed away pension and job security rights for new hires. The result is that CWA now has an aging membership with few younger members.

As part of the back-to-work agreement after the betrayal of the 2011-12 strike, the CWA signed away the rights of workers on picket line. Shortly after the press conference announcing the strike deadline, Verizon management sent an email to its entire East Coast workforce reminding workers that the union agreed that workers could be fired for hate speech, mass picketing or impeding the operation of company vehicles. It is important, the Verizon managers ominously warned, that everyone understand what conduct the Company and the unions agreed would constitute just cause for discharge.

While Verizon workers have expressed a strong determination to fight the corporate giant, due to the CWAs long record of betrayals many know the CWA is opposed to any real fight that would disrupt relations with its corporate partners.

Workers at Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn said they saw no point in participating in a publicity stunt by the union, which would have them strike for a few days or perhaps weeks only to go back to work worse off than before. "Theyll put us on the street, then when its time for [CWA President Chris] Shelton to start paying us from the union defense fund hell send us back in a hurry with nothing to show for our efforts."

With the acquiescence of the CWA, Verizon has been attacking and harassing workers on the job to extract more productivity from them. Technology, including GPS, is being widely used to track workers. Workers whose daily route sheet show a discrepancy of even a few minutes from the data recorded by automated dispatch processes are subjected to victimization, suspensions and firing. Workers have informed the World Socialist Web Site that management has a quota to suspend so many technicians each week.

While workers face provocations without any contractural protections, the CWA continues to collects dues and its officials have told members to give the company a fair days work for a fair days pay. A number of workers have indicated they would rather be on strike than face 30-day suspensions and other punishments. Many of the new work rules are so contradictory that is impossible not be disciplined if targeted by management.

The drive to squeeze ever-greater profit from workers is being driven by the dictates of finance capital. Every consideration by top management is predicated on how to increase profit each quarter over the previous quarter. This is the constant theme the company broadcasts in its internal Internet communications with workers.

The needs of the business are, in fact, those demanded by Wall Street. The CWAs role has been to facilitate the transfer of wealth from the workers to wealthy shareholders. The CWA functions as a tool of the company to enforce labor discipline and increase the exploitation of workers. For their efforts the union bureaucrats have secured a comfortable and privileged lifestyle for themselves. Shelton made $163,425 in 2015, according to the US Labor Department, before being kicked upstairs to union president. Trainor made $160,134.

In an effort to give itself a left cover, the CWA has endorsed Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party. The self-styled democratic socialist has won popular support for his denunciations of the billionaire class, while seeking to boost illusions in the capitalist Democratic Party. Sanders has also promoted economic nationalism, making him a darling of large sections of the trade union bureaucracy, which have long used attacks on workers in other countries to conceal their collaboration with the corporations.

Rejecting any struggle to unite telecom workers around the world, the CWA has raised as a central demand that Verizon stop off-shoring jobs to Mexico, the Philippines and other locations.

The CWA chose as its deadline the same day the Sanders campaign is holding what the union web site has labeled a massive rally in New York Citys Washington Square park, not far from Verizon Headquarters. The explicit aim here is to boost illusions that the Democrats will pressure Verizon to expand the rollout of its FiOS optic fiber cable system, which it has generally limited to higher-income areas. The CWA says Verizon has abandoned the further expansion of FiOS and is neglecting its existing copper network in order to expand its largely non-union wireless system.

While backing Sanders, the CWA has also donated funds to Hillary Clinton in the current election cycle. According to Open Secrets, since 1990 the CWA has contributed a total of $43.8 million to Democrats, the principle party of finance capital.

The CWA has no intention of waging any struggle against the telecom corporations, Wall Street and the big business parties that stand behind them. That is why workers should elected rank-and-file committees, democratically controlled by workers themselves, in every workplace to take the conduct of the struggle out of the hands of the pro-company unions.

The telcom giant is a powerful enemy but the allies of Verizon workers are more powerful. Rather than appealing to the Democrats, Verizon workers should appeal to the tens of millions of workersin the public sector, manufacturing, retail, airline and trucking, and other industries; students, young people, immigrant workers and the unemployedto carry out a powerful counter-offensive against the attack on jobs, wages and pensions.

This must be connected to a political struggle to mobilize the independent strength of the working class against both big business parties and the capitalist system, which is the source of poverty, inequality and war. The working class must overthrow the economic and political dictatorship of the corporate and financial elite and carry out a genuine socialist transformation, including the nationalization of the telecom monopolies and the big banks under the democratic control and collective ownership of the working class.
Many of the messages accompanying the selfies contained emotional pleas and praise for Britain. (Photo: Twitter)

London: A German woman living in London has launched "Hug a Brit" an unusual and poignant attempt to persuade Britons to stay in the European Union at a membership referendum in June.

"We are EU citizens who want the British people to stay in the European Union. This is our love bomb," read the Twitter slogan posted by @pleasedontgouk.

Citizens of other European countries posted pictures of themselves hugging their British friends under the hashtags #hugabrit and #pleasedontgouk in a social media campaign aimed at Britons who have not yet decided how to vote.

One Instagram message showed German fan Christine Ullman hugging her "youth idol" Jarvis Cocker, frontman of the Britpop band Pulp.

In another tweet a woman posted a picture of herself embracing a statue of British author Virginia Woolf.

Many of the messages accompanying the selfies contained emotional pleas and praise for Britain.

"London is the best place in the world because of the great mix of cultures," wrote Roberta Cucuzza.

The campaign was started in February by Katrin Lock, a German who has lived in London for seven years.

It has gathered momentum in recent days, with selfies posted by Britons hugging European migrants living in Britain and embraces elsewhere in Europe.

Opinion polls indicate that the "Leave" and "Remain" camps are neck-and-neck, while up to 20 percent of Britons have still not made up their minds ahead of the crucial vote on June 23.

"Our message is not about statistics, jobs or about the merits of EU rules on shower caps or cucumbers. We just don't want the UK to divorce us," read a manifesto on the campaign website pleasedontgouk.com. "Our message comes from our hearts," it added.
GREENSBORO, FL (WTXL)-- Armada Ammunition is announcing its new location in Gadsden County.

The new site will open at 2230 Greensboro Highway, Greensboro, FL.

Gadsden County Development Council held a news conference Tuesday morning to release more details about the company and what its arrival means for Gadsden County.

Armada Ammunition says the ammunition manufacturing facility will produce a full line of premium quality pistol and refile caliber ammunition for law enforcement, the U.S. military, and training purposes.

Greensboro Town Manager, Harold Emrich, said "We are proud to have a company as Armada Ammunition that shall be serving law enforcement and the U.S. military located in Greensboro. I am pleased to see our partnership with Gadsden county and GCDG result in advanced manufacturing jobs for Greensboro."
British counter-terrorism agencies are investigating documents that give permission to IS fighters holding UK passports to leave the region. (Photo: AFP)

London: The Islamic State terror group reportedly allowed around 50 British recruits to return home from IS strongholds in Syria and Iraq over the past few months.

According to The Times, British counter-terrorism agencies are investigating documents that give permission to IS fighters holding UK passports to leave the region. This raises fears that they could be plotting attacks in Britain.

The so-called leaving permissions or exit cards, found among thousands of documents obtained by the Syrian website Zaman Al Wasl, include a British Iraqi dubbed Abu Bakr al-Iraqi, whose commander gave him permission to leave for "work" in July 2014.

The exit cards, only a few of which were disclosed to the newspaper, are thought to provide a bureaucratic vouchsafe for fighters to be able to safely cross the ISIS border as the group is known to execute deserters.

The documents leak, which covers the very early days of IS rule in northern Syria and some of northern Iraq, first emerged last month and exposed the meticulous detail with which IS administers its recruitment process. Other than work, the cards included fighters leaving for "family circumstances" and "meeting his mother".

Saeed Hamid, an IS fighter from Birmingham, was given permission to leave but appears to have not returned to the UK before being killed. The family of the 21-year-old were later sent a picture of his dead body. They have been cooperating with UK counter-terrorism police and security services with their investigations.
WASHINGTON - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden made separate calls on Monday to Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Kurdish regional President Massoud Barzani to underscore the need for cooperation amid the country's political crisis, the White House said.

"The vice president conveyed continued U.S. support for a unified, federal, and democratic Iraq, and encouraged close cooperation between the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government as they take steps to strengthen political unity and economic stability," the White House said in a statement.
Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit is expected to meet with the head of the Investigations Directorate and the State Prosecutor in order to officially determine whether or not to open a criminal investigation into opposition leader Isaac Herzog's campaign finances this week. .

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He is suspected of illegally using funds from his private company  which specializes in bringing foreign caregivers into Israel  to fund his campaign during the primaries in 2013.

The initial investigations into Herzog's finances recently began after gaining the approval of the Attorney General. Herzog was going up against Shelly Yachimovich at the time.

Zionist Union Chairman Isaac Herzog (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

Herzog associate and former Labor Party Chairman Shimon Batat was already questioned, and denied the allegations. However, in light of recent findings, an assessment has been made for the Attorney General to open an investigation into Herzog's campaign finances.

Allegations have been made that Herzog used a team of lawyers to hide the money, and make the financial transfer from his private company to his campaign appear legal.

Herzog has agreed to fully cooperate with the investigation, but described the charges as a "political assassination."

Another associate of Herzog said that "ever since news of the investigation was leaked, Herzog announced that he is willing to fully cooperate with the investigation with the relevant authorities in order to put this issue in the past."
Egypt told Israel in advance about the agreement to transfer sovereignty over the islands of Tiran and Sanafir high ranking Israeli officials claim, adding that Netanyahu told the cabinet about the agreement two weeks before it happened.

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The two islands - which are inhabited only by a Multinational Force Observers (MFO) detachment and an Egyptian military outpost - are located at the mouth of the Gulf of Eilat in the Straits of Tiran. Whoever controls these islands is able to control the movement of ships through the straits.

Saudi Arabia controlled the islands until 1950, when they were given over to Egyptian custodianship. Since then, they have been occupied by Israel two different times - once during the 1956 Suez Crisis, and again following the 1967 Six Day War. Every time they were returned, they were returned under the framework of evacuating the Sinai.

The Israel-Egypt peace agreement guarantees that Israeli vessels have freedom of navigation through the Straits of Tiran. However, with these islands passing into Saudi sovereignty, there is fear that this freedom of navigation may be in jeopardy.

Tiran Island and Sanafir Island in the Straits of Tiran (Photo:AFP)

It's for precisely this reason that the Saudis told the Egyptians and the Americans that they "recognize and respect" the peace agreement which was signed in 1979, and that they will continue to uphold the arrangements stipulated in the military addendum to the peace treaty, specifically as it relates to Israeli freedom of movement in the straits. As long as this freedom of navigation is guaranteed, Israel will not express any objection to the handover.

It's possible to draw these conclusions by analyzing statements from Saudi Foreign Minister 'Adel Jubair during a press conference held on Sunday, who subtly allayed Israeli concerns by emphasizing that Saudi actions in the straits do not constitute a security or military threat to Israel. However, he clarified that "Saudi Arabia will not engage in any kind of negotiations with Israel, nor will Saudi Arabia sign any agreements with Israel until the Palestinian issue is solved."

Legal experts in the Foreign Ministry are currently looking into the legal ramifications of the transfer of these islands from Egypt to Saudi Arabia. Specifically, they're looking into whether or not this presents a need to change the military addendum to the Israel-Egypt peace treaty. Preliminary findings by high ranking Israeli officials suggest that there will be no need to change the addendum, in light of the fact that the Saudis publicly stated that they will abide by the treaty.

The Americans are encouraging Israel to accept the Egypt-Saudi agreement - a sign that the US views the agreement as something which will strengthen the moderate Sunni states in the region. Saudi officials also described this agreement with Egypt as "dramatic" in creating a Sunni front against Iran. At the same time, Saudi Arabia is allegedly secretly working on a reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas and even invited Hamas Politi-bureau Chief Khaled Mashaal to Riyadh.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has quietly established a constitutional court that analysts say concentrates more power in his hands and may allow him to sideline the Islamist group Hamas in the event of a succession struggle.

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The nine-member body, which will have supremacy over all lower courts, was created without fanfare by presidential decree on April 3 and will be inaugurated once its ninth member is sworn in at a ceremony on Monday, officials said.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Photo:EPA

Critics say the body is packed with jurists from Abbas's Fatah party and risks deepening Palestinian political divisions. Fatah says it is Abbas's right to create the court, which it says is independent of the 81-year-old president.

"Neither the president nor any of the leaders (of Fatah) has a private agenda regarding this issue," said Osama al-Qwasmi, the spokesman for Fatah in the West Bank. "The prime task of the constitutional court is to monitor laws. By the law, it is a completely independent body and we have full confidence in it."

Abbas's decision comes at a time of worsening splits between Fatah and Hamas and as questions are raised about what will happen when the president steps down or if he were to die in office without a successor.

Abbas took office after the death of Yasser Arafat in 2004, and was elected to a four-year term as president in 2005.

But new elections were not held in 2009 and he continues to govern by decree. Parliament has not sat since 2007. In theory, the speaker of parliament, a Hamas member, would take over as president on an interim basis were Abbas to die in office, although Fatah disputes whether that remains constitutional.

While Abbas may have the authority to create the court, which is being established 14 years after the Palestinians drafted a basic law, a form of constitution, some analysts see it as a way of circumventing opposition at a critical time.

"It's a blatant power grab at a time when he knows he can get away with it," said Grant Rumley, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, DC.

"From Abbas's standpoint, this is his way of both thwarting his rivals in Hamas and securing his Fatah party's hold on the Palestinian Authority once he is gone," Rumley told Reuters.

BLOCK ON RIVALS?

Palestinian commentators also see the court, whose decisions would be binding on the executive, the legislature and the judiciary, as a means of bolstering presidential authority and marginalizing Hamas. All nine members are either Fatah members or seen by Hamas and others as being allied with Fatah.

"It is as if you are confiscating everything and putting all the institutions in your hands," said Hani al-Masri, an unaffiliated political analyst based in Ramallah.

Hamas, which won Palestinian elections in 2006 and seized control in Gaza a year later, saw itself sidestepped during the swearing-in process. Two of the nine members are from Gaza. Fatah said Hamas prevented them from leaving the territory to be sworn in at a ceremony in the West Bank on April 5. So instead they were sworn in via video link on Sunday.

"This is a factional court," said Sami Abu Zuhri, Hamas's spokesman, arguing that it gave Abbas the ability to sidestep parliament - if the current one ever sits again - or if a new parliament is eventually elected.

Abbas's legal adviser, Hassan al-Awry, said the court was needed in part because parliament's legal status was in question given the lack of elections.

"It is not a shame if the constitutional court would debate this issue," he told Reuters, adding that the justices on the court were all legal experts and independent. "We want a judicial reference should such an issue be brought up."

Yet Palestinian scholars say the court raises problems. Issam Abdeen, a law professor at Birzeit University in the West Bank, said it would have little check on its authority.

"It can be a lethal weapon if misused," he told Reuters, pointing out that Abbas's political opponents, such as Mohammad Dahlan who now lives in exile, have a new hurdle to clear in efforts to mount legal challenges to his authority.

Rumley, of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, regards the court as a potential barrier to reform.

"Rather than reforming his party, preparing for elections, or reactivating the defunct parliament, (Abbas) is creating another judicial body by presidential decree in order to, among other things, approve presidential decrees," he said.
The United States and its allies stages 13 strikes on Monday against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria in the coalition's latest daily attack against the militant group, a US military statement said on Tuesday.

Nine strikes hit near four Iraqi cities - Hit, Mosul, Qayyarah and Sinjar - destroying 21 of the militants' fighting positions and three tactical units, among other targets, the Combined Joint Task Force said.

In Syria, four strikes near Manbij and Mar'a hit four Islamic State tactical units, four fighting positions, an improvised explosive device and other targets, the statement said.
A Russian Mi-28 attack helicopter similar to this one crashed in Homs province. (Representational image, Photo: AP)

Moscow: Two Russian military pilots were killed when their helicopter crashed near the central Syrian city of Homs, the defence ministry said on Tuesday, adding that the aircraft had not been under fire.

"Two crew members died," the defence ministry said in a statement.

The crash of the Mi-28 attack helicopter happened in the early hours of Tuesday, the ministry said, adding the bodies had been recovered and brought to Russia's Hmeimim air base.

"According to a report from the crash site, the helicopter was not fired at," the defence ministry added, saying experts were looking into the reasons of the accident.

The crash takes Russia's official combat death toll in Syria to seven.

Moscow says that five Russian servicemen perished while on combat duty in Syria, including the pilot of a warplane shot down by Turkey and a special operations officer who called an air strike on himself after being surrounded by Islamic State (IS) jihadists near Palmyra.

Another serviceman committed suicide while on duty in Syria, the defence ministry said.

The helicopter crash took place less than a month after President Vladimir Putin surprised the West by ordering the bulk of Russian forces to pull out of Syria after a five-and-half-month bombing campaign there.

Putin said that after some 9,000 bombing raids over Syria -- targeting IS jihadists as well as moderate rebels -- Moscow's military mission had been "on the whole" accomplished.

After the drawdown Syrian forces -- backed by Russian firepower -- scored some of their most dramatic successes, reclaiming the world heritage site of Palmyra from IS.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu oversaw a paratrooper reserve drill on the Golan Heights recently where he heard a situational report prepared for him by various generals, and spoke to the reservists during their training.

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Netanyahu was quoted during a press conference during the drill saying "We have ISIS on the other side of the fence here, Hezbollah on the other side of the fence, and Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the south."

He continued, saying "we're proud that here, in the stormy Middle East, we managed to preserve our relative peace and quiet here in Israel. We operate when and were we need to operate, including there, over the border, where we have carried out dozens of strikes in order to keep Hezbollah from obtaining weapons which can change the status quo."

Netanyahu at drills in the Golan (Photo: Kobi Gideon LTD)

These weren't Netanyahu's first statements alluding to alleged Israeli strikes on Hezbollah weapons convoys in Syria. Even Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon alluded to this several times. But this time, Netanyahu's statement was different, especially in the explicit and almost blunt way he spoke about the issue.

The question is - why did Netanyahu do it, especially as his statements are usually very calculated? And specifically, why did he say it on the Golan Heights and while he was watching a military drill? This makes it seem like more of a threat.

Prime Minister Netanyahu with Paratrooper reservists (Photo: Kobi Gideon LTD)

There are three reasons why the Prime Minister could have said these things.

One of the possibilities is that the Prime Minister knows about a concrete threat or possibility that the Iranians or the Syrians are sending advanced weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon which might endanger the IDF's operational abilities, or which might pose a deadly threat against the Israeli home front, navy, or gas wells.

The Syrians might be trying to deliver shoulder fired or camouflaged surface-to-air missiles which endanger the air force's freedom of operation, Yakhont anti-ship missiles which can hit a naval target 300 kilometers away, or precision Iranian made surface-to-surface missiles. Hezbollah has already tried to bring these weapons into Lebanon, and Israel  according to reports  have largely managed to thwart these transfers.

Assad currently has a dearth of modern, Russian weapons at his disposal, and the risk that these weapons might fall into the hands of Hezbollah is only increasing. Therefore, it can be inferred that the Prime Minister decided that the words of this blunt threat are cheaper than jet fuel or precision missiles, and that he's hoping that his words will reach Hezbollah and its patrons.

Prime Minister Netanyahu watches drills in the Golan (Photo: Kobi Gideon LTD)

While it's true that Israel cooperates with the Russians on a lot of issues, the Russians will not get involved in stopping weapons transfers to Hezbollah. Therefore, it's better to send a direct message as opposed to a strike in Syria or Lebanon which might cause another regional flareup. Israel doesn't want to be involved in a war with Lebanon, and prefers to provide deterrence through messages rather than through weapons.

This is one possibility. Another is that by sending this message from the Golan itself, in the midst of a military drill, the message will be heard not only in Syria, but in Russia as well.

Netanyahu will be meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russia next week, and he has already warned Putin that Israel has a list of red lines, and that if these red lines are crossed, Israel will not be afraid to react using armed force - even if Russians are present in the area. The Israeli defense minister has also made statements to this regard.

This upcoming meeting between Netanyahu and Putin seems as if it will be about how to mitigate attacking the interests of both parties in Syria. It seems that they will also speak about the Russian transfer of S-300 surface-to-air missile systems to Iran, parts of which have already been delivered.

It's possible to infer that Netanyahu will request the Russians to not deliver the most advanced form of the S-300 to Iran, which can close down the airspace in a 100 kilometer circumference, and can shoot missiles which can reach different altitudes. Netanyahu will also most likely request from the Russians not to provide the Syrian military with SA-22 and SA-17 SAM missiles, which the Syrian regime already attempted to send to Hezbollah in the past.

Soliders take selfies with the Prime Minister (Photo: Kobi Gideon LTD)

The third possibility is that Netanyahu didn't intend to send an "operational" message to Hezbollah, but did it to enhance his image as "Mr. Security." This image has been eroded somewhat in the past several months in light of the "knife intifada" and after his failure to block the Iranian nuclear deal. However, Netanyahu already took credit for the decline in the stabbings during a government meeting this week.

It seems that Netanyahu, who loves visiting infantry units and who feels at home amongst the soldiers, has come to the conclusion that Hezbollah, Syria, and the Russians have gotten used to the fact that Israel strikes at shipments of advanced game changing weapons to Lebanon, and therefore allowed himself to brag about it based on the assumption that the other side won't make a fuss.

Or, perhaps all of the above possibilities are correct.
Israel has approved in principle the construction of the first Palestinian power station in the West Bank, expected to be built in the Jenin Industrial Zone, near the Gilboa-Jalame checkpoint.

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The Prime Minister's Office issued the approval after the Palestine Investment Fund (PIF), led by a confidante of President Mahmoud Abbas and former deputy prime minister Mohammed Mustafa, submitted a request through the Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).

The Palestinian power station, which will take four years to build, will provide the Palestinian market with 450 mega watts at full capacity and will be fueled by Israeli gas, coming from the Leviathan reservoir.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Photo:Ofer Meir)

If at first Israel could not provide the station with gas because of the uncertain future of the gas deal, the station could operate on diesel fuel.

In the long term, the station is supposed to get its gas from a reservoir off the coast of Gaza which belongs to the Palestinian Authority, but such a plan cannot come to fruition because of a variety of geopolitical factors.

The power station will be both publically and privately owned. Along with the PIF, its private investors include the Bank of Palestine, Padico, an investment holding group owned by Palestinian billionaire Munib Al-Masri, and others.

The Israel Electric Corporation can currently provide the Palestinian Authority with up to 1,000 megawatts a day. This is approximately in line with the current Palestinian demand, but that demand is growing, which results in power supply problems.

The power station is expected to mostly provide for the needs of the northern West Bank, while other parts of the West Bank will also receive electricity from the station, but use the existing Israeli infrastructure.

In the near future, the Palestinians will issue a tender to build the power station and they are not opposed to the Israel Electric Corporation making a bid.

For the Palestinians, building a power station is very significant: Production of electricity will be cheaper than buying it from Israel, and annual saving is expected to stand on $40 million. Additionally, building the station will directly and indirectly add 1,000 new jobs to the Palestinian economy. The power station will also bring in about $100 million in additional tax revenue to the PA every year.

The Palestinians also hope to build a smaller power station in the Hebron area.
Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon admitted Tuesday that Israel has signed off on Egypt's move to concede control over strategic islands in the Tiran Straits to Saudi Arabia.

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The islands of Tiran and Sanafir, located at the southern entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba, will be formally demarcated as being in Saudi waters under a treaty announced on Saturday by Cairo, which has had de facto control over them since 1950. In return for sovereignty over the Red Sea islands, Saudi will provide Egypt with $16 billion in aid.

Ya'alon said the military appendix in the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty had to be reopened as a result of the agreement over the islands, which are located some 200 kilometers south of Eilat.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon (Photo: Shaul Golan)

The United States also signed off on the inclusion of Saudi Arabia in the appendix, as a representative of the international peacekeeping force deployed to the Sinai Peninsula as part of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.

However, the Justice Ministry said that "the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, including its appendixes, has not been opened. To our understanding, as part of the agreement between Egypt and Saudi Arabia there are arrangements meant to ensure no violation is made and the continued application of the existing arrangements and commitments in the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, as it relates to the two islands. The entire issue is still being examined."

Israel has also agreed to allow the construction of a bridge connecting Saudi Arabia to Egypt, as part of the Saudi plan for the islands' development.

In 1967, Egypt blocked the Strait of Tiran, a move that prompted Israel to launch the Six-Day War. In its 1979 peace deal with Israel, Cairo promised to respect freedom of shipping in Aqaba and Eilat.

Ya'alon said Saudi Arabia has given Israel written assurances the kingdom will guarantee Israel freedom of passage in the Tiran Straits.

Eilat is Israel's only port in the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea, while Aqaba is Jordan's sole outlet there.

Israeli commercial vessels use the Tiran Straits to get from the Eilat bay to the Red Sea and from there to the Horn of Africa and to Asia, while the Israeli Navy sails from the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal to the Red Sea to conduct training on a regular basis.

Senior diplomatic officials said earlier this week that Egypt told Israel about its negotiations with Saudi Arabia in advance, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had already briefed the cabinet about the impending agreement two weeks ago.

The islands of Tiran (forefront) and Sanafir (further back) (Photo: AFP)

MK Tzachi Hanegbi (Likud), a long-time Netanyahu confidant, said the treaty would not threaten Israel. "It relates to us and it does not bother us," Hanegbi, who heads the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, told Army Radio.

"The Saudis, who are committed to freedom of shipping under international law, will not harm the essence of the agreement between Egypt and us in this regard, and freedom of shipping in Aqaba and Eilat will remain as is."

For its part, Riyadh is keeping a frosty posture to Israel.

"There will be no direct relationship between the kingdom and Israel due to the return of these islands," Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told Egypt's CBC television on Sunday.

But in an apparent allusion to Egyptian-Israeli relations, he added: "There is an agreement and commitments that Egypt accepted related to these islands, and the kingdom is committed to these."

Some Israeli commentators suggested that the islands treaty might make it easier for Islamist militants to reach the Sinai.

King Salman of Saudi Arabia meets with Egyptian President al-Sisi in Cairo (Photo: EPA)

Hanegbi dismissed this as "paranoid anxiety" and welcomed the closing of ranks by Sunni Muslim Arab states that share Israeli hostility to Shi'ite Muslim power Iran and its Lebanese guerrilla ally Hezbollah, as well as to Sunni Islamist insurgents racking the region.

"We have an interest in expanding the cooperation in the Sunni axis, which is struggling against the radical axis headed by Iran," said Hanegbi.

"The more the Saudis, and the Gulf states in general, connect to the countries with which we are at peace and create with them a strategic front against ISIS, Iran, Hezbollah, against all the players that are our actual enemies, ultimately the effect will be unifying and not weakening."

US reviewing Sinai peacekeeping operations

The US military has formally notified Egypt and Israel that it is reviewing peacekeeping operations in the Sinai, including ways to use technology to do the job of some of the 700 US troops there.

Installed to monitor the demilitarization of the Sinai under the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace accord, the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) mission has come under increased scrutiny over the past year after six peacekeepers were wounded by a roadside bomb. Four US. soldiers were among them.

The United States believes that the structure of the more than three-decade old operation may be outdated.

"I don't think anyone's talking about a (complete) withdrawal. I think we're just going to look at the number of people we have there and see if there are functions that can be automated or done through remote monitoring," said Navy Captain Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman.

Changing the MFO mission could be a sensitive proposition to both Israel and Egypt.

Cairo sees the MFO as part of a relationship with Israel that, while unpopular with many Egyptians, brings it $1.3 billion in annual US defense aid, sweetening the foreign-enforced demilitarization of their sovereign Sinai territory.

For the Israelis, the MFO offers strategic reassurance, especially following Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's toppling two years ago of an elected Islamist regime hostile to the Jewish-majority state next door.

Among the options being considered are use of remote sensors or surveillance to do some of the work in the Sinai, the peninsula that lies between Israel, the Gaza Strip and the Suez Canal.

"What we are looking at is, this has been in existence for 30 years and the mission has remained largely unchanged," Davis said.

"What we want to be able to do is look at the core things that that mission provides and see how we can leverage modern technologies, remote surveillance capabilities, etc., to be able to carry out that mission."

Egyptian security efforts in the Sinai have suffered major setbacks, including the Oct. 31 downing of a Russian airliner and Friday's bombing of two armored personnel carriers that killed seven.

Islamic State insurgents claimed responsibility for both incidents.
NEW YORK - The Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization on Tuesday urged a US appeals court to toss a more than $655 million award won by a group of American families who accused them of supporting terrorist attacks in Israel.

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A lawyer for the Palestinian Authority and the PLO, the government and diplomatic representative of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, argued to the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in New York that the case should never have reached trial.

A US jury in 2015 found the defendants liable under the US Anti-Terrorism Act in a case that could bolster efforts by Americans to use the law to hold foreign entities responsible in US courts for overseas attacks.

Mitchell Berger, the lawyer representing the Palestinian Authority and PLO, on Tuesday said US District Judge George Daniels incorrectly concluded his court had jurisdiction over the 10 families' claims despite changes in law at the appellate level.

Bombing attack on a Jerusalem bus (Photo:AP)

Berger said Daniels was "plainly wrong" in concluding the Palestinian Authority and PLO could be sued in the United States by the families.

"Their own experts said the brunt of the injury, which is the key question, was on Israel, not the United States," he said.

But Kent Yalowitz, the families' lawyer, said US courts had jurisdiction as evidence showed the attacks at issue were partly aimed at influencing US policy and killing Americans.

"There was extensive evidence that the orchestrated terrorism campaign was not only to coerce and intimidate the government of Israel but also to coerce and intimate the government of the United States," he said.

The US Anti-Terrorism Act lets US citizens injured by acts of international terrorism pursue damages in federal court.

Jurors in the February 2015 trial found the PLO and Palestinian Authority liable for six shootings and bombings between 2002 and 2004 in the Jerusalem area, which have been attributed to the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and Hamas.

Those attacks killed 33 people, including several US citizens, and injured more than 450.

The families claimed late PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and his agents routinely arranged for attackers to be paid and made payments to families of attackers who died.

Lawyers for the PLO and Palestinian Authority have said the entities condemned the attacks, which they blamed on rogue low-level employees.

The jury awarded the families $218.5 million, a sum automatically tripled under a US anti-terrorism law to $655.5 million.
The Military Advocate General has decided to charge the Palestinian who ran over Avraham Asher Hasno with manslaughter instead of murder, the victim's family was informed on Tuesday.

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The family received the news with anger, calling the decision outrageous. "It can't be that the terrorist who ran over and murdered my father will only be charged with manslaughter and not murder," said Maydad Hasno, Avraham's son.

Last October, Avraham Hasno was on his way to Kiryat Arba when several Palestinians pelted his car with stones near Fawwar, southwest of Hebron. He stopped and exited the vehicle, and was run over by a truck driven by a Palestinian from Dhahiriya.

Hasno being run over by the truck (Photo: AP)

At first, the incident was treated as a hit-and-run, but two weeks later Avraham was recognized by the Defense Ministry as a victim of an act of terrorism.

In March , after Palestinian authorities released him, the Palestinian was detained by Israeli forces and taken for questioning.

Avraham Hasno (Photo: Kiryat Arba PR)

The Hasno family said it intends to involve relevant authorities in an effort to change the charges against the driver.

"Our family fought to be recognized as a family of a terror victim. Now, we're going through the whole thing again when he (the driver) is going to be charged with manslaughter and not murder," son Maydad said. "We're simply shocked. This terrorist came to murder my father."
The Temple Institute, an organization whose self-declared goal is to "establish the Third Temple," claimed on Tuesday evening that it held a secret Jewish wedding on the Temple Mount in what could reignite hostilities at the sensitive holy site and elsewhere.

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A post on the Temple Institute's Facebook page claims that Rabbi Chaim Richman, who manages the institute's international activity, accepted a request by a couple who asked him to marry them at the holy site after examining the halacha and consulting with other adjudicators.

The institute said the wedding ceremony on the Temple Mount is a great achievement "in light of the Waqf and the police's anti-Jewish discrimination, which rejects any Jewish expression at the holy site."

According to the institute, the couple met with the rabbi several days ago in Jerusalem's Old City, where the blessing over the wine was made.

The bride

The institute claims the bride and groom, the rabbi and witnesses met at the entrance to the Temple Mount compound.

While walking along the Temple Mount's eastern perimeter and making sure neither the police nor the Waqf's men noticed what they were doing, the groom recited the declaration: "Behold, you are consecrated to me with this ring according to the law of Moses and Israel" and put a ring on his bride's finger while the witnesses looked on.

The institute claims that moment was documented, but the couple has asked that the video is not released in full. Instead, the institute posted photos of the married couple's ringed-fingers without exposing their identity.

"The ancient custom of brides and grooms arriving at the Temple Mount separately on their wedding day has been upheld in recent years, but an actual wedding on the Temple Mount is a unique event in history, since the Temple's destruction 2,000 years ago," the institute said.

A man who was involved in the planning of the secret ceremony claimed it happened last week. "A group of 13 Jews went on the Temple Mount. One of them caused a diversion to make the police and the Waqf look towards the Dome of the Rock. Then, while another person was hiding the couple, the vows were made."

The groom

He said all those involved were asked to keep the ceremony a secret.

The Headquarters of Temple Organizations said they "congratulate the new couple for their marriage on the holy mountain. There's no place like that place to start a life of holiness. However, it is very regretful that such an act has become rare due to the authorities' illegal policy of discrimination on the Temple Mount, which forbids any Jewish expression at the site."

This is an unusual event in the volatile area, known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, where Jews are not allowed to pray.

The status quo on the Temple Mount upholds a rule that has effectively existed since 1187, when Muslim warrior Saladin defeated the Christian crusaders and held on to Jerusalem: non-Muslims may enter the sacred compound, but only Muslims can pray.

Before Muslims built the Dome of the Rock and the Aqsa mosque in the late 7th and early 8th centuries, two Jewish temples, the second destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD, stood at the site, which is both the holiest place in Islam outside Saudi Arabia and the most sacred place in Judaism.

After Israel captured the Old City and East Jerusalem in the 1967Six-Day War, it agreed to continue the status quo, recognizing the risks of igniting a religious war if anything were changed. It gave Jordan special responsibility for overseeing the Muslim holy sites via the Waqf, an Islamic trust.

That agreement was reinforced when Israel signed a peace treaty with Jordan in 1994. There have been many periods of friction over the years, but to all intents and purposes, the status quo has held.

Over the last decade or so, since then-opposition leader Ariel Sharon visited the site in 2000, the Waqf says Israel has been slowly chipping away at the rules, with increasing numbers of religious Jews visiting the area and many of them surreptitiously praying.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected those suggestions, saying repeatedly that the government has not changed the rules and has no intention of doing so.

Meanwhile, every week, police detains and at times also arrests right-wing activists on suspicion of praying or violating the rules in another manner.
Photo of Indian national Kirpal Singh, who had allegedly crossed Wagah border into Pakistan in 1992. (Photo: ANI Twitter)

Lahore: An Indian national who was languishing at a Lahore jail for more than 20 years on spying charges was found dead in his cell on Monday.

Kirpal Singh, 50, had allegedly crossed Wagah border into Pakistan in 1992 and was arrested. He was subsequently sentenced to death in a serial bomb blasts case in Punjab province.

Kirpal Singh was found dead at his cell in early hours of Monday at Kot Lakhpat Jail, an official said.

He said the body of Kirpal has been shifted to the Jinah Hospital Lahore for autopsy. A judicial magistrate was also called who recorded the statements of some prisoners about the death of Kirpal, the official said.

To a question about the death of Kirpal by torture, he said: The inmates of the jail near to Kirpal stated that he complained about pain in his chest and died instantly.

Jail police station head Nafees Ahmed said the authorities had called police to shift the body to the dead house.

Apparently, it seems the Indian prisoner died of natural death. However, autopsy will tell the exact cause of death, he said. Kirpal Sinhg, who hails from Gurdaspur district in Punjab, has reportedly been acquitted of bomb blast charges by the Lahore high court but his death sentence could not be commuted because of unknown reasons.

Jagir Kaur, Kirpals sister, had earlier said that the family couldnt raise voice for his release due to financial constraints and no politician came forward to plead his case.

Earlier, in last week of April, 2013, Indian prisoner on death row Sarabjit Singh was brutally attacked and murdered by his fellow prisoners at Kot Lakhpat Jail. Both accused - Muhammad Muddasar and Amir Tamba also condemned prisoners - are facing trial of his murder at the jail.

Sarabjit was arrested on charges of conducting four bomb blasts in Faisalabad, Multan and Lahore that killed 14 bystanders in 1990. He was sentenced to death.
Chitral, Pakistan: Pakistan's smallest religious minority, the Kalash speak their own language and celebrate their gods through music, dance -- and alcohol, which they brew themselves in Chitral's plunging verdant valleys.

Here, the sexes mingle easily, marriage can be sealed with a dance, and women are free to move on to new loves -- it is a far cry from life in much of the rest of the country, where many adhere to a strict Islamic code forbidding such behaviour.

Yet the Kalash fear their unique culture will not endure: Increasingly their youth are converting to Islam, prompting activists to campaign to preserve the traditions of this ancient, diminishing tribe.

Their fight to get the Kalash on to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage List began in 2008, but eight years on remains mired in sluggish bureaucracy.

With their fair skin and light eyes, academics have speculated the Kalash might be descended from the ancient Middle East or even from soldiers of Alexander the Great's army, which conquered the area in the fourth century BC.

Centuries ago they ruled Chitral but now they number just 3,000, according to the Kalash Peoples Development Network (KPDN). Today, the Kalash say their traditions are under threat.

At school, children take a compulsory class on Islam but not about their own traditions, which are becoming more and more difficult to follow as the Kalash move away from their agrarian lifestyle and towards trade, studying or working in the cities.

Some face anger from Muslim neighbours in the region, who believe Allah is enraged by the tribe's un-Islamic practises and has unleashed natural disasters -- floods and earthquakes -- on the area as punishment.

Under such pressure, more and more end up converting to Islam.

"The Kalash are a living civilisation and need to be protected legally through the government of Pakistan," says KPDN activist Luke Rehmat.

He accuses government officials of not taking the UNESCO bid seriously, adding: "So far there is no positive work on this."

The menstrual house

The unique Kalash festivals and rituals mean the tribe do fit the criteria for the list, says Jawad Aziz, a cultural officer at UNESCO in Islamabad.

Among the more colourful of the Kalash traditions is the "bashali": the house in every village where women are required to stay during their menstrual cycle.

Kalash women are considered "impure" during their periods, during which they are not supposed to touch others.

Instead they retreat to the bashali, off limits to men, where they spend their days in peace reading books and sewing as family members leave food for them on the doorstep.

The Kalash also do not mourn their dead, instead celebrating what Rehmat described as "the completion of the journey" that begins with birth with three days of dancing, music and feasting.

Marriage can be agreed by a dance, before the couple run off to his parents' house -- only welcome back in the Kalash community when they visit the parents of the bride.

But the woman has the right to leave her husband and marry another -- should her new lover be willing to pay the price she sets.

Aziz said consultations between his organisation, the government and the Kalash were held in 2012 -- but there has been no official communication since then.

"The government of Pakistan has not submitted any dossier so far either for preservation of the Kalash cultural heritage or to safeguard any endangered part," he said.

Government officials warn the process takes time.

"The procedure to be included in the UNESCO list is quite a lengthy one and in other countries they have separate organisations (to help carry out the process)," said Sajid Munir, a spokesman for the National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage, which hosted the original consultations in 2012.

He said the institution, known locally as Lok Virsa, has been working to preserve Kalash culture since the 1980s, and still plans to get the tribe on to the UNESCO list.

No guarantee

Local authorities in Chitral said they were also fighting to preserve Kalash identity.

The valleys have long attracted tourists for their natural beauty and their brush with legend as the home of the tribe.

"When I was appointed here, my superiors stressed that I should concentrate particularly on the Kalash community and make efforts for the preservation of their culture," Osama Ahmad Warraich, the district administration official of Chitral said.

"The locals said they needed sanitary pads in the bashalis and now we are providing that. We have plans to renovate their places of worships and festivities."

Rehmat dismisses the government efforts, however.

"Every time, they say that Kalash people are living near our hearts," he said.

"If we are living very close to them then why are all these things happening?" he asked, referring to the tribe's struggle to preserve its cultural heritage.

At any rate, said UNESCO's Aziz, being included on the list "gives no guarantee of protection".
According to recently released data from the Federal Governments Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB), 36,841 sales of residential real estate worth $60.75bn was approved for purchase by foreign buyers during the 2015-14 financial year.

That is a marked increase in the 23,054 sales worth $34.72bn that were approved in 2013-14 and is more than triple the amount of sales and values approved for foreign purchase in 2012-13.

Including the commercial sector, foreign buyers purchased a total of $96.9bn worth of Australian real estate over the 2015-14 financial year, with Chinese buyers accounting for just over $24bn of that.

Charles Pittar, chief executive officer of Juwai.com, which markets Australian real estate to Chinese buyers said the increase in Chinese money entering the Australian real estate market is a positive.

China's share has risen from less than one-tenth to more than one-quarter of all of foreign real estate investment in Australia since 2012, Pittar said

"Anyone who bought a new apartment last year should probably thank a Chinese offshore buyer. Because Chinese are more likely to buy off the plan and give developers the reassurance they need to start construction, new dwelling approvals have been well above their long-run average at least since 2015, he said.

Source: Juwai.com

Pittar said there is still pent up demand for international property among Chinese buyers, with little sign of the flow of Chinese money to Australia stalling anytime in the near future.

This is important because it shows that the China bears who claimed Chinese investment was falling off a cliff are badly informed. Australia is the second most popular country for Chinese buyers, after the USA and ahead of Canada and the UK, he said.

Chinese buyers are investing in residential property, commercial property and development sites. Chinese developers are building some of the most interesting projects in the country right now, and making a direct contribution to employment, housing supply and economic vitality.
The state and its sluggish economy were dealt another blow last week when steel manufacturer Arrium, who had already cut 1,000 jobs from its operations in the city of Whyalla, went into liquidation.

While that may mean some pain for the market in Whyalla and its surrounds, Adam Stone, South Australian state manager for National Property Buyers, said prospective investors shouldnt apply those conditions to the whole state

To some people theyll just hear South Australia and they may associate whats happening in the regional areas to all of the state, including Adelaide, Stone said.

I see there being two separate markets in the state. Its very, very quiet in some of the regional areas that have been hit by economic issues. I see there being the Adelaide market and then theres the regional market, he said.

Even before the collapse of Arrium, Stone said he was experiencing first-hand the struggles regional markets were experiencing.

I do vendor advocacy and I have a property for a client in Port Augusta. Its been on the market for three months or so and we havent even had an enquiry or anybody go through the property, he said.

In some of those regional areas its bad now and I think it will continue to be that way for a while.

In comparison, Stone said market confidence within Adelaide has been gaining steam since late 2015.

Im finding its very, very strong. Im trying to buy properties before they go to auction and the vendors are deciding that they wont sell before auction and wont even entertain an offer.

Its very strong at the moment and its been that way since about November last year. Back then I thought it was a matter of things getting very busy and sought after with the end of year approaching, but its been full steam ahead since then.

That confidence is being driven by a mix of investors and home buyers, with Stone saying the city is increasingly on the radar of investors from inter-state.

Were getting a lot of investors who are coming from Sydney, Ive got one client at the at the moments who wants me to buy two properties for him. Its very noticeable at the moment how many clients are coming from outside the state, especially from New South Wales.

In particular the younger ones, in their 30s or so, for whom the prices in somewhere like Sydney are a bit beyond them at the moment, so their looking to Adelaide because its a bit more affordable.

While the situation in areas like Whyalla and Port Augusta are unfortunate to say the least, Stone said they serve as another reminder about the dangers of investing in areas reliant on one employer or industry.

With the some of these regional areas, investors get caught up on yields because there are often good rental returns available but we always put capital growth as number one when selecting properties for clients.

You dont normally get both, you get capital growth or yield and we direct our clients towards growth."
As a homeowner, you probably already know that you should be working to maintain your home. But, chances are, you Read More
It can seem like a big leap, but with some careful preparation and expert advice you can enter the investment market with confidence

It can seem like a big leap, but with some careful preparation and expert advice you can enter the investment market with confidence. Here are our 5 simple steps to get you into the best position to take the plunge.

1. Be clear about what you want to achieve

Being crystal clear about your objectives is key to finding the right investment. It can be a challenge, but now is the time to check your emotions at the door  this is not a property that you are going to live in (at least not initially), so you dont need to feel a personal connection. The property itself is secondary to the return it will give you and how it fits with your financial goals.

Decide what your end goal is  cash flow, capital gain, a future home for you, or something else  and create a plan to get there. Make sure your timeframe is realistic, and review your plan regularly as your circumstances change and the property market develops.

2. Decide on the ideal property type

For an investment property, you want something that will have high rental demand, and be attractive to possible owner-occupiers down the track. Do plenty of research into what types of properties renters are snapping up quickly, and what seems to be languishing vacant on the market.

Should you go for something thats market-ready, or a renovators delight? Do you buy an apartment or a house? Its ideal if you can buy a property you can rent out immediately, but dont discount those that need minor renovations. The amount you invest upfront in a paint job or updated kitchen could be recuperated over the long term by higher rental returns.

Look out for properties that distinguish themselves from the pack with a special feature such as a second bathroom, lock-up garage or good outdoor space. Extras like this will help your property to stand out in the rental market.

3. Zero in on your location

Location is one of the key things that will dictate the performance of your property, and youll need to narrow down your choices to make your search more efficient. Again, do your research: which areas are performing well in the rental market? Are local property prices on the rise? Keep your heart and head well separated: suburbs you may not want to live in yourself could be the most desirable from an investment point of view.

Think about how far the property is from the city centre or local business area. Wheres the nearest public transport? Are the local shops within walking distance, or will tenants have to drive to pick up the essentials? Be sure to consider the proximity to schools, as this will be a key question for many renters.

4. Get your financials in order

Speak with a mortgage broker, who will be able to give you up-front for free and independent advice about how to get your loan pre-approval. Know how your loan repayments correspond with your likely rental returns. Make sure youre absolutely clear on what your upper purchase limit is, taking all extra costs into account, including conveyancing, inspections, insurance, property management and taxes. Its essential to ensure that you have a financial buffer, in case there are months where your property is vacant.

When it comes to investing, its important to understand how to set up the purchase so it benefits you most. Its possible to purchase in your name, through your superannuation fund or through a trust, but its important to understand how the purchase will affect you and your family. Get expert advice to ensure youre making the smartest choices.

5. Set yourself up to succeed

It can be a challenge to get your head around the dynamics of the property investment market. There are investment opportunities available most of the time, but some market conditions are more favourable than others, and timing is key. Youll be making some big decisions, and its a good idea to get some expert advice on board.

Ensure that you get in touch with an experienced mortgage broker, who can advise you on many aspects of property purchase, and put you in touch with other experts who can guide you to make the most informed decisions about real estate and investment. Good accountants, real estate agents, financial planners, conveyancers, lawyers and valuers can be hard to find  but these are the people who study the property market for a living and can help you make the best choices.

About the author:

Marc Barlow has been mortgage broking for over 10 years, after prior employment with retail banks in Australia and the UK. He is currently a mortgage broker at Mortgage Broker Sydney based on York Street in the CBD.

Disclaimer: While due care is taken, the viewpoints expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Your Mortgage.
US taxpayers get screwed again as half of the Goldman Sachs $5 billion settlement with the Department of Justice will be tax deductible.The Department of Justice announced that Goldman Sachs will pay $5 billion to settle claims that they misled investors during the mortgage crisis, The Justice Department, along with federal and state partners, announced today a $5.06 billion settlement with Goldman Sachs related to Goldmans conduct in the packaging, securitization, marketing, sale and issuance of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) between 2005 and 2007.The resolution announced today requires Goldman to pay $2.385 billion in a civil penalty under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act (FIRREA) and also requires the bank to provide $1.8 billion in other relief, including relief to underwater homeowners, distressed borrowers and affected communities, in the form of loan forgiveness and financing for affordable housing.Goldman will also pay $875 million to resolve claims by other federal entities and state claims. Investors, including federally-insured financial institutions, suffered billions of dollars in losses from investing in RMBS issued and underwritten by Goldman between 2005 and 2007.Dennis Kelleher, President and CEO of Better Markets, pointed out that half of the settlement will be tax deductible for Goldman Sachs:This settlement is a victory for Goldman.Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said that Goldman admitted to the whole world that their system is based on fraud.Sanders said, Goldman Sachs is one of the major financial institutions in our country. What they have just acknowledged to the whole world is that their systemis based on fraud.The fact that Goldman got to keep all of the money that have made from collapsing the economy plus will be able to write off half of the settlement with the Department of Justice should be enraging to taxpayers.When Democrats talk about the system being rigged, the Goldman Sachs settlement is a perfect example of what they are referring to. Sure, their illegal activity will cost Goldman $5 billion, but its not really $5 billion because they will be able to write off half of it. No one from Goldman Sachs will be going to prison, and the American people will again be footing the bill.The reason voters are enraged is because the system is rigged. The Goldman Sachs settlement isnt justice. There is no way that the people who lost their jobs, homes, and life savings can feel like justice has been done. Voters are angry, and one of the main sources of their rage is the fact that Wall Street destroyed the economy and got off with less than a slap on the wrist.Real change is needed in the United States, and it should start by holding the criminals who destroyed Americas economy accountable.
An interesting, righteous spot-on and articulately written piece from The Federalist:The Obama Administration Is Now Apologizing For America Winning World War IIOur new motto: Strength Through Moral Equivalence.When John Kerry toured the Hiroshima Peace Memorial and Museum this week before meeting foreign ministers at the G-7 Summit, Reuters reports that he had witnessed haunting displays [of] photographs of badly burned victims, the tattered and stained clothes they wore and statues depicting them with flesh melting from their limbs.It is a stunning display. It is a gut-wrenching display, explained Kerry. It is a reminder of the depth of the obligation every one of us in public life carries  to create and pursue a world free from nuclear weapons.Iran exempted, of course.But, really, is this the lesson of Hiroshima? That those in public life have an obligation to do away with nuclear weapons? A lot of people might argue that existence of those weapons have saved lives from broader world conflicts and conventional warfare. That includes ending the Second World War sooner.Yesterday, The Washington Post dutifully reported that, In Hiroshima, Kerry wont apologize for atomic bombs dropped on Japan. Technically, he didnt. What we witnessed was one of the administrations inverted non-apology apologies.Barack Obama will also travel to Japan next month for the G-7. Theres a lot of speculation he will visit Hiroshima and offer some sort of apology. (If were to believe WikiLeaks, U.S. officials have been toying with the idea of having Obama say sorry for Hiroshima for a while now. And it comports well with his history.)It would not be a great leap for Obama. Having a high-ranking American official visit the museum already lends credence to the Japanese notion that the U.S. bombing was gratuitous. On top of this, Kerry blames nuclear weapons  rather than Japans fanaticism and nihilism  for Hiroshima. So were on our way.If the Obama administration is intent on historical score-keeping theres plenty to talk about. Japan aligned itself with one of the great murderers of the 20th century (though it needed no help initiating genocide) and launched numerous invasions and a war that cost the U.S. hundreds of thousands of lives and billions in treasure, both fighting Japan and helping it create a stable, liberal state after the war.Its not like the Japanese have ever truly apologized for the butchery, mass rape, destruction, and aggression that made Hiroshima a reality. Has any Japanese foreign or prime minister strolled through the gut-wrenching exhibit about the Nanking massacre? The first time any Japanese official apologized for the Bataan Death March was 2009  and then only an ambassador.Of course, revisiting Japans 70-year-old offenses at a G-7 Summit would be ridiculous and counterproductive. As is the compunction of Obamas officials to acknowledge or apologize for the alleged sins and moral deficiencies of the U.S. every time they get on an international flight  a grating habit since 2009.After all, Kerry could have said that Hiroshima was a reminder of the depth of the obligation every one of us in public life carries to stop extremist regimes like Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Or he might have said Hiroshima was a reminder of the depth of the obligation every one of us in public life carries to ensure that we are well prepared for the next force that threatens peace.Instead our motto the past eight years has been, Strength Through Moral Equivalence.In Strasbourg, France, President Obama, who would later fail to show up in Paris with the rest of the free worlds leaders to make a statement about Islamism, said, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive towards Europe. This same president pays respect to the contemptible Saudi Arabian monarch while being dismissive  even derisive  of the only liberal nation in the Middle East, talks to the Muslim world about American colonialism as if it were a real thing.American officials can acknowledge the catastrophe of war and the destructive capability of nuclear weapons  even in the context of World War II warfare, the instantaneous carnage of the atom bomb was especially horrifying  without visiting the Hiroshima Peace Memorial or apologizing. Surely those in the fire-bombings of Dresden (or even Tokyo, for that matter) saw thousands of badly burned victims, in tattered clothes with skin melting from their limbs. Its going to be a long apology tour if we take this route.Now, its a shame evil regimes start world wars that other nations are forced to win. But without the use of atomic weapons, World War II would likely have been prolonged. I realize historians debate how many Americans would have been saved, but at the very least, Trumans intention was not to murder civilians indiscriminately, but to end the war in the Pacific.Most reasonable people, even those who believe a war is wrong, mishandled, or fought poorly, can probably concede that since the start of the 20th century, the U.S. does not enter into conflict with an intent to steal oil or exact revenge on civilians or to drop atom bombs for kicks. Were far more inclined to fight wars to try to create democracies or spread freedom  however misguided and botched those efforts are sometimes. And post-war Japan is proof that Americans, unlike most other places around the world, dont really hold grudges. So, though we are imperfect, we are not equally culpable. Not even close.
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Stiri pe aceeasi tema

- The Chamber of Deputies rejected, on Wednesday, the simple motion against the Internal Affairs minister Lucian Bode, submitted by 55 MPs from the Save Romania Union (USR) and non-affiliated members of the Forta Dreptei (Force of the Right) Party, which was debated in plenary meeting on Monday, told

- The Senate plenary meeting passed on Monday, as the decision-making body, with 83 votes "in favour," 37 votes "against" and three abstentions, the draft law regarding the Statute of judges and prosecutors, with one of the amendments being the removal of the disciplinary offense regarding the non-compliance

- Consolidating the cultural dimension of bilateral relations Bucharest - Chisinau was the main topic addressed on Thursday, at the meeting between the president of the Joint permanent committee of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate for the relationship with UNESCO, deputy Ana-Maria Catauta, and

- The Minister of National Defence, Vasile Dincu, will be invited next Monday to the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies, for the "Government's Hour" debate, told Agerpres. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro pe Facebook stiripesurse.ro  Help

- Save Romania Union (USR) floor leader Ionut Mosteanu announced on Tuesday in the Chamber of Deputies' plenary sitting the tabling of a simple motion against Minister of the Interior Lucian Bode, told Agerpres. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro pe Facebook

- Minister of Justice Catalin Predoiu requested that the draft law on protection of whistleblower in public interest, under review at the Chamber of Deputies, be re-sent to the Legal Committee for the introduction of the observations and recommendations of the European Commission that take into account

- The culture committee of the Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday discussed the way in which political parties finance certain broadcasts for advertising outside of electoral campaigns, as shown in a Recorder investigation, with National Audio-visual Council (CNA) representatives participating, told Agerpres.

- Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies and leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) Marcel Ciolacu hailed on Monday the stance of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz regarding Romania's joining the Schengen Area, pointing out that the Romanians "richly" deserve this decision, and that "this support comes
When discussing the issue of why Bernie Sanders will still become Democratic nominee, even if Clinton receives more delegates by late June, lets take things into context. Bernie Sanders was recently invited to the Vatican by Pope Francis to speak, while Hillary Clinton will be interviewed soon by the FBI. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have attended events to hear Bernie Sanders speak (100,000 people had attended by August of 2015), while Hillary Clinton cant fathom releasing transcripts of paid Wall Street speeches. Bernie supporters recently rallied outside his childhood apartment in Brooklyn and Sanders delivered an electrifying speech at Bronx Community College. Hillary Clinton recently used a static noise machine to prevent the press from listening to her words at a Denver fundraiser, and this was after roping off reporters last year.



One candidate is admired by millions, as illustrated by Sanders being the only leading candidate in 2016 with positive favorability ratings. The other candidate holds negative favorability ratings in every major national poll; in 6 out of 10 major polls, Hillary Clinton is viewed unfavorably by 15 points or more.



Again, in all 10 polls showing negative favorability for Clinton, 6 of these national polls show unfavorable ratings of 15 points or more.

I disagree with Senator Obamas assertion that people in our country cling to guns... she said.

She described herself as a pro-gun churchgoer, recalling that her father taught her how to shoot a gun when she was a young girl and said that her faith is the faith of my parents and my grandparents.

I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base. But thats not what happened, as demonstrated by CBS News video that shows Clinton arriving on the tarmac under no visible duress, and greeting a child who offers her a copy of a poem.

Sanders dominates Clinton with younger voters, first-time voters, Independent voters, and defeats Trump by a wider margin than the former Secretary of State.As for a general election, its obvious to anyone paying attention that Sanders is the best chance to defeat a Republican. First, hes not linked to an FBI investigation. Second, Bernie Sanders defeats Trump by 16.5 points according to Real Clear Politics; six more points than Clinton.If the GOP picks Ted Cruz, Bernie Sanders demolishes him by an average of 10.1 points.Clinton beats Trump by an average of 10.5 points. If the GOP picks Ted Cruz, she barely beats him, and the polling average shows Hillary Clinton ahead by only 2.5 points.These are Clintons poll numbers against Republicans before possible FBI and DOJ indictments, and before the media frenzy that takes place even if Clinton escapes legal consequences. Clinton also doesnt keep polling leads and lost an over 50-point lead to Bernie Sanders, just like she lost her lead to Obama.Superdelegates and Democratic Party officials are indeed concerned, especially since even if Clinton escapes FBI indictment, the backlash from no indictment will be fierce, and the media attention alone will hurt general election poll numbers. Ultimately, there will be major consequences from the FBI investigation, and I [believe] indictments are imminent.If Clinton survives the FBI and Bernies momentum, dont expect party unity to rally all Democrats if Hillary Clinton gets the nomination. The outdated poll showing 33% of Bernie Sanders supporters never voting for Clinton might actually be a greater number....As for pressing issues like gun control, Clintons stance has changed dramatically since 2008, as stated in a New York Times piece titled Clinton Portrays Herself as a Pro-Gun Churchgoer:Is there a reason Hillary Clinton chose guns and faith as two ways to alienate our nations first black president?Furthermore, the problem with another Clinton White House is that Hillary is far more militant than Bill, and also once fabricated a war story according to POLITIFACT:Imagine if Bernie Sanders had made that same statement. This fabrication is magnified by Clintons willingness to send American ground troops back to war last November.
My sole motivation behind letting myself into that abominable prison house called school was the little white stick that my mother allowed me to grab and lick after the classes were over. I used to look with wishful eyes the attractive white box of ice cream walla who also had other varieties-the red tangy one that came in twenty five paisa, the slightly yellow one that came in fifty paisa and the expensive white creamy one that came in full one rupee. My mother had warned me against eating the orange one as she said it contained worms that came out if you sprinkled salt on it! So my childhood remained deprived of that one single taste that so often contented the appetite of my not-so-affluent friends. <BR><BR> When I went to college I read about globalisation, about the invasion of markets by foreign goods and of absolute wiping out of the local economy by organized production houses. But I could not understand these things till one day while crossing from near my school my eyes failed to spot that old ice cream walla whose presence had become such an inseparable part of the entire set up. It came as a rude shock to me that his place was now taken by three four colourful wheeled vans endorsing attractive logos and pictures of branded ice cream. <BR><BR> That changes are always for better or worse is like putting an emotion into plain black and white. I may have in my own personal way some attachment with the white stick ice cream or with the more expensive soapy, frothy softie of my school days but the accessibility, taste and variety that the present day ice cream industry is offering is no doubt incomparable. <BR><BR> Who would have thought barely a decade ago of eating ice creams made of real fresh fruits- a la Gelato Vittorio or a cool creamy liquid fried in hot boiling oil or what is called today the fried ice cream. <BR><BR> In India the ice cream industry took sometimes to catch the global cue because the country has an indigenous rich and well developed dessert market. What ice cream would stand in competition against Indian sweets? But no you cant say so just because you are born in the land of Kulfi. You will have the authority only when you taste Baked Alaska (an ice-cream sponge cake dish topped with meringue), Arctic roll (British dessert made of vanilla and flour), Adzuki (Japanese red bean ice cream) and Dondruma( a Turkish ice made of salep and mastic resin). <BR><BR> We Indians who generally go gaga over a handful of varieties that Baskin Robbins offers are unaware of the fact that the company actually makes 1000 flavours! What we get in India generally as branded ice cream is nothing but milk and corn flour seasoned with a few chemicals and packed in attractive cones, cups and cornettos. Our knowledge of Ice cream is so poor that we do not even know what cornetto is! Most of us think it is the name of an ice cream that Kwality offers. Update your dictionary- it is actually the registered name of an improved variety of waffle cone that does not become soggy and that was invented and patented by an Italian firm called Spica in 1960! <BR><BR> The world offers so much in shape of that delicate, cool, tender delight called ice cream that I being a lover of it feel choked with emotion at my own minisculeness and misfortune of not having tasted even a fraction of that tremendous, rich and inexhaustible treasure. What is thy life O mortal, my heart cries out, if thou hast not known the glories of the Australian Giant Sandwich Monster, the Manoco Bar, the Irish Scottish Sliders, the Argentine Helado, the Greek Kimaki and the Japanese Macha! <BR><BR> Sometimes I wonder whether there is an intricate connection between the survival of a race and its appetite for ice cream! Otherwise why would the Greeks, the Romans, the Chinese and the Persians survive the ravages of time and the Glorious Harappan civilization fade into oblivion? And let us be pragmatic and not blame some harmless ecology or innocent river for their decline. The reason I am sure was hidden in their food habits-they having failed to secure the divine blessings of the Gods. Yes, thats precisely what the ancient Greeks called ice cream! Imagine what foodies they must have been that nearly 4000 years ago they got for themselves ice houses constructed at the banks of Euphrates and as early as 5th century BC they began its marketing by selling ice cones mixed with fruit and honey. A honey flavoured cornetto.! <BR><BR> Roman emperor Nero (62 AD) was fond of fruit ice cream and hence sent his servants to fetch ice from mountains! The Falooda that we eat today is actually a Persian dish Faloodeh made from starch and has its origin around 400BC. The Chinese who claim to be the pioneers in almost everything -be it the first currency notes, the first stint with silk or the first to flood the markets of neighbours with cheap plastic goods-were not far behind in making ice cream too. They are credited to have invented a device that made quick ice using salt peter (no, it was not imported from Bihar, China had enough of it). <BR><BR> The unfortunate Charles I whom the world knows as an autocrat, a despot, a tyrant, an enemy of democracy and parliament was also a lover of ice cream! It is said that he made his chef keep the formula a secret so that it remained a royal prerogative. <BR><BR> Our great Mughals, we should not forget were the die hard lovers of food and all that is rich and luxurious in the modern Indian cuisine has a Mughal origin. So they too loved ice cream and they too enjoyed it in royal feasts and ceremonies. When they could get choicest fruits from Farghana and Samarquand and the best wines from Persia, why couldnt they send relays of horsemen to bring ice from Hindukush for their aromatic fruit sherbets? <BR><BR> But were sending horsemen to run and fetch ice or storing ice in underground icehouses near rivers, the only way of making ice creams in those days? Sadly, yes. And thats why the common man remained deprived of and unknown to its delectable taste. But lets thank Nancy Johnson of Philadelphia who first got the patent for a small hand run ice cream freezer. Gradually with the coming of electricity there also came a revolution in ice cream making. Thereafter Giant corporates like Howard Johnson, Dairy Queen, Baskin Robbins, Gelato Vittorio, Ben and Jerrys, Haagen Dazs and Carvel changed the concept of ice cream in the world. Soft serves, Sundaes and super premiums began to be offered by shops next door. <BR><BR> Thanks to globalisation, the world has really become a small place to live in. Today I can access any ice cream from the world over in my local confectionary shop. but among the confused tastes of multitudinous flavours I some how always try to find that one singular taste of the white stick ice-cream which trickled through my fingers and ran into my nursery uniformspoiling it but leaving an imprint on my memory which has failed to faint in all these years.
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New Delhi: A Delhi court on Tuesday extended by a month the period of detention of four suspected ISIS operatives after the NIA submitted that the larger conspiracy of the outfit in India and abroad, including recruitment of resident and non-resident Indians, was yet to be ascertained.

District judge Amarnath extended the period of detention of accused -- Mohd Azeemusan, Mohd Osama, Akhlakur Rehman and Mohd Mehraz, beyond 90 days till May 12 on a plea of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) which said that probe into the case was spread in different parts of the country and abroad.

According to the sources, during an in-chamber hearing, NIA also submitted the report of the probe before the court in a sealed cover.

"During the course of investigation, larger conspiracy of IS activities in India and abroad including recruitment of resident and non-resident Indians by the IS is yet to be ascertained.

"The investigation in the instant case is spread in different parts of country and abroad," the NIA said.

The sources said that in the application, the agency also informed the court that mobile sets, SIM cards, laptops and micro SD cards, recovered from the possession of the accused persons during the probe, have been sent for forensic analysis and the results were still awaited.

The accused, reportedly owing allegiance to ISIS, were arrested for allegedly conspiring to commit terrorist acts in the country on being motivated by its ideology.

A case was registered by the special cell of Delhi Police on January 18 under the provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and section of 120 B of IPC. Later the case was transferred to the NIA.
New Delhi: Fill, a 33-year-old Nigerian, is cooling his heels in Tihar Jail under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

With his arrest, Delhi Police have heaved a sigh of relief as the "kingpin" was heading a well-organised drug racket that used to supply high quality cocaine at Delhi's plush pubs and bars.

Fill, alias Steve (who uses only one name), was nabbed on April 2 from Rajendra Nagar in central Delhi on a tip-off. He had gone to supply 54 grams of pure cocaine to one of his well-heeled clients.

The drug was worth between Rs.10 lakh and Rs.50 lakh, depending on negotiation, and would have fetched at least Rs.54 lakh in the international market.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Ravindra Yadav told IANS that Fill was the "kingpin" of the drug racket, which was running in Delhi since 2009. The racket had a network of suppliers, comprising youngsters, who did dealings with clients.

Top Delhi Police sources told IANS they are close to capturing the other members of the gang.

The drugs business, though, was apparently not in Fill's scheme of things when he landed in India in 2008.

According to what he has told police, he had come here to start a business venture in readymade garments. However, Fill was cheated by a fellow countryman of all his money -- leaving him penniless, which forced him to take up the drug peddling business.

Fill is lodged in Tihar Jail on charges of possessing, purchasing, selling, storing and transporting contraband drugs in the national capital.

After he was cheated of his money, Fill told police, he had to beg to fulfil his daily needs, and later started providing consultancy to Nigerian visitors about Delhi.

"Thereafter, he came in contact with another Nigerian named KC, a supplier of cocaine in Delhi, in the beginning of 2009 and joined his gang," Yadav said.

The officer said that Fill started selling cocaine to Indian customers along with KC in south Delhi pubs and bars.

"Later in 2011 or 2012, KC was caught by police and deported to Nigeria. But Fill continued to evade the police. His illegal cocaine business was thriving. He used different mobile phone numbers for his cocaine business," the officer said.

Fill used to sell one "pudia" (one gram) of cocaine for between Rs.15,000-Rs.1 lakh, depending on the demand and time of day. The rates would go up as the evening advanced.

A crime branch team, led by Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) M.A. Rizvi, consisting of Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Ranbir Singh, inspector Devender and his team, arrested Fill from Rajendra Nagar on a tip-off on April 2.


Delhi: Actor-turned-politician Manoj Tiwari has emerged as a frontrunner for the post of Delhi BJP president, as per a media report.

Mail Today quoted sources as saying that the BJP MP from North East Delhi, is ahead of senior leaders Pawan Sharma and East Delhi MP Maheish Girri.

They are also said to be in the fray.

Tiwari joined the party in 2013 and won the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from North East Delhi.

The website also quoted sources as saying that he could make a surprise entry to PM Narendra Modi's Cabinet.

At the same time, it has reportedly been left to Tiwari to take a final call, sources said.

Moreover, the website quoted a senior Delhi BJP leader as saying that the 'outsider' tag was no longer associated with the North East Delhi MP.

Importantly, his elevation may help the BJP in mobilising migrant population from Eastern UP, Bihar and Jharkhand who are said to be nearly one-third of Delhi's total electorates.

To be noted is the fact that in the last Assembly elections, the poorvanchali voters had drifted towards the Aam Aadmi Party.

Meanwhile, the other contender, Pawan Sharma, a longtime RSS activist, is at present a vice-president of Delhi BJP and has held the post of general secretary in the state.

On the other hand, current Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay, who has been a councillor and former chairman of the Standing Committee in South Delhi Municipal Corporation, has been in the line of fire after party's rout in 2015 Assembly polls.

Apart from being a politician, Tiwari is a singer, actor, television presenter and music director and has been a popular actor of Bhojpuri films.

Earlier, he had contested the 2009 national elections on a Samajwadi Party ticket.
Chandigarh: After rejecting reports of gang-rapes at Murthal during the Jat stir for reservation, the Haryana Police has told the Punjab and Haryana High Court that the section on gang-rape had been added to the FIR in the case.

The move comes after the police received two anonymous letters from women stating that they had been sexually assaulted.

The police told the court yesterday that the first letter was forwarded by the Faridabad Commissioner of Police to the Superintendent of Police, Sonipat, on March 1 who, in turn, sent it to the Special Group of Officers on March 2.

The second letter, from a non-resident Indian woman, was forwarded to the police by a local news channel.

"Since the content of both communications reveals the commission of offence under Section 376D of the Indian Penal Code, the relevant Section has been added and further investigation will be conducted on these communications to verify the content," said the Haryana Police affidavit to the court yesterday.

The first letter, posted from Mathura Road, Faridabad, states that the victim, a student, was returning home with her father from the college hostel when she was allegedly gang-raped.

The police told the court that the Deputy Commissioners of districts falling on the National Highway-1, including Sonipat, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Yamuna Nagar and Ambala, had been requested to provide the list of colleges/technical institutes with girls' hostels so that they could identify the victim.

The letter from the NRI, forwarded to the police by the news channel, had gone viral on a social networking website.

The Cyber Cell, Sonipat, has been directed to contact the news channel and find out the source of the letter. The victim, in her letter, said she had reached the New Delhi airport from Australia on February 21 and was travelling on National Highway-1 near Murthal where she was allegedly gang-raped.

The complainant has mentioned the names of her relatives who had arrived with her. The police have made a request to Foreigner Regional Registration Officer, Delhi, seeking help in identifying the victim.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had taken suo motu notice of media reports that some women travelling on the Delhi-Ambala Highway were allegedly gang-raped by rioters during the Jat agitation.

Initially, the Haryana government had told the court that no incidents of rape or molestation had taken place, but a first information report was filed on March 30 based on a complaint filed by a Delhi resident.
Vadodara: Bodies of two fishermen from Gujarat, who died in a Pakistani jail months ago, will be finally sent to India on April 14, a top State Fisheries official said on Tuesday.

The bodies will be arriving at the Mumbai airport from where they will be taken to their native in Gir Somnath district of Gujarat for the last rites.

After receiving a communication in this regard from the Indian High Commissioner's office in Islamabad yesterday, the state government has decided to send two of its fisheries department officials with an ambulance to Mumbai tomorrow to bring the bodies," Mohammed A Narmavala, Gujarat Fisheries Commissioner told PTI.

The two fishermen were identified as Vaaga Bijal Chauhan, a native of Dandi village, and Ratandas Makwana, who hailed from Nanavada village--both in Gir Somnath district.

Chauhan died on December 22, 2015 while Makwana passed away on February 8, 2016 while being lodged in a Pakistani jail. Both were caught in April last year when their boats allegedly entered territorial waters of Pakistan while fishing in Sir Creek area in the Arabian Sea.

All the required formalities including post-mortem on both the bodies will be conducted in Islamabad tomorrow and the bodies will be despatched by air from Karachi on April 14, the official said.

There has been mounting pressure for long from families of the deceased fishermen besides MPs and NGOs, who had sought Centre's intervention to bring home the bodies of the two fishermen.

Also, Veljibhai Masani, senior vice-president of Gujarat Fishermen Association, Rajesh Chudasama, BJP MP from Junagadh, and Parimal Nathwani, Independent member of Rajya Sabha, had requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to expedite the process of bringing back the bodies of the fishermen from Pakistan so that their families are able to perform the last rites.

According to Nathwani, Chauhan's body has been lying in a morgue in Pakistan since his death on 22nd December.

"This is causing much worry to his son Suresh and wife Lekhiben, who is bed-ridden for a long time ever since her husband left on a fishing mission in April 2015," he had said in a statement.

Meanwhile, speaking to PTI, Suresh said, "I suspected some wrongdoing and mystery behind my father's death in Pakistani jail and my fears came true when some of the 172 released fishermen from Pakistan last month as a goodwill gesture, on their return, alleged ill-treatment.Or else why it took 114 days to bring the body of my father from Pakistan".
New Delhi: Delhi Metro commuters will henceforth not be allowed to cover their faces using surgical masks or mufflers even as the security-hold area at close to two dozen stations has been expanded in view of the new security drills being deployed to more effectively guard the rapid rail network.

In the wake of a daring heist at the Rajinder Place station yesterday where two unidentified men stormed the control room and looted around Rs 12 lakh cash, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has issued a set of fresh instructions dis-allowing covering of the face by travellers using any kind of cloth or cover like surgical masks, mufflers, 'dupatta' or anti-pollution caps.

The two men, also captured on the CCTV, were wearing masks during their entry and exit at the station.

"Only terminally ill or serious patients will be allowed to cover their faces using a mask or cover. Everyone else who uses a cover for a variety of reasons like to beat heat, pollution or for fear of contracting infection will have to remove the face cover while getting frisked.

"The measure was there in place and suspicious people were asked to remove it during frisking but it will now be strictly implemented in all cases. This to ensure that all faces are seen by security personnel and are also captured on CCTV cameras. In case there is an incident, everyone should be identifiable," officials said.

At close to two dozen stations on the Yellow line (HUDA City Centre-Jahangirpuri) and Blue line (Dwarka Sector 21-Noida City Centre/Vaishali), the CISF has expanded its security apparatus and brought under control large areas under its armed cover.

The force has moved its door-frame metal detectors and baggage X-ray machines closer towards the entry gate which entails passengers being frisked and their luggage being scanned much ahead as compared to the existing protocol.

A senior CISF official said only the security-hold area has been expanded and brought under the view of the security personnel and this measure will not add to any additional hassles or time taken during frisking.

"The measure has been taken keeping in mind the overall security of Metro stations. While close to 24 stations are being brought under the new security mechanism in the first go, the CISF will initiate these at more and more stations as and when the space is obtained," they said.

The new area domination at the stations, they said, has been executed keeping in mind a last year's incident when a man sneaked in his luggage through the low height glass partition and then used a gun kept therein to shoot himself at the busy Rajiv Chowk Metro station.
Mumbai: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday alleged that Budget proposal to impose 1 percent excise duty on non-silver jewellery, is an "assassination attempt" on small traders and workers, who he claimed were being "crushed" by the Centre.

"This is not excise but an assassination attempt on small traders and workers," he said addressing a jewellers' rally at Jhaveri Bazar in South Mumbai.

Jewelers have been on strike since March 2 demanding a rollback of proposed 1 percent excise duty on non-silver jewellery.

"It is the government's job to balance things in the country. The government job is that of judge and not of lawyer," Rahul said.

"The problem before India is that the central government is doing job of the lawyer and not judge," he said.

It is oppression of the weaker sections, Rahul said.

"Big five-six corporates and the government together sought to snatch away farmers land but Congress stood with farmers. The government then backtracked," he said.

Three times the government wanted to enact the Land Bill but farmers and Congress didn't let that happen," he said.

The government thinks that it can easily crush you (jewellers) that is why they have attacked you, he said.

This is not excise but an assassination attempt on small traders and workers. The reality is your work is sought to be given to a handful of big companies, Rahul said.

The seven crore workers engaged in your trade are being crushed, he said.

"Congress will raise this issue in Parliament," he said.

'Make in India' is needed but justice is also needed. One way development won't benefit anyone, Rahul said.

MPCC president Ashok Chavan and MRCC chief Sanjay Nirupam said Rahul was in Mumbai to show Congress' solidarity with the agitating jewellers.

Former Union minister Milind Deora said the 45-day-old agitation by jewellers is "unprecedented" in the country.

The traders asked me to invite Rahul Gandhi to Mumbai, he said.

Jewellers representative I Singhal alleged their leaders Fatesingh Ranka was "threatened" by a minister in the BJP-led government.
New Delhi: India on Tuesday expressed its displeasure to the US over the sale of F-16 fighter planes to Pakistan even as Washington said the aircraft were meant for anti-terror operations.

After talks with visiting US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said he raised the issue of sale of F-16 aircraft by the US to Pakistan.

India had earlier protested sale of the combat planes to Pakistan, saying, "We disagree with their rationale that such arms transfers help to combat terrorism."

Carter said the US was aiming to be a "trusted partner" of India, the way Russia has been all along.

Underlining that even the US has been victim of terror emanating from Pakistani soil, he said those who indulge in terrorism in India, like the Pathankot attack, "should be brought to justice and brought to account".

"That is America's position and there should not be any question about that," he said, adding that the kind of projects that the US and India are discussing will help protect both American and Indian societies from terrorists.

Told that the Russians have always been a trusted military partner for India as they have desisted from supplying war equipment to countries inimical to India, Carter said, "We do aim to be a trusted partner for India."

He said the US has given some unique technologies to India and that they don't have such agreements with other countries.

Carter emphasised that from the US' point of view, Washington's overall policy towards India is completely different from the way it was decades ago.

However, he said that the US has a relationship with Pakistan which it values.

"What we do in Pakistan is directed towards counter- terrorism. We too have suffered from terrorism emanating from the territory, more specifically Afghanistan," Carter said, addressing a joint press conference with Parrikar here.

It is a thing of the past to think of India "in relation with Pakistan", he said, adding that the US has a different vision for India.

Carter said the US does not see Pakistan and India as two sides of the same coin.

Asked what kind of role F-16 fighter jets play against terror as everyone knows it will eventually be used against India, Carter said, "Pakistan has used F-16 in operations in FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas). We have approved it...We take terrorism emanating from Pakistan very seriously."

The US had in February said it plans to supply Pakistan with eight F-16 fighter aircraft worth USD 699.04 million.
Jammu: Indian and Pakistani troops Tuesday held a battalion commander-level flag meeting in Pooch to discuss ceasefire violations along the LoC and reaffirmed their faith in ensuring lasting peace and tranquility.

"A Battalion Commander-level flag meeting was held at Chakan Da Bagh along LoC in Poonch Sector at 1100 hours today to take forward the peace process initiated since the Brigade Commander level Flag Meeting of September 21, 2015," Officiating Defence Spokesperson SN Acharya said.

The two sides held discussions to address the situation arising out of the recent ceasefire violations in Poonch sector, Acharya said.

In the meeting which lasted nearly 30 minutes, the 'Colonel' ranked officers leading the two delegations acknowledged each other's efforts in maintaining peace and tranquility on the Line of Control in the recent past, he said.

"Both sides mutually agreed to the importance of exercising restraint on the Line of Control and keeping the communication alive through established reconciliation mechanism of exchange of hotline messages and flag meetings," Acharya said.

"The flag meeting ended on a positive note and both sides reaffirmed their faith in ensuring everlasting peace and tranquility on the Line of Control by redressing mutual concerns on priority in the future", he said.

The Pakistan Army today violated the ceasefire by opening fire in Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir, drawing retaliation from Indian troops.

As per reports Indian troops have also lodged a protest with Pakistani troops over ceasefire violations.

On April 9, the Pakistan Army violated the ceasefire agreement by firing and mortar shelling along LoC in Shahpur forward area in Poonch district.
Tehran: Iran told visiting UN envoy Staffan de Mistura of its alarm Tuesday about what it said were ceasefire breaches in Syria on the eve of fresh peace negotiations in Geneva.

De Mistura`s visit to Tehran -- a key backer of President Bashar al-Assad -- coincided with an announcement of more Iranian military deaths in Syria.

Four soldiers were killed in clashes with several thousand Al-Nusra Front fighters south of Aleppo, said General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan, commander of the Iranian army`s ground forces.

"Our fighters have shown courage and four of them have fallen as martyrs," he told state television, saying they had killed 200 Al-Nusra members and destroyed the group`s tanks and transport.

He nevertheless insisted that the Iranians were in the area as advisers in support of Assad`s forces.

Jihadists such as those from Al-Nusra and the Islamic State group are excluded from the ceasefire, but in some areas the al Qaeda militants are allied with rebel forces meant to be covered by the truce.

De Mistura held talks with Iran`s deputy foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian ahead of the latest effort to end five years of fighting.

The Syrian conflict has killed more than 270,000 people and forced millions to flee their homes, creating a refugee crisis in Europe.

Iran and Russia have been Assad`s top supporters in the war, with Tehran providing economic and military support that has propped up his rule.

De Mistura`s trip came as the ceasefire, brokered by the United States and Russia and in place since February 27, was threatening to fall apart.

"We explained to Mr de Mistura our concerns after an increase in recent days of military action from irresponsible armed groups and the increase in violations of the ceasefire," state television quoted Abdollahian as saying.

"This is disturbing and may interfere with the political process."

De Mistura, quoted by official IRNA news agency, said his talks with Iranian officials were important "because their position and ideas are effective and we use their recommendations".

Iran frequently describes the rebel forces, who have received various levels of Western backing as well as arms from Arab Gulf states seeking Assad`s overthrow, as "terrorists".

The UN Security Council passed a resolution in December that led to the peace talks. A framework called for Syrian elections to be held 18 months after a transitional government is agreed.

The fate of Assad is a major stumbling block, however.

While the Syrian opposition insists Assad can play no role in a transitional government, both the Damascus regime and Iran say voters should decide his fate.

Iran`s support for Assad has centred on Tehran sending military advisers from its elite Revolutionary Guards to Syria, dozens of whom have been killed.

The Iranian officers have directed militias against rebels fighting Assad`s forces.
A simple, over-sized black T-shirt - a pair of blue jeans - thin metal glasses - if I hadnt done my research on this man before meeting him, Id have thought he was Steve Jobs long lost brother.

Oh, actually not. Steve Jobs wouldnt be so kind. He wouldnt drive all the way to pick me up from my dorm just so I could visit his house on a gloomy, snowy spring afternoon. He wouldnt wait patiently for fifteen minutes outside my dorm without a clue where I was as my phone had chosen the perfect time to die. Steve Jobs would have fired me, doesnt matter whether I was his employee or not, unlike this man, who greeted me after the long wait with a big warm smile. My hand felt tiny in our cordial handshake.

I got into his grey car, thinking it was a bit small for its 1,8m tall owner. To my surprise, there was another person inside, Long Nguyen, 20, his friend's son from Hanoi. Studying at a nearby community college, he often spends his weekends at this mans house like a family member.

From left to right: Albert L. Weigl, father of Bruce, Minh, Long and Bruce Weigl. Photo: Khanh Linh

We stopped in front of a grey, one story house exactly three minutes from Oberlin College, Ohio. The dusky sky and snow coupled with the greyness of the house gave the surroundings a depressing look, which was a complete opposite to the coziness we found inside once I stepped in. Although only a small table lamp was on, the generous amount of natural light from the various tall windows brightened everything just enough to lead the way.

Most of the decorations in the living room were brought from Vietnam, including a traditional Vietnamese water puppetry altar painted in red and gold, a 100-year-old water puppet gifted by a Vietnamese friend, and a beautiful Vietnamese calligraphy silk painting. Glancing at this house, youd probably think the owner is a Vietnamese.

Crossing paths with Vietnam

Bruce Weigl, 67, is a well-known American contemporary poet who is now a distinguished Creative Writing Professor at Lorain County Community College. His literary career began unexpectedly when he returned home after a year at the Vietnam War, a war that took away [his] life, but gave [him] poetry in return.

Weigl was born into an European immigrant family that he describes as working class and not educated yet full of love. He grew up in Lorain County, Ohio where the only expectation for everyone was to graduate high school and work at the giant steel mill in town. Books, or any kind of literary encouragement, werent a part of his childhood. He joined the army in June 1967 in hopes that the government would later pay for his college, not expecting to go to war. But he did, because 1967, shortly before the Tet Offensive 1968, was a crucial year when a quarter of a million American soldiers were sent to Vietnam.

In a husky, low voice with brief pauses here and there, Weigl recalled returning home in September 1967, feeling an urge to write about his experiences. Untrained and inexperienced, Weigl decided to write anyway but found his early compositions so bad that would make you weep. He spent a year at a community college, which in turn helped him get into Oberlin College with a good scholarship.

From there, it's been like a dream that I've never woken up from, he said.

Wars, especially the Vietnam War, have been an unlimited source of inspiration for Weigl's poetry and translation work. His father, Albert L. Weigl, 90, said that Bruce went to the war as a boy and came back as a man. When writing about wars and their aftermath, however, instead of discussing the usual things, Weigl wants to go deeper than that, to explore how wars change people's psychies and make them rise from hell.

The daughter of two countries

In 1986 when relations between the U.S. and Vietnam were still yet to be normalized, a former North Vietnamese general invited Weigl to visit Hanoi as a guest. He accepted the invitation, thinking that it might be the only chance to ever go.

During this trip, he got a chance to visit an orphanage in a poor countryside area in Ha Nam. There, Weigl saw around forty kids of different ages playing with each other in a large room. Some immediately came to him and grabbed his legs, probably because they were curious to see a foreigner. Although the people there were caring and the kids had enough food, Weigl was heartbroken as he knew that their lives would be so difficult. I wanted to scoop them all up and take them all home with me, he said.

Having been an American soldier in the Vietnam War, Weigl felt a great responsibility to do something for Vietnam. So he went back home, discussed with his wife and 13-year-old son his idea of adopting a Vietnamese child in order to give him or her a life of opportunities. Everyone agreed, yet the adoption couldnt happen until 1990 due to Vietnams strict regulations.

One day when Weigl was teaching at Pennsylvania State University, his wife called him, saying that a social worker was at their house with a portfolio of photographs and a description of a little Vietnamese girl. He went home immediately.

The portfolio was very thick, so the social worker asked if Weigl and his wife if they would need some time. He looked at his wife and said: No, I dont need to think about it. I wanna go get her!

In his book The Circle of Hanh: A Memoir published in 2000, he talks about his ten-day trip to bring Hanh, his adopted daughter, from Vietnam to his home. He remembers taking her to dinner at Le Beaulieu, a fancy French restaurant in the luxurious Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel in Hanoi, where she spat out orange seeds all over the table. Weigl smiled when telling me this story, because from that little eight-year-old skinny country girl who spoke no English, she has matured into a beautiful, independent and successful young woman.

Weigl told me I looked like his daughter, and Long, working on his computer at the dining table, agreed. In the photo frames placed on the bookshelf at the living room entrance, Hanh still has long, black hair with a big smile that strikingly resembles her fathers.

Weigl didnt want to turn her into an American, so he made a deal with a Vietnamese couple from Hanoi who were getting their Masters at Pennsylvania State University that he would teach the wife English if the husband taught Hanh Vietnamese. Hanh didn't like having to take Vietnamese lessons after school, but now shes very grateful to her father for helping her preserve her Vietnamese. Weigl did this because he thinks if you lose your language skills, you lose your culture.

In a Vietnamese article in Tuoi Tre newspaper in July 2009, Weigl said hed be embarrassed if his daughter knew nothing about her origins. For many years, he made sure that Hanh had books, music, and food from Vietnam.

On the weekends, he and his wife would take her to nearby Vietnamese communities so she could practice Vietnamese with them. He wanted to maintain her identity so that when she grew up, she could make the decision herself whether shed want to stay here or go back.

Hanh graduated from Case Western Reserve University and became a nurse. Although she's already 26 years old, married and currently pregnant, Weigl still calls her so intimately in Vietnamese, con gai yeu cua bo, which means my beloved daughter.

Vietnam is more than a war

Did he tell you he won the #1 Teacher at Penn State? And all his awards? Albert Weigl, Bruce's father, asked me.

No, but I found that on Google, I said.

Yeah, I knew he wouldn't, he said, smiling.

During our interview, Bruce Weigl never mentioned how his first book Song of Napalm was nominated for Pulitzer Prize or any of the poetry awards that he has received. He casually described himself as a lazy person who spends a lot of time doing nothing. But when I looked down and realized I've published 25 books, I don't know where that came from because I don't remember doing any of it, he said.

In his office at home, there's a big poster brought back from one of the publicity events in Vietnam for his book After the Rain Stopped Pounding in 2010. All the shelves are filled with books, which must be around a hundred in that tiny square room, decorated by Buddhist statues and souvenirs from the places he's traveled to. On the desks, there are photo frames of him during the Vietnam War, Hanh when she was eight, his little grandson and other beloved friends and family members.

To Bruce Weigl, Vietnamese poetry, in particular, affects his way of thinking. At Returning to the Vietnamese Home, a poetry night in Vietnam in 2010, he said: I also started to study the Vietnamese language and to translate Vietnamese poetry because that work allowed my mind to return to a country as green as paradise, the green which I always longed for.

The more work I did on translation projects, the more I came to respect the beauty of the Vietnamese language, and the talent and intellect of the Vietnamese people. It also allowed him to learn more about his own culture and language, as he discovered words he'd never use in the process of translation.

To Weigl, Americans and Vietnamese are inextricably connected, due to not only the 20 years of the Vietnam War, but also the great number of Vietnamese refugees and immigrants in the U.S. He believes both countries still have shared experiences, whether they like it or not, and it's important that they find a way to live together.

What Weigl is most proud of is his 20-year effort to bring Vietnamese culture to American students. Being a Creative Writing Professor, he finds it fortunate that he has the context and venue to show students through poetry and works of translation that Vietnam is a country, not a war.

In the future, he wants to have a house in Hanoi where he can stay for half a year, then go back to the U.S. for the other half. Vietnam has become a part of my life, he said.

It's the place that not only allows him to meet interesting people, but also inspires him to write productively. I just wake up every morning and write write write write write, he said, after my coffee and a bowl of pho.

Weigl loves going to the tiny shops in the Old Quarter in Hanoi and bargain for buy stuff like a true Hanoian. Every time someone tries to sell him something at a higher price, he'd say the magic words a friend taught him: Toi khong phai khach du lich! which means I'm not a tourist! It works every time.

The bridge

Dinner was ready. Albert, Bruce, me, and Minhanother Vietnamese high school student who was staying with the Weigls, had burgers and fries, while Long had chicken wings, all from our favorite burger restaurant in town. We were talking about Alberts marriage, Longs future plans and Minhs journey to the U.S.

Over that one table, we had three generations of people from two countries that used to be at war. But at that moment, the remnants of those 20 yearshorror, grief, pain and hatred, to name just a fewwere all put aside. A sorrowful history doesnt necessarily lead to a sorrowful present and future when we have people like Bruce Weiglthe bridge that crosses boundaries and brings us all closer together.

Tran Khanh Linh is an Oberlin College sophomore, studying Interdisciplinary Approaches to Communications and Sociology.
Attari (Punjab): Relatives of Indian national Kirpal Singh, who was found dead under mysterious circumstances at a Lahore jail after being held for more than 20 years in Pakistan on spying charges, today staged a protest at the Indo-Pakistan Attari border here.

The relatives of Kirpal raised anti-Pakistan slogans near the Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Attari border.

Apart from Kirpal's sister Jagir Kaur and his other relatives, also attending the protest was Dalbir Kaur, the sister of Sarbajit Singh, the Indian death row prisoner who was killed in an attack by fellow prisoners at Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore.

Kirpal, 50, had allegedly crossed Wagah border into Pakistan in 1992 and was arrested. He was subsequently sentenced to death in a serial bomb blast case in Pakistan's Punjab province.

He was found dead in his cell at Kot Lakhpat Jail in the wee hours of Monday. The body has been shifted to the Jinnah Hospital in Lahore for an autopsy.



Kirpal, who hailed from Gurdaspur district in Punjab, was reportedly acquitted of bomb blast charges by the Lahore High Court, but his death sentence could not be commuted because of unknown reasons.

Jagir Kaur said while the family could not campaign for his release due to severe financial constraints, no politician came forward to support his case.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday hosted lunch for Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who are on a visit to India. Here are the details:-

- Britain's Duke and Duchess of Cambridge sat down to a musical lunch on Tuesday with PM Narendra Modi

- PM Modi welcomed Prince William and wife Kate on the steps of Hyderabad House, once a princely residence and - like many buildings in New Delhi - designed by British architect Sir Edwin Lutyens.

- Kate wore a knee-length light blue dress, William a dark suit and tie, while their host - an observant vegetarian - appeared in a traditional white kurta and cream waistcoat.

- The four-course lunch featured Indian "veg" and "non-veg" cuisine but, citing protocol, declined to specify the dishes served. Renowned Indian classical musician Rahul Sharma played the santoor - a kind of dulcimer - rounding off his performance with the Beatles classic "Let It Be".

- PM Narendra Modi meets Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Kate Middleton

VIDEO:

WATCH: PM Modi meets Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William & Kate Middleton in Delhihttps://t.co/R7yTdFYgzc  ANI (@ANI_news) April 12, 2016

- The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will sit down for lunch with PM Narendra Modi on Tuesday, before travelling to the Kaziranga National Park

- Kaziranga National Park visit: The royal couple will then leave for Kaziranga National Park in Assam state where they will take a drive on Wednesday (April 13).

- Bhutan visit: The royal couple will travel to Bhutan for two days beginning April 14.

- Taj visit: On April 16, they will visit Taj Mahal in northern Agra city before flying back to Britain.

- The royal couple flew to New Delhi on Wednesday afternoon, where they laid a wreath at the Amar Jawan Jyoti memorial to honor soldiers who had died in World War I.

- The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on Monday visited Gandhi Smriti and paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi. Prince William later said Queen Elizabeth II was very fond of India and it was "enormously important" to her.

- The British royals arrived at Gandhi Smriti on Tees January Marg after laying a wreath at the Amar Jawan Jyoti -- the eternal flame memorial dedicated to the 'Unknown Soldier' -- at India Gate.

- The Duchess and the Duke of Cambridge visited Gandhi's memorial and paid tributes at the 'Martyr's Column' -- the spot where Gandhi was assassinated.

- The couple was accorded a traditional welcome with a stole each of handspun khadi, and were shown around the museum which houses articles related to the Father of the Nation.

- The Duke and the Duchess also met around 30 schoolchildren, who sang 'bhajans' that gave the message of peace, as propagated by Gandhi.

Queen's 90th birthday: The royal couple later attended an official garden party reception at the British High Commissioner's official residence here to celebrate the Queen's 90th birthday.

William and Kate are traveling without their two children - 2 1/2-year-old Prince George and 11-month-old Princess Charlotte. They had taken George to Australia with them in 2014 on their last royal tour.
New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti will meet Home Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi today.

The meeting is scheduled to take place at the MHA today evening.

This is the first meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief who took oath as the first woman chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir on April 4.

Moreover, this is the first time Mehbooba is holding an administrative post in the state or at the national level, as so far she had limited herself to party work.

The government formation has ended the three-month long political crisis in the state which started after the death of former chief minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed on January 7.

The 2014 state elections threw up a hung assembly in which the PDP won 28 seats, mainly from the Kashmir Valley, and the BJP 25, almost all from the Jammu region, leading to a coalition government headed by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

Mufti took the oath in Jammu along with 17 cabinet ministers and six ministers of state (MoS). Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Nirmal Singh also took oath as deputy chief minister, as per the alliance agreement between the two parties.
Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday hosted Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, on third day of their official tour of India, for lunch to the accompaniment of classical music.

The PM received the British royal couple Prince William and Kate Middleton on the steps of the Hyderabad House located next to the India Gate.

While Kate wore a knee-length gauze green dress, William donned a dark suit and a tie.

Prince William and Kate Middleton have lunch with PM Modi

A four-course Indian meal, including both vegetarian and and non-vegetarian, was served at the lunch hosted at the historic mansion here which before Independence served as the grand residence of the Nizam of Hyderabad.

The event was marked by santoor recital by classical musician Rahul Sharma.

One of the highlights of the performance was the rendition of Beatles' famous number 'Let It Be'.

Among those who attended the event included External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.

Bharti Group chief Sunil Bharti Mittal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of ICICI Chanda Kochhar, actor Anupam Kher and former badminton player Pullela Gopichand were among some of the noted personalities who also attended, as per PTI.

Later PM Modi tweeted about the meeting, saying, "Had a very good interaction with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge."

Had a very good interaction with the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge. #RoyalVisitIndia @KensingtonRoyal pic.twitter.com/DbY9wg0Krq  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 12, 2016

Duke and Duchess of Cambridge meet group of Indian women

Meanwhile, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, also met a group of Indian women, including an acid attack victim, to hear about a range of issues affecting women and girls in the country.

The meeting was convened at the personal request of Prince William, who wanted an opportunity to hear directly from women working to support other women and girls, the British High Commission said in an official statement, as per IANS.

The royal couple met acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal and heard about her inspirational campaign 'Stop Acid Attacks'.

Laxmi was attacked at the age of 15 by a 32-year-old man after she rejected his marriage proposal.

She explained her decision to stop covering her face in order to encourage other victims not to hide and also spoke of her successful fight for tougher legal restrictions on the sale of acid.

The statement said Prince William thanked her for her bravery.

Among the women the royal couple met was Sunita Jaiswal, a survivor of domestic abuse, and journalist Soumya Menon who spoke about the role of media in these issues.

The discussion noted the positive developments that social silence on these issues has now been well and truly broken and that the government of India is treating this as a priority, the statement said.

Royal couple reach Assam

On the other hand, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were today accorded a warm and traditional welcome as they arrived in Assam later on a two-day trip during which they will visit Kaziranga National Park, famed for its one-horned rhinoceros.

The royal couple arrived in Assam at around 6 PM and were given a red-carpet welcome at the airport by Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and his wife Dolly Gogoi.

The royal couple were greeted with a traditional 'muga gamosa' (muga scarf with red motifs).

Other senior state government officials were also present to welcome them.

As the Duke, in a black suit, and the Duchess, in a sea-green dress, were escorted towards the airport lounge, they were welcomed traditionally by the Assamese 'gayan-bayan' and dancers performing Bihu, jhumur and bagrumba.

They spent some time in the airport lounge where they were served Assamese snacks 'Jolpan', 'pithas', 'Larus' and 'sunga pitha' with the couple tasting 'til pitha' and 'ghila pitha', official sources said.

As the couple later drove out of the airport in a Range Rover they waved to young girls wearing traditional mekhla chador lining the road to the airport at Salonibari.

The couple's convoy left for the Diphlu River Lodge near Kaziranga National Park where they will stay the night and attend a programme on ethnic cultural traditions, including Bihu and jhumur dance, to be presented by local artistes in their honour.

The Duke and the Duchess will visit the Kaziranga National Park, famed for the one-horned rhinoceros, and enjoy a jeep safari inside the Park tomorrow morning.

The couple will also interact with forest officials to find out more about the role of conservation in the lives of rural people there and visit the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) and the centre of the NGO Elephant Family.

The royal couple are interested to see how communities manage the conflicts that arise when humans and wild animals live in close proximity and will also meet park rangers inside Kaziranga, to discuss how the park protects its animal populations from poachers as demand, in other parts of Asia, for rhino horns continues to rise, a release by the British High Commission added.

The royal couple are on a week-long tour of Indian and Bhutan that began on Sunday.

Their India visit began in Mumbai where they paid homage to the victims of the 26/11 terror attacks.

In Delhi, they yesterday visited Gandhi Smriti, Mahatma Gandhi's memorial at Tees January Marg, and paid tribute to the Father of the Nation.

The couple also paid homage to Indian soldiers at the Amar Jawan Jyoti and attended a reception at the British High Commissioner's residence last evening to commemorate the 90th birthday of William's grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, Britain's longest-reigning monarch.

(With Agency inputs)
New Delhi: In comments that are likely to spark a debate, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader Chirag Paswan proposed that prosperous Dalits should stop availing benefits of reservations.

In an interview to TOI, Chirag, son of LJP chief and union minister Ram Vilas Paswan, said that people from 'decent' financial background should voluntarily stop availing quota. Such a move by them will help others, the more needy, from their communities to grow and do better

The first-time MP from Bihar have the example of the success of the union government's appeal to rich to give up gas subsidy to add that the decision to stop availing quota benefits should be prompted by self-realisation and not rule of law.

Chirag said that his ultimate aim is to see the emergence of a casteless society.

The TOI quotes him as saying: "That will be my ultimate goal. I come from Bihar where caste scenario dominates politics. UP and Bihar will have to play a key role to achieve this goal."
New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's principal secretary Rajendra Kumar, against whom CBI has lodged a corruption case, has moved a special court seeking the release of his laptop, iPad and cash seized during the investigation.

Kumar submitted that his articles should be returned as investigation was over and the items would be of no use to the probe agency.

Special CBI Judge Ajay Kumar Jain fixed the application for April 18 for filing of reply by the probe agency and hearing arguments.

CBI prosecutor sought time to file reply on the plea saying the investigation officer was unwell.

Kumar, in his application, said the agency can keep the back-up of the data stored in the laptop and iPad with them but release the articles as well as the seized cash.

On December 15 last year, CBI had raided the office of Rajendra Kumar, close to the Chief Minister's office here, in connection with the case.

According to the CBI, "Rajender Kumar had played an active role in the process of promising and facilitating award of tender to a pre determined party i.e., M/s Endeavour Systems Pvt Ltd due to extraneous considerations and devoid of public interest which shows clear element of abuse of official position and criminal conspiracy among the accused persons including the Directors of the present applicant company."

The CBI had registered the case against Kumar and others on the allegations against the officer that he had abused his official position by favouring the firm in the last few years in getting tenders from Delhi government departments.

Kumar has been booked under Section 120-B of IPC (criminal conspiracy), and under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act for allegedly favouring the company in five contracts worth Rs 9.5 crore during 2007-14.
Attari: A sister of Kirpal Singh -- who died in Pakistan where he was jailed after conviction for spying -- on Tuesday protested at the Attari-Wagah integrated checkpost on the India-Pakistan border here over his death the previous day.

"My brother Kirpal has been murdered just like Sarabjit was earlier. The Pakistani jail authorities are responsible for his death," Jagir Kaur said during the protest.

Jagir Kaur was accompanied by many other protestors, among them Dalbir Kaur, the elder sister of Sarabjit Singh, another Indian who was murdered in a Pakistani jail.

The family demanded that Kirpal's body be handed over to them for cremation at his native village in Gurdaspur district.

Pakistani authorities had announced Kirpal's death on Monday, saying he complained of chest pain in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat Jail and was rushed to a hospital there. The authorities said Kirpal, 54, died due to heart failure.

In April 2013, death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh was brutally attacked and murdered by his fellow prisoners at the Kot Lakhpat Jail.

Both Jagir and Dalbir demanded a probe into the deaths of both the prisoners so that more Indians lodged in Pakistani jails did not suffer the same fate in future.

Kirpal had crossed into Pakistan in 1992 inadvertently, according to his family.

He was arrested in Pakistan and later convicted for a bomb blast. He was sentenced to death initially though the sentence was later commuted to 20-year jail term by a Pakistan court.

Despite demands from his family, he was not set free.
New Delhi: Temples that deny or restrict women`s entry undermine the fight for gender equality and have no constitutional right to do so, the Supreme Court said, in the latest boost for women demanding equal access to places of worship.

India`s highest court told the board which manages the popular Sabarimala Ayyappa Hindu temple in Kerala to explain why it bans women.

"What right does the temple have to forbid women from entering any part of the temple? Can you deny a woman her right to climb Mount Everest? The reasons for banning anything must be common for all," Justice Dipak Misra, head of a three-judge bench, said on Monday.

"Gender discrimination in such a matter is unacceptable," he said, adding that the temple`s arguments must be based on the nation`s constitution.

The struggle for equal access to places of worship in India has triggered a wider debate on women`s rights in the country, with the hashtag #RightoPray trending on Twitter.

The Sabarimala temple is one of a few in India which bars entry to females aged between 10 and 50 years old, saying that menstruating women are impure.

Discrimination against menstruating women is common in some parts of South Asia, where they are forbidden from entering houses or temples and taking part in festivals and community events.

"Banning on the basis of age is not practised in the Hindu religion," Ravi Prakash Gupta, of the Indian Young Lawyers` Association which launched the petition against Sabarimala temple, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The lawyers` association said it had received death threats over the petition.

The Supreme Court comments came days after the Shani Shignapur temple in Maharashtra state opened its inner sanctum to women following a Mumbai court ruling that it was the fundamental right of women to enter any place of worship that allows men access, and that the state should protect this right.

The Mahalaxmi temple, also in Maharashtra, followed suit on Monday and allowed women entry.

In a separate case, two Muslim women are demanding access to a landmark mosque in Mumbai.

Sabarimala temple authorities have said the ban on women is rooted in a centuries-old tradition and is essential to the rites related to the temple`s chief deity, Ayyappan.

"You can`t look at the issue from the angle of worshippers alone. It has to be seen from the point of the God being worshipped, a celibate," senior counsel K.K. Venugopal told the court.

The next hearing is on April 13.
New Delhi: Ukraine`s Ambassador to India, Lgor Polikha, on Tuesday said the preliminary information reveals that the attack on three Indian students appears to be a case of domestic crime and a robbery attempt.

"As per the preliminary information, it was a domestic crime, an attempt of robbery," Polikha told ANI.

"It is the first such tragic incident which has happened with Indian students in Ukraine. I do not remember anything like this happening to Indian students before. I hope that incidents like this will not repeat," he added.

On April 10, two Indian students were stabbed to death while the third sustained serious injuries in the Ukrainian city of Uzhgorod.

Three Ukrainian citizens, including one woman allegedly involved in the crime, have been detained by the law enforcement of Ukraine.

"I am sorry two Indian students Pranav Shandilya of Muzaffarnagar and Ankur Singh (Ghaziabad) were stabbed to death in Ukraine on April 10. Inderjeet Singh Chauhan (Agra) is recuperating in hospital," External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had said in a tweet.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Vikas Swarup yesterday said the Indian embassy in Kiev has been informed about the incident.

"Our Embassy in Kiev was informed of this incident around 1100 hrs on 10 April 2016, and has been trying to ascertain the facts from the police, the University authorities and other local contacts," Swarup said.

"The Embassy has spoken to the families of the two deceased students. All necessary actions are being taken to complete the formalities for sending the two bodies to India. The Embassy is also taking up the matter related to safety of Indian students strongly with the Foreign Office of Ukraine," he added.
Delhi: US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said on Tuesday that what United States does with Pakistan is principally directed to counter-terrorism.

He added that according to him India shared that concern as well.

Carter also said, "Thats what our co-operation with Pak is intended to forestall."

At the same time, he pointed out, "We take terrorism emanating from Pak very seriously and where we can co-op with Pakistan in that regard (counter-terrorism) we do. Because we too have suffered from terrorism emanating from Pak more specifically in Afghanistan."

Earlier, in Panaji, he had said that that India and America will have to work hard to match their military technologies, which they have developed separately.

"The reason we have to work on India-US relationship is simply historical. You remember India was born seven decades ago and its policy was not one to associate with the US," he had said addressing the crew on board USS Blue Ridge which is anchored at Mormugao Port Trust (MPT).

"That means our militaries developed separately, our technology systems cropped up separately and now when we have to work with them together, we have to try to get gears to match up. We have to work hard on that. That is why I am here, that is why you are here," he had added, as per PTI.

Carter and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar paid a visit to the ship yesterday which arrived here from Mumbai.

Talking about India and the ways the US can be compatible with this country, Carter had said, "Here's a country, a billion people democracy that is a melting pot in which every piece (thing) is respected. There is a civil society where people openly discuss and debate. Here in India rule of law is important and whose approach is conditioned by its own history and uniqueness," he said.

(With PTI inputs)
Nearly 1,000 employees from Bluecome Vina Company Limited, a Korean company, went on strike yesterday, demanding for the establishment of a trade union, less working hours and increased allowances.

According to the employees, the director promised to establish a trade union three months ago but failed to meet his promise.

They also asked for two Saturdays off per month so they can spend time with their families.

Working hours remain unclear. They start work at 8 a.m. but they cannot leave before their managers give them permission.

This means it is not unusual for them to work until 10 p.m. with no extra payment.

The disgruntled workers have sent petitions to the director many times but the problems persist.

The Bluecome Vina Company. Photo: Giang Chinh

After the Hai Phong Economic Zone Trade Union intervened, the company again promised to set up a trade union on April 15, adjust the working hours and allocate extra payment and allowances.

However, the company did not agree to give workers two Saturdays off per month, so the strike is ongoing.

Bluecome Vina Company Limited was established in 2014. At present, there are about 1,400 workers specializing in producing TV speakers, vibration motors and headphones .
Jammu: Filing of criminal cases against Srinagar-based NIT students for chanting 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' cannot be accepted in this country, AAP leader and Minister in Delhi government Kapil Mishra said here on Tuesday.

As outstation students of NIT continued to leave Kashmir, Mishra met some of them here and backed all their demands, including withdrawal of criminal cases against them and ensuring full security.

"The criminal cases need to be withdrawn. Tight security of the students need to be ensured. There has to be a Tricolor in the NIT Srinagar. These are simple demands, which should be fulfilled apart for sacking cops involved in lathicharge," Mishra told reporters here.

"What they were doing? They were raising slogans like Bharat Mata Ki Jai for which criminal cases were registered against them. It cannot be accepted in this country," he said.

The Minister in Delhi's Kejriwal government questioned why "those people, who hold Tricolor, have been forced to run away from Srinagar."

Mishra, who accompanied some of the NIT students to Delhi this evening, said "all those policemen who have lathicharged these students with brute force inside the campus of the NIT Srinagar should be removed from service".

He said he was in Kashmir for last two days and received students. "I received a team of students at the airport. I decided to come to Jammu as most of the students have decided to come to Jammu and leave Srinagar," he said.

"The career of the students is very important that cannot be compromised. All the criminal cases that have been filed against them have to be withdrawn," the Delhi Minister said.

He said HRD Minister Smriti Irani has been saying that every central university will have a tricolor, then why not in NIT Srinagar.

"We have decided to provide them best possible treatment in Delhi as some of them have been injured by the police.I am going to Delhi now and we will ensure proper treatment for them," he said while talking about those injured in protests.

Mishra said "We will be with them at every place wherever they hold protest against government and ensure the double agenda of the BJP will be exposed," he added.

"I am here as an Indian not as the member of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). I am not carrying the banner of AAP, I am carrying a Tricolor," he said.

Mishra said "We appeal to the BJP and the RSS supporters that they should also come and join in their fight".
Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: It's a heartbreaking news for the netizens of Kansas city! Roughly after five years Google has decided to terminate its free internet service plan for the new subscribers.

The internet giant has announced that May 19 will be the last date for subscribers to use their free tier services.

The super- fast internet service plan, known as Google fiber, was launched by Google's parent company Alphabet for the first time in 2012 in the America's Kansas city. With one time installation charge, Fiber had promised to provide free access to internet after that.

Initially fiber had few low- prices offers like, a $70 monthly subscription of internet, $130 for both TV and internet and $300 installation charge with no other monthly charges.

But now Google have introduced Fiber 100, a new faster option that costs $50 a month with no construction fee.

Although the reason behind this sudden termination is still unclear but many speculates that Alphabet is trying to monetize Google Fiber and planning to place it as a strong competitors among other mass media giants like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T.
Agartala: Twelve guerrillas of the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) accompanied by 19 family members, including eight children, have surrendered to the Tripura police along with their arms and ammunition on Monday.

The militants laid down arms before the Director General of Police (DGP) K Nagaraj in the police headquarters in presence of the senior officials.

"Preliminary information what they have given us is that they are disgruntled with their leadership. The leadership is self-seeking; they are not interested in the welfare of the cadres and the leadership has also been promising about the talks (with the government) but the talks are not progressing, they are not leading to any direction so they got fed up and said that they want to come back to normal life," said Nagraj.

"They also have said that the extremist movement has not helped in any way to improve the condition of the tribals. In fact they feel that the government is doing a better job of spreading development in the interior areas. That is the reason that they come out and expect most of the cadres have come from the NLFT headquarters at Sapcheri under Rangamati in Bangladesh."

Ten NLFT militants along with their two associates fled their Bangladeshi hideout last week and crossed over to Tripura before surrendering to the superintendent of police (special branch) Arindam Nath on Sunday in Tripura`s border village Bhandarima.The militants were accompanied by 20 family members, including eight children, he said.

The militants were brought here late Sunday night and were being interrogated by police and intelligence officials followed by the official surrender today.

They deposited two self-loading rifle, one INSUS rifle, one G3 rifle and an AK-47 rifle along with six loaded magazines, two China-made grenades and a large cache of ammunition and sharp weapons.

The militants have been identified as Tarani Mohan Tripura alias Topreng, Holongsa Tripura, Benoy Tripura alias Bimal, Laxmanjoy Tripura alias Lalthang, Bijoy Debbarma alias Sunil, Mrityunjoy Aslong alias Mantha, Kusum Tripura, Debsing Reang, Majayram Reang alias Mukthang, Kushirai Reang and Unaram Reang alias Anilfaa, Jatanjoy Reang.

One of the surrender militants Holongsa Tripura said, "I do confess that I have committed mistake in my life. We led tough life in the camps but our officers do not care are staying as permanent resident of Bangladesh and have citizenship. We the soldiers do not get anything and so we thought what we could do and decide to come back."

"We did not contact with the BSF or Assam Rifles and we contact the SP SB. As far as I know there are around 25 more camps, mostly rest camps and all total 87 cadres. The head quarter is at Sapcheri," he added.

According to police, the NLFT was currently short of funds and the condition of the lower rank cadres was miserable, moreover, the frequent joint operations by the Bangladesh Army and Border Guard Bangladesh in Rangamati and Khagrachari districts in mountainous southeastern Bangladesh are also creating a huge problem for the outfit in hiding and free movement.

The surrender was a big jolt for the NLFT especially at a time when the outfit is plagued by a funds crunch, disillusioned cadres and frequent rifts.

Members of NLFT and All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) undergo arms training in hideouts and covert camps in various parts of Bangladesh, which shares an 856 km border with Tripura.

Banned in 1997 by the central government, the two outfits advocate secession of Tripura from India.

However, ATTF has become almost defunct due to the surrender of most of its cadres.

Tripura and Union Home Ministry officials held two rounds of talks last year with the NLFT after the rebel group expressed willingness to hold peace parleys.
Chandigarh; AAP today said that the ruling SAD's district-wise dharnas against the alleged role of the Delhi government in the demolition of a 'piau' at a gurdwara in the national capital was a "complete flop show".

"Reports from all the districts show that only a few Akali workers took part in the dharnas. There was no participation by 'aam aadmis' in these protests," AAP leader Sanjay Singh, Sucha Singh Chhotepur, the state convener of the party, and Sagrur MP Bhagwant Mann said here today.

These "flop shows" should be an "eye-opener" for the Akalis as they point to the prospect of a "humiliating defeat" for the party in the Assembly polls in Punjab in 2017, the AAP leaders said.

The AAP leaders said the people of Punjab are intelligent enough to understand as to who was behind the demolition of the 'piau', or drinking water counter, at the Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib in Delhi.

Rejecting allegations that the Delhi government had ordered the demolition, the AAP leaders claimed it was the BJP-controlled Municipal Corporation of Delhi that had carried out the demolition drive.

"Sukhbir ji, the public is intelligent enough to understand everything. The day is not far when curtains will come down on your political drama," Sanjay Singh said.

Targeting SAD chief Sukhbir Badal over his comments that he was deeply hurt by the demolition of the 'piau', Sanjay Singh asked why he "wasn't hurt when there was a series of attacks on the Shri Guru Granth Sahib?"

"Where was he (Sukhbir) when police opened fire on peaceful protesters in which two Sikh youths were killed? Why did his heart not melt when innocent Sikh youths were arrested and tortured by police who falsely implicated them in a case of sacrilege?

"Instead of enacting a political drama, Sukhbir should have saved the farmers who were committing suicide due to faulty policies of the state and central governments," Sanjay Singh said.

AAP alleged that instead of extending a helping hand to farmers, the Punjab Agriculture Minister was busy supplying spurious fertilisers to them and ultimately the Agriculture Director was made the scapegoat for the entire racket.

The time is ripe for the Badals to book "a family room in their 7-star hotel permanently" as they would not be able to show their faces to the public after the 2017 Assembly polls, the AAP leaders said.
Lahore: More than 2,100 Indian Sikhs arrived here on Tuesday to take part in Baisakhi Festival at Gurdwara Hasan Abdal in Rawalpindi district of Pakistan's Punjab province.

"More than 2,100 Sikh Yatrees arrived here today via Wagah Border on three special trains," Evacuee Trust Property Board spokesman Amir Hashmi told PTI.

He said special measures have been adopted to provide security to them.

"The Rangers and Elite Force have been engaged to provide security to the Sikh pilgrims," he said.

In the wake of bombing at a Lahore park which left 75 people dead, the government has taken "extra-ordinary" security measures for the visiting Sikhs.

Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbhandik Committee caretaker president Tara Singh and ETPB chairman Siddiqul Farooq received the yatress at the Wagah border.

The yatrees were presented with langar (food) at the railway station.

Soon after the arrival, the Indian Sikhs left for Hasanabdal to participate in 10-day Besakhi festivities starting tomorrow.

The main event will be held on April 14.

The Indian Sikhs would also visit Gurdwara Janamesthan Nankana Sahib, Gurdwara Sacha Soda in Farooqabad, Gurdawara Kartarpur Narowal and Gurdwara Dera Sahib Lahore.

They will leave for their home on April 21.

Talking to reporters, Sikh leader Sardar Manmohan Singh Khalsa stressed for people-to-people contacts between the two countries and demanded lifting of visa curbs for the purpose.

He said: "We receive enormous love at the land of Baba Gurunanak. People are extremely hospitable here."

He said the people of India were saddened by terror attacks on Peshawar school and Lahore park.
Allahabad; The Allahabad High Court today granted bail to Congress MLA Ajay Rai, who was jailed in October last year in connection with violence in Varanasi during protests over police action against Hindu religious leaders.

Justice Rajesh Dayal Khare ordered that Rai "be released on bail on his furnishing a personal bond and two local sureties each of the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned".

The judgement comes on the heels of a March 29 order by a two-judge bench setting aside the National Security Act (NSA) that was slapped against Rai, who represents the Pindra seat in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly.

The court said Rai is to be released on bail on the condition that he "shall not tamper with the prosecution evidence", "shall not pressurise the prosecution witnesses" and "appear on the date fixed by the trial court".

"In case of default of any of the conditions enumerated above, the order granting bail shall automatically be cancelled," it said.

This was the second bail application by Rai after his previous prayer was rejected by a court order dated November 23, 2015.

In his fresh bail plea, the MLA contended that two other persons named as co-accused in the case registered at Dashashwamedh police station in Varanasi were granted bail last week.

Rai was arrested on October 7 in connection with violence in the temple town on October 5 during a march to protest against lathi-charge by police on a group of Hindu religious leaders.

The lathi-charge had taken place on the intervening night of September 22-23 when one Swami Avimukteshwarananda along with hundreds of his supporters had tried to immerse an idol of Lord Ganesha in the Ganges notwithstanding recent restrictions on the practice in view of pollution in the river.

Rai had shot to fame when he was fielded by Congress in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls as its contender against Narendra Modi for the Varanasi seat.

He finished third in that race and ended up losing his deposit in what turned out to be a virtually one-sided contest in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi defeated his nearest rival Arvind Kejriwal of Aam Aadmi Party by a margin of 3.71 lakh votes.
Dehradun: As Uttarakhand continues to witness huge political crisis, the High Court on Tuesday refused to stay disqualification of rebel Congress MLAs, who were disqualified by the Assembly Speaker.

Six of the nine rebel Congress MLAs had moved the high court on March 30 challenging their disqualification as members of the House on the plea that the Speaker's action came after imposition of president's rule in the state which had put the state Assembly under suspended animation.

The Speaker had disqualified nine Congress MLAs under the anti-defection law hours after imposition of President`s rule in the state on March 27, a day before the state government was scheduled to go for a floor test in the state Assembly.

Earlier, the HC had said the Centre should stop having its own way while imposing the President's Rule.

The central government has challenged a single-judge order of the high court for a vote in the assembly on March 31 by the Harish Rawat government to prove its majority.
Burdwan: The political violence that marred yesterday's voting at several places in poll bound West Bengal, continued even after the closing of voting.

After the closure of voting hours in the evening on Monday, fresh violence has been reported from many places in Burdwan, Paschim Medinipur and Bankura districts.

Clashes broke out late last night at New Egra in Ranigunj between Trinamul Congress, TMC, supporters and BJP activists leaving a number of people injured.

A large contingent of Police and Central security forces brought the situation under control.

Clashes have also been reported last night and in the wee hours today from Dantan and Keshiari in Paschim Medinipur and Laudoha and Pandaveswar in Burdwan.

CPI-M supporters alleged attack by TMC activists at these places during the voting. Some houses were ransacked and one of a local CPI-M leader was burnt by the attackers. TMC has denied all the charges.

Police contingents are camping in these areas and other pockets where fresh violence is feared by the administration.

Meanwhile, filing of nominations and campaigning for other phases of the six phased polling is on in the state with southern region reeling under severe heatwave.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to come for the third time for campaigning in Bengal this weekend.

He will hold two party rallies in Krishna Nagar and Kolkata on Sunday.

Congress chief, Sonia Gandhi is coming to Bengal for her first rally of the ongoing assembly elections tomorrow. She will address party rallies at Sujapur in Malda and Murarai in Birbhum.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will chat with people online on her account on a social website tomorrow evening.
Kabul: The Afghan Taliban announced on Tuesday the start of their "spring offensive" even as the government in Kabul tries to bring the insurgents back to the negotiating table to end their drawn-out conflict.

The Taliban said in a statement they would "employ large-scale attacks on enemy positions across the country" during the offensive they have dubbed "Operation Omari" in honour of the movement`s late founder Mullah Omar, whose death was announced last year.

The annual spring offensive normally marks the start of the "fighting season", though this winter the lull was shorter and they continued to battle government forces albeit with less intensity.

The statement promised "martyrdom-seeking and tactical attacks against enemy strongholds", a reference to suicide bombings -- a strategy the group has long resorted to against its enemies the Afghan police and army, whom they view as "stooges" of the West.

On Monday, 12 fresh recruits were killed in one such attack in the country`s east.

The Islamists, who have been waging an insurgency since being toppled from power in 2001, also promised attacks on the 13,000 NATO troops currently stationed in the country, officially on a training and advisory mission since the end of their combat mission in 2014.

"By employing such a multifaceted strategy it is hoped that the foreign enemy will be demoralised and forced to evict our nation," they said.

The Taliban have made the departure of all foreign forces a precondition to the resumption of direct peace talks with Kabul, which began last summer in Pakistan but ended abruptly after it was revealed that Mullah Omar had been dead for two years.

A four-country group comprising Afghanistan, the United States, China and Pakistan has been holding meetings since January aimed and jump-starting negotiations, though their efforts have so far been in vain.

Mullah Omar`s successor Mullah Akhtar Mansour, meanwhile, has won a string of impressive victories on the battlefield, helping to silence emerging factions by stepping up the intensity of his military campaign.

Last year the Taliban were able to briefly capture northern Kunduz, the first time they had held an Afghan city since the fall of their government in 2001.

The Taliban`s resurgence has raised serious questions about Afghan forces capacity to hold their own, with an estimated 5,000 troops killed last year, the worst ever toll.

It has also prompted calls for the US to reconsider its troop withdrawal schedule, already delayed once by President Barack Obama.

There are currently 9,800 American troops in the country, with the number set to fall to 5,500 by 2017.

General John Nicholson, the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan since March, had promised during his US Senate confirmation hearings to review the drawdown plan.
Vienna: Austria will introduce tougher border controls at the Brenner Pass crossing with Italy from June 1 at the latest as part of a tough response to Europe`s migration crisis, Defence Minister Hans Peter Doskozil said on Tuesday.

With border restrictions now imposed along the Balkan route, Austria expects migrant arrivals to Italy by sea to nearly double this year to 300,000. Both countries have said they would keep traffic across the border "fluid" at busy times.

Italy`s coastguard said on Tuesday some 4,000 migrants had been rescued in the southern Mediterranean in the past two days.

The Brenner Pass, which links Austria and Italy, is the most important Alpine crossing for heavy goods traffic.

Asked if Vienna planned to build a fence at the border, Doskozil referred to a system "similar to the one in Spielfeld" at Austria`s border with Slovenia, which consists of fences, lanes and tents.

The exact date for the introduction of stricter controls at the European North-South crossing depends on the number of migrants and the progress of construction work of the new border control centre, Doskozil said, adding such work had started.

The European Commission expressed concern over the move.

"If these plans were to materialise, then we would have to look at them very seriously. The Brenner Pass is essential for the freedom of movement within the European Union," Commission spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud told a briefing.materialise, then we would have to look at them very seriously. The Brenner Pass is essential for the freedom of movement within the European Union," Commission spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud told a briefing.

The EU executive was not informed of the plans and learnt about them from media reports, Bertaud added.Bertaud added.

ITALY IRKED

Italy`s foreign and interior ministers sent a joint letter to European Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos urging the Commission to "verify with extreme urgency" whether the move would violate Europe`s Schengen agreement on open borders.

Italy`s European Affairs Minister Sandro Gozi said in a statement: "It is not by erecting improvised walls that we will resolve problems ... Vienna should reconsider this decision which runs counter both to the spirit and the letter of European rules (and) the friendship that links Italy and Austria."

Austria`s parliament is due to vote on a draft law for tougher asylum rules in the coming weeks.

The highway across the Brenner Pass is the main thoroughfare through the Alps to get to Germany from Italy -- by way of Austria -- and Germany is Italy`s top trading partner.

About two million trucks cross it annually. A rail base tunnel has also been under discussion for years.

For transportation companies, long lines to get over the Brenner Pass would cause higher costs and slower services, said Franco Santagata, a former executive at Deutsche Post AG`s Italian unit and now a transport industry consultant in Italy.

"If the border controls mean that it will take more time to get from Milan to Munich and back, then the transport company is going to have to raise its prices," he said.

(Additional reporting by Crispian Balmer, Steve Scherer and Philip Pullella in Rome, Robin Emmott in Brussels, Writing by Shadia Nasralla, Editing by Gareth Jones)


Service levels at public district hospitals and the quality of public health insurance are falling, with longer waiting times, dirty facilities and ineffective treatment.

According to the 2015 Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI) Report released on April 12, user satisfaction with the quality of district hospitals has fallen to the lowest level in five years.

People have complained about the quality of public healthcare services. Photo by VnExpress

Feedback from the public shows that these hospitals continue to face problems with patients sharing beds, waiting times between entering hospital and getting treatment, dirty treatment rooms, ineffective treatment resulting in diseases or injuries not being cured and doctors advising the purchase of medicine at private pharmacies, the PAPI 2015 reported.

However, health insurance cards could be more helpful as 61 percent of respondents nationwide feel more positive about the quality of health insurance they received.

The report recommends that poorer provinces such as those in the northwest and Central Highlands regions need to invest more in basic public services and infrastructure so that more equitable opportunities are created.

The Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI) is a policy monitoring tool that assesses citizen experiences and satisfaction with government performance at national and sub-national levels in governance, public administration and public service delivery.

PAPI measures six dimensions: participation at local levels, transparency, vertical accountability, control of corruption, public administrative procedures and public service delivery. The survey has been implemented nationwide each year since 2011. For the 2015 PAPI Report, 13,955 randomly selected citizens were surveyed.

PAPI is a collaboration between the Centre for Community Support and Development Studies, the Centre for Research and Training of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and the United Nations Development Programme. The full 2015 PAPI Report and more in-depth analysis can be found at: www.papi.vn.
Toronto: Almost 102 years after Canada turned away more than 376 migrants, mostly Sikhs from India, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will formally apologise on May 18 for the incident that happened due to "discriminatory laws of the time".

Speaking at the Baisakhi celebration in Ottawa yesterday, Trudeau said that the Komagata Maru's passengers were seeking refuge and better lives, "like millions of immigrants to Canada since".

"With so much to contribute to their new home, they chose Canada. And we failed them utterly," the prime minister said, adding that the passengers were refused entry to Canada due to "discriminatory laws of the time".

"As a nation, we should never forget the prejudice suffered by the Sikh community at the hands of the Canadian government of the day. We should not and we will not," Trudeau said at the Gurdwara Sahib Ottawa Sikh Society.

He further said that he will "formally apologise" on May 18 in the House of Commons, 102 years after the infamous incident, Toronto Star reported.

The Japanese steamship Komagata Maru, carrying 376 immigrants, mostly Sikhs, from India was denied entry by the Canadian government in May 1914 and was forced to return to India.

Two months later, the ship arrived in Calcutta where British soldiers fired upon the disembarking passengers in which 19 people died.

A painful chapter in the history of Sikhs in Canada, the incident also highlighted the discriminatory immigration policies Canada had followed against Asian immigrants in the 19th century.

Former prime minister Stephen Harper did apologise for the incident at a public event in British Columbia in 2008, but the Sikh-Canadians were demanding a formal statement in the Parliament.

Trudeau-led Liberal Party, which has four Sikh ministers in the cabinet, has promised a formal apology during the election campaign last year.
Beijing: China will release more water from a dam in its southwestern province of Yunnan to help alleviate a drought in parts of Southeast Asia, China`s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, following an initial release begun last month.

The water already began being released on Monday from the Jinghong dam, and will continue to be released until the "low water period" is over, ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a daily news briefing.

The actual amount of water released will be decided upon by how much water there is to release upstream and the demands of downstream users, Lu added.

China`s releases of water show the effectiveness of "water facilities" in helping control floods and address droughts, he said.

China has said that the water released will benefit Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

In Vietnam, some 1.8 million people are facing water shortages and the government says 230,000 hectares (568,000 acres) of rice has been destroyed in the central and southern regions this year.

While China and Vietnam are involved in an increasingly bitter territorial dispute in the South China Sea, the two Communist-lead countries have traditionally had close ties.

Beijing and Hanoi have also been trying to repair ties severely harmed in 2014 when Beijing parked an oil rig in waters off the Vietnamese coast, leading to anti-China riots.

Thailand is facing its worst water shortage in two decades, with 14 out of 76 provinces hit and large swathes of agricultural land at risk.
Brasilia: Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff branded her vice president a traitor Tuesday and said he was a conspirator in a "coup" using impeachment proceedings to bring down a popularly elected government.

"If there were any doubts about my denunciation that a coup is underway, there can`t be now. The coup plotters have a leader and a deputy leader," she said in a blistering attack in the capital Brasilia.

Referring to the leak Monday of a recording in which her vice president, Michel Temer, practices the speech he would make if Rousseff is impeached, the president said: "The mask of the conspirators has fallen."

"We are living in strange and worrying times, times of a coup and pretending and treachery," she said. "Yesterday they used the pretense of a leak to give the order for the conspiracy."

"Yesterday it became clear that there are two leaders of the coup who work together in a premeditated way," she said, without naming names, although the context clearly referred to Temer and the speaker of the lower house, Eduardo Cunha.

"They are coup plotters, without respect for democracy," she said.

"This is the biggest judicial and political fraud in our history," she said. "They are trying to bring down without legal justification a president elected with 54 million votes."

Rousseff faces impeachment proceedings over allegations that she illegally manipulated government accounts to cover up the depth of budget woes.

The lower house of Congress was to vote on the impeachment at the end of this week.

If an impeachment trial then starts in the Senate, Temer would take over as president and if she is impeached, he would remain in power.

Opponents of Rousseff deny her frequent claims of a coup plot.
Paris: Eight Djibouti women who went on hunger strike 19 days ago to protest alleged rapes committed by troops in their home country, ended their protest on Tuesday, saying they had achieved their aim of highlighting their situation.

"This strike is a first step and the fight against impunity continues," said Aicha Dabale, spokeswoman in France of an advocacy group supporting the women.

Ten other Djibouti women have decided to take up the baton and launch their own hunger strike in Brussels from Wednesday, she told AFP.

Refusing food but accepting water, apple juice or tea, 10 women launched the action on March 25, but two later dropped out for health reasons.

Lying on camp beds at a women`s charity in southern Paris, four of the women have said they had been raped by soldiers fighting rebels in their homeland.

The women from the ethnic Afar group, which straddles Djibouti`s borders with Ethiopia and Eritrea, accuse troops battling a rebellion in the region of taking revenge on the local population, including through rape.

A Djibouti government spokesman said the woman`s allegations were "without credibility".

The rebels say they are fighting to keep the Afar from being marginalised by the Issa, Djibouti`s other main ethnic group which dominates the regime of strongman President Ismail Omar Guelleh.

A committee, including former French ministers, has been set up to look into the women`s rape claims.

mw/blb/pvh/cb


Ankara: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday hosted Saudi King Salman at his presidential palace in Ankara, extending his guest a lavish welcome that underlined the growing importance of Ankara-Riyadh ties.Erdogan on Tuesday hosted Saudi King Salman at his presidential palace in Ankara, extending his guest a lavish welcome that underlined the growing importance of Ankara-Riyadh ties.

After a period of tension, Saudi Arabia under Salman has emerged as one of Erdogan`s key allies with the two countries in particular sharing a common vision on the Syria conflict.

Salman was met by Erdogan at his vast new presidential palace with an honour guard of Turkish soldiers as well as 16 costumed warriors representing the various Turkic empires in world history.

Mocked when their first appeared in 2015, the spear-carrying and mustachioed warriors are now regularly brought out for Erdogan`s most honoured guests.

Salman and his delegation are set to hold several hours of talks with the Turkish leader before heading to Istanbul for the summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

Saudi Arabia and Turkey both believe the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad is the key to solving the Syrian conflict and back rebel groups fighting his regime.Bashar al-Assad is the key to solving the Syrian conflict and back rebel groups fighting his regime.

The two overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim powers have in recent months moved to considerably tighten relations that had been damaged by Riyadh`s role in the 2013 ousting of Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi, a close ally of Ankara.Morsi, a close ally of Ankara.

Erdogan appears to have built close ties with Salman after he became king in January 2015 following the death of his half brother Abdullah.

In February, Turkey began hosting Saudi jets and military personnel and its Incirlik air base to join the air campaign against Islamic State jihadists.

The lavish arrangements made for Salman`s visit have also raised eyebrows in the Turkish press, with the king reportedly staying in a 450 square-meter (4,850 sq ft) hotel suite and renting 500 luxury vehicles for his vast delegation.
Kuala Lumpur: A petrol bomb was on Tuesday hurled at the office of a senior ethnic Indian politician in Malaysia after he called the controversial Indian Islamic preacher Zakir Naik a "satan" in a Facebook post that went viral.

Unidentified people Tuesday morning threw petrol bomb at the office of Penang Deputy Chief Minister P Ramasamy, who is also the chairman of the state Hindu Endowment Board.

No one was injured and no damage was reported.

Ramasamy said the attack may have been a result of his Facebook post on Naik.

"In my posting on Sunday, I called him 'satan' and pointed out that he has been giving hate speeches on faiths other than Islam. I quickly realised the word was inappropriate and I removed it from my Facebook page but it was too late and that posting quickly went viral," Ramasamy said in a statement.

He said the posting was not meant to be against Islam or Muslims but directed at "this particular person."

"I believe in a multi-racial and multi-religious Malaysia where all religions should be given due respect. I regret the use of the word 'satan' which has caused uneasiness and unhappiness among Muslims in Malaysia," he said.

He added it was not his intention to cause such uneasiness as he has respect for all religions in the country.

Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said Naik was barred from giving a talk this Sunday on 'Similarities Between Hinduism and Islam' at University Teknikal Malaysia Melaka.

Naik, 51, last visited Malaysia in 2012 and he then also faced similar protests by the minority Hindu community.

Conservative views have gained increasing traction in recent years in Malaysia, which generally practises a moderate brand of Islam among its majority Malay community.

Issues related to race, religion and language are considered sensitive in Malaysia, which has witnessed deadly riots mainly between ethnic Malays and Chinese in 1969.

Naik has also been denied entry into Canada and Britain in 2012 after reportedly expressing support for terrorist group al-Qaeda.

Naik, president of India's Islamic Research Foundation, started a series of lectures in Terengganu last week on the invitation of the state government.

The controversial public lecture by Naik will be allowed to go on as the topic has been changed,Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said.

"Following this, future religious topics of this sort must obtain approval from the Malaysian Islamic Development Department, especially if it involves international speakers," he told reporters earlier.
London: The Islamic State terror group reportedly allowed around 50 British recruits to return home from IS strongholds in Syria and Iraq over the past few months.

According to The Times, British counter-terrorism agencies are investigating documents that give permission to IS fighters holding UK passports to leave the region. This raises fears that they could be plotting attacks in Britain.

The so-called leaving permissions or exit cards, found among thousands of documents obtained by the Syrian website Zaman Al Wasl, include a British Iraqi dubbed Abu Bakr al-Iraqi, whose commander gave him permission to leave for "work" in July 2014.

The exit cards, only a few of which were disclosed to?the newspaper, are thought to provide a bureaucratic vouchsafe for fighters to be able to safely cross the ISIS border as the group is known to execute deserters.

The documents leak, which covers the very early days of IS rule in northern Syria and some of northern Iraq, first emerged last month and exposed the meticulous detail with which IS administers its recruitment process.

Other than "work", the cards included fighters leaving for "family circumstances" and "meeting his mother".

Saeed Hamid, an IS fighter from Birmingham, was given permission to leave but appears to have not returned to the UK before being killed.

The family of the 21-year-old were later sent a picture of his dead body.

They have been cooperating with UK counter-terrorism police and security services with their investigations.
Jerusalem: Four Jewish Israelis have been arrested for alleged anti-Palestinian vandalism in the occupied West Bank, Israeli police said Tuesday.

The four suspects, including two teenagers aged 16 and 17, are suspected of having targeted Palestinian property for political reasons, though further details on the alleged crimes were not released.

According to army radio, an Israeli soldier from an elite unit has also been arrested as part of the same investigation. Police did not confirm the soldier`s arrest.

Jewish extremists have been blamed in the past for vandalism and violence targeting Palestinians, Christian holy sites and even Israeli military property.

A number of Jewish extremists have been arrested since the firebombing of a Palestinian home in July 2015 that killed an 18-month-old along with his mother and father.

In January, a court charged two Israelis over the arson attack in the West Bank village of Duma after slow progress in the case led to criticism from human rights groups and Palestinians.

A small number of other Jewish extremists have been placed in administrative detention, which allows suspects to be held without trial, renewable every six months. Israel usually employs such measures against Palestinian suspects.

The Duma attack generated global condemnation and drew renewed attention to Jewish extremism, including accusations that Israel had not done enough to prevent such violence.
Tehran: Italy`s prime minister looked to restore his country`s economic clout in Iran Tuesday as he became the highest-ranking European leader to visit Tehran since its nuclear deal with world powers.

Accompanied by a 250-member delegation, Matteo Renzi began a two-day trip aimed at rebuilding ties that before sanctions had seen Italy ranked as the Islamic republic`s top European trading partner.

A deal to build two high-speed rail lines was among projects announced.

After an official welcoming ceremony, Renzi held talks with President Hassan Rouhani, who visited Rome in January days after sanctions were lifted under the nuclear accord.

"Italy has a special place among Iranians. Its companies and its industry are appreciated here," Rouhani said at a joint press conference after signing provisional agreements on energy, tourism and infrastructure.

"Italy is at the forefront among EU countries wanting to develop relations with Iran," he added.

Iran`s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who met Renzi, said he was in favour of "developing relations with Italy, particularly in economic terms".

"Some European governments and companies come to Iran to negotiate, but the results of these discussions aren`t tangible," he was quoted as saying by the IRNA news agency.

Annual trade between Iran and Italy -- a member of the G7 group of leading industrialised nations -- once peaked at about $8 billion (seven billion euros).

A decade of nuclear-related sanctions has seen the figure plummet to $1.8 billion.

When Rouhani visited Rome, the two countries agreed initial terms on long-term contracts that could be valued as high as $19.4 billion, including deals in the oil, transport and shipping sectors.

Iran has said it wants European help to modernise and expand its rail, road and air networks, as well as seeking investment to boost its manufacturing base, notably in the automobile industry. All were severely damaged by sanctions.

Tuesday`s rail agreement between Italy`s state railways and its Iranian counterpart will see a new line built between Tehran and Hamedan, in the northwest of the Islamic republic.

A second line between Qom, south of Tehran, to Arak in the north will also be constructed. No details on the value of the agreement or the date of completion were immediately given.When Rouhani was in Rome he talked of rebuilding a relationship between "two superpowers of beauty and culture" that dates back to the days of the ancient Roman and Persian empires.

Renzi has spoken of plans for cultural and academic exchanges.

Rouhani`s visit to Rome, however, also prompted criticism that Renzi`s government was going too far in its efforts to charm Iran`s theocratic rulers.

It emerged just after Rouhani had left Italy that ancient nude statues in the capital`s City Hall had been covered up by wooden boxes to spare the Iranian president any possible embarrassment.

The diplomatic niceties also extended to ensuring that no alcohol was served at any of the official meals during Rouhani`s stay -- a gesture France was not prepared to make, meaning plans for a state banquet had to be scrapped in Paris.

The rapprochement has been possible because of the nuclear deal which Iran and six powers -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany -- struck last July after more than two years of negotiations.

The accord was implemented in January with sanctions being lifted in exchange for curbs lasting at least a decade on the Islamic republic`s nuclear programme.

Iran has always denied Western allegations that it sought to develop an atomic bomb, insisting that its atomic activities are for peaceful energy development and medical research purposes.

sgh/stb/pg/srm
Nairobi: Kenya on Tuesday defended its deportation of two groups of Taiwanese to China after they were acquitted in a cyber crime case, a move that has drawn an angry reaction from Taipei.

The Kenyan government said the people were in Kenya illegally and were being sent back to where they had come from.

Kenya does not have official relations with Taiwan and considers the island part of China, in line with Beijing`s position.

The Taiwanese government was also incensed that Kenyan authorities used force, including tear gas, to get deportees out of a police station and into a plane on Tuesday. It has accused China of kidnapping eight of its nationals.

"They came from China and we took them to China. Usually when you go to another country illegally, you are taken back to your last port of departure," Kenyan Interior Ministry spokesman Mwenda Njoka said.

He could not say which city in China they were being returned to but Kenya Airways and China Southern both fly to Guangzhou.

Kenyan Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed said Taipei had not contacted Nairobi about the matter. The protests came via a media briefing in Taiwan.

"We don`t have official relations with Taiwan. We believe in the "One China" policy. We have diplomatic relations with China. We haven`t seen the official protest, we are actually hearing it from the media," Mohamed told Reuters.

A group of eight left on Friday and a second group of 37 Taiwan nationals were in the process of leaving on Tuesday,

Taiwan`s Foreign Ministry said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Beijing approved of Kenya`s upholding the "one China" principle. He declined to elaborate.

In China`s first public explanation of what has happened,

the director of its Taiwan Affairs Office, Zhang Zhijun, spoke with his Taiwan counterpart, Andrew Hsia, head of Taiwan`s Mainland Affairs Council about the case.

State news agency Xinhua said Zhang explained that the Kenya deportees included fraudsters from Taiwan who had caused losses for people in China and that they "must be bought to justice". He gave no details.

Taiwan`s Hsia lodged a protest at China`s behaviour, the Mainland Affairs Council said in a statement about the call.

China views Taiwan as a wayward province. Defeated Nationalist forces fled to the island in 1949 after a civil war with the Communists who have remained in control in Beijing since then.

Only 22 countries recognise Taiwan as the Republic of China, with most, including Kenya, having diplomatic relations with the People`s Republic of China.

Kenya`s attorney-general said in January it was considering a request from Beijing to extradite 76 Chinese charged with cyber crime. But Taiwan said some of these people were from Taiwan.

(Additional reporting by J.R Wu and Faith Hung in Taipei and Ben Blanchard in Beijing, Editing by Angus MacSwan)


April 11, 2016 | 11:15 pm PT

Ho Chi Minh City will allocate an estimated VND11.61 trillion ($520 million) for 84 projects over the next five years to step up the fight against floods, said municipal officials at a workshop last Friday.

The funds will be used to dredge and upgrading the Tham Luong - Ben Cat and Rach Nuoc Len Canal, which is expected to help drain water off around 14,500 hectares.



Part of the funds will be used to dredge the 8.2 km Xuyen Tam Rivulet, build eight sluices to control tides and flooding and construct 20 kilometers of dykes along risk-high sections of the Saigon River.

Upgrades to the city's four main sewers are also an important part of the citys flood control program.

Even though southern Vietnamese provinces are experiencing the worst drought and salinity in a century, flooding in Ho Chi Minh City has emerged as one of the most pressing issues in recent years, said experts at the workshop, due mainly to rising sea levels, land subsidence and urban drainage.

According to the Geoinformatics Center at the National University of Ho Chi Minh City, over the past 10 years, many areas of HCM City have been sunk by 20-30 centimeters.

The city has built water drainage systems that meet only 40 percent of the requirements, said Do Tan Long, head of the Steering Centre for the Urban Flood Control Programme.

Long said the city should develop a master plan for the construction of a water drainage system, reservoirs and anti-flood irrigation systems.



Rapid urbanization has led to the loss of thousands of hectares of natural reservoirs. Leveling canals, rivulets and ponds to build houses (especially in the southern area of the city) is too common, said Professor Nguyen Minh Hoa.

Over the past 10 years, 49 canals with a total area of 16.4 hectares have vanished, while Binh Tien Lake covering 7.4 hectares, an important reservoir for the city, together with many other ponds and lakes, have been leveled. From 2002-2009, the ability to contain water in the city's ponds, lakes and wetlands has dropped almost tenfold.

The city should cooperate with the nearby provinces of Dong Nai and Long An to ensure the effectiveness of anti-flood efforts, said Bui Viet Hung from the Ho Chi Minh City National University.

Construction projects that have leveled a considerable part of Long Ans Soai Rap River have also affected water levels in the Saigon River at peak tide. The current measures to construct sluices to control tides will not resolve the flooding problem, Hung said.

Source: VietnamPlus
Kano: Nearly 350 dead bodies were buried in a mass grave in northern Nigeria after clashes between the Army and supporters of a Shi`ite cleric, a public official has told an inquiry into the unrest.

The testimony of Muhammad Namadi Musa, the director-general of the Kaduna State Interfaith Bureau, lends weight to claims that at least 300 people were killed in the violence in December last year.

The clashes came after the Army said supporters of the cleric Ibrahim Zakzaky, who heads the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) group, tried to kill the chief of army staff.

Zakzaky has not been seen since his home and the IMN mosque in Zaria, Kaduna state, were destroyed, prompting calls for his release and criticism that the government is flouting due process.

Musa said on Tuesday he received a telephone call on December 13 requesting him to go to the state government headquarters in Kaduna city.

He told the hearing he was then ordered to travel to Zaria with the Kaduna state commissioner of police "to find out the number of corpses and how they would be buried".

At the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) "we counted 156 corpses", while 191 others were collected from the army base in Zaria, he said.

"Most corpses were covered with black materials and they included women and children," he told the inquiry, saying the bodies were transported for burial in a convoy of trucks with military escort.

Earlier, the secretary to the Kaduna state government, Lawal Balarabe Abbas, said the mass burial was authorised by "a warrant obtained from a chief magistrates` court in Kaduna".

Nigeria`s military, which has been accused of human rights abuses against civilians in the insurgency by Sunni Muslim jihadists Boko Haram, has said its troops acted appropriately.

Chief of Army Staff General Tukur Yusuf Buratai in January told a separate inquiry by the National Human Rights Commission, that soldiers "acted in accordance to the rule of engagement" and their orders.

No official death toll has been released but Human Rights Watch has said "at least 300" were killed and Amnesty International put the figures at "hundreds". The Nigerian army said that the high death toll numbers were "unsubstantiated."

One medic at ABUTH told AFP in January he counted at least 400 bodies in the morgue on the evening of December 12 while locals said as many bodies were also littered on the streets.

The IMN has said some 730 members were unaccounted for, "either killed by the army or... in detention".

In February, prosecutors said 191 IMN supporters in custody were charged with firearms and public order offences.

Zakzaky and the IMN have previously clashed with Nigeria`s secular authorities over their quest to establish an Islamic state through an Iranian-style revolution.

The cleric has periodically been incarcerated for alleged incitement and subversion.
Kano: Nearly 350 dead bodies were buried in a mass grave in northern Nigeria after clashes between the army and supporters of a Shiite cleric, a public official has told an inquiry into the unrest.

The testimony today from Muhammad Namadi Musa, the director-general of the Kaduna State religious affairs office, lends weight to claims that at least 300 people were killed in the violence in December last year.

Amnesty International, which has previously said "hundreds" were killed, said the revelation was "an important first step in bringing all those suspected of criminal responsibility" to trial.

"It is now imperative that the mass grave sites are protected in order that a full independent forensic investigation can begin," said the organisation's Nigeria director, M.K. Ibrahim.

"The bodies must be exhumed and Nigerian authorities should immediately reveal the whereabouts of those held in unacknowledged detention and either charge or release them."

The clashes came after the army said supporters of the cleric Ibrahim Zakzaky, who heads the pro-Iranian religious sect Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) group, tried to kill the chief of army staff.

Zakzaky has not been seen since his home and the IMN mosque in Zaria, Kaduna state, were destroyed, prompting calls for his release and criticism that the government is flouting due process.

Musa said told the hearing he was ordered on December 13 to travel to Zaria with the Kaduna state commissioner of police "to find out the number of corpses and how they would be buried".

At the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) "we counted 156 corpses", while 191 others were collected from the army base in Zaria, he said.
Seoul: North Korea accused South Korea on Tuesday of abducting its citizens in China, four days after South Korea said 13 workers at restaurant run by the North had defected.

North Korea said the abduction of its citizens was an unacceptable provocation and it demanded their return.

"We sternly denounce the group abduction of the citizens of the DPRK as a hideous crime against its dignity and social system and the life and security of its citizens," the North`s KCNA news agency quoted a spokesman of its Red Cross Society as saying.

DPRK stand for the Democratic People`s Republic of Korea, the North`s official name.

South Korea said on Friday that 13 workers at a restaurant run by the North in an unidentified country had defected, a case it described as unprecedented, adding that the 13 had arrived in the South a day earlier.

South Korea did not say where the 13 had worked. China said on Monday that 13 North Koreans had been there and had left lawfully. It did not say if they were the same group.

The North`s Red Cross Society said the group was employed at a restaurant in the Chinese city of Ningbo, and they were taken to a Southeast Asian country before being flown to South Korea.

It did not say how many people were in the group.

News of the defections came during a period of tension on the Korean peninsula following the North`s fourth nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch the next month.

The two Koreas have been fierce rivals since the 1950-53 Korean War and about 29,000 people had fled from North Korea and arrived in the South, since then, including 1,276 last year.
Lima: Authorities in Peru raided the local office of Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca on Monday, seizing accounting documents in an investigation into possible tax evasion and fraud, the country`s tax agency said.

A team of 20 tax officials sought evidence on whether companies Mossack Fonseca helped establish in tax havens were used to commit crimes in Peru, tax agency SUNAT said in a statement.

TV images showed police standing by with riot shields in front of a house in Lima`s financial district San Isidro.

Mossack Fonseca is at the center of an international data leak scandal that has embarrassed several world leaders and shone a spotlight on the shadowy world of offshore companies.

The local representative of Mossack Fonseca in Peru, Monica de Ycaza, told reporters that she was collaborating with investigators. She could not be reached for further comment.

Governments across the world have begun investigating possible financial wrongdoing by the rich and powerful after the leak of more than 11.5 million documents, dubbed the "Panama Papers," from the law firm.

(Reporting By Marco Aquino; Editing by Andrew Hay)


Taipei: The Kenyan Police broke through a police station wall and threw tear gas canisters to force a second group of Taiwanese on to a Chinese plane on Tuesday, Taiwan`s Foreign Ministry said, in a bizarre diplomatic row in which Taiwan has accused China of abduction.

The Kenyan government and police were not immediately available for comment.

Taiwan on Monday accused China, which regards the self-ruled island as a breakaway province, of kidnapping eight of its nationals, who it said had been acquitted in a cyber crime case in Kenya, and deporting them to China on Friday from the Nairobi district of Kilimani. It said China had pressured Kenyan police to put the eight on the plane.

On Tuesday, another 37 Taiwan nationals were forced on to a Chinese plane, Taiwan`s Foreign Ministry said.

"The 15 locked up at the police station steadfastly refused to be deported (to China)," said Antonio CS Chen, the chief of Taiwan`s Foreign Ministry department in charge of West Asian and African Affairs.

"So police broke through the wall, threw tear gas and then about 10 police entered with assault rifles," Chen told a news briefing in Taipei.

Kenya`s attorney-general said in January it was considering a request from Beijing to extradite 76 Chinese charged with cyber crime in Kenya for trial in their homeland.

But Taiwan said some of these people were actually from Taiwan and that a total of 23 of its people had been acquitted last Tuesday by a Kenyan court and given 21 days to leave.

China views Taiwan as a wayward province, to be brought under Beijing`s control by force if necessary. Defeated Nationalist forces fled to the island in 1949 after a civil war with the Communists now in control in Beijing.

Only 22 countries recognise Taiwan, with most, including Kenya, having diplomatic relations with Beijing, recognising its "one China" policy.

Taiwan has been in an uproar since the eight were forcibly deported.

Chen said the 15 Taiwanese put on the plane on Tuesday likely had barred the door into the room they were being held in, while video footage carried by Taiwan media showed young men speaking the Taiwanese dialect in a cramped room, readying for a fight against a closed door.

The video footage could not be verified by Reuters.

"China, at the first moment, when it took our nationals without consulting us, acted improperly," said Chen Wen-chi, chief of the international and cross-strait legal affairs department of the Ministry of Justice.

Taiwan`s top China policymaker said that it was negotiating with Beijing for the return of the first eight Taiwanese, who are in Beijing.

"We think this has affected cross-strait ties even though China sees this as a joint effort fighting crime," said Jeff Yang, spokesman for Taiwan`s Mainland Affairs Council.

Yang said it was unclear how soon the Taiwanese in Beijing could return to Taiwan.
Ankara: Two rockets fired from neighbouring Syria hit the centre of a Turkish border town for a second straight day on Tuesday, local media reported.

They landed in the centre of Kilis -- the main town near the Syrian border -- at 0640 GMT on Tuesday, the private Dogan news agency reported. Medical teams were dispatched to the scene.

At least four people were wounded when five rockets fired from northern Syria hit the town on Monday.

It was not immediately known who fired the rockets.

Turkey`s Army has launched artillery strikes on positions of the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria after the jihadists recaptured an area near the Turkish border.

Turkish artillery fired shells from its border region of Kilis against IS targets, Turkish media reported this week.

The shelling comes after the IS wrested back control of the town of Al-Rai near Turkey, which rival rebels had captured last week.

Neither the al Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra Front nor IS are included in a truce brokered by the United States and Russia that came into force on February 27.

In mid-February, Turkish artillery had also shelled targets of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) inside Syria, with the military saying it was responding to incoming fire.
United Nations: Candidates vying to become the next UN secretary-general fielded questions Tuesday on global crises -- from climate change to achieving Middle East peace -- during the first-ever hearings to choose the world`s top diplomat.

The United Nations opened the three days of public hearings in a packed chamber, breaking from the secrecy that surrounded the choice of Ban Ki-moon and his predecessors at the helm of the world body.

Eight contenders will take turns at the podium before the General Assembly`s 193 nations to lay out their vision for the top job after Ban steps down on December 31.

For decades, the choice of the UN chief has been firmly in the hands of the Security Council and its five permanent members -- Britain, France, China, Russia and the United States -- in a process largely kept behind closed doors.

But the General Assembly last year voted to shake up the process, asking candidates to send a formal application letter, present their resumes and appear at hearings.

The final decision to nominate a candidate still rests with the Security Council, but the new openness could put some pressure on big powers to pick a nominee with broader appeal.

"This is a potentially game-changing exercise," General Assembly president Mogens Lykketoft told reporters.

"If there is a critical mass of countries supporting one single candidate, I don`t think we will see the Security Council coming up with quite a different name."

Montenegro`s Foreign Minister Igor Luksic -- at 39, the youngest of the candidates -- was up first, switching from English to French in an address that touched on his Balkan roots and ways to improve the UN bureaucracy.Bulgaria`s Irina Bokova, who heads the UN cultural agency UNESCO, said the United Nations should do more to combat violence against women and stressed the importance of gender equality.

Seen as Moscow`s preferred candidate, the 63-year-old ex-foreign minister is considered a strong contender in the race that has could see the first woman chosen as secretary-general and the first eastern European.

Russia has said that the next UN chief should come from eastern Europe, the only region that has yet to be represented in the top post.

During the two-hour session, Bokova managed to steer clear of controversy and sought to portray herself as a candidate of continuity who would "serve" UN member-states.

On the Israeli-Palestinian peace effort, Bokova said she would work to "build trust and confidence" between the parties but stressed that on many complex issues she did not have "the magic bullet."

"You will see the new secretary-general serving you," Bokova said in her message to member-states.

In July, the Security Council will hold a first round of straw polls to measure support for the candidates.

Final polling is expected to take place in September, when the 15-member council will submit one nominee to the General Assembly, which is expected to endorse the choice.

Later Tuesday, former high commissioner for refugees Antonio Guterres of Portugal will take part in the hearings.

On Wednesday, the assembly will hear Slovenia`s former president Danilo Turk, Croatia`s former foreign minister Vesna Pusic and Natalia Gherman, the former foreign minister of Moldova.

The head of the UN Development Programme and New Zealand`s former prime minister Helen Clark will speak on Thursday, as will Macedonia`s former foreign minister Srgjan Kerim.

More candidates are expected to come forward, including two women seen as potential frontrunners -- EU Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva of Bulgaria and Argentina`s Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra.

cml/oh


Ramallah: Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has said there is an "urgent" need for a UN resolution on Israeli settlements as he embarks on a multi-country tour that may be among his last chances to renew peace efforts.

Speaking in an interview with AFP, Abbas criticised what he said was insufficent action from US President Barack Obama`s administration while also firmly backing a French initiative to hold an international peace conference this summer.

Abbas spoke ahead of a tour beginning Tuesday that will take him to Turkey, France, Russia, Germany and New York, where the Palestinians are discussing a

UN draft resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The trip comes with the clock ticking for both the 81-year-old and the Obama administration, with speculation the US president could change tack and support a resolution on the peace process before he leaves office in January.

"The Security Council is a very important subject because it has now become urgent due to settlement activities and because Israel has not stopped these activities," Abbas said late Monday at his office in Ramallah.

Settlement construction in the West Bank "is something that has seriously jeopardised the two-state project."

The United States has repeatedly vetoed resolutions opposed by Israel at the UN Security Council, but the Palestinians are hoping for a change of heart.

"So far, we have not got any reaction from the Americans regarding the Security Council," said Abbas.

He criticised US efforts so far.

"We were expecting from the US administration over the past eight years that it would take positive steps forward to achieve what America believes in, which is the two-state vision," he said.

"Until now, it hasn`t happened from the US administration."

Asked whether he was disappointed, he said: "We do not want to use this expression, but we are saying that we were expecting a lot from the US administration and it never happened."Abbas` two-week tour starts with a summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul and ends in New York.

It may be one of the last chances at renewing peace efforts for the successor to Yasser Arafat who has for years been at the centre of attempts to resolve one of the world`s longest-lasting conflicts.

International attention in recent years has however turned elsewhere, with war raging in Syria and Islamic State group jihadists carrying out attacks.

Within Israel and the Palestinian territories, the chances of progress have rarely seemed so far off, with both sides appearing reluctant to make compromises.

A US initiative collapsed in April 2014 and peace efforts have since been at a standstill.

Palestinian militants and Israel fought yet another war in the Gaza Strip later in 2014, and a wave of Palestinian knife, gun and car-ramming attacks erupted in October.

Though there has been a steady decline in the violence that has killed more than 200 people, there are concerns of another upsurge for the Jewish Passover holiday beginning April 22.

Among the Palestinians themselves, reconciliation efforts have been underway between the Palestinian Authority dominated by Abbas`s Fatah and the

Islamist movement Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, but with little progress reported.

For Abbas and the international community, Israel`s continued settlement building in the West Bank is one area of agreement.

Such settlements are considered illegal under international law and are seen as major stumbling blocks to peace efforts since they are built on land the

Palestinians see as part of their future state.Abbas said his trip will promote two main projects, which he sees as complementary: a UN resolution condemning the settlements and the French peace initiative.

Israel has criticised the French plan to organise the international peace conference, but without rejecting it outright.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken out against "international dictates" and called for direct negotiations.
Washington: The US State Department has issued a travel warning for the US citizens planning to visit Saudi Arabia ahead of President Barack Obama's visit to the Gulf country.

In the warning, posted on its website on Monday, the State Department has urged the US citizens to "carefully consider the risks of travelling to Saudi Arabia", Xinhua news agency reported.

Obama is scheduled to participate in a summit of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council on April 21 in Saudi Arabia.

"There continues to be reports of threats against US citizens and other Westerners, as well as locations frequented by them," it said, adding the Islamic States (IS) terrorist group has directed or inspired multiple attacks on mosques last year in Saudi Arabia.

"Ongoing security concerns" in Yemen and Iraq also added a reason for issuing the travel warning, which replaced an old warning issued on September 21, 2015.

The warning said both Al-Qaeda and the IS are planning attacks in the kingdom, including "house compounds, hotels, restaurants, shopping areas, international schools" and other facilities.

It also restricted US government personnel and their families from travelling within 50 miles (80 km) of the Yemeni border, and to the cities of Jizan and Najran, without permission.
Alice Walton, heiress to the Walmart fortune, donated $353,400 to Hillary Clinton's "Victory Fund" and another $25,000 to the Ready for Hillary PAC.

The Walton family fortune is valued at more than the net worth of the poorest 127,600,000 Americans, thanks in large part to their aggressive lobbying to establish loopholes that benefit the very, very rich. Alice Walton is particularly prominent in donating to the lobbyists who establish and maintain these special favors for the super-rich.

Hillary Clinton insists that she is committed to establishing a regime of economic fairness that ends America's white-glove favoritism for the one percent.

When shkrelic sociopath Martin Shkreli donated money to Bernie Sanders, Sanders immediately donated it to an HIV clinic, denouncing Shkreli's conduct and refusing to benefit from his dirty money.

Unlike many other elected officials, Clinton has refused to publicly denounce Walmart over the company's pay scale and anti-union policies. She gave her critics ammunition when campaign treasurer Jose Villarreal attended a fundraiser discussion and dinner hosted by Ivan Zapien, Walmart's vice president of corporate affairs in Mexico. Zapien, who previously served as the company's top lobbyist in Washington, maxed out in personal contributions to Clinton's campaign last year. Bernie Sanders has called out the Walton heirs and Walmart's labor practices as a prime example of how greedy corporate behavior harms workers and costs billions in tax dollars. Forbes estimates that despite Walmart being one of the wealthiest corporations in history, the company costs taxpayers roughly $6.2 billion per year due to substandard wages. As a result, many workers depend on public assistance to meet basic needs. "Today Walmart is the largest private sector employer in America. Yet many, many of their employees are forced to go on food stamps, Medicaid and subsidized housing that you pay for through your taxes because the Walton family refuses to pay their workers a living wage," Sanders said.

Hillary Clinton Received a Massive Donation From Walmart Heiress

[Marlena Fitzpatrick Garcia/Alternet]

(Image: Walmart broke law by firing on strike workers, must offer to re hire them  NLRB judge

[Interesting on the planet/Youtube]

(via Naked Capitalism)
By Sharon Bernstein

(Reuters) - The polygamist family featured in the reality television show "Sister Wives" lost its bid to overturn parts of Utah's anti-bigamy law under a federal appeals court ruling issued on Monday.

The case, filed after the show's popularity prompted a criminal investigation into whether star Kody Brown was illegally married to four women, drew international attention and raised questions about whether the state could bar consenting adults from living together as a family.

Polygamy is illegal in all 50 states. But Utah's law is unique in that a person can be found guilty not just for having two legal marriage licenses, but also for cohabiting with another adult in a marriage-like relationship when already legally married to someone else.

Brown is legally married to one of his wives, and "spiritually" married to the others.

In 2013, U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups struck down part of the state's law, saying it criminalizes intimate relationships among consenting adults.

But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit overturned that ruling on Monday. The court said because the Browns had not actually been charged under the law - and the state said it would not prosecute multiple marriage cases unless there were allegations of fraud or criminal activity - the case was moot.

"Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction," the court wrote. "They lack power to decide issues - however important or fiercely contested - that are detached from a live dispute between the parties."

Utah is the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormons, which abandoned polygamy in 1890 as Utah was seeking statehood. Some sects and breakaway groups, however, follow the early doctrine of plural marriage.

The Brown family and their 17 children are members of the Apostolic United Brethren, a Utah-based church which follows a plural marriage doctrine.

Story continues

The family's attorney, legal scholar Jonathan Turley, said in a blog post Monday he would appeal the decision.

"The Brown family is obviously disappointed in the ruling but remains committed to this fight for the protections of religion, speech and privacy in Utah," Turley wrote.

But Utah Federal Solicitor Parker Douglas said the state had a legitimate interest in prosecuting abuses that can arise in polygamous relationships.

Shortly after Waddoups struck down the law, a woman alleged that her polygamous husband had shunned her and planned to "sell" their daughter and a niece, and he was not able to use the bigamy law in prosecution, Douglas said.

(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein; Editing by Leslie Adler)
The Canadian government has sent additional mental health workers to the northern Ontario reserve of Attawapiskat as it works on an emergency response to a spike in suicide attempts, federal Health Minister Jane Philpott says.

The First Nations community of less than 2,000 declared a state of emergency on Saturday in response to reports of 11 suicide attempts in one day, and further reports of over 100 suicide attempts and at least one death since last September.

- TIMELINE: States of emergency Attawapiskat has declared in recent years

The state of emergency allows the community to seek extra help to deal with the crisis.

"It hasn't been easy to be strong, it hasn't been easy to stay positive, because  I keep thinking about our young people," Attawapiskat Chief Bruce Shisheesh said Monday.

"As a chief, and as leaders here in our community, we don't want to lose any  youth."

CBC's Havard Gould reported Monday night that anxiety was high and there is concern more young people may attempt suicide.

'Serious and pressing'

Additional health workers have been dispatched to the remote community near James Bay.

"We have now five new mental health workers in the community," Philpott said during question period on Monday calling the current crisis "one of the most serious and pressing tragedies" facing the country.

The office for the federal health minister could not immediately confirm how many mental health workers were in place prior to today's announcement.

New Democrat MP Charlie Angus, whose riding includes Attawapiskat, said he wanted to know what the government's plan was to end "the cycle of crisis and death" among indigenous youth.

Angus later said on CBC News Network's Power & Politics on Monday that flare-ups in suicide attempts "are not accidental."

"They are the result of this rolling problem of underfunding year after year, denying services, denying mental health services," he said.

Story continues

The NDP MP said during a conference call about the crisis that Shisheesh has questioned why it takes a state of emergency to get more health workers into the area.

Earlier, Philpott said she was working with her cabinet colleague, Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett, to respond to the longer-term needs in the community pointing to the $8.4 billion in funding the government promised in the recent federal budget.

Ontario's Regional Chief Isadore Day, who oversees the national health portfolio for the Assembly of First Nations, told CBC's Diana Swain that the situation in Attawapiskat is both an emergency that requires immediate intervention and part of a broader problem that requires long-term efforts.

"What needs to be done is investment and a sustained approach to not just deal with the immediate impact or situation, but we need to get to the root cause and figure out what's really going on," Day said.

Earlier in the day, Shisheesh said on Twitter that the Weeneebayko Health Authority was going to fly in a crisis team of mental health nurses and social workers. He said Attawapiskat had been waiting since October.

Crisis team

The additional mental health resources come as the province of Ontario deployed an emergency medical assistance team from Mississauga, Ont., earlier Monday.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, speaking in Toronto, said she is "very worried and very concerned" about the situation.

The national chief for the Assembly of First Nations said the federal government needs to make good on investments recently made in the federal budget .

"The situation in Attawapiskat is sadly felt by far too many First Nations across the country," said Perry Bellegarde in a written statement Monday.

"We need a First Nations directed national strategy to address First Nations suicide rates and ensure our people are safe and thriving. We need a sustained commitment to address long-standing issues that lead to hopelessness among our peoples, particularly the youth."

Bellegarde went on to express his gratitude for federal and provincial support in a post on Twitter just as members of Parliament returned to Ottawa after spending the last two weeks in their ridings.
Desperation in Attawapiskat, where First Nation leaders fear for the young

There is fear more young people on the Attawapiskat First Nation will try to harm themselves as the northern Ontario community struggles to deal with a suicide crisis.

The chief there said 11 people tried to kill themselves on Saturday night in the remote community of nearly 2,000. In response, leaders declared a state of emergency.

- Timeline: Attawapiskat states of emergency since 2006

A group of young people who appeared to be planning a group suicide were brought into the hospital to be assessed, said Crystal Culp, one of the relief nurses sent by the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority, which is working with Health Canada to co-ordinate the response.

Police brought the youths to the local hospital in Attawapiskat for an evaluation, but the hospital was too overwhelmed to see all of them at once and about half of them waited in jail for treatment, said Anna Betty Achneepineskum of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation.

Culp noted some of the young people taken to hospital Monday night had already initiated steps to self-harm.

A forum with young people and mental health workers that was scheduled for Monday night was cancelled because so many young people were at the hospital.

Police watched over them  many between seven and 13 years old  as they spoke with mental health counsellors about their feelings of despair.

The young people say bullying, a lack of things to do and overcrowding are some of the reasons driving them to try suicide.

Culp said a couple of young people are still in hospital, but most were released Monday night.

Achneepineskum said the entire community in the James Bay region is so overwhelmed by the rash of suicide attempts that three of the four health-care workers have been sent to Thunder Bay for counselling and rest.

There are concerns more will try to end their lives if the community doesn't get some long-term help.

There is fear more young people on the Attawapiskat First Nation will try to harm themselves as the northern Ontario community struggles to deal with a suicide crisis.

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Thirteen-year-old Amy Hookimaw said some of her friends  some as young as six  have talked about harming themselves.

She said they tell her their self-esteem is low and they don't have much to do.

"Grade fours, fives, sixes  they say they want to kill themselves because there's a lot of people saying that. They always say that nobody cares about them."

Not many people are talking to reporters about the state of emergency, at the request of Chief Bruce Shisheesh.

Shisheesh told CBC News that he and other leaders don't want to lose any youth or members of the community.

"It hasn't been easy to be strong and stay positive, because I keep thinking about our young people," he said Monday.

The community was expected to hold meetings on suicide prevention and talk about a long-term solution to the problems on Tuesday.

Culp said more help, including a traditional healer, another doctor and a nurse, is arriving in the community.

Reserve police are working round the clock, watching to ensure everybody stays safe.

Meanwhile, counsellors are brainstorming ways to help encourage youth in Attawapiskat.

Some of the ideas include developing a drug strategy and hosting more activities for young people.

Hookimaw said a lot of her friends need support.

"I just tell them that people do care and people do love you."
Faced with a continued unwillingness by Canada and the U.S. to lift contentious visa requirements, the European Commission has given the European Union's Parliament and Council three months to "urgently launch discussions" on the "appropriate way forward."

April 12 had been set as a deadline for five countries  Canada, the United States, Brunei, Japan and Australia  to comply with the EU's policy of visa reciprocity, which requires countries whose citizens don't need EU visas to, in return, allow visa-free travel for all EU nationals.

Japan and Australia complied last year, and the European Union says that Brunei is expected to comply in the coming weeks. But Canada, which currently requires visas for Romanian and Bulgarian citizens, and the United States, which requires visas for citizens from five EU member states, have not lifted their visa requirements despite ongoing negotiations and the intended pressure of this now-passed deadline.

In a statement issued after the EU's College of Commissioners (cabinet) met in Strasbourg Tuesday, the European Commission said it has an obligation to respond, since 24 months had passed since it had served its notice.

But before deciding to impose visas on Canadians and Americans, EU institutions are obliged to "extensively scrutinize and take into account potential adverse political consequences that might arise from such proposals or decisions."

"We are pleased that the Commission has chosen not to adopt an Act to impose a visa requirement on Canadian travellers to Europe at this time," Immigration Canada spokesperson Nancy Caron wrote to CBC News.

"Having fewer Canadians traveling to the EU due to a visa requirement could impact not only the EU's tourism sector, but also political and economic relations  as well as established family ties."

'Considerable economic consequences'

It is "highly unlikely" that EU countries could process the increased number of visa applications within the required 90 days of a decision coming into force, the EU statement said.

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The EU's assessment also concluded that a visa requirement would decrease travellers from Canada and the U.S., and "likely entail considerable, economic consequences, notably for the aviation industry, as well as have a substantial impact on the EU's external relations with two strategic partners."

"Visa reciprocity is a fundamental element of the EU's common visa policy," the EU's home affairs, migration and citizenship commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said, adding that EU citizens "rightly expect" the visa-free travel the policy promises and resolving the matter fairly remains high on the bilateral agenda.

The United Kingdom and Ireland are not part of the common visa policy. Travel to these countries would not be affected.

Measures for low-risk travellers

On Monday, Immigration Minister John McCallum confirmed Canada is still in talks to work things out.

"We don't do it in terms of reciprocity," he told reporters after question period. "We do it according to the conditions in each particular country, with a view to Canadians' security and Canada's well-being."

"Neither Romania nor Bulgaria currently meets Canada's criteria for a visa exemption," department spokesperson Remi Lariviere wrote to CBC News.

Canada has made it easier for low-risk Romanian and Bulgarian visitors to travel to Canada by:

- Opening visa application centres in Bucharest and Sofia.

- Allowing for online applications.

- Reducing the fee on the standard multiple-entry visitor visa to $100 for up to ten years (six months maximum per visit.)

- Translating an online instructional video into Romanian and Bulgarian to prevent application mistakes.

- Launching an expedited visa process for business travellers from registered companies.

CETA rapporteur resigns

Canada's failure to resolve the visa issue has cost it a key ally in its effort to ratify the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA.)

Sorin Moisa, a member of the European Parliament from Romania, had been working hard in favour of the deal as the S&D (Socialists & Democrats) party rapporteur for CETA. He served on the international trade committee in Brussels and his party's votes were thought to be key in lining up enough support for ratification.

Moisa told CBC News Network Tuesday he was disappointed with the European Commission's decision to delay taking a stand until July 12.

"They've avoided legal measures but upped the political stakes," he told host Andrew Nichols.

In a statement shared with CBC, Moisa said visa-free travel is necessary to ensure all citizens "will benefit fully from the new trade and economic opportunities that are being created between Canada and the EU," he said.

With regret, he said he will resign Wednesday as rapporteur as a result of "Canada's disappointing and unjust behaviour on the issue of visas."

International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland is travelling to Germany Wednesday to speak with legislators and and key stakeholders about the trade deal.

She's expected to meet with German Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, who previously voiced objections to CETA based on its investor-state dispute settlement provisions.

A compromise was reached on that earlier this year, in an effort to ensure CETA passes in both the European Parliament in Brussels, but also the legislatures of individual member states like Germany.

Freeland is expected to travel to Brussels in the near future as Canada's lobbying effort continues.
Kenya has defended its deportation of two groups of Taiwanese to China after they were acquitted in a cyber crime case.

The Kenyan government said the people were in Kenya illegally and were being sent back to where they had come from.

Kenya does not have official relations with Taiwan and considers the island part of China, in line with Beijing's position.

The Taiwanese government is incensed.

It is also alleged that Kenyan authorities used force, including tear gas, to get deportees out of a police station and into a plane on Tuesday.

It has accused China of kidnapping eight of its nationals.

"They came from China and we took them to China. Usually when you go to another country illegally, you are taken back to your last port of departure," Kenyan Interior Ministry spokesman Mwenda Njoka said.

He could not say which city in China they were being returned to but Kenya Airways and China Southern both fly to Guangzhou.

Kenyan Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed said Taipei had not contacted Nairobi about the matter.

The protests came via a media briefing in Taiwan.

"We don't have official relations with Taiwan. We believe in the 'One China' policy. We have diplomatic relations with China," Mr Mohamed told Reuters.

"We haven't seen the official protest, we are actually hearing it from the media."

A group of eight left on Friday and a second group of 37 Taiwan nationals were in the process of leaving on Tuesday, Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Beijing approved of Kenya's upholding the 'One China' principle. He declined to elaborate.

The director of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, Zhang Zhijun, has spoken with his Taiwan counterpart, Andrew Hsia.

Mr Zhang explained that the Kenya deportees included fraudsters from Taiwan who had caused losses for people in China and that they "must be brought to justice".

He gave no details.

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Mr Hsia lodged a protest at China's behaviour, the Mainland Affairs Council said in a statement about the call.

China views Taiwan as a wayward province.

Defeated nationalist forces fled to the island in 1949 after a civil war with the communists who have remained in control in Beijing since then.

Only 22 countries recognise Taiwan as the Republic of China, with most, including Kenya, having diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China.

Kenya's attorney-general said in January it was considering a request from Beijing to extradite 76 Chinese charged with cyber crime.

But Taiwan said some of these people were from Taiwan.
Vietnams newly elected Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has spoken highly of the G7 statement referring to the East Sea and asked the United Kingdom to speak more on the issue.

Phuc made the statement while meeting Philip Hammond, Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, in Hanoi on Tuesday, according to a statement on the Vietnamese government website.

Foreign ministers of the G7, a group that excludes China, on Monday issued a statement on maritime territorial disputes, saying they opposed "any intimidating coercive or provocative unilateral actions that could alter the status quo and increase tensions. The statement has been met with anger from China.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc praises the statement referring to the East Sea issue from G7 foreign ministers meeting in Hiroshima, which serves the common goal of ensuring freedom of navigation and keeping [parties] from implementing actions that may cause tension in the region and go against international law, the Vietnamese statement said.

Phuc asked the U.K. and E.U. to speak strongly, asking claimants in the East Sea to respect international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; use peaceful means to settle disputes; refrain from using force and threatening to use force; stop any activity, especially the construction of artificial islands and militarization in the East Sea, that aims to alter the status quo in the East Sea; fully conform with the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea; and actively take part in negotiations to build a Code of Conduct in the East Sea.

Hammond, while re-affirming the statement on the East Sea issued by G7 foreign ministers, expressed support for ASEAN's efforts to form a Code of Conduct in the East Sea to ensure freedom of navigation in the region. He also said he hoped relevant parties would use peaceful means to settle disputes and conform to international law, according to the Vietnamese government.
Manitoba voters are likely in for nasty sparring Tuesday evening during the only televised debate before the provincial election next week, a Winnipeg political analyst says.

NDP Leader Greg Selinger, Progressive Conservative Leader Brian Pallister, Liberal Leader Rana Bokhari and Green Party Leader James Beddome face off in a consortium debate hosted at CBC's Studio 41, also set to broadcast on CTV and Global.

The debate will be broadcast live, commercial-free starting at 6:10 p.m.

"I think we might also see a bit more desperation arise because things are looking grim for [Selinger] and he doesn't seem to be turning things around," said Raymond Hebert, professor emeritus of political science at the Universite de Saint-Boniface. "Greg Selinger is going to have to come through on this one and it's hard to think what he can do differently relative to what he's done so far during this campaign."

Hebert anticipated the nastiness to emanate from the New Democratic leader partly due to his party's poor performance in recent polling and partly because of how the final week of the campaign started off.

Sunday, Selinger sat at his kitchen table in his humble St. Boniface home to present his tax return in an obvious attempt to force Progressive Conservative Leader Brian Pallister to do the same.

Pallister refused to reveal the information Monday. The Tory boss called it "confidential," but the wealthy businessman-turned-politican disclosed a small bank account in Costa Rica that he said he used to pay for upkeep on a vacation property he owns in the Central American country.

Also on Monday, Selinger accused the Tory leader of being "homophobic" for not supporting the NDP's 2013 anti-bullying legislation that, in part, required schools to have gay-straight alliances if students wanted one.

Pallister disputed the assertion he was anti-gay and said his party voted against the bill for a number of reasons.

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Hebert said while he expects Selinger to attack, Pallister will try to play it cool.

"It's probably the major event of this whole campaign and the performance of the leaders is going to be critical," Hebert said. "I'm expecting Mr. Pallister to be cautious I don't think he's going to take many risks."

He described Liberal Leader Rana Bokhari as a "long shot" for premier, because he said she has had difficulty explaining her own campaign promises.

"I think this will just confirm she has run a basically incompetent campaign," he said.

The Green party is not a factor and is a marginal party, Hebert said.

'Foolish' to reveal strategy, leader says

In Brandon, during last week's first leaders' debate of the official campaign period, Selinger was not viewed as overly aggressive, observers said.

Questioned at a campaign stop Monday, Selinger wouldn't provide details of his strategy this time.

"Let's see... how it unfolds," Selinger said. "Every debate is important and it's a great opportunity to connect with Manitobans, look forward to it."

Pallister played coy about attacking Selinger's record. "Yes and no," he said. "I think we have also an obligation to put our plans on the table and I want to do that very ambitiously."

Yet, he flat out refused to go too in-depth with his debate strategy.

"That would be foolish, but I would say implementing strategy is key, not talking about it," he said.

After last week's debate, the rookie Liberal Leader said she used humour to engage the other leaders in an attempt to stay "relevant".

Bokhari anticipated Tuesday's debate would have a negative tone.

"I do think it will be very negative but, again, I think we do need a reasonable voice," Bokhari said. "So I am hoping that everyone understands that Manitobans are watching and maybe we should try our best and present the best of each of us."
A protest in Montreal organized to show solidarity with the First Nations community of Lac-Simon got heated Monday night, as rocks and smoke grenades were thrown at officers.

About 150 people gathered Monday night at around 7 p.m. for the protest called Indigenous Lives Matter.

The rally was organized to show support for the Lac-Simon community, where a police shooting last week killed 25-year-old Sandy Tarzan Michel.

Police said the protest started off peacefully but after about an hour and a half, some rocks were thrown at officers who were patrolling on bicycles.

Police said smoke bombs were also thrown in officers' direction.

No one was injured.

Police declared the protest illegal and called on the crowd to disperse, then used tear gas near the intersection of Parthenais Street and de Maisonneuve Boulevard.

The crowd quickly dispersed, ending the protest shortly before 9 p.m.

No arrests were made.
By Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani LAGOS (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - When Dauda Yama retrieved his mobile phone from a neighbour's house in January this year, he noticed a missed call from his daughter Saratu who had been missing for almost two years. The last time he spoke with Saratu was on April 14, 2014, when she rang to say men from the Islamist group Boko Haram had loaded her and her classmates from the Government Girls' Secondary School in Chibok in northeast Nigeria onto trucks. Attempts to reach her again failed and two years on, 219 girls abducted that night remain missing, despite a global campaign #bringbackourgirls involving celebrities and U.S. first lady Michelle Obama calling for them to be found. The students are among an estimated 2,000 girls and boys abducted by the Boko Haram since the start of 2014, with many of those abducted used as sex slaves, fighters and even suicide bombers, according to an Amnesty International report. But when Yama returned the missed call that evening, a man answered. Yama hung up and rushed to the home of Yakubu Nkeki, chairman of the Association of Parents of the Abducted Girls from Chibok. "He asked me what he should do," Nkeki, 58, a schoolteacher, whose 17-year-old adopted daughter Maimuna Yakubu Usman is among those missing, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Nkeki took the phone and redialled the number that was again answered by a man who said the phone belonged to his wife. Reporting the matter to any of the armed personnel around Chibok was out of the question so instead they informed a campaigner with the Bring Back Our Girls group, which advocates the return of the missing girls "now and alive". "We don't know who to trust," said Nkeki who has received physical threats for his efforts to keep the abduction of the Chibok girls in the headlines and the government's sights with the abduction becoming a political issue for Nigerian leaders. TOOK THE LEAD Providing counsel to parents of the missing Chibok girls is part of Nkeki's role as chairman of the association. He also checks up on the parents to see if they need help at all. "I check if they have food items or if someone is seriously sick," he said. "If there is any issue, I call the committee members." Some months ago, for example, the association received a donation of 128 bags of corn from a missionary group. The association decided to give three bags to one parent to sell and raise money for medicine for his son who was bitten by a snake. Nkeki said he had not intended to become a leader for the parents but was catapulted into the role when he tried to rally families into action after the abduction. Under his lead, and frustrated by a lack of official action, the parents formed a team to search the Sambisa forest for missing girls the day after the abduction, finding scarves and other items along a trail until heavy rain forced them back. Nkeki then organised a meeting of parents in his village of Mbalala, calling for a peaceful demonstration and seeking media coverage to get the word out, with his initiatives prompting the parents to appoint him as their leader. It was Nkeki's efforts that ascertained exactly how many girls were missing after the school said the Boko Haram had razed all records. He cycled from village to village for two weeks with pen and paper to build a register. "I got the names of the girls, their pictures. I asked for proof. They showed me their daughters' books so that I could get the exact name the girl used in the secondary school," he said. His census revealed the number of girls abducted was 276 but 57 were able to escape as the trucks took off and came home. NOT WELCOME But the attempts to rally parents were not always welcome. Nkeki said some parents refused to have anything to do with the parents association and he has been harassed and arrested by armed forces personnel, displeased with his media appearances and efforts to keep the missing Chibok girls in the news. Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan was criticised 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. "My family is afraid for me. Even my uncle's wife whose daughter was abducted, the one I adopted, said to me that she does not want to lose her daughter and then also lose me," said Nkeki. But despite Nkeki's efforts, his daughter and the other girls are still missing, with the parents desperate for any leads that could help locate their daughters. Hopes were raised earlier this month when a suspected female suicide bomber who claimed to be one of the missing Chibok girls was arrested in northern Cameroon. But official investigations revealed the 12-year-old girl was not from Chibok but abducted from Bama in northeastern Nigeria by Boko Haram a year ago. Nkeki and Yama dialled Saratu's number a few more times after the initial success but the line repeatedly went dead. However, Nkeki says it rang when Yama tried again in February. "The man warned him never to call his wife's number again. He said if he is not careful, he will lose his life," he said. (Editing by Belinda Goldsmith.; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit www.news.trust.org)
[Ontario Regional Chief Isadore Day attends a news conference at the Ontario Legislature in Toronto on September 9, 2015 / THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Vincent Elkaim]



Officials of the Attawapiskat First Nation in northern Ontario have declared a state of emergency in their community following a rash of suicide attempts.

The band council says 11 people tried to end their lives on Saturday night alone. Since last September, at least 101 people have attempted suicide in the remote community on James Bay, and the community is not alone.

Last month, the band council of Pimicikamak Cree Nation made a similar declaration. In January, the leaders of the 49 bands that make up the Nishnawbe Aski Nation in northern Ontario made a plea for emergency help after five youth  the youngest was 10 years old  ended their lives over the span of several weeks.

Isadore Day is the Ontario Regional Chief and leads the national health portfolio for the Assembly of First Nations. He says a meeting of aboriginal leaders is planned this week to address Attawapiskat, and he has previously met with Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott and Ontario Health Minister Eric Hoskins to discuss the issue.

First Nations have been invited to the table in talks on a new federal health accord and aboriginal leaders have met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. There is a shift thats happening, Day says.

He spoke with Yahoo Canada News about the current crisis.

Q: Can you describe the situation in Attawapiskat?

Its an acute crisis. Just in the last few days a number of people have attempted suicide, via overdose or other ways that theyre harming themselves. This is simply a community thats crying out for help and its one thats being resourced by existing crisis teams and first responders. Im told that the community is simply not able to withstand the onslaught of so many attempted suicides and something has to be done now.

Q: Attawapiskat is not the only First Nation community that has suffered this type of crisis. What needs to be done?

Right away we need to ensure there are immediate investments and efforts and partnerships to deal with the immediate issues. There are many dynamics and characteristics of suicide on First Nations. A lot of them are commonplace, so were seeing a lot of things like family breakdown, people dealing with abject poverty, not enough food to eat, no clean water, no jobs.

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We need to triage the situation: what do we do in the immediate; what do we do in the medium term and the long-term in quality of life. But there are things that can happen right now. We need governments to pay attention.

Lets try to figure out why its getting worse. Are there demographic changes occurring with the trends of suicide? If there are, lets focus on that. But clearly this need attention immediately.

Q: Are there other communities that youre concerned about, facing similar issues?

Indicative of northern, remote First Nations communities, theres going to be suicide. There are a good handful of them as well that havent experienced suicide in a while, but out of the 100 First Nations in Canada right now that are living in third-world conditions, the suicide rates are above the national average. We clearly see that out of sight, out of mind.

Q: Are there communities you believe have dealt with this and have practices that can be put into place?

Moose Cree First Nation, a remote community in the James Bay area, they have taken suicide and theyve made it a community issue. The work that theyve done over the last decade is characteristic of a community that is progressive and looks at the strengths in the community. Basically, they have a number of partnerships that look at life promotion, versus death, and theyve really worked hard at curbing the impact of suicide.

But I also have to underscore that Moose Cree is a gateway community; they do have a full-scale hospital, they have a number of resources in Moosonee, across the water. They have community supports  theres a college in the area, they have schools, theres shopping. Theres also a negotiated Impact Benefits Agreement and there are partnerships with [the] industry on some natural resource development.

So we also have to look at the fact that most of the communities dealing with suicide are not that well advanced and do not have those immediate opportunities or infrastructure.

Q: What partnerships? Who needs to be a partner and how so?

The fiduciary duty of the federal government, for example, is key on First Nations health, through Health Canada. The provincial government has jurisdiction over mental health and addictions. We see there an opportunity to define a much stronger working relationship.

As weve seen in recent weeks and months, weve begun to work with the Nishnawbe Aski Nation and the local health authority.

Those types of partnerships are vital going forward. Its going to involve the community, its going to include the health authority professionals, its going to include government and whoever can also come in and help alleviate some of the pressure.

Q: What do you say to other communities that are concerned about suicide and mental health?

I believe that suicide and the social ills that face Canada, with respect to poverty and the increasing gap between the rich and the poor, I think we see a manifestation of that in mainstream society. Were just seeing it in an amplified way in remote First Nations.

I believe that government leaders are going to have to come to grips with the fact that there are a number of issues that are contributing to increased suicides in other parts of Canada and in other jurisdictions.

Climate change is one example of a situation that could be [causing] anxiety. Do people generally feel secure with their future? Do they feel that their quality of life will be impacted? These questions cause stress and this has an impact.

This interview has been condensed and edited.
By Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Southern California Gas Co aims to partially restore operations at its crippled Aliso Canyon storage field by late summer, but the facility, scene of the worst-ever U.S. methane leak, will probably take a year to reopen fully, utility officials said on Thursday. The time frame for bringing the facility back on line will unlikely be soon enough to avert natural gas shortages that could disrupt power generation across greater Los Angeles as warm-weather demand for electricity peaks, a top SoCal Gas executive said. "I'm very concerned about the summer, as far as trying to provide gas service to help on that electrical reliability side," Chief Operating Officer Bret Lane told Reuters in a telephone interview. State energy regulators warned on Tuesday that the region faced up to 14 days of blackouts this summer as gas-fired power plants are forced to largely do without supplies normally furnished by Aliso Canyon at times of peak demand. Lane said he had no quibble with that analysis, adding that a residual supply of gas still held at Aliso Canyon could become harder to withdraw as many of the site's 114 individual wells are temporarily plugged for inspection. The company on Thursday outlined its plan for continued testing of injection wells by the utility and state regulators, saying it hopes to "partially restore operations at the field by the end of the summer." SoCal Gas, a division of San Diego-based Sempra Energy, remains barred from refilling the underground storage reservoir until the facility as a whole is deemed safe. "As far as full normal operations, I think it's more likely a year from now, for getting to that point," Lane said. His comments left in doubt how well the utility could expect to meet the needs of its core customers, homes and businesses that rely on natural gas for heating in winter. Aliso Canyon, the fourth-largest gas reserve of its kind in the United States, has essentially been idled in the aftermath of a ruptured pipeline that spewed more than 97,000 tons of methane - the main component of natural gas - into the air. The stench of odorized gas fumes from the leak, first detected Oct. 23, forced thousands from their homes in the nearby Los Angeles community of Porter Ranch, many complaining of headaches, respiratory problems, dizziness and nosebleeds. The leak was plugged in mid-February. (This story corrects spelling of utility executive's first name to Bret, instead of Brett, in paragraph three) (Reporting by Steve Gorman; Editing by Leslie Adler and Diane Craft)
By Doina Chiacu WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton on Sunday dismissed the notion of a contested nominating convention and said she was not preparing for such a scenario, after her rival for her party's presidential nomination racked up another victory. Bernie Sanders won the Wyoming caucuses on Saturday, his seventh victory over Clinton in the last eight Democratic nominating contests as the two gear up for a crucial matchup on April 19 in New York state. Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, is trying to chip away at Clinton's big lead in the number of delegates needed to secure the Democratic nomination for the Nov. 8 presidential election. He said on Sunday he believed he could close the gap, and left the door open for a so-called floor flight at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia in July if neither has won an outright majority of delegates. In that case, a system of multiple ballots takes place, governed by complex rules, with candidates hoping to persuade delegates to vote for them. Asked on CNN if she were preparing for such a scenario, Clinton said, "No, I intend to have the number of delegates that are required to be nominated." The former U.S. secretary of state said she was leading Sanders by 2.5 million popular votes and in pledged delegates. "I feel good about the upcoming contests, and I expect to be the nominee," she said. The specter of a contested convention, a relatively rare event in recent U.S. politics, looms much larger in the Republican race. While front-runner Donald Trump has amassed a delegate lead by winning many state contests, rival Ted Cruz has proved tenacious in pursuit of every last delegate available by other means. Cruz's campaign has worked hard in states where the delegate allocation process is more complex, such as Colorado, where the U.S. senator from Texas garnered 34 delegates on Saturday. The Trump campaign has complained about the nominating process, including in Louisiana, where the New York billionaire Trump won the vote but split the delegates equally with Cruz. "It's a crooked system," Trump said at a large rally in Rochester, New York, on Sunday before saying the process was broken in both major parties and expressing sympathy for Sanders. "Look at Bernie: He wins and wins and wins." Trump said he had warned the Republican National Committee there would be a "big problem" if he does not become the nominee. "We're supposed to be a democracy. We're supposed to be: You vote and it means something." Paul Manafort, the veteran political strategist Trump hired to oversee his delegate operation, accused the Cruz campaign of bullying delegates into backing the senator, something the Trump campaign planned to protest. "Well, he's threatening, you go to these county conventions, and you see the tactics, Gestapo tactics, the scorched-earth tactics," Manafort said on NBC's 'Meet the Press'. Clinton was campaigning in Baltimore on Sunday, where she received the endorsement of U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings ahead of Maryland's nominating contest on April 25, where another 95 delegates are at stake. The Wyoming results did not change the delegate math for the Democratic contenders. Each won seven, since delegates are awarded proportionally based on caucus-goers' support. Going into Wyoming, Clinton had more than half of the 2,383 delegates needed to win the nomination. Sanders trailed her by 250 pledged delegates, those awarded based on the results of the state nominating contests. But Sanders said future contests in the West and on the East Coast looked favorable to him, including New York, Pennsylvania, California and Oregon. "We believe that we have the momentum. We believe that the polling is showing that we're closing the gap," Sanders said on Sunday on ABC's "This Week." Sanders sidestepped questions on whether he was prepared to take the nomination to a floor fight if Clinton did not win the magic number of pledged delegates, but he left the possibility open. "If neither candidate ends up, you know, having the kind of votes they need, yes, I think there will be some discussion," Sanders said on CNN's "State of the Union." An inquiry by the Federal Bureau of Investigation into Clinton's use of a private email server in her Chappaqua, New York, home for her work as secretary of state continues to cast legal uncertainty over her campaign. On Sunday, her former boss, President Barack Obama, said he did not believe the arrangement harmed national security, despite more than 2,000 of her emails containing classified information, which the government bans from being handled outside secure, government-controlled channels. "There's classified and then there's classified," Obama said in an interview with Fox News. He also emphasized that the U.S. Justice Department would investigate impartially, without heed to politics. (Additional reporting by Clarece Polke and Jonathan Allen; Editing by Ros Russell and Jonathan Oatis)
General Secretary of the National Assembly Nguyen Hanh Phuc chairs the press conference on the conclusion of the 13th National Assembly's last meeting. : Giang Huy

Vietnam's National Assembly will reelect a number of leadership titles, including state president and prime minister in July after the country holds an election to select a new NA in May.

The 13th National Assembly (2011-2016) has just completed overseeing Vietnams transition to a new government through the appointment of 37 new officials. Originally, the selection of top positions and the new administration was scheduled for the first meeting of the 14th National Assembly in July after it is formed through an election in May.

However, Vietnam has put forward the process by three months due to the need to rearrange personnel after the Party National Congress in January. Deputy Chair of the NA Uong Chu Luu said that the recently elected officials were the result of the 13th NAs election and approval.

After the election of the 14th NA on May 22, we will oversee the personnel arrangements for state agencies again, Luu said.

According to the Law on the Organization of the National Assembly, the following titles are required to be deputies of the NA: state president, vice president, prime minister, chair of the NA, deputy chair of the NA, member of the NAs Standing Committee, chair of Ethnic Minority Affairs and chairs of NA committees.

If the new candidates who were elected by the 13th NA are confirmed by 14th NA in the election in May, they will hold their positions. Those who are not reelected will have to step down and the Party and State will appoint them to other positions.

Luu said that the top positions, including state president, prime minister, chair of the NA and chief judge, will take their oaths of office again following the results.
Digital Media

Indiana University Moves Digital Assets to the Cloud

Indiana University has adopted a new cloud-based digital asset management (DAM) system to manage assets such as images, logos and video. The multi-campus university should be able to improve collaboration between its media relations operations and university departments.

Previously, the images and branded materials the university owns were installed on multiple servers in different locations around the state. With the new cloud-based system, from Widen Media Collective, its use of digital assets will both become faster and more reliable. Likewise, with a more centralized system in place, various components of the university will be able to present a more consistent brand image to the public.

"We needed a dependable platform that we could manage, search and utilize for our marketing and news images," said Eric Rudd, a producer, art director and photographer with Indiana University Communications. "Our DAM solution needs to keep pace."

The university's communications department employs a wide network of photographers, videographers, graphic designers and project managers who need to browse and search for images in preparation for their use on billboards, printed materials, presentations, digital signage and other marketing materials. They also have varying levels of expertise when it comes to managing them. So the hope is that a more centralized cloud-based system will both accelerate and ease the process.

"We create a lot of content here that gets put on the web," Rudd said. "We're hoping the DAM will feed all of our online content, including our website and online newsletter."
Networking & Wireless

'Just-Like-Home' WiFi for Students

The University of California, Irvine put off updating its student housing wireless. Now it's ahead of the pack.

Ubiquitous WiFi is fast becoming the expected standard for higher ed campuses, and the University of California Irvine is no exception. "We got to the point where students brought their own router for wireless," said Kevin Ansel, director of student affairs IT. "We had hundreds of students in line trying to get online with home devices."

As one of 10 University of California schools, Irvine was the only UC campus that didn't have end-to-end wireless. "Students expect wireless, just like they expect cable TV and a meal plan," Ansel explained. "We started working on this project about two years ago, but we had been talking about it for the last five to seven years. The issue was budget. That's what held us up."

When UCI was finally ready to roll out WiFi for student housing, the university partnered with CDW-G and Cisco for the project. Cisco provided the equipment  Aironet 3702i 802.11ac access points  while CDW-G orchestrated the whole installation, providing project management and partnering with network operations on campus in order to meet campus standards.

In the first half of 2014, Ansel and his team met with CDW-G, did a site survey and purchased equipment. That was Phase One. Phase Two was the implementation: "Over a period of several months, we put out bids to contractors to install the needed wiring to support wireless access for four different undergrad communities, geographically located in four different areas of the campus, with an estimated installation of 1,300 access points." As the common areas on campus already had wireless, this project was limited to living quarters only. The goal was to locate the access points so that each student would have the best connectivity.

"We have 30,000 students, 9,000 of whom live on campus," Ansel pointed out. "Our focus was on undergrads  a total of 6,400 students." Ansel noted that UCI grad students live in more traditional apartment-style buildings; most of them prefer to come with their own devices, and many need special access. "For now, we let them manage this," said Ansel. "Eventually, we'll go there too."

Ansel and his team instructed CDW-G to assume that students would have more and more devices over time, and to "think down the road." If students have five to seven devices today, they'll have as many as 10 devices tomorrow. CDW-G, in turn, spent three weeks surveying the campus, came up with a plan to provide wireless now and well into the future, and tested the coverage results.

The Student Housing undergraduate wireless network was fully launched in December, and the result has been "phenomenal," according to Ansel. "The first day we went live, statistics showed that 85 percent of the residents were utilizing the wireless network. We had zero service issues, and the network ran flawlessly."

The installation has been seamless, and there have been no technical issues. "We're saving money because we don't have to provide as much technical support as in the past," said Ansel. "Now we can focus on other services."

UCI's focus now is on viruses and malware. The IT team provides advice on how to remove viruses and malware from students' devices, and how to install the proper antivirus software and security tools. IT can also monitor the TV infrastructure, provide help desk assistance for students, and attend to the normal "break and fix" on campus. Ansel noted: "Now that we're all wireless, we've eliminated such break and fix problems as broken wall jacks. We had been fixing hundreds of broken wall jacks in the students' rooms each year."
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany said on Monday it was examining a formal request made by Turkey for it to prosecute a comedian who recited an obscene poem about Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in a satirical show on national television. German prosecutors have already begun investigating Jan Boehmermann, the iconoclastic host of the late-night "Neo Magazin Royale" on the public channel ZDF, on suspicion of the crime of "offending foreign states' organs and representatives". Government spokesman Steffen Seibert said the Turkish embassy had sent Germany's foreign ministry a cable with "a formal request from the Turkish side for a prosecution in connection with comments made in this broadcast." "The content of this cable and the way forward will now be carefully examined by the government," Seibert told a regular government news conference. "It will take a few days. I can't and don't want to anticipate the results of this examination." The incident is awkward for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has spearheaded EU efforts to secure Turkey's help in dealing with Europe's migrant crisis. She has told Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in a telephone conversation that the poem was "deliberately offensive". Boehmermann, who has made a name for himself by pushing the boundaries of satire in a once-staid media landscape, made clear on the show that he was courting controversy. Before reading his poem, Boehmermann referred to a satirical song broadcast on NDR television that had mocked Erdogan for his authoritarian treatment of journalists. That led Turkey to call in Germany's envoy to provide an explanation, although Germany rejected Turkish protests. Speaking as if he were addressing Erdogan, Boehmermann explained that the NDR broadcast had fallen under the right to artistic freedom, press freedom and freedom of opinion. On Monday, Seibert stressed that an article in Germany's constitution on freedom of opinion was of the utmost importance to Merkel and was non-negotiable, regardless of whether or not she found an opinion tasteful or tasteless. Seibert also noted that Boehmermann had himself said his broadcast was "a conscious breach of limits". "Solving the refugee issue is in the joint interests of Germany, the European Union and Turkey," Seibert added. "The fundamental values of the constitution are non-negotiable, independent of whether Germany works with others to jointly tackle political challenges." (Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Caroline Copley and Tom Heneghan)
This information is such that Inwido AB (publ) is obliged to publish in accordance with the Swedish Securities Market Act and/or Financial Instruments Trading Act. The information was submitted for publication on Tuesday, 12 April 2016 at 8:45 a.m. Inwido, Europes largest supplier of windows and doors, has signed an agreement to aquire 83 percent of the shares in the Finnish window and door company Varmelux Oy that owns and runs the business under the brand name Lampolux, with an option for the remaining 17 percent. The acquisition strengthens Inwidos position in the Finnish market and is expected to generate significant opportunities for synergies with Inwidos existing operations as well as for expansion. At six years old, Lampolux is a young brand that sells and installs windows, doors and garage doors in wood and wood/aluminium through 18 sales offices throughout Finland. The company, which was founded by the current management and is co-owned by its management and CapMan, has no proprietary production but is a customer of Inwido Finland, among others. Management retains 17% of the shares, which will gradually be acquired by Inwido by the first half of 2019. This is a very good acquisition for us, says Hakan Jeppsson, President and CEO of Inwido. Lampolux brings expertise in sales, marketing and installation, providing an excellent complement to our existing operations in Finland. Today, Lampolux has about 180 employees and annual sales of about EUR 29 million. The company is headquartered in Oulu, Finland. The acquisition is expected to result in significant synergies and to create good opportunities for growth. For several years, we have seen Inwido as a role model in our sector in that it is active, reliable and energetic, says Pekka Koskelo, CEO of Lampolux, who will remain in the company, together with the rest of the management team, to develop the business. Combined with the decentralized organization on which Inwido builds its business strategy, we find this very attractive. Both personally and on behalf of my colleagues, I feel Inwido is the right home from which we can further build the strength of our brand, says Pekka Koskelo. The acquisition is subject to approval by relevant competition authorities. For more information, please contact: Inwido AB Hakan Jeppsson, President and CEO Tel.: 46 (0)10-451 45 51 or 46 (0)70-550 15 17 Peter Welin, CFO Tel.: 46 (0)10-451 45 52 or 46 (0)703 24 31 90 E-mail: peter.welin@inwido.com About Inwido Inwido is Europes largest supplier of windows and doors. The company has operations in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Estionia, Ireland, Lithuania, Poland and the UK, as well as exports to a large number of other countries. The Group markets some 20 strong local brands including Elitfonster, SnickarPer, Hajom, Hemmafonster, Outline, Tiivi, Pihla, Diplomat and Sokolka. Inwido has approximately 3,400 employees and generated sales of slightly more than SEK 5.2 billion in 2015. The Group's headquarters are located in Malmo, Sweden. For further information, please visit www.inwido.com
HOUSTON and LITTLE ROCK, Ark., April 12, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via PRWEB - AcctTwo, a leading consulting firm and provider of cloud-based ERP solutions, announced that the firm has implemented Intacct for the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation. For more than 40 years, the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation has worked to make a difference by helping to build and sustain the organizations that serve and strengthen Arkansas. Through grant making and strategic partnerships, the foundation is working even harder to help close the economic and educational gaps that leave too many Arkansas families in persistent poverty. After a rigorous software evaluation, the Foundation chose Intacct over other on-premises and cloud solutions as the best fit to meet the needs of the organization.

Previous Business Challenges Faced by the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation:

The Foundation's legacy accounting product was no longer supported and didn't offer the depth of features desired.

The finance team was unable to implement the kind of automation needed to streamline processes.

The finance team, as well as management, didn't have consistent access to the system, reporting, or dashboards.

The Foundation needed a system that could integrate with their grant management software and other business systems.

Intacct offered the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation a cloud-based solution that fully supports restricted, unrestricted, and temporarily restricted net assets.

Intacct will improve the finance staff's reporting capabilities.

Intacct's open APIs allow the foundation to integrate it with their grant management system.

Visit the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation on the web

Visit accttwo.com

Follow the AcctTwo Blog

About AcctTwo:

AcctTwo is a leading consulting firm and reseller of cloud-based accounting and ERP software. Our sophisticated systems solve the issues growing churches and non-profits face today. AcctTwo also provides Business-Process-as-a-Service solutions, allowing clients to focus on their mission. We provide the people, processes, technology, and office facilities to perform these functions, while allowing clients to collaborate interactively through an on-line portal.

AcctTwo is headquartered in Houston, Texas. For more information, please visit http://www.accttwo.com or call 713-744-8400.

Contacts:

Peter Wagner

Director of Marketing

Cell: 512.415.6846

Email:pwagner(at)accttwo.com

Chris Wailes

VP, National Media Relations

Pierpont Communications

Direct:713.627.2223

Email:cwailes(at)piercom.com

This article was originally distributed on PRWeb. For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://www.prweb.com/releases/2016/04/prweb13319389.htm
The International Monetary Fund cut its global growth forecast for the fourth time in the past year on Tuesday, citing China's slowdown, persistently low oil prices and chronic weakness in advanced economies.

The Fund, whose spring meetings along with the World Bank will be held in Washington this week, forecast that the global economy would grow at 3.2 percent in 2016 compared to its previous forecast of 3.4 percent in January.

In its latest World Economic Outlook, the Fund warned of widespread stagnation risk and said weaker growth could leave the global economy more vulnerable to shocks such as currency depreciations or worsening geopolitical conflicts.

The Fund called on global policymakers attending the IMF and World Bank meetings to take coordinated actions to boost demand with structural economic reforms, fiscal stimulus where possible and accommodative monetary policy.

"Lower growth means less room for error," IMF chief economist Maurice Obstfeld said in a statement. "Persistent slow growth has scarring effects that...reduce potential output and with it, demand and investment."

The IMF cut Japan's growth forecast in half to 0.5 percent in 2016 and said Brazil's economy would now shrink by 3.8 percent this year versus the previous forecast of a 3.5 percent contraction as it struggles through its deepest recession in decades. See TABLE:

Meanwhile, the United States, one of the relative bright spots in the global economy, also saw its 2016 growth forecast cut to 2.4 percent from 2.6 percent. The IMF said it anticipated an increased drag on U.S. exports from a stronger dollar, while low oil prices would keep energy investment weak.

The Fund raised China's growth forecast slightly to 6.5 percent this year, and 6.2 percent in 2017, partly due to previously announced policy stimulus. But the IMF said it still expects China's growth to continue to weaken as it transitions to a consumer-driven economy.

"A sharper slowdown in China than currently projected could have strong international spillovers through trade, commodity prices, and confidence, and lead to a more generalized slowdown in the global economy, especially if it further curtailed expectations of future income," the IMF said in the World Economic Outlook.

The new forecasts follow previous growth markdowns in July, October and January.

Obstfeld said that global growth could easily weaken from the latest IMF forecasts which could reinforce a deflationary spiral of weak growth that erodes future output potential. He said this phenomenon is known in some economic circles as "secular stagnation."

He also noted that persistently lower growth could reinforce a sense of economic inequality and encourage nationalistic, protectionist policies, particularly in the euro area, which could also reduce potential.
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The U.S. Navy announced this month that it had seized a ship laden with illegal weapons in the Persian Gulf that were likely bound for Houthi fighters in Yemen. It was the latest in a string of illicit weapons shipments seized in the region by naval forces and assessed by the U.S. to have originated in Iran.

Distributing illegal weapons is part of a pattern of destabilizing behavior by Iran that remains a challenge for the United States and its regional allies.

In testimony before Congress, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Shannon said the United States has been encouraged by Irans adherence so far to the commitments it had made under the nuclear deal with the P5+1 -- the JCPOA. But he noted that profound differences with Iran remain and continue to be addressed:

Irans support for terrorist groups like Hezbollah, its assistance to the Assad regime in Syria, and to Houthi rebels in Yemen are at odds with core U.S. interest and pose fundamental threats to the region and beyond. Thats why we have retained our sanctions related to Irans destabilizing activities in the region including its support for terrorism.

In addition, Under Secretary Shannon expressed concern over Irans attempts to develop increasingly capable ballistic missile systems and said the U.S. would use all available multilateral and unilateral tools to impede the development of Irans missile program.

Irans violations of the fundamental rights of its citizens were also cited by the Under Secretary, who noted that rights-related sanctions are not subject to relief under the JCPOA, and the U.S. continues to vigorously enforce these sanctions.

We call on Iran to prove to the world it wants to be a constructive member of the international community and contribute to peace and stability."

At a recent press conference in Bahrain, Secretary of State John Kerry urged Iran to change its destabilizing behavior. We call on Iran, said Secretary Kerry, to prove to the world it wants to be a constructive member of the international community and contribute to peace and stability, and to help us end the war in Yemen, not prolong it; help us end the war in Syria, not intensify it, and help us to be able to change the dynamics of this region, which needs space to begin to breathe[to]engage in full economic activity, put people to work, send people to school, do things other than constantly be caught up in the instability that comes with either sectarian or ideological extremism.
Twenty-two years ago one of the worst crimes against humanity in the twentieth century occurred in Rwanda. More than 800,000 men, women, and children were systematically murdered during 100 days of unspeakable violence.

The killings, deliberately planned and sanctioned by then ethnic Hutu-led government, began in earnest April 7, 1994, the day after a plane carrying the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi was shot down, killing both leaders. Ethnic Tutsi citizens a minority in the countrys population of about 7 million, were specifically targeted; however, politically moderate Hutu and ethnic Twa sympathizers were also killed .

"We honor not just the victims," said President Barack Obama in a written statement delivered on the Commemoration of the 22nd Anniversary of the Genocide, "but also those who risked their lives to save others as well as the survivors who carry the memories of these atrocities."It is important to mark these occasions in order to "remind ourselves," said President Obama, "of our common humanity and shared commitment to protecting civilians and ensuring that mass atrocities of this magnitude never happen again."

Over the last two decades, Rwanda has made progress in moving beyond these horrible crimes and in building a more peaceful and prosperous future for its citizens.

The United States remains deeply committed to preventing the horror of mass atrocities and genocide from occurring again, and to continuing to work with the people of Rwanda and the international community to finish the task of bringing those responsible for those heinous acts to justice.
The U.S. Embassy in the Bahamas, through the U.S. Department of State, sponsored a subregional International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) professional exchange program focused on Combating Corruption in March, 2016.

The Bahamas Supreme Court Judge, Justice Bernard Turner and Tribune reporter Khrisna Virgil represented the Bahamas in the program. Other countries represented included Guyana, Jamaica, and Suriname.

On March 31, Justice Turner and Ms. Virgil paid a courtesy call on U.S. Charge dAffaires a.i. Lisa Johnson at the U.S. Embassy to discuss their participation in the program.

During the exchange, the participants visited Washington, D.C., Manchester, New Hampshire, and Raleigh, North Carolina. They explored the vital role of public/private partnerships and media in supporting good governance and discouraging corruption; examined the dynamics of political campaign financing and government procurement; learned best practices combating corruption; and looked at the mechanisms that enable citizens to foster good governance, ethical standards, and accountability at the local, state, and federal levels.

Corruption is a deadly enemy of democracy and government. The United States is proud to work with its partner, the Bahamas, in promoting the transparency and integrity in government that the people of the Bahamas have a right to expect.
Marvin Colyer passed away April 10th at his home near Filer. He was born in Castleford, Idaho on May 1, 1933, as the seventh child of Guy and Lois Emery Colyer. He was raised on the family ranch at Three Creek and attended the small country school. Marvins father died when he was sixteen so he helped his mother run the ranch until his older sister bought the ranch when Marvin was twenty years old.

On November 29, 1952, Marvin married Leah Wells in Twin Falls, Idaho. They moved to Nevada in 1956 where they raised their four children. Marvin worked on the Horseshoe Ranch through three owners. He managed Rancho Grande at North Fork for fourteen years until a gold mine bought the ranch. Marvin worked at the Circle L Ranch at Jiggs for four years before retiring and moving back to Idaho in 1993. He bought a small ranch near Filer and ran a few head of cows. He was proud to be called a cowboy and was an all-around top hand. Marvin had many friends and was well known for the good cow horses he trained and used.

He is survived by his wife, Leah; two daughters: Marilyn Tipton (Toby) and Tammy Colyer both of Nevada; brother, Ray Colyer (Bonnie) of Bruneau; sister, Lucinda Plott (Cecil) of Eugene, Oregon; four grandchildren: Jake Tipton, Josh Colyer (Sadie), Marcus Auge USMC, and Sidnee Auge; numerous nieces and nephews.

Marvin was preceded in death by his parents, two sons: Jerry and Paul; one grandson, Shane Tipton; sister, Lola Blossom; brothers Troy, Clifford and Walter. Even in later years, Marvin was able to run his cattle with the help of his good friends, Don and Jim Clark, Jerry Black, Gary Eldredge, Dale Petersen and Marvins grandson, Josh Colyer, the cowboys and family who helped brand.

Memorial Services will be held on Saturday, April 16 at 3:00 p.m. at the Parkes Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, please donate to the charity of your choice.

Those who wish may share memories and condolences on his memorial web page at www.magivalleyfuneralhome.com
ELKO  County-level conventions are about more than just electing delegates who may end up at the national event for Republicans.

Almost 200 people attended the GOP convention Saturday in Elko to update the partys platform and resolutions, elect a central committee, and have a chance to sign petitions that are important to its members.

By the end of the day, county Republicans elected 81 delegates and 34 alternates to the State Convention.

The county could send a maximum of 81 delegates and 81 alternates to the state.

The delegates also elected the Central Committee, which is voted on every two years.

Many of the individuals are the same ones, but we did do the process of electing the Central Committee as nominated by the Precinct Meetings, said Elko County Republican Chairman Lee Hoffman. We have about 30 more names than we did previously.

The officers for the Central Committee will remain the same; new ones will be elected in April 2017, he said.

While party members were working on the platform and resolutions, Liz Arnold was signing up people to become involved in the partys Ground Operation 2016.

One of the things Republicans have not been good at is the ground game, Arnold said.

The Nevada Republican Party is doing a leadership class to teach people how to be effective when talking to voters. She said a lot of people stayed home during the last presidential election.

We cannot win if we have people do that this time, Arnold said.

Republicans also had a chance to sign four petitions: Voter ID initiative, Healthcare Freedom Protection Act, Pupil Information Privacy Protection, and Commerce Tax Petition.

The party platform began the day with 10 items, but by the end of the day, three more were added and almost all of them were tweaked by party members.

Hoffman said he was pleased with the turnout. He stressed to those elected as delegates to the state convention that it is important for them to show up at the Reno event because its where were gonna elect 27 delegates to go to the national convention.

I really want us to have a full showing out there, he said. ... Typically what happens at these things is we elect 70 or 80 delegates and probably 50 or 60 show up.

Nevada sends 30 delegates to the national convention.

Hoffman said three delegates are automatic: the chairman, the national committeewoman and the national committeeman.

Hoffman is the national committeeman, so he is an automatic delegate to the national convention in Cleveland.

The party elects another 27 delegates at the state convention, with 12 based on their congressional district and 15 elected for at-large positions.

Those delegates, when they go to the national convention, have to vote for the proportion that the state voted during the caucus on the first ballot, he said.

If no candidate wins a majority  at least 1,237 delegates  of votes, another round of voting ensues and Nevada delegates are released from their obligation to vote according to caucus results.
This week, Nevada Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt commemorates National Crime Victims Rights Week, reminding Nevadans of their rights and demonstrating his Offices commitment to making our communities safer.

National Crime Victims Rights Week underscores the devastating effects that crime has on the lives of so many, said Laxalt. My Office is committed to ensuring that survivors receive support from the criminal justice system, and will continue to educate and advocate for victims of crime.

Every April, the Office for Victims of Crime leads communities throughout the country in their annual observances of National Crime Victims Rights Week. This years theme Serving Victims, Building Trust, Restoring Hope highlights the importance of early intervention and victim services in establishing trust with victims that fosters healing and recovery.

In 1983, the Nevada Legislature mandated certain rights and guarantees to crime victims and witnesses. Under Nevadas Victims Bill of Rights, victims have the right to:

 Know the status of the case in which they are involved.

 Be free from intimidation or dissuasion.

 Know when their impounded property may be released.

 Receive a witness fee for lawful obedience to a subpoena.

 Understand the existing victim compensation laws and receive compensation if applicable.

 A secure waiting area, that is not available to the defendant or their family, while at court.

 Know when the defendant is released from custody before or during trial (upon written request).

 Know when the offender is released from prison (upon written request).

Last year, AG Laxalt and his Office drafted and supported a number of legislative measures to address challenges in the criminal justice system that pose as obstacles to crime victims. AG Laxalt shepherded a number of bills pertaining to human trafficking in Nevada, including AB 214 that provides enhanced penalties for johns who buy sex from minors, AB 193 that makes it easier for prosecutors to bring charges against offenders by allowing the use of hearsay in certain types of hearings, AB 49 that allows for the testimony of an expert in human trafficking cases to educate a jury about the prostitution subculture and manipulative tactics used to control victims, AB 107 that enhances trafficked victims abilities to clear their record, and AB 212 that amends the statute of limitations for the filing of a criminal charge for sexual assault from four years to 20 years after the commission of the offense.

In September 2015, AG Laxalt also pledged $3.68 million in grants and settlement monies toward eliminating the backlog of more than 7,500 untested rape kits throughout the state. He currently serves as the statewide chair of the Sexual Assault Kit Working Group tasked with finding creative solutions to address the backlog and ensuring that Nevada takes a more victim-centered approach to justice. Since the groups formation, more than 1,200 untested rape kits have been sent out for testing with testing results anticipated for this summer.

National Crime Victims Rights Week will be held April 10-16 in communities throughout the nation. In Washington, D.C., the U.S. Department of Justice will begin the weeks events with their annual Office for Victims of Crimes Service Awards Ceremony honoring outstanding individuals and programs that service victims of crime. In Nevada, victims of crime can look to the Nevada Victims of Crime Program for awareness materials and financial assistance, as well as other local non-profit organizations such as the Nevada Coalition Against Sexual Violence, the Rape Crisis Center Las Vegas and Nevada Sexual Violence Prevention and Education through the Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health.

Before the close of 2015, the state of Nevada also completed its implementation of its automated victim information and notification system known as the Victim Information and Notification Everyday or VINE. VINE gives victims of crime and concerned Nevadans access to the custody information of offenders held in jails, prisons and enrollees of parole or probation throughout the state. The system communicates with jail and prison booking systems in near real-time, allowing users to be immediately informed of an offenders transfer, release or escape. VINE includes 48 states and more than 2,000 communities nationwide, and also serves the U.S. Department of Justice, including the FBI, the U.S. Attorneys Office and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. To register or receive more information about VINE, visit https://www.vinelink.com/or call 1-88-2NV-VINE (1-888-268-8463). The service if free and anonymous.

In order to bring awareness to victims of crime, the Attorney Generals Office will be posting informational alerts on social media each day of this week. To receive the alerts, follow the Office on Twitter @NevadaAG and Facebook at Nevada Attorney General.
Military uniforms meant for Islamic State and seized at the port of Valencia. Policia Nacional (EL PAIS)

The self-proclaimed Islamic State (ISIS) is not just a terrorist group but is in fact a proto-state, the acting Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo has said.

And as such, besides recruiting foreign fighters, ISIS needs to arm them, equip them, and supply them with uniforms and boots to give them the appearance of a true army.

Where do the four-by-four vehicles often seen in their propaganda videos come from? Who supplies them with the rifles and machine guns that they use? Where do they get their uniforms? Who orders them and how are they paid for?

The network did not just send uniforms to Islamic State, but could also manage any other kind of request

On March 15, Spanish police officers seized the contents of a container at the Spanish port of Algeciras (Cadiz) and two more in Valencia. The first contained second-hand clothing, as the customs declaration stated.

But inside the other two, authorities found a baler machine for packing used clothes and, hidden under piles of second-hand clothing, five tons of perfectly wrapped and labeled packages containing 20,000 brand-new military uniforms  enough to supply an entire army.

The container had come from Saudi Arabia, although the uniforms looked like they had come from a NATO country. The destination was Turkey  first to the port of Mersin near Cyprus, and then, via road, to Bad al Hawa, on the other side of the Syrian border.

An ongoing operation

The seizure, ordered by Spanish High Court Judge Eloy Velasco, was the continuation of an operation launched on February 7, when authorities arrested seven suspected members of a support group for ISIS in Ontinyent (Valencia), Ceuta and the Alicante municipalities of Crevillent, LAlqueria dAsnar, Muro dAlcoi and Alicante.

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The alleged head of the network was Ammar Termanini, born in Aleppo (Syria) in 1972, and who arrived in Spain in 2012 after having lived in The Netherlands, Belgium and United Kingdom.

Once in Spain he set up a company, Tigre Negro S.L. (Black Tiger Ltd.), of which he was the sole administrator. The company was dedicated to the import and export of textile goods. Under cover of providing humanitarian aid, he sent a number of packages to Syria, where he traveled frequently.

Termanini did not hide which side he was on. He had posted photos of himself holding automatic weapons on his Facebook page, while phone taps revealed that, like many jihadists, he had switched his allegiance from Al Qaeda to the self-proclaimed Caliphate. During the police operation, he was found in possession of a 22-calibre Long Rifle pistol, which was obviously illegal.

The financier behind Termanini was supposedly Mohamed Abu El Rub Karima, born in Jordan in 1960 and a resident of Ontinyent. Inside his warehouse in the LAltet industrial park, police found uniforms similar to those later discovered in the Valencia container. Karima raised funds and made payments through hawala, the traditional Muslim system based on trust, and which allows for money to be moved around different countries without leaving any trace of bank transfers.

The network did not just send uniforms to Islamic State, but could also manage any other kind of request. One example is a type of fertilizer that is not sold in Spain and can be used to make explosives.

The discoveries illustrate how the web of support for Islamic State is very complicated and has ramifications in a number of countries. Investigators are only just starting to unpick it, but are already sure that, as was the case with Basque terrorist group ETA in its day, arresting its fighters is not enough: they need to cut off its financing and its logistics supply route.

English version by Simon Hunter.
Tank Cleaner Fined $226,310 After Worker's Death in Confined Space

This is the fourth time Dedicated TCS LLC failed to address dangerous confined space hazards, according to OSHA.

OSHA announced an enforcement case against Dedicated TCS LLC, with the agency reporting the New Orleans company failed to test the atmosphere inside a railcar before three employers entered the tank on Oct. 8, 2015, or to mandate that the workers attach a lifeline to their harness to allow a rescue. One of the workers died due to the incident.

Dedicated TCS LLC is a tank cleaning service with about 55 employees in Louisiana and Illinois, according to OSHA.

The company faces $226,310 in proposed fines for two willful, three repeat, and four serious violations for exposing workers to hazardous health conditions, including failure to test atmospheric conditions within a confined space before allowing workers to enter and evaluate a rescuer's ability to respond in a timely manner and function appropriately while rescuing entrants from confined spaces.

"Dedicated TCS continues to ignore crucial safety procedures for working in confined space. This is the fourth time OSHA has found this employer in violation of federal safety standards," said Dorinda Folse, OSHA's area director in Baton Rouge. "Sadly, the company's inaction has cost a man his life."
British Prime Minister David Cameron has continued to try to defuse public anger over details of his offshore holdings, announcing new steps to make the offshore world more transparent during an address to parliament on Monday.

Addressing the House of Commons on Monday, Cameron pledged to create a cross agency task force to probe Panama Papers revelations and promised to push for new rules that would allow authorities to prosecute corporations that facilitate tax evasion.

He also announced that most of the United Kingdoms dependencies, including the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands, have agreed to provide full access to information about the beneficial owners of offshore companies. The information would be made available to law enforcement and tax authorities but not necessarily to the public.

We think thats the right way to go, the beleaguered Cameron said, and added that the U.K. dependencies should be recognized for how far they have gone in comparison to other secrecy jurisdictions. Theyre well ahead of some states in the United States of America, he said at one point.

Cameron, who initially responded to information about his fathers offshore investment fund with careful, narrowly worded responses finally said last week that he had profited from shares in his fathers Blairmore fund, shares of which he sold shortly before becoming prime minister.

Camerons approval ratings dropped in wake of the revelations, according to the Guardian, and on Saturday protesters calling for Camerons resignation rallied outside Downing Street.

Responding to growing public pressure for more transparency, Cameron released his personal tax records on the weekend, which revealed that his mother had transferred 200,000 to his accounts, divided in to two payments to avoid potential inheritance taxes.

In retrospect, Cameron said, I could have handled this better.

As the revelations in the Panama Papers have made clear, we need to go further, he told the House of Commons. He also congratulated the journalists who revealed the corporate arrangements that have made life hard in the last week for many politicians, including the prime minister of Iceland, who resigned after news about his offshore holding ignited massive protests.

Camerons critics have not been mollified by his actions, arguing that he needs to do more. The U.K. is at the heart of the global tax avoidance industry, said opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn. It's a national scandal, and its got to end.

Following Camerons lead, Chancellor George Osborne, leader of the opposition Jeremy Corbyn and London mayor Boris Johnson also released their own income and tax records. Corbyn paid a fine earlier this year for filing his tax return a week late.

Protests in Malta, Iceland

The prime minister of Malta has also been under pressure because of the offshore holdings of two of his top aides. Several thousand demonstrators rallied by the opposition Labour Party called on Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to resign on the weekend.

The Panama Papers revealed that Health and Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi held a company in Panama and a trust in New Zealand and that the prime ministers chief of staff Keith Schembri held a company and trust in Panama.

Mizzi said that the company was acquired to hold a London property. He has asked Malta tax authorities to audit his finances and has said he will close the company when the audit is complete. Schembri has said his offshore holding predated his government post and that he handed over its management in 2013 when the government was elected.

Protests also continued in Iceland, where Prime Minister Sigmunder David Gunnlaugsson resigned last week following revelations he had failed to publicly declare his family's own interests in an offshore company.

On Friday Iceland's parliament voted against dissolving the parliament and holding a snap election, instead opting for an early election in autumn. Fisheries Minister Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson has been named Gunnlaugsson's replacement.
The new president of Chinese solar giant Wuxi Suntech Power is "assisting an inquiry" at Customs' request, its parent said on Tuesday after reports he had gone missing. Tang Jun was only person from the company helping the investigation and the issue being probed remained unknown, a spokesman for Suntech's parent Shunfeng International Clean Energy (SFCE) told AFP on Tuesday, adding the firm's operations were "all normal". Tang is the latest senior Chinese businessman to drop out of circulation for unclear reasons. In January one of China's most prominent clothing firms, Metersbonwe, announced its chairman Zhou Chengjian had returned to work, a week after saying he had disappeared amid speculation he had been caught up in an insider trading investigation. Weeks earlier Guo Guangchang -- chairman of Fosun, one of the country's biggest private-sector conglomerates -- had vanished from public view in connection with an investigation by authorities, before re-emerging. Suntech Power was once the world's largest solar panel producer, at a time when Chinese manufacturers were flooding the global market with cheap products, causing trade disputes with the EU and US. The firm collapsed in 2013 after it announced its main Chinese unit Wuxi Suntech would seek bankruptcy and restructuring, resulting in a bond default in the US worth over half a billion dollars. The company later said it would receive a $150 million local government bailout and it was eventually bought by Hong Kong-listed Shunfeng for 3.0 billion yuan (now $462 million). China Business News reported Tuesday that Tang had only taken up his position as president a few months ago and the inquiry could be linked to issues at his previous firm. SFCE shares were down 1.32 percent in Hong Kong by the break.
China's growth slowdown has severely dragged on global expansion and may have "substantial spillover effects", the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday. With the outlook for global growth darkening, a sharper downturn in China "could lead to a more generalised slowdown" in emerging markets and advanced economies, the IMF said in its April 2016 World Economic Outlook. "Basically we're all in this together, and what happens in one region will affect other regions," IMF economic counsellor Maurice Obstfeld said in a recorded statement, adding that policymakers should "act now". But the IMF raised its 2016 growth forecast for the world's second-largest economy by 0.2 percentage points to 6.5 percent, citing announced stimulus plans. It also increased its estimate for next year by the same amount, to 6.2 percent. The figures still represent a significant fall on the 6.9 percent growth seen in 2015 -- the slowest in a quarter of a century -- and the sober report came as China struggles with a tough transition away from dependence on debt-fuelled investment and export industries. Beijing has sought to reassure investors that it will make much-needed reforms to tackle overcapacity in steel and the manufacturing sector, but doubts about the authorities' ability and will have weighed on the outlook. The IMF noted that "limited progress on key reforms" has fuelled concerns, "triggering turbulence in Chinese and global financial markets". It added that policy actions to quell market anxieties "have, at times, been ineffective and poorly communicated". The weakness of corporate balance sheets and a large number of non-performing loans posed risks to financial stability in China, it said. As the world's top trader of goods and a major buyer of commodities -- accounting for roughly 40 percent of global demand for base metals in 2014 - the slowdown in China after decades of high-speed expansion "has entailed sizeable global spillovers through trade channels", the IMF added. China accounts for more than 10 percent of global trade, according to the IMF, and a quarter of world investment. If falling Chinese investment leads to a one percent drop in growth, it said, expansion in G20 economies will fall by a quarter of a percent.
Text in which the author defends ideas and reaches conclusions based on his / her interpretation of facts and data

Mario Conde, in a photo from 2012. Bernardo Perez

To talk to Mario Conde about Banesto is like rewinding a movie all the way to the beginning, because his rhetoric has not evolved one bit.

He displays not the slightest sign of self-criticism or pity for the people who believed in him, and ended up losing it all.

As he sees it, the real culprits  all the members of the System, in its broader sense  are still out there, and continued to live quite well while his own life went to pieces and he himself went to jail.

He has not forgotten a single name on the list of predators who, he feels, went after him. The least important thing in this entire story, to him, is the disastrous state in which he left Banestos accounts, a fact that was certified at his trial by the Bank of Spains most veteran inspectors.

As he sees it, the real culprits  all the members of the System, in its broader sense  are still out there

I went to see Mario Conde in December 2013. The visit took place inside his Madrid home, in the luxury estate of El Viso  in the very same house that the Civil Guard searched on Monday as part of a new investigation into Condes financial activities.

I was interviewing him on occasion of the 20th anniversary of the states takeover of Banesto. Our one-on-one lasted a little over four hours, from 4.30pm to just past 8.30pm.

I was shown indoors by the house staff, and a few minutes later Mario Conde himself came down the stairs, looking older at close quarters than any of the latest photographs I had seen of him. We were served water, tea and coffee.

We were alone for much of the time, then were joined by Paloma, his lifelong secretary and a person whom he trusts fully. Besides nodding vigorously when Conde made rotund statements, she also supplied the occasional piece of information that the former banker himself could not immediately recall. She was like his living agenda.

During all that time, Conde barely sat down at all. He paced continually inside the living room, which was decorated in a classic, old-fashioned style that did not match the modern (even youthful) lifestyle he claimed to be living. He adopted the attitude of a teacher delivering a lesson.

I did the same things all the other bankers were doing. I helped the parties, helped the monarchy with several things... but dont write that down Mario Conde

I did the same things all the other bankers were doing. I helped the parties, helped the monarchy with several things... but dont write that down, because I dont want any more trouble. Im telling you about it, but dont publish it, he said on several occasions during the interview, as a way to build up an image of himself as a powerful man who, at one point, crossed a line and became everyones enemy.

In the end, he unveiled his theory: his own decision to enter politics became a matter of concern for both the Socialist Party (PSOE) and the Popular Party (PP), who decided to get him out of the way.

His own economic situation came up at one point during our encounter: I mostly write, and provide legal advice on important issues to people who request it, normally out of a sense of obligation. Right now I have no business activities.

Yet the lifestyle that emerged from the conversation and from our immediate surroundings  the house, the chauffeur, the luxury cars, the trips he mentioned  did not fit in with this description.

Asked about the allegations of asset stripping, which other bankers have always lobbed at him, Conde grew earnest and denied it. He talked about his own enormous losses due to the expropriation of Banesto.

He never once put a name to the cause of that harm. The harm was done, in his words

But small shareholders were ruined, some of them lost everything they had because they bought Banesto shares at 1,200 pesetas and a few months later they were worth half or less of that... I noted.

I lost the equivalent of 220 million, he retorted. Its true that harm was done to the shareholders who sold, although it was less bad for those who held on, because the shares recovered later...

He never once put a name to the cause of that harm. The harm was done, in his words. The fact is that dividends were canceled and Banesto stock was at rock bottom prices for years and years.

The true part about Condes statements was that his was not the only bank in trouble. Central Hispano was also on the brink of bankruptcy, but its managers were a lot more disciplined and accepted the Bank of Spains instructions. Conde never did, because he was afraid of losing his money and his power.

And he continues to display the same attitude today, even though he has lost his power and, perhaps, all of his money as well.

English version by Susana Urra.
Switzerland said Tuesday that it has widened its corruption probe into a Malaysia state-owned fund linked to Prime Minister Najib Razak, with two new individuals indicted over a suspected phony bond deal. The Swiss attorney general's office (OAG) said the new suspects -- who are accused of fraud, bribery and other offences -- are two United Arab Emirates (UAE) officials who were in charge of sovereign funds based in Abu Dhabi. In a statement, the OAG said it had evidence that the management of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) violated Swiss embezzlement laws through a fraudulent bond agreement with the UAE officials, with money routed through Swiss banks. Allegations that billions were looted from 1MDB in a vast campaign of fraud have shaken Najib's government. The scandal intensified last week when a Malaysian parliamentary committee clearly suggested misconduct had occurred, in the first condemnation from an official body in Kuala Lumpur. Switzerland opened its own criminal probe into 1MDB last August, targeting two former Malaysian officials "and persons unknown" on suspicion of bribery, money laundering and other offences. - $4 bn misappropriated? - The OAG has said that up to $4.0 billion (3.5 billion euros) of public funds in Malaysia may have been misappropriated, with a portion of the money transferred to Swiss accounts controlled by former Malaysian officials and people based in the UAE. Concerning the latest allegations, Swiss authorities are scrutinising bonds issued by 1MDB subsidiaries officially intended to finance electric power plant projects in Malaysia. The OAG statement said that sovereign funds based in Abu Dhabi issued guarantees on the bonds, but that evidence indicated 1MDB subsidiaries did not make proper payments in exchange for those guarantees. "The Swiss authorities have elements in hand allowing them to suspect that the amounts paid in connection with this guarantee were not (paid) to the Abu Dhabi sovereign fund that supported the commercial risk," the statement said. "To the contrary, these funds would have benefited others, particularly two public officials concerned as well as a company related to the motion picture industry," it added. Swiss authorities provided no details on the film industry allegations, but The Wall Street Journal has reported that some of the money used to make Hollywood hit "The Wolf of Wall Street", a movie about financial corruption starring Leonardo DiCaprio, was laundered from 1MDB. Highlighting the broad scope of the IMDB scandal, Switzerland said it had asked both Luxembourg and Singapore for help with the investigation. Singapore's attorney general said it had received a request for help from its Swiss counterparts "for information and documents on certain fund flows flowing from (1MDB) and entities related to it". It added in a statement that "the request is receiving attention and (we) will render all possible assistance to the (Swiss prosecutors) expeditiously".
The Afghan Taliban announced Tuesday the start of their "spring offensive" even as the government in Kabul tries to bring the insurgents back to the negotiating table to end their drawn-out conflict. The Taliban said in a statement they would "employ large-scale attacks on enemy positions across the country" during the offensive they have dubbed "Operation Omari" in honour of the movement's late founder Mullah Omar, whose death was announced last year. The annual spring offensive normally marks the start of the "fighting season", though this winter the lull was shorter and they continued to battle government forces albeit with less intensity. The statement promised "martyrdom-seeking and tactical attacks against enemy strongholds", a reference to suicide bombings -- a strategy the group has long resorted to against its enemies, the Afghan police and army, which they view as "stooges" of the West. On Monday, 12 fresh recruits were killed in one such attack in the country's east. The Islamists, who have been waging an insurgency since being toppled from power in 2001, also promised attacks on the 13,000 NATO troops currently stationed in the country, officially in a training and advisory role since the end of their combat mission in 2014. "By employing such a multifaceted strategy it is hoped that the foreign enemy will be demoralised and forced to evict our nation," they said. The Taliban have made the departure of all foreign forces a precondition to the resumption of direct peace talks with Kabul which began last summer in Pakistan but ended abruptly after it was revealed that Mullah Omar had been dead for two years. Responding to the announcement Sediq Sediqqi, a spokesman for Afghanistan's interior ministry said: "The Taliban just want to show that they are still there. In the past 14 years they were not able to reach their goal and we will not allow them to do that" he said Dawlat Waziri, a spokesman for the war-ravaged country's defence ministry, said that the government forces were prepared to hit back: "Now that the Taliban have rejected peace talks, we are prepared to respond to war with war." - Battlefield victories - A four-country group comprising Afghanistan, the United States, China and Pakistan has been holding meetings since January aimed at jump-starting negotiations, though their efforts have so far been in vain. Mullah Omar's successor Mullah Akhtar Mansour, meanwhile, has won a string of impressive victories on the battlefield, helping to silence emerging factions by stepping up the intensity of his military campaign. Last year the Taliban were able to briefly capture Kunduz, the first time they had held an Afghan city since the fall of their government in 2001. It is not clear whether the announcement of the spring offensive will lead to an immediate escalation in fighting. Afghanistan has actively courted the NATO-led coalition to delay a planned drawdown of their troops stationed in the country, most of which are US, and maintain its air power and military support. The Taliban's resurgence has raised serious questions about Afghan forces capacity to hold their own, with an estimated 5,000 troops killed last year, the worst ever toll. Kabul-based analyst, Haroon Mir said: "This is the first Taliban spring offensive launched under their new leadership. "Mansour has persistently rejected peace talks and insisted on war. Therefore he is expected to focus more on battlefield victories this year -- that could mean a worse year for Afghanistan in terms of violence and bloodshed." It has also prompted calls for the US to reconsider its troop withdrawal schedule, already delayed once by President Barack Obama. There are currently 9,800 American troops in the country, with the number set to fall to 5,500 by 2017. General John Nicholson, the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan since March, had promised during his US Senate confirmation hearings to review the drawdown plan. American forces are being increasingly drawn into fighting despite the official end of their combat mission, partnering with Afghan forces particularly in southern Helmand. Last year, 22 US personnel were killed in Afghanistan, half of the deaths classified as "hostile", according to the icasualties.org website which tracks the war.
By Amina Ismail and Ahmed Aboulenein CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's announcement during a five-day visit by King Salman that it would transfer two Red Sea islands to its Saudi ally has outraged Egyptians, who took to social media to criticise the move, which now faces a legal challenge. The Egyptian government said in a statement on Saturday that the two countries had signed maritime demarcation accords that put the islands of Tiran and Sanafir in Saudi waters, a process it said had taken six years. Saudi and Egyptian officials said the islands belong to the kingdom and were only under Egyptian control because Saudi Arabia's founder, Abdulaziz Al Saud, asked Egypt in 1950 to protect them. But the accord, which still needs ratification by Egypt's parliament, caused consternation among Egyptians, many who said they were taught in school the islands were theirs. The hashtag "Awad sold his land" trended on Twitter after the announcement, referring to a song about an Egyptian who sold his land, seen as a shameful act. Egypt has struggled to restore economic growth since the 2011 uprising that ended Hosni Mubarak's 30-year-rule. Saudi Arabia, which opposes the Muslim Brotherhood, has showered Egypt with billions of dollars in aid since general-turned-President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousted elected President Mohammed Mursi of the Brotherhood in 2013 and banned the group. That has led many to wonder if Egypt sold the islands. Egyptian comic Basem Yousef, exiled after lampooning successive leaders, compared Sisi on Twitter to a bazaar merchant willing to sell his country and its heritage: "Come closer sir, the island is one billion, the pyramid is two with two statues on top for free." As anger spread on Monday, veteran lawyer Khaled Ali filed a complaint with the administrative court, arguing that according to a 1906 maritime treaty between Egypt and the Ottoman Empire, the islands are Egyptian and the move amounts to a transfer of sovereignty. The treaty precedes the founding of Saudi Arabia in 1932. Ali is alleging that the accord violates article 151 of Egypt's constitution, which requires all treaties related to sovereignty to be approved by referendum. The court will hear the case on May 17. RENEWED PRESSURE ON SISI But Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid told Egypt's CBC television channel: "This land is Saudi and Egypt administered it based on a request from the kingdom and this door that spreads doubts, which have no foundation in truth, must be closed." The island issue has put Sisi, who once enjoyed widespread support, under renewed pressure. Once-fawning newspaper editors no longer hide their disappointment as the crackdown on dissent has spread and critics say the government has mishandled a series of crises including the killing of a driver by a policeman in a fare dispute. Five of 11 people who held a protest against the accord in Cairo on Sunday were arrested and later freed, security and judicial sources said. Thousands of people have supported a Facebook campaign calling for protest on Friday "to protect our country." Egypt's state-owned Al Ahram newspaper reported on Monday that Israel had been informed in advance about the treaty, as it is entangled in a 1979 peace deal with Israel. Many Egyptians were upset their government thought of Israel but not them. "Even if Saudi Arabia is entitled to the islands ... to hand them over to Saudi in this way, without consideration for Egyptians, showing no respect for their feelings, presence and even their pride in their nation?" television chat show host Wael El Ebrashy said on Sunday night. "We are all shocked." (Additional reporting by Omar Fahmy; Writing by Lin Noueihed; Editing by Peter Cooney)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday hosted Saudi King Salman at his presidential palace in Ankara, extending his guest a lavish welcome that underlined the growing importance of Ankara-Riyadh ties. After a period of tension, Saudi Arabia under Salman has emerged as one of Erdogan's key allies with the two countries in particular sharing a common vision on the Syria conflict. Salman was met by Erdogan at his vast new presidential palace with an honour guard of Turkish soldiers as well as 16 costumed warriors representing the various Turkic empires in world history. Mocked when their first appeared in 2015, the spear-carrying and mustachioed warriors are now regularly brought out for Erdogan's most honoured guests. Salman and his delegation are set to hold several hours of talks with the Turkish leader before heading to Istanbul for the summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Saudi Arabia and Turkey both believe the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad is the key to solving the Syrian conflict and back rebel groups fighting his regime. The two overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim powers have in recent months moved to considerably tighten relations that had been damaged by Riyadh's role in the 2013 ousting of Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi, a close ally of Ankara. Erdogan appears to have built close ties with Salman after he became king in January 2015 following the death of his half brother Abdullah. In February, Turkey began hosting Saudi jets and military personnel and its Incirlik air base to join the air campaign against Islamic State jihadists. The lavish arrangements made for Salman's visit have also raised eyebrows in the Turkish press, with the king reportedly staying in a 450 square-meter (4,850 sq ft) hotel suite and renting 500 luxury vehicles for his vast delegation.
DUBAI (Reuters) - Four soldiers in Iran's regular army were killed in Syria, the Tasnim news agency reported on Monday, only a week after Tehran announced the deployment of army commandos to help President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war there. Tehran is Assad's main regional ally and has provided military and economic support to his fight against rebel groups and Islamic State militants. To date, most Iranians involved in the Syrian war have been from the paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Iran is believed to have sent hundreds as military advisers. But an officer in the Iranian army's ground force said last week that commandos from the army's Brigade 65 and other units were sent to Syria as advisers. "Four of the first military advisors of the Islamic Republic's army...were killed in Syria by takfiri groups," Tasnim reported. Iran refers to the hardline Sunni Islamists as takfiris. Tasnim has named one of them as Mohsen Qeytaslo, a commando, but has not identfied the rest. Commenting on the deployment of Brigade 65 to Syria, the commander of ground forces, Brigadier General Hamidreza Pourdastan, said on Monday it was Iran's new strategy to send more advisers to the Syrian war. (Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin, Editing by William Maclean)
By Tom Perry, John Irish and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin BEIRUT/PARIS/DUBAI (Reuters) - France and Iran voiced concern over escalating violence in Syria on Tuesday, echoing warnings from the United States and Russia as fighting near the city of Aleppo put more pressure on a fragile truce agreement. The already widely violated "cessation of hostilities" agreement brokered by Russia and the United States has been strained to breaking point by an upsurge in fighting between Syrian government forces and rebels near Aleppo. The escalation underlines the already bleak outlook for peace talks set to reconvene this week in Geneva. The United Nations says the talks will resume on Wednesday. The government delegation has said it is ready to join the talks from Friday. With President Bashar al-Assad buoyed by Russian and Iranian military support, the Damascus government is due to hold parliamentary elections on Wednesday, a vote seen by Assad's opponents as illegitimate and provocative. Iran said an increase in ceasefire violations could harm the political process a day after Russia said it had asked the United States to stop a mobilisation of militants near Aleppo, Syria's biggest city until the conflict erupted in 2011. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, speaking after a meeting with U.N. Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura in Tehran, blamed the "increasing activities of armed groups" for the violations. France, which backs the opposition, also expressed concern, but blamed the other side. "It warns that the impact of the regime and its allies' offensives around Aleppo and Eastern Ghouta are a threat to the cessation of hostilities," government spokesman Romain Nadal said. The Eastern Ghouta is an opposition-held area near Damascus. Syria's civil war has killed more than 250,000 people, created the world's worst refugee crisis, allowed for the rise of Islamic State and drawn in regional and international powers. The intervention of Russia swung the war in Assad's favour. WASHINGTON "VERY, VERY CONCERNED" The United States, which also backs rebels fighting Assad, on Monday said it was "very, very concerned" about increased violence and blamed the Syrian government for the vast majority of truce violations. Both the government and a large number of rebel groups had pledged to respect the cessation of hostilities agreed in February with the aim of allowing a resumption of diplomacy towards ending the five-year-long war. Jihadist groups including the Nusra Front and Islamic State were not part of the deal. A senior official close to the Syrian government said the truce had effectively collapsed. "On the ground the truce does not exist," said the official, who is not Syrian and declined to be named because he was giving a personal assessment. "The level of tension in Syria will increase in the coming months." The eruption of fighting on the front lines south of Aleppo marks the most serious challenge yet to the truce. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based organisation that tracks the war, said dozens of government fighters had been killed in a big offensive to take the town of Telat al-Eis near the Aleppo-Damascus highway on Tuesday. A rebel fighting in the area said the assault launched at dawn was backed by Russian air strikes and Iranian militias, adding that the attackers had suffered heavy losses. The Syrian military could not be reached for comment. Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Lebanon's Hezbollah have both deployed in the southern Aleppo area in support of the government, while the Nusra Front is also fighting in close proximity to other rebels. The Syrian prime minister was quoted on Sunday as saying government forces were preparing a major operation in the region with Russian support. Further south in Homs province, Russia said one of its attack helicopters had crashed in the early hours of Tuesday, killing both pilots. It said the helicopter had not been shot down and the cause of the crash was being investigated. "PROVOCATIVE" ELECTION De Mistura, speaking in Tehran, said he and Amir-Abdollahian had agreed on the importance of the cessation continuing, that aid should reach every Syrian and that "a political process leading to a political transition is now crucially urgent". De Mistura, whose two predecessors quit, has said he wants the next round of Geneva talks to be "quite concrete" in leading towards a political transition. Ahead of the first round of talks, Damascus had ruled out any discussion of the presidency, calling it a red line. A senior Iranian official on Saturday rejected what he described as a U.S. request for Tehran's help to make Assad leave power, saying he should serve out his term and be allowed to run in a presidential election "as any Syrian". Some members of the main Syrian opposition alliance, the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), arrived in Geneva on Tuesday, and U.N. spokesman in Geneva Ahmad Fawzi said the talks were expected to begin on Wednesday. De Mistura is working according to a U.N. Security Council resolution approved in December that sets out a political process including elections after the establishment of "credible" governance and the approval of a new constitution. The Syrian government says it is holding Wednesday's elections in line with the existing timetable that requires a vote every four years. Russia has said the vote does not go against the peace talks and is in line with the constitution. French President Francois Hollande last month, however, said the idea was provocative and "totally unrealistic". (Additional reporting by Tom Miles in Geneva, and Samia Nakhoul and Laila Bassam; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Peter Millership and Giles Elgood)
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
By Anshuman Daga SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A spat between Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his younger sister has blown into the open, one year after the death of their iron-handed father Lee Kuan Yew, who brooked no discord within the city-state's political world. Lee's sister accused the prime minister in a Facebook post of abusing his power and forming a political dynasty, a highly unusual public comment in Singapore. It has sparked an online debate in a country where the Lee family is mostly held in high regard and where several of its critics have been sued for defamation. "I am deeply saddened by my sister Dr. Lee Wei Ling's claim that I have abused my power to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Mr Lee Kuan Yew's passing in order to establish a dynasty. The accusations are completely untrue," the prime minister said in a Facebook page on Sunday evening. It was not immediately clear why the younger Lee accused her brother of forming a political "dynasty" or why she went public with the criticism. There has been no suggestion that any of the prime minister's children would be keen to enter politics. The prime minister's post was viewed by about 18,000 readers, many of who commented that they were dismayed and saddened by the spat, and shared over 2,500 times. It was the lead front-page article in the pro-government Straits Times, the country's biggest newspaper, and also covered by state-owned television. The prime minister's office declined further comment on Monday. The people of Singapore are not used to political spats. The People's Action Party, which has ruled the city-state since it won independence over 50 years ago, works by consensus and open criticism of public figures is rare. The prime minister's sister, a doctor, said she disapproved of the public activities held by the government in March to mark the first death anniversary of Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's founding prime minister. In an article submitted to the Straits Times last month, she had said Lee Kuan Yew would have "cringed at the hero worship just one year after his death". The newspaper did not publish the article and she posted it online. Straits Times Editor Warren Fernandez said the newspaper's editors were working with her to get it ready for print. "But some concerns arose, including over the plagiarised paragraphs. In addition, we found her ultimatum to either print her piece unedited or she would go online, totally unacceptable." In a Facebook post detailing her exchanges with the newspaper's editors, which has since been removed, the sister said, using the initials of her brother and father: "HL has no qualms about abusing his power to hv (sic) a commemoration just one year after LKY died" and that "if the power that be wants to establish a dynasty, LKY's daughter will not allow LKY's name to be sullied by a dishonourable son." She has also denied plagiarism. Singapore maintains strict control on the media and its leaders have in the past sued or settled out of court with several foreign media publications for alleged defamatory remarks. Prime Minister Lee has also sued an online critic. The prime minister's sister regularly published columns expressing personal views about Singapore and her father in the Straits Times in past years. Prime Minister Lee and his party won a convincing general election victory last year, months after the founding prime minister died in March 2015. "The idea that I should wish to establish a dynasty makes even less sense," the prime minister said in his post. "Meritocracy is a fundamental value of our society, and neither I, the PAP, nor the Singapore public would tolerate any such attempt." (Reporting by Anshuman Daga; Editing by John Chalmers and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
Acting justice minister Rafael Catala speaking in Madrid on Monday. Javier Lizon (EFE)

The failure of political negotiations following the inconclusive election of December 20 is making it increasingly likely that voters will have to cast their ballots again in June.

This possibility is bringing back the debate over campaign costs, and prompting suggestions that their duration should be reduced as well.

On Monday, acting justice minister Rafael Catala stated that cutting back campaign times would be good news as it would mean not tormenting citizens with two weeks of rallies.

I am absolutely willing for the PP and PSOE to spend half of half of what they currently spend

Ciudadanos leader Albert Rivera

Although this would require tweaking electoral laws, Spains political parties generally share the view that campaigns should be more austere. As such, Catala said it would not be so difficult to reach consensus on this issue, although no changes could be effected in time for June.

The last election came with a tab of 130 million, and that was without counting each partys campaign.

Spains electoral legislation states that campaigns last 15 days. The state puts up part of the money, offering 21,167.64 for every seat gained in Congress or the Senate; 0.81 for every vote obtained by every congressional candidate who secured a seat and 0.32 in the case of the Senate. The state also helps pay for political mail, as long as enough votes were received to create a group in parliament.

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The loss of votes at the last election meant a considerable loss of revenue for Spains two largest parties, the Socialists (PSOE) and the Popular Party (PP), which together gave up five million votes.

The PP spent around 12 million on the campaign. The party leader in the Basque province of Gipuzkoa, Borja Semper, feels there should be no new campaign at all if new elections are held in June. The Galician premier, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, expressed support for a shorter campaign.

In any event, the conservatives are already in the middle of something that looks very much like a campaign. Acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is using party events to announce measures he plans to introduce to upgrade their December program  such as making the workday end at 6pm.

The Socialists spent close to 9 million on the campaign, most of which was spent on political direct mail. Party sources said they will not be sending anything else through the mail if there is a new vote in June. Citizens must not pay for the irresponsibility of those who prevented a government from being formed, said the partys congressional spokesman, Antonio Hernando.

Podemos spent 3.6 million on the December campaign, exceeding its own target of 2.2 million. If a new election is held, the anti-austerity party will again resort to micro-credits to fund its campaign run.

Meanwhile, Ciudadanos criticizes all the talk about new campaigning when there is still time to avoid a new election. Party leader Albert Rivera says that I am absolutely willing for the PP and PSOE to spend half of half of what they currently spend.

The United Left group (IU) spent 2.5 million on the last race, most of which went into political mail. This money has been lost, as IU did not earn enough seats to form a group in parliament and was not eligible for state subsidies. Campaign manager Clara Alonso said that reducing campaign expenses is not a bad proposal because at a time of cuts, this is no time for lavish electoral expenses.

English version by Susana Urra.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is "very, very concerned" about an increase in Syrian violence just ahead of planned peace talks in Geneva this week, a State Department spokesman said on Monday, blaming Syrian government forces for the escalation in fighting. "We are very, very concerned about the recent increase in violence and that includes actions that are in contravention of the cessation of hostilities," spokesman Mark Toner told a news briefing. He said Secretary of State John Kerry conveyed the U.S concerns in a phone call with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, on Sunday. "We would say that the vast majority of violations have been on the part of the regime," Toner said when asked who was to blame for violations. Kerry wanted to make sure that in the next days leading up to peace talks "every extra effort is made in order to sustain and solidify the cessation of hostilities," Toner said. Washington's worries come as the Syrian army appeared to send reinforcements to the ancient city of Aleppo, threatening a fragile truce in the run-up to the second round of peace negotiations. The ceasefire was agreed in February between the United States, which backs Syrian opposition groups, and Russia, which together with Iran supports the Syrian government. U.N.-sponsored talks aimed at ending the five-year conflict are meant to resume on Wednesday. The first round made little progress with no sign of compromise over the thorniest issue, the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Toner said the United States wanted to make sure that opposition forces were not attacked as the Syrian army seeks to take Aleppo. "If they are attacking members of the Syrian opposition who have signed on to the cessation of hostilities, then those are violations of the cessation of hostility," Toner said, adding: "We need greater clarity what is actually planned, who are they targeting." (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Tom Brown)
Classroom Management

Private School Turns to Tech To Manage Classroom Activities Online

A private school in Fort Worth, TX with 167 students in grades preK-8 has adopted a new Internet management tool to keep students on task. All Saints Catholic School chose NetRef from a company with the same name to enable its teachers to set Internet access boundaries in their classrooms.

All Saints, which runs a dual-language program in English and Spanish and maintains a computer lab, also is increasingly using tablets in its classrooms. NetRef helps the educators manage student Internet usage via a touch-screen panel. Teachers can program allowable domains and applications that are relevant to the lesson and receive real-time alerts when a student wanders off-task.

"At All Saints, we are committed to imbuing our students with the linguistic and technological skills as well as a multicultural, compassionate worldview that will best prepare them for the future," said Principal Arica Prado in a prepared statement. "Technology helps foster language skills, so it plays a critical role in our intensive bilingual curriculum and culture. Our new investment in NetRef will help our teachers and students maximize the Web as an educational and collaborative learning tool."

The company said its software operates with all major browsers and smartphone environments and that it complies with COPPA, FERPA, CIPA and PPRA cyber safety and data privacy regulations.
Networking & Wireless

Orange County Completes 100 Gbps Network Connection

The Orange County Department of Education has established a 100 gigabit-per-second dark fiber network connection, which will provide its 27 school districts with high speed Internet connectivity to support digital learning initiatives.

Orange County ED partnered with CENIC, the California K-12 High Speed Network and the California Department of Education to establish the network, which will serve more than half a million students and more than 20,000 teachers.

Terry Walker, superintendent of schools for Irvine Unified School District, one of the 27 school districts to benefit from this new connection, described the network upgrade as "the equivalent of adding 20 lanes to the 5 Freeway," one of the busiest freeways in southern California.

"The ability to have a 100Gb connection will provide the Irvine Unified School District with the limitless ability to dramatically transform how students learn by leveraging technology and internet bandwidth in a way that has never been possible for K-12 schools, until now," said Walker in a prepared statement.

The network upgrade took advantage of the FCC's Second E-Rate Modernization Order, "which equalizes the treatment of lit and dark fiber," according to the news release. The infrastructure can support future bandwidth increases with the addition of "relatively inexpensive optical components to the existing equipment."

CENIC is in the process of upgrading several other California K-12 sites to 100 Gbps dark fiber connections, including Riverside and San Diego, which should be complete within the next few months. "An additional ten 100Gb connections for K-12 sites are included in CENIC's consortial E-Rate filing and planned for production after July 1, 2016, coinciding with the current FCC E-Rate cycle," according to information from the non-profit organization.
Distance Learning

Pearson Debuts Webinars on Online, Blended Learning

Pearson has launched a series of webinars focused on ways that online and blended learning can help students prepare for the demands of postsecondary education and the workforce.

The four-webinar series includes:

The Future Starts Now: How Digital Learning Can Help Your K-8 School Address College & Career Readiness on April 19 at 4 pm Eastern time;

Accelerating College & Career Readiness in Your High School: Five Ways to Use Digital Learning to Prime Your Students' Futures on April 26 at noon Eastern time;

My Learning Is "Rebundled" and My Future Is Bright: Students Talk About How They're Blazing Their Own New Routes to College & Career Readiness on May 3 at 4:15 pm Eastern time; and

The #ShiftToDigitalEd: Paving the Path to Digital Greatness on May 12 at 11 am Eastern time.

The first webinar, The Future Starts Now: How Digital Learning Can Help Your K-8 School Address College & Career Readiness, is presented by Patricia Hoge, senior vice president, curriculum and instruction at Connections Academy in Denver, CO and Bernadette Ortiz-Brewster, principal of College Park Academy in Maryland. Hoge and Ortiz-Brewster will discuss ways that online and blended learning can accelerate curriculum, expand course offerings, support students with special needs and personalize student learning.

The second webinar, Accelerating College & Career Readiness in Your High School: Five Ways to Use Digital Learning to Prime Your Students' Futures, is presented by Michael Petrilli, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute in Washington, D.C., Robert Eichorn, principal of New Directions Alternative Education Center in Virginia and Robyn Bagley from Career Path High School, Kaysville, UT. The speakers will discuss how online learning, blended learning and other digital education methods can help prepare high school students for success in higher education and in their future careers.

The third webinar, My Learning Is "Rebundled" and My Future Is Bright: Students Talk About How Theyre Blazing Their Own New Routes to College & Career Readiness, is presented by a panel of five students in grades 6-12 and moderated by Colleen Broderick, chief learning designer of ReSchool in Colorado and Mickey Revenaugh, director of New School Models for Pearson. The student panelists come from traditional and nontraditional schools and will describe how they are taking advantage of online and blended learning to tailor their learning experience to support their college and career goals.

The final webinar, The #ShiftToDigitalEd: Paving the Path to Digital Greatness, is presented by Tom Vander Ark, CEO of Getting Smart and Bruce Friend, chief operating officer for International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL). The speakers will discuss "the five key indicators of success in a digital, blended or online learning environment," according to information from Pearson.

Further information about the webinars and registration forms can be found at the links above.
Embattled Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has called her vice president Michel Temer the "head of the conspiracy" that seeks to remove her from office.

Speaking to teachers and students at the Presidential Palace in Brasilia, Ms Rousseff said Mr Temer was plotting a coup and accused him of treachery.

She said Mr Temer and Lower House Speaker Eduardo Cunha were working together to gather votes for her impeachment.

On Monday, the lower house left Ms Rousseff one step closer to impeachment after approving a report in favour of her removal.

:: Analysis: Political Scandal Brings Instability To Brazil

Hours earlier, a 13-minute recording of Mr Temer rehearsing a post-impeachment speech was leaked.

Ms Rousseff said the audio shows Mr Temer has "arrogance and contempt for the people."

"The mask of the conspirators has fallen," she said.

"We are living in strange and worrying times, times of a coup and pretending and treachery.

"Yesterday it became clear that there are two leaders of the coup who work together in a premeditated way.

"They are coup plotters, without respect for democracy."

Ms Rousseff is facing impeachment over claims her administration violated fiscal rules to mask budget problems.

It is alleged the administration shifted around government accounts ahead of the president's 2014 re-election.

Opposition parties claim sleight-of-hand accounting moves allowed her to boost public spending to shore up votes.

Ms Rousseff has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with any crime.

Her opponents say the impeachment process is in line with the wishes of the majority of Brazilians.

But Ms Rousseff's supporters call it a blatant power grab by her foes.
Acting Industry Minister Jose Manuel Soria at a press conference in Lanzarote on Monday. JAVIER FUENTES (EFE)

Opposition parties on Monday called on the acting government for explanations regarding the alleged involvement of a Spanish Cabinet minister in the Panama Papers scandal.

Acting Industry Minister Jose Manuel Soria has denied being the owner of an offshore company based in Panama, as reported by the Spanish TV channel La Sexta and online news outlet El Confidencial.

The Socialist Party (PSOE), Podemos and United Left all called for Sorias resignation, while Ciudadanos wants acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to provide explanations about the case in person.

No clue F. G. / J. J. M. Soria said he has no idea why his name showed up for two months as director of a company named UK Lines Limited. He said he has authorized High Court attorneys to gather any relevant personal information in connection with the case. I have had no participation in this company, either as a partner, as a director or in any other capacity, he said in Lanzarote. The acting minister did admit to knowledge of this company because one of his family businesses, Oceanic, had commercial ties to it.

At a press conference Monday in Lanzarote, Soria said he never had any relationship with any companies in Panama, and refused to appear in Congress, citing the acting governments position that it is not beholden to congressional oversight.

Soria said he has no idea why his name shows up on the list of directors of a company incorporated in the Bahamas in 1995.

This piece of information is part of a trove of 11.5 million documents from a Panama-based law firm that were leaked to the media. Other Spaniards whose names have cropped up in the Panama Papers include the filmmaker brothers Pedro and Agustin Almodovar and an aunt of King Felipe VIs.

But the Popular Party (PP) has so far backed Soria, describing his explanations as solid. Neither the government nor the minister himself are willing to make a congressional appearance to discuss the case.

These issues need to be explained in parliament, it is essential, said Ciudadanos leader Albert Rivera, who has not asked for Sorias resignation but was the only politician to demand explanations from Rajoy himself. This affects trust in politics, the fight against tax fraud and the fight against corruption.

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Rivera added that Rajoy should explain whether the people who applied for the PPs 2012 tax amnesty also show up in the Panama Papers. We get the feeling that some people have been forgiven for their tax fraud, and through that, forgiven for their corruption as well.

Last week, Finance Minister Cristobal Montoro said that almost every Spaniard who shows up in the Panama Papers applied for the tax amnesty.

The Socialist Party wants to create a task force to investigate the documentation that has emerged in connection with the case.

[Soria] used tax havens in the past to not pay taxes, and he concealed it in the present, said Socialist congressional spokesman Antonio Hernando. It is immoral to have had a company not pay taxes, and it is immoral to have tried to conceal it.

English version by Susana Urra.
By Feisal Omar and Abdirahman Hussein MOGADISHU, (Reuters) - A car bomb at local government headquarters in Mogadishu killed five people and wounded five, an official said, in an attack claimed by Somali Islamist group al Shabaab. Al Shabaab has frequently attacked government targets, hotels and restaurants in the capital since being pushed out by African Union peacekeeping forces in 2011 and rebasing in the country's south. "We are behind the governor HQ attack," Abdiasis Abu Musab, the group's military operations spokesman, said. On Saturday, another bomb killed three and wounded five in Mogadishu. A police spokesman said that in Monday's attack a suicide bomber rammed a car packed with explosives into the entrance of the headquarters. But mayoral spokesman Abdifatah Omar blamed a car parked at the rear of the heavily fortified compound. "So far we have confirmed five civilians died and five others were injured," he said. The blast, which other reports suggested may have been detonated remotely, destroyed part of a guardroom. "We heard a huge bang and then (saw) huge clouds of smoke over us. We are safe," one female worker inside the compound, who identified herself as Nasra, told Reuters. (Additional reporting by Abdi Sheikh and Ismail Taxta; Writing by Wendell Roelf, editing by John Stonestreet)
By Mohammed Ghobari and Sylvia Westall CAIRO/DUBAI (Reuters) - Rival sides in Yemen's year-long conflict began a tentative truce overnight on Sunday saying they were committed to the halt in hostilities despite pockets of deadly fighting in the hours leading up to it. The conflict between the Yemeni government, backed by Saudi Arabia, and its Houthi rebel enemies has killed more than 6,200 people and triggered a humanitarian crisis in one of the Arab world's poorest countries. A halt in fighting from Sunday midnight (2100 GMT) precedes peace talks set to begin on April 18 in Kuwait. A spokesman for a Saudi-led military coalition, which has been carrying out air strikes over the past year, urged the Iran-allied Houthis to respect the halt in violence which he said the Yemeni government and alliance would adhere to. "But if there is any violation of this ceasefire, we will have the right to retaliate, to assess the situation at that time and take whatever steps are necessary to stop these violations," Brigadier-General Ahmed al-Asiri said by telephone. Pan-Arab TV channel al-Arabiya later reported clashes in an area around Taiz in southwestern Yemen in the early hours of Monday. Reuters was not immediately able to confirm this. "This truce is in its early stages, violations may occur in the beginning, but we hope the next few hours will see more discipline towards the ceasefire," Yemen's foreign minister Abdel Malek al-Mekhlafi told the channel from Riyadh. He added events were being monitored to see if they were systematic violations requiring retaliation. In his comments to Reuters earlier, coalition spokesman Asiri said Yemeni military officials and some militia representatives had met over the past two days in southern Saudi Arabia to prepare for the ceasefire and had signed agreements on how it would be implemented and monitored. The rival sides had formed committees to observe the halt in hostilities and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid, he said. During the halt in fighting, the military alliance will continue to carry out intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, he said, and monitor the Saudi-Yemeni border, territorial waters and airspace. A spokesman for the Houthis and their allies said they were also committed to the truce but also retained the right to respond if it was broken by the other side. Hours before the fighting was due to stop, heavy battles flared between forces loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and Houthi fighters in al-Maton, north of Sanaa, residents said. In the central Bayda province, battles in the al-Sawadiya and al-Zaher districts killed more than 20 people on Sunday, local officials and residents said, and fighting continued in Taiz. The United Nations, which is involved in efforts to end the conflict, hopes the current cessation in hostilities will lead to a more concrete, formal ceasefire with confidence-building measures. In the capital Sanaa, controlled for the last 18 months by the Houthis, residents said they desperately wanted this attempt at peace to succeed after two rounds of talks failed last year. "I am tired of the fighting, the destruction, everything," said Hussein Ali, a 57-year-old government employee. "The situation is very difficult for people without work, without electricity, without water, and with the fear that, at any moment, bombardment could kill those dear to us." "I hope that, when I wake up in the morning, the war has stopped," said 16-year-old student Amal Ahmed in Sanaa, "and I can go to school, my classmates too, without being afraid of raids and death." (Additional reporting by Ali Abdelaty and Mostafa Hashem in Cairo; Writing by Sylvia Westall; Editing by Tom Heneghan and Jonathan Oatis)
dutch woman riding bike utrecht netherlands

Michael Kooren/Reuters

If certain Dutch politicians have their way, cars in the Netherlands could go 100% electric within the decade.

Green-minded politicians in the country's labor party recently proposed legislation that would ban all cars powered by gas or diesel fuel by 2025  an effort to combat the heavy emissions produced by combustion engines.

Cars are already being phased out of the Netherlands, as the country's largest cities have come to rely predominantly on bicycles to get around.

In Amsterdam, for example, riders who maintain a consistent speed are rewarded with an endless stream of green lights, while helpless motorists wait in traffic.

While the labor party advocates say the effort takes the kind of radical stance on curbing pollution that our greenhouse gas-saturated planet needs, skeptics say 2025 is simply too early. They claim a nine-year projection expects far too much of the electric vehicle industry.

Henk Kamp, the minister of economic affairs for the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, criticized the idea by pointing out only 15% of cars in the Netherlands are expected to be electric by 2025, Digital Trends reports.

Tesla has emerged as the most dominant force so far, but it's still years away from being the go-to car that people look to for an affordable family car. And even if it does become more popular, millions of people are still likely to drive the gas- and diesel-powered cars they currently own.

The Dutch plan, if approved, would prohibit the sale of any vehicle that produced any emissions whatsoever. That means even hybrids are out. Electric vehicles and hydrogen-powered cars would be the only options, although the hydrogen-powered car market has yet to make any significant waves.

Criticisms aside, an effort to quickly replace gas and diesel cars with electric vehicles is a noble one, even if nine years is asking a lot.

At the Paris Climate Talks held in late 2015, world leaders from 195 nations agreed to try out some form of a proposal to limit greenhouse gas emissions over the next five years. The goal: Stop or reverse the incremental warming of the planet's atmosphere that threatens to dramatically alter Earth's livability.

So even if Dutch tailpipes are still coughing plumes of smoke in 2025, at least the conversation is getting started now, with a much-needed sense of urgency.

NOW WATCH: Dutch tulip fields look absolutely psychedelic from above
The Independent

Elon Musk plans to lay off most of Twitters workforce if and when he becomes owner of the social media company, according to a report by The Washington Post.Musk has told prospective investors in his Twitter purchase that he plans to cut nearly 75% of Twitters employee base of 7,500 workers, according to Thursday's report.If confirmed, the cuts would leave the company with a skeleton crew, according to the Post.The newspaper cited documents and unnamed sources familiar with the deliberations.San Francisco-based Twitter and a representative for Musk attorney Alex Spiro did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.SEE MORE: What Happens If Elon Musk Buys Twitter?While job cuts have been expected regardless of the sale, the magnitude of Musk's planned cuts are far more extreme than anything Twitter had planned.Musk himself has alluded to the need to cull some of the company's staff in the past, but he hadn't given a specific number - at least not publicly.Already, experts, nonprofits and even Twitter's own staff have warned that pulling back investments on content moderation and data security could hurt Twitter and its users.With as drastic a reduction as Musk may be planning, the platform could quickly become overrun with harmful content and spam.After his initial $44 billion bid in April to buy Twitter, Musk backed out of the deal, contending Twitter misrepresented the number of fake spam bot accounts on its platform.Twitter sued, and a Delaware judge has given both sides until 28 October to work out details.Otherwise, there will be a trial in November.Additional reporting by The Associated Press.
Spanish king Felipe VI will meet with political leaders later this month. Ballesteros (EFE)

King Felipe VI has announced his decision to hold a new round of talks with Spains political leaders on April 25 and 26.

It will be the third time that the Spanish monarch meets with the countrys top politicians over the issue of who will be the next prime minister.

On April 21, house speaker Patxi Lopez will hand the king a list of the representatives who will meet with him on the chosen dates.

Following an inconclusive election on December 20, Felipe VI held two rounds of talks and asked two leaders to submit their names for the post of prime minister in a congressional vote.

The first one, Mariano Rajoy of the Popular Party (PP), refused to do so, while the second, the Socialist Pedro Sanchez, tried and failed.

Now, with a deadline looming for the dissolution of parliament and a new call to the polling stations, Felipe VI will try to determine if there is another last-minute candidate with enough congressional backing for a successful office run.

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If there is not, a new election will be held on June 26, although polls suggest a similarly fragmented outcome and lower turnout.

Following months of failed cross-party talks, there is little hope that a deal will emerge in time to avert a fresh election. The PP, which holds the most seats in Congress, has failed to attract a single party to form a government. The Socialists managed to close a deal with Ciudadanos, but still require support from a third group. Podemos is refusing to provide this backing, preferring instead a coalition of themselves, the PSOE, United Left and other regional leftist groups.

The deadline for reaching a last-minute deal is May 2. If a nominee does step up, Congress will hold a double vote  one to attempt an overall majority of 176 seats, and failing that another one for a simple majority.

English version by Susana Urra.
BISHKEK (Reuters) - Kyrgyz Prime Minister Temir Sariyev and his cabinet resigned on Monday after a parliamentary commission accused it of corruption, a move highlighting tensions between different factions of President Almazbek Atambayev's supporters. "Squabbles, rumours and gossip have upset the balance within the government," Sariyev told a cabinet meeting open to the media. "The government's work has stalled at such a difficult time." A commission set up by the ex-Soviet republic's parliament said last week the government had broken the law, accusing it of having rigged a $100 million road construction tender to ensure it was given to a Chinese firm that lacked the required license. Sariyev, who has denied any wrongdoing, had asked Atambayev to sack Transport Minister Argynbek Malabayev, but the president has refused to do so, saying the prime minister had not provided clear legal grounds for a dismissal. On Monday, Atambayev accepted Sariyev's resignation, which automatically triggered the resignation of the whole cabinet. Sariyev, 52, has run the Central Asian nation's government since last May, at the time when its economy has come under pressure from the recession in Russia and slowdowns in other neighbouring countries such as China and Kazakhstan. Sariyev had also pledged to resolve a long-standing dispute over profit-sharing with Canada's Centerra Gold, which operates Kumtor, Kyrgyzstan's biggest gold mine and its economic backbone. But the sides have not reached any agreement yet. Social Democrats closely linked to Atambayev head up a coalition that dominates the parliament and also includes the Kyrgyzstan, Onuguu-Progress and Ata Meken parties. Sariyev's party, Akshumkar, does not have seats in the parliament. The coalition, which controls 80 out of 120 seats in the legislature, now needs to pick a new premier within 15 days. Unlike its autocratic Central Asian neighbours, Kyrgyzstan has a relatively powerful parliament while limiting presidential powers. Two Kyrgyz presidents have been toppled by violent protests. (Reporting by Olga Dzyubenko; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
By Stoyan Nenov IDOMENI, Greece (Reuters) - Dozens of migrants and refugees were wounded on Sunday when Macedonian police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at crowds on the Greek side of the border, aid workers said, an act Athens called "dangerous and deplorable". More than 10,000 migrants and refugees have been stranded at the Greek border outpost of Idomeni since February after a cascade of border shutdowns across the Balkans closed off their route to central and western Europe. An earlier attempt by a large group of migrants to cross the border fence had resulted in the confrontation, a Macedonian official said. Greece said police on the Macedonian side of their joint frontier used teargas, rubber bullets and stun grenades to push back the migrants. Macedonian authorities would only confirm they had used tear gas. A deputy field coordinator with medical charity Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) told Reuters that, of around 300 people treated, more than 30 had injuries caused by rubber bullets. A news release issued by MSF quoted one doctor with the charity saying said three children had been taken in to its field clinic with head injuries caused by rubber bullets. Police in Skopje said three officers were also hurt. Over a million people fleeing conflict poured into Europe, mainly through Greece, in the past year. The European Union is implementing an accord under which all new arrivals to Greece will be sent back to Turkey if they do not meet asylum criteria. A Macedonian official who asked to remain anonymous said that a large group of migrants left Idomeni camp on Sunday morning and surged towards the fence. "They threw rocks at the Macedonian police. The police fired tear gas in response," the official said. "The migrants were pushing against the fence but standing on the Greek side of the border. The fence is still there, they have not broken through." Reuters witnesses said a small group of migrants attempted to talk to Macedonian border guards, asking for them to open the border. After given a negative response, they and other migrants started walking towards the fence. Macedonian police fired tear gas, and some migrants hurled back some gas canisters and rocks, they said. "INDISCRIMINATE FORCE" In an unusually strong statement, George Kyritsis, a spokesman for migration coordinators in the Greek government, said the use of force was unacceptable. "The indiscriminate use of chemicals, rubber bullets and stun grenades against vulnerable populations, and particularly without reasons for such force, is a dangerous and deplorable act," Kyritsis said. More than 50,000 refugees and migrants are stranded in Greece as a result of the border shutdowns. By Sunday morning, there were more than 11,200 people at Idomeni. "We urge the authorities of FYROM to comprehend the potential risks the use of violence against refugees and migrants entails," said Kyritsis, referring to the official name of the neighbouring country, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Athens has long refused to accept its neighbour as just 'Macedonia'. Some Greeks fear accepting 'Macedonia' could provide a basis for territorial claims by that country on a northern Greek province of the same name. A Macedonian police spokesman said the situation at the border was under control but still tense, he added. Achilleas Tzemos, MSF deputy field coordinator, told Reuters more than 300 people had been treated at the makeshift camp. In addition to more than 30 treated for rubber bullet injuries, over 30 had open wounds and 200 had respiratory problems from tear gas exposure. "Among those with breathing difficulties were quite a few women and children," he said. Greek authorities have been trying to convince the people to move to reception camps, but migrants have been refusing to move. (Additional reporting By Renee Maltezou, Kole Casule, Ayat Basma and Sergiy Karazy; Writing by Michele Kambas; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
By Paul Carsten and Michael Martina BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States has labeled China's internet censorship a trade barrier in a report for the first time since 2013, saying worsening online restrictions are damaging the business of U.S. companies. Since Xi Jinping became China's president that year, the U.S. had not listed China's so-called Great Firewall as a trade impediment despite widespread outcry that the online blocks limit access to crucial information, email and search services such as those found on Google's platform. "Outright blocking of websites appears to have worsened over the past year, with eight of the top 25 most trafficked global sites now blocked in China," the U.S. Trade Representative wrote in its annual report on foreign trader barriers. "Over the past decade, China's filtering of cross-border internet traffic has posed a significant burden to foreign suppliers, hurting both internet sites themselves, and users who often depend on them for their business," the USTR said in the report, released last week. The move could push the issue beyond a sticking point in bilateral ties over human rights and security, though with a litany of trade disputes already on the table, the degree to which it will feature in talks remains to be seen. 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. Officials say web controls help maintain social stability and national security in the face of threats such as terrorism. Under Xi, the government has implemented an unprecedented tightening of internet controls, and sought to codify the policy within the law. According to data from the anti-censorship group GreatFire.org, almost a quarter of the hundreds of thousands of web pages, domains, encrypted sites, online searches and IP addresses that it monitors in China were blocked as of early April. That was up from 14 percent at the time Xi assumed the presidency. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a regular briefing on Friday that a country's independent choice for internet governance should be respected. "China's internet is vigorously expanding and providing vast space for companies from other countries to grow," Hong said. "China's policy to attract foreign investment will not change." The Cyberspace Administration of China did not immediately respond to faxed questions, while the Ministry of Commerce declined to comment. Foreign business lobbies have long complained that Chinese internet restrictions go beyond inconvenience and actually limit business competitiveness. The American Chamber of Commerce in China said in its most recent report on China's business environment that its members faced "severe challenges competing in China's telecommunications and internet sectors due to investment restrictions, security controls and a range of protectionist measures". The lobby's 2016 business climate survey showed 79 percent of its members reported a negative impact on business due to internet censorship. The USTR report said much of what China blocked online did not seem to fall within the realm of what was necessary to maintain social stability and national security. "Much of the blocking appears arbitrary. For example, a major home improvement site in the United States, which would appear wholly innocuous, is typical of sites likely swept up by the Great Firewall," it said. (Additional reporting by Jessica Macy Yu and Beijing Newsroom; Editing by John Ruwitch and Ryan Woo)
Former Banesto chief Mario Conde in 1997. Denis Doyle (AP)

There is something of the inevitable about Mario Condes latest downfall. The twice-jailed former chairman of Banesto embezzled a lot of money from the bank he ran, allegedly squirreling it away in Swiss bank accounts (and who knows where else), and then supposedly funneling it back to Spain in small amounts over the last year.

On Monday he was arrested on suspicion of laundering those funds back into Spain, an alleged amount as high as 14 million. His children, Alejandra and Mario, and his son-in-law, Fernando Guasch, are among the seven other people who have been detained, on suspicion of helping Conde create a web of companies  at least three in Spain and another dozen or so abroad  that were used to transfer the money.

Mario Conde came to represent the get-rich-quick culture that characterized Spain in the late 1980s

Its more than two decades since Condes illegal activities at Banesto were uncovered, but it took him just six years to rise so high and fall so far. In the meantime, aside from his jail terms, he has unsuccessfully run for public office, supposedly to change the system he has criticized so vocally, and he has remarried and moved into a home in a tiny village in Galicia called Chaguazoso, where he lives when not spending time at his Madrid residence or country houses in Andalusia. Hes also lost friends as easily as he made them, appeared countless times on television, and even financed his own biopic. You could say he got rich too soon and too quick.

In fact, Mario Conde came to represent the get-rich-quick culture that characterized Spain in the late 1980s, using all kinds of financial shenanigans to take advantage of the rapid economic growth that came with Spains entry into the European Union. The one-time solicitor general made his first fortune with friend Juan Abello in 1987 through the sale of a pharmaceutical company for 350 million, using the money to buy their way into under-performing Banesto. That same year, when Banco Bilbao launched a buyout bid for Banesto (Spains banks had been told they needed to consolidate), Conde saw his opportunity, siding with some of Banestos older shareholders to resist the buyout, in the process forcing out the banks chairman. Bilbaos takeover bid failed, and Conde, the man of the hour, was installed as chief, with Abello his vice chairman, although the two would soon fall out.

Mario Conde is taken from his residence, under arrest. Kike Para (EL PAIS)

Conde then surrounded himself with men he could trust, as well as signing up a number of senior figures from the ruling Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) to cover his back, and set about running Banesto as though it were his personal fiefdom. When the bank joined the top flight of Spanish lenders, Condes star really began to shine: he was invited to the top parties, was on first name terms with King Juan Carlos, and was even awarded an honorary doctorate by Madrids Complutense University. He also began profiling himself as the great white hope of a Spanish right still struggling to reinvent itself as a credible political force, and which would lose two elections under Jose Maria Aznar in 1989 and 1993. In short, here was a man who had just about everything anybody could want before the age of 40, a Spanish success symbol if ever there was one.

But on the morning of December 28, 1993, everything was to change. The Bank of Spain had discovered a 3.8 billion shortfall in Banestos books. The central bank had warned Conde on several occasions about Banestos precarious situation, to no avail. Banesto, like other Spanish lenders, was struggling to match Santanders performance, and had also run into serious difficulties after the initial public offering of Banestos industrial arm, at the same time as a global economic downturn took effect, sparked by the first Gulf War in 1991.

On the morning of December 28, 1993, everything was to change. The Bank of Spain had discovered a 3.8 billion shortfall in Banestos books

Condes response to Banestos problems was to try to raise money through a capital increase of 781 million through J. P. Morgan. In April 1994, Banesto was sold to Santander at auction for 1.9 billion.

After this, Condes fall from grace came fast: his former friends on the political right abandoned him and with the economy in recession, the media portrayed him as symbol of all that was wrong with Spains get-rich-quick culture. His response was to accuse the establishment, the system of conspiring against him. In the meantime, he was the subject of a Congressional investigation. In 1997 he was sentenced to six years in jail for embezzlement, but was out on parole in less than two years.

In 2000, shortly after announcing he was running for prime minister in the elections of that year (presumably in the hope of gaining immunity from prosecution by a lower court), the High Court sentenced him to 10 years on the same grounds, with the Supreme Court adding another 10.

He would serve half his sentence, saying when he left a Madrid jail: Im happy because fortunately, justice has been done. He then reinvented himself as a television pundit, and once again, and unsuccessfully, ran for office last year. In the meantime, it would appear that he was quietly repatriating the money he had embezzled from Banesto back from Switzerland to Spain, with the help of his two children.

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English version by Nick Lyne.
KKR has agreed to buy into seeds provider Advanta Enterprises in a deal which values the business at about $2.25bn.
The scene after Monday's congressional commission vote. EVARISTO SA (AFP)

More information La comision parlamentaria aprueba que el Congreso juzgue a Rousseff

After a nine-hour session on Monday, which was punctuated by insults and arguments, a Brazilian parliamentary commission has approved by 38 votes to 27 to go ahead with impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff.

Rousseff's career now lies in the hands of Congress, whose 513 members will begin debating on Friday. It would only take a third of all deputies to decide against impeachment for Rousseff to be able to hold on to her job, otherwise it will then be up to the Senate, where a simple majority in favor of arraignment would be enough for her to be temporarily relieved of her post while she was judged. Analysts say that if Congress and Senate approve impeachment she would likely stand down immediately.

It would only take a third of deputies to decide against impeachment for Rousseff to hold on to her job

Mondays vote was widely seen as a shoe-in, but the 11-vote margin was larger than predicted and has unsettled the Rousseff camp. At the close of the session a shouting match erupted between opponents and supporters of the president, with some unfurling banners reading Dilma Out and hurling leaflets in favor of impeachment into the air.

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Pro-impeachment members of the commission accuse the two-term leader of manipulating budget accounts shortly before the 2014 election in order to conceal the true size of the budget deficit. But they also point to her growing unpopularity, as well as an ongoing investigation into alleged corruption at state oil company Petrobras related to her Workers Party, and they also blame her for a worsening economic situation. Rousseffs supporters accuse the opposition of engineering a coup to overthrow a democratically elected president.

Former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who joined Rousseffs Cabinet in March, has been negotiating with deputies in a bid to garner support. At this point it is impossible to say which way the vote in Congress will go: the result is expected on Sunday. Media reports suggest around 50 deputies are still undecided. Rousseffs future lies in their hands.

English version by Nick Lyne
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. EFE

More information El Supremo de Venezuela declara inconstitucional la Ley de Amnistia y Reconciliacion

In a widely expected decision, Venezuelas Supreme Court has struck down an Amnesty and Reconciliation Law two weeks after the countrys opposition-controlled parliament passed the bill. President Nicolas Maduro had used his powers to swiftly appeal to the highest court in the land to block the release from jail of 78 political prisoners, among them senior opposition figures Leopoldo Lopez and Antonio Ledezma, despite international criticism from human rights groups.

The Constitutional Court, stacked with supporters of Maduros predecessor, Hugo Chavez, is now, to all intents and purposes, a government tool to block the opposition. The courts justices ruled that there are no provisions under Venezuelan law for amnesty, and that the proposed measure would engender scandalous impunity and that the National Assembly cannot declare a stay of proceedings in cases of crimes against humanity, in clear reference to the deaths that took place during the protests organized by Lopez, Ledezma and former Congresswoman Maria Corina Machado.

Venezuelan politics now seems reduced to a stalemate between government and opposition

The opposition suffered another blow last week. The National Electoral Council, which is also controlled by government supporters, rejected a petition for recall referendum filed by the opposition umbrella group, the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD). A recall referendum is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office through a direct vote before his or her term has ended. The Council said the petition was improperly filed and failed to comply with election laws.

Venezuelan politics now seems reduced to a stalemate in which the opposition passes laws in parliament and the executive branch blocks anything that undermines its political power.

In the meantime, Maduro is nearing his midterm. In January, National Assembly President Henry Ramos Allup promised that lawmakers would find the legal means to call for early elections within the first semester of the year.

English version by Dyane Jean Francois.
The IMF Spring Meetings are taking place in Washington DC this weekend. MANDEL NGAN (AFP)

This time, the Spanish economy did not escape the general downward revisions that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been so fond of lately.

While Spain continues to be the fastest-growing member of the advanced economies, the world body has slightly cut its growth forecast for 2016, down to 2.6% from the 2.7% it predicted in January.

Since 2013, the organization presided by Christine Lagarde has been praising the reforms made by the Mariano Rajoy administration

For 2017, the forecast is maintained at 2.3%, the same as the January report expected.

The review is part of the World Economic Outlook report, presented as an introduction to the IMFs Spring Meetings, which are being held in Washington DC from April 15 to 17.

Though slight, the downward revision of Spains growth prospects is the first since October 2013. The global situation has played a role, but so has the countrys own political uncertainty following nearly four months of a caretaker government.

The world bodys calculations are in line with those of Spanish experts, who are expecting to see 2.7% growth this year and 2.3% in 2017. In September, the Spanish government issued a more optimistic growth forecast of 3%.

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The IMF also says that the Spanish jobless rate will continue to hover around 19.7% by the end of the year, and come down to 18.3% in 2017.

Since 2013, the organization presided by Christine Lagarde has been praising the reforms made by the administration of acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, and has been continually raising the countrys growth prospects. But it has also been warning about Spains inability to meet its EU deficit targets. Finance Minister Cristobal Montoro recently announced that Spain widely missed its target for 2015.

English version by Susana Urra.
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There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan

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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

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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

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STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN

This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan

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WOOSTER, Ohio  During the spring board meeting of the Ohio Dairy Producers Association, April 11 at the OARDC, farmers and dairy trade groups got an update on what the checkoff is doing to bolster demand.

Milk prices are on a downward trend of nearly $2-$3 less per counterweight compared to this time last year, and dairy producers are once again facing an era of tight profit margins.

While there is much they can do at the farm-level to adjust, many producers are also hoping their checkoff program and market outreach will continue to increase demand.

Marketing milk

The checkoff has long-touted its partnership with Dominos Pizza, to use and promote dairy cheese on its pizzas. The partnership has been active since 2008, but this year, farmers got to hear the news straight from the source.

Joe Jordan, vice president-chief marketing officer at Dominos, said last year, Dominos used 230 million additional pounds of milk, and since partnering with dairy producers in 2008, the company has increased its overall cheese use by 43 percent. For every $1 the checkoff invests in the partnership, Dominos invests nearly $20.

Jordan said dairy farmers and pizza franchise owners have a lot in common  at least when it comes to values.

Our franchisees are part of a local community just like you are, he said, noting that the stores are often family-owned, and that like farmers, the food industry is around-the-clock work.

Jordan said he sees much more runway ahead, in terms of additional market potential.

Defending dairy

He was joined by Tim McIntyre, Dominos vice president of communications. McIntyre pointed out that the company not only uses a lot of dairy  but also defends farmers.

Hes no stranger to the antics of animal rights activist groups  particularly those with an anti-animal agriculture bend. But extremists dont actually want to put farmers out of business, he said  only to use them as collateral.

They need you, because every time they criticize you  they also include a donate here, McIntyre said. You are a money maker for them.

Activist shareholders can vote in the companys corporate structure, but McIntyre said the highest percentage of the vote they have made up was only 4 percent.

He said Dominos goal is to let people know that first and foremost, we support Americas farmers. Were not going to tell people how to farm. Were not going to tell you how to do your business.

The company is also planning a major donation to the FFA, because we know that its in everybodys interest to keep Americas farmers running.

The dairy checkoff also has strategic partnerships with McDonalds, Taco Bell, Quaker Oats and many others.

Research funds

Maurice Eastridge, Ohio State dairy specialist, gave an update on a separate program, known as the Ohio Dairy Research Fund, in which producers can elect to contribute a small percentage of their milk check to fund research. Eastridge said since the program was started in 1982, about 135 projects have been funded, with $837,000.

Policy matters

In policy matters, ODPA CEO Scott Higgins said water quality continues to be a top concern  even for farms not located in the Western Lake Erie Basin.

He said the association worked to limit some of the manure-application legislation to the counties in northwestern Ohio  realizing that down the road, a statewide ban on winter manure application is always possible.

Moreover, he said the counties already under the ban need assistance to help them install the kinds of manure storage structures required  if theyre going to store manure all winter.

He has met at least one producer who would incur an additional $100,000 for the storage he needs, on a 100-cow dairy. With this in mind, ODPA supports a bill introduced in Ohios legislature in the fall, that would provide farmers a tax credit for making necessary manure-handling improvements.

Known as H.B. 297, it would provide farmers a 50 percent refundable tax credit on what they spend to comply with the new nutrient law, including farms located outside of the basin.

Were asking leadership at the state to recognize the dilemma were in, Higgins said, where dairy farmers want to be a part of the solution, but financially, its simply unaffordable.
The government has been told to clear up the confusion over what would happen to farm payments if the UK voted to leave the EU.

Farm minister George Eustice said he had received personal assurances from prime minister David Cameron that the government would continue to support farmers in the event of a Brexit.

Pro-Brexit minister Mr Eustice said Mr Cameron had told him that the government would give farmers as much support  or even perhaps more if the UK left the EU.

See also: Eustice blasted for fanciful claims UK better off outside EU

But the government has so far declined to make any statement about Mr Eustices comments, leaving farmers in the dark.

Now the Country, Land and Business Association (CLA), which represents 33,000 farmers and landowners in England and Wales, has written to Mr Cameron and urged him to dispel confusion and uncertainty by setting out the governments Plan B for farming.

CLA president Ross Murray said: There is a lack of clarity around what is statement of fact and what is conjecture regarding government plans.

This is causing confusion and uncertainty around investment decisions and around meeting long-term environmental commitments.

The rural business community is looking for more from government and the civil service, specifically to set out what would be involved in a Brexit scenario for the rural sector.

In March, the CLA published a report Leave or Remain: The Decisions That Politicians Must Make to Support the Rural Economy, which sets out the four priority areas for farming and rural businesses concerning the EU referendum.

The report said ministers must assure the farming industry that payments currently delivered through the common agricultural policy (CAP) scheme would be delivered up to 2020, when the current scheme ends.

Vote Leave campaigners argue that, as a net contributor to the EU, there is no reason why the government could not continue to support farming to the same extent, or possibly more, if the UK decides to leave the EU.

However, critics have warned that the Treasury could decide to provide less funding for farming and allocate it to other areas, including health, education and security.

A Defra spokeswoman said: The future level of funding support for farmers is unknown. If the UK decided to leave the EU, it would be a huge leap in the dark. We have always said that.

We have been keen to remind farmers how much stronger and better of they are inside the EU with free access to a single market which is worth in excess of 500m.
Speech by Philippe Gaillard, head of the ICRC's delegation in Rwanda, 1993-1994; given at the Genocide Prevention Conference, London, January 2002, organized by the Aegis Trust and the UK Foreign Office

"Die Sprache spricht als das Gelaute der Stille"

(Martin Heidegger, Unterwegs zur Sprache)

 L'ILLUSTRE /Claude Glunz/ref. rw-d-00020-16

Kigali. Unaccompanied children in the care of the ICRC

In 1994, before, during and after the genocide during which around one million people were killed, most of them civilians, I gave hundreds of interviews, reports, conferences to all kind of audiences, newspapers, TV, radios and the general public. And afterwards I think this was not only the right action to take but also the right therapy.At the end of 1994, I decided not to talk any more about the Rwandan genocide and declined all the invitations I was receiving about it. I just wanted to go back to silence and to invisibility as it suits an ICRC delegate and because of my rather shy and discreet personality.

Almost 8 years have gone since the genocide was committed and by being here I am once again talking about it. Not because I am less shy today than 8 years ago, not because I need to be visible again - I wish I were never visible again - but because I still have some kind of debt, or better to say, some kind of duty towards all those who died in Rwanda in 1994 and who were given so little attention later on that some of us think that the Rwandan genocide can be considered as a " case study " .

For those who died and especially for those who survived, it is certainly not and it will never be a " case study " .

It is because of them that I am here today. You may kill as many people as you want or as you can. You cannot kill their memory. The memory is the most invisible and resistant material you can find on the earth. You cannot cut it like diamond, you cannot shoot at it because you cannot see it, nevertheless it is everywhere, all around you, plenty of silence, unsaid suffering, whispers, absent looks. Sometimes you can smell it and then the memory clearly speaks like the whisper of silence. Sometimes the smell is still unbearable, even when things have been forgotten for decades.

Prevention, neutrality and reporting

In July 1993, two weeks before the Arusha peace agreement was signed by President Habyarimana and Alexis Kanyarengwe, we met President Habyarimana. When we talked about the danger of anti-personnel mines on the front line, President Habyarimana told us he was fu lly aware of it, but added: " The main danger is actually that the hearts and minds of the Rwandan people are mined " . This was a " preventive " message.

One month later, after the Arusha peace agreement had been signed, I met the President of the MRND, the governmental party, Matthieu Ngirumpatse, and asked his opinion about the very recent peace agreement. He told me the following: " Sir, don't believe too much in it In Africa peace agreements are too often just scraps of paper" . Just another message of " prevention " .

A couple of weeks later, around 50 civilians were killed in the demilitarised zone monitored by the UN troops led by General Romeo Dallaire. Immediately a very aggressive campaign was launched against General Dallaire by the Radio- Television Libre des Mille Collines accusing him in a very cynical way not to be able to identify and punish the responsible people for the killings. Another message of " prevention " by provoking people against the UN peacekeeping forces.

In January 1994, the situation in Kigali was very tense. So it was in February when one Minister, Felicien Katawasi, and the President of the extremist party CDR, Martin Bouchiana, were killed.

Sporadic fighting in the north

Then the dialogue between the Government and the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) stopped. Sporadic fighting took place in the northern part of the country.

Just before Easter, the Dean of the diplomatic corps convoked me. He advised me to be on the alert for something bad could happen very soon. Prevention. I asked all my people not to leave the town.

As Christoph Plate says: "It is not until war breaks out or famine is rife or there is a massacre that people begin to wonder what caused it. The period prior to the disaster then becomes a news item or a background story. Reports in the media can indeed influence conflicts, but they can hardly ever prevent them" (Journalists'reports cannot prevent conflict in International Review of the Red Cross, No 839, p. 617-624, 30 September 2000).

The Rwandan genocide was so well covered by the media, especially by the western media, that everyone could follow it on TV, radio or in newspapers every day. One could say that it was transmitted live, at least live enough to inform the governments and public about what was really happening there.

ICRC speaks of "systematic carnage"

The ICRC contributed to this media coverage and reporting like it maybe never had done in its almost 130 years of existence at that time. On 28 April 1994, some three weeks after the beginning of the genocide, the ICRC called on the governments concerned including all members of the Security Council to take all possible measures to put an end to the massacres. The words used - "systematic carnage" , "the extermination of a significant portion of the civilian population" - left no room for doubt about what was going on.

"After half a million, sir, we stopped counting..."

At the same time, BBC London called us in Kigali and asked us what our estimate of the number of people killed was. We said at least 250,00 0. One week later they called again. We said at least 500,000. And once again the following week. And then we said: "After half a million, sir, we stopped counting" . We were never asked the same question again.

At the beginning of May, I was invited by General Romeo Dallaire to meet with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ambassador Jose Ayala Lasso. When we came to figures, I was told I was exaggerating.

I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to General Dallaire's courage, actions and always helpful pieces of advice. He saved many lives, among them that of our medical coordinator who had been hit by shrapnel of a rocket launched by the RPF on an ICRC convoy on its way from Kigali to Gitarama on 19 May.

Massacred in a Red Cross ambulance

Prevention: zero. Reporting: ineffective. Maybe with one exception: on 14 April, in the presence of the Rwandan armed forces, militiamen killed six wounded civilians who were on their way to our hospital in a Red Cross ambulance. The Radio-Television Libre des Mille Collines announced that the Red Cross was transporting " enemies of the Republic disguised as fake wounded" .

Explanations, protests, at our request the ICRC headquarters issued a strong press release which was immediately broadcast everywhere by the BBC and Radio France Internationale, among others, boomerang effect on the field, new explanations, the Rwandan Government and media became aware of the considerable deterioration of their image, corrections, awareness campaign on the right of the wounded to be taken care of and on the role of the Red Cross S ome kind of test: we could have been killed for that statement but we were not and the Red Cross ambulances could restart their work without problems.

The killing of six wounded people allowed us to save thousands of others, 9,000 altogether between April and July according to the statistics of our makeshift hospital. Speaking out is always dangerous in such situations, exceptionally it may be effective.

"How can you be neutral in front of genocide?"

Neutrality: THE key point. Many of you will ask: how can you be neutral in front of genocide? Of course you cannot be neutral in front of genocide. But the genocide is happening in front of your eyes every day. It is a fact. As a Red Cross worker, you really don't have the political - not to mention the military - means to stop it. All you can try to do is to save what can be saved, leftovers, wounded, and when I say wounded, maybe I am wrong, I should say people not finished off by machetes or screwdrivers. And it was really the case during the first weeks when we were evacuating wounded people - all of them Tutsis - to our hospital.

And that is when problems start. Humanitarian neutrality means first to be on the side of the victims, of ALL the victims. But when the victims belong to the same category, then their executioners start to look at you with suspicion. This must have been the reason why, after having given a very difficult interview to the Rwandan National Radio, the Radio-Television Libre des Mille Collines started to broadcast that I was without doubt a Belgian national, which was simply a death sentence.

I was talking with the government authorities in Gitarama when I was informed about that. I immediately asked them to call the Radio-Television libre des Mille Collines and to ask it to correct its declaration. They did it in a very efficient - although not very elegant - way, by broadcasting that I "was too courageous and too clever to be a Belgian national" .

Mixed population at the hospital

A couple of days later, the Radio-Television libre des Mille Collines was targeted by the RPF. One of their most famous announcers, Noel, was badly injured in one of his feet and was brought to our hospital I felt on the safe side: our hospital just started to have a mixed population and this trend increased continuously in the following weeks when wounded militiamen and members of the armed forces had no other place to go to be taken care of but our poor makeshift hospital, which became some kind of a sacred place, a strong symbol and demonstration of neutrality.

In mid-April, the new Prime Minister, Jean Kambanda, asked us to evacuate the dead bodies from the streets of Kigali. I refused, asking to stop the killings first. Then the authorities decided to use the common law prisoners to evacuate the bodies, but they had no fuel for the trucks. We gave them the fuel. I learned a couple of days later that they evacuated 67,000 bodies from the streets of Kigali, a town with 200,000 inhabitants before 6 April.

Later on, because of the lack of chlorine and aluminium sulfate, Kigali was left without water. We provided the necessary products and could thus postpone the death throes of the central pumping station. And so on. These humanitarian gestures were duly appreciated.

One millimetre of humanity

This might explain why - at our request - the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Jean de Dieu Habimeza, went personally to an orphanage close to Gisenyi and, with the full support of the Rwandan armed forces, saved 300 children of a certain slaughter by the militiamen; it could also explain why 35,000 people could survive in Kabgayi, another 8,000 in Nyarushishi camp, the only survivors of the prefecture of Cyangugu; why another 600 orphans in Butare. And so on. Maybe 70,000 people all together, just one millimetre of humanity out of kilometres of horrors and unspeakable suffering.

The most incredible event I personally witnessed happened at the very beginning of July, just before the RPF took over Kigali: six heavily-armed militiamen came to our hospital. They were drunk, but surprisingly not aggressive at all; they had one prisoner, a young Tutsi lady; they told me: "This woman has been with us for the past three months, she is a nurse, we are about to leave the town, we have decided not to kill her despite the fact that she is a Tutsi, as a nurse she will be more useful in your hospital than dead"

I never received a better acknowledgment of the efficiency of neutrality.

War is destruction, negation of life. Humanitarian action works within this subtraction. It tries to reduce it. In case of a genocide, it may seem a stupid gamble, since it's well-known that genocidal logic is the complete negation of the humanitarian spirit and of the law.

Whenever you can reduce this negation it is a miracle. And the memory never forgets miracles.
SACRAMENTO, April 11, 2016  Nearly two hundred ACLU members and allies rallied at the steps of the Capitol alongside state Senator Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) today in support of legislation to curb police abuse in California, specifically Senate Bill 443 (Mitchell) and Senate Bill 1286 (Leno).

Police abuse can take many forms, said Norma Chavez-Peterson, Executive Director of the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties. And when these injustices continue  be it policing for profit or law enforcement judging the unnecessary killings of unarmed people of color behind closed doors  California should be leading the charge to ensure that our state laws reflect our American values of fairness, justice and transparency.Policing for ProfitSB 443, introduced by Senator Mitchell and boasting bipartisan support in the Legislature, would protect innocent Californians from unfair forfeitures by forbidding law enforcement from permanently taking and keeping someones money or property if that person is not convicted of a crime. For years, California law enforcement agencies have taken advantage of a loophole that allows them to take innocent peoples cash and property, and then keep a portion of the profits through civil asset forfeiture laws.In describing the need for SB 443, Senator Mitchell stated, The law puts a finders-keepers tag on certain possessions of those accused of crime, which doesnt have to come off even when the accusation is dropped. Time for a new tag: No conviction  No confiscation!The bill was welcomed by Bob Alexander, a Lakeport, California, resident and veteran who was stopped and had over $10,000 in cash taken from him by law enforcement  money he was carrying to buy his daughter a car. He fought to get it back, but it took nearly eight months to do so although no criminal charges were filed against him.That was a fight, said Alexander. The officers tried to scare me into submission by giving me two choices: I either said the money wasnt mine and they would call it a day or I told the truth and theyd slap three felonies on me. I was able to put up a fight, but I know other people might not have the means to do so.Judging Police Misconduct and Use of Force in SecretSB 1286, introduced by Senator Mark Leno, would restore police transparency in California by shining light on how police departments handle investigations into officer misconduct and serious uses of force. Unlike other public employees, all records related to police discipline are completely confidential and exempt from Californias Public Records Act. As a result, departments cannot disclose when an officer is guilty of misconduct, if corrective action was taken, or what the corrective action was.Brandy Brown, a member of the Youth Justice Coalition, a youth-led organization co-sponsoring SB 1286, urged the bills passing. Brown had been friends with Ezell Ford, an unarmed Black man who was shot and killed by Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers in 2014. On the day Ford was killed, both Brandy's then 1-year-old daughter and her 4-year-old nephew were outside on the balcony and saw the police shooting of Ezell not far from where they were playing.Senate Bill 1286 is important because we need to know the background of the people who are patrolling our neighborhoods, said Brown. We must pass the bill, because we are fighting for a day when we as young people of color will not be feared, hated, stopped and cuffed, locked up, locked down and locked out. We are fighting for a day when California will not lead the nation in police shootings, for a day when to protect and serve doesnt mean to protect property and serve the rich.Supporters of the bill, including Sacramentos Black Lives Matter chapter agreed.I support SB 1286 because our law enforcement agencies need to aggressively make an effort to regain the trust of communities of color. A huge step toward this is restoring transparency into police misconduct and use of force investigations. Because without transparency, police will never be fully accountable to the communities they serve. And without accountability, there is not trust, said Tanya Faison, founder of Black Lives Matter Sacramento.SB 443 is currently pending on the Assembly floor. The bill is co-sponsored by the ACLU of California, CHIRLA, the Drug Policy Alliance, the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, and the Institute for Justice.SB 1286 is scheduled to for a hearing in the Senate Public Safety Committee on Tuesday, April 12, 2016. The bill is co-sponsored by the ACLU of California, the California Newspaper Publishers Association, CURYJ, PICO California, and the Youth Justice Coalition.ACLU of Northern California
On March 30, Palestinian Land Day, the National Lawyers Guild International Committee (NLG IC) submitted a regulatory challenge to the IRS requesting an investigation into the charitable status of the Jewish National Fund (JNF) on grounds of discrimination and contravention of U.S. policy.

In a legal complaint accompanying the regulatory challenge, the NLGIC outlined several reasons why the IRS should revoke the JNF's tax-exempt status, including the fact that the organization does not have a charitable purpose and engages in activities that violate US policy and international law.

The JNF's mandate is to promote racist and discriminatory policies such as forcibly displacing Palestinians from their lands to make way for Jewish-only housing developments, including inside Israel's pre-1967 borders.. The JNF's support for settlement activity in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem also means its activities violate longstanding official U.S. policies against settlements, as well as international law.

"The IRS has an obligation to revoke the JNF's status because of its involvement in displacing Palestinian Bedouins from the Negev Desert and elsewhere, and because of its support for illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank," said Andrew Dalack, one of the co-chairs of the NLGIC's Palestine Subcommittee. "How can the IRS certify with a straight face that the JNF is organized for a charitable purpose when it engages in conduct that violates international law and well-established U.S. foreign policy?"

Founded in 1901, the JNF is a quasi-governmental Israeli agency that has played a major role in the dispossession of the Palestinians people, planting forests to help cover the reality of the more than 400 Palestinian towns and villages destroyed when Israel was created in 1948. Today the JNF continues to play an important role in the dispossession of Palestinians in both Israel and the occupied territories.

The regulatory challenge is part of a larger international Stop the JNF Campaign that seeks to end the JNF's role in Israel's continuing displacement of Palestinians. Efforts targeting the JNF are part of a growing boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement in support of the Palestinian struggle for freedom, justice, and equality. The campaign is calling for people to take part in Days of Action from March 30-April 18 (Tax Day) to pressure the IRS to respond to the regulatory challenge and launch an investigation into the JNF.

"The JNF is complicit in Israel's ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and it is completely unacceptable that an organization engaging in war crimes is considered to be a charity in the United States," said Ramah Kudaimi of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation. "It is also confusing how U.S. policy is clear about settlements being a primary obstacle to peace but Americans are allowed to give money to an organization that supports these very same settlements."

"One can find little blue JNF boxes in many Jewish households and so many of us put our pennies and dimes into them because we were told we were contributing money to a worthy cause," said Sylvia Schwarz, of the Stop the JNF Campaign and a Fallen Donor. "We were not told that the JNF is instrumental in removing Palestinians from their homes and denying them their right of return. There is nothing charitable about this."

The complaint was filed on Land Day because on this day Palestinians commemorate the day in 1976 when Israeli troops killed six Palestinian citizens of Israel who were peacefully protesting the appropriation of their land.

"For nearly 70 years Palestinians have been resisting Israel's continued theft of our land," said Nick Sous of the US Palestinian Community Network. "So many Palestinians have been directly impacted by Israel's stealing their land with the support of the JNF and it is shameful that the IRS actually awards people who donate to support these illegal actions by allowing them to get a tax write-off."

Download the legal memo regarding the regulatory complaint: NLGIC Complaint to IRS regarding Violations by the Jewish National Fund (pdf)
California is improperly diverting federal grants to a giant slush fund for the California Water Fix, stated PEER Senior Counsel Paula Dinerstein, who drafted the complaint. In this case, the Bureau of Reclamation is abetting the State of California in breaking laws designed to ensure that federal investments to benefit wildlife are not used to their detriment."



Photo of fishing boats on the San Joaquin River on the Delta near the mouth of Three Mile Slough by Dan Bacher.

Feds to Probe Misuse of State Funds for Delta Tunnelsby Dan BacherThe Department of Interiors Inspector General has opened an investigation into the possible illegal use of millions of dollars by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) in preparing the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Governor Jerry Browns controversial Delta Tunnels Plan.The investigation resulted from a complaint the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) filed on the behalf of a Bureau of Reclamation employee on February 19, 2016.The complaint, made public in a statement from PEER on Monday, April 11, details how a funding agreement with DWR is illegally siphoning off funds that are supposed to benefit fish and wildlife to a project that will principally benefit irrigators under the California Water Fix, the newest name for the Delta Tunnels Plan.The California Water Fix proposes to divert water from the Sacramento River, through two massive tunnels under the Delta, to be exported to corporate agribusiness interests on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, Southern California water agencies and oil companies conducting fracking and other extreme oil extraction methods.California is improperly diverting federal grants to a giant slush fund for the California Water Fix, stated PEER Senior Counsel Paula Dinerstein, who drafted the complaint. In this case, the Bureau of Reclamation is abetting the State of California in breaking laws designed to ensure that federal investments to benefit wildlife are not used to their detriment."The PEER complaint charges that: Those funds, over $60 million, are earmarked for fish habitat improvements under the authority of the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act. However, they are instead being expended on work that will harm critical habitat for at least five endangered and threatened fish species. Out of millions spent not a dime went to habitat improvements; The state double-billed for work it supposedly already did with an earlier $50 million grant; And the state collected all of the federal funds when the agreement was executed, in violation of a 50/50 matching requirement.The complaint also notes, The Bureau of Reclamation also ignored its own rule barring all the federal money from being expended before receiving the non-federal share. Nor has Water Resources indicated when and from what source it will supply its overdue match.In a letter dated April 8, 2016, Mary Kendall, Deputy Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Interior responded to the complaint, stating:We have carefully reviewed the information you provided to us and gathered additional information about the agreement. Based on this information we have decided to conduct a review into the issues raised in your letter and we expect to commence our work on this matter this month.Nancy Vogel, spokesperson for the California Department of Water Resources, said, DWR will cooperate fully with the IG (Inspector General) and has no comment beyond that.Delta Tunnels opponents welcomed the DOI Inspector General's investigation of the alleged misuse of funds by DWR."We long suspected that federal funds were being illegally diverted into support for the tunnels and finally we've got a formal investigation of the matter," said Bill Jennings, Executive Director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA). "The California Water Fix with its financing schemes, Enron accounting and the diversion of funds is a tottering house of cards swaying in the wind."The Delta Tunnels would not create one single drop of new water. Yet the project would hasten the extinction of Sacramento winter-run Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Delta and longfin smelt and green sturgeon, as well as imperiling the steelhead and salmon populations of the Trinity and Klamath rivers.The announcement of the federal investigation of misuse of state funds takes place as the Delta Tunnels Plan is in total chaos. The State Water Resources Control Board announced on March 29 the suspension of upcoming deadlines for the California Water Fix water rights change petition in response to a request by the state and federal water agencies to extend dates and deadlines for the scheduled hearing, along with a number of other requests either to dismiss or delay the petition. ( http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/3/29/1507865/-Breaking-News-State-Water-Board-Suspends-Delta-Tunnels-Deadlines Read the PEER letter: http://www.peer.org/assets/docs/doi/4_11_16_PEER_request.pdf See the Inspector General response: http://www.peer.org/assets/docs/doi/4_11_16_IG_ltr.pdf Look at ongoing IG probe of diversion of Klamath drought relief moneys: http://www.peer.org/news/news-releases/federal-probe-into-klamath-irrigator-contracts-ordered.html
Twenty-two literary figures who signed a letter calling on the PEN American Center to reject Israeli government sponsorship of its World Voices Festival due to Israels human rights abuses have elaborated on their decision in quotes below. The Festival is being held in New York City from April 25-May 1.

Twenty-two Literary Figures Explain Why They Signed Letter Calling on PEN American Center to Reject Israeli Government Sponsorship of Festival140 Writers Have Signed the Letter, Including 70 PEN Members and World Voices Festival ParticipantsMedia Contact: info [at] adalahny.org April 12, 2016, New York, NY  Twenty-two literary figures who signed a letter calling on the PEN American Center to reject Israeli government sponsorship of its World Voices Festival due to Israels human rights abuses have elaborated on their decision in quotes below. The Festival is being held in New York City from April 25-May 1.The letter, originally signed by 61 writers, was sent to PEN on March 29 by Adalah-NY: The New York Campaign to Boycott Israel. PEN indicated in a reply that they would not drop Israeli government funding. The number of letter signers has since grown to 140 writers and 13 organizations. Among the newer signers is Dr. Cornel West, who joins a number of other prominent writers and public intellectuals, including Angela Davis, Pulitzer recipients Junot Diaz, Richard Ford and Alice Walker, and National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich.The release of the letter to PEN has been covered by a number of media outlets, including: The Guardian, Flavorwire, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Weekly Standard, NY Post, Der Speigel, Alternative Information Center, and the Electronic Intifada.The 22 signers quoted below include: Susan Abulhawa, Ammiel Alcalay, Russell Banks, Hayan Charara, Linh Dinh, Geoff Dyer, Deborah Eisenberg, Francisco Goldman, Marilyn Hacker, Fanny Howe, Fady Joudah, Laila Lalami, Eileen Myles, John Oakes and Colin Robinson, Dr. Ahmad Qatamash, Sarah Schulman, Kamila Shamsie, Gillian Slovo, Burhan Sonmez, Ahdaf Soueif, and Alex Zucker.Signers StatementsGillian Slovo, Former President of English PEN 2010-2013I watched how the cultural boycott on South Africa successfully put pressure on ordinary white South Africans to think about what their government was doing in their name. This request for solidarity from Palestinians is more sophisticated than the South African boycott ever was: instead of censoring individual artists it asks for a refusal of money from the Israeli state. Let PEN America invite as many Israeli writers as it wants to - just make sure that the people who pay their fare and their living expenses are not part of a state that systematically breaks international laws.Deborah Eisenberg, PEN Member, 2015 PEN/Malamud Award, 2011 PEN/Faulkner AwardTwo questions: Lets say that A is an institution dedicated to protecting the free expression of writers around the world from governments hostile to minority populations and dissenting voices, and lets say that B is a government that is under scrutiny for the increasingly violent and even extrajudicial repression of minority populations and dissenting voices.1) What might B gain from conspicuously contributing sponsorship to A, and what might A lose by accepting such endorsement?2) How long did it take to answer 1)?Francisco Goldman, Featured 2016 PEN World Voices ParticipantI just don't believe PEN, perhaps the world's most visible and influential organization that stands for and protects free expression everywhere, should accept money from any state that violently represses human rights, as Israel obviously does. Of course Israel is far from the only state that does this. If there were a similar letter circulating on Mexico's support for World Voices, I would certainly sign that too. I wish there were such a letter.Laila Lalami, PEN Member, 2016 World Voices Festival Participant, 2016 PEN Award Judge"This is not a boycott of Israeli writers, who can travel and attend the World Voices festival whenever they wish. This is a call on PEN to refuse funding from a government that grants Israeli writers a freedom of movement it denies to Palestinian writers."Susan Abulhawa, PEN MemberNo matter what language PEN uses to justify taking money from Israel, their actions amount to a willingness to allow a powerful colonial government to coopt a public U.S. cultural forum in furtherance of an explicit state propaganda campaign. It remains my hope that PEN might still reject funding from Israels state propaganda budget. Surely there are other means to fund the travel of individual Israeli writers. (from April 7 op-ed)Ammiel AlcalayAs someone involved in Palestinian issues for more than 35 years, I have found the success of the BDS movement absolutely extraordinary. The range of extreme reactions to BDS is just a marker of its enormous success, particularly since cultural prestige forms such a deep layer of the Israeli states obfuscation of its destructive, unjustifiable, and often illegal policies against the Palestinian people, against Palestinian civilians and civic institutions. Unfortunately, PEN has chosen to misrepresent the aims of this particular BDS campaign and the overwhelming response by writers, including many PEN members, in support of our campaign, is an indication that people, and the press, are paying close attention.Russell Banks, PEN MemberI signed the letter because, as a longtime member of PEN American Center, I object to PEN's acceptance of financial support from any government that restricts or forbids free expression by all of its citizens or by the citizens of any other nation or people. I do not support a cultural boycott as such, which would be to boycott free expression. However, I simply refuse to endorse an organization or public event that accepts financial support from governments that themselves do not permit free expression by their citizens and by people who happen to oppose that government, whether from inside or outside the national boundaries. For the same reasons, I would object to PENs acceptance of support from the government of China or North Korea or Azerbaijan.Hayan Charara, PEN MemberIf PEN is to remain a meaningful organization, it must advocate for making the lives of all writers freer. At the very least, this means not supporting the actions of a repressive government, which is something that many Israeli poets and writers themselves have argued. It also means that PEN must be honest with itself, its membership, and the wider public. If PENs leadership cant do these thingsright now, they are failing badlythen maybe it is time that they step down.Linh Dinh, 2016 PEN World Voices Festival ParticipantAmericans have blood on their hands when they ignore Israel's ongoing crimes against humanity, which their tax money supports. History will not look kindly upon this complicity.Geoff Dyer, PEN Member"The Israeli government deliberately uses the arts and culture to divert attention from its repression of the Palestinian people. PEN should state clearly that it will not accept Israeli government sponsorship and serve Israels strategy. The participation of Israeli writers is welcome, but without their governments sponsorship."Marilyn Hacker, Recipient, PEN Member, 2010 PEN/Voelcker Award, 2009 PEN Award for Poetry in TranslationThe call for boycott comes from Palestinians seeking a peaceful end to the occupation -- and from numerous Israeli peace and pro-Palestinian activists as well. It is a nonviolent way of calling attention to an untenable situation. It is not aimed at Israeli writers, artists, academics, but at the Israeli government's attempt to coopt their participation, while repressing the voices of Palestinians and dissident Israelis. Why boycott Israel and not numerous dictatorships elsewhere? Because activists on the ground there have called for it... and if they do in Egypt, or Hungary, or China, we will listen to them.Fanny Howe, PEN MemberI signed this letter to PEN in solidarity with Palestinians, Israeli writers, and writers and artists from around the world who find themselves complicit with a government that they distrust. Their freedom to write and read their work to others has nothing to do with this protest. We are thinking of decades of oppression and occupation by the Israeli government and are hoping to stall the progress of Israeli policy by refusing to cash in on it.Fady Joudah, 2010 PEN Translation Award Winner, Past PEN Award JudgeIt would behoove PEN, in keeping with its mission, not only to refuse and return money from a government engaged in occupation and suppression of freedom of expression (of the people it occupies), but also to denounce and make public the many instances in which Israel blocks writers, especially of its own citizens, mostly Arab, from publication and book distribution, as well as free travel. If PEN is vociferous and fearless in standing up for the rights of imprisoned and blocked writers in the Arab world, for example, as in the recent cases in Gulf states, where worldwide efforts took place in support of such authors, it is then appalling that PEN shirks responsibility from standing up for the rights of Palestinian writers under Israeli occupation and as second class citizens inside Israel. Does PEN pretend not to have an idea of the restrictions on travel and book availability for Palestinians, restrictions imposed first and foremost by Israeli government policies? And top of it all, PEN goes on to accept money from such a government? What collusion, what cooptation and whitewashing of PEN's purposes is this, and what shameful silence and concealment? This speaks of the disintegration of PEN's mission. And for PEN to deflect resistance to its behavior with the falsehood that we, writers, aim to boycott individuals is abhorrent. I demand that PEN come clean and public against this so-called donation, and also to speak more consistently on behalf of the plight of Palestinian writers within Israeli borders and under Israeli occupation in Gaza and the West Bank.Eileen Myles, PEN Member"I signed the letter because I am utterly opposed to the inhumane policies of the government of Israel towards Palestine and think that a World Voices festival cannot accept money from that same government because of those same policies and because of the silencing of dissenting voices within both Palestine and Israel by the Israeli government. Also in US political life there is very little bravery among our own political class in speaking out against the policies of Israel towards Palestine and we as artists and intellectual must speak out in protest against that silence and do insist that PEN represent our voices forcefully and strongly without limitation. Financial support of this festival by the Israeli government would represent acceptance of those same policies, politics and public cowardice in the US and abroad in the face of violence and oppression towards the Palestinian people."John Oakes (former PEN Board Member) and Colin Robinson, Co-publishers OR BooksWe feel the PEN World Voices Festival a valuable celebration of international writing. We support PENs efforts to back freedom of expression and support imprisoned writers around the globe, including in this couny. But we do not understand why PEN feels it necessary to accept funding from a government that promulgates apartheid policies, spurns international law and shows callous disregard for civilian lives. Without Israeli government funding, PEN would continue its good work; the World Voices Festival would continue hosting writers and thrilling audiences. Why allow the Israeli government to sport the badge of honor that is festival sponsorship?Dr. Ahmad Qatamash, Palestinian author, and subject of PEN International alert when detained without trial by Israeli governmentI was imprisoned by Israel for eight and a half years without trial under administrative detention, as have been thousands of Palestinian detainees, a situation comparable to Franz Kafkas novel The Trial. Accepting any form of sponsorship from Israel is like PEN America Center endorsing such Israeli policies and supporting the theft of Palestinian land and water, which has left Palestinians with access to only 12% of their ancestral home.Sarah Schulman, PEN MemberAs a long-term Pen Member, who co-organized a panel of Palestinian writers a few short years ago, I know that Israel has not always been identified as a supporter of the conference. This provocative and recent turn of events places all of us who oppose Israel's violations of international law in an adversarial position to our own organization.Kamila Shamsie, Former Vice-President of English PENI understand why a call to boycott individual writers would be troubling to PEN members. This is not what we're asking for, and it's not what the wider BDS movement which springs from Palestinian civil society asks for. We're asking instead for PEN to refuse sponsorship from the Israeli government - to do otherwise is to become part of the 'Brand Israel' strategy which uses cultural events as a PR tool. Surely that isn't what PEN America and its membership want for their World Voices Festival?Burhan Sonmez, 2016 PEN World Voices Participant (in panel sponsored by the Israeli Embassy)"The dignity of an individual or a nation is essential. everyone needs to respect the other's existence. We should see that a step towards freedom and equality works in favor of both Palestinian and Israeli people. That is the way a prosperous future for everyone can be secured. We need to pronounce this dream."Ahdaf Soueif, PEN Member"To take the Israeli government's money, to treat it as a civilised supporter of art and culture, while it kills and tortures and segregates, is to aid and abet it in its crimes. This is not worthy of PEN."Alex Zucker, PEN MemberIn light of the Israeli government's restrictions on freedom of expression  documented not only by PEN International, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and Human Rights Watch, as cited in the March 29, 2016, letter from Adalah-NY, but also by Article 19 and Reporters Without Borders  I believe PEN America and the PEN World Voices Festival should not accept financial support from the government of Israel. At the same time, I am equally concerned that this year's festival is receiving financial support from the government of Mexico, which ranks even lower than Israel on freedom of expression, not only restricting and detaining journalists but murdering them, for decades. Given that, worldwide, states remain the greatest threat to free expression, I urge PEN America to consider a change in policy to forgo support from any government. As long as it does accept government funding, the organization must put guidelines in place, so that when a decision is made to accept government money, it is clear who is making the decision and on what basis.See this press release with links to sources: https://adalahny.org/press-release/1401/twenty-two-literary-figures-explain-why-they-signed-letter-calling-pen-american See the letter sent to PEN American Center: https://adalahny.org/web-action/1376/letter-pen-american-center-don-t-partner-israeli-government See April 5 press release: https://adalahny.org/press-release/1382/over-100-writers-including-pulitzer-winners-junot-d-az-richard-ford-and-alice
Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court tries to fasttrack an executioner justice who would continue policies of endless war and denial of prisoner rights.

Within 2 days of his first term, populists in America realized Obama was just another wolf in sheep's clothing. His nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court is more of the same, indicating an executioner justice who would continue policies of endless war and denial of prisoner rights.Merrick Garland received a 76 to 23 vote for the US Court of Appeals District of Columbia. It should be an immediate red flag that Garland has done nothing to irritate the party of the militaristic rich.OKC Bombing CoverupObama nominee Merrick Garland, a Justice Department prosecutor, covered up the role of the CIA in recruiting Timothy McVeigh to bomb the Oklahoma City building.McVeigh \after washing out of the Rangers was recruited by the CIA for a black op, the OKC bombing. The agency gave him 2 million dollars cash, but after arranging for his arrest, they stole back the money. Government agency conspirators pick presiding investigators who will cover up their crimes.Like 911, the OKC bombing was a government black op designed to erode individual liberties.2. In his prosecution of Timothy McVeigh, another patsy, Merrick Garland worked for McVeigh's execution. Hillary Clinton and Merrick Garland share their support of government murder (the death penalty) despite the fact that over 3/4 of the world and 42 states have no executions.3 Merrick Garland was chosen to prosecute the socalled unabomber, Ted Kaczynski. He rejected an insantty plea for the man who had killed 1 person4 In 2003 Merrick Garland ruled that Guantanamo Bay detainees could not seek relief in civilian courts. al Odah v. United States slate dot com5 Merrick Garland showed little mercy in deciding on defendant appeals6 Garland in 2010 voted to end federal limits on contributions to independent political groups. He further expanded the ruling that money is speech and paved the way for greater buying of elections.SpeechNow.org v. FEC in 20107 The DC appellate court is also the avenue for the nomination of John Roberts to the Supreme Court. Roberts wrote a brief advocating torture for the Republican administration.8 Garland has an authoritarian record and a high percentage of cases in which he backs up federal agencies.9 Some of Garland's casesa. Amfac Resorts v Dept of Interior282 F.3d 818 (2002), vacated sub nom. National Park Hosp. Ass'n v. Department of Interior, 538 U.S. 803 (2003).10 Judge Garland was on a a panel which ruled that the FCC's revocation of a license was subject to the restrictions of the Bankruptcy Code. The Supreme Court affirmed. NextWave Personal Comms V FCC , 253 F.3d 130 (2001), aff'd, 537 U.S. 293 (2003).11Women's and black rights groups on Democracy Now and elsewhere havecriticized Obama's failure to increase diversity with his nomination of Garland to the Supreme Court.12 None of the 4 current Harvard Law graduates on the court nor Garland have publicly opposed Harvard's warmonger investments nor its underground laboratories torturing animals.On the present court, 5 Catholics, 3 Jews, 1 African American, 1 Latino, and 3 women candidates have made it over the hurdles to become justices. There have never been Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, or Asian members of the court, nor an African American woman. While Protestants are the majority religion in the US, there is not a single Protestant on the court.Those backing Sri Srinivasan for the court had hoped he would be the first Hindu.Terry O'Neill, president of the women's rights group NOW:"Its unfortunate that President Obama felt it was necessary to appoint a nominee to the Supreme Court whose record on issues pertaining to womens rights is more or less a blank slate. Equally unfortunate is that we have to continue to wait for the first African American woman to be named. For this nomination, the so-called political experts ruled that the best choice for the highest court in the nation was a ciphera real nowhere man.""Slate's Mark Joseph Stern called the president's decision to nominate Garland "extremely disappointing." German Lopez at Vox wondered if the notoriously conservative Scalia had a more liberal record on criminal justice issues than Garland did." -Emily Shire-Decision of the court in giving torturers immunity:Giving Immunity TO Caci, A Private Security Firm Which Tortured ATABU GhraibThe US Appeals Court DC Used Their Gavels To Ratify TortureThe US Court of Appeals, District of Columbia has been a rubber stamper of violent illegal and immoral military and intelligence policy of the US government. For instance, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote a brief advocating torture when on the DC Appeals Court. Caci is based in Arlington, VirginiaMerrick B. Garland, Chief JudgeKaren LeCraft HendersonJudith W. RogersDavid S. TatelJanice Rogers BrownThomas B. GriffithBrett M. KavanaughSri SrinivasanPatricia A. MillettCornelia T.L. PillardRobert L. WilkinsHarry T. EdwardsLaurence H. SilbermanStephen F. WilliamsDouglas H. GinsburgDavid B. SentelleA. Raymond RandolphThe Washington Post and other corporate media often do not give the names of the judges who quash the Bill of RightsSee also:
As Congress introduces legislation to address Puerto Rico's financial crisis, San Juan's Catholic Archbishop is inviting prayers that all "work together to find a solution to the crisis that respects the rights and dignity of all sides."

The Archbishop's thoughts come as the House Committee on Natural Resources is in the introduction process of a legislative solution. Congress holds a special hearing on Wednesday on the new legislation."I invite the people of Puerto Rico and all people of faith around the world to join me and pray for the US Congress as they consider action around Puerto Rico," said Puerto Rico's Catholic Archbishop, Roberto Octavio Gonzalez Nieves, O.F.M. "We also must pray for Puerto Rico's leaders and creditors to work together to find a solution to the crisis that protects the rights and dignity of all sides. Finally we pray that any solutions will ensure that the debt is brought to payable levels, without further sacrifice to our social services."The legislation, or the "Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act," has provisions for a financial oversight board. "We pray that any solution seeks to reduce child poverty on the island and invest in our people. We pray that solutions respect Puerto Rico's democracy," continued Archbishop Gonzalez.Puerto Rico Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla signed a bill last week placing a moratorium on debt payments to prioritize payments for social services. The US territory will likely default on a $422 million May 1 payment. Puerto Rico cut funding for education, health care and law enforcement to pay its debt. The island's poverty rate is over 40% and nearly three out of four children live in homes that receive government assistance.Jubilee USA Network, a religious development coalition with 550 faith communities, spearheaded thousands of phone calls asking Congress that legislation has strong debt restructuring tools and reduces child poverty. The group is also coordinating churches and synagogues to "pray for Congress.""There can be no economic growth in Puerto Rico until the debt is brought back to sustainable levels," remarked Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA Network who testified to Congress about the proposed legislation. "Congress must adopt a solution that promotes budget transparency, reduces child poverty and ensures strong provisions to restructure the debt in a manner that is timely, comprehensive and orderly."Religious leaders on the island renewed calls for negotiated solutions that will reduce harm to Puerto Rico's people and provide investment for economic growth."It is urgent that leaders of our country and creditors can sit together at the table of dialogue and fellowship to find a responsible solution that does not sacrifice our people, already going to a very difficult situation, stated Reverend Heriberto Martinez, the head of Puerto Rico's Bible Society. "Our creditors should recognize that above any further consideration should be the well-being of human beings. The well-being of my brother and sister is and should be our main and highest priority."Jubilee USA Network is an alliance of more than 75 US organizations and 550 faith communities working with 50 Jubilee global partners. Jubilee USA builds an economy that serves, protects and promotes the participation of the most vulnerable. Jubilee USA has won critical global financial reforms and more than $130 billion in debt relief to benefit the world's poorest people. http://www.jubileeusa.org
North Bay, ON June says she has been suffering from a serious allergic reaction to June says she has been suffering from a serious allergic reaction to AMS transvaginal mesh , which is made with polypropylene, since she had the mesh implanted in 2013. I went back to the hospital - here in northern Ontario - and they just told me to take Benedryl for the itch, says June.

I was better off without the mesh. Id rather live with POP [pelvic organ prolapse] than this constant itching, pain and infection.

It is rare that transvaginal mesh for urinary incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse causes an allergic reaction, but Dr. Christopher Walker, an award-winning urogynecologist who specializes in revision surgeries involving transvaginal mesh, told(February 2013) that there are reports of patients being allergic to the polypropylene. Because they are allergic to it, they have an autoimmune response, inflammation and chronic pain. You have to take out all the pieces of mesh, which is a difficult thing to do.June wasnt able to find a doctor in Canada, and particularly not a urologist, to remove the mesh. Doctors don't want to hear my problem, but I recently went to Lockwood Clinic in Toronto and found out it was the mesh, she says. I had an allergy test and it determined that I am allergic to latex. Although experts say there is no latex in the mesh, it is possible that June is also allergic to the mesh material, which is a form of plastic and, of course, a foreign body.Latex allergy can result in potentially serious health problems, as June attests. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) says that severe reactions may involve respiratory symptoms such as runny nose, sneezing, itchy eyes, scratchy throat and asthma (difficult breathing, coughing spells and wheezing). June knew she was allergic to the transvaginal mesh because it was the same reaction she had to latex. She first had a reaction a few years back, in post-op surgery, when latex tape was used to tape the IV. The welts went away a few days after they removed the tape. Now when I go to hospital (I recently had a colonoscopy), I warn them not to use latex, June says.The day after transvaginal mesh surgery, June noticed the same reaction: welts all over her body. They never connected my reaction to the mesh, she says. The itching started first. Now I have multiple bladder infections, yeast infections, urinary infections and pain on the left side so bad it makes me cry. Because of these infections and a very strong odor, it has wrecked me emotionally and I lost my partner because we couldnt have sex.June finally found help. She has an appointment to possibly have the mesh removed in a few months. I have to drive four hours to Toronto so Im hoping they can take it out right away, she says.Allergy to transvaginal mesh may not be that rare. HysterSisters, a chatline for hysterectomy support, asked if anyone with mesh problems has a latex allergy. Here are two responses:I was told I had a possible allergic reaction to the mesh...like tingling and itching with no rash and chest pains. I was told it was similar to a latex allergy where it gets worse with every exposure. Everything else was ruled out and was put on prednisone for a week. I am seeing a UroGyn that specializes in pelvic support in 2 weeks to see if the sling needs to come out.I was also told that this was really rare. My Uro/Gyn removed about 99% of the mesh. I still have pain in the posterior vagina that my Gyn feels is due to the mesh arm bands that were left intact... Im having difficulty with side effects from the medications prescribed and the Drs mentioned Interstim. Its sort of a bladder pacemaker thats surgically implanted near the spine. With my history I think Ill stick with bladder leakage. Me and foreign bodies just dont seem to get along!!!
San Francisco, CA A federal judge has rejected the settlement of a A federal judge has rejected the settlement of a California labor lawsuit , finding plaintiffs attorneys undervalued the drivers claims and settled the suit for too little money. The ruling came in a California labor claim alleging Lyft drivers were misclassified as independent contractors, which deprived them of the protections and benefits given to employees. Although a preliminary settlement was reached, that settlement did not see drivers reclassified as employees, leading Teamsters and other Lyft drivers to file objections to the settlement.

In a decision handed out in April, US District Judge Vince Chhabria ruled the settlement was unfair to plaintiffs because it reimbursed them for only half their claims and did not provide enough non-monetary benefits to make up for the shortfall in financial compensation. Reimbursements are a sticking point in misclassification lawsuits. Employees would be eligible for reimbursement of certain expenses, including gas and vehicle maintenance. Independent contractors are required to cover those costs on their own. But to be independent contractors, workers must have more authority and discretion over their job duties.In all, the proposed settlement involved around $12.25 million, a fraction of the estimated reimbursement of $64 million. Under that amount, each driver involved in the lawsuit would have received about $56, once attorneys fees and expenses were deducted, according to(3/24/16). But the $64 million figure was based on old driver data. New data, involving figures up to and including February 2016, indicated drivers could have been eligible for up to $126 million in reimbursements if they were employees.Chhabria said the $12.25 million settlement was not reasonable given that driver reimbursement could actually total around $126 million.The Teamsters and some Lyft drivers filed objections to the settlement, arguing that because the settlement did not reclassify Lyft drivers as employees, Lyft would be able to continue imposing unfair terms of use on its drivers while still denying those drivers rights. Chhabria has not said a settlement must reclassify drivers as employees, but did indicate a new settlement must offer at least $21 million to the drivers. The two sides must now propose a new settlement. If one cannot be reached, the case will go to trial.This decision and the new settlement or trial will likely be closely watched by the two sides in an Uber lawsuit. That lawsuit also alleges drivers were misclassified by Uber as independent contractors even though they were treated like employees.The Lyft lawsuit is, 13-cv-04065, US District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco).
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Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders

PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces

There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan

Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia

Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair

Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan

I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General

I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox

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There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur

EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol  Armenia and Azerbaijan  to do so without delay

An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan".

UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT

The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022

Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully

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The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces

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STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN

This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan

Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments

Delegation by Nancy Pelosi Accompanied by Alen Simonyan Visits Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi Arrives in Yerevan

Armenian Revytech, global technology leader SAP and financial services software specialist SAP Fioneer sign a cooperation agreement

With 120 million drams donated by Mikael Vardanyan, the defenders of the homeland will be treated in a new building

OSCE Chairman-in-Office and OSCE Secretary General call for immediate cessation of hostilities along Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh

USA Embassy Message for U.S. Citizens

ANCA Issues National Call to Action to Stop Taxpayer Funding of Aliyevs Aggression
- A PDP chieftain, Senator Matthew Urhoghide said Bukola Saraki is being witch-hunted because he is the Senate president

- Urhoghide lamented the Senate president's trial and described the development as an unfortunate

Senator Matthew Urhoghide, chairman, Senate committee on culture and tourism has revealed why the Senate president, Bukola Saraki is undergoing trial at the code of conduct tribunal (CCT).

READ ALSO: National Assembly Confronts Buhari

Senator Matthew Urhoghide thinks the Senate president, Bukola Saraki is being hunted.

The lawmaker, who described the trial as an unfortunate issue in an interview with Vanguard, said Saraki is being prosecuted because he is the Senate president.

Urhoghide, who was the former publicity secretary of the Edo state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) noted that if it was not for Sarakis position at the National Assembly, issues like these would not have cropped up.

So, if you have this attitude at the back of the mind that this is the reason for all of this persecution, then of course one is completely taken aback and one feels sorry that things like this can still happen in this country. Some of you have been in court, you have seen what is going on and the drama; the background of all of this is because Senator Bukola Saraki is the Senate President otherwise they will not go and dig up issues under the guise of the law saying that it doesnt matter how long it is that you can be brought to book, he said.

Urhoghide revealed that the trial of the Senate president might cost the All Progressives Congress (APC) the Senate presidency, and hinted that the PDP would take over the Senate president seat if Saraki is removed.

He asserted that the trial is a misgiving that people can be persecuted for just taking the initiative to be what they want to be politically.

READ ALSO: No rift between the executive and legislature- Presidency

Again, I see it as a complete slide in the development of our national institutions particularly the National Assembly and to think of it that we in the Senate, who are supposed to be distinguished Nigerians are not allowed to make our free choice. So, if you have this attitude at the back of the mind that this is the reason for all of this persecution, then of course one is completely taken aback and one feels sorry that things like this can still happen in this country, Urhoghide said.

Read the full interview here

Source: Legit.ng
Members of Hellenic and Latvian parliaments visit the NKR

On April 11, during the visit to Artsakh the member of the Hellenic Parliament Garyfallia Kanelli and the Head of Latvia-Armenia Parliamentary Friendship Group Sergejs Potapkins were accompanied by the RA NA Deputy Speaker Eduard Sharmazanov, the RA NA deputy Gagik Melikyan and the RA Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in the Hellenic Republic Gagik Ghalachian. The Speaker of the NKR National Assembly Ashot Ghulyan received the European MPs, the NKR NA Deputy Speaker Vahram Balayan and the Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations of the Parliament Arzik Mkhitaryan also took part in the meeting. Welcoming the guests, Ashot Ghulyan highly assessed the visit of the parliamentarians of Greece and Latvia to Artsakh during these very days, underlining that they were the first foreign MPs, who visited Artsakh after the large-scale military operations initiated by Azerbaijan on the Karabakh-Azerbaijani border at the beginning of April. Touching upon the situation in the frontline the Head of the Artsakh Parliament noted: The large-scale aggression initiated by Azerbaijan on April 2-5 has not changed our position in any way, on the contrary it has more confirmed our goal to strengthen the independent, self-sovereign and democratic state. The RA NA Deputy Speaker Eduard Sharmazanov noted that this short-term war once more confirmed the Artsakh peoples and the whole Armenians resoluteness to defend the Artsakh peoples just struggle for freedom and independence. The Hellenic Parliament MP Garyfallia Kanelli, qualifying their visit as a parliamentarians visit, considered what happened at the beginning of April not only to be a crisis in the sphere of human rights, but also in the world. In her word she noted that they would do their best in order the lives never be sacrificed for others interests. The Member of the Latvian Saeima Sergejs Potapkins in his word highlighted the fact that the Artsakh people are not alone and have co-thinkers in Europe: they came to Artsakh to personally see the real situation, to communicate with the citizens and assure them that they support Nagorno Karabakh. The MP assured that they would do their best to solve the problem through peaceful means. During the exchange of thoughts the Head of the NKR Parliament presented the history of the Artsakh liberation struggle to the European parliamentarians and answered their questions related to the process of the NKR international recognition and the provision of the Artsakh peoples security. On April 11, the member of the Hellenic Parliament Garyfallia Kanelli and the Head of Latvia-Armenia Parliamentary Friendship Group Sergejs Potapkins were accompanied by the RA NA Deputy Speaker Eduard Sharmazanov met with the NKR President Bako Sahakyan. The NKR NA Deputy Speaker Vahram Balayan, the RA Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in the Hellenic Republic Gagik Ghalachian and other officials took part in the meeting. In the course of the meeting issues regarding the large-scale military operations unleashed recently against the Republic of Artsakh by Azerbaijan were touched upon. Bako Sahakyan highly assessed the support of the representatives of different countries, their political and public circles to the peaceful settlement process of the problem and the condemnation of the aggression, considering it manifestation of principality and humanity. At the same time the NKR President noted that the international community should give tough and targeted assessment to Azerbaijans bellicose and destructive policy, underlining that its availability and adequacy play an important role in restraining of aggression.
- The National Assembly went on recess for about three weeks for the Easter break

- There has been a lot of drama surrounding national issues

- These issues will be deliberated on the floor of the Senate as they resume plenary today

Senate President, Bukola Saraki

The National Assembly on Tuesday, April 12, resumed plenary with pending issues in focus for the lawmakers to deliberate on.

The Senate is likely to deliberate on call for the resignation of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki due to his trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) as well as some revelations linking him to the Panama deal.

Senator Abdul Fatai Buhari, the Chairman Senate Committee of ICT and Cybercrime and the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) called on the Senate President, to tow the path of honour by resigning as the President of the Nigerian Senate or be ready to be disgraced out of office.

Following his inauguration on May 29, President Muhammadu Buhari directed that all political office holders should declare their assets on assumption of office.

Thereafter, the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) disclosed that there were some irregularities in the assets declared by Saraki.

Following the revelation, the Code of Conduct Tribunal issued a 13 count charge on false asset declaration against him.

READ ALSO: Presidency denies rejecting 2016 budget

His trial is presently on going at the CCT and some Nigerians are calling on him to resign honurably.

There is also the likelyhood that the senate will deliberate on some controversies sorrounding the 2016 budget.

The Senate on Wednesday, March 23, passed the long awaited 2016 budget submitted by President Muhammadu Buhari. The 2016 Budget of N6,060,677,358,277 was reduced by N17,002,641,773.

On Tuesday, December 22, 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari laid before a joint sitting of the National Assembly the 2016 appropriation bill. The bill contained the estimates of revenue and expenditure of the federation for the 2016 fiscal year in the aggregate sum of six trillion. The Senate debated the bill on January 20, 21, 26 and 27 respectively.

The bill was read a second time on January 27, and consequently referred to the committee on appropriations for further legislative actions.

READ ALSO: Why Senate Rejected The Second 2016 Budget

Meanwhile some bills might be deliberated upon on the floor of the senate today as they are listed in the order paper.

They include a Bill for an Act to Establish the National Commission for conciliation and arbitration, national labour council, the office of the registrar of trade unions etc to administer the provisions of labour laws in Nigeria and other matters connected therewith, 2016.

Another is the bill for an act to provide for the establishment of defence space agency and for other matters connected therewith, 2016.

Meanwhile, the lawmakers as at the time of this report are in a executive session, probably to discuss these issues.

Source: Legit.ng
Case of violence in Armenian-Russian relations (video)

What lessons must Armenia learn from four-day war unleashed by Azerbaijan? Today political experts discussed this topic at media center. Richard Kirakosyan, Director of The Regional Studies Center, Political Scientist, singled out several lessons: The first lesson is that there are few levers, which can be used not to let Azerbaijan resume military operations. Second, we understood that Azerbaijan has a new tactic- occupy and keep new territories. The third is already connected with our inner political problems. The corruption in the society and the absence of transparency endanger our state more. And the forth lesson is the so called betrayal of Russia as a strategic ally, he said. The fifth step must be taken by the RA Government by reviewing the Armenian-Russian relations; Richard Kirakosyan thinks that there is crisis in those relations and it must be assessed. We are not speaking about being pro-Western or pro-Russian, we are speaking about the pro-Armenian stance, independence and sovereignty of Armenia must not be easily surrendered to the interests of external forces, said Mr Kirakosyan, noting that if we monitor the Armenian-Russian marriage, a case of family violence was registered. According to the words of Sergey Minasyan, Deputy Director of the Caucasus Institute, Political Scientist, Azerbaijani, having taken several square meters territory, was able to gain the confidence and support of its society. In terms of armaments, Azerbaijan has privilege, and it tried to use it maximally from the first day of hostilities. The authorities of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh must learn lessons from it and try to review in a short period of time both the system of our defense and the system of foreign policy, he noted. As for Russia, the political expert thinks that it also must learn lessons from these events, The situation was a cold shower for Russia. I think that at least people in Russia understand that if Armenia is not able to ensure the security and development of the NKR at the appropriate level, the Armenian-Russian military-political, strategic relations lose their sense.
Scientific progress must not be destructive (video)

Five Nobel Prize Laureates will give open lectures for five days for Armenian scientists and students, I think my lecture will have a lot of impact. The young will get more interested in science and maybe they would like to cooperate, says Nobel Prize laureate Robin J.Warren. The young people are the most important people in our life, they must be educated, educated, educated. But I think that the scientific education should start in the kindergarten. I already implement such projects in my hometown, says Nobel Prize laureate Dan Shechtman. Jewish scientist Aaron Ciechanover thinks that the science helps to live longer. A number of new technologies and medicine have been invented for treating incurable diseases. But the scientist also voices the negative sides of the sciences development, While some scientists think how to prolong peoples life, the others create armaments, which kill people, says the scientist. Former Minister of Science and Education Armen Ashotyan also agrees with this viewpoint- science must serve only the interests of peace, It is a current issue during these days, that the scientific progress of humanity must not be destructive, which happens in case of using modern arms. By the way, three Nobel Prize laureates are from Israel, one is from Japan and one is from Austria. The main slogan of the event is Be inspired and create. Watch the video for details!
- The Arewa Youth Integrity Forum says killer of Fulani herdsmen must face the law

- The group accused Abia state of shielding IPOB

- It accuses IPOB of stiring social unrest with its separation agenda

Following the discovery of a mass grave in Abia where the bodies of five Fulani herdsmen were discovered, the Arewa Youth Integrity Forum (AYIF) has issued a warning to the Abia state government.

The Department of State Services (DSS) implicated members of the pro-Biafra group, the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) in the killing of the herdsmen and other yet-to-be-identified bodies found in the grave. The Abia state governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu however denied the report.

Alhaji Ibrahim Abubakar, the national president is of AYIF, in a statement warned the Abia state government not to shield IPOB members from facing justice.

READ ALSO: Group to drag IPOB to ICC over killing of northerners

The group urged that all those involved must face prosecution and blamed IPOB for trying to cause social unrest.

The statement read: The Abia State Government has continued to deny the killings of the northerners who were going about their peaceful activities in the state before they were allegedly kidnapped and gruesomely buried alive by the IPOB members in that state.

Unfortunately, rather than condemning this heinous act against humanity, the Abia state government has resorted to defending the murderous Independent People of Biafra and its leadership over these war crimes. It is therefore becoming glaring that the real actors behind the activities of IPOB are gradually being unfolded and in due course it shall be uncovered to the chagrin of all Nigerians.

READ ALSO: "Hausa-Fulani herdsmen were killed by miscreants"

Abubakar said AYIF was not surprised at the state governments denial but urged Nigerians not to be provoked by the activities of IPOB. He urged for calm and not to be affected by the separatists who have set aside international conventions to embrace criminality in the name of agitations for independence.

Meanwhile, IPOB gave DSS seven days to show evidence of how its members allegedly killed and buried Hausa/Fulani herdsmen in Abia state.

The group said if the DSS failed to meet the ultimatum, it will tell expose the plot by the agency to instigate the killing of the Igbo people in the north through the fabrication of lies.

Source: Legit.ng
Gas price still not to be reduced for citizens

Among the EU member states Germany is the biggest partner of Armenia in terms of turnover; it was announced today during the press conference convened on the occasion of the foundation of German Economic Association in our country. The union aims at presenting the interests of the German economy to the state bodies and boosting bilateral trade through a company, which operates independently and on a membership basis in Armenia Last year also growth of turnover was registered between two countries. But I think that the potential hasnt been exhausted, noted Matthias Kiesler, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Germany to Armenia. He is sure that there are good chances of development in the sectors of agriculture, textile etc. I hope that the Armenian Government can clearly note the directions, which can be developed, he highlighted. In addition, he highlighted that in Germany the backbone of economy is comprised of small and medium enterprises. Mr Kiesler thinks that the isolated geopolitical position of Armenia creates obstacles for the economy. We would like Armenia to have good relations with its all neighbors. Minister of Economy Artsvik Minasyan hopes that the German Economic Association will contribute to the improvement of investment sphere. As for the reduction of gas price on the border by Russia, the Minister noted, I cannot consider it as an essential contribution to our economy. In terms of gas and other raw materials, we, together with Russia, must make transition to single currency payments. Our Prime Minister has voiced it, and I regret to say that still we dont have an answer from the other party. But I think we must seek for alternative energy sources. Will gas price be reduced for the citizens? That issue is out of my powers. That power belongs to the Public Services Regulatory Commission. And at present I dont have information, that a bid has been submitted, he summed up.
Knight Frank and its Dutch associate NL Real Estate have advised Credit Suisse on the sale of a portfolio of commercial real estate assets in the Netherlands. The Maxima portfolio, which comprises 14 assets totalling c. 140,000 sq m, has been acquired by an affiliate of MCAP Global Finance (UK)

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The Knight Frank Berlin office has hired a team of three leading Capital Markets agents, Hanns-Joachim Fredrich, Heiko Franke and Daniel Shakhatreh to join from Cushman and Wakefield. Franke and Shakhatreh will start at Knight Frank on 1st June, and Fredrich will join on the 1st September 2016. The team

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LaSalle Investment Management has acquired the freehold of Horfield Lodge Nursing Home in Bristol from Aprirose for 19 million (15.3 million), representing a net initial yield of 4.5 per cent. Horfield Lodge is a purpose built property that provides 75 bedrooms over four floors for residential, dementia and nursing care.

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Prelios plans to launch the Prelios German Retail Property Fund Germany with a targeted volume of around 280 million for German and international institutional investors. The loan-to-value (LTV) ratio is to be 35 to 40 percent maximum. The closed-end fund with Luxembourg structure will pursue a Core+ investment strategy, according

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Birminghams student housing market is coming of age, with a record number of student beds in the development pipeline and major assets changing hands. According to research by CBRE, the city has granted planning permission for more than 3,200 new student beds across 24 developments, ranging in size from 33

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Sh. Kocharyan: Turkey presents Azerbaijans military operations through the prism of religious conflict

The answer of Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan to the question of News.am news agency Question: Mr. Kocharyan, how would you comment on the statement of the Foreign Minister of Turkey made within the framework of the Summit of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul? Answer: It is obvious that any involvement of Ankara in the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement process would only harm it, because of the biased position of Turkey and its tendency to support Azerbaijan at any cost. April 2-5 events unleashed by Baku on the Line of Contact between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh and the provocative statements from Turkey are clear proofs of that. In his remarks made within the framework of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) the Foreign Minister of Turkey, manipulating the Islamic solidarity, undertakes a dangerous attempt to artificially present Azerbaijans military operations against the self-determined Nagorno-Karabakh through the prism of religious conflict. The policy of the current leadership of Turkey results in the spread of instability, terrorism and bloodshed both within Turkey and beyond its borders. By the above-mentioned provocative statement the Foreign Minister of Turkey, in fact, unveils the inclination to spread that wave towards the South Caucasus.
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A combination of artemisinin and another drug (artemisinin combination therapy, ACT) is currently the best malaria treatment recommended by the World Health Organization. In early 2015, artemisinin-resistant malaria was confirmed in five countries in Southeast Asia: Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Even more worrying, malaria cases that are resistant to practically all drugs have begun to emerge along the Thailand-Cambodia border. Such cases do not respond to ACT; thus, new therapies that are effective for resistant malaria are urgently needed.

For a therapy to be effective, it needs to counteract the resistance of malaria to existing drugs. Malaria drugs, such as chloroquine and artemisinin, work within the digestive vacuole of the malaria parasite, which serves as the stomach of the parasite. The killing action of chloroquine is better understood than that for artemisinin. Once chloroquine enters the parasite's "stomach," the stomach membrane traps the drug inside (similar to a window closing and locking) and the high levels of drug can then effectively kill the parasite. However, in a resistant malaria parasite, the stomach membrane is mutated so that it cannot keep the drug inside the stomach, just like a window with a broken lock. Since the drug is no longer concentrated inside the stomach, it can no longer kill the malaria parasite effectively.

Associate Professor Kevin Tan of the Department of Microbiology & Immunology and Associate Professor Brian Dymock of the Drug Development Unit and the Department of Pharmacy have now developed a hybrid drug that combines parts of chloroquine and a chemoreversal agent. This gives the hybrid drug a "dual acting" mechanism: a killing factor (chloroquine-derived) and a second component that acts on that faulty window of the parasite's stomach so it can now close again (the chemoreversal agent). The drug becomes concentrated inside the stomach of the drug-resistant parasite and can kill the parasite.

The new hybrid drug killed malaria strains grown in the laboratory as well as malaria parasites from patients in Thailand. Importantly, the drug was very effective against malaria that was resistant to both chloroquine and artemisinin. It was three times more effective than chloroquine at killing these resistant strains. The researchers are continuing to refine the hybrid drug to make it an even more effective therapy for resistant malaria. This work was published online on March 7, 2016 in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

Although malaria drugs and chemoreversal agents have been used to treat drug-resistant malaria before, this is the first time that a hybrid of chloroquine and a newly discovered chemoreversal factor has been used in a single novel molecule for this purpose. A single therapy has several advantages that make it a promising new weapon against drug-resistant malaria. Besides being more convenient to take, it has less risk of drug-drug interactions, may be better absorbed and distributed in the body, and could result in slower development of new resistant strains of malaria.
The massive icefield that feeds Alaska's Mendenhall Glacier may be gone by 2200 if warming trend predictions hold true, according to University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers.

The estimate is the product of the first detailed look at the future of the Juneau Icefield, source of the Mendenhall and about 140 other glaciers, said Regine Hock, a glaciologist at UAF's Geophysical Institute.

The terminus of Mendenhall Glacier, 10 miles northwest of downtown Juneau, is visible from a U.S. Forest Service center visited by 450,000 people in 2015. If warming continues, the terminus will retreat up the valley and withdraw from view around a corner.

"By the end of this century, people will most likely not be able to see the Mendenhall Glacier anymore from the visitor's center," Hock said.

Hock is one of the authors on a paper published in the Journal of Glaciology that outlines their findings. UAF postdoctoral fellow Florian Ziemen, UAF glaciologist Andy Aschwanden, Hock and five others used past and present observations and mathematical models to predict how North America's fifth-largest icefield would react under different climate scenarios.

The icefield covers 1,500 square miles in steep mountainous terrain. Climate data for the area has been sparse. The researchers were able to correct the data set from the Weather Research and Forecasting Model and combine that with the Parallel Ice Sheet Model. The Parallel Ice Sheet Model, developed by UAF researchers, is widely used by glacier researchers around the world.

The team predicted that more than 60 percent of the ice will be lost by 2099 if warming trends continue, Hock said. The entire icefield could be gone by 2200.

However, if temperatures remain the same as they are today, the Juneau Icefield will retreat only slightly and then stabilize. The researchers found interesting the model results that also show that the icefield would regrow to almost its current shape if the area were ice-free right now. That's because the high-altitude cold weather of the mountains would cause snowfall to start the glacier-forming process again, Hock said. This is very different from other glaciers and icefields in Alaska that are at lower altitudes.
It appears the violence at SeaWorld still hasn't stopped. SeaWorld guest Ashley Miller attended SeaWorld San Antonio's Dine With Shamu show on Saturday when, she says, she saw a bit more than she expected. The afternoon show featured two young whales - siblings Sakari, 6, and Kamea, 2 - who weren't exactly keen on performing. "[They] were seemingly expected to do the whole Dine With Shamu session alone, and the two decided they would rather play than listen to cues (in between going to the gates to see Takara, their mother)," Miller told The Dodo. "Eventually they became bored and started fighting, even hitting one another hard enough with their flukes while on the slide-out to cause the other to slide quite a ways in the other direction."

Ashley Miller

"It continued escalating, but the trainers just laughed it off and told guests that the calves were playing, instead of trying to redirect their focus or let Takara into the pool to discipline them," she said. Eventually the two whales disappeared beneath the surface, according to Miller, and "continued thrashing about." When they surfaced, she said, Sakari's chin was "dripping with blood."

Dodo Shows Odd Couples Kitten Isn't Sure About His Pittie Brother  At First

Ashley Miller

"I can't say whether it was a bite or if she hit the wall, but when the trainer saw, he quickly had her turn to the side along the pool with her chin under the water to give her a back rub, obviously hoping nobody saw it," Miller explained. Photos taken by Miller appear to show Sakari surfacing with a damaged chin before a trainer kneels down beside her on the slide-out, angling her away from the audience. Miller said the experience left her "frustrated."

Ashley Miller
<p><em>Charlie's Angels Animal Rescue</em><span></span></p>

A dog now named Gaia is lucky to be alive. Tania Cappelluti was out driving in Costa Rica in February when she first saw a little stray dog on the side of the road.

Charlie's Angels Animal Rescue

Cappelluti, who runs a yoga retreat, is also a founding member of Charlie's Angels Animal Rescue, so she naturally pulled the car over immediately. "When I jumped out of the car to check on her she immediately fell on the ground and started crying," Cappelluti wrote on Facebook.

Dodo Shows Wild Hearts Orphaned Deer Runs Back To The Wild With Her Best Friend

Charlie's Angels Animal Rescue

Gaia probably knew how badly she needed help. "She was covered in fleas and ticks and was extremely dehydrated," Cappelluti wrote. "But the sweetest soul."

Charlie's Angels Animal Rescue

"We gave her water and a bit of food," Cappelluti wrote. "She could hardly hold herself up."

Charlie's Angels Animal Rescue

With a little care, Gaia was already quite transformed. And Cappelluti got to work trying to place Gaia in a loving home. Charlie's Angels Animal Rescue works with other animal rescue organizations through word of mouth and social media to help animals in need all across Costa Rica.

Charlie's Angels Animal Rescue

Cappelluti found a temporary home for Gaia, thanks to help from from Osa Peninsula Rescue & Adoptions. Gaia went to Devon Storayn at Finca Morpho, a community farm, while she waited for her forever home.

Charlie's Angels Animal Rescue

And soon enough, someone fell in love with Gaia.

Devon Storayn (left) gave Gaia a temporary home. | Charlie's Angels Animal Rescue

"Gaia found an excellent home in Puerto Jimenez," Cappelluti wrote. "She lives with a lovely lady from France in a beautiful cool house and already knows how to give high fives!"
<p>Dennis McDonald</p>

On the morning of March 10, a black cat lay motionless, facedown in a puddle, on the side of a road in British Columbia, Canada.

Dennis McDonald

The weather was severe, with torrential rain that reflected hurricane-like conditions. The cat was in pain - he had been run over by a car and his face was badly maimed. To the outside world and other vehicles driving past, the cat was already considered dead. But one man's gut instinct told him otherwise.

Dennis McDonald

"You almost hit a dead cat," the passenger of Dennis McDonald, a 45-year-old truck driver, said to him. The two had just driven past the cat in McDonald's 5-ton rig. "I look quickly at the passenger mirror and honestly, something hit me," McDonald, who already owned two cats, told The Dodo. "Tears started to well up [in my eyes] and I said, 'I don't believe that he's dead. I'm turning around.' I knew I couldn't carry on with my day if I hadn't gone back."

Dodo Shows Little But Fierce Pocket-Sized Kitten Grows Up To Be A Wild Woman

Dennis McDonald

McDonald's intuition and sheer empathy for an animal - one he wasn't even certain was alive - were what led to the 3-year-old cat's chance at survival. By the time McDonald drove back around and stepped out of his truck to save the cat, another motorist had stopped to check on the animal too. McDonald saw that the cat was in rough shape, possibly with a broken neck or back - but regardless, he was still alive. The motorist offered McDonald a box to transport him.

Dennis McDonald

"I took the length of my arm and put it under [the cat] to support him entirely and managed to get him in the box and back to the truck," McDonald said. He immediately drove to the Burnaby SPCA to drop the cat off to hopefully receive the help he needed to continue living. "On the way out the door I told them, without hesitation, that if the owners don't step up, I'd like to have first opportunity to adopt him," McDonald said, adding if "by miracle" the cat managed to pull through his extensive injuries. The cat, who McDonald named BB-8 after the "Star Wars" robot, had to have his jaw wired shut, in addition to suffering from a collapsed nose and fractures to his skull.

Dennis McDonald

Thanks to generous donations, doctors were able to perform surgery on BB-8 pro bono. For three weeks after his extensive dental surgery, BB-8 had to wear an acrylic bite splint. But during the continued pain and discomfort the cat must have felt, McDonald always made certain to visit him, bringing much-needed comfort.

Dennis McDonald

Then the opportunity rose for McDonald to rescue BB-8 again - in the form of providing a forever home. BB-8 had an ear tattoo that led to contact information for his original owner. According to McDonald, she hadn't seen BB-8 in a year. "She was in a place where she couldn't do anything for him, so she surrendered him to the the vet and me. That broke my heart into a million little pieces." As it turns out, BB-8's original owner gave him away to a neighbor, who then lost him, leading to the dire predicament McDonald found him in. But today, BB-8 is doing more than fine. He's expected to make a full recovery without any long-term health issues.

Dennis McDonald

A recent photo McDonald shared with The Dodo shows BB-8 looking like an entirely new cat.

Dennis McDonald

He's currently still healing at the vet, but once he's ready to leave with McDonald, he'll gain a new rescue brother and sister named Lucy and Ricky. McDonald likes to think that Lucy and BB-8 were separated at birth, given their physical similarities and the fact that they're both the same age.

Dennis with Lucy, BB-8's new sister. | Dennis McDonald

What's impressed McDonald the most throughout BB-8's ordeal has been his resilience.

Dennis McDonald

"He is the most affectionate and grateful," McDonald said. "Truly humbled at this guy's ability to move forward and put the pain behind him and focus on the love."

Dennis McDonald
OSCE Troika urges conflicting sides to end all violence, says there can be no military solution to Karabakh conflict

Berlin, 12 April 2016 - The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier welcomed Serbias and Austrias Foreign Ministers Ivica Dacic and Sebastian Kurz as well as the OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier for an OSCE Troika meeting in Berlin today. The members of the OSCE Troika discussed recent developments in the OSCE region, including the situation in Ukraine and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone. They also focused on issues of migration, the fight against terrorism and economic connectivity. They underlined the important role the OSCE is playing as a regional security organization and stressed the need to provide it with sufficient operational capacities and financial resources to address the challenges to European security. The members of the OSCE Troika expressed strong concern over reports on increasing numbers of ceasefire violations and the presence of heavy weapons in the security zone in the east of Ukraine. They underlined that renewed hostilities and the return of proscribed weapons as reported by the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) are in breach of the Package of Measures for the implementation of the Minsk agreements and called on all signatories of the Minsk agreements to honour their commitments. The Ministers and Secretary General Zannier called upon the sides to fully ensure safety and free and unrestricted access of the OSCE monitors throughout the area of conflict, including to the Ukrainian-Russian State border in accordance with the SMM-mandate and the Minsk agreements. They underlined that incidents against SMM monitors, as reported by the Mission in recent days, are unacceptable and that those responsible for threatening and using force against civilian monitors must be held accountable.They assured the SMM and its Chief Monitor, Ambassador Apakan, as well as the Special Representative of the CiO, Ambassador Sajdik, of their full support. In reaction to the recent escalation in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the members of the OSCE Troika urged the sides to end all violence, to strictly adhere to the ceasefire, and underlined that there can be no military solution to the conflict. They agreed that de-escalation and stepping up the political process are paramount. They welcomed the joint statement issued by the Minsk Group on April 5 and underlined their continuous support for the efforts of the Group and its Co-Chairs. They will continue to follow developments on the ground closely and to promote the political process. Condemning the terror in attacks in Ankara, Brussels, Istanbul, Paris and elsewhere, the Troika stressed the important role the OSCE can play in combatting terrorism and violent extremism. Chairperson-in Office Steinmeier underlined that The OSCE is a unique platform for dialogue and co-operation, also and in particular for finding common responses to security threats that no state can counter effectively alone. The German Chairmanship will make every effort in this respect, in particular by hosting a conference focusing explicitly on the phenomenon of Foreign Terrorist Fighters in May. The Troika welcomed efforts undertaken by Austria to put special emphasis on the fight against radicalization and extremism as Chair of the OSCE Mediterranean Partnership. The Troika also underlined their view that the OSCE  thanks in particular to its large geographical scope and its comprehensive security concept  can and will contribute towards addressing challenges stemming from the current migration crisis. The Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz stressed in this regard: The unprecedented flow of refugees and migrants heading for Europe since last summer demonstrates clearly the need for enhanced co-operation at all levels. I therefore fully support the Chairmanships initiative to consolidate and refocus the OSCEs assistance to participating States in sustainably addressing this challenge. As current chair of the Mediterranean Partnership of the OSCE, Austria will also ensure that OSCE Partners will be closely associated to these efforts. Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic added: As OSCE Chairmanship last year, Serbia has initiated discussions on how to enhance an OSCE-wide response to the migration crisis. We believe that finding a systematic and comprehensive solution in cooperation with other relevant international organizations is the only way to deal efficiently with a crisis of this scale. We welcome the continuation of these efforts and commitment of the current and incoming Chairmanships. In this regard, Ministers also welcomed the activities undertaken by the Secretary General and in particular the recent Security Days: Refocusing Migration and Security - Bridging National and Regional Responses in Rome on 4 March. The Troika also discussed further initiatives of the OSCE Chairmanship to address current security challenges and to provide opportunities for increased dialogue throughout the OSCE area. Steinmeier concluded: The current fragile security situation in Europe calls for more dialogue on political level within the OSCE area. I have therefore decided to convene an informal meeting of OSCE Foreign Ministers on 1 September 2016 in Potsdam, to provide space for a broad and deeper political discussion of security challenges facing our region. Troika partners welcomed this initiative of the Chairmanship and expressed their full support for its intention to strengthen dialogue on the political level in the OSCE area. The Ministers also stressed the important role of the OSCE Troika in supporting the Chairmanship and in ensuring the continuity of the OSCEs work.
Fabian Barnes, who was founder and director of the Dance Institute of Washington, is shown in 2006. Barnes died unexpectedly Friday at 56. (Bill OLeary/The Washington Post)

The Dance Institute of Washington is reeling from the unexpected death Friday of its founder and director Fabian Barnes, 56, the hard-driving and big-hearted former Dance Theatre of Harlem soloist who devoted his life to training underprivileged children in classical ballet.

Barnes had been sick for some time, though no one knew the details, said Jared Fischer, a longtime DIW staff member and grant writer.

Fabian being so private, we cant even speculate what the illness was, Fischer said. In recent phone calls, hed say things like, Im not doing well, Im getting over a sickness, and you could hear in his voice he wasnt doing so hot. Fischer said Barnes had not been seen at the school since early March.

Marcellous P. Frye Jr., chairman of the DIW board, went to Barness house Friday evening with another board member to check on him. When no one answered the door, they called police. According to the police report, Barnes was discovered in his bedroom, dead of natural causes.

Adding to the mystery and shock of his death is that Barnes was known for his energy and stamina. He was an imposing figure, a tall and powerfully built man who seemed to fill a room when he entered it. In launching his school, he took on two jobs at once, opening up a summer ballet program for underserved children in the District in 1987, while on a seasonal break from the Dance Theatre of Harlem.

Barnes, the youngest of 10 children, grew up poor in Seattle, said Marvin Miller, a DIW board member and close friend of Barnes. Dance saved his life, Miller said Tuesday. It took him somewhere else and gave him a focus. Thats why he was so emphatic about serving children who are at risk, to let them know they had options.

In the late 1990s, Barnes retired from dancing to teach year-round in circumstances that were far from ideal, relying on rental studios in some of the poorest parts of town. In 2000, he was awarded one of Oprah Winfreys Angel Network awards, and soon after that he started fundraising to buy a building for his school.

It took five years of meetings and headaches, but in 2006 Barnes opened his institute in a custom-designed, $5 million building, with three dance studios, on what had been an overgrown vacant lot.

A lot of people here want to do good things, but few are able to achieve so much so quickly, said Septime Webre, artistic director of the Washington Ballet. At a time when his own institution was trying to expand, he admired Barness know-how. Pulling off that stunning building in Columbia Heights was pretty amazing. He succeeded where we didnt in that regard.

When he first started, he was so adventurous and so determined, said Carla Perlo, founder and director of Dance Place. Fabian right away seized the opportunity. A lot of people wait for the perfect thing, and the perfect thing never arrives. . . . He had to envision and fundraise and build from the bottom up. But he knew he could bring the magic.

The strain of that effort surprised him, Barnes said in a 2006 interview, when his Columbia Heights building opened: If I knew then what I know now, it probably would have stopped me from buying the property, he said. Not to say Im not happy I did it, but everything comes with a price. My price was sleepless nights and high blood pressure.

DIW quickly grew in recognition. In 2011, the school received the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award. Enrollment now tops 600 students, said Kahina Haynes, the school director. Nearly 1,000 students typically attend over the summer, she said. DIW graduates have gone on to join such companies as Dance Theatre of Harlem, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and the Charlotte Ballet. The professional company Washington Reflections, which Barnes had founded at the Columbia Heights location, is on hiatus.

Barnes had raised the topic of his retirement in recent months, said Frye, suggesting that he might like to step down in a decade or so. It was nice to see Fabian involved, accepting new ideas and bringing up planning, Frye said. Hed said he wanted to mentor somebody to take this on.

That effort must continue without him; no plans have been made yet to search for a successor, Frye said. He added, The most important thing that we need to do is to make sure that we continue with the legacy and purpose and mission that Fabian set forth almost 30 years ago.
Its a menacing, dreamlike tableau: two identical knife-wielding men, poised for an attack inside a cockfighting ring.

That eerie bit of double vision is just one of the striking moments in Cronica de una muerte anunciada/Chronicle of a Death Foretold, a taut and sometimes luminous production from GALA Hispanic Theatre. Adapted by Jorge Ali Triana from the novella by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and artfully directed by Jose Zayas, this lyrical but swift-moving drama weaves vivid images that spotlight a small towns complicity in a murder. That cockfighting ring, in particular, transforms into locales that include a steamily passion-filled bedroom, a butchers shop where killers sharpen their knives, and the site of a community celebration that comes complete with a dancing priest.

The fenced-in ring also represents a courtroom. After all, everyone in the tight-knit South American town that was home to Santiago Nasar (Nicolas Carra) knew that the twins Pedro and Pablo Vicario (Jose Gonzalez and Edwin R. Bernal) intended to murder him. So why did no one manage to avert the crime? If it comes to that, were the twins even correct in suspecting Nasar of deflowering their sister Angela (Ines Dominguez del Corral)?

Chronicle delves into these intertwined mysteries, roaming forward and backward in time and introducing us to townspeople, including Nasars mother (Marta Carton), a noted interpreter of dreams. To approximate the knowing yet incantatory tone of the original novella, adapter Triana has turned the colorful characters into a kind of Greek chorus that recounts  speaker by speaker  the prelude to, and aftermath of, the murder. The device emphasizes the storys tragic inevitability while also highlighting the intimacy of the town, where everyone knows everyone elses business. (The play is performed in Spanish with English surtitles.)

Dominguez is particularly compelling as the naive but daring Angela, and Erick Sotomayor invests Angelas enigmatic suitor, Bayardo San Roman, with romantic charisma: The sequence that evokes the pairs wedding night  with a sheet that floats sensually onto the floor  has an electric charge. But all of the actors move confidently in and out of the plays fluid storytelling, role-juggling briskly and often standing around the cockfighting ring as spectators.

"One Word More" at the Mead Theatre Lab at Flashpoint. (C. Stanley Photography)

Adding resonance to the whole, composer and sound designer William K. DEugenio contributes aptly unsettling sound effects (ominous clanging, etc.), and costume and properties designer Alicia Tessari helps capture the flavor of a bustling town. Elizabeth Jenkins McFadden designed the set, whose central ring underscores the themes of violence, interconnectedness and voyeurism.

Chronicle is not the only current show to ponder questions of guilt and interconnectedness while drawing on classic literature. At the Mead Theatre Lab at Flashpoint, Annalisa Dias is performing the solo piece One Word More, which imagines the experience of Sycorax, Calibans mother, who is only referred to, never seen, in Shakespeares The Tempest.

The Tempest has often inspired anti-colonialist and social-justice-oriented interpretations: Prosperos fraught relationships with Caliban and Ariel, and the backstory of his island home, provide fodder for such approaches. Working in this vein, Dias turns Sycorax, described as a witch in the text, into an oppressed feminist heroine, whose silencing by the patriarchy leaves the world the poorer.

In physically expressive and sometimes dancelike sequences, we witness Sycoraxs skirmishes with Prospero during his early days on the island. The ex-Duke of Milan is represented by a voice-over: The characters racist- and sexist-sounding observations are largely drawn from the journals of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Complementing the Sycorax narrative, Dias also depicts a graduate student who stumbles across Prosperos journal while struggling to write her thesis. This section of the play includes some amusing spoofing of academic jargon. (Lighting design by E-hui Woo helps keep the two storylines distinct.)

Collectively developed, written by Dias, and directed by Bridget Grace Sheaff, One Word More provides food for thought. The sets sculpture installations, which suggest fragmented human bodies (Brian Fernandes-Halloran is the designer), add a suitably bleak note. But overall, the piece feels labored and didactic  all the more so since Shakespeares magical Tempest looms over it.

Cronica de una muerte anunciada/Chronicle of a Death Foretold, adapted by Jorge Ali Triana from the novella by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Directed by Jose Zayas; lighting design, Mary Keegan; choreography, Katie Bucher; fight choreography, Jonathan Ezra Rubin. With Karen Morales, Lorena Sabogal and others. In Spanish with English surtitles. About 65 minutes. Tickets: $20-$42. Through May 8 at GALA Theatre, 3333 14th St. NW. Call 202-234-7174 or visit galatheatre.org.

One Word More, written and performed by Annalisa Dias; directed by Bridget Grace Sheaff; costume design, Tori Boutin; sound, DeLesslin George-Warren. About one hour. Tickets: $15-$20. Through April 30 at the Mead Theatre Lab at Flashpoint, 916 G St. NW. Visit culturaldc.org or onewordmore.com.
Morris Chestnut as Dr. Beaumont Rosewood Jr. and guest star Joy Bryant as Dr. Erica Kincaid on Foxs Rosewood. (Adam Taylor/Fox)

(All times Eastern).

An investigation into the death of a man with medical issues similar to his own causes Rosewood (Fox at 8 p.m.) to confront his own mortality. Complicating matters, the pathologist finds himself caught between his mother and his cardiologist (guest star Joy Bryant), who have dueling opinions about what is best for his health.

SERIES PREMIERE: Professional volleyball player and fitness expert Gabrielle Reece hosts Strong (NBC at 9), a reality fitness competition that pairs 10 everyday women with elite male fitness trainers as they compete for cash prizes in a series of strength and conditioning challenges. Actor Sylvester Stallone is among the shows executive producers.

Nova: Can Alzheimers Be Stopped? (WETA at 9) examines the challenges of clinical drug trials amid urgent need for effective treatment of the disease. The one-hour documentary follows patients and their families as they adjust to the devastating effects of Alzheimers.

Claire brings home a stray dog on Modern Family (ABC at 9) and enlists the kids to help her hide it from Phil while she tries to find the owner.

On Empire (Fox at 9), Lucious prepares to shoot an emotional music video for his single Boom Boom Boom Boom as tensions between the mogul and his sons reach a boiling point.

Dres sister Rhonda (Raven-Symone) marries her girlfriend on Blackish (ABC at 9:30), sparking a family conversation about tradition.

In the U.S. broadcast of the European crime drama The Last Panthers (SundanceTV at 10), a bold diamond heist appears to have been committed by the infamous (and supposedly retired) Pink Panthers gang, sending a British insurance agent (Samantha Morton) on their trail.

Captain America: Civil War actors Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Emily VanCamp, Chadwick Boseman and Paul Bettany visit Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC at 11:35), along with musical guest Mayer Hawthorne.

Rapper-actor Ice Cube and actress Ellie Kemper will be on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC at 11:35). Conrad Sewell is the musical guest.
Update: Solar Impulse 2 took off April 21 from Hawaii. It landed in Mountain View, California, on April 23.



Solar Impulse 2 is seen on a test flight over Hawaii on March 27. The owners of the solar-powered plane are set to resume their attempt to fly it around the world. (Jean Revillard)

Early one morning last June, pilot Andre Borschberg stepped aboard an odd-looking plane  its wings long like those of an albatross, its cramped cabin as small as a refrigerator  and guided it into the sky above Japan.

In a typical airliner, it would have taken him eight hours to arrive at his destination in Hawaii, but Borschberg was at the helm of Solar Impulse 2, a plane powered entirely by the suns rays. Lightweight but slow, traveling at an average of 38 miles per hour, it landed in Hawaii after 117 hours 52 minutes, or five days and five nights  the longest solo flight in history.

Borschberg, 63, and fellow Swiss pilot Bertrand Piccard, 58, were in the middle of attempting the first round-the-world trip in a solar-powered plane, taking turns at the controls of the single-seat aircraft.



Solar Impulse 2 began its round-the-world journey last spring in Abu Dhabi , United Arab Emirates, and flew east. (Solar Impulse)

They left Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East, in March 2015, and have divided their trip into 13 segments. The flight from Japan to Hawaii was the longest and most dangerous. On the first day, a quick ascent overheated the planes batteries, which store energy supplied by hair-thin solar cells that cover the top of the plane. The batteries could not be cooled enough during the long flight to prevent permanent damage.

Now, after replacing the planes batteries and waiting for calm, sunny weather, the pilots are ready to resume their journey. Later in April, Piccard will make the four-day flight from Hawaii to North America, where, depending on the weather, hell land in Arizona or California or near the Canadian city of Vancouver. From there, he and Borschberg will continue across North America to Europe and finish their journey in Abu Dhabi this summer.



Andre Borschberg, left, and Bertrand Piccard take turns flying the airplane, which must be lightweight to conserve energy. (Niels Ackerman)

The Solar Impulse 2 ground crew loads new batteries on the plane in January. The old batteries overheated during the flight last June from Japan to Hawaii. (Noemi Renevey)

Piccard answered some questions for KidsPost last weekend during an 18-hour flight above Hawaii to test the planes instruments before continuing the big trip.

Solar cells work well enough to power a plane, but the plane needs to be extremely lightweight to conserve energy. The cabin fits just one pilot at a time, and theres no room for baggage. The walls are thin and the plane isnt pressurized, which means that the pilot has to dress like a mountaineer and wear an oxygen mask at high altitudes.

Piccard says he was born for this kind of adventure. His grandfather was a balloonist, and his father, Jacques Piccard, explored the deepest part of the ocean.

I remember very clearly saying to myself . . . that I also wanted to have that kind of life; the life of an explorer, interesting and useful, he said. He made the first nonstop, round-the-world balloon flight in 1999. Soon after, he set his sights on a round-the-world solar flight and joined up with Borschberg.

The flight is all about promoting cleaner, environmentally friendly technologies, he said, adding that using such devices as LED lamps and electric or hybrid vehicles will make a big difference in the world by helping conserve energy and resources.



The cockpit of Solar Impulse 2 fits only one person. The seat can be reclined for napping. It also has a built-in toilet. No shower, though. (Anna Pizzolante)

Andre Borschberg takes a selfie while brushing his teeth in the cockpit during a flight last year. (Andre Borschberg)

Flying for four or five days at a time with only occasional 20-minute naps can take a lot of focus. The plane weighs about as much as a small car but has the wingspan of a jetliner, making it very sensitive to wind and to little adjustments at the controls.

A few moments ago I saw hundreds of dolphins swimming in the water near the coast of Hawaii, Piccard said. It was so beautiful I got distracted and the airplane went outside its flight path for just a couple seconds. An alarm rang in the cockpit, alerting him to make an adjustment so he would not lose control of the plane.

Unfazed, Piccard tweaked the controls and flew on. The dolphins kept swimming.


Melissa Fitzgerald, formerly of The West Wing, volunteered with Justice for Vets and was surprised when the advocacy group offered her a job. (Deborah Jaffe/For The Washington Post)

Weve seen it before: A Hollywood actor finds a cause, jets to Washington for a photo op and a handshake, makes a speech and flies home.

This is a story about a Hollywood actor who found a cause, then jetted to Washington, then moved to Washington, then got a job at a nonprofit group in Washington and then one morning found herself having meetings at the Pentagon, where some of the other attendees had no idea who she was.

Her name is Melissa Fitzgerald. She was on The West Wing. She played  well, well get to that. First, the Pentagon. In a wood-paneled conference room, someone cues up a PSA in which fellow West Wing alums, as a favor to Fitzgerald, publicize the organization she now works for, Justice for Vets. On-screen, Bradley Whitford, Allison Janney and other cast members discuss the benefits of treatment courts for veterans who fall into legal trouble. The PSA finishes. An Army lawyer has a suggestion.

You should go back and digitally put yourself in some scenes in The West Wing,  she jokes with Fitzgerald. Because everyone else in the PSA was in it!

Fitzgerald, 50, smiles apologetically. Oh  I was. I was in it.

You were? Oh, my gosh. I didnt know.

I knew, but I wasnt going to say anything, the lawyers colleague confides.

So youre famous? the lawyer asks.

I played Allison Janneys assistant.

CAROL! She played Carol. The unflappable right-hand woman to press secretary C.J. Cregg, seen in most episodes managing her bosss work and love life.

After two decades in Hollywood, Fitzgerald now lives a very Carol existence. She has an apartment in Alexandria, Va. At work she has a small, gray office in which she keeps spare cardigans. She sometimes brings muffins for the communal kitchen, which has dirty dishes in the sink, like office kitchens everywhere.

And emails, she sighs, gesturing to her computer a few days after the Pentagon meeting, while she and a colleague figure out which contact list to use for a newsletter. Do most people get 150 emails a day?

In a roundabout way, this is Martin Sheens fault.

Sheen, who played The West Wings fictional president, had been a longtime advocate of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, the umbrella organization of which Justice for Vets is a part. Sheen knew that Fitzgerald was an activist herself  the University of Pennsylvania graduate had founded a mentoring program in Los Angeles and produced a documentary about child soldiers in Uganda  and he also knew that Fitzgeralds father was a Philadelphia judge who supported treatment courts in lieu of traditional prison sentences. In 2011, Sheen asked whether Fitzgerald was interested in coming along to the annual NADCP meeting. The stories she heard there moved her; she ended up volunteering and then co-producing another documentary, about the struggles of veterans returning home.



Fitzgerald, left, played White House aide Carol on The West Wing, and many of her scenes looked like this, reacting to some sharp repartee from Allison Janney, right, as press secretary C.J. Cregg. Actor Timothy Busfield is at center. (Warner Bros.)

One evening a few years later, Fitzgerald was talking on the phone with the NADCPs then-chief executive, West Huddleston. He mentioned that his senior director, an ex-Marine, had just resigned and that he needed a replacement to help expand the existence and role of treatment courts nationwide. If I were a veteran, Id throw my own hat in the ring, Fitzgerald said offhandedly. A few days later, Huddleston called back. Was she serious?

Fitzgerald thought about it. The West Wing, her most recognizable role, had ended several years before. She was still acting, but mostly in smaller parts. As often as not, she was skipping the auditions that did come up so that she could go do activist-related work elsewhere around the country, which her agent told her was getting demoralizing.

She made a few phone calls.

She called Patrick Murphy, an old friend who is now the acting secretary of the Army. Did he think servicemen and women could respect someone who had never worn a uniform? I told her that the Army and military desperately needed her leadership at this time, Murphy remembers. The gap between civilians and servicemen seemed to be widening. We cant do this alone, he told her. We need someone to bridge the civilian-military drift.

She talked to Janel Moloney, who played fellow assistant Donna on The West Wing; Fitzgerald is now the godmother to her son. She needs to do something meaningful with her days, Moloney says about her friend. Shes always been that way  she needs it in order to survive.

She called Huddleston back. He said, When can you start? She said, How about January? He said, How about Monday?

The job would mean a pay cut from her most productive years in Hollywood. Then again, an actor who kept skipping her auditions to do activist work had an annual salary of zero dollars. More important, Justice for Vets seemed like a place where she could work on an important issue and be useful.

Huddleston wanted her to begin in time to be introduced at an upcoming convention. Fitzgerald got on a plane and came to Washington to meet with Chris Deutsch, the organizations communications director, who had prepared a few remarks for her to give.

I honestly didnt know what to expect, Deutsch says. Hed been skeptical of Fitzgeralds hiring and wasnt sure whether she would be mostly a figurehead, or a spokeswoman, or what, exactly. But then she came to him with a marked-up copy of his speech: Shed stayed up all night revising it and wanted to make sure it was exactly right. That was the moment I realized she was for real.

This is also a story about bubbles. How Hollywood is one. How Washington is one, too, in its own way. When Fitzgerald lived in Los Angeles, she had a sunny house in the chic Beachwood Canyon neighborhood and jobs in which her work clothes were costumes selected, ironed and laundered by professionals. When she moved to D.C., she had a one-bedroom apartment three blocks from her office. No furniture; shed shipped herself a box containing an air mattress and a coffee maker. Her first night in the apartment, she went to bed, and it deflated to the floor. She got out of the air mattress. She took an Uber to Target. She bought a new air mattress. She started arriving at work at 8 a.m. and leaving after 8 p.m. This was now her life.



Fitzgerald meets with colleagues Liz Dawson, left, and David Pelletier at the Justice for Vets office in April. I had never done a PowerPoint before moving to Washington, she said. (Deborah Jaffe/For The Washington Post)

Someone sent me an email that said, Can I have your answer by COB?  Fitzgerald says. I asked Chris, Whats COB? He said, You have lived a very good life if you dont know what COB is. 

Actors work long hours. But nonprofit Washington is defined by not only the exhaustion of long hours but also the complications of paperwork, red tape, PowerPoints (I had never done a PowerPoint, she says) and time cards (I said, Wait a second, I have to fill out a time card? ).

The West Wing was one of the few shows that got the bubble of Washington exactly right. It was fervently beloved in its day and, weirdly, nostalgically beloved even now, a decade after its last episode aired. Washingtonians still stop Fitzgerald to thank her for the show; its hard to imagine that a supporting actor from, say, NCIS would be able to use her screen time to launch a wonky policy-related career.

After Huddleston offered the director job to Fitzgerald, I got a lot of pushback, he says. A couple of folks said shes an actress who has no connection to veterans and will have no credibility. I said, You know, its so nontraditional that were actually going to get some attention.  He had interviewed traditional candidates, but none of them had the passion and fearlessness that he thought Fitzgerald did.

(It should be noted that in The West Wing, Fitzgerald was a buttoned-up background player, channeling an ordinary administrative assistant. In person, she is a frequent laugher, a passionate speaker and reliably the most magnetic personality in a room, with very good hair.)



Fitzgerald attending the Human Rights Campaign National Dinner in Washington in October. (Erin Schaff/For The Washington Post)

In her Alexandria office in April. (Deborah Jaffe/For The Washington Post)

Now her real-life role looks occasionally similar to her former on-screen life: She has an office wardrobe, composed in large part of clothes from a designer she sought out because she remembered the labels from her Carol wardrobe.

She has staff meetings.

Okay, says her boss Carson Fox, the NADCPs current chief executive, at one such staff meeting, which was called to plan a summer conference. So were doing the color guard and then the intro?

Yes, I think you have to start with the color guard, Fitzgerald agrees.

Lets see if we can find a really good keynote, someone else suggests.

We can talk about who we want and see if its someone I know, she offers. And I dont mind having the keynote in the beginning.

She has conversations like this:

I have a call on Monday at 10 a.m. with the head of the Triumph Games, and she would like to find a role for us, which would be great, she says to Deutsch when he stops by her office.

Thats great, he says. When you get a chance, can you shoot me the final draft of your speech?

Will do, she says, and then she turns back to her computer.

It is lit by the soft glow of a fluorescent light panel overhead, and it emits the sound of emails coming in at frequent pings.
THE DISTRICT

Body is found

in C&O Canal

A body was found in the C&O Canal in Georgetown on Tuesday, D.C. police said, and homicide units were sent to the scene.

The person was not immediately identified, and authorities did not provide any information about how the body was found.

Police said a call came in about 7:30 a.m. reporting that a body had been found in the river.

MARYLAND

Trone says he has spent $9.1 million

Wine retailer David Trone will report to the Federal Election Commission this week that he has spent $9.1 million of his own money in pursuit of the Democratic nomination for Marylands 8th Congressional District, making him all but certain to become the biggest-ever self-funding House candidate.

Trone, who lives in Potomac, made the disclosure in a full-page ad in Tuesdays Washington Post. He explained that as a first-time candidate running against better-known opponents, he needed to spend what was necessary to convey his positions. He also said that relying on his own resources would leave him unencumbered by special interests once he is in office.

Trone is one of nine Democrats vying for the nomination to succeed outgoing Rep. Chris Van Hollen. The primary is April 26.

 Bill Turque

Pepco customers

to get $50 credits

Residential Pepco customers in Maryland began receiving $50 bill credits on Tuesday as part of the recent merger between Exelon and Pepco Holdings, the utility said.

Pepco customers in Montgomery and Prince Georges counties will receive more than $50 million in bill credits, Pepco said, distributed in two $50 installments. The second credit will come in a year, the utility said.

Details about bill credits for Pepco customers in the District will be forthcoming, Pepco said.

The credits, which will be reflected in bill balances, are part of a broader package of benefits that will make energy more affordable for Pepco Maryland customers as a direct result of the merger, the utility said.

D.C. regulators approval of the merger on March 23 created the largest publicly held utility in the United States. The deal affected about 2 million customers in the Mid-Atlantic region served by Pepco Holdings, including more than 815,000 in the District and Maryland. Customers are expected to incur higher electricity rates because of the merger.

 Katherine Shaver

More than 300 dogs seized from property

Authorities said they seized more than 300 dogs found living in squalor from a property on the Eastern Shore.

After getting a tip last week, officials with the local animal control and the Wicomico County Sheriffs Office went to a property in Eden. Lt. Tim Robinson of the sheriffs office said that when authorities arrived April 6, they found about 200 dogs in a barn and 100 inside a home.

They were living in squalor-like conditions, he said.

The incident is under investigation. The dogs were taken in by the local Humane Society, and other area rescue groups are helping with their care.

 Dana Hedgpeth
This file photo from 2012 shows a school lunch on display at Draper Middle School in Rotterdam, N.Y. Students in Virginia believe they could raise significant funds for charity with 10-cent donations from students when they purchase school lunches. (Hans Pennink/AP)

Wearing polo shirts and button-downs, they pitched with the confidence of grown-up entrepreneurs on the television show Shark Tank. Except their audience was the Loudoun County School Board, and the entrepreneurs are middle-schoolers.

We have a proposal for you that could benefit our local food pantries, such as the Dulles South Food Pantry, for years to come, said Ankit Khanbelwal, a seventh-grader at J. Michael Lunsford Middle School. Our proposal looks to harness the power of the many students that buy lunch at school.

Ankit and two of his classmates  Chas Chappell and Wim Tapley  have an idea that they believe could provide a more constant source of funding for food pantries, which are reliant on inconsistent cash and food donations.

What if we could provide the option of donating 10 cents to the local food pantry along with the cost of a normal lunch? Wim asked board members. They crunched the numbers: If students make regular, small donations when they buy their lunches at school, the program could raise almost half a million dollars a year.

Seriously, Wim said, pausing and pressing his fingers together for effect. Weve done the math.

The pitch started as a school assignment that was the extension of a lesson on the Great Depression. In an era when high unemployment drove widespread hunger and malnutrition, millions became dependent on food from charities and the government. But history teachers wanted to show that food insecurity also is a modern problem, even in the United States. So they brought in the president of the Dulles South Food Pantry, who made it clear that amid the new homes and gated communities of this tony suburban community, there are families without enough to eat.

[These girls are the coders of the future, and theyre already solving problems]

The lesson was part of the One to the World initiative, a district-wide effort to teach students by having them take on real-world problems. In education lingo, its known as project-based learning  cross-disciplinary efforts that aim to mimic what students will encounter when they leave the classroom and enter the working world.

We wanted to give students the opportunity to make a difference, said Adele George, their history teacher. Its applying what they learned to the actual community.

The boys used the academic skills they learned in history class to attack the issue. They built an online survey via Google and did the math to come up with projections. Then, with the help of Wims father, a salesman, they refined their pitch, aware that adults might not respond well to a proposal from a group of seventh-graders.

We really wanted people to take us seriously, so we had to be the best that we could be, Wim said. We had to be on our A game.

As they wrapped up their pitch, the packed crowd broke into wild applause, validating that the students might be onto something. Later, the superintendents office got in touch. Now, the students are in talks with school staff to turn their project into a reality.
Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) reaches for his gavel to call the evening session to order on the last day of the Maryland state legislature, on April 11, 2016. (Bill OLeary/The Washington Post)

Maryland lawmakers wrapped up their 90-day session Monday night with deals on many big-ticket items, including police accountability and scaling back tough on crime era punishments for nonviolent drug offenders.

But late-hour negotiations broke down over tax cuts and mandating paid sick leave.

Lawmakers, though, passed dozens of other bills in the mad dash to the midnight deadline to send them to Gov. Larry Hogan (R). This is a rundown of some of the other items that passed or failed in the legislatures final days.

Leadership priorities: Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) and House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) saw the last of their three middle-class economic priorities pass Monday, with the advancement of legislation to encourage private employers to enroll workers in retirement-savings programs. The General Assembly had already sent the governor other priority bills that would establish a matching-funds program for low-income and middle-class families using the state college-savings program and loosen requirements for challenging pay discrimination on the basis of gender.

But legislative leaders and Attorney General Brian E. Frosh (D) were mostly unsuccessful in their push for additional gun restrictions. One bill to require people convicted of domestic-violence offenses to turn over their guns advanced, but other measures failed, such as those to keep college campuses free of guns and to bar people on terrorism watch lists from possessing firearms.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) (Brian Witte/AP)

Tax breaks: Low-income people with jobs, high earners and retirees were among those who didnt get a tax break from lawmakers when a tax deal failed to come together. But defense contractor Northrop Grumman did  with separate legislation backed by Hogan allowing the company to claim up to $37.5 million in tax credits over the next five years if it keeps manufacturing in Maryland.

Good news for 5-year-olds: Under a bill that advanced to the governor Monday, not all kindergartners would have to take a readiness test that was criticized by teachers groups as unnecessarily disruptive. It is part of a broader effort to reduce overtesting in schools.

Structured settlements: Lawmakers passed overhauls of the structured-settlement industry to make it tougher for companies to buy annual settlement payouts for small lump sums. Industry practices were the subject of a Washington Post investigation showing how companies take advantage of poor and sometimes mentally impaired victims of lead poisoning.

Womens economic security agenda: Democratic lawmakers were unable to push through most labor bills they said would improve the lives of working women, most notably by mandating employers to offer sick leave. Other ambitious measures failed to gain traction, including the creation of a state program to allow workers on unpaid family and medical leave to continue drawing income, and requirements to set retail and food workers schedules weeks in advance and pay them extra for last-minute changes.

Rapists parental rights: A House bill allowing rape victims to sever the parental rights of their rapists failed to advance. A Senate panel offered amendments meant to ensure due process for accused rapists, but the legislation was not taken up for a floor vote.

Bid to purge vestiges of Confederacy: The statue of Roger B. Taney, who authored the Supreme Courts Dred Scott decision, will remain on statehouse grounds, and Marylands state song will continue extolling the Confederacy, after bills to change both fell short this session.

Odds and ends: With Marylands medical marijuana program set to begin next year, the Senate approved legislation expanding who can prescribe cannabis. If signed by the governor, the bill by Del. Dan K. Morhaim (D-Baltimore County) would allow dentists, podiatrists, midwives and nurse practitioners to recommend cannabis for medical purposes.

Sometimes lawmakers revisit decades-old laws to look for language that would be embarrassing and offensive to modern readers. One bill that passed Monday changes references to mentally defective people to substantially cognitively impaired individuals.

Meanwhile, residents can continue ordering potato chips and soda from vending machines in state buildings after a bill to fill the machines with healthful items went nowhere.
Wine retailer David Trone will report to the Federal Election Commission later this week that he has spent $9.1 million of his own money so far in pursuit of the Democratic nomination for Marylands 8th Congressional District, making him all but certain to become the biggest self-funding House candidate ever.

Trone, who lives in Potomac, made the disclosure in a full-page ad in this mornings Washington Post. In the ad, he explained that as a first-time candidate running against better-known opponents, he needed to spend what was necessary to convey his positions on issues. He also said that relying on his own resources would leave him unencumbered by special interests once in office.

[For wine mogul David Trone, Congressional race is unfinished business]

I certainly could have raised enough money to fund a competitive campaign, said Trone, who is accepting individual contributions of no more than $10. But the PACs, lobbyists and big dollar donors who give money would expect special attention. No matter how well-intentioned, those contributions and the candidates who take them are part of the reason Washington is broken.

Campaign finance reports covering activity from Jan. 1 through April 6 are due on Thursday. Trone did not enter the race until late January, so this weeks filing will be the first official look at how he has spent his money.

His outlays for radio, television and digital advertising, along with direct mail and polling, will almost certainly surpass those of his principal competitors, state Sen. Jamie Raskin and former news anchor Kathleen Matthews, both of whom have pursued traditional fundraising. Each raised just a fraction of Trones total through Dec. 31. Matthews collected $1.5 million; Raskin raised $1.3 million.

Both campaigns declined Tuesday to discuss their first quarter fundraising totals and said they were still working to complete their FEC filings.

[Self-funders find that money doesnt guarantee votes]

With two weeks left until the April 26 primary, Trone appears likely to top the previous biggest self-funders in House races, according to data complied by the Center for Responsive Politics.

In 1992 Michael Huffington spent $5.4 million (just under $9 million in current dollars) to win a California congressional seat. Democrat Phil Maloof, a member of a wealthy New Mexico family, loaned his campaign close to $10 million in two 1998 losses to Republican Heather Wilson in the states 1st Congressional District. (One was a June special election, the other the November general.) Part of the loan was repaid, resulting in a net self-funding of a little over $6.3 million (about $9.2 million in current dollars), according to center data.

Trone has said his funds are direct payments, not loans.

West Virginia attorney James Humphreys, a Democrat, loaned his campaign $7.8 million (about $10 million in current dollars) in 2002, when he lost to then-Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R) in the states 2nd Congressional District. Two years earlier, Humphreys spent $6.1 million in his first campaign against Capito, who is now in the U.S. Senate.
Glenn Ivey speaks at the 4th Congressional District candidates forum at Bowie State University, with former Maryland lieutenant governor Anthony Brown, seated left, and Republican Robert Broadus. (Mark Gail/For The Washington Post)

Two days before early voting begins, the Democratic candidates in Marylands 4th Congressional District are rolling out the biggest endorsements and fundraising numbers of the primary contest in hopes of drawing votes.

Former Prince Georges County states attorney Glenn F. Ivey unveiled a new radio advertisement on Tuesday featuring an endorsement from former U.S. attorney general Eric Holder, whom he worked for as a federal prosecutor in the early 1990s.

Glenn Ivey is a proven leader with the experience it takes to make a real difference for Maryland families, Holder says in the ad. And thats why we need him in Washington.

Ivey has led the pack of six Democrats, including his closest competitors Del. Joseline Pena-Melnyk and former Maryland lieutenant governor Anthony G. Brown, in fundraising since the race began  after Rep. Donna F. Edwards (D-Md.) announced she would seek the seat left vacant by retiring Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.).

Ivey joined Brown and Pena-Melnyk this week in endorsing the four-term congresswoman in the Democratic Senate primary over House Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who is being backed by a slew of other Prince Georges County elected officials. The two candidates are locked in a statistical dead heat for the nomination.

Maryland state Del. Joseline Pena-Melnyk and former lieutenant governor Anthony Brown, center, talk with voters after the 4th Congressional District candidates forum at Bowie State University. (Mark Gail/For The Washington Post)

In the congressional race, Ivey has raised more than $1 million this election cycle and was the first to buy media ads. Pena-Melnyk, who also worked for Holder as an assistant U.S. attorney, pulled in more dollars for her best showing in the race during the first quarter of 2016.

Between January and April, the delegates campaign said it raised $287,000 in campaign contributions  a few thousand dollars more than Ivey did during the same period. In total, Pena-Melnyk has raised more than $797,000 for the election.

Brown and the other candidates have not yet released their fundraising totals.
Lawmakers in Prince Georges County voted unanimously on Tuesday to ban hydraulic fracking, becoming the first local jurisdiction in Maryland to prohibit the extraction of natural gas within its borders since the states moratorium on the practice went into effect.

Council member Mary A. Lehman (D-Laurel) sponsored the legislation that would amend the zoning ordinance to forbid natural-gas drilling across the county and particularly in the rural southern Prince Georges communities sitting on top of the Taylorsville Basin.

The basin  which runs through southern Maryland under the Potomac River and into Virginia  is a potentially untapped natural-gas reserve, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. But it spans an ecologically sensitive area that residents and activists have long fought to protect from excessive development, industry and power plants.

We are taking a lead in the state to protect our quality of life here, Lehman said after the council adopted the ban. It will lay the groundwork for a statewide ban in Maryland.

[Proliferation of power plants worries Pr. Georges residents]

Supporters, including Gov. Larry Hogan (R), have called fracking an economic gold mine that would create hundreds of jobs and provide a clean source of cheap energy. But anti-fracking activists say the extraction method exposes the environment to the risk of spills, water and air pollution and potentially irreversible ecological damage.

Hogans predecessor, former governor Martin J. OMalley (D), barred fracking until a commission could study the public-health and environmental impacts. The commissions controversial 2014 report found that natural gas could be produced safely. Nevertheless, the Democratic-controlled legislature pushed for fracking restrictions against Hogans wishes.

Last year, state lawmakers proposed a two-year moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, which involves blasting pressurized water and chemicals into rock to extract gas. Regulators are studying the practice, and the law required they adopt rules before issuing permits for drilling in places such as Western Maryland, home to a huge shale rock formation.

The bill became law without Hogans signature.

Activists are hoping the Prince Georges ban will trigger a trend across the state and that the movement will motivate lawmakers in Annapolis to adopt a prohibition before the moratorium expires in October 2017.

Its important for Prince Georges to protect its residents from fracking, said Thomas Meyer, senior organizer for the environmental group Food & Water Watch. His non-governmental organization, along with residents and other groups, brought the idea of a ban to Lehman in the summer. We hope the Maryland legislature follows suit.

Drew Combs, of the Maryland Petroleum Council, played down the significance of the ban, saying the amount of gas in Prince Georges is negligible compared to reserves in the Marcellus rock formation in Garrett and Allegany counties.

While this decision is largely symbolic, it sends the wrong message, he said. Prince Georges County residents benefit year-round from natural gas safely produced in neighboring states.

[How two small New York towns have shaken up national fight over fracking]

The county is following in the footsteps of towns in New York, which also used their local zoning ordinances to prohibit fracking. The energy industry sued, saying the local governments lacked the authority to issue such bans, but the states highest court upheld the home rule of municipalities in 2014.

The ruling had a domino effect across the country as local governments, such as the District, issued a variety of resolutions, laws and ordinances against hydraulic fracturing. In Montgomery County, lawmakers adopted a 2014 resolution opposing fracking in Virginias George Washington National Forest, which lies in the Potomac River basin. Lawmakers wanted the effects on water supply studied first.

For Prince Georges County resident and civic leader Joanne Flynn, the ban could not come soon enough. The Brandywine-area farmer depends on well water for drinking, for her crops and her livestock. Fracking, she said, would endanger her entire livelihood.

This would protect our future, Flynn said at the council hearing on Tuesday. We need to address climate change in all we do.
Del. Angela Angel (D-Prince Georges), with glasses, huddles with Wanda Centeno,far left, Vickie McLean, center left, and Laveta Burke, far right, who joined her at the Maryland statehouse on Monday April to lobby for a domestic violence prevention bill that ultimately failed. (Arelis Hernandez/TWP)

Del. Angela M. Angel got the idea for what would become Maryland House Bill 1396 when she was running for office in 2014, juggling a campaign, five children and an estranged husband who, she said, would call, text and email her up to 30 times a day.

She went to court seeking a restraining order and learned that without allegations of physical abuse, the judge wouldnt grant one.

The bottom line was there was no legal remedy, Angel (D-Prince Georges) said in an interview. I thought, as soon as I get to the House of Delegates, I am going to change this.

She did not realize how tough it would be to achieve that goal. The State House in Annapolis is a place where progress is incremental, where hierarchies and the rules of engagement must be respected.

You cant be married to a bill, said Del. Marice I. Morales (D-Montgomery), another first-term lawmaker, whose bill attempting to boost consent standards in addressing campus sex assault was killed this winter. Its your bill until you bring it to committee.

Maryland Del. Angela Angel (D-Prince George's County) battled through a legislative "tennis match" to try and widen the state's definition of domestic abuse, but the bill wasn't passed before the state assembly's session expired at midnight on April 11. (Arelis Hernandez, Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

[Police, sentencing reform pass on last day of legislative session]

Angel drafted a bill that would change the definition of abuse to include harassment and malicious destruction of property, so protective orders could be granted on those grounds. Both it and Moraless bill were assigned to the House Judiciary Committee.

At a hearing on Angels bill in March, many were supportive, the 36-year-old lawmaker said. Victims testified. Advocates testified and state troopers testified and supported it. It was one of those things that we thought, This should be simple. 

It wasnt. Detractors  including Sen. Robert A. Zirkin (D-Baltimore County), chairman of that chambers Judicial Proceedings Committee  said the bill was so broadly written that it could be invoked frivolously by warring couples.

Getting a protective order when somebody kind of takes their own shoe and throws it through their own computer or something  thats not, unless its meant to be threatening, that shouldnt subject somebody to criminal sanction, Zirkin said.

The bill never made it out of the House committee.

It was all but dead last week, with just a few days remaining in the annual legislative session.

Del. Angela Angel, right, a Prince Georges County Democrat, embraces domestic violence survivor Vickie McLean outside of the House of Delegates chamber after the bill they were lobbying for failed. (Arelis R. Hernandez/TWP)

Angel decided drastic measures were needed. She attached her legislation as an amendment to a domestic-violence-related bill sponsored by Sen. Victor R. Ramirez (D-Prince Georges) that had cleared the Senate and was on its way to passage in the House.

Senate Bill 924 would continue a program that sends notifications to domestic violence victims when their protective orders are served. Ramirez set up the program six years ago, and it is set to expire this year.

[Lawmaker: With passage of ignition-lock bill, Noah is still on the job]

Angel made her move Thursday, when the bill was on third reader in the House. Her amendment passed narrowly, 65 to 61. Judiciary Vice Chair Kathleen M. Dumais (D-Montgomery) tried to stop it, and other veteran lawmakers said Angels boldness violated constitutional rules.

Look, we all have bills we care about, said Del. C. William Frick (D-Montgomery), House parliamentarian. Reviving a dead bill by grafting it onto a live bill, he argued, upends the integrity of the committee system that first put the brakes on Angels legislation.

Angel launched a social media campaign, using the hashtag #WhereisSB924. She wrote op-eds, conducted interviews with news reporters and invited three domestic violence survivors to help her lobby each lawmaker personally.

One of the survivors was Vickie McLean, who said her ex-husband vandalized and flooded their home  destruction of property that, under Angels bill, would have entitled McLean to a protective order. He did it to terrorize me, McLean said.

Sen. Nathaniel J. McFadden (D-Baltimore) said constituents were blowing up my phone with long text messages, imploring him to support Angels amendments.

With just a few hours until midnight, Zirkin told Angel that he would support a stand-alone version of her bill if she removed the destruction of property provision. She said Zirkin also promised to work with her next year on a bill to address abusers who intimidate their victims by destroying things.

But other lawmakers needed to be convinced as well  and there wasnt enough time left.

The House-approved version of Ramirezs bill made it, meaning that the notification program will continue. But the Senate version, with Angels bill attached, died when the session adjourned.

This will not silence me, Angel said, embracing the women who had spent the final day of the session lobbying with her. She vowed to try again next year.
Democratic Senate candidate Donna F. Edwards was endorsed Monday by two of the Prince Georges County Democrats hoping to succeed her in the House of Representatives, even as her rival, Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), launched an ad calling her an ineffective lawmaker.

Van Hollen and Edwards are locked in an intense battle for the Democratic nomination for the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md). A Washington Post-

University of Maryland poll released last week gave Edwards a statistically insignificant four-point lead in the race, with just weeks to go before the April 26 primary.

Van Hollens ad relies on a ranking from the website InsideGov, which looked at how many bills sponsored by a lawmaker made it through committee in the last Congress.

Edwards was ranked one of the least effective members of Congress . . . and the least willing to find common ground, the narrator says. The ad then quotes a Washington Post editorial comparing Edwards to tea party Republicans.

The spot, Van Hollens first attack ad of the campaign, comes in response to one released by Edwards last week accusing the congressman of betraying progressive values.

[Edwards goes on attack against Van Hollen in her first ad]

That ad was the first paid for by Edwards herself. The congresswoman struggled to raise money last year but took in more than $1 million in the first three months of 2016. However, a super PAC run by the Democratic womens group Emilys List has been airing ads in support of Edwards for months.

In his ad, Van Hollen calls Edwardss attacks false, as he has in debates and forums across the state.

Edwards, likewise, has pushed back on Van Hollens characterization of her as ineffective, saying she has worked across the aisle on the science and transportation committees.

In a statement Monday, Edwards spokesman Benjamin Gerdes said the congresswomans campaign was disappointed by Van Hollens negative, personal attacks.

Edwards, who would be the first African American senator from Maryland and has based her campaign on the need for more diversity in that chamber, was endorsed Monday by former lieutenant governor Anthony G. Brown and state Del. Joseline A. Pena-Melnyk, both of whom are vying for the Democratic nomination for Edwardss congressional seat.

From her fierce advocacy on domestic violence issues to defending womens rights, Donna has been a champion for Maryland women and their families, Brown said in a statement.

Pena-Melnyk, who was born in the Dominican Republic, said: Perspective matters, and as a woman of color, it is important to me that our voices are represented in the US Senate.

Edwards has a rocky relationship with other politicians in her home county of Prince Georges. County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (D) and state senators Joanne C. Benson, Ulysses Currie and Victor R. Ramirez, among others, have endorsed Van Hollen.

Its become apparent that the people who know her best are not supporting her, Baker said on a conference call last week organized by the Van Hollen campaign to criticize Edwards.

But the The Post-University of Maryland survey found Edwards leading Van Hollen in Prince Georges 77 percent to 18 percent. Van Hollen, who lives in Kensington, was leading by a similar margin in Montgomery County.

Neither Edwards nor Van Hollen has endorsed candidates in the races to succeed them.
D.C. Police have arrested an 18-year-old man from Northeast Washington in connection to the death of 15-year-old John Rufus Evans III, who was fatally stabbed on the platform of the Deanwood Metro station. (WUSA9)

D.C. Police have arrested an 18-year-old man from Northeast Washington in connection to the death of 15-year-old John Rufus Evans III, who was fatally stabbed on the platform of the Deanwood Metro station. (WUSA9)

Terogie Wells uprooted her 15-year-old son from his charter school and his District home last month and moved him to Richmond to escape the volatile streets and a group of teens that she said was threatening her oldest child.

But John Rufus Evans III still had obligations in the District. He returned Monday for a juvenile court hearing, and while here, police said, he happened to run into one of the young men with whom he was feuding. Police said they met by chance after getting off different cars of the same Orange Line Metro train at the Deanwood station.

Police said the two recognized each other as rivals, and two witnesses told them that Johns hands balled up into fists as he followed the other teenager along the platform and down the escalator to the street. Police said in an arrest affidavit that John told his brother to record whatever happened next and that he did, but accidentally deleted most of it by the time police got to it.

The affidavit quotes witnesses who said that John struck the other teen  18-year-old Jovante Hall  in the chin and that Hall punched John in the face. John collapsed from a stab wound to the left side of his neck, in an area near the handicap fare gate. Hall was charged Tuesday with second-degree murder while armed. But the prosecutor said later in court that it is unclear who struck the first blow.

The thing I didnt want to happen to my son, it happened, said Wells, 34. I moved him out because I saw stuff in Northeast  I didnt like the crowd he was hanging with. I didnt like the violence.

Police released these images of a person of interest sought in a fatal stabbing Monday at the Deanwood station. (Courtesy of D.C. Police)

Now, instead of embarking on a new life with her son, Wells is struggling to pay for a funeral and mourning the loss of a child she said was reading at a young age, playing the piano by 7 and, in the eighth grade, painting abstract art while at Richard Wright Public Charter School.

Even with that promise, he had brushes with the law and was due in juvenile court Monday on a charge that he and another teen jumped a person at the Deanwood Metro station and each stole a sneaker, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post. He also had an open theft case.

He got caught up in a world of violence is that is striking the black-on-black community, Wells said. It needs to stop, really.

She has no idea what the dispute was about but said Johns sister was harassed at Deanwood two weeks ago, with juice bottles thrown at her and threats made against her older brother.

I just know that boy didnt like my son, Wells said.

During Halls initial appearance Tuesday in D.C. Superior Court, his attorney, Matthew Davies, argued that his client acted in self-defense and that the charge should be reduced to manslaughter. Hall was dressed in court in Pittsburgh Steelers flannel pajama bottoms and a black T-shirt. His ankles and wrists were shackled.

Prosecutor Christian Natiello argued that a friend of Halls who witnessed the incident said that after seeing John in the subway, Hall removed his knife from his pocket, rode down the escalator and walked through the turnstile holding the knife. Natiello said that there were conflicting accounts as to who swung first but that it was clear that John never had a weapon.

This was excessive force all day long, Natiello said.

Magistrate Judge Renee Raymond ordered Hall held in the D.C. jail until his next hearing, April 22.

Hall is enrolled at Luke C. Moore High School in Northeast, a spokeswoman confirmed. He has been convicted twice of misdemeanors for assault, for which he served 30 days in jail, and a weapons violation, for which he got a suspended sentence, according to court documents. At the time of the stabbing, he had two pending court cases  unlawful entry stemming from a group fight at the Georgia Avenue-Petworth Metro station, and assault resulting from a dispute inside a store  and was on maximum-level post-trial supervision.

Assistant D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham, who announced the arrest Tuesday, did not divulge the nature of the dispute, but he said authorities were monitoring social media after friends of the two teens posted warnings of retaliation between rival street crews or groups that frequent the area around Eastern Avenue in Northeast Washington.

Newsham said that neither teen was on police lists of known gang or crew members and that the two had not planned to meet Monday. It appears they met by chance, he said.

In announcing Halls arrest, police and lawmakers once again confronted questions about safety at Metro stations and made pleas to teenagers to stop fighting and killing over petty disputes and rivalries. Only two weeks ago, another 15-year-old, who was on his way to get a haircut for Easter, was fatally shot on the Deanwood platform when he or his sister inadvertently looked the wrong way at his assailant, according to police.

Another senseless murder, Newsham said of the latest killing. [Teenager killed in fatal stabbing at Deanwood Metro station]

D.C. police vowed to step up patrols around the Deanwood station, and Metro Transit Police Chief Ronald A. Pavlik Jr. promised officers during peak times at the stop.

[Metro riders worry about violence]

As they seek to prevent further violence, authorities said they were closely watching Twitter and other social media platforms, where messages were posted after the stabbing. Yall lives boutta be slim, one friend of Johns wrote. Another message said: You Better Hope 12 Getchu First On God You Gon Get Your Due.

Johns mother said her son was adjusting to life in Richmond, where several relatives live.

He was actually liking it and had met new friends, and was doing good, Wells said. He loved his family, he was intelligent, and he was close to a bunch of brothers and sisters. Wells said John was also close with his biological father and stepfather.

Dana Hedgpeth, Jennifer Jenkins and Clarence Williams contributed to this report.
This Confederate soldier statue stands in the middle of Washington Street facing south. (John McDonnell/The Washington Post)

As the city of Alexandria, Va., wrangles over the proper locations for its Confederate memorials, letters are pouring in to keep one Johnny Reb statue right where he is: on a pedestal in the middle of a too-busy intersection.

He stands there solemn and humble and sad, one resident wrote to the citizens advisory group charged with studying the relocation issue. Please dont remove this statue  I pass it daily and it reminds me to look for the solution and not strife.

Another letter read: His head is bowed in defeat, he has no weapon. There is no prophecy of a Confederate resurgence, no anger towards the North, no attempt to justify the cause of the South.

Sorry, but that Johnny Reb statue, called Appomattox, belongs in a cemetery. To understand why, you have to dispense with the fantasies about what he represents.

[Should Confederate memorials stay or go? Share your thoughts.]

1 of 11 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  Confederate memorials around the country are being vandalized View Photos Black lives matter and other words had been painted on Confederate statues from St. Louis to Charleston, S.C. Caption Black lives matter and other words have been painted on Confederate statues from St. Louis to Charleston, S.C. June 22, 2015 Worker Galen Roth cleans graffiti off the pedestal of a bronze statue to the Confederate defenders of Charleston in Charleston, S.C. Carlo Allegri/Reuters Wait 1 second to continue.

First of all, Johnny Reb does not give up. If he bows, it is a feint. His primary weapon is a belief in white supremacy; thus, he is always armed. If he loses a war between the states, hell spend the next hundred years waging war within the states.

One need only look at the statehouses throughout the South to see that his cause is far from being lost.

In the book Marching Masters: Slavery, Race, and the Confederate Army during the Civil War, Colin Edward Woodward writes: For rebel troops, the Confederacy was a great and bloody gamble to keep the South wedded to the economic prosperity and racial caste system that slavery made possible.

Nothing noble about it.

Most rebels did not own black people, but very few could claim ignorance of the everyday workings of the peculiar institution, Woodward remarks. They were part of a culture of slavery in the South, and they certainly did not fight for the eradication of human bondage.

No denying that, either.

The Johnny Reb figure was based on a photograph of a Confederate soldier after the surrender of Gen. Robert E. Lee at Appomattox, Va., in 1865. Some might think that meant the war was over for Johnny.

This statue, unlike no other, represents peace and the post war reflection of the veterans, a resident wrote to the advisory group.

The fact is Confederate veterans founded the first-iteration Ku Klux Klan. The group would flourish throughout the United States during the 20th century, becoming terrorists, not peacemakers.

It was the killing of nine black church members in Charleston, S.C., last year  by a man with a fetish for Confederate symbols  that prompted many cities to reconsider how such memorials and flags should be displayed, if at all.

[Confederate flag comes down on South Carolinas statehouse grounds]

This unarmed soldier with downcast eyes, is not, and was never intended to be, a monument to the Confederacy, wrote Deborah A. Mullins, chapter president of the Mary Custis Lee-17th Virginia Regiment Chapter 7 of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. From inception, he was, and is, a memorial to one hundred citizens of Alexandria who lost their lives defending their state.

You have to hand it to those Confederate daughters and sons: Their public relations campaign to separate Johnny Reb from his ignoble cause has been astounding. And here he stands atop a pedestal  at the intersection of Prince and South Washington streets  a hero facing south with his outsize sculpted bronze behind protruding toward the nations capital.

The Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Confederate Memorials and Street Names must recommend to the City Council what to do about him, along with other memorials and nearly 50 streets named after Confederate generals and military leaders.

A stretch of Jefferson Davis Highway (a.k.a. Route 1), named for the president of the Confederacy, ought to be renamed immediately. Nat Turner Rebellion Road would be a fitting twist.

At a meeting Monday night, the advisory group seemed to think that council members had passed the buck just to take the heat off of them.

But making a decision should not be too difficult.

The advisory group need only take into account community values, knowledge, and ideas into its discussions and considerations, as the City Council instructed.

Knowledge, facts  those are key.

Moving Johnny Reb would require an act of the Virginia General Assembly. Those who placed the statue anticipated todays controversy and enacted laws to make moving it as difficult as possible. But just because it may be impossible doesnt mean that its not the right thing to do.

The war between the states, the great invader from the North, had similarities to the colonials breaking away from European control, a resident wrote.

Another said: My great uncles name is on the Appomattox statute, and he died fighting for a perceived injustice, federal over-reach, and states rights. . . . He fought for the ideal that a man should pursue his own destiny and fortune, black or white, without federal mandates.

There are lots of heartfelt letters being written. But that doesnt make them right.

To read previous columns, go to washingtonpost.com/milloy.
With a deadline approaching this week to apply for millions in federal funding to fix the decaying Memorial Bridge, an influential group of congressional representatives on Tuesday sounded an alarm that the National Park Service risked blowing the crucial opportunity.

In a letter to Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis, members of the Virginia and D.C. congressional delegations said they were writing to urge in the strongest possible terms that the Park Service complete a strong application by the Thursday night deadline.

But barring a last-minute change, it appears that the Park Service will not make it in time, because it failed to seek needed state sponsorship early enough.

The grant could make a major dent in a quarter-billion-dollar bridge project the Park Service says it cant afford on its own. The grant requires a state-level co-sponsor to join the application, but D.C. and Virginia officials said the Park Service did not reach out to ask them to play that role until last week.

[Bridge is a symbol of the nations infrastructure troubles]

A structural engineer with the Federal Highway Administration, George Choubah, leads a tour inside the Arlington Memorial Bridge. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)

Under those circumstances, and with many uncertainties and long-term policy implications, officials in both jurisdictions said Tuesday that they could not sponsor an application at this time.

Park Service spokesman Jeremy Barnum said he would not comment on those official statements Tuesday, pending formal notification directly to the agency. He also declined to say why the agency waited so long to approach D.C. and Virginia officials for sponsorship.

Jarvis stood before the Memorial Bridge last spring and warned that the corroded span, with two lanes already partly shut for safety reasons, urgently needed a massive renovation.

Last month, Jarvis spoke out again, saying the 1930s landmark could be closed to cars and become a footbridge by 2021.

Barnum reiterated Tuesday that the Park Service has developed a strong grant application and is actively encouraging the state of Virginia and District of Columbia to co-sponsor it. Without their support, this project cannot go forward, impacting 68,000 Virginia and D.C. commuters daily.

Virginia Transportation Secretary Aubrey Layne said the commonwealth has been working for months on its own, unrelated application for transportation funding under the program, which was established in December and is known as a FASTLANE grant. But it is an arduous and complex process. The states application, covering improvements along Interstate 95 and elsewhere, runs 48 pages, Layne said.

But the Park Service grant plans shared with Virginia were less thoroughly developed, Layne said, and Virginia would need more details before committing. I dont even know what the real request is, Layne said. We dont even know what the ballpark is.

Employees of the National Park Service point their flashlights at eroded steel beams to show the deterioration of the Memorial Bridge. (Astrid Riecken/For The Washington Post)

[Crumbling Memorial Bridge could become a footbridge in five years without $250 million in repairs]

The Memorial Bridge, which carries commuters and pedestrians over the Potomac River between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery, is located in the District, and putting in any state funds outside the borders of Virginia would require the approval of the General Assembly, Layne said.

The [Gov. Terry] McAuliffe administration would certainly have no problem working with them in a reasonable time period in putting together a plan for that bridge, Layne said. But, in two days, Im not going to have General Assembly approval.

In a statement, the District said, The Memorial Bridge is a critical piece of infrastructure that the National Park Service must take steps to address. The District has had only preliminary discussions with the Park Service on the project, the statement added. We look to NPS for a safe, affordable, and strong plan to ensure the long-term viability of the bridge.

For now, the city said, it can offer only a letter of support, not sign on as a co-sponsor.

After the depths of the bridges problems became clear last year, members of Congress kicked into action to find potential funds for the rehab. The bridges troubles helped shape some of the transportation funding conversations that followed on Capitol Hill and added support for the new FASTLANE grant program.

But the Park Service says it still needs billions of dollars more to cover long-delayed maintenance on roads and other park facilities nationwide.

In the letter to Jarvis on Tuesday, Virginia Sens. Mark Warner (D) and Timothy M. Kaine (D), along with Reps. Don Beyer (D), Gerald E. Connolly (D) and D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), sought to light a fire under the Park Service.

Citing a session last week on Capitol Hill attended by Jarvis, U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and others, the delegation voiced exasperation that the hand-holding was even needed.

Based on our meeting with you last week, it is clear that we need to work together as a regional delegation to ensure that a grant application is submitted by the U.S. Department of Transportations April 14th deadline, they wrote, adding that the Park Service should continue to work quickly with Virginia and District officials.

The Park Service estimates that construction must begin by 2019 in order to prevent a full closure in 2021, the letter continued. The regions delegation worked to ensure that the Park Service could apply for the much-needed funds. Given the Bridges regional importance, the scale and cost of rehabilitation, and limited window of time before a closure is necessary, we feel strongly that the National Park Service must apply for a FASTLANE grant this year.
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe proposed sweeping changes to a high-profile regional economic development grant program and to laws intended to restrict the gifts lawmakers can accept from those seeking to influence government. . (Bob Brown/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT (Bob Brown/AP)

RICHMOND  Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) has proposed sweeping changes to a high-profile regional economic development grant program and to laws intended to restrict the gifts lawmakers can accept from those seeking to influence government.

The changes came just before midnight Sunday, the deadline for McAuliffe to act on the 811 bills passed by the Republican-controlled General Assembly during this years session.

Lawmakers will return to Richmond on April 20 to consider the mostly technical amendments McAuliffe made to more than 50 bills as well as the two-year budget which tops $105 billion.

If the General Assembly rejects those changes, the original bills go back to McAuliffe, who will have 30 days to decide whether to issue a veto.

Onehot button issue that will return to lawmakers is Go Virginia, a $35 million grant program intended to inspire local governments to work together to train workers and create jobs.

Although McAuliffe strongly supported the concept last summer, his administration and lawmakers are at odds over who should control the board that will control the program. The legislatures bill gives it the majority of appointments while the governors version of the bill gives him the upper hand.

McAuliffe points to a recent opinion from Attorney General Mark Herring (D), which backs up the governors claim that the Go Virginia board is likely unconstitutional because it would create an executive-branch board that was not controlled by the administration.

We have now sent back what I think is a reasonable proposal that solves all the constitutional issues, McAuliffe told reporters Monday.

But Majority Leader M. Kirkland Cox (R-Colonial Heights) questioned the justification for the changes, calling Herrings letter a very questionable attorney general opinion which seems to fit exactly the profile of the amendments [McAuliffe] wanted.

Cox said McAuliffe, who has made economic development the centerpiece of his term, lost enthusiasm for Go Virginia once it became clear that private citizens would drive the program using their own experiences in business.

Once he wasnt the man, there was a little less interest, Cox said of McAuliffe. The governor has never fully grasped what the bill does. Its not a deal-closing fund. Its a different approach. I hope none of us are in this to say, I get credit for X.

Yet Cox stopped short of saying the House GOP would reject the changes, and said he would keep an open mind.

[Will Scalias death spell doom for McDonnells appeal? Not necessarily.]

McAuliffe also proposed changes to a GOP bill related to the $100 annual total cap on gifts from lobbyists to lawmakers.

Lawmakers this session passed a bill that would create a new category of gifts and meals under $20 that would not count toward that cap. This provision was intended to free lawmakers from the cumbersome process of accounting for every ball cap and cup of coffee. McAuliffes amendment raises the threshold to $25, but says meals no matter what their value still count toward the cap.

Separate from the cap, lawmakers still have to report on disclosure forms all gifts and meals valued at greater than $50.

The governor also eliminated a provision that lets several lobbyists effectively split the check, giving them fewer chances to wine and dine lawmakers before reaching the cap.

The laws were initially passed in 2014 and revised in 2015 in response to the federal corruption conviction of former governor Robert F. McDonnell.
Kate Banfield, who told her abortion story in an amicus brief, came to Washington in March to witness oral arguments in a major abortion case before the Supreme Court. She says getting an abortion was the right decision for her. (Bill OLeary/The Washington Post)

Kate Banfield and Tammy Romo-Alcala have never met. But more than 25 years ago, the two women found themselves in the same position: freshmen in college, pregnant and scared of derailing all they had worked toward.

Both women, on a day each recalls vividly, walked into a Dallas abortion clinic.

Its what happened when they walked out, and in the weeks and decades that followed, that places them on opposite ends of the most significant abortion case to be heard by the Supreme Court in a quarter of a century.

Banfield, who graduated from college and is now a mother of three, said she has no regrets. I knew I did what was right for myself, she said.

Romo-Alcala, who dropped out of school and had two children before undergoing a hysterectomy at age 28, said she should have had the baby. Women need to know your life doesnt go on being the same, she said.

Tammy Romo-Alcala at a pro-life rally. Romo-Alcala, who had an abortion in her freshman year of college, told the Supreme Court in an amicus brief that she regrets the decision. (Family photo)

The landmark Supreme Court case that legalized abortion nationwide, Roe v. Wade, was built around an anonymous woman. No one knew that Jane Roe was really Norma McCorvey (now an abortion opponent) until after a decision was reached in 1973. More than 40 years later, as the high court prepares to make a ruling in a case challenging Texass stringent abortion regulations, the justices have heard from more than 200 women in friend-of-the-court briefs who have publicly disclosed their private abortion experiences, along with their names.

Some of the women, including Banfield, had not previously shared their stories beyond immediate family and friends. Others, like Romo-Alcala, were open before lawyers and advocates encouraged them to be.

There is no way to know whether the justices will read their words as they weigh the issues in Whole Womans Health v. Hellerstedt . But scholars who study the Supreme Court say that there has been a dramatic rise in the number of friend-of-the-court briefs filed to the high court  an increase of more than 800 percent since the 1950s  and that the justices are increasingly citing them in their opinions.

As to whether they matter at the end of the day, nobody knows, said Allison Orr Larsen, a law professor at the College of William and Mary whose research focuses on the Supreme Court. What is known is that the justices are using amicus briefs with increasing regularity.

[Supreme Court abortion arguments pitched to audience of one]

In fact, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who is considered a key vote in the Texas case, cited an amicus brief in another major abortion ruling, in 2007. Kennedy wrote at the time: While we find no reliable data to measure the phenomenon, it seems unexceptionable to conclude some women come to regret their choice to abort the infant life they once created and sustained. See Brief for Sandra Cano et al.

Taken together, the stories in the briefs from both sides in Whole Womans Health v. Hellerstedt present an intimate portrait of abortion in America that mirrors a larger social movement aimed at removing the secrecy and stigma surrounding the procedure, complete with hashtags such as #ShoutYourAbortion.

South Texas's only abortion clinic, located in the border town of McAllen, has become a battleground for abortion activists on both sides. (Whitney Leaming/The Washington Post)

They also speak to the strategies of lawyers who may not agree on much, except that its time to talk about what was once unspoken.

A womans abortion experience is often a deep, dark, and painful secret, reads a brief from 3,348 Women Injured by Abortion. The information being offered to this Court by [these women] is crucial.

Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which is serving as counsel for the clinic in the case, echoed the importance of hearing from those who understand firsthand whats at stake.

It always makes a difference when the reality of our constitutional protections are brought to life, Northup said, pointing to the courts same-sex-marriage decision. Every time you hear about a Supreme Court case, its not only about the principles. Its about the people and what it means for their lives.

At the core of the Texas case: How far can states go to impose restrictions on abortion clinics  restrictions that lawmakers say protect womens health but abortion providers argue make it difficult for women to exercise their constitutional right to the procedure? Abortion providers say full implementation of Texass 2013 law would leave a state of nearly 28 million people with as few as 10 clinics.

Northup said it was not difficult to find women willing to share their abortion stories. One brief for the petitioners is signed by more than 100 lawyers. In another, Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis (D), Ohio state Rep. Teresa Fedor (D) and other elected officials describe their experiences. In yet another, the women range from educators to doctors to a minister.

[For Supreme Court case, lawyers tell their own abortion stories]

In a brief filed by the nonprofit Advocates for Youth, 26 women are named, including Debra Hauser, the president of the D.C.-based organization. She begins her story this way:

In 1995, at age 35, I found myself alone, pregnant and caring for my six-month-old son. My husband had gone to work one day and did not return.

It ends: To this day, I am certain that choosing an abortion was the most responsible, moral, and loving action that I could have taken  for me and for my son.

Hauser said she wasnt always open with her story. That changed in 2011, when a younger co-worker spoke about her own abortion in a meeting, and Hauser responded: You know, were not that different. Ive had an abortion, too.

Now the group has collected about 1,000 stories and plans to publish a graphic novel and produce a second play based on some of them as part of its 1 in 3 Campaign, named for the commonly cited statistic that 1 in 3 American women will have an abortion by age 45 (that number was based on the 2008 abortion rate, which has since declined.)

[Abortion rights activists aim to shatter stigma]

Hauser is one of many mothers in the briefs who describe choosing an abortion rather than making the lives of their existing children more difficult. Others tell of dreams achieved and successful career paths that would have otherwise been derailed.

But there also are scores of women who recount ongoing sorrow, along with complications resulting from the procedure, including hysterectomies that kept them from ever having children.

Jacquie Stalnaker was a recent college graduate in 1988, new to the District and engaged to be married, when she found out that she was pregnant. After her abortion at a Bethesda clinic, where she begged the doctor to stop mid-procedure, she walked out to find her fiance gone and her life changed.

Half my life Ive been grieving a child that Ive never met, said Stalnaker, 50, of Alabama. She named the child Lilly Gabrielle, and said she later had a miscarriage and was never able to get pregnant again. Now Im in my third year of menopause, and that hope is gone.

Stalnaker said she didnt tell her parents about her abortion for 15 years, even after she hemorrhaged and ended up in a hospital. She now works as a pro-life lobbyist and wants the public and the Supreme Court justices to know whats at stake. They need to understand this is real, and it hurts and damages women, and sometimes the women dont recover, Stalnaker said.

Tammy Romo-Alcala was the first person in her family to go to college, so she didnt give her boyfriend a choice when she found out she was pregnant in 1991. Later, they would get married and have two children together, but they wouldnt speak about the abortion in Dallas until 2012. When they finally did, Romo-Alcala said, they cried for two hours.

If I knew what I was getting into at the time, I wouldnt have gone through with it, said Romo-Alcala, now 44 and a registrar for a high school. She said that she battled depression and a drinking problem, and that painful scar tissue caused her to have a hysterectomy at 28.

This year, she will finally graduate from college, walking the same stage as her oldest child. Talking about her experience, she said, has helped her heal.

For so long I thought I was the only one, she said. Now the reality is there are many women who feel the way I do, and we need to speak out about it.

Kate Banfield had spoken to her husband and three children, ages 14, 16 and 18, about her abortion in Dallas almost 30 years ago. But before she could agree to participate in the Supreme Court case, she had one more person to tell: her father. Early one morning, she typed him an email describing how, in 1987, just as her first year at Stanford University came to an end, she found out she was pregnant. How more than anything she wanted to be a mother someday but knew she wasnt ready then. How she mouthed the rowing phrase power 10  used to push rowers to find a new depth of strength  as she walked with a friend, arms linked, past a man shouting in her face and into a clinic that performed the procedure.

I did not tell you and mom because I knew what I was going to do and did not want either of you to try to influence me otherwise, Banfield wrote in that email. I grew up that summer. I learned to trust myself.

Banfield, 48, who met her husband at Stanford and dedicated her career to working with children, said she wasnt sure how her father would react. But within hours, he responded. He told her he stood by her decision  both the one she made at 19 and the one she was making now.
City Wildlife takes us through the process of caring for baby squirrels that end up in their care after being separated from their mothers. (Ashleigh Joplin/The Washington Post)

City Wildlife takes us through the process of caring for baby squirrels that end up in their care after being separated from their mothers. (Ashleigh Joplin/The Washington Post)

As a senior investigator at the National Cancer Institute, Peter M. Blumberg has devoted his professional life to reducing pain and suffering. Unless you are a squirrel, in which case Blumberg brings the pain.

In 1999, the Harvard-trained biochemical pharmacologist was granted Patent No. 5879696 A, a.k.a. Treated bird seed preferentially palatable to birds but not to animals. In other words: hot-pepper birdseed. It burns the tongues of squirrels, not birds.

The squirrelproof birdseed was something we stumbled into, Blumberg said when I visited him on the campus of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda.

On the windowsill of his small office were five spindly cactuses, some looking a bit shriveled but all boasting rather alarming spikes. They were a clue to Blumbergs breakthrough, which is employed in such squirrel-thwarting products as Hot Meats birdseed, Blazing Hot birdseed and Cajun Blend birdseed.

[A report from the front lines of the squirrel birdseed wars]

A squirrel on a bird feeder. (John Kelly/TWP)

The cactuses were from a plant genus known as euphorbia. Spikes arent their only protection. Theyre related to a plant known as the crown of thorns, the sap of which contains a compound said to be a million times more potent than an habanero pepper: resiniferatoxin, or RTX.

Blumberg and his colleagues were interested in RTX because it was thought to be a tumor promoter, a compound that when exposed to a carcinogen encourages the growth of tumors. It turned out that RTX is not a tumor promoter. However, it functions like capsaicin, the chemical that makes chili peppers seem hot. In fact, RTX is 10,000 times more potent than capsaicin.

[In epic chase caught on film, a squirrel star is born]

Using RTX, Blumberg was able to demonstrate that mammals have a nerve receptor that responds to capsaicin, causing a painful sensation.

This is tantalizing to the pharmaceutical industry, which can use RTX to explore new ways to treat pain. For example, a compound might bind with the cellular channel that is activated by capsaicin, preventing it from erupting with a pain response.

More than a dozen pharmaceutical companies are interested in this as a non-narcotic approach to treating pain, Blumberg said.

Further research revealed that while this receptor in most mammals responds to capsaicin with pain, the receptor in birds doesnt. Many species of chili pepper have been spread far afield by birds who have eaten them and pooped out the seeds.

Peter Blumberg, a cancer researcher at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md., where he was photographed. He is standing next to a crown of thorns plant, which is in the family of plants he studied. That research led to hot pepper bird seed, designed to thwart squirrels. (John Kelly/TWP)

So how did Blumberg come to make a connection between the super-potent sap of a cactus and hordes of greedy squirrels?

The answer is I live on a farm, Blumberg said. He and his wife raise horses out of an 1830 farmhouse near the Monocacy National Battlefield in Maryland.

In the country, Blumberg explained, everyone feeds the birds. That usually means feeding the squirrels, too, since the critters seem able to overpower every squirrel-proof mechanism thrown at them.

This suggested to me that there must be people out there who would object to squirrels eating the birdseed, Blumberg said. As is required of government employees, he notified NIHs Office of Technology Transfer so the invention could be patented and licensed, with royalties going to the government.

The patent was licensed to Snyder Seed, a company in Buffalo founded by Joseph Dunn, a scientist who had worked with Blumberg while a student at Harvard. Dunn left a job at Eastman Kodak to perfect the product, including how to infuse large quantities of seeds with capsaicin in a way that was safe to humans and economical for manufacturers. (He sourced a highly concentrated cayenne pepper extract from India.)

Dunns first product went on the market in 1997, but patent battles with other manufacturers meant no one got rich, he said. The patent on Blumbergs invention has expired, so any manufacturer is free to make a product based on it.

Someday, Im going to write a book, said Dunn, now dean of research at the pharmacy school at DYouville College in Buffalo. Ill call it The Birdseed Wars. 

Dunn remains in awe of his mentor. Dr. Blumberg is one of the scientists this country is lucky to have, he said, not because of his birdseed but because of his contribution to cancer biology and pain research.

Before I left, I asked Blumberg if he used hot-pepper birdseed in any of the bird feeders at his house. No, he said. Then he added in a conspiratorial whisper, After all, I dont mind the squirrels.

Nursing squirrels back to health

Is there anything cuter than baby squirrels being fed formula from tiny syringes? You be the judge. To see how City Wildlife, the Districts only licensed wildlife rehabilitator, cares for orphaned squirrels before returning them to the wild, go to washingtonpost.com/johnkelly.

[Video: The delicate process of rehabilitating injured squirrels]

Tomorrow: The amazing adventures of the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, the newest crime-fighting sensation from Marvel Comics.

Twitter: @johnkelly

For previous columns, visit washingtonpost.com/johnkelly.
The Flint, Mich., water system is in much better shape six months after the city switched its water source and began adding chemicals to control corrosion of aging pipes, but the threat of lead contamination remains, researchers said Tuesday.

There are very positive trends. . . . The system is definitely on its path to recovery, said Marc Edwards, the Virginia Tech professor whose work helped bring Flints water crisis to light. But because recent samples showed that potentially dangerous levels of lead persist, at present, no one should be drinking unfiltered water in Flint.

On the whole, Edwards said, a lower percentage of homes tested last month showed high lead levels, and even in those where levels still exceed federal standards, the amount of lead appears to be falling. The corrosion control efforts also appear to be reducing levels of iron in the water.

But the researchers found that too many homes still had lead levels above the federal action level of 15 parts per billion. In addition, they said, lead levels throughout Flints water system are highly variable.

Thus, virtually all homes in Flint must be considered at risk, at the present time, for elevated lead in water, researchers wrote in a summary of their findings, unless the homeowner is certain that there is no lead plumbing . . . in the home.

1 of 37 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  The controversial case over dangerous lead in water in a Michigan city View Photos Anger over the levels of lead in the water in Flint has led the mayor to declare a state of emergency. Caption Anger over high levels of lead in the water in Flint has led the mayor to declare a state of emergency. Jan. 25, 2016 Flint resident Angela Hickmon, 56, chants during a protest outside City Hall in downtown Flint. Jake May/The Flint Journal-MLive.com via AP Wait 1 second to continue.

At the same time, the fact that many Flint residents are using very little tap water is hindering the recovery of the citys system, Edwards said. If we want to help this system recover, we have to get water moving through these pipes, he noted.

Many residents are avoiding their tap water and relying primarily on bottled water  much of it provided at no charge  both to lower their utility bills and to avoid possible contact with lead and other contaminants. But that means too little flow of water to carry the chlorine and other chemicals added by the city to reduce the leaching of lead from pipes and to combat bacteria.

The latest water samples in Flint were collected in March by Virginia Tech students alongside local residents, with funding from the Environmental Protection Agency.

The testing involved 174 of the 269 homes where Edwardss team collected water samples last summer.

Flints lead problems began to surface after the city temporarily switched to the Flint River for its water supply in April 2014 as part of a bid to save money. The state failed to ensure that anti-corrosion chemicals were added to the water, which was contaminated when lead leached into it from aging underground pipes.

As a result, nearly 9,000 children younger than 6 have potentially been exposed to the toxin. Lead can cause permanent learning disabilities, behavior problems and, at higher levels, a number of diseases. Public health officials say there is no safe level of lead in the body.

Under current lead-in-water regulations, at least 90 percent of homes tested by a water utility must remain below the federal 15 ppb action level. The 90 percentile of samples taken last month in Flint was 23 ppb, Edwards said.

The release of the summary report comes days after state and federal officials, along with the Virginia Tech researchers, agreed that although the quality of Flints water is improving, more work must be done before all residents will be able to drink it safely.

It will take months and months to recover, and no one is willing to put a time limit, Robert Kaplan, acting regional EPA administrator, said at a Flint Water Interagency Coordinating Committee meeting Friday, according to local news reports.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R), whose administration has been heavily criticized for not acting sooner on the problems in Flint, sounded cautiously optimistic in a statement late last week.

Whenever we see a positive trend in Flints water quality, thats good news, Snyder said. But we still have much work to do to get people the quality of water they need and deserve.

In the meantime, residents have been encouraged to flush their kitchen water faucets to remove any particles of lead that might be lingering in their homes plumbing and to help move anti-corrosion chemicals through the plumbing system.
Vint Lawrence, a CIA paramilitary officer who helped organize a secret war in the jungles of Laos before becoming a critically acclaimed artist and caricaturist, illustrating wild-eyed literary giants and wide-eared politicos for such publications as the New Republic and The Washington Post, died April 9 at a hospital in New Haven, Conn. He was 76.

The cause was complications from acute myeloid leukemia, said his wife, Anne Garrels, a broadcast journalist long associated with National Public Radio.

Mr. Lawrence began making highly detailed line drawings of presidents, writers and international events around 1970, freelancing for Washington Monthly and The Post, particularly the newspapers Book World section. He was later a contributing editor at the New Republic.

He does not burlesque his subjects, Post art critic Paul Richard wrote in 1973, reviewing a Washington exhibition of Mr. Lawrences illustrations and watercolors. He shapes their faces into symbolic objects that illuminate the news.

Through Mr. Lawrences pen, faces and objects often underwent fantastical transformations: Sen. Everett Dirksen acquired a head in the shape of his home state of Illinois; the West Bank became the car of Jordans King Hussein.

Political illustration by Vint Lawrence of Bill Clinton. (Vint Lawrence)

For a 1984 profile of White House spokesman Larry Speakes, Mr. Lawrence imagined Speakes dressed as a court jester, seated at the foot of a drawbridge hanging from President Ronald Reagans ears. Hungry sea critters gazed open-mouthed from a moat below, their sides emblazoned with the names of news outlets including The Post and the New York Times.

No transformation was more dazzling than that of Mr. Lawrence himself, who had just graduated from Princeton University with a bachelors degree in art history when he was drafted into the Army and recruited by the CIA in 1960. He found himself in Laos two years later, in the midst of a bloody civil war between the countrys Communist party and ruling monarchy.

The rugged, landlocked nation had become a crucial battlefield of the Vietnam War because of the Ho Chi Minh trail, a winding North Vietnamese supply route that carried troops and munitions through eastern Laos and south to Vietnam.

Mr. Lawrence was tasked with coordinating between American forces and a guerrilla army led by Vang Pao, a charismatic Hmong general whom CIA Director William Colby later called the biggest hero of the Vietnam War.

For three years, Mr. Lawrence spent nearly every hour of the day with Vang Pao, planning raids on North Vietnamese soldiers and developing a 39,000-person army at a secret base in the valley of Long Cheng.

He returned to the United States in 1964, 11 years before Vang Pao and his forces were defeated by the Communists, to work as an aide for Colby  then a high-ranking deputy at the CIA  and later for Paul Nitze, deputy secretary of defense.

He seemed to have a long career in government ahead of him when he decided to drop everything and become an artist, encouraged by an unusual meeting with the dean of the Maryland Institute College of Art.

Political illustration by Vint Lawrence of President George H.W. Bush during the Persian Gulf War. (Vint Lawrence)

Garrels said in a phone interview Tuesday that the dean told Mr. Lawrence that art school might be able to improve his technique, but if you dont have something to say, no art school is going to teach it.

You should go up in your attic and draw, he added, and see if you have something to say  and whats more, see if you like working alone.

After the meeting, Mr. Lawrence climbed upstairs, shut the door and  after a few sketches  found art to his liking.

James Vinton Lawrence was born in New York City on June 25, 1939, and grew up in Englewood, N.J. His father was an investment counselor who served in the Office of Strategic Services, a World War II-era precursor to the CIA.

Mr. Lawrence graduated in 1956 from the private Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire and in 1960 from Princeton.

In addition to his newspaper and magazine work, which continued through the late 1990s, he also illustrated the covers of such books as Liars Poker (1989), Michael Lewiss best-selling Wall Street takedown. The books original cover featured a caricature of swaggering investment banker John Gutfreund on a million-dollar bill.

His first marriage, to Maria Satzger, ended in divorce. Besides his wife of 30 years, of Norfolk, Conn., survivors include two daughters from his first marriage, Rebecca Lawrence of Kalispell, Mont., and Gabrielle Strand of Indialantic, Fla.; a brother; two sisters; and a granddaughter.

Mr. Lawrence set aside illustration for painting at the end of his career but said he found great joy in the caricatures that brought him fame. Among his favorite subjects was Texas businessman H. Ross Perot, whose large-eared face peered out from the pages of the New Republic a half-dozen times during Perots failed 1992 presidential campaign.

He was a treat, a real original, Mr. Lawrence told the Los Angeles Times that year before lamenting the uninspiring appearances of the remaining presidential contenders. How do you draw a pudgy Clinton and an angular Gore?
SPAIN

King makes nal bid to prevent 2nd election

King Felipe will hold another round of talks with Spains fractious political parties in a last-ditch attempt to get them to form a coalition and avoid a second election, his office said Tuesday.

The leaders of Spains four main parties have until May 2 to agree on a possible government after none of them won a parliamentary majority in an election in December.

If they fail to form a government, parliament will be dissolved and a new election called, most likely in June, raising the risk of hurting Spains uneven economic recovery. Polls show a new election would produce a similarly inconclusive result.

After leading two unsuccessful rounds of talks since the vote, Felipe will again hold meetings with party leaders April 25 and 26, the royal household said.

Opposition parties have sidelined Mariano Rajoy, who became acting prime minister after his conservative Peoples Party lost its majority in December amid voter anger over his administrations austerity measures and corruption cases.

But Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez has failed to form his preferred coalition with the anti-austerity Podemos and business-friendly Ciudadanos.

 Reuters

UNITED NATIONS

Selection process for new chief opened up

The United Nations took a historic step Tuesday to open up the usually secret process of selecting the next secretary general, giving all countries the chance to question candidates on a slew of issues.

Montenegros foreign minister, Igor Luksic, was the first of eight candidates to face members of the U.N. General Assembly.

General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft called it a historic moment . . . without precedent at the United Nations.

For the first time since this organization started 70 years ago, the process for selecting and appointing the next secretary general is being generally guided by the principles of transparency and inclusivity, Lykketoft said.

Under the U.N. Charter, the secretary general is chosen by the 193-member General Assembly on the recommendation of the 15-member Security Council.

In practice, this has meant that the councils five permanent members have veto power over the candidates. That will not change in deciding whom to recommend to succeed Ban Ki-moon, whose term ends Dec. 31.

But Lykketoft said the question-and-answer sessions are a potential game changer.

If there is a critical mass of countries supporting one single candidate, I dont think the Security Council will be coming up with quite a different name, he said.

 Associated Press

Italy helps rescue more than 2,000 migrants at sea: Italys coast guard said more than 2,000 migrants were rescued in one day in 17 operations in the Mediterranean Sea. A Maltese ship, a redirected cargo vessel and a ship that is part of the European Unions Frontex operation joined forces with Italian ships to carry out the rescue Tuesday. Warm weather and calm seas have led to a rebound in the number of people crossing from Libya.

Congo records 21 yellow fever deaths: The World Health Organization said yellow fever has killed 21 people in Congo, with some cases linked to an outbreak first reported in Angola in December. The WHO said some of the cases were detected in a province bordering Angola and were imported from that country, where 1, 562 cases, including 225 deaths, have been reported. Yellow fever is spread by mosquitoes.

Iraqs parliament delays vote on cabinet picks: Iraqs parliament delayed a vote on cabinet nominees presented by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. Abadi proposed a new technocrat-dominated cabinet last month, cutting the number of positions from 21 to 16. Iraqs powerful political blocs, which rely on patronage systems to remain in power, oppose the smaller cabinet. Lawmakers frustrated at the votes delay protested inside parliament.

 From news services
FRIDAY NIGHT in Ward 8, a 7-year-old girl returning home from a dinner out with her family was seriously wounded by what authorities say was a stray bullet. Monday morning in Ward 7, a 15-year-old boy was stabbed to death at the Deanwood Metro station, the same place where another 15-year-old boy was shot to death just a little over two weeks ago. Its like were living in Iraq or Iran. Its a battleground, said one neighborhood leader.

It is understandable that residents weary of the violence want  and should expect  additional help from police and other officials. At the same time, it is clear that police alone cant be the solution to the problems that are driving the growing violence in parts of the District. Its important to get the stricken communities involved in the fight.

The shooting of the little girl (thankfully it appears she will recover) and Mondays fatal stabbing (which appears to have followed an altercation between two people apparently known to each other) focuses attention on the disproportionate crime and violence in the citys two poorest wards. Of the 30 homicides so far this year, 23 have occurred in Wards 7 and 8, with Ward 7 showing a marked increase over last year (from four to 14). That the citys six other wards have had just one homicide in the past two months makes the spike in violence east of the Anacostia River all the more apparent and worrisome.

Residents of the Southeast neighborhood where the girl was shot Friday complained about police not being present. Certainly, a reassessment of resources is in order. But the fact the shooting occurred just a few hundred feet from a police station suggests a brazenness that is more difficult to deter. It is likewise striking  and disturbing  that the two recent acts of violence at the Deanwood station played out in broad daylight and under known surveillance cameras. One of the things that authorities say most frustrates them is the rapid escalation into bloodshed of what should be ordinary interactions among individuals. That underscores the importance of tackling the underlying social issues  in education, mental health, housing and employment  that are factors in crime.

That police were so quickly able to make an arrest in Fridays shooting of the 7-year-old girl was reassuring. Not only did it show how aggressively police reacted to the incident, but also it demonstrated a willingness by the community to trust and work with police. In this particular case, I cant underestimate the amount of people who called in with information, said Assistant D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham. Lets hope there will be a similar response in the case of Mondays Deanwood Metro stabbing; photographs of a suspect have been released by police. Its important that officials figure how to continue that community engagement so that families can take their children out for dinner  or let them ride the Metro  without fearing for their safety.
Matthew Bryza, a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council, was U.S. mediator of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict from 2006 to 2009 and U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan from 2010 to 2011.

On April 1, an obscure conflict in Azerbaijans breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh nearly devolved back into full-scale war between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Transatlantic leaders called for an end to the violence and for redoubled efforts to settle the underlying political conflict but did little else. Russian President Vladimir Putin, by contrast, launched decisive actions to shore up Russias international reputation and pull Armenia and Azerbaijan away from the West.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict first erupted in 1988, when nationalists of the regions Armenian ethnic majority led a successful bid for a referendum on independence from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. Clashes between ethnic Azerbaijanis and Armenians followed, and not long after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, full-scale war exploded between the newly independent states of Armenia and Azerbaijan. That war cost about 30,000 lives and created about 1 million refugees and internally displaced persons; Armenia seized Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding Azerbaijani regions.

After a cease-fire in 1994, the so-called Minsk Group was established under the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to mediate the conflict. The Minsk Group is co-chaired by ambassadors from the United States, Russia and France; I served as the U.S. co-chair from 2006 to 2009. My Russian counterpart, Yuri Merzlyakov, was always constructive, as were his superiors: Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov hosted the co-chairs for hours of brainstorming, while then-President Dmitry Medvedev helped push what was close to a breakthrough in 2009. Though Washington and Moscow locked horns on Russias invasion of Georgia in August 2008, our cooperation on Nagorno-Karabakh was as intense as our enmity regarding Georgia.

I am therefore struck by the lack of cooperation on Nagorno-Karabakh between Washington and Moscow in recent days. Rather than uniting for concerted action in the spirit of the Minsk Group, Putin has been going it alone. Perhaps he seeks to undercut any credit Vice President Biden might have garnered for invigorating the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process when he met separately with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serge Sarkisian the day before the flare-up in violence. Or perhaps Putin was angered that Sarkisian and Aliyev proceeded with their White House meeting on the margins of President Obamas nuclear summit at the end of March, which the Russian president boycotted.

Ethnic Armenian soldiers stand in a trench at their position near Nagorno-Karabakh's town of Martuni on April 8. (Reuters)

For the naturally suspicious residents of the South Caucasus, it is difficult to view the above confluence of events as mere coincidence. Indeed, the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan had little interest in these unprecedented military clashes occurring just as they were trying to persuade the White House to engage in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process. Many Azerbaijanis and Armenians have long feared that an outside actor might prod a local military commander to reignite the conflict in pursuit of narrow political interests. They remember how, in August 2008, Russia took advantage of world leaders being distracted by the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics to invade Georgia, and how in February 2014, Russia was preparing to launch military operations in Ukraine as the Sochi Olympics ended.

In any case, Putin is exploiting the situation through intensive diplomacy that Obama shows no interest in matching. The White House has failed even to issue an official statement. Meanwhile, the State Departments reaction has been muted, consisting of a news statement by Secretary of State John Kerry that does not reflect the unprecedented nature of current circumstances, plus Kerrys routine phone discussions with Lavrov. Putin, by contrast, has consulted repeatedly with Aliyev and Sarkisian, while Russias foreign and defense ministers are actively engaging their counterparts in Yerevan and Baku. As a result, a April 5 cease-fire was brokered by Russias military chief with his Azerbaijani and Armenian counterparts, but without direct participation by the Minsk Group co-chairs.

Through these actions, Putin has positioned Russia to gain in two key ways. First, Russia is now repairing its international reputation following its debacle in Ukraine. Second, the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan are left with the impression that Russia alone calls the shots in the South Caucasus.

The overstretched Obama White House may view Putins gains as a price worth paying to quell the current violence and keep an additional crisis off its plate. Such benign neglect, however, creates opportunities for Kremlin exploitation in a region that connects Turkey, Russia, Iran, Central Asia and Caspian energy supplies. Putin has followed up the Moscow-brokered cease-fire by pressing Azerbaijan to join the Eurasian Economic Union and the Collective Security Treaty Organization, his counterweights to the European Union and NATO. Moscow has also announced that Russian internal passports can now be used for Russian citizens traveling to Armenia, effectively erasing any border between the two countries. And now Iran, whose previous efforts to insert itself into Nagorno-Karabakh mediation were thwarted, is maneuvering with Russia to form a triangle of cooperation with Azerbaijan and fill the strategic vacuum left by the United States. As Putin pulls Azerbaijan and Armenia away from the West in these ways, he is laying the foundation for future crises, while Washington watches.
John Kasich gave a sweeping address here Tuesday that the Ohio governor hoped would reframe the presidential race in his favor. Speaking in midtown Manhattan just five blocks from Trump Tower, Kasich summoned Republican voters to reject the billionaire front-runner and instead nominate an experienced hand who, in a spirit of bipartisan comity, could solve Washingtons intractable problems.

But in the political year of the outsider  a season in which Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have torqued their rhetoric and fed off unending voter fury  Kasichs appeal came across to some as another gasp from a wing of the Republican Party in hospice.

I dont know that theres a salesman in the Republican Party who could pitch that sell to Republican voters today, GOP strategist Rick Wilson said. If Ronald Reagan came back from the dead and delivered Kasichs speech, youd have Republicans going, Ehhhh, maybe not. 

So it is that Kasich is running a distant third in the nomination contest, espousing a brand of Republicanism  based on results, experience, bipartisanship, solutions  that won elections in the 1990s and 2000s and is still extolled by party leaders but has little currency with todays voters.

The animus can be traced to the George W. Bush presidency, when wars abroad, government spending at home and the financial collapse exacerbated tensions between conservative activists and the governing class. The divide worsened after Republicans took control of the House in 2010 and the Senate in 2014 yet failed to counter President Obamas agenda as decisively as the base had expected.

Richard Viguerie, a longtime conservative activist, said Trumps candidacy has been the impetus for a permanent disruption that could leave the Republican Party changed for years to come.

The betrayals of the political class and the lies have enabled Trump to effectively erase the path for traditional Republicans. The Kasichs of the world, the Paul Ryans, the Mitch McConnells, the Reince Priebuses  theyre not going to get another shot for a while, Viguerie said, referring to the House speaker, Senate majority leader and Republican National Committee chairman.

As if to underscore the point, a few hours after Kasich gave his speech in New York, Ryan sought to forcefully end the ongoing whisper campaign to draft him into the presidential race with a news conference in Washington.

I do not want, nor will I accept the nomination for our party, Ryan said in remarks delivered at the RNCs headquarters.

The idea of nominating Ryan on the floor of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July started months ago as a donor-class fantasy and had since metastasized. Ryan, the 2012 GOP vice-presidential nominee, is a favorite of many conservative elites, benefactors and thought leaders.

But though Ryan retains a tight grip on power in the House, his domestic agenda  cutting taxes, curbing entitlement spending and overhauling poverty programs  is no longer the beating heart of the party that it was only four years ago.

Politics today, it tends to drift toward personality contests, not policy contests. Insults get ink more than ideas, Ryan said. But we still owe it the country to show what we would do if given a mandate from the people. We have an obligation to give a clear picture  a clear choice. To talk about solutions.

Kasich pauses while speaking at a campaign event Friday at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn. (Jessica Hill/AP)

Kasich has been advocating a similar type of conservatism, in contrast to the more emotional politics of grievance practiced by Trump and, to a lesser extent, Cruz. In his town-hall meetings, Kasich talks extensively about his experience in government, such as balancing the budget in Congress and creating jobs as governor.

A lot of people have wondered, Why does he keep talking about what he has done? Why?  Kasich said in his Tuesday speech. Weve got to have somebody with the experience, the knowledge, the know-how and the record of success to deal with these problems in a turbulent time.

Kasich said the GOP faces a choice in the presidential contest between Two Paths, which was the title of his 30-minute address.

The path his two opponents offer, he said, exploits anger, encourages resentment, turns fear into hatred and divides people. This path solves nothing. It demeans our history, it weakens our country and it cheapens each of us.

The other path  the one Kasich said he offers  is well trod. It is at times steep, but its also solid. It is the same path our forebears took together. And it is from this higher path that we are offered the great view.

Kasich did not mention Trump or Cruz by name, but they were unmistakable targets as the governor ticked through their policy proposals, from deporting illegal immigrants (Trumps) to surveilling certain religious neighborhoods (Cruzs). He said they would drive America down into a ditch, not make us great again  a reference to Trumps campaign slogan, Make America great again.

A political strategy based on exploiting Americans instead of lifting them up inevitably leads to divisions, paranoia, isolation and promises that can never, ever be fulfilled, Kasich said. I say to you that this path to darkness is the antithesis of all that America has meant for 240 years.

He spoke to a formal crowd of a couple of hundred people at the Womens National Republican Club, clutching a wooden lectern as he read his speech from a prepared text and stood before four American flags.

What John is providing is the historically right message in a historically wrong year, Republican strategist Ari Fleischer said. It cant match the mood of this year. People arent looking for an insider. Theyre not looking for experience. Theyre looking for an outsider who will do things differently.

After a string of disappointing finishes in recent primaries and caucuses, Kasich is trying to gain traction here in New York, whose primary is next Tuesday, and in a handful of Northeastern states voting later this month. Kasichs advisers believe his message can resonate here more than it has in other regions of the country, although polls in New York show him as much as 30 points behind Trump.

Kasich has struggled since winning his home-state primary last month, which allowed him to hang on as one of the final three Republican contenders in the race. His national poll numbers consistently hover around 20 percent, and he has been unable to pick up a single delegate in any subsequent contest. Last weeks third-place finish in Wisconsin, with just 14 percent of the vote, was particularly humbling.

The Ohioan is so far behind in the delegate count that it is mathematically impossible for him to secure the nomination outright. But he is betting that no one else will win a majority of delegates, which would force a contested convention, where Kasich thinks he can persuade enough Republican delegates to nominate him over Trump or Cruz.

Our hope is that delegates will listen to John and eventually get serious at the convention, said Robert Walker, a former Republican congressman and Kasich friend and supporter. Either rationality will begin to prevail, or it wont and well lose the general election. You cant win in most states with fear and smear.

Kasich has been frustrated that voters categorize him as an establishment figure simply by virtue of his years in public office without appreciating his history as a firebrand budget cutter in the House who made enemies in his party.

Channeling the candidate, Walker pleaded with voters to not brand Kasich as a party insider: Dont lump us together. Please.

Costa reported from Washington.
The senator from Vermont is Hillary Clintons rival in the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The senator from Vermont has become Hillary Clintons chief rival in the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The senator from Vermont has become Hillary Clintons chief rival in the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Sen. Bernie Sanders and his boosters are intensifying their courtship of convention delegates who could determine the winner of the Democratic presidential nomination, prompting some party leaders and supporters of front-runner Hillary Clinton to claim harassment.

The Sanders campaign says it has no connection to the efforts of outside supporters to lean on superdelegates, the party leaders and elected officials who can cast nomination votes for any candidate and who are seen as increasingly pivotal in the Democrats unexpectedly drawn-out nominating contest.

Among those efforts is a website created last week under the name Superdelegate Hit List, providing phone numbers and addresses for superdelegates and encouraging users to submit further contact information, presumably to help advocates pressure them. Site creator Spencer Thayer, a Chicago activist, described the goal this way in a Twitter message: So who wants to help start . . . a new website aimed at harassing Democratic Superdelegates?

Longtime Democratic National Committee member and superdelegate Bob Mulholland wrote a letter to Sanders last week excoriating the candidate for not calling out his supporters for their bullying of superdelegates.

Mulholland said he has not received any threats directly but has fielded complaints from other delegates who said they have received harassing emails, Facebook postings and phone calls  including one to a woman at 10:30 p.m. and another that a 12-year-old child picked up.

Society has been trying to deal with High School bullies and the same Rule should apply to your campaign and your supporters, wrote Mulholland, who supports Clinton. Professionally, campaign staff and representatives should be the ones calling delegates.

A 12 year old child answering the phone at home should not be hearing threats, he added.

Republicans are in the midst of a fierce delegate fight, too. Front-runner Donald Trump is still trying to win enough nominating contests to take a majority of delegates and claim the nomination outright. Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.), meanwhile, is executing a state-by-state strategy to install delegates who would choose him on a second ballot if Trump fell short. (GOP rules allow many delegates to switch allegiances if no one wins the nomination in the first round of voting.)

According to some Republican leaders, the intensity of the delegate battle has even sparked death threats against those who have publicly criticized Trump.

On the Democratic side, the Sanders campaign has not publicly denounced Thayer or other supporters, but campaign manager Jeff Weaver said Sanders does not support the lobbying of superdelegates by outside groups or volunteers.

We certainly dont condone harassment of anybody, Weaver said.

Clinton, too, was asked about the issue during a campaign stop this week in New York.

Hillary Clinton leads Bernie Sanders among superdelegates 469 to 38, according to a tally by the Associated Press. (Yana Paskova/For The Washington Post)

I have heard those reports and had some firsthand accounts of some of the unfortunate behavior that weve seen both online and in person, she said, adding that she is proud that her own campaign has been run on issues.

There seems to be a growing level of anxiety in that campaign, which I hope doesnt spill over into the way that his supporters treat other people, who have every right to support whomever they choose, she said. And where things stand now, I am far ahead of him in the popular vote, considerably ahead in the pledged delegates.

Sanders is trailing nationally but riding the momentum of a string of recent victories in state primaries and caucuses. Nowhere is his deficit more pronounced than among superdelegates, many of whom are longtime politicians with ties to the Clinton political franchise.

[Why New York is pivotal for Sanders and for Clinton]

The overall intensity of the courtship of these leaders has not matched that of 2008, when Clinton was running against Barack Obama, many superdelegates say.

Still, Sanderss campaign has begun to argue that the system is stacked against the candidate and that superdelegates should consider backing Sanders to more accurately reflect the will of voters, who have delivered him victories in seven of the last eight nominating contests.

Outside supporters go further, saying the superdelegate system is designed to protect establishment candidates such as Clinton  and to prevent populist insurgencies. The most frequent targets of that ire are the DNC and Clinton, but Sanders supporters have increasingly advocated direct lobbying of superdelegates.

Its time we take our democracy back from the DNC. Together we can find the Superdelegates and hold them accountable to our votes, reads the hit list sites front page. As for whether his site encourages stalking, Thayer said in a tweet that his list is no more cyberstalking than an AT&T phonebook or a public registry of elected officials.

Nonetheless, since its creation last week, the sites name has changed to Superdelegate List  and its logo from a donkey with arrows through its head to a donkey surrounded by phone cords.

Thayer said in an interview that he made the changes because the name and logo became counterproductive. He said his goal is accountability  and perhaps eventually to do away with a system he said is designed to perpetuate the political power of an elite few.

Historically, the superdelegates have been able to disenfranchise voters without being held accountable, he said. The Internet has changed power relationships between party leaders and their constituents, and those in power have a tendency to interpret challenges to their authority as harassment.

Im not sympathetic to that point of view, he said.

Thayer said the site is entirely separate from the Sanders campaign. Sanders is irrefutably a better candidate than Hillary Clinton, he said, but Thayer, an independent, said he did not vote in Illinois primary.

[Clinton and allies attack Sanders on gun control ahead of N.Y. primary]

Several superdelegates said in interviews that they have been contacted online or by phone by Sanders supporters, who often complain that the system is undemocratic or unfair. None of these delegates said they felt personally threatened, but some found the contacts aggravating.

People are making a lot of threats and putting a lot of pressure on delegates to switch, said Ken Martin, the Minnesota Democratic Party chairman and a Clinton superdelegate.

Scott Brennan, a former chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party and a superdelegate supporting Clinton, said he has heard from Sanders supporters but not directly from the campaign. Brennan, who decided to back Clinton shortly before the Iowa caucuses, said he didnt consider any of the emails or tweets to be out of bounds.

Sanderss aides said their own effort rests on contacting all superdelegates, especially the roughly 200, out of a total of about 700, who have not publicly committed to either candidate.

A team based in Sanderss Burlington, Vt., headquarters keeps tabs on those and other superdelegates, checking in regularly and making sure they are available to answer questions, aides said.

The wooing process can also include calls from leading Sanders surrogates, including other superdelegates already committed to the senator from Vermont. When someone is close to committing, either Sanders or his wife, Jane, is tapped to make a phone call and act as the closer, Weaver said.

Martin said he has seen no recent defections by Clinton superdelegates, including those who have not made their commitments known publicly. The only thing were seeing is that people are going to continue to wait until their states have weighed in, or until the process is completed in June, to make their intentions known, he said.

Martin said Clinton has commitments from about 600 superdelegates, a figure well above the roughly 470 listed in most counts kept by the media.

The Associated Press currently gives Clinton 1,280 pledged delegates  those won in nominating contests  and 469 superdelegates, for a total of 1,749. The AP says Sanders has 1,061, including 38 superdelegates.

Each campaign says its number is actually higher, reflecting commitments from supporters who have not been willing to go public yet.

Some superdelegates and other senior Democrats said the Clinton campaign has sought to reassure those who feel under siege  or who are just ready for the long and unexpectedly bitter primary fight to be over.

We need to get ready for a Hillary versus Republicans election sooner rather than later, said Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), a superdelegate firmly pledged to Clinton.

Beyer said he has not been personally lobbied to change his support either by the Sanders campaign or by others online, but his congressional office said several Sanders supporters have called to urge him to support the senator  and those calls are usually handled by interns.

Beyer added with a laugh: I made the decision early on not to read my Facebook postings. That way you dont ever get discouraged or down.

Weaver said Sanderss courting of superdelegates will intensify in coming weeks.

Aides said they will have a more credible case to make if Sanders accumulates more pledged delegates than Clinton does by the end of the nominating calendar in June, a long-shot prospect.

They also said that among their targets are superdelegates in states that Sanders has won, particularly those he has won convincingly. Their argument: Their support should mirror that of their constituents.

The outcome Saturday in Wyoming is among the motivations for Sanders supporters. He won the states Democratic caucuses but split the 14 pledged delegates. The state also has four superdelegates, all supporting Clinton.

He got more votes; she got more delegates, said a frustrated Scott Weiler, 38, an ironworkers apprentice who brought his family to Sanderss rally in Albany, N.Y. Thats bull----. If there were no superdelegates, I think Bernie would win.

Weiler said he has signed petitions and emails asking Clinton-backing superdelegates, including Gov. Peter Shumlin of Vermont, to consider the support for Sanders in their states  and switch.

Phillip reported from New York. Dan Balz in Washington and David Weigel in Albany and Binghamton, N.Y., contributed to this report.


Although the apartment buildings were under historic preservation restrictions, but the developer was allowed to expand the windows to maximize park views for every front-facing residence. (Benjamin C Tankersley/For The Washington Post)

No matter how much residents love city living, theres no question that an urban residence that has a park view with foliage changing every season offers the best of both worlds.

Two former apartment buildings have been renovated and combined into Lawrence House, a 30-unit condo complex that overlooks Meridian Hill Park in Northwest Washington. The apartment buildings were under historic preservation restrictions, but the developer, Madison Investments, was able to expand the windows to maximize park views for every front-facing residence.

Our original plan for the redevelopment of these buildings was more modern, but the Historic Preservation Board required us to restore most of the exterior, says Madison Investments founder Barry Madani. We were able to do what we wanted with the interiors of the buildings, so we focused on adding green features, open floor plans in the homes and plenty of efficient storage.

[An appealing urban enclave just off Columbia Pike in Arlington]

The hallways, stairwells and lobby have custom-made carpeting, wallpaper and lighting. The front entrance, the interior courtyard and the green roof have been professionally designed by Botanical Decorators.

I like to develop buildings where people will be proud to bring their family and friends home, Madani says.

1 of 15 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  Buying New | Lawrence House condo in Northwest Washington View Photos The condos are priced from $354,000 to $1,349,900. Caption The condos are priced from $354,000 to $1,349,900. Two former apartment buildings have been renovated and combined into Lawrence House, a condo complex that overlooks Meridian Hill Park in Northwest Washington. Benjamin C. Tankersley/For The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue.

Prime location yet quiet: Lawrence House consists of 26 one-bedroom, one-bath residences, two two-bedroom, one-bath units and two penthouses, each with two bedrooms, a den and three baths. Madani says the focus on one-bedroom units is partly a function of the structural constraints of working with existing buildings. In addition, he says, there are typically more buyers looking for a one-bedroom residence or a very large two-bedroom unit rather than a smaller two-bedroom, one-bath condo.

Tom McCarthy, who rented a studio apartment at City Market at O until a few weeks ago, said he liked the modern style of his residence but wanted to buy instead of rent so that he could start building equity in a property.

I looked around for about a month and saw Lawrence House while it was still under construction, McCarthy says. My one-bedroom place has about 627 square feet, but it has an open floor plan and has been designed to maximize the space. A lot of other places I looked at in my price range felt cramped.

[Bethesda homes give owners a break on outdoor maintenance]

Residents have access to the landscaped courtyard and to a rooftop deck with a grill, seating areas and both park and city views.

Other amenities are the view of Meridian Hill Park, which McCarthy has even from his first-floor unit, and the location one block from restaurants, shopping and nightlife on 14th Street. Michael Hines, a realty agent with TTR Sothebys International Realty, points out that 15th Street is a one-way street, so few commuters use it, making it a quiet nook in the midst of a vibrant part of the city.



The kitchen in the penthouse opens to a living and dining area, which faces the park. (Benjamin C Tankersley/For The Washington Post)

Built-in organizers: The condos within Lawrence House have different configurations because of the structure of the original buildings. The building is 50 percent sold, with one of the two-bedroom residences and both of the large penthouse units still available.

Unit 201, a one-bedroom residence priced at $479,900, has 627 square feet and a monthly condo fee of $286.

This unit has an open floor plan with a coat closet, a closet with a full-size stacked washer and dryer, and a door to the bathroom off the foyer. The open kitchen includes stainless-steel appliances and has a view across the living and dining area into the park. The bedroom has a wall of windows facing the park, two closets with built-in organizers and a private door to the full bathroom.

Unit 302, a two-bedroom residence priced at $599,900, has 843 square feet and a monthly condo fee of $381. This residence has a similar open floor plan as Unit 201. The master bedroom has a walk-in closet and a private door to the full bathroom, which is also accessible from the living area. Both bedrooms have windows on two sides.

The two penthouse units, priced at $1,299,900 and $1,349,900, each have 1,474 square feet and a monthly condo fee of $667. These two units each have a private rooftop deck on two separate corners of the roof, and each has a parking space.



Each unit has an open floor plan with walls of windows, walnut flooring, contemporary-style floating vanities in the bathrooms and Porcelanosa tile flooring in the bathrooms. (Benjamin C Tankersley/For The Washington Post)

Each unit has a powder room, a laundry closet with a side-by-side washer and dryer and a coat closet off the foyer. The kitchen includes a center island, a pantry and upgraded stainless-steel appliances. The kitchen opens to the living and dining area, which face the park.

Adjacent to the living area is a den with glass doors and two walls of windows. The front bedroom, which faces the park, has a walk-in closet and a full bath with a double-sink vanity and a combination tub and shower. The back bedroom has a wall of closets and a private full bath with an oversize shower.

Whats nearby: Residents can go directly across the street to enjoy Meridian Hill Park, an oasis in the city with fountains, benches, paths and grassy lawns that fill with joggers, yoga classes and a drum circle on Sundays.

One block to the east is 14th Street, where residents can walk to restaurants such as Le Diplomate, Kapnos, Lupo Verde and Pearl Dive Oyster Palace or shop at West Elm, Room & Board or Trader Joes. Multiple fitness centers are in the neighborhood, along with theaters, bars and art galleries.

Schools: Marie Reed Elementary, Columbia Heights Education Campus, Cardozo High

Transit: The building is about a half mile to U Street Metro station for Green and Yellow line service. There are numerous bus routes on 16th Street (S1, S2, S4 and S9), 14th Street (52,53,54) and on U Street (90, 93, 96 and X3).



Residents have access to a landscaped courtyard and to a rooftop deck with a grill, seating areas and both park and city views. (Benjamin C Tankersley/For The Washington Post)
Boys carry bows and arrows in Kerawa, Cameroon, an area near the Nigerian border that has faced frequent Boko Haram attacks. (Joe Penney/Reuters)

In the last two years, Boko Haram militants have increasingly turned to a new tactic in their attacks in West Africa: child suicide bombers.

The number of children involved in such blasts grew more than tenfold, from four in 2014 to 44 in 2015, according to a report released by the U.N. childrens agency on Tuesday. And more than three-quarters of the children are girls  some as young as 8 years old.

The accounts by UNICEF add another chilling view into the atrocities blamed on the Boko Haram group, which has conducted mass kidnappings of children, including more than 200 school girls abducted from a boarding school in northern Nigeria two years ago.

[There were freed from Boko Haram. But nightmare was not over.]

Some girls and women who escaped have claimed that captives face sexual abuse and forced marriages.

Let us be clear: These children are victims, not perpetrators, said Manuel Fontaine, UNICEFs regional director for West and Central Africa, in a statement. Deceiving children and forcing them to carry out deadly acts has been one of the most horrific aspects of the violence in Nigeria and in neighboring countries.

Offensives by security forces in Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad have forced the Islamist group from most of the territory it once controlled. In response, Boko Haram has conducted a growing number of attacks on civilian targets, killing hundreds of people in recent months.

The report also reflects Boko Harams push in recent years outside its former strongholds in northern Nigeria. Nearly half the child suicide attacks, 21, were in neighboring Cameroon, it said.

But both Nigerian officials and international aid groups have struggled to explain the reason for the surge in child attackers.

Although young suicide bombers are used in other conflict zones, the rise in Boko Harams case is stunning. Since 2014, 20 percent of all suicide bombings carried out by the group have been children, according to UNICEF.

Some of the children were abducted by Boko Haram from their homes, and their bodies were identified months later from remains after suicide attacks. Last month, a young girl blew herself up in a mosque in the northern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, killing at least 22 people. Her identity has not yet been determined.

The Nigerian military, for its part, has come to treat children abducted by Boko Haram as threats no different from adults. Boys have appeared on wanted posters across northeastern Nigeria  once the stronghold for the group  along with dozens of top Boko Haram suspects.

Women who escaped from forced marriage and sexual slavery at the hands of Boko Haram talk about their abductions, and the hard transition back to life in Nigeria after they found freedom. (Human Rights Watch)

Banditry knows no age, said Maj. Gen. Lucky Irabor, the top military official in the northeast, when a Washington Post reporter asked about the boys on the poster.

But according to UNICEF, many of the attacks are conducted involuntarily. Boys are forced to attack their own families to demonstrate their loyalty to Boko Haram, the report said.

Hundreds of girls, meanwhile, have been taken captive by the group.

The calculated use of children, who may have been coerced into carrying bombs, has created an atmosphere of fear and suspicion that has devastating consequences for girls who have survived captivity and sexual violence by Boko Haram in North East Nigeria, said UNICEFs report.

In a separate report from Human Rights Watch released Tuesday, researchers said that Nigerias security forces have contributed to the problem by using schools as military bases, putting children at further risk of attack from the Islamist armed group.

Human Rights Watch also reported that at least 611 teachers have been deliberately killed.

Nearly 1.3 million schoolchildren have been displaced by the conflict, according to UNICEF, including 5,000 children separated from their parents.

And violence is not the only threat facing children in the region. By January, 195,000 children were suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

Read more

People accused of being Boko Haram are disappearing in Nigeria

Its not just ISIS. Other terror groups surge in West Africa.

Suicide bombers trigger deadly blast in Nigerian mosque
Fishermen unload the catch they obtained near Hainan in the South China Sea. Overfishing of areas around Hainan and the Chinese coast has encouraged fisherman to go further afield into contested waters.

April 8, 2016 Fishermen unload the catch they obtained near Hainan in the South China Sea. Overfishing of areas around Hainan and the Chinese coast has encouraged fisherman to go further afield into contested waters. Adam Dean/For The Washington Post

The country is using its large fishing fleet to press its claims in the South China Sea.

The country is using its large fishing fleet to press its claims in the South China Sea.

The country is using its large fishing fleet to press its claims in the South China Sea.

In the disputed waters of the South China Sea, fishermen are the wild card.

China is using its vast fishing fleet as the advance guard to press its expansive territorial claims in the South China Sea, experts say. That is not only putting Beijing on a collision course with its Asian neighbors, but also introducing a degree of unpredictability that raises the risks of periodic crises.

In the past few weeks, tensions have flared with Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam as Chinese fishermen, often backed up by coast guard vessels, have ventured far from their homeland and close to other nations coasts. They are just the latest conflicts in Chinas long-running battle to expand its fishing grounds and simultaneously exert its maritime dominance.

The Chinese authorities consider fishermen and fishing vessels important tools in expanding Chinas presence and the countrys claims in the disputed waters, said Zhang Hongzhou, an expert at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapores Nanyang Technological University.

Fishermen are increasingly at the front line of the South China Sea disputes, Zhang said, and fishing incidents could trigger even bigger diplomatic and security tensions between China and regional countries.

China has laid claim to a number of islands in the South China Sea, building airbases on tiny spits of land while installing powerful radar and missile launchers. Here's why. (Jason Aldag,Julie Vitkovskaya/The Washington Post / Satellite photos courtesy of CSIS)

Here, in the fishing port of Tanmen in the southern island of Hainan, 50-year-old captain Chen Yuguo was in the wheelhouse of his trawler last week, carrying out minor repairs after a six-week fishing trip to the disputed Spratly Islands.

A portrait of Comrade Mao Zedong hung in a place of honor behind him, alongside an expensive satellite navigation system supplied by the Chinese government. Chen said catches are much better in the Spratlys than in Chinas depleted inshore waters, but the captain said he is also fulfilling his patriotic duty.

It is our water, he said, but if we dont fish there, how can we claim it is our territory?

Experts say the battle for fisheries resources, an often overlooked destabilizing influence in the South China Sea, is a source of unpredictability, volatility and risk.

At the end of March, Malaysias maritime authorities spotted about 100 Chinese fishing boats, accompanied by a Chinese coast guard vessel, in its waters. They were close to Luconia Shoals, less than 100 nautical miles from Malaysian Borneo but 800 nautical miles from Chinas southern island of Hainan.

Early this month, Vietnam seized a Chinese ship that it said was supplying fuel to Chinese fishing boats in its waters.

The biggest flare-up came on March 20, when Indonesian officials boarded a Chinese fishing vessel close to Indonesias Natuna Islands . As an Indonesian vessel began towing the boat to shore, a Chinese coast guard ship intervened to ram the fishing boat, pushing it back into the South China Sea  until the Indonesians released the tow line.





Indonesia sets great store in its friendly relations with China, but its government responded angrily, saying it felt that its efforts to maintain peace in the disputed waters had been sabotaged. Defense officials vowed to send bigger naval vessels to defend its patrol boats in the region, to consider introducing military conscription to remote islands in the archipelago, and even to deploy U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets to the Natunas to ward off thieves.

China claims 90 percent of the South China Sea, drawing a nine-dash line around its claims that passes close to the shores of the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam  and the Natunas.

The fishing vessel, Beijings Foreign Ministry said, was operating in Chinas traditional fishing grounds, though the incident occurred just a few nautical miles from the Natunas and around 900 nautical miles from Hainan.

Chinas claim to the South China Sea is based partly on the idea that its fishermen have worked there for centuries. But China is also trying to create facts on the ground by expanding its fishing industrys zone of operations, experts say.

After the fishing boats clear the way, coast guards are next, often followed by land reclamation on rocks and reefs and finally militarization and control, said Alan Dupont, professor of international security at the University of New South Wales in Sydney.

I call the strategy fish, protect, occupy and control,  he said.

China blames the United States for militarizing the South China Sea, citing President Obamas strategic rebalance to Asia, a recent deal to post U.S. conventional forces on five military bases in the Philippines for the first time in decades, and ongoing military exercises between the two countries.

But China, Dupont said, is pursuing its own strategic plan to dominate the Western Pacific and push the United States out, trying to take advantage of an Obama administration it believes to be distracted by other global crises. But Beijings opportunist policy is already backfiring, he said, uniting many countries in the region against China.

But it is not just about nationalism. Economics is a major driving force for the expansion, Zhang and Dupont say  to satisfy Chinas ever-growing appetite for fish and its profitable and rapidly expanding fish export industry, already the worlds largest.

Chinas per capita fish consumption was estimated by the Food and Agriculture Organization at nearly 80 pounds in 2010, nearly double the global average, and is growing by roughly 8 percent a year. The fish industry employs nearly 15 million people.

Compared with inshore waters, the Spratlys are much richer grounds, fishermen say, with valuable giant clams, corals and lobsters to be harvested  although competition is growing as more boats arrive.

The government is also pushing the fishermen further from shore. It provides fuel subsidies, with higher rates for bigger boats and journeys to the Spratlys. The Hainan government heavily subsidizes the construction of larger, steel-hulled trawlers, and an expensive satellite system was provided virtually free of charge to about 50,000 vessels.

With it, Chinese fishing crews can send emergency signals to coast guard ships with their exact location if they run into trouble.

Fishermen said the government often organizes trips to the Spratlys, with coast guard vessels in attendance, especially when tensions are high.

When our country needs us, we will go without a second thought to defend our rights, Chen said.

Rodger Baker, the lead Asia-Pacific analyst for the global intelligence firm Stratfor, said these maritime rights protection voyages are Chinas version of the U.S. Navys freedom-of-navigation exercises in the South China Sea. They are, he said, designed to underline Chinas possession of its waters.

Embedded within the fishing communities and often organizing these trips are what China calls its maritime militia  civilians trained in small-arms use whose job it is to help defend the countrys maritime claims.

The Tanmen Maritime Militia is the most celebrated of the groups. It was honored with a visit from Chinese President Xi Jinping in April 2013, just after he took office.

Its members played a leading role in encouraging fishermen to travel to the Spratlys as far back as 1985. Their repeated trips to Scarborough Shoal culminated in a standoff with the Philippines in 2012 that ultimately saw China seize control of the submerged coral feature, and they sparred with their Vietnamese counterparts in 2014 when China towed an oil rig into disputed waters.

Their fishing boats also helped deliver construction materials for Chinas land reclamation and construction program in the Spratlys. Last October, when the USS Lassen conducted a freedom-of-navigation operation near Subi Reef, the Chinese navy kept a respectful distance, but smaller merchant or fishing vessels came much closer and even crossed the destroyers bow, Defense News reported. Experts say those boats were probably manned by militia members.

Andrew S. Erickson, at the U.S. Navy War Colleges China Maritime Studies Institute, calls them Chinas little blue men, comparing them to Russias little green men, the armed men in unmarked uniforms who played a leading role in the takeover of Crimea from Ukraine.

As well as giving Beijing a degree of deniability, their quasi-civilian status also complicates the rules of engagement for U.S. naval vessels.

But if China is pulling many of the strings through its maritime militia, no country in the region has full control of its fishing fleets, with captains quite capable of exploiting nationalist sentiments to expand their fishing grounds.

There is a big risk for China in this policy, Stratfors Baker said. Fishing boats will go where the fish, clams and crabs are.

As you urge them on with assertions of rights, nationalism and claims, fishing captains know they can take greater risks, because they know they are going to be bailed out. So they know they can push the limits fairly strongly.

That, he said, means that more crises in the disputed waters are almost inevitable.

Xu Yangjingjing and Xu Jing contributed to this report.

Read more

Satellite images show China may be building powerful radar on disputed islands

Chinas fishermen explain why they think the sea is theirs

China isnt impressed with the new U.S. military bases near the South China Sea.

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble said last month that a British exit from the European Union would be a poison to the British and global economies. (Markus Schreiber/AP)

The Germans are not known for emoting, and the countrys famously flinty finance minister, Wolfgang Schauble, is no exception.

But when Schauble was recently asked what Germany would do if Britain voted to leave the European Union, he couldnt help baring his soul.

We would cry, the 73-year-old politician said.

The comment drew laughs. But for Germany, the increasingly lonely-at-the-top power behind the European Union, it also reflected a genuine sense that the country has almost as much at stake when Britain votes on the issue June 23 as Britain does. In the view of Schauble and other top German policymakers, a British exit could be disastrous  for Germany and for the vision of an integrated Europe that Berlin has steadfastly sought to build.

That vision is under strain with Greek debt, the rise of the far right, an unparalleled refugee crisis and a revanchist Russia all contributing to a fracturing of European unity during the past two years.

But a British vote to leave the European Union  making the country the first to withdraw from a union that has only expanded  could prove the most grievous wound of all.

[When Britain votes on the E.U., Western security could be on the line]

And with polls showing a neck-and-neck contest, Germany has begun to quietly reckon with the unpalatable choice it would face if the British opt for out: It could watch the union that it has so carefully crafted begin to break apart. Or it could step into the kind of hegemonic European role that, ever since its calamitous drive for power in World War II, Berlin has assiduously avoided.

Germany doesnt want to be in this position, said Daniela Schwarzer, director of the Berlin office of the German Marshall Fund. It wants to lead in Europe. But it doesnt want to do so alone.

Along with France, Germany and Britain have long been the most essential players in Europes efforts to forge continental unity. But although the Germans have traditionally operated as the projects accelerator, believing that a functioning union is the only long-term path to European peace and prosperity, Britain has long served as the brake, resisting attempts to fully integrate the continent politically and economically.

The sharply different approaches can be seen in the flags that fly from the parliament buildings in Berlin and London: Atop Germanys Reichstag, the European Unions circle of gold stars flaps side by side with the black, red and gold of the German national flag. At Londons Palace of Westminster, the Union Jack flutters alone.

Still, Britains presence in the 28-member European Union has mattered  and its absence would be keenly felt.

With France stuck in a deep economic and political malaise, the United Kingdom represents the European Unions only other major power aside from Germany. It possesses Europes second-largest economy, its foremost financial center, a seat on the U.N. Security Council, an arsenal of nuclear weapons and the traditional bridge across the Atlantic to Washington.

If Britain opts for an exit  popularly known as Brexit  it could embolden anti-E.U. forces in other countries. The Czech prime minister has already warned of a Czexit, and populist parties across the continent have said they will push for their own referenda.

[Whats a Brexit? A guide to Britains E.U. drama]

Concern about the possible fallout from a British decision to leave the European Union is not limited to Europe. The International Monetary Fund warned Tuesday that a British departure could do severe regional and global damage by disrupting established trading relationships.

Schwarzer said that the day after a vote for Brexit, if it happens, German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be under pressure to forcefully intervene to keep the European Union from spinning apart.

Who else would do it in that moment? Schwarzer asked.

Less than a year ago, the idea that Britain might strike out on its own seemed far-fetched. But the referendum promised by Prime Minister David Cameron has been more hotly contested than almost anyone anticipated.

Polls show a virtual tie. Most analysts give in a slight edge but acknowledge that the chances of an out vote are rising.

The Germans, of course, have no say in Britains choice. And they have been reluctant to weigh in too aggressively. Merkel has said she thinks its in Germanys interest for Great Britain to remain an active member in a strong and successful European Union  a line similar to the one President Obama has used and is likely to use again when he visits the United Kingdom next week.

But Merkel has generally been low-key on Brexit, perhaps recognizing that she has political liabilities in Britain. Shes closely associated with the continents formerly open door to refugees at a time when Brexit campaigners are using the migrant issue to argue that Britain should get as far from Europe as it can.

[Think Merkel isnt in trouble? Look at these charts.]

Schauble has been more outspoken. On a visit to London last month, he not only promised to shed tears if Britain leaves, he also told the BBC that it would be a poison to the economy in the U.K., the European continent and for the global economy as well.

Almut Moller, head of the Berlin office of the European Council on Foreign Relations, said such comments reflect just how deeply German policymakers fear the impact of Brexit on the European Union  an institution that has become inseparable from German identity.

E.U. membership gave Germany liberation from its past and permission to reenter the family of Western states, she said. To lose Britain now would signal to the rest of the world  including to Russia and China  that the E.U. is dismantling.

For a long time, such an unraveling was unthinkable, she said. But now its a real threat, regardless of which way Britain votes.

These things have been taken for granted for many decades, Moller said. Its a new environment now.

Read more:

A far-right party just won seats in three German state parliaments. Heres why.

Frustrated refugee in Germany sets fire to his new home, police say

Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world
An April 8 photo shows the Russian flag, right, and Russian engineering troops flag on a site of the ancient ruins in Palmyra, Syria. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service/via AP)

Russia portrayed last months drawdown from Syria as a victory and a homecoming after a six-month deployment in which its air force turned the tide of the long-running conflict. So it was a surprise when Russian state outlets reported in recent days that powerful new Russian helicopters were seeing Syrian combat for the first time.

Even after Russian President Vladimir Putins sudden March 14 announcement that cut short Russias Syrian deployment, officials said they would maintain a muscular presence on twin air and naval bases in coastal Syria. But the current level of activity would suggest that the pullout has been minor at best, despite last months fanfare  returning aviators were greeted with bouquets and brass bands, while military officials declared victory  and Russian officials insistence that they have withdrawn from Syria.

The discrepancy leaves the Kremlin running a large-scale operation in war-torn Syria even as Russias powerful state media insists otherwise. The Russian activities on the ground are a sign that the Kremlin has little intention of dialing back support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Russia also does not appear ready to cede space in Syria to other nations involved there, including the United States.

[After 4 months, Russias campaign in Syria is proving successful for Moscow]

The Kremlin has portrayed its Syrian operations as successful in helping Russia elbow its way back to the international negotiating table after the isolation that followed its annexation of Ukraines Crimean Peninsula. It appears committed to holding on to its spot.

On March 14, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia would begin pulling its military from Syria, potentially winding down nearly six months of airstrikes. The alliance between Russia and the regime of Bashar al-Assad goes back decades. Here's a bit of historical context that explains why Russia was fighting to prop up its closest ally in the Middle East. (Ishaan Tharoor and Jason Aldag/The Washington Post)

Our active efforts in combating international terrorism have gone some way to improve our relations with the leading powers, Putin said Thursday.

Now, Russian minesweepers are checking Palmyras ancient ruins for explosives. Russian military advisers are whipping Syrian government forces into shape and planning attacks. Russian special forces are on the front lines, calling in targeting information for airstrikes. Russian warships continue to steam through the Bosporus and deliver supplies to Assad.

The activity comes in a nation with a bitter history of far-flung military operations: The Soviet Unions Afghanistan intervention helped hasten the Soviet systems demise. But Putin, by announcing the pullout, has lowered the stakes for Russias Syrian deployment while easing some of the pressure that had built over more than five months of a grueling operational tempo, diplomats and analysts say.

Even if the activities remain the same, the goals appear to have changed. Putin said in September that Russia was going to defeat the Islamic State. This week, he said that Russia had fulfilled its goals in Syria  which he said were to keep Assad in power and strike a blow against Assads opponents.

Russias combat sorties have dropped since the peak of the Russian airstrike effort in February. At one point, Russia was flying nearly 100 sorties a day. It was flying 20 to 25 late last month in its campaign to take Palmyra back from the Islamic State, according to a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman.

Now there is the beginning of a peaceful process, but unfortunately the peaceful process will stop if Russia stops military activities, said Vladimir Yevseyev, a Middle East military expert at the Moscow-based Center for Social and Political Studies who has tracked Russian military activity in Syria.

But if warplanes have stilled their engines, helicopters are taking a newly prominent role in the fighting. Last month, the Kremlin-owned Sputnik news website said that brand-new Mi-28N attack helicopters fired antitank missiles against Islamic State armored vehicles near Palmyra.

A Russian serviceman checks for mines in Palmyra, Syria in this April 8 photo. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service/via AP)

On Tuesday, one of the advanced Russian helicopter gunships crashed in Syria, killing two Russian crew members aboard, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The Mi-28N helicopter was not shot down, the ministrys press service said, and the bodies of the two crew members were recovered in a rescue operation. The reason for the crash was not immediately given, although Russian state media reports suggested adverse weather conditions may have played a role.

And last week, Russian Kamov Ka-52 Alligator helicopters took part in the Syrian government effort to retake al-Qaryatayn, a central Syrian city in between Damascus and Palmyra, Sputnik reported. Syrian state news published a video of the combat. The Ka-52 helicopters are an advanced, highly maneuverable aircraft.

The helicopters are tested there now, yes, and they show very good results, said Ivan Konovalov, a military analyst who is the director of the Moscow-based Center for Strategic Conjunctures. The targets that are set for them are destroyed.

Western diplomats, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal assessments, said they believe about one-third of the Russian fixed-wing aircraft were pulled from Syria in the days after the withdrawal announcement; they are unsure when the helicopters were sent in.

[Syria shows that Russia built an effective military. Now how will Putin use it?]

The current Russian military activity is broadly considered in keeping with a late-February cease-fire because it is supporting the fight against the Islamic State, which was not included in the truce. Russian forces have held to the cease-fire, even as forces loyal to Assad have not, officials say.

Russian officials have also offered fresh clarity about the extent to which Syrian government advances since last fall were the product of their assistance. Russian military advisers embedded with the Syrian army on the ground after the beginning of Russian operations in September, said Col. Gen. Alexander Dvornikov, the commander of Russian forces in Syria, in an interview late last month with Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the official newspaper of the Russian government.

Our advisers were most actively involved in planning combat operations, and that surely helped to improve the situation, Dvornikov said. The advisers also helped during combat and trained Syrian forces on how to use Russian equipment, Dvornikov said.

Dvornikov also made the first official acknowledgment that Russian special forces were operating on the ground in Syria, after months in which Russia insisted that it was operating only in Syrian skies. The special forces do reconnaissance of possible targets, call in airstrikes and perform other special tasks, he said.

Six Russian servicemen are officially acknowledged to have died during combat in Syria, and the Russian media has reported on an additional two dead men who may have been working for private military contractors. The Russian Defense Ministry recently posted a tender commissioning 10,000 medals for participation in the Syrian operations.

At least two battalions of Russian troops, or 800 people, are expected to remain in Syria long-term, said Viktor Ozerov, the chairman of the Defense and Security Committee of Russias upper house of parliament, immediately after the pullout announcement.

Russia has long had a small military presence at its Tartus naval base on the Syrian coast. It now also operates the Khmeimim air base, in Latakia province, where it plans to leave in place its S-400 antiaircraft weapon system, which gives Russia effective control over Syrian airspace. And it can redeploy its warplanes in a matter of hours.

That Putin announced the pullback at all may be a sign that he was cautious about overcommitting to Syria, said Ruslan Pukhov, a military analyst who leads the Moscow-based Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies.

Putin understands his voters, the Russian people, much better than any leader before him till Stalin, Pukhov said. We have a painful experience of Afghanistan. The first signs that people were worried, they already appeared.

Read more:

Rebels said to down warplane in northern Syria as truce frays

Russia, with an eye on U.S., threatens to bomb Syrian cease-fire violators

The secret pact between Russia and Syria that gives Moscow carte blanche

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Russian servicemen watch Mi-28 military helicopters of the Berkuti (Golden Eagles) aerobatic team fly during the opening of the Army-2015 international military forum outside Moscow in this 2015 file photo. (Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

An advanced Russian helicopter gunship crashed in Syria Tuesday, killing two Russian crewmembers aboard, the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

The Mi-28N Night Hunter helicopter was not shot down, the ministrys press service said, and the bodies of the two crew members were recovered in a rescue operation. The reason for the crash was not immediately given, although Russian state media reports suggested adverse weather conditions may have played a role.

While Putin announced a drawdown of Russias military in Syria last month, Russian forces remain intimately involved in combat operations. Elite Speznaz ground forces and Mi-28N helicopters both fought in a recent offensive that retook the city of Palmyra from the Islamic State, the Ministry of Defense reported, with Russian military advisors helping oversee the campaign.

[Weeks after pullout from Syria, Russian military is as busy as ever]

Military analysts said that while Russia has reduced the number of fixed-wing aircraft in Syria by nearly half, it has sent more military helicopters to the country to help support Syrian armed forces during ground fighting. Russias Ministry of Defense confirmed that Mi-28N helicopters were in Syria earlier this month, releasing footage showing the helicopter using guided missiles during fighting near Palmyra.

The United States, Russia and other powers came to an agreement on a cessation of hostilities in Syria, but the deal was met with caution and skepticism. (Jason Aldag,Ishaan Tharoor/The Washington Post)

Eight Russian servicemen have died during the countrys six-month intervention in the Syrian conflict, according to official statistics.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday posthumously awarded the title Hero of Russia to Aleksandr Prokhorenko, a special forces lieutenant who, the Ministry of Defense said, called an airstrike on his own position to avoid capture during fighting near the city of Palmyra. The report of how Prokhorenko died could not be independently confirmed.

Read more:

How Russian special forces are shaping the fight in Syria

Syria shows that Russia built an effective military. Now how will Putin use it?

Putin announces Russia will pull most of its military from Syria

Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Two trips by Nepalese Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Olithe first to India in February and the second to China late last monthhighlight the increasingly precarious balancing act facing the country. New Delhi, backed by Washington, is seeking to ensure its dominant position in landlocked Nepal, as part of US efforts to undermine China in every corner of Asia.

Olis visit to India sought to bring an end to the five-month trade blockade, including of fuel supplies, mounted by the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) in the southern Terai region of Nepal. India denied allegations it was behind the UDMFs disruption of supplies, but called on the Nepalese government to make constitutional amendments to address the legitimate aspirations of all sections of the population, including ethnic Madhesi.

Oli, who only became prime minister last October, had threatened to make his first foreign trip to China, rather than, as has traditionally been the case, to India. In the end, his government made partial amendments to the constitution and bowed to Indian pressure by making his first visit to New Delhi, leading to a lifting of the blockade. Indias concern is not over the democratic rights of marginalised Madhesi people, but with Chinas growing influence in Nepal.

During his six-day visit to New Delhi from February 19, Oli declared the main purpose of his trip was to clear the air of misunderstanding between the two countries. Several bilateral agreements were signed, enabling Nepal to use more Indian transit points along its border and the Indian port of Visakhapatnam for trade purposes.

However, Olis trip did not end tensions between the two countries. India refused to issue a joint statement during the visit, insisting Kathmandu had to resolve all issues relating to the constitution satisfactorily. Days after Olis visit, India slashed its aid to Nepal in the 2016-17 budget by a massive 40 percent.

Olis trip to Beijing, from March 19 to 26, was clearly aimed at opening up closer economic relations with China as an alternative to Nepals heavy dependence on India. He signed several economic agreements, including on transit, trade, aviation, energy, infrastructure development and banking.

In the joint statement issued by the Chinese and Nepalese prime ministers, Beijing, in contrast to New Delhi, declared it welcomed Nepals new constitution, adding the China and Nepal relationship has reached a new height. In return, Nepal reiterated its commitment to a one China policy and not to allow its territory to be used for any anti-China or separatist activitya reference in particular to Tibetan exiles.

In recent years China has surpassed India as Nepals top aid donor and investor. Addressing a forum of Chinese businessmen, Oli declared Nepal open for investment in almost every sector, including manufacturing, hydropower, tourism, services, IT, mining and agri-based industries.

Under the new deals signed, China agreed to open more transit points for trade and allow Nepal to use Chinese ports for trade. It has also proposed building an oil pipeline from China to Nepal, an international airport for the Nepalese city of Pokhara at a cost of $US216 million and a new bridge at the border town of Hilsa. Steps were also taken toward a free trade agreement between the two countries.

After Oli returned to Kathmandu, Nepalese army chief General Rajendra Bahadur Chhetri left for a weeklong visit to Beijing to strengthen military ties.

As a landlocked country sandwiched between India and China, Nepal has relied on economic relations with the former. Currently more than 90 percent of Nepal trade passes through India. Sections of the Nepalese ruling elites have chafed at Indias dominance and regard China as a means of establishing greater independence.

In an editorial just before Olis visit to China, the Kathmandu-based Myrepublica commented: Up until now people here felt they had no alternative to putting up with the temper tantrums of the Indian establishment: either the vital necessities had to be imported via India, or not at all. So the new trade and transit treaties with China come as a big boost to the Nepali psyche.

An article in Chinas state-owned Global Times sought to play on this sentiment in Nepal, saying that New Delhi should wake up to the fact that Nepal is a sovereign country, not a vassal of India. It continued: Instead of being forced into becoming a strategic barrier against China, Nepal should be better treated and act as a bridge between Beijing and New Delhi.

However, neither India nor the US are going to allow Nepal to come under Chinas sway. Indian strategic analyst Raja Mohan called on New Delhi to make greater efforts to mend relations with Nepal, warning: A rising China and the anti-India resentments of Kathmandus hill elite, however, have the potential to neutralise, over the longer term, some of Delhis natural strategic advantages in Nepal.

The US and its allies have backed Indias stance on ethnic Madhesi as a means of obtaining greater leverage in Kathmandu. In February, before the end of the trade blockade, US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Kathmandu to represent the interests of all Nepalis and take concrete steps to resolve the political impasse.

On March 30, during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Brussels for a European Union-India summit, India and the EU issued a joint statement calling upon the Kathmandu government to reach a lasting and inclusive constitutional settlement in Nepal that will address the remaining constitutional issues in a time bound manner, and promote political stability and economic growth.

In a speech to the Carnegie Endowment on April 6, Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar declared his country was pursuing a neighbourhood first policy. He said there were no problems with Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. India was also in a transition with Myanmar, well poised to engage the incoming government. But in Nepal and Maldives, he said, there have been challenges that arose from their domestic policy.

Jaishankars comments reflect the ambitions of the Indian ruling elite to become a regional power, in his words, stretching to the [Persian] Gulf to the west and the Malacca Strait to the east. In order to pursue these aims, India is increasingly lining up with the US pivot to Asia and military build-up against China, which is inflaming rivalries and tensions throughout the region.

The small, impoverished country of Nepal is no exception.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk announced his resignation on Sunday. The Ukrainian Parliament, Verkhovna Rada, will vote to accept his resignation on Tuesday, April 12. He will be replaced as prime minister by the parliaments chairman Volodymyr Groysman, a member of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc.

In a country where major political scandals and crises occur frequently, Yatsenyuk leaves government as one of Ukraines most hated politicians.

In recent months, numerous opinion polls had estimated Yatsenyuks approval rating and his Peoples Front party in the 1 to 8 percent range, making him one of the most unpopular political figures in Europe. According to one poll, nearly 70 percent of respondents favored his resignation.

Yatsenyuk first became prime minister in late February 2014, by vote of the Verkhovna Rada following the US-backed, fascist-led coup that forced former President Viktor Yanukovych to flee the country. The Verkhovna Rada re-appointed him as prime minister in November 2014 following snap parliamentary elections.

As the head of government since the Maidan coup, Yatsenyuk bears certain responsibility for the catastrophic collapse of the Ukrainian economy, the impoverishment of Ukraines population, and the incitement of a civil war in eastern Ukraine which has likely cost tens of thousands of lives and caused over a million people to flee the country.

Yatsenyuks government presided over a 6.8 percent GDP fall in 2014 and a 12.0 percent drop in 2015, according to World Bank figures. Real wages fell by 10 percent in 2015.

Yatsenyuks resignation comes after a period of several months during which he and the Cabinet of Ministers had been subject to increasingly insistent demands to resign from their rivals in the Ukrainian political establishment as well as behind the scenes pressure from the governments US handlers.

In advance of a no-confidence vote in February, US officials had initially argued that Yatsenyuk should remain in office. However, according to the website Zn.ua, during President Petro Poroshenkos visit to the United States on March 30 and April 1, Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and Vice President Joseph Biden had demanded the formation of a new government and set a deadline of April 12. That such dictates could be made and followed so precisely underscores the complete subservience of Kiev to Washington.

Since the November 2014 parliamentary election, Yatsenyuks Peoples Front and the Petro Poroshenko Bloc had been coalition partners in the Verkhovna Rada, along with Fatherland, the Radical Party of Oleh Lyashko, and Self Reliance. By February 2016, however, all of the other parties of this erstwhile coalition had turned against Peoples Front.

Without a parliamentary majority, the governments ability to enact neo-liberal reforms demanded by Ukraines creditors, most prominently the International Monetary Fund, is impaired. Thus, by leaving the coalition, Yatsenyuks opponents made him a convenient scapegoat for the countrys disastrous economic condition while preparing to continue the same political course that caused that condition.

The pressure which caused Yatsenyuk to resign has been of an entirely cynical and hypocritical character. He has been driven out by his former allies, far-right careerists who seek to gain personally from the collapse of popular support for Yatsenyuk. No improvement in any aspect of Ukrainian social life can be expected from the thugs and charlatans who are currently preparing to gain from his exit.

Official criticism of Yatsenyuk has come from the far right. That is, he is not criticized for perpetrating an aggressive war against the people of eastern Ukraine, for carrying out brutal austerity policies or a sharp drop in trade with Russia that had caused the collapse of the countrys economy. Rather, Yatsenyuks opponents in the Ukrainian political establishment have accused him of failing to carry out reforms and abetting government corruption.

The fact that the movement against Yatsenyuk had nothing to do with a fight against corruption was underscored in the initial revelations of the Panama Papers. According to the leaked documents, President Poroshenko himself had created a secret offshore company in the British Virgin Islands for the purpose of tax evasion in August 2014, two months after being inaugurated as president.

In addition to the implementation of disastrous austerity measures and civil war policies and his deeply servile relationship with the United States government, Yatsenyuk will be remembered for his characteristically foul and reactionary public statements.

Particularly notable was his comment to German television network ARD on January 8, 2015, stating, Russian aggression in Ukraine is an attack on the world order and on order in Europe. We still remember well the Soviet invasion of Ukraine and Germany. German authorities were later compelled to distance themselves from this statement and affirm their acknowledgment of German responsibility for World War II.

In his resignation announcement on Sunday, despite his deep unpopularity, Yatsenyuk indicated his intent to remain active politically: From this day on, I see my tasks as broader than the powers of head of government: new election laws, constitutional reform, judicial reform, coalition control over the policies of the new government, international support for Ukraine, and membership in the European Union and NATO are part of my program.

The author also recommends:

Two years since the Kiev coup: Part one

[7 March 2016]

Two years since the Kiev coup: Part two

[8 March 2016]
Stars like Bruce Springsteen, Melissa McCarthy, Ellen DeGeneres, and Billy Ray Cyrus have all spoken out against anti-LGBT laws. (Photos: Getty Images)

Both Mississippi and North Carolina are facing heavy criticism over new laws in each state which restrict the rights of their LGBT populations.

North Carolinas HB 2, colloquially referred to as the bathroom bill, legally requires citizens to use the gendered public restroom which matches the sex listed on his or her birth certificate. The law, supposedly written to prevent potential sexual predators from using restrooms as their hunting grounds, specifically targets transgender people, who prefer to use restrooms corresponding to their gender identity.

In Mississippi, HB 1523, recently signed into law by Gov. Phil Bryant, shields persons who refuse to provide services to LGBT people because of a religious opposition from punishment. It is state-sponsored discrimination.

LGBT celebrities were quick to criticize the laws. Former *N Syncer Lance Bass condemned Mississippis bill before it was even signed into law. Im disappointed in my home state of Mississippi for allowing this awful piece of legislation to hit the Senate floor. This is nothing more than religious homophobia as legislation, Bass said in a statement. Earlier this year, Mississippi lost Mercedes Williams, a 17-year-old trans girl murdered because she was trans. What is Mississippis Senate doing to protect the trans community? Instead of serving all of their constituents, Mississippi is prioritizing the sensitivities of the religious wrong over the lives of LGBT people. I know Mississippis community is better than this. It is imperative that Governor Phil Bryant vetoes this bill immediately.

On her show, Ellen DeGeneres said of the laws, This is not politics. This is human rights.

If youre in Mississippi or North Carolina or anywhere, and youre saddened by the fact that people are judging you based on who you love, dont lose hope, DeGeneres, who grew up in Louisiana, which has flirted with passing a law similar to Mississippis, said. I was fired for being gay, and I know what it feels like. I lost everything, but look at me now. I could buy that governors mansion, flip it and make a $7 million profit.



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But the backlash is not limited to words alone. North Carolinian Americana aficionados were disappointed to learn that The Boss would be skipping over their state, after he announced he was canceling a concert in Greensboro in protest of the states new anti-LGBT law. Accepting the Comedic Genius Award at the MTV Movie Awards over the weekend, Melissa McCarthy gave Springsteen a shout-out for taking a stance: Just one more thing, just a little P.S. she said at the end of her acceptance speech. Who knew Bruce Springsteen could get even cooler? How about that?

Springsteen isnt the only act canceling dates in retaliation. Bryan Adams also canceled a scheduled date for this Thursday in Biloxi, Miss.

I find it incomprehensible that LGBT citizens are being discriminated against in the state of Mississippi, Adams said in a statement. I cannot in good conscience perform in a State where certain people are being denied their civil rights due to their sexual orientation.  Using my voice I stand in solidarity with all my LGBT friends to repeal this extremely discriminatory bill. Hopefully Mississippi will right itself and I can come back and perform for all of my many fans. I look forward to that day.



Joel McHale at his Durham show (Photo: Twitter)

While he didnt cancel his show, Joel McHale did take a stance at a recent show in Durham, N.C. Wearing a shirt onto which hed spelled LGBTQ Durham in gaffers tape, McHale announced: What the f**k is wrong with your government here, guys?

McHale said hed considered canceling his show, but decided to go forward because Durhams city council had openly opposed the states bathroom bill. McHale also announced hed donate every single dime I make tonight to the LGBTQ Center of Durham.

Americas foremost advocate for free love and margaritas, Jimmy Buffett, has also slammed North Carolinas law, but wrote that hed still be performing in North Carolina.

I played many shows years ago, in many states where you could go to prison for 20 years for smoking a joint. It was a stupid law based on stupid assumptions, Buffett wrote on his official blog. Time has fortunately reversed a lot of that way of thinking. But now another stupid law, based on stupid assumptions, has sprung up like kudzu in North Carolina.



Buffett said his North Carolina shows would go on out of his loyalty to fans there, but did say he would not be coming back anytime soon: [A]s for the future of shows in North Carolina, it would definitely depend on whether that stupid law is repealed.

Interviewed by TMZ, Cyndi Lauper took a similar stance, saying shed play North Carolina because, wherever theres people that dont accept other people, the [unaccepted] people need you.

Miley Cyrus has been an outspoken advocate for LGBT rights, but it was another member of the Cyrus clan that spoke out about these laws first.

I would feel negligent to not speak up. In light of my good friend, Bryan Adams, taking a stand and my daughter having been on the ground floor of this movement, this issue is very important to me, Billy Ray Cyrus wrote on Facebook. As a friend and dad Ive witnessed this fight from the very beginning. I think everyone should be treated equal. Weve come too far; we cant mess this up.



Laws like the ones in North Carolina are not isolated incidents. There are currently 14 bills up for vote in 9 different states which seek to restrict the rights of trans people. And 20 states in America have some version of a State Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Oxygen

A Tampa-area family's long wait for answers about the disappearance of their husband and father has come to an end. The Tallahassee Police Department announced this week that skeletal remains had been found in a wooded area off Apalachee Parkway, a commercial road dotted with strip malls and hotels on the east side of the city. Shortly thereafter, they announced that, with information received from the local medical examiner's office, they had identified the deceased as Jason Winoker, 52, of Lan
The U.S. News Short List, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that magnifies individual data points in hopes of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs excel or have room to grow in specific areas. Be sure to explore The Short List: College, The Short List: Grad School and The Short List: Online Programs to find data that matter to you in your college or grad school search.

Colleges and universities are working diligently to increase the number of women in engineering, and they're seeing strong results at the graduate level.

"Since 1993, the proportion of women in engineering has increased at all degree levels, but mostly at the master's and doctoral levels," states a 2015 report from the National Science Foundation.

Between 1993 and 2012, the number of women earning master's degrees in engineering increased by 142 percent; among undergraduates during that period, there was a 60 percent increase.

[Learn about resources for undergraduate women interested in engineering.]

Some engineering schools have excelled more than others at enrolling women. At the University of North Carolina--Chapel Hill, 60.7 percent of students at the master's and doctoral levels were women in fall 2015. Of the 112 students, 68 were female.

UNC--Chapel Hill had the highest percentage of women among 193 ranked graduate engineering schools that submitted data to U.S. News in an annual survey.

Like most of the top 10 schools, UNC--Chapel Hill had a relatively small enrollment. All but three schools on the list enrolled fewer than 500 students, leading to lower totals of female students. Among the 10 schools with the highest percentage of female students, there was an average of 136 women per school. Among all 193 schools, the average was 254.

However, the overall percentage of female students at all 193 engineering schools was just 24 percent, compared with 35 percent among the top 10 schools.

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[Find out how schools are helping engineering students get must-have equipment.]

The Fulton College of Engineering and Technology at Brigham Young University had the smallest percentage of female engineering students during fall 2015: 10.9 percent. There were only 42 women in a student body of 385.

Below is a list of the 10 engineering schools with the highest percentage of women enrolled at the master's and doctoral level in both full-time and part-time programs during fall 2015. Unranked schools, which did not meet certain criteria required by U.S. News to be numerically ranked, were not considered for this report.

*RNP denotes an institution that is ranked in the bottom one-fourth of its rankings category. U.S. News calculates a rank for the school but has decided not to publish it.

Don't see your school in the top 10? Access the U.S. News Engineering School Compass to find enrollment data, complete rankings and much more. School officials can access historical data and rankings, including of peer institutions, via U.S. News Academic Insights.

U.S. News surveyed 215 schools for our 2015 survey of engineering programs. Schools self-reported myriad data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News' data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Engineering Schools rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data come from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News' rankings of Best Colleges, Best Graduate Schools or Best Online Programs. The enrollment data above are correct as of April 12, 2016.

Delece Smith-Barrow is an education reporter at U.S. News, covering graduate schools. You can follow her on Twitter or email her at dsmithbarrow@usnews.com.
Following in the footsteps of the original trilogy, Star Wars: The Force Awakens didn't feature an especially complex story. A girl who was abandoned by her parents finds herself in the middle of a galaxy-spanning adventure while the remains of an evil empire rise from the ashes and attempt to regain power.

But despite the simple story, the movie is still holding on to plenty of secrets.

SEE ALSO: 5 best things about the new HTC 10

In their latest video, Screen Rant explores ten of the most shocking secrets about The Force Awakens, from behind-the-scenes decisions that changed the way the story played out to plot details that weren't thoroughly explained.

The most interesting tidbit might be the first: Luke was intended to play a much larger role in the first episode of the new trilogy, but the screenwriters couldn't find a way to fit him in without overshadowing Rey, Finn and Poe.

Speaking of Finn, the character was originally described as a space pirate, similar to Han Solo in A New Hope. Thankfully, writer Lawrence Kasdan piped in and suggested that Finn should instead be a First Order stormtrooper who defects to the side of the good guys. I think we can all agree that this was a change for the better.

Want to know more Force Awakens secrets? Watch the video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FV0QNu1Ncuk

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By Jeffrey Heller JERUSALEM (Reuters) - When Benjamin Netanyahu first became Israel's leader two decades ago, few would have predicted a future in which he would be poised to pass founding father David Ben-Gurion as its longest-serving prime minister. In a country where no single political party has ever won an outright majority in parliament, voters have often had to trudge back to the polling stations after coalition governments have imploded before the end of their four-year terms. But weeks after "Bibi" Netanyahu marked a cumulative 10 years in power, a political reality is dawning: the right-wing 66-year-old may not be popular with most Israeli voters, but there's no one else strong enough to unseat him. On paper, Netanyahu's hold on power barely adds up: his right-wing coalition rules with only a one-seat majority in the 120-member Knesset. Nearly every vote is a nail-biter. And the majority of Israelis, according to an opinion poll last week, have grown weary of the blue-suited Likud party leader, with 51 percent saying they wouldn't want him to run in the next election, which isn't due until 2019. But there's a catch: the survey, in the liberal Haaretz daily, also showed that voters haven't got much faith in any of the current line-up of opponents either. So much so, that commentary accompanying the Haaretz poll said there would need to be a "Big Bang" - the creation of a new centrist alignment that might replace the so-far ineffective center-left opposition to Netanyahu. Political pundits say that line-up could be led by former Netanyahu allies - Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, who split from Likud to form his own party, and Gideon Saar, a former Likud minister who announced a break from politics in 2014 after feuding with the prime minister. A retired military chief, Gabi Ashkenazi, is still in the political closet but has been touted as a potential partner. Kahlon's price-slashing reform of the cellular phone market as communications minister five years ago was widely popular, Saar could attract Likud voters dissatisfied with Netanyahu, and Ashkenazi has the kind of security credentials the Israeli electorate has traditionally embraced. UNBEATABLE IMAGE? Ofer Kenig, a researcher on political reform at the Israel Democracy Institute, a think-tank, said that while Netanyahu is not very popular, "he largely enjoys the lack of leadership in both his camp and the opposite camp". Kenig is not convinced the perception of an "unbeatable Netanyahu", fueled by what he called the "big shock" dealt to the Israeli left and center by Likud's last-minute victory in the 2015 election, is true. "Nevertheless, I think that in the last decade there is almost an automatic majority for the right-religious bloc and that it would require something special, a joining of forces in the center and left, in order to try to change that." An earlier survey in the Jerusalem Post and Maariv newspapers hammered home the point: Netanyahu outpolled his main opposition rival, Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog, by a 56 to 25 percent margin. Within Netanyahu's coalition, Naftali Bennett, the youthful head of the ultranationalist Jewish Home party, trailed him in popularity by a 40 to 29 percent margin. Only Ben-Gurion, who declared Israel's independence in 1948 and served as prime minister on and off until 1963, has led the country longer than "Bibi". Netanyahu, will break Ben-Gurion's 12-1/2-year record if he remains in office until Sept. 23, 2018, according to the Israel Democracy Institute. To do so, the veteran politician must keep his government together. That has always been a struggle in Israel, but perhaps less so now: In the past, peace talks with the Palestinians have been a cause of coalition splits, but there haven't been any talks since 2014, and there are no signs of them resuming. SETTLEMENT EXPANSION With world attention focused on hotter spots in the Middle East and Islamist militant bombings in Europe, Netanyahu has been moving ahead with settlement plans in the occupied West Bank. That is likely to appease ultranationalist political allies, helping to shore up his coalition. And he is also burnishing his image as "Mr Security", playing on the fact that even if voters may not like him, they appear to trust him when it comes to tackling threats. On Monday, a visibly relaxed Netanyahu visited Israeli military reservists in the occupied Golan Heights, choosing the occasion to let a secret out of the bag. He confirmed numerous reports over several years that Israel has conducted dozens of air strikes across the nearby frontier with Syria against arms shipments to Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed guerrilla group that controls much of south Lebanon. The disclosure, after Israel's refusal to acknowledge such attacks, perhaps out of desire not to provoke Hezbollah, came a day after he publicly put another security notch in his belt. A half-year-long surge in Palestinian street attacks against Israelis is waning, he told his cabinet on Sunday, attributing the decline to "very firm action" by Israeli security forces. It's that tough talk that appears to keep the gray-haired Netanyahu one step ahead, fending off his rivals even as they look for new ways to unseat him. (Editing by Luke Baker and Giles Elgood)
By Jeffrey Heller JERUSALEM (Reuters) - When Benjamin Netanyahu first became Israel's leader two decades ago, few would have predicted a future in which he would be poised to pass founding father David Ben-Gurion as its longest-serving prime minister. In a country where no single political party has ever won an outright majority in parliament, voters have often had to trudge back to the polling stations after coalition governments have imploded before the end of their four-year terms. But weeks after "Bibi" Netanyahu marked a cumulative 10 years in power, a political reality is dawning: the right-wing 66-year-old may not be popular with most Israeli voters, but there's no one else strong enough to unseat him. On paper, Netanyahu's hold on power barely adds up: his right-wing coalition rules with only a one-seat majority in the 120-member Knesset. Nearly every vote is a nail-biter. And the majority of Israelis, according to an opinion poll last week, have grown weary of the blue-suited Likud party leader, with 51 percent saying they wouldn't want him to run in the next election, which isn't due until 2019. But there's a catch: the survey, in the liberal Haaretz daily, also showed that voters haven't got much faith in any of the current line-up of opponents either. So much so, that commentary accompanying the Haaretz poll said there would need to be a "Big Bang" - the creation of a new centrist alignment that might replace the so-far ineffective centre-left opposition to Netanyahu. Political pundits say that line-up could be led by former Netanyahu allies - Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, who split from Likud to form his own party, and Gideon Saar, a former Likud minister who announced a break from politics in 2014 after feuding with the prime minister. A retired military chief, Gabi Ashkenazi, is still in the political closet but has been touted as a potential partner. Kahlon's price-slashing reform of the cellular phone market as communications minister five years ago was widely popular, Saar could attract Likud voters dissatisfied with Netanyahu, and Ashkenazi has the kind of security credentials the Israeli electorate has traditionally embraced. UNBEATABLE IMAGE? Ofer Kenig, a researcher on political reform at the Israel Democracy Institute, a think-tank, said that while Netanyahu is not very popular, "he largely enjoys the lack of leadership in both his camp and the opposite camp". Kenig is not convinced the perception of an "unbeatable Netanyahu", fuelled by what he called the "big shock" dealt to the Israeli left and centre by Likud's last-minute victory in the 2015 election, is true. "Nevertheless, I think that in the last decade there is almost an automatic majority for the right-religious bloc and that it would require something special, a joining of forces in the centre and left, in order to try to change that." An earlier survey in the Jerusalem Post and Maariv newspapers hammered home the point: Netanyahu outpolled his main opposition rival, Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog, by a 56 to 25 percent margin. Within Netanyahu's coalition, Naftali Bennett, the youthful head of the ultranationalist Jewish Home party, trailed him in popularity by a 40 to 29 percent margin. Only Ben-Gurion, who declared Israel's independence in 1948 and served as prime minister on and off until 1963, has led the country longer than "Bibi". Netanyahu, will break Ben-Gurion's 12-1/2-year record if he remains in office until Sept. 23, 2018, according to the Israel Democracy Institute. To do so, the veteran politician must keep his government together. That has always been a struggle in Israel, but perhaps less so now: In the past, peace talks with the Palestinians have been a cause of coalition splits, but there haven't been any talks since 2014, and there are no signs of them resuming. SETTLEMENT EXPANSION With world attention focused on hotter spots in the Middle East and Islamist militant bombings in Europe, Netanyahu has been moving ahead with settlement plans in the occupied West Bank. That is likely to appease ultranationalist political allies, helping to shore up his coalition. And he is also burnishing his image as "Mr Security", playing on the fact that even if voters may not like him, they appear to trust him when it comes to tackling threats. On Monday, a visibly relaxed Netanyahu visited Israeli military reservists in the occupied Golan Heights, choosing the occasion to let a secret out of the bag. He confirmed numerous reports over several years that Israel has conducted dozens of air strikes across the nearby frontier with Syria against arms shipments to Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed guerrilla group that controls much of south Lebanon. The disclosure, after Israel's refusal to acknowledge such attacks, perhaps out of desire not to provoke Hezbollah, came a day after he publicly put another security notch in his belt. A half-year-long surge in Palestinian street attacks against Israelis is waning, he told his cabinet on Sunday, attributing the decline to "very firm action" by Israeli security forces. It's that tough talk that appears to keep the grey-haired Netanyahu one step ahead, fending off his rivals even as they look for new ways to unseat him. (Editing by Luke Baker and Giles Elgood)
Identity theft is a nightmare. It can cause financial havoc, destroy your credit, result in legal action and create mind-numbing work for you in an effort to clean up your identity.

It's a nightmare millions of Americans deal with annually; either as someone takes over a single financial account or completely assumes his or her identity. It's hard to entirely prevent identity theft, but you can at least mitigate your risk of exposure by taking these four vital steps.

1. Set Up Transaction Alerts

Credit card companies have sophisticated algorithms to help detect fraud quite quickly, so you might get an 800-area code phone call before even realizing someone else is making charges in your name. Even so, your credit card company probably allows you to take some of the power in your own hands by offering transaction alerts. Setting up transaction alerts via text (or email) for any purchase made over $0.01 can help you detect fraud as soon as the card gets swiped.

[See: 50 Ways to Improve Your Finances in 2016.]

2. Minimize Exposure

The basic ways to protect your identity are common knowledge. Don't carry your Social Security card in your wallet. Don't keep an index card with your passwords taped to the top of your desk. Make sure your ATM pin isn't your birthday and your bank password isn't your dog's name. However, not everyone realizes just how sophisticated scammers have gotten, but there are a few small steps you can take to protect yourself.

Use an ATM Inside the Bank

Technology certainly makes your banking life easier, but it also increases the odds of your accounts getting compromised. Skimmers can be easily attached to ATMs and other card readers to grab your financial information and allow the thieves to start making charges in your name. Use the ATM inside a physical bank branch in order to reduce the odds of running into a skimmer. It isn't a foolproof plan, but it's much less likely a thief will be bold enough to put a skimmer on an ATM in a bank as an ATM in a convenience store or outside a restaurant.

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[See: 10 Money Leaks to Shut Down Now.]

Cover Your Hand

Skimmers aren't just looking to snag the digits on your debit or credit card; they're also recording your PIN number. Some skimmers do have a camera affixed to the compromised ATM so the crooks can get your PIN along with your debit card number. This allows them to immediately withdraw cash. The easiest way to combat this form of identity takeover is to just cover up your hand when typing in your PIN. You might even want to go so far as to wipe your hand over the enter keypad so crooks using thermal cameras can't scan for your code.

Ditch the Debit Card

Swiping a debit card makes your bank account vulnerable. Thieves who steal debit card information are able to immediately start taking your dollars, while those with just a credit card are making fraudulent charges without actually spending your money. You can reduce the likelihood of your bank account getting infiltrated by switching over to credit cards exclusively. Debit cards should only be used to withdraw money inside a physical bank branch.

Set Up Your Phone to Erase Remotely

Getting your phone stolen not only cuts off your communication with everyone -- and you probably don't remember phone numbers these days -- but it also could be a treasure trove of financial information for thieves, thanks to banking apps, Venmo and Apple or Android Pay. Setting up a function to wipe your phone remotely helps reduce the potential financial consequences of a stolen phone.

3. Credit Freeze

Placing a freeze on your credit report is not only an important step to take once you realize your identity has been compromised, but it can also be a proactive measure to prevent identity theft. A credit freeze prevents potential lenders from being able to pull your credit report, which can keep an identity thief from applying for credit cards or loans in your name.

A credit freeze needs to be placed with each credit bureau individually and costs vary by state. However, the fee may be waived if you're already a victim of identity theft and have a police report.

While it is an effective way to combat potential identity theft, a credit freeze can cause a slight headache for you. You'll need to thaw your report each time you plan to apply for a new line of credit yourself and this process could take a few days.

[See: 12 Simple Ways to Raise Your Credit Score.]

4. Pull Your Credit Reports

Whether or not you're paranoid about the potential of your identity being stolen, it's important to check in on your credit reports a few times a year. Be sure to take advantage of your entitlement to get a free copy of your credit report from each credit bureau. You can do this by going to annualcreditreport.com. By spreading out the reports to one every four months, you can keep tabs on your own identity and ensure nothing out of the ordinary is being reported.

Consider Paying for Protection

If you feel apathetic about being vigilant, or you'd just rather be able to offload the task of cleaning up your identity, then consider paying for credit monitoring and identity theft protection. These services can cost up to $20 per month, but many do come with restoration services to help you with the legal headache of getting your identity back and removing inaccurate information from your records.

Erin Lowry writes about personal finance and serves as the content director for MagnifyMoney.com, a site dedicated to helping consumers save money by finding simple and transparent financial products. She is also the founder of the personal finance blog Broke Millennial.
If you have a son or daughter graduating from college this spring, or if you're the son or daughter in question reading this, it may have occurred to you that figuring out how to pay for college was the easy part. Your real financial education is about to start: that is, how to best manage the money you're going to make.

U.S. News tapped financial experts to compile these money management tips that arguably all new graduates should learn.

That first job: It isn't only about your salary. When you're looking for your first post-college job and hoping it helps advance your career, remember to think beyond the numbers on the paycheck, advises Kristen Robinson, a Boston-based senior vice president at Fidelity Investments whose specialty is helping women and young investors.

"While it may seem natural to focus on just the salary, remember there's more to evaluate when thinking about a job's total financial compensation," Robinson says, adding that you should look at whether you're getting medical and retirement savings benefits that might make a difference to your bottom line if the actual money you're getting every week seems paltry.

She cites a Fidelity Investment study finding that 76 percent of millennials relocate for a new job. "Cost of living and taxes should be top of mind when evaluating a job, as they can vary dramatically across the country," she says.

In other words, you could be fooled into thinking you have a fat salary or end up turning down a well-compensated job if you haven't factored in the benefits, cost of living or taxes.

[See: Answers to 7 Burning Tax Questions.]

Start saving for retirement immediately. You may decide it's not feasible to enjoy the retirement benefits your company is offering if you suspect you won't be there long. But if the offer is there, take advantage of it anyway, says Lucas Casarez, a wealth advisor at Keystone Financial Services in Loveland, Colorado.

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"I worked full time while attending college," says Casarez, who graduated from Colorado State University in 2014 but has worked in banks and credit unions since 2005. "One of the mistakes I made in the first few years on the job was thinking that my employment as a bank teller was temporary, and it didn't make sense to take advantage of the employee stock purchase plan or employer 401(k)."

But if Casarez could redo his decisions, he would have started in both programs as soon as his employer allowed.

"Many college grads join the workforce at an entry-level position," he says. "If this describes you, you may be tempted to delay participation in the employer-provided programs, but it definitely doesn't hurt to start ASAP. Even if you do not become fully vested in the retirement plan, all of your contributions are yours to keep and may be rolled over to a new employer's plan or into an individual retirement account."

Be cautious about accruing credit card debt. Yes, you've heard that before, especially growing up in the recession. Yet it's so easy to forget when you're on your own, eating ramen noodles and sitting in a lawn chair in your studio apartment. But when you hear your inner voice urging you to splurge on some new furniture, instead listen to Paul Kuzmickas, a bankruptcy attorney in Cleveland, Ohio.

Many of his clients are recent college graduates who don't think about the long-term consequences of having too much credit card debt.

"Credit card purchases I often see include the latest smartphones, expensive laptops or paying for vacations without realizing how quickly credit card debt and the resulting interest can add up," Kuzmickas says.

None of this means you shouldn't use a credit card. "Some debt can be beneficial," Kuzmickas says, referring to how a solid credit history will someday allow you to get a low-interest loan for something like a car or house.

But pay off your debts quickly, he urges. On that note, Casarez recommends that anyone with a credit card balance look at their statement for a section that says YTD interest charge. (YTD stands for year to date.)

"That is how much additional you ended up paying for the funds you borrowed to make your purchase," Casarez says. "Typically, looking back at the interest charges, you realize that the purchase ended up not being worth it. Personally, when I first looked at that part of the statement, it changed everything. I could very easily think of other things I would have liked to spend my hard-earned money on than interest to a credit card company."

Save money. Here's how. OK, everyone knows that it's important to save money. But if you're wondering how, the moment you have a job, when you're setting up your direct deposit, "automatically split your payroll deposit between your checking account and a savings account or two," says Arlynn Peavey, a certified public accountant in Fremont, California.

[See: Your Month-to-Month Guide to Savings.]

She gave that advice to her two college-age sons. She recommends that if you can funnel some of your paycheck into two savings accounts, use the first as a general savings and the second for emergencies or your vacation fund.

"Even $10 or $15 per pay period will add up," she says. "The money will be there when needed and you won't miss it or spend it, because the amount will be processed automatically."

Create a budget. This is probably the most important advice you can take, and probably the easiest to ignore if you don't get into the habit of not just creating a budget, but following and continually updating it. After all, you might start off the year spending a certain amount of money but spending something wildly different by the end the year, after getting a new cellphone plan and joining a gym.

"Yes it's cliche, but it's imperative," says Erin Ellis, an accredited financial counselor at Philadelphia Federal Credit Union. "For many college grads, this can be the first time they're experiencing life with a disposable income. Don't let that throw you off course."

[See: How to Live on $13,000 a Year.]

Ellis says that if you don't create a budget, "paychecks tend to come and go," and that, of course, can be a problem if your money runs out before the next direct deposit.

"Many assume that budgeting means limiting or restricting one's self," Eillis says. "Rather, creating a budget tells you exactly what you have so that you can spend and save with conviction."
Who doesn't love a solid dividend stock?

The concept alone -- getting paid a quarterly stipend because you're a passive owner of a company -- is hard to resist. Dividend stocks are a cornerstone of many retiree portfolios, as the regular income can provide a nice supplement to Social Security payments and fixed-income investments.

But what if, heaven forbid, the dividend gets cut one day? In that case, watch out! The stock will almost assuredly tank on you.

Not only do dividend cuts mean less passive income for investors, they often indicate the underlying business itself is in major trouble. Wall Street considers the dividend sacred: sacrifice the dividend and you've sacrificed investor trust.

[See: The 10 Best ETFs for Value Investors.]

So, given the systemic importance of these payments, how can you tell when a dividend is in danger of getting cut? Thankfully, there are a few telltale warning signs for investors to keep in mind.

Beware of high (or increasing) payout ratios. Divide a stock's dividend payment by its earnings per share and boom, you've got the payout ratio.

High payout ratios can indicate an unsustainable dividend. After all, earnings have a tendency to dip every now and then, so you want to make sure you have some cushion room to pay the dividend if and when that day comes.

Chris Kim, chief investment officer at Tompkins Financial Advisors in New York, says that a payout ratio between 50 and 60 percent is a "warning sign."

"However, like all ratios, the payout ratio is industry-specific. Very stable industries, such as utilities, have high payout ratios," he says. Companies with greater growth potential tend to have lower payout ratios since they need to reinvest more of their earnings.

Jim Wright, a Covestor portfolio manager and chief investment officer of Harvest Financial Partners in Paoli, Pennsylvania, says a ratio greater than 100 percent is a red flag.

And, he says, the trajectory of the payout ratio is just as important. If the ratio is rising, a greater percentage of earnings are being diverted away from reinvestment opportunities, which is never good.

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[Read: 6 Reasons the Bull Market Won't Go Away.]

Still, that's tolerable in the short term. "But, if the payout ratio continues to grow, then a dividend cut is a real risk," Wright says.

Ultimately, free cash flow needs to finance the dividend, not earnings. Looking at a company's earnings statement gives you a good general idea of how sustainable the dividend is. But dividends are paid in cold, hard cash.

And while companies are welcome to use their savings or borrowed capital for dividend disbursements, neither of those methods are sustainable. In this scenario, using savings or debt is like using fossil fuels -- it's efficient, but the supply will run out and ruin everything eventually.

Free cash flow is how much cash a company has left "after operating the business and making necessary capital expenditures," Wright says. "(You can) pay off debt, make acquisitions, buy back your own stock or pay/increase your dividend."

So when free cash flow starts to decline, "it means the company may not have the cash available to pay the dividend," he says.

Beware of free cash flow manipulation. If free cash flow can't finance the dividend payments, the dividend is done for. Seems simple enough, right.

Unfortunately, it's not that simple. (It never is, is it?)

How a company achieves free cash flow is important, too: "If the company is forced to cut back on capex in order to maintain a FCF that is greater than its dividend, then it is likely that its dividend isn't sustainable over the long term," says Timothy Trombley, a finance professor at San Diego State University.

This harkens back to one of the problems associated with a high payout ratio: Not only can skimping on capital expenditures indicate problems with the dividend, it can cause problems in the business. In both cases, a company rejects reinvesting in its own growth in the name of fattening shareholder pockets in the short term.

[See: A 14-Point Checklist for Land Investing.]

Trouble repaying debt is a dead giveaway. This one seems pretty obvious, but it simply reinforces a concept that investors would do well to always remember: debt matters.

"If a company has too much debt and has a difficult time making interest payments," that's a problem, Wright says. In that situation, "continuing to pay the dividend can contribute to a company's demise as the creditors might force a company into bankruptcy. That's a bit more theoretical, as bond holders would likely force a company to reduce or eliminate its dividend well before bankruptcy would be imminent."

How'd it do in a recession? Bill DeShurko, a Covestor portfolio manager and founder of 401 Advisor, a registered investment advisor, has an altogether different way to tell if a dividend is ready to fade away.

"Look at how a stock behaved during bear markets and recessions," he says, and check how its earnings and balance sheet were affected. "A company's financials through the tech wreck, financial crisis and recent oil price plunge would be a good indication of how much cushion a company might need to maintain a dividend," he says.

By understanding the breaking point in previous crises, investors can get a general feel for the breaking point in future ones.

John Divine is an investor, freelance financial writer and assistant editor at InvestorPlace.com. Follow him (at your own risk) on Twitter @divinebizkid or spam him with email at jdivine@investormedia.com.
You probably have the obvious stuff covered, like updating your resume and writing great cover letters. But here are five other things you should do while you're out of work to make the most of the time.

1. Volunteer. Volunteering for a charity or local community organization can be a great way to keep your skills up to date or help you learn new ones, expose you to new fields and give you something to put on your resume for this time period. It can also boost your confidence and reinforce for you that you have plenty to offer, which can have a real impact on how you present yourself in interviews. Plus, by expanding your network, it will give you a whole new group of people who know from direct experience working with you that you're reliable and competent, and who will be able to vouch for you to others.

One tip: Finding the right volunteer opportunity can take some patience. Small groups, which often need volunteers the most, don't always have enough staff to respond to inquiries about volunteering. Larger organizations are generally more equipped to work with volunteers but will often funnel them to more menial work, such as stuffing envelopes. But don't give up. It might take putting out a few different feelers, but if you give it time you should be able to find an opportunity that you're happy with.

[Read: Is Your Job-Search Advice Wildly Outdated?]

2. Make yourself more visible in your field. For example:

-- Join your industry's professional association, go to its events and volunteer to take on leadership roles, whether it's helping to plan a conference or running for office.

-- If you're young, and your professional association doesn't have a young professionals group, ask to start one under its umbrella.

-- Build your professional presence online. Find out where people in your field hang out online, such as particular blogs, news sites or LinkedIn groups, and join their conversation. You'll both build your knowledge (something that can be very handy in job interviews) and begin to build credibility as someone who's passionate about the work you all do. And employers definitely prefer hiring candidates with this kind of track record of interest in their subject matter.

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3. Learn a new skill. Whether it's learning to code, expanding your Excel know-how or brushing up on a foreign language, using this time to build your skills can make you a strong job candidate -- as well as boost your confidence. From KhanAcademy.org to massive open online courses, or MOOCs, to local adult education classes or community colleges, opportunities abound for free or low-cost learning. Heck, you can even just do self-directed learning yourself using materials you find on the Internet.

[Read: 5 Things You Should Never Do While Waiting to Hear Back About a Job.]

4. Catch up with your network. Too often, job seekers feel awkward about reaching out to people in their network unless they're connected to a particular job opening. But it's worth reaching out to your full network and catching up one-on-one with people because you never know where it might lead. In particular, be sure that you reach out to past managers and co-workers who liked your work. They're in the best position to vouch for you and recommend you to others.

[Read: 8 Things That Make You Look Like a Weirdo to Hiring Managers.]

5. Do things you can't do as easily when you're working. Don't feel guilty if you're not job searching for 40 hours a week. People like to say that a job search should be a full-time job, but in reality the amount of time it takes varies significantly from field to field and from person to person. Particularly if you're more senior or in a field without a large number of openings, you might find that it's not realistic to spend 40 hours a week on your search.

And that's not a bad thing. Unemployment is tough, and it's okay to take advantage of the time that you have to do things that you didn't have a chance to do when you were working all day. Go to a museum, exercise, spend the afternoon in a park, see family and friends, read a novel or find other ways to enjoy yourself. Hopefully you'll be back at work soon enough, and then it may be harder to find time to do those things.
Time. These days it's a commodity more precious than gold. Most of us could use more of it, and find that when an extra hour or two does come our way, it's devoured like a crave-worthy dessert.

Retailers have devised ways to "help us out" by providing shortcuts to shopping, cooking and bill-paying. The problem is, these shortcuts end up costing big bucks. To help suss out what drains your wallet faster than you can say "please charge that," here are five money wasting habits consumers get duped by, while trying to save time:

[See: 11 Ways to Save Time and Money.]

Lunch Much? Fast Meals That Fool You Into Overspending

Three meals a day is pretty much the eating standard, however, paying for a daily lunch out because you believe it's saving you time by not having to make one can cost you. Let's do the math: If you are eating at a restaurant three times a week and spending an average $15 for that meal, you are forking over close to $45 a week, $180 per month and $2,160 a year! And it gets more expensive if you are a guy. According to one Visa survey, men spend 44 percent more per meal than women do, averaging $21 per meal. Store-bought, pre-packaged lunches aren't much cheaper. Putting together a homemade sandwich can cost you less than $1.50 if you fill it with cold cuts. The same sandwich bought at grocery store or deli can run you $6 to $12. Save money by taking extra minutes to make and bring your lunch to work.

The Uncleared Cache

No, this isn't a reference to the cash in your wallet. Clearing the "cache" on your browser is the equivalent to anonymous shopping. Why does this matter? Your "cache" is the same as leaving a digital trail wherever you go. Online retailers can track what you browse and for how long, and can gauge if you are really interested in making a purchase. If you wait until the last minute to buy something while hitting the website constantly to check prices, it works to your disadvantage. Retailers see the increasing interest (and possible desperation) as time goes by, and raise prices. This happens with discount retailers, travel and airline websites. If you aren't getting rid of your procrastination habits anytime soon, one way to get around this is to clear your cache or search for items on different devices.

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[See: 12 Shopping Tricks to Keep You Under Budget.]

The Free-Shipping Black Hole

Free shipping certainly is alluring. For example, retailers offer "free shipping" with a purchase of $50 or more. The natural inclination is to stock up on your favorite items because you are getting a "deal." A survey from comScore found that 3 out of 4 people admit to having bought a few unnecessary items so they could take advantage of free delivery. How can you get around this? Buy what you need in person and if you have to do a bulk buy, then online shop!

Slick New Product Packaging

Grocery aisles look more sleek: They're less congested and easier on the eye. Why? Manufacturers have been redesigning product packaging to be slightly smaller. The change is minor, but the speed by which you go through product can drain your wallet. According to the consumer advocacy site Consumerist, tissue boxes, cocoa packets and laundry detergent are the worst offenders. A way to stop the insanity: Buy product refills versus newly packaged products. This ends up being cheaper per unit.

[See: 10 Ways to Shop Smarter at the Grocery Store.]

The Bottled Water Trap

Summer is right around the corner and with it comes the urge to purchase copious amounts of water. Hydration is good, but spending hundreds of dollars on bottled water isn't. Let's break it down: According to research from the Beverage Marketing Corporation, the average wholesale price per gallon of domestic non-sparkling bottled water was $1.20 in 2014. The report also showed consumers tend to buy bottled water in bulk from large discount retailers because they perceive they are getting a discount when purchasing in mass quantities. Nothing could be further from the truth. Consumers are actually spending 300 times more than the cost of tap water, more if you drink multiple bottles a day. How do you curb this? Easy: Get a filter and drink tap water.

We all want more time in our lives but not at the expense of our hard-earned cash. Making small changes by allocating a few minutes to prepare lunch, fill a water bottle or purchase product refills can create a cushion of cash that will ensure peace of mind ... and, perhaps, a well-deserved vacation!

Hitha Herzog is chief research officer of H Squared Research, lecturer at Parsons School of Design and author of "Black Market Billions."
Tunis (AFP) - Around 50 countries and international organisations met in Tunis on Tuesday to discuss "international support" for a new unity government in neighbouring Libya.

The one-day meeting sponsored by the United Nations and Great Britain aims to allow representatives of the UN-backed authority to outline its priorities to rebuild the country's economy after five years of turbulence.

Fayez al-Sarraj, the head of the unity cabinet, arrived in Tripoli by sea with a naval escort nearly two weeks ago and has since won the support of key institutions that control Libya's wealth.

"We realise that popular support for the unity government... cannot last if we don't quickly manage to address urgent needs," said deputy prime minister-designate Moussa al-Kony.

"Basic services" such as health and electricity were priorities in addition to security, he said.

British diplomat Christian Turner, the foreign office's director general for the Middle East and Africa, said: "It is vital, of course, that the new Libyan government makes early progress on delivering tangible benefits to the Libyan people."

"We are here today to talk about practicalities, to talk about support, and not just support that is political and diplomatic but to talk of concrete assistance.

"We will hear more on the presidency council's priorities for the Libyan people and we will be agreeing how we go about addressing those specific areas," Turner added.

Representatives from around 40 countries, as well as international organisations such as the European Union, Arab League, World Bank and International Monetary Fund, attended the meeting.

The offices of international organisations and many embassies working on Libya have been based in Tunis, awaiting better security in Tripoli where the unity government is working to establish its authority.

Libya has been in chaos since the 2011 uprising that ousted longtime ruler Moamer Kadhafi, dealing a blow to the country's economy and causing a liquidity crisis.

According to the World Health Organization, more than 2.4 million people in Libya out of a population of 6 million need humanitarian assistance.

The WHO has said that $50 million (around 44 million euros) is needed to meet the life-saving needs of nearly two million people in Libya's health sector alone.
Researchers say our chair culture is literally killing us. And they might be right: Because most of us sit at desks in front of computer screens for hours, many of us are in debilitating, chronic back pain from bad posture. What's more, tilting your head to hold your phone strains your neck and can create permanent imbalances in your cervical spine and shoulders. A sedentary lifestyle doesn't only destroy your body externally, but it also wreaks havoc on your insides. Sitting causes organ damage, muscle degeneration, poor circulation, weight gain and fat build-up -- especially around the belly. And then there's the mental aspect: When you sit hunched over at your desk, it makes your body frail, which lowers your confidence, energy and mood.

[See: 10 Ways to Break a Bad Mood.]

We are overworked, stressed out and obsessed with being busy. That lifestyle distracts us from achieving good posture throughout the day. While we know it's bad for us, most people need to work seated in front of a computer. If you're one of them, try these yoga poses to reverse the damage:

1. Side Stretch

-- Position: Standing at your desk.

-- Purpose: To lengthen and stretch your spine and the sides of your body.

-- Benefit: This pose helps create a lift out of your pelvis in your lower back and all the way up to your shoulders and neck. This movement can help you stay tall while sitting.

-- How to do it: Stand with your feet and legs together. Keep your weight even on your feet. Inhale, lengthen your back and reach your arms overhead. Hold your right wrist with your left hand. Keep your hips and shoulders square toward the wall you're facing as you lean to the left. Gently pull with your left hand and stretch your right side. Keep your chin lifted and parallel with the floor. Hold this position for three breaths and switch to the next side.

2. Shoulder Stretch

-- Position: Standing at your desk.

-- Purpose: To align and open your shoulders and upper back.

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-- Benefit: Fight back against slouching shoulders with this stretch.

-- How to do it: Stand with your feet as far apart as your outer hips, and point them straight forward. Clasp your hands behind your back. As you breath in, straighten your legs, lengthen your torso and set your shoulders back. Squeeze your arms straight. Exhale and bow forward. Keep lengthening your back. Lift your shoulders and open your upper back.

3. Neck Stretch

-- Position: Standing at your desk.

-- Purpose: To stretch your neck and back.

-- Benefit: This pose is an efficient way to alleviate tension in your neck and shoulders. It reverses what I like to call "iPhone neck syndrome."

-- How to do it: Stand with your feet as far apart as your outer hips and point them straight forward. Plant your feet firmly, with your weight evenly spread between your heels and the tops of your feet. Clasp your hands behind your back. Slide your clasp to your right hip. Inhale, lengthen your back so your shoulders are even with the base of your neck and are even across your back. Gently tilt your head to the left. Soften your jaw and your gaze. Hold for three deep breaths and switch sides.

[See: 9 Tips to Tame Work Stress.]

4. Thigh Stretch

-- Position: Standing at your desk.

-- Purpose: To stretch your thighs and release your lower back.

-- Benefit: This pose opens your thighs and alleviates back pain. When you sit, your thighs likely turn out, which tucks your pelvis under and diminishes your lower back. When you open your thighs, however, you can root your legs down into their hip sockets evenly. This movement is crucial to establish a healthy lift in your back.

-- How to do it: Stand facing your desk with your feet and legs touching and your feet straight forward. Shift weight into your right foot and lift your left foot toward the back wall. Reach down and hold the outer edge of your left foot with your left hand. Hug your left knee in toward your right. Inhale, lengthen the sides of your torso and set your shoulders back. Kick your left foot back against your hand, point your left foot and flick your toes back. Take three deep breaths in this stretch before switching sides.

5. Pyramid

-- Position: Standing behind your desk.

-- Purpose: To stretch your hamstrings.

-- Benefit: If your legs get achy or numb while sitting, this posture will improve circulation, wake up your legs and relieve pain in the lower body. Pyramid pose stretches your hamstrings, and that helps you set your thigh bones back into their hip sockets and creates space to open your back.

-- How to do it: Stand about an arm's length away from your desk. Step your left foot back about 3.5 feet. Spin your back heel to the floor and angle your back foot toward the left upper corner of the room. Straighten your legs. Square your hips toward your desk. Inhale as you lengthen your back and fold forward until your back is parallel with the floor. Reach your arms forward and place your hands on the edge your desk. Press your hips back and extend through the crown of your head. Hold for five breaths and switch sides.

[See: 8 Ways to Stay Healthy at Work.]

6. Seated Pigeon

-- Position: Seated at your desk.

-- Purpose: To open your hips.

-- Benefit: Opening your hips clears lower back and hip pain. As you open your hips, you can root down through your pelvis more evenly to get an even lift in your lower back. This position is paramount for good posture while seated at your desk.

-- How to do it: Sit toward the front edge of your chair. Plant your left foot firmly on the floor. Cross your right shin across your left thigh and flex your right foot. Press your left hand against your right foot and your foot against your hand to remind it to flex. Set your inner thighs back and create a broadening in your pelvis and lower back. Lengthen your spine and deepen your breath. Repeat on the second side.
Ramallah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has said there is an "urgent" need for a UN resolution on Israeli settlements as he embarks on a multi-country tour that may be among his last chances to renew peace efforts.

Speaking in an interview with AFP, Abbas criticised what he said was insufficent action from US President Barack Obama's administration while also firmly backing a French initiative to hold an international peace conference this summer.

Abbas spoke ahead of a tour beginning Tuesday that will take him to Turkey, France, Russia, Germany and New York, where the Palestinians are discussing a UN draft resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The trip comes with the clock ticking for both the 81-year-old and the Obama administration, with speculation the US president could change tack and support a resolution on the peace process before he leaves office in January.

"The Security Council is a very important subject because it has now become urgent due to settlement activities and because Israel has not stopped these activities," Abbas said late Monday at his office in Ramallah.

Settlement construction in the West Bank "is something that has seriously jeopardised the two-state project."

The United States has repeatedly vetoed resolutions opposed by Israel at the UN Security Council, but the Palestinians are hoping for a change of heart.

"So far, we have not got any reaction from the Americans regarding the Security Council," said Abbas.

He criticised US efforts so far.

"We were expecting from the US administration over the past eight years that it would take positive steps forward to achieve what America believes in, which is the two-state vision," he said.

"Until now, it hasn't happened from the US administration."

Asked whether he was disappointed, he said: "We do not want to use this expression, but we are saying that we were expecting a lot from the US administration and it never happened."

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- Doubts on compromise -

Abbas' two-week tour starts with a summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul and ends in New York.

It may be one of the last chances at renewing peace efforts for the successor to Yasser Arafat who has for years been at the centre of attempts to resolve one of the world's longest-lasting conflicts.

International attention in recent years has however turned elsewhere, with war raging in Syria and Islamic State group jihadists carrying out attacks.

Within Israel and the Palestinian territories, the chances of progress have rarely seemed so far off, with both sides appearing reluctant to make compromises.

A US initiative collapsed in April 2014 and peace efforts have since been at a standstill.

Palestinian militants and Israel fought yet another war in the Gaza Strip later in 2014, and a wave of Palestinian knife, gun and car-ramming attacks erupted in October.

Though there has been a steady decline in the violence that has killed more than 200 people, there are concerns of another upsurge for the Jewish Passover holiday beginning April 22.

Among the Palestinians themselves, reconciliation efforts have been underway between the Palestinian Authority dominated by Abbas's Fatah and the Islamist movement Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, but with little progress reported.

For Abbas and the international community, Israel's continued settlement building in the West Bank is one area of agreement.

Such settlements are considered illegal under international law and are seen as major stumbling blocks to peace efforts since they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state.

- Will French plan stick? -

Abbas said his trip will promote two main projects, which he sees as complementary: a UN resolution condemning the settlements and the French peace initiative.

Israel has criticised the French plan to organise the international peace conference, but without rejecting it outright.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken out against "international dictates" and called for direct negotiations.

The latest declarations from both Netanyahu and Abbas that they are ready to meet at any time have failed to translate into action.

"I have said more than once that I am prepared to meet with Mr. Netanyahu and I am ready to receive him," Abbas said in the interview.

"This is not the first time where I say I am ready to meet him whenever he wants."

Concerned that the lack of any initiative would provoke a sharp deterioration and play into the hands of extremists, France re-launched its peace project in January.

Its point man on the project, Pierre Vimont, has sought to lay the groundwork in recent months by meeting a wide range of officials, including the Palestinians and those from Israel, Arab nations, the United States and Russia.

The Palestinians count France among their strongest supporters in the West and Abbas will meet President Francois Hollande on Friday.

Former French foreign minister Laurent Fabius had previously alarmed Israel by saying Paris would recognise a Palestinian state if its initiative failed.

Hollande's administration has since backed away from the claim.

"What is important is to hear from the (French) president if those ideas have turned into a French initiative that the French government will stick by until the end," Abbas said.
By Suchitra Mohanty NEW DELHI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Activists in India have protested against a civil suit launched by the former head of the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) against a lawyer representing two women who have accused him of sexual harassment. Rajendra K. Pachauri filed a civil suit last week against lawyer Vrinda Grover, seeking an injunction and 10 million rupees ($150,000) in damages on the ground that she was trying to prejudice the case against him. "The very public attack on Ms. Grover is a matter of concern for all those who, like the signatories to this letter, are struggling to deliver substantive justice under the laws on sexual harassment in the workplace in India today," said a letter released late on Monday, signed by 188 activists, academics, writers and journalists. Pachauri was formally charged with sexual harassment last month, a year after a 29-year-old woman filed a police report alleging he had harassed her via email, Whatsapp and text messaging when she worked at the Delhi-based Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), which Pachauri headed. She later quit the organization, saying she had been treated in the "worst possible manner" after she complained about Pachauri's behavior. A second employee alleged harassment this year. Pachauri, 75, has denied the allegations. He went on indefinite leave from TERI in February, days after he was made executive vice chairman, amid growing outrage over his alleged behavior. A third woman, who is not an Indian national, has since said she was also sexually harassed by Pachauri, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported last month. Pachauri's suit against Grover "has implications that will have a chilling effect on complaints of sexual harassment, as it has all the characteristics of an instance of a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP)," the letter released on Monday said. Pachauri, who had been chairman of the IPCC since 2002, stepped down last February. The IPCC was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore in 2007, for their part in galvanizing the international community to take action against climate change. Pachauri's lawyer said his client was innocent. "Vrinda has damaged my client's reputation. She is time and again talking to the media and damaging Pachauri's prestige and reputation," Ashish Dixit told the Thomson Reuters Foundation on Tuesday. Grover said she was not worried about the suit. "This is a diversionary tactic on the part of the accused," Grover said. "This is an attempt by Pachauri to intimidate the two women who have made their sexual harassment cases public," she said. "This suit for damages has no merit. I find it very odd." ($1 = 66.5 Indian rupees) (Writing by Rina Chandran, editing by Tim Pearce.; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit news.trust.org to see more stories.)
(Reuters) - Dustin Diamond, who played nerdy Screech in the 1990s U.S. television sitcom "Saved by the Bell," was released from jail a month early after serving three months for a barroom stabbing in Wisconsin, officials said. Diamond was freed from Ozaukee County jail on Monday afternoon after providing custodial maintenance in the jail under a program that awarded him 30 days of "good time," the Ozaukee County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. Celebrity news website TMZ said in a headline that Diamond had "scrubbed way to freedom." Diamond, 38, began serving a four-month jail sentence on Jan. 15 after he was convicted last year of carrying a concealed weapon and disorderly conduct in the incident in which he was accused of stabbing a man. Diamond's fiancee at the time, Amanda Schutz, 28, was accused of pushing a woman who was harassing her and Diamond on Christmas night at the Grand Avenue Saloon in Port Washington, Wisconsin, north of Milwaukee. Police said Diamond stabbed a man with a switchblade knife during the ensuing fight, causing a non-life-threatening wound. Diamond said he pulled the knife to defend himself and Schutz. Diamond and Schutz, who was found guilty of disorderly conduct, also were ordered to pay $1,500 in restitution to the stabbing victim. Diamond, who lives in Port Washington, played socially awkward but brainy student Samuel "Screech" Powers, memorable for his dark and wiry hair, on "Saved by the Bell," which ran from 1989 to 1993. Since then, he has had a number of smaller television roles and appeared on reality programs and game shows. (Reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit; Editing by Bill Trott)
LONDON (Reuters) - Support for Britain to leave the European Union stands at 45 percent, three points ahead of the "remain" camp, ahead of a referendum on June 23, according to an online opinion poll released on Tuesday by ICM. The poll of 2,030 people, conducted between April 8 and 10, found that 12 percent of those surveyed were undecided. ICM's previous poll, released on April 6, had found that the "in" camp were ahead by one point on 43 percent. "Most polls continue to suggest that its a very tight contest, with neither side able to gain a decisive lead," said ICM's Jennifer Bottomley on Tuesday. (Reporting by Estelle Shirbon; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
By Tom Esslemont LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The "self-interested" international aid system must give local charities a greater role in shaping responses to humanitarian disasters or it will fail to help those most in need, aid experts warned on Tuesday. The remarks by a London-based think tank, the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), were aimed at United Nations agencies, governments and private-sector companies preparing to debate changes to the aid system at the World Humanitarian Summit in May. Opinions are divided over the role of local charities in a reformed aid sector that has long been dominated by Western donors, the Red Cross movement and U.N. agencies, and is now struggling to fund assistance to a record 90 million people in need. "We need a radical transformation with the big players acknowledging the role of local organizations and other providers, otherwise the Western-dominated aid structure will progressively become irrelevant," the ODI's humanitarian director, Sara Pantuliano, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. A report co-authored by Pantuliano, published on Tuesday, said the entire sector was too self-interested and preoccupied with growth, market share and output, rather than on achieving positive outcomes for beneficiaries. "Despite the dedication of frontline aid workers, who work tirelessly and often at great personal risk,... these enduring, but outdated, assumptions compel organizations to be competitive, rather than collaborative," the report said. Aid groups based in developing countries want the May summit in Istanbul to agree what proportion of global humanitarian funding should go to national and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and a target date for this to be done. Their share of the total funding pie halved to 0.2 percent in 2014 from 0.4 percent in 2012, and their share of the money received by all NGOs also fell to 1.2 percent, according to the Britain-based research group Development Initiatives. "The more we can get to delivery through local NGOs, the better - huge amounts are happening in Syria today by that very method," said U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O'Brien. "It is absolutely clear to me that we need to raise that proportion considerably," he told a debate in London by video link, adding that the international aid community would still have to ascertain people's needs were being properly met. Under a separate "Charter for Change", 18 international charities so far, including Christian Aid and Islamic Relief Worldwide, have agreed to put into practice by May 2018 eight commitments to boost the role of national agencies. They include passing 20 percent of humanitarian funding down to that level. U.N. agencies and large international NGOs should also focus on "enabling" smaller, local organizations to respond in disaster situations, the ODI report said. One of the world's largest humanitarian charities, Care International, said it largely agreed with the proposal, but said global charities had an important role due to their scale. "We believe it's still essential for international NGOs to retain the ability to deliver services," said Gareth Price-Jones, Care International's humanitarian policy and advocacy coordinator. "Being international means we can maintain a pool of skilled staff and supplies which can be deployed anywhere in the world as needed," he added. SHARED RESPONSIBILITIES Major government donors, including Britain, have shown interest in expanding the work done by local NGOs, but regulations and anti-terror laws often restrict who they can fund. U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon has also made clear that world leaders must change the way they handle humanitarian crises, which are taking an unprecedented toll on civilians. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has estimated 88.7 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in 2016, which will cost an estimated $20.1 billion. "The scale of humanitarian needs at this time is just extraordinary and we must accept our shared responsibilities," the U.N. Secretary-General said in February. U.N. aid chief O'Brien said on Tuesday that helping people "survive and thrive" and protecting them in conflicts such as the Syria war would require all available skills and experience. "We need local, and we will continue to need the multilateral and the international, because the scale of human suffering and humanitarian need... is so huge," he said. Pantuliano said attempts to overhaul the system and increase the role of local NGOs had so far looked like "tinkering", with smaller charities being used as sub-contractors rather than partners. She said there needed to be changes to the underlying structure and culture on which the system operates. "If we do not emerge from the World Humanitarian Summit with some clear and tangible commitments on how to reshape the aid sector, it will never deliver on its ambitions," Pantuliano said. (Reporting By Tom Esslemont, additional reporting by Megan Rowling, editing by Ros Russell; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, womens rights, corruption and climate change. Visit news.trust.org)
By Tom Esslemont LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The world's "self-interested" international aid system must give local charities a greater role in shaping responses to humanitarian disasters or it will fail to assist those most in need, aid experts warned on Tuesday. The remarks by a London-based think tank, the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), were targeted at United Nations agencies, governments and private sector companies preparing to debate changes to the aid system at the World Humanitarian Summit in May. Opinions are divided over the role of local charities in a reformed aid sector that has long been dominated by Western donors, the Red Cross movement and U.N. agencies and is now struggling to fund assistance to a record 90 million people in need. "We need a radical transformation with the big players acknowledging the role of local organizations and other providers otherwise the Western dominated aid structure will progressively become irrelevant," the ODI's humanitarian director, Sara Pantuliano, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. A report co-authored by Pantuliano, published on Tuesday, said the entire sector was too self-interested and preoccupied with growth, market share and output, rather than on achieving positive outcomes for beneficiaries. "Despite the dedication of frontline aid workers, who work tirelessly and often at great personal risk,... these enduring, but outdated, assumptions compel organizations to be competitive, rather than collaborative," the report said. Aid groups based in developing countries want the May summit in Istanbul to agree what proportion of global humanitarian funding should go to national and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and a target date for this to be done. Their share of the total funding pie halved to 0.2 percent in 2014 from 0.4 percent in 2012, and their share of the money received by all NGOs also fell to 1.2 percent, according to the Britain-based research group Development Initiatives. Under a separate "Charter for Change", 18 international charities so far, including Christian Aid and Islamic Relief Worldwide, have agreed to put into practice by May 2018 eight commitments to boost the role of national agencies. They include passing 20 percent of humanitarian funding down to that level. On top of channeling more funding to local players, U.N. agencies and large international NGOs should also focus on "enabling" smaller, local organizations to respond in disaster situations, the ODI report said. One of the world's largest humanitarian charities, Care International, said it largely agreed with the proposal, but said global charities had an important role due to their scale. "We believe it's still essential for international NGOs to retain the ability to deliver services," said Gareth Price-Jones, Care International's humanitarian policy and advocacy coordinator. "Being international means we can maintain a pool of skilled staff and supplies which can be deployed anywhere in the world as needed," he added. SHARED RESPONSIBILITIES Major government donors, including Britain, have shown interest in expanding the work done by local NGOs, but regulations and anti-terror laws often restrict who they can fund. The U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon has also made clear that world leaders must change the way they handle humanitarian crises, which are taking an unprecedented toll on civilians. The U.N. office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA) has estimated 88.7 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in 2016, which will cost an estimated $20.1 billion. "The scale of humanitarian needs at this time is just extraordinary and we must accept our shared responsibilities," the U.N. Secretary-General said in February. Pantuliano said attempts to overhaul the system and to increase the role of local NGOs had so far looked like "tinkering", with smaller charities being used as sub-contractors rather than partners. She said there needed to be changes to the underlying structure and culture on which the system operates. "If we do not emerge from the World Humanitarian Summit with some clear and tangible commitments on how to reshape the aid sector it will never deliver on its ambitions," Pantuliano said. (Reporting By Tom Esslemont, Editing by Ros Russell; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, womens rights, corruption and climate change. Visit news.trust.org)
As I walk into a sunny startup in Santa Monica, California, a lanky fellow at the receptionist desk greets me with a whip of his shaggy hair. In the corner, Juliette, the office diva, howls about todays crappy canned lunch. And on the other side of the office is Maggie, a top performer whos revving up the app team during a midday slump with some new tricks up her sleeve.

She can hump on cue, Im told.

Luckily, CEO Aaron Hirschhorn is adept at managing these rowdy office personalities. After all, hes the top dog around here. His workplace is part open office, part doggie den  with nearly half as many furry friends as two-legged employees milling around, making it one of the worlds most pet-friendly places to work. The company, DogVacay, connects around 25,000 local sitters with dog owners in need of couches for their canines to crash on, much as Airbnb does for travelers. And just as the sharing economy has reshaped the hotel scene, Hirschhorn wants DogVacay to overhaul the broken pet industry. Its a fledgling startup so, of course, everyone is working their tails off to make it a leading pet-care company. As the plaque near the front door reads, Dogs Welcome, People Tolerated.

Aaronhirschorn washburn 023

Maggie demonstrated several tricks for OZYs photographer.

Source: Alex Washburn/OZY

So far, investors have thrown in more than $47 million in seed funding toward fixing what Hirschhorn describes as the lack of options for dog boarding. On one hand, he says, are cheap, cramped kennels that coop up your dogs for days on end. On the other, posh pet resorts equipped with premium house kibble and special boutiques. The industry is focused on all the wrong things, he says: A big suite with a flat-screen TV is not something that a dog wants.

But what do dogs really want? For a bevy of entrepreneurs looking to take a big, juicy bite out of the fast-growing pet-products market, its a $60 billion question. At times it seems there are as many answers as there are breeds: subscription gift boxes (BarkBox), pet-tracking apps (Whistle), wearables (FitBark), matchmaking (TinDog)  all sorts of goods and services we never knew the countrys 80 million dogs needed so desperately. Or do they? Its largely for the humans, says Megan Casey, who organized one of San Franciscos first dog-tech conferences last year. Her own company, Pack, is a kind of Facebook for dogs  er, their owners.

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Hirschhorn admits that many people laughed at his idea at first. But it turns out that boarding costs are no small sum for most pet owners: They each spend an average of $333 on kennel boarding every year, according to the American Pet Products Association, and, in total, $5.4 billion on boarding and grooming. And for owners, the prospect of leaving a beloved canine in the care of a for-profit business can be daunting. Dogs are like family members, and you want to leave them with someone you trust, says 30-year-old Jillian Fisher of Brooklyn; her own basset hound has separation-anxiety issues.

Indeed, Hirschhorns foray into the business began with an unsatisfactory boarding experience for his own beloved dogs. After putting Rocky and Rambo in a local kennel, Hirschhorn returned home from his trip with a $1,400 bill and a petrified Rocky cowered under a desk and trapped in a cage. So he and his wife started an overnight dog-sitting business  on Craigslist  creatively called Aarons Dog Boarding Service, Hirschhorn says. Soon enough, they found themselves serving 100 clients who shared similar frustrations with dog boarding. Proof of concept!

By then, Hirschhorn had years of experience in venture capital, private equity and finance to back him up. Its helped him get a leg up in a startup world, corralling support for his off-the-cuff ideas. Although Hirschhorn claims that hes no dog whisperer, he grew up with a canine companion and has been taking care of dogs since he was 10 years old. He devoured books upon books about dog behavior and training techniques. And before DogVacay was born, Hirschhorn hung out at different dog parks everyday, chatting up fellow dog lovers about what was missing in the pet-care scene. All of these experiences informed his vision for the future of the pet industry.

Aaronhirschorn washburn 053

Aaron Hirschorn, DogVacay CEO

Source: Alex Washburn / OZY

Although hosts are carefully vetted, problems can arise: Animals are living beings, and they can fall ill, get scared or become homesick. Every reservation on DogVacay comes with round-the-clock customer support, an emergency hotline and around $2,000 in complimentary vet insurance, guest pet insurance and insurance to cover the pets owned by the dog sitter. More than just a boarding site, DogVacay wants to expand into veterinary care, doggy daycare, pet training, pet insurance and dog walking.

Behind every successful petrepreneur is a great pet. For Hirschhorn, her name is Rocky and, like her owner, the domineering goldendoodle is known as the hall monitor of the office. She deals with the day-to-day dog politics between the golden retrievers, border collies, chocolate Labs, French bulldogs and sheepadoodles that loiter in between desks and nap on employees laps. At times, its hard to tell who rules the pack here  Hirschhorn or Rocky. But by the time midday rolls around, its puppy play time. And soon, it will be yappy hour too.

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By Paul Carsten and Rama Venkat Raman BEIJING/BENGALURU (Reuters) - Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has agreed to buy a controlling stake in Southeast Asian online retailer Lazada Group for about $1 billion, its biggest deal overseas, as the Chinese ecommerce giant seeks fertile new turf while growth slows at home. Lazada, founded by Germany's Rocket Internet in 2012, is headquartered in Singapore and also operates in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. That affords Alibaba a chance to tap the region's growth potential, but the market is also competitive and fragmented, with only a tiny fraction of total retail sales currently conducted online. "Southeast Asia has a lot of overlap with China in terms of consumer habits, intra-regional trade and tastes," said Duncan Clark, chairman of investment advisory firm BDA China and author of a book on Alibaba. "Rocket in this case has managed to create a successful, multi-market player in a region which needs scale and breadth to be viable. This has obvious appeal to Alibaba." Lazada saw revenue jump 81 percent to $190.0 million in the first nine months of 2015, while active customers more than tripled to 7.3 million. However, its adjusted loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization more than doubled to $212.9 million. Rocket reports 2015 figures on Thursday. Under the deal announced on Tuesday - Alibaba's biggest overseas investment so far, according to Thomson Reuters data - the firm will buy about $500 million of newly issued Lazada shares. The rest will be bought from current shareholders. These include Britain's biggest supermarket operator, Tesco Plc, which said it would sell an 8.6 percent stake for $129 million, valuing Lazada at $1.5 billion. Rocket and Swedish investor Kinnevik will also sell shares. Neither Alibaba nor Lazada specified the size of the stake purchased, but the sales imply a two-thirds holding. Alibaba also has the option, 12-18 months after the deal closes, to buy remaining stakes from Lazada shareholders. TOUGH, HOME AND AWAY China is getting tougher for Alibaba. In the last three months of 2015, the total value of goods transacted on the company's e-commerce sites rose by its slowest annual rate in more than three years. The company has been hit by a barrage of issues, including China's worst economic growth in a quarter of a century, an effort to clean up prevalent fakes on Alibaba's platforms, and tough competition from smaller rival JD.com Inc, analysts have said. Rocket Internet is known for funding and ultimately selling start-ups that follow the model of successful existing businesses. When Lazada first emerged, it was pegged as a Southeast Asian version of Amazon.com Inc. The sale is welcome news for Rocket, which has seen its stock sag since it listed in October 2014 on investor concern that all its leading start-ups are still making heavy losses. The stock was up 4.9 percent at 1144 GMT. "We had always had concerns that Lazada could fall victim to intense competition from Alibaba, yet here we have an example of an internet giant buying out the smaller competitor at a substantial valuation," said Berenberg analyst Sarah Simon. "Fears that Rocket Internet cannot build credible businesses should thus be appeased." Lazada works with third-party players and develops its own logistics to improve goods delivery to customers' doors. In December, the company said it planned to double its number of warehouses from 10 to 20 over the next few years to keep up with a surge in e-commerce from customers outside big cities. The deal isn't Alibaba's first investment in Southeast Asia. The Chinese company also has a stake in logistics firm Singapore Post Ltd. The e-commerce market for business-to-consumer sales across all of Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand was just $10.5 billion in 2015, or 1.5 percent of retail volume, according to consultancy firm Frost & Sullivan. By comparison, it accounts for 12 percent of retail in China, and 8 percent in the United States. Lazada chief executive Max Bittner said Southeast Asia "is highly fragmented and diverse with significant barriers to entry". Credit Suisse (Hong Kong) Limited acted as exclusive financial adviser to Alibaba on the transaction, while Goldman Sachs (Asia) LLC was exclusive financial adviser to Lazada. (Additional reporting by Aradhana Aravindan in SINGAPORE, Fransiska Nangoy and Eveline Danubrata in JAKARTA and Emma Thomasson in BERLIN; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell and Mark Potter)
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba will acquire a controlling stake in leading Southeast Asian online shopping platform Lazada for $1.0 billion, it said Tuesday as Jack Ma's company seeks to expand outside its home market.

Alibaba's Taobao platform is estimated to have more than 90 percent of the consumer-to-consumer market in China, while its Tmall platform is believed to command more than half of business-to-consumer transactions.

But its international commerce business only accounted for six percent of its revenue for the quarter ended in December, its latest earnings report showed.

Alibaba is investing $500 million in newly issued Lazada shares and acquiring stock from some existing holders to take a majority stake in the firm for a total of around $1 billion, according to the statement, which did not specify Alibaba's total holding.

The deal values Lazada at $1.5 billion, a shareholder -- Germany's Rocket Internet -- said in a separate statement.

"With the investment in Lazada, Alibaba gains access to a platform with a large and growing consumer base outside China, a proven management team and a solid foundation for future growth in one of the most promising regions for e-commerce globally," Alibaba president Michael Evans said.

Lazada claims to be Southeast Asia's "number one" online shopping and selling platform with a presence in six countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore -- where it is headquartered.

Lazada's chief executive Max Bittner said the deal will help the company leverage the Chinese firm's knowhow and technology to improve its own services, according to the Alibaba statement.

Analysts said the deal would give Alibaba greater access to other Asian markets.

"Overseas expansion requires a lot of investment in logistics, it would take Alibaba much longer to build the business from the ground up," Li Yujie, a Hong Kong-based analyst at RHB Research Institute, told Bloomberg News.

"What Alibaba could do is integrate the businesses and introduce more existing merchants to Lazada to export their products overseas."

 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse
The Hague (AFP) - Military police Wednesday probed a major security alert at Amsterdam's busy international airport, with one man still in custody in a jolt to Dutch authorities, three weeks after attacks in Belgium killed 32 people.

Dozens of heavily-armed military police swarmed Schiphol airport late Tuesday, partially evacuating parts of the public areas and arresting one suspect.

The operation was triggered after a tip-off from a bystander about an unspecified "suspicious situation", a military police spokesman said.

"The man remains in custody and the investigation continues," Alfred Ellwanger told AFP on Wednesday, refusing to reveal any details of the suspect's identity.

"The situation at the airport has returned to normal," he added and the airport's authorities confirmed no disruptions were expected on Wednesday.

The scare at one of Europe's busiest travel hubs, with flight links to 319 destinations around the world, came exactly three weeks after the March 22 attacks on the Brussels airport and metro left 32 people dead and hundreds wounded.

The Netherlands tightened security and stepped up border controls in the wake of the suicide bombings in its southern neighbour, which also followed the coordinated attacks in Paris in November.

But it remained unclear Wednesday exactly what was behind the late-night security sweep at Schiphol, after the Dutch bomb squad found nothing suspicious in the arrested man's luggage.

Tensions have been high since last month's attacks in Belgium, which like the Paris attacks in which 130 people died, were claimed by the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group.

- Europe's jitters -

There have been concerns that the Netherlands could be targeted in a terror attack, due to its proximity to both Belgium and France, and its role in the US-led bombing campaign against IS in Iraq and Syria.

Schiphol is Europe's fourth-largest airport, and welcomes some 55 million passengers through its gates every year.

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No flights or train traffic were disrupted during Tuesday's operation, which saw balaclava-clad and sub-machine gun-toting officers cordoning off a square at the entrance to the airport's shopping plaza, which leads to the arrivals and departures halls.

Hundreds of passengers, many of them on long-haul flights, waited for hours until the all-clear was given at around 1:30 am (2330 GMT) on Wednesday.

Earlier, another scare was triggered at nearby Leiden station but police later said it was a false alarm.

Dutch F-16 fighter jets have broadened the country's mission in the US-led air campaign against IS, bombing jihadist targets in Syria since February.

More than 200 Dutch nationals, including about 50 women, are also believed to have joined the ranks of IS in Iraq and Syria, according to Dutch intelligence services.

Last month, at the request of French authorities, Dutch police carried out raids on an apartment in Rotterdam, uncovering about 45 kilos (99 pounds) of ammunition.

French suspect Anis Bahri was arrested at the flat suspected of trying to take part in a foiled plot in France. He is now fighting his extradition to Paris.

Investigators have uncovered extensive links between the Paris and Brussels attacks, with many of the same people involved.

Adding to the jitters in The Netherlands, one of the suicide bombers in Brussels, Ibrahim El Bakraoui, was found to have been expelled from Turkey to the Netherlands last year, before he slipped back across the border to Belgium.
BEIRUT (Reuters) - An Australian mother and TV crew, who were in Beirut to film the woman's efforts to take her children back to Australia after a custody dispute with the Lebanese father, were charged with involvement in kidnapping by a Lebanese prosecutor on Tuesday. The mother and a four-member Channel Nine crew have been detained in Beirut since last Wednesday, judicial sources said, after authorities scuppered their attempt to take the woman's two children back to Australia. CCTV footage broadcast on Lebanese television appeared to show several people grabbing the children, who the father said were aged five and three, from their grandmother and bundling them into a car. The mother was subsequently arrested and the children were returned to their father. Channel Nine said its crew was not connected to the people who grabbed the children, Australian media reported. The files on the case have been transferred to a judge for further investigation. Lebanon, unlike Australia, is not a signatory of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, which allows for children normally resident in one location to be returned if taken by a relative. Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said on Saturday she could not "understate the seriousness with which the Lebanese authorities are viewing the case" and added that Canberra was handling it "very carefully". (Reporting By Angus McDowall, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
By Kirsti Knolle VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria will introduce tougher border controls at the Brenner Pass crossing with Italy from June 1 at the latest as part of a tough response to Europe's migration crisis, Defense Minister Hans Peter Doskozil said on Tuesday. With border restrictions now imposed along the Balkan route, Austria expects migrant arrivals to Italy by sea to nearly double this year to 300,000. Both countries have said they would keep traffic across the border "fluid" at busy times. Italy's coastguard said on Tuesday some 4,000 migrants had been rescued in the southern Mediterranean in the past two days. The Brenner Pass, which links Austria and Italy, is the most important Alpine crossing for heavy goods traffic. Asked if Vienna planned to build a fence at the border, Doskozil referred to a system "similar to the one in Spielfeld" at Austria's border with Slovenia, which consists of fences, lanes and tents. The exact date for the introduction of stricter controls at the European North-South crossing depends on the number of migrants and the progress of construction work of the new border control center, Doskozil said, adding such work had started. The European Commission expressed concern over the move. "If these plans were to materialize, then we would have to look at them very seriously. The Brenner Pass is essential for the freedom of movement within the European Union," Commission spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud told a briefing. The EU executive was not informed of the plans and learned about them from media reports, Bertaud added. ITALY IRKED Italy's foreign and interior ministers sent a joint letter to European Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos urging the Commission to "verify with extreme urgency" whether the move would violate Europe's Schengen agreement on open borders. Italy's European Affairs Minister Sandro Gozi said in a statement: "It is not by erecting improvised walls that we will resolve problems ... Vienna should reconsider this decision which runs counter both to the spirit and the letter of European rules (and) the friendship that links Italy and Austria." Austria's parliament is due to vote on a draft law for tougher asylum rules in the coming weeks. The highway across the Brenner Pass is the main thoroughfare through the Alps to get to Germany from Italy -- by way of Austria -- and Germany is Italy's top trading partner. About two million trucks cross it annually. A rail base tunnel has also been under discussion for years. For transportation companies, long lines to get over the Brenner Pass would cause higher costs and slower services, said Franco Santagata, a former executive at Deutsche Post AG's Italian unit and now a transport industry consultant in Italy. "If the border controls mean that it will take more time to get from Milan to Munich and back, then the transport company is going to have to raise its prices," he said. (Additional reporting by Crispian Balmer, Steve Scherer and Philip Pullella in Rome, Robin Emmott in Brussels, Writing by Shadia Nasralla, Editing by Gareth Jones)
By Kirsti Knolle VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria will introduce tougher border controls at the Brenner Pass crossing with Italy from June 1 at the latest as part of a tough response to Europe's migration crisis, Defence Minister Hans Peter Doskozil said on Tuesday. With border restrictions now imposed along the Balkan route, Austria expects migrant arrivals to Italy by sea to nearly double this year to 300,000. Both countries have said they would keep traffic across the border "fluid" at busy times. Italy's coastguard said on Tuesday some 4,000 migrants had been rescued in the southern Mediterranean in the past two days. The Brenner Pass, which links Austria and Italy, is the most important Alpine crossing for heavy goods traffic. Asked if Vienna planned to build a fence at the border, Doskozil referred to a system "similar to the one in Spielfeld" at Austria's border with Slovenia, which consists of fences, lanes and tents. The exact date for the introduction of stricter controls at the European North-South crossing depends on the number of migrants and the progress of construction work of the new border control centre, Doskozil said, adding such work had started. The European Commission expressed concern over the move. "If these plans were to materialise, then we would have to look at them very seriously. The Brenner Pass is essential for the freedom of movement within the European Union," Commission spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud told a briefing. The EU executive was not informed of the plans and learnt about them from media reports, Bertaud added. ITALY IRKED Italy's foreign and interior ministers sent a joint letter to European Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos urging the Commission to "verify with extreme urgency" whether the move would violate Europe's Schengen agreement on open borders. Italy's European Affairs Minister Sandro Gozi said in a statement: "It is not by erecting improvised walls that we will resolve problems ... Vienna should reconsider this decision which runs counter both to the spirit and the letter of European rules (and) the friendship that links Italy and Austria." Austria's parliament is due to vote on a draft law for tougher asylum rules in the coming weeks. The highway across the Brenner Pass is the main thoroughfare through the Alps to get to Germany from Italy -- by way of Austria -- and Germany is Italy's top trading partner. About two million trucks cross it annually. A rail base tunnel has also been under discussion for years. For transportation companies, long lines to get over the Brenner Pass would cause higher costs and slower services, said Franco Santagata, a former executive at Deutsche Post AG's Italian unit and now a transport industry consultant in Italy. "If the border controls mean that it will take more time to get from Milan to Munich and back, then the transport company is going to have to raise its prices," he said. (Additional reporting by Crispian Balmer, Steve Scherer and Philip Pullella in Rome, Robin Emmott in Brussels, Writing by Shadia Nasralla, Editing by Gareth Jones)
It's not always easy to appreciate all of the hard work that goes into building mobile applications. This is especially true when they involved synchronizing data to remote servers, and even more true when they involve synchronizing data to remote servers when that data is also being synchronized with other devices. That's one of the many reasons email is so difficult  beyond developing a novel and useful client, you also have to grapple with complex sync issues in order to put together a good solution.

Airmail for the iPhone is easily the best iOS email client the world has ever seen... but for me, it's also completely unusable.

MUST SEE: 5 best things about the new HTC 10

Bloop S.R.L.'s Airmail app is a tremendous accomplishment. The app is $4.99 in the App Store and in terms of design and utility, it's worth 10 times as much.

Airmail packs more features and options than any other iOS email client on the planet, and yet it's somehow wonderfully simple at the same time. If you're a power user, Airmail has anything and everything you could possibly need and more. But if you're an average user who doesn't want to mess with all the bells and whistles, they stay completely out of your way.

Bloop also makes an email client for Mac, and I use it exclusively. It has nearly all of the features I want and packs them into a gorgeous and simple interface. So you can imagine how happy I was when Airmail was first released for the iPhone. And now, as of Monday, the app also works on the iPad, connecting all of the dots in my digital world.

But for me, it's still completely unusable.

Microsoft's Outlook client for iOS is good, but not great. It's missing a few things I would love to see and some key features like snoozing aren't configurable or don't even always work. I also have issues with the calendar and had to stop using the app as a calendar because of a few missed appointments. But Microsoft has been doing email forever and it has email sync down cold.

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Here's why that's important: I don't get one or two emails each day. I don't get 10 or 20. I receive hundreds of emails each and every day.

When I'm on my phone, I deal with email on my phone. And when I'm using my computer... you guessed it... I deal with email on my computer. Because I switch back and forth constantly, I need everything I do on one device to sync instantly to other devices. And since the bulk of my emails come during the workday when I'm most often sitting at my desk, I deal with the majority of my email on my Mac.

Now, here's where advanced sync tech comes into play.

When I get a new email, a notification appears on my computer and on my phone. (The one on my phone is silent, of course, and I explained why long ago.) If I open it, respond to it, archive it or delete it on my computer, I obviously don't need to see the notification on my phone anymore right? Well, Microsoft knows that and Outlook syncs notifications not just when an email arrives, but also when an action takes place on another device. So when I read an email on my Mac in Airmail, Outlook dismisses the notification on my iPhone.

It might sound like a trivial feature but I assure you it's not. It's quite complex and for users like me, it's incredibly important.

Why is it so important? As I work on my Mac, I often go for long stretches of time without picking up my phone. During one such stretch, I might receive 50 or 75 new emails. When I finally pick up my phone, I don't want to see 75 new email notifications for 75 old emails I've already dealt with. I want to see notifications for events that actually might be important and informative, and might actually require my attention.

If I use Airmail (or most other iOS email clients), I don't see those notifications because they're buried under a mountain of email alerts I don't need. With Outlook, however, those old alerts are all gone, and I see only what I need to see. It's hugely important, and with Outlook it always works.

Airmail is a great app but if you want the best possible email experience, Airmail simply cannot provide it as-is.

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By Sarah McBride SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Billionaire Internet investor Yuri Milner announced another $100 million initiative on Tuesday to better understand the cosmos, this time by deploying thousands of tiny spacecraft to travel to our nearest neighboring star system and send back pictures. If successful, scientists could determine if Alpha Centauri, a star system about 25 trillion miles away, contains an Earth-like planet capable of sustaining life. The catch: It could take years to develop the project, dubbed Breakthrough Starshot, and there is no guarantee it will work. Tuesdays announcement, made with cosmologist Stephen Hawking, comes less than a year after the announcement of Breakthrough Listen. That decade-long, $100 million project, also backed by Milner, monitors radio signals for signs of intelligent life across the universe. Breakthrough Starshot involves deploying small light-propelled vehicles to carry equipment like cameras and communication equipment. Scientists hope the vehicles, known as nanocraft, will eventually fly at 20 percent of the speed of light, more than a thousand times faster than todays spacecraft. The thing would look like the chip from your cell phone with this very thin gauzy light sail, said Pete Worden, the former director of NASAs Ames Research Center, who is leading the project. It would be something like 10, 12 feet across. He envisions sending a larger conventional spacecraft containing thousands of nanocraft into orbit, and then launching the nanocraft one by one, he said in an interview. The idea has precedents with mixed results. Two years ago, Cornell University's KickSat fizzled after the craft carrrying 104 micro-satellites into space failed to release them. The plan was to let the tiny satellites orbit and collect data for a few weeks. Worden acknowledges challenges, including the nanocraft surviving impact on launch. They would then endure 20 years of travel through the punishing environment of interstellar space, with obstacles such as dust collisions. The problems remaining to be solved - any one of them are showstoppers, Worden said. Governments likely would not take on the research due to its speculative nature, he said, yet the technology is promising enough to merit pursuing. If the nanocraft reach the star system and succeed in taking photographs, it would take about another four years to transmit them back to Earth. A onetime physics PhD student in Moscow who dropped out to move to the United States in 1990, Milner is one of a handful of technology tycoons devoting time and money to space exploration. He is known for savvy investments, including in social network Facebook Inc and Chinese smartphone company Xiaomi. (Reporting by Sarah McBride; Editing by Tom Brown)
BEIRUT (Reuters) - A bomb in the southern Lebanon city of Sidon killed an official from the Palestinian Fatah movement on Tuesday, an official from the group said. The man was identified as Fathi Zaydan, a Fatah official responsible for the Palestinian camp of Mieh Mieh in Sidon. A photograph of the blast site near a Palestinian refugee camp showed a man's body lying next to a burning vehicle. The official said he was killed by a bomb placed under his vehicle. Mieh Mieh camp, 4 km east of Sidon, is home to 5,250 Palestinian refugees, according to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which aids Palestinian refugees across the region. The nearby Palestinian camp of Ain al-Hilweh has regularly been the scene of violent disputes between rival factions. One man was killed and others injured earlier this month when one such dispute escalated into gunbattles. (Reporting by Laila Bassam and Angus McDowall; Editing by Alison Williams)
A version of this story first appeared in the April 22 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.

It's been a quarter-century since a trio of mute, alienlike creatures with cobalt-colored domes landed in Greenwich Village to the amplified sound of Cap'n Crunch munching. Spattering paint in giant drums, gorging on Twinkies and transforming PVC pipes into musical instruments, the bemused blue men from another planet tried to make sense of our strange world, creating a ritualistic bacchanal complete with streaming rolls of paper and a barrage of beach balls.

During the intervening years, Blue Man Group has evolved from a postmodern New York performance art piece into a downtown institution celebrated for its primal musicmaking, art and technology pranks and other messy, manic mayhem. Today, it's a worldwide juggernaut, with permanent editions running in six cities as well as North American and international tours, including one recently launched in Singapore. Since 1991, the Blue Man Group show has toured 15 countries and reached 35 million fans. The show that pioneered the way for other senses-shaking ensembles such as Stomp, Fuerza Bruta and De La Guarda also has released three full-length studio albums - including their Grammy-nominated debut, Audio - and a new one, Three, available April 22. The trio also has spawned a rock tour, a museum exhibit on the art and science of sound and a luxe coffee-table book, Blue Man World, set to be published in October.

Co-founders Chris Wink, Phil Stanton and Matt Goldman have much to reflect on, but Wink admits he feels "a little ambivalent" about the silver anniversary. Such a milestone, he says, implies longevity but also stasis. While such long-running behemoths as The Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables tout instant familiarity to audiences, Blue Man Group's founders trace the show's enduring appeal to its constantly transforming nature.

"This isn't 'Cats: 25 Years Later,' " says Wink. "[Cats] will never change - they even brag, 'Now and forever,' in their tagline. We're the opposite: We're always moving and evolving." He's perched alongside Stanton in one of Blue Man Group's rehearsal studios on the Lower East Side. (Goldman has stepped aside from day-to-day operations to oversee a Blue Man-inspired creative-learning charter school in Manhattan, aptly named Blue School.) Blue Man Group boasts several staple bits - marshmallow tossing, spraying mouthfuls of paint onto spinning canvases, all still done wordlessly - but many of the pop-culture references and technological tricks are refreshed continually. For example, the new material includes a sketch with giant "GiPads" descending from the rafters - a riff on the ways our handheld devices have become an extension of ourselves.

So that's what they really look like (from left): Stanton, Wink and Goldman sans makeup.

"There's core material to the show that's timeless: the primal, ritualistic stuff with the paint and the drums, the big, crazy paper streams at the end," says Wink, who along with his co-creators only occasionally "gets blue" these days. "Those are actually the parts that become more relevant, that contrast with the modern world. But the aspects that reference pop culture and technology, those need to change a lot." An early punchline referencing Volkswagen's "Fahrvergnugen" ad campaign quickly became outdated and was discarded. Skits about virtual reality during the '90s and a sing-along to Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" were tossed. A Lady Gaga-inspired costume-change sequence was inserted for about a year before being deemed passe. "We noticed that the shelf life of a pop-culture joke is getting shorter and shorter," says Stanton.

Where the show once trafficked in satirizing art-world pretensions (a parody of Andrew Wyeth's magical realism painting Christina's World remains), it also has shown affection for artists from which it has cribbed - its LED signs are inspired by the work of Jenny Holzer. Some of the more esoteric references to abstract expressionism, Jasper Johns and Andy Warhol have fallen by the wayside, replaced by sketches that critique technology's ever-increasing intrusion into our lives. Meanwhile, Blue Man Group shows at the Las Vegas, Berlin and Orlando outposts are customized with exclusive content. "We never want to dumb down the show," says Wink. "But we've made sure we're creating content that multiple diverse cultures can connect with. That's why we've leaned more toward the technology elements - everyone's got a smartphone now."

The group has created many unique instruments for its show.

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The show also has seeped deep into popular culture. David Cross' self-absorbed character on Arrested Development, Tobias, had a long-running obsession with the troupe, at one point mistakenly showing up covered in cobalt-blue paint at a support group for depressed "blue men." He vows to become a Blue Man understudy and auditions for the group - which made several cameo appearances on the series.

The birth of Blue Man Group can be traced to its creators staging impromptu guerrilla performance-art pieces throughout New York City during the late '80s. They would set up a rectangle of velvet ropes on the sidewalk outside a nightclub and call it Club Nowhere, inviting onlookers to join them in a raucous street-dance party. Soon the pranksters began developing a show titled Tubes at such downtown institutions as P.S. 122 and La MaMa before moving in fall 1991 to the 299-seat Astor Place Theatre, where they have been ensconced since. Audiences went gaga over the show, while critics deemed it everything from "a deliriously antic blend of music, painting and clowning" to "a performance-art pigout." Wink remembers Bruce Willis and Demi Moore taking the performers and their crew to dinner after a show they attended.

Originally, Blue Man Group had a three-year deal with their producers that was set to expire in 1994. The producers wanted to extend and make a new deal, but Wink, Stanton and Goldman wrested back majority control and offered the producers a cut of future revenue. They even were approached by other producers about moving the show to Broadway; the founders declined the offer, fearing such a large expansion would close after a year or two and cannibalize future prospects. "I think that's an important decision we made: to go for long-range sustainability," says Wink. "The aesthetic and the spirit of the show have been at the heart of our decisions many times, and it's ended up being good business."

Blue Man Group returned regularly to Leno's 'The Tonight Show' after a first appearance in 1992.

Instead, Blue Man Group had a slow, steady build, with subsequent productions opening in Boston (1995) and Chicago (1997). Early appearances on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno helped juice brand awareness, including a bit in which the performers turned Robin Williams into a human paintbrush. But it was a series of Intel commercials during the early 2000s that amplified word of mouth. "People really got to know Blue Man, not just here but in other parts of the world," says Stanton. "Those ads played everywhere."

The trio also convinced Intel to agree to a crucial element: branding Blue Man Group with text in the corner of every ad. "If it hadn't said that, people would have thought Intel created the characters," maintains Stanton. "Instead, the world got to know Blue Man Group." The commercials also helped bolster their move to Vegas, where the show is performed in a much larger 850-seat custom-built venue. Since opening in March 2000 - first at Luxor before moving to the Venetian and Monte Carlo hotels and returning to Luxor - it has become a Strip staple. "It was a big jump - I'm not sure we were ready for it," says Wink. "We were a headliner in this big room, and for a while there weren't full houses. It was complete kismet that Intel approached us at around that time. If we hadn't done those ads, I don't know how successful we would have been there."

The Vegas production became an economic engine that boosted the company's bottom line and allowed the founders to expand the creative team in New York, which oversees the growing empire and ensures the various iterations constantly are being refreshed.

"I can look back and think of several moments when the whole trajectory could have come to a stop if just a few things had gone differently," says Wink. "There's nothing about this journey that feels like it was a sure thing, from the very beginning and all along the way. So we're grateful. But we also know that we have to keep earning our relevance."

***

4 MILESTONES FOR A CREATIVE TRIO: HOW BLUE MAN GROUP WAS BUILT TO LAST

Off-Broadway 1991 debut

Three years after opening at the Astor Place Theatre, the founders wrested control back from the original producers. Says Wink, "We had to play hardball to make that happen."

The Tonight Show in 1992

Blue Man Group appeared during one of Jay Leno's first weeks as host. Without that opportunity, says Wink, "I don't know how long we would have stayed open in New York." play hardball to make that happen."

Going commercial in 2000s

The founders agreed to collaborate with Intel on a series of TV spots, which "allowed people to get to know the characters and helped spread the word about the show," says Stanton.

Vegas, baby

Penn & Teller were instrumental in bringing Blue Man Group to Las Vegas in 2000. The venerated Sin City duo, says Wink, "invited us out there and showed us the ropes."
Washington (AFP) - The United States should not see the aid money it spends abroad as charity but as a vital national security tool, Irish rock star Bono told US lawmakers Tuesday.

Addressing a Senate sub-committee that oversees funding for campaigns against violent extremism, Bono said he had recently met with refugees in Africa and the Middle East.

"The fact is that aid can no longer be seen as charity, as a nice thing to do when we can afford it," said Bono, U2 frontman and founder of the anti-poverty campaign One.

"If there's one thing I would like you to take away from this testimony, it is that aid in 2016 is not charity. It is national security," he told lawmakers.

"And when it's structured properly with a hard focus on fighting corruption and improving governance to qualify for that aid, it could be the best bulwark we have against violent extremism gaining traction."

Bono -- who visited Kenya, Jordan, Turkey and Egypt as part of a US congressional delegation led by Senator Lindsey Graham -- warned that refugee crises like the one triggered by fighting in Syria typically last for 25 years.

And he said that without a coordinated global response, the Middle East, Africa and now increasingly Europe would face the type of chaos that allows extremist groups to find willing recruits among desperate young people.

"Of the top ten countries that are hosting refugees today, five of them are African. In Europe, the problem has moved from practical to existential," he said.

"Let me soberly suggest to you that the integration of Europe, the very idea of European unity, is at risk here," he said, echoing the private view of many US foreign policy officials.

"Europe is America's most important ally since the Second World War. Are we not your most important ally in the fight against violent extremism?

"This should really matter to you. I know it does. Put simply, as we Europeans have learned, if the Middle East catches fire, the flames jump any border controls. And if Africa fails, Europe cannot succeed."

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The United States is leading a coalition of western and Arab allies to fight the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.

And, with Russia, Washington has spearheaded an international diplomatic effort to end the broader civil war in Syria through a negotiated political settlement.

But President Barack Obama's administration has faced criticism for its late and slow response to the Syria refugee crisis.
London (AFP) - Nick Blackwell said he was in the "toughest fight of his life" after waking from an induced coma following his British middleweight title defeat by Chris Eubank Jr.

Blackwell, 25, collapsed shortly after his tenth-round stoppage loss to Eubank Jr at London's Wembley Arena on March 26.

He was then taken to London's St Mary's Hospital with a bleed on the skull before doctors placed him in an induced coma.

Tuesday saw Blackwell make his first public comment since the bout as he posted a message thanking well-wishers for their support on his brother Daniel's Facebook account.

"Just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who has been there for me, all my friends and family, those who wished me well and those who raised money for me," Blackwell said.

"I feel truly blessed and have massive love for you all. I couldn't have done it without you.

"It's been the toughest fight of my life and you all have made it that bit easier.

"On to rehab now, progress is getting better by the day. Big love to you all, Nick."

During the fight Chris Eubank senior, the father of the new champion, could be heard telling his son to stop hitting Blackwell's head.

His ringside instructions were especially poignant as, 25 years ago, Eubank senior stopped Michael Watson in a world title fight that left his beaten opponent with irreparable brain damage and partially paralysed.
By Maria Carolina Marcello and Lisandra Paraguassu BRASILIA (Reuters) - A committee of Brazil's lower house of Congress voted 38-27 on Monday to recommend the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff, who faces charges of breaking budget laws to support her re-election in 2014. A vote in the full lower house is expected to take place on Sunday. If two-thirds vote in favor, the impeachment will be sent to the Senate. If the upper house decides by a simple majority to put Rousseff on trial, she will immediately be suspended for up to six months while the Senate decides her fate, and Vice President Michel Temer will take office as acting president. It would be the first impeachment of a Brazilian president since 1992 when Fernando Collor de Mello faced massive protests for his ouster on corruption charges and resigned moments before his conviction by the Senate. A former leftist guerrilla, Rousseff has denied any wrongdoing and rallied the rank and file of her Workers' Party to oppose what she has called a coup against a democratically elected president. Speaking to thousands of supporters in Rio de Janeiro, Rousseff's predecessor and Workers' Party founder Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Brazilian business elites were pressuring lawmakers to remove the president. Lula, who is under investigation in a graft probe, said he had convinced Rousseff to return to policies that favored Brazil's poor. Caught in a political storm fueled by Brazil's worst recession in decades and the country's biggest corruption scandal, Rousseff has lost key coalition allies in Congress, including her main partner, vice president Temer's PMDB party. The rift between Rousseff and her vice president reached breaking point on Monday after an audio message of Temer calling for a government of national unity was released apparently by mistake, further muddying Brazil's political water. Temer's 14-minute audio message sent to members of his own PMDB party via the WhatsApp messaging app showed he was preparing to take over if Rousseff is forced from office. The audio was posted on the website of the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper and confirmed to Reuters by Temer's aides as authentic. Aides said it was accidentally released and they quickly sent another message asking legislators to disregard it. In his message, Temer said he did not want to get ahead of events, but he had to show the country he was ready to lead it if needed. "We need a government of national salvation and national unity," Temer said in the audio. "We need to unite all the political parties, and all the parties should be ready to collaborate to drag Brazil out of this crisis." Rousseff's chief of staff Jaques Wagner called the vice president a "conspirator" and said he should resign if Rousseff survives impeachment. "Having joined the conspiracy, he should resign when it is defeated, because the climate will become unbearable," Wagner told reporters. Wagner said the government will continue working to muster enough votes to block impeachment in the lower house, encouraged by the fact that in committee the opposition had not won the two thirds it will need in the plenary. The committee vote, however, is expected to sway undecided lawmakers to vote for Rousseff's removal, said Claudio Couto, a politics professor at the Fundacao Getulio Vargas think tank. "It has a snowball effect. With each approval, the chances of impeachment clearing the next chamber increases," Couto said. "The wider the margin, the more momentum impeachment will gather." The Brasilia-based consultancy Arko Advice said committee votes for impeachment were higher than expected and it raised to 65 percent the odds of Rousseff being unseated by Congress. POLARIZED COUNTRY The latest moves in Brazil's political crisis have the country on edge as it faces not only a government meltdown but its worst recession in decades. The political chaos in the capital, Brasilia, is playing out less than 100 days before the nation plays host to the first Olympic Games to be held in South America - an event that will cast the world's eyes on Brazil. The battle over Rousseff's impeachment has polarized the nation of 200 million people and brought the government of Latin America's largest economy to a virtual standstill. The proposed impeachment is also taking place as Brazil faces its largest corruption investigation, targeting a sprawling kickback scheme at state-run oil company Petrobras. Prosecutors say billions in bribes were paid over several years and have implicated not only members of Rousseff's Workers' Party but members of the opposition leading the charge to impeach her. Eduardo Cunha, the speaker of Brazil's lower house, a Rousseff enemy who is guiding the impeachment proceedings, faces charges of accepting millions in bribes in connection to the Petrobras case, while the head of Brazil's Senate is also caught up in the investigation. To battle to prevent impeachment approval in the full lower house vote, Rousseff's government is trying to win over lawmakers by offering government jobs that became vacant when the PMDB quit her governing coalition two weeks ago. The Brazilian real strengthened nearly 3 percent before Monday's vote to an eight-month peak on expectations that the committee would decide to impeach Rousseff. Investors are betting that her removal will issue in more business-friendly policies to pull Brazil's economy out of a tailspin. (Additional reporting by Brad Brooks in Brasilia and Pilar Olivares in Rio de Janeiro; Writing by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Alistair Bell, Peter Cooney and Michael Perry)
BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian police arrested former senator Gim Argello on Tuesday, federal prosecutors said, as part of a two-year corruption investigation that has given momentum to impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff.

The probe centered on state-run oil producer Petroleo Brasileiro SA <PETR4.SA><PBR.N> has uncovered systemic corruption at multiple companies and at the highest levels of government since the Workers' Party took power in 2003. Rousseff herself is not being investigated.

The 28th round of police raids in the so-called "Operation Car Wash" probe was based on evidence that Argello, from the centrist PTB party, took bribes to ensure executives at major infrastructure companies would not be summoned by an investigative congressional committee in 2014, prosecutors said.

"These are alarming facts because they strongly suggest that a congressional investigative committee, which has an important role in our democracy, was used by a senator for corruption instead of fighting it," prosecutor Athayde Ribeiro Costa said in the statement.

Prosecutors said construction firms UTC Engenharia SA and OAS SA [OAEP.UL] paid Argello 5 million ($1.44 million) and 350,000 reais ($100,519), respectively. Executives at those firms were arrested at earlier stages of the probe.

Other builders are being investigated, according to the statement.

In an emailed response, an OAS spokeswoman said the company was providing all information requested by police and will continue to collaborate as needed. OAS requested bankruptcy protection last year.

A UTC representative said the company would not comment on ongoing investigations.

Tuesday's police raids took place in the states of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro and in the federal district. Potential crimes under investigation include corruption, money laundering and criminal association.

Dozens of executives from Brazil's top construction and engineering firms have been charged with bribery and money laundering, and about 50 politicians are being investigated for receiving kickbacks off contracts with Petrobras.

Story continues

The lower house of Brazil's Congress is expected to hold a key vote on Rousseff's impeachment on Sunday. If two-thirds of members vote in favor, the case will be sent to the Senate.

Caught in a political storm fueled in part by Brazil's worst recession in decades, Rousseff has lost key coalition allies in Congress. A lower house committee on Monday voted 38-27 to recommend her impeachment.

It would be the first impeachment of a Brazilian president since 1992 when Fernando Collor de Mello faced massive protests seeking his ouster on corruption charges.

($1 = 3.4819 reais)

(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu; Writing by Silvio Cascione; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian Finance Minister Nelson Barbosa has canceled a trip to attend the International Monetary Fund's spring meetings in Washington D.C. ahead of Congress' planned vote to impeach President Dilma Rousseff, two officials told Reuters on Tuesday. The finance ministry's media office confirmed that Barbosa will not attend the meetings, but declined to provide a reason for the decision. Barbosa will stay in Brazil for the vote that is expected on Sunday, and also plans to announce a fiscal savings target for next year on Friday, said one of the sources, who requested anonymity because the decision is private. (Reporting by Alonso Soto; Editing by Diane Craft)
Brasilia (AFP) - The impeachment battle against Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has been waged in the streets, in Congress and in the courts.

These key dates track an often complex process that moved forward Monday with a vote in the lower house committee, to be followed by a decisive vote in the full lower house in about a week.

December 2, 2015

Controversial lower house Speaker Eduardo Cunha formally opens the impeachment saga by accepting a petition from a group of lawyers.

They accuse Rousseff of having illegally juggled government accounts and taking loans in order to mask the depth of government shortfalls during her 2014 re-election.

Meanwhile, many politicians, including Cunha, are snared in criminal corruption probes linked to a vast embezzlement scheme at state oil company Petrobras.

March 16, 2016

The Supreme Court resolves technical issues that had been holding up impeachment proceedings and the battle gets under way.

March 17

The lower house of parliament forms a cross-party committee of 65 members to recommend whether impeachment should go ahead.

April 4

Against a backdrop of regular pro- and anti-Rousseff street protests, Brazil's solicitor general, Jose Eduardo Cardozo, makes final arguments before the committee in the president's defense.

He tells deputies that the charges do not amount to impeachable offenses and that the process is fueled by Cunha's "desire for revenge."

April 11

After a day of bad-tempered debates, often reduced to shouting, the committee votes to recommend impeachment. Although non-binding, the vote sets the stage for the vote that really matters in a week's time in the full lower house of Congress.

April 17 or 18

The house vote is expected for either April 17 or 18.

A two-thirds majority will be required there to send the case to the Senate. Anything less and the matter will be dropped.

If passed, then the Senate will hold an initial vote where a simple majority would launch the impeachment trial. Another two-thirds vote would be required for Rousseff to be removed from office.

In the meantime, she would have to step aside for up to 180 days while the trial was underway and Vice President Michel Temer would take over.
Brasilia (AFP) - Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff took off the gloves Tuesday, branding her vice president a traitor and coup-plotter ahead of an impeachment vote scheduled in Congress for this Sunday.

In a blistering speech, Rousseff said: "If there were any doubts about my denunciation that a coup is underway, there can't be now."

Referring to the leak Monday of an audio recording in which her vice president, Michel Temer, practices the speech he would make if Rousseff is impeached, the president said: "The conspirators' mask has slipped."

"We are living in strange and worrying times, times of a coup and pretending and treachery," she said in the capital Brasilia. "Yesterday they used the pretense of a leak to give the order for the conspiracy."

"Yesterday it became clear that there are two leaders of the coup who work together in a premeditated way," she said, without naming names, although the context clearly referred to Temer and the speaker of the lower house, Eduardo Cunha.

Rousseff is in the final stretch of a bruising attempt to save her presidency from impeachment on charges that she illegally manipulated government accounts to mask the effects of recession during her 2014 re-election.

After a congressional committee voted to recommend Rousseff's ouster in chaotic and bad-tempered scenes late Monday, the stage was set for a showdown in the full lower house this weekend.

Deputies were due to start debating Friday, with a decisive vote on Sunday, officials said.

"Voting will begin on Sunday at 2:00 pm (1700 GMT) and we calculate that the result will be late that evening," a spokesman for the speaker's office told AFP.

If the house reaches a two-thirds majority, or 342 deputies, Rousseff's case is sent to the Senate. Anything less, and Rousseff will walk away with her job.

The latest survey of the 513 deputies in the lower house by Estadao daily on Tuesday showed 300 favoring impeachment and 125 opposed. That left the result in the hands of the 88 deputies still undecided or not stating a position.

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- Corruption scandals -

Rousseff is hugely unpopular as Brazil sinks into its worst recession in decades. The political system has also been paralyzed by a huge corruption scandal at state oil company Petrobras.

In the latest arrest in the probe, dubbed Operation Car Wash, a former senator who helped lead an anti-corruption committee was charged Tuesday with taking more than $1.5 million in bribes to help corrupt companies avoid scrutiny.

Rousseff and allies, led by ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, have fought back hard in the last few days, describing the impeachment drive as a thinly veiled coup plot.

"I would never have thought that my generation would see putschists trying to overthrow a democratically elected president," Lula, who ruled from 2003 to 2011, told thousands of supporters Monday in Rio de Janeiro.

He singled out Temer, who will take over if Rousseff is ousted, and Cunha, who has been charged with stashing millions of dollars in bribes in Swiss accounts.

However, Lula himself is charged with money laundering in a Car Wash-related case, and supporters of impeachment say that Rousseff's allegedly illegal manipulation of government accounts fits a pattern of incompetence and corruption.

- Impeachment procedure -

If the lower house does approve Rousseff's impeachment, the case goes to the Senate.

The Senate must then confirm it will take the case at which point Rousseff would step down for up to 180 days while a trial was held. Temer, who recently left the ruling coalition to enter the opposition, would take over.

To depose Rousseff, the Senate would need to vote by a two-thirds majority, with Temer remaining president.

After winning Monday's skirmish in the committee, opponents of Rousseff declared they were on a roll.

"It was a victory for the Brazilian people," said opposition deputy Jovair Arantes, predicting that the result would carry with "strong" pro-impeachment momentum into the full chamber's vote.

But pro-government deputy Silvio Costa said he was also confident.

"The opposition is very arrogant" after Monday's committee victory, he said.

There were worries that passions will spill over as the lower house vote approaches. Large crowds of both Rousseff supporters and opponents were expected in the capital Brasilia and will be separated by a metal barrier.

More than 4,000 police and firefighters will be on duty, G1 news site reported, and security has been stepped up at Congress, with heavy restrictions on access to the building.
SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgarian police on Tuesday arrested a Bulgarian man who had documented tying up three migrants near the Turkish border in a video posted on social media. The prosecutor's office said it had opened an investigation into the case after the video went viral and drew criticism from human rights groups. The video showed two men lying on the ground with their hands already tied behind their backs. A third man lay flat on his stomach as he was being restrained with long plastic cable ties, while an unidentified voice shouted in English: "Go back. Back Turkey. Now. No Bulgaria, go Turkey immediately". A statement from the interior ministry said the incident had taken place in woods near the village of Zvezdets, some 5 km (3 miles) from the border with Turkey. Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boiko Borisov initially praised the "boys" by declaring that protecting the country's borders was a joint effort. However, following a backlash from human rights groups and local media who accused the prime minister of endorsing the actions of vigilante groups, Borisov made a U-turn. "Society should not be indifferent ... but rights shouldn't be exceeded. Any illegal or inhumane attitude will not only not be tolerated but will also be prosecuted under the law," Borisov wrote in a Facebook post. A number of vigilante groups have emerged in Bulgaria in recent months in response to Europe's migrant crisis. They include one set up by a Bulgarian trader in spare parts near the Turkish border which has won praise from some Bulgarians and raised serious concerns among others. Last week a Sova Harris poll showed that 60 percent of Bulgarians think that refugees threaten national security. The Black Sea state has stepped up security on its borders with Turkey and Greece to avoid a possible refugee influx. Bulgarian border police say they have detained some 10,000 migrants from Syria and Afghanistan in the first three months of this year. Most migrants entering Bulgaria and other Balkan countries from Turkey or Greece aim to reach wealthier western Europe hoping to find jobs and better living conditions. (Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova and Angel Krasimirov, Editing by Pritha Sarkar)
By Dan Whitcomb LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California lawmakers on Tuesday took a major step toward outlawing the use of so-called "ransomware" to hijack computers for money, passing a bill through its first committee with the support of law enforcement. The legislation, which would call for hackers using ransomware to be prosecuted under a statute similar to extortion but geared specifically to cyber crime, easily cleared the state senate's public safety committee. Senate Bill 1137 moves next to that body's appropriations committee. It must be approved by both houses of the California legislature and be signed by Governor Jerry Brown to become law. A spokesman for the measure's author, state Senator Bob Hertzberg, said the measure, which was co-sponsored by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, had been met with little opposition so far. "We don't anticipate any problems with the bill, it seems to be getting very strong support," said Andrew LaMar, communications director for Hertzberg, a Democrat. Authorities say ransomware attacks, in which hackers use malicious software to lock up data in computers and leave messages demanding payment have surged this year. More than $209 million in ransomware payments were made in the United States alone during the first three months of 2016, according to FBI statistics cited by Hertzberg's office. In March, Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital in Los Angeles paid a ransom of $17,000 to regain access to its systems. Los Angeles prosecutors, in a letter to the state senate's public safety committee, said that the bill was needed because current extortion laws are not well tailored toward prosecuting ransomware attacks. While such attacks have been around longer than a decade, security experts say they have become far more threatening and prevalent in recent years because of state-of-the-art encryption, modules that infect backup systems, and the ability to infect large numbers of computers over a single network. Run-of-the-mill ransomware attacks typically seek 1 bitcoin, now worth about $420, which is about the same as the hourly rate that some security consultants charge to respond to such incidents, according to security firms who investigate ransomware cases. (Reporting by Dan Whitcomb,; additional reporting Jim Finkle in Boston; edting by Andrew Hay)
An outspoken Cambodian opposition lawmaker faces up to five years in prison after he was charged Tuesday with inciting revolt by criticising government border maps, as premier Hun Sen threatened to "handcuff" anyone who raises the issue.

Um Sam An, a dual Cambodian-US national, was arrested late Sunday in Siem Reap province after returning from overseas.

He was a prominent campaigner against Hun Sen's government for using contested maps as a guideline to demarcate the border with Vietnam, accusing it of conceding land to the neighbouring country.

Prosecutors at a Phnom Penh court ordered his detention pending trial.

Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak told AFP the lawmaker used the border issue to incite people to revolt against the government.

"He also incited racism between Cambodia and Vietnam. We cannot accept this," he added.

Under Cambodia's criminal code he faces up to five years in jail if convicted.

Strongman Hun Sen on Tuesday warned of further arrests.

"Anybody who dares to say the government is using fake maps must be handcuffed," Hun Sen said in a speech broadcast on a state-run radio.

Hun Sen also asked parliament, which is dominated by lawmakers from his ruling party, to vote to allow the court to continue proceedings against Um Sam An -- who as a lawmaker is meant to be exempt from prosecution.

Parliament will discuss the case later Tuesday.

Anti-Vietnamese sentiment is strong in parts of Cambodia and is often used by the opposition as a touchstone issue.

Sam Sokong, a lawyer for Um Sam An, confirmed the charges with AFP through a text message.

"His expression did not damage society," he added.

Cambodia's opposition party has long been critical of Phnom Penh's cosy ties with Hanoi and routinely accuses Vietnam of taking Cambodian territory along the 1,270-kilometre (787-mile) border, which is not fully demarcated.

The Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) denounced the arrest of Um Sam An as a "serious violation of the principle of parliamentary immunity".

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An opposition senator was also arrested last year after Hun Sen accused him of committing treason by posting a "doctored" version of an old treaty about the Vietnamese border on Facebook.

He is still in detention as his trial has been delayed.

Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia for more than three decades, is highly sensitive to criticism that he is too soft on Vietnam over the disputed areas of the shared border.
Ottawa (AFP) - Canadian government officials said Monday they were sending an emergency psychiatric team to an isolated aboriginal community to deal with a rash of suicide attempts after 11 residents tried to kill themselves this month.

The team was expected to arrive in Attawapiskat, a community of 2,000 on the shores of James Bay in northern Ontario province, in the coming days.

Health Minister Jane Philpott said Ottawa was working on an emergency response to address the community's immediate needs and ensure that mental health resources were in place.

Attawapiskat chief Bruce Shisheesh was quoted by Canada's public broadcaster as saying there had been about 100 suicide attempts in the town in the last six months, by people aged as young as 11 and as old as 71.

The rate of suicide attempts accelerated at the start of April, he said, with eleven recorded during the first nine days of the month.

Gross poverty and desperation are rampant in many aboriginal communities, breeding abuse, suicide and crime.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett called for "a long-term strategy" to provide better education, housing and resources to bolster native culture and to "give children hope."

"These investments to secure personal cultural identity is how these kids feel proud of themselves and where they're going," she said.

Last month, five teenagers and a young mother killed themselves on the Pimicikamak reservation about 500 kilometers (310 miles) north of Winnipeg.

And the Inuit community of Kuujjuaq in northern Quebec is still mourning the deaths of five people aged 15 to 20 from mid-December to mid-March.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government has vowed to try to reverse the trend by funneling Can$8.4 billion in last month's budget into education, housing and other needs in indigenous communities over five years.
Just weeks after its famous film festival, Cannes will roll out the red carpet again for stars like Gwyneth Paltrow, Oliver Stone, Spike Jonze, Channing Tatum and Mindy Kaling. All are set to attend the Lions Festival of Creativity in June.

Once an advertising festival, the weeklong event has expanded to bring together thought leaders from around the world to debate a variety of topics centered around the concept of creativity.

Stone will discuss his views on filmmaking and politics, while Paltrow will be interviewed by BBC host Stephen Sackur.

Miss Representation director Jennifer Siebel Newsom will discuss the changing definition of masculinity.

Chef and Parts Unknown host Anthony Bourdain will talk about how to shape emotional and engaging storytelling for the small screen, and Jonze will discuss how to engage young audiences in his role as co-president of Vice's Viceland channel.

Read More: 5 Takeaways From the Cannes Lions

Kaling and Tatum are set to discuss the acting world, and WWE star John Cena also is on the bill.

Golden Eye and Casino Royale director Martin Campbell will discuss working on franchise films and product placement and 10 Cloverfield Lane director Dan Trachtenberg will join.

Good Morning America co-host Robin Roberts will talk about how to build trust with an audience.

Pixar story supervisor Matthew Luhn will discuss technology changing film.

Illusionist David Copperfield will talk about the battle between brand messaging and staying authentic.

Read More: Cannes Lions: Kim Kardashian Talks Social Media Obsession, Curation

"When we put together our content programme we look to give people inspirational learning that you can't find anywhere else. Importantly, we keep creativity at the heart, designing it to cross all touchpoints of creativity while offering insights into some of the most creative minds in the world," said Lions CEO Philip Thomas.

Cannes Lions will run June 18-25 in Cannes, France.
A painting discovered in the attic of a house in France is an "authentic" painting by the Italian Renaissance master Caravaggio, which could be worth up to 120 million euros, experts said Tuesday.

The owners of the house near the southwestern city of Toulouse discovered the 400-year-old painting when they went to fix a leak in the ceiling.

The large canvass of the beheading of the general Holofernes by Judith from the apocryphal Book of Judith is in remarkably good condition, and was painted between 1600 and 1610, specialists believe.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, expert Eric Turquin said it could be worth as much as 120 million euros ($137 million), describing the painting as having "the light, the energy typical of Caravaggio, without mistakes, done with a sure hand and a pictorial style that makes it authentic".

While other specialists have questioned its provenance, Turquin got the backing of a top Caravaggio specialist, Nicola Spinoza, former director of the Naples museum.

In an expert assessment seen by AFP, Spinoza wrote: "One has to recognise the canvass in question as a true original of the Lombard master, almost certainly identifiable, even if we do not have any tangible or irrefutable proof."

The French culture minister slapped an export ban on the work after experts from the Louvre museum in Paris spent three weeks studying it.

In a statement, the ministry said the painting should stay on French soil "as a very important Caravaggian marker, whose history and attribution are still to be fully investigated".

Turquin said "some serious" art historians "had attributed the work to the (Louis) Finson", a Flemish painter and disciple of Caravaggio who died in 1617.

But the French art newspaper Le Quotidien de l'Art quoted another expert on the artist, Mina Gregori, as saying that it was "not an original" although she recognised the "undeniable quality of the work".

The painting, which measures 144 cm by 175 cm (57 inches by 69 inches) was found in April 2014 in the rafters of the house.
Paris (AFP) - A painting discovered in the attic of a house in France is an "authentic" work by Italian Renaissance master Caravaggio that could be worth up to 120 million euros, two experts said Tuesday.

But others still have doubts over the spectacular canvas.

The owners of the house near the southwestern city of Toulouse discovered the dramatic 400-year-old painting when investigating a leak in the ceiling in 2014.

It depicts the beheading of General Holofernes by Judith from the biblical Book of Judith. It is in remarkably good condition, and was painted between 1600 and 1610, specialists believe.

Expert Eric Turquin said it could be worth as much as 120 million euros ($137 million), describing the painting as having "the light, the energy typical of Caravaggio, without mistakes, done with a sure hand and a pictorial style that makes it authentic".

While other specialists have questioned its provenance, Turquin got the backing of a top Caravaggio specialist, Nicola Spinosa, former director of a prestigious Naples museum.

In an expert assessment seen by AFP, Spinosa wrote: "One has to recognise the canvas in question as a true original of the Lombard master, almost certainly identifiable, even if we do not have any tangible or irrefutable proof."

- Gruesome scene -

Turquin told reporters that Caravaggio may have painted the gruesome scene, which also features a haggard old lady with goiters, in Naples while he was on the run from a murder charge in Rome.

He had earlier painted a different version there, which now hangs in the National Gallery of Ancient Art in the Italian capital.

The French culture minister has slapped an export ban on the canvas after experts from the Louvre museum in Paris spent three weeks studying it.

The ministry said the painting should stay on French soil "as a very important Caravaggian landmark, the history and attribution of which are still to be fully investigated".

Story continues

Marc Labarbe, the auctioneer called in by the family who discovered the painting, said it had been damaged by a previous leak.

He said the family had had the painting since at least the middle of the 19th century and that it may have been brought from Spain by an ancestor who served under Napoleon.

"It probably was left in the attic because of its particularly violent content, which would not have been easy to hang in a bedroom or living room," he added.

Turquin admitted "some serious" art historians "had attributed the work to (Louis) Finson", a Flemish painter and disciple of Caravaggio who died in 1617.

The French art newspaper Le Quotidien de lArt quoted another expert on the artist, Mina Gregori, as saying that it was "not an original" although she recognised the "undeniable quality of the work".

If the painting -- which measures 144 cm by 175 cm (57 inches by 69 inches) -- is confirmed as an original, it will have been the biggest such discovery since another Caravaggio was discovered in Dublin in the early 1990s.

"The Taking of Christ" had been hanging in the dining room of a Jesuit residence in the Irish capital since the 1930s, having long been considered a copy.
"You don't want to marry me! You don't want to marry me!" Charlize Theron told a fan holding a makeshift sign with the words "Will you marry me Charlize?," written in black sharpie, at The Huntsman: Winter's War premiere in Los Angeles on Monday night.

The selfie-demanding fans (who repeatedly called Chris Hemsworth, Thor) weren't the only supporters of the actress, as longtime WME agent Ari Emanuel and friend Aisha Tyler joined Theron on the black carpet at the Regency Village Theatre in Westwood.

Theron seemed to be the only reason why Tyler made it out to the premiere, as she tells The Hollywood Reporter she's not the biggest fan of the occasion: "They're exhausting you have to get dressed up and wear shoes that are uncomfortable. You're starving and there's nothing in there but popcorn and you're super excited about the afterparty and you haven't eaten and then you're wasted. I'm very selective. Tonight I'm here to support Charlize specifically."

While Tyler thinks premieres can be rough, others at the event had to talk about tough moments from the film's shoot. Hemsworth tells THR, "We shot in London, it wasn't the warmest place. It was winter time."

Adds Sam Hazeldine, "During the action sequence when we were shooting outside, we were under these rain machines and we were shooting at 3 o'clock in the morning outside of London and were freezing cold. They'd start the rain machines and we'd be waiting about five minutes until they called action so by which time you were just frozen and then you had to get into the scene."

Says the film's director, Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, "When you shoot in London you have sun, and rain, sun, and rain. And with Jessica [Chastain] we're doing this scene and she's not wearing a lot of clothing and she's just standing there freezing."

Emily Blunt seemed to disagree with all of the above, though, as she remarks, "There wasn't really a tough moment. It was way too easy."

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The Huntsman: Winter's War is the prequel to Snow White and the Huntsman and both films are brought to audiences by Universal Pictures. Of the studio's notes for the prequel Nicolas-Troyan explains, "The tips were to make it more light, fun and enjoyable for the girls to go and have fun."

A star of sequels, trilogies and beyond, Hemsworth says, "I had fun on the first Thor as I did the first film for this. It's all about following the script though. If the script is advancing the character in some way, then I'm on board. And you want people to see the films and these happen to have a following."

Also in attendance were Donna Langley, Halsey, Chastain, Nick Frost and Colleen Atwood.
By Justin Madden

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel moved a step closer on Tuesday to being allowed to name his choice for police chief on a permanent basis, after a city council committee voted to temporarily change the selection process.

The issue underscores the political sensitivities in naming a successor to the former chief, who was ousted in December after days of protests over a white officer's shooting of a black teenager, which was captured on video.

The Chicago Police Department faces a federal probe on its use of force following the 2014 shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.

Eddie Johnson, who is black, was selected last month as interim chief of police by Emanuel, who rejected the three candidates chosen by the police board as part of the city's search process.

City aldermen on the Committee on Public Safety voted on Tuesday to amend a city ordinance that requires the mayor to select a candidate suggested by the city's police board. The full city council is expected to vote on Wednesday, potentially allowing Emanuel to name Johnson as the permanent chief in his bid to rebuild the third-biggest U.S. city's trust in the police department.

"We need somebody at the helm right now to lead this department, to get morale up, get crime down and get this overtime situation that's out of control in hand," Alderman Anthony Beale said in supporting the Tuesday vote.

While not opposed to Johnson, some alderman criticized how events unfolded, saying the move was circumventing the official selection process and wasting the more than $500,000 spent by the police board.

The McDonald case was one of numerous fatal police shootings of unarmed African-Americans across the United States that have stirred outrage and raised questions of racial bias in policing.

The previous Chicago police superintendent, Garry McCarthy, was fired amid public outrage that the city delayed for more than a year the release of the McDonald video, which led to first-degree murder charges against the officer. In the aftermath of protests, the U.S. Justice Department launched an investigation into Chicago police shootings.

(Reporting by Justin Madden; Writing by Ben Klayman; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's expressed anger on Tuesday after foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) advanced economies said they strongly opposed provocation in the East and South China Seas, where China is locked in territorial disputes. "We urge the G7 member states to honor their commitment of not taking sides on issues involving territorial disputes," China's foreign ministry said in a statement. The G7 should focus on global economic governance and cooperation against the backdrop of weak economic growth rather than hyping up disputes and provoking problems, it added. On Monday, G7 foreign ministers said after meeting in the Japanese city of Hiroshima that they opposed "any intimidating coercive or provocative unilateral actions that could alter the status quo and increase tensions" in the East and South China Seas. China claims almost the entire South China Sea, believed to have huge deposits of oil and gas, and is building islands on reefs to bolster its claims. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims to parts of the waters, through which about $5 trillion in trade is shipped every year. China also has a separate dispute with Japan over a group of uninhabited islets in the East China Sea. China has every right to build on the Spratly Islands and there are no problems with freedom of navigation and overflight for the East and South China Seas, the foreign ministry said. China is committed to resolving disputes through talks with countries directly involved via international law and on the basis of respecting historical facts, to maintain peace and stability while safeguarding its sovereignty, it said. It repeated that China will neither accept nor participate in any arbitration "illegally forced upon it", a reference to a case lodged by the Philippines against China. "We urge the G7 member states to fully respect the efforts made by countries in the region, stop making irresponsible remarks and all irresponsible actions, and truly play a constructive role for regional peace and stability," the ministry added. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Michael Perry)
BEIJING (Reuters) - China has offered Nigeria a loan worth $6 billion to fund infrastructure projects in Africa's biggest economy, the Nigerian foreign minister said on Tuesday. "It is a credit that is on the table as soon as we identify the projects," Geoffrey Onyeama told reporters travelling with President Muhammadu Buhari to China. "It won't need an agreement to be signed; it is just to identify the projects and we access it," he said. (Reporting by Felix Onuah in Beijing; Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
BEIJING (Reuters) - China will release more water from a dam in its southwestern province of Yunnan to help alleviate a drought in parts of Southeast Asia, China's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, following an initial release begun last month. The water already began being released on Monday from the Jinghong dam, and will continue to be released until the "low water period" is over, ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a daily news briefing. The actual amount of water released will be decided upon by how much water there is to release upstream and the demands of downstream users, Lu added. China's releases of water show the effectiveness of "water facilities" in helping control floods and address droughts, he said. China has said that the water released will benefit Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. In Vietnam, some 1.8 million people are facing water shortages and the government says 230,000 hectares (568,000 acres) of rice has been destroyed in the central and southern regions this year. While China and Vietnam are involved in an increasingly bitter territorial dispute in the South China Sea, the two Communist-lead countries have traditionally had close ties. Beijing and Hanoi have also been trying to repair ties severely harmed in 2014 when Beijing parked an oil rig in waters off the Vietnamese coast, leading to anti-China riots. Thailand is facing its worst water shortage in two decades, with 14 out of 76 provinces hit and large swathes of agricultural land at risk. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Nick Macfie)
BEIJING (Reuters) - Twenty-five Chinese technology companies have signed a pledge to counter images and information online that promote terrorism, the internet regulator said on Tuesday, months after China passed a controversial new anti-terrorism law. The Cyberspace Administration of China said the companies had promised to "handle in a timely way terror-related harmful, illegal information, create a clear internet space and maintain social stability". The companies which have signed up include Baidu Inc, Tencent Holdings Ltd, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, JD.com and Sina Corp, the regulator said. Tencent, Alibaba, JD.com and Sina did not immediately respond to request for comment. A Baidu spokesman declined to comment. The regulator said that more than 25,000 posts, 4,000 videos and 200 accounts had been removed from the internet so far this year that involve illegal, terror-related content. China passed the anti-terrorism law in December. Among other things, it requires technology firms to help decrypt information and cooperate with the government in fighting terrorism. Critics say China uses its counter-terror and national security regulations to quell free speech. Under President Xi Jinping, the government has implemented an unprecedented tightening of internet controls and sought to codify the policy within the law. China has rebuffed the criticism of the law, saying it is simply doing what other Western nations already do in asking technology firms to help fight terror. The law has caused particular unease in Western capitals as it codifies sweeping powers for the government to combat perceived threats. China says it faces a serious threat from groups such as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), which operates in China's restive far western region of Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uighur people, where hundreds have died in violence in recent years. Rights groups and many foreign experts though say China has never presented any convincing evidence to prove ETIM exists as a cohesive, well-organized group capable of the kinds of attacks China blames it for. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Paul Carsten; Editing by Nick Macfie)
The new president of Chinese solar giant Wuxi Suntech Power is "assisting an inquiry" at Customs' request, its parent said on Tuesday after reports he had gone missing.

Tang Jun was only person from the company helping the investigation and the issue being probed remained unknown, a spokesman for Suntech's parent Shunfeng International Clean Energy (SFCE) told AFP on Tuesday, adding the firm's operations were "all normal".

Tang is the latest senior Chinese businessman to drop out of circulation for unclear reasons.

In January one of China's most prominent clothing firms, Metersbonwe, announced its chairman Zhou Chengjian had returned to work, a week after saying he had disappeared amid speculation he had been caught up in an insider trading investigation.

Weeks earlier Guo Guangchang -- chairman of Fosun, one of the country's biggest private-sector conglomerates -- had vanished from public view in connection with an investigation by authorities, before re-emerging.

Suntech Power was once the world's largest solar panel producer, at a time when Chinese manufacturers were flooding the global market with cheap products, causing trade disputes with the EU and US.

The firm collapsed in 2013 after it announced its main Chinese unit Wuxi Suntech would seek bankruptcy and restructuring, resulting in a bond default in the US worth over half a billion dollars.

The company later said it would receive a $150 million local government bailout and it was eventually bought by Hong Kong-listed Shunfeng for 3.0 billion yuan (now $462 million).

China Business News reported Tuesday that Tang had only taken up his position as president a few months ago and the inquiry could be linked to issues at his previous firm.

SFCE shares were down 1.32 percent in Hong Kong by the break.
According to Jimmy Kimmel, there are some interesting parallels between this presidential election and the movie Captain America: Civil War.

"Both of them feature former friends who are now enemies, they both feature powerful men and women who are also cartoon characters, and there's also a lot of interest in both," the late-night host said on Monday night's episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live, introducing an election edition of the Marvel film's trailer.

Simply titled America: Civil War, the spoof teaser features Donald Trump as Iron Man, Bernie Sanders as Captain America, Hillary Clinton as Black Widow and Ben Carson as Spider-Man.

The episode welcomed Civil War actors Chris Evans (who revealed that he invited multiple members of the New England Patriots to the Tuesday night movie premiere), Sebastian Stan, Paul Rudd and Anthony Mackie to chat about behind-the-scenes camaraderie and debut a couple clips from the ensemble flick.

Captain America: Civil War hits theaters May 6, kicking off the summer movie season.

Read More: 'Captain America: Civil War' Is "The 'Godfather' of Superhero Movies," Says Robert Downey Jr.

Watch the videos below.
They say travel is the best form of education.

When Brian Lerry received his $2,500 financial aid check in the mail, he decided to surprise his girlfriend with a trip to Thailand.

Read: Couple Crossed Paths As Kids 27 Years Ago On Vacation

"Financial aid has always helped out with school and rent," Lerry explained to InsideEdition.com.

But this year, the California State University: Long Beach student said he received more than he expected.

He decided to surprise his girlfriend Natalie Kremer, who has never been out of the country, on a month-long trip: "We sort of view traveling as an educational experience no book or travel can ever teach you."

"We always saw these pictures and wanted to be there so bad, and we asked ourselves, 'Why not?'" Lerry told IE.com. "There's always going to be something in your way, stopping you from doing what you can do."

To make sure she had her passport ready in time, he suggested prior to the surprise that they both apply for passports: "I made a date out of it. I told her that it's a good idea we have a passport -- everyone has those."

He then bought the tickets in advance, and then surprised her ten days before they would leave for the trip.

"Wait," Kremer can be heard asking in the video, "why are you wearing a GoPro?"

When she realized what was going on, she can be seen dropping the tickets, and burying her face in her hands.

"It worked out better without the scheduling and the planning," Lerry told IE.com. "Once we were there, we did it day-by-day. We didn't have any hotels and hostels booked."

To take advantage of his film skills, Lerry even reached out to resorts, and offered to film advertisements in exchange for a stay at the resort.

Read: Best Husband Ever Documents Miserable Vacation without His Wife

Lerry said some of the highlights of their January trip included walking with elephants, and relaxing on a floating lake bungalow.

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When Lerry and his girlfriend of one year returned from their trip, they uploaded their memories onto a joint Facebook page, OurVisualEscape.

"A lot of friends are super supportive, and they're amazed," Lerry said. "It's really cool that some complete strangers are totally inspired by us."

But, the video, titled "How I Spent My Financial Aid Like A Boss" is also being met with some backlash.

One person commented: "

I've realized that many people are mislead by the amount of money spent for our trip. The $2500 merely covered our... Posted by Ourvisualescape on Saturday, 9 April 2016

Read: Romantic or Just Stupid? Man Proposes to Girlfriend on Cliff, Is Arrested for Trespassing

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By Keith Coffman DENVER (Reuters) - The man accused of fatally shooting three people at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic last year said he hoped that when he died fetuses in heaven would thank him for stopping more abortions, court documents showed on Monday. Robert Lewis Dear, 57, made the comments to police after he surrendered following a shooting rampage and five-hour siege last November at the Colorado Springs clinic that also left nine others injured. Dear is charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder. Among those killed were a young mother, a U.S. Army veteran and a police officer from a nearby university who responded to the scene. The new disclosures emerged after El Paso County District Court Judge Gilbert Martinez agreed to unseal arrest and search warrant affidavits in the case. Dear also told police that he was upset with Planned Parenthood for performing abortions and the selling of body parts, according to the documents. He said he admired Paul Hill, an anti-abortion extremist who was executed in Florida in 2003 for the murder of an abortion provider in 1994, police said. A wounded victim told police that Dear approached her in the clinic parking lot and opened fire after saying that she shouldnt have come here today," the documents said. Dear ambushed several responding police officers, and was wearing a homemade ballistic vest comprised of silver coins and duct tape, police said. In outbursts at earlier hearings and in media interviews, Dear called himself a warrior for the babies, claiming he was guilty and that there would be no trial. He also said he wanted to fire his court-appointed lawyers and defend himself. Martinez ordered the South Carolina native to undergo a competency examination at the state mental hospital to determine if he was fit to act as his own lawyer. The court-appointed evaluation deemed him incompetent, his lawyers said in court filings. In an interview with the Colorado Springs Gazette newspaper last month, Dear indicated that he may have changed his mind and might not fire his lawyers. "Yeah, I want to be my own attorney," Dear told the newspaper. "But if my attorney will start following my rules and doing what I want, then maybe I'll work a deal with him. Martinez will rule whether Dear is competent sometime after an April 28 hearing on the issue. (Editing by Victoria Cavaliere and Michael Perry)
By Joseph Ax

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The lawyers who successfully challenged the copyright to "Happy Birthday" have a new target: the civil rights anthem "We Shall Overcome."

In a class action filed on Tuesday in New York federal court, the makers of a planned documentary film have asked a U.S. judge to declare the protest song in the public domain, allowing anyone to use it without paying licensing fees.

The lawyers who filed the case, from the firm Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz, previously won a ruling last year that the world's most popular tune, "Happy Birthday," was not subject to copyright.

Tuesday's lawsuit was filed against New York-based The Richmond Organization (TRO) and its label Ludlow Music Inc.

According to the complaint, TRO filed copyrights for "We Shall Overcome" in 1960 and 1963 and has collected millions of dollars in fees over the decades.

A woman who answered the phone at TRO on Tuesday declined to comment and would not say whether the company had retained a lawyer to defend against the lawsuit.

"We Shall Overcome" was closely associated with the civil rights movement during the 1960s. The song is likely based on an old African-American spiritual, according to the lawsuit.

The We Shall Overcome Foundation, the plaintiff, is seeking to produce a documentary film about song and its relationship to the civil rights movement. The group asked for permission to use the music in the film but was turned down by TRO, according to the lawsuit.

"This was never copyrightable to begin with," Mark Rifkin, the lead attorney for the plaintiff, said in a phone interview. "The song had been in the public domain for many, many years before anyone tried to copyright it."

In February, Warner/Chappell Music, a unit of Warner Music Group, agreed to pay $14 million to end the "Happy Birthday" lawsuit and drop its copyright claim to the song.

(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Tom Brown)
[CORRECTS day the list is announced in first paragraph.] Steven Spielberg, George Clooney and Jodie Foster are tipped to be among those who will walk the red carpet at Cannes next month when the line up for the world's top film festival is revealed Thursday.

While the movies in the running for the main Palme d'Or prize are still under tight wraps, it appears that Spielberg will almost certainly show his adaptation of Roald Dahl's children's classic "The BFG" (The Big Friendly Giant) out of competition.

It will most likely be joined by Jodie Foster's new thriller "Money Monster", about a television financial pundit taken hostage by a man whose family has been left penniless by his dud tips.

Starring Clooney as the Wall Street tipster and Julia Roberts as his TV producer, the film will be released internationally during the festival, which runs in the French Riviera resort from May 11 to 22.

Festival chiefs Thierry Fremaux and Pierre Lescure have already announced that Woody Allen's new Amazon-backed film "Cafe Society" will open the annual jamboree, also out of competition.

The movies in the main competition, however, are harder to call, with the final list often not decided until the very last minute.

- Reeves hint -

But Hollywood star Keanu Reeves dropped a heavy hint to AFP Tuesday that the Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn's supermodel horror story "The Neon Demon" had made the line-up.

The actor, who is the male lead, confirmed he "would be in Cannes" when he arrived in Paris to promote his own documentary "Side by Side".

The dark tale of a young beauty swallowed up by the Los Angeles fashion and celebrity scene has already been billed as a cross between "Valley of the Dolls" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre".

However, the presence of festival favourite Pedro Almodovar, who made his name with "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown", has been thrown into doubt when he was named as having an offshore company in the Panama Papers leak last week.

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The Spanish director -- a leftwinger known for his support of environmental causes -- cancelled a press conference to promote his new film "Julieta" about a girl who disappears for a decade, and did not show up at a preview screening in Barcelona.

Insiders, however, are predicting that the American actor-director Sean Penn's new film "The Last Face", starring his ex-girlfriend Charlize Theron and Javier Bardem will figure in the line-up.

The romance set in Africa among humanitarian workers also stars the French actress Adele Exarchopoulos.

Another US director Jeff Nichols, who made the highly praised "Midnight Special" last year, is also thought to be a shoo-in for "Loving", his story about a mixed-race couple confronting racism in 1950s Virginia.

- Doubt over Loach -

The Canadian wunderkind Xavier Dolan, who first came to international attention at Cannes with "I Killed My Mother" in 2009 when he was only 20, seems a near certainty for his new family drama "It's Only the End of the World", with its stellar cast of Marion Cotillard, Vincent Cassel and Bond star Lea Seydoux.

"La fille inconnue" (The Unknown Girl) by Belgium's Dardenne brothers -- two-time Palme d'Or winners -- also seem assured of being among the 19 contenders for the main competition.

The Bosnian Serb Emir Kusturica -- who has also lifted the prize twice -- is a clear candidate with "On the Milky Road" starring Monica Bellucci as is another past winner, Romania's Cristian Mungiu with "Family Photos".

But there were questions over whether "I, Daniel Blake", the latest film from Cannes favourite, Briton Ken Loach -- about welfare cuts hurting vulnerable families -- will make the final cut.

Cannes' traditionally strong Asian presence is likely to be led by Japan's Hirokazu Kore-Eda with "After the Storm", Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "The Woman in the Silver Plate" and South Korean Park Chan-Wook's "The Handmaid".

"Showgirls" director Paul Verhoeven may mark his comeback with "Elle" with French actress Isabelle Huppert in the lead, with the Mexican director Amat Escalante's "The Untamed" and Chilean film "Neruda" by Pablo Larrain also being talked up.
By Scott Malone

WORCESTER, Mass. (Reuters) - Bill Cosby's wife of 52 years will have to submit to another day of questioning by lawyers for seven women who claim the comedian sexually assaulted them, but need not reveal intimate details of their marriage, a U.S. judge ruled on Tuesday.

In rejecting Camille Cosby's request not have to have to participate in another deposition, U.S. Magistrate Judge David Hennessy told a lawyer for the seven women to limit his questioning to relevant topics, castigating him for crossing that line in a February deposition.

Hennessy ruled that the new deposition will be limited to five hours and 45 minutes, with the two sides agreeing to hold it at a Boston hotel on Feb. 19.

"We're not going to have a repeat of some things that happened, I can assure you. That applies to both sides," Hennessy said during a hearing at U.S. District Court in Worcester, Massachusetts. "We're not going to have questions like, 'Were you asleep when you had sex with Mr. Cosby?'"

More than 50 women have accused Cosby, best known for his role as the father character in the 1980s television hit "The Cosby Show," of sexually assault, often after plying them with drugs and alcohol. The allegations, many of which date back decades, have toppled Cosby from his position as one of the United States' best-loved entertainers.

Most of the alleged crimes are too old to be criminally prosecuted. But authorities in Pennsylvania charged the 78-year-old actor with sexually assaulting a woman in 2005.

Cosby, who is out on bail, has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

The seven women involved in the Massachusetts suit charge that Cosby lied when he denied sexually assaulting them.

Attorneys for Camille Cosby, 72, who also serves as her husband's business manager, had argued that a second deposition would only serve to embarrass their client.

"The plaintiff cannot, under rule, abuse or harass a witness with questions that are obviously embarrassing and obviously not relevant," said Daniel Small.

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An attorney for the women, Joseph Cammarata argued personal matters are relevant given the nature of the allegations.

"The intent and the effect was not to be harassing or abusive," Cammarata said. "The intent was to gather information."

Tamara Green filed the Massachusetts lawsuit in December 2014. She was later joined by six other women who say Cosby sexually assaulted them and defamed them by calling them liars.

Cosby has countersued, accusing the women of defaming him.

Neither Cosby nor his wife were present in court.

(Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Alistair Bell and Alan Crosby)
By Scott Malone BOSTON (Reuters) - Lawyers for Bill Cosby's wife and business manager Camille Cosby will ask a judge on Tuesday to spare her from answering further questions related to a lawsuit by seven women who claim the comedian sexually assaulted them. Camille Cosby's lawyers have accused the attorneys for the seven women of acting improperly during a February 22 deposition about the lawsuit, one of a series of actions by women who have accused Bill Cosby of sex abuse, toppling him from his position as one of the United States' best-loved entertainers. "Plaintiffs' counsel, Joseph Cammarata, asked Mrs. Cosby a litany of improper and offensive questions, including questions regarding her own sexual relations, her own political commentary, and the death of the Cosby's son in 1997," they said in papers filed in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts. "These questions were irrelevant to the issues in this case and plainly were designed to annoy, embarrass, and oppress the witness." Cammarata has previously defended asking Camille Cosby, 72, direct questions about sex, saying it was appropriate given the subject matter involved. The seven women have sued Bill Cosby for defamation, saying that he lied when he denied sexually assaulting them. "Are we going to talk about the sexual history? Of course. Are we going to talk about the extramarital activity? Yes," Cammarata said in a January hearing. "We already know these subject matters." More than 50 women have accused Bill Cosby, best known for his role as the father character in the 1980s television hit "The Cosby Show" of sexually assaulting them, often after plying them with drugs and alcohol, in a string of incidents dating back decades. Most of the alleged crimes are too old to be the subject of criminal prosecution. But authorities in Pennsylvania charged the 78-year-old entertainer with sexually assaulting a woman in 2005. Cosby, who is out on bail, has repeatedly denied wrongdoing. U.S. Magistrate Judge David Hennessy, who will preside over Tuesday's hearing in Worcester, Massachusetts, last week ruled that any further depositions of Bill Cosby related to the suit will be postponed until after the Pennsylvania criminal charges are resolved. Tamara Green filed the Massachusetts lawsuit in December 2014. She was later joined by six other women who say Cosby sexually assaulted or abused and defamed them by calling them liars. Cosby has countersued, accusing the women of defaming him. (Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Alistair Bell)
ROME (Reuters) - Women's rights are being violated in Italy by the serious difficulties they face in trying to obtain safe abortions due to many doctors refusing to carry out the procedure, the Council of Europe said on Monday. Terminating pregnancies has been legal in Italy since 1978, but the council's social rights committee found that the situation in Italy violated both the women's right to protection of health and the doctors' right to dignity at work. In a significant number of Italian hospitals, even if a gynecology unit exists, there are no or very few doctors who do not object to performing abortions, the committee said. Women seeking an abortion are sometimes forced to go elsewhere in Italy or abroad, or bypass the authorities to get a termination. "These situations may involve considerable risks for the health and well-being of the women concerned, which is contrary to the right to the protection of health," the committee said. The Council of Europe's review of the case stemmed from a complaint by the CGIL, Italy's biggest union, which said a growing rate of conscientious objection among doctors has made it extremely difficult for some women to get access to the procedure. The CGIL says the Health Ministry drastically underestimates the number of illegal abortions carried out in Italy, which the union says could be as high as 50,000 a year. The government says about 70 percent of gynecologists are conscientious objectors. Responding to Monday's ruling, the health ministry said the committee did not take into account the most recent data on the matter, and that abortions were carried out in 60 percent of the country's health facilities. Italy will now be able to respond formally to the Council of Europe's decision, and the council will continue to monitor the situation in Italy, according to a spokesman. (Reporting by Isla Binnie, additional reporting by Steve Scherer; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The Turkish army hit Islamic State targets in northern Syria, in response to cross-border rocket fire that struck a border town in southeastern Turkey for the second day in a row, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said. The military was responding to attacks on Kilis, near the Syrian border, Davutoglu said. The town is home to an estimated 110,000 Syrian refugees and is frequently targeted by artillery from across the border, a region controlled by Islamic State militants. "Yesterday and today, rockets belonging to Daesh terrorist organization landed inside Kilis, wounding 21 citizens," Davutoglu said in the speech to his ruling AK Party in parliament. "Our armed forces, within rules of engagement, responded immediately and hit Daesh targets," he said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State. One person died of wounds following the attacks on Kilis, hospital sources told Reuters later on Tuesday. In March, two people, including a young child, were killed by rocket fire in Kilis. Mayor Hasan Kaya told Reuters that one rocket on Tuesday struck road works and the other landed inside an empty lot. Some of the wounded were municipal workers, he said. The Turkish armed forces often respond to such attacks by firing at targets in Syria. Turkey is an outspoken critic of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has supported opposition fighters in the five-year-old war. (Reporting by Akin Aytekin and Ayla Jean Yackley; Writing by Humeyra Pamuk, Editing by David Dolan and Larry King)
Despite predictions to the contrary from party leaders, particularly Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus, it is looking less likely than ever that the GOP is going to be able to heal the wounds of a divisive primary season once the general election campaign begins.

A new poll from NBC News shows just how deep the division between the supporters of frontrunner Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has become. Its to the point that large supporters of each candidate now say that they will refuse to vote for the other candidate in a general election.

Related: Angry Trump Voters Plan Protest Over Colorado Vote Hijacking

If Trump were to win the nomination, the survey found, only 56 percent of Cruz supporters said that they would vote for the man who has spent the last month referring to their candidate as Lyin Ted at every opportunity. Six percent said they would vote for Hillary Clinton, 9 percent said they would not vote at all, and 26 percent said they would cast their ballot for a third party candidate.

If Cruz were to win, the fallout would be even more dramatic. Only 53 percent of Trump voters said that they would vote for the Texas senator. Only 2 percent would throw their vote to Clinton, but a whopping 15 percent say they wouldnt vote at all, and 28 percent would jump to a third party candidate -- possibly Trump himself.

The fact that the race seems headed to a contested convention in July only makes the job of Priebus and others in the Republican establishment more difficult.

For decades, party nominating conventions have not really been about choosing a nominee -- primary voters have usually already taken care of that by the time the convention rolls around by awarding one candidate enough delegates to ensure a victory on the first ballot.

Related: Why Paul Ryan Will Dodge the GOP Presidential Snake Pit

Freed from the need to actually hold a real nominating contest, party leaders have been able to choreograph elaborate days-long events intended to cement the party faithfuls support of the nominee. Residual anger from the primary season has typically had a month or more to heal, and grudges are papered over by giving former rivals plum speaking spots and the praise of an adoring crowd.

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But when Republicans meet in Cleveland in July, the forecast is for a political bloodbath if there is no prospective nominee. As delegates are released from their pledge to vote for a particular candidate in the early balloting, the fighting between the Cruz and Trump factions will be fierce, and when there is an eventual winner there will be little or no cooling-off period afterward in which to clean up the mess and engineer a convincing show of party unity.

This is really undiluted bad news for the GOP -- and not just its hopes for taking the White House.

Assume that the NBC poll exploring how voters will behave in a general election overstates the number of Trump and Cruz supporters who will actually break from the party by as much as 50 percent. Right now, Trump has about 40 percent of the GOP electorate behind him. If just 25 percent of his supporters decide to withhold their votes because Cruz is the nominee, thats 10 percent of the overall Republican vote. Cruz has about 32 percent of the vote, so if only one-quarter of his voters dont back Trump, thats eight percent of the partys support.

Related: Trumps Startling Proposal for Dealing with Iran

Neither of those numbers is something the Republican Party can be comfortable with. The GOP begins every presidential race with a demographic disadvantage that makes the path to victory narrow and the margin for error small. Losing eight or 10 percent of its voters throws all likelihood of general election victory out the window.

And one question the poll did not ask is how those supporters would vote if a third candidate, either Ohio Gov. John Kasich or an unnamed Republican nominated on the floor, were to be handed the nomination. How damaging to turnout would it be if both Trump and Cruz backers were alienated at the convention?

Beyond the White House, diminished turnout and residual anger toward the party establishment would likely hurt down-ballot GOP candidates, jeopardizing the partys control of the Senate, maybe the House, and putting state legislative and gubernatorial elections in play.

Its at least theoretically possible that an effort to start healing the party could begin in advance of the convention, but that would require candidates willing to put the good of the party ahead of their own personal ambitions, and thats not a characteristic either Trump or Cruz has demonstrated in the past.

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By Pavel Polityuk and Natalia Zinets KIEV (Reuters) - Squabbling over top jobs in Ukraine's government delayed a parliament vote on a cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday that is likely to see the departure of Finance Minister Natalia Yaresko and tighten President Petro Poroshenko's grip on key policy areas. Legislators are in the final stages of agreeing a new coalition following the resignation of Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk in the biggest shake-up in Ukraine since the 2014 Maidan uprising brought in a pro-Western leadership. Deadlock has stalled billions of dollars in foreign loans and the delay in forming a government will frustrate Kiev's allies, including the United States, who warn that political infighting can threaten efforts of recovery for the war-hit economy. A close ally of Poroshenko, Volodymyr Groysman, is up for nomination to replace Yatseniuk who has headed governments since the "Maidan" street uprising which forced the Moscow-backed president Viktor Yanukovich to flee. But Oleksiy Goncharenko, a deputy in Poroshenko's BPP faction, told journalists there was still no agreement on who would fill the ministerial posts of economy, energy, culture and health. The vote on the coalition and government would "hopefully" take place on Wednesday or Thursday, he said. But MPs said the new cabinet would not include Yaresko and some other foreign-born technocrats brought in late in 2014 in the hope that their outsider status and international experience would help Ukraine root out corruption. Her departure could be a disappointment for some of Ukraine's Western allies, who have praised her stewardship of the country's finances amid economic meltdown and a separatist conflict. SENSITIVE POST It has not been clear if Yaresko, who successfully led hard-nosed negotiations with Ukraine's creditors to restructure $18 billion in foreign debt in 2015, would want to serve in a Groysman government. The finance minister post is especially sensitive given the cash-strapped country's strategic dealings with the International Monetary Fund and other foreign lenders. The finance ministry press service has declined to comment on questions about Yaresko's future plans. Oleksandr Danylyuk has been chosen to take over from her if Groysman is approved by parliament as prime minister, according to several lawmakers. Danylyuk, 40, is the deputy head of Poroshenko's administration and his appointment to head the finance ministry would increase the president's grip on policymaking - something that will upset some of the reformists. Poroshenko and Groysman have publicly supported the IMF economic reform program and vowed to fight graft. But the slow pace of reform of the prosecutor's office has prompted some to question Poroshenko's will to change the status quo. Public perception of Poroshenko's commitment to transparency took a hit last week, when the "Panama Papers" data leak showed he had placed his Roshen confectionary business assets in an offshore account, prompting the president to defend himself repeatedly against accusations he had tried to evade tax. "I think this government will probably have six months to a year in power, however I definitely don't believe in the reformist abilities of these people." Serhiy Leshchenko, a reformist lawmaker in BPP, told reporters. "Negotiations on the new cabinet are becoming a farce ... patience has a limit," Interior Minister Arsen Avakov wrote on Twitter. (Additional reporting by Alexei Kalmykov; Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
Within hours of the March 22 terrorist attacks in Brussels, New York city authorities deployed roughly 400 National Guard troops at major transit hubs in New York City, and transit police in Washington D.C. also ordered a surge at subway stops. The Washington police tweeted reassuringly that they were closely monitoring events in Brussels w/our fed partners."

Visibly surging security personnel in urban centers after a major terrorist incident has become a habitual response around the globe since the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington, putting citizens on edge and occasionally causing policing expenses to spike. But it turns out theres little evidence that such an aggressive public response is necessary, according to a new report by terrorism experts at the RAND Corporation.

The experts studied 140,000 terror attacks in the United States and Europe between 1970 and 2013, and found no statistically significant evidence after 2003 that one big attack will spawn another one immediately afterward, producing a cluster of related incidents.

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Visible increases in security reflect prudence, but also suggest that there is reason to worry about further terrorist attacks, experts Brian Jenkins, Henry Willis and Bing Han wrote in their report, published on March 31. But since 2003, they said, terrorist attacks in Western countries have actually not been occurring in clusters, which they define as falling within a 30-day period.

The incidents studied were listed in a global database of terrorism events that produced at least one fatality. The database was compiled from open sources by the University of Maryland.

Before 2003, some terrorist attacks did occur in clusters, suggesting that officials in Europe and the United States might now be reacting reflexively to a pattern that is no longer prevalent. The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), for example, carried out clusters of attacks in Ireland and the United Kingdom in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and Basque separatists in Spain, ETA, carried out clusters of attacks starting in the 1970s. But the clustering phenomenon started to drop off by 1993, and now there is no statistical evidence that a large terrorist attack will trigger or inspire another attack.

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Jihadists have not been able to field groups in the United States or Europe that are capable of sustaining terrorist campaigns like those that operated in Europe from the 1970s to the early 1990s or in the United States primarily during the 1970s, the authors explain.

The report also disputes another commonly-held view about the timing of terrorist attacks. Terrorists generally have not attacked on symbolically important dates in the U.S. and Europe. While attacks increased slightly on dates around Independence Day and New Years Eve, the evidence did not show any increased likelihood of attacks on anniversaries such as September 11 or other symbolic dates such as Ramadan or Christmas.

Some experts who study terrorism say they doubt that terrorists keep a calendar. Attacks are timed when those involved conclude they will be successful. The RAND authors state that Independence Day and New Years Eve, for instance, draw large crowds that represent a vulnerable target.

A third, surprising argument in the report is that terrorism in the West has been declining. The incidence of attacks decreased roughly 94 percent between 1976 and 2013, the RAND tally showed, again reflecting the different capabilities of European paramilitary groups and present day jihadists.

At the same time, the deadliness of recent attacks has increased. The scale of the 9/11 attacks was unprecedented. And since then, the proportion of incidents with more than three fatalities has increased.

Some experts said they didnt take much comfort from the new report. With respect to some of the European [jihadist] plotters who were captured, we now know that they had been planning a series of attacks. It calls into question how reliable this finding is, said Jessica Stern, a research professor at Boston Universitys Pardee School of Global Studies who has interviewed terrorists and written several books on their motivations.

Related: 040916 MTPD tweet 2

Related: WTPD tweet

The RAND authors acknowledged that they could not rule out that police surges had deterred some coordinated or copycat attacks. And they also warned that the future might not be like the past: Its important to monitor whether terrorism related to the Islamic State will be different, said Henry Willis, director of the RAND Corporations Homeland Security and Defense Center and one of the study authors, in an interview.

Stern said that theres some evidence of a shift already. Most of the attacks weve seen until now carried out in ISISs name are not the kind of attack we would expect to be clustering --theyre individuals who radicalize themselves or small groups that seem to have minimal if any contact with ISIS [But] the kind of attacks weve seen in Paris and Belgium are not that kind. They involved highly trained operatives and theyre part of a plot thats a broader attack.

Belgian authorities have reported in recent days that those involved in the Paris attacks were planning additional bombings there  months later -- but undertook the March 22 attacks in Brussels instead because they feared that police were closing in.

Lauren Chadwick is a Scoville Fellow at the Center for Public Integrity.

This article was co-published with Slate.

This story is part of Up in Arms. National security-related events, reports and findings that deserve more attention. Click here to read more stories in this series.

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Copyright 2016 The Center for Public Integrity. This story was published by The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C.
By Jack Kim and David Brunnstrom SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ahead of a rare ruling party Congress next month, secretive North Korea is revealing details of its weapons development program for the first time, showcasing its push to develop long-range nuclear missiles despite international sanctions. Until recently, information on the North's weapons program was hard to come by, with foreign governments and experts relying on satellite imagery, tiny samples of atomic particles collected after nuclear tests and mangled parts and materials recovered from long-range rocket launches. No longer. In just over a month, the North has published articles with technicolor photographic detail on a range of tests and other activities that point to fast-paced efforts to build a nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The reason for the revelations, many analysts say, is that Pyongyang believes convincing the world, and its own people, of its nuclear prowess is as important as the prowess itself. Nevertheless, isolated North Korea's true capabilities and intentions remain unknown. "Close-up pictures of ground test activities are almost unprecedented from the DPRK," John Schilling, an aerospace engineer specializing in satellite and launch vehicle propulsion systems, told Reuters. DPRK stands for Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name. The reclusive state has conducted four nuclear tests in the past 10 years, the last in January. "The openness suggests that the underlying strategy is as much diplomatic as military: it is important to Pyongyang not only that they have these capabilities, but that we believe they have these capabilities," Schilling said. In its latest revelations, North Korean state media reported on Saturday that the country had carried out a successful test of a new ICBM engine. Pictures showed what experts said were the engines of two Soviet-designed R-27 missiles clustered together, ejecting two exhaust plumes. The claims indicate the North has no intention of slowing down, despite last month's United Nations sanctions and stern warnings from Washington and elsewhere, said Michael Elleman, a U.S.-based rocket expert with the International Institute for Strategic Studies. "The revelations, pronouncements and 'tests' appear to be part of a campaign to establish the narrative that Pyongyang has, or will soon have, a nuclear-armed, long-range missile that could threaten the U.S. mainland," he said. "Each unveiling, if real, would be part of a structured program aimed at developing the capability. The open question is: How real are these tests?" The activities are likely to be watched closely by U.N. experts assigned to enforce sanctions prohibiting the North from engaging in work that involves ballistic missile technology. CONVINCING THE DOUBTERS? There is an increasing feeling among international arms experts that North Korea's capability may be more advanced than previously thought. It could have a primitive but operable ICBM "later this decade," said a U.S. government source with intelligence on the North's weapons program. Overcoming such scepticism, and fuelling alarm for its neighbors and the United States, may be the intended effect, with significant domestic propaganda value ahead of the May ruling party congress, said Yang Moo-jin of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul. "To a normal military, arms development is supposed to be classified," he said. "But Kim Jong Un had years of the South and the U.S. putting his military down, so now he wants to maximize the perceived threat of what he's trying to develop." The recent ICBM engine test followed the March test of a solid-fuel rocket engine and a simulated test of atmospheric re-entry of a missile warhead. Kim has vowed another nuclear warhead test soon, which would be the country's fifth. Some analysts say it could be timed to take place just before the congress, at which Kim is likely to unveil an official policy of twinning economic development with nuclear capability. Kim also claimed in March that his country has miniaturized a nuclear warhead to be mounted on a ballistic missile. Media reports displayed a spherical object and a jubilant Kim standing before a large rocket-shaped object similar to the KN-08 ICBM. The choreographed manner in which the weapons tests appear to be taking place also points to political posturing rather than rigorous technical examination, some analysts have said. Given the North's secrecy, penchant for bombastic propaganda and history of manipulating photographic and video images, its claims are still met with plenty of scepticism. "I am still not convinced that everything really is what they want us to believe it is," said German aerospace engineer Markus Schiller, who has closely followed the North's missile development program. (Editing by Tony Munroe and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
By Jim Forsyth

SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - Ricardo Lopez, the former mayor of Crystal City, is running for reelection saying he is the man to restore the southern Texas town's dignity even after he and four other city officials were indicted on corruption charges.

"This is just a little town that needs to be cleaned up, and it is getting cleaned up," said Lopez, who resigned after he, the city manager, and three council members were arrested in February and indicted on the federal charges.

Lopez, 40, was arrested again a few weeks later for disrupting a municipal meeting discussing his replacement.

Lopez said he was indicted only because he disagreed with the Federal Bureau of Investigation about how to investigate corruption in Crystal City, known for its claims to be the "spinach capital of the world."

The town of 7,500, about 360 miles (580 km) southwest of Dallas, even has a statue of the cartoon character Popeye standing on a can of the leafy green vegetable in front of City Hall.

The indictment accused the former mayor and others of demanding payments from contractors to pay off personal gambling bills, bar tabs, car loans, and other expenses.

After the charges were made public, the FBI and Texas Rangers padlocked the City Hall.

Lopez denies he had anything to do with corruption, saying he was working with the FBI to help bring change.

"They asked for my cooperation and I cooperated," Lopez told Reuters in an interview this week. "It is my right to run," he added, referring to the May 7 municipal election in the heavily Democratic city.

A spokeswoman for the FBI in San Antonio declined to comment on the claims.

Federal prosecutors, however, say Lopez was an integral part in the graft. He was also charged with allegedly taking bribes from a north Texas businessman.

(Reporting by Jim Forsyth; Writing by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Alan Crosby)
After more than a dozen years, the legal procedural arising from the divorce between Law & Order series creator Dick Wolf and second wife Christine Wolf has resulted in what looks to be a conclusion.

The two split in 2003 just before Wolf began new negotiations with NBC on the series. Thanks to a settlement agreement, she walked away with $17.5 million in cash, annual spousal support of as much as $2 million for eight years, the couple's Maine home and more. But she alleged that she didn't know about a looming NBC deal that would take Wolf's company from a deficit to holding assets potentially worth more than a billion dollars.

In 2004, Christine first tried to argue that her consent on a divorce settlement was procured by fraud, and after a Santa Barbara judge ruled and an appeals courts affirmed that she was having nothing more than "buyer's remorse," she shifted her sights to financial advisers whom she accused of committing professional negligence.

The targets of her latest lawsuit were the couple's late business manager, Bob Philpott, as well as the Canadian financial-services firm Assante Corp. (later known as Loring Ward), run by Martin Weinberg, which was affiliated with Philpott's own L.A.-based firm. She alleged that they were hoping to win her soon-to-be-ex's ongoing business, and so when it was agreed that the dispute would go into mediation, they weren't neutral and had failed to disclose the value of the Wolfs' community assets.

Last year, L.A. Superior Court Judge Holly Kendig ruled that Christine had approved the financial advisers, that evidence of their bias was based largely on speculation and, as such, she couldn't get past a "mediation privilege" that shielded documents and communications being sought from the 2003 split. In October, the California Supreme Court denied her petition to review the circumstances that must exist for a person to be truly "neutral" and thus capable of conducting a fair mediation.

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Having struck out in her discovery demands, Christine has now experienced a summary judgment blow.

Christine had hoped to present evidence and arguments that the events leading up to the mediation and the mediation itself were unfair to her, but Kendig rules that confidentiality would hamper the defense. But for mediation privilege, the defendants say they would introduce evidence that her original divorce attorney advised that she retain a forensic accountant to value Wolf's company and that she decided to settle to avoid protracted litigation.

"Since the Defendants would [be precluded] from introducing any evidence to rebut the claim, it would be fundamentally unfair to allow the action to proceed against them," states the judge in the opinion, which adds that litigation privilege protects the actions of the financial advisers, too.

Philpott was represented by Richard Kendall at Kendall Brill & Kelly, who says, "It is gratifying, after 12 years of litigation, that the Court's detailed and thorough ruling will give Mr. Philpott's family some relief from litigation."

Weinberg and all company entities were represented by Dale Kinsella, Kristen Spanier and Patti Millett at Kinsella Weitzman.
Recently, we celebrated National Doctors' Day in the U.S.

March 30 is the date we've designated to honor doctors each year for their commitment to patients and health care. The date was picked in commemoration of a great moment in medical history -- the first use of anesthesia during surgery in 1842, truly a huge advancement for patient care. The acknowledgement of this day is also cause for reflection. Really, how are our doctors doing?

Awareness is growing around the stress that doctors-in-training and those practicing medicine experience. The statistics are alarming to some degree. Approximately one-third of physicians report experiencing burnout at any given point. As a matter of fact, doctors are 15 times more likely to burn out than professionalss in any other line of work, and 45 percent of primary care physicians report that they would quit if they could afford to do so. Physicians have a 10 to 20 percent higher divorce rate than the general population and, sadly, there are 300 to 400 physician suicide deaths each year.

[See: 10 Ways to Prepare for Surgery.]

So what is the genesis of the negative feelings that so many doctors experience? Part of it is easy to pinpoint: Dealing with high stress and death on a regular basis can take its toll. Physicians not only are supposed to cure, but they also have to heal families when cure is not possible. Seeing others through a difficult journey with a loved one is more than just giving out prescriptions. It is about being there -- sometimes constantly.

There are other contributing issues beyond the direct interaction with high-stress situations. Overall, there is a lack of control over schedules and time. This can result in poor sleep patterns, interference with family activities and events, and poor self-care. Because there is a patient in need at the end of every phone call and every office or hospital interaction, setting limits is beyond difficult. The result can be physical and emotional exhaustion leading to cynicism and burnout. Add to that the increasingly litigious society in which we live and there is a recipe for quite a few failures.

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So what is responsible for this phenomenon? Aren't doctors supposed to be motivated by mission and calling and shouldn't that result in a fulfilling career in this profession? The short answer is yes, that is indeed the dream when entering medical school. For many, however, those dreams are hard to sustain in the midst of the daily grind.

The culture of medicine may be the main culprit. From the first moments of trying to get accepted to medical school, and then to a competitive residency and good fellowship, people must be stellar to get a chance. There is always the "what's next?" question looming. During training, we have to teach people to not only have the knowledge-base to treat patients, but also the compassion to heal without getting so involved that we cannot function objectively. This can result in emotional reprogramming for many.

[See: HIPAA: Protecting Your Health Information.]

It sounds harsh, but in reality, that demeanor is necessary for survival. We then work them hard and long, often a necessary and critical strategy so that they can develop the necessary skill-set. Praise is rare -- no criticism must mean things are going well. Sustaining long hours and high performance is seen as exemplary, a high bar for already high-achievers. The burnout can start early. A recently published study showed that medical students report a rate of depression that's 15 to 30 percent higher than the general population by a significant margin. This can lead to poorer performance, such as 6.2 times more medication errors, exactly the opposite of what we are striving for through the education process.

[See: 5 Common Preventable Medical Errors.]

As we age through medicine, we have a standard of being the stalwart silent rescuers. No weaknesses visible. But as health care has changed to reflect a business model as well as a mission model, cracks in the armor have started to become more visible. Keeping up with all of the medicine and surgery as well as with the business of medicine may be, in fact, just too much for some. Fatigue can set in for this population of professionals that's already prone to high levels of perfectionism and self-criticism, leading to dissatisfaction and doubt.

The next logical question is why don't physicians recognize and seek help when they experience the early signs of burnout? Primarily, because of fear. Frequently, privileges and licenses could be denied if physicians are under treatment for substance abuse or depression. Without those certifications, the source of livelihood, not to mention identity and many years spent in training, is lost. Since medicine is a fairly small world in any given community, it is likely that treatment would be sought from a colleague. While the patient privacy rules still apply to physicians, there could be anxiety that a colleague would see us struggling, clearly a big chink in the armor. As a result, in the spirit of "physician heal thyself," many will try to self-medicate, which is usually not a good strategy. And, if they do seek help from a colleague, they may get the VIP treatment out of camaraderie and respect, frequently resulting in underestimation of the severity of the psychological issue.

At this point in our medical history, a growing minority of physicians are going through dark periods. The profession has taken some steps forward to deal with it. First, recognizing and acknowledging the existence of this issue is huge. In the literature and at conferences, this is a hot and deserved topic.

Recognizing the need for physicians to lead a healthy overall lifestyle in every way, including emotionally, is the first step in the evolution of the profession. Helping to identify a more realistic definition of professional commitment, guiding doctors through exercises on limit-setting and conflict-resolution, and instituting reasonable work hours are good places to start.

The idea of the second victim -- the treating provider who suffers loss with families in his or her own way -- has been gaining traction in the medical field in the last decade. Well-developed programs exist in other industries. After a plane has a serious issue, such as landing in the Potomac, the crew must take a few months off to recuperate from the anxiety. In health care, if a patient dies, we debrief about what went wrong and then expect people to go on to treat the next patient. Seeing the physician as having suffered a loss and helping him or her make time to grieve will recognize the second-victim phenomenon in all of us.

Efforts to improve the situation for our trainees have also occurred in the last decade. Bullying as a method of education is no longer tolerated, appropriately so. Other adjustments, such as mandatory work hours, have had some limited success. Balancing the personality types of the millennials with the need to aspire to a certain required knowledge-base is difficult. But at some point, we have to stop eating our young or we will lose out on the incredible talent coming our way.

As a profession, we must remember that oath we all swore on the day we got our long coats: "May I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help." We also like to add: Above all, do no harm. We need to remember, that includes ourselves.

Dr. Elaine Cox is the medical director of infection prevention at Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health in Indianapolis. She is also the Riley clinical safety officer. Dr. Cox practices as a pediatric infectious disease specialist and also instructs students as a professor of clinical pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine. The former director of the pediatric HIV and AIDS program, Ryan White Center for Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Riley, Dr. Cox helped lead the effort to change Indiana law to provide universal HIV testing for expectant mothers.
Drew Barrymore made one of her first public appearances since the announcement of her divorce in New York City on Tuesday. She gave an emotional, yet lighthearted, speech - and no, the two moods are not mutually exclusive.

"As you women know, laughter and crying are twins - and you men are still struggling with that," she said as the guest speaker of a Pierre Hotel luncheon benefiting the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, the world's first child protective agency. "If I break down during this story, you will understand that I'll just turn it into laughter, and you men will think we're crazy.

"We are, but it's that 'crazy' that actually evolves into compassion, and that's what is beautiful about women," she continued to the 250 guests. "There are gorgeous things about you men too, but I happen to understand women, being one myself, and we wear our hearts on our sleeves. So when we discuss issues of importance, it brings out our emotions."

Wearing her wedding ring after announcing her split from art consultant Will Kopelman earlier this month, the actress and entrepreneur opted in the speech not to reflect on her own childhood, but to read a chapter from her autobiography Wildflower, with which each attendee was gifted. Entitled "Africa," the chapter recounts how a news article in 2004 moved her to travel to Kenya with the United Nations to help its youth population. Barrymore's voice occasionally quivered as she explained that what began as an assignment for Marie Claire became the beginning of her activism efforts, including the establishment of the Barrymore Learning Center.

"Everything is needed - always be thinking of children's needs, whether you think it's too soon or too late," she concluded. "Life has shown me it is the way to think and live."

See More: Drew Barrymore's 'Animal' Teaser Trailer
Tehran (AFP) - Police in Tehran arrested 2,900 drink drivers last year, a top official said Tuesday, describing the figures, which come despite the Islamic republic's official prohibition of alcohol, as "alarming".

The offenders were detained in the 12 months up to March 2016, the Iranian capital's prosecutor general Abbas Jafarabadi said, according to the judiciary's official news service.

Alcohol has been banned in Iran since the revolution in 1979 and those who break the law can be fined, lashed or serve prison time. Only the country's Christian minority has the right to produce wine for religious purposes.

However, demand for all types of drink fuels smuggling from neighbouring Iraq and Turkey. The inflated prices charged by illegal networks has also spurred cheaper locally produced beer, wine and spirits.

According to official figures, there are 200,000 alcoholics in Iran among the 79 million population. Some experts believe that more than one million Iranians regularly consume alcohol.

In recent years police have used breath tests in roadside checks, recognising the magnitude of the problem.

The fine for offenders has also been doubled from 2,000,000 rials (around $60) to 4,000,000 rials.

The report that quoted Jafarabadi did not detail any nationwide drink driving arrest statistics.
Nicosia (AFP) - A man accused of hijacking an EgyptAir plane and diverting it to Cyprus is expected to fight his extradition from the Mediterranean island after claiming asylum, authorities said on Tuesday.

Authorities said that Seif al-Din Mohamed Mostafa, 58, is fighting his extradition by also applying for asylum to stay on the island.

His asylum request is being reviewed by the immigration department while extradition proceedings go ahead.

"The suspect has asked for asylum and this procedure will run in parallel with the court hearing on extradition," an official source told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Cyprus has approved a request from Cairo to extradite Mostafa, and a hearing is scheduled to take place on April 22.

Mostafa reportedly argues that he faces the death penalty if sent back to Egypt.

Nicosia expects Cairo to state in writing that he will not face the death penalty at a trial in Egypt, local daily Phileleftheros said on Tuesday.

Mostafa, currently in police custody, is accused of using a fake suicide belt to seize the Alexandria to Cairo flight on March 29 and force it to land at Larnaca airport.

Cyprus is expected to try to fast-track the extradition process, which could take several weeks.

Mostafa is expected to remain in custody until the extradition papers are ready.

The Egyptian state prosecutor's office had asked for him to be handed over under a 1996 bilateral extradition treaty.

Described by authorities in Cyprus as "psychologically unstable", Mostafa has said he acted out of desperation to see his Cypriot ex-wife and children.

Cypriot prosecutors said he faced possible charges of hijacking, kidnapping, reckless and threatening behaviour and breaches of anti-terror legislation.

Police said Mostafa gave a voluntary statement admitting to the hijacking.

His ex-wife has been quoted by Cypriot media as describing their five years of marriage as a "black period" in her life.

The hijacking ended peacefully with Mostafa's arrest.

Most of the 55 passengers were quickly released after the plane landed, but some escaped only minutes before the six-hour standoff ended.
Seoul (AFP) - Elderly men in South Korea have allegedly been given erectile dysfunction drugs to buy their votes in legislative elections, prosecutors said Tuesday, announcing an investigation into the suspected breach.

South Koreans go to the polls on Wednesday in an election already overshadowed by North Korean nuclear threats and economic difficulties.

The alleged vote-buying took place in Suwon, 30 kilometres (around 20 miles) south of the capital Seoul.

"We have yet to verify the allegations. If confirmed, this could constitute a breach of election law," the spokesman for Suwon Prosecutors' Office told AFP.

Vote-buying in South Korea carries a sentence of up to five years in prison or a fine of 10 million won ($8,750).

Erectile dysfunction drugs are a prescription medication in South Korea and prosecutors will investigate how the unnamed candidate was allegedly in possession of so many, the Dong-A Ilbo daily said.

Anyone found guilty of vote-buying risks being stripped of their election victory, while voters face fines of up to 50 times the value of the cash or gift they received in return for supporting the candidate.
Back in 1994, Harley-Davidson realized that the sound coming from its V-twin engine, a wild, throaty roar, was one of the things that made us love it. Six years later, after an unsuccessful court fight, Harley dropped its sound trademark application and moved on. But a truth had been uncovered, one that had everything to do with the fact that part of the reason those of us who love motorbikes love them has everything to do with their announcing as loudly and angrily as possible: I am here.

With bumper stickers proclaiming Loud Pipes Save Lives, it seems strange that any interest in offsetting your carbon footprint by driving an electric one would be outweighed by the deflating overall quiet of an electric motorcycle. I have no idea if this factored into electric motorcycle makers factoring, but maybe, as a consequence, they made their bikes cooler in a number of different ways. Following along the Its not a bug, its a feature marketing, Zero Motorcycles in Scotts Valley, California, makes its silent rides a benefit so that you can commune with nature without the heat or vibration of an internal combustion engine.

Would a troika of non-planet-destroying, cafe-racing, superbiking sleekness be complete without the most significant surprise of all?

2016 zero s action 02 1680x1200 press

Source: Zero Motorcycles

Good enough for you? Not really? What about if the bike weighs less than 300 pounds, drives almost 200 miles without a charge and is able to go from zero to 60 in about 4.1 seconds? Now us two-wheeled wonks are paying attention. Especially if the cheapest one is around nine grand, an amount of money that if it doesnt bother you, might be the perfect gateway to the self-proclaimed luxury superbike. Made by Lito Green Motion, the bike starts in the $50,000 range and can hit $105,000 if youre not careful. What that money gets you? Outside of all manner of cool styling touches, it gets you an electric motorcycle that does almost 120 miles per hour and lasts around 120 miles between charges if youre driving around town. Thats 120 miles per hour of whisper-silent death on wheels.

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But would a troika of non-planet-destroying, cafe-racing, superbiking sleekness be complete without the most significant surprise of all? Project LiveWire, Harley-Davidsons answer to the fact that when people are asking questions about carbon footprints and waves of the future they have no intention of being left behind. Part road show, part project bike and not actually scheduled for production, the LiveWire is probably just a way for Harley to show that it wont be shown up. With Yamaha sniffing around and young upstarts like Oregons Brammo making electric motorcycle moves, the MO has got to be: On your mark, set, go.

If you consider that gasoline is a finite resource, says performance vehicle fabricator Greg Davis, and so far electricity is not, this seems to be the smarter way to go. Just put noisemakers on them so people hear them coming.

Pretty sure we do.

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FilmRise has acquired U.S distribution rights to Elizabeth Wood's Sundance drama White Girl, the director's semi-autobiographical story about a hard-partying college girl who falls for a Puerto Rican drug dealer.

Netflix picked up worldwide SVOD rights to the edgy drama in February in a deal pegged at seven figures. Featuring a breakout performance by Morgan Saylor (aka Dana Brody to fans of Homeland), the film centers on a student who is left with a cache of cocaine when her boyfriend (Brian "Sene" Marc) is arrested.

White Girl earned strong reviews following its world premiere Jan. 23. The film, which played in Sundance's U.S. Dramatic Competition section, marks Wood's feature directorial debut (she also wrote the screenplay). Justin Bartha, Chris Noth, India Menuez and Adrian Martinez co-star.

Gabriel Nussbaum produced the pic, while Christine Vachon, Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman and David Hinojosa executive produced.

FilmRise will release White Girl in theaters in late summer/early fall. It is unclear when Netflix will release the film on its streaming service.

"We could not be more thrilled to announce our acquisition of this explosive Sundance hit," FilmRise CEO Danny Fisher said Monday in a statement. "White Girl is a startling film that demands to be experienced in theaters."

Added Wood: "FilmRise is brave and passionate about my film, and I couldn't have a better partner to help me bring this wild story to American audiences."

The deal was negotiated between Fisher and FilmRise's Max Einhorn. CAA repped the filmmakers.

Read More: 'White Girl': Sundance Review
Beijing (AFP) - Emerging market economies, once the stars of world growth, now show "signs of distress" due to a darkening global outlook and tumbling commodity prices, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday.

The IMF cut its growth forecast for developing and emerging market economies by 0.2 percentage points to 4.1 percent this year. It also lowered its 2017 prediction by 0.1 percentage point to 4.6 percent.

"While growth in emerging market and developing economies still accounts for the lion's share of projected world growth in 2016, prospects across countries remain uneven and generally weaker than over the past two decades," it said in its April 2016 World Economic Outlook.

Plummeting commodity prices, declining investment growth and slumping trade have weighed on these economies, it said, while China's slowing expansion after years of scorching double-digit rises has "subtracted measurably" from global growth and may have "substantial spillover effects".

"Basically we're all in this together, and what happens in one region will affect other regions," IMF economic counsellor Maurice Obstfeld said in a recorded statement, adding that policymakers should "act now".

Persistent slow growth has "scarring effects" that can make recovery more difficult, he warned.

But the prospects vary widely among countries. While Brazil and Russia languish in deep recessions and are projected to shrink by 3.8 percent and 1.8 percent respectively in 2016, India is a "bright spot" and forecast to grow 7.5 percent, it said.

Oil-exporting countries may need to slash expenses if crude prices stay depressed, the IMF said, while the outlook for exporting other commodities remains "weak".

But the IMF raised its 2016 growth forecast for China by 0.2 percentage points to 6.5 percent, citing announced stimulus plans. It also increased its estimate for next year by the same amount, to 6.2 percent.

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The figures still represent a significant fall on the 6.9 percent seen in 2015 -- the slowest in a quarter of a century -- and the sober report came as China struggles with a tough transition away from dependence on debt-fuelled investment and export industries.

A sharper downturn in the world's second-largest economy "could lead to a more generalised slowdown", the IMF said.

Beijing has sought to reassure investors that it will make much-needed reforms to tackle overcapacity in steel and the manufacturing sector, but doubts about authorities' ability and will have weighed on the outlook.

The IMF noted that "limited progress on key reforms" have fuelled concerns, "triggering turbulence in Chinese and global financial markets". It said policy actions to quell market anxieties "have, at times, been ineffective and poorly communicated".

The outlook for growth in many African countries has dimmed due to declining commodity prices and tightening global conditions for financing, the IMF said, with sub-Saharan growth expected to be "weak" in 2016 at 3.0 percent, a drop of roughly 0.5 percent on last year.

Low oil prices will weigh on exporters such as Nigeria, it said, projecting 2.3 percent growth for Africa's biggest economy this year, down 0.4 percent from 2015. It added that "disruptions to private-sector activity through exchange rate restrictions" were adding to the weakness.
At a dinner party in 1936, Winston Churchill provocatively asked why King Edward shouldnt be allowed to have his cutie. His reference to the infamous Wallis Simpson prompted a quick reply from playwright and actor Noel Coward. Because England doesnt wish for a Queen Cutie, the polymath said, summing up the establishments view.

Posh British circles were clued in, along with much of America, but many of Edward VIIIs countrypeople  thanks to a gentlemans agreement with the press  were still in the dark. Their new king was in love with a sharp-witted American divorcee, and Britain was in the midst of a royally painful year. King George V had died in January, succeeded by his popular eldest son, and many assumed all was well. But a third king would ascend to the throne before the year was out, and what couldve proved an annus horribilis for the monarchy ended on a surprisingly positive note.

Being common, adulterous and having two failed marriages was simply too much.

Just months before George Vs death, unaware that his days were numbered, the nation was awash in Silver Jubilee commemorations honoring a monarch who had guided the nation through World War I and the Easter Rising. When Edward inherited his fathers throne, newspapers heralded him as a king well-suited for the modern era. Good-looking and charismatic, he was as confident as his younger brother Albert was awkward. But aristocratic circles knew Edward was prone to philandering, breaking tradition and being flippant  all of which had angered his father, who eerily predicted that the boy will ruin himself in 12 months. He had many affairs, and his brothers wife, [eventually] the Queen Mother, frowned on his erratic behavior, says Arianne Chernock, an associate professor of history at Boston University, noting that Simpson was still married when Edward began courting her and would soon be twice divorced. An adulterous commoner with two failed marriages was simply too much  leaving the royal family, Chernock says, to wrestle with the fact that the eldest son was perhaps not the most fit to be sovereign.

You get what you get and you dont get upset, Chernock jokes about the predicament. But folks did get upset. What many have forgotten, says UCLA history professor Margaret Jacob, is that the movement to get rid of [Edward] started in the Anglican church. Alfred Blunt, Bishop of Bradford and former Derby vicar, broke the English medias silence by publicly encouraging Edward to understand how much he needed the grace of God to reign. George V had expressed his doubts about his son to both Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin and Archbishop of Canterbury Cosmo Lang, but it wasnt until headlines hit the British press, alongside news that Edward intended to marry Simpson, that a constitutional crisis erupted.

We dont think of the Church of England as powerful, but in the 30s, [it was] still a force to be reckoned with, Jacob says. Divorce was contrary to the teaching of the Church of England, writes Princeton Universitys David Cannadine in History in Our Time, noting how it was that very faith the king had to uphold. Lang and Baldwin, according to Robert Beaken in Cosmo Lang: Archbishop in War and Crisis, shared a hope that Edward VIII would abdicate, and both worked to ease him from the throne. Others were also concerned, not only by Edwards character but also by his friendly approach toward Germany. Without Simpson, says Jacob, it wouldve been hard to get [Edward VIII] to do anything other than reign, and if he had acted on any Nazi sympathies, then all bets wouldve been off. Meetings with Baldwin and the Cabinet, and a letter of warning from his private secretary, Sir Alexander Hardinge, ultimately persuaded Edward to abdicate, which he did on Dec. 10, 1936, ushering in the reign of George VI, father to Queen Elizabeth II.

Noel Coward would later joke that statues of Simpson should be erected throughout the land in gratitude for saving the country. And indeed there has been plenty of speculation about what Edward VIIIs continued reign wouldve done to the sanctity of the monarchy, not to mention the possible fallout from his rapport with Hitler, whom he visited in 1937. But perhaps Coward summed it up best in a letter to a friend a few days after the abdication, in which he applauded the Yorks for taking the reins. They will be steady and gracious and dignified, which, after all, is all that is required.

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Strasbourg (France) (AFP) - The EU unveiled plans Tuesday to force the world's biggest multinationals to faithfully report earnings and pay their fair share of taxes, saying the Panama Papers scandal added to the need for change.

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said under the new rules big companies operating in Europe would have to make public what they earn in each member state of the 28-nation bloc.

Country-by-country reporting has for years been a major demand of tax activists who accuse big corporations of secretly shifting profits from major markets to low tax jurisdictions, often through the use of shell companies such as those exposed in the Panama Papers leaks.

"The Panama Papers have not changed our agenda but strengthen our determination to make sure taxes are paid where profits are generated," EU Financial Services Commissioner Jonathan Hill told a news briefing at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.

Hill is a longtime political ally of British Prime Minister David Cameron who is one of many world leaders to have been caught up in the Panama scandal for ties to off-shore accounts.

Longstanding criticism of corporate tax policy blew up into the open with the Lux Leaks scandal in 2014, which exposed secret sweetheart tax deals given to huge corporations -- including the likes of IKEA and Pepsi -- by the small duchy of Luxembourg.

These companies are accused of recycling earnings from across the globe back through Luxembourg or other havens where authorities secretly allow them effective tax rates as low as two percent.

The Brussels-based Commission said corporate tax avoidance in Europe cost an estimated 50 to 70 billion a year in lost government revenues.

"This proposal is a simple, proportionate way to increase large multinationals' accountability on tax matters without damaging their competitiveness," the Commission said in a statement.

- 6,000 top firms targeted -

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The EU plan closely follows recommendations from the OECD agreed by G20 leaders last year. They would apply to all global companies with sales worth 750 million euros or above worldwide and with activities in the EU.

The EU said this amounts to about 6,000 companies -- including 1,000 Asian firms -- or 90 percent of all corporations above that size.

Under the new conditions, companies will need to disclose information such as total sales, the nature of their business activity, profit before tax, tax actually paid and accumulated earnings. The data would be posted on a company's website.

The Commission toughened its proposal in the wake of the Panama revelations, requiring that the company data be available to the general public, not just the tax authorities.

"By adopting this proposal, Europe is demonstrating its leadership in the fight against tax avoidance," said Valdis Dombrovskis, the Commission's vice-president in charge of the single euro currency.

But business lobbyists complained that forcing companies to reveal sensitive data would scare off investment in Europe.

"We believe that these proposals, by making the EU a lone front runner in terms of public disclosure, risk undermining our attractiveness as a location for investment, particularly from overseas," said Markus J. Beyrer, head of BusinessEurope.

The plans also include a commitment to establish an EU-wide blacklist of tax havens, which could prove a sensitive project given the close ties between certain EU members and suspected tax havens.

In a disappointment to tax campaigners, the EU plan is largely limited to activity in Europe, except if earnings come from a black-listed tax haven.

"As long as the proposal doesn't cover all countries, multinational corporations will still have plenty of opportunities to hide their profits," said Tove Maria Ryding, a tax specialist at the European Network on Debt and Development.

"So instead of solving the problem, this proposal would be moving the problem from one country to another, with multinationals still able to avoid taxes," she said.
By Francesco Guarascio BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Large companies would have to publicly disclose tax and financial data under proposals the European Commission put forth on Tuesday, in an effort to eliminate tax schemes costing European Union states billions of euros in lost tax revenues. The EU executive's proposal is part of a broader plan to counter tax avoidance triggered by the LuxLeaks scandal in 2014, which exposed deals by multinationals with EU authorities to reduce their tax bills. "By using complicated tax arrangements, some multinationals can pay nearly a third less tax than companies that only operate in one country," EU Financial Services Commissioner Jonathan Hill said in a statement. "Our proposal to increase transparency will help make companies more accountable." A European Parliament study showed that corporate tax avoidance costs EU countries 50 billion to 70 billion euros in lost revenues every year. The Commission had initially planned to impose so-called country-by-country reporting only for companies' activities in each of the 28 EU states. But under pressure after the recent Panama Papers leaks, it made a last-minute change to its proposal, requiring corporations to disclose tax data also in jurisdictions deemed as tax havens - although EU states have never agreed on a common list of tax havens. Corporate operations in the rest of the world will have to be reported as a single item. The plan concerns only companies with an annual turnover of at least 750 million euros ($856.65 million) and with activities in the EU. Non-EU firms will also be required to publish a tax report if they have a subsidiary in an EU country. Data to be made public on a country-by-country basis include tax paid and tax accrued, profits, turnover, earnings and number of employees. EU states and the Parliament need to approve the Commission's proposals to turn them into law. BETWEEN TWO FIRES The proposed measures raised concerns among anti-corruption campaigners, who accused Brussels of being too soft on tax evasion. Business associations warned that the plan would damage EU companies. "We do not wish to see the EU become a destination which businesses consider too reputationally risky and administratively burdensome in which to invest," said Chas Roy-Chowdhury, head of tax at ACCA, a global accounting body. He called for limiting disclosures to tax authorities, avoiding a general public display. "Competitors will acquire sensible information on the structure and margins of a company due to the obligation of reporting", said Markus Kerber, chief of the German industry association BDI. Center-right lawmakers shared those concerns. But tax transparency activists and center-left lawmakers accused the Commission of not going far enough. Advocacy group Oxfam held a demonstration on Tuesday against tax havens in the EU district in Brussels, calling for the disclosure of tax information in all countries where companies operate. "The Commission is only proposing reporting obligations for firms' activities in a restricted list of countries, mainly within Europe, with crucial countries like the US and Switzerland excluded," EU Green lawmaker Molly Scott Cato said. "Unless the reporting obligations cover all countries, it will be impossible to find out if and how firms are channeling funds to tax havens," she said. (Reporting by Francesco Guarascio; additional reporting Tom Korkemeier, editing by Larry King)
EU competition regulators have resumed their scrutiny of U.S. oil industry services group Halliburton Co's <HAL.N> plan to acquire smaller rival Baker Hughes <BHI.N>, a deal which U.S. authorities say is uncompetitive and wants to block.

The European Commission, which halted its investigation into the $35 billion deal last month while waiting for more details from the companies, will now decide by Aug. 11 whether to clear or veto the takeover.

"Once the requested missing information is provided the Commission restarts the clock," Commission spokesman Ricardo Cardoso said in an email.

The EU antitrust authority has previously expressed concerns that the deal may reduce competition and innovation.

Halliburton has said it is willing to sell assets from both companies with a combined 2013 revenue of $5.2 billion but has yet to make a formal offer to regulators.

The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit last week to stop the merger, valued at $35 billion when it was first announced in November 2014, saying it would leave only two dominant suppliers in 20 business lines in the global well drilling and oil industry construction services industry, with Schlumberger NV <SLB.N> being one of the two.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Greg Mahlich)
By Foo Yun Chee STRASBOURG (Reuters) - The European Union executive said on Tuesday that Greece has made progress in policing its part of the bloc's external border but more action was needed before emergency controls inside the free-travel zone can be lifted. Germany and other EU states introduced temporary border checks inside the so-called Schengen area, blaming Athens for failing to control its frontiers amid a mass influx of migrants and refugees arriving on Greek Aegean islands from Turkey. Until recently, most of those migrants were waved through on their journey to wealthy northern Europe, often without being registered. The legal base for the temporary checks expires in May and the European Commission must decide whether Greece, overwhelmed by the arrival of more than a million people in the last year, has remedied the shortcomings. Otherwise Brussels can allow for the extension of border checks for up to two years. A cascade of border closures since late last year has cut the flow of people through the Western Balkans, the main migratory route from Greece to Germany, to a trickle. Arrivals from Turkey have also slowed since a controversial deal was agreed with the EU last month, under which Ankara is to take back all rejected migrants and asylum seekers from Greek islands. The Commission aims to restore the normal functioning of the Schengen zone of passport-free travel by the end of the year. The EU executive said on Tuesday that Greece had made "significant progress" on the border but that "further improvements" were needed, including more rapid use of EU funds provided to help the country manage the flow of people. Brussels disbursed 181 million euros ($206.03 million) in emergency assistance to Athens and relief groups working on the migration crisis since the start of 2015, the Commission said. That comes on top of long-term funding for Greece envisaged at 509.5 million euros over 2014-2020, it said. The Commission said only 1,145 prospective refugees have been relocated from Greece and Italy to other EU states so far under a scheme meant to redistribute 160,000 asylum seekers to alleviate pressure on the two frontline countries. With bitter divisions between EU states on how to tackle the migration crisis, the plan has so far been a failure. As of April 11, Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Croatia had not take anyone under the scheme. "Greater efforts on relocation are increasingly urgent in view of the humanitarian situation in Greece," the Commission said. "Based on the latest information available, between 35,000 and 40,000 persons in Greece would be eligible for relocation." ($1 = 0.8785 euros) (Additional reporting and writing by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Paul Taylor)
Lisbon (AFP) - A former CIA agent convicted in Italy for kidnapping an Egyptian imam under the agency's secret renditions programme has made a last-ditch appeal against her extradition from Portugal, the country's Constitutional Court said Tuesday.

Sabrina de Sousa was one of 23 Americans, including 22 CIA agents, convicted in 2009 by an Italian court over the 2003 abduction in Milan of Osama Mustafa Hassan Nasr, better known as Abu Omar.

The extradition of de Sousa, a Portuguese-American, was approved by an appeal court in Lisbon in January and confirmed by the Supreme Court last month.

The Constitutional Court received a final appeal against the move on Monday, a spokesman told AFP, with her lawyer arguing there was no guarantee Italy would grant a new trial to de Sousa, 59, who was convicted in absentia.

The trial in Italy was one of the world's largest to take aim at Washington's controversial "extraordinary rendition" programme, which was set up in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks to capture and interrogate Islamist terror suspects.

Under the programme, suspects were sent to countries where they were detained, interrogated and possibly subjected to ill-treatment.

Abu Omar was seized on the streets of Milan in February 2003 in a joint operation between the CIA and Italian intelligence services. He was then transferred to Egypt, where his lawyers say he was tortured.
Facebook on Tuesday extended its reach beyond online socializing by building artificial-intelligence powered "bots" into its Messenger application to allow businesses to have software engage in lifelike text exchanges.

The move announced at the leading online social network's annual developers conference in San Francisco came as the number of monthly users of Messenger topped 900 million and the Silicon Valley company works to stay in tune with mobile Internet lifestyles.

"We think you should be able to text message a business like you would a friend, and get a quick response," Facebook co-founder and chief Mark Zuckerberg said as he announced that developers can build bots that could even be better than real people at natural language text conversations.

Bots are software infused with the ability to "learn" from conversations, getting better at figuring out what people are telling them and how best to respond.

The bots could help Facebook over time monetize its messaging applications and get a start on what some see as a new way of interacting with the digital world, potentially shortcutting mobile applications and sidestepping search.

"Our goal with artificial intelligence is to build systems that are better than people at perception -- seeing, hearing, language and so on," Zuckerberg said while laying out a long-term vision for Facebook.

- Getting smarter -

Artificial intelligence is already used in Messenger to recognize faces in pictures, suggesting recipients for messages and for filtering out spam texts.

"Soon, we are going to be able to do even more," Zuckerberg said.

He promised a future in which Facebook AI would be able to understand what is in pictures, video, or news articles and use insights to recommend content members of the social network might like.

Bot-building capabilities will be in a test mode with Facebook approving creations before they are released, according to vice president of messaging products David Marcus.

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Tools made available on Tuesday included one for the creation of "high-end, self-learning bots" along with ways for them to be brought to people's attention at Messenger, Marcus said.

"If you want to build more complex bots, you can now use our bot engine," Marcus told a packed audience of developers.

"You feed it samples of conversation, and it's better over time. You can build your bot today."

The list of partners launching Messenger bots included Business Insider, which said it will use the technology to deliver news stories to people in real-time.

"We are excited about this new offering because we know that messaging apps are exploding in popularity," Business Insider said in a story at its website announcing the move.

Cloud computing star Salesforce planned to use the platform to help businesses have "deeper, more personalized and one-to-one customer journeys within the chat experience," said Salesforce president and chief product officer Alex Dayon.

- Bridges, not walls -

Zuckerberg laid out a future for Facebook that, aside from Messenger, included ramping up live video streaming and diving into virtual reality.

"We think we are at the edge of the golden age of video," Zuckerberg said.

Facebook opened its Live platform to allow developers to stream video content from their applications to audiences at the social network.

Zuckerberg demonstrated with a drone that flew over those seated, streaming live video to Facebook while he spoke.

Messenger and Live will be built out further in coming years, along with virtual reality technology at Facebook-owned Oculus, according to Zuckerberg.

He said that when his daughter takes her first-steps, he planned to record it in 360-degree video so family and friends can experience it in virtual reality as if they were there for the moment.

At one point, Zuckerberg's comments took on a political tone with the Facebook chief maintaining that the mission to connect the world is more important than ever given rhetoric about building walls and fearing those who are different.

"If the world starts to turn inward, then our community will have to work even harder to bring people together," Zuckerberg said.

"Instead of building walls, we can build bridges."
BRASILIA (Reuters) - A committee of Brazil's lower house of Congress voted 38-27 on Monday to recommend the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff on charges of breaking budget laws to support her re-election in 2014. Here are the next steps in the presidential impeachment under Brazil's Constitution: 1) The full lower house must now vote on the committee's recommendation and balloting is due to take place on Sunday. Rousseff's opponents need the votes of two-thirds of 513 congressmen, or 342. Speaker Eduardo Cunha, a fierce critic of Rousseff, does not vote. Rousseff requires 171 votes or abstentions to block impeachment. 2) If Rousseff loses the lower house vote, the Senate must then vote on whether to go ahead with putting her on trial. The timing is unclear, with Senate Speaker Renan Calheiros saying the Supreme Court has to provide a calendar for how the process should unfold. Many observers expect the vote to take place in early May. If the Senate votes by a simple majority to accept the case, Rousseff is suspended at the start of the trial and Vice President Michel Temer becomes acting president. The Senate has 180 days to conduct its trial, chaired by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Ricardo Lewandowski. Analysts say impeachment, if it goes ahead, will be a quick process given Brazil's political crisis and could be decided by the end of May. 3) If two-thirds of the 81-seat Senate, or 54 senators, vote for impeachment, Rousseff is stripped of her political rights and cannot run for elected office for eight years. Temer will be confirmed as president for the rest of Rousseff's term, ending on Dec. 31, 2018. (Reporting by Daniel Flynn in Sao Paulo; Editing by Peter Cooney and Michael Perry)
(Reuters) - Canada's parliament called an emergency session over a series of group suicide attempts by aboriginal teenagers in the remote, poverty-stricken Attawapiskat First Nation in Ontario. The following are five facts about the community: - Attawapiskat has declared a state of emergency five times since 2006 over poor drinking water, sewage contamination, housing shortage and flooding that led to sewage back up. - In 2011, the United Nations special rapporteur on indigenous criticized the federal government in Ottawa over a housing crisis in Attawapiskat that forced people to live in tents in temperatures of minus 40 Celsius (minus 40 Fahrenheit). The then-Conservative government said the criticism "lacks credibility". - The Attawapiskat First Nation has about 2,000 people and is more than 1,000 km (650 miles) north of Toronto, the provincial capital of Ontario. It is accessible only by plane or winter ice road. Attawapiskat, which means "people of the parting of the rocks," sits at the mouth of a river of the same name which has carved out several clusters of limestone islands. - Attawapiskat is the hometown of Theresa Spence, a former chief of the group, who rose to prominence in 2012 as part of the Idle No More movement that protested against aboriginals' socio-economic conditions. Spence went on a hunger strike, saying she was prepared to die unless the then-Conservative government agreed to meet with her, which they later did. - A third-party audit leaked in 2012 revealed millions of dollars in federal funding unaccounted for in Attawapiskat. Critics said the purpose of the leak was to discredit the Idle No More movement. (Reporting by Ethan Lou in Toronto; editing by Grant McCool)
By Katy Migiro NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Poor spring rains have made Ethiopia's worst drought in 50 years even more severe, and the government estimates the number of districts suffering a humanitarian emergency has risen by nearly one-fifth in three months. The new figures will feed into the current revision by the government and aid agencies of a joint appeal in December for $1.4 billion for more than 10 million people, some of them herders whose cattle are lying dead on the dry, dusty ground. The number of priority 1 districts - the most severe category on a four-point scale - rose to 219 in March from 186 in December, an 18 percent rise, the government's National Disaster Risk Management Commission said. This points to "a deteriorated humanitarian situation", the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said late on Monday. Ethiopia has around 750 districts. Priority 1 districts have a "very severe lack of adequate food security" which "may include excess mortality" and "very high and increasing malnutrition", according to the government's Early Warning and Response Directorate. The number of priority 1 districts has risen by almost 350 percent since February 2015. Aid agencies have said the February-April spring rains are performing poorly. In some of the worst-hit areas, the rains have failed three times in a row, Save the Children said. "Rains are now two months overdue," the charity said in a statement on Friday. "Places like Sitti Zone in the east, and the remote Afar region in the north, have seen barely any rain." These areas are mainly home to livestock herders who have been hit hard by shortages of water and fodder. Kim Pozniak, a spokeswoman for Catholic Relief Services, visited eastern Haraghe zones in early April. "The landscape there really looks apocalyptic - it's just gray dust and stone," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "There were dead cattle lying everywhere in between the cactuses. The locals were telling me there are so many dead cattle, not even the hyenas can eat them all." The crisis is expected to worsen until August when people hope to harvest crops they will plant in June to catch the summer rains. The total number of "hotspot" districts in need of aid rose by 3 percent to 443 from 429, the disaster commission said. ENDS (Reporting by Katy Migiro; Editing by xx; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, womens rights, trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org to see more stories.)
BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday that ensuring financial transparency and fair taxation would be on the agenda for the German presidency of the Group of 20 (G20) major economies in 2017.

Tax havens and transparency have been thrust into the limelight as governments worldwide launch probes into possible financial wrongdoing after the details of hundreds of thousands of clients' tax affairs were leaked from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca.

"Germany will have the G20 presidency next year, and the issue of transparent finances, fair taxation, exchange of information, transparency will play a role," Merkel said at a news conference in Berlin.

She added that she might discuss these issues with U.S. President Barack Obama when he visits a trade fair in the German city of Hanover on April 24.

"We speak regularly about the issue of transparency of financial relationships," Merkel said when asked about offshore firms in the U.S. state of Delaware, adding that the finance ministers were discussing this even more intensely.

Germany made closer international cooperation on tax evasion a priority during its presidency of the G7 economic powers in 2014/15.

(Reporting by Michelle Martin; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
LOS ANGELES - Actor Chris Hemsworth joined leading ladies Charlize Theron, Emily Blunt and Jessica Chastain on the red carpet in Los Angeles on Monday for the premiere of fantasy film "The Huntsman: Winter's War". The prequel to the 2012 "Snow White and the Huntsman", which was inspired by the Brothers Grimm fairytale, sees Theron and "Thor" actor Hemsworth reprise their roles as evil Queen Ravenna and The Huntsman. "The fairytales in the past were predominately the damsel in distress and the female would be rescued by the male or the prince. This time it's the other way around," Hemsworth said. "I think about my daughter and I would love for her to see a film like this, where woman are empowered and in charge of their own destiny and they can lead armies and are warriors and can take over kingdoms and so on. It was exciting." The story follows Ravenna and her sister Freya (Blunt) as they seek kingdom domination with The Huntsman and his bow and arrow wielding love interest Sara (Chastain) battling to defeat them in their quest. "The Huntsman: Winter's War" hits U.S. cinemas on April 22.
(Reuters) - The Federal Bureau of Investigation on Monday offered up to a$25,000 reward for information on seven Andy Warhol paintings stolen from a Missouri art museum.

The "Campbell Soup" paintings, part of a set of 10 worth $500,000, were taken from the Springfield Art Museum in Springfield, Missouri, in the early hours of April 7, the FBI said.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Leslie Adler)
By Natalie Grover and Amrutha Penumudi (Reuters) - An independent panel of experts advising the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended that Clovis Oncology Inc's lung cancer drug not be approved based on existing trial data. The panel voted 12-1 against giving the drug an accelerated approval, and recommended the FDA wait for the results from an ongoing late-stage trial that compares the drug's effect to that of chemotherapy. Clovis's shares tumbled as much as 18.7 percent on Tuesday. They recovered slightly to trade down 12.5 percent at $13.18 in late afternoon trading. An accelerated approval would allow Clovis to conditionally market the drug, rociletinib, based on early evidence of its clinical benefit. Rociletinib is designed to treat a subset of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose condition has worsened despite treatment. It targets patients with a genetic mutation known as T790M that helps tumors evade current lung cancer pills. A similar drug from AstraZeneca Plc, Tagrisso, won accelerated U.S. approval in November. The panel said existing data on rociletinib did not adequately characterize its benefit-risk profile over current treatments, especially Tagrisso, and also expressed uncertainty about the proposed dose. Further, some panel members raised questions about whether the ongoing late-stage study on rociletinib was designed to address these concerns. Enrollment in the trial is expected to be completed in 2018. Clovis Chief Executive Patrick Mahaffy said the company would work with the FDA to determine the best past forward. The FDA is not obligated to follow the panel's recommendations, but typically does. The agency is expected to announce its final decision on the drug by June 28. Rociletinib is unlikely to win U.S. approval, Janney Capital Markets' analyst Roy Buchanan told Reuters, adding that he wouldn't be surprised if Clovis retracted its application. On Friday, FDA scientists had also raised questions about whether rociletinib was superior to existing treatments. They recommended that the drug carry a black-box warning, the strictest warning imposed by the FDA, of increased heart risk. If approved, rociletinib will likely play second fiddle to Tagrisso, given that its efficacy compares poorly with that of AstraZeneca's treatment, Piper Jaffray analyst Charles Duncan had said in a note in February. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death, and about 85 percent of those diagnosed have NSCLC. An estimated 224,390 new cases of lung cancer and 158,080 related deaths occurred in the United States last year, according to the FDA. (Reporting by Natalie Grover and Amrutha Penumudi in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Don Sebastian)
Kuala Lumpur (AFP) - A petrol bomb was thrown on Tuesday at the office of a senior politician in Malaysia's opposition-ruled Penang state, after he described a visiting fiery Islamic preacher as "Satan".

State officials said no one was injured and no damage caused in the early-morning attack after the firebomb landed on the centre's metal shutters.

State Deputy Chief Minister P. Ramasamy said the attack may have been prompted by his Facebook post over the weekend about preacher Zakir Naik.

"It could possibly be related to my comment on Zakir as Satan," he told AFP.

Ramasamy accused Zakir, an Indian national, of giving speeches designed to promote hatred of other faiths.

His posting was not directed against Islam or Muslims but against "this particular person", he said in a statment.

"I regret the use of the word 'Satan' which has caused uneasiness and unhappiness among Muslims in Malaysia," Ramasamy said, adding that the word was later deleted.

Malaysia generally practises a moderate brand of Islam among its majority Malay community, but conservative views have gained increasing traction in recent years.

Minorities -- mainly ethnic Indians and Chinese -- complain of what they see as Islamisation.

Religious tensions escalated in 2010 after three churches were attacked with firebombs, causing major damage to one, as Muslims pledged to prevent Christians from using the word "Allah".

Zakir, 50, is an Islamic preacher on comparative religion.

Ramasamy, who is also the Penang Hindu Endowment Board chairman, had spoken out against a planned programme by Zakir's son, also an Islamic preacher, in Penang state on April 15.

On Sunday police banned Zakir from giving a lecture at a university in the southern state of Malacca following complaints from minority groups.

He had planned to speak on "Similarities between Hinduism and Islam".

National police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said in a tweet on Monday that Zakir was barred to ensure public order.

The aim was to protect "public order and religious sensitivities in Malaysia", he wrote.

Issues related to race, religion and language are considered sensitive in Malaysia, which witnessed deadly riots mainly between ethnic Malays and Chinese in 1969.
Kollam (India) (AFP) - Police arrested seven people on Tuesday over a massive explosion and fire during a banned fireworks display that claimed more than 100 lives in southern India, a senior officer said.

The blast ripped through concrete buildings and ignited a fire at a Hindu temple complex in Kerala state where thousands had gathered early Sunday to watch the display.

Police had taken 13 people into custody earlier in the day, most of whom were temple officials who surrendered to police Tuesday after they went missing following the tragedy in Kerala's Kollam district.

The remainder were temple officials and contractors for the fireworks display whom police picked up Tuesday for questioning.

"We have formally arrested seven of the 13," D. Sreedharan, superintendent of Kerala's police crime branch, told AFP by telephone.

"We are producing them in front of the local magistrate at the moment... more arrests will follow," he added.

All the accused face a series of initial charges, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

As police stepped up their investigation, the Kerala government said the death toll from the disaster had risen to 112 after one more person died of his injuries.

Thousands had packed the temple to celebrate the Hindu New Year festival of Vishu when a stray firework apparently landed on a stockpile of them, triggering the massive blast.

Witnesses told how the force of the explosion sent concrete slabs and roof tiles slamming into the panicked crowd of onlookers.

Firefighters and police battled to douse the fire that broke out after the explosion and to rescue those trapped at the complex, but some victims were charred beyond recognition.

Police said they were investigating who was responsible for holding the fireworks display even though local authorities had refused permission for it.

Fires and stampedes are not uncommon at temples and during religious occasions, often because of poor security arrangements and lax safety standards.

Kerala's High Court on Tuesday slapped a ban on highly popular fireworks displays at all places of worship in the state after sunset. It made the decision after a judge wrote to the court seeking action in the wake of the tragedy, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.

The Kerala government has ordered a judicial inquiry into the disaster, which comes as the southern state heads to the polls next month.
One of the greatest American scandals in recent months is getting the TV-movie treatment at Lifetime.

A film about the Flint water crisis is in the works from producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (The Wiz, The Sound of Music), The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

With Flint, the prolific duo hopes to shed light on the "toxic crime" committed against the residents of the Michigan town and how the residents were impacted by the poisoning.

Zadan and Meron have optioned the rights to Time's February cover story on the matter, Josh Sanburn's "The Toxic Tap," at Sony Pictures Television, where the two have a longtime overall deal for longform projects. Sanburn will serve as a consultant on the film and indie film writer-director Barbara Stepansky is attached to write the teleplay. Zadan and Meron will exec produce, and Mark Nicholson will produce.

The 100,000 residents of Flint have been without safe drinking water since 2014, when local officials started diverting water from the Flint River to cut costs. Michigan officials are investigating whether the lead-contaminated water could have led to a higher rate in miscarriages in the area.

Directors Ava DuVernay and Ryan Coogler as well as comedian Hannibal Buress helped host a #JusticeforFlint benefit that took place from Michigan on the same night as the Oscars in February.

Scottish director Anthony Baxter, who helmed the 2012 Donald Trump expose You've Been Trumped, has started production on an untitled documentary about the Flint water crisis.

Zadan's and Meron's previous Lifetime projects include the highly rated 2012 Steel Magnolias remake. Their upcoming projects include NBC's next live musical, Hairspray, and a live staging of Aaron Sorkin's A Few Good Men, set to premiere on the network in 2017.
By Ian Simpson and Donna Owens BALTIMORE (Reuters) - A year after the death of a black man in Baltimore police custody and the ensuing riots, the city is making slow headway in tackling the economic and social issues that residents, civic and business leaders say gave rise to the unrest. With a Democratic mayoral primary two weeks away, setting the stage for November's general election, many voters are hungry for new leadership and fresh momentum to solve the vexing issues facing the city of 620,000 people, most of whom are African-American. By most accounts, Baltimore's recovery from the looting, arson and violence that erupted after 25-year-old Freddie Gray's death in April 2015 has been spotty, leaving the city at risk. Gray's death, a week after breaking his neck in a police van, triggered protests and rioting that damaged 400 businesses, and helped stoke Black Lives Matter, a movement that has challenged police treatment of minorities. "The causes of the civil disturbance in Baltimore last year have not been eliminated," said Billy Murphy, a lawyer who represents Gray's family and settled a $6.4 million civil settlement with the city. "This can happen again," he said, adding he was not speaking for Grays relatives. Still, there are signs of progress. Convention bookings have risen and tourism at the Inner Harbor has rebounded. About 93 percent of the businesses that closed after the riots have reopened, officials say. But chronic economic problems persist. Unemployment, which dipped to 7.1 percent at the end of February from 7.4 percent at the time of the riots, exceeds the 5 percent national rate. Some 23 percent of residents live in poverty, 5 points above the national rate. Yet last year's turmoil was a wake-up call. It led to the formation of numerous coalitions bringing together city businesses and non-profits for economic initiatives. One involves Baltimore-based mutual fund companies Legg Mason Inc and T. Rowe Price Group Inc , apparel maker Under Armour Inc and Johns Hopkins University. The coalition plans to invest $69 million in a buy-local campaign, including minority-owned companies. While it may be too soon to see if those efforts will produce results, Diane Bell-McKoy, chief executive of Associated Black Charities, sees real economic improvement. Its slower than any of us want, and not helping enough people yet, but, definitely, change," she said. MIXED BAG ON POLICING In terms of policing, the year has been a mixed bag as well. Homicides climbed last year to the highest level in the city's history on a per-capita basis. The trend persists this year, even after Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who decided against seeking re-election, fired her police chief. The new commissioner, Kevin Davis, has emphasized training, foot patrols and improved community relations, and some residents have welcomed the new tone. "It's good they've got patrolmen in (some) areas, said Kenneth Betts, a 50-year-old cook, standing near the rebuilt CVS pharmacy in Penn-North, epicenter of last years disturbances. He said police still resorted to aggressive tactics at times but that the climate had improved. Six officers, three of them black, were charged in Gray's death. The trial of the first officer ended in a hung jury. His retrial and trials of the others are due to start next month. But in neighborhood forums, the hot topics are economic development and worker training. In a November poll for the Baltimore Sun and the University of Baltimore, 41 percent of black voters cited a jobs shortage as the cause of the city's problems. Nearly all of the two dozen or so mayoral candidates, including 13 Democrats, are pledging aggressive job creation. The field includes Councilman Nick Mosby, husband of Marilyn Mosby, the prosecutor who charged the officers involved in Gray's arrest, and Black Lives Matter activist DeRay McKesson. In her comeback bid, former Mayor Sheila Dixon promises to triple training programs. State Senator Catherine Pugh, Dixon's closest rival in the Democratic race, would introduce mobile units to help residents apply for jobs. Millionaire businessman David Warnock wants to create entrepreneurial opportunities. With Democrats outnumbering Republicans by 10-to-1, whoever wins the April 26 Democratic primary is virtually assured victory in November. Many are recognizing the importance of ... social and economic disparities that are underlying causes of the challenges we faced last year," said Donald Fry, president of the Greater Baltimore Committee, made up of more than 500 businesses, non-profits and other institutions. (Editing by Frank McGurty and Peter Cooney)
PARIS (Reuters) - A French soldier was killed in Mali by a landmine on Tuesday, underlining persistent insecurity in the region a month after Islamist militants attacked a luxury beach hotel in Ivory Coast, the French presidency said in a statement. The soldier, the fifteenth to die in Mali since Paris intervened in its former colony in January 2013 to oust Islamist militants, was killed after his vehicle hit an explosive device. Several others were injured, President Francois Hollande's office said. About 3,500 French troops are stationed in West Africa to help restore stability after a rebellion in 2012 by ethnic Tuaregs in Mali that was later hijacked by jihadists linked to al Qaeda. The forces drove the Islamists out of urban centers in northern Mali but did not eradicate their networks. French officials have said that the militants are likely to change their methods and that West African security forces should increasingly prepare for counter-terrorism operations. Al Qaeda's north African arm (AQIM) last month said it had carried out an attack on a beach resort town in neighboring Ivory Coast that killed 19 people in retaliation for French military operations in the region. (Reporting by John Irish and Marine Pennetier in Dakar; Editing by Ingrid Melander)
The Swarovski Designer in Residence program, now in its third year at UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television, has named Game of Thrones costume designer Michele Clapton as its Designer in Residence for 2016. The two-time Emmy Award winner follows in the footsteps of Academy Award-winning designers James Acheson (The Last Emperor) and Sandy Powell (Carol, Cinderella).

Clapton, who has been nominated for five Emmys for her work on HBO's cult hit (but is not signed on for the show's sixth season), will share her expertise as a mentor for UCLA TFT graduate students in the field of design. In addition to Game of Thrones, the English designer's resume includes the BBC's The Diary of Anne Frank and Sense & Sensibility as well as the upcoming film Queen of the Desert, starring Nicole Kidman and James Franco.

Joining Clapton in residence is hairstylist Silvia Baker, whose work includes Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Silkwood. Baker has been named as the MAC Cosmetics Artist in Residency in Make-up and Hair Design for the second year in a row. Beginning this spring quarter, Baker will teach a course about the importance of hair and makeup in film.

See More: 'Game of Thrones' Season 6 Premiere: Winter Hits Hollywood
Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - A surprise awaits beyond a black door adorned with a silver lotus flower at the end of a tangle of alleyways in Gaza's chaotic Old City.

Through it and behind imposing stone walls sits a small, Levantine-style palace, some 430 years old and recently painstakingly restored.

It is among the rare vestiges of Gaza City's architectural heritage, battered by war, time, population pressure and simple indifference.

The palace that had been missing part of its roof and located in what had been the Old City's Christian quarter was rescued by a 46-year-old university professor.

Less than a year ago, the professor, Atef Salama, decided to take action. His wife Kawtar said the idea was "kind of crazy."

But the house has now been given a second life, unlike others around it.

Salama spent lots of his savings to make it happen -- an amount he preferred not to discuss.

"People didn't say it to our face, but we could tell they were thinking 'either they're crazy or they were scammed'," said Kawtar while receiving guests in her living room with ochre stone walls.

Nearby sits a decrepit church. A traditional house across the street has crumbled and is overgrown with weeds.

- One of world's oldest cities -

Other historic buildings have disappeared under new construction in the small coastal enclave of some 1.8 million people, run by Islamist movement Hamas and cut off by an Israeli blockade and a closed border with Egypt.

"In Gaza, we like to have large families," said Fadel al-Otol, a Gazan heritage specialist.

"When children become parents, they build another floor on top of the family house. Either that or they leave the traditional house to move into a new building."

It is especially worrisome in Gaza, where the Egyptians, Romans, Byzantines and Ottomans have all ruled at various times, among others.

Its port on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean has served as a crossroads.

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"Gaza is one of the oldest cities in the world," said Otol. "Remnants dating back to 3,500 BC along with traces of all eras since then can be found there."

Otol wants to see what remains of those civilisations preserved to give Gazans a sense of their history.

"Without the past, we have no future, so we want to show young people what Gaza has been," he said.

"They are delighted to discover that once upon a time Gaza was rich."

One site he encourages visits to is the ruins of the ancient Saint Hilarion monastery, one of the oldest in the region and located south of Gaza City.

School children regularly visit the wooden passageways at the site installed by UNESCO, but a long-term commitment is needed to maintain it.

- Test of time -

That's a tall order in the Gaza Strip, with the coastal enclave battered by wars with Israel, two Palestinian intifadas and a conflict between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority.

When it is not bombs obliterating the past, it is intra-Palestinian fighting or neglect.

In one example, the whereabouts of a bronze statue of Apollo discovered in 2013 are unclear.

Earlier this month, what is thought to be the remains of a Byzantine-era church were uncovered during a construction project to build a shopping centre in central Gaza City.

The ministry of antiquities sought to stop the work that had moved marble columns discovered in the sand, with at least one broken in the process.

A dispute broke out between the ministry of Islamic affairs, which owns the land and wanted the work to move ahead, and Palestinian Christian leaders who argued that the site would be treated differently if it housed an ancient mosque.

Otol said that with humanitarian needs so great in Gaza, preservation concerns have been set aside.

"All efforts are focused on the reconstruction of destroyed infrastructure and houses," he said.

As a result, Gazans must depend on international institutions such as UNESCO or private initiatives, like that of the Salama family.

Salama said his project aimed to "mix modernity and tradition, while preserving our heritage."

Such Levantine houses once stood from Syria and Lebanon to ancient Palestine, said Salama.

It includes an "iwan," a traditional space with three walls opening onto a courtyard housing a fountain, a well and a reservoir.

Salama says it has survived the test of time -- unlike the new buildings surrounding them.

"A house like this has lived for 1,000 years, unlike new apartments -- just cardboard boxes."
PENANG, Malaysia - Workers at a construction site in the district of Paya Terubong found what could be the biggest snake ever captured, a python measuring nearly eight-meters (26-ft) long. They called Civil Defense Department workers, who nabbed the huge snake that had been slithering under a tree on Thursday. It was taken to the department office in Sungai Ara. The Guardian newspaper in London reported the snake had died after laying an egg on Sunday. The longest snake in captivity is a python measuring 7.67 meters (25 ft 2 in) long, which is housed at "The Edge of Hell Haunted House" in Kansas City, Missouri, according to Guinness World Records.
A Gilmore Girls producer says he's being shut out of profits from the series revival and is suing for at least $195,000 in damages, according to a lawsuit filed in L.A. County Superior Court.

City News Service first reported Gavin Polone filed a breach of contract lawsuit on Friday against Warner Bros. Television, claiming he helped develop the series and his contract entitled him to be paid for each original episode of the show.

The complaint says the agreement entitled Polone to receive $32,500 for each episode produced after 2003, plus a percentage of the show's modified adjusted gross and an executive producer credit.

After Netflix announced it would release four new 90-minute episodes, Polone approached Warner Bros. for his share, but according to the lawsuit the company refused.

The complaint says Warners is "making the absurd claim that the Subsequent Episodes are derivative works based on the television series" and the studio doesn't consider the reboot a television series because it's being produced for Netflix, not a broadcast network.

Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel and most of the hit show's fan favorites are back for the revival. Melissa McCarthy, who has had huge big-screen success since the show ended in 2007, announced last week that she would be returning to Stars Hollow for the reboot.

Polone, a producer-director, is an occasional contributing writer for The Hollywood Reporter. He is being repped by Eric George and Elena Nutenko of Browne George Ross, who were unavailable for comment.

Warner Bros. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

April 11, 5:10 p.m. Updated with details from the complaint.

Read More: 'Gilmore Girls': Everything to Know About Netflix's Revival
By Suzanne Barlyn (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc has agreed to pay $5.06 billion to settle claims that it misled mortgage bond investors during the financial crisis, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Monday. The settlement, which Goldman disclosed in January, stems from the firm's conduct in packaging, securitization, marketing and sale of residential mortgage-backed securities between 2005 and 2007, the Justice Department said. Investors suffered billions of dollars in losses from the securities bought during the period, the department said. The settlement comprises a $2.385 billion civil penalty and $1.8 billion in other relief, including funds for homeowners whose mortgages exceed the value of their property, as well as distressed borrowers. It also preserves the government's ability to bring criminal charges against Goldman and does not release any individuals from potential criminal or civil liability, the Justice Department said. In addition, Goldman will pay $875 million to resolve claims by the New York and Illinois attorneys general, the National Credit Union Administration and the Federal Home Loan Banks of Chicago and Seattle. A state and federal working group formed to investigate wrongdoing in the pre-financial crisis mortgage-backed securities market negotiated the settlement, said New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. The group has reached settlements with five other major financial institutions since 2012: J.P. Morgan Chase ($13 billion), Bank of America ($16.6 billion), Citibank ($7 billion) and Morgan Stanley ($3.2 billion). "We are pleased to put these legacy matters behind us," a Goldman spokesman said in a statement. "Since the financial crisis, we have taken significant steps to strengthen our culture, reinforce our commitment to our clients, and ensure our governance processes are robust," he said. Goldman also acknowledged a Justice Department statement of facts describing how the firm misled investors. For example, Goldman's due diligence for one issue of 2006 mortgage-backed securities showed that some of the loan pools reflected an unusually high percentage of loans with credit and compliance defects, the Department said. "How do we know that we caught everything?" asked a Goldman committee tasked with reviewing and approving mortgage-backed securities, according to the Justice Department. "We don't," a Goldman manager said. "Depends on what you mean by everything? Because of the limited sampling... we dont catch everything, another Goldman manager said. Still, the committee approved the securities without requiring additional due diligence, said the Justice Department, which did not identify those involved.
By Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chuck Grassley and Merrick Garland go way back, but when the Republican Senate Judiciary Committee chairman and President Barack Obama's U.S. Supreme Court nominee meet for a private breakfast on Tuesday, they will not exactly be sharing fond memories. Two decades ago, Grassley, an Iowa Republican, spearheaded a fight against Garland's nomination to the influential U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Just like now, a Democratic president, in that case Bill Clinton, submitted Garland's nomination to a Republican-controlled Senate. Garland, then a top Justice Department lawyer, was denied a Senate confirmation vote in 1995 and 1996 despite earning bipartisan praise. Finally, in 1997, after Clinton renominated Garland upon winning re-election in 1996, was he confirmed to a seat on the court that was a launching pad to the Supreme Court for Chief Justice John Roberts, Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Clarence Thomas, as well as the late Antonin Scalia. Fast-forward to 2016: Another Democratic president has chosen Garland to replace Scalia only to have Grassley and a Republican Senate maneuver to block the nomination without so much as a Judiciary Committee hearing. "Nothin' against him," the 82-year-old Grassley, who describes himself as "just a farmer from Butler County," told Reuters. Even so, Garland, 63, will sit down with Grassley on Tuesday and be told that once again, his nomination will be put on ice. In 1995 and 1996, Garland was entangled in "what ended up being a 12- or 15-year crusade," Grassley said, to reduce the number of judges on the federal appeals court that Clinton chose him to join. Two decades later, Grassley again offered no criticism of Garland's qualifications. Grassley, like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, has decided to ignore Garland's nomination in the hope that a Republican will be elected president on Nov. 8 and, after taking office in January, would choose a conservative rather than the centrist Garland. "It's not about him because we're living by the principle 'let the people have a voice,'" Grassley said, referring to the November presidential and congressional elections. Grassley, no stranger to controversy during 35 years in the Senate, has become the target of Democrats' scorn in this Supreme Court drama. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said Grassley could go down as both inept and the "most obstructionist" Judiciary Committee chairman in history. Other voices have weighed in against Grassley and his fellow Republicans, with the Des Moines Register newspaper in his home state calling the Garland blockade "un-American." Grassley, facing re-election in November, insists he will not buckle, and called the Register's editorial "hyperbolic rhetoric." In a Senate speech last week, he recounted showdowns dating back to the 1980s when he took on a popular president from his own party, Ronald Reagan, over budget matters. "I am no stranger to political pressure and to strong-arm tactics," Grassley said. Grassley then turned his attention to Roberts, criticizing a speech the chief justice made shortly before Scalia's death about the politicization of the confirmation process and warning Roberts, appointed by Republican George W. Bush, to keep his mouth shut in the Garland fight. "Now that's a political temptation that the chief justice should resist," Grassley said. (Reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Will Dunham)
This story first appeared in the April 22 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.

1. Church of Scientology

227 W. 46th St.

"We love Hamilton - they're our neighbors, but we don't keep statistics on who comes in here. Maybe one or two people have said they just saw Hamilton. I don't know really. Hundreds of people come into the Church of Scientology every week to find out what we do. We don't ask them, 'How did you get in here?'" - Pamela Pilinsky, director, community affairs

2. Esca

402 W. 43rd St.

"Probably 60 percent of our business is pre-theater. I would say that of all the pre-theater business we do, 80 percent of people are going to see shows on any given evening, and maybe half of them are seeing Hamilton. I often get the impression that it's not so much about Hamilton as it is about it being a coveted ticket." - Patrick O'Sullivan, maitre d'

3. Bar Centrale

324 W. 46th St.

Not surprisingly, no one was talking at this chill, ultra-discreet speakeasy-style bar with no signage where, several sources told THR, the Hamilton cast likes to hang. Hint: Head up the stairs.

Read More: 'Hamilton': Who's Making Millions Off Broadway's Hottest Show

4. Joe Allen Restaurant

326 W. 46th St.

"This place is always popular, but our business may be close to double since Hamilton opened. Lin has been in here, and Ron Chernow, who wrote [the biography on which the musical is based], comes in all the time, as do the castmembers. One of them came in with Mitch Hurwitz, who did Arrested Development. They're very low-key. None of them act like they're anyone, which is the best thing about it. They don't rock to the midnight hours. I mean, it's past midnight, but they've got places to go." - Kevin Skinner, manager

5. Corso Coffee

235 W. 46th St.

"Jonathan Groff, who plays King George [until April 9], comes here. I know exactly what he likes: large Americano." - Marlon Elias, barista

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6. Showbiz Parking

256-262 W. 46th St.

"There are more customers, and they're better tippers. It must be a great play. Even grown men, they cry. They say it's powerful. When Hamilton dies, it really gets to them." - Adriel Gonzalez, parking attendant

Read More: 'Hamilton's' Success Is Making His Descendants Into Demi-Celebrities

7. The Drama Book Shop

250 W. 40th St.

"Lin is a friend of the shop. He wrote In the Heights here and did workshops here. After the flood [from a burst pipe in February], we lost 30 percent of our inventory, and Lin started tweeting out for people to buy books here. We used to do five to 10 online orders a day. In our first day, we did 200 and were doing [as many as] 300 a day. We have never ordered more than 700 copies of a book in the history of the shop, which was for Harry Potter. We've got over 600 pre-orders of the Hamilton script [Hamilton: The Revolution, which hits bookstores April 12]. Lin specifically tweeted that if you're going to buy it, buy it from The Drama Book Shop. What's amazing is that the book is $25 on Amazon and $40 through us. People are canceling their Amazon orders and buying from us because Lin said to. He comes in and buys things, and our owner said he doesn't have to pay for anything ever again. His response was, well, he's in the money now so he can afford it." - Steven Carl McCasland, social media and events manager

8. Street Vendor

Corner W. 46th St. and Broadway

"Too many people come and see Hamilton. They make big lines and block everybody's businesses. I told a friend of mine, a security guy from the Marriott Marquis hotel [on Broadway between 45th and 46th streets], to go tell the guys at the theater to make the line go the opposite way so they can block everybody on Eighth Avenue. We get some good customers, though. They buy sunglasses and 'I Love New York' T-shirts. No complaints. I wish I could get tickets. How about a ticket, huh?" - Jose L.

9. Vynl Restaurant

756 9th Ave.

"People ask me if I've seen the show. Only a couple hundred times. I was in the show. I had to learn six different parts throughout the show for the dancers. I only went on for the character of Samuel Seabury. He's in an ensemble that sings with Lin-Manuel, who is wonderful. Not only did he give me my Broadway debut and a Broadway credit, he allowed me to be in a show that is pushing the limits of theater." - Brandon Hudson, waiter/Broadway performer
This story first appeared in the April 22 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.

Thanks to the immense success of Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical, the descendants of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton are becoming demi-celebrities in their own right - whether they like it or not.

Last fall, just weeks after Hamilton had opened to stunning reviews on Broadway, eight members of the Hamilton clan spanning three generations converged at the New York Historical Society's annual fundraiser to meet Miranda, the show's creator and star (see photo).

The Hamilton scions, some of whom still are getting used to their ancestor being portrayed as a hip-hop hero, came at the invitation of George Cox, the founder of Hamilton Scholars, an organization benefiting high-achieving students who, like the group's namesake, come from low-income situations.

Read More: 'Hamilton': Who's Making Millions Off Broadway's Hottest Show

Among the descendants in attendance was Doug Hamilton, 65, a fifth great-grandson of Alexander and his wife, Elizabeth. The Ohio resident says he has represented the Hamilton family tree at more than 100 events and named his son and daughter after his great-great-great-great-great grandparents.

He has seen Hamilton three times, catching the early preview at Vassar College, the off-Broadway production at the Public Theater and the first performance at Broadway's Richard Rodgers Theatre. "There has never been a better time to be a Hamilton descendant," he says. "I get 10 times more inquiries about Hamilton now than ever before, even though a good number of them are for tickets to the musical." Doug gives Miranda - whom he calls "a new acquaintance" - high marks for "not only making Hamilton and his generation cool" but for supplying "the tool, in the lyrics of the musical, to communicate the founding story to our youth."

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Read More: The 'Hamilton' Effect: Local Businesses Get a Bump in Profits

Having lived with his ancestor's legacy all of his life, he adds, "My favorite takeaway is at the end of the show, where we are reminded that Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton outlived her husband by 50 years, during which she collected his papers to preserve the memory of what he did for this country." Third great-grandson David Hamilton Rhinelander, 80, has not seen the show because, he says, he's not interested in paying $1,000 for a ticket on the secondary market. He has, however, watched video clips of the music and approves. "A hip-hop Hamilton is quite a thing!" says the former writer for the Hartford Courant, who has an ink portrait of Hamilton (given to him by his grandmother) hanging in his living room.

While other family members share their cousins' pride, they are not so comfortable with the attention that Hamilton has brought them. The remaining offspring depicted in the photo either declined to speak to THR or did not respond to requests for comment. "My cousins are very private," says Doug.

In addition to ticket requests, the descendants often find themselves embroiled in the debate over a proposed new 10-dollar bill that would replace Hamilton with a female figure. The consensus among family members is that a historical figure on another denomination should go. "I would take [Andrew Jackson] off the 20," says Rhinelander, "but I don't want to get into that kind of fight in public."

1. Valentine Hollingsworth, 62, fourth great-grandson of Alexander Hamilton

2. Douglas Hamilton, 65, fifth great-grandson

3. David Hamilton Rhinelander, 80, third great-grandson

4. Dr. Alexandra Hamilton Woods, 64, fourth great-granddaughter

5. Ann W. Rhinelander, spouse

6. Carole Hollingsworth, spouse

7. Gail Hamilton Berner, 71, fourth great-granddaughter

8. Lin-Manuel Miranda, 36

9. Edgar Berner, spouse

10. Juliet Hamilton Hollingsworth, fifth great-granddaughter

11. Debra Hamilton, spouse

12. Eliza Hamilton Reed, fifth great-granddaughter

13. Dr. Helen Morgan Hollingsworth, 64, fourth great-granddaughter
By David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) - The leader of Canada's left-leaning New Democrats (NDP), who is set to lose his job after a poor showing in last year's election, on Tuesday urged the party to remain united amid signs of a split that could benefit Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The NDP, which has never held power federally, started last year's campaign in the lead, but ended in third place after a series of missteps. Members voted on Sunday to replace leader Thomas Mulcair at a convention marked by open divisions over policy. "This weekend's vote must not divide us. Instead, let's work together to choose the best person to take our project forward," Mulcair said in a statement on Twitter. The comments were his first since the convention ended. The NDP compete with the ruling Liberals for much of the center-left segment of the electorate. Extended NDP infighting may boost the prospects of Trudeau's Liberals in the next federal election, scheduled for 2019. "The most sure-fire way not to win an election is to make your party look divided ... unless they can rally around a common sense of purpose, they could realistically be in the political wilderness," said Nanos Research pollster Nik Nanos. Mulcair will stay on until a new leader can be chosen, which could take as long as two years. "They are in political trouble," said University of Manitoba political science professor Paul Thomas, noting there were few potential leadership candidates who could compete with Trudeau. The 44-year-old prime minister's popularity has remained high since the election. The party is riven by strains between more centrist members, including some unions and politicians who hold power at the provincial level, as well as activists who produced a manifesto calling for strict energy industry curbs. Party members voted to study the manifesto. The convention was held in Alberta, the heart of Canada's struggling energy industry and a province that elected its first ever NDP government last year. Alberta premier Rachel Notley on Monday said the manifesto's proposals to keep oil in the ground and slap a moratorium on new pipelines were naive, ill-informed and tone deaf. But federal NDP legislator Peter Julian, tipped as a potential leadership candidate, noted the party had years to rebuild and laughed off suggestions it was doomed. "I've never seen a year ... where people have not been saying that the NDP is on the verge of a crisis," he said. (Reporting by David Ljunggren, editing by G Crosse)
Paris (AFP) - Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain will look to their superstar strikers Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in desperate bids to clinch Champions League semi-final berths against Wolfsburg and Manchester City on Tuesday.

The Parisians were held 2-2 at the Parc des Princes last Wednesday when Ibrahimovic missed a spot-kick and fluffed a one-on-one with Joe Hart, before ruthlessly exploiting a City error to net an equaliser.

A 'Clasico' hangover was the way many described Real Madrid's shock 2-0 quarter-final first-leg defeat at Wolfsburg, which followed an away win in La Liga to arch rivals Barcelona.

Poor performances from Real's stars were glaring as Gareth Bale was kept quiet and Ronaldo rarely shook off his markers.

The three-time Ballon d'Or winner did have the ball in the back of the Wolfsburg goal within 74 seconds, but the Portuguese then threw up his arms in horrified disbelief at an offside flag.

Never lacking in confidence Ronaldo, who has scored 13 goals in the competition so far this season, vowed his side would grind out a qualifying result.

"Tuesday has to be a magical night," said the Portuguese.

"The key objective is getting through to the next round. It is the only option that will allow us players and the fans to leave the stadium happy."

Regardless of his astonishing scoring record Ronaldo was kept quiet over both legs of last season's quarter-final 1-0 aggregate victory over Atletico Madrid as Javier Hernandez grabbed the crucial goal from a Ronaldo assist.

Germany international Julian Draxler identified the Portugal captain as the main threat to Wolfsburg and also pointed out he has a habit of scoring against German sides.

"You can only be impressed with Cristiano Ronaldo," said Draxler.

"But at the end of the day, this is about Wolfsburg versus Real Madrid, not Wolfsburg versus Ronaldo."

PSG have hung their hopes on Ibrahimovic and have been rewarded with a constant flow of goals, assists and towering authority on the pitch and in the dressing room.

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After a hat-trick in a 4-1 league win over Nice the weekend before last, the 34-year-old striker has equalled his best ever goals tally in a Ligue 1 season and has 39 for the campaign in all competitions.

But doubts linger over Ibrahimovic's Champions League legacy as he has rarely shone against top competition in Europe.

He has 30 goals from 26 league games, but a more modest five in the Champions League this season.

But as with Ronaldo, self-confidence would not seem to be the issue.

"I have never played as well," he said on Monday. "I'm in the form of my life. I was born old and I'll die young."

Out of contract with PSG this summer, Ibrahimovic will need to deliver something against City if he wishes to prolong his stay at the ambitious Qatari-owned outfit.
Portrait by Matthew Harris Jouett, 1818 (credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Portrait by Matthew Harris Jouett, 1818 (credit: Wikimedia Commons)

On April 12, 1777, the Kentucky politician Henry Clay was born. His remarkable career included a long stint as Speaker of the House and several failed presidential campaigns.

Clay was born near Richmond, Virginia, to a Baptist clergyman and his wife, the seventh of their nine children. Clays father passed away when the boy was only four years old, leaving Clay and his siblings to help their widowed mother tend to the family farmall in the midst of a colonial war for independence.

At age 14, Clay began work at a local store, where he copied legal documents and did other general writing as needed. He was soon hired by George Wythea powerful lawyer whose friends and students included George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and John Marshallas a personal assistant; Clay served him ably for several years before a brief stint with the state attorney general. By age 20, Clay was admitted to the Virginia bar as a practicing lawyer, having taught himself everything he needed to know through reading and work experience.

Shortly thereafter, Clay moved to Lexington, Kentucky, which would remain his home until his death in 1852. In 1799, Clay met and married his wife, Lucretia Hart, with whom he would father 11 children, most of whom did not live into adulthood. For several years, Clay maintained a respectable, if modest, legal practice. His clients included Aaron Burr, who was accused of treason for conspiring to establish an independent country in the western United States.

Yet as early as 1798, Clay spoke out against the Alien and Sedition Acts and advocated for amending the Kentucky state constitution to abolish slavery, indicating a strong interest in public affairs. In 1803, Clay was elected to the Kentucky state legislature as a Jeffersonian Republican. Just three years later, he was chosen by the legislature to complete an unfinished term in the U.S. Senate, where he advocated early and often for his burgeoning American System, featuring higher tariffs, investments in infrastructure, and, later in his career, a national bank. Clay was also appointed in 1810 to complete another unfinished Senate term.

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In 1811, Clay joined the House of Representatives, where he served almost continuously until 1825. Upon taking his seat, he was elected Speaker of the House almost immediately; he would be elected again several times, holding that office throughout nearly his entire tenure. Addressing his fellow lawmakers soon after his first selection, Clay said:

I am sensible of the imperfections which I bring along with me, and a consciousness of these would deter me from attempting a discharge of the duties of the chair, did I not rely confidently upon your support. Should the rare and delicate occasion present itself when your speaker should be called upon to check or control the wanderings or intemperances in debate, your justice will, I hope, ascribe to his interposition the motives only of public good and a regard to the dignity of the house.

As a member of the House, Clay took a hawkish stance on relations with Britain and was one of the leading proponents of the War of 1812. Yet he jumped at the opportunity to secure peace: in 1814, President James Madison sent Clay abroad with four other delegates, including John Quincy Adams, to negotiate what would become the Treaty of Ghent.

Clay became a full-throated advocate for the establishment of a national bank in 1816 and for liberating South American colonies from Spanish rule. He was also instrumental in crafting and passing the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which proved a short-lived solution to the growing national debate over slavery. In order to preserve the balance of power between free states and slave states, Congress admitted Missouri and Maine to the Union as free and slave, respectively, and banned slavery everywhere else north of the 3630 latitude line. Clays work on this and other issues earned him the nickname The Great Compromiser, with which he is still strongly associated today.

In 1824, Clay made his first run at the presidency in what amounted to an internal squabble among the Democratic-Republicans. With no single candidate obtaining a majority of votes in the Electoral College, Clay was eliminated as the lowest vote-getter, and the race was thrown to the House of Representatives. There, Clay wielded enormous influence as Speaker of the House; his support for John Quincy Adams proved decisive, leading to accusations of a corrupt bargain in which he backed Adams over Andrew Jackson in exchange for a cabinet appointment.

Sure enough, Adams made Clay his Secretary of State in 1825, fueling a steady slew of accusations and criticism from Jackson and others that would dog him throughout his career. He also found many of his initiatives, including support for South American independence, thwarted by an obstinate Congress that did not trust him. Though he ultimately negotiated more treaties than all of his predecessors combined, Clay was mostly dissatisfied in the post.

Upon Adams fall to Jackson in the 1828 contest, Clay considered leaving public life for good and retiring to private life in Kentucky. It was not to be: he was elected to the Senate in 1830, where he spent more than a decade engrossed once more in the most pressing issues facing the country. Almost immediately, he faced an irate South Carolina calling for nullification of a federal tariff law. Clay made clear his opposition, but true to his moniker, he sought compromise. In 1833, Clay introduced a moderate tariff bill that drew the support of Senator John C. Calhoun and the other nullifiers, thus avoiding a constitutional crisisat least for the time being.

Clay also returned to the struggle over the national bank, forcing the issue of its renewal into the 1832 presidential campaign as nominee for the National Republican Party. It became clear, however, that a majority of voters opposed the bank, and Jackson trounced Clay. Soundly defeated, Clay returned to the Senate and became head of the newly formed Whig Party.

The decade and a half that followed featured many years out of the Senate and more failed attempts to win the presidency. Clay sought the Whig Partys nomination in 1840, 1844, and 1848; only in 1844 was he successful, meeting frustrating losses to William Henry Harrison and Zachary Taylor, respectively. And in his 1844 race against James Polk, Clay opposed the annexation of Texas, sealing his defeat in the face of national obsession with manifest destiny.

For his last hurrah, Clay returned to the issue of slavery. Together with Senators Daniel Webster of Massachusetts and Calhounthe trio known as the Great TriumvirateClay put together an omnibus bill addressing several heated disputes, among them the admission of California as a state; the creation of the Utah and New Mexico territories; and the status of the Fugitive Slaves Act. Although the Compromise of 1850 did not prevent civil war, it delayed confrontation for several years.

Henry Clay died of tuberculosis on June 29, 1852, still serving as a United States Senator from his beloved home state of Kentucky. He was laid in state at the Capitolthe first to be honored as suchand ultimately laid to rest in Lexington. Speaking in Springfield, Illinois, just days after Clays passing, Abraham Lincoln concluded his eulogy with these words:

Henry Clay is dead. His long and eventful life is closed. Our country is prosperous and powerful; but could it have been quite all it has been, and is, and is to be, without Henry Clay? Such a man the times have demanded, and such, in the providence of God was given us. But he is gone. Let us strive to deserve, as far as mortals may, the continued care of Divine Providence, trusting that, in future national emergencies, He will not fail to provide us the instruments of safety and security.

Amen.

Nicandro Iannacci is a web content strategist at the National Constitution Center.

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Seshank Vemuri came to the U.S. 10 years ago with ambitions of building his own company. After completing his undergraduate education in India, he received his masters in Information Systems from the University of Missouri and is now in the U.S. on an H-1B visa.



The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa that lasts three years, though individuals can apply for an extension of an additional three years, for a total of six years. The visa allows U.S. employers to temporarily hire foreign workers in specialty occupations. Holders cannot remain in the U.S. permanently and can only get additional extensions if their employer applies for their permanent residence (a green card). And those limitations are often keenly felt among an immigrant -- and entrepreneurial -- population; even landing a much-coveted H-1B doesnt allow workers do what American-born workers can do.



Requests for H-1B visas have exceeded supply for the fourth consecutive year; the application process opened April 1 and they exceeded the cap of 85,000 in 5 days. Now theres a lottery taking place for the 85,000 spots available; 65,000 go to employers who hire high-skilled foreign-born workers (with at least a bachelors degree) and the remaining 20,000 visas go to those with advanced degrees from U.S. institutions.



Naveen Bhora, a partner at immigration law firm Wolfsdorf Rosenthal LLP, says theres only a 30% chance of being selected in the lottery process, and its a grueling waiting game for applicants.



Fwd.us, an organization led by leaders in the tech community (including Yahoos Marissa Mayer, Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg and LinkedIns Reid Hoffman), is pushing for immigration reform, particularly as it relates to the need for high-skilled workers. President Todd Schulte says a major rehaul is vital for the immigration system. Its an indictment of Congress, not being able to do anything for two decades. This visa program existed before the worldwide web and its wildly prohibitive, he says. Last year, Pennsylvania Sen. Orinn Hatch introduced the Immigration Innovation Act, which would raise the yearly cap on H-1B visas from 65,000 to 195,000 and remove limits on the number of high-skilled visas for those with advanced degrees. It was never voted on in the Senate.



The green card game

Now a consultant for Deloitte, Vemuri, 31, applied for a green card in 2012 and says hes looking at 2019 as a realistic time to be granted permanent residence. In the meantime, hes moonlighting as an entrepreneur, though he wont be able to run the company that hes building. He describes his startup, an app called Clot, a way for people to meet others to go to events together, as part Meetup and part EventBrite. But because theres no legal way to run his company  you must be a citizen to own a business in the U.S.  he started it in someone elses name (who is a U.S. citizen).



Currently, only 7% of the total number of green cards can go to applications from a single country. That means H-1B holders from countries with high demand like China, India and Mexico have to wait longer than other applicants before permanent residence becomes an option.



The idea that youre highly intelligent and skilled, coming to the U.S. after college from a country like India and you might not get a green card until the second half of the 21st century is bonkers, Schulte says.



Thats why Vemuri is taking matters into his own hands: My solution is to start the company and let someone else run it until it gets traction. If the company found success, Vemuri says he would go back to India when his visa expired so he could run it from there.



Bhora, the immigration lawyer, agrees that the H-1B is far from ideal for entrepreneurs. You can still have a sizable ownership of the company -- limited to 10% -- but I dont see the H-1B as a path to starting your own company, she says.



Startups that are looking to hire foreign-born workers may ultimately be at a disadvantage as well. Though the lottery process for H-1Bs is randomized, Bhora says once theyre selected, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) scrutinizes and is a lot more critical of smaller companies. The USCIS checks to see that a company is properly established and has the cash flow necessary to provide employees the average wage. As many early-stage startups arent yet profitable, its far more difficult for small businesses to prove their financial stability. It also takes a lot more effort and money on the smaller companys end. H-1Bs are not cheap -- they take a lot of financial commitment from the employer, she says. It costs employers about $5,000 per employee. Plus, immigration lawyer fees cost $2,000 to $3,000, on average.



Schulte echoes this concern: A startup thats applying for one or two H-1Bs should be treated differently. There needs to be a way that startups are getting these employees from all around the world, otherwise well be at a disadvantage, he says.



In fact, 74% of Silicon Valley-employed computer and mathematical workers between 25 and 44 are foreign-born, according to the 2016 Silicon Valley Index. This is part of a broader debate about whether big tech companies are actually outsourcing their jobs. (Take, for example, two former Disney employees who filed lawsuits when they were laid off from their IT jobs after training their H-1B visa replacements.)



The key to permanent residence ultimately lies in the hands of the employer, who might not always be eager to apply for employees green cards. Once these highly skilled employees have green cards, they become free agents, so employers arent jumping to apply on their behalf, says Michael Wildes, managing partner at immigration law firm Wildes & Weinberg. This H-1B visa is more of a bandage, rather than a fix to this economy.



Though Vemuri is a 10-year resident of the U.S., he still doesnt consider himself American because he feels he hasnt been included in the entrepreneurial fabric of the country. One million people are on non-immigrant visas and cant start companies. Anyone with an iota of intelligence would be able to see that the immediate, fastest, and easiest way of encouraging entrepreneurship would be to give these people who have graduated from public schools and top MBA programs a path to permanent residence. This is a question of ethics, he says.



Though discussions around H-1Bs tend to go hand in hand with the tech sector, the kinds of industries that it impacts are far-reaching and include medicine, architecture and finance. Particularly problematic, Bhora notes, are physicians who go through their residency training on the H-1B and if they then complete three years of specialization, theyve reached the six-year limit. By the time youre finished with your medical training here and youre a highly qualified physician, you dont have the basis to stay on when were facing a nationwide shortage of certain physicians, says Bhora.



Ultimately, very little will get accomplished until a new president is in office, says Schulte.



We are in dire need to protect our homeland and reinvigorate our economy; immigration, if handled properly, could do both, says Wildes. Unfortunately, people are tired of waiting and oftentimes moving on. We have to remember that todays H-1Bs could become tomorrows employers.

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What are your thoughts on H-1B visas and the need for immigration reform? Tweet me at @melodyhahm or tell us in the comments below.

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By Greg Torode and James Pomfret HONG KONG (Reuters) - A senior Hong Kong-based Chinese official said on Tuesday that the disappearance of a Hong Kong bookseller was a "very unfortunate incident" that shouldn't be repeated, without clarifying details of the case. Asked about the suspected abduction in December of British national Lee Bo from the Chinese-controlled financial hub, Wang Zhenmin, the head of the law department at Beijing's liaison office in Hong Kong, said he was happy Lee had since returned to the city and was living a "normal life". "No one wants to see this kind of case happen in Hong Kong. No one wants to see it happen again in future," told the Foreign Correspondents' Club. His remarks were the most detailed yet from a Chinese official after the disappearances of Lee and four other booksellers who produced and sold gossipy books critical of Chinese leaders. But Wang said he didn't know the facts of the case and declined to comment when asked by Reuters whether Chinese authorities had abducted Lee. The incident has rocked the freewheeling city and sparked local and international concern that Beijing was using shadowy tactics to undermine core freedoms guaranteed to the former British colony when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997. Last week, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said his government had evidence that Lee was "removed from Hong Kong under duress". Wang said China would uphold its policy of respecting Hong Kong's autonomy under the "one country, two systems" formula by which Britain handed Hong Kong back China, adding China would "honor our commitments to Hong Kong society". Lee surfaced in China in late February and has since made several visits to Hong Kong, denying in interviews that he was kidnapped by Chinese authorities as many in Hong Kong still believe. Hong Kong's freedoms are protected by the Basic Law, a mini-constitution that includes the "inviolable" freedom of Hong Kong people from arbitrary arrest and search. Hong Kong authorities are still waiting for detailed explanations from China regarding the booksellers and how Lee was able to cross into China from Hong Kong without his travel documents, including a British passport. The controversy has exacerbated social tensions between Hong Kong and China, fuelling a fledgling independence movement among pockets of the city's increasingly restive youth including those who took part in the 79-day "Occupy Central" democracy street protests in late 2014. Wang urged Hong Kong residents to respect the laws of Hong Kong and China. "(They) shouldn't do anything harmful to Chinese national security under the interests of the entire Chinese people, including our Hong Kong residents," he said. Wang also said that young people advocating independence could test the limits of Hong Kong's vaunted freedom of speech. "I don't believe they can achieve Hong Kong independence ... but in the process ... they will cause a lot of conflict," he said. (Reporting by Greg Torode and James Pomfret; Editing by Nick Macfie)
Is smartphone innovation a thing of the past? According to HTC, not even close. "This is the end of the beginning," HTCs product marketing boss Darren Sng said during a meeting last week, suggesting that some exciting smartphone innovations are on the horizon.

In the meantime, were at the end of a cycle of refinement that has seen leading vendors master the current formula. Smartphones are sleeker and more powerful than they have ever been before, and they provide users with an experience that is vastly improved compared to where things were as recently as a couple of years ago.

The latest new flagship phone to boast of impressive refinements is the HTC 10, which was just unveiled by HTC on Tuesday morning. And while leaks and rumors may have painted a near-complete picture ahead of the phones announcement, the HTC 10 ended up being the most surprising phone of the year so far.

DONT MISS: 5 new features expected in this weeks Tesla Model S refresh

The new HTC 10 might not feature a modular design like the LG G5 or a curved screen like the Galaxy S7 edge, but it does offer something that many smartphone shoppers will find even more important: Significant improvements in just about every area you can think of.

I spent some time with the HTC 10 ahead of todays announcement, and I can confirm that the new phone makes a dramatic improvements in nearly every key area compared to HTCs earlier flagship models. The design is better, the performance is better, and the user experience is better.

HTC says "10 is about perfection," and while the company's new flagship phone certainly isnt perfect, its as close as the Taiwan-based smartphone vendor has come.

Beginning with the software, HTC made a serious effort to dial back its Sense interface and let Googles work with Android shine through more brightly. To start, HTC eliminated nearly all of its apps that have duplicates made by Google. So instead of having two gallery apps, two calendar apps, two calculators and so on, HTC only provides its own apps where they add actual value to the user experience.

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For example, HTC uses its own camera app because it offers a special feature set that the company wants to give users access to. But instead of having its own gallery app in addition to Google Photos, Google's version is the only app you'll find on the HTC 10.

And bloat is hardly the only pain point HTC addressed with the HTC 10.

BGR-HTC-10-5

HTC has done a tremendous amount of work with the 10, and there are a few areas that are key. First, HTC says its new flagship phone will provide up to two full days of battery life on a single charge. If true, this would be a huge milestone. The phone packs a large 3,000 mAh battery and software optimizations help make the most of that big battery pack. The HTC 10 includes Quick Charge 3.0 support as well, which can charge it from 0% to 50% in less than 30 minutes.

Also important is the new HTC 10 camera. The camera has always been a problem area for HTC, but it looks like things are finally starting to change with the HTC 10. The phone features a 12-megapixel "UltraPixel" branded camera that, according to camera review site DxOMark, ties the Galaxy S7 as the best smartphone camera in the world.

I'll be spending plenty of time with the new camera to judge for myself, but top rank on DxOMark is certainly a good sign.

HTC says its touchscreen responsiveness on the HTC 10 is the fastest in the world, the new fingerprint scanner embedded in the home button is the market's fastest with a 0.2 second unlock time, and the audio has been upgraded with "BoomSound Hi-Fi Edition." The new system consists of a separate tweeter and woofer that both include dedicated amplifiers, and a new headphone amp that provides high-fidelity sound to wired headphones.

BGR-htc-10-16

The new HTC 10 is easily one of the sleekest new smartphones on the market, but design and build quality were never HTC's problems. The company appears to have made huge strides in a number of key areas that had been big pain points for HTC users though, and we can't wait to put the new phone through the paces for our in-depth HTC 10 review.

HTC's new flagship smartphone is available for preorder in the U.S. beginning today, April 12th, for $699.99 off contract on HTC's website.

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This article was originally published on BGR.com
Washington (AFP) - The International Monetary Fund said Tuesday that the global economy faces wide-ranging threats from weak growth and rising protectionism, warning of possible "severe" damage should Britain quit the European Union.

The Fund cut its global forecast for the third straight quarter, saying economic activity has been "too slow for too long," and stressed the need for immediate action by the world's economic powers to shore up growth.

It said intensifying financial and political risks around the world, from volatile financial markets to the Syria conflict to global warming, had left the economy "increasingly fragile" and vulnerable to recession.

The IMF raised concerns over "fraying" unity in the European Union under pressure from the migration crisis and the "Brexit" possibility.

And it pointed to the contractions in large emerging market economies, most notably Brazil, where the economic downturn has been accompanied by deep political crisis that has President Dilma Rousseff facing impeachment.

Seeing a broad fall in trade and investment, the IMF cut its forecast for world growth this year to a sluggish 3.2 percent, 0.2 percentage points down from its January outlook and down from the 3.8 percent pace expected last July.

That reflects a glummer view of growth in both developed and emerging economies, with the forecasts for Japan and oil-dependent Russia and Nigeria all sharply lowered.

Growth expectations for most leading economies were pared back by 0.2 percentage points. The outlook for the United States -- hit by the impact of the strong dollar -- was trimmed to 2.4 percent this year, from 2.6 percent in January.

Only the pictures in China and developing eastern Europe were better. But at a slightly upgraded pace of 6.5 percent growth, China was still on track for a significant slowdown from last year.

- Rising threats to growth -

The growth downgrade was expected but the tone of the IMF message was more dire than in recent months.

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It came as an increasing number of countries are approaching the IMF and World Bank for financial support. Last week Angola, its finances devastated by the crash in oil prices, asked the IMF for a three-year bailout program.

And the World Bank said requests for loan support had reached levels seen only during financial crises.

IMF chief economist Maurice Obstfeld said there was a risk of a full stall in global growth without efforts to boost investment and demand.

"The weaker is growth, the greater the chance that the preceding risks, if some materialize, pull the world economy below stalling speed," he said.

"Lower growth means less room for error."

- Refugee strains in Europe -

The IMF singled out the violent swings in global financial markets as a particular threat to growth this year, impairing confidence and demand.

"Since last summer, we have seen two distinct rounds of global financial turbulence," said Obstfeld.

The result, he said, is capital flight from riskier assets and economies, higher borrowing costs for developing countries, and continued weakness in commodity prices.

The second factor with global consequences, the Fund said, is the violent instability in Syria and elsewhere that has driven millions of refugees into surrounding states and Europe.

Beyond the financial and social costs from that is "a rising tide of inward-looking nationalism" which jeopardizes the long push for greater global economic progress.

"Across Europe, the political consensus that once propelled the European project is fraying," the IMF said, warning "a backlash against cross-border economic integration threatens to halt or even reverse the postwar trend of ever more open trade."

One sign of that is the looming Brexit referendum. If British voters opt to leave the EU, the IMF said it "could do severe regional and global damage by disrupting established trading relationships."

British Prime Minister David Cameron, who wants his country to remain in the European Union, agreed with that assessment.

"The IMF is right -- leaving the EU would pose major risks for the UK economy. We are stronger, safer and better off in the European Union," he said in a tweet.

- Markets shrug off warnings -

The reaction to the message in markets was sanguine. After weakening for several sessions, the dollar edged higher against the euro and yen, oil prices surged and stock markets from Asia to the Americas gained ground. London shares were up 0.7 percent and in New York the S&P 500 jumped 1.0 percent.

"If you're trading based on the economic forecast from the IMF, your view is going to be lagging, not leading the market," said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities.
By David Lawder

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund warned on Tuesday of the risk of political isolationism, notably Britain's possible exit from the European Union, and the risk of growing economic inequality as it cut its global economic growth forecast for the fourth time in a year.

In the run-up to the annual spring meetings of the IMF and the World Bank in Washington, D.C. this week, the IMF said the global economy was vulnerable to shocks such as sharp currency devaluations and worsening geopolitical conflicts.

In its latest World Economic Outlook, the IMF forecast global economic growth of 3.2 percent this year, compared to a forecast of 3.4 percent in January. The growth estimate also was lowered in July and October of last year.

For 2017, the IMF said the global economy would grow 3.5 percent, down 0.1 percentage point from its January estimate.

Its latest report cited a worsening spillover from China's economic slowdown as well as the impact of low oil prices on emerging markets such as Brazil. It also highlighted persistent economic weakness in Japan, Europe and the United States.

The gloomier picture sets the stage for the IMF and the World Bank to call this week for more coordinated global action to support growth.

"In brief, lower growth means less room for error," IMF's chief economist, Maurice Obstfeld, told a news conference, adding that "scarring effects" from years of tepid growth could in turn weaken demand, thin the workforce, and reduce potential output further, creating a scenario of "secular stagnation."

ISOLATIONISM GROWS

In its report, the IMF warned that the rise of nationalist parties in Europe, the June 23 "Brexit" referendum, and anti-trade rhetoric in the U.S. presidential campaign posed threats to the global economic outlook.

A British exit from the EU could do "severe regional and global damage by disrupting established trading relationships," it said.

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"We're definitely facing the risk of going into doldrums that could be politically perilous," said Obstfeld, who pointed to stagnant wage growth as fueling a growing sense of economic inequality that is spilling into the voting booth in many countries.

The IMF urged policymakers to boost growth with actions such as deregulating certain industries and raising labor market participation. It recommended nations with fiscal breathing room boost investments in infrastructure and cut labor taxes, and it encouraged central banks to keep monetary policy accommodative.

The IMF's report and the gathering of officials and central bankers in Washington this week comes against the backdrop of widening rows in Europe over negative interest rates, a refugee crisis, and how to shore up Greece's financial bailout program.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday that the European Central Bank's record low interest rates were causing "extraordinary problems" for German banks and pensioners, and risked undermining voters' support for European integration.

Official negotiations over Greece's bailout review have been idled during the IMF and World Bank meetings, but the debate over whether to provide more debt relief to Athens in exchange for further budget cuts is expected to continue on the sidelines.

Obstfeld repeated the IMF's demand for a bailout program that would put Greece on a path to sustain its debt and begin growing again, adding that there should be some flexibility to help its government deal with the massive numbers of refugees who have fled to Greece from war-torn countries.

FORECASTS FOR JAPAN, U.S. ALSO CUT

The IMF on Tuesday cut Japan's growth forecast for 2016 in half to 0.5 percent. It said Brazil's economy would now shrink by 3.8 percent this year versus the previous forecast of a 3.5 percent contraction, as Latin America's largest economy struggles through its deepest recession in decades.

Meanwhile, the United States, one of the relative bright spots in the global economy, also saw its 2016 growth forecast cut to 2.4 percent from 2.6 percent. The IMF said it anticipated an increased drag on U.S. exports from a stronger U.S. dollar, while low oil prices would keep energy investment weak.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew will urge G20 and IMF members to take steps to bolster demand, but also to "avoid persistent exchange rate misalignments and refrain from targeting exchange rates for competitive purposes," a senior Treasury official told reporters.

The IMF nudged China's growth forecast slightly higher to 6.5 percent this year, and 6.2 percent in 2017, partly due to previously announced policy stimulus moves. However, the Fund added that it was reducing its longer-term growth forecasts for China and said the Asian nation's "momentous" shift away from investment-led growth was continuing to chill global trade.

(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by David Chance and Paul Simao)
China's growth slowdown has severely dragged on global expansion and may have "substantial spillover effects", the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday.

With the outlook for global growth darkening, a sharper downturn in China "could lead to a more generalised slowdown" in emerging markets and advanced economies, the IMF said in its April 2016 World Economic Outlook.

"Basically we're all in this together, and what happens in one region will affect other regions," IMF economic counsellor Maurice Obstfeld said in a recorded statement, adding that policymakers should "act now".

But the IMF raised its 2016 growth forecast for the world's second-largest economy by 0.2 percentage points to 6.5 percent, citing announced stimulus plans. It also increased its estimate for next year by the same amount, to 6.2 percent.

The figures still represent a significant fall on the 6.9 percent growth seen in 2015 -- the slowest in a quarter of a century -- and the sober report came as China struggles with a tough transition away from dependence on debt-fuelled investment and export industries.

Beijing has sought to reassure investors that it will make much-needed reforms to tackle overcapacity in steel and the manufacturing sector, but doubts about the authorities' ability and will have weighed on the outlook.

The IMF noted that "limited progress on key reforms" has fuelled concerns, "triggering turbulence in Chinese and global financial markets". It added that policy actions to quell market anxieties "have, at times, been ineffective and poorly communicated".

The weakness of corporate balance sheets and a large number of non-performing loans posed risks to financial stability in China, it said.

As the world's top trader of goods and a major buyer of commodities -- accounting for roughly 40 percent of global demand for base metals in 2014 - the slowdown in China after decades of high-speed expansion "has entailed sizeable global spillovers through trade channels", the IMF added.

China accounts for more than 10 percent of global trade, according to the IMF, and a quarter of world investment.

If falling Chinese investment leads to a one percent drop in growth, it said, expansion in G20 economies will fall by a quarter of a percent.
By Suchitra Mohanty NEW DELHI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Indian temples that deny or restrict women's entry undermine the fight for gender equality and have no constitutional right to do so, the Supreme Court said, in the latest boost for women demanding equal access to places of worship. India's highest court told the board which manages the popular Sabarimala Ayyappa Hindu temple in the southern state of Kerala to explain why it bans women. "What right does the temple have to forbid women from entering any part of the temple? Can you deny a woman her right to climb Mount Everest? The reasons for banning anything must be common for all," Justice Dipak Misra, head of a three-judge bench, said on Monday. "Gender discrimination in such a matter is unacceptable," he said, adding that the temple's arguments must be based on the nation's constitution. The struggle for equal access to places of worship in India has triggered a wider debate on women's rights in the country, with the hashtag #RightoPray trending on Twitter. The Sabarimala temple is one of a few in India which bars entry to females aged between 10 and 50 years old, saying that menstruating women are impure. Discrimination against menstruating women is common in some parts of South Asia, where they are forbidden from entering houses or temples and taking part in festivals and community events. "Banning on the basis of age is not practiced in the Hindu religion," Ravi Prakash Gupta, of the Indian Young Lawyers' Association which launched the petition against Sabarimala temple, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. The lawyers' association said it had received death threats over the petition. The Supreme Court comments came days after the Shani Shignapur temple in western Maharashtra state opened its inner sanctum to women following a Mumbai court ruling that it was the fundamental right of women to enter any place of worship that allows men access, and that the state should protect this right. [L5N17711P] The Mahalaxmi temple, also in Maharashtra state, followed suit on Monday and allowed women entry. In a separate case, two Muslim women are demanding access to a landmark mosque in Mumbai. Sabarimala temple authorities have said the ban on women is rooted in a centuries-old tradition and is essential to the rites related to the temple's chief deity, Ayyappan. "You can't look at the issue from the angle of worshippers alone. It has to be seen from the point of the God being worshipped, a celibate," senior counsel K.K. Venugopal told the court. The next hearing is on April 13. (Writing by Rina Chandran, Editing by Katie Nguyen; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit news.trust.org to see more stories.)
By Jonathan Landay, Warren Strobel and Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As U.S.-led offensives drive back Islamic State in Iraq, concern is growing among U.S. and U.N. officials that efforts to stabilize liberated areas are lagging, creating conditions that could help the militants endure as an underground network. One major worry: not enough money is being committed to rebuild the devastated provincial capital of Ramadi and other towns, let alone Islamic State-held Mosul, the ultimate target in Iraq of the U.S.-led campaign. Lise Grande, the No. 2 U.N. official in Iraq, told Reuters that the United Nations is urgently seeking $400 million from Washington and its allies for a new fund to bolster reconstruction in cities like Ramadi, which suffered vast damage when U.S.-backed Iraqi forces recaptured it in December. "We worry that if we don't move in this direction, and move quickly, the progress being made against ISIL may be undermined or lost," Grande said, using an acronym for Islamic State. Adding to the difficulty of stabilizing freed areas are Iraq's unrelenting political infighting, corruption, a growing fiscal crisis and the Shiite Muslim-led government's fitful efforts to reconcile with aggrieved minority Sunnis, the bedrock of Islamic State support. Some senior U.S. military officers share the concern that post-conflict reconstruction plans are lagging behind their battlefield efforts, officials said. "We're not going to bomb our way out of this problem," one U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. (Graphic showing Islamic State's territorial control: http://tmsnrt.rs/23aQU31) Islamic State is far from defeated. The group still controls much of its border-spanning "caliphate," inspires eight global affiliates and is able to orchestrate deadly external attacks like those that killed 32 people in Brussels on March 22. But at its core in Iraq and Syria, Islamic State appears to be in slow retreat. Defense analysis firm IHS Janes estimates the group lost 22 percent of its territory over the last 15 months. Washington has spent vastly more on the war than on reconstruction. The military campaign cost $6.5 billion from 2014 through Feb. 29, according to the Pentagon. The United States has contributed $15 million to stabilization efforts, donated $5 million to help clear explosives in Ramadi and provided "substantial direct budget support" to Iraq's government, said Emily Horne, a National Security Council spokeswoman. Secretary of State John Kerry acknowledged the need for more reconstruction aid while in Baghdad last week. "As more territory is liberated from Daesh, the international community has to step up its support for the safe and voluntary return of civilians to their homes," Kerry said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State. Kerry, who announced $155 million in additional U.S. aid for displaced Iraqis, said U.S. President Barack Obama planned to raise the issue at a summit of Gulf Arab leaders on April 21. "PILE OF RUBBLE" Ramadi's main hospital, train station, nearly 2,000 homes, 64 bridges and much of the electricity grid were destroyed in fighting, a preliminary U.N. survey found last month. Thousands of other buildings were damaged. Some 3,000 families recently returned to parts of the city cleared of mines, according to the governor, Hameed Dulaymi, but conditions are tough. Power comes from generators. Water is pumped from the Euphrates River. A few shops are open, but only for a couple of hours a day. Ahmed Saleh, a 56-year-old father of three children, said he returned to find his home a "pile of rubble," which cannot be rebuilt until the government provides the money. With no indication of when that might happen, authorities have resettled his family in another house whose owner is believed unlikely to return before this summer. Saleh earns less than $15 a day cleaning and repairing other people's homes. There are no schools open for his children, and he lacks funds to return to a camp for internally displaced outside Baghdad where he says life was better. Obama administration officials say they have been working to help stabilize Iraq politically and economically since the military campaign against Islamic State began in 2014. "The success of the campaign against ISIL in Iraq does depend upon political and economic progress as well," Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Monday. "Economically it's important that the destruction that's occurred be repaired and we're looking to help the Iraqis with that." Asked about the upcoming $400 million U.N. request, Horne said the United States welcomed the new fund's establishment and "will continue to lead international efforts to fund stabilization operations." The United States hasn't yet announced what it will contribute. U.S. officials said Washington is also pushing for an International Monetary Fund arrangement that the head of the fund's Iraq mission has said could unlock up to $15 billion in international financing. Baghdad has a $20 billion budget deficit caused by depressed oil prices. Washington has helped train 15,000 Sunni fighters who are now part of the Iraqi government's security forces. But there has been little movement on political reforms to reconcile minority Sunnis, whose repression under former prime minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shiite-led government led thousands to join Islamic State. Unless that happens, and Sunnis see that Baghdad is trying to help them return home to rebuild, support for the militants will persist, experts said. "If you don't get reconciliation, the Sunnis will turn back to ISIS," said former CIA and White House official Kenneth Pollack, who is now at the Brookings Institution think tank and conducted a fact-finding mission in Iraq last month. "It's just inevitable." The United States has prevailed militarily in Iraq before, only to see the fruits of the effort evaporate. President George W. Bush invaded Iraq in 2003, deposed dictator Saddam Hussein and disbanded his army without a comprehensive plan for post-war stability. Civil war ensued. REBUILDING GETS HARDER International funding to rebuild towns and cities ravaged by Islamic State has always been tight, said Grande, deputy special representative of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq. "This meant we had to come up with a model that could be implemented quickly and at extremely low cost," she said. International donors contributed $100 million to an initial fund to jump-start local economies, restoring power and water and reopening shops and schools. The model worked in Tikrit, the first major city reclaimed from Islamic State in March 2015, Grande said. After initial delays, most residents returned, utilities are on and the university is open. Total spending was $8.3 million. But Ramadi, a city of some 500,000 people before the recent fighting, poses a much greater challenge. "Much of the destruction that's happening in areas that are being liberated ... far outstrips our original assumptions," Grande said. Restoring normality to Mosul, home to about 2 million people before it fell to Islamic State, could prove even more difficult. It remains to be seen whether Islamic State digs in, forcing a ruinous battle, or faces an internal uprising that forces the militants to flee, sparing the city massive devastation. If Islamic State is defeated militarily, it likely will revert to the guerrilla tactics of its predecessor, al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), current and former officials said. AQI and its leaders, including Islamic State chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, "survived inside Iraq underground for years and theres no reason they couldnt do it again," a U.S. defense official said. (Additional reporting by David Rohde, Lou Charbonneau and John Walcott. Editing by Stuart Grudgings.)
London (AFP) - A group of institutional investors managing a combined $1 trillion on Tuesday called on restaurant chains to end the systematic use of antiobiotics in their meat and poultry supply chains.

The companies targeted by the group of 54 investors include J D Wetherspoon, McDonald's and Domino's Pizza.

The investors said the use of antibiotics in livestock causes resistant bacteria to develop, which in turn can spread to humans.

"The investors are responding to warnings from the World Health Organization (WHO) that irresponsible antibiotics practices are leading the world towards a 'post-antibiotic era' where routine operations will no longer be possible and many infections no longer treatable," they said in a statement.

The investors, brought together by the Farm Animal Investment Risk & Return (FAIRR) initiative, said none of the companies targeted had any comprehensive policy of tackling the overuse of antibiotics and this posed "a significant risk to their investment", they said.

"These large food companies are key ingredients in the portfolios of most of our pensions and savings  thus it is a case of proper risk management to ask them to work out how they will meet this challenge," Jeremy Coller of Coller Capital, one of the signatories, said in the statement.

Investors fear the cost of expected tighter regulation from governments in the face of antbiotics overuse, but also warned that the reputation of restaurant chains stands to suffer as they are "contributing to a global threat to human health which currently kills an estimated 700,000 people per year".

"We hope this engagement will help drive up standards in the sector and highlight the financial risks at stake to other companies and investors," said Nadira Narine at ICCR.

Other chains targeted are Brinker International Restaurants, Darden Restaurants, Mitchells & Butlers, Restaurant Brands International, The Restaurant Group, The Wendys Company and Yum! Brands.

The 54 institutional investors include Aviva Investors, Boston Common Asset Management and Natixis Asset Management.
LONDON (Reuters) - Investor interest in British rental property declined by more than a quarter last month compared with a year ago, dampened by new tax changes aimed at cooling the booming buy-to-let market, according to survey results on Wednesday. Online property listings company Rightmove said the number of investors planning to purchase a property for rent dropped by 27 percent year-on-year, following a surge between December and February as buyers rushed to avoid the new tax. As of April 1, buy-to-let investors and second homeowners must pay an additional 3 percent stamp duty on new purchases compared with first-time buyers. "This waning of interest definitely seems to predict a slowdown in the buy-to-let market, but what's not yet clear is if this will only turn out to be a short-term pause," Sam Mitchell, Rightmove's head of lettings, said. Britain's government has been keen to boost individual home ownership and is raising taxes on the rental sector, while the Bank of England last month said it would tighten credit checks on landlords. "It could be that some investors are waiting until the tax changes have some time to bed in before they review their business and continue to make purchases," said Mitchell. The Rightmove survey is based on data from properties advertised on its website rather than a survey of opinions. (Reporting by Bethany Rielly; Editing by Andy Bruce/Mark Heinrich)
By Tom Perry, John Irish and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin BEIRUT/PARIS/DUBAI (Reuters) - France and Iran voiced concern over escalating violence in Syria on Tuesday, echoing warnings from the United States and Russia as fighting near the city of Aleppo put more pressure on a fragile truce agreement. The already widely violated "cessation of hostilities" agreement brokered by Russia and the United States has been strained to breaking point by an upsurge in fighting between Syrian government forces and rebels near Aleppo. The escalation underlines the already bleak outlook for peace talks set to reconvene this week in Geneva. The United Nations says the talks will resume on Wednesday. The government delegation has said it is ready to join the talks from Friday. With President Bashar al-Assad buoyed by Russian and Iranian military support, the Damascus government is due to hold parliamentary elections on Wednesday, a vote seen by Assad's opponents as illegitimate and provocative. Iran said an increase in ceasefire violations could harm the political process a day after Russia said it had asked the United States to stop a mobilization of militants near Aleppo, Syria's biggest city until the conflict erupted in 2011. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, speaking after a meeting with U.N. Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura in Tehran, blamed the "increasing activities of armed groups" for the violations. France, which backs the opposition, also expressed concern, but blamed the other side. "It warns that the impact of the regime and its allies' offensives around Aleppo and Eastern Ghouta are a threat to the cessation of hostilities," government spokesman Romain Nadal said. The Eastern Ghouta is an opposition-held area near Damascus. Syria's civil war has killed more than 250,000 people, created the world's worst refugee crisis, allowed for the rise of Islamic State and drawn in regional and international powers. The intervention of Russia swung the war in Assad's favor. WASHINGTON "VERY, VERY CONCERNED" The United States, which also backs rebels fighting Assad, on Monday said it was "very, very concerned" about increased violence and blamed the Syrian government for the vast majority of truce violations. Both the government and a large number of rebel groups had pledged to respect the cessation of hostilities agreed in February with the aim of allowing a resumption of diplomacy towards ending the five-year-long war. Jihadist groups including the Nusra Front and Islamic State were not part of the deal. A senior official close to the Syrian government said the truce had effectively collapsed. "On the ground the truce does not exist," said the official, who is not Syrian and declined to be named because he was giving a personal assessment. "The level of tension in Syria will increase in the coming months." The eruption of fighting on the front lines south of Aleppo marks the most serious challenge yet to the truce. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based organization that tracks the war, said dozens of government fighters had been killed in a big offensive to take the town of Telat al-Eis near the Aleppo-Damascus highway on Tuesday. A rebel fighting in the area said the assault launched at dawn was backed by Russian air strikes and Iranian militias, adding that the attackers had suffered heavy losses. The Syrian military could not be reached for comment. Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Lebanon's Hezbollah have both deployed in the southern Aleppo area in support of the government, while the Nusra Front is also fighting in close proximity to other rebels. The Syrian prime minister was quoted on Sunday as saying government forces were preparing a major operation in the region with Russian support. Further south in Homs province, Russia said one of its attack helicopters had crashed in the early hours of Tuesday, killing both pilots. It said the helicopter had not been shot down and the cause of the crash was being investigated. "PROVOCATIVE" ELECTION De Mistura, speaking in Tehran, said he and Amir-Abdollahian had agreed on the importance of the cessation continuing, that aid should reach every Syrian and that "a political process leading to a political transition is now crucially urgent". De Mistura, whose two predecessors quit, has said he wants the next round of Geneva talks to be "quite concrete" in leading towards a political transition. Ahead of the first round of talks, Damascus had ruled out any discussion of the presidency, calling it a red line. A senior Iranian official on Saturday rejected what he described as a U.S. request for Tehran's help to make Assad leave power, saying he should serve out his term and be allowed to run in a presidential election "as any Syrian". Some members of the main Syrian opposition alliance, the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), arrived in Geneva on Tuesday, and U.N. spokesman in Geneva Ahmad Fawzi said the talks were expected to begin on Wednesday. De Mistura is working according to a U.N. Security Council resolution approved in December that sets out a political process including elections after the establishment of "credible" governance and the approval of a new constitution. The Syrian government says it is holding Wednesday's elections in line with the existing timetable that requires a vote every four years. Russia has said the vote does not go against the peace talks and is in line with the constitution. French President Francois Hollande last month, however, said the idea was provocative and "totally unrealistic". (Additional reporting by Tom Miles in Geneva, and Samia Nakhoul and Laila Bassam; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Peter Millership and Giles Elgood)
DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran is concerned that an uptick in violations of Syria's ceasefire could harm planned peace talks this week aimed at ending the five-year-old civil war, a deputy foreign minister was quoted as saying on Tuesday. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the comments, cited in state news agency IRNA, after speaking to United Nations envoy Staffan de Mistura, who arrived in Tehran after holding meetings with Syria's foreign minister in Damascus on Monday. "One of our main concerns in Syria is the increasing activities of armed groups in recent days and the increase in breaches of the ceasefire that can harm the political process (of peace talks)," Abdollahian said. Nevertheless, he said Tehran was "happy to see that we are approaching a political solution to this crisis", ahead of talks due to resume in Geneva on Wednesday. The United States on Monday also expressed concern at the recent increase in violence, which it blamed on Syrian government forces that are backed by Iran. Iran has called for a political solution to Syria's civil war, but has also sent troops to bolster President Bashar al-Assad's forces and rejected the opposition's demands that Assad depart as a precondition for peace. Four Iranian soldiers have been killed in Syria since the deployment of regular troops was announced last week. Several members of the paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps have also been killed fighting alongside Assad's forces. (Reporting by Sam Wilkin and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin; Editing by William Maclean and Andrew Heavens)
Baghdad (AFP) - Iraq's premier presented a new list of cabinet nominees on Tuesday that angered some lawmakers, who criticised it as perpetuating the system of ministries being distributed according to political quotas.

Parliament descended into chaos after the session was postponed to Thursday, with lawmakers shaking fists and chanting against political quotas and then beginning a sit-in.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has called for a government of technocrats to replace the current party-affiliated ministers, but has faced major resistance from powerful parties that rely on control of ministries for patronage and funds.

He presented a list of 13 cabinet nominees to parliament on March 31, but lawmakers later said that the political blocs would nominate other candidates, a process that apparently resulted in the current list of names.

Abadi gave the new list of candidates to parliament speaker Salim al-Juburi, then met with him and leaders of the political blocs, according to posts on their official Twitter accounts.

But with major disagreement over the proposed list of candidates, the session was postponed until Thursday, Juburi's office said.

Lawmakers chanted "The people want the fall of the quotas!" after the session ended, according to video shot inside parliament.

The phrase is a variation on "The people want the fall of the regime", which was chanted at Arab Spring protests against despots across the region.

More than 100 MPs then began a sit-in inside parliament to protest against the delay of the session, lawmakers Haider al-Kaabi and Iskander Witwit told AFP by telephone.

"We announced an open sit-in inside parliament because of the postponement of the session until Thursday," Kaabi said, adding that they are demanding an emergency session on Wednesday.

According to the new list of 14 names, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, most of Abadi's original nominees did not make the second cut.

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The nominees for water resources, health and transport stayed the same, while a fourth nominee from the original list became a candidate for the planning ministry.

- 'Ministries for them' -

The new list also includes Faleh al-Fayad, a long-time member of the Dawa party who served as national security adviser under former premier Nuri al-Maliki and then Abadi, as the nominee for foreign minister.

Sunni lawmaker Ahmed al-Juburi said that the new list is opposed by almost a third of MPs.

The MP said he had gathered 98 names of lawmakers who are against the list and who reject the "principle of (political) quotas that was agreed upon by the leaders of the blocs".

"The blocs and the parties do not want to give up their gains and their ministries," said Shiite MP Hassan Salem.

"They do not consider them ministries of the people as much as they consider them ministries for them," Salem said.

And MP Zainab al-Tai, from the bloc affiliated with powerful Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who has called for a government of technocrats, threatened a no-confidence vote in Abadi.

"We demand the formation of an independent government, and if not, we will go to withdraw confidence from Abadi's government," Tai said.

Abadi called in February for "fundamental" change to the cabinet so that it includes "professional and technocratic figures and academics".

That kicked off the latest chapter in a months-long saga of Abadi proposing various reforms that parties and politicians with interests in the existing system have sought to delay or undermine.

Sadr, the scion of a powerful clerical family from the Shiite holy city of Najaf, later called for his supporters to protest and then stage a sit-in at Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, where the government is headquartered.

Sadr relented after Abadi presented his list of nominees at the end of March, calling off the sit-in.

But efforts to change the government have run up against entrenched political interests that do not want to cede the power and funds that controlling ministries confers.
TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Israel's antitrust watchdog and the Communications Ministry have opposed Cellcom's plan to buy smaller mobile rival Golan Telecom, paving the way for the possibility that Golan will seek a different buyer. Cellcom, Israel's largest mobile phone operator, said on Tuesday that it had not yet been given reasons for the decision, but would consider its options when it gets them. Cellcom agreed to buy Golan for 1.17 billion shekels ($305 million) last November but the deal has faced political opposition and regulatory hurdles. One of five mobile network operators in Israel, Golan launched in 2012 when the government issued new licensee to boost competition in a sector that had been dominated until then by three players. Golan offered rock-bottom prices that its competitors have struggled to meet and has taken about 10 percent of Israel's mobile market. Golan, owned by French businessmen Michael Golan and Xavier Niel, has said rejecting the deal would have a negative impact on the market and cause prices to rise. But Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, who was responsible for opening up the cellular market as communications minister, fears that losing one player would reduce competition and lead to higher prices. Citi analyst Michael Klahr, noting that regulators and politicians have stated they want the market to remain a five player market, said the most likely scenario is one where Golan's owners sell to a third party that will invest in building a network. "We continue to see high levels of competitive intensity in Israeli mobile for the foreseeable future," said Klahr, who rates both Cellcom and its biggest rival Partner Communications "neutral". In early trading in New York, Cellcom's shares were down 1.4 percent at $7.23. Consumers give Golan much credit for offering packages that include unlimited international and local calling, text messages and 6 GB of Internet surfing starting at $8 a month. Such prices have dented the profitability of Cellcom and its rivals. As part of its license, Golan is required to enter into a network-sharing agreement with Cellcom or build its own. Earlier this year, Niel said Golan had no choice but to merge with another player since a plan to share Cellcom's network was not approved by regulators while municipalities in Israel refused to approve the installation of more antennas. (Editing by Susan Thomas and Louise Heavens)
Tripoli (AFP) - Italy's foreign minister hailed Libya's new unity government Tuesday as a "game changer" as he held talks in Tripoli during the first visit by a top Western official since 2014.

In another boost to the unity leaders, lawmakers with Libya's internationally recognised parliament said they would vote next week on whether to endorse the UN-backed cabinet.

Italy's top diplomat Paolo Gentiloni met Fayez al-Sarraj, named prime minister-designate under a UN-backed power-sharing deal in December, amid tight security in Tripoli.

It came as representatives of dozens of countries and international organisations including the World Bank held talks in neighbouring Tunisia on ways to help the unity government shape its priorities.

World powers see the establishment of the unity cabinet as vital to tackling a raging jihadist insurgency and rampant people smuggling in the North African state.

"This decision was a game changer," Gentiloni said in Tripoli of the establishment of the UN-backed government.

Foreign embassies would be reopened in the capital in "the near future", he added.

Italy is supporting the unity government "because it will pave the way to the stabilisation of Libya -- then we can manage human trafficking and smugglers and terrorism," Gentiloni said.

He said that European countries were ready to work with Libya to tackle the Islamic State group (IS), but that the country's government and people must lead the fight.

"We can cooperate but cannot decide for the Libyans," he said before flying to Tunisia to join the international conference.

Gentiloni's brief visit comes nearly two weeks after Sarraj arrived in Tripoli by sea with a naval escort and established his headquarters at a naval base.

He has since won the support of key institutions that control Libya's wealth and also appears to have the backing of at least some militias.

But Sarraj has not yet received the endorsement of the country's internationally recognised parliament, and the head of a rival Tripoli-based administration has refused to recognise his authority.

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The recognised legislature will, however, meet on Monday for a vote of confidence in the unity government, parliamentarians said.

Libya has been plagued by instability since the 2011 uprising that ousted longtime ruler Moamer Kadhafi, with IS taking advantage of the chaos to seize territory.

- No 'combat mission' -

The oil-rich country has had two rival administrations since mid-2014 when a militia alliance overran Tripoli, setting up its own authority and forcing the recognised parliament to flee to the remote east.

Italy, the former colonial power in the North African state, has played a leading role in international efforts to pressure Libya's warring rivals to rally behind the unity government.

European nations in particular have been alarmed by the expansion of IS in Libya, just 300 kilometres (185 miles) from Italy across the Mediterranean.

The jihadist group last year seized control of Kadhafi's coastal hometown of Sirte and has been fighting to expand to other areas.

The number of IS fighters in Libya has doubled in the past 12-18 months and now stands at about 4,000 to 6,000, the head of US forces in Africa, General David Rodriguez, said last week.

As well as tackling IS, European governments hope the unity government can crack down on people smugglers who have stepped up their lucrative business in Libya amid the chaos.

Libya has long been a stepping stone for migrants, and there are concerns that European efforts to shut down the migrant sea crossing from Turkey to Greece will encourage more people to leave from North Africa.

Libyan coastguards on Tuesday intercepted six boats carrying 649 would-be migrants and returned them to Tripoli, a spokesman said.

Sarraj posted on Facebook that he and Gentiloni discussed the fight against extremism as well as the migrant crisis.

"What the unity government will ask the international community to do in the fight against terrorism is (provide) support and coordination to safeguard national security, rather than a combat mission," he wrote.

Western nations are openly considering military action against the extremists but have said that this can only happen at the request of a unity government.

Italy said Tuesday it had provided 1 million euros worth of food and medicine in western Libya over the past month.
ROME (Reuters) - Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni will visit Libya on Tuesday for talks with the head of the unity government Fayez Seraj, the Foreign Ministry said. Gentiloni is the first senior Western official to fly to Tripoli since Seraj arrived in the city last month at the head of a U.N.-backed Presidential Council tasked with at ending the country's political impasse, resolving its armed conflict and tackling a growing threat from Islamic State jihadists. Italy and a number of other Western nations have said they are ready to provide help to Seraj, including training to bolster local security forces. (Reporting by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Alison Williams)
VERONA, Italy (Reuters) - Italy and Alibaba hope to boost the share of Italian wine sold on the Chinese e-commerce network 10-fold as part of wider moves to increase Italian wine exports to China where it still lags France and other wine-making peers. In a joint conference with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, Alibaba founder Jack Ma said the aim was to increase the share of Italian wines "from 6 to 60 per cent" of all the bottles it sold on its platform. "Chinese people have a passion for all things Italian. Alibaba wants to be the gateway to China for Italian brands and small businesses," Ma said, speaking at Italy's Vinitaly wine fair in the northern city of Verona. Ma, who is also executive chairman of Alibaba, announced the launch of a Wine and Spirits Festival on Sept. 9, an online event aimed at introducing global wine and spirit brands to Chinese consumers. Italy's reds and whites represent only 5 per cent of Chinese imports, worth an overall 1.8 billion euros ($2 billion), according to a report by think-tank Nomisma. Alibaba's business-to-consumer marketplace Tmall is already host to more than 90 Italian brands. But Italy's wine makers are mainly small and family-owned, making it hard for them to reach out and sell on complex markets like China. Of Italy's 5.4 billion euros of wine exports, only 87 million euros worth go to China. "Italy has lost too many opportunities in the e-commerce sector. The only way for small companies to keep up with global competition is to turn digital," Renzi said. According to Denis Pantini of Nomisma, which publishes the annual Wine Monitor report, out of a total of 55,000 national producers, almost 85 per cent make less than 10,000 bottles. Pantini said Italy hobbles behind other countries, such as France and Australia, due to the fragmented nature of its producers, a lack of any national strategy on exports and high tax duties. "We are still very little known in China where culturally wine is still not perceived as a household habit," Roberto Giannelli, owner of Tuscan winery San Filippo said. ($1 = 0.8761 euros) (Reporting by Giulia Segreti, editing by Stephen Jewkes and Susan Thomas)
Entertainer Jimmy Buffett says he's not canceling two North Carolina concerts even though he thinks the state enacted a "stupid law" limiting protections for lesbian, gay and transgender people.

Buffett says he will perform scheduled shows in Raleigh on April 21 and Charlotte on April 23. But in a blog post he says scheduling of future shows will depend on whether the law is repealed.

Bruce Springsteen's cancelation in Greensboro over the weekend put the spotlight on big-name performers coming through the state.

Buffett condemns the law on his blog and says he thinks most of his fans feel the same way. But he says fans bought tickets long before the law was enacted last month.

He adds: "I am not going to let stupidity or bigotry trump fun for my loyal fans this year."

Read More: North Carolina Congressman: Bruce Springsteen Is a "Bully" for Canceling Concert
In an essay published Tuesday in Lena Dunham's newsletter, Lenny, Julianne Moore explains how the Sandy Hook school shooting inspired her to work to prevent gun violence and urges people to join the Everytown for Gun Safety organization, which she is a part of.

The Oscar-winning actress recounts being with her then 10-year-old daughter when she heard about the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012. Moore said she was avoiding telling her daughter what happened until she was home with her husband and son, but her daughter discovered the news regardless.

"She picked up her newly acquired phone, with her carefully considered and limited number of apps and her monitored Instagram account, and asked, 'Mommy, did a bunch of little kids get shot today?,' " Moore writes. "At that moment, it felt ridiculous to me, and irresponsible as a parent and as a citizen, that I was not doing something to prevent gun violence. Simply keeping the news away from my child was putting my head in the sand."

Moore goes on to talk about the Second Amendment and said that citizens who choose to bear arms "have a responsibility to bear them safely." She advocates for increasing gun-safety laws and explains how many responsible gun owners also are supportive of stricter background checks.

"A majority of us are on the same side, so why does our country have a gun murder rate 25 times that of other developed countries?" Moore asks. She highlights statistics of gun violence across the United States, pointing out how often women are victims, particularly in domestic violence situations in which a gun is involved.

Read more: Julianne Moore Believes in Therapy, Not God (And Definitely Gun Control)

Last year, Moore told The Hollywood Reporter she gets criticized for her stance on gun control. "I get more reactions on Twitter about gun safety than anything else," she said. "I don't understand how we're threatening the Second Amendment because we're talking about gun-safety rules. That, to me, is really shocking."

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In her Lenny essay, Moore compares the link between gun-safety laws and reduced gun violence to regulations about automobiles and driving accidents, saying cars require licenses, training and safety features.

"We have made car manufacturers beholden to these measures," writes Moore. "We have enacted speed limits and criminalized drunk driving. In the process we have reduced the auto fatality rate by nearly 40 percent in just the past 20 years."

The actress urges Lenny readers to join Everytown for Gun Safety, an organization that raises awareness and advocates for stricter gun regulations.

"I don't ever want to have to explain another Newtown to my kids, and neither should you," concludes Moore.

Read more: Julianne Moore Circling Villain Role for 'Kingsman 2' (Exclusive)
By Eric M. Johnson

(Reuters) - Kentucky's attorney general sued the state's Republican governor on Monday seeking to block what a lawsuit says are illegal funding cuts to public universities in the cash-strapped state, the latest clash in a simmering political family feud.

The lawsuit asks a Franklin County Circuit Court to block Governor Matt Bevin's order last month to cut funding to colleges and universities by 4.5 percent, or $41 million.

Attorney General Andy Beshear, a Democrat, said the cuts violate budget laws and the separation of powers enshrined in the state's constitution.

"Under (the governor's) view, a budget is merely a suggestion and the legislature is merely an advisory body," Beshear said in a statement.

"We strongly disagree" with Beshear's claims, Bevin's spokeswoman, Jessica Ditto, said, adding that his office would respond in court.

The lawsuit comes as lawmakers undergo budget negotiations for the fiscal year 2017-2018, and 11 days after Bevin sidestepped the General Assembly to direct his finance cabinet to withhold the education funds.

The cuts are part of his plans to shave roughly $650 million over the next two years to reduce a more than $35 billion public pension debt, his office said.

The reduction amounts to 1.1 percent of university operating revenues of $5.2 billion, Bevin's office said.

The presidents of the University of Kentucky, Morehead State University and other schools wrote Bevin on Friday to say they were prepared to stomach funding cuts "based on our trust that you have committed to making new investments in higher education in the following biennium (2019-2020)."

The lawsuit is the latest clash in a feud between Bevin and the Beshear family.

Bevin, a Tea Party-backed businessman who in November became the second Republican-elected governor in Kentucky since 1971, took over from Steve Beshear, the father of Andy Beshear and a Democrat who was barred from seeking reelection due to term limits.

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Before taking office, Bevin called Steve Beshear's appointment of his wife to a board seat an "embarrassment." The former Governor has launched a campaign against Bevin's healthcare initiatives.

"Given the amount of alleged corruption and personnel problems in the Office of Attorney General and his father's administration it is clear that he is attempting to deflect attention away from his own challenges," Ditto said.

Beshear said he was not filing the lawsuit "willingly" but because he "must do so to challenge the governor's view of the law."'

(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Leslie Adler)
Buenos Aires (AFP) - Thousands of supporters greeted Argentina's former president Cristina Kirchner as she returned to Buenos Aires on Monday to face corruption allegations.

Kirchner is due to testify Wednesday in an investigation into whether she mishandled public funds in connection with Central Bank currency-related operations during the final months of her presidency.

She arrived in Buenos Aires following four months in southern Patagonia, where she secluded herself after leaving office last December when a newly elected president took office.

Crowds gathered to welcome her at the airport and again outside her apartment in Buenos Aires. As she left the airport Kirchner waved to fans but made no comment.

The charges, ranging from embezzlement to money laundering, come amid an atmosphere of political polarization in Argentina and accusations of bias among prosecutors and judges.

A federal prosecutor is seeking an investigation of the populist former president based on information given by a protected witness in an ongoing case, local media reported, citing court sources.

Kirchner faces questioning over the central bank's sale of peso futures well below value. Aimed at stabilizing the currency, the sales led to a sharp drop in bank reserves.

Argentina's former economy minister and former central bank chairman are also named in the case.

News reports over the weekend said Kirchner could also be investigated for alleged money laundering in a separate case fanned by revelations from the "Panama Papers" leaks.

It is just one in an expanding number of cases connected to former leading officials from the center-left governments of Kirchner, in power from 2007-2015, and her late husband, former president Nestor Kirchner, who held office from 2003 to 2007.

Kirchner may get a temporary reprieve if another federal court orders the recusal of the judge in the case, Claudio Bonadino, on grounds that Kirchner had previously tried to dismiss him.

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If that happens, the court will have to appoint a new judge and reschedule the hearings.

Kirchner's supporters, meanwhile, are planning to hold a vigil Tuesday night and protests Wednesday in front of the court, under the banner "If she gets called (to testify), they will have to call us all!"

Her successor as president, Mauricio Macri, has sought to restore frayed relations with the United States and revive the economy by reversing more than a decade of protectionist economic policy.

But he has also come under fire over alleged offshore financial dealings after revelations in the "Panama Papers" leak, which prompted a federal prosecutor last week to open an investigation.
There have been a lot of headlines in recent years about Americans having the food safety net pulled out from under them. In 2013, the end of stimulus funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program led to all food-stamp recipients losing benefits, which amounted to 21 lost meals a month for a family of four. Then in 2014, the long-awaited farm bill promised to cut $8.7 billion from SNAP (a reduction in funding that state governors later nullified). This year, up to 1 million people could lose benefits as Great Recessionera waivers expire, bringing back the 36-month SNAP limit for adults who are unemployed and do not have kids.

Less attention has been paid to a federal program that has increased food access for a segment of the population that suffers the most long-lasting, damaging effects of hunger: children.

Thanks to a provision in the 2010 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, each child in 18,000 public schools across the country will receive free breakfast and lunch during the 201516 academic year. More than 8.5 million students attend these schools, which stretch across 3,000 school districts around the country.

The program, called the Community Eligibility Provision, was heralded as a success in a report published last week by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Food Research and Action Center, both left-leaning groups. This week, however, House Republicans are considering measures that could hamper that success just two years after CEP became available to public schools nationwide, following a limited pilot period.

Community eligibilitys popularity in its first two years of nationwide implementation speaks to schools desire to improve access to healthy meals while reducing red tape, as well as to the options sound design, reads the report. Part of that sound design includes how the program determines whether or not schools are eligibleand thats the part Congress is thinking about changing.

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Currently, the logic of CEP works like this. Students enrolled in a federal nutrition assistance program, such as SNAP or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, can qualify for free meals without a separate application. But relying solely on government-run programs doesnt guarantee that all students whose families are stretching to pay for breakfast and lunch are accounted for. Because of the concentrated geography of poverty, schools with high rates of students whose families are enrolled in federal programs are likely to enroll students who are on the edge of hunger and povertyif 40 percent of students at a school are eligible for free lunch without enrolling in the program, it is eligible for the CEP program.

The national school breakfast and lunch program has an operation budget of about $15 billion, and it served 8 billion meals last year. While that is arguably an economically efficient program, theres concern that increased adoption of CEPcurrently, just over half of eligible schools are taking advantage of the programwill cut into the paid meals that subsidize students who eat for free to the point that it will no longer be viable. Politico is reporting that a draft bill from the House Committee on Education and the Workforce for reauthorizing child nutrition programs would increase the eligibility threshold from 40 percent of students enrolled in a federal aid program to 60 percent.

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack is putting his weight behind CEP. He said in a statement that with the program feeding 8.5 million kids without stigma, Congress should stay the course in child nutrition.

It would be unwise to roll back standards, saddle parents and school administrators with more paperwork, or weaken assistance for our most vulnerable children, he continued. USDA stands ready to work with Congress to support the reauthorization of child nutrition programs that continue to improve the health and well-being of the next generation.

The bill has a long way to go before it becomes law, but the research on hunger and childhood development strongly supports non-means-tested lunch programs in poor neighborhoods. As researchers from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Food Research and Action Center noted in the CEP report, High-poverty neighborhoods, which can be violent, stressful, and environmentally hazardous, can impair childrens cognitive development, school performance, mental health, and long-term physical healtheven if the family itself is not low-income.

It may seem quaint to say that a free meal can make a difference in that type of environment, but studies suggest otherwise. Children experiencing hunger have been found to have lower math scores and be more likely to repeat a grade, the report reads. Teens experiencing hunger are more likely to have been suspended from school and have difficulty getting along with other children. Meanwhile, educators report that children who eat breakfast at school are more likely to arrive at school on time, to behave, and be attentive in class.

With CEP all but brand-new, it is set to become more broadly adopted in the coming years, giving more and more kids the simple advantage of two free square meals a day.

Get Informed: Local Actions, Big Impact: End Hunger in Your Town

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Original article from TakePart
By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Tuesday revived a class-action lawsuit accusing Pfizer Inc of causing tens of billions of dollars of losses for shareholders by misleading them about the safety of its Celebrex and Bextra pain-relieving drugs. By a 3-0 vote, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain erred in dismissing the case after preventing Daniel Fischel, a former University of Chicago Law School dean, from testifying for the shareholders about potential damages. It also said Swain was wrong to conclude that jurors could not find Pfizer liable for statements by G. D. Searle & Co and Pharmacia Corp, which previously made Celebrex and Bextra, that allegedly concealed the drugs' cardiovascular risks. The lawsuit began in 2004, and covers investors who bought Pfizer stock between Oct. 31, 2000 and Oct. 19, 2005. Pfizer's market value fell by roughly $70 billion from early October 2004 until the day after the class period ended. Tuesday's decision returns the case to Swain. In a statement, Pfizer said it "appropriately communicated accurate and science-based information about its medicines to investors and the public at all times and will continue to defend this case vigorously." Concerns about the safety of Celebrex and Bextra mounted in late 2004 when rival Merck & Co withdrew its own Vioxx drug because of associated cardiovascular risks. Pfizer pulled Bextra from the U.S. market the following April, and agreed in September 2009 to pay $2.3 billion to settle a U.S. Department of Justice probe into the marketing of Bextra and other drugs. Shareholders accused the New York-based company of having concealed tests that began in 1998 and suggested health risks associated with Celebrex and Bextra. Writing for the appeals court, Circuit Judge Debra Ann Livingston said Swain "went astray" in excluding Fischel's expert testimony because of his failure to "disaggregate" alleged misrepresentations by Pfizer that may have inflated its stock price from any misrepresentations by Searle and Pharmacia. "Plaintiffs' theory is directly contrary to this idea: they argue that Pfizer is liable for all of the artificial inflation related to Celebrex and Bextra because, through its own fraudulent conduct, Pfizer concealed the same information as its predecessors," Livingston wrote. In that context, she added, "Fischel's testimony can be helpful to the jury." A lawyer for the plaintiffs had no immediate comment. In afternoon trading, Pfizer shares rose 8 cents to $31.97. The case is In re: Pfizer Inc Securities Litigation, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 14-2853. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jonathan Oatis)
Leaving planet Earth isnt easy. This year, NASAs Astronaut Candidate Program received a record 18,000-plus applications from highly qualified scientists bent on discovering spaces deep abyss. It will choose a handful, if that. Virgin Galactic is promoting space vacations at $250,000 per flight ticket. And when Elon Musk finally colonizes Marswell, who knows when that will be?

So, heres an idea, as we contemplate jetting up to the Red Planet: Make some room on board for poets, painters and philosophers, too. After all, the prospect of regular trips beyond Earth bears plenty of larger-than-life questions that go far past science. Who will ponder the ethics of the cosmos when we conquer Pluto Avatar-style? Who will paint the mighty auroras of distant planets? Who will write lyrically about the existential anxiety of cosmic isolation, or the magic of zero gravity? We need creative types like poets, musicians, philosophers and filmmakers to give shape to the amorphous void of outer space, says Mark Lupisella, an engineer and researcher at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center: It would be the way to speak to the world more broadly.

To be an astronaut at NASA, you need a bachelors degree in engineering, biological science, physical science, computer science or mathematics. All useful, but scientists just arent as adept at tackling thorny questions of existence as are humanists, argues University of North Carolina philosophy professor Douglas MacLean. Few people can convey the fragility of the planet better than a professional artist or an expert philosopher, he says. Nor can they illuminate the wonders of the universe as beautifully for all those back on Earth to experience. NASAs specialists dont have enough bandwidth to philosophize  rather, theyre fixated on getting stuff done; implementing stuff instead of thinking about stuff, says Lupisella. Just as the military embeds reporters, we too deserve to get a Shakespeare in space.

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Granted, science nerds can be humanists too, and NASA has already had a fair share of creative types fly in space  theres even a guitar on the International Space Station. But the vast majority at NASA must have technical expertise under their belt, because that sort of background really is necessary to be able to do the job, says Brandi Dean, a NASA spokesperson who was more than a bit confused when we proposed the idea of philosopher-astronauts. It costs $450 million to launch a space shuttle for each mission, so why risk the big bucks on a dancer who cant even fix a kitchen sink, much less a sinking spaceship?

NASA may be unlikely to entertain the thought anytime soon. But in the future, lets leave the moondust analysis to the scientists and the metaphysical analysis to the intellectuals. Both will surely take us to places weve never been before. Just spare them the spacey philosopher jokes, says MacLean.

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On Tuesday Toyota's luxury brand handed over the keys to a Lexus NX 300 to a customer in Milan, Italy.

The customer in question, Mr Aldo Pirronello, becomes the 1 millionth person to choose a premium car powered by a combination of gas and electric motors since Lexus introduced hybrids to its range in April 2005.

Tokuo Fukuichi, President of Lexus International, said: "We have set ambitious environmental goals for 2050, the popularity of the hybrid technology worldwide is extremely important for us to achieve those goals. I'm extremely happy that over 1 million customers worldwide have put their faith into our Lexus hybrid line-up."

Hybrid power is seen as a key short-to-medium-term solution within the automotive industry for cutting dependency on fossil fuels and for lowering exhaust emissions while alternative powertrain technologies, including full electric and hydrogen fuel cell systems, come on line.

California may be the Toyota Prius capital of the world, but when it comes to premium hybrids, Europe is Lexus's biggest market. Nearly two-thirds of all Lexus cars sold on the continent are hybrid and that percentage jumps to 95% when only Western Europe is considered.

Of the part he played in helping Lexus hit the 1 million hybrid mark, Mr Pirronello said: "This is my first Lexus. I chose this brand because I really value it. I was surprised to hear that I was the buyer of the 1000000th hybrid Lexus, and I am honored to celebrate this important milestone with Lexus!"
VILNIUS (Reuters) - Lithuania blacklisted several dozen Russians and Ukrainians for their role in the detention and sentencing of the Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko and two other Ukrainians, Lithuania's foreign minister said on Tuesday. Ukraine expanded sanctions against Russia last month after a Russian court found Savchenko, 34, guilty of complicity in the killing of two Russian journalists and sentenced her to 22 years in prison. Ukraine called on the European Union to follow suit, and Lithuania became the first EU state to do so. The 46 people it blacklisted are banned from entering Lithuania for 10 years. Those blacklisted include Russian investigators, prosecutors and judges, as well as separatists from the Ukrainian rebel strongholds of Luhansk and Donetsk, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius told Reuters. "We blacklisted them to show our solidarity with Ukraine, and to focus attention on the unacceptable and cynical violations of international law and human rights in Russia. We are convinced that the court cases against those people were falsified", Linkevicius told Reuters by phone. "It would be more effective if the blacklist became Europe-wide. We hope to start such a discussion", he said. Regarded as a national hero by many in her homeland, Savchenko has been depicted by Russian state TV as a dangerous Ukrainian nationalist with the blood of civilians on her hands. Russia has ignored calls from the European Union and the United States to free her on humanitarian grounds. Last year, a Russian court sentenced Ukrainian film director Oleg Sentsov, 39, to 20 years in a high-security penal colony for "terrorist attacks" in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula annexed by Moscow from Ukraine in April 2014. The military court sentenced a second defendant, Crimea activist Alexander Kolchenko, 26, to 10 years in prison. (Reporting By Andrius Sytas)
SKOPJE (Reuters) - Macedonian opposition leader Zoran Zaev called on President Gjorge Ivanov on Tuesday to resign, saying his decision to halt all criminal investigations into a government wire-tap scandal amounted to a coup. "We want Gjorge Ivanov to resign. If he doesn't do that, he will lead the state to the brink. This today is a coup d'etat. We will use all tools that we have to stop it," Zaev told reporters, adding that he would call for a protest against the decision. (Reporting by Kole Casule; Editing by Adrian Croft/Mark Heinrich)
Paris (AFP) - French politicians across the board on Tuesday slammed a Socialist minister's call to legalise marijuana, re-igniting the debate in a country where cannabis use is common.

A day after minister for parliamentary relations Jean-Marie Le Guen said prohibition had not caused drug use to fall, his own party called decriminalisation a bad idea.

Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem said a softer approach to marijuana would show "we have let our guard down in the fight against drugs."

Former right-wing prime minister Francois Fillon added his voice, saying "legalisation of cannabis would be an extremely permissive signal to send to young people."

Government spokesman Stephane Le Foll said there was no "no work, nor consideration" of a possible legalisation of cannabis.

Le Guen, who is also a doctor and public health expert, stressed Monday that "cannabis is a very bad thing for public health, in particular for young people."

But he said: "prohibition has not led to a decrease in consumption."

He called for "a selective lifting of prohibition for adults, although certainly not for young people below 21 years of age."

- Top teen smokers -

France's response to marijuana use differs markedly from the Dutch approach of tolerance and the legal recreational use in Uruguay, four American states and the US capital Washington DC.

Another 19 states have legalized marijuana for medical use, but it is still illegal under federal law.

Spanish law allows for the private production and consumption of cannabis by adults, though its sale is still illegal.

Cannabis use has been illegal in France since 1970, punishable by one year in prison and a 3,750-euro ($4,200) fine. In practice, imprisonment is rare, although fines continue to be meted out.

Despite being totally illegal, some 17 million of France's 66 million-strong population said they had tried cannabis.

About 700,000 said they use it daily, according to France's National Observatory of Drugs and Drug Abuse.

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Some experts say France needs to do some soul searching on its drug laws.

"We have to rethink health policy on cannabis. We're following a path of repression in regards to addiction," Laurent Karila, a psychiatrist and addiction expert said Tuesday.

"Young French people are the top European consumers of cannabis. It is clear that it is not working," he added.

A bill proposing the state-controlled sale and use of cannabis was shot down last April after failing to make much progress in the French parliament.

At the same time, France has the highest percentage of 15-year-old pot smokers among 42 well-off nations surveyed by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Fifteen percent of 15-year-olds in France -- slightly more boys than girls -- said they had indulged, with Canada's young stoners close behind.

Amsterdam flaunts its cannabis cafes and Barcelona its private reefer clubs, but neither the Netherlands nor Spain were among the top eight nations in which teens admitted they had used cannabis in the last 30 days, according to the WHO study, based on data from 2014.
Kano (Nigeria) (AFP) - Nearly 350 dead bodies were buried in a mass grave in northern Nigeria after clashes between the army and supporters of a Shiite cleric, a public official has told an inquiry into the unrest.

The testimony on Monday from Muhammad Namadi Musa, the director-general of the Kaduna State religious affairs office, lends weight to claims that at least 300 people were killed in the violence in December last year.

Amnesty International, which has previously said "hundreds" were killed, said the revelation was "an important first step in bringing all those suspected of criminal responsibility" to trial.

"It is now imperative that the mass grave sites are protected in order that a full independent forensic investigation can begin," said the organisation's Nigeria director, M.K. Ibrahim.

"The bodies must be exhumed and Nigerian authorities should immediately reveal the whereabouts of those held in unacknowledged detention and either charge or release them."

The clashes came after the army said supporters of the cleric Ibrahim Zakzaky, who heads the pro-Iranian religious sect Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) group, tried to kill the chief of army staff.

Zakzaky has not been seen since his home and the IMN mosque in Zaria, Kaduna state, were destroyed, prompting calls for his release and criticism that the government is flouting due process.

Musa said told the hearing he was ordered on December 13 to travel to Zaria with the Kaduna state commissioner of police "to find out the number of corpses and how they would be buried".

At the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) "we counted 156 corpses", while 191 others were collected from the army base in Zaria, he said.

- Army denials -

"Most corpses were covered with black materials and they included women and children," he told the inquiry, saying the bodies were transported for burial in a convoy of trucks with military escort.

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Earlier, the secretary to the Kaduna state government, Lawal Balarabe Abbas, said the mass burial was authorised by "a warrant obtained from a chief magistrates' court in Kaduna".

Nigeria's military, which has been accused of human rights abuses against civilians in the insurgency by Sunni Muslim jihadists Boko Haram, has said its troops acted appropriately.

Chief of Army Staff General Tukur Yusuf Buratai in January told a separate inquiry by the National Human Rights Commission that soldiers "acted in accordance to the rule of engagement" and their orders.

No official death toll has been released but Human Rights Watch has said "at least 300" were killed. The Nigerian army has said the high death toll numbers were "unsubstantiated".

One medic at ABUTH told AFP in January he counted at least 400 bodies in the morgue on the evening of December 12 while locals said as many bodies also littered on the streets.

The IMN has said some 730 members were unaccounted for, "either killed by the army or... in detention".

In February, prosecutors said 191 IMN supporters in custody were charged with firearms and public order offences.

Zakzaky and the IMN have previously clashed with Nigeria's secular authorities over their quest to establish an Islamic state through an Iranian-style revolution.

The cleric has periodically been incarcerated for alleged incitement and subversion.
MGM has emerged victorious in the bidding war for Deeper, the latest Max Landis spec script that has Bradley Cooper attached to star.

The studio is in negotiations to pick up the package that also comes with Kornel Mundruczo, the Hungarian director behind White God, attached to direct, and a pool of producers: David Goyer, Kevin Turen, Russell Ackerman, John Schoenfelder and Landis, who is best known as the writer of Chronicle and American Ultra. Cooper will also act as a producer.

Deeper is a supernatural thriller that centers on a disgraced astronaut who is on a deep-sea dive exploring a newly discovered trench but soon finds himself confronted by a sinister and dangerous force. Those who have read it have described it as having a tone similar to recent hits Gravity and The Martian.

The package hit the town two weeks ago, garnering interest and bids from companies such as Bold, Oddlot, Open Road, Fox Searchlight and Paramount.

The deal comes hot on the heels of the intense bidding war for Landis' spec Bright, which saw its price tag reach $4 million and the package ultimately being sold for $90 million to Netflix. David Ayer is on board to direct that crime-fantasy hybrid with Will Smith and Joel Edgerton attached to star as human and orc cops forced to work together in order to retrieve a magic wand.

Landis is repped by WME, Writ Large and Barh & Abramson. Cooper, last seen opposite Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, is with CAA. Mundruczo is repped by CAA and United Agents.

Read More: Comic-Con: 'Chronicle' Writer Max Landis to Pen 'Superman: American Alien' Comic Series
By Kathryn Doyle (Reuters Health) - The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has been letting patients grade their hospital experiences, and those patient experience scores may give some insight into a hospitals health outcomes, a new study suggests. Some people have been concerned that patient experience isnt the most important factor to measure, said coauthor Dr. Ashish K. Jha of the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston. Medicare has been putting a lot of data out for a long time, but the broad consensus has been its very hard for consumers to use this info, Jha told Reuters Health by phone. CMS responded by giving out star ratings that consumers can understand easily. The five-star rating system is based on patients answers to 27 questions about a recent hospital stay. Questions cover communication with nurses and doctors, the responsiveness of hospital staff, the hospital's cleanliness and quietness, pain management, communication about medicines, discharge information, and would they recommend the hospital. The survey is administered to a random sample of adult patients between 48 hours and six weeks after hospital discharge. (Consumers can compare their local hospitals online at http://1.usa.gov/1Rt7DGW.) For the new study, the researchers compared the CMS patient-experience ratings at more than 3,000 hospitals in October 2015 to data from those hospitals on death or readmission within 30 days of discharge. Patients in the study had been hospitalized for heart attack, pneumonia or heart failure. Of the 3,000 hospitals, 125 had five stars, more than 2,000 had three or four stars, 623 had two stars, and 76 had only one star. Four and five-star hospitals tended to be small rural nonteaching hospitals in the Midwest. Five-star hospitals had the lowest average patient death rate, 9.8 percent over the 30 days following discharge, while four three and two-star hospitals all had just over 10 percent mortality rates and one-star hospitals had an average 11.2 percent mortality rate, as reported in JAMA Internal Medicine. Five-star hospitals also readmitted less than 20 percent of patients over the next month, while other hospitals all readmitted at least that many. The data only included Medicare patients, who are older and may not have the same results as younger patients, and there was not much difference between two, three and four-star hospitals, the authors note. If you use the star rating youre more likely to end up at a high quality hospital, Jha said. But I wouldnt use only the star rating to choose a hospital. I dont think these data are enough to by themselves to suggest that (patients) should use the star rating as a single guide to choose an institution, agreed Dr. Joshua J. Fenton of the University of California, Davis, who was not part of the new study. No large hospitals had five stars, and more than half of the five-star facilities didnt have an intensive care unit, Fenton told Reuters Health by phone. I can say from practicing in a rural hospital for a few years and we did not have an ICU, when we hospitalized someone with pneumonia or congestive heart failure, we would certainly not have kept them there if we thought it was likely there would be a complication, he said. Smaller rural hospitals select less acute patients, he said. The authors of the new study tried to account for that, but it may still have affected the results. SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1WpE27e JAMA Internal Medicine, online April 10, 2016.
On Tuesday morning, couple Alastair Shipman and Hannah Simpson awoke in a shark tank in Paris, bringing their relationship full circle to where it first began.

Of the more than 60,000 submissions sent to Airbnb's Shark Aquarium contest in Paris, it was Shipman's love story and appeal to reunite with the long distance girlfriend he first met at an aquarium four years ago, that won the hearts of the judges.

On Monday night, the couple from England and Northern Ireland arrived at the Paris Aquarium near Trocadero to christen the specially-conceived underwater chamber as the first of three couples chosen to spend the night surrounded by 37 sharks.

The other couples come from the US and China.

After being led through corridors normally reserved for aquarium staff and descending into their underwater bedroom outfitted with a circular bed, a copy of Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, shark magazines and toy sharks, the pair broke out into giddy grins, which Shipman later admitted was part excitement, part fear.

I was terrified, he said laughing.

It was amazing, added Simpson. There's no way we're going to go to sleep.

The project to build and submerge an underground hotel room at the Paris aquarium was a year in the making, says Airbnb spokesperson Anne-Sophie Frenove, and doesn't end with the special sleepover.

Following its run as a hotel room, the chamber will be converted into an underwater observatory for biologists and scientists at the aquarium, who will be able to take advantage of the 360-degree views to observe the animals' behavior during the day and overnight.

In order to construct the custom-made chamber, engineers, scientists, architects and biologists were recruited.

At first, architects said the project was impossible for the prosaic reason that the unit couldn't fit through the doorways.

A makeshift catamaran support system had to be built to serve as a construction site for the chamber. The unit had to be disassembled then reassembled inside the aquarium, with a margin of 2mm between the panels and the door.

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But these are details that Monday's couple is blissfully unaware of.

When Shipman learned about the Airbnb contest which launched last month, it was only natural for the 25-year-old to take a chance and enter.

Since their first encounter at the London aquarium during a school trip years ago, the long distance couple -- she currently lives in Boston, he lives in London -- make it a point to visit an aquarium whenever they're reunited, often at destinations that meet each partner halfway.

It's become a tradition for the couple for sentimental reasons, but also because they share a mutual love for underwater zoos.

It's a nerdy passion, laughs Simpson.

Following a tour of the aquarium, the couple was treated to a classic French dinner that started with lobster in champagne sauce; grilled filet of steak with truffle sauce; and ended with a chocolate surprise and macarons, served tableside by their personal chef.

Lights out went at 10 pm.

The next two couples will be spending the night at the aquarium Tuesday and Wednesday.
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday Germany wanted to find a solution to the migrant crisis but this was separate to artistic freedom after the Turkish leader filed a complaint against a comedian for insulting him with a satirical poem. "I want to stress again what was stressed yesterday - we have the fundamental values in the constitution and that includes Article 5, which is the freedom of opinion, freedom of science and of course the freedom of art," she said when asked about the complaint Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has filed against German comedian Jan Boehmermann. "Art and these fundamental values are valid regardless of any political problems we discuss with each other and that includes the refugee issue and I think Turkey and the European Union and so also Germany have an interest in finding a political solution on it," she added. Merkel has spearheaded EU efforts to secure Turkey's help in dealing with Europe's migrant crisis so the Boehmermann comes at an awkward time for her. (Reporting by Michelle Martin; Editing by Michael Nienaber)
LONDON - A new drama starring British actress Helen Mirren looks at the use of drone warfare in international conflicts. In "Eye in the Sky", Mirren plays a colonel who insists on an immediate drone strike after discovering the location of a number of the most dangerous militants in the world. But not all the politicians in the British cabinet who are needed to make the decision agree with her assertive stance. The Oscar winner's role was initially intended for a man to play. "I think it was very astute of the director. I'm not saying me but any woman playing that role just really opens the film up to the female audience as much as anything," Mirren said at the movie's UK premiere in London on Monday night. "... It's much more embracing, it brings us all into the argument. It's not just then a macho movie, you know about men making war." When discussing the debate about this form of drone warfare "The Queen" actress said its use was inevitable. "It's not going to go away so we better get used to that fact and sort out in all of our corporate minds, our national minds, you know, what we feel about it," she said. "It will be used in our name anyway." "Eye In The Sky", which also stars Aaron Paul and the late Alan Rickman, hits UK cinemas from April 15.
India's meteorological department on Tuesday said it forecast an above-average monsoon this year, offering hope for farmers at a time when several regions are facing severe drought.

Key agricultural states including Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka are facing a crippling shortage of rainfall that has hurt the farming sector and forced the rationing of drinking water to some communities.

"The rainfall over the country as a whole for the southwest monsoon 2016 is likely to be above normal," Laxman Singh Rathore, director general of the India Meteorological Department, told reporters in New Delhi.

The southwest monsoon refers to India's four-month-long monsoon season, which starts in June.

In addition to the country-wide forecast, the meteorological department said that some of the worst-affected regions could also expect sufficient rains.

"These areas too will get good rainfall," Rathore said. "In all it's good news, that monsoon 2016 will be good."

Earlier on Tuesday the city of Latur in Maharashtra, one of the worst drought-hit regions in the country, received a supply of drinking water brought by a special train.

"Train with drinking water arrives at drought affected Latur early this morning. Distribution to begin soon," Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Twitter.

India's agriculture sector, which employs about 60 percent of the population but contributes only around 15 percent of the country's gross domestic product, is largely monsoon-reliant.

Announcing its annual budget in February the government promised to spend billions of dollars to double the income of struggling farmers and boost the rural economy.
Washington (AFP) - The vast majority of companies that received money from the World Bank's private lending arm last year to finance investment in Africa's poorest region use tax havens, an anti-poverty group says.

A total of 51 out of 68 companies that receive such funds from the International Finance Corporation for sub-Saharan Africa used tax havens. And they accounted for 84 percent of IFC investment in the region in 2015, Oxfam said in a report.

The use of the havens had no apparent link to the companies' core business, it added.

The most common haven for these companies was Mauritius, Oxfam said, adding that 40 percent of the IFC's customers investing in sub-Saharan Africa had ties there.

The report said the Indian Ocean island nation is known to accommodate "round-tripping", a practice in which a company sends money offshore before returning it under the guise of foreign direct investment. That earns tax breaks and other financial incentives.

The Oxfam report comes in the wake of the Panama Papers leak about how wealthy individuals and firms use tax havens to hide assets and avoid paying taxes.

"It doesn't make sense for the World Bank Group to spend money encouraging companies to invest in 'development' while turning a blind eye to the fact that these companies could be cheating poor countries out of tax revenues that are needed to fight poverty and inequality," said Oxfam's tax policy advisor, Susana Ruiz.

The Oxfam report said the IFC has more than doubled its investment in companies that use tax havens in five years. It has risen from $1.20 billion in 2010 to $2.87 billion in 2015, the study said.
By Emma Batha LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Mozambique, which has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world, unveiled a national plan on Monday to end the practice which affects nearly half of the country's girls. "(This is) a cause for celebration, and should inspire our African neighbours to do the same," said Albino Francisco, coordinator of Girls Not Brides Mozambique which helped the government draw up the strategy. Although there has been a slight fall in the rate of child marriage in Mozambique, campaigners say population growth means the number of child brides has increased. Mozambique has the world's tenth highest rate of child marriage - with 48 percent of girls wed by their 18th birthday, and 14 percent before they turn 15, according to U.N. children's fund UNICEF. The national strategy outlines eight pillars key to ending child marriage including an awareness drive, improving girls' access to education, sexual and reproductive health services, sex education and legal reforms, according to Girls Not Brides. Early marriage not only deprives girls of education and opportunities but increases the risk of death or serious childbirth injuries if they have babies before their bodies are ready. Child brides are often disempowered and at greater risk of domestic and sexual violence and HIV, experts say. Mozambican news site Noticias, which reported the launch, described child marriage as "a social evil". The reasons behind child marriage vary across the country but the common factors are poverty and lack of education. In some areas, campaigners say girls as young as nine go through initiation rites where they learn how to please a man in bed and perform domestic duties as part of preparations for marriage. Worldwide, 15 million girls are married off as children every year. (Editing by Ros Russell; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, which covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit news.trust.org to see more stories.)
North Korea accused South Korea Tuesday of kidnapping its citizens after Seoul said 13 of them had defected to the South from China, where they worked in a Pyongyang-operated restaurant.

In its first reaction since Seoul announced the defections, the North's Red Cross spokesman accused the South of committing a crime on an "unparalelled" scale by "kidnapping" them.

The spokesman called for the South to apologise and return them immediately or face "unimaginable consequences and strong countermeasures".

"We know in detail how they were abducted to the South under connivance from the country concerned and how they passed through a certain country in Southeastern Asia," the spokesman was quoted as saying on the North's propaganda website Uriminzokkiri.

China said Monday that the 13 people -- a male manager and 12 young female employees -- had legitimate passports and had freely exited China.

The defectors arrived in the South last Thursday, the unification ministry said.

The North operates such restaurants overseas to earn much-needed hard currency.

There have been defections by individual restaurant workers in the past, but this is the first time so many staff from one establishment have defected en masse.

Seoul Monday also announced that a North Korean colonel involved in espionage operations and a diplomat in Africa had fled to the South last year.

The defections come at a time of elevated military tensions on the divided Korean peninsula.

North Korea has condemned Seoul and Washington for spearheading a sanctions drive at the UN to punish it for a nuclear test and a long-range rocket launch this year.

It has also threatened military retaliation for annual large-scale military exercises which South Korea and the United States began last month.
In his career as an AFP journalist from 1976 to 2006, Michel Blanchard was AFP bureau chief in Hanoi for two years, from 1981 to 1983. He continued to visit Vietnam frequently for over ten years as a writer of some of the first travel guides on the region which appeared after the war.

The exhibition creates a unique chance for Vietnamese to savour the nostalgia before the great transformation of the 1990s took place, as well as the economic boom that followed it.

The exhibition opened with Michel Blanchards conference about the life of a press correspondent in Hanoi in the 80s, presented on April 8th.

As scheduled, the exhibition will run until April 30th./.

Bicycle repair on a street in Hanoi in 1982.

Houses in Hang Dao street, Hanoi Old Quarter in 1984.

Hanoi in 1988

A flower market during the Lunar New Year of 1984 in Ho Chi Minh city.

A barber on Dong Khoi street in Ho Chi Minh City in 1983.

The river in front of the Majestic hotel in Ho Chi Minh city in 1983.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO envoys will hold their first formal meeting with Russia in almost two years on April 20, the Western alliance said on Tuesday, with the crisis in Ukraine, reducing military risks and Afghanistan on the agenda. "It is not a return to business as usual, but we do need dialogue," said a NATO spokeswoman. The forum bringing together Russia and its former Cold War adversary NATO was never officially suspended, but met last in June 2014 as Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula strained ties. Both sides have now agreed to hold talks at ambassador level in Brussels in the NATO-Russia Council. While the West and Russia remain at odds over Ukraine, the meeting is a sign of willingness to improve diplomatic relations that could help avoid any accidental clashes in the region. As NATO accelerates its biggest military build-up in eastern Europe since the Cold War, the alliance wants to talk to Moscow about improved military transparency to avoid misunderstandings. NATO suspended all practical cooperation with Russia in April 2014 in protest against Moscow's annexation of Crimea. NATO said high-level political contacts with Russia could continue but NATO and Russian ambassadors met only twice since the Crimea crisis erupted, in March 2014 and then in early June of the same year. (Reporting by Robin Emmott; editing by Robert-Jan Bartunek)
Overview of the seminar "Vietnam talk - Nation of the sea and islands" (Photo: VNA)

The exhibition displays 36 photos in large sizes, including ancient maps from the United Kingdom, Belgium, Portugal and Vietnam, showing Vietnam's sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa Archipelagos; the HD-981 drilling rig event; China illegally consolidating and expanding islands, reefs and destroying coral ecosystems in the East Sea; China deploying missile systems on Phu Lam Island belonging to Vietnams Hoang Sa Archipelago; and the viewpoint of the European Union (EU) for the settlement of issues on the East Sea.

In exhibition also includes photos depicting daily activities of the army and people on the islands, reefs and frame houses in Truong Sa Archipelago, taken by Doan Bac from Vietnam, Le Thanh Hai from the United Kingdom, and Rafal Tomanski from Poland.

In the framework of the exhibition, the seminar "Vietnam talk  Nation of the sea and islands" with main speakers including journalists Rafal Tomanski, reporter of Rzeczpospolita newspaper, former member of Parliament Piotr Gadzinowski and Mr. La Duc Trung, Deputy Director of the Institute of Vietnamese Science and Culture under a university in Poland.

The speakers and participants discussed an overview of the situation of disputes on the East Sea, notable developments in the East Sea, especially Chinas international law violating activities such as expanding and building artificial islands and reefs, illegal flights, or HD-981 drilling rig in 2015 as well as recent tensions Beijing caused in the East Sea.

The exhibition and seminar draw the attention of large number of students from the University of Lodz, local people and some television channels and newspapers of Poland./.
By Ingrid Melander PARIS (Reuters) - "This is amazing, people are finally taking the political debate into their own hands," 19-year-old literature student Zoe beamed as she roamed Paris' Place de la Republique, where thousands are meeting nightly to debate, protest and dream of another world. Street protests are hardly a novelty in the homeland of the 1789 French revolution and the May 1968 student-worker uprising. But the occupation, night after night, of the vast square by left-wing and anarchist young people is a novel form of snowballing action that is giving President Francois Hollande's Socialist government sleepless nights. The "Nuit Debout" or "Up all Night" movement began on March 31 when a group of activists decided not to go home after a march against labor reform, said 35-year-old Simon, a theater worker and one of the volunteers who greets newcomers. Crowds ranging from several hundred to a few thousand have gathered every evening since then for a spontaneous happening that is a mixture of street theater, party and ritual initiation for a new generation of activists. Inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement in the United States and Spain's 2011 Indignados street sit-ins, "Nuit Debout" unites the discontented in a mostly joyous hubbub of debate on everything from rewriting the French constitution to protesting against police violence and labor reforms. Working groups on the square discuss utopian projects such as a universal income, a lifetime job guarantee or worker takeovers of companies, but also women's rights, the media, unemployment and climate change. Veterans of the Spanish youth protests, which gave rise to the far-left Podemos (We Can!) party, came to Paris to offer informal advice on how to organize. Hostility to government plans to make layoffs easier and cheaper, and encourage enterprise-level bargaining on working hours and wages, has prompted students and high school pupils to demonstrate alongside more traditional trade union marches. "Nuit Debout is a problem for Hollande because it's largely his 2012 voters who are taking to the street and saying 'We were fooled. Never again'," Socialist lawmaker Malek Boutih told Le Monde daily. Hollande made a big play for the youth vote in his 2012 election campaign and is now considering whether to run again in 2017 despite record low approval ratings. The all-night sit-ins spread to some 60 towns around the provinces at the weekend, worrying the government sufficiently for it to announce about 500 million euros in extra subsidies for young job seekers on Monday. HEADACHE FOR HOLLANDE "Nuit Debout shows the government is struggling to talk with parts of its own electorate," said Francois Miquet-Marty, head of the Viavoice polling institute. Protesters say the latest handouts to students and apprentices miss the point. "The thinking behind the 'Nuit Debout' is to find new confidence in our own strength precisely because we don't trust those who rule us any more," 20-year-old political science student Victor said. "When they (the government) say that they're working for young people, it's a huge lie. They're just trying to halt the momentum." Like all those interviewed on Monday night, Victor declined to give his full name. He and others explained that this is to avoid appearing as spokespeople of a movement that insists it is leader-less even if it a few high-profile activists, including an economist and a documentary filmmaker, helped launch it. The 'Nuit Debout' protesters agree only that they want change. There is no defined platform beyond widespread anger at the government's pro-business reforms. "It is really uplifting to see so many people around me who want something else, even if it's not quite clear yet what that something else is," said Clementine, who works for a non-governmental organization. There are committees to discuss specific issues and a daily general assembly at 6 p.m., where all are free to speak but must register first and respect a time limit. When the sound system goes down, all those within hearing range relay the speakers' words by shouting to those at the back of the square. Asked what their objective is, a common response among the participants is "We'll see where this gets us". That lack of clear platform is one of the movement's limits, said Albert Ogien, a director at the CNRS research institute and specialist in new political movements. "May '68 was all about having an actual revolution against capitalism. Now it's much more diffuse... and it's hard to have another May '68 if you don't have one clearly identified common enemy," he said. So far, the numbers are far from achieving the critical mass to sustain a nationwide movement. School and university holidays starting next week and exams after the break could well add to protest fatigue, analysts said, noting that the Indignados and Occupy movements eventually fizzled. "It takes more than a thousand to make a May '68, you need a whole country," Ogien said. Participants point to another issue they say the movement needs to remedy: the protesters are overwhelmingly white students and workers from central Paris, and few come from France's under-privileged, ethnically diverse suburbs. Place de la Republique had become an improvised shrine and a symbol of national unity where huge crowds rallied after last year's Islamist attacks in Paris. The 'Nuit Debout' movement has pitched its tents and built its stalls around that shrine, still festooned with candles, banners, graffiti and flowers. For Viavoice's Miquet-Marty, while 'Nuit Debout' is too disorganized for now to threaten the system, "it would be dangerous for the government to let it get bigger." Police moved in to clear the square peacefully early on Monday, but the protesters were back by the evening. The government has taken a mostly hands-off approach despite a nationwide state of emergency in force since last November's deadly Paris attacks. Security forces have intervened only when a small group of rioters tried to reach Prime Minister Manuel Valls's nearby home on Saturday. (Additional reporting by Johanna Decorse in Toulouse and Julie Carriat, Johnny Cotton in Paris; Editing by Paul Taylor)
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea accused South Korea on Tuesday of abducting its citizens in China, four days after South Korea said 13 workers at restaurant run by the North had defected. North Korea said the abduction of its citizens was an unacceptable provocation and it demanded their return. "We sternly denounce the group abduction of the citizens of the DPRK as a hideous crime against its dignity and social system and the life and security of its citizens," the North's KCNA news agency quoted a spokesman of its Red Cross Society as saying. DPRK stand for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name. South Korea said on Friday that 13 workers at a restaurant run by the North in an unidentified country had defected, a case it described as unprecedented, adding that the 13 had arrived in the South a day earlier. South Korea did not say where the 13 had worked. China said on Monday that 13 North Koreans had been there and had left lawfully. It did not say if they were the same group. The North's Red Cross Society said the group was employed at a restaurant in the Chinese city of Ningbo, and they were taken to a Southeast Asian country before being flown to South Korea. It did not say how many people were in the group. News of the defections came during a period of tension on the Korean peninsula following the North's fourth nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch the next month. The two Koreas have been fierce rivals since the 1950-53 Korean War and about 29,000 people had fled from North Korea and arrived in the South, since then, including 1,276 last year. (Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Robert Birsel)
OSLO (Reuters) - DNB is to appoint an external law firm to look into the activities of its board after the government stepped up pressure on the bank to explain why it failed to prevent its Luxembourg arm from helping customers to set up offshore companies. Norway's biggest bank has already done its own investigation into the issue, which concluded that DNB had failed to monitor the Luxembourg business properly. This followed revelations about DNB's operations in the Panama Papers leaks. "DNB has concluded that its own guidelines were breached, and says this should not have happened. That I agree to," Industry Minister Monica Maeland said in a statement on the case on Tuesday. "There are still unanswered questions in this matter," she said. The Norwegian government is DNB's biggest shareholder with a 34 percent stake. DNB Chairwoman Anne Carine Tanum said the case required thorough investigation. "The ministry is asking the board to consider the need for an external review ... the Hjort law firm will be retained by the board to evaluate the case." After the Panama Papers were published, DNB said it had helped customers to establish offshore firms in the Seychelles between 2006 to 2010. (Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Gwladys Fouche and Jane Merriman)
The US Electoral College distorts campaigns, disenfranchises voters, and drives partisanship, say scholars who argue the popular vote is far better for choosing presidents.

Otherwise, The great majority of American voters exercise no real political voice in the outcome of presidential elections, says Doug McAdam, professor of sociology at Stanford University.

Under the United States Constitution, the Electoral College determines the president based on vote totals in each state. The candidate who receives a majority of electoral votes (270) wins the presidency. Each states number of electors is equal to its number of members of Congress (representatives plus senators). Washington, DC, also has three electors, so the total number of Electoral College members is 538.

Related: Heres the Map That Shows Why the GOP Is Freaking Out About Trump

Four out of five Americans exercised no real electoral voice in the 2012 presidential election due to the winner-take-all Electoral College system, which made campaigns focus on the handful of battleground states that were up for grabs heading into the election.

WINNER TAKE ALL

If we define battleground states as those where the final margin of victory was 5 percent or less, only six of the 50 states qualify, McAdam says. They were Colorado, 4 percent; Florida, 1 percent; North Carolina, 3 percent; Ohio, 2 percent; Pennsylvania, 5 percent; and Virginia, 3 percent.

The mean margin of difference in the remaining 44 states was a whopping 19 percent.

Electoral College Votes by State | InsideGov

Even with such populous states as Florida, Pennsylvania, and Ohio in the mix, the total population of the 2012 battleground states was barely 20 percent of the countrys total.

No principle is more fundamental to the theory of democratic governance than political equality; that is, the idea that every citizens voice or views should count as much as anyone elses, says McAdam, coauthor with Karina Kloos of the 2014 book Deeply Divided: Racial Politics and Social Movements in Postwar America (Oxford University Press).

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Related: How Far Will Republicans Go to Keep Trump from Winning?

The current system violates this principle, McAdam says, due to its winner-take-all nature. In a close election, voters in one or more of the battleground states may determine the outcome of the contest.

What about all those citizens who reside in non-competitive states? Consider the loyal Republican who lives in California or the stalwart Mississippi Democrat? Every four years, voting for them is an exercise in political powerlessness, at least when it comes to the presidential race.

Eliminating the Electoral College would empower voters, and would likely drive up voter registration and voting rates while creating a greater focus on issues (and not states) in presidential races.

No single reform would deliver on this promise more than this one, McAdam says.

But eliminating the Electoral College wont be easy. An amendment, whether proposed by Congress or a national constitutional convention, must be ratified by either the legislatures of three-fourths (at present 38) of the states or state ratifying conventions in three-fourths of the states. Still, 17 such amendments have passed since the Constitution was adopted in 1789, the last being in 1992.

Related: Trump vs. Clinton Rewrites Elections by Class, Race and Gender

LESSER OF ALL EVILS

Another flaw with the Electoral College occurs when none of the candidates wins 270 electoral votes. Then, the fate of the presidency goes to the US House of Representativestaking it away from individual American voters. This happened in 1876, and given current conditions in the presidential campaigns, could happen in 2016, McAdam says.

The Electoral College issue vexed the framers at the 1787 Constitutional Convention down to their final days of debateand they werent sure how it would work in practice, says Jack Rakove, a professor of history and of political science.

They adopted the Electoral College not because they found it attractive in itself, but simply because it was the least objectionable alternative, says Rakove, author of the Pulitzer Prizewinning book Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution.

The idea of a legislative appointment of the chief executive might have seemed more attractive, but the framers worried that that would make the president a tool of some dominant faction in Congress, and reduce the initiative and independence they wanted him to have.

Related: How Selecting U.S. Presidential Candidates Became the People's Choice

Based on the one-person, one-vote concept and the national unity it could offer, Rakove also recommends replacing the Electoral College with a national popular vote.

The electoral weight of the citizen should not vary from one place to another based on the distorting effect of the senatorial bump,' which refers to the overrepresentation of small states in the Electoral College due to their two Senate-based electors, he says.

The last three US presidents have all suffered from attacks on the legitimacy of their election fueled in part by the perception of a nation largely divided into red and blue states.

If we think of the electoral map as a tableau of national division, we form a disparaging view of the victors presidential authority right from the outset, he says.

Related: Angry Trump Voters Plan Protest Over Colorado Delegate Hijacking

However, if the winning candidate was perceived to be the victor of a truly national election, partisanship might decrease. The way to begin the reform process is by establishing a prestigious national commission capable of recommending constitutional change.

A candidate can win the Electoral Collegeand as a result, the presidencywithout winning the popular vote, Brady says. In fact, its happened four times: Andrew Jackson and Samuel Tilden, won the popular vote in 1824 and 1876, respectively, only to see their opponents walk into the White House. This also happened to Grover Cleveland in 1888; he won the popular vote but lost on electoral votes to Benjamin Harrison. And in 2000, George Bush prevailed similarly over Al Gore.

This article appeared originally in Futurity.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
Source:VNA

Speaking in southern Prey Veng province, the PM said China has released water two times into the Mekong River and requested the country to continue doing so.

Besides, he called on farmers to save water as this years rainy season is forecast to be delayed until mid-July due to the impacts of the El Nino.

Currently, some ponds, lakes, canals and reservoirs have dried up, he added.

Last month, Director of the Meteorology Department at the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology Oum Ryna said almost every province is facing drought at different levels, but only a few provinces were facing a severe shortage of water.

According to a weekly weather forecast released by the ministry on April 11th, the maximum temperatures will be up to 39 degrees Celsius in highland areas and 40 degrees Celsius in plain areas from April 11th to 17th./.
By Heide Brandes

OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - Oklahoma lawmakers sent a measure to the governor on Tuesday to increase penalties for cattle rustling, in an attempt to curtail a crime associated with the Wild West that has seen a resurgence from ranch hands stealing livestock to feed their drug habits.

The bill approved by the Oklahoma Senate on Tuesday and already approved in the House increases fines for cattle theft and the number of felony counts that can be brought.

State law currently says the penalty for livestock theft is jail or a fine, but the legislation would allow for both penalties in a single case. It also allows prosecutors to assign a felony charge for each animal stolen.

If a thief steals eight head of cattle, in the past he was charged with one felony count," said Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association Executive Vice President Michael Kelsey.

The crime has evolved from rustlers on horseback driving their plunder across the range, often portrayed in the early 1960s U.S. TV program "Rawhide," to modern-day cowboys using pickup trucks and trailers to make off with cattle.

The recent rise in rustling is driven by the spread of heroin and methamphetamines to rural areas, an issue that has dogged states across the nation. In Oklahoma and neighboring Texas, lonesome cattle grazing on thousand-acre ranches that can fetch about $1,000 to $3,000 at market are proving to be easy targets for rustlers on the down and out.

Jail time for the theft of livestock remains at three to 10 years. Those convicted of livestock theft would be fined in an amount that is three times the value of animals and machinery stolen, capping out at $500,000.

The bill now heads to Governor Mary Fallin, a Republican.

"Now, district attorneys have the option to seek eight felony counts. If the district attorney is faced with a hardened criminal, he can really throw the book at him, Kelsey said.

Among Oklahoma cattle thieves, about 75 percent are doing so to feed drug addictions, most often to methamphetamines, according to Jerry Flowers, chief agent for the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture's Investigative Services, a specialized units farm crimes.

Cattle theft data from the department showed that reported cattle thefts more than doubled in 2014 from the previous year, due in large part to rampant methamphetamine use and addiction in rural areas.

(Reporting by Heide Brandes; Writing by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Alan Crosby)
Libreville (AFP) - One person was killed and six wounded in an explosion at an oil site in southwest Gabon run by a subsidiary of Chinese energy giant Sinopec, officials said.

The explosion on Saturday sparked a huge fire at the site, where some 2,000 barrels of oil were being stored in a tank.

"An explosion happened at an oil collection and export site in east Obangue, under the Dinonga-Irondou licence, operated by the company Addax Petroleum Oil & Gas Gabon," petrol and hydrocarbons minister Etienne Dieudonne Ngoubou said in a statement.

The fire is being put out and authorities were investigating the cause of the incident, the statement added.

Rescuers found the body of one worker at the site on Sunday morning, while four people were admitted to hospital in Port-Gentil and Libreville with second and third-degree burns.

Two more people suffered less serious burns, the statement added.

Obangue has been at the heart of a years-long standoff between Gabon's government and Sinopec subsidiary Addax Petroleum, which was barred from operating in December 2012 for failing to meet tax, customs and environmental obligations.

For a while the public Gabon Oil Company was the only company licensed to operate in the oil rich region, but the Sinopec subsidiary was allowed to restart operations in 2014.

Gabon produces around 230,000 barrels of oil per day, accounting for some 60 percent of state earnings.
Diyarbakir (Turkey) (AFP) - Two Turkish soldiers were killed and more than 50 people wounded when a car bomb exploded at a military post in Turkey's restive Kurdish-dominated southeast, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Tuesday.

Turkish authorities blamed the attack on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has killed hundreds of members of the security forces in a resurgent campaign of violence in the last few months.

Davutoglu denounced the "vile attack" accusing what he termed the "terrorist organisation" of resorting to such attacks whenever it was backed into corner, in reference to the PKK.

The attack late on Monday targeted a military outpost in the Hani district of Diyarbakir province and left 52 people injured, including civilians.

The security forces launched a search operation to capture those responsible following the bombing, a military source told AFP.

Turkey has waged an offensive against the PKK after the collapse in 2015 of a two-year ceasefire declared by the group which has waged a insurgency against the Turkish state lasting more than three decades.

The renewed conflict has also struck at the heart of the country, with two attacks that killed dozens of people in the capital Ankara claimed by Kurdish rebels.

A radical PKK splinter group, the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), claimed responsibility for the two suicide car bombings in Ankara on February 17 and March 13.

Over 40,000 people have been killed since the PKK took up arms in 1984 demanding a homeland for Turkey's biggest minority. Since then, the group has pared back its demands to focus on cultural rights and a measure of autonomy.
It's been nearly one year since the launch of the Apple Watch. While the device is easily the most successful smartwatch ever released, it hasn't exactly set the world on fire the way the iPhone and iPad once did. Well connected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities is projecting that Apple Watch shipments are actually going to decrease by 25% this year despite the fact that Apple is planning to release a second-generation Apple Watch.

MUST READ: Insiders reveal the worst things about working for Google

I should note first that people who own the Apple Watch really like it. Per Re/code, a new survey from advertising company Fluent shows that 77% of Apple Watch owners consider the device a success and that two thirds of them plan to upgrade to the newest version of the watch when it comes out. And that's all great, but there seems to be more limited upside for the device -- among the general population, 53% of people do not think the Apple Watch has been a successful product, for example.

What's really interesting about Fluent's survey are the reasons Apple Watch owners list for not buying a next-generation Apple Watch: 34% of owners cited high prices as a reason for not buying, while 31% said the device just wasn't useful enough to justify buying, and another 16% simply said the device is "ugly."

The most interesting factor from my perspective is that the Apple Watch isn't useful enough because it's long been the view that I've had of smartwatches as a whole. Writing over at Quartz, Apple Watch owner Mike Murphy explains that Apple Watch "hasnt shown that it can perform enough useful functions to make the average person think, yes, this is something thats worth a few hundred dollars as its exciting and will help me in my life."

He admits that he really likes the ability to use Apple Watch for mobile payments and he says that its health tracking capabilities are "simpler, more useful, and more reliable, than other ecosystems like Jawbone and Fitbit." Nonetheless, he believes that one year after the Apple Watch's launch, "its become apparent that there really isnt much of a need to get one."

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It's possible that the Apple Watch could develop a cult following and in particular it should be loved by fitness fanatics who also double as Apple fans. But it doesn't look like it's going to be the next big thing.

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This article was originally published on BGR.com
London (AFP) - The rush of revelations about British politicians' finances this week prompted by the Panama Papers leak marks a shift from traditional deference to Scandinavian-style openness, commentators say.

Prime Minister David Cameron led the way by releasing a summary of his taxes for the past six years on Sunday and he told parliament that British leaders or "potential prime ministers" should do the same.

Finance minister George Osborne and London mayor Boris Johnson, both seen as possible successors to Cameron, quickly followed suit on Monday, along with main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

"Welcome to real democracy... Disclose or die," warned Matthew Parris, a former MP from Cameron's Conservative Party and columnist for the Times newspaper.

"Times are changing. An era is upon us when trust and deference are gone," he said, foreseeing a time when all MPs will have to publish their tax details.

"Tax is the new sex," Parris added, a reference to the frequent sex scandals beloved of British tabloids that shook up the political world in the 1990s.

British MPs currently have to declare a range of financial interests to parliament every year but only if these could affect their political choices.

They are not obliged to go into great detail on the amounts and only have to reveal shareholdings above A70,000 (87,000 euros, $100,000).

- Loss of trust -

Conservative lawmaker Jacob Rees-Mogg moaned it was "a pity that we have lost privacy" and said he expected that he too would soon have to publish his own tax return.

"It's very clear that all MPs within a year or two will be publishing their returns and I'm not going to be the one holding out against that," he said in an interview with the BBC.

"To some extent it is politicians' fault because we lost the trust of the public over the expenses affair."

Revelations about expenses claimed by lawmakers caused a major scandal in 2009 and resulted in five members of the lower House of Commons and two members of the upper House of Lords going to jail for fraud.

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Experts said the immediate political fallout from the current scandal would not be anything as serious and the calls from campaigners and some Labour MPs for Cameron to resign were unlikely to succeed.

"It looks for the moment that David Cameron probably has drawn a line here and the story will now move on to the general issue of how much people earn, how much he earns, how much other Conservatives earn and whether that somehow needs to be taxed more," London School of Economics professor Tony Travers told AFP.

- 'Frenzy' on taxes -

Cameron's image has, however, taken a beating from the delay in revealing that he held shares in his late father's offshore fund and received money from his parents that may have skirted inheritance tax.

In the eyes of many observers, the disclosures have reinforced an image of Cameron and his inner circle as a rich Conservative elite governing for the rich.

The left-leaning Daily Mirror tabloid on Tuesday called the revelations by pro-austerity Cameron and Osborne "grotesque" and ran a front-page story pointing out that Osborne personally benefited from a tax cut for the wealthy that he himself enacted.

"We are not and never were 'all in it together' as this wealthy pair pretended," it said in an editorial.

The Guardian said Cameron "will find it harder to shake off the sense that he embodies a privileged class who benefit most from offshore tax regimes".

The Financial Times pointed to the full transparency in Norway, Sweden and Finland but warned about the current "frenzy" surrounding British politicians' tax affairs and called for "a sense of proportion".

William Hague, a former Conservative leader, said it would now be "very difficult" to resist disclosure.

"We live in an age where digital technology and a lack of trust in government, internationally, come together to demand greater transparency all the time," he said.
Panama City (AFP) - Panama warned France on Tuesday of unspecified "diplomatic measures" if it doesn't drop it from a blacklist of tax havens in the wake of the Panama Papers revelations.

"If France's government doesn't reconsider it's position, Panama's government will find itself obliged to take diplomatic measures," President Juan Carlos Varela told reporters.

Following the Panama Papers reports showing how a Panama law firm helped wealthy people from France and other countries stash their assets in offshore companies, Paris last week put Panama back on its national list of Uncooperative States and Territories (ETNC), from which it had removed it in 2012.

France is also urging the European Union and all member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to follow suit.

Such an international designation would deal a heavy blow to Panama's vital financial services sector, upon which the Panamanian government recently imposed reforms to move it towards global transparency standards.

Varela said Panama was asking Paris, "strongly and respectfully" to take back its "wrong and unnecessary" decision to blacklist his country. Such a designation entails financial sanctions such as heavy French withholding taxes on transactions.

Panama's laws also provide for retaliation in such cases that can lead to public tenders being withheld from companies from offending states.

Panama has mixed such threats with affirmations that it is open to discussing how to improve transparency, all in a bid to head off wider action against it.

The Panama Papers, centred on a huge cache of documents pilfered digitally from the law firm Mossack Fonseca, has had repercussions around the world.

Iceland's prime minister was forced to resign after his name appeared as one of the beneficiaries of an offshore company. Britain's prime minister has had to disclose his tax records.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has sought to divert attention from his entourage by claiming it is all a US plot against him.

China has been censoring online forums and media to try to prevent the names of relatives close to the leadership circulating.

And wealthy citizens in Australia, France, Spain, Mexico, Peru, India and elsewhere face probes over suspected tax avoidance after their names figured in some of the 11.5 million documents.
YANGON, Myanmar - Dancers in traditional costumes kicked off Thingyan, Myanmar's annual water festival, on Tuesday, which falls on the final days before the country's New Year. During the five-day, colorful festival people spray each other and hurl buckets of water, which is meant to cleanse the evils and sins of the old year because the start of the new one. They also visit temples and make offerings and gifts. "We usually enjoy the water festival with our families in the most peaceful manner," said Zarni Nway Nway, 27.
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) on Tuesday delivered an ironclad, Shermanesque declaration that he has absolutely no intentions of stepping into the GOP presidential battle this summer if billionaire Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas both fail to lock up their partys nomination in Cleveland.

In a speech in GOP party offices just blocks from the U.S. Capitol, Ryan emphatically ruled out any last-minute appeal to convention delegates to make him their standard-bearer and save the party if the convention becomes hopelessly deadlocked.

Related: Why Paul Ryan Will Dodge the GOP Presidential Snake Pit

Instead, he intends to continue working to shape a new economic and social agenda for the GOP that will enable his party to cling to majorities in the House and Senate, even if Trump or Cruz leads the party to disaster in the November general election  as polls are pointing to more and more.

We have too much work to do in the House to allow this speculation to swirl or have my motivations questioned, Ryan told reporters. Let me be clear: I do not want, nor will I accept the Republican nomination.

Then, speaking directly to the delegates who will gather in Cleveland this summer to choose the nominee, Ryan said, If no candidate has a majority on the first ballot, I believe you should only choose a person who actually participated in the primary. Count me out. I simply believe that if you want to be the nominee  to be the president  you should actually run for it. I chose not to. Therefore, I should not be considered. Period.

Ryan, 45, a veteran House member and the 2012 vice presidential nominee, has repeatedly sought to dampen speculation that he might step in and salvage his party if Trump and Cruz prove too toxic for the GOP and cant amass the 1,237 delegates needed to claim the nomination.

Related: Why the GOP Wont Give Up on Paul Ryan as a Presidential Nominee

Trump  with 743 delegates already in his pocket -- could still lock up the nomination before July, beginning with a strong performance next Tuesday in the New York primary, and then moving on to Pennsylvania, Connecticut and other northeastern states.

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Trump leads Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich in New York with more than 50 percent of the vote, according to recent polls, and he continues to lead the field in national polling.

But Trump and Cruz are so unpopular among Republican and Democratic voters that Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Bernie Sanders lead them in hypothetical matchups in recent polls.

And for all his protests, Ryan and his aides intentionally or otherwise stoked speculation with foreign travel and a series of high-minded speeches and videos that sounded downright presidential.

Related: Team Trump Stirs the Pot Again, Says Cruz Using 'Gestapo Tactics'

But Ryan insisted he was merely doing what he committed to do when he succeeded John Boehner as speaker.

When I accepted this speakership, I did so on the condition that I would do things differently than they were in the past, he said. For one, I made clear that this would be a policy and communications-focused speakership. And secondly, I made clear that we would put together a policy agenda and offer a clear choice to the American people.

Thats what I told my colleagues I would do, and its exactly what Ive done, he added.

Ryan, a policy wonk and former chair of the House Budget and Ways and Means Committee, once again enunciated the House GOP agenda, including embracing free enterprise and rejecting crony capitalism.

I believe we can once again be that optimistic party that is defined by a belief in the limitless possibility of our people. We want to be a party defined by solutions... by being on the side of the people. We want to take our principles and apply them to the problems of the day.

When pressed by a reporter to explain why people should take him at his word about the presidential campaign when he changed his mind last year and accepted the House speakership after repeatedly insisting he wasnt interested.

Those are apples and oranges, he said. Being speaker of the House is a far cry from being president of the United States, he said. Specifically, I was already in the House, Im already a congressman. So I was asked by my colleagues to take a responsibility within Congress, which I already was serving from the one that I had. Thats clearly different than getting the nomination for president of the United States by your party without even running for the job.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Police arrested more than 400 protesters outside the U.S. Capitol on Monday from Democracy Spring, an organization seeking to remove big money from politics and combat restrictive voter identification laws.

The mostly calm and orderly demonstration resulted in arrests for what the U.S. Capitol Police called "unlawful demonstration activity" such as crowding and obstruction.

Organizers vowed to repeat the demonstration every day for a week.

The protest was held "to demand Congress take immediate action to end the corruption of big money in our politics and ensure free and fair elections," Democracy Spring said on its website.

The group lists actor Mark Ruffalo and academic Noam Chomsky and dozens of well-known activist groups among its supporters.

"We believe this is the people's house, and Congress should be responsive to the people. We need to protect voting rights," said Peter Callahan, the group's communications coordinator.

Protesters hoisted a scarecrow-like effigy of a corporate lobbyist holding money bags and a sign reading, "Warning: Massive civil disobedience is next."

Police arrested those who sat on the stairs of the East Front of the Capitol, the seat of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Democracy Spring traces its roots to the end of the Occupy Los Angeles movement, and its rise coincides with the presidential campaigns of Democrat Bernie Sanders and Republican Donald Trump, both of whom speak against the influence of campaign contributions on politicians.

While most of the groups involved are associated more with Democrats than Republicans, Callahan said the group was nonpartisan.

"We see populism on the rise on both sides of the spectrum. Americans are sick and tired of their politicians being bought and paid for," Callahan said.

(Reporting by Eric Beech in Washington and Daniel Trotta in New York; Editing by Eric Walsh and Jonathan Oatis)
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
Washington (AFP) - Advocates for two African Americans on death row for murder are seeking a reprieve for both men on the grounds their trials were tainted by racial bias, taking their campaigns all the way to the US Supreme Court.

Amnesty International is waging a last-ditch effort to secure a stay for Kenneth Fults, 47, who is due to be executed by lethal injection on Tuesday in the southeastern state of Georgia for the murder of a white woman 20 years ago.

Fults was sentenced to death after pleading guilty to shooting Cathy Bounds five times in the back of the head.

But eight years later, an investigator working with his lawyers spoke to a juror in the case, Thomas Buffington, aged 79 at the time, who used a racial slur when referring to Fults.

"Once he pled guilty, I knew I would vote for the death penalty because that's what that nigger deserved," Buffington, who has since died, told the lawyer under oath.

Georgia's State Board for Pardons and Paroles denied an appeal for clemency filed by Fults' lawyers Monday evening. In it, they highlighted allegations of racial bias but also characterized him as intellectually impaired and the product of a violent, neglectful childhood.

So his last resort is now intervention by the Supreme Court, which rejected a previous appeal by his lawyers' last year. His lawyers have asked the court to take up the case again.

The Fults case has drawn relatively little media attention in the United States -- partly because the allegations of bias surfaced long after the trial.

But on April 22 the Supreme Court rules on whether to take up a much higher-profile case -- that of Duane Buck -- which involves similar allegations of racial bias in the trial process.

Buck was sentenced to die in Texas in 1997 for shooting dead his ex-girlfriend and a friend, in front of her children.

His attorneys do not dispute his conviction for the double murder, but they argue that racial considerations entered into his sentencing, infringing his rights under the US Constitution which guarantees the right to an impartial jury.

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- 'Profound impact' -

During the 1997 hearing, psychologist Walter Quijano testified that blacks pose a greater risk of "future dangerousness" than whites.

Under Texas law, a person can be sentenced to death only if shown to pose a danger to society and the prosecutor cited this testimony in asking for capital punishment.

"This was a case that did not have an enormous amount of evidence speaking to the question of future dangerousness," said Christina Swarns, litigation director at the legal defense fund of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

"Mr Buck did not have prior convictions for violence, so having this expert in the field saying that because of his race he was going to be dangerous in the future, it clearly had a very profound impact on the jury."

The Supreme Court has intervened once before in Buck's case, granting a stay hours before his scheduled execution in September 2011.

At the time, several of the justices qualified as "bizarre and objectionable" the testimony of the psychologist, but the court stopped short of agreeing to review the case.

- Procedural error -

The Court's decision this month whether or not to take up the now-emblematic case comes as the vacancy left by the death of one of its nine justices, Antonin Scalia, has created a likelihood of split 4-4 rulings.

Both the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times have now published editorials calling for Buck to be granted a new trial.

"A man was sentenced to death at least in part because of his race -- a violation of his constitutional rights," wrote the Los Angeles Times in urging the Supreme Court to grant him a hearing.

Both papers highlighted the fact that other men sentenced to die in cases involving testimony by the same psychologist were granted fresh hearings. But Buck's death sentence still stands because of a procedural error by his lawyers.

Advocates for Buck also cite strong evidence of prejudice in Harris County, Texas, where he was sentenced and which accounts for nine percent of all capital penalty sentences meted out in the US.

Studies have shown Harris County prosecutors were three times more likely to seek the death penalty against African Americans than against white defendants between 1992 and 1999. Juries in the county were also more than twice as likely to impose capital punishment on African Americans.

Kate Black, a member of Burk's defense team, invokes his good conduct during 18 years in jail as a further argument in his favor.

"If Mr Buck is given a new, fair sentencing hearing the jury will see that he has not posed any future danger and has in fact been a model prisoner," she told AFP.
Americas students and parents have good reason to fear life after college. Though Bachelors degrees are now needed more than ever, over the last 15 years the average wage for someone holding one has declined by 10 percent, and the net worth of those under 35 has gone down by nearly 70 percent since the early 1980s. Employers are using the Bachelors degree as a screening device, but neither students nor those hiring them think the degree proves that the person who earned it is ready for the world of work.

Worries about the preparation of college grads for the world of work have been around for a long time. A century ago, business groups and labor unions came together to support a stratified system of high-school education that trained some students for specific tasks, while giving others a broad education that would allow them to continue their studies in college. The movement led to the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917, which financed vocational education, initially for jobs in agriculture and then in other industries. The goal of separate-but-equal education for vocational and academic students predictably degenerated into protecting wealthy people who wanted a broad education for their offspring, while leaving those in vocational tracks vulnerable to losing their jobs when technology and other economic changes made their specificand narrowskill sets obsolete.

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Even in the 1960s and 70s, now looked back upon by many as the golden era of American higher education, there were plenty of spoofs of egg heads, artists, or protestors who left college campuses only to find that the real world had very different expectations for them than did their professors. Many college graduates were proudly critical of this real world, and some of them turned out to be instrumental in helping to transform its culture and economy, engaging in protests and supporting progressive change.

The country is currently in another period of economic anxiety in which parents and students wonder whether the disjunction between the campus and the workplace leaves many college graduates unprepared for gainful employment in a hyper-competitive world. The steep increase in the costs of attending college, along with mounting student debt, understandably adds fuel to this fear. Technology has enabled the growth of other just-in-time delivery systems of education, those that give the student specific training for a job that is available now. Its understandable that parents and students are questioning whether a traditional four-year degree should be the default option in todays world.

In his latest book, There Is Life After College, the journalist and former editor of the Chronicle of Higher Education Jeff Selingo tries to send a reassuring message. Addressing students and their parents, he aims to dispel your fears about life after college by offering to make sense of the career options out there and giving practical advice on how to find ones way among them.

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In his survey of young adults with at least some college experience, he distinguishes three major groups: sprinters, wanderers, and stragglers. What distinguishes the sprinters, who start climbing the career ladder quickly, according to Selingo, is that they choose a major early, have internships while undergraduates, and dont have high loan levels. Roughly a third of the sprinters are in STEM fields, and half have college-educated parents. This doesnt come as much of a surprisein todays America its still important to have connections and high-earning parents.

Selingo emphasizes (like many these days) that what you do in college is typically more important than where you goa comforting thought in a time of admissions mania and crazy competition to get into elite schools. But is it true? Sure, its a better return on investment to go to a less well-known school and do really, really well than it is to go to a highly selective school and do no work at all. But this is clearly not a legitimate comparison. Is it more likely that you will find the internship, be stimulated to work hard in your courses, and get the support you need to succeed academically if youre at a well-resourced school? For most, the answer is yes.

Selingo makes a happy presentation of the virtues of community colleges and two-year degrees. Yes, there are many fine community colleges across the country, and for some students these are great places from which to launch into a career. However, the data shows that completion rates at most two-year institutions are very low and that the benefits of being at a school with students whose credentials are superior to your own are very powerful. William G. Bowen and Derek Bok, former presidents of Princeton and Harvard, respectively, have been making this argument for years, and newer studies back them up.

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Selingos book features many valuable stories from his interviews with students who figure out how to thrive in various career trajectoriesthough his sense of what counts as thriving is too limited by his infatuation with the latest hiring fads at trendy companies. He likes to quote Laszlo Bock, the head of People Operations at Google, on the inadequacy of traditional ways of evaluating job candidates. He doesnt explain that Bock was an international-relations major at Pomona College, an elite (and very wealthy) small liberal-arts school.

While Selingo should know better than to say that the B.A. curriculum today is bound by what schools have offered for centuries, he is certainly right to point to the ways that colleges and universities can do a much better job of helping students connect what they learn on campuses to what they will do after graduation. But he goes too far in urging schools to have a much tighter relationship with corporations that claim they cant afford to train people on the joband are instead asking colleges to do it for them. As the philosopher John Dewey wrote in an earlier period of economic anxiety: The kind of vocational education in which I am interested is not one which will adapt workers to the existing industrial regime; I am not sufficiently in love with the regime for that.

Like many commentators on higher education, Selingo wants to see it disrupted. The context for the demand that colleges be transformed, though, has less to do with curricula and professors and more to do with rising inequality and the fear of falling behind. I am heartened by Selingos observation that the most successful graduates I found in researching this book were those who could translate what they learned in one context (the classroom) to another that is far different. As he underscores near the end of his book, this capacity for translation is exactly the goal of liberal education, the kind of learning under so much pressure from those who would reduce higher ed to the just-in-time pursuit of merit badges for acquiring skills.

Instead, what is really needed today is the kind of pragmatic liberal education Dewey called for a century ago: one that wouldnt be reduced to short-term training, but instead would empower graduates to be engaged citizens. Sure, by preparing themselves for 21st-century jobs, broadly educated graduates can reduce fears about life after college. But as empowered citizens, they can also work to transform an economy and polity now hell-bent on reproducing privilege and poverty.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
By Nate Raymond

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The business partner of an imprisoned former U.S. congressman from New York City pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a tax charge in a case related to the conviction of the Republican politician.

Bennett Orfaly, 51, pleaded guilty in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, to having aided and assisted in the preparation of a false tax return for one of his restaurants, Pita Grill Murray Hill, in 2009.

Orfaly, who once co-owned another restaurant with former U.S. Representative Michael Grimm at the center of the politician's criminal case, said he provided an accountant false information to "substantially underestimate" the pita restaurant's gross receipts.

A court filing last week said the case was related to the one against Grimm, who represented a district that included the New York City borough of Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn.

Grimm was sentenced in July to eight months in prison after pleading guilty to tax fraud in connection with Healthalicious, a Manhattan restaurant he co-founded with Orfaly. Orfaly faces up to three years in prison when he is sentenced on June 30.

"Mr. Orfaly and I are glad this matter is behind him," said James DiPietro, Orfaly's lawyer.

Grimm, a former Marine who later worked as an FBI agent, was elected in 2010 with a wave of conservative Tea Party Republicans advocating low taxes and government spending, but built a moderate voting record.

From 2007 to 2010, Grimm oversaw the day-to-day operations of Healthalicious.

At a court hearing in 2012, prosecutor Anthony Capozzolo said Orfaly had ties to a member of the Gambino family, Anthony Morelli, who was sentenced in 1996 to 20 years in prison in connection with a gas tax fraud.

That statement came during a bail hearing for a former campaign fundraiser for Grimm, Ofer Biton, who was also an owner in Orfaly's pita restaurant and later pleaded guilty to visa fraud in 2013.

Grimm was subsequently indicted in April 2014 on tax charges related to Healthalicious and pleaded guilty that December to aiding and assisting the preparation of a false tax return.

Prosecutors said Grimm under-reported wages paid to workers, many of whom did not have legal status in the United States, and concealed more than $900,000 in Healthalicious' gross receipts from an accountant who prepared the restaurant's tax returns.

(Editing by Matthew Lewis)
Lisbon, Portugal, is a traditional yet sophisticated Old World city. The area has warm, sunny weather year-round and roughly 300 days of sunshine a year. It's ringed by the Atlantic Ocean on one side and protected on the other by the deep and calm waters of the Tagus River. This unsung city is also warm, hospitable, friendly, safe and one of the best bargains in Western Europe.

[See: 50 Affordable Places to Buy a Retirement Home in 2016.]

Featuring a vibrant, centuries-old downtown of small, walkable neighborhoods, Lisbon also boasts modern and elegant apartment buildings and luxury villas. It is called the White City thanks to the ochre stone that predominates construction. The rich lifestyle on offer is supported by high-standard health care and an established and welcoming expat community.

Lisbon is a delight. This is the oldest city in Western Europe. Its strategic location made it an important center for trade between populations on the Mediterranean coast and those of northern Europe. All this history has resulted in one of the world's most fascinating cities. Every time you leave your home, you'll discover something new and engaging.

The best part is that a retired couple could enjoy it all on a budget of $1,700 or $1,800 per month. Here are some places to consider living in Lisbon:

Alfama and Graca. These are the capital's oldest and most typical neighborhoods. At first glance, they look more like two small villages than city neighborhoods. Famous for their narrow and often pedestrian only streets filled with restaurants and Fado houses, the well-preserved neighborhoods of Alfama and Graca are the stylistic heart and soul of the city.

Dome buildings in this part of the city are in need of refurbishment, and this can be a very affordable place to live. You could rent a one-bedroom apartment for as little as 370 euros per month and a two-bedroom for as little as 500 euros per month.

[See: 10 Affordable Places to Retire Overseas in 2016.]

Lapa and Campo De Ourique. These are Lisbon's most vibrant residential districts. With a range of shops, grocery stores and small markets, these two neighborhoods are great if you want to live with a real feeling of community. There are many cafes, and within a month of living here every shop owner will know your name and anticipate your order.

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Most homes in these neighborhoods have been renovated and modernized, and prices, both for rents and the overall cost of living, reflect this. This is one of the most expensive areas of central Lisbon. That said, you could rent a one-bedroom apartment here for as little as 450 euros per month and a two-bedroom for as little as 550 euros per month.

Parque Das Nacoes. This is Lisbon's most sophisticated neighborhood, and it has a residential and business district that was the stage for the 1998 World's Fair. Parque Das Nacoes is today one of the greenest areas in the city. The parkland is punctuated by an outstanding collection of futuristically designed buildings.

This neighborhood is a good location for someone who enjoys the outdoors and wants a great base for biking and walking. Public transportation means Lisbon's bustling city center is not far away, and it's only five kilometers to the international airport. Overlooking the Tagus River, this neighborhood boasts bars, restaurants and a large shopping area, in addition to its many recreational offerings.

Parque Das Nacoes qualifies as a high-rent district. You'll pay at least 700 euros per month to rent a one-bedroom apartment and at least 1,000 euros per month for a two-bedroom place.

Chiado and Principe Real. Lisbon's liveliest and most sought-after districts are Chiado and Principe Real, because they are in the heart of everything. These historic, fashionable and iconic neighborhoods are popular among artists, poets and entertainers. Living here, your life would be culturally rich and never dull.

[See: 10 Ways to Reduce Your Housing Costs in Retirement.]

Apartments in Chiado and Principe Real are fully equipped, elegant and stylish. Like Parque Das Nacoes, these are high-rent zones. You'll spend at least 1,000 euros per month for a one-bedroom apartment and 1,500 euros per month for a two-bedroom.

Kathleen Peddicord is the founder of the Live and Invest Overseas publishing group.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian Mi-28N Night Hunter attack helicopter crashed in Syria in the early hours of Tuesday morning killing both pilots, Russia's Defence Ministry said. The ministry said the helicopter, which crashed in Homs province, had not been shot down, but the cause of the incident was unclear. "A group of specialists is working at the crash site to investigate the incident," the ministry said in a statement. The pilots' bodies had been recovered and brought back to Russia's air base in Hmeymim in Latakia province, it said. President Vladimir Putin announced on March 14 that Russia was withdrawing the bulk of its military contingent in Syria. Around half its fixed-wing strike aircraft flew out in the days that followed. But Russia continued to ship significant quantities of military supplies to Syria and analysts said the Kremlin had changed rather than diluted its military capabilities, increasingly relying on helicopters to support the Syrian army. Mi-28N helicopters, broadly equivalent to America's Apache gunship, took part in the Syrian government operation to push Islamic State out of the ancient city of Palmyra last month, firing anti-tank rockets at armoured vehicles. The crash is the third aircraft Russia has acknowledged losing in Syria. Turkey shot down a Russian Sukhoi-24 bomber near the Syrian-Turkish border on Nov. 24 and a helicopter sent to rescue the pilots was then destroyed by rebels after landing. (Reporting by Maria Kiselyova/Dmitry Solovyov; Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Christian Lowe)
New York (AFP) - Billionaire Russian investor Yuri Milner and British cosmologist Stephen Hawking on Tuesday announced an ambitious new space initiative for a mission to Alpha Centauri, the nearest star system to Earth.

Milner and Hawking are spearheading the "Breakthrough Starshot" team of scientists working on the bold research program to create a fleet of super-compact, ultra-light space vehicles or "nanocraft."

The goal is to send the light-propelled mini space vehicles -- each no bigger than a cell phone -- to Alpha Centauri, which is 4.37 light years away, or 25 trillion miles, from Earth.

They estimate it could take about 20 years to reach the star system from the time of the launch -- rather than the 30,000 years it would take with today's fastest spacecraft.

"Space travel as we know it is slow. How do we go faster and how do we go further? How do we make this great leap?" Milner, who is planning to initially commit $100 million to the project, told a press conference in Manhattan.

"For the first time in history, we can do more than just gaze at the stars. We can actually reach them," added the 54-year-old Russian philanthropist, whose fortune is estimated at $2.9 billion by Forbes.

"It is time to launch the next great leap in human history."

- 'Interstellar sailboat' -

Milner -- one of the original investors in Facebook -- said the team hoped to send a super light robotic spacecraft streaking through space at 60,000 kilometers (faster than 37,000 miles) per second -- about 20 percent the speed of light.

The initiative will work by creating a giant laser array to propel the mini-probes -- which would deploy micro-sails -- toward a given star, creating what Milner likened to an "interstellar sailboat."

"The Breakthrough StarChip concept is based on technology either already available or likely to be available in the near future. But as with any moonshot, there are major engineering problems to solve," Milner cautioned.

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Hawking noted: "I believe what makes us unique is transcending our limits."

Milner said that he will contribute $100 million from his own pocket for the project, which could cost as much as $10 billion before it is fully realized.

"It's very clear that it's a non-profit initiative," he joked, acknowledging that the chance for success and the final cost were unclear.

Milner, Hawking and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg will sit on the project's board.

- Search for life -

A team has already been working on the endeavor for a year, Milner said.

Initial research results indicate that the giant laser array -- the "light beamer" -- would require about 100 gigawatts, roughly the energy needed to launch a space shuttle, said Avi Loeb, a professor at Harvard University and a project member.

"When there is a vision for a grand project like this one, just like the vision that JFK had in the 60s, it lifts many bolts," said Loeb in a nod to former US president John F. Kennedy, whose vision it was to land a man on the moon.

Milner and Hawking have teamed up previously.

Last July, Hawking launched a massive search for intelligent extraterrestrial life in a $100-million, 10-year project to scan the heavens funded by Milner.

Milner said at the time that the "Breakthrough Listen" initiative would be the most intensive scientific search ever undertaken for signs of alien civilization.

The project, they said, would use some of the biggest telescopes on Earth, searching far deeper into the universe than before for radio and laser signals.

One aim of the mission to Alpha Centauri is also to look for signs of extraterrestrial life, Loeb said.

And what might those living creatures be like?

"Judging by the election campaign, definitely not like us," joked Hawking -- who is wheelchair-bound and uses a computerized voice system to communicate -- in reference to the drama-filled race for the White House.
By Adam Jourdan BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - As day breaks, hundreds of patients wait to see doctors in a line that snakes around the Peking Union hospital in Beijing. Many will wait in vain - "scalpers" like Yu Wei have already illegally bought and sold appointment tickets for the day ahead. Yu, 32, makes a living touting the tickets that Chinese hospitals sell in advance for consultations. His tickets will get a patient in front of a doctor in two days, he says, compared with a wait that can be up to a fortnight. Dodging passing police patrols as part of his daily routine, Yu charges 850 yuan ($131) for a "special care" appointment ticket - almost three times the face value. He told Reuters he keeps 200 yuan from each sale, with the rest of the profit going to hospital insiders who he said help him secure the tickets. "The city's upper middle class are always willing to pay this amount or even higher - as long as they can get an appointment," Yu said, speaking between frequent phone calls that he said came from would-be clients. In the background, other scalpers competed for custom, shouting out their prices. The street crime casts light on the scale of the challenge President Xi Jinping faces as he looks to overhaul a creaking and underfunded public health system to deliver on a promise of affordable and accessible care for all. In line with this drive, authorities have tried to crack down on healthcare corruption and police say they have detained some 240 scalpers in Beijing alone this year. Many patients and doctors say, though, the time-served practice is just a symptom of deeper issues: a dearth of doctors and low salaries meaning graft is endemic. "Scalpers are a real headache for us," a spokeswoman for the Peking Union hospital surnamed Chen told Reuters by phone. "There's a crackdown on them, but it's a hard problem to cure." The spokeswoman added the hospital and its doctors were victims of scalpers and were not involved in the practice. DOZENS OF SCALPERS A viral video earlier this year of a woman with her sick mother raging against scalpers brought a public outcry and calls for arrests and tough jail sentences. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3lUF5XXnuw) Authorities have promised to intensify their crackdown. But when Reuters visited hospitals in Shanghai and Beijing, dozens of scalpers operated in plain sight, loudly offering tickets for sale. A spokesman at the Beijing city health department said police needed to "strengthen" their efforts, and it would take some time to see any real results. China's national health ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Feng Jianqi, a police officer involved in leading the crackdown on scalpers in Beijing, said the police could not resolve the issue alone. Part of the problem was that so many patients wanted to see the same doctors, he said. "It's just not realistic to totally eradicate scalpers. It's just too hard," he told Reuters by phone. The problem is acute for patients like Cao Dongxian. The middle-aged school teacher traveled to Beijing in May last year from his home in Shandong province after local doctors refused to carry out a risky intestinal cancer operation. State insurance coverage is limited in China, meaning patients often have to pay a large part if healthcare costs themselves, especially those with major long-term diseases like cancer or diabetes. Keen to avoid paying scalpers, Cao spent months queuing in hospital lines for repeat tests before doctors eventually said his cancer needed an urgent operation. Cao was then told he would have to begin queuing again: this time for a hospital bed. "It was October by the time I got to have my operation ... more than four months," Cao said. "On top of that your body's in pain - it really hurts." 'MARKET PRICE' In hindsight, Cao said he wished he had gone to scalpers straight away. Doctors also appear resigned to the practice, as wealth spreads in China and patients accept the reality that paying more will bring speedier treatment. "(Basic) appointment fees don't reflect the economic value of doctors' skills and experience," said Wu Yuan, an eye doctor at the Peking University First Hospital in Beijing. "Scalpers are simply selling the doctor's appointment at a price the market is prepared to pay," Wu said. He said the practice was routine but that he had no knowledge of any doctor involvement in ticket resales. Even as China's hospitals suffer, the broader market for drugs and services is a lure for firms like e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding and hospital operator Phoenix Healthcare, attracted by a wider healthcare bill that is set to hit $1.3 trillion by 2020. For patients like Cao or Zhang Pengyu, a 38-year-old realtor from the outskirts of Beijing, scalpers are source of frustration and anger, but sometimes a necessary evil. He waited unsuccessfully for three nights to see an ear, nose and throat doctor at Beijing Tongren Hospital. He finally gave in to scalpers, paying 3,000 yuan for a 10-minute appointment that should have cost just 200 yuan. "I wanted to queue myself and not pay so much money, but I just couldn't wait any more. I didn't have time," said Zhang. (Reporting by SHANGHAI newsroom and Adam Jourdan; Additional reporting by Elaine Tan in MANILA and Natalie Thomas in BEIJING; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
GENEVA (Reuters) - The scrapping by Venezuela's top court of an amnesty law that could have secured the release of jailed opposition activists was very disappointing as it could have been a step toward reconciliation, a U.N. human rights spokeswoman said on Tuesday. The OPEC member is engulfed in a bitter political standoff that has worsened since the opposition coalition won control of the National Assembly in a December vote and vowed to seek President Nicolas Maduro's exit this year. Maduro had vowed to veto the amnesty law, which his opponents had said could benefit high-profile government adversaries such as Leopoldo Lopez, who was arrested in 2014 on accusations that he helped spur a wave of demonstrations that killed more than 40 people. "It's a very, very disappointing development," Ravina Shamdasani told a regular U.N. briefing in Geneva. "We would not like to believe that this is the end of the road. We would like to encourage all sides to explore further avenues for dialogue." Shamdasani said the Venezuelan government had asked the U.N. for a legal analysis of the law, and this had shown it largely conformed to international standards. "It was a great move towards dialogue and reconciliation," she said. The supreme court ruled on Monday that the law violated the constitution by promoting impunity and giving amnesty for crimes that were not eligible to receive it. The court has repeatedly backed Maduro in his disputes with the legislature following the opposition's blowout victory in December polls that gave it a two-thirds majority of seats. Shamdasani said the U.N. had serious concerns about the independence of the judiciary, and last year the U.N. Human Rights Committee had called for deep reform to guarantee its independence from government and other political groups. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez said in a statement that the U.N. human rights commission's support for the amnesty law "reinforces the impunity of Venezuela's right wing to carry out insurrectionist actions against the rule of law." The commission's backing of the measure represents the "worst mistake in its history," Rodriguez said in the statement. Opposition leaders accuse Maduro of using allies in the courts to run roughshod over the assembly, noting that ruling Socialist Party legislators used lame-duck sessions late last year to name party militants to the bench. (Reporting by Tom Miles, additional reporting by Brian Ellsworth in Caracas,; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and Cynthia Osterman)
By Lisa Lambert WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The heads of the U.S. agencies that regulate securities and commodities pressed a Senate committee on Tuesday to boost their budgets in the face of growing sophistication in financial markets and technology, but lawmakers gave no sign extra dollars were coming soon. In his proposed budget, President Barack Obama requested an 11 percent increase for the Securities and Exchange Commission, bringing its spending to $1.781 billion. He also sought a 32 percent increase for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, to give the agency overseeing the $400 trillion U.S. swaps market as well as commodities trading, a $331 million budget. The SEC offsets any taxpayer funds it receives with user fees and fines, which means its spending does not affect the federal deficit. But Senator John Boozman of Arkansas, the Republican chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee on financial services, said that did not leave it free of oversight. "Congress has a responsibility to ensure those funds are being spent in a manner that protects investors, helps markets operate efficiently and spurs economic growth for all Americans," he said at Tuesday's hearing. He added that "access to more funding does not necessarily ensure that an agency will successfully achieve its mission or spend that funding responsibly." For the SEC, "additional funding is imperative if we are to continue the agency's progress in fulfilling its responsibilities over our increasingly fast, complex and growing markets," Chair Mary Jo White said. It would help the SEC hire "250 staff in critical, core areas and continue to improve our information technology." The new staff would allow the SEC to conduct more exams, increase data analytics and improve intelligence gathering for enforcement cases, she added. At the hearing, CFTC Chair Timothy Massad said the agency "does not have the resources necessary to adequately oversee" its markets, especially "with an industry that is changing and innovating at the speed of light and that is much larger and more complex than even just a few years ago." More than a third of the extra dollars requested would go toward information technology, he said. Part of the increase, $15.5 million, would go toward enforcement because the CFTC faces "an increasing number of well-financed defendants with high-powered defense teams." Massad added the CFTC was working to change the levels of its fines, saying levies for many violations were "far too low." (Reporting by Lisa Lambert; Editing by Peter Cooney)
Im 35 and was raised in a very extreme, conservative Christian environment. My parents homeschooled me all the way through high school, mostly so that they could control what I learned about the world and about religion. This means that I spent all of my life until the age of 18 or so being not only intensively indoctrinated, but also incredibly isolated from the outside world.

Virtually everyone I interacted with believed in scientific creationism, as we called it, and in my history books I learned about Manifest Destiny and Gods glorious plan for America. I also learned, both at home and at church, that as a woman I needed to submit to the men in my life, and that Gods best for me was to stay at home and raise a large family.

Undoing the brainwashing took a long time. It wasnt until about a year ago that I made my biggest religious choice: atheism!
By Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Merrick Garland, President Barack Obama's U.S. Supreme Court selection, failed to persuade Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley during a private meeting on Tuesday to hold confirmation hearings on his nomination. "As he indicated last week, Grassley explained why the Senate won't be moving forward during this hyper-partisan election year," Grassley's office said in a statement that described the meeting as "cordial and pleasant." The two men met for 70 minutes in the Senate dining room. The Iowa Republican two decades ago also sought to block Garland's nomination to the federal appeals court on which he currently serves as chief judge. Garland later met privately with Lisa Murkowski, one of the dwindling number of moderate Senate Republicans. Her office issued a statement that also seemed to close the door on confirming Garland. Garland was nominated by Obama, a Democrat, on March 16 to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the Feb. 13 death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia. Republicans who control the Senate are refusing to advance the nomination, prompting Democrats to accuse them of obstructionism and of ignoring their constitutional obligations. Republicans insist that the next president, to be elected on Nov. 8 and take office Jan. 20, fill the vacancy, hoping a Republican will win the White House and choose a conservative rather than the centrist Garland. Democrats applauded those Republicans willing to meet with Garland but said public hearings are essential. "Dark-money groups (conservative contributors) are trying to do the Republicans' dirty work and sully Judge Garland's name while Republican senators prevent Judge Garland from explaining his views to the public," New York Senator Chuck Schumer told reporters. "That is cowardly, it's backward and it is wrong." The White House released a letter written by 15 former presidents of the American Bar Association to Senate leaders urging a timely hearing and a vote on Garland's confirmation. "The stated refusal to fill the ninth seat of the Supreme Court injects a degree of politics into the judicial branch that materially hampers the effective operation of our nation's highest court and the lower courts over which it presides," the former ABA leaders stated. The conservative Tea Party Patriots and Judicial Crisis Network praised Grassley for holding firm against hearings. In a Reuters-Ipsos poll that included 900 registered Democrats and 788 registered Republicans conducted April 5-12, 55 percent said the Senate should hold confirmation hearings. The respondents were split along party lines, with 61 percent of Democrats supporting Garland's confirmation compared to 22 percent of Republicans. (Reporting by Richard Cowan; Additional reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Will Dunham)
After Microsoft unveiled new Windows 10 emojis last week, Emojipedia has reported that Microsoft has made available six new ninja cat emojis, exclusive to Windows 10 users.

According to Emojipedia, those with the Windows 10 Anniversary Update can find the six new ninja cats by combining the existing cat emoji with other emojis, with the website listing further instructions on the combinations to use for each of the six ninja cats.

With the right combination users will reveal ninja cat, ninja cat flying, ninja cat at a computer, ninja cat riding a T-Rex, ninja cat drinking coffee, and ninja cat in space.

Ninja cat was first discovered a year ago and has proved to be a popular emoji among Windows users.

Not only has he been turned into a meme by fans, but Microsoft have also built on this popularity, hiding ninja cat in event invites, and even handing out out stickers promoting ninja cat.
In a series of videos posted to social media late Monday night, an irate Snoop Dogg called former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a "racist piece of shit" after the latter commuted the sentence of a political ally's son, released last Friday.

One of Schwarzenegger's last acts as governor was reducing Esteban Nunez's 16-year sentence for manslaughter to seven years. Nunez is the son of former speaker of the State Assembly, Fabian Nunez, a political ally and friend of the then governor.

In one of the three videos posted to Instagram - all laced with profanity - Snoop demanded to know why Schwarzenegger would be OK with allowing Nunezz to get out of prison early but refused to stay the execution of gang leader Stanley "Tookie" Williams.

Williams died of lethal injection in 2005 despite campaigns to urge Schwarzenegger to grant clemency.

Nunez ended up serving less than six years in prison, receiving credit for good behavior, The Associated Press reported.

"Our son has paid his debt to society. He is committed to continuing the work of healing, self-reflection and spiritual growth," the Nunez family said in a statement released Friday, as quoted by the AP.

At the time of his decision, Schwarzenegger said the 16-year sentence was excessive, but acknowledged Fabian Nunez was a friend and he was helping him, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Snoop says the situation is unacceptable.

"I can't wait to catch you, ... I'm going to confront you," Snoop said. "I hope he running with [Donald] Trump so we can knock both of you ... off at the same time."

A request for comment from Schwarzenegger was not immediately returned.

Fuck you Arnold what a friend. U are

A video posted by snoopdogg (@snoopdogg) on Apr 11, 2016 at 10:24pm PDT

Fuck. You. Dogg head bitch

A video posted by snoopdogg (@snoopdogg) on Apr 11, 2016 at 10:31pm PDT

A video posted by snoopdogg (@snoopdogg) on Apr 11, 2016 at 10:36pm PDT
David Chase, the creator of "The Sopranos", is to head the jury of a new international competition for television series, its organisers said Monday.

Eight major new series will be premiered during the Series Mania festival in Paris later this month, one of the top gatherings of its type in the world.

The series in competition have yet to be announced, but the festival's founder Laurence Herszberg said Chase "is the chairman of our dreams to lead our first international jury".

"The Sopranos" is credited with rewriting the rules of TV drama when it was first aired on the US HBO network in 1999.

"Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner and Terence Winter, the writer-producer behind "Vinyl" and "Boardwalk Empire", have previously taken part in the festival, which is in its seventh year.

Series Mania runs from April 15 to 24.
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's airline operator Comair said on Tuesday it had received a 48-hour strike notice from the United Association of South Africa (UASA) who are demanding higher wages. UASA members, who operate on the ground, plan to strike from Thursday after the union declared a deadlock on annual wage negotiations in January, said Comair in a statement. The union, which has a 58 percent membership in the airport unit, wants a 35 percent increase over three years, while Comair is offering a 22.5 percent increase over the three year period, the airline said. Comair, which is a franchisee of British Airways and owner of South African low-cost airline Kulula.com, said operations will not be affected by the strike. "We do have a back-up team who will assist our customers during the potential disruption," Comair CEO Erik Venter said. However, UASA union said in a statement the intended strike could cause "massive inconveniences" and "delays in air travel" if the wage demands were not met soon. (Reporting by Nqobile Dludla; Editing by James Macharia)
By Stella Mapenzauswa JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's economy is now expected to grow by 0.6 percent in 2016, down slightly from the 0.7 percent seen in January, as weaker exports and policy uncertainty take their toll, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday. In its April world economic outlook, the IMF reiterated its GDP growth projection for Africa's powerhouse Nigeria to 2.3 percent this year, down 1.8 percentage points from the previous estimate in January. Growth in Kenya was now seen at 6 percent in 2016 from the 6.8 percent predicted last December. The IMF said output from sub-Saharan Africa would remain subdued this year before picking up in 2017 on the back of an expected small rebound in commodity prices. Investors have been worried that South Africa, which boasts the most industrialised economy on the continent despite coming second to Nigeria in size, could veer off prudent policies under political pressure, after President Jacob Zuma suddenly fired the finance minister in December. "In South Africa, growth is expected to be halved to 0.6 percent in 2016 owing to lower export prices, elevated policy uncertainty, and tighter monetary and fiscal policy," the global lender said. The IMF also now expects lower growth of 1.2 percent for South Africa in 2017, having predicted 1.8 percent in January. In its February budget, the National Treasury cut its own forecasts substantially to 0.9 percent and 1.7 percent respectively for this year and 2017. The Treasury has said it will not be distracted from implementing policies to boost growth, despite the political storm which erupted after the country's highest court found Zuma breached the constitution by failing to repay some of the state money spent on renovating his home. [nL5N17E1ZG] In Tuesday's report, the IMF said growth in sub-Saharan Africas oil-exporting countries, including Nigeria and Angola, was now seen lower as the negative impact of lower oil prices was compounded by disruptions to private sector activity through exchange rate restrictions. "The effect of the decline in oil prices on the regions oil-importing countries has been smaller than expected, as many of these economies export other non-renewable resources whose prices have also dropped," it said. In Zambia, Africa's second largest copper producer, the impact of drought on thermal electricity production was adding to the pressure from low copper prices. Growth would remain subdued at 3.4 percent this year versus 3.6 percent last year. (Editing by James Macharia)
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African anti-apartheid campaigner Winnie Madikizela-Mandela is expected to have surgery on her back on Thursday after undergoing a similar procedure in March, a spokeswoman said on Tuesday. The former first lady and wife of the late Nelson Mandela, was hospitalized on March 7, had surgery on her back the following day and is due for a follow-up operation, her spokeswoman Zodwa Zwane said in a statement. It was not clear the nature of the ailment Madikizela-Mandela, 79, is being treated for. During her ex-husband's 27-year incarceration for his fight against white minority rule, Madikizela-Mandela campaigned tirelessly for his release and for the rights of black South Africans, suffering years of detention, banishment and arrest by the white authorities. Madikizela-Mandela's suffered a blow last week after the High Court dismissed her claim to Mandela's ancestral home at Qunu in the Eastern Cape province. Mandela died in 2013 and made no mention of Madikizela-Mandela in his will. She plans to appeal the ruling, according to media reports. Madikizela-Mandela had claimed she had bought the Qunu property in 1989 while Mandela was still behind bars, giving her ownership rights under traditional law. She was left nothing from Mandela's $4.1 million estate, which was divided between his family, the ruling African National Congress party, former staff and several schools. (Reporting by Zandi Shabalala; Editing by James Macharia)
(This April 11 story has been refiled to correct spelling of 'Korean' in final paragraph) By Jack Kim and Ben Blanchard SEOUL/BEIJING (Reuters) - Two senior North Korean officials, including an army colonel specializing in espionage against the South, defected to South Korea last year, the Seoul government said on Monday. News of the defections followed a South Korean announcement on Friday that 13 workers at a restaurant run by the North in an unidentified country had defected, a case it described as unprecedented, arriving in the South a day earlier. South Korea did not say where the 13 had worked. China said on Monday that 13 North Koreans had been there and had left lawfully. It did not say if they were the same group. The South's Unification and Defence Ministries said on Monday a North Korean army colonel defected last year and had been granted political asylum. He had worked in the secretive General Reconnaissance Bureau, which is focused on espionage activities against the South. South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles North Korea issues, also said that a senior diplomat who was posted in an African country had defected to the South last year with his family. The defection of a high-ranking officer in the General Reconnaissance Bureau is a coup for Seoul. The North set up the bureau in 2009, consolidating several intelligence agencies to streamline operations aimed at the South. Its head, General Kim Yong Chol, is accused by the South of being behind a 2010 torpedo attack against the South that sunk a navy ship and killed 46 sailors. The North denies any responsibility for the sinking. The bureau is also known to operate an elite team of computer specialists working to infiltrate the networks of the South and other countries and to conduct cyber attacks against key institutions. South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the North Korean colonel specialized in anti-South espionage operations before defecting and had divulged the nature of his work to South Korean authorities. South Korean officials declined to comment. News of the defections come after a period of tension on the Korean peninsula following the North's fourth nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch the next month. 'VALID PASSPORTS' The South Korean government's public acknowledgement of defections is unusual. The main liberal opposition Minjoo Party on Monday accused the government of conservative President Park Geun-hye of trying to influence conservative voter turnout ahead of Wednesday's parliamentary elections by announcing the defection of the restaurant workers last week. Both ministries denied suggestions that Monday's revelations were made for domestic political reasons and said disclosing the defections was in the public interest. China is North Korea's main ally and is known for sending defectors back to the North, so South Korean media reports that restaurant workers had been there initially raised some surprise. Asked about the workers on Monday, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said it had received a report about a group of 13 North Koreans in China who had gone missing. "After an investigation, (we found) the 13 North Koreans used valid passports to leave the country normally in the early hours of April 6," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a regular briefing, without saying where they had gone. "What needs to be stressed is that these people had valid identity documents and legally came to the country, not North Koreans who have entered illegally." South Korea's Joongang Ilbo newspaper said the 13 worked at a restaurant in the Chinese city of Ningbo until around Tuesday last week when they disappeared, quoting a Chinese worker at the Ryugyong Korean Restaurant. Calls to the restaurant seeking comment went unanswered. South Korean media said the 13 left China and traveled to a Southeast Asian country before being flown to South Korea, citing unidentified government sources. The South's Unification Ministry declined to comment on where the North Koreans had been before arriving in South Korea. The two Koreas have been fierce rivals since the 1950-53 Korean War and about 29,000 people had fled North Korea and arrived in the South, since then, including 1,276 last year. (Additional reporting by Ju-min Park and Megha Rajagopalan; Editing by Tony Munroe, Robert Birsel)
Steven Spielberg, George Clooney and Jodie Foster are tipped to be among those who will walk the red carpet at Cannes next month when the line up for the world's top film festival is revealed Wednesday.

While nominations for the main Palme d'Or prize are still under tight wraps, it appears that Spielberg will almost certainly show his adaptation of Roald Dahl's children's classic "The BFG" (The Big Friendly Giant) out of competition.

It will most likely be joined by Jodie Foster's new thriller "Money Monster", about a television financial pundit taken hostage by a man whose family has been left penniless by his dud tips.

Starring Clooney as the Wall Street tipster and Julia Roberts as his TV producer, the film will be released internationally during the festival, which runs in the French Riviera resort from May 11 to 22.

Festival chiefs Thierry Fremaux and Pierre Lescure have already announced that Woody Allen's new Amazon-backed film "Cafe Society" will open the annual jamboree, also out of competition.

The competitors for the main competition, however, are harder to call, with the final list often not decided till the very last minute.

The presence of festival favourite Pedro Almodovar, who made his name with "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown", has been thrown into doubt when his was named as running an offshore company in the Panama Papers leak last week.

The Spanish director -- a leftwinger known for his support of environmental causes -- cancelled a press conference to promote his new film "Julieta" about a girl who disappears for a decade, and did not show up at a preview screening in Barcelona.

- Main competition -

Insiders, however, are predicting that the American actor-director Sean Penn's new film "The Last Face", starring his ex-girlfriend Charlize Theron and Javier Bardem will figure in the line-up.

The romance set in Africa among humanitarian workers also stars the French actress Adele Exarchopoulos.

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US director Jeff Nichols, who made the highly praised "Midnight Special" last year, is also thought to be a shoo-in for "Loving", his story about a mixed-raced couple confronting racism in 1950s Virginia.

The Canadian wunderkind Xavier Dolan, who first came to international attention at Cannes with "I Killed My Mother" in 2009 when he was only 20, seems a near certainty for his new family drama "It's Only the End of the World", with its stellar cast of Marion Cotillard, Vincent Cassel and Bond star Lea Seydoux.

Indie cinema icon Jim Jarmush's "Paterson" and "La fille inconnue" (The Unknown Girl) by Belgium's Dardenne brothers -- two-time Palme d'Or winners -- also seem assured of being among the 19 contenders for the main competition.

The Bosnian Serb Emir Kusturica -- who has also lifted the prize twice -- is a clear candidate with "On the Milky Road" starring Monica Bellucci as is another past winner, Romania's Cristian Mungiu with "Family Photos".

But there were questions over whether "I, Daniel Blake", the latest film from Cannes favourite, Briton Ken Loach -- about welfare cuts hurting vulnerable families -- will make the final cut.

Cannes' traditionally strong Asian presence is likely to be led by Japan's Hirokazu Kore-Eda with "After the Storm", Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "The Woman in the Silver Plate" and South Korean Park Chan-Wook's "The Handmaid".

"Showgirls" director Paul Verhoeven may mark his comeback with "Elle" with French actress Isabelle Huppert in the lead, with the Mexican director Amal Escalante's "The Untamed" and Chilean film "Neruda" by Pablo Larrain also being talked up.
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - The Swedish music steaming service Spotify plans to hire thousands in coming years, but Stockholm won't get the new jobs unless it improves current housing, education and tax laws, its founders said on Tuesday. The appeal from one of Sweden's top tech startups comes as record-high immigration is straining the heavily regulated housing market and Swedish schools have tumbled in global education ratings. Spotify founders Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon, whose service has tens of millions of users around the world, said in an open letter to Swedish politicians that they would expand in New York rather than Stockholm if conditions did not improve. Stockholm needs to build more rental apartments, they said, because its inflexible housing market is a drag on the capital's appeal to foreign professionals. The average waiting time for a rental apartment in Stockholm is almost 10 years and house prices have more than tripled in the last 20 years, making it hard for young people to find affordable housing. Sweden should also foster new talent by teaching computer programming in schools early on and cut its high taxes on staff stock options to attract top foreign talent, they said. "Now is the time for action. Politicians - your move!" they wrote. (Reporting by Sven Nordenstam; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
With tax day right around the corner, residents of some states are feeling a much bigger bite than others.

The personal finance website WalletHub examined the myriad taxes each state imposes on its residents, taking into account four types of taxation: real estate tax, vehicle property tax, income tax, and sales and excise tax. It then applied that tax burden to an average family earning the national median household income of $53,889, and ranked the results.

Slideshow: 21 States With the Worst Tax Rates

According to the study, the residents of Illinois have the heaviest state and local tax burden, at 14.54 percent  more than a third above the national average. Nebraska (13.85 percent) and Wisconsin (13.58 percent) round out the top three.

When the rankings are adjusted to reflect the cost of living in each state, New York turns out to be the state with the most burdensome tax system. Illinois fares a little better, rising from dead last on the list to 43rd. Connecticut, a onetime tax haven, is now second-worst, followed by Hawaii, which had been in the middle of the pack.

Click here for the 21 states with the worst tax rates  and if your state makes the list, it might be time to think about moving.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA (Reuters) - Rateb Samour sees 250 patients a day whose complaints range from hair loss to cerebral palsy and cancer. But he is not a doctor and has never worked in a hospital. Samour inherited the skill of bee-sting therapy from his father, who used to raise bees. Then in 2003, the agricultural engineer started to dedicate all his time to studying and developing the alternative medicine treatment of apitherapy, which uses all bee-related products, including honey, propolis - or bee glue used to build hives - and venom. "I am treating serious and chronic diseases which have no cure in regular medicine, I have achieved excellent results," said Samour, an Egyptian-educated specialist in entomology and bees in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian enclave. We speak about chondritis in the neck and spine, migraine, loss of hair, alopecia areata, skin diseases, cerebral palsy, autism and cancer," he said inside an apartment packed with patients on the edge of a beach refugee camp in Gaza City. The 58-year-old Palestinian said he makes bees sting patients at certain points in their bodies that he has carefully studied. A bee dies after being made to sting. "I have been subjected to doubts, but bee-sting therapy has proven itself as an excellent alternative medicine," he told Reuters. "Some doctors, who value the apitherapy for certain illnesses, are among my patients." For a Reuters photo essay, please click on http://reut.rs/1S3fD28 The Islamist-ruled Gaza is under blockade by neighboring Egypt and Israel, which restricts the movement of goods and people in and out of the territory. So Gaza lacks sophisticated medical equipment and has patchy access to medicines. Seriously ill patients must travel to Israel, Egypt or beyond for specialist medical treatment. Inside Samour's home, men and women wait their turn in separate rooms. Alya Al-Ghafari, 10, has been suffering from facial palsy for over two years. Mainstream medicine was both expensive and less efficient than apitherapy, according to her father. "Treatment by bee stings has been more effective than treatment by regular medicine but you need to be patient," said Saeed Al-Ghafari, a government employee. His daughter has been receiving treatment from Samour for nearly nine months. "At the beginning my daughter felt pain but as time passed Alya felt she became better," said Ghafari. "Her face has become better and now she is the one who reminds us of the therapy sessions." Muneera Al-Baba said her son Anas, who suffers from cerebral palsy, has made much more progress in a year and a half than he ever did using mainstream medicine, which also cost twice as much. "Communication between me and him was disconnected," the 44-year-old mother told Reuters. "He lived in a world of his own, now he responds to me." (Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Editing by Brian McGee and Mark Heinrich)
Miami (AFP) - An unusually high number of baby dolphins were found dead in the Gulf of Mexico following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, and a study Tuesday blamed chronic illnesses in mothers exposed to the oil.

The study probing dolphin deaths from 2010-2014 in the coastal areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama was published in the journal Diseases of Aquatic Origin.

Researchers found "substantial differences between fetal and newborn dolphins found stranded inside and outside the areas affected by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill," the study said.

By comparing 69 young bottlenose dolphins that washed up dead in the spill zone to 26 others found in areas unaffected by the oil, the team found that the young dolphins, which died in the womb or shortly after birth, "were significantly smaller than those that stranded during previous years and in other geographic locations."

A total of 88 percent of baby dolphins found in the spill zone had lung abnormalities, including partially or completely collapsed lungs.

Just 15 percent of young dolphins found dead in areas unaffected by the spill had this lung abnormality.

Researchers said the findings suggest the dolphins died in the womb or shortly after birth, and their lungs never had a chance to fully develop and inflate.

A dolphin's pregnancy typically lasts 380 days.

- Aftermath of a disaster -

The US government estimated that 4.9 million gallons of oil spilled from the seabed after the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon suffered an explosion on April 20, 2010 that killed 11 people.

The spill is widely viewed as one of the worst environmental disasters in history.

Some 122 dolphins died from April 30, 2010 until November of that year, during the initial response to the spill.

What researchers call an "unusual mortality event" among dolphins is still being tracked, with a total of 1,591 cetaceans stranded -- 94 percent of them dead -- in the northern Gulf of Mexico as of April 3, 2016.

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In addition to the baby dolphin deaths, researchers found that the spill-zone dolphins were "particularly susceptible to late-term pregnancy failures, signs of fetal distress and development of in utero infections including brucellosis," a bacterial infection.

"These findings support that pregnant dolphins experienced significant health abnormalities that contributed to increased fetal deaths or deaths of dolphin neonates shortly after birth," said lead author Kathleen Colegrove, a veterinary diagnostic laboratory professor at the University of Illinois.

Colegrove and colleagues have previously published research that showed spill zone dolphins were more likely than other stranded dolphins to have severe lung and adrenal gland damage "consistent with petroleum product exposure."

The new findings are yet more evidence that exposure to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill hurt the reproductive health of dolphins in the area, said co-author Teri Rowles, a veterinarian with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program.
Juba (AFP) - The deputy chief of South Sudan rebels returned to the capital Juba on Tuesday as part of a peace deal, raising hopes for the expected arrival next week of the opposition leader.

Alfred Ladu Gore, a former general and minister, spoke about peace after flying into the capital's airport having spent more than two years fighting in the bush and in exile.

"I am very happy to be home... our advance team came here to proclaim peace and I have come to reaffirm that peace will not be reversed," Gore said, who arrived with a delegation of around 60.

However, Gore condemned the arrest of 16 supporters who had been mobilising people to welcome him back.

"Peace means freedom to express your mind, to gather together even if it means you disagree," he said.

He was welcomed by Akol Paul, a senior member of the ruling party. "His arrival today signifies that indeed the war has come to an end," Paul said.

A 1,370-strong force of opposition soldiers and police completed their arrival over the weekend into Juba. They are to ensure security for rebel chief Riek Machar -- named as vice-president in February -- who is due to arrive in Juba next week.

Civil war broke out in December 2013 when President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Machar of planning a coup, setting off a cycle of retaliatory killings that have split the poverty-stricken, landlocked country along ethnic lines.

Machar has said he will come to Juba on April 18 to form a unity government, returning for the first time since he fled the capital over two years ago.

The arrival of rebel leaders -- especially Machar, if he comes -- will be a major symbolic step forward, although many warn that the practical implementation of the peace deal will be a long and tough task.

Tensions remain high, with the rebels accusing the army of boosting troops in the capital, which should be officially demilitarised within a 25 kilometre (15 mile) radius, apart from units allowed under an August 2015 peace deal. The army denies the claims.

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Other troops are meant to gather in special "cantonment" sites.

The United States however on Monday condemned army attacks on rebel positions, "which destroyed a declared opposition cantonment site" near the town of Wau in the country's northwest.

Washington said there were "credible reports" rebel troops had also attacked the army and civilians.

"There is no military solution to the conflicts in South Sudan," the US added. "We call on all parties to fulfil their commitments to implement the provisions of the peace agreement in full."
Marib (Yemen) (AFP) - Loyalists and rebels have clashed on several fronts in Yemen, officials said Tuesday, the second day of a UN-brokered ceasefire the insurgents are warning is in jeopardy, less than a week before peace talks.

Forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi fought with the Shiite Huthi rebels in the province of Marib, east and north of the rebel-held capital Sanaa, officials said.

The rebels and their allies loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh advanced overnight in the area of Sarwah, in Marib, wresting control of two hills, a military official said.

The Saudi-led coalition, which launched a military campaign against the Iran-backed rebels last year, had described violations on Monday as "minor".

Seven soldiers have been killed and 15 others wounded in Sarwah in rebel attacks since the ceasefire entered into force at midnight between Sunday and Monday, the official said.

There were also clashes in Nihm, northeast of Sanaa, military officials said, while rebels said they confronted an attack by Hadi's forces in the area.

The rebels said Monday that pro-government forces were behind 39 violations of the truce, including attacks in Taez and the central province of Baida.

They also said warplanes belonging to the Saudi-led coalition flew sorties over several areas of Yemen despite the ceasefire.

A soldier was killed and nine others wounded in a rebel attack on an army base near the southern city of Baihan which borders Marib province.

- Saudi suicide bomber -

Rebel spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam warned in a statement on Facebook that "continued military action endangers the peace process and reduce the chances of holding the forthcoming dialogue" in Kuwait.

But violations did not seem to discourage the United Nations which is sponsoring peace talks in Kuwait next week.

"The cessation of hostilities seems to be largely holding," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Monday, although he noted that there were "some pockets of violence."

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More than 6,300 people have been killed in the war that has worsened the humanitarian crisis, with more than 80 percent of the population on the brink of famine.

The conflict in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula nation has ruined large parts of the country and raised Middle East tensions, with Saudi Arabia and its Sunni allies backing the government and Shiite powerhouse Iran supporting the rebels.

The peace talks are scheduled to take place in Kuwait on April 18.

Elsewhere, a Saudi bomber suspected of belonging to Al-Qaeda killed five soldiers when he detonated his explosive belt Tuesday among army recruits in Aden, the southern city that serves as a temporary capital for the government.

Army and government installations have been the target of several attacks by extremists since pro-government forces drove out Shiite rebels in the summer.

Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have taken advantage of the chaos caused by the war between the government and the rebels to strengthen their grip on southern Yemen.
Switzerland said Tuesday that it has widened its corruption probe into a Malaysia state-owned fund linked to Prime Minister Najib Razak, with two new individuals indicted over a suspected phony bond deal.

The Swiss attorney general's office (OAG) said the new suspects -- who are accused of fraud, bribery and other offences -- are two United Arab Emirates (UAE) officials who were in charge of sovereign funds based in Abu Dhabi.

In a statement, the OAG said it had evidence that the management of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) violated Swiss embezzlement laws through a fraudulent bond agreement with the UAE officials, with money routed through Swiss banks.

Allegations that billions were looted from 1MDB in a vast campaign of fraud have shaken Najib's government.

The scandal intensified last week when a Malaysian parliamentary committee clearly suggested misconduct had occurred, in the first condemnation from an official body in Kuala Lumpur.

Switzerland opened its own criminal probe into 1MDB last August, targeting two former Malaysian officials "and persons unknown" on suspicion of bribery, money laundering and other offences.

- $4 bn misappropriated? -

The OAG has said that up to $4.0 billion (3.5 billion euros) of public funds in Malaysia may have been misappropriated, with a portion of the money transferred to Swiss accounts controlled by former Malaysian officials and people based in the UAE.

Concerning the latest allegations, Swiss authorities are scrutinising bonds issued by 1MDB subsidiaries officially intended to finance electric power plant projects in Malaysia.

The OAG statement said that sovereign funds based in Abu Dhabi issued guarantees on the bonds, but that evidence indicated 1MDB subsidiaries did not make proper payments in exchange for those guarantees.

"The Swiss authorities have elements in hand allowing them to suspect that the amounts paid in connection with this guarantee were not (paid) to the Abu Dhabi sovereign fund that supported the commercial risk," the statement said.

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"To the contrary, these funds would have benefited others, particularly two public officials concerned as well as a company related to the motion picture industry," it added.

Swiss authorities provided no details on the film industry allegations, but The Wall Street Journal has reported that some of the money used to make Hollywood hit "The Wolf of Wall Street", a movie about financial corruption starring Leonardo DiCaprio, was laundered from 1MDB.

Highlighting the broad scope of the IMDB scandal, Switzerland said it had asked both Luxembourg and Singapore for help with the investigation.

Singapore's attorney general said it had received a request for help from its Swiss counterparts "for information and documents on certain fund flows flowing from (1MDB) and entities related to it".

It added in a statement that "the request is receiving attention and (we) will render all possible assistance to the (Swiss prosecutors) expeditiously".
By Tom Perry BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian Kurds and their allies aim to finalize plans within six months for an autonomous political federation in northern Syria, pressing ahead despite the objections of foreign governments which fear Syria's disintegration. While talks to end the five-year conflict in Syria struggle, the plans are taking shape independently of United Nations-led diplomacy and creating facts on the ground in an area of the country known in Kurdish as Rojava. But the goal of a federal administration where Kurdish officials say other ethnic groups will have autonomy and rights is encountering resistance, notably from the United States, which backs the main Kurdish militia militarily. Hadiya Yousef, a Kurdish official leading efforts to build the new government, says it is time the West gave its full backing to a plan she says is not aimed at Kurdish secession but at helping to resolve the Syrian crisis. "We don't expect hostile parties to support this project, but we hope Western states that have lived the experience of unions and federalism to support this type of project," she told Reuters in an interview. Kurdish groups have emerged as some of the best organized in Syria since the eruption of the conflict in 2011. Their militia, the YPG, has carved out three areas of northern Syria where regional governments have already been set up. Yousef expects the new federal government to grow into areas where Islamic State is losing ground. The YPG has been a crucial partner for the United States in its campaign against Islamic State in Syria, and forms the backbone of the Syria Democratic Forces alliance that is battling the jihadist group across wide areas of the north. But that has not been translated into political support from the United States, whose policy is shaped partly by Turkey's concerns that rising Kurdish influence in Syria is fuelling separatism among its own Kurdish minority. When representatives of the Kurdish-controlled north voted last month to establish the self-run "federal democratic system of Rojava", Washington reiterated its opposition to "semi-autonomous zones inside Syria". The main Syrian Kurdish party, the PYD, has meanwhile been left out of the U.N.-led peace talks, in line with Turkey's wishes. Yousef, 43, said the decision to set up a federal government was in large part driven by the expansion of territories captured from Islamic State, including Arab towns. "Now, after the liberation of many areas, it requires us to go to a wider and more comprehensive system that can embrace all the developments in the area, that will also give rights to all the groups to represent themselves and to form their own administrations," she added. JAILED FOR KURDISH ACTIVISM Jailed for two years in Damascus prior to the war on charges of being a member of a secret organization aiming to break up Syria, Yousef today rejects any notion Kurds are pursuing a separatist agenda, even as they become more powerful. Kurds, the largest non-Arab ethnic group in Syria, faced systematic discrimination by the state until the 2011 uprising. Kurdish minorities also exist in Iran and Iraq, where Kurds have established a regional government in the north. Yousef is co-chair of a 151-member council including Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen, Assyrians and other groups that will approve a new constitution known as a "social contract". Drafting will begin after consultative meetings at community level. Such meetings have already been held in the town of al-Shadadi, recently captured from Islamic State, and Sarrin, a town just east of the Euphrates river in Aleppo province seized from the jihadists last year. "All the meetings are so far positive," she said. Though the details have yet to be agreed, Yousef said a new government would have a legislative council based in a yet-to-be-decided location. The constitution would also define the nature of the relationship between the federation and the government of a reformed, democratic Syria, she said. "After the approval of the social contract, there will be general elections in the area of democratic federalism and the formation of a council elected by the people," said Yousef. Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and rebel groups fighting to topple him all reject what they see as Kurdish separatism. Assad's government said the vote last month to seek self-administration had no "legal value" because it did not represent the will of all Syrians. Yousef said preparations over the next six months would include public diplomacy abroad to explain the plan, adding: "We will work as hard as we can to be ready in six months." (Editing by Catherine Evans)
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Kenyan police broke through a police station wall and threw tear gas canisters to force a second group of Taiwanese on to a Chinese plane on Tuesday, Taiwan's foreign ministry said, in a bizarre diplomatic row in which Taiwan has accused China of abduction. The Kenyan government and police were not immediately available for comment. Taiwan on Monday accused China, which regards the self-ruled island as a breakaway province, of kidnapping eight of its nationals, who it said had been acquitted in a cyber crime case in Kenya, and deporting them to China on Friday from the Nairobi district of Kilimani. It said China had pressured Kenyan police to put the eight on the plane. On Tuesday, another 37 Taiwan nationals were forced on to a Chinese plane, Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said. "The 15 locked up at the police station steadfastly refused to be deported (to China)," said Antonio C.S. Chen, the chief of Taiwan's foreign ministry department in charge of West Asian and African Affairs. "So police broke through the wall, threw tear gas and then about 10 police entered with assault rifles," Chen told a news briefing in Taipei. Kenya's attorney-general said in January it was considering a request from Beijing to extradite 76 Chinese charged with cyber crime in Kenya for trial in their homeland. But Taiwan said some of these people were actually from Taiwan and that a total of 23 of its people had been acquitted last Tuesday by a Kenyan court and given 21 days to leave. China views Taiwan as a wayward province, to be brought under Beijing's control by force if necessary. Defeated Nationalist forces fled to the island in 1949 after a civil war with the Communists now in control in Beijing. Only 22 countries recognise Taiwan, with most, including Kenya, having diplomatic relations with Beijing, recognising its "one China" policy. Taiwan has been in an uproar since the eight were forcibly deported. Chen said the 15 Taiwanese put on the plane on Tuesday likely had barred the door into the room they were being held in, while video footage carried by Taiwan media showed young men speaking the Taiwanese dialect in a cramped room, readying for a fight against a closed door. The video footage could not be verified by Reuters. "China, at the first moment, when it took our nationals without consulting us, acted improperly," said Chen Wen-chi, chief of the international and cross-strait legal affairs department of the Ministry of Justice. Taiwan's top China policymaker said that it was negotiating with Beijing for the return of the first eight Taiwanese, who are in Beijing. "We think this has affected cross-strait ties even though China sees this as a joint effort fighting crime," said Jeff Yang, spokesman for Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council. Yang said it was unclear how soon the Taiwanese in Beijing could return to Taiwan. (Reporting by J.R. Wu and Faith Hung; Editing by Nick Macfie)
Can you move 1,200 miles just to lower your taxes? Well, David Tepper can, and it may save him hundreds of millions of dollars.

Tepper is the founder of hedge fund Appaloosa Management, and hes worth more than $10 billion, according to Forbes. He ran his firm out of New Jersey for years, but recently moved the operation to Miami Beach. The top income tax rate in New Jersey is nearly 9%. In Florida, the top rate is 0. Tepper will save so much money that New Jersey finance officials worry that the tax revenue lost to his move could blow a hole in the state budget.

Connecticut lost a couple of billionaires as wellbusinessmen Thomas Peterffy and C. Dean Metropoulos, who also decamped for Florida recently. Their departure lowered Connecticuts billionaire count from 15 to 13. The Nutmeg State is also losing longtime corporate citizen General Electric (GE) to Boston, a move GE made after Connecticut passed big tax hikes. Florida Gov. Rick Scott even invited Yale University to ditch New Haven and relocate to the Sunshine State, to avoid a new tax some Connecticut lawmakers wanted to impose on the schools endowment. That bill failed to pass, and Yale says it is staying put (for now).

Tax dodges available to the wealthy  but usually, not to the rest of us  have become a sore spot among Americans growing weary of crony capitalism. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders draws roars of approval when he calls for a sharp tax hike on the wealthy. Republican Donald Trump vows to end certain tax breaks that, he says, allow hedge-fund managers to get away with murder. The Obama administration recently cracked down on corporations that try to avoid paying U.S. taxes through inversions, and the Panama Papers scandal, while snaring few Americans, stoked global outrage over the worlds fat cats setting up secret, tax-free accounts far from home.



A simpler tax haven

But theres a simpler kind of tax haven: States with low or no income taxes, which increasingly seem to be drawing 1 percenters from the finance industry. Unlike many types of work that must be done on-site, investing firms can be run from just about anywhere, as long as a major airport is nearby. The wealthy have always sought to minimize their tax bills, but one new factor may be a tax rule the IRS recently clarified to indicate that certain offshore holdings of hedge funds must be repatriated by the end of 2017  with earnings taxed. Repatriating such funds to a state with no personal income tax could save millions compared with the relatively high rates in the Northeast, California and a few other states.

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Anybody can do the math. On $10 million earned in New Jersey, taxed at the top rate of 8.97%, the state tax alone would be $897,000not including federal taxes. The tax on the same $10 million would be $882,000 in New York and $670,000 in Connecticut. In Florida it would be nothing. Florida raises taxes in other ways, through sales taxes and a lot of excise taxes, but that puts more of a burden on the middle class -- and less on the wealthy -- than in other states with progressively higher taxes on income.

That has made Florida a magnet for tax minimizers able to come on down. At least 29 hedge funds opened in Florida in 2015, many of them run by Wall Street departees. Locals talk of a new Manhattan forming in south Florida. Groups such as the Palm Beach Hedge Fund Association, formed in 2013, tout the fact that Florida levies no tax on incomes, estates or certain types of corporations -- which happen to be the kind most hedge funds and private-equity firms are structured as. Gov. Scott, for his part, aggressively recruits corporations to his business-friendly state. Florida does have a corporate tax rate of 5.5%, but that, too, is relatively low compared with 9% in New Jersey, 7.1% in New York, 9% in Connecticut and 8.84% in California.

The path from high-tax northern states to low-tax southern ones is well-trod by now. Annual data on state-to-state moves gathered by United Van Lines shows that New Jersey, which has the fifth-highest state income tax rate in the nation, also has the highest portion of people moving out. New York, with the eighth-highest income tax rate, is No. 2 for departures. Florida, with no income tax, has the largest portion of in-bound movers. Five other states with no state income tax  Nevada, Texas, Washington, South Dakota and Wyoming  also had a net inflow in 2015. (Alaska has no state income tax, but it wasnt included in the United survey.)

Puerto Rico is the latest municipality to lure 1 percenters with generous tax breaks. A set of laws passed in 2008 taxes certain businesses that move to Puerto Rico at a flat 4% rate, while offering huge reductions in many types of investment income for people who can prove they spend at least 183 nights on the island. Hedge-fund giant John Paulson is investing at least $1.5 billion in development in Puerto Rico, while holding seminars for investors and businesspeople touting the islands virtues as a tax haven. Paulson says he may move there himself, joining more than 1,000 wealthy emigres who made the same move in recent years.

You dont necessarily need $1 billion to move to a tax haven. But if you do, youve got a powerful incentive to find one  and the resources to get there.

Rick Newmans latest book is Liberty for All: A Manifesto for Reclaiming Financial and Political Freedom. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman.
The new Galaxy S7 edge is my favorite Android phone ever. In fact, it's my favorite phone period in terms of hardware. In just a few short years, Samsung has gone from selling cheap-feeling plasticky flagship smartphones to building smartphone hardware that is absolutely best in class. Combine that with a gorgeous 5.5-inch Super AMOLED display in a shockingly compact form factor for a phablet, and you've got a recipe for success.

No phone is perfect though, and the S7 edge definitely ships along with some annoying issues. Thankfully though, a new update will fix the biggest complaint many users have with their new Samsung phablets.

DON'T MISS: 5 new features expected in this weeks Tesla Model S refresh

The curved edges on the Galaxy S7 edge are a selling point for a few reasons. The provide some design differentiation, which is certainly appreciated at a time when most flagship phones look identical from afar. They also make the S7 edge fit very comfortably in the hand, which is key for a phone with a large 5.5-inch screen.

Samsung's curved S7 edge display is also the source of an annoying problem, however. The curved sides of the screen are too sensitive to touch, so they cause issues during usage. For example, if you're holding the phone and your palm or fingers are touching the edges of the screen, taps on the display with your thumb or a finger from your other hand aren't always recognized.

It's a very annoying issue, but we have good news: A fix is coming.

SamMobile reports that Samsung has corrected this troublesome but in a new software update that has already begun rolling out in Europe. The bad news, of course, is that it's unclear exactly when the update will hit carrier branded Galaxy S7 edge phones here in the United States. Things always take longer for carrier phones, but hopefully this update will make it through the review process quickly.

Related stories

Galaxy Note 6 tipped to feature more memory than most smartphones

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Galaxy Note 6 reportedly getting a feature the iPhone doesn't have

The Galaxy S7 looks like the major hit Samsung needed

More from BGR: John Oliver hilariously explains everything wrong with credit reports

This article was originally published on BGR.com
Consumer interest in the Tesla Model 3 is beyond what even the most optimistic of Tesla supporters could have envisioned. In just one week, Tesla managed to secure over 325,000 reservations from buyers all to eager to plunk down $1,000 for the right to buy a car that they may not realistically see until 2019 or 2020.

As Elon Musk indicated via a recent tweet, the volume of Model 3 preorders represents $14 billion in unrealized revenue, all accumulated in just a few days. Clearly, the question as to whether or not the public would show interest in a more affordable mass market EV from Tesla has been answered emphatically. But in the wake of Tesla's Model 3 unveiling, a number of new questions have emerged.

DON'T MISS: Amazon is having a big one-day sale on flash drives and memory cards

Touching on some of the issues Tesla will soon encounter as it attempts to bring the Model 3 to market, former Apple executive and insightful industry observer Jean-Louis Gassee recently laid out 3 broad questions Elon Musk and co. will need to answer.

Undoubtedly, the biggest question that Gassee and others have raised is whether or not Tesla can actually get a handle on production. Tesla may arguably be the most forward-thinking ca manufacturer on the planet, but in terms of production capacity, the company still has a long ways to go before it can catch up to traditional auto manufacturers.

Today, however, Teslas factory produces a relatively low volume of luxury cars. Tomorrows Model 3 production system will need to be meaningfully different in order to achieve the volume and cost reductions that the Model 3s affordable price tag requiresand reducing production costs means an additional capital outlay. Last February, the company said it didnt expect to need outside capital, but that was before the deluge of Model 3 orders. (Of course, the excitement for the new product could make it easy to raise money) Its an enormous challenge, but if Musk manages to come up with a new, not merely tweaked, production process, Tesla might be on its way to fulfilling its leaders prophecy of 500,000 cars a year by 2020but wed need to hear more about that process. So far, we have little or no information.

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As Gassee astutely observes, "the design of the production process trumps product engineering prowess."

This is a great point, especially because it's all to easy to overlook some of the production troubles and product delays Tesla has had to deal with in the company's relatively short history. Most recently, Tesla even placed the blame for its Q1 production shortfall on parts shortages stemming from its own arrogance while promising not to make the same mistake with the Model 3.

The root causes of the parts shortages were: Tesla's hubris in adding far too much new technology to the Model X in version 1, insufficient supplier capability validation, and Tesla not having broad enough internal capability to manufacture the parts in-house. The parts in question were only half a dozen out of more than 8,000 unique parts, nonetheless missing even one part means a car cannot be delivered. Tesla is addressing all three root causes to ensure that these mistakes are not repeated with the Model 3 launch.

Interestingly enough, the incredible demand for the Model 3 prompted Musk to fire off a tweet indicating that they'll have to rethink the entire production process.

On another note, Gassee also wonders if Tesla will be able to maintain the Model 3's $35,000 entry-level pricepoint while not leaving too many features out. Make sure to hit the source link for the full rundown of Gassee's analysis. Amidst all of the understandable hype and hoopla surrounding the Model 3's recent unveiling, Gassee provides a more sober and realistic take on the Model 3.

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A huge snake has been discovered which could be the longest in the world.

The 26ft (8m) python was found on a construction site in Malaysia.

It was found last week at the construction of a flyover in Paya Terubong on the island of Penang.

Images show construction workers holding the snake in a huge line.

It took them 30 minutes to trap the animal.

Herme Herisyam, from Malaysias Civil Defence Force, which caught the snake, told the Guardian: It is eight metres in length and weighs about 250kg (551lb).



The current world record for the longest snake in captivity is held by a snake called Medusa who lives in Missouri in the US and measured 25.16ft.

It is thought the Malaysian snake could beat that record.

(Pictures: Herme Herisyam/Malaysias Civil Defence Force)
The Night Manager may not have even been released yet in the U.S., but the ratings and critical acclaim for the six-part spy thriller when it aired on the BBC in the U.K. was such that speculation over a second season had been rife.

Its two main stars, however, appear to have knocked that idea on the head.

"The story feels complete," said Tom Hiddleston while promoting the show in the U.S. ahead of its launch on AMC April 19. "I only ever conceived of it as an adaptation of a complete novel by John le Carre. We made some alterations, we updated it so it had a political resonance and we changed the ending a little bit. I know the rumors about it extending, but none of that is real."

The Night Manager sees Hiddleston plays Jonathan Pine, a former hotel employee and soldier who infiltrates the operations of murderous international arms dealer Dicky Roper, played by Hugh Laurie. But while the series finale appears to leave the door open for a possible return, Laurie seconded Hiddleston in ruling out a follow-up, noting that would go beyond le Carre's original work.

"It's based on a novel, we've got to the end of the novel and John le Carre has yet to write another novel," said Laurie. "So in cold practical terms, no, we're done."

Read More: Most Wanted Men: The Ink Factory on 'The Night Manager,' Tom Hiddleston and Ang Lee's Next Oscar Contender
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A top shareholder in Darty Plc will back Steinhoff's $975 million takeover bid for the French electronic goods retailer, the South African furniture group said Monday. Steinhoff said its offer had the support of Schroder Investment Management, a British hedge fund firm. Schroder owns about 14 percent of Europe's third-largest electronics retailer, making it the biggest shareholder. Investors have until May 2 to accept the offer, which trumped a competing bid from French retailer Fnac last month and has the backing of Darty's board. The transaction would bulk up Steinhoff's presence in Europe, where it already makes more than two-thirds of its 9.8 billion euros ($11.18 billion) of annual sales. Darty earns 70 percent of its revenue in France but has 400 stores across Europe and competes with Media-Saturn, owned by Germany's Metro, and with Britain's Dixons. Steinhoff's Conforama, like Darty and Fnac, has a strong presence in French high streets and retail parks. ($1 = 0.8762 euros) (Reporting by Tiisetso Motsoeneng; editing by Susan Thomas)
MANILA (Reuters) - A tough crime-fighting mayor in the Philippine came out on top in an opinion poll for the second time in two days on Tuesday, less than a month before an election to find a successor to President Benigno Aquino. Rodrigo Duterte, 71, mayor of Davao City in the southern Philippines, has vowed to end corruption and crime six months into his presidency if elected on May 9. The election is being closely watched by investors, who fear the political succession in one of Asia's fastest growing economies could derail gains made during Aquino's six-year single term. Duterte was the top choice of 30 percent of 4,000 respondents in the March 29 to April 3 survey commissioned by broadcaster ABS-CBN. Duterte gained six points from the previous ABS-CBN poll in mid-March. His tough stand on crime has begun to resonate with many Filipinos. The former front-runner, Senator Grace Poe, lost three points in the latest poll and dropped to second place with 25 percent of respondents making her their first choice. Vice President Jejomar Binay and former interior minister Manuel Roxas, who is favored by the president for the job, remained in third and fourth place with 20 percent and 19 percent, respectively. On Monday, a poll by the Social Weather Stations organization showed Duterte on top with 27 percent of 1,500 respondents. Poe was in second place, losing four points to 23 percent, in that survey. In power since 2010, Aquino is barred by the constitution from seeking a second term. Under his leadership, the Philippines has seen annual economic growth of more than 6 percent on average, its best five-year record in four decades. About 54 million people in the country of 100 million are eligible to vote to choose a president, vice president and more than 18,000 local government executives and lawmakers in the elections, which take place every six years. (Reporting by Manuel Mogato; Editing by Robert Birsel)
The frontrunners maintain large leads heading into their respective New York primaries next week, recent polls show. (Photos: Matt Rourke/AP; Carlo Allegri/Reuters)

One week ahead of the New York presidential primary, Republican and Democratic frontrunners Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton each hold double-digit leads in the Empire State, three new polls show.

According to the results of a NY1/Baruch College poll released Monday, Trump has a commanding 43-point lead in his home state, with 60 percent support among likely GOP primary voters compared to just 17 percent for Ohio Gov. John Kasich and 14 percent for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

A new NBC/WSJ/Marist survey also released Monday shows the real estate mogul leading Kasich by 33 points (54 percent to 21 percent) and Cruz (18 percent) by 36. A Monmouth University poll released last week had Trump (52 percent) holding a 27-point lead over Kasich (25 percent) and a 35-point lead over Cruz.

SLIDESHOW  The battle for New York >>>

On the Democratic side, things are a bit tighter. According to the NY1/Baruch College poll, Clinton leads Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders by 13 points (50 percent to 37 percent) among likely primary voters. The NBC/WSJ/Marist survey shows the former secretary of state with a 14-point advantage (55 percent to 41 percent) over the self-described democratic socialist. And a Monmouth poll released Monday had Clinton ahead of Sanders by 12 points (51 percent to 39 percent).







For the Democrats, there are 291 delegates up for grabs in the New York primary. For Republicans, 95 delegates are at stake.

Clinton  who has a huge lead in the delegate count  is looking to halt the momentum currently propelling Sanders, who has won eight of the past nine Democratic contests. Trump, meanwhile, is looking to regain some of his. The brash billionaire lost Wisconsins April 5 Republican primary to Cruz, who also grabbed all 13 delegates at Colorados GOP convention over the weekend  a result that Trump called crooked.

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Ive gotten millions  more votes than Cruz, and Ive gotten hundreds of delegates more, and we keep fighting, fighting, fighting, and then you have a Colorado where they just get all of these delegates, Trump said on Fox & Friends on Monday. There was no voting. I didnt go out there to make a speech or anything.

Trump accused the Cruz campaign of buying delegates.

They offer them trips  they offer them all sorts of things, and youre allowed to do that, he said. I mean, youre allowed to offer trips, and you can buy all these votes. What kind of a system is this?

Its a rigged, disgusting, dirty system, Trump said at a rally in Albany. Its a fix!
By Michelle Martin and Madeline Chambers BERLIN (Reuters) - Turkey's Tayyip Erdogan has filed a legal complaint against a German comedian who recited a sexually crude satirical poem about him on television, embarrassing Angela Merkel who has only just enlisted the president's help in tackling the migrant crisis. The poem, seemingly a deliberate provocation by comedian Jan Boehmermann, has exploded into a diplomatic incident that pits freedoms championed by Western Europe against recent moves in Turkey by Erdogan that critics say crack down on dissent. Merkel, asked about the case, tried to separate the two issues and stressed her commitment to artistic freedom. Prosecutors in Mainz said Erdogan had filed a complaint against Boehmermann for insulting him. Under the criminal code, he could, if found guilty, be imprisoned for up to a year. In the March 31 program, Boehmermann host of late-night "Neo Magazin Royale" on public broadcaster ZDF, recited a poem about Erdogan with references to bestiality and accusations that he repressed minorities and mistreated Kurds and Christians. Erdogan's German lawyer, Michael-Hubertus von Sprenger, said he was prepared to go to the highest court and added that the Turkish president wanted Boehmermann to be punished. "He definitely won't get a heavy punishment, but rather it will be a punishment that is necessary to get him back on the right path - to produce satire, and not gross insults," Sprenger told German broadcaster ZDF. German media reported that Boehmermann was under police protection and had canceled the next emission of "Neo Magazin Royale". Prosecutors are conducting a parallel investigation into the comedian on suspicion of the more serious crime of "offending foreign states' organs and representatives" after Turkey made a formal request. If found guilty of that, Boehmermann could face up to three years in prison. In the second potentially more serious case, the German government has to authorize prosecutors to go ahead. Berlin will decide on the request from Turkey in the coming days, Merkel said, adding that she cherished artistic freedom in Germany. "Turkey is bearing a very big burden in relation to the Syrian civil war but all of that is completely separate from Germany's fundamental values ... freedom of the press, opinion and science apply and are completely separate from that," she told reporters. This clause in question, which seems to require political intervention in the justice system, is rarely used, say experts. Some politicians have called for it to be abolished because it is antiquated. In the last decade or so only a handful of cases have been initiated. Media reports say that in the 1960s, the Shah of Iran used the clause against the Koelner Stadt Anzeiger newspaper over a caricatured montage. CONUNDRUM The law, which does not appear to exist in most other European countries, leaves Merkel with a conundrum. If her government gives the nod to prosecutors, it could enrage Germans already dubious about what they view as her Faustian pact with Erdogan to help stem the flow of migrants. "If the government supported the move, there would be a huge backlash domestically," Wolfgang Kubicki, a lawyer and senior member of the business-friendly FDP party, told NDR radio. A YouGov poll showed 54 percent of Germans opposed an investigation into Boehmermann by prosecutors with only 6 percent in favor. Yet if it rejects Ankara's request, Merkel could hurt relations with Turkey, a crucial partner in the migrant crisis and a candidate to join the European Union. "We cannot tolerate this. We want this shameless man to be prosecuted under German law for insulting the president," Turkish government spokesman Numan Kurtulmus said in response to a question after a cabinet meeting on Monday. Erdogan is known for his intolerance of criticism and his readiness to take legal action over perceived slurs. Turkish prosecutors have opened nearly 2,000 cases against people for insulting him since he became president in 2014, the justice minister said last month. Critics say he is using the law to stifle dissent. Those who have faced such trials include journalists, cartoonists, academics and even school children. Erdogan has said he is open to criticism, but draws the line at insults. "I would (thank) each and every one of those who criticize me, but if they were to insult me, my lawyers will go and file a lawsuit," he said on the sidelines of a Nuclear Security Summit in Washington last month. Boehmermann, no stranger to controversy, made clear he was being deliberately provocative. He introduced the poem by saying that a previous song, which had triggered initial protests from Turkey, were just comedy. He said serious insults, however, would not be legal. "To be clear, we don't do this and would never do this. Never. But this is how it would look if we did..." Among those who have stood up for him are Matthias Doepfner, the head of the Axel Springer media group, publisher of the bestselling tabloid Bild. He wrote in Die Welt that the incident has made society think about how it deals with satire and intolerant attitudes towards satire from non-democrats. But, just over a year after the murder by Islamist militants of cartoonists at France's Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine unleashed a wave of support for Europe's cherished freedom of expression, German opinion is divided on Boehmermann. "In a constitutional democracy we all have to stick to the rules, and one of these rules is that offending foreign heads of state is punishable by law," Peter Tauber, general secretary of Merkel's CDU told NTV television. (Additional reporting by Michael Nienaber, Noah Barkin, Paul Carrel and Josefine Kaukemueller in Berlin, and by David Dolan in Ankara; Writing by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Giles Elgood and Hugh Lawson)
BERLIN (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has filed a complaint against a comedian who recited a satirical and sexually crude poem about him on German television, complicating Berlin's attempts to get Turkey's help in dealing with Europe's migrant crisis. The issue pits freedom of speech values that are core to Western Europe against recent moves in Turkey by Erdogan that critics say crack down on dissent. The public prosecutor's office in the western city of Mainz said Erdogan had filed the complaint via lawyers against Jan Boehmermann for insulting him. Boehmermann is the host of the late-night "Neo Magazin Royale" on the public ZDF channel. In a programme broadcast on March 31, Boehmermann had recited a poem about Erdogan that contained crude sexual references and accusations that Erdogan repressed minorities and mistreated Kurds and Christians. Before reading it, Boehmermann referred to a satirical song broadcast on NDR television that had mocked Erdogan for his authoritarian treatment of journalists. That show led Turkey to call in Germany's envoy to provide an explanation, although Germany rejected Turkish protests. Boehmermann said the NDR broadcast fell under the right to artistic freedom, press freedom and freedom of opinion and said his poem was an example of impermissible "abusive criticism". Prosecutors said Erdogan's complaint would be examined as part of a pending procedure. They had already begun investigating Boehmermann on suspicion of the crime of "offending foreign states' organs and representatives" after more than 20 people filed complaints. On Monday, Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said Berlin was examining a formal request made by Turkey for it to prosecute Boehmermann and a decision would be made in the next days. Merkel, who has spearheaded EU efforts to secure Turkey's help in dealing with Europe's migrant crisis, has told Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in a telephone conversation that the poem was "deliberately offensive". If the government decides to decline the Turkish request to prosecute Boehmermann, she risks a worsening of diplomatic relations with Turkey, Wolfgang Kubicki, senior member of Germany's business-friendly FDP party, told NDR radio. "If the government were to support the move, there would be a huge backlash domestically," he said, adding that in his opinion as a trained lawyer the poem was "distasteful" but within the limits of artistic freedom. (Reporting by Michelle Martin and Michael Nienaber; Editing by Matthew Lewis/Jeremy Gaunt)
Istanbul (AFP) - Turkish police on Monday used tear gas and water cannon to disperse thousands of supporters of top Istanbul side Besiktas who had gathered outside their new stadium to celebrate the first match at the venue, an AFP photographer said.

Besiktas are to play Super Lig rivals Bursaspor in the first match at the over 40,000 capacity Vodafone Arena on the shores of the Bosphorus which was opened by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a day earlier.

The opening of the stadium on Sunday by Erdogan -- with almost no-one present in the stands -- did not go down well with all Besiktas fans, many of whom are fiercely hostile to the Turkish leader.

With Monday's match long sold out, thousands of Besiktas fans clogged roads outside the venue in order to be present in the vicinity when the match took place.

But police trucks then fired water cannon at the fans outside the stadium as armoured anti-riot officers fired tear gas, sending fans running for cover, the photographer said.

Others responded by throwing bottles in anger at the police.

Fans have taken to social media to accuse Erdogan of opting to open the stadium at a closed VIP event on Sunday rather than risking the wrath of thousands of fans at the Bursaspor clash.

Besiktas in 2013 played for the last time at their old stadium in the same historic location on the shores of the Bosphorus just above the Ottoman-era Dolmabahce Palace.

Besiktas, locked in a thrilling fight for the league title with arch Istanbul rivals Fenerbahce, have been homeless since then and the opening of the new stadium has been greeted with excitement by fans.

Members of the club's hardcore Carsi fan club played a key role in 2013 protests against Erdogan over the development of an Istanbul park that represented one of the biggest challenges to his rule.

Thirty five members of the group were put on trial on widely-ridiculed charges of trying to stage a coup but all were acquitted in late December 2015.
A handful of ratings and media research experts gathered at Tuesday's Hollywood Radio and TV Society breakfast. And while the growing pains of viewer fragmentation and the desire for a uniform measurement and currency were heavily lamented, Netflix was again the elephant in the room.

We know for sure that there's interest in measuring those numbers because we're doing it on behalf of the content producers," Nielsen's Eric Solomon said of the streamer's growing number of original series, none of which have any public viewership statistics. "But we have to be careful, because that can't be a syndicated metric."

Hollywood interest in Netflix's unreported numbers remains high - so high that NBC Universal research chief Alan Wurtzel recently tried to out them with TV critics, though Netflix brass swiftly called the numbers inaccurate. Wurtzel was not in attendance at the breakfast, nor was any direct reference to his controversial metrics, but there was a sense that transparency was inevitable.

"There will come a time," said consultant Preston Beckman, Twitter's "Masked Scheduler" and former Fox research exec, referring to Netflix numbers getting out there - potentially if the streamer ultimately surrenders to advertising. "If they go ad-supported," added Solomon, "they'll want to be syndicated."

Another throughline during the breakfast was the back-and-forth between Nielsen's Solomon and comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. The competitors talked about the scope of their respective measurements and panel sizes in the same manner that less complex comparisons are generally made at urinals. They did, however, agree on one thing: Actual viewership is not shrinking.

"Even with the fragmentation, the audience seems to not have declined," said Fulgoni. "If you look at total media consumptions, all of these platforms have increased the time users spend."

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Digital stats, however, can be misleading. FX's Julie Piepenkotter pointed to the recent Facebook stream of Buzzfeed staffers slowly willing a watermelon to explode to an online audience of more than 800,000. That number only accounts for those who watched 2 seconds.

"If we looked at it in terms of the digital two-second view," said Piepenkotter, "the episodes of [The People v. O.J. Simpson] to date would have been 143.9 million hours viewed and 259 billion views. I feel like Carl Sagan. Billions?"

O.J.'s actual numbers are nothing to joke about. Piepenkotter also took the opportunity to note the miniseries' more sellable stat: Across all linear and non-linear platforms, the buzzy series has been averaging 12.6 million viewers. That easily makes it the No. 1 new cable show of 2016.
By Zeba Siddiqui MUMBAI (Reuters) - Two Indian drugmakers said they had given up a battle to copy drugs developed by Bristol Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca, blaming a lack of government support for cheap generics and pressure from Big Pharma. Both companies, BDR Pharma and Lee Pharma, had been seeking so-called compulsory licenses that override patents and allow generics firms in India to launch cheap copies of medicines manufactured by big Western drugmakers. But now the two mid-sized generics players say their efforts have been thwarted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's target to boost foreign investment in India and the resulting emphasis on protecting intellectual property, which is getting in the way of the government's promise to provide cheap drugs for the poor. "There is no point in pursuing it anymore," Dharmesh Shah, BDR's managing director, told Reuters. The debate over cheap drugs is hugely emotive in India, home to 1.2 billion people, most of who live on less than $2 a day. It grabbed fresh headlines last month after a U.S. business lobby group said New Delhi assured it that compulsory licenses would no longer be issued for commercial purposes. India's commerce ministry, however, said there was no change to its policy, although campaigners and watchdogs including India's National Human Rights Commission said they were worried about what looked like a shift in direction. India first issued a compulsory license for a medicine in 2012, allowing Natco Pharma to sell a copy of German drugmaker Bayer's cancer drug Nexavar at a tenth of the original price. The move was criticized by large multinationals. But BDR's application to copy Bristol Myers' cancer drug dasatinib, with an aim to sell it at about $122 for a month's course versus the original price of about $2,491, was rejected in 2013. Lee Pharma was rejected in January this year after a second review of its application seeking to make a cheaper form of AstraZeneca's type 2 diabetes drug saxagliptin. The patent controller said Lee did not make a strong enough case. Both BDR and Lee said they were now no longer appealing, in moves they described as emblematic of an exasperated industry. "If the government itself is not inclined then why unnecessarily slog on this issue?" said A. Venkata Reddy, Lee's managing director. A health ministry official did not comment and referred the matter to the commerce ministry. Officials at the commerce ministry declined to comment. India's Controller General of Patents and Trademarks, part of the commerce ministry, did not respond to requests for comment. MAKE IN INDIA Modi, who came to power in 2014, has led a campaign to boost investment and manufacturing to speed up growth and create jobs, and is also reviewing the country's patent rules. A new intellectual property policy is due out soon. As a result, enthusiasm for compulsory licenses has cooled among government officials, industry executives and lawyers representing BDR and Lee told Reuters. Rajeshwari Hariharan, the lawyer who represented Natco in the 2012 case, said other companies had considered applying for licenses, but dropped plans. She declined to name them. Sujay Shetty, who leads the life sciences practice for consultants PwC in India, agreed the government would be reluctant and use licenses sparingly. But he added: "You can never say never in India because of pressure on prices and access to medicines." India represents a lucrative market for drugmakers, especially in diseases such as cancer and diabetes, as the population ages and gains weight. The country already has a $15 billion generics industry. But stringent regulations around clinical trials and price control on medicines have made the operating environment tough. Several large Indian drugmakers also aspire to expand to countries like the United States and Europe, another reason to strike friendly deals with Big Pharma. In recent months, several Indian firms have struck such licensing deals, under which profit-sharing and drug prices are decided mutually by companies. In contrast, the government sets royalty rates for compulsory licenses. (Additional reporting by Ben Hirschler in LONDON; Editing by Clara Ferreira Marques and Himani Sarkar)
Moscow (AFP) - Two Russian military pilots were killed when their helicopter crashed near the central Syrian city of Homs, the defence ministry said on Tuesday, adding that the aircraft had not been under fire.

"Two crew members died," the defence ministry said in a statement.

The crash of the Mi-28 attack helicopter happened in the early hours of Tuesday, the ministry said, adding the bodies had been recovered and brought to Russia's Hmeimim air base.

"According to a report from the crash site, the helicopter was not fired at," the defence ministry added, saying experts were looking into the reasons of the accident.

The crash takes Russia's official combat death toll in Syria to seven.

Moscow says that five Russian servicemen perished while on combat duty in Syria, including the pilot of a warplane shot down by Turkey and a special operations officer who called an air strike on himself after being surrounded by Islamic State (IS) jihadists near Palmyra.

Another serviceman committed suicide while on duty in Syria, the defence ministry said.

The helicopter crash took place less than a month after President Vladimir Putin surprised the West by ordering the bulk of Russian forces to pull out of Syria after a five-and-half-month bombing campaign there.

Putin said that after some 9,000 bombing raids over Syria -- targeting IS jihadists as well as moderate rebels -- Moscow's military mission had been "on the whole" accomplished.

After the drawdown Syrian forces -- backed by Russian firepower -- scored some of their most dramatic successes, reclaiming the world heritage site of Palmyra from IS.
Washington (AFP) - A pair of drone strikes in southern Somalia this week killed about a dozen Shebab militants who were threatening US and Somali forces, a US official said Tuesday.

The "self-defense strikes" were conducted Monday and Tuesday in an area north of Kismayo, Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said.

"This was in southern Somalia against al-Shebab targets that were posing an imminent threat to US (and Somali) personnel," he said.

"We think about 12 militants were killed," he added.

Calls seeking additional details from the US military's Africa Command were not immediately returned.

The Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab group was chased out of the capital Mogadishu in 2011 but remains a dangerous threat in both Somalia and neighboring Kenya where it carries out frequent attacks.

Shebab leaders have vowed to bring down the Somali government, which is supported by the international community and defended by the African Union's 22,000-strong AMISOM mission.

At least five people including two children were killed Monday in a car bomb blast outside government offices in Mogadishu.

The Pentagon last week confirmed that senior Shebab leader Hassan Ai Dhoore was killed in a drone strike.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - About a dozen suspected militants from the al Qaeda-linked group al Shabaab were killed in U.S. air strikes in southern Somalia on Monday and Tuesday, the Pentagon said. Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said those targeted posed an "imminent threat to U.S. personnel." He said the strikes were carried out by unmanned aircraft. Last month the U.S. military targeted an al Shabaab training camp in Somalia in an air strike that the Pentagon says killed more than 150 fighters. The militant group, which seeks to impose a strict version of sharia law, was pushed out of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, by African Union peacekeeping forces in 2011 but has remained a potent force in the country. It has launched frequent attacks aimed at overthrowing the Western-backed government, targeting security and government forces, hotels and restaurants. (Reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by Paul Simao)
By Narottam Medhora (Reuters) - Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] on Tuesday released its first ever transparency report detailing the information requested by not only U.S. law enforcement agencies, but also by regulators. The ride-sharing company said that between July and December 2015, it had provided information on more than 12 million riders and drivers to various U.S. regulators and on 469 users to state and federal law agencies. (http://ubr.to/1WpJwyX) The privately held company, valued at more than $60 billion, said the agencies requested information on trips, trip requests, pickup and dropoff areas, fares, vehicles, and drivers. Uber said it got 415 requests from law enforcement agencies, a majority of which came from state governments, and that it was able to provide data in nearly 85 percent of the cases. A large number of the law enforcement requests were related to fraud investigations or the use of stolen credit cards, according to the report. Uber said it had not received any national security letters or orders under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance act. The company has not disclosed such requests for information from other countries.
Kiev (AFP) - Ukraine's parliament on Tuesday postponed a vote to approve embattled Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk's resignation as furious backroom battles raged over the makeup of a new pro-EU government.

The latest twist in the ex-Soviet state's volatile political drama came when the man tipped to succeed Yatsenyuk -- condemned by President Petro Poroshenko for losing the public's trust -- appeared unwilling to assume his duties because of a conflict over who should join his team.

Oleksiy Goncharenko, a member of Poroshenko's party, told reporters after a gruelling day of negotiations that "we hope that (the vote) can be taken on Wednesday or Thursday".

Yatsenyuk's days had seemed numbered since he survived a no-confidence vote two months ago that fractured the pro-Western coalition formed after a February 2014 revolution forced the ouster of Moscow-backed president Viktor Yanukovych.

The 41-year-old former banker joined the street protests in Kiev and made passionate pro-EU speeches during three turbulent months that changed the country's course.

But his party's approval ratings have slipped to around two percent due to a sense that he done little to overcome corruption or break the stranglehold on politics enjoyed by a handful of tycoons during Yanukovych's four years in office.

Yatsenyuk has been further hurt by an economic implosion that wiped out people's savings and saw precious state resources spent on fighting a two-year pro-Russian uprising that erupted two months after he assumed office in February 2014.

He announced his resignation on Sunday.

- New government battle -

Poroshenko's party has nominated parliament speaker Volodymyr Groysman to the premiership after deciding that the man known as a coalition-builder could win broad support.

The 38-year-old Poroshenko protege had seemed ready to take on the assignment on Monday afternoon.

"I am good for it. I am able to work 24 hours a day," Groysman told reporters.

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But lawmakers said he had decided to turn down the job when the president's party met on Monday evening to determine who should join his team.

They said Groysman refused to work with several of the figures named because they did not represent his reformist agenda or commitment to austerity measures prescribed by the IMF under its $17.5-billion (15.4-billion-euro) economic rescue loan.

Release of new International Monetary Fund funds is not expected until Ukraine forms a stable new government that follows through on the belt-tightening pledges made when Yatsenyuk helped craft the deal in March 2014.

Poroshenko convened his party on Tuesday morning in a bid to smooth over the differences and persuade Groysman to push ahead with his premiership candidacy.

But the Ukrainska Pravda news site reported that Groysman was again threatening to turn down the job.

"Tempers are rising and the talks have hit a dead end," presidential party member Sergiy Leshchenko wrote on Facebook.

Some analysts have expressed concern that Groysman's premiership -- should it ever come through -- would concentrate political power with the president and his inner circle.

"Poroshenko is about to take full control of the government," Anders Aslund of the US-based Atlantic Council international affairs institute wrote in a report.

- Worries about finance chief -

Economists are also worried about the expected departure of Urkaine's respected Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko.

The US-born former State Department worker and private banker has been widely praised for being able to pull together a crucial debt restructuring deal in August 2015.

But Poroshenko party member Mustafa Nayyem tweeted that Jaresko's place would be taken by Oleksandr Danylyuk -- the president's current representative in the cabinet.

Nomura International strategist Timothy Ash said Danylyuk once served as an advisor to Yanukovych but that most people now viewed him as "progressive/technocratic".

"Western creditors I think will be willing to give Poroshenko, Groysman and Danylyuk the benefit of the doubt at this stage," Ash wrote in the Kyiv Post.
Photo: Larry Downing/Reuters



Unconventional is Yahoo News guide to the ins and outs of this years crazy presidential conventions. Heres what you need to know today.

1. The GOPs veep problem

The GOPs 2016 veepstakes is likely to be weirder than anything weve seen before.

(For the full story, click here.)

In a normal presidential election year, the parties tend to coalesce around their nominees long before the conventions. That, in turn, gives each standard-bearer several months to select a running mate. Its all very polite and predictable.

But 2016 is not a normal presidential election year  to put it mildly. If none of the candidates arrive at the convention in Cleveland with a majority of delegates (for the first time since 1984) and no candidate manages to cobble together a majority on the first ballot either (for the first time since 1952), it will means chaos, maneuvering and multiple rounds of presidential balloting  which in turn almost guarantees that the GOPs 2016 vice presidential candidate will be chosen in one of five very odd ways.

The first would be the Premature Pick  that is, a VP pick made before the party even chooses its presidential nominee. This is exactly what Ronald Reagan did when he selected Richard Schweiker in 1976. The former California governor was neck and neck with incumbent President Gerald Ford at the time, and his hope was that Schweiker, a moderate U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, would soothe fears about his Western conservatism and flip some middle-of-the-road delegates. If Trump, Cruz or Kasich were to name a running mate prior to the convention, theyd be jumping the gun for similarly self-serving reasons: to curry favor with the delegates who will ultimately decide their fate.

The second, third and fourth scenarios would all unfold at the convention itself. Theres the Unity Ticket, in which the first- and second-place finishers band together for the good of the party. Theres the Rushed Running Mate: a new figure who joins the ticket either (a) during the balloting process in Cleveland, or (b) shortly after the nomination is decided on the floor of the convention hall. (Imagine the usual weeks-long rollout procedure, only this time compressed into the most hectic and pivotal hours of the entire 2016 GOP contest, when the candidates and their overextended advisers will not have had nearly as much time as earlier campaigns to consider their options and control the unveiling.) And its also possible that a majority of delegates could nominate the partys 2016 veep candidate by themselves  no matter what the presidential candidates do, say or want. (Call it a Conventions Choice).

Story continues

Thats a subject no ones really talking about, is that [the VP pick] is another vote on the floor, RNC Chair Reince Priebus has said. Theres no first- and second-ballot binding. Its just a free vote.

Finally, the RNC rules committee could push for a Delayed Decision, revising its bylaws and deferring the final veep vote to a later date so that whoever emerges from Cleveland as the presidential nominee can take the time he needs to consider (and vet) his pick.

All these scenarios are politically risky. A Premature Pick could look presumptuous  the equivalent of Al Gore launching his transition effort before the courts had officially decided the 2000 election. It might also alienate other vice presidential hopefuls and their fans at the very moment you need all the support you can get, and it would certainly limit your leverage on the convention floor, where the vice presidency may be the only bargaining chip that can push you past the 1,237-delegate mark. In the antagonistic atmosphere of 2016, a unity ticket  especially Trump-Cruz  is unlikely to gel. A Rushed Running Mate could easily backfire (for lack of vetting) or hijack coverage at a time when the focus should be squarely on the candidate. A Conventions Choice could highlight intraparty division; a Delayed Decision could be messy and confusing.

Even worse? The GOPs wacky veepstakes might damage the vice presidency itself, according Joel K. Goldstein, a law professor at St. Louis University who specializes in vice presidential history. We havent seen anything like this in the modern era.

Want to know more? Read on.

ALSO: Drop me a line on Twitter (@andrewromano) and let me know who you think this years GOP veep candidate will be (and why). Ill RT the best/funniest/most unconventional predictions.



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2. Now I Get It: Whats a contested convention?

You may think this primary season feels a little like Wrestlemania. But its likely to turn into an all-out cage match at the Republican National Convention in July. What happens if no one clinches the nomination before Cleveland? Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric explains how a contested convention would work.



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3. Cruzs scheme to sink Trump in California

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz speaks during a campaign rally in Irvine, Calif., April 11, 2016. (Photo: Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)

As we saw in Colorado  and North Dakota, and Louisiana, and elsewhere  Team Cruz is much, much better than Team Trump at understanding and taking advantage of each states distinctive primary or caucus rules to maximize its delegate tally.



But in California  the last and largest primary on the calendar  Cruzs strategic superiority wont just help the Texan pick up a few extra delegates. It could actually prove to be the difference between Trump clinching the nomination outright or falling short at the 11th hour, which would trigger a contested convention.

No wonder Cruz took a break Monday from campaigning in New York to visit Irvine and San Diego on his most extensive Golden State swing to date.

This is the birthplace of the Reagan revolution  and let me tell ya, theres a new revolution brewing, Cruz told thousands of supporters at the Hotel Irvine. Just like in 1980, its gonna be California thats gonna decide, California thats gonna lead the way.

This isnt just idle chatter. To secure the nomination on June 7, Trump will have to win roughly 70 percent of Californias delegates. But the states primary is a little quirky  and all those quirks favor the senator from Texas.

To find out more, Unconventional sat down after the Irvine rally with Mike Schroeder, the former state GOP chairman whos now serving as Cruzs political director in California.

This is the last stand, Schroeder said. This is the battleground. And I think were going to win California  but even if we dont, Trump is not going to get to 70 percent of the vote.

Why is Schroeder so confident? First of all, only Republicans can cast ballots on June 7. No independents or Democrats. Thats good for Cruz (who does best with conservatives) and bad for Trump (who does best with moderates).

Secondly, California is winner-take-all by congressional district (plus three unpledged delegates and an additional 10 that will be awarded to the statewide champ). Not only is this a boon for the most organized candidate; it also blunts the impact of expensive ad buys (contrary to the conventional wisdom about California campaigns).

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz greets supporters at a campaign rally on April 11, 2016, in Irvine, Calif. (Photo: David McNew/Getty Images)

It requires a great deal more organization to conduct 53 elections than it does to conduct one statewide and just buy a lot of TV, Schroeder said. This is very blue state. So well have some districts with only 5,000 Republican voters. I call them empty districts: maybe 2,000 voters will decide the result. Thats not even a good-size city council race. And yet you still get the same number of delegates  three  that you would in a district with 240,000 Republicans.

The Cruz campaign has been organizing in California for a year. They have thousands of volunteers statewide. And an estimated 65 percent of primary participants are expected to vote early by mail  a process that begins in three weeks. Were going to talk to all of these people personally, Schroeder said. We can pour calls into those empty districts.

Also helping Cruz is the fact that the campaigns have to pick their own delegates  169 of them, plus 169 alternates. The process of identifying six committed Cruz supporters in every single congressional district  including districts where Republicans havent really campaigned in decades  wasnt easy. It took Schroeder five months. But now hes finished  and the Trump campaign, which just hired a state political director today, is only getting started.

Its been a huge project for me, Schroeder said. And they have to file all of those names with the secretary of state on May 7? Thats less than a month from now. If you dont have those names by May 7, even if you win that district, you dont get any delegates.

On Monday, Trump convention manager Paul Manafort accused the Cruz campaign of using Gestapo tactics to earn delegate support. Schroeder chuckled when he heard that.

These are the rules, Schroeder said. Theyre pretty simple. Follow them. Get over it. Stop whining.

In California, Schroeder and the rest of Team Cruz could have the last laugh.



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4. Sanders strange superdelegate shift

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders smiles during a campaign stop Wednesday, April 6, 2016, at Tindley Temple United Methodist Church in Philadelphia. (Photo: Matt Rourke/AP)

For months, Bernie Sanders allies have been arguing that the Democratic Partys superdelegates  who can vote for whomever they want at the convention  should not go against the will of the people and should instead back the candidate who won the most pledged delegates in their state. But now the Sanders campaign is singing a different tune, according to Yahoo News Senior National Affairs Reporter Liz Goodwin:



Even as Bernies supporters continue to inundate superdelegates with their anti-elitist arguments, Sanders and his top campaign officials are now arguing that superdelegates should back Bernie even in states where he didnt win  and even if he doesnt win a majority of the popular votes cast.

Is Bernie trying to have his cake and eat it too? Weigh in on Facebook.



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5. The best of the rest

When it comes to getting delegates, it is the wild, wild West. Anything goes. https://t.co/KtQoo7DDli  Ed O'Keefe (@edatpost) April 11, 2016

GOP could be headed to situation in which popular vote loser wins nomination. https://t.co/tkczKxntei  Byron York (@ByronYork) April 12, 2016

Conventions once decided the nomineecan or should they do it again? My POLITICO column. https://t.co/PYfRKNRBOQ  Jeff Greenfield (@greenfield64) April 10, 2016

Scenes from a Political Revolution, Colorado Style https://t.co/zdiiyjGWjJ via @NRO  John Fund (@johnfund) April 11, 2016

My new @WashingtonPost column: What Trump can learn from Reagan and the 76 delegate fight https://t.co/HRxPDIdqSC  Marc Thiessen (@marcthiessen) April 11, 2016

New: Why Bernie Sanders Is Even Less Competitive than He Appears https://t.co/11bimy3sUw @FiveThirtyEight @CookPolitical  Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) April 8, 2016



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History lesson

General view of the 1924 Democratic National Convention in Madison Square Garden in NYC. (Photo: NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)

The 1924 Democratic National Convention, held at New York Citys Madison Square Garden from June 24 to July 9, 1924, took 103 ballots to nominate a presidential candidate. Can the GOP beat that record in Cleveland? Stay tuned



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Countdown

For the latest data, make sure to check the Yahoo News delegate scorecard and primary calendar.



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(Reuters) - United Continental Holdings Inc <UAL.N> will likely comply with two hedge funds' request and add directors to its board, including an independent chairman, CNBC reported on Monday.

An agreement with the funds, PAR Capital Management Inc and Altimeter Capital Management LP, may come within the next week, CNBC reported, citing unidentified sources.

The funds, which together own about 7 percent of the U.S. airline, launched a fight for control in March, proposing a slate of directors led by former Continental Airlines Chief Executive Gordon Bethune to shake up the board of the poorly performing airline.

United tried to placate shareholders by expanding its board by three directors in March. The new appointments included James Whitehurst, former chief operating officer of Delta Air Lines Inc <DAL.N> and Robert Milton, former chief executive of Air Canada <AC.TO>.

United declined to comment.

Altimeter and PAR could not immediately be reached for comment.

(Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Peter Cooney)
New Delhi (AFP) - US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter will meet Indian leaders in New Delhi later Tuesday, seeking to bolster a strategic relationship Washington sees as crucial in the face of China's growing military ambitions.

Carter will hold talks with his Indian counterpart Manohar Parrikar and with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the visit, aimed at shoring up security and defence ties with the regional power.

Washington has increasingly turned its focus to Asia as it tries to counter China's growing assertiveness in the South China Sea, and is eager for India to play a greater role in its network of regional defence alliances.

India, the world's biggest arms importer, wants access to US technology so it can develop sophisticated weapons at home -- a key part of Modi's "Make in India" campaign to boost domestic manufacturing.

"Both our values and our interests overlap in so many important ways, and that happens with few countries around the globe," Carter told reporters late Monday in India.

A senior US defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said China was "operating more frequently both throughout Southeast Asia and in the Indian Ocean", something both Washington and New Delhi were "watching closely".

Modi, who enjoys close ties with US President Barack Obama, has criticised what he called China's "expansionist mindset".

Regional superpower China is expanding its deep-water naval presence and staking a claim to disputed areas of the South China Sea and the East China Sea.

Beijing claims almost all of the contested South China Sea, which is important for international shipping, and has in recent months built massive structures including radar systems and an airstrip over reefs and outcrops.

It has also courted countries in the Indian Ocean, pouring money into the Maldives and Sri Lanka -- where it funded the construction of a deep-sea port.

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India, which has historically relied heavily on Russia for arms imports, is seeking US help to develop its own new-generation aircraft carriers.

New Delhi wants American know-how on building more sophisticated launch technology that would allow it to deploy heavier aircraft on the vessels than existing carriers allow.

The US is also hoping to sell its F-16 or F-18 fighter jets to India as part of a major co-production deal involving more than 100 planes which would be partly manufactured in India.

Washington is also hoping to finalise a military logistics agreement with India that has been in the pipeline for years and would allow the two countries to expand military cooperation in the region.

"It is an enabling agreement that would facilitate us to do a number of things together from exercises to contingencies," said a senior US defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Washington (AFP) - Republican US House speaker Paul Ryan ruled out a late run for the presidency Tuesday, squelching speculation that he could be in contention at an eventual contested party nominating convention in July.

"I made a really clear choice not to run for president. Therefore, I will not be nominated," Ryan told a radio talk show host in his home state of Wisconsin.

"It will not be me. I don't know how I can be clearer than that," Ryan said in the interview, parts of which were aired by MSNBC.

Later, he told reporters on Capitol Hill: "Count me out."

Current Republican frontrunner Donald Trump has a healthy lead over his closest rival Senator Ted Cruz, who is trying to deny the billionaire the delegates needed for an uncontested nomination at the Republican party convention in Cleveland in July.

If no one has the 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination outright, the candidates head to a contested convention where -- if the initial vote produces no winner -- delegates would be unbound for subsequent ballots and allowed to vote for whoever they want.

Trump has complained bitterly that the Republican establishment is seeking to block him from the nomination and has agreed to back Cruz as a way to do so.

Some have speculated that Ryan, the 2012 vice presidential nominee, could step forward, despite his repeated dismissals of the idea.

On Tuesday, he again said that delegates should choose a nominee from "among the people who actually ran for president this year."

"We have too much work to do in the House to allow this speculation to swirl or to have my motivations questioned," Ryan said.

"I should not be considered -- period, end of story."
New York (AFP) - Oil prices surged Tuesday to 2016 highs on reports of an agreement between Saudi Arabia and Russia on freezing output.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in May gained $1.81 at $42.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was the highest close since November.

In London, Brent crude for June delivery, the European benchmark, finished at $44.69 a barrel, up $1.86 from Monday's close.

Oil extended a week of gains amid speculation that a meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC producers Sunday in the Qatari capital of Doha could produce some measure of relief to the global oil glut that has depressed prices.

Moscow and Riyadh have reached a "consensus" over freezing oil production, the Russian news agency Interfax reported Tuesday, citing an "informed diplomatic source in Doha".

Mike Lynch at Strategic Energy & Economic Research said that Tuesday's rally was fueled both by the Doha speculation and the general feeling that the market had hit bottom.

"I think people are looking ahead to this Doha meeting but I honestly think they're overreacting and getting ahead of things," he said.

"Partly what we're seeing now is some momentum trading: People see other people buying and they're afraid."

CMC Markets analyst Jasper Lawler also sounded a note of caution on a Saudi-Russia deal.

"The agreement has theoretically been in place since February 16. It's the details of quotas and the involvement of other countries -- notably Iran -- that is yet to be resolved," he said.

Key OPEC member Iran has been raising output since nuclear-linked sanctions were lifted in January and has signaled it will not join the freeze calls.

Oil prices crashed from around $115 a barrel in June 2014 to under $30 a barrel in February, before recovering to trade above $40 a barrel this week.
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Syria's commitment to a ceasefire and pledges to allow aid deliveries are slipping, putting the peace process on a more fragile footing, US Ambassador Samantha Power said Tuesday.

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura briefed the Security Council during a closed-door meeting, on the eve of a resumption in Geneva of talks aimed at ending the five-year war.

Power told reporters after the meeting that Russia must put pressure on its Syrian ally to "get the regime back with the program."

"Right now, there are signs that this is slipping and it is a much more delicate environment for De Mistura to convene political talks," said Power.

De Mistura told the 15-member council by video-conference from Tehran that he was concerned about an escalation in fighting in northern Aleppo province, in parts of Hama province and Damascus.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the envoy had confirmed that the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front "had launched an offensive in the region of Aleppo" against Syrian forces.

Power said she was "very alarmed" by Syria's plans to launch a Russian-backed counter-offensive in Aleppo.

"That would be devastating, for the people of Aleppo of course, but also to this intricate process where the cessation of hostilities, humanitarian access and political negotiations are all related to one another," she said.

The Geneva talks opening Wednesday will be the second round since President Bashar al-Assad's regime and rebel forces agreed to the partial truce brokered by Moscow and Washington, which has largely held since February 27.

The ceasefire has raised hopes for a resolution to the conflict which has killed more than 270,000 people and displaced half of the country's population.
Caracas (AFP) - Venezuela's high court struck down an amnesty passed by opposition lawmakers to free those they describe as political prisoners at the urging of President Nicolas Maduro who is fighting a bid to force him from power.

The Supreme Court declared the measure -- which President Nicolas Maduro had challenged -- as unconstitutional in a ruling published on its website.

Explaining its lengthy decision, the court said the law includes "infractions that are acts of organized crime, which are not related to crimes of a political nature."

Maduro had accused the opposition of trying to sow divisions by passing the bill on March 29.

He had the choice of signing it, sending it back to the legislature for changes or challenging it before the Supreme Court.

One of the touchiest issues is some 75 opposition figures the amnesty measure describes as political prisoners, including protest leader Leopoldo Lopez.

Lopez was sentenced to 14 years in September on charges of inciting violence at anti-government protests that shook the country in 2014 and left 43 people dead.

His jailing has drawn international condemnation.

But Maduro, who accuses his opponents of seeking to oust him in a coup, said the bill aimed to free criminals.

On Thursday, Maduro told a crowd of thousands of supporters in front of the presidential palace that he had decided to ask the top court to invalidate the "criminal" amnesty bill.

"If this law is approved, Venezuela will enter into a cycle of civil war. We cannot allow it. Division and hatred will not reign in Venezuela. For there to be peace, there must be justice," Maduro said.

- 'Truth commission' -

Maduro, following the Supreme Court's decision, said he would launch a truth commission to deal with jailed opposition activists' cases that would be "diverse, balanced, fair and from all over the country."

The president said he had invited four opposition members, but it was not immediately clear if they were to join the commission, or just attend Tuesday's launch ceremony.

Story continues

"If they attend as I am hoping, they will be welcomed with a handshake from me, and a friendly embrace," Maduro said at a public event.

Maduro and the National Assembly have been at each other's throats since the opposition took control of the legislature in January.

Fed up with a deep recession, severe shortages and violent crime, Venezuelans gave the opposition a landslide victory in legislative elections, the biggest challenge yet to the "revolution" launched in 1999 by Maduro's late predecessor and mentor, Hugo Chavez.

Maduro's popularity has plummeted amid the economic crisis, widespread shortages and soaring inflation in a once-booming oil-rich country, now laid low by plunging oil prices, mismanagement and corruption.

But he retains de facto control of the courts and the military in addition to his administration.

Opposition activists would need to collect signatures from 20 percent of all registered voters, or nearly four million people, to force a recall election, which is allowed under Venezuela's constitution once Maduro reaches the middle of his term this month.

The opposition coalition also wants to push through a constitutional amendment that would reduce the current six-year presidential term.
By Katya Golubkova

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Veteran U.S. investor Jim Rogers is looking at possible investments into Russian oil firm Bashneft <BANE.MM> and diamond miner Alrosa <ALRS.MM> as he aims to add more Russian assets to his portfolio, he told Reuters.

The Russian state plans to sell off some of its holdings in a number of assets, including in Bashneft and Alrosa, as well as in VTB <VTBR.MM> bank. Unlike the first two, VTB is under western sanctions over Moscow's role in the Ukraine crisis.

"I am sure there will be some good buys," Rogers said in a telephone interview.

"If they (Bashneft and Alrosa) are not under sanctions, I will take a look  as I said, I am looking for more investments in Asia and in Russia but I am an American and I have to be a little bit careful."

Western sanctions imposed in response to Russia's annexation of Crimea and support for separatists in Ukraine prohibit U.S. and European Union passport holders from helping certain Russian companies and individuals to raise funds.

Rogers has been a prominent investor since the 1970s, when he founded the Quantum Fund in partnership with George Soros.

He already has interests in Russian state airline Aeroflot <AFLT.MM>, the Moscow Exchange <MOEX.MM> and fertilizer producer PhosAgro <PHOR.MM>. He owns some exchange traded funds (ETFs) and is investing in Russian treasury bonds.

"I am looking for more investments in Russia. I am trying to buy into a Russian tourist company, I am optimistic about Russian tourism," Rogers said, adding that he was also looking to buy more stocks of Russian agriculture companies.

SOME ARE BACK, SOME ARE NOT

Rogers started to invest in Russian treasury bonds in April 2015 and added more rouble bonds to his portfolio in the last few weeks. He declined to give the size of his current Russian exposure.

"I bought more Russian government bonds about two or three weeks ago, or a month ago ... short-term. If I got a chance I would probably buy more," Rogers said, adding that he was only investing in Russian rouble bonds, not Eurobonds.

Story continues

"I want to buy rouble bonds, I am more optimistic about rouble bonds than I am in Eurobonds. Rouble bonds have much higher yields."

According to ThomsonReuters data, Russian treasury bonds have delivered annual returns of up to 40 percent last year.

Short-term OFZ bonds with maturity of up to three years are currently trading at yields of 9.5-9.7 percent, with medium-term maturity of up to 7 years trading at 9.3-9.5 percent.

"More and more people coming to understand that Russia is a good place to invest ... Russia is not a huge debt nation, it's not like Portugal or America," Rogers said.

"The Russian economy is suffering a lot and many people have already cut back ... but America has not yet had a big drop, Germany did not have a big drop yet, but when they drop they will drop much more than Russia because Russia has already dropped."

(Additional reporting by Elena Orekhova; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
(Reuters) - Ailing Viacom Inc controlling shareholder Sumner Redstone opposes Chief Executive Officer Philippe Dauman's plan to sell a minority stake sale in Viacom's Paramount Pictures movie studio, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The report added to turmoil over the future of Viacom, the conglomerate that owns MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and other TV channels, as Dauman faces pressure to boost the company's stock price. Dauman announced in February that the company would seek a buyer for a minority stake in the studio, a prize asset. Dauman visited the home of 92-year-old Redstone in February to seek his support for the plan, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Even though Redstone has trouble speaking, Dauman thought he heard yes, the newspaper said, quoting unidentified sources. He later recounted his visit to Viacoms board of directors, telling them that a nurse had seen Redstone agree to the plan, which could help pacify Viacom investors who want major strategic changes. After the sale plan was announced, Redstone summoned Paramount chief Brad Grey and expressed displeasure about the potential sale, the newspaper reported. Redstone later said the same thing to other people, including Dauman. I dont want to sell Paramount, Redstone said repeatedly, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter. It said Redstone did not raise any opposition at a February board meeting of Viacom. The company could not be immediately reached for comment on Monday. Hollywood media reports said a deal for a minority stake in Paramount is expected by the end of June and that company insiders have said more than three dozen parties are interested in bidding on a piece of the film studio. The Hollywood Reporter quoted a Viacom spokesman as saying after the Journal report that the sale process was continuing. Redstone has faced a lawsuit by his ex-girlfriend that challenged his mental competency. Lawyers acting for Redstone reached preliminary settlement over the lawsuit. (Reporting by Arunima Banerjee in Bengaluru)
A luxurious Abu Dhabi suite that normally goes for $40,840 USD a night is opening its doors for the regular folk, in a series of brunch events that offer a lavish experience at a fraction of the cost.

Easily identifiable from a distance as the glass unit bridging two towers on the 48th and 49th floors, the Abu Dhabi Suite at the St. Regis Abu Dhabi has, up to now, been eyed wistfully by the common folk below as an exclusive experience reserved for the world's most affluent guests.

The suite holds bragging rights to being the highest suspended suite in the world.

But starting later this month, the suite will host a series of brunch events that allow visitors to cross the threshold and explore the 1,120 square meter suite, which features everything from a cinema, spa and two-storey majlis (Arabic salons or lounges).

Different courses will be served in different rooms and include an oyster room, cheese and dessert space, caviar ice-bar, candy room, and private bar for champagne-spiked brunch cocktails.

As guests tuck into brunch, they'll be able to admire the cascading crystal decor, 24-carat gold leaf accents, and panoramic views of the Arabian Gulf, the Corniche and the city skyline.

Between courses, they can also retire to the suite's private spa for shoulder massages, or a manicure.

The first Brunch in the Clouds takes place April 29, followed by monthly events on the final Friday of each month with the exception of June for Ramadan.

The price for brunch is about $110 USD and about $180 USD with bubbly.
By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California energy officials intent on reopening a major natural gas storage field idled by the country's worst-ever methane leak have resorted to scare tactics in raising the prospect of looming power outages in Los Angeles, utility critics said on Tuesday.

Three state regulatory bodies and the city Water and Power Department warned last week the region faced up to 14 days of blackouts this summer as gas-fired power plants go without supplies normally furnished by the crippled Aliso Canyon field when electricity demand peaks.

Southern California Gas Co, the division of San Diego-based utility giant Sempra Energy that owns Aliso Canyon, remains barred from refilling the underground storage reserve until the facility is deemed safe to operate again.

But consumer and environmental advocacy group Food & Water Watch, which has joined local activists demanding Aliso Canyon be permanently closed, issued a report challenging the state's conclusions. It said forecasts of potential blackouts were based on inflated estimates of the region's power demands and other "unsubstantiated or flawed data."

The rebuttal study found, for example, that the state's analysis discounted the ability of three smaller SoCal Gas storage fields to make up for lost supplies from Aliso Canyon.

"We are disappointed that state agencies published bad data that supports the reopening of the gas field, which only serves to benefit SoCal Gas at public expense," said the group's California director, Adam Snow.

Other critics of state regulators they see as being too cozy with the energy companies have suggested last week's analysis by the California Public Utilities Commission and three other agencies was really a SoCal Gas report in disguise.

Those agencies should be called before the legislature "to explain these misrepresentations under oath," said Jamie Court, president of the group Consumer Watchdog.

Story continues

The four agencies issued a joint statement defending their analysis as designed to identify short-term risks to reliable energy service and prepare for contingencies, "not to justify the continued operation of Aliso Canyon."

Aliso Canyon has been closed since a pipeline ruptured there in October, spewing more than 97,000 tons of methane into the air over four months.

The stench of odorized gas fumes drove thousands of nearby residents from their homes, many complaining of headaches, respiratory problems, dizziness and nosebleeds.

The leak was finally plugged in mid-February. But residents of some 5,000 homes remain in temporary housing, unwilling to return over fears of lingering contamination and health effects, according to Food & Water Watch.

(Reporting by Steve Gorman; Editing by Peter Cooney)
To celebrate its 25th anniversary, Hennessy Performance took its Venom GT Sypder hypercar to the track and hit a staggering, supercar-shaming 265.6mph.

That phenomenal turn of speed, courtesy of a 7-liter V8 force fed by two turbochargers means that the car, driven on the runway by Brian Smith, the director of Ford Performance's Driving School, is only 5mph slower than its hardtop brethren. What's more, technically speaking, the car, built in Texas through a combination of American engineering knowhow and Lotus Exige parts, is somewhat faster than a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport Vitesse, a car that cost billions of euros and 10 years to develop and which set a Guinness World Record speed of 254.04mph in 2013.

"2016 marks the 25th anniversary of Hennessey Performance", said company founder, John Hennessey. "I thought that this would be a special way to celebrate 25 years of making fast cars faster. I've wanted to test the top speed of our Venom GT Spyder, without the roof, ever since our coupe ran 270.4 mph on the Space Shuttle landing runway at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in 2014. This was a great way to validate the technical excellence of our car which includes high-speed stability with an open roof."

However, the top speed, though independently verified by Racelogic VBox, won't be giving Bugatti sleepless nights.

No matter what boutique car companies can achieve, the Bugatti is still the world's fastest production car, roof up or down. Until companies like Hennessey are able to build more than 30 identical examples of their cars (the Guinness definition of production), and complete two runs of a track (from which an average is taken) they will not be able to claim the Guinness World Record.

Nevertheless, the achievement is still phenomenal, and to help gearheads in the US and petrolheads in Europe celebrate, Hennessey will be building three World Record Edition models of the hypercar, each with a $1.3 million (plus tax) price tag.

https://youtu.be/ZWy6GiWJxHs
An impeachment vote in Brazil: Legislators are considering impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff, who is alleged to have hidden the true state of the governments troubled budget during her 2014 reelection. If both chambers of Brazils Congress vote this week that impeachment is in order, Rousseff would have to step down from her post for up to 180 days while a trial is held.

Zika outbreak: A CDC official says the mosquito-borne virus that has spread across Latin American countries in recent months is a bit scarier than we initially thought. The agency says the mosquito that spreads Zika is now present in about 30 states and Puerto Rico. Julie has the latest on Zikas link to neurological conditions here, and Adrienne writes about the viruss potential effects on low-income U.S. communities here.

The end of an era: The National Weather Service announced that it will cease using SHOUTY CAPS in its forecasts starting in May, ending a practice that began in 1849, when meteorologists used the telegraph to warn people of impending storms, and not frantic tweets. Rob wrote about the uppercase forecasts in January, and rest assured hes drafting a eulogy for them right now.

News from this afternoon here

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
By Gina Cherelus

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. National Weather Service had some news this week for readers who have grown up on social media, namely: THE AGENCY WILL STOP SHOUTING AT YOU NOW.

Its forecasts have been published in all capital letters since the mid-1800s, when they were transmitted by telegraph. The style looks archaic in a world where social media users interpret all-upper-case messages as shouting.

"LISTEN UP! BEGINNING ON MAY 11, NOAA'S NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECASTS WILL STOP YELLING AT YOU," the agency, which provides warnings on blizzards, hurricanes and other major weather events said in a statement posted online on Monday.

The NWS, a unit of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said it had been considering the change for two decades. It waited for users to phase out all old equipment that only worked with the capitalized style.

"People are accustomed to reading forecasts in upper case letters and seeing mixed-case use might seem strange at first," said NWS meteorologist Art Thomas. "It seemed strange to me until I got used to it over the course of testing the new system, but now it seems so normal."

Although the majority of its products will switch over to mixed-case characters, forecasters will still have the option to use upper-case letters in certain reports to emphasize threatening and dangerous weather situations.

On Twitter, many users showed support for the new update.

"SO PUMPED," tweeted the Federal Emergency Management Agency (@fema) on Monday.

(Reporting by Gina Cherelus; Editing by Scott Malone and Cynthia Osterman)
By Brendan O'Brien

MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - A Wisconsin man pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges related to a standoff at a motorcycle shop in which he allegedly shot at police and officers killed a hostage, court records showed on Tuesday.

Brian Flatoff, 46, pleaded not guilty to 16 felony charges on Monday in Winnebago County Circuit Court, where he is accused of a standoff with police on Dec. 5 in Neenah, a city about 100 miles (160 km) north of Milwaukee, court records said.

Flatoff, who is being held on a $500,000 cash bond, is facing life in prison if convicted. His attorney could not be reached for comment.

Flatoff went to Eagle Nation Cycles in Neenah after a long night and morning of drinking armed with a handgun to settle a dispute over his motorcycle, which he believed had been stolen, according to the complaint against him.

Flatoff fired at two officers as they tried to rescue three hostages from the shop. Police fatally shot hostage Michael Funk, who failed to drop a handgun during the rescue attempt, according to court documents.

A bullet struck the helmet of one of the officers, who was taken to a hospital and later released, prosecutors said.

Flatoff was charged with one count of murder because Funk was killed as a result of Flatoff's armed standoff, prosecutors said. He also was charged with false imprisonment, bail jumping and three counts of first-degree attempted intentional homicide, court records showed.

In March, Funk's widow filed a claim of more than $3.5 million against the officers involved in the standoff and the City of Neenah, according to a statement from her attorney.

(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Ben Klayman and Bill Trott)
The concept of sex-segregated transportation such as women-only ride-share schemes and trains is gaining steam around the world, most recently with the launch of an Uber for women' and calls for pink carriages' on Australian public rail lines.

Though women-only buses, rail and subway cars have been in place for years in countries like Japan, Malaysia, India and Egypt, the concept resurfaced last month after private train operator Mitteldeutsche Regiobahn announced the launch of a women-only car for its Leipzig and Chemnitz route in eastern Germany.

The launch was made following a spate of highly publicized sex attacks on New Year's Eve in Cologne. The rail company maintains the move is meant to improve security in general and denied that the service was in direct response to the attacks.

Meanwhile, a proposal made last week to trial an all-female carriage in Australia caused an uproar among feminists and critics who called for male-only cars instead, describing the scheme as a Band-Aid solution to rising crime rates against women.

About 20 sexual offences are carried out against women on public buses, trams and trains every month in the state of New South Wales.

The Safe 'Pink' Carriages would also be installed with extra distress buttons, on-board CCTV cameras and more regular checks by staff.

The concept of all-female transportation doesn't end with trains. An American entrepreneur is poised to launch what's being described as Uber for Women,' a ride-sharing scheme that uses only female drivers for female passengers.

Set to launch next week in Massachusetts, Chariot for Women is meant to put female riders at ease by putting a fellow woman at the wheel.

Founded by a former Uber driver, Michael Pelletz said the idea for an all-female ride-share service came to him when he picked up a strange man whose incoherent behavior and aggressive gestures made him feel afraid for his own safety.

Though well-intentioned, the service has yet to launch and already faces potential legal obstacles for being discriminatory against men.

Chariot for Women is supposed to launch April 19.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Development organizations should support an ambitious reconstruction plan in order to help foster a sustainable peace in Syria, the World Bank said on Tuesday.

Reconstruction and peace in Syria "are two sides of the same coin," the World Bank said in its short-term economic outlook report on the Middle East and North Africa.

"A credible reconstruction strategy, therefore, can be used as an instrument to bring warring parties closer to a peace deal in the first place," the report's authors said.

Syria has been ravaged for the past five years by a civil war, which has killed more than 250,000 people, displaced about half the population and caused a refugee crisis in neighboring countries and throughout Europe.

Growth in the Middle East and North Africa region will average 3 percent for 2016, according to the World Bank's latest predictions.

The World Bank did not spell out how substantial development aid could be made available. A ceasefire in place since last month between the government and rebel forces is near collapse, with more peace talks planned in Geneva this week.

Syrians lack access to basic services such as clean water, reliable electricity, healthcare and education and there is a need for development institutions to immediately work "more actively" with neutral and well-established local groups outside of the Syrian government, the report said.

"By securing grant funding and technical assistance, international organizations can provide needed relief in the country while engaging in a knowledge generating process," the report said. "This would allow the international community to gradually scale up its assistance once peace is reached."

More than 70 percent of Syrian refugees want to return home when fighting stops, the report said, adding that the international community, including the World Bank, can make future reconstruction commitments an instrument for peace negotiations.

(Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Diane Craft)
GENEVA (Reuters) - Twenty-one people have died of yellow fever in Democratic Republic of Congo, some of them from infections contracted in neighboring Angola, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday. An outbreak has already killed 225 people and infected 1,600 in Angola. There was now a high risk of further spread in Congo, given the number of people who regularly travel between the two countries, the WHO said. (Reporting by Tom Miles)
GENEVA (Reuters) - Twenty-one people have died of yellow fever in Democratic Republic of Congo, some of them from infections contracted in neighbouring Angola, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday. An outbreak has already killed 225 people and infected 1,600 in Angola. There was now a high risk of further spread in Congo, given the number of people who regularly travel between the two countries, the WHO said. (Reporting by Tom Miles)
By Nate Raymond

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York City teenager accused last year of helping a college student plan an Islamic State-inspired plot to set off a pressure cooker bomb in the city has pleaded guilty to a non-terrorism charge of conspiring to impede federal officers.

Imran Rabbani, who was 17 when he was arrested in June, pleaded guilty on Friday in federal court in Brooklyn, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Robert Capers said late on Monday.

As part of a plea deal, Rabbani agreed to drop an appeal of a November ruling allowing him to be tried as an adult for a prior charge of conspiring to provide material support to Islamic State, said his lawyer, Richard Willstatter.

Rabbani, who faces a maximum of six years in prison, was one of six young men in New York and New Jersey charged last year in the investigation of a group of alleged supporters of Islamic State, which has seized control of parts of Iraq and Syria.

More than 80 people have been charged since 2014 in U.S. federal cases related to Islamic State, which has claimed responsibility for the Brussels bombings in March that killed 31 people and the Paris attacks in November that killed 130.

Authorities previously alleged that Rabbani, now 18, discussed with Munther Omar Saleh, a college student in the borough of Queens, plans to assemble an explosive device to set off in the New York metropolitan area.

In June, law enforcement followed the two men in a surveillance vehicle when Rabbani and Saleh got out of their vehicle and ran at the agents, prompting their arrest at gunpoint, authorities said.

The plea by Rabbani, previously identified only as "John Doe," regarded only the June incident.

"My client is not a member of ISIS and never claimed to be a member of ISIS," said Willstatter, using another name for Islamic State.

The other men in related cases in New Jersey have pleaded guilty. Nader Saadeh pleaded guilty in December to conspiring to provide material support to Islamic State.[nL1N13Z213]

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Prosecutors said Saadeh traveled to Jordan in May intending to get to either Iraq or Syria to join Islamic State, but was detained by Jordanian authorities.

Prosecutors said Saadeh discussed his plans to join Islamic State with his brother, Alaa Saadeh, as well as Samuel Rahamin Topaz, Saleh and Mummuni.

Alaa Saadeh and Topaz, who prosecutors said also planned to join Islamic State, have also pleaded guilty.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Dan Grebler)
LUSAKA (Reuters) - Zambia will add 420 megawatts (MW) to its electricity grid this year due to new generation projects, almost halving the national deficit, the head of its investment agency said on Tuesday. Zambia's power shortfall has risen to 1,000 MW from 700 MW in November due to lower hydro generation as water levels have dropped because of drought. Zambia Development Agency Director General Patrick Chisanga said the 420 MW would come from a new 300 MW coal-fired power plant, and a 120 MW hydroelectric one. The first 60 MW units of the hydroelectric project were commissioned in December last year and rest in February, Chisanga said. "The 300 MW from the Maamba Collieries Coal fired Power Project will be made available in mid-year 2016," he told Reuters. Zambia was seeking investors to build additional thermal power plants to general 200 MW and negotiations with the developers would be concluded soon, Chisanga said. Another 55 MW thermal power plant due to come on stream early next year was under construction, while the government was looking for investors to build solar plants that would add 250 MW to the grid. "The idea is to have a good energy mix because we cannot just rely on hydropower, especially with the current drought," Chisanga said. The government was also upgrading several small hydropower stations to ease the electricity shortage, Chisanga said. Big hydro projects would add 3,000 MW to the grid by 2024, he added. (Reporting by Chris Mfula; Editing by Stella Mapenzauswa and David Evans)
Lusaka (AFP) - Zambian police on Tuesday arrested two journalists over a story alleging that President Edgar Lungu went night-clubbing and played pool at taxpayers' expense while on holiday.

The journalists working for the privately-owned Post Newspaper were charged with defamation in a move widely seen as part of a clampdown on the president's critics ahead of elections in August.

The story, published a year ago, quoted opposition politician Eric Chanda saying that Lungu went on a state-funded holiday to the Mfuwe resort, where he was said to have played pool and gone "clubbing".

"Funga Mukosha and Joan Chirwa have been officially charged with the offence of defamation of the president," said police spokeswoman Charity Chanda in a statement.

The journalists were freed on bail, according to the Post Newspaper deputy managing editor Joseph Mwenda.

Police said that they will appear in court on April 18, along with Chanda, president of the opposition 4th Revolution Party, who was arrested last month on the same charge and also released on bail.

The three if convicted could face a sentence of seven years in prison.

Geoffrey Mwamba, vice president of the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND), was arrested twice last month on charges of training a private militia and threatening the president.
As the Zika virus has spread across the Americas these past few months, there has been more and more evidence that its greatest dangers are neurological. Its been linked to the birth defect microcephaly, and the autoimmune nervous disorder Guillain-Barre pretty much from the beginning of the outbreak, but scientists are starting to see connections to other neurological conditions as well.

The outbreak has led to a rush on research to solidify these links, and in the cases of microcephaly and Guillain-Barre, the connection is finally strong enough to be called causal. In its Zika situation report on Thursday, the World Health Organization used the word cause to describe the relationship between Zika and these two conditions.

Based on a growing body of preliminary research, there is scientific consensus that Zika virus is a cause of microcephaly and Guillain-Barre syndrome, the report reads.

But this confirmation is hardly the end of Zikas neurological mysteries. There have been recent case reports of people exposed to the virus whove come down with different kinds of infections of the brain and spinal cord. In Guadeloupe, there was a case of acute myelitis (an inflammation of the spinal cord) in a 15-year-old girl; there was a French case study of a man who came down with meningoencephalitis (inflammation of the brain and its outer membranes); and new research out of Recife, Brazil, presented at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting, has found two people who, after presenting with symptoms consistent with Zika or another flavivirus, came down with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM). ADEM is a brief but widespread attack of inflammation in the brain and spinal cord, according to the National Institutes of Health.

In the Recife sample, there were six patients who showed neurological symptoms (post-flavivirus symptoms)the two ADEM cases, and four Guillain-Barre cases. Though both Guillain-Barre and ADEM are typically temporary conditions, in this study, five of the patients had sustained motor dysfunction after they were discharged, one had vision problems, and one had cognitive decline. ADEM, myelitis, and Guillain-Barre can all damage myelin, the protective sheath around nerve cells, which could lead to long-term consequences for nerve function.

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Recommended: Thirteen Anonymous Genetic Superheroes Walk Among Us

All of this suggests that the Zika virus may target nerve cells in particular. (A previous study also found that Zika proliferates in neural stem cells, which may be how it causes microcephaly.) That may be why all these neurological conditions are occurring in association with Zika. But its not clear whether these kind of complications were always a feature of Zika, or if theyre new, Reuters reports:

Scientists are of two minds about why these new maladies have come into view. The first is that, as the virus is spreading through such large populations, it is revealing aspects of Zika that went unnoticed in earlier outbreaks in remote and sparsely populated areas. The second is that the newly detected disorders are more evidence that the virus has evolved.

The latest findings are significant for another reason, too. Much of the focus on the Zika virus has been the extent to which Zika can harm or kill fetuses. Ongoing research shows that while the illness is often mild in older children and adults, it can be serious for them, too.

As always with emerging outbreaks such as this, as some questions are answered, more are raised. But its become clear that, as Raad Shakir, president of the World Federation of Neurology, wrote in The Lancet, Neurological expertise is  crucial to deal with potential Zika sequelae. Unfortunately, though, he notes that in many economically deprived areas hit hardest by these disorders, there is a shortage of neurologists.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
Some people infected with the Zika virus may develop a rare neurological disorder that is similar to multiple sclerosis, a new study from Brazil suggests.

The study reports two cases of people who were infected with the Zika virus and who later developed a condition called acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM). In people with this condition, the body's own immune system causes swelling in the brain and spinal cord, and damages the protective coating of nerve fibers called myelin.

The condition is similar to multiple sclerosis (MS), which also causes damage to myelin. But whereas people with MS often have multiple attacks, people with ADEM usually have just a single attack of symptoms and recover after about six months.

The study adds to a growing list of conditions already linked with the Zika virus, including another neurological disorder called Guillain-Barre syndrome, as well as microcephaly, a birth defect in which an infant's head is abnormally small and is thought to occur when the virus is passed from a woman to her infant during pregnancy.

Still, the new study found only an association between the Zika virus and ADEM, and thus cannot prove that Zika virus infection causes ADEM. It's also important to note that neither Guillain-Barre syndrome nor ADEM is common in people with Zika virus infections, the researchers said. [Zika Virus FAQs: Top Questions Answered]

"This doesn't mean that all people infected with Zika will experience these brain problems," Dr. Maria Lucia Brito Ferreira, a co-author of the new study and a physician at Restoration Hospital in Recife, Brazil, said in a statement. "However, our study may shed light on possible lingering effects the virus may be associated with in the brain."

The study included 151 people who visited a hospital in Recife between December 2014 and June 2015, and who had symptoms of Zika virus or another similar virus. Of these, six people developed symptoms of autoimmune disorders, in which the patient's own immune system mistakenly attacks the body. It turned out that four of these patients had Guillain-Barre syndrome, and two had ADEM, the researchers found. (All six of these patients tested positive for Zika virus.)

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For some of these people, neurological symptoms started as soon as the Zika virus symptoms appeared, but for others, the neurological symptoms took up to 15 days to appear.

The study will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology meeting in Vancouver, which runs from April 15 to 21.

Follow Rachael Rettner @RachaelRettner. 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.
Washington (AFP) - The Zika virus is "scarier" than previously thought, US health officials warned as they urged Congress to unblock funding to fight the mosquito-borne virus linked to birth defects.

President Barack Obama's administration has asked lawmakers for $1.9 billion to boost preparedness and response to Zika, a poorly understood virus which has been linked to severe brain damage in babies -- but the request has stalled.

Borne by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, Zika has spread quickly to more than 30 places in Latin America and the Caribbean since last year.

Rare cases of sexual transmission of the virus have also been recorded.

"We absolutely need to be ready ... Everything we look at with this virus seems to be a bit scarier than we initially thought," Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters at the White House on Monday.

"We continue to be learning (about the virus) pretty much every day. And most of what we're learning is not reassuring," she added.

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said there were still a lot of unknowns.

"Bottom line is we still have a lot to learn," he said.

"And we really do need to learn a lot more, because this is a very unusual virus."

Fauci said he had to draw money from other areas for Zika research, stressing that "we really don't have what we need."

"If we don't get the money that the president has asked for, we're not going to be able to take it to the point where we've actually accomplished what we need to do," Fauci said.

"When the president asked for $1.9 billion, we needed $1.9 billion."

Hundreds of thousands of people in the US territory of Puerto Rico could become infected with Zika by year's end, US health officials have cautioned.
HARARE (Reuters) - Game wardens in Zimbabwe have killed a black rhino popular with tourists to end its suffering after suspected poachers shot and severely wounded the animal, the wildlife parks' agency said on Monday. Ntombi, whose name is a native Ndebele word for girl, was an eight-year-old female with a 13-month-old calf living in Matopo National Park in western Zimbabwe. The rhino had four bullet wounds in its legs and shoulder after being shot last week, said Caroline Washaya-Moyo, a spokeswoman for Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZPWMA). Its horns had been sawn off but were later recovered. Veterinarians from animal conservation group Aware Trust carried out an X-ray that showed Ntombi had "endured unimaginable pain caused by broken legs and open wounds", Washaya-Moyo said. "The animal was very immobile and was unable to walk to access food and water. Because of the seriousness of the wounds the authority had to put the animal to sleep," she said. The ZPWMA is investigating the incident. Wardens are taking care of Ntombi's calf, which was not harmed by the poachers. Buying and selling rhino horn internationally was banned in 1977. In Zimbabwe, killing a rhino carries a mandatory nine-year sentence upon conviction. But rhino horn is prized in Asia for use in traditional remedies and surging demand has led to more poaching. A record 1,305 rhinos were illegally killed in Africa last year. Zimbabwe's black and white rhino population is estimated at just over 800, said Washaya-Moyo. The World Wildlife Fund said in a January report that 50 rhinos had been killed in Zimbabwe in 2015, double the figure for the previous year. "It's been a gut-wrenching weekend ... one of the most difficult things we've had to do," Aware Trust said on its official Facebook page which also showed pictures of Ntombi's injuries. (Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by James Macharia and Gareth Jones)
By Mai Nguyen HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam's tech startups are emerging as a force to be reckoned with as foreign private equity funds bet the country's talented young brains will yield more successes like the international hit game Flappy Bird. Just last month, financial powerhouses Goldman Sachs and Standard Chartered PLC raised their investment in the operator of e-wallet MoMo by $28 million, while Silicon Valley-based venture capitalist 500 Startups announced a $10 million Vietnam-focused fund. One of 500 Startups' shoestring investments is in automated marketing service Beeketing, founded by college drop-out Truong Manh Quan, 26, who estimates revenue this year of $2 million predominantly from customers in the United States. "We thought we'll invest in something like 10 to 20 companies over a 12-month period," said 500 Startups partner Eddie Thai. "But it quickly became clear, there's a lot more good companies to invest in." The startup boom is the latest chapter of Vietnam's growing presence in the global tech industry. In the three years since Hanoi-based .GEARS released Flappy Bird, Vietnam emerged from relative obscurity to become the Southeast Asian production hub of South Korean giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. Meanwhile, global tech firms that have long had factories in Vietnam - such as LG Electronics Inc, Panasonic Corp, and Toshiba Corp - have also been expanding into research and development. Part of Vietnam's appeal is a cheaper workforce than in China, as well as membership of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade bloc and free trade deals with the European Union, plus incentives aimed at luring investment away from neighbors. Of particular interest to venture capitalists, however, is Vietnam's tech-savvy population with a median age of just 30. "Vietnam has the highest-performing computer science students I've ever encountered," said Neil Fraser, a software engineer at Alphabet Inc's Google, who visited local schools. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ranks Vietnamese 15-year-olds above peers in the U.S., Australia and Britain in science and maths. "The exercises I watched them solve ... would be considered challenging problems for a Google hiring interview," Fraser said. E-COMMERCE Data covering Vietnamese startups is scarce, but Singapore-based startup community Tech in Asia - itself a startup with investors including Japan's SoftBank Group Corp - reckons there are about 1,500 in operation. That number, relative to population, represents a higher concentration than the 2,100 in Indonesia, 2,300 in China and 7,500 in India. Startups in Vietnam, like Indonesia, thrive with little government support beyond legal advice and $10,000 cash under a scheme dubbed Vietnam Silicon Valley. In contrast, China announced a $6.5 billion fund mainly for tech and green energy startups last year, while India pledged $1.5 billion in January. "I plan to grow this company for five years then sell it," said Beeketing's Quan. "Then I may become an angel investor myself." Most of Vietnam's startups are in e-commerce, a sector where sales grew around 35 percent last year to $4 billion, and whose 2.7 percent contribution to overall retail sales indicates ample room for growth. Supporting e-commerce are tech-related logistics startups such as Giaohangnhanh which helped reduce overall logistics costs in Vietnam to a fifth of gross domestic product last year from a fourth just one year earlier. Other startups include the operator of food-finder app Lozi that received a combined seven-figure investment from DesignOne Japan Inc and Singapore's Golden Gate Ventures. Tran Minh Son, one of four Lozi founders, quit university in Pennsylvania to concentrate on the app. "It was like cutting my legs off so I've no way back," he said. "My parents complained quite a lot. They said, 'You're not my son - move out'." Lozi, launched in 2012, now boasts 600,000 registered users and 4 million unique visits each month. (Reporting by Mai Nguyen; Editing by Martin Petty and Christopher Cushing)
Cameron vows to change the culture on use of tax havens

Prime Minister David Cameron promised to "tighten the law and change the culture" by cracking down on tax evasion and discouraging "aggressive" tax avoidance on Monday, following the British use of tax havens revealed in the Panama Papers.

GALLERY

British Prime Minister David Cameron addresses employees of Siemens Rail Automation facility in Chippenham, Britain, 02 February 2016. Cameron during his visit promoted his efforts in the Britain-EU relationship.

London (dpa) - Britains tax authority and national crime agency will examine possible tax evasion and money laundering by British companies and individuals identified in leaked documents from the Panama-based Mossack Fonseca law firm, Cameron told parliament.But people should "defend the right of every British citizen to make money lawfully," he said, placing his government "at the forefront of international action to tackle the global scourge of aggressive tax avoidance and evasion."Cameron has faced political pressure since his fathers offshore investment company, which legally avoided British taxes by registering in tax havens, was named last week in leaked documents from the Panama Papers.He told parliament he sold his shares in one of his fathers funds in early 2010, shortly before he became prime minister, "because I didnt want any issues about conflict of interest."Cameron has admitted fault for his widely criticized response last week, when he gave a series of brief statements on his links to the Panama Papers rather than a full disclosure."I accept all of the criticisms for not responding more quickly to this issue last week," he said on Monday.Replying to Cameron in parliament, opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called for a "credible and independent investigation" of tax avoidance through tax havens.Corbyn said Cameron had still "failed to give a full account" of his financial affairs, despite publishing summaries of his tax returns on Sunday, and said the prime ministers handling of the Panama Papers leak showed the public "no longer have trust in him."David Gauke, financial secretary to the Treasury, said earlier that the Panama Papers showed "tax evasion is part of a wider set of international criminality ... together with money laundering, illicit finance and evading sanctions.""The new taskforce announced today will further tighten the screw on those who think they can get away with dodging tax thats due in this country," Gauke said. "Our message is clear: there are no safe havens."Before Mondays announcement, police and tax officers were already investigating 700 "current leads with a link to Panama," the government said.The government will also introduce new legislation to "hold companies who fail to stop their employees facilitating tax evasion criminally liable," Cameron said.Cameron then came under renewed pressure after he published tax summaries on Sunday that show a 200,000-pound (280,000-dollar) gift from his mother. He had previously admitted to having inherited 300,000 from his father and sold shares in his fathers offshore investment fund for some 30,000 pounds.He initially said his fathers registration of offshore funds in tax havens was "a private matter."Cameron then made statements saying that he and his immediate family held no offshore assets and would not benefit from offshore holdings in the future.
 

         

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Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers has approved a proposal of the State Space Agency of Ukraine to appoint Viktor Khutorny acting director general of Pivdenne design bureau (Dnipropetrovsk).

This is outlined in cabinet resolution No. 255-r of March 23, 2016.

Until recently Khutorny headed Makarov National Center of Youth Aerospace Education (Dnipropetrovsk).

Oleksandr Dehtiariov, who headed the bureau since September 2010, was dismissed from the post on February 17, 2016 under recommendations of the State Financial Inspectorate. Dehtiariov was offered the post of chief designer of the bureau.

Pivdenne design bureau is one of the most well-known and recognized scientific and design companies in the world in the field of space technology development.
Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers temporarily closed Kerch and Sevastopol maritime fishing ports within the water areas used by eponymous state-run enterprises until the constitutional system of Ukraine is restored on the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea and Sevastopol city.

According to cabinet resolution No. 263 of April 6, 2016, the ports are temporarily closed, as it is impossible to service ships and passengers, carry out cargo, transport and shipping works with observation of navigation safety, requirements of international agreements signed by Ukraine and environment protection.

The State Fishing Industry Agency is ordered to take measures to inform international organizations on the closure of the two ports.
Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers has expanded a list of borrowers who have the right to receive an agro-industrial credit rate compensated, allowing individuals to receive compensations.

According to cabinet resolution No. 267 of April 6, the amendments are made to the procedure for using funds from the national budget to support measures in the agro-industrial via cheapening credits.

Additionally, the compensation in 2015 was provided if the sum of credit rates and the bank fee linked to the credit did not exceed 30% per annum, in 2016 it will provided if the sum of credit rates does not exceed NBU refinancing rate multiplied by 3 percentage points at the moment of the signing of the agreement. This would allow not amending the procedure in the future due to fluctuations of NBU rates.

The resolution is in effect in 2016.

KYIV. April 12 (Interfax-Ukraine)  Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers has expanded a list of borrowers who have the right to receive an agro-industrial credit rate compensated, allowing individuals to receive compensations.

According to cabinet resolution No. 267 of April 6, the amendments are made to the procedure for using funds from the national budget to support measures in the agro-industrial via cheapening credits.

Additionally, the compensation in 2015 was provided if the sum of credit rates and the bank fee linked to the credit did not exceed 30% per annum, in 2016 it will provided if the sum of credit rates does not exceed NBU refinancing rate multiplied by 3 percentage points at the moment of the signing of the agreement. This would allow not amending the procedure in the future due to fluctuations of NBU rates.

The resolution is in effect in 2016.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has rejected bill No. 3562 on amending the law on television and radio broadcasting, relating to protection of the information space of Ukraine.

According to an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent, only 177 people's deputies voted for the bill at first reading.

The bill proposed the introduction of a clear procedure for determining the size of fines and their application by the National Television and Radio Broadcasting Council. It was suggested that the calculation of fines should be carried out in accordance with the size of a license fee paid by the licensee and the issue of a license, without taking into account conditions (increase/decrease), which were in force at the time of making the decision on applying fines by the National Television and Radio Broadcasting Council of Ukraine.
HarvEast agricultural holding in March 2016 completed the sale of assets in Crimea.

"HarvEast made the decision to sell assets in the peninsula in 2013 in connection with the fact that this area belongs to the high-risk area of agriculture due to low rainfall. However, the deal has been recently closed. In recent years, it has been almost impossible to effectively manage the asset due to the current situation," holding CEO Dmytro Skorniakov said.

The holding did not disclose the amount and other details of the transaction.

The company controlled about 20,000 hectares of land in Crimea. It mainly planted wheat and sunflower.

Initially, the share of harvest from HarvEast's assets in Crimea accounted for 10% of the total volume.

HarvEast is an agricultural holding. Its core business is crop production (cultivation of wheat, sunflower, barley, perennial grasses, corn) and dairy farming.
Russian intelligence officers need to be sentenced in Ukraine to be exchanged for Savchenko

In order to exchange Ukrainian pilot and MP Nadia Savchenko for the officers of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Yevgeny Yerofeyev and Alexander Alexandrov, the Russian servicemen should be sentenced first, a diplomatic source told Interfax-Ukraine.

"Verdict for the Russian intelligence officers is needed in order to free Savchenko," he told the agency adding that Moscow was going to exchange the Ukrainian pilot for Yerofeyev and Alexandrov.

According to him, lawyers the Russian servicemen "are in constant contact with the FSB (Russian Federal Security Service) and therefore their trial is being deliberately delayed." "I want to note that President Putin has previously promised Poroshenko and Merkel to swap Savchenko for the GRU officers," he said.

According to the source, Kyiv is working on the speedy return of the Ukrainian prisoner home.
A parliamentary coalition has already been formed, and it will nominate Verkhovna Rada Speaker Volodymyr Groysman for the post of Ukraine's prime minister, Petro Poroshenko Bloc MP Oleksiy Honcharenko has said.

"We have a coalition of 226. The coalition will now be announced. It will hold its assembly, at which it will nominate a candidate for prime minister - this candidate will be Volodymyr Groysman. We will forward it to the president," Honcharenko said after the Petro Poroshenko Bloc faction's meeting, at which four new MPs joined the faction.

According to him, Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko at a meeting of his party's faction promised to submit to the parliament on Tuesday the candidate for the post of prime minister, who will be nominated by the coalition. "The president said he is ready to immediately submit to the parliament Groysman's nomination for the post of prime minister, and we will immediately vote for it. This all is going to happen today," the MP said.

Honcharenko also said that after the appointment of the prime minister by the Verkhovna Rada, the coalition factions will meet with nominees for the posts in the Cabinet, whom Groysman will present on Tuesday afternoon.

For her part, MP Svitlana Zalischuk of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc said that the parliament will put to the vote Arseniy Yatseniuk's resignation from the post of prime minister around noon on Tuesday.

After the vote, a meeting of the parliamentary coalition is scheduled, followed by "the nomination of the prime minister and his further submission to parliament by the president, and the vote on this candidate," she said.

From 14:00 until 16:00 on Tuesday, a meetings with all candidates for ministerial posts is scheduled followed by the appointment of the Cabinet of Ministers, the MP added.

On Wednesday, the program of the government will be considered, Zalischuk said.
The Kremlin has no information concerning the state of health of Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko, who has been convicted in Russia, but it believes that medical care will be provided to her if necessary.

"I will agree with you here. You said that it is allegedly [a hunger strike]. The point is that we really do not have any precise information as to whether it is a hunger strike because the information that comes both from her and her lawyer is highly controversial. They are either speaking about a hunger strike or aren't speaking about it. It is either dry or not dry," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.

Peskov said this after being asked whether there is a risk that the state of health of Savchenko, who allegedly went on a hunger strike, may sharply deteriorate before the Russian president adopts a decision on her case.

"We proceed from the fact that the FSIN [Russian Federal Penitentiary Institutions Service] system certainly monitors inmates' health, and, consequently, we do not want to think bad things in this case. We want to hope that medical care will be provided to her if any ailments exist there," Peskov said.

"If they [ailments] exist. I repeat once again that we do not have any information about the state of inmate Savchenko's health," he added.
Kyiv Court of Appeals has upheld the arrest of head of Azov-Crimea Civil Corps Stanislav Krasnov who is suspected of treason and terrorism.

The presiding judge announced this decision at a court sitting on Tuesday, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported.

In protest against this ruling, Krasnov announced that will go on a hunger strike.

In turn, Krasnov's defense lawyer Leonid Syvakov said that they will appeal against the court ruling.

"We will file a cassation appeal... despite the fact that the court has said today that this decision is not subject to appeal, we will appeal against it," he said.

As reported, on February 28, the SBU detained Krasnov and his girlfriend, activist Oksana Shelest, in Kyiv region. The Azov-Crimea chief was placed in custody for 72 hours. He was charged with illegal possession of weapons.

The SBU said Krasnov had been collaborating with Russia since 2014 and that he handed over to his Russian supervisor lists of members of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry's Azov regiment. In addition, the SBU said that it found a cache of weapons in Kyiv region, presumably placed there by Krasnov.

Meanwhile the activist's defense team said that security services officers beat Krasnov up. During the court sessions to elect a preventive measure for him, the activist was hospitalized at a request of doctors, who said he was suffering from a hypertensive crisis, concussion and closed head injury.

On March 2 Krasnov was released from prison because the 72-hour detention period expired.

On March 3, the SBU said that Krasnov is suspected of involvement in terrorism and treason.

In late March, Shevchenkivsky District Court of Kyiv changed the conditions of pre-trial confinement for Krasnov from house arrest to custody.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a decree to exclude Boris Gryzlov from the composition of the country's Security Council.

Putin's April 11, 2016 decree, which was published on the official legal information portal on Tuesday, orders that "changes be introduced into the composition of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, confirmed by the decree of the president of the Russian Federation, dated May 25, 2012, [...] by excluding B. V. Gryzlov from it."

The same decree amends the April 5, 2016 decree which gave a seat on the Russian Security Council to Russian Federal National Guard Service director and National Guard commander Viktor Zolotov. The word 'permanent' was removed from the April 5 decree. Consequently, Zolotov was included in the Security Council as a 'member', not a 'permanent member'.

Gryzlov became a permanent member of Russia's Security Council in December 2011. Since December 26, 2015, he has held the post of Russia's permanent representative to the Trilateral Contact Group for Ukraine.
U.S. urges Rada to approve new government as soon as possible

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine should approve a new government as soon as possible in order to continue needed reforms, U.S. State Department's Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner has said.

"I would say, more broadly speaking, we believe it's important that the Rada approve as soon as possible a new Cabinet that is committed to implementing needed reforms, in particular those recommended by the IMF, the International Monetary Fund, as well as the European Union," he said at a briefing on Monday.

He also said the U.S. believes that the government of Ukraine will carry out needed reforms.

"We do believe it's implementing and will continue to implement its Minsk agreements, and it's really the joint responsibility of Ukraine's president, its prime minister, and all those in government to put aside their differences and to deliver on the reforms that Ukrainians need," the spokesman said.

In addition, Toner thanked Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk "for his tireless efforts to  on behalf of Ukraine really during a historic time, as we all know, for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people."

"We also welcome his intention to remain engaged in the process of pursuing needed economic reforms, needed political reforms to ensure the future stability and prosperity of Ukraine, as well as its territorial integrity," the spokesman said.
The parliamentary committee for legal policy and justice has recommended the Verkhovna Rada should accept Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk's resignation at its sitting on Tuesday, but suggested that the resolution recognizing the outcomes of the government's work unsatisfactory be cancelled.

"The committee decided to accept Yatseniuk's resignation," member of the Verkhovna Rada committee for legal policy and justice Ruslan Sydorovych (Samopomich faction) wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.

Additionally, it was decided to recommend the Verkhovna Rada should cancel the February 16 resolution recognizing the results of the government's activities as unsatisfactory, the lawmaker said.
Three Ukrainian military servicemen were injured, no one was killed in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) zone on Monday, the presidential administration's spokesman for ATO matters Oleksandr Motuzianyk has said.

"Last day, none of our soldiers was killed, but three were wounded in hostilities," he said at a briefing in Kyiv on Tuesday.

Motuzianyk said that the soldiers were wounded in the towns of Luhanske, Avdiyivka and Opytne as the result of shelling by militants.

A total of 69 shellings have been registered in the Donetsk sector. Key defense positions of the Ukrainian armed forces in the towns of Zaitseve, Avdiyivka and Mayorsk, and the area of Donetsk airport are being shelled almost around the clock. Occasionally, the enemy uses mortars and infantry fighting vehicles.

The village of Stanytsia Luhanska came under fire in the area of Luhansk.

It was relatively quiet in the Mariupol area. Nine enemy attacks in different parts of the frontline were registered there.
Dutch government won't rush to assess the outcome of the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement and plans to deal with the issue within six months, Dutch media reported.

According to a letter of Dutch Foreign Chief Bert Koenders addressed to the parliament, a response of the government on the result received by the election commission will be submitted to the parliament by September 2016.

The document also says the government's decision demands a thorough approach that's why it will take a definite time to pass it.

As reported, according to preliminary results of the referendum in the Netherlands held on April 6, 61.1% of Dutch voted against the ratification of Ukraine-EU Association, who participated in the referendum, and just 38.1% backed the ratification.
A photo taken shows an article, written by Chinese Ambassador to the UK Liu Xiaoming, published on Britain's Daily Telegraph. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com/Duan Xuelian]

China should not be made the scapegoat of the current steel crisis in the UK, says Liu Xiaoming, the Chinese Ambassador to the UK in an article published on the Daily Telegraph on Monday.

The Chinese Ambassador stressed in the article that China is not to blame for what is happening in the British steel industry and the accusation that China is dumping steels in Britain is ill-founded.

His comments come after a number of British politicians, including opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, accuse China of dumping steels into British markets.

Liu Xiaoming noted that there are multiple reasons behind the sluggishness in the development of Britains steel industry, with the first being the general trend in advanced economies, which has prompted the transformation from traditional manufacturing into a modern services and financial sector. Second, in the post-financial crisis era, economic recovery stays weak and demands remain scarce in most economies. Last but not least, the cost of steel production, including energy, labour and environmental costs, is rather high in the UK.

Liu went on to explain that in both volume and value, steel from China makes up only a fraction of the UKs total steel imports and the Chinese steel manufacturers have followed market rules strictly when exporting steel to Britain.

In addition, Liu Xiaoming pointed out that China itself is facing an even more serious and challenging situation in its steel industry. The country has reduced steel capacity by 90m tons over the past three years and is planning to cut its crude steel capacity by 100m-150m tons in the coming five years. He called on Britain to join China to find a solution to the overcapacity in their steel industries. The two governments should engage in closer dialogue and co-operation, working with, rather than against each other to uphold the order of the global steel trade, the Chinese Ambassador wrote.
HIROSHIMA -- Once again Japan hijacked the multilateral Group of Seven (G7) platform to serve its own purposes and to meddle in South China Sea affairs in an unwanted attempt to "contain" China, which is not only unjustified and unhelpful for resolving disputes, but also harmful to regional stability.

The two-day G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting closed on Monday with four joint statements issued by the member countries, one of which is about maritime security. The statement expressed "concerns over the situation in the East and South China Seas" and opposed "any intimidating, coercive or provocative unilateral actions that could alter the status quo and increase tensions".

The document is a result of the "consistent efforts" of the Japanese government, which, as host country, seized the meeting for its own agenda and unilaterally hyped up the South China Sea issue, despite the fact that none of the G7 members are relevant parties to the issue.

It is not the first time for Japan to attempt to take advantage of this multilateral framework to contain China. Last year, Japan pushed its unilateral agenda through a similar document on maritime security in the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Lubeck.

In the statement, Japan referred to protection of navigational freedom as an excuse for its meddling, and deliberately ignored the fact that China has repeatedly confirmed its commitment to maintaining freedom of navigation and overflight in the East and South China Seas.

Japan also paid no heed to China's efforts and tireless contribution to regional stability, despite the fact that the Chinese Foreign Ministry has reiterated China's commitment to solving maritime disputes through negotiations and consultation, directly with concerned parties on the basis of respect for historical facts and international law, so as to jointly safeguard the peace and stability in relevant waters, and for the betterment of security in the broader region.

What the Japanese government did is definitely not in the interests of the region, but only to stir up perceived regional tensions. Behind it is Japan's thinly veiled masterplan to drive wedges between China and other regional players and to draw western countries into an erroneous debate to contain China.

Japan also attempted to divert China's attention and resources from the East China Sea by interfering with disputes in the South China Sea.

Yet despite Japan's hyping of what it has dubbed a "China threat" and general smearing of China's peaceful advancements, in many people's eyes, including locals here, Japan itself is a potential threat to and sower of discord in the region, with its rise of ultra right-wing forces and attempts to revise the pacifistic Constitution and rewrite and undo decades of globally revered pacifism.

Morita, a university student, said in a protest here last Sunday that the Japanese government tried to forge a peace-loving image when hosting the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Hiroshima. But he believed what the government was ostensibly doing, such as forcing the security bills through parliament despite the atomic bombing survivors' protests and against majority of public opinion, was not peace-loving and was, visibly, against the people's will.

"The security bills that came to effect on March 29 made Japan a country that could start wars. Besides this, Japan recently strengthened its military alliance with the United States and South Korea. These are actions that could drag Japan into wars." said Yasuhiro Ikkanda, another protester and advocate of Japan adhering to its constitutionally-mandated pacifist values.

It was and now is high time for Japan to listen to the voices of its people and to reflect on its policies regarding regional security and its relationship with China, a former friend and monumental economic associate.
As Chinas economic development continues to advance, Chinese companies are making more and more acquisitions abroad. This trend has begun to draw worldwide attention. Reuters data shows that global transactions amounted to $682 billion in the first quarter of 2016, of which 15 percent involved Chinese buyers. Whats more, Chinas first-quarter foreign trade total is already approaching last years total of $109 billion.

More Chinese companies are choosing to acquire businesses abroad in order to advance technologies and increase global presence. But these companies are now facing increasing scrutiny from overseas regulators.

Data from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) shows that the body reviewed more investments proposed by Chinese firms or individuals than those from any other single country in 2014. China topped the list of transactions related to computers, electronic devices, transport equipment and chemicals for the third straight year.

"Protectionism is gaining momentum in the country as some new candidates seek to raise tariffs and criticize the trade surplus between China and the U.S.," said Geoffrey Sant, a partner at Dorsey & Whitney LLP.

Recently, U.S. Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, a Republican member of the Senate Committee, suggested that ChemChina's acquisition of Syngenta would pose a national security threat since it would give the Chinese government ownership of a key U.S. infrastructure.

ChemChina's acquisition of Syngenta is nothing more than a business decision, and Syngenta has announced that the acquisition poses no food safety or national security issues, explained Shen Danyang, spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, in response to these concerns.
About 30 executives from US multinationals and commerce associations attend a meeting at the residence of Chinese Consul General in San francisco. (Photo provided by Ren Faqiang)

About 30 executives from US multinationals and commerce associations told Luo Linquan, Chinese Consul General to San Francisco, recently at a meeting that they are confident about Chinas economy.

Gary E. Dickerson, CEO of Applied Materials, one of the worlds largest suppliers of fabrication equipment to semiconductor, LCD and solar PV cell manufacturers, said that China is one of the companys biggest and most important markets. They are optimistic about the potential in China.

According to Reuters report in March, Applied Materials will invest nearly 4 billion yuan ($615 million) for expansion in China over the next few years. In the recently reported fiscal first-quarter 2016, total sales in China were $497 million, up 21.2% year over year, while orders surged 56.1% to $462 million.

Ed Baker, head of Growth at Uber, said that globally China is the companys fastest growing market. Beijing, Shanghai and others are among the top ones in its international markets.

According to US Department of Commerce, China has become No.1 trading partner of the US with the total volume of bilateral trade of $598 billion last year. Among all the 50 states, California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Alaska have been playing a big part in business cooperation with China, and bilateral trade of the five states with China reached 202 billion last year, accounting for 1/3 of China-US trade volume. Chinese investment in the 5 states reached 3.6 billion in 2015, with a total investment of 9 billion.

Luo Linquan said at the meeting that such tremendous success could partly be attributed to the advanced cooperation mechanism. According to the consensus between President Xi Jinping and Governor Brown, California and seven Chinese provinces established the Trade and Investment Cooperation Joint Working Group in 2013, which is the first institutional platform for promoting local economic and trade cooperation between China and US.

Last year, during his visit to Seattle, Xi also established the similar relationship with state of Washington. Through these platforms, all the participants could expand trade and investment cooperation, strengthen communication and trust, boost economic growth as well as create jobs together, said Luo.

Ron Conway, founder of the AngelVest, is a legendary angel investor in Silicon Valley. His firm SV Angel made early investments in PayPal, Google, Facebook, and Twitter, among many others. He thinks that Chinese young generations have stronger sense of innovation. China has great potential with a huge market.

Ren Faqiang, deputy consul general told the reporter that the total market value of all the participating companies is estimated to be 1.2 trillion. Ed Lee, mayor of San Francisco, Jim Underman, president of Bay Area Council, David Chen, VP of Microsoft, Jeff Moon, VP of Dolby, Vaughan Smith, VP of Facebook among others were invited to attend the meeting at the residence of Chinese Consul General Luo Linquan in San Francisco.
Workers fasten electric wires in a rural area in Chuzhou, Anhui province. [SONG WEIXING/FOR CHINA DAILY]

Predicting the end of China has now become a fad. In the past quarter century or so, at least three rounds of "death notifications" on China have been issued: first at the turn of the 1990s and then in the early 2000s, most famously epitomized by Gordan Chang's eye-catching book, The Coming Collapse of China.

Last year, veteran China watcher David Shambaugh joined the rank with his op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, warning about "the coming Chinese crackup" and claiming the "endgame of communist rule in China has now begun".

Unsurprisingly, a sudden U-turn by the prominent Sinologist known for his moderate views sparked an international debate on "China's future", which is exactly the title of his new book.

This time extended arguments are supplied, many of which are more nuanced than the shorter commentary. Nonetheless, the key theme remains: China is on the verge of demise.

To be fair, unlike Chang's much more blunt forecast which proved utterly wrong not once but twice, Shambaugh has been making his case in a smarter way. He avoids to a large extent the embarrassment of being proved wrong. Yet he falls prey to what can be called the trap of "collapsism", which suffers from two symptoms.

First, the central tenet of Shambaugh's case for China's fall focuses on the political, by which he means the one-party rule.

For example, in China's Future he argues that innovation  which he considers the key to China's economic future  can only take off when "substantive political liberalization" takes place. The book underestimates, if not dismisses, China's political system's responsiveness to societal changes.

In this sense, Shambaugh's "collapsism" places inadequate confidence in both the Chinese people and State.

Facts speak otherwise. For instance, the contracting-out system of rural land in China was famously initiated by a group of farmers in a remote village in Anhui province, which turned out to be one of the most successful policy innovations in the 20th century.

It started bottom-up illegally but the State was quick to give it consent at first, then approval and finally assurance and support.

Since the 1990s the contract period has been extended twice, from 15 years to 30 years to unspecified long term, and a specific law passed for the system. This is but one example of social dynamism and State responsiveness in the 30-odd years of China's reform.

Nevertheless, it is enough to show Shambaugh is absolutely correct in directing our attention to the Chinese political system when it comes to pondering the country's future  it is just that in overdoing so, he turns to be a victim of his own success.

The second symptom of Chinese "collapsism", Shambaughian or otherwise, is that it relies on an over-simplified yet long-entrenched dichotomy between authoritarianism and democracy. The associated verdict is simple: democracy lives while authoritarianism dies. There are two problems with this dichotomy.
(Global Times) 08:34, April 12, 2016

In a Fox News interview aired Sunday, US President Barack Obama said "the worst mistake of his presidency was a lack of planning for the aftermath of the 2011 toppling of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi," but he still held that it was right to intervene in Libya.

Now a typical failed state, Libya has nearly faded out of Western press coverage. The chaotic situation and struggling people are an unpleasant truth to the West, thus many Western media outlets choose to be silent about it.

Perhaps because Obama needs to point out a mistake, he chose Libya, in which the West has lost interest and the US wasn't in a leading position in the campaign to topple Gaddafi. To some, Obama's admission of a mistake is equal to a minor self-criticism at a year-end assessment.

But Obama's minor self-criticism still raises a fundamental problem in today's world. When the West promotes political upheaval in a developing country, they normally don't have a follow-up plan. The West aims at destroying, not building. Whether the country being impacted can transform to a democratic and prosperous country or fall into the abyss of turmoil and war depends entirely on luck.

Germany, Italy and Japan, three defeated countries in WWII, were all industrialized nations of the time. They were able to quickly recover after the war. Eastern Europe is more complex. After two decades of political transformation, most countries have kept their position in Europe, but few managed to make a leap. When it comes to the Arab Spring, Libya, which was severely underdeveloped, had barely connected to Western civilization.

The US, during the Iraq wars, arrogantly launched the Greater Middle East Initiative in the Arab world, but was frustrated after the initiative suffered heavy setbacks. In the Libya crisis, the West only wanted to prove their capability of intervention, and probably never thought about Libya's political transition after uprooting Gaddafi's regime.

Washington's capability of providing politically oriented large-scale foreign aid is at the lowest level since WWII, let alone Europe, which is too preoccupied with other affairs. The Marshall Plan had covered the whole of Europe, but today Libya alone is perhaps a big burden to the US and Europe.

Western democracy, which encourages the pursuit of maximum benefits, must have abundant material resources as a basis. Democracy in the West succeeds on the back of the exploitation of global resources in the last centuries. Imitating Western institutions in poor regions is difficult and a bad fit.

Many Libyans, with trust and anticipation for the West, started to thoroughly destroy the original systems. They are not wrong. There is a learning curve to really understand our time. Sometimes we learnt our lessons in blood. Tens of thousands of people have died across Libya and Syria. Most people, at the very start of the Arab Spring did not expect such a heavy price. Obama, compared with other Western politicians, is more rational and willing to speak the truth.

However, the arrogant and selfish West is still accustomed to intervening in the affairs of other countries. The US and Europe haven't updated their understanding and acceptance to the world pluralism. There are still too many future uncertainties in the world.
France's Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, Italy's Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni, Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Britain's Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, Canada's Foreign Minister Stephane Dion and E.U. High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini carry wreath to offer in front of the cenotaph at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima on April 11, 2016. (Xinhua/POOL)

BEIJING, April 11 (Xinhua) -- As Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers lamented on Monday in Hiroshima the victims of U.S. nuclear bombs in World War II, the event should serve as a reminder that the reflection on the tragedy should focus more on its root cause than Japan's much-trumpeted victimhood.

Upon the invitation of Japan, which has ceaselessly emphasized its identity as the sole victim of nuclear bombs, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, together with his six other colleagues, made a landmark tour to the Peace Memorial Park, but had ruled out an apology ahead of the visit.

While reflecting on the Hiroshima tragedy, Tokyo could not evade the fact that the root cause of the U.S. bombing, which claimed over 100,000 lives, lies in Japan's militaristic aggression and brutal violence against other countries.

Therefore, it is Tokyo's lasting moral obligation to let that notorious chapter known by every citizen of the country and make compensations and apologies fair and square to the affected individuals and facilities, not just in Japan but also in other stricken nations.

On the other hand, Tokyo's attempt to take the Hiroshima meeting to renew the West's reprimand for Pyongyang's nuclear program will only escalate the simmering tension in the region and provocate more tit-for-tat responses from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Speaking from a broader spectrum, the current Korean deadlock is the bitter legacy of decades of the West's distrust, animosity and confrontation wrought by its ingrained Cold War mentality.

It is no coincidence that most of the world's current hotspots and disturbances should be attributed to the West's biased policies.

Decades have passed since the end of the Cold War. But the world is far from tranquility. The recurrence of hostility and confrontation between countries with different ideologies and national conditions is alarming, bringing havoc to the international order.

For instance, the West-dominated G8 has expelled Russiafrom the group, and engaged in conflicts with it, directly or indirectly, politically or economically.

Ukraine and Syria, topics on the "big foreign policy agenda" of this meeting as Kerry tweeted, have both fallen victim fundamentally to such obstinate enmity wrought by the West's unmatchable confidence of its ideology and institution and disregard of others.

With so many bitter fruits in hand and an increasingly diversified world ahead, it is high time that the West discard its outdated mentality that favors confrontation over compromise, and unilateralism over multipolarization.

After all, a stable international order needs the participation of all relevant stakeholders. Otherwise, an exclusive and arrogant mind will only waltz up the G7 mechanism into a cul-de-sac, still less the settlement of issues its members have pursued.

And that is something worth retrospection by G7 foreign ministers, and G7 leaders who will meet in Japan next month.

Expectations are high that Western policymakers attending the G7 meeting could reaffirm their sincere commitment to the enhancement of dialogue and removal of misunderstanding and distrust with other nations, so as to promote world peace and stability and wipe out the root cause of the Hiroshima tragedy.

Only in that sense can the Hiroshima meeting fit Kerry's definition of the gathering that "is not about the past," but "about the present and the future."
Longquan Temple in Beijing recently gained a significant following after a chubby robot named Xian'er, which was developed by the temple, went viral. Beyond Xianer, the temple itself is a top-level research institute with cutting-edge technology and talents from renowned universities.

Standing about 60 centimeters high and clad in a yellow robe, the robot was developed by the temple in cooperation with artificial intelligence experts, and is able to sense its surroundings and engage in basic discussions about Buddhism. The monastery also has its own IT and animation teams, both composed of monks who graduated from top universities like Tsinghua University and Beihang University.

For instance, Master Xianxin, who majored in computer science and graduated from the Beijing University of Technology, is the head of the IT team. He manages digital technology for the temple, as well as the information platform that he built with the help of volunteers.

Liu Zhiyu, a math whiz and recent graduate from Beijing University, gave up a full scholarship offered by the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the U.S. in order to become a monk at Longquan Temple.

One rumor even says that it was a monk from the temple who advised Zhang Xiaolong, creator of Chinas WeChat messaging service, when Zhang met some roadblocks during the research and development phase.

In addition to the monks, there are also more than 300 volunteers living in the monastery, some of who also graduated from top universities and won prestigious math honors.

To become a monk in the temple, one has to start as a volunteer, serving in position suited to ones specific skills. However, only the morally qualified volunteers are ultimately selected as monks.

Besides IT and animation, the temple also has a highly qualified translation team for eight foreign languages. The temples blog is updated in all eight languages, including English, Japanese and Russian.
Reserve Bank of Australia reveals the new AU$5 banknote (Source: RBA)

SYDNEY, Apr. 12 (Peoples Daily Online) -- Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) released images of the new AU$5 banknote on the morning of April 12, 2016. It is expected to be issued into circulation from September 1, 2016.

According to the announcement of RBA, the new images will keep the key aspect of the existing design, including colour, size and people portrayed. It helps the public to recognise easily and minimises the disruption to businesses. Besides, a new tactile feature was added, which is designed for the vision-impaired community to identify different denominations of banknotes.

Another feature of the new banknote is the security innovation. Innovative new security features have been incorporated to help keep Australias banknotes secure from counterfeiting into the future. As can be seen in the images, these include a distinctive top-to-bottom window, said the Governor of the Bank, Glenn Stevens.

The release of new AU$5 banknote design comes when the central bank is preparing for the smooth introduction of other new banknotes. It is noted that each banknote will select a different species of Australia wattle and a native bird within a number of the elements. On the AU$5 banknote, Prickly Moses wattle and the Eastern Spinebill are chosen.

Although the new banknotes will be introduced and issued in circulation, the current series can still continue to be used.

Australia is the first country who invented plastic banknote. The Bank issued AU$10 commemorative banknote in 1988 to celebrate the bicentennial of Australian settlement.
Hong Kongs neighboring city of Shenzhen, south Chinas Guangdong province, has vowed to invest some 4.4 billion yuan annually to attract and cultivate talents in the city, amid Chinas efforts to attract talents, especially those from overseas.

According to the guideline issued by local authorities of Shenzhen, the city will begin to make the annual investment starting from 2016, whose budget has doubled that of 2015. In addition to direct government budget appropriation, the total figure could amount to some 10 billion yuan, the Peoples Daily reported.

Shenzhen also pledged to offer more convenience to foreigners who wish to stay in the city to work in innovation industries or start their own business. Support will also go to family members of talents who wish to stay in Shenzhen, such as healthcare and education conveniences, the guideline added.

Shenzhen is one of several Chinese metropolitans that are making million dollars worth of investments in attracting and cultivating talents.

Beijing has launched a pilot program in Zhongguancun, a counterpart of the Silicon Valley, to allow spouses and children of foreign high-level talents to gain qualification for permanent stay in China.

Yangpu district in Shanghai has also pledged to invest no less than 200 million yuan every year in this regard.

It is worthy of the huge investment in talent cultivation and the effect on society will be optimistic, Fang Lan, a professor of Renmin University of China told the Peoples Daily.

Zheng Dongliang, an official with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, pointed out that it is inevitable for cities to compete in attracting talents with beneficial policies, as China entered into an era of post-industrialization when its economy is in need of restructure and innovation.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that new industries of strategic importance in major cities such as Shenzhen and Shanghai saw a growth rate of over 10 percent, while the additional values of the high-tech industries across the countries also saw a 10 percent growth in 2015.
China and ASEAN will hold a special commemorative summit, which will be scheduled in September, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of China-ASEAN dialogue relations, Dr. AKP Mochtan, Deputy Secretary- General of ASEAN, told Peoples Daily Online in an exclusive interview Tuesday.

There will a series of commemorative activities throughout the year as 2016 marks the 25th anniversary of China-ASEAN dialogue relations. Since 2016 is also designated as the ASEAN-China year of education, Dr. Mochtan emphasized the importance of people-to-people exchange between China and ASEAN.

Dr. AKP Mochtan paid a visit to Peoples Daily on April 12. He is in Beijing, leading a delegation of scholars from ASEAN member states to attend a symposium on the 25th anniversary of China-ASEAN dialogue relations, co-hosted by China Institute of International Studies and ASEAN-China Center.

Dr. Mochtan notes the ASEAN-China relationship has progressed a lot, yet there is still room for improvement. Instead of confining the China-ASEAN relations to the previous 25 years, he suggests to look forward and endeavor to lift the relationship to new high. On top of the flourishing economic cooperation, people to people exchange is one aspect Dr. Mochtan stresses a lot on as he believes peoples real experiencing can eventually become appreciation and understand on both sides. I am satisfied with the relations at the moment, and I am having much more expectations for the future.
A male passenger poured two full glasses of water on flight attendants from head to toe and later physically and verbally assaulted the two female attendants on a China Southern Airlines flight en route from Beijing to Cambodias Phnom Penh with a stop in Guangzhou on April 10, 2016.

The incident occurred moments after the flight took off from Beijing. One of the flight attendants accidentally spilled some cranberry juice on the mans clothes when she was passing drinks out. The man then approached the flight attendants, asking for a verbal apology and a written form of solemn self-criticism from the very flight attendant. The crew members onboard kept apologizing but declined to provide the requested written document. The male passenger, furious, returned to the pantry minutes later, poured two glasses of water onto the flight attendants, threatening,  I know your boss in Guangzhou! I also know where you will be living in Phnom Penh. I will ask my friends there to teach you a lesson! The man was also seen pushing the flight attendants while threatening.

The male passenger receives a three-days administrative detention after the airport police received the report and later escorted him off the plane.
Chinas only high-speed train maker CRRC Corp. is now bidding for a subway project in Los Angeles and a double-deck train contract in Philadelphia, CRRC vice President Yu Weiping said Monday in an interview with Bloomberg. The corporation is also hunting for projects in New York City, said Yu.

The corporation has only just won the 1.3 billion USD rail-car contract from Chicagos transport authorities last month. The city has ordered 846 subway trains from the Chinese train maker.

CRRC is still committed to double its overseas sales to as much as $15 billion by 2020, Yu said.
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Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 12

By Azad Hasanli - Trend:

Companies from Iran, Russia and Germany are interested to become the residents of Azerbaijan's Sumgait Chemical Industrial Park, Niyazi Safarov, the Azerbaijani deputy economy minister, told reporters Apr. 12.

The ministry is considering the issue on these companies' participation in the activity of the chemical industrial park, he said.

"The new residents of the Sumgait Chemical Industrial Park will be presented next week," said Safarov.

He noted that the Sumgait Chemical Industrial Park already has seven residents and the negotiations are being conducted with the new companies, including negotiations on establishment of steel production complex.

The production of admixtures for use in the metallurgy field is one of the major projects in Sumgait Chemical Industrial Park, according to Safarov.

"The resident is implementing design works, and the laying of the plant's foundation stone will be held in the near future," he noted adding that these products will be both sold domestically and exported abroad.

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree to create the Sumgait Chemical Industrial Park in December of 2011. The territory of Sumgait Chemical Industrial Park will be divided into two parts: administrative and social zone and industrial zone.

Edited by SI

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @AzadHasanli
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.12

Trend:

Armenian armed forces continue to shell Azerbaijan's Terter district, Mustagim Mammadov, head of the district's executive power told Trend Apr.12.

By using large-caliber weapons, Armenians shelled the Gapanli village of Terter district on Apr.11, in the evening, he said, adding that the opposing side was silenced with return fire.

Mammadov added that the Chileburt and Yarimja villages of Terter district were also subjected to fire by Armenians last night.

No casualties have been reported.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.

Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said. Ignoring the agreement, the Armenian side again started violating the ceasefire.

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 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

Edited by SI
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.12

Trend:

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will create a group on the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Apr.12.

He made the remarks during the meeting of OIC Foreign Ministers in Turkey's Istanbul city, TRT Haber TV channel reported.

OIC should make contribution to the settlement of this conflict, Cavusoglu said and called on the organization's member states to join the group.

He pointed out that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be resolved only within Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Touching upon the latest escalation of the situation on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies, the Turkish minister said that the clashes will continue as long as the Azerbaijani territories are under Armenian occupation.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said.

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 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

Edited by SI
Details added (first version posted on 11:25)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.12

Trend:

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will create a group on the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Apr.12.

He made the remarks during the meeting of OIC Foreign Ministers in Turkey's Istanbul city, TRT Haber TV channel reported.

OIC should make contribution to the settlement of this conflict, Cavusoglu said and called on the organization's member states to join the group.

He pointed out that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be resolved only within Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Touching upon the latest escalation of the situation on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies, the Turkish minister said that the clashes will continue as long as the Azerbaijani territories are under Armenian occupation.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said.

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 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

Edited by SI
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 12

Trend:

The ceasefire can't be a guarantor of a sustainable peace in the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hikmet Hajiyev told Trend.

"The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is in the active military phase. The ceasefire can't be a guarantor of sustainable peace," he said, adding that the latest developments on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies proved that once again.

Following the recent escalation of the situation on the line of contact, the international community showed an unequivocal position on this issue: it is necessary to restore the ceasefire and continue the negotiation process on the comprehensive settlement of the conflict, according to the spokesperson.

Thereby, the international community reiterated that it recognizes Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, Hajiyev said.

Armenia has been isolated from the rest of the world due to its unconstructive position, he said, adding that dissatisfaction with the policy of the authorities is growing in this country and this can lead to serious cataclysms.

The entire international community, including the OSCE Minsk Group accepts the phased settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, according to the spokesperson.

"The conflict's settlement in a single package form is impossible," he said. "The phased settlement first of all envisages the liberation of seven occupied districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh."

"The phased approach is possible in the process of liberation of these districts as well: in the first phase, five districts can be liberated, refugees and IDPs return to these districts, those territories are cleared of mines and the infrastructure is restored," he said, adding that Kalbajar and Lachin districts can be liberated at the next stage.

By pursuing political manipulation, Armenia raises the issue of creating a corridor, said Hajiyev, adding that in the case of liberating those districts and opening the borders, there will be no need to create a corridor.

He added that the status of Nagorno-Karabakh can be discussed at the final stage.

Azerbaijani community should return there and the status should be determined within Azerbaijan's borders, said Hajiyev.

He noted that in order to achieve all this, the OSCE Minsk Group members and Armenia should show political will.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.

Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said. Ignoring the agreement, the Armenian side again started violating the ceasefire.

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 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 13

Trend:

The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier welcomed Serbia's and Austria's Foreign Ministers Ivica Dacic and Sebastian Kurz as well as the OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier for an OSCE Troika meeting in Berlin today.

According to the joint statement of the OSCE Troika, the members of the OSCE Troika discussed recent developments in the OSCE region, including the situation in Ukraine and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone.

In reaction to the recent escalation in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the members of the OSCE Troika urged the sides to end all violence, to strictly adhere to the ceasefire, and underlined that there can be no military solution to the conflict. They agreed that de-escalation and stepping up the political process are paramount. They welcomed the joint statement issued by the Minsk Group on April 5 and underlined their continuous support for the efforts of the Group and its Co-Chairs. They will continue to follow developments on the ground closely and to promote the political process.



On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.

Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said. Ignoring the agreement, the Armenian side again started violating the ceasefire.

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 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.12

Trend:

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev has expressed condolences to his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee over the fire in Puttingal temple in the city of Paravur.

"We are deeply saddened by the news of fire that occurred in Puttingal temple in the city of Paravur resulting in heavy casualties and injuries," President Aliyev said.

"On the occasion of the tragedy, on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan and on my own behalf, I express deep condolences to you, families and close ones of those who died and the people of India, and wish the injured recovery," the president added.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.12

Trend:

President of Ilham Aliyev has received newly-appointed UN Resident Coordinator in the country Ghulam Isaczai.

Isaczai presented his letter of credentials to President Aliyev.

President Aliyev said Azerbaijan established close relations with a number of institutions of the United Nations, and added that the country maintains very active cooperation with the organization.

The president said Baku has hosted several important events of the United Nations, expressing hope that Azerbaijan will successfully continue its cooperation with the UN institutions.

Isaczai said the UN and Azerbaijan have maintained fruitful cooperation over the last 20 years, adding that the organization intends to strengthen its current partnership ties with the government of Azerbaijan.

Isaczai said he was deeply impressed with the ongoing development processes in the country, and emphasized the significance of Azerbaijan's accomplishments in poverty reduction and rehabilitation of infrastructure.

Isaczai also mentioned significant changes in Azerbaijan in comparison with his previous visit, adding that this development was achieved under the leadership of national leader Heydar Aliyev and President Aliyev.

The resident coordinator said the UN is interested in continuing cooperation with Azerbaijan, and expressed his hope that the organization will be able to support the implementation of sustainable development goals in Azerbaijan.

President Aliyev hailed very active cooperation between Azerbaijan and the UN. The president said the poverty reduction was one of Azerbaijan's great achievements, and added that the work is being carried out to completely eliminate poverty in the country.

The president said new employment mechanisms were introduced and social programs were being implemented, noting that these measures would significantly contribute to the elimination of poverty.

President Aliyev underlined the importance of interaction between the UN and relevant bodies in Azerbaijan in terms of the country's achieving goals in a short period of time. President Aliyev said Azerbaijan's becoming a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council was a good experience for the country. The president highlighted the importance of the Seventh Global Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations to be held in Baku.

The president said the forum would allow Azerbaijan to share its development experience and present itself to the world.

President Aliyev wished Ghulam Isaczai success in his activity.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 12

By Seba Aghayeva - Trend:

Azerbaijan has called on international community to demand from Armenia to cease the occupation of the Azerbaijani lands.

"Azerbaijan calls the international community to demand from Armenia to cease the illegal occupation of Azerbaijan's territories, to withdraw its troops from all occupied lands and to engage constructively in the conflict settlement process in accordance with the requirements of relevant resolutions of the UNSC and the norms and principles of international law," Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said Apr. 12.

He was addressing a meeting of the OIC Foreign Ministers in Turkey's Istanbul.

"On April 2, 2016 Armenia once again confirmed its strong commitment to destructive policy in the negotiation process of Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by flagrantly violating ceasefire and shelling at the positions of Azerbaijani army and densely populated residential areas along the contact line," said the minister. "This provocative act received an adequate response from the Azerbaijani army which launched counter-attacks and repulsed Armenian forces."

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.

Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said. Ignoring the agreement, the Armenian side again started violating the ceasefire.

Today Armenia continues violating ceasefire regime and diverting attention from the substantive issues needed for peace process by this demonstrating to the world its main intentions, Mammadyarov said.

Azerbaijani foreign minister extended the country's sincere gratitude to OIC Secretary General and member states for the support to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and condemnation of the Armenian aggression and occupation of the country's territories.

It was decided to establish a Contact group on the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict at the meeting of the OIC Foreign Ministers in Turkey's Istanbul Apr. 12.

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 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 12

Trend:

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Malaysian Parliament Seri Ronald Kiandee.

Kiandee highlighted the activity of the Malaysia-Azerbaijan friendship group at the parliament of Malaysia, saying it consists of eight members.

He hailed the friendship group's role in developing relations between the legislative bodies of the two countries.

The deputy speaker stressed the importance of reciprocal visits. Describing Azerbaijan as an important partner of Malaysia, Kiandee hailed the Malaysian Petronas company's activities in the country as a good example of bilateral relations.

President Aliyev recalled with pleasure Malaysian Prime Minister Mohammad Najib Tun Abdul Razak's visit to Azerbaijan and fruitful discussions they held during the meetings.

Saying the bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Malaysia are of pivotal importance for both countries, the president noted that these ties have developed in various fields, including political, economic and others.

President Aliyev noted that there are ample opportunities for developing cooperation between the two countries in investment making, high technology, tourism and other fields.

Underlining Malaysian Petronas company's successful operation in Azerbaijan, the president said that the company has a large stake in one of the important projects in the country.

Describing Azerbaijan and Malaysia as friendly countries, President Aliyev emphasized that the two countries have always supported each other within international organizations.

Pointing to the importance of the inter-parliamentary relations between the two countries, the president expressed his hope that the visit of the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives of the Malaysian Parliament to Baku will create a good opportunity for more active mutual cooperation between the two countries' parliamentarians.
Details added (first version posted on 17:42)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 12

Trend:

Azerbaijan accuses Armenia of falsification of photos and footages showing the death of the Armenian soldiers, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry's Spokesman Hikmat Hajiyev told Trend Apr. 12.

He made the remarks commenting on the reports spread by the Armenian media outlets that Azerbaijan allegedly violated the Geneva Conventions.

He said Yerevan had finally remembered about the Geneva Conventions and other international humanitarian acts, under which Armenia bears responsibility.

Hajiyev added that Armenia is spreading false information.

"The military aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan in the occupied territories, the policy of ethnic cleansing against innocent Azerbaijani citizens, the Khojaly genocide, the Azerbaijani captives and hostages subjected to tortures, and many other such crimes were documented based on facts and evidences of witnesses, and were submitted to international organizations," said Hajiyev.

"Committing these acts, Armenia has grossly violated the Geneva Convention and the commitments undertaken in line with other international conventions and documents," he added.

Hajiyev also said the Azerbaijani population is still being killed and injured along the line of contact and on the border of Azerbaijan and Armenia.

"The fact that international community doesn't voice an adequate opinion over Armenia's criminal acts, for which that country bears responsibility, its impunity, urge the criminals on new crimes," said Hajiyev.

"Since April 2, having intensified military activity along the line of contact, Armenia committed war crimes against civilians and acts equivalent to crimes against humanity," Hajiyev said. "Six civilians were killed, including two children aged under 16, and 26 people were injured as a result of shelling of 32 settlements by Armenia. Numerous public and private facilities were severely damaged as a result of the offensive, 232 houses, 99 power transmission line poles, three substations, schools, mosques and other facilities were destroyed."

"In order to shirk responsibilities, Armenia forges photos and footages of killings of its soldiers and spreads false information," he added.

"International community and international organizations will be informed about all the crimes of Armenia, including the acts starting from April 2, and the necessary legal measures will be taken," according to Hajiyev.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.

Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said. Ignoring the agreement, the Armenian side again started violating the ceasefire.

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 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Details added (first version posted on 17:42)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 12

Trend:

Azerbaijan accuses Armenia of falsification of photos and footages showing the death of the Armenian soldiers, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry's Spokesman Hikmat Hajiyev told Trend Apr. 12.

He made the remarks commenting on the reports spread by the Armenian media outlets that Azerbaijan allegedly violated the Geneva Conventions.

He said Yerevan had finally remembered about the Geneva Conventions and other international humanitarian acts, under which Armenia bears responsibility.

Hajiyev added that Armenia is spreading false information.

"The military aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan in the occupied territories, the policy of ethnic cleansing against innocent Azerbaijani citizens, the Khojaly genocide, the Azerbaijani captives and hostages subjected to tortures, and many other such crimes were documented based on facts and evidences of witnesses, and were submitted to international organizations," said Hajiyev.

"Committing these acts, Armenia has grossly violated the Geneva Convention and the commitments undertaken in line with other international conventions and documents," he added.

Hajiyev also said the Azerbaijani population is still being killed and injured along the line of contact and on the border of Azerbaijan and Armenia.

"The fact that international community doesn't voice an adequate opinion over Armenia's criminal acts, for which that country bears responsibility, its impunity, urge the criminals on new crimes," said Hajiyev.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.

Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said. Ignoring the agreement, the Armenian side again started violating the ceasefire.

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 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 12

Trend:

Another group of Azerbaijani peacekeepers have left for Afghanistan.

The group of 42 servicemen (38 soldiers, two medical officers and two sappers), who will serve under the NATO-led Resolute Support mission, left for Afghanistan to serve there on a rotating basis, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry told Trend Apr. 12.

The Resolute Support mission was launched in Afghanistan on Jan. 1, 2015.

The peacekeeping contingent of Azerbaijan's armed forces has been serving under the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan since Nov. 20, 2002.

Currently, Azerbaijan's peacekeeping contingent in Afghanistan includes 90 servicemen of the country's armed forces, two medical officers and two sappers.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.12

By Elena Kosolapova - Trend:

Fitch Ratings international ratings agency has affirmed the long-term issuer default ratings (IDRs) of JSC SB Alfa Bank Kazakhstan (ABK) at 'B+', AsiaCredit Bank JSC (ACB) at 'B', Bank of Astana JSC (BoA) at 'B' and Eximbank Kazakhstan (Exim) at 'B-', said the message from Fitch Ratings.

Meanwhile, Fitch has revised the outlooks on ACB and Exim to "Negative" from "Stable". The outlooks on ABK and BoA are "Stable".

"The affirmation of the banks' IDRs, which are driven by their viability ratings (VRs), reflects Fitch's view that the risks from the slowdown of the cyclical domestic economy have largely been factored into the banks' relatively low rating levels, which also reflect the banks' narrow franchises, high balance sheet concentrations, vulnerable asset quality and moderate capital buffers," said the message.

The Stable Outlooks on ABK and BoA reflect the so far moderate deterioration of asset quality and some resilience to potential worsening in the future due to the banks' still positive core profitability and decent capital buffers (each of these more robust at ABK).

The revision of ACB's and Exim's Outlooks to Negative reflects their more vulnerable credit profiles due to greater asset quality deterioration and weaker core profitability, while capitalization is undermined by significant volumes of risky exposures.

Upside potential is limited for ABK and BOA given the difficult operating environment, but the ratings could benefit from strengthening of franchises, while maintaining reasonable asset quality and performance. Downgrades could result from a substantial deterioration of asset quality and/or capitalisation if that is not offset by sufficient and timely equity support from the banks' shareholders.

As for the ACB and Exim, a further deterioration of asset quality and/or capital erosion/weakening will result in downgrades. However, stabilisation/improvement of asset quality and core profitability could help to stabilise ratings at the current levels.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.12

Trend:

Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) has announced the launch of a new campaign on flights between Baku and Milan, which will be carried out from April 15.

In the period from April 12 to June 7, while purchasing round-trip tickets on the routes Baku-Milan-Baku and Milan-Baku-Milan, the cost for the second air ticket will not be charged, except for administrative fees.

Flights period: April 15 - June 7, 2016.

Air tickets purchased within the campaign should be of the same flight and class. According to the terms of the campaign, air tickets can only be exchanged together.

In addition, participants of AZAL Miles frequent-flyer program, who will fly to Milan during the period of campaign, will be able to earn twice as much status and travel points.

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 register here:

http://ffj2.loyaltyplus.aero/j2loyalty/register.jsf?lang=eng

Tickets can be booked on the website of the company www.azal.az and purchased at official agencies.

To purchase tickets and for more information, please contact:

+ (99412) 598-88-80;

*8880

E-mail: [email protected]
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 12

By Anakhanum Khidayatova - Trend:

Major oil exporters for two months have been trying to come to a consolidated decision on oil production freeze, but there is no consent among the OPEC member states, and there are no guarantees that Iranian delegates will come to Doha for the meeting of the leading oil supplying countries in the extended format, a consultant for the Expert Council of the Union of Russian Oil and Gas Producers, Eldar Kasaev told Trend Apr. 12.

"Iran has repeatedly stated that it has no plans to slow down oil production, on the contrary, the country seeks to achieve the level of output observed in 2011-2012, i.e. before the West introduced restrictions on export of Iranian raw materials to Europe," said Kasaev.

"At that time, daily production in the country reached nearly 4-4.3 million barrels," he said.

The expert went on to add that if the meeting in Qatar takes place Apr. 17 (and if it isn't postponed, as it happened in March), the following scenario is probable: a number of oil producing countries will agree to temporarily freeze oil production, but the Iranians (and, perhaps, the Libyans) won't support this initiative.

The expert said that such a protest move by Iran in the end will allow Saudi Arabia, its old geopolitical and economic enemy, not to physically stop the production of raw materials, even if the kingdom joins those who agree with the oil output freeze plan "on paper".

On April 17, major oil producers are expected to meet in Doha to discuss an agreement to freeze oil output at January 2016 levels.

Earlier Saudi Arabia stated that it will only freeze its oil output if Iran and other major producers do so. Iran in its turn said that Tehran will not join the oil output freeze plan.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.12

By Azad Hasanli - Trend:

The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) will start construction work as part of modernization of the Baku Oil Refinery named after Heydar Aliyev in 2017.

The announcement was made by Emil Alkhasli, deputy director general of SOCAR OGPC (Oil and Gas Processing and Petrochemical Complex) during an event on the state support to industrial development in Baku Apr.12.

"The development of FEED project will be completed by late 2016 and the construction work will begin in 2017," he said.

A number of facilities will be constructed by July of 2019 in order to ensure the production of diesel fuel meeting Euro 5 standard and several facilities will be built by May of 2020 for producing gasoline meeting Euro 5 standard, according to the SOCAR OGPC representative.

Alkhasli added that a new asphalt plant and off-plot facilities will be commissioned by July of 2018.

The project will enable Azerbaijan to meet the domestic demands for motor gasoline in the next 15-20 years, he said.

After the completion of the reconstruction, the processing capacity of the refinery will increase from 6 million to 7.5 million tons of oil per year.

SOCAR announced the liquidation of Azneftyag oil refinery and its merger with the Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery in January of 2015. This decision was made as part of the work to improve and optimize SOCAR's structure.

Azerbaijan produced 5.45 million tons of oil products in 2015, compared to 5.31 million tons in 2014.

Edited by SI
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 12

By Aygun Badalova - Trend:

The upcoming meeting of the oil producers in Doha may disappoint the market resulting in just another statement about the readiness to cooperate, Edward Chow, a senior fellow in the Energy and National Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) believes.

"Frankly I expect very little from the Doha meeting, other than a nice statement pledging future cooperation," Chow told Trend via e-mail.

On April 17, major oil producers are expected to meet in Doha to discuss an agreement to freeze oil output at January 2016 levels.

Earlier Saudi Arabia stated that it will only freeze its oil output if Iran and other major producers do so. Iran in its turn said that Tehran will not join the oil output freeze plan.

None of the meeting participants have indicated any willingness to cut their production, Chow said.

He stressed that currently, global supply still exceeds global demand and this is unlikely to change before the end of 2016 or beginning of 2017.

"Holding this meeting actually risks disappointing the market if no concrete actions comes from it. It may lead to further testing of the $40 price level," Chow said.

The total world oil supply will amount to 96.44 million barrels per day in 2016 and 96.7 million barrels per day in 2017, according to the US Energy Information Administration's (EIA) forecasts.

The EIA expects the world oil demand at 94.85 million barrels per day in 2016 and 96.06 million barrels per day in 2017.

U.S. oil prices rose more than one percent Monday as a rally in wider commodities markets encouraged buying ahead of a meeting of oil producers in Doha next Sunday, aimed at freezing current output levels, CNBC reported.

Brent crude futures, meanwhile, were up 96 cents at $42.92 a barrel, having touched a session high of $43.06, the highest level since Dec. 7.

The U.S. WTI crude settled at $40.36 a barrel, up 64 cents, or 1.61 percent, after touching an intra-day high of $40.75, near a three-week high.


Details added (first version posted on 14:14)



Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 12

By Azad Hasanli - Trend:



The carbamide plant of Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR will start bringing profits in seven to eight years after its commissioning, the plant's director, Khayal Jafarov told reporters Apr. 12.



SOCAR expects large volumes of profits and productivity from the carbamide plant, which is under construction, he added.



"The plant's capacity will be about 2,000 tons of carbamide per day, or around 650,000-660,000 tons per year," said Jafarov.



"Azerbaijan's carbamide demand is nearly 150,000-200,000 tons a year and these are the most optimistic figures," said the plant's director, adding that the rest of the plant's products - around two-thirds - will be exported.



He noted that Turkey will be the main market for delivering the products of the carbamide plant.



"We pin great hopes on the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project, as it will help us a lot," said Jafarov.



Currently, Turkey imports carbamide from Ukraine and Russia, as well as the Middle East, he said, adding that the country imports around 1.5-1.8 million tons of carbamide a year.



A number of factors should be taken into account in this issue, according to the plant's director.



"Firstly, such Middle Eastern countries as Qatar and Egypt mostly supply carbamide to the East - China and India. This is while Ukraine doesn't have natural gas needed for carbamide production," Jafarov explained.



He noted that around 320-330 million euros have already been spent as part of the carbamide plant project.



"This amount was spent only on the work carried out by Samsung," he added. "We pay high taxes and it is really a great support to the stage budget."
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.12

By Elena Kosolapova - Trend:

Kazakhstan's initiatives on modernization of the CIS won't be able to increase the effectiveness of this organization, according to a Russian expert.

The Creation Agreement on the CIS and its charter clearly reflect the goals of founding this organization and these are integration goals, Ajdar Kurtov, a Russian expert , editor-in-chief of the RISS (Russian Institute for Strategic Studies) 'Problems of National Strategy' magazine, told Trend.

Now, it turns out that those goals haven't been achieved and the CIS members haven't tried to achieve them, he added.

During the meeting of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers held in Moscow, one of the main topics was the initiative earlier put forward by Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev on modernizing and increasing the effectiveness of CIS and its structures.

Kurtov noted that Kazakhstan's proposals are about curbing the powers of CIS, many of its bodies and keep the CIS as a kind of platform to exchange views.

The expert believes that in this format, the organization's significance is not so high, since heads of CIS member states can meet on other international platforms as well.

He added that other organizations, for example, the Eurasian Economic Union, have already started to fulfill the integration initiatives.

One of the ineffective bodies is the CIS court, the decisions of which are not binding and there is no an enforcement mechanism for fulfilling them, according to Kurtov.

Moreover, there is no need for the CIS Parliamentary Assembly which adopts model laws, as the parliaments of the CIS countries independently work out laws applicable to the specifics of the state, the expert added.

Edited by SI

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Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 12

By Elena Kosolapova - Trend:

President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, who is in Iran on a visit, has met with heads of the country's holdings and companies, according to the press service of the Kazakh president Apr. 12.

Heads of more than 20 Iranian companies representing different spheres such as energy, agriculture, construction and mining sectors took part in the meeting.

The participants of the meeting representing Iranian companies stressed a great potential of the cooperation with Kazakhstan in many spheres. In this regard, they expressed their interest in establishment of new contacts and development of the existing relations.

Nazarbayev also informed the participants of the meeting that a number of priority state programs were implemented in Kazakhstan that the Iranian companies could be a part of. In particular, it's "Nurly Zhol" program and the second phase of the industrialization program as well as the program on development of the agricultural sector, he added.

The Kazakh head of state told about the advantages of cooperation with Kazakhstan. The fact that Kazakhstan is a part of the Eurasian Economic Union allows Iranian companies to trade with the other countries of the union without any additional taxes, he said. Besides, Kazakhstan recently joined the WTO and signed the agreement on expansion of the partnership with the EU and has the best rating in the region in terms of the investment climate, Nazarbayev said.

He emphasized that Kazakhstan can offer a wide range of preferences for investors that includes subsidies, stability of the law and taxation privileges.

Nazarbayev also reminded that the EXPO-2017 would be held in Astana next year.

Moreover, Kazakhstan is interested in development of cooperation with Iran in such spheres as medicine, biotechnology, agriculture, space technologies, according to him.

In conclusion, Nazarbayev stressed that Kazakhstan highly appreciated the willingness and readiness of Iranian companies for cooperation with the country and wished them success in their work.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Apr. 12

By Huseyn Hasanov- Trend:

Turkmenistan is considering the construction of power transmission lines to Pakistan and Tajikistan, Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said during a teleconference.

The Energy Ministry presented its report during the meeting, said the message from Turkmenistan's government.

Talking about the measures on increasing the volume of electricity export to Iran and Afghanistan, the Energy Ministry said that currently, a total of 470 megawatts of electricity per hour is supplied to these countries.

This sphere plays an important role in turning Turkmenistan into a country with rapidly developing industry, said Berdimuhamedov and emphasized the significance of this sphere in developing and expanding the export potential of the country's economy.

The production capacity of the energy industry has significantly increased as a result of the carried out work, which makes it possible to fully provide the local consumers with electricity and creates conditions for exporting it to neighboring countries, in particular, to Iran and Afghanistan, said the president.

Currently, 12 power plants operate in Turkmenistan's regions.

Three gas turbine power plants are under construction in Turkmenistan's Lebap and Mary provinces. The total capacity of those plants is 2,260 megawatts.

In total, the design capacity of Turkmenistan's electricity complex will be 7,438 megawatts after commissioning the new power plants.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 12

By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:

Iran has injected gas into a pipeline which is expected to supply the country's natural gas to Iraq.

The head of Iranian Gas Transmission Company, Mohammad Ali Emam, has said that Iran has completed in its territory the construction of the pipeline for supplying the country's gas to Iraq, Shana news agency said.

He further added that the pipeline is ready to be inaugurated in Iranian side.

Iran has stretched a pipeline to its Naftshahr city on the border with Iraq aimed at supplying natural gas to its western neighbor.

Earlier Hamidreza Araqi, managing director of National Iranian Gas Company estimated that the supply of gas would be launched in June.

According to Araqi, Iran will supply Iraq with seven million cubic meters of gas per day (mcm/d) in nine months, and after that period the volume will increase gradually and finally reach 25 mcm/d in two years.

Iran is to complete the 6th cross-country pipeline, with 110 mcm/d of gas transiting capacity, linking South Pars gas field to Iraq's borders.

After the border, the pipeline will run in two routes. The first route is meant to transit 25 mcm/d of gas to Iraq's capital, Baghdad, and the second route is planned to deliver the same amount of gas to Basra.

Iran has two agreements with Iraq to export 50 mcm/d of gas to Baghdad and Basra.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 11

By Umid Niayesh - Trend:

Replacing the US dollar with national currencies in Iran and Turkey bilateral transactions will lead to monetary stability of the two countries, former Central Bank of Iran (CBI) consultant Bijan Bidabad told Trend April 11.

Turkey's Development Minister Cevdet Yilmaz said last week that one third of trade between Turkey and Iran is now conducted in the Turkish lira or the Iranian rial.

Last year, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Iran and Turkey's national currencies should become the means for trade exchanges between the two countries and they should not be influenced by the western countries. He also said that Ankara and Tehran should try to conduct all transactions with national currencies.

According to Bidabad, as the share of local currencies in global trade increases, the role of international currencies will be decreased which can be a subject of some concern for powerful international currencies and global trade.

In short term it can not affect Iran, Turkey economy as well as global economy, but if other countries also join the idea of replacing international currencies with local ones it can affect international financing, he said.

If all countries trade with their national currencies, practically usage of global currencies such as USD and Euro will decrease, which will lead to instability of the international currencies such as USD, he added.

Bidabadi further said that conducting all transactions between Tehran and Ankara with national currencies is possible.

It will provide positive results in the economy of both countries, he said.

Further responding to a question about the two countries' fail to increase the value of mutual trade despite all taken measures, he said that the recent fall in Tehran-Ankara bilateral trade is due to political situations in both countries.

Both Iran and Turkey are experiencing a transition period in terms of political situation and it should not be expected that the trade ties remain stable during this period.

Tehran and Ankara are intended to raise their bilateral trade to $30 billion per annum.

Iran-Turkey trade turnover volume dropped by 32.7 percent in the first two months of the current year.

According to the Turkish Statistics Institute, trade turnover between Iran and Turkey stood at $1.324 billion in February and January 2016 which indicates a 32.7 percent fall compared to $1.968 billion in the same period of last year.

While Turkey's exports to Iran in Feb and Jan 2015 valued $667.8 million, the recent statistics has revealed that the figure has dropped by 16 percent falling to $561.1million for the same months in 2016.

Meanwhile, Turkey's imports from Iran reduced by 41.3 percent and stood at $763.6 million in the mentioned period.

The trade turnover between Iran and Turkey dropped by 29 percent in 2015 compared to 2014 as the figure in 2014 was $13.71 billion which stood at $9.76 billion in 2015.
Tehran, Iran, April 11

By Dalga Khatinoglu, Khalid kazimov - Trend:

Tehran and Delhi have reached fundamental agreements on developing Farzad B gas field during Indian Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's recent visit to the Islamic Republic.

Jafar Pourfarjoudi, spokesperson of Iran's Oil Ministry, told Trend April 11 that during the talks the sides have discussed a time table for the project as well as the continuation of cooperation for the development of the gas field.

The initial agreement for exploration and the development of Farzad B gas field was signed with a consortium comprising of three Indian governmental companies in 2000.

However, the contract was realized only in exploration part and no measure has been taken regarding the development of the field.

It is estimated that the development of the project will cost about $5 billion.

"So far, the sides have only reached an agreement for cooperation on the issue and it is expected to hold further talks on the details and the framework of the agreement in future," Pourfarjoudi said.

Dharmendra Pradhan paid an official visit to Tehran about two days ago where Tehran and Delhi signed a document on cooperation on the development of Farzad B field.

According to estimations, Farzad B gas field contains over 350 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 212 million barrels of condensate.

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has announced that the contract for the development of Farzad B will be under sole source contract.

A consortium led by India's ONGC Videsh in 2008 discovered the Binaloud oil field off the Farsi offshore block in 2008. The consortium is now keen to seal a contract for developing the gas field.

over teh past decade, Tehran held talks with Delhi for exporting its gas to India through a pipeline crossing Pakistan but later India opted out of the project.

So far, the Indian side has proposed to construct a $4.5 billion seabed pipeline for supplying Iran's gas to India. They have also put forward a project for the construction of a LNG production unite in port city of Chabahar.

Following the Indian delegation's recent visit to Tehran media outlets suggested that Delhi is keen to invest $20 billion in Chabahar. According to the media reports some parts of the figure is expected to be invested in the construction of a petrochemical factory as well as a LNG unit in Chabahar.

Pourfarjoudi has said that the issue of exporting Iran's gas to India was discussed in the recent talks. According to Pourfarjoudi if India invests in Chabahar, the issue of exporting gas through sea-bed or LNG will be considered. However the sides have not agreed on the methods for exporting gas.

According to the official Iran also eyes purchasing refineries in India aimed at guaranteeing its oil exports.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 12



By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:



Iran and Italy have signed six documents on cooperation on a range of issues including, industry and renewable energy, railway, gas, development of Tehran's Mehrabad Airport, car industry.



Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi oversaw the ceremony for inking the documents, Iran's IRINN TV channel broadcasted live.



So far, Iran and Italy have agreed on a total of 36 deals as six new documents were signed in Tehran, and 30 documents were signed in Rome in January.



Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, heading a 250-member political and economic delegation, arrived in Tehran on April 12 to discuss the expansion of ties.



President Rouhani visited Italy in January for two days during which the two countries signed deals worth up to 17 billion euros ($18.42 billion).



During his late January visit, Rouhani headed a high-ranking delegation of business leaders and ministers, signing a pipeline contract worth between $4 billion and $5 billion for oil services group Saipem.
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in a meeting with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev stressed the lack of sincerity in dealing with the issue of terrorism and fighting this heinous phenomenon, Irna reported.



'Some powers, specially the US, are not sincere and serious, in their alleged fight against terrorism, but Muslim countries can shoe away this threat from the Muslim world through sincere cooperation,' Ayatollah Khamenei said during the meeting with President Nazarbayev while underlining the need for boosting cooperation between the two countries in different political, economic and international fields as well as fighting terrorism.



The Leader described the US help to the Daesh (ISIS) in Iraq as an example of insincere confrontations among different alliances to fight terrorism, and said, 'They divide terrorism into two categories of good and bad in order to justify their double-standard encounter with terrorism.



Ayatollah Khamenei pointed to the European nationality of the perpetrators of the terrorist acts in Europe and also the high presence of these people in terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq, and said, 'These realities show the lack of seriousness of the West, specially the Americans in fighting terrorism.'



The Supreme Leader described the present world as tempestuous, and said, 'The Muslim countries today are on the one hand facing the threat of terrorist groups that are operating in the name of Islam and in fact against Islam and Muslims and on the other hand some western powers are not willing to see the unity of Muslim countries beside each other.'



Ayatollah Khamenei said that confronting the threat of terrorism and dual-track approach of the big powers needs boosting cooperation among Muslim countries within logical and rational framework of policies.



'We feel Muslim countries as our brothers; Iran and Kazakhstan have similar stances on many global issues,' he added.



Ayatollah Khamenei pointed to cooperation between Iran and Kazakhstan in international bodies, and said, 'The two countries' economic and trade relations are at a low level despite having common religion, history and culture and abundance of capacities.



'We welcome boosting cooperation between the two countries in different political, economic and transport fields as well as collaboration in the field of legal regime of joint sea domain,' he added.



During the meeting attended by President Hassan Rouhani, President Nazarbayev described Iran as a great, powerful and reliable neighbor, and said, 'The two countries have many capacities for the expansion of relations and we reach agreements on important economic and trade programs which will result in the expansion of mutual cooperation.'



For his part, Nazarbayev described terrorism as a serious threat, saying the campaigns by Western states against legitimate regional governments are to blame for the scourge of terrorism and the unbridled flow of refugees to Europe.



The Kazakh president also pointed to Ayatollah Khamenei's call for unity in the Muslim world, saying Islam is the religion of progress, unity and fight on terrorism.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, heading a 250-member political and economic delegation, arrived in Tehran on April 12, IRNA news agency reported.

While in Iran, Renzi is scheduled to hold talks with President Hassan Rouhani and several high-ranking Iranians officials.

The ways for fostering economic and trade cooperation during post-sanctions era and active presence of Italian investors and companies in Iran are among the issues to be discussed during the meetings.

Some Italian companies have been active in Iran's oil projects, including South Pars and Darkhovin oil fields, since last year.

In January, Iran and Italy signed 17 agreements worth 17 billion euro.

Renzi, in a joint press conference with President Rouhani at that time, said that there were many sectors including energy and health that the two countries may cooperate and added that there are plenty of opportunities in Iran for Italian small and medium sized companies.

In the press conference, Renzi underlined Iran's prominent position and role in regional equation and added that Iran had an effective and active role in the fight against terrorism, although this major threat needs unity and public coordination among all world countries.

Since the nuclear deal between Iran and Group P5+1, Italy has been trying to turn into Iran's first trade partner in Europe and in this connection several Italian ministers as well as trade and government delegations have visited Iran.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 12

By Emil Ilgar - Trend:

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) unveiled a new drone, Sadeq, on April 12 during a military drills dubbed the "Great Prophet" in the country's south-eastern regions, Tasnim News Agency reported.

Currently the Sadeq and Shahed 129 drones are operational in the war game, the Commander of the IRGC Ground Forces Quds Base Brigadier General Mohammad Marani said.

Iran previously has unveiled a drone, named Sadeq-1, during a war game conducted last September, but Tasnim news agency says the Sadeq unmanned aerial vehicle was unveiled for first time and it's likely an updated version of Iran's Mohajer-2 drone.

The war games will continue for three days in the Sistan and Baluchestan Province as well as the provinces of Kerman, South Khorasan and Hormuzgan, Mehr news agency reported.

Earlier the commander of the IRGC Ground Forces Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour said that the military exercises are aimed at maintaining the preparedness of IRGC forces, displaying the country's might, and ensuring security.

He further said that the airborne units that have recently joined the IRGC Ground Forces will actively participate in the drills.

Meanwhile, the Iranian Army plans to hold four major military exercises during the current Iranian calendar year (ends on March 20, 2017).

The first of the army's four major drills are expected to be held in June in the central Iranian province of Isfahan.

Iran's military program has always been a point of concern for world powers, so much so that they often show strong reaction against the country's missile tests, in particular. However,Tehran maintains that its military power is solely defensive and in the service of regional peace.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 12

By Farhad Daneshvar - Trend:



Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has urged Italy to restore its role as Iran's largest economic partner in the EU.



"Italy used to be Iran's largest economic partner in the EU before sanctions were imposed [on Tehran] and we want Italy to restore its previous role," said Rouhani addressing a joint press conference with Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in Tehran Apr. 12, aired live by Iran's IRINN news channel.



Italy was one of Iran's major economic and trade partners before the 2012 nuclear-related sanctions, when annual exchanges amounted to 7 billion euros as compared to 1.6 billion euros now.



Elsewhere in his speech, Rouhani touched upon the topics discussed during his meeting with the Italian PM this morning, saying the ways to foster economic and trade cooperation in the post-sanctions era, the presence of Italian investors and companies in Iran, fighting terrorism, regional issues and tourism were among the main topics on agenda.

Speaking about the financial ties between Iran and Italy, President Rouhani called for removing obstacles to the expansion of trade ties.



He said proper measures have been taken to strengthen banking ties between the two countries.



However, added Rouhani, the parties still need to solve some issues.



"Although the sanctions on Iran's banking system have been lifted, there are still some psychological impacts that should be removed," he noted.



Rouhani believes that the documents signed in Italy and Iran will pave the way for joint investments and bringing technology from Italy to Iran.



Iran and Italy have agreed a total of 36 deals as six new documents were signed in Tehran April 12, and 30 documents were signed in Rome in January.



President Rouhani further called for cooperation between Iranian and Italian universities in various scientific and cultural sectors.



Italy's Renzi arrived in Tehran early Tuesday on a two-day official visit leading a high ranking political and economic delegation.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 12

By Umid Niayesh - Trend:

An Iranian commander has confirmed that four members of army's elite forces were killed in Syrian clashes.

The army's ground force members were killed while repelling a large-scale attack of the Al-Nusra Front and "Takfiri" terrorists to the south of Aleppo province, the Commander of the Iranian Army's Ground Forces Ahmad Reza Pourdastan said, Tasnim news agency reported Apr. 12.

During the clashes, several tanks and armored personnel carriers of the Al-Nusra Front terrorist group were destroyed and over 200 terrorists were killed, Pourdastan said.

He added this is only a part of the efforts of the Iranian army alongside with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) in protection of the holy shrines and defending the ideological borders of the Islamic Republic.

Pourdastan also said a number of Iranian army ground force members from various units, including the Special Forces known as the 65th Brigade, are in Syria for advisory mission.

Iranian media outlets reported Apr. 11 that Iran's Army for the first time lost its members in clashes in Syria.

Earlier in April, Brigadier-General Ali Arasteh, an Iranian Army commander, said the Army has deployed a group of its commandos in Syria to provide advisory support for President Bashar Assad's army in the fight against terrorist groups.

Iranian officials have constantly confirmed that the IRGC provides the Syrian army with advisory support in fight against the terrorist groups.

The Islamic Republic views the Syrian regime as its main strategic ally in the region, as well as a part of the "axis of resistance" against Israel.

Tehran has always expressed support for the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Tehran, Iran, Apr. 12

By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

Iran's Foreign Ministry dismisses the reports that Iran has received S-300 missiles from Russia.

The ministry's spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari said the media quotes from him a day earlier were "imprecise" in making claims to that effect, ISNA news agency reported Apr. 12.

On Monday, Ansari told a press conference that the first phase of a series of agreements between Tehran and Moscow to deliver the missiles had been accomplished.

Iranian media, however, quoted him as saying the country had received the first consignment of the missiles.

The Iranian news outlets made the mistake almost unanimously and with so much confidence that even leading Western agencies, such as BBC and Reuters, repeated them.

Iran signed a deal for the purchase of the missiles from Russia in 2007. Moscow has been refraining from delivering the arms so far, although Iran has already paid for them.
Baku, Azerbaijan, April 12



By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:



Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Ground Force has launched three-day military drills dubbed the "Great Prophet" in the country's south-eastern regions.



The war games will continue for three days in the Sistan and Baluchestan Province as well as the provinces of Kerman, South Khorasan and Hormuzgan, Mehr news agency reported.



Earlier the commander of the IRGC Ground Forces Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour said that the military exercises are aimed at maintaining the preparedness of IRGC forces, displaying the country's might, and ensuring security.



He further said that the airborne units that have recently joined the IRGC Ground Forces will actively participate in the drills.



Meanwhile, the Iranian Army plans to hold four major military exercises during the current Iranian calendar year (ends on March 20, 2017).



The first of the army's four major drills are expected to be held in June in the central Iranian province of Isfahan.



Iran's military program has always been a point of concern for world powers, so much so that they often show strong reaction against the country's missile tests, in particular. However,Tehran maintains that its military power is solely defensive and in the service of regional peace.






The Pentagon on Tuesday said 12 militants of al-Shabaab, an al-Qaida-affiliated group in Somalia, were killed in U.S. airstrikes this week, Xinhua reported.

The U.S. military conducted two airstrikes late Monday evening and early Tuesday morning on an al-Shabaab camp in southern Somalia due to an "imminent threat" against U.S. troops in Somalia, said Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis at a news briefing.

Further details about the strikes were not available at the moment.

Despite its involvement in assisting the Somalian government and African Union forces in battling al-Shabaab, an extremist group responsible for dozens of terror attacks in east Africa, particularly Kenya, the U.S. military so far was not launching regular airstrikes against the group in Somalia.

In March, the U.S. military conducted an airstrike against a training camp of the group about 193 km north of Mogadishu, the largest city in Somalia, killing about 150 al-Shabaab fighters.
The Facebook logo was displayed at the Facebook Innovation Hub on February 24, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo : Getty Images/Sean Gallup)

Facebook plans to introduce service chatbots and live chat APIs and officially debut these features next week at its F8 conference. It aims to use its standalone chat app Messenger to connect users with businesses.



Chatbots can replace hotline 1-800 and Facebook wants them on Messenger. While companies do not have the technical skills or resources to build their own chatbots, Facebook likes to provide them to business clients. It is planning to give toolkits to developers for live chat APIs and customer service chatbots.



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The features will connect businesses with chatbot developers approved by Facebook. Hence, companies can focus on their businesses instead of trying to build a complex automated responses system. They can leave that to the social media company.



As per the presentation for chatbot developers containing description of some functionalities, the feature will reportedly go beyond just text chatbots to respond to structured messages. It will have a title, description, image, link and a call to action, such as, to make a restaurant reservation, visit a site or view an e-commerce order, TechCrunch reported.



Messenger wil also be made universal with plug-ins that can be installed on a site's Contact page. Eventually, instead of contacting a website's Contact Us by a call or an email, people can just prefer to use Messenger.com on the Web, or Messenger on iOS where they can also live chat with company representatives.



The social network firm will provide the means while businesses will find the resources to implement the feature. The feature will carry with it, a user-targeting advert in Messenger. With a fee, advertisers would be able to send ads to users whom they have already chatted with. This is Facebook's way of making money with the upcoming feature, according to MacRumors.



On April 7, Thursday, Messenger was seen to have a small update with truncated Messenger codes and links, providing businesses with easy-to-remember usernames. The social network also launched last week, an airline bot that centers on KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, giving users threaded ticket, check-in information and boarding time in Messenger.



The video to follow is CNET's report about chatbots coming to Facebook.






Protesters marched the streets to support the Hong Kong Rally for Democracy on July 1, 2014. (Photo : Getty Image)

Cases of death penalty and human right violations continue to abound in China, according to the Amnesty International Report 2015/16  The State of the Worlds Human Rights.



Death penalty continues in many countries in Asia-Pacific, including in China where it happens extensively.



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The London-based human rights group Amnesty International documented the state of human rights during 2015 in different countries and published its findings through the said report.



Headlines of various media outlets announce China as the top executioner in the world.



 but it doesn't want you to know that, added a CNN headline.



China treats statistics relating to death penalty as a state secret, according to AI.



The organization said in its 2014 report that it stopped publishing figures on China in 2009 and instead challenged the Chinese government to release the numbers themselves . . . to prove their claims that they are achieving their goal of reducing the application of the death penalty.



According to AIs website, China executes more people than the rest of the world combined.



In 2014, AI named--in this order--China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the USA as the top five executioners.



The 2015 report also said that an appalling internal human rights situation prevailed in the country.



The Chinese government stepped up its controls over the Internet, mass media and academia by enforcing laws and regulations under the pretext of enhancing national security.



Defenders of human rights in the country--activists, journalists, lawyers--all faced increased intimidation, harassment, arbitrary arrest and violence.



They included Wang Yu, the outspoken commercial lawyer-turned-human rights advocate, the award-winning investigative journalist Gao Yu, and the supporters (more than 100 people) of the Hong Kong protests in 2014.



Wang and more than 100 fellow lawyers were detained in July 2015, according to The Washington Post.



She was the one who defended the womens rights activists Wei Tingting, Wang Man, Wu Rongrong, Li Tingting and Zheng Churan, dubbed by the media as the Five Feminists.



Instead of governments recognizing the crucial role these people play in society, many governments have deliberately set out to strangle criticism in their country, said Salil Shetty, Indian human rights activist and AIs Secretary-General.



British lawyer Peter Benenson (1921-2005) founded the non-governmental organization Amnesty International in July 1961 to fight abuses of human rights worldwide, bring torturers to justice, change oppressive laws and free people jailed just for voicing their opinion, according to its website.



The Amnesty, a global movement of more than 7 million people, campaigns for a world where human rights are enjoyed by all.


Hillary Clinton proves she can take a joke, pokes fun at subway swipe fail incident, blames it on mayor

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joked about her recent subway struggles at a charity dinner. (Photo : YouTube/CNN)

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took the opportunity to humorously hit out at critiques over an incident at the New York subway station. The presidential hopeful who made several attempts to swipe her 'MetroCard,' jokingly blamed it on the city's mayor.



Clinton made a surprise appearance at a charity function over the weekend. She took the opportunity at the event to put an end to the humorous jibes on social media about her incident, NBC News reported.



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"Would you please fix these MetroCard slots in the Subway. It took me like five swipes," Clinton was quoted by the news channel as telling New York's Mayor Bill de Blasio during the event. The function was the "Inner Circle" show which is an annual comedic musical show.



According to the news channel, the function is where local journalists ridicule local and international politicians. This year's event focused heavily on New York's Mayor and Governor.



De Blasio invited Clinton to the stage in good fun. Her presence on stage was part of a means to honor the charity's tradition of putting on a rebuttal skit.



De Blasio played along with a skit which poked fun at a perceived rivalry between him and Governor Andrew Cuomo.In the spirit of the "Hamilton" musical, De Blasio performed a rap segment.



"My left-wing cred is epic, it's Biblical. You get one guess who's the most liberal. I make Bernie Sanders look like Trump. I'm down with Sandinistas and The Donald's a chump," De Blasio was quoted by the news channel as saying.



De Blasio during his rap segment introduced Clinton as the " the Queen of the Democrats, my home girl Hillary." She was quick to acknowledge the comments by the Mayor. "Thanks for the endorsement, Bill. Took you long enough," she was quoted as saying jokingly.



Meanwhile, Clinton told an audience in New York recently that her campaign was on its way towards "nominations," CNN reported. However, she was quoted by the network as saying she needed to become a nominee as fast as possible. She said once a nominee she could devote her focus to dealing with the Republicans.



"I need to win big here in New York, because the sooner I can become the nominee, I can turn and unify the Democratic Party like I did with President Obama in 2008," Clinton was quoted by the network as saying.



The nomination race between Bernie Sanders and Clinton has grown bitter according to media reports tracking the progress of the duo. The Vermont senator was quoted by media as saying that Clinton was not qualified to be President .



Watch the following interview with Clinton :




For experts, China's moves imply that Beijing believes the peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government are likely to fail. (Photo : Getty Images)

Beijing is slowly making moves to seal a direct security role in Afghanistan as peace talks unfold between Afghan founders and Islamic militants take place, Bloomberg reported.



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Aside from a pledge of $70 million in the form of military aid, China also proposed a four-nation security bloc along with Tajikistan and Pakistan. According to Afghan president Ashraf Ghani and Chinese general Fang Fenghui, the partnership will help China boost efforts to curb terrorism on its boundaries.



For experts, China's moves imply that Beijing believes the peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government are likely to fail.



If such a case arises, militants in Uyghur that are linked to the Islamic State might hatch a plan to deliver a series of terrorist attacks on China.



"The link between Uyghur militants and IS is among our great concerns," said Li Wei, head of security and anti-terrorism research at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.



"There are real, direct terrorist threats stemming from Afghanistan, where state of affairs in counterterrorism is dire," said Zhao Gancheng, director of the Center for South Asia Studies at Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, in an interview with Bloomberg.



"If there is no progress in peace talks, we can't just sit around and do nothing," Zhao said.



Details about the four-nation security bloc remain blurry as Fang, who leads the People's Liberation Army's Joint Staff Department, only offered a few details when the idea was proposed last Feb. 29. Furthermore, Pakistani and Afghan officials added little information.



Experts argue, however, that such a security bloc would do little to no difference in curbing terrorism and other security issues in Pakistan. Afghanistan and Pakistan are often at each other's throats, while Tajikistan is linked to the Russian sphere of influence.



"It's unlikely that China's anti-terrorism bloc will be very helpful for Pakistan given its own support for the Taliban," Ahmad Saaedi, who once served as an Afghan diplomat in Pakistan, said in a phone interview. Ahmad added that China's financial aid to Afghanistan is "almost nothing."



China shares a 92-kilometer border with Afghanistan, which includes a portion of the ancient Silk Road known as the Wakhan Corridor. The area is also located in proximity to the Xinjiang region, where Islamic State-linked militants were reported to be based.


Chilean seafood exports have increased over the past five years, from $1.4 billion to $8.7 billion. (Photo : Getty Images)

In a buffet held at the Chilean embassy in Beijing, Chilean officials expressed plans to become one of the top exporters of seafood to China, China Daily reported.



The buffet was held to celebrate decades of free trade between China and Chile, an agreement that was inked in 2005.



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Aside from seafood, Chile also regularly exports cherries, grapes and wines to China, all of which have become fast market favorites in the country. The increased export of Chilean goods in the country is all thanks to the reduced tariffs imposed on food products.



Chilean seafood exports have increased over the past five years, from $1.4 billion to $8.7 billion. As the final state of the tariff reduction for seafood was passed last year, exports are expected to increase in the following years.



"Last year Chile was number eight in seafood exports in China," said the Chilean ambassador to China, Jorge Heine. "We want to be in the top three by 2020."



Contrary to popular belief, Chilean seafood has long been a staple in Chinese markets and restaurants as the South American country is blessed with a 4,400-kilometer coastline rich in fish, shellfish and seaweed.



Chile is also home to a thriving seafood industry which the government has carefully cultivated over the past 15 years. Chile has a booming salmon industry, and it's currently rated as the second top exporter of salmon in the world, said Andreas Pierotic, Chile's minister counselor for economic and commercial affairs in China.



Additionally, Chile is the top provider of Atlantic salmon in China.



As demands for fresh fish continue to grow, importers have teamed up with airlines to create routine charter flights that will greatly improve delivery time from Chile to China.



Aside from salmon, Chile has also continually exported king crabs and mussels to China. Exports of the former jumped to $20.8 million, of the latter to $1.2 million.


Dead but not useless: A hammerhead shark awaits slaughter; its fins, particularly, are highly valued. (Photo : Getty Images)

Jaws might have dropped upon the sight of sharks--not anymore coursing through the water, though the same kind of reaction could be elicited--piled high and lying lifeless in a market.



About 100 scalloped hammerhead sharks, mostly young hammerheads, were seen in a market in Sanya in Hainan on April 9, reported Hinews.



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Their meat was sold for a mere 15 yuan per kilogram.



The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) cited the scalloped hammerhead sharks as endangered species. Their fins are highly valued in international trade, according to its website.



CITES is an international agreement between governments. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.



China is a signatory of CITES but the government did not categorize hammerhead sharks as endangered and protected species in the country, according to the Global Times.



There is a strong global demand for shark fins.



Every year, up to 73 million sharks are killed, according to Washington-based Animal Welfare Institute.



AWI said that nine states in the USA have restaurants selling shark fin soups. More than 55 of these restaurants are in New York.



One of them, the Golden Unicorn Restaurant in East Broadway in Chinatown, Manhattan, sells a bowl of shark fin soup for $65 (420 yuan), according to Business Insider.



Located in Bristol, England, Dynasty, an authentic Chinese cuisine restaurant as written on its main entrance, offers shark fin soup, reported The Bristol Post in March.



The soup sells twice as much as the other soups on the restaurants menu.



There are national and European laws in place which restrict the sourcing and importation of shark fins, said a spokeswoman from the city council of Bristol.



She added: The trade of particular shark species is unlawful, unless they have the proper permits and certificates which prove that they have been sourced in an ethical and sustainable way.



StopSharkFinning.net describes a shark fin soup as a soup or broth of Chinese origin made with shark fin and flavored with chicken or some other stock.



The site said that the shark fin has very little flavor and is basically added because it is seen as a delicacy.


WWF reported an increase 789 wild tigers since the efforts begin in 2010 (Photo : Getty Images/China Photos)

WWF has declared that declining numbers of endangered wild tigers species have been somewhat restored from 3,200 to 3,980. The latest figures are based on IUCN data and latest national tiger surveys from India, Russia, Nepal, Bhutan and other countries.



World Wild Life organization announced the uplifting news through its official blog, stating that number of wild tigers is now increased to 3,890, which according to 2010 estimates were around 3,200. The blog also reported that the Global Tiger Forum (GTF) ahead of a major tiger conservation meeting tomorrow in New Delhi to be opened by India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi.



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The WWF also reported that the increase in the number of wild tigers is being linked to multiple factors that allowed growth of the endangered species in India, Russia, Nepal, Bhutan and other countries where these animals live naturally. According to Marco Lambertini, Director General of WWF International, wild tiger species had been on the decline for decades and it was the first time in a long period they are observing positive figures. He added that the development will aid the cause of saving these species in which governments, local communities, and conservationists stand together.



Governments are actively contributing towards provided wild tigers a safe habitat together with entities and events like Global Tiger Conservation or GTC, Global Tiger Initiative, Tiger Summit and WWF. Global Tiger Initiative or TX2 first started in 2010 with an aim to double the wild tiger species by 2022. Now the latest figures at the occasion when 3rd Asia Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation is about to take place is a proof that the progress is happening.



Secretary General, Global Tiger Forum Dr. Rajesh Gopal said that the critical meeting will decide the next steps so sustainability of tigers can be ensured in Asia. During the 3-day meeting headed by Modi, the participating countries will present their report on TX2 mission and confirm their future plans about it.



IUCN Red List of Threatened Species classifies wild tigers as endangered species and the biggest threat is illegal wildlife traders and poachers. At least 1,590 tigers were recovered by law enforcers between January 2000 and April 2014, TRAFFIC estimated.



WWF will soon post the updates about the outcome of the meeting on wild tiger conservation and more countries will present their surveys. This video attempts to answer the big question about future of tigers.






Sameh Shoukry is expected to head an Egyptian delegation in Istanbul on Thursday for the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation annual summit

Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry will attend this week's Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in Istanbul, according to local media reports.

Shoukry will head an Egyptian delegation at the summit, which began on Sunday and will conclude on Friday, according to unsourced reports in local media. Shoukry will attend the final two days of the meeting.

Relations between Ankara and Cairo have been frosty since the 2013 ouster of Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, an ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Egyptian and the Turkish presidents have not held talks since Sisi came to power in June 2014.

Egypt will hand over the term presidency of the OIC to Turkey at the summit.

The deputy foreign minister for multilateral affairs, Ambassador Hisham Badr, is expected to deliver a speech at a summit ministerial meeting.

Established in 1969, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is the second largest inter-governmental organisation after the United Nations, with 57 member states spread over four continents.

The summit is expected to discuss the latest developments taking place in Syria, Libya, Palestine and Yemen as well as the means to combat terrorism and the issue of Islamophobia.

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Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov has said a delegation of experts is to head to Egypt's Sharm El-Sheikh next week to discuss air safety issues with Egyptian officials, six months after Russia halted all direct flights to the country.

"In April, even in the coming week, we will send specialists to Sharm El-Sheikh airport....[to] hold another round of talks and dialogue with our Egyptian partners to address the issue of our justified safety demands at the airports where our tourists fly," he told representatives of the United Russia faction in the Russian Parliament's lower house, according to Russian news agency TASS.

Last month, Sokolov announced his country's request that Russian experts be permanently deployed to Egypt's airports to monitor security procedures following any resumption of flights between Egypt and Russia.

He added that Russian officials are awaiting approval of their demands by their Egyptian counterparts.

It's not clear whether next week's meeting would include talks about the Russian request.

Sokolov's statements on Monday come only few days after the deputy head of Russias Federal Agency for Tourism, Roman Skory, said both Egypt and Turkey won't be open to Russian tourists in 2016.

"Turkey will not be reopened this year for sure, and the latest events in Egypt showed that Egypt will most likely not be reopened either," Skory said.

Following the downing of a Russian passenger airliner over Sinai on 31 October which killed all 224 on board, Russia and several other European countries, suspended direct flights from Egypt, citing concerns over security conditions in Egyptian airports.

The Kremlin said on 17 November that a bomb ripped apart the Russian passenger jet, and promised to hunt down those responsible. The IS militant group claimed responsibility for the deadly incident.

Egypt and Russia have repeatedly said the two countries would make joint efforts to resume direct flights between Russia to Egypt in the shortest possible period of time.







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The two islands are Egyptian, argue a number of politicians, experts and public figures

The debate about the identity of Red Sea islands Sanafir and Tiran continued for the fourth day following the Saturday decision by the Egyptian government to hand over the islands to Saudi Arabia.

Dozens of Egyptian public figures, including Nasserist politician Hamdeen Sabahi and leftist lawyer Khaled Ali, issued a statement on Tuesday rejecting the recent Saudi-Egyptian deal which leaves the two Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir within Saudi regional waters.

"The two islands are considered an Egyptian property and the constitution, which was approved by Egyptians, prevents any authority from ceding any parts of Egyptian territory," the statement read. Many Egyptians, including public figures, renowned politicians and experts, have expressed disapproval and anger over the decision, with criticism continuing to grow on social media.

The Egyptian Social Democratic Party announced it was against the decision and called on the Egyptian House of Representatives not to ratify the decree.

It also announced that its headquarters were open for the public to issue powers of attorney to file a lawsuit in order to stop the implementation of this agreement.

Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi will have a meeting on Wednesday with representatives of Egyptian civil society to discuss the latest developments in the country, with some speculating that he will discuss the matter of the two islands.

The argument for Egyptian ownership

While the Egyptian government says that there is no evidence that the two islands are Egyptian, many who reject the decision are sharing what they claim to be evidence to the contrary; from maps, documents to video speeches asserting they are Egyptian islands.

Earlier Sunday, renowned map researcher and exporter Heidi Farouk said that both Sanafir and Tiran are "100 percent Egyptian."

"I was assigned in 2006 by the Egyptian authorities to document the status and position of the two islands to determine whether they were Saudi or Egyptian," she said, adding that she and her team determined the islands were indeed Egyptian.

Farouk, who participated in the redrawing of maritime borders between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, stated that the Islands were considered part of Sinai, and thus Egyptian, according to ancient maps.

Farouk cited maps including the Roman-era Tabula Peutingeriana and the Description de L'Egypte map, which she says she has presented to the Egyptian authorities.

Slamming the decision, Farouk said that the government was only depending on a confidential letter sent in 1990 by Egypt's foreign minister Esmat Abdel-Magid to late minister Atef Sadik.

The letter, which was published in Egyptian media in the past two days, read that Saudi Arabia confidentially demanded twice, in 1988 and 1989, to take over the two islands that Egypt "occupied" in 1950.

The letter added that according to the research conducted by the ministry, the two islands were determined to be outside Egyptian territory and accordingly they should return to Saudi Arabia.

Those who assert that the islands are Egyptian say that the letter does not prove the islands are Saudi because the Egyptian government continued to consider Tiran and Sanafir part of Egyptian territory for over two decades afterwards.

Farouk stated that in 2006 she read the letter, which was not sent to the head of the state at the time, and did not see a single official Saudi document requesting the islands since the 1950s.

Farouk also quoted experts from Naom Pasha Shokier's book 'The Old and Modern History of Sinai,' which was published in 1916 and identified the two islands as part of Sinai.

Shokeir, a Lebanese-Egyptian army officer and geographer in the early 20th century, was part of the Egyptian delegation negotiating with the Ottoman Empire over the Taba crisis in 1906.

The book is being circulated online among Egyptians who believe that Tiran and Sanafir are Egyptian islands.

Farouk also revealed that in 1908 an Egyptian ministerial decree was issued to build a lighthouse in Sanafir Island, adding that she had a copy from that decree.

She also said that in 1956 during the Suez crisis, there were 14 transcripts of UN meetings that recognised Egyptian sovereignty over the islands.

Ahram Online reached out to Farouk for comment, but the researcher declined to speak, saying that she had gotten into "a lot of trouble" after speaking to ONTV.

Farouk's assertions were not the only arguments cited by critics of the deal over the islands.

Dr. Sabry El-Adl, the former managing director of Egypt's national archives, wrote on his Facebook account that he believed the islands were Egyptian, citing to testimony by Finnish explorer Georg August Wallin, who visited Sinai twice in the 19th century and wrote that the local tribes of Sinai used to stay at Tarin Island.

El-Adl also revealed that in 1937 the Egyptian government had a map that recognised both Tiran and Sanafir islands as part of the Egyptian territories, using the same colour scheme used for Sinai.

He added that according to that map the Egyptian government took the decision to send troops to both islands in January 1950.

He also revealed that in February 1950 the Egyptian finance ministry issued an internal memo stating the island was Egyptian.

Former Egyptian ambassador to Saudi Arabia and member of the Egyptian peace talks with Israel El-Siyad El-Masry said on his Facebook account that Tiran island was Egyptian while Sanafir was Saudi.

He said that in 1950, when the Egyptian troops were stationed in both islands, the Saudi King Abdel-Aziz Al-Saud sent a telegram to King Farouk of Egypt endorsing the Egyptian decision to station troops in the "Saudi" Sanafir to protect the nation.

El-Masry revealed that he was the one who delivered a message from former foreign minister Esmat Abdel-Magid to his Saudi counterpart Saud Al-Faisal saying that Sanafir Island was Saudi.

Online action

A Facebook event calling for a protest in Tahrir Square next Friday against the Egyptian government's decision has attracted more than 13,000 people who pledged to attend and 28,000 others displaying interest in the event.

An online petition against the decision has also attracted more than 19,000 signatures.

On Tuesday, the Egyptian cabinet issued a statement detailing historical documents, including newspaper articles and letters from Saudi officials, which supported the claim that the islands belong to Saudi Arabia and were temporarily ceded to Egypt.

Despite the criticism, some public figures, including politicians and experts, have supported the argument that two islands are Saudi and should return to their owners.

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Related Egyptian air force units in Kuwait for joint military training

Egyptian naval forces arrived in the United Arab Emirates Monday for joint military training with Emirati units, Egypts army spokesperson, Brigadier Mohamed Samir, said in a Facebook statement.

The "Khaliga 2" training exercise's activities aim at unifying combat concept, exchange training expertise and training on joint combat management using the latest navy tactics, according to the statement.

The exercises come in the context of a strategy of exercises between Egypt and the UAE.

Khalifa 2 exercises are one of the strongest and biggest joint exercises in the Gulf region, the statement read.

On Saturday, the Egyptian air force began a joint military training exercise in Kuwait with Kuwaiti counterparts.

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The cabinet's Information and Decision Support Centre said the announcement that the islands of Tiran and Sanafir belong to Saudi Arabia was the result of six years of consultations

An Egyptian governmental body released a statement on Monday detailing the evidence supporting the state's recognition of Saudi sovereignty over the Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir.

The decision last week to recognise Saudi sovereignty over the islands, which came during a historic five-day visit to Cairo by Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz, has caused controversy in Egypt, with some public figures arguing the islands are Egyptian.

On Monday the cabinet's Information and Decision Support Centre documented the chronology behind the Saudi claim to the islands, which are located in the Gulf of Aqaba.

The current agreement of maritime border demarcation between Egypt and Saudi Arabia was not a quick decision taken during King Salmans visit to Egypt, read the statement.

It came based on studies and opinions of the National Committee for Egyptian Maritime Border Demarcation, which work lasted for six years, and also based on a number of meetings between both sides for months," the statement read.

The statement said that in 1950, Egypt and Saudi Arabia agreed to put both islands under Egyptian management as both countries wanted to consolidate the Arab military position to face Israel given the islands strategic position, and also to strengthen the Egyptian military defence in Sinai as well as the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba, especially as Zionist gangs occupied Om El-Rashash port on 9 March 1949, and given the presence of Israel in Aqaba Gulf which came after that.

Letters, articles, maps

The statement cited a number of sources in support of its argument, including a number of screenshots.

The statement referred to a letter sent by Saudi King Abdulaziz in February 1950 to a Saudi minister in Cairo, as well as letters between the Egyptian and Saudi foreign ministers in 1988 and 1989, which ask that the two islands are returned to Saudi sovereignty as the reasons for them being lent to Egypt are over.

The cabinet also referred to a letter sent by the American ambassador to Egypt to the American secretary of state in 1950 that prove that Tiran and Sanafir are Saudi.

Foreign Office informed Embassy by aide-memoire that because of certain pretensions (Velleites) manifested by Israel authroties recently toward Tiran and Sanafir Islands in Red Sea at the entrance of Gulf of Akaba, the Egyptian Government, in perfect accord with SAG [Saudi Arabia Government], had occupied the islands, the American ambassador's letter reads.

The statement also refers to a 1973 map which shows the islands are Saudi according to international law and UN maritime law.

The statement also links to a New York Times article from 19 January 1982, which it describes as confirming that Israel's fears that the Egyptians would give the islands back to their Saudi owners after Egyptian-Saudi relations return to normal.

According to the article:

"The two islands were transferred by Saudi Arabia to Egyptian control in 1950 because the Saudis feared an Israeli attempt to seize them. Along with the rest of Sinai, they fell under Israeli control in the 1967 war, but Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Fahd said recently that he would ask Egypt, after regaining them in April, to return them to Saudi sovereignty."

Mohamed ElBaradei, an international lawyer and former Egyptian vice president, also makes an appearance in the statement. A screenshot of an article by ElBaradei, taken from an unspecified international legal journal, is also included.

The article, The Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty and Access to the Gulf of Aqaba: A New Legal Regime, states: The islands of Tiran and Sanafir...have been under Egyptian occupation since 1950. The article also says that the Strait of Tiran is within the territorial sea of Egypt.

The cabinets statement also refers to a presidential decree in 1990 that mentions the maritime borders of the country, which cites the two islands as being outside Egypt's borders.

According to the statement, the maritime border demarcation announcement came last week because of an agreement to build a bridge betweenEgypt and Saudi Arabia, a decision also announced last week.

Such a project requires determining borders precisely, according to the statement, which adds that there are many precedents of countries that sealed border agreements to establish bridges.

Many Egyptians, including public figures, renowned politicians and experts, have expressed disapproval and anger over the decision, with criticism continuing to grow on social media.

Egypt's parliament, the House of Representatives, is expected to review the new technical deal aimed at drawing the maritime borders. soon. According to the Egyptian constitution, the agreement should be approved by the parliament in order to be finalised.

The deal, which leaves the two Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir within the regional waters of Saudi Arabia, has left MPs divided.



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Visiting speaker Yiannakis Omirou praised the close bilateral ties between Cyprus and Egypt

Cyprus is ready to be an ambassador for Egypt with European bodies, the speaker of Cyprus' parliament said while visiting Cairo on Tuesday.

"As a member state in the European Parliament...Cyprus is ready to be the representative of Egypt and its ambassador in European organisations," Yiannakis Omirou was quoted as saying by Egypt's state news agency MENA.

"We have informed the Egyptian side to notify us of Egyptian stances to assist in the European Parliament or any other organisation," as part of efforts to bolster stability in the region, he told reporters on Tuesday.

During his stay in Cairo, Omirou met with Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry as well the speaker of Egypt's parliament, Ali Abdel-Al.

The two speakers signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation between the two parliaments.

The senior parliamentarian praised Egyptian-Cypriot cooperation in combating terrorism, energy and tourism.

Omirou is the first speaker of a European parliament to visit Egypt since the country's current chamber convened in January.

The speaker of the US's House of Representatives, Paul Ryan, visited Cairo last week and met with Abdel-Al as well as President El-Sisi.

Egypt is due to host a fourth round of the trilateral summit between Cyprus, Greece and Egypt in June to discuss cooperationin the fields of energy, tourism and agriculture.

Prior three-way summit meetings were held in Athens, Cairo and Nicosia.



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Former presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq said the Egyptian people have to be informed before official decisions are issued

Former presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq has called for evidence supporting the claim of Saudi sovereignty over the two Red Sea islands Tiran and Sanafir to be made public.

Egypt's statement on Friday that the islands in the Gulf of Aqaba  long believed to be under Egyptian sovereignty  fall within Saudi waters triggered a wave of controversy and confusion. The acknowledgement is pending the Egyptian parliaments ratification.

Lets refer to the people, and I repeat this, lets refer to the people, before we issue our decisions, and before we push them into commitments that they cant do or wont accept, Shafiqs statement read.

Shafiq presented both viewpoints of the islands ownership and said in order for one side to be proven, the historic documents that support it should be presented, along with the documents that support the idea that Egypt had only a temporary mandate to oversee the islands.

He also stressed that if there was a mandate, an answer has to be given as to whether the reasons behind its issuing were now concluded.

On Tuesday, the Egyptian cabinet issued a statement detailing historical documents, including newspaper articles and letters from Saudi officials, which supported the claim that the islands belong to Saudi Arabia and were temporarily ceded to Egypt.

Also in his statement, Shafiq also said that Egypt had witnessed bad events in recent times giving examples of the disaster of the Nile water following the [construction of the] Ethiopian Grand Renaissance Dam, and the sudden collapse of our special, traditional relationship with the Italian people.

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has been under construction since 2012 on the Blue Nile; some experts are concerned it could negatively affect downstream Egypt once completed.

Shafiq, briefly Egyptian prime minister in early 2011, lost the final round of the presidential election to Mohamed Morsi in 2012. He has resided in the UAE since then, citing "security reasons".

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Dozens of Egyptian public figures, including Nasserist politician Hamdeen Sabahi and leftist lawyer Khaled Ali, issued a statement on Tuesday rejecting the recent Saudi-Egyptian deal which leaves the two Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir within Saudi regional waters.

"The two islands are considered an Egyptian property and the constitution, which was approved by Egyptians, prevents any authority from ceding any parts of Egyptian territory," the statement read.

The Egyptian government said last week that, according to the maritime borders between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the two islands belonged to the kingdom. The announcement came during a visit by Saudi King Salman to Cairo.

"The border demarcation agreement which Egypt signed with Saudi Arabia came simultaneously with King Salman's visit to Egypt amid talks over economic aid to Egypt, a fact which casts doubt over the time of signing such agreement," the opposition statement added.

Internally, Egypt's decision to hand over the two islands has caused controversy and debate.

The Egyptian government says that its decision comes after a six-year process of studies and eleven rounds of negotiations between officials and experts from Cairo and Riyadh.



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The UK Foreign Office on Monday called for a "full and transparent" investigation into the murder of Italian student Guilio Regeni in Egypt.

Regeni, whose body was found in a ditch on the outskirts of Cairo in February, was a PhD student at Cambridge University in the UK.

"The British minister for the Middle East and North Africa, Tobias Ellwood, as well as British officials in London and Cairo, has stressed to the Egyptian authorities the need for a full and transparent investigation, in full cooperation with the Italian authorities," a spokesperson for the British embassy in Cairo told Ahram Online.

A parliamentary petition calling on the British government to ensure a credible investigation into the killing this week reached 10,000 signatures. At 100,000 signatures, the petition will be considered for debate in Parliament.

"As an Italian national, its right that the Italian authorities are taking the lead in Giulio Regenis case. The UK government is in close contact with the Italian government in Rome, Cairo, and London, and stands ready to support their efforts in any way we can," the spokesperson added.

The 28-year-old vanished from the streets of Cairo on 25 January, the fifth anniversary of the 2011 revolution.

His body, discovered nine days later, showed signs of extensive torture.

On Friday, Italy recalled its ambassador to Egypt for consultations after two days of meetings between Italian and Egyptian investigators, saying Egypt had failed to provide requested evidence.

Egyptian investigators said that the Italians had demanded call logs of thousands of phone numbers in the area where Regeni lived and where his body was found. The illegal and unconstitutional" requests were denied, they said.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has affirmed that Regeni's case is not closed, stressing that cooperation is still ongoing between Egypt and Italy even though Egypt refused the Italian demand.

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Egypt's assertion that Tiran and Sanafir Islands fall within regional Saudi maritime waters triggered a huge wave of controversy in Egypt

Egypts former vice president Mohamed ElBaradei denied on Tuesday that he had asserted in a 1982 academic paper that the two Red Sea islands Egypt recently handed to Saudi Arabia were indeed Saudi.

The Egyptian government had cited ElBaradei's use of the word "occupation" in the paper when describing Egypt's control over the islands as "proof" that they were considered Saudi-owned.

Egypt's assertion last Friday that Tiran and Sanafir Islands  which have long been under Egyptian control  fall within regional Saudi maritime waters triggered a huge wave of controversy in Egypt.

Egypt's decision to hand over the islands to Saudi Arabia is pending ratification by the Egyptian parliament.

On Monday, the cabinet's Information and Decision Support Centre documented the chronology of reports supporting the Saudi claim to the islands, which are located in the Gulf of Aqaba.

The statement cited a screen shot of an article by ElBaradei, a Nobel laureate and international lawyer, taken from the American Journal of International Law.

The article, titled 'The Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty and Access to the Gulf of Aqaba: A New Legal Regime,' states that the islands of Tiran and Sanafir... have been under Egyptian occupation since 1950.

The article also says that the Strait of Tiran is within the territorial sea of Egypt.

ElBaradei said on his official Twitter account that his use of the word occupation simply denoted possession and control.

I didnt go into the issue of ownership, which is settled according to facts, historical documents and resorting to international law, ElBaradei added.

The Egyptian government says that its decision comes after a six-year process of studies and 11 rounds of negotiations between officials and experts from Cairo and Riyadh.

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The parliamentary representatives of 19 political parties will discuss a range of political, security and economic issues with president Sisi on Wednesday

The spokespersons of 19 political parties in Egypt's parliament  the House of Representatives  will meet President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on Wednesday to discuss a variety of national issues.

The meeting will also include heads of trade unions, professional syndicates, human rights organisations, the National Council for Women, and a number of high-profile media figures.

Secretary-general of parliament Ahmed Saadeddin told reporters Tuesday that parliament speaker Ali Abdel-Al and his two deputies  El-Sayed El-Sherif and Soliman Wahdan  will not participate in the meeting.

"The presidential invitations were directed to parliamentary spokespersons and five independents only," said Saaeddin.

Alaa Abed, the parliamentary spokesperson of the Free Egyptians Party  which holds 65 seats  told reporters that he received an invitation for a meeting with President El-Sisi on Wednesday morning. 

"We have also received phone calls from the presidency stating that the meeting will be held at Ittihadiya presidential palace on Wednesday morning," said Abed.

Bahaaeddin Abu Shoqa, the parliamentary spokesperson of the liberal Wafd Party  which holds 36 seats told reporters that Wafd welcomes President El-Sisi's invitation.

"I think that the meeting comes within the context of President El-Sisi's keenness to explore the views of the country's major national forces on the current political and economic policies," said Abu Shoqa.

He added that the invitation did not specify whether there will be an agenda for the meeting.

"I think this meeting will be similar to the one President El-Sisi held with the country's intellectual elite [on 22 March]," said Abu Shoqa, adding that "in these kinds of meetings, El-Sisi prefers listening to others to talking."

"We do not have an agenda, but we have a list of economic and political priorities we want to discuss with President El-Sisi," said Abu Shoqa, adding that"it is highly important for the president of the republic to hold regular meetings with major political forces, as this allows forces to direct questions about controversial issues and seek answers from the head of the state."

Mohamed Khalifa, the parliamentary spokesperson for the ultraconservative Salafist Nour Party, also told reporters that he received an invitation to attend the meeting.

Mohamed Badrawi, the parliamentary spokesperson of the National Movement Party, told reporters that he believes the date of the meeting is important because it comes just one week before parliament will decide whether it will grant or withhold confidence from the government of Prime Minister Sherif Ismail.

"Although the government will be granted a vote of confidence, all political forces in parliament believe that this confidence will come not out of conviction, but rather because they have no choice in this respect," said Badrawi.

"If I am given the floor, I will be clear in telling El-Sisi that this is one of the worst governments we have ever seen in the history of Egypt."

"This government has pushed the country into a severe economic crisis, while the prime minister is a highly technocratic person who lacks any popularity," said Badrawi.

Badrawi also said that he believes that four main issues will dominate the meeting; the economic crisis, Saudi King Salman's recent five-day visit to Egypt, the controversy over the two Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir  which Egypt recently decided to hand over to Saudi Arabia  and the case of Italian student Regeni, who was killed in Cairo last January.

Badrawi lamented that he was not allowed to deliver a statement on the Regeni case in parliament.

"While the EU and Italian parliaments were allowed to open a debate on this issue, I wonder why Egyptian MPs are not allowed to do the same," Badrawi.

A 13-member parliamentary delegation left Cairo for Strasbourg, France on Sunday to respond to attacks related to the Regeni murder case and the state of human rights in Egypt in general.

"We prepared a report aimed at responding to all attacks, with all the necessary documents, statistics and photos attached," said MP Ahmed Said, the head of the Egyptian parliamentary delegation to Strasbourg. 

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Egypt's FM Sameh Shoukry said that resolving the case could take a long time

Egypt's foreign minister Sameh Shoukry said on Tuesday that the case of the Italian student who was killed in Cairo in January remains open, state owned MENA agency reported.

The Egyptian FM said at a press conference that there is keenness from the Egyptian and Italian sides to reach the truth and determine the culprits behind the murder of 28-year-old PhD student Giulio Regeni.

He stressed that "exceptional" cooperation was still ongoing between Egyptian and Italian investigators due to the "special" relationship between the two countries.

He pointed out that an Egyptian delegation of investigators agreed to demands by Italian counterparts during last week's meetings in Rome, with the exception of a request for access to logs from phone calls, as it would be a violation of the Egyptian constitution and laws.

Egyptian investigators said that the Italians had demanded the call logs of thousands of phone numbers in the area where Regeni lived and where his body was found.

Shoukry said that a joint effort to identify the culprits might take a long time, citing investigations into the assassination of Egypt's prosecutor-general Hisham Barakat in June 2015, which took one year.

On Sunday, Shoukry expressed dismay to his Italian counterpart Paolo Gentiloni over what he described as "the politicisation" of Italy's handling of the Regeni case, following Italy's decision to recall its envoy to Egypt for consultations.

Regeni vanished from the streets of Cairo on 25 January, and his body was discovered in a ditch on the outskirts of the city nine days later, showing signs of extensive torture.

Last month, Egyptian police said they had found Regeni's passport and other belongings in the possession of one of the families of a member of an alleged gang of kidnappers who robbed foreigners.

Police killed all four alleged robbers in a shootout in late March, with Italian officials expressing scepticism over the development.

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Cairo is looking forward to hosting the fourth round of the trilateral summit between Cyprus, Greece and Egypt to discuss cooperation and carrying out projects in different fields, the presidency said in a statement on Tuesday following a meeting between President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and Cypriot parliament speaker Yiannakis Omirou.

"El-Sisi assured the speaker that the cooperation [displayed] between both countries when an Egyptian airliner was hijacked [and diverted to] Cyprus reflected the strength of the relationship," the statement said.

Last month, EgyptAir flight 181 was hijacked by an Egyptian citizen who forced the plane, which was heading from Alexandria to Cairo, to land in Larnaca Airport in Cyprus.

Cypriot authorities handled with the hostage situation that followed until the hijacker surrendered himself.

In March, Egypt's defence minister Sedki Sobhi and his Cypriot counterpart Christophoros Fokaides signed a joint military cooperation agreement on fighting terrorism and combating the immigration crisis.

In three-way summit meetings held in Athens, Cairo and Nicosia, the three countries held talks to establish maritime boundaries in the eastern Mediterranean, as well as cooperating in the fields of energy, tourism and agriculture.

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22 Sudanese citizens were among those arrested while attempting to enter Libya illegally

Egyptian border guards arrested early Tuesday 112 people attempting to cross illegally into Libya through desert roads in the South Salloum border city, Ahram Arabic website reported.

Among the border jumpers were 22 Sudanese citizens, while the rest were Egyptian, all of whom are being detained pending investigation.

Libya is often used as a transit point for migrants seeking to cross the Mediterranean into Europe.

The International Organisation for Migration estimates that between 330,000 and 1.5 million Egyptians worked in Libya before the NATO-backed uprising that toppled president Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

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UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura arrived in Tehran on Tuesday for talks with a key backer of President Bashar al-Assad on the eve of fresh peace negotiations in Geneva.

De Mistura will meet Iran's deputy foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, Iranian media reported, ahead of the latest effort to end five years of fighting that have killed more than 270,000 people.

Iran and Russia have been Assad's top supporters in the conflict, with Tehran providing economic and military support that has backed up his rule.

The conflict has also forced millions to flee their homes, creating a refugee crisis in Europe.

The UN Security Council passed a resolution in December that led to the peace talks. A framework called for Syrian elections to be held 18 months after a transitional government is agreed.

The fate of Assad is a major stumbling block, however.

While the Syrian opposition insists Assad can play no role in a transitional government, the Damascus regime as well as Iran says voters should decide his fate.

De Mistura, a veteran diplomat and negotiator in conflict zones including Iraq and Afghanistan, said Monday when in Damascus that this week's Geneva meetings would be "crucially important".

"We will be focusing in particular on the political transition, on governance and constitutional principles," he told reporters after meeting Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem.

A shaky ceasefire has been in place in Syria since February 27.

The truce, which was brokered by the United States and Russia, does not include areas where the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group and Al-Qaeda's affiliate Al-Nusra Front are present.

Iran's support for Assad has centred on Tehran sending military advisers from its elite Revolutionary Guards to Syria, dozens of whom have been killed.

The Iranian officers have directed militias against rebels fighting Assad's forces.

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Iran told visiting UN envoy Staffan de Mistura of its alarm Tuesday about what it said were ceasefire breaches in Syria on the eve of fresh peace negotiations in Geneva.

De Mistura's visit to Tehran -- a key backer of President Bashar al-Assad -- coincided with an announcement of more Iranian military deaths in Syria.

Four soldiers were killed in clashes with several thousand Al-Nusra Front fighters south of Aleppo, said General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan, commander of the Iranian army's ground forces.

"Our fighters have shown courage and four of them have fallen as martyrs," he told state television, saying they had killed 200 Al-Nusra members and destroyed the group's tanks and transport.

He nevertheless insisted that the Iranians were in the area as advisers in support of Assad's forces.

Jihadists such as those from Al-Nusra and the Islamic State group (IS) are excluded from the ceasefire, but in some areas the Al-Qaeda militants are allied with rebel forces meant to be covered by the truce.

De Mistura held talks with Iran's deputy foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian ahead of the latest effort to end five years of fighting.

The Syrian conflict has killed more than 270,000 people and forced millions to flee their homes, creating a refugee crisis in Europe.

Iran and Russia have been Assad's top supporters in the war, with Tehran providing economic and military support that has propped up his rule.

De Mistura's trip came as the ceasefire, brokered by the United States and Russia and in place since February 27, was threatening to fall apart.

"We explained to Mr de Mistura our concerns after an increase in recent days of military action from irresponsible armed groups and the increase in violations of the ceasefire," state television quoted Abdollahian as saying.

"This is disturbing and may interfere with the political process."

De Mistura, quoted by official IRNA news agency, said his talks with Iranian officials were important "because their position and ideas are effective and we use their recommendations".

Iran frequently describes the rebel forces, who have received various levels of Western backing as well as arms from Arab Gulf states seeking Assad's overthrow, as "terrorists".

The UN Security Council passed a resolution in December that led to the peace talks. A framework called for Syrian elections to be held 18 months after a transitional government is agreed.

The fate of Assad is a major stumbling block, however.

While the Syrian opposition insists Assad can play no role in a transitional government, both the Damascus regime and Iran say voters should decide his fate.

Iran's support for Assad has centred on Tehran sending military advisers from its elite Revolutionary Guards to Syria, dozens of whom have been killed.

The Iranian officers have directed militias against rebels fighting Assad's forces.

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The Italian coastguard Monday rescued 1,850 migrants in eight operations in the Strait of Sicily, as a wave of boats departing from the Libyan coast intensifies.

Two small boats carrying a total of 740 people were intercepted by the coastguard ship Diciotti, while Italian Navy vessel Cigala Fulgosi came to the aid of two inflatable dinghies with 255 people on board, a coastguard statement said.

A merchant ship was diverted to help another 117 people, while an EU naval force vessel picked up 738 migrants trying to cross on two barges and a small boat.

According to UN refugee agency data at the end of March, some 17,500 people have arrived in Italy since the start of the year.

Two weeks ago nearly 1,600 migrants were rescued in the same area, adding to fears that calmer seas at the onset of spring are encouraging greater numbers of migrants to attempt the perilous crossing after a winter lull.

There are also concerns that European efforts to shut down the migrant sea crossing from Turkey to Greece will encourage more people to attempt the more dangerous Mediterranean passage from Libya to Italy.

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Italy's foreign minister visited Tripoli on Tuesday to bolster the unity government struggling to end Libya's chaos, in the first visit by a top Western official since 2014.

Paolo Gentiloni flew into the capital amid tight security and held talks with Fayez al-Sarraj, named prime minister-designate under a UN-backed power-sharing deal in December.

World powers see the unity cabinet as vital to tackling a raging militant insurgency and rampant people smuggling in the North African state.

"I am delighted to be in #Tripoli for Italy's emergency aid and to support al-Sarraj's Government of National Accord," Gentiloni wrote on Twitter.

Sarraj arrived in Tripoli by sea with a naval escort nearly two weeks ago and established his headquarters at a naval base.

He has since won the support of key institutions that control Libya's wealth and also appears to have the backing of at least some militias.

But he has not received the endorsement of the country's internationally recognised parliament, while the head of a rival Tripoli-based administration has refused to recognise his authority.

The recognised legislature will, however, meet in the coming weeks to consider giving its support to the unity government, its speaker said Sunday.

Libya has been plagued by instability since the 2011 uprising that ousted longtime ruler Muammar Gaddhafi, with the Islamic State (IS) group taking advantage to seize territory.

US President Barack Obama has admitted that the biggest mistake of his presidency was a lack of planning for the aftermath of Gaddhafi's downfall.

Obama has repeatedly acknowledged that the United States and its allies could have done more to prevent Libya's descent into chaos following the NATO-backed uprising in 2011.

Asked in a Fox News interview aired Sunday to name the "worst mistake" of his presidency, the US leader said it was "probably failing to plan for the day after what I think was the right thing to do in intervening in Libya."

The oil-rich country has had two rival administrations since mid-2014 when a militia alliance overran Tripoli, setting up its own authority and forcing the recognised parliament to flee to the remote east.

Italy has played a leading role in international efforts to pressure Libya's warring rivals to rally behind the unity government.

European nations in particular have been alarmed by the expansion of IS in Libya, located just 300 kilometres (185 miles) away from Italy across the Mediterranean.

The militant group last year seized control of Gaddhafi's coastal hometown of Sirte and has been fighting to expand to other areas.

The number of IS group fighters in Libya has doubled in the past 12-18 months and now stands at about 4,000 to 6,000, the head of US forces in Africa, General David Rodriguez, said last week.

The Italian foreign ministry did not say how long Gentiloni's visit would last, though a UN-backed conference on Libya was being held in Tunis on Tuesday.

Those talks, attended by representatives of dozens of countries or international organizations, are aimed at helping the unity government to define its priorities, according to the UN.

As well as tackling IS group, European governments hope the unity government can crack down on people smugglers who have stepped up their lucrative business in Libya amid the chaos.

Libya has long been a stepping stone for migrants, and there are concerns that European efforts to shut down the migrant sea crossing from Turkey to Greece will encourage more people to leave from North Africa.

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Britain could deal a damaging blow to the fragile global economy if it votes to leave the European Union, the International Monetary Fund said in the sharpest warning yet from a global body about the risks associated with Brexit.

The IMF listed Britain's June 23 referendum on EU membership as a key risk, along with instability in China and other emerging markets, volatile share prices and a loss of long-term growth potential in advanced economies.

"The planned June referendum ... has already created uncertainty for investors," the Fund's chief economist, Maurice Obstfeld, said as the IMF published a half-yearly assessment of the world economy on Tuesday.

"A Brexit could do severe regional and global damage by disrupting established trading relationships."

Europe's refugee crisis and attacks by Islamist militants had resulted in a "rising tide of inward-looking nationalism", Obstfeld said. "One manifestation of increased nationalism is the very real possibility that the United Kingdom exits the European Union."

The Fund also cut its 2016 growth forecast for Britain to 1.9 percent from 2.2 percent, the sharpest downgrade for any major advanced economy other than Japan.

Britain's economy grew by 2.3 percent in 2015 and government forecasters say it will slow this year and in subsequent years.

'Clear Warning'

British finance minister George Osborne, who has a warm relationship with IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, said the Fund's comments reinforced the case for staying.

"The IMF has given us the clearest independent warning of the taste of bad things to come if we leave the EU," he said.

In February, the world's top 20 economies listed Brexit as a global risk after lobbying from Osborne, officials from Group of 20 countries said.

Supporters of Britain's leaving said the IMF warning also seemed to carry Osborne's fingerprints and the biggest risk for Britain was remaining in the EU.

"The IMF has talked down the British economy in the past and now it is doing it again at the request of our own (finance minister)," said Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the campaigning group Vote Leave.

A spokeswoman for the British Treasury had no immediate comment on Elliott's remarks.

The IMF said Britain's trade with the EU was likely to suffer if it left, especially during the two years after the referendum when it would negotiate exit terms.

On Monday, the City of London said leaving would be a shock to Britain's financial industry.

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Steven Spielberg, George Clooney and Jodie Foster are tipped to be among those who will walk the red carpet at Cannes next month when the line up for the world's top film festival is revealed Wednesday.

While nominations for the main Palme d'Or prize are still under tight wraps, it appears that Spielberg will almost certainly show his adaptation of Roald Dahl's children's classic "The BFG" (The Big Friendly Giant) out of competition.

It will most likely be joined by Jodie Foster's new thriller "Money Monster", about a television financial pundit taken hostage by a man whose family has been left penniless by his dud tips.

Starring Clooney as the Wall Street tipster and Julia Roberts as his TV producer, the film will be released internationally during the festival, which runs in the French Riviera resort from May 11 to 22.

Festival chiefs Thierry Fremaux and Pierre Lescure have already announced that Woody Allen's new Amazon-backed film "Cafe Society" will open the annual jamboree, also out of competition.

The competitors for the main competition, however, are harder to call, with the final list often not decided till the very last minute.

The presence of festival favourite Pedro Almodovar, who made his name with "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown", has been thrown into doubt when his was named as running an offshore company in the Panama Papers leak last week.

The Spanish director -- a leftwinger known for his support of environmental causes -- cancelled a press conference to promote his new film "Julieta" about a girl who disappears for a decade, and did not show up at a preview screening in Barcelona.

Insiders, however, are predicting that the American actor-director Sean Penn's new film "The Last Face", starring his ex-girlfriend Charlize Theron and Javier Bardem will figure in the line-up.

The romance set in Africa among humanitarian workers also stars the French actress Adele Exarchopoulos.

US director Jeff Nichols, who made the highly praised "Midnight Special" last year, is also thought to be a shoo-in for "Loving", his story about a mixed-raced couple confronting racism in 1950s Virginia.

The Canadian wunderkind Xavier Dolan, who first came to international attention at Cannes with "I Killed My Mother" in 2009 when he was only 20, seems a near certainty for his new family drama "It's Only the End of the World", with its stellar cast of Marion Cotillard, Vincent Cassel and Bond star Lea Seydoux.

Indie cinema icon Jim Jarmush's "Paterson" and "La fille inconnue" (The Unknown Girl) by Belgium's Dardenne brothers -- two-time Palme d'Or winners -- also seem assured of being among the 19 contenders for the main competition.

The Bosnian Serb Emir Kusturica -- who has also lifted the prize twice -- is a clear candidate with "On the Milky Road" starring Monica Bellucci as is another past winner, Romania's Cristian Mungiu with "Family Photos".

But there were questions over whether "I, Daniel Blake", the latest film from Cannes favourite, Briton Ken Loach -- about welfare cuts hurting vulnerable families -- will make the final cut.

Cannes' traditionally strong Asian presence is likely to be led by Japan's Hirokazu Kore-Eda with "After the Storm", Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "The Woman in the Silver Plate" and South Korean Park Chan-Wook's "The Handmaid".

"Showgirls" director Paul Verhoeven may mark his comeback with "Elle" with French actress Isabelle Huppert in the lead, with the Mexican director Amal Escalante's "The Untamed" and Chilean film "Neruda" by Pablo Larrain also being talked up.



For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture

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The building is also home to families living in four of its apartments, while its ground floor houses a car mechanic, a spare parts shop and other minor outlets

District authorities will proceed with the demolition of the building housing Cairo's popular Townhouse Gallery, which partially collapsed on 6 April, after the decision to demolish was suspended on Sunday.

The collapse did not cause any casualties, although a mountain of rubble completely enveloped a car mechanic's shop housed in the building and the entrance to a primary school in the vicinity.

For the past 17 years, the four-floor downtown Cairo edifice housed the Townhouse Gallery, a highly respected Cairo art space and a frontrunner in Egypts independent cultural movement.

We were informed by our lawyer [representing the buildings residents] that the police have an official written order for the demolition of the building, Yasser Gerab, outreach director of Townhouse, told Ahram Online.

He added that authorities have not yet revealed the exact date of the scheduled demolition, though he says police personnel have already started removing the building's windows.

Townhouse Gallery evacuated its offices and moved its equipment to its Rawabet Theatre space located in the vicinity on Sunday.

Police asked all residents on Monday to evacuate the building amid uncertainty over its fate.

The decision to demolish was put on hold following a visit by an official from the National Organisation for Urban Harmony (NOUH) on Sunday.

According to Gerab, the official from NOUH informed residents and shop owners that the demolition would not take place, and announced the addition of a wood structure to support to the rest of the building until a new report is drafted by engineering experts examining the possibility of restoration.

However, Gerab said this morning that from what weve been told, they already formed a committee and it decided on the demolition.

When asked if force was used in the process of evacuation, Gerab said, of course there was some heat and friction because of the hot nature of Middle Eastern people, but nothing major occurred that led to any issues or arrests.

Two of the four apartments that housed the Townhouse Gallery, including administrative offices and the library, were in the wing that collapsed. The other, still standing apartments served as the exhibition spaces.

For the time being we will be moving our activities to our other spaces. This will take time, and events for the next few days will probably be cancelled as the area will be difficult to access because of the demolition process.

For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture

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The statues depicting the Egyptian god Hapy, King Ptolemy II and his sister Queen Arsinoe, are part of an international exhibition tour

The British Museum has welcomed three giant statues depicting the Egyptian god Hapy, King Ptolemy II and his sister Queen Arsinoe, as part of an international exhibition tour.

Elham Salah, head of the Museums Department at the Ministry of Antiquities, told Ahram Online that statue of Hapy  the god of the Nile flood  is a 5.4-metre tall colossus carved in pink granite and was recovered from a seabed in 2001 by a French Egyptian mission led by Frank Goddio.

The colossus was found at the entrance of Amun-Gereb temple in the port of the sunken city of Thonies-Heracleion.

The statues depicting King Ptolemy II and his sister weigh almost 20 tonnes and are well-preserved.

The exhibition, Salah said, will be officially inaugurated on 19 May and will last until 27 November.

It will also include a collection of 300 artefacts recovered from the sunken cities of Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus, which sat at the mouth of the Nile where the Greek and Egyptian empires met.

"The British Museum is the second stop of this touring exhibition that will visit several cities in Europe and Japan," Salah said, adding that the first stop was the Arab World Institute in Paris.

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(Beijing)  Zhao Lei is one of China's estimated 19,000 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients now on edge over the future of a drug program that helps them cope with the incurable nervous system disorder.

The anxiety has been building since January, when the German drugmaker Bayer Pharma AG and the state-backed China Charity Federation suspended a four-year-old program that offered about 1,000 MS patients the Bayer product Betaferon at reduced prices.

Bayer announced on March 17 that following talks with patient groups and non-governmental organizations the company would continue Betaferon subsidies. The company said in an email to Caixin the next day that it would "make sure patients can continue receiving the medication"

Nevertheless, Zhao and other MS patients who spoke with Caixin said they fear the program's short suspension may have been the first step toward removing Betaferon from the Chinese market. The drug's exit would leave patients without a single imported drug to help them control MS symptoms so that they can lead relatively normal lives.

That feeling of uncertainty is shared by millions in the country who suffer from uncommon diseases that require expensive treatments, sometimes for life. Those with low incomes and limited insurance coverage wonder how long they'll be able to benefit from the nation's subsidized drug programs.

The public health insurance system does not cover "orphan drugs" for people with extremely rare diseases, and government financial support for other low-volume drugs such as Betaferon can be limited. The eastern city of Qingdao, for example, is the only local government that helps MS patients pay for medicine.

Domestic pharmaceutical companies are lightweight producers of drugs for uncommon diseases because they tend to avoid investing heavily in research for products with low profit potential. Moreover, the health care charity system is far less developed than in Western countries.

Nevertheless, the government says about 17 million people in the country suffer more than 5,700 uncommon diseases. A 2012 study by Renmin University and the NGO China-Dolls Center for Rare Disorders found that annual medical spending for each patient with a rare disease averaged 67,000 yuan.

Some 78 percent of all families with a patient suffering from a rare illness in the home received no outside financial support, the study found, and 63 percent could not afford full medical treatment.

Multinational pharmaceutical companies that produce medicines for people with uncommon ailments have helped low-income patients in the nation not only as a humanitarian gesture but also to build good relations with the government. In the long term, these firms hope to win a profitable share of the market.

But drug companies are not in the business of subsidizing their products for needy patients indefinitely. After sustaining losses for awhile, companies that support charitable programs in countries such as China "naturally consider withdrawing," said a source at the China branch of a French pharmaceutical company who asked not to be identified.

Moreover, the fact that the health care system does not support drug care for patients with MS and other less common diseases dampens pharmaceutical company interest in doing business in the country.

"Without public (health care) coverage, companies are hesitant about" bringing new drugs to the domestic market, said an executive at a foreign pharmaceutical company.

Too Costly

Betaferon is unaffordable for 27-year-old Zhao, who lives in the northern region of Inner Mongolia, and other MS patients on limited incomes. A single injection costs about 850 yuan, said Zhao, and a patient may need 15 or more injections per month.

Zhao was diagnosed with the disease six years ago and was receiving subsidized injections between 2014 and the program's suspension.

Under the program, low-income MS patients who paid for four months of the medication could receive eight months' worth of Betaferon injections for free.

"After I applied for the Bayer-China Charity Federation program, my annual personal spending was about 50,000 yuan," Zhao said. "That was affordable."

Besides Zhao, several other MS patients said they fear that if the subsidy program ends, Bayer might completely withdraw Betaferon from the country.

It would not be the first imported MS drug to leave the country. An alternative to Betaferon called Rebif, made by Germany's Merck Group, was sold in China between 2009 and 2013.

The former State Food and Drug Administration, which is now called the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA), approved domestic sales of Rebif and Betaferon in 2009.

After being diagnosed with MS, Zhao said his doctor recommended treating the symptoms with imported drugs. At the time, Rebif was the most common drug available for the disease, but after it was pulled from shelves in the country, patients turned to Betaferon.

The injections have afforded Zhao some relief from the stiffness in his muscles that sometimes prevents him for walking or even speaking. Even patients who have reported only minor help from Betaferon have joined Zhao in urging that the drug subsidies continue.

"No matter how effective, we can't stop taking the medication," said one patient who asked to remain anonymous.

Drying Up

The China Charity Federation says Bayer covered the costs of 152 million yuan worth of Betaferon distributed among patients from 2012 to last December. In addition, the federation said, the drug company paid it about 900,000 yuan annually to supervise the subsidy program.

But the company's 2013 revenues from the drug in the country totaled only about 10 million yuan, the company said. Bayer's sales of Betaferon have been shrinking globally in the face of competition from rival medicines. The company reported worldwide Betaferon sales totaled 824 million euros last year, down 21 percent from 2013, on total company revenues of 46 billion euros.

Bayer apparently started cutting back on Betaferon-related spending in the country in 2014.

One 22-year-old MS patient in Beijing said she started taking the medication in early 2014, but within a few months, supplies through her doctor had dried up.

Other patients said they have not been able to buy Betaferon since early 2015. A drug saleswoman said her company stopped selling it in February last year, adding that many of the country's MS patients have not been receiving the right medications because their diseases were not properly diagnosed or they cannot afford the drugs.

It's unclear how quickly MS patients might receive new treatment options if Betaferon follows Rebif out the door. That's because every new drug proposed for the market must first undergo a complex government review and approval process.

"Drugs that have been sold in U.S. and Europe for many years must still be approved in China," said the executive at the foreign pharmaceutical firm. He said a single drug's review process can take up to five years, even though in many countries an "orphan drug" can be reviewed and approved in less than 10 months.

"It takes a great deal of time and administrative effort, and adds nearly 10 million yuan in extra costs" for each drug submitted for approval to authorities, the executive said.

The CFDA requires at least 200 clinical tests on 200 separate patients before a drug can be approved for sale, which the company manager said can be difficult if the product is a new orphan drug for a disease that afflicts a relatively few people.

Some experts have urged the government to do more to help patients with uncommon diseases get the medications they need.

Ding Jie, deputy chairman of a rare disease committee at the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said government agencies should resolve the drug supply issue that's now making MS patients so anxious.

"Policymakers should treat any disease, no matter how rare or common, equally," Ding said.

(Rewritten by Han Wei)
(Beijing)  China's civil aviation authority has apparently punished the country's largest airline by fleet size after one of its passenger jets mistakenly entered a runway as another plane was landing at an airport in South Korea last month  an incident that saw the aircraft stop within meters of each other.

China Southern Airlines Co. Ltd. was responsible for the incident at the international airport in Cheongju, in northern South Korea, on March 18, officials from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said during a videoconference with airline executives.

Caixin learned about incident because minutes written by a CAAC stenographer were posted on a mobile application for airline industry news called Flyfeed. It is unclear who posted the minutes.

Li Jian, deputy director of the CAAC, said the pilots of the China Southern Airbus A319 misunderstood the orders of air traffic controllers and entered a runway from the right earlier than they were supposed to as a Boeing jet operated by Korean Air Lines Co. that was landing was rapidly approaching.

The Korean Air plane, which had 130 people onboard, was traveling at 150 kph when the Chinese plane entered the runway, the Chosun Daily newspaper reported, citing government sources. The China Southern plane was going to Dalian, in the northeastern province of Liaoning, with 90 passengers and crew aboard, the major South Korean newspaper said.

The pilots of the Korean Air jet had to quickly veer to the left to avoid a crash, the CAAC said, but no injuries were reported. When the two planes stopped, the right wingtip of the Korean Air plane was just 3 meters from the nose of the China Southern plane.

The CAAC said air traffic controllers were also responsible for the incident because they did not use standard language required by the industry. They also did not order the Chinese jet to stop once it entered the runway.

The regulator said it will cut the number of flights that China Southern's Dalian branch can operate by 5 percent, and it will not approve any applications for new routes and charter flights made by the branch for three months. The punishment of the flight crew will be announced later, the CAAC said.

The CAAC also said that China Southern was not clear about what happened when it first asked the airline about the incident. Only after it was questioned a second time, did it give a clear explanation for what happened.

"The company's initial report to the CAAC lacked key information and it tried to avoid answering the most essential questions," Li said.

A day after the incident, the China Southern crew deleted an audio file containing the air traffic controllers' orders that was recorded aboard the Airbus, the CAAC said.

The CAAC also said that over the previous 15 months the airline industry in China experienced 21 incidents in which a plane taking off or landing had a near miss with an aircraft, vehicle or person on a runway. China Southern was at fault in four of the incidents, the regulator said.

(Rewritten by Chen Na)
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says he is "deeply moved" and "honored" to be the first U.S. secretary of state to visit Hiroshima, Japan, a city devastated after the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb near the end of World War II.

He commented at the end of a two-day meeting with other Group of Seven foreign ministers that included a tour of a World War II memorial to victims in Hiroshima.

"It was a stunning display," said Kerry, after visiting Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. "It is a gut-wrenching display. It tugs at your sensibilities as a human being, he added."

Asked if President Obama will visit Hiroshima when he attends a G7 leaders' summit in Japan in May, Kerry said he hoped that one day the president of the U.S. would be among those who visited the city.

He added that Obama had expressed an interest in visiting but did not know if the president's schedule would permit during his upcoming trip to Japan.
In a deal that would have been barred prior to last year's nuclear agreement, Russia has begun delivering advanced surface-to-air missiles to Iran, according to state media reports.

Mehr news agency quoted Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari as saying, "Iran had already announced that despite several times of change in time of delivery the deal is on its path of implementation" and "the first phase of the agreement is implemented and the process will continue."

This isn't the first time Russia has tried to sell S-300 missiles to Iran.

Russia's initial attempt, in 2007, was canceled because of pressure from Israel and the United States, whose leaders were concerned about Iran's nuclear ambitions.
The parent group that owns British tabloid Daily Mail confirms it is in talks with several other parties to launch a bid for Yahoo, which has been struggling in recent years.

The Daily Mail and General Trust, Daily Mail's parent company, which also owns the popular website Elite Daily, said Monday it is in the early stages of launching a potential bid for Yahoo, and is in contact with other potential bidders, but declined to provide names of the other firms.

"We have been in discussions with a number of parties who are potential bidders," a spokeswoman for DailyMail.com said in an emailed statement.

The Wall Street Journal, which originally reported the potential sale Sunday, said that "half a dozen" private equity firms may be involved in financing the DMGT bid. Yahoo set a deadline on April 18 for preliminary bids.

According to the Wall Street Journal, there are two possibilities for the potential DMGT bid.

In the first, Yahoo's core web business would be acquired by a private equity firm, while its media and news offerings would be folded into the Daily Mail's global online operations. The merged media operation would then form a new company to be run by the Daily Mail.

In the second, the private equity firm would similarly acquire Yahoo's entire core web business, but the Mail would just take over the news and media properties, without forming a new company and the DGMT would have a smaller equity stake.

Earlier this month, Reuters reported that Time is also considering a partnership with a private equity firm to bid on Yahoo. U.S. telecommunications giant Verizon, which also owns AOL, has also expressed interest in making a bid.

Yahoo, once an internet pioneer with great potential, is still one of the most well-known names on the internet with more than one billion users. But it has struggled to keep up with Google in internet searches and has seen steady losses in advertising revenue.
Koreans seem as addicted as ever to status symbols, bucking global market trends by snapping up luxury watches.

According to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, its exports plunged 3.3 percent last year compared to 2014 to 21.8 billion Swiss francs.

Shipments to Hong Kong, the world's largest market, slumped 23 percent, and to the U.S. and China between one and five percent. Sales to Japan, the world's fifth-largest market, also fell 1.9 percent.

But exports to Korea surged a whopping 18.8 percent in 2014 and another 0.2 percent last year.

Lotte, Hyundai and Shinsegae department stores saw sales of luxury watches surge 20 to 30 percent last year and 30 to 40 percent in the first two months of this year on-year.

One factor is the rise in the number of Chinese tourists who go shopping here, but Korean customers still accounted for 80 to 90 percent of luxury watch sales.
A senior officer in North Korea's General Bureau of Reconnaissance fled in late 2014 and came to the South last year, the government here said Monday. The colonel was responsible for training and sending North Korean spies to South Korea.

The government claimed some 20 senior Workers Party, state and military officials defected to the South over the last two years.

Sources said the colonel defected with his daughter via China. At that time he had been dispatched to China as an intelligence officer and his daughter was studying there.

The colonel apparently feared for his life under the unpredictable new North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

The bureau, which is tasked with espionage missions against the South, is a key army department that reports directly to Kim. "The colonel has provided detailed information about North Korean intelligence-gathering activities until 2014," a source said.

There has been a raft of defections among relatively senior North Korean officials since the brutal execution of former eminence grise Jang Song-taek in late 2013.

Among them are several who had a key role in earning hard currency for the regime, including one who oversaw the African branch of Taesong Bank as well as officials in charge of the financial operations in Vladivostok, China and Hong Kong. They each fled with US$3-5 million in cash.

Last year also saw the defection of a lieutenant colonel at North Korea's politburo and a senior official from the United Front Department who were both raising funds for the regime.

Several North Korean diplomats in Southeast Asia and Africa defected last year as well. Some brought family members.

"They said in their testimony that fear of losing their lives due to purges prompted them to escape," a source said. "The number of ordinary North Koreans defecting from the North has declined since Kim Jong-un came to power, but defections among the elite have increased."
One researcher at a state-run think tank said, "Rising dissent among the elite could lead to a crisis for Kim Jong-un."

Under former leader Kim Jong-il, defections were common among ordinary people, but he kept the elite sweet with gifts of cars, watches and other privileges. But since Kim Jong-un stepped into power, he has cracked down on the defection routes of ordinary people but scared the elite as well.

Over the last two years alone, around 20 senior Workers Party, state and military officials have defected to South Korea.

A string of defections of relatively senior officials followed the brutal execution of former eminence grise Jang Song-taek in late 2013. Jang had reportedly sown up a lot of business with China and established a network of patronage throughout the North Korean ruling class that threatened Kim's authority.

Disaffection is spreading among the North Korean elite who feathered their nest under previous rulers but are unsettled by the capricious decisions of current leader Kim Jong-un.

Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee told reporters Monday that the defection of a senior spy may be "a sign" of disaffection among the elite.

The man was a colonel in the General Bureau of Reconnaissance, which was launched in 2009 by combining three military and Workers Party departments and reports directly to Kim Jong-un. It is presumed responsible for a series of GPS jamming and other attacks against the South like planting box mines in the demilitarized zone.

Sources say members of the elite are so scared they are inventing excuses to decline promotions and clamor to be posted overseas to avoid the brutal purges Kim has implemented since he came to power five years ago. An estimated 130 mid- to high-ranking officials have been purged.

Many officials put in requests for medical treatment overseas or sick leave, sources said. Even a top-ranking official like Army politburo chief Hwang Pyong-so traveled abroad last year to have his back problems treated.

"The higher the rank, the greater the stress from possibly being purged, which often leads to physical problems," a source said. "Senior officials often cite illness as an excuse to get as far away from Kim Jong-un as possible."

Workers Party secretary Choe Ryong-hae was sent to a reeducation camp with his wife late last year after complaining about Kim. Once touted as the North's No. 2 official, Choe organized a massive torchlight rally last year marking the 70th anniversary of the Workers Party.

But Kim had no praise for the feat, which prompted Choe to complain to aides who duly ratted him out to their leader, and Choe had to undergo a grueling course of reeducation at a camp in South Hamgyong Province.

Under Kim Jong-il's brutal rule, a senior position was a prime goal among the North Korean elite, because while he had no compunction starving ordinary people to death, throwing them in concentration camps or executing them in public, he showered his cronies with gifts and privileges. But now the privileged classes have started to fear for their lives.

One intelligence source said, "North Korean generals have become expendable. Officials are probably afraid to serve the fickle Kim Jong-un."

But even officials stationed abroad suffer tremendous pressure to send money back to the North.

"Earnings at North Korean trading companies and restaurants overseas have halved due to international sanctions, but the payment due has doubled," a source in China said. "Failure to meet payments leads to execution so we could see a lot more defections."


A colonel in North Korea's General Bureau of Reconnaissance defected last year, the highest-ranking North Korean military officer to defect to the South. The bureau is a key espionage agency that reports directly to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and is led by Kim Yong-chol, who was behind the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island in 2010. The fact that such a senior officer defected is enormously interesting.

Over the last two years, around 20 relatively senior Workers Party, state and military officials have defected to South Korea. Three of them worked for Room 39 of the Workers Party, which handles Kims private coffers, and one was a commander of a border battalion. Defections have spread to North Korean diplomats and other officials sent abroad to earn hard currency for the regime. The 13 North Koreans who defected from a restaurant in China apparently came from good families back in the North and were well educated.

In the past, the bulk of defectors were mostly impoverished and starving ordinary people, but not any more. This demonstrates the fear and disaffection among the North Korean elite, who are alarmed by Kims purges. The regime has since stepped up pressure on workers abroad to send back more money as Pyongyang prepares to host a big Workers Party congress this month. But strengthened international sanctions have made this ever more difficult, and more defections of senior officials may lie ahead.

North Korea is bolstering surveillance to prevent more defections, and the South needs to be on the lookout for any sudden emergencies in the North in case serious power struggles ensue.

The spreading disaffection among the elite must be harnessed as an opportunity to foment positive change in North Korea. The restaurant workers who defected said they were "disillusioned" by the North Korean system after learning about South Korean society through movies, TV programs and the Internet. Most of them were born after the deadly famine of the 1990s and have grown accustomed to open-air markets that replaced state-distributed rations and differ from their compliant parents. This young generation can offer access to the North's closed society.



Read this article in Korean Ruling and opposition lawmakers must put their heads together after the general elections to address this issue. Wrapped up in their election campaigns, they signally failed to come up with a concerted response to North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile threats. It is unbecoming of opposition lawmakers to question the validity of the latest defections and accuse the government of seeking to sway voters. The lives of North Koreans and reform to their autocratic regime are far more important than short-term election gains.
Research vessel to dock in June

From:Shanghai Daily | 2016-04-12 02:00

CHINAS new ocean-going research vessel Zhang Jian will dock in Shanghai and be open to the public from June 11 to 15, its owners said yesterday.

The ship, which also carries the countrys first deep-sea submersible Rainbow Fish, will welcome 1,000 people a day, Marco Zheng, operations manager at Shanghai Rainbow Fish Ocean Technology Co, told Shanghai Daily.

He didnt say how much admission would cost, but said visitors would also be able to take a trip in a submersible, at an additional fee.

The public should remember that while they can look at everything on the ship, they will not be allowed to touch any of the scientific facilities, he said.

Zhang Jian floated off the production line last month and is currently undergoing final testing in east Chinas Zhejiang Province.

The ship, which is the first of its type in China to be privately funded, is scheduled to make its first voyage in July, when it will sail to the New Britain Trench in the Pacific Ocean.

More information about the open day is available at www.otcchina.net.cn
Cops target horn-abusing drivers

From:Shanghai Daily | 2016-04-12 02:00

A TAXI driver was fined 100 yuan (US$15.50) yesterday for honking his horn, which is officially prohibited  though commonly heard  within the citys Outer Ring Road.

In an interview with Shanghai Daily, the cabby  who gave his name only as Wu  said he was aware he had broken the law, but just couldnt help himself.

Someone cut in ahead of me and that got on my nerves, he said.

We were told by the taxi firm that were not supposed to sound our horns, but Ive got used to doing it, he said.

The streets of Shanghai ring to the sound of blaring horns from dawn till dusk, though the citys police have been working hard to silence the noise polluters as part of a wider crackdown on traffic violations.

A total of 2,857 people were punished between March 25 and Saturday, the Shanghai Public Security Bureau said yesterday.

Wu, who also lost two points off his license for not wearing his seat belt, was caught honking at the busy Luban Road Interchange in Huangpu District.

Police officer Du Jingyang told Shanghai Daily that despite the cacophony of blaring horns that can be heard day and night across the city, catching people in the act is far from easy.

You can hear them, but if its just a short blast, its hard to pinpoint who is to blame, he said.

Despite the challenges he and his colleagues face, Du said that combating illicit horn blowing is a worthy endeavor.

In most cases, people sound their horns out of anger, but the noise could distract nervy drivers and cause an accident, he said.

It might also disturb residents and office workers.

Sounding a vehicle horn inside the Outer Ring Road has been prohibited since 2007.
Tchaikovsky opens free gig season

From:Shanghai Daily | 2016-04-12 02:00

A PROGRAM of 41 free open air concerts at the Shanghai Concert Hall gets under way on Saturday, when the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra performs Tchaikovskys Swan Lake.

Tickets for the ballet, which starts at 2pm, are available now from epiao1616.com, and via the WeChat account (shhuangpu) and website (huangpuqu.sh.cn) of the Huangpu government, Xu Yanqing, director of the districts culture bureau, told a press conference yesterday.

A total of 1,600 tickets are available for each event, with locals and foreigners all welcome to attend, she said.

On Sunday, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra will perform two concerts, she said, without elaborating.

The remaining 38 events will be held throughout the year, with the bulk of them  27  scheduled to be held between October 12 and November 12 as part of the citys international arts festival, she said.

No more details about the events are available at this time, but Xu said they will span a range of genres, from classical to folk and pop.

People should watch the ticket platforms for updates, she said.
China, Israel vow further parliamentary exchanges

2016-04-12 04:21

BEIJING, April 11, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Zhang Dejiang (R), chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress, shakes hands with Israeli Parliament Speaker Yuli Edelstein at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, April 11, 2016. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

BEIJING, April 11 (Xinhua) -- China and Israel on Monday agreed to more exchanges and cooperation between their parliaments as top Chinese legislator Zhang Dejiang met Israeli Parliament Speaker Yuli Edelstein in Beijing.

Zhang, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), said China is promoting innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development, while Israel has formed a set of effective practices in advancing scientific and technological innovation.

The two parliaments should share experience in legislation on promoting innovation and improving governance, he said.

China and Israel have signed a number of pacts in trade, science, education and agriculture, noted Zhang, and the Belt and Road initiative and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank have also provided new opportunities for bilateral cooperation.

He said the legislative bodies of the two sides should create a legal and policy environment to help mutual investment, cooperation between enterprises and people-to-people exchanges.

Last year, the bilateral trade volume increased by almost 5 percent over the same period of 2014, and Chinese tourists to Israel rose by nearly 30 percent.

And the two sides have agreed to officially start talks on a free trade agreement in March.

Edelstein, on a China visit from Sunday to Thursday, said Israel places great importance in ties with China and believes that bilateral friendship will not only benefit the two nations and their people, but will also cast a positive influence to peace and development of the region and the world.

The Israeli parliament is willing to hold more exchanges with the NPC, he said.

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Britain, China must jointly solve steel crisis: Chinese ambassador

2016-04-12 15:45

LONDON, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Ambassador to the UK Liu Xiaoming on Monday called on the two countries to work together to solve the current difficulties faced by their steel industries.

In a signed article published in The Daily Telegraph newspaper, Liu noted that some in Britain blame China for the closures and layoffs suffered by British steel industry and accuse China of "dumping" steel in Britain.

"Making China the 'scapegoat' only misleads the public and contributes nothing to the solution of the problem," Liu said.

Liu noted several reasons behind the woes of Britain's steel industry, including a shift of traditional manufacturing economy to the one of modern services and finance, worldwide overcapacity caused by weak demand and high costs of steel production in Britain.

He pointed out that China's steel exports to Britain is not to be blamed for the predicament since in both volume and value, steel imports from China make up only a fraction of the UK's total steel imports.

In 2015, out of the UK's 6.66 million tons of imported steel, 760,000 tons or 11 percent came from China. This amounted to 457 million U.S. dollars, or only 7.6 percent of total British steel imports (5.98 billion U.S. dollars), he said.

Moreover, steel products from China are mostly low value-added, such as ordinary steel rods and plates, which Britain no longer makes and would have to import from other countries anyway, the ambassador said.

"Therefore, imports from China have no impact upon the British steel market. On the contrary, by importing steels from China, the auto, machinery, construction and other British industries have effectively lowered their costs and increased their profit margin," Liu said.

Like their British counterparts, steelmakers in China are also in difficulty, which is "even more serious and challenging," Liu said.

China has reduced steel capacity by 90 million tons and is going to cut its crude steel capacity by 100 to 150 million tons in the next fives years, he said.

"This new round of reductions will result in several million lay-offs and relocations of steelworkers, far outnumbering those in the UK," he said.

"Both China and the UK have huge challenges on our way ahead -- to reform and revitalize our respective steel sectors, and to provide help and support to those workers who might lose their jobs," he said.

Both the Chinese and British governments believe that there should be closer dialogue and co-operation, he said adding that working with, rather than against, each other is the only way leading to a solution.

Overcapacity in the steel industry is a global problem, which calls for a global solution with stronger communication and co-operation among all steelmakers worldwide, who have the joint responsibility to uphold the order of steel trade and promote the sound development of the global steel industry, Liu said

In September, world leaders will gather in Hangzhou, China for the G20 Summit, which will focus on ways to withstand the global downward pressure, to find innovative growth models and to enhance international trade and investment, he said.

"It is my hope and belief that China and the UK will work together to strengthen dialogue, break through the current difficulties and create a sustainable future for the steel industries of both countries," Liu said.

Related:

China, Britain to benefit further from "golden era" of bilateral relations: experts

LONDON, March 11 (Xinhua) -- China and Britain can benefit further from a "golden era" in their bilateral relations, several experts have said.

Bilateral relations between the two countries have flourished with frequent high-level exchanges, fruitful economic cooperation, wider people-to-people exchanges, and new opportunities of cooperation in innovation, experts say.

Hugh McDaniel, managing director of China Brampton Ltd, said "the impact of China on the UK business community is regarded as very positive and most UK business people would like to do more business with Chinese business people." Full Story
China, U.S. need to better manage bilateral disagreements: U.S. official

2016-04-12 15:45

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, April 11, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Colin Willett, deputy assistant secretary of U.S. Department of State, poses for photos after an exclusive interview with Xinhua in Banda Seri Begawan, Brunei's capital on April 11, 2016. The United States and China need to better manage their disagreements in bilateral relations so as to ensure peace and stability as well as to contribute to prosperity in the region, Colin Willett, Deputy Assistant Secretary of U.S. Department of State said in an interview with Xinhua Monday. (Xinhua/Jeffrey Wong)

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, April 11 (Xinhua) -- The United States and China need to better manage their disagreements in bilateral relations so as to ensure peace and stability as well as to contribute to prosperity in the region, Colin Willett, Deputy Assistant Secretary of U.S. Department of State said in an interview with Xinhua Monday.

"I actually think that U.S. and China can get along," she said regarding to recent tensions between Sino-U.S. relations, "We certainly still have areas where we disagree or we have areas of conflicts, but we have areas of disagreement and conflicts with Brunei as well. I think we're maybe just more experienced with some of these relationships at managing those differences."

Willett said that bilateral relations between China and U.S. "is incredibly important" and U.S and China share wider scope of common interests globally, so the two countries need to better manage their disagreements.

"Over the last few years, both of our governments have put in quite a bit of time into developing mechanisms for bilateral dialogue and mechanisms for bilateral cooperation, so that we can get better at managing the areas where we disagree and having a frank conversation about why we have those disagreements," She stated in the interview.

"That's how we manage areas of disagreement with Brunei or Australia or the philippines and I think it's the way that we can have a good relationship with China as well," she added.

Related:

Spotlight: China-U.S. nuclear security cooperation energizes new type of major-country ties

BEIJING, April 4 (Xinhua) -- The fourth and last Nuclear Security Summit (NSS), which concluded over the weekend in Washington, called to the attention the unfinished cause of strengthening the global architecture of nuclear security.

The Nuclear Security Center of Excellence (COE), jointly built by China and the United States in Beijing, has been an important result of cooperation between China and the United States in this regard. Full story

Spotlight: China, U.S. agree to expand common interests, control differences

WASHINGTON, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart, Barack Obama, agreed here Thursday to deepen China-U.S. cooperation in various fields while controlling differences in a bid to consolidate and expand their countries' common interests.

The latest sign of a closer relationship between Beijing and Washington came as the two leaders met on the sidelines of the fourth Nuclear Security Summit (NSS), discussing an array of issues ranging from macroeconomic policies and nuclear security cooperation, to maritime issues and Korean Peninsula stability. Full story
The VCs have been asked to put in their papers before 11.30 am on Monday, October 24.
#COVID-19 New COVID-19 cases post sharp on-week rise amid resurgence woes South Korea's new COVID-19 cases stayed below 30,000 for the fifth consecutive day Sunday, but the daily count recorded a sharp hike from the previous week amid rising concerns ove...

#illegal gambling China-based online gambling ring busted; 20 arrested Law-enforcement authorities here said Sunday they have busted an online gambling ring based in China for illicit operations in South Korea, worth a total of 5.7 trillion won (US$3....
The intro to Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven' is one of the most recognisable in rock history - but it may not be as original as we have all thought.

The song was written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, but now they will have to face a jury trial to prove that the composition was entirely theirs, and not partially cribbed from a band that they toured with, Spirit, in the late 1960s.

Michael Skidmore, a trustee for Spirit, is bringing the case on behalf of the late Randy California, who was guitarist with the band. He argues their song 'Taurus' was plagiarised for 'Stairway to Heaven', and that California (real name Randy Wolfe) should have gotten a writing credit.

The case will now go to trial on May 10th, after a judge found that the similarities between the two songs were strong enough for Wolfe's case to be made.

Plant and Page will have to give evidence and prove that their most famous song was 100% their composition. The only comments that they have made so far have been that the song's "chord progressions were so cliched that they did not deserve copyright protection".

What do you think? Hear an examination of the two songs below:

H/T: NME
Charlie Cox says his return as Daredevil "still feels too good to be true"
For those that may not have heard, EastEnders are planning an Irish spin-off, starring Jessie Wallace and Shane Richie, who will be reclaiming their roles as Kat and Alfie for what will be a six-part series set in Waterford.

Fans of the soap will know that the couple left Albert Square in February with plans to head to Ireland to find Kat's long-lost son, who she gave birth to alongside her daughter Zoe but, eh, somehow didn't remember having twins, which is totally believable... obviously.

The spin-off will be set in Waterford in a fictional village called Redwater with hundreds of locals attending casting sessions in the city recently for a role as an extra. It's also emerged today that there are a few famous Irish faces on board too as Downton Abbey's Maria Doyle Kennedy, Lost's Fionnula Flanagan and The Commitments' Angeline Ball have all joined the cast.

While Game of Thrones' Ian McElhinney, The Tunnel's Stanley Townsend and Brooklyn's Peter Campion will also appear in the series, alongside Oisin Stack, Stephen Hogan, Susan Ateh and Ian Toner.

A very promising ensemble there, but will it live up to expectation?

We chatted to Jessie Wallace and Shane Richie a couple months ago when they were over for their Bord Gais play The Perfect Murder, who promised that it would be nothing like that EastEnders fiasco back in the nineties when the Fowlers came over to our fair isle and every cultural cliche in the book was used;

"I'm from a big Irish family, and even I went 'oh feck off'," Richie said of that episode. However he went on to say that EastEnders' current producer Dominic Treadwell Collins has a lot of family from Cork and would have no interest in portraying Ireland in a negative light.

On the show itself, Shane said; "When I read the first script, I thought, Kat and Alfie shouldn't be there, It was uncomfortable to read, yet riveting and dark and sinister, but also had the warmth and charm that Kat and Alfie bring."

If the six-part series goes well, the pair said they would be happy to set up here permanently, but could this really be the next Irish show we're all glued to? It's starting to sound like it.
There's been a massive surge in popularity for British detective series in recent years, and leading the way in that category has been the hugely popular Broadchurch. Starring David Tennant and Olivia Colman, it follows the work of two detectives in a fictional seaside town.

It hooked viewers in from the word go in season one, and followed with an equally suspense-filled second season. Now however there's great news as the show has announced it will be back for a third season, with its leads David Tennant and Olivia Colman returning to their roles as DI Alec Hardy and DS Ellie Miller.

Also returning to the cast are Jodie Whittaker and Andrew Buchan (Beth and Mark Latimer), Arthur Darvill (Vicar Paul Coates), Carolyn Pickles (newspaper editor Maggie Radcliffe) and Adam Wilson (Ellie's son Tom).

Joining the cast will be Coronation Street star Julie Hesmondhalgh (Hayley!), Georgina Campbell, Sarah Parish, Charlie Higson and Mark Bazeley.

The bad news we were referring to however is that this will be the last season of Broadchurch, which may not come as a surprise to some as the drama's creator Chris Chibnall has been appointed as the new Doctor Who showrunner.

Chibnall said in a statement; "This is the final chapter of Broadchurch. We have one last story to tell, featuring both familiar faces and new characters. I hope it's a compelling and emotional farewell to a world and show that means so much to me."

There's a while to go yet though with the third season not arriving until 2017 - sounds like it will be worth the wait though!
Premier urges local governments to propel reform Updated: 2016-04-12 08:12 (Xinhua)

BEIJING - Premier Li Keqiang met the heads of several major provincial regions on Monday, urging them to push forward supply-side structural reform to help stabilize economic growth.

Local authorities should cut red tape, implement tax breaks, encourage innovation and eliminate outdated capacity, Li told governors of Hebei, Liaoning, Jiangsu, Shandong, Hunan, Guangdong, Qinghai, and mayor of Chongqing when discussing the nation's economic situation.

According to the premier, China needs joint efforts from central and local governments to face up to economic challenges.
Transparency issue cited in Anbang's Starwood exit Updated: 2016-04-12 08:52 By Li Xiang and Hu Yuanyuan(China Daily)

People walk by a Marriott hotel in midtown Manhattan in New York City. GETTY IMAGES

Chinese insurance conglomerate Anbang Insurance Group's withdrawal from the $14 billion bid to purchase US hotel chain operator Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc could highlight international wariness regarding the lack of transparency over the insurer's funding sources as well as the absence of a clear "game plan" regarding the acquisition, analysts said on Monday.

On March 31, Anbang abruptly withdrew its Starwood offer after raising its offering price three times, citing "various market considerations" as the reason for terminating the deal.

Anbang's sudden withdrawal caught Starwood and many industry experts by surprise, prompting speculation over the reasons and the insurer's motivation for ending the offer, which would have become the largest acquisition by a Chinese firm in the United States if successful.

"One major concern on the transparency is its sources of funding," said Michael Chin, executive chairman of WT Global Hospitality Investment Co in Hong Kong.

"Plus, Anbang seems to lack an overall game plan, which is unlike Marriott International Inc, which has a thorough plan and will incorporate its corporate management teams to gain a maximum economy of scale after such an acquisition," Chin said.

Earlier media reports also suggest that Anbang's exit may have to do with its failure to secure massive financing for the deal as well as pressure from the regulatory authorities.

Chinese business magazine Caixin reported earlier that the China Insurance Regulatory Commission was not in favor of the deal. The insurance regulator did not respond to China Daily's inquiry on the regulatory issue.

The current regulation stipulates that the outstanding value of overseas assets owned by a Chinese insurer cannot exceed 15 percent of its total assets of the previous year.

James Woo, director and head of valuations and professional services of international property service provider Savills (Beijing), said that concerns over the massive outflow of capital to weigh on the yuan's exchange rate could be one of the causes for the termination of Anbang's offer.

"The problem could lie in the financing structure of deal which involved enormous amounts of capital flowing out of China, which could pressure the yuan's exchange rate," he said.

Nonetheless, the case of Anbang underscored the fact that Chinese companies still lack professional experience that fit international practices in cross-border deals as well as their failure to convince sellers with a clear and transparent plan, analysts said.
Chinese SME fair welcomes African nation as co-host Updated: 2016-04-12 13:36 By Song Mengxing(chinadaily.com.cn)

An intelligent robot operates a machine during the 12th China International Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Fair in Guangzhou, October 2015. [Photo/IC]

For the first time, the 13th China International Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Fair, to be held in October in Guangzhou, will have an African country as a co-host.

The fair is being organized by the Cote d'Ivoire Ministry of Commerce along with China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, State Administration for Industry and Commerce and the Guangdong provincial government.

At a news press conference in Beijing on Friday, officials said SMEs from Cote d'Ivoire will participate in the fair to promote the country's goods and culture.

Feng Fei, vice-minister of the industry and information technology ministry, said having an African co-host for the first time will further the event's international influence.

Yuan Baocheng, vice-governor of Guangdong, said this year's fair, which is slated to have 4,600 booths in an exhibition area of around 100,000 square meters in size, will include a new exhibition area to bridge SMEs and cross-border e-commerce businesses.

Exhibitions on textiles, clothing and energy conservation will be held at the Poly World Trade Center Expo from Oct 10 to 13.



The Guangzhou International Sourcing Center will host an exhibition on construction materials and home furnishings from Oct 16 to 20. A show on manufacturing and equipment will be held from Oct 24 to 27.
CGN plans to set up foothold in Malaysia Updated: 2016-04-12 17:15 By Lyu Chang(chinadaily.com.cn)

China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN), the country's largest nuclear operator in terms of capacity, plans to set up regional headquarters in Malaysia to push business in Southeast Asian countries, CGN said on Tuesday.

The company, known as CGN Southeast Asia, is expected to enhance the development and investment of clean energy in the region, said Zhang Shanming, CGN President, during the opening ceremony.

The nuclear giant became the biggest foreign direct investor in Malaysia after it completed an equity purchase deal with Malaysian energy company Edra Global Energy. It will buy 13 clean energy projects in Malaysia, Egypt, Bengal, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with a total overseas installed capacity of 8.85 gigawatts.

The deal also enabled the state company to become the largest independent power producer in Egypt and Bangladesh.

CGN said it will retain all of Edra's existing staff to utilize their skills and resources.

"Edra's human resources are the most important assets of the company. The team has a wealth of management experience and professional experience, laying a solid foundation for our next phase of development," Zhang said.

Before the acquisition, CGN tried to diversify its business beyond nuclear energy with development of other forms of clean energy, including solar power, wind power, biomass and natural gas. Its projects cover countries such as the United States, Australia, Singapore, South Korea, the United Kingdom and France.

The total installed capacity of CGN's nuclear energy from both operating projects and those under construction amounted to over 32.4 GW, while solar power installed capacity reached 1.2 GW, so far.
Hello, China! Stephen Hawking debuts Weibo account Updated: 2016-04-12 16:23 (chinadaily.com.cn)

The screenshot taken on Apr 12, 2016 shows Stephen Hawking's Weibo account. [Photo/Weibo ]

Stephen Hawking, known as one of the greatest living scientific minds in the world, opened his account Tuesday on Weibo, a popular Twitter-like microblogging service in China, attracting a flood of followers.

In his first Weibo post, the British astrophysicist briefly reminisced about his previous trips to China and welcomed communication through social media.

"I last visited China in 2006 when I took part in a physics conference in Beijing. It was an extraordinary experience. My first trip was in 1985 when I travelled across your remarkable country by train. In my physical travels, I have only been able to touch the surface of your fascinating history and culture" Hawking posted.

As author of A Brief History of Time, a popular science book, Hawking also became a household name outside academia in China to a degree rare for scientists.

The success of the book, which was introduced to China in late 1980s, drew public attention to the scientist's personal life. His long-time struggle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) was gradually made known to the public, making him an inspiration for many Chinese people.

The latest demonstration of his popularity in the country is his immediate influence on social media, just like a pop star. Within six hours after his Weibo debut, the famed physicist accumulated more than one million followers. His greeting messages had been forwarded more than 190,000 times, with more than 180,000 comments.

Over-excited fans rushed to leave messages mixed with English and Chinese in a sign that it was emotionally overwhelming for Chinese people to have direct communication with a revered academician they have long admired.

Exclamation marks and emojis were added to comments in a fan-obsessed style, such as this one: "It's amazing!!!!! I am your fan. Welcome to Weibo."

Hawking hasn't replied to any comment yet.
ABC/Adam TaylorBono visited Capitol Hill Tuesday afternoon to testify before Congress on the refugee crisis. In his speech, the U2 frontman declared the refugee crisis to be "very much a global problem," and one that America needs to help fight.

"We have made great progress toward ending extreme poverty -- progress that would have been impossible without American leadership, American generosity and good old-fashioned American hard-headedness, including the hard heads of members of Congress," Bono said according to the text of his prepared remarks before a Senate subcommittee hearing on foreign aid and violent extremism. "But that progress stands in jeopardy today. So I am here to urge action by the international community in response to both the refugee crisis and the rise of violent extremism."

Bono then detailed his proposal for combating the refugee crisis, which he separated into three aspects: "address the immediate humanitarian needs" and "provide support to host nations"; "get creative in how we think about the contribution that refugees can make to the countries where they reside"; and to link humanitarian efforts and development efforts and provide "new and sufficient sources of funding."

"I've been talking today about the need for global action -- comprehensive, well-coordinated. And that is what's needed," Bono said. "But there remains a role that only America can fill -- leadership that only America can provide. And when you step forward, you can really save lives, ease conflicts, and bring hope."

Bono of course has long been involved in global advocacy for the less fortunate, whether it's convincing nations to forgive the debt of developing countries, to his (RED) initiative to fight AIDS and HIV, to his ONE organization which strives to fight extreme poverty and disease.

Copyright  2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Credit: Ross HalfinThe world should have a new Metallica album before the year 2017, if Lars Ulrich is to be believed. The drummer tells Billboard that the metal legend's follow-up to 2008's Death Magnetic will be released this year.

"I think it's going to get wrapped up soon," Ulrich says. "Unless something radical happens it would be difficult for me to believe that it wont come out in 2016."

"It's definitely coming along," he adds. "Nearing completion. Should be done soon...hopefully."

Ulrich's declaration backs up the previous claim by Metallica's co-manager Peter Mensch, who recently told Billboard the group's new album will be released "probably later in the year."

Friday, Metallica will release deluxe reissues of their first two albums, 1983's Kill 'Em All and 1984's Ride the Lightning. Then on Saturday, the band will perform at the Rasputin Music record store in Berkeley, California in honor of this year's Record Store Day.

Copyright  2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
The health care industry is booming. As the American population ages and chronic disease becomes ever more prevalent, health-related companies have been expanding to meet these needs--and that means an ever-growing number of job openings that need to be filled.

The health care industry is expected to have the fastest employment growth and to add the most jobs over the next eight years than any other segment of the U.S. economy, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. About one in four new jobs will be filled by doctors, nurses, lab techs, and other support roles. That puts health care on track to become the largest employing major sector in America, overtaking state and local government by 2024.

As the industry continues to notch strong growth, we turned to the experts at Great Place to Work to find the companies that rate highest for employee satisfaction. Here are 20 small and large companies that are attracting and retaining today's top talent in health care.

1. Texas Health Resources

Texas Health Resources Best Companies 2016

Courtesy of Texas Health Resources

Nearly 98% of workers at Texas Health Resources say their work environment is a great atmosphere. The non-profit health system offers perks like a compressed work weeks and an low health care premiums that are tied to salary levels.

Texas Health Resources does a great job encouraging and supporting total health including body, mind, and spirit, said one employee. Health and wellness programs are diverse and designed to support physicial, mental, spiritiual, and emotional health across a wide variety of cultures.

Headquarters: Arlington, Texas

Numbers of locations: 250

U.S. Employees: 18,381

Year Founded: 1997

Read the Great Place to Work review here.

2. Encompass Home Health and Hospice

Encompass Best Companies 2016

Courtesy of Encompass

Encompass, one of the largest Medicare certified home health companies, offers employees benefits like flexible schedules and up to six weeks of paid time off every year. Its part of the reason why 94% of employees say their workplace is great.

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Encompass motto is simple and clear: A Better Way to Care. It is REAL, it is LIVED through all employees from CEO to field staff to back office, said one worker. There is an expectation of excellence that is supported with resources and recognition from the corporate office on down to each branch that makes being excellent possible for each and every employee.

Headquarters: Dallas

Numbers of locations: 230

U.S. Employees: 8,140

Year Founded: 1998

Read the Great Place to Work review here.

3. Preferred Home Health Care & Nursing Services

best healthcare companies 2016

Courtesy of Preferred Home Health Care & Nursing Services

Ninety-eight percent of Preferred Home Health Care workers take great pride in what they do, and the company goes above and beyond to show that they appreciate their work, as well, with treats like free snacks and lunches during the day.

I am in the extremely unique position to be completing this [employee] survey on my last day of employment with the company, said a now former worker. I am relocating for my spouses career and heartbroken to be leaving the family I have acquired over the last four-and-a-half years. I came into this company out of college and was able to rather quickly work my way into a management position. I have been given so many opportunities and afforded so much trust despite being young and inexperienced in the workplace and I cannot thank Preferred enough for the experience they have given me. I have no doubt that I will not find another company with the same culture and morale that I have here and that is why it is so difficult to leave.

Headquarters: Eatontown, N.J.

Numbers of locations: 14

U.S. Employees: 167

Year Founded: 1993

Read the Great Place to Work review here.

4. Southern Ohio Medical Center

BEST COMPANIES 2015 -- Southern Ohio Medical Center

Courtesy of Southern Ohio Medical Center

Southern Ohio Medical Center is a 233-bed, rural community hospital where 95% of workers say their company offers great rewards. The company prioritizes promoting from within with its grow our own strategy and offers an annual bonus program to reward employees for their contribution.

We are family here and celebrate victories, bend with change, face new challenges together, said one worker. We always stick together. One hurts, we all hurt, one wins, we all win. We are proud of SOMC, and feel privileged to work here, caring for our community, and our loved ones.

Headquarters: Portsmouth, Ohio

Numbers of locations: 22

U.S. Employees: 2,414

Year Founded: 1907

Read the Great Place to Work review here.

5. Martins Point Health Care

best healthcare companies 2016

Rene Roy Photography

Martins Point Health Care is a non-profit health care provider across Maine and New Hampshire. Ninety percent of its employees say their workplace is great thanks to small perks like a personal travel service or receiving a paid day off for their birthday.

The work may be hard at times, but most every day we leave with a feeling we did important work that helped our patients, community and each other, said one employee.

Headquarters Location: Portland, Maine

Numbers of locations: 22

U.S. Employees: 808

Year Founded: 1981

Read the Great Place to Work review here.

6. Baptist Health South Florida

Baptist Health South Florida Best Companies 2016

Courtesy of Baptist Health South Florida

Nearly 92% of employees say the health system is a great place to work and plan to stay for a long time. Baptist Health, which has been on Fortune's Best Companies to Work For list for 16 straight years, offers perks like a $10,000 adoption benefit, 24 holidays and vacation days, and a 401(k) matching program

This company encourages a strong belief in the spiritual well being of the individual and that makes the system a special place to work, said an employee. We are encouraged to maintain our emotional, physical and spiritual balance so that we can give our best to the organization and our families.

Headquarters: Coral Gables, Fla.

Numbers of locations: 68

U.S. Employees: 14,792

Year Founded: 1960

Read the Great Place to Work review here.

7. St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Courtesy of St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital

Ninety-nine percent of workers at this hospital take great pride in what they do. The health system, which seeks to find cures for pediatric cancer, among other diseases, also offers perks like a free on-campus gym and tuition reimbursement.

Everyone goes out of their way to make the kids feel special--from the doctors to the guy at the deli counter, said an employee. People enjoy what they do and that shows in their interaction with both coworkers and patients and their families.

Headquarters: Memphis, Tenn.

Numbers of locations: 1

U.S. Employees: 3,968

Year Founded: 1962

Read the Great Place to Work review here.

8. Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare

Pride proliferates at Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare where 96% of employees say their workplace is a great atmosphere, which managers encourage by promoting from within and ensuring transparent communication.

I am so very proud to be a part of this hospital, said one worker. I see all of the wonderful things they do for the community and how they treat people who come for treatment regardless of their race or socio-economic status.  I realize there are no perfect places on this side of heaven, but this has got to be so very close to a perfect place.

Headquarters: Memphis, Tenn.

Numbers of locations: 7

U.S. Employees: 10,544

Year Founded: 1918

Read the Great Place to Work review here.

9. Scripps Health

Scripps Health best companies 2016

Courtesy of Scripps Health

At Scripps, 92% of employees say their work has special meaning--it's not just a job. Scripps goes above and beyond to reward its workers with everyday perks like 15-minute chair massages and movie nights where the company screens highly-anticipated new movies.

Every person working at this hospital shows respect for the other persons position. Most people who come to work to this hospital stay for many years, said an employee. Thats one reason why this hospital unique. People here are loyal to the organization and employees have a clear vision of the organizations goals and values.

Headquarters: San Diego, Calif.

Numbers of locations: 30

U.S. Employees: 13,281

Year Founded: 1924

Read the Great Place to Work review here.

10. Healthcare Resource Group

best healthcare companies 2016

Courtesy of Healthcare Resource Group

Healthcare Resources Group goes above and beyond to acknowledge its employees hard work with benefits like its employee owned stock option plan and a CARE committee dedicated to planning fun events. Eighty-eight percent of employees say it is a great workplace.

I am thankful every day for the team I am surrounded by, said one employee. Our management team builds us up and offers support and leadership when needed, while allowing us to grow as individuals. We are consistently encouraged not just to do our best but to be our best.

Headquarters: Spokane Valley, Wash.

U.S. Employees: 325

Year Founded: 1994

Read the Great Place to Work review here.

11. Adeptus Health

best healthcare companies 2016

Courtesy of Adeptus Health

Ninety percent of employees at Adeptus Health say their workplace is great. The company, which runs a network of freestanding emergency rooms, encourages team celebrations throughout the year and hosts leadership training to equip high potential employees.

I love the fact that anyone in our company would help out one another, said one worker. We had an employees house burn down, not only did employees come together to get them food, clothes, and shelter, but they raised money and a board member matched the donations.

Headquarters: Lewisville, Texas

Numbers of locations: 64

U.S. Employees: 1,409

Year Founded: 2002

Read the Great Place to Work review here.

12. Licking Memorial Health Systems

best healthcare companies 2016

Courtesy of Licking Memorial Health Systems

At the nearly 118-year-old company, 97% of Licking Memorial workers take great pride in the care they provide their Ohio community. The company goes above and beyond to recognize their hard work with a peer recognition program and alternative schedule options to make work-life balance easier.

I cant imagine a more supportive work environment or a place with more caring people, said an employee. I had the misfortune of having two major family tragedies occur within a few days. I was repeatedly told to put my family first and the executive leadership of the organization supported me in making this happen. At one point, I truly did not know where to turn in finding assistance to care for my critically ill mother days after my father passed away. I called HR in tears and was immediately told not to worry. The hospital very graciously provided clinical staff to care for my mother at my home for the first few days after she was discharged from another hospital.

Headquarters: Newark, Ohio

Numbers of locations: 24

U.S. Employees: 1,842

Year Founded: 1898

Read the Great Place to Work review here.

13. Owens Healthcare

best healthcare companies 2016

Courtesy of Owens Healthcare

This relatively small retail pharmacy chain in Northern California goes out of its way to support its workers, offering perks like a $250 wellness reimbursement for gym memberships or other activities. Eighty-five percent of employees say it is a great workplace.

This company goes out of its way to get to know their employees, said one worker. They plan fun events at work as well as outside of work for employees and their families. They do an amazing job at showing that they truly care about the people that work here and are always giving recognition to those who deserve it. The employees are also wonderful and everyone gets along so well. I feel very lucky to be able to work for such an amazing company.

Headquarters: Redding, Calif.

Numbers of locations: 22

U.S. Employees: 177

Year Founded: 1957

Read the Great Place to Work review here.

14. OhioHealth

ohiohealth best companies 2016

Courtesy of OhioHealth

OhioHealth believes strongly in supporting employees ongoing professional growth with programs like its OhioHealth University, a tuition reimbursement program, and rotational experiential learning opportunities. Nearly 96% of employees say their workplace is a great atmosphere with great challenges.

The other unique thing about this company is how happy everyone is with their job, said one worker. It makes for such a nice place to come into every day. I often tell my husband, how cool is it that I can wake up in a bad mood, and leave work feeling better! Thats so different than what most people call work. 

Headquarters Location: Columbus, Ohio

Numbers of locations: 137

U.S. Employees: 19,152

Year Founded: 1997

Read the Great Place to Work review here.

15. AmerisourceBergen

#G5002015 AmerisourceBergen

Photograph by Jerome Lukowicz, Courtesy: AmerisourceBergen

AmerisourceBergen , a drug wholesale company, believes in ongoing career development for its workers with programs like its Womens Leadership Initiative and up to $5,250 in tuition reimbursement. It also offers generous paid time off starting at 20 days. Its no surprise that 94% of workers say the company offers great rewards.

There are two unique things that make this company unique. The first is that leadership really does foster any form of creativity and innovation, said one employee. Unlike other companies who say great idea and give you a pat on the back, ABC actually will follow through and give you the tools and support needed to make ideas reality. The second great part is that senior leadership listens to associates and are very approachable. Conversations with senior leadership feel like you are talking to a leader, friend, and mentor, not a politician like at many other large companies.

Headquarters: Chesterbrook, Penn.

Numbers of locations: 99

U.S. Employees: 12,157

Year Founded: 2001

Read the Great Place to Work review here.

16. American Heart Association

Jenny Craig American Heart Association Heart Walk With Valerie Bertinelli

Photograph by Charley GallayWireImage via Getty Images

The American Heart Association values employee wellness and encourages employees to disconnect with perks like an all-staff holiday break free of email. It also supports ongoing education with its career development center and American Heart University. Its part of the reason 87% of workers say its a great workplace.

The passion I have seen demonstrated by everyone I come in contact with is like no other company I have worked for. Everyone seems genuinely concerned about the mission and the accomplishments of the organization, which in turn means they are genuinely concerned about the overall health of the community, said one worker. For example, staff are willing to work extra hours or hours outside the normal day to do things like teach CPR or go to schools for participation in events.

Headquarters: Dallas

Numbers of locations: 156

U.S. Employees: 3,189

Year Founded: 1924

Read the Great Place to Work review here.

17. Atlantic Health System

Atlantic Health System Best Companies 2016

Courtesy of Atlantic Health System

Atlantic Health System, one of the largest non-profit health care providers in New Jersey, promotes a healing culture at its offices with initiatives like a mentorship program, pet therapy for employees, and its Healing Arts artist-in-residence exhibit. Ninety-four percent of workers say their company is a great atmosphere.

This company is a great place to work because it hires a diverse population of people, said one worker. For example, as an employee, one is able to encounter people from various backgrounds, cultures, with different languages, life experiences, which creates an environment where people are more open minded and accepting of others.

Headquarters Location: Morristown, NJ

Numbers of locations: 6

U.S. Employees: 10,801

Year Founded: 1996

Read the Great Place to Work review here.

18. Great Lakes Caring

best healthcare companies 2016

Richard Lim Photography

Great Lakes Caring, which offers home health and hospice care, believes in extending its well-being focus to both patients and employees. The company offers a telecommute option used by 60% of employees and provides health care coverage to part-timers who work at least 30 hours per week.

I absolutely love my job, said one employee. I have freedom to treat patients in the way that I know is best, and I have the support that I need. I can really make a difference in peoples lives here.

Headquarters: Jackson, Mich.

Numbers of locations: 22

U.S. Employees: 1,376

Year Founded: 1994

Read the Great Place to Work review here.

19. Cottage Health

best healthcare companies 2016

Courtesy of Cottage Health

Based in central California, Cottage Health offers generous benefits like covering 97% of employees health care premiums and 85% of dependents premiums. It also matches 50% of employee contributions to the company 401k plan, up to 6% of salary. No wonder 92% of workers say the company offers great rewards.

We use the concept of Shared Governance throughout the organization, said one worker. As employees, we are able to fix our own problems, instead of having a top down style of leadership. As long as the result is cost neutral and we dont get into HR (labor, wage and benefits) issues, we have pretty much carte blanche to make changes within our departments that make it work more efficiently.

Headquarters: Santa Babera, Calif.

Numbers of locations: 6

U.S. Employees: 3,173

Year Founded: 1996

Read the Great Place to Work review here.

20. Benco Dental

best healthcare companies 2016

Courtesy of Benco Dental

Benco Dental is the 3rd largest dental supply company in the U.S. The company, which is family-owned, has maintained its close knit work environment by prioritizing two-way communication and offering annual profit sharing for workers. Ninety-four percent of employees say their workplace is a great atmosphere.

Benco is simply a fabulous place to work, said one worker. Its owners, the Cohens, are very open and giving and treat you like one of the family, not just a number. We get a huge say in what our jobs should be, and we also get immediate assistance and help when needed. I love working here.

Headquarters: Pittston, Penn.

Numbers of locations: 66

U.S. Employees: 1,307

Year Founded: 1930

Read the Great Place to Work review here.

Also see the largest employers in healthcare that appear on Fortunes list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For.

See original article on Fortune.com

More from Fortune.com
alarm clock

Qatar has been one of the strongest players in the Middle East and North Africa region.

It's gone through several years of high real-GDP growth and remains one of the wealthiest nations in the world on a per-capita basis.

Qatar also happens to be one of the best-positioned OPEC members. International Monetary Fund figures estimated that Qatar spent only about 0.6% of GDP ($1.2 billion) on energy subsidies in 2015, while other members were much deeply bruised by the lower oil prices.

Notably, one of the key drivers of Qatar's strength has been the rapid growth of bank lending. But now some folks are starting to see warning signs flashing.

Screen Shot 2016 04 11 at 10.51.26 AM

"We are concerned that the credit boom looks increasingly unsustainable and could pose a threat to the country's future financial stability," wrote Capital Economics' Middle East economist, Jason Tuvey, in a recent note to clients.

"An outright banking crisis seems unlikely, but at the very least a period of deleveraging will be needed over the coming years which will weigh on economic growth," he wrote.

In the note, Tuvey outlines three main factors that worry his team:

The pace of credit growth has been "alarming." Lending to the private sector expanded by an average of more than 15% year-over-year in the past five years, and the credit-to-non-oil-GDP ratio has risen to over 100% in 2016 from around 70% in 2006. As Tuvey points out, the IMF previously warned that an increase in the private-sector debt ratio of more than 3 percentage points a year can be an early warning of financial stress. The run-up in credit seems to be fueling asset bubbles. Tuvey points specifically to the real-estate market, where credit is growing by more than 30% y/y. "This has helped to support a surge in property prices, which have doubled in the space of less than four years," he writes. "A correction in the property market could see banks' non-performing loans rise." Banks' funding bases "look like a source of vulnerability." Lending has increasingly been funded by borrowing from abroad. The loan-to-deposit ratio has risen and foreign liabilities are almost at 30% of banks' total liabilities. For what it's worth, the United Arab Emirates reached 25% before its credit bubble burst in 2009.

Story continues

"All told, then, the surge in credit in Qatar is starting to ring alarm bells," Tuvey argued.

He continued:

For now, while some banks could run into trouble, there are reasons to think that a systemic banking crisis should be avoided. But even if Qatar managed to avoid major problems in the banking sector, a period of deleveraging is likely in the coming years. This will simply add to the headwinds facing the economy from the the collapse in global energy prices.

NOW WATCH: This defunct oil rig in the middle of the ocean is now a cool hotel for divers





More From Business Insider


Shipping vessels and oil tankers line up on the eastern coast of Singapore in this July 22, 2015 file photo. REUTERS/Edgar Su/Files

By Keith Wallis and Henning Gloystein

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - It may be the world's biggest traffic jam.

As ports struggle to cope with a global oil glut, huge queues of supertankers have formed in some of the world's busiest sea lanes, where some 200 million barrels of crude lies waiting to be loaded or delivered.

The vessels, filled with oil worth around $7.5 billion at current market prices, would stretch for almost 40 km (25 miles) if formed up in one straight line.

One captain with more than 20 years at sea told Reuters his tanker had been anchored off Qingdao in northeastern China since late March and was unlikely to dock before the end of this week, a frustrating delay of more than three weeks.

"We've stayed here a long time," he said, requesting anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the press, but added that another kind of jam was helping to alleviate the boredom.

"We have a piano, drums, crew who play guitar  they are not professional but they are coming good. We have more than 1,000 DVDs so there is no need to watch the same one 20 times."

The worst congestion is in the Middle East, as ports struggle to cope with soaring output available for export, and in Asia, where many ports have not been upgraded in time to deal with ravenous demand as consumers take advantage of cheap fuel.

"It's the worst I've seen at Qingdao," said a second tanker captain waiting to offload at the world's seventh busiest port, adding that his crew was killing time doing maintenance work.

Ralph Leszczynski, head of research at shipbroker Banchero Costa, in Singapore, said the snarl-up was "one of the worst tanker traffic jams in recent years".

The cause was "a perfect storm of red-hot demand from new entrant refineries in China and port infrastructure in the Middle East and Latin America that is unable to cope", he said.

MESSING UP THE SCHEDULE

Ship tracking data shows 125 supertankers, with the capacity to carry oil to supply energy-hungry China for three weeks, waiting in line at ports. The combined daily cost is $6.25 million, based on current ship hire rates of around $50,000-a-day.

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While daily tanker fees are typically borne by the fuel buyer, the port delays have a knock-on affect across the shipping industry.

"It messes up port schedules, catering schedules, crew schedules and the schedules of delivering the transported goods," said one shipping logistics manager in Singapore. "It also raises the cost for pretty much everyone involved."

And for dealers, a month-long delay can turn a profitable trade into a painful loss.

"If you've bought 100,000 barrels of crude at $40 (a barrel) that'll cost you $4 million," said one oil trader.

"And if you've calculated another 1.5 million bucks for a month's worth of shipping, but you end up paying double that because your ship is stuck in port congestion, then that can seriously mess up everything from your schedule to your arbitrage profitability."

At the heart of the congestion is an unprecedented rise in global oil production, along with rising consumption.

Soaring output has pulled down oil prices by as much as 70 percent since 2014. That has helped spur demand from China's independent refiners, freed from government restrictions on imports just last year and gorging on plentiful crude, putting extra pressure on ports.

DRY SHIPS, BORED CREWS

The oil glut is also causing congestion between the main producer and consumer hubs.

Almost all supertankers heading to Asia pass by Singapore or adjacent facilities in southern Malaysia, the world's fuel station for tankers and also a global refinery and ship maintenance hub.

Shipping data shows that some 50 supertankers are currently anchored in or close to Singaporean waters for refueling, maintenance or waiting to deliver crude to refineries or be used as floating storage.

For sailors stuck a queue of anchored tankers, one of the biggest problems is simply wiling away the time.

"Some of the ships are well-equipped for their crews, but many aren't," said a Filipino sailor who left a very large crude carrier (VLCC) in March after a voyage to China.

"On my last one, we had no regular internet ... only an old TV with a couple of old DVD movies. The food is terrible and while waiting to offload we did pretty hard maintenance work. The sort of stuff you can't do when the engine is running."

Captain Alan Loynd, who spent more than 25 years at sea and is now a marine consultant, said long port delays were rare, but could be tedious and isolating when they happened.

And unlike in previous eras, having a couple of beers to break the monotony is usually out of the question.

"The chances of getting ashore are remote," he said. "A lot of ships are now dry, so there's no alcohol on board."

(Editing by Alex Richardson)
By Alonso Soto

BRASILIA, April 12 (Reuters) - Brazil's embattled President Dilma Rousseff is considering reducing banks' reserve requirements to bolster credit and breathe new life into an economy mired in recession, a presidential aide told Reuters on Tuesday.

The move will be part of a series of measures to shore up the economy if Rousseff survives an impeachment vote in Congress on Sunday, said the official who asked for anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the issue.

Some authorities have indicated they would oppose such a move, saying it signals a relaxation of austerity measures needed to bolster investor confidence.

Still, other members of the economy team believe the measure avoids new public expenditures.

"Something needs to be done to signal that we will get the economy going and leave this political and economic crisis behind us," said the official. "We will take action to regain growth without pressuring the government accounts."

Rousseff, a leftist economist in her second term, is battling to avert her ouster as a divided lower house gears up to vote on whether to send her impeachment to the Senate. If the upper house opens an impeachment trial against Rousseff, she will then be suspended from office for up to six months.

The reserve requirement ratio is the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves in the central bank. Relaxing those requirements would raise the amount of cash available for commercial loans, putting money into the hands of consumers to spend and businesses to invest.

Last week, Central Bank head Alexandre Tombini hinted he opposed the idea of changing reserve requirements, saying credit levels are "adequate" and that low confidence is curbing demand for credit in Brazil.

The central bank declined to comment Tuesday.

The press office of the Finance Ministry and presidency did not immediately reply to e-mail requests for comment.

Other measures also include increasing spending in social programs for the poor such as the cash-transfer program called "Bolsa Familia," the official said.

Story continues

The government could also announce it will post another primary budget deficit in 2017 - its third straight shortfall - to increase public investment in infrastructure as way to stoke growth, the official said. The government is expected to announce its new fiscal goals on Friday.

The deterioration of Brazil's public accounts after years of heavy spending and a plunge in tax income cost the once-booming economy its coveted investment-grade rating.

(Reporting by Alonso Soto; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
BEIJING (Reuters) - China will step up its crackdown on underground banks this year as the country's economic slowdown and market volatility has sparked a wave of capital outflows, according to a senior official in the country's foreign exchange regulator.

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange "will continue to work with the public security bureau and other departments to focus on cracking down on underground banks, to intimidate people who use underground banks, to block channels for underground bank transactions," Zhang Shenghui, head of SAFE's inspection division, was quoted as saying by the Economic Information Daily, a state-run newspaper.

Transactions by underground banks topped 1 trillion yuan last year and police, the central bank and SAFE uncovered one case involving transactions totalling $64 billion (44.9 billion pounds).

Underground banking presents an increasingly complex threat to China's financial security, encompassing issues from financing for drugs and terrorism to tax fraud, the Ministry of Public Security said last year.

(Reporting by Sue-Lin Wong; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
cafeteria worker

When Dan Pink published his bestselling book "Drive" in 2009, he wrote about the importance of cultivating in your employees a sense of purpose.

In other words, people should feel that they're making a difference in the world and acting in the service of something larger than themselves.

Recently though, Pink has broadened his definition of purpose to include "purpose with a small p," or making a contribution and doing something that others care about.

It's the feeling that, if you didn't show up for work one day, something wouldn't get done around the office and your coworkers or clients would be disappointed.

When Business Insider spoke with Pink at the Wharton People Analytics Conference on April 7, he cited some clever research that demonstrates the motivational power of "purpose with a small p."

In 2014, researchers at Harvard Business School designed a two-week experiment at a college cafeteria. Specifically, the researchers focused on the grill station, where students typically placed and retrieved their orders without seeing or interacting with the cooks.

Experimenters set up iPads at the station and created four distinct scenarios. In the first, the cooks could see the customers; in the second, the customers could see the cooks, in the third, neither group was visible to the other; in the fourth, the cooks and customers could see each other.

The researchers wanted to know in which condition the customers would say that the food tasted best and the food would be prepared fastest.

As it turns out, customer satisfaction shot up 17.3% and service was 13.2% faster when the cooks and customers could see each other.

What likely happened, according to the researchers, is that the cooks realized their work mattered to specific people, rather than the vague and faceless "customer," and were motivated to improve the quality of their product.

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dan pink

As Pink explained when he talked about the study, "that is small p purpose right there."

He imagined that the cooks in the study might have said to themselves something like: "I'm not feeding the hungry; I'm not solving the climate crisis; I'm not ending gender discrimination. But I'm making an omelet that someone's gonna eat, and it matters to them, and to me."

This study isn't the first to demonstrate that, when people connect with the recipients of their work, their performance improves.

In 2007, for example, Wharton professor Adam Grant and colleagues had call center employees meet beneficiaries of the scholarships they were trying to raise funds for. Sure enough, those employees' performance improved significantly, compared to employees who didn't meet any beneficiaries.

So how can you apply these findings in your own office?

Pink suggests that managers go out of their way to point out employees' contributions, no matter how small.

For example, a manager might tell an employee: "Your crunching those numbers and figuring out the mistake that we made really saved the day because so-and-so would have gone into that presentation with some wrong numbers, and we might have had to correct it after the fact."

Again, you don't have to make the employee feel as though they solved a global crisis. But taking the time to acknowledge how and why they contributed to the company can make a huge difference.

"It could be a presentation about effective rutabaga production  not anything transcendent," Pink added. "But basically, 'you saved the day. You mattered.'"

NOW WATCH: 4 ways to make your workday more productive





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Hopes that an oil production freeze could result from a meeting between OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers this coming Sunday are looking increasingly over-optimistic as a number of countries attending the summit could scupper any chances for a deal.



At least 15 major oil producers that account for 75 percent of the world's oil production are expected to attend the April 17 summit in Doha, Qatar this weekend. Oil prices have rallied of late on hopes that oil exporters, suffering from lower oil revenues on the back of a slide in prices and glut in supply, could be ready to unanimously agree to freeze production levels in order to stabilize and rebalance oil markets.

The 13 members of the OPEC oil producing group, which is led by Saudi Arabia, are to attend as well as Russia, Oman and Bahrain, all non-OPEC producers. Mexico is reportedly participating as an "observer" but the U.S., another major shale oil producer, is not attending although it has seen its own oil output decline dramatically following the slump in prices since mid-2014.





The only problem is that all the producers will have to agree to cut production if a deal is to be reached, not an easy thing to achieve with geopolitical rivalries at play and differing economic needs to meet.

For example, Saudi Arabia has said it will entertain a production cut only if Iran, its regional rival, does the same. Iran, meanwhile, has said it does not want to cut production and is determined to regain its share of the market as it seeks to recover from years of international sanctions. In fact, Iran has said it will attend the meeting but will not talk cuts.

Similarly, some countries in Latin America have already cut production and others are reluctant to cut production in a bid to support prices, concerned that investment will suffer and suspicious that other countries won't abide by any agreement.

As such, there are widespread doubts that a deal will be reached in Doha. Miswin Mahesh, oil analyst at Barclays, told CNBC that a number of countries  like Iran -- looked more likely to ramp up production, rather than cut it once domestic infrastructures were improved.

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"The producers that matter are all there but the important thing is what they do and this is to do with a circle of trust," Mahesh told CNBC Europe's "Squawk Box" on Monday.

"Added to the fact that there's geopolitical rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran, (any deal) doesn't work from two angles  from the political angle and from the fairness angle and the fact that (Iran) has been offline because of the sanctions."

"With Iran and Libya there's certainly a lot more bandwidth on the upside whereas Iraq is a special case because they've had a great run over the last 6-12 months in terms of ramping up production from the south and the north and they could technically be flat for the rest of the year because of the infrastructure limitations. But they would still not be willing to sign up to the freeze because they think that all that capacity is un-utilized," he added.

Oil prices are currently hovering around the $40 a barrel mark, having recovered from just below $27 a barrel in January. But analysts, including Mahesh, have stressed that lower prices are needed to force producers to cut output and rebalance supply and demand.

"The ideal balancing price is around $30 a barrel. That's when you're starting to see the pain and U.S. producers are starting to adjust etc. but between $40-$50, quite a lot of them have now become so efficient that they can start producing at those levels."





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A deal between United Continental (NYSE: UAL) and two hedge funds seeking to shake up its board looks increasingly likely, sources told CNBC on Monday.

An agreement may come within the next week, the sources added.

The hedge funds, Altimeter Capital Management and PAR Capital Management, collectively hold a 7.1 percent stake in United. They announced last month that they would nominate six directors to United's board amid concerns about its stock performance.

The proxy fight has escalated, and United pilots even protested the funds in Boston last week. Altimeter and PAR have said they are not targeting CEO Oscar Munoz, who recently returned from medical leave, but United's board.

United's agreement with the funds could include new directors in addition to the three independent directors added last month, sources said. An agreement could also bring an independent chairman, they said.

United declined to comment.

Altimeter and PAR could not immediately be reached for comment.

 CNBC's Scott Wapner contributed reporting.





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donald trump

Donald Trump on Monday borrowed one of Sen. Bernie Sanders' talking points in a new line of attack against Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Speaking to a crowd in Albany, New York, the Republican presidential frontrunner echoed Sanders' assertion that "something is clearly lacking" in Clinton's judgment.

"Now, he's saying bad things about Hillary. And he's really correct. He says she doesn't have the judgment to be president," Trump said, referring to Sanders.

Trump specifically criticized Clinton's handling of the military intervention in Libya while serving as secretary of state. He also bashed her initial support for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, though Trump has a mixed record on the issue.

"The one thing I agree, he's absolutely right: Hillary Clinton doesn't have the judgment to be president," Trump said.

Trump's Monday statement was an extension of his commentary on the Democratic primary the day before.

"You saw what Bernie said? They're starting to get angry at each other," Trump told a campaign-rally audience on Sunday. "Bernie's saying she shouldn't be able to be in that position, because she's made so many bad decisions  she shouldn't even be able to be running for the position."

"And she has made bad, bad decisions. I look so forward to going after Hillary," he continued.

In interviews over the weekend, Sanders repeatedly said that while he believed Clinton is qualified to be president, her initial support for the invasion of Iraq and her acceptance of special-interest money cast a negative light on her judgment.

The Clinton and Sanders campaigns have been fiercely sparring over the judgment issue in recent days.

In an interview on MSNBC last week, Clinton questioned Sanders' understanding of policy issues, citing his proposal to break up many major financial institutions. Surrogates for Clinton went even further, suggesting Sanders was not prepared to be president.

Story continues

Sanders responded by attacking Clinton's own qualifications, citing her support for a Panama free-trade deal and the invasion of Iraq. Clinton's campaign then called Sanders' criticism out of bounds.

NOW WATCH: A hair surgeon explains what's going on with Trump's hair





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Mexico kidnapping victims

Drug trafficking has been the primary focus of Mexican cartels, providing most of their obscene profits and motivating much of the bloodshed they've caused.

But as cartels have expanded into other areas of operations, and as law-enforcement efforts have forced them to seek new moneymaking ventures, those cartels have started kidnapping and extorting Mexicans with more frequency.

And social-media sites like Facebook and Twitter have been a boon to these new criminal endeavors.

"Well, the extortion business is a profitable one for organized crime. And in countries like Mexico, it's sadly pretty common that people get these threats," Tom Wainwright, the author of "Narconomics" and the Economist's former reporter in Mexico City, told Business Insider.

"And the new way of doing this, of course, is by social media."

"People get messages though Facebook or through Twitter. And the thing about Facebook is that of course the people who are extorting you know about your family," Wainwright said. "They've seen pictures of them, and they can intimidate you with these details. And so what we're seeing is an increase in that kind of extortion."

Some criminal organizations have proven to be more enthusiastic about extortion and kidnapping than others.

Kidnapping and extortion in Mexico

"The cartels that are most effective at this are ones like the Zetas, which have a very well-known brand, which allows them to intimidate people with the sort of fame of their brand," Wainwright told Business Insider.

As social-media use, and thus social-media sharing, have grown more popular, kidnappers and extortionists have seized on resources like Facebook and Twitter to identify new targets.

Story continues

"All of the information that you leave behind on the social media is valuable to the cartels in just the same way that that information is useful for marketing purposes to regular companies," Wainwright explained, adding:

For companies, it's really useful to know what consumers like and what they're doing, and for cartels that are in the extortion business, it's more useful still. If they know where you are, if they know where you've been, if they know who your family are, then this is all information that they can use against you to try to extort more money.

'Freedom to commit crime'

Kidnapping and extortion aren't only the purview of cartels. According to a Mexican federal deputy, police officers have been involved in 80% of kidnappings in recent months, sometimes as part of "police cartels" dedicated to kidnapping.

Mexico Ayotzinapa Guerrero kidnapping protest

One such cartel consisted of more than 6,500 officers and operated throughout the country.

Local police forces have been implicated in the abduction and suspected killing of 43 students from the Ayotzinapa teacher-training school in Guerrero in late 2014, a crime that still roils Mexico.

"To have such [police] elements involved in cases of kidnapping, it causes the victims to not dare report it for fear of reprisals, which generates impunity for the kidnappers and gives them the freedom to commit crime," deputy German Ernesto Ralis Cumplido, of the Citizen Movement party, said in late March.

More recently, there has been a growth in "express" kidnapping, where victims are seized, their families are contacted with a relatively modest ransom demand, and, if the money is paid, the victim is released within hours.

A Mexican nongovernmental organization has reported that there are 600 express kidnappings a day, for which the ransom varies around $400 in cash, jewelry, or electronics.

Kidnapping in Mexico amounts to a $30.8 billion industry, with 88 cases a day averaging payments of $9,706.

Mexico community police autodefensas

The scale of kidnapping and extortion in Mexico has grown so much that now people of modest means, who would not have been appealing targets for extortion in the past, are getting targeted.

"Now even street vendors, such as taco stands, are extorted in zones where the cartels hold sway," Andrew Chesnut, the Bishop Walter Sullivan Chair in Catholic Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University who has done fieldwork in some hotspots for cartel activity in Mexico, told Business Insider.

"Some of my relatives in Michoacan receive so many extortion calls that they must change their phone numbers every few months," Chesnut said, "and these are middle-class professionals, who are far from affluent."

NOW WATCH: There's a terrifying reason why people are warned to stay inside at 5:45 p.m. in parts of Mexico





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(FILES) This file photo taken on January 14, 2014, through the window of an airplane shows the Red Sea's Tiran (foreground) and the Sanafir (background) islands in the Strait of Tiran between Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and Saudi Arabia (AFP Photo/STRINGER)

Cairo (AFP) - Egypt's surprise move to give two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia has prompted rare criticism of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi by Egyptians who see the transfer as an affront to national pride.

Reaction ranged from social media mockery to allegations of poor governance after Egypt announced the deal, which came during a visit by Saudi King Salman and as Cairo struggles to steady its vital tourism sector.

"Come, come my pasha, the island is for one billion, pyramids for two with two statues free," wrote popular Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef in a tweet that summed up the mood online.

Although generations of Egyptians have grown up believing the islands belonged to Egypt, Cairo insists they have always been Saudi territory, which was leased to it in 1950 following a request by Riyadh.

Many Egyptians view Tiran and Sanafir with patriotic fondness because of the islands' association with the four wars Egypt fought with Israel between 1948 and 1973.

Lying at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba, the islands can be used to control access to the Israeli port of Eilat. They were captured by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war before being returned to Egypt under the 1979 Camp David Accords.

"The government's mistake was that it did not inform the people that discussions were under way with Saudi Arabia to demarcate the borders," said Mustapha Kamel al-Sayyid, a professor of political science at the American University of Cairo.

Many feel that handing over the islands shows how far Egypt's prestige has fallen in a region that was for decades heavily influenced by Egyptian political and cultural largesse.

"Our problem is not with who buys them, our problem is with who sells," tweeted Youssef.

Saudi Arabia, a strong backer of Sisi's regime, has pledged to respect "all agreements" concerning the islands, but some Egyptians are unimpressed with the way the transfer was handled.

Story continues

- 'Lack of objectivity' -

"We have the right to reject the lack of transparency on part of the Egyptian government," tweeted well known political analyst Amr Hemzawy.

"The ceding of territory without considering its history and locations reflects a lack of objectivity."

There were no street protests against the decision, however.

The handover still has to be approved by Egypt's parliament, which is dominated by lawmakers loyal to Sisi who has crushed opponents since ousting his Islamist predecessor Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

Cairo says the transfer agreement was based on a presidential decree issued by former leader Hosni Mubarak, who in 1990 even informed the United Nations about the matter.

Several multi-billion-dollar deals were signed during Salman's five-day visit, which ended on Monday, including a proposal to build a bridge spanning part of the Red Sea to connect the two nations.

Salman's trip was a clear sign of Saudi support for Sisi at a time when Riyadh is keen to shore up ties with its Sunni allies as it vies for regional supremacy with Shiite Iran.

Egypt's battered economy badly needs the kind of stimuli offered by the Saudi deals, but analysts struggled to see the shared benefits of transferring the islands.

"This agreement meets the aspirations of the Saudi government, which wants to present the country as the leading power in the Middle East," said political scientist Sayyid.

Jamal Khashoggi, a veteran Saudi journalist and analyst, told AFP that the two islands were more of "historical importance" as the kingdom always saw them as its territory.

"Fences make good neighbours. Now we have the islands. Maybe tomorrow there could be an oilfield or gas discoveries... It keeps us from having disputes later on," he said.
defendants

On April 5, Kenyan authorities announced it had acquitted 23 Taiwan nationals who had been arrested for running illegal command call centers.

As Quartz reported in November 2015, the Taiwanese citizens were part of a larger group of Chinese and Thai nationals who had been sent to Kenya with the promise of truck driving and other blue collar jobs. Instead, they were arrested for running online fraud schemes and illegal call centersdespite living in apartments with no internet connection.

Their acquittal ought to mark a victory for the Kenyan justice system, as well as the Chinese community in Africa. Instead, its the beginning of a diplomatic nightmare.

Eight out of the 23 acquitted men were placed on an aircraft headed not for Taiwan, but mainland China, Taiwanese media outlet Focus Taiwan reports. Beijing considers Taiwan one of its own provinces, while Taiwan operates as an independent country, with democratic elections and no formal sworn allegiance to leaders in Beijing.

Taiwans Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) believes this was no accident. This morning it issued an official statement demanding the immediate return of all 23 acquitted Taiwanese, describing it as an uncivilized act of extrajudicial abduction orchestrated by the mainland Chinese government (link in Chinese), which represents a gross violation of basic human rights.

The acquitted Taiwanese citizens were instructed by courts to go to the police bureau in Kilimani, Nairobi to retrieve their passports, after which they could remain in Kenya for 21 days, the ministry said. A representative from Taipei Liaison Office in the Republic of South Africa, a de facto embassy obtained information that the Nairobi police station was being pressured by Chinese authorities to send eight of the Taiwan nationals to mainland China.

Story continues

Despite Taiwans attempts to derail those efforts, the eight men were placed on a China Southern Airlines flight headed to Guangzhou on April 8. The remaining 15 Taiwanese remain in Kenya, according to MOFA.

Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Lu Kang said during a press conference that specific details of the incident were still being understood, but each sides support for one China must be guaranteed.

If Beijing does not return the eight individuals to Taiwan, it could mark the beginning of a major diplomatic crisis. Since Taiwan elected Tsai Ing-Wena member of the nominally pro-independence Democratic Progressive Partyas its president, Beijing has increased its efforts to isolate Taiwan.

The abduction puts Taiwans new government in a tough spot. Theres little it can do to retrieve its citizens from the hands of governments it has no official ties toTaiwan holds no formal or diplomatic relations with Kenya, and the two countries dont even share a commercial trade office.

But the situation is likely to increase international concerns about Beijings commitment to the rule of law under president Xi Jinping, and perhaps ramp up international support for Taiwan. After several Hong Kong booksellers were abducted and brought to mainland China in recent months, the US State Department, the European Parliament and others criticized Beijings actions.

A minister from Taiwans Mainland Affairs Council, the official bureau that oversees relations with Beijing, told Focus Taiwan this afternoon that it hopes to work with mainland Chinese authorities based on a cross-straits agreement on joint crime fighting. Theres no guarantee theyll cooperate.

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Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right) welcomes Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud upon his arrival at Esenboga Airport in Ankara, on April 11, 2016 (AFP Photo/Adem Altan)

Ankara (AFP) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday hosted Saudi King Salman at his presidential palace in Ankara, extending a lavish welcome that underlined the growing importance of Ankara-Riyadh ties.

Erdogan gave Salman Turkey's highest honour for a foreign leader and praised his role in developing relations between the two overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim powers since succeeding his half brother Abdullah in 2015.

"The fact that Turkey and Saudi Arabia are deepening their cooperation in every field, with your support, is an opportunity for regional and global peace," Erdogan told King Salman.

"Since the day you came to the throne, you made great contributions to relations between our two countries."

After a period of tension, Saudi Arabia under Salman has emerged as one of Erdogan's key allies with the two countries in particular sharing a common vision on the Syria conflict.

Erdogan greeted Salman at the vast new presidential palace with an honour guard of Turkish soldiers as well as 16 costumed warriors representing the various Turkic empires in history.

Mocked when they first appeared in 2015, the spear-carrying and mustachioed warriors are now regularly brought out for Erdogan's most honoured guests.

Erdogan on Monday personally welcomed Salman off his plane at Ankara airport, in an unprecedented departure from normal protocol.

The awarding of the Order of State, the highest honour presented by Turkey to foreign heads of state, was only the second time Erdogan had given out the decoration during his presidency.

- 'Invisible entente' -

Saudi Arabia and Turkey both believe the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad is the key to solving the Syrian conflict and back rebel groups fighting his regime.

The talks took place a day before negotiations in search of peace in Syria were due to resume in Geneva with a truce largely observed since February 27 under strain.

Turkey and Saudi Arabia have already repaired the damage to relations caused by Riyadh's role in the 2013 ousting of Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi, a close Ankara ally.

Story continues

"It's Turkey's invisible entente in the sense that Turkey has built this very deep alignment with the Saudis in the Middle East," said Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Programme at The Washington Institute.

Cagaptay told AFP that King Salman's view that Sunni Muslims should unite in the face of the threat from Shiite Iran had helped eradicate "some of the differences the previous king (Abdullah) had with Turkey".

In February, Turkey began hosting Saudi jets and military personnel at its Incirlik air base to join the air campaign against Islamic State jihadists.

Erdogan also backed Saudi Arabia in a diplomatic crisis with Iran over Riyadh's execution of prominent Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr in January.

Cagaptay said this showed the alignment between Ankara and Riyadh -- now comparable to Turkey's ties with NATO ally Washington -- was "possibly now a fact of life for Turkish foreign policy."

Turkey has found itself with few reliable allies in the Middle East following the Arab Spring and is also enduring a crisis in its relations with Russia.

"Ankara needs to find points of support in the region," Jean Marcou, political scientist and research director at Sciences Po Grenoble in France told AFP.

- 500 luxury cars -

The lavish arrangements for Salman's visit have raised eyebrows in the Turkish press, with the king reportedly staying in a 450 square-metre (4,850 square foot) hotel suite with bullet proof windows reinforced by bomb-resistant cement.

Saudi Arabia rented 500 luxury vehicles for his vast delegation and Turkish media images showed dozens of Mercedes travelling in a vast convoy down the closed highway.

The king's personal belongings had all been shipped to Turkey in cargo planes and a hundreds-strong delegation had laid the groundwork in Turkey before the king's arrival.

Salman now heads to Istanbul for the summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Thursday and Friday.
European Union flags flutter outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, in this file picture taken October 28, 2015. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir/Files

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission is in close contact with the Italian government over plans to set up a fund that will help weak lenders, a spokesman for the executive body said on Tuesday.

"At this stage, the Commission is not in a position to comment on it from a state aid perspective," the spokesman said, adding Brussels had received only preliminary information on the plan set out by the country's main financial institutions.

(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio; writing by Francesca Landini)
Singapore's definitive event for startups is now back on its fourth year.

Singapore Business Review will gather the citys top entrepreneurs and investors at the much-awaited 20 Hottest Startups of 2016 Panel Briefing, which will be held on Wednesday, April 20 in Singapore.

Now in its fourth year, Singapores definitive event for the country's most promising startups will cover topics including effective marketing for small firms, the future of social media companies, tips on clinching seed funding, and success secrets from the giants.

Panelists include the founders of companies which made the cut for SBRs 20 Hottest Startups to Watch in 2016 list, as well as investors and venture capitalists.

The full agenda and roster of speakers can be found here.

Interested participants can avail of passes here.

For concerns and inquiries, contact Dennice Paragas at dennice@charltonmediamail.com.







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PARIS (Reuters) - France will seek tougher EU sanctions on people who help to facilitate tax evasion and a G20 blacklist of uncooperative tax havens, the Finance Ministry said on Monday following the Panama Papers leaks.

Countries on the blacklist should be subject to "counter-measures coordinated by different states", the ministry said in a statement outlining the issues that Finance Minister Michel Sapin will push at meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the Group of 20 leading economies this week in Washington.

Some 96 jurisdictions have committed to automatically exchange tax information with other governments in the next two years, with some traditional offshore centres such as the British Virgin Islands due to start as early adopters next year.

Since signing up in principle last year, Panama has rowed back, saying it could not meet all the reporting standards required for automatic sharing.

Panama is now the only major financial centre among the countries that have not committed to the automatic sharing of tax information with other governments, according to an OECD report last month to G20 finance ministers. Bahrain, Nauru and Vanuatu have also not made such a commitment.

France's Finance Ministry said the European Union should play its part in clamping down on tax evasion by looking into imposing sanctions against people who help and encourage it.

Frustrated at Panama's lack of cooperation in sharing information on French taxpayers' activities in the country, the ministry also said it would seek to renegotiate a 2011 tax convention with Panama.

After last week's revelations about the clients of a Panamanian law firm specialised in setting up shell companies, France put Panama back on its own blacklist of uncooperative tax havens. Panama had been removed from the list after the signing of the 2011 bilateral tax convention.

(Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Michel Rose and Gareth Jones)
John Zimmer Lyft

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick claims he's not losing sleep over the growing international alliance between his rivals, but maybe he will now.

That's because it's all been hypothetical until this point. On Monday, Lyft and China's ride-hailing company Didi Kuaidi announced that their partnership is officially online.

Beginning with a public beta, Didi users visiting the US can open their Didi app to hail a Lyft. They don't need to worry about setting up a new account, paying in a foreign currency, or not knowing how to tell their driver where to go.

It's starting with Didi riders visiting the US, but soon the integration will be live across all of the partners in the alliance, including Singapore's Grab and India's Ola. That means US travelers visiting Singapore will be able to use the Lyft app during their travels, and vice versa.

The partnership officially going live is a reminder of the two different strategies ride-hailing companies are taking when it comes to going international.

Uber is reportedly losing $1 billion a year to try to compete with Didi Kuaidi in China  and that doesn't include its other battles throughout southeast Asia and the Middle East.

Lyft, meanwhile, decided to strike up these international partnerships in 2015 instead of forging into new markets itself. The partnerships mean that people can keep returning to Lyft's app for a ride, even if they're in China or India.

In an interview with the Times of India in January, Uber's CEO did not mince words when it came to debunking the mythical threat this alliance poses.

"The anti-Uber alliance is not a corporation or identity, it's an idea. They can have coffee together on Sundays, I guess," Kalanick told the Times of India.

Now that Didi users can choose Lyft over Uber, the partnership may be a little more serious.

NOW WATCH: The insanely successful life of Uber billionaire Travis Kalanick





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NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Apr 11, 2016) - World Moto, Inc. (OTC: FARE) (BERLIN: WM7) (BERLIN: A1J8SY) ("World Moto" or the "Company"), a leader in advanced solutions for motorcycle taxis and on-demand transport, today announced that the Company's HailYes service is the only legal motorcycle taxi hailing system operating in Thailand.

Thailand's Land Transport Department recently ruled that motorcycle taxi hailing services such as Grab and Uber are illegal under Thailand law, leaving HailYes as the only fully legal motorcycle hailing service operating in Thailand. HailYes uses licensed and registered public transportation providers in Thailand to offer an e-hailing service that complies with all regulatory requirements. Users are able to hail a motorcycle from anywhere within the coverage area, and a motorcycle taxi from a local queue will be called to service the request. Pricing is identical to that received when hailing from the street, and any licensed transportation provider with a smartphone is allowed to join the service.

As reported in major Thai newspapers, Department of Land Transport deputy director-general Nantapong Chertchu stated that all operations must comply with the framework of the law, and urged all citizens to use only legal public transport. This new standing for HailYes will now allow the Company to launch marketing campaigns to increase awareness and demand for HailYes. The app, available for both iOS and Android, includes several features such as driver ratings, immediate or future booking of vehicles, and electronic receipts. More than 500 legal and registered drivers are currently signed up with HailYes to offer services.

World Moto CEO Paul Giles stated "As motorcycle taxi hailing services proliferate, transportation departments in countries around the world are recognizing the need for additional regulation of this industry. HailYes and the Moto-Meter are well positioned to take advantage of this trend as they offer all the advantages of traditional e-hailing platforms while still maintaining the safety and security that governments require to manage the sector. We look forward to working with these governments to implement solutions beneficial to all stake holders."

Watch a video of the Moto-Meter with smartphone app at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPf4PpZs2dM

To be added to the World Moto email distribution list, please email invest@worldmoto.com

About World Moto

World Moto is a technology company that designs, manufactures, markets and sells Moto-Meter products, devices that provide moto-taxi fare metering and other communication capabilities. The Company's Moto-Meter patents have been granted in 4 countries, with applications pending in another 56 jurisdictions. World Moto's products and services include the Moto-Meter, arguably the world's first motorcycle taxi meter, Wheelies, which display static and streaming media content on the wheels of motorcycles, and Yes (aka HailYes), a smartphone app for on-demand transportation. For more information on World Moto, please visit World Moto's website at www.worldmoto.com.

Community

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/worldmoto

Video Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/worldmoto

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in Section 27(a) of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Statements in this press release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such forward-looking statements include, among other things, estimates of motorcycle taxi markets and Moto-Meter sales, release of HailYes apps, global ride-hailing market, growth of platform, target markets, product releases, product demand and, business strategy. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the inherent uncertainties associated with new projects and development stage companies. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although we believe that any beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that any such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate. Investors should consult all of the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factors disclosure outlined in our annual report on Form 10-K for the most recent fiscal year, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other periodic reports filed from time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Details of the Company's business, finances, appointments and agreements can be found as part of the Company's continuous public disclosure as a reporting issuer under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission's EDGAR database.
Italy's Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni (left) holds a press conference upon his arrival in the Libyan capital Tripoli on April 12, 2016 (AFP Photo/Mahmud Turkia)

Tripoli (AFP) - Italy's foreign minister hailed Libya's new unity government Tuesday as a "game changer" as he held talks in Tripoli during the first visit by a top Western official since 2014.

In another boost to the unity leaders, lawmakers with Libya's internationally recognised parliament said they would vote next week on whether to endorse the UN-backed cabinet.

Italy's top diplomat Paolo Gentiloni met Fayez al-Sarraj, named prime minister-designate under a UN-backed power-sharing deal in December, amid tight security in Tripoli.

It came as representatives of dozens of countries and international organisations including the World Bank held talks in neighbouring Tunisia on ways to help the unity government shape its priorities.

World powers see the establishment of the unity cabinet as vital to tackling a raging jihadist insurgency and rampant people smuggling in the North African state.

"This decision was a game changer," Gentiloni said in Tripoli of the establishment of the UN-backed government.

Foreign embassies would be reopened in the capital in "the near future", he added.

Italy is supporting the unity government "because it will pave the way to the stabilisation of Libya -- then we can manage human trafficking and smugglers and terrorism," Gentiloni said.

He said that European countries were ready to work with Libya to tackle the Islamic State group (IS), but that the country's government and people must lead the fight.

"We can cooperate but cannot decide for the Libyans," he said before flying to Tunisia to join the international conference.

Gentiloni's brief visit comes nearly two weeks after Sarraj arrived in Tripoli by sea with a naval escort and established his headquarters at a naval base.

He has since won the support of key institutions that control Libya's wealth and also appears to have the backing of at least some militias.

But Sarraj has not yet received the endorsement of the country's internationally recognised parliament, and the head of a rival Tripoli-based administration has refused to recognise his authority.

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The recognised legislature will, however, meet on Monday for a vote of confidence in the unity government, parliamentarians said.

Libya has been plagued by instability since the 2011 uprising that ousted longtime ruler Moamer Kadhafi, with IS taking advantage of the chaos to seize territory.

- No 'combat mission' -

The oil-rich country has had two rival administrations since mid-2014 when a militia alliance overran Tripoli, setting up its own authority and forcing the recognised parliament to flee to the remote east.

Italy, the former colonial power in the North African state, has played a leading role in international efforts to pressure Libya's warring rivals to rally behind the unity government.

European nations in particular have been alarmed by the expansion of IS in Libya, just 300 kilometres (185 miles) from Italy across the Mediterranean.

The jihadist group last year seized control of Kadhafi's coastal hometown of Sirte and has been fighting to expand to other areas.

The number of IS fighters in Libya has doubled in the past 12-18 months and now stands at about 4,000 to 6,000, the head of US forces in Africa, General David Rodriguez, said last week.

As well as tackling IS, European governments hope the unity government can crack down on people smugglers who have stepped up their lucrative business in Libya amid the chaos.

Libya has long been a stepping stone for migrants, and there are concerns that European efforts to shut down the migrant sea crossing from Turkey to Greece will encourage more people to leave from North Africa.

Libyan coastguards on Tuesday intercepted six boats carrying 649 would-be migrants and returned them to Tripoli, a spokesman said.

Sarraj posted on Facebook that he and Gentiloni discussed the fight against extremism as well as the migrant crisis.

"What the unity government will ask the international community to do in the fight against terrorism is (provide) support and coordination to safeguard national security, rather than a combat mission," he wrote.

Western nations are openly considering military action against the extremists but have said that this can only happen at the request of a unity government.

Italy said Tuesday it had provided 1 million euros worth of food and medicine in western Libya over the past month.
naval strike missile NSM konsberg

As part of the Navy's push towards "distributed lethatlity," littoral combat ships will soon be equipped with the Norwegian built Naval Strike Missile (NSM), an "over-the-horizon" antiship cruise missile with a range of about 115 miles.

The US Navy has long sought to increase the firepower of its more numerous smaller ships, and the NSM, developed by Norway's Kongsberg fits the bill.

The missile is designed to challenge all types of enemy defenses, with a stealthy design that is hard for radars to detect and the ability to skim just feet above the ocean's surface.

It can determine ships in a group of ships by ship class, locating the ship which is its designated target. It will attack only that target, Gary Holst, senior director for Naval Surface Warfare at Kongsberg, told Scout Warrior.

Not only does the NSM confuse and evade enemy defenses, it has an infrared imaging seeker to stay on target.

Here's a GIF of the NSM in action. (Keep in mind that to keep testing costs down, the missile was not intended to sink the ship)

NOW WATCH: EX-UNDERCOVER DEA AGENT: What I did when drug dealers asked me to try the product





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VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Apr 12, 2016) - Lundin Gold Inc. ("Lundin Gold" or the "Company") (LUG.TO)(LUG.ST) is pleased to report that video excerpts from an address made by Ecuador President Rafael Correa, during the recent inaugural visit to the Fruta del Norte project, are now available on the Lundin Gold website (http://www.lundingold.com/). President Correa spoke to a large delegation of local community members and employees of the Company about the continued support of the Government of Ecuador for the mining industry and Lundin Gold.

The Company is also pleased to announce the hiring of Mr. David Dicaire as Project Director. David will be responsible for overseeing the proposed early works program, engineering and construction for the Fruta del Norte project. David has over 35 years of experience in the mining, engineering and construction industry on a variety of global projects leading both the Owners and EPCM teams. Most recently, David was employed by Freeport-McMoRan Inc. as the Project Director for the highly successful US$4.6 billion Cerro Verde Expansion Project in Peru. Prior to moving to Freeport, David was the General Manager, Project Development for South America for Xstrata Copper (now Glencore plc) based in Santiago, Chile. David's experience covers all facets of project management for all types of mining projects ranging from running EPC/EPCM projects down to pre-feasibility studies.

Ron Hochstein, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented that "the visit from President Correa was a great opportunity to show the work done to date and reinforce the Government's support. The addition of David brings extensive project management skills to the team and will enable the Company to move from feasibility study to basic engineering and construction."

Work on the feasibility study is progressing well, and the release of the study is anticipated for the latter half of this quarter.

The information in this release is subject to the disclosure requirements of Lundin Gold under the Swedish Securities Market Act and/or the Swedish Financial Instruments Trading Act. This information was publicly communicated on April 12, 2016 at 3:00 p.m. Pacific Time.

Story continues

About the Company:

Lundin Gold Inc. owns the Fruta del Norte ("FDN") gold project located in southeast Ecuador. FDN is one of the largest and highest grade undeveloped gold projects in the world. The Company is advancing FDN in order to realize the significant potential of this asset and is currently working on the FDN feasibility study scheduled to be completed in Q2 2016.

The Company believes that the value created will not only greatly benefit shareholders, but also the Government and people of Ecuador who are the Company's most important stakeholders in this project. Lundin Gold views its commitment to corporate social responsibility as a strategic advantage that enables it both to access and effectively manage business opportunities in increasingly complex environments. Lundin Gold is committed to addressing the challenge of sustainability - delivering value to its shareholders, while simultaneously providing economic and social benefits to impacted communities and minimizing its environmental footprint.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information and Statements

Certain of the information and statements in this press release are considered "forward-looking information" or "forward-looking statements" as those terms are defined under Canadian securities laws (collectively referred to as "forward-looking statements"). Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, identified by words or phrases such as "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "is expected", "scheduled", "estimates", "pending", "intends", "plans", "forecasts", "targets", or "hopes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "will", "should" "might", "will be taken", or "occur" and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements.

By their nature, forward-looking statements and information involve assumptions, inherent risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict, and are usually beyond the control of management, that could cause actual results to be materially different from those expressed by these forward-looking statements and information. Lundin Gold believes that the expectations reflected in this forward looking information are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking information should not be unduly relied upon. This information speaks only as of the date of this press release, and the Company will not necessarily update this information, unless required to do so by securities laws.

This MD&A contains forward-looking information in a number of places, such as in statements pertaining to: completion of the feasibility study for the Fruta del Norte Project, exploration and development expenditures and reclamation costs, the negotiation and signing of the investment protection agreement and signing of the exploitation agreement with the government, exploration plans, timing and success of permitting and regulatory approvals, future sources of liquidity, capital expenditures and requirements, expectations of market prices and costs, development, construction and operation of the Fruta del Norte Project, future tax payments and rates, cash flows and their uses and estimates of Mineral Resources.

There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as Lundin Gold's actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in this forward-looking information as a result of the factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section in Lundin Gold's Annual Information Form dated March 14, 2016 available at www.sedar.com.

Lundin Gold's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated. Management has identified the following risk factors which could have a material impact on the Company or the trading price of its shares: the ability to arrange financing, the timely receipt of regulatory approvals, permits and licenses, risks related to carrying on business in an emerging market such as possible government instability and civil turmoil and economic instability, measures required to protect endangered species, deficient or vulnerable title to mining concessions and surface rights; the potential for litigation; volatility in the market price of the Company's shares; the risk to shareholders of dilution from future equity financings; the cost of compliance or failure to comply with applicable laws; difficulty complying with changing government regulations and policies, including without limitation, compliance with environment, health and safety regulations; illegal mining; uncertainty as to reclamation and decommissioning liabilities, unreliable infrastructure and local opposition to mining; the accuracy of the Mineral Resource estimates for the Fruta del Norte Project and the Company's reliance on one project; volatility in the price of gold; shortages of resources, such as labour, and the dependence on key personnel; the Company's lack of operating history in Ecuador and negative cash flow; the inadequacy of insurance; potential conflicts of interest for the Company's directors who are engaged in similar businesses; limitations of disclosure and internal controls; and the potential influence of the Company's largest shareholders.
Wall Street is struggling to hold on to gains. Stocks (^DJI, ^GSPC) turned mixed shortly after the opening bell, as weakness in technology shares weighed on the Nasdaq (^IXIC).



Brent crude prices (BZM16.NYM) touched their highest level this year in early trading on hopes oil producers will agree to freeze output when they meet on Sunday.

Get the Latest Market Data and New with the Yahoo Finance App

Alcoa (AA) shares were down sharply. Even though the aluminum producer reported earnings per share that topped analysts' estimates for the first quarter, profit fell 92% and revenue missed estimates, with sales down 15% from a year ago. The company also lowered its 2016 outlook for the aerospace market and said it could cut as many as 2,000 jobs as it prepares to split the company.

Starbucks (SBUX) got hit with a downgrade this morning. Deutsche Bank cut its rating on the stock to hold from buy and reduced the price target on the stock to $64 dollars a share. Analyst Brett Levy cited concerns about valuation and a potential sales disruption from changes in its rewards program. In a note to clients Levy wrote that "lofty, near-term investors' expectations" lead to a less favorable risk-vs.-reward investment outlook on the stock. "[Starbucks] results are likely to remain among best in class, but its shares could see limited upside in the coming quarters given challenging sales comparisons and given changes in the domestic loyalty program, which could slow traffic trendsas competitors view for new customersin the coming quarters."

Get the Latest Market Data and New with the Yahoo Finance App

Juniper Networks (JNPR) was down sharply in early trading after the network gear maker slashed its earnings and revenue guidance for the first quarter. The company is blaming weak demand from its enterprise division, as well as from U.S. and European telecom customers. Juniper is set to report quarterly results on April 28. Shares of rival Cisco Systems (CSCO) also fell on the news.



Alibaba (BABA) is buying a controlling stake in Southeast Asian online retailer Lazada. The $1 billion deal will help the Chinese e-commerce giant tap into six countries in the region. Our parent company Yahoo (YHOO) has about a 15% stake in Alibaba.

Story continues

Verizon (VZ) could face a major strike Wednesday morning. Unions representing some 40,000 of the company's landline phone and cable workers are threatening walk off the job if the two sides don't agree to a new contract. Verizon workers have been without a contract since August.

Facebook's F8 developers conference kicks off

Get ready for more announcements from Facebook (FB). The site's two day F8 developers conference officially begins today, and the key events will focus on chatbots, live streaming and its Messenger app.

Turmoil at Viacom

CEO Philippe Dauman is being accused of trying to cover up Sumner Redstone's health issues. Redstone, Viacom's (VIAB) controlling shareholder, reportedly opposes Dauman's plan to sell a minority stake in Paramount Pictures. This comes after Dauman claimed Redstone agreed to the sale. It is unclear if the sale process will continue.

Netflix takes top spot for best original content: Morgan Stanley

Finally, Netflix (NFLX) is the new king of original content, at least according to a survey by Morgan Stanley. Netflix beat out HBO (TWX) for the first time to claim the top spot, while Amazon (AMZN) Instant came in a distant third place.
TipRanks

For stock market watchers, 2022 will be remembered as the year of the bear. Going by year-to-date performance, the major indexes are likely to see out 2022 posting negative returns. The same, however, cannot be said for natural gas stocks, which driven by the macro conditions  namely Russias invasion of Ukraine - have delivered excellent returns for investors, even accounting for the segments recent pullback. Looking at the prospects of the U.S.s natural gas sector, Jefferies Lloyd Byrne th
Turkish soldiers stand guard by their armoured vehicle in the empty streets of Diyarbakir on October 8, 2014 (AFP Photo/Ilyas Akengin) (AFP/File)

Diyarbakir (Turkey) (AFP) - Two Turkish soldiers were killed and more than 50 people wounded when a car bomb exploded at a military post in Turkey's restive Kurdish-dominated southeast, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Tuesday.

Turkish authorities blamed the attack on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has killed hundreds of members of the security forces in a resurgent campaign of violence in the last few months.

Davutoglu denounced the "vile attack" accusing what he termed the "terrorist organisation" of resorting to such attacks whenever it was backed into corner, in reference to the PKK.

The attack late on Monday targeted a military outpost in the Hani district of Diyarbakir province and left 52 people injured, including civilians.

The security forces launched a search operation to capture those responsible following the bombing, a military source told AFP.

Turkey has waged an offensive against the PKK after the collapse in 2015 of a two-year ceasefire declared by the group which has waged a insurgency against the Turkish state lasting more than three decades.

The renewed conflict has also struck at the heart of the country, with two attacks that killed dozens of people in the capital Ankara claimed by Kurdish rebels.

A radical PKK splinter group, the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), claimed responsibility for the two suicide car bombings in Ankara on February 17 and March 13.

Over 40,000 people have been killed since the PKK took up arms in 1984 demanding a homeland for Turkey's biggest minority. Since then, the group has pared back its demands to focus on cultural rights and a measure of autonomy.
JAKARTA, April 12 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian markets

rose on Tuesday, with a tax cut plan by Indonesia helping stocks

rebound from the biggest one-day loss in seven weeks, while

Thailand had its best day since March 30 ahead of a long

holiday.

Leading the regional market, Thailand rose 1.1

percent in light trading, led by airport operator Airports of

Thailand Pcl that climbed 1.6 percent.

KT ZMICO Securities in Bangkok said Airports of Thailand

sees passenger volumes for April 1-9, ahead of the big Songkran

(New Year) Festival, rise 12 percent from a year ago.

Shares of heavyweight energy company PTT Pcl rose

as much as 1.4 percent to touch their highest since March 30

before settling 0.7 percent higher.

Oil reached a 2016 high above $43 a barrel on Tuesday,

supported by hopes that an upcoming meeting of oil producers

will agree steps to tackle a supply glut, and by a weak U.S.

dollar and further signs of strong demand in China.

Thailand's stock market will be closed on Wednesday through

rest of the week for the Songkran Festival.

Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index, which hit a

two-week low on Monday, rose 0.9 percent. The gains came on the

back of positive domestic sentiment, Trimegah Securities said in

Jakarta.

"These positive sentiments are, first, the government plan

to reduce corporate tax rate to 20 percent; second, government

proposed non-taxable income ceiling to be increased," it said in

a note on Tuesday.

Indonesia plans to cut tax rates on corporate profits in an

upcoming revision of the income tax law, possibly bringing down

the rate for companies by 5 percentage points, the finance

minister told lawmakers on Monday.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Indonesian parliament started

discussion on a tax amnesty bill that may bring in undeclared

assets stashed overseas.

Indonesia's automotive company PT Astra International Tbk

bounced from its lowest in a month to climb 3.9

percent, its best single-day percentage gain since Feb. 26.

Singapore and the Philippines each gained 0.2

Story continues

percent, while the Malaysian index posted a slim loss.

For Asian Companies click;

SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS

Change on day

Market Current Prev close Pct move

Singapore 2814.65 2809.24 0.19

Kuala Lumpur 1715.00 1715.28 -0.02

Bangkok 1385.42 1369.84 1.14

Jakarta 4829.57 4786.97 0.89

Manila 7306.56 7291.43 0.21

Ho Chi Minh 579.84 579.27 0.10

Change on year

Market Current End 2015 Pct move

Singapore 2814.65 2882.73 -2.36

Kuala Lumpur 1715.00 1692.51 1.33

Bangkok 1385.42 1288.02 7.56

Jakarta 4829.57 4593.008 5.15

Manila 7306.56 6952.08 5.10

Ho Chi Minh 579.84 579.03 0.14

(Reporting by Fransiska Nangoy; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)
(Adds further comment and detail)

By Joshua Franklin and Rozanna Latiff

ZURICH/KUALA LUMPUR, April 12 (Reuters) - Swiss authorities have expanded a criminal probe surrounding state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) to include two former Emirati officials in charge of Abu Dhabi sovereign funds, Switzerland's Office of the Attorney General (OAG) said.

Swiss authorities began investigations in August tied to 1MDB for suspected corruption of public foreign officials, dishonest management of public interests and money laundering.

The inquiry has so far shown that about $4 billion appeared to have been misappropriated from Malaysian state companies, Attorney General Michael Lauber said in January.

Swiss authorities are now looking into how 1MDB subsidiaries obtained a guarantee from an Abu Dhabi sovereign fund to repay bonds issued to finance investments in electric power plants, the OAG said in a statement on Tuesday.

The two former Emirati officials are under investigation for fraud, criminal mismanagement, misconduct in public office, forgery of a document, bribery of foreign public officials and money laundering, it added.

The statement did not name the two officials.

"The Swiss authorities have elements in hand allowing them to suspect that the amounts paid in connection with this guarantee were not returned to the Abu Dhabi sovereign fund that supported the commercial risk," the OAG said.

"To the contrary, these funds would have benefited others, particularly two public officials concerned as well as a company related to the motion picture industry. A former 1MDB body already indicted in the Swiss proceedings has also benefited from these amounts."

The Wall Street Journal has reported that investigators believe much of the funds used to make the 2013 Hollywood film The Wolf of Wall Street were diverted from 1MDB. 1MDB has denied the report.

The OAG also said it had issued two new requests for mutual legal assistance to Luxembourg and Singapore.

Story continues

WIDE-RANGING SCRUTINY

Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund, International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC), and its subsidiary Aabar Investments PJS had said on Monday that a firm with an almost identical name, Aabar Investments PJS Ltd, "was not an entity within either corporate group".

The firm, registered in the British Virgin Islands, had received $3.5 billion from 1MDB, according to a Malaysian parliamentary committee report released last Thursday.

Investigators in at least five nations in addition to Switzerland are scrutinising transactions connected with 1MDB in a wide-ranging money-laundering, fraud and corruption probe.

The Malaysian parliamentary report said 1MDB's senior management withheld crucial information from its executive board and made transactions without its knowledge or approval, resulting in debts amounting to about $11 billion. The 1MDB board collectively offered to resign following the report.

Prime Minister Najib Razak, who chairs 1MDB's advisory board, has been fending off allegations he was a beneficiary of 1MDB's funds after about $681 million was deposited into his personal bank account.

He denies wrongdoing and in January was cleared of any criminal offences by Malaysia's attorney general.

(Reporting by Joshua Franklin; editing by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi and Richard Balmforth)
Johnny Chiang, a legislator from the Kuomintang (KMT) party, displays a video showing Taiwanese detented at a police station in Kenya, during a press conference in Taipei, in April 2016 (AFP Photo/Sam Yeh)

Taiwan said Kenyan police broke down a jail wall and used tear gas Tuesday to force a second group of Taiwanese to board a plane for China, a day after accusing Beijing of "abducting" eight other citizens.

The 15 Taiwanese were being held in a police station despite being cleared by a Kenyan court of involvement in a cyber scam, the foreign ministry said.

Taiwan's representative in Africa was informed early Tuesday that Kenyan police were trying to remove the 15 from the station and send them to China, it added.

"Our colleague went immediately to the prison to see the detainees but faced all kinds of impediments," said Chen Chun-shen, chief of West Asian and African affairs at the ministry.

"They refused to cooperate with the deportation... so the police broke down the walls, using tear gas, and then more than 10 police went in with assault rifles," Chen told reporters in Taipei.

Three people from China's Kenyan embassy were present, he said. Taiwan itself has no diplomatic ties with Kenya and its nearest diplomat is based in the South African capital.

There was no immediate confirmation the 15 had left for China.

Taipei has already strongly protested to Beijing at the earlier deportation of eight Taiwanese who were also cleared in Kenya of cyber fraud charges.

It accused China of kidnapping the eight and demanded their speedy return from the mainland. One of the eight has an American passport, Taiwan's foreign ministry said.

Another 22 Taiwanese arrested just last week over similar allegations were also expected to be sent to China Tuesday, it said.

Mainland authorities have not confirmed details of the deportations and Taipei is still seeking a response.

When asked about the incidents, China's foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said: "The One-China policy is an important precondition for bilateral relations with China and other countries.

"We commend Kenya for its upholding of this policy," he told a regular briefing.

Story continues

China still regards Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary, even though Taiwan has ruled itself since 1949.

Taiwan's previously frosty relations with the mainland have improved over the past eight years under outgoing president Ma Ying-jeou, whose Kuomintang party has a tacit agreement with Beijing to acknowledge there is "One China."

But the latest episode has angered both the government and the opposition.

The mainland is stepping up pressure on Taiwan president-elect Tsai Ing-wen -- who is set to take office in May -- as Beijing does not trust her historically pro-independence party.

Tsai condemned what she called the abduction by the mainland in a Facebook post Tuesday and urged the release of the citizens.

"This incident will deepen the negative perception of the mainland in Taiwan's society," she said.

The mother of one of the men forcibly removed from jail Tuesday told Apple Daily newspaper he was in Kenya on holiday with friends.

He was part of a group of 28 Taiwanese and 49 other ethnic Chinese arrested in November 2014 on charges of illegally entering the African state and being involved in fraud.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz cut loose in an appearance on Glen Becks radio show Tuesday, belittling Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump as a child of privilege who grew up to be a wannabe mobster, and claiming there is now a consistent pattern ... of Donald and his henchmen pushing for violence.

The attack on Trump came just days after the billionaires newly hired convention manager, Paul Manafort, accused Cruz of using Gestapo tactics to sway delegates to the Republican nominating convention in Cleveland this summer.

Related: Trump Names Some Surprising Picks for VP

In his retaliatory remarks, Cruz cited a fictional purveyor of violence rather than historical ones.

Donald needs to understand that hes not Michael Corleone, Cruz said. I understand that Donald has had some very shady business deals with people that are currently in prison. Mobsters. But the presidency should not be La Cosa Nostra ... Donald Trump keeps hiring people with records of dirty tricks, lies and threats of violence.

Cruz blasted Trump for appearing to support violence at his own rallies, predicting riots if he is denied the nomination.

Donald needs to stop threatening the voters. He needs to stop threatening the delegates. He is not a mobster.

Related: How Cruz and Trump Voters Will Tear the GOP Apart

Criticizing Trumps past comments that appeared to advocate violence against protesters at his rallies, Cruz added, No politician has the right to threaten violence against American citizens. Even lefty numbskulls are American citizens and you dont threaten violence against them.

The Texas senator, who still trails Trump in both pledged delegates and in national opinion polls of GOP voters, suggested that Trumps history of wealth and privilege has left him detached from reality as other people experience it.

Donald has been surrounded by sycophants his entire business career, he said. He was born into great wealth and privilege ... at every stage, when he told a joke, everyone in the room laughed. Whether it was funny or not, you had to laugh.

Story continues

He also added a dig at one of his former competitors, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has since endorsed Trump.

Related: Why Paul Ryan Will Dodge the GOP Presidential Snake Pit

Look at the humiliation he inflicts on people like Chris Christie, Cruz said, adding that the New Jersey governor is a good man whom he personally likes. Yet, Cruz plainly enjoyed commenting on the servility of Christie in Trumps presence and his new tendency to address the frontrunner as Mr. Trump instead of Donald.

Chris Christie right now is trapped in his own private hell, he said, discussing a widely remarked-on press conference in which Christie was forced to stand behind Trump as the billionaire delivered a rambling speech. When Chris was standing behind Trump holding his jacket, the look in his eyes, you could see the screaming.

As he has done in the past, Cruz continued to claim that he is confident that the GOP nomination will not be decided until the convention and that his superior organization will give him the advantage he needs to win there in July.

He even suggested that Trump, who has run a very lean campaign, may never have really expected to be president.

I think theres a real chance that this was a lark, this was Lets get some publicity, lets have some fun Cruz said, adding that when he began to have some success, I think he was a surprised as anybody.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
Gang member face tattoo central america

Gangs like the Mara Salvatrucha have spread their influence all over the Western Hemisphere, and one of the clearest signs that you're dealing with a member is the garish tattoos that often adorn their bodies.

The designs of those tattoos are often different, specified by the individual and their gang, but there's an underlying reason for why they get them, and it makes perfect business sense.

"There's a weird economic reason for these tattoos: It makes these employees much easier for the cartel or the gang to keep hold of," Tom Wainwright, author of "Narconomics" and former Economist reporter in Mexico City told Business Insider.

"If you picture one of these gangs in El Salvador, where many of the members have tattoos, literally from head to toe, it's much much harder for those employees to go and find a job somewhere else," Wainwright added.

The Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13, is most closely associated with the head-to-toe tattoos.

Prisons in El Salvador and Honduras, where MS-13 is based, are full of current and former gang members coated with ink identifying their loyalties, whether they be to MS-13 or another Central American gang like Barrio 18, which is regarded as one of MS-13's main rivals.

Barrio 18 gang member tattoos

While the inkings are often inscrutable to outsiders, members of the gang world are familiar with their meanings. This helps them identify compatriots and prevents members from straying.

"These guys can't find work anywhere else," because the markings make it difficult for them to switch allegiances, Wainwright told Business Insider.

"They can't find work with a rival cartel, and so they have to stay working for the gang that they started off with. This makes them much cheaper and it means that the gang can treat them how they like."

Story continues

MS-13 Salvador gang member tattoos

As these gangs have spread to places were anti-gang law-enforcement efforts are more robust  like the suburbs of Washington, DC  the tattoos have become a less central part of gang life.

Tattoo-removal programs have also cropped up, as government and civil-society efforts to pull people away from gangs have ramped up.

But for MS-13 and other gangs, where proof of loyalty is vital, tattoos aren't going anywhere.

"It's something that's strongly encouraged," Wainwright said. "And I think if you want to join a gang like the Mara Salvatrucha in El Salvador, you can't join unless you get the tattoos."

NOW WATCH: The weird economic reason drug cartel members get head-to-toe tattoos





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* Finance minister interfaces with IMF on loans

* Groysman's nomination is decided by parliament

* Yatseniuk stepping down after months of infighting

By Natalia Zinets and Pavel Polityuk

KIEV, April 11 (Reuters) - Ukraine's likely new prime minister Volodymyr Groysman said on Monday that coalition members were assembling a reform-minded cabinet to root out corruption and cronyism, but it was not yet settled who would take the crucial post of finance minister.

Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk, who has headed the government since the heady days of the 2014 pro-Europe "Maidan" uprising, tendered his resignation on Sunday culminating months of infighting.

That has delayed disbursement of billions of dollars in aid from the International Monetary Fund and Western backers as the economy continues to be weighed down by war with Russian-backed rebels in the east.

The two largest parties - President Petro Poroshenko's BPP and Yatseniuk's People's Front - are expected to announce a new coalition agreement in the coming days with a rebooted government, headed by Groysman, a long-standing ally of Poroshenko.

The two parties are under pressure to end the deadlock and avert snap parliamentary elections. But with only a slender majority in parliament the new alliance may struggle to pass reform laws as populist former coalition allies have vowed to vote against IMF-backed austerity measures.

In Brussels, the head of the Council of Europe, a 47-member body which acts in an advisory role to the EU, said Ukraine had become "very volatile" since Yatseniuk resigned.

"It is urgent that they establish a new government and even more urgent that they speed up the reform process," Thorbjoern Jagland told reporters.

Groysman said he would be willing to lead a government committed to rooting out corruption and sleaze that critics say undermine any reform drive in Ukraine.

But it was not clear if Finance Minister Natalia Yaresko, a U.S.-born technocrat who is respected in Washington, would keep her job - a lynchpin position given Ukraine's strategic dealings with the IMF and other Western backers.

Story continues

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden raised the issue of continuing economic reforms when he spoke to Yatseniuk on Sunday.

"The leaders agreed these changes must be irreversible and that continued progress is critical to securing a prosperous future for the people Ukraine," the White House said in a statement.

"The leaders also agreed on the importance of assembling a new Cabinet committed to implementing needed reforms, in particular those recommended by the International Monetary Fund and European Union," it said.

"If the coalition suggest I head the government, I would need the new government to have a core of people who have proved in recent times they lack political bias, are clean, and able to carry out reforms," Groysman told journalists on Monday.

Groysman's nomination and proposed government will have to be approved by a majority in parliament. But his appointment as prime minister would be a disappointment to some reformists, who say this would consolidate power in the hands of Poroshenko - with whom he is very close - and his inner circle.

"I'm not going to vote for Groysman (to be prime minister), because I don't believe in his skills as a reformer ... and he's too close to the president. There is a permanent risk of some conspiracy," BPP lawmaker Serhiy Leshchenko said on channel Hromadske.

Former Slovak finance minister Ivan Miklos, currently an adviser to Finance Minister Yaresko, was reported to be in line to replace her - something that might have assured reformists and Ukraine's allies that a technocrat would remain in charge of the country's war-torn finances.

But a source in the Ukrainian parliament said Miklos would remain only as an adviser.

Groysman appeared to backtrack on earlier statements where he said Miklos would have a place in the cabinet. "There are a number of what I see as highly qualified candidates and I am insisting that all should be considered."

Lawmakers said a new coalition agreement was likely to be announced in the coming days.

(Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
By Zeba Siddiqui MUMBAI (Reuters) - Two Indian drugmakers said they had given up a battle to copy drugs developed by Bristol Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca , blaming a lack of government support for cheap generics and pressure from Big Pharma. Both companies, BDR Pharma and Lee Pharma, had been seeking so-called compulsory licenses that override patents and allow generics firms in India to launch cheap copies of medicines manufactured by big Western drugmakers. But now the two mid-sized generics players say their efforts have been thwarted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's target to boost foreign investment in India and the resulting emphasis on protecting intellectual property, which is getting in the way of the government's promise to provide cheap drugs for the poor. "There is no point in pursuing it anymore," Dharmesh Shah, BDR's managing director, told Reuters. The debate over cheap drugs is hugely emotive in India, home to 1.2 billion people, most of who live on less than $2 a day. It grabbed fresh headlines last month after a U.S. business lobby group said New Delhi assured it that compulsory licences would no longer be issued for commercial purposes. India's commerce ministry, however, said there was no change to its policy, although campaigners and watchdogs including India's National Human Rights Commission said they were worried about what looked like a shift in direction. India first issued a compulsory license for a medicine in 2012, allowing Natco Pharma to sell a copy of German drugmaker Bayer's cancer drug Nexavar at a tenth of the original price. The move was criticised by large multinationals. But BDR's application to copy Bristol Myers' cancer drug dasatinib, with an aim to sell it at about $122 for a month's course versus the original price of about $2,491, was rejected in 2013. Lee Pharma was rejected in January this year after a second review of its application seeking to make a cheaper form of AstraZeneca's type 2 diabetes drug saxagliptin. The patent controller said Lee did not make a strong enough case. Both BDR and Lee said they were now no longer appealing, in moves they described as emblematic of an exasperated industry. "If the government itself is not inclined then why unnecessarily slog on this issue?" said A. Venkata Reddy, Lee's managing director. A health ministry official did not comment and referred the matter to the commerce ministry. Officials at the commerce ministry declined to comment. India's Controller General of Patents and Trademarks, part of the commerce ministry, did not respond to requests for comment. MAKE IN INDIA Modi, who came to power in 2014, has led a campaign to boost investment and manufacturing to speed up growth and create jobs, and is also reviewing the country's patent rules. A new intellectual property policy is due out soon. As a result, enthusiasm for compulsory licenses has cooled among government officials, industry executives and lawyers representing BDR and Lee told Reuters. Rajeshwari Hariharan, the lawyer who represented Natco in the 2012 case, said other companies had considered applying for licenses, but dropped plans. She declined to name them. Sujay Shetty, who leads the life sciences practice for consultants PwC in India, agreed the government would be reluctant and use licenses sparingly. But he added: "You can never say never in India because of pressure on prices and access to medicines." India represents a lucrative market for drugmakers, especially in diseases such as cancer and diabetes, as the population ages and gains weight. The country already has a $15 billion generics industry. But stringent regulations around clinical trials and price control on medicines have made the operating environment tough. Several large Indian drugmakers also aspire to expand to countries like the United States and Europe, another reason to strike friendly deals with Big Pharma. In recent months, several Indian firms have struck such licensing deals, under which profit-sharing and drug prices are decided mutually by companies. In contrast, the government sets royalty rates for compulsory licenses. ($1 = 66.4950 rupees) (Additional reporting by Ben Hirschler in LONDON; Editing by Clara Ferreira Marques and Himani Sarkar)
WASHINGTON, April 12 (Reuters) - The United States will keep currency issues on the boil during this week's meetings of the G20 major economies, International Monetary Fund and World Bank, urging faster progress toward market-driven exchange rates, a senior U.S. Treasury official said on Tuesday.

The official also told reporters the United States would try to encourage greater investment in infrastructure as a way to boost near-term demand while also increasing longer-term growth prospects.

"Throughout the upcoming discussions, we will emphasize the importance that all G20 members honor their commitments to move more rapidly to more market determined exchange rate systems, avoid persistent exchange rate misalignments and refrain from targeting exchange rates for competitive purposes," the official said.

(Reporting By David Lawder; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
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'I was just having a bad day.'A man has been charged after staff say someone phoned the legislature office of Alberta Environment Minister Shannon Phillips and threatened to shoot everyone over the carbon tax.This was nothing. This was me having a bad day, Enright said when contacted by The Canadian Press on Thursday. Im a very calm person. Everybody knows me as a guy who never gets upset.Cheryl Sheppard of the Edmonton Police Service said Enright faces one Criminal Code charge of uttering threats.The call happened a week ago, on March 31, in the middle of the afternoon.He was calling to express his anger over the carbon tax, a staffer in Phillipss office told police in a statement.The staffer told police the caller, who refused to identify himself, referred to the minister as a man. When he was reminded Phillips was female, he told me the NDP only hire people with boobs, not qualified people.He then said he was going to get his ammunition and gun and come here and shoot us all, the statement reads.
Komagata Maru: Justin Trudeau to apologize for 1914 incidentPrime Minister Justin Trudeau will offer an apology in the House of Commons on May 18 almost 102 years after the Komagata Maru incident, where the government of the day turned away more than 300 Indians seeking a better life in Canada.In 2008, then-prime minister Stephen Harper apologized to the Sikh community in Surrey, B.C., but many demanded he make a formal apology in the Commons.The Sikh community will get its wish next month, Trudeau announced in Ottawa Monday."As a nation, we should never forget the prejudice suffered by the Sikh community at the hands of the Canadian government of the day. We should not and we will not," he said."That is why, next month, on May 18th, I will stand in the House of Commons and offer a full apology for the Komagata Maru incident."Trudeau called the laws that allowed the Canadian government to turn the Komagata Maru away discriminatory."The passengers of the Komagata Maru, like millions of immigrants to Canada since, were seeking refuge, and better lives for their families. With so much to contribute to their new home, they chose Canada and we failed them utterly," he said.Discriminatory lawsIn 1910, an order-in-council was passed which stated immigrants coming to Canada must do so by continuous journey. As a result, Gurdit Singh chartered the Japanese ship Komagata Maru and sold tickets for a continuous journey from the Punjab state to Canada.The Komagata Maru sailed into Vancouver harbour with 376 people aboard on May 23, 1914.The passengers argued a 1908 provision that required all "Asiatic" immigrants to have $200 did not apply to them because they were British subjects. At the time, India was still a colony.The dominion government would not allow the passengers to disembark and the vessel sat in the harbour for two months.That July, the government ordered the ship to sail but the passengers took over the ship and refused to leave.On July 19, 125 Vancouver police officers and 35 special immigration agents attempted to board the vessel and were beaten back. Thirty were injured.On July 23, under the guns of the naval cruiser HMCS Rainbow, the Komagata Maru was escorted out to sea and returned to India.
A U.S. naval flight officer with an extensive signals intelligence background was accused by the service of passing secrets to China, USNI News has learned.Lt. Cmdr. Edward C. Lin, 39, who served on some of the Navys most sensitive intelligence gathering aircraft, faces several counts of espionage and other charges outlined during a Friday Article 32 hearing in Norfolk, Va.Lin, originally a Taiwanese national before his family moved to the U.S., had a career as a signals intelligence specialist on the Navys Lockheed Martin EP-3E Aries II reconnaissance aircraft, several sources confirmed to USNI News.Several sources familiar with the case told USNI News the country to which Lin passed secrets was China, however, few other details are known about the case given much of the evidence is classified.The redacted charging documents say Lin allegedly transported secret information out of the country without permission and then lied about his whereabouts when he returned to duty. The charging documents allege he successfully committed espionage twice and attempted espionage on three other occasions.mo
Good for these protesters. American 'democracy' is now a tyranny of corporate influence, and of massively funded lobbyists.



It is ruining the American economy.. and that of the rest of the West.. with grotesque polarization of wealth, deindustrialization and exploitation and impoverishment of working people. These protesters are patriots.. and the establishment.. is profoundly unsettled by the fact their little scam of standing for 'freedom' is being exposed as a fraud and scam and cover for abased greed and degradation.



It shows in the American election where establishment candidates standing for the status quo have been completely marginalized. But they are not going to go without a fight.. and unlike these protesters.. they are willing to use any form of violence to protect their interests.
The following is the planned agenda of the bimonthly Fremont City Council meetings taking place in the City Council Chambers located on the second floor of the municipal building at 400 East Military Street.

This week of note on the agenda:

Study session begins at 6:35 p.m.

Regular meeting called to order at 7:00 p.m.

Resolution to sign CenturyLink contract for long distance service. This resolution proposed to help stream line the billing process by cutting down on staff time spent addressing billing issues as well as being fiscally responsible with public funds. The potential fiscal impact of proposal is an estimated reduction in long distance calls under new contract versus the $.05 per minute with the current carrier.

4 Resolution for use of Hormel Park for Nebraska Traditional Archers Spring Shoot and Annual Rendezvous, an annual event held by the Nebraska Traditional Archers.

5 Resolution to allow the Mayor to sign an agreement with the City of Omaha. The Fremont Police currently have no firing range in which to hold state mandated firearms qualifications. Once this agreement is signed, the Fremont Police will be able to use the firing range at the Omaha training facility.

Vote to approve Hanger/Terminal Project Grant for Fremont Municipal Airport. The City of Fremont is entitled to $150,000 per year in Grant Funds for improvements to the Fremont Airport. The City is allowed to bank the funds for four years to accumulate sufficient moneys for use on projects. The grant money from 2013 has not yet been expended, and will expire this year. The proposed resolution will waive the Citys rights to the 2013 years funds. These funds will then be used at another airport project in the state.

Resolution Supplemental Agreement No. 2 to the Program Agreement, Johnson Road Trail Project

Resolution to accept bid from Motorola Solutions Inc. for a four position Dispatch Console. In 2012, new Motorola Dispatch Consoles were purchased for the Fremont/Dodge County 911 Center. The warranty period has ended and the service agreements for the next 5 years are going in to effect.

Resolution to sign Basement Remodel Contract: Due to lack of adequate work space for current and future IT projects and personnel, the city proposed expansion of IT office space through remodel of the City Municipal Building Basement. The fiscal Impact is estimated at a total cost of $5,080.96.

Resolution for Revised Drug and Alcohol Abuse Policy: The City of Fremont has a Drug and Alcohol Abuse Policy which governs testing requirements for employees covered under Federal Department of Transportation rules who perform covered tasks either as a commercial truck driver or tasks associated with the citys natural gas system and related responsibilities. A recent audit revealed policy deficiencies necessitating a revision of the existing policy. The policy also covers all other employees who are not subject to the DOT rules.

For complete and detailed descriptions of each item on the agenda see AGENDAS & MINUTES on the Fremont City website.
QG Africa Hotel LP, a Mauritius-based fund managed by QG Investments Africa Management Ltd has acquired 100% interest in the InterContinental Hotel Lusaka from Kingdom Hotel Investments for a gross consideration of USD 35.9 million.

Considered a city landmark, the InterContinental Hotel Lusaka is situated at a prime location in Zambias capital. The 244-room hotel benefits from a strong image amongst international travellers, and offers significant repositioning and expansion potential.

Commenting on the acquisition, Jean-Claude Bastos de Morais, Founder of Quantum Global said Im very pleased with this first acquisition of QG Africa Hotel LP. It underlines our commitment and investment strategy for the hotel sector in Sub-Saharan Africa. The InterContinental Lusaka is strongly established locally and will benefit from the planned refurbishment that will expand and reposition the asset, thereby generating value added returns for our investors.

Strong economic growth supported by a more transparent and relatively stable political climate has been attracting an increasing number of international business travellers to Africa, while also boosting cross-regional business traveling. These trends are driving up steady demand for increased and better business hotel accommodation across sub-Saharan Africa. QG Africa Hotel LP is a USD 500 million investment vehicle, which aims to capitalize on the emerging opportunities in the hospitality sector. As a long-term direct equity investor in hotel projects across sub-Saharan Africa, the investment structure targets real estate and real estate-related investments in midscale to upscale business hotels.
Vietjet announced the launch of its newest international routes connecting Ho Chi Minh City with Kuala Lumpur and Tainan City.

The Kuala Lumpur route will commence operations on 1 June 2016 and will depart from Tan Son Nhat International Airport, Ho Chi Minh City at 9.30am (local time) and arrive at Kuala Lumpur at 12.25pm (local time). The return flight will take off from Kuala Lumpur at 1.00pm (local time) and arrive at Ho Chi Minh City at 1.55pm (location). The flight duration for each sector is approximately 1 hour and 55 minutes.

Launching on 22 June 2016, the Ho Chi Minh City to Tainan route will operate every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Flights will depart from Ho Chi Minh City at 10.45am (local time) and arrive at Tainan City at 3.00pm (local time). The return flight will depart at 4.00pm (local time) and arrive in Ho Chi Minh City at 6.15pm (local time). The flight time per section is approximately 3 hours and 15 minutes.

To welcome the new routes, Vietjet will be giving away 50,000 promotional tickets from just $0. The promotion will run from 12 April 2016  18 April 2018 and is applicable on all tickets connecting Ho Chi Minh City with Kuala Lumpur, Tainan and Taipei. The promotion will run daily from 1-3pm (Singapore time). Travel period for flights to Kuala Lumpur are valid from 1 June 2016  30 October 2016 and 22 June 2016  30 October 2016 for flights to Tainan and Taipei.

Travelers can purchase tickets via the Vietjet website at www.vietjetair.com and payment can be made using major credit cards including VISA, MasterCard, JCB or American Express.
Disney Cruise Line announced new itineraries and new port calls in its 2017 cruises. The cruise company announced first-time visits to new destinations in Alaska and Europe. In 2017 summer, Disney Cruise Line also returns to Norway, the British Isles, the Mediterranean, the Caribbean and the Bahamas.

For the first time, Disney Cruise Line will take guests to Alaska's Icy Strait Point and Hubbard Glacier. These dramatic locations are part of a new nine-night itinerary on the Disney Wonder. Departing from Vancouver, British Columbia, on July 24, 2017, this itinerary also sails to Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Tracy Arm Fjord.

Icy Strait Point offers a variety of Alaska nature adventures, including a zip line attraction that is one of the longest and highest zip lines in the world. Nearby, Glacier Bay National Park is a spectacular highlight of Alaska's Inside Passage and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Another highlight of this cruise is seeing Hubbard Glacier, the largest and most active tidewater glacier in North America. Displaying extraordinary blue hues and immense beauty, this spectacular glacier is more than six miles wide where it meets the ocean.

A new seven-night Alaska sailing from Vancouver, departing July 17, 2017, includes a call on Icy Strait Point, in addition to Tracy Arm, Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan. On Aug. 2, 2017, the Disney Wonder will sail its first five-night Alaska cruise from Vancouver to Tracy Arm and Ketchikan.

New Europe destinations

For the first time, Disney Cruise Line will visit Amsterdam, Netherlands, known for its elaborate canal system, tulip fields, windmills and world-class museums housing works by Rembrandt, Vermeer and Van Gogh.

On May 13, 2017, the Disney Magic embarks on a 15-night transatlantic crossing from Port Canaveral, Florida, to Copenhagen, with a stop in Amsterdam along the way. This itinerary also includes a call on Portland, England  another first-time port for Disney Cruise Line. Portland is a short distance from Stonehenge, the prehistoric ring of standing stones monument that is one of the Seven Wonders of the Medieval World.

A visit to Amsterdam also will be part of a 10-night northern Europe itinerary that departs June 18, 2017, from Copenhagen, Denmark, to Dover, England. Other ports on this sailing include Warnemunde (Berlin), Germany; Stockholm, Sweden; Helsinki, Finland; St. Petersburg, Russia; and Tallinn, Estonia.

The grand tour of Europe continues throughout the summer with limited engagements in the Baltic, Norwegian fjords, Iceland, British Isles and the Mediterranean.

New Disney Fantasy itineraries: Southern Caribbean

For the first time, the Disney Fantasy will sail from Port Canaveral on longer itineraries  new 10- and 11-night cruises to the southern Caribbean.

On June 17, 2017, a new 11-night itinerary will visit Aruba, Barbados, Martinique, St. Kitts, Tortola and Disney's private island, Castaway Cay.

On June 28, 2017, a new 10-night itinerary will call on Aruba, Curacao, St. Kitts, Tortola and Castaway Cay.

More Castaway Cay

Castaway Cay, Disney's private island in the Bahamas, is consistently rated a top port-of-call by Disney Cruise Line guests. To give guests more time at this island paradise, select Disney Dream sailings from Port Canaveral will include two stops at Castaway Cay.

Special five-night sailings, departing June 2, 11, 16, 25, 30 and July 9, 2017, will call on Castaway Cay twice and include a stop in Nassau, Bahamas.

Special four-night sailings, departing June 7, 21 and July 5, 2017, will visit Castaway Cay twice, also with a stop in Nassau.

To learn more about Disney Cruise Line or to book a vacation, guests can visit disneycruise.com, call Disney Cruise Line at 888-DCL-2500 or contact their travel agent.
A new report titled, "World Medical Tourism Market - Opportunities and Forecasts, 2014 - 2022" studies the world medical tourism market, which can be broadly defined as travel across international borders with the purpose of availing medical treatment, which may or may not be available in ones own country.

The report projects that the world medical tourism market would reach $143.8 billion by 2022, with a CAGR of 15.7% from 2015 to 2022.

This report segments the world medical tourism market on the basis of treatment type into cardiovascular, orthopedic, neurological, cancer, fertility, and other general treatments in terms of revenue (USD) as well as number of medical tourists. Cancer treatment emerged as the leading segment, accounting for about one-third of the overall medical tourism market in 2015 and is estimated to remain dominant during the forecast period. The demand for cancer treatment is rising with increasing incidence of cancer along with increased per capita healthcare spending globally. In addition, the high cost of treatment or unavailability of quality treatment compels patients to choose medical tourism as a solution.

The world medical tourism market is segmented on the basis of region into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. Mexico is the top medical tourism destination and hosts the largest number of medical tourists in the world, especially North and Latin Americans, due to quality treatment with economical cost. Asia-Pacific is anticipated to grow at the fastest CAGR of 16.1% between 2015 and 2022. Thailand, Singapore, India, and Malaysia are the top destinations that attract most medical tourists due to superior quality care available at affordable prices and within minimum waiting time.

Increase in reach of internet and various medical tourism associations such as Europe Medical Tourism Alliance (EuMTA) & Medical Tourism Association (MTA) along with medical travel agencies in the last decade, helped to raise awareness about the treatment options beyond the home country. Furthermore, several medical travel facilitators have emerged, such as Beijing Saint Lucia Consulting Ltd, Kangtai Health Network, Ryavo Healthcare, Medigo, PlacidWay, and government tourist associations of respective countries. These agencies provide assistance ranging from information about available treatments and their quality in various destinations to travel arrangements, accommodation, and post-treatment recovery.

Key findings of the study:
Held every three years, the 13th edition of the Islamic Summit Conference of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation is taking place in Istanbul Turkey from 10 to 15 April 2016. With the theme 'Unity and Solidarity for Justice and Peace, the Summit stresses the importance of unity and solidarity of the OIC member countries in solving the challenges faced by the Islamic world.

The Summit Conference started with the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) on April 10-11, 2016 and is now following by the Council of Foreign Ministers Meeting (CFM) on April 12-13, 2016. The Conference will conclude with the Summit Meeting (SUM) on April 14-15, 2016.

Malaysian Prime Minister and his wife will arrive tomorrow Istanbul at the Sabiha Gokcen International Airport which is fully owned by Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) and the prime minister will also launch the passenger lounge and the development of a new boarding hall expansion project.

The King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud visits Turkey, started his tour from Ankara. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed King Salman yesterday. Erdogan said his government and Saudi Arabia are working "in solidarity and consultation" to find a political solution for Syria. King Salman later will fly to Istanbul for the OIC Summit.

Meanwhile in Istanbul, ministers meeting continue. Speaking at the meeting Iyad bin Amin Madani, secretary-general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation or OIC said that terrorism causes hatred among Muslims and leads to Islamophobia against Muslims in the world. Saying that Muslim countries should fight terror, Madani stressed that terror also prevent progress and reforms.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has expressed hope that the 13th summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the Turkish city of Istanbul will reinforce unity and integrity in the Muslim world.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will host the OIC summit, which presidents and prime ministers from over 30 countries are set to attend.

Source: Agencies
With construction starting soon, Emaars latest project is the worlds tallest tower. Emaar Properties on Sunday unveiled plans of The Tower, which will sit along the Dubai Creek, will be taller than the Burj Khalifa when complete.

Emaar aims to deliver the tower, which won't be for residential use but contain an observation deck and possibly a small hotel, before Dubai hosts the World Expo fair in 2020. It will be situated in a yet-to-be built 6-square-kilometer residential and retail district next to Dubais creek and adjacent to a wildlife sanctuary.

Inspired by Islamic architecture and part of the Dubai Creek Harbour development, the tower that is inspired by a blooming lily will be an architectural and engineering marvel due to its eye-catchingly slender design, the delicate mesh-like structure around it and, of course, its mammoth size. It will cost around Dhs3.67 billion to construct.

The Dubai Creek Harbour development sits near the Ras Al Khor area of Dubai. The huge under-construction suburb will feature eight million square feet of retail space, 39,000 apartments and homes, 22 hotels and another project called Dubai Twin Towers.

The height will probably be announced when we open the tower but it will be a notch taller than the Burj Khalifa, said Mohamed Alabbar, chairman of Emaar, at a preview event. The Burj Khalifa, also built by Emaar, currently tops out at 828 meters.

The building named as The Tower has been designed by Santiago Calatrava Valls, a Spanish-Swiss architect who also worked on the railway station at the rebuilt World Trade Center site in New York.
Trend analysts are seeing huge growth in the customization industry, where consumers can personalize everything. This trend is also impacting the travel space with travelers looking to design their own experiences as opposed to purchasing one-size-fits-all itineraries.

Go City Card is on the leading edge of this movement with its new Build Your Own sightseeing passes.

Go City Card is a multi-attraction pass which bundles attraction entry tickets together in order to provide consumers with savings of up to 55% versus purchasing tickets individually at the gate. Now with its "Build Your Own" pass, Go City Card offers the ability to create your own custom itinerary by choosing only those attractions you wish to visit. Consumers can choose from dozens of available options and enjoy guaranteed savings of up to 25% based on destination and attractions selected.

John Walsh, Chief Marketing Officer, Go City Card said, Since its official launch about a year ago, the Build Your Own pass has been our fastest growing product and has helped to drive year over year growth of over 50%.

The Build Your Own Pass is currently available in all of Go City Card's 11 locations in the U.S. including Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Oahu, Orlando, San Diego, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. The pass is delivered instantly and available for immediate use, and unlike many customized products which are purchased, a Build Your Own Pass is fully refundable within a year if not activated.

For more information visit http://www.smartdestinations.com/
Longtime British game developer Climax Studios has opened a new office in Auckland, New Zealand, staffed by developers who were laid off by Gameloft when it shuttered its New Zealand studio in January.

Gameloft's decision cost roughly 160 people their jobs, putting an estimated fifth of the New Zealand game industry out of work. Climax's new studio is a notable effort to capitalize on that abundance of local talent, though Develop reports Climax Auckland currently employs just nine people, all former Gameloft staffers.

"It was a great opportunity to hire a group of engineers, who were both experienced, talented and are already used to working as a team, Climax chief Simon Gardner told Develop. "The opportunity was just too good to miss."

While Climax has been making games since 1988 and is best known for producing ports and original takes on extant franchises (notably, Assassin's Creed Chronicles and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories), it has begun to dabble in VR development, and the new Auckland office will focus on developing "augmented reality projects" for an unspecified U.S. company.
A new documentary that explores the rights of women in Afghanistan features a clip in which a member of parliament appears to threaten his female interviewer with rape. Now, he is demanding an apology.

The apparent threat from leading cleric and lawmaker Nazir Ahmad Hanafi is made during a testy interview conducted by Isobel Yeung, a reporter for the documentary series Vice on HBO.

"What if a husband rapes his wife, is that domestic abuse?" Yeung asks Hanafi while querying him about his opposition to Afghan legislation that would eliminate violence against women. "Should the man be punished or should the woman be punished for that, in your opinion?"

Speaking through an interpreter, the two debate the definition of rape, culminating with the parliament member from Herat saying, "There is a kind of rape you have and another we have in Islam."

Yeung begins to ask a follow-up question, "Do you think women should be allowed...", but is abruptly cut off by Hanafi, who tells someone off-camera that "I think you should stop it now."

The clip then shows Yeung sitting silently as a conversation in Dari plays out. The cleric is then captured on film suggesting that she should be raped. "Hand her over to an Afghan man so he can give it to her so hard it'll come out her nose," he says under his breath.

The exchange was revealed in a promotional video for the documentary Afghan Women's Rights And Floating Armories, which aired on HBO on April 10.



Hanafi, however, when queried by RFE/RL about his comments, initially denied having ever spoken to Yeung. "I haven't met such a person, I have no idea about this, and have not said anything," Hanafi told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan on April 9, a day after the promotional clip emerged. "No one has spoken with me."

He continued to deny having participated in the interview, suggesting that someone made a fake video featuring his likeness. "It's very simple to make a video," he said. "There are people who put together a head, a beard, and a body in a video that would look more authentic than the real person."

Under further questioning, Hanafi eventually admitted to having participated in an interview. "When we were talking about marriage issues," he recalled, "I told her, 'If you want to know about it, you can marry an Afghan man.'"

When asked if he would apologize if it was determined that he had, in fact, made the remarks, Hanafi struck a defiant tone. "What else do you want? There is a person who fabricated this [video] and I should ask that person why they did it," he said. "Who should apologize? Me or those who distributed [videos] against me? They are plotting against a person who is minding his own business."

RFE/RL has yet to view the full documentary, or the unedited version of Yeung's exchange with Hanafi, to determine the precise sequence of events. In the case of his rape comment, for instance, a man is seen in the background who does not appear in different camera angles during Hanafi and Young's exchange.

But there is no question that Hanafi made the rape comment during the session, translated by Vice/HBO as "Maybe I should give you to an Afghan man to take your nose off," and that it has caused a stir.

Responding to a tweet noting that Hanafi had denied participating in the interview, Yeung replied, "Perhaps it was more memorable for me than it was for him."

In a separate "debrief" video promoting the documentary in which Yeung spoke about her work in Afghanistan, she described her interview with Hanafi as "incredibly awkward and very frustrating."

The documentary seeks to highlight the plight of women in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Hanafi, a lawmaker from the western Herat Province, has opposed the Elimination of Violence Against Women Act, which was decreed by former President Hamid Karzai in 2009 to much fanfare, but has yet to be passed by parliament.

Hanafi appears uncomfortable with the questioning at various points of the interview, and at times seems to be avoiding eye contact with Yeung. "He refused to look at me, he talked to my translator, he talked over me, he didn't listen to my questions," the reporter said.

The reporter explained that she thought it was understood by everyone that "Hanafi felt rather hostile toward me being a woman," and that she believes the translator "thought it wise not to translate everything that he was saying."

This, Yeung said, meant she didn't "actually realize a lot of the abuse that he [Hanafi] was throwing my way."

Written by Farangis Najibullah with an interview by RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan correspondent Mustafa Sarwar
LOS ANGELES, April 11, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Air Lease Corporation will host a conference call on May 5, 2016 at 4:30 PM Eastern Time to discuss the Company's financial results for the first quarter of 2016.



Investors can participate in the conference call by dialing (855) 308-8321 domestic or (330) 863-3465 international. The passcode for the call is 90607465.

The conference call will also be broadcast live through a link on the Investors page of the Air Lease Corporation website at www.airleasecorp.com. Please visit the website at least 15 minutes prior to the call to register, download and install any necessary audio software. A replay of the broadcast will be available on the Investor Relations page of the Air Lease Corporation website.

For your convenience, the conference call can be replayed in its entirety beginning at 7:30 PM ET on May 5, 2016 until 7:30 PM ET on May 12, 2016. If you wish to listen to the replay of this conference call, please dial (855) 859-2056 domestic or (404) 537-3406 international and enter passcode 90607465.

About Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL)

ALC is a leading aircraft leasing company based in Los Angeles, California that has airline customers throughout the world. ALC and its team of dedicated and experienced professionals are principally engaged in purchasing commercial aircraft and leasing them to its airline customers worldwide through customized aircraft leasing and financing solutions. For more information, visit ALC's website at www.airleasecorp.com.
DENVER, April 11, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The WhiteWave Foods Company (NYSE:WWAV) today announced it will host a live webcast presentation of its first quarter 2016 earnings results on Tuesday, May 10, 2016 at 10 a.m. Eastern time. Management will discuss first quarter results, provide an update on its outlook for the year and respond to questions.



A press release detailing WhiteWaves first quarter 2016 earnings results will be distributed prior to the webcast on Tuesday, May 10, 2016. The press release, along with a slide presentation will also be available on our website and accompany the webcast.

The webcast will be accessible by visiting www.whitewave.com/investors and a replay will be available for approximately 45 days following the event.

ABOUT THE WHITEWAVE FOODS COMPANY

The WhiteWave Foods Company is a leading consumer packaged food and beverage company that manufactures, markets and sells branded plant-based foods and beverages, coffee creamers and beverages, premium dairy products and organic produce. It sells products primarily in North America, Europe and through a joint venture in China. WhiteWave is focused on providing consumers with innovative, great-tasting food and beverage choices that meet their increasing desires for nutritious, flavorful, convenient, and responsibly-produced products. The Company's widely-recognized, leading brands distributed in North America include Silk, So Delicious and Vega plant-based foods and beverages, International Delight and LAND O LAKES* coffee creamers and beverages, Horizon Organic and Wallaby Organic premium dairy products and Earthbound Farm organic salads, fruits and vegetables. Its popular plant-based foods and beverages brands in Europe include Alpro and Provamel. To learn more about WhiteWave, visit www.whitewave.com.

*The LAND O LAKES brand is owned by Land OLakes, Inc. and is used by license.
MIT Sloan vs. INSEAD [ #permalink

Hi all,

I have been admitted to both MIT Sloan and INSEAD, while I am still in waitlist for Chicago Booth.

I am really uncertain on which program I should go for.

I have worked in a relatively small mid-market private equity firm for the last 5 years and my goal is to remain in the industry after graduation (or at least in the investment management industry).

I am European and I have been told that is difficult to remain in the US after graduation. Nonetheless, I would say that it is very likely that I will come back to Europe (maybe London) in the mid-term.

I would appreciate your your advice and opinion on the subject!

Thank you in advance.





MIT Sloan:

- pros: strong reputation worldwide, opportunity to have a more significant and diverse experience (2 years in the US);

- cons: double time and expenses, weaker network in Europe, little focus on finance (academics).



INSEAD:

- pros: stronger network in Europe, significantly better ROI and half the investment, shorter time away from work;

- cons: probably less prestigious degree, opportunity to experience Asia and US but for a short time (respectively a maximum of 4 and 2 months).
Trailing Hillary Clinton in the latest polls, Bernie Sanders is planning an aggressive push in New York City ahead of the April 19 primary: Besides a debate night eve rally in Washington Square Park on Wednesday, his campaign just announced two more events, one in Prospect Park and the other in Hunter's Point South Park. Plus, his famous supporters including Rosario Dawson, Vampire Weekend, Danny Glover, Tim Robbins, Shailene Woodley, Spike Lee and TV on the Radio will be on hand. Here are the details of the first-come, first-served gatherings:

Wednesday, April 13 is the Washington Square Park rally: Doors open at 5 p.m. and program begins at 7 p.m; the event is free, but Bernie wants you to RSVP here. Special guests announced are Vampire Weekend, Spike Lee, Rosario Dawson, Shailene Woodley, Linda Sarsour, Tim Robbins and Graham Nash.

General admission entrances will be located at SW and SE corners of the Washington Square Park. Organizers advise for this and all the rallies, "For security reasons, please do not bring bags and limit what you bring to small, personal items like keys and cell phones. Weapons, sharp objects, chairs and signs or banners on sticks will not be allowed through security. Public transit is encouraged. No public parking available on site."

The Prospect Park rally is on Sunday, April 17, with doors opening at noon and music starting at 4 p.m.; general admission entrance located at East side of park near the boathouse (RSVP here). Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, Danny Devito, Justin Long and Grizzly Bear are guests.

The Long Island City rally at Hunter's Point South Park is on Monday, April 18; doors open at 5 p.m. and music starts at 7 p.m. (RSVP here; the entrance located at Center Blvd off of 54th Ave). Sanders supporters featured are Danny Glover, Fisher Stevens and TV on Radio.

Clinton has yet to announce rallies. She did appear at an organizing rally on Saturday, while Sanders appeared at multiple rallies on Friday and Saturday, plus his Coney Island visit on Sunday.

Then again, she's leading by double digits.
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Chick-Fil-A's threats of proliferation have become more real today with news that the chain has big plans for new chicken restaurants locally by 2018. The New York areaincluding Long Island, northern New Jersey and Connecticutshould brace itself for about a dozen new restaurants to open in the next year and a half, including several right here in NYC, Buzzfeed News reports.

Joining the Herald Square flagship and the newly-opened midtown outpost are potential new restaurants in the Financial District near the Fulton Center and possibly somewhere on the Upper East Side. The rumored Madison Square Park location was not confirmed and none of the other NYC outposts were named by the company. Long Island enjoys a Port Jefferson Station outpost, with others potentially arriving in three other towns during this expansion phase; there were no specifics about Connecticut.

The New York market isn't the only area the problematic chicken chain has targeted for invasion. Strategic plans have already been set in motion for Los Angeles, Washington State, Portland and Nevada, which'll help bump up the chain's 2,000+ strongholds throughout the country. May our strong defenses protect us.
The Gowanus Canal's stunning transformation from terrifying cesspool to trendy destination (though the cesspool's still got it) has meant the proliferation of new bars, restaurants and flashy karaoke lounges to the area. These days, the smells emanating from the neighborhood are more likely to be pleasing ones from the beer-making process or the wood-fired oven at Freek's Mill, one of the newest eateries to make its home near the historic body of water. In its pre-canal days, the then-creek boasted a lively oyster population and the surrounding area was mostly farmland, a bucolic landscape difficult to imagine in the era where a three eyed catfish is not inconceivable.

There's a crackerjack team running the new restaurant, including Chef Chad Shaner of the stately Union Square Cafe and Gotham Bar and Grill and beverage director Alex Alan who spent time at Williamsburg's sexy Hotel Delmano. On the eating end, expect smaller dishes with a mind towards vegetables (carrots with yoghurt $12, BBQ kohrabi over grits $16 and wild mushrooms with chevre flan $18) and larger, seasonal entrees like Stracci ($18), pasta ribbons with lamb, olives and ricotta and Dry Aged Duck ($22) with beans.

For drinks, Alan's got a mind towards wine, particularly sustainable vineyards and producers, with a large selection of Cru Beaujolais (gamay wines from a few small towns in northern Burgundy, not the Nouveau that pops up once a year) and Loire Chenin Blancs (acidic whites from central France).

285 Nevins Street in Gowanus, Brooklyn, 718-852-3000; freeksmill.com

Freek's Mill
The term "epic" gets thrown around a lot these days, but we're not sure how else to describe the video below of a mother losing her shit last month at LaGuardia Airport (one of the two worst airports in the country!). It seems she and her two daughters, including a nine-year-old, got stuck at the hellhole of an airport during a 12-hour delay en route to a Disney cruise in Miami.

And we come here not to mock her, but to bear witnesseven if she is perhaps unfairly unloading all her fury on the American Airlines employees (after all, you can't blame them for weather delays or for LaGuardia being so impressively crappy), who hasn't experienced similar feelings of powerlessness and pain at the airport? "If there's no flight just say there's no flight," she yells at one point. As Frank Castle might say, we are all one bad flight away from being her.

According to the Daily Mail, who initially posted the video, the woman's flight was scheduled to depart from the airport at 9 p.m. on March 24th, but it was delayed until the next morning (when it eventually took off at 9 a.m.).

The Star-Ledger adds that police were eventually called to the scene to try to calm down the woman (you can see video of officials trying to adjudicate the situation).

If there's anything positive to come out of this, at least her kids learned a valuable lesson about never looking forward to anything.


Moments after Hortencia Peterson heard from a Brooklyn jury that the killer of her nephew, Akai Gurley, had been found guilty of second-degree manslaughter and official misconduct, she felt that something miraculous had happened: a cop had been convicted in New York City for the killing of an unarmed black man.

For weeks, she believed that justice had been served, and that Peter Liang, the rookie cop who had accidentally fired the shot that ricocheted off a public housing stairwell wall and tore though Gurleys heart, would be facing up to 15 years at his sentencing, scheduled for April 14th.

I was feeling very happy that we were going to have a sentencing, Peterson told Gothamist. I thought we had come so far, gone through the trial, and actually found justice on the other side.

But on March 22nd, the Brooklyn District Attorneys office, which had expended significant resources as well as political capital in pursuing a guilty conviction for Liang, announced that they would not be seeking any prison time at Liangs sentencing on April 14th.

Instead, as DA Ken Thompsons letter recommended to Judge Danny Chun, they would be satisfied with probation and six months of home confinement. For Peterson, as well as Gurleys mother, this was devastating.

It was a slap in the face, and since then, my sister hasnt been able to sleep, Peterson said. Theyre saying that its okay to murder someone because theyre a police officer.

In New York City, its highly unlikely for a judge to deviate from a prosecutors recommendation, according to Steve Zeidman, Director of the Criminal Defense Clinic at CUNY Law School.

If the prosecutor is not seeking jail or prison time then it is very rare for a judge to sentence someone to jail or prison, Zeidman told Gothamist. This case is very different given the context of a police officer killing an unarmed black man and the attendant media attention, but the question is whether that is sufficient reason for the judge to go down the seldom used path of overriding the prosecutor's sentence recommendation.



A photo of a poster hung in East New York's Pink Houses, where Gurley was shot and killed, which incorrectly identifies an officer as Peter Liang (via News); Akai Gurley (Facebook)

When District Attorney Ken Thompson was running for office in 2013, he told Gothamist that the most important thing Im going to do as District Attorney, is have one standard of justice for everyone in Brooklyn.

The previous District Attorney, Joe Hynes, had often failed to bring charges against police officers who had engaged in misconduct. A similar incident in 2004, where a police officer had shot a man on a public housing rooftop, resulted in no criminal charges. From the days immediately following the Gurley shooting however, Thompson vigorously pursued a guilty verdict against Liang.

I believe it was a political calculation by Thompson to get the verdict he wanted and then make a recommendation for no jail time, says Robert Gangi of the Police Reform Organizing Project. District Attorney, by its very nature, is a political office.

Thompson's sentencing recommendation comes in the midst of a movement (backed by Governor Cuomo) for independent prosecutors when dealing with police shootings.

In his recommendation for Liang, Thompson admits to the special privileges that are bestowed on police officers, writing, The People recognize that there are mitigating circumstances in this case. The defendant chose to become a police officer, and to put his own life on the line, because he wanted to protect the public.

To organizations committed to the prosecution of police misconduct, this certainly seemed like a double standard, where a police officer was being given consideration another defendant wouldnt be.

The DAs decision sends the message across the country that officers can continue to kill without being held accountable, said Cathy Deng, the Executive Director of CAAAV, an organization that has supported the Gurley family throughout the trial. I know this case is uniquely different from a lot of others, but not so much that its still the story of an officer walking away free from killing another black person in the United States.



Thousands gathered in Cadman Plaza to protest the Liang verdict (Christian Hansen / Gothamist)

The week after the guilty verdict, 10,000 people gathered in Downtown Brooklyn and chanted no scapegoat!, as a petition appealing for leniency to Judge Danny Chun was passed around.

Many at the protest felt not only had Liang been abandoned by the justice system, but by his own union as well. The Patrolmens Benevolent Association, which has steadfastly supported officers accused of misconduct in the past, was noticeably absent at the trial.

Without support from either the NYPDwhich has only one senior Asian official, and whose commissioner immediately labeled Gurley a total innocentor his union, the defense believed that the deck was stacked against Liang when it came to trial, especially considering his own partner was testifying against him in exchange for immunity.

"I think the District Attorney made some mistakes, but someone did die, so if he gets probation, I think that's a home run," says Eddie Chiu, president of the Lin Sing Association, which helped the Liang family during the trial.

"Nobody knows what the judge will do. I think if I was the judge, and I had the recommendation from the DA, I would just let it go."

On Thursday, the final decision will lie with Judge Chun, who has served on the Kings County Supreme Court since 2005, and ably oversaw one of the most high-profile cases in the citys history.

To sway the judge towards his recommendation, Thompson cited a recent case where an NYPD officer was found guilty of killing an unarmed individual. In this instance, undercover officer Bryan Conroy shot and killed a man during a raid in 2003. He was found guilty of negligent homicide and sentenced to six months of home confinement and three years of probation.

Liang has also apologized to Gurley's domestic partner.

"I just saw Peter yesterday morning, he feels much, much better," Chiu says. "He's home, and all he hopes is he just doesn't go to jail."
Our latest installment of Quick Bites has us in Midtown for Morimoto's ramen.

THE VIBE

Iron Chef Masahuru Morimoto is a famous man. And while there's never really been much of an opportunity or incentive to eat his food here in New York Cityhis lukewarmly received flagship in Chelsea feels closer to club than restaurant, and his TriBeca project Bisturo shut down after three monthsclearly the power of celebrity is enough to maintain an avid following.



Witness: at Morimoto's brand-new noodle shop Momosan Ramen, people stood outside in the rain, at 4:15 in the afternoon, on a Saturday, to eat dinner in Midtown. And table waits on Friday night hit an hour or more by 6:00.

Not that lining up for ramen is unheard of around these parts, but still, it was an impressive opening weekend for the TV star. Equally impressive was the way the friendly army of bartenders and servers, bussers and hostesses, managers and other fixers handled the crowds. At least during the early part of the night; I arrived at 5:15 and was gone by 7:00. Apparently things got a little discombobulated as time went on.

Morimoto himself was on hand both nights, running the pass and posing for selfies as he waded through the packed room. Momosan is a fine-looking restaurant, by the way, with a bar, window counter, waiting area up front, and dining area in back, its got a utilitarian layout. This is all given some personality by the back-lit sake bottles, the odd dioramas, and the two-tiered ceiling. The music during both my meals was bouncy Japanese pop.

What remains to be seen is what kind of place Momosan will be. They're pushing the fancy sake service hard, so although the food prices are (mostly) reasonable, there is a danger of it becoming more about the nightlife than a spot to grab a meal.

THE BITES

The Momosan menu is anchored by four different ramens, three of which I thought were very good. The Tonkotsu has all of the depth and richness you want from that porky broth, and the coconut curry Tantan is almost sludgy it's so thick and intense, though not nearly as fiery as other "spicy" menu options in ramen-yas around town.

The Tsukemen is basically the Tonkotsu in a different format: you get two bowls, and you dip the room-temperature noodles, meat, egg, menma, etc., that come in one into the hot broth (with bonus pig pieces!) that awaits in the other. In all cases the pork chashu is sliced thin, lightly charred, wonderfully fatty. And without exception the noodles, custom made by Sun, were cooked to that perfect chewiness.

The fourth ramen, the Tokyo Chicken, was the least interesting by far, though I will say that the meat was impressively tender.

Ramen may be the feature presentation here, but the appetizers get far more play on the menu, with nearly two dozen from which to choose. I tried six, and from that sampling it seems like the more unusual the dish, the better it will be.

The Crispy Mimiga was the big winner, a pile of fried pig ears that were surprisingly easy to bite through, and tasted like an pleasantly gamey bacon. The chunks of soy marinated raw tuna in the Zuke Don, served simply over rice with some scallions and nori, packed a ton of bright, clean flavor into a small bowl.

Toppogi, or Korean rice cakes, makes an appearance, and they are nearly great, probably a bit too sweet, but definitely fun to eat: you pick up each soft, chewy pellet and wrap it within one of the small squares of nori stacked on the side.

The Sticky Ribs went too far into the sweet side of things for my taste, though hardcore hoisin fans might disagree, as did the Peking Duck Roll, which, at five bucks a pop for what is essentially a tiny taco, had the distinction of also being the only thing we ordered that felt like a rip-off. The Gyoza was solid, though I don't really remember anything specific about it.

THE VERDICT

You can eat a creative, delicious meal at Momosan Ramen for a surprisingly fair price, and if the place doesn't stay overrun by TV fans and/or after-work suits taking up residence at the tables with their $210 bottles of sake, it could be a welcome neighborhood go-to. I definitely want to eat here again, though there's no chance I'd wait an hour to do so.

Momosan Ramen is located at 342 Lexington Avenue between 39th and 40th Streets, and is open for lunch (11:30 to 3:30) and dinner (5:00 to 11:00) Monday through Saturday, and on Sunday for dinner from 4:00 to 10:30. (646-201-5529; momosanramen.com)
If you've never attended a NYC community board meeting, allow me to set the scene: they are monthly affairs often lasting as long as three hours, and are typically filled with lengthy arguments about internal protocol, debates over new developments, and the occasional angry outburst or bit of intel from elected officials. The city's 59 boards discuss and vote on matters ranging from liquor licenses to rezonings and transportation improvements, and the conversations can get quite impassionedbut ultimately the votes don't usually mean that much, as the boards' roles are purely advisory.

The boards' lack of veto power was underscored during the recent controversy over Mayor de Blasio's rezoning plan, which 50 of 59 community boards rejected, but the City Council and City Planning Commission nonetheless approved. That prompted a livid response from anti-gentrification activists, who protested last month outside the Brooklyn Borough President's office, demanding that the boards be given veto power over land use matters to prevent rezonings and developments from going forward when there is clear community opposition.

The protestors made one other demand: that the boards be elected, not appointed, the idea being that this might help the boards be more representative of their communities' interests. Currently, each board's 50 volunteer members are appointed by the Borough President (BP), and half of them are recommended by the City Council member whose district corresponds to the given board. The other 25 spots are filled by applications submitted to the BP. It's been frequently noted that the boards aren't always representative of their communitiesso, in their purely advisory votes, the boards aren't necessarily making recommendations that are in the communities' best interests.

This all raises the question: why can't the city's community boards veto proposals, and why aren't they elected rather than appointed?

According to those who study the history of city politics, the question of a veto vote really comes down to a power struggle between the boards, the borough presidents, and City Hall. Though, as sociologist David Rogers details in his chapter of Urban Politics, New York Style, when the boards were first created in 1975, they weren't even intended to be powerful, per se: "[p]eople wanted input into land use and service decisions. They wanted a place to go to register complaints...But they wanted the services to be performed by those responsible."



Feast of San Gennaro supporters wait their turn to speak at a Community Board 2 meeting in Manhattan. (Nell Casey / Gothamist)

Over the next decade, however, the boards' desire for a veto vote grew, as they found themselves faced with similar problems as they do today: despite their opposition to high-rise developments, the city was approving large developments such as an expanded Battery Park City and the MetroTech center in Downtown Brooklyn, which the community boards saw as detrimental to their neighborhoods. They wanted more powerbut the mayor, then Ed Koch, didn't want to give it to them.

''I believe that having their input has improved many projects,'' Koch told the New York Times in 1987. ''But I believe if you gave them a veto position, nothing would be built in this town above three stories.''

That power struggle only intensified in the following years, according to Joseph Viteritti, who chairs the Urban Policy and Planning Department at Hunter College and worked on the commission that rewrote the city charter in 1989. That charter commission recommended eliminating the Board of Estimate, which comprised the mayor, the comptroller, the City Council president, and the borough presidents and had previously been responsible for voting on budget and land use decisions. The Board of Estimate had been one of the few places where the borough presidents had any real powerand so they weren't about to support handing it down to community boards. And now that power was more centralized in City Hall, the entities there weren't all that inclined to let 59 disparate community boards have a veto vote, either.

"It really gets to be, who wants to give away power," Viteritti said. "I don't think people have been inclined at the upper levels of government to do that."

On top of that, there's just never been enough of an outcry from community boards demanding more power: Viteritti said the idea comes up every time there's a new charter commission, which happens on average every three or four years, but it never really goes anywhere.

As for the question of elected community boards, Viteritti said the argument that elections would make the boards more representative doesn't quite hold up if you look at historical precedents. The closest example, he said, would be community school boards, which were abolished in 2002 when the state senate gave Mayor Bloomberg mayoral control of the city's schools. In the 30-plus years that they did exist, they were composed of parents who were elected to their positions on the board. But voter turnout was historically quite low, Viteritti said, and as a result, the boards weren't in fact all that democratic.

"They created the illusion of the democratic process, but with very low turnout," he said. "And now that we know that turnout is lower than it's ever been in mayoral elections, you have to ask yourself the question: what's the probability of having local boards that are really representative to an electoral process?"

Tim Thomas, who for the past five years has sat on Brooklyn's Community Board 9the one specifically targeted by those at last week's protestand has detailed much of the turmoil there on his blog, echoed this, saying he doesn't think much would change if the board seats were elected, and that it would be a huge investment of time and money for very little change.

"That sounds ridiculously costly and wasteful," he saidnot to mention unrealistic: "Elected officials aren't going to want to cede some of their power to a bunch of locals." And, he added, the people currently on the boards are, for the most part, those who want to be involved in the first place: "Everybody else I talk to wants nothing to do with it. It's a lot of time, it's a lot of negative energy, and some people just don't want to talk about this stuffit's too boring."



A community member addresses the DOT, NYPD and UWS's CB 7 in January 2014 (Jen Chung/Gothamist)

But the current system of appointed boards isn't ideal, either. Thomas agreed that, at least on CB 9, the board could be more representative of the district, as most people who sit on the board are homeowners who have lived in the neighborhood for decades and are, for the most part, over the age of 50.

"They could be more representative, but that's on the elected officials to make the right choices," he said. "They do that in some neighborhoods...in our case, because [Brooklyn BP] Eric Adams is so entrenched in the old system, he's making a lot of political appointments."

Viteritti similarly suggested that rather than pushing for elected boards, communities demand that their borough presidents appoint people to the board who are representative of the community. In its review of the city government for the 2010 charter revision committee, the watchdog group Citizens Union made several recommendations on this front, noting that "community boards are too often plagued by vacancies and an insular culture" and suggesting that borough presidents be required to be completely transparent in making appointments to the boards. But, Viteritti said, it's kind of a "chicken and egg thing," as many people just aren't interested in participating in hyperlocal politics to begin with, and you can't force someone onto a community board if they're not interested in being there.

That doesn't mean that can't change. At least in Manhattan, community board applications have been on an upward trend in recent years, which would seem to indicate an uptick in interest. And there are currently a number of efforts underway to make the city's community boards more representative, though none go so far as suggesting elections. One bill before the City Council would limit terms of city council members to 12 years; another would require the city to publish the demographic information about board members. A third bill would require the city to provide a professional urban planner to each community board, to help navigate zoning and planning proposals.

"From digitizing our application process to actively recruiting youth members, I am proud to pursue meaningful progressive reforms that will give community boards a stronger and more reflective voice in local matters," Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams said in a statement provided to Gothamist. "Ideas such as publicizing general demographic information on members and applicants as well as incentivizing participation through state tax credits are also among those that I am interested in exploring in the months ahead as part of my ongoing conversations about improving civic engagement."

As for increasing the boards' power: according to Viteritti, it's extremely unlikely, politically speaking, that the movement for veto power would ever gain enough traction to actually become a reality in a future charter revision. However, he said, those higher up in city government might be more receptive to a conversation about how to make it harder to override a community board's votefor example, by requiring a supermajority on the City Council or the City Planning Commission if a community board votes against a land use proposal. (Though it's worth noting that even a required supermajority probably wouldn't have stopped the mayor's rezoning plan from going through, as that passed with little opposition in the City Council.)

None of this is to say that the boards are necessarily powerless, either: in many cases, an advisory vote from a community board is enough to shut down or significantly stall a project that the board objects to, and it's often at the board's recommendations that new proposals for bike lanes and street safety emerge.

The biggest hurdle, in Viteritti's eyes, is getting more people invested in community politics in the first place.

"We haven't really figured out a way to have active representative government at a localized level," Viteritti said. "It's a problem as much as it's something you'd wish to have. It's not just changing the law, it's getting people involved, and you want people involved who are representative of the community."
The NYPD kicked a family of four out of their apartment in a public housing development in Queens in December by telling a judge that it was a drug-selling hotspot. The problem: the NYPD's information was 10 months old, and the family had nothing to do with the reported drug sales.

Austria Bueno, a housekeeper, is suing for the hardship her family went through, one of many recently publicized cases of the city's misuse of the nuisance abatement law. The measure was created to target the sex industry around Times Square in the 1970s, allowing police to bar entry to a given address, but has come to increasingly be used against tenants, whom lawyers for the city have often locked out without proof of a crime, or on the basis of un-vetted, out-of-date, and/or illegally accessed information.

In Bueno's case, on December 11th, she went to pick up her 15-year-old son from high school in Flushing, leaving dinner in the oven, and returned to her apartment in the Queensbridge Houses to find legal papers taped to her door saying she would face criminal penalties for going back inside.

"Everybody cried. Me, I was crying like a baby," Bueno told the Daily News and Pro Publica, which brought the abuse of nuisance abatement orders to light. "I dont deserve that. My kids dont deserve that either."

According to her lawsuit, filed by Queens Legal Services, Bueno had moved into the $792 two-bedroom in August. The night her family was locked out, they stayed in a hotel room in Astoria that cost them $208 for the night, and ate McDonald's for dinner. Calls to police and Queensbridge management went nowhere. For the next three nights, while the family awaited a court date to find out what was going on and argue their case, they slept on the floor of Bueno's mother-in-law's home. Unable to access clothes and supplies, Bueno and her husband missed work, and their younger son, 6, missed school because he had no uniform.

It turned out that the lockout order was based on a police informant having bought drugs in the apartment in January of 2015, and a subsequent search, in February, that turned up what the News and Pro Publica reported was crack cocaine, weapons, and $21,500 in cash. Three people were arrested in connection with that search, and if they lived in the apartment, they had definitely moved out by August.

In May, the NYPD drew up the first piece of paperwork to have the apartment declared a nuisance, a designation that indicates a threat to public safety so serious that the order can be approved by a judge in secret, without giving the targets a chance to defend themselves. In June, a police department lawyer signed off on the request, which could have made the process speedier than the six months on average the agency usually takes to process the orders.

In the order, using boilerplate language, the NYPD wrote that "the premises is currently being operated, occupied and used illegally...[The city] has established...that the defendants are maintaining a nuisance." Despite relying on months-old information, the request reads, "there can be no doubt that the defendants are permitting the [apartment] to be used for drug trafficking...The community and neighboring businesses have suffered severely, and continue to suffer, as a result of drug trafficking in the [apartment]."



Former Queens Supreme Court judge Orin Kitzes (Resolute Systems)

For reasons equally mysterious, it took until December for a judge to sign off. That Queens Supreme Court judge, Orin Kitzes, would retire later in the month to work at the mediation consulting firm Resolute Systems. A previous analysis showed that he signed off on 235 of 236 lockout orders that came across his desk. When Bueno appeared in court on the Tuesday after her Friday lockout, she was allowed back into her apartment, but rather than withdrawing the case, the city kept it alive in an attempt to pressure her to waive her right to sue. City lawyers pursued the case for another three months, finally dropping it on March 16th.

Bueno is seeking to have the city's use of the nuisance abatement law, and the law itself, declared unconstitutional, as well as to make the city pay unspecified damages. The "city-imposed homelessness," Bueno's lawyer wrote in the lawsuit, left Bueno "deeply traumatized." Citing reporting that has shown that half of 297 people who gave up their leases or were banished from their homes were not convicted of a crime, overwhelmingly in minority neighborhoods, Bueno's lawyer argues that Bueno's case is part of the city's larger practice of seeking lockout orders "based on grossly inaccurate and misleading representations."

Indeed, in a follow-up to their original reporting, Pro Publica and the News found that the NYPD's Civil Enforcement Unit seems to skirt the already-favorable rules around lockout orders, "rarely, if ever" showing judges required photos of illicit items found at subject apartments upon locking people out, and relying on criminal cases that have been thrown out and are supposed to be sealed to claim that tenants are menaces to society. In 1,162 cases, the reporters didn't find one example of the required photo inventory, and a judge who handles the orders said he had "never once" seen such a set of documents.

Speaking anonymously, lawyers for the NYPD legal arm said they were never formally trained in nuisance abatement procedures, with one explaining that, "Everything is kind of like, you know boilerplate, like fill in the blanks or whatever." The city's Law Department must sign off on the orders before they go to a judge, but the agency is a "rubber stamp," an attorney for the police said. The Civil Enforcement Unit also lacks the ability to look up the outcome of criminal cases, and seems not to care that people who have been exonerated are required by law to have their cases sealed so they can't be used against them.

"Theyre never sealed, thats a myth," one lawyer said.
Business

Australias inflation expected to peak towards end of year: Official

Australias treasurer has warned that inflation in the country is expected to peak towards the end of the year and it will persist for a little bit longer because of the impact of the natural disasters and energy prices.
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What would you do with $11,197? Pay a mortgage, rent, bills or student loans? Save for your childs college tuition? Maybe you would use it for everyday items like groceries or child care?

The reality is that if you are an average full-time, year-round working woman in Montana you dont see that money. As a result of the wage gap, full-time Montana women workers make an average annual salary of $32,293 compared to mens $43,490.

These numbers are unacceptable, which is why Governor Steve Bullock created the Equal Pay for Equal Work Task Force in 2013. He mobilized state leaders in business, labor, education, tribal nations, the public sector and nonprofit organizations. The governor created a powerful private-public partnership with a unified goal: close the wage gap in Montana.

Today highlights an important day in that mission. Its National Equal Pay Day. On this day, we mark how far into the new year women would have to work just to make what men did in 2015. Sixty percent of Montana women are in the labor force. This yearly wage loss has a profound ripple effect across our families and our communities.

The Governors Equal Pay Task Force, with community supporters, has been resolute in its mission to examine the causes of the wage gap and take tangible steps to close it. Since its inception, the Task Force has focused its attention on wage negotiation trainings, understanding that women are less likely to negotiate wages and benefits than their male counterparts, because they are concerned about backlash when they do. The Task Force spearheaded wage negotiation trainings across the state and on college campuses, hosted two successful Equal Pay Summits and will host a third next month focused on women in business and policies and practices that impact fair pay.

Statewide, we continue to garner support for logical, common sense policies that support women workers in Montana. In 2015, the Governors Task Force recommended and helped pass House Bill 305 in the state Legislature. This law now provides unemployment insurance for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. Thanks to this legislation, many Montana women are no longer forced to make the daunting and dangerous decision of choosing between their lives and their livelihoods.

As co-chairs of the Task Force, we have worked closely with Governor Bullock on fair pay and equality initiatives. The Department of Administration took direct action to prevent discrimination in state contracts by amending contract language to protect state and contract employees against discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions. The state has conducted its own pay audit and served as a resource for city governments as they start their own pay equity initiatives. State agencies have also engaged in focused educational outreach and training on topics such as mentoring, encouraging women in STEM fields, and wage and benefit negotiations.

As we continue to educate, empower and examine the fair pay landscape in Montana, the governors early words from 2013 about the Task Force continue to ring true: It is imperative that young Montanans  the workforce of tomorrow  join Montanas economy knowing that theyll earn a fair days pay for a fair days work, regardless of their gender. We want our daughters and sons to stay in Montana and raise their own children here because Montana is a place they can prosper and be valued for their contribution to our states economy.

As members of Governor Bullocks cabinet, we are fortunate. We know we make the same as our male counterparts in the cabinet. Ours is a rare story. On this Equal Pay Day, we encourage you to join the mission of the Governors Equal Pay Task Force and become educated, involved and invested in fair pay. We encourage you to join us at Montana State University in Bozeman, for the 2016 Equal Pay Summit on May 2 and 3 as we work to close the wage gap for all Montanans.

Pam Bucy, commissioner of Department of Labor & Industry, and Sheila Hogan, director of the Department of Administration, serve as co-chairs of the Governors Equal Pay for Equal Work Task Force. Learn more about the Task Force and register for the May 2-3 Equal Pay Summit at www.equalpay.mt.gov.
I have floated the Smith River a number of times. Each time is different, but I always feel like it is a trip of a lifetime. I become euphoric when I make that first right-hand bend just below Camp Baker.

Smith River function/existing conditions such as water quality -- necessary to support trout and other species which rely on cold clean, water -- are being threatened by a proposed copper mine. The mine would be located along Sheep Creek, which contributes 50 percent Smith River water at Camp Baker. Montana and the West have extensive experience with hard-rock mining of massive sulfide ore bodies over the past 150 years. Historically, these types of mines have resulted in degraded water quality, a reduction of water quantity, impaired terrestrial environments and costly site restoration attempts.

There is a need for mining if America desires to maintain our existing lifestyle. However, not all areas are equally suited to mining or other extractive uses. Places that provide significant social, cultural and economic values to our communities, state and nation such as the Smith River should not be jeopardized for a nonessential metal.

I have read the Completeness Review Summary of the permit application prepared by Trout Unlimited for the Black Butte Mine proposal. The proposal is obviously lacking in many facets of what we need to know before an assessment can be made. If Tintina Resources does this poor of a job now, what can we expect if they actually get a permit to mine?

Rand Herzberg

Red Lodge
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New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

Mostly cloudy and windy this morning becoming partly cloudy this afternoon. High 88F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Low 73F. Winds SSE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
On October 31, 2003, Ilham Aliyev, the newly elected president of Azerbaijan, stood behind a podium and a profusion of white flowers to address presidents, prime ministers and 2,000 other guests assembled at the Respublika Palace. First touching the constitution and then the Koran, Aliyev swore to serve his people. That night, fireworks lit up the sky of the Azeri capital, Baku.

Aliyevs election to lead this energy-rich former Soviet republic bordering both Russia and Iran had been all but guaranteed. His ailing father, Heydar, an ex-KGB officer, had served in the same role for the previous 10 years. Election monitors reported that police had beaten and detained political opponents, in line with the countrys reputation for repression.

Becoming president wasnt Aliyevs only ascension during 2003. Using a network of secretive companies in offshore tax havens, his family, advisers and allies set about acquiring expensive overseas homes and positions in the countrys valuable industries and natural resources, including the familys majority control of a major gold mine that has been unknown until now.

Heydar Aliyev Former President of Azerbaijan MORE INFO Former President of Azerbaijan

The new details of the Aliyev offshore empire emerge from secret records obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung and other media partners from Mossack Fonseca, a Panama- headquartered law firm that helps to set up hard-to-trace corporate structures for clients. The more than 11 million documents reviewed by ICIJ and its partners  emails, bank accounts and client records  represent the inner workings of Mossack Fonseca for nearly 40 years, from 1977 to December 2015.

Family Alliances

The records show that, in mid-2003, 12 months before the October presidential election, Fazil Mammadov, Azerbaijans tax minister, began to create AtaHolding, which has since become one of the countrys biggest conglomerates. Mammadov, influential in his own right, subsequently invited President Aliyevs family to join him, cementing a potentially potent and advantageous business and political partnership.

AtaHolding is a corporation that has significant interests in Azerbaijans banking, telecommunications, construction, mining, oil and gas. Its most recent corporate filing in 2014 shows it held over $490 million in assets.

The leaked files show that the tax minister created a company in Panama through Mossack Fonseca named FM Management Holding Group S.A. Stand-in directors  straw men supplied by Mossack Fonseca  concealed the fact that Mammadov was involved.

Mammadov then created a second offshore entity  this time a foundation  called UF Universe Foundation. Panama foundations are subject to strict confidentiality laws. Anyone who discloses information about them can be fined or imprisoned.

The files show that two years later, in 2005, Aliyevs wife, the fashion-conscious, collagen-infused first lady and member of Parliament, Mehriban Aliyeva, became one of two managers of the UF Universe Foundation, alongside the tax minister, Mammadov.

In attachments to a High Importance email sent to Mossack Fonseca in February 2005 by a lawyer representing the Azeris, documents proposed that then six-year-old Heydar Aliyev, the presidents son who is known in the files as A1, be made the beneficiary of 20 percent of the foundations proceeds. The plan also proposed that the presidents two daughters, Leyla, then 19 and Arzu, then 17, would hold 15 percent each. Mammadovs son held 30 percent while Ashraf Kamilov, a former tax ministry official, and other former tax officials held smaller stakes. So, too, did AtaHoldings chairman, Ahmet Erentok.

So the secrecy had three layers:

The UF Universe Foundation, which controlled FM Management, the Panama company set up by Mammadov, which owned shares in a United Kingdom-based company named Financial Management Holding Limited.

According to a flowchart shared with Mossack Fonseca in 2005, the UK company held 51 percent of shares in AtaHolding Azerbaijan.

While there is no doubt that these secret companies existed and paid hundreds of dollars to Mossack Fonseca in administrative fees, it is unclear whether or not the proposed structure to benefit President Aliyevs teenage and pre-teen children and other prominent Azeris was ever adopted.

UF Universe Foundation was closed in January 2007. Then, in February 2014, months after President Aliyev was sworn in for his third term, a London-based lawyer sought to reactivate the Foundation and FM Management Holding Group. Mossack Fonseca was happy to oblige and issued an invoice in exchange for reactivating the company worth nearly $9,000.

Most recently, majority ownership  51 percent  of AtaHoldings was held by Hughson Management Inc., according to AtaHoldings online annual report. A 2010 letter signed by Mossack Fonseca listed Aliyevs daughters, Arzu and Leyla, and Swiss lawyer Mestelan as directors.

ICIJ sought comments from all individuals named in this article and received no responses. In response to previous reports about the familys holdings, the Presidents spokesman said the daughters are grown up and have the right to do business.

Friendship with U.S.

Despite global criticism of Azerbaijans mounting authoritarianism, the Aliyev regime has been a friend of successive U.S. administrations. The United States has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the Aliyevs Azerbaijan, including millions for military and security training. Azerbaijans government is one of the largest buyers of influence in Washington D.C. and, together with its lobbyists, spent at least $4 million in 2014 alone burnishing the countrys image. The country has taken members of Congress on all-expenses-paid visits to Azerbaijan, lavishing the lawmakers with silk scarves, crystal tea sets and rugs.

Azerbaijans importance in energy, as a supply route to American troops in Afghanistan and its potential role in the fight against ISIS makes the United States a reluctant critic, said former U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan Richard D. Kauzlarich, now adjunct professor at George Mason University.

Being where it is  bordered by Russia and Iran in a very unstable geopolitical environment  is a factor that makes it among the more unique countries in the region, said Kauzlarich, who was U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan from 1994-1997.

Its levels of corruption and elite control of the economy make it stand out in a part of the world where these things arent unusual, he added.

The franchising out of economic activity to families and clans that are important for maintaining the current regime in power is not an unusual pattern, said Kauzlarich. However, it certainly has been perfected in Azerbaijan.

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When Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko ran for the top office in 2014, he promised voters he would sell Roshen, Ukraines largest candy business, so he could devote his full attention to running the country.

If I get elected, I will wipe the slate clean and sell the Roshen concern. As President of Ukraine I plan and commit to focus exclusively on welfare of the nation, Poroshenko told the German newspaper Bild less than two months before the election.

Instead, actions by his financial advisers and Poroshenko himself, who is worth an estimated US$ 858 million, make it appear that the candy magnate was more concerned about his own welfare than his countrys  going so far as to arguably violate the law twice, misrepresent information and deprive his country of badly needed tax dollars during a time of war.

Poroshenko did this by setting up an offshore holding company to move his business to the British Virgin Islands (BVI), a notorious offshore jurisdiction often used to hide ownership and evade taxes.

His financial advisers say it was done through BVI to make Roshen more attractive to potential international buyers, but it also means Poroshenko may save millions of dollars in Ukrainian taxes.

In one of several ironic twists in this story, the news about the presidents offshore comes as the Ukrainian government is actively fighting the use of offshores, which one organization says are costing Ukraine US$ 11.6 billion a year in lost revenues.

Details about the Roshen deal can be found in the Panama Papers, documents obtained from a Panama-based offshore services provider called Mossack Fonseca. The documents were received by the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung and shared by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).

And in a more painful irony, the Panama Papers reveal that Poroshenko was apparently scrambling to protect his substantial financial assets in the BVI at a time when the conflict between Russia and Ukraine had reached its fiercest.

The Law

Poroshenkos action might be illegal on two counts: he started a new company while president and he did not report the company on his disclosure statements.

According to documents from Mossack Fonseca, on Aug. 4, 2014, George Ioannou, then a senior associate of the law firm Dr. K. Chrysostomides & Co LLC, sent an email to the Mossack Fonsecas incorporation department asking to register a new company for a person involved in politics.

The company will be the holding company for his business  and will have nothing to do with his political activities, Ioannou wrote, inquiring whether the registration agent would accept the job.

Seventeen days later, a new company with Ukrainian origins was submitted to the local registry of the British Virgin Islands.

Called Prime Asset Partners Ltd., a name similar to that of Poroshenkos Ukrainian holding company, it was located in the Akara Building in Tortola, an address used by thousands of offshore companies from around the world. The sole shareholder of the company was Poroshenko with an address in Kyiv. A copy of his passport confirmed that the beneficial owner was indeed the Ukrainian president.

Mossack Fonseca records specify that Prime Asset Partners would serve as the holding company for the Ukrainian and Cyprus companies of Roshen confectionary corporation, with proceeds from the business trade of the corporation being its source of funds.

Oleksii Khmara, executive director of Transparency International Ukraine, told OCCRP that this is a big problem, calling it a conflict of interest and apparent violation of both the constitution, which bans the president from business activities, and the corruption laws, which ban all public officials from conducting private business.

If a new business is created (after the election) and a public official is listed as the beneficiary, that means hes actively engaged in business, says Khmara. This is a violation of the law, no matter what the conditions (under which its registered) or the jurisdiction used.

The president also failed to report the newly registered BVI company and additional companies in his 2014 asset disclosure statements, a second possible violation of the law. The information is also missing on the 2015 asset forms. The Kyiv-based financial service group ICU (the presidents financial advisers) disclosed there were two more companies: one in Cyprus called CEE Confectionery Investments Ltd., registered in September 2014; and a second, registered in the Netherlands in December 2014, called Roshen Europe B.V. The BVI holding company holds the Cyprus company which in turn holds the Dutch company.

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Morning briefing: Looking for a break from political ads? Think again
State Debate: Not all of Donald Trump's ideas are outrageous, says the Racine paper; and one blogger calls on Hillary Clinton to drop out
MCFARLAND - Robert J. "Bob" Kominiak, age 81, passed away peacefully on Saturday, April 9, 2016, surrounded by his loving family. He was born on June 27, 1934, in Kenosha, to Joseph A. and Mae M. (Bobruk) Kominiak. He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Joe Jr. Bob had a number of careers during his full life, most recently as co-owner of Silverdale Resort in Baraboo, with his wife Ginny. He was also an electrician for MG&E, an inspector for Hartford Steam Boiler, and owner of Gypsy Gin Auto Body Shop in McFarland.

Throughout the course of his life, he was an avid skier, mountain climber, sailor, hunter, scuba diver, and fisherman. He enjoyed harassing the blue gill and northern from his Lake Waubesa pier, and spent many hours fishing the waters of Lake Michigan from the deck of the Gypsy Gin. In the days before the police and fire departments had diving teams, Bob participated in many rescue and recovery operations with the Madison Diving Club, including the 1967 plane crash that claimed Otis Redding. He also enjoyed traveling, and, with his wife Ginny, completed a round-the-world trip in 2002 to Japan, China, Mongolia, Russia, Siberia, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, and across the North Sea to England on a passenger freighter.

Bob was a true Renaissance man. Woodcarver, jewelry-maker, engineer, artist - Bob could do it all. We believe there was nothing he could not design, invent, or fix. He built two sea kayaks from reclaimed cedar paneling found in a dumpster. Each was a work of art. His jewelry chains were fashioned from silver ingots, each link made by hand. Shells, stones - all were polished with painstaking skill and fashioned into unique jewelry bestowed on family and friends.

Bob was patient, even-tempered, and non-judgmental. He was generous with his time and his skills. He was always busy, always involved in a project, but never too busy to lend a hand. Bob had a playful side and enjoyed a good party. He was an enthusiastic and swashbuckling participant in Greybeard's Annual Pirate Party in Cape Cod, Mass., and was awarded Pirate of the Year in 2013. Bob was grateful for the friendship of his wonderful neighbors and enjoyed hosting an annual Tom and Jerry party to warm the cold winter months.

Bob is survived by Virginia, his wife of 61 years; his children, Tara (Nora Antil), Tracy (Dan Plaggemeyer), and Tamara (Dan) Knickmeier; his granddaughter, Chelsea (Josh) Romaker; great-grandchildren, Tanner and Eliana; his nieces, Amy Holsman, Mary Swenson, Karen Thompson, Rhonda Furguson, Susan Hill, and Jennifer Ferris; and his nephews, Bill Kominiak and Steve Thompson.

A celebration of Bob's life will be held at GUNDERSON EAST FUNERAL HOME, 5203 Monona Drive, Madison, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, April 14, 2016. Visitation will be held at the funeral home from 12 noon until the time of the service on Thursday. Friends are invited to bring a story to share at the service. Donations in Bob's memory may be made to Angel's Wish, Dane County Humane Society, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, or a local charity of your choice.

"We will miss you forever and hold you always in our hearts." Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com.
The victim of an alleged sexual assault near Memorial Union on Friday night is not a UW-Madison student and did not initiate the reporting of the crime, police said.

Instead, the woman, who is in her early 20s, was approached by a campus police officer who saw her sitting on a curb near the Alumni House, 650 N. Lake St., about 10:45 p.m. Friday. She appeared to be upset.

The officer involved found her and looked and realized she may be a person who needed help, UW-Madison police spokesman Marc Lovicott said Monday.

Lovicott declined to say where the woman was from. She was on campus for the weekend visiting friends, he said.

The woman told police that three strangers held her down at knife point and assaulted her sometime between 10 p.m. and 10:40 p.m. near Memorial Union, 800 Langdon St. She was unable to describe the men or the location in greater detail to the officer on Friday or to police since then, Lovicott said.

Its also not clear to police how many of the three men allegedly raped the victim.

Shes been reluctant to say much, Lovicott said.

Lovicott said officers continue to follow leads, talking to acquaintances of the victim and looking through security camera footage from the area.

We scoured a lot of the area already, he said. There was not a lot of information that was able to be conveyed to us (by the victim). We dont even have descriptions (of the assailants). The location is also very vague.

UW-Madison police continue to ask anyone with information to contact them at 608-264-2677. People who were in the Memorial Union area about the time of the incident Friday who noticed anything that seemed out of the ordinary also are encouraged to call, he said.
Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot and Turkish Media Review, 16-04-12 Cyprus Press and Information Office: Turkish Cypriot Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article From: The Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office Server at <http://www.pio.gov.cy/> TURKISH CYPRIOT AND TURKISH MEDIA REVIEW No. 67/16 12.04.2016 [A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS [01] Interview by Akinci to Deutsche Welle: "This opportunity for a solution should not be missed" [02] Akinci: "The aim of this visit is to reflect Turkish Cypriots' desire to build a new future as one of the two equal people in the island" [03] Talat says that the convergences are increasing in the Cyprus negotiations [04] Ozersay estimates that "early elections" will take place in the occupied area of Cyprus before the end of the year [05] "Varosha is on the European Investments' Bank's agenda" [06] The Egyptian FM to visit Turkey for the OIC summit [07] Turkey reveals official figures on the number of Syrian refugees in Turkey [08] Turkish columnist condemned the EP and the Greek Cypriots for the context the EP's 2016 progress report on Turkey [A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS [01] Interview by Akinci to Deutsche Welle: "This opportunity for a solution should not be missed" According to illegal Bayrak television (12.04.16), Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci, in statements this morning from Germany where he attended a live televised program on Deutsche Welle television channel, said, inter, alia that a solution in Cyprus is important for the region and the European Union and therefore he wanted to cooperate with all EU countries. Asked on a question regarding Turkey's EU negotiations process and the effect the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has on politics in "north Cyprus", Akinci said that he was working to reunite the island with the Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Anastasiades and added that although Turkey always supported the Turkish Cypriot side, the two leaders in the island are responsible for a solution. "The Turkish Cypriot people have always received the support of Turkey and have not faced any hardships and don't expect to face any hardships in the future either", said Akinci. During the interview, Ak?nc? referred to the 2004 Annan Plan referendum that was held on the island and noted that although the majority of the Turkish Cypriots voted in favor of the plan, they were not accepted into the European Union. He added that the Greek Cypriot side, which had overwhelmingly rejected the plan was unilaterally accepted in the Union. Touching upon the Cyprus negotiations process, Ak?nc? said that serious progress was achieved on 6 chapters and even though some problems remained the issues of territory and guarantees would be taken up last. Noting that alongside a physical division, a mental division between the two "peoples" on the island exists as well, Akinci said that the mental division was not something that could be overcome in a short time as the Greek Cypriot side has to change its belief that it is the sole ruler of the island. "They also have to accept that they must share administrative responsibilities and this will take time", added Akinci, pointing out that it is more difficult to make mental changes than it is to make physical changes. Explaining that there is good chemistry between the two leaders and due to this it is easier to make progress at the talks, Ak?nc? said that they are from the same generation with Mr. Anastasiades and expressed the belief that it is the last chance for the current generation on the island to find a solution based on a federation and therefore, this opportunity for a solution shouldn't be missed. [02] Akinci: "The aim of this visit is to reflect Turkish Cypriots' desire to build a new future as one of the two equal people in the island" Turkish Cypriot daily Havadis (12.04.16) reports that Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci said that in Germany "they will explain that the Turkish Cypriot people are one of the two equal sides in Cyprus". In statements yesterday before his departure to Germany upon an invitation from the German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier, Akinci said that he will hold important contacts first in Germany and then in Istanbul, where he will also attend the OIC's conference. Akinci added: "These visits will be the reflection of the Turkish Cypriot people's desire to build a new future within tranquillity and peace as one of the two equal people on the island and with a mutual respect to the rights of each side". Stressing that the determination of the Turkish Cypriot people's political will continues and everyone should do its part so this (determination) should not be unreciprocated, Akinci argued: "Within this framework there are things that the EU must do as the Cyprus problem has reached an international quality; the Islamic world should also show the necessary solidarity. The continuation to act with 'solidarity to the Turkish Cypriot people' as it was mentioned in previous decisions is important especially in the recent period". (DPs) [03] Talat says that the convergences are increasing in the Cyprus negotiations Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (12.04.16) reports that former Turkish Cypriot leader and chairman of the Republican Turkish Party (CTP), Mehmet Ali Talat has expressed the hope that a result will be reached in the Cyprus negotiations by the end of the year. In statements in the Turkish city of Aydin where he had a meeting with its Mayor Ozlem Cercioglu, Talat alleged that the economic difficulties in the government-controlled area of the Republic of Cyprus have created an environment which supports the solution. Referring to the forthcoming parliamentary elections in the Republic, he claimed: "We are experiencing a slowing down because of the elections in south Cyprus, but progress is continuing in spite of everything, convergences are increasing. The most important thing is that differently to the past years the economic and political conditions in south Cyprus are creating a community more prone to the solution to the Cyprus problem. The Greek Cypriot economy experienced a big shock. Previous approaches such as 'the Turkish Cypriots are poor, we are rich, and we do not want to share our wealth' have ceased to exist. The mentality that with the solution the island will attract foreign investors and thus it will become rich started to prevail and therefore the conditions seem to be more appropriate. [?]" Talat said that his party supported the Turkish Cypriot leader in the negotiations and will continue doing so as the biggest party in the occupied area of Cyprus. Talat further alleged that Turkey is offering support on the issue of finding a solution to the Cyprus problem and expressed his gratitude. Meanwhile, addressing a conference on the Cyprus problem at a university in the same Turkish city, Talat argued that the energy resources and the approach between Greece and Turkey will help in the solution process in Cyprus. Replying to a student's question on the energy resources, Talat argued that after the discovery of natural gas resources, the Greek Cypriots saw that these could be connected to Europe over Turkey and these developments changed the climate in the Greek Cypriot side. Talat also argued that the Greek Cypriot side knows that its economy will relax with the solution of the Cyprus problem and "thus they will be able to stir their collapsed economy up and attract foreign investors". He concluded: "Therefore, conditions have changed. The energy resources, the approach between Turkey and Greece will help in the solution process. The presidency is carrying out the negotiations today, but the government crisis is of course also influencing. I think that the government crisis will not last for long. It seems that today or tomorrow a government will be established or an early election will be held [?]" (I/Ts.) [04] Ozersay estimates that "early elections" will take place in the occupied area of Cyprus before the end of the year Turkish daily Milliyet (05.04.16) under the title: "An earthquake will be experienced at the ballot boxes", reports on statements by Kudret Ozersay, leader of the People's Party (HP) in the occupied area of Cyprus, who referred to the efforts exerted for the establishment of a new coalition "government" between the National Unity Party (UBP) - the Democratic Party (DP) and the "independent deputies" and argued that a possible formation of a new "coalition government" with the participation of the above parties will be hopeless since, as he supported, "early elections will take place before the end of the year". Stating that a possible "coalition government" will not represent the people's will and interests concerning the "economic protocol", Ozersay said that his party supports that the only remedy will be to hold "early elections". "In the near future, an earthquake will be experienced in the country at the ballot boxes. We observed this very clearly during the visits we paid recently in several regions and villages", argued Ozersay and said that they have information that a bargaining is taking place already in the "TRNC" on the possible names of "candidates" that will run in the "early elections". (AK) [05] "Varosha is on the European Investments' Bank's agenda" Under the above title, Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (12.04.16) reports that the European Investment Bank (EIB) is discussing the issue of carrying out a financial analysis regarding the occupied city of Famagusta and the fenced off Varosha. In statements to the paper, Serdar Atai, chairman of the Within the Walls Famagusta Association (MASDER) and activist of the Famagusta Initiative, said that a delegation headed by EIB's president, Werner Hoyer toured the occupied port of Famagusta and the within the walls area. He noted that the European officials were impressed by the area, that more visits will follow and that the bank is willing to grant credits. Noting that the bank officials said that they are seeing that "something is coming" regarding Famagusta, Atai added: "Eventually what is coming is after a certain period, but there are a lot of things we should do during the period until then. We are aware of this. The leaderships of the two sides have announced that Varosha will be returned on the next day after the solution. Very well, what are we waiting for? The jobs to be done in a city to be returned should be planned and ready. The bank officials want to see such a thing to happen from the point of view of the credit purposes and we want this for not wasting time". Pointing out that Confidence Building Measures (CBM) should be implemented in the area, Atai underlined that as a first step for this a multinational technical delegation of experts should be granted to possibility of having access to the occupied fenced off city of Varosha. "Moreover, these experts should stop by the port and the within the walls area and even the university area not only by Varosha and prepare an analysis on the needs for the future and a financial chart. We have conveyed these to them in the same way". Stressing the importance of technical experts entering into Varosha and start working the soonest, Atai said: "We especially support and the American experts. The American experts have serious experience in post war areas such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. We support having German experts as well. Germany has serious experience regarding divided cities like Berlin. We argue that Famagusta also is a divided city and such experts are needed here". Atai said that the EIB delegation told them that the financings for 2016 have ended, but if financial resources are to be granted for 2017, a financial analysis is needed. (I/Ts.) [06] The Egyptian FM to visit Turkey for the OIC summit According to Ankara Anatolia news agency (12.04.16), the Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry will visit Turkey for the first time in three years. The Minister will participate in the OIC meeting that will take place in Istanbul during the 14th-15th April with representatives from Iraq, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Azerbaijan, as well as leaders from 56 different Islamic countries. Shoukry will also meet with the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. The meeting will be the first step towards the normalization of relations with Egypt. Diplomatic ties between Turkey and Egypt broke off after the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi in 2013 amid popular protests. Turkey says it does not recognize the administration of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as legitimate. [07] Turkey reveals official figures on the number of Syrian refugees in Turkey Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News (11.04.16) reported that according to figures from the Interior Ministry's Directorate General of Migration Management, Turkey hosts over 2.7 million Syrians under its temporary protection regime but only some 270,000 stay in camps. The highest number of Syrians resides in southern and southeastern towns along the Syrian border, with the striking exception of Istanbul, home to nearly 400,000 migrants. Some 2.7 million Syrian migrants are under Turkey's temporary protection regime, the statistics revealed, and a total of 2.48 million migrants live across the country instead of residing in one of the "accommodation centers" in 10 different provinces. The city hosting the largest number of Syrians is the southeastern province of Sanl?urfa, which is currently home to a total of 401,068 Syrians. While two other southeastern provinces, Hatay and Gaziantep, host some 300,000 migrants, the surprising runner-up is Istanbul. (?)Turkey's two other major metropolitan centers, the capital Ankara and the Aegean province of Izmir, attract a comparatively lower number of migrants with some 60,000 and 90,000, respectively. The figures also show that nearly half of Turkey's Syrian population is under the age of 19, including nearly 709,000 boys and over 645,000 girls. The Ministry's data also demonstrates how the number of Syrian migrants increased over the past four years, since the start of the war in 2012. Accordingly, there were only some 14,000 Syrian migrants in Turkey in 2012, when Turkey mentioned 100,000 refugees as the limit of its capacity. This figure, however, increased fifteen fold in just a year to some 224,000 in 2013 and to over 1.5 million in 2014. While the figure stood at 2.5 million by the end of 2015, it rose to over 2.7 million after only the first quarter of 2016. (?) [08] Turkish columnist condemned the EP and the Greek Cypriots for the context the EP's 2016 progress report on Turkey In a commentary under the title: "Does European Parliament not want to be taken seriously?", Turkish daily Sabah's (11.04.16) columnist Ozan Ceyhun writes that the European Parliament (EP) will vote on April 14, 2016, the annual report on Turkey, during a session in Strasbourg where it will ostensibly approve the report. Commenting on the context of the reports, the columnist supports that the EP could not have approved a more absurd report than the one that is full of unsubstantiated claims, based on nonsensical biases and contradicts the current realities in Turkey. The columnist writes also the following: "If Europe's radical right-wing ? which is unlikely to receive more than 100 seats in the EP in the coming elections, drafted and proposed such a report, it would not be surprising. I wonder if they could possibly present another report harsher or more unrealistic than the one that is about to be voted on. This indicates that some of the Parliament members not only misrepresent the EU and the values it stands for but also Islam and Muslims and, consequently, Turks and the Republic of Turkey. Likewise, it is not hard to comprehend why the Greek Cypriot members of the EP appreciate this report. Although two parliamentary seats belong to Turkish Cypriot members, the Greek Cypriot members of parliament regard their mission at the EP as the creation of captions related to Greek Cypriot domestic policies, devoid of any interest in the EU or the values it stands for. Their only priority is to contribute further to the decisions that are made against the best interests of Turkey, Turkish Cyprus and the Turkish Cypriots. Therefore, those members of the EP endeavor to include baseless content and unsubstantial materials directed against Turkey in this year's annual report. And, they succeeded to a certain extent -- thanks to the coalition they formed with other dissidents of Turkey in the EP. However, this year's report could have been utilized as a contribution to the ongoing reunification negotiations in Cyprus. Unfortunately, though, the exact opposite has happened. Greek Cypriot EP members tried their best to include all sorts of articles in the report that hamper the process in Cyprus. After the Annan Plan, the EP has proven once again that the Turkish Cypriots have been the only ones sincerely exerting efforts to come up with a resolution in Cyprus. Since it already became obvious in the drafting process of this year's report that a terrible report was to be issued, the Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee co-chairman Berat Conkar and Turkish Parliament's EU Harmonization Committee chairman, Mehmet Kas?m Gulp?nar, co-authored a letter to express their disapproval on the report draft and sent the letter to the EP rapporteur for Turkey, Kati Piri, as well as the co-president of the Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee, Manolis Kefalogiannis. But their efforts were in vain. It is evident that Greek and Greek-Cypriot EP members replace EU values with national interests, which we can understand, to a certain extent. Piri, however, a Socialist Parliamentarian for the Netherlands, sided with them rather than serving as an arbitrator regarding this year's report, which has been a great disappointment. (?) The annual EP progress report on Turkey will serve only one purpose: to undermine the EU. Harming Turkey-EU relations, which have developed positively over the recent months, and jeopardizing cooperation, particularly on the refugee issue, equates to the undermining of both the EU and Turkey. We wonder if the EP members who will approve the report ? albeit likely to undermine Turkish-EU relations -- will achieve their goals and be ready to welcome the refugee flow into the EU. They had better get ready for that. As a matter of fact, it seems that the EP, which the European public does not take seriously, is eager to maintain its view of people, according to the latest report on Turkey. Turkey will not accept this report. Just like last year, it will be possible to see the report festering in the trashcan. They will be confronted by the rightful questioning of EU citizens who will raise their eyebrows if EP parliamentarians ? the designated issuer of these 'trashcan reports' -- really deserve to receive taxpayer money from the EU citizens". TURKISH AFFAIRS SECTION http://www.moi.gov.cy/pio (AK/AM) Cyprus Press and Information Office: Turkish Cypriot Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article
Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-04-12 Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/> CONTENTS [01] 53,381 identified refugees in Greece on Tuesday [02] FYROM makes demarche to Greece's Liaison Office in Skopje [03] Two Turkish fighter jets enter Athens FIR [04] "Open House" event to be held in Athens on April 16-17 [05] Greece, creditors reach agreement on energy issues [06] Comicdom Con Athens to be held on April 15-17 [01] 53,381 identified refugees in Greece on Tuesday 53,381 identified refugees and migrants were on the Greek territory on Tuesday among them 80 persons that arrived in the last 24 hours. According to the Refugee Crisis Management Coordination Body's figures, 29,205 of the refugees are in northern Greece, 11,194 of them are in Idomeni camp, 14,405 are hosted in the region of Attica (3,806 at Piraeus port), 7,055 on the Greek islands and 2,716 are hosted in different areas in central and southern Greece. [02] FYROM makes demarche to Greece's Liaison Office in Skopje SKOPJE (ANA-MPA/N. Frangopoulos) - FYROM's Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday that it has made a demarche to the Liaison Office of Greece in Skopje, in response to the oral demarches of the head of the Liaison Office of Greece in FYROM Ambassador Theocharis Lalakos on Sunday's incidents at Idomeni. According to the announcement, the security forces "acted with the utmost restraint, responsibility and professionalism against the violent protests and aggressive large groups of migrants attempting to illegally cross the Greek-FYROM borders." In order to avoid similar incidents in the future, FYROM's Foreign Ministry called on for the strengthening of the Greek police forces at the borders and stressed the importance of exchange of relevant information in order to discourage violent protests by migrants and prevent their illegal entry on FYROM's territory, the announcement added. [03] Two Turkish fighter jets enter Athens FIR Two Turkish F-16 entered Athens' FIR this afternoon (08.02 local time) between the islands of Lesvos and Chios without having submitted a flight plan for a second consecutive day, Greece's National Defence General Staff said on Tuesday. The fighter jets flew over the islets of Inouses at 17,000 feet and a minute later they exited Athens FIR through the same route. The Turkish formation was recognized by Greek fighter jets. [04] "Open House" event to be held in Athens on April 16-17 The "Open House" event will be held in Athens on April 16-17 giving visitors the opportunity to get acquainted with the architectural gems of the city. The event is held for a third consecutive year with the assistance of 450 volunteers who will tour visitors to 91 modern and neoclassical buildings, among them the Museum of the city of Athens, the Bangeio, the Museum of Cycladic Art, the Athens City Hall, the Jewish Museum, the Vorres Museum, the Municipal Theatre of Piraeus. "The event aims at getting people acquainted with the value of architecture and its importance in our daily life," Athens Open House public relations manager Renata Douma said. Last year, 20,000 people had the opportunity to admire the unique and important buildings of Athens. The "Open House" is a very important international institution that aims to the promotion of architecture. The project started in London in 1992 and is now held in more than 35 cities throughout the world. [05] Greece, creditors reach agreement on energy issues Greek authorities and the institutions on Tuesday reached an agreement on ADMIE and energy auctions by Public Power Corporation aimed to liberalize the electricity market in the country. Environment and Energy Minister Panos Skourletis, speaking to ANA-MPA after a meeting with representatives of the country's creditors which did not discuss privatization and fuel tax issues, said that an agreement on Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO or ADMIE) envisaged the transfer of majority stake (51 pct) from Public Power Corporation to the state (PPC will be compensated), while the remaining 49 pct will be offered to a strategic investor -who will be the manager of the grid and will be able to buy at least 20 pct of the shares- and to private investors. The state will control a majority of the board, appointing the chief executive. The process to sell at least 20 pct of ADMIE is expected to begin in June. Skourletis said that Greek authorities will draft a new regulation covering the auction of lignite and hydro-electric power production by Public Power Corporation (PPC), based on data provided by the operator of the market (LAGIE) and a recommendation of the market regulator (RAE) which will determine the quantity of energy to be auctioned and the starting price of auctions. The first auctions are expected in the second half of 2016. [06] Comicdom Con Athens to be held on April 15-17 Comicdom Con, the annual three-day comics festival, will be held in Athens on April 15-17. Comicdom Con Athens has become a standard in the Greek comics community, providing a unique celebration not only for the people who love the 9th Art, but also for those who wish to discover it. The event includes art exhibitions, sketch events, panels, screenings, workshops on comics and related arts, panels, publishers and retailers bazaar. The main hosting venues of Comicdom Con Athens are the Hellenic American Union, the French Institute of Greece and the Athens Municipality Cultural Centre. Last year, Comicdom Con attracted more than 12,000 visitors. The programme of the festival is available at comicdom-con.gr. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article
Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-04-12 Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/> CONTENTS [01] Government's red lines are the tax-free ceiling and main pensions, says FinMin [02] PM Tsipras to visit Paris, Strasburg and Brussels this week [03] European institutions agree on measures Greece has to implement, says ECB source [04] Police detains 15 people as part of crack down on Idomeni rumour mill [01] Government's red lines are the tax-free ceiling and main pensions, says FinMin The government will not back down on the issue of the main pensions and the tax-free ceiling, both of which Greece's lenders want to be cut and lowered respectively, Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said on Tuesday during a joint press conference with Economy Minister Giorgos Stathakis and Labour minister George Katrougalos. "The Greek government is sovereign and it will be the one to decide how the targets of the memorandum will be met," Tsakalotos told journalists, adding that he expects a deal with the institutions to be achieved at an emergency Eurogroup on April 25-26. He also said the government will submit next week a tax and pension reform bill. "We're open to dialog - if there's a predisposition for an agreement, the review will be completed, because for Greece to turn a page, the review must conclude and a debate must start on the debt," he said. "We are negotiating with many players that have differences between them, but our difference with the IMF does not increase." The finance minister also expressed optimism that a staff level agreement will be achieved by April 22, when the Eurogroup is expected to meet, or an extra Eurogroup meeting could be held on April 25-25 to close the first program review. He did clarify however that the IMF has different forecasts for both the performance of the measures and the primary surplus of 2018. On his side, Stathakis said reports that NPLs held by banks will be sold are not true, because the legal framework has not been set up yet. He said the handling of NPLs is among the main issues discussed with the institutions and a solution will be found by April 22. "All our information converge to the direction that the deal will be closed," he told journalists. Asked by a journalist if there's a "plan B", Stathakis responded that the government is "working on the direction that the deal will conclude and all information is to that direction." Stathakis then went on to say that Greek negotiations and the country's debt will be discussed at the IMF's spring meeting in Washington on April 15-17, adding that the two sides "have not clashed". The negotiation is a procedure that must be completed soon, as well as the debt issue, in order to promote growth, he added. Taking his turn, Katrougalos said main pensions will be fully protected, while supplementary pensions will be readjusted by up to 10 pct. He also said a solidarity benefit paid to poor pensioners will not be cut, while 80 pct of the self-employed will pay lower social security contributions when the deal is passed. [02] PM Tsipras to visit Paris, Strasburg and Brussels this week Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will pay an official visit to Paris on Wednesday to meet with French President Francois Hollande his office announced. Tsipras is scheduled to hold talks with Hollande at 19.00 at the Elysee presidential palace. On Thursday, he will travel to Strasburg for a working lunch with the head of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, at noon. The prime minister will then visit Brussels to participate as a guest speaker at a working dinner with senior executives of the Alex Springer Foundation at 19.00, where he will present the situation and the prospects of the Greek economy. [03] European institutions agree on measures Greece has to implement, says ECB source BRUSSELS (ANA-MPA/M. Spinthourakis) a European institutions agree on the measures Greece has to implement to close its first program review, well-informed sources from the European Central Bank told ANA-MPA. Asked on the statements made earlier today by ECB's executive board member Benoit Coeure on Greece, a source from the central bank said: "The ECB agrees with the estimations of the European Commission as to the measures Greece has to take to succeed in achieving a primary source target of 3.5 pct in 2018." [04] Police detains 15 people as part of crack down on Idomeni rumour mill Greek police on Tuesday detained 15 Greeks and foreign nationals who said they were volunteers working in Idomeni, as part of authorities' intensive efforts to stop rumours spreading by unknown individuals who tell refugees and migrants in the camp that FYROM borders could reopen. The move follows the violence that erupted at the Greek-FYROM borders when refugees and migrants gathered to protest against the closing of the borders last Sunday. According to police, those detained are 5 Germans, 2 Britons, 2 Swedes, 2 Greeks, one Dutch, one Austrian, one Portuguese and one Czech, and were all stopped at the Axios bridge, where anyone who enters Greece from FYROM must pass. The detained told police they were helping the refugees but authorities said that none of them belongs to any of the NGOs operating in the area. They were all led to the local police station to establish their identities. Of the 15 individuals, one German national will be led before the prosecutor for possession of a knife. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article
When Chris Knight, star pupil, commented, That kind of takes the fun out of it, doesnt it? Lazlo shrugged and replied They set up the rules.

So he entered 1,650,000 times. I should win 32.6% of the prizes, he added, including the car.

You may remember a silly little youth comedy from the 1980s entitled Real Genius, in which the minor character Lazlo Hollyfeld has put his mathematical mind to work and decided to enter the Frito-Lay Sweepstakes  No purchase necessary, enter as often as you want.

I have always wondered if I was alone in my anger when Lazlo won his 32.6% of the prizes in the end. While it was certainly a testimonial to the characters mathematical talent, it was morally wrong. Yes, he just utilized a loophole in the system that others had created, but we in the audience knew that there was something fundamentally unfair about it.

It may have been legal for Lazlo to game the system this way, but it certainly wasnt right.

The Primary Process in 2016

Much of the news in the 2016 campaign season has not been about political issues at all. Not about economics (we are  truth be told  still stuck in an 8-year-long recession). Not about foreign policy (our military strength has been whittled away to the point that we are now toothless on the world stage). Not about social issues (the traditional family is under assault; our cities are aflame with drugs, burglary and murder).

No, much of the news in the 2016 presidential campaign, amazingly, is about the Process.

Is it fair, we are asked, that Bernie Sanders can win more votes than Hillary Clinton, but stay behind in delegates? Is it fair, we are asked, that Donald Trump was winning everything in sight until March 22, and has been losing everything in sight since then?

Is all this fair?

One could argue that the time to discuss the rules of the primary season was between 2013 and 2015, not today, with the primary season upon us.

Baseball players in the National League dont traditionally interrupt the game in the sixth inning, yelling that they deserve a Designated Hitter like the American League has.

Junior High kids, losing at touch football, dont normally scream in the third quarter that theyd be winning if only tackling were allowed.

And no professional golfer  one whos great on drives but lousy at putting  has ever had the nerve to object to the fairness of a Masters tournament because only the actual scores were counted. I did better at drives! You shouldnt count the putts too! I won on the drives!

And yet despite the rules being in place for years we see some candidates and their supporters, on both right and left, screaming that the rules are unfair.

Why unfair? Because theyre unexpectedly losing at the rules that they accepted when they began, by entering the race in the first place.

The American Primary Process

Perhaps what America needs is a review. A short, simple review of what the presidential primary process  and in fact, the entire primary process  is for.

Lets begin with a couple of points:

The American primary process is not designed for the benefit of any specific candidates.

designed for the benefit of any specific candidates. The American primary process is not designed for the benefit of any specific voters.

designed for the benefit of any specific voters. The American primary process is not designed for the benefit of any specific issues.

The American primary system is designed for the benefit of political parties.

Thats all. Thats what its for.

And by the way, while were at it Nothing in the American primary process is unconstitutional, because the primary process is not mentioned in the Constitution. The Framers never even dreamed of such a thing; they had hoped (idealistically, and arguably quite unrealistically) to avoid having political parties at all.

The Constitution calls for what we now call General Elections in which the voters  either directly or indirectly  select their representatives. How the candidates get on that ballot is left up to the states.

We could just allow anybody to get on the ballot, and have ten, twenty, even hundreds of candidates at the General Election, but the nation quickly gravitated to the use of parties to make our General Elections smoother and specifically, to the two-party-system, to make the General Election a clear choice for each voter.

This approach is far from perfect, but it is the approach we have. There are other parties, but in most of United States elections, third parties can be nothing more than a protest or spoiler.

So. We have a primary process, designed by the two major parties, to enable those parties to select the candidates whom they  the party members  believe will be their strongest champions in that November jousting tournament.

The party members set out with an eye to November, to choose  from among their ranks  whomever they believe to be some balance of both the most winnable and the most aligned with their partys principles. Thats the goal, anyway.

So the parties meet in the summer, at a convention, and hammer out a platform of political positions, so that all the world can see what they stand for. And they select their champions for the fall.

Thats what primaries are for. Theyre not for members, or regions, or candidates. They exist to enable the parties to present as unified and winnable a team as possible, to support their political philosophy, with the hope of advancing their cause through the vehicle of elective office, by winning the General Election.

Hopes and Changes

Over the past hundred years, particularly the past fifty, more and more states gravitated toward allowing more and more participation in their primary campaigns. Many states went from fully closed to partially closed to open to wide open. Many states went from caucuses to primary elections.

We have, today, a very broad mixture from state to state; every political candidate who knows what hes doing, and every campaign consultant or activist worth his salt, knows of this variety, and makes sure to know the rules in the state (or states) in which he chooses to become involved.

Some definitions might be useful at this point:

A Caucus is a public meeting, at a specific time, in which candidates or their reps give a speech to those assembled, then they vote together to pick a candidate directly, or to pick indirectly, through delegates sometimes with secret balloting, sometimes with open balloting.

A Primary Election is a regular voting day at a polling place, identical in appearance to the General Election except that does not actually pick the winner, just the partys nominee or delegates to select him. And of course you declare which partys nomination process youll be participating in, so the pollworkers know which ballot to give you (except for a couple of insane places that allow voters to criss-cross and participate in both parties primaries at the same time).

A Convention is the statewide and/or nationwide meeting of delegates elected at the caucuses and/or primaries, to hammer out the party platform and complete the nominee-selection process on behalf of the party membership.

An Open primary or caucus is one that doesnt care at all about the actual party members, and welcomes any registered voter in to help select its nominee. In New Hampshire, you can walk into the polling place unaffiliated, change your party to Republican, cast your ballot, then change back to unaffiliated on your way out! This is like the Chicago Bears allowing the Green Bay Packers to select the Chicago Bears lineup for the next time they play each other.

A Mostly Open primary or caucus is one that limits participants, but not by much. They may require you to declare your party by some date in advance of the Primary Election, but not far in advance. A week or two, perhaps, or a month. Participants may still not be adherents of that party at heart; they may not have the best interest of the party in mind when they make their choices. They may still be choosing their ballot based on which partys race is more exciting, or based on an individual participant.

A Mostly Closed primary or caucus is one that limits participants by some longer, more demanding period of time, such as several months. In New York, for instance, one had to be on file as a Republican by October 2015 in order to participate in the 2016 primary. While most candidates might be known by then, at least its reasonable to assume that the people selecting the Republican champion in such a contest, that far out, are probably people who actually think like Republicans, who hold positions generally like Republicans, and who hope that the Republicans will win in November.

A truly Closed primary or caucus is one in which you had to be on record as a member of that party for a really long time, generally a year or two, before the election. The key here is that the members declared themselves before most of the candidate field was even known (except of course for incumbents). This is the only system that really respects the party system and places ideology and principle above individuals.

As an example of the truly closed primary system until the 1970s, in Illinois, one had to skip a primary election in order to vote in the other partys primary. If you voted in the Democrat primary in 1964, and you wanted to vote in the Republican Partys primary in 1968, you had to skip the primary election of 1966 entirely. This was your proving period; you skipped an election to demonstrate that you no longer thought of yourself as a Democrat, before the probation was lifted for future primary participation.

This method ensured that people participating in the job of choosing each partys champion were people who wanted the partys nominee to prevail in November. It eliminated the common risks we see today, in which people participate in primaries due to the cult of personality of an individual candidate, or who participate in an effort to try to get their opposition to nominate a sure loser.

Donald Trump and the Whining Campaign

Donald Trump, in his unusual 2016 candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination, has spent much of the second phase of the primary season complaining.

Despite progressing from a longtime joke (he has threatened to run for president for 30 years, but never even ran for Congress or Governor, so most of us thought it was just talk) to an actual national frontrunner in a single year, Mr. Trump considers every stumble, every loss, to be the result of some inherent systemic design against him and his campaign.

Contrary to Mr. Trumps personal opinion, these rules were not written with him in mind, so they were clearly not written to trip him up. Each state goes about the primary process in its own way, some choosing closed methods, some choosing open, some choosing a primary, some choosing a caucus. All the rules have been published and known for years.

Mr. Trump boasted in 2015 that he could run and win with free media, by running a campaign not as a traditional political campaign but as a concert tour:

Fly into town, Excite an audience, Get their votes, and Move on to the next state.

And that method has proven to be effective in some states, particularly before his personality and issue stances were as well-understood as they are today.

When he started, pundits laughed it off with the statement Trump? Come on. He has no ground game meaning, he doesnt have a structural support base in each state, made up of people who have cared about government, and been involved in government, for years and years. Lacking such a support base to run individual state campaigns for delegates and voter organization, pundits believed he would have no chance.

And for months, such pundits (this humble writer included) appeared to have miscalculated. Mr. Trumps strategy seemed to be working.

Now in March and April, as we have seen Mr. Trump fire his state chairmen right before or right after their contests, or moved resources out of their states and it has become clear that his lack of what we call a ground game is indeed hurting him.

The people left behind, after his whirlwind campaign moves on, realize that they have committed themselves to a candidate without a long view, and they are regretting it.

There are rules that bind most of these delegates on the first ballot, and they wont break those rules, but once unbound? It is Trumps own fault that more and more of them will leave him after that contractually-bound first ballot or two.

For two hundred years, there has only been one way to win the Presidency, and thats by building a record in government service, either through high elective office or military command, or often in both. No one has ever won in November without such a resume. No one has ever won without having been a Governor, Senator, Cabinet Secretary, Speaker of the House, Vice President or victorious General.

So, the parties  both parties, not just the Republicans  built a system designed to select someone with such a resume, with their own parties ideological stands, and a broad national base of support both to ensure that their nominee is representative of his partys rank and file, and to ensure a good chance at victory in November.

Donald Trump thought he could utilize loopholes in that system to sneak his way into the process. He thought  despite having never been an active Republican, never having held elective or military office, never having articulated the ideology of the party  that his unusual salesmanship would enable him to capture the Republican nomination.

He thought he could steal the Republican nomination away from the Republican Party with flash, with marketing, and with the rapid-fire energy of a clever Twitter account.

But the governmental experience, ideological rigor, and political skills of Senator Ted Cruz (R, TX) have begun to surface, and have proven that Ted Cruz is the more logical choice in the current field to represent the Republican Party in November. Thats not to say hes the perfect candidate either  no one is perfect  but out of these two, Senator Cruz is clearly the only presidential one, the one with broad national appeal and a campaign structure supportive of a national campaign.

So independent Donald Trump  who has changed party affiliation back and forth numerous times , and never met an opinion on which he couldnt easily switch sides (sometimes within the same interview)  having tried to steal their own nomination away from the Republican Party, is apparently watching in shock as he sees it being taken back from him legally under the rules with which he never bothered to familiarize himself.

The wheels are coming off the Trump bus. Whether it will happen in time to stop his wholesale destruction of the Republican Party  in a year in which the Republicans SHOULD have been able to win in a landslide, is yet to be seen. But still the wheels are coming off the Trump bus at last.

Lessons from a Fairy Tale

Remember the great book and film, The Princess Bride, set in a medieval fantasy kingdom?

Our hero  Wesley (Cary Elwes)  arrives on the scene, just in time to save the princess from the clutches of Vizzini, a mercenary kidnapper (Wallace Shawn).

Vizzini arrogantly declares, Youre trying to kidnap what Ive rightfully stolen!

Apparently, much like Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment, Vizzini believed that laws applied to other people, not to him.

Having identified the holes in security that enabled him to kidnap the girl in the first place, Vizzini thought his job was done as soon as he originally kidnapped the princess and escaped.

Vizzini therefore found the idea of someone else undoing his crime to be  in effect  cheating.

That 1980s audience got the joke, and laughed along with Wesley at how ludicrous was Vizzinis idea. A lawbreaker couldnt whine in public, and arrogantly declare that the law protected him from the forces of right!

But in modern America, the audience of 2016 understands, and, frighteningly, may even side with Vizzini.

This is a world in which a burglar whos shot by the homeowner in self-defense can sue the homeowner

A world in which a pervert can intentionally go into the public restroom or locker room meant for the opposite sex, and can sue the school for refusing to allow it

A world in which a Democrat can seek a Republican nomination for President, and attack the Republicans for failing to jump for joy at the idea, and for attempting to thwart such a fraud.

Perhaps the mythical Vizzini should just have waited a few centuries; his idea of the law protecting the criminal  rather than prosecuting the criminal for his crime  sadly may in fact have arrived after all.

Copyright 2016 John F. Di Leo

John F. Di Leo is a Chicago-based international trade lecturer, actor, writer, and recovering politician. His columns are regularly found in Illinois Review.

Permission is hereby granted to forward freely, provided it is uncut and the IR URL and byline are included. Follow John F. Di Leo on LinkedIn or Facebook, or on Twitter at @johnfdileo.
There's one thing you need to do by Wednesday this week if you want to be a state convention delegate: contact (via phone or email) your county chairman or if you live in Cook County, your township or ward committeeman. Ask to be included among the state convention delegates for your township or county. The GOP county chairman or township/ward committeeman put their delegate list together.

PEORIA - If you've never been involved in the Illinois Republican Party at the state convention level, you have two days to make a move. May 19-21, 2016, party delegates from 102 counties will meet in Peoria to vote on the state platform and at-large national convention delegates, among other agenda items.

According to IL GOP rules, county party conventions are to be held by this week.

The number of those allotted for each jurisdiction is based on the number of votes in the most recent GOP primary - one delegate per 500 voters.

In the March 15th 2016 GOP primary, 1,412,368 voted. In 2012, 929,031 Republicans voted, picking Mitt Romney over Rick Santorum. In 2008, 893,422 voted in the presidential primary, tapping Senator John McCain over former Governor Mike Huckabee.

With Illinois' voting numbers 50 percent higher than normal turnout, more GOP delegates will be appointed and involved in the state convention next month than in 2008 or 2012.

Find information about your county chairman or township/ward committeemen at www.weareillinois.org.
If you are looking to explore India's wildlife, the Kaziranga National Park is a must-visit. Here are few resorts in the area you might like to stay in.

By Samonway Duttagupta: When you are talking about the most beautiful wildlife destinations in India, you just can't ignore Assam's Kaziranga National Park. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, this national park is home to a wide variety of wildlife species and birds. Travellers from different parts of the world visit this forest to catch glimpses of the Indian one-horned rhinoceros, elephants and tigers, among other animals. Besides, Kaziranga is well-known for its beautiful lush green environs.

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Kaziranga's influence has been such that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Kate Middleton have included it in their India tour itinerary. The Royals stayed at the Diphlu River Lodge, which is close to the park. Let's take a look at a few other options they could have explored.

Also see: IN PICS: Kaziranga through the eyes of Prince William and Kate Middleton



Wild Mahseer

Picture courtesy: TripAdvisor/Wild Mahseer

Although this resort is not too close to the Kaziranga National Park, but Wild Mahseer is there to provide a complete experience to travellers. Located at the northern bank of River Brahmaputra, this resort sits quietly in the middle of the Addabarie Tea Estate. The hotel's interiors are known to follow Victorian style architectures, a legacy passed down from the erstwhile British residents of this place. Travellers can wake up to the fresh whiff of tea leaves and stunning views of the estate and its surroundings, and then drive to Kaziranga's wilderness whenever they like. So staying in this hotel enables tourists to experience the best of Assam's beauty in a single package. Also located at a driving distance from this resort is the Nameri National Park.

Also read: 6 amazing jungle camps in India you must visit at least once



United 21 Grasslands

Picture courtesy: www.united21reortkaziranga.com

Another quaint property with peaceful surroundings in the area is the United 21 Grasslands resort. Located in the Hathikuli region, this hotel is not too far from the Kaziranga National Park, and ensures a comfortable stay amidst a picturesque landscape. Accommodation is offered in well-appointed rooms as well as individual cottages. Each room has a nice sitting area, allowing the guests to soak in the beauty of the place. While there's enough space to walk around in leisure, there's a nice swimming pool where once can take a dip in.

Infinity Resort

Picture courtesy: www.infinityresorts.com

Run by a well-known chain of hotels, the Infinity Resort is set in the middle of a thick bamboo grove. The accommodation is provided in cottages that have been built in a way that follows the architecture of old Assamese houses. That, along with thick foliage of a bamboo grove, medicinal plants and a plantation of betel nuts and fruit trees, make this resort a perfect place to stay for somebody who wants to experience the true beauty of Assam. Besides, the hotel is quite close to the Kaziranga National Park.

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Five temple authorities, accused of flouting the norms and use of banned chemicals in the 'competitive' pyrotechnic display which led to massive explosions, surrendered before Kollam crime branch early this morning.

By India Today Web Desk: Five absconding managing committee members of the Puttingal Devi temple in Kerala surrendered before Kollam crime branch early this morning.

The committee members of the temple, where around 109 people died in a firecracker mishap, included president PS Jayalal, Secretary Krishnan kutty Pillai, committee members J Prasad, Raveendran Pillai and Somasundaran Pillai.

The five were absconding soon after the firecracker mishap that claimed 109 lives and left over 350 injured was reported.

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The temple authorities have been accused of flouting the norms and use of banned chemicals in the 'competitive' pyrotechnic display which led to massive explosions.

Police registered a case against the managing committee and K Surendran, one of the contractors who organised the display, under Section 307 of the IPC (attempt to murder), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) of IPC and under section 4 of Explosives Substances Act.

A devastating fire had engulfed the 100-year-old Puttingal Devi Temple complex in Kollam during an unauthorised display of fireworks on Sunday, leaving 109 dead.

The incident has come at a time when the political parties are gearing up for the Assembly elections in the state. The polling in the state begins on May 16.

ALSO READ:

Temple fire: 3 cars packed with explosives, firecrackers found near Kollam temple

Kerala temple tragedy: Army, Air Force, Navy pitch in with aid

Kerala tragedy: Were Muslim district officials bullied for opposing the fireworks?





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Travellers visiting Vietnam may now be able to take a glimpse into the life of early Palaeolithic humans.

By India Today Web Desk: Mysteries attached to the dawn of mankind continue to evoke a strong sense of curiosity within all of us. And no matter how much we unravel, the thirst to discover more on our beginnings will probably never be quenched. But for now, we can make do with Vietnam's discoveries of early Palaeolithic sites.



Travellers heading to Vietnam should soon be able to visit these sites in An Khe, a town in the country's Central Highlands' Gia Lai province. The Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences announced in Hanoi on Monday that stone tools and tektites as old as 7,70,000 to 8,00,000 years had been discovered.

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Also Read: REVEALED: Two hidden rooms behind King Tutankhamun's burial chamber in Egypt!



Gia Doi, Deputy Director of Institute of Archaeology under the academy, said that back in 2014, during the implementation of a ministry level scientific project, five such sites had been discovered by archaeologists.



Over the course of 2015 and early 2016, excavation and examination of the sites continued and artefacts including picks, choppers, scrapers, flakes, unifacial and bifacial tools, hand axes made from quartzite and quartz pebbles were discovered.



According to Doi, all the sites that are predicted to correspond to the period of Homo Erectus, have a single intact cultural layer with stone objects, but no human remains have been found yet.



The prediction is based on the distribution of sites that lie on the most ancient deposits on the terraces of Ba River, dating back around one million years, said Doi.



However, further excavation, examination and analysis are needed to come to a more conclusive result.



(With inputs from IANS)





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This could also mean the Delhi government will take control of private schools that brazenly violate the Economically Weaker Section quota admissions.

A dozen private schools are in the dock for brazen violations in the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota admissions and other financial irregularities. The AAP government is all set to crack the whip.

By Shashank Shekhar, Astha Saxena: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi is all set to crack the whip against a dozen private schools in the dock for brazen violations in the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota admissions and other financial irregularities.

This could also mean Delhi government taking control of such schools. On Monday, Maxfort School was issued a showcause notice by the Delhi government, asking them why the school shouldn't be in total control of the government.

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Sources told MAIL TODAY that this is not an isolated case. "There have been several complaints and many such schools are being probed. We are preparing to send notices to them," said a Delhi government official.

Two branches of Maxfort School in Rohini and Pitampura have been issued a notice under section 20 of the Delhi School Education Act, 1973 alleging financial irregularities and other malpractices like EWS violations, land violations, tax evasions and forged records.

"After receiving complaints from parents and teachers from the school, Delhi government initiated an enquiry against alleged violations in EWS admission and other financial irregularities. The government is preparing to take over both the branches of the school," Deputy CM and Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia tweeted.

However, the school management committee does not consider the government's move 'legal'. "It is very unfortunate that we have been issued such a show cause notice by the government. This is an illegal order. As it is a show cause notice, we will definitely respond to it," Sanjeev Khanna from the management committee of Maxfort School told MAIL TODAY.

The move came after a large number of parents complained to the education department about the financial irregularities and high fee structure. "The school used to ask for donations even after receiving strict orders from the government. Their functioning is extremely unjustified," a parent told MAIL TODAy.

Not only the private schools, but even the government schools are under scanner. After finding financial irregularities in five government schools, Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia had terminated the principals for their alleged involvement. "The government is following a zero-tolerance policy. There is no partiality from the government's end. Those found guilty, will be punished," another senior government official said.

Recently, the Directorate of Education had formed 24 teams to visit the schools and verify the record of admissions under EWS and Disadvantaged Group (DG) categories in entrylevel classes for the 2016-17 session. "The teams will be regularly visiting the schools," added the official.

The Delhi government had already identified more than 300 private schools as 'defaulters' for not sharing the details of EWS admissions.

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Tiger Shroff's upcoming film Baaghi is nothing like any Bollywood action film. Staying away from over-the-top action sequences, director Sabbir Khan has decided to give the fans a glimpse into Kerala's martial art form - Kalaripayattu. And thanks to the high-octane trailer and Tiger's power-packed performance, the fans can't stop talking about the action scenes in the film.

By India Today Web Desk: Tiger Shroff's upcoming film Baaghi is nothing like any Bollywood action film. Staying away from over-the-top action sequences, director Sabbir Khan has decided to give the fans a glimpse into Kerala's martial art form - Kalaripayattu. And thanks to the high-octane trailer and Tiger's power-packed performance, the fans can't stop talking about the action scenes in the film.

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ALSO READ: Tiger and Shraddha didn't want to waste water for their rain song in Baaghi. So they did this

ALSO READ: Tiger and Shraddha's steamy kiss in Baaghi is a rage on the internet today



Tiger, who will be seen performing martial art in the film, has recently revealed that Kung Fu originated in India. As largely, it's learnt that Kung Fu was actually discovered by Chinese but people would be surprised to learn that Bodhidarma, a Buddhist monk, who spotted the art was an Indian who travelled to China from India. It was only then, that this particular art form was taught and taken forward by the maestro to Chinese race and eventually got popular amongst audiences across.

Tiger, who plays one of the lead roles in the film, said, "Kung fu is the most ancient of all martial arts and is the art of fighting without weapons. The art of fighting without fighting as I like to say! There are conflicting opinions on whether it actually originated from the teachings of an Indian Buddhist monk, Bodhidarma, who arrived in China from India in the 6th century or not. One thing is for certain and that is, he most definitely brought a form of martial arts with him, most likely Kalaripayattu, and transformed the newly formed Shaolin temple and the Buddhist monks settled there into dedicating themselves to Kung Fu and becoming a warrior elite whose fame spread throughout China and then all over the world."

Tiger's statement is the result of the in-depth research the actor undertook during the filming of Baaghi.

Tiger, who holds immense interest in different forms of martial arts, conducted a detailed study on Kung Fu and traced its roots back to India.

Kung Fu experts across the country are in awe of Tiger for taking special interest in the martial art form and creating awareness about the same.

Tiger's spokesperson confirms the news and adds, "Kung Fu masters from across India have been reaching out to Tiger using various means lauding his knowledge. They express gratitude to the fact that Tiger has highlighted the origin of Kung Fu which is unknown to the world. They are of the belief that Tiger's words will help create awareness about the origin of Kung Fu and help promote this form of martial arts."

Baaghi is a rebellious love story which also features Shraddha Kapoor. Directed by Sabbir Khan, the film is set to release on April 29, 2016.

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By PTI: Chandigarh, Apr 12 (PTI) Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today asked the Principal Secretary of Cultural Affairs to appoint a special officer to monitor the day-to -day progress of the construction of Sri Ram Tirath Temple in Amritsar.

Badal was reviewing the progress of ongoing work on the construction of Sri Ram Tirath Temple cum Panorama complex at Amritsar and Baba Jeevan Singh Memorial at Anandpur Sahib.

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Badal was apprised that 90 per cent work for the construction of the temple has been completed and the remaining work would also be completed within the stipulated time.

This project include state-of-art temple cum panorama complex, Administrative complex, langar hall, parking and sangat hall, an official spokesman said.

The Chief Minister said that this iconic temple was being constructed at Sri Valmiki Tirath in Amritsar, where Bhagwan Valmikiji had created the great epic and masterpiece of Ramayana.

The Chief Minister also approved the design of Khanda-Baata at Baba Jeevan Singh Memorial, which is to be constructed at a cost of Rs 25 crore to perpetuate the memory of legendary Sikh martyr Baba Jeevan Singh who had rendered marvellous service to the panth by bringing back the seesh of Guru Teg Bahadurji from Chandni Chowk (Delhi) to Sri Anandpur Sahib. PTI VJ SUK PAL SUK

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By PTI: New Delhi, Apr 12 (PTI) Two ministers of Bangladesh government called on President Pranab Mukherjee here today.

Mohammed Nassim, Minister of Health, and Anwar Hossain Manju, Minister of Environment and Forests, Government of Bangladesh called on Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan today, a press statement from the Presidents office said.

"The President told the ministers that India attaches highest importance to its relations with Bangladesh. The government of India is determined to further strengthen its relations with Bangladesh," the statement said.

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It said 2015 was a historic year in India-Bangladesh relations as it witnessed implementation of the Land Boundary Agreement.

"Our efforts are to further expand this cooperation to include new vistas of cooperation and also to reintegrate the economies of the region, particularly with Indias North East," the statement from the Presidents Press Secretary said.

It said reciprocating the Presidents sentiments, the Bangladeshi ministers said relations have never been as good as they are today.

"There is a huge mindset change in both countries and the younger generation is now in the forefront, which bodes well for the future," it added. PTI ABS SKL KIS RG KIS

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An alert has been sent to airports, intelligence and investigating agencies tracking activities of terror group ISIS that the 35-year-old woman can carry out strikes along with other ISIS members.

Intel says suspect, who has ISIS links, already has her sinister aides posted in city.

By Abhishek Bhalla : A Sikh-Canadian woman, suspected to be an ISIS agent, may carry out terror strikes in Delhi along with other associates who are already in the Capital, according to a specific intelligence input.

Agencies have the name and passport details of the woman who they suspect is travelling to Delhi. An alert has been sent to airports, intelligence and investigating agencies tracking activities of terror group ISIS that the 35-year-old woman can carry out strikes along with other ISIS members.

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According to the input, the woman's passport is due to expire in December 2016.

Mail Today has details of her passport but her identity is being withheld since the information is part of an ongoing intelligence operaiton.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which has arrested 25 recruits and is probing several cases related to ISIS, has also been roped in.

Sources said the information regarding the possible entry of the Canadian-Indian woman was shared with Indian intelligence agencies by their counterparts in another country.

Intelligence reports have recently raised fears of Indians living abroad getting attracted to the Sunni jihadi group that has lured hundreds of youth from the West.

Sources say over forty, suspected of having links with the ISIS, have been arrested from across the country. A total of 24 Indians have so far joined the ISIS, out of which six were reportedly killed in different incidents. While two returned, 16 are still reportedly part of the ISIS. Several Indian youth aspiring to be part of the ISIS have been stopped from travelling abroad.

"In the past, Adil Fayaz Wada, an Indian living in Australia, travelled to Syria to be part of jehad. This is the first time though that information has been generated of a Sikh living abroad and suspected of having links with ISIS," said an intelligence official.

One of the Indians reportedly killed fighting in Syria, Atif Vaseem Mohammed, who was a resident of Hyderabad, also lived in USA for a brief period before returning to India and travelling to Syria.

Also, some Indians living in UAE have been identified for their alleged ISIS links.

In January, three Indians who were based in Abu Dhabi were deported and later arrested by NIA on suspicion of being involved in activities linked to the Islamic State. The growing influence of ISIS on Indians living in the Gulf has alarmed the security establishment. The concern was flagged at a recent meeting chaired by union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to combat the ISIS threat. "Several Indians living in the Gulf are getting attracted to ISIS. These are Indian citizens and the threat of them coming back and carrying out strikes in the name of ISIS cannot be ignored," said a government official.

Sources said it is feared that many members of home-grown terror group Indian Mujahideen who fled the country following a crackdown ended up fighting on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border or the Af-Pak region before joining ISIS.

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Earlier in the year, NIA busted an Indian module drawing inspiration from ISIS called Janoodul-Khalifa-e-Hind or the Army of Caliph in India after countrywide raids leading to several arrests.

India adopted a unique strategy to combat the ISIS threat by carrying out a de-radicalisaiton programme for the youth attracted by ISIS ideology. Not all were arrested, some went through counselling sessions. The hardened ones were arrested.

Also Read:

Karnataka: ISIS sympathiser's father claims his son is being framed

Dubai-bound 'ISIS recruit' held at Pune airport



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Chinese President Xi Jinping in a message to President Pranab Mukhejee, shared his shock and grief over the tragedy.

By India Today Web Desk: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday extended his condolence to the bereaved families of people who died in the temple fire near Kollam in Kerala.

In his message to President Pranab Mukhejee, Xi shared his shock and grief over the tragedy.

"At this moment of sadness, I would like to extend sincere condolences, on behalf of the government, the people of China and in my personal name, to the government of India and the people affected," Xi Jinping said.

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"I am deeply saddened by the loss of lives and wish early recovery to the injured", state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Xi.

At least 109 people died and nearly 400 others were injured in the fire caused by stray festive fireworks at the Puttingal Devi temple near Kollam on Sunday.

Also Read: Kerala temple tragedy: What caused the fire that engulfed many lives?



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By PTI: From K J M Varma

Beijing, Apr 12 (PTI) Chinas top leadership, including President Xi Jinping, today expressed shock and grief over the deadly temple fire in Kerala that killed 109 people.

In a message of condolence to President Pranab Mukherjee, Xi said he was shocked to learn of the tragedy which left many people dead and many others injured in the explosions and fire due to fireworks at the temple near Kollam.

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"At this moment of sadness, I would like to extend sincere condolences, on behalf of the government and the people of China and in my personal name, to the government of India and the people affected," Xi said.

"I am deeply saprmer ddened by the loss of lives and wish the injured recovery at an early date," he said, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

At least 109 people were killed and nearly 400 others were injured in the fire caused by festive fireworks at the Puttingal Devi temple on Sunday.

Premier Li Keqiang too sent a similar condolence message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Id like to extend, on behalf of the Chinese government and in my personal name, profound condolences to the victims and heartfelt sympathy to their families and those injured," Li said.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi also sent a message of condolence to his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj over the tragedy.

Wang said he was shocked to learn of the tragedy that left many people dead and many others injured in the fire.

"Id like to express to Your Excellency, and through Your Excellency to the victims and those injured, my profound condolences and heartfelt sympathies," Wang said. PTI KJV KUN

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The situation continued to remain tense till late evening, following which additional reinforcements were deployed in the area.

By India Today Web Desk: Three people were killed and two others injured after a clash broke out between security forces and civilians over the alleged molestation of a girl in Handwara town of northern Kashmir today.

According to sources, a school girl while returning home was molested by some soldiers, after which people started pelting stones on an army picket. Army resorted to firing to control the unruly mob.

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While Muhammad Iqbal (24) died on the spot in the firing, Nayeem Qadir Bhat (22) and Raja Begum (70) succumbed to their injuries later, said a police source.

The situation continued to remain tense till late evening, following which additional reinforcements were deployed in the area.

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, expressing her tremendous shock over the incident, said she had spoken to army's Northern Command chief and Lt. Gen. D.S. Hooda. The duo have assured the CM of an inquiry into the case and punish those found guilty.

A criminal case has been registered in Handwara police station and investigation launched to ascertain the facts.



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By India Today Web Desk: Dennis Skinner, former leader of the Labour Party, was chucked out of the Parliament after branding British Prime Minister David Cameron as 'Dodgy Dave' during a discussion on the PM's tax affairs and the Panama papers leak yesterday.

Speaker John Bercrow requested Skinner to withdraw the jibe he made on the PM, but he refused to budge twice in a row and was forcefully ejected out of House of Commons on the grounds of unparliamentary language.

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Skinner said, "Does the Prime Minister recall that at the time after he became Prime Minister under the coalition and at the time when he was dividing the nation between strivers and scroungers."

He accused the PM for not giving a clear answer on how he dealt with 'writing off' his mortgages in Oxfordshire and Notting Hill. He goes on to say, "Maybe Dodgy Dave will answer it now!"



Also Read: Panama Leak: British PM David Cameron's mother gave him 200,000 pounds as a gift. Why?



The unyielding MP went on with his jibe saying, "this man has done more to divide this nation than anybody else. He's looked after his own pocket! I still refer to him as dodgy Dave. Do what you like!"

Amid the rain of boos and shouts of 'chuck him out, bye, bye,' Dennis Skinner walked out of the chamber.



The dramatic scene in the Parliament throws light on the immense political pressure that PM David Cameron faces after the Panama papers leak. The subsequent repercussions of the massive revelations have forced some of top leaders like the Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson and Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk to resign their positions.

Watch the video below:



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The Haryana government was left embarrassed when the police, which had also earlier denied that no rapes took place during the nine-day Jat agitation, told the court that they were investigating two complaints filed by alleged rape victims.

Around 20 women claimed to have been raped by agitators. At least 30 people were killed and over 300 injured in the nine-day-long Jat agitation in Haryana.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday castigated the Haryana Police for suppressing the facts pertaining to the alleged Murthal mass rapes.

In another development the state government - which earlier denied that no rapes were reported during the Jat agitation - admitted to the possibility of rapes during the hearing.

The Haryana government was further embarrassed when the police, which had also earlier denied that no rapes took place during the nine-day Jat agitation, told the court that they were investigating two complaints filed by alleged rape victims.

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Submitting the SIT report in the form of an affidavit, Murthal gangrape SIT chief IG Mamta Singh informed the court that the police have included Section 376-D (rape) of the Indian Penal Code to FIR No 118 registered on March 30, 2016.

Belongings of alleged rape victims were found on streets

The section has been included on the basis of complaint of Delhi resident that women were allegedly sexually assaulted by the agitators. The state government said it had received anonymous letters alleging that the rapes took place.

"The anonymous letter forwarded by CP Faridabad vide letter dated March 1, 2016 to SP Sonipat which was further forwarded to Special Group of officers by SP Sonipat on March 2 and the letter from a non-resident Indian forwarded by a news channel on March 2016 was also taken on record. Since the content of both communications reveals commission of offence under Section 376 of the IPC, the relevant Section has been added on the basis of the content and further investigation will be conducted on these communications to verify the content of communication," the affidavit submitted by Haryana police said.

"Efforts have been made to identify the victim of these two communications. Keeping in view the sensitivity of the matter, utmost care has been taken to keep secret the identity of the victim, if the communication is substantiated, and victim is identified," the affidavit added.

So far, three alleged rape victims have surfaced. One of the victims is a final year degree student, who was present on the street along with her father. The second woman who has alleged rape is a resident of Patparganj in New Delhi. She has spoken to amicus curiae Anupam Gupta. The third alleged victim is an Australian woman whose complaint was also forwarded to the police.

The court also questioned the state government on the appointment of the Parkash Singh Committee to look into the incidents of violence during the Jat agitation, asking it to clarify its constitutional and legal status.

"We have been taken for enough rides. We won't be taken for one more. The police only registered FIR after we pulled them. After the court pulled them up, the police have now conditionally accepted the rapes. I have video tapes of Murthal victim's statement," Gupta said.

Meanwhile, a Chandigarhbased NGO, Haryana Human Rights has said it will file a contempt petition against former SIT chief Dr Rajshree as she misled the court and the media.

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The court, which took a suo motu notice of the reports in the media about the mass rapes, had asked the Haryana government and police to submit a status report. At least 30 people were killed and over 320 injured in the nine-day long Jat agitation for reservation.

Also Read:

Haryana goons dragged stranded women to fields, gangraped them near Murthal



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By PTI: Beijing, Apr 12 (PTI) Stephen Hawking, known as one of the finest living scientific minds in the world, opened his account on Weibo, a popular Twitter-like microblogging service in China, attracting over a million followers.

In his first Weibo post, the 74-year-old British astrophysicist briefly reminisced on his previous trips to China and welcomed communication through social media.

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"I last visited China in 2006 when I took part in a Physics conference in Beijing. It was an extraordinary experience.

My first trip was in 1985 when I travelled across your remarkable country by train.

In my physical travels, I have only been able to touch the surface of your fascinating history and culture?" Hawking posted.

As the author of the popular book A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes, Hawking also became a household name outside academia in China to a degree rare for scientists, state run China Daily reported today.

The success of the Science book, which was introduced to China in late 1980s, drew public attention to the scientists personal life.

His long-time struggle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a degenerative neurological condition, was gradually made known to the public, making him an inspiration for many Chinese people.

The latest demonstration of his popularity in the country is his immediate influence on social media, just like a popstar.

Within six hours after his Weibo debut, the famed physicist accumulated more than one million followers.

His greeting message had been forwarded more than 190,000 times, with over 180,000 comments.

Over-excited fans rushed to leave messages mixed with English and Chinese in a sign that it was emotionally overwhelming for Chinese people to have direct communication with a revered academician they have long admired.

"Its amazing!!!!! I am your fan. Welcome to Weibo." read one of the comments. PTI KJVSLS AKJ SLS

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By PTI: Hyderabad, Apr 12 (PTI) The Hyderabad High Court today ordered recall of non-bailable warrant issued by a local court against Union Minister Y S Chowdary in connection with a criminal complaint filed by Mauritius Commercial Bank Ltd over alleged loan default.

Justice Raja Elango also ordered Chowdary to present himself before the trial court on May 5.

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Afterwards, he need not attend the trial court untill the disposal of the petition he has filed in the High Court, the Judge said.

The XII Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court had on April 7 issued the warrant against Chowdary, the Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, after the Mauritius Commercial Bank Ltd had filed a complaint in the court accusing him and others of "defaulting in repayment of loan of Rs 106 crore".

The bank had submitted that it had lent Rs 100 crore to Hestia Holdings Ltd, a subsidiary of Sujana Universal Industries Ltd, and had secured a decree from a London court.

According to the counsel of the Bank, the company - Sujana Universal Industries Ltd - stood as guarantor for the loan availed for Hestia Holdings Ltd, which is its subsidiary, and the company has to repay Rs 106 crore to it.

Subsequently, the Bank had filed several litigations against Sujana Universal Industries Ltd and Chowdary had been asked to remain present in the court after issuing summons based on the criminal complaint.

However, Chowdary "failed" to remain present before the court after which an NBW was issued and the matter was posted for hearing on April 26.

Challenging the issuance of NBW, Chowdary had approached the Hyderabad High Court and filed a petition seeking that the NBW be recalled, said Chowdarys counsel Ravi Shankar Jandhyala.

The High Court will hear his petition next on June 16, Jandhyala added.

Chowdary had also claimed that though he was the founder of the company he had relinquished his shareholding and directorship and that he had not taken the loan. PTI VVK NRB KRK NRB PAL RDS

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Caught in a political storm fueled by Brazil's worst recession in decades and the country's biggest corruption scandal, Rousseff has lost key coalition allies in Congress, including her main partner, vice president Temer's PMDB party.

If the upper house decides by a simple majority to put Rousseff on trial, she will immediately be suspended for up to six months (Photo: Reuters)

By Reuters: A committee of Brazil's lower house of Congress voted 38-27 on Monday to recommend the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff, who faces charges of breaking budget laws to support her re-election in 2014.

A vote in the full lower house is expected to take place on Sunday. If two-thirds vote in favor, the impeachment will be sent to the Senate.

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If the upper house decides by a simple majority to put Rousseff on trial, she will immediately be suspended for up to six months while the Senate decides her fate, and Vice President Michel Temer will take office as acting president.

It would be the first impeachment of a Brazilian president since 1992 when Fernando Collor de Mello faced massive protests for his ouster on corruption charges and resigned moments before his conviction by the Senate.

A former leftist guerrilla, Rousseff has denied any wrongdoing and rallied the rank and file of her Workers' Party to oppose what she has called a coup against a democratically elected president.

Speaking to thousands of supporters in Rio de Janeiro, Rousseff's predecessor and Workers' Party founder Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Brazilian business elites were pressuring lawmakers to remove the president. Lula, who is under investigation in a graft probe, said he had convinced Rousseff to return to policies that favored Brazil's poor.

Caught in a political storm fueled by Brazil's worst recession in decades and the country's biggest corruption scandal, Rousseff has lost key coalition allies in Congress, including her main partner, vice president Temer's PMDB party.

The rift between Rousseff and her vice president reached breaking point on Monday after an audio message of Temer calling for a government of national unity was released apparently by mistake, further muddying Brazil's political water.

Temer's 14-minute audio message sent to members of his own PMDB party via the WhatsApp messaging app showed he was preparing to take over if Rousseff is forced from office.

The audio was posted on the website of the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper and confirmed to Reuters by Temer's aides as authentic. Aides said it was accidentally released and they quickly sent another message asking legislators to disregard it.

In his message, Temer said he did not want to get ahead of events, but he had to show the country he was ready to lead it if needed.

"We need a government of national salvation and national unity," Temer said in the audio. "We need to unite all the political parties, and all the parties should be ready to collaborate to drag Brazil out of this crisis."

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Rousseff's chief of staff Jaques Wagner called the vice president a "conspirator" and said he should resign if Rousseff survives impeachment.

"Having joined the conspiracy, he should resign when it is defeated, because the climate will become unbearable," Wagner told reporters.

Wagner said the government will continue working to muster enough votes to block impeachment in the lower house, encouraged by the fact that in committee the opposition had not won the two thirds it will need in the plenary.

The committee vote, however, is expected to sway undecided lawmakers to vote for Rousseff's removal, said Claudio Couto, a politics professor at the Fundacao Getulio Vargas think tank.

"It has a snowball effect. With each approval, the chances of impeachment clearing the next chamber increases," Couto said. "The wider the margin, the more momentum impeachment will gather."

The Brasilia-based consultancy Arko Advice said committee votes for impeachment were higher than expected and it raised to 65 percent the odds of Rousseff being unseated by Congress.

POLARIZED COUNTRY

A demonstrator holds a sign with an image depicting Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff. The words in red read, 'Out Dilma'. (Photo: Reuters)



The latest move in Brazil's political crisis have the country on edge as it faces not only a government meltdown but its worst recession in decades. The political chaos in the capital, Brasilia, is playing out less than 100 days before the nation plays host to the first Olympic Games to be held in South America - an event that will cast the world's eyes on Brazil.

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The battle over Rousseff's impeachment has polarized the nation of 200 million people and brought the government of Latin America's largest economy to a virtual standstill.

The proposed impeachment is also taking place as Brazil faces its largest corruption investigation, targeting a sprawling kickback scheme at state-run oil company Petrobras.

Prosecutors say billions in bribes were paid over several years and have implicated not only members of Rousseff's Workers' Party but members of the opposition leading the charge to impeach her.

Eduardo Cunha, the speaker of Brazil's lower house, a Rousseff enemy who is guiding the impeachment proceedings, faces charges of accepting millions in bribes in connection to the Petrobras case, while the head of Brazil's Senate is also caught up in the investigation.

To battle to prevent impeachment approval in the full lower house vote, Rousseff's government is trying to win over lawmakers by offering government jobs that became vacant when the PMDB quit her governing coalition two weeks ago.

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The Brazilian real strengthened nearly 3 percent before Monday's vote to an eight-month peak on expectations that the committee would decide to impeach Rousseff. Investors are betting that her removal will issue in more business-friendly policies to pull Brazil's economy out of a tailspin



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Veenu Paliwal, 44, was on a nationwide tour on her Harley Davidson when the accident took place. She was accompanied on another bike by fellow biker Dipesh Tanwar.

By India Today Web Desk: One of India's top women bikers, Veenu Paliwal , died in a road accident in Vidisha district in Madhya Pradesh late on Monday evening.

Paliwal, 44, was on a nationwide tour on her Harley Davidson when the accident took place. She was accompanied on another bike by fellow biker Dipesh Tanwar.

Also read - RIP Veenu Paliwal: 10 things to know about India's daredevil woman biker we lost too soon



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Paliwal died after her bike went out of control on a turn and she skid off a road near Gyaraspur about 100km from Bhopal. She was rushed to a primary health centre and later to the Vidisha district hospital, where she was declared brought dead.

Paliwal and Tanwar were heading to Bhopal from Sagar when the accident took place.

Paliwal, a Jaipur resident, was known for her skills with the motorcycle and for having driven the Harley Davidson bikes at 180kmph. She was planning to make a documentary on her nationwide bike journey.

Also Read - These women know how to handle their motorcycles



The police said that her family and friends had been informed and that they would be reaching Jaipur soon. The post-mortem on Paliwal's body was to take place today morning.

Veenu Paliwal had recently been named the Lady of the Harley 2016.

Also read:

RIP Veenu Palliwal: 10 things to know about India's daredevil woman biker we lost too soon





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RABAT -- The European Union, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) pledged on Monday to provide financial support for the World Climate Conference (COP22), scheduled for November in the Moroccan city of Marrakech.

Representatives of the EU, UNDP and IFAD pledged to provide financial aid to ensure the success of this global event during a meeting organized by Morocco's Ministry of Economy and Finance in cooperation with the COP22 steering committee.

The EU will provide two million euros in support for the organization of COP22 and negotiations are underway to mobilize an additional five million euros, said the EU representative at the meeting.

The UNDP will provide two million dollars, while the IFAD's contribution will reach 450,000 dollars.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration, faced with an assertive China expanding its influence in the South China Sea and into the Indian Ocean, has signalled its desire to draw closer to the United States.

"We have agreed in principle that all the issues are resolved," said Ashton Carter (Right) after meeting Indian counterpart, Manohar Parrikar (Left). (Photo: Reuters)

By Reuters: India and the United States have agreed in principle to share military logistics, U.S. Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said on Tuesday, as both sides seek to counter the growing maritime assertiveness of China.

Washington has been urging New Delhi to sign a Logistics Support Agreement that allows the two militaries to use each other's land, air and naval bases for resupplies, repair and rest.

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But after years of dithering, the two sides said an agreement was in hand, although not yet ready for signing.

"We have agreed in principle that all the issues are resolved," Carter said after talks with his Indian counterpart, Manohar Parrikar.

Carter said the two sides would finalise the text of an agreement in coming weeks.

India has had concerns that a logistics agreement would draw it into a military alliance with the United States and undermine its traditional autonomy.

But Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration, faced with an assertive China expanding its influence in the South China Sea and into the Indian Ocean, has signalled its desire to draw closer to the United States. China is also a close ally of India's arch rival, Pakistan.

India is keen to access U.S. technology for Modi's "Make in India" plans to build a domestic industrial base, including the defence, and cut expensive arms imports.

Carter said the two countries would also soon conclude a commercial shipping information exchange agreement.

The U.S. military has made clear it wants to do more with India, especially in countering China. Carter is on his second visit to India in less than a year, aimed at cementing defence cooperation in the final months of Barack Obama's presidency.

Carter said the two countries were advancing collaboration in aircraft carrier design and technology, potentially the biggest joint project since they launched a Defense Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) in 2012.

India, which operates a re-tooled Russian carrier, plans to build its biggest indigenous carrier, for which is it looking at U.S. electro-magnetic technology to launch heavier aircraft.

"We have decided to take forward discussions under DTTI more aggressively on key areas such as jet engine technology. We will also continue our very useful and productive discussions on cooperation ... on aircraft carriers," Parrikar said.

ALSO READ: Indo-US ties more serious than Pakistan, says US Defense Secretary

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration, faced with an assertive China expanding its influence in the South China Sea and into the Indian Ocean, has signalled its desire to draw closer to the United States.

Minister of Defense Manohar Parrikar (L) and U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter (C) inspect a jet engine in the hanger deck of the USS Eisenhower off the coast of Virginia, in the Atlantic Ocean, December 10, 2015. Photo: Reuters

By Reuters: India and the United States have agreed in principle to share military logistics, the countries' defence ministers said on Tuesday, as both sides seek to counter the growing maritime assertiveness of China.

Washington has for years urged New Delhi to sign a Logistics Support Agreement that allows the two militaries to use each other's land, air and naval bases for resupplies, repair and rest.

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India has had concerns that a logistics agreement would commit it to hosting U.S. troops at its bases, or draw it into a military alliance with the United States and undermine its traditional autonomy.

But after years of delays, the two sides said an agreement was in hand, although not yet ready for signing.

"We have agreed in principle that all the issues are resolved," U.S. Defence Secretary Ashton Carter told reporters in New Delhi after talks with his Indian counterpart, Manohar Parrikar.

The two sides would finalise the text of an agreement in coming weeks, Carter said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration, faced with an assertive China expanding its influence in the South China Sea and into the Indian Ocean, has signalled its desire to draw closer to the United States. China is also a close ally of India's arch rival, Pakistan.

Modi is also keen to access U.S. technology for his "Make in India" plans to build a domestic industrial base and cut expensive arms imports.

The U.S. military has made clear it wants to do more with India, especially in countering China. Carter is on his second visit to India in less than a year, aimed at cementing defence cooperation in the final months of Barack Obama's presidency.

Washington's desire for deeper security cooperation with India has been tricky without the signing of the logistics agreement, as well as two other pacts that would allow for secure communications and the exchange of nautical and other data. The agreements are considered routine between the United States and its other defence partners.

Reaching the logistics agreement would make it easier to conclude the other two pacts, a senior U.S. defence official said.

"There's increasing recognition on the Indian side that there's real mutual benefits to doing them, so I do think that the prospects are good," the official said, on condition of anonymity.

Carter said the two countries would also soon conclude an agreement on exchanging information on commercial shipping.



COLLABORATION ON CARRIER

He said the two countries were also advancing collaboration in aircraft carrier design and technology, potentially the biggest joint project since they launched a Defense Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) in 2012.

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India, which operates a re-tooled Russian-built carrier, plans to build its biggest indigenous carrier, for which is it looking at U.S. technology to launch heavier aircraft.

"We have decided to take forward discussions under DTTI more aggressively on key areas such as jet engine technology. We will also continue our very useful and productive discussions on cooperation ... on aircraft carriers," Parrikar said.

India is concerned about China's growing presence in the Indian Ocean, traditionally New Delhi's backyard, and it said on Tuesday that it had agreed with the United States to launch discussions between the countries' two navies on anti-submarine warfare and submarine safety.

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Destructive West Indies batsman Chris Gayle was all praise for his young Royal Challengers Bangalore team-mate Sarfaraz Khan, who he feels is one of the future stars to watch out for.

By Subhasish Dutta: Destructive West Indies batsman Chris Gayle was all praise for his young Royal Challengers Bangalore team-mate Sarfaraz Khan, who he feels is one of the future stars to watch out for.

Royal Challengers Bangalore started their IPL season nine campaign with bang on Tuesday scoring a massive 227 for 4 in 20 overs against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

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"Not a bad one from the team's point of view. The action was superb. AB and Virat put up a fantastic stand and credit must go to Sarfaraz," Gayle said after RCB's innings.

"It's a great team effort to get to that total," he added.

Despite the early loss of Gayle (1) in the second over, AB De Villiers (82) and skipper Virat Kohli (75) hit fifties, while helping themselves to generous boundaries, to set the foundation for a big score.

However, it was young India batsman Sarfaraz who blasted an unbeaten 35 off just 10 deliveries to set the tempo towards the end.

Entering after the fall of Shane Watson in the 18th over, Sarfaraz smashed 4 fours and a six off Bhuvneshwar Kumar's 19th over to send the home crowd into a frenzy.

The 18-year-old continued his marauding stroke-play in the final over too, hitting Bangladesh fast blower Mustafizur Rahman for a six and four to take RCB to the final big total.

On his camaraderie with Sarfaraz, Gayle said: "We get along well. Sarfaraz keeps texting me and the way he played today was fantastic. He's too young and he's like a son to me. He's definitely one for the future and one must keep an eye on him," he concluded.

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On the ground, the investigation has begun into the kind of explosives that were used in the fireworks. Explosives experts from Nagpur said banned explosives that violates the Act and Supreme Court guidelines may have been used.

Experts say banned explosives that violates the Act and SC norms may have been used.

A day after the terrible tragedy at the Puttingal Devi temple in Kollam district claimed 109 lives, the focus shifted to what caused the accident.

As an FIR was filed against temple officials, five persons were detained for questioning. They are believed to be associates of K Surendran, one of the contractors who organised the competitive fireworks at the temple on the intervening night of April 9-10. Surendran himself is believed to be admitted to Thiruvananthapuram medical college hospital with 90 per cent burns.

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On the ground, the investigation has begun into the kind of explosives that were used in the fireworks. Explosives experts from Nagpur said banned explosives that violates the Act and Supreme Court guidelines may have been used.

Three cars with fire crackers stocked in gunny bags were also found about 3 km away from the temple site. The cars reportedly belong to the family of one of the organisers of the programme.

While no one has been arrested yet, Kerala police ADGP Ananthakrishnan told MAIL TODAY that three senior temple administration members are absconding. The police will try to find out who took the decision to go ahead with the competitive fireworks despite the Kollam district administration refusing permission on paper.

Meanwhile the fallout of the Kollam incident has been on the mother of all temple festivals in Kerala, the Thrissur Pooram on April 17. The organisers decided against any inaugual fireworks at the Thrissur temple which were to be held today. The disaster preparedness at Thrissur is also under review.

(With inputs from Revathi Rajeevan, Rohini Swamy and Akshaya Nath)

Also Read:

Kerala fire tragedy: Who is responsible for the many deaths?



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By Phyllida Jay: Sonya Jehan, Actor

Photo: Harper's Bazaar

Sonya Jehan wears many hats: Actor, mother, restaurateur. She has won plaudits for her roles in films including My Name is Khan (2010) and The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012), and her French restaurant-Cafe Flo in Karachi, Pakistan-belies her French roots courtesy of her mother. Her secret luxuries are natural skincare products from Marrakech, Morocco, that she discovered on her travels there. "These are my go-to skin regime products: Argan Regenerating Cream by Naturelle D'Argan and Huile de Grains de Figue de Barbarie (seed oil of the prickly pear) by BIO Les Secrets de Tamri," she lists. She stocks up on visits, or asks an aunt, who lives there, to send her fresh supplies. "Argan is a fruit that is native to the region. It's a rich brume, and smells divine. The other product is an oil from the flowers of a cacti. It's very hydrating and soothing."

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Lisa Ray, Actor

Photo: Harper's Bazaar

"My favourite new shop is the Luxury Africa Atelier in Cape Town, which curates extraordinary artefacts, art, and jewellery," says Indo-Canadian actor Lisa Ray. She is known for her many films, including Deepa Mehta's acclaimed Water (2005) in which she played the leading role. In 2009, Ray was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a very rare cancer of the white blood cells. She chronicled her struggle with this disease in a moving and insightful blog called The Yellow Diaries, and today, travels the world to speak about her journey. On one of her trips, she discovered the Atelier. "I love the Legacy collection, which is created from pieces of the original fence from Robbin Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for so many years. The pieces are graphic and cool, but, more importantly, you are literally carrying around a piece of history.

Also read: From Kolkata to Canada, Lisa Ray suggests travel hot-spots

Neelam Khanna, Businesswoman

Photo: Harper's Bazaar

Neelam Khanna is known for her refined taste and commitment to luxury, both in the award-winning spa retreat, Ananda in the Himalayas, which she runs with husband Ashok, as well as the joint venture she created with French luxury house Hermes. Her approach to indulgence is one of rigorous purity, and she prizes the integral beauty of the product over the brand name. "When I discovered pure cotton and linen beautifully handcrafted by Indian artisans in Bengal and Lucknow, these became an integral part of my home," she says. "Now, I order these in my style, and since they are bespoke, they are a luxury. These local artisans don't have any physical or online retail presence. I have built these connections on a personal level over the years. However, I do source from them for sale at Ananda in the Himalayas."

This article is an excerpt from the original piece that appeared in the March issue of Harper's Bazaar.



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The power

How India responded to the power-packed India Today Conclave 2016

Modi does have the "ruthlessness of Sardar Patel, the guts of Indira Gandhi and the vision of Nehru"; perhaps India has found just the combination needed to carry out its structural reforms.

Krishan Kalra, via e-mail

Freedom, but not absolute

Apropos Sedition is an Anachronism, it may be a matter of pride for an internationally known lawyer and activist like Amal Clooney to successfully defend the indefensible and prove a person guilty of crime innocent, but not so for civil society. Her sermon that the "minority voice is the one you should always protect in a society that advocates free speech" is antagonistic to the spirit of democracy. Yes, the minority should have the right to freedom of expression but it should not be absolute; it should be moderated so as to not offend the feelings of the majority. Otherwise, it is no democracy. Should people, even if a minuscule minority, have the licence to work for the destruction of a nation? Should the brave soldiers defending the country stand on the same footing as those wishing to annihilate it?

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Amba Charan Vashishtha, New Delhi



Mantras of the Powerful

The India Today Conclave plays a seminal role in igniting the minds of the uninitiated and acts as the conscience-keeper of the nation, assuring its citizenry of the solid foundation of the fourth pillar of Indian democracy that keeps a check on the others. The issues emerging from the recently concluded conclave should alert Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the threat to his government and agenda comes not from the outside but from his own people and party.

Krishna Balraj Sahay, Patna

I have always admired you for your forthright views, Mr Purie. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that you are not too fond of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I know it is not realistic to expect a reply from you, but I do hope you will clarify my doubt in some way. You said that to achieve structural reforms, India needs someone like Patel, Indira and Nehru rolled into one. Please tell me, is there a better person than Modi in your view to fit the role? He has a vision for India on the lines you describe. He is honest, hardworking and totally committed. However, there are two impediments in his path. First is Sonia Gandhi, who out of power is like a fish out of water and will do anything to defame him and bring down his government. Second are the fringe elements in the Sangh Parivar, who see this as an opportunity to push their various agendas. Modi seems to have decided that he will not get bogged down with any unnecessary controversy, and has asked his ministers to work hard, honestly and sincerely, which they seem to be doing. What more can one ask for? At this stage, what he needs is media support, because eventually it is they who make or break the image of the government. But the media is so scattered and obsessed with its agenda that an objective assessment has become too much to expect.

Jayashree Chati, via e-mail

The India Today Conclave does well to flag issues such as the state of the Indian economy and the debate on pseudo-nationalism of the rightist kind. It serves as a signal to PM Modi to sit up and take notice, lest it gets too late and he loses the battle for want of a nail. He began well with his twin avowals of "sabka saath sabka vikas" and "maximum governance, minimum government". However, with fringe elements taking centrestage, the first dream is in tatters, while the fact that the economy has not taken off despite NITI taking over planning has made a mockery of the latter. Every prime minister since Jawaharlal Nehru has had his share of highs and lows, but even after two years in power, the Modi government is yet to see a significant high; the lows, however, are coming thick and fast.

Rajesh Sahay, New Delhi

Going by the impressive list of internationally acclaimed personalities who participated, it is clear that the India Today Conclave has emerged as an esteemed global forum for an annual intellectual exercise. However, the one session I personally drew succour from was Bill Andrews', one of the world's foremost authorities on the biology of telomeres. This assurance that a legitimate breakthrough in anti-ageing is round the corner, and his approach to treat it as a disease with a cure, will give hope to the long-suffering geriatric population of the world.

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Nalini Vijayaraghavan, Thiruvananthapuram

The mystic river

Apropos your article Modi's Sufi Antidote, Pakistan's Sufi scholar Tahir-ul-Qadri makes a pertinent point when he says that the ISIS will target both Pakistan and India once it perceives that the ties between them are getting strengthened. To combat this, both countries should work together, keeping aside political egos and differences. Both countries want a brotherhood of hearts, but politics has become their barrier. It is time to review the situation and honour the goodwill of the people, while saving them from barbaric attacks of the ISIS.

Sudarsan Nandi, Medinipur

Whether it is Sufi music or philosophy, it has the immense power to soothe our frayed nerves and encourage belief in a moderate version of Islam that can bring back misguided youth. It is heartening to know that India, which has the world's third largest Muslim population, has so far resisted the poisonous ideology of the ISIS. Credit goes to the Indian Muslim youth, who have preferred to follow the subcontinent's syncretic culture and seen it as the antidote to the fundamentalist bent of ISIS followers.

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Hena Prasun, Ahmedabad

Narendra Modi's effusive courting of the Sufi tradition is an attempt to reach out to the Muslim community. While his appreciation of Sufism is unlikely to endear him to the conservative Muslim intelligentsia, many of whom owe allegiance to the Deobandi, Wahabi and Salafi traditions, there is no denying that Sufism holds considerable sway among the lay followers of Islam. Sadly, however, the prime minister, even while attempting to build bridges with the Muslim community, did not forget to dwell on the scourge of terrorism that has roiled many countries.

J.S. Acharya, Hyderabad

Welcome Khaki makeover

The India Today Conclave 2016 highlighted the liberal views of the RSS with regard to Muslims, women and homosexuality. It is to be appreciated that the organisation is headed for a makeover, and is keeping pace with the changing times and a dynamic Indian society. Its endeavour to embrace change can provide a number of solutions to the problems the country is facing. The inclusion of women in its organisation is a milestone achievement for the RSS.

Charvi Kathuria, New Delhi

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Two years ago when Ram Madhav, then in the RSS, had said that criminalising homosexuality was questionable, his comments had created a flutter. The BJP was silent then, as it is now when its ideological mentor has openly said that homosexuality is "not a crime as long as it does not affect the lives of others". Strange as it may seem, amid a wave of raucous protests on everything from nationalistic slogans to making cow the national animal, India is seeing a new awakening.

J. Akshay, Bengaluru



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By PTI: New Delhi, Apr 12 (PTI) Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, who is here on her maiden visit after taking over the reins of the state, today dismissed the possibility of shifting National Institute of Technology (NIT) out of the Valley.

The 56-year-old Mehbooba, who assumed charge of the PDP-BJP government on April 4, called on Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh here, a meeting she described as a "courtesy call".

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Emerging from the 45-minute meeting with Singh, Mehbooba said, "It is a courtesy call on the Home Minister after I took over as the Chief Minister".

During the meeting, the two sides are believed to have discussed the present turmoil in the state due to clashes between outstation students and police besides law and order situation arising out of militancy.

Sources in the ministry said the Home Minister told Mehbooba that normalcy should be restored at the earliest.

As she was leaving the North Block, journalists asked her questions about the unrest at the NIT and the demand by outstation students to shift the campus to Jammu.

"Let me make it clear that it is an issue within the institute and please do not give it a colour of local versus outsiders. The Human Resources Development Ministry is looking into the grievances of the outstation students and I am hopeful that it will be resolved soon.

"As far as demands of some students to shift the NIT campus out of Srinagar is considered, let me make it clear that it wont be possible," she said.

To a question that many outstation students had not appeared in the examination that began yesterday, she said "Some students were not prepared for exams. Their exams would be conducted later.

"Some students have gone back to their homes because of the environment," Mehbooba, the first woman Chief Minister of the state, said.

She later met Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and is believed to have discussed the issue of widening of states national highways which has been pending with his ministry for a long time.

She is also believed to have taken up the issue of bad road connectivity within the state. PTI ACB SKL SK

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During his visit to Britain in November last year, Modi was hosted to a lunch banquet by Queen Elizabeth II.

PM Modi (centre) hosted a dinner for the Royal couple in New Delhi on Tuesday.

By Indo-Asian News Service: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday hosted lunch for Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who are on a visit to India.

"A royal summer in Delhi! PM @narendramodi receives the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at Hyderabad House," external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted along with pictures of Modi with Prince William and Kate.

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During his visit to Britain in November last year, Modi was hosted to a lunch banquet by Queen Elizabeth II.

The royal couple, who arrived in Mumbai on Sunday, attended a reception hosted by the British high commissioner here on Monday to mark Queen Elizabeth II's 90th birthday that falls next week.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are scheduled to leave for Assam later on Tuesday where they will visit the Kaziranga National Park, a Unesco World Heritage Site.



Also Read: When Prince William and Kate met B'Town royalty



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By PTI: From Shirish B Pradhan

Kathmandu, Apr 12 (PTI) Nepal should get rid of its "power-ravenous" leadership that is focused on personal gain, the countrys last monarch Gyanendra Shah said today as he warned the ruling elite that the people were losing patience.

In his Nepalese New Year message, Shah expressed concern over the present state of affairs in the country, saying, "first look at your own country, before looking at the world".

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"First know your own country before knowing the rest of the world," the 68-year-old said.

Issuing a statement to convey best wishes to the people on the occasion of the Nepalese New Year 2073 Bikram Era, Gyanendra said, "The nation should get rid of the power-ravenous leadership that is only focused on personal gain."

"With such a leadership, the state has been weakening. The very concept of the state has weakened, regional and global politics is on the verge of a new stage," he said.

Shah also urged the political class to "keep in mind the changing power balance of South Asia."

The former king claimed that the Nepalese religion, culture, language, history and civilization are being assaulted.

The Nepalese people were losing their patience due to the mismatch between power-ravenous leadership and peoples aspiration, he said.

Gyanendra was removed from the Narayanhiti Palace, from where the Shah dynasty resided, in May 2008 after Nepals newly first Constituent Assembly abolished monarchy and converted the country into a republic.

The erstwhile Hindu state was also converted into a secular one at the same time. PTI SBP ASK AKJ ASK

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The Bareilly Police paraded Reyan and Junaid before the media today. The two told the police that it was Muneer who had fired at Tanzil Ahmed.

By India Today Web Desk: Personal enimosity could be the reason behind the murder of National Investigating Agency (NIA) officer Tanzil Ahmed's murder, the Uttar Pradesh police said today as it arrested two persons in connection with the crime. The main accused is still on the run.

The Bareilly Police paraded Reyan and Junaid before the media today. The two told the police that it was Muneer who had fired at Tanzil Ahmed.

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"During interrogation, it was revealed that Reyaan had sought help from Tanzil Ahmed in a case. But the officer denied help which made Reyan furious," said Vijay Meena, Inspector General, Bareilly.

"Munir is aware about the real motive behind the murder," said Reyan. "I had no enmity with Tanzil Ahmed, I just helped Munir out of friendship," added Junaid.

Two motorcycle-borne miscreants had pumped 21 bullets into Tanzil Ahmed when he was returning to New Delhi after attending the marriage of his nephew on April 3. His wife was also injured in the attack and is still recuperating at a Delhi hospital.

Ahmad was a part of the NIA team that is investigating the Pathankot terror attack and also had some other cases like cracking SIMI and IM modules to his credentials.



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The students said they were asked by the authorities to appear for the examinations "if they remain inside the campus".

Around 1,500 non-local engineering students of the National Institute of Technology (NIT)-Srinagar on Tuesday vacated their hostel rooms and left for their homes.

The students said they were asked by the authorities to appear for the examinations "if they remain inside the campus".

"Our administration told us to appear for the exams as we were staying in the hostels. But we have not prepared for our examinations as we have been busy protesting," a student, who did not wish to be named, said.



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"The exams will be re-scheduled for those students who are not in the campus," the student added.

"Around 1,000-1,500 students have left for their homes after vacating the hostels before 5 am in the morning," a student, who had left the valley on Monday, added.

"There has never been any threat to any non Kashmiri here. Thousands of students are studying in BeD colleges. We request the govt of India ensure the safety of? Kashmiri students outside. If they fail to do so then Kashmiris won't stay silent", said Advocate Miyan Qayoom, President Bar association.

The group of civil society members and bar association Kashmir claimed that their internal inquiry suggests the NIT crisis was preplanned to malign the Kashmiri students. They also said thousands of outside students study in BeD colleges across the valley and lakhs of non locals work in Kashmir. None of them have ever been harmed.



"This was actually started on March 24 by non local students when non Kashmiri students provoked Kashmiri students on pak cricket teams defeat. Then deliberate attempts with flag unfurling etc. Non Kashmiri students thrashed a local courier boy, a professor who had only gone to cousel them. The likes of Anupam Kher didn't take much time to jump into it", said Professor Nayeema Hameed, Kashmir University while reading a statement.

NIT-Srinagar has around 1,500 non-local students, who have been boycotting classes following clashes between a group of non-local students and police last week. Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) troopers have been deployed inside the campus while police are stationed at the campus gates to ensure security.

Also read:

NIT Srinagar row: Separatist shutdown affects life in Kashmir





With Inputs from IANS



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North Korea has published articles with technicolor photographic detail on a range of tests that point to fast-paced efforts to build a nuclear-armed ballistic missil.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watches the ballistic rocket launch drill of the Strategic Force of the Korean People's Army (KPA) at an unknown location. Photo: Reuters

By India Today Web Desk: Ahead of a rare ruling party Congress next month, secretive North Korea is revealing details of its weapons development program for the first time, showcasing its push to develop long-range nuclear missiles despite international sanctions.

Until recently, information on the North's weapons program was hard to come by, with foreign governments and experts relying on satellite imagery, tiny samples of atomic particles collected after nuclear tests and mangled parts and materials recovered from long-range rocket launches.

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No longer. In just over a month, the North has published articles with technicolor photographic detail on a range of tests and other activities that point to fast-paced efforts to build a nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

The reason for the revelations, many analysts say, is that Pyongyang believes convincing the world, and its own people, of its nuclear prowess is as important as the prowess itself. Nevertheless, isolated North Korea's true capabilities and intentions remain unknown.

"Close-up pictures of ground test activities are almost unprecedented from the DPRK," John Schilling, an aerospace engineer specializing in satellite and launch vehicle propulsion systems, told Reuters.

DPRK stands for Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name. The reclusive state has conducted four nuclear tests in the past 10 years, the last in January.

"The openness suggests that the underlying strategy is as much diplomatic as military: it is important to Pyongyang not only that they have these capabilities, but that we believe they have these capabilities," Schilling said.

In its latest revelations, North Korean state media reported on Saturday that the country had carried out a successful test of a new ICBM engine. Pictures showed what experts said were the engines of two Soviet-designed R-27 missiles clustered together, ejecting two exhaust plumes.

The claims indicate the North has no intention of slowing down, despite last month's United Nations sanctions and stern warnings from Washington and elsewhere, said Michael Elleman, a U.S.-based rocket expert with the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

"The revelations, pronouncements and 'tests' appear to be part of a campaign to establish the narrative that Pyongyang has, or will soon have, a nuclear-armed, long-range missile that could threaten the U.S. mainland," he said.

"Each unveiling, if real, would be part of a structured program aimed at developing the capability. The open question is: How real are these tests?"

The activities are likely to be watched closely by U.N. experts assigned to enforce sanctions prohibiting the North from engaging in work that involves ballistic missile technology.

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CONVINCING THE DOUBTERS?

There is an increasing feeling among international arms experts that North Korea's capability may be more advanced than previously thought. It could have a primitive but operable ICBM "later this decade," said a U.S. government source with intelligence on the North's weapons program.

Overcoming such scepticism, and fuelling alarm for its neighbors and the United States, may be the intended effect, with significant domestic propaganda value ahead of the May ruling party congress, said Yang Moo-jin of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.

"To a normal military, arms development is supposed to be classified," he said. "But Kim Jong Un had years of the South and the U.S. putting his military down, so now he wants to maximize the perceived threat of what he's trying to develop."

The recent ICBM engine test followed the March test of a solid-fuel rocket engine and a simulated test of atmospheric re-entry of a missile warhead.

Kim has vowed another nuclear warhead test soon, which would be the country's fifth. Some analysts say it could be timed to take place just before the congress, at which Kim is likely to unveil an official policy of twinning economic development with nuclear capability.

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Kim also claimed in March that his country has miniaturized a nuclear warhead to be mounted on a ballistic missile. Media reports displayed a spherical object and a jubilant Kim standing before a large rocket-shaped object similar to the KN-08 ICBM.

The choreographed manner in which the weapons tests appear to be taking place also points to political posturing rather than rigorous technical examination, some analysts have said.

Given the North's secrecy, penchant for bombastic propaganda and history of manipulating photographic and video images, its claims are still met with plenty of scepticism.

"I am still not convinced that everything really is what they want us to believe it is," said German aerospace engineer Markus Schiller, who has closely followed the North's missile development program.

Also read:

North Korea has miniature nuclear warhead, says Kim Jong-Un

President Obama imposes new sanctions on North Korea after nuclear tests

North Korea warns of preemptive nuclear attacks against US and South Korea

Senior North Korea military officer defects to South Korea



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By PTI: Kolkata, Apr 12 (PTI) Opposition parties in West Bengal today welcomed the Election Commissions decision to remove Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, saying it would deliver a stern message to police officials who work on behalf of the ruling Trinamool Congress.

The TMC refused to react on the ECs decision to remove Kumar.

"We welcome the move by the EC to remove Rajeev Kumar. He would have been removed long back had the flyover collapse not happened. We believe that the decision will send out a strong message to those police officials who are still working on behalf of the TMC," CPI(M) politburo member Mohammed Salim told PTI.

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Kumar is being replaced by ADG (CID) Soumen Mitra.

The opposition political parties had recently demanded the removal of Kumar, who is allegedly close to the ruling TMC, after an alleged failed sting operation against the partys national secretary Rahul Sinha last month. Two Kolkata Police personnel were suspended after they allegedly tried to bribe Sinha in return for help to smuggle out cows to Bangladesh.

"We welcome the decision. We had lodged a complaint against Rajeev Kumar in the EC. We are hopeful that this will send out a right message to all those officials who are working on behalf of the TMC," BJP national secretary Siddharth Nath Singh said.

Former state Congress president and MP Pradip Bhattacharya said free and fair polls would have never been possible in Kolkata with Kumar at the helm of city police.

TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee, however, declined to make any comment on the development. PTI PNT MD AAR

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A team of 20 tax officials sought evidence on whether companies Mossack Fonseca helped establish in tax havens were used to commit crimes in Peru, tax agency SUNAT said in a statement.

A security guard sits outside the Mossack Fonseca law firm in Panama City on April 3, 2016.

By Reuters: Authorities in Peru raided the local office of Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca on Monday, seizing accounting documents in an investigation into possible tax evasion and fraud, the country's tax agency said.

A team of 20 tax officials sought evidence on whether companies Mossack Fonseca helped establish in tax havens were used to commit crimes in Peru, tax agency SUNAT said in a statement.

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TV images showed police standing by with riot shields in front of a house in Lima's financial district San Isidro.

Mossack Fonseca is at the center of an international data leak scandal that has embarrassed several world leaders and shone a spotlight on the shadowy world of offshore companies.

The local representative of Mossack Fonseca in Peru, Monica de Ycaza, told reporters that she was collaborating with investigators. She could not be reached for further comment.

Governments across the world have begun investigating possible financial wrongdoing by the rich and powerful after the leak of more than 11.5 million documents, dubbed the "Panama Papers," from the law firm.

Also Read:

Panama Papers: Massive data on offshore accounts leaked by news group



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Congress president Sonia Gandhi pointed out that the BJP showed its insensitivity when the students, who were fighting for the ideals of Ambedkar, suffered at the hands of the ruling party.

By Amit Agnihotri: Locked in a bitter struggle with the BJP over which party gets to claim the legacy of Dalit icon BR Ambedkar, both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi vowed to fight for the downtrodden while alleging the ruling party was anti-poor. "I will never bend before the ideology of Manu as it has destroyed India," Rahul said while addressing a rally to mark the 125th anniversary of Ambedkar in Nagpur.

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Rahul, who has been attacking the BJP and the RSS over the atrocities on Dalits, especially the killing of two Dalit children in Haryana and that of the suicide of a Dalit student Rohith Vemula in Hyderbad University, used the occasion to paint the ruling party as anti-poor.

"Rohith did not end his life, he sacrificed for the country. Who oppressed him, the VC, who installed the VC, the RSS," said Rahul.

Targeting the RSS, the BJP's ideological mentor, in its bastion, Rahul said, "RSS ideology is weakening the country. The Congress will always fight this ideology."

Sonia pointed out that the BJP showed its insensitivity when the students, who were fighting for the ideals of Ambedkar, suffered at the hands of the ruling party.

Praising Ambedkar, she said, the Dalit leader gave India its constitution which reflects the aspirations of the millions of people.

"It was the Congress which requested him to carry out the big task of drafting the Constitution," said Sonia.

The Congress, said Rahul, was the party of the poor, marginalised and those who are weak. "Each worker of the Congress will fight for these sections," he said.

The RSS, Rahul said, attacked him as he opposed their ideology.

The mega show by the Congress to mark the anniversary of Ambedkar comes amid a similar push by the BJP to claim the legacy of the dalit icon. Targeting the PM, Rahul said though he shared his thoughts on the radio programme Mann Ki Baat often, he hardly cared for the poor.

"PM Modi and his team want to kill the ideology of Babasaheb Ambedkar and everything he stood for," said Sonia adding "BJP don't go by their words. They will disturb reservations. Babasaheb would have fought these forces."

Also Read:

Attempts to portray govt as anti-Dalit, says PM Modi at Ambedkar event



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By India Today Web Desk: Late actress Pratyusha Banerjee's companion Rahul Raj Singh has been granted interim relief from arrest for a week by Bombay High Court today.



Rahul's anticipatory bail was filed in Bombay High Court and was heard today at 3 pm before justice Mridula Bhatkar.

Justice Mridula Bhatkar also asked Rahul to appear before the Bangur Nagar Police Station in Goregaon west daily for two hours from Wednesday till April 18, and in case he was arrested, he should be released on a bond of Rs.30,000.

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The court's orders came in an anticipatory bail application filed by him after a similar plea was rejected by a lower court last week.

His lawyer Abad Ponda said the actor was currently in hospital and the FIR copy was not provided to him though police has filed a report before the court.



On Monday, Rahul approached the Bombay High Court seeking pre-arrest bail. On April 7, a Mumbai sessions court had rejected Rahul's anticipatory bail application, following which the producer filed a plea in the high court.

Also read: Rahul Raj Singh's arrest imminent? Three developments in Pratyusha Banerjee case



On April 1, 24-year-old Pratyusha, who shot to fame for her role as Anandi in Balika Vadhu, allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself inside her flat in suburban Goregaon in western Indian state of Maharastra. Two days later, a case under IPC sections 306 (abetment of suicide), 504, 506 (criminal intimidation), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of IPC was registered against Rahul following a complaint lodged by the actress's parents.

See pics: TV celebs at Pratyusha Banerjee's prayer meet



Rahul, in his anticipatory bail application, claimed that Pratyusha's parents did not make any allegation against him in their first statement to police.

He said they filed the FIR against him after two days of the suicide incident, as they got influenced by certain people who were against Pratyusha's relations with him (Rahul). Rahul said Pratyusha had not left behind any suicide note blaming him for her death, and also that there were no marks on her body other than the ligature wound.

(With inputs from IANS)



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A senior police officer told India Today that Rahul Raj Singh will be placed under arrest as soon as he is discharged. In another development, Pratyusha's parents are planning to protest outside the Bombay High Court today.

By Munish Chandra Pandey: Rahul Raj Singh, accused of abetting TV star Pratyusha Banerjee's suicide, could be arrested as soon as he is discharged from the hospital, says a senior official of Mumbai Police.

There's a reason the police is in no hurry to arrest Rahul, and it's technical. A senior police officer told India Today, "If we arrest him at this point of time then we have to keep him at a government hospital and our police custody will go waste. We do not want to do that. Anyway he will be discharged soon. As soon as he is out of hospital, we will place him under arrest."

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In another development, Pratyusha's parents will hold a protest today outside the Bombay High Court demanding a speedy investigation. The court is likely to hear Rahul's anticipatory bail plea today.

Pratyusha's father at her prayer meet. Photo: Yogen Shah

Lawyer Neeraj Gupta will join Pratyusha's parents at the protest.

Gupta, who initially fought for Rahul, opted out of defending him when he came to know that Rahul and his family had concealed crucial information from him, which he came to know of later from other people and the media. He even held a press conference later, revealing details about Pratyusha's death and Rahul's conduct. He has also taken up cases filed by two women who claim that they were duped by Rahul. Also read: 18 things Pratyusha Banerjee's parents revealed about her relationship with Rahul Raj Singh



On Monday, a summon was issued against Rahul in an old case filed by South Indian actress Kesha Khambhati at an Andheri court. Confirming the news to India Today, Kesha's lawyer Neeraj Gupta, said, "The Andheri court has asked Rahul Raj Singh to be present himself before the court on May 13, 2016. We had approached the court this year in January." Kesha has alleged that Rahul duped her of Rs 2.5 lakh.

According to her, the accused met Khambhati last year at a party and it didn't take him long to start flirting with the actress. Taking advantage of his close proximity to and his intimacy with the star, he borrowed Rs 2.5 lakh from Kesha but later refused to return the money. "When I asked Rahul to return my money, he started threatening me. He abused me and threatened me of dire consequences. I filed a complaint against him at the Oshiwara police station. I was forced to file a lawsuit against him at the Andheri court after the police failed to make any progress in the case, she said. Also read: Pratyusha Banerjee's boyfriend Rahul Raj Singh booked for abetment to suicide



Heer Patel, another girl allegedly duped by Rahul, has filed a fresh complaint against him saying he duped her of Rs 25 lakh on the pretext of making a movie and casting her as the lead. Confirming the same, Gupta, who's also fighting her case, said, "the complaint has been given to the Mumbai Police. If the police does not take action against Rahul then we will approach the Bombay High Court".

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Speaking to India Today, Dr SJ Goel, who is treating Rahul, and is also the owner of the hospital, said,"Rahul's health condition is improving. If the court directs or the police wants, he can be shifted to a government hospital. He is still being counselled by psychiatrists. He might be discharged in two days."

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It is a boon for students aspiring for medical courses as otherwise over 90 medical entrance tests are held across India.

By Harish V Nair: In a significant decision benefiting lakhs of students aspiring to become doctors, the Supreme Court on Monday restored for the time being the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) the common entrance test for admissions to MBBS, BDS and PG courses in all medical colleges - government and private - across the country by setting aside its own 2013 judgment.

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It is a boon for students aspiring for medical courses as otherwise over 90 medical entrance tests are held across India. Principally it would also stop corrupt practice which enabled undeserving students to get admissions in private colleges by paying huge capitation fees or donations.

Passing orders in a review petition filed by the Centre and Medical Council of India against the quashing of the NEET, a bench headed by justice Anil Dave said it will hear arguments against the validity of the common entrance test "afresh". "Till the matter is decided NEET can be implemented," said the court. Asked by a lawyer if the NEET stood restored, the Bench said "that is the natural consequence".

The Supreme Court had, in June 2013, ruled that the Medical Council of India (MCI)'s notification for holding common entrance tests for MBBS, BDS and post-graduate medical courses as invalid. A three-judge bench by a 2:1 (one judge dissented) verdict held that the notification was against the Constitution.

The court had in its 2013 judgment ruled that the MCI did not have the jurisdiction to enforce common entrance test (CET) on state and private medical colleges as it would violate their right to administer such institutions.

The court had also said the move could violate constitutional guarantee to minority communities to establish and manage their own educational institutions.

The NEET was introduced by the Medical Council of India in 2012, but 115 petitioners, including private medical colleges challenged it and obtained a Supreme Court ruling that it was not a must for them.

The apex court in 2013, while holding that common entrance test for admission in medical colleges "violates the rights of state and private institutions" is likely to have fallout as such tests are conducted for other professional courses like engineering and management.

The three-judge bench headed by former chief justice Altamas Kabir in a majority 2-1 verdict quashed the notifications for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET).

Kabir's view was shared by Justice Vikramjit Sen but Justice AR Dave disagreed with them and upheld the NEET saying the policy was "legal".

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No Congress leader enjoys the Lingayat community backing as that of Yeddyurappa. Consequently, they want the Congress to appoint a Vokkaliga (second largest community) as the KPCC president to take on Yeddyurappa.

By Mail Today: Former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa, who has been appointed the head of the BJP in Karnataka, did not even fire his first salvo, and the Congress in the state is already facing factionalism with three groups formed within the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC).

The Congress is aware of Yeddyurappa's clout and power, as the undisputed leader of the largest community (Lingayats) in Karnataka. He single-handedly brought the party to power and went on to become the CM in 2008.

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No Congress leader enjoys the Lingayat community backing as that of Yeddyurappa. Consequently, they want the Congress to appoint a Vokkaliga (second largest community) as the KPCC president to take on Yeddyurappa.

A day after the BJP announced Yeddyurappa as the new leader of the party in Karnataka, state's Animal Husbandry Minister A Manju (Vokkaliga) and several other community leaders formed a group and proposed the name of Energy Minister DK Shivakumar for the post of the KPCC president. Last month, there was some movement to appoint Shivakumar as the KPCC head, but it was delayed in view of the charges against him. Now, Manju and over 15 MLAs in the Congress are rallying behind Shivakumar for the KPCC president's post.

Another faction led by MLA ST Somashekar has openly rebelled against Siddaramaiah. Somashekar and another 20+ ministerial aspirants want Siddaramaiah to undertake a Cabinet reshuffle and appoint new faces as ministers. According to them, some of the ministers have not performed well and it could affect the Congress' prospects in the next Assembly elections due in two years.

"It has been 3 years since we came to power in Karnataka. All of us are equally responsible for decimating the BJP in the last elections. Siddaramaiah should drop 25 ministers from the Council of Cabinet and accommodate youngsters like us. There are several of us waiting to prove the mettle. This way we can counter the BJP's game-plan," said Somashekar, who is leading a delegation to New Delhi to meet the party High Command. Former ministers Dr. A B Maalakaraddy, K B Koliwada, Maalikkayya V Guttedar, R V Devaraj, and MLAs K N Rajanna, M Krishnappa, and Shivananada Patil are among those backing this faction.

But the Siddaramaiah camp is opposed to both the factions - one seeking appointment of a Vokkaliga as the KPCC president and the other demanding Cabinet reshuffle. The supporters of Siddaramaiah are of the view that both demands are undermining the capabilities of Siddaramaiah. "Our leader (Siddaramaiah) is capable of leading the party in the next elections. We do not want any parallel power centre. Yeddyurappa's appointment should not evoke such knee-jerk reaction in the Congress," Siddaramaiah's aides contended.

It is known to all that Siddaramaiah's popularity as a CM is declining day-by-day. Political analysts are of the view that Siddaramaiah is handing over Karnataka on a platter to the BJP by ignoring administration that should have been people-friendly and development-oriented.

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"If Yeddyurappa's appointment as the BJP head in Karnataka can create so much unrest in the Congress, one can understand the predicament once the former CM hits the road. The Congress will have to get its strategy right from now on. Otherwise it will be too late for the Congress in Karnataka," remarked political analyst and historian Dr. A Veerappa.

Also Read:

BS Yeddyurappa is the new BJP head in Karnataka

Yeddyurappa says he will bring down Congress government



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Legendary actor Clint Eastwood's son Scott Eastwood is the latest actor to join Fast And Furious 8, after Charlize Theron.

By India Today Web Desk: Legendary actor Clint Eastwood's son Scott Eastwood is the latest actor to join Fast And Furious 8, after Charlize Theron. It's not even been a week since the Fast And Furious team revealed that Charlize Theron has been roped in for the role of the villain.

ALSO READ: It's official! Charlize Theron to star in Fast and Furious 8



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The film is directed by Straight Outta Compton-fame filmmaker F Gary Gray.

The 30-year-old actor is said to join Kurt Russel's group in the upcoming film. The official Fast And Furious page tweeted, "Kurt Russell's Mr. Nobody has a new protg. Welcome @ScottEastwood to the Fast family. 4.14.17. #F8 (sic)."

Kurt Russells Mr. Nobody has a new protg. Welcome @ScottEastwood to the Fast family. 4.14.17. #F8 pic.twitter.com/HsYxrKnS5E Fast & Furious (@FastFurious) April 11, 2016

Eastwood shared the news on Instagram with a photo of himself with #F8 written on it. He wrote, "It's hard to put into words how excited I am for the next Fast & Furious. To me, the series is so much more than just a franchise. It's a legacy. These great actors who have been in it together for so long have become a family. I absolutely can't wait to join it (sic)."

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The Longest Ride actor also gave a heartfelt tribute to his long-time friend Paul Walker. He wrote, "Paul was a close friend of mine. We surfed together, traveled together, and he was a huge role model and influencing figure in my life when I was younger. He still is. He was an older brother to me. For me to be able to add to the F&F story, Paul's story, and the FAST family is like a dream come true (sic)."

Paul Walker died in a car crash in 2013 at the age of 40. The actor was midway through filming Furious 7, the last instalment in the series. The nostalgic Scott wrote, "Paul - I am going to make you proud."

The star cast of the film includes Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez and Tyrese Gibson.

Fast And Furious 8 is slated for an April 14, 2017 release.

Eastwood has a number of high profile projects in the coming years. Scott will appear in Warner Bros' Suicide Squad, Oliver Stone's Snowden with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Ben Affleck's Live By Night.

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By PTI: Kolkata, Apr 11 (PTI) A 210-year-old church in the former Danish colony of West Bengals Serampore town will reopen this week after being restored with funds from the Denmark government.

The roof of the heritage St Olavs Church, which collapsed in 2010, was restored after the Danish Ministry of Culture generously donated funds to restore the piece of architecture from a bygone era.

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The restoration work began in 2013 and following the 3-crore restoration, the church property is now ready to be reopened to the public later this week, Bishop Ashoke Biswas said.

St Olav Church was built in 1806 during the time when Serampore was a flourishing trading town under Danish administration.

Conservation architect Manish Chakraborti from Kolkata and Dr Flemming Aalund from the National Museum of Denmark got together to design the restoration plan by using traditional materials and techniques.

The original doors, windows and furniture were restored while flooring was relaid with sandstone from Rajasthan.

Lime mortars and organic pigments were used on all walls, following the original colour scheme established through a scientific paint analysis, said Dr Bente Wolff of the National Museum of Denmark.

She said a new roof was laid using the traditional water-proofing technique of compacting lime concrete through weeks of continuous beating. PTI NIK NN SUK

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A police complaint was filed against Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi for holding a press conference in Guwahati as voting was going on in the state.

By Mail Today: A police complaint was filed against Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi for holding a press conference in Guwahati for violating the model code of conduct.

The FIR was registered on the orders of the Election Commission. Election officials in Assam objected to the news conference, banning its broadcast. Earlier, accusing the Election Commission officials of bias, the 81-year-old leader said they were harassing Congress leaders across the state. "They should arrest me if they can," Gogoi said.

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Meanwhile, voting for the second and final phase of the elections was held in Kokrajhar and other Bodo districts in lower Assam, where the BJP is hoping to win a large chunk of seats with over 70 per cent polling.

Brisk polling was also recorded in the first phase of the Assembly elections in West Bengal with an estimated 80 per cent voting. There will be seven days of polling for 294 assembly seats in West Bengal. The last day of polling is scheduled on May 5.

Braving the scorching sun, a large number of people queued up outside the polling booths. The commission received over 100 complaints, mostly about malfunctioning of electronic voting machines (EVMs), while a presiding officer in a booth in Purulia was changed following an allegation of trying to influence voters.

Meanwhile, a section of voters in Piyalsole village under Manbazar constituency in Purulia boycotted voting. Complaining of lack of development in the area, the villagers said the decision to boycott the polls was taken in advance.

The Congress and the Left Front accused Trinamool Congress activists of attempting to influence and intimidate voters in several booths across the three districts, a charge denied by the ruling party.

Also Read:

Assam elections: Parties fight it out on social media



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"This Songkran won't have women or ladyboys dressing inappropriately and dancing on a truck," Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-Cha said.

By India Today Web Desk: As Thailand gears up to celebrate the Songkran - a festival similar to Holi in India - its military junta is going on a banning spree, warning people to avoid dressing indecently or face arrest, outlawing "X-ray pants" which turn translucent when soaked, and even banning "sexy dance moves".

"This Songkran won't have women or ladyboys dressing inappropriately and dancing on a truck," Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-Cha said. "They'll be arrested, as well as the truck drivers," Gen Prayuth said that those who show too much skin are damaging the country's image.

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Authorities have announced a series of measures and bans in an attempt to curb excessive use of water, consumption of alcohol and displays of flesh. The city government will no longer run or allow free water distribution centres and public consumption of alcohol is also supposed to be banned.

Interestingly, the junta has also banned red plastic water bowls bearing a Songkran message from Thaksin Shinawatra, the deposed prime minister, seizing more than 10,000 bowls that it termed "seditious" and threatened to send politicians to newly established "attitude adjustment" camps if they try to distribute such items.

Songkran defines the beginning of the Thai New Year and officially runs from April 13-15 and increasingly features scantily clad women getting drenched during the boisterous celebrations.

A recent survey in the country, which has a reputation for a colourful night light and bustling sex industry, showed that over half the women were sexually harassed under the guise of celebrating the water festival.

However, Gen Prayuth says it has more to do with Thailand's reputation and wants women to wear traditional costumes. "Displays of "sexuality" by Thais would give foreigners the wrong message by encouraging them to behave in similar fashion," he announced.

"Don't do anything that make farangs (foreigners) think they can do anything. They come here for Thainess. Please don't do anything that shames the country and please do conserve water," he said in a broadcast.

The police in Bangkok is taking the premier's message very seriously. Maj Gen Adul Narongsak, the deputy police chief, said all divisions would set up a special operations centre to monitor the way revellers are dressed at party sites and in clips on social media. Police will take quick action to end any activities deemed to damage public morals or the country's image, Gen Narongsak said.

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One of the leading women motorcyclists of India, Veenu Paliwal, met a tragic end en route Bhopal when her bike skid off the road near MP's Vidisha district. Here are a few things you should know about her.

By India Today Web Desk: Last evening, India lost one of its top woman bikers, Veenu Paliwal, to a tragic road accident in Madhya Pradesh's Vidisha district.

The 44-year-old is said to have lost control of her bike and skidded off the road near Gyaraspur, while she was on her way to Bhopal.

Paliwal is said to have sustained a hand injury from the accident for which she was given a injection at a nearby hospital. Thereafter, her health started to deteriorate.

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When moved to a different hospital, she was declared brought dead.

Also read: India's top woman biker Veenu Paliwal dies in road accident

As social media mourns the untimely death of the daredevil biker, here are a few things you could know about Veenu Paliwal:

1. A resident of Jaipur, the 44-year-old bike enthusiast was named the Lady of Harley (Dunes Harley-Davidson) and HOG Rani.

Source: Veenu Palliwal/ Facebook





2. In an interview to Jaipur Women Blog, Paliwal had admitted that she was inspired by her "avid biker" father since childhood.

Source: Veenu Palliwal/ Facebook

3. She had learned how to ride a bike from her friends in college, but she couldn't pursue her passion back then as she then didn't own a bike herself.



Source: Veenu Palliwal/ Facebook





4. Paliwal was married to a man who opposed to her riding bikes. She ended the marriage to pursue her passion for biking.

Source: Veenu Palliwal/ Facebook





5. The daredevil biker was famous for driving her Harley Davidson bike at 180 kmph.

Source: Veenu Palliwal/ Facebook





6. Paliwal was on a nationwide tour with fellow biker, Deepesh Tanwar; a trip that was cut short by the tragic accident Monday evening.

Source: Veenu Palliwal/ Facebook





7. Paliwal had plans of making a documentary of her motorbike journey across the country.

Source: Veenu Palliwal/ Facebook





8. She also owned a Victorian tea room lounge called Chah Bar in Jaipur.

Source: Veenu Palliwal/ Facebook





9. Paliwal is survived by a son and a daughter.

Source: Veenu Palliwal/ Facebook





10. Paliwal had a dream of someday joining politics and spreading awareness about driving and riding bikes with safety.



This picture here is the last photo Paliwal updated on her Facebook account, a day before the fateful accident.

Source: Veenu Palliwal/ Facebook

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Crying loudly over the phone, Indrajit told his father that he was scared that the attackers could again come and attack him, this time finishing the job.

By Siraj Qureshi: The attacks on Indian medical students in Ukraine resulted in the death of two people from Muzaffar Nagar and Ghaziabad, while Agra-native Indrajit Singh barely survived the attack and is currently being treated in a Ukrainian hospital.

Talking to his father Narendra Singh Chauhan on phone, Indrajit Singh said that the attack was quite unexpected. They continued attacking the three students till they believed that all three were dead, but luckily Indrajit survived to tell the tale and his fellow students assisted him in reaching the hospital.

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The hostel room in which the three students was attacked was completely stained in blood of those three and the furniture was strewn all around the room.

I am sorry two Indian students Pranav Shandilya Muzaffarnagar and Ankur Singh (Ghaziabad) were stabbed to death in Ukraine on 10.4.2016./1; Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) April 11, 2016

Crying loudly over the phone, Indrajit told his father that he was scared that the attackers could again come and attack him, this time finishing the job.

Talking to India Today, Narendra Singh Chauhan said that Indrajit has submitted his statement to Ukraine police and some students have been arrested on the basis of his statement.

Indrajit's parents celebrated his 25th birthday on 7th April in Agra by distributing sweets in their locality.

A lot of middle-class families in Agra and surrounding areas have sent their children to Ukraine for medical studies as medical studies are far cheaper in Ukraine than India and in 6 years, a student could pass out with an MD or MS degree. Agents are active in the region to assist the parents to send their children to Ukraine and Indrajit had also gone through one of these agents.

A resident of Mahore Gali in Bodla area of Agra, Narendra Chauhan told India Today that Indrajit's friends had suggested studying medical in Ukraine and he had gone to the former Soviet Russian country to study in 2010.

According to the available information, the foreign minister Sushma Swaraj has taken this matter very seriously and the Indian high commission in Ukraine is in continuous contact with the Ukrainian government on this issue. The Ukrainian government has assured that the Indian students will be given full security now to prevent a recurrence of this incident.

Dr. S K Kalra, senior physician and member of the Agra chapter of Indian Medicos Association said that despite the fact that the legal status of Ukrainian medical degrees is still doubtworthy, a lot of parents are sending their kids to Ukraine for medical studies and although any racial attacks on Indians are condemnable, it becomes very hard for the Indian government to ensure the security of so many Indians living in a predominantly white populated country like Ukraine.

Also read: 2 Indian students murdered, 1 critically injured in Ukraine



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By Saurabh Singh: Taiwanese company HTC will launch its 'over teased' flagship phone, aka the HTC 10 later today. The 10 (or #powerof10) is a make or break phone for the company in question. There's no denying that HTC makes some good (looking) phones but its recent high-profile unveils have all been duds in the market. The One A9 has done well somewhat, but more because it was controversy's own child. Not that it was bad, just that it came into the spotlight more because it looked like a certain iPhone. Anyway, the HTC 10 is what we are going to talk about here.



Main launch

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This is the first time in forever that the company is expected to drop the One and 'M' monikers from its new high-end phone. Expected to be called just the HTC 10 (in all probability) this is HTC's one last shot at redemption. Hopefully, it comes through.



Here's everything we know about the HTC 10 based on teaser trailers leaked by the company itself as well as those brought about by tipsters across the length and breadth of the internet.

Design and build quality

One of the first teasers of the HTC 10 had to do with its 'new' design. The company had taken to social media to highlight the phone's brand new chamfers. Subsequent leaks, including the latest promo video that hit YouTube have left little to the imagination, vis--vis the HTC 10's design.

The phone will boast of a full-metal unibody with distinct chamfers on the back. The front is reminiscent of the One A9 replete with soft rounded corners, minimum side bezels and an oval-shaped physical home button that will most probably house a fingerprint scanner.

Meanwhile, the back is reminiscent of a typical HTC One phone (with the addition of the chamfers, of course). The camera module has a prominent bulge while a dualLED flash is seen next to it with what appears to be laser autofocus.

The right edge of the phone has a SIM card slot, volume rocker and the power button (in that order). The power button has a grooved texture, much like on the One A9. The left edge has been left vacant.

The lower end of the phone has a speaker out and a USB Type-C port for charging and data-syncing purposes.

It's to be seen if the HTC 10 supports expandable storage and water (dust) proofing prowess much like the new Galaxy S phones.

Display

Serial tipster Evan Blass (@evleaks) has claimed that the HTC 10 will come with a Super LCD 5 display panel and not an AMOLED panel (like the One A9). It won't be surprising should the 10 come with a Super LCD 5 display as its predecessor phone (the One M9) came with a Super LCD 3 panel.

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Super LCDs boast of lower power consumption while offering improved outdoor visibility (reduced glare) over regular LCD panels.

The HTC 10 is further said to come with a 5.15-inch QHD resolution display.

Software

Since this is a flagship phone, we can expect nothing short of Android Marshmallow on this one. In all likelihood, the HTC 10 will come with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow-based Sense 7 UI which HTC's custom skin on top of Android.

Performance and audio

Not all phones are created equal. The fastest and smoothest Android. You'll feel it. #powerof10 pic.twitter.com/1F42fJB7Lz HTC (@htc) March 29, 2016



Again, since this is a flagship phone, we can expect nothing short of Qualcomm's latest and greatest Snapdragon 820 processor under its hood.

There are reports that the HTC 10 may have as many as three variants: one with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 652 processor with 3GB RAM and 16GB internal memory, and another with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820 processor with 3GB RAM and 32GB internal memory. The third variant will reportedly come with Snapdragon 820 alongside 4GB RAM and 128GB internal memory.

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Whatever be the case, HTC says the 10 will be the fastest and smoothest Android phone ever.

Boomsound:

The company has meanwhile confirmed that the HTC 10 will come with its in-house BoomSound Audio technology. Whether or not it would sport dual-firing speakers is yet to be seen though.

Camera



The HTC 10 will come with world-class front and back cameras, according to the company.

In its very latest teaser trailer, the company highlighted that the HTC 10 will come with the 'best ever' smartphone camera. A designer was seen fiddling around with a DSLR (probably setting a roadmap for the phone), along with clear-cut mentions of an UltraPixel sensor, optical image stabilisation and 4K video in one of the frames. The HTC 10 is long-rumoured to come with a 12-megapixel (UltraPixel) camera on the rear.

Battery

Our engineers are so obsessed w/ battery life we've turned it into a science. You'll feel it. 4/12. #powerof10https://t.co/nsNtGYKXA6 HTC (@htc) April 8, 2016

Again, the company has said that the HTC 10 will have good battery life. Rumour has it that the phone will be backed by a 3,000mAh battery.

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--- ENDS ---
Ayatollah Kazemeini Boroujerdi was arrested along with many of his supporters on 8 October 2006 in Tehran for publicly opposing the government. The Shia religious scholar advocates the separation of mosque and state and is a defender of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

According to Amnesty International: He was charged with some 30 offences, including waging war against God (moharebeh); committing acts against national security; publicly calling the principle of political leadership by the clergy unlawful; having links with anti-revolutionaries and spies; and using the term religious dictatorship instead of Islamic Republic in public discourse and radio interviews. He was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment on 13 August 2007 and defrocked (banned from wearing his clerical robes and thereby from practicing his clerical duties), and his house and all his belongings were confiscated. His family had appointed lawyers for him but the [Special Clerical Court] refused to allow them to defend him on the grounds that only clerics appointed by the Judiciary could make representations on his behalf.

Boroujerdi has spent 440 days of his 10 year imprisonment in solitary confinement and has been deprived of furlough and medical attention. He has gone on several hunger strikes during this period to protest his prison conditions. He has also undergone physical and psychological torture by agents of the intelligence ministry, which has caused him heart attack, acute breathing problems, kidney stones, and worsening symptoms of Parkinson disease.

On 21 November 2014, the U.S. Congress condemned violation of human rights by the Iranian regime, noting that even members of the Shiite clerical establishment like Ayatollah Boroujerdi are prosecuted and imprisoned alongside persons who advocate for the rights of persecuted religious and ethnic minorities. Congress also observed that detainees are regularly battered, tortured and killed during their imprisonment.
Amnesty International published a statement on April 8 calling for a halt to the execution of Rashid Kouhi, 28. But he and four others were executed on the charge of narcotics trafficking. Javad Mirzadeh and Hossein Farhadi were also among them, while the names of the remaining two are not known at this time.

Said Boumedouha, Amnesty Internationals Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director, said: The imminent execution of Rashid Kouhi days after Iran was revealed to be the worlds second highest executioner in 2015 in Amnesty Internationals annual death penalty report highlights the authorities determination to maintain their horrifying rate of executions.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) strongly condemned this execution on April 10 and said in a statement: The criminal hanging of Rashid Kouhi, a 28-year-old student, on the pretext of smuggling narcotics demonstrated the brutality of the religious fascism ruling Iran in a most appalling manner. The Iranian Resistance once again urges all international human rights bodies to unequivocally condemn this antihuman crime.

The Iranian Resistance brings the attention of European leaders to the fact that political and economic relations with the Iranian regime encourage it in its savage violation of human rights and export of terrorism and fundamentalism and that these relations must be preconditioned to an improvement of human rights, in particular a halt to executions, the NCRI statement continued.

The statement made particular reference to European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. The latter is scheduled to visit Tehran this week, following upon a number of previous visits among European and Iranian high officials.
An environment of risk and uncertainty looms large for the shareholders and executives of Italian companies considering doing business in Iran. Their big bet could turn into a disastrous gamble given the enormous financial, legal, and reputational risks they would face in re-entering the Iranian market.

With vast swathes of Irans economy dominated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which remains sanctioned by the U.S. Government and the global community as a terrorist organization, these corporations are subject to a complex patchwork of sanctions and regulations. Furthermore, Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act continues to designate the entire Iranian financial sector as a jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern. The international anti-money laundering and terror-finance watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), recently warned of Irans failure to address the risk of terrorist financing and the serious threat this poses to the integrity of the international financial system.

The result saddles these and other companies with the risk of heavy financial penalties and impairment of lucrative business opportunities in other countries in the region, which are threatened by the IRGCs aggressive and destabilizing activities.

Prime Minister Renzi should also appreciate that both the American and Italian people share a deep suspicion of the Iranian regime, particularly given the heightened intensity of its threatening conduct. Last month, for example, in defiance of UN Security Council Resolution 2231, Iran test-fired long-range ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads that were inscribed in Hebrew with the regimes axiom, Israel must be wiped out.

Given Irans unwillingness to change its bad behavior, Prime Minister Renzi should concentrate his efforts on pressuring Tehran to halt its destabilizing and provocative activities, rather than prematurely rewarding the regime with lucrative business opportunities.

Following the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), UANI initiated an intensive international campaign warning companies worldwide about the substantial legal, financial, and reputational risks of doing business in Iran. UANI has identified a number of leading Italian companies in this campaign, and is currently in communication with the leadership of Eni, Finmeccanica, Fiat and Danieli to raise concerns about potential investment or pursuit of business deals in Iran.

As part of the launch, UANI also released an open letter detailing the many hazards that business with Iran could trigger, signed by dozens of prominent defense and foreign policy experts. Signatories include former Homeland Security Advisor Fran Townsend, former Acting and Deputy CIA Director Michael Morell, former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, Senators Kit Bond and Norm Coleman, Ambassador Dennis Ross, and former National Security Advisor to the Vice President John Hannah, among others. The letter calls on the global business community to fully consider the potentially grave consequences of business ties to Iran, citing a host of risks.

UANI is an independent, not-for-profit, non-partisan, advocacy group founded in 2008 by Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, former CIA Director Jim Woolsey and Middle East Expert Dennis Ross, that seeks to heighten awareness of the danger the Iranian regime poses to the world.
Qataslou was among the soldiers sent to Syria by the Islamic Republics Army. He was a commander of a Basij base in Pakdasht County, in southern Tehran, dubbed Baqiatollah Base.

Mehr News Agency reported last week that Amir-ali Arasteh, deputy coordinator of the Iranian Army, referred to the presence of military advisors, particularly the 65th Brigade, in Syria. We dispatched forces from the 65th Brigade to Syria as advisors, but this deployment does not pertain to only the 65th Commando Brigade, as we have also sent other units Arasteh stated.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) said in a statement on April 8, that in a move unparalleled since the Iran-Iraq war, Khamenei has deployed his military on a large scale for the export of terrorism and warmongering abroad. The latter statement was in response to Amir Ali Arasteh, deputy coordinator of the Iranian Armys Ground Forces stating that his forces from the 65th Commando Brigade and other units have been dispatched to Syria.

Assad al-Zoubi, the head of the Syrian opposition coalition delegation in Geneva said: The number of Iranian forces in Syria has reached 69,000. This includes members of the IRGC [Revolutionary Guards] and military experts who work in ballistics programs, chemical and communications divisions, and numerous others who fight alongside Assads forces. Subsequently, these 69,000 troops have been deployed in Aleppo, Hama, Homs, Latakia, Damascus and Daraa provinces.
The sale of the S-300 missiles was originally initiated in 2010 but was postponed amidst criticism by Western powers regarding the prospect of arming a regime that was then under scrutiny for its nuclear weapon ambitions. Last year, several months before the July 14 conclusion of negotiations that exchanged sanctions relief for some restrictions on Irans nuclear enrichment program, Russia announced that it would be re-initiating the contract.

Subsequently, however, the planned completion of the sale met with a number of false starts, with Iranian officials repeatedly announcing that the first delivery of weapons was imminent, only for weeks to pass with no additional movement toward implementation. But early this month, reports finally quoted a Russian Foreign Ministry official saying that the first missiles would be loaded for transport in a matter of days. And now that claim has been supported on the Iranian side, with the claim that the first in a series of deliveries has now been completed.

The completion of this weapons transfer will no doubt be met with anxiety by various adversaries of the Iranian regime, including the government of Israel, which was markedly opposed to the nuclear agreement and has at times warned of the possibility of Israeli strikes against Irans nuclear infrastructure in the event that the diplomatic agreement proved ineffectual. Irans ownership of the S-300 missiles would help to guard against such attacks, as they can engage airborne targets from a distance of 90 miles.

Expansion of Irans military capabilities could also pose an offensive threat to Israel, which Iranian officials frequently threaten with total destruction. Last month, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps conducted the test-launch of ballistic missiles that had the words Israel must be wiped out written on their sides in Hebrew. Those tests were conducted in defiance of a United Nations Security Council resolution that calls upon the Islamic Republic to avoid tests or further development of ballistic missiles that are capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

Such provocations only serve to enhance foreign anxieties about the growth of Irans military arsenal. And Iranian officials often boast of such advancements, either through domestic development or as a result of legal purchases made possible by the end of embargos under the nuclear deal. Even as the Islamic Republic was still waiting for delivery of the S-300 missiles, it was also engaging in talks with the Russian Federation about the purchase of fighter jets, tanks, and more.

The long delays in the S-300 transfer have raised considerable questions about whether Russia is willing to go ahead with such sales at this time. But in the meantime, Iranian officials are making considerable efforts to present their own domestically produced arsenals as comparable to what could eventually be obtained through foreign markets. On Monday, World Affairs Journal reported that officials with the Iranian Defense Ministry and armed forces had claimed that a domestically produced battle tank that will be unveiled in the coming month is as good or better than the Russian T-90 model of tank.

The remarks coincided with the announcement that a range of other weapons will be unveiled this week, just ahead of Irans Army Day, which falls on April 17. Brigadier General Kioumars Heidari, the lieutenant commander of Irans ground forces, said of these military products, We have modern and state-of-the-art equipment which can be used in proxy wars.

Such comments seem to reinforce recent reports indicating that Iran has no interest in withdrawing from foreign conflicts such as the Syrian Civil War. Earlier this month, the White House claimed that Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps forces might have been decreasing their presence there, but these claims were quickly disputed by analysts. And last week, the National Council of Resistance of Iran reported that the IRGC and its proxy forces were massing for a likely assault on Aleppo.

Iran has been fighting on behalf of the Assad regime for virtually the entire duration of the six-year civil war. Regardless of a recent international agreement halting hostilities among non-ISIL factions in the war, Iran has given no indication that it plans to alter its operations or cooperate with foreign efforts to establish a post-Assad transitional government.

On Monday, La Kabylie indicated that Iranian officials had once again reiterated their position on this issue. It quoted Ali Akbar Velayati, a close advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, as saying Iran believes that the government of Bashar al-Assad should remain in power until the end of his presidency term and the removal of Assad is a red line for us.

The refusal to compromise on this point arguably goes hand-in-hand with the regimes militarist provocations, as well as with a persistent unwillingness to negotiate on other points as well. Soon after the completion of nuclear negotiations, Khamenei urged his subordinates to avoid negotiating with the West on any other matters. He has also spoken out with increasing frequency and intensity against the nuclear deal and its impact thus far on the Iranian economy.

On the occasion of last months Iranian new year celebration of Nowruz, Khamenei declared the year ahead to be the year of the Resistance Economy, thus urging a return to economic policies that assumed the continuation of US-led economic sanctions and sought to evade them or undermine their effectiveness. On Monday, the Gatestone Institute analyzed this speech and related commentary, interpreting it as an effort to threaten President Rouhanis political future should he refuse to adopt Khameneis more combative economic policies.

The Gatestone report also emphasized that the regimes power structure appears to feel threatened by the prospect of cooperative policies leading to what Khamenei has described as foreign infiltration into the Islamic Republics economy, politics, and culture. Illustrating this point, the report quotes Professor Hojatollah Abdolmalehi of Imam Sadeq University as warning that beneath the inability of liberal economists to implement the Leaders Resistance Economy program is a proclivity to embrace secular and anti-religious overtones.

The regimes military overtures seem to illustrate some of the ways in which the hardliners at the head of the regime are pushing back against this perceived threat. A number of experts on Iranian affairs have observed that this is common practice when the regime is faced with expectations of reform or changing policies. And it has prevented the country from realizing reforms under other leaders who, like Rouhani, have been embraced as moderates by some in the West.
[April 11, 2016] Burr-Feinstein Encryption Bill Overbroad and Threatens Privacy, Says CTA

The following statement is attributed to Gary Shapiro (News - Alert), president and CEO, Consumer Technology Association (CTA)TM, regarding the encryption bill discussion draft from Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC) and Vice Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-CA (News - Alert)): "At this stage, the bill - though still in its discussion draft version - appears to be an overbroad overreaction. There is no consensus in the intelligence community that a requirement to force manufacturers to open encryption is the correct policy. Intelligence community leaders such as former NSA and CIA director Michael Hayden, former Homeland Security director Michael Chertoff and former NSA director Mike McConnell have spoken out against similar proposals and argue that encrypted devices are an important weapon against terrorism. "Technology companies will help fight the battle against terrorism with innovations such as predictive analytics, chemical-sensing devices and biometric measuring capabilities. But requiring American companies to guarantee U.S. government access to encrypted communications upon receiving a court order is premature and potentially damaging. Eliminating the ability to appeal a court order would remove a basic and fundamental due process right. Indeed, requiring access to protected communications would defeat the entire pupose of encryption - opening Americans' data to not only the U.S. government, but also hackers, contentious foreign regimes and other bad actors.



"Additionally, an anti-encryption mandate would harm our ability to keep high-skill, high-wage jobs in America and carry potential international ramifications that diminish our global competitiveness. Opening American companies to similar threats from other countries would secure nothing more than the fact that users seeking encrypted communications would simply avoid U.S. companies and opt for our foreign competitors. As this national discussion about the balance between privacy and security evolves, we must consider the trade-offs that are involved." "We look forward to working with the government on ways to keep our nation safe and secure while protecting privacy and innovation."

About Consumer Technology Association: Consumer Technology Association (CTA)TM is the trade association representing the $287 billion U.S. consumer technology industry. More than 2,200 companies - 80 percent are small businesses and startups; others are among the world's best known brands - enjoy the benefits of CTA membership including policy advocacy, market research, technical education, industry promotion, standards development and the fostering of business and strategic relationships. CTA also owns and produces CES (News - Alert) - the world's gathering place for all who thrive on the business of consumer technology. Profits from CES are reinvested into CTA's industry services. UPCOMING EVENTS CES on the Hill

April 19, Washington, DC Digital Patriots Dinner

April 20, Washington, DC CES Asia 2016

May 11-13, Shanghai, China CEO Summit

June 21-24, Tel Aviv, Israel Innovate!

September 20-22, San Jose, CA Technology & Standards Fall Forum

October 18-20, Austin, TX CT Hall of Fame Dinner

November 9, New York, NY CES 2017

January 5-8, Las Vegas, NV View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160411006330/en/

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[April 12, 2016] Conformance Technologies Launches New Payment Security Products

Conformance Technologies, a fast-growing provider of operating systems, education systems and expertise used in managing business compliance requirements, today announced the launch of two new offerings designed specifically to help the merchant acquiring industry operate with increased security, integrity and operational efficiency while lowering risk. InConRadar is an automated website scanning service that identifies suspicious commercial activities and business practices requiring further acquiring bank or payment processor investigation. The company's Payment Security Awareness System helps merchants continually assess and record compliance with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) requirements on a day-to-day basis so they stay compliant all year long, not just at a specific point of time during annual PCI (News - Alert) compliance validation. "Payment processors are under significant pressure to make sure the merchants in their portfolios are safe, secure, compliant and legitimate," states Darrel Anderson, president of Conformance Technologies. "Our InConRadar and Payment Security Awareness System solutions reduce this business burden, while providing acquiring banks and payment processors a daily assessment of the status of the merchants in their portfolio," adds Anderson. InConRadar examines merchant websites daily to identify and prioritize any undisclosed or suspicious commercial activities and business practices, alerting payment processing underwriters of any findings for investigation so operators can deal with incidents in seconds rather than hours. Changes to refund policies, privacy policies and other policy discrepancies are monitored as they too may be indicators of potential merchant fraud. InConRadar provides evidence and an account of website changes, plus notifies both merchants and payment processors during ebsite outages. Once an InConRadar finding is confirmed, payment processors can take specific actions to remediate or terminate an offending merchant. When a finding is unsubstantiated, payment processors can clear the suspected business activity or practice from future InConRadar scans within seconds.



Verizon's (News - Alert) 2015 PCI Compliance Report states that nearly 80 percent of all merchants who successfully complete their annual Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance validations fail Interim Report on Compliance (IRoC) assessments, leaving them vulnerable to cyberattacks. The Payment Security Awareness System makes credit card security and compliance an everyday exercise, communicating with and engaging merchants at various intervals through automatic reminder emails and notifications. Activities are recommended to merchants based on their unique payment processing environments and PCI compliance best practices. Merchants regularly validate compliance via activities such as inspecting equipment for tampering, checking wireless access points for unauthorized access, and staff training. Completion of recommended activities is logged online. Information is stored in a historical database, which may prove valuable during potential breach investigations to corroborate security activities performed. Conformance is offering the Payment Security Awareness System as a no-cost enhancement to users of its PCI ToolKit offering.

To learn more about how InConRadar and the Payment Security Awareness System from Conformance Technologies can help you and your portfolio of merchant customers, please telephone 775.336.5533 or email [email protected]. Onsite meetings can also be scheduled during the upcoming Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) TRANSACT 16 conference located in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino on April 18-21. Conformance Fest II, an invitation only event, will be hosted at the RX Boiler Room at Mandalay Place on Wednesday, April 20, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. About Conformance Technologies Conformance Technologies is a fast-growing provider of operating systems, educational systems and expertise used in managing business compliance requirements. More than 300,000 end-users rely on Conformance Technologies' solutions to protect their businesses every day, both domestically and around the world. Available solutions include the patented PCI ToolKit, Data Incident Management Program, TINMatch ToolKit, Data Lifecycle Management ToolKit, Payment Security Awareness System and InConRadar. Conformance Technologies is a privately held corporation headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. Evolving from a payments consultancy and PCI compliance firm originally established in 2003, the Company has become a leading provider of automated compliance and sensitive data protection systems and services. For more information, please visit www.conformancetech.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160412005033/en/

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100 years ago, April 12, 1916

MATTOON -- The matter of building a new passenger depot for Mattoon is in the hands of Illinois Central Railroad President Markham, according to H. Battisfore, superintendent of the IC's Illinois Division while in Mattoon today. Battisfore said the west side of Mattoon did not want a depot such as the Illinois central officials planned, while the east side of Mattoon did. Battisfore and other Illinois Central men met by chance today at the union depot and had an informal discussion at which the building of a new depot was discussed... NEWTON -- A Jasper County youth is being held in Canada as a German spy. James J. Kaufmann of Newton, a Jasper County school teacher, received a telegram that Joseph Hahn of Jasper County is being held in Vancouver, British Columbia, as a spy. Young Hahn is the son of Theodore Hahn of Saint Marie, Jasper County. He is one of several people who went from Jasper County to live in Canada, attracted there by cheap land. The American consul general is requesting that Mr. Kaufmann forward birth and school records of Hahn.

50 years ago, 1966

MATTOON -- The U.S. House of Representatives Public Works Commission has scheduled a hearing for representatives of the Wabash Valley Association who will be in Washington in early May. Congressman William L. Springer said the hearing is slated for 2 p.m. May 2. He said the Senate Appropriations Committee also likely will hold a hearing for the WVA delegation. The delegation, expected to number about 200 people, will make the trip in support of an appropriation for continued planning of Lincoln Lake Reservoir. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hopes to begin construction on the $31.3-million project in 1968... CHARLESTON -- The Charleston Area Chamber of Commerce intends to stick with its plans for a 62-foot tall statue of Abraham Lincoln "in living color" despite opposition. James Seed, tourism director for the chamber, said the chamber board of directors "wholeheartedly" endorses building the statue, the tallest in the world of the 16th president. Charles H. Coleman, professor emeritus of history at Eastern Illinois University, who authored a book on Lincoln and his family in Coles County, said he is "appalled" at the project.

25 years ago, 1991

MATTOON  Production improvements are expected to add jobs and make Lenders biggest bagel bakery even bigger. Plant Manager Gus Swanson said a third production line is being installed in the plant on Illinois Route 1221 on Mattoons west side, which will result in 35 additional full-time jobs and a five-day work week. Lenders expects to produce more than 3 million bagels a day by Sept. 1 FINDLAY  Good news! The Little Theatre on the Square in Sullivan and Eagle Creeks Clarion Inn near Findlay have joined forces for what is hoped will be the first in a series of dinner theater productions. The opening show is I Do! I Do!, a two-character show that depicts various phases of a married couples life. All in all, its a delightful, auspicious beginning for this new dinner theater project CHICAGO  Cook County Board President Richard Phelans description of Gov. Jim Edgars proposed budget cuts as the product of cruel, small-town thinking was insulting, an Edgar spokesman said Thursday. Phelan blasted Edgar on Wednesday saying: Lets deal with the real problems, and lets deal with ways in which they can be solved  not just take a Charleston, Illinois, approach, which says that everything else outside Charleston is wrong and the attitude there is right. Edgar was raised in Charleston and is the first downstate governor of Illinois since the 1920s. Edgar is dealing with a financial crisis in Illinois.

100 years ago, April 13, 1916

MATTOON -- Meat thieves Wednesday night broke a glass window at the Robert Boyle meat market, 29th Street and Cedar Avenue, and through the aperture thus carried off hams and bacon valued at about $35. Meat thieves have been quite successful in Mattoon and vicinity in the past few months, several large hauls having been made without arrests... MATTOON -- Harold Champion, in charge of the George N. Buck farm, southeast of Mattoon, had the honor of receiving what was said to be the second-highest price ever paid on the Chicago market for Illinois-fed sheep. Mr. Champion returned Wednesday from Chicago, where he delivered 150 head of sheep, receiving $11.85 a hundred for the lot. Mr. Champion was told that only on one occasion had the Chicago market ever paid a price higher than that which he received.

50 years ago, 1966

MATTOON -- Four Mattoon area young men have enlisted in the U.S. Navy. They are Wayne Benton, son of Mr. and Mrs. Wayne M. Benton, Mattoon; Robert J. Matheny, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert R. Matheny, Mattoon; Samuel W. Nave, son of Wayne E. Nave, Gays; and David A. Coble, son of Mr. and Mrs. Horace W. Coble of Mattoon. The four enlisted at the Navy Recruiting Station in St. Louis and are at basic training at the U.S. Naval Recruit Training Center, Great Lakes, Ill... MATTOON -- A longtime landmark near Cooks Mills will be seen no more by people in that part of the country. A rock measuring 15 to 20 feet across and sticking about 6 feet above ground at the Amos Graber farm southwest of Cooks Mills was buried Friday. A hole was dug with a bulldozer close to the rock and then two bulldozers were used to push the huge rock into the hole. The rock, believed left there hundreds of thousands of years ago by a glacier, became a nuisance for farming operations and had to be gotten out of the way. Jacob L. Graber is the farm tenant.

25 years ago, 1991

CHARLESTON -- Slightly more than half of the faculty and staff voting the past two days at Eastern Illinois University said they had no confidence in the leadership of Stan Rives. The Faculty Senate election committee announced that 53 percent of those voting said no to the question: Do you have confidence in Rives leadership at this time? Forty-three percent said yes and 4 percent expressed no opinion. The vote was more one-sided on the question of confidence in Associate Vice President Vic Robeson. Seventy percent of voters said no, 14 percent said yes while 16 percent had no opinion FINDLAY  Carriage rides are a new activity this year at the Clarion Inn at Eagle Creek State Park. Berry and Phil Farrell, who raise Clydesdale horses on a farm near Lovington, are providing the rides behind a two-horse Clydesdale hitch. Rides last 20 to 30 minutes and can take up to six people at a time. The Farrells have helped others set up carriage service throughout the country while working as manager and assistant manager of the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdale breeding farm at Grants Farm in St. Louis.
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP)  The U.N. special envoy on Monday urged Syria's warring sides to preserve the fragile U.S.-Russia-brokered cease-fire ahead of the next round of peace talks in Geneva this week.

The plea by Staffan de Mistura, who spoke after meeting Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem in Damascus, came as Islamic State fighters retook a northern town along the border with Turkey from Syrian rebels and government forces and rebels clashed across northern and western Syria.

Opposition activists also reported clashes and government air raids near the northern city of Aleppo, Syria's largest city and once its commercial hub.

The fighting has endangered the U.S.-Russia-engineered truce that has mostly held since the end of February. Al-Qaida's branch in Syria known as the Nusra Front and the Islamic State group are excluded from the cease-fire, which had brought relative calm to much of Syria.

De Mistura said the next round of peace talks, due to begin Wednesday in Geneva, will focus on a political transition for Syria, where the civil war, now in its sixth year, has killed 250,000 and displaced half the country's pre-war population of 23 million people. About 4 million have fled the country.

In northern Syria, Islamic State fighters took control of the town of al-Rai, just days after losing it to the rebels, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Aleppo Today TV station.

The Observatory and the TV said IS captured al-Rai early Monday morning after intense fighting. The town is strategically located on the border with Turkey, serving as the Islamic State's access point to supply lines. It also sits along the road to the IS stronghold in Aleppo province.

The Observatory's chief Rami Abdurrahman said IS fighters also captured six villages near al-Rai on Monday. IS lost the town last Thursday after an offensive by rebels and militant groups allied with them, including al-Qaida's branch in Syria known as the Nusra Front.

IS has lost wide areas in Iraq and Syria recently, including the historic central town of Palmyra that was captured by Syrian government forces and their allies recently.

The extremists have also suffered leadership setbacks as U.S. drone strikes in Syria have killed several top IS and Nusra Front commanders and key figures in recent weeks.

De Mistura said in Damascus that the purpose of his visit was to discuss preparations for the Geneva talks on Wednesday.

The next round is "crucially important," de Mistura said, "because we will be focusing in particular on political transition, on governance, and constitutional principles."

"We hope and plan to make them constructive ... and concrete," he added.

The envoy also said he raised the importance "of protecting and maintaining and supporting the cessation of hostilities," describing it as fragile and stressing that all sides "need to make sure that it continues to be sustained."

Al-Moallem said his country is committed to a Syrian dialogue under Syria's leadership and "without preconditions." He said the government delegation to Geneva will be ready on Friday, two days after parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held in Syria. The vote  expected to be a rubber stamp of President Bashar Assad's loyalists  will only proceed in government-controlled areas as the Damascus authorities are unable to organize any balloting in rebel-controlled areas or the territory under the Islamic State group.

In the eastern city of Deir el-Zour where IS has laid a siege of several government-held neighborhoods, the World Food Program airdropped food supplies Monday for people "trapped in the besieged" city.

WFP has spent weeks trying to recalibrate the complex operation to air-drop food into the city after a previous attempt in February largely failed. U.N. officials have said food on pallets missed targets or was destroyed when parachutes didn't open in an airdrop last month aimed for the city of 200,000 people.

Also Monday, opposition activists reported airstrikes on rebel-held areas in Homs province, including Talbiseh and Teir Maaleh.
President Vladimir Putin has overhauled Russia's law-enforcement operations to create a domestic army that ultimately would answer to him personally, not to one of the government ministers. It was the clearest demonstration in years of the Russian leader's concern about preserving his power.

On April 5, Putin submitted a bill to the Russian parliament that carved out a National Guard from the Interior Ministry's Interior Troops. The Interior Ministry is essentially the police force; the 170,000-strong Interior Troops are the crack riot police and counterinsurgency units. During Putin's first two presidential terms, they bore the brunt of the fighting in the formerly secessionist region of Chechnya, and they have dispersed many unsanctioned rallies.

In addition to the Interior Troops, all of the ministry's elite units, nicknamed "cosmonauts" by opposition activists for their round helmets and "Star Wars"-like gear, will also be included in Putin's army, with the potential for further expansion. Immediately, the number of National Guard personnel will exceed 15 percent of the Russian armed forces that are supposed to deal with external threats.

This powerful, well-trained force will operate outside the ministry under the command of Viktor Zolotov, a long-time Putin associate, whom the president appointed head of his personal bodyguard immediately after moving into the Kremlin in 2000. Like many Putin friends in government service, he is far wealthier than his official income could ever allow, and he is far more personally loyal to the president than Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev. Zolotov will report directly to Putin.

As the political scientist Tatyana Stanovaya wrote for the Russian Carnegie Center, regardless of whether the interior minister is a close associate of Putin's, or even one of his judo sparring partners, "at a hypothetically possible moment of high tension, his hand will tremble when orders must be followed. Zolotov enjoys maximum protection from such hesitation. Putin -- and Zolotov as an extension of Putin -- will have no more intermediaries."

In the same way, the National Guard's loyalty is more certain than that of the Defense Ministry, run by the popular -- and, reportedly, increasingly independent -- Sergei Shoigu.

The new National Guard has its own intelligence service and thus investigative powers. It also has been granted authority to issue firearm licenses to private individuals and security firms -- almost 10 million people, from hunters to elite bodyguards. The National Guard also has been granted the right to fire without warning "in special cases" and to not introduce themselves when making an arrest.

Putin last reshuffled the "power ministries" in 2003, mostly to bring them closer in line with the Soviet institutions of his youth. The new moves appear to be more significant, both because Russia's ruler is personally taking control of an army and because of the timing. Parliamentary elections will be held in September -- though it won't be a significant event because the resulting legislature will likely rubber-stamp Kremlin decisions just as the current one has, but if the vote is as blatantly rigged as it was in 2011, protests could break out again. Although pollsters still report high levels of support for Putin after the military actions in Ukraine and Syria, Russians also are under stress because of a continuing economic slump. According to the Russian Central Bank, the country's economic output shrank about 1 percent in the first quarter of 2016, compared with a year earlier.

Putin, who appears to believe that the U.S. and its Western allies are out not just to destabilize his regime but to bring about Russia's break-up, is taking no chances. He clearly is timing the reorganization to be completed well ahead of the election. By the time of the presidential election in 2018, the National Guard will have ironed out its kinks. It will have all the powers and functions necessary to counteract a putative Western plot and do away with any overly loud or violent dissent.

Once again, instead of opening up and liberalizing, the embattled Putin regime is closing in on itself, and the man sitting on top of it is taking on more and more direct powers. The National Guard is a manifestation of Putin's mistrust of Russia's remaining institutions: He feels more confident surrounded by old friends and in control of a large fighting force.
Dane County Executive Joe Parisi is banning travel by county employees to two Southern states because of their recently passed laws that he says discriminate against LGBT people.

Parisi sent a letter to department heads on Monday, suspending nonessential conference, training or travel requests to North Carolina and Mississippi.

In this day and age, I simply cannot support county money being spent on conferences, conventions and other events these states rely upon for sales taxes, hotel taxes and other revenue, Parisi said.

The number of requests for nonessential travel by county employees to those two states was not released.

These measures are being adopted in states with Republican legislatures and governors, Parisi said. Given that, we have to be mindful and vigilant of a push for similar discriminatory, misguided legislation like this right here in Wisconsin.

North Carolinas bathroom law prevents specific anti-discrimination rules for gay and transgender people for public accommodations and restroom use. The Mississippi legislation allows for businesses and other groups to refuse service to gays, based on religious beliefs.

North Carolina has been hit hard by companies canceling plans to expand in that state, and even The Boss, Bruce Springsteen, canceled a concert there. Rocker Bryan Adams on Sunday cited Mississippis new law in pulling out of a show in Biloxi.

Saying such discord presented an opportunity for Wisconsin, Parisi also sent a letter Tuesday to Gov. Scott Walker urging the state to use the North Carolina and Mississippi situations to its advantage.

Wisconsin has an incredible opportunity to bring new business and jobs to our state, capitalizing on short-sighted policies adopted and considered in a growing number of states, Parisi said.

Parisi said Wisconsin, with a Republican governor and legislature, should clearly and definitively say such laws will never be adopted here.

This cannot happen in Wisconsin, Parisi said. We dont have a job to spare.

By being closed to discrimination, Wisconsin can truly be open to business and desperately needed new employment opportunities, Parisi said. Our communities and families need the jobs. Our citizens deserve the respect.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Blazes raging across country

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China 'seizes' eight Taiwanese from Kenya

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Country has become weak, Ex-King Gyanendra says in his New Year greetings

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Anil Giri is a reporter covering diplomacy, international relations and national politics for The Kathmandu Post. Giri has been working as a journalist for a decade-and-a-half, contributing to numerous national and international media outlets.
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Food shortage has emerged at a Dalit settlement in Photu VDC-1 of Mugu because of crop failure after a prolonged drought.
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Human wrongs

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The inexorable pull of the road

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Song Joong-ki(left) and Song Hye-kyo from KBS's "Descendants of the Sun"

/ Courtesy of KBS



By Ko Dong-hwan

KBS TV's mega-hit drama "Descendants of the Sun" is gathering a following in one of the world's most secluded communist states  North Korea.

Local daily newspaper Kyunghyang Shimmun, quoting a North Korean defector, said Friday the defector's family in the North had watched the drama's first eight episodes via the Internet.

The report said "some North Koreans had begun to get love-sick with the drama."

"More smartphones have been distributed to people and better Internet networks have been established compared to the past," the report said, quoting a North Korean expert.

The drama is set in the fictional war-torn country of Uruk. Its male lead, Song Joong-ki, who plays unrealistically perfect special unit chief Yoo Si-jin, falls in love with Kang Mo-yeon (Song Hye-kyo), a doctor from non-profit organization Doctors Without Borders.

The 14-part drama has caused frenzy among fans outside Korea. The drama's title was at one stage the most-searched keyword on China's No.1 SNS provider, Weibo. U.S.-based video-streaming website Viki has made the drama's subtitles available in 32 languages, including English, Chinese, Malaysian and Vietnamese. Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha has urged his citizens to watch the drama because it has "a sense of patriotism and sacrifice for one's country."

The drama's last episode airs on April 14.
President Park Geun-hye encouraged people on Tuesday to cast their ballots this week to ensure that the new parliament can serve the people and do its job.



"A new National Assembly should be born," Park said in a Cabinet meeting, adding the new parliament should devote itself to stabilizing the people's livelihoods and revitalizing the national economy.



The chief executive's comments came a day before South Koreans go to polls to elect new lawmakers.



Park has repeatedly accused the outgoing National Assembly of failing to pass a series of bills meant to help revive the economy.



The elections come amid tensions on the Korean Peninsula following North Korea's nuclear test and long-range rocket launch earlier this year.



North Korea has threatened to turn South Korea's presidential office into "a sea of flames and ashes" as it fired a series of missiles in apparent anger over Seoul's ongoing military drills with Washington and the U.N. sanctions.



The U.N. Security Council has slapped North Korea with the toughest-ever sanctions resolution to punish the communist country for its fourth nuclear test and a long-range rocket launch.



North Korea also has jammed GPS signals in South Korea, a disruption that could cause mobile phones to malfunction and affect planes and ships that rely on the satellite signal for navigation. Still, no damage has been reported.



Park said the North's provocations are designed to cause internal friction and division in South Korea over how to deal with North Korea.



Park asked the relevant ministries to ensure that the elections can be held in a transparent and fair manner.



She also called on people to join forces with the government to curb North Korea's nuclear weapons program and its provocations.



"We should sternly deal with any North Korean attempt to stage a provocation and divide South Korea by closely working with the international community," Park said.



The president also asked officials to ensure that China will continue to play a constructive role over North Korea, citing Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent pledge to fully enforce the U.N. resolution on North Korea.



Park met with Xi in Washington earlier this month on the margins of a summit on nuclear security and Xi made the pledge after Park called for the faithful enforcement of the resolution to make North Korea change its behavior.(Yonhap)




By Stephen Costello

The discussion of Chinese interests regarding their North Korean neighbor, conflicted as they are, has often omitted some important considerations. Chinese officials and academics have often disagreed with each other and among themselves, so confusion is not surprising. Interests should also be distinguished from shorter-term tactical statements and actions, which are what most observers follow. Such interests should be a better guide to real policies and actions than the latest public statements or ungrounded assumptions.

Chinese leaders generally supported the negotiated denuclearization of North Korea carried out in the 1990s. That's both logical and unsurprising in the context of the times. In this sense the US-North Korea Agreed Framework of 1994, and South Korea's subsequent North-South engagement initiatives of 1998-2007 had Chinese backing. In contrast, the preference for pressure over diplomacy since 2001 by the US and since 2008 by South Korea were opposed.

Many observers have noted that Premier Xi Jinping is bolder and more ambitious than his predecessors, butfew have described any real change in Chinese interests on the Korean Peninsula. Even assuming expandedChinese cooperation with UNSC Resolution 2270, which expanded sanctions on North Korean trade last month, they still support a negotiated path, and appreciate the DPRK's insistence that the US must be the main guarantor of any strategic/political deals that could lead to access to international financial participation.

Chinese Pivot

Now, in the aftermath of a new nuclear test and a new rocket launch in the DPRK, Chinese leaders are likely to pivot from their unusual level of support for new UN sanctions to a newly intensified demand that the US overcome its objections to dialogue with the North and come to the negotiating table. In this way, they would attempt to return the US position to its earlier, 1990s basis. At that time, the US position was also denuclearization, but in the context of the North's economic development and security, in a credible, public and politically durable way.

And here we get to a key stumbling block. There is and has been no indication that the US administration would or could return to credible talks with the DPRK, particularly during its final eight months. Such talks  credible, rather than political stunts  would require a degree of strategic planning, of staffing and of public diplomacy that is very hard to expect from the Obama team.

History

The US administration's view of American interests changed drastically in 2001. Part of the new approach was a recalibration of US-China diplomacy. China, South Korea and Japan had all resisted the Bush team's withdrawal of support for the Agreed Framework and the KEDO project implementing it, but to no avail. As a gesture to China, and perhaps as a way to shift responsibility and blame, China was offered the chairmanship of the new Six Party Talks (6PT) in 2003.

The prospect of chairing the new group must have been enticing, since it would give Beijing an international role on a matter of both international and regional significance, and presumably more power to force a deal. But as with so many others, the Chinese seem to have greatly misunderestimated the Bush team's intentions, as the former President might say. And the tension between its role as convener of the 6PT and its interest in having North Korea make deals directly with the US seems still unresolved.

Judging by what we know now, the 6PT was not intended to produce an agreement with North Korea. At least not one that the DPRK would sign. In fact, its impact was to create a bottleneck to prevent deals with North Korea that did not involve elements the North would never agree to, and that the US administration insisted on. Among these elements was the famous "CVID" requirement: complete, verifiable, irreversible, dismantlement. Among Washington policy wonks, we used to laugh at the innocence, the impracticality of CVID. Its promoters must have known that "irreversibility" is a political and strategic construct, not a classically legalistic US principle. But as Vice President Cheney was said to have advised, "We don't negotiate with evil. We defeat it."

Let's recall that the 6PT had replaced a working and successful multilateral process, part of which included the Trilateral Coordination and Oversight Group (TCOG) , established in April 1999, which recognized common strategic interests among Japan, South Korea and the US. However, the TCOG was allowed to atrophy, along with the Agreed Framework and KEDO.

This turn away from a process  co-led by South Korea at the time, and supported by Japan, China and Russia  that realistically connected DPRK denuclearization and missile reduction with meaningful development and security, is the diplomatic history that today's officials and planners must come to terms with. It is the history that the US administration  and too many journalists  carefully ignores when imagining the view from China or North Korea. Their officials, of course, remember it clearly.

If China uses its new cooperation with UN sanctions to forcefully require the US to come back to negotiations with North Korea, the Obama administration could face pressures in coming months that it is not prepared for. Both Stephan Haggard of UC San Diego and Daryl Kimball of the Arms Control Association have recently suggested that this linkage should be expected.

If the US administration continues to hope that either the Chinese will help to squeeze the North Korean economy without an American recommitment to negotiations, or that it can continue to blame China while it refuses to use its own considerable leverage to address the North Korea issue, it is likely to be disappointed. In either event, sanctions would be relaxed, China and North Korea would resume blaming the US, and we would be back to square one. Unfortunately, this is the most likely outcome.

Stephen Costello is a producer of AsiaEast, a web and broadcast-based policy roundtable focused on security, development and politicsin Northeast Asia. He writes from Washington, D.C. He can be reached at scost55@gmail.com.
BRUSHY PRAIRIE  Walker McCrea knows someday he wants to go to college to do something good.

He may have gotten his start in winning an essay contest.

Walker, 9, a Prairie Heights Elementary School third-grade student, was one of six Indiana students to win the Association of Indiana Counties Celebrating Indianas Bicentennial third-grade essay contest.

The son of Wendy and Wes McCrea, Orland, took it upon himself to enter the contest.

We were at Chuck E. Cheese and my mom got an email, Walker said, adding it was the news he won. I got $100 and Im planning on spending it on toys  I feel like a celebrity. I get to go to a free dinner in Columbia City .

He was referring to a dinner he will attend Wednesday with his family. He will read his essay there.

Walker first had to do some research before writing his essay. In it, he explains how Steuben County got its name.

I had to write about two people who helped Steuben County gets is name. I wrote it on von Steuben and Johnny Appleseed. Johnny Appleseed helped sell apple seeds to pioneers, who were settling in the 1800s for successful farms, Walker said.

He was also referring to Friedrich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand von Steuben, the countys namesake. Walker wrote von Steuben was a Prussian Army officer who helped with training. Steuben wrote, the Blue Book, that outlined Continental Army tactics.

Von Steuben helped organize the Army and helped George Washington win the Revolutionary War, Walker said.

His favorite subjects are science and social studies. Walkers in the Walking Club in school and enjoys playing with his brother. Walker also plays wrestling and football.

His teacher is Mary Jo Roth.
WASHINGTON  Imagine emerging from a rocky political week only to announce, as Bernie Sanders did, that, oh, by the way, the Vatican called. Actually, it was the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, but close enough, I suppose.

Hillary Clinton thought bubble: Hes Jewish for crying out loud. What am I, chopped liver? No, Im Methodist! But if I can become a New Yorker, I can become a Catholic!

Some people have all the kismet. Or, maybe sometimes people just happen to agree that communism isnt really so bad. OK, Im exaggerating, but only a smidgeon.

It should surprise no one that the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences  or especially Pope Francis  might find common cause with Sanders worldview. Both the pope and the Bern speak of helping the disenfranchised and the poor.

But Sanders is a democratic socialist who wants to be president of the United States. And the pope is, well, the pope.

A pastoral leader who washes the feet of the homeless and eschews the elaborate trappings of the corner office, hes the real deal, as in living as Christ did, spiritually if not physically. Also like Christ, hes a radical. Just ask Sanders.

People think Bernie Sanders is radical, Sanders said Friday on MSNBCs Morning Joe. Uh-uh. Read what the pope is writing [these days].

Whats radical about this pope is that he, like both Sanders and Jesus, says fresh, untraditional things that sound an awful lot like liberal ideas. What he says (and writes) is aspirational both in scope and application. As popes often do, Francis asks us to love one another, which makes us uncomfortable because loving others ultimately means sacrificing our interests to others. This comes naturally with our children but not so much with strangers, whose behavior probably annoys us and, oftentimes, costs us money.

Sanders, who thinks more or less as Francis does, just makes us nervous. Some of us, anyway.

The core difference between the two men is that one wants to raise consciousness about our obligation to the less fortunate; the other wants to restructure Americas economic institutions to ensure that money trickles down  mandatorily rather than charitably.

Theoretically, this is a noble concept. Its how you do it that causes taxpaying citizens to seek shelter. Lets face it, most of us work hard not for the satisfaction of a well-made widget but for a paycheck. As the taxman chisels away at such monetary rewards, where goes the incentive to work hard? This is common sense, obviously, but less common than it once was, judging by the popularity of Sanders proposals.

His bid to break up the too-big-to-fail banks sounds awesome enough: Lets stick it to the fat cats and watch em squirm. But will it really help the poor, or might such draconian action ultimately hurt more than it helps?

To the larger point, the highest priest urging morality in all human endeavors, including economic policies that fail to adequately address the needs of the poor, plainly comes from the heart. Its important for Francis to speak out as a messenger for the greater good. Its important, too, that we be reminded of our moral obligation to each other.

Its his job. Its our job not to conflate a popes message of Christian charity with a political candidates promise to remake Americas economic system. The rampant individualism that Francis condemns is precisely what has driven American ingenuity, entrepreneurship and a level of prosperity unmatched in human history.

That more people are doing less well  and the middle class has suffered  means theres work to do, but it doesnt necessarily require radical restructuring. The striving for greater equality is always a proper operating principle, but what Sanders is aiming for without saying so is equal outcomes. The imposition of equality by third parties never works very well and inevitably carries the unwelcome penalty of less freedom. Greater effort toward raising the bottom rather than tearing down the top would seem a better approach than extreme measures that likely would have a destabilizing effect.

A pope neednt worry about such things and is free to ponder the universe through the pulpits lens. He is also free to chat with politicians who share his worldview, though it isnt clear whether he and Sanders will convene.

Still, a visit to the Vatican a couple of days ahead of the New York primary surely cant hurt. If Sanders wins, one might even say it was divine intervention.
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As you might have heard, an armed suspect barricaded himself in a Pacific Palisades garage early Monday morning. But did you know that the ordeal was live-tweeted by Twitter's own Nathan Hubbard? The brand-savvy executive also live-streamed key moments of the ordeal using Periscope, managing to turn a police standoff into a veritable advertisement for Twitter's year-old streaming start-up.

The ordeal, which lasted roughly six hours and ended when a SWAT team took the door off the garage, took place behind Hubbard's home, according to the L.A. Times. The former Ticketmaster CEO runs Global Media at Twitter, per a Re/Code post. Hubbard returned home earlier that night from a trip to Africa, according to his Twitter feed. And the rest is history.

Below is a (very) abridged selection of Hubbard's Tweets:

Full on police helicopter chase and multiple gunshots in the alley behind my house in Pacific Palisades. Police all over the scene. @LAPDHQ  Nathan Hubbard (@NathanCHubbard) April 11, 2016

GUYS I PICKED A REALLY BAD NIGHT TO FLY BACK FROM AFRICA AND TAKE AN AMBIEN BEFORE BED  Nathan Hubbard (@NathanCHubbard) April 11, 2016

Tactical police dogs coming up Lombard now. Seems like they've got him pinned down and are trying to sniff him out.  Nathan Hubbard (@NathanCHubbard) April 11, 2016

LIVE on #Periscope: Police hunting fugitive in palisades. Ere comes the swat team https://t.co/eNNHjWwkb2  Nathan Hubbard (@NathanCHubbard) April 11, 2016

Tactical units repositioning and appear to be about to launch an offensive using gas from alley below. I hope this clown isn't on Twitter.  Nathan Hubbard (@NathanCHubbard) April 11, 2016

That was a loud rapping, possibly battering ram. Followed by telling Carl to come out with hands up. Nobody wants to hurt him.  Nathan Hubbard (@NathanCHubbard) April 11, 2016

Just after 6:45 a.m. Hubbard, who had been live-tweeting since 2:20 a.m., started to get hungry:

Does anyone know if @Postmates or @Instacart deliver past police lines  Nathan Hubbard (@NathanCHubbard) April 11, 2016

@NathanCHubbard This depends on the situation. Please DM us some details and we'll look into what we can and cannot do for you.  Postmates Support (@Postmates_Help) April 11, 2016

Customer service ftw! Anyway @Postmates_Help there's this guy Carl holed up surrounded by a SWAT team, I need milk https://t.co/SBDq6o2KTd  Nathan Hubbard (@NathanCHubbard) April 11, 2016

Kahrl has been taken into custody thanks to the great work of the @LAPDHQ w/out much of an incident. Watch the Persicope to see it end.  Nathan Hubbard (@NathanCHubbard) April 11, 2016

So what does the LAPD say about live-tweeting an ongoing incident?

Officer Mike Lopez of the the department's Media Relations section told LAist that the LAPD "doesn't discourage people from using social media" during a live incident, and that sometimes it can even be helpful for an investigation.

"We live in a world where social media is everywhere, and we've accepted it on our end that this is the way people communicate now," Lopez said. "Sometimes that does help our investigations, and if it doesn't there is nothing really we can do about it. People are tweeting everything nowadays."
Drought? What drought?

Thailand may be going through its driest period in 20 years. But the country's government wants visitors from around the globe to know that the biggest water fight in the world is still on.

So, get your water guns ready for the three-day nationwide street party that begins on Wednesday to mark the Thai New Year.

"We can still use water for the new year festival. It's not that dry," said a government spokesman, Sansern Kaewkamnerd. The government has instructed the Tourism Ministry to make sure foreign tourists don't misunderstand the severity of the drought and cancel holiday plans out of concerns the water supply will be cut off, he said.

After all, there are millions of dollars at stake.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand expects this year's holiday will generate more than $427 million for the tourism sector and attract half a million visitors in a span of five days.

Songkran, as the festival is known, has the spirit of a soggy Mardi Gras and is a major tourist attraction. Revelers line the streets, or prowl the roads in pickup trucks, armed with buckets, water guns or hoses and douse anyone in sight. Some areas are closed to traffic for wet and wild street parties with loud music, booze and dancing.

Rare controversy has preceded this year's water fight, with environmentalists and other critics calling for festivities to be curtailed.

"Instead of mindlessly wasting water, New Year revelers should be mindful of the crushing drought," The Nation newspaper said in an editorial last week calling for "a dry Songkran" to show solidarity with the country's farmers.

Seventeen of Thailand's 77 provinces have been declared drought zones with the lowest level of rainfall in more than two decades. Farmers have been ordered to curtail their water use and scale back planting. Tap-water rationing is in effect in certain provinces.

Unpopular ban

And yet Thailand's government is playing down the dry spell and says it is powerless to crimp such a popular national holiday.

"As the prime minister has said, Songkran brings happiness to the Thai people, and canceling it would be too difficult," Sansern said.

A ban would also be hugely unpopular both with Thais and tourists.

In past promotions, the tourism authority has played up the party scene, urging tourists "to get wet and wild" and "be part of the largest street water fight the world has to offer."

In 2011, TAT used the holiday to organize a Guinness World Record attempt for the world's largest water pistol fight, drawing more than 3,400 people to a 10-minute shootout in central Bangkok.

The prime minister, a former general who has dictatorial powers after toppling a civilian government in 2014, has bristled at the notion of canceling Songkran.

"I will not ban water throwing, that's impossible," Prayuth Chan-ocha, the prime minister, said in response to a proposal for government controls on holiday water use. He added dismissively, "Parents should teach their children to use less water and not splash it around for three days and three nights."

Heatwave shuts more than 250 Malaysian schools

More than 250 Malaysian schools were closed on Monday due to a heatwave brought on by the El Nino weather phenomenon which is severely affecting food production and causing chronic water shortages in many countries.

Authorities ordered schools in the states of Perlis and Pahang to shut after temperatures soared above 37 C over a 72-hour period, according to local reports.

The education ministry said the decision was made to protect the health of some 100,000 students, the official news agency Bernama reported.

The sweltering heat in Malaysia has reportedly slowed vegetable production, leading to price hikes. Paddy fields and rubber plantations have also been affected by the severe temperature rise.

January and February 2016 smashed global temperature records, the World Meteorological Organization said in March, attributing the highs to the "unprecedented" advance of climate change.

Many parts of Asia have been affected by the strong El Nino dry spell which has also hit agriculture in Thailand and the Philippines.

El Nino is triggered by a warming in sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean. It can cause unusually heavy rains in some parts of the world and drought in others.

A man walks on a dried up swamp in Ayutthaya, Thailand, on Saturday. Seventeen of Thailand's 77 provinces have been declared drought zones.Athit Perawongmetha / Reuters

(China Daily 04/12/2016 page11)


South Korea says a high-ranking North Korean military officer defected to South Korea last year.

South Koreas defense and unification ministries made the announcement Monday in Seoul. The unification ministry deals with issues between the rival Koreas. That includes bringing families together from both sides.

The unidentified officer is a colonel in North Koreas military. He worked in North Korea's General Reconnaissance Bureau and is said to be the highest-ranked officer to defect from the North.

The bureau conducts spying activities against South Korea, including cyber attacks. The agency also is blamed for the 2010 torpedo attack against a South Korean naval ship.

Forty-six sailors were killed in that attack. North Korea denies it carried out the attack.

The announcement Monday comes days after South Korean officials said that 13 North Koreans recently arrived in the South. They say the North Koreans were working at a state-owned restaurant in a foreign country and defected as a group. That would make it the largest group defection since 2011.

In a separate incident, a North Korean diplomat stationed in an African country defected with his family to the South last year.

More than 29,000 North Koreans have defected to the South since the end of hostilities in the Korean War. The numbers have declined since Kim Jong Un took over as leader in 2011.

Im Mario Ritter.

Richard Green reported this story for VOANews.com. Mario Ritter adapted his report for Learning English. Kathleen Struck was the editor.

Please let us know what you think in our Comments and on our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

defect  v. to leave a country, political party or organization and go to another one

reconnaissance  n. a military activity in which soldiers find out information enemy forces

cyber attack  n. an attack on computer systems meant to steal information or to damage or deny access to computer systems

torpedo  n. a kind of explosive device that can be fired and travel underwater to strike ships
LEXINGTON, Neb. - A Lexington man faces a first-degree assault charge following a shooting Saturday.

Gerardo Vazquez-Ramirez, 37, is also charged with use of a firearm to commit a felony.

He was arraigned on Tuesday and is held on 10-percent of $500,000 bond, according to court records. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 21.

Delma Yzaguirre De Virula, 44, is charged with accessory to a felony. Court records indicate she drove Vazquez-Ramirez from the scene following the shooting and was apprehended with him in Cozad. She was also arraigned Tuesday. Her bond is 10-percent of $100,000.

At 6:31 p.m. Saturday, Lexington authorities were called to the area of 105 West High Street on the report of a shooting. Court records indicate a witness saw Vazquez-Ramirez pull out a gun and shoot a 27-year-old Lexington man in the leg, then flee the scene with a woman in a black four-door sedan. The victim was transported to Lexington Regional Health Center.

Approximately 25 minutes after the shooting, the Dawson County Sheriffs Office, Cozad Police Department, and Nebraska State Patrol cooperatively apprehended the suspects at a gas station on Highway 30 in Cozad. Dawson County deputies took the suspects to the Lexington Police Department to be interviewed. LPD personnel then transported them to Dawson County Jail.

Vazquez-Ramirez was initially charged with attempted first-degree murder.
LINCOLN  After 22 years on the Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge William Connolly has announced that he is retiring on Aug. 1.

Connolly, 78, was named to the states highest court in 1994 by then-Gov. Ben Nelson.

He had served two years on the State Court of Appeals after working as a private attorney in Hastings and as the Adams County attorney.

It has been a great honor to serve the citizens of this state as both a county attorney and a judge, Connolly said in a press release Monday.

His departure means that Gov. Pete Ricketts will be filling a third vacancy on the seven-member court since taking office in January 2015. That is the most Su

preme Court appointments by a governor since Nelson, who appointed eight judges during his eight years in office.

Connolly graduated from Creighton Prep in Omaha before earning his undergraduate and law degrees from Creighton University.

In 1964 he moved to Hastings to take a job as a deputy county attorney. He served as county attorney from 1967 to 1973 before working in private practice.

Chief Justice Mike Heavican said Connolly has been a seminal figure in shaping the Courts recent jurisprudence.

His keen legal mind and exceptional writing skills will be greatly missed.

Michael Fenner, a Creighton law professor, said Connolly has a unique talent for sorting through complicated legal matters, dealing with them thoroughly and then writing opinions that were easy to understand.

The only time Ive appeared before the court, he certainly asked good questions that got right to the heart of the matter, Fenner said. Im going to miss him.

The Judicial Nominating Commission has not yet announced the application deadline for the vacancy.

Connolly, a registered independent, is the third judge to retire during Ricketts term as governor. Judge Ken Stephan retired in July after 18 years on the court. Judge Michael McCormack retired on Jan. 1, also after serving 18 years.

Selected to fill those vacancies were Judges Stephanie Stacy and Max Kelch.
LINCOLN  The final piece has fallen into place for Nebraska Medicaid to cover an intensive but effective type of treatment for Nebraska children with autism.

Courtney Phillips, chief executive officer of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, announced Monday that the state has gotten federal approval for coverage of applied behavioral analysis and other behavioral modification services.

This is good news, she said. Having access to these services will help many of the children we serve through the Medicaid program lead more fulfilling lives.

The approval was received March 30 and is effective retroactively to Oct. 1, when the state started offering the coverage.

Services approved for coverage include day treatment, community treatment aides and outpatient therapy. Treatment models approved for coverage include cognitive behavioral therapy, comprehensive behavioral intervention and applied behavioral analysis for children.

Applied behavioral analysis uses positive reinforcement and other techniques to change behavior. It can eliminate symptoms of autism for some children and dramatically reduce the symptoms in others. But depending on a childs needs, it can be very intensive and expensive.

We heard from families and advocates that these services are very important, said Calder Lynch, director of the states HHS

Division of Medicaid and Long-Term Care. This is a great addition to the Nebraska Medicaid program.

Previously, Nebraska Medicaid barred coverage of behavioral modification services, including applied behavioral analysis. The program also prohibited coverage of mental health treatments when aimed at treating developmental disabilities.

State officials long resisted efforts to add the coverage, citing concern about potential costs.

But they reversed course after a judge ruled against the state in a class-action lawsuit filed in the name of two boys, identified as K.D. and S.L.

Lancaster County District Judge John Colborn found that the prohibitions violated federal law and ordered the state to start paying for applied behavioral analysis and similar treatments if recommended by medical professionals.

State officials cited other factors as well in their decision to start coverage. Among them was a directive from the federal government and changes in what professionals consider best practices in autism treatment.
A Bridgeport man accused of killing a Colorado man and stuffing the body into a barrel found in a creek will be arraigned in Morrill County District Court on Wednesday.

According to Morrill County District Court records, Zachary Mueller, 24, will be arraigned on murder and weapons charges at 11 a.m. He is accused of killing 33-year-old Pedro Dominguez, of Greeley, Colorado.

On Dec. 4, 2015, a Morrill County farmer found a barrel containing Dominguezs body in a creek near Bayard, Nebraska. Dominguez had been shot in the head, according to an arrest affidavit in the case.

According to court documents, one man said he had helped Mueller load the barrel into a Volkswagen bug that authorities later found burned in the county. Two women allegedly admitted having burned the vehicle.

Mueller was arrested on Dec. 5 in Cheyenne, Wyoming, in connection with possession of a stolen vehicle and reckless driving in a pursuit with police. Mueller was held there until those cases were resolved, although information on those cases was not yet available.

In Dominguezs death, Mueller has been charged with first-degree murder, a Class IA felony; use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony, a Class IC felony, and possession of a deadly weapon by a prohibited person, a Class ID felony.

The murder charge is punishable by life imprisonment. The two weapons charges are punishable by three to 50 years imprisonment. However, Mueller has also been charged as a habitual criminal, which could enhance his sentence on the weapons charges by a mandatory minimum of 10 years if he is convicted.

Mueller has been appointed an attorney, Sarah Newell, with the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy.

Court records show that authorities obtained two search warrants connected to the case in February. However, those search warrants have been sealed.
Although the announcement that Gov. Pete Ricketts will speak at Hastings College' commencement has stirred dissent among some students, the college's president says the governor will speak as scheduled.

A petition titled "Let Our Voices Be Heard" was begun after the college announced Wednesday that Ricketts will be the commencement speaker May 14.

The petition calls on Hastings College President Don Jackson to express Hastings College's support of LGBTQIA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, queer, intersex, asexual) students "and commit to promoting diversity on campus in his final address at the 2016 Commencement ceremonies. Furthermore, we demand that graduating seniors hereafter be included in the Commencement speaker selection process."

The petition was started under the organization change.org. As of Monday evening, 368 people had signed the online document.

"The announcement that Gov. Ricketts has agreed to serve as our commencement speaker has definitely sparked some campus discussion," Jackson said Monday.

For the most part, Jackson said, "I consider the discussion to be good. It's been very civil. I actually think this kind of discussion on a college campus is excellent, and encourage it."

People are sharing their concerns and thoughts about the commencement speaker, "although not everyone I'm hearing from is opposed, that's for sure," Jackson said. Many want it to "remain a campus issue and a campus debate rather than engaging in outside or off-campus groups."

Taylor Gage, the governor's spokesman, has commented on the petition saying that "College campuses have historically been a place where students take an interest in issues, and the beauty of democracy is that we are all free to exercise our opinions. Governor Ricketts looks forward to commencement where he will celebrate the academic achievement of the graduates, encourage them to be active in their communities, and to give back as they move forward."

Jackson, who has been the college's president for three years, said he has responded to every e-mail and text he's received about the issue. He doesn't know how many people involved in the effort are current Hastings College students. But some of the people signing the document are alumni or members of the community, he said.

"We think this is a great opportunity to talk about issues that are important to our community here, and one of the things that's important to Hastings College is that we be a very welcoming community. And I'm very supportive of that," he said.

"I would say in general bringing speakers to campus can spark important discussions on critical issues and help us better define who we are as a campus community," Jackson said.

Jackson looks forward to continuing the discussion.

"We don't have to agree on everything," he said. "But the one really important point is that Gov. Ricketts isn't coming to our campus because of his political views or anything else. He's the highest-elected official in the state of Nebraska and he's coming here to celebrate our graduating senior class. That's the sole purpose of his visit."

No one has asked that the college withdraw its invitation to Ricketts, Jackson said. "And it certainly would not be something that I would consider," he said. "Inviting a sitting governor, regardless of their political views or affiliation, is entirely appropriate for commencement."

Some people don't agree with Ricketts' stands on certain issues, one in particular, Jackson said. That issue, involving the concerns of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, "raised the attention of some of our campus community," he said. "It's an important concern on our campus, and our campus has been a very welcoming campus." Jackson said he's personally very supportive of those students.

The petition was started by the Social Justice League at Hastings College.

The organization does not want Ricketts to be replaced as speaker, said Becca Preisdendorf. "No, that's not what we want at all," she said. Rescinding an invitation to the governor would "reflect very badly upon the college," said Preisdendorf, who's a member of the Social Justice League. The group hopes that Jackson, in his final address to the school's seniors at graduation, will speak in support of LGBTQIA students so they know the administration supports them, and that they are affirmed as members of the community.

The Social Justice League also hopes that measures are taken "to prevent this from happening again in the future," she said. The organization would like students to have input in the choice of future commencement speakers, said Preisdendorf, a senior from Grand Island.

One person who commented on the petition, Grace Rempp, wrote "This year's commencement speaker does not represent the voices of our student body and faculty. While Hastings College administration claims that it is making progress towards inclusion, this choice represents a deep institutional hypocrisy' on our campus. And it's a real shame."

The private college has an enrollment of about 1,200.
Mumbai: Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali wonders why nobody invites his movies to film festivals, and says he is only attracted to such galas for a chance to explore a new place.

The Tamasha director recently made #IndiaTomorrow, a five-minute short film which shows a sex worker having a conversation with her client about the stock market, with a powerful message in it.

Asked if is he keen to take his short film to film festivals, Imtiaz told IANS: They have plans, but I dont know much about festivals. I am keen to push it anywhere and wherever it reaches. (If it goes to festivals) I will get a chance to go there and see a new country... festivals attract me only for that.

He quipped that he keeps telling Anurag Kashyap that "you keep going for festivals, some time take me also along with you... I will get to explore a new country".

"But nobody invites my films to festivals so what to do," Imtiaz said.

Recent news reports had stated that the filmmaker is reportedly in talks with superstar Shah Rukh Khan for his next, and hopes to start the film this year. Imtiaz and Shah Rukh, however, have not confirmed the collaboration yet.

It was believed that the King Khan would be required to play a Sikh tourist in the yet-to-be-titled comedy.

Next film, unless I really sign and finalise, I cant really talk about it. I am not supposed to say anything about that and I shouldnt be I feel whatever I am saying needs to first happen and then I should say it rather than be predictive, Imtiaz said about the project.

There were also reports that the film will star actress Anushka Sharma opposite Shah Rukh. Imtiaz, however, did not divulge any details. When asked when does he plan to start the film, Imtiaz said, How do I know? I hope this year. But I can only say after things are (finalised).
Activists on Monday termed the remarks by Shankaracharya Swaroopanand Saraswati's on the lifting of ban on women's entry in Shani Shingnapur temple in Maharashtra as "outrageous and appalling". They demanded his apology, failing which they have threatened to stage protests.

The religious leader had said, "the entry of women into the famous Shingnapur shrine which is devoted to Lord Shani will drive more rapes".

"This is a really ridiculous and appalling statement coming from a religious head of an institution that is followed by so many Hindus. Rape is criminalised in India and comparing it to worship is not acceptable.

"He should be taken to task for this. It is not expected from a man of his age and stature. He should apologise to the women of the country," said womens' rights activist Ranjana Kumari said.

CPM leader Brinda Karat said that the seer's comment "is far removed from reality."

"Will the Shankaracharya answer that all these years women were not allowed into the temple, so was there absolutely no problem that women faced... So all these years women were not there but many women faced so many problems and so the thinking itself is far removed from reality, from India's Constitution, from people of India's experience, that just has to be rejected with contempt it deserves," she said.

People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) member Kavita Srivastav demanded an apology from the Shankaracharya and threatened to launch a protest against him.

"What else can be more outrageous than this statement...He is silent on the rapes committed by men and the negligence of police towards such cases and he is silent on the protection being given to rapists also. I think Shankaracharya should take back his words and apologise. Otherwise our Mahila Andolan will give a befitting reply to him," she said.

Shankaracharya's comment came three days after the ban on the entry of women into the inner sanctum of the famous Shani shrine was revoked by the temple authorities.

But this is not the first time such (ridiculous) pronouncements have been uttered by public figures.

Baba Ramdev (Yoga guru)

In 2014, yoga guru Baba Ramdev blamed content of electronic media and education system for encouraging rapists to commit such crimes.

His comments came after a 25-year-old woman was allegedly raped by a radio cab driver in north Delhis Sarai Rohilla.

According to the yoga guru, the three reasons which contribute to rape were obscenity in electronic media, education system and disregarding values and laws.

Before that, in March 2013, Ramdev said that the Centre's decision to reduce the age for consensual sex from 18 to 16 years would affect the social order and increase rape cases in the country.

"If this decision (to lower age of consensual sex) is taken, rape cases will increase," he said. Ramdev alleged that the Bill aimed to benefit a "particular religion" and "break the Hindu society".

Jitender Chhatar (Khap Panchayat leader, Haryana's Jind district)

In 2012, Jitender Chhatar, a resident of Jind's Chhatar village and khap panchayat leader made the following comments.

"To my understanding, consumption of fast food contributes to such incidents. Chowmein leads to hormonal imbalance evoking an urge to indulge in such acts. You also know the impact of chowmein, which is a spicy food, on our body. Hence, our elders also advised to consume light and nutritious food," Chhatar said.

The comments came a week after Sube Singh, a Khap leader, advocated lowering of age of marriage for girls from 18 years to 16 years on the grounds that young girls are vulnerable to rapes and should be married off earlier.

Asaram Bapu (Self-styled Godman)

In January 2013, Asaram Bapu, the self-styled godman, made some rather witless observations about the Delhi gangrape case by claiming that the 23-year-old woman, who died due to the severe injuries, was as guilty as those responsible for the barbaric sexual assault on her.

"Only 5-6 people are not the culprits. The victim daughter is as guilty as her rapists... She should have called the culprits brothers and begged before them to stop... This could have saved her dignity and life."

"Can you clap with one hand? I don't think so," he added.

Karnataka MLAs' Panel

In July 2014, a report tabled in the Karnataka Assembly by the state's Women and Child Development Department said, "There were several instances where mobile phones were used to lure girls to remote places and rape them. Mobile phones are debasing the educational atmosphere in schools and colleges."

Ironically, the report itself came amid statements made by politicians blaming women's style of dressing as the root cause of the crime.

Atul Kumar Anjan (CPI leader)

In September 2015, a senior leader of Communist Party of India (CPI) Atul Anjan, said that Sunny Leone's condom advertisements will lead to a rise in the number of rapes in India.

"Sunny Leone naam ki ek aurat hai. Duniya ki sabse nangi filmon ki woh heroine rahi hai (There is a woman called Sunny Leone. She has been the heroine in nude films)," said Anjan.

"Agar condom ke is tarah ke prachaar desh ke television aur akhbaaron mein chale, toh rape ki ghatnaaein badhengi (If such condom ads are shown on the country's television sets and in newspapers, then the number of rape incidents will increase)."

Anjan also said that he had never watched a single porn film in his life. But when he did watch porn for the first time, "do minute dekhne ke baad ulti hoti hai (After watching two minutes, I feel like vomiting)."

An yes, of course, there is a video of the speech.

Swami Sri Nischalananda Saraswati (Puri shankaracharya)

In January 2013, Sankaracharya of Puri Swami Sri Nischalananda Saraswati said that western influence was one of the main reasons behind the rise in incidents of rape in the country.

"Such horrific incidents (Delhi gang rape) don't happen all of a sudden. They happen when the thin line of culture and values are crossed in the name of civilization and development," he said.

He said Western influences like films, club culture and drugs were destroying the age old values and principles of India.

"Earlier sisters and brothers roamed freely but nothing used to happen. There has been decline in human values, emotions ... Our culture and civilization teaches us to respect women, who are our sisters and mothers," he added.

Mohan Bhagwat (RSS chief)

In January 2013, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said that rapes took place because of Westernisation, and are not a matter of concern in rural India where traditional values were upheld.

"Crimes against women happening in urban India are shameful. It is a dangerous trend. But such crimes won't happen in 'Bharat' or the rural areas of the country. You go to villages and forests of the country and there will be no such incidents of gang-rape or sex crimes," he said.

"Where 'Bharat' becomes 'India' with the influence of western culture, these type of incidents happen. The actual Indian values and culture should be established at every stratum of society where women are treated as 'mother'," he added.

Ramsewak Paikra (Chhattisgarh Home Minister, BJP)

In June 2014, talking to news channels, Ramsevak Paikra, responsible for law and order in Chhattisgarh state, said that rapes happen accidentally.

Such incidents (rapes) do not happen deliberately. These kind of incidents happen accidentally, he said.

He was responding to questions about the rise in incidents of rape.

Om Prakash Chautala (Former Chief Minister of Haryana)

In October 2010, Om Prakash Chautala, the former Chief Minister of Haryana, said that girls should be married early to prevent rapes.

"We should learn from the past... specially in Mughal era, people used to marry their girls to save them from Mughal atrocities and currently a similar situation is arising in the state. I think that's the reason khap has taken such a decision and I support it," he said backing Haryana khap for saying that girls should be married early to prevent rapes.

Mulayam Singh Yadav (Former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh)

In April 2014, Mulayam Singh Yadav said there was a need to change the anti-rape laws as "boys commit mistakes" for which they should not be hanged.

"Ladke, ladke hain. Galti ho jati hai (Boys are boys. They commit mistakes)," he said at an election rally in Moradabad.

Citing the recent example of a court sentencing three men found guilty of gang-raping two women in the abandoned Shakti Mills in Mumbai last year, he said there was a need to change the new rape law which provides for death sentence to repeat rape offenders.

"Efforts will be made to change such a law, so that those misusing it are punished. Those filing false reports will also be taken to task," he said.

Yadav said boys and girls fall in love but due to differences they fall apart later on. "When their friendship ends, the girl complains she has been raped," he said, stressing the need for changes in the anti-rape law.

A year later, in April 2015, Yadav struck again.

Yadav said that while one person commits rape, four are named in the complaint even though rape by four persons is not "practically" possible.

"One commits rape and then four more are named. Kabhi aisa ho sakta hai kya? Aisa practical hi nahin hai. (Can such a thing happen? It is impractical)," Mulayam said at a programme in Lucknow.

Abu Azmi (Samajwadi Party president)

In April 2014, Samajwadi Party president Abu Azmi said that women should also be punished in rape cases.

"If a woman is caught (in a rape case), then both she and the boy should be punished. In India, there is death penalty for rape, but when there's consensual sex outside marriage, there's no death penalty against women," he said in an interview.

With inputs from agencies.
Srinagar: Two youth were killed on Tuesday when Army opened fire in Handwara, about 85 kms from Srinagar, to disperse a stone-pelting mob which was protesting against alleged molestation of a girl by some of its personnel.

The killing triggered more protests in the town and had an echo in Srinagar and Pulwama districts of Kashmir as well.

Trouble started with protests by locals in Handwara over alleged molestation of the girl student.

According to the allegations, she was molested by soldiers posted in an army picket in the town, official sources said.

The protestors pelted stones at the army picket after which the soldiers opened fire, resulting in the killing of Iqbal Ahmad and Nayeem Bhat, the sources said.

An Army official, while expressing regret at the loss of lives, said the matter will be investigated and anybody found guilty will be dealt with as per the law.

A police official said the army personnel fled from the bunker soon after the death of two civilians.

The protestors then set ablaze the static army bunker in main chowk Handwara and attacked the police station by pelting stones, the police official said.

"The protestors, whose numbers swelled after the news of death of two youth, set ablaze the bunker. They also pelted a barrage of stones on the local police station," the official said, adding police fired teargas shells to chase away the protestors.

The incident in Handwara had an echo in Srinagar, the summer capital of the state, as also in Pulwama in south Kashmir, where protests erupted and stone-pelting incidents were reported at some places, the official said.

Additional police personnel have been deployed in sensitive areas of the city to maintain law and order.

Political parties, like National Conference and Congress, expressed grief and shock over deaths and demanded that a probe so that the guilty could be punished.

Separatist outfit Hurriyat Conference headed by hardline leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani gave a call for shutdown on Wednesday.
Paravoor: Seven people who fled after a weekend fire killed at least 116 people at the southern Indian temple where they are board members have surrendered to police to face prosecution, police said on Tuesday.

Police officer Gupakumar said the seven were taken into custody late Monday after a two-day hunt by police.

Police are investigating temple board members and associates of firework contractors for possible charges of attempted murder and culpable homicide, both punishable by life imprisonment, and illegally storing a cache of explosives.

Besides the deaths in the early Sunday blaze at the Puttingal Devi temple complex in the village of Paravoor in Kerala state, more than 380 people were injured.

M. Palanai, another police officer, said that 200 of the injured were still being treated in various hospitals.

Rescue workers were sifting through the debris for clues about how an unauthorized fireworks display sparked the fire that swept through the temple as it was packed with thousands for a religious festival.

Police questioned five workers on Monday about fireworks stored at the site, hoping to learn more about who owned the fireworks and who had contracted the pyrotechnical display, police constable R. Unnikrishnan Nair said. The five were later released.

Villagers and police had to pull many of the injured out from under slabs of concrete and twisted steel girders. Rescuers searched the wreckage for survivors, while backhoes cleared debris and thousands of worried relatives went to the temple to search for loved ones.

The temple holds a competitive fireworks show every year, with different groups putting on displays for thousands gathered for the end of a seven-day festival honoring the goddess Bhadrakali, a southern Indian incarnation of the Hindu goddess Kali.

Oommen Chandy, the state's chief minister, said he had appointed a retired judge to investigate the events leading to the fire and that action would be taken against those who had ignored rules.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew in from New Delhi to visit the site and met with Chandy and other Kerala leaders on measures to help the survivors.

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Merely two days after a massive fire at a temple in Kerala sent shockwaves through the country, authorities have made an attempt to regulate the use of fireworks at public events.

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday has banned sound-making fireworks display in all places of worship in state between sunset and sunrise, PTI reported

The court asked the state government to examine whether a CBI probe is necessary into the Paravur Puttingal Devi temple fireworks display tragedy on Sunday.

Treating a judge's letter seeking a ban as a PIL, the bench of Justice Thottathil B Radhakrishnan and Justice Anu Sivaraman banned the use of sound-generating fireworks between sunset and sunrise across places of worship.

It, said that during day time, the sound of explosives cannot exceed the permitted limit.

The court directed police and other authorities to enforce compliance of the provisions of Explosives Act and Rules to prevent such tragedies.

However, the first repercussions of the incident were seen in Uttar Pradesh. On Monday, the UP government announced a ban on fireworks at any event in Lucknow, in light of the tragic fire that occurred at Kollam, which killed at least 116 people, reported CNN-IBN.

At least 380 people were injured in the massive explosion set off by the illegal fireworks show which occurred at the Puttingal temple in the night. The local authorities had denied permission for the fireworks.

Public safety standards and weak governance were in the spotlight following the tragic events.

According to IANS, Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said that in the wake of the Puttingal temple blast, the Kerala government had called an all-party meeting on Thursday to see if a consensus was possible on total or partial ban on firecrackers.

"The things that will be taken up for discussion includes finding out if a total ban is possible," Chennithala told reporters on Tuesday, referring to the all party meeting to be held on 14 April in the state capital Thiruvanthapuram.

Chennithala also said that sound levels of firecrackers should be brought to minimum levels, like in UAE and Singapore.

But a total ban on firecrackers may not be feasible, according to Kerala BJP president Kummanem Rajasekheran.

"What needs to be done is that proper mechanisms should be put in place. One can work out a proper safety audit mechanism on how such things can go forward," Rajasekheran told reporters.

Despite the Kollam tragedy, state authorities do not appear to have learnt any lessons since they are planning on going ahead with the annual fireworks festival Thrissur Pooram.

According to a report by Firstpost, the fireworks display at the Thrissur Pooram would be staged as usual despite protests from traditionalists and residents. But the authorities assured the residents that all precautions will be taken and restrictions would be placed during the display.

The Thrissur Pooram is a tourist attraction, and is an important event for devotees. For years, pyrotechnics have been a part of the Pooram, one of the biggest annual spectacles in Kerala.

On Monday, Thrissur District Collector V Ratheesan held talks with members of Pooram Coordination Committee before granting permission to hold the fireworks display.

The firework show which is organised annually on a competitive basis between Thiruvambady and Paramekkavu temples has a mandate that no party should use more than 2000 kg of explosives.

The authorities claim the locals seek the fanfare and the political and cultural leaders cannot ignore the demand. The popularity of the event is also at stake.

The state has seen various fireworks related tragedies in the past. About 40 fireworks related accidents have occurred during the last 50 years. This has still not deterred festival organizers, temple authorities or politicians from holding such events.

However, the tide appears to be turning. Many leaders are now seeking a ban on fireworks at places of worship. Congress leader AK Antony, who hails from Kerala has called for a rethinking on the issue.

As per the Firstpost report mentioned above, two prominent community leaders, G Sukumaran Nair of Nair Service Society and Vellappally Natesan of SNDP Yogam (Sri Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam, an influential religious group) have called for restraint.

The patron of Tantri Vidya Peedam Akeeramon Kalidasan Bhattathiripad is reported to have said that a temple should not be a venue for competitive fireworks.

Swami Prakashanda of Sivagiri Mutt also spoke up on the issue against fireworks in temples.
The incident involving Professor Nagaraj of the National Law School of India University professor in Bengaluru, who allegedly slut-shamed a girl in Bengaluru for showing up to class in shorts took social media by storm. Opinions were tweeted, anger spilt on Facebook and most leading dailies anchored their front-pages with this story. The latest, now, is The Bar Council of India's (BCI) recommendation to all law colleges and universities to devise dress codes. Why? Well, it turns out that the Council has discovered a "gradually detracting standard of dresses by the students of law all over the country."

According to Legally India, a website on law-related matters, the BCI reissued a resolution originally taken in October 2015 to all law colleges in India on 7 April 2016, recommending that colleges follow a dress code of white shits with black/white/gray trousers and that current standards of dressing do not give the "impression of proper dress code discipline specially for professional education."

While the merits and demerits of a dress code in educational institutes can be debated, one must not make light of Professor Nagaraj's unkind and blatantly demeaning comments said to have been made against the student who attended class in shorts  "You can come to class without a dress also. That is how your character is, Im going to ignore you."

The BCI's meeting in October took place at the behest of Madhya Pradesh Bar Council chairman, Rajesh Pandey's request to prescribe dress codes in all law colleges, according to the website Legally India.

Bar Council Letter
New Delhi: Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung on Monday said he disfavoured action against students for alleged anti-national slogan shouting in JNU campus and suggested that instead they should be engaged in dialogue.

He also said that police "is invited only in cases of acute arson, not when there is sloganeering".

Jung told India Today TV that while he would not encourage anti-nationalism, he would also not take action against students for mere slogan shouting. "I would feel sorry for them," he said.

Jung, who had served as the VC of Jamia Millia Islamia university before taking over as the Delhi LG, said the controversy over the 9 February JNU event may have happened as the varsity had a "new Vice Chancellor".

"Police is invited only in cases of acute arson, not when there is sloganeering. Perhaps (the former VC) would have enhanced dialogue. We could have avoided the incident that stretched for a month," he said.

On calls for "azaadi" in Kashmir and "Pakistan zindabad" slogans, he said, "I think the Kashmiris have genuine problems over heavy army presence. I think they have genuine concern over the imposition of AFSPA. I would speak to them, counsel them but I would not encourage anti-nationalism."

On the debate over raising of slogans such as 'Bharat Mata Ki jai', Jung said no one can be "forced" to say anything.

"You can say I don't want to say it but that does not mean I am not nationalistic, that would not mean I am anti-India," he said.

Jung said there was a difference between raising slogans hailing the motherland and those praising the almighty, including 'Allah'.

"People are losing the nuances of the words. Saying 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' is different from worshipping any deity or Allah or god. It's a matter of pride for a person belonging to any country to love his country and, therefore, would be absolutely happy to say 'madre-watan zindabad', 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' or whatever," he said.

He said he would not "eat beef in this country" but would not insist on bans like that on beef even as he added that there was a need to "ignore" fringe elements.

"In a democracy, we need to give a lot of space to minorities. They need hand-holding. I would care for them... There is no need for harsh words," he said.

However, Jung said he would be "very uncomfortable" with a person who shouts anti-India slogans. In criticising the nation, one needs to be "careful in public", he said.

Jung said it would be "incorrect" to say police had done nothing to protect JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar at the Patiala House court premises, where journalists were also attacked by men in black robes.

"Any incident that happens like what happened to Kanhaiya is symbolic of inadequate and poor policing. Whether police should have been tougher, the jury is out on that.

"A brutal response by the police on the lawyers could have led to a much larger problem. It could have well been a mistake. Post-mortem is being done and action will be taken very soon," he said.
New Delhi: Efforts to save the tiger have pushed India's population of the big cat to nearly 2,500, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Tuesday, hailing the strides the country has made in this regard.

Highlighting the need for protecting tiger corridors, he announced incentivising project proponents to give land for compensatory afforestation in Tiger corridors.

As per latest official count, India is home to 2,226 tigers, representing 70 per cent of the global population of the endangered big cat species.

"In the last two years, the number has risen and our rough estimate as of today is that India has nearly 2,500 tigers.

"That is a good news for India... (a result) of what we are doing for the last 12 years. We have zero tolerance towards poaching," Javadekar said at the inauguration of the 3rd Asia ministerial conference on tiger conservation.

He said that as per World Wildlife Fund (WWF) estimates, the tiger population the world over has grown from 3,200 to 3,890 in the last five years, a 22 per cent increase.

"That is a great good news today morning," he said, adding that there are only 13 countries with tigers in the wild and six of them have seen an increase in their numbers.

"That shows that we are getting success. It was a proud moment for me when we had undertaken a tiger count in 2014... When I wrote 2,226 as India's tiger count it was fantastic as it was 30 per cent more than the last count. This is 70 per cent of the world tiger population," he said.

Stating that the tiger epitomises the health of the ecosystem, he stressed that success with tiger conservation means the whole ecosystem is improving.

"We are taking a historic decision to protect tiger corridors. By such measures over the years, we can free the tiger corridors and these will become forest land," he said.

"We have started a unique experiment with new standard operating procedures (SOPs) for orphaned tiger cubs. This has started yielding results and four such orphaned tigers have been released back into the wild after proper care in 'in situ' enclosures," he said.

Javadekar lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's commitment towards tiger conservation and said he had adopted the best conservation practices during his tenure as the Chief Minister of Gujarat.

"The growing number of lions in Gujarat is a testimony to his efforts," the minister said.

He also referred to the increase in the budget for Project Tiger from Rs 185 crore to Rs 380 crore, adding that, with the 60:40 participation of states, this increase translates to Rs 500 crore in one year for tiger protection.

Chairman of the Global Tiger Forum and Minister of Agriculture & Forests, Bhutan, Yeshey Dorji, also addressed the

gathering.

Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Ashok Lavasa, delivered the vote of thanks.
Eminent Constitutional expert, Professor Upendra Baxi is currently Emeritus Professor of Law in Development, University of Warwick. He has also served as Vice-Chancellor of University of Delhi during the most tumultuous time of Mandal agitation. In a freewheeling chat with Firstpost, Professor Baxi shared his views on issues ranging from article 356, sedition law to student politics in University campuses. Below is the excerpt of the interview.

Q. Article 356 has been subject of fierce debate. The fact that it has been used more than 100 times since independence, speaks at length of its misuse. However, after SR Bommai judgement it was thought that its arbitrary use will end. But the trend has continued. How do you see the current crisis in Uttarakhand which has once again ignited the debate?

During the Constituent assembly debate Dr BR Ambedkar referred to the article as a dead letter. He said that "I share the sentiments that such articles will never be called into operation and they would remain a dead letter. This was something which was quoted in Bommai judgment too.

And why did he call it as a dead letter? It was because he felt that it will be used in rare cases. It is not a normal tool of governance. The Sarkaria commission which laid down several guidelines and grounds which should be considered while imposing the presidents rule also echoed the same views.

Dr Ambedkar insisted that it is a dead provision which should be seldom used, like we say that capital punishment should be awarded in rarest of the rare cases. But the history of the misuse of article is evident. Till the Bommai case there was extraordinary use of this provision. Bommai had number of cases of presidents rule proclamations to consider. The judges gave judgment according to merit of each case. But in general it was held that presidents rule should become rare. While there is no manageable judicial standard to scrutinise the satisfaction of the president the fact is that it should not be ultra vires.

It is the Constitutional provision that president should be satisfied that condition existed for the imposition of article 356 on the report of the governor or any other material. However, the Supreme Court in Bommai made it clear that satisfaction of the president should be reasonable.

Here we have to understand that whether the Presidential proclamation was reasonable or not is for the court to decide. But Bommai led to a major development as it introduced what is known as the floor test. In essence this idea of floor test was a key aspect of the judgment. It was the central idea of the judgment.

Q. At inter-state council in Srinagar an agreement was reached to incorporate it in Constitution through a Constitutional amendment. Do you think it is possible and desirable?

If they include it, that would be nice. But it is nevertheless the law of the land. It is a judgment pronounced by the Supreme Court hence it is as important as an article in the Constitution.

Q. But it has been ignored so many times. Why do you think that is?

Yes, but whenever it was or will be violated it will come to the high court or the Supreme Court for the scrutiny  like in the present case of Uttarakhand. But nobody will say that because it is not incorporated in the Constitution therefore it is not applicable and the Bommai case doesnt hold ground.

Floor test is the basis of discerning who shall govern that state. Mr Arun Jaitley is a Supreme Court lawyer known for many Constitutional cases. In respect of Uttarakhand , he said that it was a "textbook example of breakdown of governance." I dont have access to paper-books and details of the arguments made in the court but I am intrigued by what Mr Jaitley is reported to have said.

I am not aware of the politics involved in this but from the legal perspective one question is whether the state budget was supposed to be passed or that if it could not be passed, is floor test the best way ahead?

The other ground can be that in certain situations floor test is not required; that Bommai did not lay down the rule of floor-test without exception. Certain situations are so striking that they may arguably lead to the conclusion that no floor test is necessary. I dont know what exactly the argument is.

If the question now is that did Bommai laid down floor test in such cases, I will say yes. Did Bommai ask for floor test in all cases, it is for the court to decide; to see if there can be any exception. From outside view the politics in both cases (Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand) is very murky.

Can there be a situation that the lack of confidence in the ruling party is so manifest that no floor test is necessary and whether the present case falls in this category is a question that is now being raised.

In the Bommai case it was made very clear that there should be a floor test. Nobody can say Supreme Court judgment was unreasoned. If the question is whether Uttarakhand warranted that exception, my answer would be that I dont see any exceptional situation. I have high respect for Mr Jaitleys Constitutional acumen; he might have seen something by way of support as Constitutional lawyer and party person. I am not concerned with any party's political considerations. Let us say that if the matter goes to the Supreme Court, then the Parties have to justify/de-justify the nature of the claimed exception.

Q. Having served as the head of two prestigious universities how do you analyse what happened at JNU?

I have said that people have the right to dissent, the right to criticise. The idea of freedom of speech is (to use an odious expression during the Cultural Revolution in China) 'let hundred flowers bloom'. Campuses are places where free thought must be practiced. About the use of sedition, one must understand that Section 124 A of the IPC itself recognises two exceptions namely  the criticism of government and bureaucracy.

Even colonial powers recognised it to some extent. However, nobody should raise disgraceful slogans which affect the sovereignty and integrity of India. There should be a special law  if you need one - to deal with such acts. This particular section has no place in democratic India.

It does not mean that everything goes. If anyone feels that integrity and sovereignty of the nation is put to risk by certain people then lets make it a separate offence. Lets not call it sedition  sedition is disaffection towards lawfully established governments. Colonial governance wanted to produce loyal subjects. But citizens are beings with rights and dissent and disagreement are the lifeblood of a democratic political and social orderings.

Mahatma Gandhi once remarked that law cannot manufacture affection. It is a colonial law and it should go. It has a chilling effect on freedom of speech. It is bad and sad that people begin to self-censor themselves in the lengthening shadow of the law and they tend to become subjects and not citizens. It is extremely unfortunate that some people take the monopoly of patriotism and even recourse to violence as a form of desh-bhakti (the worship of the country).

If someone thinks there is a need of the law to deal with such acts then you can make a tightly-controlled law which does not affect and damage the foundation of freedom of speech and expression.

Q. General perception is that the campuses are getting too much political of late. Do you see it as a recent phenomenon or has it been there always?

Campuses in the national struggle were used by incipient nationalist leaders for politics, instigating students to join the struggle and the legacy continues, although there is no alien rule.

BJP, Congress and other political parties are all present on the campuses. Some do ideological politics while other do party politics. Students are free to do so. So are karmchari unions, teachers union divided on party lines in all the campuses. So lets take it as a fact of politics in Indian democracy that not just ideological, but party politics is inevitable.

I was serving at Delhi University at the time when political sentiment of Mandal and Kamandal both were guiding the student youth and teachers and karmcharis. As a head of the university I made it clear that students and all others were free to express themselves, their views in the way they want but there should be no incitement to violence. They were free to take any position they wanted.



Politics have always been part of education in campuses. Educational leadership consist in preserving freedom of students to express themselves within the limits of law and the Constitution. And the educational system will always see that the matter is confined within the boundaries of the campuses. But then there are certain matters that will spill over outside the campuses also. You cannot avoid it. So it is in the hands of students, teachers and karmachari politicians and their masters outside to draw limits. But freedom comes with responsibility, restraints, and respect (the three R's are embedded for all citizens in our Constitution).

The current unrest in different campuses have different contexts. There cannot be an overarching explanation for all of it. Some issues raised are new and new equations are being forged between the campuses and the outside world. But politics in campuses is an age old fact.

Q. You have talked about the two most important A's required to govern universities that is 'Autonomy and Accountability'. How can it be ensured with post of VCs being appointed by political executive based on considerations other then merit?

Accountability is not possible without autonomy. You cannot separate the two. There are freak appointments and then there are appointments that are politically patronising. Then there are many vice chancellors who are in between the two; they have some political patronage but they do their work diligently.

The point is that it has to be ensured that the head of the institution is a person of proven integrity and academic excellence.

That has to be ensured at all costs. The Fundamental duties in our Constitution (Part IV-A) call for ensuring excellence in all walks of life. The enemy of excellence is mediocrity so ensuring excellence is a Constitutional duty and so one has to avoid mediocrity in thinking, teaching, learning, curricular development, evaluation, and examinations.

Q. Do you feel that too much of politics and activism can hamper academics in universities?

Campuses should not have party politics. In campuses students are students and teachers are teachers; the relationship is that of mutual learning: academic freedom entails both the freedom to teach and freedom to learn.

There is no preceptor without a learner and vice versa. I dont think party politics should enter in classrooms and libraries. You cannot produce space scientists or teachers of philosophy or languages or literature, to take some large examples, if you are involved in party politics. Politics does not produce knowledge; it produces power. Our duty is to develop excellence, to produce and consolidate knowledge. Our job is to produce more Constitutionally sincere Part IV A citizens (who ponder their fundamental duties as citizens under Part IV-A) and not just part III citizens (who specialize in claiming their fundamental rights as citizens to the detriment of suffering others).

Teachers also should distinguish their role as teachers and as party workers. They cannot do party politics in classrooms. Once, the renowned anthropologist Margaret Mead told me that if you want money with M capital dont go to university, go to business or industry; if you want power with P capital dont waste time in a university but if you want knowledge only then come to university. I still tell my students this thing.
Fire broke out at a powerloom unit in Bhiwandi in Thane on Tuesday morning. Even as four people have been rescued, others are still feared trapped inside the building.

An officer from the fire brigade present at the spot said that the four-storey building had a powerloom on the ground floor and private residences on the rest of the floors.

CNN-IBN also reported that the fire was spreading to other floors in the building. According to Thane Police, several people are feared trapped and efforts are on to rescue them before the blaze spreads to the upper floors of the four-storied building.

Four fire engines from Bhiwandi have been sent to the area. Fire brigade from Thane and Kalyan have also been called to the spot for rescue efforts. Ambulances and four water tankers have also been rushed to the spot to battle the fire.

As news of the fire spread, politicians took to Twitter to pray for those trapped in the fire.

A major fire breaks out in #Bhiwandi. Pray for the safety of those trapped.  Praful Patel (@praful_patel) April 12, 2016

Fire in a building in Kasimpur, Bhiwandi near Mumbai. I pray for the safety of those trapped.  Shahnawaz Hussain (@ShahnawazBJP) April 12, 2016

With inputs from IANS
A series of tweets by All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief Badruddin Ajmal blaming Congress for "division of secular votes" in Assam has spiced up speculation on the poll outcome in the state.

The fact that his anguished tweets came on the eve of the second and final phase of polling has left many wondering as to why he chose to vent his ire against the Congress publicly. More so, when around half of the total 61 seats which went to the polls on Monday were Muslim-dominated. Incidentally, these areas recorded a high voter turnout of 82 percent, which could go to around 85 percent when all votes are computed.

The question is, has the businessman-cum-politician read the early signs of what could be the eventual result? Is it because of his informed assessment of the ground situation that he has made a preemptive strike to counter the secularist tirade against him, which is bound to begin if Congress loses and BJP wins? The wait for poll results is very long; another 37 days to go till 19 May.

Consider what Ajmal said in his series of tweets: "If BJP wins because of division of secular votes, it is Congress who will be responsible. Even before two days we approached Cong to come in to some understanding. But Congress rejected our offer. But unfortunately Congress did not agree to form an alliance with us. They rather are hell bent to divide secular votes. Nitish Kumarji, Lalu Yadavji also tried their best 2 work out a grand alliance including Congress, AGP, BPF, JDU, RJD & all other secular forces. We tried our best to form an alliance with the Congress, Prashant Kishore spoke to Rahul Gandhi in this regard."

He has let the world know that Nitish Kumar's official advisor Prashant Kishor was the go between for him and the Congress vice president. But Rahul didn't agree with Kishor, to whom he has outsourced the party's Uttar Pradesh poll campaign strategy. JD(U) and RJD are contesting 12 seats each in Assam.

Congress' chief minister Tarun Gogoi is fighting 15 years of anti-incumbency. This is perhaps the toughest electoral challenge that Gogoi has faced in his three terms in office. Many, including Himanta Biswa Sarma, have defected from the Congress and joined the BJP.

In the 2014 parliamentary elections, BJP became a buoyant force in Assam, bagging seven of the 14 parliamentary seats with an impressive vote share of 36.5 percent. The Congress and Ajmal's AIUDF won three seats each. That was the BJP's quantum jump from the party's vote share in 2011 assembly elections when it could get only five seats. This time around the BJP is hoping to get a clear majority with two of its pre-poll allies, AGP and Bodoland People's Front. The party has also been successful in building its campaign on the theme of Assamese versus Outsiders.

But BJP leaders realise that this is a close election. The party does not have a strong organisational support and history to make boastful claims. party leaders are expressing the majority with the simple term "clear majority" instead of predicting numbers.

There are three reasons for this: first, no one is quite sure as to what surprises Assam's high voter turnout has in store; secondly, one third of the population of Assam is Muslim, mostly illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, who would strongly vote against the BJP (an unofficial estimate divides the 33 percent Muslim population into seven percent Assamese Muslims and 26 percent immigrant Muslim population); and thirdly, Bihar election results, in which all their internal assessments miserably failed, have made them a little wiser.

High voter turnout has lately been the norm in assembly and parliamentary elections. Assam surely has touched a new high of over 80 percent but polling percentages in Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir too were high and the verdict ranged from fractured to simple majority. Assembly election in Delhi of course was a different ball game.

Ajmal's public outbursts against the Congress leadership and CM Gogoi's decision to hold a press conference when polling was on to accuse the Election Commission of partisan behaviour has not enthused their secularist supporters. The Election Commission has registered an FIR against the chief minister.

Gogoi wouldn't have liked to conclude his third consecutive term in office with a FIR filed against him. For now, he can only hope that he does not go down in history the way another Congress chief minister of his stature, Sheila Dikshit, did in Delhi.
Guwahati/Kolkata: Assam and West Bengal recorded an impressive voter turnout of of 82.21 percent and 79.51 percent respectively in the Assembly polls which were marked by sporadic clashes and registration of an FIR against Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi for violation of electoral law.

An estimated 79.51 percent polling was recorded in West Bengal and 82.21 per cent in Assam, Election Commission sources said in Delhi. They said an FIR was registered against Gogoi under instructions from the Election Commission for violation of provisions of Represention of People Act for holding press conference during the poll.

In Assam, where balloting was held in 61 constituencies in the second and final phase, an 80-year-old voter died in a scuffle between CRPF personnel and the locals over forming a queue at a polling station in Sorbhog seat in Barpeta district, officials said. Three others, including a CRPF Assistant Commandant and a constable were also injured in the incident.

Security personnel fired in the air to quell a protest at at Chaygaon in Kamrup district after a CRPF constable allegedly "misbehaved" with a pregnant voter who re-entered a polling station to pick up her child whom she had inadvertently forgotten to carry while leaving after casting her vote.

The entire team of CRPF deployed in the polling station was replaced after the incident, the district superintendent of police Prasanta Saikia said.

Prominent among those whose fate will be decided in the second phase include cabinet ministers Rakibul Hussain, Chandan Sarkar and Nazrul Islam of Congress, AGP leader and former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and BJP national spokesman Sidhartha Bhattacharya. Also in the fray is former Congress minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who revolted against Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and later joined BJP last year.

There are 525 candidates in the fray.

Congress, which under Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is seeking a fourth straight term in power, has fielded 57 candidates, BJP 35, its allies AGP 19 and BPF 10, AIDUF 47, CPI-M nine and CPI five.

65 of the state's 126 seats had gone to polls on April 4.

In West Bengal, where TMC leader Mamata Banerjee is seeking a second term in office, polling was held in 31 seats in the second part of the first phase of poll.

Sporadic incidents of violence were reported from polling booths in Jamuria constituency in Burdwan. A CPI(M) agent was injured after he was allegedly beaten up by Trinamool Congress workers and prevented from entering a polling booth, though TMC denied the allegation. Two bags containing bombs were found near a polling booth in Jamuria by police.

Prominent among those whose fate would be decided in today's polling included state BJP president Dilip Ghosh, former WBPCC president Manas Bhunia, state minister Malay Ghatak, actor Soham Chakrabarty besides Surjya Kanta Mishra. Mishra.

Altogether 163 candidates, including 21 women, are in the fray from 31 seats in West Midnapore, Bankura and Burdwan districts.

The ruling TMC, Left-Congress alliance and BJP, which has only one MLA in the outgoing Assembly, have fielded their nominees for all the seats.
Thiruvananthapuram: Even as the BJP hopes for the lotus to bloom in Kerala Assembly in the 16 May polls, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, heading the Congress-led ruling UDF, asserts the saffron party would not gain any foothold in the state as Keralite mindset was against its ideologies.

"BJP can never gain a foothold in Kerala as the mindset of Keralites is not in favour of the ideologies followed by the saffron party," he told PTI in an interview. He was responding to a query on whether the BJP would open its account in the state in the coming polls.

BJP, which has so far not succeeded in getting an MLA or MP elected from the state, is hopeful that things will be different this time as it is buoyant after its relative good showing in the recent civic elections in the state.

The party has aligned with BDJS (Bharat Dharma Jana Sena), a recently floated political party formed by SNDP (Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam) an organisation of the powerful Ezhava community in Kerala.

Significantly, this is the first time that the BJP has made the presence of NDA in the state and has projected itself as a third alternative to the UDF and CPM headed LDF, which have been ruling the state alternately.

Ruling out chances of the saffron party breaking the bipolar politics of the state, Chandy said the people of the state were 'secular'.

"The biggest strength of Kerala is secularism and religious harmony...Though there is a possibility of political divide in the state, they (BJP) will not succeed in achieving political gains through divisive policies," Chandy said.

"BJP can never gain a foothold in Kerala", he asserted. Rubbishing CPM state Secretary Kodieryi Balakrishnan's charge that Congress had entered into a tacit understanding with BJP in some pockets, including Nemom, Chandy said it was an admission of defeat ahead of the elections.

Taking potshots at CPM, Chandy said "CPM effort is to find reason for their impending defeat by blaming BJP."

Asserting that Congress is always fighting BJP all over the country, Chandy charged CPM with aligning with the saffron front on several occasions in the past.

"CPM is an opportunistic party. In 1977, they contested along with Janata Party in Kerala. In 1989, it is the Marxist party and BJP that supported the V P Singh government at the Centre," Chandy pointed out.

Besides this, recently, by not joining the grand alliance in Bihar, the Communist party had split anti-BJP votes, he said. "If they had joined the alliance, the loss suffered by the saffron party would have been more", he said.

It was an election which was keenly watched by the whole nation and many were keen that BJP should be defeated, he said.

"There can be no doubt that UDF will be in the forefront to fight the BJP in Kerala", Chandy added.
Imphal: Manipur Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh on Tuesday inducted three new cabinet-rank ministers into his government and reshuffled portfolios of several prominent ministers in the Congress-led state.

The new minister inductees include Ksh Biren (Lamlai), T Manga Vaiphei (Henglep) and D K Korungthang (Tengnoupal-ST ), who were administered the oath of secrecy by Governor V Shanmuganathan at a ceremony at the Raj Bhavan on Tuesday afternoon, according to a press release issued by Manipur Directorate of Information and Public Relations.

They have replaced Forest and Revenue minister Th Devendro Singh, Health and Family Welfare minister Phungzathang Tonsing and Rural Development and Panchayati Raj minister Francis Ngajokpa who had tendered their resignation to the Chief Minister on Monday, the release said.

The size of the ministry, however, remains the same at 12, a party spokesperson said.

The reshuffle came in the wake of 20 Congress legislators voicing disaffection with the functioning of the ministers, a Congress spokesman said.

In a notice issued by the state Chief Secretary O Nabakishore later in the evening, the government announced protfolios of the new ministers and effected a reshuffle of some prominent cabinet ministers.

While there have been no changes in the portfolios held by the Chief Minister except for Science and Technology and Deputy CM Gaikhangam, Biren was allocated the portfolios of Works and Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

Korunthang was given multiple portfolios of Health and Family Welfare, General Administration Department and Command Area Development Authority, which were earlier held by Phunzathang Tonsing who resigned as minister.

Vaiphei has been allocated portfolios of PHED, Labour and Employment, which were formerly held by minister I Hemochandra.

Vaiphei also assumed the portfolio of Science and Technology which was earlier held by the Chief Minister himself.

Meanwhile, Hemochandra has been given the responsibility of looking after Law, Revenue, Legislative Affairs, Forest and Environment which was previously held by Th Devendro, who too resigned as minister.

The portfolios held by another minister Francis Ngajokpa who resigned has been allocated to Moirangthem Okendro Singh.

He has been allocated the task of looking after the department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj along with Economic and Statistics.

M Okendro has been divested of the Education protfolio which in addition to Transport has now been allocated to Dr Ratan Kumar.

However, there have been no changes as far as the portfolios of four other ministers are concerned.

They include Ngamthang Haokip (IFCD and Printing and Stationary), A K Mirabai (Social Welfare and Cooperation), Abdul Nasir Agriculture and Fisheries and Govindas Konthoujam (Commerce and Industry, Sericulture and Veterinary and Animal Husbandry), as per the press note issued by the Secretariat.

All departments which are not allotted to other ministers are retained by the Chief Minister.
New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday lavished praise on former Prime Minister late Narsimha Rao calling him political "Chanakya" for managing economic reforms and rued that "99.99 percent of Congress party believed he conspired" to have the Babri Masjid demolished.

Crediting him for bringing about economic reforms in 1991, Ramesh said former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was the finance minister under Rao, could not have done so much on reform front without the mentoring by the then prime minister.

Talking about the "problem" Congress had with Rao, Ramesh said "99.99 percent of Congress party believes that Narsimha Rao conspired to have the Babri Masjid demolished and paved the way for its demolition."

Ramesh, however, said he did not believe in this "conspiracy theory" that Rao "actively" wanted the mosque to be demolished.

"I think he overestimated his ability to deal with the RSS," he said at an event here based on his book 'To The Brink And Back' on 1991 economic crisis and the following reforms.

On the reform issue, Ramesh said,"Dr Manmohan Singh has been rightly given credit for design of the economic reforms of 1991 but unfortunately the then Prime Minister Narsimha Rao does not get credit for political management of the reforms."

"Without Narsimha Rao, Manmohan Singh could not have done what he did just as without Manmohan Singh, Narsimha Rao could not have done what he did. It was unique Jugalbandi of two people from two different worlds drawn together by the crisis," he said.

The book deals with the period between June-August 1991, essentially the 33 days when under "compulsion" of the unprecedented economic crisis Rao and Manmohan Singh kicked off the reform measures including new fiscal, industrial and trade policies, he said.

"Both in their own way, one in a technocratic way, one in a political way were able to craft an appropriate response to the crisis."

There was no consensus in the prevailing political situation in 1991 and besides the industry, BJP and Left parties even Congress itself was "badly divided" over the reforms, he said.

"The story in the book is how this completely Machiavellian character called Narsimha Rao in 33 days could summon up the courage to transform the Indian economy . It is story about how Manmohan Singh and Narsimha Rao combined to override not only the objections within the party but also take other political parties and stakeholders along."

Terming Narsimha Rao as political "Chanakya", the former Union minister said he was able to "defang" opposition to economic reforms not only from within the Congress but also by other parties which was a truly remarkable feat.

"Rao was a political Chanakya of highest order. Forget the other parties, he defanged opposition to the reforms from his own party and set it on a particular course which is truly remarkable.

"Without facebook, twitter, Instagram, he communicated what he wanted to communicate, he spoke less and listened more, did not project himself as a know all. He projected himself as a total Buddhu but in the hearts of heart he was an arrogant Chanakya," Ramesh said of the leader with whom the Gandhi family did not share the best of relationship.
Kathmandu: The complete ban on alcohol in India's Bihar state seems to have come as a boon for small traders in Nepal who sell low-quality alcohol. Reports here say there has been a sudden rise in small huts along the India-Nepal border to target alcohol customers from Bihar.

Authorities from India's border districts have sought help and cooperation from their Nepali counterparts to check the possible smuggling of alcohol and increase in surveillance along the border.

Bihar imposed a complete ban on sale of alcohol from April 1. At a recent meeting in Forbesganj in Bihar, Indian authorities sought help from their Nepali counterparts to curb the movement of people seeking alcohol from Nepal.

Toyam Rai, chief district officer of Sunsari district who led the Nepali team, said that due to the open international border, there was high chance of smuggling of alcohol from Nepal to India, and so the Indian authorities asked Nepal to cooperate in preventing the smuggling.

Himanshu Sharma, district magistrate of Araria in Bihar, local police chiefs and others also participated as part of the Indian side in the meeting. Reports said mostly people from the working class come to the Nepali side to buy alcohol. But when there is a holiday, businessmen and youth also cross the border.

Local hoteliers say there has been a 2-3 fold rise in sale of alcohol in the past one week, since the ban in Bihar. Nepali traders have now increased the prices of local alcohol, but reports said the quality was quite poor due to the sudden rise in demand.

bound to happen and vested interests dealing in illicit stuff must be laughing their way to bank. from Border the malice will cover entire state

Seham Renganathan

"With the ban on alcohol in Bihar, the Indian authorities have asked us to curb the smuggling of alcohol from Nepal. They are also concerned that after the ban, criminals may sneak into Nepal that will further invite security complications," said Sunsari Superintendent of Police Sandip Bhandari.

"With this new unfolding situation, we may face new security threats along the border," said Rai. "We have assured the Indian side about the security arrangements on the border."
New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, who is in Delhi on her maiden visit after taking over the reins of the state, dismissed the possibility of shifting National Institute of Technology (NIT) out of the Valley on Tuesday.

The 56-year-old Mehbooba, who assumed charge of the PDP-BJP government on 4 April, called on Union Home Minister Rajnath Sing, a meeting she described as a "courtesy call".

Emerging from the 45-minute meeting with Singh, Mehbooba said, "It is a courtesy call on the Home Minister after I took over as the Chief Minister".

During the meeting, the two sides are believed to have discussed the present turmoil in the state due to clashes between outstation students and police besides law and order situation arising out of militancy.

Sources in the ministry said the Home Minister told Mehbooba that normalcy should be restored at the earliest.

As she was leaving the North Block, journalists asked her questions about the unrest at the NIT and the demand by outstation students to shift the campus to Jammu.

"Let me make it clear that it is an issue within the institute and please do not give it a colour of local versus outsiders. The Human Resources Development Ministry is looking into the grievances of the outstation students and I am hopeful that it will be resolved soon.

"As far as demands of some students to shift the NIT campus out of Srinagar is considered, let me make it clear that it won't be possible," she said.

To a question that many outstation students had not appeared in the examination that began on Monday, she said "Some students were not prepared for exams. Their exams would be conducted later.

"Some students have gone back to their homes because of the environment," Mehbooba, the first woman Chief Minister of the state, said.

She later met Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and is believed to have discussed the issue of widening of state's national highways which has been pending with his ministry for a long time.

She is also believed to have taken up the issue of bad road connectivity within the state.

Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir government said in a statement that during her meeting with the Union Home Minister, Mehbooba discussed how to broaden the scope of cross  LoC trade and travel.

The Chief Minister proposed opening of additional routes and crossing points across the Line of Control, described by late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed as the "biggest" confidence- building measure between India and Pakistan.

The proposed new routes include Kargil-Skardu, Jammu- Sialkote, Turtuk-Khapulu, Chhamb Jorian-Mirpur, Gurez-Astoor- Gilgit, Titwal-Chilhas, and Jhangar (Nowshera)-Mirpur and Kotli.

Mohbooba and Singh discussed on proposals of the state government which are presently under the consideration of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

The proposals include continuation of modernisation of Police Force Scheme, revised ex-gratia scheme, including loss to livestock due to cross-border firing, and exemption of security-related expenditure on account of deployment charges.

Expressing concern over rising crimes against women, Mehbooba sought financial support from the Union Home Minister for raising two all-women battalions.

She said the Cabinet had, in its meeting on Monday, sanctioned four new women police stations to check rising incidents of crimes against women, the release said.

On adopting non-lethal means in better crowd control to prevent loss of precious human lives while dealing with law and order situations, Singh assured the Chief Minister of full support from the Union Home Ministry.

The Chief Minister welcomed the central government's direction to state governments to appoint Nodal Officers to ensure safety and security of students from Jammu and Kashmir who are pursuing studies outside the state.

The issue of Inner Line Permit for foreign tourists for visiting various parts of Ladakh also came up for discussion during the meeting.

Mehbooba also requested the Union Home Minister to clear the proposal for restoration of damaged infrastructure in police department due to floods of 2014. A proposal amounting to Rs 286.57 crore has already been sent to the Home Ministry in this regard.

The Chief Minister urged Singh to take an early decision on the state government's proposal to recognise Nepal route as one of the routes under the policy framed for returnees from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

On the return of Kashmir Pandits, the Chief Minister said not only the state government but the people of Jammu and Kashmir want return of Kashmiri Pandit community to the Valley with dignity and honour as the cultural milieu of Kashmir without them remains incomplete.

In her meeting with Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Mehbooba sought higher allocation under Central Road Fund for the state.

Gadkari assured Mehbooba that once utilisation certificates (UCs) for Rs 848 crore are received, an amount of Rs 350 crore will be released under central road fund (CRF).

So far, UCs amounting to Rs 801 crore have been sent by the R&B Department, the meeting was informed, the release said.

The Chief Minister highlighted the urgent need to declare Mughal Road as an alternate National Highway, keeping in view the critical condition of certain portions of Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. She also highlighted the need for construction of a tunnel to make Mughal Road an all-weather road.

Mughal Road was renovated under Prime Minister's Reconstruction Plan (PMRP) and completed at a cost of Rs 640 crore. For providing alternate connectivity to Chenab Valley, the Chief Minister requested the Union Minister for construction of a National Highway from Lakhanpur to Doda via Ranjit Sagar Dam, which will provide a huge fillip to the tourism potential of the region.

Mehbooba also raised the issue of inclusion of more projects under Bharat Mala and Inter-State Connectivity Projects so that better road connectivity is provided to the people.

She was informed that except Qazitur-Tangdhar Road for which certain clarifications have been sought from the Public Works Department, bids have been received in case of Baramulla-Gulmarg and Poonch-Uri Roads and the work on the projects will be allotted shortly.

The Chief Minister was informed that Rs 90 crore will be released to the state government for basic maintenance of roads.

Mehbooba also sought special assistance for completing construction of 541 bridges in the state.

The Union Transport Minister assured the Chief Minister that he will get the proposal submitted by the state government examined on priority.

As regards to the issue of rationalisation of toll collection, a demand raised by the Chief Minister, he said the proposal submitted by the state government will be prioritised.

The Chief Minister assured Gadkari that the state government will extend full support in land acquisition for construction of ring roads in the two capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar.

The Surface Transport Ministry has already started the process of framing detailed project reports so that the work on the two prestigious projects is started in earnest.
Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose, wrote French critic, journalist and novelist Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr in 1849. More than a century later, his epigram remains intrinsically true, and nowhere does it ring home with such forcefulness of inevitability as they do during the election season in West Bengal. Here, the more things change, the more they indeed remain the same.

As the opening round of the six-phase 2016 Assembly elections came to a close on Monday with 31 Assembly constituencies spread over three districts of West Midnapore, Bankura and Burdwan going to polls, an unprecedented 1878 complaints were lodged with the Election Commission and almost all of it against the ruling Trinamool Congress Party.

That works out to an average of over 60 complaints from each seat. And in one of history's little ironies, the Left Front  which for over three decades had perfected the art of 'scientific rigging' and vote through bullet, not ballot  was force fed its own medicine as upstart TMC imitated, internalized and even improved upon its blueprint of subverting people's democratic rights during polls.

Votes were "done", not cast during the heydays of Left Front rule. Reports were commonplace of CPM cadres, workers and pet hooligans taking over villages, panchayats, sometimes entire districts through organised violence. Under guidance from the omnipresent local committee, thorough research was done on areas that might vote against the ruling party. The people were then intimidated into staying indoors on the polling day as agents took care of the democratic process.

In some cases, standing behind the jute curtain where the ballot machine was kept, the Left loyalist would silently watch as voters stamped on, or after EVM machines were introduced, pressed the hammer and sickle button. Democracy was under way.

It was precisely for these reasons that Central Election Commission announced polls in Bengal over six phases to make it easier for about 60000-70000 central paramilitary forces to be deployed in sensitive areas. As a precautionary measure, the CEC transferred 35 officials including four superintendents of police (SP) and a district magistrate last month. Also, with the advent of live television, an army of reporters, photo and video journalists now cover every inch of polling areas, making it difficult for law-breakers to operate in the sly.

Difficult, but not impossible. Monday showed that pupil has mastered the art and has even bettered the teacher. Instead of blatant violence which was witnessed during last year's civic body polls, this time the stress was on a clever amalgamation of violence, terrorization, threats, intimidation, rigging, booth capturing and other malpractices but never in too strong a dose so as to attract large-scale attention.

The perpetrators worked mostly on the sly, away from cameras and in places where central forces were busy catching forty winks from merciless sun, shopping or idling around.

As the hottest day in a decade came about with the mercury rising above 45 degrees in some areas and voting progressed from brisk to sluggish in afternoon, a volley of charges were leveled as opposition cried foul, TMC remained smug and CEC announced that the polls were "largely peaceful" acknowledging in the same breath, however, that it has received unprecedented complaints.

The rival parties accused the TMC of perpetrating violence and engaging in false voting in Pingla, Sabang, Keshpur, Garbeta and Chandrakona in West Midnapore, Sonamukhi and Onda in Bankura district and Jamuria, Pandabeshwar and Patrasayar in Burdwan.

In West Midnapore's Keshpur, an area which has a long history of violence, a CPM female polling agent was allegedly threatened by TMC goons who vowed to "strip her and put her on auction" if she didn't comply with their command and leave the booth, reported ABP Ananda. Once considered a "Red Fortress', CPM had been able to station a little over 100 polling agents in 273 booths in Keshpur. That number dwindled further as the day wore on.

Receiving charges of electoral malpractices in several booths of West Midnapore's Narayangarh, the area he has been representing since 1991, CPM's state secretary and alliance's CM candidate Surya Kanta Mishra stepped out to check and was promptly confronted with a large number of "ordinary people" who gheraoed him and started sloganeering, ostensibly angry with the MLA for "not frequenting them except during elections." The group of men shouted "we won't allow you to become CM" and "Surya Kanta Mishra go back".

It was not known why these voters were showering abuse on Mishra instead of heading for the booth and voting against him, a right which democracy allows them.

Mishra said later that "these were TMC workers and their shouting betrayed the nervousness the party and its supreme leader Mamata Banerjee was experiencing".

Jamuria in Burdwan was a flashpoint where Jiban Ruidas, a CPM polling agent was admitted to a health centre with head injuries after he was allegedly beaten up by TMC activists. And in the same constituency, two bags full of live, crude bombs were discovered at a gym near a polling booth which scared off the voters. In Nandi, central forces had to rush and resort to lathicharge to diffuse the clash between TMC and BJP workers. At least 13 were injured.

In Raniganj, Burdwan, TMC MLA Sohrab Ali, convicted in an iron scrap theft case and given a clean chit by the Chief Minister, marched into polling premises at Anjuman High School and Durga Vidyalaya and started supervising the arrangements. He budged only when local TV cameras caught him in action. The EC has suspended the presiding officer and promised to lodge an FIR against Sohrab.

But these were sporadic at best. The real game started when the sun started beating down in the afternoon. In the total 79.56% votes cast on Monday across 31 constituencies, West Midnapore recorded 84.71%, Bankura 78.87% and Burdwan 75.12%.

In many of these areas, extreme heat caused voting queues to thin out and then almost disappear by mid-afternoon. But curiously in some areas, voting percentages went up despite absence of voters. In one of the booths in Keshpur of West Midnapore, The Telegraph reported sounds of loud "beep", typical of EVM machines, emanate from the polling station even when no voters were in sight. The booth recoded a voting percentage of 88.13.

In Narayangarh, the newspaper reported accounts of families who have been directed by "some local youths" to stay away from the polling booths on Monday. "I run a tea stall and have two daughters.... I cannot fight them. So, it's better to stay away from the booth," said the head of the family, in the report.

In West Midnapore's Debra, for instance, a primary school which served as a polling booth recorded 64% voting at 12.30 pm, 76% two hours later and 88% at the end of the day. All the while, reports Anandabazar Patrika correspondent, none could be seen except presiding officer and a few CRPF jawans.

The opposition has predictably slammed the EC. Sidharth Nath Singh, BJP's national secretary, told Firstpost that his party is unhappy with the role of EC.

"We are meeting the EC today in Delhi and will convey our displeasure. We want that things should improve in terms of how the voting process has been handled in Bengal so far."

The TMC, however, has said the state has witnessed "free and fair elections."

The script is known. Only the characters have changed.
The impeachment battle against Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has been waged in the streets, in Congress and in the courts.

These key dates track an often complex process that moves forward Monday with a vote in the lower house commission, then a decisive vote in the full lower house a week later.

2 December, 2015

Controversial lower house Speaker Eduardo Cunha formally opens the impeachment saga by accepting a petition from a group of lawyers.

They accuse Rousseff of having illegally juggled government accounts and taking loans in order to mask the depth of government shortfalls during her 2014 re-election.

Meanwhile, many politicians, including Cunha, are snared in criminal corruption probes linked to a vast embezzlement scheme at state oil company Petrobras.

16 March, 2016

The Supreme Court resolves technical issues that had been holding up impeachment proceedings and the battle gets under way.

17 March

The lower house of parliament forms a cross-party commission of 65 members to recommend whether impeachment should go ahead.

4 April

Against a backdrop of regular pro- and anti-Rousseff street protests, Brazil's solicitor general, Jose Eduardo Cardozo, makes final arguments before the commission in the president's defense.

He tells deputies that the charges do not amount to impeachable offenses and that the process is fueled by Cunha's "desire for revenge."

11 April

The commission was to vote on Monday, with only a simple majority needed either way. The commission's rapporteur Jovair Arantes already recommended last week in favor and expectations were that the "yes" side would prevail.

17 or 18 April

The commission vote is non-binding but sets the tone for when the lower house of Congress meets a week later -- expected for either April 17 or 18 -- to issue a decisive ruling.

A two-thirds majority will be required there for an impeachment trial to open in the upper house. Anything less and the matter will be dropped.

If a trial starts in the Senate, then another two-thirds vote will be required for Rousseff to be removed from office. In the meantime, she would have to step aside and Vice President Michel Temer would take over.

A guide to the impeachment process

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff risks being driven from office if the lower house votes in favor of an impeachment trial, with Monday's vote in a special commission a symbolic first step.

These are the main stages in the crisis, which comes on top of a deep recession in Latin America's biggest economy as it prepares to host the Olympic Games in August in Rio de Janeiro.

Runup

A petition to impeach Rousseff, accusing her of fiddling government accounts to mask budget shortfalls, was accepted last year. On March 17 this year, lawmakers formally launched an impeachment commission after procedural obstacles were resolved.

Launch

The commission votes Monday on whether to recommend impeachment. Although non-binding the decision will help set the tone for a crucial vote in the lower house a week later, probably 17 or 18 April.

Trial

If fewer than two-thirds of the lower house approve the motion, Rousseff escapes impeachment. If two-thirds approve, the case passes to the Senate.

There, a simple majority of the Senate will be enough to begin a trial. Rousseff will be ordered out of office provisionally for up to six months while the Senate hears evidence.

She would be replaced by her vice president and leading opponent, Michel Temer.

Judgement

After closing arguments in the impeachment trial, senators will vote on whether to remove Rousseff from office. If two-thirds of senators vote to impeach her, she will be out. If not, she can resume her post.

Analysts say the case may take just a few weeks to reach the Senate, but once there the proceedings could take months.

Road bumps

If the Senate launches an impeachment trial, it could be under way as Brazil hosts the Olympic Games in Rio from August 5 to 21.

The political crisis engulfing Rousseff and her allies such as predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has sparked angry street protests which threaten to heat up over the coming months. Rousseff could also slow things down with challenges in the Supreme Court.

Lula himself is awaiting a Supreme Court ruling on whether he can join Rousseff's cabinet, partly shielding him from corruption charges brought by a lower court.

And while the political paralysis in Brasilia deepens, nothing is being done to address Brazil's gaping recession.
Ottawa: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he will offer a full apology in Parliament next month for a government decision in 1914 to turn away a ship carrying hundreds of South Asian immigrants.

The Komagata Maru from Hong Kong arrived off Vancouver only to have almost all of its 376 passengers, nearly all Sikhs, denied entry due to immigration laws at the time.

The ship was eventually sent to Calcutta, and least 19 people were killed in a skirmish with British soldiers. Others were jailed.

Former prime minister Stephen Harper apologised at an event in British Columbia in 2008, but members of the Sikh community have long said an apology should be offered formally in Parliament.

Trudeau had pledged to make an apology during his election campaign last year.
Washington: Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has described the party's delegate selection rules as "rigged and disgusting", after his rival Ted Cruz swept all of Colorado's 34 delegates over the weekend.

"Honestly, I do wonder. I'm millions of votes ahead, which they dont even mention, they don't even talk about. They talk about delegates. And I'm hundreds of delegates ahead but the system is rigged, folks. It's a rigged, disgusting dirty system," Trump, 69, told his supporters at a rally in Albany in New York.

"It's a dirty system and only a non-politician would say it," Trump said expressing his anger and deep frustration over the current system.

Colorado Republicans cancelled their presidential preference poll since it would not affect their unbound delegates. The 37 delegates were instead selected at the state convention. However, the party leadership rejected Trump's allegations.

"It's the same process they used four years ago. I mean, it's no different. Some states use a primary system to bind delegates. Some states use a caucus system to bind delegates. And some states use a convention system to bind delegates," Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee,

told Fox News in an interview.

Priebus said the rules were developed well in advance and a transparent system has been followed for the primary system.

While Trump has 743 delegates to Cruz's 545, political pundits believe that if the real estate tycoons fails to reach the 1,237 pledged delegates, the Texas Senator has the organisational advantage to win the party's nomination at the Cleveland Convention in July.
New Delhi: Pursuing its proactive maritime policy, the government has expressed keenness to develop ports for various countries including Africa, Bangladesh and Iran.

"During the recent summit of heads of African nations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj expressed desire that India can join hands with various African nations for building roads and ports. My ministry will take up such works once the responsibility is given to us," Road Transport and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari said here on Monday.

Talking to journalists at Foreign Correspondents Club here, the minister said the agreement between Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal to work on mutual infrastructure development and cooperation is unique and has gone down "very well".

Gadkari also said the Modi government has undertaken major legislative reforms in last two years towards codification, rationalisation and simplification of maritime statutes.

India, he said, has already taken preliminary steps to construct a deep water port at Payra in south western Bangladesh.

This port and opening up of Chittagong and Mongla ports in Bangladesh to bilateral commerce will give immense boost to relations between two countries, he said.

The minister said a high-level delegation of his ministry will visit Bangladesh to work out details for the Payra port, which would be closer to Indian coastline too.

On 6 June, 2015, during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Dhaka, India and Bangladesh inked the agreement on Coastal Shipping for two-way trade through ports and also had signed an MoU for use of Chittagong and Mongla ports for movement of goods to and from India.

The agreements seek to reduce not only the time in shipping goods but also costs.

In fact, Gadkari said on Monday that India is keen to use Chittagong port for transporting goods to northeast India, which otherwise suffers a lot due to poor road link with the mainland.

The external affairs ministries of both sides have already held talks for the port development, the minister said.

Similarly, he said India is very much keen to develop Chabahar port in Iran and added that connecting Chabhar to Kandla will have an immense impact in long term perspective.

India has already pledged investment of around Rs two lakh crore in developing the strategic port in Iran, which would provide India a sea-land access route to Afghanistan.

This can in future open up road communication even to Russia and beyond, he hoped.

Gadkari said the on-going visit of an Indian delegation led by union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to Iran will give further boost to cooperation on various sectors including port development, road transport and highways as a team of officials from his ministry is also in the visiting team.

"We will come to know of details once the delegation led by Pradhan returns," Gadkari said.
Istanbul: A car bomb attack has hit a military police station in a mainly Kurdish region in southeastern

Turkey, wounding several people, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

The news agency said "terrorists" affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, carried out the bombing in the town of Hani in the Diyarbakir region late yesterday.

Ambulances took wounded victims to the Diyarbakir Military Hospital, but the agency did not indicate how many people were hurt.

The private Dogan news agency said some nearby buildings were damaged by the blast. Turkey's southeast has witnessed a surge in violence since July when a fragile peace process between the state and Kurdish militants collapsed.

The military has carried out sweeping operations in the southeast, including in Diyarbakir, to flush out fighters linked to the outlawed PKK.

Turkey and its allies consider the PKK, which fought a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state, a terrorist organisation.
SANLIURFA, Turkey Fighting raged on Monday between Turkish security forces and Kurdish militants in southeast Turkey as the cabinet met in the restive region to discuss ways of rebuilding its shattered economy.

A car bomb smashed into a military base in Diyarbakir province, killing one soldier and wounding 20 others, just hours after cabinet adjourned in neighbouring Sanliurfa, security sources said.

The Turkish army said 39 members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) had been killed in clashes in four towns across the region over the weekend, adding to a death toll that has risen sharply since the collapse of a ceasefire last July.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu chaired the cabinet meeting in the city of Sanliurfa, the first held outside the capital Ankara since 2003. Though located in southeast Turkey, Sanliurfa has so far been largely spared the violence elsewhere in the region.

Ministers were due to discuss urban redevelopment plans after months of clashes in towns and cities across the mainly Kurdish southeast.

A vehicle laden with explosives rammed into a gendarmes' base in the town of Hani, located north of the provincial capital of Diyarbakir, the security sources said. The force of the blast was so strong that windows shattered and buildings around town shook, witnesses said.

Gunfire rang out overnight and smoke rose from neighbourhoods in Yuksekova in Hakkari province, which neighbours Iran, security sources said.

The army said 20 PKK militants had been killed on Saturday and 19 more on Sunday in the towns of Nusaybin, Sirnak, Silopi and Yuksekova. It did not say whether any members of the military or security forces had also been killed.

Thousands of militants and hundreds of civilians and soldiers have been killed since the PKK resumed its fight against the Turkish state last summer, wrecking a 2-1/2-year ceasefire and peace process.

The government has refused to return to the negotiating table and has vowed to "liquidate" the PKK, considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.

More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict since the PKK took up arms in 1984.

(Reporting by Seyhmus Cakan and Ayla Jean Yackley; Writing by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Daren Butler, Gareth Jones and Tom Brown)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
New Delhi: Defense Secretary Ash Carter says the US and India have reached a preliminary agreement that will make it easier for the two countries' militaries to work together in disasters or other emergencies.

Carter says the two countries have "agreed in principle" on the logistical agreement.

He spoke during a news conference Tuesday with Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar.

Carter says the two countries expect to soon reach a second pact to improve the sharing of information on commercial shipping, in a move to beef up security on the seas.

US defense officials said the first agreement will help the two militaries coordinate better, including in exercises, and also will allow the US to more easily sell fuel or provide spare parts to the Indians.
When it comes to criminal justice reform, reasonable conservatives, liberals, libertarians and tea party advocates should agree on at least some basic tenets of law. Once a convict has served his time and completes the legal requirements to be freed from prison, the debt to society is paid.

Conviction, especially for nonviolent crimes, must not automatically convert into a life sentence when ex-offenders seek employment, higher education or just a decent place to live. The tendency among employers and landlords, however, is to impose harsh rules that effectively deny ex-offenders any chance to get a fresh start.

A nationwide ban the box movement seeks to drastically reduce the appearance of checkboxes asking applicants whether they have ever been convicted of a crime. We know of no faster way to drive a person back into a life of crime than for employers to reject ex-offenders automatically, just because they were honest and checked the box.

Gov. Jay Nixon signed an executive order Monday directing state employers under executive-branch authority to remove questions about criminal history from job applications. According to the National Employment Law Project, 21 other states and more than 100 local governments already apply such rules.

The Missouri Department of Corrections says the states parolees suffered a 44 percent unemployment rate in 2015. Given the disproportionate rate of incarceration for African-Americans, automatic denial of housing and jobs to ex-offenders only adds to the hurdles in overcoming a history of racial discrimination, not to mention the added hardship inflicted on families and the greater community.

Nixons order follows other ban-the-box actions that include legislative efforts in Illinois to stop colleges from asking applicants about their criminal histories until after theyve been accepted as students. Last week, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro issued a directive that private landlords could be found in violation of the Fair Housing Act if they enforce blanket bans on renting to ex-offenders.

The fact is, HUD itself applies certain criteria to enforce bans. People who used public housing for drug dealing, for example, can automatically be rejected for certain forms of housing assistance. Sometimes even their families can be denied. Convicted pedophiles justifiably may not live within certain distances of schools or public parks.

Many Illinois college students worry that the proposed law could put them in greater danger on campus. Such concerns are real and must not be ignored.

Its important, however, not to lump all ex-offenders together as being universally dangerous, undesirable and unworthy of a second chance. The goal must be to help ex-offenders turn their lives around, not shun them to the point of desperation, where they see no other option than to return to the activities that landed them in prison to begin with.

Correction: An earlier version of this editorial misidentified the secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
Prominent opposition lawmaker Um Sam An was arrested late Sunday in Siem Reap province for comments he made about the border with Vietnam, a government spokesman said Monday.

Last year, Sam An led a group of Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) activists to the Vietnamese-Cambodian border and criticized the Cambodian government for using what he said was the wrong map to demarcate the frontier. He then left for the United States to search for alternative "real" maps. Another member of the group, CNRP Senator Hong Sok Hour, was arrested on charges related to the border issue.

General Khieu Sopheak, a spokesman at the Interior Ministry, told VOA Khmer that Sam An's comments in 2015 and during his trip to the U.S. were "incitement to create chaos in Cambodia and social unrest," and that they were racist against the Vietnamese.

"As VOA audiences heard before he was arrested, when he was in Cambodia and in the States, his words were no different from inciting to create social unrest," Sopheak said. "First, he tried to make people angry about losing land and convince them that the government had used a fake map."

Sopheak insisted the government is trying not to repeat the mistakes of Cambodia's civil war, which was partly sparked by tensions over the country's border with Vietnam. At the time, North Vietnamese communists and insurgents in the south were using Cambodian territory to fight the United States.

"As we all know, [Sam An] used racist words that were used in 1970, and led to civil war," he said. "In sum, we arrested him, like we did with another accused person, Hong Sok Hour. We are going to send him to the court."

Sam An was sent to court Monday for several hours of questioning, before being returned to custody.

Arrest condemned

The CNRP released a statement Monday condemning the arrest as a violation of Cambodia's Constitution. Under the charter, members of parliament cannot be arrested in most cases without special permission of the National Assembly.

CNRP spokesman Yim Sovann also rejected Sopheak's description of the lawmaker's alleged crimes.

"There's no obvious crime, no offense," he told VOA Khmer. "If he [Sam An] claimed his map is correct and the government or ruling party said it is fake, we should have a dialogue."

Sovann also questioned law enforcement officials' handling of the case, which involved a late night raid to take Sam An into custody. "Why do we use these means? It creates a bad practice." Sovann said.

History of speaking out

Sam An has become well-known in recent years for his strong stance on the government's alleged mishandling of the border, but he has a long history of political activism. He led the pro-democracy Students' Movement for Democracy in the 1990s, opposing Prime Minister Hun Sen's government on human rights issues and corruption, as well as border issues.

Sam An now has American citizenship, having moved to the U.S. in about 2003 to study. He gained a master's degree in management from Cambridge College and resided in Lowell, Massachusetts  home to a large Cambodian American community. He returned to Cambodia before the 2013 general election, at which time he won his National Assembly seat.

Sam An's detention is the 16th arrest of a CNRP member or activist in less than a year.

Sopheak said the Interior Ministry will report to the National Assembly about Sam An's crimes, so that it can vote on whether to oppose the arrest. National Assembly spokesman Leng Penglong confirmed that parliament will vote Tuesday.
U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan took an unusual step Tuesday, holding a news conference in front of a room packed with reporters and cameras to announce that he was NOT going to do something: seek or accept the Republican nomination for president of the United States.

Speaking at Republican National Committee headquarters on Capitol Hill, the Wisconsin representative said speculation that he could emerge from a potential contested convention as the nominee even followed him on his recent tour of the Middle East. He said it was time to put the rumors to rest.

"Let me be clear: I do not want, nor will I accept, the Republican nomination," Ryan said. For added emphasis he said, "Count me out."

Still staying active

Ryan said he believed that the person who becomes the Republican Partys nominee should be someone who actually ran for president, and he chose not to run, so he should not be considered. He said this did not mean that he was going to disappear. He said he would continue to speak out because there is a big debate about what direction the country should take. Ryan said he thought Republicans could again be an optimistic party and promote upward mobility and conservative solutions to poverty.

The speculation about Ryan secretly waiting to be a savior at the convention started when some Republicans made it known that they were not happy with front-runner Donald Trump or Texas Senator Ted Cruz. Ohio Governor John Kasich is also still in the race but is far behind his two rivals in the delegate count.

'Just amazing'

In an interview earlier Tuesday, Ryan laughed when asked whether he was working behind the scenes to "steal" the GOP nomination away from Trump or Cruz.

"No, I am not," he told a Milwaukee radio station. "This is just amazing. It is just amazing how these things keep going. I am going to try again today to put this to bed."

Some Republican lawmakers have expressed concern that Trump or Cruz might lose badly in the general election, hurting other Republican candidates running for House and Senate seats on the same ballot. Trump is complaining bitterly about the way the party is allocating delegates and has said that if he has the most delegates and is not given the nomination, there might be riots.

To win the Republican nomination outright on the first ballot, a candidate has to win 1,237 delegates. The Republican National Convention will be held July 18-21 in Cleveland.
A key U.S. senator directly told Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland on Tuesday the Republican-controlled Senate has no intention of holding hearings on his nomination this year, and will wait for the country's next president to make an appointment to fill a court vacancy.

Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa ate breakfast with Garland, with the lawmaker's office saying they had a "cordial and pleasant" meeting.

But Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee that normally holds hearings on Supreme Court nominees, "explained why the Senate will not be moving forward during this hyper-partisan election year."

President Barack Obama nominated Garland, an appellate court judge in Washington, for the life-time Supreme Court position after the unexpected death in February of Justice Antonin Scalia, a conservative stalwart on the court for nearly 30 years.

The appointment of Garland has heightened the already fractious political divide between Democrats and Republicans in Washington, because he could alter the court's philosophical balance. Scalia was part of a five-member bloc of conservative justices that often held sway over the court's four liberal justices in key rulings.

Garland is widely regarded and viewed as a centrist jurist in his rulings. But analysts are predicting that if he fills the Supreme Court seat, he would prove to be more liberal than Scalia, thus altering the court's ideological makeup that has held for years.

Democrats have called for hearings and a vote on Garland's nomination. But Grassley and most other Republican lawmakers have rebuffed them, holding out hope that a Republican president will be elected in November's national election to replace Obama when he leaves office next January and then would make a Supreme Court appointment more to their liking.

Some Republicans, however, have said they will consider acting on Garland's nomination after the presidential election if the leading Democratic contender, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, is elected, on the theory that she might nominate a justice who is even less to their liking than Garland.
Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov ordered a halt Tuesday to all criminal inquiries into allegations of a vast government wiretap operation, prompting the opposition to demand his resignation for a move it said amounted to a "coup d'etat."

Macedonia, a poor Balkan country of 2 million people on the front line of Europe's refugee crisis, has been in turmoil since the opposition accused then-Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and his counterintelligence chief in February last year of orchestrating the wiretapping of more than 20,000 people.

Ivanov's decision Tuesday to shelve all investigations into the scandal, an action also sharply criticized by the European Union as contrary to the rule of law, looks set to compound rather than ease the crisis.

"I have decided to put an end to this agony for Macedonia," Ivanov told reporters, announcing he would sign a decree ending all legal proceedings against politicians over the wiretap allegations.

Opposition Social Democratic leader Zoran Zaev, who made the original allegations, responded at a news conference, "We want Gjorge Ivanov to resign. If he doesn't do that, he will lead the state to the brink. This today is a coup d'etat. We will use all tools that we have to stop it."

Demonstrators gather

Several hundred protesters gathered soon afterward, throwing eggs at Ivanov's office and ruling party headquarters and pushing and shoving with police.

The EU commissioner in charge of relations with would-be member states, such as Macedonia, condemned Ivanov's decision as contrary to the rule of law and questioned whether a general election planned soon could be credible.

The EU's Johannes Hahn said recent actions by the Macedonian leadership had jeopardized the former Yugoslav republic's prospects of closer relations with the EU and NATO.

The opposition released a slew of wiretaps last year that they said had been made by allies of Gruevski and that it said exposed government control over journalists, judges, public sector recruitment and the manipulation of elections.

Ivanov is an ally of Gruevski, who backed the president's election, though the president's powers are limited under Macedonia's parliamentary system.

The EU brokered a deal with Macedonia under which a special prosecutor was appointed to investigate the revelations and Gruevski agreed to an early election, now expected in June. The opposition has already pledged to boycott the election.

The special prosecutor launched criminal proceedings in February against two former ministers on suspicion of intimidating voters.

Gruevski and his center-right VMRO-DPMNE party denied any wrongdoing.

Shortly before he aired the wiretapping allegations last year, Zaev was charged with conspiring with an unidentified foreign intelligence service to topple the government.

No amnesty, Zaev says

It was not immediately clear whether Ivanov's decision to halt all criminal proceedings applied to Zaev, but the opposition leader said that, in any case, he would reject such a step. "I neither ask for nor will accept amnesty," he said. "We are not all the same and we are not all criminals."

Ivanov said he was intervening because the long-running crisis had seriously damaged Macedonia, which closed its border in March to thousands of migrants hoping to reach northern Europe, leaving them bottled up in Greece.

"Politics [has] turned itself into who will open more criminal proceedings or submit criminal charges against one another," Ivanov said. "The thing is so tangled up that nobody can untangle it."

Arsim Zekolli, a former Macedonian ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, told the Balkan Insight news website that Ivanov's decision was to be expected "in a country where it is common knowledge that it is run by one political party and where crime and corruption flourish."

"We have no parliament, no judiciary and a police controlled by a political party. ... This is indescribable," Zekolli said.
A military expert says the U.S. Navy officer who is facing espionage charges for allegedly passing state secrets, possibly to China and Taiwan, may have been in possession of valuable signals intelligence.

A redacted Navy charge sheet says the suspect, identified by an anonymous U.S. official as Lieutenant Commander Edward Lin  a naturalized citizen from Taiwan  was assigned to the Navy's Patrol and Reconnaissance Group, which manages intelligence gathering activities.

Andrei Chang, a military expert and founder of Canadian and Chinese Defense Review, told VOA that information about how the U.S. Navy carries out such signals collection operations could be highly valuable to a foreign government.

After a U.S. EP-3 surveillance plane collided with a Chinese fighter jet over the South China Sea in 2001, Chang said, China forced the reconnaissance aircraft to land in a Chinese airport and dismantled it, hoping to get more information about its intelligence gathering capacity.

"With the East China Sea and South China Sea dispute intensifying, and the deterioration of Sino-U.S. strategic relations, the United States frequently sends EP-3 electronic reconnaissance aircraft into the South China Sea and the East China Sea, and to places very close to China's coastal areas," said Chang, explaining that the planes are capable of conducting a variety of radio, telephone and mobile communications operations.

"It can monitor, record, measure and use the information to locate military bases to find out what kinds of planes took off, and what orders were given," he added.

Taiwanese connection

Taiwan's Foreign Ministry declined to comment, but Taiwan's Defense Ministry said the current espionage case is unrelated to its government affairs, and it has no information on the case.

Taiwanese media outlets quoted Defense Ministry generals as saying that, in the past, if any Taiwanese were suspected of espionage, the United States would notify the Taiwanese government and ask them to assist with the investigation, but this time the United States made no contact.

Taiwanese news reports also say the U.S. navy has accused the suspect of communicating secret information and three times of attempting to do so "with intent or reason to believe it would be used to the advantage of a foreign nation.

A Taiwanese official who spoke to VOA on the condition of anonymity confirmed the suspect is a Taiwanese immigrant, but that "that is the only thing linking this case to Taiwan." U.S.-Taiwanese military exchanges have not been affected by the case, he added.

U.S. officials said both Taiwan and China were possibly the countries Lin may have passed information to, but stressed the investigation is still ongoing. White House spokesman Josh Earnest confirmed that a Navy officer was in custody on espionage charges at Navy Consolidated Brig in Chesapeake, Virginia, but declined to offer additional information.

The suspect, who is also accused of engaging in prostitution and adultery, was apprehended at an airport in Hawaii, possibly while attempting to leave the country.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said he was not aware of the details of the case.

This report was produced in collaboration with VOA's Mandarin Service. Some information is from Reuters.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says he is deeply moved" and "honored to be the first U.S. Secretary of State to visit Hiroshima, Japan, a city devastated after the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb near the end of World War II.

He commented at the end of a two-day meeting with other Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers that included a tour of a World War II memorial to victims in Hiroshima.

It was a stunning display, said Kerry, after visiting Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. It is a gut-wrenching display. It tugs at your sensibilities as a human being, he added.

Asked if President Obama will visit Hiroshima when he attends a G-7 leaders summit in Japan in May, Kerry said he hoped that one day the president of the U.S. would be among those who visited the city.

He added that Obama had expressed an interest in visiting but did not know if the presidents schedule would permit during his upcoming trip to Japan.

An overriding theme during the sessions was nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida was asked about recent comments made by U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who suggested Japan and South Korea should have nuclear weapons in order to decrease their reliance on the U.S. for protection.

For us to obtain nuclear weapons is completely inconceivable, said the foreign minister.

Later, without specifically mentioning Trump, Kerry said such suggestions by candidates for high office were absurd on their face and ran counter to everything the U.S. has been trying to achieve.

Global security was among the focal points for Kerry and foreign ministers during their two-day meeting, which comes on the heels of recent terrorist attacks in Brussels and Paris.

In a joint communique, foreign ministers condemned the attacks and other atrocities committed terrorist groups.

Blatant abuses of human rights and the destruction and disorder being brought by ISIL/Daesh and other terrorist organizations continue to pose a serious threat to local, national, regional and international peace and security, the group said.

The foreign ministers also weighed in on efforts to stabilize Syria through U.N.-facilitated talks on a political transition.

It is vital that all parties to the Cessation, as well as their backers, continue to observe its terms fully and focus negotiations on political transition away from [Syrian President Bashar al-] Assads rule, the group said.

The foreign ministers also discussed North Koreas recent provocations, including its nuclear and ballistic missile tests.

Kerry traveled to Hiroshima from Afghanistan. His week-long tour has also included stops in Iraq and Bahrain.

On Tuesday, he will address a trade group in California. The State Department says he will address "national security opportunities" of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
Prosecutors in Michigan are seeking a five-year prison sentence for a Canadian man who says he smuggled more than 1,000 turtles to China to help pay for his college education.

Kai Xu is returning to Ann Arbor federal court yesterday. He has pleaded guilty and says his crime was a shameful effort to relieve the financial burden on his parents.

In 2014, he was caught at the Ontario, Canada, border with 51 turtles taped to his legs. The government says he shipped turtles to China from Canada and the U.S., or hired someone to fly to China from the U.S. with turtles in luggage.

Xu has been in custody for 19 months and hopes to avoid more time behind bars.
A casino cruise ship operated by Arising International Holdings Ltd may now be facing bankruptcy following a wage dispute with 46 crew members, who claim that they are suffering from irregular supply of water, food and energy.

Mr Wong, who identified himself as a representative of the company which owns the ship, the New Imperial Star, told the South China Morning Post (SCMP) that bankruptcy is a real possibility, although it remains a worst-case scenario.

Our investors are devastated and suffering a great loss, he said. We really dont want to see [bankruptcy] happen because, by that stage, the ship will have to be sold very cheaply. Wong added that he has spent HKD20 million to ensure the ship passes a safety inspection which thus far it has not been able to achieve.

According to the SCMP, the ship has been hit  like many in the casino cruise industry  by a drastic drop in the number of mainland tourists and by Beijings anti-corruption campaign and crackdown on gaming.

Wong said that in the past the daily turnover of the ship could reach as much as HKD10 million, with a daily attendance of more than 400 passengers, however last years income may have been reduced by as much as 90 percent.

The crew told the SCMP that they are planning to apply for legal aid next week to take their employer to a local court in the hope of recovering more than five months worth of unpaid work.

Sixty-three-year-old shipmaster Valeriy Lyzhyn said, I feel hopeless [] my greatest concern is about wages, food and repatriation of the crew members.
Chinas equities swung into losses, with industrial stocks leading the retreat, as Premier Li Keqiang flagged downward pressures on the worlds second-largest economy.

The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.3 percent. Machinery maker Citic Heavy Industries Co. led declines for industrial stocks, while brokerage Shenwan Hongyuan Group Co. dropped after saying its net income nearly halved in the first quarter.

Chinas real economy faces multiple difficulties, and the nation will promote supply-side structural reforms to ensure growth is in a reasonable range, Premier Li was cited as saying by China Central Television. Equities in Shanghai surged on Monday, rising the most this month after official data showed producer prices registered their first monthly increase since 2013.

The market has doubts about the sustainability of a pick-up in the economy and needs to see more data to confirm the trend, said Wang Zheng, Shanghai-based chief investment officer at Jingxi Investment Management Co. Particularly after yesterdays decent run-up, investors are very cautious about buying shares and driving stocks higher. He is keeping his equity position unchanged at about 50 percent of asset holdings.

Chinas leaders are trying to revive the economy amid uncertainty in the currency and equity markets. There have been increasing signs of a turnaround of late, with industrial profits breaking a seven-month run of losses, factory activity rising and the nations foreign-

exchange reserves increasing for the first time since October.

The Shanghai Composite fell to 3,023.65 at the close, while the CSI 300 Index dropped 0.4 percent. Hong Kongs Hang Seng China Enterprises Index climbed 0.4 percent and the Hang Seng Index rose 0.3 percent for a fifth day of gains, the longest winning streak in a year. Trading volumes on the Shanghai index were 17 percent lower than the 30-day average yesterday, while the 30-day volatility fell to the lowest in a year.

Gauges of telecom and industrial stocks lost at least 0.7 percent for the biggest declines among the CSI 300s industry groups. ZTE Corp. retreated 2.4 percent in Shenzhen. Daqin Railway Co., the operator of Chinas biggest coal transport network, lost 2 percent after saying it expects first-quarter net income to fall about 50 percent from a year earlier.

Chinas statistics bureau is due to release data on first-quarter economic growth on Friday. Gross domestic product probably expanded 6.7 percent in the January-March period, slowing from 6.9 percent growth in the previous quarter, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey.

Margin traders increased holdings of shares purchased with borrowed money for the first time in three days on Monday, with the outstanding balance of margin debt on the Shanghai Stock Exchange rising by 0.5 percent to 512.1 billion yuan (USD79.2 billion). Bloomberg
Chinas overseas tourism bonanza is starting to resemble the unleashing of Japanese visitors on the world following the yens appreciation in the mid-1980s.

Except, unlike the Japanese boom that began to deflate with the economy in the 1990s, Chinas outbound push  already 120 million strong a year  shows no signs of abating. A vast rural population still to urbanize and a rapidly expanding middle class will underpin a dramatic expansion of overseas travel, according to analysis by Natixis SA.

In both the Japanese and Chinese cases, rising household wealth has been the catalyst for a shift in spending to more sophisticated goods and services, with overseas tourism being one of the preferred ones, Natixis economists led by Alicia Garcia Herrero wrote in a note. A strong currency has also supported this.

Around half of Chinas 1.38 billion people are classed as poor, with an annual income between zero and USD3,000, and most live in rural areas. The government wants to move an additional 81 million residents into urban zones by 2020, a policy set to further bolster demand for outbound travel.

Similar to China, Japanese tourism took off as the middle class expanded and incomes rose; the yens appreciated after the 1985 Plaza Accord accelerated the process. Trips to the U.S. were top of the list for the Japanese, with France the most popular European destination. But the bursting of Japans real estate and stock market bubbles that led to deflation and stagnation diminished the travel bug.

Natixis points out that Chinas bonanza is also no sure thing. A slowing economy, a turn away from travel abroad due to Europes refugee crisis and the threat of terrorism are among the risks, while Chinas own aging population could also cool the ardor to head abroad. But the push to expand Chinese cities suggests any slowdown is likely to be short lived, according to the economists.

Where the Japanese roamed far and wide in the 1980s, Chinas travelers have so far tended to remain closer to home, in Hong Kong and Macau. But that is changing. We are already starting to see Chinese tourism becoming increasingly interested in traveling further away, the Natixis economists said. The reality is that such growth starts from a large base given Chinas massive population. Already now, the number of Chinese visitors to France is twice as large as Japans tourists. Enda Curran, Bloomberg
The Court of Final Appeal (TUI) has rejected an appeal by the former Public Prosecutor General, Ho Chio Meng, contesting the legality of the decision to put him under preventive custody. In a decision signed by judge Viriato de Lima, TUI argued that under the current legal framework it is not possible to further appeal the decision. Nothing prevents the law from being changed, with high officials and magistrates being judged by another court, the judgment reads, adding that a similar solution is being implemented in Hong Kong and mainland China.

Ho Chio Meng claimed that according to the magistrates statute, magistrates cannot be arrested or subjected to preventive custody before being formally accused or having the date of their hearing set.

However, TUI maintains that Ho Chio Meng was not a magistrate at the time of his detention.

There is no contradiction in accepting that TUI is the correct court to hear the former prosecutors case, considering that he is not a magistrate and thus cant benefit from the provision that exempts [magistrates] from preventive custody, expect in special cases, the dispatch reads.

TUI had previously rejected a habeas corpus claim (a request to determine if a persons imprisonment or detention is lawful) presented by Ho Chio Meng, who is being charged with fraud, abuse of power and document forgery. PB
Parents of second grade kindergarten (K2) students complained after their children were taught to write the Chinese character  (a difficult Chinese character for number or to count). The Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (DSEJ) alleges that the teaching outcome received the approval of both parents and the institution, Cheng Pou reported.

Parents had previously expressed their discontent on social media with a picture from an exercise book. The picture displayed the aforementioned character being written out several times by a student, thus illustrating the count or a number as per the meaning. Isnt this too much? It should be P2 level. Happy childhood, one user commented. Nevertheless, the complaints were followed by comments in support of the poster.

In response, the head of the Department of Research and Educational Resources of DSEJ, Wong Kin Mou, expressed that writing  at K2 level prepares the students to move up into K3, where they start to learn to write down the subjects to be studied for homework, thereby learning self-care skills. This ties with daily life, said Wong.

When asked about whether the bureau felt that teaching complicated characters goes against the governments plan to lighten pupils studyloads, Wong declined to answer.
The government will launch a public consultation on planned revisions to the Legislative Assembly (AL) Electoral Law by the end of the month, the Secretary for Administration and Justice, Chan Hoi Fan, told reporters on Sunday.

Chan explained that the government needs to be careful when dealing with the revision process, as the election mechanism was pivotal to Macaus political development.

She also added that the revisions proposed thus far have already taken public opinion into account, following an official report detailing the proposals published in December for the fifth AL election, which is scheduled for next year.

Commenting on other issues covered by her portfolio, the Secretary mentioned that the government would this year submit proposals regarding eight statutes to the Assembly. She said this was in line with the governments legislative plan for the current year.

In addition, Chan stated that the revision of regulations relating to passenger services operated by designated light vehicles and taxis was likely to be completed this year.

Noting that there has been opposition from some parties regarding various proposed changes to taxi regulations, Chan said that the government must balance the views of residents with those of the sector, given that taxis are a form of public transportation.
Overseas Absentee Voting for the Philippine presidential election started around the world, including in Macau, on Sunday.

According to the countrys Department of Foreign Affairs, it is the first time in the history of Philippine voting that one million overseas registered voters for an election was surpassed. Macau alone has 5,000 such individuals.

Philippine consul general Lilybeth Deapera hopes that all of the registered voters will exercise their right of suffrage between now and May 9.

Were hoping that 100 percent of the over 5,000 [registered voters] will vote because what they [the Philippine consulate] experienced last time is that they dont really make an effort to come and vote even when the voting is open for a month.

Some voters said the manual voting process was simple and easy while some expressed the desire that a vote counting machine could be used to avoid fraud. However such a machine will only be used if over 10,000 individuals register as electors in any one region.

Meanwhile the consul general admits there are problems regarding registered voters whose names have not appeared on the list of registered voters issued by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), explaining to the Times that they report to COMELEC every registration to vote.

Volunteers handing election leaflets outside the AIA building (where the consulate is located) said they are campaigning for the candidate who they think is against corruption, as The Philippines is renown for its high levels of corruption.

Airysh Acupan, one of the volunteers, admits that they fear electoral fraud will take place within the consulate.

We sometimes doubt whether our votes are being accounted for. Even those people that we give fliers to would have doubts but well leave it up to God, Acupan explains.

However Ms Deapera said that the special board of electoral inspectors underwent training to supervise the polling station, adding that daily reports are shown to COMELEC.

Moreover, the consulate has warned the campaigners that they have to be at least 30 meters away from the polling station, as instructed by the commission. Deapera said they strongly prohibit voters campaigning for a candidate through t-shirts with a name or picture of the candidate and reminded the public that the use of a cellphone inside the polling station is an electoral offense.

Conversely, she added that even if presidential campaigns were already held, the consulate is not in control of campaigners endorsing a presidential candidate outside their offices premises.

We cannot stop them if theyre already outside the building [] we cannot force them to leave, its their right, declared Deapera. Staff reporter

Duterte tops recent PH presidential survey

With less than four weeks to go before Filipinos can vote for their next president, a nationwide survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations shows that Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has taken back the lead as the favored candidate.

The survey, conducted from March 30 to April 2, reveals that 27 percent of respondents say they would vote for the combative Davao mayor if polls had been held at that time.

Meanwhile, Senator Grace Poe, the candidate who allegedly received political donations from one of Macaus biggest junket operators, Suncity group, was a close second with 23 percent.

According to the pollster, Vice-President JoJo Jejomar Binay came in third with 20 percent, former Interior Secretary Mar Daang Matuwid (Righteous Path) Roxas, the ruling partys standard bearer, acquired 18 percent; while 3 percent of respondents chose Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago.

Except for Duterte and Poe, all other candidates saw their numbers rise relative to the previous survey. Duterte had topped a survey by the same polling firm in December 2015.

The vice presidential survey also saw Senator Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr, the running mate of presidential candidate Santiago, being supported by more than a quarter (26 percent) of total respondents.
A gut-wrenched John Kerry said Hiroshimas horrible history should teach humanity to avoid conflict and strive to eradicate nuclear weapons as he became the first U.S. secretary of state to tread upon the ground of the worlds first atomic bombing.

Kerrys emotional visit yesterday to the Japanese city included him touring its peace museum with other foreign ministers of the Group of Seven industrialized nations and laying a wreath at the adjoining parks stone-arched monument, with the exposed steel beams of Hiroshimas iconic A-Bomb Dome in the distance.

The U.S. attack on Hiroshima in the final days of World War II killed 140,000 people and scarred a generation of Japanese, while thrusting the world into the dangerous Atomic Age. But Kerry hoped his trip would underscore how Washington and Tokyo have forged a deep alliance over the last 71 years and how everyone must ensure that nuclear arms are never used again.

While we will revisit the past and honor those who perished, this trip is not about the past, he told Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, a Hiroshima native. Its about the present and the future particularly, and the strength of the relationship that we have built, the friendship that we share, the strength of our alliance and the strong reminder of the imperative we all have to work for peace for peoples everywhere.

Kerrys appearance, just footsteps away from Ground Zero, completed an evolution for the United States, whose leaders avoided the city for many years because of political sensitivities.

No serving U.S. president has visited the site, and it took 65 years for a U.S. ambassador to attend Hiroshimas annual memorial service. Many Americans believe the dropping of atomic bombs here on Aug. 6, 1945, and on the Japanese city of Nagasaki three days later were justified and hastened the end of the war.

Kerry didnt speak publicly at the ceremony, though he could be seen with his arm around Kishida and whispering in his ear.

The otherwise somber occasion was lifted by the presence of about 800 Japanese schoolchildren waving flags of the G7 nations, including that of the United States. They cheered as the ministers departed with origami cranes in their national colors around their necks. Kerry was draped in red, white and blue.

Hours afterward, the top American diplomat still seemed to be absorbing all that he saw.

It is a stunning display, it is a gut-wrenching display, he told reporters of the museum tour, recounting exhibits that showed the bomb, the explosion, the incredible inferno and mushroom cloud that enveloped Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. It tugs at all of your sensibilities as a human being. It reminds everybody of the extraordinary complexity of choices of war and what war does to people, to communities, countries, the world.

Kerry urged all world leaders to visit, saying: I dont see how anyone could forget the images, the evidence, the recreations of what happened.

Japanese survivors groups have campaigned for decades to bring leaders from the U.S. and other nuclear powers to see Hiroshimas scars as part of a grassroots movement to abolish nuclear weapons.

As Kerry expressed interest, neither Japanese government officials nor survivor groups pressed for the U.S. to apologize. And Kerry didnt say sorry.

I dont think it is something absolutely necessary when we think of the future of the world and peace for our next generation, Masahiro Arimai, a 71-year-old Hiroshima restaurant owner, said of an apology.

Yoshifumi Sasaki, a 68-year-

old, longtime resident, agreed: We all want understanding.

Both wished for Obama to follow in Kerrys footsteps next month.

The president still hasnt made a decision about visiting Hiroshima and its memorial when he attends a Group of Seven meeting of leaders in central Japan in late May, and Kerry made no promises. During his first year in office, Obama said he would be honored to make such a trip.

Everyone in the world should see and feel the power of this memorial, Kerry wrote in the museums guest book. It is a stark, harsh, compelling reminder not only of our obligation to end the threat of nuclear weapons, but to rededicate all our effort to avoid war itself.

War must be the last resort  never the first choice, he added.

Wading into U.S. politics, both Kerry and his Japanese counterpart rejected Republican presidential candidate Donald Trumps recent suggestion that Japan consider developing its own nuclear weapons to defend itself against nuclear-armed North Korea.

Kishida said, For us to attain nuclear weapons is completely inconceivable. Bradley Klapper, Hiroshima, AP
The China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair) announced the reduction of participation fees for exhibitors. However, according to representatives of the local MICE industry, Macau does not anticipate reducing entry fees,

Macao Daily News reported that the famous Canton Fair will charge between RMB3,000 to RMB5,000 less than the last edition, as an act of support for Chinese international trade companies. Some Macau MICE businesses view this reduction as a token gesture rather than a necessity for the fair.

According to a Macao Daily News report, the local MICE industry can demand approximately MOP10,000 per exhibitor, a price considered reasonable by some customers since it is one third of the heretofore amount required by the Canton Fair.

However, according to a source, the two major obstacles when attending exhibitions in Macau are logistics and accommodation. The source indicated that since local hotels have been lowering their prices, the reduction of costs on the logistics front is now the focus of the industry.

In order for mainland goods to get to Macau, they need to pass through Shenzhen, then through Hong Kong, from where they are shipped to Macau. Zhuhai still lacks a special department which could supervise goods, whereas in Shenzhen and Guangzhou an optimized, smooth operation has already been established, despite the associated high costs.
The InnoICT Business Plan Competition will reach its seventh edition this year. The competition aims to encourage and inspire innovation among tertiary students, facilitating their start-up and supporting them in realizing their business dream.

Chan Tong Seng, director of the Macau New Technologies Incubator Centre (Manetic) said during a press conference last week that all students in tertiary education institutes in or outside Macau can enter the competition, which is now open for registration. Each team can have up to five members. Foreign students studying in Macau institutions are also eligible to participate provided at least half of the team members are local residents.

After submission and evaluation, the three best business plan proposals will be given the opportunity to be converted into real businesses with the support of Manetics Business Incubator Centre.

The winners will be also awarded cash prizes that range between MOP12,000 and MOP30,000. The first place winner will also be granted a business start-

up fund of MOP50,000.

Manetic will be accepting registrations until June 20.

A workshop to help participants prepare business proposals is scheduled for June 30. RM
A theft of a mobile phone from a convenience store instigated an investigation with an unexpected outcome, the Public Security Police Force (PSP) reported during a press conference held yesterday.

The story started on the night of April 6 when a convenience store employee could not find his mobile phone in the shop and contacted the police.

Officers attended the call and went to the shop to verify the surveillance camera recordings, which showed two suspects who turned out to be two 30-year-old Mongolian men.

The next day, officers found a man with a similar appearance to one of the suspects, and intercepted him. During the investigation he was taken to the apartment where he lived, where the police officer found the other suspect from the recordings. In addition to that man, another man and a group of four women were found living in the house, all from Mongolia.

A further search of the apartment found clothes amongst the mens possessions that matched the ones in the video of the theft. This discovery led the suspect to admit his guilt in the theft case.

However, in an unexpected twist, the case did not finish with the confession of the two men. The search of the apartment revealed many items in the room occupied by the four Mongolian women, including lots of clothing items, small jewelry and bijou items that were suspected to have been stolen by the women, as well as several tools used for theft including handbags lined with foil (to mask alarm triggers), a powerful magnet and 15 anti-theft alarm devices usually used by shops to protect their products.

When questioned by the police, two of the four women, aged 28 and 30, confessed to having stolen the items and being in possession of stolen goods. Even further, one of the women was discovered to have overstayed her visa.

The investigation revealed that the house was rented by a Chinese man to one of the Mongolian men, who was sub-renting it to his fellow Mongolian citizens at a daily rate of HKD300.

The two men and two women were formally charged with theft. One of the women was also charged with illegally remaining in the territory, and the landlord was charged with the crime of providing accommodation to an illegal person. The case was also referred to the Macau Government Tourism Office on suspicion of hosting illegal lodgers.
New approvals of residential mortgage loans (RMLs) and commercial real estate loans (CRELs) both witnessed decreases in February, according to data released yesterday by the Monetary Authority of Macau. In February new RMLs approved by local banks decreased by 29.5 percent month-on-month to MOP2.3 billion, 91.8 percent of which was extended to residents. Meanwhile CRELs fell 49.6 percent from the previous month to MOP2.7 billion, of which 87.9 percent was granted to residents. On an annual basis, new RMLs fell by 57.1 percent, while CRELs fared similarly, observing a drop of 43.4 percent. At the end of February 2016, the delinquency ratio for RMLs was 0.09 percent, up 0.01 percentage points from January and also from end-February 2015. The ratio for CRELs remained virtually unchanged from a month ago.

Bus lane trial opens today

The Transport Bureau (ID) will be running a trial today of the recently installed bus lane that passes along A-Ma to Rua do Lam Mau, Macau Daily News reported. The lane will open at 10:30 a.m., enabling buses to drive from R. da Ribeira do Patane towards Avenida do Almirante Lacerda. The trial will last for one hour, during the course of which, roads connected to the exit of the Pak Kong car park and to Travessa da Guelra will see a reduction in the number of permitted traffic.

Urban Renewal Committee website launched

The government has launched a new website for the Urban Renewal Committee, to provide the public with more information about the committees work. The Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Raimundo do Rosario, announced the governments plans for the website on Friday, following the second meeting of the Urban Renewal Committee, of which Rosario is the chairman. The secretary said he encourages all public bodies under his portfolio to increase the amount of information they share online. The new website (http://www.cru.gov.mo/zh/news.php) is available in Chinese and Portuguese.
A Chinese arbitration panel held a hearing yesterday in what is believed to be the countrys first transgender employment discrimination case, according to the lawyer in the case.

A ruling by the Yunyan district labor dispute board in the southern city of Guiyang would be issued later in the case of his client, who has identified himself only as Mr. C, Huang Sha told The Associated Press by telephone.

C, 28, sued for compensation and an apology after being fired from his job at a medical services company because, although born a woman, he dressed like a man.

The case comes amid growing awareness of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues in China, where society and the government have generally frowned on non-traditional expressions of gender and sexuality.

While homosexuality is not illegal in China, the countrys LGBT movement is still in its infancy and it is rare for same-sex couples to live openly as such.

Tomorrow a court in the central city of Changsha is scheduled to hold a hearing in the countrys first same-sex marriage case. The couple are suing the local government for refusing to register their marriage despite a lack of any stipulation that they must be of the opposite gender.

China doesnt legally recognize same-sex marriage and officials with the central government have said they do not see the law changing soon.

Members of Chinas legislature, the National Peoples Congress, have drafted anti-employment discrimination legislation that would include references to gender identity, but the draft has so far garnered support from just 36 of the almost 3,000 congress delegates, according to media reports.

In an interview with the newspaper Guizhou Metropolitan, C. said he had not listed his gender when applying for a sales job with the medical services company in April 2015. Moreover, they knew about my special gender situation, he said.

However, after only a week, C said he was told he was being fired because his expression of gender did not conform to traditional notions.

My sales job performance was in no way negatively affected by appearance. To fire me for this reason is to discriminate against me, C said.

C and Huang are asking for a weeks salary plus another month in compensation.

Company officials have declined to speak with the media about the case, citing the ongoing arbitration process. AP
Chan Meng Kam first arrived in Macau as the son of a poor Fujian farmer, where he began his transformation into one of Macaus most influential politicians and businessmen.

His initial successes as a casino owner and then as the president of its holding company made the Fujian-born businessman very wealthy. When he entered mainstream politics in 2005, Chan was successful in rallying Macau locals of Fujian-descent to his cause. His prominent positions in business and politics have now made Chan a highly influential figure in Macau.

He is the president of the Golden Dragon Group, a company that Chan and a group of four to five partners started in 1990. It has expanded to include industries such as gaming, hotels, retail and real estate. He is also the co-owner of U Wa, a shareholder in Pearl Oriental Enterprises, president of the Macau Paralympic Committee, and chairman of the City University of Macau

A Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) investigation was launched after the 2013 election to look into an alleged case of vote-buying by members of Chans party. Two staff members from the campaign team were found guilty earlier in 2015 and each was sentenced to over a year in prison. Chan has denied the accusation, claiming that the law had been selectively applied, and suggesting that the CCAC ought to investigate other political parties.

According to asset declarations made by senior officials, Chan now owns the highest number of properties of any Macau official.

Chan is alleged to have underground connections with local groups in Macau, or to have had these connections in the past. In an interview with TDM he confessed to having committed an illegal act of smuggling in Macau by entering the MSAR wearing clothing merchandise intended for sale.

In a cable on Macau politics and society exposed in 2011 by Wikileaks, US diplomats nicknamed him the godfather.
Approximately 20 taxi drivers gathered yesterday morning around the Border Gate area to protest against the new government-proposed policies that aim to regulate the taxi industry.

In a demonstration that ultimately gathered fewer people than expected (the public security police force had predicted attendance to be between 50 to 100 taxis), the protesters were in fact outnumbered by members of the police force, some in uniform and many others undercover.

Following a 15-minute trip commencing at the Border Gate area, the taxi convoy reached the headquarters of the Transport Bureau (DSAT), where they were supposed to deliver a petition outlining their objections to the policies.

In fact, there was no petition to be delivered because, according to Chan Ka Seng, the vice president of the Taxi Drivers Rights Association (TDRA), the document was not yet ready. Chan, who led the group in the protest, said that in addition to the associations concerns was the fact that the proposed law aims to punish not only drivers for their infractions, but also the license and taxi owners.

A cyclist who followed the protest and claimed to be a taxi owner also said that it was unacceptable to threaten the investments of taxi and license owners with potential revocations of their licenses.

Although there was no written petition to be delivered, a symbolic delivery of the concerns of the taxi drivers was staged at the site. The TDRA representative promised to deliver the real petition at a later time.

DSAT officials refused to address any comments regarding this particular petition, due to not yet knowing its content.

A statement issued by DSAT yesterday indicated that the government is actively following the revision of the Legal Regime of Taxi Passenger Transport in order to respond to the wishes of residents and tourists regarding the taxi service and improve the taxi industry operating environment.

The same statement recalled that during the revision process the government placed a great deal of weight on the opinions expressed during the public consultation period, and reaffirmed that the government will not tolerate or be lenient with any offenses in the taxi service, urging taxi drivers not to challenge the law.

Hoping to obtain a clearer idea of the views within the sector, the Times spoke to two taxi drivers, who expressed opposing views on the subject.

Mr Cheong, a 63-year-old taxi driver with over 30 years experience in the business, in both Hong Kong and Macau, showed no interest in the topic saying, I have no interest in politics. For me its the same everyday and just a normal job.

Regarding the complaints of fellow taxi drivers Mr Cheong said, Those complaining must be the ones that were making big bucks before. Those people are suffering more now. For me its the same because I always did an honest job. Normal taxi, he said.

Mr Chan, another taxi driver, had a different view, saying, the regulation is too heavy! Fines of MOP2,000 are too much!

The same driver added that law enforcement treats drivers differently, concluding, I hope that in the end [of the protests] there will be no fines at all.

Other drivers contacted by the Times refused to comment, claiming that they were very busy.
The U.S. military has charged a Taiwan born Navy officer with espionage for allegedly passing military secrets to China or Taiwan, U.S. defense officials said yesterday.

A Navy document that describes multiple charges against Lt. Cmdr. Edward C. Lin accuses him of failing to report foreign contacts and says that on multiple occasions he gave or attempted to give secret national defense information to representatives of a foreign government. Lin is being held in pre-trial confinement in a Navy brig in Virginia.

Uncensored portions of the charge sheet do not identify the accused, but multiple officials said it is Lin. The document does not reveal whom he is accused of spying for, but officials said the country involved is China or Taiwan, and possibly both. The officials were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation and so spoke on condition of anonymity.

A military hearing was held in Norfolk, Virginia, last Friday. A decision on whether there is enough evidence against Lin to pursue a court-martial, or military trial, will be made by Adm. Philip S. Davidson, commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command at Norfolk.

The charges against Lin were first reported Sunday by USNI News, which said he served on some of the Navys most sensitive intelligence-gathering aircraft. It said he was a signals intelligence specialist on the Navys EP-3E Aries II reconnaissance planes.

The list of charges, a copy of which was provided to The Associated Press, cites two counts of espionage and three of attempted espionage. It says Lin provided or attempted to provide secret national defense information to a representative of a foreign government with intent or reason to believe it would be used to the advantage of a foreign nation.

He also is accused of knowingly providing false official statements related to his foreign travel.

An attorney for Lin was not identified.

An official list of Lins Navy assignments says he joined the service in December 1999 as an enlisted sailor and attended Navy nuclear training at Charleston, South Carolina, from 2000 to 2002. He then attended Officer Candidate School and gained his commission in May 2002.

He served with Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 1, based at Whidbey Island, Washington, from 2004 to 2007. Among his other assignments, he attended the Navy War College at Newport, Rhode Island, and served for nearly two years in Washington on the staff of the assistant secretary of the Navy for financial management and comptroller.

His official Navy biography says he was assigned to the Special Projects Patrol Squadron at Kaneohe, Hawaii, from Feb. 15, 2014, to March 25, 2016.

A Navy press release about Lins attendance at his naturalization ceremony in Hawaii in December 2008 said he was 14 when he and his family left Taiwan.

I always dreamt about coming to America, the promised land, Lin was quoted as saying. I grew up believing that all the roads in America lead to Disneyland. Robert Burns, Washington, AP
Drought? What drought? Bring out the water guns!

Thailand may be going through its driest period in 20 years, but the countrys military government wants visitors from around the globe to know that the biggest water fight in the world is still on.

So, get your buckets, hoses and other gear ready for the three-day nationwide street party that begins tomorrow to mark the Thai New Year.

We can still use water for the new year festival. Its not that dry, said government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd. The government has instructed the Tourism Ministry to make sure foreign tourists dont misunderstand the severity of the drought and cancel holiday plans out of concerns the water supply will be cut off, he said.

After all, there are millions of dollars at stake.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand expects this years holiday to generate more than 15 billion baht (USD427 million) for the tourism sector and attract half a million visitors in a span of five days.

Songkran, as the festival is known, has the spirit of a soggy Mardi Gras and is a major tourist attraction. Revelers line the streets, or prowl the roads in pickup trucks, armed with water guns and plastic bowls, and douse anyone in sight. Some areas are closed to traffic for wet and wild street parties with loud music, booze and dancing.

Rare controversy has preceded this years water fight, with environmentalists and other critics calling for festivities to be curtailed.

Instead of mindlessly wasting water, New Year revelers should be mindful of the crushing drought, The Nation newspaper said in an editorial last week calling for a dry Songkran to show solidarity with the countrys farmers.

Twenty-seven of Thailands 77 provinces have been declared drought zones, with the lowest level of rainfall in more than two decades. Farmers have been ordered to curtail their water use and scale back planting. Tap-water rationing is in effect in some provinces.

And yet Thailands military government is playing down the dry spell and says it is powerless to crimp such a popular national holiday.

As the prime minister has said, Songkran brings happiness to the Thai people, and canceling it would be too difficult, Sansern said.

A ban would also be hugely unpopular both with Thais and tourists.

In past promotions, the tourism authority has played up the party scene, urging tourists to get wet and wild and be part of the largest street water fight the world has to offer. In 2011, the tourism authority used the holiday to organize a Guinness World Record attempt for the worlds largest water pistol fight, drawing more than 3,400 people to a 10-minute shootout in central Bangkok.

The prime minister, a former general who has dictatorial powers after toppling a civilian government in 2014, has bristled at the notion of canceling Songkran.

I will not ban water throwing, thats impossible, Prayuth Chan-ocha, the prime minister, said in response to a proposal for government controls on holiday water use. He added dismissively, Parents should teach their children to use less water and not splash it around for three days and three nights.

Prayuth is calling for strict measures this year during the festivities, but not related to water rationing. The junta is putting a damper on dancing and indecent attire, saying specifically that women and transgenders who show too much skin will face arrest.

I have told officials, police and soldiers that there should be no women  or transgender women  dressed provocatively or dancing on the backs of trucks, Prayuth said. If they do, they will be arrested.

Environmentalists say the government should get its priorities straight.

The government should tell people the truth, that the drought is bad. They should not try to cover up the truth, said Smith Thammasaroj, chairman of the Foundation of National Disaster Warning Council. If people keep thinking we have enough water, it could badly hurt agriculture and farmers.

They shouldnt worry about clothing and covering up the body, he said. They should worry about the drought.

Some cities, including Bangkok, have taken it upon themselves to dilute this years festivities.

Bangkok city hall has ordered a 9 p.m. curfew on water fights and is trying to keep the festival to three days, excluding the weekend  measures that it says will save 5 billion liters (1.3 billion gallons) of water.

Wanlop Suwandee, the chief adviser to Bangkoks governor, made a highly publicized proposal that partygoers put down their guns and instead use handheld spray bottles, the kind used on indoor plants to make leaves wet.

The idea struck many as laughable in a city where water guns are not mere pistols, but large pump machine guns often with water storage tanks worn as backpacks.

Krit Pongchaiassawin, a 22-year-old university student, said he had no plan to enter into battle firing a gentle mist.

Are you kidding me? said Krit, while shopping for a water gun at a Bangkok outdoor market. I would get laughed off the street if I had a spray bottle. People would see that and just dump more water on me. Jocelyn Gecker, Bangkok, AP
Immigrant children living in the U.S. without legal status have been blocked from registering for school and accessing the educational services they need, according to a report on school districts in four states by Georgetown University Law Center researchers.

Such students have faced long enrollment delays and have been turned away from classrooms as the result of some districts arbitrary interpretations of residency rules and state laws, the researchers said.

All children  including those living in the U.S. illegally must attend school through at least the 8th grade or until they turn 16 under compulsory education laws in all 50 states. Many states allow students to enroll beyond that age, according to the Education Commission of the States.

But some districts elaborate paperwork requirements effectively have kept immigrant youth out of school, while lack of translation and interpretation services have left their families uninformed about the process, the report found.

The Obama administrations efforts to find and deport the tens of thousands of unaccompanied Central American children and families who arrived during the 2014 surge of illegal crossings have further complicated the situation, prompting some students to avoid school for fear that they will be picked up by authorities, the reports authors said.

U.S. law is clear on this point  no child in the United States should be excluded from public education, said Mikaela Harris, a Georgetown law student who co-wrote the study issued by the universitys Human Rights Institute and the nonprofit Womens Refugee Commission. That doesnt always play out in practice.

In May 2014, then-Education Secretary Arne Duncan issued joint guidance with the Justice Department reminding districts that a 1982 Supreme Court ruling gives all children the right to enroll in school, regardless of immigration status.

The report, which studied school districts in Florida, New York, Texas and North Carolina, calls for a strengthening of federal outreach to districts unaccustomed to serving newcomer populations and better assurances that educational access continues amid immigration enforcement.

Researchers said they had presented their recommendations to the Department of Education.

We remain vigilant about our responsibility to protect the civil rights of all students, including immigrant students, undocumented students and unaccompanied immigrant students, Education Department spokeswoman Dorie Nolt said. We have provided a number of resources to communities in order to do so.

The agency is committed to working with federal agencies and community organizations to address any issues, she added.

U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement spokesman Bryan Cox said he had not seen the report so could not comment on it, but said agency policy in general precludes any enforcement activity at schools and other sensitive locations.

The report analyzed barriers to education faced by the 775,000 children under the age of 18 estimated to be living in the United States without legal permission, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of 2012 Census figures. Since fall 2013, more than 100,000 unaccompanied children from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras also have sought refuge in the U.S. and have been placed in communities across the country after being apprehended at the border.

Researchers said an additional estimated 1.6 million school-

aged immigrant children who were brought to the U.S. legally may live in mixed-status families and face similar barriers. Public school districts are entitled to request and vet paperwork to establish students residency, but some have gone a step beyond, requiring immigration documents, researchers found.

Under federal law, schools are not allowed to discriminate against children due to their racial or ethnic background, the report said. And yet, some communities have barred immigrant children from enrolling or meaningfully participating in school by creating intentional and unintentional barriers. Garance Burke, San Francisco, AP
HIROSHIMA Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven industrialized countries, meeting yesterday in the atomic-bombed Japanese city of Hiroshima, called for a renewed push for flagging nuclear disarmament efforts as they wrestled with some of the intractable global problems facing their nations.

KOREAS A colonel from North Koreas military spy agency fled to South Korea last year in an unusual case of a senior-level defection. The announcement came three days after Seoul revealed that 13 North Koreans working at the same restaurant in a foreign country had defected to the South.

THAILAND may be going through its driest period in 20 years. But the countrys military government wants visitors from around the globe to know that the biggest water fight in the world is still on.

PHILIPPINES The military says eight more Abu Sayyaf extremists have died and a top militant commander has been wounded as troops pressed a major offensive following the killings of 18 soldiers in fierce fighting over the weekend.

BANGLADESH is closing its notorious 18th-century prison where sensational political killings over decades have targeted people on both sides of the South Asian countrys 1971 war for independence from Pakistan.

INDIA Medical teams yesterday tended to hundreds of people injured in a massive fire that killed at least 110 people, while authorities searched for those responsible for illegally putting on the fireworks display that caused the weekend blaze at a Hindu temple in southern India. Police detained five workers for questioning about fireworks stored at the site, hoping to learn more about who owned the fireworks and who had contracted the pyrotechnical display.

PORTUGALs Supreme Court has rejected a former CIA operatives appeal against extradition to Italy to serve a six-year sentence for her part in the U.S. extraordinary renditions program, a court official said yesterday. Sabrina De Sousas (pictured) only remaining recourse to avoid being sent to Italy would be to appeal to Portugals Constitutional Court, arguing her extradition order is unconstitutional. De Sousas lawyer is Manuel Magalhaes e Silva, a former member of a pre-handover Macau government.

NATURE The worlds count of wild tigers roaming forests from Russia to Vietnam has gone up for the first time in more than a century, with 3,890 counted by conservation groups and national governments in the latest global census, wildlife conservation groups said.
CHINA More than 80 percent of Chinas underground water drawn from relatively shallow wells used by farms, factories and mostly rural households is unsafe for drinking because of pollution, a government report says.

USA-TAIWAN The U.S. military charges a Taiwan-born Navy officer with espionage for allegedly passing military secrets to China or Taiwan.

NORTH KOREA Four North Koreans who were sent to work abroad confirm many of the brutal conditions rights groups have decried, but also say their lives were better than they had been back home. Their stories add a twist to the plight of tens of thousands of workers North Korea has sent to other countries with a mission to bring in foreign currency.

CAMBODIA Cambodian police have charged an opposition lawmaker who has been a strong critic of the governments handling of demarcating the border with neighboring Vietnam, reviving a campaign of pressure Prime Minister Hun Sen launched last year against his foes and critics.

INDIA Five people who fled after a weekend fire killed at least 110 people at the southern Indian temple where they are board members have surrendered to police to face prosecution, police said yesterday.

SYRIA Islamic State militants recapture a vital border crossing in northern Syria and shoot down a government warplane in the countrys west as the U.N.s special envoy urges the warring parties to respect a fragile cease-fire ahead of peace talks set to resume in Geneva this week.

USA Tensions frayed in both the Democratic and Republican presidential races as Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump tried to stave off the prospect of a lengthy battle for the nomination with big victories in New York. Bernie Sanders is still behind when it comes to delegates and votes, but he has one clear advantage over his Democratic and Republican presidential rivals  a lot of people actually like him.

USA The Justice Department announces a USD5 billion settlement with Goldman Sachs over the sale of mortgage-backed securities leading up to the 2008 financial crisis.

ISRAEL A 12-year-old Palestinian girl who was imprisoned after she confessed to planning a stabbing attack in a West Bank settlement will be released early, Israels prison service says, capping a saga that drew attention to the dual legal system in the West Bank.
TWIN FALLS | Following the largest auto safety recall in U.S. history, local dealerships are still servicing a handful of vehicles every day  but a recent report shows the work to make Twin Falls cars safe is far from over.

The city ranked second on Carfaxs Top 10 list of Idaho cities where youre most likely to find recalled vehicles. Carfax is a Web-based service company that gathers vehicle history reports on used cars and light trucks.

Its estimated that nearly one in five vehicles in Twin Falls have at least one unfixed safety recall  and most of those are minivans and sedans. Carfax spokesman Christopher Basso said minivan owners are often people with children  and busy lives  that make it hard to find the time to fix a problem.

The minor inconvenience of taking your vehicle in to get fixed  pales in comparison to what can happen if you dont, Basso said.

Recalls may vary in seriousness, but even something as seemingly innocuous as a software update could be affecting other systems. Ignoring a recall unduly puts the occupants of a vehicle at risk, he said.

But inconvenience is a bigger problem for those who arent close to a dealership. Krista Felton of Hailey said she received a recall notice more than a year ago, and found it difficult to make the hour-and-a-half drive to Twin Falls.

Its just a pain, she said. I hardly ever have a day off.

When she called the dealership right away, Felton was told there would be a three-month wait for the airbag inflators for her 2007 Honda Acura. Shes been driving another vehicle in the meantime because she was concerned about the safety of her airbags.

Felton had the recall taken care of Friday at Middlekauff Honda, but said shes concerned about whether the airbags manufacturer really solved the problem.

Im still going to be paranoid, she said.

Largest Auto Recall in U.S. History

The recall of defective Takata air bag inflators has affected 14 automakers and 24 million U.S. vehicles made from 2002 to 2015. The Department of Transportations National Highway Traffic Safety Administration imposed a record civil penalty of up to $200 million against the company in November.

The defective parts have been known to ignite with explosive force and have been a factor in 10 deaths in the United States. As of February, more than 7 million airbag inflators had been repaired.

Evan Durrant, service manager at Middlekauff Honda, said Honda has been proactive in informing vehicle owners of the recall.

Almost 60 percent of the (Honda) vehicles in our area have been completed, he said.

Middlekauff Honda Service Provider Luis Aguilar said when he started handling recalls in May, the dealership had 500 of the parts in stock. He had about 30 as of Friday.

But with another announcement of newer cars with the defective inflators, Aguilar was told he wouldnt get parts until the end of August. In the meantime, customers who are concerned about driving their recalled vehicles will be provided with rental cars, to be paid for by the manufacturer, he said.

Greg Wills, president of Wills Toyota, said the 2003-2007 Corolla and 2004-2006 Tundra, RAV4 and Sequoia were also affected by the Takata recall, but just on the passenger side of the vehicle.

Wills said it takes two to three business days for some orders, but with the Corolla it may be two weeks out to get the parts.

Whats Their Excuse?

Durrant said Middlekauff was, at one point, managing 10-12 recalls a day, but now its about half that.

Its getting harder to get the cars in, he said.

In his experience, about a third of the customers will call right away to get the problem fixed. Another third will call and get it taken care of in time. The rest may not come in at all. Durrant compared this to someone not wanting to go in for a medical or dental appointment for a treatable condition.

If you go to the doctor when you first get chest pains, its cheaper than a funeral, he said.

Like Middlekauff, some dealerships will provide customers with rental cars until the recall can be fixed. Durrant said that some of his customers had been driving rental cars for up to a month.

The recall typically takes three to four hours at most, Durrant said. Aguilar said his workers have become more effective over time, and can replace the inflator in as little as 15 minutes.

A recall means free service to you as a customer, Durrant said.

Sometimes, the manufacturer cannot reach a vehicle owner if the customer has moved to another state and hasnt switched their registration. Durrant said if a customer has been contacted but refuses to fix a recall, and the part causes an issue later, the manufacturer may be liable only for fixing the recall, but not for other damages.

Independent Dealers

Just because you recently bought your car from a dealer, doesnt necessarily mean its recall-free.

Independent car dealers, Basso said, dont have to fix a recall before selling a used vehicle, nor do they have to disclose that there is a recall.

That car that youre ready to buy could have an open recall, he said.

An independent dealer is different than a manufacturers dealership, which may sell new and used cars.

Matt Cook, owner of Goode Motor Auto Group, said its almost impossible for independent dealers to get every recall fixed because only a manufacturers dealership can make the repairs. Furthermore, he said, it isnt easy to access data for every vehicle that comes in.

Goode Motor uses a company called AutoCheck to look for recalls on used cars that it buys. If Goode Motor is aware of a recall and can get it fixed easily, either at its Volkswagen or Mazda dealership, or another dealership in town, it will.

Cook said he is anticipating a major recall to go through in the future for Volkswagen. Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency discovered that many of the companys cars with diesel engines had a software that could detect when it was being tested for emissions and skew results.

Cook said the recall, if issued, would affect three types of engines. Goode Motor will contact customers with those vehicles.

The biggest holdup is waiting for parts from a manufacturer, he said.  We love doing the work because we get paid to do it.
TWIN FALLS | The City Council agreed Monday to provide police protection for late April's "Downtown Duathlon," and voiced support for the police chief's request to change two city ordinances to permit fingerprinting of door-to-door salesmen.

Transient vendors include those who come to town to sell everything from "pesticides to magazines and alarm systems," Police Chief Craig Kingsbury told the Council at its regular meeting. The codes do not pertain to those required to have full-time business licenses, or to nonprofit groups such as Girl Scouts.

City code allows the police to do local background checks on applicants, Kingsbury said. "But if these people don't live in Twin Falls, they don't show up in a local investigation."

Fingerprinting applicants for transient merchant licenses and sending those fingerprints to the Idaho State Police for investigation would access a much wider data base, he said.

"I think you're right on track and I fully support an amendment," Councilman Don Hall said.

Councilman Chris Talkington agreed, but questioned whether the amended code would require the fingerprinting of minors, launching the Council into deeper debate.

Kingsbury also recommended the Council vote on a standard time element for transient merchant licenses, suggesting a three-month license renewable for one three-month period, then requiring a six-month "cooling-off period" before reapplying.

While the Council apparently agreed with Kingsbury in principle, it fell short of voting on changing the codes and asked the police chief to come back with revised ordinances.

Downtown Duathlon

Folks in the first ever Twin Falls "Downtown Duathlon," sponsored by Activate Magic Valley and endorsed by the Twin Falls YMCA and St. Luke's Magic Valley Medical Center, will peddle and run some 31 miles, just for the health of it.

Spokesman Ron Fustos asked the Council to support the event by providing two to four policemen at the beginning of the race, which starts at 9 a.m. April 30 at City Park.

The Council approved the request unanimously.

Participants will bicycle south out of town and back to the park  a total of 25 miles  then run another six miles. There are no prizes, but entry fees will go to trail enhancement.
TOKYO -- Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said on Tuesday that he hoped an upcoming meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov this week in Tokyo will be productive and help improve ties between both countries.

Ties between Tokyo and Moscow became increasingly strained following Japan slapping new sanctions against Russia in response the crisis in eastern Ukraine, along with steps taken by the United States and the European Union.

The Ukraine crisis which flared up in 2014 saw diplomatic ties frayed and a planned trip to Japan by Russian President Vladimir Putin postponed. But in October 2015 high-level talks resumed between Tokyo and Moscow, particularly related to a territorial dispute between both countries.

Kishida said Tuesday he has high hopes that his meeting with Lavrov on Friday will help improve overall Japanese-Russia ties and bring both countries closer to settling the territorial row.

"With an eye on a dialogue between the country leaders, I hope to hold substantial discussions on the overall Japan-Russia relations, including the signing of a peace treaty," Kishida told a press briefing.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who will meet Putin for informal talks in Russia next month, has expressed his eagerness to resolve the dispute with Russia, stating that the two sides would be able to "unlock the untapped potential" of the Japan-Russia relationship, if the decades-old spat were resolved.

The issue stems from a 1956 joint declaration which was made between Japan and the then Soviet Union in which the Russians agreed to return two of four islands located north of Hokkaido, which are believed by Japan as a part of the Nemuro Sub-prefecture of Hokkaido and are referred to by Japan as the Northern Territories.

Russia, however, maintains that the same islands that they refer to as the Southern Kurils are their territory, with Russian leaders repeatedly referring to the islands as a "strategic region" of Russia.

The island are currently administered by Russia, but claimed by Japan.

The 2001 Irkutsk Statement, which confirms that the 1956 Japan-Soviet Joint Declaration is a basic legal document, is viewed by experts as the foundation upon which a peace treaty between the two nations could be built.

But the ongoing dispute, which has impacted bilateral relations between the two countries, however, is largely concerned with the San Francisco Peace Treaty.

This treaty inked between the Allied Powers and Japan in 1951 states that Japan must give up its claims to the islands, but recognition of sovereignty over the islands was not given to the Soviet Union either, according to the treaty.

Russia, however, believes sovereignty was recognized long before the 1951 treaty at the end of WWII, and thus the territorial dispute has prevented the two countries from signing a postwar peace treaty as Japan says the islands are an inherent part of its territory.

Abe has said he wants talks on the issue to be accelerated to "get the Northern Territories back and sign a peace treaty," and to this end Kishida will be discussing a possible visit to Japan by Putin in the near future so Abe can discuss the matter formally with the Russian president.

Kishida said on Tuesday that along with Putin's possible visit, he'll also be discussing the Ukraine issue with his Russian counterpart.
A report of an unprecedented profiling exercise of internally displaced Palestinian families in Gaza outlined that 80% of families borrowed money to get by in 2015 while more than 85% had most of their food on credit and more than 40% were obliged to decrease their food consumption.

The figures were disclosed by a survey of more than 16,000 families conducted by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA.)

The report signals that the situation is being worsened by the blockade imposed by Israel.

Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and the Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory Robert Piper said funding is needed more than ever to reconstruct houses in Gaza because almost 63% of the population continues to be displaced. He stressed that the financial support must go hand in hand with significant changes at the policy level, including a lifting of the blockade and progress towards Palestinian reconciliation to make the process successful.

A month-long hostilities between Israel and Hamas in the summer of 2014 left most of Gazas infrastructures destroyed. The Jewish state has also been criticized by the international community for its demolition exercises of Palestinians homes in the West Bank before annexing them.

Piper in a recent interview with DPA news agency remarked that there is a dramatic increase in demolitions this year and it has already surpassed that of 2015. He warned that the alarming rate of demolitions accompanied with Israels sophisticated strategy could lead to a nail in the coffin for a two-state solution.
Public pressure is piling up on Egyptian President after government announced Saturday the handover of Egyptian islands in the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia, part of the billion-agreements signed during King Salmans visit.

Human rights activists, politicians and Egyptians have called for big demonstrations on Friday to denounce what they call sell-off of the country to Saudi Arabia by President al-Sisi.

The Egyptian government Saturday transferred sovereignty over the islands of Tiran and Sanafir from Egypt to Saudi Arabia.

This enables both countries to benefit from the exclusive economic zone for each, with whatever resources and treasures they contain, the Egyptian government said in a statement on Saturday.

The government further indicated that the decision came after rounds of negotiations and six-year studies revealed that the two Islands located in Saudi regional waters were Saudi. The cabinet added that the islands are Saudi but were left under Egypts protection since 1950.

The governments decision sparked a tide of public outrage. Egyptian veteran lawyer Khaled Ali reportedly filed a lawsuit in an administrative court calling for the annulment of the maritime border agreement signed on Saturday.

The lawyer argued that the islands have been Egyptian since the 1906 maritime treaty between Egypt and the Ottoman Empire.

Besides, the handover of the islands to Saudi Arabia violates article 151 of Egypts constitution, which requires all treaties related to sovereignty to be approved by referendum, he said. The court will hear the case on May 17, reports say.

Anger also ran among the Parliament Members who object the government move which they say should have been discussed in the chamber.

For MP Haitham Hariri, the governments decision was invalid and the islands should not be sold off to satisfy Saudi Arabia or even in return for grants in the form of projects and investments.

Egyptian exiled comic Basem Yousef, poked fun of al-Sisi in a Twitter post comparing him to a bazaar merchant offering his country and its heritage for sale.

Come closer sir, the island is one billion, the pyramid is two with two statues on top for free, Yousef wrote.

Plus, a petition denouncing the agreement has already gathered more than 17,000 signatures out the 20,000 signatures sought.

To prove sovereignty over the islands, Egyptians circulated a video of President Gamal Abdel Nasser (1956-1970) asserting Egypts sovereignty over Tiran.

Amid the bashing, President al-Sisi received support of some other Egyptians who called his gesture a brave one. Saudi officials also stood by al-Sisi in defending the agreement to lease the islands to Saudi Arabia.

All the successive Egyptian governments since the rule of King Farouk, including the current government, have recognized Saudi Arabias ownership of the islands of Tiran and Sanafir, said Adel al-Jubair, Saudi Foreign minister.

Cairo never objected to Saudi Arabias sovereignty over the islands, but some parties are fishing in troubled waters, he added.
Former President Thabo Mbeki on Monday hailed a recent constitutional court ruling against President Jacob Zuma on his home upgrade case.

Mbekis voice adds to the expanding list of leaders and civic movement organizations that have called for a meaningful implementation of the March 31 judgment.

In a 4,000-word article made public on Monday, the former president of the rainbow nation described the judgment as a critical contribution to the evolution of South Africas democracy.

According to him, failure to observe the fundamental values of South Africas constitution threatens the survival of the countrys democracy.

The decision to establish a Constitutional democracy meant that those who penned it wanted to ensure that executive power was not abused to undermine the Constitutional and statutory rights of the people and to weaken the capacity of the state organs to discharge their Constitutional obligations to the nation and the country Mbeki said.

In his words this decision [the court ruling] has evoked much understandable and inevitable political discussion and activity in our country, which has included calls for the immediate removal of the president of the republic.

Earlier on Monday, the Thabo Mbeki Foundation denied allegations of any link between Mbeki and the Gupta family.

The former President has no links with the Gupta family and did not at any point introduce the family to President Jacob Zuma, the foundation said.

The wealthy Gupta family has been under fire for allegedly exerting undue influence on the SA government by offering cabinet posts to officials of the ANC party.
Somalia on Monday executed publicly Hassan Hanafi, a former media officer for the Somali Islamist group al Shabab, after he was found guilty for ordering the death of six journalists in the Horn of Africa country.

Today, the court fulfils the execution of Hassan Hanafi who had killed journalists, Abdullahi Hassan, deputy judge of the court, told reporters.

Hassan Hanafi who arranged news conferences for the al Qaeda-linked Islamist group when the militants controlled the capital Mogadishu had reportedly assisted the Islamist group by identifying possible targets amongst journalists between 2007 and 2011.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, more than 25 journalists have been murdered in Somalia since 2007.

Hassan Hanafi joined the groups armed wing after working for Radio Andalus, al-Shababs mouthpiece in Somalia.

Born in the central Hiran region of Somalia in the early 80s, Hanafi became a writer for a leading Somali website in 2006 before he signed his affiliation to al-Shabab and became the major source of all breaking news or reaction from the militant group.

He was arrested by police in 2015 in neighboring Kenya, where he had fled, and was extradited to Somalia after Sheikh Noor Mohamed, a senior journalist at Radio Mogadishu, was killed.

Al Shabab, linked to both Al Qaeda and ISIS, seeks to impose its strict version of sharia, Islamic law, in Somalia, where it frequently attacks government targets as well as hotels and restaurants. The group actively recruits in neighboring countries; mainly in Kenya where it attempts to assassinate Kenyan officials and seeks to create a caliphate.
Algeria and France have postponed the agreement for the long-awaited establishment of French car producer Peugeot in Algeria even though both countries praise ties.

26 agreements in various domains including economy, health, education and justice were signed Sunday during the French Prime Minister Manuel Valls official visit to Algiers in the framework of the third Joint high intergovernmental session between Algeria and France.

The long-awaited agreement on the establishment of Peugeot in Algeria however did not occur.

For Algerian el Watan daily, Frances support for Moroccos autonomy credible development plan for the disputed Sahara territory could be the thorny issue behind the postponement of the project.

The Daily argued that Algiers chose to postpone or nullify the agreement to protest against Pariss alignment with Rabat.

During his visit to Algiers few days before the intergovernmental session, Frances Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault re-iterated Frances unshakable endorsement of Moroccos autonomy plan for the Sahara  angering Algiers which called on Paris to play its role in accordance with international laws.

For Abdelaziz Rahabi, former Algerian cabinet member, Pariss support for Rabat risks to strain ties between Algeria and France as such a stand isolates Algeria in the region.

Tensions between Algeria and France heated up last week after Algiers refused to grant visa to French Le Monde to cover Vallss trip to Algiers. Algerian authorities had vehemently protested against the papers April 05 issue which published the picture of the Algerian president beside those of world leaders cited in the Panama Papers scandal.

Commenting on the row on Sunday, Algerian Prime Minister Sellal indicated that Le Monde which is a respected and respectable newspaper harmed the honor and the prestige of the Algerian president by publishing false and baseless information.
Azerbaijan, Lithuania sign agreement on cargo transportation

ADY Express LLC, which is engaged in multimodal cargo transportation in Azerbaijan, and the Lithuanian Railways JSC have signed an agreement in Vilnius on cargo transportation between the two countries, head of the press-service of the Azerbaijan Railways CJSC Nadir Azmammadov told Trend Apr. 4.He said that the agreement provides for creation of a regulatory framework, defines obligations and rules for granting discounts and mutual payments for cargo transportation between Azerbaijan and Lithuania.The agreement will create conditions for expansion of cooperation opportunities in the field of transport and increase of the volumes of transit cargo between the two countries, said Azmammadov.The document was signed bythe general director of the Lithuanian Railways JSC, Stasys Dailydka, and director of ADY Express LLC Azad Gasimov within the framework of the meeting of Azerbaijani and Lithuanian senior representatives in railway sphere in Vilnius.Deputy Director General of the Lithuanian Railways JSC Stasys Gudvalis and Deputy Chairman of the Azerbaijan Railways CJSC Igbal Huseynov also took part in the meeting.The sides discussed Azerbaijan's participation in the Viking railway project, as well as the prospects of increasing the volumes of cargo transportation within the framework of the project, Azmammadov said.The combined transport train Viking started running in 2003. Participants of the project are Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, and, since 2012, Bulgaria. The total length of the Ilyichevsk (Ukraine)-Minsk (Belarus)-Draugyste (Lithuania) route is 1,766 kilometers.In September 2015, the Ukrainian Railways JSC announced about the possibility of cargo transportation by train from China to Europe. The corresponding protocol was signed during the meeting of heads of railways of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine on the formation of competitive tariff conditions for cargo transportation in Asia-Europe-Asia direction September 11, 2015 in Odessa city.In February 2016, Ukraine and Lithuania signed a memorandum on the accession of the Viking container train to the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route from Europe to China through Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.
Karabakh conflict and Georgia

By Messenger Staff

Georgia is concerned by recent developments in Nagorno-Karabakh, where Azerbaijan and Armenian forces are engaged in combat.The conflict between the two nations bordering Georgia has roots dating back over a century to the rivalry and emnity between Christian Armenian and Muslim Turkic and Persian influences.The controversies turned into violence when the Karabakh region's legislative body voted to join Armenia in the late 1980sThe ethnic Azeri population  which consisted about 25% of the total population prior to the war - fled Karabakh and Armenia, while ethnic Armenians fled the rest of AzerbaijanRussian enforced a ceasefire signed in 1994, leaving Karabakh and swathes of Azeri territory around the enclave in Armenian handsThe UN has expressed support for Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and demanded that Armenia withdraw its forces.The recent confrontation includes threats for the whole region, as two regional players are in conflict.Turkey has reiterated its support for Azerbaijan, while Armenia is a Russian ally.In the event that the conflict expands, it is very likely that Russia will become more involved in the confrontation.In such a situation, Georgias territory and airspace will be of strategic necessity for the Federation, which occupies 20% of Georgia's lands.If Georgia refuses to meet Moscows appeal over the territory gateway and grant Russian aircraft the use of Georgian airspace, Russia might find more aggressive ways to reach Armenia.Thus, an escalation of the situation between Azerbaijan and Armenia creates a serious threat to Georgia.Progress on a peace process stalled after talks between Armenian and Azeri leaders broke down in 2009. Sporadic ceasefire violations have since followed.
The News in Brief

Metropolitan employees threaten to paralyse Tbilisi Metro on April 8



On April 8, Tbilisi Metro may not function, members of the Ertoba 2013 professional union have declared.



Train drivers and other employees have gathered and held a protest, addressing the Tbilisi Transport Company with three main requests.



According to union member Emzar Barbakadze, the Metro employees demand their remuneration to be according to the years they have worked.



According to them, they are giving the administration three days to comply. If their conditions are not fulfilled the Metro may cease functioning from the morning of April 8.

(IPN)







Georgian Defence Minister Speaks on the phone with Armenian, Azerbaijani Counterparts



Georgia's Defence Minister Tina Khidasheli spoke by phone with her Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts to address the renewed fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, the Georgian Ministry of Defence said.



The Georgian MoD said on April 4 that Khidasheli expressed hope for a ceasefire and return to the negotiating table.



The Georgian Minister noted that stability in the region is of vital importance for Georgia and the international community should spare no efforts to de-escalate the situation, the Georgian MoD said.



Georgias PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili convened a meeting of senior government, parliament and security officials on April 3 to discuss the conflict between Georgias neighbors, Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh region, where renewed fighting has killed dozens.



Speaking at the NATO-Georgia Public Diplomacy Forum in Tbilisi on April 4, PM Kvirikashvili expressed concern over the escalation of the situation in our neighborhood.



We hope that it will be possible to de-escalate situation through the efforts of the international community, which is so important for peace and stability in our region and beyond, the Georgian PM said.



The Chief of the General Staff of the Georgian Armed Forces, Maj. Gen. Vakhtang Kapanadze, told journalists on the sideline of the forum that Tbilisi keeps close communication without our colleagues in Azerbaijan and Armenia. We hope there will be a ceasefire soon, he said.

(Civil.ge)







Georgia aims to maintain 10% share of Gazprom natural gas transit



Georgia has offered Gazprom to continue the transit of natural gas to Armenia under the same conditions as before.



The details of the new offer are not known, but negotiations between the Georgian government and Gazprom will finish within days, Deputy Energy Minister Mariam Valishvili has said.



The Energy Ministry press office told DFWatch that Valishvili would not comment on any additional details apart from what she said on Wednesday.



Georgia no longer needs additional import of natural gas from Russia after signing a contract with Azerbaijans Socar, but negotiations continue over the conditions of transit of gas to Armenia through Georgia.



This means that Georgia aims to maintain its 10 percent share of the natural gas transferred to Armenia, which amounts to 200 million cubic meters of gas per year. However, Gazprom wants to pay a fee instead of providing natural gas to Georgia.



Since the second half of 2015, the Georgian government has spoken of the need for additional gas supply due to increased consumption and was in negotiations with Gazprom about meeting that demand.



However, on March 4, Georgia and Azerbaijans Socar signed agreement about Socar providing additional 500 million cubic meters of gas and the Energy Minister Kakhi Kaladze said that Georgia would no longer need to purchase additional gas from Russia.



According to the agreement signed on March 4, a memorandum between Georgia and Socar signed in December 2011 was amended. The memorandum is in force until 2030. The amendment means that the price of commercial gas for the gas stations is reduced by USD 35/USD 40 for 1,000 cubic meters, but it is unknown what the price for the commercial sector was before the amendment.



A letter sent by the Energy Ministry to the Republican Party in 2015 says the contract is a commercial secret, but the ministry also informed that the private sector is purchasing gas from Socar for the price of EUR 260 per 1,000 cubic meters.



The Energy Ministry provided DFWatch data about consumption of gas in Georgia, which shows the annual consumption and what amount of gas Georgia receives from different countries.

(DF watch)




@stevebousquet

Emotions ran high at the state Capitol Tuesday as supporters and opponents of a proposed alimony law clashed outside Gov. Rick Scotts office.

Scott has one more week to decide the fate of SB 668, which has stirred more public reaction on both sides than any other bill from the 2016 legislative session.

Supporters rallied first on the steps of the Historic Old Capitol and called on Scott to sign the bill into law.

The people have spoken, said Tarie MacMillan, a divorcee from Wimauma, in Hillsborough County. Children deserve both parents.

One of the bills most controversial provisions is a presumption at the start of a divorce proceeding that assumes both parents should equally share custody.

As supporters rallied outside, opponents marched to Scotts office, hoping to deliver dozens of letters and petitions. After nearly an hour, two staffers emerged from Scott's office to discuss the legislation with opponents.

This bill is bad for kids, its bad for women and its bad for Florida, said Robert Doyel, a former circuit judge in Polk County, who handled many divorce cases.
The post-session campaign finance reports are in and, no surprise, the most expensive contests are shaping up to be in steamy South Florida. Here's our list of the top money-raising state Senate contests. (The total raised for the district includes individual Senate campaigns and political committee cash on hand this cycle.)

1. $1,209,963 District 39 Miami

The shifting political sands in Miami have made it a dicey place for Republicans in the wake of redistricting but Republican Sen. Anitere Flores has fortified her campaign with lots and lots of cash -- at least $743,002 to date in fact -- against Democrat Andrew Korge, son of one of South Florida's most successful fundraising moguls, Chris Korge.

Flores' fundraising haul included $124,275 for March. The race may be the most expensive in Florida but Korge is keeping it competitive -- raising $220,750 for his individual Senate committee, including $16,472 for March and has more than $246,211 in cash on hand in his PAC.

2. $1,098,886 District 34 Broward

The Fort Lauderdale battle to replace Sen. Eleanor Sobel is, predictably, pricey as lawyers Gary Farmer and Jim Waldman, a former state representative, battle it out against retired educator Rep. Gwyn Clarke-Reed. Farmer has raised the most with $503,755, including $207,000 from his lawyer-financed political committee. He has also given himself a $103,000 loan. Waldman has raised $368,230 with $132,500 on hand from his political committee. He has given himself a $202,500 loan. Clarke-Reed has raised $15,100.

3. $902,304 District 23 Sarasota

The high stakes Sarasota seat promises to be a fierce fight with Reps. Greg Steube and Ray Pilon wrestling for the GOP nomination against former Rep. Doug Holder. Holder has the edge over Steube having raised $206,800 and has $135,000 in cash available in his PAC while Steube raised $230,0205 and has $54,298 remaining in his longer-running PAC. Republican Nora Patterson, the former Sarasota County commissioner has raised $100,787 in cash and loaned herself another $60,000. Only Steube and Holder have political committees.

4. $757,692 District 13 Orlando

The battle to replace Andy Gardiner in the newly-drawn Orlando-based swing district promises to be one of the most expensive in Central Florida. Realtor Dean Asher has raised nearly $413,000 to date, with half of it coming from realtors to his political committee. In the Democratic primary, former state representative Mike Clelland has raised the most with $165,780 coming into his Senate committee and $92,000 in his PAC. He faces Democrats Linda Stewart ($17,208) and Rick Roach ($69,841).

5. $619,385 District 17 Melbourne

The Melbourne-based district makes the list by the sheer force of the fundraising heft of former House Rules Chairman Ritch Workman. He has $322,485 on hand in his political committee and has raised $273,000 for his individual Senate campaign. Rep. Debbie Mayfield faces Workman in the Republican primary and she has raised $16,265.

Addendum:

In District 2 in the Panhandle, Bay County Commissioner and car dealer George Gainer loaned himself $500,000 and raised another $206,255 to give himself a substantial lead in fundraising when he thought he was going to face Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Shalimar. But with Gaetz jumping into the District 1 congressional seat and Gainer facing no other opponent, will his total change? He could withdraw his loan or continue to make the case that he's not beholden to special interests.

It's also worth noting that if outgoing Republican House Leader Dana Young had a challenger for Tampa-based Senate District 18, her race would be among the most expensive. Instead, Young remains unchallenged with a hefty campaign fund of $789,000 to spread around and make many friends.

Note: This post has been updated and corrected.
Life insurance companies will have to do more to locate the beneficiaries of those who die under a bill Gov. Rick Scott signed into law today.

The new law requires life insurers to search the Social Security Administration's Death Master File for all of their policyholders retroactively to 1992 and every year going forward to identify beneficiaries. If a beneficiary cannot be found, the insurance company must turn the policy over to the State of Floridas Unclaimed Property Program, currently overseen by Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, where the state will continue to look for rightful beneficiaries.

Atwater has made the issue a top priority this year because he said too many life insurance companies are sitting on billions of dollars in overdue, unpaid life insurance benefits. He said some companies were doing little to track down families whose loved ones paid their premiums for years.

"For years insurance companies had no trouble sending their agents to their house for the weekly payment," Atwater said during a Senate Banking and Insurance committee meeting on the topic in January. "They knew exactly where they lived for 20 years. But now that it may be time to pay up, its a horrified hardship to find that individual."

Atwater said it was discovered that many life insurance companies built in business practices that would shield them from knowing if a policy holder died so it would reduce payouts.

The bill (SB 966) Scott signed was sponsored in the Florida Senate by Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Fort Myers. In the House, Rep. Bill Hager, R-Delray Beach, sponsored similar legislation.
Once one of the most productive estuaries in the world, the Apalachicola River basin, on Tuesday was named "America's Most Endangered River" as damaging water management decisions and increasing demand from the Atlanta metro area have put the river basin at "the breaking point."

That is the conclusion of American Rivers, a national advocacy organization that every year determines which waterways are at a pivotal crossroad.

For the Apalachicola, the river basin fed by the Chattahochee and Flint Rivers of Alabama and Georgia, its water flow has been strained to the danger point by increasing demands from Georgia water users, including the City of Atlanta south.

Apalachicola Bay once produced 90 percent of Florida's oysters but in 2012 collapsed due to inadequate fresh water flows. A drought in 2013 weakened conditions even more and the result has forced fishing families to leave the area as offshore hatcheries, shrimp and oyster beds have been damaged.

Now American Rivers, joined by environmental groups from Georgia, Alabama and Florida as well as U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham and state Sen. Bill Montford, are calling on the governors of the three states to act quickly to develop a water-sharing agreement that gives a priority to the health of the river basin. They also want the Army Corps of Engineers, which controls how much water from the rivers are used for drinking, hydropower, flood control and fish and wildlife conservation, to "significantly improve water management to sustain river health."

"We can't survive as a fishing village. Our industry can't survive,'' said Shannon Hartsfield, president of the Franklin County Seafood Workers Association. "We are one of the last working bays that's productive."

Montford, D-Tallahassee, a fifth generation Floridian, said it was time to "reverse the damage" with a new cooperation between the states. "We are on the verge of losing one of god's greatest gifts,'' he said.

The State of Florida is suing the State of Georgia over its failure to safely manage the water flow and the lawsuit is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. Graham, D-Tallahassee, has proposed the Apalachicola Restoration Act to require the Army Corps of Engineers to change its water policy rules to prevent continued ecological destruction of the river basin. The pending legislation has the support of 21 of the Florida's 29-member delegation but has not been agreed to by Georgia of Alabama lawmakers.

Graham said the loss of the river basin will have a ripple effect on the economy across the country.

"As leaders of our country we must put aside politics and do what is right for the people of all states involved,'' she said. "We can help future generations of fishermen and families across North Florida, and preserve this nation treasure. We must do that."
According to a super PAC supporting New Yorker Donald Trump for president, Texas Republicans just experienced a wagons worth of election fraud, all oddly to the good for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (who later dropped out of the race).

We read the post on stopthesteal.org on April 6, 2016 while looking into a claim by Republican consultant Frank Luntz who had said in a tweet that Team Trump "has accused Ted Cruz," the Texas senator battling Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, of fraud in Iowa, Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Kansas, Maine, Utah and Wisconsin. Thats Half True, we found.

Luntz, by way of offering factual backup for his claim, guided us to a post on stopthesteal.org , the website for the Committee to Restore Americas Greatness, a super PAC created in December 2015 by Trump supporter and former campaign operative Roger Stone to back Trump and attack rivals, especially Rubio, according to a Reuters news story at the time.

The web post aired concerns about fraud in seven states including Texas after stating the Trump Ballot Security Project was formed "when the mainstream media reported dozens of voting irregularities in the" March 2016 "Texas Republican primary. This ultimately totaled over 600 reports in at least six counties including Dallas County and Travis County. In virtually every case," the post says, "votes cast for Donald J. Trump were tallied for Sen. Marco Rubio."

Cruz handily won the states March 1, 2016, primary with 43 percent of the GOP vote. Trump finished second (27 percent) and Rubio third (18 percent); Ohio Gov. John Kasich landed fourth with 4 percent, according to the Texas secretary of state.

We asked Stone about the basis of stopthesteal.orgs proclaimed Texas irregularities. By email, he initially noted the ballot security project had shifted to its own website though the provided address didn't lead to any web page just a few days later.

See why PolitiFact Texas rated this statement Pants on Fire.
Recently the Montana federal district court issued a stinging ruling that reverses the politically motivated decision by President Obamas U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to keep wolverines off the endangered species list. As one of a number of [laintiffs, the Alliance for the Wild Rockies applauds the extensive 85-page ruling for finding that the agency ignored the best science in the face of undeniable climate change  and did so for political reasons.

The court's order on the wolverine case bluntly asked the seminal question: Why did the Service make the decision it did in the Proposed Rule, based on what it determined to be the best available science, and reject that decision eighteen months later? The court answered its own question with the damning conclusion: Based on the record, the Court suspects that a possible answer to this question can be found in the immense political pressure that was brought to bear on this issue, particularly by a handful of western states.

The fact that two Democratic administrations (federal and state) interjected political pressure on their wildlife management agencies is deplorable. But worse, its totally hypocritical. When President George W. Bushs administration overruled its scientists on critical habitat protection for bull trout, Democrats strongly criticized it. But in our wolverine lawsuit, the state of Montana, Montana Department of Fish Wildlife and Parks, intervened to support the bad federal agency decision and Democrats didnt criticize President Obama or Governor Bullock.

Its easy to understand why the oil and gas industry intervened, since any attempts to slow down climate change could affect their profits. Its also easy to understand why Republicans would oppose protecting wolverines, since they favor corporations over people and wildlife and believe global warming is hogwash. But it makes little sense for Democrats Obama and Bullock to oppose giving wolverines Endangered Species Act protection. As the court rightly surmised, science was simply run over by political pressure.

Shortly after Obama took office, The Economist had an article predicting the Democrats campaign plan for the Intermountain West was to move to the right on public lands issues. That prediction seems to have manifested as reality, as indicated by the following events:

 Montanas Sen. Jon Tester sponsored and passed a rider on an unrelated appropriations bill to take wolves off the endangered species list even though the courts had deemed that action illegal under the Endangered Species Act.

 The Cabinet-Yaak grizzly bear has not been uplisted to endangered from threatened status under the Endangered Species Act even though the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been saying for 20 years that this distinct grizzly bear population needs more protection.

 For the threatened Canada lynx, FWS has steadfastly refused to protect critical habitat in the southern Rockies and many areas of national forests in the Northern Rockies.

 Governor Bullock nominated over 5 million acres of national forests in Montana for fast-track logging, much of which is in habitat for the Cabinet-Yaak grizzly bear, wolverine and lynx, all of which are already imperiled and harmed by logging.

 Bullock, backed by some conservation groups such as Audubon, successfully lobbied the Obama administration to not list sage grouse under the Endangered Species Act because it would threaten corporate exploitation, primarily oil and gas development, on public lands.

The sad truth is that Democrats are trying to beat the Republicans in a contest of who can be the most anti-environmental in the West. This is a losing game that Republicans will win because they dont even pretend to care about habitat for native species.

But Bernie Sanders string of winning Western primaries demonstrates there is strong political support for not pandering to corporations and the right-wing.

Instead of trying to beat the Republicans in a contest to see who can clearcut more habitat (while losing thousands of taxpayer dollars on every acre they cut) and driving more native species into extinction, Obama and Bullock should follow the example of past leaders like Teddy Roosevelt and Lee Metcalf who stood up to corporate exploitation of our public lands and fought to preserve native species for future generations.
But her job in the case was, in effect, to approve or reject the approach the oversight council took in its analysis.

Judges, of course, are often asked to weigh in on complicated matters that are beyond their area of expertise. The judge in the case of the F.B.I.s effort to unlock an Apple phone was not an engineer or a computer scientist. And our legal system regularly asks jurors with no background in a particular subject to decide difficult cases.

But in certain instances, like the case involving MetLife and the oversight council, should there be a special court, perhaps with an area of expertise?

Many of the lawyers I spoke with scoffed at the idea of a specialized tribunal to deal with issues related to the oversight council, saying that it is a judges job to determine whether government agencies provide appropriate regulation.

Still, Joshua D. Wright, a former commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission, co-wrote a 2011 study that determined in antitrust cases, a judges expertise had a significant impact on the validity of the ruling. Decisions of judges trained in basic economics are significantly less likely to be appealed than are decisions by their untrained counterparts, the study says. Our analysis supports the hypothesis that some antitrust cases are too complicated for generalist judges.

Now, with the ruling by Judge Collyer in the MetLife case, many analysts are expecting that other companies, including potentially General Electric and Prudential, will sue to have their designation lifted too. That puts the decision not to a committee of ostensibly qualified experts, but to a panel of judges with limited experience.

Judge Collyers decision may well be entirely valid, but at least in certain places she appears off base. For example, she said the government never projected what the losses would be, which financial institutions would have to actively manage their balance sheets or how the market would destabilize as a result.
Two unions representing roughly 36,000 Verizon workers in the eastern United States have set a strike deadline of Wednesday morning, saying they have made little progress with management in the more than eight months since their most recent contracts expired. The announcement sets up what would be one of the largest strikes in recent years.

The unions, which represent customer service workers, installers, repairmen and other technicians for the companys so-called wireline network, said on Monday that they had indicated they would meet Verizon more than halfway on its top priority, controlling health care costs. But they said Verizon had made few or no concessions on their biggest concern: protecting well-paying jobs and expanding the ranks of the workers who have them.

Our committee worked very hard to address all of the concerns they raised about limiting health care costs for the company, and weve been clear about our willingness to do so, said Bob Master, assistant to the vice president of District 1 at the Communications Workers of America, one of the unions in the contract talks. The reason were going on strike is that they failed to reciprocate on the issues that matter to us.

Verizon officials maintained that the changing competitive and technological landscape required a continual updating of the rules governing its work force. Were moving to a digital world, said Marc Reed, Verizons chief administrative officer. There are many things that were agreed to that made sense back in the Ma Bell era that are no longer tenable.
Jona S. Rechnitz, the scion of a wealthy Los Angeles family, came to New York City about a decade ago to make his mark. A brash young man eager to fund philanthropic causes, he cultivated connections with the Police Department  posing with top officials, and once arranging for police bagpipes at a party  and became a fixture at fund-raising events for Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Jeremiah Reichberg came from the more cloistered world of Borough Park, Brooklyn, an Orthodox Jewish enclave where he was a familiar presence, even if his private life and business dealings were not well known. He ran a consulting firm, and hosted Mr. de Blasio to great fanfare at his home in 2014 for a fund-raising event.

Mr. Rechnitz and Mr. Reichberg became close, appearing together at public and private events, and serving on Mr. de Blasios inauguration committee  an honor bestowed on the famous, like the writer Junot Diaz and the actor Steve Buscemi, and on lavish givers. In recent weeks, they have become the fulcrum of a sprawling federal corruption investigation into the mayors fund-raising activities and the actions of police commanders.

The federal inquiry, which began in 2013, has laid bare the citys nexus of political influence and campaign donations, dormant for a decade during the administration of the billionaire Michael R. Bloomberg, as well as the world of those men, like Mr. Rechnitz and Mr. Reichberg, who sidle up to police officials as a kind of informal currency. The two men  neither of whom has been charged with a crime  appeared to take great pride in the closeness with which they spoke to senior commanders, including Philip Banks III, once the top chief, who has come under scrutiny as part of the inquiry.
" " The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reckons that somewhere between $800 billion and $2 trillion goes through the money laundering rinse cycle every year. AlexSava/Getty Images

As of September 2018, Paul Manafort, who served at one time as President Trump's campaign chairman, has been found guilty on eight counts of tax and bank fraud. In a separate trial, he will be prosecuted for money laundering. The money laundering charges have to do with a scheme that follows a tried and true method for rinsing the dirt off your treasure. Manafort is alleged to have garnered millions from the former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. Rather than declare these earnings to the IRS and turn over the taxes due, Manafort is said to have placed them in offshore accounts and then used them to buy expensive real estate in the U.S.

Once he owned the properties, prosecutors say he then used them as collateral to take out millions of dollars in loans from U.S. banks. Since the money was in the form of loans rather than income, he wasn't obliged to pay taxes on it. The old real estate bait-and-switch is a classic mode of cleaning up cash. Money laundering is an ancient felonious practice and Manafort is hardly the first political figure to get himself mixed up in it.

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In October 2005, for instance, U.S. congressman Tom DeLay was indicted on money laundering charges, forcing him to step down as House Majority Leader.

Money laundering is a ubiquitous practice. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reckons that somewhere between $800 billion and $2 trillion goes through the rinse cycle every year [source: The Economist]. That's in the neighborhood of 2 to 5 percent of the entire planet's GDP! The rise of global financial markets makes money laundering easier than ever countries with bank-secrecy laws are directly connected to countries with bank-reporting laws, making it possible to anonymously deposit "dirty" money in one country and then have it transferred to any other country for use.

Money laundering, at its simplest, is the act of making money that comes from Source A look like it comes from Source B. In practice, criminals are trying to disguise the origins of money obtained through illegal activities so it looks like it was obtained from legal sources. Otherwise, they can't use the money because it would connect them to the criminal activity, and law-enforcement officials would seize it.

Money laundering happens in almost every country in the world, and a single scheme typically involves transferring money through several countries in order to obscure its origins. In this article, we'll learn exactly what money laundering is and why it's necessary, who launders money and how they do it and what steps the authorities are taking to try to foil money-laundering operations.
I'm among those who believe that when a political figure puts forth his or her spouse or grown-up children to appear on his or her behalf, those adults should be subjected to the same rigorous coverage as the candidate. The young kiddies can be cute props, off-limits to our snarky skeptical questions, but once they reach 18 -- let's call it the age of dissent -- they are fair game.

That, however, doesn't mean foul game, which would include the social-media dump of that revealing but very tasteful picture of Melania Trump, accompanied by derogatory comments best described as juvenile spittle. Also inappropriate is the misogynistic shot of Heidi Cruz that Donald Trump tweeted in response. But otherwise, if the family members are out there, they should expect to undergo the standard journalistic shredding.

It is obviously true for Bill Clinton. He's morphed from former president to husband of wannabe future president Hillary Clinton. While he would love to claim some sort of icon status, the truth is that this asset sometimes can make an ass of himself. He's gotten his wife's campaign in trouble before with remarks he should have known better than to deliver. This time it was in Philadelphia, when he let "Black Lives Matter" protesters get his goat. He argued with them when they shouted over his speech at a campaign event. It was a classic index finger-pointing performance, with him defending his 1994 anti-crime bill that some argue has filled our prisons with minorities. By the next day, he was perhaps wondering if he had looked foolish. He told the audience at another event, "I almost want to apologize," but then made sure to take another shot: "I know those young people yesterday were just trying to get good television."

Congratulations on presenting yourself as the victim, Mr. President. By criticizing the agitators' made-for-TV tactics, you have joined all the evildoers over the decades who have tried to discredit protesters who were in fact using demonstrations as a way to get noticed. Why? Because they don't have the huge financial resources to sway public opinion or manipulate it to deflect valid criticism.

They don't have the money to hire lobbyists and other influence mercenaries, and they don't have the wealth to share with politicians and officeholders in the form of campaign contributions, paid speeches and donations to favorite charities. It's not hard to understand why someone who has benefited from such special-interest largesse would be upset that a group might be so impertinent and interrupt his love fest. Yes, indeed, they've relied on their noisy demonstrations to reach a television audience to express their grievances, because that's one of their few effective tools.

Perhaps that's also why Hillary and her operatives get so upset when Bernie Sanders aggressively talks about the donations she is receiving from these same fat cats while he relies on small donors. His campaign is all about taking on economic inequality in this country, to the point of making fantasy promises to correct it. While the solutions he offers are unrealistic, they have dragged Hillary to the left, where she promises to take on the same oligarchical system as he does. The difference is, she has a much cozier relationship with the oligarchs, which is just one of the explanations for her credibility issues.

What's healthy about this is that, in Hilary Clinton's case, we are offered an opportunity to elect our first woman president. With the other candidates, we are covering wives who are accomplished in their own right. The same goes for their offspring. They are not just there as window dressing. Their abilities are on full display, and they are certainly a match for our toughest, most incredulous inquiry. They don't need protection from us -- from themselves, perhaps, but not us.

(c) 2016 Bob Franken

Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
As outfitters on the Smith River, we are privileged to make a good living helping others experience what many consider to be the greatest combination of floating, fly fishing and camping in the lower 48 states. Around 7,000 people take this 60-mile scenic journey annually with the hope of connecting to a part of Montana that is still wild. We have collectively employed hundreds of guides and other staff to help make that happen.

Several of us have dedicated more than 20 years to the Smith River and had clients return again and again. Watching the seasons change on the river opens peoples eyes to how special and yet how fragile the watershed is. So along with the privilege of working on the Smith, there is a responsibility to leave the river healthier than we found it.

Thats why we are concerned with the copper mine Tintina Resources is proposing on the upper part of Sheep Creek in the Smith River watershed. We appreciate the benefits of responsible mining, but this mine is unlikely to leave the river better off. All mineral extraction has environmental risks, but in this case, the ore deposits thread through sulfide-rich rock, which produces acid and dissolved metals that would be deadly for fish in Sheep Creek and the Smith River. We have not seen enough evidence to believe that this mine would avoid these problems.

We understand risk as a part of our business. But floating the Smith River, where the towering canyon walls overwhelm the senses, we keep asking the same question: How can we risk putting all of this in jeopardy? The answer is We cant.

We are deeply worried that state regulatory agencies will be unable to catch problems before they turn into disasters. Usually, environmental disasters can be traced back to a government agency that has done too little too late. This has been the recent track record of both the Department of Environmental Quality and the Department on Natural Resources Conservation when it comes to protecting our river resources. Does DEQ have the financial resources and the technological expertise to closely monitor and regulate this mine? How much manpower can they devote to this mine? And what would they do when the mine either pollutes or diminishes the groundwater in an area that is already water-limited?

We believe the Smith River is the queen of Montanas spectacular river network. This river exhibits more of what Montana is about than any other stream in our state. It requires the confidence and self-reliance of every floater to negotiate 60 miles in any combination of wind, rain, snow and heat that Montana can produce. The Smith River is where Montanans bring their families to impart the values, virtues and ethics of conserving the natural world. This is still our last best place.

Economists have determined that fishing on the Smith River alone contributes at least $7 million annually for Montanas economy, and that doesnt include other recreational, agricultural and tax benefits it generates. These are indefinitely sustainable dollars, and they benefit real people and real jobs that would be lost if the river is degraded. Add in the cost taxpayers might have to foot to clean up a big spill or keep wastes from leaking in the future, and it becomes a high price to pay. Unfortunately, the citizens of Montana will assume all the risk, while the corporate boardrooms of Tintinas owners in Perth, Australia, and New York City reap the rewards.

We encourage other people concerned with this mine proposal to check out the litany of unanswered questions and concerns we raise at www.smithriverwatch.org.

-- Longtime Smith River outfitters Mike Geary owns Lewis and Clark Expeditions; John Herzer and Terri Raugland own Blackfoot River Outfitters; Brandon Bodecker owns PRO Outfitters; and Joe Sowerby owns Montana Flyfishing Connection.
Deutsche Bank Nation Trust Company, as Trustee for Home Equity Mortgage Loan Asset-Backed Trust Series INABS 2007-B, Home Equity Mortgage Loan Asset-Backed Certifications Series INABS 2007-B

Plaintiff,

vs.

Scott Kropf a/k/a Scott A. Kropf, a/k/a Scott Allen Kropf; Parties in Possession; Unknown spouse, if any, of Scott Kropf; CitiFinancial Inc; John Eldon Wunder; Community Bank / Peoples Office, 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 25, 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 $29,405.49, with 6.62% per annum interest thereon from November 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 February 5, 2007, located in Muscatine county, Iowa:

The South 60 feet of Lot Five of Auditor's Plat of Singleton's subdivision of parts of the West half of the Southwest Quarter of Section 17, Township 76 North, Range 4 West of the 5th PM, situated in the City of Conesville, Muscatine County, Iowa, commonly known as 602 Burlington Street, Conesville, IA 52739 (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 Emily Bartekoske, 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 10th 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.
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 []
Internet search giant Google has teamed up with youth content agency Livity Africa to train one million people across the continent in digital skills.

Google and Livity Africa plan to run two training programmes dubbed Digify Bytes and Digify Pro over a 12 month period for free.

The Bytes programme seeks to boost young peoples digital skills while the Pro initiative involves three-month immersion training for digital specialists.

The programmes, though, are not teaching computer coding skills but rather soft skills such as social media and content creation. The two organisations are targeting training 100 000 people face-to-face and about 900 000 people online.

Meanwhile, Google and Livity Africa have also launched a data-light website called digifyafrica.com, an online-learning portal which is expected to grow from nine courses to 50 by July.

All the courses that are put on here are easy to learn at your own pace, said Google Africa spokesperson Mich Atagana at the search giants offices in Johannesburg.

Country director for Google South Africa, Luke McKend, said on Tuesday that upskilling Africans is the kind of problem Google was designed to solve.

We know that small businesses are more profitable when theyre online, McKend told a media briefing.

To date, the Google and Livity training initiatives have kicked off in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa.

The search giant has also promised to scale up the programmes over the next 12 months while 65 volunteers are helping the Livity team with content development, training trainers and even delivering training sessions.

Fin24

More on Google

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As if the national carriers struggles to return to profitability were not enough, Nairobi senator Mike Sonko has trolled Kenya Airways badly.

Last year, Kenya Airways bore the brunt of all criticisms after reporting a Ksh 27 Billion loss. This year, it will be sending 600 employees home in its rationalization plan starting May.

Over the weekend, Mike Sonko added to Kenya Airways woes by saying that the inside of a dreamliner bus is better than the inside of a Kenya Airways first class flight.

He shared photos and captioned them: Im inside of a dreamliner bus to Mombasa, better than the inside of KQ first class.






It has been a while since we heard from one-time presidential aspirant Kingwa Kamencu, but she is still as controversial as ever.

From posting nudes to asking the government to creat masturbation zones, Kingwa has in the past attracted lots of feedback from social media users. She is at it yet again, and this time she wants a Penis Festival in Kenya.

The Penis Festival is an annual festival observed in Japan on the first Sunday of April. This festival is held at the Kanayama Shrine and is marked with a celebration of the penis and fertility.

The Kanayama Shrine is popular among prostitutes who generally pray for protection from sexually transmitted infections.

Photos from this years festival have been doing the rounds on social media, catching Kingwas attention.

She wrote: We need to bring this Penis Festival to Kenya. Potential volunteers, inbox me.
WASHINGTON  Tuesday marks Equal Pay Day, a symbolic event dramatizing how much longer it takes a woman to earn as much as a man  and an annual opportunity for Democrats to lambast Republicans for inaction on the issue.

This time it comes amid a presidential campaign where the Republican front-runner, Donald Trump, has alienated female voters in droves, leading to GOP fears he could diminish the party's standing with that key constituency for years to come. Yet once again this year, as President Barack Obama and Democratic lawmakers trumpet their equal pay proposals at news conferences and briefings, Republicans have little to offer in return.

"We feel we shouldn't be playing identity politics, we should be working together to strengthen families," said Sarah Chamberlain, president of the Republican Main Street Partnership, which advocates for pragmatic, center-right policies.

Obama, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Maryland Democratic Sen. Barbara Mikulski and other Democrats are speaking at a women's equality event Tuesday morning at the Sewall-Belmont House in D.C., a historic site in the women's suffrage movement that Obama will designate as a national monument.

Democrats support legislation requiring employers to show pay disparity is not based on gender, among other steps. The bill, which passed the House when it was under Democratic control but was blocked by Senate Republicans, builds on the first law Obama signed as president, the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, aimed at making it easier for women to sue over wage discrimination.

For their part, the Republicans who control the House and Senate have announced no plans to act on legislation addressing pay inequity, even though a few GOP lawmakers are pushing bills on the issue. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., said she is hoping for Democratic support for her narrowly focused bill allowing employees to share wage information. GOP Sen. Kelly Ayotte said she is working with House Republicans to get on board with her broader bill, modeled on one that passed in her home state of New Hampshire.

"To say that Republicans don't care about equal pay, that's just ludicrous that anybody even says that," Fischer said. "Everybody cares about equal pay. That's a value that we all share."

Republican women dispute the notion that "women's issues" are separate from any other issues, noting that women care strongly about national security, the drug epidemic and other matters not specifically related to their gender. With the GOP presidential primary season veering chaotically toward a contested convention, most Capitol Hill Republicans are also avoiding taking any steps that could connect them to the mess, including the perception that they are acting in response to Trump.

"I just put these in the context of good government and the right thing to do. I don't put it in the context of anything else," Ayotte said. "I mean I've been working on this well before this presidential race."

Yet the result is that the one group arguably best positioned to act as a counterweight to Trump with women voters  female Republican elected officials  has been largely silent, allowing his controversial statements on women to go unanswered even as Democrats look likely to elevate the first major-party female presidential nominee in Hillary Clinton.

Chamberlain spent months traveling the country with female GOP members of Congress, meeting with women voters to hear their concerns. Although women still make on average 79 cents for every dollar men are paid, equal pay didn't make the list when her group released its policy agenda in January. Drug addiction and mental health topped women voters' concerns, Chamberlain said, and lawmakers involved with her group are pushing legislation on those issues and others, including workplace flexibility for new moms and caregivers.

"Equal pay doesn't come up, I'm not saying it's not an issue but it doesn't come up," Chamberlain said. As for Democrats' focus on the topic, Chamberlain said: "I think it's identity politics, I really do."

Clinton herself is participating in a round table discussion on the issue in New York City Tuesday, hosted by job website Glassdoor. Members of the U.S. women's soccer team recently filed a wage-discrimination complaint against U.S. Soccer, and actress Jennifer Lawrence has spoken out about making less than her male co-stars, drawing more attention to the issue than it has had in the past.

"These were not always major issues in presidential campaigns but they are major issues today," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., who is hosting a briefing on pay equity Tuesday with actress Patricia Arquette. Of Trump, who had to recant after suggesting women should be punished for having abortions, Maloney added: "I think that he is in the Middle Ages."

Trump himself was questioned by a voter at a rally last fall who asked if she would make as much as a man if Trump were elected president. "I respect women and I'm going to take care of women," said Trump. "You're going to make the same if you do as good a job."
Heralding the tentative agreement as a turning point in BART labor relations, union leaders and management lauded a proposed worker contract that would stem the possibility of strikes for the next five years.

The proposed agreement, which must still be ratified by union membership and the BART Board of Directors, would give workers at 10.5 percent pay raise over the next four years.

It also buys some time for both sides to negotiate the agency's pension agreement, which is currently the subject of a lawsuit between the State of California and the U.S. Department of Labor.

The remainder of the agreement will remain the same, said BART General Manager Grace Crunican.

"This is a pivotal moment in BART's history in labor relations," said Sal Cruz, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3993. "The amount of collaboration it took to make this happen was tremendous."

BART workers went on strike in July 2013, shutting the system down for several days over complaints about pay and safety concerns. A second strike began in October 2013. BART board president Tom Radulovich said the resulting contract was "not a terrible agreement, but it was a terrible process in getting there."

"We really let the Bay Area down," Radulovich said.

Following the strikes, the BART Board of Directors hired a consultant to review the breakdown in negotiations. A subsequent report, published in September 2014, proposed 31 recommendations to improve future talks.

BART management and union leaders began working together roughly two years ago to address the toughest of the report's recommendations, said Chris Finn, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555. The two sides met in November for a two-day meeting, which Finn said was successful in advancing the current contract.

"Now was about the time where we had to decide, are we going to dedicate our resources to focusing on preparing for upcoming negotiations in 2017, or are we going to focus our resources on keeping BART moving?" Finn said.

Crunican said the agreement would ensure five years of labor peace and would enable the agency to invest in replacing and repairing the system's aged infrastructure.

The labor agreement comes at a time when BART has been under fire for system failures, including electrical problems that disabled trains between BART's Pittsburg/Bay Point and North Concord/Martinez stations, causing massive delays and forcing riders onto shuttles between the two East Bay stations for several weeks.

The BART Board of Directors indicated in February that the agency plans to pursue a $3.5 billion bond measure that would be placed on November ballot. The bond measure is slated for track and station improvements and would not be used to pay for salary increases for workers, Crunican said.

"The bond measure is about capital investment in the system," Crunican said. "None of that money can be used to pay the workers. This will all be paid for on the operating side of the budget."

Jim Wunderman, president and CEO of the Bay Area Council, a business-sponsored advocacy organization, lauded the agreement as a "rider-centric move." Crunican said it would allow the agency to better focus on repairing and replacing the system's infrastructure.

"We use our workers to make those reinvestments," Crunican said.

"This agreement will allow us to focus on rebuilding."

The agreement is expected to be ratified by BART unions and the Board of Directors in the coming weeks. Once in effect, it will be in place until 2021.
THE NUJAZZ AGENCY ANNOUNCES TWO SPECIAL DISCUSSIONS AT JAZZAHEAD IN BREMEN, GERMANY AND SPECIAL SESSION OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF JAZZ MANAGERS (IAJM) TO BE LED BY JERALD MILLERNu Jazz Agency has just announced that founder & Managing Director Jerald Miller will be leading a discussion entitled: Jazz Music in 7D on Friday, April 22, 2016 from 2:30pm-3:30pm for the Jazzahead! music conference to be held in Bremen, Germany at the Bremen Exhibition Center in Hall 6, Conference Room 1, as part of the (three) day European Jazz Expo. Directly following the discussion, a special breakout session for the International Association of Jazz Managers (IAJM) will be held in the same room from 3:30pm-4:00pm.The discussion will primarily focus on new paradigms in the music business industry and key emerging concepts in the new monetization streams for jazz. The discussion focuses on making these new concepts relevant inside the scope of the jazz music business, and seeks to give every attendee insight into the critical skill set they must develop to strengthen the monetization of their content. From understanding the engagement of superfans, to developing social media advertising budgets. From understanding how streaming really works to understanding key marketing strategies for digital stores. The discussion is designed to give real world actionable solutions to level the playing field for jazz content owners.People in the business of making and selling jazz music are always behind the times," says Nu Jazz Agency Managing Director, Jerald Miller. All around the world, the jazz business is lamenting the loss of retail stores and failing to embrace the new opportunities for sales growth that has risen from the dust of the failed retail chains. Never before has there been given a chance to be discovered by such a large number of people in almost every part of the goal. Weve got a great chance of growing our sales base, more so now than ever before."In 2015 Jerald Miller was named by the 118 year old performing arts magazine, Musical America Worldwide, as one of the Top 30 Influencers" in the Arts world. He remains the only person in the jazz industry ever named to one of their Top 30 professionals list.The conversation will take place on April 22, 2016 in Halle 6, Conference Room 1 of the Bremen Exhibition Center from 14:30-15:30 hrs.After the discussion the International Association of Jazz Managers (IAJM) will hold a (30) minute breakout session, to introduce members of the European Jazz Community to the organization and their 2016 schedule of events. The breakout session is also being led by Jerald Miller, and will be held in on April 22, 2016 in Halle 6, Conference Room 1 of the Bremen Exhibition Center from 15:30-16:30 hrs.The need for jazz managers, agents, and industry personnel to work together for the benefit of artists has never been stronger or more necessary," says Jerald Miller, who is also the Interim President of the IAJM. The IAJMs goal is to create a group that can work together to create a higher standard for practices and skills which are necessary to strengthen our industry as a whole, while sharing information that hopefully all of us may benefit from.To that end the IAJM has launched a monthly webinar series designed to teach industry professionals and musicians the critical skill set they need to develop to build a career in jazz in the digital Age. The series includes such topics as: Facebook Advertising 101 & 201, Marketing Your Back Catalog, Developing Digital Content & Metadata, 10 Critical Services You Must Use For Success, among others.For more information on the Jazzahead! Session Jazz in 7D visit jazzahead.de . For more information on the Nu Jazz Agency visit the NU Jazz Agency Website . For more information on the International Association of Jazz managers visit: IAJM Website
Turkey plans to set up 2 more military bases in northern Syria

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Hurricane Roslyn in Pacific Ocean intensifies to third category

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Italy's new prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, begins forming government

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YEREVAN.  The format of Armenias participation in the meeting of the prime ministers of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) countries, and which will be convened on Wednesday in Moscow, is discussed behind the scenes of the Armenian authorities, according to Hraparak daily newspaper.

There are three options. [PM] Hovik Abrahamyan will attend and make a harsh statement [regarding the cancelation of this meeting being held in Armenias capital city of Yerevan]. [Deputy PM and Minister of International Economic Integration and Reforms] Vache Gabrielyan will attend and [likewise] make a harsh statement. Third, we will not attend.

The [Armenian] authorities rule out the last [option] because EAEU Prime Minister [and Armenias former PM] Tigran Sargsyan, who was in Armenia, was having meetings at all levels. Here at us they believe that it would not be right to spoil the first meeting of Sargsyan, and Hovik Abrahamyan should attend [it] and make a statement.

Moreover, during Tigran Sargsyans appointment [as Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission, which is the executive body of the EAEU], Russian officials have given him pledges support saying, your problem is our problem.

By the way, there is already an arrangement that the next meeting of the EAEU will be in Yerevan, in May, Hraparak wrote.

The EAEU comprises Armenia, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.
The Russian arms supplies to Armenia and Azerbaijan form a balance, and this keeps the region away from military escalation, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on the air of Echo of Moscow Russian radio station.

When we [i.e. Russia] supply arms, we clearly know that there is a certain balance, and this balance is the deterrent for turning war into a major conflict, he noted. Once we leave there, once we stop being the technico-military partner of Armenia and Azerbaijan, guys that are more advanced in politics will appear there, [and] who will organize a real massacre.

In his words, this could happen if attack weapons are supplied to these countries.

The Russian deputy PM expressed dissatisfaction with the demagogy over this matter, and which, in his words, rose after the exacerbation of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Imagine we stop technico-military cooperation in one of these countries, Rogozin noted. The Americans and NATO will appear there.

He said it is becoming clear that the frozen conflicts, which periodically erupt, need to be resolved.

In his words, shots are fired every day at the Karabakh-Azerbaijan Line of Contact, and apparently, this flare-up occurred due to this ordinary bloody routine.

Dmitry Rogozin added, however, that it is indispensable to return to the Karabakh peace talks.
The military aggression against the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, unleashed by Azerbaijan in the early hours of April 2, was accompanied by war crimes, flagrant violations of the laws and customs of war, as well as norms of international humanitarian law, spokesperson for Karabakh MFA Ani Sargsyan said in a statement.

On April 2, as a result of the deliberate artillery shelling of civilian settlements, a 12-year-old boy, Vagharshak Grigoryan, was killed, and two other kids were wounded near the secondary school in the NKR Martuni region. In the village of Talish of the NKR Martakert region, three elderly members of the Khalapyan family, the eldest of whom was 92 years old, were brutally killed and mutilated by an Azerbaijani subversive group. Traces of torture and mutilation were also registered on the bodies of the deceased servicemen of the NKR Defense Army, transferred to the Nagorno Karabakh Republic by Azerbaijan on April 10.

This is not the complete list of the war crimes committed by the Azerbaijani army during the military aggression against the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. Grossly violating the norms of international humanitarian law Azerbaijan poses itself against the entire civilized world by openly challenging it.

In accordance with the norms of international humanitarian law, in particular, Article 1 of all Geneva Conventions, the High Contracting Parties undertook the obligation not only to respect the norms of the Conventions, but also to ensure respect in all circumstances.

The Nagorno Karabakh Republic is taking steps to provide the international community, including the specialized agencies, with these egregious facts of inhuman acts committed by the Azerbaijani armed forces and will consistently seek to ensure not only the strongest condemnation of these crimes, but also holding the perpetrators accountable. There can be no justification for such acts committed by Azerbaijan.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) is calling upon the Obama Administration investigate violations of the "Leahy Law" regarding U.S. military assistance to units of the Azerbaijani armed forces that are credibly reported to have committed "gross violations of internationally recognized human rights."

An ANCA letter sent Monday to President Obama and community appeals directed, via the ANCA website, to Members of Congress raise alarms about Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's major escalation in aggression in terms of the introduction of advanced weapons, the level of fatalities, and the "gross violations of internationally recognized human rights" his forces are credibly alleged to have committed against both civilians and soldiers.

The ANCA specifically called upon the President and Members of Congress to "immediately zero-out U.S. military aid to Azerbaijani pending the outcome of a Leahy Law investigation," and, "subsequent to a determination that Azerbaijani forces have, in fact, violated the terms of U.S. law... to statutorily prohibit all military aid to Baku and to take effective measures to bring the responsible members of Azerbaijan's security forces to justice."

The "Leahy Law," first introduced in 1997, prohibits the U.S. Department of State and Department of Defense from providing military assistance to foreign military units that violate human rights with impunity. In keeping with core American values, these laws help ensure that our U.S. tax dollars are not used by units or individuals of foreign armed units or security forces to commit human rights abuses and war crimes.
Turkey plans to set up 2 more military bases in northern Syria

Germany wants to use Israel UAVs to protect its key infrastructures

UK defense secretary holds phone talk with Russia counterpart

US to attempt set Russia oil price cap above $60 per barrel?

Russia, Turkey defense ministers confer about Ukraine situation

Armenia official: Terms for buying, building houses for those displaced from Artsakh have improved

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Sovereignty renunciation to be punished in Armenia with 12-15 years of imprisonment, as per justice ministry draft

2 pilots killed in Russia fighter jet crash

Russia, France defense ministers discuss Ukraine

Fighter jet crashes into house in Russias Irkutsk

150 residents of 3 Karabakh settlements handed over to Azerbaijan get compensation certificates

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Elite US troops conducting exercises on Ukraine border

Iran MP: Military exercises on Azerbaijan border are decisive response to Israel

Xi Jinping elected Communist Party of China Central Committee general secretary

Armenia envoy presents credentials to Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency chair

Hungary to approve by years end Sweden, Finland petitions to join NATO

US researchers debunk main theory for origin of life

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Finnish delegation to visit Ankara to discuss NATO membership

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Pastor steals $900,000 to buy stocks and car in U.S.

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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

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Iranian Foreign Minister: I had important meeting with Pashinyan in Armenia

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Sky TG24, an Italian all-news television channel, prepared a report from the Armenian military positions in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh).

The Italian journalist, accompanied by Armenian soldiers, traveled the frontline, and reported that heavy fight between the Karabakh and Azerbaijani armed forces had occurred in the given area, from April 2 to 5.

The Azerbaijani troops attempted to break through here and penetrate deep into the Nagorno-Karabakh territory, he noted.

One of the soldiers, who were accompanying the journalist, informed that the road, which they are on en route to the frontline, is dug to protect against the missiles and cannons of the Azerbaijani armed forces that are nearby.

Upon arrival at the military position, the Italian reporter was told that the Azerbaijani snipers are positioned ahead, and that there are minefields in close proximity.

The Armenian military serviceman, who was accompanying the Italian journalist, told how the Azerbaijanis had attacked their positions several days ago, and how they had pushed them back.

We shoot only to protect us, he added. We never attack.
The work on restoring the buildings damaged as a result of the adversarys artillery shelling in border settlements of Nagorno-Karabakh  Martsakert, Mataghis and Talish  as well as the assessments of extent of damages has been launched.

Hunan Tadevosyan, person in charge of public relations at Karabakh Ministry of Urban Development, told the aforementioned to Armenian News  NEWS.am correspondent.

The Ministry of Urban Development has allocated significant amount of construction materials. Roofs are restored in Martakert. There are houses, whose walls have been damaged by Grad rocket launcher. The [Martakert] school has been restored, while the one in Mataghis will be ready tomorrow, he said.

According to Tadevosyan, Talish has suffered most of all. Although restoration work is underway there, the extent of damages is still being ascertained.

The Ministry representative noted that the information on the affected citizens has been submitted to the working group of the Karabakh Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.

The damages will be compensated by the government, as well as certain benevolent organizations, he said.

The final information on the amounts of damages will be published later, he noted. According to the current information almost all of the buildings in Talish have been damaged. Overall 60 buildings have been damaged in Martakert, 7 of them seriously. The buildings in Mataghis have also been slightly damaged.
Hot debates on Nagorno-Karabakh were held on France 24 TV channel. Member of the the Coordination Council of Armenian Organizations of France (CCAF), Franck Papazian, responded to the aggressive insinuations of the Azerbaijani Ambassador to France Elchin Amirbayov.

Papazian noted that the ceasefire on the Line of Contact between the Karabakh-Azerbaijani opposing forces wasnt violated for the first time ten days ago: Azerbaijan constantly violated it, since the moment of signing the ceasefire agreement in 1994, and currently it refuses to establish electronic control over the border, as suggested by the OSCE.

As to the history, Nagorno-Karabakh is a historic Armenian land. In 1923, Karabakh was handed to Azerbaijan by Stalin, the most bloodthirsty dictator of the 20th century. Since 1923, the Armenians lived in the condition of segregation, and in 1988 the Karabakh people took advantage of their right to self-determination, to which Azerbaijan responded by the pogroms in Sumgait, Baku, Kirovabad and Shushi, he said.

Responding to the Azerbaijani ambassadors question on the territorial integrity, the representative of the French Armenians noted that the international community also recognizes the peoples right to self-determination.

The Karabakh issue can be solved only in the context of self-determination and under the control of the international organizations. In 1988, Azerbaijan started a war, which was won by Armenia. Karabakh became self-proclaimed; the Minsk Group constantly suggested Azerbaijan this version of solution, which the latter turned down, Franck Papazian said. He also added that today Azerbaijan is a caricature, which the entire civilized war and international organizations accuse, and that Azerbaijan is run by Aliyevs regime, which constantly urged and keeps calling for war.

Karabakh will never be returned to Azerbaijan, Papazian concluded.

The French anchor also expressed her stance during the polemic. The world sees that what happened in Karabakh worked in favor of Aliyev, who tried to solve his domestic economic problems, playing the national card, she said, touching on the recent escalation of Karabakh conflict. The anchor also hinted at the considerable role of the Azerbaijani oil in the process of solving the political issues.
The security of Armenia is a priority for all Armenians, regardless of where they live, Chairman of the Union of Armenians of Ukraine (UAU), Vilen Shatvoryan, said in an interview with AnalitikaUA.net.

The representatives of our Diaspora are apparently concerned about everything happening in Armenia and Karabakh. We support out historic homeland in defending its borders from foreign encroachments. Armenians are known all over the world as peaceful and creative people, but when the need rises, we all become defenders of our land, he noted.

In Shatvoryans words, large Armenian community lives in Ukraine: there are many talented people here who have achieved great heights in various spheres of life. As soon as it became known that our historic homeland was in danger, many Armenians from different regions of Ukraine turned to UAU, offering their help.

Armenia needs different kind of support, and we try to be as useful as possible. Id also like to note here that in any of our actions we try to maximally consider the interests of Ukraine, since its hard time here too and as citizens of Ukraine we are also concerned about the situation in our country. We do our best to take part in everything that can benefit the country. In fulfilling their civic duties, Armenians went to defend Ukraine and dozens of our compatriots died during the 'anti-terror' operation. It was necessary to defend the country and together with everyone our compatriots went to defend the land which once hosted us, often at the expense of their lives. Wed like to hope for fast peace both in Ukraine and our homeland. The wonderful people of Ukraine and Armenia deserve exclusively peace and prosperity. We dont wish evil to anyone, but we can protect our interests, Shatvoryan said.

The UAU is the only pan-Ukrainian organization to unite all the Armenian organizations in the country.
STEPANAKERT. - The extended format meeting of the Karabakh-Armenian Inter-parliamentary Cooperation Commission took place in Karabakh National Assembly (NA) Tuesday.

The Armenian delegation was comprised of a number of standing committee chairmen and those in charge of all the parliamentary factions.

The MPs observed a minute of silence in memory of the soldiers who fell while defending the borders of their homeland from the Azerbaijani aggression in early April, as well as the civilian population killed as a result of shelling.

As per mutual agreement, the situation formed as a result of the new aggression by the Azerbaijani side on April 2-5 and the steps of the MPs in the context of the inter-parliamentary cooperation were discussed.

Apart from this, exchange of opinions took place, during which nearly two dozens of Karabakh and Armenian MPs delivered speeches.

A wide range of issues related to the defense, legislative and other formats of cooperation in the area of foreign policy, as well as comprehensive presentation of Karabakh-related issues in international parliamentary platforms were discussed.

The MPs of the two Armenian republics underscored the importance of joint discussions, which gives an opportunity to find tools needed for efficient cooperation in unusual conditions.

Summing up the results of the discussion, Karabakh NA Speaker Ashot Ghoulyan noted that the written proposals will be submitted to the Karabakh and Armenian NAs, on the basis of which a joint action plan will be drawn out.
As curator of modern political and historical collections at Emorys Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library, Randy Gue is always on the lookout for material that helps complete the cultural puzzle that is the American South.

Last year, he realized that he held a piece of it himself.

Growing up in Atlanta in the early 1980s, Gue was drawn to the communitys burgeoning punk rock scene, which was fed by both local bands and nationally known acts that passed through the city.

Although hardcore punk stood in stark contrast to broader Southern culture at the time, Gue and other fans found within it a life-changing wave of creativity and community. In many ways, it became his second family.

For years, Gue collected mementos from that time  concert fliers and fanzines, bumper stickers and posters.

Last year, he and his friends Randy DuTeau  former lead vocalist for the 80s Atlanta hardcore band Neon Christ  and Nick Rosendorf donated their punk-rock memorabilia to Emorys Rose Library, creating the seedbed for a new collection.

Since then, the collection documenting the hardcore punk rock and alternative music scene in Atlanta from 1980 to today has grown, as others have stepped forward with donations.

When the collection became the focus of recent online articles produced jointly by The Bitter Southerner and ArtsATL, Gue reports that his phone exploded with messages from fans offering their own donations, graduate students doing research on social/cultural/political aspects of the punk rock movement, and even a researcher from the United Kingdom eager to study it.

Emory Report caught up with Gue to talk about Atlantas punk rock scene and the start of a new collection that is stirring public interest.

How did you discover punk rock?

Music was always important to me. One thing led to another and I ended up buying a seven-inch record by Black Flag, one of the seminal hardcore punk bands. One side had the song Six Pack; on the flip side were the songs Ive Heard It Before and American Waste. Id never heard anything like it.

Then in August 1983, I went to the Metroplex (in Atlanta) and saw my first punk show, the California-based band Youth Brigade and Atlantas own DDT. In two hours, my life went from boring black-and-white to Technicolor. It was one of those Saul-on-the-road-to-Damascus moments. I saw the light.

The music was great, but what really spoke to me was the scenes Do-It-Yourself philosophy of creating their own culture. I stumbled onto a group of people not much older than me who started their own bands, booked their own shows, put out their own records, and made their own fanzines. It was eye-opening.

How did the punk rock scene fit into Atlanta at the time?

Atlanta was a different town back then  a smaller place culturally and geographically and more a part of the Bible Belt. So hardcore was on the margins of the margins. At the time, R.E.M. was considered so radical that the local rock radio station  96 ROCK  wouldnt play them, so there was no chance of hearing Black Flag, the Dead Kennedys, DDT or Neon Christ on the radio.

Did the movement mirror what was going on in other places?

Yes, Atlanta was part of a nationwide DIY network, connected by snail mail, fanzines and long distance phone calls.

Why create a collection dedicated to the punk scene?

The Rose Library is charged with acquiring, preserving, arranging, describing and providing public access to materials of lasting historical value. Im responsible for our collections that document the history, culture and politics of Atlanta, Georgia and the South.

One of my goals with this collection is to document how the city participated in the national avant-garde culture, to demonstrate that what was going on in places like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago also happened here in the South. I am also trying to document the genesis of DIY culture in the city. The Atlanta Punk Rock collection represents one piece of a much larger puzzle.

The amazing thing about punk rock and hardcore is that it is still going strong. Its changed, of course, but the music and DIY ethos are still relevant  they still mean something to people in the scene today.

How did the collection get its start?

The collection began when my friends  Randy DuTeau and Nick Rosendorf  and I donated our own collections from the 1980s. The great thing now is that the community is building the collection. Successive generations of participants are now adding materials from their time on the scene, and thats what the collection should be.

What does it contain?

Fliers and posters from shows, Atlanta fanzines, set lists, stickers and patches. Some of the folks brought in seven-inch singles, LPs and CDs by Atlanta bands. And there are even cassette tapes, which are making a comeback.

All these things are ephemeral: they were produced for a very specific time and place. It is extraordinary that so many people have held onto so much. And people keep donating stuff. The collection literally changes from week to week. It is a living collection.

Is this the first public collection of its kind in Atlanta?

As far as I know, its one of the first in the country. There is a lot of academic interest in DIY culture right now because it has become one of the defining aspects of the Internet age and the digital economy. The interest is only going to grow over time.

What has resurrecting these materials meant to you?

The people I met and the experiences I had in the scene made me who I am. It shaped me. It has been a lot of fun to give back to the scene, if you will, by working to document it.

But the best part is being able to share these unique materials with a larger audience. Like any collection at the Rose Library, the meaningful part is making it available to everyone.

Editors Note: To learn more about the punk rock collection, or to donate materials, email Randy Gue.
ISIS Destroys Assyrian Archaeological Gate in Mosul

The Mishqi Gate seen guarding the ancient city of Nineveh. ( Lachicaphoto/Creative Commons) Militant fighters of the Islamic State (ISIS) have reportedly destroyed another archaeological icon in the Iraqi city of Mosul, using military equipment, local sources reported on Tuesday. Local activists confirmed that ISIS demolished the Gate of God [Eia] which dates back to the 7th century BC, the time of the Assyrian king Sennacherib. Speaking to ARA News in Mosul, media activist Zuheir Mousilly said that since its control over the city of Mosul in 2014, ISIS have destroyed much of Iraqi historic sites and monuments, including the Assyrian city of Nimrud, the Winged Bulls, and the Mosul National Museum, after stealing the removable pieces for smuggling. The expert on the Iraqi Antiquities Affairs Yasser Hatami condemned the destruction of the historic gate "Mishqi", blaming Iraqi authorities for the incident for their inability to protect it [Mishqi gate]. The historic Mishqi gate, which was discovered in 1968, is considered one of the ancient gates in eastern Nineveh province. "ISIS views tombs they destroy as sacrilegious and a return to paganism," Syrian antiquities chief Abdul Maamoun Abdulkarim told ARA News in an earlier report. Last year, ISIS extremists bombed the renowned Yezidi ancient minaret of the Shingal district (120 km west of the city of Mosul), in northern Iraq. Assyrian king Sennacherib who reigned at the peak of the Assyrian power around 700 B.C. In April, 2015, the terror group blew up the church of Virgin Mary in the Assyrian village of Tel Nasri near the town of Tel Temir (50 km west of Hasakah) in northeastern Syria. Also, the radical group blew up two monuments in the ancient city of Palmyra in central Syria in June, 2015, according to local sources.
22:08

The US in 2005 proposed to jointly monitor Indian consulates in Afghanistan's Kandahar and Jalalabad to address concerns of then Pakistani dictator Pervez Musharraf that India was using them to destabilise his country, according to a new book by an ex-American diplomat.





Former US Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad has stated this in his latest book 'The Envoy: From Kabul to White House' while referring to a meeting that he had with General Musharraf in early 2005.





During the meeting in Islamabad, Musharraf alleged that India had set up consulates in Kandahar and Jalalabad to destabilise Pakistan.





"I told him that historically, India had Consulates in those cities to facilitate exports of Afghan agricultural products," Khalilzad writes in the book.





"I suggested that the United States, Afghanistan, and Pakistan could monitor the consulates and determine whether India was in fact using them for hostile purposes. This was a great proposal, Musharraf said, and the United States and Pakistan should follow up on it," the Bush-era diplomat said.





Khalilzad who later was also appointed as the US Ambassador to the United Nations does not write if the proposal was actually put into practice by the two countries.
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NEW DELHI: Sony India on Monday launched an innovative A68 A-mount camera featuring 4D focus for amateur photographers to shoot pictures more creatively.

The 24 MP A68 camera delivers extraordinary auto focus (AF) performance under any shooting conditions ranging from lighting as low as exposure value (EV) 2 -- an area where other cameras struggle, the company said in a statement.

The 4D FOCUS technology ensures fast, accurate tracking autofocus with 79 AF points, with Sony's Translucent Mirror Technology to deliver constant AF tracking at up to 8 frames per second (fps) continuous shooting.

With Translucent Mirror Technology, users can enjoy non-stop continuous autofocus that effortlessly tracks moving subjects for crisp, professional looking footage.

The phase detection system uses no less than 79 autofocus detection points including 15 cross points, plus a dedicated F2.8 AF sensor point for dimly-lit scenes.

This helps users shoot fast, wide area AF with predictive tracking that locks faithfully onto fast-moving subjects.

The full HD movies feature use the efficient "XAVC Sv" format for high-bit rate recordings at up to 50 megabits per second (Mbps) with fine detail and low noise.

The 2.7-type LCD monitor tilts up to 135 degrees upwards or 55 degrees downwards for comfortable composition from a wide variety of shooting angles.

"Serious photo lovers will value the backlit top display that allows quick confirmation of camera settings, whether you're shooting handheld or on a tripod," the company said in a statement.

The model ILCA-68/BQ IN5 (Body only) is available at 55,990 while ILCA-68K/BQ IN5 (with SAL1855) model can be purchased at 59,990.

The high-end ILCA-68M/BQ IN5 (SAL18135) model is available for 85,990.

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Stick To Fiscal Discipline, Spend On Infrastructure: FM Arun Jaitley To States
LONDON: Instead of reading labels, consumers may soon be interacting with an electronic screen on packaging that displays information about the product, thanks to a new technology that could revolutionise the packaging industry.

Researchers at the University of Sheffield in the UKcollaborated with technology company Novalia to create a new way of displaying information on packaging.

This technology could be used in greetings cards or products where a customer could receive a simple message, researchers said.

More complex developments could include a countdown timer on the side of a packet to indicate when a timed product was ready - such as hair-dye, pregnancy tests or home-baking using a 'traffic lights' system, they said.

The team explain how a screen can be fixed onto packaging to display information.

The process involves printing electronic tracks onto paper and then fixing low-cost electronics and a polymer LED display to the paper using an adhesive that conducts electricity.

Researchers also designed and constructed a touch-pad keyboard on the paper that allows a user to selectively 'drive' the LEDs in the display.

The research testing so far has taken place on paper but the process could potentially be printed on other surfaces.

The team's next steps are to create fully flexible organic displays on a plastic substrate that then fix onto the electronic tracks. The LED devices need to be low-cost and flexible enough to be used on all packaging.

"Labels on packaging could become much more innovative, and allow customers to interact with and explore new products," said Professor David Lidzey from the university's Department of Physics and Astronomy.

"The use of displays or light emitting panels on packaging will also allow companies to communicate brand awareness in a more sophisticated manner," said Lidzey.

"The paper-based packaging industry is worth billions of dollars. This innovative system we have developed with the University of Sheffield could give manufacturers a way to gain market share by being able to distinguish its products from competitors," said Chris Jones from Novalia.

The research was published in the IEEE Journal of Display Technology.

Read Also: Telenor Expects To Be 4G Ready By Fiscal-End

Twitter Acquires Employee-Feedback Startup Peer
At Stanford, inclusion is everyone's work

The Diversity and First-Gen Office (DGen) at Stanford is the hub of support for first-generation and low-income students and the nucleus for inclusion and diversity programs. The office is playing a key role in Stanford's yearlong OpenXChange initiative.

L.A. Cicero Dereca Blackmon is associate dean and director of Stanford's Diversity and First-Gen Office.

When the Marshall Scholarship selection committee invited Alejandro Ruizesparza to the British Consulate-General office in Chicago for an interview, the Stanford senior faced a small, but significant, problem.

Ruizesparza, who is the first member of his family to attend a four-year university, didn't own a suit.

Under a new program Stanford launched last fall, known as the Opportunity Fund, the Diversity and First-Gen Office picked up the tab.

The fund awards small grants that allow students to take advantage of academic, professional or social opportunities they would otherwise not be able to afford, such as travel expenses for a conference. It provides money for one-time or emergency expenses, such as replacing a broken pair of eyeglasses. The program also provides funding to bring parents to campus for major events, such as Parents Weekend and Commencement.

Or, in Ruizesparza's case, to buy a suit for an important interview.

The psychology honors student, who grew up in a Latino neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, bought a handsome gray suit, which he paired with a red shirt and black silk tie from his closet, for the Marshall Scholarship interview.

"I thought I looked good, and I felt extremely proud knowing a whole community had my back," said Ruizesparza, who won the scholarship and will begin a sociology master's program this fall at the University of Glasgow in Scotland.



Big impact from small interventions

Dereca Blackmon, a Stanford alumna who is the associate dean and director of the office, known as DGen, said helping students with small-dollar needs that are not covered by financial aid awards is the "most humbling and inspiring work" the office does for first-generation and low-income students.

"These students are working very hard, many of them at one, two and three jobs, but they're using their earnings to pay for textbooks or basic living expenses," she said. "Some of them are actually supporting their family back home. One student told me that he makes more in a summer than his family makes in a year. Another student talked about sending money home to help with doctor bills for siblings because a parent had lost a job."

Blackmon said research by Stanford faculty  including Geoffrey Cohen, a professor of education and psychology, and Hazel Markus, a professor of psychology  has shown that simple interventions can contribute to a strong sense of belonging among first-generation and low-income college students, buffering them against the stresses and challenges of their first year in college.

The Opportunity Fund is one of several programs Stanford offers to enrich the college experience of first-generation and low-income students  from admission through graduation  by supporting their academic and social transitions, empowerment and community building.

This year, DGen also introduced the Spring Break Opportunity Fund, which provided grants for meals when dining halls were closed.

An alumna who never really left the Farm

Stanford established DGen, which is part of Student Affairs, in April 2011.

The office, which is located on the second floor of Old Union, is the hub of support for first-generation and low-income students and the nucleus for inclusion and diversity programs.

DGen is also playing a key role in OpenXChange, a yearlong initiative aimed at strengthening and unifying Stanford through purposeful engagement around issues of national and global concern.

The office is offering a variety of ways for students to get involved in the initiative, including the Courageous Conversations Project, Meal Talk/Real Talk, and UpperClass Faces, a special version of "Faces of the Community" for each class including student monologues and performances followed by facilitated class dinners and conversations.



Before taking the helm as DGen's director last summer, Blackmon served as a consultant on inclusion and diversity programs at the university for two years.

Blackmon, who entered Stanford in 1987, took a leave of absence from school for several years after a campus visit by director Spike Lee inspired a desire to become a filmmaker. She moved to New York, where she interned at Lee's company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks.

"I was in the room when they were editing 'Do the Right Thing,'" she said, referring to Lee's 1989 masterpiece about a day in the life in a Brooklyn neighborhood, which begins with its heroes waking up on the hottest day of the year and ends the next morning, after a night that includes a fight, police brutality that ends in murder, and a riot.

After earning a bachelor's degree in history from Stanford in 1994, Blackmon stayed in the Bay Area.

Over the last 25 years, she has worked with a wide variety of corporate, government, nonprofit and community-based groups to facilitate "uncommon conversations" on issues of race, gender, class and social justice. In recent years, she served as the vice president of the East Oakland Youth Development Center, the executive director of Leadership Excellence, and founder of Aya Unlimited, a consulting firm that specializes in research on the intersection of race, gender and class.

Since graduating, Blackmon has returned frequently to campus to speak at class reunions, to her sorority  Delta Sigma Theta  and at the Black Community Services Center.

"In that way, I feel as if I never left," she said.

Beyond the Line  an interactive exercise

Blackmon said DGen's inclusion and diversity programs don't "create" diversity. Instead, they acknowledge that diversity already exists. Its programs are designed to foster thoughtful conversations among people of different identities and backgrounds and teach them how to develop authentic connections.

One of those programs is Beyond the Line, in which an invisible divider is drawn down the middle of a room; one side is designated the "Yes, I agree" side, and the other side is designated the "No, I disagree" side. She said the exercise is the perfect introduction to thoughtful conversations, because it establishes at the outset that people are going to disagree  and they're going to talk about it.

As a facilitator reads a statement aloud, participants decide whether they agree or disagree and move to one side or another. Blackmon tailors the questions to the audience. In a recent Beyond the Line exercise for a gathering of the Student Affairs staff, she presented 11 statements, including:

Being involved in activism is good for our students.

Using "him" or "her" without knowing someone's gender identity is rude.

Said to a person of color, "you're so articulate," is an insult.

Class is a bigger issue for students today than race.

Stanford students are honest about their mental health challenges.

Blackmon said the statements are meant to be ambiguous. After participants choose sides, a few on each side are invited to explain their choices. Throughout the exercise, participants are encouraged to change sides if an explanation causes them to think about the statement in a different way.

Separating intent from impact

One of the goals of Beyond the Line is to teach people how to separate intent from impact. Blackmon often uses a metaphor about an accident in a coffee shop to explain the idea.

"If someone spills hot coffee on you, you're not really interested in the story about how it's not their fault," she said. "If you've spilled coffee on someone, you don't say: 'Don't be upset. It wasn't my fault. The person behind me bumped into me.' It's not about you. It's about the impact you've had. Instead of explaining why the spill wasn't your fault, you could say: 'I'm sorry. Are you OK? Can I get you some paper towels?'"

Frequently, people have a defensive reaction when someone tells them they have made an offensive remark, Blackmon said.

"We say things like: 'I didn't mean it. You're too sensitive. You misunderstood. You don't know me. You don't know what kind of person I am. Here are my credentials. Here's the work I've done in my life. Here's whom I'm married to.' There's a whole litany of things that we rush to say," she said. "But we need to separate intent and impact. Just because you didn't intend to say something offensive doesn't mean it didn't impact someone. And just because it impacted you a certain way it doesn't mean that's what the person intended."

Blackmon said it's important to approach uncomfortable conversations  that touch on race, socioeconomic status, gender, ability and gender identity  with cultural humility.

"Cultural humility invites us to stay curious about the impact we're having on other people, and to address that impact when we inadvertently offend someone," she said.

Expanding the concept of privilege

Blackmon said it is a "privilege" to be able to discount the impact we have on people. One of DGen's goals is to expand the concept of privilege so people understand that everyone has privilege. She drew on an example from her own life to explain the idea.

"In graduate school, there was a white woman who made it clear she didn't like me," Blackmon said. "I thought it was because I was black. I finally asked her why she didn't like me. She said: 'It's that you come in here with your Stanford sweatshirt and think you're smarter than everyone else.' I was mortified."

Blackmon realized that she herself "walked through the world" with educational privilege.

"I really grappled with that situation," she said. "My Stanford sweatshirt is offensive? Do I not get to wear it? Do I not get to think that I'm smart? But it helps me a lot in my work when I'm asking folks to confront their white privilege, their male privilege, their socioeconomic privilege, to remember my own privileges."

The DGen staff has trained the professional staff in dorms  resident assistants and resident fellows  how to do the exercise.

In addition to Student Affairs, DGen has done Beyond the Line exercises with staff members in Undergraduate Education, the Graduate School of Education, the School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences, the Department of Psychology, the Program in Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies, the School of Engineering, and a robotics class.

Inclusion is everyone's work

Blackmon has personally done Beyond the Line exercises in ethnic theme houses and fraternities and sororities.

"I wanted it to be clear from the very beginning that inclusion is all of our work," Blackmon said. "It's not just the work of people who are marginalized. It's also the work of people that are privileged. It's the work of everyone. And it's part of a great Stanford education."

She said the exercise is adaptable to any space and any size of audience. Last year, she conducted the exercise in Memorial Church, during Part II of "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," a recitation by Anna Deavere Smith of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s historic letter defending his strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism. She also conducted Beyond the Line for 300 people who attended Stanford's Black Alumni Summit in Atlanta.

"I took them from the conference hall into the hallway, and we did it right there" she said. "It was probably one of the liveliest groups I've ever dealt with."

At the start of the 2015-16 academic year, DGen hired a full-time staff person to handle the high demand on campus for the Beyond the Line program, and to develop new diversity and inclusion training programs around transgender student issues.

"Gender is an exploding concept right now," Blackmon said. "At Stanford, students frequently introduce themselves with their pronouns. Since I started working here I've learned to say, 'I'm Dereca  she, her.' Even though I've been a diversity trainer for more than 20 years, I'm struggling to keep up. I'm staying humble. I'm getting training in trans student sensitivity. It really is a lifelong learning process."
Nate Parker to deliver annual lecture hosted by Stanford's African & African American Studies program

April 20 event is free and open to the public.

Jennifer Cooper Nate Parker will speak April 20 at Stanford on "Black Lives, Freedom Dreams, and Our Collective Racial Future."

On Wednesday, April 20, Stanford University's African & African American Studies (AAAS) program will host its annual St. Clair Drake Memorial Lecture featuring actor, filmmaker and humanitarian Nate Parker, whose film of The Birth of a Nation, will be released in October 2016.

The event, which will include a lecture and panel discussion, is titled "Black Lives, Freedom Dreams, and Our Collective Racial Future."

In line with AAAS's focus on contemporary racial justice movements in the United States, Parker will discuss The Birth of a Nation and its alignment with a history of arts activism. The film, which Parker produced, wrote, directed and stars in, won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize, (Dramatic) and the Audience Award, (U.S., Dramatic) at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. Based on true events, the film is the story of Nat Turner, an American-born slave who led a successful slave rebellion in 1831. Parker also will speak to the power of film and theater in reshaping historical narratives, complicating identities and social perceptions, and inciting modern-day movements for social justice.

The program is cosponsored by OpenXChange, The Institute for Diversity in the Arts, and Stanford Speaker's Bureau.

Nate Parker first received critical attention for his starring role in The Weinstein Company's The Great Debaters opposite director/actor Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker. Following the film, Parker received an honorary doctorate from Wiley College in Marshall, Texasthe school upon which the true story The Great Debaters was based. Working alongside renowned actors and directors, Parker has also starred in George Lucas' Red Tails and Spike Lee's Red Hook Summer, as well as Arbitrage, The Secret Life of Bees, Pride, Non-Stop, Ain't Them Bodies Saints, About Alex, and Tunnel Rats.

Most recently, Parker played the lead opposite Gugu Mbatha-Raw in Gina Prince Bythewood's critically acclaimed Beyond the Lights. While portraying a police officer in Beyond the Lights, Parker directed an original short film entitled #AmeriCAN, critiquing the state of police relations in urban black communities.

Following his lecture, Parker will be joined on stage by Stanford scholars H. Samy Alim, AAAS's director and a professor in the Graduate School of Education; Harry J. Elam Jr., vice provost for undergraduate education and a professor of theater and performance studies, and Allyson Hobbs, a professor of history. The panel also will include Robin D.G. Kelley a professor of American history at the University of California, Los Angeles.

This lecture and discussion are free and open to the public. It will be held at CEMEX Auditorium, 655 Knight Way within Stanford's Graduate School of Business. Doors will open at 6:15 p.m. and the program will begin promptly at 6:30 p.m.

The St. Clair Drake Lectures are dedicated to the memory of Professor St. Clair Drake, renowned professor of sociology and anthropology, an early researcher on black Americans and the founding director of the Program in African & African American Studies at Stanford University. The lectures began in 2003 as a way to evoke the ethos of St. Clair Drake within the academic community at Stanford. Honored lecturers have included the late Manning Marable, Angela Davis, Harry Belafonte, Charles Ogletree, Jennifer Eberhardt and Valerie Jarrett, among others.
Seven students with Stanford affiliations awarded 2016 Soros Fellowships for New Americans

Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships provide financial support for study in any degree-granting graduate program in any field at any U.S. university. Fellows are immigrants and the children of immigrants who are chosen for their creativity, initiative and sustained accomplishment.

Seven scholars with Stanford affiliations are among the 30 people who recently received 2016 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans.

The 2016 Soros Fellows with Stanford affiliations include three medical students, one business student, a doctoral student in physics, an incoming doctoral student in electrical engineering, and an alumna who is studying law at the University of California, Berkeley.

The late Paul and Daisy Soros, Hungarian immigrants and American philanthropists, established the program in 1997 and awarded the first fellowships the following year. The couple wanted to "give back" to the country that had given so much to them and their children, to address an unmet need by assisting "young New Americans at critical points in their educations" and to call attention to the extensive and diverse contributions of immigrants to the quality of life in the United States.

Each fellow receives tuition and living expenses that can total as much as $90,000 over two academic years. They can study in any degree-granting graduate program in any field at any university in the United States. Immigrants and the children of immigrants, they are selected on the basis of merit  the specific criteria emphasize creativity, originality, initiative and sustained accomplishments.

Christopher Smith Abubakar Abid

Abubakar Abid will use the fellowship to support his PhD studies in electrical engineering at Stanford, where he will build medical devices that can stay in the human body for extended periods of time to provide unique, patient-specific biomedical information that can help diagnose diseases and provide real-time feedback to patients.

Abid grew up in Friendship, Wis., where his parents, both medical doctors, settled after emigrating from Pakistan. Every week, the Abid family drove to Chicago, which has a vibrant Pakistani community, to meet extended family, to spend time in Devon Avenue's famous "Little Pakistan" and to visit the large mosques in the suburbs.

Abid earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and computer science in 2015 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston. At MIT, he developed new kinds of probes to read neural signals and developed a model for lung physiology that can explain distinct features in capnographs of patients with normal and diseased lungs.

Abid is now completing a master's degree in BioEECS (bioscience in electrical engineering and computer science) at MIT. He is working on building edible electronics that can remain inside the gastrointestinal tract to monitor biomedical signals and provide this information wirelessly to patients and clinicians.

In 2012, Abid co-founded MSA Mentorship, a student-run organization that connects Muslim high school students with academic mentors.

Christopher Smith Binbin Chen

Binbin Chen will use the fellowship to support his MD and PhD (genetics) studies at Stanford Medical School, where he is developing bioinformatics tools to understand patient responses to immunotherapy.

Chen was born in Fuzhou, a city of more than 7 million people in southeast China. He joined his mother in the United States when he was 18 years old. She had settled in Georgia after fleeing China seven years earlier following her husband's arrest and imprisonment.

Chen earned a bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2013. As a sophomore, he published a first-author paper in The Journal of Translational Medicine. As a senior, he helped organize the first LGBT graduation reception at Georgia Tech, an event covered by a National Public Radio station in Atlanta.

After graduating, Chen spent a year in Johannesburg, South Africa, investigating a bimolecular method to assess drug adherence by HIV patients. While there, he observed the social stigma against HIV patients and those who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.

At Stanford Medical School, Chen is the co-president of LGBT Meds, an activist and social organization dedicated to raising awareness of queer health issues and promoting equal social and political rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. He also volunteers at the Pacific Free Clinic, which is operated by the Medical School for the underserved population in the Bay Area.

Christopher Smith Sharada Jambulapati

Sharada Jambulapati, '12, who was raised in rural Georgia, will use the fellowship to support her legal studies at Boalt School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley.

Jambulapati is the daughter of Indian immigrants who moved to the United States in search of educational opportunities for their children. She developed a commitment to civil rights and racial justice work watching her mother  who worked as a factory seamstress, janitor and nanny  face discrimination due to her accent and appearance.

At Stanford, where Jambulapati earned a bachelor's degree in international relations in 2012, she pursued her passion for community organizing and activism. She helped high school students with college applications in the Phoenix Scholars program; created awareness on campus about immigrant human rights through the Stanford Immigrant Rights Project; and researched the depiction of immigrants in high school history textbooks with Tomas Jimenez, an associate professor of sociology at Stanford.

As a senior, Stanford's Haas Center for Public Service awarded Jambulapati a John Gardner Public Service Fellowship to work at the Southern Poverty Law Center in Alabama. She worked as a community advocate for three years at the center, where she investigated civil rights abuses for lawsuits aimed at improving jail conditions for children, the impact of zero tolerance school policies on children and ways to increase school access for undocumented students.

Christopher Smith Zihao Jiang

Zihao Jiang, who was born and raised in Shaoxing, a coastal city of 5 million people in southeast China, will use the fellowship to support his PhD studies in physics at Stanford.



Jiang was 19 when he arrived in the United States to attend the University of Chicago. He graduated in 2014 with bachelor's degrees in physics and in mathematics. As an undergraduate, he won several prizes, including the Enrico Fermi Institute's Sugarman Award, which recognizes excellence in research, and the John Haeseler Lewis Prize, which is awarded to the best graduating undergraduate physics majors.

Currently, Jiang, a second-year physics PhD student at Stanford, is living and working in Switzerland, where he is participating in the ATLAS experiments, one of two major experiments at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research. Jiang, who operates the ATLAS detector, mines and studies the massive amounts of physics data that the collider is producing.

Jiang, who is fascinated by particle physics, is devoting himself to answering the fundamental question: What is the world is made of?

Christopher Smith Veronica Manzo

Veronica Manzo will use the fellowship to support her studies at Stanford Medical School.

Manzo was born in Riverside, Calif., to Mexican parents. Her family emigrated from small towns in Michoacan and Jalisco to seek opportunity and jobs as farmworkers.

She earned a bachelor's degree in neurobiology in 2013 at Harvard, where she minored in global health and health policy. At Harvard, she conducted research on glioblastoma multiforme, a deadly brain tumor, and co-authored a paper on the study, "Passenger deletions generate therapeutic vulnerabilities in cancer," published in Nature in 2012.

After graduating, she worked on research projects at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT to build her knowledge of genetics. She also volunteered for Global Oncology, a community dedicated to alleviating suffering and providing the highest quality cancer care to people in resource-limited settings.

At Stanford Medical School, she has been a member of the Ami S. Bhatt Lab. Manzo has tailored her coursework to focus on cancer biology and community health.

Last summer, she helped implement key preventive medicine programs at the Ravenswood Family Health Center in East Palo Alto, Calif., which provides health care to all patients, regardless of their ability to pay or immigration status. She has also served as co-chair of the Latino Medical Student Association.

Christopher Smith Jenna Nicholas

Jenna Nicholas will use the fellowship to support her studies at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where she is a first-year MBA student.

Nicholas, whose heritage is Western European and Middle Eastern, was born in New York City but spent most of her formative years in London. She earned a bachelor's degree in international relations with honors at Stanford in 2012.

As an undergraduate, she worked as a research assistant at the Stanford Center for Philanthropy and Civil Society and interned at the Stanford Social Innovation Review.

After graduating, Nicholas worked with Calvert Special Equities, an impact investing fund focused on socially responsible businesses and funds. She was concurrently invited to co-teach a graduate course at Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management, Beijing, on creating value through socially responsible investing, business ethics and corporate social responsibility.

Nicholas co-founded Phoenix Global Impact, a consulting firm that specializes in supporting leaders in the field of impact investing. Its aim is to generate measurable, beneficial, social or environmental returns as well as financial returns.

She served as project manager for Divest-Invest Philanthropy and helped the organization's membership grow to more than 150 foundations. She has researched the potential benefits of social impact, development and green bonds for the World Bank. She is also a fellow at the Toniic Institute, a global network of action-oriented impact investors.

Christopher Smith Suhas Rao

Suhas Rao will use the fellowship to support his medical studies and his doctoral studies in biomedical science at Stanford Medical School.



Rao, who was born in Massachusetts, is the son of Indian immigrants who came to the United States in the 1980s.

Rao earned a bachelor's degree in applied mathematics at Harvard College in 2012. As an undergraduate, he worked at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT , where he was inspired by the potential of the "genomics revolution" to drive a new age in precision medicine and patient care.

However, while working at the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter, Rao realized that revolutions in health care weren't particularly useful if they weren't accessible to those who need them most. His desire to work at the forefront of biomedical research and to translate this research into clinical practice led him to a career as a physician-scientist.

Rao continued his research on the three dimensional structure of the genome at the Broad Institute and the Baylor College of Medicine, resulting in being first co-author of a publication in Cell titled, "A 3D Map of the Human Genome at Kilobase Resolution Reveals Principles of Chromatin Looping" and another in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences titled, "Chromatin Extrusion Explains Key Features of Loop and Domain Formation in Wild-type and Engineered Genomes."





That work resulted in the highest resolution maps of the 3D genome to date and revealed numerous structural principles of genome folding. It made the national news: on National Public Radio and in Time, Forbes, The Atlantic and Scientific American.

Rao hopes to tackle the fundamental problem of deciphering the information contained in the genome and to translate that into more precise modalities of patient care.
UF arts professor awarded national prize for excellence

University of Florida professor and Andrew Banks Family Endowed Chair Coco Fusco is this years recipient of the prestigious Greenfield Prize in visual art.

Made possible by a partnership between the Philadelphia-based Greenfield Foundation and the Hermitage Artist Retreat, the award is given to individuals whose past works and future prospects position them to create art that will have an impact on the broader culture.

Fusco will use the $30,000 prize to make a documentary about Cuban artist Juan Carlos Cremata-Malberti, whose work has been suppressed in his native country.

I had already done these other pieces about the relationship between intellectuals and the state, and then this happens with Cremata, and both of us want to tell his story, Fusco said. Both of us feel very strongly that the best response to that kind of action is to turn that material into a film.

Fusco will make the documentary in Cuba, where she has worked extensively for the past few years. Outraged that Cremata-Malberti found his work curtailed by the state, which determined his staging of the Ionesco play Exit the King was an allusion to the Castro brothers, Fusco decided to use the case to explore the history of artistic repression in Cuba.

She will spend two years completing the work, which will be presented at the John and Mabel Ringling Museum of Art in spring 2018.

Coco Fuscos accomplishment will contribute to the School of Art + Art History and the College of the Arts mission of fostering creativity, innovation and scholarly and artistic excellence, said Lucinda Lavelli, dean of the College of the Arts. Her work will showcase the global impact of the arts at the University of Florida.

An interdisciplinary artist and writer, Fusco, 55, joined UFs School of Art + Art History in January. She has performed, lectured, exhibited and curated around the world for nearly three decades. Her work explores the politics of gender, race, war and identity through a variety of formats.
The state police had earlier announced a reward of Rs 50,000 to those providing information leading to the arrest of main accused Muneer in connection with the murder of the slain NIA officer.

UP DGP Javeed Ahmed had earlier stated that police had questioned over a hundred people following raids at several places in connection with the killing of NIA officer.

Tanzil Ahmed, probing terror cases related to Indian Mujahideen, was shot dead on April 3 by two unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants who also wounded his wife when they were returning home from a wedding near Uttar Pradesh's Bijnor district.

Meanwhile, Tanzil Ahmed's wife Farzana has been referred to AIIMS trauma centre from Noida's Fortis Hospital on Monday evening where she has been kept in ICU.

Doctors in the AIIMS have put Farzana on ventilators. (ANI)
The meeting is scheduled to take place at the MHA today evening.

This is the first meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief who took oath as the first woman chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir on April 4.

Moreover, this is the first time Mehbooba is holding an administrative post in the state or at the national level, as so far she had limited herself to party work.

The government formation has ended the three-month long political crisis in the state which started after the death of former chief minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed on January 7.

The 2014 state elections threw up a hung assembly in which the PDP won 28 seats, mainly from the Kashmir Valley, and the BJP 25, almost all from the Jammu region, leading to a coalition government headed by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

Mufti took the oath in Jammu along with 17 cabinet ministers and six ministers of state (MoS). Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Nirmal Singh also took oath as deputy chief minister, as per the alliance agreement between the two parties. (ANI)
Representatives from across the transport sector in India have joined global leaders in signing the Buckingham Palace Declaration, showing their commitment to fight criminal wildlife trafficking. At a ceremony on 11 April at the Residence of the British High Commissioner to India, Sir Dominic Asquith, KCMG, three of the biggest shipping and airline companies in India signed the Buckingham Palace Declaration in the presence of His Royal Highness The Duke of Cambridge. The Maersk Group, already a signatory, was also present. The Buckingham Palace Declaration commits signatories to eleven commitments that will raise standards across the transportation industry to prevent traffickers from exploiting weaknesses as they seek to covertly move their products from killing field to marketplace. The commitments focus on information sharing, staff training, technological improvements, and resource sharing across companies and organisations worldwide. The Buckingham Palace Declaration was developed by the United for Wildlife International Taskforce on the Transportation of Illegal Wildlife Products. Released at a signing ceremony on March 15th at Buckingham Palace the Declaration, hailed by The Duke of Cambridge as 'a game changer in the race against extinction', is now drawing support from across the globe. Already over 40 CEOs, Chairmen, and other leaders of airlines, shipping firms, port operators, customs agencies, intergovernmental organisations and conservation charities from around the world have signed the Declaration. The British High Commissioner to India, Sir Dominic Asquith, KCMG, said "The Illegal wildlife trade is a serious organised crime that undermines rule of law, facilitates corruption and steals valuable resources from some of the world's poorest communities. During Prime Minister Modi's visit to the UK last November, the UK and India resolved to work together to combat the illegal wildlife trade. We are delighted to welcome Air India, Jet Airways and Apeejay Shipping as new signatories to the Buckingham Palace Declaration, and thank them and the Maersk Group for their support in tackling this global crime." Mr. Ashwani Lohani, Chairman and Managing Director, Air India said, "Air India as a national carrier is committed to zero tolerance of illegal transportation of wild life from India on Air India flights. All the cargo consignments/passengers' baggage, etc. are checked at the entry level and the front line staff are well aware to stop such illegal transportation at the first point of contact". Karan Paul, Chairman of Apeejay Shipping said, "The illegal wild life trade is a direct threat to species and goes against stability & diversity of our biosphere. Apeejay Shipping, as a major sea transportation service provider, commits its fleet and our people to being vigilant and to using our information networks globally to break the supply chain of illegal commercial trade in wild life, wild life parts and products. Our tea plantation company Apeejay Tea and Typhoo Tea are investing in Human Elephant Conflict mitigation in Assam and are committed to conserving wildlife and their habitat. We are happy to join the Buckingham Palace Declaration and we hope the international pact will have a measurable and meaningful impact." Chairman of Jet Airways, Naresh Goyal, said: "Jet Airways has always been at the forefront in implementing best practices in the aviation industry. As a responsible corporate citizen, we recognise the universal concern for wildlife conservation and taking proactive action against the global scourge that is the illegal trade of wildlife. By signing up to the Buckingham Palace Declaration, Jet Airways commits itself to partner with a global initiative and contribute towards the eradication of the illegal wildlife trade. This collective action will go a long way in ensuring the preservation of our fragile wildlife ecosystem." Franck Dedenis, Managing Director, Maersk Line India and Sri Lanka said "We welcome the Duke's efforts to raise awareness on this in India. Maersk Line has a zero tolerance towards illegal transport of wildlife. By signing the Buckingham Declaration, we are committing to take real steps across our operations including India, to shut down the routes exploited by traffickers of the illegal wildlife trade moving their products from killing field to marketplace." He added, "The initiative overall further strengthens our ability to get valuable intelligence on routes and ports with higher risk of illegal activity in and around India as well as to screen data and cargo in order to identify potential shipments of suspected illegal wildlife." (ANI)
The Congress Party on Tuesday backed Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader Chirag Paswan's assertion that prosperous Dalits and the financially well-off from other sections should voluntarily stop availing quotas, saying that voluntarily relinquishment of such rights would certainly enhance the needs and the satisfaction of those who really deserve it. "It is not which must be dismissed out of hand. Voluntarily applied, it would lead to benefit for the core, deserving beneficiaries," Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi told ANI. "I don't know the full meaning and implication of what he said. But yes, voluntarily relinquishment of such rights certainly enhances the needs and the satisfaction of those who really deserve it," he added. Meanwhile, Janata Dal (United) leader Pawan Verma taunted Paswan over his remark, saying that he should first apply the same to himself. "Perhaps if he is saying that well-off people should give up quota then he should do that himself because they are certainly prosperous," he told ANI. The LJP legislator had earlier in an interview to a leading national daily said that the people coming from decent financial background should leave reservation as that would help others from their community avail the opportunity to grow and do better. Paswan also said that he really hoped for the emergence of a "casteless" society. (ANI)
India and the US are on the verge of signing an agreement that will allow US forces to be deployed on the Indian military base "under certain circumstances", US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter has said. Deployment of the US forces on the Indian bases will be on the basis of invitation from the Indian government, Mr Carter said in an interview to NDTV, which will be aired tonight. In a series of tweets provided by the news channel, the Secretary of Defence was quoted as saying that logistics exchange memorandum of agreement does not bind anyone for doing anything in particular. The US had been trying to convince India about the necessity of having such agreement for a long time. The efforts were effectively stonewalled by the previous UPA government when Mr A K Antony was the Defence Minister. UNI MK PR SS -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0352-679238.Xml
Inspector General (Bareilly Zone) Vijay Singh on Tuesday hinted at revenge and frustration being the motive for the murder of NIA officer Mohammad Tanzil Ahmed. Singh said that all aspects, including professional and personal rivalry, have been looked into during the probe in connection with the case. "All aspects, including professional, personal rivalry, were looked into during the probe. Terror angle was specifically investigated. Reyaan (accused) was in frustration because he was denied help from Tanzil Ahmed when he needed it," Singh told the media here. "During interrogation, it has been revealed that one of accused Reyaan sought help from Tanzil ji in a case. Some of the statements given by Reyaan (accused) and his father have been verified by circumstantial evidence, some is yet to be verified. Reyaan grew resentful towards NIA officer Tanzeel Ahmed as he didn't get the help he had sought," he added. The Inspector General further said the motive behind the involvement of another accused Munner can only be known only after he is arrested. "Muneer fired the killing shot, Reyaan drove the bike and overtook NIA officer Tanzil Ahmad's car," he said. Uttar Pradesh police has arrested two accused, Jainul and Reyaan, in connection with the murder case of NIA Deputy SP Mohammad Tanzil Ahmed. The state police had earlier announced a reward of Rs 50,000 to those providing information leading to the arrest of main accused Muneer in connection with the murder of the slain NIA officer. UP DGP Javeed Ahmed had earlier stated that police had questioned over a hundred people following raids at several places in connection with the killing of NIA officer. Tanzil Ahmed, probing terror cases related to Indian Mujahideen, was shot dead on April 3 by two unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants who also wounded his wife when they were returning home from a wedding near Uttar Pradesh's Bijnor district. Meanwhile, Tanzil Ahmed's wife Farzana has been referred to AIIMS trauma centre from Noida's Fortis Hospital on Monday evening where she has been kept in ICU. Doctors in the AIIMS have put Farzana on ventilators. (ANI)
A royal summer in Delhi! PM @narendramodi receives the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at Hyderabad House, external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted along with pictures of Modi with Prince William and Kate.

During his visit to Britain in November last year, Modi was hosted to a lunch banquet by Queen Elizabeth II.

The royal couple, who arrived in Mumbai on Sunday, attended a reception hosted by the British high commissioner here on Monday to mark Queen Elizabeth II's 90th birthday that falls next week.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are scheduled to leave for Assam later on Tuesday where they will visit the Kaziranga National Park, a Unesco World Heritage Site.

--Indo-Asian News Service ab/dg

( 156 Words)

2016-04-12-13:41:40 (IANS)
A special water train carrying ten wagons containing more than five lakh litre water arrived at 0500 hours at the Latur railway station in Marathwada region from Miraj in Sangli district of western Maharashtra. First time in the history of Latur city, which is battling the worst drought ever and all the water resources around the city has been dried up due to insufficient rainfall since last three years. The 'Water Express', on trial basis which was started its journey yesterday afternoon from Miraj station with 10 wagons with each wagon carrying 55,000 litre was arrived at Latur railway station this morning. As soon as the special goods train arrived at Latur railways station district collector Pandurang Fole and Latur Municipal Corporation commissioner Sudhakar Telanj who are supervising the work completing with the help of total 270 persons including 20 officers, 50 employees and 200 labours for necessary arrangementsfor downloading of water in a private well welcomed the train as soon as reached at station, said sources from Latur. Work of the downloading water in a private well which was completed for these purpose MSEDCL has made a special arrangement of power supply. After filling the tankers, it goes for purification purpose and purification, it distribute in tight security. Meanwhile, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal today praised prime minister Narendra Modi for sending water to the drought affected Latur from Miraj and said that Delhi government is ready to give 10 lakh water to Latur city, but transportation arrangement to be done by the central government. Marathwada, known as the backward region in the state, is experiencing severe drought due to insufficient rainfall since last three years and at present only three per cent live water stock is available in 843 dams in the region.UNI VKB NV SM1319 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-679295.Xml
Describing the conferment of the Padma Shri award on her by President Pranab Mukherjee as 'a proud moment', Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra today said she felt blessed to have received the award from the President."It is such a proud moment. To be back in my country.. My capital.. Rashtrapati Bhavan & receiving the PadmaShri. blessed,'' Priyanka tweeted soon after receiving the Padma Shri from the President at a glittering function at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.Dressed in a lime green sari, Priyanka was the cynosure of all eyes at the awards function.The Padma award is yet another feather in the cap for the actress who has, in the last one year, made her mark on the international scene with her first international single 'In My City', a role in the US Television series 'Quantico' and a role in a film based on the famed 'Baywatch' series.Further, she was chosen as a presenter at this year's Oscars awards. She has also been invited to the White House to attend the annual correspondents dinner later this month. It will be the last White House Correspondents Dinner to be hosted by US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.Priyanka shares the honour with Hollywood stars like Bradley Cooper, Lucy Liu, Jane Fonda and Gladys Knight.UNI AR SW SB 1550 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0092-679592.Xml
The Delhi Chief Electoral Officer today announced that bypolls to 13 municipal wards in the national capital would be held on May 15. The counting of votes will be held on May 17. The nominations could be filed till April 25 and the candidates can withdraw their names by April 30. All the procedures of the election would be completed by May 28. Earlier, the State Election Commission was directed by the Delhi High Court to hold by-elections to the 13 municipal wards. The Court also asked the Delhi government to provide funds for the same. The BJP is now ruling over three MCDs in the city. This is for the first time that the Aam Aadmi Party, who got overwhelming majority in the Assembly elections held in February last year, will be contesting the elections.After losing the Assembly elections and Lok Sabha elections in Delhi, this election will be a testing time for the Congress party. Khichripur, Jhilmil, Wazirpur, Qamaruddin Nagar, Matiala, Nanakpura, Matimines, Vikas Nagar, Munirka, Shalimar Bagh North, Ballimaran, Nawada, Tehkhand are among the districts where by-election would be held. UNI SM AE SB 1522 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0271-679513.Xml
Union Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Chaudhary Birendra Singh today said that the Centre has approved the release of Rs 820 crore to drought-hit states to mitigate potable water crisis. "Thirteen states have been hit by drought. Of them, 10 states have declared certain areas as drought-hit. Three others have not declared drought but they have also been affected. The Centre is extending cooperation to these states over potable water crisis and other issues," said Mr Singh while replying to a query by media representatives from the Madhya Pradesh capital during a press conference held via video-conferencing from New Delhi. He said that an amount of nearly Rs 1,700 crore pertaining to unutilised funds is available with these states, which have been allowed to make use of 10 per cent of this amount to take up works to meet exigencies. Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is himself monitoring the drought situation. District irrigation plans are being prepared under the Prime Minister's Irrigation Scheme for drought-hit areas. In response to another query over the payment of pending wages under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, Mr Birendra Singh said the Centre has released Rs 12,000 crore under the MGNREGS to all the states. Earlier, Mr Singh said the Centre is launching an 11-day campaign 'Gram Uday to Bharat Uday Abhiyan' in collaboration with various states. "The campaign will begin on the Father of Indian Constitution, Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar's 125th birth anniversary on April 14. It will culminate on the Panchayati Raj Day on April 24," he said. The Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister informed that the social harmony programme would be conducted in all gram panchayats from April with the objective of strengthening Panchayati Raj, promoting rural development and fostering progress of farmers. The event will be organised jointly by the Panchayati Raj Ministry and the Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry. The Prime Minister would inaugurate the campaign at Mhow in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday. On closing day, the Prime Minister would address all the gram sabhas in the country from Jamshedpur. The address would be telecast to various villages. UNI PS SW AS1542 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0044-679494.Xml
Dismissing that Ram temple could be an issue in the state polls next year, the newly appointed Uttar Pradesh BJP president Keshav Prasad Maurya today said that the party will contest the 2017 Assembly polls only on the development agenda. " The Ram temple issue should not be made a political agenda as it is related to the faith and identity of the majority people of the country. Besides, BJP has already clarified its stand on the construction of a grand Ram Temple at Ayodhya," he told reporters here. Further clarifying that he has been made the president of the party as he belongs to the backward community, Mr Maurya said," the party don't believe in caste politics and I think that my selection was made only on the honest work I have done for it." Attacking the Samajwadi Party government in the state for the prevailing anarchy-like situation, the BJP president said ," I will visit every corner of the state and will prepare the workers to stand up against the atrocities unleashed by the ruling party." When asked about his new team, Mr Maurya said," this thing will only happen after I visit all the districts so that every elegible leader gets his due respect and honour." The new UP BJP president criticised the UP government on its failure to control crime in the state. "The crime rate has increased while the atrocities on women have crossed all the limits. The corruption in the UP Public Service Commission reached to such extent that Allahabad High Court had to intervene," he added. Lambasting the Akhilesh Yadav government for ignoring the plight of the people of the state particularly in the drought hit Bundelkhand region, the BJP president, who is also the MP from Phulpur seat in Allahabad district,alleged that even after Centre giving enough funds for Bundelkhand, the state has refused to transfer the benefit to the masses of the region. Besides he said that the present Samajwadi Party government was also ignoring the problems of the farmers and rural masses. Mr Maurya said reiterating his promise for a Samajwadi Party and BSP-free UP expressed confidence thatg party will win 265 seats in the next UP election. "We have to get rid of BSP and SP - both caste based and corrupt parties. Unless these parties are thrown out , the State cannot progress. The onus is now on BJP to provide relief to the people of this state. We should ensure that we win next assembly election with a landslide margin," Keshav Prasad Maurya said. He said that the party will replicate its 2014 success in 2017 assembly election. "We will repeat our 2014 performance. People have seen these regional parties and they want a change," he said and added: "This time BJP will win not less than 265 seats and would form its own government."UNI MB SB AS1523 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0196-679492.Xml
Manipur Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh today effected a minor reshuffle of his ministry by dropping three Cabinet ministers and inducting as many.Governor V Shanmuganathan administered the oath of office and secrecy to the newly inducted ministers, Ksh Biren, Manga Vaiphei and D Korunthang at the Raj Bhawan. Those dropped were Th Debendra, Phungzathang Tonsing and Francis Ngajokpa. Governor Shanmuganathan arrived here today from New Delhi for the swearing-in ceremony.Ksh Biren will be in charge of Works, CAF and FD while Manga Vaiphei will be in charge of PHED, Labour and employment and Science and Technology. D Korunthang will be in charge of Health , Family Welfare, CADA and GAD. The chief minister also changed some portfolios. I Hemochandra, who was in charge of PHED, will now be in charge of Revenue, Law and Legislation Affairs and Forest and Environment. M Okendro, Minister Education, will be in charge of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Economics and Statistics. Dr Kh Ratankumar, who was looking after Works will be in charge of Education and Transport.Mr Ibobi said the three ministers who were dropped were senior ministers. They would dedicate their time for party work. They decided to give chance to younger faces, he said. Congress president T N Haokip said there is no dissidence in the state, all are Congress workers. All the ministers, MLAs, officials attended the function.Ksh Biren represents Lamlai Assembly constituency of Imphal East. while Manga Vaiphei represents Henglep, Churachandpur district. D Korunthang is from Tengnoupal Assembly constituency of Chandel district. UNI NS PL SB AS1541 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0211-679569.Xml
Uttar Pradesh police today claimed that the gruesome murder of NIA DSP Tanzil Ahmed in the night of April 2 was due to the family dispute between the officer and his nephew. Two accused in the murder-- Reyan, the nephew of the slain officer and his friend Junail--have been arrested here last night but the prime accused Munir, against whom the state police has issued a look out notice along with a reward of Rs 50,000,is still absconding. Announcing the facts at a press conference here today, Inspector General of Police (Bareilly Zone) Vijay Singh Meena said that both Reyan and Junail were present in the wedding ceremony in which the officer was also present. Reyan, during the interrogation revealed that Tanzil used to harass and insult him and his family members regularly and recently the DSP sent him to jail in a mobile stealing charge. " But before the crime to kill the NIA DSP, Reyan and his best friend Munir went to a petrol pump outlet and they filled up the tanks of their motorcycle. During their presence at the petrol pump, while Munir covered his face by a cloth, Reyan did not do it. Hence two days after the incident, Reyan went to the petrol pump to to enquire whether there is any his photo in the CCTV camera and from there police got the clue and caught hold of Reyan, who immediately accepted the crime," the IG disclosed. " During the crime which occurred on the intervening night of April 2 and 3, while Reyan was driving the motorcycle, Munir ,on the pillon fired indiscriminately on the DSP and his wife Farzana from a 9 mm pistol.Later Munir went to his house in Sahaspur and slept their but escaped next morning," Mr Meena said. However, there is another angle in the case too. The IG said that Munir was involved in the robbery of Rs 91 lakh from the cash van of PNB in Dhampur area of Bijnore on December 28,2015 and believed that Tanzil was trailing him and was giving evidences against him to police. " The 9 mm pistol used in the bank dacoity case was the same used in the Tanzil murder incident and there could be reason for Munir to kill the NIA DSP for helping the police to nab him," Mr Meena said. Earlier Bijnore Superintendent of Police (SP) Subhash Singh Baghel had said that the two accused Reyan and Junail have been arrested from a posh locality in the city. Mr Baghel said Munir could be hiding in Goa or Mumbai and couple of teams have been despatched there. Ahmed was shot dead by criminals when he was returning from a wedding of his neice on April 2. The police officer's wife Farzana was also critically injured in the attack, but his two children escaped unhurt. UP police had claimed just after that the attack that the incident was the fallout over a dispute between the relatives of the NIA DSP. However, the state police had also not ruled out the act of terrorists in the killing.UNI MB SB AS1624 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0196-679619.Xml
They said a passenger vehicle hit and critically injured a pedestrian Manzoor Ahmad Rather at Qamarwari. The injured was rushed to hospital where he was declared brought dead.

Sources said a motorcyclist Abdul Rashid Shairgojri was hit by a vehicle at Devsar in Kulgam in south Kashmir. A pedestrian Shah Mali Begum and motorcyclist were also injured. Both the injured were admitted to hospital.

A pedestrian Jameela was hit and injured by a motorcyclist at Parraypora. The injured was hospitalized, they said adding another pedestrian Waseem Ahmad Khanday was also hit and wounded by a vehicle at Anantnag. He was admitted to hospital.

One person Rahat Ali, a resident of Bhopal was injured when a truck hit a parked car at Sangam Bijbehara. The injured was rushed to local hospital from where he was referred to S K Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) in a critical condition.UNI BAS SB AS1743

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He said sontinuing its drive against the drug abuse, Police arrested a drug peddler along with huge quantity of prescription drugs in Sopore.

He said Sopore Police headed by a senior police offier along with the police party of Police Station Rafiaabad during Naka checking intercepted a car . During the search of the vehicle police recovered 700 bottles and over 7000 tablets of prescription drugs.

Police seized the vehicle and arrested drug peddler identified as Tariq Ahmad Sofi .UNI BAS SB AS1739

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Replying to a query raised by member Narendra Patil and others in the House during Question Hour, Mr Bapat admitted that some officials of Food and Civil Supplies Department were involved in the racket.

To curb the issuance of bogus ration cards, the government has decided to introduce the biometric system, he informed.

The Minister further said out of 85 per cent ration card holders, 81 per cent have been linked to Aadhar card.

The remaining would be considered as bogus holders of ration cards, which were issued by the ration shop owners with the help of department officials, he said.

The governement has decided to provide subsidied foodgrains to the contract labourers, he added. UNI ST SS SB AS1710

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Uttar Pradesh urban development and parliamentary affairs minister Mohammad Azam Khan today hit back at Governor Ram Naik for demanding his sacking from the state ministry by charging that the Rajbhawan was killing democracy in the state. "The Governor should work as per the Constutitonal ethics and not intervene on the powers of the chief minister. It is up to the chief minister to select his council of ministers and the governor's order to sack me is totally against the Constitutional norms," Mr Khan said. Surprisingly, the minister's attack on the Rajbhawan was made in presence of chief minister Akhilesh Yadav during a programme in Kannauj. Mr Khan attacked the governor alleging that," he was insulting the supreme court by raking up the Ram Temple issue in Ayodhya.' Defending the Bills pending before the Rajbhawan to curtail the powers of the Mayors, he said, "One of the mayors beat up his employees in his chambers frequently while several mayors misuse funds given by the government." "It is unfortunate that the governor was protecting these corrupt mayors by sitting on the bill passed by the state legislature to control these mayors," he said. Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr Khan said," Mr Modi has fooled the 125 crore people of the country by putting the development agenda behind and bringing the issues like Love jehad, Ghar Vapsi and similar issues in the forefront." "The PM had promised to give a befitting reply to Pakistan but now he himself is bowing on their land," he said while reacting on the recent visit of Mr Modi to Pakistan. The UP minister also cautioned the people of the state that if they do not give SP another chance they they would not be allowed even to weep by other political parties if they come to power. Early this month, the Governor Ram Naik had sought the sacking of state parliamentary Minister Azam Khan for making deregotary remarks against him in the Assembly last month. "When the Chief Minister returns from England, we will talk about it again," Mr Naik told reporters in Gorakhpur on Sunday last. The governor said that the terminology used by Mr Khan in the Assembly is condemnable. Earlier, the Governor had gone through the CD and script of Mr Khan's remarks on the floor of the House during discussions on March 8 and written to Speaker Mata Prasad Pandey. He had taken strong exception to Mr Khan's comments and questioned his competence as Parliamentary Affairs Minister. Recently, assembly speaker Mata Prasad Pandey too met the governor to clarify his stand on the issue.UNI MB SB CS1750 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0196-679826.Xml
Calcutta High Court today announced names of three members of the committee it formed yesterday to collect the raw footage and devices with which the Narada news sting operation on a section of Trinamool Congress leaders was shot. The three officials are CBI SP Nagendra Prasad, police recruitment cell inspector general Anil Kumar and Calcutta High Court registrar Joyanta Kumar. A two-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Manjulla Chellur also asked Narada News editor Mathew Samuel to hand over his telephone number to the court. The bench had earlier directed the Delhi-based Narada News' editor Mathew Samuel to submit the recordings, the recording device and details of the company running the web portal to the court here. Samuel told the court he is ready to hand over the tapes and other material but not in Calcutta, as he feared for his life and the safety of the tapes if he is to come here. ."The matter, which has serious ramifications on the entire system if the information is true, .. we feel the video tapes and device be kept in safe custody for meeting the ends of justice," the bench on Monday observed while passing the order. Taking note of Samuel's affidavit apprehending threat to his life and property, which in this case are the tapes and the device, the court directed that Samuel would hand over the original video tapes and the device to the committee members in Delhi. " The committee is to choose the venue and time where the tapes would be handed over. The committee members would secure the tapes and device and submit these before the court," the bench observed.UNI XC AKM SB AS1744 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0213-679881.Xml
CPI state-secretary K Rama Krishna alleged that the ruling party was encouraging defections in the state by offering money and power of positions. Talking to newspersons here today, Mr Krishna alleged that the ruling party was offering Rs five crore or power of position to those, who are quitting the YSRCP and joining the TDP. The CPI leader ridiculed the statements made by some defected MLAs that they had joined the ruling party only for the development of their respective constituencies. Mr Krishna said the government had enhanced the assessment costs of various irrigation projects, resulting in an additional burden of Rs.20,000 crore on the exchequer of government. The CPI leader demanded the government to take drought relief works at the drought-hit areas. Referring to film actor Pawan Kalyan's statement that his party, the Jana Sena, would contest in the 2019 elections, the CPI leader recalled that Mr Pawan announced that he had launched the Jana Sena party only to question the governments. Mr Krishna asked how many times did he bother to question the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not granting Special State Status to the State.UNI DP KVV AK 1935 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0414-680235.Xml
British Royal couple, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Princess Catherine, arrived on a two day visit to UNESCO World Heritage Site Kaziranga National Park in Assam today. The British Royal couple reached Tezpur airport around 1815 hrs this evening in a special flight. They were received at the airport by Assam CM Tarun Gogoi and his wife Dolly, among other dignitaries, with tokens of Assamese traditional welcome gifts. Folk dances of the host state, including Bihu, Jhumoor and Bagurumba, were performed by local artists as the couple walked down to the lobby from the tarmac. They were served Assamese local snacks along with other items at a light refreshment arranged at the airport lobby. Dressed in a mint green frock, Princess Catherine, and black suit clad Prince William drove out of the airport in a special vehicle, waving to a waiting crowd of school children, dressed in Assamese traditional attire to welcome the Royal couple. The Duke and Duchess will spent the night at Diphlu River Lodge at Kaziranga. At Kaziranga, the Royal couple will have a glimpse of local cultures dances of Bihu that will be performed by professional troupes.On April 13, Prince William and Princess Catherine will undertake a Jeep Safari in the Western Range of Bagori of the Park for two hours and will interact with senior officers of the park.Kaziranga National Park is famous for one horned Rhino which is a Schedule 1 wild animal under the Indian Wildlife Protection Act 1972.The royal couple will also have a glimpse of wild animals getting rehabilitation and treatment which were rescued during floods and other anthropological situations. They will also visit the New Ram Terang village, which has been relocated to clear an elephant corridor, by the Mark Shand Foundation that is backed by Prince William. UNI SG AKM DJK SB1954 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0213-680206.Xml
Governor of Nagaland & Assam P B Acharya today expressed his happiness and satisfaction that the architect of the Indian Constitution, Bharat Ratna Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar's 125th birth anniversary will be observed tomorrow at the United Nations for the first time, with focus on combating inequalities to achieve sustainable development goals. In a message, Mr Acharya expressed that India should feel proud and happy for this honour as this marks the recognition by the world of his contributions as an architect of Constitution of the greatest democratic nation of the world India. He was the voice of the suppressed people of India, he added. The Permanent Mission of India to the UN in association with the Kalpana Saroj foundation and Foundation for Human Horizon will commemorate Ambedkar's125th birth anniversary on April 13 (tomorrow), at the U.N. headquarters, a day before his birthday.On the occasion, a panel discussion will be organised on the topic, 'combating inequalities for the achievement of sustainable development goals' with the objective of raising awareness about the importance of addressing all forms of inequality for achieving the sustainable development goals. The vision of Babasaheb to achieve social justice and equality also finds resonance in the core message for the 2030 agenda for sustainable development goals. The Governor expressed the hope that with the observation of the birth anniversary of Dr Ambedkar, the champion of the downtrodden and the suppressed, his great vision will reach out strongly to the world and will be implemented throughout in a pragmatic manner, the release said. UNI AS AKM DJK SB SB1945 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0213-680256.Xml
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited the Salaam Baalak Trust, an organisation supporting some of the most vulnerable young people living on the streets in Delhi, on Tuesday. They first visited the Trust's Contact Centre near the New Delhi Railway Station, where they heard that up to 1200-1500 children arrive into the capital on trains each year and often travelling alone, to escape a range of personal circumstances. As a frontline partner of Childline, Their Royal Highnesses were briefed by the Trust's outreach workers on how they respond to calls for urgent care, and try to identify vulnerable young children as soon as they arrive in the city, to encourage them to get support as early as possible. The Trust has a focus on mental health and supports the individual needs of street children which includes physical and medical care, as well as educational, creative and social interaction. Dr Amit Sen, who started the charity's mental health programme, explained why this support is vital to help children coping with the trauma of life on the streets adapt to life in a nurturing environment. Their Royal Highnesse were interested to see children's mental health being treated as a key priority in helping children to seek physical healthcare, shelter, and eventually education. Young people's mental health is a major focus of TRH charitable work. The Duke and Duchess then also visited one of Salaam Baalak's temporary shelter for boys, located close to the train station. They heard how Salaam Baalak Trust always try to reunite children with their families but where that's not possible they provide permanent care in one of their shelters. Within the shelter, children are provided with mental health support, nutrition, education and vocational training programmes. The couple met young boys who are currently living at the shelter and spent time with them doing some of the regular activities such as reading and drawing. The couple also had the chance to meet two Salam Baalak City Walk Guides. The Trust is famous for its city walks, guided tours of the Delhi streets by the children who used to live there before being rescued. The tours provide revenue for the Trust, but more importantly allow the young people to tell their stories of hardship and survival as well as helping them with their English and communication skills. The Salaam Baalak Trust was set up in 1998 with the proceeds from the film Salaam Bombay, a film depicting the lives of vulnerable street children. The name Salaam Bombay means 'salutes the child'. Salaam Baalak Trust runs five children's shelters (over 500 children) and 13 contact points in and around Delhi, supporting children living and working on the streets. (ANI)
Fill, a 33-year-old Nigerian, is cooling his heels in Tihar Jail under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. With his arrest, Delhi Police have heaved a sigh of relief as the "kingpin" was heading a well-organised drug racket that used to supply high quality cocaine at Delhi's plush pubs and bars. Fill, alias Steve (who uses only one name), was nabbed on April 2 from Rajendra Nagar in central Delhi on a tip-off. He had gone to supply 54 grams of pure cocaine to one of his well-heeled clients. The drug was worth between Rs.10 lakh and Rs.50 lakh, depending on negotiation, and would have fetched at least Rs.54 lakh in the international market. Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Ravindra Yadav told IANS that Fill was the "kingpin" of the drug racket, which was running in Delhi since 2009. The racket had a network of suppliers, comprising youngsters, who did dealings with clients. Top Delhi Police sources told IANS they are close to capturing the other members of the gang. The drugs business, though, was apparently not in Fill's scheme of things when he landed in India in 2008. According to what he has told police, he had come here to start a business venture in readymade garments. However, Fill was cheated by a fellow countryman of all his money -- leaving him penniless, which forced him to take up the drug peddling business. Fill is lodged in Tihar Jail on charges of possessing, purchasing, selling, storing and transporting contraband drugs in the national capital. After he was cheated of his money, Fill told police, he had to beg to fulfil his daily needs, and later started providing consultancy to Nigerian visitors about Delhi. "Thereafter, he came in contact with another Nigerian named KC, a supplier of cocaine in Delhi, in the beginning of 2009 and joined his gang," Yadav said. The officer said that Fill started selling cocaine to Indian customers along with KC in south Delhi pubs and bars. "Later in 2011 or 2012, KC was caught by police and deported to Nigeria. But Fill continued to evade the police. His illegal cocaine business was thriving. He used different mobile phone numbers for his cocaine business," the officer said. Fill used to sell one "pudia" (one gram) of cocaine for between Rs.15,000-Rs.1 lakh, depending on the demand and time of day. The rates would go up as the evening advanced. A crime branch team, led by Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) M.A. Rizvi, consisting of Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Ranbir Singh, inspector Devender and his team, arrested Fill from Rajendra Nagar on a tip-off on April 2. (Rajnish Singh can be contacted at rajnish.s@ians.in) --Indo-Asian News Service rak/rn/vt ( 468 Words) 2016-04-12-20:57:30 (IANS)
The Indian Jewish community has reiterated its demand for recognition as a minority community in the country. The community has moved an application with the union minority affairs ministry to this effect, official sources said. We have received a request from the Jewish community to be notified as a minority community. We have forwarded their request to the concerned department, an official told IANS. Currently, there are around 5,000 Jews who are Indian nationals, living in various parts of the country. The majority -- around 4,000 -- live in and around Mumbai. At present, there are six notified minority communities in India, namely the Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs, Parsis and Jains. Jews have been part of the Indian society for 2,300 years now. But post Independence, we have not been recognised as a minority, Rabbi Ezekiel Isaac Malekar, the head of the Jewish community in Delhi, told IANS. If we get the official recognition as a minority community, a lot of things would become easier for us. For example, it would become easier for us to register our marriages, which are currently registered under special categories, he said. We would also be able to set up our own educational institutes and practise and promote our culture, Malekar said. --Indo-Asian News Service mak/rn/vt ( 221 Words) 2016-04-12-20:59:30 (IANS)
In view of increasing attacks on women, reportedly by the security troops as well as the militants in the Valley, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has proposed to raise an all women police battalion in the state with funding from the Centre.Ms Mufti, who met with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today in the Capital, apprised him of the decision taken by her Cabinet yesterday to raise four all women police stations in the state. The Cabinet also sanctioned creation of 208 posts for the same.The sources said the J&K CM discussed the security situation in the state and spoke of vulnerability of the women in the state. Mr Singh is said to have appreciated her proposal and promised to look into her demand of funds for raising the woman battalion in the state where the incidents of kidnapping, rape, assault or murder are not unheard of. The security agencies and militants have often blamed each other of these crimes.Presently, two women police stations are already functional in the state at Srinagar and Jammu respectively. There are also four women cells functioning at Anantnag, Baramulla, Rajouri and Udhampur.The CM also urged the Home Minister to modify the militant repatriation policy which recognises only those militants fit for rehabilitation which come through Nepal route. The CM said a large number of militants also come from Pakistani side and these routes of return should also have acceptance in the existing policy.She also sought funds for police modernisation and infrastructure development and increase in honorarium of Special Police Officer(SPO) so that more people are encouraged to join the community policing.The Home Minister apprised the visiting CM of an advisory issued to all states, asking them to appoint a nodal officer who would look into the grievances and complaints of Kashmiri students who come under attack from the locals.The Ministry and State official will hold a high-level meeting tomorrow to sort of the issues discussed today, the sources said.UNI PRA RSA 2020 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0384-680492.Xml
: With just a day left for annual Brahmotsavams and a week left for Sita Rama Kalyanam in the recently TTD taken-over temple of Lord Kodandarama Swamy temple at Vontimitta in YSR Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh, TTD Executive Officer, D Sambasiva Rao inspected the ongoing arrangements. After inspecting the ongoing works of Kalyana Vedika, Dr Rao held a review meeting with the district officials in Haritha Guest House. During the review meeting with the District Collector MV Ramana and SP Navin Gulati, the EO asked the TTD health, vigilance and electrical departments to co-ordinate with the district administration in maintaining proper sanitation, security arrangements and uninterrupted power supply during the annual Brahmotsavams, scheduled from April 14 to April 24 and especially the mega religious event of Sita Rama Kalyanam on April 20. Dr Rao also said that there should not be any compromise in the arrangements, especially for Kalyanam, as it is the first major religious event after the separation of Andhra Pradesh, since the state government is considering it as a prestigious ceremony. The food arrangements also will be jointly made by TTD Annaprasadam-wing and the district administration, he added.UNI VV KVV AK 2010 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0414-680202.Xml
Paliwal was recently named the Lady of the Harley 2016.

According to police, Paliwal had left from Lucknow for Jaipur along with her friend Dipesh Tanwar. Both were driving their own motorbikes. Her motorbike slipped at a road junction and she fell. She was rushed to hospital to Gyaraspur hospital. After first aid, she was referred to a Vidisha district hospital. After reaching their at late night, the doctors declared her dead.

The accident took place on Monday when Paliwal was on a nationwide trip on her Harley Davidson motorbike.

Paliwal was declared dead as soon as she was transferred to a hospital in Vidisha district late Monday evening, Kotwali police station chief Rajesh Tiwari told IANS. Her autopsy was conducted by a team of four doctors.

Her friend Tanwar said she was speaking to him before being treated at Gyaraspur hospital. Paliwal's condition worsened immediately after being given an injection.

Her body has now been handed over to her family.

--Indo-Asian News Service hindi-sd/vt

( 211 Words)

2016-04-12-21:17:30 (IANS)
Making an announcement in the House, he said that 2,634 workers of closed cotton mills will get 250 sq ft tenements each at Rs 9.50 lakh only, while another 2,418 MMRDA tenements of 320 sq ft will be offered in Mumbai Metropolitan Region at Rs six lakh only.

Replying to a query of former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and others, Mr Fadnavis said that 1.50 lakh mill workers are waiting for houses.

Another lot of 11,000 houses would be available soon in MMR, he added.

In a meeting held at Vidhan Bhavan today, the representatives of Workers Action Committee, headed by Datta Isealkar, agreed upon the price. A lottery to allotment would be held soon.UNI XR SS NP RSA PR2327

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The results were declared on last evening.

For 18 seats, 50 candidates had contested the election on Sunday with a prime fight was between the Shetkari Vikas Panel and the Shetkari Ekta Panel.

On behalf of the Congress party, former Chief Minister and MP Ashok Chavan, MLA D P Sawant and others contacted the voters while on behalf of Shiv Sena-BJP alliance, MLAs Hemant Patil and PratapPatil among others convinced the voters.

Voting was held for 11 seats from the Service Cooperative Society constituency, four from the village panchayat constituency, one from the workers' constituency and two from the merchants' constituency.UNI XR SS HK RSA PR2335

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In the warning, posted on its website on Monday, the State Department has urged the US citizens to "carefully consider the risks of travelling to Saudi Arabia", Xinhua news agency reported.

Obama is scheduled to participate in a summit of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council on April 21 in Saudi Arabia.

"There continues to be reports of threats against US citizens and other Westerners, as well as locations frequented by them," it said, adding the Islamic States (IS) terrorist group has directed or inspired multiple attacks on mosques last year in Saudi Arabia.

"Ongoing security concerns" in Yemen and Iraq also added a reason for issuing the travel warning, which replaced an old warning issued on September 21, 2015.

The warning said both Al-Qaeda and the IS are planning attacks in the kingdom, including "house compounds, hotels, restaurants, shopping areas, international schools" and other facilities.

It also restricted US government personnel and their families from travelling within 50 miles (80 km) of the Yemeni border, and to the cities of Jizan and Najran, without permission.

--Indo-Asian News Service pgh/

( 220 Words)

2016-04-12-08:59:30 (IANS)
As US-led offensives drive back Islamic State in Iraq, concern is growing among US and UN officials that efforts to stabilize liberated areas are lagging, creating conditions that could help the militants endure as an underground network.One major worry: not enough money is being committed to rebuild the devastated provincial capital of Ramadi and other towns, let alone Islamic State-held Mosul, the ultimate target in Iraq of the US-led campaign.Lise Grande, the No 2 UN official in Iraq, told Reuters that the United Nations is urgently seeking 400 million dollars from Washington and its allies for a new fund to bolster reconstruction in cities like Ramadi, which suffered vast damage when US-backed Iraqi forces recaptured it in December."We worry that if we don't move in this direction, and move quickly, the progress being made against ISIL may be undermined or lost," Grande said, using an acronym for Islamic State.Adding to the difficulty of stabilizing freed areas are Iraq's unrelenting political infighting, corruption, a growing fiscal crisis and the Shiite Muslim-led government's fitful efforts to reconcile with aggrieved minority Sunnis, the bedrock of Islamic State support.Some senior US military officers share the concern that post-conflict reconstruction plans are lagging behind their battlefield efforts, officials said."We're not going to bomb our way out of this problem," one US official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.Islamic State is far from defeated. The group still controls much of its border-spanning "caliphate," inspires eight global affiliates and is able to orchestrate deadly external attacks like those that killed 32 people in Brussels on March 22.But at its core in Iraq and Syria, Islamic State appears to be in slow retreat. Defense analysis firm IHS Janes estimates the group lost 22 per cent of its territory over the last 15 months.Washington has spent vastly more on the war than on reconstruction. The military campaign cost $6.5 billion from 2014 through February 29, according to the Pentagon.The United States has contributed 15 million dollars to stabilization efforts, donated 5 million dollars to help clear explosives in Ramadi and provided "substantial direct budget support" to Iraq's government, said Emily Horne, a National Security Council spokeswoman.Secretary of State John Kerry acknowledged the need for more reconstruction aid while in Baghdad last week."As more territory is liberated from Daesh, the international community has to step up its support for the safe and voluntary return of civilians to their homes," Kerry said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.Kerry, who announced 155 million dollars in additional US aid for displaced Iraqis, said US President Barack Obama planned to raise the issue at a summit of Gulf Arab leaders on April 21. "PILE OF RUBBLE" Ramadi's main hospital, train station, nearly 2,000 homes, 64 bridges and much of the electricity grid were destroyed in fighting, a preliminary UN survey found last month. Thousands of other buildings were damaged.Some 3,000 families recently returned to parts of the city cleared of mines, according to the governor, Hameed Dulaymi, but conditions are tough. Power comes from generators. Water is pumped from the Euphrates River. A few shops are open, but only for a couple of hours a day.Ahmed Saleh, a 56-year-old father of three children, said he returned to find his home a "pile of rubble," which cannot be rebuilt until the government provides the money. With no indication of when that might happen, authorities have resettled his family in another house whose owner is believed unlikely to return before this summer.Saleh earns less than 15 dollars a day cleaning and repairing other people's homes. There are no schools open for his children, and he lacks funds to return to a camp for internally displaced outside Baghdad where he says life was better.Obama administration officials say they have been working to help stabilize Iraq politically and economically since the military campaign against Islamic State began in 2014."The success of the campaign against ISIL in Iraq does depend upon political and economic progress as well," Defense Secretary Ash Carter said yesterday. "Economically it's important that the destruction that's occurred be repaired and we're looking to help the Iraqis with that."Asked about the upcoming 400 million dollars UN request, Horne said the United States welcomed the new fund's establishment and "will continue to lead international efforts to fund stabilization operations." The United States hasn't yet announced what it will contribute.US officials said Washington is also pushing for an International Monetary Fund arrangement that the head of the fund's Iraq mission has said could unlock up to $15 billion in international financing. Baghdad has a 20 billion dollars budget deficit caused by depressed oil prices.Washington has helped train 15,000 Sunni fighters who are now part of the Iraqi government's security forces.But there has been little movement on political reforms to reconcile minority Sunnis, whose repression under former prime minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shiite-led government led thousands to join Islamic State.Unless that happens, and Sunnis see that Baghdad is trying to help them return home to rebuild, support for the militants will persist, experts said."If you don't get reconciliation, the Sunnis will turn back to ISIS," said former CIA and White House official Kenneth Pollack, who is now at the Brookings Institution think tank and conducted a fact-finding mission in Iraq last month."It's just inevitable."The United States has prevailed militarily in Iraq before, only to see the fruits of the effort evaporate.President George W. Bush invaded Iraq in 2003, deposed dictator Saddam Hussein and disbanded his army without a comprehensive plan for post-war stability. Civil war ensued. REBUILDING GETS HARDER International funding to rebuild towns and cities ravaged by Islamic State has always been tight, said Grande, deputy special representative of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq."This meant we had to come up with a model that could be implemented quickly and at extremely low cost," she said.International donors contributed 100 million dollars to an initial fund to jump-start local economies, restoring power and water and reopening shops and schools.The model worked in Tikrit, the first major city reclaimed from Islamic State in March 2015, Grande said. After initial delays, most residents returned, utilities are on and the university is open. Total spending was 8.3 million dollars.But Ramadi, a city of some 500,000 people before the recent fighting, poses a much greater challenge."Much of the destruction that's happening in areas that are being liberated ... far outstrips our original assumptions," Grande said.Restoring normality to Mosul, home to about 2 million people before it fell to Islamic State, could prove even more difficult.It remains to be seen whether Islamic State digs in, forcing a ruinous battle, or faces an internal uprising that forces the militants to flee, sparing the city massive devastation.If Islamic State is defeated militarily, it likely will revert to the guerrilla tactics of its predecessor, al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), current and former officials said.AQI and its leaders, including Islamic State chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, "survived inside Iraq underground for years and there's no reason they couldn't do it again," a US defense official said.REUTERS SHS VN2246 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0329-679117.Xml
A US Navy flight officer with knowledge of sensitive American intelligence collection methods faces espionage charges over suspicions he passed secret information to Taiwan and possibly to China, US officials said.US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, identified the suspect as Lieutenant Commander Edward Lin, who was born in Taiwan and later became a naturalized US citizen, according to a Navy article profiling him in 2008.Lin was a flight officer assigned to the Special Projects Patrol Squadron, with experience managing the collection of electronic signals from the EP3-E Aries II signals intelligence aircraft, officials said.Information about how the US Navy carries out such signals collection operations could be highly valuable to a foreign government.A heavily redacted Navy charge sheet twice accused the suspect of communicating secret information and three times of attempting to do so "with intent or reason to believe it would be used to the advantage of a foreign nation."The suspect was also accused of engaging in prostitution and adultery.The document was redacted to blot out Lin's name and did not identify what foreign country or countries were involved. The US officials said both Taiwan and China were possibly those countries but stressed the investigation was still ongoing.White House spokesman Josh Earnest confirmed that a Navy officer was in custody on espionage charges at Navy Consolidated Brig in Chesapeake, Virginia but declined to offer additional information.A US official told Reuters that Lin was apprehended at an airport in Hawaii, possibly while attempting to leave the country. He has been held in pretrial confinement for the past eight months or so, US officials said.The US Navy profiled Lin in a 2008 article that focused on his naturalization as a US citizen, saying his family left Taiwan when he was 14 and stopped in different countries before coming to America."I always dreamt about coming to America, the 'promised land,'" he said. "I grew up believing that all the roads in America lead to Disneyland." Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said he was not aware of the details of the case. He did not elaborate. China's Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Taiwan's Defense Ministry said it had no information on the case. Taiwan's Foreign Ministry declined to comment.Lin enlisted in the Navy in 1999 and held a variety of positions over his 17-year carrier, including working on the staff of an assistant secretary of the Navy from 2012 to 2013. He served on the Norfolk-based aircraft carrier Eisenhower from 2009 to 2010.REUTERS JW0525 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-679018.Xml
Croatia's new centre-right government condemned the crimes of the country's World War Two Nazi puppet regime after the Jewish and Serbian communities said they would boycott an event this month commemorating concentration camp victims.Representatives of the small Jewish community, minority Serb population and a leading anti-fascism group have said they will not attend an April 22 ceremony in Jasenovac, site of a former concentration camp. They have cited government inaction over incidents including a march where protesters shouted the greeting of the WW2 regime.They say these incidents "downplay and revitalise the Ustashe regime" that controlled the country during the war, and they have decided to organise separate commemoration ceremonies in Jasenovac later this month.In a bid to win their support ahead of the April 22 event, President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic met representatives of Jews, Serbs, Gypsies and anti-fascists on Monday, and Prime Minister Tihomir Oreskovic issued a statement condemning the Ustashe's crimes."The Croatian government, and I personally, condemn the crimes of the Ustashe regime," he said."April 22 is a day of remembrance and commemoration to innocent victims of Jasenovac ... I'm sorry that this occasion, instead of paying respect to the victims, is used for politicisation that opens new divisions in society. All that not only insults the victims and their families, but also inflicts huge damage on Croatia."Jasenovac, located some 70 km east of Zagreb, is notorious for mass killings of Jews, Serbs, Gypsies and anti-fascist Croats under the Ustashe regime, which ruled the so-called Independent State of Croatia from 1941 to 1945."The president is concerned about divisions and negative trends visible in society. We're ready for talks on how to start changing the negative trend of playing down the Ustashe ideology and the victims of its regime," said a representative of Croatian Serbs, Milorad Pupovac.The Jewish and Serb communities have also voiced concern over changes to the exhibits at the Jasenovac museum which they say fail to adequately and fully reflect the criminal nature of the Ustashe regime.REUTERS JW0525 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-679020.Xml
Egypt's announcement during a five-day visit by King Salman that it would transfer two Red Sea islands to its Saudi ally has outraged Egyptians, who took to social media to criticise the move, which now faces a legal challenge.The Egyptian government said in a statement on Saturday that the two countries had signed maritime demarcation accords that put the islands of Tiran and Sanafir in Saudi waters, a process it said had taken six years.Saudi and Egyptian officials said the islands belong to the kingdom and were only under Egyptian control because Saudi Arabia's founder, Abdulaziz Al Saud, asked Egypt in 1950 to protect them.But the accord, which still needs ratification by Egypt's parliament, caused consternation among Egyptians, many who said they were taught in school the islands were theirs.The hashtag "Awad sold his land" trended on Twitter after the announcement, referring to a song about an Egyptian who sold his land, seen as a shameful act.Egypt has struggled to restore economic growth since the 2011 uprising that ended Hosni Mubarak's 30-year-rule.Saudi Arabia, which opposes the Muslim Brotherhood, has showered Egypt with billions of dollars in aid since general-turned-President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousted elected President Mohammed Mursi of the Brotherhood in 2013 and banned the group.That has led many to wonder if Egypt sold the islands.Egyptian comic Basem Yousef, exiled after lampooning successive leaders, compared Sisi on Twitter to a bazaar merchant willing to sell his country and its heritage: "Come closer sir, the island is one billion, the pyramid is two with two statues on top for free."As anger spread on Monday, veteran lawyer Khaled Ali filed a complaint with the administrative court, arguing that according to a 1906 maritime treaty between Egypt and the Ottoman Empire, the islands are Egyptian and the move amounts to a transfer of sovereignty. The treaty precedes the founding of Saudi Arabia in 1932.Ali is alleging that the accord violates article 151 of Egypt's constitution, which requires all treaties related to sovereignty to be approved by referendum. The court will hear the case on May 17.RENEWED PRESSURE ON SISIBut Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid told Egypt's CBC television channel: "This land is Saudi and Egypt administered it based on a request from the kingdom and this door that spreads doubts, which have no foundation in truth, must be closed."The island issue has put Sisi, who once enjoyed widespread support, under renewed pressure.Once-fawning newspaper editors no longer hide their disappointment as the crackdown on dissent has spread and critics say the government has mishandled a series of crises including the killing of a driver by a policeman in a fare dispute.Five of 11 people who held a protest against the accord in Cairo on Sunday were arrested and later freed, security and judicial sources said.Thousands of people have supported a Facebook campaign calling for protest on Friday "to protect our country."Egypt's state-owned Al Ahram newspaper reported on Monday that Israel had been informed in advance about the treaty, as it is entangled in a 1979 peace deal with Israel. Many Egyptians were upset their government thought of Israel but not them."Even if Saudi Arabia is entitled to the islands ... to hand them over to Saudi in this way, without consideration for Egyptians, showing no respect for their feelings, presence and even their pride in their nation?" television chat show host Wael El Ebrashy said on Sunday night. "We are all shocked."REUTERS JW RK0644 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-679022.Xml
United Launch Alliance will team with billionaire entrepreneur Robert Bigelow to market and fly habitats for humans in space, a project that hinges on space taxis being developed by SpaceX, Boeing Co and other firms, ULA and Bigelow said.The agreement, announced at a news conference at the U.S. Space Symposium in Colorado Spring, Colorado, includes a 2020 launch of a 12,000-cubic foot (330-cubic meter) inflatable habitat aboard a ULA Atlas 5 rocket, currently the only vehicle with a big enough payload container to hold the module.Bigelow told the news conference that partnering with ULA, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing, is "a potentially enormously important relationship," to open space to non-government research, commercial endeavors and tourism.ULA and Bigelow did not give details on their alliance. ULA President and Chief Executive Tory Bruno said at the news conference that ULA is contributing "resources of technology and talent. We don't talk about dollars and investment. You'll see as time goes by what this fully encompasses."Bigelow has designed inflatable space habitats made of a Kevlar-like material and other fabrics that protect against impacts from orbiting debris. They are folded for launch, then inflated with air once aloft. The light, compact habitats should save millions of dollars in launch costs, the companies say.Bigelow Aerospace has been working on inflatable habitats for 15 years.A miniature version of the expandable, fabric module arrived at the International Space Station on Sunday aboard a SpaceX Dragon cargo ship. The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM, is expected to be attached to a station docking port on Saturday and inflated next month for a two-year trial run.BEAM is the firm's first manned spacecraft. Bigelow had previously launched two unmanned prototypes in 2006 and 2007.Bigelow plans to follow BEAM with modules that are 20 times larger to serve as space outposts that will be leased to companies and research organizations. Bigelow said he also would like to attach one of the modules, known as B330, to the space station for use by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and commercial customers.The projects are dependent on commercial space transportation services, such as those under development by SpaceX and Boeing, to fly astronauts to and from the space station for NASA. REUTERS JW RK0645 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-679024.Xml
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has filed a complaint against a comedian who recited a satirical poem about him on German national television, German prosecutors said in a statement.The public prosecutor's office in the western city of Mainz said Erdogan had filed the complaint against Jan Boehmermann via a law firm for insulting him. Boehmermann is the host of the late-night "Neo Magazin Royale" on the public ZDF channel.In a programme broadcast on March 31, Boehmermann had recited a poem about Erdogan that contained crude sexual references and accusations that Erdogan repressed minorities and mistreated Kurds and Christians.Before reading it, Boehmermann referred to a satirical song broadcast on NDR television that had mocked Erdogan for his authoritarian treatment of journalists. That show led Turkey to call in Germany's envoy to provide an explanation, although Germany rejected Turkish protests.Boehmermann said the NDR broadcast fell under the right to artistic freedom, press freedom and freedom of opinion and said his poem was an example of impermissible "abusive criticism".Prosecutors said Erdogan's complaint would be examined as part of a pending procedure. They had already begun investigating Boehmermann on suspicion of the crime of "offending foreign states' organs and representatives" after more than 20 people filed complaints.Yesterday, Germany said it was examining a formal request made by Turkey for it to prosecute Boehmermann. REUTERS JW RK0646 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-679027.Xml
The 65-member Special Impeachment Committee of the Chamber of Deputies on Monday voted 38-27 in favour of the impeachment, paving the way for a full chamber vote, Xinhua reported.

The vote in the lower house of parliament is expected on Sunday. If two-thirds of the chamber, or 372 of 513 deputies, vote in favour, the motion then goes to the Senate, which would rule whether Rousseff should be removed.

The committee voting results were not a surprise. The media reported that the government was already prepared for such an outcome and was focusing on gathering support for the full chamber voting.

A turnaround in Brazil's economic fortunes coupled with a corruption scandal at state oil giant Petrobras are mainly blamed for damaging Rousseff's popularity and fuelling the attempt by the political opposition to remove her from power.

Rousseff's dismal popularity rating has also unravelled the loose-knit alliance of left-leaning parties, including the Workers' Party (PT), to which Rousseff belongs, and the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), to which her vice president belongs.

The PMDB has threatened to quit the coalition, further weakening the government.

Last week, Brazil's Attorney General Jose Eduardo Cardozo, acting as the government's legal counsel, said the call to impeach the president had no legal basis and was motivated by a political "vendetta".

Chamber of Deputies President Eduardo Cunha, who, as head of the lower house, had the power to pursue or dismiss impeachment proceedings, is himself under investigation for holding millions of US dollars in secret offshore bank accounts.

--Indo-Asian News Service py/vm

( 284 Words)

2016-04-12-11:35:30 (IANS)
China has extended "deep condolences" over a deadly temple fire in Kerala, India, in which 109 were killed and over 350 injured on Sunday early morning."We express our deep condolences and sincere sympathies to the heavy casualties inflicted by the fire in a temple in Kerala, India. Our sympathies go to the victims and the bereaved families, and we wish an early recovery for the injured," Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said at a media briefing yesterday.However, there were no reports on Chinese casualties yet, Mr Lu added.A massive blaze and explosions triggered by fireworks to mark the Hindu New Year swept through the crowd of devotees in Puttingal Temple in Kollam in the southern state of Kerala on Sunday morning leaving a trail of death and devastation. Fireworks triggered mishaps are not uncommon in this part of the country.UNI PRA SW SB 1413 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0384-679380.Xml
Kenyan police broke through a police station wall and threw tear gas to force a second group of Taiwanese on to a plane bound for China today, Taiwan's foreign ministry said, in a bizarre diplomatic row in which Taiwan has accused China of abduction.But a senior Kenyan official said the people were in Kenya illegally and were being sent back to where they had come from.Taiwan yesterday accused China, which regards the self-ruled island as a breakaway province, of kidnapping eight of its nationals, who it said had been acquitted in a cyber crime case in Kenya, and deporting them to China on Friday from the Nairobi district of Kilimani.It said China had pressured Kenyan police to put the eight on the plane. China said at the time it was seeking further information about the case."These ones were people who were here illegally and they were deported back to the place where they had come from," Mwenda Njoka, spokesman for Kenya's Interior Ministry, told Reuters by telephone today."They came from China and we took them to China... Usually when you go to another country illegally, you are taken back to your last port of departure."Today, another 37 Taiwan nationals were forced on to a Chinese plane, Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said."The 15 locked up at the police station steadfastly refused to be deported (to China)," said Antonio CS Chen, the chief of Taiwan's foreign ministry department in charge of West Asian and African Affairs."So police broke through the wall, threw tear gas and then about 10 police entered with assault rifles," Chen told a news briefing in Taipei.When asked about the use of force, Njoka said that Kenyan police had "an obligation to ensure if people are here illegally they are taken back to where they came from".China views Taiwan as a wayward province, to be brought under Beijing's control by force if necessary. Defeated Nationalist forces fled to the island in 1949 after a civil war with the Communists now in control in Beijing.Only 22 countries recognise Taiwan as the "Republic of China", with most, including Kenya, having diplomatic relations with the "People's Republic of China", recognising the "one China" policy of its Communist Party leaders in Beijing.Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang, asked about the case, said China approved of Kenya's upholding the "one China" principle. He declined to elaborate.China's Taiwan Affairs Office, which has said it was looking into the incident, did not immediately respond to further request for comment.Kenya's attorney-general said in January it was considering a request from Beijing to extradite 76 Chinese charged with cyber crime in Kenya for trial in their homeland.But Taiwan said some of these people were from Taiwan and that a total of 23 of its people had been acquitted last Tuesday by a Kenyan court and given 21 days to leave.Taiwan has been in an uproar since the eight were forcibly deported.Today, Joseph Wu, secretary-general of Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which distrusts China, called on Beijing to release those in its custody."This kind of action deepens the negative perception Taiwan society has of the Chinese side and is completely useless for the positive development of cross-strait relations," said Wu.Chen said the 15 Taiwanese put on the plane today likely had barred the door into the room they were being held in, while video footage carried by Taiwan media showed young men speaking the Taiwanese dialect in a cramped room, readying for a fight against a closed door.The video footage could not be verified by Reuters. REUTERS PS AS1420 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0421-679394.Xml
Energy company Pertamina plans to explore for oil and gas in areas close to Indonesia's maritime border in the South China Sea to assert the country's territorial rights, the upstream director of the state-owned company said."The government needs to have activities around the borders and one of Pertamina's strategies is to support this," Syamsu Alam told Reuters in an interview yesterday.He said Indonesia had lost sovereignty over two disputed islands in the past because it was not developing those areas."So, like the South China Sea and the borders in North Kalimantan, we need to have some activities there," he said.China claims 90 per cent of the South China Sea, which is believed to be rich in oil and gas, with overlapping claims from Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan.Its reclamation of rocky outcrops and development of infrastructure there has caused alarm around the region.Indonesia is not a claimant and has projected itself as an honest broker in the dispute.However, there is concern in Jakarta that Beijing believes its maritime territory - demarcated by a u-shaped nine-dash line - includes areas around the Indonesian-ruled Natuna islands.After an incident last month involving an Indonesian patrol boat and a Chinese coastguard vessel and fishing boat in what Indonesia said were its waters, Jakarta said it "felt sabotaged" in its efforts to maintain peace in the South China Sea.China has said that it recognises Indonesia's sovereignty over the Natuna Islands.Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said he was not aware of Pertamina's plans."China and Indonesia do not have a territorial dispute," he told a daily news briefing.Alam did not spell out Pertamina's plans for development in the South China Sea, but asked about security, he said: "Of course, we have to have support from the military." He did not elaborate on what role the military might play.He said Pertamina has a three-year timeline for a technical and commercial evaluation of the East Natuna gas field, working with Exxon Mobil, Thailand's PTT and Total .The company also has interests in other blocks close to Indonesia's other border areas, he added, referring to the Masela and Babar Selaru blocks next to its border with Australia and the Nunukan, Simenggaris and Ambalat blocks in areas next to Malaysia.Indonesia and Malaysia have been embroiled in a long-running dispute over the oil-rich Ambalat area, off Borneo, while the area between Indonesia and East Timor and Australia contains huge gas reserves.The International Court of Justice ruled in 2002 that the Sipadan and Ligitan islands off northeastern Borneo belonged to Malaysia, based on evidence that Kuala Lumpur was doing more on the islands to indicate its authority.Alam said Pertamina has a budget of up to 2 billion dollars for mergers and acquisitions in oil and gas assets this year, and is looking to buy into projects in Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Russia among other countries.Pertamina plans to increase output through mergers and acquisitions by 14,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) this year, and by 117,000 boepd in 2017, he said.Indonesia's crude production, which peaked in 1981, dipped below 1 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2011 and is set to fall towards 600,000 bpd by 2020. The country currently has less than 13 years of reserves.Among the assets Pertamina is eyeing domestically are the East Kalimantan and Rokan oil and gas blocks operated by Chevron , whose contracts are due to expire in coming years.A spokesman for Indonesia's foreign ministry was not immediately available for comment.REUTERS PS AS1423 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0421-679403.Xml
China will release more water from a dam in its southwestern province of Yunnan to help alleviate a drought in parts of Southeast Asia, China's Foreign Ministry said today, following an initial release begun last month.The water already began being released yesterday from the Jinghong dam, and will continue to be released until the "low water period" is over, ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a daily news briefing.The actual amount of water released will be decided upon by how much water there is to release upstream and the demands of downstream users, Lu added.China's releases of water show the effectiveness of "water facilities" in helping control floods and address droughts, he said.China has said that the water released will benefit Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.In Vietnam, some 1.8 million people are facing water shortages and the government says 230,000 hectares (568,000 acres) of rice has been destroyed in the central and southern regions this year.While China and Vietnam are involved in an increasingly bitter territorial dispute in the South China Sea, the two Communist-lead countries have traditionally had close ties.Beijing and Hanoi have also been trying to repair ties severely harmed in 2014 when Beijing parked an oil rig in waters off the Vietnamese coast, leading to anti-China riots.Thailand is facing its worst water shortage in two decades, with 14 out of 76 provinces hit and large swathes of agricultural land at risk.REUTERS PS AS1432 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0421-679424.Xml
A bomb in the southern Lebanon city of Sidon killed an official from the Palestinian Fatah movement today, an official from the group said.The man was identified as Fathi Zaydan, a Fatah official responsible for the Palestinian camp of Mieh Mieh in Sidon. A photograph of the blast site near a Palestinian refugee camp showed a man's body lying next to a burning vehicle.The official said he was killed by a bomb placed under his vehicle. Mieh Mieh camp, 4 km east of Sidon, is home to 5,250 Palestinian refugees, according to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which aids Palestinian refugees across the region.The nearby Palestinian camp of Ain al-Hilweh has regularly been the scene of violent disputes between rival factions. One man was killed and others injured earlier this month when one such dispute escalated into gunbattles.REUTERS PS VN1535 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0421-679572.Xml
Iran's deputy foreign minister told the UN special envoy for Syria that a recent increase in breaches of Syria's ceasefire could harm peace talks, Iranian state news agency IRNA said today.Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was speaking to envoy Staffan de Mistura, who arrived in Tehran after holding meetings with Syria's foreign minister in Damascus yesterday."One of our main concerns in Syria is the increasing activities of armed groups in recent days and the increase in breaches of ceasefire that can harm the political process (of peace talks)" .REUTERS PS AS1540 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0421-679590.Xml
Following a writ petition filed by Supreme Court lawyer Eunus Ali Akond , a two-judge bench of the high court comprising of Justice Zinat Ara and Justice A K M Zahirul Hoque delivered their ruling.

The country's foreign secretary, home secretary, finance secretary, the Governor of the Bangladesh Bank and former governor Atiur Rahman have been made respondents.

Akond had filed the petition on March 22, asking the high court to issue a directive to recover the stolen money from the bank.

In one of the biggest cyber heist, hackers stole US 101 million dollars from the central bank's account with Federal Reserve Bank of New York. (ANI)
Russian President Vladimir Putin today expressed hope that Russian-US cooperation in space will develop despite differences between the two sides on the Earth. Russia is celebrating the 55th anniversary of the Yuri Gagarin's first-ever flight into space on April 12, 1961. "We attach great importance and it is pleasant for us that despite whatever difficulties that we face on the Earth people in space work shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand, help each other and implement the most important tasks set before not only our countries but before the mankind," Mr Putin said during a video link-up between the International Space Center (ISS) and the Vostochny spaceport, adding that space is "a very important area of cooperation with the United States and also with other countries." The current ISS crew consists of Russian cosmonauts Yuri Malenchenko, Alexei Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka, US astronauts Timothy Kopra and Jeff Williams, and British astronaut Timothy Peak. This is the 47th expedition to the ISS, the first module of which, Russia's Zarya, was launched in 1998. The Russian President also got in contact with the new Vostochny spaceport in the Russian Far East and talked with legendary Soviet cosmonauts Valentina Tereshkova and Alexei Leonov. "The Vostochny cosmodrome is mainly designed for solving global tasks and international cooperation but is located on the base of a former missile division of the Soviet Union. I would like very much that by using all our studies that we have with our partners around the world - in the US, in Japan and with Europe - we would move forward calmly and steadily so that we cooperate together and choose such areas that would help us to bring closer positions and maybe understand each other on the Earth better," Mr Putin said. He personally oversees the project of creating the cosmodrome in the Amur region. The first liftoff from Vostochny is set for April 27, 2016. The spaceport occupies an area of about 700 sq km and is destined to become the first national facility for civilian space launches, ensuring Russia's full-scale access to outer space and reducing the dependence of the Russian space industry on the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan.UNI XC DS 1743 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0177-679923.Xml
Sri Lankan Minister of Commerce and Industry Rishad Bathiudeen, who is on an official visit to Pakistan, has said that the island nation would facilitate the import of vegetables, including potato and onions from Islamabad. Bathiudeen, said that the issue of exempting imported consignments of vegetables from regularity duties would be taken up in the next cabinet meeting, during a lunch arranged by Pakistan-Sri Lanka Business Forum in his honor, reports Colombo Page. Highlighting how it enjoys free trade agreements with New Delhi and Islamabad, Bathiudeen asserted that by establishing industries in Sri Lanka and with value addition of its products, Pakistan can indirectly have access to Indian market. He also pressed on improving education sector between both countries implying that large number of students from Sri Lanka go to India and United Kingdom for modern education. (ANI)
At least five members of Afghanistan's border police force were killed in an insider attack in the southern province of Kandahar close to the frontier with Pakistan when a colleague opened fire on them before fleeing, officials said today."Late last night, a border policeman opened fire on his colleagues and killed five of them. He crossed the border and went to Pakistan," Sameem Khapalwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said by telephone.He said an investigation had begun into the incident, which occurred in the Wesh area of Spin Boldak district not far from Afghanistan's porous southern border with Pakistan.A border police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said seven police had been killed in the attack and the perpetrator had gone over to the Taliban.The Taliban, who launched their spring offensive today, said separately their forces had killed seven border police in the same district and seized a quantity of weapons and other equipment.Insider attacks, by soldiers or policemen firing either on other members of the Afghan security forces or on international forces in Afghanistan, have been an increasingly common feature of the 15-year war.REUTERS PS PR1902 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0421-680215.Xml
NATO envoys will hold their first formal meeting with Russia in almost two years on April 20, the Western alliance said today, with the crisis in Ukraine, reducing military risks and Afghanistan on the agenda."It is not a return to business as usual, but we do need dialogue," said a NATO spokeswoman.The forum bringing together Russia and its former Cold War adversary NATO was never officially suspended, but met last in June 2014 as Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula strained ties. Both sides have now agreed to hold talks at ambassador level in Brussels in the NATO-Russia Council.While the West and Russia remain at odds over Ukraine, the meeting is a sign of willingness to improve diplomatic relations that could help avoid any accidental clashes in the region.As NATO accelerates its biggest military build-up in eastern Europe since the Cold War, the alliance wants to talk to Moscow about improved military transparency to avoid misunderstandings.NATO suspended all practical cooperation with Russia in April 2014 in protest against Moscow's annexation of Crimea.NATO said high-level political contacts with Russia could continue but NATO and Russian ambassadors met only twice since the Crimea crisis erupted, in March 2014 and then in early June of the same year. REUTERS PS PR1907 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0421-680238.Xml
Three people were arrested and taken in for questioning as part of the investigation that has been ongoing since the attacks in Paris on November 13 last year, the Belgian federal prosecutor's office said in a statement on Tuesday. The statement said a search was carried out Tuesday morning in the Brussels district of Uccle, Xinhua reported. The Brussels investigating judge is to decide on Wednesday on their possible detention. --Indo-Asian News Service sku/ ( 85 Words) 2016-04-13-01:23:56 (IANS)
17-year-old carjacker goes on ID parade today

He is expected to be charged with robbery, police said. The teenager identified as his accomplice, former San Fernando Sea Scout member Kemroy Alexander of Cocoyea, succumbed to his injuries on Saturday, hours after police officers of the Southern Division Task Force responded to a report of robbery of a vehicle and gave chase forcing the car to crash.

According to police, around 3 pm on Saturday, two young carjackers pretending to be passengers used a fake gun and held up and robbed a PH taxi driver of his grey Nissan Almera car.

An All Points Bulletin was issued and the vehicle was spotted speeding on the north bound lane of the Solomon Hochoy Highway.

A chase ensued causing the young driver to crash into a light pole near Indian Train flyover in Couva. The teenagers were taken to San Fernando General Hospital where Alexander subsequently died - the second suspect was taken into custody.

A fake gun was found in the glove compartment of the vehicle, police said as they went on to explain that the teenagers were the masterminds behind a number of carjackings in Cocoyea that forced a town meeting last month at San Fernando City Hall by concerned residents to discuss the problem.

A number of senior police officers attended the meeting. Investigations are continuing.
Shootings at village bars worrying cops

Speaking with Newsday yesterday, a senior police officer noted that there is an unease at the village bars that for years were considered a safe haven away from all the hustle and bustle of the fast paced city life.

We are starting to see a trend now at the bars with these armed bandits who come to rob patrons, the senior officer said. They are firing random shots when they are leaving and that is to warn persons against coming outside. It is just putting people in further fear that no one would come to see how they are getting away. At times the bullet may cause injury or loss of life. The officer spoke to Newsday following Sundays killing of Sunil Jaisarie, 33, who was shot and killed during a robbery at Rainbow Recreation Club, Garth Road in Princes Town.

Jaisarie, a welder of Torrib Trace, New Grant was fatally shot by a bandit who had earlier robbed patrons of all their valuables before escaping. A report stated that as the gunman was leaving, he turned around and fired a shot which caught Jaisarie who had earlier stopped off at the bar with some friends to get a drink.

That seems to be the modus operandi in the Southern Division now, he further said as he went on to recall that the incident on Sunday was not the first  in some cases patrons were only wounded.

Over the years Rainbow Recreation Club has been robbed several times..

Last year March, Shaka James, 31, of Green Hill, Tarodale was shot and killed by the proprietor of the said bar. It was reported that James was one of three armed bandits who held up and robbed patrons at the bar  the father of one was later shot dead by the proprietor as he tried to escape the scene.

One patron was injured in the leg.

Yesterday, the officer further pleaded with persons who love to wear large gold chains to stop wearing noticeable jewelry. It is attracting the criminals.

Persons wearing these big gold chains are being targeted by gun-toting criminals who are monitoring them wherever they go and will find them.

Once you resist, they will shoot and it could result in your death, he said of those flashing jewelry while liming. Its not only in the Southern Division but across the country. I would advise persons to stop wearing these large pieces of jewelry when going out. Investigators hope to use footage from CCTV surveillance cameras installed on the compound of Rainbow Bar to assist in capturing Jaisaries killer.
Drunk drivers blame their wives

One repeat offender, a 38-year-old mechanic of TNA Road, Point Fortin, who told police that his wife did not cook that night and so he had to go out and look for something to eat, was ordered to pay $25,000 forthwith or face three years hard labour for driving under the influence (DUI).

The court learnt that it was his third drunk driving charge in the last three years (2014, 2015 and weekend) and so he got no mercy in the court. Also pleading guilty was a second offender, a 41-yearold driver from Point Ligoure, Point Fortin who was ordered to pay $20,000 or serve three years hard labour.

He told police he had domestic problems at home and had to leave to cool his head. A 25- year-old man of Cochrane Village, Guapo who expressed similar sentiments when arrested was ordered to pay $5,000 or serve six months hard labour.

The exercise was led by Snr Supt Hosein and involved Supt James and Sgt Gosine.
Man freed of 2007 murder

Harrison, 30, of San Raphael, Arima, said he was happy to be out of prison and now intends to create a good life for himself as well as spend time with loved ones.

He was before Justice David Harris in the Port-of-Spain High Court, charged with the April 2007 murder of Cunupia tailor Dhanraj Bowlah.

Harrisons attorneys Larry Williams and Sheriza Khan, in their no-case submission, referred to the evidence of pathologist Dr Eslyn McDonald-Burris who said Bowlah did not have stab wounds.

She testified that his death was inconclusive as the body was in advanced stage of decomposition when found but, despite this, there was still no evidence of a stabbing.

Bowlahs body was discovered in the San Raphael River on April 25, 2007. His hands and feet were bound with duct tape.

It was discovered by a resident who was walking through a track after picking some fruits, when he stumbled upon the body.

The body was in an advanced stage of decomposition.

Bowlah was last seen leaving his home at Adjodha Road, Cunupia, to go to his tailor shop.

His grey Hilux was also discovered missing.

The prosecutions case against Harrison came from the witness statement and deposition of Anthony Ryan, who claimed to have been present when Harrison stabbed Bowlah to death and dumped his body in a forested area near their homes.

Ryan was shot three times in the head at his home in May 2008. He had refused police protection.

Speaking to the media as he was leaving the Hall of Justice yesterday, Harrison was vocal about the ill treatment meted out to prisoners on Remand.

People are suffering in jail.

Is innocent people in jail. It not nice in there, he said.

He complained of the food inmates are fed as well as the lack of proper airing, and the backlog of cases and the length of time it took to come to trial.

Harrison also said prisoners were not being rehabilitated for life outside the prison walls.
Brothers plead guilty to murder

The brothers, of Egypt Village, Point Fortin, had been incarcerated since 2001 for the killing of 27-year-old labourer Daniel Aberdeen, of New Village, Point Fortin.

He was stabbed in the stomach and back with a welding rod. His throat was also slashed. Aberdeens body was found four days later in a shallow grave in Chatham. Yesterday, Justice Carla Browne-Antoine accepted the guilty pleas and directed a jury of 12 members in the San Fernando High Court to return a formal verdict against the Poulettes, of guilty, on the basis of the murder-felony rule.

The murder-felony rule is a concept which holds that if a killing occurs during the commission or attempted commission of a felony (a major crime), the person or persons responsible for the felony can be charged with murder.

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in 2011, ruled that the death penalty must not be upheld as a mandatory sentence for murder since not all killings, such as on the ground of the murder-felony rule, are strictly murder.

In 2007, a jury in the San Fernando High Court found the Poulette brothers guilty and they were sentenced to hang. They had been committed to Death Row, but filed an appeal, and, as a result, were removed after four years, to the remand section of the jail awaiting the outcome.

In 2010, the Court of Appeal quashed the conviction of the brothers and ordered a re-trial.

The appeal panel comprised Chief Justice Ivor Archie, Nolan Bureaux and Justices Alice Yorke-Soo Hon.

The judges had ordered a retrial.

Yesterday, attorney Daniel Khan pleaded on their behalf. He pointed out the various factors the court should take into consideration in determing the appropriate sentence.

Khan suggested to the judge that a report be ordered from the prison on the behaviour of the prisoners.

Browne-Antoine ordered that a bio-social report be done, and further ordered that Khan file legal submissions on the issue of sentencing, by April 21. The State, through Senior State Attorney Shabaana Shah, is to file in response, her submissions by April 25. The judge adjourned the hearing to April 26 when she would address the issues.
Cops seize pistol and ammo

The officers, led by Insp Ken Lutchman and including Cpl Castillo and PCs Timothy, Mootilal and Hernandez went to the house around 5.30 pm and searched the entire premises. The pistol and ammunition were seized and will be sent to the Forensic Science Centre for ballistic experts to determine if it was used in any recent crimes, including murder.
Strong hair with different textures

When speaking with beauty professionals or new entrants into the field, I always advise them to ensure that they benefit from the same services that they are offering to their customers. In fact, this is one of the ways in which you can evaluate the effectiveness of the service you provide, or its impact on others.

In my opinion, people who provide quality beauty services are blessed with golden hands.

Have you ever had a good massage or even a facial that has left you so relaxed that you fall asleep? There are beauty professionals whose touch lead to total relaxation and therefore sleep. Those are the ones with golden hands.

I like to meet and experience people who are naturally inclined to pamper and assist people with their natural beauty care regimes. I love to see well-groomed, bouncy hair with shine and its effect on the faces of the recipients. They walk tall.

Do you remember when we were children and our parents would curl or coil our hair and we will pull it to check the length, and let it fly back up with the bounce. What we were really doing, while checking the length, was also testing the elasticity of the hair. Healthy hair can stretch 20 to 30 per cent before it breaks or snap back. A coil can be stronger than copper, with the same thickness. Hair is so strong that if used as a rope, it can support the weight of the equivalent to 99 people, thats how strong the human hair is.

However, If you look at hair in general, it can be divided into these three categories  fine, medium, coarse, but there can be several different textures existing in the hair of one person.

Now, fine hair can be weak or strong according to the individuals health and whether the middle part of the hair shaft is missing. Medium hair is strong, and can stretch and snap back easily. However, coarse hair, or what we call thick hair, is stiff and heavy and can lack elasticity, it may look frizzy in people of mixed race. You can encounter different textures on the head of one person, which is why you must be careful when choosing products to perform chemical services. This is one of the reasons why I advise a hair and scalp analysis to determine the right type product to be used.

The analysis also helps with hair cuts. It can inform you on the tools and cutting implements, particularly for thick, coarse hair, since this requires a lot more skill to successfully complete a sophisticated look.

Weight distribution is key when styling this type of hair.

Hence the need for slide cutting and razor cutting, to layer the hair.

According to a good friend of mine, Richard Young creative director and consultant from observation he realised that most women do not like to cut their hair, they would always say dont cut my hair, I like my lengk!. He would emphasise lengk and not length, and we would have a good laugh. but a good hair cut adds life to your hair.

Dr Germaine Williams Beckles is a doctor of trichology (DT T?CT) and nutrition consultant (NC), geesexclusive.

com. For more info: 627-4659 or email your questions to queries@ geesexclusive.com
Hart blanks Las Alturas inquiry

Justice of Appeal Mustapha Ibrahim, chairman of the inquiry, expressed deep regret that former Udecott chairman Calder Hart did not testify, even though his attorneys had indicated his willingness to do so via video link from the US. At one point Hart  a yachtsman believed to be resident at Miami  was said to have been unavailable because he was on the high seas.

Ibrahim also lamented the failure of contractor China Jiangsu International Corporation Ltd to attend the proceedings, even though they initiated legal action in relation to a side issue.

Counsel for Calder Hart has said that if certain things would be put in place, Calder Hart would be willing to testify by video from the United States, the chairman said yesterday, in a closing session held at the Caribbean Court of Justice.

Every time a request was made for him to attend he was on the high seas. Pamela Elder SC, counsel to the inquiry, said this occurred on one occasion.

Well there was one occasion quite early when he was out of the jurisdiction and on the high sea, Elder said. But counsel had requested certain documents which are not in the possession of the commission.

And everything that is in the possession of the commission has been disclosed to Mr Calder Hart. Despite that, no statement has been filed. In a closing statement, Ibrahim made clear the matters raised at the inquiry were serious and questions of criminal and civil liability could arise.

We express deep regret that two of the main players in the proceedings before us  that is Mr Calder Hart who is the former chairman of Udecott  did not come forward to give evidence despite assurances from his attorneys that he will be available to give evidence, Ibrahim said. The other main player, and perhaps the most important player, is the contractor China Jiangsu. Ibrahim warned, I do not know if the seriousness of these matters have been fully considered by Calder Hart and China Jiangsu but we shall not shrug our duties to determine if there is criminal or civil liability. The inquiry sat for 47 days and 25 witnesses testified.

China Jiagnsu made voluminous disclosure of documents to the inquiry, including minutes of site meetings and contract documents, Elder said. Closing submissions are due in writing from all parties within two weeks.

Ibrahim said reviewing the evidence will be a monumental task.
What you need to know about the Octagon Art Festival on Sunday in Ames

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FBI, DHS issue warning about increasing cyber threat to nations power grid after downplaying it in January

(Cyberwar.news) The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI launched a nationwide program warning of the dangers faced by American utilities from damaging cyberattacks like the recent hack of Ukraines power grid just three months after both agencies downplayed such a threat, the Washington Free Beacon reported Friday.

The campaign began March 31 and included a dozen briefings and online seminars for electrical power companies and those involved in cybersecurity. Sessions were held in eight cities, and there is an online session scheduled in Washington, D.C., this week.

Titled, Ukraine Cyber Attack: Implications for U.S. Stakeholders, the briefings are unclassified and are based on work with the Ukrainian government in the aftermath of a December cyber assault against that countrys power infrastructure.

These events represent one of the first known physical impacts to critical infrastructure which resulted from cyber-attack, said an announcement of the briefing by the DHS Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team.

The attacks leveraged commonly available tools and tactics against the control systems which could be used against infrastructure in every sector, it added.

The briefings seek to outline details of the Ukrainian hacks  which Kiev has blamed on Russia  as well as the techniques used by the hackers and strategies aimed at limiting risks and boosting cybersecurity for the U.S. power grid.

Cybersecurity forensics experts also believe the attack was carried out by Russian government operatives due to the type of malicious software  BlackEnergy  that was detected in the aftermath of the attack.

The FBI/DHS threat briefings followed an internal intelligence report by Homeland Security published in January saying that cyber threats to the U.S. power grid were low.

We assess the threat of a damaging or disruptive cyber attack against the U.S energy sector is low, the report, labeled for official use only, said, The WFB reported.

More:

The report added that great powers with advanced cyber capabilities like Russia and China are primarily interested in cyber espionage.

Foreign-based hacking into U.S. industrial systems that remotely control electrical power grids as well as water and other infrastructure probably is focused on acquiring nation-state contingency planning that would be implemented to conduct damaging or disruptive attack in the event of hostilities with the United States, says the eight-page report.

Most malicious cyberattacks against energy firms was downplayed in the report as low-level cybercrime that is likely opportunistic in nature rather than specifically aimed at the sector, [and] is financially or ideologically motivated, and is not meant to be destructive.

In addition, the January report sought to move away from references to cyber-attacks, describing them as an exaggeration.

Overuse of the term cyber attack, risks alarm fatigue, which could lead to longer response times or to missing important incidents, the report said.

Experts have said that any major cyber attack on the United States by a great power would immediately necessitate a massive cyber response from the Defense Department, though some have also noted that the U.S. is much more dependent upon cyber and online systems than other nations.

Still, the threat is real, say U.S. military and intelligence officials.

It is only a matter of the when, not the ifwere going to see a nation-state, group, or actor engage in destructive behavior against critical infrastructure in the United States, Adm. Mike Rogers, commander of Cyber Command, as well as director of the National Security Agency, said in a speech March 2.

Seven weeks ago it was the Ukraine. This isnt the last were going to see this, and that worries me, Rogers said.

See also:

Washington Free Beacon

Cyberwar.news

Cyberwar.news is part of the USA Features Media network.

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North Korea launched a nuclear weapons test just days after agreement with the U.S.

The secretive, Stalinist state of North Korea remains an enigma, wrapped in a question, surrounded by a riddle. The behavior of its quirky, but dangerous, young leader is as unpredictable as Midwest weatherman.

In fact, normal diplomatic and foreign policy rules of engagement and behavior dont seem to matter much in the hermit state.

For instance, as reported by The Wall Street Journal, just days before North Korea conducted its latest nuclear weapons test the Obama administration had secretly agreed to try to end, formally, the Korean War, dropping a long-standing prerequisite that Pyongyang end its nuclear weapons program.

Rather, the U.S. just called for the atomic program to be part of any talks. However, North Korea declined the counter-proposal, U.S. officials familiar with the outreach told the WSJ. Then, on Jan. 6, after the nuclear test, that ended any further discussions.

As reported further by the WSJ:

The episode, in an exchange at the United Nations, was one of several unsuccessful attempts that American officials say they made to discuss denuclearization with North Korea during President Barack Obamas second term while also negotiating with Iran over its nuclear program.

A few days ago the State Department admitted to the U.S. exchange with North Korea, but noted it occurred in accordance with longstanding U.S. objectives.

To be clear, it was the North Koreans who proposed discussing a peace treaty. We carefully considered their proposal, and made clear that denuclearization had to be part of any such discussion, said spokesman John Kirby, adding the North rejected it. Our response to the North Korean proposal was consistent with our longstanding focus on denuclearization.

Obama has said the Iran deal should be a signal to North Korea that he is open to have similar dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. However, the White House believes that North Korea is far less transparent and more uncooperative, though Iran has diplomatically thumbed its nose at the Obama administration since supposedly agreeing to a deal on ending its nuclear program, as highlighted recently by the capture of 10 U.S. sailors.

Since taking the reins of power at the end of 2011, Kim has increased demands for a peace treaty, to formally bring an end to the Korean War 63 years after it was ended without the signing of a formal armistice. Its technically the longest-running war in modern history and the North-South Korean border is the most heavily defended on the planet.

However, the WSJ noted that a number of foreign policy analysts see Kims demands as little more than an effort to get U.S. troops based in South Korea out of the country. Washington has insisted that denuclearization be part of any negotiation but despite dropping the precondition that the North first take steps to show a willingness to drop the nuclear program, Pyongyang remains uninterested.

For North Korea, winning a peace treaty is the center of the U.S. relationship, Go Myung-hyun, an expert on North Korea at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, a Seoul-based think tank, told the paper. It feels nuclear development gives it a bigger edge to do so.

The U.S. is also taking steps seen as belligerent by the North, such as increasing military readiness training with South Korea.

Also, as reported by NationalSecurity.news, the Pentagon has opened discussions with South Korea about placing missile defense batteries south of the militarized 38th Parallel, following the launch by North Korea of a satellite that was believed to have been a ballistic missile test.

The North has also been steadily bolstering its ballistic missile capabilities, U.S. analysts believe, as a way to deliver nuclear weapons.

A recent report to Congress concludes that North Koreas intercontinental ballistic missile technology is improving, posing a direct threat to the continental United States, NationalSecurity.news reported. In addition, the report notes that Pyongyang is deploying new road-mobile and submarine-launched missiles as it further diversifies its ICBM arsenal.

Sources:

WSJ.com

TheHill.com

NationalSecurity.news

Science.NaturalNews.com

Submit a correction >>
The farmers have worked hard and produced enough food grains in spite of adverse circumstances- Shri Singh

New Delhi, Tue, 12 Apr 2016 NI Wire

Despite severe setback to the crops on account of natural calamities, total food grains production which was 252.02 million tones in 2014-15 as per second advance estimate (2015-16), had been increased to 253.16 million tones in 2015-16.

To increase availability of seeds in north east states, National Seeds Corporation had asked Govt of West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar to provide land to establish production centres. West Bengal and Jharkhand have given land and it is hoped that Bihar will do the same- Shri Singh

To establish an institution like Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bihar were requested to provide land. Maharashtra, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh have given land and it is hoped that Bihar will provide the land for the same- Shri Singh

Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh said here today that government is taking concrete steps to remove debt problems of the farmers. He further said that Government has increased Agricultural Credit target Rs. 9 lakh crore for the year 2016-17 to bring the farmers within institutional fold. He added that government is taking long term measures to remove the problems of the farmers.

Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister said this in two days Kharif Conference being held at NASC-ICAR Institute Pusa, New Delhi. The Agriculture Minister informed that it is for the first time that the representatives of agriculture and related sectors have been invited for the conference. Shri Singh observed that inspite of a severe loss to the crops owing to unseasonable rainfall, hailstorm and other natural calamities, the whole food grain production which was 252.02 million tons in 2014-15 as per advance estimate (15.2.2016), it has been increased to 253.16 million tones on 2015-16. Speaking at the occasion he said that, the government has to double the farmers income in the next five years as is announced in the budget 2016-17. Honble Prime Minister has suggested 7 points to achieve the target.

Increase in Production: The Government has increased budgetary provision in irrigation sector. Government aims at more crop per drop. Government policy is focused on water preservation and irrigation. Government is working hard to increase the productions of other crops alongwith paddy and oilseeds.

More income less input: We can get higher productivity from the seeds when it get right amount of nutrients from the soil. Soil health card scheme can help in this regard. We are providing useful information to the farmers. In this programme, farmers will invest less and get more. It is necessary to regularize the cost of farming and to maintain the productivity of crops. Soil health promotion programme has been initiated for the preservation of soil health.

Government has decided last year to produce only neem coated urea so that plants get nutrients easily. Rs 20,000 per acre are being provided to the farmers to encourage them to adopt organic farming.

To increase the income of farmers by reducing their marketing expenditure: A national agriculture market is being set up for electronic trading. In this programme, 585 agriculture mandis of India will be connected to each other. The farmers will get maximum price of their crops and the interference of mediators will be reduced to a greater extent. Direct foreign investment is also being encouraged in this field.

Agriculture risk security: Under Prime Minister Fasal Bima Yojana, the farmers will be benefited on account of natural calamities like storms, earthquake and cyclone etc.

To reduce post-production losses production: The government of India has promoted region based strategy according to the climatic diversity of every state and region by implementing unified Horticulture Development Mission so as to develop horticulture sector as a whole. Under this mission, the government aims to promote technical setup, extension of area under horticulture crops, post-harvest management, processing and marketing etc. India ranks second on global scenario in horticultural crops after China.

Value addition: Government is promoting processed food industry so as to make value addition in agricultural products. Not only this, but government is also chalking out its programme through different schemes to increase the production of fruits and vegetables and its processing with assistance of Ministry of Food Processing Industry. The government aims to increase it to 25% by 2025 in comparison of 10% in existing scenario.

Auxiliary Activities: With Honble Prime Ministers vision, this task will be executed partly through livestock, dairy, poultry, bee keeping, agriculture ponds and fisheries. Simultaneously, the efforts are being made to increase the income of farmers by planting trees in fields and installing solar panels there.

Shri Singh informed that to increase availability of seeds in north east states, National Seeds Corporation had asked Govt of West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar to provide land to establish production centres. West Bengal and Jharkhand have given land and it is hoped that Bihar will do the same. Minister also said that to establish an institution like Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bihar were requested to provide land. Maharashtra, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh have given land and it is hoped that Bihar will provide the land for the same.

In the end, Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister called for the participation of all concerned, particularly states, to work for the welfare of farmers.

Source: PIB
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The smart city has long been an aspiration of many cities. Incorporating advances in communications technology, a smart city can better manage traffic, a variety of city services, and provide easy, pleasant experiences for visitors. A new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) from Nokia and Zain (News - Alert) KSA will be the bedrock on which a new smart city will be born: Jeddah, one of the biggest cities in Saudi Arabia.





Under the terms of the MoU, the duo will bring in advanced networking technologies, particularly a focus on the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud-based technology. With these in place, Jeddah will get access to functions handling devices, vehicles, and even homes, making it a model for smart cities in the region by 2018. The duo will make security a priority to help ensure that both privacy and public safety are accounted for. With its successful conclusion, the program will not only make businesses more welcome in Jeddah, but also improve overall quality of life.

Augmentations to Zain KSA's mobile network in the region will be on hand, and eventually, 5G access will be brought in. The network will also turn more aggressively to Wi-Fi connections and small cell operations to help make sure there's sufficient network reach and capacity to accommodate all the new devices connecting to the network.

Nokia (News - Alert)'s Ali Aljitawi, who heads the Zain KSA Customer Team, commented The world is becoming more urbanized, with exponentially more connected devices. For every device connected to the Internet today, 10 more will join it in the near future. Through IoT and smart city concepts, we can automate our lives by connecting mobile devices to appliances, lights, roadways and just about everything - a shift that will improve efficiency and enable economic, social and environmental sustainability.

A smart city can be both a worrisome and an exciting concept. There's a lot to like about the smart city, like the ease of reporting potholes or improved traffic flow that's easier to get around in with fewer traffic jams. Yet, the sheer number of increased connections means a lot more complexity to the system.

After all, complexity breeds risk, and the risks of hackers getting involved can climb thanks to the number of potential access points the smart city represents. Lots of out-of-the-way, unmonitored points can mean gold for a hacker, but with the proper security measuresnot just perimeter defenses but internal encryption toothat risk can be addressed and prevented.

Jeddah's push to become a smart city is a well-calculated risk and a bet on the citys and Saudi Arabias economic future. Proper execution is the key, and with Nokia and Zain KSA involved, Jeddah is clearly going to be a city to keep an eye on both for regional as well as international reasons.

Edited by Peter Bernstein
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Two Mauritanian web journalists were Saturday set free temporarily after being arrested for defamation on Thursday, reports say.

Jeddna Deida and Babakar Baye Ndiaye, respectively managing editor of Mauriweb and webmaster of Cridem were handed provisional release following their arrest on Thursday after the Presidents son Badr Ould Abdel Aziz accused them of defamation for reporting that he had shot a shepherd of the ruling familys farm situated north of capital Nouakchott, two weeks ago. Badr Ould Abdel Aziz said the information were baseless and fabricated.

Reports add that Deida and Ndiaye were released after dozens of journalists took to the streets in the capital to demand their swift release.

Badr Ould Abdel Aziz according to reports is not at his first alleged shooting incident. He reportedly shot a girl named Rija Mint Weiss Ould Seyad, in the chest, in January 2012. He was also reportedly shot in July 2014.
Hundreds of Moroccan and American business people are meeting in the Moroccan capital as of this Tuesday to participate in the Business Development Conference, established to foster economic exchanges between the two countries.

This private sector complement to the third Morocco-US Strategic Dialogue, launched since 2012, will focus on renewable energy, manufacturing, automotive industry and doing business with Africa, all areas in which Morocco is both a regional and international leader.

This years program is designed around the reality that better information and direct contact with potential partners will greatly encourage trade and investment decision-making, said Jean R. AbiNader, Executive Director of the Moroccan American Trade and Investment Center.

Moroccan participants, including industry leaders, key government decision-makers, representatives of trade and investment promotion authorities, and industry specialists, will provide data on specific opportunities in Morocco, where more than 120 American firms are already established.

From an American company perspective, Moroccos diverse business community and environment are key attractions for doing business. From start-ups, to SMEs in the supply chains in the industrial sectors, to large multinationals based in the industrial estates that dot Moroccos business and technology parks, there are potential partners in both scale of business and company specialization, stated Jean R. AbiNader in a recent press release announcing the event.

The plenary sessions, panel discussions, and presentations by companies operating in Morocco will give participants ample opportunity to meet with their counterparts and gain insights into how their companies can take advantage of Moroccos geography, skilled human resources, and government incentives to do business across a range of opportunities.

Whether for export to the EU, Middle East, and Africa, or for importing innovation technology for water and energy management, enhanced agricultural production, or supporting the industrial estates, Morocco is a welcoming host for US companies, MATIC Director said, adding that Morocco is the only country in Africa with a Free Trade Agreement with the US and has a business center, the Casablanca Finance City Authority, dedicated to promoting trade and investment with Africa.

This is not the first time that the United States commends Moroccos growing role as a vital gateway to Africa, as the North African country stands among the top African nations investing in African countries.

The conference features B2B meetings between Moroccan and US operators and site visits mainly to several industrial zones beaming with great investment potential, such as Tangier on the Atlantic coast that hosts the Tanger-Med Port, the new leader in transportation and logistics facilitation in the region, as well as Tanger Automotive City and other sites in the north.

Those interested in renewable energies, in addition to meeting with companies in Rabat, will have the opportunity to visit the Ouarzazate Noor 1 CSP Solar facility, the largest in Africa.

A number of big American company names including Ford, General Motors, Kosmos Energy, Chevron, and General Electric are taking part in the conference. Some US officials on top of whom the US Assistant Secretary of commerce for Industry and Analysis, Marcus Jadotte, are also attending the conference.

The Strategic Dialogue between the United States and Morocco was launched in September 2012 as a mechanism to strengthen bilateral cooperation and advance policies and programs throughout the region and elsewhere where both nations share common values, goals, and interests.
You can see Bill Ackman in Betting on Zero at the Tribeca Film Festival  if you can get a ticket. Photo: Chris Goodney/Bloomberg via Getty Images

In one of the more surreal events in Bill Ackmans now almost four-year battle to take down diet-shake seller Herbalife, the New York billionaire found himself in a weathered church in Chicagos South Side on a bitter January night in 2015.

As the snow fell outside, the hedge-fund titan worked the pews, shaking hands and listening to tales of woe, then stood in front of the sanctuarys stained-glass windows, where he gave nothing short of a sermon on why Herbalife was a pyramid scheme that was, as he put it, stealing the American Dream from new Latino immigrants, who make up the bulk of Herbalifes U.S. ranks. A spontaneous chant, Ackman amigo, sprang from the largely Hispanic crowd.

As the improbable night unfolded, award-winning filmmaker Ted Braun (of Darfur Now fame) was shooting it all  part of a nearly three-year effort that is coming to fruition in Betting on Zero, a documentary about Ackmans much-debated Herbalife short bet that will have its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival Thursday.



A wider public lens on the drama could help push regulators to take action on Herbalife, which has been under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission for more than two years. In addition to filming Ackman, director Braun spent months following grassroots activist Julie Contreras, a fierce opponent of Herbalife who invited the hedge-fund manager to speak at the Chicago church and has helped dozens of former sales representatives, called distributors or members  some of whom appear in the documentary  file complaints with the FTC.



But its the six-foot-three, green-eyed, silver-haired Ackman, a made-for-Hollywood hedge-fund legend if ever there was one, who is the main attraction. Whether hes loved or hated, making money or losing it, Ackman, who turns 50 next month, arguably has more star power than any other money manager of our era. All five showings of Betting on Zero sold out 15 minutes after ticket sales opened.



Off-screen, however, Ackman is being pounded, not only on Herbalife, but also in his even-bigger bet on troubled drug company Valeant Pharmaceuticals. Both companies are facing multiple regulatory investigations over alleged improprieties, not to mention financial pressure. And the shares of both have done the opposite of what Ackman was betting they would do: Valeant has collapsed, while Herbalife is higher than when he announced his short position in 2012.



The two controversial positions helped turn last year into the worst ever for Ackmans Pershing Square Capital Management. His largest fund was down 20 percent in 2015 and has fallen another 25 percent this year. But even some of Ackmans harshest critics arent counting him out. Hedge-fund manager Robert Chapman of Chapman Capital in Los Angeles, who went up against Ackman on Herbalife in early 2013, has recently invested in both Valeant and Pershing Square Holdings, Ackmans publicly traded hedge fund. I dont think Ackman is done, just maimed, Chapman said in an email. That dude is RESILIENT!



Indeed Ackman, has been taking body blows on his Herbalife effort for years. Armed with a mountain of research, he lobbied members of Congress to press the FTC to investigate Herbalife, which the regulator finally agreed to do in 2014 after Latino activists also took up the cause. Since then, Ackman has spent millions on his own investigation, which is continuing, and produced several slick videos, PowerPoint presentations, and two websites tracking his efforts to expose what he believes are Herbalifes immoral and illegal pyramid practices. Herbalife, he says, preys on the most vulnerable, enticing them into a false business opportunity with promises of riches and health. In the end, the vast majority  about nine out of ten  lose money. The few who do profit, Ackman argues, make the bulk of their income recruiting others into the scheme, which is illegal.

Distributor beware. Photo: Courtesy of Herbalife

For its part, Herbalife insists it is not a pyramid scheme and has long enjoyed support in Washington, largely from Republican pols like Orrin Hatch of Utah. Since Ackman came along, though, it has spent millions shoring up support on the other side of the aisle. Last year CEO Michael Johnson promised its top salespeople that the company would seize the narrative, after hiring Beltway Democrats to beat back Ackman, painting him as a manipulative Wall Street villain out to destroy a company helping solve the global obesity epidemic. (Hillary Clintons campaign also has ties to the Herbalife camp: Her surrogates Hilary Rosen and Madeleine Albright are advisers to the company.)



So far, despite the 1,200 alleged victims who have filed complaints with the FTC and other regulators, no action has been taken in the Herbalife matter. (One of them, Julio Ullio, who lost $50,000 and his marriage trying to make a go of it in his Herbalife business, also appears in the film.)



Ackman has hung on, at great financial cost, and remains adamant he will be vindicated. We do not believe the FTC will deliver a slap on the wrist in light of the enormous harm Herbalife inflicts on its victims, which will continue if it is not forced to stop its pyramidal practices, he told investors in March.



In February, Herbalife said it was in discussions with the FTC and warned investors it might be sued by the regulator  which means the FTC could seek an injunction to shut it down, as it has with others. Even if Herbalife does ultimately reach a settlement with the FTC, the question is just how hard the regulator will come down on Herbalifes controversial business practices. Last year, in a groundbreaking case, the FTC accused an Arizona multilevel marketing company called Vemma of being a pyramid scheme. While the case is winding through federal court, Vemma has been forced to set up a new compensation plan that ensures that most sales are to outside customers  to prove true retail demand instead of recruiting-based pyramid sales. Industry insiders and experts alike believe it is impossible for most MLMs (including Herbalife) to live by that standard.



For Herbalife, the scrutiny has already taken a toll: Net sales fell 10 percent last year, and the distributor ranks are in decline. The pyramid has quit growing, says Ackman. The stock has been a stomach-churning roller coaster, with shares still down 25 percent from a high of $81 before the FTC probe began, despite a 45 percent surge over the past 12 months.



The hedge-fund moguls jaw-dropping $1 billion short on Herbalife, a 11 percent position, seemed extraordinarily risky when it was unveiled in December of 2012. Short sellers betting on a stocks decline borrow shares, hoping to pay them back at a lower price and pocket the difference. If the stock rises instead, theoretically the losses are unlimited. Yet taking a huge bet on high-flier Valeant, which once comprised 25 percent of Pershing Square, has proved a bigger black hole  and far more damaging to his reputation.



We made a number of mistakes on Valeant, Ackman admitted to investors on his April 6 quarterly call. It has caused some soul searching.



Ackman raised the ante for outlandish shareholder activist plays by hooking up with thenValeant CEO Michael Pearson to press for a takeover of Botox-maker Allergan, where he took a 9 percent stake in the spring of 2014. While that deal fell through, Pershing Square made $2.2 billion on Allergans sale to rival drugmaker Actavis, giving his fund an astonishing 40 percent gain that year. Thinking more deals for the acquisitive Valeant were on the horizon, Ackman sold out and reinvested the proceeds in Valeant a year ago. No sooner had he done so than the drugmaker began to gain public notoriety for its hefty price increases on two heart drugs, exposed in The Wall Street Journal last spring, and later mentioned by Clinton as she lambasted the price gouging. (Ackman says he knew nothing about the price hikes until reading it in the newspaper.)



Valeant was already a target of short sellers wary of its acquisition-driven strategy and related accounting practices. Pearson insisted organic growth was driving profits. But some of that growth came through a new, secret relationship with captive specialty pharmacy Philidor. When its shady practices were exposed in October, the stock nose-dived, and Valeant ended the relationship.



Ackman was more than a billion dollars in the hole and stuck with the company, even buying more shares to amass a 9 percent stake. This year, however, things took another turn for the worse when Valeant said an internal investigation revealed a $58 million accounting error. Shares are now down 80 percent.



The hedge-fund manager swung into action as his losses mushroomed. In March, he helped kick out Pearson, joined the board, and announced last week that hiring a new CEO could be only weeks away. The stock has gained a bit off recent lows. We should be able to recover the lions share of our investment  if not all of it  over time, he promised.



It has become a popular game on Wall Street to take the other side of Ackmans bets  especially being long Herbalife and short Valeant  in what has been called a Schadenfreude trade. The Streets denizens are merciless, and some whove been on the opposite side of Ackmans many successes are publicly gloating over his losses and boldly hoping for his demise. I still have it in for him with Pre Paid Legal, short seller Marc Cohodes, whose Copper River hedge fund closed down in 2008, wrote in a Twitter exchange with another professed Ackman-hater recently. (Prepaid Legal was popular among short sellers when Ackman was long its stock  some 15 years ago.)



It is easy to go after him. While most hedge funds still shroud their activities and performance in secrecy, Ackman cannot. His holdings are all publicly traded stocks, and his returns have been publicly available ever since the 2014 IPO of Pershing Square Holdings.



Fortunately for Ackman, he has created a moat to protect himself: a fund structure where about half of Pershing Squares capital is his own or was raised through the IPO, meaning its not going anywhere, and the bulk of the rest can only be withdrawn in quarterly intervals over two years. That setup is brilliant, says veteran hedge-fund marketing executive Marjorie Kaufman, who also says Ackman has created a bond of trust with his investors. Despite the huge losses recently, over the past 11 years he has earned them multiples of what the S&P 500 returned. So far this year, they have asked for only $240 million, or 2 percent, out of the firms $12 billion.



To keep investors happy, Ackman now needs to show substantial progress on Valeant. Theres enormous upside to us if we can recover our value, he says, knowing that if he succeeds in fixing the company, his stock will rise. On top of that, a movie that flashes the stories of Herbalifes alleged victims on the big screen could be a godsend for him. Says activist Contreras: Its not just about the stock market. People need to see the human aspect. She, like Ackman, is hoping the FTC is paying attention.
A New Jersey light rail train.

Its increasingly understood that what you do in public may be caught on a security camera, but on some NJ Transit light-rail trains, what you say may be recorded as well. Both video and audio surveillance systems are already in use inside train cars on the River Line, meaning that the transportation agency has the ability to listen in on conversations between passengers. NJ.com reports that transit officials say the audio surveillance is necessary to fight crime, but as more of the systems are installed on trains, critics say its an invasion of privacy.

You expect some privacy, Ed Barocas, legal director of the state American Civil Liberties Union, told NJ.com. You dont have it if you are yelling across the car. If youre sitting next to a person and talking to them and you dont know there is a microphone picking up your conversation, our laws say you have a right to a private conversation.

All trains with the surveillance systems have a sign informing passengers that both video and audio is being recorded inside the car. But Len Resto, the president of the New Jersey Association of Railroad Passengers, believes that the signs should more clearly state that conversations are being recorded. The sign should say more, Resto told NJ.com. It should say its on 24/7. It should state what it is.

An NJ Transit spokesperson says that the agency is in the process of completing the installation of video and audio surveillance systems inside of cars on its light-rail fleet. Theyve already been installed on the River Line cars (at a cost of $750,000), and are being installed now on the Hudson-Bergen and Newark light rails (for another $1.9 million, funded by a federal Homeland Security grant).

Passengers have repeatedly told the agency that security is a priority in the quarterly scorecard surveys of riders, Jim Smith, an NJ Transit spokesperson, told NJ.com. The onboard surveillance systems are also a deterrent for crime and unruly behavior.

Smith declined to tell the site what NJ Transits policies are for storing surveillance recordings, who has access to them, and whether they are destroyed after a certain period of time.
If Democrats could nearly win in 1968 after the ultimate disaster of a convention, dont count Republicans out this year just because they could convene in total chaos. Photo: MPI

We learn from the Washington Posts Greg Sargent today that the proHillary Clinton super-pac Priorities USA is already developing ad copy mocking the likely chaos and self-mortification of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. And its true that confab is looking like the kind of ungainly mess that does not inspire confidence in general-election voters that the GOP is ready to govern the country.

But lest Democrats get too cocky about the possible self-destruction of the Republican Party this year, they might need a little history lesson about the time they put on, by all accounts, the wildest and least successful national party convention of the modern era, in 1968.

If there was anything bad that could happen at a convention, it probably happened in Chicago that year. The terrible images are indelible to those who watched it all, up close or on television. There was, of course, the police riot (as the quasi-official Walker Report on the violence in Chicago called it), in which anti-war protesters, journalists, and random bystanders were clubbed and tear-gassed by angry po-po showing how not to keep order. But inside the convention hall you had furious and poorly resolved credentials and platform fights; goons assaulting TV reporters and delegates deemed unfriendly to host Mayor Richard Daley; and Daley mouthing unmistakable anti-Semitic obscenities at a United States senator (Abraham Ribicoff) placing the name of another United States senator (George McGovern) into nomination with a side comment about Gestapo tactics in the streets of Chicago. The convention ultimately nominated a candidate who had not won a single primary, and who was restrained by his master, the incumbent president, from differing an iota on the Vietnam War by the threat of entering the contest himself at the very last second.

Worse yet, this disaster occurred at the very end of August, leaving the Humphrey-Muskie ticket very little time to recover. A Gallup poll before Labor Day showed the Democratic ticket pulling only 28 percent of the vote, not a lot more than George Wallaces 21 percent.

And yet: On Election Day, Humphrey lost the presidency by less than one percent of the popular vote. As Michael Cohen notes in his upcoming book on that election, American Maelstrom, 42,000 votes redistributed in three states would have thrown the election into the U.S. House, where Democrats would have certainly made Humphrey president and consigned Richard Nixon to the dustbin of history as a double loser.

Whatever happens in Cleveland, Republicans this year will have longer to recover than Democrats did in 1968, and a lot more money with which to do battle in the general election. Maybe theyll be hobbled by the convention and/or by their nominee, and there could be a third-party candidate like Wallace in 1968. But Democrats tempted to get cocky should instead get a grip. Any general election can dramatically tighten just like 68s.
The Clintons. Photo: John Moore/2014 Getty Images

New York is a hotbed of anti-testing activism, especially in affluent suburban districts, where parents who equate testing with excessive curriculum pressure have joined forces with teachers unions who see standardized tests as a tool that subjects them to unwanted accountability. Hillary Clinton has already distanced herself from the education-reform movement, which is a predictable course of action for a Democrat facing a contested primary. The looming New York primary has raised the pressure for her to placate the burgeoning opt-out movement, which encourages students to boycott standardized tests. Bill Clinton asserted last week that even one national test per year is too many. The idea of having to give a national test every year for five years in a row for people from the third to the eighth grade doesnt make as much sense as investing the same amount of money in helping the teachers to be better teachers.

There are certainly reasons to believe some schools spend too much time on tests and that consolidation is in order. But this is an odd position for a liberal politician to take, for many reasons. The resource cost to implement a single annual national test is minuscule. And the use of data to measure the effectiveness of public policy is a foundation of progressive governance going back more than a century. Opting out of tests degrades their value as a data tool and makes it harder, or even impossible, for policymakers to measure what is working and what isnt.

Whats more, testing is an important tool to measure racial and economic equality. A report this year by Ulrich Boser and Catherine Brown at the Center for American Progress found that states that use standards-based reform have produced better outcomes for low-income children. (My wife, Robin Chait, used to work as an education-policy analyst at CAP, and now works for a public charter school.) Not surprisingly, civil-rights organizations representing African-Americans and Latinos have argued to keep in place annual national testing.

Opponents of testing tend to dismiss the value of tests, insisting that they merely force teachers to teach to the test. And it is certainly true that tests need to be designed well in order to measure academic achievement. But there is also non-test evidence that supports the findings produced by tests. For instance, a Credo study found that urban students in public charter schools receive the equivalent of 40 extra days worth of learning per year, compared to students in neighborhood-based public schools. That study based its conclusion on test results. But a new study by Tim Sass, Ron Zimmer, Brian Gill, and Kevin Booker, tracking Florida students over time, compared students who attended charter schools to those who started in a charter and switched to a neighborhood school at the beginning of ninth grade. The authors carefully matched students by test scores and disciplinary incidents, to ensure they were studying equivalent groups. They found that the students who stayed in charters earned more money in their 20s than the students who enrolled in neighborhood schools. That is, they confirmed that the test outcomes in charters reflected transferable knowledge that helps students succeed after graduation, not just an intensified focus on test skills.



The Obama administration quietly implemented a sweeping education-reform agenda. The boldest step was Race to the Top, a $4 billion grant stuck into the stimulus at the outset of the administration, which sparked a nationwide wave of reform. But the administration, fearful of further alienating the teachers-union allies it needs to turn out at the polls, has barely uttered a peep in defense of its reform agenda. (The unions, fearful of alienating their pro-Obama members, have generally pretended that Obamas agenda was masterminded by his Education secretary, Arne Duncan, whom they have attacked bitterly, without the presidents consent.) Over the course of Obamas presidency, unions have grown increasingly militant in their opposition to any accountability measures at all. The pressure for Democrats to oppose reform now exceeds what Obama and Clinton faced in 2008.

Bill Clinton framed his wifes position in remarkable terms: She thinks [the tests] are just too much, that its national overreach, he said, and the most it could ever do is to help people at the very bottom levels of achievement. Turn that last passage over in your head and consider its meaning: The most it could ever do is to help people at the very bottom levels of achievement. As if helping people at the bottom is so insignificant that its not worth doing. What a thing for a Democrat to say!
Youre joking, right Donald? Tell me youre joking. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/2015 Getty Images

Last month, at a campaign stop in Janesville, Wisconsin, Donald Trump accused Governor Scott Walker of overstating the strength of the states economy. Hes not doing a great job, Trump said of Walker. But your governor has convinced you [Wisconsin] doesnt have problems. Earlier in the race, Trump also repeatedly hammered Walker for mismanaging the states budget. But now it seems the GOP front-runner wants to make nice.

In an interview with USA Today, Trump said he would consider Walker, along with Marco Rubio and John Kasich, as potential vice-presidential candidates. I like [Scott] Walker actually in a lot of ways, he said. I hit him very hard, but Ive always liked him. There are people I like, but I dont think they like me because Ive hit them hard.

In Walkers case, Trump was right: Walker does not like him. He didnt say so outright, but he did laugh when he heard Trump was considering him for VP.

I literally just heard it in the car, and I laughed, he told Politico. Its interesting to hear that after the things that were said about me a couple weeks ago. But Im focused on being the governor of the state of Wisconsin. Thats not even on my radar, and it certainly wouldnt be with  I guess I was shocked more than anything to hear that.

As if that werent clear enough, Walker also said he cant even fathom being on a ticket with Trump and called the mere possibility breathtaking. So it looks like Trump will be going with one of his other choices, although its hard to imagine a man hes dubbed liddle will be eager to serve as his second-in-command.
Were going to whine so much, you may even get tired of whining. Photo: Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/2016 Getty Images

In many respects, Donald Trump appears to be learning about the delegate system as he goes along, and evidence suggests hes not a huge fan. After calling the system rigged following his loss to Ted Cruz in Colorado, Trump continued his condemnations at a rally in Albany Tuesday night. We thought we were having an election, and a number of months ago they decided to do it by you know what, right? They said well do it by delegate, he said. Oh, isnt that nice.

He went on to give supporters his take on the delegate system:

The delegates were all there all waiting, and the head guy  in fact, one of them tweeting out today or said today by mistake and then they withdrew it something to the effect See? Never Trump; look what we did never Trump. Because if I go to the voters of Colorado, we win Colorado. So its a crooked, crooked system.

Crooked is the same word Trump used to describe the system in an interview with Fox News on Monday, when he declared there had been no voting in Colorado. The system is rigged, he said. The people out there are going crazy because they werent given a vote. This was given by politicians. Which, of course, is how the system has always worked.

But Trumps complaints serve to cement his claim of unfairness, giving him a platform on which to stand should he arrive in Cleveland with the majority of delegates only to find himself ousted by the Establishment. In other words, by making sure his supporters know how unfairly the System is treating him, hes setting himself up to make good on his threats.

Unsurprisingly, Cruz responded to Trumps complaints with palpable glee. You may have noticed that when Donald loses, he gets very unhappy, Cruz said at a rally in San Diego. He yells and screams and stamps his foot. [But] Donald, it aint stealing when the voters vote against you  its the voters reclaiming sanity. As we know in the state of California, wine is something best served with cheese.

Much like the state of California, Trump knows everything there is to know about wine (whine? whining? winning?)  he ended his speech with one of his greatest winning rants to date.

You are going to be so proud of your country. Because were gonna turn it around, and were gonna start winning again! Were gonna win so much! Were going to win at every level. Were going to win economically. Were going to win with the economy. Were gonna win with military. Were gonna win with health care and for our veterans. Were gonna with every single facet. Were gonna win so much, you may even get tired of winning. And youll say, Please, please. Its too much winning. We cant take it anymore. Mr. President, its too much. And Ill say, No, it isnt! We have to keep winning. We have to win more! Were gonna win more. Were gonna win so much. I love you, Albany! Get out and vote. You will be so happy. I love you. Thank you. Thank you!

We have to keep whining. We have to whine more! Were gonna whine more.
Gary Cooper played the egocentric architect Howard Roark in the movie version of Ayn Rands The Fountainhead. Is Trump trying to play him in real life? Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

In journalist Kirsten Powerss rambling and affectionate account of an interview with Donald Trump, this surprising nugget stands out:

Trump described himself as an Ayn Rand fan. He said of her novel The Fountainhead, It relates to business (and) beauty (and) life and inner emotions. That book relates to  everything. He identified with Howard Roark, the novels idealistic protagonist who designs skyscrapers and rages against the establishment.

For those who did not undergo the common American adolescent rite of passage of a brief infatuation with Rand, The Fountainhead was her first highly successful novel, soon made into a Hollywood film featuring Gary Cooper and Patricia Neal. It is nowadays probably less well known than her later didactic masterpiece Atlas Shrugged, a massive hymn to the virtue of selfishness and laissez-faire capitalism that is frequently touted as the inspiration for libertarian-ish pols, famously including House Speaker Paul Ryan.

But while the hero of Atlas Shrugged is the mysterious John Galt, who gradually draws all of the major creative spirits out of a dysfunctional socialist society in a demonstration of the mind on strike, The Fountainheads Roark is a self-involved architectural genius who dynamites a public housing project he designed because its builders did not follow his blueprint. His passionate contempt for the human herd of lesser beings reflected Rands own early Nietzschean influences, before the full flowering of her systematic philosophy of Objectivism, which was laid out in numbing detail in Atlas Shrugged.

Its fitting and a bit chilling that Trump sees himself in Roark. And given the moguls somewhat-questionable attitude toward women, it should be mentioned that Roark is among the 20th centurys best-known fictional rapists.

Rand and her acolytes devoted many thousands of words to denying that the rape scene in The Fountainhead  where Roark broke into heroine Dominique Francons sleeping chambers and had what sure appeared to be violently coercive sex  was actually rape. But even if you buy into Rands borderline-S&M view of sexual love as involving an idealized dance of equals submitting (the woman, of course) to and executing (the man, of course) dominance, Roark is a questionable role model for a 21st-century man, and particularly one aspiring to the presidency.

But it seems Trump just cant help identifying himself with Roark as a larger-than-life figure who should not have to live by the herds standards, per another snippet of Powerss interview:
Photo: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg Finance LP/Getty Images

Yesterday, the New York State Senate unanimously passed a bill that would exempt feminine hygiene products like tampons and pads from the 4 percent state sales tax. The Assembly passed the bill last month, also unanimously, and now its off to Governor Andrew Cuomo for his signature.

Cuomo has indicated that he supports the bill. As a spokesperson told the New York Daily News in March: We agree that sales tax on these products should be repealed and will work with the legislature to do so.

Five New York City women filed a class-action lawsuit last month arguing that taxing tampons and pads is discriminatory when other medical products like incontinence pads arent taxed. If Cuomo signs the bill, this would be one less case for the New York Supreme Court to consider.

Canada and the entire European Union have already nixed tariffs on tampons, but since the U.S. doesnt impose a federal sales tax on these items, repeals will have to come state by state. Currently, 40 states tax tampons and pads, five states dont have sales tax, and another five actively exempt them. An effort in Utah was unsuccessful, but bills in California, Connecticut, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin are still up for debate.

Removing the sales tax on pads and tampons is not only a win for gender discrimination, but it also reminds people that these items are not luxuries, which will hopefully impact concurrent efforts to expand access to these products in schools, shelters, and prisons.
Mexico City is having a moment. The New York Times made it their No. 1 city to visit this year. Eater raved about the food scene. And in a recent issue, New York praised the new markets and design projects cropping up.

But can we talk for a minute about the fashion? We asked photographer Maria Fernanda Molins to rove the capital and capture the most vibrant looks. In the slideshow ahead, see red blazers, pink dresses, and orange cut-off denim jackets, shot on streets that are often as colorful as the clothes themselves.
Photo: WANG ZHAO/AFP/Getty Images

As the citizens of Thailand prepare to kick off their annual New Years celebration, Songkran, their prime minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, has some unfortunate guidance for what Thai women should wear to the festivities. Thinking about celebrating Songkran in a revealing dress or otherwise skimpy clothing? Think again.

During Songkran, I ask that women wear proper clothes, Thai style, so they would look good and civilized, Prayuth said about preparations for the occasion to press on Tuesday. Women, according to Prayuth, are like toffee or candy, and people would not like to eat them if they are already unwrapped. But thats not all: Even women dressed conservatively dont have it easy. Some nicely wrapped candy, he maintains, will stay on a shelf for years anyway. Sad!
Independent wine merchants can boost sales by championing Argentina

Independents can boost profits by mimicking the way restaurants champion top-end Argentinian Malbec, according to a leading supplier.

Argentina is the fastest-growing wine country of origin in the UK off-trade, with sales shooting up 24% to 120 million in 2015 (Nielsen).

A lot of that growth has been driven by Concha y Toros Trivento brand, which is up by more than 100% in value and volume year on year, but which is mainly in the grocery channel.

Andrew Steel, director of Connoisseur Estates, sees strong potential for the independent trade to tap into the trend seen in restaurants, where premium Malbec is the hottest thing around.

He told OLN: Malbec is doing really well in the on-trade and it should follow through into the off-trade. We have a Malbec from Gauchezco selling at 60 or 70 in the on-trade and individual restaurants are selling eight to 10 bottles a week. Currently the trend is for individual styles of Malbec. Confidence in Malbec is there. Our biggest problem at the moment is that we cant keep up with demand for the top-end stuff.

Argentina is a hot country  it represents great value and you dont tend to get a bad bottle.

Steel, who spent eight years at Mentzendorff before setting up Connoisseur in 2002, believes independents will lead the wine trade back into growth and argues that their role is even more crucial now that some multiples have culled large swathes of their ranges.

He said: We see the independents as key to the UK market. With what is going on at the multiples, the independents have this huge opportunity and we have expanded our sales force to take advantage of that. We have also expanded our portfolio to fill in a couple of gaps, particularly New Zealand.

We have Tom Barton in the south targeting independent retailers, and Alison Gregson targeting them north of Birmingham. Stuart George is challenged to get central London independents. We have doubled the sales force to take advantage of the opportunity.

I am confident the marketplace is moving where we want it to be going, which is great. Fifteen years ago, if you wanted to sell to the specialist market you would have to do 10 deals for 5,000 outlets. Now you would have to do 2,000 deals to cover those outlets.

Independents are now buying much better than they have. They know what they want and they go for it. They need the price-fighting stuff but they need points of difference and we are putting together a portfolio that has lots of points of difference, delivered from one place. We are seeing growth and distribution gains, which is seriously encouraging.

With Champagne, top-end Argentina, South Africa and New Zealand, some individual estates around France and iconic wine from Sicily we have a good portfolio that is striking a cord with independents. We look for brands that work well in the marketplace but also have history.

We also have a volume side, so independents can buy a house Pinot Grigio at incredibly competitive prices and single varietal Spanish wine that could retail at 4.99 and fill up their orders with some top-end cases.

Premium brands in Connoisseurs portfolio include Tohu from New Zealand and Oldenburg from South Africa.

Related articles:
-Madonna agreed to withdraw her case from the British court.-The judge said they were damaging the little that was left of their son's childhood so both Guy and Madonna agreed it was time to put aside their hate for each other for the well being of their son.-Madonna talked to Rocco for 3 hours.-After that Rocco left to go play with his friends.
Those gifs crack me up.

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not really relevant but Suri Cruise used to go to Avenues

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vaping caramel-flavored water sounds disgusting

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All those weird flavored vapes sound gross. I don't really want to smoke a cinnamon roll

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mte

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"Are seeking $40,000 in damages and for their daughter to be reinstated into the school"



For a three-day suspension? Christ, calm the fuck down.

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lol i think that applies to this quote -Parents of another student feel Fatima received special treatment due to her star status. Their daughter was expelled from Manhattan's Avenues: The World School for doing the same thing.

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Ahh. That shouldn't have been a separate bullet, then.

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I believe those are the parents of the girl who got expelled who are asking for that

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That's irt the other girl who was expelled for getting caught vaping, not the girl who voices Dora

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Another article says the girls were caught doing it together, and one was expelled while the other was suspended. I'd be pissed over that.

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no i was a goody two shoes who never broke the rules

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Really? I got in so much trouble and never meant to be a bother. I was suspended 24 times in 6th grade and honestly wasn't even a bad kid, I was just having some struggles at home and looking for someone to help me.



After that I only got a few inside suspensions and one Saturday, that was for a physical altercation with a teacher though so I kinda deserved that one.

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Same here. Worst I ever got in trouble for was yelling at people when they picked on me.



(And it still bothers me that *I* was the one getting in trouble when I was the one being bullied, but that's a whole other rant. My school sucked tbh)

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at that point i would just go fuck it and fight the bullies

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That's messed up. Reminds me of how my brother would punch me and I'd call him a name in retaliation, yet I'd get grounded. He started it! And all I did was call him a dick smack, which isn't even like a real insult

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Same. I never even skipped class. I got detention once in a while if I was late too many times.

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lol i'm still amazed they let me graduate tbh. in the last 2 years i was cutting class 3/4 of the time, never did homework, barely scraped by when it came to my grades and was threatend with expulsion twice. and i damaged school property, insulted my teachers and got some of my classmates in trouble. i don't even know why i did that shit, i wish i had taken the whole thing more seriously tbh.

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Same. I never even had a detention.

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Me too. I did get an afterschool detention once because even though I was behaving, I didn't "tell my rowdy classmates to do their assignment". I was afraid I'd be kicked off my sports team because my coach hated when we missed practice, and a disciplinary issue would not be a good excuse to miss practice. The next day I burst into tears in front of my coach and he started laughing because he said he knew how much of a goody goody I was and that my teacher was just being an asshole.

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Just got a Pax 2 a few weeks ago. I love it so much.

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God, I want to get one, but I'm not sure I can justify the price. Does it minimize the smell at all? I basically want something I can take on hikes with me (or use in my car, shh) and not be too paranoid.

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The smell is not nearly as strong as smoking. Outside it would probably be non-existent. There is a smell indoors but because its vapor, it goes away quickly and it isn't as strong anyway.



I considered the price as an investment. lol.

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I have the original, and I don't know if they somehow made it less smelly or if that's even possible, but the smell dissipates quickly, especially outdoors. It does smell though. If you're puffing on it and staying in one spot or you're indoors, the smell lingers for a bit. The other day I was vaping in the car and a couple of minutes after I stopped vaping my boyfriend got pulled over. As soon as I saw those lights turn on I cracked the window immediately, and the officer didn't smell anything.

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I have one and I swear I don't use it as much as I should.

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some vape pens smell soooo good, def better than cigarette/weed smell



caramel water sounds nasty

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Almost two years ago I was at a concert and one vape pen smelled like cotton candy. I legit wanted to track the person down just to find out what brand/flavor it was.

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my coworker had s'mores flavor and it smelled so amazing

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my boss had one that smelled like raspberries and i was so tempted to try it lol

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Yeah, I can't hate vape culture because I'd rather be stuck walking behind a delicious smelling vape than cigarettes.

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I love vaping. I have some flavors. I have a Nutella one and STrawberry one and I mix the two :)



It's helped me not smoke cigarettes anymore. :)

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mte

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looks like there's a job opening





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lmaooo those gifs are killing me even though i've already seen them





and i was way too afraid of my parents to even get suspended. i got in detention once for being late and my parents made sure it never happened again lol.

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I got detention for cutting class to go to Popeyes. I don't believe I ever got suspended tho.

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It's kind of funny how (in America, anyway), you have to attend class by law up through high school, and then once we get to college it's like "I think I'll stay home from class today, my left toe sort of hurts"

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idk, I went to a small college and most classes had attendance policies. Your grade would be penalized or you could be kicked out of the course if you missed a certain number of classes. In that respect it wasn't that different from high school

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My college had a policy where you could only have 2 unexcused absences per class. If you missed more than that the teacher could either drop you from the class or take major points off your final grade.



It was a small college with a maximum of like 20 kids per class so they could deal with stricter attendance policies.

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eh, that's the person's choice. you're paying for your college class, you should go to them all if you want the in-person learning/lecture experience. people skip if they want to skip.

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Echoing everyone else that my school had attendance policies. The professors were allowed to set their own policies, so for some classes, I never showed up except for the exams, but others I was there every time. There were some sneaky profs who would not have a set attendance policy but if they sensed a drop in attendance rates, they'd do surprise quizzes.

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Popeyes is so delicious tho. I think you had a legit case if you wanted to argue it.

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ONTD, were you ever suspended in school?



They tried to write me up for things I never did (chewing gum, cutting class, not doing homework, etc.) and they threatened me with not graduating unless I served the detention time. I had to go back to every teacher, confront them about it, and get them to tell the disciplinarian that it was all bullshit. They really didn't like me at that school.

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A 3 days suspension and the other girl expelled for vapin WATER?!

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the creators in Prometheus looked so squishy

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Squidward vibes

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I was a good student and kind of quiet in classes so I never got written up or anything for skipping class, never had a detention or anything.

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lol I was quite too but dear lord I missed SOOO many days of school.



I only got detention because why first hour witch of a teacher wrote me up whenever I was late. It's so weird being in college now and nobody gives a fuck if you show up or not.

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Same except for the one time I got detention because I forgot my notebook in my locker.

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One of the things I hated most about high school were those arbitrary rules about stuff. Forgetting a notebook/text in your locker could get you detention or lose points, but they only gave you four minutes to make it across a huge building (worse if you were let out of gym late so you had to change and make it to class on time), and in some cases, didn't allow you to bring your backpack from class to class.

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same

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I was a good, quiet, top-of-the-class student, too.



Still got jumped by other students for simply existing, and still got written up when I defended myself. I was so glad when I graduated.

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same and I skipped a lot whoops.

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Ditto. I had no desire to be a "bad kid"



Except in like second grade when I developed a klepto problem and they had to bring in my parents cause I was always stealing pens from the teacher's desk...



Edited at 2016-04-12 07:16 pm (UTC)

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ditto

I was a boon to some teachers

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I only got detention once for forgetting homework.

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Me too. I never get in trouble. My sisters and I all went to school together so we policed one another and would snitch if someone got in trouble. None of us really misbehaved in school though.

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I was pretty much good and quiet but I got detention and "after school assignments" for the stupidest shit. Otherwise, I was pretty much a wall flower but I didn't want to talk to anyone other than my friends lmao.

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Lol same



I even skipped last period athletics a lot my last couple of years of hs and they just didn't care.

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same, but I faked sick a lot in middle school because then I could stay home while my parents were at work and play videogames.

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this was me until senior year. i still went to class but i would always sign in whenever my teachers had subs then go to another class to hang out and they never noticed lmao

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Same. The most 'trouble' I got into was at parent-teacher conferences "she's so quiet." As if that's a bad thing? And most teachers hate the kids who talk too much / out of turn so why would it matter if I only want to speak when I have an absolutely correct answer to say?

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I was a good kid too. When I was little, I got a string of detentions (AKA missing recess) because I was missing homework. I had no idea what was happening because I had turned in all my assignments every day. I never said anything because I started to doubt my own memories. Turns out, the girl who collected the homework assignments from the bins was erasing my name and writing her own. I wasn't even mad at her, just relieved that my teacher realized what was going on and said my work was really good.

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This whole vaping trend needs to die already, it's honestly worse than smoking for the people around you.

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Because the massive vape clouds are annoying AF, they stink up an entire room in one puff with the smell of burnt sugar.

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Lmao this made me cackle in public

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I've never even heard of it tbh. I'm old.

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IA, the clouds of vapor are wet and hurt to inhale second hand. I'm asthmatic and I used to wait around for the bus with someone kid who'd vape all the time. It was the worst.

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Yeah. I keep hearing 9n tv news channels that vaping is bad like smoking.

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OPEC-member Angola, which is dependent on oil for 95 percent of its export revenues, is facing an urgent cash flow problem, and the only way out is external help as the dominoes start to fall.

Angola has sought financial aid from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to weather the crisis engulfing the African nation due to low oil prices, while President Jose Eduardo dos Santos has gone as far as to dip into the countrys sovereign wealth fund just to pay civil servant salaries.

The Finance ministry said in a statement: The government of Angola is aware that the high reliance on the oil sector represents a vulnerability to the public finances and the economy more broadly. The government will work with the IMF to design and implement policies and structural reforms aimed at improving macroeconomic and financial stability, including through fiscal discipline.

Along with the drop in oil prices, it doesnt help that Angolas economy has largely become a kleptocracya government run by those gunning for status and personal gain at the expense of the nation. Related: Chevron, Shell, and Total See Credit Ratings Slashed

For those who may argue with this terminology, we can look at the Angolan Presidents daughter, Isabel dos Santos, who is worth $3.3 billion and is the richest woman in Africa, according to Forbes. Meanwhile, 68 percent of the Angolan population lives below the poverty line.

President Jose Eduardo dos Santos has run the country since 1979, but until now, he has avoided seeking aid from the IMF, most likely because the IMF has been known to delve into the states finances to locate irregularitiesirregularities such as the Presidents daughters net worth being over 6,000 times Angolas GNI.

Only a few believe that the actions of the IMF may help bring an end to the opaqueness of the current rule. Related: Oil Hits 5 Month Highs Ahead Of Doha Meeting

The government is committed to improving transparency in the public finances and the banking sector, it said in a statement. There is a strong belief within the government that the continued drive toward enhanced transparency can be accelerated by partnering with an institution like the IMF.

The discussion between the Angolan government and the IMF is scheduled to be held in Washington DC.

IMF deputy managing director Min Zhu, said in a statement: The IMF stands ready to help Angola address the economic challenges it is currently facing by supporting a comprehensive policy package to accelerate the diversification of the economy, while safeguarding macroeconomic and financial stability. Related: Have We Seen The Bottom In Oil Prices?

Though the government has reiterated its commitment to diversify the economy, hopefully, they will walk the talk and solve the fundamental problem in the economy, lest it ends up being a futile exercise.

The Angola crisis is a warning to the other struggling OPEC countries. Though the larger nations are better off, sustained low prices will test their financial stability as well.

The weak links have started to give way, and a few others might find themselves in the same situation as struggling Angola. A nation facing such a severe financial crisis will begin to question the necessity of remaining in OPEC.

By Rakesh Upadhyay for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
In a move that shows not even the largest oil companies are well-positioned during the oil price downturn, Moodys Investors Service downgraded the credit ratings of three oil majors on Friday.

Moodys cut the credit ratings of Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell by one notch, and cut the credit rating of French oil giant Total by two levels.

Both Chevron and Shell were downgraded to Aa2 from Aa1.

"The downgrade of Chevron to Aa2 reflects our expectations of negative free cash flow and rising debts levels caused by low oil prices in 2016 and 2017," Pete Speer, Moody's Senior Vice President, said in a statement. "The stable outlook is supported by the company's increasing capital spending flexibility and scope for operating cost reductions, which combined with modest rises in commodity prices should allow Chevron to substantially reduce negative free cash flow in 2017 and stabilize its debt levels and corresponding financial leverage as measured against capitalization and proved reserves." Related: The Halliburton-Baker Hughes Merger is Falling Apart. What Happens Next?

Moodys expects Chevron to have negative free cash flow of $15 billion in 2016, due to persistently low oil prices, plus the companys insistence on maintaining its shareholder payouts. That comes after $16 billion in negative free cash flow last year. Chevrons cash flow/net debt ratio is likely to stand between 10 and 15 percent this year and remain below 20 percent through 2017. By 2018, with oil prices rebounding, Moodys sees Chevrons outlook improving. Chevron has finished up several large projects  such as the Gorgon LNG project in Australia  which should reduce spending pressure, allowing it to pursue cash flow neutrality in 2017.

Shell was given the same credit rating as Chevron, but instead of a stable outlook, Moodys gave Shell a negative outlook. "The ratings downgrades and negative outlook reflect Shell's elevated leverage following the BG acquisition. We view BG as a strong contributor to Shell's longer term business positioning, but under a low oil price scenario we expect Shell to generate negative free cash flow at least through 2017. Low oil and gas prices will compound Shell's challenges in delivering substantial asset sales to help reduce debt and in integrating and restructuring the upstream portfolio," Tom Coleman, Moody's Senior Vice President, said in a statement.

Shell paid $50 billion for BG Group, which is creating financial pressure today even if it was a smart long-term move. Shells cash flow/net debt ratio declined from 55 percent in 2015 to 30 percent this year. Given that picture, Shell has already stated that reducing debt is a top priority for the next few years. Indeed, shareholders are also pressing the company to cut spending after it splurged on BG. Shell is spending $33 billion this year, which reflects the combined Shell-BG spending program, the most out of any oil major and also $10 billion more in spending than even ExxonMobil. "Shell needs to cut capex to give the market confidence that the dividend can be sustained, and grown in future," said Charles Whall, portfolio manager at Investec Asset Management, said in a Reuters interview. Related: BP Shareholders Revolt Over CEOs Salary

As Moodys notes, the ability to become cash flow positive in the interim largely depends on the companys ability to dispose of the $30 billion in assets that it announced, a difficult proposition in todays environment.

Moodys cut Totals rating by two notches from Aa1 to Aa3 with a stable outlook. "The downgrade of Total's ratings mainly reflects our expectation that oil prices will remain lower for longer in 2016-17 and will continue to pressure Total's operating cash flows and credit metrics. All of which is at a time when the company manages a sizable debt position," Elena Nadtotchi, a Moodys Vice President, said in a statement.

For Total, the story is similar to its peers. Moodys says Total could have moderate negative cash flow over the next few years, which means it will not be able to reduce debt in any substantial way. It hopes to sell off $10 billion in assets and make further spending cuts  capex is down to $19 billion in 2016 from $23 billion in 2015  but low oil prices will keep up the pressure this year and next. Related: Crude Charging Higher Ahead Of Big Week

Moodys kept BPs credit rating stable at the much lower level of A2, but gave the British oil giant a positive outlook following the final court approval of the nearly $20 billion settlement between BP and federal, state and local claims related to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. That removed some uncertainty from the companys balance sheet.

For all of the latest ratings, Moodys provided plenty of caveats. The inability to sell off assets could be a drag on the companys credit rating. Higher unexpected debt levels or lower-than-expected production would have a negative impact as well. And obviously, much depends on where oil prices go. The current ratings assume that oil and natural gas prices will only gradually recover through 2018. If prices rise much quicker, the quality of Big Oils credit could improve.

By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
If my NCAA bracket is any indication, I should really, really never make predictions. But in this space a couple of months ago, I did just that, going waaaaaaay out on a limb to suggest that Wisconsin's April 5 vote would be significantly affected by what happened a month before on the so-called "Super Tuesday" vote in March.

How did I do? About as well as my NCAA bracket.

That's not necessarily the case, I suppose, since, like any good fortune-teller, I peppered that column with lots of generalities and could-go-either-ways.

But I did make one specific prediction, with numbers and everything. "All else being equal," I wrote about the race for Milwaukee mayor, "I'm predicting a 60/40 Barrett win." All else was equal, but Tom Barrett dominated with 70 percent of the vote against Ald. Bob Donovan.

I start with that result, not just because I was so very wrong with it, but why.

Let me take a step back: Obviously, Milwaukee is a Democratic stronghold. In 2008 and 2012, the city voted 4-1 for Barack Obama over his Republican opponents. In the 2010 and 2014 elections, the city went 3-1 in favor of Republican Scott Walker's Democratic opponents, Barrett and Mary Burke.

However, last week I was expecting two things. One, I was expecting the anti-Barrett side to be better organized and better funded than they actually were. And two, while I didn't think Ald. Joe Davis's endorsement of Donovan would be worth much with the African American community, I did think the still-going Republican Presidential Primary would give Donovan more of an edge in the city than he otherwise would have had.

Indeed, Republican presidential primary turnout more than doubled in the city since the spring of 2008, and last week it was even up by almost 20 percent over 2012's Republican primary, when Rick Santorum was still making a good a run at Mitt Romney, the eventual nominee.

Democratic turnout, on the other hand, was almost exactly the same in the city last week as it was in 2008, the last time the Democrats had a contested primary. However, the higher GOP turnout alone wasn't enough to get Donovan as close to Barrett as I thought it might.

In the end, Donovan outpolled the three remaining Republican candidates combined (Ted Cruz, Donald Trump and John Kasich) by almost 8,000 votes in the city; had anti-Barrett opposition been better organized  and Bruce Murphy here details how inept those efforts turned out to be  Donovan might have gotten closer to the 40 percent target I set for him.

Which leads me to the Chris Abele-Chris Larson race for Milwaukee County Executive. I didn't put it in writing, because it would be harder to make fun of me were I wrong, but I expected a close race, 52/48 at the widest, and I wasn't entirely sure which Chris would win. It was in reality kind of a blowout, with Abele taking 56 percent of the vote county-wide.

What's surprising, though, is that Abele also won the City of Milwaukee by about 1,200 votes. That's less than 1/10th of one percent and shows Larson was not weak in the city, but before the vote, I pretty firmly believed that Larson's base in the city was significantly stronger than Abele's. In fact, according to a municipality breakdown by Milwaukee Magazine, Larson won only Shorewood, with most suburban locales breaking quite heavily for the incumbent Abele.

Larson's loss in the city has to hurt groups like the AFSCME (most county employees' union) and the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association (the MPS teachers' union, of which I am a member), who banked heavily on city turnout for Larson. Even though AFSCME- and MTEA-endorsed candidates did well elsewhere, County Executive was the one race they needed to win and couldn't. Despite the lifting of residency rules, most of those unions' members, I'd wager, still live and vote in the city  and as noted, Larson lost the city.

It gets even weirder when you compare the Abele-Larson race to what happened in the Democratic presidential primary. Larson spent much of the stretch between the primary  where he outpolled Abele by more than 700 votes  and last week drawing strong parallels between his campaign and that of Bernie Sanders. For the last couple of weeks, it seemed like most my Facebook friends' profile pictures were of Chris Larson wearing Sanders' trademark glasses and crazy white hair.

Milwaukee County was the only county in the state where Sanders lost to Hillary Clinton, and her winning margin came entirely from within the city. She won the county by about 7,000 votes, but won the city by more than 8,000 votes. In other words, Sanders actually polled slightly better among Democrats in the suburbs of Milwaukee County, where the actual Democrat Larson lost big to nominal Democrat Abele. In the end, Larson far outpolled Sanders in the City of Milwaukee, getting about 18,000 more votes than the presidential candidate did.

Clinton undoubtedly won the city because of her continued nation-wide popularity with African American voters. Looking at ward-by-ward results, Clinton vastly outperformed Sanders in wards comprised mostly of African American voters. Those voters also favored Barrett last week, unsurprisingly. Yet they don't show much of a pattern when it comes the County Executive race, with some heavily black wards going strongly for Larson, some for Abele and many split nearly even.

Again, this has to be tough for Larson and his backers. One of the strongest themes of the anti-Abele campaign was that Abele is not a friend of the black community. That argument has some merit, though Abele would argue  and often did  that his work on things like the Fatherhood Initiative did in fact show strong support for Milwaukee's African American population.

This, in the end, was one of the most contradictory parts of the Larson coalition's message. Larson made a critical decision to align himself with Sanders, who was never going to poll well in Milwaukee's majority-black wards or win the city's vote overall, while at the same time trying to sell the notion that he was African Americans' better option in the County Executive race.

In the end, winning the city's African American votes alone probably would not have swung the race to Larson. I'm sure many of Abele's votes came from suburban Milwaukee County Republicans, who collective cast about 70,000 more votes in the Republican primary than did Republicans in the city, far more than Larson could have made up with black city votes alone.

But this brings me to my last point: I didn't make any predictions about what the effect of Wisconsin's new voter ID law would be. Mostly I figured that primaries, even highly contested ones like last week's, don't bring the kind of turnout that general elections do, and primary voters are more likely to be on the ball when it comes to required ID and the like. If there were to be a massive problem caused by voter ID requirements, I thought, it would be more likely to manifest in November than in April.

But there were some critical issues that appeared. Only 363 provisional ballots were cast, according to WPR, meaning voters who needed to show a valid ID by last Friday for their ballots to count, which is a drop in the proverbial ocean of actual votes cast on Tuesday.

However, the reports of other problems at the polls were many, from long lines to voters simply being turned away (here's one such story). Some Wisconsin Republicans accidentally said the quiet parts out loud, with both U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman and a former Wisconsin legislative staffer explaining that voter ID was designed not to stop fraud, but to stop Democrats. And the biggest voting problems arose among likely Democratic constituents, like college students.

Remember above, when I said that Democratic turnout in the City of Milwaukee was unchanged since 2008? Why is that? The city has grown since then, and surely not all of it is Republican, the side that did see higher turnout. Dane County's Democratic turnout was more than ten percent higher last week than in 2008. But there was a drop in the rest of the state, since Wisconsin's Democratic primary turnout as a whole was in fact down by about 10 percent over 2008.

Is this the fault of voter ID, with Democrats being shut out of the process across Wisconsin because, as Grothman and others suggest, voter ID is a way to suppress the Democratic vote? I don't know, since nationally, Democratic turnout is also down almost across the board. Daily Caller noted last week that in almost every state to vote so far, fewer Democrats have turned out than they did in 2008.

To an extent, this reinforces what I said after the Milwaukee Democratic debate, that Sanders' claims of bringing a revolution of new voters to the polls just doesn't hold water. It also suggests that if voter ID did, in this smaller-turnout primary election, suppress Democratic votes, it was probably not enough to have made much of a difference in the outcome of the election  at least not for Chris Larson, Sanders or Clinton.

But the long lines  especially at universities  people turned away and provisional ballots do indicate a problem. In a close November election, voter ID may well work as intended and suppress enough Democratic votes to flip Wisconsin, the purplest of swing states, from its decades-long support of Democratic presidential candidates.

If that happens, it will not be because Wisconsin agrees more with the likes of Cruz or Trump, but because too many of our voters will be disenfranchised by a hurtful law with clear partisan intent.


Paul Ryan Caricature

(Image by DonkeyHotey) Details DMCA



My guest today is journalist, author, activist and frequent OpEdNews contributor, Harvey Wasserman.

JB: Welcome back to OpEdNews, Harvey. You posted a piece recently ominously entitled, "Are You Ready for President Paul Ryan? Why We Desperately Need a Plan C". Okay. You got our attention! Tell us more, please.

HW: We have to face the reality that both Hillary and Bernie face serious obstacles to the presidency. Many of their supporters have been assuming a cakewalk against Donald Trump. But if he goes into the GOP convention without a clear majority there's a strong reality that the nominee could be Paul Ryan. I'm not sure either Bernie or Hillary could beat him in a rigged election.

So there are three important points:

1) The magnificent Sanders campaign must be prepared to convert those great young energies into a long-term grassroots organization;

2) We must deal with the stripping of the voter rolls;

3) We must deal with the electronic flipping of the vote count.

JB: Lots to talk about here. I must have been asleep at the wheel. Let's start with your first presumption: Where did Paul Ryan come from? And isn't it a bit premature to assume that neither Cruz nor Trump will secure the Republican nomination?

HW: if they go into the convention and Trump doesn't win on the first ballot, i think Ryan will get the nomination. And I'm petrified.

JB: What's so bad about Ryan?

HW: I think Paul Ryan embodies all the horrible corporate-fundamentalist sicknesses we've had to confront since the rise of the "New Right" in the early sixties. He's an Ayn Rand individualist who "hates government" except when it funds the empire and crushes leftist dissent. He's a "free market corporatist" with a laser focus on destroying social security, medicare at the very moment he says he's "saving it". A very dangerous dude.

On a personal level, he's smug, arrogant and full of himself. Did you see the look on his face during Obama's State of the Union?

Is he electable? More so than the GOP final three. And with Koch's billions, who knows?

Hillary has done little to build her base. She's displayed a very short fuse with Bernie even though she should be thanking him profusely for pumping some life into the primaries.

I would love to think Bernie is electable, but he's a 74-year-old Jewish Socialist agnostic/atheist from Brooklyn and Vermont. I love all that. But to win the White House he needs middle America and that's a tough one at best.

Next Page 1 | 2 | 3

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by NW Spotlight

According to the Oregon Secretary of States 2016 Elections Calendar, April 27th is the first day to mail ballots to voters  just 15 days from now.

Its even less time until ballots go to Oregon voters with a mailing address outside Oregon (who are not military or overseas voters)  the first day for that will be April 18th  just 6 days from now. The last day to mail ballots to military and overseas voters was back on April 2nd.

Oregons 2016 Primary election is 35 days away  on May 17th. The majority of the voting will take place in the 3 weeks between April 27th and May 17th.

All of Oregons voting is by mail. According to the Oregon Secretary of State, On Nov. 7, 2000, Oregon became the nations first all vote-by-mail state.

If you want to look online at the Oregon Voters Guide, the Military/Overseas Voters Guide is already available. It will be available until the complete Online Voters Guide is posted the week of April 18th.
Sony India on Monday launched an innovative A68 A-mount camera featuring 4D focus for amateur photographers to shoot pictures more creatively.

The 24 MP A68 camera delivers extraordinary auto focus (AF) performance under any shooting conditions ranging from lighting as low as exposure value (EV) 2 - an area where other cameras struggle, the company said in a statement.

The 4D FOCUS technology ensures fast, accurate tracking autofocus with 79 AF points, with Sony's Translucent Mirror Technology to deliver constant AF tracking at up to 8 frames per second (fps) continuous shooting.

With Translucent Mirror Technology, users can enjoy non-stop continuous autofocus that effortlessly tracks moving subjects for crisp, professional looking footage.

ALSO READ: Karbonn launches low cost virtual reality devices



The phase detection system uses no less than 79 autofocus detection points including 15 cross points, plus a dedicated F2.8 AF sensor point for dimly-lit scenes.

This helps users shoot fast, wide area AF with predictive tracking that locks faithfully onto fast-moving subjects.

The full HD movies feature use the efficient "XAVC Sv" format for high-bit rate recordings at up to 50 megabits per second (Mbps) with fine detail and low noise.

The 2.7-type LCD monitor tilts up to 135 degrees upwards or 55 degrees downwards for comfortable composition from a wide variety of shooting angles.

A"Serious photo lovers will value the backlit top display that allows quick confirmation of camera settings, whether youA're shooting handheld or on a tripod,A" the company said in a statement.

The model ILCA-68/BQ IN5 (Body only) is available at Rs.55,990 while ILCA-68K/BQ IN5 (with SAL1855) model can be purchased at Rs.59,990.

The high-end ILCA-68M/BQ IN5 (SAL18135) model is available for Rs.85,990.
APMSO leaders joined Mustafa Kamal

KARACHI: Former Karachi mayor and leader of Pak Sarzameen Party Mustafa Kamal on Monday roped in former leaders of All Pakistan Muttahida Students Organisation (APMSO), Mohammad Raza Abidi and Syed Wahiduzzaman into his recently established political party.



"I kept silent at what I saw while working in the London secretariat of MQM between 1989 and 1998," said Abidi.



I have worked with Kamal and Kaimkhani, and decided to return after I heard their press conferences, everything they have said is true, added Abidi.



"Before I left London, people tried to dissuade me, I was told that my life and reputation would be on the line. But nothing has happened to me, and I came back to Karachi after 16 years to be a part of Pak Sarzameen Party," explained Abidi, while giving reasoning behind his return.



"Why are thousands of our workers and friends not present today? questioned Wahiduzzaman, referring to the many losses the MQM has suffered.



Wahiduzzaman added that they always wanted a leader instead of a destination, but now we need a strong leader to guide them as they have found their destination.



Kamal also alleged during the press conference that Nadeem Nusrat is most likely complicit in the murders of 10,000 party workers.



Earlier in March, when Kamal returned to Pakistan, the MQM dissident unleashed a salvo of bombastic revelations against party supremo Altaf Hussain, accusing him of deception, addressing workers while intoxicated and poor running of the MQM.



Since then, the former mayor of Karachi has pulled former MQM heavyweights Advocate Anis, Raza Haroon, Anis Kaimkhani, MPA Dr Sagheer, MPA Iftikhar Alam, Waseem Aftab, ex-senator Mohammad Ali Brohi, and most recently MPA Bilquis Mukhtar, into his party.



The Pak Sarzameen Party's name was announced on March 23 and since then the party has opened offices in Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas.



Advocate Anis and Raza Haroon both have slammed Altaf Hussain, saying the MQM chief is the reason behind party members jumping ship. However, the MQM has denied all allegations regarding the 'minus-Altaf formula' and claims its workers are being 'forced to change loyalties'.



Kamal and his colleagues have not specifically denied these allegations or others that suggest the new party is being backed by 'certain quarters'.



A number of senior MQM members left the country suddenly around the time Kamal returned to Karachi, causing speculation as to the reasons behind their seemingly abrupt departure.
CTD arrested three female terrorists in Sargodha

LAHORE: The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) apprehended three alleged female terrorists during raid in Sargodha.



According to CTD sources, the women were arrested after exchange of fire near Khushab Road Bypass. Two of their male accomplices managed to escape from the scene.



Three hand grenades and two suicide vests were recovered from womens possession. The suspects were shifted to undisclosed place for interrogation.



The raid is part of the ongoing anti-terrorism operation across Punjab province that was launched after the deadly suicide bombing in Gulshan Iqbal Park in Lahore in which 76 people, mostly women and children were killed.



Since March 27, Intelligence agencies along with Army and Rangers personnel have carried out a series of operations in different parts of Punjab and arrested hundreds of suspects.
Imran Khan announced postponement of intra-party elections

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Monday announced the postponement of PTI's intra-party elections, stating that elections will now be held after the party concludes it march onto Raiwind.



"Our intra-party elections were on track to be held, and the entire party was busy in preparations, but after the revelations of Panama Papers came to the forefront, we have decided to postpone the elections," said Imran while addressing a group of media personnel.



He added that the decision was taken after a meeting of PTI's senior leadership.



"Since we want to initiate the Raiwind march movement, we decided today to postpone the intra-party elections."



He added that all party activity in relation to intra-party elections will be stopped, except for the membership campaign which the PTI is running.



Imran also announced establishment of committees to facilitate Raiwind march.



Earlier, it was reported that PTI will organise a long march to the Sharif familys Raiwind residence to protest against its undeclared assets and offshore companies and called upon the party workers, as well as those belonging to PML-N and PPP, to join the march.



Imran had also demanded an impartial judicial commission under the chief justice of Pakistan.



The data leak has revealed financial wheelings and dealings of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's family, among dozens of others, including world leaders.



The data from the Panama Papers, available on the website of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists  one of around 100 news organisations and 300 journalists that worked on mining the data simultaneously  also reveals the offshore holdings of members of Prime Minister Sharifs family.



According to documents available on the ICIJ website, the PMs children Mariam, Hasan and Hussain were owners or had the right to authorise transactions for several companies.



Mariam is described as the owner of British Virgin Islands-based firms Nielsen Enterprises Limited and Nescoll Limited, incorporated in 1994 and 1993.



On one of the documents released by ICIJ, the address listed for Nielsen Enterprises is Saroor Palace in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The document, dated June 2012, describes Mariam Safdar as the beneficial owner.



According to ICIJ, Hussain and Mariam signed a document dated June 2007 that was part of a series of transactions in which Deutsche Bank Geneva lent up to $13.8 million to Nescoll, Nielsen and another company, with their London properties as collateral.



Hasan Nawaz Sharif is described as the sole director of Hangon Property Holdings Limited incorporated in the British Virgin Islands in February 2007, which acquired Liberia-based firm Cascon Holdings Establishment Limited for about $11.2 million in August 2007.
" " A man is brought to jail by a New York City police officer. If he's convicted of a felony, federal law would likely ban him from carrying a gun under most scenarios. Federally speaking, a felony refers to a crime that's punishable by more than a year of prison time. See more gun pictures. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The idea that society's vilest criminals should not only suffer punishment but also forfeit civil rights enjoys a long pedigree. In pre-1870 England, a declaration of civiliter mortuus, or civil death, meant exactly what it sounded like: Certain criminals -- including traitors, felons, exiles and outlaws -- were, in the eyes of the law, as good as dead [sources: Black's Law Dictionary; Encyclopaedia Britannica].

A version of civil death survives in American law as civil disabilities, through which offenders can be legally barred from such privileges as entering into certain agreements, holding public offices, obtaining some jobs and licenses, or profiting from insurance or pensions. Disabilities can also extend to civil rights, including the right to vote, to serve on a jury or to keep and bear arms [sources: Black's Law Dictionary; King].

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As spelled out in Chapter 44 of Title 18 of the United States Code (U.S.C.), federal law bans convicted felons from possessing firearms or ammunition. (The U.S.C. is a compilation of congressional laws organized by topic and subtopic: Title 18 defines federal crimes and criminal procedure, and Chapter 44 (Sections 921-931) covers firearms.) It sounds straightforward enough, but when you unpack how that federal law works and factor in the complexities added by state laws and high court rulings, a much more complicated picture begins to emerge.

According to Section 922(g)(9), no one "who has been convicted in any court of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year" may own or possess a gun. This rule covers all felonies, but does not apply to state misdemeanors that carry less than a two-year sentence. It also exempts several kinds of felonious white-collar crime, as well as felony convictions handed down in foreign countries [sources: 18 U.S.C.  921; 544 U.S. 385; Williams].

Lest you think Section 922(g) is too lenient, however, read on: It also bans guns for (among others) fugitives, illegal users of controlled substances, mental defectives, illegal aliens, dishonorably discharged soldiers, renounced citizens, subjects of certain court orders and persons convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence. Violating these statutes can net you 10 years of imprisonment and/or a $250,000 fine [source: Rhode Island Probation].

Title 18 also provides procedures for seeking gun rights restoration (we'll delve more deeply into this issue later), but don't hold your breath. As explained in Section 925(c), felons may petition the U.S. Attorney General's office, but the AG has since delegated this responsibility to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which has been forbidden by Congress since 1992 to fund the processing of such applications [sources: ATF].

As for persons convicted of a federal crime, they can always apply to the president for a pardon [sources: 28 C.F.R.  1; DOJ].

Yeah ... good luck with that.
NGC 6830 is a fairly large and scattered cluster in Vulpecula that is almost lost amongst the numerous background stars of the Milky Way. Credit: Texas Tech University

(Phys.org)An international team of astronomers has recently detected two new so-called Be stars (non-supergiant stars with B spectral types and emission lines) residing in the open cluster NGC 6830, located some 5,300 light years away. The findings could shed new light on the presence of this type of star in old open clusters like NGC 6830. A paper detailing the discovery appeared online on Apr. 8 on the arXiv preprint server.

NGC 6830 is lying in the constellation Vulpecula and was discovered by William Herschel in 1784. The cluster is about 125 million years old and has a fairly loose structure. It was selected as the subject of the study because one of the known Be stars in the cluster is fairly bright. Thus NGC 6830 is suitable for observation with the Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) Machine, a spectrograph and imager for efficient and rapid classification, mounted on the Palomar 60 inch Telescope at the Palomar Observatory in California.

The team, led by Po-Chieh Yu of the National Central University in Taoyuan City, Taiwan, employed the SED Machine to obtain the optical spectra bright objects in the cluster. These observations were carried out on May 1, 2014. The researchers also conducted follow-up observations using the Hiyoyu spectrograph on the Lulin One-meter Telescope (LOT) at the Lulin Observatory in Xinyi, Taiwan and the Kast dual spectrograph on the 3m Shane telescope at the Lick Observatory, located in San Jose, California.

In addition to observing one previously known Be star in the cluster, designated NGC 6830-2 (also known as VES 72), the scientists spotted two new Be stars that were listed as NGC 6830-1 and NGC 6830-3.

"Three stars have been confirmed as Be stars with intermediate and late type spectra by using the SED-Machine on Palomar 1.5-m telescope, the Hiyoyu spectrograph on Lulin 1-m telescope, and the Kast dual spectrograph on Lick 3-m telescope," the researchers wrote in the paper.

Thus, the study suggests that there are three Be stars in the NGC 6830 cluster. According to the research, the spatial distribution of these stars might be caused by gravitational disruption over time. Complementary to previous papers, the new findings allowed the scientists to assume that old open clusters, like the one that was the subject of the new study, lack Be stars.

The researchers also noted that some Be stars show the variability with periods that might be due to pulsation or rotation. However, according to the team, the newly detected Be stars do not showcase any significant variability.

"This is consistent with the previous studies which showed that only 12 percent of B6-type Be stars have the variability with the amplitude of 0.12 to 0.3 mag," the paper reads.

The team concluded that in order to better understand the nature of Be stars, more comprehensive surveys should be performed in the future. The efforts should also include improving the quality of images acquired during observation campaigns. Therefore, it is important to eliminate the contamination of residual cosmic-ray hitting on the target region, which is not easily eliminated. According to the authors of the paper, procedures to remove cosmic ray contamination around science targets will be performed carefully in the future projects.

Explore further NASA image: Stellar sparklers that last

More information: Be Stars in the Open Cluster NGC 6830, arXiv:1604.02276 [astro-ph.SR] Be Stars in the Open Cluster NGC 6830, arXiv:1604.02276 [astro-ph.SR] arxiv.org/abs/1604.02276 Abstract

We report the discovery of 2 new Be stars, and re-identify one known Be star in the open cluster NGC 6830. Eleven H-alpha emitters were discovered using the H-alpha imaging photometry of the Palomar Transient Factory Survey. Stellar membership of the candidates was verified with photometric and kinematic information using 2MASS data and proper motions. The spectroscopic confirmation was carried out by using the Shane 3-m telescope at Lick observatory. Based on their spectral types, three H-alpha emitters were confirmed as Be stars with H-alpha equivalent widths > -10 Angstrom. Two objects were also observed by the new spectrograph SED-Machine on the Palomar 60 inch Telescope. The SED-Machine results show strong H-alpha emission lines, which are consistent with the results of the Lick observations. The high efficiency of the SED-Machine can provide rapid observations for Be stars in a comprehensive survey in the future.

 2016 Phys.org
In 2012, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), a comprehensive, multi-lateral treaty signed by 193 nations, established 20 biodiversity targets to coincide with the beginning of the UN Decade of Biodiversity. The goals of the collected targets were to address underlying drivers of biodiversity losses, to help safe-guard ecosystems, reduce direct pressures on biodiversity, preserve species and genetic diversity, enhance benefits from biodiversity and ecosystem services, and to enhance the implementation of conservation measures world-wide through capacity building.

However, concern has been raised that we are in danger of failing to reach these goals due to research biased away from the most biodiverse nations. In a recent PLoS ONE article, "Conservation Research is Not Happening Where It Is Most Needed," Kerrie Wilson and her co-authors show a discrepancy in the published literature biased towards more developed nations such as the US over countries of graver concern. They make the case that by failing to conduct adequate research in the most biodiverse areas of the globe, we are threatening our capacity to manage and preserve our natural ecosystems.

Wilson and her colleagues focus on one of the CBD's Aichi Biodiversity targets, Target 19, which reads:

"By 2020, knowledge, the science base and technologies relating to biodiversity, its values, functioning, status and trends, and the consequences of its loss, are improved, widely shared and transferred, and applied."

The goal of this target is to increase not only the amount of knowledge about biodiversity, but the quality of that information as well. For policy-makers to make informed decisions, they must have a sound understanding of the extent of services provided by highly biodiverse ecosystems and the pressures those ecosystems are facing. It is also important that the information be available. Stakeholders often want to make initiatives to preserve biodiversity, identify threats, and build capacity to conduct monitoring and research, but encounter problems either accessing information, or the complete absence of necessary information, limiting their abilities. Target 19 also calls for increased resources in research, particularly in observer networks, but also in taxonomy, modelling, and participatory research.

Global distribution of publications on biodiversity from conservation (S1 Data). Credit: Wilson et al. 2016

Wilson and her co-authors conducted ". . . the first comprehensive analysis of publishing trends of the conservation science literature" by identifying all the publications from 2014 that covered the topic of "conservation." Their search focused on the areas of ecology, environmental sciences, geography, plant sciences, and zoology. A search of the Thomson Reuters Zoological Records and Web of Science Core Collection databases yielded a whopping 10,036 articles from over 1,000 journals.

Alarmingly, the countries least represented, were the countries where this information was most needed. If we look at the issue of mammal conservation, the top five countries of concern are: Indonesia, Madagascar, Peru, Mexico, and Australia. By Wilson and her colleague's findings, these countries comprise only about 12% of the publications from 2014, but should, by their relative importance to conservation and biodiversity, be represented in 37% of studies.

While the United States should be represented in less than 1% of studies of mammal conservation, instead, it was represented in nearly 18%the most of any country.

If we look at the representation of vascular plants, and endemic and functional species, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Panama, the Dominican Republic, and Papua New Guinea are the top five countries of concern. Collectively, these countries are represented in less than 2% of published studies. It would be expected, again using relative importance, that these countries would be represented in about 8% of studies.

While the generation of research in these areas of most concern is an obvious issue, research accessibility is also a problem. Of the studies focusing on the ten countries of greatest conservation concern outlined above, fewer than 12% were published in open-access journals. Publication in open-access journals increases the visibility and accessibility of research. Traditional journals often require subscriptions, resulting in paywalls that limit research accessibilityparticularly to policy makers and researchers in developing nations. However, there are hefty fees associated with publishing findings in open-access journals. Wilson and her co-authors call on scientific societies and publishing houses ". . . to openly commit to waiving fees for research from historically underrepresented countries, particularly those where local in-country scientists and institutions have played a significant role in the research."

Communicating research findings is also a key strategy to decreasing the disparity between nations. Using Altmetrics scores, Wison and colleagues found substantial differences between the scores of research generated in the US and that of other countries. Altmetric scores attempt to measure the impact of research based on the attention of social media outlets and serve as an analog for impact. These differences in scores between countries indicate that what research is being produced, is further hindered by a lack of media coverage. This should serve as a clarion call to increase the coverage of research in less represented, yet more biodiverse countries.

To reach the outlined CBD goals by 2020, there is a need to increase research infrastructure in less represented areas of the globe. Our ability to meet conservation goals will be compromised if we continue to under-represent and ignore many of our most biodiverse areas. However, to address the bias in the published literature will require substantial investment from funding sources, governments, the private sector, and researchers.

Explore further Conservation research is not happening in the right places

More information: Kerrie A. Wilson et al. Conservation Research Is Not Happening Where It Is Most Needed, PLOS Biology (2016). Journal information: PLoS Biology Kerrie A. Wilson et al. Conservation Research Is Not Happening Where It Is Most Needed,(2016). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1002413

This story is republished courtesy of PLOS Blogs: blogs.plos.org.
Credit: Andrew Eland/Flickr, CC BY-SA

Digital activism has transformed political protest in the last two decades. Smartphones and the internet have changed the way political events, protests and movements are organised, helping to mobilise thousands of new supporters to a diverse range of causes. With such activity becoming an everyday occurrence, new forms of digital activism are now emerging. These often bypass the existing world of politics, social movements and campaigning. Instead, they take advantage of new technologies to provide an alternative way of organising society and the economy.

We've become used to the idea of digital activism and social media being used to publicise and grow political movements, such as the Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East and the anti-austerity movement Occupy. Activists, such as those in recent French labour protests, can now live stream videos of their actions using apps such as Periscope while online users contribute to the debate. In Barcelona, the party of new mayor Ada Colau drew up its electoral programme with the help of over 5,000 people, in public assemblies and online, including the formation of network of cyberactivists, SomComuns.

So-called hacktivist organisations such as Anonymous regularly attack the computer networks of the rich and powerful, and even terrorist organisations such as Islamic State . The recent Panama Papers follow similar revelations by Wikileaks and Edward Snowdenas examples of "leaktivism". Here, the internet is used to obtain, leak and spread confidential documents with political ramifications. The Panama leaks have led to protests forcing Iceland's prime minister to step aside and calls for similar action in the UK.

Quiet activism

All these forms of online activism are essentially designed to force change by putting political pressure on leaders and other powerful groups in the real world. But new kinds of digital activity are also attempting to change society more directly by giving individuals the ability to work and collaborate without government or corporate-run infrastructures.

First, there are quieter forms of digital activism that, rather than protesting against specific problems, provide alternative ways to access digital networks in order to avoid censorship and internet shutdowns in authoritarian regimes. This includes bringing internet access to minority and marginalised groups and poverty-stricken rural areas, such as a recent project in Sarantaporo in northern Greece.

But it also involves more unusual technological solutions. Qual.net links your phone or computer to an ad-hoc network of devices, allowing people to share information without central servers or conventional internet access. In Angola, activists have started hiding pirated movies and music in Wikipedia articles and linking to them on closed Facebook groups to create a secret, free file-sharing network.

Second, there are digital platforms set up as citizen, consumer or worker-run cooperatives to compete with giant technology companies. For example, Goteo is a a non-profit organisation designed to raise money for community projects. Like other crowdfunding platforms, it generates funding by encouraging lots of people to make small investments. But the rights to the projects have been made available to the community through open-source and Creative Commons licensing.

The example of the Transactive Grid in Brooklyn, New York, shows how blockchain  the technology that underpins online currencies such as Bitcoin  can be used to benefit a community. The Transactive blockchain system allows residents to sell renewable energy to each other using secure transactions without the involvement of a central energy firm, just as Bitcoin doesn't need a central bank.

These platforms also include organisations that help people to share goods, services and ideas, often so that they can design and make things in peer-to-peer networks  known as commons-based peer production. For example, fablabs are workshops that provide the knowledge and hardware to help members make products using digital manufacturing equipment.

Greater democracy and co-operation

What links these new forms of digital activism is an effort to make digital platforms more democratic, so that they are run and owned by the people that use and work for them to improve their social security and welfare. Similarly, the goods and services these platforms produce are shared for the benefit of the communities that use them. Because the platforms are built using open-source software that is freely available to anyone, they can be further shared and rebuilt to adapt to different purposes.

In this way, they may potentially provide an alternative form of production that tries to address some of the failures and inequalities of capitalism. Using open tools, currencies and contracts gives digital activists a way to push back beyond the louder activity of aggressive cyberattacks and opportunistic social media campaigns that often don't lead to real reform.

The internet has always allowed people to form new communities and share resources. But more and more groups are now turning to a different set of ideological and practical tools, creating cooperative platforms to bring about social change.

Explore further Social media beneficial for sharing and building upon patient experiences, research shows

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.


The Earths surface is in a constant state of motion, before, during and after earthquakes. Credit: Shutterstock/Natee K Jindakum

If you feel that the earth beneath your feet is moving, it's because it is.

Since the late 1980s geophysicists including myself have been building a network of advanced Global Positioning System (GPS) instruments to monitor the Earth. These instruments are sophisticated versions of those in smart phones or sat-nav and allow us to determine positions of bedrock or buildings at the level of millimetres instead of metres.

With 10,000 or more instruments now spread across the globe, one thing has become clear: the Earth's surface is constantly changing its direction of travel.

The reason? Earthquakes. Unlike Australia, much of the world regularly experiences earthquakes. For instance, more than half of the US population lives in areas exposed to "potentially damaging ground shaking from earthquakes". Those earthquakes do more than shake the Earth  they change its shape in the process.

When the shaking stops

But the changes to Earth's shape don't stop when the shaking stops.

Earthquakes occur because of a rapid release of stress that has built up in the Earth's hard outer crust. When that happens it is followed by a relaxation deeper within the Earth  within the asthenosphere and mantle  the Earth's equivalent of the relaxation your stressed body feels after a vigorous massage.

We can track the Earth's movement between, during and after earthquakes using our network of GPS instruments.

Most of the time, and in most places, any movement is dominated by movement of Earth's tectonic plates. For example, dozens of GPS units across Australia show it to be moving northeast at a speed of six centimetres per year due to the motion of the Australian plate.

But a closer look at the data shows that this motion is often not in a perfectly straight line.

The restless Earth

In 2013, Australian colleagues used GPS to show that southeast Australia's speed and direction of motion changed immediately after a magnitude 8.1 earthquake in December 2004 near Macquarie Island, more than 1,500km south of Tasmania.

Inside the Earth, note the asthenosphere layer. Credit: Shutterstock/Alhovik

This slight shift has persisted through to today and was detected as far north as Canberra. In a recent study we show that Antarctica, which is also largely free from large earthquakes, changed direction in 1998 following a magnitude 8.2 earthquake more than 500km to its north.

These examples are from two of the least seismically active regions of the Earth. The changes are much more frequent and much larger in the more seismically active parts of the world.

Examination of old surveying data from regions such as southern California highlights that these changes can be ongoing for many decades or longer. So while the Earth may be relaxing following earthquakes, the Earth is never at rest.

We all rely on millimetres

Why do such small changes matter? After all, we're talking about changes that may take a decade or longer to travel the length of a ruler.

But millimetres do matter to all of us because our lives are increasingly built on GPS. We position ourselves with GPS, our tractors and roadwork machinery are controlled by GPS and the boundaries of our properties are surveyed with GPS. Modified smart phones can now even be positioned with centimetre accuracy.

If the average person using GPS wants to reliably map or place something with an accuracy of even 10cm then the reference network that underpins positioning must be substantially more accurate and stable. We need that underpinning network to be accurately determined at a level of a few millimetres over decades.

To meet this demand, Australia is preparing to update the datum that underpins all positioning in Australia by 2020.

Poking the planet with a big stick

Understanding what happens after an earthquake can do more for humanity than helping us navigate better. It offers an insight into understanding how the earth beneath our feet works.

Of the 6,370km from Earth's surface to its centre, the deepest hole that has ever been drilled covers just 12.26km of that distance.

So our understanding of what lies deeper within the Earth depends on making inferences using the surface measurements and theoretical advances in fields such as seismology and geodesy.

Effectively, earthquakes poke Earth with a big stick, and we measure its responses. GPS measurements of this kind add crucial information to our developing picture of Earth's interior.

While prediction of earthquakes remains impossible, understanding how Earth works is essential to any future progress. At the same time, rapid GPS positioning is now forming part of earthquake and tsunami early warnings, which help people living in such regions to seek safe shelter.

When it comes to understanding what happens between, during and after earthquakes, we're heading in the right direction.

Explore further Laser scanning shows rates and patterns of surface deformation from the South Napa earthquake

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.


Protecting the habitats of wildlife such as meadow birds is a moral obligation that must be taken on by a rich country like the Netherlands. Otherwise, birds that have made their home here for millions of years will die out. And it isn't because these species are incapable of adaptation. A more important reason is the increasingly rapid homogenization of their habitat. In conservation, the support of nature users is indispensable. These statements are made by Professor David Kleijn in his inaugural speech as professor of Plant Ecology and Nature Management at Wageningen University on 7 April.

Archaeological excavations show that the typical Dutch meadow bird, the black-tailed godwit, was already an inhabitant of the expansive marshlands in our region when the first humans settled here. Large areas of the marshy land consisted of shallow depressions filled with water and slight elevations of peat, like we still see in Estonia where black-tailed godwits can be found nesting in this type of habitat.

In our country, the moorlands were opened up and the peat was extracted until the original landscape was converted into flowering pastures and meadows. The black-tailed godwit managed to adapt perfectly to this new environment thanks to an increased food supply. In recent decades, however, the landscape is changing far too quickly for the birds to adapt. 'The conclusion is that it's not the changes themselves that are causing problems for our national bird, but the rate of change,' says Professor Kleijn. Species like the European hamster, the indigenous freshwater crayfish and the shrill carder bee are facing a similar fate.

Species conservation

A growing group of people object to the idea of individual species conservation, claiming that nature can take care of itself if given the room to do so and if we focus on minimising the negative effects of fragmentation and the disturbances caused by traffic. Planting flowers along the edges of fields, for example, would help ecosystems on and around agricultural land to flourish. 'I don't see this working,' says Professor Kleijn of this government-subsidised intervention. 'It can't work in a country as densely populated as the Netherlands because here the natural dynamics are severely restricted. The influence of the major rivers is limited to narrow band around rivers. But perhaps even more important is our tendency to create the same landscape and the same habitats everywhere we go, including in nature areas. This results in the same species occurring everywhere and the extinction of others. If we don't address the issue, the problem will get worse and more species will end up on the Red List.'

Improving biodiversity is an important issue in the Netherlands. Aside from the moral benefits, we shouldn't underestimate the economic benefits. Professor Kleijn and his colleagues previously demonstrated that at least 785 species of bees pollinate our crops so they can set seed and bear fruit. Thanks to this, wild bees contribute more than $3,000 per hectare to the incomes of farmers and growers.

Recommendations for species conservation

'The proposed plans for the recently implemented regulation on agricultural nature management were fine,' says Professor Kleijn in his speech entitled, 'Conserving nature in a world of change'. Among other things, this involved focusing on promising areas, raising the groundwater level  which is good for meadow birds  and improving maintenance in the buffer zones around natural areas. 'But these ambitions became watered down when the responsibilities for nature management shifted from the national government to the provincial governments,' explains Professor Kleijn. 'It's unlikely that this new policy will protect the biodiversity of our countryside against further decline.

Nature doesn't care if species become extinct. We do. That's why we care so much about nature conservation,' he adds. 'And that's also why the results of ecological research should focus on the different users: recreational users, farmers and managers. Because without their support, no ecological solution will be effective.'
A plan in Wisconsin to divert drinking water outside of the Great Lakes basin appears sound, but it could set a dangerous precedent, says Joseph F. Atkinson, director of the Great Lakes Program at the University at Buffalo.

The lakes contain about 6 quadrillion gallons of water, or roughly 20 percent of the world's fresh surface water.

The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact, a 2008 agreement signed by eight Great Lakes states and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec, prevents the siphoning of water outside the basin. But the compact allows communities in so-called "straddling counties"  those which are partially located within the basin  to apply for a water diversion permit.

The City of Waukesha, Wisconsin, is located within a straddling county  also called Waukesha. Because the city's water source is tainted with radium and other contaminants, it is seeking to divert roughly 10 million gallons per day from Lake Michigan. Waukesha's mayor says the city would replenish the basin with the same amount in the form of treated wastewater.

To receive the permit, governors from each state in the compact must sign off. They are expected to cast their votes on or near May 23.

Waukesha's water contamination problem is serious and needs to be remedied in a manner which is both economically and ecologically sensitive, says Atkinson, PhD, a professor in UB's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and expert in water quality modeling and environmental hydraulics.

The city's plan could be a viable solution, he says, provided all environmental concerns are addressed and the same amount of treated wastewater is returned to the basin.

"They are addressing the water quantity issue, which is important," says Atkinson, also a member of UB RENEW, an interdisciplinary research organization that tackles pressing global issues.

Still, he is concerned that approving the permit could set a dangerous precedent for future water diversions requests  not all of which may be ecologically sound. Great Lakes water levels are generally stable, but there are many unknowns related to changing climate that make it difficult to predict future conditions, he says. They include:

Increasing average annual temperatures in the Great Lakes region.

The annual period of time of Great Lakes ice cover has been decreasing, while air and water temperatures have been rising.

Lake evaporation has been increasing. Note: studies indicate this has been offset with increased participation in the Lake Michigan-Huron basin, but not in the Lake Superior basin.

Declining water levels could negatively impact industries such as commercial shipping, hydroelectric power generation, and recreational boating and fishing, Atkinson says.

"Given all the uncertainties, especially those relating to climate change, we don't really know what future water supplies in the Great Lakes will be," he says.

Explore further Great Lakes compact languishes
Lawyers of the businessman say, their clients acquittal of all wrong doing in relation to the award of a 51.2 million wrongfully paid him by the state in judgment debt, the individuals are still making comments casting him in negative light and portraying him as a criminal.

The individuals mentioned in the suit are Anthony Karbo of the New Patriotic Party, Kwaku Baako Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide and Nana Akomea, communications director of the NPP.

The notice of intention sighted by Pulse.com.gh read:

It has come to our attention that, notwithstanding the legal effects of judicial decisions involving the High court and Court of Appeal, a number of individuals including Kwaku Baako of the New Crusading Guide, Nana Akomea, Anthony Karbo and the New Patriotic Party, Daily Guide and Peace FM of the Despite Limited have overtly or covertly, directly or indirectly, deliberately or intentionally excoriated and denigrated the person of Alfred Woyome for the sole purpose of scandalizing the superior courts of Ghana.

READ MORE: Alfred Agbesi Woyome Stranger embarasses Woyome at Achimota Mall

Lawyers of the businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome also wished to sound a stern warning to all individuals who intend to make comments or take similar actions that will defame, denigrate or insight the public against their clients.
The company emerged a 2015 finalist at a US Ambassador/American Chamber of Commerce hosted ceremony in Accra recently. With this recognition, Newmont becomes the first mining company to be nominated for the award since its inception in 1999.

Respect for Human Rights and Support for the Voluntary Principle on Security and Human Rights Newmont Ghana was recognized for its efforts at promoting human rights and labour rights within the company and in its host communities. The nomination focused on the companys support for:

Implementing the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPSHR) initiative within its

Akyem and Ahafo mines in Ghana and for supporting the mining industrys commitment to focus on implementing the VPSHR within mining companies;

Support for Ghanas Ebola Preparedness Plan and;

Efforts in ensuring that Ghanaian-owned companies are considered for contracts through fair and transparent processes.

The VPSHR Initiative was established to guide companies in maintaining the safety and security of their operations within a framework that encourages respect for human rights and labor rights.

In 2015, about four hundred and fifty-two (452) employees and business partners of Newmont and officers from the Public Law Enforcement Agencies participated in Newmont led trainings on the (VPSHR) at the companys three operating sites in Ahafo, Akyem and Accra.

According to Paul Sowley, Senior Director, Sustainability and External Relations, Newmont Africa, one key focus of Newmont is to ensure peaceful co-existence with community stakeholders. As such, the company has established Complaints and Grievances (C&G) centres in its operational areas to address community complaints and provide mutually acceptable remedial actions.

The company employs a three tier mechanism to resolve all grievances from community stakeholders.

At the first level, a complaint is discussed between the company and the complainants for a mutually acceptable resolution. Where that approach fails, the issue is escalated to a third party by mutual consent. The third party could be a traditional authority, a local government official or any respectable member of society.

Should that also fail to yield the required results, each of the two parties may then refer the matter to the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) or the law court for redress. So far, our records show that over 95% of complaints from community members are resolved at the first level of the Complaints and Grievances Mechanism. Paul Sowley said.
Roughly 98 percent of children go into remission within weeks of treatment, but Emily relapsed repeatedly despite several rounds of chemotherapy.

Running out of options, her parents enrolled her in an experimental cell therapy trial at The Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) in early 2012. CHOP doctors collected a type of Emilys white blood cells called T lymphocytes  the immune systems SWAT team  and edited their DNA so they would recognize Emilys cancer. When doctors injected the modified lymphocytes back into her body, they multiplied and wiped out the disease. Shes been cancer-free since.

Everyone in the cell therapy community knows Emilys story. They want to start telling others.

Shes the poster child and also the reminder that we need to move faster, says Rowan Chapman, head of healthcare investing for GE Ventures.

The results in trials have been astounding, but the treatment process today is highly resource-intensive and frighteningly manual. It still involves a lot of handwritten labels, clipboards and Sharpie pens throughout the process. We need to inject speed and scale, and we have to figure out ways to take out cost.

Thats why GE Ventures teamed up with Mayo Clinic and launched Vitruvian Networks, an independent technology company that uses advanced manufacturing and data analytics software to industrialize cell therapy. Cell therapy today is mostly a very localized process taking place in a single hospital, says Heidi Hagen, who leads global operations at Vitruvian Networks. Things will need to change when these therapies are commercially approved and need to scale. Our software provides secure and digital transparency throughout the entire process. We will be working collaboratively with partners to develop critical industry standards and to set high quality benchmarks.

To be sure, Vitruvian Networks is not in the actual therapy business. Its the digital connective tissue that brings the pieces together for companies like Kite Pharma, Juno Therapeutics, Novartis and other big players in the field. We use software to arrange different players, including hospitals, blood banks, couriers and therapy manufacturers, like an orchestra, Hagen says. GE projects the cell therapy industry to reach $10 billion by 2021.

Cell therapy has many moving and dependent parts. The links between them have to be executed flawlessly and quickly since many patients have very little time to spare, and speed and precision are often a matter of life and death. If you want to commercialize these therapies, you need to build a national and even global system that will allow you to seamlessly track and connect everything from cell collection and transportation logistics to DNA modification and treatment results, Hagen says.

Heres why. The type of therapy that Emily received is called autologous immunotherapy. Physicians first collect the patients own blood at a blood center. The step is similar to dialysis and lasts several hours. Doctors then use special machines to strip out T lymphocytes and send them to a manufacturing facility where their DNA can be edited to attack the patients blood cancer and the cells grown in volume inside bioreactors. This step takes anywhere from three to six weeks. After that, the reengineered immune cells travel to the hospital, where they are injected back into the patient. You have to have total assurance and quality control, says Amy DuRoss, executive director of new business creation at GE Ventures. Your own cells are a living drug. If you receive someone elses cells by accident, the results could be deadly.

Vitruvians solutions will help orchestrate and monitor everything from logistics and manufacturing to ordering, scheduling and quality control. Right now most nurses coordinate appointments and receive updates over the phone or by fax, which is inefficient and not the best use of their valuable time, DuRoss says. But because of our digital connectivity, Vitruvians technology will streamline a lot of the complexities behind the scenes, so that patients, providers and therapy manufacturers can enjoy a smooth, reliable experience that starts from ordering all the way through therapy administration. Our system is more like a nexus between Amazon and FedEx. It will provide, in real time, optimal scheduling windows, updates on the status of a patients cells and data insights into how certain cell characterizations may affect treatment times and decisions.

Mayo Clinic will supply Vitruvian with data and expertise related to biomarkers, processes and outcomes to help guide further development of personalized therapies. The company will also draw on know-how from GE Healthcares own cell therapy business, as well as software GE is already developing for the Industrial Internet to monitor and optimize everything from jet engines to power plants.
He thus asked lawyers in the case to ensure they file the necessary documents needed by the close of day today [Tuesday], to enable pre-trial of the case from tomorrow [Wednesday].

In a suit filed in an Accra High Court on December 7, 2015, Mr. Afoko in his statement of claim insisted that he is the duly elected Chairman of the NPP.

Mr Afoko, who was elected the NPP National Chairman in April 2014, was suspended indefinitely at an emergency NEC meeting at the partys headquarters at Asylum Down in Accra on Friday, October 23, 2015.

The NPPs Disciplinary Committee had on October 21, 2015 submitted a report to the NEC of the party recommending the indefinite suspension of Mr Afoko as national chairman, citing his unilateral leadership style as a bane of the partys progress.
It reported the number of children involved in suicide attacks in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger has risen sharply over the past year, from 4 in 2014 to 44 in 2015, and more than 75 percent of the children involved in the attacks are girls.

The report also assesses the impact conflict has had on children in the four countries affected by Boko Haram. It finds nearly 1.3 million children have been displaced, about 1,800 schools are closed  either damaged, looted, burned down or used as shelter by displaced people, while over 5,000 children were reported unaccompanied/separated from their parents.

The UNICEF report comes as the April 14, two years anniversary of the abduction of 276 schoolgirls in Chibok approaches.

Called Beyond Chibok, the report finds that between January 2014 and February 2016, Cameroon recorded the highest number of suicide attacks involving children (21), followed by Nigeria (17) and Chad (2).

Over the past two years, nearly 1 in 5 suicide bombers was a child and three quarters of these children were girls. Last year, children were used in 1 out of 2 attacks in Cameroon, 1 out of 8 in Chad, and 1 out of 7 in Nigeria.

And it was last year that suicide bombing attacks in general spread beyond Nigerias borders.

The frequency of all suicide bombings increased from 32 in 2014 to 151 last year. In 2015, 89 of these attacks were carried out in Nigeria, 39 in Cameroon, 16 in Chad and 7 in Niger.

UNICEF said the use of children who may have been coerced into carrying bombs has created an atmosphere of fear and suspicion that has devastating consequences for girls who have survived captivity and sexual violence by Boko Haram in North East Nigeria.
Explaining her decision the judge indicated there are sufficient grounds for the Brit to be extradited, disagreeing with arguments put out by defense lawyers.

The fugitive man who is married to the daughter of immediate past governor of the Bank of Ghana is alleged to be a member of an organised crime syndicate from Liverpool responsible for a failed smuggling operation discovered by Border Force at Tilbury Docks in May 2013, when officers seized 400kg (881Ibs) of cocaine smuggled into the country in a container of frozen Argentinian beef.
A combined team of police and military was deployed to the area by the Ashanti Regional Security Council to flush out the herdsmen but that has also proved futile, the angry residents have said.

Spokesperson for the Agogo World Wide Association (WWA), Sam Enyan Kusi has told Accra-based Joy FM that The government has failed us; we have been disappointed by the government.

He added that they will be compelled to use force to drive out the nomadic herdsmen if after their demonstration the government fails to come to their rescue.
In light of challenges on the continent, including terror attacks, deadly diseases, refugees fleeing violence, and other extremists attacks, it has become important for nations in Africa to find ways to move across the continent quickly with the right equipment, the forum organisers said.

In Africa, some of the logistical constraints have been transportation, freight costs, limited services and infrastructure.

Speaking at the forum, US Ambassador to Ghana Robert Jackson said "It is imperative to have experienced personnel with the right equipment and training if we are to overcome the logistical obstacles we face in garrison, operational or tactical environments."

He expressed the United States' readiness to support Ghana's peacekeeping operations support.

"Our Ghanaian partners have been a major contributor to the United Nations peacekeeping operations, supplying more than 3,000 personnel, including police, military observers and troops in the past eight years. The United States is pleased to support these operations by providing essential training exercises. Exercises - such as the Logistics Peacekeeping Operations and the African Deployment Assistance Partnership Team conducted in Ghana, Togo and Benin in the last two years - have been essential for training logistical units and personnel," he added.

On his part, Dr. Jide Martyns Okeke, Head, Policy Development Unit, Peace Support Operations, said Africa must "adapt systems and processes in line with contemporary security threats."

He said the best way to defeat terror attacks on the continent is to deploy troops with specific capabilities, employ partnership peacekeeping, and mobilise resources from within the continent.

Other participants in the Africa Logistics Forum (ALF) 2016, were senior officials, both civilian and uniformed, with experience and expertise in strategic planning, policy development, logistics and resource management, multinational operations and regional initiatives.
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The report shows that between January and June last year, the GNPC spent $2.11 million on the dispute ongoing in the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, representing 25% of the companys total allocation for exploration and equity financing for the year.

The maritime dispute ensued in 2014 when Ghana hauled the Ivory Coast before the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea over the latters claim of ownership of parts of the oil and gas-rich Cape Three Points.

The Chairman of the PIAC, Professor Paul Kingsley Buah Bassuah, asked in a media interview whether GNPC had parliamentary approval to make such expenditure.

Did the event get approval to do that? I do not know and it will be good to find out, he said.
According to ASP Tanko the police had information that scores of Bishop Obinims supporters had planned to invade and attack Okomfo Yaws residence and decided to give him protection.

Supporters of Bishop Obinim were going to invade the fetish priests house and attack him so we sent the men there to prevent that from happening, he said.

Okomfo Yaw Appiah who agreed on a face off with Bishop Daniel Obinim at the Jacksons Park in Kumasi failed to make an appearance claiming he is under house arrest.

ASP Tanko added that the protective custody did not restrict Okomfo Yaw Appiahs movement.
Popular Nigerian prophet and founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), Pastor TB Joshua, said I am seeing Thursday, Friday, and Saturday  if I may say Thursday  because these evil people they are very funny. Anything can just happen. You will be very shocked to see what will happen, because when the prayer is going in this direction they [attackers] change to [another] direction, TB Joshua said in a live sermon on Sunday April 10 aired on the Emmanuel TV channel.

There have been fears of a possible terror attack on Ghana after terrorists attacked Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast countries sharing borders with Ghana.

Security alerts have since been issued by the Security Council and the police President Mahama has also asked Ghanaians to vigilant of their own safety.

Some agencieslike the Ghana Airports Company,hotels and shopping malls have began taking security measure in an attempt to prevent such an attack

But the latest revelation by the controversial pastors has rekindled the debate of terror in Ghana.

Some people of social media have put out arguments to suggest people should not take seriously the prophecy. since the attack on Ghana is imminent following attacks on Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast.

Speaking on Okay Fm Rev Owusu Bempah said everybody in Ghana knows I dont believe T B Joshua is of God. Everybody should understand that satan can also reveal things which are true. In the bible when Saul went to the sorcerer the things she told Saul were true but she was using enchantment which was from satan.

He said the fact that he doesnt believe the things T B Joshua does is not proof that he cant into the spirit realm.
He wrote,

"Why go to China to negotiate terms and conditions to borrow $2billion when;

1) We are expecting $200billion from looted money stashhed away in Dubai.

2) America is helping us repatriate $6billion kept by former PDP Governor's and ministers in the USA

3) Loads of thieves under Jonathan have returned millions of dollars

4) Trillions of Naira raked in by the Nigeria custom service

5) Millions of Dollars saved by the TSA and leakages have been blocked.

Even if you are very dumb, you should at least be able to ask some simple questions. Why borrow with an interest when you already have a lot? Except if the 'fight against corruption" is just a scam."
While the 'King' was arrested, two of his boys managed to escape while one of them in his bid to evade arrest through the roof, fell and hit his head on the floor and died instantly.
The victim, Fati, 16, has reportedly revealed that herself and other young girls snatched from their villages during attacks by the terrorist sect, volunteer to be suicide bombers in order to escape rape and starvation.

Having explosives strapped to their bodies or carried in baskets on their heads has become the only chance of escape for these young girls.

Fati who had managed to escape her village to the Minawo refugee camp in Camaroon after being kidnapped and raped by Boko Haram fighters revealed to CNN that the girls were made to compete against each other in other to be picked for their deadly mission.

"They came to us to pick us. They would ask, 'Who wants to be a suicide bomber?'The girls would shout, 'me, me, me.' They were fighting to do the suicide bombings."

For Fati, instead of choosing death as a means of escape, suicide bombing was a means to an end, a ray of hope for her and many other girls.

"If they give them a suicide bomb, then maybe they would meet soldiers, tell them, 'I have a bomb on me' and they could remove the bomb. They can run away."

Fati, who had been kidnapped and raped in 2014, after her fighter 'husband' who had defected and tried to flee over the border, had set her free.

Sadly, many of the girls who manage to escape, go on to have very difficult lives considering the fact that they are shunned and ostracised by worried civilians who are concerned that they could be concealing bombs.

A refugee leader, Mohammed Amodu, reveals to CNN:

"If we see a strange girl, she may be a suicide bomber. Perhaps their mind is with Boko Haram."
An Igbosere Magistrates' Court which gave the ruling, also granted the duo two sureties each in like sum as part of the bail conditions.

The accused -- Solomon Ichoja, 23, and Geoffrey Arve, 20 -- are facing a three-count charge bordering on conspiracy and rape.

They, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Earlier, the Prosecutor, Cpl. Cyriacus Osuji told the court that the accused committed the offences on April 8 at about 9.00 p.m. at No. 7, Olosa St., Victoria Island, Lagos.

He said the accused, security guards at DSTV headquarters in Lagos, gang-raped the teenager.

Osuji said the offences contravened Sections 262, 285 (1) and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
The reports reveal that the suspects, Yohanna Amos, 32 and his conductor, Baba Muibi, 25 had reportedly assaulted the officials with wooden planks, inflicting serious injuries to their heads and bodies.

Police officers attached to the Maroko Division, Lekki, Lagos, have reportedly identified the victims as Anjorin John Olufolahan, Idowu Femi, Onanuga Adeleye Sunday, Sifawu Timirisiya and Tijani Rasak.

PM News reports that the Police prosecutor, Sgt Nicolas Akpene, has informed the court that the accused persons allegedly committed the offence on March 29, 2016 along Ligali Ayorinde Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Sgt Akpene also revealed to the court, presided over by Magistrate, Mr P.A Adekomaiya, that the injured officers had stopped a truck with registration number, FKJ 402 XS which was being driven by the first accused, demanding for his driver's licence and vehicle papers.

Instead of obeying the officers and producing the necessary documents, the accused and his conductor had allegedly attacked the officers with wooden planks, inflicting serious injuries on them for daring to ask for their vehicle documents.

The accused persons have reportedly pleaded not guilty to the police allegations.
ZimEye reports that Nhanga was arraigned before Magistrate Story Rushambwa on a three-count charge of rape.

According to the prosecutor, sometime in February this year, Nhanga broke into a house in the Makwasha area of Zvishavane and grabbed the first victim by the neck, undressed and threatened to kill her if she refused to cooperate. He then raped her once before escaping.

On the same night, Nhanga proceeded to a nearby house where he raped a 24-year-old woman. He allegedly switched off the electricity at the house, sneaked into the house and ordered the woman to undress but she refused.

Nhanga then forcibly removed the womans clothes and raped her once and ordered her to take a bath while he watched.

The woman managed to see Nhanga's face through the dim light provided by the tower light. She pushed him down overpowering him in the way and ran to the police station where she reported the matter.

On March 26, Nhanga broke into another house where he stole two Nokia cellphones before raping the 17-year-old girl who was sleeping. He threatened to kill the teen after raping her.

Upon hearing some noise, a neighbour woke up to investigate and hit a fleeing Nhanga who forgot his red jacket.
After a closed-door session of the senate on Tuesday, April 12, in Abuja, the upper chamber's spokesman, Abdullahi Sabi told journalists that NASS is open to accepting a supplementary budget that includes the Lagos-Calabar rail project.

The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, had accused the NASS of removing the rail project from the budget details forwarded to President Muhammadu Buhari - the allegation which the Senate denied on Monday, saying the project was not included the original budget in the first place.

We issued that statement to clarify the situation and not to confront or threaten anybody," Sabi said at the media briefing.

What we issued yesterday is our position. What we did today was to confirm. I will definitely remain guided by the tenets of the constitution.

That the Lagos-Calabar project was not in the budget does not undermine its importance. The national assembly is open; whenever the executive brings the supplementary budget regarding the project, it will be honoured.

But we must remain guided by the constitution. That we pass the budget has not ended our responsibility. We have to move to oversight functions.

We know it is an important project and we are ready to honour it.

The way forward is that we have passed budget, and we are saying bring a supplementary appropriation bill.

Admitting that the rail project was indeed missing in the original budget,the senator representing Lagos east and chairman of senate committee on land transport, Gbenga Ashafa, said the omission was corrected by Amaechi during the budget defence.
The US Navy SEALs are known for launching successful counter-terrorism missions in extremely difficult terrains, one of which they are revered for being the 2011 Abbottabad operation that killed former Al Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden.

According to The Cable, the retired officer, who pleaded anonymity, advised the federal government against buying US Apache helicopters as being reported in the media.

The officer, who is said to be familiar with Nigeria's counter-terrorism operations, said the money the government plans to spend on these machines can be put to better and most effective use in the fight against terrorism in the country,

He said: Recently I have seen articles suggesting the government will buy $500 million worth of US Apache helicopters  about eight of them.

More recently it has been suggested that the military buy South African AH-2 type helicopters. Both are two-seater aircraft designed for close air support of troops on the ground and to be tank and LAV killers.

It would appear to me that money would be better spent on high-performance long range attack/transport helicopters, such as the US Black Hawk (pictured) or the Ukrainian Mi-8 MSB, which is one-third the cost of the Black Hawk, and on developing an air cavalry command capable of deploying troops rapidly on short notice to any hot spot.

Such helicopters do the triple duty of troop lift, logistical supply/support and close-air support of troops in the fight. If the situation worsens to be more like Iraq and Afghanistan, where IEDs are a daily occurrence, long range attack/transport helicopters will be in great demand for logistical support of remote bases.

He recommends the air cavalry approach because of its ability to target the key areas as well as the key actors.

It seems to me that Nigeria needs a nimble military capable of rapidly vertically enveloping insurgents, an air cavalry. It can destroy the Boko Haram by identifying the leaders, mapping out the leadership/command structure and targeting leaders for capture and interrogation, he said.

Explaining further, he said: Counter terrorist operations are more like spearfishing than regular army maneuver operations which could be likened to net fishing. Net fishing in counter insurgencies runs the risk of alienating the population, thereby creating more terrorists. Commando operations target the big fish to extract information from them in surgical capture-or-kill operations.

Sorties of helicopters can maneuver to vertically envelop insurgents. An air cavalry battalion could target key leaders to capture or kill them. Intelligence personnel could interrogate insurgents, conduct forensics on their cellphones and monitor all connections to construct a map of Boko Haram structure/leadership.
US State Department Deputy Spokesperson, Mark Toner, said this in a statement on Tuesday, April 12, in New York, on the second anniversary of the kidnapping of the more than 200 Nigerian girls.

According to the statement, the kidnapping of these young women, along with the kidnappings of countless others by Boko Haram, epitomised the terrorist groups depravity.

Toner called for the immediate release, without preconditions, of all hostages held by Boko Haram.

He said that the US is also delivering over 240 million dollars in development and humanitarian assistance across the Lake Chad Basin region.
The Senates warning was contained in a statement released by spokesman, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi on Monday, April 11, 2016.

It reads in part:

While the executive is mandated to prepare and lay before the National Assembly a proposed budget detailing projects to be executed, it should be made clear that the responsibility and power of appropriation lie with the National Assembly.

If the presidency expects us to return the budget proposal to them without any adjustments, then some people must be living in a different era and probably have not come to terms with democracy. We make bold to say, however, that the said Lagos-Calabar rail project was not included in the budget proposal presented to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari, and we challenge anyone who has any evidence to the contrary to present such to Nigerians.

Since the beginning of the 2016 budget process, it is clear that the National Assembly has suffered all manners of falsehood, deliberate distortion of facts, and outright blackmail, deliberately aimed at poisoning the minds of the people against the institution of the National Assembly. We have endured this with equanimity in the overall interest of Nigerians.

Even when the original submission was surreptitiously swapped and we ended up having two versions of the budget, which was almost incomprehensible and heavily padded in a manner that betrays lack of coordination and gross incompetence, we refused to play to the gallery and instead helped the Executive to manage the hugely embarrassing situation it has brought upon itself; but enough is enough.

This latest antics of this particular minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, is reckless, uncalled for and dangerously divisive. Apart from setting the people of the southern part of the country against their northern compatriots, it potentially sets the people against their lawmakers from the concerned constituencies and sets the lawmakers against themselves.

This manner of reprehensible mischief has no place in a democracy. We hereby demand from Mr. Amaechi a publicly tendered apology if he is not able to show evidence that the Lagos-Calabar rail project was included in the budget. Otherwise, he should resign forthwith.

Finally, by the provision of Section 81 (4) (a) and (b) of the constitution, the President is allowed to sign the budget and kick-start the implementation of the other areas that constitute over 90 per cent of the budget where there is agreement between both arms, even as we engage ourselves to resolve the contentious areas, if there were any.

We, therefore, maintain that even these contrived discrepancies are not sufficient excuse not to sign the budget into law. We, therefore, urge President Buhari to sign the 2016 budget without any further delay. For every additional day that the president withholds his assent from the bill, the hardship in the land, which is already becoming intolerable for the masses of our people gets even more complicated. Certainly, as primary representatives of the people, we shall not vacate our responsibility and watch the people continue to suffer unduly.

The budget has been the centre of controversy since it was reported missing from the Assembly premises in January.

Senate President, Bukola Saraki later said that two different versions of the document had been submitted to the legislative house.

The controversy led to the sacking of the Director General of the budget office, Yahaya Gusau and the redeployment of 22 officialsfrom the Ministry of Budget and National Planning.

The budget was finally passed on March 23, 2016 after the Senate and the House of Representatives both received the requisite report from the Joint Committee on Appropriation.

The controversy did not stop there however as President Buhari refused to sign the budget without being aware of the final details which were yet to be sent by the Assembly.
The herdsmen have been harassing farmers in the middle belt for a long time but their activities came to a head in February 2016 when they murdered hundreds of villagers in the Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State.

The Idoma nation is helpless. Over 300 Agatu people have been killed and others maimed in one week without concerted effort by the state government to abate the attack, killings and destruction,Opiatoha KIdoma, a group made up of Idomas, Benues predominant tribe, said in response to the incident.

Im shocked beyond words at the extent of destruction I have seen here in Agatu today. This is unbelievable. It is unimaginable. Nothing whatsoever justifies this brazen act of destruction meted out on the people of Agatu. My heart bleeds, former Senate President, David Mark said at the time adding that 500 people had been killed in the massacre.

Since then, there have been reports of small pockets of violence caused by the herdsmen around the country.

However, on Monday, April 11, 2016, the herdsmen again went on full rampage in Taraba State when they attacked Angai and Ndole villages in the Gashaka Local Council area.

Happening now in Gashaka LGA, Taraba state. The genocide and ethnic cleansing continue! Fulani herdsmen have descended on about four villages in Gashaka LGA in Taraba central, slaughtering, destroying farmlands and houses and burning villagers alive. Please help broadcast this to the world. No sign of any security in sight, a Facebook user, Bako Benjamin wrote on his page.

The incident has been confirmed by the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Joseph Kwaji.

It is true that there was an attack by the herdsmen, but for now, I dont have the full details of the crisis, so I cannot tell you the number of casualties now, Kwaji said.

According to residents of the area, the crisis started because one of the herdsmen was prevented from raping a woman.

The Fulani herdsmen have also been named as the fourth deadliest terror group in the world by the Global Terrorism Index (GTI).

According to the report, the herdsmen are believed to have killed at least 1,229 people in Nigeria in 2014, making the country the third most terrorized nation in the world.

The GTI also warned that the Fulani herdsmen have been linked to Boko Haram adding that the herdsmens attacks now pose a serious threat to stability.

The impunity with which the Fulani herdsmen attack villages shows that they believe theyre untouchable and this is because no major step has been taken to check their atrocities.
Masha, condemned the incident in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja.

NAN reports that the clashes claimed the lives of more than 300 people including women and children.

The incident also resulted in the displacement of people seeking refuge in various communities.

"Its unfortunate because this is very unlike Nigerian, violence of this nature is terror and it is not something that is a part of us.

"And it's something that we need to work together both within the community at the government level, state and federal levels, but also within the communities.

"The community leaders, religious leaders are also people that can be very influential in changing the narrative.

"When issues like this occur it's important that there is justice, law and order must prevail and there is justice.

"And when that is seen to have been done, than people have the feeling of being looked after, people have the feeling of being considered.

"Its not something that one would wish for anyone but its as I said again, is very unlike Nigerians and we need to do our best to push back against this kind of incident in the future."

She pledged governments commitment to providing assistance for victims of the communal clashes.

"NEMA, I am aware has started providing assistance and beyond that is the measures being put in place to find security solutions, we have the military and that is just one step.

"If we don't know what the real causes are, we will be scratching

through the surface of the issues, she said.
Mimiko said There is no question about the fact that this is becoming a monster of sort. I have had cause to express my view on this on many occasions and I think we all ignore this menace as a nation.

I can see us moving towards a precipice and we must do something about it as early as possible, it is getting dangerous, the audacity is very disturbing.

The Governor called on members of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) in the state not to take laws into their hands.

Mimiko also said I say it again, we are moving towards the precipice and the earlier we pull back, and it requires all the stakeholders from the president and this is a bi-partisan issue, all major stakeholders must come together on how to resolve this issue.

These herdsmen must be called to order, these wanton destructions, audacious incursions in other peoples territory cannot continue for too long.

Adding that It is very ironical, we have been talking about diversification and agriculture is the main focus but in this state there is hardly any medium scale or large scale farmers that has not had any encounter or the other with the herdsmen.

They just go to the farm and devastate the farms, some of them have been turned to perpetual debtors because some of the input for the farms are from bank loans , the herdsmen will just get there and destroy these farmlands and we are talking of diversification.

But I think if we dont do anything about the activities of these herdsmen, I can see a threat to the security of this country so it is a major challenge and I think the President and all major stakeholders should take this as a very serious challenge.

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo state has also warned Fulani herdsmen in the state not to cause any trouble.

See Pulse Photo Gallery below.
Metuh is standing trial for allegedly receiving N400m from the former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki.

The money has also been linked with the $2.1b meant for procurement of weapons for the military to prosecute the war against Boko Haram, which Dasuki allegedly diverted.

The witness, Abonyi said After the presentation, the President asked for comment from those sitting with him and most of the speakers made positive remarks about what they saw in our presentation.

The Office of the Media Adviser, (Dr. Reuben Abati), did the presentation; Dr. Doyin Okupe, Senior Special Adviser on Public Affairs, and some other professionals brought in by party and government officials also did presentation.

The witness also said Ultimately, given the comments of people that were sitting with the President, I recalled vividly the comments of a former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, who told the President that what the team presented should be put into action; they should be quickly mobilised because if nothing was done immediately before the President started the campaign, it would be difficult to win the election given the public perception of him and his government at that time.

Abonyi added that The President then said since it appeared to be the consensus of the people with him then that Metuh and his team did a better job, he would advise that all the others should collapse into Chief Metuhs team, because he would want the consultant to provide the direction.

At that point, the President told Chief Metuh that he had done a good job but that the real job was still out there to put all these into action and told him to bring a corporate account to him for immediate mobilisation and action.

Meanwhile, the Ijaw Youth Congress (IYC) has warned against what it perceives as the government's attempt to arrest former President Goodluck Jonathan.
The strike therefore constitutes another major setback for the insurgents, while providing tangible evidence of many of the recent successes recorded by the air component of Operation Lafiya Dole, he said.

However, a retired US counter-terrorism expert had advised that the best approach to conquering the insurgents is through "air calvary."
Thesenior special assistant to the governor on media and publicity, Sylvanus Giwa, the killings in a statement on Tuesday, April 12.

According to the statement, 20 persons were killed in Angai village, nine in Maisuma, eight in Dorei and seven in Fali.

The armed herdsmen were said to have unleashed terror on the villages after they were prevented from raping a lady in one of the communities.

The government is concerned that the current killings will be a major setback to Gov. Darius Ishakus efforts to resettle the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the state, the statement read.

Gov Ishaku has therefore, vowed to eliminate any form of insurgency by evil agents under any guise across the state.

However, the state commissioner of police, Shaba Alkali, said 60 mobile policemen from Yola, Adamawa state capital have been deployed to the state upon the approval of the Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase.

He said one Ardo Ayuba has been arrested in connection with the latest attacks while others who are on the run are being trailed.
The board of mid-sized National Bank sent chief executive Munir Ahmed and five others on compulsory leave in late March, warning on 2015 earnings after bad loans mounted. Ahmed at the time called the board's response an overreaction.

The sector came under the microscope on Thursday when Chase Bank Kenya Ltd, another mid-sized lender, was put into receivership for failing to meet its obligations and following a run on deposits, becoming the third bank in nine months to be placed under central bank control.

Central bank governor Patrick Njoroge, who has introduced more stringent reporting requirements for banks since being appointed in June, said on Wednesday there were no "systemic problems" in the sector.

Police said they took statements on Saturday from Zafrullah Khan and Duncan Kabui, respectively Chase Bank's former chairman and former group managing director.

Neither man could immediately be reached for comment by Reuters.

"I'm expecting the National Bank people today. The Chase Bank people, we had them on Saturday," Ndegwa Muhoro, director of the police's Criminal Investigations Department, said on Monday, adding detectives were working closely with the central bank.

National Bank said on Friday it would cooperate with police investigations.

Chase Bank's Khan and Kabui left their positions last week after a restatement of results that showed auditors had flagged concerns about loans of 16.6 billion shillings ($164 million).

A third lender, Imperial Bank, is still in receivership after it was taken over last October, just two months after a smaller one, Dubai Bank, was placed under central bank control.

Njoroge said on Sunday the central bank would provide financing to any lender or microfinance institution that was facing liquidity problems through no fault of its own.

The central bank has also said it expects consolidation in Kenya's banking sector that will lead to stronger institutions.
The episode kicked off with a man named Chris Santumari in Maroua, Cameroon, trying to negotiate the release of 106 Nigerian school girls in exchange of five Boko Haram fighters.

After an unsuccessful negotiation with Hadi Bangote who heads the sect, Chris returns to America to discuss what he knows about the deadly sect.

Returning to America, he discovers he has contracted the Marburg virus (an Ebola-like virus which lives in African monkeys) during his stay in Africa.

At the hospital, an experimental treatment that could save Chris is available, but they only have three doses of it. Also, the deadly sect leader Hadi, has contracted the Marburg virus.

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After Chris' recovery, Elizabeth (Madam Secretary) sends him back to Cameroon, where he makes a deal with Hadi. He offers him the cure to stop the outbreak, in exchange of the missing girls.

In the end, they stopped the outbreak and saved the 106 school girls.

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"Madam Secretary" follows the life of Madam Secretary 's life as the shrewd, calculating, and determined newly-appointed United States Secretary of States. McCord drives international diplomacy, battles office politics, and circumvents and ignores protocol as she negotiates worldwide issues.

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On April 14, 2014, Boko Haram militants kidnapped 276 school girls, mostly aged between 16 and 18, from a secondary school in Chibok in Borno State, northeast Nigeria.

Under the hashtag #bringbackourgirls, politicians, celebrities and the public globally united to demand the return of the girls who disappeared without a trace.
Premium Times reports that the Reps spokesperson, Abdulrazak Namdas said Amaechi tried to smuggle in the Lagos-Calabar railway project after Buhari had presented the budget.

Namdas said The item was brought for inclusion in the budget by Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, but was not included in the budget because only the president is allowed to present the budget before the National Assembly.

The media is awash with story that the National Assembly has removed the Calabar- Lagos railway project from the budget.

I want to make it very clear that we dont have that in the presentation made by the President to the National Assembly, so we couldnt have removed what was not even inserted in the first place.

The lawmaker also said It was the Minister of Transport that brought the Calabar- Lagos railway to be included in the budget.

We want to state clearly that the budget is something that is proposed by the president; we do not receive budget from minister.

So, for somebody to say we actually removed the Calabar-Lagos railway project from the budget, I think someone is trying to spoil our good image.

We want to state again that all that was sent to the National Assembly from the supplementary budget and others had a smooth sail, and it is on record that some people lost their job because of this budget.

President Buhari had on Monday, April 11, 2016, expressed his displeasure at the changes made to the 2016 budget by the National Assembly.

See Pulse Photo Gallery below.
Nwodo made the denial via a statement released on Monday, April 11, 2016.

It is improper for the media to stand merely on my wife being present at a meeting that I was not, to conclude that I have joined the APC, disregarding the fact that my wife as an adult has her own political life," he said.

As one of the founding fathers of PDP who has held the highest office in the party, I know the statutory procedure of resigning and would willingly do that if necessary, he added.

Nwodo also urged his supporters to ignore the rumours of his supposed defection.

----------------------------------------------
Ize-Iyamu also accused Oshiomhole of abandoning the cement factory that was started by former Governor Lucky Igbinedion.

He said the Governor did not have any developmental plan for Edo state.

Ize-Iyamu said Today, even the market women and poor sachet water sellers are not left out of the multiple taxation of the Oshiomhole administration in Edo State.

A state that rakes in over N2 billion internally generated revenue and over N3 billion from the Federation Account is not poor. What he is doing by his spate of borrowing is to mortgage the future of Edo people and children yet unborn into debts.

The PDP governorship aspirant also said Recently, all of us were shocked when the governor came out of an executive council meeting to say that the former administration built a cement factory that was 35 per cent completed and that he would investigate same.

This is a factory that was more than 90 per cent completed. Instead of completing it, the governor said he wanted to investigate it. Today, the factory is abandoned. We intend to change all that. The economy of our state must be diversified.

undefinedby the Samuel Adegboyega University, Ogwa, Edo State.

See Pulse Photo Gallery below.
The founder of the Synagogue Church Of All Nations have denied the claims of his involvement.

I was shocked to find a report written in claiming that the Panama Papers revealed a shell company called Chillon Consultancy Limited in the British Virgin Islands, allegedly owned by me.

On malicious claims

Whoever is involved in this malicious write-up and propaganda with an obvious intent to defame my person and the ministry, remember what the Bible says in Luke 2:34  This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many and to be a sign that will be spoken against.

I am not a businessman and have no business whatsoever. What God has given me is more than enough. I have nothing to do with the Panama Papers. As for my family, and me we shall remain in the vineyard of God.

To Premium Times

Do not allow your company to be used. Do not allow your company to stand against God. This is a lie!

The journalist made it up

This news was written by the same journalist who alleged that I bribed him during the building incident and went to different channels  both local and international  to propagate these fabrications. Since the building incident, there have been a series of threats towards the ministry and my person by this same journalist, , who represents a gang of people.

After everything that has been done in an attempt to destroy this ministry, this is what he has resorted to. Even the picture used in the write-up is taken from the Mexico Crusade I recently held. It was a crusade I went for, nothing more.

Some people are wrongly accused of being involved

Do not use the Panama Papers to attack those you have been looking for an opportunity to victimise. This is to show that not everybody alleged in the media to be involved in the Panama Papers is truly involved. My own case is a good example.
This was made known by the ASUU National President, Dr Nasir Isa, on Monday, April 11.

During a media briefing, Isa said that such increment would worsen the hardship Nigerians were currently experiencing. He advised that the Federal Government should step up efforts at implementing its pronounced policies.

The current fuel crisis has adverse consequences on the socio-economic life of the nation; it has increased the cost of food, transportation, electric power as well as the general cost of living.

It has widened the distance between the government and the people and created distrust between the people and the government.

The government should implement its proclaimed policy on the oil and gas sector; on no account should this result in any increase in the price of petroleum products because Nigerians have suffered enough.

If any increment of the prices of petroleum products is forced upon the people, our union will join Nigerian workers to resist until the increase is reversed.

Isa also added that the government is not fast enough when it comes to implementing its policies in the oil and gas sector He listed some of the governments promises as getting the refineries working, ending crude oil and refined products swap and re-introducing direct sale and direct purchase in the oil sector.

Isa also recalled the Federal Governments promise to make specific and unambiguous pronouncement on petroleum subsidy.

He said that there was no provision in the 2016 budget to back up the policy statement about scholarship for students pursuing science education.

He also added that the Treasury Single Account (TSA) was a violation of university autonomy and as such not acceptable to the university system

Isa said that there were lots of incursions, including circulars which breached university autonomy and academic freedom.
The commands Public Relations Officer, DSP Ahmad Muhammad, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port Harcourt.

He said that there was no casualty on the part of the police or students during the violent protest by the students over a no tuition fee-no examination fee policy introduced by the UNIPORT management.

No student or policeman lost their lives during the UNIPORT protest.

The policeman reported dead had nothing to do with UNIPORT, because the deceased policeman was shot dead by armed robbers in an isolated case.

Similarly, no university student was killed to the best of my knowledge.

All roads earlier blocked by the protesting students have been reopened by the police, he said

Muhammad said the police was cooperating with UNIPORT management to ensure that normalcy was restored on campus and host communities.

Earlier, UNIPORTs Deputy Registrar (Information), Dr Williams Wodi, told NAN that two persons, including a policeman lost their lives in the violent protest.

The spokesman said the policeman was shot dead at a junction along the East West inter-state road, close to the university.

Also, another person whose identity had not been confirmed was also shot dead on Monday during the protest which lasted for several hours, Wodi said.

NAN reports that management of UNIPORT had announced the closure of the university for one month following the students protest over new tuition fee policy on Monday in Port Harcourt.

UNIPORT management had in 2015, adopted a policy which made tuition fee a prerequisite for students participation in examination, a policy which compelled defaulting students to repeat a whole academic session.

The protest which initially started on a peaceful note, later turned violent with students destroying school property worth millions of naira.
The senate at UNIPORT has shut down the school for the next one month with immediate effect following a protest by school students which eventually became violent.

UNIPORT deputy Registrar in Charge of Information, William Wodi, stated that all students are to vacate their hostel accommodation before 6: 00 pm on Monday, April 11.

According to him, students union and their affiliate bodies have also been suspended till further notice. Security personnel were seen trying to disperse the protesting students to avert further crisis.

The protesters claimed that the school authorities have been insensitive to their plight and vowed to intensify their protests until the management of the school responds to their demands.
Mrs. Juliet Ehimuan-Chiazor, the Country Manager, Google Nigeria, made this announcement during a media briefing in Lagos.

According to Ehimuan-Chiazo, internet is at the heart of economic growth and the Digital Skills Programme aimed at helping more Africans play a part in the digital economy.

"Everyone can succeed online, start a new business, grow their existing one, or share their passion with others.

"More are needed to be done to support people in Africa to succeed in the digital world, and Google want to be part of that,'' she said.

The country manager said that internet offers huge opportunities to start new businesses and grow existing ones, saying the company was committed to helping Africans make the most of the digital revolution.

She said that in realising this commitment, Google was supporting its partner Livity Africa to run two training programmes.

She listed the programmes as 'Digify Bytes to give digital skills to young people seeking to develop a digital career; and Digify Pro, a three-month immersion programme for digital specialists.

The country manager said that these programmes were already launched in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa and would be scaled to reach more people in the next 12 months.

Ehimuan-Chiazor said that a group of 65 volunteer Googlers from around the world would help the Livity team with content development, training the trainers and in some cases, deliver the training sessions.

"Today sees the launch of digifyafrica.com, an online-learning portal that will house a range of digital skills courses, available to anyone in Africa, free.

"The courses are designed to be as light as possible so they dont eat up valuable data. There are nine training courses already available and Google aims to have 50 available by July,'' she said.

She said that to be a part of the training, one needed to sign up at the digital skill platform and the person should fall within the ages of 18 to 35.

Ehimuan-Chiazor added that by 2020 there would be half a billion internet users in Africa, presenting an opportunity for African businesses and digital entrepreneurs.

"Youth unemployment across Africa is high (35per cent in South Africa, 17per cent in Kenya, 13per cent in Nigeria), developing digital entrepreneurship and creating new job opportunities for young people is critical to Africas transformative growth.

"Digital skills are still under-developed, making it harder for African economies to get the most out of the web and that is why Google wants to help close this knowledge gap.

"Google is today pledging to train one million young people in Africa in digital skills in the next year as part of their contribution to growing Africas digital economy,'' she said.

In his own contribution, Mr. Daniel Ikuenobe, in the Delivery Unit if the Office of Googles Vice President said that the training would help in reducing the unemployment rate of the country.

"We are excited with the Google programme because it will help in job creation that is needed in the country,'' he said.

Mr. Seyi Ogunseye, the Head, Hardware and Infrastructure, Office of National Content on Information and Communications Technology, said that the programme would help in the building skills for human capacity development.
"The system is rigged, it's crooked," Trump said on Fox News on Monday, alleging the Colorado convention results showed voters were being denied a voice in the process.

"There was no voting. I didn't go out there to make a speech or anything, there's no voting," Trump said. "The people out there are going crazy, in the Denver area and Colorado itself, and they're going absolutely crazy because they weren't given a vote. This was given by politicians - it's a crooked deal."

Trump has 743 bound delegates to 545 for Cruz, according to an Associated Press count, in the battle for the 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination on the first ballot and avoid a messy floor fight at the Republican National Convention from July 18-21.

But both are at risk of not acquiring enough delegates for a first-ballot victory, leaving many free to switch their votes on later ballots.

That has set off a fierce scramble by Republican candidates to get their supporters chosen as convention delegates and brought new scrutiny to the selection rules, which vary by state.

Trump, who has brought in veteran strategist Paul Manafort to lead his delegate-gathering efforts, complained about Cruz's recent success at local and state party meetings where activists pick the actual delegates who will attend the national convention.

Trump accused Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas, of trying to steal delegates in South Carolina. Trump won the state primary in February, but Cruz supporters got four of the first six delegate slots filled at congressional district meetings on Saturday, according to local media.
Tehran is Assad's main regional ally and has provided military and economic support to his fight against rebel groups and Islamic State militants.

To date, most Iranians involved in the Syrian war have been from the paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary GuardsCorps. Iran is believed to have sent hundreds as military advisers.

But an officer in the Iranian army's ground force said last week that commandos from the army's Brigade 65 and other units were sent to Syria as advisers.

"Four of the first military advisors of the Islamic Republic's army...were killed in Syria by takfiri groups," Tasnim reported. Iran refers to the hardline Sunni Islamists as takfiris.

Tasnim has named one of them as Mohsen Qeytaslo, a commando, but has not identfied the rest.
News of the defections followed a South Korean announcement on Friday that 13 workers at a restaurant run by the North in an unidentified country had defected, a case it described as unprecedented, arriving in the South a day earlier.

South Korea did not say where the 13 had worked. China said on Monday that 13 North Koreans had been there and had left lawfully. It did not say if they were the same group.

The South's Unification and Defence Ministries said on Monday a North Korean army colonel defected last year and had been granted political asylum. He had worked in the secretive General Reconnaissance Bureau, which is focused on espionage activities against the South.

The defection of a high-ranking officer in the General Reconnaissance Bureau is a coup for Seoul. The North set up the bureau in 2009, consolidating several intelligence agencies to streamline operations aimed at the South.

Its head, General Kim Yong Chol, is accused by the South of being behind a 2010 torpedo attack against the South that sunk a navy ship and killed 46 sailors. The North denies any responsibility for the sinking.

The bureau is also known to operate an elite team of computer specialists working to infiltrate the networks of the South and other countries and to conduct cyber attacks against key institutions.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the North Korean colonel specialised in anti-South espionage operations before defecting and had divulged the nature of his work to South Korean authorities.

South Korean officials declined to comment.

News of the defections come after a period of tension on the Korean peninsula following the North's fourth nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch the next month.

'VALID PASSPORTS'

The South Korean government's public acknowledgement of defections is unusual.

The main liberal opposition Minjoo Party on Monday accused the government of conservative President Park Geun-hye of trying to influence conservative voter turnout ahead of Wednesday's parliamentary elections by announcing the defection of the restaurant workers last week.

Both ministries denied suggestions that Monday's revelations were made for domestic political reasons and said disclosing the defections was in the public interest.

China is North Korea's main ally and is known for sending defectors back to the North, so South Korean media reports that restaurant workers had been there initially raised some surprise.

Asked about the workers on Monday, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said it had received a report about a group of 13 North Koreans in China who had gone missing.

"After an investigation, (we found) the 13 North Koreans used valid passports to leave the country normally in the early hours of April 6," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a regular briefing, without saying where they had gone.

"What needs to be stressed is that these people had valid identity documents and legally came to the country, not North Koreans who have entered illegally."

South Korea's Joongang Ilbo newspaper said the 13 worked at a restaurant in the Chinese city of Ningbo until around Tuesday last week when they disappeared, quoting a Chinese worker at the Ryugyong Korean Restaurant.

Calls to the restaurant seeking comment went unanswered.

South Korean media said the 13 left China and travelled to a Southeast Asian country before being flown to South Korea, citing unidentified government sources.

The South's Unification Ministry declined to comment on where the North Koreans had been before arriving in South Korea.
Three Davenport women have been charged in connection with a methamphetamine manufacturing conspiracy that has ties in Scott and Rock Island counties.

Jessica M. Frantz, 33, Toni L. Meier, 35, and Karri L. Chapman, 39, are charged in Scott County District Court with conspiracy to commit a non-forcible felony and possession of pseudoephedrine.

Both charges are a Class D felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

Frantz and Meier were arrested Monday. Frantz was released from the Scott County Jail after posting $5,000 through a bail bonds company. Meier remained in the jail Tuesday on a $5,000 cash or surety bond.

Chapman, arrested Friday, also was in the jail Tuesday on a $5,000 cash or surety bond.

According to arrest affidavits filed by the Scott County Sheriffs Office in support of criminal complaints against the women:

On March 10, deputies and officers with the Bettendorf Police Department searched the home of Cynthia L. Reed, 50, based on information about the alleged methamphetamine manufacturing activities of Chad W. Kutzman, 37, of Milan.

Reed was in possession of methamphetamine paraphernalia and receipts from purchases of lye, a substance commonly used to make methamphetamine.

Reed admitted to collecting pseudoephedrine, a decongestant, for Kutzman and that she knew others had purchased it for him as well.

The same day, Scott County deputies and Quad-City Metropolitan Enforcement Group searched Kutzmans home and found a one-pot methamphetamine lab, methamphetamine precursors, methamphetamine and methamphetamine paraphernalia.

Kutzman admitted during an interview with police that several people, including Frantz, Reed, Meier and Chapman, had collected pseudoephedrine for him to make methamphetamine.

Reed was charged in Scott County with conspiracy to commit a non-forcible felony and possession of pseudoephedrine. She is free on bond.

Kutzman is charged in Rock Island County with manufacturing methamphetamine between 100 and 400 grams and aggravated manufacturing of methamphetamine less than 15 grams. Both of the charges are Class X felonies under Illinois law that carry a prison sentence of six to 30 years.

He also is charged with one count of possession of methamphetamine precursor and three counts of methamphetamine manufacturing materials. Each of those charges is a Class 2 felony in Illinois that carry a prison sentence of three to seven years.

He remained in the Rock Island County Jail on Tuesday on a $250,000 bond.

Scott County Sheriffs Lt. Tim Lane said Tuesday that more arrests are pending.
Jon Alexander Editorial Page Editor Editorial Page Editor, Quad-City Times Follow Jon Alexander Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

Cracks might be forming in Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan's decades-long hold on House Democrats, as backbenchers continue to cook under the heat of the state's incessant budget impasse.

Those fissures appeared suddenly Monday in Rock Island, as a pair of House Democrats championed legislation that would impose limits on how long a lawmaker can hold a legislative leadership post.

The consolidation of power happens over time, particularly among those feeding from the very top of the food chain, said Rep. Pat Verschoore, D-Milan.

"I think sometimes -- I don't think, I know -- that the top guy can amass a lot of power," Verschoore told business leaders at a Quad-Cities Chamber of Commerce luncheon.

Madigan has run the House for more than three decades.

Verschoore will leave his seat in January after 14 years in office. It's not uncommon for outgoing lawmakers to become unusually frank. Still, Verschoore's support of HB 4386, introduced earlier this year by Republican Rep. Avery Borne, is noteworthy.

Rep. Mike Smiddy, D-Hillsdale, is fighting for his political life. Smiddy, like Madigan, is a vocal critic of Rauner's "Turnaround Agenda." Yet he, too, joined those supporting the ouster of leadership every eight years, a direct assault on Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton.

"I agree, we need term limits for leadership," Smiddy said.

Both Verschoore and Smiddy panned true term limits for rank-and-file lawmakers, like those supported by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and state Sen. Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, D-Shorewood.

"If you have someone and they're doing a good job for you, why would you want to get rid of them?" Verschoore said of longtime backbenchers.

"Eight years and out" was one of Rauner's regular campaign slogans in 2014.

Smiddy double-bucked Democratic leaders, noting that he's spent three years pushing for redistricting reform, another tenet of Rauner's agenda. A bipartisan movement aimed at forcing onto the ballot the proposed creation of an independent district mapping committee has been gaining steam throughout Illinois for months.

Outgoing Republican Rep. Don Moffitt, R-Gilson, joined the chorus calling for limits on those in legislative leadership positions. The speakership is the "most powerful position in the state," Moffitt said, while hailing the redistricting reform movement.

But it was the candor of Verschoore and Smiddy that raised eyebrows. Madigan not only runs the House and determines a bill's survival. He's also head of the state Democratic Party, an organization Smiddy will rely on to beat back a tough challenge by Republican Savanna Mayor Tony McCombie for the District 71 seat. McCombie sat among chamber members Monday as Smiddy positioned himself as an independent, reform-focused legislator. McCombie didn't just sit and watch. She used the question-and-answer format to pepper the panel of lawmakers about pro-business tax credits.

Frustration with the Madigan/Rauner standoff has stewed for months. And distancing oneself from Madigan might behoove any non-Chicago Democrat looking to keep a job. But Verschoore has no reason to pander. And, now, Smiddy is on the record stating unequivocally that leadership should be regularly cleansed.

Of course, Borne's bill faces an uphill battle. It must garner hearings and passage in committees chaired by Madigan appointees. Even then, its chances of reaching the floor are slim.

But Monday showed that the months-long budget stalemate is taking a toll on Democrats. Now, they're willing to publicly call out their standard bearer.
Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) is not a bad man, at least not yet. Nor is Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks). The future "Saul Goodman" and head enforcer in the Gus Fring operation aren't yet part of major criminal organizations, but they're both pushing further and further towards full-time illegitimacy. I was struck by something Jimmy said to girlfriend/quasi-partner Kim (Rhea Seehorn) after she learned she was getting Mesa Verde Bank back: "Sometimes the good guys win." Right now, Jimmy and Mike both have at least some illusion that, if they're not good guys, then at least they're only punishing the people who deserve it and, in Jimmy's case, helping someone decent. But there are no victimless crimes, and they both learn that the hard way in "Nailed."

Mike is on a longer high after an opening that's the most "Breaking Bad"-esque scene in the episode (which was written and directed by Peter Gould, a veteran from the earlier show behind top-tier episodes like "Half Measures" and "Problem Dog"). Mike's in a ski mask and gloves, prepared to leave no trace as he hammers a stake into the ground and gets ready to pull something on a line. The driver we saw with the Regalo Helado truck last episode has a gun, but he's not prepared for the ambush: the nail-filled hose is pulled across the road, blowing out the tires and catching him off guard. Mike uses duct tape to tie the man up and close his eyes and mouth, and when he pulls out a saw, the guy thinks he's done for. Mike leaves him, however, and cuts open the tires, finding a quarter of a million dollars and leaving the scene richer than he's ever been. Hector (Mark Margolis) is furious when he finds out, and Mike relishes in watching him from across the street with binoculars.

Chuck McGill (Michael McKean), has his own problems, filing the Mesa Verde forms with every address wrong: 1216 vs. the correct 1261, for example. Chuck is arrogant enough about his abilities to assume that the mistake is Mesa Verde's and the board's, not his, and demands several times that they check their records before accepting that the mistake is his. It loses HHM Mesa Verde, and it causes Chuck a lot of pain to be out in the world with electricity practically screaming at him (we hear it first, then cut to an overhead that emphasizes how much it hurts the guy). But the greatest pain comes from him knowing who's really responsible for the mix-up.

Kim gets a pair of calls as she and Jimmy work on their new office: one from Paige, informing her that Mesa Verde is hers again, and one from Chuck's trusted assistant Ernie (or "Ernesto," as only Chuck calls him), telling her to pick up the Mesa Verde records. Something is immediately off when she and Jimmy arrive. The locks at Chuck's have changed, and he lays out his scarily accurate theory of what happened: Jimmy took advantage of Chuck's incapacitated state last week and stole the Mesa Verde files, went to an all-night copy shop and switched the addresses, waited for Chuck to file, then sneaked back in that morning to switch in the correct forms and leave no trace, making it look like Chuck's paranoid. It's a lot of work, but "no one ever accused you of being lazy," just of every other sin, as Chuck puts in his typically pompous manner. McKean hasn't been singled out for praise as often as Odenkirk or Banks (likely because he's not already a fan favorite from "Breaking Bad"), but he nails Chuck's mixture of outrage, arrogance, pain, and matter-of-fact sadness that he knows Jimmy is capable of stabbing him in the back in a "twisted romantic gesture."

Kim sees Chuck's self-righteousness and stands up for Jimmy, finding a simpler explanation that Chuck can't accept that he made a mistake and is putting it on the brother who idolized and took care of him, who Chuck doesn't respect or want to succeed. Chuck is momentarily deflated, but anyone watching Kim's body language in her speech can see how she temporarily switches from a stiff "I know Jimmy did this" to an impassioned but still measured defense. It's no surprise when she punches Jimmy's arm several times before they drive home, or that when she's reading over the Mesa Verde files at home in bed, she's brusque and cold towards Jimmy. She needs that client  it's what's going to make her career (if it doesn't ruin her for not turning in Jimmy for fraud)  so for the time being, at least, she'll accept Jimmy's twisted romantic gesture. But she drops a not-so-subtle hint as Jimmy turns to got to sleep that if he's left any trace, Chuck is going to find it. So Jimmy's out of bed, off to the copy shop.

Mike, meanwhile, is still riding high. He shows a glow, a sense of accomplishment and pride that's usually foreign to his stone face, and buys a round for a crowded bar. He talks up the waitress at his favorite diner, and all seems to be well, even though the driver getting ripped off didn't make the paper. Nacho (Michael Mando), gives him a call, and he's scared. Mike admits in their meeting that he ripped off the driver; Nacho figured it out anyway, since Mike's the only guy he knows with reason to do it who wouldn't kill the driver. When Mike asks about why the cops didn't find it, Nacho gets nervous and nearly pulls his gun, but the explanation is simpler: a Good Samaritan found the driver, saved him, and the driver got word to Hector, who thanked the Good Samaritan for his trouble by shooting him in the face. Mike doesn't want his hands to get too dirty, but he's let an innocent man die in a roundabout way, and when he leaves the meeting, he's no longer looking too pleased with himself.

Jimmy's seemingly incapable of not being pleased with himself, and he's able to bribe the guy running the copy shop after Ernie goes to fetch Chuck, even convincing him to erase the current tapes that show Jimmy on camera. Chuck arrives, showing typical blue-blooded chilliness ("Lance, is it?") and growing increasingly apoplectic when Lance pretends that he doesn't remember and asks him to leave. We didn't see Chuck pass out from the electricity earlier in the episode, but he's really feeling it now: the overhead lights, the neon signs outside, the copy machines whirring. The editing grows jagged, interspersing Chuck's sanctimony with shots of the machine and views of how Chuck's feeling internally: searing, in pain, his head ready to explode. Jimmy watches from afar, triumphant at first, less so when Chuck won't leave. Then his brother passes out and hits his head on the counter on his way down. Either Lance and Ernie didn't see or aren't sharp enough to know they need to call a doctor, right now. Jimmy's there in the shadows, watching on, imploring them in a whisper from afar to call an ambulance. As the credits roll, we're left in the same agonizing worry that Jimmy's caused real, permanent damage outside of his image-ruining stunt earlier in the episode. He and Mike might not be Walter White-level cold, but they're pretty firmly outside of the "good guy" sphere now.

Stray thoughts:

-We also get a scene of Jimmy and the student film crew shooting an illicit commercial on a playground, with Jimmy convincing administrators it's for a documentary on Rupert Holmes, writer of "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)," who Jimmy says went to school there. The make-up girl doesn't realize that correcting him with the fact that Holmes is British isn't part of the game, but Jimmy rolls with it. The guy would kill in an improv group.

-I have to laugh at the cheeseball shot of Jimmy standing in front of the American flag, which the student filmmakers lower for the shot. The commercial will run during "Diagnosis: Murder" (either during a re-run or one of its last TV movies, given that the show ended in 2001 and "Better Call Saul" is set in 2002).

-Jimmy's losing cash fast to Lance the copy guy, but he admires that he's canny enough to leverage $200 rather than $100 for the extra task of erasing the tapes. "You will go far, my young friend."

-Before that, Jimmy tries to sell Lance on the idea of lying for him by referencing Johnny Carson's "Carnac the Magnificent" character, likely before Lance's time. He is nothing if not savvy with the pop culture references.
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Prosecutor seeks 7 years in jail for Armenian businessman accused of stealing $700k

MOSCOW, April 12 (RAPSI)  A prosecutor has demanded a 7-year imprisonment for prominent Armenian businessman Levon Airapetyan who stands charged with stealing $700,000 from the mother of former Bashkortostan senator Igor Izmestyev who was sentenced to life for terrorism, RAPSI reported on Tuesday from Moscows Zamoskvoretsky District Court.

The prosecutor also asked the court to collect from the businessman 20.8 million rubles ($310,000) in damages in favor of the injured party.

Investigators believe that the businessman has misled the woman by promising a reduced sentence for her son. In practice, he could not influence the judgment.

Airapetyans guilt has been proven by testimony of witnesses and victims as well as by talks conducted by attorney Sergei Antonov who allegedly was Airapetyans intermediary agent in this crime, according to prosecution.

The maximum penalty for such crime is 10 years in prison.

Airapetyan has pleaded not guilty. According to his lawyer, the case has been framed up.

Airapetyan also stands charged with involvement in an embezzlement case under which Ural Rakhimov, son of the former head of Bashkortostan Murtaza Rakhimov, sold Bashneft, a midsized oil company he headed for three years, to the oil-to-telecoms conglomerate Sistema in 2009 at a huge discount of $500 million.

Airapetyan holds dual citizenship, has assets abroad and was until recently living in Monaco. Prosecutors presented this information as grounds for arrest. In early October 2014, Airapetyan was placed under house arrest. His defense attorney asked the court to release him, citing health problems.
Russian lawmaker proposes ban on night sales of cigarettes

MOSCOW, April 12 (RAPSI) - Dmitry Nosov, a member of the State Duma Committee for Security and Anti-Corruption Measures, has submitted a bill to the State Duma to ban the sale of tobacco and cigarettes at night and in the early hours of the morning, RIA Novosti reported on Tuesday.

Under the bill, restrictions will be applicable between 11 pm and 8 am. The prohibition will not extend to retail sale of tobacco products at tax free shops.

The use of tobacco including cigarettes is a great threat to the public health, according to the lawmaker. Annually, over 300,000 people die in Russia from illnesses coming from tobacco consumption.

Nosov believes that such measure will lower consumption of tobacco products.

Similar steps have appreciably put down the use of alcohol, the lawmaker added.
S.S. Sripad Srivas Krishna Das Brahmacari

In this age of quarrel and hipocracy almost every individual is walking towards unknown destiny with smiling faces and crying hearts. If somebody is asked their identity or aim of life they are unknown, and there are vedic scriptures which shows the path and revales identity of every individuals but are so much neglected. Peoples are so much puftuffed of the socalled mordern discoveries but they dont know what these discoveries are based on. These scientific descoveries actually are based on the same vedic scrptures which we are neglecting, thinking it to be a myth as we are brainwashed from very begining of our life. As all of you present here are engeneering students studiying electric-electronic and mechanical engeneering , so we will be discussing the subject matter that you are learning on your text books not from your text books but based on vedic scriptures.

To our amagement An Ancient vedic text namely agastya Samhita written during era of lord Ramachandra sometimes more than 1,000,000 years ago by sage Agatsya, describes method to make dry electric cell with 1.138 volts and 23 mA and electroplating process, hydrogen balloons.





The ancient text of Agastya Samhita describes the method of making electric battery, and that water can be split into oxygen and hydrogen. Modern battery cell resembles Agastyas method of generating electricity.

His text says :

Sansthapya Mrinmaya Patre Tamrapatram Susanskritam

Chhadyechhikhigriven Chardrarbhih Kashthpamsubhih.

Dastaloshto Nidhatavyah Pardachhaditastah

Sanyogajjayte Tejo Mitravarunsangyitam

Place a well-cleaned copper plate in an earthenware vessel. Cover it first by copper sulfate and then by moist sawdust. After that, put a mercury-amalgamated zinc sheet on top of the sawdust to avoid polarization. The contact will produce an energy known by the twin name of Mitra-Varuna. Water will be split by this current into Pranavayu and Udanavayu. A chain of one hundred jars is said to give a very effective force.



When a cell was prepared according to Agastya Samhita and measured, it gives open circuit voltage as 1.138 volts, and short circuit current as 23 mA.

Anen Jalbhangosti Prano Daneshu Vayushu Evam Shatanam Kumbhanamsanyogkaryakritsmritah.

Vayubandhakvastren Nibaddho Yanmastake Udanah Swalaghutve ibhartyakashayanakam.

If we use the power of 100 earthen pots on water, then water will change its form into life-giving oxygen and floating hydrogen. And If hydrogen is contained in an air tight cloth, it can be used in aerodynamics, i.e. it will fly in air. (Todays Hydrogen Balloon)

Next example can be taken from atharva veda, Although most people today concentrate on significant aspects of the Atharvaveda such as medicinal plants and healing practices, many other fascinating subjects such as marriage rites, the healing properties of water, atomic and solar energy, electricity, and the states of the Supreme Consciousness are also discussed but here we will be discussing about One of the most exciting topics covered in the Atharvaveda, and that is electricity and specifically, the detailed description of valuable applications that harness and utilize this immense source of energy. Some of the applications described, include important specifications for a control system that harnesses the intense power of electricity for use as a deadly weapon, utilization of hydroelectric power for manufacturing and the fission properties of electricity. These are only some of these amazing instances that clearly demonstrate how the most advanced scientific laws and phenomenons are described in the Atharvaveda.

It will be fully apparent from these verses that Electrical Energy and its properties were fully understood by Vedic sages. It was definitely used in everyday technological applications as much (if not more), as it is for us today. It is also clear that Vedic scientists knew far more about the properties of electricity than us. It was not till very recently, that modern day scientists discovered and began research on the potential usage of electrical energy in military science and related areas. What these verses clearly demonstrate to us is the fact that Vedic Society was at an extremely advanced state of technological advancement and fully utilized Electricity in innumerable productive applications like creation of powerful engines, illumination, agricultural machinery, hydroelectric power plants, manufacturing plants, biomedical engineering, extraction of medicines, etc. and thus serve to greatly enhance the daily life of people. We can discuss few hymes of atharva veda and its translation done by Devi Chand to portray the subject matter:

This initial description describes the inherent properties of of electrical energy

Nav Yo Navati Puro bibhed bahvotjasaa Ahi Cha vritrahaavadheet / 1.7.2

Electricity, which breaks, by the energy of its arms the 99 cities, destroys the cloud, which covers the rays of the sun, the source of all energy and power.

Here the "arms of electricity" refers to positive and negative currents. The 99 cities refers to the 99 elements, as known to modern day scientists. In Vedic terminology, these essential elements were known as "Bhogas".

Sa na Indrah Shivah sakhashwavad gomadvavama Urudhaarev dohate / 1.7.3

That very electric power may be our peaceful friend, providing us with the horse-power to drive our machines, light to light up our houses, and power to produce grains in the fields. Let it bring on prosperity and well-being for us by flowing into numerous currents.

And now in this verse we can clearly figure out the various useful applications of electricity. The mention of horse powered driving machines is a direct reference to electronically powered vehicles like automobiles, aircraft, etc. In the present era, Electric car prototypes a very recent development, were created due to the dawning realization that gasoline fuel is a perishable resource as well as polluting to the environment. But thousands of years ago, our Rishis were already aware of these dangers and used electric engines in their vehicles, as one of their primary modes of transport as well as for motors, etc. for other types of machinery. This verse also clearly mentions that electricity was used to light up buildings, just as we do today. In addition there is a reference to electrically powered agricultural machines, which helped in the manufacture and processing of crops from the fields.

Indra Kratuvidang sutang somang harya purushtut Piba vrishaswa taatripim / 1.7.4

Let electricity, so highly spoken of by many learned people, help extract the essence of medicines, thus produced by those, who are well-versed in manufacturing things. Let it keep safe and shower, on us the rain, satisfying all.

In modern times, we have discovered that certain electronic devices such as centrifuges, deep refrigeration, etc. are extremely helpful in deriving medicinal extracts. Apparently our ancient scientists were well aware of these methods and perhaps even more advanced than us in their knowledge. The last sentence refers reverentially to the role of electricity, which in the form of lightning is instrumental in creating life giving rain for the entire planet. The picture that emerges from these verses is that of an extremely advanced culture, that utilized superlative technology and yet maintained an enormous respect and reverence for the ecosystem and the natural environment. The proponents of Vedic culture saw spirituality everywhere, and held sacred the power of all divine forces, from water, to electricity. Not only this, but they had analysed the properties and laws of all these natural energies and thus comprehended perfectly the best way to utilize them.

Taa Vajrinam Mandinam Stomyam mad indram rathe vahato haryataa haree

Purunyasmay savanaani haryata indraaya somaa harayo dadhanwire / 3.31.1

Those two speedily moving forces of attraction and repulsion propel the electric current, powerful like the thunderbolt, pleasant and praiseworthy, in this pleasant plane or car. Manifold are the generating powers for the refulgent electricity borne by speedy moving Somas  various kinds of liquid fuels.

Arang Kaamaay Haryo dadhanwire sthiraay hinvanharayo Haree tura

Arvadbhiyor Haribhijorshameeyate so asya kaamam harivantamaanashe/ 3.31.2

The above mentioned speedy forces of two kinds set in motion strong currents, capable of maintaining steady progress in the attainment of ones objective in plenty. Whatever complex is attained by these fast moving horsepowers, is enough to achieve the beautiful objective of his, the manufacturer.

Here the principles of electromagnetic force discussed are being used to generate motion. In addition, the reference to a liquid fuel propellant, informs us that a combination of high-speed and intense electrical power was used to produce a number of favourable results like exceptionally fast vehicular modes of transportation, as well as efficient manufacturing processes. For example, extremely fast centrifugal force is used to separate genetic materials in Biomedical labs today. The combination of speed and power is certainly desirable to increase the efficiency of manufacturing plants.

Adha te vishwamanu haasadishtaya aapo nimneva savanaa havishmatah

Yatparvate na samasheeta haryata indrasya vajrah shnathita hiranyayah / 2.15.2

Just as all productive works of the manufacturer depend upon waters flowing down with speed, so do all the desired objects of him depend upon you (Electricity), as its powerful striking force cannot be obstructed by any cloud, or mountain in the way. It smashes all impediments, with its radiant energy.

This verse acknowledges the immense power of electricity and proves the Vedic community understands of its intensity. Electricity does have the power of striking through any element. The portion about productive works depending on waters flowing with speed is an obvious reference to harnessing hydroelectric power. It is obvious from this verse that Vedic society was well aware of methods that harnessed the power of electricity through systems like hydroelectric power plants. Once harnessed, they incorporated the force to implement manufacturing concerns and power machinery.

Asmay Bheemaaya namasaa samadhwara usho na shubhra aa bharaa paneeyase

Yasya dhaam shravase naamendriyam jyotirkaari harito naayase / 2.15.3

O well-versed engineer make use of this terrible electric power fit to be utilized for useful purposes by controlling it, for non-violent, brilliant light like the dawn. It has the potentiality to help hearing, control energy and spread light in all quarters.

This confirms the fact that electricity was a topic that was researched and explored in great detail. Skilled electrical engineers used to devise specific utilities and controls for electric power. Illumination was certainly one of its widely used applications. From the last line, we can also glean the information that electronic devices were used as hearing aids and sound magnifiers. Sophisticated systems for controlling electricity and measuring electricity were in place, and electronic panels that aided in controlling other forms of energy were also used.

Now let's turn to the truly amazing descriptions of electricity being utilized as a weapon in military combat. Up until very recently, modern day scientists were not even aware of this potentially devastating aspect of electricity being utilized as a weapon. It is only in the past decade or so, that scientific research has begun concentrating on the potential use of Electricity as a deadly weapon. Electrical bombs can be utilized to destroy all sorts of vital equipment and inflict massive damage. Topics like the EMP effect and the consequent possibilities of using electrical weapons were rudimentary information to Vedic people, whereas we have barely begun our explorations on this topic.

The Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) effect was first observed during the early testing of high altitude airburst nuclear weapons. The effect is characterized by the production of a very short (hundreds of nanoseconds) but intense electromagnetic pulse, which propagates away from its source with ever diminishing intensity, governed by the theory of electromagnetism. The Electromagnetic Pulse is in effect an electromagnetic shock wave.

This pulse of energy produces a powerful electromagnetic field, particularly within the vicinity of the weapon burst. The field can be sufficiently strong to produce short lived transient voltages of thousands of Volts (ie kiloVolts) on exposed electrical conductors, such as wires, or conductive tracks on printed circuit boards, where exposed.

It is this aspect of the EMP effect which is of tremendous military significance, as it can result in irreversible damage to a wide range of electrical and electronic equipment, particularly computers and radio or radar receivers. Subject to the electromagnetic hardness of the electronics, a measure of the equipment's resilience to this effect, and the intensity of the field produced by the weapon, the equipment can be irreversibly damaged or in effect destroyed. The damage inflicted would be the same as that of striking the equipment with huge bolts of lightning.

Computers used in data processing systems, communications systems, displays, industrial control applications, including road and rail signaling, and those embedded in military equipment, such as signal processors, electronic flight controls and digital engine control systems, are especially vulnerable to the EMP effect.

What amazes one is the fact that our Rishis clearly KNEW about the EMP effect and have composed vivid descriptions of the usage of electric weapons as the verses below will demonstrate:

Twam tamindra parvatam mahaamurum vajrena vajrinparvshashchakartitha

Avaasrijo nivritaah satarvaa apah satraa vishwam dadhishe kevalam sahah /2.15.6

Just as the thundering electricity reduces the vast cloud to nothing by its thunderbolt, so do you, O King, equipped with piercing weapons like the thunderbolt, smash into pieces the vast armies of the enemy, consisting of various units, by your striking power like the thunderbolt. Just as the waters of the cloud released by the electricity, fall down and flow over the earth, similarly the well-equipped armies of the enemy; being subdued by the might of the king are duly regulated by him. Truly do you alone, O King, hold all the power to subdue the foes?

The inference is quite obviously to weapons utilizing electricity. "Piercing weapons like the thunderbolt" is a clear pointer to surges of exceedingly high voltage. The lethal electric weapons are used to counter various units of the army. This is another clue, for as discussed above, the EMP effect can be used to advantage for a number of targets ranging from computers, to communication systems. Apparently electricity was employed as one of the primary weapons in military combat during the Vedic era.

Indra Idhyorah sacha sangmishal aa vachoyuja Indro vajri Hiranyah /4.38.5

Electricity is well mixed up with Prana and Apana, the 2 horsepowers, yoked to power of speech. Electric power has the striking power of a deadly weapon and is full of brilliance.

Here we find it stated starkly that electricity has the striking power of a deadly weapon. There can be no greater proof of the deployment of electrical weaponry during the Vedic era. An interesting suggestion is also made in the first line of this verse, that electrical energy is also present in the form of Prana and Apana, within the human body. "Prana" means "breath " according to Tantra Yoga, wheras "Apana" is the Prana that exists in the area below the navel. According to Tantric thought Prana is charged with negative ions while Apana is charged with positive ions. When Prana is forced to enter through the central canal (Sushuma or Brahma Nadi) in the spinal column, the result is fusion of the negative and positive ions. This fusion generates an immense amount of energy, which awakens the dormant energy called Kundalini that lies at the base of the spine. Once Kundalini or the vital life force is awakened, it destroys the ignorance of the mind and results in enlightenment, which means to know the relationship between self and supreme personality of godhead Sri Krishna.

We know now of course, that the cerebrospinal system is a great generator of electrical energy and has a fantastic network of nerves that serve as connectors. The cerebrum as it is called keeps on providing electrical energy. Through fine nerves, this energy is constantly supplied to the organism, providing life force. Thus we can see how these and other type of systems described in the Atharvaveda have a purely scientific basis.

So asya vajro harito ya aayso harinirkaamo harira gabhastyoh

Dhumni sushipro harimanyusayaka indre ni roopa harita mimikshire /3.30.3

Here is the blue-green colored thunderbolt of iron of the king. There is also the beautiful horse of iron of high speed. Here is also the horsepower of the rays of electricity. There is also the shining arrow, capable of destroying the pride of the enemy and having a very high speed. In short many kinds of weapons have been made through electric power for the king.

These verses appear to be describing different sorts of electrical weapons. The "beautiful horse of iron of high speed" apparently refers to some type of metallic car/aircraft which can reach extremely high speeds. The horsepower for the engine for a craft or automobile of this sort was provided by electricity. The "shining arrow" can mean an exceptionally powerful ballistic missile loaded with an electric warhead. The missile was superfast and probably covered vast distances, it was apparently one of the main weapons that could be used to target the central command and control center of the enemy. Here we find a reference telling us that many advanced weapons utilizing electricity had been deployed in this era.

Divi na keturadhi dhaayi haryato vivayachadvajro harito na ranghaya

Tudadahi harishipro ya aayasah sahastrashokaa abhavadharibharah /3.30.4

Like a radiant spot, it is well placed in the heavens, then with a high speed, the terribly destructive missile, made of iron, possessing speed of electric power, crushing the serpent natured enemy, becomes lit up with thousands of lights and loaded with destructive ray of various kinds.

This makes the previous verse even more apparent. The missile being described seems to generate immense power and would be exceptionally destructive. It is possible that the electric weapons used by Vedic society may have been equivalent in destructive power to nuclear weapons, or perhaps even more lethal. They may also have been used for preliminary strikes before the actual use of nuclear weapons. A conventional electronic combat campaign, or intensive electronic combat operations, would initially concentrate on saturating the opponent's electronic defences, denying information and inflicting maximum attrition upon electronic assets. The massed application of electromagnetic bombs in the opening phase of an electronic battle would allow much faster attainment of command as it would destroy electronic assets at a much faster rate than possible with conventional means. After this phase, it would be child's play to completely destroy the enemy.

Yudha yudhmup ghedeshi dhrishnuya pura puram samidam hansyojasa

Namya yadindra sakhya paraavati nibrahyo namuchi naam maayinam /3.21.7

O mighty King, you can easily get at the striking power of the enemy by your overwhelming striking force. Being well-entrenched in your sheltered place of defense, you can thoroughly break the defenses of the enemy to smithereens. Completely crush the deceitful enemy, unfit to be left alive, through your faithful ally, although stationed at a distance.

This particular reference is apparently to a remotely controlled electronic weapon system. This verse directly points to unleashing a tremendously high voltage surge that can blast into the defensive electrical equipment belonging to the enemy. The last sentence describes remote initiation of the bombing sequence, while the controller is stationed at a safe distance.

Tvam karnyajmut parnayam vadhistejisthayaatithigvasya vartani

Tvam shata vaddagridasyaabhintpuronaanudah parishuta rijishvana /3.21.8

O mighty electricity, you kill the violent enemy, equipped with speedy means of communication like cars or airships, a hindrance in the way of people who are worthy of respect, cows or land by your consuming and splendorous power. You shatter the 100 forts of the adversary who obstructs your communications or breaks your regulations and does not pay tribute to you established by straightforward negotiations.

In the case of electricity, 100 forts refers to 100 elements. It breaks all these through the power of fission, overcoming all resistances and obstructions in the way. Any trained electrical engineer must have complete knowledge of the complex laws and limitations governing electrical energy. There is an evident respect for electricity demonstrated here, for it is an awesome power indeed. Transport infrastructure can also be destroyed with the use of electromagnetic bombs. Railway and road signalling systems, where automated, are most vulnerable to electromagnetic attack on their control centres. Significantly, most modern automobiles and trucks use electronic ignition systems which are known to be vulnerable to electromagnetic weapons effects.

Modern land warfare doctrine emphasises mobility, and manoeuvre warfare methods are typical for contemporary land warfare. Coordination and control are essential to the successful conduct of manoeuvre operations, and this provides another opportunity to apply electromagnetic weapons. Communications and command sites are key elements in the structure of such a land army, and these have concentrated communications and computer equipment. Therefore if the enemy is attacked with electromagnetic weapons, the entire command and control of land operations would be completely disrupted. Employing tactics like launching an initial attack with electromagnetic weapons would create a maximum of confusion, and if followed by an all out attack with conventional weapons would completely obliterate the enemy.

Tvametam janrajyo dwidarshaabandhuna sushrvasopajagmushah

Pashisht sahastra navati nava shruto ni chakrena rathya dushpadavrinak / 3.21.9

O electricity, you can by your circular motion like the wheel of a chariot, which is too powerful to be checked, well keep under control all these 20 basic elements, 6099 organic and inorganic bodies, by a single transmitter of high quality, with no other force to help it.

In technological terms, coupling is the means to create an electric connection of two electric circuits by having a part common to both. One of the mechanisms, which can be exploited to improve coupling is the polarization of an electric weapon's emission. Polarization simply means orienting the emission in a particular direction. If we assume that the orientations of possible coupling apertures and resonances in the target set are random in relation to the weapon's antenna orientation, a linearly polarized emission would only exploit half of the opportunities available. A circularly polarized emission would exploit all coupling opportunities. A single transmitter of superior quality can control the entire emission.

Tvamaavitha sushravasam tavotibhistava traambhirindra tuvrayaanam

Tvamasmay kutsamatithigvamaayum mahe raagye yoone arndhanaayah /3.21.10

O electricity, you keep in safety this good listening set, by your means of safety and protect the commander, with speedy mobile forces by your strong means of defense. You control the sharp weapons, equipped with the striking power of limitless time and speed for this great, youthful king.

Other electronic devices and electrical equipment would also be destroyed by the EMP effect. Telecommunications equipment can be highly vulnerable, due to the presence of lengthy copper cables between devices. Receivers of all varieties are particularly sensitive to EMP, as highly sensitive miniature high frequency transistors and diodes in such equipment are easily destroyed by exposure to high voltage electrical transients. Therefore radar and electronic warfare equipment, satellite, microwave, UHF, VHF, HF and low band communications equipment and television equipment would all be destroyed by the EMP effect. This verse apparently refers to a defense mechanism created with the aid of electricity, which protects both the commander as well his entire system of wireless communications. It may be referring to some sort of shield which makes things unsusceptible to the emission. The advanced and deadly missiles of unlimited speed are controlled by electronic control panels.

Tvam nibhinirmano devavitao bhooreeni vritraa haryashava hansi

Tvam ni dasyum chumuri dhuni chasvaapyo dabhitaye suhantu /4.37.4

O electrical currents of high voltage, safely carried by electric wires, you kill many enemies in the war, waged by learned persons or through the help of natural forces. To keep all the evil forces under control, you, being well-equipped with good means of destruction completely lay down to lasting sleep (death) the evil forces that rob and harass the general public.

This verse is a simple testament to the intense power and utterly destructive force of electrical weapons. There are many more such references to electrical energy in the Atharvaveda, however due to lack of time we will not discuss every one of them. The discovery of such amazing truths in the Vedas, clearly undermines the very foundation of our smug assertions that Civilization and scientific advancement proceed forward in a linear fashion. It is high time for us to thoroughly analyse and learn from the invaluable resources that our forefathers have left us in the form of the divine Vedas and other profound Vedic literature.

From all the examples above we can conclude that veda are not just only the mithological or a bunch of ritualistic hymns connected with nothing more spiritual than charms and incantations as we were taught or we beleived but instead The Vedas ARE compilations of the eternal laws governing human existence imparted by the creator himself. Moreover each of the four Vedas was a treatise on particular subjects, specific only to itself. The word "Veda" itself means "sacred or pure knowledge" , having come from the root "Vid" meaning "to know".

(Extracts of talk given by author to engeneering students of TU)

Hare Krishna.

Sarbagya Siromani Sripad Srivas Krishna Das Brahmacari

Founding Chairman / Kulapati

Jagannath Foundation

Sri Rupanuga Para Vidyapeeth

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Colombo Telegraph - 11 April 2016

by Anushka Kahandagama

Democracy is a complex mechanism which has its highs and lows. While social, political and economic ignorance of people can lead them to elect representatives who are incapable of representing citizens of the country and making accurate decisions, shallow identities created by the neo-liberal economic policies play a major role in democracy making the aethno-religiousa majority powerful. Apart from all the structural weaknesses of the democracy, people have to deal with it and make it better, as it is the existing mechanism of governance in the country. One form of informing strengthening democracy is securing the relationship between the citizens and their representatives. The relationship between the citizens and their representatives locate a legal system which enables sovereignty of the country.

According to Giorgio Agamben sovereignty is a paradox which plays outside the legal system of the country and at the same time proclaims that there is nothing outside the legal system (Agamben, G., (1998), Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life, Stanford University Press). Thus, the complexity of the phenomena should be dealt carefully as otherwise it would lead to the insidious abuse of power.

Due to the paradoxical nature of sovereignty, it could be influenced by many external factors and sovereignty could distort the legal system and present the aunfaira legal system as afaira and ajusta. According to the Article 9 of Sri Lankan Constitution, aThe Republic of Sri Lanka shall give to Buddhism the foremost place and accordingly it shall be the duty of the State to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana, while assuring to all religions the rights granted by Articles 10 and 14(1) (e)a. This is the law of the country and it should not discriminate against ethnic the minority ethno-religious groups who live in the country. By giving the foremost place to Buddhism, state which is responsible for its citizenas protection discriminate against the minority ethno-religious groups who are also citizens of the country. The article 9 of the Constitution provides an invisible power to Buddhist religious institutions which might harm the sovereignty of the country. The relationship between citizens and their representatives can be interfered by Buddhist religious institution without any obstruction or limitation from the state. Buddhist religious institution is not elected through votes of the citizens to advice the state. Thus, Buddhist religious institution is not over the citizenas power to represent the state. Further, religious interference could be normalized in the mind of the people, as it is legitimized by the Constitution as well. Citizens of the country belong to various ethno-religious groups and could not be limited or reduced to Sinhala-Buddhists. Although it is reduced to Sinhala-Buddhists, they too represent different political views in the elections and elect members to the parliament to represent their political ideology. Against this background, the power holds by the citizen is immense in a democratic system and it should be secured. However, in Sri Lanka, this power is interfered by Buddhist religious institution. Although there are many examples that can be drawn from the political scenario of the country, it is important to cite a recent press conference which was held by The National Movement for the Protection of Soldiers (NMPS). Addressing the press conference, Buddhist monk Ven. Bengamuwe Nalaka Thera, criticized Field Martial Sarath Fonseka who was the then Army Commander and stated that he has asked Gotabaya Rajapaksa who was then Defense Secretary of the former government not to appoint Sarath Fonseka as the Commander of the Army. There might be much political discourse around this narrative. However, the influence one Buddhist monk could have been done over a responsible position of the country, Secretary of Defense, was immense. After, Ven. Bengamuwe Nalaka Thera further invited people to ask Gotabaya Rajapaksa and ensure the accuracy of his (Ven. Bengamuwe Nalaka Theraas) statement. The normality involve with Buddhist religious institution playing with the sovereignty of the state is immense. Most of the citizens do not question the statement asking afrom where Bengamuwe Nalaka Thera got the power to influence appointing high ranked position in the military?a, instead most of the citizens accept it as anormala. On the other hand, the Buddhist Monk, Bengamuwe Nalaka Thera represents aThe National Movement for the Protection of Soldiers (NMPS), and criticizes then Commander who has led the military at a critical time of war. The power holds by the Buddhist Monk is used by many parties in their political agendas by letting the sovereignty of the country in danger.

In Europe, the power of the church has been challenged by the power of the citizen and as a result, the secular state was born. However, even after over 65 years of independence, Sri Lanka still suffers from bridging the distance/gap between the citizen and the state. Sadly, most of the citizens themselves do not believe in their power to elect representatives and participate in the process of decision making in the country, instead constant interference of Buddhism in state governance is sought. Against this background, the sovereignty of the country is damaged and harmed by Buddhist religious institutions and normalized in the Sri Lankan psyche with the support of the constitution which gives more prominence to Buddhism over the other religions.
Amnesty International - 7 April 2016

The vicious killing of another secular activist in Bangladesh is a grave reminder that the authorities are failing to protect people exercising their right to freedom of expression, Amnesty International said.

Four masked men attacked Nazimuddin Samad, 28, with a machete in Dhaka late last night before shooting him dead. No one has claimed responsibility, but the killing fits the pattern of other similar attacks on secular activists by radical Islamist groups over the past year.

aThere can be no justification for the brutal killing of Nazimuddin Samad, who has apparently paid with his life for nothing but being brave enough to speak his mind. This is not just a senseless murder, it is a blatant attack on the right to freedom of expression,a said Champa Patel, South Asia Director from Amnesty International.

Nazimuddin Samad was a student activist who had organised campaigns for secularism on social media. He was named on a ahit lista of 84 bloggers published by a group of radical Islamists in 2013.

In 2015, at least five people - four bloggers and one publisher a were killed because of their secular opinions and writings. No one has yet been held to account for these killings and the Bangladeshi authorities have failed to strongly condemn the attacks. Instead, they have instructed secular activists to stop aoffendinga religious sentiments through their writings. Dozens of other bloggers have been forced into hiding or exile, fearing for their lives.

aBangladeshi authorities must categorically condemn these killings and take serious steps to end this horrific cycle of violence. Those responsible for the killings of secular activists must be held to account, anything less will send a signal that these attacks are tolerated and permitted by the government,a said Champa Patel.

aThe authorities must also ensure that those activists and writers who are under threat are effectively protected in accordance with their wishes.a
Seguin, TX (78155)

Today

Clouds and some sun this morning with more clouds for this afternoon. High 89F. Winds SSE at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 73F. Winds SSE at 15 to 25 mph.
 "The Battle Against Prison for Kids" | Main | Anyone eager to predict when (or if) Ohio is likely to carry out its next execution? 

Daniel Denvir has this intriguing piece in Salon about the resentencing of juvenile murderers in the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection. The full headline highlights its themes: "The unconstitutional outrage of juvenile life sentences: Why Philadelphia will be a case study for this criminal-justice reform: The city is faced with deciding what to do about 300 now-unconstitutional juvenile life sentences." Here is how it starts:

Children convicted of committing murder on Philadelphias violent streets long faced the prospect of receiving the harshest sentence short of death: life without parole. Today, the city has more juvenile offenders locked up for life than any other. It has been a grim and predictable cycle: Young black men mourned at premature funerals and their killers packed into state prisons with only the narrowest hope of ever leaving. And then the tough-on-crime pendulum began to swing back.

In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that mandatory life without parole for juveniles was unconstitutional, and in a January decision they made that ruling retroactive. And so Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams has roughly 300 big decisions to make: How long will he seek to imprison the onetime juveniles, many now much older, who until recently were set to die behind bars?

States responded to the 2012 Miller v. Alabama decision in a hodgepodge manner, including by abolishing juvenile life without parole entirely. In Pennsylvania, however, then-Gov. Tom Corbett signed a law that angered reform advocates for its harshness, changing the sentence for first-degree murder to 35 years to life for older juveniles, and 25 to life for younger ones. Those convicted of second-degree murder now face sentences of 20 or 30 years to life.

Critically, the law did not make the new sentences retroactive, leaving hundreds of Pennsylvania juvenile lifers in limbo. The Courts January decision in Montgomery v. Louisiana means that prosecutors and judges throughout Pennsylvania will soon face a deluge of prisoners asking to be re-sentenced. In Philadelphia, advocates are concerned that Williams, who has taken a tough line in the past, will fight to keep many behind bars for a long time.

The District Attorney has a pretty stark choice, emails Marc Bookman, director of the Atlantic Center for Capital Representation. He can either follow the very obvious trend away from sentencing juveniles to life without parole sentences, or he can swim against the tide and against the dictates of the Supreme Court and continue to seek such sentences.

Williams office, which declined to comment for this story, must navigate the gap between the Supreme Court and the current state law. Its unclear how he will proceed. The Supreme Court only barred mandatory life without parole sentences, so he could try to keep some locked up. The Court did make it clear, however, that life without parole sentences should only be applied in rare cases where an offender is irreparably corrupted.

Brad Bridge, a lead attorney at the Defender Association of Philadelphia, criticized Williams past opposition to making Miller retroactive and says that he should move quickly to resolve the cases of those who have been incarcerated the longest. Based upon [these court rulings,] we now must re-sentence over 300 juvenile lifers in Philadelphia, emails Bridge. Given that over 100 of these juvenile lifers have been incarcerated for over 30 years, we should quickly resolve those cases immediately by agreeing to release those who have done well in prison. It is only by prompt resolution of 100, and maybe 200, of these cases that the resources of the judiciary, prosecutor and defense can be properly focused on the 100 cases that cannot be resolved by agreement.

Bridge and the Juvenile Law Center, a leading critic of juvenile life without parole, have called for the prisoners to be re-sentenced on third-degree murder, carrying a sentence of 20 to 40 years. But Richard Long, executive director of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association, has argued that the harsher sentences meted out by the states new law should be applied.

Seth Williams is the associations vice president, and last fall conveyed his opposition to re-sentencing, telling WHYY that the prisoners arent kids in fifth grade doing these things Were talking about killings. Not someone who stole someones laptop. Were talking about the loss of life. And us having to look into the eyes of victims families, who want something done.


The Department of Emergency Management is warning San Francisco residents of a person (or persons) claiming to be an officer with the SFPD calling and texting unsuspecting members of the public and telling them that he is investigating them for sending nude pictures to a woman. So reports Bay City News, which notes that the warning went out last Thursday, and that the caller has spoofed the phone number of the police's non-emergency line.

Using the name Edward Johnson or Jeffrey Johnson, the person has both called and texted people with the false investigation claims  although it is unclear what, exactly, the person is seeking to get out of it besides being a weirdo. BCN notes that people are being advised not to send the scammer money, so he may be running some sort of convoluted blackmail operation. Regardless, it's definitely creepy, and a person impersonating officials in positions of power can result in dangerous situations.

So, if you're the sort of person who even answers unknown-number calls, and someone calls you and says they're investigating you for sending nude pics to a woman, no need to get upset. Just hang up with the expletive of your choice. At this time it is unknown if anyone has fallen for the scam.

Related: San Mateo Teen Impersonates Cops, Sells Pot
"Roses are red, violets are blue, and we'll send them both to your girlfriend for you." Okay, while not in those exact words, that's the basic pitch behind a suite of services such as "Better Boyfriend" that target the young straight men of San Francisco, a set of truly hopeless romantics  and not in the positive sense.

The brainchild of 27-year-old finance consultant and Harvard graduate Dan Sullivan, Better Boyfriend has more than 350 members according to coverage in the Guardian. Each month, the home delivery subscription service emails them about seven gift and activity recommendations, from chocolates and tea sets to picnic baskets and in-home massage credits. Sullivan's three-person team delivers the unbranded, unlabeled gifts to boyfriends. At around $70 per month for the subscription, depending on the gifts selected, that nets Better Boyfriend roughly $17,000 in monthly revenue.

"BetterBoyfriend hit something, Sullivan told the Guardian. Its a pain point everyone has. So far his customers include friends in finance and tech, one of whom writes by way of a testimonial that, "The picnic basket was awesome! I had it fully stocked as soon as she woke up on Saturday and we had brunch in the park! Thank you!"

If you're the type to shop around, Fortune points out another, soon-to-launch service, the Gentleman App. "Gents, let's face it, we're not the best at relationships," reads that site. "Its time you let a professional take over the date planning and daily affirmations." How does that work? "All of the dates are planned by real people who are deeply familiar with your city, so you get the most authentic experience. Complete your survey and we'll connect you with a real person to better understand your dating needs. " And girlfriends, take note  you can secretly sign your man up for the Gentleman App  you know, if you don't want to just cut out the middleman and buy yourself gifts.

San Francisco's hetero-bro population doesn't have a reputation for Lothario-like prowess in the first place, so if you don't have anyone for whom you need automated gift deliveries just yet, worry not. You might consider services aimed at scoring dates and relationships. Last year, Business Insider introduced us to Introverted Alpha, a loal dating consultancy. "My clients are usually guys in their late 20s," said Jones, "Most of my clients are very good looking and social, but they have built up all this tension around this one thing, and they don't want to be creepy and weird." Introverted Alpha pitches itself as an alternative to the more troubling Pick Up Artist macho approach: "You can attract women without being someone youre not," the website advises.

While more secure types might have no problem admitting they sought professional guidance or outsourced gifts, there are potential problems for those less willing to disclose their secret hired gift elves. An early package from Better Boyfriend, for example, included a receipt with Sullivan's name, rather than the boyfriend in question. Listen dude shes not mad but Cynthia found out," that boyfriend wrote to Sullivan. Perhaps better discretion is called for as these services gain market share. And/or there are going to be a lot more women shrugging and admitting to their friends, "My boyfriend hired an app to send me stuff because he is lazy and otherwise lacks imagination, but at least he's spending money on me and I'm just waiting for that ring, amirite?"

All previous volumes of Eff-ing In SF.
There would be no Victorian furnishings in her home, Gail Baugh decreed 13 years ago when she and her husband Jim Warshell purchased the Fisk House, a late-19th-century gem at Hayes and Buchanan, for just under $1 million.

So much for that. Now, the home of the 68-year old Baugh, a former Macy's buyer, textiles expert, and part-time SF State lecturer, is a shining example of high-Victorian restoration, profiled everywhere from Curbed to the Wall Street Journal.

In part, Baugh blames  or thanks  Warshell, 64, a retired merchandising vice president for Macys. "I kept going to sales and buying things," he says. Warshell himself started purchasing and restoring old houses in his twenties in Brooklyn, and he hasn't stopped since. For Warshell, every restoration is "a healing  the house thanks you." That is to say it can be restorative in every sense of the word.

But even after years of careful, nearly archeological work  tiles matched, marble rediscovered, wood refinished  the Fisk house is not preserved in amber. First off, don't bother asking Baugh or Warshell where you can or can't sit  "everything here is meant to be used and lived with!" Warshell says. "We try to take our passion for preservation to expand it from 'everything's a time warp frozen in Victoriana.'"

And don't waste a second asking Baugh if the two are finished with the place. "You're never finished," she laughs.

Another party to thank in all this: The Victorian Alliance of San Francisco, "the Citys oldest all-volunteer, not-for-profit organization committed to the restoration and preservation of historically significant structures." In contrast to San Francisco Heritage, which has a professional staff and a headquarters, the Haas-Lilienthal House in Pacific Heights, the Alliance, founded in 1973, is about homeownership as opposed to institutions and public policies.

As Warshell adds, "The whole idea of real preservation is from the point of view of individuals in these houses, who are passionate about fixing and preserving them and keeping them from the wrecker's ball." In fact, that ball narrowly missed  mandated urban renewal in the 1950's and 60's claimed many such livable homes, leveled in favor of government-sponsored housing projects in the nearby Western Addition.

At first, Baugh and Warshell drew on the Alliance's catalogue of contractors and experts to return their address to its former glory. The home was commissioned in 1884 by Asa Fisk, a moneylender from New England, and according to a summary adapted by Jason Allen-Rouman from The Storied houses of Alamo Square by Joseph Pecora, the house, " is notable for its unique combination of stylistic elements. It has a Second Empire masnard roof, Italianate body, classical columns, and a Queen Anne domed tower." Also hard to miss, once inside, is the "rare Cuban mahogany used lavishly throughout the interior."

The couple adds that their repairs "included extensive woodwork refinishing, decorative plaster repair, upgrading the foundation, and rebuilding twenty of the eighty redwood windows."

But, in some ways, that was far less than they might have done  and now there's far less to do. "You look at the ecology of this house," Warshell says, "and we don't use a lot of electricity." Credit here also goes to solar panels, and the couple is hoping to work with the PUC to install passive gray water retention. "Consider the basics of living in a house like this, with high ceilings  they keep it cool, no air conditioning necessary. There are so many things about the ecology of if that are good. And the less you're tearing out, the less goes into landfill."

In this sense, and additionally in the sense that the Victorian Alliance and its nearly 250 members, not all of whom own Victorian homes, are peerless aesthetes  Baugh, Warshell, and their kindred spirits might well be eco-hipsters by another another name. Of course, not in any withering sense, but in the sense that each item of their home is "vintage" or "curated" or, as some say, "reclaimed."

"It is reclaimed," Baugh assented when I suggested that word.

Not just caretakers of their home, Baugh and Warshell have demonstrated an investment in their neighborhood and beyond. "We embrace and welcome all the new people," Warshell says, "at one point 13 years ago, we were the new people. Whatever we're able to do towards that goal is really the satisfaction we get about living here, being good stewards of this particular house, but also being engaged with our community, keeping it diverse, helping in how it develops, how it deals with its problems, and how it evolves in a more positive way."

"It can still feel very exclusive  exclusionary," Baugh admits of preservation. But, she adds, her central question is, "How do we make the house contribute back to the community?" Last night, for example, as it has for the last three years, the Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association's transportation and planning committee met in the spacious top floor ballroom. Baugh, naturally, is the association's president.

Now, the ballroom wouldn't have had chairs originally  just plenty of room for dancing and music, the couple explains. Perhaps consider that a small concession to making the Fisk house a part of the community.

Related: So Many Victorian Homes Are Being Modernized That This Traditional Interiors Restoration Business Had To Close




A major murder trial is ongoing in Alameda County in the case of Darnell Williams Jr., 25, who stands accused of the fatal shooting of eight-year-old Alaysha Carradine in East Oakland in 2013  an indiscriminate and horrific act of violence that shocked the Bay Area, despite the unfortunate frequency of homicide news out of Oakland. Alaysha Carradine was murdered because she answered a doorbell during a sleepover with a friend at the friend's grandmother's house, and two other children as well as the grandmother were also wounded in the blaze of gunfire. Williams is on trial both for Carradine's death and for the murder of 22-year-old Anthony "Tone" Medearis Jr. two months later, killings that prosecutors characterize as "a rampage of violence" by a convicted felon with ties to a Berkeley gang who wasn't even allowed to possess a firearm.

Williams was arrested just three weeks after Medearis's murder, as NBC Bay Area reported, as police believed he and his associates were planning multiple murders in a revenge spree.

As Berkeleyside reports, the latest witness to take the stand in the trial, which began in late March, was Williams's ex-girlfriend Britney Rogers. As she previously did in a preliminary hearing in 2014, Rogers testified that she was with Williams the night of Carradine's murder, that he came home to her apartment with two guns and wearing a bullet-proof vest, and that he confessed to the shooting, though he did not necessarily know whom he had shot.





According to Rogers, after smoking a blunt on the drive over, Williams approached the house, rang the bell, and began shooting indiscriminately through the metal screen as soon as it opened, hitting Carradine, two other children, and the grandmother down the hall. After shooting a total of 13 bullets, he then got back in the car and returned to Rogers's home.

First responders have described the horrific scene, and one police officer's story of arriving to save Alaysha Carradine was relayed during opening statements in the trial. As the Mercury-News reported, the jury has already seen video of Oakland police officer Jason Mitchell describing finding a still breathing Alaysha in a pool of blood, and paramedic Julie Silva described Alaysha's last words in the ambulance.

During the ambulance ride, Silva described trying to reassure her as she slipped in and out of consciousness. "Then she let out a scream that will haunt me to the day I die," Silva said. Alaysha told Silva, "I'm dead." "And I said ,'No baby girl, you're not dead; you're hurt,' " Silva said, and then kissed her on the forehead. "'Well that means I'm dying. I'm dying,' " Silva said, recounting Alaysha's last words.

According to Rogers, she and Williams stayed up all night after he had confessed to the shooting, until they saw the first news reports on television around 5:30 a.m. When they saw that an eight-year-old girl had been killed, Rogers says that Williams's response was "Fuck that bitch."

She said she was "uneasy," and that the two began to fight about what had happened in the shooting. She says Williams then immediately turned on her, and threatened to kill her and her entire family if she snitched.

Defense attorneys have tried to discredit both Rogers and another female witness in the case by calling them both "prostitutes," and by poking holes in Rogers's account. Rogers said she remained constantly fearful about retribution, but that she "just want[ed] to give this family justice." Previously, she sent her own children away to stay with an older friend, because she feared for their lives as well.

She also insists that while Williams tried more than once to get her to have to sex for money, in order to give it to him, she had never exchanged money for sex.

The defense also insists that no murder weapon or other evidence exists to tie Williams to the crimes, and thus Rogers's testimony is key in any possible conviction.

Testimony continues in the shooting of Medearis in September 2013, and the trial is expected to last until June. Because of the special circumstances of multiple murders and "lying in wait" in the case of Carradine's killing, Williams could potentially face the death penalty, which will be decided in the sentencing phase of the trial.

Previously: Oakland: 8-Year-Old Girl Shot, Killed During Sleepover


The SFPD has issued a warning to any stoner parents who were considering letting their kids tag along to the annual smoke-out at Hippie Hill in Golden Gate Park on 4/20: You can and may be arrested on child endangerment charges. As SF Weekly notes, the warning came from the once colorful Park Station Newsletter  the police blotter rundown for the station that used to be a hilarious read when it was penned by retired Captain Greg Corrales, but now not so much.

Captain John Sanford's communications liaison, Sandra Garson, now writes the brief, in which she explains how the 420-wary station is preparing, yet again, for this "unsanctioned event" that nonetheless draws 10,000 to 12,000 people every April 20th, and you can just hear the sighs and eyerolls as she writes it.

We are dedicated to addressing the needs and concerns of this community, said the veteran Captain. Public Safety is our ultimate goal, but creating a comprehensive plan to address the needs of local merchants and community members are also a must. We understand this community is often adversely impacted based on this event and this is why we are doing everything possible to ease the frustration.

Despite this being an unsanctioned event, we will still monitor the crowds very closely and take strict enforcement actions. It was troubling to see the number of parents that were actually bringing their children to such an event and this year we will determine if its appropriate to arrest those parents for child endangerment related offenses. We ask in advance for parents to use good common sense and do not bring your children into this smoke zone. We will also partner strongly this year with Juvenile and Adult Probation and will take swift actions on those found to be in violation.

While no doubt there are Bay Area parents who may get a little stoned in the presence of their children, thinking this is no worse than parents who drink in front of their kids, can we all agree that a stoner free-for-all filled with fucked-up 19-year-olds stumbling around is no place to bring your kids?!

Also, if you're a maker of fine edibles, you should be aware that the SFPD will be patrolling and busting any vendors they see, and "vendors are not permitted to sale [sic] anything."

Of course Supervisor London Breed has threatened to try to shut this thing down completely, both for cleanup reasons and other reasons, but she's probably powerless to do so  unlike Halloween in the Castro, you can't run street-cleaners through the park spraying water on everyone.

More than anything, SFist is just looking forward to Stanley Roberts's annual coverage of the event for his People Behaving Badly segment on KRON 4. And please oh please can this mime girl come back?? She later wrote in to SFist to insist that she wasn't stoned at all but was just high on life and trying to show others how to be but WE LOVE HER SO MUCH.

And, in case you're new, here's the history of the term 420, which is Bay Area-born.

Previously: Five Arrested, And Only A Few Severely Debilitated By Edibles At This Year's 4/20

The Real Dope Behind 420 (Which Was Coined By A Group Of California Teens)
Despite video evidence that captured the brutal attack, the San Francisco Police Department has been unable to track down the people responsible for the February stabbing of a British tourist that led to his death. Will these composite sketches or a $5000 reward lead police to the killers?

You likely know the story by now: 44-year-old Paul Tam, an IT expert from Manchester England, was visiting SF in pursuit of "new career opportunities," when a man and woman attempted to mug him at around 8:30 p.m. on Thursday February 18 as he walked on Post Street, between Franklin and Gough Streets. He resisted the theft of his green messenger bag, which contained his passport, cash, credit cards, and his cell phone, and was stabbed in the head by his mugger. He succumbed to his injuries on March 24.

The mugging and attack was captured on a nearby video camera. It is graphic.

The male and female suspects in the attack grabbed Tam's bag and fled. They have not been seen since.

Using the video, an SFPD artist created the composite sketches of the man and woman responsible for the mugging and attack that you see above. The SFPD also provides these descriptions:



Black adult male approximately 510 with a heavy build last seen wearing a dark hoodie and blue jeans Black/mixed race adult female approximately 54, small build with dreadlocks or braids.

Of the male suspect, SFPD spokesperson Officer Carlos Manfredi told ABC 7 that "He took a bag of items and killed someone for it."

"If he could do it to this person, he could do it to someone else."

According to Bay City News, the San Francisco Police Officers Association is also offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspects. That's additional incentive for those who know anything about the attack to contact Sergeants Chris Canning, Scott Warnke, Anthony Ravano or Alan Levy at the Homicide Detail during business hours at (415) 553-1145, or anytime via the Anonymous Tip Line at (415) 575-4444 you can also Text A Tip to TIP411 and begin the message with SFPD.

Previously: British Man Stabbed On Cathedral Hill Last Month Dies; Police Release Video Of Attack
DES MOINES | Although it may not be a realistic hope, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller hopes Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland gets an up-or-down vote in the U.S. Senate.

Miller was among the speakers who called for Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley to hold confirmation hearings on President Barack Obamas nominee on a conference call Monday  the eve of the Iowa Republicans scheduled breakfast meeting with Garland.

Miller, a Democrat in his ninth term, rejected Grassleys argument that voters should get to weigh in on the nomination by participating in the general election this fall. Americans will elect a new president and Iowans will decide whether Grassley gets a seventh term.

When President Barack Obama was re-elected in 2012 he was elected to a four-year term and during that four-year term he has the power to nominate people for the Supreme Court, Miller said. Its for the full four years.

However, Grassley spokeswoman Beth Levine pointed out that voters elected a Republican Senate in 2014 to be a check on the Obama presidency and by President Obamas own words, the 2014 election was a referendum on his agenda.

Its only fair that Obama nominate a successor to the late Justice Antonin Scalia, Miller said, because Republican presidents, who won five of the six presidential elections in the 1980s and 1990, were able to nominate Supreme Court justices.

I was frustrated and felt left out, Miller said

Now, Democrats have won four of the last six presidential elections so they should get the opportunity to nominate five Supreme Court justices because we won those elections. Thats the way its supposed to work.

Miller was joined on the call that was organized by Americans United For Change, which FactCheck.org describes as a liberal group whose message closely mirrors that of the Obama White House, by Drake University law professor Mark Kende and Des Moines attorney Keith Uhl. They participated in an event at the Supreme Court building in Washington last week to call on Grassley to do your job.

Iowans are disturbed by Grassleys refusal to hold a hearing on the Garland nomination, according to Uhl, who was part of Grassleys first U.S. Senate campaign in 1980.

Back here in Iowa, quite frankly  I have never seen such concern among Republicans and Democrats for not providing a fair hearings and an opportunity for the U.S. Senators to vote however they choose on this very qualified nominee, Uhl said.

Its time to man up and vote, he said.

Levine noted that Uhl was a member of Grassleys first campaign committee in 1980, and he still considers Keith a friend.

They have a difference of opinion on this issue even while Mr. Uhl supports Sen. Grassleys work to achieve bipartisan criminal justice reform, she said. In fact, one of Uhls concerns is the dispute over the Supreme Court nomination will interfere with progress on those reforms.

The court is surprisingly both important and fragile, Kende said. It is dependent on the executive and legislative branches of government to act in good faith and cooperate.

In this case, he said, the Senate is not treating the court as a co-equal branch of government. He believes the Judiciary Committee has a constitutional obligation to provide a fair hearing.

Its wonderful theres a breakfast tomorrow, but why not have a public discussion, Kende said.

Also Monday, Why Courts Matter organized demonstrations in Cedar Rapids, Des Moines and Waterloo to call for Senate hearings on Garland.
LONDON -- It's called Frontex and, according to its website, the agency "promotes, coordinates and develops European border management in line with the (European Union) fundamental rights charter applying the concept of Integrated Border Management."

Except that it isn't.

As reported by the UK Daily Mail, "Mass immigration is allowing terrorists to sneak into the EU." In a devastating report, the agency hired by the EU to keep member countries safe from jihadists has admitted what should have been obvious to anyone paying attention and taking seriously their threats.

While the agency says 1.82 million people made illegal border crossings last year -- a six-fold increase over 2014 -- that's only the number they were able to count. Frontex said it has no idea how many actual illegal crossings there have been. Furthermore it has been unable to trace their movements since they arrived and has no way of tracking them.

The Mail says officials warned that a "staggering number of European citizens had become jihadists and were taking advantage of lax border controls."

Since ISIS announced its intention to use the migrant flow to smuggle terrorists into Europe, why is it a surprise that they have kept their word?

What is encouraging this invasion is the reluctance of Western governments to adopt policies that might label them "Islamophobes." In far too many cases those concerns are outweighing their primary responsibility to protect citizens and borders. One example, which may not relate directly to the terrorist threat, but exposes the stupidity that increases the likelihood of more attacks, comes, again, from the Daily Mail, which reports, "EU judges ruled that foreign crime suspects cannot be deported automatically if they risk being imprisoned in degrading jail conditions abroad."

Does that mean judges are OK with suspects committing crimes in the EU while waiting for prison upgrades in their countries of origin?

Not that more information is needed about ISIS, al-Qaida and organizations like the Council on American-Islamic Relations CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood, which some believe are little more than Islamic front groups, but in the event you might suffer from information deprivation, consider a sobering speech given at Hillsdale College in February by Andrew C. McCarthy, a former U.S. attorney who led the terrorism prosecution against Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman and 11 others in connection with the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

After some initial reluctance to take Rahman's announced intentions seriously, McCarthy concluded he "was not lying about Islam," adding, "When he said the scriptures command that Muslims strike terror into the hearts of Islam's enemies, the scriptures backed him up."

To those who continue to promote the false notion that Islam is a "religion of peace," McCarthy responds: "this is how we fall into the trap of allowing the Muslim Brotherhood, the world's most influential Islamic supremacist organization, to infiltrate policy-making organs of the U.S. government, not to mention our schools, our prisons, and other institutions."

Western liberals like to make fun of people they claim are "climate deniers" when it comes to "global warming." They are guilty of denying the intentions of Islamists. As McCarthy warned his Hillsdale audience, "stubbornly unwilling to deal with the reality of Islam, our leaders have constructed an Islam of their very own."

This is why the infiltration is so effective in Europe and increasingly in the U.S. It is why, as The Daily Caller reports, "The United States issues twice as many green cards to migrants from Muslim-majority countries than from Europe, adding to a Middle Eastern migrant population in the country that is one of the fastest growing demographics."

There is even an Islamic University of Minnesota, run by a man who, according to the Investigative Project on Terrorism, "used a recent sermon to invoke a Hadith commonly espoused by Muslim terrorists to kill Jews for causing 'corruption in the land.'"

Still, we let them in and in too many cases lose track of where they are and what they are doing to our detriment.
More than 100 of the globes top business executives have called on North Carolina lawmakers to repeal deeply discriminatory legislature they say will be bad for business.

Discriminatory Legislation

Last month, Governor Pat McCrory signed a controversial bill into law that effectively blocks cities and counties in North Carolina from passing legislation that protect members of the LBGT community from discrimination.

House Bill 2 (HB 2) was introduced before the North Carolina General Assembly as a direct response to a city ordinance in Charlotte that would have allowed transgender people to use the restrooms consistent with their gender identity. As a result, HB 2 was subsequently nicknamed the bathroom bill.

On March 23, HB 2 passed through the North Carolina Senate unanimously after Senate Democrats walked out of the chamber in protest  and Governor McCrory signed the bill into law that same night.

Yet according to the CEOs of Google, Facebook, Citibank and Starbucks, the new law will now have detrimental effects on North Carolinas economy.

In an open letter (PDF) sent by Human Rights Campaign and signed by more than 100 industry leaders, executives like Mark Zuckerberg, Marissa Mayer and the Weinstein brothers claimed that HB 2 would inevitably hurt business by instigating a major talent exodus across the state.

This is not a direction in which states move when they are seeking to provide successful, thriving hubs for business and economic development, the letter said. 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 also went on to add the law would diminish the states draw as a destination for tourism and enterprise.

E-commerce giant PayPal has already withdrawn plans for a major expansion in Charlotte that would have employed over 400 workers over the passing of HB 2.

Discrimination is wrong, and we believe it has no place in North Carolina or anywhere in our country, the executives wrote. Put simply, HB 2 is not a bill that reflects the values of our companies, of our country, or even the overwhelming majority of North Carolinians.

Yahoo and Starbucks arent the only organizations that have lashed out at HB 2 in recent weeks.

On March 31, Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser banned all municipal employees from traveling to North Carolina on official business as a result of the new law. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed has since followed suit and issued a similar ordinance.

In the wake of this overwhelming show of opposition, Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin called on Governor McCrory to repeal the law.

Discrimination is bad for North Carolina, bad for America, and bad for business, he said. These business leaders are speaking out because they know this attack on lesbian, gay, bisexual and especially transgender North Carolinians isnt just morally wrong  it also puts their employees, customers and North Carolinas economy at risk.

The intervention echoes a similar backlash in Georgia last month after state lawmakers passed a bill that would have allowed faith-based organizations to deny goods and services to those who violate their religious beliefs.

After receiving a flurry of criticism from the likes of Disney, Apple and Time Warner, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal ultimately vetoed the bill.
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
Rodrigueze Lavon Nowlin, Jr., 21, of North Carolina. (Booking photo)

LA PLATA, Md.

(April 11, 2016)A possible massacre was averted in Waldorf Saturday thanks to a citizen happening onto a police officer at just the right moment. The citizen flagged down Cpl. P. McCue, of the sheriff's office, and alerted him to a man carrying a long gun at a nearby recreation center. In the end, the guna loaded AR-15 semi-automatic rifle with 27 rounds in itwas stolen and the man was allegedly on his way to settle a score.The incident occurred on April 9 at 4:11 p.m. in the 2000 block of Nantucket Drive in Waldorf. Police confirmed that the rec center is the Wakefield Neighborhood Association located at 2002 Nantucket Drive.Police say Cpl. P. McCue quickly responded and noticed the man walking in the parking lot holding a rifle. Cpl. McCue drove toward the man who then suddenly hid behind a car. Cpl. McCue ordered the man to surrender at which time he did. Once he was secured, officers located the loaded rifle. A check revealed the gun had been reported stolen from North Carolina.Investigation revealed the suspect, Rodrigueze Lavon Nowlin, Jr., 21, of North Carolina, was at the center attending a baby shower with approximately 13 other people. He became involved in an argument with a male guest who assaulted him during the confrontation. Nowlin then left the party and retrieved the gun from his car. As he was walking back to the center, the guests observed him and locked the doors to prevent him from entering. In the meantime, the person with whom Nowlin had been arguing fled, but was stopped by police. He was in possession of brass knuckles.Nowlin was arrested and charged (39 charges in total) with theft: $1,000 to under $10,000 (CR.7.104); stolen regulated firearm (PS.5.138); restricted firearm ammuniation (CR.4.110); assault weapon/magazine use (CR.4.306.(b)(1)); dangerous weapon intent to injure (CR.4.101.(c)(2)); firearm use in a felony or violent crime (CR.4.204.b); 11 counts of first-degree assault (CR.3.202); 11 counts of second-degree assault (CR.3.203); and 11 counts of reckless endangerment (CR.3.204(a)(1)).Nowlin was released on $250,000 bond on Monday after being bonded out by Kimberly Austin Williams of Charlotte, N.C., according to the Md. Judiciary database.Updated 2016-04-12 3:36 p.m.: Clarified that the AR-15 was a semi-automatic, not automatic. Elaborate on charges and include info on bond.
M. Hinckley, FBI Baltimores Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Criminal Branch, Major John Horne, St. Marys County Sheriffs Office. (Submitted photo)

Left: DFC. Funchion and K9 Jax. Right: DFC. Morder and K9 Wolf.

SOLOMONSOn Wednesday March 16th, 2016 the 5th Grade D.A.R.E. graduation at the Our Lady Star of the Sea was held. Nine 5th Graders celebrated completing the 10 day elementary school "Keepin' it REAL" curriculum. They were joined by family, Sheriff Mike Evans, retired Sgt. Mike Bomgardner, and other fellow D.A.R.E. instructors. This was the third graduation for DFC M. Robshaw at the Our Lady Star of the Sea and the first for DFC W. Beisel. The graduation opened with a few words from DFC Robshaw about the importance of making safe and responsible choices and applauding the parents in doing a great job raising their children thus far. Following DFC Robshaw was a talk from Sheriff Mike Evans, who talked about the importance of the D.A.R.E. program and about his future visions of expanding the D.A.R.E. program into all the Calvert County School. Retired Sgt. Mike Bomgardner, the guest speaker, talked about the importance of the D.A.R.E. programs as well, and the importance of being responsible and making the right choices.At the graduation, three students from the graduating class were given an opportunity to read their D.A.R.E. essays. The D.A.R.E. essays gave students the opportunity to reflect on what they learned during D.A.R.E. DFC M. Robshaw awarded the three essay winners with their own stuffed DAREN the Lion. The D.A.R.E. graduating students were then awarded with a certificate of completion from the D.A.R.E. program by Deacon Chris and Mrs. Shaw. DFC Robshaw gave the final speech to the graduating class congratulating them on their accomplishments and told the graduating class to always remember to make safe and responsible decisions in life because you never know what the future holds.LEONARDTOWNThe weekly COMPSTAT meetings held by the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office generally revolve around emerging crime trends, but the latest meeting was focused on valuable partnerships. Last Wednesday, Sheriff Tim Cameron hosted a visit from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Baltimore Division.The Sheriff's Office serves as a satellite office for the FBI Baltimore Division, and Scott M. Hinckley, FBI Baltimore's Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Criminal Branch, and FBI Public Affairs Specialist Dave Fitz stopped by to thank Sheriff Cameron and his team for their continued support and strong partnership.Stationed at a satellite office at the Sheriff's Office headquarters in Leonardtown, the resident special agent acts as a liaison between the Sheriff's Office and the FBI. The Special Agent assigned to Southern Maryland operates in partnership with the Criminal Investigations Division (CID) and has been working and assisting with cases in this area since as early as 2004, before being permanently assigned in January of 2012.Hinckley thanked members of the Sheriff's Office for their valuable support of the resident agent and the collaborative working relationship."I appreciate everything you do on the front lines," Hinckley told the deputies, "and you work extremely hard to keep the community safe. The threats facing our communities require more than ever close collaboration between the FBI and all our local and state partners. St. Mary's County citizens are very well served by this collaboration."The resident FBI Special Agent is available to be used as a resource for all members of the Sheriff's Office; Patrol, CID, and Narcotics.Caption: (L-R) Scott M. Hinckley, FBI Baltimore's Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Criminal Branch, Major John Horne, St. Mary's County Sheriff's OfficePRINCE FREDERICKCalvert County Sheriff's Office K9's Jax & Wolf will receive bullet and stab protective vests thanks to a charitable donation from non-profit organization Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. K9 Jax & Wolf's vests are sponsored by Friends of Dogwood Acres Pet Retreat of Davidsonville, MD and will be embroidered with the sentiment "Gifted by Friends of Dogwood Acres Pet Retreat". Delivery is expected within eight to ten weeks.Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. is a 501c (3) charity located in East Taunton, MA whose mission is to provide bullet and stab protective vests and other assistance to dogs of law enforcement and related agencies throughout the United States. The non-profit was established in 2009 to assist law enforcement agencies with this potentially lifesaving body armor for their four-legged K9 officers. Since its inception, Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. provided over 1,700 protective vests, in 49 states, through private and corporate donations, at a cost of over 1.6 million dollars. All vests are custom made in the USA by Armor Express in Central Lake, MI.The program is open to dogs actively employed in the U.S. with law enforcement or related agencies who are certified and at least 20 months of age. New K9 graduates, as well as K9s with expired vests, are eligible to participate.The donation to provide one protective vest for a law enforcement K9 is $1,050.00. Each vest has a value between $1,795$2,234 and a five-year warranty, and an average weight of 4-5 lbs. There is an estimated 30,000 law enforcement K9s throughout the United States. For more information or to learn about volunteer opportunities, please call 508-824-6978. Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. provides information, lists events, and accepts tax-deductible donations of any denomination at www.vik9s.org or mailed to P.O. Box 9 East Taunton, MA 02718.
A pastor protection bill in Florida. A transgender bathroom bill in Tennessee. These are the kind of bills, proposed in multiple states, with varying degrees of success, that the Equality Federation hopes to combat with its Legislative Action Center [LAC].

Last year we saw over one hundred anti-LGBTQ bills introduced across the country and we expect another avalanche of negative bills this year. We have a game plan to stop these attacks. We can target the right people at the right time with the right message to help defeat these bills, said Rebecca Isaacs, executive director of the Equality Federation, in a press release.

Currently, Equality Federation is tracking over 200 bills; at least 150 of those are of an anti-LGBT nature. The ones that seem to be getting the most attention are anti-transgender bills and religious exemption, said Amanda McLain-Snipes, author at Equality Federation.

Making a lot of the LAC possible is the Legislative Tracking Center, a computer program that can scan every state legislatures website for anti-LGBT bills and provide the information in an easily accessible way to the Equality Federation. We developed it internally. It gathers information [schedule of floor votes, committee hearings and more] in a smart and strategic way across the country, McLain-Snipes said. We had a huge win [with gay marriage] in June in the Supreme Court, but now weve got to hold our ground.

With the LAC, McLain-Snipes said the hope is that pro-LGBT groups wont be caught off guard like they were with Indianas Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

In Oklahoma, HB 2428, the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act of 2016, would prevent any state agency from taking action against a child adoption or foster entity that discriminates against LGBT couples.

McLain-Snipes said the law could also end up opening a door to abuses perpetuated among the non-LGBT community.

You could make the case where somebody said, as a deeply-held religious belief, Id rather pray for this child than give them medical care. According to Tulsa World, in 2012, Susan Grady of Tulsa, Oklahoma was convicted of allowing her son to die because she decided to forego medical care in favor of prayer.

McLain-Snipes pointed to that bill as an example of the LAC working as intended. When we saw that HB 2428 started getting traction, I reached out [to groups in Oklahoma]. By doing that, the legislation has really gotten bogged down. We want people to have the tools in their tool kit right when the legislators are considering the legislation; getting people to speak out . . . before it becomes law.

According to the Human Rights Campaign [HRC], over 60 people lobbied Oklahoma legislatures against HB 2428 on March 1.

Oklahoma and the HRC both singled out Oklahoma as having the single highest number of anti-LGBT bills in the legislature, 26  named a slate of hate by HRC. Oklahoma is regrettably leading the nation in the number of bills attacking LGBT people, their families, and visitors in the 2016 legislative session, said HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow on the organizations website.

To view the LAC, visit EqualityFederation.org.
In February Dr. David Knox presented a case report about the first documented HIV Infection of someone on PrEP. A 44-year old Toronto man, The Toronto patient, tested positive for HIV in May of 2015, despite adhering to PrEP.

Dr. Knox was the primary care physician for The Toronto patient at a community clinic. The results of the laboratory tests were consistent with strict adherence to PrEP. This marks the first documented case of HIV infection of someone adherent to PrEP. The Toronto patient is now taking other antiretrovirals and has achieved an undetectable viral load. While some have interpreted this as proof of PrEP failure, others have cautioned that no prevention treatment has guaranteed 100 percent success.

The Toronto patient had been on a PrEP regimen for 2 years. Clinical and pharmacological tests are consistent with adherence to PrEP. Two to six weeks prior to his first positive test, The Toronto patient had bottomed with casual partners on multiple occasions. The Toronto patient did not require his partners to use condoms and neither did they insist on using condoms. One of those partners transmitted a resistant strain of HIV to The Toronto patient. This strain had resistance to, and reduced effectiveness against the antiretrovirals in PrEP.

This strain is resistant to two nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), one non-nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs), and one integrase inhibitor. In addition, two NRTIs and two integrase inhibitors have reduced effectiveness against this strain. This type of multi-drug resistance is rare.

Dr. Robert Grant (University of California, San Francisco) reported that less than 1 percent of all HIV infected people carry this strain of the virus. Some of them have undetectable viral loads.

Gus Cairns in AIDSMAP cautioned against interpreting this one case as a reason to reject the entire PrEP program. It is not unexpected that there would be occasional cases of PrEP failure; Cairns said, but the fact that this is the first case report among the tens of thousands of people now taking PrEP shows that it is very rare.

Dr. Robert Grant in The Body Pro brought up a forbidden subject in HIV prevention: the mental health need of gay men to have sex without thinking about disease.

I also think that gay men benefit from feeling safer during sex and I am grateful that PrEP affords that feeling Dr. Grant continued, People who feel safe feel more power, more confidence in the future, and more desire to discover and pursue their deeply felt personal goals. Believing in the future brings powerful social and personal benefits. There is less trauma.

At press time, Poz interviewed The Toronto Patient. To read the interview please visit, http://bit.ly/1UvaPZ1

To view the complete webcast please visit http://bit.ly/1ooB70J

To read the Body Pro on why this one infection does not disqualify PrEP as an HIV prevention technology, please visit http://bit.ly/1ZNSQMM

To read Dr. Robert Grants interview in BetaBlog, please visit http://bit.ly/1X07fEb
Who says traveling has to be boring, scripted and repetitive?

Building on the success and system-disrupting model of AirBnB, comes KinkBnB, a new way to accommodate your intimate desires.

Sex tourism is a growing trend, KinkBnB declares on its website. We view our hosts as not only our valued partners but as authorities on the local sex positive scene.

Ryan Galiotto, one of the founders of KinkBnB, gave an interview to Huffington Post last month in which he revealed more of his companys mission.

KinkBnB is a digital marketplace for adults to find spaces to play and places to stay where they dont have to hide their sexuality. We want to help people explore themselves, Galiotto told Huffington Post.

This kinky concept has yet to fully catch on in South Florida as there are very few hosts available, but, nevertheless, its a start. A search for the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area pulled up Studio P, a 1,500 square foot BDSM play space located just off Interstate 95.

Like AirBnB, hosts and travelers are reviewed and rated. Amenities at a KinkBnB location that sets it apart from other rentals typically include, but are not limited to the following: Dungeon, Sex Furniture, Orgy Friendly, Swinger Friendly, Nudist Household, Sex Educator Available, Pro-Domme Available and Toys Available. Holiday options for hosts include: adventure, hookup/tryst, romantic, party or honeymoon.

We also want the sex positive community to grow and travel, Galiotto told Huffington Post. It is not always easy to find where to go in a new city. But if you stay with someone already in the community, you have a host and guide.
Seasoned political operatives gathered inside a local coffee shop on Thursday, April, 7, to hear from the former chairman of the Broward Democratic Party and leading candidate for Clerk of the Courts.

Mitch Ceasar told a group of mostly gay men from Fort Lauderdale that he would make every effort to rebuild a broken clerks office.

The office needs help, Ceasar said.

A practicing attorney, Ceasar is attempting to win public office after decades of working behind the scenes as a Democratic party boss. According to the Broward Supervisor of Elections office, Ceasar faces competition from five other candidates  Elizabeth McHugh, Brenda Forman, Lisa Ferreri, Shandrall Roscoe and Rubin Young. Of the six, Ceasar has raised the most money -- $174,984 compared to $71,500 for McHugh and $30,075 for Forman, wife of retiring County Clerk, Howard C. Forman.

Mitch is a great manager, said Ron Mills, a gay man, who has in the past, served as Broward Countys state committeeman for the Democratic Executive Committee. He has the managerial skills needed for the job and he has never not put forth the motions.

Joining Mills at the Fort Lauderdale reception for Ceasar were former Broward County Mayor Ken Keechl, one-time County Commission candidate Ben Lap, local attorney George Castrataro, former Florida GLBT Caucus chairman Michael Albetta and SFGN publisher Norman Kent. Fort Lauderdale Commissioner Dean J. Trantalis introduced Ceasar to the invited guests.

Our court system is in complete shambles, Trantalis, an attorney, said in his endorsement speech of Ceasar. You cannot leave this task in anybodys hands. It takes a special talent -- someone who pushes people, who organizes people, has a history of understanding how people work and act.

Ceasar, a married straight man, proudly displayed a plaque to the group recognizing his participation in a gay pridefest parade circa 1997. Before his remarks, Ceasar told reporters standing up for human rights is a no-brainer.

"I certainly did not do it because it was the popular thing to do, I did it because it was the right thing to do, Ceasar said.

A member of the national Democratic Executive Committee, Ceasar will have input on decisions made this July in Philadelphia. Chairing a major political party in a South Florida county home to more than two million people has its advantages.

Ive known Mitch for many, many years throughout my activity in the Democratic Party, Trantalis said. Mitch is a leader and not just for Democrats. Hes reached out to so many groups and built this party to what it is today. Often times this county will turn the entire state.

Browards primary election is scheduled for Aug. 30. Currently, no Republican has filed for the clerks position.

With 36 years as a lawyer to his credit, Ceasar said his campaign would focus on treating the public better. He also mentioned his work on committees for the Anti-Defamation League, Urban League and the independent authority which created the Sawgrass Expressway.

That was the only road in Broward County history that came in six months early and millions of dollars under budget, said Ceasar, chair of the authority.
Pensioners and students coming from other EU countries are entitled to free trains in Slovakia.

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AFTER free fares were introduced for some groups of passengers on Slovak trains, more than 21,000 tourists have used them; most of them from the Czech Republic. Of these, most were pensioners.

At the end of 2014, the government of Robert Fico came up with a novelty withits so-called social package. This offered free train rides for students and pensioners. The European Union requires the same treatment for pensioners and students coming from other EU countries so this benefit was claimed by many Czechs.

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By mid-January 2016, the rail carrier ZSSK recorded more than 868,000 registrations in the system of free transport. The almost half a million passengers travelling for free included 21,258 foreigners.

In the statistics of foreigners registrations, seniors prevail  constituting almost 84 percent; followed by children aged between six and 15 years  9 percent; and then by students and pupils  5 percent.

Most foreign registrations were from the Czech Republic with 17,930, followed by Hungary with 952, and Germany with 338 registrations, ZSSK informed the Hospodarske Noviny daily.
Slovakia will assess the impact of the future plant on its environs.

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The construction of the industrial park in Nitra, in which the brand new plant of the British Jaguar Land Rover should be built, may be delayed even though the launch of car production remains unchanged. The state admitted to a delay in a document published during the assessment of environmental impacts, the Sme daily wrote on April 11.

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Based on original plans, the industrial park should have been completed already during the first half of 2016 while the start of construction of the plant was planned for the same time. Now the documents indicate the start of construction of the plant by the end of 2016. First cars should roll down from production lines in Nitra at the turn of 2018 and 2019, according to plan.

Read also:

Read also: Jaguar Land Rover to build cars in Slovakia Read more

All works are carried out according to the timetable and without delay in order the Slovak Republic meets its commitments resulting from the investment agreement with Jaguar Land Rover, said Karolina Ducka, spokesperson of the Transport Ministry, as cited by Sme.

EIA for the car plant

While there will be no environmental impact assessment of the industrial park, impacts of the plant itself will be assessed. According to the Transport Ministry, it was the carmaker that proposed the assessment, Sme wrote.

Read also:

Read also: Land owner sues state secretary over Jaguar plots Read more

The latest plans indicate that the plant should consist of a body shop as well as a paint shop, while the biggest change was made in the number of parking places. These were increased from 440 as originally indicated in the projects for construction of the industrial park to more than 4,000 in the plants plans. An environmental impact assessment (EIA) is obligatory as of 500 parking places. This is why firstly the District Court in Nitra decided that an EIA is not necessary for construction of the industrial park. At that time it was indicated that the EIA might significantly delay construction of the industrial park.
He remains to act as an advisor.

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Former parliamentary deputy and finance minister Ivan Miklos will not become finance minister of the new Ukrainian government, the news website aktuality.sk informed adding that Miklos will remain as an advisor at the Ukrainian ministry.

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It was the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament and potential future prime minister Volodymyr Groysman of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc who proposed Miklos for the post.

Miklos had initially considered the offer, but based on the Ukrainian daily Segodnya, to which actuality.sk refers to, he turned down his entry into the Ukrainian government.

Read also:

Read also: Miklos set to get a seat in Ukrainian government Read more

Primarily Miklos pondered accepting the offer when he confirmed in late March that he had agreed to take the governmental post in Ukraine under the condition that he would retain his Slovak passport.
The police carried out raids in several towns across Slovakia.

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The National Criminal Agency (NAKA) detained about 30 people suspected of committing economic crimes during raids in Bratislava, western and central Slovakia, the Topky.sk website reported.

Officers raided both residential and business premises in various towns and searched warehouses, documents, accounting records and computers. Among the searched locations were companies situated on Stara Vajnorska street in Bratislava and the premises of INTV television broadcaster, which was to launch broadcasting soon, the TASR newswire wrote.

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The aim was to find people who are interconnected and who may relate to the television broadcaster somehow, as reported by TASR.

The raids were approved by the court.

NAKA documents a serious tax crime which was to be committed by an organised group, Police Corps Presidium spokesperson Martin Wald confirmed to Topky.sk. He has not provided further details as the investigation is still underway.

Among the suspects is a person identified as Peter P. who serves, according to the website, as authorised representative in more than 10 companies residing in Bratislava. He is reported to be abroad.

INTV television wrote about the raid on its Facebook profile.

We were informed that two days before the planned start of broadcasting... the police do everything to mar the independent reporting, reads its Facebook status, as quoted by the Sme.sk website. Without any reason they occupied our premises.

It later published the police report, showing that they found nothing.

People behind INTV spread various conspiracy theories. It plans to share the reporting of association led by founder of Slobodny Vysielac Nortbert Lichtner, while the editor-in-chief of the broadcast news was to be former reporter of conspiracy-oriented magazine Zem a Vek Lubomir Hudo, Sme.sk wrote.

Moreover, part of the team was originally also former TV presenter Martina Simkovicova, who has meanwhile been appointed MP for the We Are Family party of Boris Kollar, the website reported.
Altogether 34 children will visit seven schools, four of them situated in Nitra.

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The children of Assyrian Christians from Iraq, who arrived in Slovakia in December 2015, started visiting primary schools in Nitra and surrounding municipalities.

Three schools are state-run and four are religious. Of the latter group, three schools are run by the Nitra Bishopric and one by the Piarist Order, the TASR newswire reported.

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We agreed at the meeting with the Education Ministrys representatives that children will be placed in classrooms based on their age, said spokesperson for the Nitra Bishopric Miroslav Lyko, as quoted by TASR. The only exception is eighth grade where also 16-year-olds are.

Iraqi pupils visit the lessons together with other children. The only exception is that they will have extra Slovak language classes.

The schools secure the education on their own, they do not have any assistant who would speak both Slovak and Arabic, Lyko said, as quoted by TASR.

Among the Iraqis are also children who have already completed their compulsory education, but they have not finished secondary school yet.

The problem of placing children in secondary schools has not been discussed yet; it will probably be discussed in the beginning of the new school year in September, Lyko said, as quoted by TASR.

He could not say whether these children will have to undergo entrance exams or will start from the first grade at secondary schools. It will probably depend on schools and their founders, Lyko added.

Together 149 Assyrian Christians from Iraq, or 25 families, have found new homes in Nitra Region. They are accommodated in premises provided by the Catholic Church and volunteers, the Sme.sk website wrote.
Two members of far-right LSNS party Marian Magat and Marian Misun are reportedly under investigation for supporting groups which suppress human rights.

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The police are dealing with several suspicions connected to two well-known far-right extremists, the Aktuality.sk website reported.

Magat, for example, ran on the slate of the Peoples Party  Our Slovakia (LSNS) of Marian Kotleba in the March 5 parliamentary elections under the number 88 which in neo-Nazi symbolism means Heil Hitler. Yet he claims that it was only an accident. Moreover, Misun says that the number 88 symbolises the Candle Manifestation, as reported by Aktuality.sk.

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In addition, both men shared on the internet a picture of marching prisoners who resemble the victims of concentration camps during the Holocaust before the elections.

We will sort out drop-outs and political thieves, the text in the picture read, as quoted by Aktuality.sk. We will send them to labour camps!

The police now investigate whether Magat and Misun did not commit the crime of supporting and promoting groups suppressing fundamental rights and freedoms. Since the investigation is still underway, spokesperson for Bratislava police Michal Szeiff did not want to provide further details.

It is up to investigators how they will evaluate it, expert in extremism from the Interior Ministry Daniel Milo told Aktuality.sk, referring to the symbolism of numbers on the slate.

However, it cannot be expected that the police will accuse anybody only because of the candidacy number, he added.

Both men had problems with police also in the past and were invited to a hearing. They boast of it on social networks, Aktuality.sk wrote.
Andrej Hrnciar of Siet will, however, do so only after the financial situation in the town is stabilised.

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Parliamentary Deputy Speaker Hrnciar confirmed to the TASR newswire that he will resign from the post of mayor of Martin (Zilina Region). He will, however, do so only after it manages to bring itself out of forced administration.

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Were striving to stabilise the city, to bring it out of forced administration, Hrnciar said, as quoted by TASR. I still want to prepare a budget and steps relating to the Constitutional Court.

Hrnciar decided to leave his mayoral function in order to avoid holding two public posts at the same time.

Deputies of Martins local council approved a mandate for Hrnciar on April 4 to sign a contract with the Finance Ministry concerning the provision of 2.5 million in financial assistance.

The Finance Ministry imposed forced administration on Martin on March 24 in response to problems relating to a lost legal dispute involving 8.6 million in compensation that is supposed to be paid to a private firm. The case concerns Martinske Hole Ski Resort, the construction work on which was launched in 1995, TASR wrote.
"Voices of the World will give the audience a global view of the main international and Latin American news, to understand the world we live in. The program intends to host interviews with the main actors and analysts, that will help us understand the global chaos," Telma Luzzani said.

"We are very pleased to collaborate with Sputnik and to have Telma Luzzani as a host at our radio station," said Maria Seoane, the content manager at Radio AM 750.

Commenting on the launch, editor-in-chief of Sputnik Mundo Patricia Lee Wynne said: "Sputnik Mundo is covering all Spanish speaking countries and we are delighted to launch our political talk show for an Argentinian and Latin American audience which will greatly appreciate our new program. Stay with us at mundo.sputniknews.com".

AM750 is a popular radio station in Argentina and part of the Octubre media group, which owns important magazines and radio stations in the country. In this year's programing, Radio AM750 is hosted by Victor Hugo Morales, one of the most influential journalists in the country and Latin America, along with other well-known journalists.

Sputnik (sputniknews.com) is a news agency and radio network with multimedia news hubs in dozens of countries. Sputnik broadcasts through its websites in over 30 languages, as well as analog and digital radio, mobile apps and social media. Sputnik newswires, available by subscription, run around the clock in English, Arabic, Spanish and Chinese.
3. Prior to his flight, a group of experts selected Gagarin out of many other candidates to be a cosmonaut after a series of psychological and physical tests. Gagarin was the clear leader and had a strong sense of determination, purpose and competition. At the same time, Yuri was very friendly, polite and open-hearted. He had excellent memory and was very intelligent. His short stature (Gagarin was 157 cm or 5'2" tall) also contributed to his selection, as it was an advantage in the spacecraft's cramped two-meter wide cockpit.

4. The TASS news agency prepared three possible variants of news before the flight. The first one was written in case of success; the second  a call for help to find Gagarin if the Vostok-1 failed to reach the orbit and fell somewhere in a forest or the ocean; and the third one was about Gagarin's tragic death.

5. When Gagarin launched from the Baikonur space station he held the military rank of lieutenant. Right after landing, he was promoted to major.

6. A couple of days prior to his flight, Gagarin wrote a farewell letter to his wife Valentina in case he died during the flight. When the flight ended successfully, the letter was forgotten; however, Valentina received the letter in 1968 following a flight accident which claimed Gagarin's life.
The factory sews military uniforms and civilian clothes. The first stage of the production process is the straightening of the material and then cutting it.

My daughter was studying at a university. She had to quit her studies because I did not have enough money. What I get here is my only income, another employee said.

This factory employs about 200 people. Each month they receive a base salary and a portion of profits from the products made. The majority of workers are women who lost their husbands, fathers, sons or brothers in the war.

My son died at the age of 27. He was shot in the head by a sniper. I have a second son, he is married with two children and he serves in the army. We all feel the need, local resident Samira told RT.

The factory management tries to take care of its employees. There is a place where one can leave small children who have not yet enrolled in school. The company also has a medical center where doctors are ready to provide medical assistance to employees who are injured at work or are experiencing health problems.

These women carry a heavy burden of grief. They are the unknown heroes of Syria. Despite the heavy blows of the war, they continue to hope for the best and are working hard for a brighter future for their families.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Taliban dubbed this years offensive "Operation Omari" in honor of Mullah Omar, the militant groups leader whose 2013 death was acknowledged last summer. The campaign officially kicked off at 5 a.m. local time (00:30 GMT).

The extremist group said that with the advent of spring it is time for them to renew their jihadi operations.

The operation will employ large scale attacks on enemy positions across the country, martyrdom-seeking and tactical attacks against the Afghani government forces, assassination of "enemy" commanders in urban centers, the group announced.
The string of deals is taking place amid growing concerns over Chinas economic outlook. Western analysts say that growth will slow down and Beijing will not be able to avert a "hard landing."

At the same time, the rising number of acquisition deals by Chinese companies makes the negative outlooks unviable, Yakov Berger, an analyst at the Far East Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Sputnik.

"Of course, there will be no collapse in the Chinese economy until Beijing expands the foreign market for its goods and buys foreign companies. This means that China is set for stable growth. Chinese companies plan to buy foreign brands in all industries and invest their growing assets abroad," Berger said.

According to the expert, currently Beijing tries two combine two different strategies to maintain growth, in both the short-term and long-term. The purchase of global brands is part of the short-term strategy. The other strategy requires the creation of domestic brands.

Running domestic brands requires the development of domestic technologies and R&D.

"This process is difficult and long. Currently, China is developing this field and progress is already visible," Berger pointed out.

The strategy of purchasing global brands is aimed not only at expanding its access to markets. It is also a way for Chinese companies to gain access to modern technologies and research. In some cases, the strategy allows Western companies to enter the Chinese domestic market.

For example, after Haier bought the consumer electronics department from General Electric the company also gained access to the brand GE. After ChemChina purchased Syngenta it gained access to new technologies and scientific research. Recently, the Chinese investment giant Fosum International signed an agreement to purchase Israeli Dead Sea cosmetics company Ahava for $77 million. As a result, Ahava products will soon hit the shelves in China.
Privileged Data

DRIPA allows the Home Secretary to order communications companies to retain data for 12 months. It catches the records of communications of everyone in the UK, including the emails, calls, texts and web activity of MPs, journalists, lawyers, doctors and other correspondence that may be confidential or privileged.

In July 2015, the High Court found key parts of it breached fundamental rights because they do not include rules to ensure data is only accessed to help prevent and detect serious offences, and because access is not authorized by a court or independent body. The Government appealed, and Court of Appeal judges sought clarification from the CJEU in December.

James Welch, human rights group Liberty's Legal Director, said:

"Liberty strongly supports the use of surveillance in fighting crime, but only if it's targeted. The Government's approach of sweeping up and storing everybody's data with no effective safeguards is excessive. This case could stop the fatally flawed Investigatory Powers Bill in its tracks and mark a sea change in the fight for an effective, targeted system of surveillance that keeps us safe and protects our rights."

Liberty says the Investigatory Powers Bill  currently being rushed through Parliament  not only seeks to re-legislate for DRIPA, but goes much further. It would dramatically expand the mass data-gathering powers challenged in this case, with no attempt to remedy the lack of safeguards raised by the High Court.

The Bill would force service providers to generate and retain every person's Internet connection records (ICRs)  details of every website visited, communication software, desktop widget and application used, system update downloaded and device used to connect to the web.

It also seeks to put several other bulk powers  including hacking, interception and acquisition of vast databases containing sensitive information of millions of innocent people  on a statutory footing.

And in case you missed it, heres @Cassetteboy vs The Snoopers' Charter. With the Police. Not the police. #IPBill https://t.co/bCeCkvj7OG  Paul Bernal (@PaulbernalUK) April 9, 2016

If the CJEU finds the scheme of bulk retention and self-authorized access breaches human rights law, whole sections of the Investigatory Powers Bill will be called into question. Such a ruling would make it extremely unlikely that proposals for other even more intrusive bulk measures in the Bill would comply.
Transparency International EU says that setting the threshold for companies covered by the reporting requirement at US$847 million in annual consolidated turnover would  according to the OECD's estimates  exclude 85-90 percent of multinationals from the reporting requirement. A lower threshold would cover more companies, providing more data on the activities of multinationals and ensuring a more level playing field.

Elena Gaita, Policy Officer on Corporate Transparency at Transparency International EU told Sputnik: "The Commission has squandered a golden opportunity to make companies more accountable. The last minute addition of tax havens smacks of window dressing. Companies will still be able to strike favorable deals with governments in other parts of the world without public scrutiny.

"It's baffling why the Commission has proposed a cumbersome and contentious process to create a list of tax havens when there is already a simpler solution. Full public country-by-country reporting applying to the whole world would produce better results. This proposal cannot be called public country-by-country reporting, if it does not include most of the world," Gaita told Sputnik.

Vague Criteria

Transparency International say the current proposals will allow EU companies to continue using tax havens and shell companies without anyone knowing about it. The draft proposal will allow companies to report all their financial data for operations outside the EU as one figure, leading to a lack of knowledge as to what companies were doing in tax havens across the world.

"Despite the unprecedented scale of the Panama Papers revelations, the Commission has come forward with a proposal that falls short of much-needed transparency. This is not public country-by-country reporting: companies will only have to make data available about their tax and profits in EU countries and some tax havens on a common 'blacklist' whose criteria remain vague. Many known tax havens, like Switzerland and Delaware, will simply not be covered," said Jan Willem Goudriaan, General Secretary European Federation of Public Service Unions.

"In the case of profit-shifting schemes such as those used by McDonald's, there will be no way of comparing profits made and taxes paid in, for example, France and the US. This proposal fails to give the big picture on global tax dodging," he said.
According to Benchemsi, the prospects for an end to the hostilities in Yemen are poor because the ceasefire was agreed upon by the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition, but did not take into account other players in the conflict, including the Islah Party and elements of al Qaeda.

"If these forces are not at the table, we cannot really expect them to respect the decision they will not be part of," he said.

Ceasefires tend to have rocky beginnings, and, in this case, it is more a matter of "who's participating in the conversation," as opposed to a matter of time, Benchemsi believes. The upcoming April 18 peace talks in Kuwait do not seem promising for similar reasons.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The use of chlorine in Syria's Aleppo by the Jaysh al-Islam group, as well as the use of other chemical weapons by other radical groups in 2016 in both Syria and Iraq, proves that Damascus is not involved in these types of attacks, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Tuesday.

"Actually, militants from various radical groups only in 2016 used toxic substances several times as chemical weapons in Syria and Iraq. Now the Jaysh al-Islam group has used chlorine in Aleppo, and it seems they aren't even hiding this. Obviously we strongly condemn the use of chemical substances for military purposes whoever it is, including non-government subjects," Zakharova said.

She said that the use of chemical weapons by radical groups proves that Damascus is not involved in such attacks, as the West has accused.
While Malik Jalal says he plays an important role in trying to bring peace to the region, there have been criticisms of the NWPC, with some suggesting the committee provides Taliban members with a safe haven in Waziristan.

'I Came Close to Being Bombed Four Times'

In a letter, addressed to UK Home Secretary Theresa May, who is responsible for MI5 and the National Crime Agency (NCA), and Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, who has responsibility for GCHQ and MI6, Malik Jalal has called for a meeting to clear up concerns that he may be on a government kill list.

"I had a special role to improve security and we were making progress and that's why I think Americans targeted us [] I came close to being bombed four times, so in the end I realized they were on to me," he told the BBC.

"I have had to leave Waziristan. In my own family there are six people who are mentally destabilized because of the strikes. In Waziristan there are more than 400,000 people who have mental problems because of the drones. My own son is too scared to go back to Waziristan."

The US ambassador to the UK has also been copied into the letter, with Malik Jalal calling on Britain to try and influence the US to stop what he believes have been attempts on his life and others in Waziristan.

"I have a peaceful role in Pakistan. I am not involved in terrorism. I came to Britain because I feel like Britain is like a younger brother to America. I am telling Britain that America doesn't listen to us, so you tell them not to kill Waziristanis."

Concerns Over Long-Term UK Involvement in US 'Kill List'

The comments follow the release of an explosive report, accusing British law enforcement and intelligence agencies of drawing up an extra-judicial kill list targeting some of the world's most wanted terror suspects and drug smugglers.

The report, released by human rights organization Reprieve, claimed that the UK has been a long-time partner in the US' "shoot to kill" policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, with the report alleging that drug smugglers, as well as terrorists were among those targeted.

"Britain's Kill List": @Reprieve's full report is at https://t.co/iFuKfJpUbJ.



Even the chapter titles are chilling, pic.twitter.com/RjyCmvcrN1  Shoaib M Khan (@ShoaibMKhan) April 10, 2016

The findings follow a separate Vice News investigation that claimed that UK military personnel were exploiting a legal loophole to play a "critical" role in the US drone kill list program in Yemen.

Citing interviews with more than two dozen current and former British, American and Yemeni officials, UK forces were alleged to have taken part in so-called "hits" in Yemen, "triangulating" intelligence for kill lists, and preparing "target packages."

The reports of long-time collaboration with the US shoot to kill policy have led to suggestions that UK Prime Minister David Cameron misled parliament on September 7, 2015, when he said that the assassination of two British nationals in Syria was a "new departure" for the UK.

Commenting on the latest developments, Clive Stafford Smith, Director of Reprieve, said: It is horrifying that, in the 21st Century, we have drawn up a list of people we want to kill.

"For a country that loudly proclaims its opposition to the death penalty even after a fair trial, the notion that we would execute him without a trial at all stunningly hypocritical. Malik Jalal puts a very human face on the horror of this policy."

The UK government has said they don't comment on matters of intelligence.
In addition, the investigation revealed that the detainees at the request of Daesh commanders trained the newly recruited jihadists to be sent to fight in clashes. They themselves participated in warfare and engaged in the training of Savas Yldz, who in 2015 committed acts of terrorism at the regional offices of the Party of Kurdish Peoples Democracy in Adana and Mersin.

Eight out of 15 suspects were detained by the police of Izmir during the operation and after interrogation by the police and the prosecutor's office they were brought to court, with some having been arrested while others were released.

In July 2015, the Izmir police also conducted a large-scale anti-terrorist operation in the areas of Isparta and Erzurum on 22 addresses, where they found Daesh militants who came to Turkey from Syria.

As a result, 7 suspects were detained and questioned and later on the court sent them to prison to serve their sentences. Two of those arrested during the operation in Menemen denied any involvement with the terrorist organization as they were members of the AKP branch.
"These deliveries are carried out along a logistics route set up by Russian and Iranian specialists. After receiving the first batch Tehran withdraws its lawsuit against Russia in the International Arbitration Court," Rogozin said.

"This announcement means that Russia fulfills its obligations. Previously, Moscow listened to Washingtons opinion on S-300 deliveries. Now, the situation has changed," the analyst said.

According to Perendzhiev, S-300 systems would play an important role in maintaining Irans national security because modern warfare is focused on aerial attacks and airstrikes.

Western politicians may protest over the delivery of S-300s to Iran, he added.

"At the same time, Russia needs Iran as an ally, especially in the Middle East. Tehran has been helping Moscow with fighting Daesh in Syria. Iran is also contributing to the settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh. It also helps with deterring Turkeys aggressive steps toward Russia," he explained.

Iran is a reliable partner in supporting Russias national interests as well as maintaining global security, the analyst added.
Discussions of Assads fate have focused on a new constitution to specify the powers of the Syrian president.

"But to define whose authority?" she said. According to the politician, the new Syrian constitution would not be possible under the current government.

An affective political course by Washington could resolve the stalemate, she noted.

"But the US refuses to intense pressure to change the situation. [US President] Barack Obama decided not to take decisive actions and now  amid the ongoing presidential campaign  he would do even less. This means he gave all the cards to Russia. He lacks political will while the US could participate in the settlement in Syria," Kodmani pointed out.

Furthermore, the Russian pullout from Syria is a signal that Moscow is limiting its support for Assad and wants a greater role in the Geneva talks. Finally, after Moscow helped the Syrian Army liberate Palmyra Russia has strengthened its positions at the negotiating table.

"The liberation of Palmyra was not a major strategic victory. But for Damascus and Moscow, it had significant psychological importance," she concluded.

On March 27, the Syrian Army, supported by pro-government militia and the Russian Aerospace Forces, recaptured the ancient city of Palmyra, which had been under Daesh control for about a year.

The city and its historic ruins had been controlled by Daesh since May 2015.
The leaders of the Opposition Bloc political party said Yatsenyuk's resignation is the result of failure of all parties that formed the ruling coalition in the Verkhovna Rada. "An attempt to put together a new coalition made out of fragments of the old coalition doesn't make sense," party officials said, Lenta.ru reported.

The Opposition Bloc added that if the government in Kiev trusted Ukrainians it wouldn't need "Georgians [Saakashvili], Lithuanians [former Minister of Economy Aivaras Abromavicius] and other exotic people." That's why, the party said, the Poroshenko government needs to resign, Lenta.ru reported.

Poroshenko himself was obviously against his own resignation, stating that there won't be a new parliament, according to TV Channel Ukraine 112.

Yatsenyuk's resignation also captured the attention of some top international leaders. Unlike their Ukrainian colleagues, however, they were more sympathetic to Yatsenyuk.

US Vice President Joe Biden held a telephone conversation with Yatsenyuk, thanking him for his service during his term in office.

"The Vice President thanked Prime Minister Yatsenyuk for his partnership during a historic time for Ukraine. He congratulated the government of Ukraine on its accomplishments over the past two years, in particular on the strides it has made on difficult but necessary economic reforms, the signature of the European Union association agreement, and the work it has done to increase energy independence," the readout of US Vice President Biden's call said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel also called Yatsenyuk and thanked him for his contribution to the implementation of national reforms and for his attempts to protect the country's independence.

Merkel also thanked the prime minister for partnerships and "the high levels of mutual trust and effective cooperation between Ukraine and Germany," the statement of the German chancellor read, according to Ukrinform.
It means that even if the German government does not allow Bohmermann to be prosecuted on the charges of "insulting governmental institutions or representatives of another state" (103 of the Criminal Code), it is still possible that the prosecution will take place on charges of an ordinary "insult" against a person (185 of the Criminal Code), which is punishable with a fine or up to one year in prison.

According to Seils, Merkel drove herself into this trap when she personally called Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and referred to the text of the poem as "deliberately insulting".

"Erdogan quickly realized the propaganda opportunities that opened for him after the call from the Office of the German Chancellor," the article wrote.

The Berlin government stated that it would examine the text of the note and announce its decision within a few days. And here there are two options: If the Chancellor agrees with the Ankara's demands, the public will perceive it as a sign of Germany's dependence on Turkey. It will also mean that Merkel is ready to renounce the European values for the sake of the EU-Turkey deal on refugees.

However, if Merkel refuses to meet Turkey's demands she risks losing its partner, which plays a key role in the resolution of the current migration crisis.

"Erdogan has repeatedly demonstrated his unpredictability and willingness to use the migration crisis to blackmail Europe," Seils wrote."Thus, Merkel has driven herself into the satire's trap. Anyway, the Chancellor will face either external, or internal problems."
Commenting on the recent visit of the Austrian President's delegation to Russia, Bellen said that if he was in the President's place he might have done the same.

"At the moment, I find it difficult to answer, whether I would have gone to Moscow now or postponed the visit. If you ask me, if I would go for it, in general, then my answer is yes," the politician said in an interview with ORF.

The Austrian delegation's visit to Russia, which included country's leading economists has been criticized by a number of oppositional parties. Representatives of the opposition claimed that the current government has discredited itself, putting the economy above political dialogue and international law.

"I would also include economists in the delegation. In addition, I would have taken [] scholars engaged in scientific and research activities, as well as representatives of culture and art. In my opinion, the economy, culture and science are a perfect mixture to form Austria's image in the world community," the politician stressed.
"Mainstream opposition groups like the FSA have the potential to translate future battlefield wins against ISIS [Daesh] into political support on the ground. Washington needs to take note of this, develop a strategy around it and keep the talks in Geneva and the fragile cease-fire going as long as possible, so as not to miss what might be a narrow window of opportunity," he wrote in an article for The National Interest

Harrison made a foray into the history of US actions during the Syrian conflict. He explained that in the course of the war Washington provided air support to the Syrian Kurdish YPG forces in the battle against Daesh. At the same time, they never provided a similar level of support to opposition fighters.
"Personally, I am strongly in favor of the agreement as it binds Ukraine closer to the EU and keeps Russia at bay. But to ratify it despite a democratic vote against in one of the EU's founding member states is asking for trouble," Munchau wrote in his Op-Ed for Financial Times on April 10.

However, on the same very day, Reuters reported that "the European Commission will propose this month granting visa-free travel to Ukrainians despite a Dutch referendum vote," citing a senior EU source.

To enter into force the proposal must be approved by a qualified majority of EU members and by European Parliament.

"It may look as if we're ignoring the Dutch voters, but we have to keep our word to Ukraine, which has met the conditions," the EU source said, as quoted by the media outlet.

The people of the Netherlands have expressed their will, but who cares? Brussels and Washington continue to push ahead with their plans despite growing dissatisfaction in Europe.

"Brussels bureaucrats have strongly indicated they will simply ride roughshod over the voice of an entire nation in their grasping bid to secure further power in Eastern Europe," Nick Gutteridge of the Daily Express, a British daily national newspaper, wrote on April, 11.
However, at the same time, some Western media made an attempt to downplay Russia's achievements in Syria and even silence its gains. In one of his latest interviews on the John Batchelor Show, Professor Stephen F. Cohen bemoaned the fact that Western media were quick to forget that it was the Russian Air Force that disrupted Daesh 's supply routes in Syria and helped the Syrian Arab Army expel terrorists from Palmyra.

As London Mayor Johnson noted, it is time for the West to play to its strengths. So, what lesson has the Western establishment learned from Russia's military operation?

To answer this question Berger refers to an article by Bret Stephens of The Wall Street Journal entitled "Learning From Vladimir."

Stephens admits that Russia's military forces have done a good job in Syria.

"So what should the US do in Syria?" he asks.

"Here's a thought: Give up on a unitary Syrian state, which guarantees a zero-sum struggle for power instead of a division of territorial spoils. Support Kurdish autonomy in northern Syria, backed by a tripwire US force to deter Turkish intervention, and an Alawite state around Latakia, backed by Russia, with the proviso that the Assads must go. Destroy ISIS [Daesh] and other Sunni jihadist groups by combining massive US air power and a coalition of Saudi, Egyptian and Jordanian troops," Stephens elaborates.

In other words, divide and rule.

It is hardly surprising that the American journalist proposed to deconstruct the Syrian state, since Washington has been harboring the plan for decades.

"But maybe it's high time for the White House to put an end to its vicious policies in the Middle East. Instead of devising cunning anti-Russian plans, the US could finally start an actual fight against ISIS [Daesh] in Iraq and Syria to protect the world from this 'black plague of the 21st century'," Berger suggests in his turn.
Also today, we cover a number of other breaking news items and the weekend's Presidential nominating events, including results and concerns about the Democratic caucuses in WY and the Republican delegate convention in Colorado.

First up, we check in with The Young Turks' reporter Jordan Chariton, just moments after some 400 demonstrators, including our old friend Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks, were arrested while calling for a number of small "d" democratic reforms. Amongst the protestors' demands: Overturning the Supreme Court's infamous 2010 Citizens United ruling unleashing massive corporate spending in elections; modernization of America's ridiculous voter registration system; the creation of a public campaign financing system; and the restoration of the Voting Rights Act provision gutted in 2013 by SCOTUS. Protesters vow to continue demonstrations all week in D.C.

Then, breaking news on Goldman-Sachs' settlement with the U.S. Dept. of Justice for their part in the mortgage crisis that led to the global financial crisis in 2008 (spoiler: nobody goes to jail, though those sitting down to demonstrate for democracy in D.C. did); Another rock star cancels a concert in another GOP state that just approved discrimination against the LGBT community; and then we cover the results of the controversial Democratic caucuses held over the weekend in Wyoming and the GOP delegate convention in Colorado.
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2. Cosmonauts also consider it bad luck if they see the rocket being transferred to the launch pad. That's why employees usually take special precautions to prevent cosmonauts from seeing the process.

Moreover, as soon as the rocket is on the pad, it is consecrated by an Orthodox priest. In this way, the priest blesses the crew before its space mission.

3. If you look at the interior of the capsule on any video depicting the launch of Russian rockets, you will notice a nice plush toy hanging from the dashboard. During the latest 40th ISS expedition it was a giraffe of NASA astronaut Gregory Wiseman's daughter.

Plush toys not only serve as a mascot, but also have an important function. When the spaceship goes into orbit, toys "float" up and hang in the air, showing that the crew is in free fall.

4. The "toilet tradition" of the Russian space crew is likely to be the strangest for many Western residents. The tradition goes back to Yuri Gagarin: on the way to the launch pad, he asked the driver to stop the bus, got out and eased himself on the rear right wheel of the vehicle.
However the author noted that over time the Islamic Republic of Iran has moved from theory to practice. That is, the active work in the field of astronautics has begun with Iranian scientists building launch vehicles and satellites that have gone into orbit.

Also solely with our own efforts, we have successfully launched the biological capsule of living creatures into space (including capsule with a monkey). Scientific research is happening in Iran vigorously to this day.

According to Borzoo the foundation of the Iranian Space successes was laid by close contact with the Russian experts.

Today, Iran's young people are actively interested in space and specialists would like to continue their studies at a higher academic level. In this regard, I personally took the initiative and invited several leading Russian cosmonauts for seminars and meetings with Iranian students and professionals. Among them was Georgy Grechko who has come to Iran by invitation twice and Alexandr Lazutkin. These respected Russian cosmonauts will confirm how Iranian youth have a high interest in the development of Russian cosmonautics.

In general, we hope that in the near future we will see some new qualitative leap and the achievements of our young professionals on the global arena, the author concluded.
Our dedicated team of experts, who are trained to manage these requests, ensures that any disclosure of information is consistent with our internal policies and applicable law. For example, we may require a subpoena, court order, or search warrant before providing different types of information, the report stated.

The ride-sharing company detailed that, between July and December of 2015, it received 415 requests from law enforcement agencies, providing them with information in 85% of the cases. A large percentage of the requests were regarding fraud or stolen credit cards.
The leak revealed that up to 180 billion euros ($205 billion) had been passed through HSBC accounts in Geneva by over 100,000 clients and 20,000 offshore companies in the period from November 2006 to March 2007. Some of the clients whom the bank helped were accused of participating in the arms trade and had connections with blood diamonds.

Following the scandal, French authorities launched a criminal investigation against HSBC in connection with the bank's conduct. The scandal was dubbed as the biggest leak in Swiss banking history.

Cableleaks

On November 28, 2010, WikiLeaks released classified cables from 274 American embassies and consulates around the world sent to the US State Department. The classified files contained some sensitive diplomatic information, such as how the US government instructed its officials to spy on high-ranking UN personnel, including Ban Ki-Moon, and Saudi leaders urging Washington to bomb Iran.

The incident caused an international uproar. Then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the leaks were a "threat to global security." New York Congressman Peter King wanted WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to be prosecuted under the US Espionage Act and label WikiLeaks as a terrorist organization.

Apache Helicopter Shooting in Iraq

WikiLeaks released a video showing a US Apache helicopter shooting and killing civilians in Iraq, including two Reuters correspondents who happened to be on the ground. The attack itself took place in July 2007.

Following the deadly incident, Reuters wanted to obtain the video using a freedom of information request; however the Pentagon blocked the attempt of the news agency. Later, WikiLeaks revealed that they had to break through encryption code set by the US military to view the footage.
"The invasion was an unprovoked, illegal invasion," said Prysner. "There is a body of evidence that the Bush Administration lied about the reasons for going to war and the presence of weapons of mass destruction."

How many people died during the Iraq war?

Prysner detailed the US death toll from the Iraq at 4,486 US soldiers. International surveys from medical journals such as the Lancet put the Iraqi estimated Iraqi death toll at over one million. "1 in 3 Iraqis were either killed, wounded or displaced by the US occupation and such a massive catastrophe requires that somebody be held accountable."

What were you told, what was the motivation, and did you initially support the war?

Prysner explained that, as a young man, he bought into the Bush administrations narrative that Saddam Hussein had a stockpile of weapons of mass destruction and a "fear of an imminent attack by somebody who was dead-set on harming us and our families." These falsified statements were something that commanders pounded into our head, he said.

The former Marine said that commanding officers claimed connections between Iraq and al Qaedas attacks in 9/11, along with notions spouted by politicians that "the Iraqi society was going to be liberated and would greet us with flowers."

Prysner further detailed that "within the ranks there was a lot of mistrust of George W. Bush and whether the WMD thing was real, but it was the idea of helping the Iraqi people that I was going into the war thinking about so I supported it and I volunteered to go."
At that time, a campaign to free the asylum seekers was quickly shut down by the Obama administration, which expedited deportations of both the asylum seekers and many others who desired to immigrate to the US as a result of political harassment.

The #deported2death campaign and the danger Bangladeshi asylum seekers face

"#Deported2death is a hashtag and campaign by a group called Desis Rising Up (DRUM) to protest and shine a light on the plight of these asylum seekers," explained Huq.

Huq said that the root cause of the misclassification of Bangladeshi asylum seekers as terror suspects by the DHS, is a result of "an election where most of the opposition parties, due to conditions in Bangladesh, didnt participate, so the current elected party won without opposition and, since 2014, have been categorizing the opposition as terrorists, so DHS began to designate them as terrorists after they fled Bangladesh. But they are not terrorists, they just belong to the opposition party."

Huq detailed that the Bangladeshi government applied the blanket designation of terrorist on every political opposition party. "Everyone who is part of Bangladeshs Democratic Party was deemed a terrorist, they were the opposition or the second party."
Heavenly Hill was a witness to a wild, front-end battle in Mondays $40,400 final of the Blossom Series at Mohawk Racetrack, and she had no problem picking up the pieces in the late stages of that rich contest.

In rein to Jonathan Drury, Heavenly Hill crossed into the three-hole when the starting gate sped away while Radar Trap shot to the top and sliced out the opening quarter in :27.2. Noone To Depend On popped out of the pocket going into the backstretch, but she couldnt get around Radar Trap. Those two locked horns and battled through middle fractions of :55.2 and 1:24.2. Heavenly Hill swept three-wide coming out of the turn and drew clear to win by three lengths over Windsun Glory in 1:53.4. Third prize went to Evangelin Seelster.

Carmen Auciello trains the three-year-old daughter of Art Colony-Look Cheap for owner George Munniksma of Washington, NJ. The win improved the fillys 2016 record to 3-0-3 from six starts while lifting her seasonal bankroll to $50,724. The five-time winner has stashed away more than $137,000 to date.

Mondays card also featured the opening leg of the Tie Silk Series, with a set of $16,000 divisions for the three-year-old colt and gelding trotters.

Muscle Hustle snagged a 9-1 upset in the opening split for trainer/driver Per Henriksen. The son of Muscle Mass-Crown Laurel got away third and tracked Zagster to the quarter pole in :28.3. Henriksen moved his charge to the lead in the backstretch, and they proceeded to carve out middle panels of :58.4 and 1:27.3 over a track listed as Good. The colt then used a :29.3 closing quarter to win by 2-1/4 lengths over Chestnut Schofield in 1:57.1. Third prize went to On The Ridge.

Ecurie Bergh Inc of Norwood, Ont. owns the sophomore who was making his 2016 debut. The two-time winner lifted his lifetime earnings to $17.160 with the win.

Donicus was a wire-to-wire winner in the other division, and he truly showed no mercy to the rest of the field. Owner/trainer/driver Eddie Green had him on the lead through fractions of :28, :57 and 1:25.3 before coasting home in :30.2 to stop the clock in 1:56. The margin of victory was 13 lengths over P C Foreign Affair, who recovered from an early miscue. Taking home third prize was Blownoutofthewater.

Sent off as the 3-5 favourite, the son of Deweycheatumnhowe-Flying Dove Cafe improved this year's record to 6-0-2 from eight trips to the track. The seven-time winner lifted his lifetime earnings to $54,680 with the win.

Fearless Man took no prisoners in the $34,000 Preferred Trot for trainer/driver Rick Zeron, who went wire-to-wire with the speedster in 1:55. The gelding fired to the front and was untouched through fractions of :27, :55 and 1:23.4, and he only needed a :31.1 closing panel to hold on for the half-length decision over Hldontghttoyurdrms. Exemplar came on late to nab third prize.

The six-year-old son of Elegant Man-Lasting Beauty now owns a 4-2-3 record from 10 trips to the track this season for Rick Zeron Stables, Noblock Racing Stable, Murray Greenfield and Cool Cat Racing Inc. The 26-time winner has racked up more than $460,000 in lifetime earnings.

To view results for Monday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Monday Results  Mohawk Racetrack.
Monday racing returned to The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, and George Napolitano, Jr., earlier in the day named the 2015 Pennsylvania Driver of the Year by the local chapter of the U.S. Harness Writers Association, welcomed the day's return to the Downs schedule by piloting four of the evening's first five winners.

Two of the triumphs came among four $15,000 divisions of the first preliminary of the Bobby Weiss Series for developing male trotters, and both winners were odds-on -- but both were extended to win by a nose in 1:55.2.

First up was the Muscle Massive stallion Celebrity Bugatti, who cleared to the lead nearing the quarter pole after the first foe on top broke, with Explosive Leggs inheriting the pocket. These two, who were both winners during action in the recently-concluded Weaver Series at The Meadows, sat 1-2 the rest of the way, with Explosive Leggs testing his front-stepping rival in the lane, but Celebrity Bugatti was able to hold on and take a new mark for trainer Johnny Yoder, co-owner with Herman Hagerman and Dan Rawlings.

Muscle Massive picked up a quick double siring credit as the sophomore Dominus Hanover ran his 2016 record to 9-6-3-0, but George Napolitano, Jr. and his colt had to work extra-hard for the big money, as first-over True Blue Stride to his right and Pocono Pike-shooting Apostles Creed to his left tested them mightily. But in the end it was Dominus Hanover who proved most photogenic, a nose ahead of True Brue Slide and a head up on Apostles Creed while lowering his mark by almost three seconds in his first outing for his new connections, trainer Amber Buter and owner Lawrence Crawford.

A third 1:55.2 Weiss Series clocking -- although this one not a mark -- was turned in by the RC Royalty sophomore gelding Sweet Royalty, who apparently is thriving on the addition of Lasix, as he followed up on his 1:54.4 win in his Lasix bow at The Meadowlands with the easiest of victories in this race. Matt Kakaley was just a smiling passenger in the last quarter as the winner triumphed for trainer Richard Johnson and owners T L P Stable, Delegance Stable IX, Vito Cucci, and Carmen Iannacone.

In the very next race, the same connections -- driver Kakaley (completing a driving triple), trainer Johnson, and the four partners in ownership -- were back in the winners circle as their Muscle Hill sophomore gelding Steed lowered his mark by almost four seconds with the fastest Weiss win of the night, 1:55. Steed, on the lead, had had a previous race this year, while Dominion Beach, who moved into the pocket at the three-quarter pole, had not, and that may have been the difference at the finish as Steed thwarted the pocket rocket Pocono Pike attempt of Dominion Beach in winning by a half-length margin.

Rene Allard, starting the night six wins away from becoming the first trainer to have 3000 wins by the age of 30, drew one step closer to that magic number by harnessing Stormont Lancelot as the trotter won mid-card. The 29-year-old native of Quebec has 28 horses listed as "in-to-go" at press time, including an entrant in each of Saturday's 14 races here, so it shouldn't be long before he's starting after "4K" status.

(With files from PHHA/Pocono)
After failing to hit the board in last weeks Preferred 2 for horse and gelding pacers at The Raceway at Western Fair District, Bestofthebunch bounced back and took all the marbles in Mondays $11,000 follow-up attempt.

It was the fourth win of the campaign for the 19-time winner. Hes put away more than $25,000 in earnings this season, and more than $140,000 to date. The five-year-old son of Artistic Fella-Terinas Best is owned by Boris Laus of South Woodslee, Ont.

Bestofthebunch was forced to survive a brutal trip en route to securing the neck decision in the featured tilt. Scott Coulter was parked through panels of :28.1, :58 and 1:27 with the Tim Myers pupil, who then used a :32-second closing quarter to seal the deal in 1:59 over Tomitta Bayama and Kendal Gustav.

Earlier on the card, Charmbo Orbit rallied to a two-length triumph in the $8,300 Preferred 3 for horse and gelding pacers. Bruce Richardson treated the gelding to a ground-saving journey for most of the mile before rallying him to the lead in the late stages of the contest. The homebred used a :29.2 kicker to defeat Stonebridge Scout in 2:00 over a track rated Sloppy. Taking home third prize was the odds-on favourite, Stoney Durkin.

Bred, owned and trained by Jack Rier of Kitchener, Ont., the five-year-old son of Mach Three-Pretty Bo has already surpassed last years purse haul. The 11-time winner put away just over $20,000 in 2015, but hes already managed to bank in excess of $22,000 this season.

To view results for Monday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Monday Results  The Raceway at Western Fair District.
Acclaimed Science Fiction Author Dr. Jerry Pournelle Wins the National Space Society Robert A. Heinlein Award

Contact: Lynne Zielinski, National Space Society, 202-429-1600, Media2016@nss.org



WASHINGTON, April 12, 2016 /Standard Newswire/ -- The National Space Society takes great pleasure in announcing that its 2016 Robert A. Heinlein Memorial Award has been won by acclaimed science fiction author Dr. Jerry Pournelle. This prestigious award selected by an international vote of NSS members will be presented to Dr. Jerry Pournelle at the 2016 International Space Development Conference (ISDC). The public is welcome to attend the conference and see the award presentation at the Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel and Casino in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The ISDC will run from May 18-22, 2016.

About Dr. Jerry Pournelle

This award recognizes Dr. Jerry Pournelle's many years of support for space science, exploration, development and settlement and his close association with Robert Heinlein. He was active in the NSS predecessor, the L5 Society, during its early years. Jerry served as co-chair of the very first ISDC, NSS secretary, and as a Board member.

Jerry was also Chair of the Citizen's Advisory Council on National Space Policy. This group was active during the 1980s and was one of the most effective groups promoting specific space related policy positions at that time. Robert Heinlein was also an active member of that group. The group's early support of missile defense eventually led to the perceived need for an inexpensive launcher. The briefing that he and two others gave to then Vice President Quayle was instrumental in getting the approval of the DC-X program, overcoming government skepticism about the project. Jerry was present at White Sands on September 11, 1993 when the first large rocket, the DC-X vehicle, was reused.

Jerry has consistently supported the vision of self-sustaining human settlements in space and on planetary surfaces, and as part of a free, spacefaring civilization, which is at the very heart of the space movement. Jerry's work as a science fiction author, focusing on science fiction with realistic physics, has contributed to a better understanding of the limitations and the abilities of human space operations. Few have made such a rich contribution to these fields.

About the Robert A. Heinlein Award

This award is presented once every two years for lifetime achievement in promoting the goal of a free, spacefaring civilization. The winner is decided by the vote of the entire NSS membership, not by the awards committee. The award consists of a miniature signal cannon, on a mahogany base with a black granite inlay and a brass plaque as shown. The award concept came from Robert Heinlein's classic book The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. Some of the early award winners include Sir Arthur C. Clarke, Carl Sagan, Neil Armstrong and Elon Musk. More information about this award and the past winners is at: www.nss.org/awards/heinlein_award.html.

About The National Space Society (NSS): NSS is an independent nonprofit educational membership organization dedicated to the creation of a spacefaring civilization. NSS is widely acknowledged as the preeminent citizen's voice on space, with over 50 chapters in the United States and around the world. The Society publishes Ad Astra magazine, an award-winning periodical chronicling the most important developments in space. To learn more, visit www.nss.org.

About the The International Space Development Conference (ISDC). National Space Society's International Space Development Conference (ISDC) 2016 (May 18-22) celebrates the increasingly collaborative, multinational, multidisciplinary, and interconnected nature of space development in the 21st century: Space Beyond Borders. If you seek to accelerate our pursuits beyond planet Earth and learn about the opportunities the emerging space economy can bring to science, technology and exploration, ISDC is the preeminent gathering place for you. NSS chose Puerto Rico as a surprisingly inexpensive travel destination. isdc.nss.org/2016/


tech2 News Staff

After the Priv, BlackBerry plans to launch two new Android smartphones this year. In an interview with The National, CEO John Chen said BlackBerry plans to launch new Android phones this year, but didn't disclose any time frame.

According to the report, Chen has said that one smartphone will sport a full touchscreen and the other will come with a QWERTY keyboard. In terms of specs, nothing else was mentioned. He further added that the phones will be priced around $300 to $400, which translates to roughly Rs 20,000 to Rs 26,000. This means, the company plans to launch new mid-range devices.

He also spoke about Priv and how it was "too high-end product" for the enterprise and that's the reason why it has received a recent price cut. So, the price is slashed to $649 from $699. Priv was launched in India at Rs 62,990, and it is now listed at Rs 57,990 on Amazon.

Blackberry recently announced to have sold 600,000 handsets during the past three months till March end, which was lower than 850,000 units predicted by analysts. However, there is no word on how many Priv units were sold. Priv remained in a really tight spot because it had more cons than pros even though the pros are really good. It did not appeal to BlackBerry fans, thanks to badly implemented Hub, average keypad and not so thumb friendly interface like on previous BlackBerry devices. Read the complete Priv review to know more.
tech2 News Staff

Lenovo has launched a new phablet device for the Indian market aptly called the Phab. The phablet that packs in a massive display for a smartphone-tablet combo also comes at an impressive price tag of Rs 11,999 and will be sold exclusively on Flipkart.

The Lenovo Phab looks very similar to its pricier elder sibling, the Phab Plus which was launched in China last year at a price tag of approximately Rs 27,100. The model that has arrived in India is just called the Phab, and comes with watered-down specifications.

The device packs in a 6.98-inch HD (1280x720 pixels) IPS LCD display. Inside, we find a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 clocked at 1.2GHz paired with 2GB RAM and 16GB of internal storage, which is expandable up to 64GB using a microSD card slot.

Coming to the cameras, we get a 13MP rear sensor with autofocus and an LED flash. The front facing camera packs in a 5MP sensor. We get the usual connectivity options including dual-SIM 4G radios along with Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n and the device is powered by a massive 4250mAh battery.

The Lenovo Phab is powered by Android 5.1 Lollipop and Dolby Atmos audio tech. The device so far has only been listed in the Ebony colour option.
hidden

By Asheeta Regidi

WhatsApp introduced end-to-end encryption for all its services today. This means that all user calls, texts, video, images and other files sent can only be viewed by the intended recipient, and no one, not even WhatsApp itself, can access this data. This guarantee of user privacy creates new concerns for the government.

WhatsApp will now find it impossible to comply with government requests for data, since WhatsApp itself will not have the decryption key. In effect, WhatsApp is doing exactly what Apple did in the Apple vs FBI battle; its preventing government access to data, but on a much larger scale. While Apple restricted access to users of iPhones only, now practically every user of WhatsApp on any device is protected. 51% of all users of internet messaging services in India use WhatsApp, with a total number of over 70 million users (Source: TRAIs OTT Consultation Paper, dated March 2015). WhatsApp has now prevented government access to the messages and calls of at least 70 million Indian users.

No encryption requirements are applicable on OTTs like WhatsApp

Telecom service providers and internet service providers, like Airtel and Vodafone, have to obtain a license from the Department of Telecommunications in order to be able to provide such services in India. This license includes several restrictions, including license fees, ensuring emergency services, confidentiality of customer information and requirements for lawful interception, monitoring and the security of the network. These include encryption requirements.

For example, the License Agreement for Provision of Internet Service (Including Internet Telephony) for internet service providers (like Reliance and Airtel), permits the usage of up to 40-bit encryption. To employ a higher encryption standard, permission will have to be acquired and a decryption key deposited with the Telecom Authority.

Apps like WhatsApp, Skype and Viber are, however, neither telecom service providers nor internet service providers. These are known as Over-The-Top Services, or OTTs. Currently, OTTs are not regulated and as such, there are no encryption requirements, nor are there any other requirements in the name of security which these have to comply with.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India came out with an OTT Consultation Paper in 2015. Discussions on the paper are closed, but TRAI is yet to issue regulations on the matter. In the absence of any regulations at present, its clear that WhatsApps new end-to-end encryption policy is perfectly legal, even though it presents a new dilemma for the government.

Impact of end-to-end encryption on proposed regulatory system

Other countries have adopted various approaches to resolve the issue of OTT services. For example, in France, Skype was made to register as a telecom operator. In Germany, Voice-Over-IP is subject to the same requirements as other telecom services because of the technology neutral approach of its Telecommunications Act. In China, VOIP calls have a separate regulatory system under the head of voice based calls. These systems will make voice-over-IP subject to the same security requirements as telecom providers. For the most part however, OTT services are unregulated abroad as well.

In a detailed discussion on the issue in TRAIs OTT Consultation Paper, TRAI notes that OTT services circumvent all regulatory requirements by providing services which are otherwise available only through a license. It has suggested the classification of OTT services either as a communication service provider or an application service provider, and to impose similar regulatory requirements as on telecom service providers.

The proposed licensing requirements include enabling lawful interception. It can be assumed that the provisions will be along the lines of those imposed on telecom regulatory requirements. Given that a 40-bit encryption system is a much lower standard than that used by WhatsApp and also considering that WhatsApp doesnt even possess the decryption key for deposition with the relevant authority, it remains to be seen how the government will gain access to WhatsApp messages.

Liability of WhatsApp to comply with decryption directions under IT Act

WhatsApp, being an intermediary, is expected to comply with directions to intercept, monitor and decrypt information issued under Section 69 of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Complying with such a direction will now be impossible for WhatsApp in view of its end-to-end encryption. Even before the introduction of this, since WhatsApp is not a company based in India, it may have been able to refuse to comply with such directions. In fact, compliance by such companies in regard to data requests from the Indian government has been reported to be very low.

Indias now withdrawn draft encryption policy took the first step towards overcoming these problems and obtaining access. It required service providers, from both India and abroad, which are using encryption technology, to enter into agreements with India in order to be able to provide such services. One essential requirement of these agreements was to comply with data requests as and when theyre made by the government. This will include any interception, monitoring and decryption requests made under Section 69 of the IT Act. Though it was later clarified that WhatsApp is not within the purview of this policy, this indicates the route that may be taken by the government to obtain access. If WhatsApp refuses to comply with such a regime, that would make WhatsApp illegal in India.

End-to-end encryption is not without its drawbacks. The high, unbreachable level of security and privacy available is in favour of users and against governments. It will make such systems the favorite for illegal activities as well. For example, tracing voice calls made by terrorists using Voice-Over-IP is extremely difficult because of its routing over fake networks. The issue raised in the Apple vs FBI case was also the same, whether an individual users privacy can be compromised in favour of the larger public interest. A balance between the two is needed, maintaining user privacy and allowing interception for lawful purposes is required.

The author is a lawyer with a specialisation in cyber laws and has co-authored books on the subject.
tech2 News Staff

Haywards 5000 Hauslay Ki Udaan is Indias first startup reality program that aims to support the entrepreneurial spirit of Indians. This initiative has been introduced by Haywards 5000 Hausla Buland Academy. Haywards 5000 will conduct auditions across the nation, which will serve as a platform for aspiring entrepreneurs from small towns to showcase their innovative business ideas and share their stories. The participants will be mentored by the Interview Panel consisting of well-known entrepreneurs and industry experts as well as Hausla Buland Academy Professional Counsellors through online and offline mediums. The winning idea will receive a seed funding of Rs 15 lakh from the academy.

The finalists will be selected based on a combination of factors including market opportunity, uniqueness of the idea, growth potential, strategy, enthusiasm and passion, knowledge of the industry, realistic goals, and total investment required. The auditions will be held in the following cities: Gurgaon, Faridabad, Jaipur, Pune, Nagpur, Kolkata, Bangalore, Secunderabad, Rohtak, Ludhiana, Amritsar and Mohali. The auditions will begin in July 2016. Entries are open until the date of the auditions. Participants can register on Hausla Buland Academys website to participate in Hauslay Ki Udaan.

The first year of Haywards 5000 Hauslay Ki Udaan initiative was held in 2015. The 2015 initiatives calling for entries began in April 2015, with an association with IPL 2015. This campaign received over 40,000 calls from across the country. After that, the Haywards team conducted auditions across 10 cities in 2 states over a period of 3 months to find city champions from each city from over 600 entries. Last year, the judges ranged from entrepreneurs like Sumit Jain  Co-founder & CEO, Commonfloor.com, Vivek Singh, CO-founder & CFO of Tone Tag, Naidu Darapaneni, founder CEO of Meraevents.com, Santhosh Karnananda, CEO of MeraEnglish.com to industry insiders like Sunil Subramaniam - CEO of Sundaram Finance, among others.

Haywards 5000 launched Haywards 5000 Hausla Buland Academy in 2012, to provide online skills development courses and training through workshops, and has reached out to over 100,000 people from different walks of life, says the company.
Technology and healthcare have always gone hand in hand, and with the health of the world in crisis at the moment through the
Two get life-term for killing in Bagerhat

Bagerhat Correspondent :

Md. Rezaul Karim, Judge of Additional District and Session Judge Cour-2, Bagerhat, in judgment delivered on Monday, convicted two persons and sentenced them to suffer rigorous imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Tk.10 thousand each in default to suffer another rigorous imprisonment for 6 months more on the charge of killing one.

The learned judge also convicted 2 others and sentenced them to suffer rigorous imprisonment for 5 years and to pay a fine of Tk.5 thousand each in default to suffer another rigorous imprisonment for 3 months more in the same case and on the same charge.

Those who were awarded life-term are Rubel Mallik, son of one Fazlu Mllik of village Khardar in Bagerhat district town and Khan Md. Zihad, son of one Jahangir Khan of the same area. Those who were convicted to suffer rigorous imprisonment for 5 years are Sumana Najnin Banani, daughter of one Samad Paik of Sammilliny High School Road in Bagerhat district town and Khalid Molla, son of one Moslem Molla of village Dhairakul Bari under Batiaghata Upazila in Khulna District.

The prosecution story, in short, is that Sumana Najma Banani was given married to one Obaidul Islam Chowdhury, son of one Nurul Islam Chowdhury of Dakkhin Sarai in Bagerhat district town a few years ago.



But the marriage could not last long for the involvement of the wife in terrorism activities. So, the wife demanded a sum of Tk.2 lakh from the former husband as extortion. But the former husband Obaidu Islam Chowdhury failed to meet her demand as a result; he was stabbed to death on Alia Madrasa Road in Bagerhat district town on September 9 at night in the year 2010. In this connection a murder case was lodged with Bagerhat Model PS by the father of the deceased. Police investigated into the matter and submitted a charge sheet to the court on May 31 in the year 2011 against the convicted persons.




Obama calls Libya his worst mistake

US President Barack Obama talking to Fox News journalist on Sunday.



President Barack Obama says the biggest mistake of his presidency was a lack of planning for the aftermath of the fall of late Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi, with the country spiralling into chaos and grappling with violent extremists.

Asked in a Fox News interview aired Sunday to name the "worst mistake" of his presidency, the US leader said it was "probably failing to plan for the day after what I think was the right thing to do in intervening in Libya."

Obama has repeatedly acknowledged that the United States and its allies could have done more to prevent Libya's descent into chaos following the NATO-backed uprising that led to Gaddafis ouster and killing in 2011.

He expressed regret over the handling of the aftermath in a lengthy interview with The Atlantic magazine last month, calling the situation in Libya "a mess."

Obama also sharply criticised British Prime Minister David Cameron and former French leader Nicolas Sarkozy for their roles in the Libya campaign, saying in particular that Cameron became "distracted".

Since Gaddafis death, Libya has descended into near-anarchy, ruled by rival militias vying for power while the militant Islamic State (IS) group has gained influence in the country.

The head of a UN-backed unity government arrived earlier this month in Tripoli to begin garnering support for his administration.

Asked by Fox News to name the worst moment of his White House tenure, the president said it was the day he traveled to Newtown, Connecticut, after a gunman shot 20 young children and six adult staff members at an elementary school in December 2012.

And his biggest accomplishment? "Saving the economy from a great depression."

And his best day in the White House? "The day that we passed health care reform," Obama said.

"We sat out on the Truman Balcony with all the staff that had worked so hard on it and I knew what it would mean for the families that I'd met who didn't have health care."

"When asked what he most looked forward to upon leaving office next year, Obama replied: "Being able to take a walk outside."

However, it is not the first time Mr Obama has expressed regret over Libya. He told the Atlantic magazine last month the operation went as well as he had hoped, but Libya was now "a mess".

In that interview, he also criticised France and the UK, in particular saying British Prime Minister David Cameron became "distracted" after the intervention.
Spend taxpayers money with caution

Simon O'Connell :

With wealthy nations still struggling to balance their books after the financial crisis, the money they spend on foreign aid is coming under increasing scrutiny. Traditionally generous donors such as Sweden are rethinking how they allocate their aid resources. In the UK, the aid budget is protected by law to keep spending at 0.7% of gross national income; but this commitment has come under renewed attack. Yes, we spend taxpayers' money on foreign aid - and we save lives.

For those of us who work in international aid, this criticism can be frustrating. We normally respond with a robust defence against specific claims and, rightly, promote what aid can achieve. But perhaps we should welcome a discussion about the UK's commitment to aid spending, because it is important.

I write this from the Syria-Turkey border, where my organisation, Mercy Corps, has been running the largest organisation-led cross-border relief operation for the past five years.

At times we've been reaching 1.3 million people a month in more than 100 locations inside Syria - including life-saving food aid for people in Aleppo. Increasingly, where the conflict permits, we are moving to longer-term approaches to help Syrians, especially aid that bolsters businesses and promotes sustainability. We focus on Syria's youth population, and support thousands of young people in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, helping them to cope with trauma and get education, training and jobs.

A significant proportion of our funding comes from the UK's Department for International Development (DfID); we are receiving 27m to deliver a two-year programme in Syria. This work is complex and risky. We have incredibly brave, dedicated staff and an extraordinary network of courageous partners.

It has never been more urgent to engage positively with the world's challenges. There are more displaced people now than at any time since the second world war - 60 million people, half of them children.

More than a million people have fled to Europe in the past 12 months. The average length of conflict-induced displacement is now 17 years. We are seeing multiple protracted crises, caused by conflict, poverty, inequality and weak governance, which in turn drive global instability and migration. Encountering these challenges is not a choice - they are real and the UK cannot hide from them. The UK is a leader in using its aid budget to tackle these issues. It is an essential part of our global role.

This work is difficult, dangerous and at times frustratingly cumbersome. We should be honest about that. A failing of the aid sector has been to oversimplify the work we do in our communications with the public. In many ways the existing aid system is broken - it was designed after the second world war around UN institutions that have been criticised for failing to adapt.

Before taking up the post of executive director, I worked in eastern the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where about 2.7 million people remain displaced more than 20 years after the Rwandan genocide. We are implementing a 38m project in the east of the country, funded by DfID, to provide water and sanitation to more than 1.5 million people.

In a country with such weak governance and extensive conflict, this is extraordinarily complex and high risk. It takes time and costs money. Sometimes we take two steps forward and one back. Sometimes we don't achieve all our aims. When that happens, reviews are undertaken and people are held to account.

On other occasions we exceed expectations and transform the lives of thousands.

It is not easy, but the returns are worth it. It is this kind of project that has contributed globally to cutting deaths in children under five by more than half in the past 25 years. In our view, the correct response to challenges with programmes is not to cut the aid budget, but to learn how to do things better.

Mercy Corps falls into the category of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) but that misrepresents the work we do. We've set up commercial micro-finance initiatives that have disbursed more than 1bn to people otherwise unable to borrow for their businesses or insure against disasters, in countries including Indonesia, Haiti, Philippines and Niger. We've started social ventures, we partner with businesses and we work with municipal governments in countries such as Lebanon as they cope with the influx of Syrians.

We must do better at showing the true costs and complexities of the work we do. We make mistakes. We take risks. Sometimes we fail. We learn. We are rightly expected to account for everything we spend. We are held to account, and rightly so. We spend taxpayers' money. We spend your money. We should be honest with you that this is difficult work and that the sector needs reform.

But this work is vital and walking away from the 0.7% aid commitment is not the answer; learning how to do things better is. In today's multi-polar world, isolationism won't work. The issues facing people in Syria and eastern DRC are our issues, too. Failing to address them is a failure for all of us.



(Simon O'Connell is the Executive Director of Mercy Corps Europe).


US reassures shelters for BD bloggers in danger

UNB, Dhaka :The United States has reiterated its support to Bangladeshi bloggers who are at 'imminent danger' by giving them shelter under 'humanitarian parole'."for some of these individuals who are under imminent danger, they can pursue under those circumstances a request from the Department of Homeland Security to consider something we call humanitarian parole," said Mark C Toner, Deputy Spokesperson, US Department of State, in Washington, DC. Humanitarian parole is an extraordinary measure sparingly used to bring an otherwise inadmissible alien into the United States for a temporary period of time due to a compelling emergency. When a questioner asked how many people have applied for those kinds of visas, Toner referred the questioner to the Department of Homeland Security.Responding to queries at the daily briefing on Monday, Toner said the US did condemn the 'terrible attack' on blogger and student activist Nazimuddin Samad. "It's been a matter of concern. We've seen these kinds of actions before." Asked about his impression on security inside Bangladesh in the context of bloggers killings so far, he said it is obviously a matter of great concern. "We've offered assistance to the Bangladeshi Government, collaboration on the investigations, FBI assistance. We've seen reports in this most recent case that al-Qaida was behind it. These are horrific attacks," Toner said. The US also urged the Bangladeshi authorities to take them very seriously and to fully investigate these attacks and to support the families of the victims.
Digging spree!

Traffic jam surges as utility bodies initiate dev work in city ahead of monsoon

Prolonged road digging by different government agencies at city roads creates public sufferings as it hinders free flow of traffic movement. The snap was taken from Gulshan-1 on Tuesday. Sharif Khan

Ehsanul Haque Jasim :

The city has become immovable for commuters with traffic overcrowding in long queues at almost every city intersection. This is a daily scenario when digging city roads and construction of unplanned flyovers and utility lines are regularly worsening the traffic congestions narrowing the passage of movement at many city points.

With the surging summer heat, commuters are compelled to undergo physical stress for hours in the gridlock. Visiting different areas in the city on Tuesday, school goers and their parents were found struggling to take their children home in the heat wave as they keep on waiting for transport.

Public transport does not move in traffic jam because city roads are unusable at many places for digging. Private cars and such other vehicles remained stranded over hours similarly because city streets remained clogged in long queues.

But question is why the city corporations and utility providers are not bothered to start digging city roads knowing that it create traffic jams and block movement in city roads.

With the beginning of the monsoon every year, Dhaka City Corporations, WASA and other utility service providers gear up digging of roads, lanes and by-lanes for laying underground sewerage lines, water supply pipelines and utility cables. They leave roads dangerously exposed to pedestrians and motorists causing traffic clogs at sensitive city points that may risk their lives any moment.

Many said that it is a perpetual process with the beginning of the monsoon. Like in the past, the government has also undertaken several dozens projects prior to monsoon this year also and many believe it is instrumental for 'embezzling' public money.

Sources said, Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) and the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) have taken up projects this time to repair over 300 roads facing the monsoon.

They will spend over Tk 600 crore together besides the Power Development Board is taking up many other projects to be implemented at a cost of Tk 250 crore. The DSCC will also spend yet another Tk 150 crore for development of some other city roads.

Many wonder why the utility providers start such huge development work in the city knowing that rainy season is not right time to undertake such work. Most people know the reason but the corruption is going unchecked.

Their mindless work is only adding to the suffering of the commuters. A passenger complained that he has to wait for precisely one and a half hour to reach Mohakhali inter-district bus terminal from Kakoli point at Bonani in the city on Tuesday evening. This is exactly the time the bus had taken to reach Madhobpur at Hobigonj on Dhaka-highway from Sylhet.

Another passenger said he has to wait one and a half hour to come down to city center from Baridhaka for congestion resulted from road digging at many points making movement of transport almost impossible.

"We face untold suffering from traffic jam as gridlock increases due to digging of the city roads. Why the government chooses the rainy season for the road digging, " wonder Nurer Rahman Asif, a resident of Mirpur who has to come to Motijheel everyday to attend office. Commuters from other localities like Gulshan, Dhanmondi and Banani are also regularly facing heavy traffic jam over the recent past due to construction of flyover at some important city crossings like Moghbazar, Mouchaak and Satrastha point. Commuters and pedestrians have to use sidelines of the roads in insecure circumstances risking their lives. One worker died last month from such accident. The commissioning of part of Moghbazar-Ramna flyover was expected to ease the situation but it has created new problems at other city points.

What makes many to wonder why the city mayors are not effectively doing anything to end the gridlocks and make traffic system easy? They made noisy promises during the campaign of mayoral elections about making city traffic easy and supplying other utilities without disruptions.

Now that people can't move unimpeded in city roads due to digging and gridlocks. Preparations are afoot to take up more construction work at various road points.

Roads are not enough to allow such heavy rush of traffic and moreover the presence of traffic police is not also enough to discipline the congestion. The city needs under-passes at many places to avoid the frontal crossing of traffic keeping one side closed while allowing others to pass the city crossing. There is a serious lacking in our planning, said an urban planner.

"Improper planning, lack of coordination among various departments lead to the serious mismatch in city roads causing traffic jam and other impediments to city dwellers," Prof Dr Nazrul Islam, an urban planner told The New Nation on Tuesday.

"The situation is awful where different departments dig up roads every other day to lay their pipelines. They totally ignores public sufferings," he said suggesting such indiscriminate actions must end.


Gunfight among Munshiganj AL rivals: 10 hurt

Staff Reporter :

At least 10 persons were injured in a bloody clash between the two factions of the ruling Awami League at Panchasar union under Munshiganj Sadar upazila on Tuesday.

Earlier fire of automatic guns and series blasts of cocktails rocked entire Munshiganj town when both sides were locked in clashes over establishing supremacy in the area, local sources said.

The chase and counter-chase between the two groups continued from 12 pm to 3 pm where supporters of two 'chairman' candidates-one is ruling party nominated and another is rebel -- equipped with lethal weapons, bamboo sticks and iron rods attacked each other turning the area into a battle field.

Police sources said the clash was initiated centering campaign of upcoming third phase election of the Union Parishad. Of the injured, seven were leaders and activists of Chhatra League local unit.

The bullet injured victims were identified as general secretary of BCL local unit Foyez Ahmed Pavel, president of Tarun League district unit Mridul Dewan, MP Mrinal Kanti Das's nephew Adar Das, Palash, Riyad, Badal and Dulal, police said.

Local sources told The New Nation that one Abdus Sattar got nomination of Awami League as 'chairman' candidate while cotton businessman Golam Mustafa has filed nomination paper as party's rebel candidate.

In this situation, a group of hoodlums led by BCL leader Pavel went to King Fisher Knitting factory at Mukhtarpur in the noon which is owned by AL rebel candidate Golam Mustafa.

"They threatened me pointing pistol. They asked me to step aside from election, or face dire consequence. At one stage, they shot at me. Luckily I escaped death. But local people caught them and gave a good beating. Later, we informed the local police station," Golam Mustafa claimed.

But refuting the claim, Awami League nominated 'chairman' candidate Abdus Sattar said, "The supporters of Golam Mustafa attacked our men when they went to Mukhtarpur area for electoral campaign. They forcibly took away four persons of our campaign team to the knitting factory and beat them mercilessly. Later, the police rescued them."

Eye witnesses said that a group of ruling party men, including Mridul Dewan, Foyez Ahmed Pavel and others, were injured during the clash with factory workers of Golam Mustafa. Police rescued them and sent to Munshiganj General Hospital.

Tarun League president Mridul Dewan was shifted to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital when his condition was deteriorated.

Following the clash, the supporters of Abdus Sattar put blockade on the Tongibari-Shipahipara road and damaged several vehicles. Later, police and RAB charged baton indiscriminately to disperse the mob. Several business establishments and shops were also ransacked at that time and vehicular movement was also stopped for several hours.

When contacted, Officer-in Charge of Munshiganj Police Station Md Yunus Ali told The New Nation last night, "Although the official electoral campaign has not yet started, the workers of both 'chairman' candidates have started greeting-exchange to get support of the voters. They were locked in clashes when Sattar group went to Mukhtarpur in the morning."

"We've rescued five persons from the knitting factory and also recovered two loaded pistols from the spot. But none was arrested in this connection," the OC said.

Police also did not file any case against anyone. Huge contingent of law enforcers were deployed in the area to prevent any untoward situation.


Bangladesh's other Banking Scam

BY JOSEPH ALLCHINAPRIL :

On Feb. 4, $101 million dollars of Bangladesh's foreign exchange reserves were stolen from its account at the Federal Reserve in New York. Only about $20 million have been recovered so far, and it still isn't known who took the money or where it ended up. The heist is being described as one of the biggest bank robberies in history.

But it's hardly the first time tens of millions of dollars have vanished from Bangladesh's banks. The high-flying cyberscam at the Federal Reserve pales in comparison with the routine plunder of Bangladesh's financial system, including by some of its purported guardians.

The country's six state-owned commercial banks (SOCBs) control around one-quarter of all bank assets in the country but have on outsize influence on the economy thanks to their connections to the government. For example, SOCBs have "extremely high" rates of nonperforming loans, according to the I.M.F., and the average for the entire banking industry is "very high": about 11 percent, compared with about 4 percent in advanced economies.

Part of the explanation for this is poor governance by the banks' boards, but the main culprit is the country's culture of patronage.

One of the most notorious of Bangladesh's banking scandals involves the country's largest SOCB, Sonali Bank. Between 2010 and 2012, one branch of Sonali Bank alone illegally gave out $454 million in loans, including nearly $344 million to Hallmark Group, a textile business, according to the Dhaka Tribune. Tanvir Mahmud, Hallmark's managing director, connived with a branch manager to issue fraudulent letters of credit to fictitious companies.

Even after the scam was uncovered, Sonali Bank continued to operate with an extremely high nonperforming loan ratio: reportedly more than 37 percent in the fall of 2014. And the bank, along with Bangladesh's other five SOCBs, are regularly recapitalized by the government - to the tune of about $640 million for fiscal year 2014 and, it is expected, more than $700 million for fiscal year 2015.

These banks' irresponsible lending practices - and the state's irresponsible efforts to systematically bail them out - are partly the result of collusion between business and political elites.

Fahmida Khatun, the research director at the Center for Policy Dialogue, in Dhaka, was a board member of the SOCB Janata Bank in 2008-11, after being appointed by the military caretaker government that ran the country in 2007-8. In an interview in Dhaka in 2014 she told me that since Bangladesh's return to civilian rule after the 2008 election, loan portfolios have typically been assessed not according to their business potential, but with an eye toward "the influence or the connections of the person" asking for credit.

Notably, Ms. Khatun added, the loans that are approved by bank directors with connections to the party that happens to be in power are "the ones that get defaulted, invariably."

Here's an example: Salman F. Rahman, one of Bangladesh's wealthiest individuals and a co-founder of Beximco, a major business group that specializes in exports of pharmaceuticals and garments. A 2007 cable from the United States ambassador in Dhaka subsequently disclosed by WikiLeaks called Mr. Rahman "allegedly one of Bangladesh's biggest bank loan defaulters." He was imprisoned for fraud in 2007-8, under the caretaker government.

In an interview in his Dhaka office early last year, Mr. Rahman told me he owed about $800 million to state-owned banks. He blamed the previous government, led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party - a staunch rival of the Awami League, which is in power today - for not servicing his debts. By the time we met, though, Mr. Rahman had become an adviser to Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister of Bangladesh and the president of the Awami League. And the Bangladesh Bank was now "restructuring" his debts, he said.

Mr. Rahman is no exception. Some $565 million in assets are said to have been looted from the state-owned BASIC Bank between 2009 and 2012, yet the scam's suspected mastermind, a former chairman of the bank, wasn't troubled by the anticorruption commission investigating the fraud, reportedly thanks to his political connections. Banking in Bangladesh is beholden to the politicians.

This is largely because state institutions are underfunded and weak. Technocrats, auditors, courts - all those traditional safeguards don't have enough authority or muscle in Bangladesh to keep the politicians in check.

This, in turn, is due to the fact that Bangladesh has one of the smallest tax-to-G.D.P. ratios in the world, at less than 10 percent. Lack of infrastructure prevents the collection of income taxes. There are myriad taxes on corporations, but it's easy enough to bribe one's way out of paying them. Partly as a result, imports are subject to exorbitant fees - which only gives importers an incentive to finagle a way to avoid them.

Then there's capital flight. If you loot state resources in a country like Bangladesh, you don't want to risk losing it to someone else's scams or to seizure by the government. And so you take the money abroad, far from the prying eyes of local tax collectors, preferably to a low-tax, low-transparency jurisdiction.

About $9.7 billion worth of illicit capital left Bangladesh in 2013 alone, up from $3.3 billion in 2004, according to the N.G.O. Global Financial Integrity. That's the equivalent of more than 6 percent of G.D.P. that year, and more than 3.5 times what Bangladesh received in foreign development aid.

That money should have been taxed in Bangladesh. If it had been taxed, there would probably have been less bank fraud, and less illicit money to be stashed abroad.

This is one reason offshore tax havens must be made to operate more transparently. Bangladesh, for its part, must stem the outflow of illicit capital and rethink its taxation system in order to collect more on income and earnings.

Such changes would mean major reform, of course - of the tax authorities, of the legal system, of the Bangladesh Bank - and the elites who benefit from the current situation have little incentive to undertake it. But Bangladesh needs a proper state bureaucracy if it is to curb its venal politicians.
BB didn't send any priority message

Staff Reporter :

Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) of Philippines on Tuesday said the bank could have held the stolen US$81 million if only the Bangladesh Bank (BB) sent "high priority messages."

Macel Estavillo, Head of Legal and Regulatory Affairs of RCBC, said that although BB did send three requests for freeze on February 9, the messages were "vague" and "ambiguous", reports ABS-CBN News.

Estavillo said, RCBC could've reacted promptly if it received an MT192, the code for a request for cancellation or stop payment order.

"In the case of the bank of Bangladesh, they did not send us any high priority message, they did not send us any stop payment order. They just sent us an unauthenticated free format message or a 999," Estavillo told Senators at the Senate Blue Ribbon investigation on the money laundering scandal.

Estavillo said that on February 9, the banking day after a 3-day long weekend, RCBC received a total of 790 messages in the SWIFT system, but none of which was an MT192.

SWIFT that stands for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications, is the messaging system used by banks worldwide to transmit funds.

Because there were no apparent red flags, Estavillo said all messages were deemed of "normal priority" and were thus opened sequentially, it adds. She said that at 11:22 am on February 9, the bank's settlements department opened and read an MT999, or a bank-to-bank text message, recalling funds sent to the account of a certain "Alfred Santos Vergara." The account was later discovered by RCBC to be fictitious.

The MT999 was forwarded to RCBC Jupiter, Makati branch.

The RCBC lawyer said that they did not know at first that it was from Bangladesh Bank.

Asked for validation, Nenita Cadapan, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) SWIFT messaging officer-in-charge, told the Senate that a receiver of the SWIFT message would know which bank and from what locality it is from through a "bic code." Cadapan said Bangladesh Bank cannot send a high-priority "MT 192" stop payment request to RCBC because "it is not its corresponding bank. They have no relations."

"The best option for Bangladesh Bank is to send free format messages, which is what it did," the BSP officer added. "But this doesn't mean messages from Bangladesh Bank are less persuasive. They [RCBC] should check it."

Per regulations, before any dollar remittance enters the Philippines, it has to pass through US correspondent banks. In this case, these are Wells Fargo Mellon Bank, Citibank, and Bank of New York.

From the 3 correspondent banks, the $81 million did not enter the RCBC Jupiter branch directly, but was first coursed through RCBC's Settlement Division, which is part of the head office.

"Our Settlement Division did not receive any high-priority stop payment requests from the corresponding banks also," Estavillo said.

Brussels-based SWIFT, a cooperative owned by some 3,000 global financial institutions, does not transfer funds, but sends payment instructions between institutions' accounts, using codes.

Estavillo said the "normal priority" message from Bangladesh Bank read: "Please be informed that this is a doubtful transaction. You are requested to stop the payment and if you already made payment then freeze the account of the beneficiary for proper investigation. We think the transaction is contradictory with the anti-money laundering law."

However, Estavillo said that three minutes earlier at 11:19am, $19.95 million was already transferred to the supposed account of William Go, which was also discovered later by RCBC to be an unauthorized account.

Estavillo said a similar recall message from Bangladesh Bank was read by the settlements department at 11:25 am in relation to the "Enrico Teodoro Vasquez" account. It was also sent to RCBC Jupiter branch.

But Estavillo said at 10:24am, $15.216 million from the Vasquez account was already transferred to another account. Estavillo said the receiving account refused to sign a waiver, and therefore hinders RCBC from discussing details of the transaction.

At 11:34am, or nine minutes after the message from Bangladesh Bank was received, another transfer from the Vasquez account, this time to Go's account, was made for $9.76 million.

The third freeze order request from Bangladesh was read at 11:30 am on February 9 pertaining to the account of a certain Christopher Lagrosas.

But Estavillo said the transfer of funds of $22.7 million was already made from the Lagrosas account to Go's account on February 5 at 3:16 pm.

Another transfer of $7.23 million was made to Go's account five minutes after the bank read the freeze order request at 11:35 am

According to Estavillo, there was nothing to indicate that the messages were sent by the central bank of Bangladesh.

"We didn't know that they were the central bank of Bangladesh, we just thought they were a regular bank," she said.

She noted that alarm bells only rang on February 10, when the wording of the messages from Bangladesh became clearer.

The "normal priority" message, pertaining to the account of Michael Francisco Cruz, was read by RCBC head office at 2:41pm.

Estavillo said the message from Bangladesh Bank on February 10 read: "Please be informed that this is a fraudulent transaction and unauthorized access in our SWIFT system. So you are requested to stop the payment and if you have already made the payment, then freeze the account of beneficiary."

Estavillo said the message sent on February 10 was more direct compared to the messages sent on February 9, which she said "used very vague terms."

"Perhaps it was also not clear to them what had happened on February 9, because it was not clear based on their emails sent. We have received many stop payment orders but never as ambiguous as these messages," she said.

Estavillo stressed that because Go's account was a private account, RCBC did not have any authority to freeze the account and stop the withdrawal.

She also noted that the branch manager at RCBC Jupiter, Maia Santos-Deguito, could have also alerted the head office, but decided to push through with the transactions.

"Maia Deguito, when she received the first of these messages, rushed to expedite the withdrawals as well. At the end of it, she said, it is better for her to expedite than to have herself and her family killed. It is in that context that even if she received the freeze orders, she still continued to withdraw about $16 million afterwards," said Estavillo.

Deguito is facing money-laundering charges filed by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC).

Estavillo believes the Anti-Money Laundering Act should be amended to give banks "holding power" in questionable transactions.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) deputy governor Nestor Espenilla, meanwhile, said RCBC may face a maximum fine of P30,000 per day or per transaction for failing to act on the order.

Aside from monetary penalties, Espenilla said BSP may also impose non-monetary sanctions if the bank is found guilty of negligence.
Hearing in Niko graft case now on June 7

Court Correspondent :The Special Judge's Court of Dhaka on Tuesday deferred the hearing in the Niko graft case against BNP Chief Begum Khaleda Zia and 10 others to June 7. Judge Mohammad Aminul Islam of the court set the new date. Earlier, Khaleda Zia's lawyer Sanaullah Miah filed a petition seeking time as his client could not come to the court due to illness.On June 18, last year, the High Court Division of the Supreme Court rejected a petition filed by Khaleda Zia challenging the legality of the case filed against her and she was asked to surrender to the lower court within two months. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case against the accused on December 9, 2007 in connection with a loss of Tk 137.77 billion to the national exchequer. The signing of an oil-gas exploration agreement with Canadian company Niko during the BNP rule allegedly caused the loss. The case documents were sent to the Special Judge's Court-9 of Dhaka from the High Court on June 30 last year. On November 30, the Special Judge's Court-9 granted conditional bail to the BNP Chief after she surrendered to it with bail plea in the case.
SC gives JMB activist Amzad jail unto death

UNB, Dhaka :The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday sentenced Mohammad Amzad Ali, a member of the banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), jail unto death after scraping of a High Court verdict that acquitted him of the case for a bomb blast at Laxmipur Judge's Court.A four-member bench of the SC's Appellate Division, led by Chief Justice SK Sinha, passed the order after rehearing a petition filed by the state. Lawyer Delwar Hossain stood for Amzad while deputy attorney general Shashank Shekhor Sarkar represented the state.Earlier on April 6, the SC scrapped the High Court judgment that had acquitted Amzad Ali and ordered Amzad's retrial. The SC also asked the authorities concerned to shift Amzad Ali to general cell from the condemn cell of the jail. Besides, the Appellate Division upheld the death sentence of Masumur Rahman alias Masum, another JMB man, in the case. Miscreants carried out the bomb attack on Laxmipur District Judge's Court during working hours on October 3, 2005. Majibullah, a litigant, was killed and several others, including Judge MA Sufian and bench officer Shafiqullah, were injured in the blast. Later, a case was filed against JMB member Masumur Rahman alias Masum in this connection. On 15 August 2006, Laxmipur Speedy Trial Tribunal sentenced three JMB men-Masum, Ataur Rahman Sunny and Amzad Ali-to death in two cases.Later, the convicts filed an appeal with the High Court against the tribunal's verdict.After hearing, an HC bench upheld the death sentence of Masum while acquitted Amzad Ali in the case in 2013. Later, the state filed an appeal with the Supreme Court against the verdict and the convicts filed petitions seeking acquittal.
UP Chairmen are removed, govt servants suspended, but ministers don`t have to bother

Bangladesh's Supreme Court recently found two ministers guilty of contempt after they criticised the country's Chief Justice, casting doubt on their future in the Cabinet. It fined the two lawmakers 50,000 taka ($625) each, with seven days in prison if they fail to pay the penalty.Food Affairs Minister Qamrul Islam and Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haq had publicly criticised Chief Justice SK Sinha earlier this month. They asked him to step aside from an appeal case involving a top Islamist leader sentenced to death for war crimes. The court said their remarks were tantamount to intervention in the judiciary, according to a report in a local daily.They offered unconditional apologies but the court rejected their apologies and fined them 50,000 taka each. The Supreme Court had asked the men to explain their "derogatory and highly contemptuous comments", which "undermined the dignity and prestige of the Supreme Court and the office of the Chief Justice".Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said the Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, would now decide whether it would retain them as ministers despite their conviction. The Supreme Court upheld the death sentence of the Islamist leader. Critics said the ministers' comments were aimed at putting pressure on the court ahead of the Islamist's appeal verdict.Contempt of court is a criminal act and is seen as a high offence for showing disregard to the justice system. Even if the ministers did not act against the oath of office, they have been found guilty of a serious offence. But still, it is different for the ministers to think they are holding public office and must set good examples in public life. The ministers cannot show disregard for the Supreme Court and be seen as responsible to establish rule of the law. The latest incident of minister not caring upholding the value of fair justice is the minister for the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief Mr. Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya. He has been already convicted to suffer 13 years of imprisonment for corruption in public office. The Supreme Court refused to set aside the conviction but referred the matter back to the High Court Division to hear it by a different Division Bench. But the minister feels under no obligation to step aside from his position of ministership although his case will be heard by the High Court Division and it will be seen that he will retain the position of creating pressure on the justice process. We have laws for elected Chairmen of Union Parishads to be suspended as soon as a criminal case is started against them. It is a criticism against the government that the government abuses this law to remove a UP Chairman not of it's liking. Any government servant or an employee of a govt corporation is liable to be suspended if he or she is facing even a private criminal case. Such laws are too stringent. But for a minister to remain in power when a criminal case against him is in the court for deciding his guilt is unheard of. Corruption in public life has become a show of power not to be ashamed.
Cheryl Castille was named director of the Division of the Arts within the states Office of Cultural Development.

Castille, who has extensive experience creating and implementing music, visual art, culinary arts, dance, creative writing and theater programs, was recommended for the post by a review panel and members of the Louisiana State Arts Council. She was appointed by Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser.

An advocate for the arts, Castille has a background in securing funding through public and private grants agencies, foundations and corporate sponsorships for various organizations and festivals. She is also well-versed in the divisions Decentralized Arts Funding program and has successfully written and administered grants while serving as director/operations manager of Cite des Arts in Lafayette.

In 2012, Castille was named assistant to St. Landry Parish President Bill Fontenot, her most recent position. She is former assistant director of Louisiana Folk Roots in Lafayette, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving and presenting the diverse cultures and living heritage of South Louisiana, and a previous owner/manager of What Bayou Trading Company, an art gallery and music shop. Castille holds bachelors and masters degrees in therapeutic recreation from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

Castille hosts The Exchange on KRVS 88.7 FM on Tuesdays at noon, a program that features artists and musicians talking about their craft.
The tourism chief is contrite following published reports of an epic boondoggle involving a too-good-to-be-true economic development deal with the Iraqi government.

Photo illustration by Walter Pierce

Map courtesy freeworldmaps.net



Stephanie Grace of The Advocate calls it whacky. Political consultant and blogger Lamar White Jr. calls it impeachable.

Theyre referring to blockbuster revelations made over the weekend by The Advocates Rebekah Allen and Richard Thompson that Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, the chief tourism officer for the state of Louisiana, tried to broker a massive economic development deal between a Louisiana company, the old Avondale Shipyard and the Iraqi Government.

As Grace reports Monday:

Rather than simply sit down and figure out how to promote culture, recreation and tourism, Nungesser, working in cahoots with Louisianas longtime Republican Party Chairman Roger Villere, went way rogue, taking upon himself an attempt to land a budget-saving, 30,000-job, $1 billion deal that relies upon  get this  an exclusive agreement with the government of Iraq. All without bothering to mention the grand plan to the man whos really in charge, Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat elected separately from the Republican Nungesser. And ignoring the fact that Nungesser has no authority over economic development, no right to speak for the governor and no place contacting the U.S. government, a national news organization or a foreign head of state on Edwards alleged behalf. And glossing over a pile of hints suggesting the whole project, which thankfully wouldnt have put Louisiana taxpayers on the hook for any incentives, was at best farfetched.

As Allen and Thompson reported Sunday, the Iraqi minister who wouldve been the point man on the Euphrates says no such deal ever existed.

White, a loud and proud Democrat, finds the Republican Nungessers peccadillo less amusing than does Grace:

Nungesser, in letters he signed and sent to leaders of a foreign country and Secretary of State John Kerry, lied about his legal authority, lied about acting as a representative and emissary for Gov. Edwards, and even claimed that he was the top economic development recruiter for Louisiana in letters and at least one press release exclusively given, for some bizarre reason, to The Washington Post. Nungesser pathetically claimed that he never really read the letters he was asked to sign on behalf of Roger Villere, whose connection to this particular deal should raise the red flags of the Justice Department and our U.S. Attorneys. Furthermore, Nungesser, perhaps even more pathetically, blamed his staff for the oversight, all while defending Roger Villeres credibility. At the very least, this is a dereliction of duty. Regardless of Nungessers half-hearted and far-too-late apology to Gov. Edwards, his actions represent gross misconduct in office and should be considered an impeachable offense.

Jan Moller, director of the nonprofit Louisiana Budget Project, finds the whole thing surreal, musing on Facebook that he used to wonder what kind of person fell for those Nigerian prince email scams. This explains a lot.
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.
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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.
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Board officials releasing the governor's funding proposal said districts that lose money under the plan have decreased enrollment and fewer students living in poverty. Officials said the schools also have increased local property wealth, which contributes to school accounts.

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For the current year, schools have largely been spared the consequences of the state operating without a budget because Rauner signed a spending plan for education while vetoing the rest of the funding package. Rauner has expressed some anxiety about whether schools will open their doors this fall if Democrats who control the Legislature don't send him a spending plan for education or send him one he doesn't like.

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Rauner said he also wants to change the school funding formula but bashed Democrats for not doing it in prior years.

"All of a sudden this year is the crisis year," he said.

Democratic Senate President John Cullerton, who spoke to the same group of business leaders before Rauner did, told them he's not interested in forcing school closures, but insisted how the state funds education needs to change.

"I want to change the formula. It's not fair," he said.

Under state law, districts are supposed to get a minimum amount of state money per student. Additionally, some districts get additional funds for other things, like serving high numbers of low-income students, and make up the rest with property taxes.

Among other things, Manar's bill would change districts' reliance on property taxes, taking local wealth more into account when distributing funds.

Touring Murphysboro, Rauner guns for education funding MURPHYSBORO  At a one-hour visit Wednesday to Murphysboro High School, Gov. Bruce Rauner re

The head of the state's largest district, Chicago Public Schools, blasted the plan as continuing a "reverse Robin Hood" education policy where poorer districts lose out. He said Chicago schools  where the vast majority of students are poor and minority  stands to lose $74 million, and noted drops in struggling districts in East St. Louis and North Chicago.

"The budget he puts forth continues to cut education funding for poor districts throughout the state of Illinois, including Chicago Public Schools, while increasing funding for wealthier districts," said CPS Chief Forrest Claypool.

___

Associated Press writer Sophia Tareen in Chicago contributed to this report.
SPRINGFIELD  Gov. Bruce Rauner and the four leaders of the Illinois General Assembly met Tuesday afternoon for the first time since November, but the gathering produced no apparent progress toward ending the states monthslong budget impasse.

A short time after the hourlong meeting in Rauners Capitol office wrapped up, House Democrats approved a $3.9 billion spending plan that the first-term Republican opposes. Rauners office issued a memo Tuesday morning calling the measure another phony budget that promises to spend money the state simply doesnt have.

It would authorize payments for higher education, social services and other programs that have been deprived of state funding since the fiscal year began July 1. Because the House amended a bill the Senate approved last month, it now heads back for another vote, possibly as soon as Wednesday.

Before the vote, House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, stood to defend the measure and voice his opinion on the impasse, now in its 10th month.

The typically taciturn Madigan said the state finds itself in this position because of Rauners insistence on enacting portions of his personal political agenda and his continued refusal to compromise.

Never before has the state gone this long without a budget, said Madigan, whos been speaker for all but two of the past 33 years. Every other governor that I have worked with has negotiated with the General Assembly in good faith to help the people of Illinois and to ensure that the people of our state did not needlessly suffer.

The fact is the current budget crisis was completely avoidable. While this crisis was avoidable, Gov. Rauner has refused to put an end to the crisis.

Madigan received a standing ovation from House Democrats before the chamber voted 65-42 to approve the bill.

Among those voting against the measure was Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, who called it a continuation of a cruel hoax the Legislature has been playing on the states residents.

Im not going to be a part of that hoax, said Brady, who represents Illinois State University and has been part of bipartisan negotiations on a higher education budget.

Democrats didnt muster the 71 votes theyd need to override a Rauner veto.

Among the Democrats who didnt vote in favor of the plan was Rep. Mike Smiddy of Hillsdale. He voted present because the measure includes back pay for state workers whose raises were withheld in 2011 by then-Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn. Smiddy, a former Department of Corrections employee whos still owed back wages, said it would have been a conflict of interest for him to vote.

It was clear before Tuesdays meeting among Rauner, Madigan, Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, and the House and Senate minority leaders, Jim Durkin of Western Springs and Christine Radogno of Lemont, that progress was unlikely. All five left the meeting without commenting.

Cullerton broke the news of the meeting earlier Tuesday while speaking to a gathering of business groups at a downtown Springfield hotel.

He said the meeting needed to focus on the budget, not Rauners so-called turnaround agenda.

Weve been focusing on the budget; the governors been focusing on these other items, Cullerton said. So Im looking forward today to start talking about solutions to the budget problem.

Speaking to the same gathering a short time later, Rauner balked at the idea that his policy agenda is unrelated to the budget.

This is not other stuff,  said the governor, who wasnt in the room for Cullertons remarks. Growth is the budget.

Among the items on his agenda are making workers compensation laws friendlier to employers, enacting term limits for lawmakers, and giving local governments control over what issues are subject to collective bargaining with workers. All of these changes would create more revenue for state government by attracting and retaining businesses, Rauner said.

Democrats just dont get it, or they refuse to acknowledge it, he said.

He accused the General Assemblys majority party of trying to create crises in higher education, social services and public schools to force a tax increase without enacting any of his proposed reforms.
NEW YORK  The cocker spaniel arrives at the animal hospital with a police officer, whimpering and shaking. He has a pus-filled pink socket for a left eye and is so skinny his spine and ribs show through his caramel-colored fur.

Because animal abuse is suspected, this dog won't be handled like the other pets coming in for treatment to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals  it will go instead to a specialized team of forensic veterinarians who are trained to treat animals while also developing evidence for possible criminal charges.

"The message to people who are abusing animals is that there is action being taken," said Dr. Alison Liu, one of the forensic vets on staff. "And if they're thinking they may not get caught, that's not always the case."

The New York-based nonprofit has a team of three forensic vets dedicated to capturing evidence to punish animal abusers  their jobs include traveling to crime scenes and working with the New York Police Department in a new partnership that has seen cruelty-related arrests doubled in the past two years. They have a necropsy lab, evaluation unit and a rehabilitation center that houses about 60 animals with the goal of adoption.

The team leader, Dr. Robert Reisman, developed evaluation standards that are used nationwide in determining cases of abuse and neglect, and testified in some of the first animal cruelty cases to use DNA at trial to obtain felony convictions. The nonprofit agency has also created an animal forensic sciences program at the University of Florida, and has a traveling team of forensic vets that help out around the country  an ASPCA crew rescued some 600 animals from a no-kill shelter in North Carolina in January suspected of abuse and neglect. The nonprofit is funded mostly through donations.

Last year, the forensic team in New York saw 700 animals  mostly cats and dogs, but some chickens and rabbits, too.

"You can't really separate out what's happening to animals with what's happening to people," Reisman said. "The most obvious reason is the connection between animal abuse and human interpersonal violence. The cases we see on a regular basis are domestic abuse cases where there's both a human victim and an animal victim."

One such case was a pit bull named Honey, who was shot in the mouth by a man who was also accused of beating up his girlfriend. He was charged with animal cruelty, menacing and strangulation. The girlfriend and the dog survived.

The team can't talk about the spaniel because it's an ongoing case. But each live animal brought in receives the same treatment. They are physically examined and weighed multiple times. A specific set of blood work is completed to rule out possible illness, and then the vets set out to heal the animal.

One dog, a boxer named Brewster, was dropped off last year by a good Samaritan who said he found the starving animal in a park. The dog was shockingly thin with sad, brown eyes.

Police later discovered the Samaritan was actually the owner, who starved him. In part because of the forensic evidence, he ended up pleading guilty to felony animal cruelty charges.

Meanwhile, Brewster was carefully cared for, eventually regaining his health, doubling his weight and getting adopted.

Veterinarian Laura Niestat said that in addition to starvation, the vets often see cases of neglect in which tight collars wear off layers of skin, frostbite destroys ears and tails, and extreme matting of fur chokes limbs like a tourniquet.

Some animals have been shot, others beaten and suffocated.

"We try to focus on how we're helping the animals," Niestat said, "and not on how awful it is."
American universities are the best in the world. This is widely recognized by experts in higher education from every nation. Seventeen of the worlds top 20 universities worldwide are in the United States. Assessment and ranking systems in the U.S., the U.K., China, India, and Japan confirm this standing led by the Times Higher Education of London, global authorities on the subject.

There is rising disquiet regarding Americas ability to remain preeminent. A recent New York Times Upshot analysis provides a voice of consternation. Nevertheless, here is what makes U.S. higher education the envy of the world.

One: Strong universities expose students to intellectually broadening core curricula (Columbia led the way), coupled with training in specific disciplines through applied skill sets. This one-two punch has been the might of American higher education since the industrial revolution, the development of the land grant university idea, and Charles Eliots introduction of professional programs at Harvard. All occurred in the latter part of the 19th century. This integration of reflective thinking and doing makes our nations institutions great.

Two: U.S. universities have traditionally held to the concept of mission differentiation. Major research universities have recognized and rewarded research as well as teaching excellence. In regional and comprehensive institutions, teaching comes to the fore with scholarship recognized but in service to teaching. Clark Kerr, former president of the University of California, cemented this idea into state policy through the 1960 California Master Plan. Different missions define free choice, roles, and expectations for faculty, students, and families. Focus allows attainment of mission.

Three: Academic freedom, a concept woven into the muscle of America through constitutionally protected speech and rugged individualism, remains the international high watermark, made possible by a republican form of government. Ideas based on creative activity, research, and scholarship follow from investigation  dogmatism falls off the table.

Four: U.S. universities exist in a highly competitive three-party environment: Public, private not-for-profit, and private for-profit universities all share the market. Many believe the for-profit sector is new to the landscape of American higher education but their genesis as business schools dates to the mid 19th century. A form of educational Darwinism ensued. Separating grain from chaff is essential, time consuming, and messy, but the unfettered market place always prevails.

Five: Only religious organizations benefit from American philanthropy more than universities. The causes for this are manifold, but the effect is that universities have become excellent because of philanthropy. Generosity ceases when quality falters. Philanthropy is both barometer and instigator of excellence. Conversely, state support will continue long after effectiveness wanes.

Six: The U.S. model for university management and leadership has historically respected students and their aspirations. Asian cultures are working to unshackle universities from overly authoritative frameworks that undervalue individual initiative and creativity. The power of respecting student aspirations -- not as customers but as learners -- is the gold standard.

Seven: American universities attract internationally excellent scholars. The strength of our universities may be a factor, but the overarching concept of a free society, and the egalitarian nature of individuals succeeding based on merit rather than genealogy, politics, or national doctrine, is the magnet.

Eight: Pragmatism in U.S. higher education often calls for faculty and students to address real problems. Paul Simon, former Illinois Senator and presidential candidate, told me he viewed the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute as a "do" tank rather than a "think" tank. This articulates a pervasive strength of U.S. higher education: Innovation gives birth to public benefit through action.

Nine: U.S. universities, until the time of the Morrill Act of 1862, were typically isolated from political interference and conceived as sectarian. Beginning in the 19th century Boards at Michigan and Berkeley discontinued church appointments. The transformation evolved and public universities are secular, eschewing any form of religious influence. Trading church influence for challenging and oftentimes coercive political forces, and the Orwellian idea of governmental order as righteous objectivity, has proven risky. Thoughtful free expression, not political correctness in any form, must rule.

Ten: Considerations beyond standardized test scores and high school GPAs, the rule in many nations, are common in admissions processes at many U. S. institutions. Holistic admissions, when properly managed and guided by faculty insight, provides wisdom that enlivens the numb simplicity of easily measurable aspects of student performance.

These ten characteristics help define U.S. higher education. The price of not attending to their animating force will undermine universities and the mantle of U.S. leadership.
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Nothing better to wish Happy New Year 2022 , if not the use of images to share on WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram. Funny, funny, original Happy New Year 2022 images, which represent a different way to celebrate the New Year by sending a Happy New Year message to all friends and relatives. There are many people who share phrases, images, photographs, videos and many other types of content with relatives and friends at the end of the year.

We always point out that the Happy New Year 2022 images to share on WhatsApp collected here are totally free and can be sent with any instant messaging platform and social network.

The best images Happy New Year 2022

For Happy New Year 2022 messages, phrases, letters, cards, postcards and even images are shared. With latest generation smartphones and tablets it has become extremely easy to share images on smartphones and tablets on WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram.

We remind you that to save the Happy New Year 2022 images present you need to perform some extremely simple operations. Press and hold your finger on the image for a few seconds, until a new dialog box appears on the screen. Within the latter, click on the Save image item . The image will be saved in the roll of iOS devices , such as iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, while on Android it will be stored in the browser's Downloads folder . By doing so, you can easily share humorous images with other third-party applications and social networks, including WhatsApp.

Among the best Happy New Year images for WhatsApp we start with this one dedicated to 2022 with very accurate and really beautiful graphics to use with friends and relatives.

The best phrases to wish happy new year 2021

We all know that a new year brings new experiences, joys, opportunities, people, love, stories, challenges. Let's use a few phrases to wish happy new year 2021 to our dear friend, friend, boyfriend or girlfriend. Why not to loved ones who are far away and who probably in this damned 2020 we could not embrace. Here are some suggestions:

 My wishes for you are not limited to just next year but to all the years you will experience in your life. Happy New Year full of fun, awesome, rocking and eventful! "

 Don't worry when others are unable to understand you. Only worry when you are unable to understand yourself. May you have a happy new year! ".

 Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, yippee! It's a new year! Happy New Year, my beloved friend! "

 I am lucky to have friends who bring so much joy and madness to this life. I can't imagine what it would be like without you encouraging me. Happy New Year! "

 The new years come and the new years go by, but our friendship has stood the test of time. I wish you the best for next year! "

 On the road to success, the rule is to always look ahead. May you reach your destination and may your journey be wonderful. Happy New Year! ".

 I would just like to express how much joy you have given me and wish your joy and happiness in return. Goodbye 2020 Welcome 2021 Happy New Year! "

 May each day of the next year be vibrant and new bringing with it many reasons to celebrate and rejoice. Happy New Year! "

 I wish you a great year that starts with happiness and ends with that too. Happy New Year! ".

 I wish you a bright, prosperous and glorious new year. Happy New Year! ".

Happy New year wishes and images in various Languages
/By Azernews/

By Amina Nazarli

An Italian business delegation of 15 companies engaged in various spheres of the economy arrived in Baku to explore the local market for doing business and making investments here.

The Italian businessmen, who are in the country for the first time, held their first meeting with Italian Ambassador to Baku Giampaolo Cutillo and Italian Trade Commissioner Luigi DAprea on April 12.

The businessmen, coming from Italys Sicilia and representing medicine, logistics, alternative energy, engineering, construction, foodstuff, culture and jewelry sectors, discussed which spheres can be developed in the country.

Ambassador Cutillo, addressing the meeting, said that the two countries are developing the bilateral relations rapidly, particularly in the oil and gas sector.

He underlined that Italy closely cooperates with Azerbaijan in the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project, which is designed to transport natural gas from the giant Shah Deniz II field of Azerbaijan to Europe.

Emphasizing that many projects are connecting the two countries, Ambassado Cutillo stressed that the two sides should also develop other sectors besides the energy.

I had the opportunity to brief them about my experience here and talk about the potential and opportunities that the market offers, the ambassador said following the event.

Currently, Azerbaijan is going through delicate phase of its development. However, the country has a lot to offer. We are observing a strategic commitment to making reforms and diversifying the Azerbaijani economy, so I believe that Italy has much to offer in this regard.

President of Italy Progress, Teresa Ingrao informed that the delegation has already familiarized with the Azerbaijani market.

Before visiting the country, we have already analyzed the market and got acquainted with Azerbaijan, she said.

President of Logistics Company Giovanni Bella and Vice President of Italy Progress, Giovanni Bella also assured that the Azerbaijani market is very attractive for Italian companies. Azerbaijan does not have many Italian investors in the moment. The fields are free and we hope that we can develop good business bringing the companies to Azerbaijan, he said.

He said Italy has products of only good quality, and the Italian companies want to bring only best products to Azerbaijan.

Luigi DAprea, for his part, spoke about necessity of creating direct contacts between businessmen of the two countries.

Bulk of the products sold in the country is exported from Russia, China and Turkey. But, Made in Italy products are always welcomed in Azerbaijan. We need time for more direct contact with the local market, he explained.

Luigi DAprea , following the event said that the meeting was very interesting.

The companies which participated in the meeting are very interested in cooperation with Azerbaijan. Now, there is a good opportunity for the two states to develop their relations, he said.

During the visit that will last until April 15, the Italian businessmen will hold several meetings at the countrys ministries and meet with local entrepreneurs. The Italian entrepreneurs seek to visit the country once again in July.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will be discussed at a meeting of foreign ministers of the countries that are members to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

Besides the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the OIC members' FMs will discuss the fight against terrorism, the OIC told Trend Apr. 11.

The 13th OIC Summit will be held Apr. 13-15 in Istanbul, Turkey.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.



Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said. Ignoring the agreement, the Armenian side again started violating the ceasefire.



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 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev has expressed condolences to his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee over the fire in Puttingal temple in the city of Paravur.

"We are deeply saddened by the news of fire that occurred in Puttingal temple in the city of Paravur resulting in heavy casualties and injuries," President Aliyev said.

"On the occasion of the tragedy, on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan and on my own behalf, I express deep condolences to you, families and close ones of those who died and the people of India, and wish the injured recovery," the president added.
A delegation led by Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov left for Turkey to participate in a preparatory meeting for the 13th Summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Foreign Ministry told Trend Apr. 11.

The OIC Summit, titled "Unity and Solidarity for Justice and Peace", is to be held Apr. 10-15 in Istanbul.

Mammadyarov is expected to deliver a speech during the meeting, as well as have a number of bilateral meetings, according to the ministry.
/By Azernews/

By Nazrin Gadimova

Baku and Moscow have reiterated their firm stands to develop and deepen the long-term strategic relations in numerous fields.

The multi-vector relations between the two neighbor countries were mulled in Baku, as Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev paid an official visit to the country, where he met the Azerbaijani leadership.

The sides took the opportunity to discuss issues such as the relations in trade, economic, energy, transportation and humanitarian spheres and potential in energy and transportation spheres.

President Ilham Aliyev, addressing the meeting with Medvedev, highlighted the traditional cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan in humanitarian sphere that has very good prospects and good results.

We have very good dynamics in many areas. Although the trade turnover has a little bit fallen because of objective reasons, there is a potential for increase and cooperation in trade, economic, energy and transport areas, the president said.

Trade turnover between Russia and Azerbaijan in late 2014 exceeded $4 billion and reached its historical maximum. This figure amounted to $ 2.3 billion in January-October 2015, which is 30 percent less than in the same period of 2014, according to the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee.

Being long-time partners, Russia and Azerbaijan are keen to continue developing multilateral cooperation in the future. The all-around strengthening of cooperation with Russia has been and remains one of the main priorities of Azerbaijan's foreign policy.

Medvedev, in turn, emphasized that there is a huge variety of relations where the two sides enjoy a very advanced cooperation and strategic partnership.

Medvedev went on to add that Azerbaijan and Russia have the opportunity to make additional efforts for the economies of the two countries to function more in line with one another, for good effect.

Although its literally a few percent, as the decline has mainly occurred because of the pricing indicators caused by the change of exchange of goods which we supply to each other, prices for goods that we supply. However, this means that an array of projects should be revitalized. So now lets talk about this as well as humanitarian issues, he said.

However, this shows that a number of projects can be revived, according to Medvedev.

The sides noted the importance of implementation of joint projects, and highlighted the similarities between both countries` economies, pointing to necessity of diversifying the economy to reduce the oil dependence.

The Russian PM then conveyed the best wishes of Vladimir Putin, adding that the head of Russia has invited President Aliyev to Moscow.

Nagorno-Karabakh issue

In Baku, Dmitry Medvedev also reminded the importance of resuming diplomatic efforts to resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Medvedev, on a visit to Baku, said Russia was ready to continue to act as an intermediary in resolving the conflict and hoped a ceasefire agreement would hold.

Russia values its relations with both Armenia and Azerbaijan, he said voicing hope that they could resume their negotiations under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Moscow, as a member of the OSCE Minsk Group, as a responsible state, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council is committed to the approaches within the framework of the UN procedures and other ones, he added.

Medvedev emphasized that the whole region would benefit with the settlement of the conflict and Russia considers itself part of this region.

During the talks, President Aliyev highlighted Russias role in de-escalation of the situation on the frontline.

The president further stressed that Azerbaijan is committed to the peaceful and political settlement of the conflict based on the international law and relevant decisions of the UN Security Council and other international organizations.

"Azerbaijan adheres to the negotiation process," Aliyev said, adding that resolving the conflict is in the interests of Azerbaijan, Armenia and also Russia, as a neighbor and friend of both countries.

The change of the status quo and the beginning of de-occupation of Azerbaijani territories are the main conditions for a comprehensive settlement of the conflict. As soon as this happens, there will be peace and cooperation in the region. This will benefit all countries in the region, the President said.
/By Azernews/

By Aynur Karimova

President Ilham Aliyev has set new political, economic and social goals and priorities for Azerbaijan in 2016 at the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on the results of socio-economic development in the first quarter of 2016 and the future tasks.

The agenda of the meeting, which was held on April 9, included various issues ranging from recent tensions on the line of contact of the Armenian and Azerbaijani Armed Forces to Azerbaijan's political, economic and social achievements in the reported period.

Speaking about Armenian armed provocation committed against Azerbaijan earlier this month, President Aliyev said that it was foiled, and the enemy was given a fitting rebuff.

"Azerbaijan was able to protect its lands, and to further strengthen the military position. This bloody clash once again showed that Armenia continues its occupation policy, does not want peace and is trying to disrupt the negotiation process," he said.

Armenian Armed Forces, which continue to violate the truce on the contact line of troops in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region despite the achieved agreement on ceasefire, aims to keep the status quo unchanged.

Despite Armenia's destructive position in the settlement of the conflict, Azerbaijan has always stated that Baku is in favor of its peaceful solution.

President Aliyev believes that Azerbaijan, as a leading country in the South Caucasus region, has set the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as its primary goal. The stronger becomes Azerbaijan in political, economic and in all other fields, the closer it will be to the solution of the conflict.

Therefore, Azerbaijan should further accelerate the dynamics of our development and continue sustainable development in the economic field.

The geography of the Azerbaijani president's visit, as well as statements made in the address of this energy-rich country once again shows that Azerbaijan conducts very active and multifaceted foreign policy. Also, confidence of the international community in Azerbaijan, known as a very reliable partner, is increasing year by year.

Today, Azerbaijan is a core part of new formats of regional cooperation, such as Azerbaijan-Iran-Russia, Azerbaijan-Iran-Turkey, Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey, as well as Azerbaijan-Turkey-Turkmenistan. All these tripartite initiatives are very important for ensuring security and deepening cooperation in the region.

Economy in focus

In the first quarter of 2016, Azerbaijan also took decisive economic measures. It is expected that the current year will be remembered for deep economic reforms.

Azerbaijan has made very serious decisions towards improving the business environment, increasing our export potential, attracting foreign investments to Azerbaijan, and increasing local production.

To achieve this goal, many orders and laws have been adopted and signed since the beginning of the year.

President Aliyev stressed the necessity of taking further measures regarding financial discipline and transparency in the country and said that the whole economic and financial sector of Azerbaijan should be developed based on the most advanced principles.

"First of all, it is necessary to improve the control mechanisms, and transparency must be fully ensured," he added.

Despite the fact that oil prices have fallen sharply and are still at a very low level, as well as Azerbaijan's GDP decreased in the reported period, President Aliyev believes that the country's revenues will increase due to new achievements in the non-oil sector.

One of Azerbaijan's economic achievements in this period was 5-percent growth in the non-oil sector of the national economy. This indicator gives good hope for more rapid development of the non-oil sector in the country, which is one of the main goals set before the government.

"Today, the non-oil sector constitutes a major part of the economy of Azerbaijan. We have achieved this and in the future, of course, we should try to make the non-oil sector to have more weight in our export," President Aliyev stressed.

Thus, despite the ongoing financial and economic crisis and decrease of Azerbaijan's revenues, the South Caucasus nation has reduced the risks to a minimum thanks to very operational steps, deep economic reforms and wise foreign policy.

Achievements in social sector

The first quarter of 2016 was productive in terms of social protection of population. The government witnessed significant progress in ensuring employment of the population. In particular, Azerbaijan created 37,000 new jobs, including 31,000 permanent jobs in that period. These newly-created jobs will give an impetus to keeping the unemployment rate at a low level, which currently stands at 5 percent.

These figures show that social policy has always been and will continue to be a priority for Azerbaijan, which is a social state. President Aliyev said that economic reforms, as well as successful oil and gas policy are aimed at the people to live better.

Azerbaijan is also among few countries that have overcome the ongoing economic and financial crisis with minimal losses. Despite the decrease of oil prices by 3-4 times, salaries and pensions increased by 10 percent this year.

Transport sector is priority

Azerbaijan, located on the crossroads of East and West and on the conjunction of important international transport routes, conducted active works towards the establishment of the North-South and East-West (TRACECA) transport corridors.

President Aliyev believes that the main condition for the establishment of the North-South corridor is the Azerbaijan-Iran-Russia trilateral cooperation.

This transport corridor is very important for Azerbaijan both in economic terms and in terms of security and tourism. Also, after the completion of the implementation of this transport corridor, the Azerbaijani budget will receive huge economic benefits. If new countries such as Pakistan, India, and the North European countries join this corridor, the volume of cargoes passing through Azerbaijan's territory will increase significantly.

In the first quarter, Azerbaijan also conducted active work towards the establishment of TRACECA. Azerbaijan is working in a tripartite format - the format of Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey - for implementation of this project.

Today, one can say with no doubt that Azerbaijan is again in the center of two corridors. Based on Baku's positive friendship and partnership relations with neighboring countries, the implementation of both these projects are seen as possible.

The first quarter of 2016 was remembered in Azerbaijan for other major events as well - President Aliyev's participation at the 4th Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, the second meeting of the Advisory Council of the Southern Gas Corridor in Baku, as well as the IV Global Baku Forum.

"If we consider that Azerbaijan is not a nuclear power, there is no nuclear power station and nuclear industry in Azerbaijan, the invitation of Azerbaijan to this prestigious event is a manifestation of respect to us by the government, the president of the U.S. and reflects our role in this region. Azerbaijan is a reliable partner in prevention of illicit traffic of nuclear materials," President Aliyev said.

The second meeting of the Advisory Council of the Southern Gas Corridor, which was held in Baku in February 29, was very important event in Azerbaijan's energy sector as during this meeting the leading role of Azerbaijan in this sphere was once again marked in the adopted declaration.

Important goals are set

In his closing remarks, President Aliyev set very important tasks before the relevant ministries.

He instructed all the ministers to work hard in order to accomplish the tasks set before them, and to achieve further development of the Azerbaijani economy and better living conditions of the population.

This year Azerbaijan, a country in a state of war, will pay more attention to army building. Today, the Azerbaijani army is among the strongest armies in the world both for its logistics and equipment, and in terms of its combat capability. President Aliyev believes that to achieve further strengthening of the army, Azerbaijan should develop economy even faster.

Azerbaijan is also expected to involve huge amount of foreign investment in various sectors of the national economy. To achieve this goal, the government was instructed to ensure transparent economic and financial system, as well as the rule of law.

Azerbaijan is also keen on achieving rapid development of non-oil sector, to create new jobs, new production areas of export orientation, as well as establishing new industrial zones in each region.

This year, Azerbaijan will take decisive measures towards the implementation of the program on construction of social housing, which will be presented to the public in the near future.

"This is a new initiative. In some countries, this practice is being applied. We are studying and studied positive practices. There is a great need and demand in it," President Aliyev said.

It is expected that the construction of social housing will be started in all cities, regional centers with an aim to reduce unemployment in the regions and solve the housing problems of low-income population with limited material possibilities.

This year, the government will also implement over 40 rural road projects and 250 million manats ($163.7 million) will be allocated for this purpose. Also, works for establishment of the Alat international sea trade port will be accelerated.

Further development of the agrarian sector will be among the priorities of the government in 2016.

The development of agriculture has always been a priority for Baku. Therefore, President Aliyev instructed the government to further accelerate the export of agricultural products.
/By Azernews/

By Nazrin Gadimova

Armenians, who do not want to die for the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, do not also want to live there.

Hundreds of people, mostly women, children and elderly leave their houses located in Azerbaijans occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region following the recent escalation on the frontline, said Stephane Dujarric, the Spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary General, who listed the appropriate data from the Geneva-based office of the High Commissioner for Refugees.

"UNHCR has received reports on civilian casualties, destruction of houses and infrastructure (as a result of Armenian attacks civilians were killed), as well as restrictions on the freedom of movement of those trying to leave the conflict zone," Dujarric stressed.

Years of mediation by the OSCE Minsk Group have failed to defuse tensions in the South Caucasus region, which resulted in renewal of the hostilities by the aggressor Armenia.

Azerbaijans Armed Forces rebuffed the attacks and strengthened the positions, which frightened not only Armenias military dictatorship but also Armenians living in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

Armenian media reported that over 3,000 residents of the occupied territories have left their homes following the deterioration of the situation on the front line.

Yerevan has set a great trap for Armenians living in the region after escalating situation in the territories adjacent to the contact line with Azerbaijani troops. Armenian military not only refused to defend the population, but even more  they actively opposed the outflow of the civilians by setting up roadblocks at the outskirts of the region.

Moreover, to prevent growing of the panic, Armenian Armed Forces and the armed units of the separatist regime tried to hide from the public the recent losses and spread misinformation about the losses of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.

The social network users say Armenians living in the occupied Askeran town tried to leave the region and move to Khankendi. However, the police tried to prevent their move and as a result, a violent clash occurred between police and residents.

Komsomolskaya Pravda earlier informed that Armenians were leaving the settlements in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region, while the Armenian bureau of the Radio Liberty reported that Armenians residing in the Armenian-occupied Aghdere region of Azerbaijan also left their homes.

Armenians who were living Karabakh leave massively the region every time when they find an opportunity, as people live in very poor condition being face to face the fear of death and injustice here. Armenian opposition have repeatedly reported about the deplorable situation in the country, as well as in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.

Since April 2, when tensions on the contact line of the Azerbaijani and Armenian troops aggravated, Azerbaijani troops have destroyed more than 370 enemy soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery pieces.

Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said. Ignoring the agreement, the Armenian side again started violating the ceasefire.
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Malaysian Parliament Seri Ronald Kiandee.





Seri Ronald Kiandee said that it was their first visit to Baku. He highlighted the activity of the Malaysia-Azerbaijan friendship group at the Parliament of Malaysia, saying it consists of eight members. He hailed the friendship group`s role in developing relations between the legislative bodies of the two countries. The Deputy Speaker stressed the importance of reciprocal visits. Describing Azerbaijan as an important partner of Malaysia, Seri Ronald Kiandee hailed the Malaysian Petronas company's activities in the country as a good example of bilateral relations.





President Ilham Aliyev recalled with pleasure Malaysian Prime Minister Mohammad Najib Tun Abdul Razak's visit to Azerbaijan and fruitful discussions they held during the meetings.





Saying the bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Malaysia are of pivotal importance for both countries, the head of state noted that these ties had developed in various fields, including political, economic and other ones.





President Ilham Aliyev noted that there were ample opportunities for developing cooperation between the two countries in investment making, high technology, tourism and other fields.





Underlining Malaysian Petronas company's successful operation in Azerbaijan, the head of state said that the company had a large stake in one of the important projects in the country.





Describing Azerbaijan and Malaysia as friendly countries, President Ilham Aliyev emphasized that the two countries have always supported each other within international organizations.





Pointing to the importance of the inter-parliamentary relations between the two countries, the head of state expressed his hope that the visit of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Malaysian Parliament to Baku would create a good opportunity for more active mutual cooperation between the two countries' parliamentarians.




/By Azernews/

By Fatma Babayeva

Kazakhstan and Iran have signed a number of agreements covering various fields following the meeting of Kazakhstan-Iran Business Council held in Tehran in April 10 which coincided with President Nursultan Nazarbayevs visit to Iran.

The sides agreed on a number of issues covering metallurgy and mining industries, railway communication, agricultural sector, tourism and so on.

The two countries inked export contracts about providing agricultural and engineering products to Iran. They also had a deal on joint implementation of the chemical and petrochemical projects.

The Investment Fund of Kazakhstan and Iran's Kaveh Glass Industry Group signed an agreement on sodium carbonate production plant in Kazakhstan's Kyzylorda province. The cost of this project amounts to $200 million.

Kazakh company Alageum Electric and Iranian Niroo Nransfo Co inked an agreement for supplying transformers and transformer oils to Iran.

Irans power and water equipment and services export company SUNIR signed a contract with Kazakhstans Eurasia Invest Group on the construction of a solar power plant with the capacity of 50 megawatts in Kazakhstans Almaty city.

Moreover, Kazakh company Topan agreed with Iranian Electro Kavir Co. to create a joint venture in Iran's territory for further supply of technological and commercial accounting systems for hydrocarbons.

Agricultural sector was among the discussed cooperation areas. The parties have signed a package of agreements on the import and export of agricultural products.

A number of Kazakh companies have agreed to export meat and grain products to Iran.

Furthermore, Iranian companies intend to invest $30 million in Kazakhstan's geological exploration, the Kazakh Ministry for Investments and Development reported on April 11.

The parties intend to implement joint projects on solid mineral searching in the promising areas, their evaluation and attracting investments in Kazakhstan.

Iranian companies are interested in big iron ore, polymetallic and copper deposits, the ministry said.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that during the meeting with Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev various issues were discussed such as strengthening cooperation in trade and investment, agriculture, transit and transport spheres, as well as, international and regional security.

Rouhani described the signed documents as a turning point in ties between two countries, Iran's IRINN TV channel reported.

The Iranian president also said that issues related to the Caspian Sea such as environmental issues, maritime transport and particularly the status of the Caspian Sea status were discussed during the meeting on April 11.

Kazakhstan and Iran are two coastal states located at the opposite sides of the Caspian Sea, and their deepening cooperation is believed to enhance regional security, improve navigation and environmental protection of the sea, and maybe accelerate the issue about resolving the delimitation of the Caspian Sea in future.

President Nazarbayev also met with Iranian spiritual leader Ali Khamenei and discussed ways to further strengthen cooperation between the two countries, especially combating terrorism and extremism activities.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has urged Italy to restore its role as Iran's largest economic partner in the EU.



"Italy used to be Iran's largest economic partner in the EU before sanctions were imposed [on Tehran] and we want Italy to restore its previous role," said Rouhani addressing a joint press conference with Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in Tehran Apr. 12, aired live by Iran's IRINN news channel.



Italy was one of Iran's major economic and trade partners before the 2012 nuclear-related sanctions, when annual exchanges amounted to 7 billion euros as compared to 1.6 billion euros now.



Elsewhere in his speech, Rouhani touched upon the topics discussed during his meeting with the Italian PM this morning, saying the ways to foster economic and trade cooperation in the post-sanctions era, the presence of Italian investors and companies in Iran, fighting terrorism, regional issues and tourism were among the main topics on agenda.

Speaking about the financial ties between Iran and Italy, President Rouhani called for removing obstacles to the expansion of trade ties.



He said proper measures have been taken to strengthen banking ties between the two countries.



However, added Rouhani, the parties still need to solve some issues.



"Although the sanctions on Iran's banking system have been lifted, there are still some psychological impacts that should be removed," he noted.



Rouhani believes that the documents signed in Italy and Iran will pave the way for joint investments and bringing technology from Italy to Iran.



Iran and Italy have agreed a total of 36 deals as six new documents were signed in Tehran April 12, and 30 documents were signed in Rome in January.



President Rouhani further called for cooperation between Iranian and Italian universities in various scientific and cultural sectors.



Italy's Renzi arrived in Tehran early Tuesday on a two-day official visit leading a high ranking political and economic delegation.
British banks remain reluctant to finance trade with Iran, fearing they could still be targeted by existing US sanctions that are impeding Tehran's re-entry into markets after years of isolation, officials said on Monday.



International measures against Iran - including banking curbs - were lifted in January as part of the deal with world powers under which Tehran curbed its nuclear programme. But the Islamic Republic is struggling to access new financing as many large banks fear falling foul of remaining US restrictions.



"This is a problem I regret will take a little time to resolve," said Britain's trade envoy to Iran, former finance minister Norman Lamont.



"You can understand why they (banks) are extremely cautious - they have already been fined billions of dollars," he told a City & Financial Iran Trade conference in London.



Alexandra Renison, with Britain's Institute of Directors (IoD) lobby group, said that smaller European banks were starting to move towards providing trade finance to Iran, but the "risk appetite is absolutely not there" for British lenders.



"Any banks in the UK that really have any exposure in the United States ... are simply not budging," she told the conference.



Renison said it is even proving difficult to bring together businesses, policymakers and banks, frustrating efforts.



Evan Warren, a senior policy adviser with the UK's finance ministry, acknowledged that the close business ties between British banks and their US counterparts did "pose significant challenges".



Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has accused the United States of foot-dragging following the official implementation in January of the nuclear deal.



British Trade and Investment Minister Mark Price said the UK was working on these issues with Washington, adding that Business Secretary Sajid Javid would meet with British banks ahead of an official trade delegation to Iran next month.



"His plan is to take UK banks out on that delegation," Price told the conference. "This government would like to see the banks play their part."



US President Barack Obama and administration officials have denied in recent days that they planned to offer Iran access to the US financial system or use of the US dollar for transactions.



Efforts by opposition Republican US lawmakers to introduce a bill that would block Iran from accessing dollar financing are adding to pressure. The IOD's Renison said such "volatility is scaring a lot of the banks away".



When asked about efforts to bar any access to dollars now faced by Iran, Lamont told Reuters it was "most unfortunate".



"The US is now saying it (access to dollars) is not an option," he said. "We have to find other ways of solving it."  Reuters
UAE Business Solutions, a Dubai-based consultancy firm has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with MAH Pishro Serv, a Tehran based company, to establish strategic alliance and partnership in Iran.



The association comes as part of UAE Business Solutions regional expansion plans, a significant step towards synergising strengths, gaining domain knowledge and achieving new market penetration, a statement said.



The commercial agreement between UAE Business Solutions and MAH Pishro Serv, will allow the organizations to co-promote their respective organisations in UAE and Iran while collaborating on strategic business and commercial alignment for their clients.



Utilising existing network and resources, this undertaking will become a giant leap for their clients seeking new projects, opportunities and business set up in Iran, the statement.



"We have been reviewing the business environment in Iran since my first visit in 2009. The recent easing of economic sanctions has prompted us to enter the market, said Stephen Armitage, UAE Business Solutions managing partner.



Many of our UAE clients have expressed interest in commercial opportunities available in Iran and the signing of this association with MAH Pishro Serv will allow us to extend our services in conjunction with our trusted local partner. UAE Business Solutions will act as a conduit for companies interested in doing business Iran and our main aim is to ensure smooth transaction and seamless business set up.  TradeArabia News Service
Jadat Itqan Consulting (JIC), a Saudi-based advisory firm operating in the areas of CSR, corporate governance and sustainability and strategic partner of EMG Group, has become the latest member of the Islamic Reporting Initiative (IRI).

JIC chief executive Mahmoud Abdulghaffar commented: We fully support the ambitions and great potential of the IRI and look forward to collaborating actively towards its further success. It can become a powerful business tool driven by our heritage that assures transparency, accountability and sustainability. We are confident that, with support from the right partners and stakeholders across the world, the IRI will create an international legacy of corporate sustainability.

Over the past few years, JIC and EMG have worked together on major governmental projects that have facilitated progress towards international sustainability goals and the national vision.

Dr Daan Elffers, chief executive of EMG Group and founder of the Islamic Reporting Initiative, added: JIC is a solid partner for us in the GCC and their insight and support for the IRI will be invaluable to its further development and growth. We very much look forward to expanding our collaboration with JIC in this new way as we together progress further towards our shared goal of global sustainability.

With a membership base in more than 30 countries, the IRI is leading the creation of an integrated and impact-oriented reporting framework for CSR based on Islamic principles and values.

The IRI encourages governments, businesses and philanthropists from all over the world to support the IRI in its mission to advance social, economic and environmental prosperity through responsible business.  TradeArabia News Service
The Dubai WoodShow organising committee along with the International Technical Tropical Timber Association (ATIBT) have announced that they will host the first Middle East ATIBT Conference in Dubai, UAE, next year.



A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in this respect on the third and final day of the Dubai WoodShow 2016, a leading trade fair for wood products in the Middle East, said a statement from the company.



The next ATIBT event will be held in conjunction with the next Dubai WoodShow in April 2017, it added.



Additionally, as per the MoU, ATIBT will set up a major base in Dubai, UAE, it said.



Under this agreement, ATIBT will establish its offices in Dubai to assess the preparations for the event until 2017 and discuss ways of cooperation with the relevant authorities and institutions.



Walid Farghal, director general, strategic marketing and exhibitions, organisers of Dubai WoodShow, said: We were delighted with the exceptional footfall to the event this year. The show also witnessed the display of series of new products and innovative technologies in the timber industry.



We are glad to join hands with the ATIBT to organise the next conference in Dubai, which will be a milestone for the wood industry in the region, he said.



We anticipate that this inaugural edition of the conference in the Middle East will witness participation of the most prominent countries and decision makers in the wood industry from around the world, Farghal added.



Tentatively, it has been decided that the conference in Dubai will discuss the potential of forests, use of natural forests as barriers in the face of climate change, share new technologies and renewable products, display of sustainability solutions in the timber industry, and call on governments, civil society, and the private sector to promote investment in forests as an step in the sustainable development, he concluded.



ATIBT was founded in 1951 at the request of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), with the objective to contribute to improving tropical forestry and the rationalisation of tropical timber trade.



Today, ATIBT has become a partner of choice for various tropical timber stakeholders, European governmental institutions as well as African governments, playing a leading role in the implementation of international programmes related to the sustainable management of tropical forests and the responsible development of the timber industry.



Farghal said: We have a wide network of relationships with international organisations and institutions in the wood industry, and get their support annually.



The exhibitions edition in 2017 will see visits of global delegations, decision-makers, and manufacturers from across the world, he added.  TradeArabia News Service
Manazel Real Estate, a leading developer headquartered in the UAE, has announced the launch of Al Manzel, a new subsidiary responsible for managing and operating the companys Dari initiative which connects the recipients of governmental housing loans with consultants and qualified experts at Manazel who oversee the new homes construction from design to delivery.



The initiative, which has been established to support Emiratis, will help aspiring home owners with limited budgets to build their homes in a turnkey operation, choosing from among 10 types of villas of varying sizes, said a statement from the company.



The new unit has a dedicated team of consultants who will act as the local clients representatives before governmental departments, contractors and architects, and oversee all aspects of construction, including timelines, budgets and inspections, it added.



According to Manazel, the launch of the new unit supports its ongoing strategy to make affordable housing more accessible in the country, and aligns with the vision of UAE leadership to give all citizens access to quality homes at an affordable price.



The Emirati firm identifies and works with contractors and consultants on the citizens behalf, and ensures that homes are delivered within the governments Dh2 million ($544,382) housing loan budget.



It will be delivering its first home under the Dari initiative this week at Mohammed Bin Zayed City.



Each of the villas on offer is being constructed by external contractors, in accordance with traditional family values, and incorporates between six and seven bedrooms, two majlis spaces and accompanying service rooms, including a kitchen, laundry, store room and maids room.



With the aim of adding even more value to Dari and working in co-ordination with government entities, Al Manzel offers post-delivery services that are initiated after the acquisition of all municipality permits for water, electricity, internet and phone lines, and the handover of the finished home.



Al Manazel identifies vendors and negotiates rates on everything from home furnishings with UAE-certified suppliers, interior designers, landscapers and maintenance services, it added.



Commenting on the new unit, CEO Hassan Fahmi said: Our core business strategy centres on meeting the demand for affordable housing in the UAE, and Dari is a natural extension of this."



"Not only are the homes we help deliver both affordable and comfortable, but they are also designed to correspond with the values embraced by families in the UAE, including majlis areas for both men and women," he added.



The creation of Al Manzel follows the establishment of the Manazel Malls subsidiary to manage the companys retail areas in Al Reef Community and Al Reef 2, Capital Mall and future retail projects.-TradeArabia News Service
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia), one of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds, has awarded a 200-million ($224 million) contract to a subsidiary of Bouygues Construction for the construction of a 150-m-tall skyscraper in Paris, France.



As per the deal, Bouygues Batiment Ilede-France Construction Privee will build the Alto Tower at La Defense financial district in the French capital.



The contract also covers the construction of a car-park, shops and a vast square developed with

Epadesa, the development authority responsible for La Defense. It will form part of the urbanisation

of the La Defense ring road and will connect the Ancre neighbourhood in Courbevoie with La Defense

itself.



Designed by IF Architectes, the Alto Tower will provide 38 floors of high-class office space with a total floor space of 51,000 sq m. It will stand out from neighbouring towers thanks to its glass facade and to its bold architectural design, said a statement from Bouygues.



The skyscraper will feature an unusual flare shape: the surface area of each floor will range from 700 sq m at the foot of the tower to 1,500 sq m at the top, it stated.



On the project win, Bernard Mounier, CEO of Bouygues Batiment Ile-de-France, said: "The award of this contract, following 18 months of technical and engineering studies, repays the motivation and hard work of all the teams. By combining their range of skills, we were able to meet our customers expectations."



"We are very enthusiastic to have the chance to build a new skyscraper in the La Defense district," he stated.



Not only will Alto have an innovative outline, it will also be highly energy-efficient, with a double-skin

insulating facade. As a result, it will be awarded the green building standards of France (HQE Exceptional), and UK (Breeam Excellent) certifications.



The new tower will replace the Les Saisons office building, which leads into the Les Saisons sector.



The detailed preliminary design will be completed during 2016. Site works are due to get under way in September, and handover is scheduled for the first quarter of 2020.



Bouygues Construction has built numerous towers at La Defense (including Exaltis, Opus 12, Cur

Defense, Total Tower and Areva Tower) and has been responsible for several large-scale

refurbishment projects, including those of the First Tower and, more recently, the Allianz One Tower.



It is currently carrying out a number of projects in Asia, including the MahaNakhon Tower, the tallest

skyscraper in Thailand, and the Eternia and Enigma condominiums in India, while in the Middle East it is engaged on the QP District real estate complex in Qatar.-TradeArabia News Service
More than 90 international and regional players from the real estate sector are showcasing their projects at the 10th anniversary edition of Cityscape Abu Dhabi which opened in the UAE capital on Tuesday (April 12).



The capitals largest and most influential property investment show will be held until April 14 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec).



Carlo Schembri, the exhibition manager at Informa Middle East, the event organiser, said: "Investor and exhibitor sentiment in the emirate remains positive. A recent survey of reported that investors are positive about the stability of the real estate market in Abu Dhabi (48 per cent) and the wider UAE (44 per cent) over the next 12 months.



All indications in the run-up to the show have pointed towards a busy, fruitful and profitable opening day and we look forward to receiving thousands of visitors throughout the course of the show. Weve already witnessed strong footfall as investor and homebuyers capitalise on the opportunity to avail of exclusive offers and purchase units directly from the exhibiting companies, stated Schembri.



The Abu Dhabi Market Overview conference, held in partnership with JLL Mena, took place on the opening day, featuring an impressive line-up of regional experts including Dr Abdulla Ghareeb Al Baloushi from the Department of Municipal Affairs and Transport.



The half-day conference revealed the JLLs first quarter (Q1 2016) Abu Dhabi Real Estate Overview report followed by a panel discussion on the impact of the new capital property laws that took effect in January this year as well as the impact lower oil prices have on the real estate market.



David Dudley, the international director and head of Abu Dhabi Office, JLL said: "The general trend this quarter and indeed last year has been relative stability  characterised by low vacancy rates in high quality stock and prime rents generally remaining stable across each asset class."



"While the market has generally been stable and signs of caution remain, we still expect demand growth to continue from projects commenced when oil prices were high and the extent to which market stability is maintained very much depends on the return of domestic government spending in spite of a reduction in oil revenues," noted Dudley.



Falah Al Ahbabi, the director general, Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council (UPC) sees Cityscape Abu Dhabi as a prominent forum that provides an opportunity to engage with those at the core of the UPC planning strategy  developers, investors and other property sector stakeholders within the local community.



"Projects that, a decade ago, were simply plans on paper are now being realised, with people working and residing within them," stated the official.



Cityscape has provided the UPC with the perfect platform to promote the urban planning vision for the emirate of Abu Dhabi on a local, regional and international level. We have used the event to inform our key stakeholders of the many plans, projects and initiatives we are currently working on and have planned for the future, noted



Reinforcing the sustained investor confidence in the local market, a number of major UAE developers have a commanding presence at Cityscape Abu Dhabi this year.



These include Aldar Properties, Al Forsan, Al Qudra, Bloom Properties, Eagle Hills, Eshraq Properties, Masdar City, Manazel, Mubadala Real Estate and Infrastructure, Reem Developers, Tamouh, Tourism and Development Investment Company (TDIC) and Wahat Al Zaweya, which are showcasing their latest projects to potential regional and international investors and homebuyers.



While all the big local players are out in force at Cityscape Abu Dhabi this year, international representation is also strong, with exhibitors coming from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Mauritius, Morocco, Turkey and the UK.-TradeArabia News Service
A consortium including China's Harbin Electric and Saudi Arabia's Acwa Power aims to secure a loan of up to $1.4 billion before the end of the second quarter to finance a 1,200 MW clean coal power plant in Dubai, UAE, sources told Reuters.



The companies are in talks about the club loan with Chinese state-owned credit agency Export-Import Bank of China and lenders including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, Standard Chartered, Abu Dhabi's First Gulf Bank (FGB) and Saudi Arabia's Samba Financial Group, the sources said.



Nobody was available to comment from Harbin Electric, while Acwa Power declined to comment. FGB and Samba Financial Group were not immediately available for comment.



The plant is the first phase of the $1.8-billion Hassyan clean coal project which is being developed by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa). One unit of 600 MW is due to be operating by March 2020 and another a year later.



Clean coal plants use technology to slash harmful environmental emissions that otherwise result from burning the fossil fuel.



The loan will help to cover the cost of the entire project, the sources said.



A consortium including Harbin Electric and Acwa Power was announced in October as the preferred bidder to build and operate the plant. Harbin Electric and Alstom of France will build the plant and operate it alongside Acwa Power and US-based NRG Energy.



Dewa will be the major stakeholder, with a 51 per cent share in the company established to build and operate the plant, while a large part of the cost will be financed by the consortium.



In October, Paddy Padmanathan, Acwa Power chief executive, said that in addition to a $1.4-billion loan, the consortium will finance a further $200 million from equity. Dewa will finance the remaining $200 million, officials said. - Reuters
The UAE-based Julphar Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries, a leading generic pharmaceutical manufacturer in Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, posted a net profit of Dh226.6 million ($61.6 million) for 2015, up 12.2 per cent year-on-year.



The company closed the year with sales totalling Dh1.47 billion ($400 million), marking a growth of 6 per cent against 2014 sales of Dh1.39 billion ($378 million), said a statement from the company.



The company announced the results following a board of directors meeting held at its head office in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, it said.



The company demonstrated a steady operational performance during 2015, posting 11.1 per cent year-on-year rise in its gross profits to Dh908.9 million ($247.4 million), it added.



Dr Ayman Sahli, chief executive officer of Julphar, said: 2015 has been another year of great achievements for the company and we are excited to head into another stimulating year.



As one of the UAEs most ambitious local businesses, we strive to make an impact in the global industry and thrive in international markets. With manufacturing facilities in Ethiopia and Bangladesh, we have plan to expand our global manufacturing presence with the launch of our third international plant in Saudi Arabia, which is expected to begin its operations during 2016, he said.



The results shows a remarkable effort from our employees and sales team, and highlights true dedication from our staff all around the world. We will keep on working hard to deliver our mission to provide high quality, affordable medicines to communities, as this is  and will remain  at the core of our business strategy, he added.  TradeArabia News Service
Iran recently held negotiations with German companies on the joint production of dairy products, said an official in a report.



A number of agreements were signed to this effect with German enterprises at a recent meeting on veterinary medicine, Iran's Deputy Agriculture Minister Hassan Rokni was quoted as saying in an Iran Daily News report.



He also expressed the hope that joint investment with Germany will pave the way for the country's stronger presence in export markets, said the report.



He noted that based on the negotiations with German companies, Iran can undertake joint production of dairy products, chicken and eggs, and export them under European brand names.



Rokni said that Irans neighbouring countries are importers of such produce, and the country recorded exports reaching 600,000 tonnes of dairy products in the year to March 19.




More than 600 top maritime industry executives and decision-makers will attend the Maritime Standard Awards (TMS Awards) 2016, a leading maritime industry event, to be held in October, in Dubai, UAE.



The event, being held for the third consecutive year, will recognise and reward the achievements of the best performers of the Middle East and the Indian Subcontinent's shipping, ports and related maritime sectors at a high profile gala dinner, said a statement.



A total of 29 awards will be presented on the night, with 21 chosen by an elite panel of judges. The others will be special awards chosen by the Maritime Standard team to mark exceptional individual achievements, it added.



This year there will be two new awards  for best company in the fields of Marine Crewing and Manning and Maritime Security, it said.



The event aims to raise the bar even higher, and further demonstrate that it is a class apart compared with rival events.



Trevor Pereira, managing director at Maritime Standard, said: Over the past two years we have celebrated some of the most influential companies and individuals in the shipping and maritime sectors within the region at an event that is now recognised to be the leading one of its kind in terms of value and prestige.



We are already working a series of improvements and new concepts for this year's awards which will make them ever better, and more glamorous, than ever before. It will be an occasion that nobody in the industry will want to miss, he said.



The organisations supporting the awards include the Abu Dhabi Ports, Abu Dhabi Ship Building, DP World, DNV GL, Drydocks World, Dubai Trading Agency, Abu Dhabi Marine Services, Islamic P & I Club, Kuwait Oil Tanker Company (KOTC), Oman Shipping Company S.A.O.C, Sohar Port and Freezone, Mercmarine Group of Companies, Seaborne International, Sical and The National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri).



The Awards also have the support of regional trade associations such as the UAE Shipping Association (UAESA), Dubai Shipping Agents Association (DSAA), Organisation of the Islamic Shipowners Association (OISA), Dubai Council for Marine and Maritime Industries (DCMMI), Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST), Indian National Shipowners' Association (INSA), Pakistan Ship's Agents Association (PSAA) and The Women's International Shipping & Trading Association (WISTA), it added.  TradeArabia News Service


Tesla Motors will recall 2,700 Model X sport utility vehicles in the US due to a faulty locking hinge in the third-row seats that increases the risk the seats could fall forward in a crash, the electric car maker said on Monday.



It said the recall affects all Model X SUVs built before March 26, 2016. It is the first recall for the Model X since Tesla began deliveries of the luxury electric SUV in September.



The recall comes as Tesla enjoys an influx of advance orders for its Model 3 lower-cost sedan, which is due to begin production in late 2017. The car received 253,000 advance orders in the first 36 hours after its high-profile unveiling on March 31.



The Silicon Valley company said it was recalling the Model Xs after the seats failed a strength test in the European Union. Tesla had previously performed 15 tests in the US in which the seats passed. The EU test was different and more stringent, the company said.



Tesla said it was issuing the recall in an abundance of caution in the US even though it was not mandated to do so. The Model X has not yet been delivered to European customers.



The company's shares were down 0.2 per cent at $249.52 on Monday afternoon. The stock had jumped 77 per cent since a February low thanks to the Model 3 unveiling.



Tesla will begin notifying customers of the recall on Monday. The repair, which will replace both third-row seats, will take about two hours. The process to fix all recalled cars will take about five weeks, Jon McNeil, Tesla's president of sales and service, told reporters on a conference call.



"We've had no issues with any failures in the field," he said.



Tesla said that supplier Futuris had manufactured the seats and would assume all cost for their replacement.



In November, Tesla recalled 90,000 Model S sedans worldwide over a possible defect in the front seat belt assembly. In 2014, the company recalled 29,222 Model S vehicles over a charging defect that could lead to a fire hazard.



Tesla has acknowledged bumpy production over the first few months for the Model X due to technical challenges with its "falcon-wing" doors, a panoramic windshield and moveable seats.



Those issues have not affected Tesla's Model X production rates, McNeil said. - Reuters
A delegation from Boeing has visited Iran to discuss sales of jetliners, the secretary of Iran's Aviation Companies Association said on Monday, as the US planemaker seeks to ensure its European rival Airbus does not steal a march in Iran.



Airbus agreed in January to sell Iran 118 planes worth about $27 billion at list prices after crippling international sanctions against Iran were lifted in return for Tehran curbing its nuclear programme under a deal with major powers.



The United States gave Boeing a licence in February to hold talks with airlines in Iran, but said it would need additional approval to make sales as Iran remains subject to a number of US restrictions.



"A representative from Boeing held discussions with the airline of the Islamic Republic and other Iranian airlines for two days," Maghsoud Asadi Samani was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA.



He said Boeing had proposed to sell its 737, 777 and 787 models and had promised after-sales support.



He said there were currently 60 Boeings in service in Iran, comprising about 32 per cent of the active fleet.



Many of the Western-built airliners in Iran date from the 1970s and 1980s.  Reuters
Turkish Airlines and its sub-brands scooped a number of accolades at the 2016 Air Transport News Awards Ceremony that took place in Mozart Residence, Salzburg, including the coveted "Airline of The Year" award.



Turkish Cargo won Cargo Airline of the Year award and Turkish Technic won MRO Company of the Year award as well. Operated by TAV Airports, Istanbul Ataturk Airport also won the Airport of the Year award.



Ilker Ayci, chairman of the board and the executive comittee Turkish Airlines, said: As the Turkish Airlines network grows every day by offering more and more services, the satisfaction of our guests is still our first priority. We have succeeded in significant increasing the number of our passengers from 10.3 million (in 2002) to nearly 62 million last year. With a total of 285 flight destinations to 113 countries, we became the airline that flies to the most countries in the world. In 2016, we anticipate carrying 72 million passengers. Our fleet has reached 308 today; one of the youngest fleets in Europe. We will continue to grow by purchasing new airplanes and adding new destinations to our global flight network. With the completion of the new airport in Istanbul, Turkish Airlines will achieve a much different momentum."



Turkish Cargo as a sub-brand of Turkish Airlines, utilizing its flight network and fleet along with its own freighters, has become one of the fastest growing players in the global air cargo industry. Turkish Cargo achieved 18 per cent yearly average growth over the past decade. Turkish Cargo increased its cargo and mail volume to 720.000 tons in 2015 and aims to be in The League of Millions in terms of cargo carried. With the existing fleet structure, cargo services to 61 cargo destinations are on offer besides 284 destinations with passengers aircraft, he said.



Also commenting on the win, Sani Sener, TAV Airports President and CEO, said: Istanbul Ataturk Airport was the third busiest airport of Europe surpassing London and Paris by providing services to 61.3 million passengers last year. During this process there have been comprehensive developments at Istanbul Ataturk in order to provide an enhanced passenger experience. We have renovated and redesigned the duty-free and F&B spaces as to comply with the passenger flow at the terminals. Biometric passport control was introduced. Our accessibility programme was selected as a best-practice at the UN. Consequently, we have been awarded the ASQ award for the airport with the most increase in service quality, a direct appreciation of our passengers. As soon as the additional facility, which is about to be completed at the international terminal, opens into service, Ataturk Airport will be ready to serve around 75-80 million passengers annually. We thank all our stakeholders, especially the General Directorate of State Airports Authority, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Turkish Airlines and all our employees who contributed to this success.



The Air Transport News Awards have become one of the most important awards in the aviation industry, recognising the achievements of the best companies, leaders and practices in the air transportation sector. - TradeArabia News Service
Passengers flying between Dubai and India now have more options, with the inauguration of Air India Express service from Mumbai to Dubai International.

The new service, which was launched on April 7, will operate daily from Dubai International's Terminal 2.



With the addition of Air India Express' service, there are currently 117 flights per week from Dubai to Mumbai. Over 1 million passengers are estimated to have travelled between Dubai and Mumbai last year, according to IATA Passenger Intelligence Services. - TradeArabia News Service
Tucson is about to get its first Louisiana crab boil restaurant, a lively style of Cajun cooking where servers bring out plastic bags of seafood that you rip open at the table.

The small chain Angry Crab Shack will open its first location outside of the Phoenix area later this summer. Co-owner Daniel Sevilla says the business is moving into the building that once held Las Cazuelitas at Grant Road and the I-10 freeway. The spot should open at 1365 W Grant Road in August or early September.

Angry Crab Shack currently boasts six locations in Phoenix, Mesa, Peoria and more. The Tucson restaurant will feature the same ambience and menu as those up north: Patrons order their seafood items by the pound, then customize the bags with different sauces and heat levels like Angry Ghost and Scorching Scorpion. Bibs aren't required, but you're gonna want one ...

"For people that haven't been there, it brings a really fun dining experience," Sevilla said. "Everything is basically head on: You peel and eat shrimp, you crack the crab, live lobsters, Dungeness crab. It's a lot of seafood you don't normally see."

The co-owner of the three-year old company says he was inspired by his trips to New Orleans, where people hold "low-country crab boils" in their backyards. When the former restaurant consultant moved to Phoenix from Los Angeles, he realized there was a lack of casual fresh seafood restaurants there.

For this location, Sevilla decided to enlist the help of a local franchisee Mark Guevara. If all goes well by next year Sevilla is hoping to expand across the country in cities like Atlanta and Chicago.

The Tucson location will have a full bar with Southern cocktails like the famous New Orleans Hurricane, as well as local craft beers from Barrio Brewing Co. and Dragoon Brewing Co. Seafoods like crawfish, clams and blue crab will be sourced from Trident Seafoods, while the creative hot sauces will come from a Phoenix operation Sonoran Spice Company. All food waste will be sent to a program called Recycle City that turns it into compost for community gardens.
of Tucson passed peacefully into the arms of Jesus on April 7, 2016. Born on August 8, 1927 in Nogales, Alex is the only child of Victor Manuel Garcia and Dolores Urquidez de Garcia, and is preceded in death by his wife, Grace (Reyes). He is survived by children, Alexandra (Master-Judge), Magdalena (Nadziejka), Alex Jr., Xavier, and Adrian, along with seven loving grandchildren. A 2009 inductee into the Tucson High Hall of Fame, Alex worked as a draftsman while attending the University of Arizona, before serving as a Topographic Draftsman with the U.S. Army 69th Engineering TOPO Company in Korea, earning the World War II and Army Occupation of Japan Medals. After being honorably discharged in 1948, Alex began a 38 year career with the Pima County Planning and Zoning Department, advancing to Director, serving in this role from 1964 until his retirement. He was a contributing author to the Journal of Urban & Regional Policy and the Floodplain Management System Model. Alex established airport ordinances for Davis-Monthan and Tucson International Airport and was behind the protection/establishment of historical districts, i.e. San Xavier Mission and Fort Lowell Historical areas. His devotion to Tucson inspired him to serve on the Board of Directors for the Arizona Historical Society, creating the "Bent Spittoon" Award to recognize service in preservation of historical sites. Alex is a founding member of the Pima Air & Space Museum, acting to protect and allocate land to create the nation's largest non-government funded aviation museum. For his effort and devotion he has been given a lifetime membership to the museum, and an honorary lifetime membership to Southern Arizona Home Builders Association. A former chairman of The Patronato de San Xavier Mission, Alex provided leadership during the Mission's major reconstruction project. He is also a member of the Westerner's Corral, American Planning Association and Air Force Association. Devout to his family and his community, Alex will dearly be missed by all. Visitation will be held Thursday, April 14, 2016 from 11:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at St. Ambrose Church, 300 S. Tucson Blvd., with a Rosary recited at 11:30 a.m. Mass will follow at 12:00 p.m. Interment at Holy Hope Cemetery. Family and friends may express their condolences at www.carrillostucsonmortuary.com Arrangements by CARRILLO'S TUCSON MORTUARY.
TPD OFFICER PREVENTS DRIVER FROM COLLIDING WITH ONCOMING TRAFFIC DURING MEDICAL EMERGENCYOn September 30, 2015, Sgt. Martin Espinoza of the Tucson Police Department was in a marked patrol vehicle in the area of Country Club and Fort Lowell. Sgt. Espinoza observed a white vehicle in the roadway surrounded by several individuals. The vehicle was facing westbound and was blocking the southbound lanes on Country Club. Sgt. Espinoza drove through the Circle K parking lot in order to get behind the vehicle. As Sgt. Espinoza approached, one of the individuals outside the vehicle advised him that the driver was having a seizure. The vehicle began to travel westbound. Sgt. Espinoza activated his emergency equipment, but the driver was not responsive. As the vehicle continued to travel westbound, the vehicle drifted in the direction of oncoming traffic. Sgt. Espinoza positioned his patrol car between the vehicle and oncoming traffic. The vehicle collided with his patrol vehicle at a very low speed. This action prevented the vehicle from drifting into oncoming traffic. Once the vehicle was stopped, Sgt. Espinoza made contact with the driver. The Tucson Fire Department responded to the scene, and the driver of the vehicle received medical assistance. Thanks to Sgt. Espinoza's quick thinking and response during this situation, he most likely saved the life of the driver and possibly other motorists on the roadway.
The University of Arizona is home to more than five dozen first responders who answer calls for help on campus .

From their squad room in the basement of Kaibab Residence Hall, UAs University Emergency Medical Service responds to more than 600 emergency calls during the school year, assisting students, staff and visitors who are injured or need medical services.

The UEMS staff consists of three chiefs, three captains and more than 50 emergency medical technicians and first responders. All of them are undergraduates.

They work six- or 12-hour shifts, staffing 24/7 during the school year with breaks on holidays and over the summer.

As EMTs we operate at the BLS level (basic life support), same as Southwest Ambulance and the majority of the Tucson Fire Department, said Executive Chief Zach Saxman.

Tucson Fire dispatches paramedics who are certified in advanced life support. UEMS squads are dispatched by UA Police and respond simultaneously to campus 911 calls .

In the fall, the service equipped a Chevrolet Suburban with emergency lights and sirens, but its awaiting state authorization to use them while headed to Code 3 emergency calls.

The squads also use customized golf carts to cover special events around campus such as the Tucson Festival of Books, Spring Fling and graduation ceremonies.
Dog racing

Without dissent, the Senate on Monday ratified a plan that will end dog racing in Arizona at the end of this year.

The deal in HB 2127 will allow Tucson Greyhound Park to keep its exclusive right to operate all the off-track betting facilities in Southern Arizona for two years after it no longer has live racing. But during that time it must pay a horsemans group 20 percent of the fees it now gets from Turf Paradise for carrying its live signal  and taking wagers  in Southern Arizona.

After that, HB 2127 permits Turf Paradise to open its own OTB facilities in the area to take wagers on horse racing, not only from its own track but across the nation. The deal was hailed by animal rights groups who have argued that greyhound racing is cruel and that animals who cannot win are routinely destroyed.

A final House vote will send the measure to the governor.

Free speech

State senators voted 21-8 to block universities and community colleges from limiting protests, distributing handbills and making speeches to only certain areas of the campus.

HB 2615 stems from concerns about branches of the Maricopa Community College system that have policies setting up so-called free speech zones. There also are some requirements for prior approval.

At least one lawsuit is pending on the issue, against Paradise Valley Community College by two students who charge it is illegally requiring groups to get permits and provide prior notice. The college policy also restricts those who want to demonstrate or hand out literature to certain areas of campus.

I think it is a disgrace that we have to craft a bill to protect First Amendment rights, not from thugs or political fanatics who are trying to suppress other peoples rights, said Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills. That a government college would suppress free speech with absurd laws is so embarrassing.

The measure now goes back to the House, which approved a different version of the measure.

Photo radar tickets

Starting next year, motorists can ignore photo radar tickets taped to their doors without worrying about losing the right to drive.

Current law says photo radar companies can offer alternate service if there is no one at the door to accept the citation. And failure to answer it  even if it blew away  leads to mandatory license suspension.

The government thinks its OK to tape that notice to your door and youre considered properly served, said Rep. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, R-Scottsdale. A suspended license is no joke.

Her legislation, HB 2591, removes the ability of the Motor Vehicle Division to suspend a license if there is no proof the motorist has been properly served. That would also include first class mail where a recipient does not have to sign for it.

The measure gained preliminary Senate approval Monday and now needs a roll-call vote.

Govt continuity

Preparing for the worst, the state House gave preliminary approval Monday to ensuring at least one state official survives if theres an attack on a major event.

SB 1156 says the secretary of state, attorney general or state treasurer must be absent from events like the annual State of the State address, the quadrennial swearing in of state elected officials or any similar event. Proponents said that ensures that someone in the official line of succession survives if the Capitol is the site of anything from a terrorist attack to a natural disaster. Lawmakers did agree to remove a provision requiring the Department of Public Safety to take the designated official at least 20 miles away at least three hours ahead of time. Now the measure leaves the details up to DPS.

A final House vote sends the measure back to the Senate to review the House changes.

Worker benefits

The Senate voted 18-11 Monday to deny cities and counties the right to tell private businesses they have to offer paid vacation or time off.

A 2006 voter-approved law that legislators cannot repeal specifically permits local governments to set minimum wages higher than the state mandate. HB 2579 is designed to preclude similar local laws on things like sick time and maternity leave. It is being pushed largely by the Arizona Restaurant and Hospitality Association.

Sen. Andrew Sherwood, D-Tempe, said the Republican-controlled Legislature should stay out of local issues. But Sen. Steve Smith, R-Maricopa, said its sometime necessary for lawmakers to step in to keep local governments from infringing on private rights.

The House now needs to approve changes made by the Senate.
PHOENIX  Stymied by the Senate president, supporters of restoring health insurance to the children of the working poor are hoping to apply some very visible public pressure.

At a rally Monday, Rep. Regina Cobb, R-Kingman, pointed out that she got the House to approve her legislation on a margin of close to four to one.

But Senate President Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert, refused to even assign the measure to a committee for a hearing, even though there would be no cost to the state through at least through 2017.

The time for committee hearings this year has passed. So Cobb and her allies are lobbying to ensure the program, which could serve 30,000 children, is made part of the budget.

So far Biggs has been unmoved, even without an impact on the state budget, at least for now.

When we say free care, were not talking free, are we, he said.

Were talking that somebody is paying for that, said Biggs who is running for Congress. And its the taxpayers.

The only way for Cobb and supporters to get the program restored now is to make it part of the budget negotiations.

That, however, requires the cooperation of Gov. Doug Ducey. And the governor, who did not include KidsCare in his list of legislative priorities, was noncommittal about supporting it now during the budget talks.

What we want is to make sure we are investing in our kids, were protecting them and we have a structurally balanced budget, he told Capitol Media Services. So Im going to negotiate this budget with the House and the Senate. But Im not going to negotiate it with you this morning.

It was that issue of the cost to the state that resulted in lawmakers freezing enrollment in 2010 during the recession. At the time there were 45,000 children in the program from families who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but less than twice the federal poverty level.

That figure is between about $27,700 a year and $40,000 for a family of three.

Now there are fewer than 1,000 children enrolled. And Arizona is the only state without a functioning program.

The result, according to Delphis Richardson, president of the Arizona chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, is that Arizona has the third highest rate of uninsured children in the nation.

Arizona children should not be at a disadvantage because they were born in the state, said Michael Simoni, president of the Arizona chapter of the March of Dimes.

Cobb, a first-term lawmaker, said its important to recognize that the program is aimed at children of the working poor.

Theyre not taking entitlements, she said.

Theyre out there working, Cobb continued. And were just giving them a leg-up, she said, allowing those parents to get care for their children so they stay healthy and dont have to stay home from school.

The concern of Biggs and other foes remains what happens after 2017.

Cobb built a self-destruct mechanism into HB 2309.

It says if there are insufficient funds for the program, the director of the states Medicaid program must, after consulting with the governor, stop processing new applications. A separate sections says if federal funds are eliminated, all applications will be halted and the program can be halted in 30 days.

But Biggs has said that misses the point. He said once thousands of children are enrolled, the program has a built-in constituency that will lobby to keep it alive, even if there is a cost to state taxpayers. And that, he said, will make it difficult, if not impossible, to ever stop it again.

Dana Naimark, president of the Childrens Action Alliance, essentially confirmed Biggs fears.

Youd better believe well have a constituency for childrens health care in this state, she said.
OPINION: "As a parent and teacher, I know the best way to address discord is to listen first and establish trust. As a neighborhood leader, I know how to work through differences by treating people with dignity and respect. As a mathematics teacher, I always taught my students that there is more than one way to solve problems," writes Theresa Riel, a candidate for the District 2 seat on the Pima Community College Governing Board.
PHOENIX -- Pressured by members of his own party, House Speaker David Gowan this morning rescinded his ban on reporters on the floor who have not first undergone extensive background checks.

But not full access.

In a brief statement, House Republican publicist Stephanie Grisham said the badges that had been given to regular Capitol beat reporters that opened certain doors are not being reactivated. That had provided easier access for reporters to go to lawmakers' offices, including that of the speaker.

Instead, there will be a sign-in process available only when the House is on the floor.

Gowan's reversal comes less than a week after he claimed that House members had demanded he tighten up security procedures. That followed a disturbance in the public gallery.

But it turns out the letter from GOP legislators that Gowan said led to the policy change never actually mentioned concerns about reporters on the floor. Instead, it simply asked Gowan to spend money in the House budget "for the purpose of improving the physical security of the Arizona House of Representatives building.''

"The speaker stands by his security plan,'' Grisham said this morning. But she acknowledged there had been pressure on her boss to reverse his stance, saying he "has a responsibility to his members and public who expressed concern.''

Grisham said she did not know if Gowan would be available to provide further explanation of his change of heart.

Aside from restoring floor access, the move also means that, at least for the time being, any plans to target any specific reporter are sidelined.

Gowan had demanded not only that reporters consent to examinations of criminal and civil records but also provide information about driver's license and prior addresses. More significant, his policy said anyone convicted of certain specific crimes would never be allowed access.

That included not only serious felonies but also the crime of trespass -- the Class 2 misdemeanor which would have disqualified Hank Stephenson, the Arizona Capitol Times reporter who discovered that Gowan had used $12,000 in state resources for travel for both personal purposes and in his congressional campaign.
Help India!

By IANS,

Greater Noida : Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs visit to Greater Noida next month would prove expensive for the citys green cover, environmentalists said here Tuesday.

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On the pretext of making arrangements for the prime ministers visit to Expo Mart next month for the Asian Development Bank summit, the Greater Noida Authority has reportedly cut around 100-125 trees near Pari Chowk.

Environmentalists claim that the trees were cut without the sanction of the district forest department.

According to environmentalists, trees were cut in the green belt area, which is exclusively reserved for trees.

On the pretext of widening an already wide road, trees were cut in the green belt area without changing the land use, as green belts are well laid out in the master plans of any city. The tree cutting was illegal, said Vikrant Tongad, a local environmentalist.

Tongad has complained to the district magistrate and divisional forest officer about the felling of trees.

However, the district forest department claimed that they had permission to cut the trees.

The authority had cut just 25 trees. They were replanted, said B. Prabhakar, divisional forest officer.
On July 27, Rijiju said in the Lok Sabha that the BJPs ideology on the uniform civil code should be taken as the country's ideology on the same. Basil Islam | TwoCircles.net NEW DELHI  Union Minister Kiren Rijijus recent remarks on implementing the uniform civil code have re-ignited the debate on the viability of a uniform civil code and its possible...
Help India!

New Delhi : Hitting out at the RSS and the BJP, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Monday said that while his party was trying to destroy Manus ideology of a caste system, they were trying to protect it.

Addressing a rally here as part of B.R. Ambedkars 125th birth anniversary celebrations, he said: It is often said that around 1,000 years ago, a person called Manu lived in India. Ambedkar ji was talking about that persons ideology. He was pained by his idea.

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The Congress stood with Ambedkar ji and together they drafted the constitution, which was against Manus ideas. The truth is that weve been successful in defeating Manus ideology. But his ideas could not be erased from the minds of (certain) people.

The constitution and the right to vote was just the beginning to defeat Manus ideology. But, the battle is a long one.

Gandhi said that in India, there are only two ideologies  one which protects Manus ideology and the other which attacks it. The Congress talks about equality and in favour of the poor; on the other hand, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiay Janata Party (BJP) protects Manus ideology. This is the truth of our country.

The BJP is trying to eliminate Panchayati Raj in our coutry, which was started by us. Haryana and Rajasthan are glaring examples. They are saying if you dont go to schools, you cant contest panchayat elections. By doing so, they are denying lakhs of Dalit women the right to contest elections, he said.

On one hand, there is constant attack on democratic structures and Panchayati Raj, and on the other, people are being denied education. Their aim is to deny you access to better education. Now, there is RSS influence on everything  education, bureaucracy everywhere, he added.

Today, there is no university in India where there is no RSS person (in position of authority). They attack me because they know I will never surrender before the ideology of the RSS and Manu.
Help India!

Hyderabad : Police in Telangana have filed charge sheet against MIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi in the alleged hate speech case.

The state home ministry informed this to the High Court of Judicature here on Monday.

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The charge sheet was filed in a court in Adilabad district after the state government gave permission for his prosecution.

The high court in January had ordered police to expedite the process of filing the charge sheet.

A division bench comprising acting Chief Justice Dilip B. Bhosale and Justice S.V. Bhatt was dealing with a PIL seeking direction to police to complete the investigations in the FIRs registered against Akbaruddin.

Two cases were registered against Akbaruddin, leader of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslieem (MIM) in the Telangana state assembly, at two police stations in Adilabad and Nizamabad districts in relation to his alleged hate speeches at Nirmal and Nizamabad on December 8 and 22, 2012. He was booked for promoting enmity between people.

The MIM leader was arrested on January 7, 2013 after his speeches went viral on social networking sites. After spending 40 days in jail, he walked free after a court granted him bail.

His voice was recorded in both the courts and sent for forensic examination as he claimed that the voice in the footage was not his.
Help India!

On April 7 2015, five people accused in the murder of two policemen were killed in an encounter in Aler, Nalgonda after the police allegedly shot all of them in self-defence. Like most cases of police encounters, this too remain shrouded in mystery and a year later, the families questions remain unanswered; their pleas unheard. In the four of the four-part series, Raqib Hameed Naik speaks to Latiefun Nisa, elder sister of deceased Mohammed Zakir.

Syed Nagar (Hyderabad): Dua Karo appa. Inshallah, Mai Jaldi Choot jaon ga. (Pray Sister. God willing, I will get released soon), these were the words that Mohammed Zakir, the deceased under trial used to tell his elder sister, Latiefun Nisa, whenever she used to visit him in Jail.

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Mohammed Zakir, 34, an auto driver by occupation, was married with two children and the youngest among his eight siblings. In July 2010, he was arrested by Andhra Police along with four others for aiding Mohammed Viqaruddin, who was accused of Killing three policemen in Hyderabad and one in Ahmedabad. He was also accused of being a member of the alleged fundamentalist outfit, Darsgah Jihad-O-Shahadat (DJS).

My brother used to go for prayers in Mushirabad mosque, where he met Viqar. He had asked him to get him a house on rent, and he had helped him in getting one, says Zakirs elder sister Latiefun Nisa.

This was the only favor he did for Viqar and used to do his usual business of driving auto, so that he could feed his family. He was never affiliated to any organization, she adds.

Zakir, was picked up by policemen in July, 2010 while he was going for his work in the wee hours of morning in Warisguda. No one from his family was intimated about his arrest for months.

Mohammed Zakir

We had never visited any police station before in life. For three months, we couldnt even locate where he was kept by Police, she says.

Finally, his family found out that he had been kept in the Cherlapally Prison in Hyderabad.

Nisa along with other family members went to meet him, where she remembers him pleading that he had no knowledge about why he had been arrested and added that he wasnt involved in any subversive activity.Since then, every month, once or twice I used to meet him. He used to ask me not to cry and instead pray for his release, she says.

Later, he was shifted from Cherlapally prison to Chanchalguda central jail in Hyderabad where he was kept for two weeks and then in 2015, he was shifted to Warangal Prison where other four under trials were already kept.

Once Zakir called me from Warangal Prison. He was normal and told me that everything is good and he doesnt know why he was shifted to Warangal. He was of the view that may be case his is going to close thats why he was brought to Warangal, recalls Nisa.

On April 7th, 2015, Nisa, 52 was looking after her grandson who was sick since last three weeks. It was around 1 in the afternoon as her brother came rushing to home, crying and yelling, Turn on the TV, something has happened to Zakir. As everyone in the room ran toward the TV, the local Telegu news channels were all occupied with updates on Aler police encounter.

Zakir, was also gunned down along with four other under trails by Warnagal prison escort team near Aler in Telanganas Nalgonda district while they were being brought to Hyderabad court from Warangal prison.

I had never expected that anything like this could happen to him. He was very happy that his case was going to close soon and was very sure that he was going to be released and whenever we use to speak, he only used to ask me to make prayers for his release, recalls Nisa.

Refuting Police claims of weapon snatching and fleeing, Nisa asks, why would a person who is positive about his release try to run?

Police claimed that they were planning to escape and thats why they were shot but photos of the incident clearly showed that police story of the incident was not credible. Their hands and legs were tied with cuffs, she says.

Zakirs elder sister Latief Un Nisa.

He was shot many times. His body was riddled with bullets. He died a painful death, she says amid tears.

According to the Inquest Panchnama, which is conducted on suspicious killings under section 174 of CRPC by nearest magistrate in presence of two or more witnesses stated that Zakir had received 11 bullet injuries. Half of the bullets received were on backside of the body: one bullet injury on back head, three bullets near spinal column, one on right side of back bone, one on back side of collar bone, one on left hand, one on left hand under arm, one on right side arm and two bullet injuries on Chest near the

heart.

Zakir living in a rented accommodation in Warisguda. His elder son had some serious health complications and was going through treatment which was incurring a huge sum of money. But after

his arrest they were rendered homeless as he was the lone bread winner of

the family.

As Zakir was their lone bread winner, after his arrest, they were struggling hard to meet their needs. After some months they went somewhere and we dont know where they are presently staying. They didnt even came to see him dead body either, may be they dont know that he is dead, says Nisa.

Last year, Mohammed Ahmed, father of Mohammed Viquardin took Latief-un-Nisa and two other victim families on board and filed a writ petition in state High Court for seeking its intervention in lodging FIR under section 302 against the escort Police party, scrapping of SIT constituted by government and handing over case to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) besides compensation to the Victims family.

Viqars father is following up the case. I dont know much about it, but yes, there is no hearing on our petition filed in court, she says.

Now all my hopes of Justice are on Allah, she adds after a deep silence.

Related:

A year after Aler encounter: Families ask questions that no one can answer

Aler Encounter: Mohammed Viqaruddin was made to pay with his life for being a devout Muslim, alleges family

Aler Encounter: Mohammed Haneefs family fights poverty, social exclusion, but justice remains elusive


By Kamaluddin Khan,

The Constitution of India came into force on 26th January, 1950. Originally, the constitution contains no specific provisions for environmental protection. However, certain specific provision have been incorporated by the Constitution (Forty Second Amendment) Act, 1976 and subsequent amendments. Indian Constitution is one of the very few constitutions in t he world, which provides for specific provision for the protection and improvement of the Environment.

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The constitution, being the fundamental law of the land has a binding force on citizens, non  citizens as well as the State. The Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles of the State Policy underline our national commitment to protect and improve the environment. The courts in India have also given a new interpretation to the constitutional provision relating to protection and improvement of the environment (the intended meaning of the environment in the constitution) may be explained with reference to the following head:

1. The Constitution Forty Second Amendment.

2. Federal System of Govt. (Distribution of Legislative Powder).

3. Fundamental Rights.

4. Directive Principles of State Policy; and

5. Fundamental

1. Constitution Forty Second Amendment:  In 1976, under the leadership of the then Prime Minister, Smt. Indira Gandhi, the Constitution (Forty Second Amendment) Act was passed and the provisions relating to the protection of environment for the first time were incorporated by adding a new provision Article 48-A in the Chapter, Directive Principles of State Policy.

According to Article 48-A the State shall Endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country.

Further, a new provision Article 51-A in the form of Fundamental Duties was also incorporated by the 42nd Amendment. According to the sub-clause (g) of Art. 51-A, it shall be the duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures. The above two provision impose two-fold responsibilities. On the one hand, it gives directive to the State for protection and improvement of environment, and on the other hand it casts/imposes a duty on every citizen to help in the preservation of natural environment.

2. Federal System of Government (Distribution of Legislative Power):-

From environmental point of view, allocation of legislative authority is very important. The constitution of India deals exhaustively with legislative powers pertaining to environmental law. The legislative powers under the scheme of the constitution is divided into three lists viz., the Union List or List  I, the State List or List II, the Concurrent List or List  III. Part  XI (Arts. 245-263) of the constitution provides for the distribution of legislative powers between the union and the states. Article 246 distributes the subjects of legislative power in these three lists between the Centre and the States. The union list contains 97 subjects and the Parliament alone has the power to legislate. The State List contains 66 subjects and the States have power to legislate. However, in respect of Concurrent List, which contains 52 subjects, both the Parliament and the State Legislatures have the power to legislate. There are about 200 Central and State Legislation on environmental protection. The most important environmental legislation, passed by the parliament under Art. 249 of the Constitution are The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974; The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974; The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981; and the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

3. Fundamental Rights:- Part III of the Constitution, containing Arts. 12 to 35, deals with fundamental rights. Articles 15(2)(b); Art. 21 and Art. 24 provide for specific provision for environmental protection.

Article 15(2)(b):- According to Art. 15(2)(b), No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them be subjected to any disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to: the use of wells, bathing ghats, roads and places of public resort, maintained wholly or partly out for state funds or dedicated to the use of general public:. In simple words, Art. 15(2) prohibits discrimination on the ground of sex, race, religion, caste, place of birth etc. to make use of the public places the general public. The public places, which are part and parcel of the human environment should be made available to the public. The preamble to our constitution ensures socialistic pattern of the society and decent standard of life, which can be pollution free environment.

Article 21:- According to Article 21 of the constitution, no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.

Article 21 is the heart of the fundamental rights and has received expanded meaning from time to time after the decision of the Supreme Court in Maneka Gandhi vs. Union of India, (AIR 1978 SC 597). Art. 21 guarantees a fundamental right to life a life of dignity to be lived in a proper environment, free of danger of disease and infection. The right to live in a healthy environment as part of Art. 21 of the Constitution was first recognized in the case of.

Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra vs. State of U.P., AIR 1988 SC 2187 (Popularly known as Dehradun Quarrying Case).

It is the first case of this kind in India, involving issues relating to environment and ecological balance. The R.L. & E. Kendra and others in a letter to the Supreme Court complained about the illegal / unauthorized mining in the Missouri, Dehradun belt. As a result, the ecology of the surrounding area was adversely affected and it led to the environmental disorder.

The Supreme Court treated the letter as writ petition under Art. 32 of the Constitution and directed to stop the excavation (illegal mining) under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. The respondents contended / argued that the write petition was registered in 1983 and the Environment (Protection) Act was passed in 1986 and hence the criminal proceedings cannot be initiated with retrospective effect. The court rejected the contention of the respondents and held that the provisions of procedural law shall apply to ordinary criminal cases and not to the environmental cases. The court directed the Central and State Governments to take necessary steps to prevent illegal mining and to re-afforesation in the area of mining.

In M.C. Mehta vs. Union of India, AIR 1987 SC 1086 (Popularly known as Oleum Gas Leak Case)  The Supreme Court treated the right to live in pollution free environment as a part of fundamental right to life under Art. 21 of the Constitution. Further the A.P. High Court in T. Damodar Rao vs. S.O., Municipal Corporation, Hyderabad, (AIR 1987 A.P. 171) laid down that right to live in healthy environment was specially declared to be part of Art. 21 to the Constitution.

Article 24: Article 24 of the Constitution speaks about exploitation of child labour. It says that No child below the age of 14 years shall be employed to wok in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment this provisions is certainly in the interest of public health and part of the environment. Further, Art. 39 (e) and 39 (f) under Directive Principles of State Policy provide for the protection of the health and strength of children below the age of 14 years.

In peoples Union for Democratic Rights vs. Union of India, (AIR 1982 SC 1473), the Supreme Court held that the prohibition under Art. 24 could be enforced against any one, be it the State or private individual.

In pursuance of this obligation, parliament enacted the Child Labour (prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986. The Act prohibits specifically the employment of children in certain industries.

4. Directive Principles of State Policy:- Part IV of the Constitution, Containing Articles 36 to 51, deals with Directive Principles of State Policy. The directive principles form the fundamental feature and are designed to achieve socio economic goals.

Art. 39 (a), which was inserted by the Constitution 942nd Amendment) Act, 1976 provides for Equal Justice and Free Legal Aid. It promotes justice on the basis of equal opportunities. It imposes an imperative duty upon the State to provide free legal aid to the poor litigant so as to secure him equal protection of laws against his well  to  do opponent.

1. Equal right of men and women to adequate means of livelihood.

2. Distribution of ownership and control of the material resources community to the common good.

3. To ensure that the economic system should not result in concentration of wealth and means of production to the common detriment.

4. Equal pay for equal work for both men and women.

5. To protect health and strength of workers and tender age of children and to ensure that they are not forced by economic necessity to entire avocations unsuited to their age or strength; and

6. That children are given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and that childhood and youth are protected against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment.

Article 39(b):- The expression material source under Art. 39 (b) means all things, which are capable producing wealth for the community. In includes those, which are already vested in the State but also in the hands of private individuals. Further, the expression distribution in Art. 39 (b) does not mean that ones property is taken over and is distributed to others. It also includes nationalization which is an effective means to prevent concentration of wealth in a few hands so as to benefit the society at large.

Article 39(1):- Art. 39(1) was amended by the Constitution (42nd Amendment) Act, 1976 with a view to emphasize the constructive role of the State with regard to children.

Article 47:- Art. 47 provides that the State shall regard the raising of the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and the improvement of public health as among its primary duties. The improvement of public health also includes the protection and improvement of environment without which public health cannot be assured.

Article 48:- It deals with organization of agriculture and animal husbandry. Art. 48 directs the State to take steps to organize agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines. In particular, it should take steps for preserving and improving the breeds and prohibiting the slaughter of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle.

Article 49:-It deals with protection of monuments and places and objects of national importance. Art. 49 requires the State to protect c-very monument or place or object of artistic or historic interest (declared by or under law made by parliament to be of national importance) from spoliation, disfigurement, destruction, removal, disposal or export.

5. Fundamental Duties (51-A):- Art. 51-A was added under the Constitution (42nd Amendment) Act. 1976, which deals with Fundamental Duties under Part IV-A. Art. 51 -A enlists ten fundamental duties designed for restructuring and building a welfare society State

Art. 51 -A(g) specifically deals with the fundamental duty with respect to environment. It provides it shall be the duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life and to have compassion for living creatures. (To put it simply Art. 51-A(g) refers to the fundamental duty of every citizen to protect and improve natural environment.

Kamaluddin Khan

Leccturer,

Patna Law College,

Patna University Patna
Black Friday: Reliving Pokers Darkest Day Five Years Later

April 12 2016 Martin Harris

This Friday marks the fifth anniversary of the most memorable Friday in many poker players' memories  Black Friday, or the day everything changed as far as online poker in the United States is concerned.

On that day  April 15, 2011  the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed a 52-page indictment against top executives of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker, as well as a civil complaint against those companies. Those named in the indictment faced years in prison while the civil complaint sought $3 billion in assets from the sites. PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker immediately stopped serving U.S. players, with Absolute Poker and its sister site UltimateBet (of the Cereus Network) following suit afterwards.

Here's a look back to what things were like before Black Friday as well as some of what has happened over the last five years as a result of the events of that day.

Before Black Friday

The story of Black Friday is long and complicated, stretching back in part to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act that was signed into law by then President George W. Bush in October 2006. While not specifically prohibiting American players from playing online poker, the UIGEA did outlaw businesses from transferring funds to and from gambling sites. Final regulations werent formulated until November 2008 and didn't go into effect until Jan. 19, 2009 (the last full day of of Bush's presidency). Compliance wasn't required until December 2009, however, with another bill later introduced that would delay the requirement to begin complying to June 1, 2010.

While some sites responded to the passage of the UIGEA by pulling out of the U.S., others continued to allow Americans to deposit, withdraw, and play, with PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker, and UltimateBet the most popular among U.S. players.

When Black Friday dawned, the poker world continued along as normal. According to the tracking site PokerScout, PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker continued their status as the top two sites in terms of traffic by a healthy margin, with partypoker and the iPoker Network battling back and forth as the next two in line and the Cereus Network hovering inside the top 10.

The PokerStars-sponsored North American Poker Tour Mohegan Sun festival had just concluded a couple of days earlier, and the poker world was still buzzing about Vanessa Selbst and Jason Mercier each pulling off back-to-back victories in Uncasville, with Selbst repeating as NAPT Mohegan Sun Main Event winner and Mercier winning the High Roller Bounty Shootout there as he had done the previous year. Meanwhile the NAPT  then moving through its Season 2  was planning ahead for more U.S. stops.

Speaking of planning ahead, online poker bills were a hot topic with many states considering such legislation and there having been a lot of focus on a possible federal bill during the lame duck session that closed 2010. Alliances had begun to be appear between the big sites and brick-and-mortar groups, including one between Fertitta Interactive (owners of Station Casinos) and Full Tilt Poker and another recently publicized one between Wynn Resorts and PokerStars. Such "joint ventures" were contingent on future, favorable legislation in the U.S. regarding online poker, and had everyone starting to wonder what might happen next.

The poker world was further occupied by the second installment of the "durrrr" Challenge between Tom Dwan and Daniel "Jungleman" Cates, which had been intermittently providing excitement over the previous seven-plus months. Just a few months before at the end of 2010, Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth had ended long tenures as UltimateBet-sponsored pros. The remaining representatives of Cereus Network sites were fending off ongoing questions about earlier scandals, with Joe Sebok and Prahlad Friedman  who surprisingly signed on as a UltimateBet sponsored pro in January 2011 after having been cheated on the site before  doing what they could to convince players to deposit on the new "UB."

Televised poker shows like High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark had never been more popular. With that season of High Stakes Poker sponsored by PokerStars and Poker After Dark continuing to be sponsored by Full Tilt Poker, tensions rose regarding a site's sponsored pros being allowed to appear on the other sites show, an issue that seemed at the time like a problem that mattered a lot to players and viewers alike.

Priorities were about to change in a big way.

April 15, 2011: The Lights Go Out

Seizure notice on sites' dot-coms

It was early afternoon on the East Coast and not quite lunch time out West when the first reports of the indictment and civil complaint began to circulate. Not only were the sites charged with violating the UIGEA, but additional charges of bank fraud, money laundering, and illegal gambling helped clarify the gravity of the situation, as did restraining orders against 75 bank accounts used by the sites and the seizure of five related domain names.

That morning two of the 11 defendants named in the indictment  John Campos (part-owner of an involved bank) and Chad Elie (payment processor)  were arrested, with another, Bradley Franzen (also a payment processor), having indicated an intention to turn himself in early the following week. The other eight defendants  Isai Scheinberg (PokerStars founder), Ray Bitar (CEO of Tiltware), Scott Tom (part-owner of Absolute Poker), Brent Beckley (payments director at AP), Nelson Burtnick (payments director at Tiltware), Paul Tate (payments director at PokerStars), Ryan Lang (payment processor), and Ira Rubin (payment processor)  were all outside the U.S.

Players visiting the sites' dot-coms were greeted with ominous-looking seizure notices appearing under the FBI and DOJ seals. By mid-afternoon PokerStars had blocked U.S. players from real-money games, with Full Tilt Poker doing so a few hours later. Soon after that a spokesperson from Feritta announced its partnership with Full Tilt Poker had already expired, while the Associated Press reported Wynn Resorts had likewise ended its alliance with PokerStars.

That evening both PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker issued statements explaining that while U.S. players were shut out, it was business as usual for those playing from other countries. "Please be assured player balances are safe," added PokerStars in its statement. By contrast, Absolute Poker and UB both remained silent on the matter, with U.S. players in fact able to continue to play on their sites.

April 16, 2011: Anybody Remember the Onyx Cup?

Full Tilt Poker Onyx Cup

The next day, Full Tilt Poker announced the cancellation of the Onyx Cup, a six-event series of high-stakes tournaments with buy-ins ranging from $100,000 to $300,000 that had just been introduced a month before.

ESPN jettisoned all poker-related ads from its site, and soon would announce it had cancelled all of its planned-for coverage of NAPT events, with PokerStars likewise announcing the cancellation of the tour.

April 18, 2011: Court Dates and Cancellations

On the following Monday, Franzen surrendered to authorities in New York and was released on bail, with Elie and Campos likewise released following initial court appearances.

On that day it was also confirmed that the PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge and PokerStars.net Big Game had both been cancelled.

April 20, 2011: The Dot-Coms Return

PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker both regained their dot-com domain names after striking deals with the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, a development that encouraged U.S. players regarding the withdrawal of their funds from the sites.

In a press release, the U.S. Attorney's Office added how the "Government stands to enter the same agreement with Absolute Poker if it so chooses." Both Absolute and UB continued to operate on new dot-eu domains.

April 21, 2011: Absolute Rubbish

Absolute Poker finally issued its first statement regarding the indictment and civil complaint, noting how it would be consulting with its lawyers before entering into any agreements with the U.S. government, and adding that "Absolute Poker's top priority is, and must be, the refund of balances to its and UB's U.S. players."

April 25, 2011: The Hopeful PPA

While the Poker Players Alliance issued a statement hopeful that Congress would be inspired by the developments of Black Friday to act positively toward online poker legislation going forward, defendant Ira Rubin was arrested in Guatemala.

April 26, 2011: PokerStars Payments (Already!)

Just a week-and-a-half after Black Friday, U.S. players were able to begin the process of withdrawing their balances from PokerStars.

A couple of days later "FTPDoug", a Full Tilt Poker representative, began a thread on Two Plus Two to answer player questions and report the site was "diligently working on return of U.S. Players funds which is a top priority."

May 2011: Cereus Trouble

The first half of May saw Blanca Gaming of Antigua, parent company to Absolute Poker and UB, announcing its intention to file for bankruptcy. Not long after that, 11 U.S.-based sponsored pros were laid off by the two sites, including Sebok and Friedman.

Then on May 10, 2011, the two Cereus sites did finally reach an agreement with the DOJ to "provide all necessary assurances that third parties may work with Absolute Poker to facilitate the return of funds, currently held by third-party processors, to players located in the U.S."

The agreement also involved assurances from the Cereus sites that U.S. players would not be able to continue depositing and playing on the sites  something that had still been possible to do for nearly a month after post-Black Friday. (In fact, U.S. players would still be able to get onto the sites in the following days, even after Cereus introduced a new system to block them.)

Over on Two Plus Two, "FTPDoug" continued to promise the "orderly return of U.S. player funds."

On May 21, 2011 the final new episode of High Stakes Poker aired, with the announcement coming in December there would be no further shows produced.

June-August 2011: Full Tilt Poker Goes Dark

The next big development came on June 29, 201,1 when the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) suspended Full Tilt Poker's license to operate and the site suddenly shut down worldwide. The next day came reports of both a class-action lawsuit against Full Tilt Poker by players demanding their funds and a rumor of European group of investors looking to purchase the operator and help U.S. players recover their funds.

The rest of the summer would be punctuated by continued stories of possible investors buying Full Tilt Poker and more explanations from the site's representatives about why players were unable to access their funds.

September 2011: A "Ponzi Scheme"

Howard Lederer

On Sept. 20, 2011, came the biggest Black Friday aftershock when the DOJ amended the Black Friday complaint to include allegations that Full Tilt Poker and its board members, including CEO Bitar (already named in the original indictment and complaint), Howard Lederer, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, and Rafe Furst had defrauded players, and that Full Tilt Poker "was not a legitimate poker company, but a global Ponzi scheme." The amendment detailed how Full Tilt Poker owed approximately $390 million to players worldwide, including about $150 million to American players, while having only about $60 million on hand in its accounts.

Over the next week-and-a-half, the AGCC would revoke Full Tilt Poker's license altogether, the DOJ released an additional statement regarding player funds and its intention to try to help facilitate "the return of forfeited funds to victims of the alleged fraud," and the site-sponsored Poker After Dark was cancelled.

October 2011-March 2012: What's to Come of Full Tilt Poker?

Over the following months, the Full Tilt Poker story would be dominated by an effort by the French investment firm Groupe Bernard Tapie to purchase the site once it forfeited its remaining assets to the U.S. government. A deal would in fact be signed, and Full Tilt Poker's remaining assets were turned over to the DOJ.

That provided plenty to talk about for forum posters, some of whom were also reporting by mid-October that the cashier would no longer open on either Absolute Poker or UB.

Online poker's future in the U.S. appeared especially dim, but a flicker of hope appeared in December 2011 when the Nevada Gaming Commission approved regulations for intrastate online poker in the Silver State.

April-July 2012: Tapie Taps Out; Bitar's Battle

Shortly after the one-year anniversary of Black Friday passed, the three-way negotiations between the DOJ, Full Tilt Poker, and Groupe Bernard Tapie at last fell through, with the French group citing "unresolvable" legal complications and a failure to agree on a player repayment plan as having nixed the deal.

Ray Bitar

Then  after issuing a public apology back in March  in early July, Ray Bitar surrendered to U.S. authorities. He'd eventually enter a guilty plea the following spring, with the plea bargain (and a health condition said to warrant a heart transplant) enabling him to avoid jail time while giving up assets rumored to include several homes and $40 million in cash. (Photos of Bitar's million-dollar wedding last month suggest he may have since recovered, both physically and financially.)

As far as the other Black Friday defendants are concerned, all but Scheinberg, Tate, and Tom would ultimately face prison sentences ranging from a few months to three years.

July-December 2012: PokerStars Buys, Reopens Former Rival

Rumors about possible negotiations involving PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and the DOJ had only started to surface when a settlement was announced on July 31, 2012, permitting PokerStars to acquire Full Tilt Poker's assets with PokerStars in turn forfeiting $547 million to the U.S. government. PokerStars also agreed to make available all outstanding balances to non-U.S. Full Tilt Poker players within three months, with a plan begun as well to repay U.S. players their FTP balances. As part of the deal, founder Isai Scheinberg agreed to step away from his role with PokerStars within 45 days.

But Full Tilt Poker wasn't out of the woods just yet, as the DOJ would file a Second Amended Civil Complaint in September introducing new forfeiture charges against Lederer and Bitar. After a year-and-a-half of silence, Lederer would speak at length to PokerNews about what led to Black Friday and Full Tilt Poker's management thereafter in a seven-part series titled The Lederer Files.

Lederer would settle his civil case in December.

In late September 2012, PokerStars announced plans to reopen Full Tilt Poker, and on Nov. 6, 2012, the site was back online (for players outside the U.S., of course).

At the time of PokerStars acquisition of Full Tilt Poker in the summer of 2012, a request for a settlement agreement between the DOJ and Absolute Poker/UB was initiated, and in August 2012 news arrived that the sites' remaining assets were being forfeited to the U.S. government. Alas for players on Absolute and UB, with the sites' parent company having already declared bankruptcy long before, there weren't any funds with which to repay them, and today  five years later  the funds remain lost.

2013: Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware

While PokerStars continued to thrive globally and Full Tilt 2.0 operated at a much more modest pace than in its previous incarnation, legal and regulated online poker finally returned to the United States more than two years after Black Friday.

With many entities having obtained licenses in Nevada to start online poker sites, Ultimate Poker beat them all to the starting line by launching on April 30. Among those following their footsteps was WSOP.com who after going live in Nevada in September, would move ahead of Ultimate Poker traffic-wise just a couple of months later.

Both New Jersey and Delaware would follow Nevada's lead to pass online gambling legislation. By the end of 2013, online gambling had only been up and running in New Jersey for just over a month  with Ultimate Poker and WSOP.com among the more than half-dozen sites  and over 125,000 accounts had already been created.

2014: Enter Amaya

Amaya

By the end of February 2014  nearly three years after Black Friday  the first cashouts of Full Tilt Poker funds began to hit U.S. players' accounts. (The latest update last month shows 94 percent of petitions have been paid out.) A few months later in June came news that Daniel Tzvetkoff, the Australian payment-processor-turned-informant whose plea bargain in back in 2010 eventually led to the Black Friday indictment and civil complaint, had been sentenced to time served and $13 million in forfeitures.

June also saw another big piece of online poker news, a development that could also be regarded a belated after-effect of Black Friday. The Amaya Gaming Group Inc. reached an agreement to acquire the parent company of PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker for a whopping $4.9 billion, a move instantly making the Toronto-based group the world's largest publicly-traded online gaming company. For the rest of the world, the purchase would eventually mean changes to the sites' poker offerings and a new emphasis on casino games. But for the U.S., it opened the door to the possibility that PokerStars could one day return to America, removing the "bad actor" obstacle in states' online gambling legislation.

Before the year was out, Ultimate Poker would shut down its operations in New Jersey in September, then leave Nevada in November, ending the fledgling site's struggle after just a year-and-a-half.

2015: The Land of the Free (Money Games)

Four years on from Black Friday, U.S. online poker players in the other 47 states still had few real-money options. Lock Poker proved an especially bad choice, going offline without notice in mid-April 2015 and taking players' funds with them. By contrast Bovada (formerly Bodog) continued to thrive, moving up to third position in online traffic according to PokerScout's best estimates in August 2015.

PokerStars continued to lead the global market by a lot, with traffic and festivals like WCOOP and SCOOP returning to pre-Black Friday levels. And after much back-and-forthing the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement at last granted Amaya a license in late September 2015.

2016: PokerStars Returns To America

PokerStars NJ

A little over three weeks shy of the fifth anniversary of having dealt its last hand of online poker in the U.S., PokerStars was back in the States with the launch of PokerStars NJ on March 21, 2016. The development has inspired some to think back to those days of the NAPT, wondering if perhaps a new, New Jersey-based tournament festival sponsored by PokerStars might be on the horizon.

For those who lived through the "boom" and pre-Black Friday rise of online poker in the U.S., it's hard to believe how long ago it has been. Five years on, and online poker in the United States is still mostly relegated to modest options restricted to just three states. Serious U.S. players seeking to make a living playing online have long ago realized the need to go abroad to do so. Many of those who've stayed behind have moved over to the live realm, with many brick-and-mortar rooms thriving as a result.

One imagines online poker in the U.S. should be much different five years from now. That said, it seems highly unlikely the difference will be anywhere near as stark as the difference between what online poker in the U.S. was before April 15, 2011, and what it became even before that day had ended.

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Sharelines On April 15, 2011, poker was rocked by Black Friday, the day that forever changed online poker.
Painful bladder syndrome/interstitial cystitis (PBS/IC) affects women of all races, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. It is prevalent among 40 to 60 year old women. The symptoms vary with the person and from time to time in the same person. In severe cases, the intense pain can persist 24/7 for more than 2 years.

Living with PBS/IC is extremely difficult because of pain and suffering, staying home, social isolation, emotional troubles, sexual intimacy problems, depression and sleep deprivation. About 7.9% of all women may have early symptoms of PBS/IC. The disease comes with very high economic burden. For example, total annual medical costs per person can exceed $ 7,000, not counting the income loss from missed work.

PBS/IC is diagnosed by an exclusion of urinary tract infections and overactive bladder. Urothelial cells are damaged in PBS/IC, which was thought to be due to defective protective glycosaminoglycan layer of bladder mucosa. The damage cells do not get replaced, because of antiproliferative factors that the damaged cells seem to produce. However, the nature of these factors is unknown. Potassium particles and other toxic substances in urine that leak into damaged bladder mucosa, cause inflammation, irritation, scarring and stiffening of bladder wall. The stiffening reduces the bladder capacity to hold urine and can contribute to bladder pain during urine accumulation and emptying.

Many factors such as, bladder trauma from pelvic surgery, bladder over distension, dysfunctional pelvic floor muscles, autoimmunity, infections, primary neurogenic inflammation, spinal cord trauma, etc, are thought to cause PBS/IC . Multiple therapies that exist can only provide a symptomatic relief. Moreover, they do not work for everyone and the symptoms usually return after few months. Most of the orally taken pentosan polysulfate sodium (PPS) is mostly eliminated in the feces due to lack of absorption. It is also available for bladder instillations and they are effective against pain, urgency and frequency, but not nocturia. Although the mechanisms of PPS action are not known, it is believed to coat bladders urothelial cell lining, protecting it from the harmful effects of toxic substances in the urine. Because, it is a weak blood thinner, its use can increase the risk of bruising/bleeding from the nose and gums. The other common side effects include diarrhea, nausea, upset stomach, bloody stools, headache, hair loss, rash, and dizziness.

Uterus and urinary bladder are homologous organs because of their common embryological origin, hollow nature and overlapping cellular and molecular networks. The shared gene networks include human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)/luteinizing hormone (LH) receptors and parathyroid hormone  related protein genes. The latter is a stretch induced gene. Among these two, hCG/LH receptor gene is relevant to PBS/IC, because of its overexpression in urothelial cells, the sites of damage in PBS/IC, and the potential ability of hCG to repair the cellular damage.

The epithelial (urothelium) cells contain higher hCG/LH receptor levels than detrusor muscle and blood vessels of the bladder. The urothelial cells from bladder dome and trigone contain a similar receptor level. The urothelial cells from younger and older women contain the receptors, with higher levels in pre-menopausal than in post-menopausal bladders.

The following observations suggested that hCG may have a therapeutic value against PBS/IC.

1. The symptoms of PBS/IC seem to improve during pregnancy and during infertility treatments with hCG.

2. hCG has pleiotropic actions in uterine epithelial cells, which are the homologs of urothelial cells. This makes it possible for hCG to also regulate urothelial cells. In fact, treatment of porcine urothelial cells with hCG results in an increase in cyclic AMP levels and an upregulation of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 , but not COX-1, gene expression.

3. The receptors for hCG to regulate urothelial cells are overexpressed as compared with the other bladder cell types.

4. As a member of cystine-knot growth factors superfamily, hCG can be expected to have pleiotropic actions in cells that it targets. Such actions could heal and/or replace damaged urothelial cells.

hCG will have minor side effects, if any, when administered by intramuscular (IM) injections. These side effects do not often require medical attention. hCG can also be administered as an oral medication in the form of lozenges or as a bladder instillations. It is also possible to develop stable hCG analogs, mimetics and nanoparticle delivery, etc, which can lower the dose and the frequency of treatment. Among these treatment modalities, perhaps bladder hCG instillations will be more interesting to explore, because they will deliver the hormone where it is most needed. In addition, any minor side effects that are associated with IM injections become obsolete. The possible consequences of chronic hCG administration such as an interruption of cycles, abnormal bleeding, short term infertility, etc are a small price to pay in exchange for the potential gain of treatment benefits against this painful disease.

In a trial setting, hCG instillations should be compared with similar instillation of dimethyl sulfoxide and PPS. The combination instillations may work better than single instillations, due to possible differences in their mode of action. In addition, hCG inclusion can reduce the toxicity, doses and cost of other drugs. hCG may not replace other therapies but it can complement them. Finding a cure for PBS/IC is a daunting task. Any therapeutic agent or a combination of them that can prevent cell damage, repair or replace the damaged cells in urothelial cell lining will provide a cure. It remains to be seen whether an introduction of hCG in the therapeutic regimen can improve the chances of coming close to accomplishing this goal. hCG is already cheap and can even be made cheaper by scaling up the production of recombinant hormone.

Men also can get PBS/IC, albeit less frequently than women. Although hCG/LH receptors presence in male urothelial cells is not known, it is likely that they are present, therefore, worth considering hCG therapy for men as well.

As others, PBS/IC is a multifactorial disease. Consequently, no single therapy works for every patient. hCG therapy, as the others, will be no exception. Thus, hCG therapy will not be a panacea, but it has a potential worth investigating for the treatment of PBS/IC patients.

Written By:

C.V. Rao, Ph.D.

Author Information

Departments of Cellular Biology and Pharmacology, Molecular and Human Genetics and Obstetrics and Gynecology, Reproduction and Development Program, Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, 33199, USA.

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Being measured and patient always pays off Updated: 2016-04-12 07:39 By Shi Yaru(China Daily)

The community in which I have been working provides several training services for elderly people, including computer and English classes. But an increasing number of people asked about smartphone skills, so we started the class five months ago.

At first we had around 10 people every time, but now we have more than 200 people. We are considering dividing them into two classes: basic and advanced.

As more people flooded in, some from other communities, we invited college students to volunteer, to answer the seniors' questions and help them operate their devices.

Our students are looking for a social life with people of their own age, but also with younger people.

I teach most of the classes, and use PowerPoint slides I make myself.

In every class, we try to focus on one operation, such as making a video call, because most of our students are age 60 and older. It takes time for them to digest those skills.

Being measured and patient is the best way to teach elderly people about digital skills.

I come from Henan province in central China. I taught my 57-year-old father to download a news application. He loves it, but very few of his friends in Henan know how to read the news on their smartphones. People in smaller cities still lack digital training.

Even in Beijing, we are looking for a bigger room and more-stable internet for our class. I hope the government will be able to provide more support for this.

Shi Yaru spoke with Peng Yining.

(China Daily 04/12/2016 page6)
Telecom fraud suspect surrenders as top warrant issued Updated: 2016-04-12 16:47 (chinadaily.com.cn - Xinhua)

Suspects involved in telecom swindle cases are escorted off an aircraft by the police at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, Nov 10, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]

A top telecom fraud fugitive surrendered to police in central China on Monday, a day after the Ministry of Public Security issued a class-A arrest warrant for China's 10 most-wanted telecom and internet fraud suspects.

Tan Dunhui, 39, is accused of tricking a corporate accountant in Yangzhong, Jiangsu province, into transferring 5 million yuan ($773,500) into a bank account he designated via a mobile phone text message in June 2013.

Tan has been escorted to Yangzhong from Loudi, Central China's Hunan province, where he surrendered to local police, pending investigation, the Ministry of Public Security said.

The ministry on Sunday issued a class-A arrest warrant for 10 fugitives who allegedly committed huge telecom and internet fraud, appealing for information on their whereabouts.

The list contains the names, gender, birth dates, hometown addresses and ID numbers of the wanted, who were born between 1971 and 1989 and are mostly from the country's southern and eastern regions.

While the ministry did not specify their crimes or how many cases they were involved in, it said groups or individuals whose information leads to arrests will be awarded 50,000 yuan for each suspect seized.

This was the first time a class-A arrest warrant, usually used for serious violent or economic crimes, such as murder or robbery, was issued for telecom- and internet-fraud suspects.

Telecom-based fraud, in which suspects cheat people through telecommunication channels, is getting rampant in some regions.

Chinese police have cracked over 16,000 telecom fraud cases and apprehended over 5,000 suspects since a campaign targeting new types of telecom crime was launched on Oct 30.

Chinese police have managed to stop 5,452 bank transfers involved in telecom fraud, thanks to a quick response mechanism instituted on March 3, the ministry said.

The quick response network requires police to input victims' bank account information and a brief description of case within 30 minutes of being informed. A special office then verifies the input and works with banks to terminate the transfer.
Mainland's Taiwan affairs chief urges adherence to 1992 Consensus Updated: 2016-04-12 23:48 (Xinhua)

BEIJING -- The Chinese mainland's Taiwan affairs chief has said that mainland policies on Taiwan remain unchanged and urged the island to stick to the 1992 Consensus as the political foundation for the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations.

Zhang Zhijun, head of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, made the remarks during a conversation on Tuesday afternoon with Taiwan's mainland affairs chief Andrew Hsia via a hotline.

According to Zhang, the 1992 Consensus, with its core implication that both sides belong to one China, is crucial for the peaceful development and various achievements made for cross-Straits relations over the past several years. Denying this political foundation will inevitably alter the status quo.

Zhang also briefed Hsia on a batch of telecom fraud suspects, including Taiwan residents, seized by mainland police.

According to Zhang, telecom and Internet fraud have been rampant in recent years.

Several Taiwan suspects allegedly conducted fraudulent activities from overseas bases that led to huge losses from mainland victims and they must be brought to justice, he said.
Americans amazed by Chinese art Updated: 2015-02-20 12:12 By Xinhua(China Daily USA)

The Fantastic Art China's public art exhibition, which opened on Tuesday at Lincoln Center in New York City, has amazed the American visitors with artwork from six renowned Chinese artists and a creative bazaar.

"This is the first time that I've seen this (the Chinese art).

But when I look at it, I was initially inspired and drawn to it, and started to look at it more carefully," Ed Hynes, who works in the Wall Street and becomes one of the first Americans to visit the exhibition, told Xinhua.

Signature works by China's artists Xu Jiang, Zhan Wang and Huang Jiancheng will be presented at Avery Fisher Hall of Lincoln Center, while at the other side of Lincoln Center, namely David Rubenstein Atrium, works by Xu Bing, Lv Shengzhong and Chen Wenling are also on display.

Among their works, Huang Jiancheng presents an animated video recreating the momentous painting "Qingming Shanghe Tu" (Along the River during the Qingming Festival), which is considered by many as one of the most significant classical Chinese ink-paintings in history.

While, Xu Bing, recipient of the 2014 State Department Medal of Arts in the United States, exhibits a hand-painted animation explaining the connections between Chinese characters and the temperament of people who write them.

Hynes said his favorite one is the Landscape of Post-birth by Chen Wenling, which features the 12 zodiacs, presenting the phenomenon of visual symbolization in the era of consumption, and therein creates a surrealistic and futuristic landscape.

Although Hynes said he cannot fully understand the meaning of the art, he thinks that any rational person will be humbled by the fact that the Chinese culture is so profound and ancient.

"I think Chinese culture has a lot of meaning that has been developed over many thousands of years, so I think there's something for anyone in the world to learn from Chinese culture," he said.

The creative bazaar assembles innovative derivatives, traditional Chinese craftworks, selected new year storing and intangible cultural relics that are specially collected for the Happy Chinese New Year event.

"What's nice about these products is the combination of old and new," Lucia DeRespinis, chief development officer of China Institute told Xinhua, as she was looking at the plastic vase which has Chinese calligraphy on it.

"This is a very modern solution. It's a modern technology, but it's using very traditional Chinese designs," she said, "The (Chinese) culture is rooted in tradition, but it's also looking forward. It's doing that together."

The public art exhibition, along with Empire State Building Lighting Installation, and a Happy Chinese New Year fireworks display comprise the three main sections of "Fantastic Art China" events, which are having its debut in New York as part of Happy Chinese New Year events.

The event will last for a week from Feb 17 to 24.

Chinese artwork on display at the Fantastic Art China's public exhibition at Lincoln Center. Lu Huiquan / for China Daily

(China Daily USA 02/20/2015 page3)
Michael Schoenfeld (left), vice-president for Public Affairs and Government Relations at Duke University; Wu Xi (center), minister at the Chinese Embassy; and Patrick Duddy, former US Ambassador to Venezuela; pose for a photo at the China Salon in the Chinese Embassy in Washington on Monday. Dong Leshuo / China Daily

More than 200 Duke alumni were welcomed to the Chinese Embassy in Washington on Monday for a China Salon, co-sponsored by the embassy and university.

"Duke University has a very long history and traditional of working with China," said Michael Schoenfeld, vice-president for public affairs and government relations at Duke University.

"We believe that as a university, having a connection to and relationship with China is absolutely central for the education of our students, current and future," Schoenfeld said.

Among Duke's current student body, 15 percent are Chinese nationals, according to Arielle Grill, chair of the Duke DC alumni chapter.

Duke Kunshan University, established in Kunshan, East China's Zhejiang province, in 2013, is a partnership between Duke and Wuhan universities.

During a panel discussion, minister Zhou Jingxing and consulars Li Bin and Zheng Zhenhua of the Chinese Embassy shared their views on China's economic issues, foreign policy and US-China relations.

"The panel presentations were just outstanding," Anna Gunnarsson Pfeiffer, vice-chairman of Duke DC, an alumni organization that worked with the Chinese Embassy to organize the event.

"Everyone here is thrilled. We could have sold the event out twice," Pfeiffer said.

"They were more open than I thought they would be," said David G. Houck, a Duke alumnus who is also managing director of a real estate company that has 20 offices in China. "It's just another reminder that there are cultural differences between our countries."

In recent years, the Chinese Embassy has hosted public events receiving American guests from different sectors. Thousands of Americans visit the embassy each year, according to Wu.

"I believe such open, candid and productive conversation will help enhance mutual understanding and trust among us," said Wu Xi, minister at the Chinese Embassy.

"We need to maintain dialogue," Houck said.

Houck said he is "very proud of Duke's ambitious investment into China". "I think it shows that Duke is engaging with the world," Houck said.

leshuodong@chinadailyusa.com
More Spaniards begin to use TCM to improve health Updated: 2016-04-12 14:52 By Xinhua in Madrid(China Daily USA)

More and more Spaniards have begun to choose traditional Chinese medicine and see its positive effects on their health. Spain was among the first in Europe to promote Chinese medicine, its education and healthcare. As time went by, more Spaniards chose Chinese medicine to improve their health.

Liliana Acosta was an acupuncture doctor at Neijing School in the Spanish capital of Madrid. She told Xinhua that Chinese medicine "is starting to become known" and people have realized that "it has very positive effects."

Chinese medicine sees the body as an energetic system in dynamic balance. When balance and harmony are maintained, people enjoy good health. If there is imbalance, disharmony and diseases occur.

Angeles Jimenez, also an acupuncture doctor at Neijing School, explained to Xinhua that "an energetic imbalance will lead to symptomatology. We try to recover this energetic imbalance."

Asuncion Perez is a 64-year-old nurse who has accepted acupuncture for two years. She told Xinhua she had a positive experience.

"I was born with a problem in my hips, and received an operation when I was four. I have been doing acupuncture for two years since I was 55," said Perez. Later, she got another operation done.

After two months of acupuncture, Perez felt her pain relieved and she started to sleep better. "My acupuncture doctor told me that I had to undergo an operation and I finally did, but acupuncture helped reduce my pain and made me rest better."

Perez believed that Western medicine and Chinese medicine can be complementary, saying "there are diseases that cannot be healed, neither of them (Chinese and Western medicine) can produce miracles."

Doctor Acosta commented that Chinese medicine competes with Western medicine in some aspects because the former "is economical for the patients, it does not generate so much expense, and has no adverse effects or side effects."

When the 12th World Congress of Chinese Medicine was held in Spain's northeastern city of Barcelona last September, the organizers of the meeting pointed out that the number of European patients following Chinese medicine has surpassed 5 million every year.

The development of Chinese medicine has been at an advanced level in South Europe (Spain, Italy and Portugal), considering the large number of clinics, practitioners, and related education, training and research institutions.

Some European businessmen inspect traditional Chinese medicine products of a drug store in Guangzhou. An increasing number of Spaniards choose TCM to improve their health.Provided to China Daily

(China Daily USA 04/12/2016 page15)
Asian businesspeople ride China's 'Belt and Road' Updated: 2016-04-12 14:52 By Xinhua(China Daily USA)

New rail project to lower time and cost of Thailand's rice exports to China

Boonyong is looking forward to lower transport costs when a rail network connecting China and Thailand gets completed. Currently, his rice products are delivered by road and sea which takes about three and five days respectively.

With the recent implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, China and Thailand launched an 845-km railway project linking the Thai capital Bangkok with the northeastern city of Nong Khai near Laos, part of a Pan-Asia railway network, in late 2015. The project will be connected to the China-Laos railway which connects Laos with the vast railway system in China.

"It will only take us around 18 hours to send rice to China by train, with the freight cost lowered to about one third of that of road or sea transport," said Boonyong, a Thai businessman who sells rice to China at an annual profit of over 50 million yuan ($7.68 million).

Many Asian business people are placing high hopes on the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, which seeks to strengthen ties with countries in central and south Asia, the Middle East and east Europe through infrastructure and communication links.

The initiative ranked first among mechanisms that power Asia's trade and investment, according to a report released at the ongoing Boao Forum in south China's Hainan province.

The "2016 Asian Economy Forward-looking Indicator" was based on a survey targeting some 1,000 Chinese and foreign entrepreneurs, media experts, economists and government officials.

When attending the sub-forum "Dialogue of Asian Civilizations" at Boao, former Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz also highlighted the cooperation opportunities the Belt and Road Initiative had brought to his country and to regions along the routes.

The Belt and Road was proposed by China in 2013 as a trade and infrastructure network. It will connect Asia to Europe and Africa through the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

Over the past few years, China has been pushing forward the initiative, and progress has been made in such areas as infrastructure and financial architecture.

For instance, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, initiated in 2013 and part of the Silk Road Economic Belt, aims at creating a 3,000-km economic corridor, a planned network of roads, railways and energy infrastructure, between the ports of Gwadar in Pakistan and Kashgar in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Pakistani businessman Shah Hussain has been importing China-made mobile phones from Xinjiang and selling them in his hometown Gilgit. Like many of his Pakistani counterparts, his business has benefited from the construction of the corridor.

Chinese mobile phones are popular with the locals for their affordable prices and long battery life, he said, adding that imports have been safer and more convenient in recent years with the improvement of roads connecting the two countries.

Speaking at a press conference last month, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said more than 70 countries and international organizations have expressed interest in the Belt and Road Initiative, and over 30 countries have signed agreements with China to jointly build it.

An employee operates a packaging machine as sacks of Charoen Pokphand Foods Pcl's (CP Foods) Royal Umbrellabrand rice move along a conveyor at the company's processing plant in Nakhon Luang, Ayutthaya province, Thailand. DARIO Pignatelli / Getty Images / Bloomberg

(China Daily USA 04/12/2016 page15)
Chile serving up more tastes of the sea in China Updated: 2016-04-12 08:11 By Mike Peters(China Daily)

Fish. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The Atlantic salmon gleamed from the platter through a dry-ice fog. There was king crab. Snow crab. Black cod. Blue mussels.

In Beijing, where seafood fans often fret about the quality and safety of fish and shellfish, the loaded buffet at the Chilean embassy last week looked like heaven.

The goodies from the deep were on show as the embassy and Sunfka, a major importers of Chilean seafood in China, celebrated a milestone in the free-trade agreement between Chile and China that was inked in 2005.

Tariffs on many food products were reduced in increments over the past decade, and Chilean cherries, grapes and wines have become market favorites in China.

The country's seafood has been less established, but in 2015 the final stage of tariff reduction occurred for seafood, meaning the import tax was zero percent. Over the preceding five years, the value of Chile's seafood exports to China had soared from $1.4 billion to $8.7 billion, led by Atlantic salmon.

"Last year Chile was No. 8 in seafood exports to China," says Chile's ambassador, Jorge Heine. "We want to be in the top three by 2020."

In fact, more fish, shellfish and seaweed in Chinese markets and restaurants already comes from Chile than most people realize. Thanks to a 4,400-kilometer coastline and southern fisheries in clean, cold water, Chile has been able to develop a thriving seafood industry for export in the last 15 years, particularly its salmon industry. Today the country is the No. 2 exporter of salmon in the world, says Andreas Pierotic, Chile's minister counselor for economic and commercial affairs in China, and the No. 1 provider of frozen Atlantic salmon in China. With demand climbing, especially for fresh fish, importers are working with airlines to establish routine charter flights that will shorten delivery time from Chile to China to four days. That means fish would arrive in cold storage but not freezing, he says.

Besides ample production, Ambassador Heine notes, Chile boasts one of the strictest food-safety regimens in the world. Citing the recognized health benefits of salmonnoting that 80 grams of salmon fillet has an average of 2.9 g of omega-3 fatty acids, he boasts that "salmon is medicine" as well as delicious.

Other seafood items rode the wave stimulated by the tariff reduction: King crab exports to China were up 96 percent ($20.8 million) while mussels climbed nearly eightfold ($1.2 million). Chilean mussels are similar in shape to Chinese mussels, Pierotic says, "but much tastier" thanks to cold-water cultivation.

His country's increased attention toward China, he adds, is reflected in its presence at the Chinese Fisheries & Seafood Expo, held annually in the fall in Qingdao. "We had the biggest country pavilion in 2015, with 30 companies represented," Pierotic says.

"In 2010, there were only nine Chilean companies at the fair, which is the biggest in Asia."
Belgium gets back to normal but still has much to do Updated: 2016-04-12 08:17 By Fu Jing(China Daily)

Belgian soldiers patrol as people pay tribute to the victims of Tuesday's bomb attacks at the Place de la Bourse in Brussels, Belgium, March 26, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

When I got out of a taxi and rolled my suitcase into Brussels-South station to get a train to London on Thursday evening, two heavily-armed soldiers patrolling the concourse stared at me up and down, with their hands holding their guns against their chests.

Because of the March 22 terror attacks in Brussels, I thought I would have to pass through security checks of my luggage before entering the gate of the station. But I found this was not the case.

The check-in and border control procedures were the same as my previous trips from Brussels to London. The only obvious difference was that soldiers and security guards were more evident in the arrival and departure halls. And they were fully alert.

Three weeks after terrorists attacked Brussels' airport and a subway station, life and business activities in this European capital have gradually returned to normal. The damaged airport partly reopened a few days ago, though my last trip between Brussels and Prague four days after the attacks was via Amsterdam.

Security checks of luggage before entering the departure halls has only been implemented in Brussels' airport since its reopening but it is still unknown whether this is temporary or not. And people can enter other metro stations, train stations and shopping malls freely without passing through any security check.

Brussels lowered its security alert only three days after the bloody blasts, which claimed 32 people, including one Chinese, though well-armed soldiers and police can be seen patrolling throughout the center of Brussels.

Calling it the worst attack on the country's soil since World War II, Belgian authorities should well know how serious and challenging the situation is. Like the French, the Belgians have learned a costly lesson.

It is daunting that nearly all of the embassies in Brussels and Paris have warned the tourists and investors from their countries of being cautious in making decisions to visit France and Belgium.

Some Chinese researchers have begun to do research on how the security situation in Europe will affect the bilateral business activities. Their preliminary figures may offer some relief. During the first three months this year, the number of Chinese tourists in France dropped by 7 percent year-on-year due to the attacks in Paris. However, China's investment in France has still shown steady increase.

Very likely, it is the same with Belgium: more tourists will cancel their trips but business activities will not be affected too much.

Within one week of the Brussels attacks, a Chinese businessman told me that he still plans to buy a big office property in downtown Brussels. He forecasts that the price will drop by 10 to 20 percent on average in Brussels in the coming months. A Chinese businesswoman I spoke with is seeking to invest in a Belgian brewery. While one long-time Chinese investor in Brussels planned to organize an investment seminar to indicate his confidence in Belgium. I believe there are many more due to Belgium's geographic and geopolitical attractions.

Reassuring them is an urgent task for Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel.

Michel cancelled his scheduled trip to China because the attacks happened just one day before he was due to fly. Of course, it is rational for him to make his trip once the situation in his country is under control. This time, his mission will be convincing Chinese investors and tourists that similar attacks will not happen again.

The onus for that is not just on Belgium, the European Union must clean house and ensure people's safety if they are to help attract tourists and investment.

The Belgian and European authorities must convince the world that the EU countries are safe.

The author is deputy editor of China Daily European Edition. fujing@chinadaily.com.cn
Relationship-building between China and the US should be carried out in practical, down-to-earth terms by people who cherish the idea that healthy and strong US-China collaboration across all sectors will benefit not only the world's two biggest economies, but the whole world.

Happily, visionary political and business leaders are joining hands and advocating for more and better exchanges and communications between China and the US, even amid US politicians' election-year China bashing and highly publicized worries over China's economic slowdown.

China's top diplomat in San Francisco - Consul General Luo Linquan - on April 5 hosted some 30 senior executives from leading American corporations, Chamber of Commerce leaders and elected officials at his residence. Luo expressed his sincere hopes that all parties and individuals involved would work together to deepen bilateral economic and trade ties.

"A prosperous and strong US-China relationship participated in by American and Chinese companies will help build a new model of major country relations between the world's two largest economies," Luo said.

Guests included San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee; president of Bay Area Council Jim Wunderman; Gary Dickerson, CEO of Applied Materials; Ken Wilcox, president of Silicon Valley Bank; Alan Siqueira, executive vice-president of Wells Fargo; Andy Sherman, executive vice-president of Dolby; and Ed Baker, vice-president of Uber, among others.

Deputy Consul General Ren Faqiang said each guest was asked to complete a survey about China's economy and doing business in China.

"Through this questionnaire, we'd like to gather first-hand information about how foreigners think about China, and how we governmental organizations might help them operate more smoothly in China."

In his remarks, Luo highlighted President Xi Jinping's successful state visit to the US last September and his recent meeting with US President Barack Obama at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington on March 31.

"The two countries have carried out effective communication on various issues. Although there are always disagreements, I believe China and the US at the same time will cooperate and go forward together," said Luo.

According to the US Department of Commerce, China became America's biggest trading partner last year with a total bilateral trade volume of $598 billion. Chinese investment in the US has grown sharply by 60 percent, reaching a total of $8.4 billion.

All five states in Luo's jurisdiction - California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Alaska - have been leaders in business cooperation and exchanges with China.

"Trade volume of the five states with China in 2015 was $202 billion, accounting for a third of the total China-US trade volume," said Luo, adding that Chinese investors injected $3.6 billion in the five states last year.

The two-way economic exchanges would not be possible without the cooperation mechanisms initiated by the top leaders of both countries, said Luo.

Back in 2013, Xi, during his visit to California, signed with California Governor Jerry Brown and seven Chinese provinces the Trade and Investment Cooperation Joint Working Group, the first institutional platform for promoting local economic and trade investment cooperation between China and US.

In his visit to Seattle last September, Xi also facilitated similar mechanisms between Washington state and Chinese provinces.

Through these platforms, participants in both nations can expand trade and investment cooperation, strengthen communication and trust, boost economic growth, as well as create jobs together.

Gary Dickerson, CEO of Applied Materials, said the world's largest semiconductor materials engineering solutions provider is to expand in the China market through investments and other projects with a combined value of $616 million in the next few years.

"China's pro-innovation environment for high-tech industries has given the semiconductor and display industries tremendous opportunities for companies such as Applied Materials," said Dickerson.

Contact the writer at Junechang@chinadailyusa.com.

(China Daily 04/12/2016 page2)
China paying more mind to intellectual property rights Updated: 2016-04-12 11:16 By Amy He in New York(China Daily)

Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang (C) poses for photos with US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker (4th R) and Trade Representative Michael Froman (3rd R) attending the 26th China-US Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province,Nov 23, 2015. The three-day event ended on Monday. [Photo/Xinhua]

China hopes to strengthen cooperation and exchange on intellectual property rights with the United States, said a Chinese trade official.

The two countries see common interests with the US on IPR, although the concept of intellectual property protection has a long tradition in the US and is only several decades old in China, said Zhang Xiangchen, deputy China international trade representative, speaking at an event on Monday.

"As two countries that encourage innovation, we now see more common interests in IPR, compared with the 100-year history of IPR protection here in the United States, the concept was only introduced into China some 30 years ago," he said.

"Though we made hard efforts, there [is] a lot of room for improvement in this developing country," he added.

Zhang said that as China encourages entrepreneurship and innovation, new technologies and business patterns are becoming crucial to its economic transformation, and thus intellectual property protection and enforcement become even more important.

In 2015, there were more than 2 million patent applications in China, approximately half of those for inventions.

"Of course, we know that the quality of these patents is not comparable to the American ones. And as such, it is particularly important to offer more comprehensive and effective protection of intellectual achievement," said Zhang.

Administrative task forces handled more than 178,000 cases of IPR enforcement last year, with law enforcement handling nearly 21,000 criminal cases, and prosecutors bringing charges in nearly 15,000 of those.

"Protecting IPR is for encouraging innovation. However, overprotection or even abuse of that power will also hinder innovation," Zhang said.

Helen Cheng, a partner at the Zhong Lun Law Firm, said that in her two decades of practicing IP law, she has seen significant changes in the Chinese market.

Chinese companies at the time were surprised were unsure why they needed to protect IP, Cheng said. Companies now know what IP is and the importance of protecting it in the face of competition both domestically and internationally, she said.

Adair Zhou, head of IP at Chinese drone maker DJI, based in Shenzhen, said the company emphasized IP practice in order to meet compliance requirements in the number of countries it operates in outside of China.

"When we submit patents, we have to make sure that the claim contents and the claim structures are compliant and meeting the demands of the PTO, JPO and EPO," he said, referring to the US Patent and Trademark Office, the Japan Patent Office and the European Patent Office.

"Among all the peer products in the market, we are the most expensive one and the most advanced one," he said. "That's why we want to make sure our patents get issued in the states as quickly as possible," so that if copycat makers in various countries infringe on DJI's intellectual property, the company can take action, Zhou said.

"Without assurance of protection of that IP, no business plan, no matter how strong, can be expected to produce a successful business. Whether the distribution model is part of the old-fashioned supply chain, supporting the Internet of Things, or via creative e-commerce models, intellectual property protection is essential to a strong and successful growth model," said Patrick Santillo, deputy assistant secretary of commerce for China at the US Department of Commerce.

Zhang Qiyue, China's consul general in New York, said that intellectual property developed by foreign countries will be regarded as "independently owned and fully protected".

"China's business environment will be more transparent, fair and predictable, thus bringing greater opportunity to foreign investors," she said.

"Intellectual property could very well be one of the many areas of the fruitful cooperation between our two countries, because a strong IPR protection serves our common interests. We are all in this together," she added.

Contact the writer at amyhe@chinadailyusa.com
Source: Manila ready to restart military airport revamp in South China Sea Updated: 2016-04-12 10:36 By An Baijie(chinadaily.com.cn)

The Philippines looks ready to restart work on upgrading a military airport on Zhongye Island, a territory in the South China Sea claimed by China, a source close to situation has said.

The Philippine air force has recently used several transport planes to carry substantial amounts of construction materials, such as stones and sand, and various types of gasoline, to the island, according to the source, who did not want to be identified.

The source said this indicates that the Philippines is prepared to restart the upgrade.

China claims the Philippines has illegally occupied Chinese territory in the South China Sea since the 1970s, including Zhongye Island, where Manila has carried out large-scale construction of military and civil facilities, including airports, ports and barracks.

In January 2013, the Philippines unilaterally initiated an arbitration tribunal against China in The Hague. Manila has twice claimed it has halted the airport upgrade, in 2014 and 2015.

"The restart of the military airport upgrading project is clearly different from what Manila has claimed publicly in the past," the source said.

Beijing always opposes the Philippines' illegal occupation of Chinese islands, and it has called on Manila to stop such activities.
New York-China deal means business for both Updated: 2016-04-12 11:16 By Hezi Jiang in New York(China Daily USA)

Zhang Xiangchen (left), deputy China international trade representative, and Kathy Hochul, lieutenant governor of New York, shake hands after signing a Memorandum of Understanding on Monday at the Waldorf Astoria New York hotel. The two sides agreed to establish a joint working group to expand trade and investment cooperation. HEZI JIANG / China Daily

"New York state is open for business, and particularly we are open for Chinese business," said Kathy Hochul, lieutenant governor of New York, on Monday at the China Provinces-US State of New York Trade and Investment Cooperation Breakfast.

New York state and six Chinese provinces and municipalities - Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Yunnan - signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) during the breakfast meeting at the Waldorf Astoria New York hotel.

The two sides agreed to establish a joint working group to expand cooperation in the sectors of clean technology, life sciences, advanced manufacturing, agriculture and food processing, financial services and communications and media services.

"As we continue to grow stronger bilateral ties, there is growing awareness and increasing cooperation at the sub-national level," said Zhang Qiyue, China's consul general in New York.

Witnessed by Zhang, the MOU was signed by Patrick Santillo, deputy assistant secretary for China at the US Department of Commerce, Hochul and Zhang Xiangchen, deputy China international trade representative from the Ministry of Commerce.

"It speaks to the possibility of building on where we are today," said Hochul. "Businesses from China come to our state; businesses from our state are looking for export opportunities."

Along with 25 Chinese provinces and cities, China's Ministry of Commerce has also established joint working groups on trade and investment with California, Iowa, Texas, Michigan, Washington state, and the city of Chicago since 2012.

In November 2015, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and US Department of Commerce signed an MOU to promote Sino-US trade and investment collaboration at the sub-national level.

"Over the years, there have been hundreds of business trips organized by Chinese provinces and cities to the US," said Zhang. "Local governments from both China and the US have established cooperation mechanisms, from 43 pairs of sister states and 200 pairs of sister cities to university exchanges and environmental cooperation."

She said the opportunities New York state offers in financial services, education, scientific exchange, tourism and manufacturing are highly complementary with its Chinese partners.

"The signing of this MOU today will add another dimension to such cooperation. I'm quite sure as a result of this MOU, more cooperative projects will be reached, and more tangible results will be achieved," said Zhang.

Representative Zhang Xiangchen urged the two sides to engage frequently, share information, and make opportunities known to each other.

He invited companies from New York state to take advantage of the Shanghai Free-Trade Zone and Beijing's program established last October that opened six service sectors wider to foreign investments, including finance, tourism and healthcare.

hezijiang@chinadailyusa.com
Effort made to strengthen intellectual property rights Updated: 2016-04-12 13:12 By AMY HE in New York(chinadaily.com.cn)

Zhang Xiangchen, deputy China international trade representative, speaking on Monday at the Waldorf Astoria about China-US intellectual property cooperation. Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn

China hopes to strengthen cooperation and exchange on intellectual property rights with the United States, said a Chinese trade official.

The two countries see common interests with the US on IPR, although the concept of intellectual property protection has a long tradition in the US and is only several decades old in China, said Zhang Xiangchen, deputy China international trade representative, speaking at an event on Monday.

"As two countries that encourage innovation, we now see more common interests in IPR, compared with the 100-year history of IPR protection here in the United States, the concept was only introduced into China some 30 years ago," he said.

"Though we made hard efforts, there [is] a lot of room for improvement in this developing country," he added.

Zhang said that as China encourages entrepreneurship and innovation, new technologies and business patterns are becoming crucial to its economic transformation, and thus intellectual property protection and enforcement becomeeven more important.

In 2015, there were more than 2 million patent applications in China, approximately half of those for inventions.

"Of course, we know that the quality of these patents is not comparable to the American ones. And as such, it is particularly important to offer more comprehensive and effective protection of intellectual achievement," said Zhang.

Administrative task forces handled more than 178,000 cases of IPR enforcement last year, with law enforcement handling nearly 21,000 criminal cases, and prosecutors bringing charges in nearly 15,000 of those.

"Protecting IPR is for encouraging innovation. However, overprotection or even abuse of that power will also hinder innovation," Zheng said.

Helen Cheng, a partner at the Zhong Lun Law Firm, said that in her two decades of practicing IP law, she has seen significant changes in the Chinese market.

Two decades ago, Chinese companies were surprised by the concept of IP and were unsure why they needed to protect it, Cheng said. Companies now know what intellectual property is and the importance of protecting it in the face of competition both domestically and internationally, she said.

Adair Zhou, head of IP at Chinese drone maker DJI, based in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province, said the company heavily emphasized IP practice to meet compliance requirements in foreign countries where it operates.

"When we submit patents, we have to make sure that the claim contents and the claim structures are compliant and meeting the demands of the PTO, JPO and EPO," he said, referring to the US Patent and Trademark Office, the Japan Patent Office and the European Patent Office.

"Among all the peer products in the market, we are the most expensive one and the most advanced one," he said. "That's why we want to make sure our patents get issued in the states as quickly as possible," so that if copycat makers in various countries infringe on DJI's intellectual property, the company can take action, Zhou said.

Speakers at the event also spoke about the importance of enforcing IP laws for multinational companies with businesses in China, many of which face copyright infringement issues with counterfeit products.

"Without assurance of protection of that IP, no business plan, no matter how strong, can be expected to produce a successful business. Whether the distribution model is part of the old-fashioned supply chain, supporting the Internet of Things, or via creative e-commerce models, intellectual property protection is essential to a strong and successful growth model," said Patrick Santillo, deputy assistant secretary of commerce for China at the US Department of Commerce.

Zhang Qiyue, China's consul general in New York, said that intellectual property developed by foreign countries will be regarded as "independently owned and fully protected".

"China's business environment will be more transparent, fair and predictable, thus bringing greater opportunity to foreign investors," she said.

"Intellectual property could very well be one of the many areas of the fruitful cooperation between our two countries, because a strong IPR protection serves our common interests. We are all in this together," she added.

amyhe@chinadailyusa.com
Maritime migrant arrivals to EU top 173,000: IOM Updated: 2016-04-12 19:55 (Xinhua)

GENEVA - The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reported Tuesday that 173,761 refugees and migrants have reached European soil by sea since the start of the year.

A breakdown of the numbers shows that 153,156 of these arrivals have been recorded in Greece, with the remaining reaching Italy (19,930), Spain (648) and Cyprus (27).

So far this year, 723 people have died attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea compared to 1,733 deaths for the first four months of last year.

The Eastern Mediterranean passage has claimed the most lives (375 fatalities), while 343 and five migrants have lost their lives on the Central and Western Mediterranean routes respectively.

According to IOM, the top three nationalities of those detected in Greece in 2016 hail from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Some 53,000 migrants and refugees are currently stranded in Greece where they are being accommodated at the main centers located in northern Greece and Attica.
Russia, China concerned about possible US missile system on Korean Peninsula: FM Updated: 2016-04-12 23:40 (Xinhua)

MOSCOW -- Russia and China are concerned about the possible deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system by the United States on the Korean Peninsula, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday.

"Together with our Chinese friends, we realize that following this course will create a real threat to the security of our countries, and destabilize the strategic stability in Northeast Asia," Lavrov said here in a joint interview with Chinese, Japanese and Mongolian media.

He said that Russia and China recognize the right of Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, but does not accept its nuclear ambitions.

The top Russian diplomat added that Moscow and Beijing are devoted to the denuclearization of the peninsula and the resumption of the six-party talks, which is "the real way to resolve the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue."
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HA NOI  Australian agencies are finalising procedures to allow the import of Vietnamese mangoes into Australia from 2016, according to the Viet Nam Trade Office in Australia.

That was good news for Vietnamese farmers as well as enterprises trading in fruit products, the office said. Now, the office has implemented market research and connected with Australian partners to prepare export activities of Vietnamese mangoes to Australia soon after receiving the licence.

In 2013, the Vietnamese Farmers Association in North Australia with 100 Vietnamese farming households, built a distribution system of Vietnamese mangoes with popular brand names in the Australian market, including Vina Mango and T.V Farms, Binh Duong Farm and Sai Gon Farm.

On April 4, 2016, on the sidelines of the visit to North Australia made by ASEAN ambassadors, Vietnamese Ambassador to Australia Luong Thanh Nghi, and Head of Viet Nam Trade Office in Australia Nguyen Thi Hoang Thuy, had a meeting with the executive committee of Vietnamese Farmers Association in North Australia, reported chinhphu.vn.

The association is committed to support the import and distribution of Vietnamese mangoes in the Australian market.

Last year, after 12 years of waiting, Viet Nam received approval from Australias Department of Agriculture to export lychees to their market.

Irradiation in the north

In a related development, the Ha Noi Irradiation Centre is ready to implement irradiation services for fruit exports this year.

According to the department, the centre has been upgrading equipment to reach international standards for irradiation of fruit products.

The centre, under the Ministry of Science and Technology (MST)s Atomic Energy Institute of Viet Nam, was initially a small agency providing irradiation services for products in the healthcare field.

Since the end of 2014, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and MST have provided VN20 billion (US$909,000) in funds to improve the centre and equip it with irradiation services for fruits due to the high demand on exporting local fruit products to many foreign markets, such as the United States and Australia.

Hoang Trung, deputy head of department, said the Ha Noi Irradiation Centre has been upgrading completely and that would ensure a great opportunity for the export of fruit products in the north of Viet Nam, especially lychees and longan.

That meant the fruit export enterprises would not transport their products to the South for conducting irradiation activities as before and would therefore save between VN15 million and VN16 million per tonne of fruit in terms of transport and time.

So far, there have been five companies who registered for the irradiation services in the centre for export lychees and longan this year, Trung said.

The department said that in the long term, together with irradiation services, the enterprises should ship export products to foreign markets by sea via Hai Phong Port in large volumes and preserve fresh fruit products in cool containers to retain the freshness and quality of the products.  VNS
CAIRO (Biz Hub)  The Vietnamese Embassy and Trade Office in Egypt held a trade and investment promotion conference in Aswan Province to draw the attention of local businesses to Viet Nam.

At the event held on April 11, Vietnamese Ambassador o Hoang Long informed local officials and participating enterprises of Viet Nams potential and policies to encourage development, its economic strengths, and the countrys key export products.

He said the potential for cooperation between the two countries had not been fully tapped as bilateral trade had only reached some US$390 million in 2015, of which $20 million had come from Egypts exports.

The ambassador also introduced the participants to the Investment Law and the countrys preferential policies to attract more foreign investment into Viet Nam. Thanks to these policies, some $20 billion was being poured into the country every year, he stressed.

The ambassador used the occasion to ask the Aswan Province administration to provide information on its policies as well as projects that required investment. He also proposed the establishment of links between the Vietnamese Embassy and Aswan Provinces Chamber of Commerce to connect businesses in the two countries.

The president of the Aswan Chamber of Commerce, Mohamed Abu Al Kassem, called for investment by Viet Nam in the areas main fields, such as seafood processing and mining. He also suggested Viet Nam exempt visas for Aswan businesses.  VNS
HA NOI  South Korean guitarist Sungha Jung, who has been dubbed as "Koreas Guitar Prodigy", will present his extraordinary skills in a one-night only concert in Ha Noi on Saturday, April 16.

The guitarist started playing the guitar when he was a child by watching his father play. After being taught the basics of guitar by his father, Jung further developed his skills by trying to play whatever he heard or by studying through online videos.

He first discovered his interest in fingerstyle guitar when he heard famous Japanese guitarist Kotaro Oshio using this special technique, where the strings are plucked with the fingertips, fingernails, or with picks attached to the fingers.

Jungs cover of The Pirates of the Caribbean theme song (which currently has over 49 million views on YouTube) made him an Internet sensation when he was just 12 years old. He has won 15 YouTube awards, including six First Class awards.

Jung has also composed and arranged many songs in a diverse range of styles. He has released six albums, the last being the 2015 album Two of Me. His music has mesmerised many people with his more well known renditions including Felicity, River Flows in You, Irony, On a Brisk Day, Flaming, The Phantom of the Opera and Haru Haru.

He has collaborated with many famous Korean and international artists, such as 2NE1, G-Dragon, Kotaro Oshio, and Jason Mraz. The young artist has also held his own tours in many countries all over the world including France, the US, Denmark, and China.

At the moment, his Youtube channel boasts more than 3.8 million subscribers and nearly 1.2 billion views.

Being an excellent representative of the fingerstyle guitar genre, the 20-year-old lad of the land of Kim Chi will bring a new, young, refined, emotional musical atmosphere with his own compositions and arrangements.

In Viet Nam, Jung is known and admired mostly through his music on Youtube. He is the first foreign fingerstyle guitarist to have performed in Viet Nam.

The concert will start at 7.30pm on Saturday, at Tuoi Tre Theatre, 11 Ngo Thi Nham Street.

After the Ha Noi concert, Jung will travel to HCM City for another concert on Sunday at the Music of Conservatory, 112 Nguyen Du Street, District 1.

Tickets for his concerts are available on ticketbox.vn, or at Tuoi Tre Theatre in Ha Noi, and Doremi Shop, 150/47AB Nguyen Trai Street, District 1 in HCM City.

Jung first visited Viet Nam for a one-night only concert at HCM Citys Ben Thanh Theatre in front of an audience of more than 1,000 in April 2014.  VNS
HA NOI  An online travel mart will be officially operated at www.tripi.vn within the framework of Viet Nam International Travel Mart 2016 (VITM).

This is the only website that allows tourists to buy package tours, hotel stays and airfares, as well as compare the price of different service suppliers, according to Vu The Binh, deputy head of Viet Nam Tourism Association.

The Tripi page will potentially allow for strong collaboration with suppliers to directly collect information on tourism products and services, hotels, airline tickets, and then pass this information on to users in the most convenient and transparent way, he said.

With advanced technology systems and the close collaboration with the tourism sector, the Tripi page is able to search for and offer a variety of selections for customers. In particular, users can search for and purchase products directly from the suppliers without any kind of additional cost.

Tripi owns a huge database of hotels in Viet Nam, more than any other hotel website in the world. The website is also updated continuously with information from airline ticket agents and travel companies.

We noticed that visitors had to queue up and wait for a long time to get a chance to buy low cost airline tickets during VITM events, said Binh.

This year, by using the online tourism exchange, visitors will not have to be jostled by the crowd at the fair. They will still have the opportunity to buy cheap airline tickets or an attractive tour at the best price online.

After initial testing at VITM 2015, the online travel exchange will open on Thursday (April 14), along with the opening ceremony of VITM 2016 at the Exhibition and Fair Centre, 148 Giang Vo Street, Ha Noi.

The website www.tripi.vn promises to become the largest online travel exchange in Viet Nam. While it is opening with VITM 2016, it will continue to operate afterwards.

In the near future, the operator will implement an English version of the website to target foreign tourists who want to discover Viet Nam. VNS
HA NOI  Four hundred objects collected from French Indochina will be auctioned in Paris in May.

The objects, dating back to 1860-1945, will be auctioned on May 21-23 at Druot Hotel Paris 9th District.

The objects, which were collected by Lynda Trouve and Christophe Fumeux, include paintings by students of Indochina Fine Arts College, posters, photos and art books, as well as pottery, wooden objects, jewellery and traditional dress.

Anyone who wants to sell their own collection of French Indochinese objects can contact the organisers.

A book presenting the objects will be available on the website www.artvalorem.fr.

Some of the objects were previously exhibited in Marseille, France, in 1922.

They include samples of a fishing boat on Mekong River, wooden boats on Ha Long Bay and the 1.7m-long train wagon that once ran on the Sai Gon-Thap Cham-a Lat routes.

Gustave Sage, the man responsible for this previous exhibition, has preserved the objects over the last 90 years.

Organisers of the auction said it proved that Viet Nam, as a colonised country in the 19th century, had an ancient civilisation with many talented artists and artisans. VNS
A ccording to local media, Um Sam An was arrested in the province of Siem Reap after he returned from a foreign country, where he had lived in exile.  Photo Phnom Penh Post

PHNOM PENH Viet Nam News - Cambodian police yesterday arrested opposition lawmaker Um Sam An from the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) for using fake maps on the border with Viet Nam.

According to local media, Um Sam An was arrested in the province of Siem Reap after he returned from a foreign country, where he had lived in exile.

The lawmaker was sent to the Cambodian Interior Ministrys department of anti-terrorism and transnational crimes.

In August last year, opposition senator Hong Sok Hour was arrested for posting a fake version of a Cambodia-Vieat Nam border treaty.

Hong was charged with falsifying public documents, using fake documents, and inciting chaos undermining social security.

In September last year, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen warned that the government would take strict measures against organisations and individuals who cause chaos to the social order and misunderstandings on border issues.  VNA
485 NA deputies elected Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc as Vice Chairman of the council.  VNA/VNS Photo Thong Nhat

HA NOI Viet Nam News - Lawmakers yesterday approved the Presidents proposal on the list of Vice Chairperson and members of the Council on National Defence and Security as part of the 13th National Assemblys last meeting.

Accordingly, 485 NA deputies elected Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc as Vice Chairman of the council.

NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, Minister of Public Security To Lam and Minister of National Defence Ngo Xuan Lich were voted into the councils membership by a majority of deputies.

With an almost 90 per cent of yes votes, a resolution ratifying the Presidents proposal sailed through the legislature.

On the same day, lawmakers approved a proposal presented by the Chairperson of the National Election Council (NEC) on candidates for the positions of NEC Vice Chairpersons and members.

Winning support of the majority of votes, Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh and Vice State President ang Thi Ngoc Thinh were named the Vice Chairpersons of the council.

The NEC membership was assigned to NA Vice Chairman o Ba Ty, Minister of National Defence Ngo Xuan Lich, Head of the NA Committee for Deputy Affairs Tran Van Tuy, Head of the Party Central Committees Inspection Commission Tran Quoc Vuong, Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan, Minister of Public Security To Lam, NA Vice Chairman Phung Quoc Hien, Minister of Home Affairs Le Vinh Tan, Head of the Party Central Committees Commission for Organisation Pham Minh Chinh, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee Le Quoc Phong, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Farmers Union Lai Xuan Mon, Vice Chairwoman of the Vietnam Womens Union Nguyen Thi Thu Ha and Secretary of the Party Committee of the Centrally-run Business Bloc Bui Van Cuong.

A resolution ratifying the NEC Chairpersons proposal was approved by over 88 per cent of deputies.

Earlier yesterday, NA deputies approved the discharge of several vice chairmen and members of the National Election Council and the Council on National Defence and Security through a secret ballot.

A majority of lawmakers agreed to remove former Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung from the position of Vice Chairman of the Council on National Defence and Security, and both former NA Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung and former Defence Minister Phung Quang Thanh from membership of the council.

The parliament also relieved former Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc from their duties as Vice Chairpersons of the National Election Council. Almost all NA deputies agreed to dismiss 12 members from the National Election Council.

The 13th legislatures 11th and last meeting is scheduled to close today. The working session will be broadcast live on national television and radio.  VNS
HA NOI  Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Binh held talks with Filipino Secretary of Foreign Affairs Jose Almendras in Ha Noi yesterday, during which they reaffirmed the importance of obeying international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

They emphasised the need to implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), step up negotiations to reach a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC), avoid actions that complicate the situation and not use or threaten to use violence.

The role of ASEAN in maintaining peace, stability, security, and maritime and navigation safety and freedom in the East Sea is important, they stressed.

The two sides discussed measures to implement the bilateral Strategic Partnership established in November 2015.

To step up co-operation in politics, economics, defence, agriculture, culture and education, they agreed to maintain regular exchanges and carry out existing agreements, including an agreement on maritime and fishery cooperation, an agreement on cultural cooperation and the Viet NamPhilippines Bilateral Co-operation Committee.

Both host and guest agreed to co-ordinate to organise activities marking the 40th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties in 2016 in order to tighten bilateral relations.

They also affirmed to support the Philippines ASEAN Chairmanship in 2017 and Viet Nams hosting of APEC 2017, while pledging to work with other ASEAN nations to promote the central role of ASEAN in regional co-operation.

Meeting PM

Earlier yesterday, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc also hosted the visiting Filipino Secretary of Foreign Affairs, during which he asked the two countries Governments to continue facilitating co-operation between their enterprises.

Economic collaboration is extremely important, the PM said, affirming that Viet Nam would create favourable conditions for Philippine companies in Viet Nam.

On bilateral relations in defence, he suggested the two countries further enhance co-operation.

Welcoming the upcoming visit to Viet Nam by the Secretary of National Defence, the Government leader expressed his hope that through this visit, Viet Nam and the Philippines would co-ordinate to address common challenges relating to maritime security, natural disasters, food security, and the fight against terrorism and cross-border crime.

Regarding co-operation at sea, he requested the two Governments maintain joint co-ordination programmes, strengthen the role of ASEAN in maintaining peace and co-operation in the East Sea, strictly follow the DOC and work closely to complete negotiations on a COC.

The Filipino Secretary stressed the importance of the establishment of the two countries Strategic Partnership, believing that with joint efforts, bilateral relations would achieve greater accomplishments.

He stated that the Philippines would continue to collaborate with Viet Nam in strengthening of co-ordination programmes at sea.

He proposed the Vietnamese Government co-operate more closely with the Philippine side in carrying out joint action plans, promote people-to-people diplomacy, and intensify connectivity between the two countries joint committees, particularly in economics, and the rice trade.  VNS
By Minh Huong

HA NOI  The worst drought in the last 30 years from El Nino troubled the local coffee growers in ak Lak Province, but it also taught them the value of saving water.

ak Lak, the biggest plantation of the robusta with 30 per cent contribution to Viet Nams economy, the second largest robusta export, has seen only a few spells of rain since last December, the countrys Coffee and Cocoa Association said last month.

Rainfall in April in the Central Highlands and the south is forecast to be 50 per cent to 70 per cent lower than average, according to the Viet Nams National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting. Rainfall in ak Lak Province is 86 per cent less as compared to this time last year.

Some 20 per cent of the 599 reservoirs used for irrigation have dried up, the local media reported, and added that 118 are out of use as compared to 30 at the same time last year. At least 7,000ha of coffee plantations have died there since March, according to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

Local resident Pham Van Thao, 28, said besides the irrigation water, the lack of water for consumption was the worst since he was born. Currently, there were two days with water in a week since the early this year, he said.

It should rain in March or April but it has not rained till now, Hoang Manh Thu, a coffee grower in Cu Mgar Commune said.

According to EDE Consulting Pacific, a Germany- based consulting firm which is now carrying out a 2 million (US$2.3 million) private-public- partnership (PPP) project ran between Nestle Group and Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC) to change the irrigation methods in the Central Highlands, the biggest factor for vulnerability was the dependency on water for irrigation.

EDE says farmers are using up the groundwater and levels are already declining. With increasing temperatures, increasing evapotranspiration and changes in rainfall pressure on the water levels will increase.

Many farmers have dug about 40 metres deep without finding any water.

Farmer Thu said he could earlier tend his 5ha of coffee plantations with two wells, adding, Now five wells cannot provide enough water.

A recent survey by EDE Consulting Pacific said that as many local farmers over-irrigated and exploited the underground water, they were contributing to a harder drought.

Considering water as a free gift from nature, many local farmers use even more than what the government has suggested.

In the year before, most farmers used 700 to 1,000 litres of water for a plant each time, which was some 60 per cent higher than the amount of water suggested by the local agriculture authorities, Truong Hong, deputy director of the Central Highlands Agriculture and Forestry Science Institute said.

Meanwhile, DHaeze, from EDE Consulting who has been working since 2005 with coffee farmers on an experiment to determine the right amount of water to use, said the government had suggested that even between 400 litres and 500 litres of water per plant, per watering was still too high.

Each coffee plant needs only around 350 litres per watering. If everybody uses the right amount of water at the right time, we might have enough during the dry season, he said.

Saving is a cure and key for a long-term development

Sensing the problem, Nestle Group, in co-operation with SDC launched the $2.3 million PPP project to change the irrigation methods used by local farmers in the region. Starting in April 2015 until 2019, it has supported 50,000 families in the Central Highlands region with regular training on how to use water correctly and mix the coffee plantations with other crops to enhance the economic result as well as other agriculture knowledge.

Pham Phu Ngoc, head of Nestle Vietnams Central Highlands branch, said they introduced farmers from a well-cost automatic irrigation system to a simple bottle-checked method to help farmers control the amount of water they use.

For example, Ngoc said that by placing a simple plastic bottle upside down on the ground and observing the water level, farmers are able to decide the amount of water they should use and when they should irrigate their crops.

Thu said his coffee output had increased 10 per cent to 12 per cent since he started using Nestles plan last year while he used less water. Thu said the no-cost bottle-check method has saved a third on fertilisers that used to be washed away and halved costs of labour, electricity and fuel.

Together with saving water, the project also trains farmer on how to grow either pepper, avocados or durians in their coffee plantation to boost the wetness of the area to serve the coffee trees.

The additional crops also helped increase their income as sometimes the coffee was less profitable than those crops. In the market, pepper prices had tripled in the past five years.

More importantly, it made them bio-diversify in the region, Nestle official Ngoc, who is also a local coffee grower for the last 20 years, said.

Nestle has also been running another project called NESCAFE Plan since 2011 to support the sustainable coffee re-cultivation activities by providing farmers in the region with high quality coffee seedlings with 50 per cent of price supporting.

inh Dung, head of corporate affairs and legal of Nestle Vietnam said the firm already supported farmers with 11 million seedlings which have been developed by the Central Highlands Agriculture and Forestry Science Institute.

We will not give free seedlings as we want farmers to spend on the best for them and make it a habit, Dung said.

Good seedlings contribute good coffee, higher quality and prestige for both," Dung said, adding that in the last five years, Nestle has bought from 20 per cent to 25 per cent of the total coffee output in Viet Nam annually.  VNS
The sale of a Scunthorpe-based division to Greybull Capital is both positive and negative for Tata Steel.

The good part is the sale will cut losses at Tata Steel Europe (TSE). Because the long-products division was running at sub-optimal capacity (three million tonnes per annum or mtpa versus full capacity of 4.5 mtpa) due to low demand and realisations, leading to losses. The total capacity of TSE is 17.4 mtpa.

For the December quarter, TSE had seen Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) losses widen to 68 million ($97 million) from 25 million ($35.5 million) in the September quarter. Analysts at HSBC estimate the unit sale to help TSE cut down losses by $100-150 million at the Ebitda level. With no signs of an early turnaround in Europe, selling the asset was a better option to reduce losses.

The negative part is that Tata Steel will continue to carry debt and pension liabilities from the unit. There will be no addition to pension contributions from current levels. Employees will remain under the 14-billion British Steel Pension Scheme, for which TSE is the sponsor.

After the Scunthorpe deal, focus will shift to the flat products division at Port Talbot, another loss-maker in the UK. After the sale of all UK-based assets, TSE will operate only the Ijmuiden (Netherlands) unit. This, according to analysts at Deutsche Bank, will lead to a sharp improvement in TSE's profits, making a strong case for re-rating. Analysts at Morgan Stanley estimate a recovery in European operations' Ebitda to 117 million and 293 million in FY17 and FY18, respectively. TSE is expected to report an Ebitda loss of 92 million in FY16 compared to an Ebitda profit of 290 million in FY15 (includes profit of 460 million in the Netherlands and loss of 170 million in the UK (Scunthorpe and Port Talbot).
Two Indian students at a medical college in Ukraine were stabbed to death while another sustained injuries in the attack on Sunday, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Monday.

"I am sorry two Indian students Pranav Shandilya of Muzaffarnagar and Ankur Singh (Ghaziabad) were stabbed to death in Ukraine on April 10. Inderjeet Singh Chauhan (Agra) is recuperating in hospital," External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted. She said based on the statement of Chauhan, the police have apprehended Ukraine nationals while they were trying to cross the Ukraine border.



I am sorry two Indian students Pranav Shandilya Muzaffarnagar and Ankur Singh (Ghaziabad) were stabbed to death in Ukraine on 10.4.2016./1  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) April 11, 2016

Inderjeet Singh Chauhan (Agra) is recuperating in hospital. /2  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) April 11, 2016

Read more from our special coverage on "UKRAINE" Two Indian medical students stabbed to death in Ukraine, 1 injured

Based on his statement, the police have apprehended Ukraine nationals while they were trying to cross the Ukraine border. /3  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) April 11, 2016

Our Embassy is in touch with authorities and monitoring the case. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved families. We promise them all help./4  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) April 11, 2016

"Passports/documents of the Indian students and blood-stained knife were reportedly recovered" from them, MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said. "Our Embassy is in touch with authorities and monitoring the case. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved families. We promise them all help," the minister said.

The three, students of the Uzhgorod Medical College in Ukraine, were stabbed by three Ukrainian nationals at around 3 am on Sunday morning. Shaindilya was a third year student while Singh was a fourth year student at the college.

"The Embassy has spoken to the families of the two deceased students. All necessary actions are being taken to complete the formalities for sending the two bodies to India. The Embassy is also taking up the matter related to safety of Indian students strongly with the Foreign Office of Ukraine," said Swarup.
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Stamp price cut bad for USPS finances

WASHINGTON (WP)  Stamp prices dropped Sunday  to 47 cents from 49 cents to mail a card or letter.

But that two cents worth of good news for consumers is bad news for the struggling U.S. Postal Service and has some customers worried about service cuts.

The $0.02 price cut equals a $2 billion annual loss for the Postal Service. It relies on the sale of goods and services  not tax dollars  to fund its operations.

Given our precarious financial condition and ongoing business needs, the price reduction required by the PRC (Postal Regulatory Commission) exacerbates our losses, Megan J. Brennan, postmaster general and CEO, said in a statement last week.

Zeppelin copyright case going to trial

LOS ANGELES (AP)  A trial is needed to determine if Led Zeppelins Stairway to Heaven copies its opening notes from a song performed by the rock band Spirit, a federal judge has ruled.

U.S District Judge R. Gary Klausner ruled Friday lawyers for the trustee of late Spirit guitarist Randy Wolfe had shown enough evidence to support a case Stairway to Heaven copies music from the Spirit song Taurus.

Taurus was written by Wolfe in either 1966 or 1967, years before Led Zeppelin released Stairway to Heaven in 1971.

Led Zeppelin and Spirit performed at some concerts and festivals around the same time, but not on the same stage.

District fires officer who slammed girl

SAN ANTONIO (AP)  A San Antonio school officer caught on tape body-slamming a 12-year-old middle-school student was fired Monday by the district, which said the officers misstatements about what happened were revealed by the video.

Officer Joshua Kehms statements on the March incident were inconsistent with the video and his response was absolutely unwarranted, the San Antonio Independent School District said in a statement.

Superintendent Pedro Martinez said Kehms case has been referred to the Texas Rangers, the state law enforcement agency, for possible criminal charges.

Feds charge Texas AG with fraud

AUSTIN, Texas  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday charged Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton with civil securities fraud for promoting a North Texas tech firm, adding to the first-term Republicans growing legal woes.

Paxton and Tyler resident Caleb J. White were charged with persuading others to buy stock in tech firm Servergy Inc. without disclosing they were being paid to promote the company. The attorney general, a Republican from McKinney, also faces criminal fraud charges in Texas for these same allegations.

Paxton allegedly raised $840,000 from investors for the company, for which he received 100,000 shares of stock. He allegedly did not tell the investors he himself had not bought stock in the company.

Utah polygamy ban restored by court

SALT LAKE CITY (AP)  A federal appeals court restored Utahs ban on polygamy Monday, handing a defeat to the family from TVs Sister Wives and other polygamists who say the ruling could send plural families back into hiding out of fear of prosecution.

Others cheered the decision they say will help authorities prosecute people for crimes tied to the practice, such as underage marriage and sexual assault.
INDEPENDENCE  A Buchanan County man has been indicted on weapons charges in connection with a December incident in Independence.

A grand jury returned an indictment Wednesday charging Quint Mathias Freilinger, 52, with being a felon in possession of a firearm in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids. He is being held in the Linn County Jail.

The case was unsealed Friday after Independence police arrested him on the federal warrant.

The charge alleges Freilinger  who is barred from handling weapons because of conviction for operating while intoxicated, going armed and theft between 1986 and 2005  possessed a Remington 783 bolt-action rifle in Independence on Dec. 31. Court records show Freilinger was detained on state drug and weapons charges at the time.

Arlington woman dies in crash

MILLVILLE  The Clayton County Sheriffs Office said an Arlington woman died in a single-vehicle crash Sunday morning.

Deputies responded to the accident around 3:40 a.m. on U.S. Highway 52, about a quarter-mile north of Estes Point Road near Millville.

Investigators say 21-year-old Seanalee Bailey lost control of her pickup truck while driving north. The pickup rolled into a ditch and she was ejected. Emergency respondents pronounced Bailey dead at the scene.

The Clayton County Sheriffs Office and the Iowa State Patrol are investigating the crash.

Illinois man hurt

in crash at Jesup

JESUP  An Illinois man escaped serious injury in a rollover crash on U.S. Highway 20 near Jesup early Monday.

Joshua Balsley, 20, of Rock Falls, Ill., was eastbound near mile marker 243 when he lost control of his vehicle due to a possible mechanical failure about 4:30 a.m., according to the Black Hawk County Sheriffs Office.

The vehicle entered the south ditch and rolled several times, coming to rest on its wheels along the edge of a field fence.

Balsley sustained only minor cuts and scrapes, but was transported to Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo for observation.

Man arrested for box cutter slashing

WATERLOO  A Waterloo man has been arrested for allegedly threatening a woman with a box cutter and slashing the arm of a man who came to her aid, police said.

Tommie Lee Johnson Jr., 51, of 617 W. Second St., No. 4, was arrested Saturday for assault while displaying a weapon. He was taken to the Black Hawk County Jail, and bond was set at $5,000.

Police said Johnson put a razor to the neck of Ruby Searcy, 61, at the apartment building where he lived at about 8:40 p.m. Saturday. He then cut Johnny Lee, 38, on the arm. Lee was taken to Covenant Medical Center by private vehicle.

Officers found Johnson with a razor and a knife when they arrived.

According to Courier archives, Johnson had been stabbed in March following an argument at the same building. He suffered a deep stab wound to the abdomen and was taken to UnityPoint Health-Allen Hospital for treatment March 1. In that case, Leslie Anderson was arrested for domestic assault and willful injury. Her trial is slated for May.

Sex ed video upsets Decorah parent

DECORAH  A parents email response to a sexual education program for fourth-graders led Decorah Police and the Decorah School District to increase security Monday.

Superintendent Mike Haluska said the parent was unhappy he wasnt notified about the human sexuality video and materials.

Haluska said the email the parent sent to the district used several phrases that could be interpreted as dangerous, including declaring war on the Decorah School District.

As a result of the email, extra officers were put on patrol and outdoor activities at the elementary school were canceled. The parent also was served a no-trespass order.

Many parents kept their children at home Monday. The district said 26 percent of the student body wasnt in class.

The superintendent said elementary students are given a letter to take home to parents about the class. Information also is in the schools newsletter. Haluska said apparently neither piece of information made it to the parent.

He said the materials are distributed by the Area Education Agency and the video students watch in class is produced by the Disney Co.
DES MOINES -- Working with a funding increase of less than one-half of 1 percent for the coming fiscal year, Iowa legislators warned of higher tuition at universities and community colleges, and delayed summer reading programs at the K-12 level.

Its unfortunate we are in a situation that only $4.9 million is being invested in our education program, Rep. Cindy Winckler, D-Davenport, told colleagues on the Education Appropriations Subcommittee on Tuesday.

She was referring to the $4.9 million increase in education funding in the $7.35 billion budget lawmakers are expected to approve in the coming days. After factoring in a shift of $12.6 million from human services to education, the $1,009,736,682 education budget is an increase of 0.49 percent from the current year.

Subcommittee co-chairs Rep. Cecil Dolecheck, R-Mount Ayr, and Sen. Brian Schoenjahn, D-Arlington, hope to have final budget numbers this morning.

Were close, Dolecheck said. Theres not much to fight over when you only have $5 million.

The problem didnt start this year, said Sen. Wally Horn, D-Cedar Rapids, who noted in his 43-year legislative career hes voted for at least three sales tax increases to support education funding.

We dont want education to go to hell, Horn said. Last year we said next year. We cant do that much more this year, but what are we going to do next year?

Nearly every member of the committee mentioned the need to increase community college funding, which was unchanged last year after Gov. Terry Branstad vetoed funds for the two-year schools.

Community colleges are looking at hiking tuition $10 to $11 a credit hour to cover their costs, according to Rep. Charlie McConkey, D-Council Bluffs.

A tuition increase is almost certain at regents universities, added Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, who said more than half of his constituents are Iowa State University students.

The Board of Regents asked for $20 million in new funds for the 2017 fiscal year. Branstad put $8 million in his budget proposal to be split between the three universities.

University tuitions have more than doubled in recent decades, Quirmbach said, and when adjusted for inflation regents university funding has decreased $300 million.

Lawmakers also discussed the lack of funding that has led to a delay in starting a summer intensive reading program for third-graders not reading at grade level. Branstad didnt budget funds for the program for this summer, but about 130 school districts are planning pilot programs.

Without state funding, the summer intensive reading program is a $10 million unfunded mandate of local schools, lawmakers said.
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Turkey plans grid connection to serve Akkuyu project

12 April 2016

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Turkey's Council of Ministers has ordered the acquisition of land enabling construction of a 380 kV transmission line for the planned Akkuyu nuclear power plant. The order is contained in three announcements published in the official state gazette on 10 April.

How four AES-2006 units could appear at Akkuyu (Image: Rosatom)

Accordingly, the state transmission grid operator TEIAS is authorised to demand the sale of land for a 240 km (149 mile) line that is to run in three sections - Akkuyu NGS-Ermenek HES, Akkuyu NGS-Konya and Akkuyu NGS-Seydisehir. At Konya, the line will be connected to TEIAS' existing transmission grid.

In June last year, JSC Akkuyu NPP, the Russian-owned company responsible for what will be Turkey's first nuclear power plant, was awarded a preliminary licence, enabling the company to start investment and permitting procedures for the project.

The project to build four 1200 MWe Gidropress-designed AES-2006 VVER pressurized water reactors is being financed by Russia under a build-own-operate model, in accordance with an intergovernmental agreement Turkey and Russia signed in 2010. The plant is scheduled to start operations in 2023 - the centenary of the founding of the Republic of Turkey.

A French-Japanese consortium between Areva and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries plans to build Turkey's second nuclear power plant, in the northern Black Sea city of Sinop.

In addition, state generation company Elektrik Uretim AS signed an agreement last November for exclusive talks with Westinghouse and China's State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation for the development of a four-reactor plant based on the AP1000 design in Igneada district in the northwestern province of Krklareli.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

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If youre looking to try out an online casino, there are several things that will help you make a decision. Heres what you should look for when choosing an online casino

 Are they regulated? A lot of the larger ones have licenses issued by the authorities in their respective regions, so its worth checking this first.

 Do they offer games from different software providers? Some casinos just use one software provider and limit your selection. This is fine if you like playing those types of games but you may want to check other casinos as well.

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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.

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 Is there a bonus offer? Many online casinos offer free bonuses as part of their welcome package  which includes new players being awarded 100% up to $10 instantly, for example. These offers are great but not everyone has access to them all the time (and some require you to deposit real money). If youd prefer to avoid paying a fee, some casinos offer no-deposit bonuses where you can get a certain amount of funds before you need to put any actual money into the account. These are usually offered alongside welcome bonuses, so make sure you read both parts of the terms and conditions carefully before signing up.

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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

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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.

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Apr 12, 2016 | By Alec

3D printing has become a perfect tool for fashion designers. At the 2016 edition of the Wuhan Textile University Fashion Week, student Tang Xiao showcased three gorgeous 3D printed dresses, all featuring white bone-like structures inspired by the Sirens of Greek mythology.

The 2016 edition of the Wuhan Textile University Fashion Week kicked off in Beijing last week, and will continue until the end of this week. Exhibiting over 100 amazing creations by graduate students spread out over nine days and 17 shows, it is the perfect occasion to find out more about what Chinas up-and-coming fashion designers are working on.

But few designers stood out more than Tang Xiao thanks to her amazing blend of fashion and top level technology. While weve seen 3D printed dresses before, the 23-year-old Tang Xiao went out of her way to mimic bone structures as closely as possible for her three dresses. Whats more, all dresses have been 3D printed and modeled to fit the models body perfectly, with each section of clothing being tailored separately. Tang Xiao worked on the three 3D printed dresses for a total of four months from start to finish. In total she believes to have spent about 50,000 RMB on the dresses, or about $7,700 USD.

Whats more, all dresses were inspired by the mysterious Sirens from Greek mythology  the enchanting, gorgeous and deadly sea creatures who lured sailors to their deaths with their mesmerizing music. As the designer explained, that definition of a Siren sometimes gets in the way of seeing those creatures objectively. For a lot of people, a Siren is simply beautiful, deadly and poisonous. But I actually wanted to emphasize it as just a creature, a very pure and simple creature. These judgements mirror modern society, where a lot of people only look at the surface of others, she explains.

This is also reflected in the chosen color scheme  or lack thereof. Today, we always wear colored glasses used to judge others, so I decided to use white as an overall color. This expresses their inner purity, she says. As to the shape of the dresses, I exaggerated them a bit to reflect the qualities of 3D printing. A 3D printer can make almost anything, it constructs objects and forms that are impossible for other technologies to copy.

According to Tao Hui, the Vice President of the Wuhan Textile University, this project shows exactly what 3D printing can bring to fashion design. It offers, he said in his introduction, huge advantages when it comes to customizing and rapid prototyping very fine structures. Once more materials appear on the market, they can be used to realize wearable accessories and clothes. He believes it is a very attractive technology for those people who want to design and 3D print their own unique clothes.

Unfortunately, the technologys material limitations are preventing its adoption by the clothing industry, the vice president argued. We are used to clothing being flexible, which fits our constantly changing body shapes. The biggest problem holding 3D printing back is that we are trying to put rigid materials onto the flexible human body. Thats why we are not wearing 3D printed clothes yet, Tao Hui said. This is certainly emphasized by Tang Xiaos dresses, which are absolutely gorgeous but dont look very comfortable.

Nonetheless, the vice president feels that these kinds of projects do pave the way for further use of 3D printing in fashion, especially for accessories and wearables. We can already use it for accessories, as quite a lot of international designers are already doing. These are just 3D printed concepts that give us a glimpse of the future. A future industry where traditional sewing could be replaced by one-time forming through 3D printing. No matter what style you prefer, we can make it in a single print job, he concluded.

Posted in 3D Printing Application

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Kevin Drum in Mother Jones:

Giuliani won the election, and he made good on his crime-fighting promises by selecting Boston police chief Bill Bratton as the NYPD's new commissioner. Bratton had made his reputation as head of the New York City Transit Police, where he aggressively applied broken-windows policing to turnstile jumpers and vagrants in subway stations. With Giuliani's eager support, he began applying the same lessons to the entire city, going after panhandlers, drunks, drug pushers, and the city's hated squeegee men. And more: He decentralized police operations and gave precinct commanders more control, keeping them accountable with a pioneering system called CompStat that tracked crime hot spots in real time.

The results were dramatic. In 1996, the New York Times reported that crime had plunged for the third straight year, the sharpest drop since the end of Prohibition. Since 1993, rape rates had dropped 17 percent, assault 27 percent, robbery 42 percent, and murder an astonishing 49 percent. Giuliani was on his way to becoming America's Mayor and Bratton was on the cover of Time. It was a remarkable public policy victory.

But even more remarkable is what happened next. Shortly after Bratton's star turn, political scientist John DiIulio warned that the echo of the baby boom would soon produce a demographic bulge of millions of young males that he famously dubbed juvenile super-predators. Other criminologists nodded along. But even though the demographic bulge came right on schedule, crime continued to drop. And drop. And drop. By 2010, violent crime rates in New York City had plunged 75 percent from their peak in the early '90s.

More here.
William Logan at The New Criterion:

About the early history of the sonnets, we know almost nothing. The first reference comes in 1598, when Shakespeare already had a reputation on the stagethe plays behind him included A Midsummer Nights Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Richard II, Richard III, and The Merchant of Venice. That year Francis Meres praised him inPalladis Tamia as the most excellent English playwright, like Plautus and Seneca a master of comedy and tragedy. Shakespeare had first come to attention as author of a popular pillow-book, Venus and Adonis (1593), and what he called a graver labor, The Rape of Lucrece(1594). Meres remarked that the sweet witty soul of Ovid lives in mellifluous and honey-tongued Shakespeare, witness his Venus andAdonis, his Lucrece, his sugared Sonnets among his private friends. The sugared sonnets were eventually published in quarto as Shake-speares Sonnets (1609).

Who those private friends were and what they possessed has excited speculation ever since. If not an outright liar, Meres was close enough to that circle to have heard of these private verses. Perhaps he had seen a fewsugared sounds like firsthand acquaintance, not gossip. In the surviving manuscripts of the next century, there are almost 250 copies of Sidneys poems, over seven hundred of Jonsons, and more than four thousand of Donnes. Of Shakespeares there are only twenty-six, almost all dating to the 1630s or later, none probably earlier than 1620. Either Shakespeares private circle was very small, or its members guarded the sonnets closely. The poems were probably untitled and for the most part unpunctuated, like his contribution toThe Book of Sir Thomas More.

more here.
Helping artists across the U.S. build capacity and community
Read more articles by Zac Taylor.

Zac Taylor, Ph.D., is a Research Fellow at KU Leuven in Belgium, where he studies climate change adaptation in cities, with a focus on real estate and finance. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Leeds in the UK and holds degrees in urban planning from U.C. Berkeley and the London School of Economics. You can reach him on twitter @zacjtaylor.


Pilbara Lithium Project Enhanced By New Acquisition

Brisbane, April 12, 2016 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Sayona Mining Limited ( ASX:SYA ) is pleased to announce that it is continuing to advance its lithium exploration portfolio with a new application of 140 km2 at Cooglegong, covering the northern part of the Shaw River tin field in the Pilbara district of Western Australia.



Highlights:



- Application for 140 km2 covering a historic tin field with rare metal pegmatites



- Never previously explored for lithium but host to prospective albite pegmatites



- Pilbara lithium project now totals six tenements covering 764 km2



The Shaw River tin field covers an area of historic tin mining and is host to numerous pegmatites of albite composition. Tantalum is also reported from the area, indicating the potential presence of rare metal, lithium prospective pegmatite systems.



Mineralisation is hosted in pegmatite related to a 'newer' granite, the Spearhill Adamellite. The Cooglegong application (ELA 45/4738 - see Figure 1 in link below) secures part of this intrusion and the surrounding Shaw River batholith, and greenstone remnants.



The area has never been explored for its lithium potential, but the presence of rare metal pegmatites, an evolved albite composition and presence of suitable host rocks indicates an elevated prospectivity.



The Company is exploring the project for its potential to host the albite - spodumene class of rare metal pegmatite and is developing a range of methodologies to efficiently test its large Pilbara regional project area. The Company has new secured granted and tenement applications totalling 764 km2 in the Pilbara region, and 843 km2 in Western Australia.



To view tables and figures, please visit:

http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/0E9I332E





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


Builds Momentum in UK, Signs Contracts in England and Scotland

Auckland, April 12, 2016 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Orion Health ( NZE:OHE ) ( ASX:OHE ) has today announced it has signed two contracts that will significantly extend its presence in the United Kingdom. It will provide a comprehensive technology solution for two leading hospitals in London, and it will implement an integrated health and social care solution for NHS Fife in east Scotland.



Orion Health CEO Ian McCrae says the success in both countries demonstrates the substantial impact that the company is having in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) region.



"We responded to a highly competitive tender process for the London hospitals and were chosen as the preferred vendor after our solution was evaluated against a number of criteria and compared against other vendors' products," Mr McCrae says.



"Separately, we will be working with NHS Fife and Fife Council to enable an integrated health and social care record for adult services, following a successful pilot programme. This contract extends Orion Health's reach to five mainland health boards and one specialist health board and increases the population covered by Orion Health solutions to over 50% of Scotland."



For the London Hospitals, the company will deploy a comprehensive Electronic Medical Record (EMR) and patient engagement solution made up of Orion Health Consult and Orion Health Engage. The EMR will empower clinicians by combining all relevant patient information from disparate systems into one patient record, making critical information readily available through a clinical portal, thereby improving decision making and organisational efficiency.



The Orion Health solution for NHS Fife will provide an integrated health and social care record for a comprehensive range of adult services including adult social work and housing services. The implementation is prompted by the Scottish Government's new requirement that every health board and local authority in Scotland must integrate its healthcare service.



William Edwards, General Manager eHealth and IMT, NHS Fife says, "We were impressed by Orion Health's ability to work collaboratively with us during an initial pilot phase and are excited to be proceeding onto the full roll-out phase. The solution will help enable us to deliver better, coordinated care to the entire Fife community."



Both contracts will boost the number of patient healthcare records managed by Orion Health software, as the London hospitals care for one million people and NHS Fife and Fife Council serve a population of over 360,000. Currently Orion Health's software manages over 90 million patient healthcare records worldwide.





About Orion Health Group Ltd





Orion Health (NZX:OHE) (ASX:OHE) is a technology company that provides solutions which enable healthcare to over 90 million patients in more than 25 countries. Its open technology platform seamlessly integrates all forms of relevant data to enable population and personalised healthcare around the world. The company employs over 1250 people globally and is committed to continual innovation, investing over 30% of total operating revenue year to date in research and development, to cement its position at the forefront of Precision Medicine. For more information visit www.orionhealth.com


Altech Share Purchase Plan Closed with Strong Support

Perth, April 12, 2016 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Altech Chemicals Limited ( ASX: ATC ) advises that its Share Purchase Plan (SPP) has now closed.



Highlights:



- $0.744 million raised via Share Purchase Plan



- 8.6 million new shares issued at 8.6 cents per share



- Discussions with various potential investors ongoing



The Company is delighted with the support for the SPP. A total of $744,000 was raised from the 250 shareholders that participated.



Total funds raised by the Company from the SPP and the recently announced share placement totals ~$2.0 million.



The funds will be applied to finalising the detailed design of Altech's proposed high purity alumina (HPA) plant in Malaysia, finalising debt funding for the project, and for general working capital purposes.



Altech managing director, Mr Iggy Tan said, "the Company is most appreciative of the strong support shown by our shareholders for the SPP, which follows on from the support of predominantly new shareholders for the recently completed share placement."



The Company is in ongoing discussions with various other potential investors that were unable to meet the timeline to participate in the recent share placement, but remain interested to make an investment in Altech", Iggy concluded.





About Altech Chemicals Ltd





Altech Chemicals Limited (ASX:ATC) (FRA:A3Y) is aiming to become one of the world's leading suppliers of 99.99% (4N) high purity alumina (Al2O3) through the construction and operation of a 4,500tpa high purity alumina (HPA) processing plant at Johor, Malaysia. Feedstock for the plant will be sourced from the Company's 100%-owned kaolin deposit at Meckering, Western Australia and shipped to Malaysia.



HPA is a high-value, high margin and highly demanded product as it is the critical ingredient required for the production of synthetic sapphire. Synthetic sapphire is used in the manufacture of substrates for LED lights, semiconductor wafers used in the electronics industry, and scratch-resistant sapphire glass used for wristwatch faces, optical windows and smartphone components. Increasingly HPA is used by lithium-ion battery manufacturers as the coating on the battery's separator, which improves performance, longevity and safety of the battery. With global HPA demand approximately 19,000t (2018), it is estimated that this demand will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30% (2018-2028); by 2028 HPA market demand will be approximately 272,000t, driven by the increasing adoption of LEDs worldwide as well as the demand for HPA by lithium-ion battery manufacturers to serve the surging electric vehicle market.
The Institute of Internal Auditors has introduced an Environmental, Health & Safety Audit Center to highlight the growing role of EHS auditors in corporate governance.

The IIA is seeing the scope of EHS auditors work expand beyond regulatory compliance to encompass risk mitigation, sustainability and other areas. The center will focus on expanding the reach of EHS auditing as its importance grows.

The new center evolved from the IIAs planned merger with the Auditing Roundtable, an EHS auditing group created in 1982 that offers training and advocacy for the profession. The merger, announced last year, is pending final state regulatory approval.

The new EHS Center includes a dedicated website, which the IIA unveiled Tuesday, with offerings for members of the new IIA center. The website will be available free online through June 30. The centers director, Tammy Wyche, has worked in the areas of hazardous waste management, environmental, health and safety auditing, employee training programs, and regulatory compliance.

The new center will help EHS professionals improve their skills and education through a mix of content, training, educational products and research. The center also will serve as an advocate for the profession, highlighting changes in regulations, new legislation, emerging technology, and evolving stakeholder demands that affect the profession and its practitioners.

The needs of todays EHS auditors have grown in complexity as stakeholders demand more of them, said Auditing Roundtable Board president Bill Qualls in a statement. This new specialized center from the IIA offers the resources of a global organization with the capacity to expand training and advocacy at a crucial time for the profession.

The risks associated with workplace health-and-safety regulatory compliance have expanded, the IIA pointed out. This positions EHS auditors to offer great value to their organizations. The variety of environmental regulations and growing pressure on corporations to integrate sustainability into their business plans also offer new opportunities and challenges to EHS auditors.

At a time when the influence of EHS auditing is growing rapidly, it is only natural for The IIA to launch the Environmental, Health & Safety Audit Center, said IIA president and CEO Richard Chambers. The new EHS website is just the start of our efforts to develop a specialty center dedicated to the serving the unique needs of EHS professionals.

The IIA has previously recognized the service provided by the EHS profession. The Board of Environmental, Health and Safety Auditor Certifications (BEAC), a joint venture of the IIA and the Auditing Roundtable, has offered several certifications for professionals to demonstrate their expertise in EHS-related topics since 1997.
PricewaterhouseCoopers has selected Timothy F. Ryan as its new U.S. chairman for a four-year term beginning on July 1, 2016, succeeding Bob Moritz, who is becoming global chairman.

Ryan has served since 2013 as vice chairman and strategy and stakeholders leader for U.S. markets, where he was responsible for PwC USs strategy function and stakeholder relationships including investor relations, regulatory affairs, public policy, corporate responsibility and human capital.

Prior to that, he led PwCs U.S. Assurance practice, where he oversaw all strategy and implementation of solutions that enhance the reliability of financial information shared between internal and external partners, investors and regulators. In addition, Ryan has led PwCs U.S. Financial Services practice and Consumer Finance Group.

"It's not just about the team's accomplishment; it's also about what you can learn from each member of the team," he said.

Ryan has more than 25 years of diversified experience in client strategy and relationship management. In addition to his external leadership role, he also served on PwCs Closing the Expectation Gap Committee, in which his contributions helped to design and implement improvements that addressed gaps between the expectations of constituents and accounting standards. He also serves on the Board of Trustees for the Securities and Exchange Commission Historical Society and the Childrens Aid Society.

Tim brings a strong sense of business strategy and client relationship management to his new role, said Brian Cullinan, chairman of PwCs U.S. Board, in a statement. During his tenure at PwC and as the Markets, Strategy and Stakeholders Leader, Tim has instilled a unique approach to business growth within our culture and for our clients. With purpose always at the forefront, Tim has played a significant role in growing client trust and implementing new strategies that enable PwC to deliver outstanding client service.

Ryan is a CPA in Massachusetts and New York and a member of the American Institute of CPAs. He serves on the board of trustees for the Securities and Exchange Commission Historical Society. He graduated from Babson College where he studied accounting and communications. A Boston native, he joined the firm after graduation. He has six children.

Ryan Bob Moritz, who was appointed last month as global chairman of PwC and will assume his new role in July 2016 (see PwC Names Robert Moritz as Global Chairman). Moritz has served two terms as U.S. chairman since 2009.

I have had the pleasure of knowing, and working closely with, Tim for many years, said Moritz. His tremendous passion for the firm, for serving our stakeholders, for making this a place where talented people want to be, for our responsibility to society, and for our shared future is evident. I know under his leadershipand with the support of his teamthe firm will continue to prosper.

Cullinan praised Moritz for his work at the firm. I would like to thank Bob for his commitment and successful leadership of the PwC US practice over the last seven years, he said. In his new role as Global chairman of the PwC network, he will be a strong leader for the firm not only in the pursuit of excellence for its clients, but also in challenging the business community on the issues of diversity and purpose.

Ryan will also succeed Moritz as a member of the governing board of the Center for Audit Quality, which issued a statement praising him. Tim is a proven leader who has played a critical role in driving PwCs strategy and the firms outreach to key stakeholders including investors and regulators, said CAQ executive director Cindy Fornelli. Tim will bring an unwavering commitment to audit quality and a wealth of diverse experiences to the chairman role. The CAQ congratulates Tim on his election and we look forward to working with him as a member of the CAQ Governing Board.
The Senate Finance Committee held a hearing Tuesday to examine the Internal Revenue Services recent failures to protect taxpayer information from cybercriminals.

The hearing probed the IRSs efforts to protect private taxpayer information this tax season to determine what improvements may be needed to better safeguard taxpayers from cybercriminals.

In his opening statement, Senate Finance Committee chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, pointed out that his committee urged the IRS, state revenue commissioners, and leaders in the tax preparation industry to come together last year to convene a Security Summit. That effort led to new information-sharing agreements to help identify suspicious activity in the tax filing and refund process.

But in the face of this progress, we have also seen unprecedented growth in the scope and scale of cyber-attacks aimed at stealing personal information and billions of dollars from taxpayers, said Hatch. Last year alone, cyber-criminals obtained access to sensitive personal information from several large health insurers, exposing tens of millions of Americans to potential identity theft. Foreign governments gained access to poorly protected federal government databases, including a treasure trove of information at the Office of Personnel Management.

While there has been some progress, Hatch acknowledged, the challenges are continuing to grow, and identity thieves are becoming more sophisticated and aggressive. American taxpayersand their livelihoodsare their targets, he said. In other words, we have a lot of work to do. My hope is that well continue to be able to work on these issues on a bipartisan basis in order to do right by the American people.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, acknowledged that government agencies are failing to protect American taxpayers from identity theft. Hackers and crooks, including many working for foreign crime syndicates, are jumping at every opportunity they have to steal hard-earned money and sensitive personal data from U.S. taxpayers, he said. It happens online and in the real world. And in my view, taxpayers have been failed by the agencies, the companies and the policymakers here in Congress they rely on to protect them.

Wyden pointed to problems with the IRSs online Get Transcript application last year (see IRS Finds Get Transcript Data Breach Was More Widespread).

It was unacceptable for the IRS to leave the front door open to hackers by using a weak authentication process for its Get Transcript system, he said. It meant thieves could walk through the door and steal the tax information of three quarters of a million taxpayers.

Wyden also pointed to problems this year with the IRSs Identity Protection PIN system for previous victims of identity theft (see IRS Suspends IP PIN Service for Identity Theft Victims). To make matters worse, after the IRS mailed special Identity Protection PIN numbers to the hacking victims, it repeated its mistake and used lax security online, he said. For the tax scammers, once again it was as easy as going online, plugging in the personal data youve already stolen, and pretending to be somebody whos lost their IP PIN. So after leaving the front door open, the IRS left the back door open, too. There is no excuse for this.

Wyden pointed out that the IRS has been losing many of its top technology staff to the private sector. If youre a top-notch tech expert, youre already taking a pay cut to work in public service compared to what youd earn at firms in Oregon or California, he said. Now, without whats called streamlined critical pay authority, it can take four to six months to bring a new hire on board at the IRS. So lets be clear: Taxpayer information is under assault every day, but the IRS does not have the legal authority it needs from Congress to build a cybersecurity team that can beat back the crooks. Already theres been an exodus of high-ranking IRS tech staff. The Director of Cybersecurity Operations left a month ago. The terms for the remaining employees working under this authority continue to expire, including for one of our witnesses, Chief Technology Officer Terence Milholland. Come 2017, there will not be any left.

Wyden blamed unregulated tax preparers for some of the criminal activity. For years Republicans and Democrats agreed on the need for minimum standards for return preparers, but Congress has sat back and watched while criminals have come in and preyed on taxpayers, he said. When it comes to blocking hackers, Congress has done next to nothing while the IRS loses its ability to hire the experts who can keep taxpayer information safe.

He acknowledged that many tax preparers are honest practitioners, but added that there are also some bad apples in the barrel.

Last year Senator [Ben] Cardin and I introduced a bill giving IRS the authority to regulate tax return preparers, said Wyden. Senator Hatch and I have worked to create a bipartisan identity theft bill for markup in the Finance Committee, which I had hoped would include the regulation of return preparers. It is still my view that people handling sensitive taxpayer information should meet minimum standards and that the committee should vote to require that.

Comptroller General Gene Dodaro, who heads the Government Accountability Office, discussed a new GAO report on the IRSs need to further improve controls over taxpayer data and combat identity theft and tax refund fraud. The report noted that the IRS estimates it paid $3.1 billion in fraudulent refunds in filing season 2014, while preventing $22.5 billion. However, the full extent of the identity theft is unknown because of the challenges inherent in detecting this type of fraud.

IRS Commissioner John Koskinen defended his agencys efforts while pointing to the need for more funding to improve the agencys cybersecurity. Securing our systems and taxpayer data continues to be a top priority for the IRS, he said. Even with our constrained resources as a result of repeatedly decreased funding over the past few years, we continue to devote significant time and attention to this challenge, which is twofold. First, the IRS works continuously to protect our main computer systems from cyber incidents, intrusions and attacks, but our primary focus is to prevent criminals from accessing taxpayer information stored in our databases. These core tax-processing systems remain secure, through a combination of cyber defenses, which currently withstand more than one million attempts to maliciously access our systems each day. Second, the IRS is waging an ongoing battle to protect taxpayers and their information as we confront the growing problem of stolen identity refund fraud.

But Koskinen said the IRS needs to continue to make itself available online to taxpayers. As we confront these challenges, the IRS has also been working to expand and improve our ability to interact with taxpayers online, he said. While we already engage taxpayers across numerous communications channels, we realize the need to meet taxpayers increasing demand for digital services.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, pressed Koskinen on why the IRS hasnt implemented several recommendations to protect taxpayer information. Grassley, a former chairman of the Finance Committee and the current chairman of the Judiciary Committee, recently introduced legislation to increase penalties for the theft of taxpayer information (see Senate Bill Would Toughen Penalties for Tax ID Theft).

Agency watchdogs and auditors put out a lot of recommendations that took time and money and would help solve problems, said Grassley. Its frustrating when agencies dont implement the recommendations and even more frustrating when they dont have a good reason for not implementing the recommendations, as we saw with the IRS today.

J. Russell George, head of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, testified about the various audits, reports and recommendations on IRS cybersecurity from his staff. Since FY 2011, TIGTA has designated the security of taxpayer data as the top concern facing the IRS based on the increased number and sophistication of threats to taxpayer information and the need for the IRS to better protect taxpayer data and improve its enterprise security program, he said. To provide oversight of the IRSs Information Security program, TIGTA conducts ongoing audit coverage of various security programs, systems and solutions. As of March 2016, 14 TIGTA audits still have 23 recommendations that have yet to be implemented. These recommendations address weaknesses related to connections with external partners, continuous efforts to monitor information security, implementation of the Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 initiative, and information technology asset management. TIGTA continues to identify significant security weaknesses that could affect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of financial and sensitive taxpayer data.
Taproot Dentsu saw tremendous success at the Goafest Abbys 2016, taking home 40 metals that included two Gold, 19 Silver and 19 Bronze. And all this was achieved with a team of just 40 members.

In conversation with Adgully, Santosh Padhi, Chief Creative Officer & Co-Founder, Taproot India, shares the success mantra of his agency.

Adgully (AG): Taproot Dentsu has been the star of Dentsu Aegis Network at Goafest this year. What are the kind of elements you bring to the table that motivates the team to perform better all the time?

Santosh Padhi (SP): I think it is amazing that we have got 40 metals at Goafest Abbys this year; to be precise, this the first time that we have reached such a high metal count. In 2004, we secured 34 metals where Ogilvy led the tally with 52 metals. Interestingly, at that time when we scored 34 metals, the number of people that we had at the agency were only 33. And this time too, the number of metals that we have received equals the number of people in the agency  40. And we have one office.

I think it is phenomenal. You cant be comparing apples with oranges. Hence, it will be unfair to compare us with other agencies which have 2,000 people, eight different offices, and six different verticals. We are very happy with what we have achieved and celebrating as if we are the No. 1 agency, and why shouldnt we?

I think a lot has gone into the system in the last 6-7 years. Right from day one, our mantra has been to be known for our creative product than for anything else, and if you track our past record, we have been No. 2 or No. 3 at any international awards platform wherever we have participated  be it Cannes, AdFest, Spikes or D&AD. We have been among the top two at Goafest since the last seven years. We believe in consistency, be it for the brands or for the agency. I think consistency is what matters and makes you become solid, tough and stronger as a agency and as a person. And this is relevant not only to this industry, but to every industry and to every individual. So we strongly feel that consistency is the key to our success.

We have a phenomenal team, which is very hard working and which has been pushing every opportunity that we are getting. We did close to 400 print ads last year for The Times of India Group comprising 11 editions of TOI, seven editions of Mumbai Mirror and three editions of Maharashtra Times. So in a way we were competing with ourselves in the Media/ Publisher category because all of them were entitled to one category, which is media publication. Having said that, I think not only The Times of India, but Airtel, Dulux or any project that we take, we have been fighting for an opportunity to push that extra centimetre. As they say, boond boond se sagar banta hai, so when you are small, every drop counts. Today, we are a sea and hats off to our guys who have been contributing to getting that opportunity. We are extremely happy with the way things have been going for the agency in the last 6-7 years and this gives us a solid confidence that we will become stronger and better in the coming years.

AG: What is the culture that you are trying to inculcate or instil in the agency?

SP: We dont have an HR department, we dont have personal assistants, we dont have a films department, or accounts department. We dont have a receptionist. This has been the culture from day one  right from the peon to the creative director can step into Aggies (Agnello Dias) cabin and ask anything. If they step out of that room happy and satisfied, it adds to our wonderful work. We have seen the energy levels go up after spending even a couple of minutes with our team. This is our culture. There is a large number of kids in this industry, they need to be given the right direction and their energy needs to be utilised for the right purpose. As senior people of this industry, we need to cumulatively come together and channelise the energy that the youth has today. Its not rocket science, I think many people in our country across different verticals have been doing that; its high time that we also do that as an industry.

AG: How do you balance being bold and creative at one level and managing data with your client?

SP: Its the same sides of different dice I would say. Anyone who is creative needs to take bold calls, needs to be brave, needs to be courageous, needs to have the right information, data, and the insights to go and speak to the right audience. The backend has to be supported with the right data or insight.

AG: What would you consider as the key takeaways for you from Goafest this year?

SP: I think compared to last year, there is a far greater amount of energy this year. The number of entries has gone up, the number of delegates has gone up as well, so I would say that there have been a lot of positive things and little negative things. The negative things would be reserved for the committee guys as they have been taking feedback every time and have been implementing most of the suggestions. I think the agencies who keep themselves away from this festival should also come together; this is our industry, theres a healthy competition we all fight for, and when we win, its a different kick. As this festival is for youngsters, we need to applaud them and push them as they are the future of our industry.
Bloomberg Media today announced the formation of BloombergQuint, a new partnership in India with Quintillion Media, the digital news venture founded by Raghav Bahl. The partnership will cover broadcast, digital and live events across India, serving business and financial news to one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.

BloombergQuint plans to launch a new business channel, localised website and live events business in 2016, focusing on high-quality, market moving digital business news content for Indias business and financial professionals. The company has hired former CNBC-TV18 CEO Anil Uniyal and former CNBC-TV18 Executive Editor Menaka Doshi to serve as BloombergQuints CEO and Managing Editor, respectively. Harsha Subramaniam, the Bloomberg Executive Producer looking after Bloomberg TV India for the past five years, will be overseeing the partnership for Bloomberg across platforms.

In a new agreement that commenced April 1, BloombergQuint will harness the global resources of Bloomberg with Quintillion Medias market experience to create a revamped business news channel and digital destination for Indias growing business audience.

At Bloomberg, weve set out to build the leading multi-platform global business and financial media company. Currently, almost half of our digital traffic comes from outside the United States and this figure continues to grow. Partnering with Quintillion Media in India is a game-changer for the countrys digital and broadcast media industries, and for Bloomberg Media globally as we take our investment to an exciting new phase, said Justin B Smith, Chief Executive Officer, Bloomberg Media. It was clear when we met with Raghav that we shared a common vision to create India's premier digitally-led multi-platform business media company.

Raghav Bahl, founder of Quintillion Media, said, The combination of Bloomberg Media with Quintillion Media is a powerful one. It will bring a completely new brand of journalism and media experience to Indias increasingly sophisticated business consumer. We will deliver content via technology in a digital-first model that will redefine this space.

Raghav Bahl founded and scaled Network18, Indias leading media group. Along with his wife, Ritu Kapur (CEO), he co-founded Quintillion Media in 2014, a digital media company.

Parry Ravindranathan, Managing Director, Bloomberg Media International, added here, Raghav really pioneered the business news genre in broadcast and digital in India. If you combine that with Bloombergs deep experience and global leadership in business and financial news and data, this is a powerful combination  especially at this moment when global interest in India is at an all-time high. This also comes at a fortuitous time when Bloomberg celebrates 20 years in India. We will continue to break new ground and deliver great content in Asias fastest growing market.

As the fastest growing major economy in the world, India is one of the most important stories we are covering in Asia. Im glad we are partnering with Raghav and his team who have deep experience reporting on India for the past two decades, said David Merritt, Executive Editor for Asia Pacific, Bloomberg News.

In Asia, Bloomberg Media is expanding and investing aggressively to deliver more relevant content to audiences across the region. The new partnership in India joins Bloombergs other local presences in the Philippines, Mongolia and Malaysia.

This year, Bloomberg launched its first regional homepage in Asia, forming a new team of digital editors based in Hong Kong to present news, video and feature stories tailored for a growing regional audience. Bloomberg is currently the leader in page views and video unique viewers among business news media in Asia. Recently, Bloomberg TV, available in 19 million homes across Asia Pacific, became the first business and finance channel to launch on HD in Asia. Also this year, Bloomberg Radio introduced four hours of daily programming in Asia.
FCB Ulka Advertising has brought on board Saad Khan as Vice President, Strategic Planning. Khan has spent over 17 years building brands and has worked with some of the biggest advertising houses in India like Leo Burnett, Lowe Lintas, Dentsu Marcomm and Euro RSCG. In 2011, he founded Marketing Unplugged along with Suman Srivastava.

Commenting on Khans appointment, Suman Srivastava, Vice Chairman - Strategic Planning, FCB Ulka Group, said, Saad is one of the most creative planners that I have ever worked with. Many creative people have told me that they love working with Saad because he makes their job easy. To me that is the highest compliment that a planner can get. I have worked with Saad almost continuously for the last 10 years and it is great to have him as part of the strategic planning team at FCB Ulka.

Khan started his career as a management trainee at Leo Burnett. His passion for brands and finding innovative strategic solutions for clients led him to being given independent charge of Coca-Cola regional and key account businesses. He has a rich cross category experience having worked on brands like Coca-Cola, Wills Lifestyle, Honda, Jack Daniels, Voltas, Max New York Life, Volvo and Reckitt Benckiser.

Speaking on his new role, Khan said, Excited to be back in the business of advertising after consulting. It is like coming back to the alma mater. There is a lot of energy and fervour at FCB Ulka which is infectious, and this agency culture driven by Rohit Ohri and Suman Srivastava, will propel me to do work which is distinctive and brave and will help client businesses stand out and grow.
triggerbridge, the unagency, launched by S Yesudas (former Managing Director - Indian sub-continent, Vizeum India), in partnership with Ajit Nair and Amit Tripathi, is planning to introduce a one-hour prime time news capsule across English, Hindi and all other language news channels, which will air only happy news of human achievements, however small or big it might be.

Yesudas, Managing Director and Co-founder, triggerbridge, informed, Im in discussions with some news channels, TV as well as digital, on the modalities. Im also looking for support from clients to cover the actual expenses, not for advertising, but for them to be known for doing something much more meaningful for the people of India. These conversations are also on.

Called the Un-News Hour, the initiative aims to be an equaliser of sorts with every other noise thats being made everywhere else. Yesudas felt that it would be huge opportunity for unsung heroes to be recognised and a big ground of motivation for many more to embark on such initiatives.

Elaborating further on the initiative, he asked, Did you ever wonder where the sustainable conversations and trending topics are on the idea-based start-ups making good, positive noise in our country, based on a very conducive ecosystem provided by the Government, a progressive and growth-oriented budget which also considered every aspect of our economy, FDI opening up in many sectors, our robust and growing economy being a matter of jealously for many other countries, initiatives like Make In India which can make our country an integral part of the global supply chain, Digital India, Skill India, 100 Smart Cities and Swachh Bharat? In addition to all these, I also believe many people across the country have embarked on so many wonderful initiatives to touch the lives of others.

I think we all have two clear choices: 1) Talk without any action, and 2) Do something concrete. I have always believed in the second choice, including my decision to give up a corporate career to do something good for few brands, consumers and the Mother Earth, added Yesudas.

This is not the first time that triggerbridge is embarking on such a social initiative. The agency, launched just four months ago, embarked on a mission  #AGoodDeedADay  sometime back, which aimed at putting a smile on the faces of people. On February 14, 2016, Yesudas and six of his friends became Valentines to the Mumbai Police and Traffic Police to thank them for their contributions to the city. They walked into police stations and booths from Borivli to Chembur in Mumbai, pleasantly surprising and touching 400 men and women in uniform. He is also in discussions to enable rainwater harvesting by residential societies across Mumbai.
James visits Airmen supporting Honduras mission

The men and women of Joint Task Force-Bravo hosted Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James April 8 at Soto Cano Air Base, as she wrapped up her visit to various units in the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility.



James used her time during the visit to meet with Airmen of the 612th Air Base Squadron and other task force members to discuss the importance the base plays in the Central and South American regions.



"It's no secret that the bulk of the resources and attention goes to the Middle East because of issues like (the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), or to Europe because of Russia, or the Pacific because of what's happening in the South China Sea," she said. "Here in the SOUTHCOM AOR we're getting fewer people and fewer dollars on the ground but you're really making those resources go a long way, proving that a little bit does go a long way."



Upon arriving, James attended a discussion on the SOUTHCOM mission in Central America, covering topics including multinational firefighter training to build partner nation capacity, support to counterdrug operations, and humanitarian aid and disaster relief capabilities the base either supports or facilitates.



James also took time to talk with Airmen assigned to JTF-Bravo to discuss force-wide issues she's looking to address, including force size and structure, the new retirement system, the budget, and taking care of people.



The primary focus of her visit centered on the Airmen, expressing her gratitude for their service as they explained how they support the SOUTHCOM mission at various work stations around the base.



"It is an honor and privilege to be able to stand here with you at Soto Cano," she said. "The mission you have at Joint Task Force-Bravo directly affects our safety and security back home as well as that of our partner nations here."
F-22s deploy to Europe to show support for allies

F-22 Raptors, Airmen and associated equipment were deployed to Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England, on April 11 to conduct air training with other Europe-based aircraft.



The F-22s come from the 95th Fighter Squadron at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, and will continue training until May.



"This F-22 training deployment is the perfect opportunity for these advanced aircraft to train alongside other U.S. Air Force aircraft, joint partners and NATO allies," said Gen. Frank Gorenc, the commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa.



The fifth-generation, multirole fighter aircraft will also forward deploy from the U.K. to NATO bases to maximize training opportunities, affirm enduring commitments to NATO allies, and deter any actions that destabilize regional security.



The training marks the second time the U.S. European Command has hosted a deployment of F-22s in its area of responsibility.



"It's important we test our infrastructure, aircraft capabilities, and the talented Airmen and allies who will host these aircraft in Europe," Gorenc said. "This deployment advances our airpower evolution and demonstrates our resolve and commitment to European safety and security."


AF releases criteria for basing new RPA units

The Air Force released basing criteria April 12 that will be used to select candidate bases for a potential new MQ-9 Reaper wing with units at up to two locations.



The Air Force is pursuing additional locations to help diversify assignment opportunities for personnel within the MQ-9 enterprise, provide increased opportunities for leadership from within the community, and provide flexibility to enhance integration with other organizations and capabilities.



The desire for additional locations for an MQ-9 wing was identified during surveys of officers and enlisted Airmen in the MQ-9 and MQ-1 Predator enterprise as part of Air Combat Commands Culture and Process Improvement Program.



We are initiating the strategic basing process to determine the best locations for hosting additional locations for the MQ-9 mission, said Jennifer L. Miller, the deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations. As we go through the basing process, we will use the information we collect to help us determine the affordability and potential locations for expanding MQ-9 enterprise.



The basing criteria will focus on mission requirements (runway length for the launch and recovery mission and synergies between common missions with existing units), capacity, environmental requirements, and cost factors.



The Air Force will first identify a location to potentially host an operations group with mission control elements. All active-duty Air Force bases in the continental U.S., Alaska and Hawaii that do not currently have an MQ-9 wing will be evaluated. The locations being considered must also have an active-duty flying wing or group that performs at least one core RPA mission and/or is co-located with an active-duty distributed ground system. MQ-9 crews will fly the MQ-9 from these locations but no aircraft will be associated with these units.



The Air Force also plans to identify a second potential location, which may host a full MQ-9 wing that will include a launch and recovery element and a mission control element. This second installation must be an active-duty Air Force installation in the continental U.S., Alaska or Hawaii that has at least an 8,000-foot runway and does not currently have an MQ-9 wing. This location is expected to have 24 MQ-9s located there.



After identifying candidate bases, ACC will conduct site surveys at each location. Site survey teams will assess each location against requirements, potential impacts to existing missions, infrastructure and manpower. They will also develop cost estimates to bed down the units.



Based on the results of these efforts, the Air Force plans to identify candidate installations in the summer of 2016 and the preferred alternatives in the winter of 2016/2017. Final basing decisions will be made by the secretary of the Air Force after the requisite environmental analysis is complete.
AF names candidate bases, criteria for choosing next F-35A sites

Air Force officials announced April 12 that Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona; Homestead Air Reserve Base, Florida; Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas; and Whiteman AFB, Missouri, are candidate bases for the first Reserve-led F-35A Lightning II location.



The preferred and reasonable alternatives are expected to be selected in the fall and the F-35As are slated to begin arriving at the first Reserve-led F-35A location by the summer of 2023.



The Air Force also released basing criteria that will be used to select candidate bases for two Air National Guard squadrons, which are planned to receive their first aircraft in the summer of 2022.



The Air Force is committed to a deliberate and open process to address F-35 basing, said Jennifer A. Miller, the deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations. As we progress through the basing process, we will share information so interested communities are aware of what to expect.



The basing criteria for the Air National Guard bases include mission requirements (weather, airspace and training range availability), capacity (sufficient hanger and ramp space, and facility considerations), environmental requirements, and cost factors.



The Air Force will evaluate Guard installations with runways of at least 8,000 feet and operational A-10 Thunderbolt IIs, F-16 Fighting Falcons or F-15 Eagles against the approved criteria to identify candidate bases for the F-35A.



After identifying candidate bases, the Air Combat Command and Air National Guard will conduct site surveys at each location as applicable. Site survey teams will assess each location against operational requirements, potential impacts to existing missions, infrastructure and manpower, and then develop cost estimates to bed down the F-35A.



Based on the results of these efforts, the Air Force plans to identify candidate installations for the Air National Guard locations this summer before selecting the preferred and reasonable alternatives and beginning the environmental impact analysis process later this year.
Intel squadron achieves full operational capability

After only 18 months  6 months ahead of schedule  the 28th Intelligence Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Florida, achieved full operational capability.



The milestone was achieved after Staff Sgt. Kyle Cook performed a check ride as an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operator in a special operations aircraft March 31. This was the final training requirement the squadron needed to complete to have the trained personnel to achieve FOC status.



It was very gratifying for me individually to know that we finally attained the goal that was set out before us as a squadron, especially since it was years in the making, Cook said. I was fortunate enough to be the one in the training cycle that put the squadron over the threshold.



The check ride was Cooks final evaluation to deem him qualified for his job as a tactical systems operator.



This was a big deal, he said. I feel blessed to be able to fly by myself and not have my instructor with me.



The 28th IS is a geographically separated unit that is part of the 655th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. To achieve FOC, the squadron had to reach a high level of mission capability. In addition, the vast majority of the units members had to be ready to deploy, and the squadron had to be fully manned.



"The hard work of the Airmen of this squadron led to reaching our FOC goal well before our established deadline," said Lt. Col. Joseph Marcinek, 28th IS commander. "I'm proud of the job they've done so far and will continue to do in this critical mission."



To meet these requirements so quickly, Marcinek and his staff focused on recruitment, training, readiness, and integration with the squadron's active-duty associate unit, the 25th IS. In addition, the 28th relied heavily on support from other Air Force Reserve Command intelligence squadrons as well as another Reserve unit at Duke Field  the 919th Special Operations Wing.



I want to thank our customer, the 25th IS, and the 361st Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group (at Hurlburt) for being amazing and supportive mission partners, Marcinek said. Also, our leadership in the 655 ISRG and Air Force Reserve Command Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Directorate at Robins AFB, Georgia, as well as our other stakeholders and mission partners in the 919th SOW, 1st SOW and Air Force Special Operations Command, for providing superior service and collaboration to get our job done.



The squadron is the first Reserve tactical systems operator squadron. Its mission is to organize and train total force integrated personnel to deliver specialized analysis directly to Air Force special operations forces, provide equipment maintenance and configuration, analysis and dissemination, airborne ISR, and operational support.



The Air Force Reserve is aligning itself to meet the demands of the warriors around the world, said Col. Douglas Drakeley, the commands ISR director at Robins AFB and former 655th ISRG commander. We have the ability to support the nation in a cost-effective way by co-locating with active duty and employing Reservists as the mission arises, in order to meet the strategy for combatant commanders around the world.



The 655 ISRG is growing rapidly right now in order to provide some relief to the stress its active-duty counterparts are experiencing due to back-to-back deployments.



There is an insatiable demand for more ISR personnel by combatant commands, Drakeley said.



The group stood up in October 2012 with 38 people and has grown to include 11 classic associate intelligence squadrons in six states that conduct eight different missions with more than 1,000 people. By next year, the 655th is expected to add three more squadrons that will put them at more than 1,300 people.



The great thing about these jobs, from a Reserve standpoint, is that most of them are here in U.S. operations centers, so our Reservists can do their civilian job during the week and then come to work on the weekend to work missions from here, Drakeley said. In nine out of our 11 squadrons, its possible for us to do global activities from the U.S. Its a great role for Reservists.



A sister squadron to the 28th IS, the 49th IS at Offutt AFB, Nebraska, is still working to achieve FOC but hasnt met its training requirements yet, Drakeley said. He said the squadron is facing a challenge getting people with specialized skillsets qualified on a different airframe, the Rivet-Joint 135. Personnel with experience on this airframe can contact an Air Force Reserve recruiter.



For more information about any intelligence job opportunities in the Reserve, please contact your local recruiter.
Get your purple on to recognize military children

Time to get your purple on, America.



April 15 is Purple Up! day, a time for Americans to show their support for military families. Department of Defense Education Activity schools will celebrate the event April 20 because of spring recess.



Its to build awareness for the needs of military families, said Barbara A. Thompson, the director of DODs Office of Family Readiness Policy.



This is not a DOD program, but a grassroots effort that began in 2011 as a way to honor the sacrifices military children make every day for the nation. According to the 4-H Military Partnerships website, 4-H clubs in New Hampshire developed the Purple Up! for Military Kids initiative while working with children of deployed guardsmen and reservists, and they saw Purple Up! as a way to build awareness in their communities.



Its grown like wildfire across the United States and now DOD has embraced it, too, Thompson said.



The 4-H went with purple because it is the color that symbolizes all branches of the military. It is a combination of Army green, Marine red, and Coast Guard, Air Force and Navy blue, according to the 4-H. The goal of Purple Up! is for military youth to actually see the support in their school, youth groups and the community.


The Afghan Taliban announced Tuesday the start of their spring offensive even as the government in Kabul tries to bring the insurgents back to the negotiating table to end their drawn-out conflict.

The Taliban said in a statement they would employ large-scale attacks on enemy positions across the country during the offensive they have dubbed Operation Omari in honour of the movements late founder Mullah Omar, whose death was announced last year.

The annual spring offensive normally marks the start of the fighting season, though this winter the lull was shorter and they continued to battle government forces albeit with less intensity.

The statement promised martyrdom-seeking and tactical attacks against enemy strongholds, a reference to suicide bombingsa strategy the group has long resorted to against its enemies, the Afghan police and army, which they view as stooges of the West.

On Monday, 12 fresh recruits were killed in one such attack in the countrys east.

The Islamists, who have been waging an insurgency since being toppled from power in 2001, also promised attacks on the 13,000 Nato troops currently stationed in the country, officially in a training and advisory role since the end of their combat mission in 2014.

By employing such a multifaceted strategy it is hoped that the foreign enemy will be demoralised and forced to evict our nation, they said.

The Taliban have made the departure of all foreign forces a precondition to the resumption of direct peace talks with Kabul which began last summer in Pakistan but ended abruptly after it was revealed that Mullah Omar had been dead for two years.

Responding to the announcement Sediq Sediqqi, a spokesman for Afghanistans interior ministry said:

The Taliban just want to show that they are still there. In the past 14 years they were not able to reach their goal and we will not allow them to do that he said

Dawlat Waziri, a spokesman for the war-ravaged countrys defence ministry, said that the government forces were prepared to hit back:

Now that the Taliban have rejected peace talks, we are prepared to respond to war with war.

A four-country group comprising Afghanistan, the United States, China and Pakistan has been holding meetings since January aimed at jump-starting negotiations, though their efforts have so far been in vain.
India and the United States have agreed in principle to share military logistics, US defense secretary Ashton Carter said on Tuesday, as both sides seek to counter the growing maritime assertiveness of China.

Washington has been urging New Delhi to sign the Logistics Support Agreement that allows the two militaries to use each others land, air and naval bases for resupplies, repair and rest.

But after years of dithering, the two sides said an agreement was in hand, although not yet ready for signing.

We have agreed in principle that all the issues are resolved. We now need to finalise the draft, Carter said after talks with his defence minister Manohar Parrikar.

New Delhi has had concerns that the logistics agreement will draw it into a military alliance with the United States and undermine its traditional autonomy.

But Prime Minister Narendra Modis administration, faced with an assertive China expanding its influence in the South China Sea and into the Indian Ocean, has signalled its desire to draw closer to the United States. China is also a close ally of Indias arch rival, Pakistan.

New Delhi is keen to access US technology for PM Modis Make in India plans to build a domestic defence industrial base and cut expensive arms imports.

Carter said the two countries would also soon conclude a commercial shipping information exchange agreement.
After rejecting reports of gang-rapes at Murthal during the Jat stir for reservation, the Haryana Police has told the Punjab and Haryana High Court that the section on gang-rape had been added to the FIR in the case.

The move comes after the police received two anonymous letters from women stating that they had been sexually assaulted.

The police told the court that the first letter was forwarded by the Faridabad Commissioner of Police to the Superintendent of Police, Sonipat, on March 1 who, in turn, sent it to the Special Group of Officers on March 2.

The second letter, from a non-resident Indian woman, was forwarded to the police by a local news channel.

Since the content of both communications reveals the commission of offence under Section 376D of the Indian Penal Code, the relevant Section has been added and further investigation will be conducted on these communications to verify the content, said the Haryana Police affidavit to the court.

The first letter, posted from Mathura Road, Faridabad, states that the victim, a student, was returning home with her father from the college hostel when she was allegedly gang-raped.

The police told the court that the Deputy Commissioners of districts falling on the National Highway-1, including Sonipat, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Yamuna Nagar and Ambala, had been requested to provide the list of colleges/technical institutes with girls hostels so that they could identify the victim.

The letter from the NRI, forwarded to the police by the news channel, had gone viral on a social networking website.

The Cyber Cell, Sonipat, has been directed to contact the news channel and find out the source of the letter. The victim, in her letter, said she had reached the New Delhi airport from Australia on February 21 and was travelling on National Highway-1 near Murthal where she was allegedly gang-raped.

The complainant has mentioned the names of her relatives who had arrived with her. The police have made a request to Foreigner Regional Registration Officer, Delhi, seeking help in identifying the victim.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had taken suo motu notice of media reports that some women travelling on the Delhi-Ambala Highway were allegedly gang-raped by rioters during the Jat agitation.
After Kollam temple fire tragedy, that left 110 people dead, Kerala High Court on Tuesday banned sound-making fireworks display in all places of worship in the state at night.

The temple tragedy occurred when sparks from fireworks fell on a store room where even more firecrackers were kept. No permission had been given to hold the display.

The High Court also sought the state governments opinion on whether the CBI should investigate the Kollam temple tragedy.

During the hearing, the Kerala High Court was today informed by the state government that the guidelines were violated and no safety precautions were taken at the Puttingal temple.

A senior Kerala High Court Judge has suggested the ban of high decibel fire crackers in all temples in the state and sought immediate judicial intervention by the court to stop man-made tragedies like Kollam mishap.

In a letter to Registrar General of the HC, Justice V. Chitambaresh had said, The time is more than ripe for immediate judicial intervention to stop such man-made tragedies by banning the use of high decibel explosive fire crackers.

The Devaswom Bench comprising Justices Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan and Anu Sivaraman will considered the petition. Justice Chitambaresh said, The right to profess, practice and propagate the religion of ones choice under Article 25 of the Constitution of India does not take in the freedom to use dangerous crackers.

Pyrotechnics display using Amittu, Gundu, Kathinavedi etc have to be banned and at best only low decibel Chinese-type crackers can be permitted for display, he said.

The court said that police failed to provide basic safety to devotees who had gathered at the Kollam temple late on Saturday night; this amounts to a violation of human rights, the judges said.

They questioned how the police ignored the huge stash of fireworks that was accumulated at the temple in Kollam for a lavish display to coincide with an annual festival on Saturday night.

Dead man woke up

Pramod, who was employed with the contractor who organised the banned fireworks display at the Puttingal temple in Paravur, was among the unconscious recuperating at a hospital in Attingal, about 25 kms away. He regained consciousness on Monday night and managed to contact his family on Tuesday.

His family however mistakenly identified another corpse as his given that many of the bodies recovered from the accident site were covered in black ash.

Authorities are now uncertain of the identity of the body cremated by the family.

For their part, the family cannot believe Pramod is alive. And neither can Pramod.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) announced that it will declare all its candidates for the Punjab assembly election to be held in 2017 by June end. The first list of candidates will be out in May, election campaign committee will start its work from April 25. The party has also constituted a 16-member election campaign committee and 5-member screening committee to find out suitable candidates. Meetings of AAP volunteers at booth, circle and zonal levels will be held in each assembly constituency and then aspirant candidates will have to submit their bio-data within three days at Jalandhar party office.

Election Campaign Committee after short listing probable candidates send their names to the screening committee which will interview them and thereafter, names of shortlisted candidates will be sent to political affairs committee of AAP which will take a final call on finalising the names of candidates. AAP has made its mark in Punjab, whereas BJP flopped miserably there. Congress may do better because of hard work and anti-incumbency.

AAP leader said that those who are facing corruption and criminal charges will not be given party ticket for contesting elections. If it is later found that any candidate had deliberately withheld information about criminal or corruption charges, his candidature will be cancelled. Many political pundits claimed that AAP would repeat the historic win registered in Delhi poll in Punjab elections also.

Partys 16-member election campaign committee will comprise Sucha Singh Chhotepur, Bhawant Mann, Sadhu Singh, Himmat Singh Shergill, Harjot Bains, Baljinder Kaur among others. The five-member screening committee will have Sanjay Singh, Durgesh Pathak, Sucha Singh Chhotepur, Bhagwant Mann and Sadhu Singh.

Congress may finish runner up in the Punjab battle. The ruling Akalis are nowhere here. Congress has handed over the poll strategy to Prashant Kishor and he is working on it whereas, BJP is still banking on Badals and Gurudwara Committee. AAP team has started door to door campaigning across the state. Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party had swept the Delhi Assembly elections last year with its symbol broom, and secured 67 seats out of 70 seats. Interestingly, AAP will not contest the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections in 2017. Their only focus is Punjab this time. They are probably planning strategically to go step by step. Moreover, they dont have the bandwidth in UP.

BJP leaders from the state want to break an alliance with SAD, and wanted to project themselves as a clean image party. They want to put the failure of this government on Akalis, which they think will benefit them in the state. Recently Gurpreet Ghuggi, a well-known Punjabi comedian, joined AAP. He is the second famous comedian, after Bhagwat Mann, to join the party. Kejriwal himself will be star campaigner, and will project their good work for Delhi in Punjab. Meanwhile, BJP has given responsibility to National President Amit Shah to declare state unit president under whom the party would contest the 2017 assembly elections. The term of current state party chief Kamal Sharma has already expired and experts opine that the name of the next state party president would signal which way the BJP is headed. In last few years, the BJP has been making efforts to strengthen its base in the rural areas of Punjab and even inducted a few Sikh faces also. BJP is keen to improve its electoral performance here, after the debacle show in Delhi and Bihar.

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@afternoonvoice.com)
The Supreme Court, while studying the list of defaulters of loans over Rs. 500 crore, said that the total outstanding amount which runs into lakhs of crores of rupees should be revealed if the Reserve Bank of India wants to keep the names of the defaulters under the wraps.

Pursuant to an earlier order, RBI handed over a list of defaulters of loans and the amounts standing against them. RBI has claimed confidentiality about the data handed over to the bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur.

The Chief Justice said that even if the names of the defaulters are not disclosed, the huge aggregate figure can at least be disclosed.

Noting bad loans or non-performing assets (NPAs) to be a substantial case, a bench comprising of Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justice R Banumath said that it will examine if the total amount of defaulting loans running into crores of rupees can be disclosed.

This information does make out a case. This is quite a substantial amount which is involved, the bench said.

The apex also expressed its concern over the stark difference between habitual loan defaulters who are mainly business tycoons and farmers who struggle for even small loans.

People default after taking loans to run their empires and declare insolvency, while farmers are being driven to suicide for small loans, the apex court said.

The next hearing in the case is on April 26.

The courts attention to big defaulters was drawn by advocate Prashant Bhushan, who had filed a petition more than a decade ago highlighting the scam in Housing and Urban Development Corporation (Hudco) when the BJP-led NDA was in power.

He said a similar approach continued as bad debts of public sector banks running into thousands of crores were written off every now and then.
A suicide bomber suspected of belonging to al Qaeda killed five Yemeni soldiers when he detonated his explosive belt on Tuesday among Army recruits in Aden, a security official said.

The man mixed in with a group of recruits as they headed to their base in the southern city which serves as a temporary capital for the government, the official said.

Army and government installations have been the target of several attacks by extremists since pro-government forces drove out Shi`ite rebels in the summer.

Al Qaeda and the Islamic State group have taken advantage of the chaos caused by the war between the government and the rebels to strengthen their grip on southern Yemen.

But after having long ignored them, forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi have launched operations against them in the past few weeks, backed by the firepower of a Saudi-led military coalition.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has said there is an urgent need for a UN resolution on Israeli settlements as he embarks on a multi-country tour that may be among his last chances to renew peace efforts.

In an interview, Abbas criticised what he said was insufficient action from US President Barack Obamas administration while also firmly backing a French initiative to hold an international peace conference this summer.

Abbas spoke ahead of a tour beginning Tuesday that will take him to Turkey, France, Russia, Germany and New York, where the Palestinians are discussing a UN draft resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The trip comes with the clock ticking for both the 81-year-old and the Obama administration, with speculation the US president could change tack and support a resolution on the peace process before he leaves office in January.

The Security Council is a very important subject because it has now become urgent due to settlement activities and because Israel has not stopped these activities, Abbas said late Monday at his office in Ramallah.

Settlement construction in the West Bank is something that has seriously jeopardised the two-state project.

The United States has repeatedly vetoed resolutions opposed by Israel at the UN Security Council, but the Palestinians are hoping for a change of heart.

So far, we have not got any reaction from the Americans regarding the Security Council, said Abbas.

He criticised US efforts so far.

We were expecting from the US administration over the past eight years that it would take positive steps forward to achieve what America believes in, which is the two-state vision, he said.
Activists want these industries to suspend their manufacturing operations until the arrival of monsoon.

Maharashtra may be reeling under severe drought but beer industries in Aurangabad are receiving regular supply of water. At a time when residents of Marathwada are struggling for every drop of water social activists and opposition party leaders have demanded curtailment of water supply to beer manufacturers. Beer industries in Aurangabad consume a minimum of 35 million litres of water daily. Activists want industries to take some initiative for addressing the water shortage issue faced by the state. They want some portion of water used by industries to be diverted for providing relief to farmers affected due to drought. They also added that industry must come forward to fulfil social obligations for overcoming drought problem. Even soft drink manufacturers too are receiving flak for the huge consumption of water. Activists also want these industries to suspend their manufacturing operations until the arrival of monsoon.

Priority must be given to address the drinking water scarcity first. Marathwada holds 70 per cent of Maharashtras brewing capacity for beer. This needs to stop immediately. By the admission of beer manufacturers themselves, they can use treated water for their product and should do so immediately, said an activist from Aurangabad.

Breweries in the city produce about 180 million litres of beer a year, or about 70% of Maharashtras total brewing capacity, according to a state excise department official, who didnt want to be named.

Various industry units located in and around Aurangabad currently consume around 55 million litres (mld) of water per day. Out of this, nearly 35 mld is used by breweries in Aurangabad, and due to very less storage left in the dam, we are currently receiving only 50 mld of water, said an official in the Aurangabad region office.

Beer industries must temporarily suspend their operations until the arrival of monsoon season. There needs to be prescribed a water quota above which water will not be released to them, this will also encourage more efficient processes in these water intensive industries, he added.

Around nine litres of water is required for producing 1 litre of beer. All major beer manufacturers have plants in the Waluj and Chikalthana industrial areas of Aurangabad, managed by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC).

A senior MIDC official said that industries in the area drew water from the Jayakwadi dam, which has a storage of only 4.6 per cent of the total capacity.

On the other hand, a special train carrying around five lakh litres of water for parched Latur in Marathwada region, which is battling the worst drought ever, reached the destination after 18 hours. The district administration has acquired a huge well located near Latur railway station to store the water which will then be supplied to Latur town. On April 8, the train had left from Kota workshop for Miraj in Pune division.
sent a notice of intent to sue to Health and Human Services about two months ago. I had to give them sixty days notice, and I notified them that we'd be bringing a lawsuit on behalf of "Baby Doe" vs. Merck.

"We sent a notice of intent to sue to Health and Human Services about two months ago. I had to give them sixty days notice, and I notified them that we'd be bringing a lawsuit on behalf of "Baby Doe" vs. Merck.

Patti said that the drug industry isn't necessarily involved in some conspiracy with their vaccines; "I think this is all purely profit."

Patti said that the drug industry isn't necessarily involved in some conspiracy with their vaccines; "I think this is all purely profit."

" I'm about to take on Merck with Dr. Thompson's studies ...for that young kid in New York City who was denied compensation. His case was replaced for Hannah Poling [in the Omnibus Proceedings]."

" I'm about to take on Merck with Dr. Thompson's studies ...for that young kid in New York City who was denied compensation. His case was replaced for Hannah Poling [in the Omnibus Proceedings]."

"You have these same companies that were experimenting in Europe during the war on children...."

"You have these same companies that were experimenting in Europe during the war on children...."

Patti talked about how Robert Kennedy, Jr. is involved in this fight. She made a stunning statement that vaccine makers who were prosecuted for experimenting on children for the Nazis in World War II, ended up here. "These companies came out of Germany after the war, that's where they got their start vaccinating, and even some of the doctors that began these pharmaceutical companies here in New York and New Jersey were prosecuted, and then they were released...

Patti talked about how Robert Kennedy, Jr. is involved in this fight. She made a stunning statement that vaccine makers who were prosecuted for experimenting on children for the Nazis in World War II, ended up here. "These companies came out of Germany after the war, that's where they got their start vaccinating, and even some of the doctors that began these pharmaceutical companies here in New York and New Jersey were prosecuted, and then they were released...

Vaccine Injury Act puts roadblocks in front of parents of vaccine injured children. She also brought up her cases in Vaccine Court, and she noted that the MMR whistleblower story will figure into the actions of the court.

Vaccine Injury Act puts roadblocks in front of parents of vaccine injured children. She also brought up her cases in Vaccine Court, and she noted that the MMR whistleblower story will figure into the actions of the court.

Attorney Patti Finn gave listeners the rundown on the movie "Vaxxed" and its impact. Host Richie Allen asked her about what's being said in the media by people like Donald Trump and other politicians. Furthermore she described how the

Attorney Patti Finn gave listeners the rundown on the movie "Vaxxed" and its impact. Host Richie Allen asked her about what's being said in the media by people like Donald Trump and other politicians. Furthermore she described how the

In this radio interview, Vaccine Court lawyer Patti Finn explains why Thompson's admission of covering up research data is so important. "We're hoping to crack this open, at which time I would subpoena Dr. Thompson. . . ."

In this radio interview, Vaccine Court lawyer Patti Finn explains why Thompson's admission of covering up research data is so important. "We're hoping to crack this open, at which time I would subpoena Dr. Thompson. . . ."

"Under the Vaccine Act, there is a provision that does allow you to sue the manufacturer of you can prove fraud--and clearly we have fraud here--but the fraud that we're seeing is on the CDC's part. And the CDC has immunity; what that means is, you can't sue Thompson. You can't touch Thompson.

"So why is Thompson important to my case?

"Well I can tie Thompson to Merck, and I can go back to 2000...when Robert Kennedy wrote about this secret meeting outside of Atlanta, [Simpsonwood], where Merck and CDC doctors got together (I've read the transcript), and they clearly knew vaccines were causing brain injury. And at the conclusion of the conference, they agreed not to tell anyone. ...And then Dr. Wakefield's study came out and CDC commissioned Dr. Thompson and Dr. Thorsen to refute what Andy Wakefield said, ...and when it turned out they actually proved what Andy Wakefield said, they destroyed the evidence. And Merck's hand was involved in all of that. Merck was involved in Simpsonwood, Merck was involved with those CDC studies, and then you go to the autism hearings, Merck was involved again there, discrediting Dr. Wakefield's evidence that was supposed to be introduced in one of those cases ...

"What is interesting about the test cases and where we're bringing our case of this young boy who lives in New York City-- After Hannah Poling's case was settled by the government, the government's expert witness testified that Hannah's autism was the result of a metabolic overload. What that meant was, she was embellished with shots, she couldn't handle it, she developed encephalopathy, which is a swelling of the brain, and autism, as a result.

"That doctor's report was never offered in the Autism Proceedings, the Court never saw that. ..."

Patti explained that the Court never saw this information because Hannah's case was settled in a confidential agreement. She was pulled out of the test cases, and my client, "Baby Doe," ...was put in in her place. And the Court never saw Hannah Poling's expert report, so therefore they had no medical theory of causation to link autism is vaccines.

"The six cases got dismissed, including my client, "Baby Doe." All the 5,000 petitions were dismissed, and from thereon every person on earth who opposes any kind of research or investigation into vaccine safety, points to not only to Dr. Wakefield... they point to the Vaccine Court ..."
Excerpted from Vaccination News. Read the full post and bookmark the site here.



By F Edward Yazbak MD

Many parents have suspected that their previously normal children regressed and were later diagnosed with autism following Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccination.

The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) a joint effort of HHS, the Department of Justice and the US Court of Federal Claims (CFC) has been operational since October 1988 in order to compensate vaccine injured individuals.

The first MMR related autism case was filed with VICP in 2001.

When the number of cases exploded in a short time, the Chief Special Master of the Vaccine Court created the Omnibus Autism Proceeding to adjudicate the expected flood of cases (5,600 by January 2011.) http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/Supplement_1/S74

A PubMed search revealed the listing of multiple publications on MMR vaccination and autism after 1998. Those reports, many by European authors, were mostly published in British medical journals.

Experts from The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have always denied any causal relationship between the triple live virus vaccine and autistic regression, fearing that any mention of such relationship might lead to lower vaccination rates and the return of measles to the United States, after it had been eradicated.

F. DeStefano MD, MPH authored or co-authored most of the CDC publications on the subject. In 2001, the year the first MMR Autism case was filed with VICP, Dr. DeStefano and R T Chen MD published "Autism and measles-mumps-rubella vaccination: controversy laid to rest?, casually stating that the weight of the available epidemiological and related evidence does not support a causal association between MMR vaccine, or any other vaccine or vaccine constituent, and autism.
Assyrian Organizations Send Open Letter to U.S. Presidential Candidates

( Getty Images) (AINA) -- An open letter by eleven Middle Eastern, European and American Assyrian organizations has been sent to the crop of U.S. presidential candidates. The letter asks the candidates what steps they would take to stop the genocide of Assyrians, Yazidis and other groups by ISIS.

Since capturing Mosul in July, 2014, ISIS has driven 200,000 Assyrians from their villages, killed thousands of Assyrians and Yazidis, sold captured and raped Yazidi women and sold them into slavery, destroyed Assyrian archaeological sites as well as churches both in Iraq and Syria.

The letter also asks if the candidates would recognize the Turkish genocide of Assyrians, Armenians and Greeks in World War One and support reparations for the victims.

The Turkish genocide claimed the lives of 750,000 Assyrians (75%), 500,000 Greeks and 1.5 million Armenians.

Related: Assyrian Genocide 100

Here is the text of the letter:
April 11, 2016

Since being appointed Palestinian prime minister in June 2013, Rami Hamdallah has run a tight economic ship, earning him praise from Christoph Duenwald, the local representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Hamdallah proudly showed Al-Monitor a Feb. 11 IMF statement acknowledging the reduction of the Palestinian deficit to nearly 1% of gross domestic product (GDP).

Praise from the IMF aside, Hamdallah said, As prime minister I am bitterly disappointed when it comes to the US. During an interview with Al-Monitor in his Ramallah office, Hamdallah explained that although US support in 2010 reached $1.45 billion, in 2015 Washington pledged to provide $290 million but only delivered $130 million. The remaining $160 million was frozen by Congress.

The prime minister also expressed displeasure with US efforts to scuttle Palestinian moves at the United Nations. They always want us to wait.  There are the primaries, then the general elections, then the midterms. They always want us to wait for this or that reason. We have been under occupation for 49 years, and it is 68 years since the Nakba, he asserted.

These days, Hamdallah is also frustrated about Arab funding for the Palestinian government. Only Saudi Arabia and Algiers have carried out their pledges to Palestine, he said. Although the Palestinians have only received 28% of the $4.9 billion pledged by the international community to help reconstruct Gaza, the clean up of the rubble has almost been completed, and the power grids destroyed by Israel have almost all been rebuilt. Hamdallah revealed that the Ramallah government spends NIS 420 million ($111 million) in Gaza monthly while only taking 15-20 million shekels ($4-5.3 million) in tax revenues and fees each month.

The text of the interview follows:

Al-Monitor: Palestine will be submitting a UN Security Council resolution on settlements. What is your position in light of the US asking Palestine to delay the UN track?

Hamdallah: We are in the process of consultations now, but we will submit a resolution to the United Nations Security Council this month. The US objections are not new. They always want us to wait. They have ready excuses and justifications. There are the primaries, then the general elections, then the midterms. They are always wanting us to wait for this or that reason. We have been under occupation for 49 years, and it is 68 years since the Nakba. The international community including the US keeps saying that the settlements are illegal and illegitimate. If now is not the time to put an end to illegal settlements, when is the right time?

Al-Monitor: Does the UN Security Council approach complement or contradict the French initiative for an international conference?

Hamdallah: Neither. There is no specific French initiative. The French are still in the early stage of discussions and consultations, and we are actively working with them. They would like to set up international working groups. We are not opposed to this approach and will do what we can to make this and any other serious international effort work.

Al-Monitor: It seems that the Palestinian cause has taken a back seat these days. Does this give you a chance to work on building the institutions of government?

Hamdallah: The Palestinian cause is the heart of the Middle East struggle, and finding a solution to the Palestinian cause is an integral part of any comprehensive solution for the region. As for the work toward a Palestinian state, we are still under the occupation. Yet, according to the latest report of the IMF, we are totally ready for sovereignty and full statehood. Even though we are under occupation, we are ranked better than 80 countries in the world in terms of having proper working institutions of government. The only thing missing for us is the need to end the Israeli occupation, and the very second we will be a full-fledged, totally functioning sovereign state.

Al-Monitor: Funds for Palestine have dropped off. What have you done to make up for that, and what are the priorities of your government?

Hamdallah: Despite some very difficult years, the latest report by the IMF stated that we have managed economic policies well, reducing the overall deficit for the third consecutive year. The report, issued in February by the IMFs Christoph Duenwald, estimated that our fiscal deficit has declined by close to one percentage point of GDP, reflecting strong revenue performance and successful efforts to contain spending. He even described our 2016 budget as prudent and praised our revenue mobilization and spending controls.

The deficit in this years budget is $1.2 billion. We have received $685 million from donors, and we are still short $515 million. We are unable to use 64% of our lands, which Israeli has declared areas C. [It] doesnt allow us to access our own lands and resources. Moreover, part of the deficit is from unfulfilled pledges of support. Saudi Arabia and Algiers are the only Arab countries totally fulfilling their pledges. The European Union also has been steadfast in carrying out its pledges.

Al-Monitor: What about the US support?

Hamdallah: As prime minister, I am bitterly disappointed when it comes to the US. In 2010, the US annual support reached $1.45 billion. In 2015, the US pledged to provide us with $290 million and has only delivered $130 [million]. Only $35 [million] is in general support. The US pays directly toward our energy bills and East Jerusalem hospitals. [The other] $160 million of pledged funds have been frozen by Congress. In contrast, the US is reportedly pledging $34 billion in military aid to Israel over several years, and the Israeli prime minister apparently is not happy. [Benjamin] Netanyahu is said to want $40 billion.

Al-Monitor: Gaza continues to dominate the Palestinian governments attention. How has your government been able to deal with what people call the Hamas shadow government?

Hamdallah: We are totally committed to supporting our people in Gaza, paying salaries, covering the cost of electricity, as well as [having] direct involvement in the rebuilding of Gaza. We spend every month around 420 million Israeli shekels and are only able to collect 15-20 million shekels in taxes and fees.

Al-Monitor: How is the rebuilding process going in Gaza?

Hamdallah: We have only received 28% of the $4.9 billion pledged by the world community in October 14, 2014, to Gaza. Yet we have succeeded in clearing up 95% of the destroyed homes. We have removed and recycled 2 million tons of materials from destroyed homes and buildings. We have also restored 95% of the power grids that the Israelis destroyed.

Al-Monitor: Keeping the West Bank and Gaza strategically divided appears to be a high, strategic Israeli priority. What can you do to counter that?

Hamdallah: Gaza is an integral part of Palestine, and nothing that the Israelis do will take away this important part of our homeland or succeed in dividing us.

Al-Monitor: After Israel said it will allow Gazans to leave for Jordan through the West Bank, on the condition that they not return for one year, Jordan began denying entry to all Gazans, including those Gazans who changed their residency to the West Bank. Is your government taking up their case with your Jordanian counterparts?

Hamdallah: I am not aware of this Israeli decision, but we are in constant touch with our Jordanian partners, and we have excellent cooperation at all levels. Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh is following up on these issues.

Al-Monitor: The teachers strike left a bad feeling among many, especially those early days when Palestinian security prevented demonstrators from reaching Ramallah and your offices. What have been the lessons learned from the teachers strike and the government's response to it?

Hamdallah: I am an educator, and we are totally committed to giving our students the best education. In all of the world, strikes are carried out in a legal manner, which starts with declaring a labor dispute, and then 51% of the general assembly must agree on a strike, which didnt happen. Nevertheless, thousands went on strike, and at least 3,000 blocked traffic outside the Prime Ministry headquarters. The issue is resolved now. It is true that some mistakes were committed earlier, but this was resolved, and our teachers are back now, and we didnt deduct anyone's salary.

Al-Monitor: Relations with the Arab world, especially Jordan, dont appear to be going well. What is the problem with Jordan and some of the other countries?

Hamdallah: His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan and President [Mahmoud] Abbas have excellent relations. We have constant contacts with Jordan. As to the rest of the Arab world, there is a top-level Arab meeting soon, and Arab states have agreed to monthly support of $100 million to the state of Palestine. We hope it will be carried out this time.

Al-Monitor: Is Jordan still upset about forcing them to table a resolution that ultimately failed to get the nine votes in the Security Council?

Hamdallah: We have long gotten past this issue. Last week, Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh was here, and we supported the decision of His Majesty to install cameras on Al-Aqsa Mosque. We are also coordinating all our upcoming moves with Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and others.

Al-Monitor: Human rights and press rights have deteriorated under your administration. International and local human rights organizations have accused security forces of making unlawful arrests and there being general retractions of human rights and personal freedoms.

Hamdallah: I totally support the rights of our people, and I am a big supporter of the rights of journalists. The situation of freedoms in Palestine is much better than in nearby countries. We are also witnessing on a daily basis the Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights.

Al-Monitor: How serious is your government in pursuing the new social security system. Has the criticism of the new law dampened your drive?

Hamdallah: This law was approved and signed by the president and was published in the official gazette. We are open to any comments by our people, and we will make the appropriate adjustments as needed. Yet, we will not retract this important law, which will protect our people, be they workers or employers, in the long term.
April 11, 2016

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe (Bogie) Yaalon had been part and parcel of the historic Labor movement: He was born in the Red (Labor bastion) Kiryat Haim suburb, was a cadet in the HaNoar HaOved VeHalomed Labor Zionist youth movement and afterward joined a kibbutz. Only at a relatively late stage, after he was appointed head of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Military Intelligence, did Yaalon undergo an ideological reversal. He changed his outlook, took a turn to the right and joined the Likud after he retired from the IDF in 2005.

Yaalons journey from the hub of the historic Mapai Party (mother party of Israeli Labor) to the Likud center was described in an Al-Monitor article in August 2014. The question now is whether this journey has played itself out and whether Yaalon is now planning to make his way back.

On April 8-9, on the heels of a wave of unprecedented incitement against him in the ranks of the radical right and among Likud activists, speculations were heard in the political corridors regarding Yaalons political future. An image that appeared on the social networks showed Yaalons face through the scope of a rifle. Anonymous activists from the ruling party were quoted as swearing to eliminate Yaalon politically, on the heels of the March 24 affair of the Israeli soldier who shot and killed a neutralized terrorist in Hebron, in front of a BTselem activist camera (and Ya'alon's decision to indict the shooter).

He [Ya'alon] has no future in the Likud, a political source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. But Ya'alon himself, known to be obstinate, has not folded under pressure. He sticks to his guns, and supports the IDF and Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot in the immediate action taken against the soldier and the decision to transfer the case for a criminal investigation.

According to associates of Ya'alon, the minister has expressed his disappointment over foreign elements who, he says, have penetrated the ruling party of which he is a member. He is frustrated by the changing values in the central backbone of the party, and by the inflammatory public discourse. Talking at an event on April 5, Yaalon emphasized that directives on when to open fire will be determined by the chief of staff, not heads of gangs.

For quite a few days, Yaalon was almost alone in this position. The behavior of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quite interesting: He waited at least two days before feebly backing up his defense minister. In this affair, Netanyahu is characteristically speaking out of both sides of his mouth: On March 24, the day that the incident took place in Hebron, Netanyahu acceded to Yaalons request and issued a strongly worded condemnation against the soldiers act. Two days later, when he understood that the overwhelming majority of the Israeli public supported the soldier, Netanyahu did an about-face and set himself up as a kind of arbitrator between the soldier and the IDF, Yaalon and Eizenkot.

Netanyahu cannot allow himself to oppose the right, which is the sector that voted for him in droves and kept him in power in 2015. But for Yaalon, the good of the state takes precedence over all. At this stage, Ya'alon is restraining himself and not expressing an opinion over Netanyahus zigzag. I confine these issues to conversations between myself and the prime minister, he said, according to an associate of his who spoke to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. But anyone who is really familiar with Yaalon knows that he is furious.

From here to politics: Is Yaalon capable of leaving the Likud and setting out on a new political path? It depends on how much he is pushed against the wall. The Israeli political system is now nearly paralyzed due to the opening of a police investigation against Shas leader Aryeh Deri (on suspicions of corruption), and a police probe that is likely to lead to an investigation against leader of the Zionist Camp Isaac Herzog. But the political system is also busy looking for new creative ways with which to replace Netanyahu.

Nowadays, the most talked about (possible new) configuration is that of Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, who left the Likud to found the Kulanu Party, together with former Education Minister and popular Likud member Gideon Saar, who left the Knesset a few months ago. The two are attempting to woo former Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi. A poll published on March 24 in daily Haaretz claims that such a party could win 24 mandates and constitute the largest party in the Knesset.

Netanyahu can be toppled only from the right, a political source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. The left is weak and losing public support, and the center is not mature enough yet. The intent is to prevent Netanyahu from casting the next elections as a struggle between him and the entire left, by establishing a Likud clone without Netanyahu. Saar is working on this project full-time, as is Kahlon. One of them holds the social justice banner (Kahlon), while the other covers the Likud and ultra-Orthodox turf (Saar). What they lack, however, is a general. Meanwhile, Ashkenazi still shuffles his feet: He is undecided whether to attempt to take the Labor Party by storm (the police probe against Herzog serves him well), or to join head of Yesh Atid Party Yair Lapid as the No. 2.

What will happen if Yaalon will receive an attractive offer from Saar-Kahlon? Will he insist on heading this new party, if and when it rises? Yaalon is already 65 years old; all the running around between the Likuds Central Committee members and the partys rank and file does not make him happy. The Likud Partys dependence on the settlers and extremists is making him miserable. Such an offer to Yaalon  assuming it has not been already made  could constitute a dilemma for him.

Meanwhile, recent weeks have shown that to the public's horror Yaalon has become almost the only responsible adult in Netanyahus government. After former Minister Dan Meridor wasn't elected to the Likud Party list, Saar resigned and former Minister Benny Begin was sidelined, Yaalon found himself as the only clear and sane voice in the ruling party. He still insists on believing in the rule of law, in backing up the Supreme Court, in opposing racism of any type and serving as a clear moral guidepost vis-a-vis the general fiery atmosphere spreading throughout the Israeli public under the aegis of the recent terror wave.

In the past, Yaalon stood by Netanyahu in diplomatic issues and prevented any chance for advancement in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. In fact, Yaalons misfortunate verbal expressions often harmed the fabric of Israels relationship with the United States. So it is ironic that he is the one who has suddenly become the great (white) hope for replacing Netanyahu and founding a saner, more ethical and principled political alternative for Israels national camp (center-right) that is growing ever stronger.

Will he rise to the challenge? The chances of that happening are not high. Yaalon still believes that the sane elements of his party will eventually gain the upper hand. He feels that at the end of the day the public will be able to distinguish between responsible, stable, prudent leaders who have a firm hand on the rudder, and the young goats in his words  according to the above-mentioned associate  who are trying to drag the country into the abyss. It is not at all clear that his assessment is correct.
April 11, 2016

Ten new ministers were sworn in to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisis new Cabinet on March 23, in a sweeping Cabinet reshuffle that came just six months after the governments formation in September 2015. The new government will still be headed by Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, who assumed the premiership following the resignation of the previous Cabinet led by Ibrahim Mehleb.

The Cabinet reshuffle can be traced back to March 13, when Minister of Justice Ahmed al-Zend was asked to step down following his controversial remarks about the Prophet Muhammad.

Transport Minister Saad El Geyoushi was also fired in the wake of a controversial statement made by ministry spokesman Ahmed Ibrahim in February 2016. Ibrahim said that the ministry had hired a multinational company to manage the countrys railway services, citing a failure at management by government operators.

The recent Cabinet reshuffle included the justice, finance, investment, civil aviation, antiquities, manpower, tourism, irrigation and water resources, and the newly established public sector portfolio.

This is the fifth Cabinet reshuffle since June 30, 2013, which raises questions about the state's ability to implement its plans in light of the frequent replacement of ministers.

Gamal Salama, head of the political science department at Suez Canal University, told Al-Monitor, The Cabinet reshuffle does not affect the [government] plans, since the government has no fixed vision that was disturbed by the change. After all, it is a caretaker government.

He added, We are talking about a government of technocrats that does not have a fixed policy. The reason for the change is the weak performance of some ministers.

The reshuffle came four days before Ismails ministerial statement on the government's program before the elected parliament.

This was preceded by meetings between the prime minister and the members of parliament in all Egyptian governorates, in which the parliament members raised their demands and visions prior to the ministerial statement.

Salama did not see any correlation between the reshuffle and the government's position in front of the parliament. The parliament is not an opposition parliament and is not dissatisfied with the government performance, he said.

Yet parliament member Khaled Abdel Aziz Shaaban had a differing opinion. Before the reshuffle, the parliament was dissatisfied with the governments poor performance when it came to economic policy, due to an increase in the budget deficit, the increase in the US dollar against the Egyptian pound and the lack of a reform vision, he told Al-Monitor.

He added, Anger prevailed when a meeting was held between Cairo governorate members of parliament and the prime minister. I think the whole government should be dismissed. Recently, 10 portfolios were changed, but there are other ministries whose performance is unconvincing, such as the ministries of local development, health and education.

Shaaban asserted that the ministerial change in its current form is not satisfactory to the members of parliament. He added, I was not happy when I met with Ismail. The constitution guaranteed the MPs the right to change the government's policies, and we will exercise this right, especially as the government program presented to the parliament is mere talk.

The Egyptian prime minister had presented his ministerial policy statement on March 27. The statement consisted of 79 pages and included seven main sections. Ismail promised to fight corruption, reduce the budget deficit to 8%, cultivate 4 million acres of wheat, turn Egypt into a digital global society and raise the industry growth rate to 8% within two years.

Yusri al-Azbawi, head of the Egyptian political regime program at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, believed the new ministerial policy statement will garner the support of most members of parliament.

He told Al-Monitor, There is a correlation between the government reshuffle and the ministerial statement before the parliament. The reshuffle aims to absorb the anger of the street and please the MPs.

He attributed the government reshuffle to a lackluster performance of some ministers, which adversely affected the lives of Egyptians.

Most of the sacked ministers are on top of economic and services-related portfolios directly affecting the lives of citizens, he said.

He believed the new composition of the government will not be criticized soon because, in his view, there is no public pressure on the parliament and the political street is quiet, and strong partisan actors in the parliament did not fiercely attack the ministerial statement or absolutely reject it. The government will not face significant opposition from the parliament, he said.

But Ismails government had already received a heavy blow from the parliament earlier this year. In January 2016, the members of parliament rejected the Civil Service Law  drawn up by the government to apply its so-called reform of the administrative apparatus of the state  which was rejected by a large number of civil servants.

Azbawi does not believe the ministerial statement could face huge opposition, as happened with the Civil Service Law. He said, The Civil Service Law was rejected by the people, and a large number of the MPs campaigns were based on opposing this law. The new government's statement does not include any item to be rejected by the people.

It seems that the recent Egyptian Cabinet reshuffle was not triggered by the ministers slow implementation of the development strategy, but rather it aims to secure the parliaments confidence over the government, which raises questions about the existence of a clear government action plan.
April 12, 2016

A call made by Nadia Henry, deputy head of the Free Egyptians Partys parliamentary bloc, to replace the religion course  which is mandatory for students in public schools  with an alternate course on values has raised considerable debate within the parliament, accompanied by an attack launched by the Salafist Nour Party and Al-Azhar.

Egyptian schools teach religion from elementary school through high school, and Christian students are separated from their fellow Muslims during religion courses. However, despite the importance of this course in Egyptian education, the students grades in religion are not included in their final grades because religion exams taken by Christians differ from those taken by Muslims, and this way everyone can be graded equally. Meanwhile, the Orthodox Church and Al-Azhar contribute to developing the curricula for the religion courses for both Christian and Muslim students.

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Henry emphasized that she did not call for eliminating the religion course, but rather wanted to replace it with a course on values that would combine verses from both the Quran and the Bible that underline values and ideals. The values course should be taught by educators who have knowledge in the science of counseling and psychology, to plant the idea of citizenship in students hearts and teach them how to love one another, she said.

Henry refused the idea of teaching the values course along with religion, stressing that the religion course and its results over the past years must be evaluated.

Henry pointed out that the religion course did not produce clear results in changing the concepts of ethics and values in society. She also criticized the way religion is taught in schools by separating young Muslim students from Christians, which increases sectarianism. The values course would teach students the principles of citizenship, without discrimination and without separating between minority and majority. All institutions must work hand in hand; the religious institution establishes doctrine, and the educational institution applies it through educational and behavioral rules.

She called on all those opposing her proposal to join her at the dialogue table to develop the proposal, stressing that she does not aim at eliminating religion from schools but to establish a more advanced way to teach it.

Henry responded to attacks on her proposal by saying that changes to long-standing methods are always accompanied by societal shock, but it is necessary to reconsider the method of teaching religion in schools. According to her, the results of the religion course are negative because students are separated based on their religion and have teachers who are not specialized in teaching religion. She also argued that it would not lead to a decline in religion, claiming, The values course would hamper any inclinations toward atheism among students, because they would [be taught] to understand and tolerate one another.

I will continue to defend the proposal after the Free Egyptians Partys educational committee finishes preparing it in order to submit it to the parliament, she said.

The veteran member of parliament revealed that she is preparing to hold a workshop for educators, clerics, experts in humanities, as well as media and cultural figures to establish regulations and standards for a new educational course under the name of values. Henry said that she will not be affected by the attacks against her. She welcomes all opinions, and she will continue to implement her proposal. Henry expressed her hope that some religious leaders would be welcoming, saying, The new religious leadership within the Evangelical Church shows how committed it is to teaching religion to the new generation.

Henry explained that the values course would emphasize the concepts of moderate Islam for Muslim and Christian students alike. Christian students will learn Quranic verses about tolerance and love, while Muslim students will learn Bible verses about being loving and giving. Thus, citizenship is truly achieved without any [sectarian] slogans.

Al-Azhars committee of senior scholars issued a statement March 10 describing calls to remove religion from state curricula as harmful to Al-Azhars status and the Islamic identity of our country.

Al-Azhars statement was welcomed by Salafist Nour Partys members of parliament, with parliamentarian Ahmed Sharif applauding Al-Azhars stance and stressing that the proposal to remove the religion course was not appropriate.

Meanwhile, Abdel Moneim el-Shahat, a spokesman for the Salafist Call  the Nour Party's political wing  warned about responding to those calling for eliminating religious education from schools. In press statements published March 15 he said, All societal classes are in desperate need of an increase in religion in schools, universities and the media.

For his part, Mohamed El Shahat al-Gundi, a member of the Islamic Research Academy, told Egyptian daily Al-Youm Al-Sabeh in early March that replacing religion for values in school curricula would open the gate to the breakdown of key provisions in the Muslim and Christian religions, and that it was an attempt to resemble the West, which is not the right thing to do.

Henrys proposal was met with various reactions within parliament. For one, member of parliament Amina Naseer supported the proposal, saying, Islam and Christianity emphasize the need for ethics and an upright behavior in dealing with others. The values material should include the values contained in Christian and Muslim texts agreed upon by everyone.

However, independent member of parliament Mohammed Ismail announced that he would make an urgent statement to the minister of education to demand including the grades students get in religious course in their final grades, in response to calls to replace the religion course with values. Ismail expressed the need to do away with the current pass/fail grading system for religion, which in his view would eliminate religious illiteracy and prevent the infiltration of extremist ideas into society.
April 11, 2016

In February 1988, four soldiers from the Givati Brigade were filmed brutally beating two young Palestinians near the town of Nablus. The images of the incident sent Israel, and the world, into turmoil. Although the episode occurred in the early months of the first intifada, which erupted in late 1987, it eventually became a symbol of the uprising and presented Israelis with a harsh picture of what was happening in their backyard. It was the first time that the moral cost of the occupation was so clearly exposed.

The trial of the soldiers, the best of our boys, received extensive coverage from media around the world. The soldiers were eventually convicted and sentenced to prison. How different that seems from today, when a soldier who shot an incapacitated Palestinian in Hebron on March 24 has become a hero to the masses. Anyone who empathized with the soldiers during the first intifada did so mainly because of the impossible situation facing those young men under 20 years of age, who were expected to confront a hostile Palestinian population on a daily basis.

The soldiers responsible for that beating on the hills surrounding Nablus were neither the first nor the last to be court martialed for excessive use of force against Palestinians, causing grievous bodily harm or death. Many others followed.

The 1988 Givati A trial (after soldiers from the Givati Brigade beat a Palestinian to death in Gaza) and the 1990 Givati B trial (for the four soldiers ultimately indicted for the beating outside Nablus) became an integral part of the military legacy and lessons of service in the occupied territories at the time. The most senior officer convicted of killing a Palestinian during that period was Col. Moshe Givati. Givati later claimed that he was the victim of a media lynching that ultimately led to his conviction even though he only backed his men after they killed a boy participating in a terrorist act.

Generally speaking, courts-martial during the first intifada had high media profiles and were covered almost daily in the news. It was a world without social media, but nevertheless, instances of abuse were documented and spread widely, causing enormous damage to Israels image. There were no mass demonstrations at the trials of these errant soldiers and officers. Public trust in the legal system ran high.

In this context, it is worth recalling the famous statement by Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin at the start of the first intifada ordering his troops to break the arms and legs of Palestinians. The Military Advocate General disassociated itself from the policy and acted independently.

Even politicians from the right who came out against Chief of Staff Dan Shomron for being too lenient in their eyes did not win public or political support, unlike what is happening now. Soldiers convicted of excessive violence during the first intifada bore the mark of Cain, even if they themselves were victims of the circumstances of the occupation and the enormous burden imposed on them.

It becomes obvious how much Israeli society has changed when comparing the publics attitude toward soldiers convicted of excessive force during the first intifada and the transformation of the Hebron shooter into a national hero. There are, of course, many reasons for this, ranging from the rise of the right in Israeli politics to the longstanding Israeli feeling of exhaustion and fatigue resulting from Palestinian terrorism despite the 1993 Oslo Accord. The prevailing mood in the country is that there is no one to talk to on the other side. It is a reality in which an organization like Breaking the Silence is branded a group of traitors, while left-wing, human rights or simply critical civil society groups become targets of incitement.

The current generation of soldiers was born after the first intifada ended in 1993. It lives in a completely different world, one in which official institutions like the army and the courts, once part of the consensus, have become politicians punching bags on a daily basis.

The Hebron shooting incident highlights the dramatic transformation of Israeli society, because it is so obvious that this is an especially troubling case. The current targets for fomenting mass incitement are none other than the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief of staff, Gadi Eizenkot, and the defense minister, Moshe Ya'alon, both of whom are trying to preserve the IDFs reputation as an ethical army. Fortunately, Eizenkot refuses to submit to public pressure.

Eizenkot rose through the ranks of an army that had no qualms about sending senior officers to prison for killing Palestinians. In a meeting with soldiers at the Tseelim camp on April 6, he said, The shooting ran counter to the professional and ethical norms of behavior demanded of IDF troops.  The incident in Hebron is the kind of event with very little information available about it. On the other hand, there is plenty of disinformation and information intended to manipulate listeners.  If we do not set norms for ourselves as an army, we will lose this war [against terrorism].

During the first intifada, Eizenkot was the young commander of the Golani Brigade. He spent quite a bit of time in Gaza during the most difficult and tumultuous times there. Nevertheless, he was also part of a generation of commanders who were taught the value of purity of arms and the moral superiority that IDF commanders and troops alike must maintain when facing their enemies.

The depths to which the IDF taught purity of arms in the years following the Six-Day War in 1967 can be gleaned from a story that has entered the national mythology. In fact, countless generations of soldiers  including the current defense minister, chief of staff and chair of HaBayit HaYehudi, Naftali Bennett, who served in an elite unit  were raised on this story.

The year was 1969, when an IDF squad was chasing a group of men through the Jordan Valley. Three soldiers suddenly found themselves in a life-threatening dilemma. They had followed their targets to the entrance of a cave and suspected the men were hiding inside. Standing at the cave, however, was a Bedouin woman, breastfeeding her child. She told them that no one else was there. Although they were skeptical, the soldiers decided not to harm the woman and turned to leave. They were shot in the back by the men the woman had concealed.

While there are countless variations of this story, this became the standard version. It was an integral part of how the IDF trained its soldiers. Once, those soldiers were considered heroes. Based on the current online dialogue, heroism is the exact opposite of what happened in the Jordan Valley 47 years ago.
April 11, 2016

The poem by German Lutheran theologian Martin Niemoller, First they came , is often quoted in recent times by Israeli left-wing and human rights activists. They adopted the poem about the cowardice of German intellectuals who failed to speak up against the Nazis to describe the silent majority in the bitter war of cultures being waged in Israel. Following the vicious ''mole'' campaign by the right-wing Im Tirtzu organization and the accusations of treason against activists and supporters of the Breaking the Silence and BTselem human rights groups, Niemollers protest, written more than 70 years ago, has become a modern-day anthem of those persecuted for protesting the silence of the majority.

The opening lines to one of the poem's versions go like this: ''First they came for the Communists/ and I didnt speak up/ because I wasnt a Communist/ Then they came for the Jews/ and I didnt speak up/ because I wasnt a Jew.''

Niemoller, who fought courageously against the Nazi regime in Germany, listed all the silent segments of society: Protestants, Catholics and trade unionists who thought they would never be targeted. He continued, Then they came for me  and there was no one left to speak for me. This week, too, these words were quoted in the context of Israels latest public uproar.

An April 5 expose on Israel Radio revealed that some hospitals separate Jewish women and Arab women in maternity wards. Knesset member Bezalel Smotrich of HaBayit HaYehudi took to Twitter to express support for the segregation. He wrote, My wife is totally not a racist, but after giving birth, she wants to rest without the mass celebrations that are traditional in Arab families.

His wife, Revital, told a Channel 10 television interviewer that during one of her births she asked the hospital administration to replace the Arab obstetrician with a Jewish one so that Arab hands would not touch the newborn. The moment that the infant enters the world is sacred and pure. It is a Jewish moment, and I would be very happy if Jewish hands were the first to touch my child, she said, further stirring the cauldron. It suddenly became clear that segregation between Jews and Arabs was not simply a routine occurrence  it also enjoys the support of various groups.

But why was this particular instance  of separation between new mothers  greeted with such shock, more so than separation of Jews from Arabs in other places in Israel and the territories, which is normally accepted with indifference?

No one spoke out when wide, new roads paved in the West Bank were reserved for Jewish settlers, while Arabs were absolutely prohibited from using them. The Palestinians dub these thoroughfares apartheid roads. As evidence, five years ago on a news assignment I was driving on Route 557 leading to the settlements of Itamar and Elon Moreh with a Palestinian passenger from the nearby village of Burin by my side in the car. Settlers in the area who spotted a Palestinian passenger in the car of a Jewish driver were quick to alert the army and police so they could arrest the Arab who dared use the road reserved for settlers, in violation of the ban. The argument of the defense authorities at the time was that the decision to pave separate roads stemmed from security considerations.

Security considerations was also the explanation provided by Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon  who is now being targeted by the radical right for criticizing the Israeli soldier who shot dead a Palestinian in Hebron  when he caved in to settler pressure and ordered that Jews and Arabs be segregated on bus lines in the territories. The instructions, which were also endorsed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, were not carried out  not because of the silent majority that did not raise its voice, but as a result of international media attention that included prolific use of the word apartheid. A year has gone by, the buses remain mixed, and lo and behold they dont pose a security threat.

There are numerous other examples of this type of discrimination in everyday life in Israel. The former mayor of Nazareth Illit, Shimon Gapso, tried all sorts of methods to make life hard for the non-Jews living in his town. He was strenuously opposed to opening schools for Arab students, even though more than 20% of the towns residents are Arabs. Gapsos explanation back then was that the city of Nazareth Illit was established in order to create a Jewish majority in the Galilee  the residents, and I at their head, are staunchly supportive of the principle that Nazareth Illit must retain this role.

Arabs are discriminated against in hiring, Jews refuse to rent apartments to Arabs, and prior to the 2015 elections, Netanyahu even urged right-wing supporters to get out and vote because the Arabs are moving in droves to the polling stations. Separation and racism have become a fact of life in Israel and is being nurtured by senior decision-makers including Netanyahu and the right-wing ministers in his government. Even the centrist former finance minister, Yair Lapid from Yesh Atid, was not immune. After being elected to the Knesset in 2013, he said that he would not sit on the opposition benches with Zoabis  using the name of Arab Knesset member Haneen Zoabi to refer to all Arab politicians, a sobriquet for which he subsequently apologized.

But it was only this time that the Israeli public was shocked. In a spontaneous outpouring of anger against the comments by the Smotriches and the expose about segregation in hospitals, women have been posting photos of Arab mothers and Jewish mothers together, thrilled with their babies. All those who kept mum about segregation in other places suddenly found their voice. Journalist Hanoch Daum, who describes himself as a dyed-in-the-wool right-winger, wrote a reaction to Smotrich, admitting that he had voted for his HaBayit HaYehudi party, but criticized his remarks: One of the sweetest memories I have from the birth of my son Yehuda, way back 17 years ago, is standing and biting my nails at the Misgav Ladach hospital, along with an Arab from [the Jerusalem Arab neighborhood of] Beit Safafa, the two of us spending a long night in expectation of our first born  it was so universal and wonderful. And thats whats sad about your remarks. Not only do they reek of racism, you are also missing out on something far deeper: If theres hope in the place where we live, its visible there, in the delivery room. There are no Jews and Arabs there. Theres only father and mother and a new life coming into this world  a piece of sanity in a bitter world.

Too bad that many of those who were outraged at the racism in the maternity wards forget that there are also people outside the hospitals  Jews and Arabs  seeking hope and sanity. Too bad that they forget how easy it is to speak out against segregation in hospitals, but how easier it is, apparently, to accept the reality of separation and discrimination in other areas of life in Israel without speaking out.
April 11, 2016

In a meeting with Arab leaders in the Persian Gulf on April 7, Secretary of State John Kerry said that the United States was willing to work with Iran in a new arrangement to address issues of contention such as Irans ballistic missiles. The comments have irked a number of Iranian officials, even those who have been supportive of the direct talks with the United States to resolve issues over the countrys nuclear program.

Iran will not negotiate with anyone over its defensive power, said Ali Akbar Velayati, foreign policy adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Regarding Kerrys suggestion and the possibility of another comprehensive agreement between Iran and the world powers in the vein of the nuclear agreement, Velayati said, It has no relation to Mr. Kerry to discuss Irans defensive powers.

Velayati, who was one of the first top Iranian officials who publicly criticized the hard-line tactics of previous nuclear negotiators and has thrown his support behind the nuclear deal, continued, Iran has reached this level of power through self-sufficiency and will not ask Mr. Kerry [or anyone else] for permission to defend itself.

Irans defense minister, Hossein Dehghan, was far less diplomatic in his response to Kerrys comments. He should know not to speak nonsense, Dehghan said April 9. He accused Kerry of using fear over Irans missile programs in order to sell more weapons to the countries in the region. The US has sold $33 billion in weapons to Gulf countries since May 2015. Dehghan said that if the United States was truly after prosperity, peace and stability in the Middle East, it should leave the region.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who personally negotiated the nuclear deal with Kerry over a two-year period, said April 10, The American government knows well that a discussion over Irans defenses is not a topic of negotiation or a deal. He added that there is no plan for a comprehensive agreement on defensive issues.

Addressing US support of the Saudi Arabian-led war in Yemen, Zarif said that if the United States is serious about discussing military matters, It should decrease the sale of weapons that every day are killing the innocent people of Yemen.

That Iran would not negotiate over military matters has long been a position of Ayatollah Khamenei. However, the harshness of the comments suggests that Iranian officials are drawing a hard red line over the issue, which appears to be a new front in Iran-US tensions. Regardless of US concerns, Iran seems intent on moving forward with both its current military and regional policies.

There have been conflicting reports in Iranian media that Russia has finally delivered the long-awaited S-300 missiles, a long-range weapon designed to defend against aircraft and cruise missiles. After Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaberi-Ansar made comments about the S-300, Iranian media reported that the first delivery of the missile system had been made. Iranian social media users began to share pictures of what appeared to be the S-300 on trucks. However, Iranian media later clarified that only part of the system was starting to be delivered and websites deleted the original article reporting the system being delivered.

After Iran sent in regular army commandos to Syria for the first time, Tasnim News Agency reported April 11 that four Iranians had been killed. The entrance of the regular armys Brigade 65 was a surprise move given that previously Iranians sent to Syria belonged to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. When asked about the dispatching of the army to Syria, Brig. Gen. Ahmad Reza Pourdastan, the commander of Irans ground forces, said April 11, We are soldiers of the establishment. Whatever the establishment deems advisable, we will enter with strength.
April 11, 2016

TEHRAN, Iran  The recent abrupt cancellation of a planned visit by Irans President Hassan Rouhani to Austria is raising a great deal of speculation. The two-day trip, which was scheduled to take place on March 30-31, was called off the last minute by the Iranian side. It was to follow a visit by Rouhani and his delegation to Belgium, which had already been cancelled due to the recent terrorist attacks in Brussels. But why was the visit to Vienna called off?

Rouhanis decision to cancel the trip was announced on the evening of March 29, just hours before the presidents planned departure. The Iranian government announced that the visit by Irans president to Austria will take place at a more appropriate time. This decision has been reached mutually to allow for better preparation.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson for Austrian President Heinz Fischer's office said, "The visit for March 30-31 by President Hassan Rouhani and his delegation has been postponed by the Iranian side for security reasons." The Austrian president himself also expressed regret that Rouhani had to cancel his trip and said every nation had to decide for itself about the safety and security of its head of government. Fischer added, however, that to his understanding there was no cause for security concerns. He said Austrian police had assured him that all necessary security measures had been put in place, just as they had been for previous visits by the presidents of Russia and China.

In Iran, one of the first official reactions to the cancellation of the trip came from Rouhanis minister of health. In a note posted on his personal Telegram channel in early April, Hassan Ghazizadeh Hashemi reiterated that security concerns were the real cause for the cancellation, while criticizing media outlets that raised questions about the latter.

But what were these security concerns? In an interview with the semi-official ISNA news agency, Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said the Iranian president had cancelled his visit to Austria due to a slated protest in Vienna by the Mujahadeen-e-Khalq Organization (MEK), an opposition group that is outlawed in Iran. Larijani said Austrian authorities had shown no interest in a request made by Rouhanis security detail to revoke the license for the MEK demonstration, and so the president had called off his trip. Larijani further said Rouhani had made the right decision but that some media outlets were trying to cast a shadow of doubt and uncertainty over this. The question then is: Which media outlets are these, and which issues have they raised?

The semi-official Mehr News Agency, which has been a critic of the Rouhani administration, published an article on April 2 titled, The untold stories of the cancellation of Rouhanis trip: from insecurity to unease, what is the issue? In the article, several different scenarios are put forth, some of which include the recent terrorist attacks in Brussels and the possibility of insecurity in Vienna, pro-Israeli lobbies pressuring Vienna to cancel the trip, and an earlier interview of Austrias president by Iranian state TV in which Fischer indirectly referred to Iran not being able to join the global transaction network SWIFT. Indeed, the reference to SWIFT had led Iranian hardliners to engage in serious attacks against the Rouhani administration. The article in Mehr News ultimately concludes that Rouhani supposedly realized that such a visit would bring no achievements for him or his government and, therefore, used security concerns as an excuse to cancel the trip.

Another important question that remains to be answered is the nature of the request made by Rouhanis security detail, which Larijani referred to. The MEK, which has been involved in numerous terrorist attacks in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, seemingly did intend to hold a rally during Rouhanis visit. The fact of the matter is that such rallies are nothing new  the MEK has staged similar demonstrations almost every time a senior Iranian official has made a foreign trip.

Separately, in an op-ed, Hossein Dehbashi  a former media advisor of Rouhani who has turned into a critic of the administration  slammed the Iranian presidents cancellation of his trip to Austria. Dehbashi compared the situation with when Rouhanis predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, delivered his widely covered speech at Columbia University in 2007. Dehbashi wrote that although Ahmadinejad was aware that the Israelis and his opponents planned to turn the event into hell for him, he bravely delivered his speech and witnessed its impact. In Dehbashis telling, Rouhani was not as courageous as Irans former president in standing up to his opponents.

Whatever the reason for Rouhanis cancellation of his trip to Austria, what further remains unclear is why he also called off a related trip to Iraq. According to previously announced plans, Rouhani was scheduled to visit Iraq in addition to Belgium and Austria. However, this visit was cancelled without any official explanation or media coverage. Perhaps the significance of a cancelled visit to Austria had overshadowed this news. Or perhaps, as Austrian officials have stated, Rouhanis decision to also cancel his trip to Iraq shows that the reasons for aborting his trip to Vienna are unrelated to Austria.
April 12, 2016

After several failed attempts, the UN-backed Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) finally moved to Tripoli, arriving March 31. The international community praised the action, hoping it will be the first step toward not only unifying the countrys two rival governments but also coordinating a response to the Islamic State (IS).

The international community is expecting the GNA to take a leadership role in the fight against the militant terrorist group by uniting Libyan militias around an anti-IS strategy, as there are mounting concerns that IS will not only gain a foothold in the North African state but also seize the countrys oil reserves. In addition to increased scrutiny of IS and occasional airstrikes, there is an interest in providing air support, training, etc., for an anti-IS effort, said Issandr El Amrani, North Africa project director for the International Crisis Group.

Gen. David M. Rodriguez, head of the US Africa Command, said in an April 7 briefing that the groups stronghold in Libya is currently limited to the city of Sirte, but that it does have a presence in Derna and Benghazi, in the east, and Sabratha, in the west. In the March issue of the CTC Sentinel, Geoff D. Porter reported the total area the group can maneuver in is roughly 4,550 square miles.

Life for the 700,000 residents of Sirte is subject to strict regulations similar to those in IS-controlled territories in Iraq and Syria, including bans on smoking and music. Unlike in Iraq and Syria, however, the IS faction in exclusively Sunni Muslim Libya did not evolve from local grievances. Instead, its positioning has been portrayed as a fallback option to Syria and Iraq. An estimated 70% of IS fighters in Libya are believed to be non-Libyan, including from Tunisia, Egypt and Chad.

The intimidating tactics used in Iraq and Syria are now being used in Sirte, Moammar Gadhafis hometown and the city where the Libyan leader was killed. Reports from sources in the city who asked to remain anonymous for security concerns suggest that the morality police are increasingly arresting youths for selling cigarettes, and there are frequent raids on the homes of military and police personnel, who are under pressure to enroll in the organization. If they refuse, they are executed, according to the reports. In addition, IS recently demanded that each citizen pay zakat (a religious obligation) of 400 Libyan dinars (almost $300), which goes to directly support the group. A recent estimate from a source in Sirte put the number of IS fighters in the city and its environs at about 3,000.

The total number of IS fighters in Libya remains disputed. At the end of last year, estimates stood between 2,000 and 3,000 but have since increased. According to Rodriquez, recent figures from the US intelligence community suggest that there are between 4,000 and 6,000. Porter estimates that Libya has about 30% of the average estimate of fighters in Iraq and Syria, which combined geographically are three times smaller than Libya.

The question is how [do you define IS], said El Amrani, discussing the recent increase. Many current Libyan IS members were previously members of other militia groups and the al-Qaeda affiliate Ansar al-Sharia. According to El Amrani, the numbers need to be viewed with caution. He added that there is also a question of the degree of unified command by leaders with links to IS in Iraq and Syria over IS fighters within Libyas borders.

The suspected increase in IS fighters has stirred questions about the groups intentions and whether it is seeking to establish a stronghold in the oil-rich North African country. The Sunni extremist group was initially able to take advantage of the power vacuum in the aftermath of Gadhafi's overthrow. US President Barack Obama has recently described the failure to prepare for the aftermath of Gadhafi's fall as the worst mistake of his presidency. Indeed, the absence of a central and unified government paved the way for the growth of militias and groups such as IS.

Concern about IS' intentions prompted the United States to conduct two airstrikes in Libya, both targeting what Rodriguez described as posing an imminent threat to US interests and personnel. On Feb. 19, fighter jets and drones attacked an IS training camp close to Sabratha, 40 miles west of Tripoli. Among the 41 killed was the main target, Noureddine Chouchane, a Tunisian national believed to have been involved in two terrorist attacks in Tunisia last year. Two Serbian Embassy staff members held hostage were also killed. In November, a US airstrike in the eastern city of Derna killed Abu Nabil, the groups former leader in Libya. According to El Amrani, these types of attacks can be efficient in containing the militant groups expansion, eliminating its leadership and materiel and maintaining pressure on the ground.

There are risks, however, to increasing the international presence in Libya too quickly. Despite the GNAs initial success, the country remains divided, with people in both the east and the west opposing the unity government.

These opponents would likely use any foreign intervention as a rallying cry, especially the Islamist side, as we see from the recent calls by [Libyan Grand] Mufti al-Gheriani for jihad against the GNA, said El Amrani. Meanwhile, in March, UN experts reported that IS has been spreading a nationalistic narrative, portraying itself as the most important bulwark against foreign intervention.

Ultimately Libyans will need to retake territory under the control of IS, El Amrani said. That will require not only a unified effort by Libyan groups, but a plan for governance that takes into account local grievances. There is already a widespread perception that the GNA is a Western product. Moving too fast could compound that view, El Amrani said. More efforts need to be made, in particular, at getting to an agreement among security actors to back this government and a single anti-IS strategy.

Moving forward, the political and economic drivers of violence in Libya need to be addressed. Security is rarely a result of mere force, said Mattia Toaldo, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. The fight over oil resources has been a big driver of violence.

Toaldo argues that a more consensual management of these resources should help de-escalate fighting between militias and increase focus on IS. According to Toaldo, the government's priorities should now include ensuring it can pay salaries, reconciliation with Zintan, thereby pacifying western Libya and restarting oil production, as well as reconciliation with the east and building a national security council.
April 12, 2016

Three months after the implementation of the comprehensive nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers, Iranian critics of the deal say the United States has failed to live up to its commitments.

During an April 11 speech in northern Iran, former nuclear negotiator and 2013 presidential candidate Saeed Jalili outlined what he viewed to be the failures of the nuclear deal. Addressing the law that President Barack Obama signed canceling the Visa Waiver Program for European citizens who are dual nationals of Iran, Jalili said, From the day the deal was accepted until its implementation, not only were laws not passed to remove sanctions, but they put limitations on visas for Iranians. Therefore, our pessimism was shaped by a realistic view.

Criticizing President Hassan Rouhani, who urged critics to not forgo the opportunities brought about by the nuclear deal to engage with the world, Jalili suggested it was other countries blocking these opportunities, asking rhetorically, Who is not allowing this opportunity to be used? Who is obstructing it? One of the main problems for Iran has been that European countries remain uncertain about the remaining US sanctions on Iran not related to its nuclear program. On April 11, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said that the United States would not allow Iran access to its financial system.

Although Irans nuclear negotiators have explained this in the past, many continue to be confused by the different sanctions. During the question and answer session, Jalili explained that according to the nuclear deal there would be primary and secondary sanctions, and that only the secondary sanctions were related to the nuclear program and only they would be removed. Jalili also said that if he had been elected president, he would not have signed the nuclear deal because his ideas are different than the people who signed them.

Jalili is not the only political figure to criticize the nuclear deal in recent days. Ismail Kowsari, an Iranian parliamentarian and member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, attacked Rouhani over the nuclear deal. Have the promises regarding the nuclear deal that were given by the opposing side been implemented? Why did you immediately implement your commitments, but the opposing side not only did not implement its commitments but wants more. He blamed the Rouhani administration for not showing a firm response to the opposing side not keeping its promises.

Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, the spiritual father to the hard-line Endurance Front political bloc, also argued there have been no benefits from the nuclear deal. The supreme leader said many times he is not optimistic about the nuclear deal, and today we essentially see that the red lines have been crossed and also it has had no benefits. He accused the Rouhani administration of using fear tactics to push through the nuclear deal, saying that the alternative was war.

While there certainly have been fears for European companies wishing to do business with Iran, it would be unrealistic to say that the nuclear deal has had no benefits. Rouhani responded to critics April 4, saying, Those who talk about the nuclear deal have apparently forgotten  if it wasnt for the deal today, we would not even be able to export one barrel of oil.

Even critics of the deal have reaped benefits. Vatan-e-Emrooz newspaper, which has staunchly opposed the nuclear deal, praised the first steps of the delivery from Russia of the S-300 missile defense system, a delivery that Russia likely would not have made if Iran and the world powers did not come to terms over its nuclear program.
April 11, 2016

RAMALLAH  Ramallah, once a small predominantly Christian town of 12,000 residents in 1967, transformed into the de facto political capital of Palestine with the establishment of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 1994. The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics reports that today approximately 35,000 persons permanently reside in the West Bank city, and more than 120,000 pack its streets during the week. The municipality plans to again transform the city, this time into a smart city.

In 2011, Ramallah lacked almost the entire basic technological infrastructure required to build a smart city. Today, Safaa Aldwaik, director of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for the Ramallah municipality, is working hard to change that. Aldwaik, who earned two master's degrees and a doctorate in geography from Clark University, returned to Ramallah in 2011 to build the municipality's first GIS platform. She electronically mapped all of Ramallah, including its public infrastructure, and integrated GIS into almost all of the municipality's departments.

Today the Ramallah municipality relies on GIS to review and maintain its infrastructure. Aldwaik told Al-Monitor that the GIS system has revolutionized the organization of data for the municipality.

We can make reports in seconds. For example, in a recent meeting, the mayor asked me how many traffic signs we replaced in 2015. In one click, I was able to give him a full report, she said. Aldwaik also remarked that GIS has empowered Ramallah to allocate its resources more effectively.

Despite such progress, Ramallah still lacks other necessary technological infrastructure to build a smart city, including access to 3G and 4G frequencies because Israeli authorities have not provided Palestinian cell phone service providers access to them. That might soon change, at least for the 3G network, with Israel and the PA having signed an agreement in November 2015 for Palestinian access to 3G frequencies. Palestinian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Alam Mousa estimates that Palestinian companies will likely be able to offer the service by the end of 2016.

Meanwhile, Aldwaik and the Ramallah municipality, deciding that they had no time to waste, reached an agreement with the largest Palestinian telecommunications company, Paltel Group, to install fiber optic cables to connect municipal buildings and provide Wi-Fi on Ramallahs main streets. Paltel agreed to provide unlimited Wi-Fi to all 14 municipal buildings and 2 gigabytes of Wi-Fi monthly to all of its landline telephone subscribers, approximately 90% of the Palestinian market. In addition, Paltel will offer visitors 30 minutes of free Wi-Fi daily, but has yet to launch this part of the program. Thus far, according to Paltel's general manager, Maan Melhem, 1,500 Paltel subscribers are connected to the network, and the company expects to increase the volume of users in the coming weeks.

Melhem emphasized that Wi-Fi should serve only as a temporary solution, until Palestinian leaders reach a final agreement with Israel on improved telecommunications. Melhem told Al-Monitor, Wi-Fi technology will never replace 3G and 4G networks. It is not designed for mobility, flexibility and seamless authentication. Rather it is designed for metro stations, holes and small areas.

Now that Ramallah has a limited form of Internet on its major streets, the municipality has launched a number of projects to serve residents through the technology. For example, Aldwaik developed an alternative to Google Maps, which does not function in Palestinian-controlled Area A of the West Bank. Though less sophisticated than Google Maps, the Palestinian maps interface can suggest directions to users. Moreover, the municipality released a smartphone application, appropriately called RAMALLAH, with which residents can search for local events and access a phone directory and other information about the city.

The municipality cannot, however, offer services that require online transactions, because Palestine does not have a law that permits such exchanges. Regarding this issue, Aldwaik said that most online services requiring payment will have to wait until the government passes a law, but beginning in May 2016 the municipality will permit residents to pay municipal bills, such as school fees and rents, through PayPal.

The municipality has also launched multiple projects to modernize the basic infrastructure of the city. For example, it commissioned the installation of cameras at major intersections to better direct traffic and effectively respond to emergency situations. Aldwaik remarked, These cameras have been very useful in the emergency room during storms, because we can see the entire city and direct our employees accordingly.

Moreover, in December 2015 the municipality celebrated the inauguration of its first smart school, the Ramallah Girls School, which has Wi-Fi and interactive projectors in classrooms and an online platform for students to access assignments. While the municipality has only commissioned one technologically advanced school, it hopes to expand the concept to others in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and has already provided wired and wireless Internet access to six other schools.

While many Palestinians have welcomed the smart city plan and believe modern technology will improve the standard of living in Ramallah, a number of critics have raised concerns about it. Wassim Abdullah, an information and communications technology consultant, noted that Ramallah has made some progress in modernizing its infrastructure but still has considerable work to do. He told Al-Monitor in an email that the limits of the Wi-Fi network, the lack of an online payment law and a variety of other concerns make it difficult to call Ramallah a smart city for the time being. He summarized his perspective, stating, While this [project] is a good and long overdue start, we are still far from a smart city.

Nur Arafeh, a fellow at the Palestinian policy network Al-Shabaka, expressed criticism of the smart city plan. Arafeh does not reject the idea of a smart city in theory, but she thinks such a project reflects the misplaced priorities of the Palestinian government.

Arafeh told Al-Monitor, The Ramallah municipality is building technological infrastructure, but what about water, electricity, health and agricultural infrastructure? Arafeh further remarked that the plan will not lead to liberation from the Israeli occupation, but rather coexistence with it. The smart city plan circumvents the occupation and fails to address its root issues, she said.

Despite their critics, the Ramallah municipality, Paltel and other stakeholders have already invested more than $1 million in the smart city plan and intend to continue to invest in it. The Palestinian government hopes that other cities will follow Ramallahs lead. In fact, Mousa believes the Ramallah smart city plan is only the beginning of greater efforts to incorporate advanced technology into Palestinian cities.

We have a vision of building a digital Palestine by 2022, and we hope to cooperate with other cities to achieve this goal, said Mousa.
April 12, 2016

Ankara is developing a dual-track approach to the Middle East by simultaneously courting bitter rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran to shore up its position in a region that has defied its plans and ambitions to date. Foreign policy experts say this new approach, which they consider to be a work in progress, has the potential to make Turkey an influential regional player again if it is allowed to mature.

This new approach has already resulted in a spate of high-level recent visits between Turkey and Saudi Arabia, and Turkey and Iran. Turkey remains unhappy, of course, about Tehrans support for the Bashar al-Assad regime, while Iran is unhappy about Ankaras support to anti-Assad groups in Syria.

Turkey also remains disgruntled about Saudi Arabias support for Egypts Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is criticized by Ankara for relentlessly pursuing members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu have a personal affinity for members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

But Ankaras Sunni-based approach to the region and its overt pro-Muslim Brotherhood sympathies provided little in the end other than ruffling the feathers of both Sunni and Shiite powers. Saudi Arabia and Iran, nevertheless, appear keener now to respond to Ankaras outreach because of the common interests with Turkey that have emerged.

Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud arrived in Ankara April 11 against this backdrop, with a large entourage of aides, for two days of talks with Erdogan and Davutoglu on regional issues, with the focus expected to be mostly on Syria.

These talks also come immediately before the Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit in Istanbul later this week to be hosted by Erdogan. Salman will travel to Istanbul from Ankara to attend the summit.

Salmans visit to Ankara follows up on Erdogans icebreaking visit to Riyadh in December, which took place only a month after Erdogan attended the funeral of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz.

Diplomats have noted the relative improvement in ties after Salman came to power. Officials in Ankara also say they detect signs of a new approach by Riyadh toward the Muslim Brotherhood after Abdullahs death.

Following Erdogans visit to Riyadh, there was much talk about a Sunni alliance between the two countries, especially with regard to Syria. After it was announced in February that Saudi fighter jets would be deployed at the Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, speculation was rife that the two countries were preparing for a joint intervention in Syria.

These claims were denied by Saudi Arabia, who said its jets would only join the US-led coalition in strikes against the Islamic State and had no other mission. Ankara and Riyadh, nevertheless, continue to support anti-Assad fighters operating under the banner of the Free Syrian Army, which includes groups that Iran and Russia say are terrorist organizations and which the United States is also not too keen about.

Developing ties with Riyadh gives Ankara an important partner in the Middle East and helps it not only overcome its regional isolation, but to also reinforce its hand in Syria and Iraq.

Conversely, ties with Ankara provides Riyadh with an important regional and predominantly Sunni partner at a time when it is in deep rivalry with Iran.

This is said to be particularly important for the Saudi side because it feels it has lost ground against Iran following Tehrans rapprochement with Washington.

Soli Ozel, a lecturer in international relations at Istanbuls Kadir Has University, and who has a column in daily Haberturk, said this is also driving Riyadh to developing its ties with Ankara.

The Saudis want Turkey as a counterbalance because they mistrust US intentions about Iran. But this expectation in Riyadh is likely to be misplaced, Ozel told Al-Monitor. His remarks are corroborated by the fact that Ankara is eager to overcome the impression that it is pursuing Sunni-based policies.

Turkey is unlikely, therefore, to enter any Sunni alliance that appears to be against Iran.

Davutoglus surprise visit to Tehran in early March, and the positive statements made there with regard to bilateral ties, was taken as an indication of Turkeys desire to build bridges with Iran.

Ozel pointed out that the Kurdish issue is also a shared factor in Turkish-Iranian ties. Both countries are wary about efforts by the Syrian Kurds to establish an autonomous region for themselves, Ozel said.

Ozel added that efforts to develop ties with Tehran and Riyadh simultaneously also signals an effort on Ankaras part to establish what he referred to as a more variegated policy toward the region. He stressed that this policy has yet to emerge fully.

An Iran that has been opening up to the world rapidly after its nuclear deal with the West also provides a lucrative market, which Turkey cannot overlook. But retired Ambassador Unal Cevikoz, whose past posts include Baghdad, pointed out that while this is an added catalyst for improved ties with Iran, Turkey can make little headway in this regard if its political relations are not in order.

Cevikoz told Al-Monitor that the apparent dual-track policy Ankara is displaying toward Saudi Arabia and Iran now is a positive development that can put Turkey back in the picture regionally.

If this is allowed to mature, it will help make Turkey shed some of its negative image and make it a respected player again in the Middle East, Cevikoz said. He added, however, that Ankara had to also improve its ties with Egypt and Israel for this to happen.

Riyadh can help bridge Turkeys differences with Egypt, Cevikoz said, referring to the fact that Salman arrived in Ankara this week from Cairo where he held talks with President Sisi.

On the other hand, retired Ambassador Bozkurt Aran, who currently lectures at Ankaras TOBB University, believes this dual-track approach by Ankara is still a work in progress, and he doubts if we can talk about a new direction in Turkeys Middle East policy yet.

We got to this stage after much self-created turbulence, which is not totally over yet. Turkeys policies also helped provoke the Shiite resurgence in the region. Ankara has to still overcome all the damaging effects of this turbulence before we can say that a new policy is in place, Aran told Al-Monitor.
April 11, 2016

TINDOUF, Algeria  Western Sahara is the only African non-self-governing territory. It is often called Africas last colony, and the territory sparks controversy easily. For example, the African Union recently condemned the Crans Montana Forum on Africa, whose slogan is Committed to a More Humane and Impartial World, for meeting in the city of Dakhla, which is under Moroccan control.

Now the United States is drawing fire. President Barack Obama's administration is planning to approve a $1 million grant for civil society organizations in the region. Meanwhile, much of the Sahrawi indigenous population lives in refugee camps in southwest Algeria, waiting in exile for a United Nations referendum on independence promised a quarter century ago.

Al-Monitor spoke about this topic with Stephen Zunes, a professor of politics and international studies at the University of San Francisco, where he chairs the Middle Eastern studies program. Pro-Moroccan elements in Congress have been putting enormous pressure on the Obama administration to end its prohibition against sending US foreign aid to Morocco in the occupied Western Sahara. They recently passed legislation, against the wishes of President Obama, requiring the State Department to allow the aid to be used in the territory, he said.

Zunes is also a co-author of the book "Western Sahara: War, Nationalism, and Conflict Irresolution." According to him, Obama recognizes that sending aid directly to the Moroccan government for so-called economic development in Western Sahara would just strengthen the occupation. So Obama is hoping that aiding civil society groups could empower Sahrawis themselves and assert their political rights, Zunes said.

He added, The question is in regard to implementation: Will the aid go to genuine Sahrawi civil society groups, or the pro-occupation organizations backed by the Moroccan government? How much control will the Moroccan government have in distributing the aid, or will the State Department insist on making the final decisions?

The State Department is offering the grant through the Near Eastern Affairs bureaus Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI). The group specifically moves aid money through nongovernmental organizations instead of through foreign governments.

Mouloud Said is the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republics US envoy and the Washington representative for Polisario Front, the political-military Sahrawi liberation movement. Said rejects the aid plan.

The Sahrawis are not concerned by such a program. The only way to implement it is by organizing it with the settlers or the people on the Moroccan payroll, he told Al-Monitor.

The State Department has already announced that the grant will be awarded for boosting civil society rather than promoting the kind of economic development long sought by Morocco, he said.

In a simple sentence: This program is not welcome in the occupied territories.

A State Department official recently told Al-Monitors Julian Pecquet, The planned $1 million program will support the people of the Western Sahara to form meaningful linkages with civil society organizations and local government.

When asked for his thoughts on that statement, Said responded angrily: Which local governments? The local occupation forces? There is no legitimacy to any activity in the occupied territory, and be assured that the genuine Sahrawi civil society will not be part of such a program.

He added, It is just a loss of taxpayers' money that will not have any effect on the Sahrawi society, because no one will be part of it.

Adam Vanoord is a US citizen who has been running an English school in the Sahrawi refugee camps for three years. He told Al-Monitor, I think with such grants you are forcing the people of Western Sahara to acknowledge a government that is not their own.

The United States also granted more than $4 million to Sahrawi refugees in Algeria after floods hit their camps in the fall, but the assistance was channeled through the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

Jira Mokhtar, who works for a nongovernmental organization in the camps called NOVA supported by Oxfam International, also doubts the grant money will reach the right people.

Moroccos intention is not strengthening the Sahrawi civil society; its intention is to legitimize its presence in Western Sahara through such grants, she told Al-Monitor.

Also doubtful is Mohamed Lamin, who was born in the Moroccan-occupied territory of El Aaiun and recently moved to the camps. Such awards are to be directed to the Moroccan public treasury, and the Sahrawis are not going to benefit from them, he said.
April 12, 2016

The new book by sociologist Oz Almog and educator Tamar Almog, titled "Generation Y: Like theres no tomorrow," and a series of viral articles by journalist Tzlil Avraham that disputes the books conclusions  the first of which is titled Why Tamar and Oz Almog got everything wrong about millennials"  present two opposing views of the millennials (called Generation Y in Israel), the generation born in the 1980s and 1990s, and their parents.

Avraham and Oz and Tamar Almog actually agree on many points. The main disagreement between them is that the book's authors wish to focus on describing the millennials as reflected in the study they conducted, while Avraham believes that the focus should be on the factors that led to her generations behavior, as depicted in the book.

According to the book, the millennials are alienated, egocentric, spoiled, late to mature, dependent on their parents, even exploiting them financially, and shirk responsibility. In an interview with Al-Monitor, Oz Almog emphasized that the book also points to positive characteristics. Its a feminist, practical generation, with an attitude of cut the bullshit. They are more accepting and open, he said. This generation gives negligible weight to ethnic divides and openly accepts the LGBT community. They are exceptionally social and really know how to have a good time.

Avraham said that she decided to respond to the book, because "if we don't talk about the topic, our parents will, and they will say we are lazy and spoiled." She added that following her series of articles, readers wrote to her things like, Finally someone wrote what I feel or This article is about me.

She said, Its not true that we are not mature enough. We have to understand that the reality of materialism has caused this. One of the claims [made against us] is that we do not leave home and do not grow up. But a 30-year-old who works shifts cant do that.

According to Avraham, the millennials were leaders of the social protest movement against the high cost of living in the summer of 2011, when they protested against the economic conditions they have inherited from their parents. Your generation [Almog] wrote an entire book that vilifies our generation  who received from you a country plagued by wars and terrorism, with a decimated and exploitative labor market, empty pension coffers, inhumane housing prices and a plundered future, Avraham wrote in the first article of the series.

"We didn't write an indictment," Almog said, "but we didn't ignore generational weaknesses, like self-centeredness and difficulties in emotional resilience. We described reality. In dozens of meetings we conducted with groups of experts in all sorts of fields  and Im talking about hundreds of experts  they told us, Youre describing our children, our students, our soldiers, our clients, our workers. It is no coincidence that the book was at the top of the best-seller list from the moment it was published [in February]. People write with excitement that we put in a scientific framework what they felt intuitively.

Almog added, "We conducted a research study for the police, based on our conclusions about young people, to make changes to the organization. Companies and institutions in the fields of high-tech, law, medicine, education, communications and others came to us for advice, because they all feel like something big is happening here. The debate over the millennials is awakening and we are happy about it. Our research describes a complicated reality and is based on surveys, focus groups and interviews with thousands of millennials. The most common reaction we get from young people is, You described us in detail.

One of these youngsters is Efrat Krasner, 25, from Givat Shmuel. She comes from the religious sector, which one would expect to conform less to the characteristics described in the book. I felt that the book is about me, she told Al-Monitor. I really feel the egocentric culture. The inability to commit drives me crazy. I tried to understand why, and I understood that I am like that too.

In her article, Avraham explains that many millennials are "scarred" by hundreds of Israeli family meals where "the family sits around and says what they think about what you chose to study, how much you earn and every other decision you make." Thus, she said, the millennials experience the book as an indictment of them. The judges are their parents, teachers and employers.

"My mother really loves to compare how it was for them and what we are doing," Neta Amit told Al-Monitor. Amit, 29, who lives in Tel Aviv but was born in Haifa, added, My parents say we are not willing to work hard like they did.

Krasner, too, said, "My parents do not understand when I say I want to build myself. As far as they are concerned you have to get a degree, get married and thats that. My father has worked at the same place his whole life, and they do not understand how someone can live like me.

Young people point to the relatively high cost of living and the extensive housing crisis in light of their salaries as unique hardships they are facing. The lack of a future leads to despair, Amit said. In our parents generation, if you worked hard  and they really did work hard  you got a car and owned a home. Today it is not like that. Indeed, in 1988, an Israeli working person needed, on average, 79 salaries to buy an apartment, while in 2014, according to the Bank of Israel, 148 salaries were needed.

The unstable security situation does not make things easier, in their view. There are wars all the time; there is no one to lead change, so why should important issues interest me? Ill focus on myself, Krasner said.

For his part, Almog said, "Even military service has changed a lot and does not cancel out the delayed maturity." Avraham believes that military service is in fact part of the problem and "delays financial solvency by three years [the period of obligatory military service for Israeli men].

Another characteristic of the millennials, according to Almog, defines all Israelis: A lack of an instinct for revolution. Thus, while parents buy the book en masse and see it as confirming their views of their children  and the millennials see Avrahams articles as testimony that everyone is like them and they are OK  it seems that the two sides will continue casting blame rather than change the situation.
U.S. Steel Fairfield Works

The administrative office building of the U.S. Steel Fairfield Works in Fairfield, Ala., is shown Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2015. (Mark Almond/ malmond@al.com)

(MARK ALMOND)

As US Steel has downsized its Fairfield operations, it's left more than a thousand workers without jobs - and even those who have survived the cuts face terrific uncertainty.

Because US Steel has made these cuts largely as a result of increased imports, some workers are eligible for additional help from the U.S. Department of Labor under the Trade Adjustment Assistance Reauthorization Act of 2015. Under the act, some workers are eligible for training, job search and relocation assistance.

US Steel workers and leased workers from Total Safety U.S. who worked at the Fairfield operation will be eligible. Some production, maintenance, safety, security and administration workers are eligible. The benefits covers those who have lost their jobs between May 2, 2013 and July 2, 2016.

If workers have used all cash benefits from state and federal unemployment programs, they might be eligible for more weekly benefits of the same amount. To get the benefits from the Trade Readjustment Allowance, workers have to be enrolled in training within 26 weeks of their last layoff or they need to get a waiver from the state Employment Service Division of the Alabama Department of Labor.

Under the Reemployment Trade Adjustment Assistance, employees who are 50 or older may be eligible for allowances if they become employed full time after being laid off from US Steel.

Last year US Steel laid off more than 1,100 workers in Fairfield when it announced it would permanently shut down the Blast Furnace. In March, it announced it would lay off another 200 when it announced it would idle Fairfield Tubular Operations for the month of April.

Workers will be notified if they're eligible.
A Birmingham artist will show her work at the world's most prestigious annual film festival.

"Bottomless"

-- a 2-minute animated film written, illustrated and directed by Birmingham resident

Veronique Vanblaere

(originally from Belgium) -- was recently accepted into the Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at the American Pavilion as part of the

69th Annual Cannes Film Festival

, an event that routinely only selects a handful of films worldwide each year.

says: "Since 1997 this prestigious competition has showcased the works of the next generation of filmmakers. 10 to 15 short films will be selected by our panel of industry judges and shown in the Roger Ebert Conference Center at The American Pavilion to invited guests attending The Festival. It's a festival within a festival at the most important event on the international film calendar."

Vanblaere's film follows a Belgian woman seeking citizenship in the U.S. and finding that her experiences are, well, "bottomless."

The film's producer Jen West says that Vanblaere (known as Vero) is an artist transplant from Belgium, currently living in Birmingham. "Bottomless" is her debut short film exploring her own experiences when she first moved to the U.S. more than 15 years ago.

"She infuses her own unique style of illustration as the key art in Bottomless," West says.

Born and raised in Birmingham, West is an indie filmmaker living in Atlanta. She produced two films in 2015 that will premiere in The American Pavilion Emerging Filmmakers Showcase at the Cannes Film Festival, "Bottomless" and "The New Orleans Sazerac," directed by James Martin from Atlanta.

Read about how the filmmakers made "Bottomless" in

, which goes behind-the-scenes on the film.

The 69th Annual Cannes Film Festival will take place May 11-12 in Cannes, France. "Mad Max: Fury Road" director George Miller will serve as President of the Jury for main competition. Woody Allen's newest film "Cafe Society" will open the festival.
JJ.JPG

Jeremiah Burford looks at a balloon during his first birthday party. Born with a rare heart defect, he survived two open-heart surgeries in his first few months of life.

(Amy Yurkanin|ayurkanin@al.com)

Jeremiah Burford, who was featured in an article chronicling his open-heart surgery when he was just days old, turned one on April 8, marking a significant milestone with friends and family.

Dozens of relatives and friends gathered in a room inside the Trussville Civic Center. Table decorations consisted of balloons and toys similar to the sock monkey that became Jeremiah's favorite during long weeks in the hospital.

His cake had a monkey on the top, and although he didn't smash it, he did grab and handful of icing and tried a taste.

Before birth, Jeremiah was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a defect in which the left side of the heart is underdeveloped and unable to pump oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body. It is the most life-threatening congenital heart defect usually diagnosed prenatally or soon after birth. Without treatment, babies who suffer from the condition died in infancy.

Jeremiah had his first open-heart surgery at six days old. He remained at Children's of Alabama for more than a month after that to recover.

His parents, Crystal and James Burford, cared for him for six weeks at home, and then brought him back to Children's for the second of three surgeries. Jeremiah returned home at the beginning of June and has been there ever since.

Researchers estimate that about 70 percent of babies born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome who undergo the three open-heart surgeries will live to adulthood. The first few years of life are the most critical for these tiny patients.

Jeremiah will have one more operation in the next few years to improve his heart function. Survivors of the three surgeries developed in the 1980s have lived into their thirties.

Shortly after his birth, Jeremiah was wheeled from UAB to Children's of Alabama and placed in the cardiac intensive care unit. He required round-the-clock care and suffered some setbacks in the hospital.

"I have cried, I just about can't cry anymore," said Jeremiah's grandmother, Paulette. "But they're tears of joy."

Right now, Jeremiah looks like a normal 1-year-old. He still receives some nutrition from a feeding tube, but is working on increasing the amount he eats by mouth, his father said. He is also working on physical skills such as crawling and pulling up.

"It's a big relief for us, just watching him grow and do everything normal," James Burford said. "We know that he's come this far and it's a miracle for us."
A man charged with killing his ex-girlfriend's unborn child in a brutal attack last month in Hoover reportedly admitted to wanting to harm the baby.

"I didn't want to hurt her, just the baby," Christopher Ammons Kemp wrote in a Facebook message to a friend of his ex-girlfriend's family.

Hoover police Detective Daniel Lowe read the Facebook messages during Kemp's preliminary hearing Tuesday morning in Jefferson County District Court.

Kemp also allegedly left a note on his vehicle the same evening that said he would kill himself if his ex-girlfriend, Jessica Jackson, died from the attack. He would turn himself in if she lived, the note read.

Kemp is charged with first-degree domestic violence in the March 15 beating of his ex-girlfriend and capital murder in the death of their unborn child.

Judge Laura Petro found probable cause to bind Kemp's charges over to a grand jury. Kemp will remain in jail as no bond was set on the charges.

Kemp's attorney, John Robbins, is seeking to have Kemp undergo a mental evaluation.

Lowe said Jackson immediately identified her ex-boyfriend, Kemp, as her attacker.

Jackson was attacked at her residence on Larkspur Drive between 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., according to Hoover police. She was 33 weeks pregnant with Kemp's child.

Lowe said Jackson had been staying with her ex-husband's mother due to her fear of Kemp, but she returned home that afternoon to pick up a few things from her residence.

Jackson and her ex-husband -- not Kemp -- had recently become friends again, he said.

Kemp and Jackson had broken up in January, but she continued to help care for the young child Kemp had with another woman.

The day before the attack, Jackson had spoken with a Hoover detective about obtaining a protection from abuse order against Kemp, police say. No order, however, was filed.

After picking up a few things at her residence, Jackson called her ex-husband at around 5:20 p.m. to let him know she was heading back to his mother's house, Lowe said.

When she didn't arrive, the ex-husband began to call Jackson between 6 and 6:30 p.m., Lowe said. She didn't pick up.

The ex-husband then drove to her house and found her "frantic" and walking around the front of her residence, Lowe recalled on the witness stand. Jackson was wearing only a bra, and she had blood on her legs.

The ex-husband drove Jackson to a nearby Shell gas station where he flagged down a police officer. From there, Jackson was transported to St. Vincent's Hospital. Doctors there found that the baby had died.

Jackson was then transferred to UAB Hospital for surgery, including an emergency C-section to remove the fetus.

In addition to losing her baby, Lowe said Jackson's left eye was swollen shut and she had lost a lot of blood. She was in a coma for two days due to her injuries.

Jackson wasn't interviewed by police until March 17.

"Not much of the incident was recollected by Ms. Jackson," Lowe testified.

He said Jackson told him that she was confronted by Kemp when she walked back into the garage from her house. He put a pink pillowcase over her head, hit her and choked her. She then blacked out.

Jackson told police she didn't know what kind of weapon her attacker used to beat her.

At the scene, investigators found "a very large amount of blood" and some human tissue in the garage where the attack is believed to have taken place, Lowe said. Splatters of blood, however, were found in each room of the house.

Lowe testified that Kemp arrived home at around 7 p.m. the same evening and admitted to his father that he beat up his ex-girlfriend. His father told him to turn himself in, he said.

According to Hoover police, Kemp was arrested at around 1:30 a.m. the same night while leaving a home in the 200 block of 23rd Terrace N.W. in Center Point.

Lowe said a search warrant was executed at Kemp's parent's home where an aluminum bat and ASP retractable baton were seized. A gun and cell phone were seized from Kemp's vehicle.

The detective said a blonde hair was found at the end of the bat, which investigators believe may belong to Jackson.

The evidence has been submitted to the forensics lab for testing, Lowe said.

Jackson's neighbor also reported seeing a white Acura Integra, found to belong to Kemp, circling around the neighborhood on the afternoon of the attack.

The same neighbor previously reported seeing the vehicle on Feb. 26 and March 14.

Lowe said Hoover police responded to the neighborhood for each call but weren't able to locate the vehicle.

Kemp is charged with capital murder under a section of Alabama Law that allows authorities to charge a suspect with the murder of another human being, including an unborn child. According to Alabama Code 13A-6-1, the term "person," when referring to the victim of a criminal homicide or assault, means a human being, including an unborn-child in utero at any stage of development, regardless of viability.
The commission of state legislators who will investigate Gov. Robert Bentley to determine if impeachment of the state's top official is warranted is beginning to take shape.

State Rep. Danny Crawford - one of 10 lawmakers who co-sponsored a resolution outlining articles of impeachment brought by state Rep. Ed Henry - told AL.com on Monday the commission may be announced this week.

"There would be 10 republicans and five democrats and give them authority to look into it and see what's going on," said Crawford, R-Athens. "If there are some things found that were illegally done, so be it. If not, let's apologize and drive on.

"Alabama is too important to have something hanging over our heads. If there's something there, we don't want to ignore it."

The five-page impeachment resolution - stemming from the scandal in which the governor has repeatedly apologized for sexually-charged phone conversations with now-resigned adviser Rebekah Caldwell Mason -- charges Bentley with willful neglect of duty, corruption in office, incompetency and offenses of moral turpitude.

Bentley again on Monday denied there was any wrongdoing by his office and insisted there were no grounds for impeachment.

The impeachment resolution, introduced last week, was assigned to the House Rules Committee. State Rep. Mac McCutcheon, R-Monrovia, told AL.com that the committee is entering uncharted territory.

"In working that resolution, the discussion started about how do we go about this process?" McCutcheon said. "The constitution is very vague and should there be a committee to look at what articles that may be worthy. What offenses? All of this stuff was coming in and we were thinking we don't really have a process to vet the articles of impeachment. How do we address it? The Rules Committee is not designed to do that.

"Through that, we started discussion among me and Rep. Henry and others about how we approach this. So through that, what we did is that we're working on a resolution that will come back. We should have something this next week to look at and then, of course, it would be a resolution addressing a rule for not only Gov. Bentley but for any impeachment proceeding to help guide us through the process."

State Rep. Danny Crawford, right, co-sponsored the impeachment resolution against Gov. Robert Bentley but said Bentley should be considered innocent until proven guilty. (Paul Gattis/pgattis@al.com)

Meanwhile, Crawford attended a ribbon cutting at the Alabama Robotics Technology Park near Decatur on Monday where the special guest was the Bentley.

Did that create an awkward situation?

"To me, it wasn't," Crawford said. "I look at it like his job and my job, we're going to do them and whatever is done on the side until someone is proven guilty, they're innocent. I don't have any problem separating my appreciation for him up here today and doing what he's done for this community. That's great.

"I shook his hand and was glad to see him and told him I was glad to have him up here. That's why I say we've got this mechanism over here. We're going to have this mechanism and it puts it out of the way so we can function. That's how I look at it."

Crawford won his seat less than two months ago in a special election and explained his decision to support the impeachment resolution was to ensure there was no cover-up in the governor's office and no complicity by lawmakers.

"I felt that it is important that, I'm a new legislator and I felt it's important that folks, if they have done something wrong, they be held accountable," he said. "I feel this is the way to do it and find out. You could drive on for a year and not do anything and folks are going to think we're pushing it under the rug.

"This starts the ball rolling. Now we've got a mechanism that is fair and will gather the facts and if the facts are there, then when you have a vote and if the facts are there, then it's a no-brainer."

Crawford said he would not ask Bentley to resign.

"If he resigns, that's his choice of what to do," Crawford said. "If he resigns, then maybe he admits something that makes him ineffective or he's done something that was inappropriate with the finances of how you pay someone.

"If he does that, that's fine. I'll accept that. But I'm not asking him to resign. But if he chooses, that's his choice."
First Alabama resident confirmed with Zika virus

A female Aedes aegypti mosquito acquires a blood meal on the arm of a researcher at the Biomedical Sciences Institute in the Sao Paulo's University in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Aedes aegypti can spread the Zika virus, which is suspected in an unusual birth defect and possibly other health issues. (AP Photo/Andre Penner, File)

Pregnant women and women who plan to become pregnant should not travel to countries where the Zika virus is present, the Alabama Department of Public Health said today in a statement.

The warning comes a day after Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Zika is a "bit scarier" than originally thought as more birth defects are linked to the virus. Alabama State Health Officer Tom Miller said the virus has been tied to "severe birth defects and other pregnancy complications."

Since the onset of the Zika outbreak, ADPH said a large number of newborns in Brazil have congenital microcephaly, a condition that is characterized by an abnormally small head. Click here for a list of countries where Zika outbreaks are underway.

"Any pregnant woman who has traveled to a Zika-affected area during pregnancy should be evaluated and tested, regardless of symptoms," ADPH said. "Pregnant women whose male sex partners have traveled to an area with Zika need to be concerned about sexual transmission of the Zika virus and the male should use condoms every time or not have sex during the entire pregnancy."

Couples who are trying to get pregnant should seek counseling and postpone travel to Zika-affected areas, ADPH said. Women who have traveled to one of these areas and have been diagnosed with Zika or are showing symptoms should wait at least two months before conceiving, while men should wait at least six months.

The department encourages both men and women to use condoms or not have sex for at least eight weeks after returning from a Zika-affected country even if they do not develop symptoms consistent with the virus. Up to 80 percent of people who have Zika do not have symptoms.

"The current understanding is that the virus can persist for an extended period of time in semen," ADPH said. "That is why there is a longer time frame for the male recommendation. These recommendations are based on updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

While there have been 346 travel-related Zika cases in the U.S., the CDC said there have been no locally-acquired Zika cases. Of the 346 reported, 32 were pregnant women, seven were sexually transmitted and one had Guillain-Barre syndrome.

Three Alabama residents have tested positive for the virus, while 15 cases are still pending.
fcd-history-2016.jpg

Ben & Jerry's will show customer appreciation this afternoon by giving away a free ice cream cone to fans at each of its scoop shops around the world.

The Vermont company will host Free Cone Day from noon to 8 p.m. Click here to find your nearest location.

The first Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day took place in 1979 to thank customers for their support during the shop's first year in business at a former gas station in Vermont. In 1984, the Ben & Jerry's in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., became the first store outside Vermont to participate in Free Cone Day.

Ben & Jerry's products are distributed in more than 35 countries in retail, franchised scoop shops, restaurants and other venues. The wholly-owned subsidiary of Unilever makes ice cream, non-dairy frozen dessert, yogurt and sorbet.
Former Alabama Secretary of Law Enforcement Spencer Collier's wife was on the payroll of Gov. Robert Bentley's office, according to state records.

The governor's office issued Melissa M. Collier seven paychecks totaling $14,262.96 between December 31 and March 30, the records show.

Melissa Collier's most recent paycheck on record was issued about a week after her husband went public last month with allegations that Bentley had a sexual relationship with chief adviser Rebekah Caldwell Mason.

Spencer Collier told AL.com via text message Monday that his wife "worked in the scheduling office" as an assistant and that "[i]t was a huge pay cut for Melissa, but hours were much better. So, that's why she took it."

Bentley spokeswoman Jennifer Ardis provided a brief statement via email Monday regarding Melissa Collier's employment by the governor's office.

"Melissa Collier was hired in December of 2015 as Assistant Scheduler in the Governor's Office," the statement said. "She is currently on medical leave taking care of a family member."

Melissa Collier received her first $2,194.30 paycheck from Bentley's office on Dec. 31. State spending records show that she was paid that amount every two weeks through March 14.

She received just $1,097.16 on March 30, eight days after her husband was fired hours before he went public with allegations that Bentley and Mason had an affair.

Gov. Robert Bentley hired Melissa M. Collier at an annual salary of $52,663.20, according to a letter from the governor's office. (Photo via Spencer Collier)

Melissa Collier did not receive any money from Bentley's campaign, according to campaign finance filings.

Melissa Collier declined to comment, but her husband offered an explanation for why she was selected for the job, and why she accepted the position.

"She has a degree in nursing and has 16 [years] experience in nursing and office management," he said via text message. "She was overqualified - but hours were good and we still have little ones in school."

Spencer Collier said that his wife only worked for Bentley for six to eight weeks, beginning in late December or early January, and that she was hired at an annual state salary of $52,663.20.

He added that she "went on leave [without] pay" when he was placed on medical leave for back surgery in February. The state Personnel Department confirmed Friday that Melissa Collier was still listed as an employee, though her husband said she "has not gone back [to work] since all of this happened."

Asked why his recollection of the dates of his wife's employment appear to not match up with the timing of her paychecks from the governor's office, Spencer Collier said via text message that "[s]he had a week sick / annual / personal leave. I think they paid that out. Plus, your first two weeks are withheld. So, you are generally paid that out as well before leave [without] pay."

Spencer Collier told AL.com on March 22 that he had personally heard, seen and investigated audio recordings and text messages between Bentley and Mason that were "of a sexual nature." He said at the time that he presented Bentley with evidence of the affair in 2014.

Collier said the governor admitted that there was such a relationship and promised to swiftly bring it to an end. But Bentley did not end the relationship and he and his wife Dianne divorced last year.
Gatlinburg

The Gatlinburg skyline, including the Space Needle, is pictured in this file photo.

(NonStaff)

A former Alabama man committed suicide on Monday evening by jumping off the Gatlinburg Space Needle.

David Ray Pinyan, 58, of Pigeon Forge jumped from the observation deck of the Space Needle, Gatlinburg police said in a press release.

Gatlinburg police received a report at around 5:40 p.m. eastern time of a person falling from the popular tourist destination, the Knoxville News-Sentinel reported.

The Space Needle is 407 feet high and overlooks Gatlinburg and the surrounding Smoky Mountains.

Pinyan, formerly of Blount County, Ala. pleaded guilty in January 2012 to one count of fraud in connection with the sale of securities.

Pinyan received a suspended 10-year prison sentence and was ordered to serve five years of probation.

The charges against Pinyan stemmed from a 12-count indictment in April 2010 by a Blount County grand jury.

An investigation showed that between May 2006 and August 2007, Pinyan allegedly used schemes centered on various land development opportunities and transactions involving the buying and selling of automobiles.

The commission said Pinyan used these schemes to defraud Alabama investors of several thousands of dollars.
A man is fighting for his life after a shooting in Enterprise Monday evening.

Enterprise police responded to a shooting at Boulevard Apartments 1320 Rucker Blvd. shortly before 7 p.m. They found a male victim with two gunshot wounds.

The victim was transported to the hospital. Police report he's in critical condition.

The preliminary investigation reveals the suspect is a black male in his early 20s. Police say he was wearing blue jeans, a red shirt and black shoes. He fled the scene in a compact car that's light in color.

Further information was not available because of the ongoing investigation.

Anyone with additional information is asked to contact the Enterprise Police Department at 334-347-2222 or leave a tip at www.enterprisepd.com.
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan is taking himself out of consideration for any 2016 presidential run.

The Wisconsin Senator and Mitt Romney's 2012 vice presidential running mate is planning to make a statement today at 2:15 p.m. CST.

"I am not going to be the nominee, I don't want to be the nominee," Ryan said during a radio interview Tuesday. "If I wanted to be president, I would have run for president."

The announcement comes as Republican front runner Donald Trump looks to secure enough delegates to capture the GOP nomination ahead of the July convention. Depending on the outcome of key states such as New York and California, Trump could enter the convention without the needed number of delegates, resulting in a contested convention which could result in Texas Sen. Ted Cruz or Ohio Gov. John Kasich - or someone who isn't on the ballot - as the nominee.

Some had pointed to Ryan, the convention's co-chair, as a possible contender.

Trump has vowed to fight any efforts to circumvent popular voting.
Lauren Englett, 18, the mother seen high on drugs in a viral video plead guilty to reckless endangerment Monday morning. Rachel Rikard, 19, who took the video, plead guilty, as well.

Lauren Englett (Mom) and Rachel Rikard (Camera operator) both guilty of child endangerment as they high on drugs w/ child on porch.  Mobile DA's Office (@MobileDAoffice) April 11, 2016

Englett was arrested on February 29 after a video depicted her shaking and convulsing after consuming synthetic marijuana on a porch while a toddler cried next to her.

A man, identified by Mobile County Sheriff's deputies as Jamie Jemison, 25, sat next to Englett on the porch. Both Englett and Jemison struggled to sit upright, leaning on each other. In the video, Englett's child walked around their limp bodies.

Sheriff's deputies arrested Rikard and Jemison on March 1 for their involvement with the video.

Deputies charged all three with third degree reckless endangerment, a misdemeanor offense.

Englett is sentenced to two years probation and a minimum of 90 days in rehabilitation treatment, according to court records. A violation of Englett's probation would result in a year prison sentence.

Rikard is charged with six months of probation in which a violation would result in a year of prison time.

Jemison is to report to court in June for his involvement in the case.

According to Alabama Department of Human Resources, at the time of Englett's arrest, the child seen in the video was removed from the home and is safe.
A Dothan City Commissioner was found guilty on Monday of assaulting a television news reporter last October.

Trussville Municipal Judge Carl Chamblee, who was specially appointed to hear the case, said Amos Newsome "blew a gasket" when he hit WTVY television reporter Ken Curtis, the Dothan Eagle reported.

"It looks like you lost it," Chamblee said while addressing Newsome. "You blew a gasket. I think you intended to strike him. I think you intended to hurt him. I don't think he did you any harm."

Newsome was found guilty of third-degree assault, according to the report. He was ordered to pay a $500 fine and serve 10 days in jail. The jail sentence was immediately suspended.

The assault occurred outside a Dothan City Commission meeting on Oct. 6, 2015 when Curtis followed Newsome to his vehicle in attempt to ask him questions about the recent voter fraud conviction of Olivia Reynolds, Newsome's one-time girlfriend.

Reynolds and two others from Newsome's campaign volunteers were convicted of falsifying absentee ballots in his 2013 reelection campaign.

The incident was caught on WTVY news video.

On the video, Newsome says "Get back!" and hits Curtis. The assault caused the reporter's right cheek to bleed.

Newsome plans to appeal the decision to Houston County Circuit Court.
4-12BentleySpinDr2.jpg

(JD Crowe/jdcrowe@al.com)

Gov. Bentley is spinning out of control when he could be spinning in control. I've said it before, I'll say it again: The skin doctor just needs a spin doctor.

Alabama's goober Luv Guv needs some guidance. And I'm here to help. Because, selfishly, I want Bentley to stick around for awhile.

I think we're just now reaching a level of 'rock solid Alabama values' intimacy that's uncomfortable for everyone. And that's special.

Hang in there, Luv Guv. I'm here for you. I can help make it right.

Call me right now!

Check out more Bentley cartoons and stuff by JD Crowe
Gov. Robert Bentley keeps talking about "we." The royal we, the majestic plural. Everywhere you turn it's "we" this and "we" that.

"We are going to work through all the difficulties we're going through."

"We have addressed those issues."

"We've had a good administration."

"We will deal with Montgomery..."

"We are moving on...

"I have no plans to step down. We have done nothing illegal."

I've got a few of them for you, governor. We are not amused. We are screwed. And we ought to be ashamed.

But that's not true. It is really the governor who should be ashamed. And not just for lusting after a staff member who could be his daughter. Not for embarrassing his family and his state. Talking like Queen Victoria is just another way to drag the rest of Alabama into his own ineptitude, to deflect attention from his failings and spread the blame.

If Gov. Bentley truly thought of Alabama as a "we," he would remember what he claimed to stand for before he fell into this ring of fire. That he cannot do that now shows how wounded he has become, and how "we" suffer for it.

Bentley, before his romantic side became public and his public side became an even bigger train wreck, said the Legislature had to adequately fund Medicaid for the good of the state. He said he would call the Legislature into special session if it overrode his veto of the budget, which cut Medicaid by $85 million and spat a giant raspberry at the quarter of Alabama's population that depends on the service to be as healthy and productive as possible.

But the Legislature overrode his veto and he sat looking like an impotent old fool. He cannot call a special session because doing so would not only poke lawmakers in the eye, but do it at the same time it provides them another opportunity to get serious about this impeachment thing.

So in the end he can talk of "we" all he wants. But he is really only worried about "he."

If "he" were really in it for the "we," he would think of diabetics who, without Medicaid, will see the cost of drugs soar more than 2,000 percent. In a state with one of the highest rates of diabetes, people who suffer already will have to choose between their own health and paying up to $8,000 out of pocket for medicine.

They could just die, I guess. And decrease the surplus population.

Kids and old people are who we are talking about here. People with disabilities. A quarter of all Alabamians who, when the going gets real, apparently don't count in his majesty's "we."

Hospitals in rural areas may lose doctors, and services, and - as has become standard in this administration - people in Alabama's least populated and most threatened areas will suffer the brunt of the damage.

Out of sight. Out of our minds.

But old people and young people and rural people and poor people are not the only "we" who will suffer.

Outpatient dialysis is on the chopping block, and those "we's" will clog the ERs.

Eye care programs are on the block, and providers of prosthetics, and care for the elderly, and pay for physicians, and on and on and on. "We" in Alabama face the prospect of losing the federal funding that helps prop up the health care system, and the hospitals and doctors who had for so long served Medicaid patients could lose money or their livelihoods.

And then 'we" - all of us - will lose.

Because the governor has lost himself. And his ability to govern.
By Karen Brant

As a grandmother to a precious angel with epilepsy, I have held her through her seizures and prayed fiercely when her lips turn blue and she stops breathing. As a Christian woman, I believe it is my duty to help others, especially those that may not be able to help themselves.

There's a very important affirmative defense bill in committee named Leni's Law, HB61 & SB115.

It was designed and submitted to decriminalize cannabis oil with three percent THC for all people with debilitating and terminal conditions. All these sick people are asking for is to not be arrested or have their disabled child taken away for treating their illness.

The bill is named after a little girl named Leni that had to move from Alabama to Orgeon after the doctors advised her parents to take her home and withhold nourishment. Yep, take her home and let her die because there was nothing more they could do for her.

In Oregon, Leni takes CBD oil with three percent THCa. THCa is the raw form of THC straight from the flower; the "a" stands for acid. It is non-psychoactive but falls under the category of THC in the legal world.

Leni is now thriving. Not only did she survive after the medical community gave up but her seizures are close to non-existent. Each day she does things they never thought she would be able to do!

A couple of years ago, Carly's Law passed with three percent THC for a study at UAB. Reports out of UAB this year are promising. The most important thing it proved was cannabis oil is healing. CBD oil is healing.

The current version of Alabama's "Leni's Law" wouldn't help the patient it is named after.

It also proved that some folks need a little THC or THCa for it to work. Everyone's body works differently. There's nothing evil going on when one person needs a different medicine than their neighbor. Many people cannot take codeine, for example.

Leni's Law was created to help all people with a cap on THC levels at three percent. Carly's Law is also capped at three percent. By comparison, Georgia's law is capped at five percent.

HB61 and SB115 were voted on in their respective committees and passed. However, HB61 was re-written to allow only people with epilepsy, and to cap it at 1 percent THC.

This means if you or I are diagnosed with cancer or Crohn's or any other debilitating disease tomorrow, we are SOL. Sorry.

It also means Leni can never come back to Alabama. The law that is named after her will exclude her.

I heard a segment on talk radio discussing this topic with a lobbyist/preacher. It was the biggest bunch of misinformation I've ever heard on the topic. Towards the end, they revealed their concerns that cannabis oil treating very sick people would cause the healthy, young people of Alabama to become marijuana addicts. So, they are concerned saving the lives of sick folks wouldn't be good for the masses of healthy people. I was dumbfounded! Is this what the opposition is spreading at the state house? Is this how the House and the Senate feel?

Cannabis oil is expensive and taking a large enough dose to get stoned would give a person serious diarrhea! It's oil! A teenager is not going to order it, pay a big sum and wait for it to be shipped when he can call a friend and have a sack of marijuana in front of him in 15 minutes.

Oncologists, Neurologists and Gastroenterologists are recommending this to dying patients behind closed doors. The American Academy of Pediatrics supports it. If we can prevent death, shouldn't we? If we can wean one person off harmful narcotics, shouldn't we? Many say they are pro-life. Why? To sacrifice the sick ones later? With your calls to your state Representatives and Senators, we can still get the Senate version passed to help everyone!

Won't you please help?
On the front line of Ukraines battle against PTSD, with war veterans, psychologists, priests and volunteers.

Donetsk, Ukraine  Thin curves of cigarette smoke float through the dimly lit underground corridor. This Ukrainian army bunker sits on the front line of the battle with separatist fighters in the east of the country. Muffled blasts can be heard outside.

Grom puts out another cigarette. His anguish is etched upon his face.

Just moments before, soldiers were sitting on a sofa watching television. Then, all of a sudden, there was blood, medics and a comrade with a head injury from a mortar round that had hit his underground shelter.

It is August 2015 and the first time I have met Grom. His real name is Aleksandr, but now everyone calls him by his nom de guerre, which means thunder.

The 33-year-old is from Vasylkiv, Kiev Oblast, and is one of the Zenit units two sappers or combat engineers. He is also a military psychologist and understands well the psychological toll of this war.

One occasion stays with him. It was November 2014, in Mariinka, Donetsk Oblast, and his unit of 50 men was under attack from more numerous separatist forces. Feeling sure that death was certain, he called his family to say goodbye.

When he and his comrades staged a counterattack, he killed his first human being. I did not feel anything, he says. I could not think of anything.

Afterwards, he called his family to tell them: Im alive and fine. They cried. He laughs when asked if he did too.

There are many reasons why Ukranian soldiers are reluctant to see psychologists. Some dont acknowledge that they have a problem, while others fear the stigma associated with mental illness or believe that a person who hasnt experienced war could never understand what they have been through.

These men are hard guys, they dont have fears, Grom says of his comrades.

Pavel, the Russian: Something changed inside me

Some 20km northwest of Kiev, a Russian man sits in a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) seminar for veterans of the war in the east.

Pavel is from Moscow and a member of the Russian Rebel Army that came to fight alongside Ukrainian forces.

At the Ukrainian Evangelical Theological Seminary in Pushcha-Voditsa, Pavel sits in a circle of more than a dozen people. His elbows are on his knees, but his fingers dont stop moving. He leans back in his chair. The tips of his black leather army boots pat the floor in a swift rhythm. He doesnt talk much, but when he does, it is to joke.

He is at the Wounded Warrior Ukraines seminar for those with shock trauma because a friend persuaded him to come. But it has taken a long time to get him here.

The biggest problem is that guys who have PTSD dont want to realise it, Pavel says.

I am one of these guys. But I know something changed inside me, he confesses.

In a corner of the room, a large green cake made out of Roshen chocolate bars sits on a table. Local children have prepared it for the soldiers. Two small windows let in cold air.

A loud roar suddenly fills the room  15 voices in unison. One of the physical exercises in which the soldiers stand with their feet apart, shaking their hands, snapping their fingers, patting their shoulders, then their knees, over and over, harder and faster each time, has just concluded with yelling and an exchange of hugs.

Combat Shock Trainers: The link between civilians and soldiers

This is the first in a series of four seminars spanning five months. The aim is to train Ukrainian servicemen to become Combat Shock Trainers. They learn how to combat military-induced psychological shock and PTSD as well as how to train their colleagues to do the same.

Many soldiers cannot open [up] to strangers, to psychologists or shrinks, but they can open [up] to their comrades, explains Oleh Hukovskyy, a psychiatrist, psychotherapist and lead trainer with Wounded Warrior Ukraine.

We start to create a hidden link in the system  veterans who can meet soldiers when they come back from the war, [becoming] the first link between civilians and soldiers.

Teaching soldiers how to become psychological instructors is an idea that appeals to participants in the seminar.

Maxim, the wounded soldier: I was haunted by my fears

People from ATO [those who have participated in the Ukrainian military operation against separatist forces in the Donbass, referred to as the Anti-Terrorist Operation] should come together and communicate, share experiences, thoughts and fears, says Maxim, a 25-year-old soldier who went through the Wounded Warrior training and is now a seminar co-trainer.

This is the best cure, it leads to self-healing. They dont need psychologists, he adds.

As a volunteer soldier, Maxim says he was never afraid of dying, but he did fear being wounded.

On August 19, 2014, the thing he dreaded most happened. A mine exploded and Maxim lost his right leg from below the knee  and with it, he says, his independence.

But when he got his prosthetic in November of that year, it was as though he had been given a new lease on life. He felt joy at the prospect of regaining his independence, of no longer having to use crutches to get around.

That feeling lasted for a month and then the depression started to set in. He grew aggressive and started being rude to his mother. He couldnt sleep without painkillers.

In March 2015, he went to a PTSD seminar crying.

During the training, I understood why I react like this, he says. I understood that my fear was causing the aggression, fear that I will not be able to stand up, to walk, to have a family and children. I was haunted by many fears and they all turned into aggression.

Vsevolod Stebliuk, the war hero: The best medication is knowing I am needed to help others

Before this war, we had no experience in the psychological support of veterans. The last experience was with the Soviet Union Afghan Company, but that was 30 years ago, says Colonel Dr Vsevolod Stebliuk, an adviser to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence on military medicine and rehabilitation.

Now, the system of preparing specialists starts from zero. We have more than 24,000 psychologists with a diploma, but I think only 1,000 of them can work with veterans.

Just outside Kiev, at Irpin military hospital, Stebliuk established Ukraines first complex for the physical and psychological rehabilitation of war veterans. It was opened on April 25, 2015. More than 500 soldiers have undergone rehabilitation there since.

The centre is the first in the country to provide an ergotherapy unit, which employs work and physical exertion as a form of treatment, and an IREX  interactive rehabilitation and exercise system  unit, using virtual reality.

Every soldier who has been under fire on the front line has some stress reactions, Stebliuk says.

From my experience, near 50 percent of the soldiers who took part in ATO need psychological help. It is not only PTSD. [The percentage with] PTSD, in our opinion and that of the Ukrainian Research Institute of Social Psychiatry, is near 20 percent.

The methods for dealing with it are agreed, says the colonel. But half of them are only on paper.

The reality is we dont have a lot of staff for the social rehabilitation centres, we dont have financial support and we have a low level of social  [understanding about] our veterans [and their problems].

Irpin sits in the middle of a forest; its various buildings connected by small walkways that weave through the trees.

Soldiers in dark blue hospital robes stand as the colonel passes. Stebliuk is a war hero.

During the shelling of Ilovaisk, he saved the lives of many of his comrades  piling wounded soldiers into a car and driving them to safety. But the usually smiling colonel finds that episode difficult to remember.

I can tell you that PTSD is a real problem, he says calmly. I had my own period of psychological trauma after the Ilovaisk catastrophe. For one month I could not sleep. I had a high level of anxiety and aggression. Now, I sometimes have a problem with depression episodes.

But, still, he must deal with the trauma of others.

Every day I take bad energy, he says. This year, mothers of unknown soldiers were calling me asking for help to find their dead sons. It is a big psychological trauma every time. But I think that, for me, the best medication is that I am needed to help.

Taras, the trainer: My girlfriend told me: you are like an animal

Stebliuks work here has led him to the conclusion that different types of soldiers experience different symptoms. The soldiers can be divided into three groups: mobilised soldiers, military personnel and volunteers.

While all experience anxiety and aggression, it is by and large only the mobilised soldiers  those who previously had no military experience and were not ready to fight  who suffer from depression. That group also has high levels of psychiatric medication and alcohol abuse, he found.

The level of aggression can be a big problem in the future, because it is possible to have unexpected responses in different situations, Stebliuk says.

When I came back from the war, I had a high level of aggression towards people, says Taras, a 25-year-old soldier who was injured fighting with the Aidar battalion and is now a co-trainer with Wounded Warrior Ukraine.

There were a few times when it was really dangerous for different people around me. It could have been for some drunk guy on the trolley bus or for my girlfriend when we were having an argument, he says, recalling how she once looked into his eyes and told him: Man, you are like an animal.



Natalia Nalyvaiko, the psychologist: War ruins everybody

Our society is not ready to embrace these soldiers with all their problems, says Stebliuk. That is why he believes that the volunteer group of crisis psychologists who work with him have an important role to play, even if they lack financial support from the state.

Dr Natalia Nalyvaiko is part of this group, which recently formed the Ukrainian Association of Specialists for Overcoming of Psychological Traumatic Events.

It started as a handful of psychologists who came together to offer counselling services on the barricades of the Maidan revolution, back in December 2013.

She takes a seat in the brown leather armchair in her office, where her diplomas hang on the wall. She is still deeply saddened by the memories of killed protesters, she says. This is her pain.

When we started, we were fresh and did not know a lot of stuff. Many foreign colleagues, from Georgia, USA, Canada, Latvia, Israel, came to Ukraine as volunteers, providing training, supervision and psychological support, she explains.

They were helping us to develop programmes and later we started developing our own.

The association now has schemes in place not only for those who have been fighting in the conflict but for those displaced by it and for the families of dead soldiers. They have also developed a programme for the families of returning soldiers, which aims to teach them what to expect from loved ones who have been fighting on the front lines.

Taras believes that is especially important. These people who are around me, my family, my friends, people who love me, are also fighting, just not on the front line, he says.

Every day, they worried for my life.

When I came back, my family wanted to communicate with me, but I did not want to share anything or answer their questions. I wanted to stay alone. I needed this time to be alone. And people around you dont understand that.

You must know how to explain that you need some distance and it was hard for me.

But Taras didnt consider going to see a psychologist because he feels uncomfortable talking to people he doesnt know.

Nalyvaiko agrees that Ukraines psychologists werent prepared. The country had few military psychologists and, because it hadnt recently been involved in a conflict, they had never experienced war.

But all that has changed. For the last two years, we havent had a minute without trauma. Everybody is affected in one way or the other. The war wins, it ruins everybody, Nalyvaiko adds.

And it takes its toll on Nalyvaiko and the other psychologists, too. In fact, psychological support is a must for those working with wounded soldiers or returning from the front line, so the psychologists hold reflection groups, where they come together to share their feelings and vent their frustrations.

Marina and Darina, the volunteers: Some of the soldiers just need to talk

Marina and Darina hang their blue and yellow protective coats in the stand in the hallway before walking out of the Kiev Central Military Hospital. Another day of volunteering with wounded soldiers has come to an end.

For Marina it started when her older sister took her to a picnic for war veterans. As she was about to leave, some soldiers asked her if she would come again. She did, almost every day. That is how she became a volunteer.

Some of the soldiers just need to talk, some need to have fun, others just need to feel like a normal person  to have a normal conversation, about anything else but the war, she says.

But there are others who will talk for hours about the war. She listens as they describe what they endured. They say most of the soldiers tell them that they dont see the point in talking to a psychologist.

Show me that psychologist who will help me erase the year that Ive spent on the front and I will talk to him, a soldier Darina visited that day said.

Darina, 25, spends most of her free time volunteering with the wounded soldiers.

I have talked to soldiers that went to a psychologist, she says. They told me they did not feel like they could open up because the specialists asked them strange questions and made them do weird exercises.

Darina says she herself experienced post traumatic syndrome after her home town of Lugansk was shelled.

She believes the soldiers feel closer to the volunteers because they spend more time with them and can talk about anything.

But, says Marina, we, as volunteers, cannot help them overcome some problems.

They can open up to us and we can listen, but if they cannot sleep at night or have some addictions, we cannot help them, she adds.

Thats when the volunteers must advise the soldiers to seek professional help.

As for them, they find their own ways of coping with the trauma they encounter  sharing stories over tea in a small restaurant near the hospital.

You know, Darina laughs, it is the same logic soldiers have. We, volunteers, would rather talk to other volunteers, because they can really understand us.

When she cant talk to Darina, Marina says she goes home, takes a hot bath and cries.

Theres a joke among volunteers, they say: Volunteers dont have burnout, they are already ash.

Father Sergey Dmitriev, the priest: You relive their pain, their grief

The psychologists have another source of help.

The role of the church is to reduce the stigma associated with psychological help and to create awareness that [soldiers with PTSD] have to turn to professional care, explains Father Sergey Dmitriev, a priest in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the Kiev Patriarchate and the head of the Eleos Ukraine NGO, which, among other things, provides psychological and physical rehabilitation for returning servicemen.

The priest cannot and must not be a substitute for the psychologist, Dmitriev continues. The priest remains a priest. When a soldier comes to him, the priest should offer his help and after, guide him to seek the help of a good psychologist. If that will happen everywhere, well all make a huge step in solving this problem.

He sometimes receives soldiers in his office, a small room in one of the buildings adjacent to Saint Michaels Cathedral in Kiev.

Beside his computer monitor is a photo of the priest with a group of soldiers. His desktop wallpaper shows soldiers sitting at a table in an image reminiscent of The Last Supper. Dmitriev laughs and explains that they took the photo at Easter.

The father studied PTSD at Yale University in the United States and believes psychotherapy was never studied in depth in Ukraine. He traces this back to Soviet times when, he says, those with psychological or psychiatric disorders faced state repression, while those who opposed Soviet rule were declared mentally ill. The resulting stigma remains to this day.

When you tell a soldier to go see a psychologist, not even a psychiatrist, he will tell you, No, I am not crazy! says Dmitriev. Our society does not fully comprehend the magnitude of the psychological stress that it, itself, bears. It does not fully understand post traumatic stress as a disorder.

Dmitriev spent time with soldiers in Crimea and Donbass. After returning home he experienced difficulty sleeping, suffering nightmares, irritation and aggression.

When you live with people for four months in a tent, when someone close dies and you bury him or when soldiers are left without hands or legs and you communicate with those wounded soldiers, you relive their pain, their grief, he reflects.

He sought professional help, spending two hours a day with a psychologist for a month. He believes prayer also helped him and says that, from his experience, those soldiers with religious faith tend to recover quicker than those without.

Dmitriev believes that the church can become a neutral ground where psychologists and those who need their help can meet.

We have the trust, the space, the light, water and tea. People can come to the church because theres no stigma here, he says.

And he believes its something that will be needed for a long time to come as the psychological consequences of war affect generation after generation.

Its like an infection that will be transmitted genetically, he says. Psychologists and priests, working together, can stop this infection.

Grom, the soldier military psychologist: War is my job

Grom is now back from the front.

At a self-service restaurant in Kiev he steps outside to smoke. As he holds the cigarette, lit end covered with his palm, he listens to the street musicians who are scattered along the city centre boulevard.

This is not our concert, he says, a grim smile on his face. Back on the front lines, he would greet the staccato of mortar fire with the phrase: Ladies and gentleman, welcome to our concert.

I cannot adapt here in peace, with friends that dont understand war, he confesses. They call me a crazy man because I want to go back. But war is my job.

I need to talk to a psychologist, but I dont have the time, he reflects.

He finds the thought of switching roles  from therapist to patient  amusing.

Psychologists are not prepared for this, they must go to war to understand soldiers problems, to feel the same way, he says.

So, for now, whenever he struggles, he talks himself through it. I dont want to talk about my problems, because they are mine  not even to my wife, she does not need to know what I went through.

After all, according to one of his Facebook posts: With the exception of severe forms of social anxiety, manic irritability, up to the desire to hurt myself, depression as a permanent status and unwillingness to be born into this world, I am quite a normal person.
Petroria, South Africa  As political parties prepare to unveil their manifestos for South Africas upcoming local elections, a registration campaign was held over the weekend at 22,000 voting stations across the country.

Before the weekend, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) said some eight million people still needed to register, 80 percent of whom were under 30.

By the end of the weekend, however, the IEC said three million South Africans had visited polling stations to secure their right to vote.

Although millions of young people failed to vote in the 2014 national election, the upcoming poll is expected to be the most fiercely contested since democracy came to the country.

And with the political situation volatile and support for President Jacob Zuma dwindling, there is much anticipation about the role young people will play in determining the political future of South Africa.

Bhuti Magagula, 29, hotel maintenance worker, Kliptown, Soweto

Im hoping for change in my community and livelihood, so Ill be voting for that person I know will make it happen. In the past, weve voted for people who were struggling with us.

We assumed theyd address our grievances because theyre familiar with them, but they get to the top and forget about the ones that voted them in. These councillors become politically involved and campaign for themselves.

Theyve built houses a walking distance from our shacks and weve been waiting three years to get into those houses. Theyre vacant, and the councillor is not giving us feedback as to why.

Most residents dont know the councillor; I just happened to know who she is because two children fell into an open pit. She came to see but the pit is still open today, and has been for four years.

Sibusiso Magagula, 28, construction worker, Kliptown, Soweto

For the first time in my life, I have decided not to vote. No ward councillors work has satisfied me. I dont even see potential. They say the same thing every time when theyre campaigning, but dont deliver.

Everything in this ward is racial  coloured people first, then black people last, despite us being the majority. Infrastructure is a problem; I dont understand how so much money was spent on the Kliptown Square, which doesnt benefit us at all.

The only thing that would change my mind about voting are developments in my community and opportunities for the youth  especially employment, which would decrease drug abuse and crime.

Taslima Shah, 23, business assistant, Johannesburg

Im registering to vote because I want a different future. Right now in South Africa the situation is very bad  theyre chasing foreigners away. We need one national multicultural country.

We want to be free from crime. I know the councillor, but I want to change my support for someone who can bring change in this community. Immigrants have to deal with a lot and that is really unfair.

My husband is a foreigner and I have found that even if a cop stops you and youre legal, you have to pay bribes or they threaten to arrest you.

Lucky Smith, 24, commerce student, Ironsyde, Vereeniging

In this area, the lack of development must be addressed first.

This area doesnt have a school. Theres a clinic, but its closed and I dont think theres enough medication in there. The issues we are facing in this community is unemployment and gang violence.

The government needs to work more on trying to reduce corruption. For instance, the states student loan system, NSFAS, they fund students by means of a loan.

Education is perceived as something that is a public good. If they give it out as a loan, it is not a public good, but a private good. Education builds a better community and a society that has knowledge. It also goes towards the community having a better prospect of employment in the future.

Kaamil Alli, 21, law student, Johannesburg

When I was growing up, there was a real fuss made over the born free generation, those of us born after our transition to democracy.

A lot was made about the fact that weve now entered into a new era, but as I became more involved at university, I started to realise that theres a lot more to consider when using this term and questions that I would ponder over as a young boy finally started to be answered.

My opinion is that, like the rainbow nation, born free is an idealistic ideal that has no place in our society, as it speaks only to those people who are privileged enough to enjoy the fruits of freedom.

Sifiso Mdluli, 20, accounting student, Braamfontein, Johannesburg

Braamfontein has a lot of issues with electricity, and lately especially we have a lot of water shortages.

Although Braamfontein is not so bad with becoming more developed  like we have free wi-fi here  I dont think basic things like effective water and electricity should be neglected.

I think my identity as a born free means something after South Africa is liberated.

Even if we didnt go through the Apartheid struggle, its our responsibility to see the country move forward. I see it as an obligation and duty, especially because we have much more access to resources, particularly with technology.

Avela Boyce, 26, reach stacker operator, South Beach, Durban

I consider voting a very precious culture that is new to the black masses. I will be voting for better leadership because the leaders we have right now are very weak, both local and national leaders.

South Africa just needs one generation of good leadership so that it can come to its full potential.

People that did not vote should not complain when things go bad because they chose to be voiceless. I am most concerned about the state of living that some people experience in the city; decent housing should have been a basic for everyone.

The local government should prioritise people that stay in shacks; those people are suffering and everyone is turning a blind eye. They will be voting too, but what will they be voting for? The same people that ignore them?

Nosipho Khumalo, 20, student, South Beach, Durban

I want my voice to be heard. I want to make a change in the area. I will vote for people who prioritise education because I am a walking testimony of how education changes lives; I have seen its power. I wish more schools and less taverns could be built.

The issue of education is very important to me; I wish the government would provide free tertiary education at least so it could be guaranteed that each citizen gets a fair chance at life.

I feel that people in leadership dont really care about people on the grassroots level; they just sit in their fancy offices waiting for salaries and tenders to come their way.

Reporting by Aaisha Dadi Patel, Mbali Zwane, Dana da Silva, Qiniso Mbili and Sayneds Hassen.

This article was published in cooperation with The Daily Vox.
What is poverty? For decades, we have defined it with a number, which the World Bank currently puts at a personal income of less than $1.90 a day. But a single number fails to capture the complexity of poverty. Measuring more than just income is essential to understanding the needs of poor people and delivering optimal assistance.

As the World Bank convenes its Spring Meetings in Washington DC next week, we have an opportunity to set benchmarks that include social and environmental dimensions of poverty. The Bank has acknowledged that more than income should be considered, and recently established a Commission on Global Poverty to recommend additional metrics.

Although many public and private groups already collect data on a range of issues affecting poor communities such as nutrition, maternal health, or access to education, such information remains largely untapped and is rarely shared across institutions.

But there are some beacons of light, including the Social Progress Index, which provides a framework for tracking multiple symptoms of poverty across countries and complements traditional income-based measures.

When we rely on a single number to measure poverty, we misdiagnose the needs of poor people. In my home country, Paraguay, I work with one of the countrys largest social enterprises, Fundacion Paraguaya, to provide microfinance, education, and training to thousands of our poorest citizens. We look at 50 metrics across six dimensions of poverty, including income, housing, education, and infrastructure.

One of our clients, Dona Mercedes, is now a successful micro-entrepreneur from a rural community not far from the capital city of Asuncion. When she first started with Fundacion Paraguaya, she was sharing a single-bedroom home with 16 other family members and cooking meals on a small fire pit on the dirt floor. Now she has a cement floor, a brick house, a separate kitchen, and around $500 in personal savings.

If the World Bank's Commission on Global Poverty adopts multidimensional poverty measures, it will spur other organisations to produce and share more detailed poverty data. That will give aid workers a more comprehensive poverty map of the world, helping to boost the effectiveness of anti-poverty efforts everywhere. by

By using Fundacion Paraguayas self-evaluation on poverty, she was able to understand her own needs better and address them one at time.

While traditional approaches focus largely on estimating the sources of household expenses and income, the Fundacion Paraguaya self-evaluation helped Dona Mercedes break down her needs into 50 discrete areas that she could work on, piece by piece, and monitor over time.

For example, she self-evaluated the state of her bathroom and kitchen, the quality of the food eaten at home, the familys dental health, the number of separate bedrooms in the house, and even her self-esteem and decision-making capacity.

A simple poverty map helps her track her progress by using the colours of the stoplight, red, yellow, and green, and highlight her priority areas. Next she plans to add two more bedrooms to her house and to work on enlarging her business.

Fundacion Paraguaya has been able to replicate this type of success in other parts of the world.

In Tanzania, where I worked for three years in rural communities, we helped villages in the Southern Highlands adapt our poverty indicators to the local context in order to tackle water, sanitation, and electrification needs.

Similar efforts are being deployed in South Africa, Nigeria, Uganda, China, and beyond.

We could make even more progress with public-sector support. Fundacion Paraguaya collects rich data across multiple dimensions, tracking more than 8,700 families each year in Paraguay alone.

OPINION: A policy agenda for Sustainable Development Goals

If this information were to reach the government of Paraguay  which has its own methods for collecting data  we could identify pockets of poverty sooner and customise programmes to help each family.

Because the information is self-reported, this sort of collaboration could deliver targeted aid and highlight specific public services that are needed.

Moreover, if the World Banks Commission on Global Poverty adopts multidimensional poverty measures, it will spur other organisations to produce and share more detailed poverty data. That will give aid workers a more comprehensive poverty map of the world, helping to boost the effectiveness of anti-poverty efforts everywhere.

OPINION: The persistence of poverty in the Arab world

It wont be easy to choose which measures to include, or even how to set universal yardsticks; but even adopting a few basic ones would spur progress.

For too long, one-dimensional measures such as the $1.90 a day guideline have misdiagnosed poor peoples problems  and more importantly, their causes. We know that the $1.90 a day benchmark does not fully capture the struggles of poor people in places such as Paraguay.

Fortunately, the World Bank now appears to recognise the limits of its income-based indicator. Ensuring that the right type of aid reaches those most in need in a timely and effective manner requires development policymakers to embrace the type of multidimensional poverty data that aid organisations such as Fundacion Paraguaya have learned to gather.

Julia Corvalan is an Aspen New Voices Fellow and Strategy Adviser for Fundacion Paraguaya, a social enterprise based in Paraguay, with expertise in the replication and adaptation of poverty elimination programmes between Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.

Copyright: Project Syndicate 2016  Poverty Beyond the Numbers
One in every five suicide bombers used by Boko Haram in the past two years has been a child, a report by UNICEF says.

Boko Haram child suicide bombings have surged elevenfold in West Africa in the past year, with children as young as eight, mostly girls, detonating bombs in schools and markets, a leading charity has said.





One in every five suicide bombers used by Boko Haram in the past two years has been a child, a report released on Tuesday by the United Nations Childrens Fund, UNICEF, said .

Suicide bombings have spread beyond Nigerias borders, with an increasing number of deadly attacks carried out by children with explosives hidden under their clothes or in baskets.

The use of children, especially girls, as so-called suicide bombers has become a defining and alarming feature of this conflict, Laurent Duvillier, regional spokesman for UNICEF, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation on Tuesday.

READ MORE: No end in sight: Boko Harams bloody legacy

Its basically turning the children against their own communities by strapping bombs around their bodies, he said.

There were 44 child suicide bombings in West Africa last year, up from four in 2014, UNICEF said, mostly in Cameroon and Nigeria.

Some young children probably did not know they were carrying explosives, which are often detonated remotely, Duvillier said.

Boko Harams six-year campaign to set up an emirate in northeastern Nigeria has killed some 15,000 people, according to the US military.

Outmanoeuvred after a regional offensive drove it from strongholds in Nigeria last year, it is increasingly using children to carry out attacks.

READ MORE: Q&A: Boko Harams changing tactics

The tactic has proved effective in increasing the number of casualties as people do not usually see children as a threat.





It is not clear how Boko Haram coerces children into carrying out the attacks, but those who have been raped are more psychologically damaged and vulnerable, the US army has said.

Amnesty International estimates Boko Haram has kidnapped about 2,000 women and girls since 2014 for use as cooks, sex slaves, fighters and suicide bombers.

It is two years since the group abducted some 270 Nigerian schoolgirls in Chibok, many of whom were said to have been forced to convert to Islam and marry their captors.

Three-quarters of the suicide bombers have been girls, UNICEF said, who are often were thought less likely to arouse suspicion, although that may be changing now.

READ MORE: Nigeria army  Teen girls kill nine in suicide attacks

Abducted boys are forced to attack their own families to demonstrate their loyalty to Boko Haram, it said.





Although many children are being released from captivity as the military reclaims territory from Boko Haram, they often face stigma and rejection.

Some women would beat me, 17-year-old Khadija, who lives in a camp for displaced people in Nigeria, told UNICEF.

She and her baby, born of rape, escaped captivity during a Nigerian army attack on Boko Haram.

They said: You are a Boko Haram wife, dont come near us!' she told UNICEF.

Children are the main victims in one of Africas fastest growing humanitarian crises, UNICEF said, making up the majority of the 2.3 million people displaced since mid-2013.

Those separated from their families by the conflict and out of school are vulnerable to recruitment by armed groups, Duvillier said.

Almost one million Nigerian children are missing out on education as Boko Haram has destroyed more than 900 schools and killed more than 600 teachers, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday.

Boko Haram is robbing an entire generation of children in northeast Nigeria of their education, Mausi Segun, Nigeria researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
Haider al-Abadis list of nominees rejected by both Shia and Sunni politicians prompting parliament to draw to a halt.

Iraqs parliament has delayed a vote on new cabinet nominees presented by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi after weeks of pressure from an influential Shia leader and thousands of his followers.

Abadi presented on Tuesday a second list of candidates to parliament, resulting in the postponement of a vote planned for the same day to Thursday, state TV said.

Dozens of politicians, from both Sunni and Shia blocs, held a sit-in demonstration inside the hall of meetings of the parliament, in protest of the proposed cabinet nominees.

That list, with 15 members, includes only four names from a 14-member line-up Abadi had submitted on March 31.

The defence and interior ministers in the outgoing cabinet will remain, to keep up the momentum of the war on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Anti-corruption measures

The cabinet reshuffle is supposed to be part of long-promised anti-corruption measures that Abadi needs to deliver. If he does not, he will risk weakening his government as Iraqi forces mount a campaign to recapture the northern city of Mosul from ISIL also known as ISIS.

Political blocs that control a majority in parliament were unhappy with Abadis initial line-up. His second was drawn from technocrats they had proposed in an effort to maintain the current party balance within the government, politicians said on Monday.

The prime minister had wanted a technocratic cabinet independent from the political class.

Critics say the politicians use a system of ethnic and sectarian quotas put in place after the US-led invasion in 2003 to amass wealth and influence.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, visiting Baghdad on Friday, urged Iraq not to let the political crisis interfere with the fight against ISIL and voiced unequivocal support for the prime minister.

Abadi proposed the new cabinet under pressure from the clergy of the Shia majority and popular discontent at the lack of basic public services, in a nation facing an economic crisis caused by falling oil prices.
David Cameron lashes out at deeply hurtful allegations made against his father after the Panama Papers leak.

Britains Prime Minister David Cameron has fought back after days of criticism over his finances, lashing out at what he called hurtful and untrue allegations about his late fathers investments, sparked by the Panama Papers leaks





Trying to restore his governments shaken reputation, Cameron insisted on Monday that aspiration and wealth creation are not somehow dirty words and said that the UK was acting to stop evasion in overseas tax havens.

Cameron has been under mounting pressure since his father, Ian Cameron, was identified as a client of a Panamanian law firm that specialises in helping the wealthy to reduce their tax burdens.

The prime minister initially refused to say whether he had a stake in Blairmore Holdings, an offshore firm established by his father, before acknowledging he had sold his shares in it shortly before he was elected in 2010.

Panama Papers: Inside the shady world of tax havens

I accept all of the criticisms for not responding more quickly to these issues last week, Cameron told MPs in parliament. But as I said, I was angry about the way my fathers memory was being traduced.

Cameron said his father had set up an investment fund overseas so it could trade in dollar securities  an entirely standard practice and it is not to avoid tax. He said millions of Britons had investments in such funds through workplace pensions.

Revelations about the Cameron family finances  found among more than 11 million leaked documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca  have cast a shadow on previous government statements that it is committed to closing tax loopholes.

Cameron has championed greater financial transparency, and is due to host an international anti-corruption summit in London next month. A law requiring UK companies to disclose who really benefits from their ownership comes into force in June.





His office initially insisted that his financial arrangements were private, before acknowledging that Cameron and his wife had sold about $44,000 in shares in the offshore fund shortly before he became prime minister in 2010, to avoid any potential conflict of interest.

On Sunday Cameron published a summary of his tax returns since 2009, becoming the first UK leader to do so.

The records appeared to show that Cameron paid his full share of tax  75,898 on taxable income of 200,307 in the most recent tax year.

But the document also generated a new round of headlines over a 200,000 gift from his mother on which Cameron  legally  paid no tax.

Q&A: Julian Assange on the Panama Papers

Treasury chief George Osborne and opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn both published details of their own tax returns on Monday. So did London Mayor Boris Johnson, revealed to have paid almost 1m in tax over the past four years.

The tax spat could have repercussions for Britains June 23 referendum on EU membership. Cameron is the leading proponent of staying in the EU, and anything that tarnishes his image could undermine that campaign.

Labour leader Corbyn said Cameron did not fully appreciate the anger that is out there about tax evasion.

Conservative MP Alan Duncan, though, accused the prime ministers critics of hating anyone whos even got a hint of wealth in their life.
UN drops secrecy in contest for next secretary general but some say a backroom deal could still prevail.

For the first time in the history of the United Nations all member states will get a chance to question the candidates for secretary general, in a move designed to make the usually secret selection process for the worlds top diplomatic post more transparent.

The eight hopefuls for one of the worlds most high-profile jobs will also hold town hall meetings with the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

They will each pitch their credentials and then answer questions in a two-hour session.

Last year, the General Assembly responded to a demand from many countries that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moons successor be chosen in a more open process, unanimously adopting a resolution allowing public hearings on how candidates would respond to global crises and run the UNs far-flung bureaucracy.

The search for a successor to Ban  a former South Korean foreign minister who will step down at the end of the year after two five-year terms  has also prompted a push by more than a quarter of UN states for the first female leader.

While the 15-member Security Council will formally recommend a candidate to the 193-member General Assembly, the General Assembly vote has long been seen as a rubber stamp.

Nations with veto powers  the US, Russia, Britain, China and France  must agree on the nominee.

As part of the changes introduced by the General Assembly last year, the list of candidates has been made public for the first time, with nomination letters and even the candidates CVs posted online.

Backroom deal

On the surface, it is a shift towards democratisation of a secretive process controlled by the five veto powers.

But there is no requirement for the five to pay attention to the popularity of candidates with the General Assembly, and the winner could still be selected in a backroom Security Council deal as has been the case for seven decades.

When asked if the meetings could have any influence over the veto-power countries, Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said: It might.

For us its important to hear what others think, and Im sure they will not be shying away [from] telling us who they like, so its going to be an interesting process, he said.

But there will be no vote or informal polls by the General Assembly to signal to the Security Council who the favoured candidates might be.

Even the biggest of powers need friends and a majority of their friends are actually asking for a much more open process where they get real influence, Mogens Lykketoft, the Danish diplomat who is president of the General Assembly, said in an interview.

Diplomats told the Reuters news agency that Moscow wanted the UN chief to come from Eastern Europe, in line with an informal tradition of rotating the post between regions.

The first woman?

The council is expected to hold its first straw poll  a sort of informal vote  behind closed doors in July and aims to have a decision by September so the General Assembly can elect the next UN chief in October.

A group of at least 56 countries, led by Colombia, and several civil society groups want the UNs first female secretary general since its creation at the end of World War II.

Half of the candidates nominated so far are women: UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova of Bulgaria; former Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic; Moldovas former Foreign Minister Natalia Gherman; and former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, who heads the UN Development Programme.

Also in the race are former Macedonian Foreign Minister Srgjan Kerim; Montenegro Foreign Minister Igor Luksic; former Slovenian President Danilo Turk; and former UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres, who is also a former Portuguese prime minister.

Find out more about them below:
Hundreds of Kashmiris have taken to the streets, throwing rocks and chanting freedom slogans after Indian army troops shot dead at least two people during a protest against an alleged case of sexual harasment by an army soldier.

The two men, Nayeem Ahmad and Muhammad Iqbal, were shot dead when a protest erupted on Tuesday following an allegation by local residents that an Indian army soldier tried to sexually assault a young woman in the town of Handwara in the Kupwara district of Indian-administered Kashmir.

It started off with a small demonstration, and then hundreds of others joined. Protesters were demanding that the soldier [charged with sexually harassing a girl] be arrested and handed over to the people, Zulkarnain Banday, a cousin of victim Nayeem Ahmad, said.

When they refused, the army opened fire and fired tear gas at the protesters. It was then that protesters tried to burn the bunker, Banday said from Handwara.

When Al Jazeera spoke to Banday, gunfire and screaming could still be heard in the background as running battles between protesters and police continued.

Banday described the situation in the town, some 50km away from the capital Srinagar, as very tense.

Police officials confirmed that the army killed two young men, while local media reports claimed that a young woman was also shot dead later on Tuesday evening, but it is still unclear who was responsible for her death.

Colonel NN Joshi, public relations officer for the Defence Ministry in Srinagar, told Al Jazeera that the army regrets the loss of life and that the matter will be investigated. Anyone found guilty will be dealt with as per law [] all of this is a matter of investigation, he said.

Police Inspector-General Syed Javaid Mujtaba Gillani also confirmed that his department would be investigating the sexual assault allegation against the soldier.

But civil society groups say that the case is likely to fall into an abyss of unresolved and unsolved cases in Kashmir. Human rights groups have for long accused the Indian military of using rape and sexual molestation to intimidate the local population.

This is why people dont come forward with cases of sexual harassment and abuse, because this is how they are dealt with, Khurram Parvez, programme coordinator of Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, told Al Jazeera.

Zulkarnain Banday said that it was unlikely that the Ahmads family would file a complaint with the police.

No one has any faith in the police or the system, Banday said.

India covering up abuses in Kashmir: report

Banday, who is also a journalist with the New Delhi-based newspaper, The Statesman, said he was also threatened by the police for taking photos of the incident.

They told me that if I take photos, they will kill me as well, he said.

Kashmiri leaders Syed Ali Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq as well as Yasin Malik on Tuesday called for a shutdown across Kashmir in protest against the killings.

Follow Azad Essa on Twitter.


New report by ICG says that Israel violated promises made to Jordan on maintaining status quo at al-Aqsa compound.

Ramallah, Occupied West Bank  A new report is warning that the relative calm at the al-Aqsa compound is deceiving, as some Israelis continue to defy rules on their access to the mosque esplanade despite opposition from young Palestinians.

Any erosion of Israels restraint, real or rumoured, is all but certain to provoke a response, the International Crisis Group said in a report earlier this week, referring to the uneasy calm prevailing thus far since 2014, as a result of talks between King Abdullah of Jordan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Both leaders met in the Jordanian capital, Amman, in November 2014 after a Palestinian teenager from Jerusalem  Mohammed Abu Khdeir  was burned to death by a group of Israelis, sparking a wave of unrest and violence.

Palestinians are concerned that Israel is trying to change the status quo, which gives Muslims exclusive control of Islams third holiest site, adding an explosive religious angle to the political conflict, with Jerusalem at its core.

These fears have been heightened by the increase in Israeli calls for and attempts to pray at the mosque courtyard  which Jews call the Temple Mount and consider their holiest site, and Muslims refer to it as the Noble Sanctuary or al-Haram al-Sharif  and with more restrictions being placed on Palestinians access to the compound.

Temple activists advocating expanded Jewish rights on the Esplanade gain more traction among the Jewish public, the ICG said.

Even if their triple demand  for undisturbed Jewish access, Jewish worship and Jewish sovereignty  has little chance of realisation any time soon, its growing prominence has stoked Palestinian fears that Israel plans to divide the holy site, as it did Hebrons Ibrahimi Mosque in 1994 after centuries of Muslim-only worship and control.

Also read: Who are the Mourabitoun of Al-Aqsa Mosque?

According to the report, which is based on interviews with Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian officials, Netanyahu promised Jordan in 2014 that he would bar ministers and Knesset members from the esplanade, limit right-wing Israelis access to it, and remove age and gender restrictions on Muslim visitors to the site.

Netanyahus office, however, said the prime minister did not limit Jewish access to the compound at any point, Israels Haaretz newspaper reported on Sunday.

The ICG report said that at the time Jordan vowed that the Waqf  the trust that manages the holy site  would prevent young Palestinians from going into the esplanade at night to prepare for confrontations with police and soldiers, who regularly escort Israelis into the esplanade.

The arrangements collapsed, the report said, when Israeli authorities banned a group of self-proclaimed defenders or sentinels of the Sanctuary  known as mourabitoun  from entering the site, and right-wing Israelis returned to the compound under armed guard. Movement restrictions on Palestinians were re-imposed.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, who visited Jordan in October last year to defuse the tensions, said that Netanyahu had given assurances that the status quo would be preserved at the compound located in occupied East Jerusalem, home to al-Aqsa Mosque and another Islamic icon, the Dome of the Rock.

An agreement was also made to install cameras at the compound, raising fears that the footage, which Israel would have access to, would be used against Palestinians.

One of the conclusions the report comes to is that the promises Israel had made to Abdullah had been for naught: thousands of Palestinians were again prevented every Friday from reaching the Holy Esplanade, while Jews circulated freely. It seemed that Israel was again trying to reduce the number of Muslims worshippers.

Religious war

Ir Amim, an Israeli rights group based in Jerusalem, which analysed data it collected from police, said restrictions on Palestinians access to the compound constituted a critical factor in the outbreak of violence in Jerusalem in 2014 and 2015.

Our analysis [shows that] violence went down because Netanyahu ordered to stop limiting access to al-Haram al-Sharif, said Aviv Tatarsky, a field researcher at Ir Amim. There is a strong link between collective restrictions on Muslims to [the compound] and violence breaking out of control.

There was a decrease in violence in November 2014 when entry restrictions were lifted, according to the organisation, which combed through the police data.

Similarly, when entry restrictions imposed in 2015 during the Jewish high holidays were lifted for several days during the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, the level of violence in East Jerusalem fell substantially, only to rise again after the restrictions were reintroduced during Sukkot, Tatarsky wrote in a brief that looked into factors contributing to the violence in Jerusalem back then.

With Jewish holidays fast approaching, officials from the Waqf are warning that any attempt by right-wing Israelis to enter the esplanade would ignite violence.

Calls by some Israeli groups to storm the compound belie the occupation authorities claims that they are preserving the status quo, said Muhammad Hussein, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem.

Severe restrictions remain on Muslims, who want to enter the compound to pray, he added.

And we warn that the ongoing assaults on Palestinian holy sites, especially the al-Aqsa mosque, will ignite a religious war for which Israelis will be held responsible.
Fresh offensive by Assad forces may threaten a truce that has largely held since February.

Syrias landmark ceasefire was threatening to fall apart after a surge of fresh fighting, especially in northern Aleppo province, just as peace talks were set to resume in Geneva on Wednesday.

The UNs Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura, who has said the negotiations will be crucially important, was in Iran for talks with a key backer of Syrias President Bashar al-Assad.

This weeks round of talks will be the second since the Assad government and rebel forces agreed to a partial truce brokered by Moscow and Washington, which has largely held since February 27.

It has raised hopes that steps may finally be taken towards ending a five-year-old conflict that has left more than 270,000 dead and forced nearly half of the countrys population from their homes.

WATCH: Has the world betrayed Syria?

De Mistura, who will host the talks, said the negotiations would focus on aspects of a peace roadmap that calls for a transitional government, a new constitution and, eventually, elections.

But the fate of Assad is still a major stumbling block.

We will be focusing in particular on the political transition, on governance and constitutional principles, he told reporters in Damascus on Monday.

But concern has been mounting that a spike in violence focused mainly in Aleppo province, which borders Turkey, is putting intense strain on the ceasefire.

Pro-government forces were on Tuesday pressing an advance against the town of Al-Eis, held by fighters from al-Qaedas local affiliate, Al-Nusra Front, and allied rebels, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.



Watch: War keeps children out of school

Al-Nusra and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group (ISIL, also known as ISIS) were excluded from the ceasefire but, complicating matters, in some areas the al-Qaeda fighters are allied with rebels covered by the truce.

Government planes carried out unprecedented air strikes in recent days on the rebel-held eastern parts of Aleppo city, according to the Observatory, which relies on a broad network of sources inside Syria.

Government forces, backed by Russian air power, pressed a similar offensive around Aleppo city during a previous failed round of talks at the end of January. Western powers blamed that escalation for the breakdown of those talks.

Al-Nusra and allied rebel groups were also pushing their own offensive on the town of Khan Touman near Aleppo city, the Observatory said.

Washington has expressed worries that an assault against Al-Nusra in Aleppo may spread to moderate rebel factions, which could cause the truce to collapse and derail peace efforts.

Wave of strikes

The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has also warned that continued indiscriminate attacks on civilians could cause the truce to break down.

It said recent attacks by rebel groups on Kurdish-majority neighbourhoods in Aleppo city and by government forces east of Damascus threaten to derail the cessation of hostilities.

A decrease in casualty numbers brought a much-needed respite for Syrians, but many civilians are still dying in unlawful attacks, Nadim Houry, HRWs deputy Middle East director, said in a statement.

The ceasefire brought relative calm to parts of northern and central Syria, allowing increased humanitarian aid deliveries and a significant drop in daily deaths.

Despite the talks, the government will go ahead on Wednesday with parliamentary elections in the areas it controls.

The UN does not recognise the vote and it has been dismissed by Assads foreign and Syrian opponents as illegitimate.

De Mistura travelled from Syria to Iran on Tuesday to meet with senior officials in Tehran, which along with Moscow is one of Assads key international backers.

As well as providing economic aid, Iran has sent military advisers from its elite Revolutionary Guards to Syria, dozens of whom have been killed.

Moscow launched a wave of air strikes in support of the government last September, though last month Moscow ordered the bulk of Russian forces to withdraw.

Russias defence ministry said two Russian military pilots were killed in a helicopter crash near the central Syrian city of Homs on Tuesday.
Israeli home demolitions have displaced more Palestinians so far in 2016 than in all of 2015, according to the UN.

Umm al-Khair, Occupied West Bank  The bulldozers arrived early in the morning, rumbling their way through the unpaved road that leads to the small community of Palestinian Bedouins in the rocky South Hebron Hills.

Israeli army Jeeps and a contingent of armed soldiers followed suit.

Everyone at Umm al-Khair knew why they had come, and a woman started yelling: May God judge you for what you will do. As the roosters crowed, the bulldozers advanced on the first of six small, metal sheet homes, crushing its walls, and turning the entire structure on its side.

Within minutes, 35 people were rendered homeless. The tiny village had been through this before, their ramshackle tin sheds and metal dwellings destroyed numerous times.

They already led a simple, tough life: Israeli authorities will not connect their community to the power grid, and anything they build  barns for their animals, huts as homes, even lavatories  is eventually destroyed.

Among those affected is the patriarch of the community, Suleiman Hathaleen. As he explained that the land belonged to his family, a soldier smirked. When he tried to stand in the way of the bulldozers, in a futile attempt to stop the demolitions, he was shoved aside and at one point carried away by a few soldiers.

Israeli authorities say the community is living illegally here. A spokesperson for Israels Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories told Al Jazeera: Last Wednesday, enforcement measures were taken against six illegal structures, which were built without the proper permits in Umm al-Khair after handing all the relevant orders.

Hathaleen says otherwise, and shows the deed to the land on which the village sits and where most of the people from Umm al-Khair were born.

The paper is worn-out; evidence, he says, to the number of times he has shown it to authorities, journalists and human rights groups.

We are Bedouins from the Jahalin clan originally from Tel Arad in the Negev, Hathaleen said. We bought this land from residents of the nearby town of Yata in 1965 for 100 camels.

Just a stones throw away from the village is the Israeli settlement of Carmel, built in the 1980s on land belonging to the Hathaleens, its lush gardens, electricity and piped water, standing in stark contrast with the barrenness of Umm al-Khair, where the community is forced to live off the grid and buy tanks of water at exorbitant prices.

They want the entire Palestinian population to leave. But we won't give up an inch of our land, despite the harassment. by Suleiman Hathaleen, patriarch of Umm al-Khair community

We went through so many catastrophes: 1948, 1967 and now the settlements, which have taken most of our land, Hathaleen said. They left us with nothing. And now they want to expel us. But we will not leave.

The aftermath of the demolition was just as daunting for the families.

A pile of metal was all that was left of the houses, along with a mound of crumpled mattresses upholstered with a flower motif, and several carpets. Children walked amid the heaps of blankets looking for things to salvage. A crib survived the destruction, and a baby was laid in it to rest as the day went on.

This is the eighth time the Israelis have destroyed these families homes, said Ibrahim Hathaleen, head of the council of Khashm al-Durj, a nearby village. The army is working in tandem with the settlers to pressure this community to leave. Thats why its a constant target for demolitions.

He said the community has faced a constant threat of displacement ever since the settlement was built and it continues to expand on to their land.

The latest round of destruction in Umm al-Khair comes amid a surge in home demolitions, which has left more Palestinians displaced so far in 2016 than in all of 2015, according to a UN tally. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the surge in demolitions is the highest in the last seven years.

The head of Israels military government in the West Bank acknowledged this week that the army destroys Palestinian homes it deems illegal at a faster pace than it does settler houses built without government approval.

I want to state unequivocally that enforcement is more severe towards the Palestinians, General Yoav Mordechai told the Knesset sub-committee for Judea and Samaria (West Bank) on Wednesday.

Moreover, much of the enforcement with regard to the Palestinians takes place on private Palestinian land.

Umm al-Khair, like 60 percent of the West Bank, is designated under the Oslo Accords as part of Area C, allowing Israel full military and administrative control.

Villages and towns in this area are required to apply for building permits, which are rarely given by authorities, leaving them subject to a constant threat of destruction.





In Umm al-Khair, there is a demolition or a stop-work order for almost everything, including a taboon or outdoor clay oven  part of 11,000 injunctions pending against Palestinian-owned structures, according to the UN.

At one point, an Israeli settler couple living nearby sued the community over the aroma of baked bread being emitted from the traditional oven.

The taboon, which feeds approximately 40 people a day, also met the same fate as the houses: It was destroyed on several occasions. They claim that the smell and smoke is affecting their daily life, said Maliha Hatheleen, Suleimans wife.

This oven is 50 years old, Maliha said. My grandmother used it to bake bread, so did my mother. And Ive used it, my daughter will too, and hopefully my granddaughter. This is the source of our livelihood. We dont have electricity. This is the only way for us to make bread.

She said two of her children have been beaten by Israeli settlers, who on three other occasions, sneaked on to their land at night and poured water on the oven in an attempt to damage it.

In another incident, they attacked their cattle as they were grazing and shot one of their dogs.

This isnt about a few metal houses or an oven or anything else, Suleiman Hathaleen said. They just want us to leave, they want the entire Palestinian population to leave. Even Abu Mazen [the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas], they would expel him from Ramallah if they had the chance. But we wont give up an inch of our land, despite the harassment.
Children made to work for little or no pay, many of them in dangerous conditions, according to anti-slavery experts.

A growing number of children whose families have fled the Syrian war to Lebanon are being forced to work for little or no pay, many of them in dangerous conditions, anti-slavery experts said on Tuesday.

About one million Syrians have fled to Lebanon, where they make up a quarter of the countrys population. Many have no legal right to work, and families are forced to find other ways to pay for food, shelter and healthcare.

Some Lebanese employers prefer to hire children, finding them cheaper and more obedient than adults, the Freedom Fund, an international initiative to fight slavery, said in a report.

Adults, too, are being used as forced labour and are vulnerable to sexual exploitation, according to the report, which was based on interviews with local officials, refugees, international agencies and local NGOs.

Our findings indicate that (forced labour) is becoming increasingly common as refugees become more desperate. According to two interviewees, forced labour is now so widespread as to constitute the norm, the report said.

One NGO interviewed for the report estimated that between 60 and 70 percent of refugee children work.

READ MORE: Syrias lost generation in Lebanon

Many have to work for little or no money as a condition for living in informal tented settlements. The coordinator of a tented camp  called the shawish  will line up work for children, often in the fields of the farmer hosting the camp.

It is almost impossible for parents to refuse this request, the report said.

The shawish may also hire out children to nearby farmers, restaurants, auto repair shops or other employers. They have been known to force children to work in towns and cities, according to the Freedom Fund.

Extreme exploitation

Almost all refugee children in the countrys eastern Bekaa Valley, near the border with Syria, are working in the fields there, many exposed to dangerous pesticides and fertilisers, the report said.

In towns and cities, they work on the streets, begging, selling flowers or tissues, shining shoes or cleaning car windscreens.

READ MORE: #BuyPens refugee: I want to help other Syrians

Children also work in markets, factories, aluminum factories, shops, in construction and running deliveries.

In 2013, Lebanon launched a national action plan to eliminate the worst forms of child labour, including among Syrian refugees, by 2016.

Many organisations there are providing support to Syrian refugees, but efforts to curb slavery and human trafficking are often uncoordinated, limited in their focus and do not always target those most at risk, the Freedom Fund said.

Without significant and determined intervention, the situation will only worsen for many hundreds of thousands of refugees at risk of extreme exploitation, the groups CEO, Nick Grono, said.
Snik is a Norwegian quartet with a spirited approach as the respective musicians have been quite active performing with conventional and avant-garde European and USA-based jazz artists. Trombonist Kristoffer Kompen and double bassist Ole Morten Vagan's compositions present a kaleidoscopic mix of popping post-bop and free-bop style motifs often catapulted by a web of knotty unison choruses and journeys into the free realm.No doubt, these gents convey an assertive posture amid linear and surging musical plots, also featuring downward spirals, dappled with temperance and the frontline's fierce soloing exploits. The band often abides by a rapid all hands on deck convergence with episodic improv segments along with some edgy and flaming dialogues, abetted by shrewdly executed arrangements. But the artists tone it down with a simple, yet rather nondescript primary motif on "Knis," which is a piece that sounds more like a rehearsal.The final track "Lonely Again" is an upbeat affair, accelerated by the rhythm section's zesty grooves in support of Kompen's pumping lines and Kristoffer Berre Albert's cyclical counterpoint measures. In addition, several works offer a homogenous blend of catchy melodies sandwiched in between some rough and tumble interplay and a host of thorny breakouts.A few of the creaky and raw free-jazz improvisational etudes that either launch a given piece or reside in the bridge sections do not always add much value, and occasionally serve as a distraction to Kompen and Vagan's acute and witty composition-based proficiencies. However, this is an electrifying quartet that bestows a wealth of thought-provoking stratagems.
Sons of KemetBlack Box Belfast , N. IrelandApril 7, 2016The finer points of ancient Egyptian religion might not have been the chief topic of discussion among the Black Box crowd as it waited for Mobo Jazz Award winners Sons of Kemet to take the stage in. Yet music is not hermetic; even if the listener is unaware of the multiple forces that can shape music, the effects of those forces are duly felt. So it was in Black Box, where Sons of Kemet's heady Afro-centric grooves cooked up a fiesta.may be inspired in no small measure by ancient Egyptian teachingsKing Shabaka was the last Nubian ruler of Kemet, the native name for ancient Egyptbut equally important in the quartet's music is the history of the African diaspora. This cosmic collision of ancient wisdom, history, and musical roots that stretch from Africa and the Caribbean to modern Britain resulted in a potent, intoxicating Belfast gig.Sons of Kemet's debut recording, Burn (Naim Jazz Records, 2011) garnered awards and accolades left, right and centre, but this gig showcased mostly compositions from the quartet's latest CD, Lest We Forget What We Came Here To Do (Naim Jazz Records, 2015). Between the two releaseshas replacedon tuba and his bass profundo riffing provided an immense pulse beneathand's intricately latticed drum patterns. Skinner worked his bass drum relentlessly, having to physically pull it back whenever it slipped its berth. Riding the crest of these pulsating rhythmic waves, Hutchings worked up a sweat with lung-busting solos, moulding rhythmic mantras and melodious lines into ecstatic planes of free-jazz intensity.The stirring musical concoction evoked the spirits ofand, ofandand of the new wave of New Orleans brass bands; a little of all these musical tributaries fused on the stonking runaway train that was the opening number. Yet fundamentally, this was dance music and a proportion of the crowd were soon seduced by the siren call of irresistible, booty-shaking grooves. For both musicians and dancers alike, it was a test of stamina too, as tracks such as "Inner Babylon"the only offering from the band's first CDwere stretched to double their recorded time, with Hutchings and Cross, Skinner and Rochford bouncing off each other with the exuberance of wired kids.Barely pausing to acknowledge the applause that greeted the end of each explosive trackas though anxious not to slip out of the zoneSons of Kemet kept the pedal to the floor for most of the two-hour set. The notable exception was "The Long Night of Octavia E Butler"inspired by the lauded science fiction/Afrofuturist writerwhere Skinner's sticks, Rochford's mallets, Cross's metronomic tuba pulse and Hutchings quietly snaking, mellifluous lines carved out an atmospheric pocket ofrelativerepose.Appropriately, that track wove seamlessly into "Afrofuturism," a spirited riff and groove fest punctuated by honking tuba and tearing saxophone lines. In her novel Pattermaster (1977), Butler wrote of the Patternists' telepathy, an attribute that Sons of Kemit seemed to exude in the most highly charged passages of play where compositional patterns and improvisational flare were dizzyingly blurred.With the stage and green room separated by the crowd it would have made little sense for the band to weave its way through the dancers and tables only to have to make the return journey for the encore, so obeying logic, Sons of Kemit stayed put and launched into "Play Mass," a feel-good number that whipped the dancers to its unrelenting rhythms.This was Sons of Kemet's first tour of Ireland and hopefully it won't be the last. The summer festival crowds and dance clubs acolytes would surely go nuts for an injection of the non-conventional yet highly infectious music that Sons of Kemet so joyously purvey. Not for the seated.
UF students can hear from a leading animal and environmental researcher April 20.

Jane Goodall, a primatologist known for her research with chimpanzees, will speak at UFs Phillips Center for the Performing Arts at 8 p.m. Doors open at 7 p.m. Goodall is being paid $63,000, said Kevin Gerson, the chairman of Accent Speakers Bureau.

Accent will have a link on its Facebook page to live stream the event, he said.

He said Goodall will speak about her research with chimpanzees in Gombe, Tanzania, and about the Jane Goodall Institute, her nonprofit conservation organization.

She doesnt do a whole lot of events that are open to the public, Gerson said. She is a true pioneer who opened the doors for many women to follow in her footsteps.

Natalia Cuervo, a UF nursing sophomore, said shes excited to see the legendary scientist.

Its a once-in-a-lifetime kind of deal, the 20-year-old said.

She said its important to hear from female scientists like Goodall.

I feel like representation is important in the community, she said. If we dont see (women) in textbooks and in the media, then we feel like were not supposed to be there.

Tickets are free for the event. Students with their Gator 1 Cards can get two tickets at the Phillips Center box office April 19 at noon. The general public can get remaining tickets April 20 at noon.

@k_newberg

knewberg@alligator.org

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UF and UF Health employees will have the opportunity to relax and de-stress through a new wellness classes.

Through June, UF employees will be able to participate in new events for UFs monthly Wellness Wednesdays. Employees can try meditating, learn how to track their sleep schedules and participate in National Bike to Work Day.

The events are part of the UF-UF Health Shands Wellness Committees Quarterly Spotlight, said Angie Brown, the assistant director for communications and wellness.

The topic for the next three months is Thrive, she said. It will focus on emotional wellness, including stress, depression, sleep, hygiene, positive psychology and happiness.

The program supports the health and well-being of UF and UF Health employees in an effort to build a strong academic community for all, said Kim Holton, the wellness coordinator at UF.

To make sure employees had as many resources as students, UF formed a joint employee wellness committee in Fall 2013, Brown said.

Since that time, it has developed programming both independently as well as in conjunction with UF Health, GatorCare and other campus organizations, Brown said.

Holton said in addition to Wellness Wednesday, the program offers free weekly classes including Pilates, yoga and Zumba.

There are also Fall and Spring walking challenges, health screenings and an annual Windows to Wellness, in which employees learn healthy cooking, receive health checks and learn how to deskercise.

Dorota Haman, UFs agricultural and biological engineering chair, said she has participated in the committees yoga classes and body scan meditation, which reduces stress.

I really like this program, and I wish I would have more time to participate, Haman said. This is a great way to deal with stress.

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A new UF play is showing how sexual assault impacts survivors and their loved ones.

UFs Center for Arts in Medicine opened Ashleys Consent, a free play about a girl who has been sexually assaulted, at the Newins-Ziegler Hall breezeway Monday night. Michael Martinez-Hamilton, a UF adjunct lecturer, wrote the play.

He got the idea to write about sexual assault in the middle of the night in August 2015, he said. He wanted to educate the community about it.

I stayed up until the sun came out, and I just wrote a rough, rough draft, he said.

Martinez-Hamilton said finding the time to write the play was difficult.

Its definitely been a labor of love, he said.

Six UF students will perform the play this week, Martinez-Hamilton said. He hand-picked the cast because of how important the message was to him.

Emma Green Aleksandr Kalishman reacts to another character in the "multi-media theatrical experience" about sexual assault, Ashley's Consent, in the Newins-Zeigler Hall Breezeway on Monday. The 26-year-old theatre sophomore at Santa Fe played faculty advisor Ben Hart during the play's opening night.

Marissa Secades, a UF theatre and English sophomore, plays the lead role of Ashley.

The 19-year-old said her favorite part of theater is it doesnt answer questions, but it poses questions. Its up to the audience to figure out the answers. She hopes the audience will do this during Ashleys Consent.

I just really hope that while watching, the audience can put themselves in the place of the characters, she said.

The play is designed to be interactive, Martinez-Hamilton said. Throughout the play, characters move location and the audience moves with them. After the play ends, actors will lead a discussion with the audience about sexual assault on college campuses, bystander intervention and victim shaming.

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Hopefully they leave with the realization that you have the power to change the world in which you live, he said.

Trip, played by Ryan Golden, 19, hits on his ex-girlfriend Ashley, played by Marissa Secades, 19, at a party. The characters moved the audience to other spots in the Newins-Zeigler Hall Breezeway throughout the night as they followed the story of Ashley's sexual assault and the reactions from her friends and family.
The young couple from Mississippi detained by federal authorities in August has, among other charges, pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support for the Kim Kardashian of radical Islamic militancy: the Islamic State. The aspiring American jihadists shocked and captured the attention of Americans throughout the country.

Though the number of people in the U.S. who have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State is insignificant, sensationalist media continues to write the narrative that an incredibly sophisticated social networking-based recruitment system has had great success in turning ordinary Americans into unwavering jihadists. The same narrative can be heard overseas, with a lot more truth behind its proliferation, yet still not in recognition of the big picture.

The more clandestine truth, however, is that the Islamic States propaganda pales in comparison to the most bountiful and reliable recruitment method for radical Islamic militant groups in the Middle East: indiscriminate drones and airstrikes.

As America fumbles with the answer for how to successfully combat Islamic extremism, unsuccessfully foregoing the support of moderate Kurds, its policy of unfettered drone warfare has only increased since its inception. Because of this, many civilians, both Muslim and Christian, have suffered greatly.

In war-torn Afghanistan where the digestion of the democratic apple pie was once slow-going, the resurgence of a long-presumed weakened al-Qaida has provided cause for increasing U.S. drone strikes. Yet these are not done responsibly or with precision  look to the October attack on a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, that killed 42 civilians and hospital workers. Such irresponsibility begets a defeated and vengeful population, whose only recourse for the indiscriminate deaths of their families is to join with those fighting Western powers, on the front and abroad.

The ongoing power struggle for influence and control between our ally, Saudi Arabia, and our not-so-ally, Iran, has turned the country of Yemen into yet another part of the Middle East, where explosive death is the norm. Efforts by the Saudi Riyadh government to quell the strength of the Yemeni Houthi rebellion have lead to widespread attacks on civilians. Whats more is that most of the bombs used indiscriminately by Saudi jets have been sold to Saudi military by the U.S.: bombs that have been deemed illegal by the international community due to their disregard of human rights and precision targeting. The civilian death toll in Yemen continues to climb as children and adults who remain in the cities and towns experiencing these strikes no longer have jobs or places for education. Those who are lucky enough to have their lives are incredibly disenfranchised with not much else to do but survive. It is no wonder that many who have lost large amounts of their family members turn to extremism against the Saudi regime and its allies.

Under the Obama administration, the use of drone strikes has ballooned, and the Pentagon has plans to further expand the program by 50 percent by 2019. Taking into account the administrations unwavering stance on putting boots on the ground and advances in the technology of warfare, this is not surprising. What is surprising is the nature of a country that espouses the importance of quashing terrorism at home and abroad carrying out status quo policies that only increase the prospect of terrorism. It is duplicitous that we as a nation should hold high the values of freedom and human rights but stand shamelessly allied to a Saudi government that has no regard for human rights or lives.

While there are other players to criticize, the U.S. needs to be held accountable for the dangerous anti-U.S. sentiment it creates. There are answers to the quagmires of the Middle East  providing backing to the Kurds beyond air support, for instance. Callous, indiscriminate drone and airstrikes are to the contrary.

Justin Ford is a UF journalism junior. His column appears on Tuesdays.

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We live in a world full of myths. Never mind the tales of an undercover spy, or so-called fairy (likely Soviet-trained) sneaking into our childrens bedrooms to do Lord knows what with their precious teeth or the tales of a puppet hiding behind his nasal mutation to cover up his habitual dishonesty. No, we want to highlight supposedly truthful claims and offer a reminder of their unfounded foundations.

Unfortunately, this weeks topic concerns the 2016 elections reference to a recent tragedy. Bernies Sandy Hook shame, read The New York Daily News headline last Wednesday, reporting on Sanders position that victims of gun crimes should not be able to sue gun manufacturers. Currently, family members of the Sandy Hook victims are in the process of a lawsuit against Remington Arms, the manufacturer of the assault weapon used to kill 20 school children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on Dec. 14, 2012.

As Hillary Clinton told MSNBC on April 6, That he would place gun manufacturers rights and immunity from liability against the parents of the children killed at Sandy Hook is just unimaginable to me. No one is disputing the unfathomable horror and tragedy of Sandy Hook. But for the moment we need to separate the tragedy from current rhetoric. Think to yourself: Does Sanders really dismiss the families of Sandy Hook victims?

First of all, Sanders position on gun manufacturers has nuance. He believes manufacturers should, in fact, face liability when they should know that guns are going into the hands of the wrong people. So hes not for complete immunity in all cases. Furthermore, Sanders strongly advocates for a national ban on assault rifles across the board  the type of weapon used in the Sandy Hook shooting.

Looking to the other side of the argument, to what extent does Clinton necessarily assume a moral high ground on guns compared to Sanders? She seems to have no problem making these accusations against him. Meanwhile, her campaign allowed for a mid-March Clinton fundraiser to be co-hosted by Jeff Forbes, a former lobbyist for the National Rifle Association. And just eight short years ago, when Clinton ran against Barack Obama, she proclaimed herself a pro-gun churchgoer, according to The New York Times.

Any human being with a moral compass sympathizes with the Sandy Hook victims, so in no way are we attacking Clintons character. But on a political level, she clearly has a record of flip-flopping on gun issues that she consistently fails to disclose. So to vilify Sanders for his gun position and further suggest his disregard for Sandy Hook victims now is disingenuous at best and, at worst, playing dirty politics with the Sandy Hook shooting.

This isnt a debate on Sanders and Clintons gun policies, but rather a closer look at the myth, the hypocrisy of these Sandy Hook accusations. And this isnt to say that Clinton is unique in politically motivated hypocrisy  such is the political game. But if Clintons going to profess she has tried and will always try to level with the American people, she needs to come clean about her own record before lashing out, especially when the families of Sandy Hook victims are catching the political crossfire.
           2005     ..        




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

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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]
LOS ANGELES  The sudden ordinariness of corporate data breaches has led to feelings of helplessness inside the financial industry.

That sense of despair is apt to be particularly prevalent at smaller institutions, where the resources available to stave off sophisticated cybercrimes may not match the expectations of their regulators.

So what can a small firm do in the face of well-organized bands of hackers?

Actually, quite a bit, according to experts who spoke at the Mortgage Bankers Association's recent annual technology conference.

Here are four steps that banks, mortgage companies and other financial institutions can take to prepare for a digital attack.

Write an Incident Response Plan

This is perhaps the most important move an institution can make  not only because it will give employees marching orders during a stressful time when executives' time and attention might otherwise be stretched thin, but also because it might also buy goodwill from regulators.

The incident response plan should include input from information technology staffers, but it should not be written solely by the techies. It should include a list of who needs to be called, and a plan for communications outside of the company.

"It's really not that costly to develop that plan," said Jonathan Gloster, chief innovation officer at Van Dyke Technology Group in Columbia, Md. "But it is very costly after the incident to try to pull together the pieces."

Fully Vet Vendors

Over the last half-decade or so, the banking industry has grown accustomed to being held accountable for the actions of its vendors. And while much of the attention has focused on lapses in consumer protection, gaps in data security can be just as problematic, or more.

After all, the infamous 2013 breach at retail giant Target reportedly began with an email phishing attack that was sent to employees of a Target heating, ventilation and air conditioning vendor.

So banks need to make clear what they expect of their vendors when it comes to data security. The good news is that vendors now expect this type of scrutiny from financial institutions.

"When you're in a regulated industry like ours, there's just a certain expectation of the vendor community that if they want to swim in these waters, they need to meet certain requirements," said Shawn Malone, vice president for business compliance at Radian Guaranty Inc. in Philadelphia.

Promote Good Data Hygiene

Data breaches are often the result of employees making careless decisions, whether it's leaving a password on a sticky note or losing track of a thumb drive.

Experts say that companies can help protect themselves by continually reminding employees to be mindful of data security.

"There are so many things that you can do that are very simple, like reminding your employees not to take personal information home," said Daniel McKenna, a law partner at Ballard Spahr's Philadelphia office. "We have seen it pay dividends. It's a very cost effective thing to do."

Stay in Touch with the Authorities

Waiting until after a data breach has occurred to establish a relationship with state attorneys general and other local authorities may leave institutions starting off on the wrong foot.

It's better to contact authorities beforehand, said Douglas Gansler, the former attorney general of Maryland. Being proactive, and being able to present an incident response plan that has been produced responsibly, sends a message to law enforcement that a company takes data security seriously.

"A year ago even, certainly two years ago, regulators would look at companies that had an incident as the defendant," said Gansler, who is now a law partner at Buckley Sandler in Washington, D.C. "And that's really changed over time  from 'The company screwed up' to now 'The company's been victimized.'"


Following months of behind-the-scenes work with OnDeck Capital, JPMorgan Chase has quietly started offering online loans to its existing small-business customers.

The New York megabank launched its digital lending platform on a limited basis last week, spokeswoman MaryJane Rogers confirmed Monday.

Existing Chase small-business customers are being prescreened, and some of them are being invited to apply for loans of up to $250,000, according to Brian Geary, director of platform solutions at OnDeck.

JPMorgan has roughly 4 million small-business customers. The bank declined to say how many of those clients have received invitations to apply for a loan, or when its online lending platform will be opened to a broader group of prospective applicants.

Under the partnership, New York-based OnDeck, which also offers small-business loans through its own website, is providing its technology to JPMorgan. The loans are Chase-branded, and are being held on the bank's balance sheet. JPMorgan is also setting the underwriting criteria for the loans.

"The process will be entirely digital, with approval and funding generally received within one day," JPMorgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimon wrote in his recent letter to the bank's shareholders.

Previously, the bank's small-business loans could take up to one month or more to be approved and funded, according to Dimon.

The partnership, which was announced to great fanfare in December, aims to provide a better customer experience for Chase's small-business borrowers.

"They want to remove friction points for customers, and make it efficient and easy for the customer to take out capital that's in the smaller range," Geary said.

In fact, applying for an online small-business loan from Chase is expected to take less time than applying for a similar loan directly from OnDeck.

Chase, like other banks, has a prior relationship with its small-business borrowers, which gives it a leg up over the new crop of online lenders, according to OnDeck Chief Executive Noah Breslow.

Because of those existing relationships, Chase does not have to collect as much information from prospective borrowers in order to fulfill regulatory requirements related to the prevention of money laundering.

"So we can make that process more efficient," Breslow said during an interview at the LendIt conference in San Francisco.

For its part, OnDeck is using the integration with Chase as a foundation for additional partnerships with banks. About 70% of the technology that OnDeck has built for Chase is reusable, according to Breslow.

He said that other large banks may be interested in partnerships that are similar to the deal between OnDeck and JPMorgan Chase.

Meanwhile, smaller banks may want to pursue referral partnerships, Breslow said. Under a partnership between OnDeck and Opus Bank, the $6.2 billion-asset Opus, in Irvine, Calif., will refer small businesses that are looking for up to $500,000 in financing to OnDeck.

Explaining that similar partnerships might make sense for small banks, Breslow said: "It's lower risk, it's lower cost. You can be in the market faster."


Fifth Third Bancorp has promoted its lead independent director to chairman.

Marsha Williams' appointment at the $141 billion-asset company takes effect immediately. Williams has been on Fifth Third's board since 2008.

The Cincinnati company's previous chairman, James Hackett, retired last month; its former chief executive, Kevin Kabat, also gave up his vice chairman role last month. At the time, Fifth Third said it could operate without a chairman, because the lead independent director functioned in the role of chairman.

In the interim, Fifth Third's board conducted "a thorough and thoughtful review of potential candidates," said spokesman Larry Magnesen. At the end of the review, Williams was unanimously elected chairman. She is designated as non-executive chairman, the same title held by Hackett.

Williams was previously chief financial officer at Orbitz Worldwide and Equity Office Properties Trust.

Hackett stepped down from Fifth Third to become a director at Ford Smart Mobility, a unit of the automobile manufacturer that develops mobility services. He had been chairman since April 2014.


Heres Maggie Gallagher worrying about social conservatives losing the culture war because we dont do activism. What do we do when

more than 100 corporations are attacking North Carolina over a bill protecting women from having to share bathrooms with transgender biological males[?]

Heres James Delingpole worrying that we climate skeptics have nothing with which to counter the climate activists claim of saving the planet.

[T]he left has got its hands on the magic formula that enables it to do at both federal and local level all the things that lefties love to do The formula is: Were saving the planet.

What Gallagher and Delingpole want is for conservatives to develop our own activism culture so that we can throw the lefts taunts right back in their faces.

But conservatives will never learn to out-advocate the liberal activists. We must act instead to delegitimize the very liberal activism culture itself.

The central sacred ritual of the activism culture, the demonstration or the peaceful protest, is appropriate for a group that has been excluded from the councils of political power. That is the way it used to work, with mobs and bread riots, when the lower class was excluded from political citizenship.

But that is not the way demonstrations and protests work today. As practiced today, the activism culture is no longer the authentic voice of the excluded and the oppressed. Instead it is a cunning trick of the ruling class to subdue and exclude its opponents, to bully them into acquiescing in more government and prevent them from having a voice in the councils of state. As such, the activism culture should be struck down and its practitioners sentenced to advocate for global health in Outer Slobbovia.

I argue this from the findings of lefty sociologist Michael Mann in The Sources of Social Power Volume 2, The Rise of Classes and Nation-States, 1760-1914, which I have been reading so you dont have to. In this study of the long 19th century, the centerpiece is a love-struck narration of the rise of the working class.

The central point that Mann makes about the working class is that, once the working class got the vote, it abandoned revolution as a political tactic. Of course it did -- because once it got the vote it was inside the tent and its agenda could be negotiated in the councils of political power. And the ruling class of the day came to accept the justice of the working class agenda.

You can see that on Manns view the Civil Rights movement was a legitimate use of street power. Until blacks got the right to vote in the South, then the March on Selma was the only course for African Americans to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. But once blacks got the vote and became regime supporters of the liberals and got to bury themselves in government money? I dont think so.

Lets see, what do you call a mob acting to further the regimes agenda?

You can see the hypocrisy of the activism culture in the background of Oakland activist and Black Lives Matter founder Alicia Garza. This authentic voice of the people was born in San Rafael, Marin County, California, and then moved down the road to Tiburon, Tiburon, where her mother and stepfather were antiques dealers. She was radicalized by the white students in middle school assuming she lived in subsidized housing. I am not making this up. Today Garza is the compleat Marin County liberal, doing radical politics across the Bay in Oakland as a queer activist.

If I were an inner-city African American, I think I might take to the streets as the only way to express my outrage at the sense of entitlement in my Marin-County-born community-organizer leaders.

So liberals have turned upside down the whole business of petitioning the government for the redress of grievances. Instead of the protest being a cry from the dispossessed as the only way to make their voices heard, the activism game has become the way for the ruling class to deny non-liberals the right to have a voice and a seat in the councils of state.

Tactically, you can say, the concept is brilliant. But strategically, it is folly. The whole point of free speech and universal suffrage is that nobody is outside the tent, marinating their grievances in conspiratorial cells, and planning a desperate street action. But liberals use their activism culture to shut up everyone except their born-in-Marin-County cry-bullies. Because racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, Islamophobia.

Ruling-class liberals have adopted the last-resort street tactics of the oppressed, the marginalized, the exploited; they are using them as a first resort to oppress, to marginalize and silence the ordinary American middle class.

All I can say is: This is not going to end well, liberals.

Christopher Chantrill @chrischantrill runs the go-to site on US government finances, usgovernmentspending.com. Also see his American Manifesto and get his Road to the Middle Class.
President Clinton is out there campaigning for Mrs. Clinton. However, he is also finding out that this is a very different party from the one he moved to the center in the 1990s. I found this article by Tory Newmyer rather interesting:

But for the 42nd president, so long the irrepressible Big Dog of the political scene, the moment must have offered some deeper catharsis. Hes spent the better part of a year holding himself in check while Hillary Clinton has disavowed much of his record, piece by piece. The Democratic Party she seeks to lead is rediscovering lefty instincts he banished a generation ago as the young tribune of an ascendant centrism, and she is adjusting accordingly. Candidate Hillary now talks up the need for criminal justice reform to undo the 1994 crime bill her husband championed; decries the wages on American workers of NAFTA and subsequent free-trade deals he ushered in; and calls for cracking down on a financial sector he helped deregulate. Her evolution appears aimed at least in part at keeping faith with younger Democrats, a bloc thats nevertheless rejecting her, en masse, in favor of a septuagenerian with a 60s vintage message. (In Wisconsin on Tuesday, Bernie Sanders won a whopping 82% of voters under 30.) So Bill could be forgiven if hes feeling a bit lost in the party he once defined.

I would add that this tilt to the left, or rejection of the Clinton presidency, really began in 2000, when 4 million voted for Ralph Nader.

It continued in 2008, when candidate Senator Obama decried NAFTA and then-senator Clinton was forced to dance around the agreement.

It has come full circle with Senator Sanders's supporters, who did not get the memo about Mrs. Clinton's coronation.

It must be tough for the narcissist Bill Clinton. He's been thrown under the bus, in much the same way that he threw the left under the bus back in 1996.

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is a relic of the New Deal, set up to regulate both sides of labor-management disputes in the private sector. With private-sector unionism on it deathbed, the NLRBs once important function (it shone brightest in World War II, keeping production going by avoiding strikes) no longer serves a vital role.

And it is also very reluctant to admit when its officials get caught outright promoting unions. Bill McMorris reports for the Free Beacon:

The National Labor Relations Board suspended a top-ranking Philadelphia official after receiving complaints that he helped raise money from unions for his pro-union charity. Dennis Walsh, the regional director for the agencys fourth district, was suspended without pay for 30 days in December after an inspector general investigation revealed that he had misled ethics officers about his tenure as chairman of the Peggy Browning Fund. The nonprofit, named after a former NLRB board member, has close ties to some of the major unions that appeared before Walshs office, which handles unfair labor practice cases and local elections. The agency inspector general found that nearly 60 percent of Region 4s casework involved at least one prohibited source who made a contribution to the Peggy Browning Fund.

The fund supports union organizing, not meals for the hungry, surgery for the indigent, or other worthy causes. And the NLRB had to be dragged to acting by its inspector general, having denied there was a problem:
Jihadists kill on religious principle and because of frustrated sexual energy, not because they are deprived or jealous of the Western civilizations they look down upon.

Radical Muslims hate women, and when they are not beating, circumcising, stoning, or intentionally not educating them, they use their own pent up sexual energy to kill other people. If they kill Muslims along with Westerners in their mass murders, it doesnt matter. Killing is its own intent. Death is a magnet that draws importance to itself.

Liberals think that if we just gave jihadists enough food stamps, they wouldnt decapitate us. Thats right, James Foley, put your head back on.

Jihadists want fewer, not more food stamps. Sorry, Obama. They want less of life. They want to die gloriously.

Islamists want to die for principle. Liberals have no principles. They hate those who have more than them and pretend that they will be of some use to those who have less.

Terrorists are not revolutionaries. They are cruel, indiscriminate killers of innocent people. They do not use their means for ends, but luxuriate in the means of killing people with no purposeful ends. Pain is its own result. Masochism is its own depth.

The 9/11 hijackers went to strip shows, gambled, and drank alcohol. All are sins according to the Muslim religion. They were middle-class men who lived normal lives rather than ascetic lives. They were true Muslims but not fundamentalists. They were not on a pilgrimage to heaven, but a death-delivering hegira.

Heaven was a Machiavellian means, not an end, to these disturbed jihadists. Heaven is superficial. Mohammed Atta was thinking more about the glory of his death than the seventy-two virgins in heaven. The virgins would be a liberal idea, not a serious killer's.

If I were to commit suicide, I would get off on my explosion rather than some fantasy of joyful heaven. Happiness is superficial. Terrorists want depth. I would want to be torn apart to experience overwhelming power.

There is a numbness in the world. There is a numbness in mindlessness, in sleep, in constant prayer, in cocaine, in orgasm, in death. Are Muslims seeking refuge in numbness?

While Mohamed Atta and the 9/11 killers were not poor, they were also not particularly religious. They wanted to die for their religion just because they wanted to die in the embrace of sacrifice. Their fundamentalism was death, not religion. Their ideology was pain followed by the numbness of death.

The liberals who think they can reform Muslims by giving them soup kitchens are idiots. People commit suicide not because they dont have enough soup spoons. They love the stringency of death and the cruelty of killing.

Liberals who view their enemies as friends end up inviting their enemies to kill their liberal way of life and their culture.

These terrorists got off on dedication to death rather than love of Allah. They were not celibate or abstemious. They luxuriated in sin.

Yet liberal Obama steps on the graves of three thousand Americans by saying, "Islam has always been part of America." And that we hold principles in common with Muslims.

Muslims love pain and sacrifice, not good feelings and high times. They like to blow innocent people up, not give them affordable housing and charity.

Islamists are the opposite of what liberals are supposed to be, and yet both are drawn to each other.

Jihadists are not poor. Liberals cannot pigeonhole them into some sort of welfare culture. They are angry not because they dont have enough food stamps. They are angry because they hate Western culture.

Jihadists specialize in hate. Our existence infuriates them. They cannot be reformed. They are a culture of anger and a marching band of death.

Mohammed was born in 570. The Muslim religion is a neophyte compared to Judaism and Christianity. Maybe it will take a couple more millennia for the Muslims to develop a conscience and a sense of proportion.
When I entered college in 1972, the '60s generation of activists had eliminated all but two requirements to graduate: one semester of a physical science and two semesters of Western civilization. Fortunately for me, the science requirement was dropped my sophomore year, leaving Western civ as the only course mandated by the school.

Even the left realized the value of studying our roots as a civilization  at least the left of 45 years ago. But the creatures who call themselves leftists today carry no such intellectual baggage. It has been drummed into their tiny brains that Western civilization  a civilization that created the modern world with all its grevious faults and stupendous successes  isn't worth examining.

So say the overwhelming majority of students at Stanford University, who voted down a proposal to require two semesters studying our roots by a 6-1 margin.

Daily Caller:

The ballot initiative was promoted by members of the schools conservative-leaning Stanford Review. If passed, it would have called for Stanford to require that all freshmen complete a two-quarter course covering the politics, history, philosophy, and culture of the Western world. Stanford once possessed a similar requirement, but eliminated it after a student campaign in the 1980s that denounced it as fostering racism, sexism, and other perfidious -isms. Supporters managed to collect 370 signatures on their petition, enough to include it as a ballot measure for Stanfords spring student government election. But it turns out Stanford has no enthusiasm for requiring the study of Western civilization. In election results released Monday, the proposal failed by an overwhelming margin, with 342 votes in favor and a whopping 1992 votes against. In contrast, over 90 percent of students voted in favor of an initiative requiring the school to administer a new campus climate survey designed to find the rate of sexual assault on campus. The school already administered such a survey in 2015, but it outraged activists by finding a sexual assault rate of just 1.9%, which they deemed far too low. The mere suggestion that Stanford require studying Western civilization had generated immense outrage among certain Stanford communities. A low-income advocacy group at the school suspended a member based on the suspicion that he wrote an anonymous piece supporting the proposal. A hostile column in The Stanford Daily warned that accepting the proposal would mean centering Stanford education on upholding white supremacy, capitalism and colonialism, and all other oppressive systems that flow from Western civilizations.

Of course, students would ostensibly be studying the creation of democracy  the irony of voting on the proposal lost on them  the slow, steady scientific progress that has created the computers they need, the industrial agriculture that feeds them, the video games and smart phones they're addicted to, and a host of other accomplishments that would require a book-length treatment to do them justice.

So what about the status of women in non-Western countries? Perhaps college-aged females in the U.S. should be given cliterectomies upon entering school. That would show how advanced societies in Africa and Asia treat women.

Or perhaps we should adopt that hugely successful economic model used by Cuba and North Korea. Everyone is perfectly equal  in abject poverty.

As for colonialism, it's been more than 50 years in most cases  60 in some  since the withdrawal of the Europeans from the colonies. How much longer are white men going to be blamed for the incompetence, the savagery, and the greed of leaders in former colonies in Africa and Asia?

Let the Stanford students wallow in their ignorance. They will be outclassed and outhustled by those who recognize what Western civilization has given us. And why its accomplishments should be celebrated.
Back in early March, University of Missouri chancellor Hank Foley wrote a "Dear Mizzou Community" letter informing students and faculties that freshman enrollment was down by more than 1,500 students, creating a budget shortfall of $32 million. The shortfall would mean job cuts and an increase in student fees.

Yesterday, the university informed students that two dorms would be shuttered in order to more efficiently use their facilities.

The school announced a 5 percent cut "to all annual recurring general revenue budgets" and an "across-the-board hiring freeze for all units on campus." The dorm closures are only the latest cost-cutting measures. The school announced the closures on its Residents' Online Access to Rooms website. The two closed dorms contained Freshmen Interest Groups, special communities for first-year students housed within the dorms, which the university said could be available in other dorms. "Due to an expected decrease in the number of students needing housing at Mizzou this year, Residential Life will not be offering space in Respect or Excellence Halls at this time," the university announced. "This is an effort to ensure we are using our halls in the most efficient manner, keeping our costs as low as possible so we can provide our students with the best possible living environments at an affordable cost." Mizzou was ground zero for the campus protests that began last fall. Students protested perceived incidents of racism and demanded the university administration sufficiently acknowledge their feelings.

Both parents and students at MU appear to be finally pushing back against the madness. In addition to fewer freshmen, some upperclassmen have left as well, putting a gaping hole in the school's budget. Perhaps eventually, this will instill a backbone in school administrators and give them an incentive to resist the almost comical demands of protesters.
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Ever since HTC released the original HTC One back in 2013, the firm has been known for focusing in on a quality camera experience for their customers. Since then, the Taiwanese name has gone back and forth with their different technologies using a DuoCamera setup in 2014s HTC One M8 and last years One M9 shipped with a standard 20-megapixel camera. Now, the UltraPixel is back with the 12-megapixel UltraPixel 2 sensor inside the new HTC 10 announced earlier today, but just what are HTC promising for avid photographers this time around?

Straight away, the UltraPixel 2 branding will need some explanation, and unlike the original HTC One, theres not too much different from say a Nexus 6P or Galaxy S7 Edge this time around. HTC uses the UltraPixel branding to denote a camera sensor thats capable of taking in more light and more detail, without worrying itself with the resolution of an image. A 12-megapixel camera might sound like a downgrade but with a full-size image being 4000 x 3000 wide or so theres still plenty of pixels to play with. The sensor size here is 1.55m pixel and this will help to create more natural images that look more like photographs and less like digital images. Add-in an aperture of f/1.8 and the HTC 10 can suck in light like few other cameras out there and its no wonder HTC is calling it the worlds first optically stabilized, larger aperture f/1.8 lens on a smartphone. Around the front, the story is much the same, but HTC is giving it a wider-angle and a 5-megapixel resolution as well as a screen flash for clear selfie shots. HTC has thrown in a Dual LED flash around the back to meet that second-generation laser autofocus that they say is now faster than ever, and altogether the hardware certainly seems to be here.

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As for software, HTC has loaded the HTC 10 with the ability to launch in just 0.6 seconds and the usual array of HTC features like Zoe and Live Makeup make a return here. Interestingly however, the 4K video recording also includes the ability to record 24-bit Hi-Res audio along with it and the 10 features the ability to record hyperlapses as well as 120fps slow-motion footage at 720p. Theres a nice listing of Video Pic here as well, which werent assuming is similar to the iPhones Live Photos and the same feature found in the new Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge. With a quick and easy to use camera interface as well, the HTC 10 and its new UltraPixel 2 setup seem set to become one of the better camera offerings this year, and well hopefully have more to share with you in a full review in the next week or so. We have plenty of the content on the HTC 10 hitting the site all time, so be sure to keep checking back, and see what makes the HTC 10 ticks you can check out the full specs here.
With it now being April, it is expected that much of the news will be filled with results from the first quarter. In fact that has already happened with a number of companies declaring their current financial stance and outlook going forward. However, when it comes to the big four carriers in the U.S., all of their details will become much clearer over the next couple of weeks with Verizon expected to kick off proceedings on April 21. Speaking of which, Evercore ISI analysts are now detailing what they expect the four carriers to announce before the end of April.

Starting with Verizon and while Evercore do expect Verizon to report a 4.6-percent decline year over year, they also make the point that thanks to their Equipment Installation Plan (EIP), Verizons Edge, they also expect Verizon to report improved churn rates, as well as better than expected margins. Overall, it seems to be a similar mixed bag for AT&T with Evercore expecting AT&T to record a dropping of 23-percent year over year for net subscriber adds, while also noting a significant increase in net postpaid adds, up from 98,000 a year ago to 300,000 for the last quarter.

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According to Evercore, T-Mobile is where the real momentum will be seen though, as they now expect the company to predict better than expected results and largely thanks to a combination of their various additional services like Binge On & Music Freedom and their aggressive pricing. As a result, Evercore are predicting T-Mobile will announce postpaid net adds in the region of 925,000. An aspect which the analysts are also expecting to continue going forward. Moving to the now fourth positioned U.S. Carrier, Sprint, and the predictions are possible the most interesting. While Evercore do expect Sprint to announce negative results for the quarter, they also comment on Sprints ability to continue gaining capital. An aspect which although not a positive one will allow the carrier to continue functioning in the near-term and avoid bankruptcy. A prime example of Sprints ability to creatively attract new capital came last week when Sprint effectively announced it will begin the selling and leaseback of its network to secure 2.2 billion in funding. Although, this is a move which has also recently been declared by other analysts as a risky one.
Today the moment of truth for HTC enthusiasts finally arrived, as the Taiwanese company took the veil off its latest flagship phone aimed to compete with the likes of Samsung Galaxy S7 and LG G5. Its called the HTC 10, and it is a successor to the HTC One lineup. Like the HTC One M8 and One M9 before it, during the official announcement the HTC 10 was also accompanied on stage by a protective case. The new case is called Ice View and replaces HTCs Dot View cases released along with HTCs previous flagship phones.

As the moniker may or may not suggest, the Ice View case for the HTC 10 features a translucent front flap allowing users to see through the cover without having to lift it off the surface of the screen. In this regard, both cases are similar in that they can provide information to users without having to be opened. However, unlike the Dot View case which featured a perforated front flap to create a pixelated preview of the smartphones screen, the Ice View case features a smooth, nearly opaque front panel, offering quick previews to notifications, a digital clock with a retro neon design, and overall, more on-screen content compared to the older cases. The translucent flap also has an HTC logo in the lower-left corner which acts as a magnetic connector and of course, all the cutouts for the headphone jack, the USB Type-C connector, the earpiece, microphone, main camera, and sensors are all where they should be.

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In addition to these great features, another neat characteristic of the Ice View case is that it allows users to capture photos without having to remove the case or the front flap. The cover is translucent and close enough to the display in order for on-screen images to be visible (or readable), and while it may be too blurry to allow for capturing macro images or for using manual camera controls, it does offer a fast way to capture a quick shot if youre in a hurry. Moreover, the HTC 10 takes advantage of new quick gesture for launching the camera, so regardless of whether the Ice View cover is fitted or not, users can always swipe down twice on the screen in order to quickly fire up to camera application.

At the moment there are no details regarding the Ice View cases release date but in the U.S. the accessory will set you back $49.99. The HTC 10 itself should hit the market by the end of the month or sometime in May at the latest, for the price of $699 unlocked. We assume that the case will be released on or around the same day as the flagship it was designed for.
Since Microsoft changed who has control of the reigns back in 2014, appointing Satya Nadella as CEO, weve seen a shift in the way that Microsoft approaches and treats Android. The companys previous CEO, Steve Ballmer, was famously against what Android and the iPhone represented, but since Nadella has been in charge weve seen the majority of Microsofts services hit Android and iOS as first class citizens. Where Android is concerned, Microsoft has been using the platform for its more experimental side through Garage Projects such as a new type of alarm clock. Now, a new type of experiment is launching on Android an elsewhere, dubbed Project Madeira.

The whole project seems to be very new, and it seems to be geared as a way of smaller businesses to manage things with a connected project management sort of style. Office 365 appears to be needed and a big focus point of Madeira, but the idea here is to get Madeira on all the different devices that a company might use  including Android smartphones and tablets. Not much is known about Project Madeira just yet, but judging from Microsofts own tagline asking users to see how easy it is to connect business processes with familiar Microsoft productivity tools to grow sales, manage finances, and streamline your operationsin the office, or on the go it seems as if this a way to bring teams together.

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The Project heavily relies on Office 365 and confusingly offers an embedded experience of Microsofts already-available business management platform. Regardless, this appears to be a nice mix of everything that Microsoft has to offer, giving teams tools to stay in touch, keep finances up-to-date and visualize data from the whole team nice and neatly. This could perhaps be viewed as a more holistic approach to competing with Google Drive, which  while free  doesnt quite offer this sort of sophistication or glanceable information instead relying on users doing much of the work themselves. Project Madeira  as we can see from the Play Store images below  appears to be a simplified approach to managing overall finances, inventory and keeping a team connected. Those looking to try out the new service can do so at the source link below to enroll in the new preview.
While were still in the 5G guessing phase in terms of what exactly will the fifth generation of wireless technologies entail, many of the largest tech and telecommunications companies on the planet are already looking to lay the groundwork for the new infrastructure that will be necessary in order for us to enter into a new era of mobile communications and start using a new standard that will allow for much higher Internet speeds. However, the largest and consequently most important relevant entities on the planet havent yet reached a consensus in regards to what will the accepted 5G standard be; hence, were still in the aforementioned guessing phase.

Well, it seems like a solution is finally on the horizon as Samsung Electronics Co. is heading the currently ongoing Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) meeting with the goal of securing the lead on global 5G standardization efforts. The meeting is taking place in the South Korean city of Busan, started yesterday and will be concluded on Friday, April 15th. Around 400 or so technology experts from over 80 telecom companies around the globe are attending it with the goal of driving the global 5G standardization efforts forward. Samsung taking the lead of this meeting is significant because 3GPP is by far the largest standardization organization in the world and despite being a private entity, its say in regards to any technology standard is always final. The organization started debating 5G technology standardization last September during a 3GPP RAN 5G workshop in Phoenix, Arizona and is expecting to complete international standards for the 5G mobile telecommunications network in June of 2017. As for Samsung specifically, the South Korean company has already started developing 5G technology in 2011 and is definitely well-acquainted with it.

And while Samsung is looking to take the global 5G standardizations reigns, the last months Senate hearing saw the FCC chairman Tom Wheeler announce that the US plans to allocate spectrum for 5G in the very near future despite the fact that no actual standards have yet been agreed to. This statement of intent seems reminiscent of what the US did in regards to 4G implementation over half a decade ago. As things stand right now, the 3GPP is expecting to complete the first standardization phase of the 5G network by June of 2018.
South Korean electronics giant, Samsung Electronics, has been known for some time as a business interested in venturing into the financial services. Samsung is the current market leader in Android smartphones but has significant interests in other electronics products plus a whole range of devices from refrigerators to ships. When Samsung joins an industry, it has every intention of being a market leader. The business already approaches the financial services with some of its current practices, such as running an upgrade service for customers wanting to buy the latest Android device and of course, the mobile payment system, Samsung Pay. In a broad sense, financial services is seen as a growing consumer industry. Samsung stressed to the groups subsidiaries the importance of asset management and fintech (financial technology) in recent meetings. Recent news reports from sources close to the business report that vice chairman Lee Jae-yong has already met with the senior management of two of South Koreas largest financial services companies and has at least a further two meetings to come before the end of the month.

This year, Lee Jae-yong has met with Han Dong-woo, the chairman of the Shinhan Financial Group. He has also met with Lee Kwang-goo, the Woori Bank Chief Executive Officer. An industry insider is quoted as saying, He is scheduled to meet with KB Financial Group chairman Yoon Jong-kyu and Hana Financial Group chairman Kim Jeong-tae before the end of this month. In addition to these local businesses and stemming from the desire to promote Samsung Pay across the world, Lee Jaw-yong has also discussed cooperation with a large number of global financial businesses such as Citi Group, Union Pay and many Chinese and North American credit card or consumer payment companies.

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Currently, it appears that Samsung Electronics are holding meetings in order to take advice from the worlds existing financial services. It is possible that these meetings are simply and only designed to help make Samsung Pay perform: this is very much a focus of the company for 2016 and brings Samsung into competition with a large number of businesses, many of which have been operating in the consumer payment industry for decades. Nevertheless, Apple started their disruption of the cell phone market with the launch of the original iPhone, which within a couple of years became one of the best sellers. It is also possible that Samsung are setting themselves up to offer additional financial products and services and are seeking partners to form alliances with. For those existing financial services businesses, it might be a case of working with Samsung today rather than competing with Samsung in a couple of years time.
Industry watchers have previously claimed that 2016 will be the year of virtual reality. High-end VR headsets such as the highly anticipated HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift have already been released, and price conscious VR enthusiasts who happen to own one of Samsungs newer flagship phones can get into the world of virtual reality through the Samsung Gear VR for roughly $100. Other mobile users who may want to give virtual reality a try can do so through Google Cardboard, but at the end of the day and regardless of which headset you use, the whole VR experience eventually boils down to the content it has to offer. For gaming enthusiasts, the VR market has quite a few interesting titles, some of which have already been released while others are set for a market launch by the end of 2016. With that being said, below you will find a list of VR games that you may not want to miss out on this year.

Starting off with the Oculus Rift, one of the headsets biggest launch titles is none other than CCP Games EVE: Valkyrie. Its a space dogfight simulator set in the EVE universe, which pits Oculus Rift players against each other in virtual space arenas. For those of you who might be looking for fantasy adventure games, Luckys Tale might fit the bill as a 3D platformer, otherwise, the atmospheric Chronos RPG is also currently available. Another Oculus title you might want to try out is Surgeon Simulator 2013, and last but not least, if youre into strategy board games, you might want to keep an eye out for Dragon Front which should be launched by the end of the second quarter.

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As far as the HTC Vive goes, some of the most interesting titles available today include Fantastic Contraption  a Flash Player puzzle game originally launched in 2008 and rereleased for iOS in 2009  and Audioshield, which is a game similar to Guitar Hero in the sense that players need to perform certain actions in accordance to the soundtrack. Last but not least, HTC Vive owners who find themselves in a creative mood should definitely consider Tilt Brush  a 3D painting tool by Google.

As for the other VR headsets, Samsung Gear VR owners might want to take VR Karts: Sprint out on a test drive. Otherwise, Temple Run VR is a great choice for fans of the endless runner genre, whereas Darknet should attract strategy / puzzle game enthusiasts. As for Google Cardboard, the iconic 3rd person shooter Shadowgun is now available in VR, along with Proton Pulse and WAA! VR arcade games.
The Royal Anguilla Police Force on Friday 8th April, 2016 charged two persons for the theft and one of possession of stolen property as investigations into the theft of lobster from Island Harbour Bay continued.

Charged with theft of lobsters were 43 yr. old Glen Richardson of Island Harbour and 18 yr. old Glendon Hughes of Welches whilst 19 yr. old Nicolas Rogers of The Forest was charged with possession of stolen property to-wit lobsters.

The trio are alleged to have removed some 300 lbs. of lobsters from lobster boxes in the Island Harbour Bay on Tuesday 5th April, 2016 valued at US $2,700.00 or EC $7, 236.00.

They were all granted bail when they appeared before the Magistrates Court on Friday with one surety each and are due back in court on Tuesday 31st May, 2016 to answer to the charges.

The RAPF would like to remind the public that:

a) The defendant are entitled to a fair trial;

b) There is a presumption of innocence until proven guilty;

c) Nothing would be stated or published which would prejudice a fair trial taking place; and

d) Section 116(g) of the Criminal Code applies and which provides for an offence in respect of any person who, while a judicial proceeding is pending, makes use of any speech or writing misrepresenting such proceeding or capable of prejudicing any person in favor of or against any parties to such proceeding, or calculated to lower the authority of any person before whom the proceeding is to be held.
The Royal Anguilla Police Force on Monday 16th May, 2016 at about 11:55pm responded to a report of an armed robbery which had occurred in Sandy Ground in the area of the well.

Initial investigation into the matter reveals that the victims who were on their way out of Sandy Ground using the Well Road after patronizing one of the business places there were robbed at gun point when they pulled off and stopped on the side of the road.

They were robbed of their personal possessions including cellular phones, credit cards, cash and documents as well as the motor vehicle they were driving. The said vehicle was recovered the said night by the police after it was abandoned and has since been forensically analyzed.

As the Police continues investigation into this matter they are appealing to members of the public who may have been in Sandy Ground area and on the Well Road on Monday 16th May, 2016 between 11:30pm and 11:55pm and may have witnessed anything suspicious or this robbery or have any information regarding this robbery to contact the Valley Police Station with such information. The telephone number is 497-2333 and asks for the Criminal Investigation Department or to speak to any Police Officer of their choice.

Additionally information can be sent via the RAPF Tips Website by logging on to www.gov.ai/911 or email AXA911@yahoo.com which are both secure websites.

ALSO from Police

30 yr. old on remand for sexual offences

The Royal Anguilla Police Force on Tuesday 17th May, 2016 arrested and charged a 30 yr. old man from Island Harbour for Unlawful Sexual Intercourse and Indecent Assault on a minor.

The alleged offender was taken before the Magistrates Court on Tuesday 17th May, 2016 where he was offered bail but he was unable to make bail and as a result he has been remanded to Her Majestys Prison until the 29th August, 2016 to answer to the charges.

The RAPF would like to remind the public that:

a) The defendant is entitled to a fair trial;

b) There is a presumption of innocence until proven guilty;

c) Nothing would be stated or published which would prejudice a fair trial taking place; and

d) Section 115(g) of the Criminal Code applies and which provides for an offence in respect of any person who, while a judicial proceeding is pending, makes use of any speech or writing misrepresenting such proceeding or capable of prejudicing any person in favor of or against any parties to such proceeding, or calculated to lower the authority of any person before whom the proceeding is to be held.
BRIDGETON, Barbados, April 11th 2016 (CDEMA)  The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) announced the project Strengthening Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Strategies and Capacities for Resilience in the Caribbean, that is supported by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), during the Disaster Risk Reduction Development Partners Meeting which took place on April 7th, 2016 in Barbados. The purpose of the project is reinforcing disaster risk reduction and creating a resilience culture in the Caribbean.

The Caribbean is region prone to different natural hazards such as earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, tsunamis and others. Most countries are Small Island Developing States (SIDS) which can be disproportionately affected by disasters due to their unique vulnerabilities. Climate change exacerbates the effects of disasters.

The recently started project will contribute to strengthening DRR monitoring capacities at national and regional levels in the Caribbean; increased knowledge and capacities for local resilience and community safety through enhanced capacities and commitment for safe schools and enhance risk-sensitive business investment.

When announcing the project, Ricardo Mena, Head of the Regional Office of the Americas of UNISDR, highlighted the importance of projects of this nature due to its contribution to the timely implementation of the Sendai Framework, applying an inclusive approach to disaster risk reduction involving key actors at regional, national and local level. He mentioned further that the harmonization of the 2014-2024 Comprehensive Disaster Management Strategy indicators and monitoring system with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction will facilitate national and regional reporting to both frameworks and is showcasing a good practice in the Americas region. This initiative is co-funded by European Commission Directorate General for Humanitarian aid and Civil Protection (ECHO).

Likewise, he made a call for all participants to promote an integrated vision where disaster risk reduction and the adaptation to climate change are components that must be tackled together in order to effectively contribute to increasing resilience in each and every community within the regions vulnerable to disasters such as the Caribbean he added.

In welcoming the prospects of this new project, Ronald H. Jackson, Executive Director of CDEMA said that the partnership on this project will directly contribute to the delivery of The Caribbean Comprehensive Disaster Management Strategy 2014-2024 which is the roadmap being utilized by CARICOM Member States towards the realization of the Safer More Resilient and Sustainable Communities. This project is in keeping with the philosophy of Comprehensive Disaster Management of engaging all sector of our society in the effort to build a culture of safety. The initiative will assist CDEMA to further its previously established programme for Safe Schools in the Caribbean and strengthen efforts to engage with the private sector on Disaster Risk Management Issues.

He further hailed the partnership between CDEMA and UNISDR as a model of how a Global Organization can successfully collaborate with a Regional or Sub-Regional Organization by finding common threads that allow the expression of shared goals and a common rallying theme of resilience. As we seek to deliver Regional Public Goods and Services to the people of the Caribbean we must seek to harmonize our efforts to ensure that the Caribbean Community is able to maximize on the benefits that can be derived from donor support, he added.

Mr. Jackson also thanked the ADA for their continued support of efforts in the Caribbean indicating that this is the third round of support provided by the ADA in their contribution to the delivery of the 2014-2024 CDM Strategy Results.

The Disaster Risk Reduction Development Partners Meetings objective was to discuss and consider collaboration possibilities among current and planned development partners interventions in the region with regard to disaster risk reduction (DRR). The Meeting brought together donors and partner agencies working in the Caribbean. This event was organized by European Union and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA).
(ANSA) - Washington DC, April 12 - Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said Tuesday he is working on a common anti-terrorism platform with the United States. This would entail sharing intelligence and biometric data in the fight against Islamist terrorism and cybercrime, he said in the US capital where he met with Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and US Attorney General Loretta Lynch. "The collaboration with the US is excellent," he said.

"We are of the idea that collaboration between the entire European Union and the US should be increased more and more".

Alfano added Italy and the US are also working on a common data-sharing platform on migrants.

"For example, digital fingerprinting has been 100% implemented in Italy," he said.


(ANSA) - Strasbourg, April 12 - European Migration and Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos on Tuesday criticised the Brenner Pass barrier that Austria is building to reinforce controls of its border with Italy. "What is happening at the border between Italy and Austria is not the right solution," Avramopoulos told the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Last week Vienna threatened to shut the Brenner Pass if migrant flows increased to "uncontrollable" levels and said asylum seeker arrivals in Italy were set to double to 300,000 this year. "We need more checks on those wanting to enter Europe," Austrian President Heinz Fischer said Monday, adding that the Brenner Pass barrier will not include a wall or barbed wire.

Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann on Tuesday defended Vienna's beefing up of controls its border with Italy at the Brenner Pass. "The management of the border at the Brenner (Pass) and the new legislative measures on the right to asylum are not just desirable, they are also necessary and just," Faymann said after a cabinet meeting. He added that doing nothing and not putting limits of the people arriving was "out of the question". The chancellor added: "I take the responsibility".

octors Without Borders (MSF) President Loris De Filippi told a press conference in Rome Tuesday, meanwhile, that during clashes at the Idomeni camp on the Greece-Macedonia border two days ago police shot tear gas and rubber bullets "at kids' height". "In the clashes," he said, "at least 200 people were injured by tear gas and another 37 by rubber bullets shot not at adult's height, but at children's height. At least three children were wounded by these projectiles," he said. "It is an aberrant situation, created by Europe and not resolved by Europe". He said it would be a "disaster" there without international organisations' help.


(ANSA) - Berlin, April 12 - Italy is a "close and trusted friend" and a "reliable partner" of Germany, German President Joachim Gauck said Tuesday in an exclusive interview with ANSA.

"As a founding member of the European Communities and as one of the leading member states of the European Union, your country plays an eminent political and strategic role in many areas," Gauck said.

"I am referring to policies on refugees, to policies in the Balkans and also to relations between the Union and its North African neighbours," he continued. Gauck said there were no "axes" (alliances) within the EU but a community of States with equal status.

He said austerity was not being imposed by Germany while praising Italy's structural reforms.

He called for a "common fight" against various types of populism.

Gauck said "there cannot be a strong Europe if Germany is weak".


(ANSA) - Rome, April 12 - Italy presented six high-tech projects designed to combat climate change at the United Nations on Tuesday. Italy's National Agency for New Technologies (ENEA) has come up with Venus Swarms, or groups of submarine robots capable of communicating with each other wirelessly via a combination of sounds and lights and of issuing tsunami alerts as they monitor sea temperatures, currents, coastal erosion, and more. The robot swarms would also be able to communicate with satellites via a surface transponder.

The projects are designed to help countries most threatened by rising global temperatures were presented to delegates from 120 countries. Other companies submitting projects include ENEL Green Power, ENI energy giant, and Telespazio-Finmeccanica.

The presentation organized by Italy's Permanent Representation to the UN comes ahead of the signing on April 22 of an international climate accord reached at last year's COP21 Paris conference.


(ANSA) - Strasbourg, April 12 - Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has said that it may be possible to get around the Constitutional obstacles that prevent the authorities in Cairo handing over the telephone records requested by Rome prosecutors for the investigation into the murder of Italian researcher Giulio Regeni. However, Shoukry also told a press conference after a Egyptian-Burundi ministerial meeting that the Regeni probe in Cairo may last for many more months.

Italian MEP Gianni Pittella, leader of the EP Socialists and Democrats (S&D) caucus, on Tuesday called on the European Union to reconsider its relations with Egypt in the light of the murder in Cairo of Italian researcher Giulio Regeni. "We call on the European Commission to reconsider its relations with Egypt, like Italy is rightly doing," Pittella said. Italy's ambassador to Cairo Maurizio Massari left Egypt on Sunday, two days after the government said it was recalling him for consultations following what is described as a lack of cooperation in the probe on the murder case. Regeni, a 28-year-old Cambridge doctoral student researching Egyptian trade unions, was found in a ditch outside Cairo on February 3 after disappearing on January 25, the heavily policed fifth anniversary of the uprising that ousted former strongman Hosni Mubarak. Egypt has denied the involvement of security forces in the killing.

Britain on Tuesday took its first formal step against Egypt in the row with Italy over io Regeni, calling for a "complete and transparent" probe, The Times reported. The Foreign Office acted after a petition circulated by British academic circles reached some 10,000 signatures. Italy recalled its ambassador after a Rome summit with Egyptian investigators ended in failure. Rome is demanding phone records and other material from Egypt. Cairo has furnished a series of explanations for Regeni's death which have spurred incredulity in Rome.


(ANSA) - Tehran, April 12 - Premier Matteo Renzi said Tuesday that while Italy is Austria's friend, it demands respect for EU rules.

His remarks came after Austria began building a 250-meter barrier across road links with Italy at the Brenner Pass border crossing in the Alps as a way to keep asylum seekers out.

Speaking during a mission to Iran with an Italian business delegation, Renzi said he has asked Italy's EU representative, undersecretary Carlo Calenda, "to verify all the regulations at the European level to assess the correctness of the things that Austria is doing". He said "there is friendship with Austria but we demand EU rules be respected". Austria is erecting the fence in light of what it says will be an estimated doubling of asylum seeker arrivals, to 300,000, across the Mediterranean to Italy this year. Also on Tuesday, Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said Austria's decision to erect the barrier is "unexplainable and unjustifiable". Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner said Italy's "agitation" over the Brenner Pass barrier is "incomprehensible". Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann defended the move as "desirable, necessary and just" and that doing nothing was "out of the question". He also said he would take full responsibility for the decision.

Austria came under fire earlier in the day from EU officials and leading human rights organizations. "What is happening at the border between Italy and Austria is not the right solution," EU Migration and Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos told the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Amnesty International Italy said Austria's move will create a bottleneck and a humanitarian crisis such as the one taking place at the border between Greece and Macedonia, where thousands of refugees from Syria and other war zones have languished in limbo in a makeshift camp at Idomeni for months. "Austria has decided to raise... an obstacle that will create a situation similar to Idomeni," Amnesty International Italy Director Gianni Rufini said. "We will find ourselves with improvised camps and a humanitarian crisis...that this should happen today on European soil is disappointing and depressing". Humanitarian group Doctors without Borders (MSF) said border police at Idomeni have injured 200 people with tear gas and another 37 with rubber bullets, which were being shot "at children's height". "At least three children were wounded by these projectiles," Doctors Without Borders (MSF) President Loris De Filippi told a press conference in Rome. "It is an aberrant situation, created by Europe and left unsolved by Europe".


(ANSA) - Strasbourg, April 12 - Austria came under fire Tuesday as EU officials and leading human rights organizations slammed its decision to build a barrier on its side of the Brenner Pass on the border with Italy to keep asylum seekers out.

"What is happening at the border between Italy and Austria is not the right solution," EU Migration and Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos told the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Vienna last week threatened to shut down its side of the Brenner Pass if migrant flows increased to "uncontrollable" levels, saying asylum seeker arrivals in Italy were set to double to 300,000 this year. "We need more checks on those wanting to enter Europe," Austrian President Heinz Fischer said Monday, adding that the Brenner Pass barrier will not include a wall or barbed wire.

Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann on Tuesday defended the move to beef up border controls as "desirable, necessary and just".

He added that doing nothing and not putting limits of the people arriving was "out of the question". The chancellor added: "I take the responsibility".

Also on Tuesday, Amnesty International Italy said Austria's move will create a bottleneck and a humanitarian crisis such as the one taking place at the Greece-Macedonia border, where thousands of refugees from Syria and other war zones have languished in limbo in a makeshift camp at Idomeni for months. "Austria has decided to raise... an obstacle that will create a situation similar to Idomeni," Amnesty International Italy Director Gianni Rufini said. "We will find ourselves with improvised camps and a humanitarian crisis...that this should happen today on European soil is disappointing and depressing". Humanitarian group Doctors without Borders (MSF) said border police at Idomeni have injured 200 people with tear gas and another 37 with rubber bullets, which were being shot "at children's height".

"At least three children were wounded by these projectiles," Doctors Without Borders (MSF) President Loris De Filippi told a press conference in Rome.

"It is an aberrant situation, created by Europe and left unsolved by Europe".


(supersedes previous)(ANSA) - Rome, April 11 - Democracy doesn't mean obstructionism, Premier Matteo Renzi told the Lower House on Monday ahead of a final vote on his constitutional reform bill.

"Democracy doesn't mean obstructionism or preventing other from voting or running away from the chamber," he said.

"Democracy is debate followed by free expression through voting. Saying democracy is being harmed here means being at odds with reality and thinking the Italian people can't grasp what is going on. Running away from debate indicates a lack of arguments".

The premier pointed out a total of 83,722,708 amendments have been filed to his constitutional reform bill while it was debated in 173 sessions of parliament. "Now I ask you, who is did the manipulating here - those who were open to debating the bill in all venues... or those who brought 83 million amendments with the sole purpose of not debating the points of convergence on their merit?" he asked.

Opposition lawmakers who walked out on him today won't hold on to their seats for long, the center-left premier warned.

"When election time comes around they will be left out of parliament, which I don't think will be a problem for the vast majority of voters," he said.

Under Italian law, any changes to the Constitution must be approved by popular referendum. Renzi's reform would, among other things, reduce the Senate from its current 300 members to an assembly of 100 regional officials with limited lawmaking powers in a bid to break the gridlock Italian politics is famous for. Renzi has said in the past he is prepared to quit if the referendum nixes his reform. Italian Left (SI), a splinter of Renzi's Democratic Party (PD), joined the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) and the rightwing, anti-immigrant Northern League in walking out during the premier's speech. The three opposition parties earlier called for a postponement of the final vote on the government's reform bill until after a no-confidence vote scheduled April 19. The Renzi government faces the no-confidence vote over an oil probe that has rocked the executive and caused Federica Guidi to resign as industry minister earlier this month.


(ANSA) - Tehran, April 12 - Premier Matteo Renzi said after the passage of a landmark Constitutional reform bill ending the Senate's equal status to the House Tuesday that it was "an historic day for Italy".

"Politics has shown it is credible and serious. Now we ask for the referendum," he said during a mission to Iran after the Lower House gave its definitive OK to the bill reforming Italy's unwieldy and costly political machinery.

"Politics has shown that it (can) reform itself and democracy wins," Renzi said. The bill passed by 361 votes to 7 after the oppositions boycotted the vote.

If confirmed by a referendum in October, the new law will abolish the Senate in its present form, thus ending Italy's unusual system of 'perfect bicameralism'.

The premier has staked his political future on the success of that referendum, saying he is prepared to quit if the popular vote nixes his reform.

Under Italian law, any changes to the Constitution must be approved by popular referendum. Reform Minister Maria Elena Boschi also hailed passage of the bill. "Let's enjoy the moment, it's a historic result," she said.

Renzi's reform would, among other things, reduce the Senate from its current 300 members to an assembly of 100 regional officials with limited lawmaking powers in a bid to break the gridlock Italian politics is famous for.


(ANSA) - Tehran, April 12 - Premier Matteo Renzi arrived in the Iranian capital on Tuesday for the first day of a two-day visit aimed at reinforcing economic and political ties between the two countries.

The Italian leader kicked off the visit by meeting Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

The Iranian head said he hoped Italy would return to being the country's leading trade partner in Europe now that nuclear-related sanctions have been lifted. "We have signed 36 memoranda of understanding and we want them to become operative," Rouhani added after a bilateral meeting with Renzi. The Italian premier's agenda also includes afternoon meetings with the chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council Hashemi Rafsanjani and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. On Wednesday Renzi is scheduled to sign a series of agreements and memoranda following a business forum at the chamber of commerce in Tehran, to be attended by the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

His visit comes on the heels of Rouhani's historic visit to Italy in January following the lifting of sanctions related to last year's historic nuclear deal.

An Italian delegation of 197 enterprises led by Transport and Infrastructure Minister Graziano Delrio and Agriculture Minister Maurizio Martina also travelled to the majority Shia Muslim country in February. Italy is at the head of the line of countries now clamouring to do business with Iran, which aims to attract between 30 and 50 billion dollars of foreign investment each year, according to SACE sources. Following the lifting of sanctions early this year Italian exports to Iran could increase by nearly three billion euros over the next four years. Over and above international mirth over the decision to cover nude statues for Rouhani at the Campidoglio in Rome his January visit reportedly went in this direction, resulting in major contracts and bilateral agreements particullarly in the minerals, energy and infrastructure sectors as well as a joint commitment to fighting Islamic State. In addition to oil and gas, Italian companies are also looking to branch out into the transport sector (trains, aeroplanes and cars, given the need to renew a very old car fleet of 14 million vehicles). Adequate housing will also be needed to accommodate a marked growth in population - there are currently 77 million Iranians but the number is expected to rise to 100 million by 2050 - with significant room for development forecast in the construction materials and machinery sectors. Meanwhile the government has recently approved a bill ratifying a double-taxation agreement and anti-evasion measures between Italy and Iran.


(By Stefania Fumo).

(ANSA) - Tehran, April 12 - Premier Matteo Renzi arrived in the Iranian capital on Tuesday for the first day of a two-day visit to promote business ties between the two countries. He came with a delegation of 147 business executives from 55 Italian firms.

He met earlier in the day with Iranian President Hassan Rohani and then with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - an unusual recognition for a Western leader.

Rohani said he hoped Italy would return to being the country's leading trade partner in Europe now that nuclear-related sanctions have been lifted. "We have signed 36 memoranda of understanding and we want them to become operative," Rouhani said. Renzi's follows on Rouhani's historic visit to Italy in January following the lifting of sanctions related to last year's historic nuclear deal. That visit resulted in the signing of major contracts and bilateral agreements in the minerals, energy and infrastructure sectors as well as a joint commitment to fighting the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group. Italy is at the head of the line of countries now clamouring to do business with Iran, which reportedly aims to attract between $30 and 50 billion in foreign investment a year, while Italian exports to Iran could reportedly increase by nearly three billion euros over the next four years. In addition to oil and gas, Italian companies are also looking to branch out into the transport sector. Adequate housing will also be needed to accommodate a marked growth in population - there are currently 77 million Iranians but the number is expected to rise to 100 million by 2050 - with significant room for development forecast in the construction materials and machinery sectors. Meanwhile the government has recently approved a bill ratifying a double-taxation agreement and anti-evasion measures between Italy and Iran. Among the agreements signed Tuesday were deals to exchange university researchers and doctoral students over the next three years, for joint research on experimental physics, and for the sharing of new technology applications in cultural restorations.

As well, State-controlled rail company Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) on signed a deal with Tehran to build two high-speed rail lines from Tehran to Hamedan and Qom worth some three billion euros.


Aid to Libya on C-130 says Italian FM Gentiloni Strengthen ties with Italy says Libyan Premier-designate Sarraj

(ANSAmed) - TRIPOLI, APRIL 12 - Italy delivered humanitarian aid to Libya on a C-130 transport plane Tuesday, Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said in Tripoli, stressing the aid included medical kits for Tripoli hospital and that further aid would soon be destined for Benghazi. Italy has vowed to help the Tripoli government ease a humanitarian crisis caused by widespread fighting among militias and by the Islamic State (ISIS) militant group.



Libya Premier-Designate Fayez al-Sarraj on Tuesday thanked Gentiloni for his visit and stressed the importance of strengthening ties with Italy. "With Italy there is a very deeply rooted relationship which we intend to strengthen" as regards fighting illegal immigration and terrorism," he said. Gentiloni's visit is the highest-level visit by any official since the new national-unity government was set up. Italy is set to take a prominent role in helping Libya fight Islamic State (ISIS) militants and try to stem migrant and refugee flows from the north African country. (ANSAmed).




(By Denis Greenan).



ROME - Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni on Tuesday met Libyan Premier-designate Fayez al-Sarraj in Tripoli and said Libya must take the lead in fighting Islamic State (ISIS) militants.



Also Tuesday, Gentiloni was set to meet ambassador to Egypt Maurizio Massari, recalled from Cairo last week after the breakdown of judicial cooperation on Giulio Regeni's murder, to discuss fresh measures to up the pressure on Egypt to collaborate in a probe into the Cambridge doctoral researcher's torture and death. Gentiloni said on a visit to Tripoli that "the Libyans and the national unity government must lead the fight against ISIS in the country". He said Italy, and the international community, was ready to cooperate and give its contribution but the fight against terrorism was up to the Libyans before anybody else.



Italy has stressed that, if requested by the Libyan government, it is ready to play a role in helping Libya fight ISIS militants, who have gained footholds at several places along the Libyan coast.



Italy delivered humanitarian aid to Libya on a C-130 transport plane Tuesday, Gentiloni said, stressing the aid included medical kits for Tripoli hospital and that further aid would soon be destined for Benghazi. Italy has vowed to help the Tripoli government ease a humanitarian crisis caused by widespread fighting among militias and by ISIS.



Gentiloni was the first senior official of a foreign government to visit the Libyan capital after the installation of the presidential council two weeks ago for a United Nations-backed government of national unity.



Sarraj thanked Gentiloni for his visit and stressed the importance of strengthening ties with Italy. "With Italy there is a very deeply rooted relationship which we intend to strengthen" as regards fighting illegal immigration and terrorism," he said.



Meanwhile international aid groups including Amnesty International and Doctors Without Borders slammed a fence Austria is building at the Brenner Pass to keep an expected wave of migrants from Italy out.



The "commensurate" measures that Italy wants to adopt to pressure Egypt over the Regeni case were set to be evaluated during a meeting late Tuesday between Gentiloni and Ambassador to Cairo Maurizio Massari, who has returned to Rome for consultations after the failure of Egyptian investigations.



The head of Italian diplomacy has no intention of setting off "global wars" but the line of the government is to demand the truth from Cairo. Economic forms of retaliation are currently off the table because they are viewed as counterproductive and useless, especially if only at the bilateral level. A suspension of cultural agreements is being considered, and a warning for Italian researchers and students that are in Egypt or are planning to go there.
NAPLES - A shared space, not a place of tolerance but of dialogue and reciprocal enrichment starting from differences and not similarities.



This is the new plan for the Mediterranean proposed by three leaders of the main monotheistic religions that met in Naples on Tuesday: the city's Chief Rabbi Umberto Piperno, Imam Abd al-Ghafur Masotti, who is in charge of interreligious dialogue for the Islamic religious community COREIS, and Monsignor Lucio Sembrano from the Pontifical Council of Interreligious Dialogue.



They held a meeting at the Pontifical Theological Department of southern Italy, on the theme "Space for the other in one's own religious tradition".



The theme of space is faced head-on by Piperno, referring to the Arab-Israeli conflict. "You cannot limit space with respect to God, who is everywhere. But space concerns the prototype of the conflict, like in the Bible, in which Cain and Abel fight against each other, based on some interpretations, for a space: they find themselves in a field, which can be a sacred place of religion, of sacredness. And today many conflicts come about because one group considers itself the master of an area the place of one's own religion," he said.



And if the problem is space, then it is clear that the Mediterranean is a land of conflict, even if it has not always been this way, as Imam Abd al-Ghafur Masotti remembered: "The axiom of Huntington's Clash of Civilisations is that, seeing that there have been 14 centuries of fighting between Islam and the West, this fight will continue forever. This is not the case. In fact, between the two crusades there was a very bright moment for both religions, just think of Alberto Magno and the big Muslim mystics. Contrast is needed, because an ideal enemy is needed: for communists it was the bourgeoisie, for Nazis it was Jews. Now the ideal enemy is Islam and to do this one says that the Koran contains words of hate. The truth is that those who kill do not know the Koran and when they shout 'Allah Akbar' they are blaspheming," he said.



He said in fact that the Koran mentions the need for religious diversity. "In the Koran, you read that if God had wanted to, he would have made just one community. Compete in good deeds, one day you will all return to him. For this reason, dialogue is useful, not just starting from the points we have in common, but above all with the differences, the ones that enrich us," he said.



Those who sow hatred will not stop dialogue "that now for 50 years has been institutionalised by the church with the 'Nostra aetate' document of the Vatican Council II and that will go ahead despite these difficult times," Monsignor Sembrano explained. "Dialogue is in a developing phase and can only grow, and in fact now the diocese are forming the offices for interreligious dialogue: the Church is going against the tide, showing the way is not that of building fences. Now it would be desirable that in theological departments, where community spiritual guides are being prepared, there was more attention paid to dialogue, dedicating it a space in academic programmes," Sembrano said.
STRASBOURG - The European Union has accepted 74 Syrian refugees from Turkey and has sent back 300, based on the deal between the EU and Ankara, migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said in Strasbourg, observing that "carrying out the agreement remains a challenge".



Meanwhile Ankara has said that 330,000 Syrians are going to school in Turkey. "At the moment Turkey is hosting 830,000 Syrians of school age and guaranteeing formal education for 330,000 of them," Turkish Education Minister Nabi Avci said, adding that the objective was to bring another 120,000 to school by the end of the year.



Since the agreement came into force, the number of migrants reaching the islands in the Aegean Sea has declined. According to Greek media, in the last 24 hours, the total number is 80, which does not include any Syrians. About 75 people reached Lesbos, but they are mainly from Pakistan or North Africa. Four people arrived on the island of Chios, while one person reached Samos. The camp in Moria (Lesbos), is hosting 3,577 people.



There are 3,577 more in the centre of Chios and Samos is welcoming 465 people. During clashes at the Idomeni camp on the Greece-Macedonia border two days ago police shot tear gas and rubber bullets "at kids' height", Doctors without Borders (MSF) President Loris De Filippi told a press conference in Rome Tuesday. "In the clashes," he said, "at least 200 people were injured by tear gas and another 37 by rubber bullets shot not at adult's height, but at children's height. At least three children were wounded by these projectiles," he said.(ANSAmed).
Yemen: TV: 5 killed by suicide bomb in Aden, Al Qaeda claims Explosion among youth enrolling for army

(ANSAmed) - BEIRUT, APRIL 12- Five people died on Tuesday in Aden, in the south of Yemen, when a suicide bomber blew himself up near to a stadium where youths were queuing to enroll in the army. The attack has been claimed by Al Qaeda, according to Al-Jazeera TV.



The attack happened a day after a UN-backed ceasefire came into force in the country. Negotiations are planned for April 18 in Kuwait to find a solution for the civil war, which sees the forces of President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi fighting against the Houthi Shia rebels, supported by Iran, and troops loyal to deposed President Ali Abdullah Saleh. (ANSAmed).




TRIPOLI - Italy delivered humanitarian aid to Libya on a C-130 transport plane Tuesday, Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said in Tripoli, stressing the aid included medical kits for Tripoli hospital and that further aid would soon be destined for Benghazi. Italy has vowed to help the Tripoli government ease a humanitarian crisis caused by widespread fighting among militias and by the Islamic State (ISIS) militant group.



Libyan Premier-Designate Fayez al-Sarraj on Tuesday thanked Gentiloni for his visit and stressed the importance of strengthening ties with Italy. "With Italy there is a very deeply rooted relationship which we intend to strengthen" as regards fighting illegal immigration and terrorism," he said. Gentiloni's visit is the highest-level visit by any official since the new national-unity government was set up. Italy is set to take a prominent role in helping Libya fight Islamic State (ISIS) militants and try to stem migrant and refugee flows from the north African country.
Balkans: Vucic in Mostar for talks over Balkans tension Serb premier with regional leaders: 'Problems must be resolved'

(ANSAmed) - BELGRADE, APRIL 12- The complicated situation in the Balkans, with the new tensions that have emerged recently between Belgrade, Zagreb and Sarajevo, were at the centre of discussions that Serbian Premier Aleksander Vucic held on Tuesday in Mostar, in the south of Bosnia-Herzegovina, where other regional leaders are also taking part in the 19th International Economic Fair.



Alongside themes of economic and commercial collaboration, the political question will have the upper hand, particularly after the last two sentences from the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in the Hague, against Radovan Karadzic (sentenced to 40 years) and Vojislav Seselj (acquitted), and Croatia's blocking of Serbia's EU accession negotiations.



Vucic met two members of the tripartite presidency of Bosnia- the Croat Dragan Covic and the Serb Mladen Ivanic. He then had a meeting with the current chair of the presidency, the Bosnian Muslim Bakir Izetbegovic. Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia Herzegovina all have the duty to guarantee peace and stability in the region for all its citizens, said Vucic. Every time that moments of crisis and worry emerge, that spreads out to the entire region, he observed. "Problems should be resolved and not put under the carpet," the Serbian Premier said. He is expected to also meet Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic during the day. Other attendants in Mostar include Montenegro President Filip Vujanovic and Turkish Deputy Premier Numan Kurtulmus (Turkey is partner country this year).



ANSAmed.




Gentiloni meets Sarraj, says Libyans must lead agst ISIS Minister set to meet Cairo ambassador to discuss Regeni measures

(By Denis Greenan).



(ANSAmed) - ROME, APRIL 12 - Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni on Tuesday met Libyan Premier-designate Fayez al-Sarraj in Tripoli and said Libya must take the lead in fighting Islamic State (ISIS) militants.



Also Tuesday, Gentiloni was set to meet ambassador to Egypt Maurizio Massari, recalled from Cairo last week after the breakdown of judicial cooperation on Giulio Regeni's murder, to discuss fresh measures to up the pressure on Egypt to collaborate in a probe into the Cambridge doctoral researcher's torture and death. Gentiloni said on a visit to Tripoli that "the Libyans and the national unity government must lead the fight against ISIS in the country". He said Italy, and the international community, was ready to cooperate and give its contribution but the fight against terrorism was up to the Libyans before anybody else.



Italy has stressed that, if requested by the Libyan government, it is ready to play a role in helping Libya fight ISIS militants, who have gained footholds at several places along the Libyan coast.



Italy delivered humanitarian aid to Libya on a C-130 transport plane Tuesday, Gentiloni said, stressing the aid included medical kits for Tripoli hospital and that further aid would soon be destined for Benghazi. Italy has vowed to help the Tripoli government ease a humanitarian crisis caused by widespread fighting among militias and by ISIS.



Gentiloni was the first senior official of a foreign government to visit the Libyan capital after the installation of the presidential council two weeks ago for a United Nations-backed government of national unity.



Sarraj thanked Gentiloni for his visit and stressed the importance of strengthening ties with Italy. "With Italy there is a very deeply rooted relationship which we intend to strengthen" as regards fighting illegal immigration and terrorism," he said.



Meanwhile international aid groups including Amnesty International and Doctors Without Borders slammed a fence Austria is building at the Brenner Pass to keep an expected wave of migrants from Italy out.



The "commensurate" measures that Italy wants to adopt to pressure Egypt over the Regeni case were set to be evaluated during a meeting late Tuesday between Gentiloni and Ambassador to Cairo Maurizio Massari, who has returned to Rome for consultations after the failure of Egyptian investigations.



The head of Italian diplomacy has no intention of setting off "global wars" but the line of the government is to demand the truth from Cairo. Economic forms of retaliation are currently off the table because they are viewed as counterproductive and useless, especially if only at the bilateral level. A suspension of cultural agreements is being considered, and a warning for Italian researchers and students that are in Egypt or are planning to go there. (ANSAmed).




Regeni: Gentiloni to see Massari. Sawiris in Rome Magnate to Foreign committee head, Egyptians shocked by crime

(ANSAmed), ROME/CAIRO, APRIL 12 - The "commensurate" measures that Italy wants to adopt to pressure Egypt over the Giulio Regeni case will be evaluated during a meeting on Tuesday between Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni and Ambassador to Cairo Maurizio Massari, who has returned to Rome for consultations after the failure of Egyptian investigations.



The head of Italian diplomacy has no intention of setting "global wars" but the line of the government is to demand the truth from Cairo. Economic forms of retaliation are currently off the table because they are viewed as counterproductive and useless, especially if only at the bilateral level. A suspension of cultural agreements is being considered, and a warning for Italian researchers and students that are in Egypt or are planning to go there.



Egyptian opposition tycoon Naguib Sawiris arrived in Rome on Monday. He met the president of the foreign affairs committee of the lower house, Fabrizio Cicchitto. The president of telecommunications group Orascom arrived with a delegation of the party he created, described as "the party of free Egyptians". According to a statement, the party has "reaffirmed the strategic importance of relations between Italy and Egypt and underlined that the Egyptian people are also shocked" by the crime involving the young Italian researcher. "It's essential that Egyptian authorities shed real light on what happened so that the truth can finally come out," the statement reads. Cicchitto echoed the call, reaffirming "both the historical friendship between Italy and Egypt as well as the full awareness of the Italian government and in large part the parliamentary groups of the majority and the opposition on the strategic importance that Egypt has".



Sawiris is an adversary of President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, who is already facing international criticism related to issues such as human rights. His party, which started with the anti-Mubarak revolution, has 41 of the 567 seats in the new Egyptian parliament. Though he supported the election of Sisi in 2014, he is now considered in opposition. On Thursday he blasted the millions wasted by Egypt's administration. He also said Italy is 100% right about the Regeni case, in comments published by the Affaritaliani website.



Sawaris' visit comes as Rome's public prosecutor confirms that it will be sending a new request to Egypt this week for access to telephone conversations that Cairo is so far refusing to allow for reasons of privacy. In Egypt, the country's two main government newspapers diverge on the case, possibly signalling a divide in its administration. A noted commentator in the Al Ahram has criticised investigators of the case, while rival paper Al-Akhbar has said that the torturing to death of the young researcher is a "crime carried out by schemers that want to damage Italian-Egyptian relations". (ANSAmed).




Asia Pacific is home to almost 3 billion people and represents a majority of the worldwide gross domestic product. For APEC, mental wellness is of critical importance.  Dr. Alan Bollard

Over 450 million people worldwide currently suffer from mental or neurological disorders while one in four individuals is affected at some point in his or her life. This growing challenge is felt by families and friends in homes, teachers and students in schools, and colleagues in workplaces. Economically, direct and indirect impacts of mental illness are expected to rise from US$2.5 trillion in 2010 to US$6 trillion in 2030, accounting for half of the global economic cost of all chronic diseases.

This week, global efforts to address this challenge are put into the spotlight as APEC Executive Director Alan Bollard joins World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and World Health Organization Director-General Margaret Chan at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington DC, USA, to call for making mental wellness a global development priority.

Asia-Pacific is home to almost 3 billion people and represents a majority of the worldwide gross domestic product, said Dr. Bollard. Mental wellness is of critical importance to APEC, which is why the APEC Roadmap to Promote Mental Wellness in a Healthy Asia Pacific seeks overall health, social and economic participation, workplace productivity, and sustainable economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region, he said.





In November 2014, APEC Economic Leaders recognized the importance of mental well-being. Less than two years later, a key initiative called the APEC Digital Hub is under development. The hub is a digital portal of best and innovative practices to prevent and treat mental illness, as well as recovery strategies.

APEC is making it clear that steps can be taken by governments and all organizations to stem the rising impact of mental illness, says Dr. Maureen Goodenow, planning group chair of the APEC Life Sciences Innovation Forum.

According to Goodenow, APEC has embarked on a multi-year effort to strengthen mental health by convening employers, practitioners, academic experts and governments to implement best practices that address challenges in the work place, communities, and vulnerable populations. For the Asia Pacific region, eliminating social stigma is a top priority.

We will continue to focus attention on the common priority areas expressed by member economies and leading institutions through strategic needs assessment, she explains.

The strategic needs assessment will inform the development of new partnerships and projects, funded and promoted through a web-based solution that provides governments with a secure platform for communications with each other as well as with academic and private sector experts.

Unprecedented

The APEC Digital Hub will serve as the forums focal point in advancing these goals and will aid in virtual and onsite training.

Never before has the Asia-Pacific set forth a regional platform to facilitate inter-governmental and public-private collaboration to strengthen mental health across such diverse economies, said Dr. Raymond Lam, executive director of the APEC Digital Hub. It is truly unprecedented.

Established at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, the hubs host institution is managed by a consortium of partners. This consortium includes the Mood Disorders Society of Canada and University of Alberta.

We are very proud to serve as the host institution for the hub, Lam continues. Preparations are well underway for its unveiling this year.

This is a terrific step forward in Canadian leadership with APEC to address one the greatest challenges confronting the Asia-Pacific, says Phil Upshall, executive director of the Mood Disorders Society of Canada. We have a historic opportunity to share our expertise, help people across the region, and benefit from the facilitation of international partnerships.

A springboard for intergovernmental and public-private collaboration

While several regional and global academic networks are in place to advance collaboration in mental health policy and research, the APEC Digital Hub will serve as the Asia-Pacific regions springboard for intergovernmental and public-private collaboration. To-date, over 100 government agencies, industry and academic organizations are committed to the effort.

With support through our Healthy Minds Program, we are proud to serve as a partner in the launch of the hub, says Kris Sterkens, company group chair of Janssen Asia-Pacific. The grand challenge of reducing the adverse impact of mental illness will require open and consistent collaboration among all stakeholders. No single organization or network can do it alone.

The Philippines convened the 2015 APEC Roundtable on Mental Health to advance the Hubs selection and priorities and will also serve as a strategic partner.

The Philippines leveraged its 2015 APEC host year to elevate mental health as a domestic priority, says Dr. Beverly Azucena, officer-in-charge of the Philippines National Center for Mental Health. With the Philippine Department of Health, the center is thrilled to partner with the APEC Digital Hub to ensure continued progress in our economy, as well as to ensure every APEC member can leverage the platform to prioritize mental health.





For more information:

Ma. Lizbeth Barona-Edra








It turns out that there is an objective, evident problem. Lets say that there are people who cannot afford basic utilities, such as water and gas, so these are cut off. It turns out that someone comes up with a solution. Lets say that the Catalan government passes a bill which prevents distribution companies from cutting off basic services to people in need who can prove that they are struggling to pay their bills. Lets say that someone does not deny that the problem exists, but demands that this solution be put on hold. Lets say that the Spanish government files a complaint against the Catalan bill with Spains Constitutional Court so that it is suspended.

Despite admitting that there is a problem, they wish to prevent the solution. But they do not argue that it is a bad one or that they have come up with a better fix, but that the fix is coming from someone without authority. The Spanish government believe that it is only up to them to solve the issue. But they fail to propose anything, they merely strike down what others are trying to do.

They do not say: since it is up to me, I will fix it. Rather, they say: since it is up to me, I wont let others fix it. And they do nothing. It is best to keep having the problem than to allow someone who is not meant to solve it take care of it.

If you tell it to a Martian, theyll wont believe their ears. They might ask: this thing, politics, did you come up with it in order to solve problems or to create them?
BarcelonaCatalonias police force, the Mossos dEsquadra, is more visible than ever. In the streets and busy areas, many officers can be seen sporting bullet-proof vests and carrying long firearms. Catalonia has stood at level 4 on the anti-terror alert scale since January 2015, but the Brussels attacks have prompted police to be even more alert. More patrols and greater vigilance are not the only ways to fight terrorism. Security in Catalonia is being tightened in two further ways: through police units tasked with probing possible Jihadi cells and by taking action inside prisons.

First, Catalonias Mossos aim to be an integral police force, one able to handle any challenge. Second, Catalonias Ministry of Justice is readying Catalan prisons to prevent, spot and respond to Islamist radicalisation. These are the two ways in which Catalonia is consolidating its own anti-terrorist apparatus, independent from Spains but cooperating closely with Madrid.

For some time now, the Mossos have been looking to strengthen their foreign information service, which is in charge of analysing and investigating (spying, in plain English) security threats coming from abroad. Despite being called foreign, this is the unit that also combats Jihadism, even when the potential extremists are living in Catalonia. To begin with, officers from the home information service which handles threats within Catalonia joined the foreign service, but it was not enough. The next step would have been to create new vacancies, but the entrance exams never seem to materialise and the investigation of Islamic extremism needs the additional resources now.

For that reason, a third avenue has opened up: shifting officers from the forces investigation units to the foreign information service. Police sources put the figure at 30 to 60 officers, but it is not a definitive number and the conditions of the move have not been laid out. It is complex because of red tape some officers are assigned to permanent posts and they are more difficult to move around, incentives must be offered to encourage applicants and the effectiveness of investigation units must not be hindered. If too many officers were transferred from certain areas, units that deal with homicide, organised crime and robbery might suffer. Having said that, investigative officers are prime candidates to join the information service because they have experience with surveillance, wire taps and combing through social networks.

According to Spains Cadena SER, Antoni Rodriguez the current chief of the central area for organised crime is due to join and lead the foreign information service. Even though his transfer is a done thing, this newspaper has learned that last Friday Rodriguez was still at his office in the organised crime unit.

Prison inmates and radicalisation

In a recent interview for this newspaper a few days ago, Catalan Minister for Justice Carles Mundo stated that if we had a jihadi convict, we would know how to deal with him. Ministry sources claim that they are ready to handle jihadi inmates but, so far, Spains Audiencia Nacional has always sent them to prisons run by Spains national police. They might prove to be a valuable source of information to fight terror and the State prefers to keep them under its own watch (i.e. not in Catalonia).

Nevertheless, the Catalan ministry is adapting the existing programmes for violent inmates to deal with any who have become Islamic extremists, too. Belgium, Denmark and France have seen instances where actual terrorists had become radicals while in prison. As far as we know, this has not happened in Catalonia yet. No radical jihadis have been detained in Catalonias prisons.

Of course, there is no guarantee that this will not happen in the future: those who end up in prison have already broken the law, are often in a vulnerable position and are prime candidates for brainwashing. Extremism can give their lives the sense of purpose that they failed to find elsewhere. For that reason, prison staff are being trained so that they may be ready handle such cases. According to Mundo, there are 600 senior prison staff trained to prevent and spot radicalisation processes. Besides, sources within the ministry noted that 200 junior staff are about to embark on a specific course. A source from the Prison Service mentioned that trained prison staff watch out for details such as who every inmate communicates with, whether they cease to have any contact with women or even if they give up smoking as possible telltale signs of radicalisation. If one particular convict exhibited these signs, he would be singled out for special surveillance, although he would remain none the wiser. All of that would be carried out while liaising with the Catalan police at all times.

Mossos, CNI and Spains police: a complex relationship

While Spains intelligence service, the CNI, and the Catalan police force work together to investigate jihadism, the relationship between the latter and the Spanish police is more complex. A clear example of this is the tip-off by two Spanish officers to a jihadi group which the Mossos neutralised in Spring last year. This move allowed three members of the group to flee (although they were later detained in Bulgaria as they were trying to get to Syria) and jeopardised the personal safety of a mole which the Catalan police had placed inside the cell. Spains Audiencia Nacional was quick to dismiss the case.
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Five officials of the Hindu place of worship have surrendered to the police, while another five are untraceable.They are all are accused of attempted murder for the fire which killed over 100 people. Meanwhile, number of wounded increases. A court must decide today whether to ban all fireworks in temples, but the board that manages 1,255 temples opposes any ban.

Thiruvananthapuram (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Five officials of the Puttingal temple of Paravur in Kollam district, have handed themselves in to the police in Kerala, who arrested them for the fire which killed over 100 people.

The officials had disappeared without a trace and are now charged with attempted murder. Five others are still untraceable. Meanwhile, the number of injured has risen to about 1,000 people, including 380 still hospitalized. Twenty of them are in critical condition.

Those arrested are in addition to five others whom authorities arrested yesterday, accused of having illegally set-off the fireworks. They were all involved in the terrible explosion last April 10, which took place during the celebration of the Hindu New Year, which was attended by about 15 thousand faithful.

The fire broke out at around 3:10 am (local time), during a fireworks competition. Police immediately laid charges against the temple authorities, who were informed in advance of the dangerousness of the event.

Despite this, they gave permission for the display because fireworks are an integral part of Hindu festivals.

In addition to the warnings, the authorities have violated the district ordinance that prohibited such displays and a Supreme Court authorizing them only before 10 pm. Today a court will have to decide whether to extend the prohibition of fireworks in all Hindu festivals, but already yesterday the Travancore Devaswom Board that manages 1,255 temples in Kerala, came out against a possible ban and said it will continue to allow their use.

The lack of minimum safety standards and superficiality with which they these events are conducted is also highlighted by the fact that yesterday the police, as they inspected the surroundings of the temple, found three cars full of highly flammable material.
by Pierre Balanian

The Saudi king has made a "historic" five-day visit to Egypt, where he signed new trade agreements and proposed a peaceful future for Sunni nations. The Muslim Brotherhood unhappy: "We are being used to achieve political goals and then abandoned." Among the joint projects, a "bridge" across the Red Sea.

Cairo (AsiaNews)  The "historic" five-day official visit of the Saudi king Salman Ben Abdel Aziz to Egypt has ended. Among the several bilateral agreements signed during this visit, worth $ 16 billion, one of particular note signed by the heir to the throne Mohammed Ben Salman with the Egyptian Prime Minister Ismail Sharif finally defined the maritime boundaries between the two most influential Sunni Arab countries in the region.

After quarrels and disagreements that have lasted decades Egypt has ceded sovereignty the Saudi Kingdom of two islands in the Red Sea, Tiran and Sanafir, occupied by Israel in the past and then reconquered by Egypt.

Moreover, sources close to the government of Egypt reveal that Saudi Arabia offered itself as a mediator between Egypt and Turkey. Relations between the two have been tense since the ouster of Mohamed el Morsi in July 2013 . The former Egyptian president was in fact backed by Erdogan, a great supporter of the Egyptian "Muslim Brotherhood" on the one hand, and Qatar.

Many analysts believe that the real reason for the Saudi Kings visit to Cairo first and then Ankara aims, in the battle for power with Iran, to tighten ties between the regions two biggest Sunni countries both of which boast powerful armies, and established institutions .

According to a member of the Muslim Brotherhood residing in Turkey "no one cares about us: we were just used in recent years to achieve some political and strategic purposes by both Ankara and Riyadh".

To secure the Egyptian alliance, Riyadh unleashed unprecedented generosity since the Kingdoms new ruler came to power. Trade agreements have been signed for Saudi investments in Egypt to the tune of 16 billion dollars. The choice of the Sinai peninsula the focus of such investment raises many questions, particularly about the construction of a highway in the northern part of the Sinai, the scene of clashes with the Egyptian ISIS known as the "Wilaya of Sinai".

Many Saudi investments will also take in the southern part of the Sinai, in a clear demonstration of having brought security to this troubled part of the country.

Finally, the construction of a suspension bridge across the Red Sea linking Saudi Arabia with Egypt and consequently Asia with the African continent, immediately called the "Bridge of Salman Ben Abdel Aziz" by Egyptian President Sisi, would ensure a greater flow of overland trade between the two countries and, through them, to their neighbors.
According to a UN spokesman the cease-fire "seems to be working", although there have been "some pockets of violence". UN diplomat: more meaningful perspective for talks between the parties. Negotiations center on the withdrawal of militias and armed groups and restoration of state institutions.

Sanaa (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The cease-fire that began yesterday in Yemen seems to be holding. The nation has been the theater of a bloody war between the coalition to the Saudi leadership - supporting government forces - and the Houthi rebels, close to Iran for more than a year.

The truce came into effect from midnight on 11 April and, according to reports from the UN spokesman, "the cessation of hostilities seems to be largely working in most of the country. However, he adds that there have been "some pockets of violence" in certain areas.



Local sources speak of violations of the ceasefire by the rebels around Taez. At the same time the Houthis complain of "at least one air raid" by the Saudi coalition in the same province east of the capital, Sanaa.

The ceasefire should pave the way for peace talks scheduled for April 18 in Kuwait and allow delivery of humanitarian aid to the areas under siege.



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 UN leaders in the country say they expect further progress towards peace, because - a first attempt at negotiations failed - Saudi Arabia seems more willing to make a deal to arrive at the end of the conflict. "There is a more meaningful perspective - said one UN Security Council diplomat - for talks [of peace]."



The peace meetings will focus on five areas in particular: the withdrawal of militias and armed groups; the delivery of heavy weapons to the State; provisional safety measures; restoration of state institutions; the recovery of an inclusive political dialogue.



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.
The government took the decision yesterday to end violence by Muslim extremists who recently brought the capital to a standstill, following the execution of Mumtaz Qadri, the self-confessed murderer of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer.

Islamabad (AsiaNews/Agencies)  The Government of Pakistan has decided to ban all demonstrations in the capital Islamabad after rallies by Islamic extremists led to significant destruction of businesses and private property. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that the ban is limited to the capital.

Yesterdays move comes weeks after radical Islamists descended on Islamabad, blocking roads and clashing with police, to protest against the execution of Mumtaz Qadri, the self-confessed murderer of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer.

Qadri was a member of Salman Taseer security detail. In 2011, he gunned down the governor as the latter was leaving a restaurant in Islamabad.

He justified the action because of the governors stance against the blasphemy law and support for Asia Bibi, a Christian mother jailed for allegedly insulting the Prophet.

His plea for clemency was rejected by Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain. However, thousands of supporters praised him as a "national hero", and swamped the heart of the capital, until they were dispersed by police. Interior Minister Khan said that the government would not allow a repeat of the experience.

At the same time, Mr Khan said he was willing to meet with opposition leader Imran Khan, who vowed to hold a rally outside the residence of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the eastern city of Lahore if he did not resign over the Panama Papers scandal.

Millions of records and documents leaked from a Panama-based law firm suggest that important political and other figures have or had offshore accounts in tax havens, including the Sharifs family.

In view of this, Prime Minister Sharif announced last week the establishment of an independent judicial commission, headed by a retired judge, to probe into his familys alleged illegal offshore companies and property.

Unconvinced, Imran Khan called for the commission to be headed by Pakistans chief justice.
The conservative ruling party should win the majority of the 300 seats in Parliament, also helped by divisions in the opposition camp. But those under 30 are unhappy with current socio-economic situation, and according to the numbers might change the results (or at least send a strong signal) during the run-off on 13 April.

Seoul (AsiaNews)  This weekends parliamentary elections have resulted in a run-off on 13 April. In the varied political landscape, no one party managed to win a majority of the 300 seats in the National Assembly required for a first round victory. Members of Saenuri - the conservative ruling party - should still keep control of Parliament.

Various surveys conclude that there are two important factors in the outcome. The first is the division in the opposition camp, between liberals and democrats, which has in fact helped their rivals; the second is the "youth factor" characterized by "three nos". The reference is to a formula coined several years ago by a Korean sociologist: It means no work, no home and no marriage.

The global economic crisis of 2008 has also affected South Korea, the fourth fastest growing Asian economy, which chose to protect the established system ignoring needed structural reforms in the labor market. The unemployment rate of those under 30 is 12.5%, compared to 4.9% of the national average.

Generally the young people blame Saenuri, which targets an older electorate, and thus has failed to put in place policies aimed at improving the situation for young people. A poll by Gallup Korea shows that only 17% of under-30s has given or will give their vote to the Conservatives.

Lee Chung-hee, professor of politics at the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, explains that youth frustration reflects an enormous socio-economic change: South Koreans used to have this strong belief that no matter how bleak the situation, you could get a good job and prosper by working hard enough and trying hard enough. Now, young people realise that trying hard on your own is simply not good enough".
American Awarded Ninja Job In Japan

Trending News: An American Got A Job As A Ninja In Japan

Why Is This Important?

Because it's incredible that an American received one of six spots for a Japanese tourism job.

Long Story Short

Vlogger Chris O'Neil accepted a coveted job as a "ninja" hired to promote Japan's Aichi prefecture. The group will travel around Japan and the world promoting tourism, and Chris is the only American on the six-person squad.

Long Story

Remember when we ran the story about the Japanese prefecture looking for real-life ninjas to promote tourism (you likely do, as it was very popular)? Many answered the call, but in the end a 29 year old travel vlogger named Chris O'Neil became the only American to receive one of the six coveted slots. If you're wondering how a white dude from the U.S. got a job promoting Japanese tourism, it's likely because he's spent his life traveling the world busting out sick ninja moves like this:

A photo posted by Chris Across the World (@chrisacrosstheworld) on Mar 16, 2016 at 3:55pm PDT

And this:

A photo posted by Chris Across the World (@chrisacrosstheworld) on Mar 2, 2016 at 1:33pm PST

Mashable spoke with Chris about the process, which was as nerve-wracking as you'd expect a ninja audition to be. There was an acrobatic audition, yes, but there was also a 30-minute interview that required Chris telling his story to a panel  in Japanese, which he admits is shaky for him.

But he turned out to be uniquely qualified for the position. He's been studying martial arts seriously since he was 7 or 8 years old. He traveled to 46 out of 47 Japanese prefectures by the time he was 16, and after college began vlogging his travels across all 50 U.S. states and around the world.

Now, Chris and his ninja brethren will travel around Japan and the world promoting tourism to the Aichi prefecture, the self-proclaimed birthplace of the ninja. He'll teach tourists and guests about the mythical ninja versus what actually transpired, and he'll be paid for doing it all.

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question

Is it odd to hire an American to promote Japanese tourism?

Disrupt Your Feed

This is pretty much a dream job.

Drop This Fact

Ninjas probably never wore black  dark blue would have blended in better against the night sky.
Starshot: Stephen Hawking And Mark Zuckerberg Reveal Plans To Travel To Another Star System

Trending News: Insane New Plans Revealed To Travel To Alpha Centauri Star System

Why Is This Important?

Because for the first time in human history we might be going interstellar.

Long Story Short

As part of the Breakthrough Initiative, physicist Stephen Hawking has teamed up with billionaires Mark Zuckerberg and Yuri Milner to announce the Breakthrough Starshot  a tiny "nanocraft" that will be propelled by lasers to Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to our own. This is one of the biggest scientific projects ever conceived.

Long Story

On April 12th, 1961, the course of humanity was changed forever when Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin boarded the Vostok spacecraft blasted away from the Earth.

For the first time in our very short history, mankind left the safe confines of our home planet to reach the cold expanse of outer space. We'd finally flown the nest. It's appropriate then, that on the day of this milestone anniversary, one of the biggest scientific undertakings in history was announced.

At an event at the World Trade Center in New York, generational physicist Stephen Hawking, Russian billionaire Yuri Milner and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg unveiled their plans to send tiny spacecraft to the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri. The ships, if you can even call them that, will be beyond small. Imagine all the best tech put on a ship no bigger than a computer chip. Why so small? The smaller you are, the faster you'll be able to travel.

New Horizons, the NASA probe that flew by Pluto last year, is the fastest craft that humans have ever built. At its current speed, New Horizons would take 78,000 years to reach Alpha Centauri. The Breakthrough Initiatives team want us to get their in 40 years. That means taking 20 years to develop the right technology, and then 20 more years to make the actual trip.

So, what technology needs to be developed? Well, everything. But more specifically: Nanocrafts.

The spaceships-on-a-chip would weigh mere grams but be able to carry cameras, navigation and communication equipment, photon thrusters and a power supply. That means all of our existing technologies would have to get a lot smaller.

Dr. Pete Worden, who is leading the project said, "I'd have said that even a few years ago travel to another star at that kind of speed would not be possible but the expert group figured out that because of developments in technology there appears to be a concept that appears to work."

The hope would be send a fleet of these small probes to explore the far reaches of outer space. Once the tech is developed (and the details on that is sketchy) the actual probes would (hopefully) only cost about the same amount to manufacture as a high-end iPhone.

The craft would travel at 20% the speed of light (i.e. insanely fast) using lasers or "light beamers" to push against lightsails.

The research and engineering project will initially cost $100 million to develop a proof of concept. After that, the project would cost as much as any of the major scientific experiments that are currently underway, like the Large Hadron Collider or the ITER fusion reactor.

Working on the project are some of the smartest people on the planet, including Pete Worden, Avi Loeb, Jim Benford, Bruce Draine, Freeman Dyson, Robert Fugate and Ann Druyan.

Regardless of outcome, the research project will help push existing technologies far beyond anything that we thought possible. Space exploration, the computer industry and hundreds of other fields will benefit from the knowledge learned from this massive undertaking.

Hawking told the audience in New York: "I believe what makes us unique is transcending our limits. Gravity pins us to the ground, but I just flew to America."

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question: Will we see actual pictures of Alpha Centauri before we die?

Disrupt Your Feed: These are the types of scientific risks that we need to take more of.

Drop This Fact: The nanocraft will hopefully be traveling at 135,000,000 mph.
The songs not quite the same, but the opening of Stairway to Heaven is close enough to an obscure 1960s album track to warrant a trial that might rewrite the history of rock nroll over a song-writing credit.

Led Zeppelin founders Jimmy Page, 72, and Robert Plant, 67, are expected to recount the origins of the song more than 40 years ago at a trial scheduled to start May 10 in Los Angeles. Lawyers for the two rockers have asked the judge to exclude evidence of the adverse effects of drinking or drug use in the 1960s or later as a factor in their allegedly flawed recollection of whether they were familiar with a song they are accused of copying.

U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner ruled Friday that a jury must decide whether the British rockers ripped off the opening licks of Taurus, which was recorded by a band named Spirit that in 1969 played concerts with Zeppelin. Although there was no evidence of striking similarity, the judge said, there was enough evidence offered for a jury to weigh whether there was substantial similarity.

Lawyers for Page and Plant didnt immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment on the ruling.
Hi guys, first and foremost Im not normally a forum user, but am having a serious headache with visa complications and being a typical worry wort I google everything for help which bought me to this website, so I wonder if anyone of you friendly looking bunch can give me some well needed advice?!



I am an English citizen currently on a years working holiday over here, and fortunately for myself my mother is Australian, born in Sydney and moved to the UK when she was a young girl so still holds an Australian passport which means I am eligible for citizenship through descent (lucky eh?) although as you probably all know with visa applications, its really not as simple as that!



As part of the citizenship application process, it requires an Australian resident of a very limited professional category, thats known me for a year, to sign an identity declaration. I arrived in Aus June 2015, and my visa is due to expire in June of this year, so I havent known any Australian residents for a year, its not physically possible to get anyone to sign my paperwork. Ive been to JPs, Ive been to policemen and doctors, you name it Ive done it, but theyre understandably reluctant to sign as they are not willing to lie. So I cant get my paperwork signed, until I have been here a year, but at that time will be time for me to leave as the visa expires.



So after hours of being on hold to the useless immigration telephone service Ive accepted I am going to have to wait to get this done, so in that case need to somehow extend my current visa, to avoid having to leave the country, as I have a great job, and am living with my Australian girlfriend so it would break my heart to have to leave her for more than a few weeks. Ive been looking at all different options, so what would you recommend? I cant do regional work as Ive left it too late, so that leaves me with either the student option, or de facto.



Student I guess is the cheaper, and easier option, although I dont particularly fancy having to study, neither having to work part time, and de facto I have the same problem because me and my girlfriend havent been living together a year, about 9 months give or take. And i also cant come on as a tourist because I need to be able to work. All i need to do is extend my visa somehow to buy some time to be able to apply for citizenship the proper way, without having to leave the country. Has anyone been in my situation? Or does anyone know the immigration system well and may be able to give me some pointers? Would be so very much appreciated.



Dan
In spite of Chevrolets retreat from the European market, the 2061 Camaro will be available for sale on the Old Continent, but it comes with a hefty price tag when compared to an equivalent Ford Mustang.Only one Chevrolet dealer in the United Kingdom has received permission from General Motors to sell the new Camaro, and reports from Autocar reveal that only 18 vehicles have been allocated to this market for 2016.You read that right. Chevrolet will deliver less than twenty MY 2016 Camaros in the UK. The rest of Europe can only wait, or order through a specialized company that might import Camaros from the USA.The first units will arrive in September, but the dealership has opened its order books for the 2016 Camaro.The entry-level version of the Chevrolet Camaro Coupe, fitted with a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder will start at 32,500, with an eight-speed automatic gearbox as standard. For the 6.2-liter V8 engine with a six-speed manual on a Camaro Coupe, customers will have to pay at least 37,000.Optional equipment includes the magnetic ride control system (only for the V8), racing stripes, the eight-speed automatic transmission, and convenience and lighting packages for the entry-level model. Customers will have to wait for at least three months for delivery, while four months is the maximum expected delay.When compared to the EU-spec Ford Mustang in the UK market, the Camaro is at least 2,000 more expensive. The 2.3-liter EcoBoost Mustang starts at 30,995, while the 5.0-liter V8 Mustang GT starts at 34,995. Furthermore, Ford has a Europe-wide dealer network, and UK customers get the right-hand drive version of the Mustang.Chevrolet will showcase its 2016 Camaro at this years Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Chevrolet used to be all about trucks and sedans, but its lineup is growing to include things like the Cruze Hatch, which is being built despite the brand pulling out of Europe. Rumor has it that Buick is going to sell a wagon too, but we often find their vehicles overpriced, especially the Cascada convertible and crammed Encore crossover.That's why we want to propose a cooler yet more affordable alternative. It's based on the Malibu, and it's just a rendering. Despite that, Theophilus Chin , the guy who made it, has received a lot of attention for his work. Apparently, people like it so much that they're asking where they can buy one.Right now, the coolest wagons in America are expensive. We are talking about things like the 2016 allroad that starts at $44,000 or the $37,000 Volvo V60. But American cars have been getting good, no, great. There are a few rotten apples left, but the Cadillac XT5 and even the Camaro SS are fantastic.What is it that people like so much about the "2017 Malibu Wagon"? For starters, it's big, not like those compacts. Second of all, Chevrolet always knows how to present a decent concept and take it to production. We young men want bright paint, big exhaust, and black chrome. This rendering features all those plus some red accents on the wheels and air scoops.Engineering a wagon from a sedan isn't that hard. In fact, Chevrolet even knows how to install adaptive suspension more cheaply than the Germans. Nothing goes better than wagons and diesel engines. Despite the Dieselgate scandal, Chevy has not given up on reviving the Cruze Diesel. But that 2-liter turbo doesn't have nearly enough grunt to power something like the Malibu.In any case, gas is cheaper than ever in America, so you could even have a Subaru-fighting V6 in this and people won't mind. They won't mind at all!
Cellebrite is an Israeli company that assisted the FBI in cracking the iPhone. Theyre that good, alright. After the decryption battle with Apple was settled, Cellebrite decided to develop a contraption labeled as a textalyzer. Put plainly, its a gizmo that determines whether the driver was using the mobile phone prior to a crash. Uhm, Fourth Amendment much?Indeed. The Cellebrite textalyzer gets around this matter of privacy rights by keeping data such as contacts, conversations, and numbers private. In other words, the textalyzers sole purpose is to tell the police officer if a phone was in use before a crash or other mishaps attributed to texting and driving. Believe it or not, Senate Bill S6325A will probably enact the use of the textalyzer in the State of New York.The document is attached in the release below these paragraphs and the thing that interests us the most is the following line: An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law and the executive law, in relation to the field testing of mobile telephones and portable electronic devices after a motor vehicle accident or collision involving damage to real or personal property, personal injury or death. The bill hasnt passed senate and assembly at the time of writing, but theres a chance the unimaginable might happen. For the greater good, of course.If the bill is signed by the Governor, it would give New York police officers the right to plug a phone into a textalyzer such as the one thats developed by Cellebrite following a crash. This opinion may not prove popular with some readers, but Im down with that. You see, using a phone while driving is especially popular among teens, a category that is more likely to have a crash in the first place than other motorists. The more pressing question is, what happened to Bluetooth hands-free calling?
Ducati is organizing two massive events in the UK and is searching for no less than 160 riders willing to take part in this program. The Ducati testing schedule comprises two dates this May, with serious track action at two of Britain's iconic circuits.The first test will take place at the Snetterton Circuit, 20-some miles (32 km) south-east of Norwich, while the second event will be hosted by the legendary Silverstone Circuit in the heart of England.While the test at Snetterton, scheduled for May 20, will allow the riders to make use of the full length of the track, the access on the Silverstone circuit will be restricted. The Ducati test at Silverstone will take place on May 26 on a loop in the northern area of the track between turns 5 and 11.The 160 test riders Ducati is looking for will have two models to play with, the all-new 959 Panigale and its bigger sibling, the 1299 Panigale. Riders who are willing to test either Ducati will be selected from all the entries and will receive their invitations. Those who are not so lucky will also be informed and their names added to a reserve list.Certain conditions apply, but you can post your entry simply by filling in Ducati's form and also telling the Italian maker some details about you.Participation is on an invite-only basis and free of charge. Any potential travel and accommodation expenses are the sole responsibility of the selected riders, who are expected to bring their leathers and helmets at the track. Even though Ducati is not specifically mentioning this, we suspect that new and inexperienced riders are not exactly eligible to test ride either bike.
kWh

Tesla Motors is expected to make an official announcement later today, as in to reveal the visual updates of the facelifted Model S. According to the gentleman who sent the picture to the publication mentioned earlier, the photograph was snapped at a retail location. Updating in-store advertising a few hours in advance of the big announcement seems a rather plausible scenario to me.Im willing to bet that what were looking at isnt Photoshopped hoax, but the real deal. With the facelift, the Tesla Model S loses its car-like front end to a grille-less nose that is similar in design to that of the Model X. I dig the look. The headlights also appear to have been minutely redesigned, but only just.A bump in price could also be on the cards, albeit Tesla Motors refused to comment on the subject. Another feature that made the rumor mill go haywire is a 100battery option. The Bioweapon Defense Mode air filtration system that debuted in the Model X is also expected to be adopted by the 2017 Tesla Model S. Tesla nuts should look forward to luxury-minded appointments as well.One of those features could be ventilated front seats, something that is already available for the Model X. More paint options and a wider selection of wheels are also rumored to be confirmed later today by Tesla Motors, add-ons that are fitting for a facelift. Im still itching to find out if theres a Model S P100D on the way. The prospect of 300-plus miles (482-plus kilometers) on a full charge is simply irresistible.It's real. The official photo has been added to the gallery. A dedicated story will follow shortly.The 2017 Tesla Model S in all its glory.
According to British auction house Bonhams, this example is expected to sell for $10 million next month when it goes under the hammer. If you are asking why, here is an answer. Aston Martin only made 31 DB3S models and 11 works race cars, and since most have been destroyed, this is a rare car.What makes this example more uncommon than others is the fact that it was originally made for David Brown, who wanted to use it privately, but eventually gave it to the racing department as three other DB3S models were destroyed at Le Mans in 1954.The racing department at Aston Martin replaced the fiberglass panels with aluminum and put the car through its paces. It was raced by Sir Stirling Moss, Roy Salvadori, and Peter Collins. The fifth Aston Martin DB3S saw action at Spa-Francorchamps, Nurburgring, and the famous Mille Miglia.So, aside from the flock of famous racers who drove this car to its limits in top-tier motorsport, this vehicle was also driven and shortly owned by the boss of Aston Martin at the time.Yes, the David Brown we mentioned above as the first owner of this car is the man who gave his initials to the DB cars made by Aston Martin. This piece of info alone would have made this particular vehicle more valuable than others, but the fact that it has a racing pedigree and has been driven by famous racers in legendary events makes it even more collectible. Furthermore, it was also featured in the comedy School for Scoundrels in the 1960s.The most expensive DB3S ever sold at auction switched owners in 2014, at a Gooding&Company event, where it was traded for $5.5 million. Thanks to the extended and fascinating history of this example, Bonhams expects it to sell for around $8.5-10 million. If you want it, the auction is held next month at the former Aston Martin factory in Newport Pagnell.
It's not the first time when Suzuki and turbochargers are in the same sentence, especially considering that Hamamatsu unveiled the Recursion 600cc forced-induction concept years ago. Little progress has been made since then, at least as far as what the media managed to find out. All the news and rumors were based on similar patent drawings, and Suzuki kept every bit of relevant info under strict control.Rumors about a turbocharged Hayabusa also surfaced, but in the absence of credible info, everything revolves around suppositions and the usual guessing game.The bikes featured in these new drawings look very similar to the GSX-R750 and GSX-R1000, making us dream about new, force-fed versions of the two engines, and maybe even seeing them introduced this autumn at Intermot or EICMA. It's difficult to say how realistic such expectations are, but we'd say that more info will perspire in case Hamamatsu has real plans to show turbocharged superbikes this year.Kawasaki's supercharged Ninja H2 and H2R caused quite a stir in the industry, bringing back a technology that was considered no longer worthy to use in modern bikes. After riders had put these two bikes through their paces, the world started to see once more the potential and the advantages of forced-induction engines used in motorcycles.With the emission regulations becoming stricter each several years, manufacturers are forced to find methods to retain the power and character of their engines while complying with the pollution standards.Supercharging and turbocharging are now rumored to be regarded as the "new messiah." It will be interesting to watch the whole thing, especially as the force-fed bikes become the new fad...
Photo by L1CENSET0K1LL via Wikimedia Commons.

State decisions to raise speed limits have cost 33,000 lives in the U.S. over two decades, according to a new study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

In 2013 alone, speed limit increases resulted in 1,900 more road deaths, IIHS research found. That increase basically canceled out the number of lives saved by frontal air bags that same year.

Although fatality rates fell during the study period, they would have been much lower if not for states decisions to raise speed limits, said Charles Farmer, IIHS vice president for research and statistical services and the author of the study.

The study examined the effect of all speed limit increases in 41 states from 1993 to 2013. Not included were increases of the past three years. The District of Columbia and nine states were excluded because they had relatively few vehicle miles traveled each year, resulting in wide swings in their annual fatal crash rates.

To reach his conclusions, Farmer looked at deaths per billion miles traveled by state and roadway type. He also took into account other factors affecting the fatality rate, including changes in unemployment, the number of potential young drivers (ages 16-24) and per capital alcohol consumption. Ultimately, he determined that each 5 mph increase in the maximum speed limit resulted in a 4% increase in fatalities. On interstates and freeways, the increase was 8%.

Farmer compared the annual number of fatalities in the 41 states against the expected numbers had each states maximum speed limit remained unchanged since 1993. This calculation brought him to the estimate of 33,000 additional fatalities over the 20-year period.

The total of 33,000 is likely an underestimate, Farmer said, because he considered only increases in the maximum speed limit, which often applies to rural interstates only. Many states also increased speed limits on urban interstates.

Additionally, some states raised speed limits on one section of road and subsequently extended the higher limit to other sections. Those changes werent factored in, either.

Speed limits have continued to climb since the end of the 20-year period covered by the study. Six states now have 80 mph limits. Some roads in Texas even permit driving at 85 mph.

"Since 2013, speeds have only become more extreme, and the trend shows no sign of abating, Farmer said. We hope state lawmakers will keep in mind the deadly consequences of higher speeds when they consider raising limits.

To download the study, click here.

In response to the studys conclusions, the Governors Highway Safety Association issued a statement urging states and communities to stop raising speed limits. Instead, GHSA encouraged strong enforcement of existing speed limits, both through policing and judicious use of speed cameras.

We know that crashes are more deadly as speeds increase, GHSA said. In addition, most drivers treat maximum speeds as a minimum target. Past research has shown that as posted speed limits are raised, drivers will exceed these limits, and more fatal crashes will result. This new research reinforces earlier studies and provides clear evidence of the negative safety implications from increasing speed limits.

The National Safety Council released a statement as well.

The National Safety Council strongly urges states, cities and municipalities to study this report and its implications on current speed limits, and to prioritize the adoption and use of speed cameras and automated enforcement, which has been proven to save lives, while ramping up traditional enforcement tactics," the organization said.
All of the 2017 Macan models that recently reached U.S. soil have not been delivered and have been grounded at ports for many weeks. In effect, the clients who purchased the units are bound to wait longer before they get to drive their new car.

The units are still under observation by the California Air Resources Board Certification. The total 2017 Porsche Macans that have been held at U.S. ports are still uncertain, although Porsche officials confirmed that the Macans were grounded in connection with the Volkswagen Dieselgate scandal.

The delay was caused by the additional checks to ensure that emissions testing for all vehicle being produced and imported are done accurately. All car manufacturers that homologate a new model will have to abide by the stringent measures to avoid the fraudulent approach previously used by Volkswagen to have its vehicles pass emissions tests.

CarBuzz writes that sales of 2017 Macans have been frozen for several weeks in 13 states. According to Porsche officials, they are following procedure and understand that the homologations take some time before the cars are eventually cleared for release, writes Auto Evolution.

The people at Porsche added that the delay is not significant and should not cause concern among their customers. Furthermore, the 2017 Macans set for non-CARB states are on sale. The compact crossover car has been in short supply or sold out since it went on sale in May 2014, so the delay added to customer sensitivity.

In the meantime, a number of Porsche dealers are already waiting for the 2017 models to release since they are already out of 2016 units. Customers have been inquiring about their vehicles, and some are getting impatient, Klaus Zellmer said, CEO of Porsche Cars of North America, during an interview with Automotive News.

Considering that the Dieselgate scandal involved diesel vehicles, the 2017 Macans, which are not diesel are expected to be cleared soon. Diesel-powered Macans are not yet available in the U.S. The 2017 Macans held at the ports are not diesel and do not seem to be mechanically different compared to their 2016 predecessors. This indicates that the consequences of the Dieselgate scandal are expected to linger for several weeks more.

The 2017 Porsche Macan retails at around $47,500 in the U.S.The highest-end model is the Macan Turbo, which is priced at $76,000. More updates and details on the 2017 Porsche Macan and the Dieselgate scandal are expected soon.
12 April 2016 10:12 (UTC+04:00)

The information spread by Armenians that allegedly Azerbaijani servicemen desecrated the dead bodies of Armenian soldiers is false, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry announced.

The ministry said there are facts of desecration of the Azerbaijani soldiers' dead bodies by the Armenian servicemen.

"By making such statements, Armenians want to mislead the international community in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, to justify themselves and accuse Azerbaijanis of atrocities," added the Defense Ministry.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.

Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said. Ignoring the agreement, the Armenian side again started violating the ceasefire.

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 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
12 April 2016 12:38 (UTC+04:00)

By Nazrin Gadimova

Armenians, who do not want to die for the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, do not also want to live there.

Hundreds of people, mostly women, children and elderly leave their houses located in Azerbaijans occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region following the recent escalation on the frontline, said Stephane Dujarric, the Spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary General, who listed the appropriate data from the Geneva-based office of the High Commissioner for Refugees.

"UNHCR has received reports on civilian casualties, destruction of houses and infrastructure (as a result of Armenian attacks civilians were killed), as well as restrictions on the freedom of movement of those trying to leave the conflict zone," Dujarric stressed.

Years of mediation by the OSCE Minsk Group have failed to defuse tensions in the South Caucasus region, which resulted in renewal of the hostilities by the aggressor Armenia.

Azerbaijans Armed Forces rebuffed the attacks and strengthened the positions, which frightened not only Armenias military dictatorship but also Armenians living in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

Armenian media reported that over 3,000 residents of the occupied territories have left their homes following the deterioration of the situation on the front line.

Yerevan has set a great trap for Armenians living in the region after escalating situation in the territories adjacent to the contact line with Azerbaijani troops. Armenian military not only refused to defend the population, but even more  they actively opposed the outflow of the civilians by setting up roadblocks at the outskirts of the region.

Moreover, to prevent growing of the panic, Armenian Armed Forces and the armed units of the separatist regime tried to hide from the public the recent losses and spread misinformation about the losses of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.

The social network users say Armenians living in the occupied Askeran town tried to leave the region and move to Khankendi. However, the police tried to prevent their move and as a result, a violent clash occurred between police and residents.

Komsomolskaya Pravda earlier informed that Armenians were leaving the settlements in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region, while the Armenian bureau of the Radio Liberty reported that Armenians residing in the Armenian-occupied Aghdere region of Azerbaijan also left their homes.

Armenians who were living Karabakh leave massively the region every time when they find an opportunity, as people live in very poor condition being face to face the fear of death and injustice here. Armenian opposition have repeatedly reported about the deplorable situation in the country, as well as in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.

Since April 2, when tensions on the contact line of the Azerbaijani and Armenian troops aggravated, Azerbaijani troops have destroyed more than 370 enemy soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery pieces.

Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said. Ignoring the agreement, the Armenian side again started violating the ceasefire.

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Nazrin Gadimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @NazrinGadimova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
12 April 2016 12:49 (UTC+04:00)

Armenian armed forces continue to shell Azerbaijan's Terter district, Mustagim Mammadov, head of the district's executive power told Trend on April12.

By using large-caliber weapons, Armenians shelled the Gapanli village of Terter district on Apr.11, in the evening, he said, adding that the opposing side was silenced with return fire.

Mammadov added that the Chileburt and Yarimja villages of Terter district were also subjected to fire by Armenians last night.

No casualties have been reported.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.

Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said. Ignoring the agreement, the Armenian side again started violating the ceasefire.

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 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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12 April 2016 14:00 (UTC+04:00)

By Aynur Karimova

Syria has got a gleam of hope for melting of ice in relations of the Bashar Assad regime of Syria and the U.S.

Such a hope appeared after recapturing historic town Palmyra in central part of the country from the Islamic State last week.

For Assad, recapturing Palmyra represents a strategic importance, as he hopes to persuade the U.S. that the Syrian army is a credible partner in combating terrorism in the country.

The desert town of Palmyra, with its 2,000-year-old ruins, is not only an archaeological gem known to Syrians as the "Bride of the Desert," but also a strategic crossroads linking the capital city of Damascus with the country's east and the border with Iraq.

Assad forces reconquered Palmyra on March 27, gaining an important victory over the IS fighters. This was Assad's first major victory through the hands of the pro-governmental forces in years.

The government troops, joined by Iranian-backed militiamen, were supported by massive Russian airpower throughout their three-week offensive.

Assad believes that the Palmyra victory was "new evidence of the effectiveness of the strategy followed by the Syrian army and its allies in the war against terrorism."

Bashar Ja'afari, who serves as Syrian ambassador to UN, believes that it is high time for Syria to work with the U.S., and for powers, including Washington, to join Russia to work with Syria.

Experts also share the same opinion with Ja'afari. They say that the U.S. has long suffered from the lack of a reliable partner in Syria. The Obama administration's attempts to train and partner with Syrian rebels have all ended in failure.

Last year, the U.S. softened its foreign policy, which demanded Assad to leave power. The U.S. officials claim that civil war in Syria can end after Assad quits the post of president.

On March 28, State Department spokesman John Kirby described the reconquering of Palmyra as a "good thing, but declined to congratulate the Assad government for the military success. The U.S. official believes that Assad will not be able to retake other parts of the country.

Experts believe that the victory in Palmyra also puts the Syrian president in a more comfortable position ahead of negotiations that will be resumed in Geneva in mid-April. They say that Assad will be able to use all his political cards in peace process in Syrian war.

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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova

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12 April 2016 12:03 (UTC+04:00)

By Julia Corvalan

What is poverty? For decades, we have defined it with a number, which the World Bank currently puts at a personal income of less than $1.90 per day. But a single number fails to capture the complexity of poverty. Measuring more than just income is essential to understanding the needs of poor people and delivering optimal assistance.



As the World Bank convenes its Spring Meetings in Washington, DC next week, we have an opportunity to set benchmarks that include social and environmental dimensions of poverty. The Bank has acknowledged that more than income should be considered, and recently established a Commission on Global Poverty to recommend additional metrics.



Although many public and private groups already collect data on a range of issues affecting poor communities such as nutrition, maternal health, or access to education, such information remains largely untapped and is rarely shared across institutions. But there are some beacons of light, including the Social Progress Index, which provides a framework for tracking multiple symptoms of poverty across countries and complements traditional income-based measures.



When we rely on a single number to measure poverty, we misdiagnose the needs of poor people. In my home country, Paraguay, I work with one of the countrys largest social enterprises, Fundacion Paraguaya, to provide microfinance, education, and training to thousands of our poorest citizens. We look at 50 metrics across six dimensions of poverty, including income, housing, education, and infrastructure.



One of our clients, Dona Mercedes, is now a successful micro-entrepreneur from a rural community not far from the capital city of Asuncion. When she first started with Fundacion Paraguaya, she was sharing a single-bedroom home with 16 other family members and cooking meals on a small fire pit on the dirt floor. Now she has a cement floor, a brick house, a separate kitchen, and around $500 in personal savings.



By using Fundacion Paraguayas self-evaluation on poverty, she was able to understand her own needs better and address them one at time. While traditional approaches focus largely on estimating the sources of household expenses and income, the Fundacion Paraguaya self-evaluation helped Dona Mercedes break down her needs into 50 discrete areas that she could work on, piece by piece, and monitor over time.



For example, she self-evaluated the state of her bathroom and kitchen, the quality of the food eaten at home, the familys dental health, the number of separate bedrooms in the house, and even her self-esteem and decision-making capacity. A simple poverty map helps her track her progress by using the colors of the stoplight, red, yellow, and green, and highlight her priority areas. Next she plans to add two more bedrooms to her house and to work on enlarging her business.



Fundacion Paraguaya has been able to replicate this type of success in other parts of the world. In Tanzania, where I worked for three years in rural communities, we helped villages in the Southern Highlands adapt our poverty indicators to the local context in order to tackle water, sanitation, and electrification needs. Similar efforts are being deployed in South Africa, Nigeria, Uganda, China, and beyond.



We could make even more progress with public-sector support. Fundacion Paraguaya collects rich data across multiple dimensions, tracking more than 8,700 families each year in Paraguay alone. If this information were to reach the government of Paraguay  which has its own methods for collecting data  we could identify pockets of poverty sooner and customize programs to help each family. Because the information is self-reported, this sort of collaboration could deliver targeted aid and highlight specific public services that are needed.



Moreover, if the World Banks Commission on Global Poverty adopts multidimensional poverty measures, it will spur other organizations to produce and share more detailed poverty data. That will give aid workers a more comprehensive poverty map of the world, helping to boost the effectiveness of anti-poverty efforts everywhere.



It wont be easy to choose which measures to include, or even how to set universal yardsticks; but even adopting a few basic ones would spur progress. For too long, one-dimensional measures such as the $1.90 per day guideline have misdiagnosed poor peoples problems  and more importantly, their causes. We know that the $1.90 per day benchmark does not fully capture the struggles of poor people in places such as Paraguay.



Fortunately, the World Bank now appears to recognize the limits of its income-based indicator. Ensuring that the right type of aid reaches those most in need in a timely and effective manner requires development policymakers to embrace the type of multidimensional poverty data that aid organizations like Fundacion Paraguaya have learned to gather.

Copyright: Project Syndicate:Poverty Beyond the Numbers

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12 April 2016 11:49 (UTC+04:00)

By Nazrin Gadimova

Baku and Moscow have reiterated their firm stands to develop and deepen the long-term strategic relations in numerous fields.

The multi-vector relations between the two neighbor countries were mulled in Baku, as Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev paid an official visit to the country, where he met the Azerbaijani leadership.

The sides took the opportunity to discuss issues such as the relations in trade, economic, energy, transportation and humanitarian spheres and potential in energy and transportation spheres.

President Ilham Aliyev, addressing the meeting with Medvedev, highlighted the traditional cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan in humanitarian sphere that has very good prospects and good results.

We have very good dynamics in many areas. Although the trade turnover has a little bit fallen because of objective reasons, there is a potential for increase and cooperation in trade, economic, energy and transport areas, the president said.

Trade turnover between Russia and Azerbaijan in late 2014 exceeded $4 billion and reached its historical maximum. This figure amounted to $ 2.3 billion in January-October 2015, which is 30 percent less than in the same period of 2014, according to the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee.

Being long-time partners, Russia and Azerbaijan are keen to continue developing multilateral cooperation in the future. The all-around strengthening of cooperation with Russia has been and remains one of the main priorities of Azerbaijan's foreign policy.

Medvedev, in turn, emphasized that there is a huge variety of relations where the two sides enjoy a very advanced cooperation and strategic partnership.

Medvedev went on to add that Azerbaijan and Russia have the opportunity to make additional efforts for the economies of the two countries to function more in line with one another, for good effect.

Although its literally a few percent, as the decline has mainly occurred because of the pricing indicators caused by the change of exchange of goods which we supply to each other, prices for goods that we supply. However, this means that an array of projects should be revitalized. So now lets talk about this as well as humanitarian issues, he said.

However, this shows that a number of projects can be revived, according to Medvedev.

The sides noted the importance of implementation of joint projects, and highlighted the similarities between both countries` economies, pointing to necessity of diversifying the economy to reduce the oil dependence.

The Russian PM then conveyed the best wishes of Vladimir Putin, adding that the head of Russia has invited President Aliyev to Moscow.

Nagorno-Karabakh issue

In Baku, Dmitry Medvedev also reminded the importance of resuming diplomatic efforts to resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Medvedev, on a visit to Baku, said Russia was ready to continue to act as an intermediary in resolving the conflict and hoped a ceasefire agreement would hold.

Russia values its relations with both Armenia and Azerbaijan, he said voicing hope that they could resume their negotiations under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Moscow, as a member of the OSCE Minsk Group, as a responsible state, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council is committed to the approaches within the framework of the UN procedures and other ones, he added.

Medvedev emphasized that the whole region would benefit with the settlement of the conflict and Russia considers itself part of this region.

During the talks, President Aliyev highlighted Russias role in de-escalation of the situation on the frontline.

The president further stressed that Azerbaijan is committed to the peaceful and political settlement of the conflict based on the international law and relevant decisions of the UN Security Council and other international organizations.

"Azerbaijan adheres to the negotiation process," Aliyev said, adding that resolving the conflict is in the interests of Azerbaijan, Armenia and also Russia, as a neighbor and friend of both countries.

The change of the status quo and the beginning of de-occupation of Azerbaijani territories are the main conditions for a comprehensive settlement of the conflict. As soon as this happens, there will be peace and cooperation in the region. This will benefit all countries in the region, the President said.
12 April 2016 17:03 (UTC+04:00)

By Aynur Karimova

The presidential decree on additional measures to ensure population's self-employment will play a significant role in resolving employment problems, believes MP Vahid Ahmadov.

Reminding that currently the unemployment rate in the country stands at 5 percent, he told Azernews that such a decision will pave the way for creating new jobs for unemployed people, who receive targeted social assistance from the state.

"The aim of this decree is to gradually decrease the dependence of the population on state assistance," he said.

Population receives targeted social assistance in accordance with the presidential decrees and orders, as well as with the laws adopted by the Parliament. This leads to dependence of the population on state assistance. Therefore, taking the world experience into account, the government implements plans to open new jobs and cease state assistance."

President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on additional measures in the field of self-employment on April 7.

Under the decree, some 6 million manats ($3.931 million) will be allocated from the reserve fund of the President to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Population. These funds will be spent on assisting the population's self-employment.

Ahmadov said that under this decree, favorable working conditions will be created for those, who receive assistance.

"Those, who receive assistance in the regions, will be able to manage a supermarket, to manage an internet cafe or engage in cattle breeding, or plant growing and etc.. Thus, families who receive targeted social assistance from the state will be provided with permanent working places and will be able to support the whole family."

This pilot project has already been applied in Goychay, Aghdash regions, and it will be applied in all regions of the country and cover about 1,440 families, the MP added.

Ahmadov is sure that the decree will further improve the unemployment rate in the country.

"Firstly, new jobs will be created. Secondly, the population will not depend on 150-200 manats ($98-$131) of state assistance, but work and earn money for supporting his/her family."

Labor Minister Salim Muslimov earlier assessed the decree as an important support to the involvement of able-bodied members of low-income families in active labor market and ensuring their self-employment.

Under the instructions of the head of state, the Ministry not only conducts works for strengthening the social welfare of low-income citizens, but also pays particular attention to their involvement in active labor market programs, and conducts relevant analyzes in this regard, he told media on April 8.

Speaking about the measures taken by the Azerbaijani government in ensuring the population's self-employment, Muslimov said that last year Azerbaijan was able to provide self-employment of 32 low-income families of the Goychay and Shamakhi regions.

This was achieved as part of joint pilot projects implemented with the International Labor Organization.

Also, the Ministry focuses on the active labor market programs based on the reports of the ILO, as well as international experience in the relevant field.

Muslimov believes that the presidential decree allows applying the best international practice in Azerbaijan.

He also stressed the importance of further continuing works towards involvement of able-bodied members of the low-income families to the labor market.

As of December 30, 2015, some 114,000 families or approximately 500,000 people were reported to receive the targeted social assistance. The government provides assistance to each family in the amount of 153 manats ($100).

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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova

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12 April 2016 13:40 (UTC+04:00)

By Aynur Karimova

President Ilham Aliyev has set new political, economic and social goals and priorities for Azerbaijan in 2016 at the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on the results of socio-economic development in the first quarter of 2016 and the future tasks.

The agenda of the meeting, which was held on April 9, included various issues ranging from recent tensions on the line of contact of the Armenian and Azerbaijani Armed Forces to Azerbaijan's political, economic and social achievements in the reported period.

Speaking about Armenian armed provocation committed against Azerbaijan earlier this month, President Aliyev said that it was foiled, and the enemy was given a fitting rebuff.

"Azerbaijan was able to protect its lands, and to further strengthen the military position. This bloody clash once again showed that Armenia continues its occupation policy, does not want peace and is trying to disrupt the negotiation process," he said.

Armenian Armed Forces, which continue to violate the truce on the contact line of troops in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region despite the achieved agreement on ceasefire, aims to keep the status quo unchanged.

Despite Armenia's destructive position in the settlement of the conflict, Azerbaijan has always stated that Baku is in favor of its peaceful solution.

President Aliyev believes that Azerbaijan, as a leading country in the South Caucasus region, has set the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as its primary goal. The stronger becomes Azerbaijan in political, economic and in all other fields, the closer it will be to the solution of the conflict.

Therefore, Azerbaijan should further accelerate the dynamics of our development and continue sustainable development in the economic field.

The geography of the Azerbaijani president's visit, as well as statements made in the address of this energy-rich country once again shows that Azerbaijan conducts very active and multifaceted foreign policy. Also, confidence of the international community in Azerbaijan, known as a very reliable partner, is increasing year by year.

Today, Azerbaijan is a core part of new formats of regional cooperation, such as Azerbaijan-Iran-Russia, Azerbaijan-Iran-Turkey, Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey, as well as Azerbaijan-Turkey-Turkmenistan. All these tripartite initiatives are very important for ensuring security and deepening cooperation in the region.

Economy in focus

In the first quarter of 2016, Azerbaijan also took decisive economic measures. It is expected that the current year will be remembered for deep economic reforms.

Azerbaijan has made very serious decisions towards improving the business environment, increasing our export potential, attracting foreign investments to Azerbaijan, and increasing local production.

To achieve this goal, many orders and laws have been adopted and signed since the beginning of the year.

President Aliyev stressed the necessity of taking further measures regarding financial discipline and transparency in the country and said that the whole economic and financial sector of Azerbaijan should be developed based on the most advanced principles.

"First of all, it is necessary to improve the control mechanisms, and transparency must be fully ensured," he added.

Despite the fact that oil prices have fallen sharply and are still at a very low level, as well as Azerbaijan's GDP decreased in the reported period, President Aliyev believes that the country's revenues will increase due to new achievements in the non-oil sector.

One of Azerbaijan's economic achievements in this period was 5-percent growth in the non-oil sector of the national economy. This indicator gives good hope for more rapid development of the non-oil sector in the country, which is one of the main goals set before the government.

"Today, the non-oil sector constitutes a major part of the economy of Azerbaijan. We have achieved this and in the future, of course, we should try to make the non-oil sector to have more weight in our export," President Aliyev stressed.

Thus, despite the ongoing financial and economic crisis and decrease of Azerbaijan's revenues, the South Caucasus nation has reduced the risks to a minimum thanks to very operational steps, deep economic reforms and wise foreign policy.

Achievements in social sector

The first quarter of 2016 was productive in terms of social protection of population. The government witnessed significant progress in ensuring employment of the population. In particular, Azerbaijan created 37,000 new jobs, including 31,000 permanent jobs in that period. These newly-created jobs will give an impetus to keeping the unemployment rate at a low level, which currently stands at 5 percent.

These figures show that social policy has always been and will continue to be a priority for Azerbaijan, which is a social state. President Aliyev said that economic reforms, as well as successful oil and gas policy are aimed at the people to live better.

Azerbaijan is also among few countries that have overcome the ongoing economic and financial crisis with minimal losses. Despite the decrease of oil prices by 3-4 times, salaries and pensions increased by 10 percent this year.

Transport sector is priority

Azerbaijan, located on the crossroads of East and West and on the conjunction of important international transport routes, conducted active works towards the establishment of the North-South and East-West (TRACECA) transport corridors.

President Aliyev believes that the main condition for the establishment of the North-South corridor is the Azerbaijan-Iran-Russia trilateral cooperation.

This transport corridor is very important for Azerbaijan both in economic terms and in terms of security and tourism. Also, after the completion of the implementation of this transport corridor, the Azerbaijani budget will receive huge economic benefits. If new countries such as Pakistan, India, and the North European countries join this corridor, the volume of cargoes passing through Azerbaijan's territory will increase significantly.

In the first quarter, Azerbaijan also conducted active work towards the establishment of TRACECA. Azerbaijan is working in a tripartite format - the format of Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey - for implementation of this project.

Today, one can say with no doubt that Azerbaijan is again in the center of two corridors. Based on Baku's positive friendship and partnership relations with neighboring countries, the implementation of both these projects are seen as possible.

The first quarter of 2016 was remembered in Azerbaijan for other major events as well - President Aliyev's participation at the 4th Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, the second meeting of the Advisory Council of the Southern Gas Corridor in Baku, as well as the IV Global Baku Forum.

"If we consider that Azerbaijan is not a nuclear power, there is no nuclear power station and nuclear industry in Azerbaijan, the invitation of Azerbaijan to this prestigious event is a manifestation of respect to us by the government, the president of the U.S. and reflects our role in this region. Azerbaijan is a reliable partner in prevention of illicit traffic of nuclear materials," President Aliyev said.

The second meeting of the Advisory Council of the Southern Gas Corridor, which was held in Baku in February 29, was very important event in Azerbaijan's energy sector as during this meeting the leading role of Azerbaijan in this sphere was once again marked in the adopted declaration.

Important goals are set

In his closing remarks, President Aliyev set very important tasks before the relevant ministries.

He instructed all the ministers to work hard in order to accomplish the tasks set before them, and to achieve further development of the Azerbaijani economy and better living conditions of the population.

This year Azerbaijan, a country in a state of war, will pay more attention to army building. Today, the Azerbaijani army is among the strongest armies in the world both for its logistics and equipment, and in terms of its combat capability. President Aliyev believes that to achieve further strengthening of the army, Azerbaijan should develop economy even faster.

Azerbaijan is also expected to involve huge amount of foreign investment in various sectors of the national economy. To achieve this goal, the government was instructed to ensure transparent economic and financial system, as well as the rule of law.

Azerbaijan is also keen on achieving rapid development of non-oil sector, to create new jobs, new production areas of export orientation, as well as establishing new industrial zones in each region.

This year, Azerbaijan will take decisive measures towards the implementation of the program on construction of social housing, which will be presented to the public in the near future.

"This is a new initiative. In some countries, this practice is being applied. We are studying and studied positive practices. There is a great need and demand in it," President Aliyev said.

It is expected that the construction of social housing will be started in all cities, regional centers with an aim to reduce unemployment in the regions and solve the housing problems of low-income population with limited material possibilities.

This year, the government will also implement over 40 rural road projects and 250 million manats ($163.7 million) will be allocated for this purpose. Also, works for establishment of the Alat international sea trade port will be accelerated.

Further development of the agrarian sector will be among the priorities of the government in 2016.

The development of agriculture has always been a priority for Baku. Therefore, President Aliyev instructed the government to further accelerate the export of agricultural products.

This year Azerbaijan is expected to witness rapid development of cotton breeding, sericulture, tobacco cultivation and tea growing, as well as viticulture.

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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova

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12 April 2016 10:04 (UTC+04:00)

A delegation led by Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov left for Turkey to participate in a preparatory meeting for the 13th Summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Foreign Ministry told Trend on April 11.

The OIC Summit, titled "Unity and Solidarity for Justice and Peace", is to be held Apr. 10-15 in Istanbul.

Mammadyarov is expected to deliver a speech during the meeting, as well as have a number of bilateral meetings, according to the ministry.

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12 April 2016 10:47 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

The extensive relations between Azerbaijan and the United Nations was the topic of discussions in Baku, as the newly-appointed UN Resident Coordinator in the country, Ghulam Isaczai, met with the countrys leadership.

Ghulam Isaczai presented his letter of credentials to President Ilham Aliyev on April 12, Azertac state news agency reported.

President Aliyev, addressing the meeting, reminded that Azerbaijan established close relations with a number of institutions of the United Nations, saying that the country maintained very active cooperation with the organization.

Baku had hosted several important events of the United Nations, the president said, expressing hope that Azerbaijan would successfully continue its cooperation with the UN institutions.

The head of state further said the poverty reduction was one of Azerbaijan`s great achievements, and added that the work was being carried out to completely eliminate poverty in the country. New employment mechanisms were introduced and social programs were being implemented. These measures would significantly contribute to the elimination of poverty.

President Aliyev underlined the importance of interaction between the UN and relevant bodies in Azerbaijan in terms of the country`s achieving goals in a short period of time.

The head of state also highlighted the importance of the Seventh Global Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations to be held in Baku. The President said the forum would allow Azerbaijan to share its development experience and present itself to the world.

The Forum, that will take place April 25-27, will bring together around 2,500 participants. The forum, whose participants will include heads of state, government officials, civil society, religious and youth leaders, will be held under the motto "Living Together in Inclusive Societies: A Challenge and A Goal".

The seventh Global Forum will also feature a Youth Event on April 25, which will bring together 150 young leaders from 110 countries.

The UN official, for his part, expressed his hope that the organization would be able to support the implementation of sustainable development goals in Azerbaijan.

Reminding that the UN and Azerbaijan had maintained fruitful cooperation over the last 20 years, Isaczai said that the organization intended to strengthen its current partnership ties with the government of Azerbaijan.

The UN Resident Coordinator said he was deeply impressed with the ongoing development processes in the country, and emphasized the significance of the country`s accomplishments in poverty reduction and rehabilitation of infrastructure.

Isaczai said he observed significant changes in Azerbaijan in comparison with his previous visit, adding that this development was achieved under the leadership of national leader Heydar Aliyev and President Ilham Aliyev.

The United Nations is interested in expanding cooperation with Azerbaijan, Isaczai once again stated as he met Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov. At the meeting, Isaczai presented a copy of his credentials to Mammadyarov.

Congratulating Isaczai on his appointment, the minister expressed his hope that he would contribute to further development of relations between Azerbaijan and the UN.

Mammadyarov stressed that the cooperation between Azerbaijan and the UNDP was successfully developing.

Informing his interlocutor about the large-scale energy and transport projects implemented with Azerbaijan's initiative and participation in recent years, Mammadyarov highlighted the recent steps which carried out for the realization of East- West and North  South transportation corridors.

Gulam Isaczai mentioned that the UN stands ready to provide its technical support for the realization of these transportation corridors.

The UN Resident Coordinator noted that he would spare no efforts to contribute to the strengthening of ties between Azerbaijan and the UN, mentioning the successful experiences of ANAMA and ASAN Services of Azerbaijan, which other countries can also be benefited.

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12 April 2016 10:00 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev expressed condolences to his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee over the fire in Puttingal temple in the city of Paravur, Azertac state news agency reported.

"We are deeply saddened by the news of fire that occurred in Puttingal temple in the city of Paravur resulting in heavy casualties and injuries," President Aliyev said.

"On the occasion of the tragedy, on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan and on my own behalf, I express deep condolences to you, families and close ones of those who died and the people of India, and wish the injured recovery," the president added.

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12 April 2016 10:32 (UTC+04:00)

President Ilham Aliyev has signed a decree on establishment of the State Exam Center public legal person of Azerbaijan, Azertac state news agency reported.

The decree considers adaptation of the student admission at the education institutions to international practice.

The State Exam Center is considered to organize admission of personnel to civil service on a competitive basis, the final assessment of students at the secondary schools, centralized admission exams to bachelor and master decrees at the higher schools, and master decree at the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences.

The decree notes that executive body of the State Exam Center is consisting of the 7-member board of directors. The appointment and firing of the chairman of the board of directors, deputies and members will be carried out by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The initial authorized capital of the center is one million Azerbaijani manat from the state budget of Azerbaijan.

Since registering the State Exam Center, the Civil Service Commission under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the State Students Admission Commission of the Republic of Azerbaijan are dissolved and state property used by these bodies is handed over to the State Exam Center.

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12 April 2016 12:57 (UTC+04:00)

By Aynur Karimova

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation plans to establish a contact group for the settlement of the long-lasting Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

This was announced by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu at a preparatory meeting of the OIC Foreign Ministers on April 12.

He said that a decision on the establishment of a contact group for resolving the conflict was adopted at the level of experts of the organization.

Cavusoglu believes that the OIC should make its contribution to the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Saying that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be resolved only within the internationally recognized borders, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, the Turkish top diplomat urged the OIC member states to enter the contact group.

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 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

Cavusoglu, touching upon the recent aggravation of situation on the line of contact of the Armenian and Azerbaijani Armed Forces, said that these clashes will continue as long as Armenia continues occupation of the Azerbaijani territories.

Turkey's Istanbul city is hosting the 13th Summit of the OIC titled "Unity and Solidarity for Justice and Peace." The summit kicked off on April 10 and will last until April 15.

A delegation led by Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov is participating at this meeting. He is expected to deliver a speech during the meeting, as well as have a number of bilateral meetings.

The agenda of the meeting includes the discussion over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as well as the fight against terrorism.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.



Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said. Ignoring the agreement, the Armenian side again started violating the ceasefire.

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12 April 2016 17:40 (UTC+04:00)

By Nazrin Gadimova

Azerbaijan appraised a decision of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to establish a contact group that will deal with the Armenian aggression towards the country's territorial integrity.

Elmar Mammadyarov, Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister made the statement as part of a preparatory meeting of the OIC Foreign Ministers, which was held in Istanbul on April 12.

Azerbaijan, which has been suffering from Armenias aggressive policy for many years, has repeatedly called on the international community to condemn Yerevans policy against Baku.

Numerous international organizations, high-ranking officials have shown an interest in this issue, but the OSCE Minsk Group has been the sole negotiator of the long-lasting Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict since its beginning.

However, the situation has changed dramatically as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) announced its plans to establish a contact group for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Addressing the event, Mammadyarov said Azerbaijan has always attached great importance to its relations with OIC.

We are proud that during our non-permanent membership in the UN Security Council a special meeting devoted to strengthening the partnership synergy between the UN and OIC was held at UN Headquarters, Mammadyarov said while speaking at the meeting. We strongly believe that this practice must continue, as it provides a good practice of expressing views on risks and challenges that our world has faced."

Only throughout past years, Baku has hosted several OIC events such as the Ministerial Conference on the Role of Women in the Development of OIC Member States, the Conference of OIC Labor Ministers. Moreover, upon the proposal of the Azerbaijani President, the OIC Labor center was endorsed to be established in Baku.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, in turn, believes that the OIC should make its contribution to the settlement of the conflict within the internationally recognized borders, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

The OIC always kept the issue of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in focus. Its member states expressed concern over the occupation of Azerbaijan territories by Armenia as well as the looting and destruction of archeological, cultural and religious monuments in those areas, including those Islamic monuments included in the resolution adopted by the organization during the OIC summit in Dakar, Senegal in 2008.

Moreover, the organization has also repeatedly slammed Armenia for the destruction of Islamic artifacts in the invaded lands.

After the aggravation of the situation in Azerbaijans occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region, OIC urged Armenia to immediately liberate occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.

Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said. Ignoring the agreement, the Armenian side again started violating the ceasefire.

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 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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Nazrin Gadimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @NazrinGadimova

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12 April 2016 17:26 (UTC+04:00)

The ceasefire can't be a guarantor of a sustainable peace in the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hikmet Hajiyev told Trend.

"The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is in the active military phase. The ceasefire can't be a guarantor of sustainable peace," he said, adding that the latest developments on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies proved that once again.

Following the recent escalation of the situation on the line of contact, the international community showed an unequivocal position on this issue: it is necessary to restore the ceasefire and continue the negotiation process on the comprehensive settlement of the conflict, according to the spokesperson.

Thereby, the international community reiterated that it recognizes Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, Hajiyev said.

Armenia has been isolated from the rest of the world due to its unconstructive position, he said, adding that dissatisfaction with the policy of the authorities is growing in this country and this can lead to serious cataclysms.

The entire international community, including the OSCE Minsk Group accepts the phased settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, according to the spokesperson.

"The conflict's settlement in a single package form is impossible," he said. "The phased settlement first of all envisages the liberation of seven occupied districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh."

"The phased approach is possible in the process of liberation of these districts as well: in the first phase, five districts can be liberated, refugees and IDPs return to these districts, those territories are cleared of mines and the infrastructure is restored," he said, adding that Kalbajar and Lachin districts can be liberated at the next stage.

By pursuing political manipulation, Armenia raises the issue of creating a corridor, said Hajiyev, adding that in the case of liberating those districts and opening the borders, there will be no need to create a corridor.

He added that the status of Nagorno-Karabakh can be discussed at the final stage.

Azerbaijani community should return there and the status should be determined within Azerbaijan's borders, said Hajiyev.

He noted that in order to achieve all this, the OSCE Minsk Group members and Armenia should show political will.

On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.

Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said. Ignoring the agreement, the Armenian side again started violating the ceasefire.

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 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
12 April 2016 18:35 (UTC+04:00)

By Aynur Karimova

Bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Malaysia are of pivotal importance for both countries, and these ties have developed in various fields, including political, economic and others.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev made the remark in a meeting with the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Malaysian Parliament, Seri Ronald Kiandee in Baku on April 12, Azertac state news agency reported.

President Aliyev said that there are ample opportunities for developing cooperation between the two countries in investment making, high technology, tourism and other fields.

Underlining Malaysian Petronas Company's successful operation in Azerbaijan, the head of state said that the company has a large stake in one of the important projects in the country.

Describing Azerbaijan and Malaysia as friendly countries, President Aliyev emphasized that the two countries have always supported each other within international organizations.

Kiandee, in turn, said that it is his first visit to Baku. He highlighted the activity of the Malaysia-Azerbaijan friendship group at the Parliament of Malaysia, saying it consists of eight members.

He hailed the friendship group's role in developing relations between the legislative bodies of the two countries.

Describing Azerbaijan as an important partner of Malaysia, Kiandee hailed the Malaysian Petronas Company's activities in the country as a good example of bilateral relations.

As part of the Baku visit, the Malaysian delegation also visited the Alley of Honor and the Alley of Martyrs, as well as held discussion on the Baku-Kuala Lumpur ties at the Azerbaijani Parliament.

Malaysia enjoys close and friendly relations with Azerbaijan since diplomatic relations were established in 1993. Azerbaijan established its diplomatic mission in Malaysia in 2007, while Malaysia established its Embassy in Baku in 2014.

In 2015, total trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $89 million.

Malaysian National Oil Company - Petronas owns a 15.5 percent stake in the Shah Deniz production sharing agreement operated by a consortium of companies, 15.5 percent share in the South Caucasus Pipeline Company (SCPC), 15.5 percent share in the SCPC holding company, and 12.4 percent share in the Azerbaijan Gas Supply Company.

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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova

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12 April 2016 18:21 (UTC+04:00)

By Nazrin Gadimova

Azerbaijan has urged representatives of the international media not to visit countrys occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region without permit of the Foreign Ministry.

Otherwise, Baku will not be able to ensure safety of those wishing to visit territories that are currently under control of the Armenian armed units.

Countrys Foreign Ministry takes into account the interest of foreign media in the situation on the contact line of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, as well as their professional duties and calls on them to comply with Azerbaijans territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Thus, everyone who wants to cover the situation in the front-line area and in the occupied territories must first apply to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. Applications for accreditation should be sent in electronic form using the ministrys website.

Moreover, the damage caused by the actions of the Armenian armed units to the civilian Azerbaijani population and objects along the line of contact should be covered in order to ensure objectivity, to avoid unilateral approach and to inform the international community correctly.

Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry also recommended foreign media to be careful to misinformation, false information and provocative messages spread by the Armenian side.

Yerevan is trying to divert attention from the political and legal responsibility for the tension that has arisen on the contact line of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops as a result of provocative actions of the Armenian armed forces, the ministry believes.

Moreover, enemys actions are aimed at deceiving the international community by organizing trips for representatives of foreign media to the occupied territories, according to the ministry.

Thus, the ministry has condemned the visit of Greek and Latvian MPs to the Nagorno-Karabakh region, occupied by Armenia.

The visit of member of Greek parliament Garyfallia (Liana) Kanelli and the member of the Latvian parliament Sergejs Potapkins to Karabakh is instigation and a biased approach, Hikmet Hajiyev, the Spokesperson for Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said on April 12.

Similar steps, which contradict the positions of Greece and Latvia on resolving the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through negotiations and the spirit of cooperation between Azerbaijan and these countries, encourage Armenia's provocative actions and exacerbate an already difficult situation, Hajiyev stressed.

Azerbaijan's embassies in Greece and Latvia will express dissatisfaction of the Azerbaijani side to the relevant bodies of Greece and Latvia on the basis of friendship and mutual understanding between the two countries, the ministrys spokesperson concluded.
12 April 2016 16:05 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

An Italian business delegation of 15 companies engaged in various spheres of the economy arrived in Baku to explore the local market for doing business and making investments here.

The Italian businessmen, who are in the country for the first time, held their first meeting with Italian Ambassador to Baku Giampaolo Cutillo and Italian Trade Commissioner Luigi DAprea on April 12.

The businessmen, coming from Italys Sicilia and representing medicine, logistics, alternative energy, engineering, construction, foodstuff, culture and jewelry sectors, discussed which spheres can be developed in the country.

Ambassador Cutillo, addressing the meeting, said that the two countries are developing the bilateral relations rapidly, particularly in the oil and gas sector.

He underlined that Italy closely cooperates with Azerbaijan in the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project, which is designed to transport natural gas from the giant Shah Deniz II field of Azerbaijan to Europe.

Emphasizing that many projects are connecting the two countries, Ambassador Cutillo stressed that the two sides should also develop other sectors besides the energy.

I had the opportunity to brief them about my experience here and talk about the potential and opportunities that the market offers, the ambassador said following the event.

Currently, Azerbaijan is going through delicate phase of its development. However, the country has a lot to offer. We are observing a strategic commitment to making reforms and diversifying the Azerbaijani economy, so I believe that Italy has much to offer in this regard.

President of Italy Progress, Teresa Ingrao informed that the delegation has already familiarized with the Azerbaijani market.

Before visiting the country, we have already analyzed the market and got acquainted with Azerbaijan, she said.

President of Logistics Company Giovanni Bella and Vice President of Italy Progress, Giovanni Bella also assured that the Azerbaijani market is very attractive for Italian companies. Azerbaijan does not have many Italian investors in the moment. The fields are free and we hope that we can develop good business bringing the companies to Azerbaijan, he said.

He said Italy has products of only good quality, and the Italian companies want to bring only best products to Azerbaijan.

Luigi DAprea, for his part, spoke about necessity of creating direct contacts between businessmen of the two countries.

Bulk of the products sold in the country is exported from Russia, China and Turkey. But, Made in Italy products are always welcomed in Azerbaijan. We need time for more direct contact with the local market, he explained.

Luigi DAprea , following the event said that the meeting was very interesting.

The companies which participated in the meeting are very interested in cooperation with Azerbaijan. Now, there is a good opportunity for the two states to develop their relations, he said.

During the visit that will last until April 15, the Italian businessmen will hold several meetings at the countrys ministries and meet with local entrepreneurs. The Italian entrepreneurs seek to visit the country once again in July.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli



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12 April 2016 17:38 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan and Japan enjoy big opportunities to develop the economic ties.

Deputy Minister of Economy and Industry Sahil Babayev made the remark, while meeting a delegation of Japans Okinawa Prefecture, headed by economy expert Kazuyasu Ishida and Speaker of Okinawa Parliament Masaharu Kina.

Reminding that Japanese companies have invested $4.8 billion into the Azerbaijani economy, Babayev said that over the past year the trade turnover between the two countries more than doubled and amounted to $558.1 million.

Azerbaijan, which chooses non-oil sector as the priority for the development of its economy has great opportunities for the expanding ties with the Okinawa Prefecture, which specializes in agriculture, industry and tourism, the deputy minister explained.

Masaharu Kina, for his part, stressed the importance of meetings to be held in Azerbaijan for the development of bilateral relations.

The main goal of our visit is to get acquainted with Azerbaijan, as well as to twin the city of Miyakojima in Okinawa Prefecture and Nakhchivan, he said.

Like Nakhchivan, Okinawa also has a strategically important location.



During the visit, the Japan delegation expects to hold a number of meetings and discuss ways of developing cooperation between the two regions, in particular in the field of tourism, energy and renewable energy.



Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, Japan was one of the first countries to support Baku's forward-looking oil strategy.

Today two major Japanese companies - Itochu and INPEX - are involved in the Contract of the Century. Leaders of Japanese business, Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Marubeni, and Sojits are involved in energy and infrastructure projects in the country as well.

The INPEX Company owns a 10.96 percent stake in the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli block development project, as well as a 2.5 percent stake in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.

So far, Japanese companies were involved mainly in projects in the energy sector, but in recent years their interests to cooperate in areas such as petrochemicals, oil refining, energy, medicine, high-tech and space industry have increased.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli



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12 April 2016 18:03 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan's Sumgayit Chemical Industrial Park, established to ensure necessary environment for the development of industrial production, attracts more and more foreign investors.

Deputy Economy Minister Niyazi Safarov has stated that currently companies from Iran, Russia and Germany are interested in becoming residents of the Chemical Industrial Park.



Safarov said that the ministry is considering the issue on these companies' participation in the activity of the Chemical Industrial Park.



"The new residents of the Park will be presented next week," said Safarov.

The area of the Park established in 2011 constitutes 167.66 hectares and resides nearby Sumgait city that is 32.5 km away from Baku. The appropriate external and internal infrastructure (electricity, heating, water supply, communication and other systems) with offices, training centers, offices, laboratory, etc. were be established within the Park to enable profitable activity and development of entrepreneurs and produce competitive products and render services through the application of modern technologies.

Safarov further noted that the negotiations are underway on establishment of a steel production complex here.

The production of admixtures for use in the metallurgy field is one of the major projects to be realized in the Sumgait Chemical Industrial Park, according to Safarov.

"The resident is implementing design works, and the laying of the plant's foundation stone will be held in the near future," he noted adding that these products will be both sold domestically and exported abroad.

The Sumgayit Chemical Industrial Park chooses its residents based on such criteria as the use of innovative technologies, compliance of technologies with environmental standards and the products should be export-oriented and competitive, according to the deputy director.

To increase the investment attractiveness of the park its residents are exempt from paying income, land and property taxes for seven years. Moreover, equipment and technology used in the park are also exempt from value-added tax.

The Azerbaijani government takes serious measures and creates a room for new foreign investors as the national economy is open for all investors that will positively impact the countrys economic potential.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli



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12 April 2016 14:51 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

Gusar, the country's picturesque north region was presented as part of the "From the regions to the capital" project organized by the Baku Culture and Tourism Department and the Gusar Culture and Tourism Department.

The event held on April 11 aimed to familiarize Baku residents and guests with social and economic development, the ancient and rich culture and traditions of Gusar and promote its tourism potential.

Visitors first enjoyed the exhibition reflecting history, culture and tourism potential of Gusar region. The exhibition also displayed the works by craftsmen, samples of national cuisine and fruits and vegetables cultivated in the region.

Culture and Tourism Minister Abulfaz Garayev, addressing the event, said the government pays great attention to the socio-economic development of the country's regions. In this regard, active efforts are being made for the restoration and preservation of ancient national heritage, monuments, nature reserves as well as the development of tourism sector and modernization of infrastructure.

The minister further informed the participants about the ongoing "From the regions to the capital" project launched in 2015. The project already saw events dedicated to Khachmaz, Masalli, Gabala, Guba, Sheki, Gadabay, Ismayilli and Shamkir regions and each one was a huge success, achieving its target.

Later, Head of the Gusar Region Executive Power Shair Alkhasov said that the project gives the opportunity to demonstrate local culture, folklore and tourist potential of this region.

In the end, the audience was shown video about Gusar region and enjoyed the concert with participation of masters of art.

Gusar, one of the most attractive regions of Azerbaijan, has been announced The capital of Azerbaijans folklore 2016. The north region will hold the title in accordance with the "Folk Art Capitals" program by the Azerbaijani Culture and Tourism Ministry.

Called Northern Gates due to its geographical location and located 180 km away from Baku, Gusar is the last large region in the north of Azerbaijan.

Favorable natural conditions create a great opportunity for organization of the resorts, recreational and tourist complexes in this area. The recently opened Shahdag winter and summer tourist complex has gained a high popularity both among Azerbaijanis and foreigners. This is a popular ski resort in winter and a camp site in the lap of the Caucasus Mountains in summer.

Not far from the complex is located an ancient village Laza surrounded by mountains and well known for its majestic waterfalls. Competitions on climbing are held at the frozen waterfalls in winter here.

Many historical monuments are preserved in Gusar. Around the region, one can also find carpet weaving, handicraft embroidery, wood engraving, and souvenir shopping.

Gusar has all the conditions necessary for ecological tourism, and here tourists might observe historical monuments and samples of folk art in the village of Anig, as well as become familiar with samples of folk art and the traditions of the local population.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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12 April 2016 16:22 (UTC+04:00)

By Fatma Babayeva

Azerbaijans state energy giant SOCAR will commission more gas stations in Baku by late 2016, SOCAR Vice President David Mammadov said at the event devoted to the state support to the industry development on April 12.

Currently, two gas stations of SOCAR brand function in Baku, and three more will be opened in the capital city, Mammadov said.

SOCAR, which is keen on expanding operations in the retail oil products market of the country and abroad, has 16 gas stations in the country and other three are leased. SOCAR also enjoys a network of filling stations in Switzerland, Georgia, Ukraine and Romania.

David Mammadov further said that buses of the BakuBus company currently use compressed natural gas (CNG) produced by SOCAR.

Compressed natural gas is used as a fuel instead of gasoline, diesel and propane. It is cheaper than conventional fuel. CNG produces less greenhouse gases while burning smaller compared to conventional fuels. Thus, it is friendlier to the environment.

CNG is produced by compressing natural gas at compressor plants. This type of gas is stored in a special storages under 200-220 atmospheric pressure.

Annual domestic demand for gasoline amounts to 1.4 million tons in Azerbaijan, and domestic production meets the demand for gasoline within the country.

Oil and oil products consumption in Azerbaijan stood at 101, 000 barrels per day during 2013-2014, according to BP statistical review of World Energy 2015. SOCAR is the sole producer of oil products in Azerbaijan.

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Fatma Babayeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Fatma_Babayeva

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12 April 2016 15:04 (UTC+04:00)

By Fatma Babayeva

While many eyes are concentrated on the upcoming Doha meeting in anticipation of positive news for oil market, some analysts urge the results can be disappointing for producers.

The result of the forthcoming Doha Meeting of main oil producers may disappoint the market by only promising further cooperation to stabilize the market, Edward Chow, a senior fellow in the Energy and National Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) based in Washington D.C. thinks.

"I have little to expect from the meeting in Doha, it is just a nice declaration pledging further cooperation", Chow said to Trend news agency.

Oil-producing countries are planning to hold a meeting in Doha April 17 where they will discuss the issue of freezing oil at the level of February 2016. They aim to stabilize oil prices in the market by putting a cap on their oil production.

Earlier, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Venezuela agreed to support world oil prices at a meeting in Doha on February 16, but only if other manufacturers would join the initiative as well.

Among the countries that have expressed willingness are Ecuador, Algeria, Nigeria, Oman, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates.

However, Saudi Arabia, the largest oil exporter in OPEC, also said that it will not freeze the oil production without Iran's participation.

Although, Iran confirmed its participation at Doha meeting, it is reluctant to join the oil freezing plan since it has been isolated from the market for a long time and wants to gain its market share back.

Chow stressed that despite the fact that participants of the forthcoming Doha meeting are willing to freeze their oil output in the market, none of them expressed desire to cut oil production.

Currently, global oil supply still exceeds global oil demand. It is unlikely that this situation will change before the end of 2016 or early 2017, the expert said.

Holding such a meeting may disappoint the market if not followed by concrete actions, Chow added. It could lead to testing of the oil price standing at $40 per barrel.

Global oil supply is expected to amount to 96.44 million barrels per day in 2016 and 96.7 million barrels per day in 2017 by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Meanwhile, global oil demand is projected by the EIA to be 94.85 million barrels per day in 2016 and 96.06 million barrels per day in 2017.

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Fatma Babayeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Fatma_Babayeva

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12 April 2016 18:01 (UTC+04:00)

By Fatma Babayeva

SOCAR will launch construction work under the project on the modernization of Baku Oil Refinery Plant named after Heydar Aliyev in 2017, Deputy Director General of the Oil and Gas Processing Complex (OGPC) Emil Alkhasly said at the event dedicated to the state support to the industrial development on April 12.

The preparation for the front end engineering and design (FEED) project will be accomplished by the end of this year, and construction work will begin in early 2017, Alkhasly said.

He stressed that a number of facilities will be built in order to ensure production of diesel fuel meeting Euro 5 standards by July of 2019, and several facilities will be constructed for the production of gasoline meeting Euro 5 standards by May, 2020.

New asphalt plant will also be commissioned in July 2018, he added.

The project will enable Azerbaijan to meet its domestic demand for motor gasoline in the coming 15-20 years.

Once completed, the capacity of the Oil Refinery Plant will increase from 6 million to 7.5 million tons of oil a year.

In January 2015, SOCAR announced the elimination of the Azneftyag refinery and its merger with the Baku Oil Refinery named after Heydar Aliyev. This decision was made as part of works to improve and optimize the structure of the State Oil Company.

The modernization of the Baku Oil Refinery Plant will be completed by the end of 2018.

The OGPC is one of the strategically important projects realized by SOCAR. It will be constructed in about 60 kilometers away from Baku. This project will be finalized in late 2022 and early 2023.

The construction of OGPC will improve oil and gas products quality and enhance the export potential of the country.

Overall, the cost of the project amounts to $17.1 billion plus interests for the loan that will be received.

It is worth to mention that 5.45 million tons of oil products were produced in Azerbaijan during 2015 compared to 5.31 million tons of oil products manufactured during 2014.

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Fatma Babayeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Fatma_Babayeva

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12 April 2016 13:28 (UTC+04:00)

By Fatma Babayeva

Kazakhstan and Iran have signed a number of agreements covering various fields following the meeting of Kazakhstan-Iran Business Council held in Tehran in April 10 which coincided with President Nursultan Nazarbayevs visit to Iran.

The sides agreed on a number of issues covering metallurgy and mining industries, railway communication, agricultural sector, tourism and so on.

The two countries inked export contracts about providing agricultural and engineering products to Iran. They also had a deal on joint implementation of the chemical and petrochemical projects.

The Investment Fund of Kazakhstan and Iran's Kaveh Glass Industry Group signed an agreement on sodium carbonate production plant in Kazakhstan's Kyzylorda province. The cost of this project amounts to $200 million.

Kazakh company Alageum Electric and Iranian Niroo Nransfo Co inked an agreement for supplying transformers and transformer oils to Iran.

Irans power and water equipment and services export company SUNIR signed a contract with Kazakhstans Eurasia Invest Group on the construction of a solar power plant with the capacity of 50 megawatts in Kazakhstans Almaty city.

Moreover, Kazakh company Topan agreed with Iranian Electro Kavir Co. to create a joint venture in Iran's territory for further supply of technological and commercial accounting systems for hydrocarbons.

Agricultural sector was among the discussed cooperation areas. The parties have signed a package of agreements on the import and export of agricultural products.

A number of Kazakh companies have agreed to export meat and grain products to Iran.

Furthermore, Iranian companies intend to invest $30 million in Kazakhstan's geological exploration, the Kazakh Ministry for Investments and Development reported on April 11.

The parties intend to implement joint projects on solid mineral searching in the promising areas, their evaluation and attracting investments in Kazakhstan.

Iranian companies are interested in big iron ore, polymetallic and copper deposits, the ministry said.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that during the meeting with Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev various issues were discussed such as strengthening cooperation in trade and investment, agriculture, transit and transport spheres, as well as, international and regional security.

Rouhani described the signed documents as a turning point in ties between two countries, Iran's IRINN TV channel reported.

The Iranian president also said that issues related to the Caspian Sea such as environmental issues, maritime transport and particularly the status of the Caspian Sea status were discussed during the meeting on April 11.

Kazakhstan and Iran are two coastal states located at the opposite sides of the Caspian Sea, and their deepening cooperation is believed to enhance regional security, improve navigation and environmental protection of the sea, and maybe accelerate the issue about resolving the delimitation of the Caspian Sea in future.

President Nazarbayev also met with Iranian spiritual leader Ali Khamenei and discussed ways to further strengthen cooperation between the two countries, especially combating terrorism and extremism activities.

President Nazarbayev described Iran as a great, powerful and reliable neighbor, and said, 'The two countries have many capacities for the expansion of relations and we reach agreements on important economic and trade programs which will result in the expansion of mutual cooperation.'



The Kazakh president also pointed to Ayatollah Khamenei's call for unity in the Muslim world, saying Islam is the religion of progress, unity and fight on terrorism.

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Fatma Babayeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Fatma_Babayeva

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12 April 2016 11:29 (UTC+04:00)

Tehran and Delhi have reached fundamental agreements on developing Farzad B gas field during Indian Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's recent visit to the Islamic Republic.

Jafar Pourfarjoudi, spokesperson of Iran's Oil Ministry, told Trend April 11 that during the talks the sides have discussed a time table for the project as well as the continuation of cooperation for the development of the gas field.

The initial agreement for exploration and the development of Farzad B gas field was signed with a consortium comprising of three Indian governmental companies in 2000.

However, the contract was realized only in exploration part and no measure has been taken regarding the development of the field.

It is estimated that the development of the project will cost about $5 billion.

"So far, the sides have only reached an agreement for cooperation on the issue and it is expected to hold further talks on the details and the framework of the agreement in future," Pourfarjoudi said.

Dharmendra Pradhan paid an official visit to Tehran about two days ago where Tehran and Delhi signed a document on cooperation on the development of Farzad B field.

According to estimations, Farzad B gas field contains over 350 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 212 million barrels of condensate.

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has announced that the contract for the development of Farzad B will be under sole source contract.

A consortium led by India's ONGC Videsh in 2008 discovered the Binaloud oil field off the Farsi offshore block in 2008. The consortium is now keen to seal a contract for developing the gas field.

over teh past decade, Tehran held talks with Delhi for exporting its gas to India through a pipeline crossing Pakistan but later India opted out of the project.

So far, the Indian side has proposed to construct a $4.5 billion seabed pipeline for supplying Iran's gas to India. They have also put forward a project for the construction of a LNG production unite in port city of Chabahar.

Following the Indian delegation's recent visit to Tehran media outlets suggested that Delhi is keen to invest $20 billion in Chabahar. According to the media reports some parts of the figure is expected to be invested in the construction of a petrochemical factory as well as a LNG unit in Chabahar.

Pourfarjoudi has said that the issue of exporting Iran's gas to India was discussed in the recent talks. According to Pourfarjoudi if India invests in Chabahar, the issue of exporting gas through sea-bed or LNG will be considered. However the sides have not agreed on the methods for exporting gas.

According to the official Iran also eyes purchasing refineries in India aimed at guaranteeing its oil exports.

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12 April 2016 18:20 (UTC+04:00)

By Aynur Karimova

Iran has urged Italy to restore its role as the Islamic Republics largest economic partner in the European Union.

Such a call was made by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on April 12 during a joint press conference with Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who is on a visit to the Islamic Republic.



"Italy used to be Iran's largest economic partner in the EU before sanctions were imposed [on Tehran] and we want Italy to restore its previous role," Rouhani said, IRINN news channel reported.



Italy was one of Iran's major economic and trade partners before the international nuclear-related sanctions were imposed on Iran. Then, the trade turnover amounted to 7 billion euros, while this figure stands at 1.6 billion euros now.



Rouhani further said that he and Renzi discussed the ways to foster economic and trade cooperation in the post-sanctions era, activity of Italian investors and companies in Iran, fighting terrorism, regional issues and tourism.

Speaking about the financial ties between the two countries, President Rouhani called for removing obstacles to the expansion of trade ties. He said proper measures have been taken to strengthen banking ties between the sides, but the parties still need to solve some issues.



"Although the sanctions on Iran's banking system have been lifted, there are still some psychological impacts that should be removed," he noted.



Renzi, who heads a 250-member political and economic delegation, embarked on a visit to Iran on April 12.

During Renzi's visit, the two countries signed seven documents on cooperation in a number of sector including, industry and renewable energy, railway, gas, development of Tehran's Mehrabad Airport, car industry.



So far, Iran and Italy have agreed on a total of 37 deals as 30 documents were signed in Rome in January during President Rouhani's visit to Italy. Then, the two countries signed deals worth up to 17 billion euros.



During his January visit, Rouhani headed a high-ranking delegation of business leaders and ministers, signing a pipeline contract worth between $4 billion and $5 billion for oil services group Saipem.

Since the nuclear deal between Iran and Group P5+1, Italy has been trying to turn into Iran's first trade partner in Europe and in this connection several Italian ministers as well as trade and government delegations have visited Iran.

Both countries believe that there are many sectors where the two countries may cooperate. This includes energy and health fields. Also, there are plenty of opportunities in Iran for Italian small and medium sized companies.

--

Aynur Karimova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
 

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High street cafe Costa Coffee has announced that managing director Christopher Rogers is to step down.

Rogers will remain with Costa until 1 July, but his replacement, Dominic Paul, will become managing director on 6 June. Paul joins from Royal Caribbean International, where he has been senior vice-president, international, since November 2013.

Rogers, also an executive director at Costas parent company Whitbread, will be stepping down from the board following its next meeting on 20 April.

Rogers said: I have loved being part of Whitbread and Costa during what has been a period of enormous value creation and growth and, after 11 years, I have decided that now is the right time for change.

Costa is a great business with tremendous people and I wish them, Alison and all my colleagues at Whitbread every future success.

Alison Brittain, chief executive officer at Whitbread, said: During his tenure, Chris has played a key role in establishing the successful group that we have today, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for this and to wish him well in the future.

Dominic brings a wealth of experience in the travel and leisure industry, both here in the UK and overseas, and his recent experience is particularly relevant for Costas international growth plans. His passion for delivering outstanding customer experiences and track record of delivering growth in customer-focused hospitality businesses make him the perfect fit for Costa.
Latin American Oil Producers Discuss Output Freeze

Quito, Ecuador - Delegations from Latin American oil exporters Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Venezuela met in Quito on Friday to discuss a proposed output freeze and other methods to bolster international crude prices.

Ecuador's Energy Ministry said the purpose of the meeting was to define the region's position ahead of a meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC producers in Doha on April 17.

"We want to give a strong message to the market and support the decision to be taken in Qatar," Ecuador's Oil Minister Carlos Pareja told reporters.

The Ecuador meeting is the first significant sign non-OPEC producers Colombia and Mexico may be involved in an effort to bolster prices amid the global glut.

But Mexico's government stressed it was only participating as an "observer" to share information. Its energy ministry emphasized in a statement that crude output has already declined by more than a million barrels per day in the last 12 years.

Mexican officials have said the country cannot freeze or cut output in any kind of coordinated strategy among producers to support prices. Mexico's oil output has been falling for over a decade due to its aging fields and under-investment.

Suffering more than most producers from the 60-percent plummet in oil prices since mid-2014, leftist-ruled Venezuela and Ecuador have pushed hard for the meeting in Doha.

Venezuela's Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino told the Quito meeting 18 countries had confirmed their assistance in Doha, with two or three others committing verbally.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Friday he hoped producers will agree to freeze output in Doha.

Russia, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Qatar agreed in February to freeze production at January levels, but said at the time the deal was contingent on other producers joining in.

Source: STLtoday.com
A 7-year-old girl was killed and two adults were injured in a crash Monday night in Lake Wales.

Kamicheliz Ayala, 7, was ejected from SUV as it overturned

Crash happened on State Road 60, west of Lake Wales Road

Driver Harry Figueroa-Vazquez and passenger Olmary Liz Gonzalez-Bonew injured in crash

According to the Polk County Sheriff's Office, the crash happened just before midnight on State Road 60, a mile west of Lake Wales Road.



Officials said Harry Figueroa-Vazquez, 42, of Lake Wales, was driving the 2004 Suzuki SUV eastbound on SR 60 when the vehicle veered right off the roadway onto a grass shoulder, then back onto the road before flipping over multiple times.

The vehicle came to rest upside down in a ditch along SR 60. Moments later, the vehicle caught fire.

Kamicheliz Ayala, 7, of Lake Wales, was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene. It appears Kamicheliz was not wearing a seat belt, authorities said.



Figueroa-Vazquez was found outside of the vehicle and Kamicheliz's mother, Olmary Liz Gonzalez-Bonew, 35, was pulled from the burning SUV.



Emergency personnel, as well as accident witnesses, used fire extinguishers on the flames as crews pulled Gonzalez-Bonew to safety.



Both adults were taken to Lakeland Regional Health. Gonzalez-Bonew remains in critical condition while Figueroa-Vazquez is listed in stable condition.



Officials said no other vehicles were involved in the crash and impairment does not appear to be a factor. Speed may be involved and distracted driving is being investigated, authorities said.


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A shocking surveillance video that surfaced Sunday shows a man who identified himself as a CenterPoint Energy worker beating a Kingwood family's dogs with a pipe wrench.

Homeowner Mike Willcox said the family's 8-year-old Weimaraner bird dog, Flash, will undergo surgery Friday after suffering a swollen jaw, a concussion and a bloody cut near his eye.

The video shows a man wearing an orange CenterPoint vest walking into the backyard about 9:40 a.m. March 23.

RELATED: Woman seen dragging puppy by leash in Houston (Video)

Willcox said the family didn't have an appointment with the energy company and when his wife went outside to gather the dogs, the man told her he was there to check the meter. Upon bringing the dogs inside, his wife saw Flash was bleeding near his eye.

Willcox went outside to find him, he saw the man raise his wrench to their other 8-year-old Weimaraner, Shutter.

"I told him to stop swinging his wrench at my dog and he said, 'If they come at me, I can swing if I want. I'm going to swing it again if they come at me," Willcox said.

Surveillance footage shows that when the dogs first approached him, the man raised a wrench in his hands and hit a dog across the face.

"They've never bitten anybody," Willcox said of his dogs. "They're very friendly. I've had them since they were puppies."

Willcox filed a complaint with CenterPoint Energy but had not heard back as of Monday morning.

A spokesperson for CenterPoint Energy submitted a statement to KHOU on Sunday afternoon.

"We have determined that a CenterPoint Energy contractor was at this address on this date. CenterPoint Energy does not condone or tolerate abuse of animals by our employees or our contractors. We have notified the contract company and they have assured us that they will conduct a full investigation into the incident."

RELATED: Texas bill would train police to avoid shooting dogs

The Willcox family has filed a report with the Houston Police Department. The family expects an estimated $2,000 in vet bills.

"I don't think my dogs ever had a chance," Willcox said. "How many times has this happened to other people when they come home and see their dog injured and wonder what happened?"

When contacted about possible disciplinary action, CenterPoint did not immediately return calls from the Houston Chronicle.
"Weather permitting" might be the two most important words for anyone who wants to get outdoors to work or play.

Rain chances build into the picture from Monday through Wednesday as a cold front moves toward Southeast Texas and stalls off the coast.

No severe storms are expected, but some locations could see more than an inch of rain, said Roger Erickson, the weather service's warning coordinator meteorologist.

It could result in minor river flooding in the Deweyville area, hit hard by the Toledo Bend flood into the Sabine River a month ago.

That's also not great news for Village Creek State Park, struggling to reopen all its trails and campgrounds after the third-worst flood in its 22-year history, said park superintendent Jerry Rashall.

Half of the park is still closed because of the flooding from Village Creek's tributaries after the torrential rain of March 8-11 dumped an estimated 18 inches at Toledo Bend but also inundated large areas to the west.

Much of Beaumont and Jefferson County were spared the worst of it, but the massive storm that curled around Beaumont produced rapid flooding and erosion.

"We had a few inches to several feet of water," Rashall said.

None of the park's major buildings were flooded, though cabins and the pavilion did. Half of the park's roads were closed for almost a month recently reopened.

Campsites that are served by water and electricity are open and were booked all through this month, Rashall said.

Walk-in campsites are still closed.

Ordinarily, in such good spring weather, the park would have about double its usual number of visitors, Rashall said.

Two of eight miles of trails are open. The water receded enough for park employees to check the rest of the trails.

The canoe launch is open, he said.

Village Creek rose to 23.39 feet because of this year's flood, he said.

In October 1994, it got 25.5 feet and in October 2006, it got 28.3 feet.

Rashall said he expects all of the park's facilities will be open by mid-summer.

While the reservoirs at Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend are full and open for recreation, the mouths of the Neches and Sabine rivers that drain into Sabine Lake have carried tons of debris into the shallow estuary, which also is still almost all fresh water, said Carey Gelpi, ecosystem team leader for the Texas Parks and Wildlie Department's coastal fisheries program in Port Arthur.

"It's still dangerous for boating," he said. "I wouldn't recommend it."

He said the TPWD research vessel in the lake got a bent propeller because of a submerged log. Fiberglass-hulled vessels are particularly at risk because slamming into debris could easily rip a hole in them, he said.

In Beaumont, the city's parks are in good shape, which provides people with access to exercise opportunities, cited as a shortcoming in a report released this week about Jefferson County's well-being.

The exercise opportunities don't refer exclusively to expensive gym memberships but also to open-air parks with amenities for exercise on them.

Beaumont has about 30 parks, ranging from little pocket parks in neighborhoods to larger community parks and a regional park like Tyrrell Park, at which the city will build a boardwalk into Cattail Marsh to attract birders looking to observe migratory species.

Outdoor recreation isn't confined to full-contact exertion.

The Big Thicket Association offers its Neches River Adventures boat trip aboard its Ivory Bill vessel, which cruises up the Neches River from Riverfront Park each Saturday from March through November for floating class on the local environment, said Bruce Walker, the association's executive director.

With a recently announced sale of the city-owned marina, where the Ivory Bill is docked, the tours' future has yet to be determined.

The tour took aboard more than 2,000 students from nine school districts and six private schools for 39 days' worth of outdoor classes, Walker said.

The Ivory Bill ran 56 private charters and public tours that brought another 2,000 visitors into the Beaumont unit of the Big Thicket in 10-Mile Bayou, he said.

DWallach@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/dwallach
When you finally hold that college diploma, you must wonder: Did you really get what you paid for?

PayScale, an online compensation information company, compiled and ranked individual colleges and universities on their returns on investment. The ROI refers to the amount of money students spend on their education and the "profit" they earn after obtaining their degree.
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SAN ANTONIO  Authorities are investigating a suspected murder-suicide that left a Judson High School senior dead Monday morning in Selma.

Judson Independent School District spokesman Steve Linscomb identified the woman as 18-year-old Emilee Hurst Monday afternoon. Mark Villarreal, a 20-year-old graduate of Judson High who is believed to be Hurst's ex-boyfriend, was identified as the shooter by Selma City Administrator Johnny Casias.

Selma Police Department Officers were called to a home in the 14000 block of Medusa around 6:15 a.m. for a disturbance involving a gun, according to Casias.

When officers arrived, they determined shots had already been fired inside. At least one other person was in the home at the time of the shooting and was able to escape and call for help, according to Selma police.

Details involving the incident have not been released as authorities continue to investigate into the afternoon.

SEE MORE: 12-year-old girl struck, killed while walking to school on North Side

Within hours of Hurst's death, Judson students began tweeting thoughts, prayers and condolences under the hashtag #LongLiveEmilee. Linscomb said Hurst was a member of Judson's dance team and an active member of FFA.

"Prayers go out to everyone in the Judson area, her friends, and her family. We lost a beautiful soul. RIP Emilee #LongLiveEmilee," user @totesally tweeted.

Linscomb said investigators believe Villarreal fatally shot Hurst before turning the gun on himself.

Its just a really, really sad situation, Linscomb said. These students obviously are going to be in different kinds of relationships, and its just extremely sad that this ended this way, especially with this being so close to graduation.

SEE ALSO: Commander went out swinging in Lackland murder-suicide

Increased numbers of counseling and guidance staff have been sent out to the high school to offer help to anyone in need. Linscomb said the additional workers will likely remain on campus through Tuesday.

In 2015, 106 homicides occurred in San Antonio, according to the Express-News' homicide database, an ongoing, searchable resource that tracks every homicide in the city through a combination of news archives and public records.

Explore details including cause of death, date, location and victim's name and age from each instance in the Express-News database, which includes an interactive map.

Text "NEWS" to 72727 to sign up for breaking news from mySA

mdwilson@express-news.net

Twitter: @MDWilsonSA
Here are five updates on ASC management companies from the past week.

During the fiscal year 2015, Surgical Care Affiliates total net operating revenues reached $1.1 billion, up 21.6 percent from $864.7 million in 2014.

Tenet Healthcare appointed Howard Hacker as senior vice president and CCO. As Tenet's CCO, Mr. Hacker will lead the company's ethics and compliance programs, which Tenet's Quality, Compliance and Ethics Program Charter established.

In 2015, AmSurg's accreditation experts helped 76 of its centers in completing re-accreditation surveys. Three AmSurg centers achieved initial accreditation last year.

BNN, a Canadian business and finance channel, interviewed Nobilis Health CEO Harry Fleming. Mr. Fleming discussed the company's plans going forward.

Hospital Corporation of America shares traded at $79.14 per share, down 0.1 percent, during the week of April 4 to April 8.

If you have a question, issue or note to suggest on an ASC management and development company please contact Mary Rechtoris at mrechtoris@beckershealthcare.com.

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The Donald P. and Darlene V. Shiley Eye Institute at UC San Diego Health celebrated 25 years in practice, according to UC San Diego Health.

Here are five takeaways:

1. Shiley Eye Institute was San Diego's first comprehensive eye care facility.

2. In 1990, Stuart Brown, MD, approached Donald and Darlene Shiley about potentially funding some equipment. The Shileys were impressed with the project and made a $1 million leadership donation for the center's construction.

3. Last year, the UC San Diego Shiley Eye Center was renamed the UC San Diego Donald P. and Darlene V. Shiley Eye Institute, which comprised the Shiley Eye Center, the Anne F. and Abraham Ratner Children's Eye Center, the Hamilton Glaucoma Center and the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Retina Center.

4. Shiley Eye Institute physicians and researchers recently have been involved in creating a smart contact lens. The lens would wirelessly monitor intraocular pressure and the use of self-renewing stem cells to repair or restore vision.

5. The center is in the planning stages of a new Vision Research Center, which will work to speed up the translation of new research into treatments for blind patients.

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Boston-based Steward Health Care has been struggling to make a profit since 2012. However, a recent upgrade from Moody's Investors Service is a sign the for-profit health system is starting to turn things around, according to the Boston Business Journal.

Steward is a 10-hospital system that was created in 2010 from the acquisition of six Caritas hospitals. From 2012 to 2014, the health system saw consecutive operating losses, with a $22.2 million operating loss in 2012, a $55 million operating loss in 2013 and a $75 million operating loss in 2014, according to a December report from Attorney General Maura Healey, the Boston Business Journal reported.

However, Moody's recently upgraded Steward's bonds to "B2" from "B3." Moody's said Steward's restructuring, including the closure of QuincyMedicalCenter in 2014, will help the system generate improved operating results, according to the report.

"The rating agency also expects Steward to have lower capital spending and a reduction in cash pension plan contributions in the years ahead," the Moody's release said. "These improvements will enhance liquidity through increased free cash flow and provide the capacity to repay debt."

The rating agency said Steward could see another upgrade if it increases scale and diversification, according to the report.

Steward provided the Boston Business Journal with a emailed statement that said its improved financials were a result of its business model, which provides healthcare for patients on a budgeted basis instead of receiving reimbursements for every service rendered, according to the report.
In efforts to develop cures and treatments for common chronic diseases, Kaiser Permanente is recruiting members nationwide to contribute their health data to its DNA database.

The Oakland, Calif.-based healthcare organization launched the database in 2008, collecting data from patients in California. Now, Kaiser Permanente plans to collect patient data from members in all seven of the health system's regions.

Here are six things to know about Kaiser Permanente's DNA database.

1. The Kaiser Permanente Research Bank stores genetic, molecular, environmental and other health information to help scientists and researchers better understand diseases and ultimately develop better cures and treatments.

2. The health system seeks to collect data from 500,000 members nationwide; currently 220,000 members are participating. The massive projected scale of the database could make it one of the world's largest repositories of health, genetic and environmental data, reports The Denver Post.

3. Sarah Rowell, associate director of KP Research Bank, said in a statement the difference between this database and others is it includes patient information beyond just health data. "One of the interesting things about the KP Research Bank is that in addition to DNA samples, we ask our participants about behavioral and environmental factors. That means we're able to connect this information with data from the patient's electronic medical record, which could allow us to make discoveries that just aren't possible with other research resources."

4. Gathering data from individuals across the country allows researchers to glean more nuanced, targeted insights. "The more data we have coming from different communities, the more representative the bank will be and allow us to look at all kinds of diseases," Cabell Jonas, regional operational leader of the KP Research Bank, told The Baltimore Sun. "We have such a diversity of members in Kaiser that we hope the bank will reflect the population."

5. This push for diversity in the KP Research Bank data also goes to serve historically underserved communities, according to Tiffany McDaniel, national community advisory board member of the research bank. Having a wider sampling provides researchers data on more rare diseases in addition to more common ones, and members living in underserved communities are providing critical information that could be beneficial for future communities. "By participating in [the research bank], people within these [underserved] communities can help researchers develop knowledge that may help one's children and grandchildren," Ms. McDaniel said in a KP statement. "The more diverse the pool of participants, the more the findings will apply and help those participants and people like them in their communities."

6. Any Kaiser Permanente member who is at least 18 years old and lives in the U.S. is eligible to participate and consent to share their health information with the Kaiser Permanente Research Bank. Participants will provide a blood sample and complete a health survey about their health and habits that may affect health.

Editor's note: A previous version of this article mispelled Cabell Jonas' name.

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A lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union against Trinity Health Corp., a 90-hospital group based in Livonia, Mich., for its anti-abortion policies was dismissed Monday, according to MLive.

The ACLU lawsuit called for an injunction against the strict abortion policies of the faith-based hospital group, which bars abortions under any circumstances under the directives of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, according to the report. The lawsuit argues pregnant members of ACLU are at risk of serious harm if they complications during pregnancy. It gave the example of one member who was unable to get an abortion at Trinity even though she had emergency complications and needed the procedure to "stabilize her condition," according to the report.

U.S. District Judge Gershwin Drain ruled that the allegations of harm were too vague and even if the past example given was factual, it was not enough to create standing, according to the report. He ruled ACLU could not guarantee pregnant members would have complications, require hospitalization or even seek treatment at Trinity facilities, according to the report.

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Paramjit Singh Ajrawat, MD, of Potomac, Md., has received a prison sentence of more than 9 years  111 months, precisely  for his role in a $3.1 million healthcare fraud scheme, according to the Department of Justice.

Dr. Ajrawat and his wife, Sukhveen Kaur Ajrawat, MD, owned and operated Washington Pain Management Center in Greenbelt, Md

From at least January 2011 through May 2014, the Ajrawats defrauded government payers by filing claims for procedures that were not performed and billing for more expensive procedures than were actually performed.

A federal jury convicted the Ajrawats Sept. 4, 2015. However, the government dismissed the charges against Sukhveen Ajrawat after her death Feb. 1, according to the DOJ.

In addition to his prison sentence, Dr. Ajrawat was ordered to pay $3.1 million in restitution.

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Fountain Valley, Calif.-based MemorialCare Health System has filed a lawsuit against the city of San Clemente, Calif., requesting potential damages of $42.5 million for losses associated with the planned closure of Saddleback Memorial  San Clemente, according to the San Clemente Times.

The hospital is slated to close May 31. The primary reason for the closure is dwindling patient volumes. In early March, hospital officials said many days there are less than 10 inpatients at the hospital, and the number of inpatient surgeries had dropped to less than one per day.

MemorialCare, the hospital's parent system, explored other options before deciding to shut down the facility. In August 2014, MemorialCare announced plans to convert the 73-bed hospital into an outpatient medical campus. The system worked with state lawmakers on legislation that would have allowed a satellite emergency department at the outpatient campus in San Clemente. However, the legislation failed in January. The following week, the San Clemente City Council voted to rezone the San Clemente campus property to require hospital services.

In its recently filed lawsuit, MemorialCare asks the court to repeal the zoning ordinance passed in January. MemorialCare claims when the system purchased the hospital in 2005, the city promised the facility could be altered to fit the healthcare needs of the community.

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New York City has unveiled a $2 million advertising campaign aimed to increase awareness of mental health conditions, according to Chron.

Chirlane McCray, first lady of the city, launched the campaign Monday, which includes television, print, online, subway and bus ads. The ads feature people talking about their personal experiences with bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety and addiction.

The New York City Health Department is funding the ads, which will run through June 30, according to the report.

Ms. McCray said the ads are designed to "change the mindset around the mind" by combating the stigma of mental health conditions and showing recovery is possible. She is also leading a citywide effort to expand access to mental healthcare.
On Monday, 60 senators signed a letter urging CMS to delay the rollout of the overall hospital star ratings program scheduled to be released April 21.

Currently, CMS' Hospital Compare provides a star rating for hospitals based on HCAHPS scores only. The new star rating system will incorporate other aspects of care, including readmissions, safety and mortality. CMS issued a final report on its methodology for the new ratings system in January.

In the letter, senators expressed concern that the methodology in the hospital evaluations may result in an inaccurate ratings. The senators claim that not enough details behind the rating methodology have been released.

The senators wrote, "While we support the public reporting of provider quality data, we are concerned that the current Star Ratings system may not accurately take into account hospitals that treat patients with low socioeconomic status or multiple complex chronic conditions."

The senators also expressed uncertainty that the new ratings will fairly assess the complex procedures and illnesses undertaken by prominent hospitals, which could skew the quality rating.

"We respectfully request that you delay release of the star ratings to provide the necessary time to more closely examine the star rating methodology, analyze its impact on different types of hospitals, and provide more transparent information regarding the calculation of the ratings to determine accuracy," wrote the senators.

Signatures for a similar letter in the House are being collected through Wednesday, according to AHA News.

While CMS' current star ratings are derived solely from patient experience scores, some researchers have found that five-star hospitals do in fact have lower mortality and readmission rates than their lower rated counterparts.

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One of the peculiarities of the looming threat of a British exit from the European Union is just how quiet so many businesses have been on the subject.

Britain is overwhelmingly Ireland's largest trading partner; some 1bn worth of goods and services are bought and sold between the two islands every week.

Ireland's dependence on its next-door neighbour - and the potential for damage posed by that neighbour stepping out of well-established free-trade agreements - can't be overstated, says John McGrane.

He is director general of the British Irish Chamber of Commerce, an organisation which has found itself in the middle of the maelstrom of a once-in-a-generation referendum that could shape the way the EU does business for decades to come.

The chamber was set up in May 2011 to coincide with Queen Elizabeth's historic visit to Ireland, alongside a pledge by the British and Irish governments to do more to facilitate trade between the two states, though it is privately funded. It is a networking, lobbying and promotion group with a big membership, a who's who of household business names on both sides of the Irish Sea. They employ around two million Irish and British people and span virtually all sectors and sizes, from ABP Food Group to London City Airport, their variety a testament to just how much business the two islands do.

A smattering of Irish companies and top executives have made their feelings clear on the issue in recent months, like AIB chairman Richard Pym.

At a chamber reception, Pym warned that "a border fence could have to go up between the Republic and Northern Ireland and a leave vote in the UK will almost certainly trigger a new referendum in Scotland".

But many have stayed silent, declining to express a view for fear of angering customers or business partners.

"That will probably change," McGrane says, as the referendum gets closer. "Look at the Scottish referendum. Businesses made their voices heard quite late in the day, but when they did, it made a big difference to the result."

McGrane was one of the founders of the chamber, while working as head of product and services sales at Ulster Bank's corporate markets division, alongside companies like Fyffes, Glen Dimplex, Lloyds, Kingspan and PwC.

"Most people now know that Britain is Ireland's largest trading partner by a long shot. But for a time it was taken for granted. Proof of that is the fact that we didn't have a chamber until five years ago," he says.

And while many firms are reluctant to get involved in the debate just yet, there is a clear consensus forming among the chamber's members.

"Our members have diverse views on this. But the consensus is that Britain should stay - in a reformed, stronger EU," McGrane says.

"Many of our members feel the EU needs a lot of work. A lot of that has to do with the single market and the fact that there are lots of goods and services that can't trade freely at all. There are lots of local standards still in existence.

"When a truck takes mushrooms from Monaghan to Milan, that should essentially be one interruption-free journey right across the continent. That's the idea of the single market.

"In practice the driver has to get out of the car too many times to present documents at different border posts and to pay local levies for road usage, because the market is different in different states. That's a basic example.

"Or the trading of renewable energy. The wind comes in off the Aran Islands, it goes through a turbine and through a cable and under the Irish Sea and through a cable in England, and it boils a kettle in Ketterington. That trade goes through numerous different regulations where there really should just be one set of rules. That's a big deal because energy costs are a very big part of our competitiveness.

"Or digital services. Look at geoblocking - media providers in one country barring access to their content to customers in other countries. That is not free movement.

The other big issue is speed, he says. "The EU needs to be able to move a lot faster. If you are a company in Manhattan looking at opening a foreign office, you can do it practically anywhere on earth now, particularly if you are selling services.

"While the EU does very well in winning some of those deals, we miss some others. That's because, people say, costs are too high, competitiveness is too low, there's an ageing demographic that is not properly funded and there are major security and defence issues.

"Is Europe in good order? Europe has a lot to do to take care of its business. There's no doubt it has been a bad few years, PR-wise, for the EU."

McGrane took the chamber's director general job after a 40-year career in banking. He grew up in Drogheda in the Sixties and Seventies, "a wonderful place to grow up and very focused on trade, given its location between the north and south and its busy port".

He moved to Dublin and joined Ulster Bank after leaving school in 1974, starting in its Dundrum branch.

He quickly realised he would need third-level education to go further, so studied for a BComm with UCD at night over five years, with professors like John Teeling.

He tried all of the traditional branch banking roles and developed an aptitude for business banking.

"At that stage, in the late Eighties/early Nineties, Ulster Bank was a distant third behind AIB and Bank of Ireland for business banking. We significantly grew market share, partly by building relationships with business groups like the Small Firms Association and the Institute of Certified Accountants."

He was lucky at Ulster Bank to work with "really brilliant" people, he says, like former chief executive Cormac McCarthy, who went on to be chief financial officer of Paddy Power, and Ulster Bank Northern Ireland boss Ellvena Graham, who recently became chairwoman of ESB.

McGrane's predecessor at the chamber was Steve Aiken, who is now running for the Northern Ireland local assembly.

The group also has a president, which changes regularly; its latest is Lloyd's of London's Irish head Eamonn Egan.

Then there is its patron, Niall Fitzgerald, the former CEO and chair of Unilever and chairman of Reuters.

"When he speaks, people listen," McGrane says. "He is a surgically brilliant business practitioner."

There are a lot of organisations that seem to do similar things - Ibec, the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and the Department of Foreign Affairs among them. It begs the question - why was there a need for another?

What makes the chamber unique, he says, is that it is the only group that represents both sides - businesses on both sides of the Irish Sea. "There was nobody neutral, working for both."

One of his biggest tasks is to get his members, and their views, in front of government and decision makers. British Secretary of State Philip Hammond recently hosted the chamber at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Later this month it will bring some of its members to the House of Commons to meet MPs.

Its lobbying work is "mostly to do with regulation, often with the aim of reducing regulatory interference in trade."

He lives with wife Irene, a heritage tourism consultant, in Dublin's Donnybrook. They have three children who live across two continents - daughter Valerie works for KPMG in New York, Mary is a fundraising manager for a Dublin charity and Jack lives in Canada.

He is a member of the board of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce and musical charity Music Network, having just retired from the board of the National Concert Hall.

Wedding his passion for music and Dublin city is a campaign to rename part of the capital the 'National Concert Hall Quarter,' to better promote its musical heritage.

He also runs a technology start-up, NSI Technology, founded after he left Ulster Bank. The company provides non-profit organisations like trade bodies and charities with technology to help them organise and cut costs.

"Just because they are voluntary organisations doesn't mean they shouldn't be strong on costs and operate a strong business model," he says.

He spends about half of his week in Britain, some of that in the North.

"We are doing a lot of work in Northern Ireland at the moment, because it is the most exposed of any part of the UK to a Brexit scenario. 60% of its exports go to the EU including the Republic of Ireland," he says.

"The net cost the UK pays to be in the EU, to access a market of 500m people, is less than 9bn. Whereas it costs the UK more than 11bn a year to subsidise Northern Ireland, for around 2m people. Both are very good value for Britain."

The chamber's job is not to tell people how to vote on June 23, he insists. "We do not tell people how to vote. We respect that the decision lies with the people who have a vote.

"What we are committed to is providing as much information as possible and providing a platform for debate so that people are informed, and encouraging as many of them to vote as possible.

It will be a tight race. "It is neck and neck right now. You can take your pick among the polls. Between 20 and 30% of people are in the 'don't know' category' and those votes are very important."

"We estimate there are between 1-1.5 million voters who either have dual citizenship or close relationships with Irish people, either through family or neighbours or similar, who could be the difference between that yes and no vote."

Brexit should be perceived as an opportunity as well as a threat, he adds.

"We are poised at an opportunity to bring about the European Union we always wanted."
A former Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) employee has been banned by the City watchdog from working in financial services for his "reckless" behaviour when making Libor submissions.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said Paul White's actions would have seen him hit with a 250,000 fine if he was not already facing "serious financial hardship".

The FCA said Mr White, who had worked for RBS as a Japanese Yen and Swiss Franc Libor submitter, had made "improper" Libor submissions between March 8 2007 and November 24 2010.

It said he had been contacted 68 times during that period by traders asking for submissions that would benefit their trading position.

He also received requests on a weekly basis from a Swiss Franc derivatives trader who sat next to him.

The FCA said Mr White had taken these requests into account when submitting the Libor rates.

It also found that he had considered requests from brokers on behalf of an external trader when making RBS's Libor submissions for Japanese Yen.

The FCA said that Mr White was asked by an external broker on June 22 2010 whether he " got a bit less emotion in the 3's fix (JPY) today?"

He replied: "unchanged should be the call, u want higher?".

The broker said: "yah, if not a msve prob", with Mr White replying , "will c what we can do, maybe up a pip".

The FCA said it had handed the former RBS trader a warning notice on June 18 2014, but action was halted due to an ongoing criminal investigation from the Serious Fraud Office into some of the bank's staff.

Mark Steward, FCA's director of enforcement and market oversight, said Mr White's ban should reinforce the message that "serious failures will result in substantial penalties".

He said: "As a Libor submitter Mr White had an obligation to ensure the submissions he made were proper ones.

"By allowing his submissions to be set, in effect, by those with collateral financial interests in the outcome, Mr White recklessly disregarded the risk - the obvious risk - that his Libor submission might corrupt Libor's integrity."

The FCA said Mr White's ban was the fourth public action taken against a trader for manipulating Libor submissions.

It has also handed out seven fines for Libor misconduct worth 426 million.
Ten Square Hotel in Belfast which is also owned by one of Paddy Kearney's firms

One of Northern Ireland's biggest property developers, Paddy Kearney, had 250m worth of debt written off from US vulture fund Cerberus.

Cerberus had purchased debts from Mr Kearney's business group from Nama, as part of Northern Ireland's biggest ever loan sale, Project Eagle.

According to the latest accounts from Mr Kearney's company, Kilmona Investments, the firm received a write-off in its debt of 249.8m.

And technically, due to that write-off, the company subsequently returned a profit of 226.9m, according to the latest accounts filed.

The accounts for the period ending June 2015, state that in June 2014 the overall Kilmona Group loans were sold by Nama to an affiliate of Cerberus.

"Following discussions between Cerberus and the Kilmona Group directors, Cerberus sold the loans to an affiliate of Jefferies Loancore (JLC)," it said.

"JLC have provided secured lending facilities to the Kilmona Group based on the group's asset strategies which will develop and maximise the inherent medium to long-term economic value of these assets."

JLC is a US commercial property finance firm.

The latest accounts also state that "Kilmona Group directors completed a group-secured debt restructure in January 2015" which the firm says will "strengthen" its "financial position".

A spokesman for Kilmona told the Belfast Telegraph: "Our accounts for the year 2014/15 are a matter of public record.

"Our focus now and going forward is the regeneration of Belfast city centre.

"We have six major planning applications with Belfast City Council at the moment which will bring over 200m of new investment and transform the Grade A office stock of Belfast.

"Having also purchased and completely refurbished Ten Square Hotel, we have added in a very positive way to the city's leisure and hotel offer also.

"We are also continuing to look at a range of new opportunities and will be making some further acquisition and planning announcements in the near future."

Paddy Kearney's business group is in the middle of a series of major building developments right across Belfast city centre.

Mr Kearney is planning to develop a series of huge office buildings across the city over the next few years.

That is to help meet a severe shortage of top-end office space in Belfast.

Mr Kearney's Kilmona Holdings will build two large buildings in a new development called Lanyon Central at East Bridge Street, made up of 12 storeys and 235,000 sq ft of floor space.

And he is also developing the 10-storey Chichester House on Chichester Street, which will include 70,000 sq ft of office space and 10,000 sq ft of retail.

He recently purchased a tranche of buildings in the city, including the Ten Square hotel just behind City Hall.

Towards the end last year, Mr Kearney said claims that he had received a "sweetheart" deal when he moved to refinance his Nama-controlled loans when they were bought by Cerberus were "unfounded and unsubstantiated allegations" and "unwarranted personal attacks".

Speaking before Stormont's finance committee, Mr Kearney was scathing about Nama and how it handled his loans, claiming they tried to "intimidate, frighten and bribe" him to hand over control of his company.
More than 70 jobs have been secured in Lisburn following the sale of part of the huge Tata steelworks business.

The Indian conglomerate announced the signing of an agreement to sell its Long Products Europe business, including its plant in Scunthorpe, to investment firm Greybull Capital.

The division, which is to be renamed British Steel, employs around 4,400 people in the UK, the majority of whom are based at its Scunthorpe plant.

It also employs 72 workers at its service centre in Lisburn, which has been based in Co Antrim since 2007.

A spokeswoman for Tata confirmed that its "associated distribution facilities in the UK and Ireland" were included in the overall sale. The Lisburn centre is part of that business.

The news was welcomed by the DUP's Jonathan Craig, who is running for re-election for Lagan Valley in the upcoming Assembly elections.

"It has been a very worrying time for all the employees of Tata Steel," he said.

"I welcome the fact that a deal has been put together to save one part of the company and the part based in Lagan Valley.

"The last thing we need is people losing employment, and it's difficult enough to get employment, especially in an industry such as steel.

"It's good to see the jobs secured at this point, and I look forward to further talks after the election with the new owners of Tata."

The overall sale covers several UK-based assets including the Scunthorpe steelworks, two mills in Teesside, an engineering workshop in Workington, a design consultancy in York and associated distribution facilities, as well as a mill in northern France.

The deal will be completed once a number of outstanding conditions have been resolved, including transfer of contracts, certain government approvals and the satisfactory completion of financing arrangements.

Bimlendra Jha, executive chairman of the Long Products Europe business, said: "Today marks a significant milestone in the sale of the Long Products Europe business.

"This sale is the best possible outcome for employees who have worked relentlessly to ensure the business's survival who have and helped to make it attractive to a potential buyer."

Hans Fischer, chief executive of Tata Steel's European operations, added: "Under these current challenging market conditions in Europe with the soaring levels of imports from China, we are happy that Tata Steel UK and Greybull Capital have entered the final stage of completion of the sale of shareholding in Longs Steel UK."

Union members at Scunthorpe are currently being balloted on whether to accept a 3% cut in pay and reductions in pension contributions for a year to smooth the path for the deal, with the result due next week.

Dave Hulse, national officer of the GMB union, said: "These have been really difficult times for GMB members over many months of uncertainty.

"GMB welcomes the announcement that Greybull Capital has reached an agreement with Tata Steel that safeguards our members' jobs, especially given the recent announcement that Tata will sell its entire UK operation.

"The trade unions have been in negotiations over a long period of time, looking at temporary agreements to make sure that the first 12 months of the sale are successful."

Business Secretary Sajid Javid said the UK and Welsh governments were still working to reach a deal on Tata's sites at Port Talbot, Wales. But he added: "This agreement sends positive signals to any potential investor for the rest of Tata's UK business."
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had talks with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have discussed the crisis in the British steel industry with India's prime minister Narendra Modi.

William and Kate, who are touring India and Bhutan, chatted with Mr Modi, his officials and business and cultural leaders, about a range of topics including the issues facing steel manufacturers in their respective countries.

It is not known who raised the issue first but it is likely that the conservation turned to Indian steel conglomerate Tata, which has put its UK steel business up for sale after heavy losses.

Thousands of British workers face an uncertain future and the Govenment - particularly Business Secretary Sajid Javid - has faced pressure to do more to help find a solution.

A source said that among the matters raised during the informal talks over lunch between the Cambridges and Mr Modi was "the pressures facing steel manufacturers in the UK and India".

William and Kate's discussions with the Indian prime minister about the steel industry are likely to be welcomed by some of the thousands of UK workers employed by Tata.

It may not be a direct intervention into the issue, but talking about the situation will keep it in the public eye.

The move is reminiscent of William's father the Prince of Wales who has in the past spoken out in support of industries like farming and fishing when they have faced difficulties.

The informal lunch meeting was held in New Delhi's Hyderabad House, a former royal residence of Maharajas.

The source said the Duke and Duchess had a "friendly and informative lunch" with Mr Modi.

Senior Indian government figures were among the guests and the group also discussed mental wellbeing - an issue the Cambridges have been focusing on over the past year.

Other issues raised included the strength of the UK-India relationship in many areas including defence and security, opportunities for young people, conservation and the fight against poaching, and the UK/India Year of Culture in 2017.

In the latest development in the steel crisis, ministers are set to announce moves to include more British steel in defence projects, Mr Javid hinted.

Speaking during an emergency debate on the steel crisis forced by Labour, Mr Javid said Defence Procurement Minister Philip Dunne could make an announcement "in the coming days" on Ministry of Defence (MoD) acquisition of British steel.

And potential Government "co-investment" with a commercial buyer in Tata Steel's largest plant in Port Talbot could involve taking on some of the business's debts, Mr Javid added.
Meryl Streep shows off her singing talents in her latest film

Hugh Grant has admitted he spent a year being terrified of working with Meryl Streep before they made their new film together.

Grant plays Streep's common-law husband and manager St Clair Bayfield in Florence Foster Jenkins, about the tone-deaf operatic soprano of the same name.

The pair posed for photographs together at the world premiere of the movie at the Odeon in Leicester Square but Grant said he did not always feel so comfortable with the Oscar-winning actress.

He said: "I was terrified of her really and I signed up a year before we shot so I had a whole year of being frightened.

"I would wake up in the middle of the night screaming sometimes, thinking 'I have to do hard emotional scenes against Meryl Streep'.

"You have to raise your game."

He added: "She's such an icon, it's very odd to be in her orbit at all."

Jenkins was a New York heiress who sold out Carnegie Hall despite mockery and criticism, and Grant said he hopes she will appeal to British audiences who root for the underdog.

He said: "Someone pointed out to me the other day that in things like Britain's Got Talent they love the people that are really bad almost better than the people who are really good, so hopefully there is an audience for this film here."

One thing the Notting Hill star is sure of is Jenkins would have wiped the floor on talent shows.

"I can't see how she wouldn't have won, she really was a sensation in her day.

"It's quite something to fill Carnegie Hall when you can't sing a note."

The film is directed by Stephen Frears, who is also responsible for The Queen, starring Dame Helen Mirren, and Philomena, starring Judi Dench.

However, he said he does not deliberately choose projects starring strong women of a certain age.

He said: "It's unconscious. I dread to think what that says about me, I had a very strong mother."

The director added that he only had to tell Streep to sing worse on one occasion, despite the fact she has a good singing voice in real life.

Florence Foster Jenkins is released in UK cinemas on May 6.
Harvey Fierstein and Cyndi Lauper at the ceremony honouring them with stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (AP)

Sharon Osbourne, left, and Cyndi Lauper at the Hollywood Walk of Fame (AP)

Cyndi Lauper attends a ceremony honouring her with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (AP)

Sharon Osbourne paid tribute to the "endless" career of Kinky Boots composer Cyndi Lauper as she was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The singer was honoured at the famous landmark following her Grammy and Tony award-winning score for the hit Broadway musical, which is also being performed in the West End.

Osbourne described Lauper, who had a string of hits in the 1980s including Girls Just Want To Have Fun and Time After Time, as a true original.

"She's had an endless career which spans decades," Osbourne said.

"She's a prolific songwriter. She's an incredible performer. Nobody sounds like Cyndi Lauper. She's instantly recognisable.

"She's a true original. She's been original from the day she was born with her style."

Osbourne, who is reportedly in line for a return as a judge on The X Factor, left Lauper close to tears as she praised her True Colors Fund which supports gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender teenagers.

Speaking on stage, Lauper said she had doubts about how the musical Kinky Boots would work out.

She said: "One time I closed my eyes and actually asked my guardian angel, am I going to do okay?

"He just showed me an image of me as Dorothy with the lion, the scarecrow and the tin man and I thought, okay I can do this."

Lauper received her star along with Kinky Boots writer Harvey Fierstein, who referred on stage to Donald Trump's star which has been targeted by vandals following his controversial US presidential bid.

He said: "To think that Donald Trump has one of these. Listen, there's a very thin line between fame and infamy.

"I know which side I belong on. We're going to get a map for Donald."
Dr David Grieve, BHF NI scientist at Queen's University Belfast said it was "extremely alarming" that most people dismiss their symptoms as something innocuous

People are risking their lives by ignoring symptoms of heart attacks - Northern Ireland's single biggest killer.

Half of people here suffering potentially fatal attacks jeopardise their life and their future recovery by ignoring the symptoms for more than an hour.

Research by the Northern Ireland branch of the British Heart Foundation showed many people mistake their symptoms for something much less serious, like indigestion, and fail to act. The charity has revealed alarming statistics which reveal that someone suffers a heart attack approximately every 100 minutes in Northern Ireland.

In response it is calling on people to be more aware of the signs and says far more research is needed to improve ways of preventing, diagnosing and treating heart attacks.

The warning comes as the charity is funding 29m research into a quicker method of diagnosing heart attacks, treatment and prevention.

A survey of survivors showed that more than 80% initially failed to realise that they may be having a heart attack, with more than one in three, 35%, mistaking their symptoms for indigestion.

A heart attack is caused when a blood clot forms in a narrowed coronary artery, cutting off the blood supply to the heart muscle.

"Worryingly, nearly two thirds (59%) of those polled still didn't realise that they might be having a heart attack at the point they finally sought medical help for their symptoms," the charity says.

Research has shown that nearly half of potentially salvageable heart muscle is lost within one hour of the coronary artery being blocked.

However, the figures published yesterday show only approximately one in four heart attack survivors surveyed (26%) managed to get treatment within this timeframe, meaning that the majority put their lives and future recovery at risk. And in contrast to the common misconception that a heart attack strikes suddenly causing victims to keel over, statistics show that more than 90% of those surveyed remained conscious.

Only one in 10 (13%) of those asked collapsed during their heart attack. Dr David Grieve, BHF NI scientist at Queen's University Belfast said it was "extremely alarming" that most people dismiss their symptoms as something innocuous. "The quicker you get medical help after a heart attack the greater chance you have of making a full recovery," he said.
Lord Dunlop said it was the victims and survivors who suffered more than anyone else as a result of the Troubles

Dealing with legacy issues from the Troubles in Northern Ireland remains of "paramount importance" the Government has insisted, despite it not featuring in key legislation.

Northern Ireland spokesman Lord Dunlop said "intensive work" continued to build the broad consensus needed to bring forward proposals to deal with the emotive and divisive issue.

He moved to reassure peers as he presented The Northern Ireland (Stormont Agreement and Implementation Plan) Bill for its second reading.

The proposed legislation aims to implement parts of two political deals aimed at shoring up the country's fragile power-sharing administration as well as plans to establish a commission on paramilitary activity.

It also proposes making Assembly members commit to challenging paramilitary activity.

But in speaking to the Bill, Lord Dunlop told peers: "I would like briefly to address an issue that formed an important part of the fresh start talks, but which does not feature in this legislation.

"That is the establishment of new bodies to deal with the legacy of the past in Northern Ireland.

"I would like to reassure you it is of paramount importance to the Government, and it's clear it is important to peers as well.

"In discussions I have had in the run up to the debate many of you have raised this issue."

He added: "It is the victims and survivors who suffered more than anyone else as a result of the Troubles.

"The new institutions will therefore be balanced, proportionate, transparent, fair and equitable, allowing Northern Ireland to move forward and have the needs of victims and survivors at their heart.

"Intensive work therefore continues with victims' representatives and others on finding a way to build a broad consensus needed to legislate.

"I hope very much that legislation to establish the legacy institutions in a separate bill will be brought forward once the necessary consensus has been achieved."

Its absence from the Bill was also lamented by Labour former Northern Ireland Secretary Lord Murphy of Torfaen.

He said: "It is a disappointment that we haven't in this Bill references to the legacy issue in Northern Ireland.

"I don't think Northern Ireland can be settled until we deal with those issues.

"That issue has to be addressed.

"The issue of victims, survivors, of our communities in Northern Ireland - all that is dependent on how we deal with the past."

Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Harris of Richmond said it was "deeply disappointing" that no agreement had been reached over the "vexed issues of the past".

She said: "It's vital that a settlement is arrived at in which the victims of the years of violence and their families can have these issues resolved."

Former Ulster Unionist leader Lord Empey said the independent reporting commission was broadly welcome and would help to instil a degree of confidence.

Independent crossbencher Lord Eames welcomed the Bill but warned: "You cannot legislate for reconciliation in a divided society."

Paramilitarism was "still stalking our streets" and the legislation was by no means the end of the story.

Democratic Unionist Lord Browne of Belmont said the new independent reporting commission represented significant progress towards the "ultimate goal of eliminating paramilitarism".

But there were many problems still to be resolved, including "confronting the past".

Lib Dem spokesman Lord Alderdice said the political parties in Northern Ireland had "stared into the abyss" and decided to draw back.

He said the Bill represented something positive and the Government should be commended for bringing it forward.

The Bill was given an unopposed second reading and now goes forward to its detailed committee stage at a later date.
The father of an IRA murder victim is taking legal action in a bid to secure a fresh inquest amid claims a top British agent was involved in the killing.

Frank Mulhern is seeking a High Court ruling that the Attorney General must direct a new probe of the circumstances surrounding the death of his son Joseph in 1993.

The legal challenge is based on allegations that the army's most prized asset within the Provisionals, who operated under the codename Stakeknife, played a central role in the murder.

A judge is now set to hear the challenge alongside separate proceedings brought by the family of an IRA man shot dead by the RUC in 1991.

Relatives of Colum Marks want the Police Ombudsman to be ordered to examine a killing also allegedly linked to a state agent.

Lawyers involved in both cases contend there is obligation to investigate under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Joseph Mulhern, 23, was abducted, interrogated and shot by the IRA, who accused him of being a police informer.

His body was dumped on a remote hillside near Castlederg, Co Tyrone.

With no-one ever convicted of the murder, the victim's father is seeking to judicially review a decision to refer the case to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Papers lodged as part of the case claim the police have been aware of evidence that Mr Mulhern was killed "by or at the instigation of a British agent, Freddie Scappaticci".

West Belfast man Scappaticci left Northern Ireland in 2003 when he was named in the media as being Stakeknife.

Before quitting his home, however, he vehemently denied being the agent who allegedly headed up the IRA's internal security unit, known as the 'nutting squad'.

In October last year Director of Public Prosecutions Barra McGrory QC called for police to examine Stakeknife's activities, along with what was known by RUC Special Branch and MI5.

Chief Constable George Hamilton has since decided detectives from an external force should handle an inquiry which could last five years and cost up to 35million.

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Legal papers featuring in Frank Mulhern's case claim there is no realistic prospect of a prosecution.

They state: "Scappaticci is believed to have joined a witness protection programme and be living under an assumed name.

"In all the circumstances there is no realistic prospect of the DPP and/or the PSNI conducting any investigation which will uncover links between the State and the murder of the deceased so that everyone concerned will be held accountable and lessons can be learned."

Separate proceedings have now also been brought in a bid to compel the Police Ombudsman to investigate the shooting of Colum Marks.

The 29-year-old IRA man was fatally wounded when police opened fire during an attempted mortar attack on security forces in Downpatrick.

His relatives claim the RUC operated a shoot-to-kill policy.

In court on Tuesday counsel for the family contended there was material to suggest a state agent was involved.

Their challenge is to regulations governing the Ombudsman's office preventing it from probing a case where there has already been a police investigation.

Mr Justice Maguire confirmed he will hear arguments in both challenges together later this month.

Outside court solicitor Gavin Booth of KRW Law, representing the Marks family, claimed the RUC was aware of the IRA operation more than eight hours before the shooting.

"They had prior knowledge and didn't take the opportunity to arrest Mr Marks," he said.

"The family seeks truth, justice and full disclosure of the facts."
A key witness in the Kincora child abuse scandal says he will not give evidence to the Institutional Abuse Inquiry in Northern Ireland.

Roy Garland has claimed the Banbridge-based Hart Inquiry cannot find the answers for generations of victims who suffered abuse at Kincora Boys Home in east Belfast because it does not have the power to compel witnesses to give evidence.

Last week the High Court refused an application by a Kincora victim for a judicial review of Secretary of State Theresa Villier's decision not to include the former home in the more powerful UK-wide Goddard inquiry.

Mr Garland said the Historical Institutional Abuse inquiry (HIA) asked him to attend and he agreed on the premise it was a "serious inquiry". Now, after voicing disappointment at the refusal to include Kincora in the Goddard inquiry, Mr Garland said he will not give evidence to the HIA.

Mr Garland has claimed MI5 previously blocked attempts to uncover the truth around the extent of the abuse of young boys that took place at Kincora.

He became aware that William McGrath, a former house master a Kincora was engaging in child abuse and had been prepared to give evidence to the Goddard inquiry. That probe will investigate whether public bodies, such as the police, NHS and BBC, failed in their duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse.

McGrath was jailed in 1980 for paedophile activities at the home.

Mr Garland previously told the Belfast Telegraph he had been aware that McGrath was a child abuser, possibly since the 1940s.

He first became aware of it when McGrath, a born-again Christian, was carrying out a mission in Faith House. The premises in Belfast's Orpen Park has now been converted to an old people's home and has no connection with its role in McGrath's day.

Mr Garland wants Faith House - during its time as a children's home - to also be included in the Goddard inquiry.

"Only the Goddard inquiry has the right to compel witnesses," he said. "Survivors are now likely to live out their lives with an inadequate understanding of why the abuse could continue despite many complaints made down the years. Furthermore, over four decades of abuse of young Christians at Faith House appears to have been excluded from consideration by all inquiries.

"Thus the explanation for the continued abuse over the decades of scores and possibly hundreds of young Christians - mainly male but also females and some children- may now never be known.

"While the High Court denies Kincora survivors the possibility of being part of the Goddard Inquiry, Faith House appears to be excluded from all inquiries. Yet Faith House and Kincora were intimately linked through a prominent abuser."

Former First Minister Peter Robinson, Amnesty International and politicians across the board have called for the possible role of the intelligence services in covering up child abuse at Kincora to be investigated as part of a UK-wide inquiry.

On April 3, 1980, three members of Kincora staff - McGrath, Raymond Semple and Joseph Mains - were jailed for the systematic sexual abuse of children in their care going back to the early 1970s. Rumours persisted that prominent people across the UK were involved in the abuse.

Mr Garland said: "As with the Hughes Inquiry that I had agreed to attend but ultimately was not invited to participate in, the Hart Inquiry is unlikely to be capable of taking adequate steps because of legal restrictions.

"It is for this reason that I have decided I do not wish to take part in the Historical Institutions Abuse Inquiry now operating at Banbridge."
A soldier who fired a rubber bullet at an 11-year-old boy in Northern Ireland more than 40 years ago had a clear view of his target, a Coroner's Court heard.

Francis Rowntree died days after being hit by the bullet while walking through the Divis flats complex close to Belfast's Falls Road in April 1972.

Controversy surrounds the shooting, with disputed claims about whether the boy was struck directly or by a ricochet, and if the bullet had been doctored to make it potentially cause more harm.

Witness Henry Donaghy, who was 14 and was with the St Finian's Primary School pupil when he was shot, said he still had a vivid recollection of events.

He said: "He (Francis) seemed to lift off the ground slightly and go backwards at the same time. That has stayed with me."

Mr Donaghy was giving evidence during the first day of a long-awaited inquest at Belfast's Laganside Court, ordered by Attorney General John Larkin.

According to Mr Donaghy, the bullet was fired from an Army vehicle parked about eight or 10 yards away with its engine running. The doors were closed but an observation hatch was fully open, he said.

"It hit him directly because there was nothing to ricochet off," the witness said. "Whoever fired the shot would have had a clear view of who they were firing at."

The court heard how the Divis area had been plagued by sustained disorder between republican youths and the Army in the days before and after April 20, 1972, when Francis was shot.

But Mr Donaghy, a self-confessed "serial rioter", insisted there were no disturbances at the time. He and his group of friends had gone to Divis expecting to take part in riots, the court was told. Francis had joined them by accident, unaware of their intentions, Mr Donaghy claimed.

Earlier the court heard how Francis suffered extensive skull fractures and lacerations to his brain. Despite undergoing emergency surgery at the Royal Victoria Hospital he never recovered.

Retired State Pathologist Professor Jack Crane said the fatal injury was more likely to have been caused by a "direct hit" than a ricochet. But he said there was no evidence to support allegations that the projectile had had batteries or sharp objects inserted.

James Rowntree told the court his sports-mad younger brother had never been in trouble with the law or school.

Outside court he said: "It would mean a great deal that it is proven he was not involved, that he was an innocent child." The hearing continues on Tuesday.
A woman has been injured in a fridge explosion in a college canteen.

Fire chiefs said a refrigeration unit blew up on the first floor of the Tower Building in the North West Regional College in Londonderry at about 8.40am.

There was no fire.

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) said gas monitors were used to asses whether there had been a leak in the canteen, while firefighters isolated the power and ventilated the area.

An investigation was launched by the Health and Safety Executive and the woman was treated in hospital.

Meanwhile, five people escaped injury in two house fires.

In one suspected arson attack, old furniture was piled up against the front door of a house in Drumard Park, Derry city, and set on fire.

Detectives investigating the blaze said the alarm was raised at about 3am.

Four people who were in the house at the time were able to escape through the back door after a smoke alarm went off.

The front of the home was badly damaged.

Detective Sergeant Brian Reid said: "It appears some old furniture was deliberately placed against the front door of the property and set alight, blocking the doorway."

"A motive for the incident has not yet been established and we are keen to hear from anyone with information regarding this crime."

Meanwhile, on the Coast Road in Larne, Co Antrim, a woman escaped from a house after a smoke alarm alerted her to a fire.

Firefighters received a call at 2.19am after the blaze broke out and described it as severe.

A spokesman for the NIFRS said the woman was out of the house by the time fire crews arrived.

The blaze gutted her two-storey detached home and also involved the oil tank.

The exterior of a second property was also damaged after the fire spread and set fire to a second oil tank.

Two appliances from Larne, another two from Ballyclare and an aerial appliance from Knock Fire Station in east Belfast attended.

"The cause of the fire is under investigation," a spokesman for the NIFRS said.
A Belfast bakery has taken on a Titanic task to remember the city's most famous ship.

The Belfast Baking Company will use the original blueprints of the White Star liner to create an exact replica made from cake.

A team of bakers will produce the cake to mark the anniversary of the sinking of the ship that went down on her maiden voyage to New York on April 15, 1912.

It will be made on site at the bakery, which is located just a few doors away from the famous Harland and Wolff Drawing Rooms where the blueprints they have used were originally produced 104 years ago.

The bakers started work on the seven-and-a-half foot replica yesterday and hope to have the structure completed by Thursday to allow customers the chance to have a slice.

To create the mammoth baking extravaganza, a team of four bakers will need to use over 50kg of ingredients - the same weight as an average 16-year-old.

The team will be creating the cake behind the glass portholes on the wall of the bakery and are encouraging visitors to come down and have a look as they construct and decorate the cake.

Paul McDonald, owner of the Belfast Baking Company explained: "The anniversary of the Titanic was coming up and we thought that we should do something to mark the event because we are so close to where it was built.

"We've done a large cake that weighed about 15 stone for the Belfast Giants last November so we're always looking to do slightly different things.

"We sat down and decided we would go all out with this one. We wanted to get the proportion exact so we got the blueprints and projected them to draw out the outline for the base.

"We're aiming for it to be 1 to 110 to scale."

The bakers visited the nearby Titanic Belfast Museum to make sure they could perfect all the detail on the structure.

The cake will be made out of layers of sponge, buttercream and jam and decorated with icing.
Scene of the incident. BBC picture

A woman has been injured after a fridge exploded at a Northern Ireland college.

The incident happened on Tuesday morning at the North West Regional College in a kitchen area and the woman suffered minor leg injuries.

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service attended the scene.

Following a minor incident at our Strand Road campus the Tower building has now

re-opened.  NWRC (@mynwrc) April 12, 2016

Part of the college was evacuated for a time.

A Fire Service spokeswoman added: "We received a call today at 8.42am to attend an incident in the Tower Building, North West Regional College, Strand Road, Derry.

Two appliances from Northland Fire Station and one appliance from Crescent Link Fire Station attended the incident.

A refrigeration unit had exploded in a first floor canteen in the building. Using gas monitors Firefighters confirmed that no gases were present.

"Firefighters isolated the power and ventilated the area. There was no fire.

A female who was in the area of the canteen was taken to hospital.

The incident was dealt with at 9.45am. The Health and Safety Executive are investigating."
Martin McGuinness and David Ford have become the latest Northern Ireland leaders to publish their tax returns in the wake of the Panama Papers scandal.

The figures show the deputy First Minister earned 111,600 before tax for the 2014/15 year and paid 37,143 in tax.

The documents also reveal he was paid 61,900 in benefits and expenses.

Have given details of my tax returns to the media.I take home an average wage & donate the balance to @sinnfeinireland.  Martin McGuinness (@M_McGuinness_SF) April 12, 2016

The Mid-Ulster MLA published bank statements when he ran in the Irish Presidential election of 2011, a move his party said was "unprecedented" at the time.

Sinn Fein said Mr McGuinness's Assembly income was taxed at source under PAYE.

Political leaders in Northern Ireland hurried to publicise the details of their income tax returns after David Cameron became embroiled in the scandal.

Justice minister David Ford was the Northern Ireland party leader to release his tax return form in the wake of the Panama Papers scandal.

Mr Ford released his submission to the HMRC which does not detail how much he paid in tax.

However the document showed he earned 86,000 before tax in the year 2014/2015.

The documents reveal he recorded 59,802 in office cost expenditures.

DUP leader Mrs Foster disclosed that as the former Enterprise Minister she had a salary of 78,212 on which she paid tax of 20,528.

Her allowances, which are balanced against expenses, were given as 65,553.

However, Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt was first out of the blocks yesterday.

His papers showed an income of 52,754 in 2014/15 and that he paid a total of 10,698.60 in tax.

The return also shows Mr Nesbitt recorded 69,238 in office cost allowances and expenditure.

Within hours he was followed by SDLP leader Colum Eastwood.

And there was a promise from Alliance leader David Ford to publish "as soon as possible".

Then a raft of others, including TUV chief Jim Allister, revealed their intention to go public on their tax affairs.

The potential flood of politicians' tax returns comes in the aftermath of revelations that the Prime Minister had benefited from selling shares in his father's offshore investment fund, Blairmore Holdings.

Its accounts were among 11.5m records held by law firm Mossack Fonseca released in the Panama Papers leak last week.

SDLP chief Mr Eastwood had "no beneficiary interest in any offshore fund, account or company", the party said.

"Mr Eastwood has called on all party leaders and all members of the Conservative Cabinet to make a similar declaration," it said in the statement.

Yesterday the SDLP's manifesto launch in Dungannon was told Mr Eastwood was to "outline new proposals around transparency to hold departments, ministers and MLAs to account".

And Mr Ford said: "I am happy to release all information on my tax returns and will be speaking to my accountant to do so as quickly as possible. However, I can go better now and detail my income fully - it is derived solely from my work as an MLA and minister, plus a small amount of interest from a building society savings account, minus the interest I pay on the mortgage on a small family farm."

The Justice Minister said public confidence in politics had never been lower and to attempt to remove "the stench of corruption" all local parties should voluntarily release the identities of their donors, as Alliance already did.

The NIO said earlier this year that "the time is not yet right to move to full transparency (on donations to parties), due to ongoing concerns about the potential for donor intimidation".
David Cameron risked fuelling a fresh wave of anger among his Eurosceptic backbenchers after accusing a prominent Tory of spreading a "scare story".

Jacob Rees-Mogg claimed the 9 million taxpayer-funded pro-EU leaflet that has begun landing on voters' doormats was a "propaganda sheet" that contained "untrue" information.

During Prime Minister's Questions, the Conservative backbencher said that despite significant levels of economic migration, the glossy pamphlet claimed that Britain has control of its borders.

"Have we withdrawn from the free movement of people or is that sheet simply untrue?" he asked.

But Mr Cameron hit back, insisting the comments underlined the need for the Government to spend public money on a leaflet so voters can "see the truth".

The PM said: " The truth is this, economic migrants that come to the European Union do not have the right to come to the UK. They are not European nationals."

He added: "Frankly, this is why it is important that we do send information to households so they can see the truth about what is being proposed. What (he) has just put forward is classic of the sort of scare story we get. Britain has borders, Britain will keep its borders, we have got the best of both worlds."

Furious Tory Eurosceptics have previously claimed the leaflet shows the Government is using the ''spiv'' tactics of Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe.

Labour said party leader Jeremy Corbyn believed the Government should have provided a "more even" assessment of the facts about Britain's EU membership in the leaflet, in order to enable voters to weigh up the arguments on either side and make an informed choice.

Mr Corbyn has committed Labour to campaigning for Britain to remain in the EU and is set to make a high-profile speech on Thursday to set out his own personal journey on the issue since the 1975 referendum, when he opposed membership of the Common Market.

Asked whether Mr Corbyn thought the Government was right to spend 9 million on a leaflet setting out only the arguments for continued membership, a senior Labour source told reporters: "Jeremy is of the view that the Government should supply a more even approach on information, to allow for an informed decision by the public, while we would still campaign to stay in Europe."

The spokesman confirmed the Labour leader will not share a stage with Mr Cameron during the referendum campaign, but said he would appear with representatives of pro-EU trade unions including Unison, which has announced it will encourage its 1.3 million members to vote Remain on June 23.

Pro-Brexit minister James Wharton criticised the way Mr Cameron dismissed the question by Mr Rees-Mogg.

"I don't think the Prime Minister was right to dismiss Jacob's comment. There are lots of complex arguments on both sides of the EU debate. It is not a simple decision as to which is right," he told BBC Radio 4's World At One.

He also expressed regret that the Government had gone ahead with the pro-EU leaflet.

"I would rather have seen the leaflet not go out. As one colleague said to me, the main problem with it was it wasn't sufficiently absorbent for the use to which they wanted to put it," he said.

MPs will have a chance to discuss the leaflet in the House of Commons on May 9, after the parliamentary Petitions Committee ordered a debate in response to an e-petition which has gathered more than 210,000 signatures.

Mr Cameron hosted a reception of representatives of business organisations from Germany, France, Spain and the Netherlands at 10 Downing Street to discuss Britain's future in Europe.
The Government is coming under increasing pressure to reveal its plans to help save jobs in the crisis-hit steel industry and explain how it will "co-invest" in the business.

Business Secretary Sajid Javid faced a barrage of questions during a three-hour emergency debate in the Commons, with Labour pressing him to be more "upfront".

Indian conglomerate Tata has launched a formal process for selling its loss-making UK assets, including the giant plant at Port Talbot in South Wales.

Business minister Anna Soubry told the Welsh Affairs Committee she had received emails and a text from firms expressing "very serious expressions of interest" in buying Tata's UK sites.

Mr Javid hinted that the Government was set to announce moves to include more British steel in defence projects.

He told the Commons that defence procurement minister Philip Dunne could make an announcement "in the coming days" on Ministry of Defence (MoD) acquisition of British steel.

Potential Government "co-investment" with a commercial buyer in Port Talbot could involve taking on some of the business's debts, Mr Javid added.

MPs and unions have been pressing the Government to explain what it means by co-investing after the term was used by Mr Javid on Monday.

Labour MP Stephen Kinnock asked Ms Soubry for more detail, saying it would be helpful to send a message to potential buyers which gave more "clarity" about what it meant.

The minister replied: "We are looking at all options. These things are so commercially sensitive, it would be wrong to go into detail. The most important thing is to find a buyer. We want a responsible buyer, with a view to giving a sustainable long-term future."

Shadow business secretary Angela Eagle said: "Today was Sajid Javid's big chance to set out a comprehensive plan to save the steel industry. I'm afraid it must go down as yet another missed opportunity.

"We called for clarity on what the Secretary of State means by 'co-investment' and demanded a commitment to secure the future of the blast furnaces. We called for a modern and intelligent industrial policy, we called for reassurances for the customer base, and, most importantly, we called for action on Chinese dumping. The Secretary of State failed to deliver on each and every issue.

"We've had enough warm words from the Tory Government. We need to see some concrete action."

SNP employment spokesman Neil Gray described the Government's lack of clarity over the "co-investment" option as "unco-ordinated and shambolic".

Tata has confirmed that its UK steel business as a whole is losing 1 million a day, and for the last year has been making "significant" losses.

Mr Javid gave senior ministers an update on the Government's efforts to support the steel industry at the regular weekly meeting of Cabinet in 10 Downing Street.

Prime Minister David Cameron's official spokeswoman said there was no detailed discussion during the meeting about what "co-investment" in businesses might involve.
Ministers are set to announce moves to include more British steel in defence projects amid an industry crisis, Business Secretary Sajid Javid has hinted.

Mr Javid said Defence Procurement Minister Philip Dunne could make an announcement "in the coming days" on Ministry of Defence (MoD) acquisition of British steel.

And potential Government "co-investment" with a commercial buyer in Tata Steel's largest plant in Port Talbot could involve taking on some of the business's debts, Mr Javid added.

During an emergency debate on the steel crisis forced by Labour, Mr Javid fielded numerous questions from MPs.

Labour's Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South and Penarth) called for more action on defence procurement, prompting the Business Secretary to suggest the Government would announce plans soon.

Intervening, Mr Doughty said: "You've got the Minister for Defence Procurement sitting next to you, who answered me in a question saying that the MoD didn't even have the full records of where it was getting steel from for UK defence projects.

"So how can we be sure on you following through on that commitment of procurement when departments aren't even keeping records and when so many UK defence projects are being made in Korea, China and elsewhere?"

Mr Javid replied: "If I can say to you, I think you may hear more about that from the Minister for Defence Procurement in the coming days."

The Business Secretary faced numerous calls to clarify what exactly Government "co-investment" in the south Wales plant would involve.

Responding to an intervention on the proposal, Mr Javid said: "You will know that was in relation to Tata strip and a decision to sell their business.

"What I set out there is really to show when the Government says we will look at all options to help create a long-term viable business with a commercial operator, then that would be such an option.

"The key point is that any co-investment would have to be on commercial terms, investment can take a variety of forms, for example it could be debt.

"But again it's a demonstration of all the options the Government is looking at."

Asked by Labour's Geraint Davies (Swansea West) whether the Government would "socialise" Tata's pension fund, Mr Javid said: "We are looking at all possible solutions."

Shadow business secretary Angela Eagle criticised the Conservative-led Coalition Government for scrapping Labour's defence industrial strategy which she said made British jobs and industries the first priority in MoD contracts.

To heckles of "nonsense" from the Government benches, she said: "We now have the deeply regrettable situation of an aircraft carrier, British surface ships and armoured vehicles all being manufactured in the UK with mainly imported steel, when, with more planning, our domestic industry could have supplied these needs."

Labour called on the Government to bring forward "shovel-ready projects" that require a significant amount of steel and to ensure any changes to procurement rules make a real difference.

Ms Eagle also urged the Government to spare its "ideological blushes" and push forward with co-investing in a purchase of Tata Steel.

She said: "Call it what you like, co-investing, part-nationalisation, temporary public stewardship or sheltering the assets, it's clear that the circumstances may require the Government to do this.

"They should spare their ideological blushes and just get on with it."

She said the response from the Government and the Business Secretary has so far been "wanting".

"There has been what can only be described as an ideologically-driven reluctance to get involved as the crisis has deepened. It's been a mixture of indifference and incompetence," she said.

Tory Eurosceptic Peter Bone (Wellingborough) spoke about the importance of a British steel industry in defence.

He said: "We cannot be left without a steel industry and just really for one reason only - if there is, and I hope there won't be, some war in the future, you have to have your own steel industry otherwise you can't defend yourself."

Fellow Tory Sir Edward Leigh (Gainsborough) intervened, saying: "This is an absolutely vital national industry. Can he imagine any previous UK government in war or peace allowing our steel industry to go down the tube?"

He added that if the UK had "control of our own destiny, surely we could just stop this dumping, and stop it overnight. This is unfair, unreasonable and ridiculous dumping and we should stop it".

Mr Bone said the two front benches "can't deal with this situation because of the position they've taken on the EU", adding that it was because of the EU that constituents may lose their jobs.

He said: "If we really want to solve the problem of the steel industry, we have to stop the dumping," adding the only way to save the steel industry was to come out of the EU and "make our own decisions in this House".

He concluded: "I tell you now that if we had not been in the EU, months and months ago we'd have imposed tariffs on China, and if you want to save the steel industry you're going to have to vote to come out of the EU."

Mr Doughty argued it was "grossly irresponsible to suggest that leaving the EU would benefit the steel industry in this country".

Labour's Stephen Kinnock (Aberavon) said the Government's meetings and statements had "done very little" to address the issue of investor and customer confidence.

Erosion of the customer base was the most pressing issue facing the British steel industry, he said, adding: "No-one will buy a business if it has no customers, it's as simple as that."

He said: "At the present time, forgive us for our scepticism about the possibility that there may be a lack of action here."

Mr Kinnock stressed the clock was ticking, adding: "What we needed from the Government was the announcement that they would put down their pom poms and give up their role as China's chief cheerleader in Europe; t hat they would end their championing of market economy status for China and end their campaign against trade defence reform, but what we got was more of the same."

The Government's approach, he said, had been characterised by a "dangerous combination of indifference, incompetence and rolling out the red carpet for Beijing".

Labour chairman of the BIS Committee Iain Wright (Hartlepool) noted that in "two years China has produced more steel than we as the inventor of modern steel-making has produced since the start of the industrial revolution, so even if the Government was doing all that it could those challenges remain vast", but he added the Government could be doing more.

Conservative Tom Pursglove (Corby) said the UK should ignore EU state aid rules to help find a buyer for the Tata sites.

He also said there is "far too much knockabout" over the issue as he called for interested parties to work together to find solutions.

He added: "I happen to take the view that in relation to trying to find a buyer for these Tata sites, all options must be on the table. We shouldn't rule anything out.

"I know people will say 'you're a free market Conservative' and I am. But the fact is our steel industry is not competing on a level playing field at the moment and that requires action that doesn't necessarily go along the normal grain.

"So we shouldn't rule anything out and I happen to take the view that if a short period of public ownership is required in order to find a buyer for these sites then that is exactly what we should do."

Mr Pursglove said: "Along the way, in trying to reach that point in finding a buyer, we mustn't let state aid rules get in the way. If they get in the way we should simply ignore them and do what is right by our steel industry.

"That is the message that my constituents in Corby expect me to convey as their local Member of Parliament."

Earlier, Mr Pursglove said it was "simply unacceptable" for public bodies in Britain not to use British steel.

"O n procurement, I happen to take the view that we ought to get much more tough on this.

"We've seen some really positive steps forward but it's simply unacceptable to my mind for any public bodies in this country not to be using British steel at this time.

"We've got big procurement projects that we're seeing, we've got things like fracking coming on stream - we ought to be exploring all of those possibilities and making sure that our procurement policy reflects exactly that."

SNP employment spokesman Neil Gray described the Government's lack of clarity over the "co-investment" option as "uncoordinated and shambolic".

"I'm also keen to probe a bit further on your apparent flirtation with direct UK Government investment and potential co-ownership of steel sites including Port Talbot," he said.

"You described it as 'investing in commercial terms'.

"Perhaps you could clarify that as it was clear as mud yesterday and left more questions than answers.

"Indeed it appears this morning No 10 was briefing against your flirtation, saying nationalisation is not the answer.

"How uncoordinated and shambolic."

Mr Gray complained that ministers have had to be forced to come to the Commons to discuss the crisis, offering only defensive reactions.

"It is clear that the Government has been comfortably behind the curve on the steel crisis - poor, defensive reactions rather than proactive and practical support," he said.

"This is in stark contrast to the proactive, professional and diligent way the Scottish Government has approached the crisis facing Scottish plants at Clydebridge and Dalzell."

Labour's Angela Smith (Penistone and Stocksbridge) said: "We are at risk of seeing the industry undermined by people who are posing as experts in the field - commentators in the print media, for instance - who are giving the impression the steel industry's day is done.

"It's not done, it's got a great future."

Conservative David Davies (Monmouth) said: "I think the Government, frankly, is not doing enough."

He also claimed carbon dioxide emissions are not causing big rises in global temperatures, as he insisted more needs to be done to protect the country's heavy industries.

Mr Davies, opening his remarks, said there had been a lack of consistency from all parties, adding: "We need to ask ourselves a fundamental question, which is whether or not we want to have heavy manufacturing industries in this country.

"Of course people say that the answer is yes, I think the answer is yes, but if that is the case then one has to ask the question why is it that over the last few years governments of all parties - this Government, the previous coalition government and certainly the previous Labour government - have all enacted policies that have made it much harder for heavy industry to continue.

"They have swallowed lock, stock and barrel the idea that carbon dioxide is a pollutant, which is causing runaway global warming, and they've enacted a series of policies that have made it very expensive for any industry that emits CO2 and made it very expensive for heavy manufacturers to buy in energy."

Mr Davies said high energy costs are affecting other heavy manufacturing industries including glass, chemicals and cement.

He went on: "If honourable ladies and gentlemen truly believe these industries are polluting the atmosphere and causing great increases in temperature that we haven't actually seen any evidence of for 17 years, then they're doing exactly the right thing.

"I happen to think all of them, including this Government, are doing the wrong thing.

"I think it's high time we stopped trying to tax our manufacturing industries, stop taking tax away from companies that could be profitable and handing them over to expensive wind farms generating electricity at two or three times the cost of market rates, particularly when those same wind farm companies are not even willing to buy steel from this country and import the whole thing."

Mr Davies added: "I don't have any problem at all with CO2 being emitted.

"I want to see a viable heavy manufacturing industry in this country, I want to see lots of jobs, low taxation and I'm perfectly relaxed about CO2 emissions."

Tom Blenkinsop, the Labour MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, stressed the need for production to continue at crisis-hit sites while a deal is pursued while fellow Labour MP Mark Tami (Alyn and Deeside) said customers must be kept on board.

"We have to reassure the customer base as well because if that is not done then we have no businesses to sell because the customers will start to leave and will walk away," Mr Tami said.

"They need assurances."

Meanwhile, Tory MP Byron Davies (Gower) urged politicians of all parties to work together to find a solution to the steel crisis.

He said: "We must work together. Political grand standing will not save jobs.

"Political grand standing will not provide a long-term, viable future for steel production in Port Talbot.

"Political grand standing will not support businesses in the supply chain across south Wales.

"The history of steel in our communities runs deeper than political point scoring."

Jessica Morden, the Labour MP for Newport East, asked ministers to set out exactly which infrastructure projects they would like to see using British steel as she called for "real action on procurement".

"Not just an advice note or the kind of souped-up advice note that came out last week," she said.

"What specific projects does the Minister have in mind and can the Minister tell us that today?"

Business Minister Anna Soubry could be heard saying "HS2" and "Trident" from her position on the frontbench as Ms Morden spoke.

Labour MP Nick Thomas-Symonds, whose constituency of Torfaen has a long history of steel production, accused the Business Secretary of putting the Government's relationship with Beijing before the UK.

He asked: "Where do your loyalties lie? Do they lie with Beijing or do they lie with the steel workers of this country?"

He questioned how ironic it would be if "we have a Secretary of State supposedly wedded ideologically to a free market who ends up granting market economy status to a country where 80% of its steel industry is owned by the state".

He added: "Is that seriously what the Secretary of State is going to do? It's time you put aside the obsession with Beijing and acted for our steel workers."

Labour MP Nic Dakin criticised George Osborne for failing to use the last Budget to reform business rates in the steel industry, something the unions had pushed for during the growing crisis.

The Scunthorpe MP said: "It's deeply disappointing that the Chancellor was unable to bring us some good news in terms of movements on business rates and I believe that ministers opposite have been fighting their corner on that.

"It's deeply disappointing that the Government at the highest level was unable to make movement on that because that would have made a real difference.

"These playing fields need levelling."
Reality TV star David Gest, the former husband of Liza Minnelli, has been found dead i n a five-star London hotel.

Police and paramedics were called to the luxury Four Seasons Hotel, in Canary Wharf, at around 10.20am on Tuesday and the 62-year-old's death is being treated as unexplained.

The former Celebrity Big Brother contestant was married to Minnelli from 2002-2003, but they only officially divorced in 2007.

Gest had been due to tour the United Kingdom in a musical show called David Gest Is Not Dead, But Alive With Soul, starting in York on July 1.

The American TV personality gained a following in the UK for his appearances on Celebrity Big Brother and ITV's Grease Is The Word.

He was also known for being a close friend of the late Michael Jackson.

Friend Imad Handi said: "It is with great sadness that I can confirm that David Gest has died today.

"David was truly larger than life. He was not just a huge talent and a dear friend but a showbiz icon.

"I know he will be missed by millions of fans around the world, and particularly in Britain, who came to love his charm and blistering one-liners.

"If I may steal the words of one eminent critic, David was a natural star and a genuine celebrity. I will miss him desperately."

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "Police were called at 10.17 on Tuesday 12 April to the Four Seasons hotel, in Westferry Circus, E14, to reports of an unexplained death of a man in his 60s. London Ambulance Service were called to the scene. Life was pronounced extinct at the hotel.

"A post-mortem will be held in due course. Next of kin are in the process of being informed."

Celebrities reacted with shock at the news.

Coronation Street star Les Dennis tweeted: "David Gest was a talented producer, witty man and someone I was proud to call my friend. Shocked to hear of his death."

Big Brother's Bit On The Side host Rylan Clark-Neal said: "So sad to hear the news about David Gest . Really sad news. Xx".

Christopher Maloney, who spent time in the Celebrity Big Brother house with Gest, tweeted his condolences, writing: "OMG just found out my great friend @DavidGest2016 has sadly past away. My thoughts are with your family at this time. RIP David x".

Television presenter Lizzie Cundy wrote on Twitter: "I'm devastated to hear the sad news my dear friend David Gest has died. He was a loyal dear friend to me and he will be so sadly missed."

The name for Gest's upcoming tour was inspired by an incident in the Celebrity Big Brother House in January when American reality star Tiffany Pollard mistakenly believed Gest had died rather than David Bowie.

Speaking to the Hull Daily Mail to promote the tour, Gest said: "Tiffany was told 'David is dead' and thought it was me. There was an uproar because I'd been ill.

"Darren Day pulled back the covers and said 'are you alive?' - I said 'As far as I know I am'.

"It became a sensation all over the country that David Gest is alive and not dead."

He also spoke to The Grimsby Telegraph about where he wanted to be buried.

He said: "I will never go back to LA; I will die here and want to be buried in York. I love this country much more than my own."

Gest married Minnelli in March 2002 in a star-studded ceremony with Michael Jackson as best man and Elizabeth Taylor as maid of honour.

Before filing for divorce, Gest sued Minnelli for assault, claiming that she had beaten him so badly during alcoholic rages that she caused him nerve damage and caused him to be treated in hospital for five days.

Minnelli also sued Gest, claiming her estranged husband had stolen at least two million dollars she earned while performing in shows he produced.

The pair ended their dispute in 2007 when their lawyers filed court papers saying they had settled their differences and agreed to get divorced without fault.

Gest grew up with Jackson and his brothers in California, and was close friends with the family.

He was a successful producer and in 2001 his television special on the 30th anniversary of the launch of Jackson's solo career was the highest rated in history.

In a recent interview with the BBC, ahead of one of his shows in Eastbourne, he spoke frankly about not wanting to be famous while he was married to Minnelli.

He said: "There's a part of me that never wanted to be quote 'a celebrity' when I was married - I can't remember the woman's name."

Prompted by the interviewer that it was Liza, he responded: "I knew it was Elizabeth. I never wanted to be in the public eye. It's very hard when you wake up each day and there's press outside your house. I would never want to live that type of life, I live a very simple life."

A spokesman for the Four Seasons Hotel refused to comment on Gest's death.
Britain has urged claimants of the South China Sea to refrain from the threat or use of force and from unilateral actions, and to uphold international law in resolving their disputes.

UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond made the comments during a press briefing with his Vietnamese counterpart, Pham Binh Minh, in Hanoi on Tuesday.

They come at a time when massive land reclamation by China and increased military action in the South China Sea have raised concerns among countries in the region and the United States.

Mr Hammond is on a two-day visit to Vietnam to seek ways to expand trade and investment with the South East Asian country.

Mr Hammond said: "It is our firm view that claimants (of the South China Sea) should refrain from the threat or use of force and from unilateral actions such as deployment of military forces and equipment on disputed maritime features."

He said Britain has "strong national interests in the continued stability and security of this region".
More than 300 migrants have been returned to Turkey (AP)

More than 2,000 migrants have been rescued in a single day in 17 different operations in the Mediterranean Sea, according to the Italian coastguard.

A Maltese ship, a redirected cargo vessel and a ship that is part of the EU's Frontex operation joined forces with Italian coastguard, navy and customs rescue ships.

Warm weather and calm seas have resulted in a surge in the number of people paying smugglers to cross the Mediterranean to Europe from Libya.

The coastguard said the 2,154 rescued on Tuesday were found in 16 rubber dinghies and one boat, each crammed with around 100-200 people.
At least 22 people were killed when a bus slipped off a mountain gravel road in eastern Nepal and rolled down a hill, police said.

The bus plunged off the narrow road near Barkhetar, 125 miles east of the capital, Kathmandu, and rolled down a hill for nearly 200 metres, said police official Umesh Khadka.

Another police official, Sangita Baniya, said that the death toll had risen to 22 by Tuesday evening and that all of the 20 people injured in the accident had been taken to hospitals for treatment.

Police are investigating the cause of the accident.

Nepal is mostly covered with mountains, and most roads are narrow with hairpin bends, with only gravel roads linking mountain villages.

Most accidents in Nepal are blamed on poorly maintained vehicles and road conditions. Buses are crowded and people often travel on the roofs.
Downing Street said the payments were an attempt to "balance" the sums received by all the Cameron children, as Mr Cameron's older brother had inherited the family home

Just who are these "elderly" we talk about so much? People like ourselves must pass over into that category of "old age", but exactly when that happens, or quite how it does, remain mysteries.

All we know is "we" don't mean "them" when we talk about "us".

What we do, though, is label them arbitrarily with both virtues and vices. They are Werther Butterscotch Grandpappy, or gentle white-haired Little Red Riding Hood Grannies - saintly creatures who have never had a malicious thought in their lives, who have always somehow been old, acquiring at some point on their journey a taste for The People's Friend, ITV3, a cup of Horlicks and leaving family events early to "get settled".

Or they are like very young children: repetitive, unreflective, unaware; by their very nature out of touch with the great currents of the world. And like young children, we love them, but they can be a bit of a chore.

So, how odd it was - but how refreshing - that Mary Cameron and Jane Williams, both in their 80s, came to dominate the headlines at the weekend.

What began as matters embroiling their famous sons - both at the very top of the Establishment in Britain as Prime Minister and Archbishop of Canterbury respectively - developed into quite intimate tales of family tensions and emotional dramas in which both women played central roles, emerging from that weird tartan rug in which "we" wrap our elders to take ownership once more of their own lives and to account for decisions and directions in the lives of their impossibly successful and famous sons.

Mary Cameron's son struggled through what many believe to be the worst week of his premiership, wrestling with one particularly awkward legacy left by his father - offshore accounts, as revealed last week in the Panama leaks. Whatever the outcome, both of his initial clumsy defensiveness and his ultimately quite radical decision to publish the details of his personal accounts, it was the revelation of the robust decisiveness of his mother Mary in making two substantial payments to her son in May and July 2011, tax-free at the time and only liable to inheritance tax of up to 40% if she is, ahem, dead by 2018.

Downing Street said the payments were an attempt to "balance" the sums received by all the Cameron children, as Mr Cameron's older brother had inherited the family home.

Now, the negotiations within that sibling relationship and the obligations of a mother to both her sons is fascinating and not at all unusual, as anyone familiar with even modest bequests and the feuds they can ignite will know.

But what is equally fascinating is the management of affairs which Mary Cameron was able to deploy as the matriarch. Interestingly, in February this 82-year-old signed a petition opposing planned closure of children's services in Oxfordshire, the Tory-run council that covers her son's Witney constituency.

This is no helpless little old lady. Though one son is Prime Minister and the other a top QC, she moved to hold her family together, making sure that none of her children felt slighted.

Even more remarkable was the aplomb displayed by Justin Welby's mother upon her son going public with the news that his biological father was Sir Winston Churchill's private secretary, Sir Anthony Montague Browne, and not, as he had until very recently believed, whisky salesman Gavin Welby.

Justin Welby managed it well. But not as well as his mother. In a statement Lady Williams didn't have to make, she said the news was an "almost unbelievable shock" and that her fling with Sir Anthony Montague Browne was "fuelled by a large amount of alcohol".

She was brutal in confronting what must have been a painful time in her life: "It appears that the precautions taken at the time didn't work and my wonderful son was conceived as a result of this liaison ... Gavin Welby and I had a short and, sadly, dysfunctional marriage, neither of us ever doubted that we were the parents of our son Justin."

Gavin Welby himself was already an alcoholic bully. Lady Williams continued: "One feature of this pressure is that I was already drinking heavily at times. Although I could then ensure that this did not affect my work, it was later to develop into serious alcoholism during the 1960s, which only came to an end when I entered rehab in 1968. I have not drunk alcohol since."

The woman emerges not well, but very human.

Lady Williams's is a life of shades, of contradictions, of failings and, it has to be said, triumphs. Shockingly, she demonstrates just how stultifying our view of old people is. Many of us are simply not prepared to let our older relatives be persons in their own right.

Jane Williams and Mary Cameron. Two women in old age still mopping up the damage of their own lives and that of their sons - handling embarrassment and shame and blame with something not quite, but very like, aplomb.

Let's hope we ourselves in our 80s can manage even a fraction of that chutzpah.
Issues surrounding band parades, flags, identity, culture and tradition will all be examined by the new commission

Issues surrounding band parades, flags, identity, culture and tradition will all be examined by the new commission

Every day I await news of who has been appointed to the new Northern Ireland Commission on Flags, Identity, Culture and Tradition. The only thing I know for certain is that I won't be among them.

I was informed on February 19 that my application had been rejected because I did not "provide sufficient depth and breadth" on four of the five essential criteria.

So, I'm not on the shortlist that has been sent to the Office of First Minister and Deputy First Minster (OFMDFM).

Eight of those names will be appointed as non-political members to the 13-person commission.

Originally unveiled in the Stormont House Agreement of 2014, the commission was to have been up and running by June 2015, with the task of providing "a forum of individuals to take forward a programme of work to include:

 Scoping the range, extent and nature of issues relating to flags, identity, culture and tradition.

 Mapping the benefits and opportunities in terms of flags and related issues, whilst also highlighting where challenges remain.

 Producing a report and recommendations on the way forward".

I thought I might have something worthwhile to contribute, so when applications were finally invited last December, with a deadline of January 17, I put myself forward.

Aware that the urgency of tackling these issues meant there would not be interviews, I read the guidance booklet closely and answered the questions carefully over several days.

Until February 19 I was sure I was in with a chance. So, I queried my summary exclusion and was promised a response within "five working days".

I waited more than five working weeks. Then, on March 30, I contacted the "resourcing manager" at HRConnect, asking for her promised feedback. By return email I got a two-sentence response from the selection panel. It said, more or less, that I hadn't filled in the application form correctly.

"The candidate did not address all elements of essential criteria 2, 3, 4 and 5 as set out in the detail in the application form. The candidate relied too heavily on a list of activities, rather than illustrating how the required criteria were met by their experience."

Now, I can't wait to see who did fill in the form to the satisfaction of this panel of public sector recruiters and what they will bring to the issues which are at the core of all our unresolved differences.

Since I was deemed to have met the first selection criterion - knowledge and expertise in the area of flags, identity, culture and tradition - I presume the shortlisted candidates are equally qualified. For my part, I was recently awarded a PhD by Ulster University for my research on loyalist marching bands, identity, culture, tradition and trauma.

The second criterion was "judgment and creative thinking", on which candidates should "demonstrate an ability to tackle and resolve difficult and complex problems or challenges".

I responded that, in a journalism career of almost four decades here and in Canada, I tackled and help to resolve by research, analysis and elucidation such problems as the introduction of EU farm quotas, Quebec separatism, the Northern Ireland conflict, shared policing structures, not to mention a host of technological and cultural problems and challenges within the newspaper industry itself. Obviously, the other candidates did more.

The third criterion for shortlisting was "strategic thinking and planning". My inadequate response was in outlining how, as editor, I had changed the traditional editorial stance of a well-established nationalist group of local newspapers in Northern Ireland to reflect the post-Good Friday Agreement shared community.

I explained how I did so by careful planning, leadership and personal resolve to shift news, sport and features coverage to reflect all sectors of the community, targeted hiring and the introduction of new editorial initiatives. This was recognised in steadily growing circulation during my tenure as editor and four Weekly Newspaper of the Year awards. The selection experts were not impressed.

The next criterion on which I came up short was "experience of stakeholder engagement", on which I outlined how I come from a Catholic nationalist background with a lifelong and passionate involvement in Gaelic games, the Irish language and traditional music. Yet I had spent the past seven years exploring and living in a loyalist community, attending band parades and other Protestant cultural events and writing a bestselling book of my experiences, Blood & Thunder: Inside An Ulster Protestant Band, before completing a doctoral degree on my original research.

I also explained how my other books include a 1998 novel, The Sons Of Levi, telling the story of Ulster Protestants excluded from the six counties; a detailed account of the beleaguered nationalist community of south Armagh, The Chosen Fews (2000); and, most recently, as a co-author of a book, To Tell You The Truth, recounting the stories of people who have lived with deep trauma from the loss of loved ones during the Troubles.

The final criterion on which I was deemed unworthy of inclusion on the Commission on Flags, Identity, Culture and Tradition was "team work". I explained how I had survived and thrived during a lengthy career in a field of work rooted in team work and co-operation.

I recounted my progression through news organisations in Ireland and Canada, where I adapted to new colleagues, cultural norms, work practices and corporate structures and was rewarded by promotion every time. Clearly, however, I'm not enough of a team player for HRConnect.

Obviously, it is difficult to decide on eight non-political commissioners from all those who impressed the HRConnect panel sufficiently to be shortlisted for OFMDFM. How else could it explain that it is already one month past the scheduled "preferred starting date" in March?

Then again, the commission had an original starting date of June 2015, with completion of the report within 18 months (December 2016). That deadline is approaching fast.

So, I now await with bated breath for news of the appointments. But I don't think I can hold my breath that long.

Darach MacDonald's Blood & Thunder: Inside An Ulster Protestant Band is published by The Mercier Press
I like Sally Field.I really, really like her. She was a staple in my childhood when I grew up watching Gidget and The Flying Nun. Today, worlds apart from the beach setting of the first show and the Puerto Rican convent in which Sister Bertille lived, in the second program, Field takes on the role of Doris Miller in the new movie entitled, Hello My Name is Doris. A versatile actress, Field dons a mish mosh mashup of thrift store color combo-ed clothes, hair extensions and floppily tied scarves as she steps into the character. Doris is a late blooming 60- something woman who sacrificed marriage, a family and more rewarding career to take care of her mother. At the outset of the movie, her mother has just died and she is now rattling around their packed to the gills hoarders house. It isnt until later in the movie when she reluctantly engages the services of a therapist who specializes in that addiction that the viewer gets an idea of what makes Doris tick. Although this character blessedly did not suffer the same type of trauma as the one Field played in the disturbing movie Sybil, it is clear that she is troubled by a painful past.

Each weekday, Doris boards the Staten Island Ferry and heads to her job as an accountant at a creative agency where she is surrounded by considerably younger co-workers, including a new art director that she has the immediate hots for when she sees him getting off his bicycle in front of the building. She finds all kinds of inventive ways to draw his attention after they find themselves in close proximity in the elevator. Another plot twist is that along with her friends Roz and Val, she attends a self help seminar taught by a spiritual guru type who re-frames Doris belief that what she wants, which is a chance with her crush, as impossible into Im Possible. Doris chants that line in her head and out loud as fuel for engaging with her fantasy man. One of the most enjoyable aspects of the film is the Ally McBeal meets Walter Mitty active inner world that Doris possesses. She imagines juicy love scenes with the character of John that are only temporarily satisfying.

Because she is rather awkward and emotionally stunted, she seeks the guidance of her BFFs 13 year old grand-daughter, perhaps because she actually feels like an adolescent when it comes to matters of the heart. She sets up a fake Facebook profile so she can take a look at his interests. One is a an electronica group named Baby Goya and the Nuclear Winters whose music she finds oddly compelling. In one scene in a Williamsburg nightclub, where she conspires to run into John, she is garbed in a neon hued outfit and along with that and her enthusiastic break loose dancing, it draws the attention of Baby Goya himself. She and John are invited backstage where she is asked to be the cover model for their new CD. Such an adventure for this sheltered woman who longs for color and a release from the box of boredom in which she found herself trapped.

As their relationship evolves, it takes some surprising twists and turns, as well as some that are I could have told you this would happen predictable. Her desire to do more than merely exist, has her taking emotional risks, living life on her terms and discovering who Doris really is. As the film begins on the elevator, it also ends there.or does it?
What is the definition of true, impactful leadership? What does it mean in the Christian world, or is it different if youre a believer? We erroneously believe that managers are leaders, this is simply not true. Many people believe they are the same. Managers are more taskmasters, they work to make sure tasks are done the companys goals are met efficiently.

A leader is a different skill set. Leaders are more proactive and can garner what they need from their team without using fear. Managers delegate, a leader builds a team where everyone plays a vital role in the making the machine work. Philippians 2:3 reflects: Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.

Accountability need s to not come from the floor, it needs to come from the top. Everyone needs accountability, and a title does not exclude you. As a believer, we need to look to be humble, not so full of ourselves that we cant admit mistakes.

If you show that you are not perfect, people will respect you as well as the team. Humility is not a weakness. Philippians: Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves. Listening to your staff is important to keep connected to your people.

This doesnt mean you need to be a doormat as you cant make everyone happy. However, what happens is many leaders/managers allow a culture to build that is not healthy.

They may listen to complaints, but offer no constructive feedback on how to correct the issue until they experienced people pack up and go. There could be policies in place that need to be reevaluated. Being purposely oblivious is dangerous, and conducting an atmosphere that is built on fear is disastrous.

Who wants to engage with this?

No one will people feel like theyre fading. This creates a more collaborate environment. For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many (1 Corinthians 12:12-31).

Create an environment that rewards and celebrates people, not just a select few. If you promote people put it in a memo for all of those that received a nod. There are different personalities, but make an effort to know youre people, of course with boundaries. Brian Fielkow is a business leader and wrote an article for Entrepreneur. You must ensure employee behavior is in line with your organizations values and that your employees not only understand the companys values but also never compromise them. As a key executive, managing behavior is one of the most important things you can do to engender a vibrant culture and ultimately bring your company forward.

Most people never take a leadership class. Take the time to do so, to make you and your team better. This can help with creativity, confidence, and ingenuity. Educating oneself will help you learn how to handle difficult situations and learn how to problem solve. Experts believe that there needs to be more focus on the positives when there is a mistake. This takes the drama way and allows you to think clearer. Often, when this is employed problems can be solved better.

Luke Lorio is an expert on leadership. He said in an interview with Business News Daily that an effective leader doesnt just tell how to do something, but can do and show what needs to be done.

Controlling people to do certain things in certain ways, you're not going to get the level of engagement that you're looking for. Coaching is about helping the people you lead recognize the choices they have in front of them. People will [then] take a great deal of ownership over the direction of the project.

Corine Gatti is a Senior Editor at Beliefnet.com.
An Indian election official watches a voter fill out her ballot in a polling station in the northeastern state of Assam, April 11, 2016.

Updated at 7:14 a.m. ET on 2016-04-13

Saifuddin Ahmed, a Bengali Muslim who lives in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, is anxiously waiting for results of just-concluded state assembly elections to be announced on May 19.

Ahmeds father migrated to India from the former East Pakistan  later Bangladesh  in the 1950s, but he says he fears persecution, or even deportation, if the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) comes to power in Assam, which borders Bangladesh.

I was born here [in India] and have lived here all my life. I am an Indian citizen. But still, I am referred to as a Bangladeshi, Ahmed, 53, told BenarNews from his village in Kokrajhar district, some 220 km (136.7 miles) from the state capital Guwahati.

If the BJP comes to power in Assam, I am afraid people like me will have no status in India. We might even be kicked out of the country. Who will stop them? said Ahmed, one of about 2 million Muslim immigrants living in Assam since before the birth of Bangladesh in 1971, and who voted in statewide polls that concluded on Monday.

Ahmeds fear is not entirely unfounded and is shared by Muslim immigrants in West Bengal, another state that borders Bangladesh and where the BJP has also been campaigning on an anti-immigrant platform in state elections that will end there on May 5.

In Assam, Prime Minister Narendra Modis BJP has vowed to disenfranchise Muslim immigrants as it looks to form its first government in the state. At 34 percent, Assam boasts the second highest number of Muslims among Indias states.

According to a 1998 report by the governor of Assam, the state's Muslim population grew by 77 percent compared with the national average of 55 percent between 1971 and 1991, indicating large- scale cross-border migration.

Himanta Biswa Sarma, a campaign manager for the BJP, said recently that if his party were elected, it would bar Bangladeshi-origin Muslims, who entered India between 1951 and 1971, from voting, adding that they could stay but would have to re-apply for citizenship.

There are about 2 million immigrants [who came before 1971] and their descendants. Let them grow economically and educationally. But their status should be [as] refugee[s] and, on the basis of individual applications, if someone becomes an Indian citizen, thats a different issue, Sarma told Reuters.

Sarma said his party would deport undocumented Bangladeshi immigrants, a large but unknown number of whom has settled in Assam and West Bengal and who arrived in India post-1971.

Polarizing campaign

Besides Assam, where phased polling ended this week, voting will continue over several rounds in West Bengal on April 17, 21, 25, 30 and May 5. Voting is also set to continue in three other south Indian states  Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry  before official results are declared on May 19.

The party that leads Indias ruling coalition is trying to win state assembly majorities in Assam, which is controlled by the Congress party, and West Bengal, which is led by the All India Trinamool Congress party.

The BJPs polarizing election campaign, according to critics, has been an attempt to woo the states Hindu voters, who have long complained of being robbed of jobs due to the influx of Bangladeshi immigrants.

[BJPs anti-immigrant campaign is] not surprising. Though the issue of illegal immigrants is a problem, it can be addressed politically with due processes. Their campaign is nothing but a form a polarization, New Delhi-based political commentator Rupesh Verma told BenarNews.

The BJPs idea of India as a Hindu nationalist state is clear. Minority-related issues do not go down well with them. They have been playing the communal card for a long time, he said, adding that Modis plan risked re-igniting communal tensions between officially secular Indias nearly 1.3 billion-strong Hindu population and 172 million Muslims.

Hindus welcome, not Muslims

The fact that the BJP last year announced that it would welcome and offer citizenship to Hindu immigrants from mainly Muslim Bangladesh and Pakistan, but wants to alienate Muslim immigrants does not sit well with Sadiq, an immigrant living in West Bengal since 1968.

Refusing to have his last name published for fear of repercussions, Sadiq, a Kolkata resident, said although he was a voting citizen of India, several of his relatives had crossed into India from Bangladesh illegally after 1971.

My relatives, who came to India in search of better opportunities, have no rights. They live in constant fear of being arrested or thrown out at any time. But the Hindus coming in from across the border are being welcomed with open arms. How does the Indian constitution justify this religious discrimination? Sadiq told BenarNews.

But the BJPs campaign was mere pre-electoral mobilization, said analysts, who cast doubt on whether the party would follow this up with a full-scale drive to expel Muslim immigrants.

You dont have a state that has the capacity, the instruments and the institutions to do anything about this [drive out Muslim immigrants], Reuters quoted Ajai Sahni, of the New Delhi-based Institute for Conflict Management, as saying.

Political commentator Dushyant Nagar said the BJPs campaign in Assam and West Bengal was an extension of its right-wing ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which has long opposed the influx of Muslim immigrants.

[The RSS] has always been against it. Since most Bangladeshi immigrants are Muslims, the BJP wants to polarize the votes. But this does not seem to give it the desired advantage, [as] not all Hindus are voting for the BJP, Nagar told BenarNews.


For Immediate Release, April 12, 2016 Contact: Taylor McKinnon, Center for Biological Diversity, (801) 300-2414, tmckinnon@biologicaldiversity.org

Cyrus Reed, Sierra Clubs Lone Star Chapter, (512) 740-4086, cyrus.reed@sierraclub.org

Rita Beving, Clean Water Action, (214) 557-2271, rita.beving@gmail.com Feds Pull Remaining Texas Acres From Upcoming Fossil Fuel Auction Second Pullback Cuts 36,000-acre Auction to 2,306 Acres DALLAS Citing the need to further evaluate public feedback, the Bureau of Land Management has withdrawn all Texas acres from a federal fossil fuel auction slated for April 20 in Santa Fe, N.M. The auction, originally to include more than 36,000 acres in Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma, is now reduced to 2,306 acres. Responding to concerns raised by environmental groups and local governments about fracking impacts, the U.S. Forest Service in February withdrew 31,169 acres of national forest lands in Texas from the auction; the groups then submitted an administrative protest of the Bureau of Land Managements decision to auction the remaining 5,700 acres. The Texas parcels recently pulled from the April auction underlie municipal water supplies that serve the heavily populated areas of Dallas-Fort Worth, Denton, Brenham and Corpus Christi. A letter from environmentalists highlighted the potential for fracking beneath Lewisville Lake, Somerville Lake, Lake Conroe and Choke Canyon Reservoir to contaminate drinking water for millions of people. The Bureau of Land Management was right to pull the remaining Texas parcels from this fossil fuel auction, but the reality is that no public oil and gas leases should be sold, said Taylor McKinnon with the Center for Biological Diversity. Oil and gas drilling destroys public forests for well pads, roads and pipelines, and fracking threatens watersheds and water supplies. Fossil fuels must remain in the ground if we are to avert the worst impacts of climate change. A study last year determined that halting new federal fossil fuel auctions on lands and offshore areas controlled by the U.S. government would keep up to 450 billion tons of greenhouse gases from polluting the atmosphere. Hundreds of people have turned out for Keep It in the Ground rallies opposing BLM fossil fuel auctions across the country in recent months, with several auctions being canceled. Thousands of Texans told BLM to stop this unwise fire sale, and they did the right thing, said Cyrus Reed, conservation director of the Sierra Clubs Lone Star Chapter. As BLM looks to the future, serious reforms are needed in its auction process so the public has an opportunity to raise concerns and insist on best practices, including keeping oil and gas in the ground. Separately, the city of Dallas Water Utilities formally requested that 259 acres at Lewisville Lake be removed from the auction, citing concerns over the risk that fracking can cause contamination and exacerbate the dams known safety issues. In 2015 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers determined that the dam is at high risk of failure in an extreme event. A number of cities that rely on Lewisville Lake for their drinking water have also filed formal protests against the leasing plan, including Highland Village, Flower Mound, Denton, Irving, Lewisville and The Colony. Dallas Water and municipal officials echoed environmentalists concerns that the public did not receive proper notice of the auction. Our group along with others sounded the alarm to cities whose vital water supplies could be put at risk in this sale, said Rita Beving, North Texas outreach coordinator for Clean Water Action. There were four drinking water supply lakes at risk in Texas. Besides Lake Lewisville, Somerville Lake, Lake Conroe and Choke Canyon reservoir were also at risk, not only for water contamination but also for what potential harm could befall their dams through increased seismicity due to drilling. We are very pleased with the outcome and are grateful to all the cities, government and environmental organizations who worked with us to make this happen. Download the Bureau of Land Managements recent parcel withdrawal.

Download the Forest Services Aprils withdrawal of consent.

Download groups earlier letter of concern to federal agencies.

Download groups protest of the Bureau of Land Managements decision to auction fossil fuels here.
Despite having policies in place to prevent infections, staff at outpatient care facilities fail to follow recommendations for hand hygiene 37 percent of the time, and for safe injection practices 33 percent of the time, according to a study published in the April issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).

Researchers from the University of New Mexico and the New Mexico Health Department conducted a cross-sectional study of 15 geographically-dispersed outpatient facilities in which medical students assessed infection prevention policies and practices during the summer of 2014. Medical student interviews with outpatient facility staff indicated that 93 percent of recommended policies were in place across the 15 facilities. However, when the students observed behaviors, they noted only 63 percent compliance with recommended hand hygiene practices and 66 percent compliance with safe injection practices. In 37 percent of hand hygiene observations, no hand hygiene was performed.

"Despite high levels of report of hand hygiene education and observed supply availability, observations of hand hygiene and aseptic injection technique showed lack of similarly high behavior compliance," the study authors commented. "This project highlights the importance of assessing both the report of recommended infection prevention policies and practices, as well as behavior compliance through observational audits. This is critical because there have been outbreaks and infection transmission to patients reported in outpatient settings due to these types of infection prevention breaches, including transmission of hepatitis B and C."

Medical students assessed prevention policies using an outpatient infection prevention checklist developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that included 14 topic areas including administrative policies, education and training, occupational health, environment cleaning, hand hygiene, and injection safety. In addition to assessing policies via the checklist, the students evaluated injection safety and hand hygiene practices through direct observations. Each student was asked to observe 10 injections and 20 hand hygiene opportunities at their assigned outpatient practice.

Of the 163 injection safety observations, only 66 percent of the preparations complied with all of the recommended infection prevention steps, which included performing hand hygiene, disinfecting the rubber septum, using a new needle and syringe, properly discarding single-dose vials, and dating multi-dose vials upon opening. During the 330 hand hygiene observations, students reported that hand hygiene supplies were available 100 percent of the time.

"These findings highlight the need for ongoing quality improvement initiatives regarding infection prevention policies and practices in outpatient settings," conclude the authors.

Source: Elsevier Health Sciences


This is a new and expanded view of the tree of life. The tree of life, which depicts how life has evolved and diversified on the planet, is getting a lot more complicated.

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, who have discovered more than 1,000 new types of bacteria and Archaea over the past 15 years lurking in Earth's nooks and crannies, have dramatically rejiggered the tree to account for these microscopic new life forms.

"The tree of life is one of the most important organizing principles in biology," said Jill Banfield, a UC Berkeley professor of earth and planetary science and environmental science, policy and management. "The new depiction will be of use not only to biologists who study microbial ecology, but also biochemists searching for novel genes and researchers studying evolution and earth history."

Much of this microbial diversity remained hidden until the genome revolution allowed researchers like Banfield to search directly for their genomes in the environment, rather than trying to culture them in a lab dish. Many of the microbes cannot be isolated and cultured because they cannot live on their own: they must beg, borrow or steal stuff from other animals or microbes, either as parasites, symbiotic organisms or scavengers.

The new tree, to be published online April 11 in the new journal Nature Microbiology, reinforces once again that the life we see around us - plants, animals, humans and other so-called eukaryotes - represent a tiny percentage of the world's biodiversity.

"Bacteria and Archaea from major lineages completely lacking isolated representatives comprise the majority of life's diversity," said Banfield, who also has an appointment at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. "This is the first three-domain genome-based tree to incorporate these uncultivable organisms, and it reveals the vast scope of as yet little-known lineages."

According to first author Laura Hug, a former UC Berkeley postdoctoral fellow who is now on the biology faculty at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, the more than 1,000 newly reported organisms appearing on the revised tree are from a range of environments, including a hot spring in Yellowstone National Park, a salt flat in Chile's Atacama desert, terrestrial and wetland sediments, a sparkling water geyser, meadow soil and the inside of a dolphin's mouth. All of these newly recognized organisms are known only from their genomes.

"What became really apparent on the tree is that so much of the diversity is coming from lineages for which we really only have genome sequences," she said. "We don't have laboratory access to them, we have only their blueprints and their metabolic potential from their genome sequences. This is telling, in terms of how we think about the diversity of life on Earth, and what we think we know about microbiology."

One striking aspect of the new tree of life is that a group of bacteria described as the "candidate phyla radiation" forms a very major branch. Only recognized recently, and seemingly comprised only of bacteria with symbiotic lifestyles, the candidate phyla radiation now appears to contain around half of all bacterial evolutionary diversity.

While the relationship between Archaea and eukaryotes remains uncertain, it's clear that "this new rendering of the tree offers a new perspective on the history of life," Banfield said.

"This incredible diversity means that there are a mind-boggling number of organisms that we are just beginning to explore the inner workings of that could change our understanding of biology," said co-author Brett Baker, formerly of Banfield's UC Berkeley lab but now at the University of Texas, Austin, Marine Science Institute.

Tree depicts life we see today

Charles Darwin first sketched a tree of life in 1837 as he sought ways of showing how plants, animals and bacteria are related to one another. The idea took root in the 19th century, with the tips of the twigs representing life on Earth today, while the branches connecting them to the trunk implied evolutionary relationships among these creatures. A branch that divides into two twigs near the tips of the tree implies that these organisms have a recent common ancestor, while a forking branch close to the trunk implies an evolutionary split in the distant past.

Archaea were first added in 1977 after work showing that they are distinctly different from bacteria, though they are single-celled like bacteria. A tree published in 1990 by microbiologist Carl Woese was "a transformative visualization of the tree," Banfield said. With its three domains, it remains the most recognizable today.

With the increasing ease of DNA sequencing in the 2000s, Banfield and others began sequencing whole communities of organisms at once and picking out the individual groups based on their genes alone. This metagenomic sequencing revealed whole new groups of bacteria and Archaea, many of them from extreme environments, such as the toxic puddles in abandoned mines, the dirt under toxic waste sites and the human gut. Some of these had been detected before, but nothing was known about them because they wouldn't survive when isolated in a lab dish.

For the new paper, Banfield and Hug teamed up with more than a dozen other researchers who have sequenced new microbial species, gathering 1,011 previously unpublished genomes to add to already known genome sequences of organisms representing the major families of life on Earth.

She and her team constructed a tree based on 16 separate genes that code for proteins in the cellular machine called a ribosome, which translates RNA into proteins. They included a total of 3,083 organisms, one from each genus for which fully or almost fully sequenced genomes were available.

The analysis, representing the total diversity among all sequenced genomes, produced a tree with branches dominated by bacteria, especially by uncultivated bacteria. A second view of the tree grouped organisms by their evolutionary distance from one another rather than current taxonomic definitions, making clear that about one-third of all biodiversity comes from bacteria, one-third from uncultivable bacteria and a bit less than one-third from Archaea and eukaryotes.

"The two main take-home points I see in this tree are the prominence of major lineages that have no cultivable representatives, and the great diversity in the bacterial domain, most importantly, the prominence of candidate phyla radiation," Banfield said. "The candidate phyla radiation has as much diversity within it as the rest of the bacteria combined."

Source: University of California - Berkeley
Ad Stars, based in Busan, South Korea, is one of the fastest growing advertising festivals in Asia, as it is free to enter most categories, which makes it accessible to agencies big and small. This year, for the first time, there is an entry fee attached to the Integrated Category only.

The festival welcomes entries from agencies and production companies globally and it has non-professional and student categories to encourage as many people as possible to take an interest in the creative industries.

Entries can be submitted online at any time of the year; however only those entries received prior to 15 May 2016 will be in the running to win Grand Prix, Gold, Silver or Bronze medals at the Ad Stars Awards on 27 August 2016.

The Awards will conclude the ninth Ad Stars festival, a three-day festival that will run from 25-27 August 2016 at Haeundae Beach in Busan, South Korea.

The first AD STARS Awards took place in 2008 and received 3 105 entries from 29 countries. By 2015, entries had grown to 17,698 entries from 67 countries.

Entries have grown so quickly since 2008 that we are now proud to say the festival stands shoulder to shoulder with other advertising events of global renown. This year, were hoping to receive 20 000 entries from 70 countries, says Eui Ja Lee, co-chairperson of the Ad Stars executive committee.

Co-chairperson Hwan Jin Choi says, By showcasing all award winners on our website, we hope to encourage more people to work in advertising and to inspire people in the industry to continually improve their thinking. Its all part of our belief that creativity can contribute to a better future for us all, which is a philosophy that sets Ad Stars apart from other global festivals.

To enter, go to www.adstars.org/Member/signin.asp.
McDonald's is having a moment. Actually, it has been having one for a while. Analysts may find no shortage of things to fret about - from rising labour costs to lousy consumer feedback on the quality of the food - but investors love McDonald's.

Okay, there was that seven-quarter US sales slump that took the blush off the share price. It ended last year, though, after Steve Easterbrook became CEO, and overall the stock has climbed 267% in the past decade.

"McDonalds has its challenges, but theyre resilient," says Bob Goldin, vice-chairman at industry researcher Technomic.

Even he, a fan of sorts, can reel off what he calls the headwinds coming at the giant, among them increasingly nutrition-conscious Americans who might not be tempted by Big Macs and their 28g of fat.

Easterbooks introduction of all-day Egg McMuffins in October at most domestic locations has helped to yank the company out of its recent funk.

There was a 5%.7% boost in fourth-quarter sales at established US restaurants, the biggest gain since 2012. Global profit climbed 10%.

The CEO has made tweaks big and small since he took the helm of the worlds largest restaurant chain in March last year.

He slimmed down the corporate staff, revamped drive-through ordering to make it more efficient, and solved the flabby hamburger-bun issue by requiring they be toasted longer. Some stores are experimenting with touch-screen menus. The goal is to stem, then reverse, the slide in traffic.

The challenge will be to sustain the breakfast buzz long enough for Easterbrooks team to tackle all the nagging issues and follow through on innovations such as the create-your-own-burger endeavour. "They want to keep that going over a consistent, long period," says Jack Russo, an analyst at Edward Jones. "Theres no easy fix on that."

For some customers, the novelty of hashbrowns at 1pm will wear off. And competitors are elbowing in, with Dunkin Donuts, for example, overhauling its menu boards to emphasise its all-day breakfast fare.

McDonalds is aiming to keep up the pace with new items; restaurants in the US south will soon be offering McGriddles breakfast sandwiches at all hours. Round-the-clock hotcakes and Egg McMuffins debuted in Australia a few months ago and may show up in other countries, according to McDonalds spokeswoman Becca Hary.

Even if the breakfast glow fades, the company is hardly in danger of a meltdown. McDonalds continues to add restaurants. The dividend keeps growing, with data compiled by Bloomberg showing a 4.8% uptick over the past year. And the stock rose 26% last year, outpacing gains at Yum Brands and Wendys Co. "People are flocking to safety," Goldin says. "Its looked at as kind of a low-risk investment."

To stay that way, it will have to draw more customers.

"The trick is to find the right price and the right products that stimulate enough traffic and sales and doesnt hurt you too badly" if some diners trade down to cheap items, says David Palmer, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets.

Now is the time to get that right because "the company has re-established some momentum". McDonalds knows it needs to appeal to Americans appetite for healthier, environmentally friendly fare. The chain also has a less-than-stellar reputation in its limited-service burger-chain universe: it scored lowest in quality; trailing Wendys, Burger King and Jack in the Box, in a 2015 consumer survey.

The company has committed to cleaner ingredients, although change will be slow because of its considerable size: 36,500 restaurants in more than 100 countries. Serving only cage-free eggs at US and Canadian stores will take a decade, while putting only chicken raised without certain antibiotics on the menu will take two years.

Labour costs are a thornier issue. McDonalds has been feeling some pay-cost pain in the US. The profit margin at US restaurants narrowed to 15.1% last year, from 17.4% in 2014, and the company cites higher wage and benefit expenses.

Early this year, 14 states raised their minimum rates, and legislators in California just made a deal to hike the most populous states hourly minimum to $15 by 2022. McDonalds increased pay by $1 for employees of its 1,400 corporate-owned locations last year, putting pressure on franchisees to follow.

Bloomberg
While the South African petroleum sector has been in a state of flux in recent years, underpinned by a changing landscape and regulatory challenges, Sowetan businessman George Nkosi sees an investment opportunity in the retail end of the petrol business.

George Nkosi

Once a new entrant to the petroleum sector, he has transitioned into a formidable businessman and established himself as a leader in the retail sector, as vice-president of the Fuel Retailers Association of Southern Africa.

Today, his petroleum retail business serves the burgeoning black middle class in Soweto, which demands convenience retail stores for time-saving shopping while enjoying the self-service Lavazza coffee from an experienced coffee assistant.

I invested originally in three sites: Roddys Motors and thereafter acquired Caltex Orlando Stadium (formerly Zhut City S/S) and then came Caltex Dobsonville. They were either dry or poorly performing marginal operations, but we managed to turn them around and made them into profitable businesses. The commuters and the demand was there, it just needed the right focus and connectivity in the industry to make them work.

A long game

Nkosi commented that being in the oil business is a long game. Entrepreneur investors in South Africas petroleum sector have had to overcome high barriers to entry, which are only possible through partnerships with oil majors like Chevron South Africa, the owner of the Caltex brand. The retailer owned and retailer operated model is by far the best business model for this because it creates real empowerment combined with autonomy.

This retail expansion has made inroads into new markets, while at the same time developing ways to help integrate new entrants into the value chain of the petroleum retail market. In general, I think that there is a perception that some black businesses are not geared to meet the demands of a complex business with international partners, but in the last 10 years, Chevron South Africa has played a significant role in transforming the fuel industry in South Africa.

Increased forecourt footprint

Nkosi added: Through my businesses, Chevron South Africas Caltex has increased its forecourt footprint in historically disadvantaged communities that were underrepresented. From my side, I today employ over 110 people. For customers, today we also include convenience shopping, car washes, ATMs, and terminals that sell Eskom and City Power vouchers. We add these services for the benefit and convenience of the community as they are not very profitable on their own.

Each year, Nkosis businesses partner with local NGOs to sponsor an event that generates donations of food and clothing to a nearby informal settlement. Its important that businesses like mine show a tangible benefit to the local communities and customers, because we have partnerships with them as much as we do with the oil companies.
Isuzu Truck South Africa has launched a book collection charity drive, #ITSAEMPTYTRUCK, in an effort to combat illiteracy.

In support of Isuzu Trucks involvement with Standard Bank IRONMAN South Africa, the #ITSAEMPTYTRUCK project kicked off in Port Elizabeth on 24 March 2016. Based on the international award-winning concept, The Empty Shop, Isuzu Trucks is inviting the public to donate, literally filling up an empty truck with books.

Each book brings us a step closer to driving a better South Africa, explained Craig Uren, chief operating officer for Isuzu Truck South Africa. This was a natural leap for us as weve always been interested in empowering the youth and giving back. As our workforce hails from the Eastern Cape, Port Elizabeth is the most natural place to commence our efforts and give back to less fortunate communities.

Building blocks

The selected beneficiary for this year is the IRONMAN 4 the Kidz Charity Trust. IRONMAN 4 the Kidz is a non-profit organisation that aims to raise awareness for the plight of less fortunate children.

Garth Wright from IRONMAN 4 the Kidz said that he was delighted with Isuzu Trucks pledge to help combat illiteracy. We are grateful for the #ITSAEMPTYTRUCK project. Literacy is very close to our hearts as an organisation. The fact that Isuzu Trucks is willing to support our dream and fight beside us, is a real honour.
The national Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Democratic Alliance-run Western Cape government are locked in a wrangle over drought aid while farmers are reeling from one of the worst dry spells on record.

Deyan Georgiev via 123RF

The DA says farms in the province are in dire straits and blames this on the national government, which has dragged its feet declaring the Western Cape a disaster area in its entirety, while this status has been accorded to KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, the Free State, Limpopo and the North West. Such status affords provinces drought relief in the form of cash and stock feed, among others.

Agri Western Cape CEO Carl Opperman has thrown his weight behind the DA and said the province had not received assistance from the national government, despite the West Coast and Central Karoo being declared drought disaster areas. The municipalities of Prince Albert, Oudtshoorn and Witzenberg had also been classified as drought disaster areas.

Agriculture is a key sector and major employer in the Western Cape. The province has asked for R88m from the national government in drought relief. Economic opportunities MEC Alan Winde announced that the province would apply for an additional R23m in drought relief.

A disaster in the making

Beverley Schafer, DA Western Cape spokeswoman on economic opportunities, tourism and agriculture, said: "Our farms are in a critical state thanks to a lack of support from national government. As such, farmers need consumer support to get through this crisis.

"Our wine and fruit industries are facing an R1.2bn loss this year. The fuel increases will place a further R915m bill on the sector due to the weakening rand."

Schafer said farmers were taking strain because of the drought, minimum wage increases and soaring input costs fuelled by a weak rand. "In the face of this, it is deeply concerning that Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Senzeni Zokwana is reluctant to give assistance to our farmers in the Western Cape.

"This crisis is causing serious damage and stands to become a complete disaster if national government does not take it seriously. We must make every effort to save the job-creating agricultural sector and our farms," said Schafer.

Application for funds with provincial disaster management centre

Department spokeswoman Bomikazi Molapo said the Western Cape's application for more funds was with the provincial disaster management centre. "As per the Disaster Management Act of 2002, the Disaster Management Framework of 2005 and Drought Relief Framework, the province is mandated to submit a funding request - supported by the national department - to the Western Cape disaster management centre for further processing by the national disaster management centre," said Molapo.

Some funds had been made available to the province through the prioritised comprehensive agricultural support programme. Provinces were advised, and asked, to reprioritise funds and the Western Cape had availed R5.1m through its equitable share.

"Implementation in terms of assisting smallholder grain farmers and their agri-workers is ongoing in Western Cape's Central Karoo and West Coast district - as reported by the province on a weekly basis," Molapo said.

"Furthermore, additional funds are requested through the National Disaster Management Centre to National Treasury based on the anticipated shortfall for all provinces to assist the affected farmers," she said.

Source: Business Day
With an annual economic growth rate of about 5% over the last decade, driven mainly by the commodities boom, African cities have seen skyrocketing population growth, forcing governments to face a host of development challenges.

Africa is urbanising at a rate of 4% per year, according to UN-Habitat, the United Nations agency tasked with assisting national programmes relating to human settlements through the provision of capital and technical assistance, particularly in developing countries. Population shifts from rural to urban areas lead to a number of challenges such as overcrowding, pollution and crime, among others.

Urbanisation in the Africa of today is an untapped tool for development and economic growth, says Joan Clos, the executive director of UN-Habitat.

Over the next 15 years, cities in Africa will experience higher growth rates than other regions of the world, predicts Oxford Economics, a British firm that specialises in global forecasting and quantitative analysis for business and government, with Cape Town, Dar es Salaam, Johannesburg and Luanda becoming Africas major economic giants.

Impact on environment

Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi, the secretary-general of United Cities and Local Governments - Africa (UCLG-A), a body representing over 1,000 African cities, describes sustainable cities as 'cities of the future today', meaning those that can withstand the intense pressure from rapid development and urban investments but have a low impact on the environment.

Economic growth and a rapidly growing population of about one billion mean more urbanization in Africa than in any other continent, with major cities in Africa currently contributing about $700bn to the continents GDP. This figure is set to grow to $1.7 trillion by 2030, notes Oxford Economics.

UN-Habitat says rapid urbanisation, especially in cities in the developing world, is bringing challenges in the distribution of people and resources, as well as in land use, which leads to inefficient land-use patterns. Cities growing horizontally are struggling to deal with increasing urban populations and are not likely to be sustainable over the long-term because of challenges with congestion, infrastructure, pollution and social disaggregation.

An increase in migration from rural to urban areas can exacerbate poverty and inequality as people pour into the cities in search of jobs and opportunities, straining available services such as water, transportation and garbage collection.

Victims of crime

Urbanisation, particularly in the developing world, has been accompanied by increased levels of crime, violence, and lawlessness. Global studies show that 60% of all urban residents in developing countries have been victims of crime at least once over the past five years, 70% of them in Latin America and Africa, says UN-Habitats website.

Women and children are often the most affected, especially when fear hinders their access to basic services in the city. Crime and insecurity in the city restrict urban social and economic development, and often jeopardize opportunities and policies that support the poor in urban areas.

The need for sustainable cities is particularly urgent, considering cities generate over 70% of global carbon emissions. The one billion slum dwellers worldwide suffer the impacts of air pollution from indoor cooking, proximity to traffic and industry, contaminated water and inadequate sanitation, among other environmental health risks.

UN-Habitat suggests a three-pronged approach to sustainable cities, based on effective and comprehensive urban legislation, proper urban planning and design, and adequate financing for projects. The three principles can be levers for the transformation of cities and human settlements into centres of environmental, economic and social sustainability.

Climate change

Climate change is a recent consideration in the planning of sustainable cities. Africas urban environments are particularly susceptible to flooding and outbreaks of diseases such as malaria. However, these can be mitigated through proper planning, effective policy implementation, the protection of ecologically sensitive areas, reforestation and the use of waste in energy generation, among other measures.

Given the economic and social challenges faced by many African cities, can they offer a high quality of life for residents through the provision of efficient basic services while at the same time ensuring that the environment is safe and clean?

Yes, potentially, says Mbassi, adding that this would require a pace of development in Africa that should not necessarily resemble that of the West. "We should plan cities according to their specific situations and the needs of the local people, to ensure that cities include everyone and the poor are not marginalised in terms of accessing all the services a city has to offer, Mbassi told Africa Renewal in an interview.

Working with the UN Economic Commission for Africa, UCLG-A developed the Africa Urban Agenda to be adopted by African leaders in July 2016. The agenda consists of actions Africa needs to take to improve its cities and settlements and to promote urbanisation as a catalyst for Africas structural transformation. It represents Africas inputs into the Global Urban Agenda to be adopted at Habitat III, a conference on housing and sustainable urban development to be hosted by UN-Habitat in October 2016 in Quito, Ecuador.

Tool for development

Countries attending Habitat III, the first UN world summit after the adoption of the SDGs and the Paris climate change agreement, are expected to adopt the 'New Urban Agenda' for the 21st century.

It is clear that urban planning requires a shift from viewing urbanisation mainly as a problem, to seeing it as a tool for development, UN-Habitat says in UN-Habitat Global Activities Report 2015: Increasing Synergy for Greater National Ownership.

At a meeting organised by UN-Habitat and the Economic Commission for Africa in Ethiopia in March 2014, the director of political affairs at the African Union Commission, Khabele Matlosa, said that African countries need to adopt new development models designed to take advantage of urbanisation by facilitating structural transformation, creating jobs and addressing social inequality and poverty while creating habitable settlements with equal opportunities for all.

Although with good planning urbanisation, industrialisation, sustained economic growth and human development can be mutually reinforcing, there is urgent need for safe settlements too, according to a report by UN-Habitat, 'The State of the African Cities 2014: Re-Imagining Sustainable Urbanisation'.

Sub-Saharan Africa has a slum population of 199.5 million, which, according to UN-Habitat, is a sign of 'a poorly planned and managed urban sector and, in particular, a malfunctioning housing sector'.

Africa is home to big slums such as West Point in Liberias capital, Monrovia, with more than 75,000 people, and Kenyas Kibera slum in Nairobi, which is the largest in Africa, with over two million people.

Africa requires around four million housing units per year, with over 60% of the demand required to accommodate urban residents. Effective planning regulations and their enforcement will help cities deal with the growth of informal settlements and provide a map for how the cities will grow and develop, while promoting economic growth.

Article published courtesy of www.un.org/africarenewal/]].
By 2050, it's expected that nearly 80% of South Africans will be living in urban areas. This massive acceleration in rural-to-urban migration was highlighted recently by Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Deputy Minister Andries Nel.

For South Africas cities, this influx brings new opportunities, but also a host of new challenges. To serve increasing numbers of inhabitants, cities will need to become more efficient with their service delivery and more engaging with citizens.

Many are touting the concept of smart cities, where new technology is used to connect and enhance many of the basic services; like electricity, water, transportation, road networks, waste management, crime prevention, and billing services, among others.

But to truly realise this vision, the conversation needs to evolve from being just about smart cities, to include the concept of smart citizens. As with the introduction of any new technology, the catalyst for adoption is always the end-user. As more and more users start expecting technology solutions in local government, cities will have no option but to prioritise the development of smart initiatives.

Lengthy wait times

With their expectations now set by high-quality digital solutions from the likes of companies paving the way for future technological advances, citizens are demanding that local government keeps pace with these trends. Our collective patience is wearing thin when it comes to lengthy wait times on calls, long queues, inaccurate billing and poor services.

In fact, todays digital citizen expects an omni-channel experience - where they can report service delivery issues from the convenience of a mobile app. They expect queries about their property rates to be resolved via a direct message on Facebook or Twitter.

Its this awakening demand from the millions of residents in South Africas metros that will stimulate transformation at a local government level.

In the economic heartland of Johannesburg, the first signs of this are already taking hold. Already we have mobile apps for motorists to report faults on the citys 7,000km of road, instantly report crimes and suspicious activity, check for scheduled power cuts, find bus routes and schedules, and see upcoming public events.

Crowdsourcing information

These apps empower citizens with the digital tools to engage with their city, and generate a culture of shared accountability and transparency. By receiving tip-offs from citizens on issues ranging from illegal dumping, to serious crime, or burst water pipes and broken traffic lights, the city is able to crowdsource insights from millions of people.

A simple example like the City of Johannesburgs infamous Twitter representative 'TK' shows how a metro can become more engaging and helpful - helping to spawn a culture of public-private partnership and shared accountability. Over 200,000 people now follow tweets from the @CityofJoburgZA account.

By tuning in to the constant chatter buzzing around social media, cities can understand the most pressing pain points, and start addressing the critical issues first.

But the next step for local government leaders is to integrate these new digital tools into the core of their operations. Crucial to this is the creation of a single view of the citizen - giving the city visibility of the individuals various relationships with different municipal entities - and enabling tailored responses to solve any queries or problems.

Geo-located reports

To get a sense of just how important this is, the Johannesburg Road Agencys Find n Fix app already sees over 1,000 motorists sending in geo-located reports and photos of potholes, damaged roads, broken lights, and other infrastructure issues - every single week.

Attending to these issues in the most efficient way is the crucial next step in improving citizens overall experience and continuing to enhance the reputation of the service provider.

The ultimate dreams of smart cities, crowdsourcing, and collective responsibility can only come true if these smaller, focused projects gain traction; and if users continue to play the role of catalyst in getting local government to adopt new technology and new ways of delivering services.
The Master Builders Association of the Western Cape (MBAWC) is offering a free Certificate in Construction Supervision to those who have passed maths at Grade 12 level. The opportunity is also open to those who have not achieved this academic level but who undergo psychometric tests that prove their suitability for the course.

The high costs of tertiary education, together with limited places at institutions of higher education, has meant that many school leavers have fewer options to acquire the skills required for employment beyond that of a menial level, says Tony Keal, group skills facilitator at the MBAWC.

MBAWC, as a registered trade association for employers in the building industry, is offering the opportunity to attain a nationally recognised qualification free and earn while they learn, through employment opportunities.

This four-year course, approved by South African Qualifications Authority, will result in a National Qualifications Framework (NQF) Level IV qualification (equivalent to a diploma from a Technikon).

During the initial three months of first year, students are exposed to all of the facets of the building industry including carpentry, plumbing, plastering as well as health and safety. They are given practical experience by being employed at MBAWC member companies for the next nine months.

Over the following three years, they undergo two months of theoretical training at a technical institution and are employed by different member companies each year. At the end of the fourth year, if they have completed all of their modules and projects, they receive their certificate and can become construction foremen or further their studies in order to progress up the career ladder. Throughout the four years, the students receive a monthly stipend.

Generally we enable one group of 10 people to undertake the course each year, but because it has been so successful, we are making it available to a second group this year, says Keal.

New course - Certificate in Construction Health and Safety

Recognising that health and safety is a key requirement in the sector, for the first time the MBAWC is offering a SAQA approved Certificate in Construction Health and Safety. Entry into this two-year long programme requires a grade 12, preferably with maths.

The first part of the programme is an introduction to the building industry including all trades, excavation and electrical as well as two months of theoretical training at a technical institution.

Following this, they will be placed with MBAWC members to carry out their practical training. After their first year, the students return to the technical institution for another two months of theory and then return to their employers. In their last four weeks, they submit projects and undergo assessments. On completion of the programme, they receive an NQF Level III qualification, recognised by the South African Council for Project and Construction Management Professions (SACPCMP). Students who pursue this certificate are also given a monthly stipend during their studies.

There is a shortage of skilled foremen and artisans in both Cape Town and the entire country. These courses will go a long way to solving this, says Keal. Whats more, they will help open peoples eyes to the fact that a career in the building industry offers opportunities for growth and is potentially highly lucrative.

Full funding for both courses is provided the MBAWCs Skills and Education Trust. To apply for either opportunity, send a one page CV to az.gro.cwabm@ofni.
Cravings for fresh and innovative seafood dishes can be satisfied in style at the newly refurbished and revitalized Cape Town Fish Market at GrandWest.

The restaurant has undergone a metamorphosis, with the vibrant interior echoing elements of Cape Towns picturesque landscapes and the bygone days of small fishing harbours. Under new management and with the new look and feel comes renewed focus on dynamic service and professionalism to deliver an enhanced dining experience for guests.

Cape Town Fish Market wanted to harness elements of Cape Towns natural surrounds and capture the essence of the sea while telling a story of times gone by. The new interior is crisp cotemporary while remaining true to Cape Town Fish Markets laidback and friendly spirit. Customers will certainly get a sense that they are close to the ocean and with this comes the promise of the freshest fish and seafood, says Elouise Matthys, the PR and promotions manager at GrandWest.

Cape Town Fish Market GrandWest boasts a sushi bar in a chic yet inviting setting, offering a feast of choice to customers. The restaurants refreshed menu features Cape Town Fish Markets famously fresh seafood favourites and a selection of meat and poultry dishes. Many familiar favourites have been kept on the menu including the old style fish and chips meal, fresh oysters, the prawn and avocado salad, the salmon and teriyaki and the classic seafood curry.

Its seafood platters, laden with fresh crayfish, prawns, mussels, hake, fishcakes and calamari, come highly recommended. A family friendly restaurant, Cape Town Fish Market offers a menu of tried and tested childrens meals such as chicken strips, fish and chips, calamari strips and a grilled burger amongst other choices.

The restaurant is managed by Joshua Mlotshwa who is supported by a team of kitchen and front of house managers.
Airport services of Kulula and British Airways could face disruptions as employees of Comair, which services these airlines, are to embark on a strike on Thursday.

urs FLUEELER via 123RF

About 700 employees, mostly represented by trade union Uasa, are expected to down tools this week after wage negotiations with Comair failed to reach an agreement.

Uasa secured a strike certificate over a week ago but did not give the required 48-hour notice to the employers. This left workers, who already felt the employers were not negotiating in good faith by presenting a "ridiculous" offer, displeased. Employees are demanding a 35% increase in their salaries as they claim they are the least paid among peers in the industry. The employers are offering a 7.5% wage hike.

The looming strike is likely to cause disruptions and inconvenience to passengers. Services such as the sale of tickets, processing of bags and ramping of aircraft (weighing of the plane for balance) can be affected. Comair processes passengers in Cape Town, Durban and at OR Tambo International Airport.

Contingency plan

Late yesterday afternoon Comair said it had a contingency plan prepared but had not received the 48-hour notice from the union.

"We unfortunately do not have insight into the scale of the airport staff's industrial action, nor the extent of the disruptions, if any, should they go ahead," said Susan van der Ryst, corporate communications manager at Comair.

"Comair has extensive contingency plans in place, dealing with various potential scenarios."

Ready to strike

Workers at OR Tambo said they were prepared to strike. "We start our work as early as 4am. We have to deal with all the attitudes that passengers give us on a daily basis," said an employee who worked for Comair at OR Tambo, who did not want to be named

"We are paid R8,500, while in other companies people doing the same job, with similar experience, are paid over R11030," they said.

Employees said services at OR Tambo Airport in particular would be affected as Comair could not bring in temporary workers to carry out specialised jobs. "We screen luggage for dangerous goods. You cannot grab anybody to come do that without proper training and accreditation," one employee said.

The workers handle more than 90 flights between the three cities a day.

Source: The Times
African tech startups with solutions that make a difference to people's lives should look to partner with governments in order to turn their ideas into successful businesses.

Alan Knott-Craig

That is the view of Alan Knott-Craig, the Project Isizwe founder now heading up HeroTel, who was speaking at last weeks Net Prophet event in Cape Town. Knott-Craig spoke of his experiences working with Project Isizwe in the City of Tshwane, where the company partnered local government to roll out free Wi-Fi hotspots for citizens. A total of 776 hotspots are now in operation.

He said tech entrepreneurs in Africa face two major problems. It is hard to find problems that arent being solved by Silicon Valley. And if you come up with an idea that is unique, you cant find investors, he said.

Govtech offers a solution to these problems, Knott-Craig said, with African governments tackling major problems in society and also having large enough budgets to do so. If you start dealing with govtech, youre going to start doing things that Silicon Valley doesnt do, and the government is going to give you money, he said. Plus, it is a good business model, because you can scale it to other municipalities and governments.

Aside from launching the Wi-Fi hotspots, Project Isizwe also built a crime-reporting app for City of Tshwane. Knott-Craig said this was evidence that partnerships with governments could be long and fruitful, and expanded into other areas. If you can do it with crime, you can do it for housing and all sorts of other things, he said.

But how do startups go about working with government? The only way you can do a deal with anyone is by building trust. Make promises, and keep those promises. Never over-promise, under-promise. Because you over-deliver, and build trust, Knott-Craig.

He said there was a preconception that government officials are not in their positions because they care about making lives better, which is usually not the case. Most people that are working within government are doing it because they want to make a difference. So if youre building a product that makes a difference government is your best customer.
The Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University launched a R56-million state-of-the-art building for budding foundation phase teachers at its Missionvale campus on Monday, 4 April 2016.

BEd Foundation Phase (Grade R to 3) students attend a lecture in the brand new education building at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Universitys Missionvale Campus. Desks in each of the ultra-modern, airy lecture rooms can be arranged in groups or otherwise, modelling the ideal classroom.Source: http://news.nmmu.ac.za/

The building has been designed around a new curriculum and teaching philosophy as part of NMMU's efforts to provide more teachers in this critical first phase of a child's schooling.

The university says its BEd foundation phase programme provides a benchmark approach in the field.

"We have deliberately chosen the Missionvale campus as the location for the recurriculated foundation phase programme, as it is situated close to a large number of primary schools in Zwide, Missionvale and New Brighton," faculty of education operations manager Dr Tulsi Morar said. "Its situation complements the foundation-phase programme's practice of partnering with schools that provide the challenges we need to address in South Africa if education and teacher education are to make a real difference."

The objective is for graduates to take up posts in schools in the surrounding areas where they are needed most and they can make the most difference.

The new R56-million building, which was completed in January, has been custom-designed to accommodate the new curriculum and the Reggio Emilia philosophy of child development behind it.

The philosophy draws on drama, music, art and languages to help teachers tap into the full potential of children they are teaching.

NMMU says the new building's versatile learning spaces with movable furniture can be used for lectures and meetings as well as for after-school programmes, such as literacy development. NMMU infrastructure construction manager Bill McLachlan said the building was designed to accommodate 400 students.

From this year, 200 third- and fourth-year students are attending lectures in the new building on Missionvale campus, but all foundation phase teaching students will move there in 2017.

Postgraduate facilities have been included to encourage more students to conduct research, with several masters and PhD students already enrolled.

To meet the needs of today's "digital generation", each lecture venue is equipped with the latest audio-visual equipment and Wi-Fi, NMMU says.

The main lecture venue, seating 100 students, has a "hearing loop" to accommodate students who are hearing impaired.

The building also has its own resource centre, which includes 10 computer stations, with brightly coloured couches, a library and classroom resources, including educational games.

It also includes an exhibition space to showcase the work students have produced.

The building's upper level houses a 50-seater "discussion pit", enclosed by low walls covered in bright mosaics, where students can also share ideas, NMMU says.

The concrete and steel building is minimalistic for low maintenance.

"It is through good quality foundation phase teaching that we can have hope of developing the young to become critical problem solvers of the future," education dean Dr Muki Moeng said.

"Our foundation phase complex allows us to do just that," Moeng said.

Source: Herald via I-Net Bridge
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Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear has filed a lawsuit against Tea Party Governor Matt Bevin for unilaterally cutting higher education without any authority to do so.

The lawsuit, filed in the local district court in the state capital of Franklin, accused Bevin of giving an "illegal order."

Attorney General Andy Beshear, the son of a former governor, followed through on his threat to file a lawsuit challenging Bevin's "blatant violations" of law by unilaterally cutting 4.5 percent, or $41 million, from the state's colleges and universities in the last three months of the fiscal year. [...] Beshear said his suit filed in Franklin County Circuit Court was an answer to Bevin's "unconstitutional and illegal order." He wants a judge to force the governor to release the funds to the schools. Beshear is requesting expedited court review.

Attorney General Beshear went on to say that, in Bevin's perspective, a budget is "merely a suggestion" and the state legislature is "merely an advisory body."

It's hard to argue with that as the governor unilaterally bypasses the General Assembly and does whatever he wants.

This is not a case of the governor acting on behalf of the legislature's wishes. The divided legislature, which is still partially controlled by Democrats, has opposed Bevin's plan for massive spending cuts. But even if that weren't the case, Governor Bevin would still be guilty of overstepping his authority.

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback must be asking himself why he didn't think of this.
According to a report from CNN, some senior and influential Republicans want nothing to do with the coming shitstorm.

The party figures, including former presidential candidate and governor Jeb Bush, have no plans to attend the GOP convention in Cleveland.

Asked Tuesday if he'd attend the convention, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush told CNN: "No." "Unlikely," GOP Sen. Kelly Ayotte said when asked if she'd be in Cleveland in the midst of her tough bid for a second term. "I've got a lot of work to do in New Hampshire, I have my own re-election and I'm going to be focusing on my voters in New Hampshire." [...] "I'm up for re-election," said Sen. Richard Burr, R-North Carolina, who is weighing skipping the convention. "I'm more valuable outside of Cleveland than inside of Cleveland."

Even a co-founder of the Flying Monkey Caucus says he's not going.

Rep. Mick Mulvaney, a co-founder of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said in an interview with CNN that after discussing his plans with about 20 other conservatives in recent days, roughly half of them agreed with him and have decided not to attend the convention. "I've decided not to go to Cleveland," Mulvaney said. "I'm going to stay home and work."

It seems to me this only increases the chances of a Donald Trump nomination. There will be a dearth of party elders at the convention who could speak out against Trump or Ted Cruz with any level of authority.

Of course, if they did attend and speak out against Trump, they might be physically assaulted so I can understand why they don't plan to attend.

I feel conflicted because on one hand the threat of violence at a political convention is not a laughing matter, but on the other hand there are buckets of schadenfreude to be consumed here. The Republican convention is going to be a horror show.

I expect there will be a significant number of protesters outside the Democratic convention, but it will be nothing like this. The Democratic party's full slate of celebrity, talent, and elected representation will attend the convention and mercilessly mock the GOP.




COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO (BNS): Bigelow Aerospace (BA) and United Launch Alliance (ULA) are partnering to develop and deploy habitable volumes in Low Earth orbit (LEO).



The volumes will be based on the Bigelow Aerospace B330 expandable module with the initial launch to orbit in 2020 on ULA's Atlas V 552 configuration launch vehicle.



The B330 will have 330 cubic meters (12,000 cu ft) of internal space. The craft will support zero-gravity research including scientific missions and manufacturing processes.



Beyond its industrial and scientific purposes, however, it has potential as a destination for space tourism and a craft for missions destined for the Moon and Mars, ULA said in a statement.



Development of Bigelow's B330 is well underway as is the integration of the B330 to the Atlas V. The companies are working together to develop the business construct, commercial product offerings and marketing plans.



"We are exploring options for the location of the initial B330 including discussions with NASA on the possibility of attaching it to the International Space Station (ISS)," said Robert Bigelow, founder and president of Bigelow Aerospace.



"In that configuration, the B330 will enlarge the station's volume by 30% and function as a multipurpose testbed in support of NASA's exploration goals as well as provide significant commercial opportunities. The working name for this module is XBASE or Expandable Bigelow Advanced Station Enhancement."



Transportation to the B330 will be provided by NASA's commercial crew providers, whether the station is free flying or attached to the ISS.



"This innovative and game-changing advance will dramatically increase opportunities for space research in fields like materials, medicine and biology.



And it enables destinations in space for countries, corporations and even individuals far beyond what is available today, effectively democratizing space. We can't begin to imagine the future potential of affordable real estate in space," said Tory Bruno, ULA president and CEO.



Once the habitat is proven and markets are established, additional B330's will be deployed to other locations, even the moon and Mars, to meet increasing demand for habitable volumes in space, it said.




Minister of State for Defence, Rao Inderjit Singh and Chief of the Air Staff Arup Raha at the Air Force Commanders conference at Air Force headquarters in New Delhi on Monday. Photo: PTI.

NEW DELHI (PTI): Top commanders of Indian Air Force met here on Monday to brainstorm on various matters, including the dwindling number of fighter aircraft, serviceability issues plaguing the force and induction of new fighter jets like LCA Tejas and Rafale.



The three-day Commanders Conference was innugrated by Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh.



Representatives from state-run aircraft manufacturer HAL, Bharat Electronics Limited and Ordnance Factory Board will also take part in the conference.



Under discussion would be IAF's plan to induct 120 indigenously-developed Light Combat Aircraft Tejas.



Though the Air Force was initially unhappy with the aircraft, it later agreed to induct 120 Tejas with four main modifications, including to its missile carrying capability, better radar and mid-air refuelling facility.



The issue of Rafale fighter jet would also come up for discussion as IAF awaits the formal contract for 36 French jets to be signed.



IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha updated Singh on operational status of the force, security measures in vogue and the progress on infrastructure development.



He highlighted the efforts made to increase the aircraft serviceability and the corresponding increase in flying task of the IAF as compared to the previous years.



He further elaborated on the IAF's focus areas and the future road-map for the IAF.



Singh emphasised on aviation safety, infrastructure development and the IAF's role towards indigenisation.




An unrelated file photo.

SEOUL (AP): North Korea on Saturday said it has successfully tested a new intercontinental ballistic rocket engine that will give it the ability to stage nuclear strikes on the United States.



The engine's ground test, if true, would be a big step forward for the North's nuclear weapons program, which saw its fourth atomic test earlier this year.



But the North may still need a good deal of work before it can hit the US mainland with nuclear missiles. South Korean officials say North Korea doesn't yet have a reliable intercontinental ballistic missile, let alone the ability to arm it with a nuclear warhead.



The test, announced by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, is only the latest in a string of what Washington and its allies consider North Korean provocations, including last month's launch of a medium-range ballistic missile that violated UN Security Council resolutions that prohibit any ballistic activities by North Korea.



It was the North's first medium-range missile launch since early 2014.



In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner called on North Korea to "refrain from actions and rhetoric that further destabilize the region and focus instead on taking concrete steps toward fulfilling its commitments and international obligations."



The North has also threatened pre-emptive nuclear strikes against Washington and Seoul and fired short-range missiles and artillery into the sea in an apparent response to ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills and tough U.N. sanctions imposed over the recent nuclear test and a long-range rocket launch earlier this year.



Some analysts think young leader Kim Jong Un's belligerent stance is linked to a major ruling party congress next month meant to further cement his grip on power.



The outside pressure and anger caused by bombastic threats and repeated nuclear-related tests, the argument goes, is meant to rally the North Korean people around Kim as he stands up to powerful enemies trying to crush the North.



It is also possible that such efforts to promote military accomplishments to domestic audience are meant to make up for a lack of tangible economic achievements ahead of the Workers' Party congress, the first since 1980, said Kim Dong-yub, a North Korean expert at Seoul's Institute for Far Eastern Studies.



With typical rhetorical flourish, the North's KCNA said that the North Korean leader was delighted as the "high-power" rocket engine spewed out "huge flames with (a) deafening boom" during the ground test at the Sohae Space Center in the country's northwest, the site of its February long-range rocket launch.



KCNA did not say when the test was conducted.



The agency quoted Kim as saying that the North can now tip intercontinental ballistic missiles with more powerful nuclear warheads that could keep the US mainland within striking distance and "reduce them to ashes so that they may not survive in our planet."




A file photo.

ISLAMABAD (PTI): Pakistan Navy on Saturday successfully test-fired shore-based anti-ship missile 'Zarb', bolstering its defence mechanism.



The missile was launched from a coastal site and successfully hit the surface target in the Arabian Sea, a statement released by Director General Public Relations said.



Naval chief Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah said the launch of new missile system was part of Pakistan Navy s continuous effort to enhance its capabilities.



He termed the successful test as hallmark of Pakistan Navy's preparedness.



Deputy Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi said that with the successful test launch significant capability has been added to the Pakistan Navy's arsenal.



He said that it would further bolster the defence mechanism of the country and contribute towards peace and stability in the region, according to the statement.




Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar with US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter during a visit to Naval Base Karwar, Karnataka on Monday. Photo: PTI.

PANAJI (PTI): US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter on Monday said his country was willing to share the technology for the next generation aircraft carrier of Indian Navy.



He was speaking to reporters onboard USS Blue Ridge which is anchored at Mormugao Port Trust (MPT). Carter and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar paid visit to the ship which arrived here from Mumbai.



Indo-US defence ties were going to be "defining relationship of 21st century", he said.



"That is because both our values and our interests overlap in important way and that happens with few countries around the globe and India is one of those which is influential and very important country," he said, adding that America is pleased to have partnership with India.



"We are working with the Indian Navy on technology for their next generation of aircraft carrier. India would like to migrate on flat deck design which has some advantages in terms of weight of the aircraft and others," he said, adding "we are more than willing to share it with India."



Carter, who is scheduled to hold a meeting in New Delhi tomorrow, said discussions would be held on Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI).



"Agreement is very important. We can do a lot with agreement. Stay tuned for tomorrow," he said.



On supplying predator drones to India to spy on Pakistan, Carters said "Generally the US policy and approach to India is about India and its role in the region and it is not about particular neighbour. We have a relationship with India which reflects today's American way of thinking".



To a question about US policy in Asia, he said, "The US approach to this region is not to confront. We have to do what we have been doing for 70 years, that is to keep the stability and peace that has allowed economic and social miracle in modern India and China," Carter said.



To a question, he said US respected India's independence (in policy matters).



"Their (India's) policy is that of supplier of security in the region which is compatible with our policy. It is inclusive one and not exclusive one," he said.


Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 12/04/2016 (2385 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Nine kindergarten students who applied for the Brandon School Divisions popular single-track French immersion program didnt get in this year.

In January, the BSD board voted to change how parents apply for the program, which is only available at two classes atEcole Harrison School, to a lottery-style system. In previous years, the division used afirst-come, first-served model that saw parents line up for hours to ensure their child got one of the 40 available spots.

In total, 55 applications were received for this years program. Of those, 24 applicants have siblings already attending Harrison and were guaranteed a spot in the program by the board.

Who of the remaining applicants made it into the 16 remaining spots was decided by chance, according to a report prepared by BSD assistant superintendent Mathew Gustafson and presented to trustees at Mondays board meeting.

Three applicants from the ensuing wait list have since been registered due to withdrawals.

Another three of those on the wait list reside outside BSD boundaries, and will only get a chance to enrol if the rest of the wait list is exhausted.

Gustafson said that for each of the last three years, three to six single-track applicants residing within boundaries havent been accommodated.

During the meeting, trustee Kevan Sumner pointed out that of the 73 BSD students who registered, only 12 didnt get their school of first choice and three have since been accommodated.

BSD board chair Mark Sefton said he sympathizes with the unsuccessful applicants.

If youre  (on the wait list) then you might be a little ticked off by (the sibling rule), but at the same time I think that parents would understand its a matter of practicality. It doesnt make a lot of sense to have two of your three children at Harrison and then a third at Riverheights, he said.

Its also not realistic for the board to add more single-track kindergarten classes, Sefton said.

If we do it for one year, we cant accept all those in one year and not the next, so now you have to have the two classrooms the next year and then three the year after that and then four the year after that. Thats the problem: space.

Harrison is full, he said, and the playground it shares with George Fitton School isnt able to support more portable classrooms.

Furthermore, there are bigger priorities within the division.

Our greatest enrolment pressures are in schools like Riverheights (which is) bursting at the seams. Its got more students than is listed as capacity  Those are the issues that the board feels we need to address, or are a higher priority for the whole division, he said.

Sefton reiterated that theres still space at inEcole New Era School andEcole OKelly School in Shilo, which offer dual-track French immersion. Single-track immersion involves only French immersion classes, while dual-track immersion has both French and English classes.

The board chair said hes aware of one appeal, from an applicant on the wait list, that has been filed following the draw.

Theres any number of grounds on which they might file, he said, but declined to go into specifics.

Hes personally heard of no complaints, he added.

As promised, the board will still review the change in procedure.

These kinds of things will be reviewed automatically just because we want to make sure were using the best process we can, Sefton said.He said the review may also fall on the shoulders of BSDs education committee, but there likely wont be another public consultation.

 tbateman@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @tombatemann
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 12/04/2016 (2385 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Bail has been granted for a Waywayseecappo First Nation woman accused of killing her two-year-old son.

Crown attorney Ron Toews agreed to the womans release in Brandon Court of Queens Bench on Monday.

The 36-year-old woman is charged with second-degree murder. Her name cant be printed due to a publication ban.

She has been released to live at Waywayseecappo on conditions that include a 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew.

No evidence was shared during Mondays hearing.

The Crown has previously said it was a Dakota Ojibway Police Service officer who contacted emergency personnel after visiting the Waywayseecappo home where the accused and her children lived.

The toddler died in hospital later that day, on Jan. 31, 2015, at which point the RCMP were called in to assist with the investigation.

Residents said that the mother claimed that the death was the result of an accident.

The laying of a second-degree murder charge suggests that the Crown and police believe thats not the case.

The accused was arrested on April 5, more than 14 months after the childs death.

Toews has said the charge took so long to lay because it took some time to assess medical evidence.

The womans case has been put to Waywayseecappo provincial court on May 11.

 ihitchen@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @IanHitchen
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 12/04/2016 (2385 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Police are closer to identifying the two men they say used stolen credit cards to defraud three businesses in Shoppers Mall of more than $25,000 on Saturday evening.

From credit card receipts and other documents, staff at the three stores told police they were given the names Inti Falero, Inti Delgado, Sebastian Delgado and Lukas Roger-Jimenez.

One man showed his passport, but its not known if it was Canadian. The other man used a drivers licence, and while staff couldnt say which province he was from, he did provide an address in Montreal.

Submitted The two suspects are seen in images captured by a surveillance camera at a Shoppers Mall business on Saturday.

However, staff did not make copies of the identification.

The two men visited three stores between 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on Saturday. They were in and out of the stores quickly and told staff their credit cards werent working properly.

Thats when staff entered the cards manually.

The two men took diamond rings from a jewelry story and Apple iPads and Apple watches from an electronic store. The value of the items totals more than $25,000.

The first man is described as five-foot-five with a darker complexion, short dark hair, facial hair, wearing a big belt buckle, plaid shirt, jeans and brown leather jacket.

The second man had brown curlier hair pulled back into a bun, clean-shaven, darker complexion, dark eyes, wearing all black.

Submitted

Police believe the suspects left Brandon immediately after taking the items.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Brandon police or Crime Stoppers.

 The Brandon Sun
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 12/04/2016 (2385 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba is a province defined by its lakes, both great and small. Summer days at the beach, evenings around the campfire, families gathered listening to rain on the cottage roof. Being at the lake brings us together; it defines who we are as people and as a province.

Its alarming, then, to hear increasingly bad news about Manitobas lakes or even worse, to see it for ourselves. Harmful algae blooms continue to grow, resulting in drinking-water advisories, beach closures and threats to all communities that depend on and enjoy the provinces lakes.

Lake Winnipeg, the 10th-largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area, has received international attention for its declining water quality. This underscores the urgency with which Manitobans must act to protect our lakes and the economic, cultural and ecological value they provide.

Luckily, we already have many of the answers in hand.

IISD Experimental Lakes Area (IISD-ELA), a research facility nestled in a corner of northwestern Ontario and headquartered in Winnipeg, is the only place in the world where whole-lake ecosystem studies can be conducted. In this series of lakes and watersheds in northwestern Ontario, experiments on phosphorus loading over the last 50 years have yielded results that have contributed to the reduction of algae blooms in lakes around the world.

While the experiments may be complex, their message is simple: the most effective solution to reduce algae blooms is to restrict, monitor and carefully manage the amount of phosphorus entering lakes.

The phosphorus reaching Lake Winnipeg comes from both urban wastewater and agricultural landscapes in Canada and several U.S. states.

These sources need to be addressed in a co-ordinated and balanced manner. While a larger proportion of phosphorus arrives in the lake from agricultural sources across the watershed, these sources are a greater challenge given the number of jurisdictions and level of co-ordination needed.

An immediate benefit can be derived by improving Winnipegs wastewater treatment system: a concentrated, localized phosphorus source.

Despite the clear need to address phosphorus at Winnipegs wastewater treatment plants, progress has been stalled for more than a decade while Lake Winnipeg continues to suffer. The time for finger-pointing has passed; it is time to roll up our sleeves.

We must usher in a new era of political co-operation, recognizing the urgent and complex challenges threatening Lake Winnipeg require collective investment and action. Provincial and municipal governments must agree upon an immediate course of action, looking to the larger shared goal of a healthy Lake Winnipeg for all Manitobans.

When municipal and provincial governments agree to work together, others will come to the table.

Meaningful improvement in Lake Winnipegs condition will require a sustained, collaborative effort from all three levels of government in Canada, the participation of First Nations and co-ordinated action with American neighbours.

Not only is such an effort possible, it has already resolved similar problems in other lakes. ELA research led to policy changes and wastewater treatment upgrades in the 1970s that greatly improved water quality in Lake Erie and other lakes around the world.

And in February 2016, jurisdictions around Lake Erie agreed to achieve a further 40 per cent reduction in phosphorus loading  a commitment that has been called challenging but certainly achievable.

We cannot shy away from similar challenging commitments in Manitoba. We have the opportunity to learn from other jurisdictions, as well as from the world-class research taking place in our backyard. The issues we face are not insurmountable; others have faced them and succeeded.

On April 20, the next provincial government has the opportunity to lead the charge in bringing together municipal, federal and international leaders to generate the collective political will to improve the health of Lake Winnipeg.

Leadership starts at home, but from there it grows. Our provincial commitment will be the gauge against which other levels of government assess the value of their involvement.

 Alexis Kanu is executive director of the Lake Winnipeg Foundation. Scott Higgins is a research scientist with the IISD Experimental Lakes Area. Their column was recently published in the Winnipeg Free Press.
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 12/04/2016 (2385 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Its difficult to characterize the latest stunt by the NDP as anything but a desperate bid to cling to power in the waning days of this Manitoba election campaign.

With recent polls showing a possible landslide victory for the Progressive Conservatives come April 19, Premier Greg Selinger pulled a stunt over the weekend designed to bring class warfare into the electoral mix.

On Sunday, Selinger asked media into his home in St. Boniface and invited them to peruse his income tax return. In the shadow of the Panama Papers that have drawn international attention to the financial affairs of many of the worlds richest people  including some very high-profile politicians  no doubt Selingers campaign team thought it a useful political stunt to open up his books and show he has nothing to hide.

A report from the Winnipeg Free Press stated Selingers 2014 income was $147,347. A copy of the Canada Revenue Agency statement said his total tax payable for 2014 before deductions was $43,756. His income, he said, comes purely from serving as premier, and that the only other property that he owns besides his home is a cottage that belongs to him and his wife in Lake of the Woods.

Selingers big reveal comes after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other world leaders released information about their personal finances. Selinger also invited the other provincial party leaders to disclose their income tax returns as well, which Liberal Leader Rana Bokhari did a few hours later on Sunday afternoon.

The premiers stunt is a tad too cheeky for our taste, as it tries to inflate his own self-importance as a Canadian leader. At the same time, however, it was oddly effective, in that it has put the Progressive Conservatives on the defensive. Rather than disclosing PC Leader Brian Pallisters finances or saying whether he has any off-shore accounts, the Tories tried to stay on message by pointing out Selingers failures on the job, such as the PST and the questionable Tiger Dam purchase.

As a result, the Tories are playing into Selingers hands by making the public think Pallister has something to hide. For the last decade, all governments in waiting want to be seen as open and transparent buzzwords that really mean very little once they come to power. By placing the onus on Pallister to be exactly what he is preaching, Selinger is calculating that he can stop the runaway Tory election train.

But is this a fair tactic?

Supposedly everything is fair in love and war  and desperate election campaigns. But Pallister is being vilified by a strongly left-leaning government for being too successful.

Yes, he has a mansion on Wellington Crescent in Winnipeg. But he grew up on a small farm near Portage la Prairie without a lot of cash. He has been successful in business, and in federal politics, but he knows what its like to have to work hard for what he has gained in life.

In a media interview yesterday, Pallister refused to make his income tax return public, calling it private information and a desperate move by Selinger to make him look bad. Pallister did say that the only assets he owns outside Canada are a vacation home in Costa Rica and a bank account there with a small amount of cash  and that it was not a tax haven.

Perhaps this is a good political strategy by the NDP  we have but a few days to find out. But, to our minds, it also risks turning off a fair chunk of the voting public from the NDP, and further paints the New Democrats as a party that doesnt care much for private enterprise, and the success of Manitoba business.

How odd in Manitoba politics that success in the private sector would ultimately be used against you.
The International Monetary Fund has downgraded its forecast for UK economic growth over fears of disruption if Britain votes to leave the European Union on June 23.

In its World Economic Outlook, the global financial body warned that Brexit could inflict "severe regional and global damage" by disrupting trade relations.

Negotiations over post-exit arrangements would probably be "protracted", leading to an "extended" period of uncertainty and market volatility.

The IMF scaled back its projection of UK economic growth for 2016 by 0.3 percentage points to 1.9% - marginally below the 2% forecast of the Government's Office for Budget Responsibility - but held its forecast for 2017 at 2.2%.

Chancellor George Osborne said the IMF report represented a "stark" warning of the risks of UK withdrawal from the EU in the referendum. But shadow chancellor John McDonnell said Mr Osborne's failure to meet his own economic targets had also played a part, and it was time for him to "change course".

Campaigners for UK withdrawal rejected the IMF analysis and accused the international body of "talking Britain down" at Mr Osborne's request.

The IMF report said: "In the United Kingdom, the planned June referendum on European Union membership has already created uncertainty for investors. A Brexit could do severe regional and global damage by disrupting established trading relationships."

Listing the prospect of UK withdrawal as one of the seven main "downside risks" to the world economy, the report warned: "A British exit from the European Union could pose major challenges for both the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe.

"Negotiations on post-exit arrangements would likely be protracted, resulting in an extended period of heightened uncertainty that could weigh heavily on confidence and investment, all the while increasing financial market volatility.

"A UK exit from Europe's single market would also likely disrupt and reduce mutual trade and financial flows, curtailing key benefits from economic co-operation and integration, such as those resulting from economies of scale and efficient specialisation."

Mr Osborne said: "While Britain remains one of the fastest-growing advanced economies in the world, the IMF's warnings about our exit from the EU are stark. For the first time, we're seeing the direct impact on our economy of the risks of leaving the EU."

The Chancellor added: "If the British economy is hit by the mere risk of leaving the EU, can you imagine the hit to people's income and jobs if we did actually leave?

"The IMF has given us the clearest independent warning of the taste of bad things to come if Britain leaves the EU."

Mr McDonnell said: "This is another major downgrading of growth forecasts for this already downgraded Chancellor.

"It should act as a signal that George Osborne needs to change course and that Tory backbenchers who wildly scream for Brexit should think again. As these figures clearly suggest, it's the uncertainty facing the UK from the risk of leaving the EU coupled with a Chancellor who can't even meet his own targets that has led to such a concerning announcement."

The Vote Leave campaign said the IMF had been "consistently wrong" in past forecasts for the UK and claimed there was "no substantive proof" that the prospect of a referendum had created business uncertainty.

Vote Leave chief executive Matthew Elliott said: "The IMF has talked down the British economy in the past and now it is doing it again at the request of our own Chancellor. It was wrong then and it is wrong now.

"The irony is that if we vote Remain, our voice at the IMF will be silenced as the EU wants to take our seat at the top table in return for the 350 million we hand to Brussels every week.

"The biggest risk to the UK's economy and security is remaining in an unreformed EU which is institutionally incapable of dealing with the challenges it faces, such as the euro and migration crises."
Legal fees are reported to be at their highest level in six years according to Government economic advisors.

The National Competitiveness Council said lawyers' bills have failed to decrease significantly, despite the recession.
The UK must remain in the EU to reduce the number of strikes by air traffic controllers (ATC) on the continent, Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has said.

He insisted that the good aspects of Britain's EU membership - such as the single market - "far outweigh the bad".

Speaking at a press conference at Ryanair's headquarters in Dublin, Mr O'Leary said: "The only way to reform the bad - such as French ATC strikes, such as that kind of shambles - is to keep Britain in Europe working with some of the more sensible countries like the Italians, the eastern European countries.

"(We must) deal with some of the idiotic members of the European Union, for instance the French, who believe that nobody should work and the Germans will pay for everybody."

Hundreds of flights across Europe were disrupted when French ATC went on strike in the days building up to Easter. Mr O'Leary said it was the 43rd such action since 2009 and called for ATC strikes to be banned.

He predicted that opponents of Brexit will have to campaign "very hard" in the build-up to the June 23 vote.

"I think it's vital for the UK economy that the UK stays in," he said.

"The more it looks like (the campaign to remain) will lose, the more companies, big employers, big foreign investors in the UK like Ryanair, will campaign much harder to stay in.

"A bit like the Scottish independence referendum last year. In the last couple of days where it looked like it might be lost, companies suddenly woke up and said, 'listen, we're moving to London if you guys vote for independence'."

Mr O'Leary added that the airline will invest less money in Britain if voters back Brexit.
Ibrahim Halawa's brother Ahmed has been allowed to visit him in prison in Egypt.

It follows concerns raised by the family about his safety, after the authorities would not confirm where he was being held.
British military logs from the day an 11-year-old boy was hit by a rubber bullet in Belfast in 1972 have been cut up, a coroner's court has been told.

A barrister for the family of Francis Rowntree said extracts from at least half a dozen pages were missing.

Fiona Doherty QC said: "These are from crucial periods of time. The pages go down right through the time period when the incident involving Francis Rowntree took place. I have never seen anything like it."

Francis Rowntree died two days after being hit by the bullet while walking through the Divis Flats complex close to Belfast's Falls Road in April 1972.

Controversy surrounds the shooting, with disputed claims on whether the boy was struck directly or injured by a ricochet, and if the bullet had been doctored to make it potentially cause more harm.

The long-awaited inquest, which opened on Monday, was ordered by Attorney General John Larkin.

Martin Wolfe QC, representing the UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD), told the court he would endeavour to obtain an explanation why the "historic" documents had been cut out.

Judge Brian Sherrard said: "It may not be in a position to fill in the blanks but I would ask the MoD to provide somebody who could provide a statement concerning this."

The schoolboy's family believe the inquest is the last chance to establish the truth about what happened.
An American man accused of endangering an aircraft has said his treatment was unwarranted.

The United Airlines transatlantic service diverted to Belfast after flight attendants became worried by the behaviour of the accused. He had requested snacks before the plane had taken off and alarmed fellow passengers with his erratic actions, crew claimed.

Jeremiah Mathis Thede, 42, said it was reasonable to file a complaint after he was refused a second helping of crackers and cheese when he was hungry. He claimed that in many years of frequent flying the free snacks had never before been denied.

The Californian was down to his last dollars and had eaten only an apple during several hours delayed at Rome airport at the end of a lengthy trip through Europe.

He said: "If you are unhappy with service in the service industry it seems to me a reasonable recourse is to file a complaint."

He was denied the name of the flight attendant who withheld the crackers and was told to deal with her superior as he attempted to take details for a complaint.

Thede was on an 11-hour United Airlines flight from Rome to Chicago, connecting to San Francisco, on June 20 last year.

He told Antrim Crown Court: "Especially after a prolonged delay at the airport they should have provision for people in my position.

"I was clearly hungry. I was not taking issue with her personally but I definitely wanted to make my grievance known to the airline."

The solo traveller from Berkeley had journeyed from London to Italy to meet family and was going home. He was down to his last 50 dollars after negotiating an emergency increase in his credit card limit.

His flight was delayed by two or three hours. When he boarded the aircraft he wanted to sleep but was unable to do so because of hunger.

Thede said: "They usually have a complimentary snack.

"I figured I would just try to get that peremptorily because I would want to be asleep by the time they got around to bringing it to me."

Senior cabin crew member Sheila Wire had warned Thede about his actions before the captain decided to abort the flight.

The accused said: "I felt that it was unnecessary and unwarranted, I was kind of wondering why she was not asking me about the complaint that I had."

The plane had to dump thousands of litres of fuel before making the unscheduled stop in Northern Ireland.

As the crew would have exceeded their legal flying hours if the aircraft had resumed the journey straight away, the 264 passengers had to wait almost 24 hours before the plane could take off again, with many having to sleep on the terminal floor.

The hearing continues.
Update11.15am:The head of Barnardos in Ireland Fergus Finlay has said it would be preferable to see better funding for social workers than to try to pick up the pieces after abuse or neglect cases.

He said: "We still don't invest enough. We don't have enough social workers; we dont have enough managers per social worker. We spend nothing in Ireland on prevention.

"We're always happier to pick up the pieces (and) wring our hands in despair after another child is damaged or destroyed, but we will never say let's put a tuppence into prevention."

Earlier:

The Child and Family Agency Tusla is to review why the children at the centre of a neglect case in Galway were left with their mother for so long after they came to the attention of social workers.

The 39-year-old woman, who was convicted of 29 charges of cruelty and neglect of her children, was jailed for four years yesterday.

During her trial last January, the court heard distressing details of how she used to subject her children to regular beatings with leather belts and wooden back-scratchers.

She used to pour washing-up liquid down the throats of two of her sons and would leave them in the care of strangers for days while she went drinking.

They often went without food. Neighbours used to feed them and buy them clothes.

Child protection services became involved with the family in 2006 but some of the most serious allegations did not come to light until five years later.

The childrens Victim Impact Statements were read out last week. They described feelings of abandonment, inadequacy and fear.

One of her sons said he didnt think his life was worth living when he was aged seven, and felt like a punching bag.

Independent child welfare consultant Kieran McGrath said the children were moved across different teams of social workers, which made it more difficult to form a clear picture.

"The family moved around a lot, which is one of the things that makes it more difficult to get a clearer picture about what's happening in a particular family," he said.

"When they move areas, it means different social workers are dealing with them in the different areas and that makes the whole thing more difficult."
More than 2,000 migrants have been rescued in a single day in 17 different operations in the Mediterranean Sea, according to the Italian coastguard.

A Maltese ship, a redirected cargo vessel and a ship that is part of the EU's Frontex operation joined forces with Italian coastguard, navy and customs rescue ships.
The European Union has welcomed in 74 Syrian refugees from Turkey and sent more than 300 migrants back there under a new agreement between the EU and Ankara.

European Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos announced the figures to EU politicians on Tuesday, and noted that "implementing this agreement is a challenge".

Under the deal, which came into force on April 4, migrants arriving in Greece from Turkey after March 20 who do not qualify for international protection will be sent back.

For every Syrian returned, the EU has pledged to accept one Syrian refugee directly from Turkey, where an estimated 2.7 million Syrians are taking refuge from the conflict in their homeland.

The United Nations and rights groups are concerned the deal might infringe on people's rights.

Meanwhile, Turkey's state-run news agency has said two more rockets fired from Syria have landed in a Turkish border town, wounding two people.

The Anadolu Agency said one of the rockets hit a guesthouse in the town of Kilis on Tuesday, while the second landed in an empty field near a bus terminal, wounding two people who were passing by.

Authorities evacuated children from a nearby youth centre which has been turned into a temporary school for Syrian refugees, the report said.

Kilis has been hit by cross-border rocket fire in the past week, prompting Turkish artillery units to retaliate in line with the Turkish military's rules of engagement.

The wider province of Kilis borders areas in Syria that are controlled by the Islamic State group, Syrian Kurdish militia or anti-government Syrian rebels.

An amateur video that aired on Bulgarian TV appears to show three migrants with their hands tied behind their backs and a group of vigilantes ordering them to return to Turkey.

The migrants, carrying backpacks, are lying on the ground restrained with black zip ties.

One of the men surrounding them tells the trio: "No Bulgaria. Go back (to) Turkey," and that they should leave immediately. One of the migrants nods his head to indicate that he understands.

It was not immediately clear when the video was shot, but it appears to be in an area near the Bulgaria-Turkey border.

It aired on multiple Bulgarian TV stations on Monday, after the video first appeared on social media with a comment reading: "Detention of migrants and return to Turkey."
Environment activists have protested over Poland's plans of extensive logging in Europe's last primeval forest and have demanded full protection for the rare Bialowieza woods.

Greenpeace members unfurled a banner above the Environment Ministry that read "(Make) All of the Forest a National Park" - a protective status that would ban logging.
A "violent and dangerous" schizophrenic has absconded from a mental health unit in Hackney, Scotland Yard said.

Cornell Destouche, aged 25, requires daily medication to control his paranoid schizophrenia.

Police have warned people not to approach him and to call 999 immediately if he is spotted.

Mr Destouche was last seen on Sunday April 10 after fleeing from a minicab during a period of escorted leave.

According to reports, he was being treated at the John Howard Centre in Homerton.

Detective Inspector Paul Ridley, from Hackney CID, said: "Extensive efforts are being made to trace Cornell Destouche.

"He has a history of violence and could pose a threat if confronted. If you see him please do not approach or challenge him but dial 999 immediately."

Mr Destouche was last spotted at 5pm on April 10 at a junction between The Drive and Churchill Road, Walthamstow.

He is described as black, 5ft 11in tall (1.8m), of medium build, with braided hair and a black beard.

CCTV footage from the day he disappeared showed him wearing a black and grey T-shirt, blue jacket, blue jeans and navy trainers. He was also carrying a grey rucksack.

He is known to have ties to east London, including Leyton, Barking, Hackney and Newham.
Scientists have hailed the results of trials to prolong the life of fresh produce as "world-changing", saying it could help tackle global hunger.

Raw fruit and vegetables saw their shelf life increase by up to one day in a study which involved produce being sprayed with an electrically-charged solution that kills bacteria responsible for spoilage.

Testing carried out in cold storage revealed that use of the novel system, developed at the University of the West of England in Bristol, had no effect on the taste or appearance of the produce.

Darren Reynolds, professor of health and environment at the university, said the technology could be implemented commercially within a year if the food industry is convinced of its benefits.

He believes the approach could reduce waste, save millions of euro and even play a role in helping resolve world hunger.

Tomatoes and cucumbers responded particularly well to treatment with the solution, which is produced by passing salty water through an electro-chemical cell.

The activated solution, which is inexpensive to make and can be created on demand, kills bacteria commonly found on the surface of fresh produce but is harmless to human skin.

The recent trials, which involved treating produce post-harvest, also saw carrots, peppers, potatoes and tropical fruit doused in the activated liquid.

Prof. Reynolds, who pioneered the technology, said: "For some types of produce, we could make a significant impact.

"We could demonstrate scientifically it would impact on the quality of food in terms of how long it can be stored. It showed we could increase the shelf life by about a day.

"Ultimately, it will make the whole production, distribution and sale process more efficient. That's where I have to head to - a more sustainable world where we are wasting a lot less.

"With fresh produce, you have to drive it somewhere, and treat it. The waste is not just the bits you put in the bin - the whole chain around waste is growing.

"We have to stop wasting stuff - we can't afford to be as wasteful with our resources and everybody knows that.

"I can't think of one person who doesn't see the mountain of waste and think it's a disgrace.

"If you really want to change the world, one of the things you could do is extend the shelf life of a cherry tomato by one day.

"That sounds like a dismissive thing to say but it would allow producers to be more strategic in the way they crop and give them more time to distribute food before it goes off or gets spoiled.

"Such small things can actually make a huge difference in the whole food supply chain."

Prof. Reynolds said the project, which began in 2013 and has seen academics team up with food suppliers and supermarkets, was now in the "persuasion phase".

He said: "People who have a stake in this industry need to adopt it in a way which has end users on board.

"They have to convince the end users, including supermarkets, that this is a good idea.

"It's important because the world produces four billion tonnes of food and as much as 40% of that never reaches the human tummy.

"It's possible we can apply this technology in other spheres as well, like potato blight, which is a problem in parts of Canada.

"If anything is going to happen it will happen quickly. From my perspective, all you can do is present a solution where you have laid out and contextualised the risks scientifically."

The project, named Microbial Management Of Fresh Produce Preservation, Protection And Intervention, began in April 2013 and has received 250,000 in funding.

It attracted investment from Defra through the Technology Strategy Board and is being led by food technology developers, Norman Pendred & Company.

University researchers also worked with food producers and suppliers from Thanet Earth, the Fresca Group and technology partner Bridge Biotechnology.
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A South Canberra man will face court over firearms offences after police found a loaded revolver, rifles, shotguns and more than 8000 rounds of ammunition at his home.

ACT Policing said the 63-year-old man held a firearms licence but he was not allowed to have some of the weapons found at the property.

Police allege the revolver was loaded, which is in breach of the law. Credit:ACT Policing

Police said neither the guns nor the ammunition were stored correctly and the revolver was loaded, which is in breach of the law.

The weapons were uncovered by police who had been called to a disturbance at the South Canberra property on Sunday.
Arthur Boyd's gift to the nation is set to undergo a major expansion, with $28.5 million worth of new buildings planned for the historic Bundanon property on the Shoalhaven River in southern NSW.

A master plan envisages the building of a creative learning centre with an art gallery, a new accommodation wing for 64 people and cafe on the Riversdale site of the 1100-hectare property, inland from Nowra.

The chief executive of Bundanon Trust, Deborah Ely, with skater Kat Williams, an artist-in-residence at the property gifted by artist Arthur Boyd to the nation in 1993. Credit:Wolter Peeters

The Bundanon property, which featured in many of Boyd's paintings, was given by the renowned artist and his wife Yvonne to the people of Australia in 1993.

It contains learning facilities and studio space for artists and writers as well as hosting exhibitions and performances.
Artists are set to take over the Queen Victoria Market precinct in October.

A call-out  closing on Friday, April 29  seeks 10 artists to take part in the Public Art Melbourne Biennial Lab.

Natalie King will curate the Public Art Melbourne Biennial Lab. Credit:TarraWarra Museum of Art

Public Art Melbourne is a program run by the City of Melbourne and its inaugural biennial, curated by Natalie King, will take place during the Melbourne Arts Festival.

"Public art can inspire and confound so it is important that these artists occupy the public realm with ideas that provoke and contest our understanding of place and situations," King says.
It may only have just opened, but Disney's The Jungle Book, based on Rudyard Kipling's classic stories, is already set to get a sequel.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney is in talks with director Jon Favreau and screenwriter Justin Marks to return for Jungle Book 2, and negotiating with Favreau and Brigham Taylor to return as producers.

Neel Sethi as Mowgli with Bagheera, voiced by Ben Kingsley, in The Jungle Book. Credit:Disney

Critics have hailed the live-action/CGI hybrid with superb reviews  and the film grossed almost $US29m in its first weekend opening in Asian and Latin Amrican countries, with $A3.4 in Australia. It opens in North America later this week.
1. 60 minutes crew face court

The domestic dispute between Brisbane mother Sally Faulkner and her husband Ali Elamine is being played out in a Lebanese court after the involvement of Channel Nine's 60 Minutes program in a failed child-recovery operation in the streets of Beirut.

Ms Faulkner and the television crew appeared in court in Lebanon for a brief hearing ahead of an expected full hearing on Wednesday.

Pity Australia's diplomats, working around the clock providing "consular assistance" to the news crew who are now very much the story. While the Lebanese government is keeping the phone lines open to Canberra the message being sent is that Lebanon has an independent judiciary and the bungled child operation mission, which the network has not confirmed or denied paying for, is being taken very seriously.
Hardly a day passes without a politician  federal or state  talking about "record" spending on something or other. But don't be taken in  it may be the most hollow claim in politics.

The combination of inflation and population growth means public spending will always be hitting records. If it doesn't, essential services are likely to deteriorate and congestion worsen. But that fact doesn't stop our MPs.

A quick search of Hansard  the official transcript of Parliament  shows how frequently our elected representatives resort to claims of record spending. The very first Question Time skirmish of the year in federal Parliament provided an excellent example. In response to a query from Bill Shorten about school funding, Malcolm Turnbull replied "as the honourable member knows very well, the government is investing more money in schools than ever before". Not only had "record" levels of funding been allocated over the forward estimates it included a "record" $5 billion for students with a disability.

At times the record spending claims come thick and fast during parliamentary debate. There were seven such claims made in less than an hour by three Coalition members early last month, Hansard shows. Labor governments are no different, of course. During a recent question time in Victoria's Parliament Labor's acting Police Minister, Robin Scott, referred to his government's "record" budget for policing.
Stephen Fry has caused a social media debate after he said in a US interview that victims of rape should "grow up" and not feel sorry for themselves.

The former QI presenter, 58, appeared on the Rubin Report where he discussed free speech and how people were avoiding certain "trigger words", like "rape", as they were becoming too sensitive and politically correct. But many have argued that his comments were taken out of context.

In the interview titled "Political Correctness and Clear Thinking", Rubin asked Fry if he feared for the loss of open-mindedness and the effect of "the regressive left" on language and speech and wanted to know whether it was becoming a problem in the UK.
My husband, Steve, had struggled greatly with learning disabilities his entire life, and he had required braces on his legs as a baby. He was so relieved the afternoon our daughter was born with perfect little baby legs, no interventions needed. He was thrilled when she began walking at 10-and-a-half months, and he felt immense relief at how quickly her vocabulary expanded and the ease with which her words became phrases and then sentences.

I remember how we rejoiced at every one of those well-child appointments as the paediatrician checked off each milestone met.

In those first couple years of childhood, there are so many milestones to celebrate: when they smile for the first time, roll over on their own, take their first steps, say their first word. Every inch grown, every pound gained and every skill mastered leaves us breathless with pride and contentment, marvelling at this little life.

With horror, I realised one morning that my daughter's motor and language skills would meet and then surpass her father's as they progressed in opposite directions.

She was healthy and growing and meeting all of those innumerable milestones, so while I was pleased, of course, I never really worried about her abilities or pace as much as Steve did. That was also probably because I was too absorbed with worrying about him.

At the exact same time that our daughter's world was exploding with possibility, Steve's physical and cognitive abilities were slowly diminishing. Our daughter was born almost exactly 18 months after Steve was diagnosed with a brain tumour at the age of 27. His original prognosis was five to 10 years because he was so young and otherwise healthy, so we took that leap into parenthood, briefly shedding the weight of everything that lay ahead.

Life was good for a while. Steve was able to continue working until our daughter was eight months old. The first radiation therapy was only for six weeks, and he didn't require another brain surgery until she was 18 months old. There was a brain injury rehabilitation centre nearby that could manage all of his therapies: physical, occupational, speech. The first chemotherapy he tried was oral (so he could take it at home, not hooked up to an IV in the cancer centre more than an hour from our home and where we already spent far too much time) and the side effects were tolerable.

When our daughter was two-and-a-half years old, however, things began rapidly going downhill. Recurrent treatment-induced brain swelling, a veritable cocktail of seizure and cancer meds, and tumour progression all took their toll. By her third birthday, Steve was struggling immensely with speech and mobility, had been home-bound for nearly a month, and had started hospice.

Somewhere along the line, her abilities had eclipsed his; I hadn't even noticed that pivotal moment.
Australia's peak oil and gas industry lobby group spent almost $4 million last year trying to "obstruct" more ambitious climate change policy, according to British research group InfluenceMap.

It was part of an overall $150 million spent globally in 2015 by five major oil companies and lobby groups.

Woodside's Pluto LNG plant in Western Australia.

The Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (APPEA) represents the domestic oil and gas industry and counts among its 70 members giant companies such as Woodside, Shell Australia and Chevron Australia.

According to the analysis, InfluenceMap estimated that APPEA spent about $5.5 million on climate-related advocacy in 2015 though expenditure on staff, public campaigns, advertising and other external public relations.
The NSW crime statistician is preparing to release landmark research into violence in and around The Star casino as a review into lockout laws considers whether the venue should be further regulated.

Next week the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) will publish research titled: "Did the 'lockout law' reforms increase assaults at The Star casino, Pyrmont?"

Violent incidents researched: The Star casino in Pyrmont. Credit:Bloomberg

It follows research published in April last year into the effect of laws that have applied a 1.30am lockout and 3am last drinks to high-risk venues in Kings Cross and Sydney CBD  but not the Star  since February 2014.

That research found that between February and September 2014 there had been an average of 6.3 incidents per month  including but not exclusively alcohol-related  in and around the Star.
A man has been charged over an alleged shooting in Brisbane's east in January.

Police will allege that in the early hours of Sunday, January 17, a group of three men broke into a house at Murarrie and argued with the residents.

Police have charged a man over the alleged shooting at Murrarie in January.

Two of the male residents suffered gunshot wounds, police said.

The group then fled the scene.
An extradition warrant pursued by Western Australia for infamous bank robber Brenden Abbott is an abuse of process because he repeatedly asked to be sent there before being granted parole, a court has heard.

The so-called "Postcard Bandit" was released from Brisbane Correctional Centre at Wacol on Tuesday morning after being granted parole last month.

But he was arrested immediately and whisked to Brisbane ahead of an extradition hearing relating to a warrant being pursued by Western Australian authorities.

Abbott appeared in the dock of the Brisbane Magistrates Court in a suit and tie after his convoy was mobbed by waiting media coming in and out of the watch house.
Facebook, like an old "friend" from high school who wants to get coffee and catch up some time, wishes it knew more about your personal life. At least, that's according to a couple of reports this week outlining a sharp decline in "original," personal posts from its users, and what Facebook is trying to do to reverse the trend.

According to the Information, sharing across Facebook dropped about 5 per cent year over year as of mid-2015. But that includes personal stuff such as engagement announcements, baby pictures or vacation photos as well as links to content that's already public, such as news articles. And personal sharing has dropped 21 per cent year over year, the Information reported.

Facebook's bread and butter is personal information you can't find anywhere else on the web.

Facebook's official statement on the matter emphasises that "people continue to share a ton on Facebook," and that "the overall level of sharing has remained not only strong, but similar to levels in prior years." But it is also clear that the social network would like to do something about that drop in personal sharing. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has discussed the matter during staff meetings, according to Bloomberg. And internally, employees have borrowed the sociological concept of "context collapse" to describe what's going on.

"Context collapse," basically, refers to the limitless audience of anything you put on the internet, whether it was intended for a more intimate group of people or not. A joke made among friends might not play well in front of the entire world. Facebook believes that its users are increasingly aware that a post on Facebook meant for personal friends might not stay among personal friends, even if privacy settings limit its intended audience. That's especially true lately, because quite a few Facebook users now have plenty of "friends" online from different stages of their lives, people they haven't actually interacted with in years.
Orley Fenelon, 12, says he is a staunch Republican in his first interview as former PM of Australia (according to Wikipedia). As Australia's revolving door prime ministership continues unabated, the country's most recent ex-PM harbours no resentment after his quick-fire knifing. Speaking exclusively to Fairfax Media, former prime minister Fenelon revealed he was proud of his short stint in the top job. The leadership change was low-key compared with the Turnbull-Abbott changeover and the turmoil of the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd years, which played out in the media for the whole country to see.

Instead, Mr Fenelon's time in office, coming six years before his eligibility to vote, was characterised by a distinct lack of publicity. The committed Republican was out on the street again before McIlroy broke the news of his takeover. Reflecting on his legacy from the inner-city Brisbane home he shares with his father, Gavan, Mr Fenelon listed his proudest achievement as "probably the few seconds I was on Wikipedia". His policy platform, while not implemented as thoroughly as he would have liked, leaned to the left of the political spectrum but focused on ridding Canberra of personal interest and personality-driven politics to better engage the populace. "I think doing away with a lot of things that are there that kind of don't need to be there, [would be beneficial]," he said, in a voice just showing the first signs of breaking.

"Definitely making things a little more personal and a little more normal because if things are a lot more just everyday, instead of having a big office it would just be some guy riding to work on a bike or maybe taking the train. "Just being more normal like that would maybe expose people to being more interested in politics seeing that it's not happening over there and they can get a glimpse of but being something that affects them directly." According to shadowy, unnamed sources, Mr Orley's Cabinet colleagues in the academically gifted aspire class at Brisbane State High School were also strongly engaged in politics. Mr Orley admitted he would like to see other students his age becoming more deeply involved. "If young people started to actually be a force to be reckoned with then politicians wouldn't be so focused on pleasing the traditional interests that obviously don't really serve a place in today's society," he said.

"Obviously with the whole same-sex marriage thing, the most recent polls are like 72 per cent in favour and yet the LNP, they're mostly catering to an older generation that would be less likely to support that. "If young people became an actually larger demographic of more politically engaged people then the politicians would kind of be forced to be more representative. " The ex-PM, whose father revealed he had been taking a keen interest in North Korean politics of late, said the politician he identified with most closely was probably US Democratic nominee hopeful Bernie Sanders. The outgoing PM wished new leader Malcolm Turnbull all the best in removing pesky barnacles from the ship of state. In the words of one pundit, it has never been a more exciting time to be Orley Fenelon.
Embattled Geelong mayor Darryn Lyons says he is "exhausted", "upset" and "enraged" ahead of the expected sacking of the city's council this afternoon by state Parliament.

Fronting media outside his palatial Western Beach home on Tuesday morning  wearing purple denim and a light blue suit jacket with daisies (and his signature Mohawk slicked back)  Lyons said he had always been driven by "vision, passion and change" and that his removal would be unjust.

"It is a disgrace. The state government is intent on stopping this council from serving its people," he said. "We should not be removed from office. We should not be a victim of party politics. Shutting down democracy is not good for Geelong, and the city will suffer for a loss of its voice."
Police are searching for a man who stole a giant fireman figurine from out the front of a toy store in Cottesloe on Friday afternoon and rode away with it awkwardly mounted to his scooter.

On Tuesday, WA Police appealed for anyone who witnessed the brazen theft from Fiddlesticks Toys on Station Street to come forward.

A police spokesman said two people were spotted on CCTV riding up to the toy store on a green scooter around 4.30pm.

"Ten minutes later a single rider returned, picked up the fireman and rode away in the direction of the train line," he said.
Those detained include the four-member 60 Minutes crew, including reporter Tara Brown. Program in jeopardy: 60 Minutes may be the sacrifice after fallout from the child snatch story by reporter Tara Brown. Credit:Nine Network New details about the failed child recovery attempt emerged when Fairfax obtained copies of the more than a dozen messages which zipped between the phones of mother Sally Faulkner and Colin Chapman, a man who ran a rival child recovery operation based in Queensland that had initially quoted for the job but had not been hired. "Col, I'm in trouble," said one of Ms Faulkner's messages. The messages reveal that Faulkner and her children had a window of at least five hours to escape via a different boat to Cyprus, which appeared to be rejected by the 60 Minutes crew, and raises questions about the competing interests facing the program, with its talent able to flee the country while its crew were detained. In one message, Ms Faulkner told Chapman: "They are saying the plan is crazy risky. And they don't think it will work. What do you think?"

Mr Chapman responded: "No offence, but I don't think they are qualified to comment given how this current job has gone." He tells her his contacts "are adamant it's solid". "Ok. Well please keep talking to them. Keep on their back. Explain why it's solid." Who the "they" refers to is not specified, but a short time later Chapman is being asked to "please call 60 again". In the lengthy exchange, Mr Chapman also asks at one stage: "Did 60 Minutes film it all? Do the Lebanese authorities have the footage? Need to know what evidence is against you." Ms Faulkner responds: "Yes. And no they do not have the footage."

The 29-year-old, a former air hostess, had travelled to Beirut to try to recover her two children Lahala, 6, and Noah, 4, from their father, Ms Faulkner's ex-husband Ali Elamine, a Beirut surf business owner. Mr Elamine was alleged to have failed to return their children to Australia as promised after a holiday in Lebanon. On Wednesday Lebanon time, a car containing employees of CARI and Ms Faulkner had cruised to a stop near a bus stop in South Beirut where Mr Elamine's mother and a nanny were walking the two young children. Two CARI agents got out of the the car and grabbed the children from the arms of their grandmother and another woman, while a third passenger appeared to be video recording the snatch, according to grainy security camera video captured by a CCTV camera at a nearby shop. When one of the women appeared to fight back, she was violently pushed away from the vehicle, which then sped off.

Inside the car Ms Faulkner was reunited with her children and dropped off at another location. But when it quickly emerged that the crew and the child recovery agents had been arrested, Ms Faulkner sent her first panicked text to Chapman who immediately replied: "OK, how can I help." That was shortly followed by a second: "I heard what's happened." Ms Faulkner then texted back: "Some of the team have been arrested." "Are you OK?" Mr Chapman replied. "I'm in a safe house right now." Mr Chapman asked again if she was "sure you're safe?"
Brasilia: A committee of Brazil's lower house of Congress has voted 38-27 to recommend the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff, who faces charges of breaking budget laws to support her re-election in 2014.

A vote in the full lower house is expected to take place on Sunday. If two-thirds vote in favour, the impeachment will be sent to the Senate.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, pictured talking to Vice-President Michel Temer, is trying to fight off impeachment. Credit:AP

If the upper house decides by a simple majority to put Ms Rousseff on trial, she will immediately be suspended for up to six months while the Senate decides her fate and Vice-President Michel Temer will take office as acting president.
Saudi Arabia's most senior cleric has defended a ban on women driving by claiming it would "expose them to evil".

Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin-Abdullah Aal al-Sheikh said men "obsessed with women" and with "weak spirits" could end up causing female drivers harm and that male relatives would not know their whereabouts.

A cars stops at a checkpoint near the entrance of a mall, just after midnight in Riyadh. Credit:New York TImes

Although women driving in Saudi Arabia is not against the law, in practice women are unable to obtain driving licences. Exceptions are occasionally made in rural areas if a woman needs to drive for her family life.
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

Non-bank lender Pepper has committed US$1.25m in equity funding to a US based, global innovation network.Founded in February 2013, and based in Washington DC, 1776 looks to foster start-ups seeking to disrupt regulated fields such as education, energy and sustainability, healthcare, transportation and city planning.Peppers investment will allow the non-bank access to the business opportunities generated by 1776s start-up companies, as well as the mentoring services provided by 1776 encompassed in a 5 year partnership agreement.Peppers Co Group CEO, Mike Culhane said he believes the next big disruption in financial services is likely to come from outside the financial services industry.Through our investment in 1776, we are looking to support start-up businesses, and in turn, gain access to new and innovative ideas from a range of industries, not just financial services. The idea that the next big thing in financial services will come only from another financial services player deserves to be challenged.Peppers Co Group CEO, Patrick Tuttle said Pepper was founded on innovation itself.At Pepper, we embrace innovation and digital technologies. Our business was founded on the idea of satisfying an unmet need through innovation. In 2001, we realised mortgages did not have to come from banks or other traditional lenders. Pepper secured wholesale funding from Australian banks, applied our own proprietary credit assessment skills and offered home loans to a broad range of customers underserved by traditional lenders.In return for committing funding, Peppers CoGroup CEO, Mike Culhane will join the board of 1776.Pepper is 1776s first Australian financial investor.
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Brooklyn college students are buggin out!

The Flatbush campus is infested with bedbugs and other creepy crawlers, and students are demanding the school take action or cough up some tuition money.

Either give us free tuition or take care of the school, wrote Marsha Kayy in the Brooklyn College in the Know Facebook page.

The school confirmed that the tough-to-eradicate blood suckers had indeed sunken their metaphorical teeth into the campus but claimed it squashed the threat.

Over the past week, weve received isolated reports of bed bugs in two separate areas on campus, a letter sent to students on April 5 states. Our pest-control experts have conducted inspections, and all areas have been treated. No additional activity (such as live insects, carcasses, or eggs) was identified.

Students reported finding bedbugs in Boylan and Roosevelt halls, the library, and the Georgian Room, a basement-level section of the Boylan Hall Cafeteria, according to Facebook posts.

Officials suggested the parasites hitchhiked onto campus.

But pupils have posted photos and videos of various other vermin  including what appear to be cockroaches  in the library and dining hall.

Thursday I post about the bed bug situation in the library. Today, BACK AT IT AGAIN WITH THE INSECTS ! this time, I have a chance to post it .. either give us free tuition or take care of the school !!!! Posted by Marsha Kayy on Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Some students balked at classmates bugging the school for free tuition, claiming the critters are simply a fact of life.

If you really expect that free tuition is deserved because there are some bugs, thats not an even trade at all? Facebook user Gallal Gerudo wrote. You cant expect for there to be absolutely no bugs on a campus, especially in NYC.
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Hes taking it to the streets!

A week out from the April 19 New York Democratic primary, upstart presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders (IVermont) is lagging behind rival Hillary Clinton in the polls, number of delegates, and support from the local political establishment  but the self-professed socialists press guru claims the campaign can still win the Battle of Brooklyn, and will spend the next seven days knocking on borough doors and holding small events to win over local voters face-to-face.

We are going out and we are hitting the doors, said Symone Sanders, who is no relation, at his Gowanus campaign office on Saturday. Were going old-school, guerrilla style politics and were trying to win this thing.

Bernie Sanders has been stumping hard in the Borough of Kings and beyond over the past week, drawing big crowds in Coney Island, Greenpoint, and outside his boyhood home in Midwood, but the Brooklyn-born pol still faces an uphill battle against Clinton, who served as a New York senator for two terms and handily beat out President Obama here in 2008.

The latest Fox News poll has Clinton leading Sanders 5337 percent with 9 percent of voters uncommitted across the state, and virtually every local elected Democratic leader backing her campaign. Clinton is also generally more popular with black and Latino voters, who make up a significant portion of the borough.

Symone Sanders said the local camp will ramp up its outreach efforts over the next week  campaign reps will hit Brooklyn beauty shops this weekend  and the septuagenarian senator  who has a strong following among Brooklyns young hipster cohort but whose socialist ideals dont play so well with people his own age  will personally hold small events with seniors in the borough to talk about issues such as social security and housing.

One campaign volunteer said borough seniors are quick to support Clinton because of her recognizable last name, but she thinks they will be receptive to Sanderss ideas once they have the opportunity to hear about them.

Mostly they just dont know much about who he is, said Crown Heights resident Ana Santiago. Its a huge information gap and theyre like Oh yeah, the Clintons, I know them. 

And Symone Sanders says she thinks her bosss background growing up in the borough as the son of middle-class Polish immigrants will also help give him credibility with local working families that his rival cant offer.

Sen. Sanders is speaking directly from the knowledge he has of his upbringing and I think that makes it authentic, that makes it real, she said. Thats the reason voters can connect with him.
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The Glen Dimplex Group has announced the acquisition of Ability Projects  a specialist in the design, manufacture and supply of fan coil units (FCUs) and digital control technology.

Based in a new 30,000 sq foot factory in Poole, Dorset and with a dedicated showroom in London, Ability Projects also exports products to New Zealand, The UAE, Australia, and Hong Kong and has manufacturers representatives in the USA and Canada.

Chief executive officer of Glen Dimplex Heating, Neil Stewart, said: We are delighted to have acquired Ability Projects who are at the forefront of technological development in their field - using the very latest design and manufacturing techniques. Their efficient FCUs benefit everyone - consultants gain flexibility, contractors save on installation time and overall capital expenditure, and building occupants save on running costs and maintenance. Innovation is something we at Glen Dimplex strongly believe in and we welcome Ability Projects into the Glen Dimplex family.

Peter Lowther, managing director of Ability Projects, added: We are delighted to be joining the Glen Dimplex Group and further developing the product portfolio of Ability Projects over the coming years. This really is a fantastic opportunity for all of us, including our customers who I would like to re-assure will continue to receive the exceptional products and service that they have enjoyed in the past but now with the enhanced support of an International Group.
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Hero MotoCorp Ltd (HMCL) has submitted plans to begin production at its proposed plant in Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh. HMCL had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Andhra Pradesh government in September 2014 for setting up a two-wheeler manufacturing facility at Madannapalem in Chittoor district. The plant would come up close to the existing Sri City Special Economic Zone. According to the plan, the company will commence production of 5 lakh units (per annum) in the first phase by December 2018 with an investment of Rs. 800 crore, a recent state government order said. The two-wheeler giant will add another five lakh units to its production capacity in the second phase by December 2020, and an additional eight lakh units in the third phase by December 2023 with an investment of Rs. 800 crore for both the phases, AP's Industries Secretary M Girija Shankar said in the order. HMCL informed the government in a letter on March 31 that the upcoming plant would be state-of-the-art and deploying robotics, cutting edge manufacturing technology and green building technology and it would be made a manufacturing hub for two-wheelers for east and south Asia. HMCL also promised an investment of another Rs. 1,600 crore for development of ancillary units that could create direct and indirect employment for 15,000 people.

Source : BS Motoring
Indias top woman biker, Veenu Paliwal, died in an accident in Vidisha district of Madhya Pradesh on Monday. The Jaipur resident was on a nationwide tour on her Harley Davidson bike along with fellow biker Dipesh Tanwar, who was on his motorcycle. The 44-year-old biker skidded on a road about 100 km from Bhopal. She was rushed to a primary health centre, from where she was shifted to the Vidisha district hospital. However, she succumbed to injuries before admission. Known as Lady of Harley and HOG Rani, Veenus numerous admirers mourned her untimely death on social media on Tuesday. A sad day for the biking community, tweeted Wheel Street, an online platform for bike lovers. RIP mam :( you are a great loss to the community, tweeted another admirer. The mother of two had left Lucknow on Monday morning and was headed for Bhopal. Veenu, who was wearing protective gear, also emphasised on safety. She was also planning to make a documentary on her motorbike journeys. She also wanted to join politics and spread awareness about riding bikes safely.

Source : BS Motoring
Lafarge India has received nine non-binding bidders for its 11-million-tonne asset, valued at around Rs 10,000 crore.

The French cement giant has put the business on the block after receiving approval from the Competition Commission of India to meet its global merger process with Swiss giant Holcim.

The bidders include international strategic players CRH, Heidelberg and China Resources, along with domestic players JSW Infra, Piramal Enterprises and Ramky Infra who have respectively tied up with private equity (PE) firms CVC Capital, Goldman Sachs Private Equity and Carlyle.

There is also a consortium of PE firms Blackstone, Baring Asia and CPPIB which has submitted a bid. Other PE giants Bain Capital and Advent International have also submitted their bid individually.

"Now these bids will be shortlisted and then the due diligence will start," said a person familiar with the bidding process. "Following the due diligence the final binding bids will be sought and then the buyer's name will be announced. The whole process will take about two to two-and-a-half months," he said. The French cement giant appointed Citi and Arpwood Capital as investment bankers to sell the entire India operations last month. This is the second attempt by the company to meet local anti-trust regulations, after its plan to sell its 5.15-million tonne cement capacity in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand to Birla Corporation for Rs 5,000 crore ran into trouble. A change in mining law under the The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act prohibited transfer of mining rights in case of an asset sale.

This compelled the firm to sell its entire business which allows transfer of mining rights.

Lafarge and Swiss cement giant Holcim announced a global merger in April 2014, to create the world's largest firm in the segment. This raised eyebrows of anti-trust watchdogs in several countries.

In India, Holcim, through its control of Ambuja Cement and ACC, has 60 million tonne (mt) capacity. Lafarge has 11 mt in India, of which 7.8 mt (70 per cent) is in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal. Holcim's ACC and Ambuja have capacities of 6.1 mt and 4.6 mt, respectively, in the eastern region. A simple merger would have led to a capacity of 18.5 mt in the eastern states for Holcim-Lafarge, which would have been a little more than 40 per cent of the estimated 46 mt of total capacity in the region.

This led to CCI scrutiny. In August 2015, Birla Corp had agreed to buy the proposed assets, along with brands Concreto and PSC, and mineral rights over adequate reserves of limestone. After Lafarge India's inability to consummate the deal along with mining rights, Birla Corp said, "The company has since discussed the matter with its legal advisors and has decided not to accept their contention and is in the process of taking appropriate legal measures, in consultation with lawyers."



Following this, Birla Corp also acquired the 5 mt capacity Reliance Cement for Rs 4,800 crore, in February. "No major hurdle is expected from Birla Corp for the sell-off," inform people familiar with the sale process.

THE BIDDERS

CRH

Heidelberg Cement

China Resources

Blackstone-Baring Asia-CPPIB

Bain Capital

Advent International
AirAsia India had to pay an annual fee of Rs 10 crore to AirAsia Global Services (AGSS) - a subsidiary of its Malaysian partner AirAsia Bhd - for services it should have ideally handled on its own.

The "services", according to informed sources, included finance support, human resources, revenue management, cancellation and refunds.

According to filings with the Malaysian stock exchange, AGSS was set up in 2013 to provide shared business, support and outsourcing services. According to the agreement signed on June 24, 2015, AirAsia India would pay AGSS staff cost, benefits, other on-going operating expenses and overheads in proportion to the number of personnel assigned to the airline to deliver the services.

Notably, a clause was added in the agreement to ensure that AGSS will not be answerable to the management of AirAsia India in case of any disputes. "No visibility and accountability will be provided by the body to the local management," said the clause. AGSS provides a similar service to AirAsia Bhd's other two other affiliates - Indonesian AirAsia and Thai AirAsia. When asked, an AirAsia spokesperson refused to comment.

AirAsia India was set up as a three-way joint venture, with the Malaysian partner holding 49 per cent and the other two partners, Tata Sons and Arun Bhatia's Telestra Tradeplace, holding 41.06 per cent and 9.94 per cent, respectively. Last month, Tata Sons agreed to buy out Bhatia's stake, taking its total stake to 51 per cent.

AirAsia Bhd's stake in AirAsia India remains 49 per cent - the maximum a foreign partner can have in an Indian airline.

There were allegations that the Indian carrier's effective control is in the hands of the Malaysian firm. Indian low-cost carriers IndiGo, SpiceJet and Jet Airways have said AirAsia India's day-to-day operations are being handled from Malaysia, violating the substantial ownership and effective control norms.

"The Indian management had virtually no control over the airline, which gave rise to discontent among executives," said a source. According to him, fundamental planning including crew rostering and route planning was decided by Bo Lingam, AirAsia Bhd's chief of operations and planning.

"Bo even controlled issues like fares, discounts or special package," the source added.
Government-owned companies are among the big names that are still defaulting on the rule to have at least one woman on the board of directors.

There are 57 companies on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) that have yet to appoint a single woman on their board, according to Prime Database. A little over a third are public sector undertakings (PSUs), including blue-chip names like Oil and Natural Gas Corp, Indian Oil, and GAIL India.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had a little over a year before it directed that the boards of all listed entities must have at least one woman, by March 31.

Pavan Kumar Vijay, founder and managing director, Corporate Professionals, says many state-owned entities havent complied as their parent ministries are yet to make the appointments.

Shriram Subramanian, managing director, Ingovern, says PSUs generally tend to be lax in their approach. The government has to take things seriously and not expect only corporate India to comply. PSUs have to lead the way, he said.

"The objective of the requirement is to address the under-representation of women in corporate governance leadership. To achieve this objective, law and punishment cannot be the measure. We have only thrown a law at the problem rather than address the underlying issues  for example, mandating paternity leave, providing an enforcement mechanism against gender discrimination at the workplace and the like.



Somasekhar Sundaresan, partner, J Sagar Associates





J N Gupta, co-founder and managing director, Stakeholder Empowerment Services, says, Things will happen only when there is public pressure, since nobody is bothered.



Among the notable private entities that still have vacancies for women directors are Tata Power, Lanco Infratech, and DB Corp. The list of non-compliant companies swells if one includes BSE-listed and unlisted companies. According to a report quoting the minister of corporate affairs, there were 2,000 listed and unlisted companies in early December which had not appointed a woman director.

Prosecution has been launched against 121 defaulting unlisted companies (other than PSUs)," minister Arun Jaitley had said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha in December.

A Sebi circular dated April 8, 2015, says companies that violate the norms will attract a monetary penalty. Those that complied after April 1 and before June 30, 2015, were to be fined just Rs 50,000.

Those complying between July 1 and September 30 would have to pay Rs 50,000, along with an additional Rs 1,000 per day till the date of compliance. Those doing so on or after October 1 would be slapped a fine of Rs 142,000, in addition to Rs 5,000 a day till the date of compliance.

"Unless the punishment is meted out, it will not work. The government has to follow the rules and the non-compliance should be traced to individuals, not only to the company, said Gupta.
Malaysia-based PureCircle is planning to make India its regional production and export hub for Stevia, a sweetener extracted from the leaves of a plant called Stevia rebaudiana, in the next five years.

The company will invest Rs 1,300 crore ($200 million) in the country to set up a manufacturing plant and procure raw material locally, Magomet Malsagov, chief executive of PureCircle, told Business Standard.

PureCircle, the largest producer of the zero-calorie sweetener globally, is currently undertaking field studies.

PureCircle supplies to nearly 300 food and beverage manufacturers in around 100 countries. It also supplies to fast-moving consumer goods majors such as Nestle, Coca-Cola, and Pepsi.

The recently-launched 7UP Revive from PepsiCo is the first stevia-based drink in India. The launch came months after Indias apex food regulator Food Safety and Standards Authority of India had allowed the use of stevia into processed foods and beverages in November 2015.

Well procure 15,000 tonnes of dry stevia leaves locally, for which farming has to be done in 5,000 hectares of land. This will benefit 15,000 farmers directly, said Malsagov.

The proposed Indian plant will cater to the south-Asia region, he added.

Globally, stevia has a Rs 1,300-crore market. After entering India, PureCircle aims to replace 20 per cent of the 20-million tonnes of sugar consumption in India.

We are in talks with all major Indian companies to cut deals, said Ajay Chandran, senior director (south Asia), PureCircle. The company has identified six states including Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand and Punjab for farming of stevia plants.
Fabrics maker on Tuesday announced that it would expand its skill development network in Uttar Pradesh.

The company already operates such a centre in Lucknow for training unemployed youth in the tailoring craft. It had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with UP Skill Development Society (UPSDM) functioning under the state Vocational Education and Skill Development Department.

Now, similar centres are proposed at Varanasi, Agra, Meerut and Ghaziabad.

Vice-President and Head (sales and distribution) textiles Ram Bhatnagar said that the company would soon sign the MoUs with the state government for setting up the new centres. The state provides the land for setting up centres.

He informed that was targetting to train 1,00,000 youths in tailoring across India under its skill development programme, of which the majority would come from UP.

"There is a huge stitched clothes market in UP and our skill development programme has been quite successful in the state so far," he added. The trained youth have the option of either becoming an entrepreneur or joining a company.

Bhatnagar was in town to launch its latest fabric 'Technosmart', which offers features as UV protection, wrinkle resistance, breathability and smooth touch all bundled in a single fabric.
A media report on Tuesday said AirAsia India is controlled by its Malaysian share holder (AirAsia Malaysia), in alleged contravention of foreign direct investment norms.

While the civil aviation ministry has not responded, Tata Sons (which, along with its executives, owns 51 per cent in the airline) denied any violation of norms. However, the revelations have come as ammunition for Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy, who has been fighting a legal battle against the airline since 2013.

I will write to the ministry and the Prime Ministers Office, demanding scrapping of the permit granted to AirAsia India, Swamy stated.

On Tuesday, Mint pointed out that a brand licensing agreement allows AirAsia Malaysia to exercise control on virtually all aspects of operations of AirAsia India. The agreement, the report said, was signed between the two entities in 2013 and gives the Malaysian partner the influence and control over key functions such as ancillary revenue, branding, revenue management engineering, finance, among others.

At the heart of the controversy is a government rule which states substantial ownership and effective control of an airline should vest with Indian nationals.

AirAsia India is fully compliant with the requirements of Indian regulations. Majority ownership and effective control are with Indian parties as per the requirements of Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion. Further, all important decisions concerning the day-to-day operations of the airline are taken by the management team of the airline under the overall supervision, control and direction of board of directors (include a majority of Indian nationals). The board is chaired by long-time Tata veteran, S Ramadorai, said a Tata Sons spokesperson.

Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey said he would not comment on media reports.

According to Simone Reis, co-head of mergers and acquisitions practice at Nishith Desai Associates, there is no objective criteria on what effective control means but arrangements that would deter the Indian partners ability to make decisions defeat the requirements of the law.

According to her, the agreements between AirAsia India and its Malaysian partner need to be studied for aspects pertaining to brand protection. It is difficult to suggest that an entity that is also granting a brand licence will be unable to protect its brand by requiring the licencee of the brand to follow certain criteria key to the brand. There is a difference (some may say a narrow line) between what amounts to protection of the brand and what amounts to controlling operations of a company.



While it satisfies the substantially owned test, the question will be regarding the second test on effective control, says lawyer Nitin Sarin, who specialises in aviation law. If 51 per cent ownership vests with Indians, they have majority shareholding and all decisions may be made or vetoed by them. Entering into a licensing agreement is a commercial decision, which would have been approved by the majority shareholders (Indian)... with this limited information, there seems no illegality whatsoever in AirAsia India.



Globally, aviation has, since the 1940s, been developed on laws that state an airline must be substantially owned and effectively controlled by persons having the citizenship of the home base of the airline.

The initial rationale for this was that countries wished to keep tight control over airlines because at that time (1940s) aviation was used mainly for military purposes.

Over the years, the need to retain the substantial ownership and effective control clause has been diluted from the security angle, but it still remains inherent in air service agreements that stipulate traffic rights between two countries.
Finance Minister will on Wednesday leave for the United states on an official visit during which he will attend the IMF-WB meeting and hold sessions with institutional investors and pension funds.

"As part of the first leg of his US visit, the Finance Minister will arrive in Washington on April 13 and will address at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace 'Steering India Towards Growth'," a Finance Ministry statement said.

On April 14, Jaitley has a meeting with US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, which will be followed by the 6th Economic and Financial Partnership Dialogue between India and the US.

The Finance Minister will participate in BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) Board of Governors meeting followed by the BRICS Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting.

"The Finance Minister is also proposed to meet the Chinese Finance Minister in the evening," the statement added.

On April 15, Jaitley will participate in G-20 meetings and attend a special event to honor UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in nurturing World Bank-UN Partnership.

On April 16, 2016, the Finance Minister will participate in International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) Governors meet followed by the IMFC Plenary Session and Development Committee Plenary meeting, among others.

In his second leg of US visit in New York, Jaitley will address the Asia Society Event 'Make In India-The New Deal' on April 18. The Finance Minister will also hold meeting with long-term funds and pension funds.

On April 19, he will address the Special Session of General Assembly of UN on the World Drugs. The Finance Minster is also proposed to participate in institutional investors meet on the same day.

The Finance Minister will return to the country on April 21.
While it could be new to many in the country, the Vedikettu or Kambam (Firework display), which has caused deaths of 110 people and left hundreds injured in the 100-year-old Puttingal temple in Paravoor, Kollam, Kerala, the firework display is part and passion of many in the state.

These fire crackers, which can give sound and light at a much higher intensity than the ordinary crackers you burst during Diwali, is an inevitable part of majority of the temple rituals and several churches as well in Kerala. The fireworks display, conducted during night in open spaces near the temples marks the end of the festival at these religious places.

The sample vedikettu and the actual vedikettu in the festival of festivals of Kerala, Thrissur Pooram, are the major firework displays in the State. There are other famous vedikettus that are conducted related to the festivals including Uthralikkavu Pooram, Nenmara Vela, Parakkottukav festival and others.

There are several types of crackers used in these displays, including Amittu (a ball shaped cracker which goes up in the sky and bursts to show colourful sparks ending with a sound), Kathina (a pipe shaped cracker, which is for sound), and Garland Gundu (a garland of high-decibel crackers). The rockets are the favourites of many, since the colours and designs vary. They could go up step by step creating a tree of several umbrellas of colourful sparks, one above the other. The manufacturers in Kerala have their unique products, in which the first umbrella shaped spark will be of red, while the next would be green and again, the next a red. A manufacturer said that they have also used rockets, which could fire 24 such steps.

There are several unique features worth noting about these fireworks. One, it is manufactured locally using the raw materials purchased from Sivakasi. Unlike Sivakasi firecracker industry, these crackers are not manufactured throughout the year. These are manufactured by experts who have been involved in the manufacturing of these crackers for generations. The main character in this process is called Asan (master) and the fireworks are set up by humans, while in many other places, the large fireworks are managed using an electric button or a computer from a distant place.

The Asans, who are very few in number and attracts lot of fan following for their particular style, also indulge in experimentation on the colour of lights, shapes of lights when the cracker goes up in the sky. Mayannur Krishnan Chettyar, Kundannur Sundarakshan, Kundannur Ananthan, Cheerani Muhammed, Vennoor Krishnan are some of these Asans mentioned on social media for their specialities and overall performance of their fireworks.



While the Amittu (large firecracker in a ball shape which gives more sound than the ordinary ones), available in Sivakasi has been to the size of 3-3.5 inch and lately at someplaces grown up to 4 inch, the size of this firecracker used in the display could go up to the size of 12 inch, depending upon the demand.



There are around 50-56 such firecracker manufacturers in the State, of which at least 18 are in the capital city of Thiruvananthapuram, said Jinju SS, owner of Devi Fireworks, Thiruvananthapuram, whose father G Sasi was a famous Asan. Many of them are traditionally manufacturing firecrackers for Vedikkettu. The manufacturing work starts once the trust or the organising committee of the temple or church approach them for a display. The date and time will be fixed and a list will be prepared based on the demand of the committee and the fans of such display in the area.

The Asan, along with the workers (in the recent years, many of them are people who have been working in Sivakasi firecracker industry) will start their work on making the required amount of products and the works are expected to start almost a month prior to the date of display.



Competitive Fireworks Display

The enthusiasm of viewers and organisers of the display would go up if it is a competition display between people from two areas, which are refered as Karas. Both the karas will have their own Asans and all of them sit together and finalise what are the type of crackers to be used in the display. Based on this, both the sides will prepare their products and fire it one after another. For instance, if the Asan representing one kara fires a rocket which explodes in red and green, the Asan representing the other Kara should also fire the same type of cracker he has manufactured. The winners will be decided based on the perfection these manufacturers were able to achieve in the specifications. This is also a prestige issue for many karas, which would spend more to win the competition.



The spirit of competition is similar to any competitive sport. Many organisers have gone bankrupt owing to their addiction to such competitions, say industry sources. Interestingly, while all the other districts insist on the high-decibel cracker as a must in the display, organisers in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala, prefer more light and decorative crackers, said Jinju, who stopped the traditional work of manufacturing and now engaged in sales of firecrackers purchased from Sivakasi.

Firing The Crackers: The Process

Considering that the crackers are fired manually, how the Asan fills the pipes and how best he handles the ammunition is the key. The produced crackers are kept in a store and this would be transported to an open space where the Asan would fire them one by one. The process would become tedious and time consuming, some times even goes on for several hours. If it is a competition, the time taken will be doubled.



The Asan or the contractor who manufactures the firecrackers is mandated to have a license and for smaller manufacturers, who handles up to 15 kg of gunpowder, has to get license once in three years from the District Collectorate.The festival organiser has to get a display license from the relevant district collectorate to conduct the firecracker display. For larger manufacturers, the procedure is slightly different.



The gun powder is a mix of various chemicals including Potassium nitrate, charcoal and sulphur, and most of the time, it is purchased seperately and kept seperately, till the works starts. Once it is mixed, it is gunpowder and the regulation says that these small manufacturers should not have more than 15 kg of the gunpowder (the mixed substance) at a time. However, the business model is that once the materials are mixed, it would not be kept for long and will be fully used in one go.

There are 23 non-explosive substances, mainly metals and chemicals such as barium, aluminium powder and sulphur, which are used for adding colour to the amittu, which are of no harm to the manufacturer.



The firecrackers will now be taken to the site where the display has to take place and kept at different places.



Another person from the industry said that the brightness and other qualities of materials used in the fireworks display materials are lower compared to the quality of small size products manufactured in Sivakasi for retail use. It may be noted that according to reports, the order size of the firecrackers displayed in the Puttingal temple was of around Rs 8 crore, according to reports. It has lasted for over three hours before the mishap took place at 3.30 a.m in the morning, it is said.



The Asan who wins the competition benefits the most through more orders from smaller festivals, since a successful display results in his fame spreading far and wide.
Homoeopathy clinic chain Dr Batra's is planning to expand its presence to around 20 new homeopathy clinics across India and abroad by the end of financial year 2016-17. The company is also looking for private equity funding in the next financial year 2017-18. It has a plan to raise Rs 200 crore via private equity funding."In this financial year, we are investing Rs 35 crore for the expansion. We plan to add 10 clinics in India and 10 abroad during the current financial year. As we already have a substantial presence in India with 225 clinics, the emphasis will be more on consolidation, while in overseas the focus will be on expansion," said Dr Akshay Batra, managing director, Dr Batra's group of companies.The markets that the company is looking to expand includes UK, UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Switzerland. Last year, the company has posted total revenue of Rs 240 crore.

"We are self sufficient for investments in the current financial year. But for the next financial year, we are planning to infuse Rs 200 crore via private equity," Dr Batra added. In 2014, the company has forayed into the pet care segment by launching its first homeopathy cum veterinary hospital in the city.

Now, it is expanding the pet clinic network by opening three more clinics in Vasai, near Mumbai, Goa and Gurgaon. It will further expand the network up to 30 clinics. These clinics will be operated on franchise basis. It will have both homeopathic and allopathic treatment facilities for pets. Currently, it is offering treatment to 2,000 pets every month at Delhi hospital. It will have both homeopathic and allopathic treatment facilities for pets. Dr Batra said: "We are planning to open three more multi-speciality veterinary hospitals in Mumbai, Goa and Gurgaon along with 30 more clinics across India in the next one year." The group will also focus on expanding the reach of its FMCG products in India by doubling the number of outlets to 10,000 from 5,000 at present. As per the strategy, the company will be consolidating the business of its three segments -- homeopathy, aesthetic (that provides skin and hair care, among others) and FMCG products. It is also exploring few other segments such as weight management and new products development, non-invasive weight management and pet care. It is also entering the nutraceuticals market with launch of four products.

Over 400 homeopathy doctors and consultants are associated with the company.
The explosion at the 100-year-old Puttingal temple at Kollam district, Kerala, on Sunday is one of the worst tragedies in the history of Kerala. The accident has so far claimed over 110 lives, but the question is whether an accident of this magnitude can simply be attributed to firecrackers, which are more commonly used on a much smaller scale on weddings or festivals like Diwali.

Fire and explosive experts say theres more to the incident than the accidental setting off of a cache of firecrackers.

Preliminary inquiries by the police reveal that sparks from a high-intensity pyrotechnic display spread to a storehouse adjoining the temple, where a large cache of explosives was stocked, resulting in the massive blast whose impact was felt as far as 2 kilometres away.

Business Standard spoke to industry representatives from Sivakasi, the hub for the firecracker industry, industry veterans, and chemical experts who work with regulators and government agencies to understand whether fireworks alone can cause such an explosion.

All of them have reviewed the videos and pictures of the Kollam accident and most of them point out that, first and foremost, a firecracker is an explosive with a very low intensity blast and can at most burn down a place if present in a huge quantity.

Second, they say, the blast intensity of a firecracker cannot blow a building made up of cement and bricks to pieces as it did in Kollam.

This destruction generally require dynamite, which is used in granite quarries, said a senior industry representatives from Sivakasi.

Some pictures from the site show sticks tightly tied together with ropes. If these things tied together exploded, it likely increased the magnitude of destruction. They are similar to explosives which are used in quarries, which typically uses dynamites sticks tied together for greater blast force. A video that captured the last few minutes of the fireworks display at Kollam shows the explosions as if they were straight out of a war scene, which can't be created by ordinary firecrackers.

The industry representative, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigations are still underway, noted that after the 2006 Thrissur Pooram fireworks production unit accident, it was found that around 1,000 gundus, 125 'Amittu', 60 dynamites of different varieties and 1,500 meter-long palm-leaf crackers were at the Maidan for the Pooram fireworks display. On the other side, they had kept 100 'Amittu' , 400 'Kuzhiminni' (sub-surface dynamites) and 60 dynamites. This is a classic instance of passing off the use of such hazardous materials as fireworks.

Experts said gunpowder, which is a mix of various chemicals including Potassium nitrate, charcoal and sulphur, is used in various forms of firework displays. Potassium nitrate is 75% of the material, while charcoal is typically 15% and sulphur, 10 per cent. Potassium nitrate is the main fuel while the other two help it burn better.

However, the quantity of the combination is often changed to create different pyrotechnic effects. If chemicals like ammonium nitrate or nitro cellulose are used instead of potassium nitrate, it makes for much stronger, but highly dangerous, explosives. Chlorides of Sodium, potassium and calcium are also often added to give colour to a firecracker.

A typical cracker produced at Sivakasi is barely more than three inches, while the ones found at the Kollam site were as big as a foot high, and at times 100 times bigger than a normal-sized one. The larger size is meant to accommodate more chemicals and explosives inside.

Potassium chlorate, a banned chemical, is used widely in Kerala to make fireworks louder. When safe alternatives such as potassium perchlorate are available, it is unwise to use potassium chlorate, said an official from the explosives department.

Industry members in Kerala also say that the approval from the government has to be given according to the space available for the display. For instance, a temple or church in the middle of a city or which has lesser space for the display should not be allowed to conduct such large displays.

This was the case in Kollam, where the space for display was comparatively less given the amount of fireworks. According to witnesses present there, there were no barricades at the site, which is mandatory for such displays. The Explosives Rule - 2008 insists on a minimum of 100-metre distance between the display area and spectators.

Flouting of rules formed by authorities regarding making and use of firecrackers has been a major cause of concern in the state where fireworks are traditionally part of a large number of local festivals. The Supreme Court order restricting fireworks display between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. is also being blatantly violated by festival organisers.
Former head of McKinsey & Co, Rajat Gupta, is not alone in writing a book on his life after serving a prison term. Here are a few other businessmen who were convicted or facing trial for various crimes but went on to write books after their prison terms:



RAJAT GUPTA



Gupta - a director in Goldman Sachs board - was convicted in 2012 for passing on confidential boardroom information to his one-time friend and business associate and stock trader, Raj Rajaratnam. Gupta's memoir would detail his rise and fall as a top corporate honcho in the United States and how he landed up in a New York prison.

JORDAN BELFORT



A former stock broker, Jordan Belfort is well-known for being portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio in 2014 Hollywood grosser The Wolf of Wall Street. Belfort's brokerage firm Stratton Oakmont defrauded investors through sales of stock. The firm was busted in 1998, and Belfort was charged with money laundering and fraud. After his release, Belfort wrote his memoir which went on to become one of the biggest Hollywood hits in 2014.

JACK ABRAMOFF



A former businessman, Jack Abramoff was sentenced to six years in federal prison for mail fraud, conspiracy to bribe public officials, and tax evasion. He served 43 months before being released in December 2010. After his release, Abramoff wrote the autobiographical book Capitol Punishment: The Hard Truth About Corruption From America's Most Notorious Lobbyist - published in November 2011.

SUBRATA ROY




Taking potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the 'Swachh India' drive, Congress Vice President said Tuesday mere slogans devoid of clear strategy and action plan would not make any difference and keep the country clean.

Gandhi, along with the other senior Congress leaders, was speaking after visiting the Deonar garbage dumping ground in Mumbai, where recent fires have caused serious health and environmental concern in many parts of the city.

"I met few people of Chembur here. One person was weeping. People are getting affected by TB. Even one child has died due to this. This ground has emitted pollution which is causing problems to them," Rahul told mediapersons at the sprawling dumping ground.

A string of fires at Deonar recently had raised health concerns after smog and toxic gases spread around the area.

A six-month old boy had died in a locality near the dumping ground with the parents saying their child died of suffocation due to toxic gases emitted from the blaze. However, the civic officials had refuted the charge.

"Merely slogans of Swachh India won't make any difference. You need to have an action plan for it. You ought to come out with some strategy," Gandhi said.

He also said coining a slogan 'Swachh India' and keeping the country clean were two entirely different things.

"But unfortunately, there seems to be no vision and strategy how to keep India clean and make people free from this menace of dumping ground," he said.

Demanding that the garbage ground be shut, Gandhi, who walked through the heaps of dumps without wearing a mask, said, "PM and CM should do something immediately. This city, Mumbai is a symbol of progress."



On behalf of Chembur Citizens' Forum, its joint secretary S Balakrishnan met and demanded the closure of the garbage yard, paving the way for scientific processing of the 12 million tonnes of domesitc waste piled up there.

"The dump reached its saturation point ages ago and fire and smoke emanating from it is posing a serious threat to the health of lakhs of citizens," Balakrishnan told PTI, adding that Gandhi endorsed the demand for its immediate closure.

Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam said, "Continuation of dumping ground, despite its life expectancy getting over way back in 2000, is the live example of corruption of the Shiv Sena-BJP duo, ruling Mumbai city corporation."



"BMC administration has miserably failed to dispose garbage and debris scientifically and that is why Congress is demanding immediate closure of the ground," he said.

Opposition leader in the BMC, Praveen Chheda was also present at the ground along with the other leaders.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Shop owners on Tuesday joined the protest against the health ministrys notification on pictorial warnings on tobacco products.



Developments since April 1 are continuously increasing the pressure on the government over its decision to increase the size of warnings on cigarette and beedi packs.



ITC and Godfrey Phillips stopped production on April 1, when the notification came into effect. Beedi makers followed suit a week later. On Monday, the Federation of All India Farmer Associations (FAIFA), joined the protest.



Tobacco product retailers selling paan, beedi, cigarettes, tobacco products and confectionery items on Tuesday held a press conference here to urge the government to withdraw the notification and resolve the matter amicably.



The regulation is hurting the 50 million people dependent on the tobacco industry for their livelihood, said B C Bhartia, national president of the Confederation of All India Traders.



We urge the government to take a balanced stand on the issue. We also call upon tobacco manufacturers to resume production, a CAIT representative said.



The ministry of health and family welfare amended packaging and labelling rules through a notification on October 15, 2014, that increased the size of graphic health warnings on tobacco products to 85 per cent of both sides of a pack from 40 per cent on one side of a pack.



According to CAIT, the tobacco industry has an annual turnover of Rs 1,25,000 crore. Tobacco is grown in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Assam.
Three qualified bidders  GMR, GVK and Tata Realty-MIA Infra  will have to submit financial bids for the Navi Mumbai international airport by October. The City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco), nodal agency for the Rs 16,000 crore airport project, expects to award the contract by the end of this year.

The state Cabinet on Monday gave its assent for the issuance of request for proposal (RFP) to GVK, GMR and a consortium of Tata Realty and MIA Infra. These three qualified bidders are expected to submit RFP by September end or early October, said Sanjay Bhatia, vice-chairman and managing director of Cidco. The corporation already has 80 per cent of the land in its possession.

Bhatia said the state Cabinets approval was necessary after the Union home ministry in January rejected security clearance to the fourth short-listed bidder  a consortium of Hiranandani Developers and Zurich Airport.

The first phase of the airport, with capacity of 10 million passengers, is slated to be ready by Q4, FY20. As soon as a particular percentage of traffic growth is achieved for three consecutive months, the developer will have to start work on phase two, to increase capacity to 25 million passengers.

Nearly 95 per cent of the land has been acquired through consent.
All India jewelers have now decided to call of their over 40 day strike. As jewelers returns to normalcy after a prolonged strike of over 40 days on jewellery is a certainty. However that will change the way industry operate especially manufacturing activities could see structural changes along with consolidation in the industry.

First impact will be on unaccounted trade as excise levy will require jewelers to keep records of purchase of gold. Compliance cost for manufacturing would go up which will lead to structural changes and even consolidation.

Vijay Jain, CEO of Orra (a Jewellry manufacturer and retail chain) said: Jewellers were losing business at peak demand season and they also had to consider pressure on workers, larigars and hence withdrawn strike. But another side of the business is that the will lead to jewellery manufacturing industry passing through a structural changes and will also lead to consolidation.



Gudi Padwa and Ugadi were last week while Vishu and Tamil New Year on 14th April, and Akshaya Tritiya on 9th May and these are big business opportunities for jewelers which they were not ready to go away.

Industry is at present widely divided among small, medium and large jewelers and they have to maintain records, which will increase compliance cost. Manufacturers would have to scale up their businesses or cut cost to protect margins. This could lead to structural changes.

An industry official who has operations in Suraj, a city in Gujarat known Indias diamond processing hub, said: In Surat, under a single roof workers are seated in a row, often up to 20 rows in the one room, with each row belonging to a different diamond processing company.This essentially built economies of scale due to the cross coordination of work; also with this structure it is difficult for an inspection officer to conduct a check. We foresee that gold jewellery fabrication too may shift into a similar manufacturing set-up as it becomes beneficial to have more fabricators with less than rupees six crores turnover in the one space.

A bullion trade associations top official said many small jewelers who also work with unaccounted gold would prefer to exit jewellery manufacturing by selling their business to a bigger company and start trading which has no . These would lead to consolidation.



With compliance cost rising, retail expansion on rental places could also get affected, fear a retail chain official. Most industry players Business Standard spoke to said that margins are set to remain under pressure in this wafer thin margin business.



Good part, which an official of Indian Bullion and Jewellers Association said: Business, would come on books, rather than remaining unaccounted and help check smuggling, which was estimated at 142 tons in 2015 by GFMS. He said organized business will grow while unorganized and especially thriving on business without maintaining records would face a tough time.

Jewellery selling is hardly a standalone business for many smaller jewelers as several of them are also acting as money lenders providing finances against jewellery as collateral. if they also sell jewellery, they would find both businesses difficult to run with excise duty being implemented.
Goldman Sachs, the investment bank, is scouting for financial technology start-ups and is looking at Bengaluru for new picks.

The Principal Strategic Investment Group of the bank has a global portfolio of 75 firms, including a dozen investments in the Asia-Pacific. Two are in India  National Stock Exchange (NSE) and National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange.

Indian tech companies are evolving from services to software development and Bengaluru is emerging as a global centre for innovation that is comparable to Silicon Valley of the US, says Alokik Advani, managing director of the bank's PSI Group.

He heads the Asia-Pacific team of the group from his Hong Kong office and now claims to have brought a new focus to invest in firms from India. We are scouting for start-ups, he says. Indian fin-tech start-ups have had big success in payment systems but these are not so interesting for the bank. For us, start-ups dealing with data analytics or machine learning could be a big opportunity in India, says Advani.

New technology for trading platforms, enterprise solutions and data centre management are other interest areas. While fin-tech evolution is at an early stage in India, there are no dedicated fin-tech venture capital funds active here. This gives Advani an opportunity to invest, mentor and commercialise such start-ups, leveraging the global network of Goldman Sachs, he says.

The bank plans to invest i$2-10 million in each such investment, for a minority stake that can at most bring a board seat. It plans to invest for an average of five years. It, however, declined to comment on an exit plan from the NSE investment.
With Jaiprakash (JP) Associates withdrawing its proposal to set up a Rs 34,000-crore electronic chip plant, the government is examining fresh investment proposals in the semi-conductor space, according to Aruna Sharma, secretary, department of electronics and information technology (DeitY).

At present, were assessing the situation and after further deliberation we might look for a fresh set of investors in this space, said another official.

In February 2014, the Union Cabinet had approved two electronic chip manufacturing plants for a total of Rs 63,410 crore. One of the semiconductor wafer fabrication manufacturing plants was supposed to be set up by JP Associates, with IBM and Tower Semiconductor of Israel as partners.

The debt-laden company has bowed out of the project, saying its not commercially viable.

The other firm, Hindustan Semiconductors, is still working on the project, said Sharma. This plant is being built by HSMC Technologies India, in partnership with STMicroelectronics, Europe's largest semiconductor maker, and Silterra Malaysia Sdn Bhd.

JPs project was to be located along the Yamuna Expressway in Uttar Pradesh. According to DeitY, it would have had a capacity of 40,000 wafer starts per month.

It is an important area for us strategically and as part of the Digital India initiative, said a senior government official.

Electronic chips are a critical component of any modern electronic device and have security implications. At present, there are no semiconductor plants in India.

The government had earlier decided to provide incentives such as 25 per cent subsidy on capital expenditure, tax reimbursement, exemption from basic customs duty for non-covered capital items and 200 per cent deduction on expenditure on research & development.

The demand for electronic products in India is expected to rise 10 times to reach $400 billion by 2020.

HOW IT UNFOLDED
The high court here has agreed with the Indian governments 2013 plan to tax investments from Cyprus, which was used by several foreign investors to avoid taxes in India. The order would impact several foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and private equity investors which invested in India via the route.

This clears the way for the governments decision to impose a 30 per cent tax deduction at source on inflow from Cyprus, a setback for foreign institutional investors. The notification was dated November 2013. Tuesday's court order was from a bench of judges V Ramasubramanian and T Mathivanan.

According to market sources, between 2000 and 2014, inflow via into India and Indian stock markets was Rs 38,300 crore.

Pramod Kumar Chopda, standing counsel for the Union ministry of finance, Central Board of Direct Taxes and the I-T department, said the order would be a major step towards controlling undisclosed money.

Section 94A," said the judges, was "the need of the hour" and suffered no unconstitutionality. It allows the Centre, when there's lack of effective exchange of information with any place outside India, to specify the said country or territory as a notified jurisdictional area for transactions by any assessee.

India and did sign an agreement for avoidance of double taxation of income and prevention of fiscal evasion, in force since December 1994. Both agreed to exchange information in this regard, particular for prevention of fraud or evasion of taxes, said the finance ministry in November 2013, when the notification was issued. However, Cyprus had not been providing the information requested under the Agreement. So, it was decided to make Cyprus a notified jurisdictional area.

Three individuals had challenged the section's constitutional validity and the November 2013 notification. There was an October 2014 agreement between an Indian company incorporated in Cyprus and these three individuals, on sales of shares and debentures. Three months after, the petitioners got tax showcause notices. The legal case followed.
Starting his three-day visit to India in Goa on Monday, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter declared that his Indian counterpart, Manohar Parrikar, is "one of the most important defence ministers in the world for me to interact with."



The reason for this was illustrated on Tuesday, when the two announced a breakthrough logistics agreement; new, high-level maritime dialogue; cooperation on submarines and tracking commercial shipping in the Indian Ocean, and a significant expansion of high-technology defence cooperation.

After delegation talks in New Delhi, Carter and Parrikar announced a breakthrough in negotiating three "foundational agreements" that Washington has long pressed for to facilitate operational and technological cooperation.

They announced an "in principle agreement to conclude a logistics exchange memorandum of agreement (LEMOA), and to continue working toward other facilitating agreements to enhance military cooperation and technology transfer."



The India-specific LEMOA, will allow American and Indian military units to use facilities in each others' bases, subject to mutual agreement in each instance.

As Business Standard has reported, another agreement - communications and information security memorandum of agreement - is close to finalisation. This would allow the US to supply India with highly secure radio equipment. Some work remains on a third agreement, the basic exchange and cooperation agreement for geospatial information and services cooperation (BECA), which relates to digital mapping.

In a strategic signal that will be noted in Bejing, the two ministers reaffirmed support for "freedom of navigation and over flight throughout the region, including in the South China Sea". Indicating the growing regional consensus against China's aggressive moves to control these waters, they "emphasised their commitment to working together and with other nations to ensure the security and stability that have been beneficial to the Asia-Pacific for decades."



Such intent had also been signaled in the "India-US joint strategic vision for the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region" that President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed in January 2015, Carter and Parrikar added teeth to that by announcing a bilateral maritime security dialogue, which would involve both sides' defence and foreign ministries.

For the first time, the US -- a global leader in submarine warfare - agreed to work with India in this field. The joint statement "agreed to commence navy-to-navy discussions on submarine safety and anti-submarine warfare."



Intriguingly, given the navy's control over Indian Ocean shipping lanes, and over the strategic choke points at Hormuz and Malacca, the two sides "reaffirmed their desire to expeditiously conclude a 'white shipping' technical arrangement to improve data sharing on commercial shipping traffic.

This would enhance India's ability to monitor vessels in these waters. The two sides also expanded the scope of the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI), by announcing joint development of two projects in addition to the six projects already under way.

The two sides "agreed to initiate two new DTTI pathfinder projects on Digital Helmet Mounted Displays and the Joint Biological Tactical Detection System."



Deepening high-technology cooperation, Carter and Parrikar also announced four "government-to-government science projects" on: high energy lasers, cognitive tools for target detection, small intelligent unmanned aerial systems, and the management of blast and blunt traumatic brain injuries.

They also agreed to deepen cooperation on two major DTTI projects already under way: one on jet engine technology (which India hopes to use in its Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft), and another on aircraft carrier design (for India's second indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vishal). An "information exchange annex (IEA) was announced, which would allow the sharing of data about aircraft carriers.

In a measure that will go down well with the American public, India has begun assisting the Pentagon in locating the remains of US pilots who crashed in the Eastern Himalayas during World War II, whilst airlifting supplies from Assam to Chinese armies that were fighting the Japanese. After years of reluctance to allow US servicemen into sensitive Arunachal Pradesh, Parrikar has committed India's assistance.

In Delhi, Carter also presided over the repatriation ceremony of an American pilot's remains from India to the US. He also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.
imports by the country plummeted 62.9 per cent to 5.6 million tonne in 2015-16 compared to 15.1 mt in the year ago financial year on a glut in the domestic market that ensured availability of ore at cheaper prices, cutting dependence on imports.

As per provisional figures, the country's production is pegged at 155 mt by the end of FY16, nearly 20 per cent higher than 129 mt clocked in 2014-15. Odisha, the biggest producer, has seen the sharpest jump in iron ore output to a level of over 80 mt, about 70 per cent more than the lowly 47 mt, which the state recorded in 2014-15 when some of its key mines had to shut production on the orders of the Supreme Court. Karnataka and Chhattisgarh recorded iron ore production of the level of 25 mt. Goa which kicked off production following removal of export duty on low grade ore, turned in production of five mt. Revival in iron ore production fuelled growth in exports from the country from 4.8 mt to 6 mt, an increase of 25 per cent. The surge in export was on the back of waiver in export duty and pruning of rail freight.

Pukhraj Sethiya, associate director (metals and mining), PwC said: "Easing domestic supply and subdued demand from steel sector has provided sufficient raw material to domestic steel producers. This has led to slowing import of iron ore which India has seen for last couple of years due to mining restrictions. Given slowing steel demand and oversupply iron ore market, India's iron ore import is expected to see declining trend." Read more from our special coverage on "IRON ORE" Odisha miners get notices for producing iron ore below environment clearance limits

Local iron ore mines prices may go up

Duty waiver fails to cheer iron ore exporters

Manish Kharbanda, executive director and group head (mines & minerals), JSPL said: "As availability of comparatively cheap iron ore supplies increased, iron ore imports significantly dropped down.

Iron ore imports in 2016-17 would be limited, since only the plants on the west coast will find the import cost competitive with domestic prices."

He said, global iron ore prices, in this financial year, are likely to hover in the range of $48-52 a tonne.

Global iron ore prices remained weak for most part of the last financial year except February when some uptick in demand was noticed. Globally, iron ore prices slumped by 35 per cent between June 2015 and January 2016. Total global iron ore production in 2015 stood at over 2300 mt but demand subsided, leading to global oversupply of around 50 mt. Iron ore costs are expected to fall further in this financial year as big miners like Vale, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton would add 90 mt of incremental production.

"Imports declined due to sharp fall in domestic prices and lower production of steel as well. During FY15, National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) was reluctant to cut prices and hence some of the steel producers preferred import, however, in FY16, NMDC has cut prices sharply and hence steel producers preferred domestic material compared to imports. Secondly, last year, there was a flood of imports from China, Russia and other Middle East countries and hence, steel production was impacted resulted in lower imports", said a metal sector analyst.

"On iron ore imports, I don't expect any material increase in iron ore imports as we have adequate production in domestic market, while on global iron ore prices, I expects the subdued trend to continue to oversupply and shrinking demand from China. Likely to trade in $40-60 range for the year", he added.
The government has started spending its cash with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), leading to a sharp improvement in liquidity and a claw-back of short-term rates.The governments surplus cash balance, meant for auction with RBI, was at Rs 47,504 crore on April 11, down from about Rs 1.57 lakh crore on March 23, when banks were borrowing close to Rs 2 lakh crore from the central bank to manage their liquidity needs. Banks borrowings from RBI have now settled at a little higher than the Rs 1 lakh crore mark. The central banks has not disclosed the actual cash balance. But it was estimated that RBI has a buffer of Rs 20,000-30,000 crore and auctioned off the rest.Responding to the liquidity flow, the three-month commercial papers closed at 7.98 per cent on Tuesday, from 8.78 per cent on March 22. The overnight call money rate opened at 6.35 per cent on Tuesday, below the policy repo rate of 6.50 per cent.

It closed at 6.52 per cent.

While the system liquidity does improve in April, as the government starts spending its cash kept with RBI around this time, but this time around, the government prolonged the cash holding. Since December last year, the system riled under pressure as the government would not infuse the advanced tax money into the system. The provocation for that was meeting the fiscal target math and any asset accumulated helped.

But the cash holding, in turn, acted as a catalyst for an important policy change in the form of the new liquidity framework. Under the new regime, the central bank will maintain the banking system liquidity in a neutral zone, infusing or sucking out liquidity as need be.

In response to the liquidity shortage though, the central bank bought back more than Rs 60,000 crore of bonds from the secondary market. This was a permanent liquidity infusion, which potentially can make the system liquidity go in a surplus mode if the central bank does not introduce liquidity draining mechanism.

For now though, the currency in circulation remains high for various reasons, including a possible need of cash for elections in states.

The liquidity situation has improved considerably due to government spending, and it will improve further around May-June as the government start spending more, said Upasna Bharadwaj, economist at Kotak Mahindra Bank. In any case, liquidity will remain comfortable in the system as the Reserve Bank will continue to supply more longer-term liquidity through OMOs (open market operations).
Tamil Nadu is expected to forgo Rs 7,300 crore in revenue if the state government bans the sale of liquor after the Assembly elections.

The ruling All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the Opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) have promised a ban on liquor sales, which contributes 5 per cent to the total revenue of the state government.

It will be a difficult decision for the coming government because revenue from the sale of liquor has been on the rise and helps in bridging the fiscal deficit.

The state's fiscal deficit was 2.9 per cent of the gross state domestic product in 2015-16. The share of state excise in total revenue in 2015-16 was Rs 7,296 crore against Rs 6,483 crore in 2014-15.

Tamil Nadu's political parties found an opportune moment after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar gave in to popular demand for a liquor ban in his state.

Kumar's decision will cost the exchequer nearly Rs 4,000 crore, or 4 per cent of the state government's total revenue. He, however, said the government would better manage its finances.

Moreover, the state government did not announce any new taxes in the 2016-17 Budget and its tax revenue is expected to decline from 6.8 per cent of the GSDP in 2015-16 to 5.3 per cent in 2016-17.

Tamil Nadu and Bihar can draw lessons from Kerala, which announces a phased ban on liquor sales in October 2014. Kerala is planning to completely ban liquor sales in the state by 2024 to gradually absorb the losses.

The state government received Rs 1,000 crore less in revenue in 2014-15. Before enforcing the ban, the Kerala government had expected to generate Rs 3,208 crore in 2014-15, but its earning were restricted to Rs 1,977 crore. For 2015-16 state excise was expected to generate Rs 2,600 crore, or 3.4 per cent of the Kerala government's total revenue.
Listed rural plays were among the highest gainers on the bourses after the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) and Skymet, a private weather forecaster, predicted an above normal monsoon for 2016. The positive sentiments that followed the news is understandable given that monsoon was below normal in the previous two years, and the fact that a good monsoon can boost the rural economy thereby pushing up India's GDP further.Though agricultures contribution to the GDP is shrinking (17 per cent now) given that over half of the population is dependent on agriculture, a normal monsoon has an outsized impact on rural wages and spending.Analysts at Phillip Capital say that if FY17 follows a pattern similar to FY11 (FY09-FY10 drought), the rural economy could witness a major bounce back. Thus, if past records are anything to go by, agricultural growth after a couple of deficient monsoons tend to (on a low base) grow upwards of eight per cent and this could be the number likely to be achieved in FY17 after the agri sector grew at one per cent in FY16.What will aid this is the 17 per cent increase in the FY17 Budget for expenditure on rural development. Any increase in minimum support prices to be announced closer to monsoon arrival, as well an improvement in crop, yields, will be the biggest drivers of rural growth.The sectors which benefited the most in FY11 will also come into play if FY17 turns out a bumper year for agriculture. Six years ago, a normal monsoon (after two years of deficient rainfall) saw two-wheeler sales grow 26 per cent, tractor sales were up 20 per cent, rural sales of FMCG companies were almost double of urban sales and ad revenue growth for print media was at 20 per cent. Within the auto space, in addition to tractors and two wheelers, cars (Maruti) and utility vehicles (M&M) could see high demand.Analysts thus predict that the biggest beneficiaries will be rural discretionary expenditure and staples. Says Abneesh Roy, FMCG analyst, Edelweiss Securities, All FMCG companies stand to gain from a good monsoon. However, rural India contributes 40-50 per cent to the overall revenues of Hindustan Unilever, Dabur, Emami, and Colgate as against 25-30 per cent for other companies. These four companies, thus could benefit relatively more than the others.While the increase in rural consumption, according to HDFC Securities, will augur well for FMCG, consumer goods, autos and financial products, sales of companies in the agri inputs (seeds, pesticides) and agri equipment (tractors, tillers) will see higher demand before the onset of the monsoons. While it is too early to say but sales of Escorts and M&M tractors have already seen an appreciable jump in recent months.

This also means better days ahead for rural financiers. Says Nitin Kumar who tracks financials at Prabhudas Lilladher, Most retail-facing NBFCs such as Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services (MMFS), Shriram Transport, Shriram City Union, Cholamandalam Investment and Finance will benefit from a strong monsoon. Amongst banks, HDFC Bank, City Union Bank and Federal Bank have a higher rural presence and will benefit. However, the actual gains will be a function of pick up in overall credit growth for the sector. Higher discretionary spends will boost business growth of auto finance companies. Says Ramesh Iyer, managing director, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services, It is extremely important to receive an above average monsoon this year, and this is particularly critical for key markets such as Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka. Tractor sales are closely linked to the sentiments in rural economy. For two consecutive years, tractor sales have shrunk due to below normal rainfall. Tractor is a sentiment based industry and with the forecast of good monsoon this year and the focus on the farm sector by the central government, we are confident that the sector would grow by 10 per cent in 2016, Harish Chavan, chief operating officer at Mahindra Farm Division said last week. We are contemplating the option of increasing our ad and promotional expenses for the rural markets. Currently, we are strengthening our distribution in tier II and III towns which will help festive season supply, Kanwal Jeet Jawa, managing director, Daikin Airconditioning India said. He expects Daikin volumes to grow 18 per cent. However, there is a big downside risk as well. Experts say investors should be cautious and await more clarity before committing their money to themes that will benefit from the rural growth story. Thats because, while the chances of a normal monsoon are very high given that India has not had three consecutive bad monsoon years in over 150 years, monsoon forecasters mentioned at the start of the article have also gone wrong in some of their earlier predictions.

(With inputs from Arnab Dutta, Ajay Modi in New Delhi, Sheetal Agrawal & Hamsini Karthik in Mumbai)
The Supreme Court today gave one last chance to the civil aviation ministry to amend the guidelines to benefit uneconomic routes like Shimla and the northeast. Air India had moved the court against a ruling of the Himachal Pradesh high court which had asked it to provide adequate air service to the state capital.

The appeal was heard several times and the bench presided over by Chief Justice was criticising the attitude of the ministry which bestowed on airlines economic routes like those touching Mumbai or Bengaluru and neglected uneconomic routes. The court today threatened to appoint an expert committee to examine the guidelines which enabled the airlines to pick and choose economic routes to the distress of the smaller towns. A committee will bring out "many skeletons" in the cupboard of the ministry and the official carrier, the judge remarked and added that the time has come to call the bluff.

The present guidelines are not "sacrosanct" and they could be amended. "Is it not part of your guidelines to serve the people in hilly areas who suffer?" he judge asked. Additional Solicitor General P S Patwalia pleaded that there was nothing to hide in this matter and the existing guidelines are being followed. He added that appointment of a committee will only prolong litigation. Counsel promised the court that he would convey its views to the concerned authorities and come back within a week.

The chief justice remarked that the government was adopting "dilly-dallying tactics" all the time and seeking adjournments. The government sought a week to respond to the court's questions.
Taking note of the lack of air connectivity to uneconomic routes such as Shimla and north-eastern states, the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday rapped the government and Air India for promoting private operators' interests. It noted that the private operators had been granted licences as 'largesse' and they were interested in 'lucrative' routes like Mumbai-Delhi. Air India had moved the apex court against a ruling by the Himachal Pradesh High Court, which had asked it to provide adequate service to the state capital (Shimla).

The appeal was heard several times and the SC bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur criticised the attitude of the civil aviation ministry, which it said gave away licences for lucrative routes such as those touching Mumbai or Bengaluru while neglecting uneconomic routes. The court also said it would appoint an experts' committee to examine the existing guidelines, which allowed airlines to pick and choose profitable routes, while avoiding small towns. The committee could bring out "many skeletons", a judge remarked, adding that the present guidelines were not "sacrosanct" and they could be changed.

"Is it not part of your guidelines to serve people in hilly areas who suffer?" he asked. Additional Solicitor General P S Patwalia pleaded there was nothing to hide in this matter and that existing guidelines were being followed by Air India. He added that setting up a committee would only prolong litigation. He promised the court he would convey its views to the authorities concerned and come back within a week.

To this, the judge remarked that the government was adopting "dilly-dallying tactics" all the time and seeking adjournments. The government sought a week to respond to the court's questions.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday decided to examine if the total amount of defaults in repayment of loans running into lakhs of crores of rupees be made public, without disclosing the defaulters names. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) counsel, however, resisted the proposal.

Pursuant to an earlier order of the apex court, RBI had submitted a list of individuals and companies, which had defaulted on bank loans of over Rs 500 crore, to a Bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur in a sealed envelope.

On Tuesday, the Chief Justice suggested that even if the names of the defaulters are not disclosed, the huge aggregate figure can be disclosed. There is no confidentiality in figures; but the names may be kept out, he observed.

RBI counsel Jaydeep Gupta cited provisions in the RBI Act and the Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act, 2005, which mandate confidentiality of such information. The disclosure of aggregate figure may have an impact on the economy, he told the court. RBI also informed the court that it does not interfere in the day-to-day work of the banks.

Prashant Bhushan, counsel for Centre for Public Interest Litigation, who moved the petition, argued that the RBI was flouting the December 2015 order of the court regarding confidentiality of such bank account holders.

The Chief Justice observed that big defaulters were running away with huge NPAs while the farmers were being harassed for small loans. We would like to be satisfied with the steps taken by RBI. If the banks do not act prudently, there is no hope of recovering loans, he said.

During the hearing, Bhushan countered the RBIs claim of confidentiality, pointing out that the Supreme Court in December had dismissed the Central banks appeal based on fiduciary relationship and confidentiality. It was a case of an RTI applicant seeking disclosure of the banks non-performing assets (NPAs). Bhushan said RBI was not raising any new point.

In that particular case, the Central Information Commission had directed RBI to disclose the NPAs to the person who had sought for it. But the RBI moved the Supreme Court with various arguments, which were ultimately rejected in a detailed judgment.

Bhushan further said that after the December judgment on RTI disclosure, RBI has asked the banks not to report NPAs to it, thus absolving itself of the responsibility.
Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla rapped narrow minded criticism of the two-day visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Saudi Arabia on April 2 and 3.

Heptulla also said the PMs visit to Riyadh and his attending the World Sufi Forum here on March 17 had sent a "positive message in Assam, which concluded a two-phase assembly poll on Monday. Muslims are a third of its population.

Heptulla also said relations with other Muslim countries like the Maldives, Iran and Sudan had improved. This was part of another effort in recent days by both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the government to project the Riyadh visit as path-breaking. Heptulla claimed the PM had brought Saudi Arabia on board the fight against terrorism. She stressed how Modi was conferred with the highest civilian honour there by King Salman, custodian of the two holiest shrines of Islam.

She didnt identify which opposition parties had been critical of the PMs visit but said politicians should look beyond their respective party lines. They should have this bare minimum grace to recognise that the visit was in the national interest and also sought to improve the lot of the millions of Indian workers in that country.



BJP president Amit Shah and other party leaders have repeatedly referred to the PMs Riyadh visit in their election speeches in Assam, and in other poll-bound states with a substantial Muslim population like Bengal and Kerala. While 34 per cent of Assams population is Muslim, it's nearly 25 per cent in Kerala, which polls on May 16; a third of Bengals electorate is Muslim.

Elections there are being held over six phases, the first of which was on April 4 and the last will be on May 16.

During his visit to Riyadh, the PM had gifted the Saudi King a copy of a mosque in Kerala, said to have been founded in the seventh century.

The World Sufi Forum was critical of the ultra-conservative Wahhabism that is known to be supported by Saudi Arabia. Sufi groups in India have been critical of madrasas in India that get funding from West Asia.
Just a month ahead of elections in Tamil Nadu, the two Dravidian parties  which have been ruling the state for nearly half a century  have now promised that they would work towards total prohibition. So, whichever party comes to the power after May 16, it is clear that the state is set to become a no-liquor state, but the question is how revenue of around Rs 27,000 crore, which is coming out of liquor sales, will be compensated.

Chief Minister and AIADMK Supremo J Jayalalithaa said that if her party is voted back to power, step by step prohibition will be implemented.

Full prohibition is not possible in one signature or overnight. It will be implemented in stages," she said. The strategy would be first reducing the timing of the shops and reducing number of shops and bars, said Jayalalithaa.

AIADMK's main rival DMK also promised full prohibition immediately and said employees of TASMAC, which is in charge of wholesale liquor sales in the state, will be given alternate jobs.

Without giving details on how the party is planning to compensate the revenue loss, DMK's Supermo Karunanidhi said his party will take appropriate measures to compensate the revenue loss.

TASMAC turnover grew from Rs 139.41 crore in 1983-84 to over Rs 27,000 crore now. There are about 6800 TASMAC outlets across the state.

In 1983, State Marketing Corporation (Tasmac) was instituted to monopolise wholesale trade of Indian Made Foreign Liquor and that facilitated cost-effective excise duty collection.

In 1937, prohibition was introduced by C Rajagopalachari (Rajaji) in Salem and in phases it was implemented in other parts of the state. But in 1971, DMK Government headed by Karunanidhi withdrew the total prohibition. Karunanidhi said it was due bleak economic situation and the shops were closed in 1974, after which, he alleged, that the alchoholic beverages shops were opened by AIADMK government in 1981.

Jayalalithaa said in the last five years sales has been coming down which is a sign of state started going towards full prohibition. She noted, sales of IMFL (Indian Made Foreign Liquor) during DMK's period increased by 109 per cent to 4.78 crore boxes and beer sales which was around 1.32 crore boxes in 2005-06 has increased to 2.86 crore 2010-11, during DMK regime.

In the last five years the sales dropped to around 2.31 crore

Is complete prohibition possible?

Political and economists, who tracks the state, said it is impossible, considering revenue from liquor amounting to over 20-25% of the State's Own Tax Revenue every year. How they will adjust the revenue gap and how they will be funding Government's welfare and freebies schemes, they questioned. It may noted, DMK's manifesto did not had much of electronics freebies.

The party which was the first one to introduce the freebies concept by offering free television sets to voters, this time said it will give free mobile sets, for the poor. It also said free 3G/4G will be given to students."Both the parties do not have real intention to bring in prohibition. If they are going to stop liquor sales, they may have to borrow an additional Rs 25,000 crore to execute all those freebies," said M R Venkatesh, a Chartered Accountant and an expert in economic policy related matters.

Both the parties have not really put their thoughts into the idea and meagerly proclaims prohibition out of competitive spirit, he added.

The ruling AIADMK has been distributing free mixies, grinders, fans, cows, goats and others for the last five years. Over the past decade, successive governments in the state have spent nearly $2 billion (Rs 11,561 crore) on just three freebie schemes - colour television sets, laptops and household appliances. Tamil Nadu's outstanding debt in 2014-15 was Rs 1,81,036 crore and this is expected to increase to Rs 2,11,483 crore.

When the AIADMK took charge State debt was Rs 1,01,349 crore. One of the reasons is various freebies and subsidy programme, alleges some political parties."Closure of TASMAC shops will result in loss of income to the level of thousands of crore of rupees to state, which would force the government to suspend several of its welfare measures," said an official. He added the fact that there is not much scope left for further imposing of taxes.

Venkatesh said that it does not mean that prohibition cannot be implemented, and he believes that it has to be brought in and reminded that the State of Gujarat is revenue surplus even after prohibition, regardless whether their policies are good or not.

However, it means cutting down expenditure in all means and stopping various freebies. has projected a revenue surplus of Rs 664.06 crore for 2014-15, but reported a revenue deficit of Rs 6,407.56 crore.

While the projection for 2015-16 was a revenue surplus of Rs 783.43 crore, the revised estimates shows a revenue deficit of Rs 9,481.14 crore. For 2016-17, the projection is revenue surplus of Rs 311.45 crore, while the budget estimates is a revenue deficit of Rs 9,154.78 crore. The other problem, according to experts, in implementing total prohibition could lead to illicit liquor. Duplicate liquor will be sold in black, which may even cause health hazards to the public and it will damage the ruling party.

Political critics also alleges that many of the distilleries are owned by politicians and over Rs 3,500 crore worth of liquor, are supplied by these distilleries. He questioned if suspension of freebies, expenditure optimisation, industrialisation gets further boost and other measures can be carried out, then there is a feasibility. But at the current environment none of this is possible.
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U.S. Secretary of Defense Dr. Ashton Carter is on an official visit to India at the invitation of Raksha Mantri Shri Manohar Parrikar from April 10-13, 2016. Raksha Mantri hosted Secretary Carter in Goa. They visited the Indian Naval Base in Karwar and the INS Vikramaditya aircraft carrier. They also visited the USS Blue Ridge which was conducting a port call in Goa during the Secretarys visit. Secretary Carter then traveled to New Delhi for official talks with Raksha Mantri. He will also meet the National Security Advisor and the Prime Minister. .

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The United States and India share a deep and abiding interest in global peace, prosperity, and stability. Bilateral Defence cooperation is a key component of the strategic partnership between India and the United States.Secretary Carters visit marked the fourth meeting between him and Raksha Mantri Parrikar within a year, demonstrating the regular Ministerial-level oversight of the robust and deepening bilateral Defence relationship. .

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During their meeting, Raksha Mantri Parrikar and Secretary Carter reviewed the important steps taken since the signing of the new Framework for the U.S.-India Defense Relationship last June to deepen bilateral defence ties. They discussed the priorities for the coming year in defence ties, as well as specific steps both sides will take to pursue those priorities. These included expanding collaboration under the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI); Make in India efforts of Government of India; new opportunities to deepen cooperation in maritime security and Maritime Domain Awareness; military-to-military relations; the knowledge partnership in the field of defence; and regional and international security matters of mutual interest. .

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Raksha Mantri Parrikar and Secretary Carter welcomed the efforts by the Indian and U.S. Armed Forces to further expand collaboration in the years to come. They welcomed plans across our Services for greater complexity in their military engagements and exercises, including developing plans for more advanced maritime exercises. Both sides acknowledged India's participation in the Rim-of-the-Pacific (RIMPAC) multilateral naval exercise in 2016 as well as participation by the Indian Air Force in the multilateral Red Flag exercise in April-May 2016 in Alaska and U.S. participation in the International Fleet Review of the Indian Navy at Visakhapatnam in February 2016.They expressed their desire to explore agreements which would facilitate further expansion of bilateral defence cooperation in practical ways. In this regard, they announced their in principle agreement to conclude a Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement, and to continue working toward other facilitating agreements to enhance military cooperation and technology transfer. .

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In support of the India-U.S. Joint Strategic Vision for the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region and the maritime security objectives therein, both sides agreed to strengthen cooperation in the area of maritime security. In this context, they reaffirmed their desire to expeditiously conclude a white shipping" technical arrangement to improve data sharing on commercial shipping traffic. They agreed to commence Navy-to-Navy discussions on submarine safety and anti-submarine warfare. They also agreed to launch a bilateral Maritime Security Dialogue, co-chaired by officials at the Joint Secretary/Assistant Secretary-level of the Indian Ministries of Defence and External Affairs and the U.S. Departments of Defense and State. .

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Secretary Carter and Raksha Mantri Parrikar reaffirmed the importance of safeguarding maritime security and ensuring freedom of navigation and over flight throughout the region, including in the South China Sea. They vowed their support for a rules-based order and regional security architecture conducive to peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean, and emphasized their commitment to working together and with other nations to ensure the security and stability that have been beneficial to the Asia-Pacific for decades. .

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Raksha Mantri Parrikar and Secretary Carter reviewed the progress and reiterated their commitment to pursue co-development and co-production of advanced defence articles under the DTTI. In this context, they agreed to initiate two new DTTI pathfinder projects on Digital Helmet Mounted Displays and the Joint Biological Tactical Detection System. They commended the on-going discussions at the Jet Engine Technology Joint Working Group (JETJWG)and the Joint Working Group on Aircraft Carrier Technology Cooperation (JWGACTC). They agreed to work towards greater cooperation in the field of cutting-edge defence technologies, including deepening consultations on aircraft carrier design and operations, and jet engine technology. They noted the understanding reached to conclude an information exchange annex (IEA) to enhance data and information sharing specific to aircraft carriers. .

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With the aim of encouraging greater participation of U.S. Defence Industries in the Make In India program of the Government of India, Raksha Mantri Parrikar informed Secretary Carter about the recently announced Defence Procurement Policy and other reforms in the Indian defence sector. Both sides agreed to encourage their respective defence industries to develop new partnerships in the pursuit of a range of cutting-edge projects. In support of Make in India, the United States shared two proposals to bolster India's suite of fighter aircraft for consideration of the Government of India. .

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Secretary Carter and Raksha Mantri Parrikar welcomed the finalization of four government-to-government project agreements in the area of science and technology cooperation: Atmospheric Sciences for High Energy Lasers, Cognitive Tools for Target Detection, Small Intelligent Unmanned Aerial Systems, and Blast and Blunt Traumatic Brain Injury. .

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Before departing India, Secretary Carter will oversee a repatriation ceremony of U.S. World War II remains from India to the United States. Secretary Carter expressed his gratitude to Raksha Mantri Parrikar and the Government of India for their support in facilitating the recovery effort. The Indian Government agreed to support Americas commitment to bringing its fallen personnel home and providing their families the fullest possible accounting, and looks forward to further humanitarian missions of this kind over the next few years to return the remains of these U.S. heroes to their families. .

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NW/DM/RAJ
The following is the full text of Raksha Mantri Shri Manohar Parrikars speech delivered at the Joint Press Conference with Secretary of Defence of the United States Dr. Ashton Carter:- .

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Your Excellency Dr Ashton Carter, Defence Secretary of the United States, Distinguished Members of the Media, .

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It is indeed a great pleasure for me to receive Dr Carter in India. This is his second visit in less than a year, reflecting his continued interest in expanding bilateral defence relations between our two countries. We in India regard Dr Carter as a great friend and advocate of a stronger India-US partnership. We appreciate his personal commitment and guidance in deepening the strategic partnership between India and the United States. .

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Our discussions, spread over the past three days, have been marked by characteristic warmth, candour and a sense of mutual purpose. I am confident that the India-US relationship will be one of the key global partnerships of this Century. Defence cooperation is a central pillar of Indias multi-faceted relationship with the US. A stronger India-US partnership will promote peace, stability and progress in our region and the world. .

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As many of you are aware, Secretary Carter is the architect of the India-US Defence Technology and Trade Initiative. DTTI has provided an unprecedented platform for our two countries to strengthen bilateral cooperation in cutting-edge technologies and to address procedural delays in decision-making. We have decided to take forward discussions under DTTI more aggressively on key areas such as Jet Engine technology. We will also continue our very useful and productive discussions on cooperation in the framework of the Joint Working Group on aircraft carriers. We also agreed to expand DTTI by introducing new and more ambitious projects for mutual collaboration. Both of us noted the strong complementarities between DTTI and the Make in India initiative. I hope to work together with Secretary Carter over the coming weeks and months to facilitate synergies between Indian and US companies in high technology areas, and in particular to promote participation of Indian companies in global supply chains. .

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I was deeply honoured by Secretary Carters acceptance of my invitation to visit Goa as well as the Indian naval base in Karwar and INS Vikramaditya, which showcase the finest capabilities of the Indian Navy. We also visited the USS Blue Ridge, which is currently on a goodwill visit to India. .

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These visits underline the growing importance of the maritime dimension of our relationship, as manifested in the Joint Strategic Vision for the Asia Pacific and the Indian Ocean region. It was entirely appropriate that we visited Indias western shores. Even as we work with the United States to realize the full potential of Indias Act East policy, we also seek a closer partnership with the United States to promote our shared interests in Indias West, especially in the context of the emerging situation in West Asia. .

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With a view to taking our cooperation forward, Secretary Carter and I have agreed to set up a new bilateral Maritime Security Dialogue between officials from our respective Defence and External Affairs Ministries. We have also decided to enhance our on-going Navy-to-Navy discussions to cover submarine-related issues. Both countries will also deepen cooperation in Maritime Domain Awareness by finalizing a White Shipping Agreement. .

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The growing interaction between our armed forces is another significant aspect of our bilateral partnership. Today, India has more joint exercises with the United States than with any other country in the world. After a few years, we are taking part in multilateral exercises such as the Red Flag Air Force exercise and the RIMPAC Naval Exercise. As our engagement deepens, we need to develop practical mechanisms to facilitate such exchanges. In this context, Secretary Carter and I agreed in principle to conclude a Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement in the coming months. .

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We also discussed the regional security environment. I underlined Indias continuing concern at terrorism in the region directed against us. Secretary Carter emphasised that eliminating terrorism, and the ideology and infrastructure that supports it, is a common objective the United States shares with India. We look forward to even closer bilateral cooperation with the United States on counter-terrorism. .

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Ladies and gentlemen, .

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India and the United States are both strongly committed to a rule-based international order. We will continue to work together to maintain peace and stability and to maintain an enabling framework for progress and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific. It is the convergence of our core democratic values and deeply shared interests that drives our relationship forward. Secretary Carters visit has elevated our strategic partnership to a higher level. I look forward to working together with him in the days ahead to implement the decisions that we have reached during this visit. .

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NW/DM/RAJ
Shares of Bharat Petroleum were up nearly 2% at Rs 935 on the Bombay Stock Exchange after the company said it has bought additional stake in Petronet CCK Ltd (PCL).

The company in a release said that the board of directors at its meeting held on April 11 has approved the proposal to acquire Petronet India Ltd's 26% equity in PCL at a total cost of Rs 78.60 crore.

PCL is a subsidiary company promoted by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Petronet India Ltd and operates a petroleum product pipeline from Kochi to Karur in Tamil Nadu via Coimbatore for transportation of petroleum products.

Further, the board plans to seek Shareholders' consent by way of postal ballot for increasing the ceiling of Investment by Foreign Institutional Investors in the shareholding of the from 24% up to 49% in one or more tranches subject to regulatory authorities approval.

The stock opened at Rs 927 and touched a high of Rs 939. At 10:20am, over 444,000 shares were traded on both the stock exchanges.
Indias mutual fund (MF) sector had a stellar performance in expanding its equity investor base in 2015-16, at the fastest such pace since the late 2008 Lehman crisis.

Though the underlying asset class, the stock markets, didn't do well (the benchmark indices fell 10 per cent over the year), there was a daily addition of 11,840 new equity folios.

Experts say retail (small) investors have grown mature over the years and get less worried when markets do not do well. Further, they say, a majority of investors feel confident about India's development story.

Sundeep Sikka, chief executive officer (CEO) of Reliance MF, adds: The concerted effort by sectoral players on investor awareness programmes over the years has started yielding results. Investors are much more mature on market volatility. The commendable fact of last year was strong participation from smaller cities and towns in MFs. However, the sector is only scratching the surface.





About 4.3 million new equity accounts were opened in FY16, taking the overall number to 36 mn. Though the pace of growth was exponential, this is still at a lower level against the high of 41.1 mn equity accounts at the time of the 2008 global financial crisis.

D P Singh, chief marketing officer (domestic business) at SBI MF, latest entrant among the top five, says: Investors confidence level is quite high. Nearly 80 per cent of the new accounts came in the form of a Systematic Investment Plan (SIP), a good thing for the sector. I expect the trend to continue in the current financial year.



The year saw major regulatory changes in commission payout to the distributors. Effective from April 2015, the market regulator had capped upfront commission at one per cent. The move did not go down well with distributors but higher participation of investors continued from B-15 (beyond the top 15 cities) locations.

G Pradeepkumar, chief executive of Union MF, however, is a bit cautious. According to him, The high number of SIPs helped sustain the industry. There have been no alarming levels of cancellation of SIPs, irrespective of the market movements, a healthy sign. However, we have to wait and watch whether the trend continues or we face delayed cancellation of SIPs in case the market does not show signs of firmness.



And, with less payout to distributors, it is yet to be seen how things pan out, he said.

Currently, with 470 equity-oriented schemes, the sector manages Rs 3.86 lakh crore of assets.
Benchmark indices continue to maintain positive trend amid choppy trades led by buying among auto and financial shares.

By 10:45 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was higher by 82 points to trade at 25,105 and the Nifty50 gained 22 points to quote at 7,693. The broader are outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up almost 1%.

Top gainers from the Sensex pack are Hero Moto, Maruti Suzuki, ICICI Bank, Dr Reddys Labs and Tata Motors, all surging between 1%-2.2%.

More than a year-and-a-half after it signed an MoU with the Andhra Pradesh government, Hero MotoCorp Ltd (HMCL) has submitted plans to begin production at its proposed plant in Chittoor district of the state.

On the losing side, Coal India, Tata Steel, ITC, NTPC and Bharti Airtel are down between 1%-2%.

Among other shares, Bharat Petroleum is up nearly 2% at Rs 935 on the Bombay Stock Exchange after the company said it has bought additional stake in Petronet CCK Ltd (PCL).

Nestle India has surged 5% to Rs 6,180 on the BSE in early morning trade after Maggi noodles has passed all safety tests directed by the Supreme Court and the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC).

TTK Prestige has rallied nearly 8% to Rs 4,690 on the BSE in early morning trade after the company engaged in houseware business said it will acquire a UK-based kitchenware company Horwood Homewares for an undisclosed sum.

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Updated at 9:30



started the session on a flat note as investors turned cautious ahead of the announcement of key macro-economic data- Feb IIP and March CPI due later today.

By 9:30 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was higher by 61 points to trade at 25,091 and the Nifty50 gained 19 points to quote at 7,690. The broader are outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up over 0.6%.

On Monday, stocks rebounded from the worst weekly decline in two months, mirroring gains in other emerging markets and European equities, as power utilities and industrials climbed. Hopes of a good monsoon also added to the rally.

"We do not want to get carried away by this momentum as yesterdays rally was mainly propelled by the defensive stocks and thus, going forward, we see a strong resistance zone around 7680  7720 levels. On the flipside, 7600  7560 would now be seen as immediate support zone," said Angel Broking in its morning report.

Further, Skymet, a non-government weather forecaster, said on Monday that the year's southwest monsoon should be slightly above normal, at 105 per cent of the Long Period Average (LPA).

Besides, foreign investors were net buyers in equities worth Rs 107 crore, as per provisional stock exchange data.

Meanwhile, market will remain closed on Thursday and Friday on account of Baba Saheb Ambedkar Jayanti and Ram Navami, respectively.

Among overseas markets, Asian stocks rose on Tuesday, led by a rebound in Japanese stocks, while commodities such as crude oil stood tall thanks to a sagging dollar.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.4%. Japan's Nikkei, which fell to two-months lows on Friday, pared earlier losses and gained more than 1% on bargain hunting in recently beaten down shares like banking stocks.

Back home, Tata Steel is the top Sensex loser, down over 2% after the steel major on Monday signed an agreement to sell the loss-making 4.5-million tonne (mt) long-product Scunthorpe steel plant in Britain to UK-based investment firm Greybull Capital.

ALSO READ: Derivative strategy on Tata Steel from Motilal Oswal Securities

Country's largest service provider Bharti Airtel said its mobile commerce subsidiary, Airtel M Commerce Services, had received payments bank licence from the Reserve Bank of India. Shares of Bharti Airtel are down almost 1%.

Dr Reddys Labs is up almost 2%. The drug makers buyback offer is to commence on April 18.

Tata Motors has extended gains by 1% on robust JLR sales. JLR's volumes grew 29 per cent year-on-year, with China sales up 43 per cent (about half came from the China joint venture).

With Reuters input
Cash-starved Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India (MSEI), formerly MCX Stock Exchange (MCX-SX), has listed around 130 companies and is in the process of doing so for another 40 on its platform. Most of these were earlier listed on the now-defunct Delhi Stock Exchange.

MSEI is struggling due to dwindling volumes and inadequate reserves. Getting companies from regional exchanges is part of a turnaround strategy, to stay afloat in the highly competitive segment.

We charge Rs 5 lakh from each company at the time of listing and annual listing fees, which over a period of time will become a steady revenue stream, said a spokesperson. The annual fee would be Rs 50,000 for listed companies with paid-up capital above Rs 20 crore.

Revenues from the listing business, however, might not be sufficient for the exchange and its subsidiary, Metropolitan Cle-aring Corporation (MCCI), to meet their net worth requirement. As on Dece-mber 2015, MCCI had net worth of Rs 75.5 crore, below the Rs 100 crore mandated by Sebi for exchanges and clearing corporations.

MSEI claims the exchange already complies with the net worth requirement and is making efforts to raise equity capital to fulfil that of its clearing corporation arm.

Sebi is putting constant pressure on the exchange to present its revival plan and the latter has sought more time. A board meeting is planned later this month to discuss ways to shore up the net worth of the clearing corporation and to improve market share in the currency derivative segment.

The exchange also plans to introduce trading in exchange-traded funds and structured products.

The recast plan is aimed at ramping up daily turnover to Rs 6,000 crore by the end of this financial year, from the present Rs 1,000 crore.

The exchange says it has a Settlement Guarantee Fund (SGF) corpus of Rs 665 crore, of liquid assets. MCCI maintains a core SGF of Rs 43 crore.

In the wake of the Rs 5,700 crore payment crisis at the National Spot Exchange, MSEI had distanced itself from its former promoter, Financial Technologies, and the MCX brand, earlier part of the same group.

STAYING AFLOAT
One and a half months after the finance minister cleared the final hurdles for REITs (real estate investment trusts), probable candidates are working on some possible glitches before going ahead.

A REIT invests in real estate and trades on major exchanges like a stock. REITs provide investors with an extremely liquid stake in real estate.

Read more from our special coverage on "REIT" Blackstone, RMZ may roll out REITs first

In the 2016 Budget, the minister did away with dividend distribution tax (DDT) for such trusts, a major hurdle to floating one.

"We have made representations to Sebi (the markets regulator) and the ministry. There are some minor issues which we hope to see sorted in two to three months. All the changes suggested are in line with the provisions for listed companies," said Sunil Hingorani, director, finance, at K Raheja Corp, one of the probable REIT applicants.

REITs are similar to mutual funds, and can be listed and traded on stock exchanges. These have to distribute a majority of their income as dividend.

A source aware of Blackstone's plans said the US-based investor was also examining the REIT laws. "They are studying individual ownership structures," the source said. Blackstone is the largest owner of office assets in the country, with about 30 million sq ft of office parks.

RMZ, one of the biggest owners of office assets and backed by Qatar Investment Authority, is looking to list in 2017 or beyond, said its executive chairman, Raj Menda.

"We need to ensure REIT investors and issuers like us can achieve the desired yields to ensure the growth of REIT markets in India," he explained.

"With the recent Budget announcements and based on my interaction with the industry, I am hopeful that during 2016-17, we will see a sizable number of REITs coming up," Sebi Chairman U K Sinha said recently here, after the first post-Budget board meeting of the capital markets regulator.

According to realty consultancy JLL, 80-100 mn sq ft of office space, worth at least Rs 100,000 crore, might qualify to be included under REITs. These assets could together generate an annual rental of Rs 6,000 crore.
Bhanu Uday, 32, sits in a melancholy mood at his third-floor workshop in Delhi's Karol Bagh area. The news of calling off their 43-day-strike has failed to lift the sombre mood in this non-descript building, which houses many small workshops.

"We were without any work for the past one and a half months hoping for the government to roll back its decision of levying excise duty and spare us the pain of maintaining records. It is disappointing that the strike has ended without any relief," says Uday, a lean contractor from Uttar Pradesh's Azamgarh district. He employs eight workers, of whom four had returned to their villages in West Bengal in the absence of substantial work. In normal circumstances, a worker earns Rs 10,000-20,000 but in the past month or so their earnings had dwindled to Rs 5,000-7,000.

Uday says he will now have to employ two additional staff only to maintain records, as mandated by the Union government. A piece of gold passes through many skilled workers, including those involved in dye-making, cutting, joining and polishing, before it is turned into a fine piece of jewellery.

According to the new law, every worker involved in jewellery making will have to maintain books. "Most of us are uneducated and do not know how to make entries. I barely earn Rs 10,000 a month and the government is expecting me to hire a Chartered Accountant," says Sanjay Yadav, who runs a shop in Bedonpura, Karol Bagh.

Workers complained their margins had already contracted in the past few years because of the competition in the market. The strike added to their troubles, and many across India decided to return to their hometowns in West Bengal for the want of similar work. It is believed that West Bengal produces the most skilled jewellery workers in the country.

Back home, the situation was no different. The people employed in the gold industry struggled to make ends meet. For Jaydeep Ray and 600,000 other gold artisans in Bengal, it was no less than a nightmare.

Ray tried to work as a mason but found it difficult. "I am working as a mason for two to three days in a week which gives me Rs 250. But I am not used to this kind of physical labour," he rues.

Those who failed to sell their products to ended up selling vegetables. "These people (artisans) are skilled workers and have specialised in this fine art for decades. Why should these fine people, who create such marvellous works of art, move over to some unskilled profession," asks Bablu Dey, a member of the jewellers' action committee.

Like West Bengal, many workers in Mumbai moved to accept work in kitchens. This was after the striking temporarily retrenched 70 per cent of their workforce to reduce fixed costs.

Those not laid off complained of delayed salaries. There were unconfirmed reports of suicide attempts following economic condition at work and native places.

Around 200,000 workers are employed in Mumbai's popular Zaveri Bazaar, which witnesses a daily turnover of around Rs 7,500 crore. "Workers will continue to suffer even after jewellers resume work. The government decision of asking them to maintain records at every level has put the entire system into doldrums," says Ashok Minawala, director, All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation.

Both retailers and workers fear raids, confiscation of gold and criminal proceedings. Workers in



Gujarat are gripped with similar fears of arrests and raids by the excise department.

It is estimated around 300,000 small and big jewellers employ or provide work to around 1.5 million workers in Gujarat. The strike resulted in loss of around Rs 25,000 crore. Jewellers said it was difficult to keep the shops shut for any longer, as losses were mounting.

"The government would obviously need some time to get back with something concrete. Till then, it has been decided that we would wait till April 26, and after that if things are not conducive, we would strike again," says Harshvardhan Choksi, past president of the Mahajan, a 100-year-old association of jewellers. There was a report of a 50-year old artisan committing suicide in Mehsana district of the state, but it was too early to link the death to jewellers' strike.
Twelve guerrillas of the Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) accompanied by 19 family members, including eight children, have surrendered to the Tripura police along with their arms and ammunition on Monday.

The militants laid down arms before the Director General of Police (DGP) K Nagaraj in the police headquarters in presence of the senior officials.

"Preliminary information what they have given us is that they are disgruntled with their leadership. The leadership is self-seeking; they are not interested in the welfare of the cadres and the leadership has also been promising about the talks (with the government) but the talks are not progressing, they are not leading to any direction so they got fed up and said that they want to come back to normal life," said Nagraj.

"They also have said that the extremist movement has not helped in any way to improve the condition of the tribals. In fact they feel that the government is doing a better job of spreading development in the interior areas. That is the reason that they come out and expect t

Most of the cadres have come from the NLFT headquarters at Sapcheri under Rangamati in Bangladesh.

Ten NLFT militants along with their two associates fled their Bangladeshi hideout last week and crossed over to Tripura before surrendering to the superintendent of police (special branch) Arindam Nath on Sunday in Tripura's border village Bhandarima.

The militants were accompanied by 20 family members, including eight children, he said.

The militants were brought here late Sunday night and were being interrogated by police and intelligence officials followed by the official surrender today.

They surrenderees deposited two self-loading rifle, one INSUS rifle, one G3 rifle and an AK-47 rifle along with six loaded magazines, two China-made grenades and a large cache of ammunition and sharp weapons.

The militants have been identified as Tarani Mohan Tripura alias Topreng, Holongsa Tripura, Benoy Tripura alias Bimal, Laxmanjoy Tripura alias Lalthang, Bijoy Debbarma alias Sunil, Mrityunjoy Aslong alias Mantha, Kusum Tripura, Debsing Reang, Majayram Reang alias Mukthang, Kushirai Reang and Unaram Reang alias Anilfaa, Jatanjoy Reang.

One of the surrender militants Holongsa Tripura said, "I do confess that I have committed mistake in my life. We led tough life in the camps but our officers do not care are staying as permanent resident of Bangladesh and have citizenship. We the soldiers do not get anything and so we thought what we could do and decide to come back."

"We did not contact with the BSF or Assam Rifles and we contact the SP SB. As far as I know there are around 25 more camps, mostly rest camps and all total 87 cadres. The head quarter is at Sapcheri," he added.

According to police the NLFT was currently short of funds and the condition of the lower rank cadres was miserable, moreover, the frequent joint operations by the Bangladesh Army and Border Guard Bangladesh in Rangamati and Khagrachari districts in mountainous southeastern Bangladesh are also creating a huge problem for the outfit in hiding and free movement.

The surrender was a big jolt for the NLFT especially at a time when the outfit is plagued by a funds crunch, disillusioned cadres and frequent rifts.

Members of NLFT and All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) undergo arms training in hideouts and covert camps in various parts of Bangladesh, which shares an 856 km border with Tripura.

Banned in 1997 by the central government, the two outfits advocate secession of Tripura from India. However, ATTF has become almost defunct due to the surrender of most of its cadres.

Tripura and union home ministry officials held two rounds of talks last year with the NLFT after the rebel group expressed willingness to hold peace parleys.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast a 94 per cent chance of normal to excess monsoon, this year, after two years of drought.

Nothing can bring more cheer to a people who have been grappling with water shortages. On April 12, the first water train this year carrying water arrived in Latur amongst much fanfare and jostling for credit. Is this something to celebrate? That the people of India have to depend on train transportation to meet their minimum water requirements?

Predictions of a normal monsoon are received with great relief by economists. Former RBI Governor D Subbrao once stated that even the RBI chases the monsoon and the reasons are not hard to find.

Drought has affected several states this year: Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh are all reeling under drought. At an all India level, water levels in major dams are at a mere 27 per cent of their capacity: The 91 major reservoirs held 43.394 billion cubic metres (BCM) of water as of March 17, which was 30 per cent less than the 61,878 BCM at this time last year, according to the Central Water Commission, and way lower that the 10-year average of 58.710 BCM.

The story is the same everywhere, says Indira Khurana, a researcher with Global Resource Footprint.

She says a visit to village Sarkhedi in Talbehat block of Lalitpur district, Uttar Pradesh is no different from other villages in the block. Most of the villagers are old, with a sprinkling of a few middle-aged women and young children. Crops have wilted and wells and other water sources are dry. There is no money and no work. Water here is a mirage. The able-bodied men have migrated in search of labour work to nearby cities.

Stories of struggles abound. In villages in Madhya Pradesh for instance, Children are precariously lowered into wells to capture every last drop. Pregnant women in Telangana work miles to get a pot of water which they carry back on their head putting their pregnancy and unborn child at great risk.

It is now April and the monsoon is yet to arrive. When there is scant water, there are few jobs. And when there is no water, there is mayhem. Already alarm bells are clanging.

Tikamgarh, Madhya Pradesh: The president of the Tikamgarh municipality in Madhya Pradesh is forced to employ armed guards against water theft. The purpose is to deter farmers from neighbouring Uttar Pradesh from 'stealing' from the municipality's only source of drinking water. The four local guards are armed with licensed full-length and sawed-off 0.315 bore rifles.

Latur, Maharashtra: As a preventive measure against riots, people gatherings near water sources in this district in Marathwada region are banned. No more than five people are allowed at wells and public storage tanks for the next two months. After all, thirst can lead to frayed tempers and short fuses.

Thiruvanathapuram, Kerala: The model code of conduct has kicked in after the announcement of the state elections. This has affected tanker water distribution to rural parts of the district. The tri-weekly appearance of the tanker has now reduced to a sight once in 12 days. The current chief minister plans to approach the courts.

With no water for their crops and so no money the youth have migrated. Says one wizened villager, "Last I heard my son was working on road works. It has been a while since I have heard from him. How can he send me money if he does not earn enough himself?" he asks.

Water is a perfect blackmail weapon. In February this year, security forces had to take over the Munak Canal as Jat agitators damaged the canal, tightening and virtually strangling water supply to Delhi, affecting Dwarka and other places. Estimates indicate that around 60 per cent of the taps in Delhi ran dry. The Capital, yet again, was vividly shown how its water dependency makes it vulnerable to blackmail. Clearly settlements need to be water independent.

This monsoon forecast brings cheer, and offers a chance to rewrite our destiny. The rains should not go waste: Every raindrop needs to be captured. After all, there is no place in India which does not receive some rain. It's time we did ourselves a favour by respecting the monsoon.

The monsoon will hit India in May end/ early June. Between now and then, all out efforts should be made to revive water conservation structures or build new ones, however small. Whatever raindrop falls must be conserved. India's rich water conservation heritage needs revival perhaps like never before. Over ground and underground water banks must be created.

Funds available through government programmes can help. MGNREGA has assumed great relevance in Bundelkhand, providing much needed employment and therefore money, but also reviving Bundela and Chandela tanks and creating med bandhis. MGNREGA offers great scope for rebuilding the ecology.

Small amounts of money from the general population can also help. Says 2015 Stockholm Water Award winner Rajendra Singh, "The people are in severe distress. Confidence levels have reached rock bottom. People have given up hope. We must stand with them and help them."

Red flags waving from different parts of the country and taken together, tell a story of great thirst with more to follow. It is time to galvanise action. Or else, as a Turkish proverb warns," When one man drinks while another can only water, doomsday follows."

Meanwhile hectic efforts are on to revive the Chandrawal river in Mahoba district of UP Bundelkhand. Will cultivation of the famed mahoba paan, noted for its taste and medicinal value and affected by lack of water be revived? Time will tell.
Abhishek Bachchan, who has been married to Aishwarya Rai Bachchan for nine years now, recently gave a social media shout out to his wife.

The 40-year-old actor, while interacting with his nine million followers, was asked by one of his fans what is the one best thing about Aishwariya that he adores.

Replying to the question, he tweeted, "She loves unconditionally."

Abhishek, who tied the knot with the Aish on April 20, 2007, has a four-year-old daughter Aaradhya with her.
The United States has extended its appreciation towards India's role in promoting a stable and prosperous region in Afghanistan saying that they value the support that India has given to the government of the war-torn nation.

"I think we certainly do appreciate the support that India has given for the people and the government of Afghanistan, including trade ties, security, development assistance, and India's role in promoting a stable and prosperous region," State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner said in a press briefing yesterday.

He added that ultimately what the US would always encourage in terms of India's involvement, is that "it's good for the region, it's good for the prosperity of the region, it's good for the economy of the region, and good for the political stability of the region."

US Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Olson was in New Delhi last week to meet with the Indian officials to discuss support for the government of Afghanistan and security forces, as well as the Afghan-led Afghan Army peace process.

Earlier, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, while addressing the "Heart of Asia" summit in Islamabad said that terrorism in that country has grown in both intensity and scope in the last few months and that India was ready to work with the Afghan government to strengthen its defensive capability.

"Terrorists have made concerted efforts to capture and hold territory, reminding us that they have not changed. We salute the Afghan National Security Forces and the Afghan people for countering the forces of terrorism and extremism with courage and resilience. They need the continued support of the international community to defend Afghanistan's unity and security. For its part, India is ready to work with Afghanistan to strengthen its defensive capability," she said.

She said that the "heart of Asia" cannot function if arteries are clogged and noted that India's vision for the war-torn country was one of interlinked trade, transit, energy and communication routes, with Afghanistan as an important hub.
Audi on request of a European customer has built a first one-off version of the sedan in king-size format.

Measuring 6.36 meters (20.9 ft) in length and with a wheelbase of 4.22 meters (13.8 ft), the A8 L extended affords top-class comfort for passengers occupying all of its six seats. A concept that generates customer, Audi has further requests for the custom product already.

Experts invested almost a year in developing and building the exceptionally long luxury sedan. The result was an exclusive one-off specimen that meets the high standards of the production model in every domain. The major challenges concerned the safety and rigidity of the extra-large body, as well as the styling of the silhouette. The Audi A8 L extended benefits from the low weight of the production model's body, which uses an Audi Space Frame design and is made almost entirely from aluminium. For the built-to-order version the engineers extended the side sills and center tunnel using extruded aluminium sections.

Inside the tunnel, these also assist with the air routing. A double rear bulkhead separates the passenger compartment from the luggage compartment; the roof incorporates additional aluminium profiled tubes and cross-braces. These measures provide torsional and flexural rigidity almost on a par with the A8 L. The representative XXL sedan in discreet moonlight blue, metallic offers 1.09 meters (3.6 ft) more wheelbase and overall length than the Audi A8. To maintain a harmonious roof line, the entire body from the A-pillar back has been reworked.

The experts embedded a 2.40-meter (7.9 ft) glass panel in the roof skin to enhance the sense of spaciousness. The sun blinds - one for each row of seats - prevent overheating of the interior in strong sunlight. The headlights and rear lights incorporate small side marker lights, as is prescribed by law for vehicles of this length.

All passengers face the direction of travel in the Audi A8 L extended. The six seats are upholstered in extra-supple Valcona leather, in the color velvet beige. Rows two and three feature electrically adjustable individual seats. The third row has a continuous center console, a Rear Seat.

The one-off A8 version is powered by a 3.0 TFSI engine developing 228 kW (310 hp), delivering up to 440 Nm (324.5 lb-ft) of torque.

This propels the sedan from 0 to 100 km/h (62.1 mph) in 7.1 seconds and up to an electronically governed top speed of 250 km/h (155.3 mph). An eight-speed tiptronic transfers engine power to the quattro permanent all-wheel drive system. The 19-inch wheels in 15-spoke design conceal the brake system of the Audi S8, which assures outstanding deceleration of the over six-meter-long (19.7 ft) luxury sedan, with its unladen weight of 2,418 kilograms (5,330.8 lb).
A panel of eminent speakers and HR leaders will meet at The Happiness Conclave on April 29, a full day conference organized by HRKatha, India's leading HR News Portal at Bengaluru.

The panel will discuss and debate to find a structured way to a happy culture at the workplace, and connect it with the strategy of the organization.

Delegates at the conference will get to hear senior HR leaders from across sectors from large Indian conglomerates and IT giants to new age companies, consumer businesses, financial organizations and start-ups. Some prominent names include Adil Malia, Group President - HR, Essar Group, Raj Raghavan, Director, Country HR leader, Amazon India amongst others.

"Several aspects of human resources, be it policies, framework, or technology, have been discussed at the industry forums. But this is the first time that someone is looking at the softer or rather human side of human resources. "Having said that, I would re-emphasize that 'The Happiness Conclave' will delve deep into strategies and seriously discuss connecting happiness with hard-core business objectives. It is the need of the hour," said Prajjal Saha, founder and editor- HRKatha.

At The Happiness Conclave, the panelists will discuss the comparison of happy employees to happy customers; whether it's time to have a chief happiness officer on board, or how an organization can bring in a happy culture at the grass-root level, especially at plants and factories.

Besides, there will be interesting case studies from the world's leading new-age company, an F and B retail company and a technology start-up. Each of these case studies will reveal and share the strategy and effort behind their happy work environment.
Britain's Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited a charity working with street children here on the third day of their week-long tour of India that will include a trip to Bhutan.

Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton visited a facility run by the Salaam Baalak Trust, which supports working children in the capital.

During the visit, the couple played a board game with the children and listened to what their hopes were for the future.

Prince William asked, "What can people like us do to help?"

The founder trustee of the charity, Sanjoy Roy, replied: "Spread the word about street children. These are kids who need help, I mean people look at them as beggars, people look at them as criminals, people look at them as pickpockets and thieves, they're kids. They have a right, they have a right to education, they have a right to being in a safe space where they can realise their full potential. They are the future of the world."

William and Kate also visited a boys' home in the city, where Kate took the opportunity to draw with some of the children.

Their tour ends on Saturday after a trip to Taj Mahal.
KK Nag Pvt Ltd., the leading supplier of customized foam products in EPS, EPP and a leading player in rotationally molded products celebrated the official opening of its state of the art manufacturing facility for manufacturing of Anaerobic Microbial Inoculum (AMI) for use in Bio-Digester Toilets at URSE, Pune.

The company has also developed Bio-Tanks in Rotationally Moulded LLDPE material and is offering a range of Toilet Super-structures as well.

Established in Pune in 1965 by the Late KK Nag and the Late Surabhi Nag, the company has a rich history of innovation and of pioneering new products/processes in India and was the first company to develop and introduce Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) and Expanded Polypropylene (EPP) in India.

The company has a pan India foot print with operations in Pune, Chennai, Pondicherry and Bangalore and has leading corporate in India as its customers.

In 2015 KK Nag Pvt. Ltd signed a Technology Transfer Agreement with DRDO, Ministry of Defence, Govt of India for manufacture of Bio-Digester Toilets. In line with this the Bacteria Generation Plant for manufacture of Inoculum, which is the heart of the Bio-Digester Toilet System was officially inaugurated by Dr Lokendra Singh, Director DRDE - Gwalior, Ministry of Defence, Govt of India on April Eight 2016.

Dr Lokendra Singh has done pioneering work in the field of anaerobic digestion and is credited with the development and invention of the Bio-Toilet system. The ceremony was attended by numerous dignitaries, Dr. Dev Vrat Kamboj from DRDE Gwalior, Dr. Vijay Veer Retd. Director DRL Tezpur, Swati Sahai and Col. K. V. Kuber of FICCI and Dr. Hemant Sonawane of Indian Railways.

To ensure the success of the Bio-Toilet system, the company has also set up a full-fledged microbiological laboratory having the latest analytical equipment to ensure that only the best quality of Inoculum is supplied to the market.

The planned plant capacity is 2.20 Million Litres of Inoculum per year with the first phase being inaugurated which has an installed capacity of 0.72 million litres. Apart from this the company has also developed a range of Bio-Tanks and Toilet Superstructures and is poised to manufacture 100,000 toilets per year.

Speaking at this occasion Dr. Lokendra Singh impressed upon the need to preserve our environment and improve the quality of human life, for which Bio-Toilets will play a major role and help in meeting the target of making India Open Defecation Free (ODF)before 02 October 2019, the target set by Narendra Modi.
Federal Bank ties up with Chillar Payment Solutions Pvt. Ltd., a technology driven start-up company to promote the start-up's technology product - 'Campus Wallet'.

This is a student Identity Card integrated with banking technology. Aimed at streamlining and easing the administrative tasks in school/college campuses, Campus Wallet is a futuristic ID card that facilitates students to make petty payments within their school/college campus without opening a bank account. Parents can pre-load the desired amount to these cards using their debit/credit cards or through net banking by using Federal Bank's payment gateway.

Students can make payments in stores, canteen, library etc within the respective campuses by flashing the Campus Wallet cards at the special swiping machines installed at these locations.

Since students can use campus wallet only in their respective campuses, parents can ensure control over spends using this card. Besides, reports and alert messages to parents with usage specific details like books taken from library, food consumed at canteen etc are add-on features of this new generation ID card.

Chillar also provides a free app for parents with multiple features like card recharge, spending pattern tracking, e-diary, leave application, liaison with teachers etc.

"Campus Wallet will help mitigate administrative hassles at schools and colleges and encourage the use of new age payment solutions among students at a young age," said Mohan K, Deputy General Manager, Federal Bank.
A fire broke out at an incense sticks factory in Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal city on Tuesday.

At least 15 fire tenders have been rushed to the spot to douse the flames.

No casualties have been reported so far.

Further details are awaited.
The massive inferno that broke out at a four-storey residential cum powerloom building at Bhiwandi-Kasimpura near Thane this morning has been brought under control and all trapped people have been rescued successfully.

The Rahat Manzil building at Nagaon-Kanduada area housed powerloom on the ground floor and cloth godown on the first floor while the remaining three floors were occupied by 72 families.

The fire that broke out in the cloth market soon spread to the powerloom on the ground floor following which all residents rushed to the terrace of the building.

Bhiwandi Deputy Police Commissioner Sudhir Dabhade informed that over 200 people trapped on the terrace have been rescued but heavy smoke in the area was making rescue operation difficult.

He said they were working closely with the fire brigade and Thane Municipal Corporation. Six to 7 water tankers from Kalyan, Thane and Bhiwandi were pressed into service to douse the fire. Presently cooling operations are on.

No casualties have been reported so far but thematerial damage seems to be immense.
Former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit on Tuesday took a jibe at her successor Arvind Kejriwal over his letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi offering water to drought-hit Latur in Marathwada region, saying the AAP supremo should first quench the thirst of the people residing in different part of the capital.

"He should quench the thirst of Delhiites first. There are many places in Delhi itself where the people don't get water to drink. First provide water to the people of Delhi then talk of Latur," Dikshit told ANI here.

"Kejriwal feels it is necessary for him to comment on everything. similarly this is also a comment," she added.

Lauding the Centre's move to send railway wagons with five lakh litres of water to the parched region of Latur, Kejriwal has said the Delhi Government is ready to offer 10 lakh litres of water every day for two months.

In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Modi, Kejriwal commended the Centre for helping out Latur, which is facing a severe water crisis at present, and said that it would be an embarrassment for modern India if cases of deaths were reported due to thirst.

"It will be a matter of great embarrassment that if someone dies of thirst in the 21st century India. It becomes a matter of duty and responsibility for the entire nation to help Latur. The people of Delhi are ready to offer 10 lakh litres of water every day for two months in Latur. If the centre is ready to transport this water to Latur, then the Delhi government will make arrangements quickly," the letter said.

Admitting that his offer came at a time when the capital itself was facing water shortage, Kejriwal said the terrible conditions in Latur makes it the nation's responsibility to ensure that every possible aid is extended there.

"If you agree, then an appeal can be sent to all Chief Ministers and I am sure that all states will extend their help towards this cause," the letter added.

Earlier today, the ten railway wagons with five lakh litres of water which left from Miraj Junction railway station yesterday, reached the parched region of Latur in Marathwada region.

"It's an occasion of happiness for us thanks to the government. The atmosphere here right now similar to that of Ramzan celebrations. People from all over the town have come to watch the train. We were able to disperse 200 litres of water in 15 days to the people, now thanks to the train we can do that in five to six days," Latur Mayor Shaikh Akhtar told ANI here.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had earlier said that the state government and the Railway Ministry were working hard to bring relief to the people in drought-affected region.
Kate Middleton has revealed as to how she managed to shed the baby weight after her pregnancies with Prince George and Princess Charlotte.

"I am running after my kids," said the Duchess of Cambridge during her appearance with Prince William at an event honouring Queen Elizabeth II's 90th birthday on April 11 in India, reports E! Online.

Further, when Prince George and Princess Charlotte's mother was questioned about how she stays so happy during all of her engagements, she said, "I'm just reciprocating. Everyone is so warm."

Kate appeared to be enjoying her evening where Prince William delivered a speech honoring his "granny."

In front of 2,000 dignitaries from every field, the Duke described his family member as a "wonderful great-grandmother" for his children and very much his "boss."

The Royal couple's trip in India will continue for some more days, where they are expected to have lunch with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and will also travel to the Kaziranga National Park in Assam.
Maldives President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom called on President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday.

Welcoming Mr. Gayoom to India, President Mukherjee said India attaches high importance to its 'neighbours first' policy. Within that Maldives has a place of privilege. India also appreciates the 'India first' policy of Maldives.

"Relations between India and Maldives have grown over the centuries substantially, building on the people to people relations that the two countries share. India is committed to its policy of supporting Maldives in every way including in building the capacity and infrastructure of Maldives. India as the largest democracy will continue to extend all support for the strengthening of democratic institutions in Maldives," said President Mukherjee.

The President said India and Maldives are natural partners in the Indian Ocean region.

Reciprocating the President's sentiments, Maldivian President said the Government of Maldives is firmly committed to its 'India First' Policy. India is the only foreign country he has visited more than once and this was his third visit in two years. He said the two countries are bound by strong civilizational and cultural links.
Lauding the Centre's move to send railway wagons with five lakh litres of water to the parched region of Latur in Marathwada region, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said the Delhi Government is ready to offer 10 lakh litres of water every day for two months.

In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kejriwal commended the Centre for helping out Latur, which is facing a severe water crisis at present, and said that it would be an embarrassment for modern India if cases of deaths were reported due to thirst.

"It will be a matter of great embarrassment that if someone dies of thirst in the 21st century India. It becomes a matter of duty and responsibility for the entire nation to help Latur. The people of Delhi are ready to offer 10 lakh litres of water every day for two months in Latur. If the centre is ready to transport this water to Latur, then the Delhi government will make arrangements quickly," the letter said.

Admitting that his offer came at a time when the capital itself was facing water shortage, Kejriwal said the terrible conditions in Latur makes it the nation's responsibility to ensure that every possible aid is extended there.

"If you agree, then an appeal can be sent to all Chief Ministers and I am sure that all states will extend their help towards this cause," the letter added.

Earlier today, the ten railway wagons with five lakh litres of water which left from Miraj Junction railway station yesterday, reached the parched region of Latur in Marathwada region.

"It's an occasion of happiness for us thanks to the government. The atmosphere here right now similar to that of Ramzan celebrations. People from all over the town have come to watch the train. We were able to disperse 200 litres of water in 15 days to the people, now thanks to the train we can do that in five to six days," Latur Mayor Shaikh Akhtar told ANI here.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had earlier said that the state government and the Railway Ministry were working hard to bring relief to the people in drought-affected region.
Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar has targetted Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the wake of the Panama Papers revelations, saying that everybody was now well aware of the ruling family's illegal financial dealings.

Azhar, in his column Rang-o-Noor, headlined Mazboot in the Al Qalam magazine, the mouth piece of JeM wrote, "The oppression unleashed by the (Pakistan) government is known to the Almighty and signs of punishment can already be seen. These days, the ruling family has been exposed in its financial dealings in such a way that everybody is cursing them.''

"How unlawful are those who are killing and arresting people in the name of law is visible to the naked eye now. Veils have been lifted, so keep watching what will happen in future. The sighs of the oppressed and their ill wishes won't go waste," he said.

Following the 'Panama Papers' leak, Prime Minister Sharif drew flak from many Pakistani political parties forcing him to address the nation of forming a high-level judicial commission probe his family after the expose revealed that his sons and daughter owned offshore companies.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti will meet Home Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi today.

The meeting is scheduled to take place at the MHA today evening.

This is the first meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief who took oath as the first woman chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir on April 4.

Moreover, this is the first time Mehbooba is holding an administrative post in the state or at the level, as so far she had limited herself to party work.

The government formation has ended the three-month long political crisis in the state which started after the death of former chief minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed on January 7.

The 2014 state elections threw up a hung assembly in which the PDP won 28 seats, mainly from the Kashmir Valley, and the BJP 25, almost all from the Jammu region, leading to a coalition government headed by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

Mufti took the oath in Jammu along with 17 cabinet ministers and six ministers of state (MoS). Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Nirmal Singh also took oath as deputy chief minister, as per the alliance agreement between the two parties.
Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli has condoled the loss of lives in the devastating fire at the Puttingal temple in Kerala's Kollam district.

The Nepalese Prime Minister spoke to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi and offered his condolences.

"Nepal PM Shri KP Oli spoke to PM @narendramodi & expressed condolences on the loss of lives caused by the fire at a temple in Kollam, Kerala," the official twitter handle of the Prime Minister Office said in a tweet.

At least 109 people were charred to death while 383 others injured in a fire accident at Puttingal temple during a festival at Paravur in Kollam district early on Sunday morning.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who took stock of the inferno on Sunday, sought a detailed report from the state administration as to how the fire broke out and caused damage to life and property on such a large scale.

After taking stock of the situation in Kollam, Prime Minister Modi said that he had assured Chief Minister Oommen Chandy of complete aid from the Centre and added that assistance would be provided if the serious patients need to be shifted to Mumbai or New Delhi for further treatment.
Austrian prosecutors have revealed that they are probing a possible link of a Pakistani apprehended in Salzburg with last year's Paris terror attacks and the 26/11 terror strike in Mumbai.

The identity of the Pakistani suspect, who has been in custody since his arrest in December in the western Austrian city along with an Algerian, has not been confirmed.

"Leads pointing to this are being looked into. Wide-ranging investigations on this question, among others, are ongoing, although the public prosecutors' office has been waiting for information on this from Pakistan since December 2015," the Dawn quoted prosecutors in Salzburg, as saying in a statement.

According to reports, the arrested man is thought to be a bomb maker for the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) organisations.

LeT has been blamed for string of high profile attacks in recent years.

India holds it responsible for the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people and injured several.

It has been suspected by the French investigators that the militant group Islamic State (IS), which claimed responsibility for both the Paris bombings as well as attacks in Brussels on March 22, had sent both men to Europe in carrying out attacks.

Austrian authorities in February said that both men were believed to have been in the same boat bringing around 200 migrants to Greece.

Meanwhile, a senior security official in Pakistan said he had no information about the matter, reports Dawn.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Kate Middleton here at the Hyderabad House on Tuesday afternoon.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will sit with Prime Minister Modi over lunch before visiting the Kaziranga Park in Assam.

The royal couple flew to the capital yesterday, where they laid a wreath at the Amar Jawan Jyoti memorial to honour the 70,000 India soldiers who had died in World War I.

The royal couple will travel to Bhutan for two days beginning April 14.

On April 16, they will visit Taj Mahal in northern Agra city before flying back to Britain.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday continued its assault on the Centre over the state of acute drought in parts of the country asking the latter as to why they were not taking a call and waiting for the states to declare drought themselves.

The Centre in reply, extolled virtues of federalism and that it cannot intervene in state government's jurisdiction for declaring drought.

Appearing for the Centre, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) P.S. Narsimha said that the state government has its own machinery to declare drought, adding that drought management centres have to be established across the country.

The apex court further questioned the Centre asking if it has no role to play when states don't declare drought to which the government's counsel replied saying that it was a 'federal' structure and drought could not be declared by them.

"We can't declare drought. There is a federal structure. They're democratically elected governments and Centre can't intervene," the Centre's counsel said.

If there is a requirement of funds, funds have been given, like in all Central schemes. Additional funds have also been released in case of drought.

The counsel asserted that if there was a requirement of funds, then it was given out like in all Central schemes and that additional funds have also been released in case of drought.

Earlier, after receiving a rap from the apex court, the Centre released its share of funds of Rs 12,230 crore to the states for the rural job flagship scheme MGNREGA.

The Supreme Court had pulled up the Centre for not releasing adequate funds to states for MGNREGA and asked it to give details of expenditure on the scheme in drought-hit states, saying relief has to be provided now and not after one year.

Meanwhile, the ten railway wagons with five lakh litres of water which left from Miraj Junction railway station yesterday, reached the parched region of Latur in Marathwada region today.

Lauding the Centre's move, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said the Delhi Government is ready to offer 10 lakh litres of water every day for two months.
Sri Lankan Minister of Commerce and Industry Rishad Bathiudeen, who is on an official visit to Pakistan, has said that the island nation would facilitate the import of vegetables, including potato and onions from Islamabad.

Bathiudeen, said that the issue of exempting imported consignments of vegetables from regularity duties would be taken up in the next cabinet meeting, during a lunch arranged by Pakistan-Sri Lanka Business Forum in his honor, reports Colombo Page.

Highlighting how it enjoys free trade agreements with New Delhi and Islamabad, Bathiudeen asserted that by establishing industries in Sri Lanka and with value addition of its products, Pakistan can indirectly have access to Indian market.

He also pressed on improving education sector between both countries implying that large number of students from Sri Lanka go to India and United Kingdom for modern education.
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who will be soon sharing the screen space with Pakistani actress Mahira Khan in 'Raees,' recently, revealed that he is missing the actress.

The 50-year-old actor said in an interview, "First I'll talk professionally. Mahira is a really fine actor. And she's very different. She's very quiet. A Hindi film is a world in itself and she's fortunate to have come in a film like 'Raees,' which is still a little more realistic than the likes of Dilwale or Happy New Year," reports the Express Tribune.

Revealing that Mahira brought chappals for him from Pakistan, the 'Fan' star said she is such a big star, but she's very unassuming on the set and she's ready to adapt to the situation, which is very interesting.

'Raees,' which was earlier supposed to hit cinemas on Eid, will now be released a few weeks later.
Staunchly supporting India's counter-terrorism efforts and strongly condemning terrorism emanating from anywhere in India, Defense Secretary Dr. Ashton Carter on Tuesday said the U.S. too has suffered from terrorism emanating from Pakistan.

"We too have suffered from terrorism emanating from territory of Pakistan, most significantly in Afghanistan, and who do it should be brought to justice and brought to account," said Carter while addressing a joint press conference with Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar after holding bilateral talks here.

Explaining the U.S relations with Pakistan, he said, "We have a relationship with Pakistan which we value and we also pursue it in our interest. We have no intention in conflict between India and Pakistan in anyway."

"Our relationship to Pakistan is principally directed to counter terrorism and that includes the things we do with the Pakistani military. Our principal interest is in working with Pakistan on terrorism and I think that's the concern India shares as well," he said.

Maintaining that the U.S. overall policy towards India was completely different from the way it was decades ago, Carter said, "It is a thing of the past for us to think about India only in relation to Pakistan or Pakistan in only relation to India. That's the distant past."

"We have a different vision of India; if describing, one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century in which all sorts of things are going to be possible in the future as we share many interests," said Carter while dispelling apprehensions in India over the U.S. offer to sell F-16 fighter aircraft to Pakistan.

"And one thing I could add is the more we work with Indian military on projects of the crime we discussed today, and technology to help protect our two societies from terrorism. The American position on terrorism affecting India is clear and unequivocal," he added.
Tata Steel said that Tata Steel UK announced the signing of an agreement to sell its long products Europe business to the family investment office, Greybull Capital. The sale for a nominal consideration, would be in exchange for Greybull Capital taking on the whole of the business, including assets and relevant liabilities, and securing an appropriate funding package, Tata Steel said. The deal would be completed once a number of outstanding conditions have been resolved, including transfer of contracts, certain government approvals and the satisfactory completion of financing arrangements, it said. The sale covers several UK-based assets including the Scunthorpe steelworks, two mills in Teesside, an engineering workshop in Wokington, a design consultancy in York, and associated distribution facilities, as well as a mill in northern France, Tata Steel said. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 11 April 2016.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories announced buyback offer after trading hours yesterday, 11 April 2016. The company has set aside a maximum amount of Rs 1569.41 crore for the buyback offer, which is 14.9% of the total paid up share capital and free reserves of the company as on 31 March 2015. The maximum buyback price is fixed at Rs 3,500 per equity share. The number of equity shares bought back will not exceed 25% of the total paid up equity capital of the company.

At the maximum buyback price and for maximum buyback size, the indicative maximum number of equity shares bought back would be Rs 44.84 lakh equity shares. If the equity shares are bought back at a price below the maximum buyback price, the actual number of equity shares bought back could exceed the indicative maximum buyback shares but will always be subject to the maximum buyback size.

Further, the company will utilize at least 50% of the amount earmarked as the maximum buyback size for the buyback i.e. Rs 784.70 crore. Based on the minimum buyback size and the maximum buyback price, the company will purchase an indicative minimum of Rs 22.42 lakh, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories said.

BPCL announced that its board of directors at a meeting held yesterday, 11 April 2016, approved the proposal to acquire Petronet India's (PIL) 26% equity stake in Petronet CCK (PCCKL) at a total cost of Rs 78.60 crore. PCCKL a subsidiary company promoted by BPCL and PIL. PCCKL owns and operates a petroleum product pipeline from Kochi to Karur in Tamil Nadu via Coimbatore for transportation of petroleum products. Currently, BPCL has a stake of 73.96% in the equity capital of PCCKL and PIL has a stake of 26% while the balance is held by financial institutions (Fis). Post completion of acquisition, BPCL's holding in PCCKL will go up to 99.96%. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 11 April 2016.

Separately, BPCL announced after market hours yesterday, 11 April 2016 that its board of directors approved the proposal to seek shareholders' consent by way of postal ballot for increasing the ceiling of investment by foreign institutional investors in the company by up to 49% from 24% in one or more tranches subject to regulatory authorities approval.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) announced that it has raised Rs 500 crore by allotment of 5,000 rated, listed, secured, taxable, redeemable, non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of face value of Rs 10 lakh each on private placement basis. The NCDs will be listed on the wholesale debt market segment of BSE. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 11 April 2016.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) announced that credit rating agency CARE has reaffirmed its CARE AAA and CARE A1+ ratings assigned to the long term & short term bank facilities of the company. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 11 April 2016.

Bharti Airtel announced that its subsidiary Airtel M Commerce Services (AMSL) has been granted payments bank license from Reserve Bank of India yesterday, 11 April 2016. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 11 April 2016.

TTK Prestige announced that its wholly owned UK subsidiary TTK British Holdings entered into an agreement for acquisition of branded kitchenware business in UK (target). The target is a branded player with a century old existence, TTK Prestige said. The names of the brands involved will be shared on completion of acquisition, it added. The target has experienced marketing, sales and distribution strengths, TTK Prestige said. The target does not have any manufacturing base but outsources all of its requirements from third party manufacturers, TTK Prestige said. The target is of the size of 18 million GBP per annum with a double digit earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) margin, TTK Prestige said. This business offers potential for a long-term global presence for TTK Prestige in UK and Europe through its subsidiary, the company said. TTK Prestige, over the medium term, plans to leverage its domestic manufacturing capacities to cater to these branded segments, it said. The consolidated financials are expected to result in superior turnover, profits and return on capital employed (ROCE) for TTK Prestige, the company said in a statement. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 11 April 2016.

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Around 1,500 non-local engineering students of the Institute of Technology (NIT) Srinagar on Tuesday vacated their hostel rooms and left for their homes.

The students said they were asked by the authorities to appear for the examinations "if they remain inside the campus".

"Our administration told us to appear for the exams as we were staying in the hostels. But we have not prepared for our examinations as we have been busy protesting," a student, who did not wish to be named said.

"The exams will be re-scheduled for those students who are not in the campus," the student added.

"Around 1,000-1,500 students have left for their homes after vacating the hostels before 5 a.m. in the morning," a student, who had left the valley on Monday, added.

NIT-Srinagar has around 1,500 non-local students, who have been boycotting classes following clashes between a group of non-local students and police last week.

Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) troopers have been deployed inside the campus while police are stationed at the campus gates to ensure security.
Firefighters managed to rescue around 150 people trapped on the terrace of a factory-cum-residential complex in Maharashtra's Bhiwandi town where a major fire broke out on Tuesday morning, officials said.

According to police in Thane, soon after the blaze was noticed around 6.30 a.m. on the ground floor which housed a powerloom, the residents, many caught in their sleep, in a bid to escape the leaping flames, rushed to the terrace of the four-storeyed Rahat Manzil building in Kasimpura.

Some panicky residents tried to jump down from the first floor to save themselves and at least two people sustained injuries in their attempt but there are no fatalities.

The city fire brigade and fire-tenders from neighbouring Thane and Kalyan rushed to the scene of the tragedy and helped in rescuing the trapped victims.

After battling the blaze for around five hours, it was finally brought under control and simultaneously all the residents were also rescued.

At least seven people were admitted to various hospitals for treatment of injuries, stress or suffocation in the incident, even as cooling operations continued.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday approved the appointment of former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan as the president of the state's party unit.

"The Congress president also approved the names of office-bearers, executive committee, spokespersons, an advisory council and thirteen district Congress committee presidents of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress," said AICC general secretary Janardan Dwivedi.

Sanjay Nirupam is the (ex-officio) vice president of the state Congress. Apart from Nirupam, there are 18 other vice-presidents.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is upbeat about the possibility of reaching a peaceful solution to the country's lingering crisis, a Russian lawmaker visiting Damascus said on Tuesday.

"Syrian President Bashar al-Assad positively assesses the possibility of a peaceful settlement of the situation in Syria within the framework of the Geneva dialogue," Xinhua quoted Sergey Gavrilov as saying.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem on Monday reiterated his government's readiness to attend the upcoming round of Geneva peace talks on Syria, saying the government was committed to attending the peace talks without preconditions.

He also stressed on the Syrians' right to determine their future without foreign interference.

The latest round of Syrian peace talks, which started on March 14, was wrapped up in Geneva with a 12-point paper delivered to both sides for further consideration.

The next round of negotiations is expected to start off in Geneva on Wednesday, four days behind the original schedule.

More than 270,000 people have been reportedly killed in Syria and millions displaced since the conflict broke out in the country in March 2011.
The Reserve Bank of Australia on Tuesday issued a new Australian 5-dollar bank note with tactile features to assist the visually impaired while enhancing the prevention of counterfeit notes.

"Each bank note in the new series will depict a different species of Australian wattle and a native bird within a number of the elements," said Reserve Bank Governor Glenn Stevens in a statement published on the bank's website. He was referring to a series of creative new security measures the bank has devised to protect the Australian currency from fraud.

The colourful new 5-dollar note features an upgraded photo of Queen Elizabeth II, the bright yellow flowers of prickly moses wattles and the beloved Eastern Spinebill bird found in the southeastern part of the country, EFE news reported.

Public reviews of the new bill have so far not been positive, with media and citizens taking to Twitter to voice their discontent.

"I'm beyond despair," tweeted Melbourne local Scott Henderson, while Sydney resident Signa Dean said the yellow prickly moses wattles resembled E. coli bacteria.

The new note will go into circulation starting on September 1.
Famed Indian woman biker Veenu Paliwal's death was caused by internal injuries she suffered in the road accident in Madhya Pradesh's Vidisha district. Her post-mortem examination report has revealed, police said on Tuesday.

Paliwal was recently named the Lady of the Harley 2016.

According to police, Paliwal had left from Lucknow for Jaipur along with her friend Dipesh Tanwar. Both were driving their own motorbikes. Her motorbike slipped at a road junction and she fell. She was rushed to hospital to Gyaraspur hospital. After first aid, she was referred to a Vidisha district hospital. After reaching their at late night, the doctors declared her dead.

The accident took place on Monday when Paliwal was on a nationwide trip on her Harley Davidson motorbike.

Paliwal was declared dead as soon as she was transferred to a hospital in Vidisha district late Monday evening, Kotwali police station chief Rajesh Tiwari told IANS. Her autopsy was conducted by a team of four doctors.

Her friend Tanwar said she was speaking to him before being treated at Gyaraspur hospital. Paliwal's condition worsened immediately after being given an injection.

Her body has now been handed over to her family.
Brazilian Vice President Michel Temer, who was caught in a leaked audio talking as if President Dilma Rousseff had already been impeached, was criticised by government officials.

Temer on Monday rehearsed a speech to the nation, making it appear as if he believed the impeachment of Rousseff a foregone conclusion, Xinhua reported on Tuesday.

Temer said the audio message was an answer to inquiries of political allies about what he would do if he takes over, adding that he sent the message to the wrong person, and it reached the press.

Jaques Wagner, chief of staff of Rousseff's presidential office, said Temer was a dissimulated sponsor of the impeachment against Rousseff.

The audio message showed that Temer forgot his institutional role, Wagner said.

"The records revealed today (Monday) show that the vice president, without any problems, forgets his institutional role, despises the ritual of his position and openly sponsors a dissimulated coup," Wagner said.

"But no coup will produce national union, as it is an offence to democracy," Wagner said.

Government Secretary Ricardo Berzoini said the leak evidenced the "coup-like" character of Temer, and the message left him "flabbergasted".

"This audio shows the coup-like character of the vice president. He transformed the process in an indirect election, to get votes in favour of the impeachment," Berzoini said.

Temer of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), a partner of the ruling coalition, said in the rehearsal: "Now that the chamber of deputies has decided by a significant vote to authorise the start of the impeachment process against the president, the great mission, as of this moment, is the pacification of the country, the reunification of the country."

By the time of the rehearsal, a congressional impeachment committee had yet to decide whether to proceed with the impeachment.

The committee voted later on Monday to go ahead. A full-chamber vote would take place on Sunday. Two-thirds of the chamber would have to vote in favour for the motion to move on to the senate for a final decision.

Temer has been regarded as the mastermind behind the PMDB's announcement last month to leave the ruling coalition, a key move toward the impeachment of Rousseff.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Monday that he will offer a full apology for a government decision in 1914 to deny entry of Sikhs in the country.

"As a nation, we should never forget the prejudice suffered by the Sikh community at the hands of the Canadian government of the day. We should not and we will not," Xinhua quoted Trudeau as saying.

"That is why, next month, on May 18, I will stand in the House of Commons and offer a full apology for the Komagata Maru incident," he said.

The chartered Japanese ship Komagata Maru sailed into the Vancouver harbor on May 23, 1914, with 376 people from Punjab. Most of them were Sikhs.

The Canadian government refused to allow the passengers to disembark and Komagata Maru sat in the harbor for two months. On July 23, 1914, the Komagata Maru was escorted out to sea by a Canadian naval cruiser and returned to India, where 20 people were killed as they tried to disembark and the others were jailed.

Canadian Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan, who was the first Sikh-Canadian to command a Canadian army reserve regiment, tweeted on Monday that he is "truly honoured" by Trudeau's commitment to a formal apology.
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Tuesday thanked everyone, including the world leaders, for expressing concern on the fire tragedy at Puttingal Devi temple in Kollam that left 109 people dead and over 350 injured.

"At the moment, we have been advised by the medical team that there is no need for any patients to be shifted to hospitals outside the state," Chandy told reporters at the medical college here after visiting the injured and chairing a meeting of high-ranking health and other officials

A team of medical professionals from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, who went around hospitals in Kollam and the state capital, expressed happiness on the manner in which the medical professionals are working hard to assist the patients.

"The medical professionals in Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram are doing a wonderful job and have risen to the occasion," the team leader from AIIMS told reporters here.

Five patients at the hospital here continue to be very critical, while the condition of the remaining 60 patients have been said to be better.

Chandy also said that at Wednesday's weekly cabinet meeting, all other aspects of the tragedy which include the difference of opinion between the district collector and the district police officials over the permission granted to the fireworks display for the temple would be taken up.
In what would warm the heart of the ruling National Democratic Alliance government, China has come out in support of its policy against non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

We have "something in common" in regulating foreign NGOs that have "often been used by western countries to interfere in the domestic affairs" of developing nations, prominent Chinese lawmaker, Hu Zhengyue, says.

"As developing countries, India and China have similar problems. China and India have similar national positions. So, we have something in common in regulating NGOs," Hu, who is a member of National People's Congress (NPC) - China's parliament, told IANS in an interview.

Hu said the outside world "need not worry" about a draft Chinese law which envisages tighter control on foreign NGOs operating in China.

The draft Foreign NGO Management Law is said to have given sweeping powers to China's government to investigate foreign NGOs, some of which have expressed grave concern over the "rising intolerance" of the communist regime.

Last year, the Indian government was slammed by civil rights activists when it cancelled the licence of nearly 9,000 NGOs, including Greenpeace India, citing lack of transparency in their foreign funding.

Courts have generally intervened in India against the crackdown, but Chinese laws come as a diktat for the NGOs to follow.

"All the developing countries should have discussion on issues related to NGOs. We cannot deny that on some occasions some western countries take advantage of NGOS to interfere in the domestic affairs of other countries. We have many such examples," said Hu, who has also served as China's assistant foreign minister.

China has some 500,000 NGOS in comparison to 3.1 million in India. Of the 500,000, 7,000 are foreign entities.

"China has its own national situation because China covers a huge area. We have many ethnic minorities. The development level in different places differs from each other," Hu said.

Once China decides to crack down on any activity, it does not allow any protests against it. Nor are its courts allowed to interfere in government policy.

"How to better manage and regulate non-governmental organisations should be left to us. We need some time to do some investigation and studies. The outside world does not need to worry about this," the legislator added.

Proposed two years ago, the legislation makes it mandatory for foreign charities to register with security authorities.

One of its features restricts these organisations from carrying out activities to raise funds.

However, Hu sought to clarify that the law would not hinder "the genuine organisations".

"Chinese government has no problem as long as their (NGOs) work is proper, legal and beneficial. The law is to promote the healthy development of NGOs, and this will also better regulate the local governments (in China)," he added.

"So I think the rest of the world should understand this action of China and there should be no worry about the enactment of such a rule."

Though there is speculation over the law likely to be dropped owing to its draconian nature which could discourage genuine NGOs, Zhang Dejiang, the head of the Standing Committee of the NPC, has said that its enactment was the government's top priority this year.

(Gaurav Sharma is the Beijing-based correspondent of IANS. He can be contacted at gaurav.s@ians.in)
Chinese Prime Minister has expressed grief over the death of 110 people in a fireworks disaster in a temple in Kerala.

"I would like to extend, on behalf of the Chinese government and in my name, profound condolences to the victims and heartfelt sympathy to their families and those injured," Xinhua quoted Li as telling his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi as saying in a message.

In a message to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said he too was shocked to learn of the tragedy that also left more than 350 people injured in Kollam district on Sunday.

"I'd like to express ... my profound condolences and heartfelt sympathies," said Wang.
China's first labour arbitration case filed by a transgender man opened in a local arbitration commission in Guizhou province, amid increasing action by Beijing's sexual and gender minority groups to defend their rights under the law.

The defendant, the Guiyang branch of healthcare company Ciming Checkup, has agreed to pay the transgender plaintiff, Liu, around 1,600 yuan ($247) in salary and compensation, Liu's lawyer Huang Sha told the Global Times on Monday.

Liu, 29, who was born physically female but identifies as male, was fired one week after he was hired by Ciming last year.

He filed a case with the local arbitration commission on March 7, seeking a week's salary and compensation for financial losses caused by the dismissal.

Liu demanded a compensation of 2,643 yuan and a public apology from the company.

"I am not doing this only for myself, but also for all those who might face employment discrimination, such as those who are pregnant or disabled," Liu said.

The arbitration commission's final ruling will be announced by April end.

According to Huang, the company has insisted throughout the arbitration process that they fired Liu because he was not qualified for the job.

Quoting the head of Ciming's human resources department, Xinhua news agency reported in March that the company fired Liu because they thought he was gay and his sartorial choices were "incompatible" with the company's image.

According to a report published by Chinese non-profit organisation Aibai Culture and Education Centre, the LGBT community in China still struggles with social stigma among employers and peers, as many people have yet to accept the group.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau of the Central Bureau of Investigation has filed corruption charges against two former directors of Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Imphal.

Lallukham Fimate, a former director of RIMS has been charged with buying a cancer detection machine from a foreign company at Rs.2.31 crore, while a similar machine is available for Rs.1 crore in India, the CBI has said.

Sinam Sekharjit, another former director, was charged with buying dental chairs and accessories at inflated rates amd incurring a loss of Rs.50 lakh. His first hearing in the special court in Imphal is fixed for April 21.

Thoudam Tomcha, head of department of the radiotherapy department, is one of the respondents in the case.

Meanwhile, the Kangleipak Communist Party (Military Joint Commitee) has claimed responsibility for the grenade blast at the house of M. Amuba, the medical superintendent of RIMS, on the night of April 10, for his alleged corrupt practices.

Two earlier blasts were claimed by another outfit.
Actress Deepika Padukone has teamed up with Brazilian supermodel Adriana Lima and Chinese actress Liu Shishi for the communication campaign of Vogue Eyewear Spring-Summer (SS) 2016.

Thr trio will embark on different journeys to three legendary cities around the globe -- Dubai, Los Angeles and Paris -- with Deepika exploring Dubai.

"It's been an absolute delight to collaborate with Vogue Eyewear for its SS 2016 campaign. Dubai was the right setting for this collection that is a blend of femininity, modernity and aspiration," Deepika said in a statement.

The "Bajirao Mastani" actress was accompanied by photographer Prasad Naik for the collection.

"It was great shooting with Deepika Padukone for Vogue Eyewear in Dubai. It was an interesting experience shooting in the desert and modern downtown area. Although the sun was blazing upon us, it created a lovely quality of light," Naik said.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that Delhi is ready to provide 10 lakh litres of water daily to parched Latur in Maharashtra and sought logistical support from the central government.

In the letter, Kejriwal acknowledged that Delhi itself suffers from shortage of water, but added that the situation in Latur was worse.

"It would be very shameful for our country if anyone died of a water crisis in the 21st century. It is the responsibility of the entire country to help the people of Latur. The central government has done a commendable job by transporting water to Latur by train."

"The people of Delhi are ready to provide 10 lakh litres of water daily to Latur for the next two months. If the central government can make arrangements for transportation of the water to Latur then the Delhi government will immediately provide the water," he added.

He also asked the prime minister to make an appeal to every chief minister of the country to help Latur. "I'm sure all states would be ready to help," he said.

Around 15,000 villages in Maharashtra, a majority of them in Latur, Beed and Osmanabad districts, are gripped by an acute water shortage.
Fill, a 33-year-old Nigerian, is cooling his heels in Tihar Jail under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

With his arrest, Delhi Police have heaved a sigh of relief as the "kingpin" was heading a well-organised drug racket that used to supply high quality cocaine at Delhi's plush pubs and bars.

Fill, alias Steve (who uses only one name), was nabbed on April 2 from Rajendra Nagar in central Delhi on a tip-off. He had gone to supply 54 grams of pure cocaine to one of his well-heeled clients.

The drug was worth between Rs.10 lakh and Rs.50 lakh, depending on negotiation, and would have fetched at least Rs.54 lakh in the international market.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Ravindra Yadav told IANS that Fill was the "kingpin" of the drug racket, which was running in Delhi since 2009. The racket had a network of suppliers, comprising youngsters, who did dealings with clients.

Top Delhi Police sources told IANS they are close to capturing the other members of the gang.

The drugs business, though, was apparently not in Fill's scheme of things when he landed in India in 2008.

According to what he has told police, he had come here to start a business venture in readymade garments. However, Fill was cheated by a fellow countryman of all his money -- leaving him penniless, which forced him to take up the drug peddling business.

Fill is lodged in Tihar Jail on charges of possessing, purchasing, selling, storing and transporting contraband drugs in the national capital.

After he was cheated of his money, Fill told police, he had to beg to fulfil his daily needs, and later started providing consultancy to Nigerian visitors about Delhi.

"Thereafter, he came in contact with another Nigerian named KC, a supplier of cocaine in Delhi, in the beginning of 2009 and joined his gang," Yadav said.

The officer said that Fill started selling cocaine to Indian customers along with KC in south Delhi pubs and bars.

"Later in 2011 or 2012, KC was caught by police and deported to Nigeria. But Fill continued to evade the police. His illegal cocaine business was thriving. He used different mobile phone numbers for his cocaine business," the officer said.

Fill used to sell one "pudia" (one gram) of cocaine for between Rs.15,000-Rs.1 lakh, depending on the demand and time of day. The rates would go up as the evening advanced.

A crime branch team, led by Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) M.A. Rizvi, consisting of Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Ranbir Singh, inspector Devender and his team, arrested Fill from Rajendra Nagar on a tip-off on April 2.

(Rajnish Singh can be contacted at rajnish.s@ians.in)
Despite the lure of a mid-day meal, low attendance in Tripura's government schools is a "cause of concern" while enrollment is rising in private schools without the facility, an audit report has said.

"The low attendance in schools (in Tripura) is a cause of concern which needs to be addressed appropriately," the latest report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has said.

Experts, academicians and researchers said that the situation is similar in the entire northeastern region, comprising eight states.

"Enrolment in private schools with no MDM (mid-day-meal) scheme increased by 72 percent while it declined by 18 percent in MDM-covered government schools," the CAG report says.

"The Tripura government spent Rs.336 crore ($50 million) during the period 2010-15 on National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary (NP-NSPE), also known as MDM scheme. There was consistent decline in the number of children availing MDM in primary schools," the report said.

It said that there was steady decline in the number of children availing MDM in primary schools (classes one to five) from 297,000 (2010-11) to 235,000 (2014-15) and in upper primary schools (class six to eight) from 138,000 (2010-11) to 120,000 (2014-15).

The report, which recently presented to the state government by the CAG, said that the data showed inflated figures of enrollment in the annual work plan and budget, resulting in extra central assistance of Rs.18.78 crore.

"There was insufficient supply of micronutrients and de-worming medicines, coupled with non-maintenance of health cards and other registers indicating poor mechanism to evaluate the impact of the programme on health status of the school children provided with nutritional support," the report said.

"In 22 percent of the schools, the meal was found to be prepared in unhygienic conditions. In 47 percent of the schools, food was served in unhygienic places. Source of drinking water was not available in 489 schools in four test-checked districts," the report said.

Tripura has 3,458 government schools and around 250 private schools in eight districts with a little over of 600,000 students studying in primary and upper primary levels (up to class eight).

The union human resource development ministry had launched the NP-NSPE on August 15, 1995, to enhance enrollment, retention and attendance in schools and simultaneously improve nutritional levels among children. The MDM scheme was launched in Tripura in March 1980 for children in government-run and government-aided schools, madrassas/muqtab institutions and also in the Anganwadi centres.

Sociologist and writer Ratul Debbarman told IANS: "Despite the MDM scheme, the enrollment and attendance are gradually declining in most of the states in the northeastern region including Tripura. There are numerous reasons behind this waning."

"People coming out of poverty, lower standards of in government-run schools compared to private schools, decade-old terrorism, inadequate quality of teachers, teachers' recruitment and transfer-related problems are some of the causes behind the low enrollment and attendance in government-run schools," Debbarman added.

Another academician, Sushmita Dhar, who has researched the educational system in northeast India, told IANS : "Tribals in the northeast are traditionally not known to take the support of government institutions, be it educational bodies or health centres. In most places in the northeast, especially Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Manipur, Christian organisations are running a large number of schools with a large number of students."

The northeastern region is home to 45.58 million people (2011 census), with tribals constituting 27-28 percent of the population.

(Sujit Chakraborty can be contacted at sujit.c@ians.in <mailto:sujit.c@ians.in>)
Can an affidavit by the Reserve Bank of India cast doubt on the nature of its Governor Raghuram Rajan? The question was raised in the Supreme Court on Tuesday during a hearing on the issue whether the names of defaulters could be made public.

Addressing the issue, counsel Prashant Bhushan told the court that after the apex court's December 15, 2015, verdict holding that the RBI was to guard public interest and no information sought on defaulters under the Right to Information Act could be denied, the RBI has asked the banks not to furnish such information to it.

Expressing surprise over the direction by the apex bank, Bhushan said: "He (Rajan) is a good man. I am surprised that such kind of affidavit are filed under his watch."

"That doesn't make him a bad man," Chief Justice T.S. Thakur said coming to the rescue of the central bank chief and thus checking Bhushan from saying anything further.
Filmmaker Maneesh Sharma, best known for his films like "Band Baaja Baaraat" and "Shuddh Desi Romance", says his every film is misunderstood by people as a remake of another film.

There were reports that the story of Sharma's forthcoming release "Fan", starring Shah Rukh Khan, is inspired from Hollywood star Robert De Niro's film also named "The Fan". However Sharma has denied such reports saying that such misunderstanding happens with his every film.

"People will get a better answer once they see the film 'Fan'. There are no similarities between our film and 'The Fan'," Sharma said at his film's press conference here on Tuesday.

"According to people, my every film is a remake. When 'Band Baaja Baaraat' was about to release I was told that I'm remaking 'Wedding Planner'.

"Similarly, when 'Shuddh Desi Romance' was coming, I was told it's similar to 'No Strings Attached'. But I guess 'Fan' is not similar to any film. Once people will see 'Fan' they will understand that," he added.

Shah Rukh, who will be seen in a double role in the film, also refuted the reports.

"No, not at all. It's ('Fan') an extremely different film. I have seen that film ('The Fan') when I was young. I have seen another one and we read some books. But for the matter of fact I told Maneesh that we should see them just for the reference. 'Fan' is not even close to it," he said.

"Fan" is slated to release on Friday.

Apart from that, the "Chennai Express" actor will also be seen in "Raees" and an untitled Gauri Shinde directorial.

Asked whether he has taken a break from commericial cinema after his last film "Dilwale" to do more off-beat cinema, Shah Rukh said: "I did 'Raees' and 'Fan' before 'Dilwale' actually. Unfortunately because of the injury and VFX they both have come after that.

"There is no differentiating or finding a new path or rediscovering kind of stuff. I do the film when directors love me and feel that I can be part of a special project. Sometimes it turns out to be over the top commercial, sometimes a little off-beat or something. Don't find a logic in my unreasonable life," he added.
Famed Indian woman biker Veenu Paliwal has died in a road accident in Madhya Pradesh's Vidisha district, police said.

The accident took place on Monday when Paliwal was on a nationwide trip on her Harley Davidson moterbike.

She was on the way to Jaipur from Lucknow with her friend Dipesh Tanwar who was on another bike.

She sustained injuries on Monday when her motorbike slipped near Bagroda Tiraha region of the district.

According to the police, Paliwal was rushed to Gyaraspur hospital where she was referred to vidisha after first aid.

Paliwal was declared dead as soon as she was transferred to a hospital in Vidisha district late Monday evening, Kotwali police station incharge Rajesh Tiwari told IANS.

Her autopsy was conducted by a team of four doctors, Tiwari said.

Her friend Tanwar alleged that she was speaking to him before being treated at Gyaraspur hospital.

Paliwal's condition got worse immediately after being given an injection, Tanwar said.

Paliwal had recently been named the Lady of the Harley 2016.
Peru's presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori of the Popular Force party consolidated her lead over rivals in general elections that took place on April 10.

With 82.6 percent of the votes counted, the results on Monday showed that Fujimori garnered 39.55 percent of the votes, giving her a wide 17-point lead over her closest rival, Xinhua news agency reported quoting the National Office of Electoral Processes.

Runner up Pedro Kuczynski, of the conservative Peruvians for Change party, secured 22.11 percent of the votes for a chance to compete in a June 5 presidential runoff against Fujimori.

Third-placed candidate Veronika Mendoza, of the left-leaning Broad Front, garnered 18.27 percent of the votes.

Another seven candidates shared the remainder of the votes.

Peru's election laws require a candidate to garner upwards of 50 percent of the votes for an outright win in the first round, otherwise the two leading candidates must face off in a runoff.

Nearly 23 million Peruvians, including 900,000 living abroad, registered to vote in Sunday's elections for a president, 130 members of Congress, and five representatives to the Andean Parliament, which takes office on July 28 for a five-year term.
Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday assured his "full support" to Delhi's second phase of the odd-even traffic scheme to be implemented from April 15 to 30.

He gave the assurance to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal when the latter called on the union minister and urged him to back the scheme aimed at battling pollution.

Gadkari assured "full support" to the Delhi government in the fight against pollution, a Delhi government official told IANS.

The minister also said the central government would invest Rs.30,000 crore to decongest the National Capital Region (NCR).

Gadkari said eight elevated roads would be built to directly connect Ring Road with NCR, the official said.

Kejriwal, accompanied by Delhi's Transport Minister Gopal Rai, also urged Gadkari to extend the last date for registration of e-rickshaws by six months. The last date was March 31.

"The chief minister discussed several issues with Gadkari including odd-even and extension of date for registration of e-rickshaws. He also sought Gadkari's support to improve the traffic situation," said the official.

Under the odd-even scheme, petrol and diesel driven vehicles with odd registration numbers will ply on odd dates and those with even registration numbers on even dates.

The scheme is not applicable to CNG vehicles, two-wheelers, women motorists, cars carrying school children in uniform and several kinds of VIPs.
Government employees may soon be able to invest up to 50 percent of their contribution towards the pension fund into the equity market, from the current limit of 15 percent, India's pension fund regulator said here on Tuesday.

"It is under government consideration. We have sent a proposal to the government to give the government employees an option to invest up to 50 percent in equities," Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) chairman Hemant Contractor told reporters here on the sidelines of a pension fund conference.

He said the PFRDA is also pushing with the government to give the government subscribers the choice of choosing their pension fund manager.

"Currently the government employees do not have any choice. With this they will be able to go for private fund managers to make investments into stock market," said Contractor.

The number of government subscribers currently stands at 45-46 lakh, which accounts for 44 percent of the total pension fund subscribers.

PFRDA is also looking at guidelines for allowing two percent of the government pension moneys to flow into alternative investment funds (AIFs) every year, he said.

Currently only 2 percent of private pension moneys are allowed to be invested in AIFs.

About the government's National Pension Scheme, Contractor said that in FY16 alone, NPS has added 1,18,000 subscribers, which is more than the subscribers of previous four years.

"In previous four years till March 31, 2015, NPS had 87,000 subscribers and in 2015-16 alone we have added 1,18,000 new subscribers. Tax breaker though was the kicker for NPS but along with it, many more bank branches were roped in for NPS. We expect the launch of eNPS (online NPS facility) to have contributed substantially," he said.

The government has made 40 percent of the NPS tax-free at the time of withdrawal.

About the less successful micro-pension product Atal Pension Yojana (APY), he said that it expects to add 60-70 lakh new subscribers in FY17.

"We will be able to generate more subscribers this year. We are at 25 lakh subscribers in APY and hope to reach close to a crore in this fiscal," Contractor said.

State Bank of India is offering the APY scheme online in some of its branches to get more traction.

PFRDA has also requested the government to extend the deadline for APY, which expired on March 31, 2016, by at least a year, Contractor said.

APY is a micro-pension product with a government guarantee, which distinguishes it from other micro-pension schemes like Swavalamban Yojana. The scheme is for the informal sector so deadline should be extended by at least a year, he said.

So far 90,000 bank and post office officials have been trained for APY and as many as 20,000 post offices across the country will be engaged in promoting the scheme.
Five persons were killed and six others injured in gunmen's attack in a market at Munyinya in Gisuru district in Ruyigi province, near the border between Burundi and Tanzania, local administration sources said on Tuesday.

"The attack occurred on Monday night when persons who had two guns opened fire in a small market at Munyinya, killing five persons and injuring six others, many of them seriously," Xinhua quoted Ruyigi Governor Abdallah Hassan as saying.

According to him, all the victims are civilians.

"We know the criminals. Most of them were born at Munyinya and had fled to Tanzania and who were hosted at Nduta refugee camp. We have already arrested five suspects including one man from Nduta refugee camp in Tanzania,"said Hassan.

Munyinya is located at about two km from the border between Burundi and Tanzania.

Burundi is facing a political turmoil that broke out since April 2015 following the announcement by Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza that he would be seeking a third term.
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted interim protection from arrest, till Monday, to television actor-producer Rahul Raj Singh, accused of abetment of suicide of his girlfriend and popular actress Pratyusha Banerjee.

Justice Mridula Bhatkar also asked Rahul to appear before the Bangur Nagar Police Station in Goregaon west daily for two hours from Wednesday till April 18, and in case he was arrested, he should be released on a bond of Rs.30,000.

The court's orders came in an anticipatory bail application filed by him after a similar plea was rejected by a lower court last week.

His lawyer Abad Ponda said the actor was currently in hospital and the FIR copy was not provided to him though police has filed a report before the court.

Pratyusha, who portrayed the characted of the adult Anandi in the famous teleserial "Balika Vadhu", was found hanging from the fan by Singh and neighbours at her Goregaon residence on April 1.

She was rushed to the Kokilaben Ambani Hospital where she was declared dead.

Questioned for two days after the incident, Rahul has been in hospital since April 3 and on April 7, he filed an anticipatory bail application which was rejected by Dindoshi sessions court.
More than 600 protestors demonstrated outside the US Capitol against big money in US politics, prompting mass arrests by police.

Monday's demonstration, led by Democracy Spring, a coalition of more than 100 groups, was held "to demand Congress take immediate action to end the corruption of big money in our and ensure free and fair elections", Xinhua quoted Democracy Spring as saying on its website.

Chanting slogans such as "Money out of politics", the protestors gathered on the stairs of the East Front of the Capitol, demanding that the Congress approve bills to limit undisclosed and big-donor money.

One of the signs read "Things go better without Koch", referring to the billionaire Koch Brothers who had planned to spend around $900 million on the 2016 presidential election.

Despite its mostly orderly organisation, more than 400 sit-down protestors were arrested by police on Monday due to "unlawful demonstration activity", including crowding, obstructing and incommoding, said the US Capitol Police in a statement.
Pursuing its pro-active maritime policy, the government has expressed keenness to develop ports for various countries, including Africa, Bangladesh and Iran.

"During the recent summit of heads of African nations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj expressed desire that India can join hands with various African nations for building roads and ports. My ministry will take up such works once the responsibility is given to us," Road Transport and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari said here on Monday.

Talking to journalists at Foreign Correspondents Club here, the minister said the agreement between Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal to work on mutual infrastructure development and cooperation is unique and has gone down "very well".

Read more from our special coverage on "PORTS, SHIPPING"

Gadkari also said the Modi government has undertaken major legislative reforms in last two years towards codification, rationalisation and simplification of maritime statutes.

India, he said, has already taken preliminary steps to construct a deep water port at Payra in south western Bangladesh.

This port, and opening up of Chittagong and Mongla ports in Bangladesh to bilateral commerce, will give immense boost to relations between two countries, he said.

The minister said a high-level delegation of his ministry will visit Bangladesh to work out details for the Payra port, which would be closer to Indian coastline too.

On June 6, 2015, during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Dhaka, India and Bangladesh inked the agreement on coastal shipping for two-way trade through ports and also had signed an memorandum of understanding for use of Chittagong and Mongla ports for movement of goods to and from India.

The agreements seek to reduce not only the time in shipping goods but also costs.

In fact, Gadkari said on Monday that India is keen to use Chittagong port for transporting goods to northeast India, which otherwise suffers a lot due to poor road link with the mainland.

The external affairs ministries of both sides have already held talks for the port development, the minister said.

Similarly, he said India is very much keen to develop Chabahar port in Iran and added that connecting Chabhar to Kandla will have an immense impact in long term perspective.

India has already pledged investment of about Rs 2 lakh crore in developing the strategic port in Iran, which would provide India a sea-land access route to Afghanistan.

This can in future open up road communication even to Russia and beyond, he hoped.

Gadkari said the on-going visit of an Indian delegation, led by Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, to Iran will give further boost to cooperation on various sectors including port development, road transport and highways as a team of officials from his ministry is also in the visiting team.

"We will come to know of details once the delegation led by Dharmendra Pradhan returns," Gadkari said.
A flag meeting was held on Tuesday between commanding officers of the Indian and Pakistani armies on the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu region.

Defence spokesperson S.N. Acharya told IANS in winter capital Jammu: "A CO (commanding officer) -level flag meeting was held between Indian and Pakistani armies at Chakan Da Bagh crossing point on the LoC in Poonch district at 11 a.m. today.

"The flag meeting discussed the situation at the LoC in the district in the aftermath of Pakistani firing in Shahpur sector of Poonch two days ago.

"The meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere. The two sides decided to take all possible steps to ensure peace and tranquility on the LoC.

"Stress was laid on the fact that farmers on the two sides of the LoC were beginning their agricultural activities after the winter months and all possible steps should be taken to ensure these activities on which livelihood of farmers depends remain unaffected," the spokesperson added.
India Ratings and Research on Tuesday placed Tata Steel on rating watch following the latter's announcement of restructuring its loss-making European operations, including divestment of its UK businesses.

"India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has placed Tata Steel Ltd's Long-Term Issuer Rating of 'IND AA' on Rating Watch Evolving (RWE). The outlook was Negative," the Fitch group company said.

"The agency has also placed the ratings on all of the company's debt instruments on RWE," the agency said, indicating thereby, that the ratings could be either upgraded, downgraded or affirmed.

"While cutting down losses by curtailing overseas operations would be a credit positive for TSL, the uncertain timelines associated with this goal could delay the expected recovery in its credit profile.

"The extent to which the UK businesses will be divested, the timeline over which this is achieved, the amount realised from such divestiture, the amount by which debt is reduced and deleveraging achieved will be key factors for determining whether any change in the ratings is warranted," it added.

Tata Steel on Monday began the formal process of selling its British steel company, announcing an agreement to sell its long products Europe business to investment firm Greybull Capital for a "nominal" consideration. The business employs 4,800 people -- 4,400 in Britain and 400 in France.

"The deal will be completed once a number of outstanding conditions have been resolved, including transfer of contracts, certain government approvals and the satisfactory completion of financing arrangements," Tata Steel said in a statement in London.

"Under these current challenging conditions in Europe with soaring levels of imports from China, we are happy Tata Steel UK and Greybull Capital have entered the final stage of completion of the sale of shareholding in long steel UK," said Hans Fischer, chief executive for Tata Europe.

Having suffered nearly $3 billion in losses on its UK operations, Tata Steel had said this month that it will explore options to put its entire portfolio there up for sale, some 10 years after it forayed into Europe by acquiring the Anglo-Dutch Corus for over $8.1 billion.

Ind-Ra said the rating approach factors in a one notch uplift for the company's strong operational and strategic linkages with the Tata Group, adding the sale of its UK businesses would enable the company to reduce losses substantially.

The business environment in the 2016 financial year continued to be aggravated by large scale imports of steel from Russia and China, it said.

The financial profile of the company has weakened and it essentially stems from the fall in realisations in both domestic and European operations, due to a weak demand together with large global overcapacity overhang, leading to a high level of cheap imports into India as well as Europe, it added.
India and the UAE on Friday held discussions on posssibilities of mutual investment in the oil and gas sectors, including about the latter investing in the building India's strategic oil reserve.

These issues were discussed at a meeting between visiting Petroleum Minister Dharmedra Pradhan, and UAE's Energy Minister Suhail Mohammed Al Mazrouei.

"Had detailed discussion with Oil Minister of UAE;it's 3rd meeting with him in a year;agreed on few concrete projects," Pradhan tweeted.

"Discussed investment in Indian strategic oil reserve; mutual investment in oil, gas, refinery, petrochemical projects," he said in another tweet.

Gulf and Saudi oil majors, such as Aramco, the Kuwait Petroleum Corp and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, have earlier shown interest in storage in India as it reduces their transport costs into Southeast Asia.

In India's first phase of building strategic oil reserves, the storage cavern at Vishakhapatnam has been completed, while construction is in the final stages at Padur and Mangaluru, both in Karnataka.

Pradhan's visit to the United Arab Emirates is a follow up of the February India visit of Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Mazrouei.

During his visit, Pradhan will also meet the CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and the chairman of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

UAE contributes in a major way to India's energy security, being the sixth-largest supplier of crude oil. India is the second-largest destination for UAE's oil exports.
The Indian Jewish community has reiterated its demand for recognition as a minority community in the country. The community has moved an application with the union minority affairs ministry to this effect, official sources said.

"We have received a request from the Jewish community to be notified as a minority community. We have forwarded their request to the concerned department," an official told IANS.

Currently, there are around 5,000 Jews who are Indian nationals, living in various parts of the country. The majority -- around 4,000 -- live in and around Mumbai.

At present, there are six notified minority communities in India, namely the Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs, Parsis and Jains.

"Jews have been part of the Indian society for 2,300 years now. But post Independence, we have not been recognised as a minority," Rabbi Ezekiel Isaac Malekar, the head of the Jewish community in Delhi, told IANS.

"If we get the official recognition as a minority community, a lot of things would become easier for us. For example, it would become easier for us to register our marriages, which are currently registered under special categories," he said.

"We would also be able to set up our own educational institutes and practise and promote our culture," Malekar said.
The Uttar Pradesh government acted illegally in prolonging the suspension of IPS officer Amitabh Thakur despite a contrary order of the central government, the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has been told.

The state government has refused to comply with a central government order that said his suspension stands revoked from October 11, 2015, Amitabh Thakur, the suspended Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, said before the Lucknow bench of CAT.

Thakur was suspended by the state government on July 13, 2015, after he lodged a police complaint against Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav for allegedly threatening him over the phone.

The suspension has since been extended.

Thakur has challenged his suspension in the CAT.

He told the CAT that the state government decided to continue with his suspension despite receiving a letter from the central government, dated March 31, 2016, which quashed the suspension with effect from October 11, 2015.

The central government passed the order under Rule 19(2) of All India Services Discipline and Appeal Rules, which the state government must comply with under the same rules as well as also under Article 256 of the Constitution, Thakur told the CAT.

He prayed before the CAT to direct the state government to comply with the central government order and to reinstate him immediately.

The IPS officer and his wife Nutan Thakur are well known for their outspokenness on corruption and filing of dozens of public interest litigation petitions (PILs).
Member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) pledged here on Tuesday to defeat terrorism and extremism.

"We will continue to fight against force of darkness and extremism that misrepresent the real teaching of Islam, which is based on tolerance," Xinhua quoted Egyptian Deputy Foreign Minister Hisham Badr as saying in his opening speech at a meeting with foreign ministers from other OIC member states.

In his view, the Islamic world is in need of moderation and an integrated strategy for an effective struggle against terrorism and extremism.

Badr also appealed for a dialogue among civilisations and religions to overcome the challenges facing the region.

"We hope we will win despite all of the sacrifices we gave," he added.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that an action plan that will draw a road map for the OIC over the next 10 years will be adopted at the OIC leaders' summit slated for Thursday and Friday.

"I believe that the Islamic world will achieve the targets of the action plan with a spirit of unity and solidarity," Cavusoglu said.

At the meeting of foreign ministers, Badr handed over the OIC presidency to Cavusoglu.

The 13th OIC summit is expected to draw more than 50 heads of state or government, including Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J.Jayalalithaa condoled the death of two people who had attended her rally on Monday and said solatium will be offered to their families.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Jayalalithaa said S.Karunakaran who attended the rally at Virudhachalam in Cuddalore district, around 230 km from here, became unwell suddenly and died while being taken to the hospital.

She said M.Radhakrishnan, while on his way back home after the rally, became unwell and died while being taken to the hospital.

"Since the model code of conduct is in vogue now, the party will provide financial assistance to the family of the dead after the elections," Jayalalithaa said.

In a statement issued here DMK president M.Karunanidhi condemned the ruling AIADMK as well as police for their inaction.

Expressing condolence on the death of the two, Karunanidhi said the people were brought to the rally venue in the morning and were forced to stay put under the hot sun for several hours.

He said police did not allow the people waiting under the sun to leave the venue.
DMK president M. Karunanidhi, who will contest for a record 13th time in assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, will start his campaign from April 23, it was announced on Tuesday.

Karunanidhi, 93, will file his nomination on April 25 in Tiruvarur assembly constituency, about 320 km from here. Elections in Tamil Nadu are due on May 16.

After a public rally here on April 23, the former chief minister will address more than 30 public rallies - either from his campaign van or from the dais.

The five-time chief minister has never been defeated since he started contesting elections in 1957.

After his win from Thanjavur in 1962, Karunanidhi has been contesting the assembly polls from one of the seats in Chennai. In 2011, he shifted to Tiruvarur.

The DMK will contest the coming election in alliance with the Congress and smaller parties.
Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev has accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Temir Sariyev and his cabinet.

According to a presidential decree signed late on Monday, all members of the cabinet will continue to perform their duties till a new government is formed.

Sariyev, who has been prime minister since May 2015, announced his resignation on Monday over a road construction project scandal, Xinhua reported.

Earlier this month, a scandal about the legality of competition for a road construction project broke out. The government was accused of having rigged the road construction tender.
A Giridih district court in Jharkhand on Tuesday sentenced to death a person found guilty of raping a seven-year-old girl and killing her.

The death sentence for Mathura Mahto was pronounced by district and session judge Sunil Kumar Singh.

The incident took place in 2011 at Badidih village in Giridih district, about 170 km from here.

According to a lawyer, Mathura Mahto lured the girl to a jungle and raped her.

After raping her, Mahto hacked her to death.

Helped by his father, Mahto then dumped the victim's body in the bushes.

Bikari Yadav has been awarded two years' imprisonment for helping his son destroy the evidence.
Jammu and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday met union Home Minister Rajnath Singh for the first time after assuming office. She also met Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari.

Mehbooba is understood to have discussed the controversy over the National Institute of Technology (NIT) - Srinagar, following the stand-off between Kashmiri and non-Kashmiri students and the police action on the institute campus.

After meeting Rajnath Singh, which she described as a "courtesy call", Mehbooba dismissed the possibility of shifting the NIT out of the Valley as was being demanded by some students.

"Let me make it clear that it is an issue within the institute, and please do not give it a colour of local versus outsiders. The human resource development ministry is looking into the grievances of the outstation students, and I am hopeful that it will be resolved soon," the chief minister told reporters as she came out of the North Block office.

According to ruling Peoples Democratic Party sources, Mehbooba, on her first visit to New Delhi since she was sworn-in, discussed various state government proposals now under the consideration of the home ministry. These included continuation of modernisation of the police force scheme, revised ex gratia scheme including for loss of livestock in cross-border firing, and exemption of security-related expenditure on account of deployment charges.

Mehboba also proposed opening of additional routes and crossing points across the Line of Control.

These were Kargil-Skardu, Jammu-Sialkote, Turtuk-Khapulu, Chhamb Jorian-Mirpur, Gurez-Astoor-Gilgit, Titwal-Chilhas, Jhangar (Nowshera)-Mirpur and Kotli.

Expressing concern over rising crimes against women, Mehbooba sought support from the home minister for financial assistance in raising two all-women battalions for executive policing.

She also advocated adopting non-lethal means and better crowd control to prevent loss of human lives while dealing with law-and-order situations in the Valley.

The chief minister also urged Rajnath Singh to take an early decision on the state government's proposal to recognise Nepal route as one of the routes under the policy framed for militants returning to mainstream, peaceful life.

On the return of Kashmir Pandits, the chief minister said not only the state government but the people of Jammu and Kashmir want the Kashmiri Pandit community to return to the valley with dignity and honour as the cultural milieu of Kashmir without them remains incomplete.

The home minister assured Mehbooba of full support from the Centre, sources said.

Duing her meeting with Gadkari, Mehbooba sought higher allocation under the Central Road Fund for the state and assured full support for land acquisition for construction of ring roads in the two cities of Jammu and Srinagar.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address members of more than two lakh gram panchayats across the country through web streaming and television on April 24 to seek suggestions to make better government agricultural policies.

"The prime minister's address on April 24 to all gram sabhas in the country from Jamshedpur in Jharkhand will be streamed live. Villagers will get an opportunity to share their ideas to help improve government schemes meant for them," union Rural Development Minister Birender Singh told reporters at the National Media Centre here.

The National Panchayati Raj Day is celebrated on April 24.

"

"The union government is organising 'Gram Uday se Bharat Uday' programme between April 14 and 24 with assistance from state governments. Various schemes costing over Rs.2.92 lakh crore are scheduled for unveiling during the campaign," the minister added.

Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, who was also present on the occasion, said officials of the agriculture and rural development ministries and state departments concerned will interact between April 17 and 24 to organise various events at the village level to understand villagers' problems better.

"We came up with this campaign to promote agriculture. The government will take the Prime Minister's Crop Insurance scheme and Social Health Card scheme to the people. During these interactions, we will make them understand the schemes better so that their benefits reach everyone," Radha Mohan Singh said.

The agriculture minister said that Modi will also honour representatives of the best performing panchayats during the campaign.

"A national meeting of tribal women panchayat presidents from 10 states will also be held at Vijaywada in Andhra Pradesh on April 19," Birender Singh said.

He said the aim of the entire exercise was to strengthen Panchayati Raj Institutions and resolve the problems of drinking water and rural sanitation.

Replying to a question on non-payment to Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme workers, the minister said" "We have released more than Rs.12,000 crore recently, out of which Rs.8,000 crore can be used by the state governments to clear pending MGNREGA payments. The remaining amount can be used to improve rural infrastructure."

Birender Singh said the Centre had also released Rs.823 crore to the drought-affected states to make potable water available to the populace.

As per the information available with the central government, 13 states were affected by drought, 10 of which have shared detailed reports on the situation while three others are still finalising reports on drought impact in certain areas, he said.
Nepal's Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli on Tuesday said his country will no longer be a laboratory for other countries to conduct experiments in.

He said social scientists have experimented in the Himalayan country in the name of language, culture, ethnicity, geography, region and identity in the past.

"But we will not let the country (to be used) as a laboratory," he said in his address broadcast across the country on the eve of the Nepali New Year.

He said Nepal wanted friendly relations with all countries.

Oli called on the agitating Madhes-based political parties to seek a solution to their grievances through parleys to end the political impasse, saying that dialogue could resolve all issues.

"What is the (cause of) displeasure in Madhes, I have not reached any conclusion. What is the end result of the killing of 59 people, merciless vandalism and attack on public and private properties and the squeeze on the nation for months."

Oli said the government panel led by Deputy Prime Minister Kamal Thapa should expedite the process of holding parleys with the agitating Madhesi parties and find a solution to their grievances at the earliest.

He said the government cannot afford to dilly-dally on finding the solution to the Madhes crisis.

"The implementation of the new constitution is a key task of my government, apart from reconstruction work," Oli said.

The prime minister said the nearly five-month-long border blockade pushed back Nepal, which was already struggling to recover from the devastating earthquake and its aftershock in 2015. He said he welcomed the end of the blockade.

Oli announced Nepal's commitment to human rights and criticised those critical of the country's government in the international arena on democracy, human rights and social justice issues. "This is unacceptable," he said.

"How can I discriminate in the name of caste, creed, ethnicity and other social evils. I have spent 14 years in jail for the sake of democracy and social justice," he said while appealing to the agitating Madhesi parties to come for talks.

"Democracy cannot be a horse without reins, as there are different dimensions to democracy; anarchy can't be accepted, the Nepalese prime minister said.

(Anil Giri can be contacted at girianil@gmail.com)
A team of scientists has developed a new refined tool to search for exoplanets orbiting distant stars or other planetary detections.

One of the most successful techniques to find and confirm planets is called the radial velocity method.

A planet is obviously influenced by the gravity of the star it orbits; that's what keeps it in orbit.

This technique takes advantage of the fact that the planet's gravity also affects the star in return.

As a result, astronomers are able to detect the tiny wobbles the planet induces as its gravity tugs on the star. Using this method, astronomers have detected hundreds of exoplanets.

For certain kinds of low-mass stars, there are limitations to the standard radial velocity method that may find something that looks like a planet but is not.

To address this issue, the team from Carnegie Mellon University, California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and Missouri State University decided to use the radial velocity technique but they examined a different, longer wavelength of light.

"Switching from the visible spectrum to the near-infrared, the wobble effect caused by an orbiting planet will remain the same regardless of wavelength," explained Jonathan Gagne from Carnegie.

But looking in the near-infrared will allow us to reject false positives caused by sunspots and other phenomena that will not look the same in near-infrared as they do in visible light, he added.

The research team was able to develop a better calibration tool to improve the overall technology for near-infrared radial velocity work which should make it a better option going forward.

They examined 32 low-mass stars using this technological upgrade att he NASA Infrared Telescope Facility atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii.

The findings confirmed several known planets and binary systems and also identified a few new planetary candidates.

"Our results indicate that this planet-hunting tool is precise and should be a part of the mix of approaches used by astronomers going forward," added Caltech's Peter Gao in a paper published in The Astrophysical Journal.
The NIA has moved a special court here to seek three-day custody of three men accused in the 2015 murders of the BJP's local leaders, Shirish Bangali and Pragnesh Mistry, in Bharuch.

Principal Judge P.B. Desai has reserved his order on the National Investigation Agency's (NIA) plea and fixed April 13 for further hearing.

The lawyer for the NIA, which is probing the murders, told the court that the custody of Nasir Khan Pathan, Abdul Salim Ghanchi and Shoaib Zoaid was required for their interrogation to find out more details in the case.

The three, among 12 people arrested in the case, are in judicial custody and lodged in the Sabarmati Jail in Ahmedabad.

Bangali, a former Bharuch district BJP president, and Mistry, a general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha's local unit, were shot dead in Bharuch in south Gujarat on November 2 last year.

The case was handed over to the NIA after Gujarat Police investigations found that the two could have been murdered to avenge the communal riots in Mumbai and Gujarat in 1993 and 2002 respectively.
Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra, who was conferred the Padma Shri on Tuesday, says she is currently busy with her projects and is unsure whether she would be dining with US President Barack Obama.

Priyanka, who found global recognition with her character Alex Parrish in the American TV series "Quantico", has been invited to the annual White House Correspondents Dinner with US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama later this month.

The "Mary Kom" star expressed her doubts over attending the special dinner due to her tight schedule for "Quantico" as well as for her Hollywood debut "Baywatch".

"Right now I am too busy with 'Quantico' and 'Baywatch'. That's why I am not sure if I will dine out with Obama. Not that I don't want to, but I am not sure," Priyanka told the media at an event here.

"If I get the chance to be there, I will ask Obama, 'Since this is your last term, what will you do in the White House?'" the "Bajirao Mastani" star quipped.

Priyanka, along with some of Hollywood's biggest names like Bradley Cooper, Lucy Liu, Jane Fonda and Gladys Knight, has been invited for the dinner at the White House.

The non-profit White House Correspondents' Association, whose members include the reporters, producers, camera operators and other journalists regularly covering the White House, traditionally hosts this annual dinner to raise money for journalism scholarships.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday raised several issues related to coal blocks, including their allocation to state PSUs, during a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday.

Meeting the prime minister in New Delhi, Patnaik called for allocation of an alternative coal block to Odisha Thermal Power Corporation (OTPC) in lieu of Tentuloi coal block, saying the allocated block was neither feasible for mining nor viable for operations as the cost of extracting coal from the deep cast mine would be very high.

The chief minister suggested that the Tentuloi coal block could be replaced by either of the three blocks -- Baitarani East, Karadabahal or Brahmanibill.

He said the earmarking of most of the coal blocks of Odisha for the power sector would adversely affect the mineral based industries and the revenue benefits of the state.

Patnaik said the Odisha Coal and Power Limited (OCPL) requires a bridge linkage of 16.68 million tonnes of coal from 2017-18 to 2020-21 to meet the gap between power plant commissioning and coal production from the allocated Manoharpur and dipside Manoharpur coal blocks.

He asked Modi to allocate Patrapada and Nuagaon Teli Sahi coal blocks to the Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) for commercial mining and sale of coal to the non-regulated sector and earmark at least nine coal blocks for the non-regulated sector through auction.

The chief minister also said the bidding process for implementation of Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) at Bedabahal in Sungargarh district has been delayed and needs to be expedited to meet the future power requirements of the state.

Stating that the union government was giving preferential treatment to central government undertakings in raising compensatory afforestation on degraded forest land, he said the said dispensation was presently not available to projects of the state government and its undertakings.

He said that over 37 percent of geographical area in Odisha was recorded as forest area, and that makes it difficult to identify non-forest land for raising compensatory afforestation, and this special dispensation should be extended to state government projects.

He said environmental clearances to many mining projects were pending in the union ministry over delay in the submission of final reports by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI).

He also drew the attention of Modi to the proposal in the budget for 2016-17 proposing an increase in the clean environment cess from the existing Rs.200 per MT to Rs.400 per MT.

This, he said, would result in collection of about Rs.6,400 crore from Odisha without any commensurate benefit to the state.
An alleged Indian spy arrested in has been charged with sabotage and terrorism related charges, a newspaper said on Tuesday.

The counter-terrorism department in Quetta had lodged a case against Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was arrested from Balochistan last month on charges of being an agent of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

The News quoted police sources as saying that the case was registered on the complaint of the Balochistan home department on the directives of the federal government.

"Terrorism, Foreign Act violation and sabotage charges have been included in the FIR," the sources said, adding the FIR was sealed off soon after it was lodged.

India has admitted that Jadhav worked earlier for the navy but denied he was a RAW agent.

According to Islamabad, Jadhav was based in Iran and regularly visited Pakistan's Balochistan region.
Computer scientists have found that the most common used Domain Name System (DNS) redirection strategy -- the success of which depends on shielding the website's original IP address -- is not secure as it can easily be bypassed.

Websites and online services increasingly have to deal with acts of cybercrimes.

"Website owners can protect themselves against cyberattacks by installing dedicated hardware," said Thomas Vissers from the University of Leuven.

"Yet, this is typically too expensive and too complex for most of them. That's why website owners often rely on the services offered by cloud-based security providers," he added.

One strategy these providers commonly use to protect websites includes diverting incoming web traffic via their own infrastructure which is sufficiently robust to detect and absorb cyberattacks.

"However, the success of this strategy heavily depends on how well the website's original IP address can be shielded. If that IP address can be retrieved, protection mechanisms can easily be bypassed," Vissers said.

According to the researchers, this is the Achilles heel of cloud-based security.

Nearly 18,000 websites, protected by five different providers, were subjected to the team's DNS redirection vulnerability tests.

The researchers built a tool called CLOUDPIERCER, which automatically tries to retrieve websites' original IP address based on eight different methods, including the use of unprotected subdomains.

The results were pretty confronting. In more than 70 percent of the cases, CLOUDPIERCER was able to effectively retrieve the website's original IP address, thereby, providing the exact information that is needed to launch a successful cyberattack.

The findings were presented at the 22nd ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security (CCS) held in Denver, Colorado, recently.

"With CLOUDPIERCER, people can test their own website against the eight methods that we have used in our research. CLOUDPIERCER scans the website, and indicates to which IP detection method it is most vulnerable," Vissers noted.

The tool has been made available for free.
President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday greeted the people on the occasion of Baisakhi and other festivals like Vishu, Puthandu, Masadi, Vaishkhadi, Bohag Bihu, Poila Boishakh and Maha Vishuba Sankranti being celebrated in various parts of the country.

"On the joyous occasion of Baisakhi, I extend greetings and good wishes to all fellow countrymen, especially sisters and brothers engaged in cultivation and farming," the President said in his message.

"May this joyous festival coinciding with the harvest season herald prosperity and happiness. Let us pray that the bounty of nature continues to shower its blessings on our hard working farmers," he added.

Ansari, in his message, said these festivals associated with the onset of the harvest season reflect the rich agrarian traditions and composite culture of our country.

"I extend my warm greetings and good wishes to the people of our country on the joyous occasion of Baisakhi, Vishu, Puthandu, Masadi, Vaishkhadi and Bohag Bihu," Ansari said.

"May these festivals bring peace, harmony, prosperity and happiness in our country," he added.

Modi hoped that these festivals herald happiness and prosperity for all.

"May the coming year give wings to the aspirations of the people, especially the youth, and spread harmony and joy among all," the prime minister said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to Saudi Arabia was quite successful in promoting India's interests and also in the fight against terror, Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla said here on Tuesday.

She also hinted at some "good news" soon from Riyadh on New Delhi's request to increase the Haj quota.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Saudi Arabia was very successful and fruitful in promoting India's and Indians' interests. Our bilateral relations have strengthened, and Saudi Arabia is ready to cooperate with us in the fight against terror," Heptulla said.

The prime minister's visit will have helped instil confidence in the 2.5 million strong Indian diaspora in the largest Gulf country, she added.

"Another aspect of this visit was that we have been seeking better facilities for the Indian Haj pilgrims. Also, we want the quota allotted to us increased. We may hear some good news very soon in this connection," the minister added.

Every year, 1,50,000 Indian pilgrims go to Saudi Arabia to perform Haj, though many more apply for it. The names are finalised through lucky draw system.

"I think, with strengthened bilateral relations, more investment would come into India from Saudi Arabia," Heptulla added.

Apart from being India's largest supplier of crude oil, Saudi Arabia is also India's fourth largest trading partner.
Actress Madhuri Dixit, one among the many Bollywood celebrities invited for the gala dinner with British Royals Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton, says it was a "memorable night" for her to meet the "gracious and down to earth" couple.

The reception, that took place at The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel here on Sunday, was joined by celebrities like Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor, Neetu Kapoor, Karan Johar, Anil Kapoor, Aditi Rao Hydari, Alia Bhatt, Farhan Akhtar, Jacqueline Fernandez, Parineeti Chopra and Huma Qureshi, among others.

The gala aimed to raise funds for organisations including Childline India, Magic Bus and Door Step School, India.

"It was a pleasure meeting Prince William and Kate Middleton. They were gracious and down to earth. It was a very memorable night. The Gala dinner, though short-lived, was an evening to remember," Madhuri, who donned a lavishing dress by the brand Shyamal & Bhumika at the event, said in a statement.

She was joined by her husband doctor Sriram Nene for the event.

Madhuri will next be seen onscreen as a judge on the upcoming dance reality show "So You Think You Can Dance", which will be aired on &TV.
The second year pre-university course re-exam in chemistry was held across Karnataka on Tuesday as rescheduled after its question paper leaked twice leading to cancellations on March 21 and March 31.

"The re-examination of the chemistry paper was held across the state under strict supervision of our officials amid tight security," Pre-University board director Rame Gowda told reporters here later.

Around 1.74 lakh students appeared for the three-hour re-exam from 9 a.m. till noon in 968 centres across 30 districts.

Thousands of students came out of the centres beaming, as the question paper was "easier", and expressed relief that the ordeal was finally over.

Some of the students found the question paper better than the one they wrote on March 21, which was cancelled hours after it was held when the board learnt it was leaked in some centres in Ballari and Kolar districts.

Ballari is about 330 km from Bengaluru and Kolar about 100 km away.

The March 31 re-exam was cancelled before it could be held after sleuths of the state crime investigation department (CID) alerted the board that the paper in the same subject got leaked in Bengaluru and Tumakuru, about 70 km from here.

Five people, including personal assistant Oblaraju to state medical minister Sharan Prakash Patil, one department official and two teachers were arrested on April 4-5 for their alleged involvement in the leak of the question paper on both occasions.

About 40 officials of the board from joint director to peon were also suspended on March 31 and the CID is investigating the case.
Punjab's Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Tuesday hailed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's move to apologise for the then Canadian government's decision in 1914 to deny entry to a boatful of Indians into the country.

"It is very heartening that the Canadian government has decided to apologise in the country's parliament for the Komagata Maru episode to acknowledge the hurt caused to the (Sikh) community in 1914," Badal said.

On the occasion, Badal recalled Gurdit Singh who had rented Japanese ship 'Komagata Maru' to rescue Punjabis stranded in Hong Kong and took them to Canada in 1914.

"The Shiromani Akali Dal has been pushing for years for this formal apology in the Canadian parliament and the Trudeau government has at last decided to offer the apology," Badal said in a statement here.

Trudeau announced on Monday that he will offer a full apology for a government decision in 1914 to deny entry to the Sikhs and Indians in the country.

"As a nation, we should never forget the prejudice suffered by the Sikh community at the hands of the Canadian government of the day. We should not and we will not," Trudeau was quoted by Xinhua news agency as saying.

"That is why, on May 18, I will stand in the House of Commons and offer a full apology for the Komagata Maru incident," he said.

The chartered Japanese ship Komagata Maru sailed into the Vancouver harbour on May 23, 1914, with 376 people from Punjab. Most of them were Sikhs.

The Canadian government refused to allow the passengers to disembark and Komagata Maru sat in the harbour for two months. On July 23, 1914, the Komagata Maru was escorted out to sea by a Canadian naval cruiser and it returned to India, where 20 people were killed as they tried to disembark and the others were jailed by the then British Indian government authorities.

The Punjab assembly passed a resolution on May 26, 2015, seeking an apology from the Canadian parliament for the tragedy.

Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, the first Sikh-Canadian to command a Canadian army reserve regiment, tweeted on Monday that he is "truly honoured" by Trudeau's commitment to a formal apology.
North Korea demanded on Tuesday that South Korea return 13 North Korean nationals who Seoul claimed were defectors to the South and apologise for abducting them.

A spokesman for the central committee of North Korean Red Cross Society said that the National Intelligence Service of South Korea lured and abducted the 13 individuals who worked at a state-run restaurant in China, calling this "a hideous crime" against the Pyongyang's dignity and its social system, Xinhua reported.

The spokesman asked South Korean authorities to apologise for the group kidnapping and send them back immediately.

The South will be accountable for serious consequences if it fails to do so, he added.

Seoul's unification ministry said on Friday that the group defected to South Korea last week. Local media said it marked the first time that a group of North Korean citizens working at the same overseas restaurant defected to South Korea.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang confirmed on Monday that 13 North Korean nationals entered and left China legally with valid passports last week.

He made the remarks at a briefing when asked to comment on a report that 13 North Korean nationals had gone to the Republic of Korea from a restaurant in an unspecified third country, possibly China.
North Korea on Tuesday made a new attempt to criticise the US by publishing a fictitious letter signed by the 16th American president Abraham Lincoln addressed to Barack Obama.

In the letter titled "Advice from Lincoln to Obama" and published by the propaganda website DPRK Today, the president appears to criticise President Obama's attempt to put an end to North Korea's nuclear weapons programme without committing himself to dispense with his own country's significantly larger arsenal, EFE news reported.

The fake Lincoln denounced Obama for wanting to abolish nuclear weapons in the world when the US has upgraded its arsenal and carried out atomic tests in Nevada in 2015.

"Look, Obama, the US has been threatening the stability and peace of that small country in the East for more than 70 years, and such an act is so shameful that I can't bear to see the US obstructing the people's development," continues the text, ensuring that North Korea will not succumb to the recent UN sanctions.

This imaginary Lincoln also exercises self-criticism in the letter warning that "the tactic by past American presidents, including me, who deceived the people ... is outdated."

Abraham Lincoln, who was one of the main opponents of slavery in the US during the 19th century, is greatly revered by Obama, who often mentions him in his speeches.

The unusual letter comes at a time of increased tension as Seoul and Washington carried out military manoeuvres in South Korea after Pyongyang recently threatened the US with nuclear attacks for the harsh sanctions imposed by the UN as a result of its weapons tests.
will participate in the Paris climate agreement signing ceremony to be held later this month at the UN headquarters in New York, the UN spokesperson's office has said.

Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong will participate in the ceremony, Xinhua on Tuesday reported quoting the office as saying on Monday.

However, a reported meeting between UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the foreign minister on the sidelines of the ceremony cannot be confirmed, the office said.

More than 130 countries have confirmed to attend the Paris agreement ceremony on April 22, the first day that the agreement will be open for signature, according to the UN.

Adopted by the 196 parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Paris agreement sets a target of keeping the global average rise in temperature below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and preferably below 1.5 degrees.

On the basis of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, developed countries agreed to raise $100 billion a year by 2020 to help developing countries transform their economies.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the central government to give information about the drought situation in 12 states with details relating to affected states, districts, taluks and villages as the government opposed the plea for appointment of a court commissioner to apprise it of the situation.

A bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice N.V.Ramana sought the details from the central government as Additional Solicitor General P.S. Narasimha said that it was for the states to decide whether a drought-like situation prevails in a state or not.

The 12 states that are hit by drought are Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, and Haryana.

Putting the onus on the states to take a call whether a drought like situation prevailed or not, Narasimha said: "What are the factors based on which a situation can be declared as drought, it is in the domain of the state government and would be left to it.

"If in a situation the facts are so glaring (pointing to drought), then of course the court will exercise its judicial powers" and declare the drought, he said.

Turning the tables on Narasimha, the court asked: "If facts are so startling then the court can declare drought, then what is the role of the centre."

"It is between the states and the court and centre has no role (if a state is affected with drought and is not declaring so)," observed Justice Ramana.

In response, Narasimha said: "It is for the state to decide. We (centre) send advisory. If state says no, it is no so (drought like situation), then we have to defer to it."

But the court asked if the central government had given an advisory to Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat.

"We are not saying that the centre is all powerful. After assessing the situation and giving the advisory, what else you have done, given any financial assistance," it asked, as Narasimha sought to project the legalistic argument that it was for the states to decide and the central government had only a limited role of issuing an advisory.

Against the backdrop of Gujarat earlier saying that it would not implement the National Food Security Act, the court asked Narasimha that when parliament enacts a law and the president gives his assent, can a state say that it will not implement it.

At this, the standing counsel of Gujarat Hemantika Wahi told the court that the central government had extended the date and the state was delayed two months of the extended date in implementing the act.

Asking Narasimha where the central government had said so in its affidavit, the court asked: "Under what provision of law they (centre) can do this (extend the date of implementation)."

The court is hearing a PIL by NGO Swaraj Abhiyan seeking direction on the implementation of the welfare schemes in the 12 states and that relief under various welfare schemes including disbursal of dal, edible oil, egg and milk should be made available to all without making any distinction of below poverty line, above poverty line and others.

The next hearing of the matter is on April 19.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday slammed the government policy allowing private airlines to fly to lucrative destinations without putting them under the obligation of catering to less economical routes like Himachal Pradesh and the northeast.

"If you are giving a private operator (permission) to fly to Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, can't you ask them to fly to Himachal Pradesh, northeastern states, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands," asked the bench of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice R. Banumathi.

Describing as "bluff" the government's position that it has framed the guidelines and was strictly adhering to them, the bench mockingly observed that the economic interest of private operators was being taken care of without any concern for air routes like Himachal Pradesh and the northeastern states.

Describing it as "largesse" to the private airlines without "insisting on corresponding obligations to cater to less lucrative routes", the court said: "We will go into the system."

The court also mentioned a petition by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy questioning the agreement between India and the UAE allegedly permitting Etihad Airways to carry 36,670 more passengers over and above the permitted number of 13,330 passengers per week.

The agreement between India and Abu Dhabi was signed in April 2013 and another agreement between Jet Airways and Etihad was signed in December 2013. Swamy had in 2013 challenged the Jet-Etihad deal and its approval by the government.

As Additional Solicitor General P.S. Patwalia, appearing for Air India, told the court that Shimla was a small airport with all its accompanied difficulties, the court said it was not going to be carried away by all this and it would bring out some more skeletons.

Reminding Patwalia that in the course of the last hearing on March 15, 2016, he had said, "we will do something", the court said: "We thought you will come back and tell us that this group will operate flights" to Shimla airport.

With the court leaving no doubt about its intentions, Patwalia said he has "understood the sentiments of the court" and would convey the same to the right quarters as the court directed the next hearing on April 21.

The court was hearing a petition by national carrier Air India challenging the Himachal Pradesh High Court's December 7, 2015 order asking it to commence flights on a trial basis connecting Shimla and Delhi.

The national carrier had earlier told the court that a flight connecting Shimla with Delhi was not economical as there were 12-15 one-way passengers only.

The apex court had on December 16, 2015, ordered status quo, thereby putting on hold the December 7 high court direction to Air India.
Ahead of the visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Kate Middleton on April 16, police have tightened security arrangements in the tourist complex area along Fatehabad Road leading to the Taj Mahal.

The royal couple is scheduled to visit Agra on Saturday. Officials said they will spend nearly two hours at the Taj Mahal.

Hoteliers said local intelligence officials had directed them not to rent out rooms to visitors from Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Turkey and other Islamic State (IS)-affected countries.

The whole area from Kheria airport to the Taj Mahal is being spruced up and sanitised for the high profile visit.

ASI superintending archaeologist Bhuvan Vikram told IANS that the scaffolding around the minarets will not be dismantled as was being suggested, so that the royal visitors get a "fair and unobstructed glimpse" of the 17th century monument of love.

Maintenance work alongwith mud-pack therapy to beautify the monument will continue.

A 70-year-old local photographer Surendra Sharma has sought the district administration's permission to present the royal couple an album of Queen Elizabeth's visit to the Taj Mahal way back in 1961.
A shutdown called by the separatists affected normal life across the Kashmir Valley on Tuesday.

Shops, public transport, other business establishments and educational institutions remained closed in summer capital Srinagar and other towns and cities in the valley.

Transport between Srinagar and other districts of the valley remained suspended.

Some means of private transport and three-wheelers were operating in Srinagar.

Attendance in government offices, banks and post offices was thin due to non-availability of public transport in the city.

The shutdown has been called by separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Muhammad Yasin Malik and others in protest against alleged harassment of Kashmiri students in educational and professional institutions outside the valley.

Kashmir Bar Association has supported the shutdown call and chosen to stay away from courts on Tuesday.

Authorities have placed Geelani and Mirwaiz under house arrest in Srinagar while Malik was taken into preventive custody and lodged in a local police station two days ahead of Tuesday's shutdown call.

Police and Central Reserve Police Force troopers in riot gear have been stationed at vulnerable areas here and other district headquarters in the valley.
will ban smoking in reservoirs and parks from June 1, a senior minister said on Tuesday.

The ban will affect 17 reservoirs and parks in public housing estates in Jurong town corporation, Xinhua quoted Environment and Water Resources Minister Amy Khor as saying.

The banned premises will also include neighbourhood parks within private housing estates.

The owners of these premises will have the option to set up designated smoking points.

The National Environment Agency said this was in line with the government's ultimate goal of prohibiting smoking in all public areas.

"To protect non-smokers, we have progressively prohibited smoking in public places since the 1970s. The smoking prohibition was last extended in 2013, and today there are more than 32,000 premises and locations where smoking is prohibited," said Khor.

For the first three months of implementation, a warning will be given to those caught smoking in the newly prohibited places. Repeat offenders can result in fines of up to 2,000 dollars ($1,480).
A sister of Kirpal Singh -- who died in Pakistan where he was jailed after conviction for spying -- on Tuesday protested at the Attari-Wagah integrated checkpost on the India-Pakistan border here over his death the previous day.

"My brother Kirpal has been murdered just like Sarabjit was earlier. The Pakistani jail authorities are responsible for his death," Jagir Kaur said during the protest.

Jagir Kaur was accompanied by many other protestors, among them Dalbir Kaur, the elder sister of Sarabjit Singh, another Indian who was murdered in a Pakistani jail.

The family demanded that Kirpal's body be handed over to them for cremation at his native village in Gurdaspur district.

Pakistani authorities had announced Kirpal's death on Monday, saying he complained of chest pain in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat Jail and was rushed to a hospital there. The authorities said Kirpal, 54, died due to heart failure.

In April 2013, death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh was brutally attacked and murdered by his fellow prisoners at the Kot Lakhpat Jail.

Both Jagir and Dalbir demanded a probe into the deaths of both the prisoners so that more Indians lodged in Pakistani jails did not suffer the same fate in future.

Kirpal had crossed into Pakistan in 1992 inadvertently, according to his family.

He was arrested in Pakistan and later convicted for a bomb blast. He was sentenced to death initially though the sentence was later commuted to 20-year jail term by a Pakistan court.

Despite demands from his family, he was not set free.
At least six people, five soldiers and an attacker, were killed and more than 10 others injured in a suicide bombing in Yemen's Aden city on Tuesday, a security official said.

"A suicide bomber blew himself up next to a police checkpoint in Aden's neighbourhood of Sheikh Othman," Xinhua quoted the security official as saying.

The bomber was also killed in his blast which targeted a checkpoint in Aden, the official added.

The security official blamed the attack on the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda branch, which has large influence and presence in the southern regions due to the government's absence and the security vacuum.

Scores of gunmen linked to the Al-Qaeda and the Yemen-based affiliate of the Islamic State group took control over key government compounds after defeating the Shia Houthi forces last year.

The port city of Aden, Yemen's temporary capital, has been witnessing a state of chaos and lawlessness during the past months resulted in the assassination of Aden's former governor, several high-ranking security officers and judges.

The turbulent and complicated security situation in Aden and neighbouring southern provinces of Lahj and Abyan is one of the biggest challenges for the Saudi-led Arab coalition forces operating in Aden.

The Saudi-led Arab coalition has dispatched thousands of soldiers from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Sudan and Bahrain into five anti-Houthi southern provinces to support and train local Yemeni security forces there.
A team of scientists has discovered six new proteins that may help reveal secrets of how humans age -- potentially unlocking new insights into diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, cancer and other ageing-related problems.

The researchers found that these tiny proteins are produced naturally in the energy-generating mitochondria -- the powerhouse in human cells -- and play key roles in metabolism and cell survival.

"The findings are an important advance that will be ripe for rapid translation into drug development for diseases of ageing," said lead researcher Pinchas Cohen from University of Southern California in the US.

The amount of each protein decreases with age, leading to onset of diseases linked to older age.

To learn further, the team used computer analysis and uncovered the genes for six new proteins which were dubbed small humanin-like peptides (SHIP).

"The newly recognised SHLP family expands the understanding of the mitochondria as an intracellular signalling organelle that communicates with the rest of the body to regulate metabolism and cell fate," Cohen explained.

After identifying the six new proteins and successfully developing antibodies to test for several of them, the researchers examined both mouse tissues and human cells to determine their abundance in different organs as well as their functions.

The proteins were distributed quite differently among organs, suggesting that the proteins have varying functions based on where they are in the body.

The results revealed that these tiny proteins plays several big roles in our bodies' cells, from decreasing the amount of damaging free radicals and controlling the rate at which cells die to boosting metabolism and helping tissues throughout the body respond better to insulin.
World No. 8 David Ferrer announced on Twitter his withdrawal from the Monte Carlo Masters due to a calf injury on Tuesday, a day prior to his opening match against Germany's Alexander Zverev in the second round.

The Spaniard added that he would keep everyone informed about his potential return to the ATP Tour, Xinhua reported.

Lucky loser Marcel Granollers will replace Ferrer in the main draw.

Ferrer, a finalist in the Principality tournament in 2011 against Rafael Nadal, has also reached the semifinals here twice, respectively in 2010 and 2014.

His best result so far this season has been reaching the semifinals of the Auckland Open and the Argentina Open, where he lost respectively to American Jack Sock and to countryman Nicolas Almagro.

Ferrer also reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open before being ousted by Andy Murray, and the Rio Open where he lost to Pablo Cuevas.

He suffered an opening round defeat in Doha, where he was the defending champion to Illya Marchenko, and made a second-round exit in Acapulco, where he was the defending champion again.

His bad run of form extended to Indian Wells and Miami as well, where he failed to reach the second week and lost to Frenchman Lucas Pouille in the third round.
Taiwan's foreign ministry on Tuesday protested against Kenya deporting 37 Taiwanese citizens to China.

It was the second such incident in less than a week after Nairobi dispatched eight Taiwanese nationals to China on April 8, despite a protest by the island nation, EFE news agency reported.

Read more from our special coverage on "TAIWAN" Pushing territorial claim, Taiwan says rock is an island in South China Sea

Both groups had been linked to a Chinese-operated telecommunications fraud ring in Nairobi, although they were all acquitted on April 5 and ordered to leave the country within three weeks, according to the ministry.

Taiwan, which does not have diplomatic ties with Kenya, said its diplomat in South Africa flew to Nairobi to try and block the first deportation but failed after Beijing put pressure on the East African country to send the Taiwanese to China.

Chen Chun-shen, director-general of the foreign ministry's Department of West Asian and African Affairs, said the second group of suspects were brought from a detention centre in the capital by Kenyan police to Nairobi Airport on Monday night.

As they were protesting the deportation of the first group of Taiwanese nationals, the ministry was not aware of the second group being readied for deportation until 3.00 am on Tuesday, when one of the detainees called his mother from the detention centre pleading for help.

The detainee's mother alerted the ministry, but they were unable to prevent the departure of the plane from Nairobi.

There are five more suspects in Nairobi awaiting a court ruling on June 6.

Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou on Monday expressed grave concern over the eight nationals' deportation to China, calling it a "distortion of justice" and demanding their immediate release by Beijing authorities.

This is the latest case of Taiwanese 'criminals' being deported to China from a third country.

In 2011, the Philippines cracked a large telecom fraud ring which included 14 Taiwanese and 10 Chinese. Manila deported all of them to China, despite Taipei's protests.

After lengthy negotiations between the Taiwanese and Chinese legal authorities, Beijing finally deported the 14 Taiwanese to stand trial in Taipei.
There is an all-pervasive oppression by the ruling class and we are confronting a bizarre reality now, said G. N. Saibaba, the Delhi University professor who was released on bail last week by a Supreme Court order on health grounds.

The 90 percent-disabled professor, who was arrested by the Maharashtra police in May 2014 for alleged links with Maoists, also said that those who raise questions against the ruling classes or fight for Adivasi rights are being projected as anti-nationals and put behind bars.

"We are not free to speak our mind in the present context and there is an all-pervasive kind of oppression. The threatening atmosphere is all around us and that's the indication of fascism. All kinds of freedom are being restricted," Saibaba told IANS in an interview here.

Though the wheelchair-bound professor was given bail by the Bombay High Court in June 2015, the Nagpur bench cancelled the bail in December .

Alleging that the conditions in the prison this time were harsher, Saibaba said the jail authorities had imposed strict regulations on the orders of the Maharashtra government. "Considering my deteriorating health, I wasn't even taken once to a hospital. I was denied life saving drugs and during winter, not more than one blanket was allowed," said Saibaba, who was kept in an cell meant for terrorists and Maoist rebels.

The Supreme Court, while giving bail to Saibaba, had pulled up the Maharashtra government for keeping him in jail for long. "The government counsel even argued that I might go underground or Maoist might take me away. It' s a cruel joke," he added.

Commenting on the Jawaharlal Nehru University row, Saibaba said that it's a manifestation of the current regime's anxiety on the growing awareness among students. "Teachers and students have raised some fundamental issues associated with most marginalised communities like dalits and adivasis. Whether its JNU, University of Hyderabad, NIT Srinagar or IIT Madras, these movements have a common thread," he said adding that reservation had helped dalit students to join campuses and raise their voice against oppression.

Wading into the controversy over JNU students allegedly chanting slogans in favour of Pakistan, Saibaba said, "the students have no reasons to raise the slogan Pakistan Zindabad. Both countries are in the same boat and both are selling people's labour, resources to imperialist forces," he noted.

Denying any role in the JNU incident, he said that he had met student leader Kanhaiya Kumar only at some public meetings."The Nagpur police even planted some stories in the press that I have organised the JNU event," he said.

The professor, who has been teaching for 25 years, also felt that there is no legal definition for an anti-national and it's a ploy to divert attention from the real issues. "No law in the country has defined an anti-national. There is a law for anti-state activities and sedition laws talk about anti-state (issues)," said Saibaba, adding that controversy on chanting 'Bharat Mata ki jai' is a non-issue. "These are artificially created issues which take away the space for real debates. It's a bizarre reality we confront now," he added.

He also felt that patriotism is preached by the ruling class which "mortgages the sovereignty of the country to imperialist" forces. "We don't address patriotism when the ruling classes open the gates to imperialist countries to loot our natural resources. They are conducting genocide on adivasis, destroying the environment, giving away natural resources to the corporate houses in the name of foreign investment," he alleged.

The students have given a wider meaning to the slogan azadi, he said. "Azadi is a symbolic slogan. It has acquired a wider meaning, and the students have highlighted each and every form of oppression, which has to be addressed separately and together."

Flaying the fee hike in IITs, the professor said it was an attempt by the government to restrict the entry of students from marginalised sections to educational institutions.

Though health is his first priority now, Saibaba said that he will join back teaching soon."As per the court order, I can join back teaching though the case is hanging on my head," he said. The police allege that Saibaba was a CPI-Maoist worker, a charge that he denies. "It's a fabricated case against me. And the truth will come out soon," he says.

(Preetha Nair can be reached at preetha.n@ians.in <mailto:preetha.n@ians.in>)
Tamil superstar Vijay's forthcoming actioner "Theri" will release in 144 screens in the US on Thursday with special premieres planned for Wednesday.

According to CineGalaxy Inc, the distributor of the film in North America, this is tipped to be the biggest release for a Vijay film in recent years.

In an official statement, CineGalaxy Inc confirmed that the film will be released in 144 screens across USA in places such as Fremont, San Jose, Los Angeles, Dublin, Roseville, Manchester and Newark among other locations.

Directed by Atlee, Vijay will be seen as a police officer and a doting father in the film.

"Theri", which has music by G.V Prakash Kumar, also stars Amy Jackson and Samantha Ruth Prabhu.

The film releases worldwide on Thursday, while the Telugu dubbed version, which is titled "Policeodu", will release on Friday.
) Three Maoist guerrillas were arrested after a gun battle in Jharkhand's Khunti district, police said on Tuesday.

The gun battle between security forces and guerrillas belonging to People's Liberation Front of India (PLFI) took place on Monday night near Katingkel village of Khunti district, about 70 mm from here, said the police.

It lasted for more than three hours after which the police succeeded in arresting three PLFI guerrillas.

The police seized one rifle, live cartridges and incriminating documents from the arrested Maoists.

Maoist guerillas are active in 18 of the state's 24 districts.
Republican front-runner Donald Trump has named Ohio Governor John Kasich and Florida Senator Marco Rubio as potential running mates in the race to November's presidential elections.

"Yes. I like Marco Rubio. Yeah. I could," Trump said, referring to spots in his administration, in the interview with USA TODAY published on Monday.

"There are people I have in mind in terms of vice president. I just haven't told anybody names ... I do like Marco. I do like Kasich ... I like Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker actually in a lot of ways. I hit him very hard ... But I've always liked him. There are people I like, but I don't think they like me because I have hit them hard."

Of the three, Kasich is the only one still running, but he has no mathematical path to the nomination before the convention, Time magazine reported on Tuesday.

Trump had previously said he would like to select a Washington insider for vice president.

"I do want somebody that's political, because I want to get lots of great legislation we all want passed," Trump said in February. "We're going to probably choose somebody that's somewhat political."

Walker said he laughed when he read Trump's comments but would not rule out being Trump's vice presidential pick when asked about it on Monday, the Wisconsin State-Journal reported.

"It's kind of interesting to hear that after the things that were said about me a couple weeks ago," Walker said, adding "It's almost breathtaking that I was listed in the first place."

During the interview, Trump said previous spats with other Republican candidates were part of the "the crazy business" of and said leaders who have been criticising him publicly have also been reaching out to be part of his team.
A Russian chopper crashed near the city of Homs in Syria, killing both pilots. The Russian defence ministry said the helicopter was "not shot down", Sputnik News reported.

The crash of the Russian Aerospace Forces Mi-28H Havoc helicopter occurred at 22:29 GMT on Monday, the defence ministry press service reported Tuesday.

"Two crew members were killed. The bodies of the dead pilots were removed [from the crash site] during search and rescue operations, and are currently at the Hmeimim Airbase. According to a report from the crash site, the helicopter was not shot down," the press service said in a statement.
Ukraine's parliament is set to try to vote in a replacement for Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk amid a growing sense of political crisis.

On Sunday, Yatsenyuk announced that he would resign and accused Ukraine's politicians of failing to enact "real changes", BBC reported on Tuesday.

His government has been accused of inaction and corruption.

Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Groysman has been nominated by President Petro Poroshenko's party to replace Yatsenyuk.

However, reports late Monday suggested he may not take the post.

Economy Minister Aivaras Abromavicius resigned more than two months ago after accusing the government of not being committed enough to end corruption.

Yatsenyuk has been in office since former pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych was ousted during huge demonstrations in February 2014.

This latest crisis comes as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has threatened to withhold aid money if Ukraine does not carry out reforms.
More than 80 percent of Palestinian families borrowed money to get by in 2015, and over 40 percent have decreased their consumption of food, a UN spokesman has said.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian territory released on Monday the findings of an unprecedented survey of Palestinian families internally displaced in the Gaza Strip, due to the 2014 escalation of hostilities.

According to the survey, "nearly half fear being evicted from their accommodation," Xinhua quoted UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric as saying.

"The situation of women and girls is of particular concern, with many families reporting living in conditions without safety, dignity and privacy, including in tents, makeshift shelters, destroyed houses, or outdoors," he added.

The late 2015 witnessed an outbreak of violence between Israel and the Palestinians.

About 130 Palestinians were killed and thousands injured in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, while about 20 Israelis were killed in a series of shooting, stabbing and car ramming attacks carried out by Palestinians.

Throughout 2015, there were no serious actions to resume the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, which had been stalled since 2014.

The talks lasted for nine months under the US sponsorship, but it failed in early 2014, due to deep differences between the two sides over borders and settlement.
A Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman has slammed the US for disrespecting international law, which has led to "mistakes" by Washington in the Middle East and adjacent regions.

"The problem is in the absence of the legal basis for actions," Xinhua news agency quoted Maria Zakharova as saying on Monday. She was ommenting on the recent statement of US President Barack Obama, who confessed that his worst mistake during the presidency was a lack of planning for the aftermath of the toppling of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

The US, firstly, violated international law and varnished its actions by information campaigns. A few years later, when the lustre fades and ceases to dazzle the eye, everybody will see the ruins of another state, while Washington calls it a mistake, and labels some other countries as aggressors, Zakharova said.

"Probably failing to plan for the day after what I think was the right thing to do in intervening in Libya," Obama said in an interview with the Fox News TV channel aired on Sunday.

As the Arab Spring revolts spread to Libya, the UN Security Council approved in March 2011 the establishment of a no-fly zone to protect civilians from air attacks.

In the months that followed, the US-led NATO forces started their military campaigns in Libya, providing support to rebel forces.

Zakharova said the US had acted in the same manner in Afghanistan and Iraq as it did in Libya, and added that Moscow was witnessing a similar scheme in Syria.
The US takes terror emanating from Pakistan "very seriously" and the F-16 fighter jets have been given to it to fight terrorism, US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said on Tuesday.

"We take terrorism emanating from Pakistan very seriously," Carter said.

India has expressed concern over the US decision to sell eight F-16s to Pakistan, with Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar conveying the government's concerns to Carter, who is presently visiting India.

At a joint press conference with Parrikar, on being asked if the US was trying to be a trusted ally of India while supplying the F-16 fighters to Pakistan, Carter said: "We do try to be trusted partner of India."

He said the US has given some unique technologies to India. "We don't have an agreement like that with other countries."

Asked about the same issue, Parrikar said he did express his concerns to Carter and the US defence secretary assured him the fighter jets would be used to fight terrorism.

Drawing a parallel with India's relations with Russia, Carter said the US values its relations with Pakistan.

"India also has relation with other countries like Russia. We respect that," he said.

"What we do in Pakistan is directed towards counter terrorism. We too have suffered from terrorism emanating from the territory, more specifically Afghanistan," Carter said.

"Pakistan has used F-16 in operations in FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas). We have approved it. We take terrorism emanating from Pakistan very seriously," Carter added.

He also said the US did not want any conflict between India and Pakistan.

The US confirmed in mid-February the supply to Pakistan of eight F-16 fighter aircraft worth $699.04 million despite protests from India.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday urged the government to strike a balance between the conservation of cultural relics and economic development.

Xi said the balance is difficult to strike in a country that is urbanising at such a fast pace, Xinhua news agency reported.

He called cultural relics "a valuable legacy from our ancestors", stressing that conservation will benefit future generations.

Xi urged party and government departments to keep in mind that this conservation is part of their official duties, and suggested that "private sectors should be mobilised and involved in the effort".
A large number of undergraduate students in Bihar were seen writing their commerce paper barefoot earlier this week because the Patna University had banned students from wearing shoes and socks inside the examination hall in a bid to ensure "fair" exams. Last week, invigilators caught some students with study notes tucked in their shoes and socks.

Following that incident, the university directed all students appearing for exams to leave their socks and shoes outside the exam hall. However, students who arrived at the centre wearing sandals or slippers were allowed to keep their footwear on.
Pooling data may be the best weapon for Uber's top rivals. Four car-hailing services in the United States and Asia are linking apps. While the financial benefits from allowing customers to roam overseas are likely to be small, sharing data could help the quartet take on Uber back in their respective home markets.

Users of Didi Kuaidi, China's top car-hailing app, can now book rides from US partner Lyft when travelling Stateside. This is the first concrete output from a global alliance, signed in December. Didi's 300 million users will also soon be able to access cars from Ola in India and Grab in South-East Asia, all from within the Chinese app.

In some ways this is a U-turn. Uber, last valued at a reported $62.5 billion, has built a network that spans 70 territories. But the Silicon Valley behemoth's smaller rivals have until now preferred to stress customised approaches and their deep knowledge of individual markets. The alliance is an implicit admission that international presence counts too.

There are no details on costs, or how sales will be shared, but the Didi-Lyft partnership is unlikely to boost revenues significantly for either side. Roughly three million Chinese tourists will visit the United States this year. The market is fast-growing but tiny compared to the 10 million daily rides arranged on Didi's platform back home.

The direct financial impact of the alliance may be limited, but there could be other benefits. Sharing data and insights could help improve the quartet's services, helping them stay competitive against their global adversary. Lessons from traffic jams in Beijing and Delhi could help Grab's drivers offer a better service in Jakarta, for example.

Ultimately, though, succeeding at home is crucial for Didi. Uber boss Travis Kalanick recently admitted Uber China was losing over $1 billion a year competing in the Middle Kingdom. Meanwhile the latter, backed by web giants Alibaba and Tencent, is raising $1.5 billion in fresh ammunition, according to a person familiar with the situation. With huge warchests on both sides, the road ahead could be rocky.
Alibaba's $1-billion move into Southeast Asia will test its limits. The Chinese e-commerce group is taking control of local upstart Lazada in its largest overseas deal to date. Expanding into countries like Indonesia and Malaysia opens up new sources of growth. But wide losses and fierce competition mean expansion is not cheap.

The $195-billion group led by Jack Ma is buying shares worth $500 million from Lazada's existing shareholders, including Germany's Rocket Internet and British retailer Tesco at a valuation of around $1.5 billion. It is also injecting $500 million in exchange for new shares, lifting its shareholding above 50 per cent.

For Alibaba, that seems a modest investment for a controlling stake in an e-commerce business and logistics network that spans six countries with a combined population of 560 million, just over a third of whom are online. China's dominant online retailer churned out free cashflow of $3.7 billion in the three months to December alone.

Such growth opportunities don't come cheap, though. Lazada's net revenue jumped 81 per cent to $191 million in the nine months to last September. Assuming it achieved the same rate of expansion in the full year, Alibaba's investment values the business at five times its 2015 sales.

Moreover, the four-year-old Lazada is nowhere close to achieving its new parent's levels of profitability. Unlike Alibaba, which arranges transactions but has others take care of warehousing and delivery, Lazada operates its own logistics network. This requires heavy up-front investment, which may explain why losses before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation more than doubled to $213 million in the nine months to last September.

Local rivals are circling. Just last month, Indonesian conglomerate Lippo Group announced a new partnership with car-hailing app Grab to boost its e-commerce business. International competitors who are effectively shut out of China are also unlikely to let Alibaba march into South-East Asia unchallenged. Buying Lazada is the first big step for former Goldman Sachs executive Michael Evans, who joined Alibaba last year to lead its international strategy. His land-grab is only just beginning.
Apropos the report, "Rajat Gupta pens inside story" (April 12), one feels grateful to him for the promise that he will attempt to answer the toughest question yet for a person of his stature, namely, "How to maintain peace and dignity in the most difficult circumstances?"



As Gupta rightly presumes, first-person answers to such questions encountered in trying situations by individuals will help the youth. Case in point: the prime minister of Iceland had to resign after his name cropped up in the Panama Papers leak.

In Kollam, defiance of the law by vested interests led to the death of more than 100 people and injury to hundreds of others. The district collector, who issued orders according to law, is struggling to help the victims of the tragedy caused by violation of her orders. This makes us ponder on the question: Is the rule of law on the decline in the 21st century? In India, public opinion is largely managed by the political leadership and the media. The youth and all those who are educated and employed need to participate in governance by expressing their views. Elders, who are able to interact with other citizens by various means including social media, need to play a proactive role in educating the less privileged in terms of performing their duties and responsibilities.

Beyond the focus on "breaking news" and prime-time content, the media should devote some time to promote honesty, ethical behaviour and safe and clean living. Publishing memoirs, like the one Gupta is planning, will likely enlighten people about how to avoid traps of the kind into which he fell.

M G Warrier, Mumbai



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A building in utter disrepair on New Delhi's Chelmsford Road, metres from the New Delhi railway station, couldn't be demolished for years because it was identified as a heritage building by the Delhi Urban Art Commission. Originally called the Lady Hardinge Serai (tourist inn), the building offered a resting place for travellers and their horses. In the 1970s, the place was converted into a women's hostel.

It has also housed the Maulana Azad Education Foundation, under the Ministry of Minority Affairs. The government decided to construct a new building at the site to house a library, a hostel and also the ministries of minority affairs, and social justice and empowerment but couldn't go ahead.

Its heritage status rested on the fact that Lady Hardinge, wife of Charles Hardinge, British India's viceroy from 1910 to 1916, had stayed at the place for a night before boarding a train from the Old Delhi railway station the next morning. With the commission now giving the green signal, a modern structure is likely to come up on the plot soon.
Policy springtime in New Delhi in late February reveals the governments thinking on various aspects of the economy, including shifts in priorities. Between the Economic Survey, the Rail Budget and the Union Budget, and vibrant discussions and commentaries around them, the revision in emphasis on various areas is clearly identifiable.
Equity-oriented hybrid funds, also known as balanced mutual funds, are currently outperforming large-cap funds over the one-, three-, five- and even 10-year horizons, according to category average return data from Value Research, a mutual fund rating agency. One normally expects a pure equity oriented fund to outperform a hybrid fund, at least over the long term. Before you decide to pull your money out of large-cap funds and move into balanced funds, it is important to understand why this has happened and if such outperformance will continue.

Experts offer two explanations for the outperformance by balanced funds. One, these funds have a significant proportion of debt in their portfolios, which in a declining market enables them to stem the fall in their net asset value better than large-cap funds. Debt instruments take up a quarter or more of the portfolio of these funds.

Even over the longer-term horizon of five and 10 years, balanced funds have outperformed large-cap funds. Explains Vidya Bala, head of research at Fundsindia.com: The equity portion of the portfolio of many balanced funds resembles a multi-cap fund, wherein there is a strong mid-cap bias. This is true of many of the better-performing balanced funds. And, midcaps have outperformed large caps in the recent past.



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Will this outperformance of balanced funds over large-cap funds continue in the future as well? Says Ankur Kapur of Gurgaon-based wealth advisory firm ankuradvisory.in: While balanced funds may outperform large-cap funds in a falling market, they are likely to lag when the market is experiencing a bull run.



According to Bala, top-performing balanced funds might do better than large-cap funds because these funds take an aggressive, mid-cap-oriented stance in their equity portfolios and they also tend to benefit from a rally in the debt market. She adds that balanced funds are likely to underperform an equity portfolio comprising funds of all categories: large-cap, multi-cap, mid-cap and small-cap.

Balanced funds are a good stepping stone for novices entering the equity markets for the first time. Young investors also tend to have less money. Balanced funds provide a one-stop solution to them, offering exposure to both equity and debt within one fund.

These funds have a sizeable equity component. They usually maintain an allocation of above 65 per cent to equities to be eligible for favourable equity-like tax treatment. Therefore, you must have an investment horizon of at least five years while investing in them.

When choosing a balanced fund, look for outperformance over the benchmark and consistency over various time horizons. Since the primary purpose of a balanced fund is to contain volatility, ensure that the fund outperformed its benchmark in a falling market. Also check the funds mid-cap exposure. While a higher mid-cap exposure could translate into higher returns, it will also make the fund more volatile. Conservative investors who want less volatility should avoid balanced funds with high mid-cap exposure, says Bala.

As you grow accustomed to the volatility of equities, and have higher surpluses, move beyond balanced funds and build a diversified portfolio of your own. Conservative investors may build a portfolio comprising index funds on the equity side and short-term funds with an average maturity of around one year on the debt side, advises Kapur. The equity portfolio will cater to your growth needs while the more stable debt component will help you meet your occasional income requirements. Investors with higher risk bearing capacity may build a portfolio comprising all the four categories of actively managed funds and debt funds.

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The Railway ministry has decided to run 12 more EMU trains in Bihar to provide better service to passengers, Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha said today.

The 12 additional electric multiple unit (EMU) trains would soon start plying in the state, particularly in North Bihar, Sinha told PTI at Muzaffarpur railway station.

Accepting the request of Muzaffarpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sinha said a new train would soon be started between Muzaffarpur to Howrah.

"The Muzaffarpur to Howrah train would start running before May 15," the minister assured the delegation of the chamber.

Hailing the Narendra Modi government, the minister said that the BJP-led government at the Centre was committed to expand Railway network and enhance train services to the people of the state.

Sinha had also visited the Indian Railways Institute of Mechanical & Electrical Engineering (IRIMEE) at Jamalpur in Munger to find out the reason behind discontinuance of engineer apprenticeship study there since last year.

The minister assured the people to look into the possibility of restarting Engineering apprenticeship study at IRIMEE.
A 16-year-old Indian-American boy has created a low-cost hearing aid costing USD 60 to help those who cannot afford expensive devices.

Mukund Venkatakrishnan of Kentucky's Louisville city worked on the device for two years and presented it at the Jefferson County Public Schools Idea Fest and recently won first place the Kentucky State Science and Engineering Fair.

The device, which can be used with even the cheapest set of headphones, is built to first test hearing by playing several different sounds at seven different frequencies through headphones. It then programs itself to be a hearing aid, amplifying volume based on the test results.

"It eliminates the need for a doctor altogether. It is really, in essence, just amplifiers, just increase the volume based on how much hearing loss you have and it is crazy that they cost USD 1,500 each, when you can do it for USD 60," Mukund, DuPont Manual High School student, said.

He said the processor responsible for amplifying volume by increasing the volume of an incoming signal, was the most expensive part - about USD 45. Other parts cost about USD 15.

Mukund was inspired to invent the aid during his visit to his grandparents in India two years ago. He was tasked with helping his grandfather get tested and fitted for a hearing aid. He saw that it was a costly and difficult process and resolved to find an alternative.

"Since audiologists are specialists, even finding and getting an appointment with one in India was really hard. And then we got ripped off," he said.

He said they spent about USD 400 or USD 500 on doctor's appointments and about USD 1,900 on the hearing aid itself. He realised that hearing is a luxury many people in developing countries can not afford.

"In India, the median household income is USD 616 a year. If someone in India saves all year without spending a penny, they still can not afford a hearing aid.

"Unlike with traditional hearing aids, if the ear piece gets damaged it is not costly to replace. You just buy another set of ear buds. In its current form, the device is about two inches and looks like a computer processor," he said.

He envisions the device, which has a standard headphone port, fitting into someone's pocket. His goal is to distribute the device to people with hearing loss who can not afford a USD 1,000hearing aid. Various foundations are reaching out to Mukund to help mass produce and distribute it.

Mukund said that he would visit his grandfather in Bangalore, India this summer and deliver the hearing aid.
More than 2,100 Indian Sikhs arrived here today to take part in Baisakhi Festival at Gurdwara Hasan Abdal in Rawalpindi district of Pakistan's Punjab province.

"More than 2,100 Sikh Yatrees arrived here today via Wagah Border on three special trains," Evacuee Trust Property Board spokesman Amir Hashmi told PTI.

He said special measures have been adopted to provide security to them.

"The Rangers and Elite Force have been engaged to provide security to the Sikh pilgrims," he said.

In the wake of bombing at a Lahore park which left 75 people dead, the government has taken "extra-ordinary" security measures for the visiting Sikhs.

Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbhandik Committee caretaker president Tara Singh and ETPB chairman Siddiqul Farooq received the yatress at the Wagah border.

The yatrees were presented with langar (food) at the railway station.

Soon after the arrival, the Indian Sikhs left for Hasanabdal to participate in 10-day Besakhi festivities starting tomorrow.

The main event will be held on April 14.

The Indian Sikhs would also visit Gurdwara Janamesthan Nankana Sahib, Gurdwara Sacha Soda in Farooqabad, Gurdawara Kartarpur Narowal and Gurdwara Dera Sahib Lahore.

They will leave for their home on April 21.

Talking to reporters, Sikh leader Sardar Manmohan Singh Khalsa stressed for people-to-people contacts between the two countries and demanded lifting of visa curbs for the purpose.

He said: "We receive enormous love at the land of Baba Gurunanak. People are extremely hospitable here."



He said the people of India were saddened by terror attacks on Peshawar school and Lahore park.
Two Indian organisations and one each from Bangladesh and Pakistan are among eight to receive the USD 5 million grant from US Agency for International Development (USAID) for finding innovative ways to end extreme poverty.

The two Indian companies - Orb Energy and Simpa - would receive grants from the USAID for social impact, improved outcomes, and market viability, as well as for building pathways to sustainability.

Orb Energy has developed in-house financing solutions to make solar energy access more affordable to small and medium sized enterprises seeking solar systems in India, a media release said.

Simpa provides pay-as-you-go solar home systems to rural households and small shops in India allowing low-income customers to finance ownership of the system over time.

USAID said the awards are funded through the Development Innovation Ventures (DIV) program, a year-round open competition that seeks innovative, breakthrough development solutions.

The new awardee organisations will implement their solutions in over six different countries.

The majority of the awardee organisations are new to USAID and are using technology to address global development challenges, a media release said.

"Through our open innovation programs like DIV, USAID works with innovators from around the world to test, prove, and scale solutions that work," said Ann Mei Chang, USAID's Chief Innovation Officer and Executive Director of the US Global Development Lab.

"These awardees join 145 other DIV innovations [since 2010 inception], working to improve millions of lives at a fraction of the usual cost," Chang said.

TraumaLink from Bangladesh utilizes a 24-hour emergency hotline and trained local first responders to save the lives of traffic accident victims.

And Naya Jeevan Welfare Organizsation from Pakistan connects female healthcare providers who work from home with underserved, low-income patients via telemedicine, the release said.
Two Russian military pilots died when their helicopter crashed near the central Syrian city of Homs, the defence ministry said today, adding that the aircraft was not shot at.

"Two crew members died," the defence ministry said in a statement quoted by state news agency RIA Novosti. The crash happened in the early hours of Tuesday, the ministry said, adding the bodies had been recovered and brought to Russia's Hmeimim air base.
At least 23 people were killed today when the bus they were travelling in plunged some 300 metres down the road in a mountainous region in eastern Nepal.

The Kathmandu-bound bus had left Khotang district in the morning, and was said to be overcrowded.

The vehicle rolled down the road at Barkhetar of Arkhanle in the district.

The wreckage was trapped between trees, making it difficult to rescue survivors. It took hours for the first rescuers to reach the site because of the location.

The identities of the deceased are yet to be established.

Thirty one people have been rescued alive, said police and added that the injured have been admitted to a hospital.

The number of passengers aboard the bus was initially 28, but it swelled to 70 when some people boarded the vehicle mid way, The Himalayan Times reported.

Reports said an army rescue helicopter was headed to the crash site.

Nepal is mostly covered with mountains and most roads are narrow. Bus accidents in the country are generally blamed on poor roads.

Buses are usually crowded and people often travel on the roofs.
At least 24 people, including seven women, were killed today when an overcrowded bus plunged some 300 metres into a ravine in eastern Nepal, police said.

The Kathmandu-bound bus had left Khotang district in the morning. The vehicle rolled down the road at Barkhetar of Arkhanle in the district.

The wreckage was trapped between trees, making it difficult for rescuers to pull out survivors. Also, it took hours for the first rescuers to reach the site because of the mountainous area.

Bodies of 17 men and 7 women have been recovered, a police official was quoted as saying by The Himalayan Times.

Of the 31 injured, 23 people have been airlifted to Kathmandu for treatment. Seven injured are being treated at a local health post, police said.

The number of passengers aboard the bus was initially 28, but it swelled to 70 when some people boarded the vehicle mid way, the report said.

Nepal is mostly mountainous and most roads are narrow. Bus accidents in the country are generally blamed on poor roads and ill-maintained passenger vehicles.

Buses are usually crowded and people often travel on the roofs.
Three key companies in the transport sector in India including government owned Air India and private airline Jet Airways, have signed a declaration to fight wildlife trafficking.

The shipping and airlines companies in India signed the 'Buckingham Palace Declaration' in the presence of the Duke of Cambridge at British High Commissioner to India, Sir Dominic Asquith's residence on Monday.

The Declaration commits signatories to eleven commitments that will raise standards across the transportation industry to prevent wildlife traffickers from exploiting weaknesses of this sector.

The commitments focus on information sharing, staff training, technological improvements, and resource sharing across companies and organisations worldwide.

"The illegal wildlife trade is a serious organised crime that undermines rule of law, facilitates corruption and steals valuable resources from some of the world's poorest communities.

"During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the UK last November, the UK and India resolved to work together to combat the illegal wildlife trade. We are delighted to welcome Air India, Jet Airways and Apeejay Shipping as new signatories to the Buckingham Palace Declaration," Sir Dominic Asquith said, according to a statement here.

The Maersk Group which is already a signatory was also present during the occasion. The Declaration was developed by the United for Wildlife International Taskforce on the Transportation of Illegal Wildlife Products.

"Air India as a national carrier is committed to zero tolerance of illegal transportation of wild life from India on Air India flights.

"All the cargo consignments, passengers' baggage and others are checked at the entry level and the front line staff are well aware to stop such illegal transportation at the first point of contact," said Ashwani Lohani, Chairman and Managing Director, Air India.

Already over 40 CEOs, Chairmen and other leaders of airlines, shipping firms, port operators, customs agencies, intergovernmental organisations and conservation charities from around the world have signed the Declaration.
India's three major natural World - the Western Ghats, Sundarbans Park and Manas Wildlife Sanctuary - are facing threats from harmful industrial activities like mining, according to a latest survey by World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

Activities such as mining, illegal logging, oil and gas exploration threaten 114 out of 229 natural World Heritage sites, including Sundarbans known for the iconic Royal Bengal tiger, Western Ghats, one of the top biodiversity hotspots in the world, and the Manas Sanctuary in Assam, home to many endangered species including Indian rhinoceros, it said.

While ecology of Western Ghats covering six states - Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala - is threatened by mining and oil and gas exploration, Manas Wild Life Sanctuary faces threat from dams and unsustainable water use, the survey 'Protecting People Through Nature' said.

Sundarbans in West Bengal and neighbouring Bangladesh have been hit by various activities including unsustainable water use, dams, wood harvesting, over-fishing and shipping lanes, WWF, a leading organisation in wildlife conservation and endangered species, said in the report.

These sites are recognised as the world's most important protected areas like India's Great Himalayan Park and Kaziranga Park.

The Western Ghats supports the single largest population of endangered Asian elephants and vulnerable Indian bison, the report said underlining the need for protecting the site.

"These iconic places face a range of threats, including climate change. Removing pressure from harmful industrial activity is therefore critical to increase the sites' resilience," says Tim Badman, Director of IUCN's World Heritage Programme, commenting on the WWF survey.

According to International Union for Conservation of Nature, which helps the world find pragmatic solutions to most pressing environmental and developmental challenges, natural World are not just important environmentally, they also provide social and economic benefits.

Two-thirds of natural sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List are crucial sources of water and about half help prevent natural disasters such as floods or landslides, according to IUCN's 2014 report, 'The Benefits of Natural World Heritage'.

Reiterating these findings, WWF survey estimates that, "11 million people - more than the population of Portugal - depend directly on World for food, water, shelter and medicine. Harmful industrial development poses a threat to these ecosystem services and communities that depend on them."



Noting that these sites have a crucial role in supporting human well-being and sustainable development, Tim Badman said, "By highlighting human dependency on these exceptional places, WWF's report reinforces the need to boost our efforts to conserve them."
At least four people were killed after a 20-ft wall of a two-storeyed building collapsed during a drive by Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) to demolish properties in Nikol area here today, triggering a massive protest by locals, following which the civic body ordered an inquiry into the incident.

Stepping into the matter, the Gujarat High Court suspended the drive till April 21 after some locals rushed to HC claiming that government can expand road even without razing structures.

After an urgent hearing, Justice A J Desai asked AMC to maintain status quo till next the hearing on April 21.

The building was being razed as it was one of the structures blocking the broadening of road in the area under the city Development Plan of AMC.

The wall collapsed on the victims during the drive undertaken in Uttamnagar area of Nikol in the eastern part of city, officials said, adding one person was also injured.

Residents of the area refused to take possession of bodies extricated from rubble and sat with them on dharna on road for many hours demanding FIR by police against the guilty, causing traffic jam.

They relented after top police officers, including police commissioner Shivanand Jha, assured them of taking appropriate action.

"We have assured the locals that police will take action in this regard. We urged them to send the bodies for postmortem, so that the process is speeded up. After having a word with the police commissioner locals agreed to take the bodies," said Joint Commissioner of Police (city crime branch) J K Bhatt who rushed to spot to control the situation.

Police later lodged the FIR while an enquiry was ordered by the municipal corporation.

Locals alleged that a JCB machine of the civic team went on to raze the structure, a commercial building, even as some occupants were still inside.

"Shop owners urged the AMC team to give some more time to shift the belongings. However, AMC team ignored our plight and ordered the JCB operator to demolish the structure. Thus, a 20-ft wall suddenly collapsed on those who were standing near the structure," said Suresh Patel, an eye witness.

Krushnagar police inspector C R Sangada confirmed to PTI that four persons were killed in the incident and one was injured.

Terming the incident as "very unfortunate", the civic chief D Thara has ordered a separate inquiry and formed a committee.

"This is a very unfortunate incident. We have formed a committee to inquire into the incident and find out how this has happened. The committee will give its report within 20 days. Action will be taken as per the report findings," said Thara.

City Mayor Gautam Shah told reporters that the victims



ignored the warning of the AMC squad.

"Even when the demolition was going on, some persons ignored our warning and went inside their shops. When they were inside, the wall, which might be weak, collapsed on them. AMC has announced to give Rs 4 lakh to victims' families and Rs 50,000 to the injured," said Shah.

The deceased, all residents of Nikol road, owned shops in the commercial complex which was pulled down by AMC.

They are identified as Mrugesh Patel (37), Mansukh Ramani (50), Popat Patel (52) and Sunil Patel (23) while the injured Akash Patel (19) was referred to Shardaben Hospital by Fire department as he suffered a fracture.

Krushnanagar police station sub-inspector H R Vaghela said, "As of now, we lodged an Accidental Death complaint and sent the bodies for postmortem. Based on the PM reports and inquiry reports of AMC and police department, we will take further decision".

The issue took a political turn with the Patel Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) calling for Nikol bandh tomorrow against "corruption and mismanagement" by the BJP-led AMC and state government.

"Four persons have lost their lives due to criminal negligence of AMC. Corrupt administration first allow illegal structures to come up and then they raze it. PAAS condemns this activity. We have called for Nikol bandh tomorrow. We demand action against the culprits," said PAAS' city convener Atul Patel.

City Congress unit also slammed the civic body and announced to stage protests outside municipal commissioner's office tomorrow.
Four quintal of 'ganja' valued at about Rs 24 crore in the international market, was seized in Muzaffarpur district today by a DRI (Directorate of Revenue Intelligence) team.

Acting on a tip off, a DRI team raided a coal laden truck on NH 28 near Chandani Chowk area under Brahmapura police station and receovered the ganja hidden amid heap of coal, DRI Inspector Rakesh Ranjan said.

Two persons have been arrested with the contraband, he said.

Ranjan said the coal laden truck in which the ganja was hidden was coming from Guwahati and heading for Delhi when it was stopped in Muzaffarpur.

Those arrested have been identified as Malin Deb and Nirmal Haldar of Assam, he said.

With the announcement of total prohibition in Bihar since last week, security agencies have been extra-alert against such smuggling.
Over 83 per cent electorate had cast their votes in part two of the first phase of polling in 31 Assembly constituencies spread over three districts in West Bengal yesterday.

The Election Commission released the final figures this evening and put the average voter turnout in the three districts of West Midnapore, Bankura and Burdwan as 83.73 per cent.

West Midnapore's Narayangarh constituency had the highest turnout of 90.62 per cent voters, while voters in Kharagpur Sadar seat in the district showed the least interest with a 71.69 per cent turnout.

The Commission was cautious in releasing poll percentage figures this time around as opposition parties had raised questions over the delay in declaring the final voter turnout in first part of the first phase of the Assembly elections.

The final voter turnout, released after two days, was 84.22 per cent while at the end of polling on April 4, the poll body had said the figure was above 81 per cent.
The Maharashtra government should take action under criminal law against the temple trustees who deny entry to the women, a Shiv Sena legislator said in the Assembly here today.

Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik, who raised the issue through a point of propriety, said entry to women should be allowed at Trimbakaeshwar temple at Nashik and Mahalaxmi temple at Kolhapur, on the lines of decision at Shani Shingnapur temple in Ahmednagar district.

The Shani temple trustees recently allowed the women to enter into the core area of the shrine following an agitation by women's groups and a High Court ruling.

Ajay Chaudhari, another Shiv Sena MLA, demanded action against Indiabulls for allegedly encroaching a footpath at Elphinstone Road in Mumbai.

"Pedestrians are suffering due to this encroachment," he said, raising the issue through a point of propriety.
The Allahabad High Court today granted bail to Congress MLA Ajay Rai, who was jailed in October last year in connection with violence in Varanasi during protests over police action against Hindu religious leaders.

Justice Rajesh Dayal Khare ordered that Rai "be released on bail on his furnishing a personal bond and two local sureties each of the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned".

The judgement comes on the heels of a March 29 order by a two-judge bench setting aside the National Security Act (NSA) that was slapped against Rai, who represents the Pindra seat in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly.

The court said Rai is to be released on bail on the condition that he "shall not tamper with the prosecution evidence", "shall not pressurise the prosecution witnesses" and "appear on the date fixed by the trial court".

"In case of default of any of the conditions enumerated above, the order granting bail shall automatically be cancelled," it said.

This was the second bail application by Rai after his previous prayer was rejected by a court order dated November 23, 2015.

In his fresh bail plea, the MLA contended that two other persons named as co-accused in the case registered at Dashashwamedh police station in Varanasi were granted bail last week.

Rai was arrested on October 7 in connection with violence in the temple town on October 5 during a march to protest against lathi-charge by police on a group of Hindu religious leaders.

The lathi-charge had taken place on the intervening night of September 22-23 when one Swami Avimukteshwarananda along with hundreds of his supporters had tried to immerse an idol of Lord Ganesha in the Ganges notwithstanding recent restrictions on the practice in view of pollution in the river.

Rai had shot to fame when he was fielded by Congress in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls as its contender against Narendra Modi for the Varanasi seat.

He finished third in that race and ended up losing his deposit in what turned out to be a virtually one-sided contest in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi defeated his nearest rival Arvind Kejriwal of Aam Aadmi Party by a margin of 3.71 lakh votes.
AIUDF president and perfume baron Badruddin Ajmal has said that Congress, which had rejected his offer of an alliance in assembly polls, will be responsible if BJP wins in Assam because of division of secular votes.

Ajmal, who has been projecting himself as 'king-maker', had tweeted "If BJP wins because of division of secular votes, it is Congress who will be responsible (sic)".

On the eve of the final phase of elections held yesterday, the chief of the minority dominated Assam United Democratic Front had tweeted "Even before two days we approached Cong to come in to some understanding. But Congress rejected our offer".

"We tried our best to form an alliance with the Congress, Prashant Kishore spoke to Rahul Gandhi in this regard".

"But unfortunately Congress did not agree to form an alliance with us. They rather are hell bent to divide secular votes," Ajmal had said in a series of tweets.

The AIUDF MP, who is critical of the saffron party, had on March 27 tweeted: "BJP is panicked, they have realised that they don't have people's support. These dirty tricks won't help them".

Prior to that on March 17 he had said, "BJP remembers illegal immigration problem only during election. The people of Assam won't fall to BJP's ploy this time".

The AIUDF though mostly concentrated in lower Assam sought to make its presence felt in upper Assam contesting on 27 seats there in the first phase of polling on April 4 while it put up 47 candidates in the second phase on April 11.

AIUDF is hoping to be a major player in the election arena by garnering the minority community votes. Ajmal claimed in several of his poll campaign meetings that he would play the 'king maker' in the event of a hung Assembly and would seek the Deputy Chief Minister's portfolio from which ever political party he lends support to form the next government.

Two phase assembly elections in Assam ended yesterday in which a record voter turnout of about 85 per cent in the second phase for 61 seats and earlier 82.20 per cent in the first phase for 65 seats was registered.
A CRPF officer, who suffered severe IED splinter injuries and had slipped into coma for a month after an anti-Naxal operation in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, today died at a hospital in Hyderabad.

The officer, Deputy Commandant BK Shyam Niwas, had been under intensive care of doctors due to grievous injuries on his head during an operation that took place on March 11.

"After showing signs of recovery, the officer eventually succumbed to injuries at around 8:30 AM with his family by his side at a hospital in Hyderabad," a senior officer of the paramilitary said.

45-year-old Niwas, a veteran of numerous successful anti-Naxal and counter-insurgency operations, is survived by his wife, a teenaged daughter and son. He was airlifted after the blast from Sukma to Bhadrachalam and subsequently to Hyderabad.

The officer, hailing from Keshogiri in Ranga Reddy district of Andhra Pradesh, had joined the country's largest paramilitary in 1993 as a Sub-Inspector and rose through the ranks by way of getting out-of-turn promotions by the sheer dint of his dare-devil exploits in operations.

The incident in which Niwas got injured occurred under the Konta block of the worst Maoist violence affected Sukma district of the state when a squad of the 217th battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force men were securing an under-construction road and subsequently some Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) were recovered.

While the bomb disposal squad was trying to defuse it under Niwas's close supervision, the IED blasted causing serious injuries to him, his colleague and another Deputy Commandant Prabhakar Tripathi and Head Constable Ranga Raghavan.

Raghavan had succumbed to his injuries the same day when they were being evacuated to Hyderabad while Tripathi is stable now.

CRPF Director General K Durga Prasad described the slain officer a brave and gallant commander.

"His martyrdom is an irreparable loss to to the family and the force. The force stands by the aggrieved family in their hour of grief," he said.

CRPF said Niwas was a "gallant officer and he served with



great distinction in Punjab, Northeast and Chhattisgarh and was involved in many successful operations against the Maoists.

"He achieved martyrdom leading one such operation. He was very popular amongst his peers and subordinates alike for his sense of responsibility and leadership traits."



A senior officer said IEDs have become a menace for security forces operating in Left Wing Extremism affected areas and Niwas's death is yet another example how the Maoists are using these hidden deadly bombs to maim and kill these personnel.

Parts of south Bastar in Chhattisgarh and other states have witnessed an increasing usage of IEDs since May last year.

Early this month, Naxals had used a deadly cocktail of IEDs, explosives and trigger wires to target a civil CRPF vehicle killing seven personnel in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh.
To stop its fleet of dry bulk carriers from being used by wildlife traffickers, Apeejay Shipping has signed the Buckingham Palace Declaration, which commits signatories to support efforts to prevent trade in illegal wildlife, wildlife parts and products.

The commitment, signed yesterday, includes notifying relevant law enforcement authorities of cargoes suspected of containing illegal wildlife and their products and, wherever possible, refuse to accept or ship such cargoes.

Company chairman Karan Paul said illegal wildlife trade was a direct threat to species and went against the stability and diversity of the biosphere.

"Apeejay Shipping, as a major sea transportation service provider, commits its fleet and our people to being vigilant and to use our information networks globally to break the supply chain of illegal commercial trade in wildlife, wildlife parts and products," Paul said.

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the UK last November, India and the UK had resolved to work together to combat the illegal wildlife trade.

The Buckingham Palace Declaration, a United for Wildlife initiative led by the Duke, has created a global coalition to prevent traffickers from exploiting weaknesses as they seek to covertly move their products from killing fields to marketplaces.

Released at a signing ceremony on March 15 at the Buckingham Palace, over 40 CEOs, chairmen and leaders of airlines, shipping firms, port operators, customs agencies, inter-governmental organisations and conservation charities from around the world have signed the declaration.

The declaration has been hailed by The Duke of Cambridge as "a game changer in the race against extinction".

The declaration commits signatories to 11 commitments that will raise standards across the transportation industry and to support efforts to prevent the growing trade in illegal wildlife and its products around the world.

The commitments focus on information sharing, staff training, technological improvements, and resource sharing across companies and organisations worldwide as it takes steps to remove the vulnerabilities in transportation and customs to tackle the criminals currently exploiting them.
Two ministers of Bangladesh government called on President Pranab Mukherjee here today.

Mohammed Nassim, Minister of Health, and Anwar Hossain Manju, Minister of Environment and Forests, Government of Bangladesh called on Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan today, a press statement from the President's office said.

"The President told the ministers that India attaches highest importance to its relations with Bangladesh. The government of India is determined to further strengthen its relations with Bangladesh," the statement said.

It said 2015 was a historic year in India-Bangladesh relations as it witnessed implementation of the Land Boundary Agreement.

"Our efforts are to further expand this cooperation to include new vistas of cooperation and also to reintegrate the economies of the region, particularly with India's North East," the statement from the President's Press Secretary said.

It said reciprocating the President's sentiments, the Bangladeshi ministers said relations have never been as good as they are today.

"There is a huge mindset change in both countries and the younger generation is now in the forefront, which bodes well for the future," it added.
Belgium has charged two new suspects with terrorist offences in connection with last month's deadly Brussels airport and metro attacks, the federal prosecutor's office said today.

A statement said Smail F. And Ibrahim F. Were "charged with participation in the activities of a terrorist group, terrorist murders and attempts to commit terrorist murders.
Bihar Cabinet today decided to give salary to untrained teachers of secondary and higher secondary schools of the state during their training period.

"The Cabinet today gave its nod to a proposal of education department to give salary to untrained teachers of secondary and higher secondary schools of the state during training period," Cabinet Secretariat Department's Principal Secretary Brajesh Mehrotra told reporters.

Mehrotra said that the Cabinet gave its nod to "Bihar District Board Secondary and Higher Secondary (Employment and Service Conditions) (Amendment) Rules 2016" and "Bihar Municipal Bodies Secondary and Higher Secondary (Employment and Service Conditions) (Amendment) Rules 2016" for the purpose.

Earlier, untrained teachers appointed by district board and municipal bodies in secondary and higher secondary schools had to complete their training courses including B.Ed programme within six years of their appointment but with the amendement getting nod, untrained teachers will have to complete their training within three years of joinning, Principal Secretary said.

The govenrment will give salary for the period during which the untrained teachers would get training, Mehrotra said while making it clear that teachers will have to furnish bond that they will work for next five years after availing the facility for training.

If they dont work after completing training, then they will have to return the amount which they would get during the training period.

Besides, education department will now take steps and initiatives to ensure that selected candidates get their appointment letters in time, Mehrotra said adding that as per the current provision, selected candidates have to report to authorities concerned for joining within 30 days of their selection but they, sometimes, do not get appointment letters.

The Cabinet also gave its nod for appointment of Patna high court judge Justice Hemant Gupta as 'executive chairman' of Bihar State Legal Service Authority, he said.

It also approved that the second session of 16th Bihar Legislative Assmebly and 182nd session of Bihar Legislative Council were adjourned sine die, Mehrotra said.
Days after PDP and formed the government here afresh, Union Minister Arun Jaitley today said his party had entered into the coalition despite "totally different" ideologies of the two parties to fight separatist forces and serve Jammu and Kashmir.

He said has "emotional and ideological" relationship with Jammu and Kashmir and would never compromise with any type of separatism.

"We have a political ideology that we will never compromise with any type of separatism. We will oppose it," said Jaitley, Minister for Finance and Information and Broadcasting, while attending a party programme here.

"Today it is a political reality that the mainstream political parties and the people of Kashmir region come together in our fight against separatism and we have to use this coalition in that direction," he said as he urged all political forces in the state to come together and fight the forces of separatism.

Jaitley said it is "known to everybody and our friends in the PDP also know that our ideologies are totally different but in such a political scenario to serve the country and the state, got the opportunity to serve the state."



His comments on coalition came less than a week after PDP and BJP formed afresh the government headed by Mehbooba Mufti after nearly three months of uncertainty.

The two parties ran a coalition government headed by PDP leader Mufti Sayeed for 10 months before his sudden death on January 7. Thereafter, there was wrangling between the two parties, leading to uncertainty for sometime.

Responding to questions, Jaitley said, "I will not comment about the country but will comment on Jammu and Kashmir. BJP not only has a political relationship but an emotional and ideological relationship with Jammu and Kashmir."



He recalled that when Jan Sangh, the parent party of BJP, was formed, the first issue it raised was about Jammu and Kashmir and the leaders made sacrifices.

"The nationalistic path that we are following, its foundation was laid by Shyama Prasad Mookerjee and Pandit Prem Nath Dogra," the Union Minister said.

"Today, it is a unique situation and in which the people of the state gave a verdict during elections in which the maximum seats in Jammu were won by us.

"In Kashmir, PDP got most number of seats and if we do arithmetic of all four major parties, the arithmetic decided which government would be formed so it was dictated by the arithmetic," he said.

He said it was a hard situation, as to how to move forward, and the political leadership in state and in Delhi had to accept the challenge.

"I am of the opinion that several people contributed to making the state unit of the party strong," he said.
Goa Vikas Party (GVP) today said the verbal duel between BJP and RSS over the medium of instruction (MOI) in primary schools is an attempt to fool the minority community in the state.

"The BJP and RSS are united and two sides of the same coin. The current verbal duel between both of them over the MOI issue is just an attempt to fool minority community ahead the 2017 state Assembly polls," GVP head Fransisco Miccky Pacheco said here.

He said BJP's stand is always anti-minority when it comes to MOI and it has reflected in their policy.

"The people want that all the schools teaching in English medium should be given grants like those to Konkani and Marathi," Pacheco said.

The Goa government had last year declared regional languages as MOI in primary schools and also gave grants to 135 schools English medium schools run by the Church.

Earlier, RSS Goa Chief Subhash Velingkar, who is spearheading agitation demanding grants be stopped to English medium schools, had criticised the BJP for their stand.

BJP MP Narendra Sawaikar reacting to Velingkar had challenged him to "face the elections" before passing any comment on the saffron party.

Pacheco today said the fight has been timed around the upcoming polls so that the minority community which supports English as MOI, stands with BJP.

"If BJP feels that regional languages alone should be the MOI, why are they not allowing Gujarati and Bengali schools to come up in the state? Will they give grants to schools teaching in these languages too," he asked.
Even as the BJP hopes for the lotus to bloom in Kerala Assembly in the May 16 polls, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, heading the Congress led ruling UDF, asserts the saffron party would not gain any foothold in the state as Keralite mindset was against its ideologies.

"BJP can never gain a foothold in Kerala as the mindset of Keralites is not in favour of the ideologies followed by the saffron party," he said in an interview.

He was responding to a query on whether the BJP would open its account in the state in the coming polls.

BJP, which has so far not succeeded in getting an MLA or MP elected from the state, is hopeful that things will be different this time as it is buoyant after its relative good showing in the recent civic elections in the state.

The party has aligned with BDJS (Bharat Dharma Jana Sena), a recently floated political party formed by SNDP (Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam) an organisation of the powerful Ezhava community in Kerala.

Significantly, this is the first time that the BJP has made the presence of NDA in the state and has projected itself as a third alternative to the UDF and CPI(M) headed LDF, which have been ruling the state alternately.

Ruling out chances of the saffron party breaking the bipolar politics of the state, Chandy said the people of the state were 'secular'.

"The biggest strength of Kerala is secularism and religious harmony...Though there is a possibility of political divide in the state, they (BJP) will not succeed in achieving political gains through divisive policies", Chandy said.

"BJP can never gain a foothold in Kerala", he asserted.

Rubbishing CPI-M state Secretary Kodieryi Balakrishnan's charge that Congress had entered into a tacit understanding with BJP in some pockets, including Nemom, Chandy said it was an admission of defeat ahead of the elections.

Taking potshots at CPI(M), Chandy said, "CPI(M) effort is to find reason for their impending defeat by blaming BJP."



Asserting that Congress is always fighting BJP all over the country, Chandy charged CPI(M) with aligning with the saffron front on several occasions in the past.

"CPI(M) is an opportunistic party. In 1977, they contested along with Janata Party in Kerala. In 1989, it is the Marxist party and BJP that supported the V P Singh government at the Centre," Chandy pointed out.

Besides this, recently, by not joining the grand alliance in Bihar, the Communist party had split anti-BJP votes,he said.

"If they had joined the alliance, the loss suffered by the saffron party would have been more", he said.

It was an election which was keenly watched by the whole nation and many were keen that BJP should be defeated, he said.

"There can be no doubt that UDF will be in the forefront to fight the BJP in Kerala", Chandy added.
Brazil's vice president - who would take over if Dilma Rousseff is impeached - accidentally released the speech he'd give to the nation if she were forced to stand aside, reports said.

The appearance online of the 14-minute speech in which Vice President Michel Temer addresses "the Brazilian people" was immediately interpreted by Rousseff supporters as evidence for their claims that impeachment proceedings are a coup plot in disguise.

Temer's office told Folha newspaper that the vice president, who turned on Rousseff to become an opposition leader, was just practicing "on his cell phone and it was sent by accident."



In the leaked speech, Temer states that his "great mission from now is the calming of the country, the unification of the country." He calls on all parties to join "to pull the country out of crisis."



Temer would automatically assume the presidency if the Senate votes to put Rousseff on impeachment trial for allegedly illegal government accounting tricks.

But for that to happen, the lower house first needs to vote in about a week's time, with a two thirds majority required for the Senate to take up the case. The Senate would then have to vote to start the trial.

With Rousseff fighting hard to defeat the motion in the lower house, the outcome remains far from sure.

Despite the assurances that the recording was just a precautionary measure sent out by accident, some saw darker motives.

Rousseff's Workers' Party tweeted that Temer's premature speech to the nation reveals preparations for "a brazen coup plot."



And the bizarre twist in an already complex fight over Rousseff's future prompted lively exchanges on social media.

Some questioned whether the release of the presidential-style speech, which was quickly given widespread media coverage, really was accidental.

Others made fun of Temer, who according to a recent poll would only get one to two per cent of the vote in a presidential election.

"For sure Temer's that fan in the stadium who shouts goal too early," said one tweet.
The Maharashtra government will hold civic and police officials responsible for illegal constructions and is considering slapping MCOCA against erring builders to curb the practice, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said today.

Offences registered under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) are non-bailable.

Speaking during the question hour, BJP legislator Ashish Shelar said that while hearing a PIL on bogus documents being used by a Navi Mumbai-based builder for illegal construction, the Bombay High Court directed Navi Mumbai Police commissioner to appoint an officer to take cognisance of the issue.

"Although the issue was about Navi Mumbai, similar cases come up in Mumbai as well where builders forge documents and indulge in illegal constructions. Will the government appoint a deputy commissioner of police or above rank officer to keep a watch or to take cognisance of these complaints of illegal structures in Mumbai," he questioned.

In his response, Fadnavis said the state government has adopted a new policy according to which a special officer will be appointed to keep a tab on illegal constructions.

"Developers know if they go ahead with an illegal construction and sell it to poor persons, the government will regularise it on humanitarian grounds. Thus, unless they are made to face a jail term for atleast two years, they won't stop. So the government is now considering to book them under MCOCA," Fadnavis said.

Citing an example, the Chief Minister said a developer in Digha area had reconstructed an illegal structure after it was demolished.

"On the top of it, he also made an agreement with the buyers that if the government did not regularise it, the buyers would be responsible for the illegal structure," he added.
An outspoken Cambodian opposition lawmaker faces up to five years in prison after he was charged today with inciting revolt by criticising government border maps, as premier Hun Sen threatened to "handcuff" anyone who raises the issue.

Um Sam An, a dual Cambodian-US national, was arrested late Sunday in Siem Reap province after returning from overseas.

He was a prominent campaigner against Hun Sen's government for using contested maps as a guideline to demarcate the border with Vietnam, accusing it of conceding land to the neighbouring country.

Prosecutors at a Phnom Penh court ordered his detention pending trial.

Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak told AFP the lawmaker used the border issue to incite people to revolt against the government.

"He also incited racism between Cambodia and Vietnam. We cannot accept this," he added.

Under Cambodia's criminal code he faces up to five years in jail if convicted.

Strongman Hun Sen today warned of further arrests.

"Anybody who dares to say the government is using fake maps must be handcuffed," Hun Sen said in a speech broadcast on a state-run radio.

Hun Sen also asked parliament, which is dominated by lawmakers from his ruling party, to vote to allow the court to continue proceedings against Um Sam An -- who as a lawmaker is meant to be exempt from prosecution.

Parliament will discuss the case later today.

Anti-Vietnamese sentiment is strong in parts of Cambodia and is often used by the opposition as a touchstone issue.

Sam Sokong, a lawyer for Um Sam An, confirmed the charges with AFP through a text message.

"His expression did not damage society," he added.

Cambodia's opposition party has long been critical of Phnom Penh's cosy ties with Hanoi and routinely accuses Vietnam of taking Cambodian territory along the 1,270 kilometres border, which is not fully demarcated.

The Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) denounced the arrest of Um Sam An as a "serious violation of the principle of parliamentary immunity".
Filing of criminal cases against Srinagar-based NIT students for chanting 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' cannot be accepted in this country, AAP leader and Minister in Delhi government Kapil Mishra said here today.

As outstation students of NIT continued to leave Kashmir, Mishra met some of them here and backed all their demands, including withdrawal of criminal cases against them and ensuring full security.

"The criminal cases need to be withdrawn. Tight security of the students need to be ensured. There has to be a Tricolor in the NIT Srinagar. These are simple demands, which should be fulfilled apart for sacking cops involved in lathicharge," Mishra told reporters here.

"What they were doing? They were raising slogans like Bharat Mata Ki Jai for which criminal cases were registered against them. It cannot be accepted in this country," he said.

The Minister in Delhi's Kejriwal government questioned why "those people, who hold Tricolor, have been forced to run away from Srinagar."



Mishra, who accompanied some of the NIT students to Delhi this evening, said "all those policemen who have lathicharged these students with brute force inside the campus of the NIT Srinagar should be removed from service". He said he was in Kashmir for last two days and received students. "I received a team of students at the airport. I decided to come to Jammu as most of the students have decided to come to Jammu and leave Srinagar," he said. "The career of the students is very important that cannot be compromised. All the criminal cases that have been filed against them have to be withdrawn," the Delhi Minister said.

He said HRD Minister Smriti Irani has been saying that every central university will have a tricolor, then why not in NIT Srinagar.

"We have decided to provide them best possible treatment in Delhi as some of them have been injured by the police.I am going to Delhi now and we will ensure proper treatment for them," he said while talking about those injured in protests. Mishra said "We will be with them at every place wherever they hold protest against government and ensure the double agenda of the BJP will be exposed," he added.

"I am here as an Indian not as the member of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). I am not carrying the banner of AAP, I am carrying a Tricolor," he said.

Mishra said "We appeal to the BJP and the RSS supporters that they should also come and join in their fight".
The Centre today sought Delhi government's cooperation in implementing the link road projects worth Rs 30,000 crore that seeks to decongest the national capital.

These plans are related to major highway projects including Eastern and Western Peripheral expressways.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Transport Minister Gopal Rai today met Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, and sought the Centre's cooperation for the odd-even scheme starting April 15.

"In the meeting, the Union minister sought Delhi chief minister's cooperation to remove encroachment from NH-24. This falls under the constituency of Manish Sisodia," a Ministry official said.

The official further said, the minister has told Kejriwal that 8 link road projects are being implemented at an investment of Rs 30,000 crore to decongest Delhi and some are elevated road projects.

"Both sides also discussed the possiblity of running electric buses to make Delhi pollution-free. The union minister also sought cooperation from Kejriwal in a bid to make Yamuna navigable," the official said.

During the meeting, Gadkari said development should not be mixed with politics. Metrino project was also discussed under which metrino pods are planned between 70 km stretch from Dhaula Kuan to Manesar in Haryana with an aim to reduce congestion in the capital.

The Prime Minister in November 2015 had laid the foundation stone of three national highway projects - the Eastern Peripheral Highway, Western Peripheral Highway and 8 laning of the National Highway between Mukarba Chowk in Delhi and Panipat in Haryana.

The projects, having a combined length of 341 km will be build at an estimated cost of Rs 10,166 crore and will run through Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.

The Eastern Peripheral Expressway will be 135 km long and cost Rs 5,763 crore while the 136 km Western Peripheral Expressway will cost Rs 2,274 crore. The 8 laning of the third project will cost Rs 2,129 crore.

Earlier, Gadkari had said that Delhi's pollution has been catching all attention, but the government will solve the problem in two years as massive attention is being paid to improving road designs, decongesting traffic and promoting eco-friendly fuel like ethanol.
The number of child bombers used by the Islamic extremists of Boko Haram has increased from four to 44 in a year with devastating consequences in communities that now see children as threats, UNICEF said today.

Seventy-five percent of the children used are girls, a new report said, emphasizing that these children, many believed captives, are "victims, not perpetrators."



"As 'suicide' attacks involving children become commonplace, some communities are starting to see children as threats," said Manuel Fontaine, West Africa director of the UN children's agency. "This suspicion toward children can have destructive consequences: How can a community rebuild itself when it is casting out its own sisters, daughters and mothers?"



The Associated Press learned of one case in which a woman in her 20s was freed by soldiers in an attack on a Boko Haram-held village. After she was reunited with her family in Maiduguri last month, she told her mother that she had been trained as a suicide bomber.

The mother so feared her own daughter that she turned her in to the military, according to a family member. She spoke on condition of anonymity to protect the identity of her cousin.

The number of children involved in suicide attacks in Nigeria and neighboring Cameroon, Chad and Niger rose 10-fold last year, with the frequency of all suicide bombings increasing from 32 in 2014 to 151 last year, UNICEF said.

In 2015, 89 of these attacks were carried out in Nigeria, 39 in Cameroon, 16 in Chad and 7 in Niger, the report said. Boko Haram has sent bombers to mosques, market places and other soft targets since a multi-national military offensive forced them out of a large swath of the country that they held until a year ago.
China today lashed out at the G-7 advanced economies and asked them to focus on global economic recovery rather than hyping up issues, after the bloc strongly opposed any "coercive or provocative" actions that may fuel tensions in the disputed East and South China Seas.

"We urge the G7 member states to honour their commitment of not taking sides on issues involving territorial disputes," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said.

Lu said that as recovery of the world economy remains weak, the G7 bloc should have focussed on global economic governance and cooperation rather than hyping up the disputes.

"China's stance on the East and South China Seas are consistent and clear," he said, adding it is completely within China's sovereignty to build structures on some of its Nansha islands and reefs and that there is no problem with freedom of navigation and overflight in the East and South China Seas.

The comments come in response to a statement issued by the foreign ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US yesterday in Japan's Hiroshima city.

The G7 Ministers statement, regarded as the strongest veiled attack on China said, "We are concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas, and emphasise the fundamental importance of peaceful management and settlement of disputes".

"We express our strong opposition to any intimidating, coercive or provocative unilateral actions that could alter the status quo and increase tensions, and urge all states to refrain from such actions as land reclamations including large scale ones, building of outposts, as well as their use for military purposes and to act in accordance with international law including the principles of freedoms of navigation and overflight," the grouping has said.

While China is locked in a dispute with the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan in the SCS, it clashed with Japan over the disputed islands in East China Sea.

The G7 ministers have also called onall states to pursue peaceful management and settlement of maritime disputes in accordance with international law and fully implement any decisions rendered by the relevant courts and tribunals which are binding on them, including as provided under UNCLOS, (UN Commission on Law of Seas).
China's Bank of Tianjin has been defrauded of more than USD 120 million, it said, the third such giant crime against banks in the country this year.

A "risk incident" at a Shanghai branch involved 768 million yuan (USD 122 million) and was related to its notes business, the bank said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

Notes, also known as bills of exchange, are securities issued by financial institutions, often as short-term financing tools, and payable to the bearer.

Financial magazine Caixin said that the notes had been sold to the bank as part of a repurchase agreement.

The bank "paid the money when buying the notes, but the notes went missing when the time came to resell", Caixin quoted people familiar with the matter as saying, leaving the bank unable to recoup its funds.

A number of bank employees who handled the bills had turned themselves in to police, it added.

The bank, which only listed in Hong Kong in late March, said in its statement on Friday that the incident happened "recently".

It is the third such case in China to come to light this year, and takes the total involved to 5.66 billion yuan.

Agricultural Bank of China, one of China's biggest banks, admitted in January that two of its employees stole notes worth 3.9 billion yuan to invest in China's stock market, which imploded in mid-2015.

In January, mid-sized Chinese lender Citic Bank reported a bill-related risk incident in which it had been defrauded of up to 969 million yuan.

The China Banking Regulatory Commission issued a notice last week requiring banks to improve their risk controls on commercial bills and check their authenticity, Bloomberg reported, quoting people familiar with the matter.
The new president of Chinese solar giant Wuxi Suntech Power is "assisting an inquiry" at Customs' request, its parent said today after reports he had gone missing.

Tang Jun was only person from the company helping the investigation and the issue being probed remained unknown, a spokesman for Suntech's parent Shunfeng International Clean Energy (SFCE) told AFP today, adding the firm's operations were "all normal".

Tang is the latest senior Chinese businessman to drop out of circulation for unclear reasons.

In January one of China's most prominent clothing firms, Metersbonwe, announced its chairman Zhou Chengjian had returned to work, a week after saying he had disappeared amid speculation he had been caught up in an insider trading investigation.

Weeks earlier Guo Guangchang -- chairman of Fosun, one of the country's biggest private-sector conglomerates -- had vanished from public view in connection with an investigation by authorities, before re-emerging.

Suntech Power was once the world's largest solar panel producer, at a time when Chinese manufacturers were flooding the global market with cheap products, causing trade disputes with the EU and US.

The firm collapsed in 2013 after it announced its main Chinese unit Wuxi Suntech would seek bankruptcy and restructuring, resulting in a bond default in the US worth over half a billion dollars.

The company later said it would receive a USD 150 million local government bailout and it was eventually bought by Hong Kong-listed Shunfeng for 3.0 billion yuan (now USD 462 million).

China Business reported today that Tang had only taken up his position as president a few months ago and the inquiry could be linked to issues at his previous firm.

SFCE shares were down 1.32 per cent in Hong Kong by the break.
China will cut social security payment requirements to lower the burden on businesses and increase efforts to stabilise employment, Premier Li Keqiang has said as his government is struggling to cope with the slowdown of the economy that threatens millions of jobs.

"The government will support various localities, in light of their local conditions, to reduce contributions to the five major insurance programmes and housing provident funds," Li said at a forum in Beijing on the national economic situation.

He said that this will be conducted "in a step-by-step fashion and under a unified national framework", state-run China Daily reported.

The five programmes cover endowment, medical insurance, unemployment, employment injuries and maternity insurance.

Under the current arrangement, employers must pay just over 39 per cent of their payrolls into the five social insurance programems. It is not clear whether the government will compensate the employees.

His remarks follow his promise at the end of the national legislative session in March, when he said local governments would be authorised to cut this percentage adequately.

No specific measures were announced but Li said that a national guideline on the change will be available very soon.

Zeng Xiangquan, head of the School of Human Resources at Renmin University of China in Beijing, said China's social insurance programmes are among the world's most expensive, meaning excessively heavy burdens for enterprises and workers.

"Lowering the percentage is an important way to implement supply-side structural reform," Zeng said. "It aims to relieve the burden on enterprises and local governments."



Li also reiterated the need to cut the tax burden on companies by carrying out the business tax to value-added-tax reform, which is expected to cut tax by more than 500 billion yuan (USD 77 billion) for enterprises this year.

He also called on local governments to conscientiously shoulder the responsibility of ensuring people's well-being, and to take more effective measures to deliver "sound employment performances".

Li listed college and vocational school graduates as well as demobilised servicemen as the priorities for employment.

Last year, authorities said the military would demobilise 300,000 personnel by the end of 2017. This year, at least 7.6 million university students are expected to enter the job market, according to Chinese media reports.

Niu Li, director of macroeconomics at the State Information Centre, said unemployment pressure mounted this year as the steel and coal industries in some northern and central areas shed workers to cut overcapacity and improve efficiency.

Reports quoting officials said about five to six million workers may loose their jobs including about 1.8 million in the energy and steel sectors.

Chinese economy slowed down to 6.9 per cent last year and the government fixed 6.5 to 7 per cent as target for this year. The World Bank in its latest forecast saidChinese economy will further decline to 6.7 per cent this year and contract to 6.5 per cent next year.
Chinese investors are keen to invest in India, especially in the country's high-speed railway network, business leaders attending an India-China corporate dialogue held in China's central Hunan province said.

Over 105 representatives from top Chinese business firms attended the event where Former External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, presided over a session relating to arbitration and its rules, an area of interest for Chinese investors.

The participation is well beyond the expectation and the response and enthusiasm is outstanding, Khurshid said.

There is a great deal of interest in different fields like health, engineering tourism, legal services, he said.

"I expect that some major deals would be struck for investment in India," he told PTI.

The event held yesterday at the provincial capital Changsha organised by Hunan Commence Bureau in association withServices Export Promotion Council (SEPC) of the Ministry of Commerce and co-sponsored by New Delhi-based Global Dialogue Review quarterly magazine.

The event was attended among others by Y K Sailas Thangal, Consul General of the Indian Consulate General at Guangzhou, officials of the SEPC, representatives from law firms in India as well as business houses.

The topics for discussions included e-commerce, real estate, infrastructure, financial, investment banking, energy, supervision mechanism, arbitration and adjustment mechanism.

In his address Khurshid said India-China need to rediscover their relations stretching to several millennia which suffered interruption in the 1962 war.

Both countries should look at complementarities step up cooperation in various fields. He also said the massive trade imbalance in favour of China in the bilateral trade should be offset by large scale Chinese investments.

Hunan where some top high tech Chinese railway firms have their bases looks to clinch high speed rail deals with India which are pending as the two sides discussed possibilities for a bullet train project between Chennai and New Delhi.

Moses Manoharan, Chairman of the Global Dialogue Review said representatives of the top law firms from India took part in the event to clarify legal issues including dispute resolution.

Primary interest of the local Chinese officials and investors was tourism, infrastructure, solar and pharmaceuticals, he said.

Prof Sheg Zhi, Director China-India Cooperation Centre said there is lot of curiosity among Chinese investors about India as both the countries work under different political systems.

Sathya Moorthy, Deputy Chairman of the Changsha based China-India Cooperation Centre, a Chinese government authorised body said Hunan looks to make big strides in Indian investments specially in high speed railway.

"We are eagerly awaiting for the outcome of the high speed rail talks between the two countries so that major investments and technology can go to India from here", he said.
China's top leadership, including President Xi Jinping, today expressed shock and grief over the deadly temple fire in Kerala that killed 109 people.

In a message of condolence to President Pranab Mukherjee, Xi said he was shocked to learn of the tragedy which left many people dead and many others injured in the explosions and fire due to fireworks at the temple near Kollam.

"At this moment of sadness, I would like to extend sincere condolences, on behalf of the government and the people of China and in my personal name, to the government of India and the people affected," Xi said.

"I am deeply saprmer ddened by the loss of lives and wish the injured recovery at an early date," he said, state-run Xinhua agency reported.

At least 109 people were killed and nearly 400 others were injured in the fire caused by festive fireworks at the Puttingal Devi temple on Sunday.

Premier Li Keqiang too sent a similar condolence message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"I'd like to extend, on behalf of the Chinese government and in my personal name, profound condolences to the victims and heartfelt sympathy to their families and those injured," Li said.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi also sent a message of condolence to his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj over the tragedy.

Wang said he was shocked to learn of the tragedy that left many people dead and many others injured in the fire.

"I'd like to express to Your Excellency, and through Your Excellency to the victims and those injured, my profound condolences and heartfelt sympathies," Wang said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping today expressed shock and grief over the deadly temple fire in Kerala that killed 109 people.

In a message of condolence to President Pranab Mukherjee, Xi said he was shocked to learn of the tragedy which left many people dead and many others injured in the explosions and fire due to fireworks at the temple near Kollam.

"At this moment of sadness, I would like to extend sincere condolences, on behalf of the government and the people of China and in my personal name, to the government of India and the people affected," Xi said.

"I am deeply saddened by the loss of lives and wish the injured recovery at an early date," he said, state-run Xinhua agency reported.

At least 109 people were killed and nearly 400 others were injured in the fire caused by festive fireworks at the Puttingal Devi temple on Sunday.
The Progress Union for Christian People (PUCP), a newly formed association of a section of Christians in the region, today extended support to the ruling AIADMK in the May 16 Assembly elections, claiming it was the only party which protected their needs and rights.

J Sundar, Founder President of PUCP, a union confederation, said AIADMK has been instrumental in providing Rs 20,000 subsidy to the community to undertake the pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

Besides it was AIADMK which had stated that Dalits who had converted to Christianity should not be deprived of concession or benefits as per the Ranganatha Mishra Committee recommendation, besides taking it up in Parliament, he said.

On attacks on their places of worship, Sundar said the government had arrested and taken action against the culprits, which no other governments did during their regime.

If AIADMK came to power, it would help resolve problems being faced by the community in maintaining their graveyards, he said, adding it should also continue to take action against what he termed were frequent attacks on Churches and other prayer and meeting halls.
In a bid to lessen pendency, Chief Justice of India T S Thakur today said the Supreme Court would hear urgent matters during summer vacation and asked the bar body to chalk out the mechanism.

"We can sit during the summer vacation and hear urgent matters and I would talk to judges," a bench, headed by the CJI, said when an advocate mentioned a matter in the morning seeking urgent listing.

"The Supreme Court Bar Association will welcome it," senior advocate and SCBA President Dushyant Dave, who was present in the courtroom in connection with some other case, promptly responded.

The bench, which also comprised Justice R Banumathi, said there are vacation benches to hear and decide cases and additionally, some judges may be requested to sit during the vacation for according regular hearing in matters where lawyers are willing to appear and argue.

In long vacations, lawyers do not go out for the entire period, it said and asked Dave to chalk out modalities for hearing of cases during vacations.

The summer vacation of the apex court this year is scheduled from May 16 to June 28.
Amid a tussle over control of Oswal Greentech and Oswal Agro Mills after the death of patriarch Abhey Oswal, his son Pankaj today said he is only claiming inheritance of his share on father's personal estate.

Pankaj said he is exploring legal options available to him against the appointment of Aruna Oswal, his mother, as chairperson of the two companies.

"My father passed away without a will and as my father's eldest son I have a right to a law defined inheritance of his personal estate," Pankaj told PTI in an emailed interview.

When pointed out that the company's management claims that he owns only 5,000 shares worth Rs 50,000 in Oswal Greentech, Oswal said: "Whatever that may be, I am happy to receive my just share. My mother's advisors clearly seek that I be denied what has to come to me."



When contacted Aruna Oswal declined to comment.

Asked about his future course of action as Aruna Oswal has already been made Chairperson, he said: "This is a matter between me and my lawyers at the moment and I am exploring legal options available to me."



Last week a takeover battle had erupted in the Rs 800- crore Oswal family after the death of Abhey Oswal, with both wife Aruna and Pankaj claiming ownership of the two group companies.

The fight between them even reached the police as the management of the two companies has filed a complaint against Pankaj alleging a forceful entry into the corporate office on April 4 and stealing books of account and certain documents.

Pankaj, however, refuted the allegations and said: "We are soon going in for a reverse complaint to prove that the incidents they claim just did not take place."



He also dismissed as "rumours" that he was disowned by his father and said he had "a cordial relationship" with his father and were "very close in business matters".

Oswal Green Tech and Oswal Agro Mills Managing Director Anil Bhalla said that the late Abhey Oswal had made his wife nominee for all his personal shares in these two companies and the same are being transferred to Aruna Oswal.

"If Pankaj Oswal has any right on personal estate, he should claim it from his mother. These two companies are public limited firms governed by the board of directors," Bhalla added.

Oswal Green Tech and Oswal Agro Mills had exited from the fertiliser business. At present, these firms are into real estate business with about 150 acres of land bank in Gurgaon, Ludhiana and Mumbai among others.
Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton and her ally, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, have been criticised for their "cringeworthy" joke at a charity event that some say was "racist" and "painful".

The joke in question was made late Saturday night at the annual Inner Circle Show when Clinton and de Blasio engaged in an awkward back-and-forth at the comedy show.

"I just have to say thanks for the endorsement, Bill. Took you long enough," Clinton joked, referring to the delayed endorsement of her candidature by the New York mayor.

De Blasio responded, "Sorry Hillary, I was running on CP time," as the crowd was taken aback somewhat from the joke, CBS reported.

"Cautious politician time," Clinton said in the punchline. "I've been there."



CP Time, or CPT, is short for "Colored People's Time "- the stereotype that black people are always running late.

Actor Leslie Odom Jr, who plays Aaron Burr in 'Hamilton' and who was present during the show, said, "I don't like jokes like that, Bill."



However, the joke fell flat with some critics.

Slate magazine described the joke as "cringeworthy"; Raw Story online website called it "painful"; and Town Hall said, "It's only racist if Republicans do it."



De Blasio told CNN that "people are missing the point" of the joke.

"It was clearly a staged show. It was a scripted show and the whole idea was to do the counter intuitive and say, 'Cautious politician time,'" the mayor explained.

"Every actor involved, including Hillary Clinton and Leslie Odom Jr, thought it was a joke on a different convention. That was the whole idea of it."



The mayor's office said the joke was not intended to offend. "Let's be clear, in an evening of satire, the only person this was meant to mock was the Mayor himself, period," de Blasio's spokesperson told CBS News.

"Certainly no one intended to offend anyone.
The vast majority of companies that received money from the World Bank's private lending arm last year to finance investment in Africa's poorest region use tax havens, a campaign group has said.

A total of 51 out of 68 companies that receive such funds from the International Finance Corporation for sub-Saharan Africa used tax havens.

And they accounted for 84 per cent of IFC investment in the region in 2015, Oxfam said in a report yesterday.

The use of the havens had no apparent link to the companies' core business, it added.

The most common haven for these companies was Mauritius, Oxfam said, adding that 40 per cent of the IFC's customers investing in sub-Saharan Africa had ties there.

The report said the Indian Ocean island nation is known to accommodate "round-tripping", a practice in which a company sends money offshore before returning it under the guise of foreign direct investment. That earns tax breaks and other financial incentives.

The Oxfam report comes in the wake of the Panama Papers leak about how wealthy individuals and firms use tax havens to hide assets and avoid paying taxes.

"It doesn't make sense for the World Bank Group to spend money encouraging companies to invest in 'development' while turning a blind eye to the fact that these companies could be cheating poor countries out of tax revenues that are needed to fight poverty and inequality," said Oxfam's tax policy advisor, Susana Ruiz.

The Oxfam report said the IFC has more than doubled its investment in companies that use tax havens in five years.

It has risen from USD 1.20 billion in 2010 to USD 2.87 billion in 2015, the study said.
A Congress MLA today demanded that Maharashtra should follow Bihar and have a complete ban on alcohol.

Raising the prohibition demand through a point of propriety in the state Assembly, Congress MLA Abdul Sattar said, "Due to drought, farmers become helpless and consume liquor. They commit suicide after consuming a couple of pegs."



"To avoid such incidents, there should be total ban on liquor in Maharashtra on the lines of the decision taken by the Bihar government," he said.

Sattar, who hails from the drought-hit Marathwada region, claimed that liquor ban in Chandrapur district has succeeded and there are no farmers' suicides there.

Four days after promulgation of partial prohibition in Bihar on April 1, the Nitish Kumar government on April 5 decided to impose a total ban on alcohol in the state.
Maharashtra Legislative Council Chairman Ramraje Nimbalkar today directed the state government to make a statement on the negative impact of steady rise in the ready reckoner (RR) rates.

RR rates are the guide to the official market price of a housing property in a particular area, and are used to calculate the stamp duty. These rates were increased last month.

Nimbalkar also asked the government to arrange a meeting of concerned officials in his chamber on this issue.

MLC Sanjay Dutt (Congress) raised the issue, saying that in the last five years the government had increased the RR rates by almost 300 per cent when the housing industry was going through a recession.

"It is a vicious cycle wherein thousands of flats remain unsold and yet the government is increasing ready reckoner rates which leads to further rise in cost," he said.

After agriculture, housing industry was the fastest rising employment generator (21 per cent) and there were about 250 ancillary industries linked to it, the legislator said.

It contributes nearly eight per cent of the GDP, and this contribution was expected to grow to 15 per cent by 2025, he said.

"While the government speaks of smart cities and affordable houses for all by 2020, it's ready reckoner policy is in fact slowly but surely destroying the housing Industry," Dutt alleged.

The builders were unable to absorb the frequent rise in these rates, and passed it on to the buyer, he said, adding that if the RR rates were reduced, it would benefit the common man and bring him "acche din".
A Delhi court today summoned an astrologer chargesheeted in a 2011 case for allegedly cheating an American citizen of Indian origin of Rs two crore in connection with a purported land deal here.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sumit Dass issued summons against astrologer Suresh Shreemali for July 4, the next date of hearing, while allowing his exemption plea for today on medical ground.

Meanwhile, the court issued a non-bailable warrant against co-accused Vijender Aggarwal after he failed to appear before it in pursuance to the summon issued against him.

The case was filed on the complaint of one Ramesh Bhatia, an Indian origin hotelier in New York.

In his complaint, filed through advocate Falak Mohd, Bhatia had claimed that the accused had cheated him and induced him to give the money for buying a piece of land which never existed.

The complaint said that during his visit to New York in 2007, Shreemali had asked Bhatia to invest in real estate business in India and persuaded him to buy a piece of land.

Bhatia paid Rs two crore for the land, but later realised that accused had cheated him in the matter.

The police had filed a charge sheet in the case in January under the sections of 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC.

"Accused Suresh Shreemali hatched a criminal conspiracy in connivance with other accused Vijender Aggarwal and cheated the complainant. He induced the complainant for making investment in India...

"He has received an amount of Rs 20 lakh from Vijender Aggarwal, from the amount received from the complainant and also got transferred the land of Rs 48 lakh from Vijender Aggarwal in the name of his servant Bajrang Gahlot adjusting the payment received from the complainant. Thus, accused Shreemali has cheated the complainant and he is liable for an offence under section 406/420/12B IPC," the charge sheet said.
Carrying a reward of Rs 25 lakh on his head, a member of the banned CPI(Maoist) Jharkhand, Bihar and North Chhattisgarh Special Area Committee surrendered before the police in Latehar today.

Dinesh, who carries aliases like Chasma and Chhota Bikash, surrendered before Deputy Inspector General of Police Saket Kumar Singh and Latehar Superintendent of Police Anoop Birtheray.

In the presence of the police officers and the media, Dinesh said he had joined the Maoist outfit in 1996 following alleged police atrocities, exploitation of villagers and due to unemployment, but came back to the mainstream as socialism could not be established with armed revolution.

Hailing from neighbouring Palamau district, Dinesh said he had been engaged in strengthening the Left Wing Extremist outfit and never been a part of its 'dasta' (firing squad).

The DIG said the Maoists have got a jolt with the surrender of Dinesh, who was their backbone, entrusted with strengthening their organisation in the area.

Dinesh faces cases in Palamau (six), Latehar (six) and Lohardaga (11).
The Customs department has imposed a total fine of Rs 33 crore on Tata Sponge Iron over its classification of coal imports.

Tata Sponge Iron, a subsidiary of Tata Steel, said it has been meeting its coal requirement through imports.

"Coal so imported was classified as steam coal by the company and duties are paid accordingly. According to the Customs department, this coal merited classification as bituminous coal," it said in a regulatory filing.

"In the financial year 2013, the tariff of bituminous coal was higher than steam coal. Hence, the company paid the differential duty with interest 'under protest'."



The filing further said: "The Commissioner of Customs (Preventive) in adjudication of the company's 'payment under protest' has upheld the Customs department's classification and demanded fine amounting to Rs 23.25 crore and a further penalty of Rs 9.86 crore."



The Tata Sponge Iron management is taking steps to challenge this "unjustified" demand, as per options available to it.

Tata Sponge is a coal-based merchant sponge iron producer and operates three rotary kilns with an installed capacity of 3,90,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) to produce sponge iron.

According to its annual report, the firm used coal worth of about Rs 229 crore in 2014-15 as against around Rs 263 crore in 2013-14. Iron ore and coal alone constitute more than 80 per cent of the cost of production.

During 2014-15, the firm sourced almost all of its iron ore requirement from Tata Steel. It sourced half of its coal requirement from auctions of Coal India while the other half was imported.
The Kerala government on Tuesday called an all-party meeting on April 14 to discuss whether or not to ban fireworks display during festivities in places of worship in the backdrop of the Kollam temple tragedy which has claimed 109 lives and left over 350 injured.

Talking to reporters here after a meeting with senior officials and doctors attending to the injured, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy also announced earmarking of Rs 20 crore for relief and rehabilitation of the victims of the April 10 fireworks tragedy at the century-old Putingal Devi temple at Paravoor, about 70 kilometre from here.

Rs 10 crore had already been put at the disposal of the Kollam District Collector for immediate action, he said.

The government will formulate a policy on fireworks after reaching a consensus at the all-party meeting on Thursday, he said after chairing the meeting this morning during which facilities being provided to the injured undergoing treatment at various hospitals were discussed.

Chandy's announcement came amid growing calls for banning fireworks displays in the backdrop of Kollam accident. The Kerala High Court is set to hear later on Tuesday one of its judge's suggestion that high-decibel crackers be banned to prevent man-made tragedies such as the one in Kollam.

The accident occurred during an 'unauthorised' display of fireworks in the wee hours of Sunday after a spark from a firecracker fell on the storehouse containing crackers, triggering explosions.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party state President Kummanam Rajasekaran opposed any complete ban on the fireworks display in temples.

It should be allowed with sufficient safety measures, he told reporters, adding that certain groups were trying to make 'political gain' by raising the demand for banning fireworks display.

State Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, who addressed media in Alappuzha, said as the state was heading for polls, the government cannot take a unilateral decision. After discussions, the government would move forward in this regard, he said.

He made it clear that strict instructions have been given to police to carry out raids on illegal cracker manufacturing units.

Chennithala also said action would be taken against those who used banned chemicals for making gunpowder and crackers, especially in view of the coming 'Vishu' festival on April 14.

Chandy said, "Our full concentration is on providing the best treatment to the patients on a war footing and we need to work unitedly to face the situation."

Medical teams, which arrived here with Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he visited the Kollam temple on Sunday, were still camping in the state to assist local doctors in treating the patients, he said.

At present, there was no need to shift the patients to other states, he said, adding, "We are taking the advice of the experts."

The prime minister had offered to provide all help to take the patients to hospitals in Mumbai and Delhi, Chandy said.

Asked about difference of opinion between Kollam District Collector A Shainamol and Kollam Police Commissioner P Prakash on the conduct of the fireworks display despite a ban on it, Chandy said all these issues would be looked into.

"This is the time to focus all our energy on providing treatment to the injured," he stressed.

Chandy said that out of 109 killed in the state's worst fireworks mishap, thirteen bodies were yet to be identified.

However, police have received complaints that 21 persons from nearby places of Paravoor were missing since the mishap.

The condition of 27 injured persons, including seven in Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital, was serious.

So far, a total of 1,039 persons were treated as outpatient in various hospitals in Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram, he said.

Chandy said that treatment for the victims was free and the government would bear all the expenses.

No private hospital should charge any fees from the victims, he said.

The chief minister also said the government would take a decision after receiving a report from the revenue secretary on the steps to be taken for the protection of two boys, Kishore and Krishna, who have been orphaned after their parents died in the devastating accident.

Chennithala made it clear that the government would take stern action to crack down on fireworks that cause heavy explosion.

To a question on the controversy over the conduct of the display even after the district administration had banned it, he said the judicial probe and crime branch investigation would look into all issues connected with the accident.

"Any person found guilty will be brought before the law. But, now it is not the time for any row. All effort now is to help the people injured in the accident," Chennithala said.
The Commerce Ministry today said that online transactions of goods adhering to the e-commerce norms will be entitled to duty benefits under the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS).

Defining "e-commerce" for the purpose of MEIS, the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said that e-commerce means buying and selling of goods and services, including digital products, conducted over digital and electronic network.

"For the purpose of MEIS, e-commerce shall mean the export of goods hosted on a website accessible through the internet to a purchaser.

"While the dispatch of goods shall be made through courier or postal mode, as specified under the MEIS, the payment for goods purchased on e-commerce platform shall be done through international credit/debit cards" and as per a RBI circular, the DGFT said.

Under the MEIS, the government provides duty benefits at 2 per cent, 3 per cent and 5 per cent depending upon the products and country.

With the increasing use of internet across the globe, large amount of trade is also conducted through online platforms.

Commenting on the issue, traders body CAIT said that instead of defining "retail trade", the government is rushing to define e-commerce trade.

In a statement, it said "CAIT is unable to understand the hurry of the government in matters of e-commerce and lack lusture attitude towards retail trade".

CAIT also asked for a national trade policy for retail trade and a separate ministry for internal trade.
Malaysians eating cakes containing poppy seeds may end up in jail as the tiny kidney- shaped ingredient is illegal in the country, a senior official today said.

City Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department chief Wan Abdullah Ishak warned consumers that if found positive for drugs after eating cakes containing Khus Khus, they could be charged in court.

"If they are subjected to a urine test and found positive for drugs, they will be detained. They can be charged under the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 which carries a maximum of two years' jail or (USD 1285) fine for taking drugs," he said.

Poppy seeds, used as food ingredients in India, Europe and the Middle East, is illegal in Malaysia.

According to Ishak, police had detected cases where poppy seeds, illegal to consume in Malaysia, were added to cakes, allegedly to boost sale.

"Even with possession of less than five grams of ganja from the poppy plant, is an offence which carries a maximum five years' jail and fine on conviction," he warned.

Ishak said police conducted drug screening on the poppy seeds found in the suspected cakes and found them to be positive for morphine.

"We found that Lemon poppy seed cakes were sold openly. The buyer after consuming a large portion would feel a sense of high or euphoria," he said.

Ishak said police would also carry out further tests at the Malaysian Chemistry Department to confirm that drugs were really present in such cakes.

Poppy seed is an oilseed obtained from the opium poppy. The tiny kidney-shaped seeds are used as an ingredient in many foods. They also produce poppyseed oil.
The Election Commission today censured Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mandal for violating the Model Code of Conduct.

The poll body had earlier issued a show-cause notice to Mandal, the Birbhum district president of Trinamool Congress, following complaints against him.

After his reply was not found to be satisfactory, a censure has been issued against him, EC officials said.

In the meantime, the full bench of the Election Commission held a meeting to review the poll preparedness for the second phase of West Bengal Assembly polls on April 17.

The meeting, held through video conferencing, was attended by the observers, nodal officers of both state police forces and central armed police force and West Bengal's Chief Electoral Officer Sunil Gupta.
All Central government employees were today told to file details of their assets and liabilities, along with that of their spouses and dependent children, as part of mandatory obligations under Lokpal Act by July.

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has asked secretaries of all Central government ministries and chief secretaries of state governments to ensure that employees working under their control file the declarations in time.

The move comes as the deadline for filing of these returns was yesterday extended for the fifth time, till July 31.

Employees have to file three declarations--one each for 2014, 2015 and 2016. There are about 50 lakh Central government employees.

The declarations under the Lokpal law are in addition to similar ones filed by the employees under various services rules.

Employees have to give details like cash in hand, bank deposits both in domestic and in foreign, investment in bonds, debentures, shares and units in companies or mutual funds, insurance policies, provident fund, personal loans and advance given to any person or entity, among others.

They also have to declare expensive furniture, fixtures, antiques, paintings and electronic equipment if the total current value of any particular asset in any particular category (e.G. Furniture, fixtures, electronic equipments) exceeds two months' basic pay or Rs one lakh.

As per rules, notified under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, every public servant shall file declaration, information and annual returns pertaining to his assets and liabilities as on March 31 every year or on or before July 31 of that year.

For 2014, the last date for filing returns was September 15 of that year. It was first extended till December 2014, then till April 30, 2015 and third extension was up to October 15. The date was then extended to April 15, this year for filing of returns for 2014 and 2015.

Now it has been extended till July 31, 2016 and employees have to file one returns each for 2014, 2015 and 2016 by this new date.
India has enough thermal and gas based power generation capacities to make up for shortage due to lower hydro power output in view of water scarcity in the country, Power Minister Piyush Goyal said today.

"India has enough capability to make up for shortfall due to lower hydro power generation, by thermal and gas based plants," Goyal said after launching DEEP (Discovery of Efficient Electricity Price) e-Bidding & e-Reverse Auction portal for procurement of short term power by DISCOMs.

"It is obvious that due to scarcity of water in the country, hydro power generation has come down particularly in states including Karnataka. Power sector and states are monitoring the situation. If states want power then they would get it provided transmission facility is in place," he said.

About the portal, Goyal said: "In power exchanges, trading of electricity is done for medium term and long term. But trading for short term and same day trading is not there. Here on this portal you can do that."



The short term procurement on the portal could be for a period of more than one day up to one year. Currently out of total generation of around 91671.33 million units about 10 per cent (9215.24MUs) is transacted through short term bilateral agreements and through power exchanges etc.

The guidelines for short term procurement of power have already been notified by Power Ministry and effective from April 1, 2016, making it mandatory for all the Procurers to procure short term power by using this e-Bidding portal.

Power Procurement from Power Exchange shall be excluded from the scope of these guidelines. This would introduce uniformity and transparency in power procurement by the DISCOMs and at the same time promote competition in electricity sector.

Power Ministry said in statement that the scope of this portal shall be further expanded soon to cover medium term and long term procurement of power.

This e-Reverse auction process for competitive procurement is expected to result in overall reduction of cost of procurement of power thereby significantly benefiting the ultimate consumers.

The minister also asked states to provide all data regarding their sale and purchase of power on the portal within four weeks to encourage transparency and also urged the states particularly Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra to formally join UDAY scheme meant for revival discoms.

The minister also said that if need be then he can talk to Chief Ministers of the states.

Earlier during the Review, Planning and Monitoring meeting of state power secretaries, Nagaland, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh inked agreements to ensure for all by 2019.

The minister also informed that PTC India is developing an app for trading of power on mobile phone which would be launched within four weeks time.
A petrol bomb was today hurled at the office of a senior ethnic Indian politician in Malaysia after he called the controversial Indian Islamic preacher Zakir Naik a "satan" in a Facebook post that went viral.

Unidentified people this morning threw petrol bomb at the office of Penang Deputy Chief Minister P Ramasamy, who is also the chairman of the state Hindu Endowment Board.

No one was injured and no damage was reported.

Ramasamy said the attack may have been a result of his Facebook post on Naik.

"In my posting on Sunday, I called him 'satan' and pointed out that he has been giving hate speeches on faiths other than Islam. I quickly realised the word was inappropriate and I removed it from my Facebook page but it was too late and that posting quickly went viral," Ramasamy said in a statement.

He said the posting was not meant to be against Islam or Muslims but directed at "this particular person."



"I believe in a multi-racial and multi-religious Malaysia where all religions should be given due respect. I regret the use of the word 'satan' which has caused uneasiness and unhappiness among Muslims in Malaysia," he said.

He added it was not his intention to cause such uneasiness as he has respect for all religions in the country.

Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said Naik was barred from giving a talk this Sunday on 'Similarities Between Hinduism and Islam' at University Teknikal Malaysia Melaka.

Naik, 51, last visited Malaysia in 2012 and he then also faced similar protests by the minority Hindu community.

Conservative views have gained increasing traction in recent years in Malaysia, which generally practises a moderate brand of Islam among its majority Malay community.

Issues related to race, religion and language are considered sensitive in Malaysia, which has witnessed deadly riots mainly between ethnic Malays and Chinese in 1969.

Naik has also been denied entry into Canada and Britain in 2012 after reportedly expressing support for terrorist group al-Qaeda.

Naik, president of India's Islamic Research Foundation, started a series of lectures in Terengganu last week on the invitation of the state government.

The controversial public lecture by Naik will be allowed to go on as the topic has been changed,Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said.

"Following this, future religious topics of this sort must obtain approval from the Malaysian Islamic Development Department, especially if it involves international speakers," he told reporters earlier.
Some farmers were today injured in alleged lathi charge by police during a protest outside the Greater Noida Authority office here.

Farmers leader Manvir Bhati said they were going to submit a memorandum to GNA officers when suddenly police lathi charged them.

He claimed some farmers have suffered injuries in the incident.

The Farmers were protesting for their demand of 10 per cent of developed land.

Greater Noida Authority senior officials assured the farmers that authoritywill bear the medical expenses of injured farmers.

On directions from SSP Kiran Singh, senior police officers assured the farmers that video clippings of the incident would be scrutinised and action will be taken if anyone is found guilty.
A fire broke out at Delhi Metro's upcoming Ajronda depot near Faridabad's Sector 20 A today.

No casualty was reported in the incident, fire officials said. DMRC said there are no reports of major damage.

The incident was reported around 2.30 PM, following which four fire tenders were rushed to the spot.

Thick smoke billowed out of the depot that is situated close to the Neelam Chowk metro station. Firefighters took around two hours to douse the flames.

"The fire broke out in an area where several containers with plastic materials stored inside them were kept. A cooling operation was also launched," a fire official said.

Metro started operating in Faridabad last year following the launch of the 14-km-long Badarpur extension till Escorts Mujesar.
Finnish utility firm Fortum on Tuesday said it will invest 200-400 million euros (around Rs 1,500-3,000 crore) in projects in India.

"India offers one of the best solar resources and a sound government support for the development of solar sector. The country provides a good platform for Fortum to further develop its business in solar also elsewhere," the company said in a statement.

The government plans to jack up generation capacity to 100 gigawatts (Gw) by 2022, up from 5.25 Gw currently. India gets more than 300 days of sunshine a year across the seventh-largest land area in the world.

Read more from our special coverage on "SOLAR POWER"

Fortum has 15 megawatts (Mw) of solar capacity in India. In January this year, it won a reverse auction for a 70 Mw project with a fixed tariff for 25 years.

In addition, Fortum today "decided to bid for additional 100 Mw in India, with a fixed tariff for 25 years," the statement said. "Some large-scale greenfield development will be targeted to enable economies of scale," the statement added.

The company will also consider seeking "possible partnerships or other forms of cooperation, which would on long-term create a more asset-light structure".

"Fortum seeks to allocate, of its planned growth capital, in the range of 200-400 million euros in solar projects in India," the statement said.

win solar projects if they offer to supply electricity at the lowest tariff in competitive auctions. The last auction in January saw rates reach a historic low of Rs 4.34 per kilowatt-hour (or unit).

Besides Fortum, other foreign firms investing in projects in India include SunEdison Inc of US, Canada's SkyPower Ltd, Japan's SoftBank Group Corp and a local unit of France's Solairedirect SA.

Projects in India are to be selected from various central, state and public sectors undertaking schemes, which would guarantee a long-term power purchase agreement, taking into account Fortum Group's financial targets.

The company said its solar strategy targets a wider geographic scope than its current business portfolio.

"With technologies rapidly maturing, utility competences are becoming increasingly important in solar business, and expansion in solar fits very well Fortum's vision to be the forerunner in clean energy. Overall, Fortum is targeting a Gw-scale wind and solar portfolio," the statement added.
A local court has sentenced four persons, including a former mayor, to life imprisonment in a 2008 murder case but acquitted a BJP MLA and eight others.

Sessions Court Judge S R Kadam, while pronouncing the judgement yesterday, sentenced former mayor Sandeep Kotkar, his brothers Sachin and Amol and his father, Bhanudas, after they were found guilty of killing lottery ticket seller Ashok Lande at Kedgaon village in Ahmednagar in 2008.

The court sentenced Bhanudas, then Ahmednagar Congress chief, to life imprisonment along with two year of rigorous imprisonment for causing disappearance of evidence and slapped a fine of Rs 3,000. Both the sentences will run concurrently.

The other three accused Sandeep, Sachin and Amol were awarded life term by the Judge who also directed them to pay a fine of Rs 5,000.

Public Prosecutor Sudhir Kotwal, in his submission, told the court that Sandeep, along with his brothers and father, assaulted Lande on May 19, 2008, with iron rods and sword over his alleged love affair.

Lande succumbed to injuries in a hospital and a case of accidental death was lodged, the prosecutor said.

Later, Lande's friend Shankar Raut filed an application in the court in this regard, which directed the police to file an FIR.

A case was lodged in September, 2009, under sections 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence), 214 (offering gift or restoration of property in consideration of screening offender) and other relevant sections of IPC in this connection, he said.

The FIR had also named sitting BJP MLA from Rahuri in Ahmedanagar district Shivaji Kardile who allegedly offered Rs 4.5 lakh through a mediator to the Lande's parents for keeping mum during the investigations.

Raut later moved the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court stating that the case be transfered to another court as it involves influential politicians. The case was then transfered to Nashik district court in 2014, Kotwal said.

The court acquitted Kardile and eight others due to lack of evidence against them.
Worldwide PC shipments plunged by 9.6 per cent during January-March 2016 -- sixth straight quarterly fall -- to 64.8 million units on lower adoption in new households, especially in emerging markets, preliminary results by Gartner showed today.

This is the first time since 2007 when shipments have fallen below 65 million units. The PC shipments had totalled 71.68 million in the first quarter of 2015.

"Worldwide PC shipments totalled 64.8 million units in the first quarter of 2016, a 9.6 per cent decline from the first quarter of 2015," Gartner said.

It added that all major regions showed year-on-year shipment declines, with Latin America showing the steepest drop, where PC shipments declined 32.4 per cent.

Gartner said these results are preliminary and final statistics will made be available soon.

"The Latin American PC market was intensely impacted by Brazil, where the problematic economy and political instability adversely affected the market," Mikako Kitagawa, Principal Analyst at Gartner said.

Kitagawa added the ongoing decline in US shipments showed that the installed base is still shrinking, a factor that played across developed economies.

Low oil prices drove economic contraction in Latin America and Russia, changing them from drivers of growth to market laggards.

Gartner said PCs are not being adopted in new households as they were in the past, especially in emerging markets.

"In these markets, smartphones are the priority. In the business segment, Gartner analysts said the Windows 10 refresh is expected to start toward the end of 2016," it said.

Lenovo maintained the number one position in worldwide PC shipments in the reported period despite a 7.2 per cent decline in shipments.

The company experienced a shipment decline in all regions except North America, where the company's PC units increased 14.6 per cent from the same period last year.

In the last four quarters, Lenovo has logged double-digit shipment growth in the US, while the overall market has declined.

HP Inc stood at second position followed by Dell at third and Asus at fourth place.

Gartner said HP was split into Hewlett-Packard Enterprise and HP Inc at the end of 2015, and HP Inc's first quarter indicates the challenges the company faces in the PC market.

"HP Inc has said it wants to stay away from low-profit segments, and the first quarter of 2016 results reflect its efforts to emphasise high-end sales, which cost it shipments," it added.

Dell's worldwide PC shipments declined 0.4 per cent in the first quarter, which was much better than the global industry average.
The founder of a globally- renowned organisation which has successfully brokered peace between warring factions in over 30 conflict-ridden countries has been conferred with an honorary doctorate degree by a prestigious South African university.

Vasu Gounden was honoured for his "unique and outstanding contributions that have had a profound impact on society locally and at a global level," his Alma Mater, the University of KwaZulu-Natal said in a statement.

As the Founder and Executive Director of African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD), Gounden has brokered peace in over 30 conflict-riddled countries, including in war-torn areas in Africa such as Burundi, Madagascar, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and South Sudan; as well as in Palestine, Nicaragua and Sri Lanka; and is highly respected internationally for these efforts.

ACCORD's comprehensive peace model was officially recognised by the United Nations in 1996 as a viable model for Africa.

The University also lauded Gounden's role with the UN.

"It is noteworthy that (Gounden) is the first member of an African NGO in the history of the UN Security Council to be invited to address the Council," said the University's Media Relations Officer, Sejal Desai.

"Gounden has a formidable list of achievements that improves the fabric of society and is life-changing for ordinary men, women and especially children," Desai added.

Since its inception 24 years ago, ACCORD has trained over 20,000 stakeholders; prepared armed groups for negotiations; and contributed to mediation strategies and the content of peace agreements.

ACCORD is also contributing to policy and conflict management capacity at the United Nations and the African Union, the university statement said.

Recognising his work in peace and security led to the South African government appointing Gounden to serve on the South African Council on International Relations (SACOIR), an organisation that contributes directly to enhancing South Africa's role in peace and security in Africa and promotes South Africa's soft diplomacy role in global affairs.

In 1996 Gounden was also one of two South Africans nominated by the government to serve on the Commonwealth Secretary General's Good Offices Forum to mediate in international conflicts.
fell by Rs 32 to Rs 29,490 per 10 ten grams in futures trading today as participants indulged in profit-booking at prevailing levels amid a weak trend overseas.

At the Multi Commodity Exchange gold for delivery in far-month August declined by Rs 32 or 0.11% to Rs 29,490 per 10 grams in a business turnover of 1 lot.

Similarly, metal for delivery in June contracts eased by Rs 13 or 0.04% to Rs 29,313 per ten grams in 272 lots.

Analysts attributed the fall in gold futures to profit-booking by traders at existing levels and a weak trend in global market where it retreated from three week highs as investors look to the US data for further clues on how the Federal Reserve will proceed on monetary policy.

Globally, gold fell 0.4% to $1,253.36 an ounce in Singapore. Earlier, it climbed to $1,260.06, the highest price since March 22.
With the Indian startup ecosystem growing rapidly, an arm of Wall Street investment bank said Tuesday it is bullish on the space and will be scouting to invest up to $10 million in domestic financial technology .

Principal Strategic Investments (GSPSI), which invests from the bank's balance sheet, has two 'legacy investments' in the country, including in NSE and NCDEX, its head Alokik Advani said.

Read more from our special coverage on "GOLDMAN SACHS" Deal to keep oil output at record wont help prices, says Goldman

While GSPSI continues to manage these investments, it is the new opportunities that the arm is excited about and is looking to invest between $2-10 million for a minority stake, he said, adding that it is in discussions with some .

The announcement comes amid a focused thrust on developing the startup ecosystem, which has seen the government launch the 'Startup India' initiative.

Advani said PSI looks for businesses in the financial technology space which can benefit by associating with its parent. Typically, before taking a stake, the relationship with a startup begins with becoming a client, he said.

GS already has sizeable presence in India's startup hub Bengaluru and PSI is looking at the city as a centre for innovation, he said.

Though it has a wide range of segments it invests in, Advani said in data analytics and machine learning space interest PSI.

It is also looking at trading technology, market infrastructure, information services, security software and payments, among other areas.

When asked about valuations, he said the expectations are coming down with people becoming more realistic.

PSI, which has a portfolio of 75 investments including 12 in the Asia Pacific region, stays invested for over five years and will look for a board seat on the company for its minority investment, he added.

Advani, however, refused to give any targets on investments, saying PSI does not operate like a private equity fund, is very opportunistic and generally takes longer to close deals.

PSI is already in discussions with bodies such as Nasscom and startups think-tank iSpirit, Advani said, adding that partnering with colleges and educational institutions which are producing new ventures also makes sense for it in India.

At present, it has a 20-member global team looking at operations and the Indian investments will be made by a team in Hong Kong.

Advani declined to comment on its investment in NSE, which is headed for an IPO, but said it "continues to work with NSE management in every shape and way we can on their strategic roadmap.
The Centre has banned the manufacture and import of toxic pollutant Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) and directed complete prohibition on its use in any form by end of 2025.

PCBs are synthetic organic chemicals used in many different products including electrical equipment, inks, adhesives, flame-retardants, and paints. Its production and use are now severely restricted in many countries because of possible impacts on human health and the environment.

Union Environment Ministry has banned manufacture and import of PCBs under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 effective from April 6, this year, said a notification issued in this regard.

"The use of PCBs in any form shall be completely prohibited by 31st December, 2025," it said.

The Ministry has notified the 'Regulation of Polychlorinated Biphenyls Order, 2016' which also bans import of equipment containing PCBs.

That apart, the import, export or trade of PCBs contaminated equipment will be regulated as per the provisions of the Hazardous Wastes (Management, Handling and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2008.

The use of equipment containing PCBs will be permitted for their certified life time or December 31, 2025, whichever is earlier, provided that they are maintained properly without possibility of leakage or release of PCBs to environment.

Also, the total quantity of PCBs, the number of equipment containing PCBs contaminated with this chemical which are in use and their stockpiles -- all the inventory details need to be furnished to the ministry within one year.

The government has directed users not to drain or discharge PCBs directly or indirectly on land, in surface water or effluent treatment plant from defective, out of use PCBs containing or contaminated equipment or in use PCBs containing equipment.

The waste PCBs or equipment contaminated with PCBs should be disposed of as per the provisions of the Hazardous Wastes (Management,Handling and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2008 by December, 31 2028.

Stockpiles of PCBs if any should also be destroyed in environment beneficial manner by December, 2028, the notification added.

However, the government has allowed use, sale and import of PCBs in quantities as required for research and development activities in central universities, Council of scientific and Industrial Research Laboratories, government institutions or Central Power Research Institute after the concurrence of the Union Environment Ministry.

The government's decision is in line with the Stockholm Convention, under which signatory countries are to prohibit or take necessary legal and administrative measures to eliminate the production and use of PCBs. India signed it in May 2002.
The Maharashtra government will appoint an experts' committee to suggest measures to solve Mumbai's water woes, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said in the Legislative Assembly here today.

The committee will prepare a roadmap for equal distribution of water and suggest measures to prevent leakages and provide round-the-clock water to the megapolis. It will submit its report in the next two months, the CM said.

The Chief Minister conceded that over 27 per cent or some 900 million litre of water gets wasted everyday in the city.

Replying to a calling attention motion of Yogesh Sagar (BJP), Fadnavis said the distribution in the island city and the suburbs should be equal and on the basis of population.

The BMC (civic body) supplies 960-975 million litres daily (MLD) of water to the island city's 31 lakh population, 920-930 MLD to eastern suburbs' 30 lakh population, while the area from Goregaon to Dahisar, with a population of 30 lakh, gets only 620 MLD of water. This is an injustice to the suburban region, Sagar said.

"The government should appoint a committee to study feasibility of equal, population-based distribution," he said.

Sagar also said the committee should not have any serving or retired BMC officials, because they may favour no change in the existing water distribution network.

Fadnavis said the government will come up with a roadmap for solving all water-related issues of Mumbai. "Committee will suggest how to provide 24-hour water to the city, its equal distribution and solution to the leakages," he said.

The government will ask the municipal commissioner to take suggestions from the legislators for fixing the terms of reference of the committee, he said.
The multi-million dollar Gwadar port being developed by Pakistan and China on southwest coast in the troubled Balochistan province will be fully operational by the end of 2016, a Chinese official said today.

"Right now there is really nothing at the port that is why we are working overtime to get it fully operational and develop it to handle full trade," Zhang Baozhong, chairman of the Chinese public company in charge of the project, said.

Zhang said that the Gwadar port will see an estimated one million tonnes of cargo going through it by 2017.

"Our dream is to make Gwadar a regional trading centre," he told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar.

The development of the Gwadar port is part of China's ambitious USD 46 billion dollar joint economic corridor pact with Pakistan.

The port project is also seen as part of Beijing's plan to have more economic say in the region and gain more access to the Middle East, Europe and Africa through Gwadar.

"The idea behind working overtime to fully develop the port is that it will become a regional trading centre and port," he told reporters.

The port was built in 2007 with technical help from China as well as financial assistance of USD 248 million from it.

A Pakistani official involved in the project told reporters that eventually they dream of seeing Gwadar turn into another Dubai due to the various development projects being carried out in the area.

He said the Pakistan government planned to develop the local fishing industry once the port was fully operational.

The Pakistan government has beefed up the security for the Gwadar port and its surrounding areas due to the ongoing insurgency in Balochistan which is rich in natural resources and minerals.

Baloch nationalists and insurgents accuse China of siding with the elite in Pakistan to deprive rightful share/jobs to the local people.
Producer of "Indiana Jones" Frank Marshall says he can't imagine having any another actor replace Harrison Ford in the titular role.

After being named CinemaCon's producer of the decade, Marshall shared his excitement about the fifth film in the franchise, reported Variety.

Marshall said it's "pretty sweet" to return to the film series that introduced him 35 years ago to director Steven Spielberg and to his future wife, Kathleen Kennedy, now president of "Star Wars" maker Lucasfilm.

"It's all about the story. I think both in the 'Jason Bourne' series and on 'Indiana Jones,' we are not going to do the Bond thing. We think those characters are iconic, and those are the only actors who can play that," he said.

Marshall said the next "Jones" installment will not be a prequel but a continuation of the story from where it left off with "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull".

Disney announced the new film last month, setting its release for July 19, 2019.
The Uttarakhand High Court today asked Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal to file a counter affidavit on a petition challenging the disqualification of nine rebel Congress MLAs.

Justice U C Dhyani asked the Speaker to file his counter affidavit on April 18, directed the petitioners to file their rejoinder by April 22 and posted the matter for next hearing on April 23.

Responding to apprehensions expressed by the petitioners (disqualified MLAs) that the Election Commission might hold bypoll to the vacant seats represented by them pending hearing of their petition, Justice Dhyani said if something like this happens they were at liberty to approach the court and seek its protection, Saket Bahuguna, who is on a panel of lawyers representing the rebel MLAs, told reporters outside the court in Nainital.

However, Justice Dhyani refused to issue an interim order on the petition as a similar petition was pending before a division bench of the High Court comprising Justice K M Joseph and Justice V K Bisht.

Arguing on behalf of the Speaker before the single bench, senior Supreme Court Lawyer Kapil Sibal defended his action against the rebel MLAs saying there was enough ground for their disqualification as they openly joined hands with BJP by rushing into the Well of the House to seek a division of votes on the Approrpriation bill on March 18.

Countering the petitioners' (rebel MLAs) argument that they had not done anything which whould suggest that they rebelled against the party, Sibal said they had travelled along with BJP MLAs in a bus to Raj Bhawan and were then flown with them in a chartered flight to New Delhi.

This is tantamount to revolting against the party on whose ticket they had won their assembly seats, he argued.

The High Court had yesterday heard the contention of the petitioners through their counsel who had challenged the legality of the Speaker's action against the legislators on the ground that going against the state government could not be equated with going against the party and hence their disqualification under anti-defection law was not correct.

The petitioners lawyers had said the disqualified MLAs had neither quit the party they belonged to nor joined another and so what could be the ground for their disqualification as members of the state Assembly.

Kunjwal had disqualified nine rebel Congress MLAs from the state assembly on March 27.

However, only six of the nine disqualified MLAs have moved the court challenging the Speaker's action.

A political crisis had erupted in Uttarakhand on March 18 when nine MLAs of the Congress had aligned with BJP to demand a division of votes on an Approporpation bill on the state's annual budget.

The turn of events after that had led to dismissal of chief minister Harish Rawat's government and imposition of President's rule in the state.
Madras High Court today directed the city corporation to inspect a land allegedly encroached by an AIADMK councillor, nominated as the ruling party's candidate in the May 16 Assembly elections, and take necessary action if the charge was found to be true.

Passing orders on a PIL, a bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice M M Sundresh ordered the Commissioner of the corporation to carry out the inspection of the land in Neelankarai Kuppam here.

If any encroachment was found, action should be taken forthwith in accordance with law, it said adding the exercise should be completed within one month.

The bench made it clear that officials in the guise of election should not delay taking action in the matter.

Petitioner S Ponkumar of Neelankarai, working in a private concern as a daily wages worker, alleged that Neelankarai councillor M C Munusamy had encroached upon a land of 72 sq.Ft where a Radio/TV room of the corporation was located once.

He submitted that Munusamy, also the Chairman of Zone No 15, allegedly constructed a car shed on the land.

He prayed the Court to direct the authorities concerned to clear the 'encroachment' and handover vacant land for public purpose.

Munusamy has been fielded by AIADMK from the Velacherry constituency in the city for the assembly elections.
The Hyderabad High Court today ordered recall of non-bailable warrant issued by a local court against Union Minister Y S Chowdary in connection with a criminal complaint filed by Mauritius Commercial Bank Ltd over alleged loan default.

Justice Raja Elango also ordered Chowdary to present himself before the trial court on May 5.

Afterwards, he need not attend the trial court untill the disposal of the petition he has filed in the High Court, the Judge said.

The XII Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court had on April 7 issued the warrant against Chowdary, the Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, after the Mauritius Commercial Bank Ltd had filed a complaint in the court accusing him and others of "defaulting in repayment of loan of Rs 106 crore".

The bank had submitted that it had lent Rs 100 crore to Hestia Holdings Ltd, a subsidiary of Sujana Universal Industries Ltd, and had secured a decree from a London court.

According to the counsel of the Bank, the company - Sujana Universal Industries Ltd - stood as guarantor for the loan availed for Hestia Holdings Ltd, which is its subsidiary, and the company has to repay Rs 106 crore to it.

Subsequently, the Bank had filed several litigations against Sujana Universal Industries Ltd and Chowdary had been asked to remain present in the court after issuing summons based on the criminal complaint.

However, Chowdary "failed" to remain present before the court after which an NBW was issued and the matter was posted for hearing on April 26.

Challenging the issuance of NBW, Chowdary had approached the Hyderabad High Court and filed a petition seeking that the NBW be recalled, said Chowdary's counsel Ravi Shankar Jandhyala.

The High Court will hear his petition next on June 16, Jandhyala added.

Chowdary had also claimed that though he was the founder of the company he had relinquished his shareholding and directorship and that he had not taken the loan.
Realty portal Housing.Com today said it has tied up with taxi aggregator Uber to provide home buyers option to book cab for site visits.

"Uber will be integrated into the Housing.Com app, allowing consumers to directly book a ride after identifying a property of interest. This will save consumers the hassle of finding locations of different sites," realty portal said in a statement.

While the feature is available for new projects only, Uber will subsequently integrate with resale property listings on Housing.Com's app. The service will be available across all cities common to Housing.Com and Uber's services.

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Payal Tuli joins as Partner at BMR & Associates LLP * BMR & Associates LLP today announced the induction of Payal Tuli as Partner based out of the law firm's office here.

"Payal has over 13 years of experience in the area of customs and indirect taxation. Her experience in the domain of customs laws, indirect taxes and transfer pricing will add tremendous value to the firm and particularly, strengthen the firm's indirect tax practice," BMR said in a statement here.

Prior to joining BMR, Payal worked with Fortune 500 MNCs with diversified portfolio of products and automobile giant BMW India, E.I. Dupont among others.

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SKF offers work integrated learning programmes to employees * SKF India has joined hands with Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani, to offer WILP (Work integrated learning programmes) to their employees.

WILP offers a unique opportunity to develop employees and build capability as an organisation as it helps to enhance employees' academic and technical qualification in various Engineering domains.

"Programs like WILP empower our employees to equip themselves to operate at their best potential. Growth (both of the business and individual) is but a natural outcome," Anjali Byce, Director-Human Resources said.

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Seshu Bhagavathula joins Ashok Leyland as CTO * Hinduja Group's flagship company Ashok Leyland today said Seshu Bhagavathula has joined the firm as Chief Technology Officer.

"... Bhagavathula joined as Chief Technology Officer of the company on April 12, 2016," the city-based commercial vehicle major said in a BSE filing.

Lenskart to provide free eye check-up to Ola driver-partners



* Online retailer of prescription eye-wear Lenskart has partnered Ola to provide eye check-up camps for the latter's driver partners across Delhi-NCR to promote road safety.

"With our increasing dependency on cabs for safe and easy commute, it is imperative that cab drivers have spot on vision. With this, we aim to bring special emphasis on road safety and hope to have a successful association with Ola," Lenskart CEO and founder Peyush Bansal said.

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Hungama partners MTNL



* Digital entertainment firm Hungama today said it has partnered state-run MTNL to enable the latter's broadband consumers in Delhi and Mumbai access to music, movies, videos and games.

"We look forward to sharing the Hungama experience with over one million MTNL subscribers and offering them premium entertainment at their convenience," Hungama.Com CEO Siddhartha Roy said.

Hungama has similar partnerships with BSNL, ACT Fibernet, Hathway, Videocon, Tata Photon and Sri Lanka Telecom.

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Orange Business Services deploys green data center in HP * Orange Business Services (OBS), the B2B division of the Orange Group, has commissioned a data centre for Himachal Pradesh government.

This is the first state data centre in the country which has been designed using 'green' data center concepts that minimise power requirements and increase power utilisation efficiency, it said in a statement.

The centre, to be managed by OBS for 5 years, will host about 200 e-governance applications ranging from land records, health management system to safe city applications, it added.

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Genpact sets up shared services centre in Kuala Lumpur * BPM major Genpact today said it has established operations in Malaysia's capital city of Kuala Lumpur to further strengthen its footprint in Asia.

The company plans to provide finance and accounting (F&A), sourcing, and procurement services for a growing number of clients at this site, Genpact said in a statement.

Genpact is already working with GSK in this Kuala Lumpur location and expects to hire a number of professionals with domain expertise in F&A and procurement processes.

Crayon Software to be Microsoft's cloud distribution partner



* Microsoft today announced the appointment of Crayon Software Experts India Pvt Ltd (Crayon) as a Cloud Distribution Partner under its Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) Program in India.

As part of the program, Crayon will help its customers (both - SMBs and Enterprise) in India to adopt Microsoft's cloud-based technology solutions like Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Office 365, Windows Intune and Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS) subscriptions.

Crayon will also work with Internet Service Providers (ISPs), Telecommunications Providers (Telcos) and Web Hosting firms to deliver these solutions to customers in India, a release by the two companies said.

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Infogain appoints Sunil Bhatia as Chief Executive Officer * IT company Infogain today named Sunil Bhatia as Chief Executive Officer effective July 1.

He held the position of CEO Designate at Infogain since the completion of Infogain's acquisition of the IT assets of Blue Star Infotech in January 2016.

Founder and former CEO Kapil Nanda will be full-time Executive Chairman of Infogain's board of directors.

With 25 years of experience, Bhatia has earlier worked with IBM, Accenture and Tech Mahindra in the US and Asia.

BankBazaar.Com launches e-KYC platform for loan approvals



* Financial marketplace BankBazaar.Com today said it has launched a multi-brand paperless e-KYC platform for instant loan approvals.

This eliminates the need for physical document submission for loan approvals through the company's online platform, BankBazaar.Com said in a statement.

This would be available for personal and car loans.

"We, along with our partners, have been working towards this moment where we take the loan application process completely online and paperless," BankBazaar.Com CEO Adhil Shetty said.

This step promises to increase customer satisfaction and decrease operational costs for the banks, he added.

This would also reduce the loan sanction time to as little as one business day, it said.

* * * * * *



MobiKwik adds deals to platform



* Fintech startup MobiKwik today said it has launched deals on its platform.

This will allow its users to buy exclusive deals from brands like Big Bazaar, Barista, Relaxo, Smaaash, Aapno Ghar, Central, Himalaya and Burger King and redeem them at merchant locations.

"Our users earlier had to search for deals on different platforms and then use their MobiKwik account to redeem these. With this launch, we have become a one-stop solution for all deal seekers in India," MobiKwik GM Marketing Akash Gupta said.

Deals at MobiKwik have been launched in NCR and over the next week, will be available for MobiKwik's over 32 million users, pan-India, it added.

MobiKwik has a network of over one lakh merchants and targets achieving 150 million users in the next 18 months.
Hundreds of people from far and near are thronging to see the accident site at the century-old Puttingal Devi temple, which witnessed one of the worst fireworks tragedies in the recent times, that took 110 lives and injured several.

The festivities of the temple had turned tragic early on Sunday when a stockpile of crackers went off during a fireworks display, leaving a trail of death and destruction.

There has been a steady stream of visitors from nearby and far flung areas.

Among the visitors was an Australian tourist who was saddened because his first trip to Kerala coincided with "one of the worst temple tragedies in the God's own country."



38-year-old Joval, who left on a India-Sri Lanka tour a month ago from Melbourne, was on his way to Kerala from Hampi, to visit the state he had heard so much about.

His anxious mother called up to find if he was safe soon after hearing about the tragedy, Joval told PTI.

He visited the accident site and was shocked to see the devastation.

A great admirer of India, Joval, who works in a private company, said he was prepared to offer any help to the needy.

The accident at the Puttingal Devi Temple complex occurred during an unauthorised display of fireworks early Sunday morning after a spark from a firecracker fell on the storehouse of crackers, triggering explosions.
Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik today said that he has not demanded the dismissal of UP cabinet minister Azam Khan for making comments against him in the state assembly last month.

"I have never asked for dismissal of the minister. Journalists draw their own inference. I had sought the CD of the speech from the Speaker in which out of 60 lines 20 lines were removed. It shows that his behaviour was unparliamentary," Naik said.

"The CM should take cognisance of such behaviour as he was present in the House," he added.

On important bills getting held up in Raj Bhavan, Naik said that the matter has been taken up with the Speaker and it is also in the knowledge of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.

Naik had taken strong note of statements made against him in the State Assembly on March 8 and had sought CD and transcript of his speech from the Speaker.

Khan has been engaged in a no-holds-barred war of words with Naik for quite some time, with the minister accusing the Governor of being a "kar sevak" and "vitiating" the atmosphere in Uttar Pradesh at the "behest" of the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre.

In a stinging remark in the Assembly, Khan had accused the Governor of stalling several bills by not giving his assent.
Actor Idris Elba says the sex symbol status and the female attention he gets confuses him.

The 43-year-old British actor said he finds himself unattractive when he looks in the mirror, reported Femalefirst.

"When I wake up in the morning and look in the mirror, I look like bad. I don't know what everyone else is looking at," Elba said.

The "Beasts of No Nation" has been dubbed "the Sexiest Actor Alive" by Glamour magazine for the second year in a row, in its May 2016 issue, but Elba is just focused on taking care of his family.

"I'm not into the whole fame thing. I don't have celebrity friends. I have the same ones I had from when I was a kid and for me, it's about my family. I would like to my entire family happy and secure. That's a lifelong dream of mind: to make them happy," he said.
Prominent infrastructure firm IL&FS today evinced interest in investing in different infra projects in Hyderabad, including housing and roads, the Telangana government said.

IL&FS representatives met Telangana Municipal Administration Minister K T Rama Rao and held talks with him, a state government release said.

IL&FS expressed its readiness in taking part in the revival of Musi river here, the release added.
India and the US today identified two new "pathfinder" projects under the Trade and Technology Initiative (DTTI) for the joint production of a helmet-mounted digital display and a biological tactical detection system.

The Americans also formally pitched two proposals for the manufacture of fighter jets under the 'Make in India' initiative.

Visiting US Secretary Ashton Carter and his Indian counterpart Manohar Parrikar also welcomed the finalisation of four government-to-government project agreements in the area of science and technology cooperation -- Atmospheric Sciences for High Energy Lasers, Cognitive Tools for Target Detection, Small Intelligent Unmanned Aerial Systems, and Blast and Blunt Traumatic Brain Injury.

Following the delegation-level talks here, the two sides also agreed to commence navy-to-navy discussions on submarine safety and anti-submarine warfare.

They also agreed to launch a bilateral Maritime Security Dialogue, to be co-chaired by officials at the joint secretary /assistant secretary-level of the Indian ministries of and external affairs and the US departments of defence and state.

India and the US had initially agreed on four "pathfinder projects" under DTTI -- next generation Raven Minis UAVs, roll on and roll off kits for C-130, mobile electric hybrid power source and Uniform Integrated Protection Ensemble Increment-2.

Under the new initiative, the key project will be helmet- mounted digital display for fighter aircraft and helicopters.

The Americans have also pushed for joint production of fighter aircraft by Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

However, it was not clear if the the pre-bid guarantee sought by India, required for the transfer of technology, has been given or not.

The two countries are also exploring aircraft carrier technology besides the design and development of jet engine technology.

Noting that India wants to move to a flat-deck design for its aircraft carriers, Carter said the US is "more than willing" to share its catapult technology for launching fighter jets off carriers.

According to American defence officials, if India begins using the catapult technology, then there could be opportunities for the country to buy US-made FA-18 fighter jets or other aircraft that use the launching system.
India today expressed its displeasure to the US over the sale of F-16 fighter planes to Pakistan even as Washington said the aircraft were meant for anti-terror operations.

After talks with visiting US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said he raised the issue of sale of F-16 aircraft by the US to Pakistan.

India had earlier protested sale of the combat planes to Pakistan, saying, "We disagree with their rationale that such arms transfers help to combat terrorism."



Carter said the US was aiming to be a "trusted partner" of India, the way Russia has been all along.

Underlining that even the US has been victim of terror emanating from Pakistani soil, he said those who indulge in terrorism in India, like the Pathankot attack, "should be brought to justice and brought to account".

"That is America's position and there should not be any question about that," he said, adding that the kind of projects that the US and India are discussing will help protect both American and Indian societies from terrorists.

Told that the Russians have always been a trusted military partner for India as they have desisted from supplying war equipment to countries inimical to India, Carter said, "We do aim to be a trusted partner for India."



He said the US has given some unique technologies to India and that they don't have such agreements with other countries.

Carter emphasised that from the US' point of view, Washington's overall policy towards India is completely different from the way it was decades ago.

However, he said that the US has a relationship with Pakistan which it values.

"What we do in Pakistan is directed towards counter- terrorism. We too have suffered from terrorism emanating from the territory, more specifically Afghanistan," Carter said, addressing a joint press conference with Parrikar here.

It is a thing of the past to think of India "in relation with Pakistan", he said, adding that the US has a different vision for India.

Carter said the US does not see Pakistan and India as two sides of the same coin.

Asked what kind of role F-16 fighter jets play against terror as everyone knows it will eventually be used against India, Carter said, "Pakistan has used F-16 in operations in FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas). We have approved it...We take terrorism emanating from Pakistan very seriously."



The US had in February said it plans to supply Pakistan with eight F-16 fighter aircraft worth USD 699.04 million.
US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter has said India and America will have to work hard to match their military technologies, which they have developed separately.

"The reason we have to work on India-US relationship is simply historical. You remember India was born seven decades ago and its policy was not one to associate with the US," he said addressing the crew on board USS Blue Ridge which is anchored at Mormugao Port Trust (MPT).

"That means our militaries developed separately, our technology systems cropped up separately and now when we have to work with them together, we have to try to get gears to match up. We have to work hard on that. That is why I am here, that is why you are here," he said.

Carter and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar paid a visit to the ship yesterday which arrived here from Mumbai.

Talking about India and the ways the US can be compatible with this country, Carter said, "Here's a country, a billion people democracy that is a melting pot in which every piece (thing) is respected.

"There is a civil society where people openly discuss and debate. Here in India rule of law is important and whose approach is conditioned by its own history and uniqueness," he said.

Referring to the crew on board USS Blue Ridge, Carter said, "You represent our style of strategic interaction. You are working with others to make a better world for everyone. That is the American approach today. It is not to exclude people. American style is always to include people in protecting the soil. That is why people like to work with us."



Carter said, "You are in a region right now which will be of great consequence to America's future because half of world's population lives (here) and half of world's economic activity is (here)."



He said that also it is a place where strategic approach of the US is toplay pivotal role in peace and security in Asia Pacific region.

"What has happened in seven decades with the sole exception of North Korea is that country after country has risen and prospered. Go back 60-70 years and see Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, South East Asia, India and China. These countries are prospering.

"But that does not come for free, there has to be peace and stability to that to happen. We have been the part of the system to create that peace and stability," he added.

Carter, during his two-day stay in the coastal state, paid a visit to Mangueshi temple and Old Goa churches. He also went to Sea Bird naval base at Karwar in Karnataka.
A 21-year-old Indian-origin student at Rutgers University was killed and his roommate seriously injured in a shooting incident at their apartment near the school's campus in the US state of New Jersey.

Shani Patel, a junior economics major at the university, was shot and killed on Sunday at an off-campus apartment building in Newark, a spokeswoman for the Essex County Prosecutor's Office as saying.

Patel's roommate, whose identity was not released, was seriously injured in the shooting, authorities said.

The Rutgers Police Department said the shooting was not random and that the downtown campus, which serves about 12,000 students, was not under threat, The New York Times reported.

Authorities are investigating the incident.

Essex County Prosecutor's office and Newark Public Safety Director said in a statement that no suspects have been identified so far and no arrests have been made.

The investigation "is active and ongoing", they said.

In a letter to the Rutgers University's Newark community, Chancellor Nancy Cantor expressed shock and sadness at Patel's death.

"While law enforcement is still investigating and we understand that it was not a random act that led to Shani's death, it is a shock to lose a member of our community under any circumstances," Cantor said.

"Our deepest condolences go out to Shani's family and to all who knew him as a student, colleague, or friend," she added.

The Rutgers police said in a statement issued to the Newark campus that the shooting occurred inside a private residence.

Two assailants, both believed to be in their early to mid-20s, fled the scene.
An alleged Indian 'spy' arrested in Pakistan has been charged with terrorism and sabotage in an FIR filed against him by the provincial Balochistan government, a media report said today.

Kulbhushan Jadhav was reportedly arrested in Balochistan after he entered from Iran and was accused by Pakistan of planning "subversive activities" in the country.

Counter Terrorism Department, Quetta, has lodged a case against Indian "spy" Jadhav, the International reported.

The Counter Terrorism Department lodged the case in provincial capital of Quetta, the report said without specifying on what date was the First Information Report (FIR) registered.

The alleged "RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) agent" was arrested last month form Chaman area of Balochistan which lies near the border with Afghanistan.

The case against him has been registered on the complaint of the provincial home department on the directives of the federal government, the report said quoting police sources.

Terrorism, foreign act violation and sabotage charges have been included in the FIR, the sources said.

If convicted, he could be sentenced to death under the various charges.

Pakistan Army had also released a "confessional video" of Jadhav, who said he was a serving Indian Navy officer.

India has acknowledged Jadhav as a retired Indian Navy officer, but denied the allegation that he was in any way connected to the government.

Pakistan last week said it was still considering India's request for consular access to Jadhav and the issue would be considered under bilateral agreement on such matters.
A row has erupted after 200 private colleges here were directed by Madhya Pradesh government to send 100 "students" each to attend the rally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Mhow on the occasion of birth anniversary of Dalit icon B R Ambedkar on April 14.

The order issued on April 7 has drawn the ire of opposition Congress which dubbed it as a "Tughlaqi diktat".

With the issue courting controversy, the Tribal Development Department, which had issued the directive, has come out with a fresh letter replacing the word "students" in the original order with "volunteers".

"On the occasion of Ambedkar's birth anniversary, the Prime Minister is going to address a rally at Mhow (birthplace of the dalit icon). Thus, you must send 100 students each by buses on your expenditure to the rally. Do send a teacher with bus," said the order issued by Tribal Development Department Assistant Commissioner Mohini Shrivastava.

With the controversy erupting, the district administration today sough to clarify the matter, saying the order has been "misinterpreted".

"The order has been wrongly interpreted. A large turnout is expected at the Prime Minister's rally so we have asked colleges to call NCC and NSS volunteers to help us in the management of the rally.

"For conducting major functions, we seek help of NCC and NSS volunteers as they are trained. Nothing more should be read into it," District Collector P Narhari said.

He said Shrivastava had already clarified on the issue by issuing a fresh letter, stating that instead of "students", the word in the earlier directive should be read as "volunteers".

Callign it a "Tughlaqi diktat", Congress said it is a clear indication that Modi's popularity is "on the wane" while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said the BJP regime is "not bothered about the future of young people.

"This is a Tughlaqi order which is issued at time when the students of colleges are writing their examinations. The order speaks of the fact that Modi's popularity has taken a knocking in last 22 months. The situation has come to such a pass that to gather crowds, students are being used," state unit Congress chief spokesman K K Mishra alleged.

State AAP convener Alok Agrawal said the directive proves that the ruling regime is not bothered about the future of young people.

"Modi came to power with tall claims but has failed to live up to the expectation of people," he claimed.
Tobacco industry is facing losses of over Rs 350 crore each day as cigarette makers have shut operations due to lack of clarity on proposed graphic health warnings on tobacco products, Assocham said today.

It said the lack of clarity has also opened floodgates in terms of illegal imports to the extent of 90 per cent.

"Tobacco industry is facing losses worth over Rs 350 crore each day as cigarette makers have been forced to shut operations due to lack of clarity on proposed graphic health warnings on tobacco items," the industry body said in a statement.

It said that livelihood of more than 45 million people engaged in tobacco industry across India is being threatened due to this ambiguity on policy.

Global average size of pictorial warnings on tobacco products is about 31 per cent whereas as per the notification of the Health Ministry, tobacco products in the country are required to have pictorial warning on 85 per cent of packaging space, it said.

"With such excessive warnings, cigarette packets will virtually become unbranded thereby giving a fillip to illegal and smuggled products," it said.

It further noted that the size of pictorial warnings in India is much larger than the average of 20 per cent that is prevalent among top five tobacco producing countries, including Brazil and China, comprising around 90 per cent of global tobacco production.
The Islamic State terror group reportedly allowed around 50 British recruits to return home from IS strongholds in Syria and Iraq over the past few months.

According to The Times, British counter-terrorism agencies are investigating documents that give permission to IS fighters holding UK passports to leave the region. This raises fears that they could be plotting attacks in Britain.

The so-called leaving permissions or exit cards, found among thousands of documents obtained by the Syrian website Zaman Al Wasl, include a British Iraqi dubbed Abu Bakr al-Iraqi, whose commander gave him permission to leave for "work" in July 2014.

The exit cards, only a few of which were disclosed tothe newspaper, are thought to provide a bureaucratic vouchsafe for fighters to be able to safely cross the ISIS border as the group is known to execute deserters.

The documents leak, which covers the very early days of IS rule in northern Syria and some of northern Iraq, first emerged last month and exposed the meticulous detail with which IS administers its recruitment process.

Other than "work", the cards included fighters leaving for "family circumstances" and "meeting his mother".

Saeed Hamid, an IS fighter from Birmingham, was given permission to leave but appears to have not returned to the UK before being killed.

The family of the 21-year-old were later sent a picture of his dead body.

They have been cooperating with UK counter-terrorism police and security services with their investigations.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi started a two-day visit to Iran today, the highest ranking European leader to do so since world powers completed a nuclear deal with Tehran.

Accompanied by a 250-person delegation, Renzi is seeking to re-establish Italy's economic clout in the Islamic republic which, before sanctions, made it Iran's number one European trade partner.

The official IRNA agency said Renzi would meet Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, who visited Rome in January just days after sanctions were lifted under Tehran's deal with six world powers.

Annual trade between Iran and Italy peaked at about USD 8 billion (seven billion euros) but a decade of nuclear-related sanctions saw it plummet to USD 1.8 billion currently.

When Rouhani visited Rome the two countries agreed initial terms on long-term contracts that could be valued as high as USD 19.4 billion, including deals in the oil, transport and shipping sectors.

Iran has said it wants European help to modernise and expand its rail, road and air networks as well as seeking investment to boost its manufacturing base, notably in the automobile industry.

When Rouhani was in Rome he talked of reconstructing a relationship between "two superpowers of beauty and culture" that dates back to the days of the ancient Roman and Persian empires.
Heavy police force and PAC was deployed, when the activists of a splinter group, Baba Jai Gurudeo threatened to burn collectorate here today.

"Eight activists have been arrested and sent to jail," District Magistrate M Rajesh Kumar said.

"Footage of Mathura tehsil shows that all the eight activists of the splinter group were also involved in the attack in tehsil on April 4," the DM said.

Though no untoward incident has taken place, however, Army has also been kept at stand by and anybody taking law in his hand would not be spared.

Earlier in the day, the eight activists turned hostile when their vehicle dashed against pillion riders near Prem temple Vrindaban, and youths protested.

"When police arrested them they threatened to burn collectorate," SP City Mukul Dwivedi said, adding that as a precautionary measure police and PAC was then posted and Army was also kept at stand by.
Attacking Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani over the Rohith Vemula and other issues, senior Congress leader S Jaipal Reddy today described her as 'Manu Smriti Irani'.

"She is 'Manu Smriti Irani' because she has Manu in her heart," Reddy said, slamming the Minister for the suicide of Vemula, a Dalit scholar of Hyderabad University.

Manu is believed to have proposed the four-rung caste system in the ancient times. 'Manu Smriti' is an ancient legal text.

He was speaking at a meeting organised here by Telangana Congress as part of 125th birth anniversary celebrations of B R Ambedkar.

It was the Congress party and its leaders who made Ambedkar the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Constitution, the former Union Minister said.

Ambedkar has a special place among the luminaries born in the country for the path-breaking contributions he made in drafing the Constitution and working for social change, Reddy said.

Hitting out at the RSS, the Congress leader maintained it was Jawaharlal Nehru and Ambedkar who supported the Hindu Code Bill, which was allegedly opposed by the Sangh fountainhead, Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJP's earlier avatar) and the latter's leader Syama Prasad Mukherjee, he said.

Reddy also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly distorting facts about the Hindu Code Bill recently.
Attacking Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani over the Rohith Vemula and other issues, senior Congress leader S Jaipal Reddy today described her as 'Manu Smriti Irani'.

"She is 'Manu Smriti Irani' because she has Manu in her heart," Reddy said slamming the Minister over the death of Vemula, a Dalit scholar of Hyderabad University.

Manu is believed to have proposed the four-rung caste system in the ancient times. 'Manu Smriti' is an ancient legal text.

He was speaking at a meeting organised here by Telangana Congress as part of 125th birth anniversary celebrations of B R Ambedkar.

It was Congress party and its leaders who made Ambedkar the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Constitution, the former Union Minister pointed out.

Ambedkar has a special place among the luminaries born in the country for path-breaking contributions he made in drafing the Constitution and working for social change, Reddy said.

Hitting out at RSS, the Congress leader maintained it was Jawaharlal Nehru and Ambedkar who supported the Hindu Code Bill which was allegedly opposed by the Sangh fountainhead, Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJP's earlier avatar) and the latter's leader Syama Prasad Mukherjee, he said.

Reddy also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly distorting facts about the Hindu Code Bill recently.
To dump or not to dump a little-discussed substance is the question brewing in as it grapples with the aftermath of the nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima five years ago. The substance is tritium.

The radioactive material is technically near-impossible to remove from the huge quantities of water used to cool melted-down reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, which was wrecked by the massive tsunami in northeastern in March 2011.

The water is still accumulating: 300 tons are still needed a day to keep the reactors chilled. Some is leaking into the ocean.

Huge tanks lined up around the plant, at last count 1,000 of them, each hold hundreds of tons of water that have been cleansed of radioactive cesium and strontium but not of tritium.

Ridding water of tritium has been carried out at the laboratory level. But it's an effort that would be extremely costly at the scale required for the Fukushima plant, which sits on the Pacific coast. Many scientists argue it isn't worth it and say the risks of dumping the tritium-laced water into the sea are minimal.

Their calls to simply release the water into the Pacific Ocean are alarming many in and elsewhere.

Rosa Yang, a nuclear expert at the Electric Power Research Institute, based in Palo Alto, California, who advises Japan on decommissioning reactors, believes the public angst is uncalled for. She says a Japanese government official should simply get up in public and drink water from one of the tanks to convince people it's safe.

But the line between safe and unsafe radiation is murky, and children are more susceptible to radiation-linked illness. Tritium goes directly into soft tissues and organs of the human body, potentially increasing the risks of cancer and other sicknesses.
Relatives of Indian national Kirpal Singh, who was found dead under mysterious circumstances at a Lahore jail after being held for more than 20 years in Pakistan on spying charges, today staged a protest at the Indo-Pakistan Attari border here.

The relatives of Kirpal raised anti-Pakistan slogans near the Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Attari border.

Apart from Kirpal's sister Jagir Kaur and his other relatives, also attending the protest was Dalbir Kaur, the sister of Sarbajit Singh, the Indian death row prisoner who was killed in an attack by fellow prisoners at Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore.

Kirpal, 50, had allegedly crossed Wagah border into Pakistan in 1992 and was arrested. He was subsequently sentenced to death in a serial bomb blast case in Pakistan's Punjab province.

He was found dead in his cell at Kot Lakhpat Jail in the wee hours of Monday. The body has been shifted to the Jinnah Hospital in Lahore for an autopsy.

Kirpal, who hailed from Gurdaspur district in Punjab, was reportedly acquitted of bomb blast charges by the Lahore High Court, but his death sentence could not be commuted because of unknown reasons.

Jagir Kaur said while the family could not campaign for his release due to severe financial constraints, no politician came forward to support his case.
Congress today hailed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's statement that he would offer a formal apology for 1914 Komagata Maru incident.

"Welcome, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau's statement, he will offer apology for Komagata Maru. Worthy son of the worthy father, Pierre Trudeau!(sic)," party General Secretary Shakeel Ahmad said on Twitter. Ahmed is in-charge of party affairs in Punjab.

Reports from Toronto had it that almost 102 years after Canada turned away more than 376 migrants, mostly Sikhs from India, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will formally apologise on May 18 in the House of Commons for the incident that happened due to "discriminatory laws of the time".

The Japanese steamship Komagata Maru, carrying 376 immigrants, mostly Sikhs, from India was denied entry by the Canadian government in May 1914 and was forced to return.

Two months later, the ship arrived in Calcutta where British soldiers fired upon the disembarking passengers in which 19 people died.

A painful chapter in the history of Sikhs in Canada, the incident also highlighted the discriminatory immigration policies Canada had followed against Asian immigrants in the 19th century.

Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper did apologise for the incident at a public event in British Columbia in 2008, but the Canadian-Sikhs have been demanding a formal statement in the Parliament.

Trudeau-led Liberal Party, which has four Sikh ministers in the cabinet, had promised a formal apology during the election campaign last year.
The parched Latur and other areas of Marathwada would not have suffered an acute water shortage this summer had the western Maharashtra region was given its rightful share of 23 TMC water, Maharashtra Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse said in the Legislative Assembly here today.

The water scarcity in Latur is so severe that the government is now supplying water through the railway.

Khadse said the government was considering a Rs 450 crore scheme to provide water to Latur from Ujni reservoir in Solapur district as a long-term solution. He was replying to a debate on water scarcity in Marathwada.

No water was available in Latur, Beed and Osmanabad districts, the Minister said, adding that had the 23 TMC water from the Krishna river basin been given to Marathwada, such a situation would not have arisen.

"There was opposition to giving water, the rightful share, to Marathwada," Khadse said, in a veiled attack on the previous Congress-NCP regime.

Western Maharashtra has been traditionally the bastion of NCP, whose leaders held the irrigation portfolio during the previous regime.

"Today, we have supplied water to Latur from 10 tankers (wagons) on an experimental basis. From tomorrow, we will supply 50 tankers," he said.
Maharashtra government today said a preliminary probe will be conducted into allegations that "needless" purchases of medicines were made in the state under the National Urban Health Mission (NUHM).

It also announced suspension of a senior official for alleged malpractice in purchase of medicines for civic hospitals.

The probe will be headed by Additional Chief Secretary (General Administration Department) Bhagwan Sahay, Public Health Minister Deepak Sawant told the Legislative Council.

If the preliminary inquiry, to be completed in a month, reveals any irregularities, the government will ask the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to probe the matter further under supervision of a retired Bombay High Court Judge, he said.

The probe was announced after the Opposition alleged "needless" purchases of medicines were made in the state under the centrally-sponsored scheme which envisages to meet health care needs of the urban population with the focus on the poor, by making available to them essential primary health care services and reducing expenses of treatment.

Refuting certain allegations levelled by Leader of Opposition Dhananjay Munde of NCP in context of the scheme, Sawant informed the House the policy of buying medicines through Central Procurement Committee was framed in September 2011 by the then Congress Health Minister Suresh Shetty.

"It was then decided the minister should not be involved in the purchases of medicines and medical equipment," he said.

Sawant said the government has suspended Director (Health Services) Satish Pawar in connection with irregularity in purchase of medicines for civic hospitals.

Replying to allegations of government procuring school materials at higher price, Minister for Tribal Development Vishnu Savara said in 2015-16 his department faced problems in buying items like uniforms, shoes, foodgrains and toiletries for adivasi residential schools.

He said the government will order a probe headed by a Secretary into the purchases.

Munde asked the BJP-Shiv Sena government to set up a corporation to ensure purchase of items required by all its departments are made through a single body so as to avoid any corruption.
A Delhi court has convicted a man for assaulting a cop on being stopped for violating traffic rules, saying no one could be allowed to take law in his hand.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ankur Jain held Mukesh, a resident of Dwarka in Southwest Delhi, guilty of various offences under the IPC including assaulting public servant and obstructing him from discharging duty.

"No person can be allowed to take law in his own hand and beating police officials in public area cannot be appreciated in any manner," the magistrate said. The court is yet to pronounce the quantum of punishment.

The court's order came in a case in which Mukesh, who was riding a bike with three pillion riders without helmets in 2010, was arrested for beating up a cop after he stopped them.

While the pillion riders fled from the spot after beating the policeman, Mukesh was apprehended, the police said.

The court relied on the testimonies of victim, constable Ravinder, and another cop, an eye witness, and said "four people were sitting on one motorcycle could give enough reasons to the police to stop them. It is not the case that without any reason the accused were stopped by the police."



The court held Mukesh guilty of offences under sections 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 353(assaulting public servant), 333(voluntarily causing grievous hurt to deter public servant from his duty) of the IPC.

While Mukesh pleaded innocence and claimed being falsely implicated, the court rejected his contention.
A 33-year-old man was mercilessly beaten by six men after he was caught stealing garlic from a house at Gulwa village near here early this morning, leading to his death, police said.

Sanjay Brijlal was beaten up by Ramesh, Mukesh, Mahesh, Subhash, Dashrath and Balmukund, superintendent of police Rajesh Hingankar said.

The accused had caught Sanjay while stealing garlic from Ramesh's house.

After thrashing him, they handed him over to the police, who took him to a hospital where he succumbed.

Police subsequently arrested one of the accused after registering a case of murder and were searching for the other five men who absconded, Hingankar said.
Married cancer patients are more likely to live longer than those who do not have the support of a spouse during their battle with the disease, a new study has claimed.

The study uncovers a link between being married and living longer among cancer patients, with the beneficial effect of marriage differing by race/ethnicity and place of birth, researchers said.

Researchers from the Cancer Prevention Institute of California, and University of California, San Diego, assessed information on nearly 800,000 adults in California who were diagnosed in 2000 to 2009 with invasive cancer and were followed through 2012.

They found that unmarried cancer patients had higher death rates than married patients.

For males, the rate of death was 27 per cent higher among those who were unmarried compared with those who were married. For females, the rate was 19 per cent higher among unmarried patients.

These patterns were minimally explained by greater economic resources among married patients, including having private health insurance and living in higher socioeconomic status neighborhoods.

The beneficial effect of being married on survival differed across racial/ethnic groups.

Among men and women, whites benefitted the most from being married while Hispanics and Asian/Pacific Islanders benefitted less, researchers said.

Also, Hispanic and Asian/Pacific Islander cancer patients who were born in the US experienced a greater benefit than those born outside the country.

"While other studies have found similar protective effects associated with being married, ours is the first in a large population-based setting to assess the extent to which economic resources explain these protective effects," said Scarlett Lin Gomez, from the Cancer Prevention Institute of California.

The findings indicate that physicians and other health professionals who treat unmarried cancer patients should ask if there is someone within their social network available to help them physically and emotionally.

"Research is needed to understand the specific reasons behind these associations so that future unmarried patients can receive interventions to increase their chances of survival," said Maria Elena Martinez, of the University of California, San Diego.

The research was published in the journal Cancer.
Nearly 350 dead bodies were buried in a mass grave in northern Nigeria after clashes between the army and supporters of a Shiite cleric, a public official has told an inquiry into the unrest.

The testimony today from Muhammad Namadi Musa, the director-general of the Kaduna State religious affairs office, lends weight to claims that at least 300 people were killed in the violence in December last year.

Amnesty International, which has previously said "hundreds" were killed, said the revelation was "an important first step in bringing all those suspected of criminal responsibility" to trial.

"It is now imperative that the mass grave sites are protected in order that a full independent forensic investigation can begin," said the organisation's Nigeria director, M.K. Ibrahim.

"The bodies must be exhumed and Nigerian authorities should immediately reveal the whereabouts of those held in unacknowledged detention and either charge or release them."



The clashes came after the army said supporters of the cleric Ibrahim Zakzaky, who heads the pro-Iranian religious sect Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) group, tried to kill the chief of army staff.

Zakzaky has not been seen since his home and the IMN mosque in Zaria, Kaduna state, were destroyed, prompting calls for his release and criticism that the government is flouting due process.

Musa said told the hearing he was ordered on December 13 to travel to Zaria with the Kaduna state commissioner of police "to find out the number of corpses and how they would be buried".

At the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) "we counted 156 corpses", while 191 others were collected from the army base in Zaria, he said.
Chancellor Angela Merkel today spoke about the importance of free speech as Berlin weighs a Turkish request to prosecute a German TV satirist who crudely insulted President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Merkel said her government considers the case entirely separate from other political issues, including an EU-Turkey pact meant to end the mass influx of migrants to Europe.

She emphasised that Germany's constitution guarantees "freedom of expression, academia and of course the arts", adding that "these values apply regardless of all the political problems that we discuss with each other. And that includes the issue of refugees."



Erdogan's government has issued a formal protest against TV comedian Jan Boehmermann and demanded that he be prosecuted for reciting a so-called "Defamatory Poem" audaciously accusing the Turkish president of paedophilia and bestiality.

The case comes at an extremely awkward time as Europe, and Germany in particular, are relying on Ankara to implement a pact to curb the flow of migrants taking boats headed for the European Union from Turkey's shores.

Merkel -- who has labelled the poem "deliberately insulting" -- said Turkey's request was being "very carefully" examined by the relevant government offices, including her chancellery, with a decision expected in the coming days.

She also said that finding a solution on the refugee issue was in the interest of both Turkey and the EU, including Germany.

"But all this is completely independent of fundamental rights in Germany, and therefore also of Article Five -- the freedom of the press, opinion and academia, and completely disconnected from this," Merkel stressed.
A senior police official was shot dead today while another official sustained injuries when unidentified armed men attacked their vehicle in this restive northwestern city of Pakistan, police said.

The incident occurred in militancy stricken Shahdara area of Swat district in Khyber Pakthunkhwa (KP) province.

DSP Ilyas posted at Shangla district was returning from Swat when some armed men opened indiscriminate firing at his vehicle, killing him on the spot and leaving injured a police constable.

The attackers escaped after killing the police official.

The security forces and police rushed to the area and started search operation in the area.

An FIR has been registered at the Counter terrorism department (CTD) of Swat.

This is the third assassination of police officials in KP during the last 24 hours.

Two police constables were gunned down yesterday in Lakki Marwat district bordering South Waziristan Agency.
Mizoram Governor Lt. General (retd) Nirbhay Sharma today summoned an emergency session of the state legislature on April 21.

During the one-day session, the legislators would deliberate on "the Mizoram (Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement) Bill, 2016", Additional secretary of the state assembly secretariat S. R. Zokhuma told PTI.

The Bill, introduced in the state Assembly on March 31, the last day of the last budget session by the state land revenue and settlement minister R. Romawia, was withdrawn and referred to the select committee.

He said that it was extremely important for the government for expeditious passage of the Bill.
The Department of Telecom plans to issue e-KYC norms within a month which would help in activating mobile phone connections in a few minutes.

"The DoT will come up with one reform oriented measure every month. We expect to put in place e-KYC guidelines in weeks rather than months," Telecom Secretary JS Deepak told reporters on sidelines of Qualcomm event.

Additionally, the government has been working on Aadhaar linked verification of subscribers.

According to the proposal, customers having Aadhaar number biometrics like finger print or eyes will be scanned for verification and the SIM card will be activated immediately after authentication.

The process is also expected to reduce fake connections in the country.
Making a strong pitch for tiger conservation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today underlined the need for collaboration between governments at the highest level to check trafficking in body parts of the wildcat.

Noting that conservation of tiger or nature is "not a drag" on development, the Prime Minister insisted that both can happen in a mutually and complementary manner and emphasised on the need to reorient the strategy.

Modi said forests are inseparable from wild animals and both are mutually complementary.

"Destruction of one leads to destruction of the other. This is an important cause of climate change which is now affecting us adversely in many ways. This is a global phenomenon which all of us are grappling with," he said.

He was speaking at the inaugural session of the three-day 3rd Asia Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation where tiger range countries will discuss key issues including anti-poaching strategies.

Noting that tiger habitats have reduced drastically across tiger range countries, the Prime Minister said the situation has been aggravated by the ongoing trafficking in body parts and derivatives of this magnificient animal.

"A major threat to the tiger is the demand for its body parts. The forest and its wild denizens are an open treasury which cannot be locked up. It is painful to learn about trafficking of body parts of tigers and other big cats. We need to collaborate at the highest levels of governments to address the serious issues.

"In India too we have been facing the challenge of poaching. The positive side for us in India is that the majority of people respect trees, animals, forest rivers. They consider earth as mother and the universe as one family," he said.

The Prime Minister said there is a need to define conservation as a means to achieve development rather than considering it to be "anti-growth".

"We can achieve a framework to foster proactive engagement of industry for conservation. The natural capital denoting the stock of natural system should be treated at par with capital goods. Our economy needs to be viewed as a subset of a larger economy of natural resources and ecosystem services which sustain us," he said.

More than 700 tiger experts, scientists, managers, donors and other stakeholders are gathering to discuss issues related to tiger conservation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 11-day 'Gram Uday Se Bharat Uday Abhiyan (Village Self Governance Campaign)' on the 125th birth anniversary of Bhimrao Ambedkar this Thursday in Madhya Pradesh, Union Minister Birender Singh said today.

The campaign, which starts on the 125th birth anniversary of Ambedkar on April 14 and concludes on the Panchayati Raj Day on April 24, will create awareness about various schemes of the Centre for rural India, among other things, Singh said.

"Prime Minister will inaugurate the campaign in Mhow in Madhya Pradesh on April 14. The aim of this campaign is to generate nationwide efforts to increase social harmony across villages, strengthen Panchayati Raj, promote rural development and foster farmers' welfare and livelihood of the poor," he told the media.

On April 24, Modi will address all gram sabhas of the country from Jamshedpur, Singh, the Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, said.

The campaign will include a 'social harmony programme' from April 14 to 16 under which villagers would pay tribute to Ambedkar and resolve to strengthen social harmony.

Besides, 'Village Farmer Assemblies' would also be organised from April 17-20 to promote agriculture by providing information to farmers about various schemes of the government such as Fasal Bima Yojana and Soil Health Card scheme.

On April 19, a national meeting focusing on Panchayat and tribal development will be held at Vijaywada, while gram sabha meetings will be held from April 21-24 across the country.

Singh said the Parliamentarians and MLAs will also go to their respective constituencies to attend the gram sabhas. Central and state government officers will also attend these events.

The campaign will not be organised in West Bengal, Kerala, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry where elections are underway, Singh said.
Uttar Pradesh Police today claimed to have solved the case of murder of NIA officer Tanzil Ahmed by arresting two persons and contended that domestic dispute was the motive behind the crime.

Among the two arrested is nephew of Ahmed's brother-in-law Rehan, Inspector General of Police (Bareilly Zone) Vijay Kumar Meena told a press conference here.

The alleged mastermind, identified as Muneer, is still at large and will be nabbed soon, Meena said.

Giving details, the IGP said the accused followed the 45-year-old NIA Deputy SP on motorcycle after a wedding reception of a relative on the intervening night of April 2 and 3.

Ahmed was returning home in Sahaspur village of Bijnor district with his family after attending his niece's wedding in another nearby village in the same district, which is about 150 km from Delhi.

The attackers overtook his vehicle at Sahaspur village and Muneer allegedly fired at Ahmed, killing him on the spot, he said. His wife was critically injured in the shoot out, but his two children escaped unhurt.

Along with Rehan, his accomplice Zainul was also arrested.

About the motive of the crime, Meena said it was borne out of domestic dispute, family matters and share in a property deal.

DGP Javeed Ahmed has announced a reward of Rs 50,000 to anyone who helped in his arrest.

The killers had pumped as many as 24 bullets into Ahmed and four into his wife Farzana, as their 14-year old daughter and 12-year old son watched the gruesome incident from the back seat of the Wagon-R car in which they were travelling.

In the beginning, police termed the killing of Ahmed, posted as Inspector initially with the NIA's intelligence wing and later in its investigation department, as a "planned attack" and did not rule out the possiblity of a terror angle behind the shootout.

Ahmed, who has been with the NIA ever since it was formed in February 2009, had been investigating many cases especially related to banned Indian Mujahideen terror outfit. His superiors termed him as a thorough professional in intelligence gathering as well as investigation.
After rejecting reports of gangrapes at Murthal during the Jat stir for reservation, the Haryana Police has told the Punjab and Haryana High Court that the section on gangrape had been added to the FIR in the case.

The move comes after the police received two anonymous letters from women stating that they had been sexually assaulted.

The police told the court yesterday that the first letter was forwarded by the Faridabad Commissioner of Police to the Superintendent of Police, Sonipat, on March 1 who, in turn, sent it to the Special Group of Officers on March 2.

The second letter, from a non-resident Indian woman, was forwarded to the police by a local channel.

"Since the content of both communications reveals the commission of offence under Section 376D of the Indian Penal Code, the relevant Section has been added and further investigation will be conducted on these communications to verify the content," said the Haryana Police affidavit to the court yesterday.

The first letter, posted from Mathura Road, Faridabad, states that the victim, a student, was returning home with her father from the college hostel when she was allegedly gangraped.

The police told the court that the Deputy Commissioners of districts falling on the National Highway-1, including Sonipat, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Yamuna Nagar and Ambala, had been requested to provide the list of colleges/technical institutes with girls' hostels so that they could identify the victim.

The letter from the NRI, forwarded to the police by the channel, had gone viral on a social networking website.

The Cyber Cell, Sonipat, has been directed to contact the channel and find out the source of the letter. The victim, in her letter, said she had reached the New Delhi airport from Australia on February 21 and was travelling on National Highway-1 near Murthal where she was allegedly gangraped.

The complainant has mentioned the names of her relatives who had arrived with her. The police have made a request to Foreigner Regional Registration Officer, Delhi, seeking help in identifying the victim.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had taken suo motu notice of media reports that some women travelling on the Delhi-Ambala Highway were allegedly gangraped by rioters during the Jat agitation.

Initially, the Haryana government had told the court that no incidents of rape or molestation had taken place, but a first information report was filed on March 30 based on a complaint filed by a Delhi resident.
North Korea today accused South Korea of kidnapping its citizens after Seoul said 13 of them had defected to the South from China, where they worked in a Pyongyang-operated restaurant.

In its first reaction since Seoul announced the defections, the North's Red Cross spokesman accused the South of committing a crime on an "unparalelled" scale by "kidnapping" them.

The spokesman called for the South to apologise and return them immediately or face "unimaginable consequences and strong countermeasures".

"We know in detail how they were abducted to the South under connivance from the country concerned and how they passed through a certain country in Southeastern Asia," the spokesman was quoted as saying on the North's propaganda website Uriminzokkiri.

China said Monday that the 13 people -- a male manager and 12 young female employees -- had legitimate passports and had freely exited China.

The defectors arrived in the South last Thursday, the unification ministry said.

The North operates such restaurants overseas to earn much-needed hard currency.

There have been defections by individual restaurant workers in the past, but this is the first time so many staff from one establishment have defected en masse.

Seoul Monday also announced that a North Korean colonel involved in espionage operations and a diplomat in Africa had fled to the South last year.

The defections come at a time of elevated military tensions on the divided Korean peninsula.

North Korea has condemned Seoul and Washington for spearheading a sanctions drive at the UN to punish it for a nuclear test and a long-range rocket launch this year.

It has also threatened military retaliation for annual large-scale military exercises which South Korea and the United States began last month.
To promote local musical talent, Nagaland Government would be taking eight local bands to perform in metro cities of the country.

Parliamentary Secretary for Youth Resources and Sports, State Lotteries and Music Task Force, Khriehu Liezietsu today said Music Task Force has initiated the Tour in coordination with Dream Corp Nagaland.

Khriehu said the tour would be undertaken to promote professional Naga bands around the country with the support of The Hard Rock Cafe and Rollingstone India.

Under this music initiative, the best bands from Nagaland will be selected to perform at two Hard Rock Cafes in Delhi and Mumbai every month starting May till December, he said.

"We have already signed Memorandum of Understanding with The Hard Rock Cafe and Rollingstone India," he said.

Alobo Naga and The Band will kick-start the Tour on May 12 at Hard Rock Cafe, New Delhi, which will be followed by Divine Connection in June 2016, he said.

"The vision for such an initiative is to associate Nagaland and its musicians with International brands and also to expose our musicians to serious music audiences across the country, give them greater visibility and earning pportunity," Khriehu added.
Union Minister Najma Heptulla today dismissed allegations that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was endorsing only a certain section of Muslims, saying he considers "everybody equal" and belongs to the entire country and not just "a small sect of a community".

"For him, everybody is equal. So, those trying to put the Prime Minister into a small group... He is the Prime Minister of the country, those who elected him and those who opposed him, he is the Prime Minister of everyone," she said.

The Union Minority Affairs Minister made the remarks while responding to queries of reporters during a press briefing here to inform about Modi's recent visit to Saudi Arabia.

Responding to questions pertaining to the charges, made especially after Modi attended World Sufi Forum in the national capital and visited Saudi Arabia, Heptulla said the Prime Minister represents entire India and "not any sect" when abroad.

"He (Modi) is not of one community, one sect, one political party. He belongs to this country and when he goes outside the country, whether he goes to Saudi Arabia or America or anywhere else, he talks for everyone in the country and not of just a small sect of a community," she added.

Heptulla said Modi attending the Sufi event and his Saudi Arabia visit will "not create divide among Muslims, but will diminish it". She also referred to Modi receiving the highest civilian award in that country as an "indication" of the fading divide.

Hailing Modi's trip as "significant" in terms of tackling terrorism, the Minister said the issue of 20 per cent cut in New Delhi's Haj quota was also taken up during the tour.

Asked whether it would have been better had she been part of the Prime Minister's delegation, Heptulla said, "The Prime Minister doesn't take anybody" along while going abroad and that there is no need for her to be "physically present" as Modi is "her voice".

"Why should I go? When the Prime Minister is going, he doesn't take anybody. I don't... My voice is Prime Minister, why should I physically be present over there? The Prime Minister doesn't take anyone along, he himself goes. Hence, we prepare notes and send (to him)," she said.

Asked whether Modi attending the Sufi event and visiting Saudi Arabia have sent a positive message to Muslims including those in poll-bound Assam and West Bengal, she said, "Yes, definitely it sent a good message. The I am getting from there (Assam) is very good. People are happy. And the Prime Minister's message from Vigyan Bhavan was very good."



The minister said the government has identified 100 Waqf properties across the country that will be developed to empower Muslim community members.

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Noting the Prime Minister's visit was "successful",



Heptulla said it was very "commendable" for him to bring Saudi Arabia on board on the issue of fighting terrorism.

"Today the world is faced with terrorism. What he did, he brought the Saudi Arabia on board to fight terrorism. And that I think is very commendable. I felt bad that some people (opposition parties) objected to his visit to that country. What the Prime Minister is doing is in the interest of the country," she said.

Heptulla said she was focused on the trip also because 1.5 lakh Indian pilgrims visit Saudi Arabia every year year to perform Haj, which is partly handled by her ministry.

She said there has been 20 per cent cut in India's Haj quota from Saudi Arabia's end but claimed that a positive in this regard is expected soon.

Besides Haj, Heptulla said the Prime Minister discussed the issue of security of 1.5 million Indians living in Saudi Arabia and economic and defence co-operation between the two countries.

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Siddeshwara said he had resigned "happily", adding he got little time as a minister to serve his constituency.

"I have resigned happily. I am very very thankful that my resignation has been accepted. I would not get time to work for my constituency. In the next three years I can work in my constituency with the help of everybody," he said.

Supriyo, whose portfolio has been changed, said, "It is a challenging role. I thank the PM for trusting me. Whatever role he gives me, I will take it.
The state-owned aluminium maker Nalco is considering setting up a 5-lakh tonne per annum aluminium plant in Iran through a joint venture (JV).

Nalco CMD T K Chand, who was part of the delegation led by Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to the Islamic country, met a top Iranian official yesterday and discussed the feasibility of setting up such a plant in the Chabahar Free Trade Zone (FTZ), a senior official said.

"Chand met Iran's Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organisation head Mehdi Karbasian in Tehran over the proposed JV for setting up the plant, which includes a smelter and a gas-based power plant," he added.

The discussions also touched on Nalco's interest to further expand its presence in Iran through more co-operation in bauxite mining and aluminum ingot production, the official said.

The public sector undertaking (PSU) has been scouting for opportunities to set up a gas-based thermal power plant and an aluminium smelter in Iran, Qatar and Oman.

The Navratna firm faces a daunting challenge of keeping operational and raw material costs in check in its bid to stay competitive even as it aims to expand capacity to take advantage of infrastructure boom in India.

It takes around USD 1,500-1,700 to produce one tonne of aluminium, with alumina and power accounting for 40 per cent each of the cost and raw materials and others contributing the remaining 20 per cent.

Yesterday, Nalco had announced that a task force has been set up by the PSU and Iran's industries ministry to deliberate on the proposed smelter and gas-based power plant in Chabahar FTZ.

The task force, comprising senior officials from Nalco, directors of Iran's Ministry of Industries and executives of Iranian Aluminium Company, has been given three months to submit its report on the feasibility of the project.
NATO will hold its first formal talks with Russia in nearly two years on April 20 to discuss the Ukraine crisis and other security issues, the US-led military alliance said today.

"The date has been mutually agreed," a NATO spokeswoman told AFP, adding: "It is good to talk but it cannot be a return to business as usual."



Alliance head Jens Stoltenberg said last week the two sides would shortly convene their first NATO-Russia Council meeting since June 2014, signalling a thaw in ties badly strained by Russia's intervention in Ukraine and especially its annexation of Crimea.

NATO envoys and their Russian counterpart had met regularly until the Ukraine crisis threatened what many thought could be a return to the deep freeze stand-off of the Cold War.

The two sides last met amid mutual recriminations over who was to blame for the crisis in Ukraine, where Moscow backs pro-Russian rebels who have carved out large enclaves in the east of the country.

The NATO spokeswoman said the meeting, to be held at alliance headquarters in Brussels, will focus on the three main areas outlined by Stoltenberg last week.

Stoltenberg said then that the discussions would focus on Ukraine and "the need to fully implement" the Minsk ceasefire accords which have produced a tenuous calm in the east.

Recent weeks however have seen an upsurge in clashes, raising doubts about the ceasefire which was supposed to lead to an overall settlement and return control of its eastern border with Russia to Ukraine.

Crimea's future remains highly uncertain with Russian President Vladimir Putin insisting it will never be given up and NATO equally insistent it will never recognise its annexation.
Tiny South Pacific island nation has become the 189th member of the Monetary Fund and the World Bank, the two institutions announced today.

applied for membership in the Washington-based IMF and World Bank in April 2014, after joining the United Nations in 1996 as the world's smallest independent republic.

The World Bank, which helps developing countries to spur growth and fight poverty, welcomed as its smallest member by land mass, at 21 square kilometers (eight square miles).

"Nauru faces challenges in sustaining growth and ensuring fiscal and debt sustainability over the medium term -- challenges faced by many of the nation's Pacific Island neighbors," the Bank said in a statement.

By joining the World Bank, Nauru gains access to financial support, technical support and special expertise in dealing with Pacific area issues, such as water and sanitation and disaster risk management amid the threat of climate change and rising sea levels.

With the IMF, Nauru can benefit from the crisis lender's advice on managing government finances and monetary policy.

"I am very pleased to welcome Nauru as member of the IMF," said Christine Lagarde, IMF managing director, in a statement.

"As Nauru faces a number of challenges common to small island economies, including its geographical remoteness and climate change, it will benefit from participating fully in the economic cooperation of our global membership."



Before Nauru, the last country to join the IMF and World Bank was South Sudan, in April 2012.
At least 23 tibals, believed to be relatives of two surrendered ultras, were allegedly forced out of their village in Kondagaon district by Naxals who branded them as police informers, a senior officer said today.

"A case has been registered in this connection based on the complaint of the villagers, all natives of Padeli village underMardpalpolice station limits (located around 300 km away from the state capital Raipur)," Kondagaon Superintendent of Police JSWattitold PTI.

The tribals, belonging to five families, are believed to be the relatives of two surrenderednaxalswho of late joined the state police.

In their statement, the victims said that a group of Naxals stormed into their village on April 9 and evicted them from their homes, following which they shifted to another village.

They stated that the ultras accused them of acting as informers for police.

Finally,they arrived at Mardapal police station today to lodge a report in this regard, the SP said.

"They are said to be the relatives of Sampat and Rajman, both residents ofPadeli, who had joined the police as auxiliary personnel after quitting the outlawed Naxal movement in 2014," the SP said, adding that this could also be the reason for their eviction.

They all will be provided with accommodation and other facilities at the Kondagaon district headquarter, he added.

Notably,as many as21 tribal families from different villages ofrestiveAbhujmad region in Narayanpur districthad lefttheirhomeslast month allegedly due to threats issued by Maoists to do so.

Police said the Naxals are "terrorising" other villagers to become their supporters as they are fast losing their support base.
A two-member expert team of National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) visited Berhampur University (BU) and Khallikote Cluster University here to inspect the available infrastructure in these institutes for introducing bachelor of education (BEd) and master of education (MEd) courses.

BU had proposed to open these courses from 2016-17 with 100 seats each and Khallikote University 100 BEd seats.

During the visit yesterday, the team members held discussions with BU Vice-chancellor and officer on special duty, Khallikote University.

"We fulfil all the requirements and are hopeful that the team will recommend for opening of these courses in BU," said BU Vice Chencellor Deepak Kumar Behera.

Manmath Pandhy, OSD of Khallikote University, too sounded optimistic. "We tried to convince the experts on the need to introduce the BEd course in our varsity," he said.

To tide over teacher shortage in the state, the state government had decided to launch BEd course in 17 government run colleges and seven universities from 2016-17 and increase the intake capacity of five District Institutes of Education and Training, official sources said.
India should have a "heart-to- heart" dialogue with China to win its support at the UN to ban JeM chief Masood Azhar, former external affairs Minister Salman Khurshid has said.

"You cannot expect China to deliver unless we talk to them. This is not carrying a shopping list," Khurshid said, days after China scuttled India's bid at the UN to ban Azhar.

"If we have to make friends and we cannot be selfish in your demeanour and we have to be accommodative and willing," he told PTI during a business event in China's Changsha city.

"I am sure China will respond and support. You need to have heart-to-heart conversation," he said.

India has expressed disappointment over China putting a last minute technical hold over its move to ban Azhar in connection with his alleged involvement in the Pathankot terror attack.

Jaish-e-Muhammad has already been listed as terrorist organisation by UN in 2001, besides US State Department and Pakistan government.

Both Beijing and New Delhi said the issue is being discussed. Chinese officials say they have sought more details from India.

The issue is expected to figure in the talks between the two countries as Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar followed by National Security Advisor Ajit Kumar Doval were scheduled to visit Beijing in the next few weeks.

Parrikar's visit is due to take place on April 18.

About the Sino-India relations, Khurshid said, "My view is that we should not have unreasonable expectations. China is not easy to handle. They have their concern and priorities."



He said both sides have to find a "win-win path".

"I suspect enough has not happened. China has its concerns and we have ours," he said.

Khurshid took part in China-India Corporate Dialogue held by China's Hu Nan Commerce Bureau in association with Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC) of the Ministry of Commerce and co-sponsored by New Delhi-based Global Dialogue Review quarterly magazine.

Over 150 Chinese business houses took part in the dialogue which focussed on a host of issues including dispute resolution in trade and business related matters.
Nepal will no longer be a "laboratory" for foreign countries to conduct experiments, Prime Minister K P Oli said today even as he called for fresh talks with the agitating Madhesis to resolve the differences over the new Constitution.

In a televised address to the country on the eve of Nepalese New Year, Oli called on the agitating United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) to seek a solution through talks to resolve the ongoing political impasse.

"There is no issue that can't be resolved through a democratic process," he said.

The government has already formed a political body to settle disputes over provincial demarcations under the leadership of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Kamal Thapa, Oli said and urged the disgruntled Madhesi groups to join the committee.

He stressed that the major responsibility of the incumbent government is to implement the new Constitution.

Nepal will no longer be a laboratory for foreign countries to conduct experiments, Oli said without naming any nation.

"Many social scientists have made different kinds of experiments in our country in the name of religion, culture, ethnicity, geography and region in the wake of negative outcome of lack of development. We should no more allow the country to become a laboratory," the Prime Minister said.

The Madhesis, mostly of Indian origin, have been demanding the new Constitution be amended to include their concerns about adequate political representation and redrawing of federal boundaries.

They had enforced months-long blockade of Nepal's all trading points with India, creating huge shortage of essential commodities in the country and souring Indo-Nepal ties.

Nepal had accused India of imposing the "economic blockade", which India strongly denied.
Normal life was today affected in Kashmir Valley due to a strike called by separatist groups to protest against the alleged harassment of Kashmiri students outside the state.

Shops, business establishments, petrol pumps and educational institutions remained shut in Srinagar while thin attendance was witnessed in banks and government offices, officials said.

They said public transport was off the roads. However, private cars, cabs and auto-rickshaws were plying normally.

Reports of shutdown were also received from other district headquarters in the Valley, the officials said.

Separatist groups, including both factions of Hurriyat Conference and JKLF, had called for a strike today to protest alleged beating, harassment and intimidation of Kashmiri students outside the state.

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Meanwhile, a police official said separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who head the rival factions of Hurriyat Conference, have been placed under house arrest as a precautionary measure.

He said JKLF chairman, Yasin Malik was detained yesterday and lodged at Kothibagh police station.

So far, no untoward incident has been reported from anywhere in Kashmir, the official said.
The National Students Union of India (NSUI) today extended support to the outstation students of unrest-hit NIT Srinagar, who were lathicharged by police on April 5.

On that day, the outstation students tried to take out a march outside the campus but were stopped by the police, leading to violence including vandalism by the students and lathicharge by police.

The NSUI activists accused BJP of playing with the career of students.

"BJP is playing with the career of students of the country. BJP has been exposed as the party has shown its double standard on every student-related issue," NSUI State General Secretary Avijot Singh said.

He alleged ABVP never supported any student-related issue.

"ABVP was only playing politics over the issue and never worked for the welfare of students. It always tried to stay away from the NIT issue," Singh charged.

He said ABVP targeted the Jammu and Kashmir police while BJP continued to be a part of the coalition government in the state.

Singh said NSUI has extended whole-hearted support to the non-local students of NIT Srinagar.
US President Barack Obama will today designate a new national monument here to honour the women's equality movement in America and across the globe, the White House has said.

The new Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument will protect the iconic house that has served as the headquarters for the National Woman's Party since 1929.

From this house, known in recent years as the Sewall-Belmont House, members of the Party led the movement for women's equality, authoring more than 600 pieces of federal, state and local legislation in support of equal rights.

"The designation will permanently protect one of the oldest standing houses near the US Capitol and help preserve an extensive archival collection that documents the history, strategies, tactics and accomplishments of the movement to secure women's suffrage and equal rights in the United States and across the globe," the White House said in a statement on the eve of the historic dedication of the monument.

The new monument is named after former Party president, activist and suffragist Alva Belmont, who was a major benefactor of the National Woman's Party and Alice Paul, who founded the Party and was the chief strategist and leader in the Party's ongoing fight for women's political, social and economic equality.

Efforts to protect the site date back to the early 1970s, and more recent proposals to include the site in the National Park System have garnered Congressional support - including bipartisan legislation introduced by Senator Mikulski - as well as strong support from local elected officials, community leaders, women's organisations, conservation groups and historians.

In addition to protecting more land and water than any President in history - more than 265 million acres - the US President Barack Obama has sought to protect places that are diverse, culturally and historically significant, and that reflect the story of all Americans, the White House said.

"By honouring the history and accomplishments of the movement for women's equality, tomorrow's designation will build on this effort towards a more inclusive National Park System and tell the story of women's fight for equality for generations to come," it said.

"Our national parks and other protected sites that represent America's diverse history and culture will continue to be an important priority for the Administration as the country celebrates the National Park Service Centennial this year," it added.

The National Park Foundation will announce that David Rubenstein is contributing USD 1 million to support the site and address immediate restoration needs.

In 1997, the National Woman's Party became an educational organisation and today, seeks to educate the public about the ongoing women's rights equality movement.
A day after the sudden death of a 12-year-old girl in the Jajpur District Magistrate's Grievance Cell, the Odisha government today decided to stop grievance hearings in all places till further order.

"The public hearing in grievance cells including one at the state capital will not be held from April 18 in view of the prevailing heatwave condition across the state," a release issued by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said.

The people, however, can lodge their grievance through telephone (No. 0674-2530700) and e-mail (cmgcodisha.Gov.In), the CMO said, adding the telephone numbers and e-mail addresses of different district collectors will be published in the newspapers soon.

People used to lodge their grievances in the district level at the district collectors' offices and Chief Minister's grievance cell in the capital every Monday.

The government has now stopped the practice after the death of Soli Sahu, a heart patient, who had accompanied her parents Surendra and Kanak Sahu to the Jajpur district collector's grievance cell yesterday.

She had come to the district level grievance cell at Dharmasala seeking funds for her treatment.

Surendra said he had brought the girl, a class VII student, to the grievance cell for financial assistance to take her to a Bangalore-based hospital for free treatment.

Though the District Magistrate had given Rs 4,000 as relief money to the family, the girl suddenly fell ill and was immediately taken to the Dharamshala hospital where the doctors declared her dead on arrival.

"They had initially asked for Red Cross fund for treatment. I immediately gave them Rs 4,000 as financial help. Later, while they were taking her back, the girl fell ill. We referred her to the hospital where she was declared dead. According to government rules, the body has to be sent for post mortem," said Jajpur district collector Satya Kumar Mallick.
Backed by positive economic sentiment and business confidence, office space absorption during January-March quarter increased by 11 per cent to 8.8 million sqft across nine major cities, a survey said.

Office absorption leaped to over 8.8 million sqft, including pre-commitments of 8 lakh sqft, across nine major cities, upping the number by 11 per cent from October-December quarter, as per a report by Colliers International.

"This absorption was primarily derived by the traditional demand driver, technology sector. The growth is mainly backed by positive economic sentiment, business confidence index which increased by 5 per cent in January and the GDP forecast of about 7.5 per cent," Colliers India Senior Associate Director (Research) Surabhi Arora said.

Bengaluru remained the top contributor of the demand with 33 per cent share, followed by National Capital Region (Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida), Hyderabad, Pune and Mumbai.

"The majority of markets are enjoying this growth and overall office market sentiments are optimistic. We anticipate positive momentum in the coming quarter as the overall office leasing pipeline seems strong and is steadily growing," she said.

Arora further said positive economic growth coupled with increasing business confidence index due to government's proactive policy initiatives will be the factors influencing the demand for office space in the coming quarters.

Bengaluru witnessed a total office absorption of 2.65 million sqft, which is a 13 per cent jump from the last quarter.

IT-ITeS (also comprising technology startups and e-commerce companies) continued to remain the leading sector driving this demand with an 88 per cent share in overall absorption, it said.

NCR clocked an overall absorption of 1.42 million sqft with Gurgaon's commercial real estate market recording about 7 lakh sqft of office space uptake in the first quarter of 2016 as compared to 4.5 lakh sqft in the previous quarter, but about 30 per cent less than in Q1 2015.

Delhi and Noida recorded absorption of about 3.4 lakh sqft and 3.8 lakh sqft, respectively.

Hyderabad witnessed robust corporate demand in the first quarter with a gross leasing volume of 1.27 million sqft.

"Hyderabad due to its affordable rents managed to attract



major IT, digital and e-commerce companies, which announced their plans for huge investments to bolster their expanding network of technology development centers and facilities in the city," Arora said.

E-commerce player Amazon committed huge investments to set up its largest facility outside US and leased around 3.50 lakh sqft in Raheja Mindspace in HITEC City.

Apple is also opening its first technology development center in the country and has leased 2.5 lakh sqft.

Pune witnessed stable demand from the IT-ITeS sector as the market experienced over 1.15 million sq ft of absorption in Q1, with Mumbai at 9.3 lakh sqft.

Even though Chennai continued to attract the interest of office occupiers, the absorption levels witnessed a significant dip of 42 per cent from the previous quarter by recording only 7 lakh sqft of absorption, out of which 86 per cent was contributed by the IT/ITes sector.

Kolkata's office market witnessed a slowdown as only 1.7 lakh sqft of real estate was absorbed, which is 32 per cent less than the previous quarter's absorption of 2.5 lakh sqft.
Four persons have been arrested in connection with the murder of a builder in old Delhi's Ballimaran area last month, police said today.

The accused, identified as Azad, Parvez, Mustafa and Shokeen, have been arrested for allegedly killing builder Fahim alias Batla at Punjabi Fatak in the Ballimaran area on March 31, said DCP (north) Madhur Verma.

During interrogation, the accused told police that they were given a "contract" to kill Fahim by one Amir alias Langra, who wanted to "terrorise" the local builders.

They were also provided with weapons by Amir, Verma said, adding that a semi-automatic and country-made pistol were seized from their possession along with live cartridges.

Shokeen told police that Amir had met him two months back and offered him the job of killing Fahim in return for money. On the fateful day, they were provided with four weapons to target the builder, the DCP said.

The accused allegedly shot the builder dead on March 31 at Punjabi Fatak in Ballimaran. They had later met Amir at Majnu Ka Tila and were paid some money for the job. Amir also arranged for a vehicle for them to leave Delhi, Verma said.

Police are conducting inquiries to arrest the other accused in the case, he said.
Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli today called up Prime Minister Narendra Modi to express condolences over the Kerala fire tragedy.

Oli called Modi this morning and expressed grief over the loss of lives in the fire mishap.

109 people were killed when a fire broke out on Sunday at the 100-year-old Puttingal Devi Temple complex in Kerala's Kollam district during an unauthorised display of fireworks.
A car bomb exploded at a military post in Turkey's restive Kurdish-dominated southeast, killing a soldier and wounding nearly 50 people, a military source said today.

Turkish authorities blamed the late yesterday attack on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). It targeted a military outpost in the Hani district of Diyarbakir province and left 47 people injured, including eight civilians, the source added.

The security forces launched a search operation following the bombing.

Turkey has waged an offensive against the PKK after the collapse in 2015 of a two-year ceasefire with the group that has been a thorn in its side for three decades.

The renewed conflict has also struck at the heart of the country, with two attacks that killed dozens in the capital Ankara claimed by Kurdish rebels.

A radical PKK splinter group, the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), claimed responsibility for the two suicide car bombings in Ankara on February 17 and March 13.

Over 40,000 people have been killed since the PKK took up arms in 1984 demanding a homeland for Turkey's biggest minority. Since then, the group has pared back its demands to focus on cultural rights and a measure of autonomy.
Having witnessed extensive damage to cotton crop due to whitefly attack last season, Punjab and Haryana are taking measures such as pushing for timely sowing of recommended crop varieties to safeguard this season's output.

Experts of agriculture departments of both states are also undertaking training programmes for growers at village levels to apprise them about steps needed to achieve higher output.

Last season, whitefly pest attack had caused widespread damage to Bt cotton varieties in Punjab and Haryana, which had witnessed dip of about 40 per cent in output.

In Punjab, 1.36 lakh hectares out of total 4.50 lakh hectares of cotton acreage was damaged by whitefly attack while in Haryana, out of 5.83 lakh hectares, 3.06 lakh hectares were affected.

"We are educating cotton growers in order to prevent attack of any pest on cotton crop," Deputy Director, Punjab Agriculture Department, Sukhdev Singh Sidhu said today.

The department is asking growers to sow cotton crop timely as impact of whitefly attack was most visible on late-sown crop last year. "We want growers to complete sowing by May 15," he told PTI.

Sowing gets delayed in some areas because of late harvesting of wheat crop.

Punjab, which will see assembly polls next year, has also hired 500 trained youths for educating growers through training camps to protect their crop from any disease, including whitefly attack.

"These youths will be deployed in cotton belt areas and they will immediately pass on any information about attack of any pest on crop to the department for taking urgent steps," he said. "50 field supervisors who are BSc (Agriculture) will also be hired to supervise the 500 youths."



Haryana will educate growers in a campaign starting from April 14 in cotton growing areas.

"We will inform farmers about weed management, recommend sowing of approved varieties of Bt cotton and seed treatment," said Babu Lal, Deputy Director (Sirsa), Haryana Agriculture Department.

"We are asking farmers for weed eradication as it is necessary because they play host to whitefly," said Sidhu.

Cotton industry has arranged for a vehicle which will travel in villages in Punjab to publicise steps to save the crop from whitefly, said former president of North India Cotton Association, Mahesh Sharda.

To deal with spurious pesticides, Punjab has taken



adequate steps to check their sale, officials said.

Last year, opposition Congress had attacked the SAD-BJP government for the alleged supply of "spurious" pesticides to growers whose crops were damaged by the pest attack.

Experts this season will also suggest farmers to refrain from indiscriminate use of synthetic pyrethroids and all kinds of insecticide as it could aggravate resurgence of whitefly.

Last year, experts had blamed hot and humid weather for huge build-up of whitefly and use of "cocktail of insecticides" by some cotton growers, which led to killing of "friendly insects" to keep a check on whitefly.

Punjab and Haryana have approved 38 and 34 Bt cotton varieties respectively for sowing in the current season.

However, experts pointed out that area under 'desi' cotton will jump considerably in both states as domestic variety is resistant to whitefly attack.

"Area under desi cotton in Haryana is expected to go up to 10 per cent from 2 per cent of total acreage," said Babu Lal.

Punjab and Haryana have set a cotton sowing target of 5 lakh hectares and 6.20 lakh hectares in Kharif season, respectively.
An activist of the People's Liberation Front of India (PLFI), one of the accused in the March 7 killings of four labourers, has been arrested in Gumla district, the police said here today.

Superintendent of Police Bhimsen Tuti said the ultra, identified as Paras Ram, was arrested during raids at Charkatangartongri village under Basia police station yesterday.

A rifle and three bullets were recovered from him, the SP said.

During further raids based on Ram's information, the police recovered a country-made gun among other material, the officer said.

Tuti said Ram was one of the accused in the last month's killings of four labourers, who were engaged in a road construction work under Basia police station.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today hosted British royal couple Prince William and Kate Middleton for lunch to the accompaniment of classical music.

The Prime Minister received the couple on the steps of the Hyderabad House located next to the India Gate. While Kate wore a knee-length gauze green dress, William donned a dark suit and a tie.

A four-course Indian meal, including both vegetarian and and non-vegetarian, was served at the lunch hosted at the historic mansion here which before Independence served as the grand residence of the Nizam of Hyderabad.

The event was marked by santoor recital by classical musician Rahul Sharma. One of the highlights of the performance was the rendition of Beatles' famous number 'Let It Be'.

Among those who attended the event included External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.

Bharti Group chief Sunil Bharti Mittal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of ICICI Chanda Kochhar, actor Anupam Kher and former badminton player Pullela Gopichand were among some of the noted personalities who also attended.

The royal couple are on a week-long tour of Indian and Bhutan that began on Sunday.

Their India visit began in Mumbai where they paid homage to the victims of the 26/11 terror attacks. In Delhi, they yesterday visited Gandhi Smriti, Mahatma Gandhi's memorial at Tees January Marg, and paid tribute to the Father of the Nation.

The couple also paid homage to Indian soldiers at the Amar Jawan Jyoti and attended a reception at the British High Commissioner's residence last evening to commemorate the 90th birthday of William's grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, Britain's longest-reigning monarch.
Police today conducted raids at several places in Delhi and Haryana to track down an undertrial who had escaped from police custody while being taken to neighbouring Sonepat for a court hearing.

Deepak Dabas, an accused in several cases, including murder and lodged in Tihar jail, was yesterday being taken to Sonepat in a mini-truck when he escaped, following which two policemen have been suspended, police said.

Local police have been deployed at Dabas's village, Majra Dabas, a few kilometers away from the market in outer Delhi's Bawana, where he jumped from a mini truck and ran away, giving the police team a slip, a senior police official said.

Meanwhile, special teams are conducting raids at his potential whereabouts in Delhi and Haryana. The teams comprise officials from all three police stations under the Bawana sub-division, the senior official said.

Dabas (23) is an accused in several cases including murder, attempt to murder and robbery registered in Delhi and Haryana.

The third batallion of Delhi Armed Police -- which is entrusted with transportation of undertrials between prison and courts -- was transporting him for a court hearing.

He was travelling in the carrier of the vehicle under the watch of a constable. By the time the truck reached outer Delhi, he secretly slipped the handcuff off his wrists.

Dabas then entered into an argument with the constable and a scuffle soon ensued between them. As the vehicle slowed at a crowded market area in outer Delhi's Bawana, Dabas jumped off and ran into a narrow alley.

The security personnel accompanying him chased him for a while on foot but were unable to track him down, a police official said, adding, a case in this regard was registered at Bawana police station.

Apart from the driver of the police vehicle, there were two officials and both have been suspended for alleged negligence, the official added.
The Bombay High Court today granted interim protection from arrest till April 18 to actor-producer Rahul Raj Singh, who has been booked for abetting the suicide of his girlfriend and TV star Pratyusha Banerjee.

Justice Mridula Bhatkar also directed Rahul to appear before Bangurnagar police station in suburban Goregaon from tomorrow onwards till April 18 between 11 AM to 1 PM.

The judge also directed that in case Rahul is arrested, he should be released on a bond of Rs 30,000.

The court was hearing the anticipatory bail application filed by Rahul.

The accused's lawyer Abad Ponda said his client is currently in hospital and the copy of FIR has not been furnished to them.

However, police has filed a report before the court.

The court then perused the report, in which police alleged that Rahul, who was staying with Pratyusha at a flat in suburban Goregaon, used to assault her. He used to borrow money from her and also withdrew money from Pratyusha's account, which is why she committed suicide, according to the report.

The 'Balika Badhu' fame actor was found hanging at her residence in Goregaon on April 1. She was then rushed by Rahul to a hospital in Andheri, where she was declared dead.

Rahul, who has been booked for abetment of suicide, has been undergoing treatment for alleged depression at a hospital in Borivali since April 3.
President Pranab Mukherjee today hosted Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia for lunch here.

The two AAP leaders apprised the President of the work being done by their government.

"The President today hosted lunch for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy CM Manish Sisodia at Rashtrapati Bhavan here," a statement said.

Kejriwal has met the President on several occasions after coming to power last year.

In February this year, he had called on Mukherjee along with his Delhi Cabinet colleagues to discuss the law and order situation in the national capital following the arrest of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charges.
Malaysia-based natural sweetener firm PureCircle will invest USD 200 million (about Rs 1,330 crore) over 5 years in India as it forays into the country.

PureCircle, which sells zero-calorie natural sweetener, stevia across the world, received FSSAI nod in December 2015.

"We will invest USD 200 million over the next five years in India in supply/value chain, increasing cultivation, getting insights and so on. We are already in talks with multinational food and beverage companies," PureCircle Senior Director South Asia Region Ajay Chandran told PTI.

Chandran said the company's clients in markets outside India includes Nestle, Pepsi, Coca Cola and Danone.

The company plans to partner with Indian farmers for 5,000 hectares Stevia cultivation in India.

Stevia is called Meethi Tulsi and Meethi Patti by Indian farmers. Stevia leaves are processed by PureCircle to form a white powder substance, used as a sweetener.

We have already started trials in six states including Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand, he said.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi will address a 'Dalit sammelan' in Jaipur tomorrow and meet the parents of a Dalit girl in Barmer district, who was found dead in an educational institute after rape in Bikaner last month.

"Gandhi will reach Uttarlai Air base in Barmer from where he will go to the girl's village to meet her parents. After that, he will arrive in Jaipur to address Dalit sammelan," PCC chief Sachin Pilot said here.

The Dalit girl was allegedly raped by a teacher in a institute in Bikaner after which she was found dead in a water tank last month.
An RJD MLA's sister today died after she was allegedly assaulted by some unidentified persons a few days ago, triggering protest by the legislator who sat on dharna for over six-hour on Ara-Patna National Highway.

On April 9, Shail Devi (29), Yadav's sister, was badly beaten up by the accused after allegedly misbehaving with her while she was returning to her native place in Barhara from Keshavpur village in Bhojpur district where she had gone for treatment, DSP Sadar, Sanjay Kumar said.

According to the case registered, Shail took a shared autorickshaw from Keshavpur when some youths boarded the vehicle on the way and started misbehaving with her and later threw her out of it after badly assaulting her.

Some villagers spotted her and rushed her to Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) in a critical condition.

Shail died today during treatment, PMCH Principal S N Sinha said.

An FIR was lodged with Chandi police station in Bhojpur district in this regard.

The RJD MLA came down heavily on the police and criticised the coalition government headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, saying "When the sister of an MLA is not safe, how will the common man feel themselves safe?"



The MLA and his supporters jammed the NH near Kamyanagar in Ara for over six hours and demonstrated against the incident.

(Reopens BES2)



Union Ministers Bandaru Dattatreya and Y S Chowdary also condoled the death of Bhuma Reddy.

"I pray to the almighty to grant peace to the departed soul and give strength to the bereaved family members to bear the loss," Dattatreya told reporters in Hyderabad.

"I am deeply shocked by the sudden demise of our party leader Bhuma Nagi Reddy garu. In his demise, the TDP family has lost a wonderful leader, a great person," Chowdary said in a statement in Hyderabad.

(REOPENS BES6)



Meanwhile, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has expressed his heartfelt sympathies on the demise of Bhuma Nagi Reddy.

According to an official release, Rao conveyed his condolences to the members of the bereaved family.
To check misuse of water during the summer, municipal authorities here have decided to impose a fine of Rs 2,000 on anyone found washing cars or watering plants in the morning hours.

"Washing cars, watering plants from 5:30 am till 8:30 am will not be allowed in the city as part of measures to check misuse of water," Chandigarh Municipal Corporation Executive Engineer B K Dhawan said.

"A fine of Rs 2,000 will be imposed on the violators," he said, adding a special drive will be conducted from April 15 till June 30 throughout the city to stop wastage of potable water.

Municipal authorities have formed 18 teams comprising three members each which will carry out the special drive to check water wastage and impose fine.

Officials have also warned of disconnecting water supply of repeat offenders.
AAP today said that the ruling SAD's district-wise dharnas against the alleged role of the Delhi government in the demolition of a 'piau' at a gurdwara in the national capital was a "complete flop show".

"Reports from all the districts show that only a few Akali workers took part in the dharnas. There was no participation by 'aam aadmis' in these protests," AAP leader Sanjay Singh, Sucha Singh Chhotepur, the state convener of the party, and Sagrur MP Bhagwant Mann said here today.

These "flop shows" should be an "eye-opener" for the Akalis as they point to the prospect of a "humiliating defeat" for the party in the Assembly polls in Punjab in 2017, the AAP leaders said.

The AAP leaders said the people of Punjab are intelligent enough to understand as to who was behind the demolition of the 'piau', or drinking water counter, at the Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib in Delhi.

Rejecting allegations that the Delhi government had ordered the demolition, the AAP leaders claimed it was the BJP-controlled Municipal Corporation of Delhi that had carried out the demolition drive.

"Sukhbir ji, the public is intelligent enough to understand everything. The day is not far when curtains will come down on your political drama," Sanjay Singh said.

Targeting SAD chief Sukhbir Badal over his comments that he was deeply hurt by the demolition of the 'piau', Sanjay Singh asked why he "wasn't hurt when there was a series of attacks on the Shri Guru Granth Sahib?"



"Where was he (Sukhbir) when police opened fire on peaceful protesters in which two Sikh youths were killed? Why did his heart not melt when innocent Sikh youths were arrested and tortured by police who falsely implicated them in a case of sacrilege?



"Instead of enacting a political drama, Sukhbir should have saved the farmers who were committing suicide due to faulty policies of the state and central governments," Sanjay Singh said.

AAP alleged that instead of extending a helping hand to farmers, the Punjab Agriculture Minister was busy supplying spurious fertilisers to them and ultimately the Agriculture Director was made the scapegoat for the entire racket.

The time is ripe for the Badals to book "a family room in their 7-star hotel permanently" as they would not be able to show their faces to the public after the 2017 Assembly polls, the AAP leaders said.

Shergill also questioned the timing of bringing in changes



in the laws related to parole in Punjab.

Prisoners in the state can now get parole for reasons such as renovation or repair of house or for agricultural purposes with the Assembly yesterday passing the Punjab Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Amendment Bill, 2016.

"We are not against parole being given to prisoners. But, we suspect the timing. We kept saying that in genuine cases, parole should be granted. But, for the last nine-and-a-half years, the Akalis did not feel the need to bring in the changes. They brought this law when the polls are round the corner, making its timing suspect," Shergill said.

The AAP leader also targeted the Congress, alleging that it was "hand-in-glove" with the Akalis.

"Both parties know that Kejriwal has shown zero tolerance towards corruption. They know that anyone who has indulged in any wrongdoing will not be spared and this has made both the parties jittery," he claimed.

Meanwhile, with state Congress chief Amarinder Singh regularly attacking Kejriwal, the AAP today launched a strong counter-attack.

Amarinder had yesterday attacked Kejriwal and said he will fight the "Haryanvi" from wherever he would decide to contest the upcoming state Assembly polls.

"He is a Haryanvi, he is a Dilliwala and I will fight him from wherever he chooses to contest. Win or loss is god's will, but I will not let him have it easy," he had said.

In response, AAP's Sukhpal Khaira said, "Kejriwalji has categorically stated that he would not leave Delhi and therefore, the questions of his becoming the chief minister of Punjab or contesting the polls here do not arise."



"Our national leaders Sanjay Singh and Durgesh Pathak have also said they will not even contest the panchayat polls, but Amarinder Singh is feeling jittery and is raising this issue of Punjabi versus non-Punjabi," he said.

"At least, he (Amarinder) has admitted that the next chief minister will be from the AAP. I too want to assure him that (if the AAP comes to power) the chief minister will be from Punjab and will be a Punjabi," he added.

When asked why has the AAP not taken the lead in declaring its chief ministerial candidate like it has done in releasing the first list of candidates and Kisan Manifesto, Khaira replied, "What is the hurry? Look at the time we have got. We are not time-bound (to do so)."



He then added, "The Congress and the Akalis have a common agenda which is to keep the AAP down.
A private school in Jammu and Kashmir today decided to withdraw its notebook with national flags of India and Pakistan on its cover, following protests by locals.

The Holy Cross Convent High School, located in border belt of R S Pura sector, had distributed notebooks to its students with national flags of the two countries on the cover of its notebooks.

There was widespread protest by parents and local residents yesterday against the notebooks given to students for the current academic session.

"We received a public complaint that the school authorities have published and distributed notebooks with India and Pakistan National Flags. We called the Principal of the school to explain his stand," Sub-Divisional Police Office RS Pura Harjeet Singh said.

He said the school Principal informed the police that his intention was not to hurt people's sentiments. He thought his move would help bring peace in the troubled region.

"Principal said that the school's aim behind publishing the flags was to bring peace in the region. We told him that this was not the way to do such things," Singh said.

The principal realized his mistake and has agreed to withdraw all the notebooks and immediately stop further publication such notebooks, the SDPO said.
Former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Shanta Kumar today donated Rs 5 lakh from his MPLADS fund to help the inhabitants of Khajjan village in the district to construct a road on their own.

Impressed by the villagers' decision to construct the road without waiting for government help, 81-year-old Kumar, the BJP MPfrom Kangra, donated the sum from his MPLADS (Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme) fund.

"If public takes the initiative at their own for developmental works, the government doesn't lack behind to cooperate,"Kumar said vide a written statement in Dharamshala today.
Smokers, take note! Unemployed smokers may be less likely to get new jobs, and when they do, earn an average of USD five less an hour compared to non-smokers, a new US-based study has found.

Researchers from Stanford University examined differences in reemployment by smoking status in a 12-month period in a group of 251 unemployed job seekers in San Francisco.

Among the 251 participants (131 daily smokers and 120 nonsmokers), 65.7 per cent were men and they were an average age of 48, researchers said.

Study participants were 38.2 per cent white, 35.9 per cent black, 9.6 per cent Hispanic, 7.2 per cent Asian and 9.2 per cent were multiracial or other race, they said.

Among the job seekers, 31.1 per cent had a college degree and 39.4 per cent were unstably housed. The smokers consumed an average of 13.5 cigarettes per day at baseline.

There were 217 participants who completed 12-month follow-up surveys. Researchers found that 60 of 108 nonsmokers (55.6 per cent) were reemployed compared with 29 of 109 smokers (26.6 per cent).

The results suggest nonsmokers were 30 per cent more likely on average to be reemployed at one year compared with smokers, researchers said.

Nonsmokers also earned more money. The hourly wage for smokers was about USD 5 less at an average of USD 15.10 per hour compared with USD 20.27 per hour for nonsmokers. At an average of 32 hours per week, this is a deficit of more than USD 8,300 annually, researchers said.

The findings were published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.
A senior SP leader has come out



against the Varanasi Development Authority (VDA) for refusing permission to people living within 200 metres of the banks of the Ganga to carry out repair and restoration of their old houses.

Shatrudra Prakash, a senior leader of the ruling party in Uttar Pradesh, has alleged that VDA was engaging in "corruption and ultra- vires practises" with nearly seven lakh people living within 200 metres of the banks of the river having been "adversely affected" by denial of permission for repairs.

Prakash asked VDA to produce the Allahabad High Court order which denies permission for repairs to the said houses.

Prakash, who is a chairperson of the state government's Contractual Labour Corporation and enjoys the rank of a minister, claimed that high court has only issued directions restricting new construction within 200 metres of the river bank and not repairs to old houses.

He alleged that VDA has issued notices with "mala fide intention" to those carrying out repairs to their old houses after terming these "new construction".

He asked Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to direct VDA authorities to stop such "ultra-vires practices that malign the SP government's image as well as that of our judiciary".

"We met VDA authorities yesterday and asked them to produce the courts order that restrict repair and restoration of old houses within 200 metres of the river bank," he said.

"The VDA authorities were unable to show us any such ban order issued by high court," he added.

Prakash warned the authorities that he would hold a "massive agitation" if it did not take back or withdraw the notices issued to the house-owners who have carried out repairs.

Taking up the case of a former journalist whose house was sealed by VDA authorities, the SP leader said the family was living in a rented accommodation despite having their own house.

He further questioned why no action was taken by the authorities over the alleged construction of a five-story building next to the journalist's house.

Prakash claimed that floods and earthquakes have damaged these houses, which are 50-100 years old, and need immediate repair.
A suicide bomber suspected of belonging to Al-Qaeda killed five Yemeni soldiers when he detonated his explosive belt today among army recruits in Aden, a security official said.

The man mixed in with a group of recruits as they headed to their base in the southern city which serves as a temporary capital for the government, the official said.

Army and government installations have been the target of several attacks by extremists since pro-government forces drove out Shiite rebels in the summer.

Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have taken advantage of the chaos caused by the war between the government and the rebels to strengthen their grip on southern Yemen.

But after having long ignored them, forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi have launched operations against them in the past few weeks, backed by the firepower of a Saudi-led military coalition.
Switzerland said today that it has widened its corruption probe into a Malaysia state-owned fund linked to Prime Minister Najib Razak, with two new individuals indicted over a suspected phony bond deal.

The Swiss attorney general's office (OAG) said the new suspects -- who are accused of fraud, bribery and other offences -- are two United Arab Emirates (UAE) officials who were in charge of sovereign funds based in Abu Dhabi.

In a statement, the OAG said it had evidence that the management of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) violated Swiss embezzlement laws through a fraudulent bond agreement with the UAE officials, with money routed through Swiss banks.

Allegations that billions were looted from 1MDB in a vast campaign of fraud have shaken Najib's government.

The scandal intensified last week when a Malaysian parliamentary committee clearly suggested misconduct had occurred, in the first condemnation from an official body in Kuala Lumpur.

Switzerland opened its own criminal probe into 1MDB last August, targeting two former Malaysian officials "and persons unknown" on suspicion of bribery, money laundering and other offences.

The OAG has said that up to $4.0 billion (3.5 billion euros) of public funds in Malaysia may have been misappropriated, with a portion of the money transferred to Swiss accounts controlled by former Malaysian officials and people based in the UAE.

Concerning the latest allegations, Swiss authorities are scrutinising bonds issued by 1MDB subsidiaries officially intended to finance electric power plant projects in Malaysia.

The OAG statement said that sovereign funds based in Abu Dhabi issued guarantees on the bonds, but that evidence indicated 1MDB subsidiaries did not make proper payments in exchange for those guarantees.
Syria's landmark ceasefire was threatening to fall apart today amid a surge of fresh fighting, especially in northern Aleppo province, just as peace talks were set to resume in Geneva.

The UN's Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura, who has said the negotiations due to start Wednesday would be "crucially important," was in Iran for talks with a key backer of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad.

This week's round of talks in Geneva will be the second since Assad's regime and rebel forces agreed to a partial truce brokered by Moscow and Washington, which has largely held since February 27.

It has raised hopes that steps may finally be taken towards resolving the five-year-old conflict, which has devastated the country and left more than 270,000 dead.

But concern has been growing that a recent rise in violence focused mainly in Aleppo province, which borders Turkey, is putting intense strain on the ceasefire.

Pro-government forces were today pressing an advance against the town of Al-Eis, held by fighters from al-Qaeda's local affiliate, Al-Nusra Front, and allied rebels, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.

Jihadists like those from Al-Nusra and the Islamic State group are excluded from the ceasefire but in some areas the al-Qaeda militants are allied with rebel forces meant to be covered by the truce.

Regime warplanes have also carried out "unprecedented" air strikes in recent days on the rebel-held eastern parts of Aleppo city, according to the Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a broad network of sources inside Syria.

Russian-backed regime forces pressed a similar offensive around Aleppo city during a previous failed round of peace talks at the end of January.

Western powers blamed the government's military escalation for the breakdown of those talks.

Al-Nusra and allied rebel groups were meanwhile pushing their own offensive on the town of Khan Touman near Aleppo city, the Observatory said.

Washington has expressed worries that an assault against Al-Nusra in Aleppo may spread to moderate rebel factions, which could cause the truce to collapse and derail peace efforts.

"We are concerned about plans to attack and seize ... Aleppo when there are clearly opposition groups there that are part of the cessation of hostilities," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters on Monday.

Human Rights Watch also warned that continued indiscriminate attacks on civilians could cause the truce to break down.
Taiwan is protesting the deportation of a group of its citizens to China from Kenya after fraud charges against them were dropped.

The island's official Central Agency said today that the Cabinet agency responsible for contacts with China had lodged a strong complaint with its Chinese counterpart and demanded that eight Taiwanese who arrived in Beijing yesterday be sent home.

Taiwanese authorities said the deportations violated a tacit agreement between the sides not to interfere in the affairs of their citizens while abroad.

China considers Taiwan Chinese territory and claims only it can represent the island in international society, although it has softened its stance in recent years in order to avoid further alienating residents of the self-governing island.

Reports said Kenya was sending additional Taiwanese to China.
Tata-owned Taj Group has entered the Nepalese market, taking up management of a high-end luxury tourist resort in the well-known Chitwan National Park.

Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces has tied up with Chaudhary Group's CG Hotels and Resorts owned by Nepalese billionaire Binod Chaudhary to start the Meghauli Safari resort.

The international standard jungle resort has been opened in the vicinity of thefamous Chitwan National Park wildlife sanctuary with CG Hotels investing USD 7 million in the project which started operations on April 1.

"We have brought Meghauli Safari into operation with the hope that Nepal can attract high class international visitors," said Rahul Chaudhary, CEO, CG Hotels and Resorts.

Chitwan, situated 150 kms southwest of Kathmandu, is Nepal's leading tiger reserve where rare and endangered wildlife including one-horned rhinos, crocodiles and dolphins are found.

The Chitwan National Park is the last surviving example of the natural ecosystems of the Terai region and covers subtropical lowland, wedged between two east-west river valleys at the base of the Shivalik range of the outer Himalayas.

The core area lies between the Narayani and Rapti rivers to the north and the Reu River and Churia hills in the southern border.
Shares of Tata Steel fell by almost 4 per cent, a day after the company kickstarted the sale of its cash-guzzling UK arm with divestment of Long Products Europe business to investment firm Greybull Capital for a nominal amount of 1 pound.

After a weak opening, the stock further lost 3.89 per cent to Rs 318.25 on BSE.

At NSE, it went down by 3.97 per cent to Rs 318.

The transaction is likely to conclude by June this year.

The embattled steelmaker appointed KPMG LLC as process advisor for the "thorough, but expedited sale" of its entire shareholding in its subsidiary Tata Steel UK, which includes Britain's largest steel plant at Port Talbot.

Tata Steel UK yesterday announced "signing of an agreement to sell its Long Products Europe business to family investment office, Greybull Capital.

"Sale for a nominal consideration, would be in exchange for Greybull Capital taking on the whole of the business, including assets and relevant liabilities, and securing an appropriate funding package."



Last month, Tata Steel put its entire UK business on the block, a development that has put thousands of jobs at risk amid a deepening crisis in the steel sector.
Thailand's blunt-speaking prime minister had some advice today for his country's young women: Don't dress too revealingly, or you will be shunned like a piece of toffee without its wrapper.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha offered the observation to reporters as Thais prepared to kick off their traditional New Year celebration, known as Songkran. The holiday comes at the hottest time of the year and is best known for the enthusiastic splashing of water upon friends and strangers alike, a practice that sometimes takes on a sexual edge, including the molestation of women.

Thailand's military government already had announced that it would try to discourage lewd behavior and dress as inappropriate for the country's culture.

"During Songkran, I ask that women wear proper clothes, Thai style, so they would look good and civilized," said Prayuth, who has two grown daughters. He said that in his opinion, women "are like toffee or candy," which people would not like to eat if already unwrapped.

Prayuth went on to qualify his own advice, saying that some nicely wrapped candy will stay on the shelf for years no matter what.

The prime minister, a former army commander, is best known for blasting his political opponents, but has controversially commented before about what he thinks is appropriate attire for women.

Shortly after two young British tourists were murdered on a beach on the resort island of Koh Tao the woman was also raped Prayuth wondered aloud whether tourists wearing bikinis were courting danger.
Heading out to have some fun? Leave your to-do list behind, say scientists who found that scheduling leisure activities decreases enjoyment, making them feel like chores.

Finding enough hours in the day to get everything done is, at times, a seemingly impossible task, researchers said.

Scheduling, whether keeping a calendar, a to-do list or setting a smartphone reminder, is a saving grace for many people trying to accomplish as much as they can, as efficiently as they can.

Researchers from Washington University conducted 13 studies examining how scheduling leisure activities affects the way these events are experienced.

They showed that assigning a specific date and time for leisure can have the opposite intended effect, making it feel much like a chore.

Additionally, they found that both the anticipation of the leisure activity and enjoyment from it decreased once it was scheduled.

"Looking at a variety of different leisure activities, we consistently find that scheduling can make these otherwise fun tasks feel more like work and decrease how much we enjoy them," said Gabriela Tonietto, a doctoral candidate at Washington University.

Researchers suggest a roughly scheduled leisure activities (on a certain day, but with no set time, for example) to ensure that leisure is included in a day but still keeps some flexibility, making it feel less like work.

"We find that the detriment of scheduling leisure stems from how structured that time feels," said Selin Malkoc, associate professor at Washington University.

"While we may tend to think of scheduling in structured terms by referring to specific times - such as grabbing coffee at 3 pm - we can also schedule our time in a rougher manner by referring less specifically to time - grabbing coffee in the afternoon," Tonietto said.

"Roughly scheduling a leisure activity does not feel as structured, does not lead leisure to feel more work-like and thus does not reduce enjoyment," Malkoc said.

While the research shows less scheduling is a good thing when it comes to fun, the researchers stress that people still need to hang onto their calendars.

"On the flip side, we find that scheduling helps us get things done," Malkoc said.

"We find that scheduling indeed increases our chances of engaging in them. But, once we do, we tend to enjoy it less," she said.

The study was published in the Journal of Marketing Research.
Two persons were killed and seven others were injured when a truck rolled down into a gorge, about 300 m from the road near Serchhip town in central Mizoram's Serchhip district this evening, the police said.

The police said Zawlchhingi (61) and her nephew Lalhriatpuia died on the spot, while the condition of two of the injured persons were described as critical by doctors in Serchhip.

The cause of the mishap was yet to be determined and investigations were on, the police said.
Two Turkish soldiers were killed and more than 50 people wounded when a car bomb exploded at a military post in Turkey's restive Kurdish-dominated southeast, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said today.

Turkish authorities blamed the attack on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has killed hundreds of members of the security forces in a resurgent campaign of violence in the last few months.

Davutoglu denounced the "vile attack" accusing what he termed the "terrorist organisation" of resorting to such attacks whenever it was backed into corner, in reference to the PKK.

The attack late yesterday targeted a military outpost in the Hani district of Diyarbakir province and left 52 people injured, including civilians.

The security forces launched a search operation to capture those responsible following the bombing, a military source told AFP.

Turkey has waged an offensive against the PKK after the collapse in 2015 of a two-year ceasefire declared by the group which has waged a insurgency against the Turkish state lasting more than three decades.

The renewed conflict has also struck at the heart of the country, with two attacks that killed dozens of people in the capital Ankara claimed by Kurdish rebels.

A radical PKK splinter group, the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), claimed responsibility for the two suicide car bombings in Ankara on February 17 and March 13.

Over 40,000 people have been killed since the PKK took up arms in 1984 demanding a homeland for Turkey's biggest minority.

Since then, the group has pared back its demands to focus on cultural rights and a measure of autonomy.
Two youths were killed today in firing by security forces during a protest in Kashmir Valley's Handwara town which erupted after alleged molestation of a girl student by army personnel.

Protests erupted in Handwara town of Kupwara district, 85 kilometres from here, following allegations that a girl student, on her way home, was molested by soldiers posted in an army picket in the town, official sources said.

They said the protestors pelted stones at the army picket after which the soldiers opened fire.

The two youths killed in the firing were identified as Iqbal Ahmad and Nayeem Bhat, the sources said.

The matter will be investigated and anybody found guilty will be dealt as per the law, an army official said while expressing regret at the loss of lives.
The UK government has secured a "reprieve" from Tata Steel to save thousands of jobs at its loss-making Port Talbot steelworks in Wales, UK business secretary Sajid Javid told the Parliament today.

"Tata contacted me several weeks ago to warn they were planning to sell parts of their business but they were planning immediate closure of their Port Talbot site. Thanks to the groundwork laid by my team... We were able to secure a reprieve while a buyer is being found," Javid told the House of Commons during an emergency debate on the ongoing steel industry crisis in the country.

"Investors know British steel is the best in the world, British steelworkers are the best in the world, and the government stands with the industry," he said, a day after he told Parliament that the UK government would weigh up a "co-investment" or part-nationalisation of the Port Talbot plant in an attempt to save the nearly 4,000 jobs.

Today's debate had been called by UK shadow business secretary Angela Eagle, who warned that Tata's exit from the UK would cost the UK economy at large.

She said: "Much has been said about the cost of supporting our steel industry, but far too little has been said about the cost of letting it be destroyed. In Rotherham alone Tata is the biggest single business rates payer at 3.2 million pounds a year- worth an 1.8 per cent council tax rise.

"The loss of the steel industry would worsen our record- breaking trade deficit which is already at its worst since 1948."



On Monday, Tata and UK-based investment firm Greybull Capital had announced an agreement on the purchase of the Indian steel major's Long Products Europe (LPE) division based at Scunthorpe, in the east of England.

The transaction included the LPE steel works in Scunthorpe, two mills in Teesside, an engineering workshop in Workington and a design consultancy in York along with a mill in Hayange, France, being sold for a nominal 1 pound to Greybull.

It also marked the revival of the brand name British Steel once the deal is complete in about eight weeks time.

As part of the deal, Greybull is arranging a 400 million pound investment and financing package for the new business.

The financing, provided principally by a combination of banks and shareholders, will be available to fund working capital and future investments.

Greybull partner Marc Meyohas said: "We are delighted to



have reached agreement for the acquisition of LPE, which we believe can become a strong business, with a highly skilled workforce and great potential.

"I would personally like to thank Tata Steel, the trade unions and the British and French governments for their support, which was essential in ensuring the agreement. We are now focused on taking the deal to completion in order that the business can start its next chapter with confidence."



The Long Products Europe business employs 4,800 people - 4,400 in the UK and 400 in France.

Bimlendra Jha, Tata Steel executive chairman of the stand-alone LPE business, said: "This sale is the best possible outcome for employees who have worked relentlessly to ensure the business' survival, and helped to make it attractive to a potential buyer."



Trade union officials at Unite said proposals for a turnaround of the LPE division include a one-year pay cut of 3 per cent and changes to pension scheme, proposals which had already been put in place by Tata before it agreed the sale.

"For a couple of years now, the Long Products business has been in limbo. We knew we were living on borrowed time. That air of uncertainty has been there for so long that this announcement is just such a relief. We've got a good chance now of a successful future," said a Unite representative.

Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of Community trade union, added: "Community's independent experts, Syndex, have assessed that the transformation plan for the business is robust and Greybull has the necessary capabilities to build a sustainable business.

"The deal alone will be a huge boost to the UK steel industry but more government action to support our industry will be needed to ensure its sustainable long-term future."



Meanwhile, negotiations on the Port Talbot plant continued with Indian-origin businessman Sanjeev Gupta among the frontrunners to acquire the steelworks for his family firm Liberty House.

Tata Steel has reportedly prepared an information memorandum (IM) for possible buyers.

It will then pass on expressions of interest to its M&A team, who will sift through to decide on a shortlist.
In 'Understanding the Founding Fathers' 81-year-old Rajmohan Gandhi, grandson of the Mahatma and erudite scholar and academic, seeks to throw a light on some of the questions surrounding the legacy of the architects of Indian nationhood that have come to assume prominence in the political discourse.

Has the doctrine of ahimsa made India weaker as a country where power or strength is weighed in terms of martial spirit and might?



Did Mahatma Gandhi introduce religion into national politics and hence lay the ground for the Partition that was to be the price of freedom after close to two centuries of colonial rule?



Would Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel have made a better first prime minister of independent India than Jawaharlal Nehru?



In the book (Aleph, 2016), the author begins by examining the critiques, by two unrelated interrogators, of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi -- one a spiritual leader in Gujarat's Anand by the name of Swami Sachidanand, the other, British Marxist historian Perry Anderson, brother of the celebrated historian and political scientist Benedict Anderson and the writer of the book, 'The Indian Ideology', in which he makes "a mostly negative appraisal of (Mahatma) Gandhi, Nehru, the Indian republic's ideology and the trajectory of independent India".

But Rajmohan Gandhi's field of inquiry is not limited to the views of just these two critics. In responding to the charges levelled against the Bapu and the heavyweights of the Indian National Congress who went on to become ministers and lawmakers after independence - Nehru, Patel, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, to name a few -- Rajmohan Gandhi's intention also seems to be to set the record straight on the legacy of India's freedom movement itself as delivered in the life and work of its stalwarts.

But what is the indictment of the Bapu by the swami and Anderson? Rajmohan Gandhi tells us, early on, that the argument of each against the Mahatma effectively cancels the one offered by the other. Thus, while Swami Sachidanand thinks that Mahatma Gandhi failed to protect the interests of the Hindus as India won her freedom, Anderson claims it was him who contributed significantly to the communal problem by injecting a religious "imaginary" into the national movement, paving the path for the eventual partition of the subcontinent.

And that is not the only one. On the Dalit question, while Sachidanand espouses progressive ideas on their empowerment for full integration into mainstream Hindu society, a cause demonstratively close to the Bapu's heart, Anderson feels it was none but the Mahatma who "blackmailed (Babasaheb) Ambedkar in 1932 into accepting the Poona Pact which placed Dalits at the mercy of caste Hindus".

Having set out to respond to these allegations, Rajmohan



Gandhi seeks to take us deep into the Bapu's psyche and thought process so as to be able to explain the alleged inconsistencies in and pitfalls of his plan of action for independence and his prescription for a free India.

Drawing widely from the Bapu's writings and speeches, the author tells us that the Mahatma was "wholehearted in defending Hindu rights and standing up to Muslim wrongs".

As for Anderson, going deep into his tract, Rajmohan Gandhi finds that the professor of history has presented several allegations against the Bapu "without date or place... (or) quotation marks". Complaining that Anderson indicates no source in his book to back his claims, "either in the text or in a note", Rajmohan Gandhi says "we must conclude that 'entirely wrong' is too gentle a comment on his critique".

Both the swami and the professor are seized of seeming contradictions in Mahatma Gandhi's worldview and actions based on assumptions which the author declares are the consequence of only a superficial reading of his illustrious forbear's philosophy.

Turning to other such allegations and claims that have been made of late, Rajmohan Gandhi says that "the Nehru-Patel divide splashed at times in today's media is greatly exaggerated, usually for political purposes".

The author does not claim that the founding fathers were entirely unimpeachable although he feels that in the circumstances that accompanied independent India's birth, "it has to be said that our leaders performed quite well".

But, in conclusion, he notes that "for real value, any honest examination of the 1947-50 period should be accompanied by a deep enough reflection on how India may be made distinctly better for all its people, and especially the most vulnerable, by the time we mark the hundredth anniversary of freedom".
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said there is an "urgent" need for a UN resolution condemning Israeli settlements, in an interview ahead of a multi-country diplomatic tour.

"The Security Council is a very important subject because it has now become urgent due to settlement activities and because Israel has not stopped these activities," Abbas told AFP, with the Palestinians currently discussing a new draft resolution at the UN Security Council on the subject.

Abbas also criticised what he said was insufficent action from US President Barack Obama's administration, while at the same time he firmly backed a French initiative to hold an international peace conference this summer.

He spoke late Monday ahead of a tour beginning Tuesday that will take him to Turkey, France, Russia, Germany and New York.

The two-week tour may be among the last chances at renewing peace efforts for the 81-year-old leader.

Peace efforts have been at a complete standstill since a US initiative collapsed two years ago.

Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are considered illegal under international law as well as major stumbling blocks to peace efforts since they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state.

The United States has repeatedly vetoed resolutions opposed by Israel at the UN Security Council, but there has been speculation that Obama could change tack in the waning days of his administration.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has said there is an "urgent" need for a UN resolution on Israeli settlements as he embarks on a multi-country tour that may be among his last chances to renew peace efforts.

Speaking in an interview with AFP, Abbas criticised what he said was insufficent action from US President Barack Obama's administration while also firmly backing a French initiative to hold an international peace conference this summer.

Abbas spoke ahead of a tour beginning today that will take him to Turkey, France, Russia, Germany and New York, where the Palestinians are discussing a UN draft resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The trip comes with the clock ticking for both the 81-year-old and the Obama administration, with speculation the US president could change tack and support a resolution on the peace process before he leaves office in January.

"The Security Council is a very important subject because it has now become urgent due to settlement activities and because Israel has not stopped these activities," Abbas said late Monday at his office in Ramallah.

Settlement construction in the West Bank "is something that has seriously jeopardised the two-state project."



The United States has repeatedly vetoed resolutions opposed by Israel at the UN Security Council, but the Palestinians are hoping for a change of heart.

"So far, we have not got any reaction from the Americans regarding the Security Council," said Abbas.

He criticised US efforts so far.

"We were expecting from the US administration over the past eight years that it would take positive steps forward to achieve what America believes in, which is the two-state vision," he said.

"Until now, it hasn't happened from the US administration."



Asked whether he was disappointed, he said: "We do not want to use this expression, but we are saying that we were expecting a lot from the US administration and it never happened."



Abbas' two-week tour starts with a summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul and ends in New York.

It may be one of the last chances at renewing peace efforts for the successor to Yasser Arafat who has for years been at the centre of attempts to resolve one of the world's longest-lasting conflicts.

International attention in recent years has however turned elsewhere, with war raging in Syria and Islamic State group jihadists carrying out attacks.
The US is committed to strengthen its ties with emerging markets including India on key priorities such as facilitating investment, combating money laundering and terrorist financing especially against Islamic State outfit, a top American official has said.

"We're committed to building on the progress that we've made in cooperating with emerging market partners including Brazil, Argentina, India and Mexico on key priorities such as facilitating investment, improving the implementation of tax policies, promoting financial inclusion and combating money laundering and terrorist financing," US Treasury Secretary, Jacob Lew said yesterday.

"We must continue to combat terrorist financing, corruption, money laundering and other financial crimes," he said.

Lew, 60, also said to prevent a repeat of the financial crisis, there is a need to continue to lead efforts to reform the international financial regulatory system.

"The Treasury is strengthening its anti-money laundering and counterterrorist financing rules at home working through the financial action task force to improve enforcement globally and partnering with countries to combat terrorist financing specifically against ISIL," Lew said.

He also said that the US and China, as the two largest economies, have a unique responsibility to work together to advance shared prosperity.

"As the two largest economies, the United States and China also have a unique responsibility to work together to advance shared prosperity, maintain a constructive global economic order and make progress on critical challenges like climate change," Lew said in his remarks to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).

Lew called for modernisation and reform of International Monetary Fund (IMF).

"We must work with our partners to further modernise the IMF, allowing it to intensify its scrutiny of critical issues like exchange rates, current account imbalances and shortfalls in global aggregate demand," he said.

"Because more information means better policy cooperation and more efficient financial markets, the IMF should continue to promote greater transparency among its members when it comes to economic data, especially as it relates to foreign reserves," he said.

Lew said the US must also with its partners make the World Bank and the regional development banks more efficient and effective.

He said to prevent a repeat of the financial crisis, there is a need to continue to lead efforts to reform the international financial regulatory system.

"With many of the critical standard-setting reforms in place, the focus must shift to comprehensive and consistent implementation and close attention to emerging threats," he said.
The US encourages India's active involvement in and the key role it plays in promoting political stability and economic prosperity in the war-ravaged country, a senior American official has said.

"We certainly do appreciate the support that India's given for the people and the government of Afghanistan, including trade ties, security, development assistance, and India's role in promoting a stable and prosperous region," said Mark Toner, State Department Deputy Spokesman.

"I think that's ultimately what we would always encourage in terms of India's involvement is that, it's good for the region, it's good for the prosperity of the region, it's good for the economy of the region, and good for the political stability of the region," Toner said in response to a question.

Read more from our special coverage on "AFGHANISTAN"

Special US Representative for and Pakistan, Rick Olson, was in New Delhi last week to meet with the Indian government as well as civil society leaders and discuss a range of issues, including the support for the government of and security forces, as well as the Afghan-led Afghan Army peace process, he said.

The visit was an opportunity for US officials to express appreciation for India's support for the people and government of Afghanistan  including trade ties, security and development assistance  as well as India's key role in promoting a more stable and prosperous region, a senior official said.

India has assured all possible help to Afghanistan in achieving its vision of an independent and prosperous nation.

"India will always be Afghanistan's first strategic partner. And we will always share the Afghan people's vision of a strong, independent, united and prosperous Afghanistan for which so many Afghans sacrificed so much," External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj had said in her speech during the inauguration of a new $40-million Indian embassy building in Kabul.
The United States today updated its warning for American citizens planning to travel to Saudi Arabia, less than two weeks before President Barack Obama is due there.

Obama is to visit the oil-rich desert kingdom on April 21 for a tense summit of Saudi Arabia and the other five Gulf Arab states at a time of crisis.

While maintaining a public show of unity with Washington, Saudi officials are privately angry about what they perceive as Obama's outreach to their foe Iran.

And he has been criticized at home and in the Middle East for his reluctance to take tough action against Syria's Bashar al-Assad, allowing Russia to seize the initiative.

Saudi Arabia also faces domestic threats -- and spillover from its war in neighboring Yemen -- as was reflected in the updated State Department travel warning.

"The Department of State urges US citizens to carefully consider the risks of traveling to Saudi Arabia," it said.

"There continue to be reports of threats against US citizens and other Westerners, as well as locations frequented by them."



The statement, which replaces an earlier warning issued in September last year, warns that both Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group are planning attacks in the kingdom.

"Possible targets include housing compounds, hotels, restaurants, shopping areas, international schools and other facilities where Westerners congregate," it said.

"Multiple attacks on mosques, as well as places where members of the Shia-Muslim minority gather, have occurred in Saudi Arabia over the past year."



The warning says US officials are banned from going within 50 miles (80 kilometers) of the Yemen border and urges Americans to stick to hotels and housing compounds.
The US has offered FBI's assistance to to collaborate in its investigations into a spate of murders involving secular bloggers, including the recent killing of a law student who posted comments against radical Islamists on Facebook.

"We've offered assistance to the Bangladeshi government, collaboration on the investigations, FBI assistance," said Mark Toner, State Department Deputy Spokesman.

He was responding to a question on killing of several secular bloggers in Bangladesh, some of whom have been claimed either by the ISIS or Al-Qaeda.

"We've seen reports in this most recent case that Al-Qaeda was behind it. These are horrific attacks. We urge the Bangladeshi authorities to take them very seriously and to fully investigate these attacks and to support the families of the victims," Toner said.

There have been systematic assaults in over the past six months specially targeting minorities, secular bloggers and foreigners.

28-year-old law student Nazimuddin Samad, was hacked by machete-wielding militants before being shot dead from close range last week.

Samad's death marked the sixth time a Bangladeshi writer of atheist material had been killed in 14 months.

Last month, a 65-year-old Christian convert was hacked to death in the northern Bangladeshi town of Kurigram by three motorbike-borne unidentified assailants.

Last year, four prominent secular bloggers were killed with machetes, one inside his own home.

Given the threat being posed by terrorist outfits to these bloggers, the US in those circumstances is willing to consider requests for humanitarian parole, Toner said.

"There is no excuse for such barbaric attacks, which are a direct assault on freedom of expression. We stand with and those who reject these vicious acts, and work to support the right of all Bangladeshis to exercise freedom of expression," he said.

"We hope the Bangladeshi authorities will find and bring the perpetrators to justice," he added.
Mizoram State Election Commission (MSEC) today announced by-election to 31 village councils in Aizawl and Kolasib districts on May 19 next.

The returning officers will issue official notification on April 26 and the last date of filing nominations will be April 27, the announcement said.

The MSEC said that counting of votes would commence on the date of polling just after the completion of the voting process.

In the 31 village councils, 123 members would be elected of which 33 seats were reserved for women.

Elections of village councils in 31 villages could not be held along with the rest of the state on April 30 last year as no nominations were filed to contest the polls due to threats from the Hmar People's Convention (Democrats) militants.

The MSEC announced the election after the HPC (D) publicly announced that the militant group would not object to holding the village council polls.
"Breaking Bad" actor Aaron Paul is eager to leave Los Angeled and return to the "mountains and streams" of Idaho.

The 36-year-old actor grew up in Idaho and says he misses the scenic northwestern state in the US, reported Female First.

Reflecting on his childhood, the star said, "It was incredible. I appreciate it much more now being away from it. I grew up on the lake, floating the rivers, nothing but mountains and streams and wildlife and that sort of thing.

"I was always snowboarding from a very young age. And you think, oh God I can't wait to get out to live a more exciting life. But now living in Los Angeles since I was 17, I cannot wait to get back to Idaho."



Paul admitted it took him a long time to appreciate Los Angeles, where he currently lives, and to find a social circle in which he felt comfortable.

"I didn't fall in love with Los Angeles as quickly as I had imagined I would. It took me a good two to three years to really love the city. Now I'm madly in love with it.

"There's a lot of Los Angeles that at first glance you're terrified by, a lot of fake people and the glitz and glam, that's not really my cup of tea. Then eventually you get your core group of friends who you love and trust. I wouldn't call it lonely. I was fighting for something. I was trying to get my foot inside that door. And eventually the door was opened," he said.
Trinamool Congress secretary general Partha Chatterjee, who is contesting Assembly polls from Behala West seat in south Kolkata, has declared his net worth to be a little over Rs 80 lakh.

According to his affidavit filed before the Election Commission, Chatterjee's last year's income was Rs 7.8 lakh.

His owns movable asset is worth Rs 57.5 lakh which includes cash-in-hand of Rs 6,013, besides bank balance and investments.

He doesn't own any vehicles but his wife owns one, according to the affidavit.

Chatterjee owns a multi-storied building in south Kolkata, estimated by him to be worth Rs 25 lakh now.

The 63-year-old describes himself to be a social activist and HR professional.

The state education minister has an impressive academic background with an array of degrees in his pocket.

Besides an MBA and LLB degree from the University of Calcutta, Chatterjee has also done a course in Personnel Management and Industrial Relations (PMIR) from Industrial Society in UK.

In 2015, he completed a doctorate in economics from North Bengal University.
Many British Muslims do not share the values of non-Muslim fellow Britons on issues like homosexuality, according to a controversial poll that has sparked a debate about integration and multiculturalism.

The survey was conducted by the ICM polling institute for a Channel 4 documentary airing on Wednesday entitled "What British Muslims Really Think" and presented by anti-racism campaigner Trevor Phillips.

Out of the 1,081 respondents, 52 percent said they believed homosexuality should be illegal, compared to 22 percent of all Britons.

Thirty-nine percent believed women should always obey their husbands and 23 percent said Islamic sharia law should apply in areas with high Muslim populations.

"What it reveals is the unacknowledged creation of a nation within the nation, with its own geography, its own values and its own very separate future," Phillips, a former television presenter, wrote in the Sunday Times ahead of the broadcast.

Phillips said the survey showed Muslim integration would be "the hardest task we've ever faced".

"It will mean abandoning the milk-and-water multiculturalism still so beloved of many, and adopting a far more muscular approach to integration," he added.

The poll has already stirred controversy, with many campaigners objecting to the singling out of Muslims.

"Discussions and proposals to promote integration and cohesion are always welcome," Miqdaad Versi, assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, wrote in the Guardian newspaper on Tuesday.

"But the starting point should not be that Muslims are the problem, 'not quite British enough', and must be civilised into a pre-existing notion of Britishness," he said.

Varsi pointed to the poll's finding that 86 percent of respondents said they were very attached to Britain and 78 percent said they wanted to integrate.
Troubled firm Winsome Diamonds and Jewellery, which owes a clutch of banks over Rs 6,800 crore, today informed BSE that it has won two more legal cases against its defaulters.

The company said the favourable orders came from the Sharjah Federal Court of First Instance.

The company had filed cases against 13 of its large defaulters in the UAE. Winsome said it has already submitted the details of 11 earlier cases to the exchanges.

The company said the Sharjah Court has dismissed the petition of Al Razin Jewellery FZE and Al Faheem Jewellery FZE and ordered them to pay USD 27.23 million or its dirham equivalent with 5 per cent interest to the appellant (Winsome), Harshad Udani, an executive director of the company, said in an exchange filing.

Of the total Rs 6,800 crore of debt, Winsome owes Rs 4,680 crore to a consortium of lenders headed by Standard Chartered Bank. Its associate firm Forever Precious Diamonds and Jewellery owes another Rs 2,121.82 crore to a set of banks led by PNB.

Once a top diamond firm, Winsome, promoted by Jatin Mehta, is fighting cases filed by the ED and CBI. Its troubles started in January 2013, when 13 of its UAE-based distributors controlled by a Jordanian national failed to pay Rs 4,760 crore to the company, according to its 2012-13 annual report.

Following this, four foreign banks led by Standard Chartered, encashed the bank guarantees worth Rs 4,000 crore.

As the troubles mounted and the company failed to service its debt, many banks got the company and promoter Mehta declared 'wilful defaulters' as forensic audits showed the firm had siphoned off funds.

The Winsome counter closed unchanged at Rs 0.70 on the BSE, whose main gauge Sensex closed 0.5 per cent up.
Noted woman biker Veenu Paliwal died after her two-wheeler skidded off a road near Gyaraspur town in the district, police said today.

Jaipur-based Paliwal (30), also known as "Lady of the Harley", was on a motorcycle trip from Kashmir to Kanyakumari with her companion Dipesh Tanwar, when the mishap happened yesterday, Rajesh Tiwari, In-charge Kotwali police station said.

The duo started their journey from Lucknow during early hours yesterday for Bhopal on separate Harley Davidson bikes.

Paliwal's motorcycle skidded off the road near Gyaraspur and was seriously hurt, Tiwari said.

After primary treatment at Gyaraspur, she was referred to Vidisha for treatment where she succumbed to her injuries, he said, adding, postmortem will be conducted today at the district hospital.
A 35-year-old dalit woman was killed when she protested against her neighbour teasing her daughter in Bimapura area here, police said today.

Pushpa was killed yesterday by her neighbour Teni when she went to his house and told him that his behaviour was not acceptable, they said.

Teni beat Pushpa severely after a heated argument, following which she was rushed to a hospital where she died during treatment, police said, adding, the body has been sent for postmortem.

The accused has been arrested.
By Catherine Ngai

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global oil prices hit four-month highs on Tuesday, hovering just under $45 a barrel after a report that top producers Russia and Saudi Arabia have agreed to freeze output ahead of a much-anticipated producers meeting on Sunday.

Russia's Interfax agency quoted a diplomatic source in Doha saying that Russia and Saudi Arabia reached a consensus on Tuesday about an output freeze and that the final decision will not depend on Iran.

The output freeze came as the U.S. government said that U.S. crude output was forecast to fall by 560,000 barrels per day in 2017 to 8.04 million bpd, underscoring that the 21-month price rout is picking up steam.

"People are now realizing that this OPEC meeting could be a historic turning point for the market," said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group. "Now, with U.S. production cuts, our sense is that we're entering a new cycle upwards."

Brent crude prices settled up $1.86, or 4.3 percent, at $44.69 a barrel.

U.S. crude settled up $1.81, or 4.48 percent at $42.17 a barrel.

In post-settlement trade, both Brent and WTI pared gains under pressure from a larger-than-expected build in U.S. oil inventories suggested by data from the American Petroleum Institute, a trade group. [API/S]. Brent retreated to $44.19 by 4:50 p.m. EDT (2050 GMT), while WTI pulled back to $41.64.

Oil markets were already boosted ahead of an OPEC member meeting with outside producers in Doha, Qatar, on Sunday, but the comments fuelled hopes that oil producers will agree on steps to tackle a supply glut.

Still, some analysts remained sceptical. While the market was being driven higher on a global supply-demand rebalancing, the threat of record-high inventory levels and producers increasing output once prices rebound continued to loom.

"The market seized upon it and it was seen as bullish," said John Kilduff of Again Capital in New York. "As we inch closer to a deal, if there is one, it's obviously bullish for the market. I remain sceptical, however."

Gene McGillian, senior analyst at Tradition Energy, added that Iran's participation in the output freeze would be crucial for a more meaningful discussion regarding supply cuts.

Brent and U.S. crude moved through their 200-day moving averages, which stood at $43.54 for Brent, potentially putting the market on a firmer technical footing.

Industry group the American Petroleum Institute is scheduled to release its report on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. EDT (2030 GMT). U.S. commercial crude oil inventories likely rose last week, a preliminary poll showed on Monday.

(Additional reporting by Jessica Resnick-Ault in New York, Henning Gloystein in Singapore and Alex Lawler in London; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Alan Crosby)
By William James

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain could offer a state loan on commercial terms to help tempt a potential purchaser for Tata Steel's Port Talbot steelworks, a government source told on Tuesday.

Prime Minister David Cameron, who has called an referendum on EU membership for June 23, is under pressure to keep Tata's British steel plants open after the Indian conglomerate said last month that it was selling up in Britain.

Business Secretary Sajid Javid had said on Monday that the government would consider "co-investing" with a buyer on commercial terms to help ensure the future of Tata's flagship Port Talbot plant in south Wales.

Though Cameron has said nationalisation is not the right answer, Javid's comment on co-investing was interpreted by The Financial Times and The Guardian newspapers as opening up the possibility of the state taking an equity stake in Port Talbot.

The government source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation, said that there was only a remote possibility that the state would end up taking an equity share in the Port Talbot operation.

The source said that a government loan as part of a deal with other investors was the "likeliest scenario" for the purchase of the steelworks.

As many as 15,000 jobs are in danger in Britain after Tata said it was is selling its British steel operations because of a global oversupply of steel, cheap imports from China, high manufacturing costs and weak domestic demand.

For free-market politicians such as Javid who has styled himself as an heir to former Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, nationalisation is ideologically unpalatable.

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 (mtpa) in Europe, but only 14 mtpa is operational.

Announcing its decision to pull out of the UK in March, Tata said it could no longer endure mounting losses caused by increased shipments to Europe from countries like China, high manufacturing costs and domestic market weakness.

Nevertheless, the government says it is hopeful of finding another buyer, although that process could take some time given the complexity of any deal, including negotiations over everything from pensions liabilities to energy subsidies.

On Monday, Tata agreed to sell a steelworks in northern England to investment firm Greybull Capital for 1 pound on Monday, saving a third of the job at risk in Britain.

(Editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
By Arno Schuetze and Colleen Jenkins

FRANKFURT/WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank is freezing plans to create 250 new jobs in North Carolina after the state enacted a law last month that opponents say discriminates against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) citizens.

The announcement on Tuesday by Germany's largest lender follows other corporate protests of the law, one of a number of measures pitting LGBT equality rights against religious freedoms in state legislatures across the United States.

The North Carolina law prohibits anti-discrimination protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity. It also bars transgender people from using bathrooms or locker rooms in schools and other public facilities that do not match the sex on their birth certificate.

"We take our commitment to building inclusive work environments seriously," Deutsche Bank co-Chief Executive Officer John Cryan said in a statement.

Deutsche Bank, which employs about 900 people at its software application development center in Cary, North Carolina, had said last September that it planned to add 250 jobs there by 2017.

"We're proud of our operations and employees in Cary and regret that as a result of this legislation, we are unwilling to include North Carolina in our U.S. expansion plans for now," Cryan said.

Last week, PayPal Holdings canceled plans to open a global operations center in Charlotte, North Carolina, and invest $3.6 million in the area, and rock star Bruce Springsteen canceled a concert in the state to protest the law.

State House Majority Leader Mike Hager, a Republican, dismissed the fallout as cause for concern.

"We're not going to change our policies because of that," he said in a phone interview. "There will be other folks that will take their place."

Hager said the law was needed to protect women from having men in their bathrooms and to block local governments from dictating the personnel policies of private businesses.

(Editing by Maria Sheahan and Lisa Von Ahn)
Crippling drought brought on by the El Nino weather pattern could cut stocks among the world's top exporters to levels not seen since 2008, potentially fueling a price crisis similar to one seen that year, an expert warned.

Total stocks in top exporters of the grain India, Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan and the US are likely to fall to 19 million tonnes (mt) by the second half of the year, from a peak of nearly 41 mt in 2013, said Samarendu Mohanty, head of the social sciences division at the Philippines-based International Research Institute.

Read more from our special coverage on "RICE" Govts rice purchase swells 21% to 28.4 mt so far this year

"If we have a bad monsoon, with drought still persisting in many parts of Asia, the risk significantly increases in terms of price response," Mohanty told Reuters in a telephone interview. Dwindling stockpiles could crimp the volumes exporters are willing to ship abroad.

Although a severe El Nino is now fading, it has brought drought to swathes of Asia, drying irrigation channels and destroying crops. It has also stoked concerns on the strength of the South Asian monsoon due to start around June.

Export restrictions by major producers, including India fed panic in the market in 2008, forcing big purchases by countries such as the Philippines that caused Asian benchmark prices to nearly triple to around $1,000 a tonne.

After that, consumers and exporters, mainly in Asia, rebuilt rice inventories to avoid another crisis, but Mohanty said stocks have been declining since 2013.

"Last year, nobody was panicking because they were sure that there's plenty of rice in the market if there's any shortfall. I think we don't have that luxury anymore this year," he said.

The price of Thai 5-percent broken rice touched an eight-month high of $378.50 a tonne in March, while Vietnam's own 5-percent broken rice last month rose to a 2-1/2-month peak of $385 a tonne.

Mohanty said India and Thailand, the world's top two exporters, would have combined stocks of around 16 million tonnes by the third quarter, around 70-percent lower than levels in 2013.

That buffer will be much smaller than recent stock levels of 16.2 million tonnes for India and about 12 million tonnes for Thailand.

India will be "very cautious in exporting" if its rice output is hit by a weak monsoon, said Mohanty.

That could push big buyers such as the Philippines and Indonesia to accumulate the grain, a staple food for nearly half of the world's population, similar to what happened in 2008.

"We might see the same thing as we move forward and countries get scared about the weather situation around them," Mohanty said.

The Philippines is considering importing another 500,000 tonnes of rice this year to boost state reserve stocks.
Britain could deal a damaging blow to the fragile global if it votes to leave the European Union, the Monetary Fund said in the sharpest warning yet from a global body about the risks associated with Brexit.

The listed Britain's June 23 referendum on EU membership as a key risk, along with instability in China and other emerging markets, volatile share prices and a loss of long-term growth potential in advanced economies.

"The planned June referendum has already created uncertainty for investors," the Fund's chief economist, Maurice Obstfeld, said as the published a half-yearly assessment of the world on Tuesday.

"A Brexit could do severe regional and global damage by disrupting established trading relationships."

Europe's refugee crisis and attacks by Islamist militants had resulted in a "rising tide of inward-looking nationalism", Obstfeld said. "One manifestation of increased nationalism is the very real possibility that the United Kingdom exits the European Union."

The Fund also cut its 2016 growth forecast for Britain to 1.9% from 2.2%, the sharpest downgrade for any major advanced other than Japan.

Britain's economy grew by 2.3% in 2015 and government forecasters say it will slow this year and in subsequent years.

Clear warning

British finance minister George Osborne, who has a warm relationship with Managing Director Christine Lagarde, said the Fund's comments reinforced the case for staying.

"The IMF has given us the clearest independent warning of the taste of bad things to come if we leave the EU," he said.

In February, the world's top 20 economies listed Brexit as a global risk after lobbying from Osborne, officials from Group of 20 countries said.

Supporters of Britain's leaving said the IMF warning also seemed to carry Osborne's fingerprints and the biggest risk for Britain was remaining in the EU.

"The IMF has talked down the British economy in the past and now it is doing it again at the request of our own (finance minister)," said Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the campaigning group Vote Leave.

A spokeswoman for the British Treasury had no immediate comment on Elliott's remarks.

The IMF said Britain's trade with the EU was likely to suffer if it left, especially during the two years after the referendum when it would negotiate exit terms.

On Monday, the City of London said leaving would be a shock to Britain's financial industry.
By Emi Emoto and Thomas Wilson

TOKYO (Reuters) - After losing some $3 billion overseas in nearly six years, Japan's Nomura Holdings Inc, is axing a brokerage unit and hundreds of jobs in Europe and the Americas, sounding a partial retreat from its latest drive to become a global player.

Announcing changes in its wholesale operations, Japan's biggest brokerage said in a statement on Tuesday it will "close certain businesses" in its Europe, Middle East and Africa region and "rationalise" unspecified operations in the Americas. It didn't say exactly which units are involved, nor how many jobs affected, but said it would disclose full details on April 27.

People with direct knowledge of the matter said Nomura's European equities research team will close. In total 500-600 jobs would go in Europe, with other cuts in the Americas, separate people familiar with the matter said, declining to be named because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

The retreat signals the latest blow for Nomura management's international aspirations. The brokerage bought Lehman Brothers equities and investment banking business in Europe and Asia in 2008, at the height of the global financial crisis, as part of a concerted strategy to expand from its domestic stronghold and become a major force in international finance.

An earlier U.S. push in the 1990s, selling commercial mortgage-backed securities, suffered heavy losses after the 1998 Russian debt crisis. Nomura's London-based cash equities execution platform Instinet will be unaffected by the cuts, people with knowledge of the matter said, as will its Europe-based Asian equities sales and trading business.

With Nomura's overseas business set to report a sixth straight annual pretax loss for the year ended March 2016, investors welcomed of the cuts. Nomura spokeswoman Joey Wu declined to comment on the job loss figures.

Nomura shares gained as much as 8.7 percent in Tokyo trading before closing up 7.4 percent while the benchmark Nikkei average gained 1.1 percent. The shares were languishing near three-year lows last week.

"By restructuring some of its businesses, Nomura can stop the bleeding and - in the long run - move towards profitability in its international division," said Masayuki Otani, chief market analyst at Securities Japan, Inc. From April 2010 to December 2015 alone, Nomura's overseas business lost 325 billion yen ($3.01 billion).

REGIONAL DIVIDE

The move comes as investment banks globally review their trading operations, with new regulations making it harder to turn a profit. But equities business has provided one of the few growth areas for investment banks in Europe, despite Nomura's problems in the region.

reported last month that Deutsche Bank is hiring 100 people to boost its share trading operations. Meanwhile Credit Suisse has said that it will continue to expand its equities business, despite making deep cuts across the rest of its global markets division.

Moves by other banks away from their home regions, however, highlight the struggle to stay competitive. Britain's Barclays has closed its cash equities business in Asia, Asia-focused Standard Chartered closed its equities franchise, and France's Societe Generale has shut its India equities research desk.

Nomura's announcement comes five months after the brokerage said it will invest further in its Americas operations over the next two to three years, seeking to strengthen mergers and acquisitions advisory services and primary equity and debt businesses in the region.

As of Dec. 31, Nomura had 3,433 employees in Europe and 2,501 in the Americas, company data shows. Over half of its total 29,069 employees are based in Japan.

($1 = 108.2400 yen)

(Reporting by Emi Emoto and Thomas Wilson; Additional reporting by Rachel Armstrong in LONDON; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
By Henning Gloystein

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices dipped on Tuesday, but both U.S. and international crude futures held above $40 per barrel ahead of a meeting of major producers to discuss freezing output levels to rein in ballooning oversupply.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were trading at $40.24 per barrel at 0356 GMT, down 12 cents from their last settlement.

International Brent crude futures were at $42.69 a barrel, 14 cents below their last close, but only 37 cents off their 2016-high reached the previous day.

Major oil producers from the Middle East and Russia, but excluding the United States, plan to meet in Qatar's capital Doha next Sunday. They will discuss measures to rein in ballooning oversupply which sees as many as 2 million barrels of crude produced every day in excess of demand, leaving storage tanks around the world filled to the rims with unsold and unwanted fuel.

Most analysts expect producers to freeze output around current levels, which being beyond consumption and close to record levels would do little to address the glut.

Reflecting a widespread view that oil prices will stay low for some time, the Brent forward price curve has significantly flattened, with the timespread between front-month futures and those for delivery in December 2017 narrowing from $8.70 per barrel in early March to just $4.70 a barrel currently.

"The potential risk for prices is for the downside as freezing output at current levels would be more of a symbolic act rather than a real market intervention. But you need to be open to surprises in this market," said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney.

While Spooner said that a production freeze would do little to address the immediate glut, he added that keeping key Middle East and Russian output around current levels might in the longer term lead to a more balanced market.

"There is demand growth, and production in the U.S. is falling, so if against that background there was a freeze, markets could get tighter at some stage," he said.

Analysts at Bernstein said that they expected global oil demand to grow at a mean annual rate of 1.4 percent between 2016 and 2020, versus annual growth of 1.1 percent over the past decade, adding that global demand would reach 101.1 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2020 from 94.6 million bpd now.

"The world will reach 'peak demand' before 'peak supply'. Global oil demand is likely to peak around 2030-35 at 108 million bpd," it added.

(Reporting by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Joseph Radford)
By Kay Johnson

GWADAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistan's army chief on Tuesday accused longtime regional rival India of seeking to undermine his country's $46 billion project to build an economic corridor to transport goods from China's western regions through the Pakistani deepwater port of Gwadar.

Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif, speaking at a development conference on the impact of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), said the significance of a Pakistan-China economic alliance had "raised eyebrows" in the region.

"In this context, I must highlight that India, our immediate neighbour, has openly challenged this development initiative," Sharif told the conference in Gwadar.

"I would like to make a special reference to Indian intelligence agency RAW that is blatantly involved in destabilising Pakistan. Let me make it clear that we will not allow anyone to create impediments and turbulence in any part of Pakistan. Therefore, it is important for all to leave behind confrontation and focus on cooperation."

Indian officials could not be reached for comment late on Tuesday night.

RAW is India's Research and Analysis Wing, its main external intelligence agency.

Last month, Pakistan said it had detained a suspected Indian spy for RAW in Baluchistan, the southwestern Pakistani province where most of the CPEC is taking shape.

India has confirmed that the man is a former Indian navy official but denied that he is a spy.

Majority Hindu India and mostly Muslim Pakistan, once part of a vast British colonial holding, have fought three wars since they were partitioned upon independence in 1947, leading to a violent separation that has fed decades of mutual suspicion.

Pakistan believes India is supporting a separatist insurgency in resource-rich Baluchistan. It also accuses India of fuelling strife in the city of Karachi. India denies any such meddling.

India has long accused Pakistan of backing militants fighting Indian security forces in its part of the divided Kashmir region, of helping militants launch attacks elsewhere in India and backing the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Pakistan says it only offers diplomatic support to the Muslim people of Kashmir living under what Pakistan says is heavy-handed Indian rule. It denies backing militant attacks in India.

(Reporting by Kay Johnson; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
and AstraZeneca , blaming a lack of government support for cheap generics and pressure from Big Pharma.

Two Indian drugmakers said they had given up a battle to copy drugs developed by Bristol Myers Squibb

Both companies, BDR Pharma and Lee Pharma, had been seeking so-called compulsory licenses that override patents and allow generics firms in India to launch cheap copies of medicines manufactured by big Western drugmakers.

But now the two mid-sized generics players say their efforts have been thwarted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's target to boost foreign investment in India and the resulting emphasis on protecting intellectual property, which is getting in the way of the government's promise to provide cheap drugs for the poor.

"There is no point in pursuing it anymore," Dharmesh Shah, BDR's managing director, told Reuters.

The debate over cheap drugs is hugely emotive in India, home to 1.2 billion people, most of who live on less than $2 a day. It grabbed fresh headlines last month after a U. S. business lobby group said New Delhi assured it that compulsory licences would no longer be issued for commercial purposes.

India's commerce ministry, however, said there was no change to its policy, although campaigners and watchdogs including India's National Human Rights Commission said they were worried about what looked like a shift in direction.

India first issued a compulsory license for a medicine in 2012, allowing Natco Pharma to sell a copy of German drugmaker Bayer's cancer drug Nexavar at a tenth of the original price. The move was criticised by large multinationals.

But BDR's application to copy Bristol Myers' cancer drug dasatinib, with an aim to sell it at about $122 for a month's course versus the original price of about $2,491, was rejected in 2013.

Lee Pharma was rejected in January this year after a second review of its application seeking to make a cheaper form of AstraZeneca's type 2 diabetes drug saxagliptin. The controller said Lee did not make a strong enough case.

Both BDR and Lee said they were now no longer appealing, in moves they described as emblematic of an exasperated industry.

"If the government itself is not inclined then why unnecessarily slog on this issue?" said A Venkata Reddy, Lee's managing director.

A health ministry official did not comment and referred the matter to the commerce ministry.

Officials at the commerce ministry declined to comment. India's Controller General of Patents and Trademarks, part of the commerce ministry, did not respond to requests for comment.

Make in India

Modi, who came to power in 2014, has led a campaign to boost investment and manufacturing to speed up growth and create jobs, and is also reviewing the country's rules. A new intellectual property policy is due out soon.

As a result, enthusiasm for compulsory licenses has cooled among government officials, industry executives and lawyers representing BDR and Lee told Reuters.

Rajeshwari Hariharan, the lawyer who represented Natco in the 2012 case, said other had considered applying for licenses, but dropped plans. She declined to name them.

Sujay Shetty, who leads the life sciences practice for consultants PwC in India, agreed the government would be reluctant and use licenses sparingly.

But he added: "You can never say never in India because of pressure on prices and access to medicines."

India represents a lucrative market for drugmakers, especially in diseases such as cancer and diabetes, as the population ages and gains weight. The country already has a $15 billion generics industry.

But stringent regulations around clinical trials and price control on medicines have made the operating environment tough.

Several large Indian drugmakers also aspire to expand to countries like the United States and Europe, another reason to strike friendly deals with Big Pharma.

In recent months, several Indian firms have struck such licensing deals, under which profit-sharing and drug prices are decided mutually by . In contrast, the government sets royalty rates for compulsory licenses.

($1 = 66.4950 rupees)
Pembina and Kuwait Petroleum plans integrated polypropylene facility in Canada

The project could consume approximately 35,000 barrels per day (bpd) of propane and produce up to 800,000 metric tonnes per year of polypropylene

The project could consume approximately 35,000 barrels per day (bpd) of propane and produce up to 800,000 metric tonnes per year of polypropylene

Pembina Pipeline Corporation and Kuwait Petroleum Corporation are reportedly planning to set up an integrated polypropylene facility in Alberta, Canada. For this, Pembina and Petrochemical Industries Company KSC (PIC), a subsidiary of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, are conducting a joint feasibility study for the evaluation of a combined propane dehydrogenation (PDH) and polypropylene upgrading facility in Alberta.



This project represents an opportunity to develop crucial new market demand for propane in the Province of Alberta. Over the past decade, approximately 85 percent of Alberta's propane production has been exported across North America. Developing Alberta based, value-add infrastructure will increase local propane demand benefitting Alberta's oil and gas producers, as well as the Province, by increasing regional economic activity and tax base. The project could consume approximately 35,000 barrels per day (bpd) of propane and produce up to 800,000 metric tonnes per year of polypropylene.



The polypropylene would be transported in a pellet form to markets across North America and internationally. Polypropylene is one of the world's most commonly used polymers, traditional uses include automobile plastics, medical supplies, home appliances, transparent containers as well as numerous other applications.



With access to the largest supply of propane in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, Pembina is ideally suited to facilitate the development of this Project. Once the construction of Pembina's remaining third fractionator is complete, Pembina will have over 200,000 bpd of fractionation capacity and will control approximately 60,000 bpd of propane supply in the Fort Saskatchewan area, as well as additional supply originating from Empress, Alberta, said Pembina in a press release.



Pembina and PIC will undertake a detailed technical, financial and commercial study to confirm if the development of the project is economically feasible and aligns with each party's respective investment criteria. This study is expected to take approximately six months, followed by Pembina and PIC approval to proceed to Front End Engineering Design. The final investment decision is expected to be made by the middle of 2017. Subject to regulatory, environmental and Pembina's Board of Directors' approval, the project is expected to be in service by 2020.



This project potentially builds on both Pembina's position as the largest supplier to Alberta's existing petrochemical industry, as well as being one of Canada's leading energy infrastructure companies. Developing this project represents another natural extension of our natural gas liquids value chain and is a logical step for additional seamless integration with our existing asset base, said Mick Dilger, president and chief executive officer, Pembina.



BS B2B Bureau
Irish start-up, Agricultural Magnetics, have announced this week that they have been selected to participate on the 2016 Thrive Accelerator Programme which has commenced in Salinas, California.



They are one of just 12 companies from around the world who have been selected to take part in the program. Thrive Accelerator is a unique international business programme for promising start-ups in the areas of Food and AgTech. Companies participating on the programme have the opportunity to pitch to leading agriculture VCs for funding that can range from seed funding up to $5 million.



Through the 8-week Thrive Accelerator Programme participating companies will benefit from high-level mentorship, collaboration and direct access to the worlds top fresh agriculture companies in and around Salinas and the central California growing region.



Headquartered at NovaUCD, MagGrow, has developed a pioneering magnetic spraying technology system for the arable and horticulture sectors.

Their technology reduces drift by over 80% while at the same time delivering superior coverage, a key challenge for existing drift control technology. Benefits of the technology include increased profitability through chemical savings and increased productivity through increased spray windows and spray capacity.



Earlier this year MagGrow won the 2016 LAMMA Innovation Award for the Best Product or Innovation for the Environment category. LAMMA is the UKs leading farm machinery, equipment and services show which takes place annually in the East of England Showground, Peterborough.



The 2016 Thrive Accelerator Programme will end with participants delivering a final pitch at a Demo Day event to be held in June. The winning companies will then participate in the 2016 Forbes AgTech Summit to be held in July.



CEO of MagGrow, Gary Wickham says, "We are truly delighted to be selected to the final 12 companies on the 2016 Thrive Accelerator Programme. It is a great testimony to the transformational benefits which MagGrow has to offer the arable and horticulture sectors."

He added, "We have a big problem, the worlds population is estimated to grow to 9 billion by 2050. The demand for food and water will increase dramatically but by using current farming methods we simply will not be able to meet this demand. We have to find better, more sustainable ways to grow and that is why we developed MagGrow."

Source: www.businessworld.ie
Large companies would have to publicly disclose tax and financial data under proposals the European Commission put forth on Tuesday, in an effort to eliminate tax schemes costing European Union states billions of euros in lost tax revenues.

The EU executive's proposal is part of a broader plan to counter tax avoidance triggered by the LuxLeaks scandal in 2014, which exposed deals by multinationals with EU authorities to reduce their tax bills.

"By using complicated tax arrangements, some multinationals can pay nearly a third less tax than companies that only operate in one country," EU Financial Services Commissioner Jonathan Hill said in a statement. "Our proposal to increase transparency will help make companies more accountable."

A European Parliament study showed that corporate tax avoidance costs EU countries 50 billion to 70 billion euros in lost revenues every year.

The Commission had initially planned to impose so-called country-by-country reporting only for companies' activities in each of the 28 EU states.

But under pressure after the recent Panama Papers leaks, it made a last-minute change to its proposal, requiring corporations to disclose tax data also in jurisdictions deemed as tax havens - although EU states have never agreed on a common list of tax havens.

Corporate operations in the rest of the world will have to be reported as a single item.

The plan concerns only companies with an annual turnover of at least 750 million euros and with activities in the EU. Non-EU firms will also be required to publish a tax report if they have a subsidiary in an EU country.

Data to be made public on a country-by-country basis include tax paid and tax accrued, profits, turnover, earnings and number of employees.

EU states and the Parliament need to approve the Commission's proposals to turn them into law.

The proposed measures raised concerns among anti-corruption campaigners, who accused Brussels of being too soft on tax evasion. Business associations warned that the plan would damage EU companies.

"We do not wish to see the EU become a destination which businesses consider too reputationally risky and administratively burdensome in which to invest," said Chas Roy-Chowdhury, head of tax at ACCA, a global accounting body.

He called for limiting disclosures to tax authorities, avoiding a general public display.

"Competitors will acquire sensible information on the structure and margins of a company due to the obligation of reporting", said Markus Kerber, chief of the German industry association BDI. Centre-right lawmakers shared those concerns.

But tax transparency activists and centre-left lawmakers accused the Commission of not going far enough. Advocacy group Oxfam held a demonstration on Tuesday against tax havens in the EU district in Brussels, calling for the disclosure of tax information in all countries where companies operate.

"The Commission is only proposing reporting obligations for firms' activities in a restricted list of countries, mainly within Europe, with crucial countries like the US and Switzerland excluded," EU Green lawmaker Molly Scott Cato said.

"Unless the reporting obligations cover all countries, it will be impossible to find out if and how firms are channelling funds to tax havens," she said. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie
It was announced yesterday that SIPTU retail staff in Tesco Ireland have voted to take industrial action, up to and including strike action.

They claim this is in response to an attempt by the company to "unilaterally enforce pay cuts and changes to work patterns."



Tesco Ireland employs approximately 14,500 workers in its 149 stores in the Republic of Ireland. The company does not separately publish its Irish earnings but SIPTU estimates that it is making up to 250 million in profits annually in this jurisdiction.



SIPTU represents Tesco retail staff in the companys stores in Portlaoise, Cavan, Edenderry, Mullingar, Athlone, Douglas in Cork and in-store butchers throughout the country.



SIPTU Sector Organiser, Teresa Hannick, claims the management of Tesco Ireland has refused to fully implement a Labour Court recommendation issued on 19th February last. This awarded all retail staff a 2% pay increase and a 1.5% share bonus scheme payment. Hannick claims the company is instead attempting to enforce pay cuts of between 15% and 35% from the 18th April, along with other changes to work patterns and loss of bonuses.



"This is a situation that our members cannot accept. The failure of management to engage in meaningful discussions with our members regarding this issue and its refusal to attend a Labour Court hearing has left them with no option but to take industrial action," she said.

Source: www.businessworld.ie

About us
Europes first Masters in Aviation Finance programme will be launched at UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School today.



The course will be launched this evening at UCD Smurfit School by Willie Walsh of IAG in the presence of other global leaders in aviation.



The programme aims to support the development of the next generation of aviation lessor management talent to ensure Ireland remains a global leader in the sector. Today, 50% of the Worlds leased aircraft are owned and managed from Ireland with over 1,000 people directly employed. The industry contributes 4.1 billion to the economy comprising 1.9 billion directly from aviation, 1.3 billion through the supply chain and a further 900 million from associated spending by people employed in the sector.

With the sector expected to double in scale in the next twenty years, UCD Smurfit Schools decision to introduce a Masters in Aviation Finance will enable Ireland to support the further development of this important industry for the Irish economy and assert its position as a global hub for the sector.



The one year full-time course commencing in September 2016 has been developed in association with six industry partners: AERCAP, AVOLON, GE Capital Aviation Services, KPMG, Snecma (Safran) and SMBC Aviation Capital. This close industry involvement will facilitate student internships, access to scholarships and insights from key industry guest speakers, in addition to identifying and collaborating on key research projects.



Welcoming the programme, Group Chief Executive of IAG, Willie Walsh commented, "For this industry to thrive it needs a constant pipeline of talent with the necessary skills and expertise to help shape the future of the aviation industry. I commend UCD Smurfit School for developing this course in partnership with leading aviation players."

He added, "This will ensure that graduates will have the combination of academic rigour married with relevant experience through the practical research and internship programmes which are a key part of the course.



Source: www.businessworld.ie
The Dublin Port Company have today published trade statistics for the first quarter of 2016 showing continued strong growth of 6.8% after last years record throughput of 32.8 million gross tonnes.

The data shows that total throughput for the three months to the end of March was 8.4 million gross tonnes with 1,790 ship arrivals, equivalent to 20 ships each day. Both imports and exports grew strongly with imports ahead by 6.0% and exports even stronger at 7.9%.



The largest parts of Dublin Ports business are Ro-Ro freight trailers and Lo-Lo containers. Ro-Ro grew by 7.1% with 221,696 units in the first three months. Lo-Lo containers grew by 11.5% to 163,005 TEU reflecting growth in the domestic economy drawing imported goods from overseas markets.

The Ports tourism business also performed very strongly with ferry operators including Irish Ferries, Stena Line and P&O increasing passenger volumes by 2.6% and tourist vehicle numbers by 6.3%.

Chief Executive of Dublin Port Company, Eamonn OReilly said, "Having seen growth of 17.3% in the three years to last December, 2016 has started strongly with growth of 6.8% in the first quarter. Were growth to continue at these rates, Dublin Ports throughput would double by 2026."

He added, "We have commenced work on the 230m ABR Project which will expand capacity in Dublin Port and will be largely completed in four years. In light of the continuing high level of growth, we will also this year begin to plan other major Masterplan projects which will be required if we are to have the capacity available in time to meet the expected high levels of future growth."

Source: www.businessworld.ie
Ireland has experienced a massive 10% increase in English language students studying in Ireland in 2015 according to figures released by Marketing English in Ireland (MEI).



The association which represents 60 regulated language schools and colleges nationwide say there was an increase to 107,129 students in 2015 from 97,610 in 2014. The figures show strong growth across all parts of the sector with significant increases in students from Asia.



The international education sector is an extremely valuable one for the Irish economy and international students supported the employment of 900 full time teachers and 600 full time administrative staff across the 60 regulated MEI member schools and colleges nationwide.

During the peak summer months of June, July and August, teacher numbers rose to 1800 and administrative staff rose to 800. The total gross wage gill was approximately 40 million in 2015.



In 2015 students coming to Ireland from the European Union area stayed for just over 2 and a half weeks. Students from outside the European Union, who are not required to have a visa, stayed on average just over 18 weeks and students who are required to have a visa stayed for just under 11 weeks. Estimates from MEI indicate that the total fees paid by these international English language students in 2015 was 278.3million, which covered student fees, accommodation and travel.



CEO of MEI, David OGrady says, "The international education sector in Ireland is highly regulated and the figures in this report from MEI show that it contributes significantly to the Irish domestic economy. In addition, the majority of students are staying with host families as part of their language and cultural experience."

Source: www.businessworld.ie
Britain could deal a damaging blow to the fragile global economy if it votes to leave the European Union, the International Monetary Fund said in the sharpest warning yet from a global body about the risks associated with Brexit.

The IMF listed Britain's June 23 referendum on EU membership as a key risk, along with instability in China and other emerging markets, volatile share prices and a loss of long-term growth potential in advanced economies.

"The planned June referendum ... has already created uncertainty for investors," the Fund's chief economist, Maurice Obstfeld, said as the IMF published a half-yearly assessment of the world economy on Tuesday.

"A Brexit could do severe regional and global damage by disrupting established trading relationships."

Europe's refugee crisis and attacks by Islamist militants had resulted in a "rising tide of inward-looking nationalism," Obstfeld said. "One manifestation of increased nationalism is the very real possibility that the United Kingdom exits the European Union."

The Fund also cut its 2016 growth forecast for Britain to 1.9% from 2.2%, the sharpest downgrade for any major advanced economy other than Japan.

Britain's economy grew by 2.3% in 2015 and government forecasters say it will slow this year and in subsequent years.

British finance minister George Osborne, who has a warm relationship with IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, said the Fund's comments reinforced the case for staying.

"The IMF has given us the clearest independent warning of the taste of bad things to come if we leave the EU," he said.

In February, the world's top 20 economies listed Brexit as a global risk after lobbying from Osborne, officials from Group of 20 countries said.

Supporters of Britain's leaving said the IMF warning also seemed to carry Osborne's fingerprints and the biggest risk for Britain was remaining in the EU.

"The IMF has talked down the British economy in the past and now it is doing it again at the request of our own (finance minister)," said Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the campaigning group Vote Leave.

A spokeswoman for the British Treasury had no immediate comment on Elliott's remarks.

The IMF said Britain's trade with the EU was likely to suffer if it left, especially during the two years after the referendum when it would negotiate exit terms.

On Monday, the City of London said leaving would be a shock to Britain's financial industry. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie
It is a stark image, men wearing red high heels marching around the Utah State University campus, taking a stand against sexual violence.

USUs SAAVI office (Sexual Assault and Anti-Violence Information) sponsors the event, Walk a Mile in Her Shoes. It is Wednesday, April 13, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

This event aims to raise awareness about campus sexual assault, said Bret Nielson of the SAVVI office. Sexual assault happens everywhere, but we are seeing a really high number of incidents on college campuses. It is an important issue to discuss.

This is an annual fundraiser for the SAAVI office to continue serving survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and other forms of interpersonal violence. It is open to the community.

It is meant to open a dialogue about campus sexual assault, said Nielson. The SAAVI office is happy to provide any information or answer questions people have. It is a great opportunity to change the rhetoric on campus about sexual assault.

The walk begins Wednesday morning at the Taggart Student Center Bookstore.
Logan Citys plans to demolish the Emporium building to make room for a new library have been controversial, but some in the business community approve of the decision. Logan Downtown Manager Gary Saxton says so far the business people he has talked to are unanimous in their approval of Mayor Craig Petersens announced plan.

Saxton says that is because the property has room for other uses as well.

We would like that new space to be converted into a community center, Saxton says, with performance areas, meeting spaces, a cafe and a library so it becomes a gathering place for the community.

It would be not just for Logan City Library patrons but for Cache County. That is our vision for that space.

Saxton says if the space becomes available, he will do everything he can to help create an architectural gem for downtown with an interesting design that attracts a lot of people.

The majority of votes on a recent Cache Valley Daily online poll suggest the public is widely against the proposal. Additionally, the majority of comments on a recent Cache Valley Daily Facebook post about the subject are also strongly opposed.

However, beside the positive feedback that Saxton is receiving, Cache Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Sandy Emile has found that when they hear about the new plans most business people like the idea.

She says that is because it will not just be a library.

Its not just about books, its about a place for gatherings, says Emile. Its about an incubation space for new business people. Its about conference meeting areas for new businesses.

Its got a lot of applications that can bring great resources and foot traffic to our downtown, as well as help with some facade remodeling to some existing stores that are down there.

Emile says it is also nice to know that the businesses now located in the Emporium are being offered opportunities to either re-locate or be included in the new plans.
Iceland: How the Pirates are taking the wheel

Published on April 13, 2016

Story by Joao Fernandes Silva

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In Iceland, the Pirate Party is comfortably leading the national polls after the Panama Papers exposed former Prime Minister Sigmundur Davi Gunnlaugsson's offshore accounts. Reporting on a country that's ready for a mutiny.

The Icelandic Pirate Party does not trust mainstream politics. Having started out as a freedom of information platform, the anti-establishment party is today leading general election polling following the resignation of the former Prime Minister in the wake of the Panama Papers.

According to recent data, the party would currently win around 43% of the vote. However, even before the leak, a survey conducted on the 11th of March showed they had averaged 38.% over the last year, maintaining pole position. If Iceland held elections today, no majority coalition could be formed without the Pirates.

"People sense that we stand for enacting changes that have to do with reforming the systems, rather than changing minor things that might easily be changed back," claims the party on their website.

Led by Birgitta Jonsdottir  a former WikiLeaks activist  the group refuses to be labelled as left or right: "We consider ourselves hackers  so to speak  of our current outdated systems of government."

"They won't be able to resist it for long"

The party argues that the lack of openness in politics allowed now-former Prime Minister Sigmundur Davi Gunnlaugsson and two other prominent ministers to engage in ethically questionable banking activities. Judging from the protests that have been taking place in the capital of Reykjavik, the population agree.

Roughly 23,000 people  nearly 10% of Iceland's eligible voting population  have attended such events, almost entirely promoted through social media. The Jja Facebook page functions as an online platform to inform participants about upcoming protests.

One of the page's administrators, Sara Oskarsson, is an artist and Pirate Party affiliate. However, she prefers to identify herself as a "very concerned and angry" citizen. "Jja does not represent any organisation or movement, except itself," she explains. "It's a platform for the voice of the people to be heard."

Public opinion doesn't seem to be too favourable towards establishment politics. Even local newspapers are predicting tough times ahead for the current Government and the allegedly compromised ministers.

"They won't be able to resist it for long," claims Paul Fontaine, news editor of the Reykjavik Grapevine. "So long as the opposition keeps pushing, the protests keep happening, and dissent grows within their own ranks."

The American journalist adds that, after two coalitions involving four different parties, "people see the Pirates as an exception to the rule". He believes that their policies based on direct democracy and increased transparency are "very appealing to Icelandic people exhausted with corruption".

Valgerur Bjork Palsdottir, Secretary-General of the Bright Future party, shares these views: "People just want politics without corruption and politicians who tell the truth and act according to what they preach." She admits that the electorate may see the Pirates as "a wind of fresh air  something very different than the current government", but hopes that they will "open their ears" to Bright Future as well.

A crowdsourced constitution

The Icelandic Pirate Party differs from similar movements across the globe in the sense that it has large electoral support and a plan for the economy and wider governance. Thus, the idea of the Pirates ruling Iceland might not be so far-fetched.

The party argues that it must listen to the people and "push for new elections as soon as possible". They also stress the need to adopt a new constitution, believing the current one to be "wholly unclear" in crucial areas.

In 2013 the country came close to passing a "crowdsourced constitution" into law. Gathering for a one-day meeting, citizens were asked to list principles they would like to see in the new proposals. Following this process, those involved were able to comment on the document's content via Facebook, Twitter, email and post. In total, there were around 3,600 comments on a total of 360 suggestions.

Even though the resulting proposal was approved in an October 2012 referendum, it was eventually stalled by Parliament, raising dissent from the populace. "The current government has held it hostage in a way, and sabotaged the process of getting it into effect," explains Oskarsson.

The rise and fall of Sigmundur Davi Gunnlaugsson

The anti-establishment Pirate Party would have had to wait another year for the Government's term to come to an end, but Gunnlaugsson's involvement in the Panama Papers changed everything.

In 2013, Gunnlaugsson seemed to have everything going his way. As well as having become the youngest ever Icelandic Prime Minister, he was famous for refusing to give in to the country's banking system following the global financial crisis of 2008. However, his popularity had been declining recently, and his involvement in the Panama Papers delivered the final blow.

According to the leak, in 2007, Gunnlaugsson and his wife Anna Sigurlaug Palsdottir set up a company in the British Virgin Islands to hold her inheritance, including bonds issued by three of Icelands banks. When he became an MP in 2009, he sold his share to his wife for 1 US dollar, but failed to declare the existence of the company on tax records.

The public considers these bonds a conflict of interest since it could be argued that the banks therefore held influence over Icelands government. Facing mass protests, Gunnlaugsson submitted his resignation and handed over powers to his deputy, Sigurur Ingi Johannsson, formerly in charge of fisheries and agriculture.

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This article was published by our local team at cafebabel Aarhus.

Story by Joao Fernandes Silva
Polish abortion law protests: Paris stands with Warsaw

Published on April 12, 2016

Story by Natalia Kuc Translation by: Katarzyna Piasecka

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Video report from Place des Invalides, Paris, where crowds gathered on the 10th of April to support members of the Polish diaspora in protesting against the introduction of a total ban on abortion in their country. Baring the slogan "my body, my choice", activists from Warsaw to London  and as far away as Tokyo  are showing solidarity with Polish women.

Crowds gathered near the Polish embassy in Paris this Sunday the 10th of April, to protest against the proposals for further restrictions on abortion laws in Poland. Alongside the Polish diaspora, numerous representatives of feminist organisations and other citizens of the multicultural Parisian population attended the event.

People of all ages came to leave a coat hanger: chosen as a symbol of the protest movement. Some bore the names of those unable to attend in person.

"Even if we currently live abroad, we are not indifferent to what happens in our country," wrote the organisers of the event in its description, "We could well return there soon, and even if not  our sisters, cousins and friends still live there."

Story by Natalia Kuc

Translated from Polskie prawo aborcyjne: Paryz solidarny z Warszawa
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TUESDAY

Sales tax for business seminar

Learn if products and services sold by a business require a sales tax collection from 6-8 p.m. at the Center for Economic Development, 3209 S. Staples St., Room 119. The State Comptroller's Office will present this free seminar. Topics include: tax form completion, taxability issues, responsibilities and comptroller services. Free. Information: register at www.seminarscc.com or call 361-698-1021.

WEDNESDAY

Learn to do business with TxDOT, airport

Learn the potential of doing business with the Texas Department of Transportation, Corpus Christi International Airport, and CCRTA during a free seminar at 9 a.m. at the Center for Economic Development, 3209 S. Staples St., CED 141. Del Mar College Procurement Technical Assistance Center officials will review Disadvantaged Business Enterprise eligibility and provide assistance in getting applications started. Federal regulations require that state and local transportation agencies receiving Department of Transportation funds establish a DBE program and set goals for participation by DBE certified businesses. Information: www.seminarscc.com

Tips offered on email marketing

This free "Lunch & Learn" seminar will show business owners how to use inexpensive but highly effective email marketing. The seminar starts at 11 a.m. at the Center for Economic Development, 3209 S. Staples, CED 118. Free. Information: www.seminarscc.com

Orientation for small businesses

A small business orientation will be from 4-6 p.m. at the Center for Economic Development, 3209 S. Staples St., CED 146. The seminar will provide new business owners information to start a business. Topics include: small business loans and financing requirements, business plan, licensing, contracting and permit information and resources. Information: www.seminarscc.com

THURSDAY

Casino night aids Reading Rally

The Corpus Christi chapter of the Executive Women International announced the 2016 annual fundraiser, Casino Night, from 6:30-10 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Downtown Marina. Organizers are currently accepting sponsorship opportunities ranging from $1,000 to $3,000.

Underwriting of this event helps support EWI's annual Reading Rally (helping the YWCA's YTeens) & Women in Transition Scholarship Fund. Information: 361-215-2817 or 512-786-1624.

LATER

Uranium Energy rep to discuss industry

The Association of Desk and Derrick Clubs will host guest speaker, Uranium Energy Corp. senior adviser Harry Anthony to talk about an introduction to In-Situ Recovery Uranium at 11:30 a.m. April 19 at Portis Country Kitchen, 615 N. Upper Broadway St. Suite B. Cost: $12 for lunch. Reservations needed by April 15 at SNash@dewbre.com or DorothyJ@headingtonenergy.com

Luncheon set for accounting students

The Corpus Christi Chapter of the Texas Society of CPAs will host a luncheon for accounting students and CPAs at 11:30 a.m. April 22 at Katz 21 Steaks & Spirits, 5702 Spohn Drive.

Free for accounting students and $15 for CPAs. Information: 800-428-0272 ext. 279.

Compiled by Natalia Contreras
When is hurricane season? Here's what you need to know in South Texas
Caller-Times file The Corpus Christi-Nueces County Public Health District and the Texas A&M Agrilife Extension Service will host smoking secession classes from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Johnny Calderon Building in Robstown.

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TUESDAY

WOMEN: The YWCA will host its Equal Pay Day Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. at Dos Comales Cantina, 227 N. Water St. The goal of the event is to educate women about pay inequality, offer solutions to wage discrimination and encourage women to take action. Information: 361-857-5661 ext. 30.

AWARENESS: The Child Abuse Prevention Month Proclamation will be at 11:15 a.m. at City Hall, 1201 Leopard St. Cost: Free. Information: 361-878-3561.

SOFTBALL: The Javelinas will host St. Mary's in a doubleheader starting at 4 p.m. at Vernie and Blanche Hubert Softball Field, 700 University Blvd., Kingsville. Cost: $5, general admission; $4 public school students, seniors, military with ID; free, Texas A&M University-Kingsville students. Information: 361-593-4030.

MUSIC: The Sparkling City Chorus of Sweet Adelines International will host auditions at 7 p.m. to celebrate National Barbershop Quartet Day at Parkway Presbyterian Church, 3707 Santa Fe St. Cost: Free. Information: www.sweetadelines.net.

COMEDY: David Hart will perform at 7 p.m. at The NASA, 1613 Agnes St. Cost: $12. Information: 361-980-0440.

WEDNESDAY

CLASS: The Corpus Christi-Nueces County Public Health District and the Texas A&M Agrilife Extension Service will host smoking secession classes from 5:30-6:30 p.m. at the Johnny Calderon Building, 710 East Main Ave., Robstown. Cost: Free. Information: 361-826-7267.

BOOK SIGNING: Celebrate the legacy of Dr. Hector P. Garcia, founder of the American GI Forum and a Mexican-American civil rights leader, with a reception and book signing of "The Inspiring Life of Texan Hector P. Garcia." The event will be at 1:30 p.m. at Mary and Jeff Bell Library at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. Information: heather.selim@tamucc.edu.

For more events check Caller.com/vivacc
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By Esther Hackleman, Esther.M.Hackleman@caller.com

A 2-year-old San Antonio boy reminded Corpus Christi residents that the best treasure can be cuddly.

On Tuesday, the toddler's best friend, a stuffed kangaroo named Dit'dee, got a first-class lift home in priority mail after an extended vacation led to an online search-and-rescue effort. The stuffed animal, visiting with his human family, was accidentally left behind on Padre Island, but a rally of Facebook posters helped reunite the boy and his kangaroo.

Senior Officer Kirk Stowers posted a message Monday night saying the boy's parents had asked for help in finding the lost kangaroo.

"Like most officers, I got into this profession to help people," Stowers told the Caller-Times. "And this is something that I'm really happy that I was able to help in."

The post included a missing flier with a drawing of the animal and photos of the boy, Sterling, clutching the beloved animal, along with a map of the route they took.

"We're in an information age, and the Corpus Christi Police Department is really becoming skilled to keep up," Stowers said. "This is a great exercise for when we have missing children or ask the community for help."

The post, which was shared more than 360 times, caught the eye of Ocean Treasures cashier Lisa Force, who remembered seeing a lonely stuffed animal left in the lost-and-found basket. Sure enough, it was Dit'dee.

"The community has really come together," Force said. "It's amazing what people will do."

When Force stopped by Isle Mail & More to send the stuffed animal back to his San Antonio home, owner Scott Ford paid for shipping after hearing the story of the kangaroo in a box.

"It was a pretty small gesture," Ford said.

But those small gestures made a world of a difference for a boy and his best friend.

Twitter: @Caller_Esther
COURTNEY SACCO/CALLER-TIMES Jose Angel Macias Jr. sits in court Monday before his trial. The 22-year-old was convicted in 2013 of murder in a fatal shooting during a drug deal.

SHARE COURTNEY SACCO/CALLER-TIMES Defendant Jose Angel Macias Jr. talks with his mother, Betty Macias, after accepting a 30 year plea deal on Tuesday for murder in 214th District Judge Jose Longoria's court. COURTNEY SACCO/CALLER-TIMES Betty Macias becomes emotional as her son, Jose Angel Macias, accepts a plea deal for murder on Tuesday in 214th District Judge Jose Longoria's court. COURTNEY SACCO/CALLER-TIMES A tear rolls down the cheek of the mother of Casimiro Adan Guerra III after her son's killer, Jose Angel Macias Jr., accepts a plea deal for 30 years in prison for murder on Tuesday in 214th District Judge Jose Longoria's court. COURTNEY SACCO/CALLER-TIMES Casimiro Guerra Sr., the victim's father, gives a victim impact statement after defendant Jose Angel Macias Jr. accepted a plea deal for 30 years in prison for murder on Tuesday.

By Krista M. Torralva of the Caller-Times

Betty Macias cupped her son's face and told him God forgave him for killing another man.

But his victim's family doesn't.

Jose Angel Macias Jr.'s second murder trial came to a halt Tuesday, halfway through the first day of testimony. Macias pleaded guilty to murder in exchange for a 30-year prison sentence. That's 20 years less than a jury in 2013 imposed on Macias.

Through tears Macias, 22, told the family of Casimiro Adan Guerra III he was sorry.

"While was in prison I wanted to write you all and tell you but I didn't know how to," he told them.

During his apology Guerra's mother looked down and cried. She had an opportunity to speak to him afterward but did not.

"There is not much to say anymore," she whispered to her husband.

Guerra's father had something to say.

"You destroyed our whole family," Casimiro Guerra Sr. said. "As far as your forgiveness, you can keep it."

Macias said the shooting was in self-defense during a drug deal in a gas station parking lot on Nov. 18, 2012. Guerra was shot in the heart and died in the back seat of a vehicle as friends rushed him to a hospital. An appeals court last year reversed his first murder conviction and decided instructions to the jury in the first trial weren't clear they could consider self-defense.

The plea came about three hours after 214th District Judge Jose Longoria considered a mistrial after a comment a homicide detective made on the witness stand that referred to Macias' first trial.

The comment could have prejudiced the jury, defense lawyers argued. A gag order in the case prohibited lawyers from talking about how the deal was reached.

Earlier Tuesday, Guerra's father choked back tears during his testimony.

"He was like a big teddy bear," Guerra Sr. said. His voice wavered and tears filled his eyes as he described his son.

Police and prosecutors have said Guerra was along for the ride with friends who were looking to sell $300 worth of marijuana.

"Make no mistake about it. That man who sits before you intentionally shot into that vehicle and wanted to kill somebody," prosecutor Gary Barton told the jury.

Guerra was waiting for his girlfriend to finish school so they could move from Kingsville to Corpus Christi where he planned to study marine biology at Texas A&M University  Corpus Christi.

Macias was stoic as he sat next to his lawyer but his eyes flickered and he looked toward the ceiling as Guerra's father told the jury how he learned his son had been shot. He woke up about midnight to the sound of knocking at the door. It was about a day before Guerra's 22nd birthday.

In his first trial, Macias' companion testified Macias told him the shooting was accidental, and the two turned themselves in to police after learning of the death.

Macias faced as long as life in prison. He will be parole eligible after serving half of the 30-year term and will receive credit for time he already spent behind bars.

Courtney Sacco contributed to this report.

Twitter: @CallerKMT
CALLER-TIMES ARCHIVE Corpus Christi, June 11, 2013. (shot from parking garage on Chaparral Street)

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By Matt Woolbright of the Caller-Times

Revitalizing downtown Corpus Christi has been a city-level priority for years, but now the First Lady of Texas is getting involved.

Cecilia Abbott will be visiting the Sparkling City by the Sea May 6 to officially welcome Corpus Christi to Texas' Main Street Program, Terry Sweeney, executive director of the downtown management district, told local officials and business owners Monday.

"It really shows the importance of this program and the state's efforts to really rebuild our urban core," Sweeney said of the visit.

The program assists communities striving to revitalize urban area by offering expert advice and technical support to the municipalities and small businesses in the affected areas, state coordinator Debra Drescher told the Caller-Times. The service is free to the private sector, and the downtown management district is paying "less than $3,000" annually, she added.

"Even in a city this size, you don't have all the expertise you need (for full revitalization plans)," she said. "The program fills in those gaps."

Monday officials with the program gave presentations on what services are available, and program staff will be meeting with small business owners and others one-on-one settings as the partnership kicks off, Sweeney said.

"It's a new day for downtown Corpus Christi," Mayor Nelda Martinez said. "Every city that has been elected to the Main Street Program has seen tremendous success."

Twitter: @reportermatt
COURTNEY SACCO/CALLER-TIMES Green N Go cabdriver Phillip Benesh opens the door and helps a fare into the back of his cab Feb. 4, 2016. Several discussions on taxis and transportation network companies are scheduled before the City Council takes a vote on an ordinance for companies like Uber. A vote could come before the council as early as May.

By Kirsten Crow of the Caller-Times

The City Council on Tuesday is expected to again pick up its thorniest issue in recent time: an ordinance that would regulate transportation network companies like Uber.

There will not be a vote, but a scheduled staff briefing is expected to give an overview comparing Corpus Christi's now-reconsidered ordinance against the ordinance of 15 other cities in the state.

A tentative timeline shows that after a series of presentations and discussions, a vote on an ordinance could be taken by the council as early as May, according to city documents.

There is no Corpus Christi ordinance governing transportation networks in effect. An ordinance adopted by the council March 8  modeled after the Houston ordinance, and requiring a fingerprint background check  is officially being reconsidered. That means the council will have to vote before any ordinance, with or without a fingerprint background check, could become local law.

A major sticking point on a proposed ordinance has been whether the city should require fingerprint background checks for transportation network drivers. Taxi drivers are currently required to get them. Uber representatives have said an ordinance requiring fingerprints means they will not operate in Corpus Christi.

Uber supporters have said a background check that is already required by the company, which does not include fingerprints, is sufficient. Uber services make Corpus Christi more modern and business- and tourist-friendly, proponents have said.

Critics have challenged Uber's reluctance to submit to fingerprint background checks. Requiring a background check with fingerprints means improved safety for riders, they contend, and create an even playing field with taxi companies.

City Councilman Mark Scott, who has been a vocal supporter of Uber, said Monday that he remains where he started: He wants to look at reducing regulations on taxi services and supports an ordinance that would be acceptable to ride-hailing companies. He is particularly interested in an ordinance model used by College Station.

Scott doesn't believe fingerprinting is necessary, listing among Uber's safety features photographs of the driver and vehicle sent out before picking up a fare, and the ability to send loved ones a link on the expected route to a location.

"I want to talk about the whole package," Scott said. "The whole package makes that experience safe, and the marketplace believes that whole package is safe."

Mayor Nelda Martinez said she was open to talking about an ordinance that wouldn't require fingerprints, so long as it included an alternative that would be as comprehensive as an FBI fingerprint background check. But as of now, she isn't aware of a background check that would be a thorough as one that included fingerprints, she said.

Without a comprehensive background check, there will be gaps in information, Martinez said.

"Why would we as a city purposely increase the risks of safety for our citizens with limited background checks?" she said.

Twitter: @CallerCrow

IF YOU GO

What: City Council meeting

When: 11:30 a.m. Tuesday

Where: Council chambers in City Hall, 1201 Leopard St.

ALSO ON THE AGENDA

A vote on an appointment to the Planning Commission

A vote on the sale of seven former park properties. Residents voted in November 2014 to decommission 17 parks and sell them. The proceeds will be returned to the parks system.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Kristin Diaz, an anchor at KIII-TV, emceed the YWCA luncheon on Equal Pay Day at Dos Comales Mexican Restaurant Tuesday.

SHARE CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Canales was among the panelists at the YWCA luncheon focused on Equal Day Day.

By Julie Garcia of the Caller-Times

Hours after President Barack Obama designated a national monument in honor of the women's equality movement, a room full of women gathered downtown to hear about the ongoing fight for equal pay for women and men.

"This is not a women's issue. This is a human rights issue," Barbara Canales, Port commissioner and panelist at The YWCA of Corpus Christi's Equal Pay Day luncheon, said. "The national average shows that for every dollar a man makes, a woman makes 79 cents. It's not right. We're dying for a unifying issue in this country. Why can't this be the one?"

The nonprofit took the national day of recognition as an opportunity to educate women on how to "lean in" in the workplace and not be afraid of being blunt when it comes to pay raises.

Panelists included Port Commissioner Barbara Canales; Virginia E. Whitham, vice president of human resources for NACCU; Justice of the Peace Thelma Rodriguez; Sharon Kollaja, owner of Sterling Personnel; and Amy Villarreal, Workforce Solutions of the Coastal Bend's director of program and system alignment.

Kristin Diaz, a KIII-TV anchor, was the event emcee.

"You've gone out and had your jewelry appraised, or your car appraised, but have you had your worth appraised," Whitham said. "Do market research, see what the job is worth before going to negotiate your salary."

Online resources such as the Bureau for Labor Statistics website will break down each occupation in a given area by pay scale and number of people in the job, including recently retired. Whitham said the first part of leveling the pay scale is a woman knowing her worth and believing in it.

"Most of the time, women are just so excited for the opportunity that we'll take the first offer," shes aid. "Be confident and never hesitate to negotiate pay. (The employer) will have a counter offer in mind."

Nancy Wesson-Dodd, YWCA president and CEO, reminded the room that men are not the enemy.

"You have to think, 'How would a man say this?'" Wesson-Dodd said. "Find women role models who are assertive and speak the way you want to speak."

In Washington D.C., Obama named a new monument at one of the oldest standing houses near the U.S. Capitol for suffragist Alva Belmont, who was a benefactor of the National Woman's Party, and Alice Paul, one of the party's chief strategists, according to WhiteHouse.gov. The Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument will protect the house which served as the headquarters for the party since 1929.

Canales said the Equal Pay Act in 1963 and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2009 have "no legs." Though the pieces of legislation have made strides to close the wage gap, she said it would take another 40 years for women to make as much as men.

"When women make more money, families do better," Canales said. "When we step in our arenas, we have to know how to fight fair. Our instinct is to be nice, soft and loving, and that's OK. But I'm proud to be a bra-burning woman. Our daughters need to hear us stand strong, and know what we say matters."

For more information on Equal Pay Day, go to Pay-Equity.org.

Twitter: @Caller_Jules
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By Jeff Ringer, Knoxville

Dear John Boehner:

I know youve had a rough go of it of late. I know you and President Barack Obama dont see eye to eye.

I know, too, that the tea party conservatives in your caucus have redrawn the playing field, such that you dont have much room at all to make decisions that might be best for the country.

I recognize the challenges you face. A lot of Americans do. But challenges often provide opportunities.

The opportunity before you is this: you can change the tone and tenor of this debate.

I dont think you really agree with your tea party colleagues. I know youve echoed their perspectives, but I sense you as more thoughtful, more reasonable. You strike me as more of a Reagan Republican and than a Cruz Republican.

And what we as Americans need right now is a Reagan Republican, someone who is willing to realize that, no matter how vocal the tea party minority, their perspectives are poison for the United States.

This debate isnt and should never have been about Obamacare. Its about funding the government. I read today that one of your colleagues, Michael Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., believes a moderate wing of Republicans could help move through a continuing resolution to fund the government.

I urge you to side with Fitzpatrick and bring up a clean continuing resolution in the House. Do it wholeheartedly, though. Stand up against the tea party. Public opinion has clearly shown a majority of Americans support a clean continuing resolution. If you champion one, youll earn the respect of a lot of Americans.

Will you alienate some members of the tea party? Probably. But youll give a glimmer of hope to a country that desperately needs it.
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R.D. Henderson, Rockport

Controlling rising tuition rates

RE: Associated Press article "Study rebuts Austin talk," April 11

Legislative control of tuition is a threat to higher education. "Reaching out" to disadvantaged Texans has been a knee-jerk reaction preceded by Supreme Court rulings. In the absence of court rulings, threats of substance to bring lawsuits on behalf of such students has garnered legislative and higher ed administrative interest to an issue. In the contemporary setting it is not surprising to find legislators with a continued interest in allowing tuition (access) to escalate, there being no hint of a "litigious" interest.

Economics plays a significant role in admissions and graduation and employment. As heard from Austin, and maintained in the AP article, the only means of handling tuition costs is to "manage" the rate of tuition escalation. Assumption being that tuition will always rise.

Legislators and higher education administrators fulfill the expectations by living up to this assumption ... raising tuition. More attention should be focused on transferring Research and Development (R&D) funds received by higher educations institutions to reduce undergraduate student tuition costs. R&D funds are typically committed to enhancing research facilities. That's the way it is, perhaps it ought not be.
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Andrea Dobson

Paying taxes in a gig economy

RE: Los Angeles Times article "A look at gig economy workers' taxes" on April 10

Thanks for the info on taxes for people like Uber drivers who work as contractors in the new "gig economy." As a volunteer tax preparer for the VITA program I often see people who are shocked when they get a 1099 instead of a W-2, and find that they owe a big tax bill.

When you are hired as an employee in a regular job, the company has to give you a W-4 form where you can say how much should be taken out of your check in federal income tax withholding. If we really want to level the playing field, perhaps employers like Uber should be obligated to give their contractors the form for quarterly estimated taxes, and similarly inform them of their options.
In March, Olay announced local male heartthrob Li Yifeng () as the brand's ambassador in China. After first gaining attention in a reality singing show, Li rose to fame through his popular roles in TV soaps, including a campus drama where he was called 'Mr. Attractive'. The majority of his 29 million Weibo fans are adoring females.

For Olay, looking to reach increasingly younger female consumers in China, the logic seems sound. Li provides the halo of a perfectly good-looking and considerate boyfriend to the skincare brand, underscoring good skin as an aspirational anchor for young women.

Boyband bundle: Why are guys fronting female brands?

Alongside Olay's choice of Li, P&G has also included Taiwanese actor Darren Wang () and Hong Kong TV host Wong Cho Lam () as the faces of SK-II cosmetics and Tide laundry powder, respectively. As part of a collaboration with B2C site JD.com, the above three male celebrities formed a 'boy band of six' with other pop-idols Lu Han () for Clear toothpaste, Eddie Pang () for Head and Shoulders, and Ning Zetao () for Gillette.

Aimed at JD.com's female shoppers, the P&G e-store encourages them to "send their 'male gods' [; Chinese slang for divinely handsome men] to Times Square"a reference to P&G's pledge to put these male ambassadors on a big screen in NYC if sales of their products reach 10 million by 22 March.

Adding to the craze are the choices by Estee Lauder, L'Oreal and Maybelline to also use male idols to front their product brands in China.

Globally, other female-focused brands have used male celebrities, most notably, Brad Pitt for Chanel No. 5 and South Korean actor Lee Minho for Italian shoe brand Suphier.

However in China, the recent spate of males representing female brands appears more than just a response to fandom. After all, take a look at India and Brazil; although Bollywood and telenovela stars are worshipped, brand ambassadors do not cross gender lines.

Male brand ambassadors are a backward step for China's female consumers

Unfortunately, China's preference for male ambassadors appears to be based on a rather negative perception of modern Chinese women: that they can be baited and placated with male eye-candy.

The use of male brand ambassadors for female-focused categories goes directly against a more independent form of femininity in China.

Nowhere is this contradiction more striking than the recent communications of SK-II. Last week, the brand caught attention with its bold and emotive campaign highlighting the pressure faced by China's 'left-over women'.

Chinese Women: 1, Chauvinist Tradition: 0.

However in the same breath, as mentioned earlier, SK-II uses Darren Wang as a brand ambassador, so...

Chinese Women: 0, Chauvinist Tradition 1.

These two actions, at a brand level, are inconsistent.

Some may argue that a male ambassador is simply a suggestion that Chinese women have the 'right' to gaze at men on their own terms, as they please.

However at the end of the day, the self-worth of a woman is ultimately being defined by a man, albeit a highly-romanticised, if not unrealistic, concept of one.

The current 'guy ambassador for a girl's brand' phenomena may create some level of buzz and engagement due to the stardom effect, but over the longer term, it may create brand liability.

Almost like your first cassette or DVD, or your first high school crush, the brand could ultimately end up an embarrassment to current devotees.

The 'P&G boyband bundle of brands' didn't make it to Times Square in the end, thus proving my point.

There is such a thing as consumers growing out of a brand, and in the atmosphere of increasingly strong female identities in China, that process may be a little too quick for brands to keep up with.
The company, which came under the Xaxis umbrella at the start of 2016, has named Nicolas Bidon global CEO. He was previously managing director in the UK for Xaxis, Light Reaction and Plista.

Brian Gleason, global CEO of Xaxis, said Bidon played a key role in the development of Xaxis in the UK market and brings with him, a wealth of product and technical expertise.

We look forward to his leadership in growing the Plista business as we continue to bring Turbine data to new environments and advertising categories, he added.

The company said its new platform is the first to bring the personalisation benefits of audience data to a broad portfolio of native formats, creating a single-source programmatic solution for native ads.

Through Plista, advertisers will be able to buy native ads programmatically across in-feed, outstream video, recommendation widgets and in-ad native formats, using audience data from Turbine, Xaxis data management platform (DMP).

Advertisers can now sync their native campaigns with existing display, mobile, online video, digital radio, connected-TV and social-media campaigns, allowing for more effective cross-channel attribution of native ads, according to the company.

Asia outlook



Michel De Rijk

Speaking to Campaign Asia-Pacific, Xaxis APAC CEO Michel De Rijk said that the agency has very high expectations for its new offering thanks to the clear opportunity for native advertising in the region.

We have engaged with several advertisers in the local markets and they are sharing the interest in our products, he added.

De Rijk reported that in Thailand, China and Malaysia, the agency has enough publishers on board to launch the business and expects that to grow. From Plistas launch in Australia a year ago with six publishers, that number has grown to more than 100 thanks to proof-of-concept demonstrations for both advertisers and publishers.

In other Asian markets we are now engaging with publishers to build a solid network before actual launch in the market, he added.

De Rijk said that brands are definitely starting to take notice of native advertising and how it can complement their digital campaigns.

It is still in the early stages but with a promising outlook, he noted, adding that unlike the more mature markets such as Australia, the rest of Asia is still a few steps behind.

However, with content playing an important role and ad blocking being a concern for more advertisers, brands will be embracing the fact that they need to be open minded to the different kinds of digital solutions to realise campaign performance and to make advertising welcome.

Having that mindset is the more important thing for them, in order to embrace in full, said De Rijk.

In terms of closest competitors in the space, De Rijk said native advertising remains fairly new in most markets.

In some markets we see companies like Taboola and Outbrain as competitors, but I think in the general, the existing offering is still very limited, and this does not do right for brands and publishers, he added.

Asked about the readiness level of brands and agencies to provide native creative content that will populate inventory, De Rijk replied in the affirmative, stating absolutely, the content is out there.

It is just not tied up enough, he added. We have good relationships with several content agencies, and our duty is to make the right connections and bring the right content to the right audience.

Thailand talk

Plista's new Thailand office increases its global presence to 11 markets in Europe and Asia. Monchaya Rattanachanchai, its head of new business, will lead the local operations.

De Rijk reported that programmatic in Thailand is still in its infancy, with high growth from low levels.

It is estimated that about 20 percent of GroupM spend in 2016 will be programmatic, while the same number for Thailand is probably around 5 percent.

We foresee growth in numbers as programmatic proves its effectiveness in Thailand and around the region, he added.

The company is aggressively exploring expansion into additional markets in the region, based on positive traction it has enjoyed in markets such as Australia, China and Malaysia, De Rijk said.

We are definitely looking to launch Plista in other Asian markets in the next six months," he said. "Our goal is to have Plista live in all APAC markets like how we have rolled out Xaxis. The wider Asian market is getting ready to ride the native advertising wave, and that falls perfectly in line with our view that it is a complementary solution to making advertising welcome.

De Rijk added that the agency is already in the process of building out the Plista team, with a regional leader to be announced soon.

Our main focus is finding the right leaders in the local markets, he added. From experience we know that building great local teams is key to the success of all the businesses we have.

Plista plans to launch in the US later this year.
The Series A round also included investment from SKY TV NZ, Airtree Ventures and Oleg Tscheltzoff founder of Beenext and Fotolia.

In addition to further developing technology and customer experience, this funding will be used to meet strong demand from the industry by expanding into new markets in Asia, the US and Europe, and strengthening presence in existing countries.

Founded in 2010, Singapore-headquartered 90 Seconds offers brands and agencies access to a marketplace of creatives, and an automated, end-to-end suite of workflow tools.

The company is already present in Japan, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

The marketplace currently touts more than 5,000 video creative professionals in over 70 countries across 40 categories including videographers, directors, editors, producers, animators, drone operators and photographers.

Creatives are able to collaborate on a software platform which allows customers the ability to purchase, plan, shoot, edit and review professional videos across the globe - all online or from their mobile.

In addition to brands, the company also works with agencies on global projects and provides integration with popular video distribution platforms, storage platforms and stock libraries including Youtube, Vimeo, Dropbox and Google Drive.

The company claims strong growth of over 300 percent in revenue in the past 12 months, and has had more than 1000 brands and agencies use the platform with over 10,000 videos made to date. Brands whove used the platform include Visa, PayPal, Sony, Samsung, Barclays and Microsoft.

Jackie They, head of content production at BBDO Singapore, said in a press statement that the company has provided an affordable, transparent and collaborative process with projects.

Their strength in multiple country productions is a big plus, he added.

In reponse to queries from Campaign Asia-Pacific, Norton shared that 70 percent of current revenue comes from the APAC region, and the company continues to experience massive growth.

In Asia, the company plans to launch operations in Hong Kong this year but the marketplace already boasts creative freelancers in countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

Anyone who wants to shoot a video anywhere in Asia is covered because we have creative freelancers everywhere, Norton added.

Globally the company plans to open new offices in San Francisco, New York and Berlin in 2016.

Research firm eMarketer estimates the content marketing, video marketing, and social media industries to be worth US$118 billion and Nielsen reports that 64 percent of marketers expect online video to dominate their strategies in the near future.

Pieter Kemps, vice president at Sequoia Capital said the 90 Seconds team has done a terrific job in building the leading global marketplace for video production.

In the large and rapidly growing video market, they offer creative talent and agencies a unique workflow platform to work together on global projects, he added. This has enabled them to build a fast-growing and rapidly scaling model.
The cash infusion comes from Endeit Capital, Beringea US and Unilever Ventures, alongside additional credit from Silicon Valley Bank.

Blis, which provides location-data technology and an RTB platform for cross-screen digital display and video advertising, was founded in London in 2004 and made its APAC debut in 2013.

The company now serves more than 50 markets from its eight offices across APAC and EMEA, employing just over 100 staff. Current clients include Airbnb, Ford and Samsung.

Greg Isbister, founder and CEO of Blis, told Campaign Asia-Pacific that the business is profitable and looking to take further advantage of the growing demand for its location-based behavioural insights.

The injection of capital will be spent in the following key areas: increased investment in existing markets, expansion into new markets such as the US, scaling international sales and marketing activities, and enhancing core data-engineering capabilities and new product development.

In Asia, the company will be looking to invest in its operations in Singapore, which currently serves the Southeast Asia region, along with Hong Kong and ANZ to accelerate growth efforts.

Asia has been a tremendous growth region for us, and we want to continue that momentum, he said. Weve recently invested in a service team in India, which is working out quite well.

Isbister could not confirm the companys entry into additional markets in Asia at this time.

Asked about how it intends to crack the American market, which is already populated with similar offerings, Isbister pointed to the companys track record in entering new markets and its unique solution.

We have successfully launched in eight new markets in the last three years, so weve learnt a lot about what it takes to enter new markets," he said. "In addition, were in a good position with a solid platform to go into the American market."

The company already has a few global clients and believes further demand exists for the accuracy and scale afforded by its unique data-processing technique, he added.

Isbister said that company already runs campaigns in the US market, has servers installed in the country and is looking to establish its presence as soon as possible, with recruitment efforts already underway.

Getting more out of data

The companys continued investment in engineering talent and data-science capabilities is an area of focus. The bulk of its engineering talent is currently based in London, with some engineering support based in Asia.

According to Isbister, the platform currently records 17 billion impressions a day, each with multiple data points attached.

Thats about 200,000 impressions every second, so its high-velocity and low-latency, as its real time bidding, he added. Were seeing 1.5 billion new location events on the platform every day, thanks to mobile GPS data coming into the platform.

This daily onslaught of data requires a lot of processing, said Isbister, to make sense of the raw data and then store it with the appropriate device identities and timestamps.

The key challenge is understanding that data, crunching and contextualising it in a way that allows advertisers to use it effectively, he said.

The company is still educating clients about how its offerings can be applied to marketing efforts, Isbister said.

Understanding of location data is mostly around its uses in-market, which is most relevant for retailers or shopping malls, he said. But our data is different in that it centres on behavioural insights.

For example, an airline brand would not have much use for location data showing that a person is already at the airport. However, by looking at the data sets that infer travel history, brands can discern travel patterns and zero in on people who find themselves at the airport at least twice a month.

Then it becomes about where youve been and where we expect you to go, he said. Location becomes irrelevant at that point and outreach becomes more targeted in context. If you think of it that way, then these insights can be applied to any brief and across multiple industry verticals.

Martijn Hamann, partner at Endeit Capital, said in a release that Blis has created a leadership position in the global market through its pioneering use of location technology.

Hamann along with Mark Donnelly, Beringea US; and Ian Lane, Unilever Ventures, will join the companys board of directors. Mooreland Partners acted as the financial adviser to Blis in the Series B financing round.
But the ACT government says the unions' claims are overblown. It says the new workplace laws will be subject to tough judicial oversight, employers will need to secure the consent of a magistrate before unleashing their private eyes, and spying on workers while they are in their own homes will be banned.
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<Your list of brands>

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Our Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact.

Care2 Stands Against: bigots, racists, bullies, science deniers, misogynists, gun lobbyists, xenophobes, the willfully ignorant, animal abusers, frackers, and other mean people. If you find yourself aligning with any of those folks, you can move along, nothing to see here.

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.
Reserve Bank of India has released a notification on the recruitment happening. RBI is looking out for 27 Managerial, Librarian & Other Various Posts. Details of this recruitment is listed below.

Name of the Post and Number of Posts:

Manager (Technical - Civil): 3

Manager (Technical - Electrical): 2

Assistant Manager: 16

Assistant Librarian: 6

Who is Eligible for the RBI Job?

Qualification:

Manager (Technical - Civil): Candidates should have completed Bachelor Degree in Civil Engineering.

Manager (Technical - Electrical): Candidates should have completed BE, B.Tech in Electric Engineering.

Assistant Manager: Candidates must have PG in Translation.

Assistant Librarian: Candidates should have completed Graduate and Masters Degree in Librarian Science.

Age Limit:

Manager (Technical - Civil): 21 to 35 years.



Manager (Technical - Electrical): 21 to 35 years.



Assistant Manager: 21 to 40 years.



Assistant Librarian: 21 to 30 years.

How to Apply for the RBI Job?

Candidates who are interested in this job can apply online on prescribed format of application along with the other required details.

For more details about pay scale, experience, qualification and other details, visit the Official Website of Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Important Dates to Apply for the RBI Job:

Start date to apply online: April 11th 2016.

Last date to apply online: April 25th 2016.

Also Read:
New Delhi: A centre would soon be established to develop Indian sign language, and the government is "fully committed" to achieving empowerment and inclusion of disabled people, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said.

My government is fully committed to the UN Convention of Rights for Persons with Disabilities, for achieving empowerment and inclusion of persons with disabilities," Modi said in his message ahead of the 9th World Assembly of the Disabled People's International (DPI) to be held on April 11-13 in New Delhi.

"The cost of exclusion of people with disability from the workforce is 3-7 per cent of the GDP, as per World Bank estimates. Initiatives such as 'Accessibility India' campaign aim to male the built environment inclusive for persons with disabilities. We are also making Indian Railways accessible and starting a centre to develop Indian sign language," he said.

Thaawar Chand Gehlot, minister for social justice and empowerment, will address the plenary session of the event that is being supported by the UN and G3ICT

G3ict or Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies is an advocacy initiative launched in December 2006 by the UN Global Alliance for ICT and Development, in cooperation with the Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at UN department of economic and social affairs.

Govt called for enabling access to disabled in workplaces, public transportation

In March 2016, the government's "Inclusiveness and Accessibility Index" - that measured actions and attitudes of organisations towards disabled employees - called for enabling access to them in buildings and workplaces, public transportation etc.

Javed Abidi, the global chair of DPI which has members from over 150 countries, said "rebuilding and retro-fitting to accommodate people with disability must be discouraged".

"Accessibility has to be built into both public and private sector procurement. Otherwise the disabled people cannot even get education, let alone employment," he said.

PTI
Even a quick glance over General Motors European offerings from its two brands Opel and Chevrolet reveals that there is definitely a lot of toe-stepping going on between the two, and its not doing either any good.

ON Thursday, GM announced that Chevy sales in Europe would end completely in 2016, leaving room for Opel to stretch out unhindered and get closer to its potential; Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States would still hold both brands, though.

Europe is a key region for GM that will benefit from a stronger Opel and Vauxhall and further emphasis on Cadillac, said GM Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson. For Chevrolet, it will allow us to focus our investments where the opportunity for growth is greatest.

This is a win for all four brands. Its especially positive for car buyers throughout Europe, who will be able to purchase vehicles from well-defined, vibrant GM brands, Akerson said.

The move is estimated to take quite a few stacks of banknotes to complete  the final cost could reach the one billion-dollar mark. In fact, its already underway, as most of the work will be done at the end of this year and through the first part of 2014.

However, if you like the more upmarket GM stuff and were thinking of buying into it yourself, then youll still be safe, as the Corvette (and probably Camaro too to face the new Stang, though this is not confirmed), Cadillac and requested niche models will be available.

Finally, it has been reported that the decision has nothing to do with GMs partnership with Frances PSA or their Chinese plans.

By Andrei Nedelea

PHOTO GALLERY
The new 2017 Mercedes-AMG E63s performance secrets have been spilled through a leaked document from Russia, which suggests that the German super model will be more powerful than originally thought.



Adopting the latest iteration of AMGs 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8, the new E63 will deliver 571PS (563hp) and 750Nm (553 lb-ft) in base form, and a whopping 612PS (604hp) and 850Nm (627 lb-ft) in S trim, compared to 525PS (518hp) / 700Nm (516 lb-ft), and 585PS (577hp) / 800Nm (590 lb-ft) for the previous regular and S E63 models with the 5.5-liter V8.

Thats enough for the new E63 AMG 4MATIC to shoot to 100km/h (62mph) in 3.7 seconds, with the S 4MATIC model cutting the sprint down to 3.5 seconds, representing an improvement of 0.7 and 0.6 seconds respectively over the older W212 E63s.

In both cases, top speed is electronically restricted to 250km/h (155mph), while the spec sheet shared on the Germancarforum also confirms a 9-speed automatic transmission and claims an overly-optimistic  for real life driving, average fuel consumption of 8.6l/100km (equal to 27.4 mpg US).

The E63 AMG will be offered in rear-wheel and 4MATIC all-wheel drive forms, though, not all markets will get both versions, with the sedan model to be followed by the more practical Estate, and later on, by the Coupe and Cabriolet models.

H/T to David!

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Photo: Carmen Weld - File photo Const. Jesse ODonaghey

An attempt to conceal his identity with black paint did not work for a young Kelowna man, who's now behind bars.

Kelowna RCMP received a report on April 8 at 9:46 a.m. that a theft had been committed at the House of Knives in Orchard Park Mall.

Employees informed police that a man went behind the counter and stole a large edged weapon. He threatened to harm the staff member if they called security and then fled on foot out of the mall toward Cooper Road.

The suspect, who attempted to conceal his identity in an unusual way, was described to police as having painted his entire face and arms black while wearing all black clothing, says Const. Jesse ODonaghey.

It wasnt too difficult for our investigators, aided by the store's video surveillance footage, to locate, identify and arrest the suspect in the 200 block of Leon Avenue.

The suspect, a 21-year-old Kelowna man, was taken into custody without incident.

He was remanded into police custody over the weekend and faces potential charges of robbery and failure to comply with a probation order.

Court documents reveal that Denver Storm Moore has been charged in the incident.

If you witnessed this incident and have not yet spoken to police you are asked to contact the Kelowna RCMP at 250-762-3300.

Remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477, leaving a tip online at www.crimestoppers.net or by texting your tip to CRIMES (274637) ktown.
Photo: britishcolumbia.com

A 75-year-old male hiker had to be flown out of a precarious situation near Savona.

On Sunday, April 10 at 11 a.m., Tkemlups Rural RCMP received a 911 phone call from a man who needed assistance.

The man had been hiking with friends on very steep terrain near Savona, said Kamloops RCMP Cpl. Jodi Shelkie. Because of the terrain, the hiker realized that he had walked too far and did not have the energy to make it back.

Tkemlups RCMP and the Savona Volunteer Fire Department went to the area, but were unable to locate the party of hikers.

AIR 4 attended soon after and located the individual approximately two kilometres from their vehicles, said Shelkie. The helicopter was able to pick them up and transport them to first responders.

The man was fine medically and physically. He was just unable to make it up the steep terrain and back to his vehicle.
Photo: Google Street View

Faculty at Thompson Rivers University are being asked whether they have confidence in senior administrators at the university.

Faculty members at campuses in Kamloops and Williams Lake, will take part in an on-line vote over the next few weeks.

They are being asked whether they have confidence in five senior administrators, specifically, the president, the Provost & vice-president academic, the vice-president, finance and administration, the vice-president, advancement, and the associate vice-president, academic (faculty relations).

According to the TRU Faculty Association, the vote is a result of a motion at a February general faculty meeting, at which approximately 95 per cent of the over 200 faculty in attendance, directed the TRUFA executive to hold such a vote.

Our members clearly felt that TRU senior administrators had demonstrated a lack of leadership, a lack of respect for faculty opinions, a failure to address key issues at bargaining, and a management by crisis attitude toward academic decisions and planning, said Tom Friedman, TRUFA president.

Friedman said, after that motion, he met with senior administrators to try to determine whether statements committing to a renewed dialogue with faculty was being accompanied by concrete actions and resolutions to chronic problems.

"In the more than 8 weeks since that motion, according to what Ive learned from our members, TRU senior administrators have continued to engage in a lack of consultation, failure to follow Collective Agreement or TRU governance policies, less than transparent decision-making, and budget decisions not in the best interest of programs or students.

The clear message that Ive received from TRU faculty is that they would have liked to engage in a respectful, collegial relationship with their administrators. However, TRU faculty have told me repeatedly that TRU administrators must be prepared to accompany their public and private statements with substantive actions that would allow them to earn back the trust of faculty."

The association represents approximately 800 instructors, librarians, counselors, and instructional support faculty in Kamloops and Williams Lake.
When we moved to Kelowna, there was a visitor/welcome centre on the highway as you entered West Kelowna. It was worth stopping just for the view but, also it made sense to stop before you entered the city, to get information, maps, etc. Vernon also had one on the highway before you entered the city.

Both are now gone. I think its ridiculous that they were removed.

Now you want it downtown. Motorists wont even know it exists. They need to be visible and easily accessible. Parking downtown is a major headache and now that they have the new Yacht Club and Cactus Club with no real parking in the plan, parking is worse.

Where are the city planners? This latest idea is as stupid as putting the HOV lanes on the wrong side of the highway.

Lynda Millard
Photo: Google Maps

The BC Coroners Service has confirmed the identity of a Kamloops man who died in a vehicle crash after going off the road last weekend.

Justin David Conrad Brewster, 30, was the driver of an SUV heading northbound on Schubert Drive in Kamloops at about 2:45 a.m. on Apr. 9, states a press release.

As the vehicle was passing Moose Park, it left the road and went into the park striking two large trees.

Brewster was dead at the scene, the release says.

The BC Coroners Service and RCMP Traffic Services continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding Brewster's death. His family has been notified.
Paraguay: Vallemi fuel conversion civils to start May

ICR Newsroom By 12 April 2016

The civil work related to the fuel conversion of the kiln at the Vallemi plant of Paraguays Industria Nacional de Cemento (INC) is scheduled to start in May, said CEO Jorge Mendez.

The works will include the construction of a new coal unloading facility, concrete foundations for equipment and electro-mechanical structures. Local firm CIE was awarded the US$15m contract. Around half of the equipment has now arrived in Paraguay, he added.

The company purchased some 150,000t to tie over cement production during the kiln outage.



The fuel conversion is expected to save 50 per cent of fuel costs and replace fuel oil by alternatives including cover chips, forest waste and petcoke.

Published under
The increasing value of the US dollar in the past year has hampered the cost-competitiveness of the US, according to KPMGs 2016 guide to international business location costs. Within the North American Free Trade Agreement region and compared with developed economies in Europe and Asia-Pacific, the US is now by far the most expensive market.

Among the ten countries in the KPMG guide, ninth-ranked Japan has a 7.3% cost advantage over the US. Second-ranked Canadas cost advantage is 14.6%, and Mexico, the only developing economy in the study, has a cost advantage of 22.5%.

In the two decades KPMG has studied business location costs in the ten countries, this .. represents the first time that the US has ever placed this low in the  cost rankings, the 2016 guide reported.

The study uses a set of business operating specifications that are held constant for all locations. The model applies 26 location-sensitive cost factors, including labour and transportation costs, cost of capital, taxes, and incentives, for 19 industries and business operations. Rankings are then based on the business costs in 111 major cities in the ten countries.

Mexico, Canada, and the Netherlands retained the top three rankings as most cost-competitive markets in the past two years. Italy came in fourth, up two spots from 2014, followed by Australia, which moved up three places. France was in sixth place, down one spot from two years ago, and the UK, in seventh place, was down three spots. Germany moved up two places to eighth, ahead of Japan and the US.

NAFTA. Mexico had the lowest labour and facility costs of the ten countries in the study, a ranking that was greatly helped by the rise in value of the US dollar compared with the peso in 2015. Business costs in the Mexican corporate services sector were less than half compared to the US. Less-skilled clerical and administrative staff contribute to the cost savings.

Canada ranked among the three most competitive markets in labour, facility, and transportation costs, and in corporate income taxes. Significant federal and provincial support for research and development activities provides Canada a 27.7% cost advantage in research and development services compared with the US.

Europe. The rise in the value of the US dollar compared with the euro bolstered the cost-competitiveness of the Netherlands, Italy, France, and Germany. R&D tax credits and incentive support further aided the Netherlands, France, and Italy.

Italys labour costs were third lowest overall. Germany ranked second and third lowest in facility and transportation costs, respectively. The Netherlands ranked among the three countries with the lowest corporate income taxes.

The British pound held some ground against the US dollar, which hampered the cost-competitiveness of the UK as a whole, compared with countries in the euro zone. But results varied significantly within the UK. Manchester, for example, had the lowest business costs among the ten European cities included in the study, and London had the highest. Also, UK corporate income taxes ranked among the lowest in the study.

Asia-Pacific. The rise in the value of the US dollar helped improve the cost-competitiveness of Australia and Japan. Australia consistently ranks fifth among the ten countries in all sectors, except manufacturing, which is affected by relatively high costs to lease industrial facilities and transport freight. Japan had the lowest transportation costs among the ten countries.

Sabine Vollmer (svollmer@aicpa.org) is a CGMA Magazine senior editor.
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A team of researchers led by Professor Pauline Chiu from Department of Chemistry, the University of Hong Kong, has successfully achieved a formal total synthesis of cortistatin A, a molecule which could help mitigate the growth of cancer tumours. This novel strategy of synthesizing the molecule was deemed to be "highly important" by the refereeing panel, and usually less than 10% of manuscripts receive such a positive review.

Cancer is a disease characterized by an abnormal and unregulated growth of cells. Nevertheless, cancer tumours cannot grow larger than two millimetres unless it is accompanied by angiogenesis, which is a development of the blood vessel network needed to nourish the tumour and enable it to metastasize. Thus, angiogenesis-inhibiting molecules could help to mitigate the growth of cancer tumours. Currently, Avastin is an anti-angiogenic drug in clinical use for the treatment a range of cancers.

Cortistatin A is a natural product isolated from an Indonesian marine sponge that has been shown to have potent anti-angiogenic activity at low dosages. Apart from being a lead compound in the development of anti-cancer therapies, a derivative of cortistatin A has also been found to be a powerful anti-HIV agent.

It is difficult to harvest Cortistatin A from natural sources, and thus its laboratory synthesis is a way to obtain quantities of it for further research and drug development. Professor Chiu's strategy to this molecule, implemented together with two PhD students Kuang Liping and Liu Lok-lok, applied a (4+3) cycloaddition reaction which was developed and optimized in her lab to make the central seven membered ring structure.

"The invention of new chemistry reactions is an extremely important field of research, because each new reaction is an enabling tool, and can open doors to the synthesis of many important molecules. In this case, the cycloaddition reaction we developed is the key step in our strategy that enabled our synthesis of cortistatin A to be accomplished efficiently," said Professor Chiu.

The impressive biological properties and complexity of the structure of cortistatin A have motivated many renowned chemists worldwide to synthesize this molecule. The efficient route that Professor Chiu developed affords the highest total synthesis yield of cortistatin A reported in the world so far. The yield exceeds that of a semi-synthetic route developed in the Scripps Research Institute, and is over 7-fold higher than the total synthesis developed at Harvard University. Using this route, cortistatin A and its analogues can be more efficiently synthesized to facilitate further medicinal chemistry research to improve its efficacies toward drug development.
Steve Case, who co-founded America Online in 1985, is coming to Chicago to promote his first book, "The Third Wave: An Entrepreneur's Vision of the Future." (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

Plenty of industries are ripe for disruption, but new startups need to work with partners and be in it for the long haul, said Internet business pioneer Steve Case.

But if they do, opportunities abound in what he calls the third wave of the Internet.

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The first wave was the foundation laid by AOL and other companies allowing for consumers to connect. The second opened with companies like Google and Facebook building out social and search functions and closed with smartphone-based apps like Snapchat and Instagram.

"The third wave is really integrating the Internet kind of seamlessly and ubiquitously in various aspects of our lives," Case said. "The process really can, finally, in a meaningful way, improve how our kids learn, improve how we manage energy  even how we access food. It's a huge opportunity for entrepreneurs  but that's going to require a little bit different playbook."

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Case, who co-founded America Online in 1985, will be in Chicago this week for a pair of events to promote his first book, "The Third Wave: An Entrepreneur's Vision of the Future." He'll chat with Rick Kogan during a lunch Wednesday at the Union League Club and at a breakfast and book giveaway at 1871 on Thursday.

When Case co-founded American Online in 1985, about 3 percent of Americans used the Internet, and were online for about an hour a week. It eventually grew to a behemoth handling half of the nation's consumer Internet traffic. Case later orchestrated the massive merger between AOL and Time Warner.

Today, Case invests in startups through his Revolution venture capital firm. He said he was inspired to write the book based on his contact with thousands of entrepreneurs and startups seeking guidance over the past few years.

He points to three areas, in particular, that the new wave of startups needs to pay attention to.

Perseverance

"I think we're going to see fewer overnight successes, as we saw in the second wave  a company like a Facebook or a Snapchat really coming out of nowhere and being an instant hit," he said. "The revolution in health and the revolution in education probably will happen in a more evolutionary way.

"It took us more than a decade before we finally got traction," he said of AOL. "That was an example of perseverance. There were some investors in the company, some board members, that thought about selling the company before we really took off, because they worried we would never take off. But, thankfully, we stuck with it."

Partnerships

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"In these sectors, you can't go it alone. You have to go together. There's an African proverb I cite in the book: 'If you want to go quickly, you can go alone. If you want to go far, you must go together,'" Case said. "That's going to be the spirit of the third wave and the importance of strategic partnerships.

"For example, if you really want to change how kids learn, creative software or an app to do that is a good start. But really, partnerships with schools, teachers and universities are how it's really going to revolutionize."

Policy

Players in the third wave will have to contend with more government involvement than those in the second wave, he said.

"In the second wave, it was mostly about the app. It didn't really require much government engagement," Case said. "With these other sectors that are going to get disrupted in the third wave, government is going to have a seat at the table."

"These sectors like food, like health, are regulated. So successful entrepreneurs will need to figure out a way to have a constructive dialogue with government, with regulators," he said. "There's always going to be a role for regulation. Hopefully, it'll be a balanced role that allows innovation to flourish while protecting people."

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In many of those sectors, governments are big customers, so companies will need to figure out how to interact with government on that level, as well, he said.

Cheryl V. Jackson is a freelance writer.

Twitter @cherylvjackson

This story has been updated to clarify the date of Steve Case's visit.
A Joe Caputo & Sons store in Arlington Heights abruptly closed in 2015 and moved to Palatine. The Palatine location and remaining stores in Algonquin and Des Plaines will be auctioned at 10 a.m. May 12. (Karen Ann Cullotta / Chicago Tribune)

The three remaining Joe Caputo & Sons stores will be sold at auction in May, the latest and perhaps final blow for the financially troubled grocery chain.

Property, inventory and fixtures at Caputo & Sons stores in Algonquin, Palatine and Des Plaines will be auctioned at 10 a.m. May 12 at the Hyatt Regency Rosemont, according to Emily Dretzka, a research associate for Paine Wetzel TCN Worldwide, a Chicago-based commercial real estate firm that's been retained along with Murray Wise Associates to manage the auction.

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Caputo & Sons  which has no business affiliation to Angelo Caputo's Fresh Markets or Caputo Cheese Market  finds itself in this situation about two months after a federal judge froze its assets because of a $3.6 million debt owed to produce wholesaler Anthony Marano Co.

In February, U.S. District Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan ordered Caputo & Sons to turn over a full accounting of the company's liabilities and assets to Marano's attorney if the debt wasn't paid within seven days. He also gave Marano the power to manage the "continued operation and/or liquidation" of Caputo & Sons stores until the debt was paid in full.

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"Our goal is to maximize the value of these assets with minimal disruption to the ongoing store operations. A public auction will make it possible to achieve the highest value possible for the creditors in a timely way," Robert Marcus, Marano's attorney and now court-appointed trustee overseeing the auction process, said in a statement Monday. "This path forward will provide the greatest opportunity for these locations to continue to serve their neighborhoods."

In February, Caputo & Sons closed its Elk Grove Village store, which followed the shutdown of stores last year in Northbrook and Arlington Heights.

A spokeswoman at Caputo & Sons headquarters, who declined to give her name, said Monday the three stores in Algonquin, Palatine and Des Plaines will remain open leading up to the auction, and the company hopes to remain in business thereafter. Beyond that, she declined to comment.

Dretzka said it was possible that a developer could buy the stores and assets at the auction and then make a deal with Caputo & Sons to keep them as tenants. There's no guarantee of that, though.

"It's really up to the end user and buyer," Dretzka said.

The three sites represent a total of 268,800 square feet of grocery and retail space on about 30 acres, Dretzka said. A developer could bid on individual sites or any combination.

Crain's Chicago Business first reported the auction.

gtrotter@tribpub.com

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A federal indictment accuses Richard and Maribel Tinimbang of bilking taxpayers our of $45 million in a Medicare scam, and keeping an indentured servant. (Marilyn Nieves / Getty Images / Vetta)

The young Lincolnwood couple seemed to have it all: a 5,000-square-foot McMansion, a small fleet of luxury SUVs, $1 million in Facebook stock and a housekeeper and nanny who helped raise their children while they ran a thriving home health care business called "Patients First."

But Richard and Maribel Tinimbang's success was built on a lie, according to a federal indictment filed last week that said the Tinimbangs put themselves first, not their patients.

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Federal authorities say the couple's "nanny" was in fact little more than an indentured servant  a Filipino immigrant whom they had forced to work on threat of deportation  while the couple's main business was bilking taxpayers.

Between them, and with the help of Richard Tinimbang's mother, Josephine Tinimbang, and 10 other defendants, the Tinimbangs allegedly committed a $45 million Medicare fraud between 2008 and 2014.

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According to the indictment, the couple's business, Patients First Physical Therapy, purported to provide in-home therapy services to patients of three other companies in which their family also had a stake, Donnarich Home Health Care, Josdan Home Health Care and Pathways Home Health Care. But the patients they treated often weren't as sick as the Tinimbangs claimed, federal authorities allege.

In many cases, the couple and their employees falsified records to make patients appear more ill than they actually were, the indictment states. In others, they paid kickbacks of up to $1,200 for patient referrals, it alleges.

The couple are also accused of attempting to force a Filipino immigrant, whom they helped come to the U.S., to work for them illegally. While Richard Tinimbang had sponsored the woman's visa, saying he'd employ her as a $50,000-a-year "business consultant," he in fact employed her as a nanny and housekeeper for just $66 a day, regardless of how many hours she worked, the indictment states. The couple threatened to take her passport, and attempted to induce her to sign a "servitude contract" that would require her to pay them $25,000 if she left within seven years, it adds.

Two nurses who worked for the Tinimbangs previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the Medicare fraud scheme, as did a marketer, Sherwin Cubello, who admitted he received $300,000 in bribes and kickbacks from the Tinimbangs for patient referrals. Josephine Tinimbang and seven other co-defendants are awaiting trial.

Richard and Maribel Tinimbang, 38 and 40, respectively, did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday morning. They are due to make their first court appearances Thursday.

In addition to potential prison terms, the couple face the forfeiture of $45 million, plus the loss of their home, business, stocks and BMW, Land Rover and Mercedes SUVs if convicted.

U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon has made cracking down on Medicare and Medicaid fraud a priority, with several high profile, multimillion-dollar indictments since his 2013 appointment. The Government Accountability Office last year estimated that around $60 billion, or more than 10 percent, of Medicaid payments alone are lost to fraud, waste and other improper payments each year.

kjanssen@tribpub.com

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Dan Sherman, right, talks with Scott Steiner, who has a rare gastrointestinal cancer, and his wife, Brenda. Sherman and other "financial navigators" work to help people with cancer survive financially and medically. "He keeps throwing me life rafts before I sink," Scott says. (Laura McDermott / For The Washington Post)

You've just been diagnosed with cancer. One of your first questions, after the shock wears off, is most likely: How much could all this cost? The answer may be hard to pin down.

Of the almost 1.7 million Americans who will learn they have cancer this year, the "lucky" ones will have a single episode mostly covered by generous insurance. But others may face prolonged illness and daunting medical bills.

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What's behind the financial strain? Improved but expensive cancer drugs get singled out for blame, but there are other factors, including fees charged by hospitals and doctors and high-deductible health plans that require significant cost-sharing by patients.

Yet there are ways to minimize the financial toxicity of cancer care. Here are seven suggestions:

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1) Don't be afraid to talk to your doctor about the cost of treatment. Kathryn Martin, the chief operating officer of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, said the cancer center is encouraging its physicians to initiate such conversations with patients - especially since studies show "that patients are reluctant to bring up the issue because they are worried that doctors may withhold treatments." That won't happen, but it needs to be addressed head-on, she said.

2) Early on, ask to see a financial counselor at the hospital where you're being treated. The goal should be to get some idea from the start about how much your care might cost and what help might be available. Steve Ackerman, patient support coordinator for a Kennewick, Wash., cancer clinic run by Kadlec Regional Medical Center, said he frequently taps foundations and drug companies to help patients with their medications costs. "People come in with this deer-in-the-headlights look and we say, 'We can get you fixed up on this,' " he said.

3) Know the lingo. When people talk about out-of-pocket costs, they are talking about deductibles (paid by the patient before insurance kicks in), co-pays (set dollar amounts for a prescription or service) and co-insurance (a percentage of the cost of a drug or service). Under the Affordable Care Act, most ACA and employer-provided plans have out-of-pocket limits. For 2016, the out-of-pocket maximum is $6,850 for an individual plan and $13,700 for a family plan. But patients who use out-of-network hospitals and doctors may end up paying more.

4) Understand that small details matter. That's especially true with ACA plans. You probably already know that many people with low to moderate incomes can get subsidies to help cover the premiums for plans sold on the state and federal marketplaces created by the 2010 law. Yet government subsidies may also be available to reduce out-of-pocket costs if you have a "silver" plan through the law's insurance exchanges.

5) If you're on Medicare, ask a lot of questions. The federal health program for older and disabled Americans can be exceedingly complicated, with options under traditional Medicare as well as through Medicare Advantage, the private-plan alternative. Which is better? Medicare Advantage plans tend to have lower premiums, much better care coordination and prescription-drug coverage as part of the package. But patients can face significant out-of-pocket expenses and more restrictive provider networks.

To reduce out-of-pocket expenses, you can instead enroll in traditional Medicare and add a Medigap supplemental policy as well as a prescription-drug plan. (Remember, basic Medicare generally picks up only about 80 percent of costs - hence the need for a Medigap plan that fills many gaps). But be forewarned: Your total premiums will likely be higher than under Medicare Advantage. And depending on where you live and when you buy, you could be denied a Medigap policy, or have to pay more, because of pre-existing conditions.

Medicare prescription-drug plans, called Part D plans, have a coverage gap - called the "doughnut hole" - that will require you to pick up your own prescription tab once you reach a certain spending level. After a second spending threshold, coverage kicks back in for all but 5 percent of medication costs. Sometimes financial assistance is available to help with these costs.

6) Two sites that might be useful are Partnership for Prescription Assistance and NeedyMeds. Two foundations include the Patient Access Network Foundation, which is based in Washington, and the Patient Advocate Foundation in Hampton, Va.

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NORD, the National Organization for Rare Disorders, also offers assistance for medication and for costs related to clinical trials. The nonprofit CancerCare and other groups also offer aid, or help finding it.

7) Ask about help for other costs. At Memorial Sloan Kettering, Martin said, patients are expressing growing concerns about costs such as transportation, parking and child care. The cancer center uses donations to help provide aid to eligible patients. It's also exploring ways to reduce travel time for patients - by bundling appointments and treatment into a single day, for example, so that patients need to take less time off work.
The sale and redevelopment of the vacant and decaying post office that looms over the western entrance to downtown Chicago has been given a timetable by the city.

The tentative deal between the property's interested buyer and the city establishes a "strict timeline" for a sale and plan to redevelop the old main post office, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a news release on Tuesday.

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In February, the city, exasperated by "decades of neglect and deterioration" and long-stalled redevelopment efforts, threatened to seize the property through eminent domain. Last month, the city sent out requests for proposals to redevelop the property. Under a tentative settlement announced Tuesday, the city will shelve those plans for the time being.

"The sooner we conclude this process the sooner we can create thousands of jobs and generate economic opportunities for residents throughout Chicago," Emanuel said.

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Last month, the British owner of the building straddling Congress Parkway struck a deal to sell the property to a New York-based investment group, 601W Cos., for an undisclosed amount. 601 could not be reached for immediate comment late Tuesday afternoon.

"The buyer appears to be an experienced commercial property owner with the expertise and financial capacity to meet our goals for the building, so we're providing strict terms and conditions for a purchase to close in a timely fashion and a redevelopment plan that's satisfactory to the city," Emanuel said.

The tentative settlement includes a deadline of June 1, 2016, for the buyer to complete the purchase of the 2.5 million-square-foot structure and adjacent properties currently owned by British developer Bill Davies' International Property Developers North America. The city said it would also require approval of a formal redevelopment plan, including a budget, economic disclosures, financing arrangements, uses, site plans, and a timeline to fix the "numerous structural, safety and hazardous conditions that have led to more than more than 20 building code citations since 2012."

If 601W misses the June 1 deadline, the city said it will again seek proposals to redevelop the property, and restart the process to acquire the property, which could also involve the selection of a new developer.

"The terms require full cooperation by the current owner, which declined to close on at least two proposed sale agreements in recent years," the city said in a news release.

Richard Sykes, a consultant with real estate brokerage Savills and a Davies representative, said he's confident that the sale will occur by June 1. "Until 601, we never had a proposal" that Davies "was happy to accept," Sykes said.

Planning and Development Commissioner David Reifman said there is "significant interest in the building from major Chicago developers" who have responded to requests for proposals.

"The city has agreed to suspend the process, but we will quickly resume it if we are not satisfied the building's future is secured," he said in the news release.

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International Property Developers North America bought the old post office complex in 2009 and announced a $1.5 billion mixed-use redevelopment plan three years ago, the city said. Initial occupancy was projected to occur by early 2015, but no major redevelopment work has occurred, the city said.

The post office building was built in phases from 1921 to 1932, the city said. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the building has been vacant since the city's main post office moved in the mid-1990s.

byerak@tribpub.com

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Double Door and its landlord are heading to trial next month if they can't work out whether the rock club will continue to occupy its Wicker Park space.

Cook County Circuit Judge Orville Hambright Jr. said Tuesday he will meet with club management and landlord Brian Strauss on April 27 in a last-ditch effort of settling the issue of possession of 1572 N. Milwaukee Ave. Hambright Jr. set a May 18 trial date in case no agreement is reached.

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Double Door's lease expired Oct. 31. Strauss' attorneys filed a complaint Nov. 3 seeking the club's eviction.

"Work on this, please," Hambright Jr. urged both sides.

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Double Door attorney Cary Schiff said he is hopeful a deal will be reached at the April 27 meeting. Strauss had no comment.

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At issue is whether Double Door management properly exercised its option to extend the club's lease last year. Club co-owner Sean Mulroney said he mailed a letter requesting a lease extension more than 180 days before the lease expired, as required, and included the notice with his May 2015 rent. Strauss' attorneys said he did not receive the letter.

Under the lease, Double Door management was required to fax the letter, personally deliver it or send it by certified mail. Schiff said the letter was not sent by certified mail.

Also Tuesday, Hambright Jr. postponed discussion of whether Double Door management will pay $11,000 more per month to occupy its space while the case is being decided. Strauss' attorneys filed a motion last month asking for $33,976 a month, which "more accurately reflects the current fair rental market value" of the location.

Double Door management previously squared off against its landlords in court in 2005 over lease troubles before an agreement was reached. The club, which has been hosting shows since 1994, has dates booked into September, according to its online calendar.

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Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 126 Woody introduces the gang to a homemade spork toy with self-esteem issues in "Toy Story 4." Read the review. (Pixar / AP)
Toxic partisan rancor over the Supreme Court  and Republicans' current refusal to even consider a nominee  provides a beyond-timely backdrop to "Confirmation," HBO's sober, dutiful account of Justice Clarence Thomas' extraordinary hearings amid allegations of sexual harassment. And while the focus will inevitably be on Anita Hill and Thomas, the central players in that drama, this spare retelling offers greater insight into the cluelessness of the white male senators determining his professional fate than of the "He said, she said" divide.

Meticulously produced, cast to the hilt and boasting powerful performances by Kerry Washington and Wendell Pierce in the lead roles, "Confirmation" portrays Hill as a woman dragged reluctantly into the spotlight, only to be subjected to character assassination and second-guessing as Thomas' Republican supporters seek to salvage his nomination. At the same time, Pierce projects a sense of hurt and betrayal as Thomas  a black conservative put through what he famously called "a high-tech lynching"  who never wavers, publicly or privately as presented here, from his assertion that the allegations against him are fabricated.

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It was 1991 when Thurgood Marshall, the court's first African-American justice, announced his retirement, with George H.W. Bush's administration hoping to smooth its path by tapping Thomas to replace him.

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The choice, however, did little to suppress opposition. The search for background on Thomas unearths years-old episodes involving Hill, who's minding her own business as a law professor in Oklahoma when she is thrust into the fray. "I've got students more qualified than Thomas," says a law professor (Jeffrey Wright) who winds up helping Hill.

Still, the committee's Democratic chairman, Joe Biden (Greg Kinnear, uncanny), is hardly enthusiastic about either turning the proceedings into a circus or sweeping Hill's assertions under the rug. "I do not want to go after this guy on a sex charge," Biden groans when first informed of the situation. (Much of this byplay is seen from the perspective of staffers working behind the scenes, including a pair portrayed by Grace Gummer and Zoe Lister-Jones.)

Thomas' backers, who range from Sen. John Danforth (Bill Irwin) to his wife Virginia ("The Americans'" Alison Wright), aren't initially sure what to believe, especially since Hill, speaking in quiet, measured tones, is such a persuasive witness. But Thomas' forceful response  indignant, pained and evoking race  not only puts the Democratic senators on their heels but provides the Republicans cover to press ahead with efforts to discredit Hill. Learning the truth, alas, quickly becomes less of an issue than simply securing a "win" at all costs.

Directed by Rick Famuyiwa, from a script by Susannah Grant, "Confirmation" draws heavily from news footage, using "Zelig"-like devices to superimpose Pierce as Thomas behind the actual President Bush. Throw in Washington's unerring ability to recreate Hill's deliberate speech pattern  a far cry from the showy persona in her day gig on "Scandal"  and it's clear the movie seeks to be accurate  almost to a fault. In fact, the prosecutorial approach of Sen. Arlen Specter (Malcolm Gets) in questioning Hill is, if anything, less theatrical here than it was in real life.

Although Thomas was ultimately confirmed, there are no profiles in courage among the politicians depicted, barring a fleeting scene involving Ted Kennedy, played by a miscast Treat Williams. At the same time, the movie not-so-subtly makes the case that perceptions that Hill's claims were dismissed helped motivate more women to seek and gain elected office following the hearings.

A quarter-century later, there is still ample acrimony surrounding the issues at play here (one need only look to Donald Trump's candidacy to see some of them), and an even more polarized climate in terms of politicizing the court. By those measures, "Confirmation" needn't engage in hyperbole or excessive dramatization to feel relevant and shed light on the system, then and now. That adds up to a "Yea" vote for a movie that, frankly, pretty much had it at hello.

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Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 126 Woody introduces the gang to a homemade spork toy with self-esteem issues in "Toy Story 4." Read the review. (Pixar / AP)
Ginger Zee dances the foxtrot on week 4 of "Dancing With the Stars."

"Good Morning America" meteorologist Ginger Zee had a fairytale finish to her foxtrot Monday on "Dancing with the Stars."

Zee, who worked for WMAQ-Ch. 5 from 2006-11, tied for the highest score of the night after her performance, which was inspired by "Beauty and the Beast."

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"Undoubtedly, for me, the best dance this evening," judge Len Goodman said.

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While Zee's 36 out of 40 points put her on top, former Bears quarterback Doug Flutie had another tough performance.

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 19 Ginger Zee and professional partner Val Chmerkovskiy danced a fusion routine of the Argentine tango and foxtrot for their final performance on "Dancing with the Stars." The pair placed third overall this season. (Adam Taylor / ABC)

For the week's Disney theme, Flutie danced a jazz routine with professional partner Karina Smirnoff to "A Spoonful of Sugar" from "Mary Poppins." They earned 24 out of 40 points after judges critiqued their timing.

"I saw the makings of a good routine but I don't think we actually delivered on it," judge Carrie Ann Inaba said.

Though Flutie has been on the bottom of the leaderboard for the last few weeks, actress Marla Maples and professional dancer Tony Dovolani were sent home Monday based on last week's judges scores and viewer votes.

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 20 Doug Flutie and his professional partner Karina Smirnoff (right) were eliminated April 25 from "Dancing with the Stars" after performing a Bollywood-style dance. (Adam Taylor / ABC)

Nine couples remain on the 22nd season of "Dancing with the Stars," which airs 7 p.m Mondays on ABC.

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Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 122 Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, anger management student, in "Dark Phoenix." The film, the latest in the "X-Men" franchise, costars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain. Read the review. (Twentieth Century Fox)
For every complex problem, H.L. Mencken wrote, there is an answer that is neat, plausible  and wrong. Donald Trump should write that quote on his forehead, backward, so that it's the first thing he reads in the mirror every morning.

The billionaire Republican presidential front-runner bedazzles his fans with easy-sounding solutions that you probably have heard before, if you hang out in enough saloons.

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But he's been backpedaling so much lately that my biggest question is: What is he going to reverse himself on next?

Take, for example, his recent thoughts on the supremely important topic of nuclear weapons. Please.

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As if it were not unsettling enough to imagine President Trump in charge of the nation's nuclear defense codes, he said in a late March interview with The New York Times that he was OK with letting Japan and South Korea have nukes too. Simple, right?

But during a later CNN town hall, Trump told host Anderson Cooper that he did not necessarily want the two countries to obtain nuclear weapons; he only felt that "at some point it could happen anyway" for both countries and maybe Saudi Arabia too.

With his plan, Trump said, "They have to protect themselves or they have to pay us."

Right. Never mind 70 years of efforts to prevent nuclear weapons from spreading to more countries. Trump's idea wouldn't sound quite as troubling if he didn't sound like he was making up his campaign as he goes along.

Earlier in March, he declared himself in favor of torture  including waterboarding and "tougher than waterboarding"  and even the killing of terrorists' families, if it would extract valuable information from terrorists. Never mind that people will say anything to stop being tortured, which is why much of the information gathered through torture turns out to be false. That's pretty simple too.

Oh, and torture also is illegal. Although Trump treated that like a technicality, former CIA Director Michael Hayden said in an interview on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" that U.S. forces would refuse to act on such an order. "You are required not to follow an unlawful order," Hayden said. "That would be in violation of all the international laws of armed conflict."

Later at the Grand Old Party's Detroit debate, Trump scoffed at the notion of our service members disobeying his orders, including illegal orders. "If I say do it, they're going to do it," he said. "That's what leadership is all about."

But in an about-face the next day  after resounding condemnation from lawmakers and military officials  he declared that he would not order the U.S. military to violate laws, even to fight terrorists.

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"It is clear that as president I will be bound by laws just like all Americans," he said in a statement, "and I will meet those responsibilities." What a relief.

What will Trump reverse himself on next? I suggest that he abandon his ill-informed scheme to tax the remittances that undocumented immigrant workers send home to their families.

Mexicans living abroad sent a reported $24.8 billion back to family and friends in Mexico last year, according to the World Bank. More than 95 percent came from Mexicans living in the United States.

Trump wants a one-time payment of $5 billion to $10 billion, he says, to pay for his proposed wall along the Mexican border. Pay up, he says, or the U.S. will crack down with new rules to block remittances.

I'm sure that idea goes over big with his supporters, especially when he calls those remittances "de facto welfare"  as if our government was paying for them.

But remittances are not "welfare." They amount to a massive private-sector engine of economic development.

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Funded by immigrants, remittances put more food on tables and create more economic development than any government aid program. Remittances to Haiti, for example, make up more than a fifth of the island nation's annual gross domestic product, according to the World Bank, and surveys indicate they are received by more than a third of the country's adult population.

Barring immigrants from sending money legally will lead to the sending of more money illegally and more incentives for Mexicans and other desperate Latin Americans to migrate illegally into the United States.

In short, Trump's wall policy is deceptively simple, barely plausible and very wrong  like most of his campaign.

Clarence Page, a member of the Tribune Editorial Board, blogs at www.chicagotribune.com/pagespage.

cpage@tribpub.com

Twitter @cptime
The Botsford family has three vehicles with signage searching for a kidney for Stewart Botsford of Arlington Heights. (Jeff Krage / Pioneer Press)

Determined to save her husband's life with a needed kidney transplant, an Arlington Heights woman is searching for an organ donor by posting signs on the family's three cars  and the grassroots road campaign appears to be working.

"I'm tough, and I wish it was me instead of my husband that needed the transplant," said Laura Botsford, 51, who is seeking a kidney for her husband, Stewart Botsford, 54.

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"But our family has good faith that there will be a light at the end of the tunnel, so I told Stewart, 'I'm finding you a kidney donor,'" Laura Botsford said.

Stewart Botsford said his wait for a kidney donor was preceded by years of struggling with health conditions, including diabetes and high blood pressure.

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Despite losing 100 pounds after gastric bypass surgery, which eliminated the diabetes, Botsford said years of hypertension led to him being hospitalized with renal failure in 2015. Just a few months later, he was undergoing dialysis treatments three times a week.

The Botsford family has three vehicles with signage searching for a kidney for Stewart Botsford of Arlington Heights. (Jeff Krage / Pioneer Press)

"I was down for a while, to tell you the truth, but Laura and my daughter jumped right on finding me a kidney donor," Botsford said. "We also try to have a sense of humor, which helps. And being around positive people is the best medicine."

After conducting a bit of online research on methods of seeking organ donors via social media, Laura Botsford, a pastry chef, decided her best bet in finding a kidney donor that was a match for her husband would be taking her message to the streets  literally.

Her first stop was the Evanston Awning Co., a family-owned business, where owners Ann Hunzinger and her son, Daryl Hunzinger, suggested Botsford keep her message simple, printing up three signs proclaiming, "Type O Blood  Husband Needs Kidney," as well as, "Dad Needs Kidney" and "I Need Kidney."

"Her request hit us close to home, because my husband had been sick, and everyone was so kind and good to him," said Ann Hunzinger, who said she and her son decided to "pay it forward," and created the Botsford family's kidney donor signs free of charge.

Just two weeks later, Laura Botsford said the ads posted in the rear windows of her and her husband's two cars, as well as their 18-year-old daughter's car, have attracted at least 10 potential donors, with the next step being for them to submit their blood samples to the University of Chicago Medicine, where officials confirmed Stewart Botsford is on the organ recipient waiting list.

Dr. Yolanda T. Becker, who will likely be the surgeon for Stewart Botsford's kidney transplant if a donor is found, said patients and their families have become increasingly innovative when seeking donors for organ transplants in recent years.

"I think people have gotten more creative through social media and exploring different ways to find donors," said Becker, a professor of surgery and the director of the kidney and pancreas program at the University of Chicago Medicine.

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"There are all kinds of rules involved with a waiting list, with scarce resources, because there are not enough organs out there," Becker said.

In the case of the Botsford family's ad campaign, Becker said doctors must review each potential organ donor independently, ensuring that a donor's blood type and tissue "markers" match with those of the recipient's.

In addition, doctors need to make sure the donor is aware of the potential health risks involved with the procedure, Becker said.

There are currently 121,025 people waiting for a lifesaving transplant, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, a private, nonprofit organization that manages the nation's organ transplant system under contract with the federal government.

Dr. Manish Tanna, Stewart Botsford's nephrologist, or kidney doctor, at Northwest Community Hospital, applauded his patient's family for their "dedication to a singular goal of obtaining a living donor transplant."

"It's quite admirable how they have turned this very difficult situation into something they are dealing with by taking every opportunity to reach their goal in an out-of-the-box way," Tanna said. "They're letting people know that Stewart needs a transplant, and the fact that they're being very straightforward about it is certainly something I can learn from."

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While the family's search for a kidney is still unfolding, Laura Botsford said she remains hopeful their efforts will soon find a matching donor for her husband, who is juggling his full-time job as a custodian with exhausting dialysis treatments three nights a week.

"We've had a whole bunch of people calling to say they're interested in donating a kidney," said Botsford, who grew emotional as she recalled a particular response: "One of the callers, who is 18 years old, said about my husband, 'he needs to walk his daughter down the aisle.'"

For more information on the Botsford family's kidney donor campaign, call 847-528-4303.

kcullotta@tribpub.com

Twitter @kcullotta

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By Alexander Chipman Koty

The relentless momentum of investors turning their sights towards China has softened of late, as slowing growth and stock market volatility have caused alarm among observers. In 2015, FDI into Chinas manufacturing sector came in at US$39.54 billion, a slight drop from 2014 (US$39.94 billion) and accounting for 31.4 percent of the total. While some of these fears are grounded in reality, others are overblown. This is particularly true in relation to the manufacturing sector  Chinas principal driver of growth during its boom years  which made the country known as the factory of the world.

After decades of rapid growth and development, Chinas manufacturing sector is inevitably changing. Shifts in demographics, hiring practices, technology, and markets are increasingly giving Chinese manufacturing a different look than during its years of unabated growth. These transformations are not unconditionally negative for the countrys competitiveness, however. Chinas evolving manufacturing sector will invariably change the way investors operate their factories and presents new opportunities for growth in the countrys increasingly multifaceted economy.

Age Demographics

During the years of double digit growth, the manufacturing sector capitalized on Chinas massive supply of young able-bodied workers. High birthrates during the 1960s and 1970s contributed to a demographic dividend that flooded the labor market with cheap, young, and strong workers  prime for the physical demands of manufacturing. Children born during these years entered their late teens and early 20s during the 1980s and 1990s, coinciding with the governments shift from a planned economy to an increasingly market-based one open to foreign investment. This fortuitous combination greatly contributed to Chinas historic growth and industrialization.

These same workers, however, are aging and beginning to retire from labor-intensive manufacturing jobs. The amount of people aged 60 and above are projected to grow from 200 million in 2015 to over 300 million by 2030. In contrast, the amount of young workers is dwindling as a result of urbanization, rising living standards, and the infamous One-Child Policy. While Chinas elderly population is ballooning, the amount of youth aged 20-24 is expected to decline from 125 million to 68 million over the next decade. Further, this generation is better educated than previous ones, and thus has less interest in poorly paid and physically demanding manufacturing jobs.

RELATED: Business Advisory Services from Dezan Shira & Associates

Hiring Practices

In response to the emergence of the domestic service industry, growth in Chinas Western regions, and more stringent labor protection laws, factories are changing who they hire and how they do so. Chinese employers have traditionally favored hiring women for many labor-intensive industries. At its peak, women comprised about 80 percent of the workforce for occupations such as toy and electronic assembly. Men are now much more prominent in these areas, as many women previously working in manufacturing have instead opted to join the service sector. In 2013, services surpassed manufacturing as the largest contributor to Chinas GDP. The proliferation of restaurant and coffee franchises and other service industries catering to domestic consumers has attracted many unskilled female workers who enjoy better conditions than in many manufacturing positions.

Workers not only have greater choice over which industry to work in, but where to work. Migrant workers have traditionally comprised at least a third of Chinas total labor pool. Because of the prohibitive hukou housing registration system, employers regularly exploited migrant workers by withholding payment, not contributing to employee benefits, and forcing massive amounts of unpaid overtime. However, as manufacturing spreads and relocates from Chinas wealthy coastal regions towards the less developed interior, workers have fewer incentives to travel far from home for employment and are consequently less vulnerable to exploitation.

In addition to hiring migrant workers, labor dispatch is another method by which employers have historically reduced labor costs. In response to rising wages and 2008 laws requiring companies to more diligently pay worker insurance, overtime, severance, and other benefits, employers took advantage of the labor dispatch loophole to avoid assuming additional expenses.

Although labor dispatch was supposed to be used only for temporary, auxiliary, or substitute jobs, companies would often employ dispatched workers for years at a time. In some cases, factories would directly hire workers and force them to sign with a dispatch agency, and over 80 percent of a given factorys workers could be comprised of dispatched labor. Because dispatched workers are technically employed by their agencies, employers could avoid responsibility for payment of benefits and the risk of labor disputes. Similar practices have been used when hiring so-called student interns, who are sometimes intimidated into accepting lower wages and worse conditions than regular employees. However, recent regulations have come into force to curb these practices, forcing companies to be more responsible in meeting their obligations to their employees.

As the work force keeps diminishing and diffusing across the country, workers are increasingly empowered to make demands to employers and seek greater protection of their rights. Protests have been increasing in recent years as workers object to unpaid employer tax contributions, underpaid wages, and poor work conditions. Such demonstrations are also sparked by aging workers who are eyeing retirement and have greater awareness of the importance of retirement, housing, and insurance contributions than when they were young. To maintain social stability, Beijing is taking steps to ensure greater company compliance with written laws as workers become more vocal and the overall economy slows.

RELATED: Handling Mass Layoffs in Chinas Manufacturing Sector

Prospects for the Future

While a diminishing workforce and stronger government enforcement of regulations are increasing the costs of labor, China aims to remain competitive by boosting productivity and producing higher value goods. As certain labor-intensive industries such as apparel shift to lower cost locations like Vietnam and India, Beijing is responding by encouraging manufacturers to move up the value chain and produce more innovative products. The Made in China 2025 campaign promotes this effort, hoping to spur the Middle Kingdom into a global power in manufacturing advanced technology in place of cheap and often imitated merchandise. This process requires significant financing to develop innovative R&D, train skilled workers, and upgrade factories to include more automation and robotics. With enough resources, the government hopes China can break through the dreaded middle income trap, where a country loses its cost advantages in manufacturing and exports but is unable to compete with developed economies in value-added products.

The expiration of Chinas demographic dividend, growth of the service sector, and westward diffusion of factories have resulted in a smaller and less concentrated labor pool. However, China remains an attractive destination for manufacturing overall and holds many advantages over its competitors. While wages have risen, so too has worker productivity as the workforce becomes more skilled with higher quality resources to work with. China also has a developed shipping and logistics infrastructure, and is increasingly a market for manufactured goods rather than just a producer, letting businesses take advantage of the proximity for reduced shipping costs.

Although the country has not yet fully transitioned from low cost to high value manufacturing, capitalizing on government incentives promoting the sector can potentially pay dividends. Investors can also take solace in the fact that the factories they contract are gradually providing their employees with better conditions and benefits, thus providing often marginalized groups with improved living standards. Though the manufacturing sector risks being caught in the middle income trap, Chinas vast financial resources and significant domestic market present lucrative opportunities during the industrys transition phase.



About Us Asia Briefing Ltd. is a subsidiary of Dezan Shira & Associates. Dezan Shira is a specialist foreign direct investment practice, providing corporate establishment, business advisory, tax advisory and compliance, accounting, payroll, due diligence and financial review services to multinationals investing in China, Hong Kong, India, Vietnam, Singapore and the rest of ASEAN. For further information, please email china@dezshira.com or visit www.dezshira.com. Stay up to date with the latest business and investment trends in Asia by subscribing to our complimentary update service featuring news, commentary and regulatory insight. 

How to Restructure an Underperforming Business in China

In this issue of China Briefing magazine, we explore the options that are available to foreign firms looking to restructure or close their operations in China. We begin with an overview of what restructuring an unprofitable business in China might entail, and then take an in-depth look at the way in which a foreign company can go about the restructuring process. Finally, we highlight some of the key HR concerns associated with restructuring a China business.

China Investment Roadmap: the Automotive Parts Industry

This issue of China Briefing presents a roadmap for investing in Chinas automotive industry. We begin by providing an overview of the industry, and then take a comprehensive look at key foreign investment considerations, including investment restrictions, tax incentives and manufacturing requirements. Finally, we discuss foreign investment opportunities in a part of the industry that receives substantial government support: new energy vehicles.

Adapting Your China WFOE to Service Chinas Consumers

In this issue of China Briefing Magazine, we look at the challenges posed to manufacturers amidst Chinas rising labor costs and stricter environmental regulations. Manufacturing WFOEs in China should adapt by expanding their business scope to include distribution and determine suitable supply chain solutions. In this regard, we will take a look at the opportunities in Chinas domestic consumer market and forecast the sectors that are set to boom in the coming years.
Two driverless test cars, produced by Chang'an Automobile, are on their way to Beijing, on April 12, 2016. The modified Changan Raeton, which will become the country's first long-distance unmanned vehicle, started the journey on Tuesday from southwest China's Chongqing. The vehicles will pass through Xi'an, Zhengzhou, and arrive in Beijing on April 17, covering a distance of nearly 2,000 kilometers. [Photo courtesy of Chongqing Daily]

Two driverless cars produced by Chang'an Automobile started a long-distance highway test from Chongqing on April 12, marking the first long-distance road test of self-driving cars in China.

The two cars will pass through Xi'an, Zhengzhou, and arrive in Beijing on April 17, covering a distance of nearly 2,000 kilometers.

Li Yusheng, engineer-in-chief of Chang'an Automobile Engineering & Research Institute, said the drive will help test their functions in diverse conditions.

"The vehicles have performed well in uncomplicated road conditions, such as urban driveways and highways, but they still need the help of a driver to navigate them in places like gas stations and toll booths," said Li.

"We want to improve the vehicles' sensors and processing technology, and then to prepare models for mass production," said Tan Benhong, deputy director of the institute.

Chang'an is aiming to put driverless cars into commercial use in 2018.

Worldwide, at least 18 companies are developing autonomous cars, including BMW, Audi and Toyota. China's contenders include auto makers BAIC group, GAC Group, SAIC Motor, Chang'an and BYD.

Follow China.org.cn on Twitter and Facebook to join the conversation.
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Tan Dunhui [China News Service]

A fugitive surrendered to police on Monday, a day after being included on a list of China's 10 most-wanted telecom- and Internet-fraud suspects.

Tan Dunhui, 39, is accused of tricking a corporate accountant in Yangzhong, Jiangsu Province, into transferring 5 million yuan (773,500 U.S. dollars) into a bank account he designated via a mobile phone text message in June 2013.

Tan has been escorted to Yangzhong from Loudi, Hunan Province, where he surrendered to local police, pending investigation, the Ministry of Public Security said.

The ministry published the top 10 on Sunday, offering groups or individuals 50,000 yuan for information leading to the arrest of each suspect.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has urged local governments to push forward supply-side structural reform to help stabilize economic growth when meeting the heads of several major provincial regions on Monday.

Local authorities should continue to cut red tape, implement tax breaks, encourage innovation and eliminate outdated capacity, Li said at the meeting participated by the governors of Hebei, Liaoning, Jiangsu, Shandong, Hunan, Guangdong and Qinghai provinces, and the mayor of Chongqing Municipality.

According to the premier, China needs joint efforts from central and local governments to face up to economic challenges.

The local heads agreed that more efforts are needed to stabilize growth as previous reform measures have begun to take effect.

Li asked the governments to delegate more power.

The plan to replace business tax with value-added tax should be "vigorously pressed forward to guarantee tax burdens are reduced in all industries and small firms actually benefit," according to Li.

Local authorities should build more platforms and provide better services for people who are trying to start their own businesses, he said.

Talking about the overcapacity seen in provinces such as Hebei and Liaoning, Li said excess capacity in coal and steel production should be eliminated so traditional economic engines can be fine-tuned. Local governments should help those made redundant to find new jobs.

The premier stressed the importance of maintaining market liquidity, making the financial sector better serve the real economy and introducing debt-for-equity swaps to gradually bring down the corporate leverage ratio.

He promised all central government budgetary investment will be allocated within the first half of this year.

In addition to making use of these funds, local governments should mobilize more private funding, Li urged.
Two people were hurt yesterday when a three-story mixed-use building in Shanghai's Songjiang District collapsed, the district government said via Weibo.

The two lower floors of the property, at 61 Xixia Road, were occupied by retail outlets and the top floor by apartments, it said.

Although all of the people known to be in the building at the time of the collapse have been accounted for, about 400 rescue workers were sent to support the rescue effort.

A Songjiang government official declined to answer any of Shanghai Daily's questions about the incident, saying information and updates would be provided only via Weibo.

The two people injured were identified only as a 22-year-old woman and her toddler son. Both are being treated for bone fractures at a local hospital, but are said to be doing well.

According to a report by the news website thepaper.cn, the mother and son were rescued after a pregnant woman who was left stranded but unhurt in the incident alerted police to their whereabouts.

A separate report by Songjiang News said that the woman who raised the alarm was the sister of the woman who was injured in the collapse.

While the government has released no information about what caused the building to crumble, it said that renovation work had been under way in one of the ground floor premises.

Eight workers have been confirmed safe, as too have the 15 registered residents of the apartments, it said.

The government said, however, that it had found "signs of life" under some of the rubble, though declined to elaborate.

A total of 150 armed police officers, 150 regular police, 100 firefighters and three ambulances were sent to aid the rescue effort, thepaper.cn said.

The building's landlord and the workers from the renovation team are helping police with their enquiries, the government said.
A former senior Party official in northeast China' s Heilongjiang Province has been prosecuted for allegedly accepting bribes, the Supreme People' s Procuratorate said yesterday.

Han Xuejian, an erstwhile member of the standing committee of the Party' s Heilongjiang provincial committee and Party chief of the city of Daqing, has been questioned by prosecutors in Liaoyuan, northeast China' s Jilin Province, it said in a statement.

Han took advantage of his position to seek benefits for others and accepted a huge amount in bribes, the indictment said.

The Party' s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection announced in December 2014 that Han was under investigation for alleged violations of discipline and law.

He was expelled from the Party and dismissed from public office in April last year.

Meanwhile, Qin Yuhai, the former deputy director of the Henan Provincial People' s Congress Standing Committee, has also been prosecuted for allegedly accepting bribes, the SPP said.

The Zibo Municipal People' s Procuratorate in east China' s Shandong Province will begin prosecution proceedings at Zibo Intermediate People' s Court, it said.

According to the indictment, Qin sought benefits and illegally accepted " a huge amount of property" from others while serving as Party chief for the city of Jiaozuo in Henan, vice governor of Henan, head of the provincial public security department, and deputy director of the Henan Provincial People' s Congress Standing Committee.

He was placed under investigation and then dismissed from his post for suspected " serious discipline and law violations" by the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee in September 2014.
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A 5.9-magnitude quake jolted Bengkulu province of Sumatra Island in Indonesia on Sunday, damaged at least 25 houses, Edward Junaidi, senior official of local disaster management agency told Xinhua on Monday.

The assessment of the impact of the quake is still underway, he told Xinhua by phone from the province.

Some houses have suffered from serious damages and some others, including a university building and the airport, only have got minor damages, Junaidi said.

The operation of the airport was not affected, he added.

No casualties have been reported, he said.

The Sunday's quake was not potential for tsunami, according to the meteorology and geophysics agency.

The quake struck at 9:14 Jakarta time (0214GMT), and its epicenter was 61 km southwest of the city of Bengkulu, it said.

It had a depth of 16 km under the sea, it said.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) put the magnitude at 5.7 with a depth of 55.3 km under sea bed.

Indonesia sits on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire" where several tectonic plates meet, making it vulnerable to frequent earthquakes.
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Indian officials Monday started dispatching drinking water to the worst drought-hit western state of Maharashtra.

The first train pulling 10 tankers carrying half a million liters of water has been dispatched from Miraj, the western district of Maharashtra.

"Water train of 10 wagons with 500,000 liters capacity each left Miraj at 11:00 a.m. (local time) today for Latur," a statement issued by Indian Railways said.

The train is likely to reach Latur in the evening after covering a journey of eight hours.

India's Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said the tankers, which usually carry oil products, had been steam cleaned for ferrying drinking water.

Ground water level in Maharashtra's several drought-hit areas have dipped at an alarming level. The worst hit is Latur district, about 470 km east of Mumbai city, the state's capital.

The police officials in the affected areas fearing violence over water have imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 (government order) as "precautionary" measure around water sources. The order prohibits assembly of more than four persons in public place.

Authorities said ferrying of water through train will help officials to ensure maximum number of residents get the drinking water.

Local authorities until now had pressed in 2,300 water tankers in the worst-affected Beed, Latur and Osmanabad districts to ferry water.

Reports said water tankers visit affected areas once a week and locals receive tap water once in a month.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis while informing people about the water train, wrote on twitter: "more efforts underway".

Two successive poor monsoons have triggered drought in the Maharashtra's Marathwada region, causing scarcity of drinking water and failure of crops.

Officials said dams in the region are left with just 5 percent of water ahead of the summer season.

India's federal government recently said it will send a fact finding team to asses depleting ground water situation in drought hit Latur.

Indian Railways earlier said two trains have been arranged on request from Maharashtra government for the purpose of loading and transporting water to the drought-affected areas of Latur.

According to railway officials the second goods train consisting of 50 wagons after steam-cleaning is expected to be ready for water loading around April 15.

"These two trains will be deployed in Latur during the summer season of the financial year 2016-17," an earlier statement from Indian Railways said. "The trips of the goods trains will be arranged as per the requirement."
Kenya plans to put in place a constructive wildlife conservation model that includes all stakeholders to help solve human-wildlife conflict which is rampant in the country, government officials said on Monday.

Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Natural Resources Professor Judy Wakhungu told wildlife stakeholders in Nairobi on Monday that a multi-stakeholder approach effort is required in solving the problem.

"Pressure on available land and preservation of the heritage requires that we protect the habitats for the current and future generations," Wakhungu said during the launch of the Conservation Alliance of Kenya (CAK), an umbrella body of wildlife conservationists.

Wakhungu said wildlife is the pillar of Kenya's economy and that the existing challenges have to be fast-tracked to achieve the needed growth, adding that those who are bent at derailing this plan will be dealt with according to the law.

"As stakeholders, we must speak with one voice and articulate concerns of wildlife much more effectively since this is the winning formula against forces that are bent at clearing wildlife from the world," she noted.

CAK Chairperson Steve Itela said there is need to integrate the goals with the aim of spurring growth in the country.

"We want to enhance conservation efforts outside protracted areas by encouraging security of the wildlife in the whole country," Itela said.

He observed that the country must begin to encourage communities to protect and benefit from the wildlife, since over 65 percent of wildlife is out of the national parks.

Itela revealed that the alliance is already working with the judiciary and wildlife law enforcement agencies in enhancing effective implementation and enforcement of relevant wildlife and environment related legislations and regulations.

Kenya is set to burn more than 105 tons of ivory at the end of April as a way to discourage illegal trade in ivory.
A forest ranger in Sichuan Province has recorded rare video of courtship among wild giant pandas.

A female panda sits in a tree while a number of males can be heard roaring at her in the two clips captured by Yang Jihong in the Wolong National Nature Reserve on Sunday.

The panda remained in the tree for an hour but rushed away when Yang approached.

Male pandas track female pandas in heat from their urine and squeaking. When they find her, males will compete to impress the female and hopefully win the right to mate with her. Only one will succeed, explained Huang Yan, deputy chief researcher with the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda.

Staff at Wolong are collecting pandas' excrement for DNA tests to identify how many males participated in the courtship.

"Generally speaking, pandas enter their annual estrus cycles during the period from March to May. For female pandas, their estrus can last about a month but their ovulatory period only lasts one to two days," Huang said.

If the female panda is reluctant, the mating fails, even during estrus.

The giant panda lives mainly in the mountains of western provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu. They are threatened by habitat loss and a very low birthrate.

Sichuan was home to 1,387 wild giant pandas at the end of 2013, accounting for almost 75 percent of the total across the nation.

Giant pandas have a low fertility rate because they are sexually inactive. Female pandas become pregnant only once a year and deliver at most three cubs.
A malfunctioning wastewater treatment system at Balticovo poultry farm caused an environmental emergency in the central Latvian municipality of Jelgava on Monday, local media reported.

The Latvian State Environmental Service said the situation posed a serious environmental risk as Baltocovo, Latvia's largest egg producer, discharging some 500 cubic meters of wastewater each day.

The company's wastewater treatment system stopped functioning after bacteria used to treat the sewerage perished. The exact cause has yet to be established. The company's staff is said to be taking preventing measures to lessen the accident's environmental impact.

Specialists from the State Environmental Service's regional department in Jelgava are supervising the rescue works and monitoring water quality in the local rivers of Vergupe and Iecava.

Balticovo representatives said the company reduced production to the minimum to release as little untreated sewerage in the environment as possible. Balticovo hopes to start growing new water treatment bacteria by the end of this week, according to the company's representatives.
The preparations for the 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP22), to be held in Marrakech in November, are going according to schedule and deadlines are duly respected, COP22 Commissioner General Abdeladim Lhafi said here on Monday.

The preparations for COP22 are going well and deadlines are duly respected, especially in terms of setting the organizing committee, the design of fiscal governance mechanisms and the award of contracts for the development of the event venue, Lhafi noted.

The Commissioner General made the remarks at an information meeting held by the Moroccan Ministry of Economy and Finance in partnership with the COP22 Steering Committee.

The COP22 to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is expected to take place from 7-18 November in Morocco.
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Russia on Monday expressed the hope that Ukraine will fulfill its obligations under the Minsk agreements despite changes in the Ukrainian government.

"Certainly, we believe that a change of government and the head of government should not further impede what in fact has stalled for more than a year," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"The most important thing for us is that the Minsk agreements were signed by Ukraine's head of state (Petro Poroshenko), and we remain hopeful that Kiev will fulfill the commitments it has undertaken," RIA Novosti news agency quoted Peskov as saying.

According to the spokesman, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk, who announced his resignation on Sunday, did not make "any contribution to settling the Ukrainian crisis" or the normalization of Russia-Ukraine relations.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov urged the West, particularly the United States, which according to him has decisive influence on the formation of Ukraine's new government, to make sure that Kiev fully implements the Minsk agreements.

Yatsenyuk's resignation paved the way for a government dissolution amid Ukraine's lingering political crisis, as President Poroshenko said on Sunday that he expected forming a coalition in the parliament if the resignation was accepted.

Other than problems in the political and economic areas, Ukraine's eastern Donbass region is still in turmoil. In this regard, the Minsk agreements were signed in February 2015 in the Belarussian capital, aiming to reach a peaceful settlement in the region.

Russia has been accusing Ukrainian authorities of not implementing the Minsk accords, while Kiev has criticized Moscow for allegedly supporting insurgents in Donbass.
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Some 12 cadets were killed and 38 people were wounded after a suicide bomber targeted an army bus in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar on Monday, officials said.

Afghan security force members inspect the site of a suicide attack in Nangarhar province, eastern Afghanistan, April 11, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

"The bomber rammed a tricycle bomb to a mini-bus carrying military students at around 4:30 p.m. local time. The incident occurred in Sorkhroad Square in outskirts of provincial capital Jalalabad city," a security official told Xinhua anonymously.

The stricken bus veered off the road and several vehicles around the site were damaged by the force of the explosion. The bomber also died on the spot, he noted.

"Those killed included 12 persons aboard the bus and several civilians from other running vehicles also sustained injuries," Attaullah Khoagyani, spokesman of provincial government, told Xinhua.

The bus was travelling from Jalalabad to Afghan capital of Kabul.

The injured were shifted to hospitals in the city, 120 km east of Kabul, he said.

No group has claimed the responsibility for the attack so far. Fighters of Taliban militant group and Islamic State (IS) outfit have presence in remote districts of the province.

The Afghan security forces have beefed up security operations against militants recently as spring and summer known as fighting season is drawing near in the country.

However, the militants responded by targeting the so-called soft targets by attacking government workers and conducting suicide attacks, targeted killings and roadside bombings.
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The first day of a vote on the future of Sudan's Darfur is going on smoothly, a supervising committee said on Monday, describing the turnout so far as "good."

A voter casts his ballot at a polling station in Nyala, the capital city of South Darfur State, Sudan, on April 11, 2016. Balloting started Monday in Sudan's Darfur in a referendum on whether to keep its current system of five states, or to render Darfur into a single region. [Photo/Xinhua]

The voters began casting their ballots at 8:30 a.m. local time (0530 GMT) for either keeping Darfur's five-state system or to unify them in one region.

"The voting process is progressing in a good manner and there are no barriers facing the work in the referendum," head of the Darfur Referendum Commission said.

There is a good turnout, he told reporters in Nyala, capital of South Darfur State.

A total of 3,532,226 registered voters will have three days to cast their ballots at 1,420 polling stations in 65 localities.

The referendum is held in accordance with Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD), signed between Sudan's government and the Libration and Justice Movement (LJM) in 2011.

Under the deal, if Darfurians vote for one state, then the Transitional Darfur Regional Authority (TDRA) will form a constitutional committee to determine the authority of Darfur's regional governments.

However, if they vote for the current five states, then, the current status will remain, and the TDRA will be dissolved.

The vote started in the presence of international monitors and national and international organizations, Yousif Al-Habeeb Adam, member of the higher committee for Darfur referendum and organizations and monitoring coordinator in East Darfur State, told reporters.

There are no barriers so far, and the turnout can be described as good, he noted.

Also, West Darfur State Governor Khalil Abdalla Mohamed said the turnout is intensive in all the state's localities according to the reports received.

He expected that around 50 percent out of the registered voters in his state would cast their ballots on the first day.

Similarly, in North Darfur State, polling stations have reported high turnout on the first day of the referendum, according to its governor.

"In North Darfur, we have around 500 polling centers distributed to the state's capital El Fasher and the rest of the localities. According to what we have seen in El Fasher and the reports we receive from the other centers, the voters' turnout is intensive," Governor Abdul-Wahid Yousif, told reporters after casting his vote at a polling station.

He said the boycott by some Darfur armed groups and representatives of displaced persons has not affected the process.

"The process is progressing as planned," Yousif said. "There are positive atmospheres and the security situation is completely stable."

Major rebel movements in Darfur reject participating in the referendum, demanding that the central government fulfill their demands of reaching a political solution with the armed groups and financially compensating citizens affected by the conflict.

The Sudanese government, however, stressed that the referendum must go ahead according to the peace deal.
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Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem renewed on Monday his government's readiness to attend the upcoming round of Geneva peace talks on Syria, according to state news agency SANA.

United Nations envoy to Syria Staffan De Mistura(L) meets with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem in Damascus, capital of Syria on April 11, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

The Syrian government is committed to embarking on peace talks without preconditions, al-Moallem stressed during his meeting with the visiting United Nations envoy to Syria, Staffan De Mistura, who arrived in the country a day earlier for talks with top officials about the new round of talks.

Al-Moallem said the government delegation will attend the Geneva talks as of April 15, after the end of the parliamentarian elections in Syria.

Meanwhile, he stressed on the Syrians' right to determine their future without foreign interference.

Before leaving Damascus, de Mistura said that the purpose of his visit was to discuss the preparations of the Geneva talks, "which we are planning to start on April 13 upon my return from this regional trip."

"The Geneva talks are crucially important because we will be focusing in particular on the political transition, and on constitutional principles," he said, adding that "we hope and plan to make them constructive and concrete."

De Mistura said that he also raised the issues with al-Moallem of humanitarian access and increased humanitarian accesses to all besieged areas and all Syrians.

"We did raised the importance of protecting, maintaining and supporting the cessation of hostilities which is, as you know, fragile, and we need to make sure that it continues to be sustained," he said.
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Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari said on Monday that Iran and Russia have signed a new deal on the delivery of S-300 missile defense system and that it is in the process of implementation.

"The first stage of the new contract has been implemented and we hope that, based on the new plan, the contract will be completed in its due time," Jaber Ansari said in a response to a question of whether Iran has received the first batch of S-300 equipment in its northern port city of Anzali.

Earlier on Monday, some media outlets quoted Iranian spokesman as saying that Iran has received the first batch of the equipment pertaining to the missile system.

However, Jaber Ansari later criticized as inaccurate media reports about his remarks on the S-300 issue, saying that he was referring instead to "the implementation of the first stage of the new deal," according to Iranian Student News Agency news agency.

Jaber Ansari did not elaborate on what is being implemented about the new contract.

In March, RIA Novosti news agency reported that Russia would hand over the first batch of the S-300 defense missile systems to Iran in August or September.

Russia and Iran signed an 800-million-U.S. dollar contract in 2007, according to which Moscow would supply Tehran with five S-300 missile systems.

In September 2010, then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev canceled the contract in line with a United Nations Security Council resolution, which banned such deals with the Islamic Republic.

In April 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin lifted the ban as Iran withdrew a lawsuit against Russia over the cancellation.

The S-300 is regarded as one of the most potent air defense systems.
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China on Tuesday expressed strong dissatisfaction after foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) issued a statement that touched upon disputes in the East and South China Seas.

"We urge the G7 member states to honor their commitment of not taking sides on issues involving territorial disputes," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in response to the statement issued by the foreign ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States on Monday after they convened in the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

Lu said as recovery of the world economy remains weak, the G7 bloc should have focused on global economic governance and cooperation rather than hyping up the disputes.

"China's stance on the East and South China Seas are consistent and clear," said the spokesman, adding that it is completely within China's sovereignty to build structures on some of its Nansha islands and reefs and that there is no problem with freedom of navigation and overflight in the East and South China Seas.

Lu said China is always committed to resolving relevant disputes with countries immediately involved through negotiations in line with international law, on the basis of respecting historical facts, to maintain peace and stability in the seas while resolutely safeguarding its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights.

He reiterated that China will neither accept nor participate in any arbitration illegally forced upon it.

"We urge the G7 member states to fully respect the efforts made by countries in the region, stop making irresponsible remarks and all irresponsible actions, and truly play a constructive role for regional peace and stability," said the spokesman.
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U.S. Democratic presidential contender Bernie Sanders has been on a winning streak in recent weeks, but he is likely to run into trouble in the New York state primary later this month, experts said.

On Saturday, Sanders clinched the state of Wyoming, beating Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton and adding to his winning streak after steamrolling through the states of Hawaii, Alaska and Washington in recent weeks.

But experts said the state of New York may not be so easy for Sanders, a senator from Vermont, to take.

"It's unlikely" that Sanders would win the state of New York, Christopher Galdieri, assistant professor at Saint Anselm College, told Xinhua.

"New York is a diverse state with a closed primary. Sanders has done best in states with few minority voters and caucuses or open primaries. Clinton's history in the state will help her there as well," he said.

Brookings Institution's senior fellow Darrell West echoed those thoughts, telling Xinhua that Clinton has the edge in pre-primary polling.

"There is a chance of a Sanders upset, but it would be surprising if she lost," West said of Clinton.

"It is a state she carried comfortably as U.S. Senator and she has a lot of strength in upstate New York," West said.

If Sanders did win the state, Galdieri said that would help continue the perception that his campaign is on a roll.

"But it would really depend on delegate allocation -- Clinton is going into New York with a large lead among pledged delegates and she will likely leave with one, no matter who wins," he said, referring to the system whereby candidates collect a certain number of delegates per each state they win.

"Sanders would need an absolute blowout to really make a dent in Clinton's lead, and there's no sign that that is likely to happen," he said.

West said if Sanders did carry New York, that would be a major problem for Clinton's campaign.

"It would show that the party grassroots has not warmed up to her and they don't trust her to protect working families the way they do him. That kind of outcome would move both campaigns into a much more negative mode as the two would attack each other in a much more serious way. She would pull out all stops in the races after that," he said.

On the other hand, a Sanders loss in the New York would let Clinton regain some control of the campaign narrative, and help her going into the following week's primaries after New York.

Sanders, a self-described socialist, has done particularly well in states with a large proportion of young white voters but has not done well with minorities.

Sanders is particularly popular among millennials, a group that has fared poorly since the 2008 economic crash that sent the economy reeling and from which the U.S. job market has not fully recovered, even seven years later.

Many are university educated but are working part time jobs, feeling the double-whammy not only of lower incomes, but also working in jobs that do not get them any meaningful job experience that they can use to build their long-term marketable skill set.

On top of that, the average millennial is saddled with around 35,000 U.S. dollars in student loan debt, which bars them from investing in real estate, taking away from their long-term financial prospects.
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The European Parliament (EP) opened its plenary session on Monday during which the fight against terrorism and the stalemate in the handling of the refugee crisis is at the heart of the debates.

"March 22 was a black day for Belgium and for all of Europe," declared Martin Schulz, president of the EP. "Via Brussels, it is the heart of the European Union which was targeted by the pitiless killers of Daesh."

The president asked the Members of European Parliament (MEPs) to observe a minute of silence in memory of all victims of terrorism.

The parliamentarians must vote on Thursday regarding the creation of European Passenger Name Record (PNR).

Following the terrorist attacks in Brussels, French president Francois Hollande had underlined "the absolute urgency" of the "immediate adoption" of the PNR, while his Prime Minister Manuel Valls had already sent to MEPs a "call to responsibility."

The PNR directive - which will oblige airlines to hand over data on their passengers (such as the dates of their trips, itineraries or contact information) to European countries concerned by a flight to or from a third country - remains nevertheless the subject of certain controversies related to data protection and the protection of privacy.

On the migration front, the Turkish "dossier" promises to cause noise in the hemicycle.

The terms of the agreement, reached during a meeting between European heads of state and government on March 18 in Brussels, and with the goal of returning to Turkey migrants and asylum seekers from the Greek islands, has received fierce criticism.

The MEPs will debate the agreement Wednesday morning with the president of the European Council Donald Tusk and President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker.
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Talks were under way on Monday between Ireland's Fine Gael (United Ireland Party) and its main rival Fianna Fail (Republican Party) about the formation of a new minority government.

Ireland's national public service broadcaster RTE quoted Fine Gael leader and caretaker Prime Minister Enda Kenny as confirming that negotiating teams from the two largest political parties were meeting in an effort to find agreement on forming a minority government.

The talks came after Fianna Fail rejected Fine Gael's offer of a full partnership government last week.

The initial focus of the talks was expected to be how a minority government would work, rather than discussions on policies.

While Fine Gael insists that its leader Kenny offers the best prospect of leading a stable minority government, the party has not ruled out the prospect of a minority Fianna Fail government.

A minority government would mean Fine Gael or Fianna Fail would need to secure support from other parties on an issue-by-issue basis in order to get legislation through.

The Dail Eireann, lower house of Irish parliament, will reconvene on Thursday, and members of parliament are then due to vote to elect a prime minister for a third time since the Feb. 26 general election.

The Irish parliament failed to elect a prime minister on March 10 and April 6 separately.

Both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail had not won an overall majority in the general election. Fine Gael, which has 50 seats in the Dail Eireann, is still the largest party in Ireland in terms of members of parliament. Fianna Fail, having 44 seats, is the second largest party.
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Russian Defense Ministry on Monday warned that Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group is planning a large-scale offensive in Syria.

A screenshot taken on March 15, 2016 from Russian Defense Ministry video shows the first group of Russian Aerospace Force aircraft heading back to Russia from Hmeimim, Syria, on March 15, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

"It is known that Jabhat al-Nusra is to launch a large-scale offensive in order to cut off the road linking Aleppo to (the Syrian capital of) Damascus," said Sergei Rudskoi, head of the Russian Defense Ministry's Main Operational Directorate.

Rudskoi said 8,000 militants of the terrorist group have gathered in the southwest of Aleppo, and up to 1,500 militants in the north of the city.

Armed terrorist groups also appeared in several towns in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib and other regions, with tank and vehicles equipped with large-caliber machine guns, he said.

"Russian defense department addressed to U.S. counterparts by different channels for quelling such actions because it could destabilize the situation," Rudskoi said in a statement.

Noting that Jabhat al-Nusra is performing active warfare using these forces, Rudskoi urged necessary measures to stop terrorists' actions and prevent the siege of northern Syrian regions.

After withdrawal of its main air forces deployed in Syria since September 2015 to help the war-torn country fight terrorists, Russia is still striking terrorist targets and keeping coordination with the U.S.-led coalition forces.
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The U.S. State Department on Monday issued a travel warning for American citizens planning to visit Saudi Arabia, 10 days before President Barack Obama was due to visit the Gulf country.

It urged U.S. citizens to "carefully consider the risks of traveling to Saudi Arabia," the State Department posted a travel warning on its website.

"There continues to be reports of threats against U.S. citizens and other Westerners, as well as locations frequented by them," it said, adding the Islamic States (IS) terrorist group has directed or inspired multiple attacks on mosques last year in Saudi Arabia.

"Ongoing security concerns" in Yemen and Iraq also added a reason for issuing the travel warning, which replaced an old warning issued on Sept. 21, 2015.

The warning said both Al-Qaida and the IS are planning attacks in the kingdom, including "house compounds, hotels, restaurants, shopping areas, international schools" and other facilities.

It also restricted U.S. government personnel and their families from traveling within 50 miles (80 km) of the Yemeni border, and to the cities of Jizan and Najran, without permission. The warning banned U.S. government personnel from traveling to the city of Qatif in the eastern province and its surrounding suburbs.

Obama is scheduled to participate in a summit of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council on April 21 in Saudi Arabia.
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Chinese Ambassador to the UK Liu Xiaoming on Monday called on the two countries to work together to solve the current difficulties faced by their steel industries.

In a signed article published in The Daily Telegraph newspaper, Liu noted that some in Britain blame China for the closures and layoffs suffered by British steel industry and accuse China of "dumping" steel in Britain.

"Making China the 'scapegoat' only misleads the public and contributes nothing to the solution of the problem," Liu said.

Liu noted several reasons behind the woes of Britain's steel industry, including a shift of traditional manufacturing economy to the one of modern services and finance, worldwide overcapacity caused by weak demand and high costs of steel production in Britain.

He pointed out that China's steel exports to Britain is not to be blamed for the predicament since in both volume and value, steel imports from China make up only a fraction of the UK's total steel imports.

In 2015, out of the UK's 6.66 million tons of imported steel, 760,000 tons or 11 percent came from China. This amounted to 457 million U.S. dollars, or only 7.6 percent of total British steel imports (5.98 billion U.S. dollars), he said.

Moreover, steel products from China are mostly low value-added, such as ordinary steel rods and plates, which Britain no longer makes and would have to import from other countries anyway, the ambassador said.

"Therefore, imports from China have no impact upon the British steel market. On the contrary, by importing steels from China, the auto, machinery, construction and other British industries have effectively lowered their costs and increased their profit margin," Liu said.

Like their British counterparts, steelmakers in China are also in difficulty, which is "even more serious and challenging," Liu said.

China has reduced steel capacity by 90 million tons and is going to cut its crude steel capacity by 100 to 150 million tons in the next fives years, he said.

"This new round of reductions will result in several million lay-offs and relocations of steelworkers, far outnumbering those in the UK," he said.

"Both China and the UK have huge challenges on our way ahead -- to reform and revitalize our respective steel sectors, and to provide help and support to those workers who might lose their jobs," he said.

Both the Chinese and British governments believe that there should be closer dialogue and co-operation, he said adding that working with, rather than against, each other is the only way leading to a solution.

Overcapacity in the steel industry is a global problem, which calls for a global solution with stronger communication and co-operation among all steelmakers worldwide, who have the joint responsibility to uphold the order of steel trade and promote the sound development of the global steel industry, Liu said

In September, world leaders will gather in Hangzhou, China for the G20 Summit, which will focus on ways to withstand the global downward pressure, to find innovative growth models and to enhance international trade and investment, he said.

"It is my hope and belief that China and the UK will work together to strengthen dialogue, break through the current difficulties and create a sustainable future for the steel industries of both countries," Liu said.
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Israeli authorities sealed off the home of a Palestinian who threw a rock which led to the death of an Israeli in September 2015, the Israeli army said.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and police units on Monday cemented and sealed off the home of Abed Dawiat in the Palestinian village of Sur Baher in east Jerusalem, the IDF spokesperson told Xinhua.

In September 2015, Dawiat, who was then 17 years old, threw rocks at Israeli vehicles in southeast Jerusalem along with other youths. One of the rocks hit an Israeli car driven by Alexander Levlovitz.

The 64-year-old Levlovitz lost control of the vehicle and drove into a post in southeast Jerusalem, resulting in his death. The incident took place shortly prior to the outburst of a wave of violence in which 28 Israelis and nearly 200 Palestinians were killed.

Dawiat and three other Palestinian youths were indicted earlier this year for the attack, with the court conceding it was the rock thrown by Dawiat, who confessed to throwing the stones, that hit Levlovitz's car.

On Sunday, the Supreme Court ruled that Dawiat's home can be sealed off, but ruled against using such measures against the other three defendants, while discussing appeals against the measure.

The IDF reported that the homes of 11 Palestinian attackers have been demolished since September, three of which were connected to attacks that occurred prior to the wave of violence that started in October.

Israel has expedited the use of home demolitions amid the wave of Palestinian car-ramming, stabbing and shooting attacks against Israelis, in hopes of deterring future attackers.

The defense establishment, however, criticized the effectiveness of these tactics in a 2005 report by defense officials, and human rights groups charge that home demolitions constitute collective punishments.

Netanyahu had announced recently he would be seeking to advance other punishments against families of attackers, including their expulsion to other territories in the West Bank, or to the Gaza Strip.

Israel occupied the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip territories in the 1967 Mideast War. While Israeli leaders charge Palestinian incitement is to blame for the wave of unrest, Palestinian charge it is caused by the frustration amid 49 years of occupation and dim prospects of establishing a Palestinian state.

After occupying east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast War, Israel annexed the territory, home to 300,000 Palestinians, as part of the Jerusalem municipality in 1981, in a move not recognized by the international community.
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The G7 group of nations may not benefit "if they are hijacked by selfish interests of certain countries", China said on Monday.

Beijing outlined its position after saying that Tokyo sought a special statement from the group to target China on the South China Sea issue.

If the G7 is to continue playing a big role, it should "tackle the issues that the international community has great concern with", Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said at a regular news conference in Beijing.

The G7 foreign ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States ended their two-day meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, on Monday.

Observers said the G7 may be derailed by Japan as all seven member states are outsiders on the sea issue. They said the key goal of such meetings should have been to focus on issues topping the global agenda, including the refugees situation and sluggish global economy.

Although a document on maritime issues that was passed at the meeting on Monday did not name China, it covered areas where the country has disputes or maritime problems with neighbors.

The document said the G7 expressed its strong opposition to any intimidating, coercive or provocative unilateral actions that could alter the status quo and increase tensions.

The Nikkei Shimbun newspaper in Japan said the document targeted China, while Japanese broadcaster NHK said the statement showed the G7 nations' concern over China's actions in the South China Sea.

Liu Jiangyong, deputy dean of the Institute of Modern International Relations at Tsinghua University, said the G7 foreign ministers should discuss economic cooperation, aid to needy countries and the refugee issue.

"However, the meeting has ended up as a steppingstone for the ruling Japanese Cabinet to justify radical new security bills," Liu said.

Lyu Yaodong, a researcher of Japanese diplomacy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the G7 meeting had ended up as a stage for Japan's political stance "because Tokyo is protecting its image as a victim of nuclear bombing and whitewashing its role in waging war".

Tokyo has long lobbied African countries to support its bid to reform the United Nations Security Council and make Japan a permanent member.

NHK television reported this month that the African country of Chad had been invited to attend the G7 summit in May.

Lyu said, "This (the ministers' meeting) has drawn a sharp contrast with last year. Japan promised a lot last year at G7 venues on assisting impoverished African countries and helping with construction there."

Over the weekend, the US publicly supported Japan's plan to put the South China Sea issue on the agenda at the G7 foreign ministers' meeting.

Gao Hong, a senior researcher of Japanese studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the US has long expected to reinforce its military presence and that of Japan in both the East China Sea and South China Sea.

"However, Japan has not taken the bold step of embarking on a joint patrol with the US ... in the South China Sea because it knows it is an outsider that is not relevant to the maritime issue," Gao added.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi told visiting British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond in Beijing on Saturday that the G7 foreign ministers "should not play up the South China Sea issue".

Wang said China hopes Britain will adopt an objective and fair stand on the issue.
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A cease-fire between the Saudi-backed Yemeni government and Shiite Houthi group largely held on Monday, the first day of almost two-week long UN-backed truce, despite minor violations, providing hopes to about 25 million people facing imminent threats of famine.

Yemeni fighters loyal to exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi stand near empty shells in the Sirwah area, in Marib province, on April 10, 2016, as clashes continued against Shiite Huthi rebels. [Photo/Xinhua]

The Shiite Houthi rebel group and its allies loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who now control the capital city of Sanaa, agreed to halt hostilities on Saturday, but said they would fight back if under attack.

So, too, did Saudi Arabia and its allies of embattled Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's government fighting for restoring power from Shiite Houthis.

The truce began Sunday midnight and is scheduled to last until the end of peace talks in Kuwait that are set to begin on April 18 between the warring Yemeni sides, in efforts sponsored by the United Nations to end a year of deadly war.

Several violations were reported by the Shiite rebels over the truce's first 24 hours, including "continuing" air raids from the Saudi-led coalition against Sanaa and other cities. Also, several violations were recorded by Saudi-backed government forces in the southern province of Taiz and northern provinces of Al-Jouf and Marib.

In the capital Sanaa, residents said they heard loud sounds of fighter jets crossing the sky of Sanaa just three hours after the cease-fire officially went into effect, and that coalition warplanes continued flying over Sanaa until early Monday morning.

Early Monday, pro-Houthi media outlets reported a first airstrike on Nihm, on the eastern outskirts of Sanaa, targeting the house of Houthi loyalist leader Sheikh Ahmed Sabir. Residents in Nihm confirmed the airstrike.

Another three airstrikes targeted a Houthi gathering in Salah area, and the hills of Al-Sallal and Al-Jasha in the east of the southern city of Taiz, according to Houthi media and residents there. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the airstrikes.

On the other side, the Saudi-backed Yemeni government reported a first civilian killed in a Houthi rebel shelling in the first hours of the truce in Birarah area in Taiz. Government forces also reported the killing of one of its soldiers in rebel shelling against Usaifirah area in the north of Taiz.

Medical officials confirmed both deaths.

In the northern desert province of Al-Jouf, residents reported sporadic clashes in three districts of Al-Mutoon, Al-Masloob and Al-Ghail district. Both the Houthi rebel group and Saudi-backed government forces traded accusations of breaching the cease-fire.

However, pro-government media outlets reported that the government forces stormed and controlled Al-Masloob district Monday afternoon after Houthi rebel breached the truce in the area early morning.

Sporadic clashes were also reported between the rebels and government forces in Bayhan area in the southeastern province of Shabwa. Both sides accused each other of breaching the cease-fire.

In the afternoon, Houthi media reported other Saudi-led airstrikes and said they targeted Al-Sad area in the southern province of al-Bayda, and the areas of Asilan and Almatup in the southeastern province of Shabwa, as well as other air raids against the areas of Jahmalia, Thabat and Dhabab in the southern province of Taiz.

Official Saba news agency, which is under Houthi rebel control, quoted a military spokesman as saying that "the Saudi aggression and their mercenaries have yet to commit to the truce that has officially been agreed upon and declared by the United Nations."

More than 6,000 people, half of them civilians, have been killed in ground battles and airstrikes in Yemen since armed Houthi rebels seized the capital city of Sanna in September 2014, driving President Hadi into exile.

Previous cease-fires and negotiations between the warring parties in the country only temporarily curbed violence but failed to produce any progress toward peace.

However, some analysts say they see a more conducive atmosphere for the Kuwait talks next week.
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The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP) are intensifying joint efforts to assist communities in northern Somalia coping with a severe drought exacerbated by El Nino conditions.

The two agencies are providing an integrated package of life-saving humanitarian assistance to halt the deteriorating food security and rising malnutrition in the affected areas of Somaliland and Puntland, where 385,000 need immediate assistance, while another 1.3 million are on the brink of slipping into a deeper crisis if rains continue to fail and aid is too slow to come.

The aid package includes food assistance, nutrition programmes, and health services, as well as support to help communities access safe water and improve sanitation and hygiene conditions.

"The communities have lived through four successive poor rainy seasons, and their ability to cope with the drought has been stretched to the limit," said UNICEF Representative for Somalia, Steven Lauwerier. "Our concerted efforts are needed now to save the lives of tens of thousands of children and their families. Any delay from the international community will put their lives further at risk of hunger and disease," he added

In addition to increased malnutrition cases and enrolment in nutrition programmes in the most affected areas, malnutrition-related deaths have been reported in areas such as Awdal region bordering Ethiopia.

In response, UNICEF is strengthening services at community level, deploying joint mobile health and nutrition teams to reach pastoral and other hard-to-reach groups. Malnourished children will receive an essential package of primary health care interventions, including emergency immunization. UNICEF is also providing 50,000 households with access to safe water via vouchers in the affected areas, and have repaired seven boreholes.

For its part, WFP has provided food assistance and nutrition support for 147,000 vulnerable people in the areas worst affected by the drought, and WFP continues to provide food or cash-based assistance to help families make it through the dry season.

"The people of Somalia know all too well the dangers of drought, but a drought does not have to mean a disaster  the world must recognize that we can save lives if we act in time," said WFP Country Director Laurent Bukera. "It is absolutely critical that we are able to sustain assistance to the people affected by this crisis, so we can stem the damage of undernutrition for mothers and children before it has lifelong consequences."

Together, the two agencies provide specialized nutrition support to prevent and treat malnutrition in pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and young children.

Emergency health supplies have also been pre-positioned in regional hospitals, health facilities and with partners to support the response.

In Puntland, UNICEF pre-positioned nutrition supplies, including 500 cartons of BP-5  a high energy biscuit. In Somaliland, 15,000 cartons of ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) were provided to the Ministry of Health.
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Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang at a regular press briefing on April 12, 2016. [fmprc.gov.cn]

The Philippines is hypocritical and inconsistent in word and deed as it prepares to revamp a military airport in the South China Sea, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang on Tuesday.

Lu made the remarks at a regular press briefing while commenting on a report that the Philippines is ready to upgrade a military airport on Zhongye Island, part of China's Nansha Islands in the South China Sea.

The Philippine air force has recently transported substantial amounts of construction materials to the island, according to a report in the China Daily.

The Philippines hypocritically claimed to have stopped construction on Zhongye Island while brazenly continuing to upgrade facilities such as an airport on the island, which the Philippines occupies illegally, Lu told the press briefing.

He added that it exposed the fact that the arbitration lodged by the Philippines was political provocation under the cloak of law.

According to Lu, since the 1970s, the Philippines have illegally occupied some islands and reefs of the Nansha Islands by force, violating international laws including the UN Charter and the basic norms of international relations. The Philippines did a lot of building and deployment of armaments on the islands and reefs it illegally occupied, Lu said.

Lu urged the Philippines to respect China's territorial sovereignty and rights and interests, and abide by international laws including the UN Charter, the basic norms of international relations and the Declaration of the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC).

"The Philippines should stop activities that violate China's territorial sovereignty and rights and interests, and return to the correct track of solving relevant disputes via bilateral negotiations," Lu said.
Award-winning author Cao Wenxuan receives a warm welcome from young readers upon his arrival at Beijing's airport on Saturday. [Photo provided to China Daily]

It is rare to see an author receiving the adulation the public usually reserves for movie stars.

Such a sight unfolded at the Beijing Capital International Airport on Saturday, when Cao Wenxuan arrived from Italy.

Hundreds of people had gathered to greet Cao, China's first winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Awards, which are top honors presented every two years to one writer and one illustrator from the world of children's literature, named after the Danish master of fairy tales.

Cao, 62, says he expected the media spotlight to fall on him soon after he received a congratulatory phone message from an acquittance in Beijing while he was attending the Bologna Children's Book Fair in Italy after he was announced a winner of the awards this year.

During a news conference with Cao at the airport on Saturday, Xu Zhengming, an official with the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, said the market for books for young people in China has entered a golden era.

Cao's stories are anchored in rural China, where he was born and raised, but at the same time they seek to bring to the fore themes that are common to different cultures.

"(They're) rooted in the homeland and discuss issues that are shared by all is clever writing," he says.

Cao believes the transformation China has undergone in the past decades has offered its writers a wide range of subjects to pick from.

"Chinese literature's contribution to the world is its unique Chinese experience, based on hard years the country has lived through," Cao says.

When his 2005 novel Bronze and Sunflower was published in English last year, The Independent newspaper wrote that it offered a story so different that young British readers might be reluctant to read it.

The Straw House, one of Cao's best books since the 1990s, has been reprinted more than 300 times, among which, he says, about 100 times were for adult readers.

Literary giant Ernest Hemingway and other such greats as Kawabata Yasunari, Shen Congwen and Lu Xun have influenced him, and they weren't known as writers of children's books.

Cao writes with no special targets in mind. What he cares about is good storytelling, the use of humor and wisdom that books reflect.

Cao, who is also a professor of literature at Peking University, addresses criticism that his works reveal a limited understanding of gender and sexuality, as most of his female characters tend to be gentle.

He says his novels are more about aesthetics and less about feminism.

In some ways, he has created Kui Hua in Bronze and other characters in his books, in the image of Andersen's The Little Match Girl, he says.

The jury for the 2016 Hans Christian Andersen Awards overwhelmingly voted for him, which probably says something about his writing.

"I am not a genius coming out of nowhere," Cao says, adding that he is getting the award partly because of the rising international profile of Chinese authors.

Writing actively since the end of the last century, a time of "fundamental changes" in China, he says, he earlier came across critics who questioned original ideas for children's books in China.

"Some were thrilled about foreign books and were not confident enough to even mention our own works," Cao adds.

Asking critics to adopt a more balanced view, he says confidence is not only key in self-evaluation but also an important factor when talking about Chinese literature's global acceptance.

In 2014, Cao partnered with Daylight Publishing House and People's Literature Publishing House to create the Cao Wenxuan Literature & Art Center.

According to Liu Guohui, head of Daylight, the center aims to launch a full-fledged copyright-based project on his writing, and has already produced award-winning film adaptations.

The body is already offering Cao's stories to world-renowned illustrators for picture books as part of the project.

"It's a smart way to open the window and let others take a look inside and see the chances of cooperation," Cao says.

Xu, from the state administration, says Chinese publishers plan to launch 60,700 titles for young people this yearsome 12,000 titles more than in 2015accounting for about 26 percent of all books published in the country.

"What we have is a really active and prosperous market for children's publishing," Xu says.

Cao says he wants to return to the writing table soon, because that's his calling. He plans to finish a new novel by August, when he will collect the Andersen award in New Zealand.

"I will have to wrap it up even if it rains bullets or fireballs."
BEIJING - Premier Li Keqiang met the heads of several major provincial regions on Monday, urging them to push forward supply-side structural reform to help stabilize economic growth.

Local authorities should cut red tape, implement tax breaks, encourage innovation and eliminate outdated capacity, Li told governors of Hebei, Liaoning, Jiangsu, Shandong, Hunan, Guangdong, Qinghai, and mayor of Chongqing when discussing the nation's economic situation.

According to the premier, China needs joint efforts from central and local governments to face up to economic challenges.
Residents in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, visit a model of a commercial property project.WU YUANFENG / FOR CHINA DAILY

When I started my apartment hunting in Beijing last year, my agent at a top Chinese real estate brokerage with a transaction value of 700 billion yuan ($108 billion) in 2015, soon equipped me with an effective weapona friend of his, who pretended to be another potential buyer.

The agent told me if I like the apartment, he could ask his "potential buyer" friend to offer the owner a low price, which would certainly make the owner lose his confidence about the market.

"Then you can offer a slightly higher price. It can help you get a better deal," he said.

That was the time when I realized that buying an apartment, especially in China's first-tier cites like Beijing and Shanghai, is a war not only financially but also psychologically.

I understand that all agents need to be smart to successfully complete a deal.

But I don't think being smart means making people anxious and tricking them into business decisions by hiding part of the information or providing them fake information.

So as housing prices in big cities have continued to soar since the Spring Festival, I wonder if it's because of people's real need, or a herd mentality, or both.

Take my one-year house-hunting experience as an example, the "potential buyer friend" strategy is only one of their moves.

Sometimes, in order to successfully sell an apartment, different agents will take all their potential buyers to check the same place, staging a "it-is-in-high-demand" show.

So you think it would be a better idea to talk to more agents in order to get a bigger picture of the market situation?

I have met different agents in different areas in Beijing since the beginning of 2014, but they all told me the same thing"you need to hurry up, otherwise the housing prices will get higher and higher".

The truth is that the property market in 2014 in Beijing was rather sluggish, with the number of secondhand apartments sold in the year down by 30 percent.

But still, every time I saw an apartment, the agent pushed me to take the plunge, telling me "you will regret if you don't buy this one". Or after one day or two, before I even asked, they told me that the apartments I just saw had already been sold.

Working with other real estate brokerages could be anther option. But the market has been dominated by a couple of leaders in major cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen.

Smaller players do not have an abundant pool of listed apartments.

So if all the agents thought along the same lines as the ones I've met, this could mean serious trouble, as dodgy deals and poor quality of service will hurt both customers and the business.

There is need for more third-party organizations to provide independent information about the secondhand property market.

Up till now, most the information regarding prices and transactions is from brokers.

One year later, the bad shopping experience still haunts me. Through WeChat, my agents keep sending me photos of the long queue waiting outside the property-trading center due to the hot market or articles projecting a booming property market.

The thing is that I don't want to block them as I need advice and I haven't abandoned my search for my dream house.
The country's biggest lithium carbonate manufacturer by output has seen its profits soar, driven by a growing demand for new-energy vehicles.

Sichuan Tianqi Lithium Industries Inc had a net profit of 248 million yuan in 2015, up almost 90 percent from the end of 2014.

Its net profit in the first three months of this year stood at nearly 288 million yuan ($38.34 million), up more than 800 percent from the same period last year, with the company attributing it to the growing demand in the lithium ion battery market.

Lithium carbonate, the key raw material in the battery, has seen its prices increase by large margins as the government enhances its support for new-energy vehicles.

According to data from 100ppi.com, a bulk commodity information website, the price of lithium carbonate had increased from 40,000 yuan per ton in the beginning of 2015 to 100,000 yuan per ton by the end of 2015. The price at the moment is around 130,000 yuan per ton, up nearly 230 percent from the beginning of last year.

In 2015, China's output of new-energy vehicle stood at 379,000 units, accounting for 55 percent of the global output. In the same year, lithium ion battery output in China was 47.13 gigawatt hours, accounting for 46.78 percent of global output.

Electric-vehicle makers enjoy subsidies from the governments, which has significantly driven up the output of the vehicles.

China has 3.83 million tons of lithium reserve, mainly in salt lakes, accounting for 17 percent of the world's total reserves, according to the mineral research center of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences.

However, exploitation of the mineral remains quite slow due to environmental and technological obstacles, said Li Bingxin, deputy secretary-general of the lithium committee of the China NonFerrous Metals Industry Association.

"The construction cycle of a site to exploit lithium reserves in a mountainous area is around three to five years. Such a cycle for lithium reserves in salt lakes is even longer, about five to seven years. The lithium prices will fluctuate at a high level this year," said Li.

According to a report by Beijing-based China Securities Co Ltd, lithium carbonate is going to be in short supply for the remainder of this year. The inventory with manufacturers has remained low since December, and yet the demand remains high. Moreover, the exploitation of lithium in salt lakes had to be suspended in winter from December to January, the report added. The technologies for lithium exploitation are highly sophisticated, resulting in limited and slow new capacity creation. Therefore, the shortage in production capacity will continue to push up the price of lithium carbonate, said the report.

At the same time, Fang Jianhua, general manager of Hefei Guoxuan High-tech Power Energy Co Ltd, has warned of possible overcapacity in lithium-related industries.

"Though more enterprises try to hop on the wagon of growing lithium demand, the high-quality production capacity is lacking," said Fang at a recent electricity vehicle forum.

According to the China Passenger Car Association, China's new-energy passenger vehicle sales rose 107 percent year-on-year, with 39,500 sold in the first quarter. The pure electric cars sold 24,700 units, up 125 percent year-on-year.

Du Xiaoying contributed to this story.
Founder and Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group Jack Ma (R) and Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi (L) arrive at the Vinitaly wine exhibition in Verona, Italy, April 11 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

MILAN - The focus of Italian wine is more than ever on business and has a special consideration for China, experts said at the ongoing Vinitaly international wine fair in northern Italy.

In 2015, Italian wine exports came to more than 5.4 billion euros ($6.1 billion), up by over 5 percent compared to 2014, which set a new record, according to the fair's data.

Recent research shows that investing in the wine industry today is 160 percent more profitable than investing in the financial sector, said the President of Veronafiere, organizer of the fair, Maurizio Danese.

For certain denominations of origin, he added, the value of a hectare of vineyard has increased by more than 2,000 percent in 50 years.

"Fifty years ago, young people were leaving the countryside attracted by industry and the opportunities offered by large cities. Today, thanks to wine, many young people are returning to the land, finding professional opportunities in agriculture to build their future," Danese observed.

International attendance from the most important producer countries at Vinitaly, which runs from Sunday to Wednesday and celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, continues to expand. The 2016 limelight is on Spain, with a group attendance by 18 wine cellars, while China is attending Vinitaly for the first time.
A employee puts a handbag on the display shelf in a store in Hangzhou, Zhejiang in May 18, 2013. [Photo/IC]

There's no question that China  once regarded by luxury goods manufacturers as the 'golden goose' of retail, has lost some of its luster. Much has been said about the reasons  from China's slowing economy to President Xi Jinping's crackdown on corruption and the rapid knock-on effect which has seriously curtailed the practice of lavish gift-giving for favors. However, the question remains: where does this leave the key players? Does it mark the end of a highly profitable winning streak for luxury companies, or can things be turned around?

Shopping abroad

The good news for manufacturers in the luxury retail sector is that Chinese consumers have not given up on luxury spending. Brand appeal is still strong and while they may not be buying at home, they are still buying  albeit abroad. The pattern that is emerging in China's growing upper middle class is that they are travelling more, and further, and when they do so, shopping is high on their agenda. JingDaily, a digital publication that focuses on luxury consumer trends in China, recently reported that in 2015, 78 percent of luxury purchases by Chinese consumers took place outside Chinese mainland.

This trend reflects our own findings reported in our recently conducted Chinese Travellers survey. Put simply, the number of Chinese consumers purchasing premium products when they travel outside Chinese mainland is rising. Shopping is actually one of the key motivators behind their travel arrangements  second only to sightseeing  and is meticulously planned before the journey ever starts. Seventy-five percent of these traveler/shoppers do their research and plan their shopping in advance, getting advice and recommendations from friends and families, visiting specific brand websites and checking sites like Taobao and Tmall.

The typical affluent Chinese traveler makes about two outbound trips a year. Each trip lasts around a week, during which time he or she visits three locations on average and spends a total of $3,300. Half of the purchases they make on these trips are for personal use  the main categories being fashion items, food, jewelry and cosmetics. The top places to shop are department stores/shopping malls and airport retail outlets; downtown duty free also captures 14 percent share of wallet. When choosing a shopping channel, range and price are their top criteria and the most important reasons when making a purchase are product authenticity and price.

More, more, more

If one word could sum up the buying trends associated with today's Chinese luxury consumers, it would be 'more'. These buyers are not only more mature and more informed, they have more brands to choose from. They are also more interested in buying items that are personal signifiers  things they feel suit their own taste and style  now that they are not buying the ultimate logo as a gift for others. They are certainly more concerned about price, and will search the internet to find the best deals, and they are looking for a more exciting all round experience, not just buying a product.

This last point ties in with their continued travel aspirations which are more and more geared to luxury and leisure. Another recent consumer survey found that 53 percent of Chinese mainland intended to spend more on luxury travel this year.

Being savvy is the key

You might say that as long as Chinese consumers are still buying luxury goods, it shouldn't really matter to the manufacturer if they are shopping in China, Tokyo or Paris, and sales through e-commerce platforms or even Daigou are sales.

But of course this doesn't take into account the fact that tier one luxury brands have already invested heavily in bricks-and-mortar on the mainland, Hong Kong and Macau. As the downturn hit, some closed their smaller stores while others consolidated their overall offering to concentrate on the most profitable lines, but this should not be seen as a major retrenchment.

Shoppers can be brought back into the stores, but they need to be coaxed and coddled a lot more than they have been in the past. The 'build it and they will come' approach is no longer enough for this increasingly savvy consumer group. In the old days, just having the logo above the door was enough to make the tills work overtime. Not any more  manufacturers need to be more savvy too.

What does future has in store?

As the dust settles, particularly from the fallout from the anti-corruption drive, the market in China should recover. The wealthy middle class is still growing and consumers are clearly still interested in luxury goods. But to get back to significant, profitable performance, companies are going to have to change in three specific areas stores, service and systems.

From the store perspective, this will be all about creativity. They should be selling dreams not products. This will require a new focus on local store activation  not just the launch of a new line, but interesting, imaginative experiential events that speak to the aspirational status of high net-worth individuals (HNWIs). And the range of in-store products should also be carefully considered and controlled, maybe creating and managing an artificial shortage in certain stores.

From a service standpoint, HNWIs regard themselves as different  part of a special elite group who are 'in the know'. They feel part of a privileged set and want to be treated as such. They expect that special touch  a unique level of engagement that should be automatically invoked whether they are shopping in Beijing, Hong Kong or Dubai.

And finally, there is the question of systems. These cover a wide cross-section of the business of selling brand, including ecommerce, digital marketing, and price monitoring and adjustment. But perhaps the most interesting and rewarding will be the systems  possibly yet to be invented  that not only follow the trail of the travelling Chinese consumer, but predict where he or she is going next and market directly to them, in advance.

The author is the managing director of Greater China of Oliver Wyman. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
A worker at a steel company in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, in January 2015.[Photo/China Daily]

BEIJING - China said on Monday it is willing to work with the international community including Britain to solve the global overcapacity in steel industry via win-win cooperation.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang made the remarks at a daily press briefing in response to a question concerning the meeting between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his British counterpart Philip Hammond last Saturday in Beijing.

Calling the overcapacity in steel industry a global issue brought by the decline of global need, Lu said Wang and Hammond exchanged views on how to jointly address the issue in the meeting.

According to Lu, Hammond spoke positively of China's great efforts on cutting the excess manufacturing capacity in steel industry during the meeting, stressing that Britain would like to appropriately solve the issue via bilateral and international cooperation.

China commended Britain's adherence to the open and free trade policy, said Lu, adding that China stood ready to tackle the issue together with Britain and the rest of the world via win-win cooperation.
BEIJING - Chinese Vice-Premier Wang Yang called on US enterprises to cooperate and trade more with Chinese counterparts, as he met with two US business chiefs on Monday.

China is at a crucial stage of reform to develop a more open economy, Wang told Jeffrey R. Immelt, chairman and CEO of General Electric, and Wendell P. Weeks, chairman and CEO of Corning Incorporated.

The vice-premier said he is hoping business exchanges can help shape a new type of major-country relations between China and the United States.
An intelligent robot operates a machine during the 12th China International Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Fair in Guangzhou, October 2015. [Photo/IC]

For the first time, the 13th China International Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Fair, to be held in October in Guangzhou, will have an African country as a co-host.

The fair is being organized by the Cote d'Ivoire Ministry of Commerce along with China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, State Administration for Industry and Commerce and the Guangdong provincial government.

At a news press conference in Beijing on Friday, officials said SMEs from Cote d'Ivoire will participate in the fair to promote the country's goods and culture.

Feng Fei, vice-minister of the industry and information technology ministry, said having an African co-host for the first time will further the event's international influence.

Yuan Baocheng, vice-governor of Guangdong, said this year's fair, which is slated to have 4,600 booths in an exhibition area of around 100,000 square meters in size, will include a new exhibition area to bridge SMEs and cross-border e-commerce businesses.

Exhibitions on textiles, clothing and energy conservation will be held at the Poly World Trade Center Expo from Oct 10 to 13.



The Guangzhou International Sourcing Center will host an exhibition on construction materials and home furnishings from Oct 16 to 20. A show on manufacturing and equipment will be held from Oct 24 to 27.
SHANGHAI - The first firm order from an Asian customer for an Airbus ACJ319neo, the aircraft maker's business jet, has been placed, the company said on Monday.

Airbus has received firm orders for six ACJneo Family aircraft since its launch less than a year ago, highlighting its strong appeal in the marketplace, said John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer for Customers.

The delivery will be made in the second quarter of 2019, he said.

Airbus delivered its first business jet to China in 2005. Now more than 20 Airbus business jets are in operation in China.

More than 180 Airbus corporate jets fly to every continent, including Antarctica.
The Tmall Eco-Summit kicks off in Hangzhou, April 11. [Photo/IC]

A variety of fashionable, high-tech products will be available on Tmall.com, Alibaba Group's online marketplace, according to officials at a technology summit held by Alibaba on Monday.

At the Tmall Eco-Summit, Yin Jing, president of the home appliance arm of Tmall, and John Kelly, director of Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Asia, jointly announced the initial launch of the products on the online platform.

The event showcased 29 types of new gadgets including the much anticipated virtual reality head-mounted display HTC VIVE and the artificial intelligent robot Rokid, which won an innovation price at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January.

LG G6, dubbed as the world's thinnest TV, and SONY Fes Watch, a new smartwatch from Sony, were also on display.

More than 100 executives of home appliance companies attended the event and had onsite experience of the new gadgets.
LONDON - Chinese Ambassador to the UK Liu Xiaoming on Monday called on the two countries to work together to solve the current difficulties faced by their steel industries.

In a signed article published in The Daily Telegraph newspaper, Liu noted that some in Britain blame China for the closures and layoffs suffered by British steel industry and accuse China of "dumping" steel in Britain.

"Making China the 'scapegoat' only misleads the public and contributes nothing to the solution of the problem," Liu said.

Liu noted several reasons behind the woes of Britain's steel industry, including a shift of traditional manufacturing economy to the one of modern services and finance, worldwide overcapacity caused by weak demand and high costs of steel production in Britain.

He pointed out that China's steel exports to Britain is not to be blamed for the predicament since in both volume and value, steel imports from China make up only a fraction of the UK's total steel imports.

In 2015, out of the UK's 6.66 million tons of imported steel, 760,000 tons or 11 percent came from China. This amounted to $457 million, or only 7.6 percent of total British steel imports ($5.98 billion), he said.

Moreover, steel products from China are mostly low value-added, such as ordinary steel rods and plates, which Britain no longer makes and would have to import from other countries anyway, the ambassador said.

"Therefore, imports from China have no impact upon the British steel market. On the contrary, by importing steels from China, the auto, machinery, construction and other British industries have effectively lowered their costs and increased their profit margin," Liu said.

Like their British counterparts, steelmakers in China are also in difficulty, which is "even more serious and challenging," Liu said.

China has reduced steel capacity by 90 million tons and is going to cut its crude steel capacity by 100 to 150 million tons in the next five years, he said.

"This new round of reductions will result in several million lay-offs and relocations of steelworkers, far outnumbering those in the UK," he said.

"Both China and the UK have huge challenges on our way ahead -- to reform and revitalize our respective steel sectors, and to provide help and support to those workers who might lose their jobs," he said.

Both the Chinese and British governments believe that there should be closer dialogue and co-operation, he said adding that working with, rather than against, each other is the only way leading to a solution.

Overcapacity in the steel industry is a global problem, which calls for a global solution with stronger communication and co-operation among all steelmakers worldwide, who have the joint responsibility to uphold the order of steel trade and promote the sound development of the global steel industry, Liu said.

In September, world leaders will gather in Hangzhou, China for the G20 Summit, which will focus on ways to withstand the global downward pressure, to find innovative growth models and to enhance international trade and investment, he said.

"It is my hope and belief that China and the UK will work together to strengthen dialogue, break through the current difficulties and create a sustainable future for the steel industries of both countries," Liu said.
China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN), the country's largest nuclear operator in terms of capacity, plans to set up regional headquarters in Malaysia to push business in Southeast Asian countries, CGN said on Tuesday.

The company, known as CGN Southeast Asia, is expected to enhance the development and investment of clean energy in the region, said Zhang Shanming, CGN President, during the opening ceremony.

The nuclear giant became the biggest foreign direct investor in Malaysia after it completed an equity purchase deal with Malaysian energy company Edra Global Energy. It will buy 13 clean energy projects in Malaysia, Egypt, Bengal, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with a total overseas installed capacity of 8.85 gigawatts.

The deal also enabled the state company to become the largest independent power producer in Egypt and Bangladesh.

CGN said it will retain all of Edra's existing staff to utilize their skills and resources.

"Edra's human resources are the most important assets of the company. The team has a wealth of management experience and professional experience, laying a solid foundation for our next phase of development," Zhang said.

Before the acquisition, CGN tried to diversify its business beyond nuclear energy with development of other forms of clean energy, including solar power, wind power, biomass and natural gas. Its projects cover countries such as the United States, Australia, Singapore, South Korea, the United Kingdom and France.

The total installed capacity of CGN's nuclear energy from both operating projects and those under construction amounted to over 32.4 GW, while solar power installed capacity reached 1.2 GW, so far.
A Chinese auto manufacturer began a long-distance road test on its two self-driving cars on Tuesday.

The test showcases the country's ambition to chase international competitors in a red-hot industry that already boasts names such as Google, Audi, Toyota and BMW.

The two cars, manufactured by Changan Automobile in Chongqing, are scheduled to travel 1,900 kilometers from Chongqing to Beijing. The journey is expected to take five days.

A news release by the company said the test cars will run on highways at speeds of 80 to 120 kilometers per hour. A speed of 150 km/h was reached in previous tests.

This is the second-longest distance for such a test in the world, falling short of Audi's coast-to-coast test in the United States that covered 5,000 km last year, Changan said.

Zhang Xu, chief research officer at the Internet Transportation Research Center at consultancy Analysys, said, "If the test is completed with no major accidents, it will be a milestone for China's self-driving car industry, showing that our techniques are close to matching the world's best."

Although it is a self-driving test, drivers are still needed. Two licensed drivers for the test cars take turns every two hours to ensure safety during the test.

Kong Zhouwei, an engineer with Changan who is one of the test drivers on the trip, said, "Our self-driving techniques are still some way from being driverless in the true sense, but we are continuing to adopt mature techniques for mass-produced vehicles after developing, experimenting and road testing."

The two cars will run mainly on highways where driving conditions are easier than those on urban roads.

But dangers remain along the route, such as drivers suddenly cutting in, stray animals and falling stones, which the vehicle sensors need time to acknowledge. Bad weather can also add to the difficulties.

Auto and IT companies globally have been making great efforts to develop self-driving cars equipped with vehicle sensors, cameras and radar.

In China, Guangzhou Automobile Group, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp and BYD, as well as Alibaba and Baidu have announced their involvement.

According to a survey released by the World Economic Forum in November, 76 percent of Chinese said they would not mind riding in a self-driving car, higher than the global average of 58 percent.

Wang Xiaojing, chief engineer at the Ministry of Transport's Highway Research Institute, said, "The Chinese government is cautious but positive on developing such technology, and a specialized testing environment is being established."

This is why Changan has come up with an ambitious plan.

Tan Benhong, executive vice-president of the company's General Research Center, said the State-owned firm plans to start producing self-driving cars by the end of 2018 when "people can see all the tested techniques on mass-produced cars".

After the test, the two cars will be on show this month in Beijing at Auto China.

Chongqing Daily contributed to this story

Contact the writer at yandongjie@chinadaily.com.cn
Hiro Matsunaga, chief editor of Car Styling, in a GS4 during a test drive. He praised both its looks and performance.Photo by Qiu Quanlin / China Daily

In its March edition, Car Styling, a Japanese magazine featuring designs of international cars, said the GS4, a star SUV model developed by the Chinese carmaker GAC Motor, was leading the way for GAC to take tremendous steps forward, thanks to its superior design and quality.

Sales of the GS4 surpassed 30,000 units in January, realizing a monthly increase for 10 consecutive months after it was launched in April last year, according to the company.

Driven by the inspiring sales of the GS4, GAC Motor sold 79,400 units of cars in the first quarter of this year, a year-on-year increase of 170.9 percent over the same period in 2015, according to a company source.

In its four-page report, Car Styling hailed the GS4 as a Chinese homegrown star in the limelight of the SUV market. According to the report, seven Chinese homegrown SUV brands were among the top 10 SUVs in the Chinese market in 2015, with GAC's GS4 distinguishing itself from the pack and strengthening its market presence. Sales of the popular GS4 have been over 20,000 units per month since October last year, according to the report.

"Chinese brands are now good at both design and quality. I am expecting the GS4 will be on roads in Japan in the near future," Hiro Matsunaga, the chief editor of Car Styling, said during a visit to GAC Motor in January.

GAC, a division of the Hong Kong- and Shanghai-listed Guangzhou Automobile Group Co, focuses on research and development of vehicles under the Trumpchi brand.

Matsunaga was first impressed by the GS4 during an auto show in North America in early 2015, to which GAC had brought the SUV with the aim of tapping the international market.

"We are very impressed by the GS4's interior and exterior design. The number of sales since its launch prove its exceptional design and quality," said Matsunaga.

During his visit to GAC Motor, Matsunaga had a trial drive of the GS4, and he was further impressed by its performance.

"Although we had to put together the design in an extremely short time, we developed the styling with a focus on two pointsquality and freshness," Zhang Fan, design director of GAC Motor, was quoted as saying in the Car Styling article. The GS4 has great appeal with younger generations, according to the report.

"The staff working on the design of GS4 were all youngthe very image of the target users. Because of that, they worked on the project with great commitment to make what they wanted," Zhang said.

The GS4 has many things in common with the latest GS5, especially with the exterior.

"Unifying the design language, we crafted the GS4 into something new and impressive, making people know at a single glance that it is the same brand," Zhang said.

In the report, the Japanese magazine highlighted the entire lineup of GAC Motor, including its first sedan the GA5, GS5, GA3, GA3S, GS5 Super, GA6, GS4 and the GA8, a luxury sedan due to be launched in mid-April.

"The size and character are different depending on the model, so the design differs, too. However, as part of the GAC Motor family, their DNA will not changewe want to have market appeal throughout our lineup," Zhang said.

In addition to Car Styling's coverage of the Chinese home-developed model, a number of renowned international media groups including Reuters and Bloomberg have also hailed GAC Motor as one of the best and fast-developing Chinese car brands.

The number tells of brand's success. Amid China's slowing automobile market in 2015, GAC Motor sold more than 190,000 units of vehicles last year, with a year-on-year increase of 63 percent, according to the company.
The on-going China International Electronic Commerce Expo, which is being held in eastern China's Yiwu City from Monday to Wednesday, has attracted 1,185 e-commerce companies from 12 countries including Canada, France and Germany. [Photo/Xinhua]

HANGZHOU - For the first time, major e-commerce platforms from the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany are recruiting quality brands and seeking experienced online partners in China.

The on-going China International Electronic Commerce Expo, which is being held in eastern China's Yiwu city from Monday to Wednesday, has attracted 1,185 e-commerce companies from 12 countries including Canada, France and Germany.

China's Alibaba, JD and GOME are at the expo, of course, but it is the appearance of European companies that has drawn most attention.

Bol is the largest online retailer in the Netherlands, with more than five million customers there and in Belgium. Ricardo is the number one online shopping mall in Switzerland and Zalando is a popular German shoe and fashion site.

"Due to language barriers and limited knowledge of local markets, very few Chinese sellers have opened shops at European platforms," said Li Mingtao, vice president of a research institute affiliated to China E-commerce Research Center (CECRC).

Li said the expo is a good opportunity for Chinese retailers to explore segmented markets in non-English speaking countries while avoiding the highly competitive English markets.

A visitor tries a VR virtual reality headset during the 2016 China International Electronic Commerce Expo in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, April 11, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

On the other hand, in the eyes of Zhu Xiaoliang, director of the CECRC, the Europeans are there because of their huge demand for Chinese products.

By Monday afternoon, the three exhibition booths had received applications from over 60 Chinese retailers.

"All of these retailers have independent operating teams, their own brands and sound logistics and storage systems," an expo organizer said.

The expo center, covering an area of 50,000 square meters, is divided into eight areas including e-commerce platforms, cross-border business, mobile Internet and Internet financing.

Cloud computing, Internet of Things, mobile payment and wearable devices are also on show.

Yiwu is the world's largest wholesale market for small consumer goods. The city attracts 10 million domestic and 500,000 foreign buyers every year, and around 13,000 merchants have offices here.
Four consumer electronics products make their China debut for online sales during the opening ceremony of Tmall's TES conference held on April 11, 2016 in Hangzhou. [Photo by Liu Zheng/chinadaily.com.cn]

Chinese online shopping website Tmall.com, which is backed by Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd, held a technology summit dubbed "TES" on Monday, with the aim of building a communication platform for consumer electronics enterprises.

Explaining the connotation of TES, Yin Jing, president of Tmall 3C & Home Appliance Business Unit of Alibaba Group, said that "T" stands for Tmall and technology while "E" is the combination of ecosystem, elaboration and education.
An online platform to help ex-servicemen and women find jobs has been created as China prepares to cut 300,000 troops from the 2.3-million-strong People's Liberation Army.

The platform was set up in a joint effort by 81kx.com, which is devoted to helping veterans with training and employment needs, and 58.com, an online marketplace and job-hunting platform. It is also sponsored by the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

The goal is to build a human resources database and hold job fairs for demobilized soldiers, according to a statement released by the two companies on Monday.

The platform is designed to help the veterans start their own businesses, the statement said. The companies said they will also conduct research and develop new online services.

Man Guojin, chairman of 81kx.com, said at a launch ceremony on Sunday that the platform will initiate a new model in the employment of veterans as it will provide an Internet connection between veterans and jobs.

Liu Yang, general manager of ChinaHR.com, a subsidiary of 58.com, said the platform will host a number of job fairs to help the veterans.

China reformed its policy on the resettlement of ex-servicemen and women in 2011. The government no longer arranges jobs except for a few - those who have served for at least 12 years, for example. However, it has promised more support for retraining to help them adjust to civilian life.

Xinhua contributed to this story.
10,000 people in autonomous region have given information to the authorities since May 2014

The Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region announced on Monday that it will offer the highest cash reward in China - up to 5 million yuan ($775,000) - for people providing key information about terrorist plotters.

The latest directive was issued by the regional government. Previously, similar directives listing cash rewards for terrorist-related tips were issued by local public security departments or legal bodies around China.

The directive said that people who provide inside and urgent key information on terrorist activities, including a planned attack, kidnapping, assassination, bombings or the destruction of important infrastructure, will receive a cash reward of between 200,000 and 5 million yuan.

First-time tipsters can also choose to work for the government or enjoy preferential policies in promotion and social security instead of the cash.

Zhang Chunxian, Party chief of Xinjiang, said on Monday that the measure aims to motivate people to get involved in Xinjiang's fight against terrorism.

About four months after a terrorist attack at a market in the Xinjiang regional capital, Urumqi, left 31 dead in May 2014, the public security bureau of Urumqi said it would offer 100,000 to 500,000 yuan for those providing valuable information on terrorist-related crimes - what had been the highest reward in China.

The Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, meanwhile, offers no less than 40,000 yuan for the most valuable terrorist-related tips.

The anti-terrorism work group of Xinjiang said on Monday that so far nearly 10,000 people in Xinjiang have provided terrorist-related tips since May 2014, although it wasn't clear how many of those resulted in action by authorities.

"The cash reward can significantly encourage more people to provide valuable information instead of turning a blind eye on terrorist activities. The amount of the cash reward may seem like a lot, but it is nothing compared to the lives that crucial tips can save," said Ma Pinyan, a researcher at the Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences.

"The war against terrorism must rely on people, and they deserve to be well rewarded and protected by the government."

In recent years, violent criminals and terrorists have incited and launched attacks across the country, killing or injuring hundreds of innocent people.

Additionally, terrorists based overseas can easily use the Internet to communicate with recruits in China or send people to China to collect funds, deliver goods or teach others how to make explosives, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

Police intelligence also shows that some Syrian and Iraqi passports have been stolen, and terrorists might use them to illegally cross China's borders, the ministry said.
A rule limiting visitors from Shenzhen to one trip a week has added momentum to a dive in Hong Kong's visitor numbers - with merchants calling for a review of the measure as the government readies a marketing makeover.

Tour-related incidents and politically motivated protests - culminating in a riot during Chinese New Year - have sent visitor numbers from Hong Kong's key source of tourists plummeting for months.

Inbound mainland visitor figures have decreased by 3 percent year-on-year in 2015, according to the Hong Kong Tourism Board.

A measure launched a year ago to limit visits by Shenzhen residents to once a week is taking its toll on the retail sector. Industry representatives, meanwhile, are not convinced the measure has made any dent in the trade volume of untaxed goods carried across the border for sale by so-called parallel traders.

Chairman of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Pharmacy Lau Oi-kwok wants the policy relaxed, pleading that his members' businesses are becoming untenable because of the decline in visitors.

Lau said pharmacies and shops catering to mainland visitors observed a near 50 percent decline in mainland patrons since the end of the Chinese New Year holidays in February. Many such stores located in Mong Kok, Tsim Sha Tsui and Causeway Bay have closed, he said.

China Travel Service Vice-Chairman and Hong Kong lawmaker Yiu Si-wing said the cap had failed to achieve its purpose, noting that the majority of parallel traders had switched from being mainlanders to Hong Kong residents.

Lau shared the sentiment, adding that the cap was an unfriendly message to one of Hong Kong's most supportive places.

The fallout has extended to shops further up the value chain, with handbag and watch dealers also feeling the crunch, according to Shum Chu-wah, chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Retail and Wholesale.

Outlets closest to the border were the most visible victims of the downturn, with the damage spreading to hospitality, transport and logistics, Shum said, while survivors resort to large-scale promotions to keep sales afloat.

The SAR government announced in the 2016-17 budget that it will spend HK$240 million ($31 million) to reinvigorate interest among visitors, aiming for healthy, long-term development.
Smartphone classes for seniors in Beijing have resulted in the elderly becoming increasingly tech-savvy and using the mobile internet and instant-messaging apps to stay in contact with family and friends, as Peng Yining reports.

On the 12.7-centimeter screen of her Chinese-made smartphone, Zhao Meixiang saw a former colleague for the first time since she retired more than 10 years ago.

"You have gray hair!" exclaimed the 66-year-old former employee of a domestic service company in Beijing. "Yes, and you have gray hair too," replied the woman on the other end of the video call, prompting delighted laughter and a surge of long-dormant memories.

The call was important to Zhao, who has seen many of her peers lose contact with former colleagues and friends after they retired, gradually sinking into the small, comfortable circle of family life and mostly taking care of their grandchildren.

"The mobile internet is not like other ways of communicating. With our smartphones, we can see each other and follow each other's lives," she said. "It has helped me to resume friendships with long-lost friends and helped me regain my social life."

She used WeChat, China's most popular smartphone instant-mess-aging application, to found nearly 10 chat groups, including some for family and friends, travel and amateur dramatics.

However, her most-successful group is the one that teaches seniors how to use smartphones. The group has more than 60 members, mostly elderly people from her community.

"Younger people showed me how to use my smartphone. It wasn't easy at the beginning, but when I got used to it, my life became more colorful," she said. "Elderly people shouldn't isolate themselves in their homes, and the mobile internet provides us with a perfect platform. I want to bring more people of my age into the digital world."

Getting connected

According to a report published in January by the China Internet Network Information Center, 90 percent of China's 688 million internet users surf the web via smartphones. The proportion age 60 and older rose to 3.9 percent last year, from 2.4 percent in 2014.

"Most elderly people use smartphones for social purposes," said Shi Yaru, a civil servant and social worker in Huayuanzhabeili neighborhood in Gaobeidian township in Beijing.

Since November, Shi has been organizing smartphone classes for seniors in the community, including tutorials on how to access the internet via a phone and how to use apps such as WeChat to send and receive messages.

The classes have proved a run-away success, attracting more than 200 people.

One of Shi's students is a former elementary school headmaster in Beijing who lost contact with the school after retiring, which left him depressed. Now, after learning to use instant-messaging apps, he's back in contact with many of his ex-colleagues and his now-adult former students.

"He told me that social networks have opened a new life for him. Every time his former students and colleagues clicked 'like' under his posts, he felt fulfilled and his feeling of being neglected disappeared," Shi said, adding that many of her students use smartphones to keep in touch with their children.

Huayuanzhabeili has a population of about 7,000, including more than 100 seniors age 65 or older who live on their own.
New power transmission lines in Beijing's suburban district of Tongzhou were put into operation on Sunday, ahead of a planned move there by the capital's municipal departments.

A new subsidiary administrative center for the municipal government is due to open in Tongzhou next year, to help relieve pressure on public services in downtown Beijing, where the central government is located.

The center will be equipped with a "first-class" upgraded power supply over the course of the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020), according to Beijing Electric Power Company, which is responsible for the installation work.

Once complete, the 14.3 square-kilometer administrative center's power distribution network will offer charging facilities for electric cars every kilometer, the company said.

Since January, 20.5 kilometers of power lines have been upgraded in the district and 53 power transmission towers have been built.

Subsequent work will include expanding transformer substations and carrying out new transmission and transformation projects, the company said.
A worker cleans a plane taking part in the Asian Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition 2016, which runs from April 12 to 14 at Shanghai's Hongqiao Airport, on April 11, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

Like using ride-sharing apps to book a trip, now people can book a flight on a shared business jet through apps. Companies started the service while the business flight market is growing at a slower pace in China.

People might spend hundreds of thousands of yuan on a chartered flight, but they can take a seat on a shared business jet at a regular flight's first class fare, said Ji Guang, a vice president of Hong Kong-based Global Wings Aviation Holding Co's Beijing company that developed the app "Wo Yao Pin Ji", or "I Want to Share a Flight".

The lower price for the shared business flight is due to the jet already making a return trip to its base, Ji told Shanghai Morning Post at the Asian Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition 2016, which runs today to Thursday in Shanghai.

According to industry figures, about 2,500 return business flights were empty in China last year, which provides great resources for the service, he said.

Purchasing a private jet or booking a chartered flight is still the privilege of the top high-net-worth individuals in China, but shared business flights would help more people to enjoy the service, Ji said.

Along with the country's slow economic growth, fewer high-net-worth individuals can buy private jets and take chartered flights, but they can still enjoy business flights through the service his company offering, he said.

Ji said that the cost of a seat on a 15-seat business jet from Shanghai to Changchun on April 20 will be 6,666 yuan ($1,030) through his company's app.

He admitted that because the shared business flights are available when the jets are on fixed return flights, timing is one problem to overcome to attract more passengers.

Therefore, the company so far offers the service in 11 cities popular for business flights, he said. These are Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Sanya, Chengdu, Shenyang, Hong Kong, Macao, Tokyo and Seoul.

China has seen 3.8 percent growth in business jets last year, a pace much slower than 2014, according to the latest report from aviation consultancy company Asian Sky Group.

But China still had the largest team of business jets in Asia, a total of 300, the report says.

By comparison, that was far behind the US market, where there were about 17,000 business aircraft, according to the Washington-based National Business Aviation Association.
Traffic police officers in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, seize unlicensed electric bikes and freight tricycles in March. [XUAN HUI/CHINA DAILY]

National post and delivery authority has recently released a draft of technical requirements, a national compulsory standard, for electric tricycles used by delivery companies for public review, shortly after controversial bans on such vehicles in some cities caused heated discussion.

The draft aims to regulate the express delivery transportation, according to State Post Bureau.

China's booming e-commerce has led to a surge in the express delivery industry. In 2015, the income of express delivery reached 276 billion yuan ($42.7 billion), a 35 percent rise, and the business volume reached 20.6 billion pieces, a 48 percent increase, from the previous year. About 110 million deliveries were undertaken daily.

As most of the couriers use electric freight tricycles to deliver packages, the number of e-tricycles experienced a massive growth which posed a threat to road safety.

To cope with the issue, the draft lays out the standard for size of the delivery electric tricycles and the limitation on their speed and carrying capacity.

The draft wants delivery electric tricycles to be no more than 1,000 mm in width, 3,000 mm in length and 1,400 mm in height. The maximum load should be 180 kilograms.

It also requires the maximum speed of delivery electric tricycles to be 15 km per hour and the starting speed to be 15 km in four second.

On March 21, Shenzhen in South China's Guangdong province reportedly carried out a "most-severe-ever" ban on electric bikes and tricycles. According to local traffic police, the campaign resulted in the seizure of 17,975 electric bikes by March 31, and 874 people were detained on charges of operating them illegally.

In the latest development, the Beijing municipal government decided to ban electronic motorcycles and tricycles on some of the city's roads, including Chang'an Avenue.

Although one of the most-discussed issues was whether it would allow e-tricycles to carry number plates and run on roads as cars, the draft does not give detailed regulation on the issue but only offers guidance.
A hammerhead shark. [Photo/IC]

Photos of endangered hammerhead sharks on sale in a fish market in the Hainan resort city of Sanya have triggered an outcry among netizens.

The pictures were circulated on popular Chinese social media application WeChat on Saturday. Authorities in Sanya are investigating the incident.

Many netizen expressed their sadness and anger online. A netizen named Jiaxuan YoYo said she had spent several months' savings on a wildlife watching cruise just to get a glimpse of hammerhead sharks in the wild and was appalled to see them on sale at a fish market.

Many believed that the sharks were killed for their fins.

About 100 juvenile scalloped hammerhead sharks were being sold at a price of 30 yuan ($4.6) per kilogram in Sanya fish market on Saturday, local media Hinews reported.

Their fins are often used for dishes such as shark fin soup, an expensive delicacy in Chinese cuisine.

Scalloped hammerheads have been listed as endangered under the Convention on International Trade Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, to which China is a party.

However, weak awareness of these protections among fishermen means they still often catch hammerheads to harvest their fins.

Liang Yapai, a 65 year-old retired fisherman in Sanya, told China Daily that he used to sell the fins from sharks he had caught in the South China Sea for hundreds of yuan each.

"It was a lot of money at that time, but I never did it again once I found out the sharks were protected wild animals" he said.

Fellow fisherman Fu Cefa said he had only ever caught scalloped hammerheads twice, but admitted that he was not always sure which species he had caught.

Duan Deyu, deputy director of Sanya's bureau of ocean and fisheries, said the shark meat that was on sale in the market had been confiscated, one buyer had been identified and the incident was under investigation.

"We have asked experts to help us identify the meat, because it has been cut into several pieces," said Duan.

"We are still searching for the fisherman and the trader responsible. Fisherman, trader and buyer will be punished if it is confirmed to be shark meat."

In the meantime, fish market inspections will be stepped up and the government will do more to raise awareness of species protection among fishermen, the official said.

"We are now putting together a pamphlet with an NGO that will feature images and descriptions of endangered and protected wild species. The pamphlets will be distributed to fishermen as soon as possible.

And we will send guides to fishing boats to help improve fishermen's awareness of wildlife protection," said Duan.
Suspects involved in telecom swindle cases are escorted off an aircraft by the police at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, Nov 10, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]

A top telecom fraud fugitive surrendered to police in central China on Monday, a day after the Ministry of Public Security issued a class-A arrest warrant for China's 10 most-wanted telecom and internet fraud suspects.

Tan Dunhui, 39, is accused of tricking a corporate accountant in Yangzhong, Jiangsu province, into transferring 5 million yuan ($773,500) into a bank account he designated via a mobile phone text message in June 2013.

Tan has been escorted to Yangzhong from Loudi, Central China's Hunan province, where he surrendered to local police, pending investigation, the Ministry of Public Security said.

The ministry on Sunday issued a class-A arrest warrant for 10 fugitives who allegedly committed huge telecom and internet fraud, appealing for information on their whereabouts.

The list contains the names, gender, birth dates, hometown addresses and ID numbers of the wanted, who were born between 1971 and 1989 and are mostly from the country's southern and eastern regions.

While the ministry did not specify their crimes or how many cases they were involved in, it said groups or individuals whose information leads to arrests will be awarded 50,000 yuan for each suspect seized.

This was the first time a class-A arrest warrant, usually used for serious violent or economic crimes, such as murder or robbery, was issued for telecom- and internet-fraud suspects.

Telecom-based fraud, in which suspects cheat people through telecommunication channels, is getting rampant in some regions.

Chinese police have cracked over 16,000 telecom fraud cases and apprehended over 5,000 suspects since a campaign targeting new types of telecom crime was launched on Oct 30.

Chinese police have managed to stop 5,452 bank transfers involved in telecom fraud, thanks to a quick response mechanism instituted on March 3, the ministry said.

The quick response network requires police to input victims' bank account information and a brief description of case within 30 minutes of being informed. A special office then verifies the input and works with banks to terminate the transfer.
A property buyer in Guangzhou who was ordered by arbiters to pay an additional 440,000 yuan ($68,100) for an apartment he bought has filed a lawsuit against the arbitration.

The man surnamed Feng paid 2.33 million yuan for the 130-square-meter apartment in the city's Yuexiu district via a property broker in March 2013.

Once the deal was done, the apartment soared in value after the government introduced a series of new policies and regulations to stimulate property development, Guangzhou-based New Express Daily reported.

This prompted the son of the property's former owner, surnamed Ma, to demand the additional 440,000 yuan that the property was worth in July 2013.

Ma argued that the deal had been unfair, as both of his parents were in their nineties at the time and were not capable of negotiating a fair price. Both parents died in 2014.

Feng refused to pay the extra money, saying he had violated no laws or regulations and had spent more than 440,000 yuan on interior decoration after the apartment changed hands.

At first, Guangzhou Arbitration Commission put aside Ma's application, but later ruled in his favor after a second arbitration on March 1, 2014 found that the apartment should have been valued at more than 2.77 million yuan at the time of sale.

Feng was ordered to pay the additional sum or consider his purchase contract invalid.

He subsequently filed a lawsuit at Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court, which has not commented on the case.

However, Feng's attorney surnamed Li said the arbitration was not fair to Feng, who did not break any laws or regulations with the purchase  an argument that was echoed by Zhang Yiri, an associate professor of law at Guangzhou City Polytechnic.

"Both buyer and seller should abide by the laws and regulations and honor their contracts," said Zhang.

Zhu Xiaobing, a Guangzhou property agent, said both sides should honor the contract "and property agents should also adhere to professional morals".
BEIJING -- Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged the government to strike a balance between the conservation of cultural relics and economic development.

In a written instruction to a national meeting on the topic on Tuesday, Xi said that the balance is a difficult one to strike in a country that is urbanizing at such a fast pace.

The president called cultural relics "a valuable legacy from our ancestors," stressing that conservation will benefit future generations.

He urged Party and government departments to keep in mind that this conservation is part of their official duties, and suggested that "private sectors should be mobilized and involved in the effort."

Premier Li Keqiang also wrote comments on the country's relics protection, saying the work should help amplify the role of outstanding traditional culture in inspiring and propelling the progress of modern society.

Local authorities should contribute more efforts to protecting cultural relics and enhancing supervision, Li said.

Scientific preservation of cultural relics means giving full play the social, cultural, and educational function of relics, the premier said, adding the whole society should be encouraged to actively participate in preserving them.
BEIJING -- China's health authorities on Tuesday stressed the important role of vaccination in disease control, urging the public to have their children vaccinated in a timely way.

Judging from queries received by the National Health and Family Planning Commission, some people are still confused or skeptical about vaccination in the wake of a scandal where a large quantity of improperly stored or expired vaccines have allegedly been sold across the country since 2011, said the commission's spokesman Mao Qun'an on Tuesday.

The immunization program is the most economic, effective and safest way of preventing, controlling and eradicating communicable diseases, Mao said, adding vaccination under the national immunization program has proved quite fruitful in the control of preventable diseases.

Since China introduced the immunization program in 1978, the rate of hepatitis B in children aged below five has been greatly reduced, and incidences of encephalitis B and epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis hit historical low.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) holds talks with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in Beijing, capital of China, April 12, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING -- China and Nigeria has pledged to further promote their strategic partnership during the state visit of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.

To further deepen the two countries' friendship and reciprocal cooperation is in the long-term interests of the two countries and peoples, and conducive to the peace, stability and development of Africa and the world, said Chinese President Xi Jinping, in his talks with Buhari at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Tuesday.

Xi said the two sides should maintain high-level engagement, increase exchanges in all areas, give each other understanding and support on issues of their core interests and major concern, and strengthen strategic mutual trust.

China is ready to expand bilateral cooperation in such areas as agriculture, fisheries, oil refining, mineral exploitation, mechatronics, light industry, textile and processing. China is also willing to help Nigeria solve the bottleneck of infrastructure, professionals and funds in developing industry and modern agriculture, Xi said.

He called on the two countries to increase cooperation in the areas of culture, education, media, youth and women. Xi said China will support Nigeria playing a bigger role in international and regional affairs, and strengthen communication and coordination on major issues such as the peace and stability of Africa, climate change, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Xi also pledged to give more support to Africa's development. He said China will implement the outcome of the latest Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit held in Johannesburg last December to give more assistance to Africa to realize reciprocity and common development.
BEIJING -- The Chinese mainland's Taiwan affairs chief has said that mainland policies on Taiwan remain unchanged and urged the island to stick to the 1992 Consensus as the political foundation for the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations.

Zhang Zhijun, head of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, made the remarks during a conversation on Tuesday afternoon with Taiwan's mainland affairs chief Andrew Hsia via a hotline.

According to Zhang, the 1992 Consensus, with its core implication that both sides belong to one China, is crucial for the peaceful development and various achievements made for cross-Straits relations over the past several years. Denying this political foundation will inevitably alter the status quo.

Zhang also briefed Hsia on a batch of telecom fraud suspects, including Taiwan residents, seized by mainland police.

According to Zhang, telecom and Internet fraud have been rampant in recent years.

Several Taiwan suspects allegedly conducted fraudulent activities from overseas bases that led to huge losses from mainland victims and they must be brought to justice, he said.
Zhang Dejiang presides over a meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing on April 12, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING -- Top Chinese legislator Zhang Dejiang has urged government organs and the food industry to fully enforce and obey the country's food safety law prior to a law enforcement inspection.

Zhang made the remarks Tuesday while presiding over a meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) on the upcoming enforcement inspection for the food safety law.

Noting that China's food safety situation is still "grave," Zhang stressed the role of both Party and government organs in coordinating efforts in law enforcement and supervision so as to effectively eliminate anomalies in the food industry.

A major revision to the food safety law was adopted in April 2015 that saw articles increased from 105 to 154, imposing heavier civil, administrative and criminal penalties for offenders and their supervisors. It came into effect on Oct. 1.

According to Zhang, law enforcement inspection is a crucial form of NPC's supervision that helps ensure full functioning of a law.
BEIJING -- Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged the government to strike a balance between the conservation of cultural relics and economic development.

In a written instruction to a national meeting on the topic on Tuesday, Xi said that the balance is a difficult one to strike in a country that is urbanizing at such a fast pace.

The president called cultural relics "a valuable legacy from our ancestors," stressing that conservation will benefit future generations.

China is a great nation boasting an innumerable amount of cultural treasures, Xi said.

He ordered authorities at various levels to beef up protection of cultural relics and promote proper and moderate utilization of these relics so as to bring more benefits to the people.

He urged Party and government departments to keep in mind that this conservation is part of their official duties, and suggested that "private sectors should be mobilized and involved in the effort."

Premier Li Keqiang also wrote comments on the country's relics protection, saying the work should help amplify the role of outstanding traditional culture in inspiring and propelling the progress of modern society.

Local authorities should contribute more efforts to protecting cultural relics and enhancing supervision, Li said.

Scientific preservation of cultural relics means giving full play to the social, cultural, and educational function of relics, the premier said, adding that the whole society should be encouraged to actively participate in preserving them.

"Local governments often consider economic development and heritage conservation two issues that conflict with each other, while they can contribute to each other," said Huang Zhenchun, deputy curator of the National Museum of China.

China is home to huge numbers of historic relics. According to the third national archaeological survey which was completed in 2011, there are more than 760,000 registered unmovable cultural items.

Citing several state parks of archaeological sites as successful examples, Wang Wei, director of the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said it is important to find a proper way of using historic sites to boost social and economic development without undermining the relics so that they can enjoy sustainable preservation.

Shan Jixiang, curator of the Palace Museum, called for encouraging the involvement of the general public.
With the cooperation of China, Nigeria is expected to set up a satellite telecommunications network covering half of the African population.

The African country took another step toward realizing this goal when Nigerian Communications Satellite signed a framework agreement with China Great Wall Industry Corporation in Beijing on March 28.

Under the agreement, China Great Wall Industry Corporation will launch two satellites developed and produced by Chinese enterprises into orbit for Nigeria.

Nigeria's Telecommunications Minister Adebayo Shittu, who attended the signing ceremony, said the two satellites will greatly improve the country's telecommunications, and will help boost the country's economy and safeguard its national security.

He said China's assistance in launching the satellites is testimony to the friendly ties between the two nations over the past 45 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties.

Such cooperation not only exists between the two governments, but also between the two countries' private sectors in areas ranging from telecommunications to health and smart city building, he added.

The minister invited more Chinese telecommunications enterprises to invest in Nigeria and lift the level of the nation's telecommunications industry.

The collaboration in satellite communication technology between the two countries started in 2007.

Nigeria is the first country in Sub-Saharan Africa to own and operate a telecommunications satellite, which was also launched by China.

Aside from the satellites to be launched by China, Nigeria also has an ambitious space program. According to a CNN report on April 6, Nigeria plans to send an astronaut into space by 2030, as part of its drive to develop a world-class space industry.

"The space program is very important," Minister of Science and Technology Ogbonnaya Onu reportedly said in a speech in Abuja. "Space is a major asset that Nigeria must be involved in for the purpose of protecting its national interests."

The report said a Nigerian Space Agency delegation will visit partners in China in April to discuss logistics and investment for a manned space mission, which would be the first by an African nation.

lixiaokun@chinadaily.com.cn

Officials and experts from China and Nigeria visit Nigeria's satellite ground control station in March 2012, when Nigerian Communications Satellite-1R, developed and launched by China, was delivered to Nigeria in orbit.Cao Kai / Xinhua

(China Daily 04/12/2016 page7)
Buzz Brass Quintet is among cultural groups from Canada, the guest country of honor, at this year's Meet in Beijing Arts Festival. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Among the capital's largest cultural gigs, Meet in Beijing Arts Festival, has unveiled its 2016 program, comprising more than 100 theater performances and outdoor shows as well as two major exhibitions showing across Beijing from April 25 to May 30.

Now in its 16th year, the festival will bring together nearly 400 Chinese artists and more than 400 international artists from 25 countries, including the United Kingdom, Spain and France.

Canada will be the guest country of honor at this year's festival, organizing officials told media last week.

Picking a main guest country each year has been the festival's tradition since it started.

This year, the opening show, titled Spring in China and Canada, will be held on April 25 at the National Center for the Performing Arts. It will feature five Canadian arts and cultural groups, including the Ottawa Bach Choir, the Ensemble Caprice Baroque Orchestra and a troupe from Vancouver's renowned dance school, the Goh Ballet Academy.

Chinese conductor Zhang Guoyong will lead the Qingdao Symphony Orchestra and work with the Montreal-based Buzz Brass Quintet. Canadian soprano Katherine Whyte will also join in the show, performing an excerpt from the classic Chinese opera, The White Haired Girl.

Mark Rowswell, a well-known Canadian scholar and TV host, who is better known as Dashan among Chinese audiences, was named the image ambassador for the guest of honor event.

Rowswell, 50, who is widely known for his mastery in spoken Chinese and performing the traditional Chinese folk art, xiangsheng, or crosstalk, will do a standup comedy show at Tianqiao Performing Arts Center on April 24.
[Photo/Mtime]

A musical adapted from the smash hit movie "Shrek" is coming to Macao from this July 22 to August 7, said its organizer Sands China Ltd. in a press released on Monday.

This Broadway musical, named "Shrek the Musical", based on the DreamWorks Animation Motion Picture and the book by William Steig, will bring the animated story of a popular green ogre to real life.

Book and lyrics by Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire, and music by Olivier Award-winner Jeanine Tesori, the show will take the stage at the Venetian Theater of Macao this summer for the very first time as part of its first international tour.

"Shrek the Musical," debuted on Broadway in 2008, depicts that in a faraway kingdom turned upside down, things get ugly when a monster shows up to rescue a feisty princess.

Throw in a donkey that does not keep quiet, a villain with a short temper, a cookie with an attitude and over a dozen other fairy tale misfits, and the scene got the kind of mess that calls for a real hero. Luckily, there's one on hand and his name is Shrek.

The musical is expected to broaden tourist appeal of Macao as there are more choices for the family travelers as well as animation enthusiasts, said the organizer.
A publisher's booth of London Book Fair 2016 at Olympia Exhibition Centre in London in Britain, April 12, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

China and the UK are among more than 110 countries displaying their best books at the London Book Fair this week.

Publishers from both countries are marking the 400th anniversaries this month of the deaths of playwrights Tang Xianzu and William Shakespeare.

A specially commissioned Chinese play combining Tang's Peony Pavilion and Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet was being performed in Chinese and English on Tuesday, the opening day.

A mini performance space based on Shakespeare's Globe Theatre has been set up at the Olympia exhibition center in London. Shakespearean actors from around the world will perform extracts of works in six languages  Chinese, Spanish, Polish, Hindi, Arabic and English  in recognition of Shakespeare's global influence.
'We can create a small taste of South Africa right here' Updated: 2016-04-12 07:36 (HK Edition)

Phumelele Gwala, South African consul-general in Hong Kong and Macao, speaks to China Daily.

On the signing of loan deals worth HK$60 billion between China and South Africa in December 2015

The signing of deals is evidence of South Africa-China relations being at their friendliest yet. Large-scale projects proposed in South Africa can source finance from Hong Kong and the ties between South Africa and China will provide security for the Hong Kong market. As a consulate it is required of us to promote this relationship, engage business people and let them have as much information about the investment potential as possible.

It is also important to build South Africa's image here. We can promote our culture and tourism to the people of Hong Kong and Macao, sit down for a wine-tasting with them, serve them our exported beef, invite them to our art exhibitions and tell them about our year-round sunshine and create a small taste of South Africa right here.

On her goals in furthering bilateral ties in the fields of a) diplomacy, b) commerce and c) culture

My goals include promoting Nelson Mandela Day, observed on July 18 every year by spending 67 minutes doing something for others, in Hong Kong. The consulate hosts an event annually to mark this. We have visited the elderly, taken children for a day out and we hope to do more impactful things every year.

Also I would like to change perceptions of South Africa being a tourism only destination and promote the fact that we run a sophisticated economy. South Africa's financial services sector, backed by a sound regulatory and legal framework, boasts dozens of domestic and foreign institutions, providing a full range of services - commercial, retail and merchant banking, mortgage lending, insurance and investment.

On the Belt and Road Initiative launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping

Hong Kong fits into the Belt and Road Initiative primarily as the financier, the hub for offshore trading of renminbi and the place to raise capital for the pioneering projects. So the Consulate's role is to tap into the finance that will be made available in this city to fund the Belt and Road Initiative and use this as a way to open doors for projects in South Africa. Distance and poor understanding of South Africa and the African continent can hamper investor confidence in the region, but the Belt and Road Initiative has made the world a smaller place in a wonderful way, by reinvigorating the ancient silk road - a road that in the past excluded many areas but in the present and future is able to encompass worldwide partners. It provides an overarching framework under which we can now sit down with partners and discuss big things with big potential, knowing that these are backed by President Xi Jinping's economic diplomacy vision.

To read a longer version of the interview log on to chinadailyasia.com

(HK Edition 04/12/2016 page7)
Sean Scully stands in front of one of his abstract paintings that features blocks. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Sipping an espresso, Sean Scully, 71, is fighting the weariness that an international artist has to face today because of extensive travel in a globalized art world.

An exhibition of the Irish-American abstract painter opened at the Art Museum of Nanjing University of the Arts, on Friday, throwing Scully into another round of media interviews and academic activities in the capital of East China's Jiangsu province.

On March 22, he was in Hong Kong to receive this year's Harper's Bazaar Art international artist of the year award.

So what keeps him going despite this grueling schedule? It is an persistent love for painting and a fighting spirit that took Scully from the streets to being twice nominated for the Turner Prizean annual honor given to British visual artists under the age of 50.

"Painting is what (J. M. W.) Turner called a 'rum (hard)' business. One has to have unshakable belief. And I do," Scully tells China Daily.

"But the trick is not to have expectations, and be free," he adds.

Following a successful debut show last year in Shanghai and in Beijing, Scully has now returned to conquer the country with his signature colorful bars, stripes and checks.

The Nanjing show has 57 paintings that are being shown in China for the first time, and come from private collectors in the United States, Britain, Spain and Germany.

The works will also be shown in Guangdong (in September) and Hubei (in January, 2017) provinces.

If the last show gave the Chinese public an entry into Scully's art world, this time he invites the audiences to take further steps into his mind, understanding his resistance and persistence in life as the exhibition title suggests.

The title of the exhibition Resistance and Persistence comes from an essay of Italian painter Giorgio Morandi.

It also refers to the hardships that Scully underwent to pursue art.

Born in Dublin, he grew up in an "extremely poor" family in London.

His enthusiasm to be a painter was tempered with being turned down by numerous art schools in London. So when he enrolled with Croydon College of Art in 1965, he felt his life had been saved. And he worked with an intensity that "scared other students" and also himself.

The first painting at the Nanjing show is a large piece, titled Backcloth, which he made in 1970 while studying at Newcastle University.

Zheng Wen, one of the exhibition's curators, says the work feels so powerful that they had to put more light on another painting adjacent to it.

For decades, Scully has splashed colors on canvas with consistent force.

"One has to have resistance to be an artist," he says, "because one has got to resist all the insults one has to suffer as an artist."

"Now I'm famous, but before one is famous, one has to be infamous, and before one is accepted, one has be rejected. So one has to persist, in other words, have a little bit of hope," he adds.
Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida gestures during a press conference at the International Media Center in Hiroshima, Japan on April 11, 2016 after Foreign Ministers meeting of G7 countries visit the Peace Memorial Museum. [Photo/IC]

Although it does not mention China by name, a statement issued after the G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Hiroshima on Monday about the disputes in the South China Sea can be interpreted as veiled criticism of China for being the cause of the increased tensions in the region.

This is false and unfair.

China has pursued peaceful settlement of the South China Sea disputes directly with the countries concerned according to international law and on the basis of respecting historical facts. And it has sought to maintain peace and stability in the waters through talks and consultations, as advocated in the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.

The G7 statement has ignored these efforts and fails to acknowledge the restraint China has exercised while seeking ways to peacefully resolve the disputesdespite China being the biggest victim, with many of its reefs and islands illegally occupied by other countries.

By turning a blind eye to facts, the G7 statement only complicates the situations in the South China Sea and further fuels tensions.

It also signals the G7 members risk becoming tools of Japan for its own ulterior and selfish interests.

As the statement was as Japan sought, it corroborated earlier speculation that Japan would make good use of being the host of the meeting to advance its own interests and purpose.

Japan can claim to have scored some diplomatic points for exaggerating the "China threat" to the international community as part of its public opinion war. And it has succeeded in driving a wedge between China and some other G7 members by acting like a thief yelling "catch the thief".

The tension in the South China Sea has long been fanned by some countries not directly involved in the territorial disputes, and Japan has played an inglorious role in this with its increased military presence in the region.

Japan sent a submarine and warships to the Philippines as that country was preparing for joint military drills with the US recently. And Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pushed through new security laws and is seeking to amend the Constitution to pave the way for Japan's military resurgence under the guise of becoming a "normal state".

It is this, as well as other important issues such as global economic recovery, that should be the real concern of the other G7 members.

Instead, the G7 statement once again underlines a lack of statesmanship and foresight in the group's policymaking, factors that will prevent it from wielding wider influence in international affairs.
NEW YORK (April 8, 2016) Secretary of Defense Ash Carter addresses the Council on Foreign Relations on partnerships in the Pacific.[Photo/IC]

Due to his "work schedule", US Defense Secretary Ash Carter has excluded China from his Asia trip, which started on Sunday.

Carter had planned to include China into his Asia tour after he accepted Beijing's invitation at the end of last year. So his visits to India and the Philippines as scheduled make his "work schedule" look like an excuse.

Such discourtesy not only reveals the United States' strategic intention toward China, especially on the South China Sea issue, it also makes public the differences between the two countries' militaries and is thus unfavorable to bilateral crisis management and the region at large.

If Carter had visited China as scheduled, he would have at least demonstrated to the outside world that the US does not take sides on the South China Sea issue as it previously claimed. By removing China from his Asia tour, it seems that Carter and the Pentagon no longer want to send such a message.

Such a gesture can be interpreted as the US standing on Manila's side and as a possible attempt to rally other Asia-Pacific countries to confront China.

As a matter of fact, both the Pentagon and the command of the US Pacific Fleet have presented an increasingly tough stance toward China, and the US military has continuously taken provocative actions under the banner of "freedom of navigation". Beijing has even been accused of "militarization" of the South China Sea for these US actions.

Carter's exclusion of China from his Asia trip shows the South China Sea issue is seen by Washington as an important chance to promote the establishment of a military alliance system against China in the Asia-Pacific.

The Pentagon's Asian move will at least have a negative influence on communications between the two militaries.--IFENG.COM
Among child prodigies, Michael Kearney, now 24, is often cited as the world's youngest college graduate, having earned a Bachelor's degree in anthropology from the University of South Alabama at age 10. [Photo/IC]

Wei Yongkang, a child prodigy who could recognize about 1,000 Chinese characters at the age of 2 and who graduated from Xiangtan University, Central China's Hunan province, at 17, was recently persuaded to withdraw from the Institute of High Energy Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences at the age of 20. On hearing the news, his mother who had accompanied him during his studies, allegedly shouted at him to commit suicide. The Beijing News commented on Monday:

We should interpret the reaction of Wei's mother properly. No mother would like to harm her child. Yet it might be too late as from the very beginning the parents didn't treat their son as a normal child.

Even if a prodigy, a child is first of all a normal person. If we adopt the concept of taking children as ordinary human beings first, no matter how young or old they are, we may hold a realistic attitude toward their potential no matter how talented they seem. We should realize that children have their own perceptions about their lives, which may differ from that of their parents.

And we should be aware that education is more than just schooling, even if most Chinese parents regard higher education as the only valuable education in life, real life experiences are also important education for children.

Children living in a small world controlled and managed by the parents cannot interact well with the outside world and lack common sense. So at the end of the day they have not learned the lessons they need to live their own lives.
A formation of the Nanhai Fleet of China's Navy on Saturday finished a three-day patrol of the Nansha islands in the South China Sea. [Photo/Xinhua]

The Philippines is resuming work on upgrading a military airport on an island it seized from China, a move that again displays its expansionist nature and belies its self-assumed image as a victim in the territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

It is also a slap in the face for certain countries that always accuse Beijing of taking provocative steps while turning a blind eye to Manila's provocative moves.

The Nansha Islands in the South China Sea have been Chinese territory since ancient times, as proved by historical and international documents.

However, the Philippines started to use military force to seize the Nansha Islands, one by one, in the 1970s. So far eight Chinese islands, including Zhongye Islandwhere it intends to upgrade its military airportare in the Philippines' hands.

Over the years, Manila has tightened its grip on the Chinese islands it has illegally occupied, by relocating civilians there, building military facilities, such as airports and docks, and most recently, installing a flight-tracking system on Zhongye.

It is such unilateral actions that have sparked and fueled the tensions in the South China Sea.

The Philippines has even been brazen enough to stage the farce of a villain suing his victim by seeking arbitration of its territorial disputes with China at the international tribunal in The Hague, which China, as is its right, does not accept.

The move is a political provocation under the cloak of international law, and Manila would not have staged such a stunt without the connivance and encouragement of its ally, the United States, which is more than happy to use the Philippines as a pawn to contain a rising China.

The US and some of its allies, although not directly involved in the South China Sea disputes, have singled out China as a threat to regional peace and stability. They have pointed accusing fingers at the country for its countermeasures to safeguard its sovereignty, and its construction of facilities on its islands for navigation and meteorological observation purposes.

Such partiality runs counter to the pledge not to take sides in territorial disputes in the region, and emboldens the Philippines and other parties to go further in challenging China's sovereignty.

China has always opposed the Philippines for its illegal occupation of its islands, and any construction projects on them will not consolidate Manila's illegal claim to sovereignty. Instead, they will strengthen Beijing's resolve to protect its maritime territory from further encroachment.
A post-90s entrepreneur born in Zhanjiang's Lianjiang county, Guangdong province, has successfully expanded the sales market for local tea via crowd funding on the Internet, creating a legend among tea farmers in the county.

Liu Yu, who graduated from university last year and inherited his family tea business in the Guangling village of the county, came up with the idea of crowd funding to provide a boost to the business.

At the beginning, Liu established the Zhiqing Agricultural Co with his two friends, hoping to lift the deteriorating local tradition to a higher stage.

Focusing on the development model of "company-tea base-farmers", the three young men pulled out all the stops to promote their hometown tea. They also set up a dozen online and offline sales markets for the promotion.

However, they were still stuck with limited market access due to the county's weak transportation and inadequate market information, with the green plants nearly drying up their investments.

Having been inspired by the success of crowd funding from another post-90s kiwi seller in Xi'an, Shannxi province, Liu and his friends tried to post the specifics of their tea leaves and videos of tea production online in March, in a bid to attract more investment.

The goal of their crowd funding was set at 10,000 yuan ($1,547) for 50 grams of tea leaves in 15 days. To their surprise, on April 7, the last but one day of the period, they had netted 11,270 yuan from 91 netizens, 13 percent more than they expected.

"Thanks to the Internet Plus strategy, we are able to exchange with our potential clients in a more interactive and transparent way. That helps us expand the sales market and attract more investment,"said Liu.

Traditional online marketing only focuses on the selling-buying relationship between the sellers and clients but with the help of crowd funding, an advanced online marketing method, both parties can share and cooperate in business, Liu added.

Liu said that in the future he was going to host more festivals related to local tea culture, in order to develop more special tourism programs and to spread tea culture to a wider audience.

Netizens of Liu's crowd funding program experience tea-picking at Liu's tea base. [Photo/gdzjdaily.com.cn]
Ministry says efforts made to reschedule following cancellation

The Defense Ministry said on Monday that it has maintained communication with the United States on a possible later visit by US Defense Secretary Ash Carter after Carter reportedly canceled a planned visit to China this month.

US Defense Secretary Ash Carter attends a news conference at the Pentagon in Washington February 29, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

A senior military researcher said Carter likely canceled the visit to put pressure on China, adding that US defense authorities should not do such things for leverage.

In a written statement to China Daily, the Defense Ministry said that during a work meeting between Chinese and US military authorities in January, the two sides exchanged views on the planned visit by Carter.

Carter's visit to China "has been listed in the plan for this year's China-US military exchanges. ... The defense authorities of the two countries have maintained normal communication and coordination over the concrete time of the visit," said the statement.

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, Carter dropped his plan to visit Beijing this month during his trip to India and the Philippines amid tensions between Beijing and Washington over the South China Sea issue.

A report by Agence France-Presse said Carter's decision to skip China was made just a few weeks ago. Carter "did officially accept an invitation to travel to China in the spring", the report quoted Pentagon spokesman Bill Urban as saying. He added that "we are actively looking" for another date to visit China this year, the report said.

Zhang Junshe, a senior researcher at the PLA Naval Military Studies Research Institute, said that the cancellation of a planned visit is uncommon.

"If the two sides have agreed on the visit earlier, it should not be changed unless there are grave disputes on major issues," he said, adding that the cancellation should not be used to exert pressure on China.

In its statement, the Defense Ministry also said that China firmly opposes any activities that could harm the country's strategic security interests. It said the US and the Republic of Korea should act prudently by not deploying the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile-defense system.

"Every country should consider the security and interests of other countries as well as regional peace and stability while they seek self-security," the ministry said.

The statement was in response to Carter, who said on Friday that the proposed placement of the THAAD system in the ROK is "going to happen" despite China's opposition.

Carter told the think tank Council on Foreign Relations in New York that the deployment is necessary to safeguard US forces on the Korean Peninsula and to protect South Korea, according to The Associated Press.

"It has nothing to do with the Chinese," Carter was quoted as saying.

anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn
Thirteen citizens of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea left China last week in the early hours with valid passports, the Foreign Ministry said on Monday in response to reports of DPRK restaurant employees leaving for Seoul.

"Chinese public security authorities have been informed of the case about missing DPRK citizens in China recently," said ministry spokesman Lu Kang.

He said an investigation found that the DPRK citizens left China on Wednesday in a normal way with valid passports.

"I'd like to stress that ... they did not enter China illegally."

He added that in cases in which citizens from the DPRK enter China illegally, Beijing's stance is to properly handle the cases according to international and domestic laws and humanitarian principles.

Authorities in Seoul said on Friday that 13 employees of a DPRK state-run restaurant in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, left together and arrived in the Republic of Korea.

People at the restaurant later told Seoul-based KBS TV that the employees - one male manager and a dozen women - disappeared on the night of April 5. The restaurant has ceased operation.

A source who requested anonymity told Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency on Monday that the employees flew to Thailand and then went on to Laos, and finally flew to Seoul on Thursday.

It was reported that they got help from the ROK government after arriving in Thailand.

Yonhap quoted an official with the Unification Ministry in Seoul as saying that the employees chose to go to the ROK because the DPRK faces harsh international sanctions due to its nuclear test on Jan 6 and rocket launch on Feb 7.

The official said the employees also were under growing pressure to send foreign currency back to the DPRK after the sanctions took effect, and were afraid of punishment if they failed to send the required amount.

"In this case, the departure of the DPRK people from China has fully followed the legal procedures," said Zha Daojiong, a professor of international relations and security at the School of International Studies at Peking University.

"They have valid passports, and the Chinese customs officers could not predict their aim. Besides, China is not even a transit state in this case."

lixiaokun@chinadaily.com.cn
The Philippines looks ready to restart work on upgrading a military airport on Zhongye Island, a territory in the South China Sea that belongs to China, a source close to situation has said.

The Philippine air force has recently used several transport planes to carry substantial amounts of construction materials, such as stones and sand, and various types of gasoline, to the island, according to the source, who did not want to be identified.

The source said this indicates that the Philippines is prepared to restart the upgrade.

China claims the Philippines has illegally occupied Chinese territory in the South China Sea since the 1970s, including Zhongye Island, where Manila has carried out large-scale construction of military and civil facilities, including airports, ports and barracks.

In January 2013, the Philippines unilaterally initiated an arbitration tribunal against China in The Hague. Manila has twice claimed it has halted the airport upgrade, in 2014 and 2015.

"The restart of the military airport upgrading project is clearly different from what Manila has claimed publicly in the past," the source said.

Beijing always opposes the Philippines' illegal occupation of Chinese islands, and it has called on Manila to stop such activities.
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau takes part in a Vaisakhi celebration on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, April 11, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

OTTAWA - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday that he will offer a full apology for a government decision in 1914 to deny entry of Indian Sikh people.

"As a nation, we should never forget the prejudice suffered by the Sikh community at the hands of the Canadian government of the day. We should not and we will not," said Trudeau.

"That is why, next month, on May 18, I will stand in the House of Commons and offer a full apology for the Komagata Maru incident," he said.

The chartered Japanese ship Komagata Maru sailed into the Vancouver harbor on May 23, 1914, with 376 people from the Punjab region of India aboard. Most of them were Sikh people.

The Canadian government refused to allow the passengers to disembark and Komagata Maru sat in the harbor for two months. On July 23, 1914, the Komagata Maru was escorted out to sea by a Canadian naval cruiser and returned to India, where 20 people were killed as they tried to disembark and the others were jailed.

Canadian Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan, who was the first Sikh-Canadian to command a Canadian army reserve regiment, tweeted Monday that he is "truly honored" by Trudeau's commitment to a formal apology.
Brazil's Vice President Michel Temer speaks during a news conference in Brasilia, Brazil April 11, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazilian Vice-President Michel Temer, who was caught in a leaked audio talking as if President Dilma Rousseff had already been impeached, was criticized by government officials on Monday.

Temer rehearsed a speech to the nation, making it appear as if Temer believed the impeachment of Rousseff a foregone conclusion.

Temer said that the audio message was an answer to inquiries of political allies about what he would do if he takes over, adding that he sent the message to the wrong person, and it reached the press.

Jaques Wagner, chief of staff of Rousseff's presidential office, said Temer was a dissimulated sponsor of the impeachment against Rousseff.

The audio message shows that Temer forgot his institutional role, Wagner said.

"The records revealed today show that the vice president, without any problems, forgets his institutional role, despises the ritual of his position and openly sponsors a dissimulated coup," Wagner said.

"But no coup will produce national union, as it is an offense to democracy," Wagner said.

Government Secretary Ricardo Berzoini said the leak evidenced the "coup-like" character of Temer, and the message left him "flabbergasted".

"This audio shows the coup-like character of the vice-president. He transformed the process in an indirect election, to get votes in favor of the impeachment," Berzoini said.

Temer of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), a partner of the ruling coalition, said in the rehearsal: "Now that the Chamber of Deputies has decided by a significant vote to authorize the start of the impeachment process against the president, the great mission, as of this moment, is the pacification of the country, the reunification of the country."

By the time of the rehearsal, a congressional impeachment committee had yet to decide whether to proceed with the impeachment.

The committee voted later Monday to go ahead. A full-chamber vote would take place on Sunday. Two-thirds of the chamber would have to vote in favor for the motion to move on to the Senate for a final decision.

Temer has been regarded as the mastermind behind the PMDB's announcement last month to leave the ruling coalition, a key move toward the impeachment of Rousseff.
NEW DELHI - India Tuesday said that it will soon sign a logistics supply pact with the United States, putting to rest all the speculation over the much-awaited agreement.

"Both India and the US will sign the agreement in the coming months," Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar said in Delhi, after holding talks with visiting US Defense Secretary Ash Carter.

The logistics supply agreement will give India and US armed forces access to each other's bases, and both the countries have been harping on it for nearly a decade.

"Both India and the US have agreed in principle on the logistical agreement," Carter said about the pact in a joint media meet with Parrikar.

He also said that both the countries would soon ink another agreement on sharing of information on commercial shipping, which is going to bolster security on the seas.
BEIJING - China on Tuesday accused the Philippines as being "hypocritical and inconsistent in word and deed" as the latter prepares to revamp a military airport in the South China Sea.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang made the remarks at a regular press briefing while commenting on a report that the Philippines is ready to upgrade a military airport on Zhongye Island, part of China's Nansha Islands in the South China Sea.

The Philippine air force has recently transported substantial amounts of construction materials to the island, according to a report in the China Daily.

The Philippines hypocritically claimed to have stopped construction on Zhongye Island while brazenly continuing to upgrade facilities such as an airport on the island, which the Philippines occupies illegally, Lu told the press briefing.

He added that it exposed the fact that the arbitration lodged by the Philippines was political provocation under the cloak of law.

According to Lu, since the 1970s, the Philippines have illegally occupied some islands and reefs of the Nansha Islands by force, violating international laws including the UN Charter and the basic norms of international relations. The Philippines did a lot of building and deployment of armaments on the islands and reefs it illegally occupied, Lu said.

Lu urged the Philippines to respect China's territorial sovereignty and rights and interests, and abide by international laws including the UN Charter, the basic norms of international relations and the Declaration of the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC).

"The Philippines should stop activities that violate China's territorial sovereignty and rights and interests, and return to the correct track of solving relevant disputes via bilateral negotiations," Lu said.
Beijing hits out at Manila for upgrading work on illegally occupied territory

The upgrading of a military airport in the South China Sea by the Philippines reflects the country's "hypocrisy", a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday.

A case launched by Manila at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague is also a "sheer political provocation under the guise of laws", the spokesman said.

The Philippines is attempting to strengthen and enlarge its illegal occupation of Chinese territory by upgrading facilities, including an airport, on Zhongye Island, spokesman Lu Kang said in response to a question from China Daily at a regular news conference.

Zhongye Island belongs to China's Nansha Islands but has been illegally occupied by the Philippines since the 1970s, Lu said.

A source close to the situation said the Philippine Air Force has used several transport planes to carry substantial amounts of construction material and various types of fuel to the strategically placed island.

The source said this indicates that the Philippines is prepared to restart an upgrading process. Manila said in 2014 and last year it had halted upgrading work at the airport on Zhongye Island.

In January 2013, the Philippines unilaterally initiated an arbitration case against China in The Hague regarding its disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea. A ruling by the arbitration court is expected later this year.

Lu said, "This has clearly exposed the hypocrisy of the Philippines, since its words are not matched by its deeds." Lu added that the Philippines is attempting to legalize its illegal occupation through a verdict from the arbitration court.

Lu urged Manila to stop all activities "offending China's territorial sovereignty and interests", and return "to the right track of settling disputes through bilateral negotiations".

Philippine Ambassador to China Erlinda F. Basilio declined to comment.
MOSCOW -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday that Russia-China ties are at an all-time high, and that their relationship is consistently deepened for the benefit of both countries and peoples.

Russia and China are interested in expanding cooperation and aligning the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) with China's Belt and Road Initiative, Lavrov said in a joint interview with Chinese, Japanese and Mongolian media on the eve of his visits to the three countries.

"Currently, an agreement on trade and economic cooperation between the EEU and China is being prepared, and a roadmap for priority integration projects is being worked out simultaneously," he said.

The top Russian diplomat also stressed the importance of regional cooperation between the two countries, especially involving Russia's Far East and China's northeastern provinces, and the Volga-Yangtze project.

While Russia and China are experiencing "some negative effects" due to a sluggish global economy, Lavrov said he believed that the decrease in Russia's trade turnover with China and other Far East neighbors was only temporary.

Moreover, Lavrov said Russia and China have showed a willingness to establish a free trade zone between the EEU and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, an idea initiated by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Commenting on the South China sea issue that has led to spat between China and some Southeastern Asian countries, Lavrov said the disputes should be resolved through dialogue and attempts to internationalize the issue must be stopped.

He urged external players to stop interfering in the negotiations among those involved, warning that such attempts would be "completely counterproductive."

Moreover, Lavrov also expressed concerns about the possible deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile system by the United States on the Korean Peninsula.

"Together with our Chinese friends, we realize that following this course will create a real threat to the security of our countries, and destabilize the strategic stability in Northeast Asia," he said.

He stressed that Russia and China recognize the right of Democratic People's Republic of Korea to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, but do not accept its nuclear ambitions.

Moscow and Beijing are devoted to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and the resumption of the six-party talks, which is "the real way to resolve the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue," he added.

Lavrov also praised the framework of the BRICS, a thriving cooperation mechanism that groups the world's five leading emerging economies -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
No more Mr. Nice Guy.

In the last year or so, China has rapidly stepped up its technology game. Its larger, better known companies (and many of its smaller and lesser known companies as well) are rapidly seeking to up their technology game. To put it bluntly, their first goal is to get high end technology from American and European and Australian (mostly) companies for free. Failing that, it is to get that technology as cheaply as possible. We have written about this many times, most recently in China Technology Licensing Versus China Joint Ventures: Same Same and How to Avoid Inadvertently Gifting your IP to your Foreign Manufacturer.

Okay, so what does all this have to do with the title of this post? Let me explain.

In the last few months alone, our China lawyers have been confronted with what feels like an endless stream of instances where foreign lawyers have essentially committed malpractice to the extreme detriment of their clients. I wrote about this (with much less of an emphasis on the lawyers who allowed it to happen, just a few weeks ago, in China and The Internet of Things and How to Destroy Your Own Company:

In describing IoT companies and their problems to others, I use the following as my prime example, taken from at least a half dozen real life examples in just the last few months:

IoT Company: We just completed our Kickstarter campaign and we totally killed it and so now we are ready to get serious about protecting our IP in China.

One of our China Lawyers: Great. Where are you right now with China?

IoT Company: We have been working with a great company in Shenzhen. Together we are working on wrapping up the product and it should be ready in a few months.

China Lawyer: Okay. Do you have any sort of agreement yet with this Chinese company regarding your IP or even costs or anything else.

IoT Company: No. All we have is an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding). Theyve really been great. They have told us that they would enter into a contract with us whenever we are ready.

China Lawyer: Can you please send us the MOU?

IoT Company: Sure.

China Lawyer: Okay, we will look at that and then get back to you with our thoughts.

Then, a day or two later we had a conversation like the following ensues:

China Lawyer: We looked at your MOU and we have bad news for you. We think there is a very good chance a Chinese court would view that MOU as a contract. (For why we say this, check out China LOI and MOU: Dont Let Them Happen to You.) And the Chinese language portion of the MOU  which is all a Chinese court will be considering  is quite different than the English language portion. The Chinese language portion says any IP the two of you develop (the IoT company and the Chinese manufacturer) belongs to the Chinese company. So what we see is that as things now stand, there is a very good chance the Chinese company owns your IP. This being the case, there is no point in our writing a Product Development Agreement your Chinese manufacturer is not going to sign.

IoT Company: (And I swear we get this sort of response at least 90 percent of the time) Im not worried. I think you have it wrong. Im sure they will sign such an agreement because we orally agreed on this before we even started the project.

China Lawyer: Thats fine, but I still think it makes sense for you to at least make sure they will sign a new contract making clear all the IP associated with your product belongs to you, because if they wont, there is no point in our drafting such a contract and, most importantly, there is no point in your paying us to do so.

So far not a single such IoT company has been able to come back to us with an agreement from their Chinese manufacturer to sign.

In that same post, I wrote of the following variation on the same theme:

We have lately been getting a slight variation on this theme, where the IoT company is farther along in its product development and is actually now at the point of selling its product. This newer situation is exemplified by the email below, which is an amalgamation of various recent emails, with any and all kinds of modifiers to make it impossible for anyone to be able to guess the companies:

Here is my situation. I am hoping your firm can help us figure out the best course of action going forward. [Then usually follows a description of their company and their IoT product and how they ended up going with a particular Chinese manufacturer and why they failed to seek out the advice of a China lawyer until now. BTW, this description far too often involves their domestic attorney having told them he or she would turn them over to a China specialist as soon as that becomes necessary.]

We do not have any contracts in place with our current manufacturer. We started the relationship with our current manufacturer a year ago. He told us POs are contracts in China and our lawyer here confirmed that. We sent him our design, paid for the molds, and he shipped us the products. Recently, we learned he used our product pictures as marketing material on Alibaba and we suspect he is selling our products all over the world. A week or so later, I found out he has filed for a design patent for our design in China.

We just started the working relationship with [online retailer]. Our manufacturer doesnt know that. All I told him is that we are working with a big client, and if he doesnt sign any agreements with us at this point, were not going to place new orders. He then told me hes willing to sign a non-disclosure agreement with us. But based on what he has done, I dont think it is in his best interest to work with us in the long run.

Were filing design patents in the US. If we continue to work with him during this period, which agreement would help us get the best protection?

Since he already claimed our designs in China, will that prevent us from working with a new manufacturer?

Do you advise we work with a new manufacturer at this point?

Our response has been something like the following:

A PO is not really a contract; it is the placing of one order. Unless your PO speaks to IP (which would be unusual), it almost certainly will not help you here. On top of this, some Chinese courts do not see POs as a contract at all and some Chinese courts will not even look at a document not in Chinese. The ideal is a Chinese language contract sealed by the Chinese company.

Our biggest concern is that this manufacturer has gone off and filed for a design patent for your product. This will no doubt pose problems for you and for any new Chinese manufacturer you might seek to use. Depending on how far along your present manufacturer is in the patent process, it may be able to sue you and your Chinese manufacturer for damages and to force production to cease. At minimum, it will be able to cause you all sorts of problems unless you can stop or invalidate its design patent. At this point, there is a good chance this Chinese manufacturer literally owns your product in China and can use that ownership to control what you do there.

If you seek to go to a new manufacturer you can be sure of two things: one, your old manufacturer will NOT give you the molds you think you paid for and two, it will use its design patent to, at minimum, block your products from leaving China. It also very well may sue you for patent infringement in a Chinese court. In the meantime, making your product in China will be an extremely high risk proposition.

Based on the information you have provided us, it appears you have the following four options, none of which are terribly good:

1. You leave China entirely and you start manufacturing in some other country. Is this possible?

2. You seek to block or invalidate your manufacturers design patent. This will not be accomplished quickly or inexpensively.

3. You try to strike some sort of deal with your manufacturer whereby it assigns the patents to you and in return you agree to keep using it for manufacturing for x number of years. It may agree to this if what you can pay it will exceed what it can make by selling your product on its own. The fact that it has offered to sign a non disclosure agreement does not mean much at all, since such an agreement will not help you and your manufacturer almost certainly knows this. For why this is the case, check out Why Your NDA Does Not Work for China. You need it to sign a contract that actually makes clear what IP belongs to you and makes clear his limitations in using your IP. At this point, it sounds like you need a China-centric manufacturing agreement that makes clear who owns what.

4. You go to a new manufacturer in China. If you do this, you almost certainly will not have your molds and there is a good chance your existing manufacturer will make a lot of trouble for you by suing or threatening the new manufacturer, etc.

Dont let the above happen to you. For more on how you can prevent this, go read China NNN Agreements and China Product Development Agreements.

Now for the suing all the lawyers part. In most of these instances where the tech company has pretty much just relinquished its most valuable asset (the IP it took years to develop) to a Chinese company, the tech company was represented by a domestic lawyer. And in most of those instances  or so we have been told  the domestic lawyer told its tech client it would be able to save it money by using them for the basic agreements and then using a more specialized China lawyer when necessary. But as you can see from the above, the domestic lawyers too often guess badly wrong on the necessary part of this equation. In fact, most of the time, it is the tech company, not its lawyer, who finally makes the decision to call the China lawyers at my law firm and that usually happens when the tech company starts sensing something is going wrong with its China situation.

So it is with some amount of regret that I am now going to start adding a fifth option to the four I list above:

5. Consult with your local malpractice lawyer about suing your lawyer who led you to believe he or she was qualified to assist you in dealing with China and then allowed you to get into the really bad situation in which you now find yourself.

#Sorry
The Russian Scientific Arctic Expedition will be set up on Spitsbergen (Svalbard) Archipelago as part of the state program Environmental Protection 2012-2020 under a directive signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. This directive is consistent with the provisions of the Svalbard Treaty and other international treaties.

"The expedition is expected to enhance the efficiency of Russian organizations working on Spitsbergen (Svalbard) Archipelago and in the adjacent waters of the Arctic Ocean, as well as expand international cooperation," the directive says.

The Russian Scientific Arctic Expedition will create conditions for the operation of the Russian Research Center, which was set up on Spitsbergen under a decision adopted in 2014. The expedition will provide information and methodological support to the center and will also oversee the planning and implementation of the center's activities and research programs.

The year-round expedition will have a permanent staff of 25 employees from the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, who will ensure the uninterrupted operation of its research infrastructure and the Barentsburg Zonal Hydrometeorological Observatory. A group of 75 people will work there on a seasonal basis and will include researchers from other agencies of the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring and students and trainees from industry-specific universities

Russian organizations will be able to apply for research projects on Spitsbergen (Svalbard) Archipelago and in the adjacent waters of the Arctic Ocean. The expedition will also coordinate and provide logistics support to such research.

The expedition will be financed by funds allocated under the state program Environmental Protection, 2012-2020.
(Photo : Getty Images.) Amid global steel crisis, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Monday issued warning to China that it must stop excessive

dumping of cheap steel in the international market.

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Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton has warned China against its decision to support overcapacity in steel production, adding that she will take stern action against the country's dumping policy if she is elected as US President.



"I would not tolerate attempts by China to solve its growing economic problems on the back of American workers," Clinton said on Monday.



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"As President, I'll aggressively pursue trade cases and impose consequences when China breaks the rules by dumping its cheap products in our markets," Clinton said.



Hillary Clinton's statement comes just a day after UK requested China to cut down on its steel production. The plea was made by UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond during his meeting with Chinese counterpart on Sunday.



China is facing immense heat from the international community for its excessive dumping of cheap steel products in European and American markets. This has caused forced the European steel industry into major crisis, with several steel plants in the UK facing shutdown.



British Prime Minister David Cameroon met with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week to discuss about China's dumping issue. The meeting took place on the sidelines of Nuclear Security Summit in Washington.



However, China has refused to give in to international pressure as it remains adamant to keep overcapacity in steel production intact.



Analysts said that China is resorting to dumping strategy owing to ongoing economic crisis in its economy, which has led to a slump in domestic consumption of steel.



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Tagschina, Hillary Clinton, Chinese Steel, steel crisis
(Photo : Getty Image) China hears first transgender discrimination case.

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China held a hearing on Monday on its first transgender employment discrimination case after he was dismissed from work for "not conforming to traditional notions" of gender, according to the case lawyers.



The 28-year-old transgender plaintiff, identified as Chen, claimed that he was hired as a sales representative by a certain health care provider in south China's Guiyang city last April. In an interview with a local newspaper, Chen said he did not disclose his female gender during his application but noted that the medical service firm was aware of his "special gender situation."



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However, Chen said that was he was fired a week after because he was allegedly wearing men's clothes.



Guiyang Evening News suggested that Chen had been kicked out because he was a transgender, quoting the company's manager saying "Chen's appearance really didn't fit our standards."



"My sales job performance was in no way negatively affected by appearance. To fire me for this reason is to discriminate against me," he said.



Chen together with his lawyer Huang Sha filed a case and sought for a compensation of nearly 2,000 yuan on grounds of unfair dismissal. Furthermore, Chen demanded a formal written apology from Ciming.



"I am not doing this only for myself, but also for all those who might face employment discrimination, such as those who are pregnant or disabled," he told The Global Times.



"I wanted to defend my own rights and to receive the respect I deserve," Chen told The Guardian.



The case was heard on Monday, and a verdict is set to be given by the end of the month.



Meanwhile, during the hearing, the company insisted that it dismissed Chen because the management felt he was not qualified to do the job.



Activists said Chen's case is China's first court ruling on grounds of transgender rights.



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Tagstransgender, discrimination, gender equality, LGBT, china
Diplomats and top managers of leading companies from Russia, Finland, China, Norway and South Korea will meet in Murmansk on Tuesday for the sixth Arctic Logistics conference to highlight the prospects of Northern Sea Route exploration, TASS said.

"The conference will gather over 120 participants representing transportation and logistics companies, logistic service providers and industry representatives, and also research institutes, education institutions, and legislative and executive officials," TASS said.

Thirty-six business meetings between top managers are to take place on the sidelines of the conference. The participants will discuss the social and economic development prospects of the Arctic and Russian Arctic regions, ways of making the Northern Sea Route more competitive, and the specifics of building transportation and logistics infrastructure in the Arctic, including on the shelf. The agenda also includes joint international efforts in emergencies prevention and organizing rescue operations in the Arctic.

The main speakers at the conference will be senior managers and experts of such Russian companies as Atomflot, Rosmorport, Gazpromneft-Sakhalin, Gazflot, and Sovcomflot, and representatives of research organizations.

The Murmansk Region government told TASS earlier that an increasing number of Russian companies and other countries were expressing an interest in using the Northern Sea Route. The region traditionally assigns importance to international cooperation by developing close ties with neighboring Norway, Finland and Sweden, and also sees vast potential in establishing and consolidating ties with Asian partners.
(Photo : Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

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Jack Ma, the founder of the multi-billion dollar online retailer Alibaba, completed the purchase of Chateau de Sours in Bordeaux, adding to the growing list of Chinese investors interested in France's wine region. The purchase is expected to quench China's growing thirst for top vintage wines.



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Telegraph UK reported that Jack Ma is leading the way for Chinese investors to buy high-end chateaux in Bordeaux hopes to satisfy the growing market for top vintage wines. Last month, he purchased Chateau de Sours for a whopping price of 12 million. Chateau de Sours is a 200-acre wide, elegant 16th century estate in Entre-Deux-Mers, which includes a villa built in 1972 and field that can produce 10 varieties of red, white and rose wines.



In his trip to France, Jack Ma also brought along his fellow wine enthusiast billionaires, who also decided to buy at least 30 more Chateaux in the region.



"They intend to acquire 20 properties this year and 30 within two years," a source close to the negotiations told Telegraph UK.



These negotiations came in just in time to pull up the slumping sales of 17 percent in Europe last year. The vintage winemakers have faced strong competition against New World rivals in California and Australia, which produces cheaper but also delectable wines.



However, in China, vintage wine continues to be popular especially among the esteemed society as it remains a symbol of status in China. In fact, China continues to be Bordeaux's top foreign market with sales increasing by 31 percent last year. It reportedly sold a record-breaking 64 million bottles last year.



Suzane Mustacich, author of the book "Thirsty Dragon: China's Lust for Bordeaux," said that Chinese size of the market who can afford to buy imported wines has grown double in the past three years: from 17 to 38 million.



Jack Ma is known for realizing potentials in the market, helping out young and small business units to be successful. He also bought a massive 28,100-acre property in the Adirondacks region of New York City as part of the worldwide collection of properties.



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TagsJack Ma's Love for Vintage Wine, Jack Ma Adds Chateau de Sours in His Growing Businesses, Jack Ma Buys Chateau de Sours, Jack Ma and his Love for Vintage Wine, Chateau de Sours, Vintage Top Wines, Alibaba, Bordeaux, Wines in France, France
(Photo : Getty Image) British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking opens his own official Weibo account.

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British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking created an official account on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo on Tuesday morning, following other prominent global personalities including British Prime Minister David Cameron, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.



In his debut post, Hawking reminisced his two previous travels in China in 1985 and 2006 and expressed his wish to continually communicate with his fans.



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"Greetings to my friends in China! It has been too long! I last visited China in 2006... It was an extraordinary experience. My first trip was in 1985..."



Following his first post, which was written both in English and Chinese, Hawking received a warm welcome from the microblogging community. He easily gained nearly 400,000 followers and received over 60,000 comments in just two hours.



"I cannot believe it. This is a historical moment. I'm so close to the grand master!" a netizen said.



Some fans also took the chance to ask the renowned scientist questions including extra-terrestrials, gravitational waves and even random ones like "When will I get a girlfriend?" and "Are there aliens?" Others shared they have been reading Hawking's A Brief History of Time.



However, unlike other internationally renowned figures, Hawking seems to differ from others as the scientist has no diplomatic purpose or business intentions to accomplish, according to What's on Weibo.



Instead of establishing public relations for self-promotion, Hawking's purpose centers on sharing his life to people and engaging in intellectual conversation.



"I have only been able to touch the surface of your fascination history and culture. But now I can communicate with you through social media," he wrote. "I hope to tell you more about my life and work through this page and also to learn from you in reply."



Hawking's official account @_StephenHawking is collaboratively managed by the professor himself, a team of social marketers and LA-based media firm Stradella Road.



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Tagschina, Sina Weibo, Stephen Hawking, Chinese social media, Twitter, Tim Cook, david cameron, Social network
(Photo : Getty Image) Didi Kuaidi is looking for collaborations abroad

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Chinese travelers who use the ride-hailing app Didi Kuaidi in China can still use the mobile app to book a ride through its new partner Lyft when visiting the United States.



The recently offered cross-service platform will allow Didi Kuaidi users to easily grab a ride across 200 US cities where Lyft is available beginning Wednesday.



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The team up aims to increase service utilization of both companies, where they could channel their clients to one another.



The app, which customers have grown accustomed to, will remain as is. Language used will still be in Chinese, fare prices and estimates in Chinese RMB and payment options via Alipay and WeChat Pay.



Aside from that, Didi will also provide a 24/7 customer service support and a live translation service with just a tap of a button. When users opt to avail of the interpretation service, users will be directed to a three-way call from an interpreter in China who can help travelers converse with the US drivers.



"We hope to really provide them with as seamless an experience they have back home," Kristina Gibson, head of Lyft's international products and payments, said.



Under the new partnership, Lyft drivers will still gain the same rates and commissions, while Didi Kuaidi clients get to pay in their local currency. Lyft will directly pay the drivers, the company confirmed.



Meanwhile, foreigners visiting China can also avail of Didi's services through Lyft during the second quarter of the year, the Beijing-based startup announced.



Didi Kuaidi will begin advertising their new service, while Lyft plans to distribute information and training materials to its drivers this week.



Both companies, however, refused to give specific details about the financial arrangement. But Tech Crunch revealed that one reporter in the room heard Didi saying it will allow Lyft take 100 percent of the revenue. Lyft, on the other hand, did not confirm or deny the rumor. They also declined to share feasibility statistics.



Didi Kuaidi has been investing on other ride-hailing service providers overseas since 2015, including the United States' Lyft, Southeast Asia's Grab and India's Ola, as it continues to compete with rival Uber internationally. Instead of tapping local providers, Uber's strategy is more on aggressive overseas expansion.



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TagsDidi Kuaidi, lyft, ride-hailing app, Uber, Alipay, WeChat Pay, Ola, Grab
(Photo : Getty Image) Chinese tech firms reportedly commit to help combat online terrorism activities

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Technology firms in China have committed to combatting online promotion of terrorism, the government's internet regulator announced on Tuesday.



About 25 Chinese tech firms pledged to "handle in a timely way terror-related harmful, illegal information, create a clear internet space and maintain social stability," the Cyberspace Administration of China said.



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Companies that promised to sign up include Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Baidu Inc., JD.com, Sina Corp and Tencent Holdings Ltd, the regulator revealed. However, all companies refused to give comment, according to Reuters.



It was also revealed that over 25,000 posts, 4,000 videos and 200 accounts with illicit and terror-related contents have already been put down.



In December, China passed a controversial anti-terrorism law, requiring tech firms including those owned by foreigners to open up a proprietary source code to Beijing and to work hand-in-hand with the government to fight off terrorism.



Many critics said that the recent law utilizes counter-terror and national security regulations to hinder freedom of speech. The US State Department even expressed "serious concerns," pointing it would more likely do harm than good.



However, China rejected such criticism, defending that it has "referred to the laws of other countries, including the United States."



"This rule won't limit the lawful operations of companies, does not provide a 'back door' and will affect neither the firm's intellectual property nor Internet users 'freedom of speech'," Hong Lei, Chinese foreign minister, said.



He further added that the new anti-terrorism law is "both totally rational and necessary" to counter online threats of terrorism in China.



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Tagsterrorism, china, Anti-Terrorism Law, Alibaba, China Anti-Terrorism Law, Baidu, JD.com, Sina, Tencent, counterterrorism
YEREVAN, APRIL 12, ARMENPRESS. Armenpress presents on the air of LRATVAKAN radio all that you will read, hear and see in todays news.

Today, on April 12, Minister of Economy Artsvik Minasyan will visit the Meridian Free Economic Zone and a number of diamond companies in Nor Hachn. The Minister will review the activities of the Meridian Free Economic Zone, after which a meeting will representatives of companies involved in Meridian will take place, focusing on issues concerning the sphere. Meetings with diamond company representatives are also scheduled.

Nobel Days in Yerevan kicks off. Five Nobel laureates are already in Yerevan. Who are they and what scientific achievements have they made? Details about the event and the laureates will be presented today. The Nobel Laureates will deliver lectures and will visit the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, the Matenadaran, the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute and other places.

The opening of the German Economic Union is scheduled to take place on April 12 in Armenia. Since 2013 the Union operates a branch office in Yerevan, and today the opening of its headquarters will take place. It aim is to assist commercial relations between Germany and present the German economic interests in Armenia and Georgia.

The tour of St. Petersburgs state ballet theater kicks off in Yerevan. Details will be presented during a press conference today.

Expert on Iranian studies Armen Israyelyan, Expert on Turkish studies Levon Hovsepyan, and expert on Georgian studies Alik Eroyants will present the positions of Iran, Turkey and Georgia regarding the provocative actions of Azerbaijan in the Nagorno Karabakh line of contact. Founder and commander of the special reconnaissance detachment Vova Vardanov will speak about the Azerbaijani attacks. Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute Hayk Demoyan will present his observations about the Armenian actions.

Remarkable findings were made in Yeghvard in connection with the Syunik looters. The items include Urartu era bronze statues and others. Director of the Archeology and Ethnography Institute Pavel Avetisyan and deputy director of the Scientific-Research Center of Historic-Cultural Heritage Hakob Simonyan will speak about the findings and their value.

The Union of Painters of Armenia is organizing an exhibition of paintings of 1960-1980 80 best paintings of their archives. Money raised during the event will be allocated to Nagorno Karabakh.

You can read more 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.
Court tosses ACLU lawsuit to force Catholic hospitals to perform abortions 12 April, 2016 by Gregory Tomlin , |

DETROIT  A federal court on Monday slapped down a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) that sought to force a Catholic hospital system to violate its own pro-life policies in order to perform abortions.

In a 13-page ruling, the U.S. District Court for Eastern Michigan (Southern Division) said the ACLU had no standing to make a complaint when it claimed the hospital system's policies would prevent the termination of a pregnancy in order to stabilize a mother's condition  primarily because the suit didn't pertain to actual events experienced at the hospital.

The events, instead, were regarded as hypothetical by the court, which also claimed the case was not "ripe for review" because no one had been factually injured by the hospital system's policies.

No law requires religious hospitals and medical personnel to commit abortions against their faith and conscience, and, in fact, federal law directly prohibits the government from engaging in any such coercion. As we argued in our brief to the court, the ACLU had no standing to bring this suit and demand this kind of government coercion.

Trinity Health Corporation, which operates nine hospitals in Michigan and more than 90 hospitals and continuing care facilities around the country, adheres to the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health, which is provided by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Directive 45 states in the policies, "Abortion (that is, the directly intended termination of pregnancy before viability of the directly intended destruction of a viable fetus) is never permitted."

Trinity Health, along with the Catholic Medical Association, the Christian Medical and Dental Associations, and the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists all joined the case. Alliance Defending Freedom intervened on their behalf.

"No American should be forced to commit an abortionleast of all faith-based medical workers who went into the profession to follow their faith and save lives, not take them," Kevin Theriot, ADF's senior legal counsel, said in a statement following the court's ruling.

"No law requires religious hospitals and medical personnel to commit abortions against their faith and conscience, and, in fact, federal law directly prohibits the government from engaging in any such coercion. As we argued in our brief to the court, the ACLU had no standing to bring this suit and demand this kind of government coercion," Theriot said.

ADF Senior Counsel Matt Bowman said the court acted correctly, viewing the case as one based on "pure speculation."

This isn't the first time the ACLU of Michigan has gone after Catholic hospitals in Michigan. In September 2015, the ACLU and American Atheists both were up in arms because a hospital in Grand Blanc, Mich., denied a birth control procedure (tubal ligation) to a pregnant woman suffering from a brain tumor.

On Sept. 21, the ACLU sent a letter to Genesys Health System, another Catholic system in the state, asking the hospital to reconsider the decision.

In a letter to the hospital, the ACLU of Michigan's staff attorney, Brooke Tucker, said the hospital  in spite of its Catholic views on birth control and sterilization  had no right to deny the medical procedure to the woman, who had delivered other children at the hospital. Tucker said the policy against sterilization was only implemented in 2014.

Tucker called the hospitals policies, based on the religious beliefs of the Catholic Church, "callous."

The hospital's vice president for administration, Andy Kruse, responded to the letter and noted, just as Trinity Medical did, that the hospital was a Catholic facility that follows the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Facilities.

The American Atheists, a group founded in 1963 following the Murray v. Curlett Supreme Court case that removed prayer from public schools, claimed after that case that it wanted the government to enact legislation to require health care providers  specifically those with religious affiliations  to inform patients, insurance companies and government agencies what procedures they will not perform because of religious belief.

Amanda Knief, national legal and public policy director for American Atheists, said in a statement that the organization didn't want to force provides to perform procedures to which they have a religious objection.

"What they can't do is pull a bait and switch on patients and potential patients," Knief said.

It is unclear to which "bait and switch" Knief was referring, as the Catholic Church has opposed artificial birth control since its foundation. In 1968, Pope Paul VI laid out the historical case for the church's position in his encyclical Humanae Vitae. Opposition to birth control among catholic Christians extends back to the second century A.D.
Stepping Stone Mission hosted a Joy and Love Festival to celebrate Easter on April 3 at Hurt Park in Atlanta.

Jesus carried the cross to solve the problem of sin in us, and through his resurrection we have received new life, said Rev. George Murdow during this sixth such event. So whoever receives Jesus as their Lord becomes Gods child. Let us live new lives as Gods children, clothed in the new life of the resurrection.

Following Murdows sermon, a Taekwondo demonstration was carried out by a Taekwondo studio director from Boston, and 400 gifts prepared by Stepping Stone Mission were given to those who attended.

Everyone who came by were able to enjoy their time with the food prepared and provided by Korean Community Presbyterian Church of Atlanta. Four barbers and hair stylists offered free hair services and nurses offered free health screenings to the homeless individuals, and shared Christs love with them.

Everything was amazing, said Solomon, one of the homeless individuals who serves as a leader in Stepping Stone Mission. It was my first time coming to this event and Im just amazed to think of how so many Koreans could come to give and love and help people. Im so thankful. Thank you so much.

Every year weve been hosting Easter events, but since many organizations have Easter events and churches have their own events as well, we decided to have ours one week after Easter, explained Joseph Song, the president of Stepping Stone Mission. In the future, we hope to have a Sunday where all of the Korean churches can work together to share the gospel to homeless individuals.

Numerous Korean churches in the Atlanta area partnered together to host this particular Easter event, including Korean Community Presbyterian Church, Korean First Presbyterian Church, New Days Church, New Life Baptist Church of Atlanta, Johns Creek Korean Church, New Church of Atlanta, Siloam Korean Church of Atlanta, Saehan Presbyterian Church of Atlanta, Atlanta Bethany United Methodist Church, Bethel Faith Baptist Church, and New Light Presbyterian Church.
Only 1 in 3 evangelicals that pray daily and worship weekly think keeping the Fourth Commandment is essential to being a Christian.

Only 2 in 5 get advice from their pastor when making a major life decision.

Building upon its massive survey of American Christians, today the Pew Research Center released a follow-up survey on religion in everyday life. The seven-year main study, meant to fill the gap left by the US census and the self-reporting of denominations, studied the change of religion in America from 2007 to 2014. CT covered the two-part release last year.

The study released today is a supplemental look at everyday religion in the United States, meant to examine how religious beliefs and practices go beyond prayer and church attendence to influence the day-to-day lives of Americans.

About 30 percent of Americans are highly religious (those who pray daily and attend church at least once a week), and half of them are evangelical Protestants, according to Pew. Evangelical Protestants ...

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Global Outreach Conferences to Energize Church Missions Sessions by The Mission Society to be Held April 16, 23, at Fruitland Park, The Villages, Ocala



Contact: Ty Mays,

770-256-8710



NORCROSS, Ga., April 12, 2016 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Mission Society will hold two free information-packed GO (Global Outreach) Conferences in Central Florida to supply church leaders with fresh, practical approaches to expand their outreach by giving added impetus to join in missions work. Using New Testament principles, The Mission Society presents God's plan for congregations to be God's primary agent for missions.



Photo: The Mission Society is committed to supporting and educating congregations through workshops, outreach events and other initiatives.



GO Conferences, over the course of a Saturday, are designed to provide effective and timely information on how to create and sustain successful outreach ministries. The sessions will be held on April 16 at Community UMC, 309 College Ave., Fruitland Park, Fla. 34731 and at First Ocala UMC, 1126 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala, Fla. 34470. The conference will be held on April 23 at New Covenant UMC, 3470 Woodridge Drive, The Villages, Fla. 32612, and at Ocala West UMC, 9330 SW 105th St., Ocala, Fla. 3448. Lunch is included in the event, which will run from approximately 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.



"All Christians are called to fulfill the Great Commission, joining Jesus in His mission of making disciples of all people," said The Rev. Max Wilkins, president and CEO of The Mission Society. "Our GO Conferences give step-by-step specifics on how to energize your congregation for sustained and successful mission outreach."



During the GO Conference, attendees will learn about Biblical and global perspectives on mission outreach; how to lay the spiritual groundwork needed to make outreach a success; and how to develop a simple, thorough outreach plan. They will learn how to build and maintain ministry partnerships to facilitate local, regional and global missions and how to be effective at short-term missions. They will also hear about a proven method for funding a mission outreach budget.



"Your church has sleeping giants  those men and women who follow Jesus, in whom a passion to reach all of God's world has yet to awaken," said Jorge Acevedo, lead pastor at Grace Church in Cape Coral, Fl. "When they awaken, watch out! Your church will give, go and pray locally and globally in unprecedented ways. The GO Conference offers biblical perspectives and practical strategies to mobilize your church to join Jesus in his mission."



For more information and to register, go to themissionsociety.org/goconferencencfl.



Founded in 1984 in the Wesleyan tradition, The Mission Society (www.themissionsociety.org) exists to mobilize and deploy the body of Christ globally to join Jesus in His mission, especially among the least-reached peoples. The Mission Society recruits, trains and sends Christian missionaries to minister around the world. Its church ministry department provides seminars, workshops and mentoring for congregations in the United States and abroad, helping equip churches for outreach in their communities and worldwide. At present, The Mission Society has 180 missionaries serving in 30 countries.



For more information about The Mission Society, contact Ty Mays @ 770-256-8710 or tmays@inchristcommunications.com.

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Why Do We Need the Natural Law? Constitutional law professor addresses the importance of the classical worldview



Contact: Kevin Wandra, 404-788-1276,



SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., April 12, 2016 /



Natural law tradition holds that the world is ordered, intelligible and good, that there are objective moral truths that we can know and that human beings can achieve true happiness only by following our inborn nature, which draws us toward our own perfection. But modern philosophers such as Rene Descartes, John Locke and Thomas Hobbs began to chip away at it. Hill, an atheist-turned-Catholic, argues in AFTER THE NATURAL LAW that without a theory of natural law, modern Western values lose their coherence: We literally cannot make sense of them. Thus, we see in our jurisprudence the tendency either to dilute the meaning of such terms as freedom and human rights or to abandon them altogether.



Hill further explains that even the philosophical assumptions of the natural law depend on a personal God, who is the touchstone of the classical understanding of the human condition and the foundation for what remains our most important moral and political ideals, even today.



"With clarity and force, Hill demonstrates how a teleological understanding of nature makes sense of the moral and political principles dear to the modern heart," says Michael Augros, Ph.D., author of Who Designed the Designer? "A much-needed book restoring a neglected truth to its rightful pride of place."



For more information, to request a review copy or to schedule an interview with John Lawrence Hill, please contact Kevin Wandra (404-788-1276 or

Share Tweet Contact: Kevin Wandra, 404-788-1276, KWandra@CarmelCommunications.com SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., April 12, 2016 / Christian Newswire / -- The "natural law" worldview developed over the course of almost 2,000 years, beginning with Plato and Aristotle and culminating with St. Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century. But what, exactly, is the natural law, and why is it important for us to have a renewed appreciation of it to retain our hard-fought and highly prized liberty? Constitutional law professor John Lawrence Hill addresses the history of the natural law and why it's a necessary foundation for our most important moral and political values  freedom, human rights, equality, responsibility and human dignity, among others  in his new book, AFTER THE NATURAL LAW: How the Classical Worldview Supports Our Modern Moral and Political Values.Natural law tradition holds that the world is ordered, intelligible and good, that there are objective moral truths that we can know and that human beings can achieve true happiness only by following our inborn nature, which draws us toward our own perfection. But modern philosophers such as Rene Descartes, John Locke and Thomas Hobbs began to chip away at it. Hill, an atheist-turned-Catholic, argues in AFTER THE NATURAL LAW that without a theory of natural law, modern Western values lose their coherence: We literally cannot make sense of them. Thus, we see in our jurisprudence the tendency either to dilute the meaning of such terms as freedom and human rights or to abandon them altogether.Hill further explains that even the philosophical assumptions of the natural law depend on a personal God, who is the touchstone of the classical understanding of the human condition and the foundation for what remains our most important moral and political ideals, even today."With clarity and force, Hill demonstrates how a teleological understanding of nature makes sense of the moral and political principles dear to the modern heart," says Michael Augros, Ph.D., author of Who Designed the Designer? "A much-needed book restoring a neglected truth to its rightful pride of place."For more information, to request a review copy or to schedule an interview with John Lawrence Hill, please contact Kevin Wandra (404-788-1276 or KWandra@CarmelCommunications.com ) of Carmel Communications.
home World Babylon Brigade: A look at the Christian militia fighting against ISIS

The Islamic State has caused a lot of damage, taken many lives, incited chaos and fear, and targeted non-Muslims. Because of this, Christians have taken up arms to fight against the terror group.

It was reported in July last year, that a group of about 1,000 Christians had banded together to form the Iraq Christian Resistance called Babylonian Brigade. They were training with the government-sanctioned paramility group, the Popular Mobilization Forces, comprised of Shia and Sunni militias.

"[ISIS] displaced us from our houses, they took our money, killed our young men and women and they took our properties," Rayan al-Kildani, the commander of the Babylon Brigade, told NBC News. "Therefore, Christians decided to fight the terrorists of ISIS. By the will of God we will avenge what happened to our community."

More recently, BBC correspondent Owen Bennett-Jones went to see the leader of the Babylon Brigade to find out more about the group.

Kildani refused to give the number of people they have now, saying that it's a military secret; however, another militia man had already disclosed this information to Bennett-Jones. The report says there are about 100,000 armed volunteers in 30 popular mobilization units that were formed in the past two years. The militias, as a whole, are reported to be receiving a total of about $1.4 billion per year from the government.

Kildani stated that their group has fought alongside Muslim militias, and that they are "the first Christian power in Iraqi history." He also claimed to having good defenses and "no-one is going to do anything bad to the Christians."

"We have to fight. We have to defend ourselves," he said, adding, "Jesus himself told us that if you don't have a sword you should go out and buy one."

Bennett-Jones admits to having been surprised at this, and Kildani's assistant showed him Luke 22:36, a verse that theologians have apparently debated over for a long time.

It goes, "If you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one."
YEREVAN, APRIL 12, ARMENPRESS. The Nagorno Karabakh Defense Ministry informs that the ceasefire agreement between Nagorno Karabakh-Azerbaijani armed forces was mainly maintained, however the Azerbaijani side fired mortars and grenade launchers at Armenian positions in the northeastern and southeastern directions of the line of contact, Armenpress was informed by the Press Service of the Nagorno Karabakh Defense Army.

The Nagorno Karabakh Defense Armys statement reads: The ceasefire agreement was mainly maintained in the early morning of April 12. In some areas the adversary fired various caliber weapons and mortars. In particular, Azerbaijan fired 82mm mortars (3 shells), 60mm mortars (4 shells) and AGS-17 grenade launchers (17 grenades) at Armenian positions in the directions of Martakert and Hadrut.

The Azerbaijani side also used a reconnaissance UAV during the night in the southern, eastern and northern directions.

The Defense Army forces closely monitored the adversarys actions and took appropriate measures only in case of strict necessity. Currently the situation is calm.
home World Christian youth being targeted by drug cartels in Pakistan; Christian man murdered for telling men to leave kids alone

A 55-year-old Christian man in Pakistan was brutally murdered by two assailants, but his Muslim companion, although injured, was alive.

According to the British Pakistani Christian Association, Nazeer Masih was cut several times in the face and his throat sliced open by two men, identified as Nadir and Haider from another village. Armed with an iron rod and a chopping knife, the suspects reportedly attacked Masih and his Muslim companion, Nawaz, as they were in the fields cutting grass. Nawaz suffered a wound on the head but was able to escape and report the incident to the villagers. Masih, however, was already dead by the time the villagers reached him.

Masih apparently had a previous argument with the two men when he told them to leave the Christian youth in his village alone. According to a pastor named Alfred Azam, drug dealers have been creating trouble within their Christian community.

"Before and after our church services Muslim drug dealers swarm around our church trying to sell drugs to our vulnerable youth," Azam said. "Some drug pushers move around in Christian residential areas and beat young Christians forcing them to take drugs in an attempt to get them addicted. When our older men tell these criminals to leave our young people alone they get killed."

On this issue, BPCA chairman Wilson Chowdhry said that there is growing concern over drug addition within Christian communities. The government, he said, should set up a task force to crack down on the drug cartels.

"The coercing of vulnerable Christians and other minority youth into drug addiction, often by force, has developed wealthy Muslim drug lords who continue to target such vulnerable communities," he said. "Their success and accumulated wealth has given them great power, often with authority over police forces who turn a blind eye to their crimes on the offer of rishwat (bribes)."

The people of Wandala Dayal Shah village, located in Sheikhupura district, reported the murder of Masih to authorities, but the police did not do anything and refused to file a First Incident Report for the case. The following day, on April 7, a group of Christians brought Masih's body and conducted a protest in G T Road, agreeing to bury the man provided an FIR is filed and an investigation conducted.

The complaint, according to the BPCA, has been registered and a search for the suspects is ongoing.
home World Mapuche conflict: Two churches burned in Chile

Two Christian churches have been burned in Chile on March 31, the fourth and fifth alleged arson cases in 24 hours. The perpetrators, according to International Christian Concern in their April 7 report, are supporters of the Mapuche, an indigenous people who are said to be trying to get rid of those who practice religion that contradicts their beliefs.

"We never imagined that these attacks would occur in our community. There is no conflict in our community," Pastor Jose Dario Pineda said, as quoted in the report by ICC. "We are all Christians and live in peace."

The first of the two cases is the burning of the Catholic church of Santa Joaquina. A pamphlet was reportedly found with the words "grandparents and ancestors have also been burned to death." This has led to speculations of the Mapuche being responsible for the fire as the note is presumed to be referring to the violence experienced by the indigenous people's ancestors under Spanish rule.

The second case is the burning of Christian Union, an Evangelical church in Antinao. The pamphlet found in the scene contained a request to free Mapuche prisoners as well as the message, "We are going to burn all churches."

"ICC is very troubled to hear of these attacks on churches in Chile. Chile's constitution and other laws protect religious freedom for their people," said ICC advocacy manager Nate Lance.

On April 1, a special prosecutor was assigned to investigate and as of April 2, 11 people were arrested and charged.

"We are pleased that a special prosecutor has been named to investigate and hold the perpetrators of these crimes responsible, and that arrests have been made," Lance said. "It is our prayer that this action from the government will put a swift end to this persecution and restore religious freedom to Christians in the area."

However, it may not be the churches per se that the Mapuche are fighting against. There have also been many complaints from land and business owners in the area. The indigenous people, labeled as terrorists by the government, are said to be trying to reclaim their 81.5 million acres of ancestral land, which they have been fighting for for the past 500 years since the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores.

The article by Care2.com says that from 1860 to 1885 alone, about 100,000 Mapuche were massacred, and their land was given by the government to private landowners. More recently, in 1997, the tension heightened when the Ralco Hydroelectric Plant was built in the center of their land.

The Mapuche are said to be demanding the return of their ancestral lands, for their cultural identity, and for jurisdictional autonomy.
home Life Oxford University drops Christianity as compulsory subject for theology students for 1st time in 800 years

Theology students at Oxford University will no longer be required to take up Christianity, but can opt to study other subjects during their second year.

The Oxford University has decided to revise its theology course after some undergraduates lamented the so-called lack of diversity in the subjects. This is the first time in 800 years that the university has dropped Christianity as a required subject in theology, The Telegraph reports.

While Oxford undergraduates could avoid studying Christianity, theology faculty board chairman Johannes Zachhuber said it would be unlikely for many students to totally ignore the Christian aspects of the course. However, he acknowledged the diversity of the people who flock to Oxford for their studies, the report relays.

Nevertheless, Christianity is still required for first year theology students, an Oxford University spokesman has confirmed.

"Christianity is still compulsory in the first year of the course  in fact there are two compulsory papers on it. So all students on the course will study Christianity," the spokesperson said. "Christianity is still a major part of the course in second and third year, and it's very unlikely that a student would choose options that do not cover Christianity in these years."

During their second year, Oxford theology students can choose to pursue subjects other than Christianity such as "Buddhism in Space and Time" and "Feminist Approaches to Theology and Religion." Other subject options include Islam and mysticism.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Andrea Minichiello Williams of UK-based Christian Concern conveyed her sadness at Oxford's decision. She said the study of theology was originally understood to be the study of the Christian religion.

Oxford associate professor of medieval history Benjamin Thompson said some changes have already been implemented in his department in the last few years. This is because students want changes in their educational patterns because world events including the rise of militant Islam and Chinese economy are affecting their lives.

The changes in the theology program of Oxford University will be implemented starting September 2017. The new course, which will remove Christianity as a required subject from the second year onwards, will be called "theology and religion."
home Life The Anchor House: First residential shelter for sexually-trafficked boys to open this year

The very first shelter in the United States to welcome sexually-trafficked boys will be ready this year. However, it has not been an easy ride for the Christian couple behind the initiative who has spent the past 3 1/2 years trying to complete the project.

The Anchor House is a residential shelter under Restore One, described as "a ministry that seeks to open safe homes that are Christ-centered free of cost to male victims of domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST) and Commercial Sexual Exploitation (CSE)." The facility will first take in four adolescent boys, which will eventually increase to 12, aged between 12 and 18.

According to Christian Headlines, Restore One was founded by Chris and Anna Smith in 2012, and they initially intended to open a shelter for girls. They later discovered through those who have founded similar facilities that there is no such residential care available for male victims, considering that 50 percent of sexually exploited minors are boys.

"We started to learn and started to see that boys were forgotten," Chris said, as quoted by Catholic Online. "That their stories were real. That across America, boys, just like girls, are being sold for sex. And no one is talking about it."

However, they encountered difficulties along the way. Chris told The Daily Reflector that donors started asking questions if the project was going to push through because they had already spent months looking for a suitable place to put up the shelter. They eventually found one in Greenville, North Carolina.

Due to the need for privacy, confidentiality, and security, they kept the real purpose of the facility from the community. But the shelter's location was subsequently disclosed since there was the necessity of raising both awareness and funds. The community was not happy about what they learned. They complained, opposed, questioned, and put up banners, one of which read, "No sex trafficking lodge here."

The commissioners, however, could not halt the construction because the place had no zoning restrictions.

Jerry Jones, chairman of the Greene County Board of Commissioners, told Kinston.com in October last year, "I do not like how the whole thing started and how it was all hush-hush, secret-secret, whatever. Nobody likes that. ... But anyway, what's done is done."

The Smiths assured the local community that the facility will have a $12,000-security system as well as night guards and volunteers. Moreover, the boys, before being taken in, will undergo drug sreening and persoanality evaluations. They will be referred by advocacy groups and law enforcement agencies.

The property where The Anchor House stands measures 10 acres. Its two-story main building measures 4,430 square feet and there is a cottage measuring 1,639 square feet. Financing came from private donors, and while the project has incurred no debts, $400,000 is still needed for maintenance costs once it opens.
Bible is one of the top 10 most 'challenged' books in America

The Bible is now one of the most objected to books at US schools and libraries, having been challenged on grounds of the sex and violence it contains, and for the legal issues it raises, it was announced this week.

The Bible featured for the first time on the American Library Association (ALA)'s annual list of the top 10 most challenged books, released on Monday, alongside Fifty Shades of Grey.

"You have people who feel that if a school library buys a copy of the Bible, it's a violation of Church and state," said James LaRue, director of the office for intellectual freedom at the ALA.

"And sometimes there's a retaliatory action, where a religious group has objected to a book and a parent might respond by objecting to the Bible."

Despite the high number of challenges, LaRue said the ALA does not object to having Bibles in public schools or libraries.

Having the Bible in a library "does not violate the separation of the Church and state as long as the library does not endorse or promote the views included in the Bible," he said.

The ALA defines a challenge as a "formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness."

The Bible finished sixth on the list, which was topped by John Green's Looking for Alaska, with Fifty Shades of Grey coming second.

"Many of the books deal with issues of diversity," said La Rue. "And that often leads to challenges."

On the list were also two books telling stories of transgender people, Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and Jeanette Winter's Nasreen's Secret School: A true Story from Afghanistan.

The list was compiled from 275 incidents of complaints, down from 311 in 2015.

The ALA did receive complaints about the Qur'an, but not as many as about the Bible, La Rue said.
Boko Haram's 'devastating impact' leaves one million without education

The full damage wreaked by Boko Haram in Nigeria is yet to be known.

This is according to a report which explores the "devastating impact" the terrorist group has had on education in northeast Nigeria.

The 86-page report from Human Rights Watch (HRW) claims one million children have little or no access to schools as a result of Boko Haram's attacks. This situation is made worse by the Nigerian army's policy of using schools as military bases and therefore increasing the risk of attack.

More than 910 schools have been targeted by the Islamist group, whose name means "Western (or non-Islamic) education is a sin". At least 611 teachers have been deliberately killed and another 19,000 forced to flee. At least 1,500 schools have closed as a result of Boko Haram's attacks.

"In its brutal crusade against western-style education, Boko Haram is robbing an entire generation of children in northeast Nigeria of their education," said Mausi Segun, Nigeria researcher at HRW. "The government should urgently provide appropriate schooling for all children affected by the conflict."

This week marks the two year anniversary of the Chibok school kidnapping which sparked an international campaign to bring back the girls. Of the 276 originally kidnapped, 219 remain in captivity.

In a video released in May 2014 the Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, said women and girls would continue to be abducted to "turn them to the path of true Islam" and ensure they did not attend school.

The fighting has sparked a largely unreported refugee crisis with an estimated 2.2 million people, including 1.4 million children, displaced. Only around 10 per cent are in government-recognised refugee camps where there is some schooling. The other 90 per cent are with friends and family members with little or no access to education.

Although the Nigerian government declared Boko Haram had been "technically defeated" in December 2015, attacks continue and there is little prospect of refugees returning.

HRW used the report to urge the government to improve education in the northeast and ban the use of schools for military purposes.

Segun said: "Boko Haram's attacks and the government's neglect and misuse of schools have contributed to the dismal state of education in the northeast.

"It is up to both sides to immediately stop the attacks on education and end the cycle of poverty and underachievement to which far too many children in the region are being sentenced."

HRW's report came as a seperate report by Unicef said Boko haram's use of child suicide bombers over the last year had increased. One in five of the group's suicide attacks were now done by children, said the UN's child agency  an 11-fold increase compared to 2014.
Texas business owner offers to pick up the tab for 'In God We Trust' bumper stickers

A business owner in Forney, Texas has agreed to foot the bill for the printing of "In God We Trust" decals for city vehicles.

Jay Stinson, owner of the Big Jay's Signs and Shirtworks, will provide the decals for free after the Forney City Council approved on Tuesday a resolution for the use of the motto.

City Resolution 16-06 cites that in 1956, President Dwight Eisenhower signed Public Law 84-140, which was passed by the 84th Congress, directing the Treasury to use "In God We Trust" on U.S. currency.

Last November, it states, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a legal opinion that police cars showing the motto do not violate the First Amendment's Establishment Clause.

The use of "In God We Trust" symbolises the city's desire "to display a patriotic motto that will honour the patriotism of our citizens," the resolution says.

"I believe in the words of this motto. I believe that our country was founded on this motto and believe that this project will be a small step to unite our community and make people feel better about our police and fire entities," Stinson told ABC News.

The decals will be placed on police vehicles and fire engines. Stinson estimates that the project will cost from $1,000 to $2,500.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) challenged last year the police department in Childress, Texas for placing the "In God We Trust" decals on its vehicles, saying such decals have "no place on government-owned cars."

Gov. Greg Abbott sided with the police department, saying, "There can be no doubt that courts in Texas would uphold the constitutionality of the Childress Police Department's decision."

Last month, the FFRF sued Sheriff Ronny Dodson of Brewster County, Texas for placing Latin cross decals on patrol vehicles.

"Whether it is a cross, a star and crescent, or a pentagram, law enforcement must remain neutral on matters of religion in order to foster public confidence in their impartiality," said FFRF co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor.
Christian man brutally hacked to death in Pakistan

The body of a Christian man who was hacked to death in Pakistan has been paraded through the streets in protest at the police's refusal to act.

Nazeer Masih, 55, was attacked with an iron rod and a chopping knife on April 6, leaving him battered with a cut throat. Masih, a Christian, was with a Muslim friend at the time who was left seriously injured by the attack.

A statement from the British-Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA) said a dispute had arisen between Masih and his two attackers after he told them to leave young Christians in his village alone. It is understood the attackers were drug dealers who had tried to persuade local Christians to take drugs.

When other locals and family members arrived at the scene Masih was already dead, but despite the incident being reported to local police immediately, no action was taken.

Masih's body was then taken by local Christians to the nearby G T Road, one of Asia's oldest major roads. After a demonstration which lasted several hours, police agreed to file a report and investigate the incident.

One local pastor, Alfred Azam, said it was not the first incident of persecution in the village.

"Before and after our church services Muslim drug dealers swarm around our church trying to sell drugs to our vulnerable youth," Azam said.

"When our older men tell these criminals to leave our young people alone they get killed."

The BPCA has appealed for the UK government to review its approach to Pakistani refugees on the basis of such persecution.

Wilson Chowdhry, chairman of the BPCA, said: "Often Pakistani Christian asylum applications to the UK are denied on the basis that Christians are offered a police service and have a judicial system set up to protect them.

"Yet in this case, once again we have evidence of a corrupt and poorly administered rule of law that is biased against the deprived Christian community.

"Britain has to review its current home office policy towards Pakistani-Christians. The risk profile for such asylum seekers is based on the false premise that a developed law and order mechanism operates in Pakistan. This simply is not true."

The charity has also appealed for donations to support Masih's family.
Christians and Muslims unite to serve refugees in Sweden

Christian and Muslims are going into business together to provide accommodation for refugees in Sweden.

Since September 2015, two of Sweden's largest Muslim and Christian congregations  Katarina Church and the Stockholm Mosque  have been working together to serve those fleeing war and persecution, according to the UN's refugee agency.

The church and mosque have provided beds for a third of all refugees who come through Stockholm on their way to other countries. They are fed and washed at the mosque, and then sleep in the church.

"In Stockholm at the station I was met by volunteers with food and water. They asked where I would prefer to go, the mosque or the church? I said the church," said 27-year-old Mohammed, a Muslim who fled sectarian violence in Baghdad.

"It was a beautiful feeling. Back home Muslims are not allowed to go to churches. Some refugees came to the church just because they wanted to find out what it was like. They found people respected them, even though they were Christians and we were Muslims," he said.

"Everyone was treated like a king at the church, I felt like a real human being for the first time in my life, I wasn't used to it. They were really good people."

The church and mosque are now entering into a new stage of collaboration by starting a joint venture. They hope to compete with private companies that have been criticised for allegedly making profits through providing refugee shelters with state money.

"We are small, but we have a unique cooperation with an organisation that has a lot of information, and the big asylum companies don't have that," said Olle Carlsson, the vicar of Katarina Church.

The two congregations hope to "export this idea to other countries," said Abdallah Salah, secretary general of Islamic Relief in Sweden.

"We have to work together, live together... we have a future together."

The reception has not been entirely positive, however.

"There is some resistance and concern about this joint organisation," said Carlsson.

"Some people within our Christian community think we are submissive, but Jesus says 'Put yourself last in line.' I mean, there is no reason to see this as a matter of prestige."

"There have been a number of questions within our community, such as: 'How will you manage not to discuss theological issues?'... Some think it's a problem for Muslims to sleep in a church," added Salah.

"But I think we are managing it really well, I'm convinced this will work out... We need to stop getting hung up on the 10 per cent that separates our religions, and instead focus on the 90 per cent we have in common in our values and our perception of good and evil."
Could the Bible be even older than we thought?

The Bible may have been written earlier than previously thought, according to new analysis of ancient fragments of pottery found in Israel.

A study published on Monday revealed that researchers at Tel Aviv University believe literacy may have been far more widespread in ancient Judea than was previously known.

Handwriting on fragments of inscribed pottery dating back to around 600 BC found in the Tel Arad fortress in the 1970s has now been analysed using sophisticated technology. The inscriptions are mostly shopping lists ("and a full homer of wine, bring tomorrow; don't be late," reads one) and military commands, but  experts say  they are notable because they were written by a range of people across the social classes.

"In other words, the entire army apparatus, from high-ranking officials to humble vice-quartermasters of small desert outposts, was literate," the study concluded.

"The results indicate that in this remote fort literacy had spread throughout the military hierarchy, down to the quartermaster and probably even below that rank. This implies that an educational infrastructure that could support the composition of literary texts in Judah already existed before the destruction of the first Temple."

A possible implication of these findings is that the Bible could have been written down earlier than previously thought.

Many scholars have maintained that the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch, could not have been written down as early as 600 BC because there were not enough scribes at the time.

If literacy rates were higher than previously recognised, as the new research suggests, however, it's possible that large swathes of the Old Testament were in the process of being written before Nebuchadnezzar's destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC.

"We found indirect evidence of the existence of an educational infrastructure, which could have enabled the composition of biblical texts," said Professor Eliezer Piasetzky of Tel Aviv University, who co-led the research. "Literacy existed at all levels of the administrative, military and priestly systems of Judah. Reading and writing were not limited to a tiny elite."

However, some academics have warned against drawing bold conclusions from the findings.

Professor Edward Greenstein of Bar-Ilam University near Tel Aviv said even if some biblical texts were written down earlier than previously believed, they would still not have been widely circulated among the general Jewish population of the time.

"Biblical texts did not have to be written by many people, or read by many people, to have been written down," he said, according to the New York Times.
YEREVAN, APRIL 12, ARMENPRESS. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees delivered a statement regarding the recent escalations in the Nagorno Karabakh line of contact. As Armenpress reports, the statement says that several hundreds of people, mostly women, children and older people were displaced during the recent fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh and urged that their rights are respected and protected.

The statement reads: UNHCR is alarmed at the renewal of conflict, which left dozens of people dead and has again resulted in displacement of civilians.

It states that some of the civilians have been displaced several times over the last two decades; affected populations have fled to areas within Nagorno-Karabakh as well as into Armenia and to safer locations inside Azerbaijan.

UNHCR is urging all sides to respect the rights of people to flee to safety and to receive protection.

The agency has offered to help the governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan respond to the humanitarian needs of the newly displaced.
EU High Court rules against deportation of Christian converts to Iran, urges grant of asylum

Religious and human rights groups are applauding a European court decision that ruled governments must grant a fair evaluation of Christian converts before they are denied asylum and sent back to Iran.

This week, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights ruled in the case of F.G vs. Sweden that the Swedish government would be violating Articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protect life and safeguard against inhumane treatment, if it deported the applicant.

"The lower chamber (of the court) underestimated the severe danger to this convert's life,'' Robert Clarke, director of European Advocacy for the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International, told the Catholic News Agency (CNA).

"The Grand Chamber rightly noted that Christian converts are one of the most persecuted religious minorities in Iran. Moreover, the Islamic regime governing Iran has systematic mechanisms in place to identify all Christian converts  even those practicing in secret," Clarke added.

Roger Severino, director of the DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society at The Heritage Foundation, said: "Asylum should be granted to individuals who are being persecuted and fear for their lives because of converting to a different religion.

"Iran's anti-conversion laws violate the fundamental human right to be able to choose your own religion and live out your beliefs, which includes the right to change your religion without the government threatening imprisonment or in the case of Iran, death for apostasy," he told CNA.

In 2009, an Iranian citizen reportedly applied for asylum and a resident permit in Sweden after suffering political persecution. Two years later, the Swedish Migration Office denied his request, which he appealed.

The lower chamber of the court ruled in January 2014 that Sweden's denial was "justified" because the applicant's life was reportedly not in jeopardy, since Iranian authorities were unaware of his conversion and he could keep his faith private.

The ADF, however, filed a brief on behalf of the Iranian citizen with the European Human Court of Human Rights, arguing that the lower court's decision "violated his religious freedom" and that converts to Christianity face numerous threats in Iran.

The judgment states: "The applicant's conversion to Christianity is a criminal offence punishable by death in Iran. In addition to the risk of social persecution as a Christian, the applicant risks criminal prosecution for the crime of apostasy. The order for the applicant's deportation to Iran, where he could be tried under the above-mentioned criminal and procedural law, equates to a violation of principles deeply enshrined in the universal legal conscience."

Iran ranked as the ninth worst country for Christian persecution. It considers conversion from Islam a crime punishable by death.

Clarke warned that if a convert to Christianity is identified by the Iranian government, he or she is very likely "to suffer substantial harm, deprivation of liberty, assaults and continual harassment. In the worst case the individual could face severe ill-treatment or death.''

In its 2014 religious freedom report, the U.S. State Department indicated that "Christians, particularly evangelicals, continued to experience disproportionate levels of arrests and high levels of harassment and surveillance."

The U.N. Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran also reported "that authorities held at least 49 Protestant Christians in custody, many for involvement in informal house churches,'' according to CNA.
How can we live peacefully in an age of terror?

In America you are more likely to be killed by a toddler than a terrorist.

Stop. Press.

Last year in the US more toddlers shot and killed people with guns than terrorists did. That's children under the age of three finding guns, playing around and shooting themselves, their friends or someone from their family with absolutely no idea of what they were doing.

It's a shocking and revealing horror story, which members of the anti-gun lobby in the US will no doubt despair over.

Yet, entire political campaigns are being built on the panic that terrorism might occur anywhere at anytime. The media is doing a brilliant job of whipping up a culture of fear which only feeds xenophobic politicians' campaigns to keep refugees and immigrants out. After all, do we really know who those people of a different colour, ethnicity or religion really are?

Still, America gets to keep the cute toddlers.

Generation Z (those born after 1996) have grown up in this new age of terrorism rhetoric, knowing little else. According to some statistics, 70 per cent of teenagers surveyed around the world are worried about terrorism even though the vast majority will never experience it. From 2001 to 2014 only 420 Europeans were killed in terrorist attacks. American teenagers, equally unlikely to ever come anywhere near a terrorist attack, would be more justified in being scared of their kid brother or sister who gets hold of Daddy's gun.

Someone living in Pakistan could be justified in feeling anxious on their daily commute, in their school or the local shopping mall. During those same years, 2001 to 2014, there were 13,524 deaths in Pakistan from terrorism, and recent events only serve as further evidence that the threat is a very real one.

A friend of mine, born in Pakistan, says that fear was part of her everyday existence when growing up. This became a terrifying reality when a suicide bomber attacked her parents' church during a service: "My parents and many others saw his body explode in the air, splashing blood all around and causing deaths and injuries of people next to him."

Although her parents survived, she says: "The wound of loss and trauma from that day is something not easily healed by time. The fear is always with you."

You can't control fear once it has been set loose. Often it seems to have little to do with how real the threat is. Who's really scared of a toddler, right? Even if you did leave your gun lying around.

My friend in Pakistan certainly had more reason to feel afraid than many teenagers surveyed, but that's only when you see fear as rational, which it is not. That's why it's such a powerful weapon of war. When coupled with the virtual world of terrorism which teenagers can access at anytime on their phones, often witnessing atrocities, beheadings and bomb blasts in their bedrooms, it's no wonder they have become so afraid.

Fear creeps in. You didn't even think you were a nervous person but the more you think about it, the more vulnerable you realise you are. Fear tightens its grip and before you know it, you're making decisions based on it.

I'll take the bus instead of the tube.

I'll sit next to this person not that person.

I'll invite this neighbour to my home but not that neighbour.

The news becomes increasingly addictive and the politicians' protective measures start to make sense.

Certainly we live in troubled times. More people have been forced out of their homes because of conflict and persecution than at any time since the Second World War. Horrific attacks in Paris, Brussels and around the world are indeed unnerving.

How are we to respond, then, in these changing times? How can we live peacefully in an age of terror? How can I control the fear that I, like many of those teenagers, frequently feel?

We're told in 1 John that perfect love drives out fear. But how can love, which often feels so pathetic in the face of these huge world events, make any kind of difference?

Pope Francis might have looked pathetic to some on Maundy Thursday, kneeling down before men and women so unlike himself. One of the world's most powerful religious men got on his knees to wash the feet of homeless and stateless refugees who are so often mocked, bullied and marginalised. In doing so, he made a striking statement about our inclusive God of love. Some wept as he gently bathed and kissed their feet: feet which had journeyed thousands of difficult, dangerous miles to seek refuge. He crossed cultural, religious, social, and even political divides, demonstrating what love and grace look like.

His radical act of love was a stark rejection of fear. It was nothing short of transformational.

If the media and politicians are happy to put fuel on the terrorist fire of fear, maybe it's down to us to ignite a culture of love which drives out insecurity, xenophobia and division. We might not be able to wash the feet of a refugee, but we can smile at someone who doesn't look like us or share a meal with someone from a different culture, or even talk to someone who has been caught up in conflict or war.

We can't control what will happen and when, yet tiny and sometimes radical acts can make love feel more tangible than our anxieties. As we determine to cross over and break down the walls which exist between us, love can drive out fear.
Humanitarian aid needs a shake up... but UN and Western NGOs block progress - ODI

The international aid system is too competitive and fails to acknowledge the role of small, local charities in disaster relief, a leading think tank has warned.

The London-based Overseas Development Institute (ODI) said on Tuesday that specialised charities are pushed out as large international NGOs compete.

"We need a radical transformation with the big players acknowledging the role of local organisations and other providers otherwise the Western dominated aid structure will progressively become irrelevant," the ODI's humanitarian director, Sara Pantuliano, said.

A report co-authored by Pantuliano, published on Tuesday, said the entire sector was too self-interested and preoccupied with growth, market share and output, rather than on achieving positive outcomes for beneficiaries.

"Despite the dedication of frontline aid workers, who work tirelessly and often at great personal risk,... these enduring, but outdated, assumptions compel organisations to be competitive, rather than collaborative," the report said.

Minor reforms had failed to tackle "unhealthy power dynamics and incentives at the heart of the struggling aid system", it said.

The remarks were targeted at United Nations agencies, governments and private sector companies preparing to debate changes to the aid system at the World Humanitarian Summit in May.

Aid groups in developing countries want the summit to agree what proportion of global humanitarian funding should go to national and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and a target date for this to be done.

Their share of the total funding pie halved to 0.2 per cent in 2014 from 0.4 per cent in 2012, and their share of the money received by all NGOs also fell to 1.2 per cent, according to the Britain-based research group Development Initiatives.

Under a separate "Charter for Change", 18 international charities so far, including Christian Aid and Islamic Relief Worldwide, have agreed to put into practice by May 2018 eight commitments to boost the role of national agencies.

They include passing 20 per cent of humanitarian funding down to that level.

On top of channelling more funding to local players, UN agencies and large international NGOs should also focus on "enabling" smaller, local organisations to respond in disaster situations, the ODI report said.

Shared responsibilities

Major government donors, including Britain, have shown interest in expanding the work done by local NGOs, but regulations and anti-terror laws often restrict who they can fund.

The UN chief Ban Ki-moon has said world leaders must change the way they handle humanitarian crises, which are taking an unprecedented toll on civilians.

The UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs estimates that 88.7 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in 2016, which will cost an estimated $20.1 billion.

"The scale of humanitarian needs at this time is just extraordinary and we must accept our shared responsibilities," he said in February.

Additional reporting by Reuters.
Israel urges citizens to prepare for war by stocking up on emergency equipment

Israel's Home Front Command is reportedly instructing civilians to stock up on emergency equipment to prepare for a possible outbreak of war.

Col. Sigal Tidhar, head of the Population Department in the Home Front Command, said the move is part of its annual campaign to prepare the public for emergencies, Breaking Israel News reports.

But unlike in the past, Tidhar said this year's drive is geared toward getting civilians to take action.

"This is the change we made this year, telling civilians to go out and get emergency equipment. We are telling civilians to act, to do something and not merely increase awareness," she said.

The campaign messages, which are being broadcast on a number of media platforms, advise civilians to have ready radios with batteries, water bottles and portable electrical chargers, among other things. "

"These are small yet significant things civilians can do during peacetime to be better prepared," Tidhar said. "They can visit our site to see the full list."[http://www.oref.org.il/894- en/Pakar.aspx]

The public information drive also calls on civilians, during times of quiet, to hold discussions with family members and select a safe area in close proximity to their homes.

At the same time, parents can speak to children and tell them where to go if something happens while they are at work.

According to the Jerusalem Post, the annual campaigns held since 2008 aim to establish a line of communication between the government and the public. The Home Front Command reportedly uses a variety of channels to achieve this goal.

Tidhar admitted that even if there are some members of the public who are not responsive to the campaigns, "they will still remember the messages and know where to go to get relevant information if there is an emergency."

The Home Front Command said this year's campaign forgoes the celebrities used in the past in favour of focusing on the family unit.

"We are putting out the message that civilians have responsibility. There are many things civilians can do."

The measures recommended by the campaign are useful beyond preparedness for war. They are also right for earthquakes and any other emergency, said Tidhar.
New Bishop of Oxford announced

The vacant position of Bishop of Oxford has finally been filled, 18 months since the former bishop retired in October 2014.

Rt Rev Dr Steven Croft, currently the Bishop of Sheffield, will take up the role later this year, Downing Street announced today.

Croft, 58, has been in his current position since 2009, and before that was the Archbishops' Missioner and Team Leader of Fresh Expressions.

He was ordained in 1987 after training at Cranmer Hall in Durham. In 2013, he was appointed to the House of Lords.

In his current ministry in Sheffield, he is known for his passion for engaging in mission with the wider community, and working creatively with Anglicans of all traditions, as well as leaders of other churches and faiths.

He is married to Ann, and together they have four children and one grandchild. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking and baking his own bread. He has also written a number of books on Christian life and ministry, as well as a children's novel.

The Diocese of Oxford is one of the largest in the Church of England, with a population of 2.3 million people, more than 800 churches and 270 primary schools. Speaking about his new position, Bishop Steven said: "I am looking forward enormously to a new challenge and new responsibility in the Diocese of Oxford and to working with the senior team and many others to serve the local communities and to build up the life of the Church.

"There are many signs of God's grace at work across the Diocese and immense potential for the future. I would ask for the prayers of the Diocese in the coming weeks and months for all that lies ahead."

The Rt Rev Colin Fletcher, Bishop of Dorchester, who is currently serving as Acting Bishop of Oxford, welcomed the appointment.

"Today is a great day for our Diocese as we welcome the announcement of the next Bishop of Oxford," he said.

"As both a diocesan bishop and as a parish priest Steven has shown a passion for sharing the good news of Christ in both traditional and innovative ways. Link that to his wide experience of training men and women for a variety of ministries and you can understand there will be much rejoicing around the Diocese today."

The Dean of Christ Church, the Very Rev Professor Martyn Percy, said: "The Cathedral very much looks forward to welcoming Bishop Steven to Oxford, and to the wider diocese.

"Bishop Steven comes with a wealth of experience in ministry, mission and in theological education, and the diocese will welcome the many gifts that he will bring to our work across the cities, communities and counties of the diocese. The diocese  like its cathedral  is both complex and unique, and we look forward to the distinctive gifts that Bishop Steven will bring to us in our shared vocation."
New government, old story: The ongoing persecution of Christians in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has a turbulent history. From multiple invasions and colonial rule to growing nationalism and ethnic conflict, the small island nation has seen it all.

The country's '30 year war' saw violence between the majority Sinhalese ethnic group and the minority Tamil Tiger rebels. However, after the Tamil's final defeat in 2009, Christians are the new target.

Miriam* is a religious liberties lawyer in Sri Lanka who works to defend the Church against increasing levels of persecution. She spoke to Christian Today about her work and the struggles Christians face.

"We thought we were going to see a change for the better after a new government came in in 2015," she said. The previous administration was heavily influenced by Buddhist extremism and Christians were regularly subject to very violent attacks. The arrival of new president Maithripala Sirisena bought hope to embattled Christians.

However, in just over a year since Sirisena was elected, more than 120 incidents against Christians have been documented by Miriam's organisation. Indeed, the number of attacks on Christians has risen. In 2012, under the previous government, 52 incidents were recorded. In 2013 that figure had almost doubled to 103 incidents. Now at more than 120, the outlook is ominous for Sri Lanka's Christians.

"With the new government we have seen Buddhist extremists take a back seat and adopt a more strategic approach," Miriam said.

"The kind of persecution Christians now face is in the form of legal restrictions. On top of this there has been an increase in persecution carried out by local government officials.

"In many way this is more worrying because these are people with authority."

Churches and prayer groups have been forced to close, Christian burials have been prevented and a number of violent attacks have been carried out against members of the faith.

Miriam explained that one of the major ways government officials have justified their actions was through a "circular" which required all new religious buildings to be registered. However this edict has no legal basis or support from parliamentary law, she said. It is used not only on new buildings but on places where Christians have met for many years. Introduced under the last government, the circular is used as an excuse to directly target Christians.

Although Sri Lanka has other minority religious groups, the seven per cent of the population who are Christian bear the brunt of the persecution. This is because Christianity is seen as a colonial religion for Westerners, said Miriam. The Sri Lankan government has effectively created a national identity around Buddhist philosophy. To be Sri Lankan is to be Buddhist. As a result, Buddhist monks are given positions of power in government and often actually lead attacks on Christians, seen as the last vestiges of colonialism.

Buddhism, a religion that centres around meditation and inner peace, is often seen as an unlikely candidate for aggression. But Miriam says the attitude in Sri Lanka is very different.

"There is a lot of tension because of the prominence given to monks and because of this attitude towards Christianity as a colonial religion," she said.

"Even if the philosophy is peaceful, in Sri Lanka it is very aggressive."

As well as the link to Western rule, Christians are also treated with suspicion because of their perceived desire to proselytise. "Even if they aren't sharing their faith, there is this perception," Miriam said. "There have been a number of cases where Christians have been falsely accused of unethical or forced conversions."

Persecution charity Release International supports Miriam and her organisation. Together they fear the upward trend in persecution against Christians could become worse. Militant Buddhists have for years pushed for anti-conversion laws and a ban on missionary groups. Indeed in the past there have been attempts by the Sri Lankan parliament to pass anti-conversion laws, which many Christians fear could be abused to target church activities.

The current ruling party in Sri Lanka have headed a campaign entitled "A Brighter Future for Sri Lanka". The fear is it will be a long time before Christians can say the same.

*false name given to protect identity.
Piers Morgan escapes sanctions over Christian homophobe comment

Piers Morgan will not face sanctions after asking a Christian who opposed same-sex marriage whether he was a "homophobe".

Dozens of complaints were made against the Good Morning Britain presenter by viewers who felt the remarks were offensive and discriminatory towards Christians and implied all Christians were homophobic.

However the media watchdog Ofcom rejected the complaints.

Morgan made the comments in an interview with Richard Page, a Christian magistrate who was sacked after he voiced opposition to adoption by same-sex couples.

Page was removed by justice secretary Michael Gove and the Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas in March because he was "biased and prejudiced against single sex adopters" and his views brought magistrates' courts into disrepute.

During the interview last month on ITV's breakfast show, Morgan asked Page if he was in favour of same-sex marriage. When Page replied that he was not Morgan said: "So you're a homophobe then?"

A total of 70 complaints were lodged against Morgan for his comments but Ofcom has announced it will not censure him.

"We assessed a number of complaints that Piers Morgan's tone was offensive and discriminatory towards Christians in an interview," said a spokesman for Ofcom.

"We noted that the interviewee was given several opportunities to respond. He stated he was not homophobic, and set out reasons why. Overall, the interview was balanced and we found no evidence of discrimination."
Sudan: Church leaders kept under daily surveillance as 'indiscriminate harassment' against Christians continues

Sudanese authorities have kept six Christian leaders under surveillance and two detained since mid-December, despite having no official charges filed against them, according to World Watch Monitor (WWM).

Telahoon Nogosi Kassa Rata, a leader of Khartoum North Evangelical church, and Rev Hassan Abduraheem Kodi Taour of the Sudan Church of Christ (SCC), have been detained beyond the legal limit under Sudanese law without charge.

Five other pastors who have previously been arrested and released must report each day to Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS).

Rata was initially detained "on religious charges", however sources close to the case have reportedly suggested the Christian activist is being investigated for espionage.

Sudanese law limits detention to 45 days without charge. Rata was arrested on December 14 and Taour on December 19.

Rata has not been seen since 2015. He has been kept incommunicado and is denied visitation rights.

Taour has been held in an undisclosed location since his arrest.

He was taken from his home in Omdurman, west of Khartoum, on the same day that the head of a SCC church committee, Rev Kuwa Shamal, was taken from his home in the district of Bahri.

Shamal was released days later, however he is required to report daily to the NISS and forced to stay at NISS offices for extended periods of time.

"The government of Sudan continues to intimidate and harass Christians and tries to make it difficult for them to practice their faith, and stop their ministries in their communities," Kamal Fahmi, head of advocacy website 'Set My People Free', told WWM.

Fahmi said these latest arrests and surveillance measures are part of a larger campaign against the Christian community in Sudan.

"Since the secession of South Sudan [in July 2011], Khartoum has intensified the war in Blue Nile and the Nuba Mountains, along with the indiscriminate harassment and arrests of church leaders and active church members," he said.

"Foreign Christian workers have been deported. Sudan has stopped the import of Christian literature and scriptures, while confiscating most of the Christian literature in the country and closing the only Christian bookshop in the capital Khartoum.

"Torture and arrest of converts from Islam is also commonplace," he added.
U.S. bishops extol Pope Francis' 'love letter' to families, warn against 'rushed reading of the text'

Catholic bishops in the United States are upbeat with Pope Francis' treatise on marriage and the family, titled "Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love)," which invites all people to grow in love and trust in God's mercy in the face of many challenges.

Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, president of U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), who was one of eight American participants in the two-year synod process that led up to the release of the groundbreaking document, noted that the new exhortation is the Pope's way of helping people encounter Jesus so that they will feel the love of God, the Catholic News Agency reports.

"The Pope has given us a love letter  a love letter to families... The document challenges the faithful to grow in love and trust in God's mercy in the face of difficulty. Let us remember that no obstacle is too big for Christ to overcome,'' the archbishop said.

"It is also a love letter calling the Church, the family of God, to realise more and more her mission to live and love as a family.''

Archbishop Kurtz echoed the Pope's warning against "a rushed reading of the text'' when turning to it for pastoral guidance and understanding. He urged to reflect carefully on the words of the Holy Father and apply these teachings to the individual lives, families and society.

Bishop Richard J. Malone of Buffalo, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, described the document as a "beautiful and stirring reflection on love and the family" that challenges pastoral ministry to be more "missionary" and to engage with the "concrete reality" of parishioners' lives.

He said the Pope's encouragement and appreciation of marriage and family is very welcoming.

Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles, who also participated in the synod in Rome, welcomed the document as a ''gift'' both to the Church and to "everyone who wants to understand what God really intends for our true happiness."

"I was also touched by our Holy Father's call for all of us in the Church to reach out with compassion to wounded families and persons living in difficult situations," the Archbishop commented.

Although the document maintains Church doctrine, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia said it does stress the importance of pastoral sensitivity in dealing with the difficult situations many married couples today face.

The bishops lauded the Pope for his thoughts and analysis of the "unique witness'' of Christian marriage. They also stressed the need to take time to read and truly understand the Pope's lengthy love letter contained in the more than 250 pages that was released last April 8.

"We cannot rush our interpretation of what we have here. We don't want to be taking bits and piece of them without taking them in context,'' said Archbishop Kurtz.

"Nothing is more essential to any society than the health of marriage and the family," Archbishop Chaput added.

Archbishop Gomez said he was encouraged by the Pope's emphasis on marriage preparation and support of couples in their first years of marriage.

Bishop Malone meanwhile said American bishops and pastors will likely seek ways to strengthen marriage preparation and support for married couples.

Archbishop Kurtz told CNA that improvements to marriage preparation and support of couples after marriage "will probably be the largest impact" within the United States.
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Gangs have had a tendency to ruin iconic tattoos for everyone.

Houstons largest gang  Tango Blast  likes to use local emblems as identifiers. Those tattoos can range from the Astros logo to the city skyline to Bayou City area codes. Similarly, Tango Orejon gangs in San Antonio like to incorporate the Spurs logo or the Alamo in their body art. Tango cliques in Austin and Dallas ink themselves with regional symbols, like the Cowboys star, Hookem Horns or even the state capitol.

HOUSTON TATTOO CONVENTION: Local Tattoo Extravaganza celebrates 40 years

Now Playing: Trending News Around The Nation Video: Houston Chronicle

Just so were clear, we understand that probably everyone you meet with an Astros tattoo is not a gang member. (Were clear on that, right? They dont make you a criminal, and tattoos can be rad art). However, gangs' history of co-opting cultural symbols can have real-world consequences for non-gang affiliated people.

The Wall Street Journal wrote a story in 2012 about how body art had derailed green card applications for some immigrants with no criminal records. These Latin American immigrants were denied green cards because of tattoos they said were ornamental  religious imagery or Laugh Now, Cry Later theater masks. But those same images were associated with the regions most violent gangs.

SEE MORE: Tattoos that define gangs in the U.S. and around the world

In Japan, a recent government survey found that most hotels ban not only inked locals but also tattooed tourists from public bathing areas because body art has long been tied to yakuza gangs.

Other co-opted gang symbols include the Jewish Star of David for some of Chicagos street gangs. The Black Gangster Disciple Nation was founded by a man named David Barksdale  hence the use of the star. And in addition to Nazi insignia, white nationalists get tats of shamrocks.

See the gallery above for a look at iconic symbols co-opted by gangs.
YEREVAN, APRIL 12, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) is calling upon the Obama Administration investigate violations of the "Leahy Law" regarding U.S. military assistance to units of the Azerbaijani armed forces that are credibly reported to have committed "gross violations of internationally recognized human rights, Armenpress was informed by ANCA.

An ANCA letter sent to President Obama and to Members of Congress raise alarms about Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's major escalation in aggression in terms of the introduction of advanced weapons, the level of fatalities, and the "gross violations of internationally recognized human rights" his forces are credibly alleged to have committed against both civilians and soldiers. The ANCA specifically called upon the President and Members of Congress to "immediately zero-out U.S. military aid to Azerbaijani pending the outcome of a Leahy Law investigation," and, "subsequent to a determination that Azerbaijani forces have, in fact, violated the terms of U.S. law... to statutorily prohibit all military aid to Baku and to take effective measures to bring the responsible members of Azerbaijan's security forces to justice." The ANCA letter also asked U.S. officials to recall that "the Azerbaijani government has yet to bring to justice Ramil Safarov, who, in 2004, axe-murdered Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan while he was asleep at a NATO Partnership for Peace peacekeeping training program in Hungary. Rather than supporting efforts to punish this admitted killer, President Aliyev secured Safarov's transfer from a Hungarian prison and then brought him home to Baku, where he was pardoned, given a parade, promoted in rank, and given back pay." Credible reports of atrocities committed by Aliyev's forces against civilians and Karabakh defense forces during the April 2 - 7 Azerbaijani attack on Nagorno Karabakh republic are now emerging - including the execution and mutilation of an elderly couple in the village of Talish and the beheading of three Armenian soldiers. President Aliyev's military annually receives millions of dollars in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) and International Military Education and Training (IMET) appropriations, and, as such, is subject to Congressional oversight to ensure compliance with U.S. law (including the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and recurring provisions of annual Department of Defense appropriations). The "Leahy Law", first introduced in 1997, prohibits the U.S. Department of State and Department of Defense from providing military assistance to foreign military units that violate human rights with impunity. In keeping with core American values, these laws help ensure that our U.S. tax dollars are not used by units or individuals of foreign armed units or security forces to commit human rights abuses and war crimes.
Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman said he would meet this week with immigrant rights activists over a controversial federal program that trains local law enforcement officers to help federal agents screen for illegal immigrants in the jails.

The meeting -- scheduled for Thursday -- comes as activists in recent weeks have increased pressure to end the county's participation in the program. The memorandum of agreement for the program between the sheriff's office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is up in June, Hickman said.

Hickman will then decide whether or not to continue the agreement, which began in 2008 under then-Sheriff Tommy Thomas and was renewed under his successor, Adrian Garcia.

"I would have to have a very compelling reason not to do it," Hickman said on renewing the agreement.

Harris County Judge Ed Emmett recommended to county commissioners at their meeting Tuesday to wait for the outcome of Hickman's meeting with activists. Hickman said he was looking to hear the critics' point of view on the 287(g) program and to educating them on how the program works, stating that it does not endanger anyone who has not been booked into jail on a crime.

"The perception is somewhat off-base," Hickman said.

Many speakers said Tuesday that the program spreads distrust in the immigrant community.

Maria Trevino Rodriguez, who is with United We Dream Houston and is helping to organize a campaign against the 287(g) program, said that as a child, she feared her undocumented parents would be deported. She said at the meeting that the 287(g) program "has been a huge factor to that daily fear."

Authorized by Congress in the late 1990s, the program has been credited with identifying hundreds of thousands of suspected illegal immigrants nationwide since 2006, when it gained popularity under the second Bush administration.

The program grew increasingly controversial over the years, particularly after a series of critical reports by the Government Accountability Office and the Inspector General and high-profile allegations of abuse or mistakes by local law enforcement agencies.

It is not the same as the Secure Communities program, which has drawn its share of controversy and opposition.

Currently, 32 agencies nationwide participate in 287(g). The only other law enforcement agency in Texas that has a 287(g) agreement with ICE is the Carrollton Police Department.

Several local governments across the U.S. have ended their participation in the 287(g) program. In May, Los Angeles County voted to terminate its contract with ICE.

Eight deputies screened about 1,800 people in the Harris County jail in 2015, sending roughly 10 percent of those to ICE for possible deportation through the program, called 287(g), Hickman said.
Workers have a a lot of cleanup to do Tuesday morning after thieves rammed a pickup truck into the lobby of a motel and snatched an automated teller machine in northeast Houston.

The smash-and-grab heist happened about 2 a.m. at Super 8 on Homestead near the North Loop, said Lt. Larry Crowson of the Houston Police Department.
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Sue and Lester Smith wrote a $10 million check to Baylor College of Medicine Friday at the Magic of Motown gala.

The night's proceeds totaled $10,716,758; funds will support treatment and research efforts at the Baylor Lung Institute.

"I'm a trustee of Baylor College of Medicine and reckon that I've given close to $100 million over the years to the Texas Medical Center," Lester Smith said Monday. "There's not really a comprehensive lung institute in the U.S. besides Denver, and we pull from a massively large area where there's probably higher incidents of lung disease because of the environment."

His gifts include a 2012 donation that pushed a gala for Texas Children's Cancer Center over the $32 million mark. The Smiths matched the evening's donations dollar for dollar, giving $16 million.

In recognition of Friday's gift, Paul Klotman, president, CEO and executive dean of Baylor College of Medicine, announced that the Lung Institute's clinic would bear the Smiths' name.

"It was a need Baylor had," Smith said. "Dr. Klotman asked and I was there."

No one was more surprised at the over-the-top donation than co-chairs Carol Sawyer and Robin Young-Ellis.

"I'm still floating on cloud nine," Young-Ellis said Sunday.

The gala celebration began with an underwriter reception dubbed "Joseph's Gin Joint," after sponsors Elise and Russell Joseph Mistress of Ceremonies Lisa Malosky, welcomed the Motown & More Revue onstage to perform their disco mash-up of the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye and the Supremes.

Revelers Tama Lundquist, Tena Faust, Cora Sue and Harry Mach, Bain Pearson Pitts and John Pitts, and Melanie Gray and Mark Wawro hit the dance floor inside a supper club/cocktail lounge created by Richard Flowers.

Culinaire's soul food buffet included with shrimp and grits, macaroni and cheese and lemon meringue pie to keep with the casual vibe.

The Smiths, competitive ballroom dancers, spent most of their time on the dance floor.

"They found that band playing for free in Hermann Park," Smith raved of the Motown & More Revue. "It was a like a Las Vegas show. Definitely one of the best parties that the partnership has ever done."
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A new publication covering local lifestyle is launching this fall.

Helmed by Jeff Gremillion, who recently announced his departure as editor of Houston magazine, Houston CityBook is set to debut in September. It will have a youth-focused, demographic-conscious outlook, Gremillion said.

Gremillion said he wants his book to reflect a vitality that's as strong as the city's current building boom.

"There's all this energy about what's coming next," he said. "We're going to truly reflect what's going to happen in this city."

The magazine is aiming at readership in neighborhoods that are "emerging centers of power and prosperity," he said, including downtown, Montrose, Upper Kirby, the Heights and West U, in addition to areas of established prestige such as River Oaks and Memorial.

"We like to say that we're reinventing the city magazine for the people who are reinventing the city," Gremillion said.

"While we're a general-interest publication with a broad base of support, we expect our median reader age to be around 38  younger than our competition," Gremillion, 45, said in a statement released Monday.

He also hopes to attract a readership that's 50 percent male.

CityBook's team includes executive publisher Lisa Holthouse; Gremillion as editor-in-chief; associate publisher and advertising director Sonny Garza; technology director Christopher J. Nodd; operations director Eric Holden; fashion director Kate Stukenberg; and managing editor Evan Wetmore. Julie Soefer will shoot for the publication.

CityBook will cover fashion, food, arts and society; it also will have a mix of "high and low" stories. "We're not going to be afraid of being provocative," Gremillion said.

Gremillion said the magazine will be based in Houston and produced by Houstonians. "We are completely local in both content and company leadership," he said. "Our company headquarters are in Houston, and all creative and business decisions are made in Houston."

CityBook will be bimonthly from its debut until March 2017, when plans are to take it monthly, competing against the city's other monthlies, Houston magazine, PaperCity, Houstonia and Local magazine. It will have a starting circulation of 40,000, delivered to select zip codes; it will also be for purchase for $5.95.

Gremillion, a Louisiana native, is a graduate of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He moved to Houston in 2005 to help Modern Luxury publishing launch Houston magazine.
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"In the Heights," a show that Foster High School thespians dedicated in memory of director Kendra Willeby's grandmother, has scored seven nominations, including best musical in the prestigious 14th annual Tommy Tune Awards competition.

"My grandmother died on opening day," explained Willeby, recalling that she and her brother, Foster High technical theater director Kasey Willeby, and their students "were still nailing walls up" to finish the set when Yvonne Neavit of Missouri City died Jan. 22.

"It broke my heart, honestly," said Muhammed Yunus, 18, a senior whose performance as Usnavi is nominated for best leading actor. "It made the show feel very real because it's a show about family. Our directors explained that art is a reflection of reality and the show must go on."

Yunus lives in Richmond with his father Adrisman and stepmother Evi. His mother Nenny Kaherani lives in Indonesia.

More Information Watch the show Tickets to the 14th annual Tommy Tune Awards sold out in a record nine hours. Fans of the awards show will be able to view the ceremony during a taped broadcast on KTRK Channel 13 from 1-3 p.m. May 22. See More Collapse

About the show's multiple nominations, Yunus said, "I am, like, ecstatic."

Tommy Tune winners will be unveiled April 19 in a sold-out Tony Awards-style ceremony at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts in Houston's downtown theater district.

In the showw, which will be televised for broadcast in May on KTRK Channel 13, Yunus and best leading actress nominee Dakotah Boone, who played Nina, will perform in medleys with other finalists in their respective categories, including leading actor nominee Michael Duran, who played Lord Farquaad in "Shrek the Musical" at George Bush High School in Richmond. "Shrek" is also a finalist for best orchestra, along with "Ghost the Musical" from Clements High School in Sugar Land.

As one of eight nominees for best musical, "In the Heights" will be spotlighted with a performance by Foster students.

"None of us were quite ready to leave this show; so it will be very exciting for the kids to perform a song from the show again," Kendra Willeby said.

The Foster production is also nominated for best direction, costumes, scenic design and supporting actress, for Kyra Reue-Collins as Danielle.

The 18-year-old senior is the daughter of Harold Collins and Wendy Reue-Collins of Fulshear.

Lamar Consolidated High School in Rosenberg was nominated for best stage crew and technical execution for "Little Shop of Horrors," while Elam Blackwell was nominated for best supporting actor for his performance as Orin in "Little Shop of Horrors" at Kempner High in Sugar Land.

From a production of "In the Heights" at Stephen F. Austin High in Richmond, Nadia Belauchi was nominated for best supporting actress for her portrayal of Abuela Claudia.

The Tommy Tunes are a competition that Theater Under the Stars sponsors, with three-judge panels of musical theater enthusiasts critiquing entries and making nominations in 15 categories. Students who participate become eligible for college scholarships, with recipients announced at the awards ceremony.

Several rehearsals lead up to the big night, in which TUTS scholarships are also presented to outstanding thespians who plan to major in musical theater in college.

The event also brings together high school students throughout the area who enjoy performing.

For example, another best leading actor nominee, Adam Pena of Spring Woods High School, said, "Oh wow, I saw where Muhammed Yunus is nominated for playing Usnavi. I just can't wait to meet the guy!"
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Fort Bend County Republicans will choose their nominee for one of the county's newest judicial positions in a May 24 runoff.

Private practice lawyer Ron Cohen garnered 32 percent of Republican votes during the March 1 primary for the judge seat for County Court at Law No. 5. Opponent Harold Kennedy, associate county judge of the county's courts at law, got 28 percent of votes in a race that included four candidates.

The winner of the May 24 election will run against Democrat Brian Middleton, a general practice lawyer, in November.

Middleton ran unopposed in March.

More Information GOP Judge runoff Ron Cohen: https://www.facebook.com/RonCohenforJudge Harold Kennedy: judgeharoldkennedy.com See More Collapse

Toni Wallace, a former felony prosecutor who worked in the county's district attorney's office, has served as interim judge in the No. 5 court after being appointed by County Judge Robert Hebert in January.

The Legislature approved the new court in 2015 in response to Fort Bend's population growth.

Like the four other county courts at law, the new entity can hear cases from any part of Fort Bend County, said Wallace, who handles more than 150 cases per week.

She committed not to run for judge of the court this year when she accepted the interim position.

Cohen, 57, and Kennedy, 60, both have experience working on the types of cases handled in County Court at Law No. 5. Like the other courts at law, it hears misdemeanor criminal cases, juvenile and probate matters and civil cases where the plaintiff is seeking damages between $500 and $100,000.

Cohen said his experience working in those areas has prepared him for the judge role.

"I think I can make that transition very easily," Cohen said. "I'm up for that challenge. I'm experienced, qualified and ready."

Cohen, who lives in Sugar Land, has had his own practice in Richmond since 2002.

He said he goes to trial several times a year with cases, and his most recent one was a civil rights suit in federal court in which his client, Houston resident Steven Rossi, unsuccessfully sued the Houston Police Department and three police officers claiming use of excessive force.

Cohen has practiced law for 27 years.

Cohen said he would run his court ethically and efficiently and use his sway as an elected official to support juvenile and mental-health programs.

"I think we have programs that are good, but I think we need more," said Cohen, of the services the county provides for juveniles who end up in court.

Before his law career, Cohen worked for the Houston Police Department for seven years, starting as patrol officer. He then worked in administrative positions and helped open the agency's legal services department.

Cohen's endorsements include the Houston Police Officers Union, the United Republicans of Texas, state Reps. John Zerwas and Phil Stevenson, Fort Bend County Christian Magazine and Katy Christian Magazine.

Kennedy, who lives in Richmond, also worked in private practice for more than a decade, primarily handling probate, family, criminal and juvenile cases in Fort Bend and nearby counties including Harris.

For 16 years, he had his own practice in Rosenberg before he accepted the county's associate judge position in 1999 to handle overflow cases for the county courts at law, which have since increased from three to five.

Kennedy said he hears about 200 cases a week.

Kennedy's responsibilities include conducting pretrial motions for civil and misdemeanor cases, such as possession of marijuana, conducting hearings for infractions such as driving with a license while suspended or invalid and conducting juvenile detention hearings.

"I basically have equal jurisdiction with those (county court at law) judges to hear those matters," Kennedy said. "However, they have supervising authority over me. But I do virtually everything that they do."

If elected, Kennedy said he would strive to make his court efficient while giving everyone a fair trial.

"One of the things I've done as an associate judge is be extremely cognizant of lawyers' time, of the litigants' time and everyone else who is involved, including the bailiffs and the clerks," Kennedy said.

Kennedy's endorsements include former Rosenberg mayor Joe Gurecky, former county treasurer Kathy Hynson, former county clerk Dianne Wilson, past presidents of the Fort Bend County Bar Association, of which Kennedy is a member and past president, and the Fort Bend Herald.

Judge of County Court at Law No. 5 is not the only new judicial position open for election this year in Fort Bend.

Last year, the Legislature approved creation of the 505th District Court.

David Perwin was appointed judge and is running unopposed as a Republican for the position.
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Drink beer. Raise money for Katy-area community groups and charities.

Those two selling points are what organizers for Katy's Wild West Brew Fest have banked on to attract thousands in the fest's four years of operation. And it's worked.

This year's event on April 22-23 will again bring representatives from 156 breweries to Katy Mills mall, and beer drinkers are expected from several states.

The event is recognized nationally, gaining reviews from Beer Yeti, a beer review site, as the "most desired brew fest to visit in 2016."

More Information Want to go? What: Wild West Brew Fest When: April 22-23 Where: Katy Mills mall For more information: www.wildwestbrewfest.com See More Collapse

"We now have an event that is a lot of fun and has grown to the point that we are able to make significant gifts that can change lives," said Nixon Schrader, president of the Katy Rotary Club, which hosts the event. "The Rotary's motto is 'Service Above Self.' "

For attendees, a sea of beer taps and bottles awaits them on the 143,000 square feet of space reserved in the mall's parking lot. About 7,000 visitors are expected, said David Loesch, the club's president-elect.

Brewers represented will each provide samples of at least four types of beer and food will be available from vendors. A VIP section will include climate-controlled areas.

A game tent will contain old-school video games such as Pac-Man and Donkey Kong.

A silent auction will feature items such as a Kenny Chesney-signed guitar.

At 7 p.m. April 22, the festival will begin with a launch party. The next day will start at 3 p.m. for VIP guests and at 4 p.m. for others, and multiple local bands will perform throughout the afternoon.

Ticket prices range from $30 for general admission on April 23 to $100 for admission to both days and a VIP pass. Special packages, which can include hotel accommodations and limo service, cost up to $3,850.

"Beer buses" will pick up those traveling to Katy from Houston's Uptown, the Town and Country Village shopping center and The Woodlands for an extra fee.

The fest has also attracted individuals from 12 states, Loesch said.

The festival is run by 426 volunteers, according to Loesch. All proceeds go to organizations such as Katy ISD's FFA program or charities such as Katy Christian Ministries. The fest has raised about $250,000 in four years, Loesch said, and expects to generate $100,000 this year.

The Katy event is one of several beer-related festivals that occur throughout the year in the Houston area, the other most notable one being the Houston Press Brew Fest.

Years ago, Loesch was at a brew fest in Breckenridge, Colorado, when a thought hit him.

"The fest was hosted by a Rotary club there  I was a member of the (Katy Rotary Club); so I wanted to bring the fest back to the club in Katy," Loesch said. "We wanted to donate to the community."

No disruptions have occurred, Loesch said. Sheriff's office deputies from Harris, Fort Bend and Waller counties will be at the event.

Patrons are prohibited from bringing their own cups and only tastes of brews are permitted by those of legal drinking age.

The beer supply, family atmosphere and charity opportunity appeals to participants such as Tom Wilker, a Fulshear resident who has gone to the fest every year. His company, Wilker Insurance Group, is a sponsor.

"It's a huge event. It's hard to find something like this in the immediate area," Wilker said. It's done very professionally. It's just a great time with a lot of people."

Don't stay too thirsty, Katy.
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Katy's two entries in the 14th annual Tommy Tune Awards competition bagged a total 13 nominations in competition among musicals at 45 Houston-area high schools.

Winners will be unveiled in a Tony Awards-style ceremony to be held April 19 at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts in Houston's downtown theater district.

"We got really lucky because our kids really fit the material," Julie Williams, who directed Rodgers & Hammerstein classic "Oklahoma!" at James E. Taylor High. "it really showcased the talent of our crew, cast and orchestra."

"Oklahoma!" was nominated for best leading actress (Nicole Daniels as Laurey), scenic design, lighting, stage crew and technical execution, musical direction, orchestra, direction and ensemble/chorus.

More Information Watch the show Tickets to the 14th annual Tommy Tune Awards sold out in a record nine hours. Fans of the awards show will be able to view the ceremony during a taped broadcast on KTRK Channel 13 from 1-3 p.m. May 22. See More Collapse

Among the ensemble/chorus was Petar Milich and his horse, Molly, a stand-in for the equestrian sidekick of Laurey's heartthrob, Curly.

The show also boasted a genuine surrey.

"A friend of a friend of a friend happened to have a surrey they store in Sealy, and it was something really impressive to bring in at the end," said Williams.

Obra D. Tompkins High scored five nominations for its production of "Into the Woods," said director Maggie Rodriguez.

The nominations honored the show's lighting, costumes, scenic design, musical direction and orchestra.

Tompkins orchestra teacher Matthew Porter conducted 21 students from the school's symphonic band and two top orchestras, Sinfronia and Sinfronietta, who played the complicated score by Stephen Sondheim.

"It's professional-level music and there was no rewriting parts to make it easier for students," said Porter. "They had to perform on the fly and make adjustments in the variance of tempos piece to piece."

The musicians rehearsed the music for three weeks before participating in a siztprobe, in which Porter added the cast in a rehearsal in which the actors sang without performing their stage action. Following the sitzprobe, the cast and the orchestra performed the show the way it was presented for audiences.

Christian Owens, 16, a junior, designed the lighting and preprogrammed cues that he operated during each performance in sync with the music.

"It was nerve-wracking," said the son of Joe and Claudia Owens, who hopes to pursue a career as high school technical theater instructor.

The head costume designer, Cami Geiger, a sophomore, said her favorite design was the witch's costume because it surprised audiences.

"You think she's dirty and gross," said the 16-year-old daughter of Thomas and Alexandra Geiger, "but then she pulls off a cloak, there is a quick change and she's a beautiful woman in a pretty dress."

Two students from each of the 45 Houston-area high schools that competed for Tommy Tune Awards will be featured in the show's finale.

Representing Tompkins will be senior Alec Schillinger, who played the Baker, and Ally Johnson, who portrayed his wife.

Taylor's finale participants will be Phillip Smith, a senior, who played Will Parker, and sophomore Leah Mazariegos, who portrayed Sally Skidmore.
YEREVAN, APRIL 12, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijan fired at Armenian positions in the Armenia-Azerbaijan state border, Armenpress was informed by the Department of Information and Public Relations of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia.

The Defense Ministry statement reads: In the early morning of April 12 Azerbaijan fired irregular shots (16 bursts) from various caliber weapons including large caliber guns at Armenian positions in the northeastern direction of the Armenia-Azerbaijan state border.

The Armenian Armed Forces exercised restraint and conducted response actions only in case of strict necessity and are confidently controlling the situation.

According to the Nagorno Karabakh Defense Army, the ceasefire agreement between Nagorno Karabakh-Azerbaijani armed forces was mainly maintained during the night of April 11 -12, however the Azerbaijani side fired mortars and grenade launchers at Armenian positions in the northeastern and southeastern directions of the line of contact. In particular, Azerbaijan fired 82mm mortars (3 shells), 60mm mortars (4 shells) and AGS-17 grenade launchers (17 grenades) at Armenian positions in the directions of Martakert and Hadrut.

The Azerbaijani side also used a reconnaissance UAV during the night in the southern, eastern and northern directions.

The Defense Army forces closely monitored the adversarys actions and took appropriate measures only in case of strict necessity. Currently the situation is calm.
YEREVAN, APRIL 12, ARMENPRESS. Authorities are offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to the recovery of Andy Warhol paintings stolen from a Missouri museum last week, Armenpress reports, citing CNN.

The break-in occurred at the Springfield Art Museum early Thursday, according to the FBI.

Seven of 10 Warhol paintings on permanent display were taken.

The collection is set number 31 of the "Campbell's Soup I" collection, the FBI said. It's valued at some $500,000.

Each painting in the screen print collection is 37 inches high by 24.5 inches wide.

The collection has been owned by the museum since 1985.
YEREVAN, APRIL 12, ARMENPRESS. Large scale works are carried out in the military industry sphere in Armenia, the results of which will be seen in the nearest future. As Armenpress reports this was stated by Minister of Economy Artsvik Minasyan on April 12 at a press conference. It is clear that we should have a military industry complex, without which it is not possible to guarantee a high level of defense. This is the point where the economy and security spheres provide a unified defense system and strengthen the defense. This concerns the main directions of industry, the Minister said.

On April 7 the IT union announced that it is joining its potential of the ICT for strengthening the combat effectiveness of the Armenian Army. The ICT is willing to fully assist the strengthening of combat effectiveness of the Army and the elimination of war consequences.
YEREVAN, APRIL 12, ARMENPRESS. Chairman of the Committee on European Affairs of the Parliament of the Slovak Republic Lubos Blaha has condemned Azerbaijani attacks against Nagorno Karabakh. Armenpress reports Blaha made a note about this on his Facebook page.

It is reported that Azerbaijan attacked Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh. According to Armenian sources, 12-year old child is among the victims I want to condemn the aggression and express concern over the escalation. I hope the situation will calm down and will not turn into another regional war. A month ago I hurried to the European Parliament to vote against the Turkish-Azerbaijani militaristic, anti-Armenian resolution. It was also due to the Slovak delegation that the resolution was a failure. At that time my Armenian friends informed me about the pressure exerted by Azerbaijanis and Turks against Armenians and Russians. It seemed to me that they were mistaken thinking that the militaristic diplomacy would end by military operations. I believe that the conflict will be settled by the OSCE, which has managed in the past to normalize the situation in a number of cases. I express my solidarity with Armenians. Peace important for now, he mentioned.
YEREVAN, APRIL 12, ARMENPRESS. The plenary session of the European Parliament began, during which the Nagorno Karabakh issue will be discussed. The agenda includes Federica Mogherinis announcement regarding the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

The Turkey 2015 annual report discussion is scheduled on April 13. Armenian National Committee of Europe director Gaspar Karapetyan will be present and will follow the session.
YEREVAN, APRIL 12, ARMENPRESS. An estimated 173,761 migrants and refugees have arrived in Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Spain by sea through 11 April 2016. Armenpress reports, citing IOM, it is an increase of 1,303 arrivals since IOM reported 172,458 arrivals on Friday, 8 April. Just over a thousand landed in Greece, the balance in Italy.

On Saturday, 9 April the Norwegian ship Siem Pilot brought to Taranto, Italy, 294 migrants who sailed from North Africa and were rescued in the Channel of Sicily. Also on Saturday, Greek authorities reported the drowning of at least five migrants arriving from Turkey. Five bodies were recovered off Samos, while five migrants were rescued. Witnesses said that the shipwrecked craft was carrying 14 passengers, leaving four people still missing. That brings this years total for lives lost on the Mediterranean Sea to 723.
YEREVAN, APRIL 12, ARMENPRESS. The Minister of Economy of the Republic of Armenia Artsvik Minasyan considers the questions of suspending the relations with the Eurasian Economic Union as artificial, which rose as a result of the positions of the unions member states with regards to the situation in Karabakh-Azerbaijan contact zone. As a Minister of Economy I consider any cooperation which will contribute to economic development and progress of Armenia without any provisions. If we want to move forward, to develop, we should run the same active initiative, in other cases also aggressive economic policy within the framework of this Union. Only in this case we can say that we received from the Union more than we expected, Armenpress reposts, Minister mentions.

In this context Artsvik Minasyan talked about the usage of privileged mode of the exports of goods in the European Union adding that we should benefit from each institution as much as possible. We should work in all directions. I am confident that in some cases to run the country towards the wrong target is not correct, we should take an advantage from all, Minasyan stated.

Answering to the question And what is the wrong target, the Minister noted: When the question is raised artificially which says that strategic partner sells weapons to Azerbaijan, we should withdraw from that Union, in this case I can simply ask a question whether if we have an alternative security system to choose, except from the CSTO.
YEREVAN, APRIL 12, ARMENPRESS. Germany highlights respecting the armistice on Karabakh-Azerbaijan contact line and resumption of peace talks. Armenpress reports Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Republic of Armenia Matthias Kiesler announced about this on April 12. To the question if the international community, including Germany, foster escalation of the conflict and bloodshed by putting a sign of parity between the sides, Matthias Kiesler mentioned, Naturally, I reported on the developments of the situation to Berlin, and it was my main working duty during the last week. Starting military operations is undoubtedly a step back from the peace talks. This is the reason the Foreign Minister of Germany Steinmeier immediately called the Foreign Ministers of the two countries, urging to preserve the ceasefire. We must look forward and it is of key importance for us that the ceasefire is preserved by both sides.

Answering the question Does not Germany, as a country presiding over the OSCE, think that it is time to give up putting a sign of parity and treat to Azerbaijan as an aggressor, which beheads soldiers, tortures elderly people and vandalizes bodies of the killed? Matthias Kiesler mentioned that they have already heard the reports of the Armenian side, which refer to the cases of beheading soldiers and vandalization of bodies of the killed. The OSCE Chairmanship is focused on those reports with great attention, but there are no mechanisms to move forward at this point, the Ambassador said.

He also mentioned that he has no credible information how the situation developed on April 2. In the words of the German Ambassador, they show unconditional support to the Minsk Group Co-chairs, who have already visited Yerevan, Stepanakert and Baku, and are no waiting for conclusions of the sides. The key to the conflict settlement is fully under the mandate of the Co-chairs, Matthias Kiesler added.
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Nine months after Sandra Blands jail cell death sparked nationwide scrutiny and weeks of protests, an independent civilian committee is recommending a series of changes for the besieged Waller County Sheriffs Office, including body cameras for officers, medical and mental health screening for all inmates and stress management training for deputies.

The committee, which released its findings Monday afternoon, said the changes are workable and financially feasible for the sheriffs office. Hempstead and Houston lawyer Paul Looney, who chose committee members, said the city had no allegiance to the sheriff or law enforcement.

RELATED: Trooper in Sandra Bland case pleads not guilty

"Every one of us took this assignment with eagerness because we wanted to burn the cops," Looney said. "We didnt find it to be as bad as we thought, but we did find a lot of places to make recommendations for improvement. We all went into this expecting to find a lot more malfeasance than we did."

Take look at the 10 biggest takeaways from the report in the gallery above.

The five-person committee, formed by Looney at the request of the Waller County Sheriff R. Glenn Smith, was given "full and unencumbered access" to all areas of the department, notes the report.

Other committee members included JoAnne Musick, president of the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association; Juan L. Guerra Jr., criminal defense lawyer; Randall Kallinen, civil rights attorney; Morris Overstreet, a former judge on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals; and former U.S. Rep. Craig Washington.

RELATED: Sandra Bland's death becomes topic on campaign trail

None of the committee members had ever met the sheriff. Their efforts included combing through documents, walking cell blocks, riding in patrol cars and speaking privately at length with inmates and sheriffs department employees.

The Waller County Sheriffs Office came under fire last summer following the hanging death of Bland, a 28-year-old Illinois native who was found dead in her cell days after being pulled over by a state trooper for failing to signal a lane change.

A Texas Department of Public Safety dash-mounted camera captured a quickly escalating argument between Bland and Trooper Brian Encinia, who threatened to use a Taser on her. Her death sparked protests outside the sheriffs office.

RELATED: Sandra Bland's mother wants justice, more info on daughter's July death

The trooper was fired and is charged with perjury. He has pleaded not guilty.

Blands death was ruled a suicide. Blands family, who has questioned why she was arrested and why more wasnt done to safeguard her, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court. Blands mother has campaigned along with other mothers whose children died with Democratic presidential candidate hopeful Hillary Clinton.

Key recommendations from the committee are that:

Emergency medical technicians should be used instead of deputies to screen inmates for medical and mental health issues. A doctor working remotely via the internet could then review information for each prisoner and use video conferences if needed to decide whether they need to be prescribed medicine, put on a suicide watch or provided other other treatment.

Body cameras should be used to document encounters between officers and civilians

Deputies should be required to undergo stress management and psychiatric examinations

Other suggestions for improvements include speeding up construction of a new jail to replace the current facility, which does not meet safety and security requirements; investing in technology for electronic booking and sharing of information on inmates; and separating the staff members who do policing from those who work in the jail.

Looney said that some of the suggestions, such as the use of a doctor to do video conferencing, could go a long way toward taking care of prisoners in Waller County and other counties across the United States.

"If implemented, this could save an untold number lives every year for people who died because they didnt have their needed medicine to sustain life or the jail staff didnt recognize they were under extreme stress," he said. "People die under these circumstances in every county jail in the country."

Waller County is home to Prairie View A&M University, a historically black college where Bland graduated in 2009.

The Chicago native had returned to town to take a job at the school.

The city council voted to temporarily rename University Drive, the stretch of road where Bland was stopped by the trooper, as Sandra Bland Parkway.
A California federal judge has rejected as unconstitutional a Los Angeles County plan to insert a Christian cross in its official seal.

The cross would have been added to the San Gabriel Mission, which is depicted on the seal along with the Hollywood Bowl, a Spanish galleon, cattle and other items important to the county's history and economy.

The Los Angeles Times reported that U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder rejected the plan in a 55-page ruling that found it unconstitutionally favored Christianity over other religions. In 2014, county supervisors had voted to add the religious icon, drawing legal objections from the American Civil Liberties Union and a group of religious leaders and scholars.

The issue of the cross' presence on the official seal long has been a matter of contention.

In 2004, county supervisors removed the cross, which at that point adorned the depiction of the Hollywood Bowl, after being threatened with a lawsuit. The mission's image was then added to the seal, albeit without the cross, which had gone missing during the real building's earthquake retrofitting.

The mission's cross since has been restored, and county supervisors argued that the image should reflect the structure in its actual appearance.

Proponents for adding the cross to the seal told the newspaper the seals of at least two California counties and one city contain images of missions topped with crosses. In a statement, they asserted that the judge's decision is "more about political expediency than the core of what the issue is -- ensuring the historical accuracy of the Los Angeles County seal."

You can read the Los Angeles Times report here.
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A South Texas jury found a former missionary to Mexico guilty on Monday of killing a 47-year-old man in 2013, court records show.

RELATED: Report: North Texas youth pastor accused of sexually assaulting young boys was beaten by bystanders

Hidalgo County criminal records show Everett James Morris, also 47, has been convicted on a first-degree felony murder charge.

Morris, a former missionary to Mexico, killed Jorge Olivarez of McAllen on Sept. 8, 2013, by cutting him with a knife, according to an October 2013 indictment.

RELATED: Police: 68-year-old Central Texas pastor had sex with teenager in church office, storage unit

News station KGBT reported that Morris fled to Belize after the killing.

Court records show that Morris is scheduled to be sentenced May 11 in Hidalgo County district court.

RELATED: Texas pastor arrested for soliciting prostitute: Christ's love allowed me to get caught

Morris faces a possible life sentence in prison.

jfechter@mySA.com

Twitter: @JFreports
YEREVAN, APRIL 12, ARMENPRESS. The Russian Court will issue the verdict for entrepreneur Levon Hayrapetyan on April 14, who is accused of embezzling 700 thousand dollars. As Armenpress reports, this was informed by the TASS correspondent from the court.

Earlier on April 12 the prosecutor asked the court to sentence Levon Hayrapetyan to 7 years of imprisonment and reimburse 20.8 million rubles.

Levon Hayrapetyan is accused of embezzlement. According to the investigation, along with lawyer Sergei Antonov he took 700 thousand dollars from ex-senator Igor Izmestyevs mother, in order to ease the latters sons conviction. However in any case he could not have influenced the sentencing.

Izmentyev was sentenced to life in prison for a number of particularly grave crimes.

Hayrapetyan does not accept the charges and says that he is innocent.
-- The Chrons Kevin Diaz & Dylan Baddour look at the Texas GOP convention and talked to one delegate who summed up the on-the-ground fight between Cruz and Trump at state conventions. One who could be up for grabs is Thomas Ferrell, 63, who will go the state convention and campaign as a delegate pledged to Trump from Webb County, one of six Texas counties that went to the billionaire.

I like Donald Trump, but I also like Ted Cruz, Ferrell said. Ill support Donald Trump until it becomes evident we should support Ted Cruz. Cruzs original base of support, Texas tea party activists, tends to dominate the states Republican Party, meaning there is a good chance that many will vote for Cruz at their first opportunity.

-- Feds file securities fraud suit again Paxton, by the Chrons Brian Rosenthal and Mike Ward. The civil lawsuit, filed Monday in an East Texas federal court by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, accuses Paxton of pressuring friends to invest nearly $1 million in a Collin County technology startup called Servergy, Inc., without telling them that he was being paid to promote the company. Unlike the criminal indictment, which is eight months into a lengthy journey through the state court system, the federal suit will not result in any jail time.

-- BOTTOM LINE: The attorney generals Republican colleagues in state government continued to publicly ignore the allegations. Spokesmen for Gov. Greg Abbott, who served as attorney general before Paxton, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, declined comment.

-- Front runners with baggage, by the APs Laurie Kellman and Emily Swanson. At least half of Americans say they would be disappointed or even angry if either of the front-runners  Donald Trump for the Republicans or Hillary Clinton for the Democrats  are nominated, the survey shows. And a quarter said they would be disappointed or angry if both win nominations. Still another quarter would feel at best neutral if both are nominated.

--Cruzs relationship with Cornyn seen as disconnected, by the Texas Tribunes Abby Livingston. For years, their detached relationship has been little more than the subject of Capitol Hill gossip. Yet now, with their party at a crossroads and the presidential nomination at stake, Cornyn's and Cruz's fates may be unexpectedly intertwined.

In claiming victory last week in Wisconsin, Cruz touted how his campaign is unifying the Republican Party behind his bid for the presidency in an effort to topple Trump.  But not everyone in the party is behind him. Most noticeably, Cornyn and the vast majority of the U.S. Senate remain unwilling to publicly back Cruz.

CAPITOL DAYBOOK

HOUSE:

1:00 p.m.: Investments & Financial Services [1845 E. Northgate Dr., SB Hall Rm 122, Irving, TX]

SPEED READ

Texas Take: Republicans united, sort of, Houston Chronicle

Julian Castro targeted by progressive groups, Houston Chronicle

Former Texas Ranger tapped to lead DFPS, Houston Chronicle

What happened in World War II is happening again: Immigration detention centers through the eyes of a therapist, Los Angeles Times

Grieder: Round the Bend, Texas Monthly

The best school district in Texas is also ridiculously wealthy, San Antonio Express-News

Hillary would beat him from jail, Politico

Cruz: Drudge is an attack site for Trumps campaign, Politico

Kasich: Cruz delegate tactics in Michigan werent appropriate, Politico

Dems look for political advantage on Equal Pay Day, Associated Press

Ted Cruz: California is going to decide the Republican nomination, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Fort Worth school district settled with Chesapeake for $1 million, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

How Amarillo became a safe haven from violence across the world -- and Ground Zero in the backlash against refugees, Texas Observer

QUOTE TO NOTE

It's clear that there's a tremendous lack of communication at the TDA, which makes it difficult for me as a (communications) person to do my job.

-- Lucy Nashed, the former Department of Ag spokeswoman who resigned Monday

RACE TO THE WHITE HOUSE

-- INTERNAL STRIFE: Conservative grassroots icon Phyllis Schlafly says she is being ousted from the Eagle Forum organization she founded for her support of Donald Trump, by six state leaders  five of which support Sen. Ted Cruz. Schlafly released a statement Monday claiming the group is trying to take over the organization by controlling bank accounts, firing employees and hiring their own, per The Dallas Morning News Christine Ayala.

-- Diagnosing the problem, by Politicos Nick Gass. The Republican primary process is not rigged, but rather biased, and intentionally so, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said Tuesday. During an interview on MSNBC's Morning Joe, the former presidential candidate, who declared his candidacy a little more than a year ago, referred back to his father Ron Paul's 2012 run when asked what he thought of Donald Trump's complaint that the process by which delegates are allocated and selected is rigged.

-- Progressive groups target Castro, by Politicos Edward-Isaac Dovere. With Bernie Sanders durability exciting progressives at their potential to shape the Democratic race, a coalition of groupsmany of them backers of the Vermont senatorare launching a preemptive strike against Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, aimed at disqualifying him from consideration to be Hillary Clintons running mate. Tuesday morning, the group will be emailing petitions to several million people attacking Castro on the relatively obscure issue of his handling of mortgage sales and launching a website with an unsubtle address: DontSellOurHomesToWallStreet.org.
YEREVAN, APRIL 12, ARMENPRESS. Ambassador of Armenia to Sweden Artak Apitonyan gave an interview to Swedish Dagen daily over the anti-Armenian announcements made on April 9 during an Azerbaijani-Turkish initiated rally in Sergels torg square of Stockholm.

The Ambassador expressed concern in regard to that, condemning any demonstration of racial hatred. He announced that dissemination of anti-Armenian hatred is not a new phenomenon; it starts from the period of the Armenian Genocide. But it is a new phenomenon to witness this in Sweden. It is avery concerning development, there are direct calls to kill Armenians, Armenpress reports the Ambassador mentioned, adding that such a call is heard in the EU for the first time.

The Ambassador informed that the Swedish authorities have not responded yet. At the same time he hoped that the Swedish Government will condemn the incident. Artak Apitonyan added that Armenians living in Sweden need security guarantees.

The Ambassador stated that the announcement of the vice president of the center co-coordinating Turkish organizations, Barbaros Leylani, should not be taken as the opinion of the majority of Turks living in Sweden, but definitely is represents the opinion of some of them.

Apitonyan expressed an opinion that the issue is linked with both the Armenian Genocide recognition process and the latest developments over Nagorno Karabakh conflict, and mentioned that Turkey actively support Azerbaijan, and it can be noted that they coordinate their efforts in several countries, a good evidence of which was the Stockholm march.

The Ambassador once again highlighted taking lessons from the history, stating that the denial of the Armenian Genocide paves the way for similar hate propaganda.

Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem is engaged in racist activities in democratic Europes heart. Turkish Worker's Union in Sweden in collaboration with Azerbaijanis living in Sweden held an anti-Armenian demonstration with slogans Turk, wake up in relation with the military aggression of Azerbaijan against Nagorno Karabakh Republic. The rally took place on April 9.

In the Swedish capital of Stockholm, Sergels square, vice president of the federation Barbaros Leylani announced that Time for the unification of Turkish republics has arrived, it is already matured.

Leylani expressed conviction that their successors will unite the Turkic world. Turks awaken, Armenian scums must be finished, die Armenian scums, die, die, he said.

Leylani, who introduces himself as Turkman descendent, thanking all the present, said, By this we show all the Scandinavian countries and Europe that we do not want bloodshed, but we are ready for it.
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.
YEREVAN, APRIL 12, ARMENPRESS. According to Armenian Economy minister Arstvik Minasyan the 15$ reduction of supplied gas price will not lead to significant reduction of prices of products. As Armenpress reports, at the same time the minister said that any price reduction brings positive impulse.

Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan said during a briefing on April 7 that the price of Russian gas will be supplied to Armenia for 150$ for 1000 cubic meter instead of the previous 165$. The agreement was finalized during Dmitry Medvedevs visit to Armenia.

I still think that we should transition to a single-currency payment system in gas and other raw materials with Russia, so that on one hand we eliminate the risk of currency fluctuations and on the other hand to colligate the raw material price growth in Russian markets with the prices of the same products. This also means to review the agreement, Minasyan said.

He reminded that the Prime Minister has proposed to transition to a Ruble payment method, but still there is no response from Russia or other EEU countries.

Artsvik Minasyan said that for the development of the countrys economy it is necessary to seek alternative energy sources.
YEREVAN, APRIL 12, ARMENPRESS. Jewelry and diamond industry in Armenia is in sustainable development stage. At least 30% growth is forecasted for the current year. Minister of Economy of Armenia Artsvik Minasyan told the reporters about this on April 12, after the visit to Meridian free trade zone. Armenpress reports Minasyan mentioned that at the end of 2016 300 jobs are expected to be created at Meridian free trade zone with an average salary of 100-140 thousand drams.

For us jewelry and diamond industry are key components of our industry and the policy adopted by the Government, creating free trade zones, is of key importance for creating jewelry industry clusters. We already have 4 companies that possess a license of exploiter and operate there, creating production capacity in that area, the Minister mentioned.

In the words of Artsvik Minasyan, the physical volume of jewelry output in 2015 amounted to 900 kg, which is not a very good indicator, but the ongoing policy is aimed at increasing the output.

You know that Armenia was a leading country in diamond industry. There was a boom in 2000s when our indexes exceeded 120 billion drams, as opposed to the current period, when we have an index 10 times lower. Here we must solve a number of fundamental issues related to administration, preparing and training of specialists and creating platforms for realization of the diamond, which will bring an inflow of diamond trade to Armenia, the Minister stated.

As refers to the issues raised by the heads of the newly established companies, the Minister said that there are 2 of them. The first one is the campaign against the free economic zones, against which we must struggle. The goal of free economic zones is not giving privileges to this or that company just as a end, but it aims to foster that companies come here, create jobs and develop. Those companies would have no interest to come here in an environment of standard tax system, Artsvik Minasyan said, stating that there are free trade zones in other countries as well, and they must have no competitive edge against Armenia.

According to the Minister, the second issue is linked with the dates of obtaining permission, which take quite much time, 30-40 days.
YEREVAN, APRIL 12, ARMENPRESS. MEP Josep-Maria Terricabras (Spain) representing The Greens | European Free Alliance in the European Parliament delivered a speech at the plenary session of the EP, demanding to include representatives of Nagorno Karabakh in negotiations going on within the framework of the Minsk Group.

The overwhelming majority of the people of Nagorno Karabakh voted for independence in a referendum held on December 10, 1991. Azerbaijan waged a military attack in response to this democratic process, which results in nearly 30 thousand casualties. As result, a ceasefire agreement was signed between Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh and Armenia. The creation of the Minsk Group in 1992 was a turning point, but Azerbaijan declines the proposals of creating mechanisms recording the ceasefire regime violations.

NKR is a totally democratic entity, with an exemplary judicial system and a low rate of corruption. This is the reason we demand to include representatives of Nagorno Karabakh in negotiation process going on within the framework of the Minsk Group as they are those who decide the future of the citizens of the country. To find a final solution to the military confrontation, it is necessary to internationally recognized the new and independent country, Armenpress reports the Spanish parliamentarian saying.

The adoption of the declaration of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini over Nagorno Karabakh conflict is also expected to take place on April 12.
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.

Even before Hillary Clinton announced she was once again running for president, news organizations had pounced on the Hillary beat as if she were already a surefire candidate.

In mid-2013, The New York Times assigned politics reporter Amy Chozick to follow the former secretary of state. Early the following year, CNN asked White House correspondent Brianna Keilar to serve as the lead reporter on Clinton and the Democratic field. And 10 months ago, Anne Gearan of The Washington Post also joined the group ahead of the campaign announcement.

The press corps grew huge. But what may be more interesting is that for the first time ever a candidates reporter detail is mostlylet alone almost entirelyfemale. From BuzzFeeds Ruby Cramer to NBCs Andrea Mitchell, women from nearly 20 national media outlets form a collective of print, digital, radio, and television journalists covering Clinton.

There are more women covering her this time around than Ive ever seen covering any candidate at one time, Gearan says.

The emergence of a largely female press corps could be the result of three trends: an increasing number of young women pursuing journalism; a desire to report about newsworthy issues such as gender and culture; and news organizations using a relatable voice for new millennial female readers. According to the Womens Media Center, women produced just 34.7 percent of US political news last year. Yet both male and female reporters have seen a rise in the number of women covering the campaign trail now than in 2008.

The decline in newspaper readership and the increase in digital technology has meant that a new generation of reporters is coming up through the ranks, and that new generation of reporters is most likely to have a greater demographic representation of women, says Brigid Harrison, professor of political science and law at Montclair State University.

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Although some reporters like CBS Hannah Fraser-Chanpong are new to the beat, others got the job from past positions, such as Chozick, who wrote about the Clintons for The Wall Street Journal, and Keilar, whose reporting at the White House effortlessly transitioned into her current post. Gearan also was an obvious choice since shed already covered Clinton at the State Department.

When Clinton broke her silence from the media last summer, she first opened up to female reporters like Univisions Maria Elena Salinas and The Des Moines Registers Jennifer Jacobs. Her move could simply have been a matter of circumstanceafter all, most of the journalists who had been following her were women. However, there was also speculation that Clinton was targeting female voters by bringing light to womens issues, a key component of her campaign.

NPRs Tamara Keith insists that theres no difference between a man and a woman reporting on Clinton or any other candidate.

I think this female-heavy press corps talks about all the same things presidential press corps talk about, which are airline miles, hotel points, and if we can get home at some point to do the laundry, Keith says.

In an interview before the first Democratic debate, Clinton Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri said it was attention to Clintons potentially historic nomination, rather than campaign strategy, that led to more female journalists getting the scoop.

I think its probably a mixture of both phenomena, more women in the business [and] maybe interest in covering who we hope to be the first woman president, Palmieri told Politico.

That doesnt necessarily mean better coverage for Clinton. Controversy over her use of a private email server at the State Department led to critical coverage in the news at the beginning of her campaign, and female journalists reported the scandal no differently than their male counterparts. This contrasts with media coverage of Clintons run in 2008, which was dominated by gender stereotypes and sexist remarks.

I havent noticed a difference in how Clinton or the campaign treats female reporters, says Anita Kumar, White House correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers. I think her campaigns relationship with the media has been strained in part because reporters are getting way less access than they would like, and because there have been so many stories written about her emails.

Keith agrees, noting that Clinton looks at her press corps not as women reporters but simply reporters.

I dont think there is a sisterhood for Hillary Clinton, Keith says. If she realized that she had more women in her press corps, it would only be because she read an article about it.

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Samantha McDonald is a Columbia Journalism School student. Follow her on Twitter @samanthaanne_mc.
During an interview with Fox News on Sunday, President Obamaperhaps inadvertentlyexposed the US classification system for what it really is: completely arbitrary and utterly broken. In the process, he described the hypocritical nature of his administrations approach to secrecy.

Theres classified, and then theres classified, the president told Fox News anchor Chris Wallace in response to a question about the now-classified material on Hillary Clintons private email server from when she was Secretary of State. Obama continued: Theres stuff that is really top-secret Top Secret, and theres stuff that is being presented to the president or the secretary of state that you might not want on the transom, or going out over the wire, but is basically stuff that you could get in open-source.

So in other words, sometimes Top-Secret intelligence is information which reasonably could be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security, as the executive order detailing the classification system describes. And other times, its innocuous information you can potentially find on Google.

Of course, any system that classifies information is going to be somewhat subjective. But the exceptionally wide gulf between actual secrets and using a classified stamp to hide anything that might be politically sensitive has been a hallmark of the US secrecy state for yearsand it makes it a nightmare for any journalist covering national security issues to learn what the government is actually doing.

The fact that the US secrecy system is manipulated and abused by those in power isnt an open secret in Washington, its an established factand has been for decades.

Examples abound of some agencies classifying things others dont, or of public documents getting censored in one place and publicly released in another. As The New York Times pointed out on Monday, journalists reporting on the leaked WikiLeaks State Department cables in 2010 regularly came across already-public news articles that were stamped with the secret emblemjust as Times reporters were shocked to find their previous articles classified when they first went through the Pentagon Papers over 40 years ago.

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But dont just take journalists word for it: Since the Eisenhower administration devised the modern classification system, countless former government officials have been willing to explain how the classification system is fundamentally broken.

Some officials, like the former classification czar under George W. Bush, J. William Leonard, make it their mission to inform the public of this after theyve left office. Others, like former NSA and CIA director Michael Hayden, who makes his living off the secrets he still holds, regularly complains about overclassification, once saying: Everythings secret. I mean, I got an email saying, Merry Christmas. It carried a Top Secret NSA classification marking.

Just this weekend, a group of former senators were on 60 Minutes protesting the fact that the government has inexplicably kept the notorious 28 pages of the 9/11 Commission report that allegedly detail Saudi Arabia connections to the attacks secret for almost a decade and a half.

But it is rare that you will hear a sitting president confess so plainly that intelligence agencies regularly disregard the law that lays out what should be secret and what should not.

What makes Obamas statement so infuriating rather than refreshing is that advocacy groups and news organizations often make the exact argument in court that Obama made on televisionthat material considered classified is actually not that secret at all. Yet time and again theyre met by intringent resistance from the Obama administrations Justice Department. The DOJ has convinced judges to rarely, if ever, even entertain the notion that the government has improperly classified somethingeven when its obvious. And the agency is actively fighting FOIA reform legislation that would give judges more latitude to do just that.

The record number of sources and whistleblowers who have been prosecuted under the Espionage Act during the Obama administration have also tried unsuccessfully to make the argument that what they revealed to journalists should have never been classified or wasnt a secret at all. The Justice Department has continually convinced judges this information should be inadmissible and juries should never hear it; lives of whistleblowers have been ruined and sources of reporters languish in jail because of the Justice Departments position.

As secrecy expert Steven Aftergood put it this week: Obama failed to grapple with the fact that a bunch of people in his administration have been caught up in a meat-grinder as a result of classification policy.

These prosecuted sources and whistleblowers were almost all low-level government employees, of course, not powerful secretaries of state and leading candidates for the White House. So they obviously were not able to call the president to the stand to speak on their behalf.

But who knows, now maybe thatll start to change. As independent journalist Marcy Wheeler of the popular Emptywheel blog remarked upon hearing the Presidents candor on Sunday: May this be cited in 1,000 Espionage prosecutions and [Freedom of Information Act] lawsuits.

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Trevor Timm is the executive director of Freedom of the Press Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports and defends journalism dedicated to transparency and accountability. He is also a twice-weekly columnist for the Guardian, where he writes about privacy, national security, and the media.
About 10 months ago, Chris Kaergard, an editor and political reporter at the Peoria Journal Star, started growing a beard. It was clear that the states Democrat-controlled legislature and Bruce Rauner, the Republican governor, would have a hard time agreeing on a state budget. The idea was that Kaergard wouldnt shave until a deal was strucka simple way to bring a little color to a fiscal policy standoff.

I was primed for a couple of months of this and no more than that, Kaergard said recently. Thats part of why I came up with this. We were just going to need a foot in the door for a few months of stories to focus peoples attention early on.

But then the new fiscal year started in July, summer passed, and the state still had no budget. Winter came without a budget, then the first buds of spring. In February, Gov. Bruce Rauner proposed a new fiscal year budget, even though the state still doesnt have one for the current year.

Somewhere along the way, the beard took on a life of its own. Kaergards gimmick is now past his collarbone and growing (bah-dum-ching) in popularity. Its been featured on WGN and in the Chicagoist, Politicos Illinois Playbook, and Rich Millers Capital Fax newsletter. And, naturally, it has its own hashtag.

An actual meeting of the guv and all 4 leaders? It's. About. Time. #BudgetBeard #NoBudgetNoShave pic.twitter.com/XLkxZJ7z4u  Chris Kaergard (@ChrisKaergard) April 12, 2016

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The paper has even used the beard to help explain the budget story to its readers, with an interactive timeline, built using an open source tool from the Knight Lab at Northwestern University, that matches Kaergards progressive shagginess to notable stories and news developments. It also created a social media campaign for the beard, with #budgetclaus and #budgetcupid for Christmas and Valentines Day.

The Journal Star has been really great about capitalizing on the beard, said Sara Netzley, associate chair of the communication department at Bradley University in Peoria, where Kaergard is faculty adviser to the student newspaper. Its great branding for them, for their content, but it reminds people that our lawmakers in Springfield are children. Its a good reminder without making it feel like a lecture in a newspaper.

Kaergard is more than his beard, of course. A graduate of the public affairs reporting program at the University of Illinois-Springfield, he has been covering and following state politics for more than a decade.

The shtick of beard gets you in the door, and then you talk about the issues and you hope you are compelling enough, he said.

The budget impasse is not always an easy story for reporters around the state to tell or for readers and viewers to understand. (Chicagos WBEZ had a great feature that aired this week to help explain it.) Political dysfunction is a familiar story by now, and the squabbling is taking place in Springfield, far from home for most people. The state government hasnt closed, and for many residents of the state, there hasnt (yet) been a clear impact. The residents most affected by the budget impasse tend to be elderly, poor, or otherwise dependent on government help, and with limited political influence.

Had there been no budget for K-12 education, the impasse would have been over now for a long time because that would have affected everyone in an immediate way, said Charles Wheeler, director of the public affairs reporting program at University of Illinois Springfield. The greater harm is being done to people who arent able to defend themselves. People dont connect the dots.

As the stalemate has dragged on, in some ways, it has been an easier story for reporters to tell locally because the financial hurt is becoming more evident, particularly at the states colleges and universities. Northeastern Illinois University, a diverse school with about 10,000 studentswhere I happen to be writing this storyhas indicated it might not be able to stay open without state funding. A sign on a door in the student union warns students that not all computers labs are available because of the budget stalemate. Chicago State University, a historically black school of about 5,000 students, already has sent layoff notices to all faculty, staff and administrators.

At the Journal Star, Kaergard has written about the impact on the Boys and Girls Clubs in the Peoria area and a local company with contract to service state vehicles that hadnt been paid.

The numbers they are talking about statewide are so staggering people have a hard time comprehending them, Kaergard said. People have a hard time tuning into budget issues or dismiss them because they dont affect them.

The Journal Star has delivered some solid journalism making those issues more accessibleand the budget beard has turned out to be a useful way to draw attention to it. But Kaergard is probably still looking forward to the day he gets to shave.

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Jackie Spinner is CJRs correspondent for Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Wisconsin. She is an associate journalism professor at Columbia College Chicago and a former staff writer for The Washington Post. Follow her on Twitter @jackiespinner.
YEREVAN, APRIL 12, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Community of Belgium on April 10 made a protest in front of the Azerbaijan Embassy in Brussels. As Armenpress reports hundreds of representatives from dozens of organizations of the Armenian Community of Belgium participated in the protest raising their voices against the aggression by Azerbaijan against Artsakh.

The participants of the protest condemned the hostilities committed against the civilian population, expressed their readiness to support the fair struggle of Artsakh people.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford has taken its dispute with an insurance company to trial, seeking reimbursement of more than $1 million in payments made to settle sexual misconduct cases involving priests and minors.

Testimony began Friday in a bench trial before U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven.

The case is one of many around the country in which insurance companies have balked at paying claims related to lawsuits against church officials seeking to hold them responsible for sexual assaults of minors by clergy  accusations that in many instances date back decades and involve priests who have since died.

A key issue in the Connecticut case and others is whether insurance companies can deny claims under assault and battery exemptions in liability policies. Many policies dont cover intentional acts, but church officials have argued that they did not know about the alleged assaults.

The archdiocese sued Interstate Fire & Casualty Co. in 2012, claiming the Chicago-based insurer breached its policy by refusing to reimburse the archdiocese for payments made in four settlements from 2010 to 2012 after previously reimbursing payments made in other abuse settlements.

The foregoing activities of Interstate constitute unfair trade practices, because they offend public policy and they are immoral, unscrupulous and unethical, the lawsuit states.

Lawyers for the insurer argue in court documents that the settlements werent covered by the policies. A spokeswoman and a lawyer for Interstate Fire & Casualty declined to comment.

The company has faced lawsuits in other states after refusing to reimburse church officials for priest abuse settlements.

And In a 2014 ruling, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said in a 2014 ruling that Interstate Fires liability policy for the Diocese of Phoenix did not cover settlements of priest sexual abuse cases because of the policys assault and battery exception.

The four cases at the center of the Hartford archdiocese lawsuit involved claims of sexual misconduct against minors in the 1970s and 1980s. Two cases involved sexual abuse claims against the Rev. Ivan Ferguson, who died in 2002 after serving as a church grammar school principal in Derby and other positions with the archdiocese.

A spokeswoman and a lawyer for the archdiocese declined to comment.

The archdiocese has settled many claims of sexual abuse by priests. It agreed in 2005 to pay $22 million to 43 people who said they were sexually abused by priests, including Ferguson.

Elsewhere in the country, the Diocese of Honolulu sued First Insurance Co. of Hawaii in January for refusing to cover priest abuse settlements. And in 2014, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis sued some 20 insurance companies to try to force them to cover its liabilities for clergy sex abuse claims. The lawsuit was put on hold after the archdiocese filed for bankruptcy last year in the wake of priest abuse claims.

Interstate Fire & Casualty has since been acquired by Munich, Germany-based Allianz Group.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A former peanut company executive serving a 28-year prison sentence wont have to pay money to victims of a deadly salmonella outbreak linked to his Georgia plant, a federal judge ruled.

Former Peanut Corporation of America owner Stewart Parnell and three co-defendants were spared by the judges order Wednesday from paying restitution to corporate customers and the families of hundreds who got sick after eating tainted peanut butter in 2008 and 2009. The outbreak was blamed for nine deaths and 714 illnesses.

Convicted of knowingly shipping tainted peanut butter and faking results of lab tests for salmonella, Parnell received the harshest criminal penalty ever for a U.S. producer in a food-borne illness case when he was sentenced to prison in September. His brother, food broker Michael Parnell, got 20 years in prison.

But the question of whether the Parnell brothers and two former managers of Peanut Corporations plant in rural Blakely, Georgia, should compensate victims for financial losses dragged the case out for six more months.

Ultimately, U.S. District Court Judge W. Louis Sands ruled victim loss estimates provided by prosecutors were invalid because they were based on civil claims and included costs  such as attorney fees  that cant be recovered in a criminal case.

Parnells attorney, Tom Bondurant, said the same financial loss estimates the judge deemed too flawed for calculating restitution had played a big role in determining Parnells long prison sentence.

In the big scheme of things, there seems to be a disconnect where you can find loss and send somebody to jail for the rest of their life but not order restitution, Bondurant said.

The judge also noted an insurance policy held by Peanut Corporation paid out more than $12 million to victims. And he concluded that ordering the Parnell brothers to pay money would ultimately be for naught or close-to-naught given their lengthy prison sentences. Peanut Corporation declared bankruptcy and shut down after the outbreak.

We kind of knew it was a shot in the dark, said Randy Napier, whose 80-year-old mother in Ohio was among the nine people who died.

Napier had written the judge to suggest a restitution amount of $500,000 total. Napier said he and other victims families wanted the money to go to groups such as Safe Tables Our Priority, or STOP, that help victims of foodborne illnesses.

With all the agony and stress they put us through over the years, we thought: Why not kick them while theyre down? Napier said. They kept kicking us while we were down.

The ruling also means two former plant managers, Sammy Lightsey and Danny Kilgore, dont owe victims any money. They pleaded guilty to helping ship salmonella-tainted peanuts, peanut butter and peanut paste to customers who used them in products from snack crackers to pet food.

Three deaths linked to the outbreak occurred in Minnesota, two in Ohio, two in Virginia, one in Idaho and one in North Carolina.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Lost in the maize Saturday, Oct. 8  A male called from an address on Brookhaven Drive and stated that his estranged girlfriend was there causing a disturbance. Both individuals had been drinking. The...

Thief lifts more than weights at fitness facility Saturday, Oct. 1  A person turned in a wallet to deputies. The wallet was returned to its owner.  A caller from Bickert Drive requested a welfare check on...
YEREVAN, APRIL 12, ARMENPRESS. Intelligence units of the Defense Army follow all movements of adversarys troops. Deputy Chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia Movses Hakobyan announced about this in the program Zham (The hour) of Armenia TV channel. It is not ruled out that the enemy plans to take some actions, but all their movements are followed by our intelligence services, Armenpress reports Hakobyan saying.

The Deputy Chief of General Staff presented details over the armistice agreement reached in Moscow. Particularly, Hakobyan told that the Chief of General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces called his Armenian counterpart. He mentioned that the Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan has turned to him to act as a mediator to meet with the Chief of General Staff of Armenian Armed Forces for establishing ceasefire and clarifying or solving further issues, Hakobyan said.

To the question if at that time the Armenian units were already taking counteroffensive actions and were moving forward, Hakobyan said. At that point the Defense Army was already fully controlling the situation, and was absolutely pressing the adversary, after which Azerbaijan started to use Smerch, Tos and UAVs. The armistice agreement was reached at the moment when the pressure by Defense Army was huge and Azerbaijan was suffering massive losses.

According to Movses Hakobyan the Armenian side has returned all the positions of key importance, and the small part that is left under the control of the adversary can have no impact on organizing future service and have no tactical importance.

They were assisted by special units trained in Turkey which were equipped with necessary armaments. Azerbaijan had also considered the political situation in the region, Russian-Turkish relations. As we know, the adversary refused for a long time to participate in the negotiation process and wanted to change the negotiation format. By these actions Azerbaijan wanted to show the international community that if the problem does not find a solution that would meet their expectations, they will launch such activities. The adversary failed to implement any of its plans, and the Armenian forces prove they are capable of solving the tasks put before them, he said.

To the remark of the journalist that the Defense Army always announced about a painful response, Hakobyan stated, These 4 days demonstrated that the Defense Army is capable of doing what it announces. I assure that Azerbaijan will once again create an opportunity for the Armenian Armed Forces to implement its announcements.
He also said he is deeply concerned at Rios failure to communicate at all about the progress of its review.

Dr Momis expressed the view that Rio was highly likely to make an exit from BCL, which would mean walking away from the long closed but still resource rich Panguna copper and gold mine.

PRESIDENT John Momis has told Bougainvilles parliament he is deeply concerned at the lengthy period that has elapsed  now about 15 months  in which resources giant Rio Tinto has been reviewing the future of its majority shareholding in Bougainville Copper Ltd (BCL).

If it did exit BCL, Dr Momis said, Rio must accept its full historic responsibilities and honour its obligations to Bougainvilleans in relation to taking full responsibility for an environmental clean-up and for dealing with other major mine legacy issues.

It cannot just walk away from Bougainville and at the same time pretend to hold itself out to the world as a highly responsible company that learnt from its horrific experience in Bougainville by adopting new and appropriate modern standards of corporate responsibility, he said.

Dr Momis also reasserted that it was not an option for the national [Papua New Guinea] government to become majority shareholder of BCL.

If, as now seems highly likely, Rio decides to end its involvement in BCL, the equity must come to Bougainville, he said.

If Rio does decide to end its investment, then the Autonomous Bougainville Government remains completely opposed to any equity transfer to the national government.

Instead, there must be equity transfer to the ABG and landowners, without any payment.

Despite this, Dr Momis emphasised again that the ABG and landowners remain willing to engage with BCL and Rio about jointly examining the possibilities of re-opening the Panguna mine.

Dr Momis assured Bougainvilleans that under his leadership the ABG will continue to make it clear to both the national government and Rio Tinto that Bougainville remains determined to protect its own interests.

I ask this House and the people of Bougainville to support my government in its ongoing, life and death struggle, to protect the interests of the landowners, and of the wider Bougainville community, he said.

In another major statement, the Bougainville president has said he and his Cabinet are considering lifting the moratorium on minerals exploration in the autonomous province.

Dr Momis has suggested maintaining the existing moratorium for a period of two or three years, or alternatively removing it for just one or two specific areas which might be subject to an international tender from interested companies.

He said the matter will be extensively canvassed both within Bougainvilles parliament and also amongst the provinces population.
Rich People Cry More Than Poor People

Trending News: Australia And Other Developed Nations Cry More Than Those Less Fortunate

Why Is This Important?

Because one would assume quite the opposite.

Long Story Short

So it is true: Boys dont cry (if theyre from impoverished, war-torn hellholes).

Long Story

I know now why you cry, Arnie told Edward Furlong circa Terminator 2, but its something I can never do. This was also mere moments before it fell to Edward Furlong to lower Arnie into the steel, if ever there was a moment for tears. While this may go some way to explaining Edward Furlongs subsequent problems with [prescription pain medication] and ill-received 1992 Japanese karaoke album Hold On Tight, it also triples as a reminder to us all: Not even hyper-advanced war machines from the distant future are permitted to shed a tear, because crying, as a litany of studies have found, is a socioeconomic privilege reserved largely for the better-off.

One would anecdotally assume the opposite: That the harder the circumstances, the more common the visitation of despair, and the more frequent the tides of melancholy. Not so, concluded a 2011 study focusing on the cultural discrepancies that cause people to shatter and melt into pools of lacrimal fluid: Individuals living in more affluent, democratic, extroverted, and individualistic countries tend to report to cry more often.

In a recent article expanding on this Darwinian sociology, BBC presenter Dr. Matthew Sweet noted: Rather than being the habit of the wretched of the Earth, weeping appeared to be an indicator of privilege  a membership perk enjoyed in some of the worlds most comfortable and livable societies.

Countries with more gender equality were shown to cry more overall than those still wallowing in comparatively sexist Dark Ages, and so it continued. The more progressive and easier the lifestyle, the more crushingly depressing? Quite the opposite, it seems: The harder the existence, the less room in ones emotional crawlspace there is for sadness.

In countries visited by war or famine, the observation might not seem so counterintuitive, Sweet wrote, going on to relate a powerful anecdote: Dorte Jessen, head of the Jordan arm of the World Food Programmes response to the Syrian refugee crisis, has spent over a decade looking into the tearless eyes of those in the direst need. During the 2011 famine in the Horn of Africa, she was based in the sprawling refugee camp in Dadaab, Kenya, 60 miles from the border with Somalia. Early in her assignment, she recalls, she watched a mother and her two young children receiving emergency rations  sachets containing a sweet mixture of peanut paste, vegetable fat and cocoa. Just a few steps from the distribution point, the mother ripped open one of the packets and handed it to her oldest child. They didnt talk or express any emotion. They just kept walking, Jessen notes. Once you are past a certain point of exhaustion, there is simply no energy to spare to get emotional.

The first world weeps because it quite literally has the luxury to do so.

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During the 2011 study, Australian and American men were shown to be the worlds biggest criers, with Nigerian, Bulgarian, and Malaysian men more stoic than sorrowful. Swedish ladies headed up the vanguard of womanly woe, with their Ghanaian and Nepalese counterparts refusing to lift the floodgates on their waterworks.
Signage for 1Malaysia Development Bhd. (1MDB) is displayed at the site of the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) project in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Goh Seng Chong | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The mystery over who controlled a British Virgin Islands-registered company that received $3.5 billion from Malaysia's scandal-tainted state fund 1MDB deepened on Monday when a company in the Middle East with an almost identical name said the BVI firm did not belong to it. Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund, International Petroleum Investment Co. (IPIC), and its subsidiary Aabar Investments PJS said in a joint statement the BVI firm with an almost identical name, Aabar Investments PJS Ltd., "was not an entity within either corporate group." They had neither received any payments from the BVI company, which was wound up last June, nor assumed any liabilities on its behalf, the statement said. A Malaysian parliamentary committee investigating 1MDB said in a report released on Thursday that the Malaysian sovereign fund sent a total of $3.5 billion to "Aabar BVI." What happened to the money after it went to the British Virgin Islands could not be determined, the report said. The 1MDB fund is solely owned by the Ministry of Finance. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is also finance minister, was authorized to sign off on the fund's major transactions, according to the parliamentary report. Najib has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

The 1MDB transfers to "Aabar BVI" included about $1.4 billion from a privately placed bond that Goldman Sachs raised in 2012. The 1MDB fund also made payments of $855 million, $993 million and $295 million as security deposits and other guarantees for the bond to the BVI firm, the report said. In response to IPIC's statement, 1MDB said it was surprised that neither IPIC nor Aabar had any knowledge of payments 1MDB made to Aabar BVI. The IMDB fund says its records show documentary evidence of the ownership of Aabar BVI and of each payment made. The statement did not say what that ownership was. It added that legal agreements were negotiated with Khadem Al Qubaisi in his capacity as managing director of IPIC and chairman of Aabar or with Mohamed Badawy Al Husseiny, who was CEO of Aabar. The United Arab Emirates' central bank has ordered a freeze on the assets of Khadem and Mohamed Badawy, banking sources told Reuters last week. The reason for the freeze was unclear. Corruption probe Investigators in at least five nations, in addition to Malaysia, are scrutinizing various transactions connected with 1MDB in a wide-ranging money-laundering, fraud and corruption probe.

The U.S. Justice Department has subpoenaed former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner in its probe linked to 1MDB. Leissner helped 1MDB arrange two bonds in May and October 2012, valued at $1.75 billion each, which are also the focus of an inquiry by Luxembourg prosecutors.
A deal between United Continental and two hedge funds seeking to shake up its board looks increasingly likely, sources told CNBC on Monday.

An agreement may come within the next week, the sources added.

The hedge funds, Altimeter Capital Management and PAR Capital Management, collectively hold a 7.1 percent stake in United. They announced last month that they would nominate six directors to United's board amid concerns about its stock performance.
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A public rift between members of Singapore's "first family" has ruptured the Southeast Asian city-state's reputation for orderly and stable politics. The younger sister of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Lee Wei Ling, has hit the headlines after a series of controversial Facebook posts. The latest one, published early Sunday, was an e-mail exchange between Lee and the editor of local newspaper The Straits Times regarding the one-year anniversary of Lee Kuan Yew (LKY), Singapore's first prime minister and father to current Prime Minister Lee and his sister. The former leader passed away last March at the age of 91 after suffering from pneumonia. In the published e-mail excerpts, Lee Wei Ling accused her brother, referred to in her posts as HL, of using the one-year anniversary of Lee Kuan Yew's death as a tool to try to establish a political dynasty. International media have long criticized Singapore's political system over the prominence of the Lee family. The People's Action Party (PAP), created by Lee Kuan Yew in 1954, has ruled Singapore's political landscape since the country's independence in 1965. Lee Wei Ling's post implied the prime minister was using the anniversary events for political aims. "HL has no qualms abusing his power to [have] a commemoration just one year after LKY died... Let's be real, last year's event was so vivid no one will forget it in one yr [sic]. But if the power that be wants to establish a dynasty, LKY's daughter will not allow LKY's name to be sullied by a dishonorable son," she wrote.

She added that she "and HL are at odds on a matter of principle" regarding the one-year commemoration. The post was deleted by Sunday afternoon. Later, the prime minister responded via Facebook, saying he was "deeply saddened" by his sister's claims. "The accusations are completely untrue," he said, adding that his administration thought that the anniversary events, which were planned by community groups, were generally appropriate. "The idea that I should wish to establish a dynasty makes even less sense. Meritocracy is a fundamental value of our society, and neither I, the PAP, nor the Singapore public would tolerate any such attempt," he concluded.

Chang Li Lin, press secretary to the Prime Minister, told CNBC the office had no further comment on the issue. Singapore's political opposition is limited to a few parties, including the Workers Party, the Democratic Progressive Party and The Singaporeans First Party. During the 2015 general election, the first poll since Lee Kuan Yew's death, many had expected to see opposition parties to gain enough votes to challenge PAP's dominance. But the PAP won a landslide victory with 69.9 percent of the vote, above the 60.1 percent it won in the 2011 election, which was its worst-ever performance.

A vocal critic

Formerly a director of Singapore's National Neuroscience Institute and columnist at The Straits Times, Lee Wei Ling is well known for her strong opinions. The Facebook post that marked the first salvo in the current spat was published on March 25, with Lee criticizing events marking the anniversary of her father's death anniversary. "Lee Kuan Yew would have cringed at the hero worship just one year after his death," she wrote, criticizing displays such as a 3.1-meter tall outline of Lee Kuan Yew's face made with nearly 5,000 erasers. A few days later, on April 1, she wrote, "I will no longer write for SPH [Singapore Press Holdings, publisher of The Straits Times] as the editors there do not allow me freedom of speech. In fact, that was the reason why I posted the article that LKY would not want to be hero-worshipped."
Youve got to give it to Keith Olbermann, he is a man of his word.

A month after vowing in a scathing op-ed to sell his Donald Trump-managed New York City condo in protest of Trumps presidential candidacy, the commentator has followed through, listing the apartment for $3.9 million.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Olbermann is taking a loss on the condo, which he bought for $4.2 million in 2007, feeling that clearing his conscience is worth a few hundred thousand dollars. Via WSJ:

He said he bought it at around the height of the market and would be disappointed to lose money on the sale, but added he feels it is worth it. I feel 20 pounds lighter since I left, said Mr. Olbermann

Olbermann wrote in March that he was getting out because of the degree to which the very name Trump has degraded the public discourse and the nation itself.

A former MSNBC and ESPN commentator, Olbermanns political views are famously liberal, and his style is famously combative toward those he disagrees with, so feud with Trump is certainly on brand.

And speaking of combative people, obviously Trump wasnt just going to let Olbermanns attack go answered. That would require poise and maturity. From WSJ:

Mr. Trump said in an email that Mr. Olbermann is just trying to use Trump to get publicity and stay relevant. The prices of Trump apartments are today, the highest theyve been. When people find out he is leaving Trump Palace, prices will probably go up.

Meanwhile, Olbermanns condo sounds awfully nice. Its on the 40th floor of a 55-story building, has two bedrooms and three balconies and features views of the Empire State Building, Central Park and the George Washington Bridge. Olbermann seems pretty insistent that the move is entirely about the name on the front of the building.

Mr. Olbermann said his unit is a great apartment, but leaving the building made him feel less morally icky. He added that if it wasnt a Trump building, he never would have moved. If they had changed the name of it to something more positive like Ebola Palace I would have happily stayed, he said. He said he has found another home in Manhattan, but declined to identify which building.

But Ebola Palace sounds pleasant too!
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Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has agreed to buy a controlling stake in Southeast Asian online retailer Lazada to tap into the region's lucrative consumer market.

Under the deal worth approximately $1 billion, Alibaba will buy around $500 million worth of newly issued shares in Lazada, as well as acquire shares from some existing shareholders.

Alibaba President Michael Evans said the investment will support Alibaba's expansion plans in Southeast Asia.

Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba Group. Alibaba recently said it has become the largest retailer in the world as measured by annual gross merchandise volume. Li Xin | Xinhua | Getty Images

"With the investment in Lazada, Alibaba gains access to a platform with a large and growing consumer base outside China, a proven management team and a solid foundation for future growth in one of the most promising regions for e-commerce globally," he said in a statement.

Max Bittner, CEO of Lazada Group, added, "the transaction will help us to accelerate our goal to provide the 560 million consumers in the region access to the broadest and most unique assortment of products."

Germany's Rocket Internet will sell a 9.1 percent stake in Lazada for $137 million in cash but will still have an 8.8 percent stake. British supermarket giant Tesco will sell an 8.6 percent equity stake in Lazada for $129 million, bringing down its stake in the company to 8.3 percent. Tesco said that the proceeds from the deal will be used for general working capital.

Both Rocket Internet and Tesco said they have entered into a "put-call arrangement" with Alibaba, giving the buyer the right to purchase, and shareholders the right to sell their remaining stakes at a "fair market value" within the 12 to 18 month period after the closing of the deal.

In buying Lazada, the idea is to help buyers and sellers on Alibaba's platform to get access to the Southeast Asian market. Lazada has already built up a supply chain, delivery and payment options in the regions in which it operates. Marie Sun, a senior equity analyst at Morningstar, told CNBC that Alibaba is looking for future growth drivers outside China and has already invested in markets such as India, South Korea and the United States. Sun added that Southeast Asia's e-commerce market is still underdeveloped, compared to those in China and U.S., which implies there would be higher growth in the future. "So if they can dominate the market when the mobile internet penetration increases in the region, Alibaba can benefit in the longer term," she said.


British Prime Minister David Cameron (R) attends a meeting with and European Council President Donald Tusk (L) and European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker (C) during a European Union leaders summit addressing the talks about the so-called Brexit and the migrants crisis in Brussels on February 19, 2016. Yves Herman | AFP | Getty Images

The banking industry is set for big changes if Britons vote to quit the European Union in June. It's a difficult subject, to say the least. At least one bank reportedly has banned the term "Brexit" in the workplace. Elsewhere in the banking business, executives mostly duck the topic of a referendum vote coming June 23 that could have the United Kingdom dumping the European Union. "They aren't commenting publicly," said one person employed by a bank in London, who asked to not be quoted. "They don't want to be seen as trying to influence the outcome." But changes to the European banking industry would be profound. While the short-term ramifications of the U.K. exiting the EU would result in wholesale staffing changes at European and British banks, a bigger impact could come in the form of jolts to central bank planning and the cost of capital. "The real issue is how the market treats funding costs," said Ryan Caldwell, partner and CIO at Chiron Investment Management.

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That could result in spreads widening on bond deals, and might cause near-term turmoil on bank balance sheets, which have been hit hard to start 2016. Caldwell predicted credit spread pain could extend into the U.S. as well. One of the biggest questions facing disparate regulatory regimes in the U.K. and EU would entail regulating banks, many of which took to London to use as a hub for business operations. After numerous European banks shuttled staffers into the U.K., and expanded their presence, it is expected that a Brexit would force virtually all of them to pull back. What it means for U.K. banks operating in Europe is even less clear. Read MoreSoros: European Union in mortal danger The Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, which was implemented to provide smooth coordination of financial services policy among countries in the European Union, provides a framework for banks establishing international offices. But the threat of the Brexit, and uncertainty as to how MiFID would be applied to the U.K. post-Brexit, would put British banks and other European banks into flux. Banks including Barclays , Standard Chartered and Lloyd's , may encounter new regulatory processes to continue operations in European countries should the Brexit vote result in the U.K.'s departure from the 28-nation bloc. A March report from Goldman Sachs analysts points out that a Brexit "would allow the U.K. to curtail perceived EU regulatory and legal excesses," viewed as a constraint by British businesses on their home turf. Standard Chartered declined to comment when reached; Lloyd's and Barclays did not respond to requests for comment.

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WHEN: THURSDAY, APRIL 14

WHERE: CNBC'S "SQUAWK ON THE STREET"

On Thursday, April 14th, CNBC's Sara Eisen will speak with World Bank President Jim Yong Kim & IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde during CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" from the IMF/World Bank Meeting in Washington D.C. Kim will discuss the migrant crisis, Zika and Brexit, among other topics. Lagarde will discuss her outlook for the global economy, negative rates and Europe, among other topics.

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/.
Hedge funds posted their worst quarterly stock picking performance since the financial crisis last quarter, according to data from a major Wall Street firm. The woeful returns came during a little-changed market so far in 2016, just the kind of environment when hedge funds are supposed to thrive. "Global stock picking alpha across equity long/short managers was negative 4 percent in 1Q16, the worst quarter in at least seven years and the worst quarterly return by more than 2 percent," Morgan Stanley's John Schlegel wrote in a note to hedge fund clients Thursday. Morgan Stanley is the second-largest hedge fund prime broker in the world with about 1,700 clients, according to hedge fund data firm Preqin . "Alpha" measures a manager's stock picking ability by calculating the excess return of a fund's positions relative to the market. Big investors in hedge funds are taking note of the poor performance. "Investor sentiment was skewed negative in 1Q16 as many investors were frustrated by challenging hedge fund returns YTD. It seems many investors held off from allocating to additional mangers," Schlegel wrote. So why have hedge funds underperformed and how do they plan to make a comeback? Source: FactSet The CBOE Volatility Index , or VIX, is a key measure of market expectations of near-term volatility conveyed by S & P 500 stock index option prices, according to the CBOE. The VIX has fluctuated wildly this year showing the risk on, risk off nature of the market. "It's been an extremely difficult environment for hedge funds lately as markets defy trends and move sharply in one direction and then snap back. It's enough to give a hedge fund manager whiplash," BMO Private Bank's chief investment officer, Jack Ablin, wrote in an email. To make things worse, hedge funds generally missed the market bottom in the middle of the quarter. Read More How to invest in Jamie Dimon's market forecast "The problem for a lot of funds in early 2016 was their inability to accept mark-to-market risk and maintain high conviction positions in the face of increasing volatility," Jeremy Hill, head of markets at Levy Harkins & Co., wrote in an email. He added, "Perhaps the bigger problem was that funds didn't take advantage of the rebound since the nadir of Feb. 11. All of a sudden four factors started to reverse and make the global macro better: a weaker U.S. dollar, a more dovish Federal Reserve, a change in the massively bearish risk sentiment and stabilization in the price of oil." The good news for hedge funds is that this is not a financial crisis. So old-fashioned fundamental stock picking is bound to make a comeback. Funds are betting on consumer stocks and Europe to give them some alpha this quarter, data show. In March, hedge funds in aggregate sold the financials, technology and energy sectors, according to the Morgan Stanley report. Consumer discretionary was the only sector with net buying. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund is an ETF that provides exposure to the consumer discretionary sector equities. Geographically, Europe "saw the most HF net buying of any region" in March, according to the firm. iShares Europe ETF tracks the investment performance of Europe-based equities. As for specific stock bets, earlier this year CNBC Pro wrote about what the best performing hedge funds were buying, according to hedge fund tracking firm Symmetric.io. The names included Bank of America , Ctrip.com , MetLife and Nike . Read More Pro Talks: Investment strategy with Jeffrey Saut

Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Andrew Burton | Getty Images
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Is it time to put the Paul Ryan for president chatter to bed for good? My Politico colleague Jake Sherman reports that when Ryan says he will not seek or accept the Republican nomination at the party's convention in Cleveland this summer, he absolutely, positively, indubitably means it. Ryan does not want the nomination, does not believe a candidate not currently running could, or should, get it. And he would not take it should convention delegates turn to him in a moment of crisis after multiple ballots and implore the House speaker to mount his trusty steed and ride into the fall election as his party's standard bearer. Wall Street executives and others who have spoken with Ryan tell me the same thing. Sure they would love Ryan to be the nominee. He could potentially win, and he represents the kind of low-tax, low-regulation, pro-growth, optimistic conservatism that Wall Street Republicans love. But the speaker has told them in no uncertain terms that they should stop fantasizing and face the reality that the nominee is going to be Donald Trump, Ted Cruz or, in a very unlikely scenario, Ohio Governor John Kasich. So that settles it right? Well, not exactly.

House Speaker Paul Ryan. Drew Angerer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Ryan can say anything he wants and it won't stop some people from dreaming that a deadlocked convention could fail to settle on any of the three current candidates and attempt to draft the House speaker against his own wishes to rescue the party and accept the nomination.

Sure, it would be unprecedented and could cause a major revolt among Trump and Cruz supporters. But the 2016 race is already an unprecedented circus, so ruling out any scenario as completely impossible is probably not a great idea. Still, the Paul Ryan-as-savior scenario is best left in the "almost certainly not" category. Which leads us back to the "so who is it going to be?" question. Trump has suffered multiple recent setbacks, including losing all of Colorado's 34 delegates to Cruz in seven district conventions over the weekend. Trump has also been losing delegates to Cruz in states and congressional districts Trump had won, including in South Carolina and Massachusetts. These delegates will be pledged to Trump on the first ballot in Cleveland but could switch to Cruz if the real estate mogul fails to win on the first ballot. And it now appears even more likely that Trump will go into Cleveland without the 1,237 delegates he needs to win on the first vote. That will be the case even if, as expected, Trump romps to a 50 percent-plus win in New York next week and takes most if not all of the Empire State's 95 delegates. To get all of them, Trump would need majorities in all of the state's 27 congressional districts. He could do that but probably won't. Even if he does, a FiveThirtyEight analysis suggests Trump will still be off the pace to win an outright majority of delegates before the convention. He may even be so short that he could not win on the first ballot even if he picks up the 100 or so unpledged delegates in Cleveland. The GOP race is likely to go down to the final day of the primaries, June 7, which feature's California's winner-take-most contest with 172 delegates at stake.





The race in the Golden State is close, with Trump holding narrow leads over Cruz in most polls. But Trump is going to face a massive barrage of negative ads in California and Cruz is going all in on the state in an effort to make sure Trump can't hit, or even get near 1,237. If Cruz pulls out a win in the state, he may well wind up with the momentum heading into Cleveland. And his shrewd and aggressive delegate operation may deliver him the nomination after a couple of ballots. In fact, to many observers, a Cruz nomination is starting to seem like the most likely scenario. What about Kasich? The Ohio governor has just 143 delegates, fewer than Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who dropped out weeks ago. He's won only his home state and is not favored in any remaining contests, even in Northeast and mid-Atlantic states that should be favorable to him. But Kasich is not giving up because he believes delegates in Cleveland will settle on him as the best option for the fall after Trump and Cruz fail to garner majorities. This is not a completely impossible dream. But it's only slightly more plausible than convention delegates locking Paul Ryan in a room and forcing him to change his mind about accepting the nomination. But then, Ryan also said he would never seek to become House speaker.


Manan Vatsyayana | AFP | Getty Images

The trail of breadcrumbs from a troubled Malaysian state investment fund took another twist Tuesday when Swiss authorities said some of the money ended up in the movie business. On Monday, an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, International Petroleum Investment Co. (IPIC), and its subsidiary Aabar Investments PJS, said that they never received $3.5 billion in payments from troubled 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). The payments were related to a guarantee for a bond placed by Goldman Sachs . Instead, the payments appear to have been sent to a nearly identically named firm registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), Aabar Investments PJS Ltd. Switzerland's Office of the Attorney General said on Tuesday that as part of its criminal investigation of suspected embezzlement from 1MDB, it was extending its probe to two former officials in charge of Abu Dhabi sovereign funds.

"The Swiss authorities have elements in hand allowing them to suspect that the amounts paid in connection with this guarantee were not returned to the Abu Dhabi sovereign fund that supported the commercial risk," the Swiss statement said. "To the contrary, these funds would have benefited others, particularly two public officials concerned as well as a company related to the motion picture industry. A former 1MDB body, already indicted in the Swiss proceedings has also benefited from these amounts." Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing global investigators, that much of the financing for the Leonardo DiCaprio movie "Wolf of Wall Street" originated from 1MDB. The investigators said that the movie's $100 million budget came from a company called Red Granite Pictures, which is led by Riza Aziz, the step-son of Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak, the WSJ reported. Additionally, the United Arab Emirates' central bank has ordered a freeze on the assets of Khadem Al Qubaisi, formerly the managing director of IPIC, and former Aabar CEO Mohamed Badawy, banking sources told Reuters last week. The reason for the freeze was unclear, Reuters said. Swiss authorities asked Singapore and Luxembourg for "mutual legal assistance" in the matter. In January, the Swiss authorities said in a statement that Malaysia had been asked for legal assistance over around $4 billion that may have been misappropriated from Malaysian state enterprises in four instances over 2009-2013.
PHOENIX  Pressured by members of his own party, House Speaker David Gowan on Tuesday morning suspended his ban on reporters on the floor who have not first undergone extensive background checks.

But not full access.

House Republicans also voted Tuesday to preserve Gowans unilateral authority to decide in the future whether to rescind overall access, whether to require extensive background checks and even to ban a single reporter for any reason at all.

In a brief statement, House Republican publicist Stephanie Grisham said the badges that had been given to regular Capitol beat reporters that opened certain doors are not being reactivated. That had provided easier access for reporters to go to lawmakers offices, including that of the speaker.

Instead, there will be a sign-in process available only when the House is on the floor.

Gowans decision to suspend his own policy comes less than a week after he claimed that House members had demanded he tighten up security procedures. That followed a disturbance in the public gallery.

But it turns out the letter from GOP legislators that Gowan said led to the policy change never actually mentioned concerns about reporters on the floor. Instead, it simply asked Gowan to spend money in the House budget for the purpose of improving the physical security of the Arizona House of Representatives building.

The speaker stands by his security plan, Grisham said Monday. But she acknowledged there had been pressure on her boss to reverse his stance, saying he has a responsibility to his members and public who expressed concern.

Hours later, House Democrats moved to preclude Gowan or any future speaker from further curbing access.

Thats a right he now has.

House rules require there be a place for the press, with no requirement it actually can be on the floor. That concerned Rep. Lisa Otondo, D-Yuma.

She acknowledged reporters can view and record floor speeches from the gallery. But Otondo said that precludes reporters questioning lawmakers afterwards about their statements.

When we really have to answer the questions is when theyre an arms-length away, she said.

The proposal by Rep. Diego Espinoza would have required the press gallery be on the House floor, as it has been for more than three decades. And it would preclude House staffers from demanding background checks that could be used to disqualify a reporter absent a specific threat or concern.

Rep. Rusty Bowers, R-Mesa, suggested the press in Arizona has more access than some other places. For example, he noted that Congress does not grant floor privileges to reporters.

But Bowers acknowledged afterwards that, unlike the Arizona House, reporters in Washington are free to go the the offices of federal lawmakers.

And Rep. Bruce Wheeler, D-Tucson, said its irrelevant what happens elsewhere.

This is Arizona, he said. We do things as what we think ought to be done.
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Hopes that an oil production freeze could result from a meeting between OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers this coming Sunday are looking increasingly over-optimistic as a number of countries attending the summit could scupper any chances for a deal.

At least 15 major oil producers that account for 75 percent of the world's oil production are expected to attend the April 17 summit in Doha, Qatar this weekend. Oil prices have rallied of late on hopes that oil exporters, suffering from lower oil revenues on the back of a slide in prices and glut in supply, could be ready to unanimously agree to freeze production levels in order to stabilize and rebalance oil markets. The 13 members of the OPEC oil producing group, which is led by Saudi Arabia, are to attend as well as Russia, Oman and Bahrain, all non-OPEC producers. Mexico is reportedly participating as an "observer" but the U.S., another major shale oil producer, is not attending although it has seen its own oil output decline dramatically following the slump in prices since mid-2014.



Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The only problem is that all the producers will have to agree to cut production if a deal is to be reached, not an easy thing to achieve with geopolitical rivalries at play and differing economic needs to meet. For example, Saudi Arabia has said it will entertain a production cut only if Iran, its regional rival, does the same. Iran, meanwhile, has said it does not want to cut production and is determined to regain its share of the market as it seeks to recover from years of international sanctions. In fact, Iran has said it will attend the meeting but will not talk cuts. Similarly, some countries in Latin America have already cut production and others are reluctant to cut production in a bid to support prices, concerned that investment will suffer and suspicious that other countries won't abide by any agreement. As such, there are widespread doubts that a deal will be reached in Doha. Miswin Mahesh, oil analyst at Barclays, told CNBC that a number of countries  like Iran -- looked more likely to ramp up production, rather than cut it once domestic infrastructures were improved. "The producers that matter are all there but the important thing is what they do and this is to do with a circle of trust," Mahesh told CNBC Europe's "Squawk Box" on Monday.
The Eyjafjallajskull volcano in Iceland. Kerstin Langenberger | Barcroft Media | Getty Images

The political turmoil in Iceland following the resignation of its prime minister last week could delay the country's long-awaited re-privatization of three major banks, the finance minister said on Tuesday. Bjarni Benediktsson said holding legislative elections this year would likely delay Iceland's plans to sell stakes in the banks it bailed out after its financial crisis. "It has become less realistic to privatize public shares in 2016 as we originally aimed for  I am referring to the fact that we are going to elections later this year," the minister of finance and economic affairs said at a conference in London. Iceland is likely to bring forward its elections to the fall this year from April 2017, following the resignation of Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson. He was the first major public figure to resign in the wake of the so-called Panama Papers leaks, which showed that his family had sheltered money offshore. Gunnlaugsson has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson Timothy A. Clary | AFP | Getty Images

Benediktsson was also named in the Panama Papers, but told Reuters on Tuesday that he would not be resigning as minister. Benediktsson co-owned a company in Seychelles during Iceland's banking crisis, according to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists that saw the leaked papers from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca. CNBC has not been able to independently verify the allegations. The Panama Papers revelations have knocked Iceland's confidence in its politicians further, with faith in the political and financial elite yet to recover from the country's 2008-2011 banking crisis. Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Reykjavik, the Icelandic capital, last week. The populist Pirate Party, which advocates direct democracy and a change of the "old guard" in government, is leading in the polls. It has not set out its macroeconomic policies in detail, so it is unclear whether a Pirate Party-led government would maintain the current government's commitment to capital control liberalization and breaking the economy's historic cycle of boom and bust.



Protests on April 5, 2016 in Reykjavik, Iceland. Getty Images
House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said Tuesday that he would absolutely not be drafted as a presidential candidate.

As businessman Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Ohio Gov. John Kasich vie to win the GOP's nomination, many pundits had speculated that Ryan could have entered the fray during a brokered Republican National Convention in July.

"Let me be clear: I do not want, nor will I accept the nomination for our party," Ryan said.

Speaking to the party delegates, Ryan said he believed they should only choose from someone who has participated in the primary in the case of a brokered convention.

"Count me out: I simply believe that if you want to be the nominee for our party to be the president, you should actually run for it," he said. "I chose not to do this, therefore I should not be considered. Period. End of story."
State senators voted 21-8 Monday to block universities and community colleges from limiting protests, distributing handbills and making speeches to only certain areas of the campus.

HB 2615 stems from concerns about branches of the Maricopa Community College system which have policies setting up so-called free speech zones. There also are some requirements for prior approval.

There is at least one lawsuit pending on the issue against Paradise Valley Community College by two students who charge it is illegally requiring groups to get permits and provide prior notice. The college policy also restricts those who want to demonstrate or hand out literature to certain areas of campus.

I think it is a disgrace that we have to craft a bill to protect First Amendment rights, not from thugs or political fanatics who are trying to suppress other peoples rights, said Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills. That a government college would suppress free speech with absurd laws is so embarrassing.

The measure now goes back to the House which approved a different version of the measure.

Photo radar tickets

Beginning next year, motorists can ignore photo radar tickets taped to their doors without worrying about losing the right to drive.

Current law says photo radar companies can offer alternate service if there is no one at the door to accept the citation. And failure to answer it  even if it blew away  leads to mandatory license suspension.

The government thinks its OK to tape that notice to your door and youre considered properly served, said Rep. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, R-Scottsdale. A suspended license is no joke.

Her legislation, HB 2591, removes the ability of the Motor Vehicle Division to suspend a license if there is no proof the motorist has been properly served. That would also include first class mail where a recipient does not have to sign for it.

The measure gained preliminary Senate approval Monday now needs a roll-call vote.

Government continuity

Preparing for the worst, the state House gave preliminary approval Monday to ensuring at least one state official survives if theres an attack on a major event.

SB 1156 says the secretary of state, attorney general or state treasurer must be absent for events like the annual State of the State address, the quadrennial swearing in of state elected officials or any similar event. Proponents said that ensures that someone in the official line of succession survives if there is anything from a terrorist attack at the Capitol to some natural disaster.

Lawmakers did agree to remove a provision requiring the Department of Public Safety to take the designated official at least 20 miles away at least three hours ahead of time. Now the measure leaves the details up to DPS.

A final House vote sends the measure back to the Senate to review the House changes.

Dog racing

Without dissent the Senate on Monday ratified a plan that will end dog racing in Arizona at the end of this year.

The deal in HB 2127 will allow Tucson Greyhound Park to keep its exclusive right to operate all the off-track betting facilities in SouthernArizona for two years after it no longer has live racing. But during that time it has to pay a horsemans group 20 percent of the fees it now gets from Turf Paradise for carrying its live signal  and taking wagers  in Southern Arizona.

After that, HB 2127 permits Turf Paradise to open up its own OTB facilities in the area to take wagers on horse racing, not only from its own track but across the nation.

The deal was hailed by animal rights groups who have argued that greyhound racing is cruel and that animals who cannot win are routinely destroyed.

A final House vote will send the measure to the governor.

Fringe benefits

The Senate voted 18-11 Monday to deny cities and counties the right to tell private businesses they have to offer paid vacation or time off.

A 2006 voter-approved law which legislators cannot repeal specifically permits local governments to set minimum wages higher than the state mandate. HB 2579 is designed to preclude similar local laws on things like sick time and maternity leave.

It is being pushed largely by the Arizona Restaurant and Hospitality Association.

Sen. Andrew Sherwood, D-Tempe, said the Republican-controlled Legislature should stay out of local issues. But Sen. Steve Smith, R-Maricopa, said its sometime necessary for lawmakers to step in to keep local governments from infringing on private rights.

The House now needs to approve changes made by the Senate.
Billionaire financier George Soros has warned that the European Union is in mortal danger of collapse if it doesn't agree a massive cash injection to fix the refugee crisis.

In an essay written for the New York Review of Books, Soros also claimed that a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in Greece.

"The asylum seekers are desperate. Legitimate refugees must be offered a reasonable chance to reach their destinations in Europe," the investor wrote in the publication.

"EU leaders need to embrace the idea that effectively addressing the crisis will require "surge" funding, rather than scraping together insufficient funds year after year. Spending a large amount at the outset would allow the EU to respond more effectively to some of the most dangerous consequences of the refugee crisis."

Pushed by civil war and terror and pulled by the promise of a better life, more than a million migrants and refugees fled the Middle East and Africa in 2015 and crossed into Europe.

Now a deal is in place so anyone arriving illegally in Greece will be returned to Turkey if their asylum application is rejected.

In exchange for every person sent back, the EU will resettle one Syrian refugee currently trapped in Turkish camps.
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Bradley Birkenfeld is the most significant financial whistleblower of all time, so you might think he'd be cheering on the disclosures in the new Panama Papers leaks. But today, Birkenfeld is raising questions about the source of the information that is shaking political regimes around the world. Birkenfeld, an American citizen, was a banker working at UBS in Switzerland when he approached the U.S. government with information on massive amounts of tax evasion by Americans with secret accounts in Switzerland. By the end of his whistleblowing career, Birkenfeld had served more than two years in a U.S. federal prison, been awarded $104 million by the IRS for his information and shattered the foundations of more than a century of Swiss banking secrecy.

Bradley Birkenfeld, a former UBS banker, speaks during an interview at Schuylkill County Federal Correctional Institution in Minersville, Pa., on Tuesday, April 27, 2009. Bradley C. Bower | Getty Images

In an exclusive interview Tuesday from Munich, Birkenfeld said he doesn't think the source of the 11 million documents stolen from a Panamanian law firm should automatically be considered a whistleblower like himself. Instead, he said, the hacking of the Panama City-based firm, called Mossack Fonseca, could have been done by a U.S. intelligence agency.

"The CIA I'm sure is behind this, in my opinion," Birkenfeld said.

Birkenfeld pointed to the fact that the political uproar created by the disclosures have mainly impacted countries with tense relationships with the United States. "The very fact that we see all these names surface that are the direct quote-unquote enemies of the United States, Russia, China, Pakistan, Argentina and we don't see one U.S. name. Why is that?" Birkenfeld said. "Quite frankly, my feeling is that this is certainly an intelligence agency operation."

Asked why the U.S. would leak information that has also been damaging to U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, a major American ally, Birkenfeld said the British leader was likely collateral damage in a larger intelligence operation.

"If you've got NSA and CIA spying on foreign governments they can certainly get into a law firm like this," Birkenfeld said. "But they selectively bring the information to the public domain that doesn't hurt the U.S. in any shape or form. That's wrong. And there's something seriously sinister here behind this."



The public relations office for the CIA did not immediately return a message for comment.

Birkenfeld also said that during his time as a Swiss banker, Mossack Fonseca was known as one piece of the vast offshore maze used by bankers and lawyers to hide money from tax authorities. But he also said that the firm that is at the center of the global scandal was also seen as a relatively small player in the overall offshore tax evasion business.


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From concerns over China to a seismic shift in consumer tastes; the raft of headwinds weighing on luxury brands means the sector may be forced to embrace a new normal, analysts suggest. "The luxury sector and the largest companies within it need to adjust to a new normal," Luca Solca, head of luxury goods at Exane BNP Paribas, told CNBC Tuesday. "If we had growth of between 7 or 8 percent in the past five or six years, my view is that we're going to go to 2 to 5 percent in the next three to five years, and (luxury firms) need to adjust their cost profile and adjust their (capital expenditure) to that." Once seen as a big contributor to luxury, China has now become an area of uncertainty for brands, as a shift in consumer demand, a devalued yuan and China's anti-corruption drive push companies to rethink how they operate in the market.

Geopolitical situations such as the terror attacks in Paris and a "relatively weak" global macroeconomic picture have also impacted growth, however analysts suggest that higher prices and a greater number of stores may not be the best strategy for luxury firms. "Luxury isn't really luxury when it's sold everywhere to everyone; it loses exclusivity, and in turn its entwinement with selectiveness. When luxury is exclusive, and better yet, recognizably exclusive, it reaches its greatest desirability," Winston Chesterfield, research director at intelligence provider Wealth-X, told CNBC by email. To avoid harming "the sense of exclusivity", brands should focus on tailoring their goods  in both design and purpose  to each region they want to attract, Chesterfield said, adding that by showing an understanding for different natural and social environments, this will help brands keep their "edge" over the mass market. Both analysts' comments come as luxury titan LVMH reported 2016's first-quarter earnings on Tuesday. While the French firm's total revenue rose some 4 percent to 8.62 billion euros ($9.8 billion) year-on-year, sales in its fashion division were flat in the first quarter, with the company citing "varied" performance in Asia and a decline in French tourism as key headwinds.

'Experiential' luxury

One of the U.K.'s most popular clothing retailers Next , warned in March that 2016 would be a "challenging year", not only because of an uncertain economic environment worldwide, but that there could be a shift in consumer spending: away from clothes to experience-related expenditure, such as travel and eating out.

While buying a luxury watch or handbag used to be a way of luxury consumers broadcasting their wealth, now "experiential" luxury events have become incorporated into this space, and social media has become a key driver of that, Chesterfield explained. An example of such an event could be a unique once-in-a-lifetime holiday.





Westend61 | Getty Images

"Food and travel experiences are a part of the broadened palette of luxury consumers. Now that they have the means to broadcast and 'own' these experiences, it has made the world of luxury experience  which has infinitely more variety than the world of luxury products  more alluring," he said.

Trends forecaster and research firm The Future Laboratory, echoed Chesterfield's comments, saying luxury would have to shift from heritage to legacy, and redefine what the sector means to attract modern consumers. "Contemporary luxury is not just about materials, provenance and process, but more about innovation, sustainability and experience," Jonathan Openshaw, editor at The Future Laboratory, told CNBC by email. "The era where logos were enough to flog product is drawing to an end, making room for a more engaged sense of what luxury means today. This isn't all about consumer engagement and crowdsourcing your brand  far from it: having a strong point of view is more important than ever," Openshaw added. "But it's very much about showing that you're as engaged with the contemporary world as your consumers are, and that your brand isn't frozen in aspic."
Never mind that neither the Russian nor the Saudi oil minister confirmed this story. Traders seemed to have convinced themselves that there will be a deal out of Doha.

Oil immediately spiked to its highest level since December. More importantly, it moved over the 200-day moving average for the first time since October 2014.

Oil spiked on Tuesday as Russia's Interfax news agency said that Russia and Saudi Arabia had agreed on a production freeze ahead of the upcoming OPEC meeting in Doha, regardless of whether other OPEC members participate or not.

What's all this mean for energy stocks? It's a bit of a conundrum. Higher oil is certainly good news. But the stocks are reflecting that.

Chevron , for example, which is highly leveraged to oil, has gone from $75 in January to almost $100 today and is is trading at 70 times 2016 earnings. That's right, 70 times earnings.

What does it mean? It means that traders are pricing in much higher crude oil in 2017.

Those who are more bullish keep telling us reporters to stop talking about price to earnings ratios, that the new paradigm is to look at free cash flow, and that "price to cash flow" is a proper valuation metric. Under this argument, Chevron has had negative free cash flow for the last four years: they have to borrow to pay their dividend. Under this metric, free cash flow is supposed to turn positive in 2017, a very positive sign.

Maybe. Here's a rule of thumb I have learned from a couple decades of watching this stuff: when someone tells you there is a new paradigm that you should be watching to value something, check to make sure your wallet is still in your pocket.

Back to Doha: it's a high-stakes game. There is big pressure for a deal in Doha, even without all the participants. In a worst-case scenario, without some kind of understanding on production there could be an all-out price war that could destabilize regimes in the Middle East.

In one sense, the Saudis can claim a victory. The central objective of the Saudi strategy  to dramatically cut the growth of U.S. shale production  has achieved its objective. Rig counts have collapsed.

But in the long-term, it is clear this is not going to work. Shale production is here to stay because shale is a technology play, and the technology keeps getting better. For example, right now Oppenheimer's Fadel Gheit estimates that roughly half of U.S. shale oil production is uneconomical. But a year from now, assuming the price of oil stays the same, he estimates that only 20 to 30 percent will be uneconomical. The technology keeps getting better.

That's why it's unlikely oil will go back to $100. Shale is the great shock absorber for higher oil.

What about the future? The market seems to believe that this production freeze that is on the horizon is a prelude to a production cut. This seems like more wishful thinking, at least in the near future. Just getting everyone to cap production would be a feat. Just getting everyone to adhere to a cap would be an additional feat.

Here's how to look at Doha: the markets are already pricing in a deal. That means there is significant downside risk to oil and energy if no deal emerges.
Storytime: What the pine and the elm can teach us
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Carlisle Corp. has put a hotel tower on the back burner for its One Beale development. Instead, current plans call for an office building. This rendering shows a 14-story office building adjacent to One Beale's proposed 30-story apartment skyscraper. Plans could be scaled back to a six-story office building containing 175,000 square feet. The project would go up at the foot of Beale Street opposite the Beale Street Landing cruise boat dock. (Rendering by Hnedak Bobo Group)

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By Wayne Risher and Ted Evanoff of The Commercial Appeal

Developers of the high-profile One Beale project have put a hotel tower on hold and are focusing instead on plans for an office building that could house six to eight companies.

Carlisle Corp. vice president Chance Carlisle provided an update Monday on the project, saying in an interview that plans are firm for the earlier proposed 30-story apartment tower while the office building's size is still undetermined.

One Beale originally was to include a pair of iconic riverfront high rises housing a luxury hotel and upscale apartments atop a parking garage placed primarily underground, giving the project a commanding presence on the city skyline.

The high cost of that idea led developers late last year to consider spreading out expenses by adding a third high rise for offices. Under the plan Carlisle outlined Monday, designers would shelve the 22-story hotel, put a bigger but less costly garage on a nearby parking lot and hone in on what could turn out to be a six-story office building. It would be the first opened Downtown in about a decade.

Plans for the $100-million-plus project at the foot of Beale Street unfolded as ServiceMaster Global Holdings separately launched a search for a new headquarters campus. Carlisle declined to comment about ServiceMaster and One Beale. The home services company is considering relocating from East Memphis, where it employs about 2,200 workers in four buildings covering about 360,000 square feet, and perhaps moving to another state.

"Since the inception of One Beale, Class A office space has been envisioned as part of the project," Carlisle said. "The current design plan envisions 175,000 square feet (of office space) that could be expanded significantly should the right prospect materialize for us. We understand from reading The Commercial Appeal that ServiceMaster is searching for space. We strongly hope, as lifelong Downtown stakeholders, that ServiceMaster will look at relocating Downtown."

Carlisle Corp., a Memphis-based restaurant operator and real estate developer, can build the office project without a big headquarters tenant, Carlisle said.

The office building is tentatively proposed for six stories and 175,000 square feet of top-quality space, based on what Carlisle officials believe the demand could be without a headquarters-type tenant.

The building could be scaled up to 14 stories and 420,000 square feet, and Carlisle said the company would spend the next eight months gauging demand and seeking pre-lease commitments. "We'd need to get 75-80 percent pre-leased," Carlisle said. "It's too expensive a building to build on (speculation)."

Two to three companies already have expressed interest in moving Downtown, although they would not bring One Beale to the 75-percent pre-lease threshold, Carlisle said. Downtown still could draw a wave of employers from the suburbs and the region, he said. Gentrification has spurred inquiries for office space.

Office construction has been stymied Downtown because building in the center city requires expensive reworking of the aged infrastructure, pushing up office prices for tenants beyond the suburban levels. Rental rates comparable to the best East Memphis office space, around $30 per square foot, are expected for One Beale offices, in large part due to the use of state and local government money for infrastructure work and the parking garage.

Carlisle said scrapping a costly parking garage underneath the One Beale structures in favor of a 1,000-car garage built at street level would save money. The new garage would have stores on the first floor and go up at Beale and Front, now a parking lot located across Wagner Place from the proposed apartment tower.

Carlisle said the $16 million to $18 million garage hinges on public incentives including $10 million that the Downtown Memphis Commission already allocated to the project. The developer hasn't asked the commission to transfer the incentives to the new site, but is prepared to argue that the garage would serve a public purpose with parking for The Orpheum, Beale Street Landing and other destinations.

A garage beneath the towers could have cost as much as $40 million due to structural requirements and infrastructure issues, Carlisle said. With developers facing the higher price tag, Greater Memphis Chamber officials had been exploring local, state and federal economic development programs.

Changing the garage's location means "you go from completely underfunded to realistically doable," Carlisle said.

In putting the 22-story luxury hotel on the back burner, Carlisle pointed to recent city approvals of small, limited service hotels that will scatter about 400 rooms around Downtown.

While a four-star hotel would compete in a different market segment, the proliferation of lower-cost hotel rooms would make the One Beale hotel harder to finance. "It really hurts projects like us," Carlisle said.

Whether the hotel plan moves forward depends on how a Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau smart-growth strategy for hotels gains traction over the next six months, he said. If the hotel tower isn't built, developers believe they'd eventually put more apartments between the apartment tower and the office structure.

The Carlisles  Chance and his brother Chase, director of real estate  said the company's experience with leasing of the historic Chisca on Main apartments had caused them to tweak One Beale's upscale residential tower to add 30 three-bedroom apartments and reduce total units from 280 to about 255. The original plan had all one- and two-bedroom units, but the Chisca pinpointed a market for people who are downsizing and want larger rental units Downtown.

Chase Carlisle said the Chisca's first phase, a converted 1950s motor court, is fully leased, and the historic, 1913 hotel building is at 70 percent occupancy and on track to be fully leased a year ahead of schedule.

Wayne Risher can be reached at risher@commercialappeal.com and 901-529-2874
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By Katie Fretland of The Commercial Appeal

A former corrections officer was sentenced to one year plus one day in prison and an inmate was sentenced to 30 months in prison for a scheme to smuggle marijuana into the Federal Correctional Institution Memphis, the office of Edward L. Stanton III, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, said Monday.

The corrections officer, Keair Kemp, 33, of Horn Lake and inmate Travonte Johnson, 34, of Millington, planned last year to smuggle the drug into the federal prison, according to a news release.

"In exchange for cash, Kemp agreed to unlawfully carry marijuana into the prison and deliver it to Johnson, thus violating his official duties as a correctional officer," Stanton's spokesman Louis Goggans said in a release.

Kemp pleaded guilty in December 2015 to one count of accepting a bribe, and Johnson pleaded guilty in January to one count of offering a bribe to a public official, Goggans said.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Justice Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Prisons investigated the case which was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Erskine.
I want to take a moment this week to highlight the understated challenge of nuclear security in the world today. You might have heard news about the Nuclear Security Summit two weeks ago in Washington. With risks of terror growing amid rapid globalization, the world must prioritize developing the right nuclear security strategies.

This critical issue has special relevance here in Nebraska, where we host Strategic Command: the nerve center of our nation's nuclear weapons program and nonproliferation efforts.

As a graduate student, I once asked a prominent professor for a summary of the philosophical arguments for immortality. He was excited by the request and invited me to his lecture on the topic. While I considered this a great privilege, I could not manage scheduling the required four hours, so I politely declined. Ah, the professor said, you asked me a question about immortality, but you do not have the time!

The United States cannot afford to risk that same mistake on nuclear security. If we are to bring the probability of a nuclear catastrophe to as close to zero as possible, we must make the time. Understanding how nuclear threats have evolved and how to resolve them most effectively is an urgent national priority.

Imagine, for a moment, just one of several scenarios. A terrorist organization collects enough radiological material to set off what is called a dirty bomb in the stadium of a major city, triggering widespread harm and panic. A smuggled package on a container ship  with no need for a sophisticated weapons delivery system  explodes in a major United States harbor, causing widespread destruction and loss of life. Or worse yet, a reckless nation state actor such as North Koreas autocratic strongman launches a missile attack against Seoul or Los Angeles.

Each future scenario is alarmingly feasible. No one enjoys thinking about nuclear dangers, but ignoring them would amplify an ongoing threat to us all.

Americans deserve assurance that our best and brightest minds are fervently engaged in their defense. They should be able to trust that policymakers on both sides of the aisle are working together for innovative and sustainable solutions to nuclear security concerns. In this age of anxiety and sound bite foreign policy, constituents should know that Congress is leading when it matters most.

The leaders who courageously helmed our formidable nuclear enterprise through World War II and the Cold War have passed the baton to a new generation of policymakers and scientists. Now, as our world grows more complex, the challenges of nuclear proliferation have multiplied. The binary concept of mutually assured destruction is no longer as relevant in an increasingly unstable geopolitical environment. Non-state actors play havoc with global treaties and normative rules, seeking to do horrifying harm. Rational responses cannot be guaranteed.

Despite these challenges, of all the important issues that come before Congress, nuclear security seldom surfaces in our national conversation outside highly specialized forums. The problem is real. The United States and our allies face a stark deficiency: nuclear security as a multidimensional issue with no longstanding, organic constituency in Congress. That constituency must be built.

Recognizing the problem when I first came to Congress, the Nuclear Security Working Group was founded to advance this discussion and help prevent the unthinkable. While the analytical and tactical expertise rightly remain embedded in the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, the Department of State and other executive branch entities, Congress must create an agile policy environment in this age of globalization and swiftly advancing technology.

We also need an awakening of citizen concern  and there is very little. The need for broader involvement extends in a particular way to millennials, the coming stewards of our nuclear security.

The community of responsible nations has much work ahead to achieve an ideal nuclear security settlement. Advances in reprocessing technology, nuclear power, and weapons infrastructure, once the exclusive domain of the nation state, pose serious ongoing proliferation concerns. Although many countries have altogether renounced pursuit of nuclear weapons, turbulent situations in the Middle East and elsewhere are worsening an already hazardous global nuclear dynamic. A new architecture for nuclear security demands an ongoing effort by the responsible nations of the world.

The fourth and final Nuclear Security Summit hosted by President Obama in Washington at the end of March represented another important step in securing loose nuclear materials and heightening collaboration. We need to sustain these international gatherings and multinational efforts to achieve an effective 21st century nuclear security strategy, one that prioritizes common ground on important strategic and nonproliferation priorities, in a cooperative campaign to make our world safer.

Looking ahead, I anticipate an augmented role for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as a primary implementing agency of future verification initiatives. A revitalized spirit of unity, common purpose and renewed dedication is essential to nuclear security in the 21st century. Our challenge is that we cannot react to a nuclear crisis; we must act to prevent one -- If we have the time.
Bike lanes along McLean between Poplar and Overton Park

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By Richard Locker of The Commercial Appeal

NASHVILLE  The state Senate on Monday night gave final legislative approval to a bill aimed at blocking motor vehicles from the bicycle lanes along Tennessee roadways except in certain circumstances.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Becky Duncan Massey, R-Knoxville, makes it an offense to operate a motor vehicle in a bicycle lane except when turning into an intersecting or adjoining highway, road or driveway, when moving out of the way of an approaching emergency vehicle, and other limited circumstances.

It requires that motorists receive a warning citation the first time they're caught violating the law, then be liable for a $20 fine on a second offense, and a $50 fine on third and subsequent offenses.

The bill, Senate Bill 1697, also provides that it does not preempt or otherwise affect local ordinances that are more restrictive than the state law.

The bill originally passed the Senate on March 7. The House approved it last week but with an amendment that re-wrote the penalty provisions. The Senate concurred with the House amendment 33-0 Monday night, sending it to Gov. Bill Haslam, who is expected to sign it into law.
State Reps. Kevin Dunlap, D-McMinnville, and Kevin Brooks, R-Cleveland, confer during a House Education Administration and Planning Committee meeting in Nashville, Tenn., on Wednesday, April 6, 2016. Dunlap and Brooks were among the majority of the committee that voted to revive a bill seeking to require students to use bathrooms that match their sex at birth. (AP Photo/Erik Schelzig)

By Richard Locker of The Commercial Appeal

NASHVILLE  Action on the controversial transgender restroom bill was delayed Tuesday in a state Senate committee as a result of Monday's attorney general's opinion advising lawmakers that the bill could cost the state millions of dollars in federal funding.

The bill, Senate Bill 2387/House Bill 2414, requires transgender students in Tennessee's public K-12 schools and state colleges and universities to use the restroom and locker room of their birth gender and forbids them from using the restroom of their gender identity.

Transgender students have told lawmakers that the bill would subject them to more bullying.

The bill was scheduled for review by the Senate Finance Committee today but when it was called up, its Senate sponsor, Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville, asked the committee to postpone it to Wednesday because he's "still trying to digest and understand the attorney general's opinion" issued by Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery.

The opinion says that because the U.S. Department of Education has interpreted such legislation in other states as discriminatory, it puts federal funding for education at risk for any school district or state college or university that puts the bill's provisions into effect.

But the bill is likely to be delayed longer than just a day. Sen. Bo Watson, R-Chattanooga, the committee's vice chairman, told Bell that the attorney general's opinion means the bill now has a "fiscal note" an estimate of the bill's potential costs to taxpayers  and as a result, it must be considered after the committee acts on the state budget bill.

That may occur late this week or early next week, as the General Assembly works toward adjourning its 2016 session by the end of next week.
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By Grace Tatter, Chalkbeat Tennessee

The House unanimously passed a bill Monday to boost funding for K-12 public education in Tennessee, even as some lawmakers worried that the increase wont reach enough schools or teachers paychecks.

The bill, part of Gov. Bill Haslams budget plan, would add more than $220 million for school technology, teacher salaries, and programs for English language learners during the next school year. It also codifies the funding formula used by the state for the last nine years.

The proposal is expected to pass the Senate on Wednesday.

While the magnitude of the spending increase is apparent, the impact on individual districts is unclear. The bill stipulates that the state cannot give districts less money for education than it did in the 2015-16 school year  unless school enrollment has declined, as it has in Shelby County Schools, the states largest district, in Memphis.

Rep. G.A. Hardaway of Memphis asked how and if the spending increase would buoy Shelby County Schools, which anticipates at least $50 million in budget cuts next year and has filed a lawsuit against the state for more funding. Rep. Mark White, also of Memphis, answered that he wasnt sure of the exact dollar amount that would go to Shelby County, but that the proposed state budget could only help.

Shelby County Schools will do much better under this plan than if we did nothing, White said.

Its also unclear how much, or if, the spending boost will raise teacher salaries in urban districts.

Rep. John Ray Clemmons of Nashville said he celebrates much of the bill, but dislikes the provision that keeps the states contributions to teacher salaries at 70 percent, rather than the 75 percent outlined under BEP 2.0, the Basic Education Program funding plan adopted by the General Assembly in 2007 but never fully funded due to the economic recession.

Clemmons said the governors spending plan doesnt accommodate districts such as Metro Nashville Public Schools or Williamson County Schools, which already rely solely on local money to fund hundreds of teaching positions. He noted that rural and urban districts alike are pursuing legal action against the state for more money. Metro Nashville, the states second-largest district, is also weighing a lawsuit, depending on the outcome of the new spending plan.

This is going to be the first governor who passes a bill that creates lawsuits from small schools and large school districts, Clemons said, declaring the bill BEP No.

Although Haslam is proposing increased spending for teacher salaries by an unprecedented $178 million, not all teachers would see that boost in their paycheck. The bill stipulates that funds appropriated for instructional salaries and wages must be spent for that purpose if a districts average salary is below the statewide salary. But districts where the salary exceeds the statewide average salary, such as Shelby County Schools, dont have to spend the money on teacher salaries and instead can funnel it to other areas of need.

Districts that are losing student enrollment also are permitted to reduce teacher salary spendings while all other districts must at least maintain their current levels.

Shelby County Schools persistent loss of students also leaves the district without recourse for the bills eventual elimination of the cost differential factor, or the CDF, a bonus for districts with high costs of living.

The bill was amended by Rep. Charles Sargent of Brentwood to offset the CDF loss by ensuring that the state allots more money for growing districts such as Williamson County Schools. However, the amendment would not aid Shelby County Schools, which is not growing.

Chalkbeat Tennessee is a nonprofit news organization covering educational change in public schools. Rread more about Tennessee education news at tn.chalkbeat.org.
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By Travis Loller, Associated Press

NASHVILLE  After 15 years of federal oversight, the Tennessee Department of Children's Services has finally met all of the goals set out after a 2001 settlement to improve its treatment of foster care children.

Commissioner Bonnie Hommrich briefly teared up after a Monday hearing on the long-running lawsuit, when she spoke about all of the hard work that has gone into turning the agency around.

"I'm elated," she said of the development.

Although the department still must maintain compliance with the goals of the settlement for a year before it can ask the court to release the agency from supervision, Hommrich said she was confident the improvements will continue, even after no one is looking over her shoulder.

"It doesn't end today," she said. "This goes on the next day and the next day."

Improvements include reduced case loads, better training for case workers and a focus on intensive in-home intervention on the front end of cases.

The scene in court on Monday was a far cry from 2013, when the department was reeling from problems that included officials not knowing how many of the children the agency was supposed to be helping had died. That scandal brought the resignation of Commissioner Kate O'Day.

U.S. District Judge Todd Campbell said Monday he was impressed with the progress.

"It's been a bumpy road," he said.

Ira Lustbader is the litigation director for Children's Rights, the nonprofit agency that represents Tennessee foster children in the case. Speaking after the hearing, he praised DCS's improvement.

"It's in a place now to be a model for other foster care systems," he said. "We've really seen a transformation."

"The bottom line is kids are better off," he said.

If the department stays in compliance for a full year, the settlement calls for another 18 months of oversight by an outside agency before the lawsuit can be closed. That could happen before the end of 2018.
January 15, 2016 - Workers power wash the side of the Crosstown Concourses building. Crosstown Concourses will operate its own high school within the 1.1 million-square-foot warehouse being renovated in Midtown. (Brad Vest/The Commercial Appeal)

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By Marta W. Aldrich And Micaela Watts, Chalkbeat Tennessee

Supporters of Crosstown High School are vying to use the proposed school in Midtown as the canvas to remake America's high school in a national contest backed by Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

The board of directors for the Memphis educational endeavor announced Monday that its application is one of 348 to advance to the next round of the XQ Super School Challenge, which Jobs announced last September, inviting teams to reimagine how high schools can better prepare students for college, workplace and life.

The competition received nearly 700 applications from 45 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. Five winners will be announced this August and will receive $10 million each  $2 million annually for five years  to develop new educational approaches.

"Our XQ application was the result of months of hard work by a large and diverse group of volunteers, including young people, parents, educators and many other community members who all have a stake in the future of our city's public education," said Michelle McKissack, a member of the proposed school's board of directors.

Backers want Crosstown High School to be a selective college prep program operated as a contract school in a partnership between Shelby County Schools and Christian Brothers University, which is now part of a new nonprofit group called Crosstown High School Inc.

The 500-student school would serve students who perform on or above grade level on state tests. It would open in fall 2017 and operate under an independent governing board.

Crosstown High would be located in Crosstown Concourse, a former Sears warehouse building undergoing a massive renovation with tenants from mostly educational, healthcare and retail sectors.

Powell Jobs created the XQ Institute in an effort to bring Silicon Valley thinking to education to fix the biggest problems facing the nation's high schools. The institute kicked off its work with the national contest.

Common themes that emerged from the first round of applications include a desire to make high schools the center of the community again; a desire to build school designs around involvement of the students themselves; and learning styles that focus on mastery of topic, project collaboration, blended subjects and applications in higher ways.

Schools chosen to advance to the next round of the contest must submit their next applications by May 23.

"This next part of the process is really about putting the flesh on the bones and demonstrating how the school would be operational," said Ginger Spickler, a Memphis parent who created the Memphis School Guide and is a contributor to the application process.

Chalkbeat Tennessee is a nonprofit news organization covering educational change in public schools. Read more about Tennessee education news at tn.chalkbeat.org.
SHARE This image showing a sock-monkey hanging from a dormitory window at Rhodes College has caused concern among students and faculty. (Handout image)

By Jennifer Pignolet of The Commercial Appeal

Two incidents on the campus of Rhodes College over the weekend have spurred an intense discussion about racism among students and faculty on the small private campus.

A sock monkey was discovered hanging out of a dorm on Friday, the college said in a statement, and was removed after campus security was notified. Some students and faculty said they believed it was a racist symbol, although the college said in a statement that it was a dorm-room prank.

Charles McKinney, associate professor of history and chair of the department of Africana Studies, issued a statement Monday condemning "our institutional culture that enables racism, laments any power of faculty, administrators, and students that is not overtly and loudly on the side of justice, and call to action all who know what a noose means."

Saturday morning, students discovered someone had written "Trump 2016" and "Build a wall" in chalk.

The incidents occurred as Rhodes hosted several minority students through the annual Multicultural Visit Program, an overnight event for minority high school seniors to experience life on campus, according to the college's website.

Rhodes administration called a town hall Saturday night to talk to students.

"At the beginning of the meeting, the student responsible for the sock monkey incident apologized, explaining that his actions were not racially motivated, but rather part of a series of pranks on his roommate, who owns the stuffed animal," a college spokesman said in a statement. "The Honor System at Rhodes is designed to create a community where respect and compassion for others is the norm. We will continue to have productive discussions and followup on campus to ensure that Rhodes is a welcoming, inclusive, and compassionate environment for all."

For several students, the apology wasn't enough.

Junior Samantha Pittman said her first reaction to seeing the photo of the monkey hanging out the window was of anger, and a stark reminder of the stories she'd heard from her African-American grandparents who grew up in the Deep South.

"There's anxiety, your palms sweat, your heart starts beating  that's how I felt," she said.

Senior Schaeffer Mallory called the image of a monkey with a rope around its neck an "unmistakable representation of lynching  and it's in Memphis, Tennessee."

Senior Chloe Moore said incidents of racism on the Rhodes College are nothing new to her, but this one made her "the maddest."

"This was the first one in four years that made me feel threatened for my safety," Moore said.

Sophomore Lacey Jamerson said the anger has transcended racial lines of the predominantly white student body.

"A lot of the Rhodes students are really upset about it," she said.

But, she added, "There's been a lot of backlash to the backlash." Students have dismissed the monkey incident as a prank and noted freedom of speech in regards to the chalk writings, Jamerson said.

"But the saying 'Build the wall' by itself has very xenophobic, white nationalist undercurrents," Jamerson said. "I think it's really hard to argue that isn't targeted."

She said she is concerned for the immigrant population on campus, and that the language insinuates "that a whole group of students don't deserve to be here."

Last month, a former University of Mississippi student pleaded guilty to placing a noose on a statue of James Meredith, the school's first black student. He faces up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine. The government has recommended probation.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Collierville mayor Stan Joyner (Yalonda M. James/The Commercial Appeal)

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By Daniel Connolly of The Commercial Appeal

Parking and traffic issues along Poplar Avenue were the focus for much of Monday night's Collierville Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting, illustrating the importance of the thoroughfare for the rapidly developing town.

"If you drive it, if you're up and down it, it's a mess," Collierville Mayor Stan Joyner said afterward. He mentioned how an accident had knocked down wires and disrupted Poplar traffic in a heavily used area last week. "Traffic through that area is definitely a concern."

The first traffic-related item Monday focused on an effort by coffee company Starbucks to move from the south side of Poplar Avenue to the north side. Why? It's the "a.m. side of the road," said Shawn Massey, a leasing agent involved in the project. In other words, morning commuters driving west toward Memphis would find it easier to turn right from Poplar to get their coffee than to turn left across traffic.

Starbucks aimed to move into a building that would be constructed on what's now a section of shopping center parking lot at the corner of Poplar and Market Boulevard. A sales location for the Mattress Firm would occupy part of the new building.

But the board heard objections from Robyn Marino, a representative of Perkins Restaurant, which stands next door. She said the new building would threaten safety, in part because the restaurant employees would have to walk across Starbucks drive-thru traffic.

After lengthy discussion about traffic flow and parking patterns, the board voted 4-1 against the new building. Voting "no" were the mayor as well as Aldermen Tom Allen, John E. Stamps and John Worley. Voting in favor was Maureen Fraser.

Alderman Billy Patton was recused: His computer store stands a short distance from the proposed Starbucks site.

Backers of the Starbucks project declined to comment after the meeting.

The board members later discussed a proposal by national company Discount Tire to put a store at the intersection of Abbington Road on the south side of Poplar Avenue.

The board members spent a long time discussing traffic flow and the traffic impact of a nearby Walmart.

Finally, the board members voted 4-2 to approve the store if all entrances were "right in, right out"  drivers could not turn left to enter or exit the property. Voting yes were Frayser, Joyner, Stamps and Worley. Voting against were Allen and Patton.

Monday's vote approved a conditional use permit  town authorities will still have to review a site plan.
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It is about time that state and federal officials began taking concrete steps to deal with owners who are using public assistance to operate rundown apartment complexes that are supposed to be providing decent housing for poor and low-income families.

The latest move in that direction involves the Tennessee Housing Development Agency prohibiting the Health, Educational and Housing Facilities Board of Memphis from issuing additional bonds for low-income housing pending a resolution of its mounting problems, according to a letter from the Nashville-based agency.

The housing facilities board issues tax-exempt bond financing to developers for multifamily housing for low-income residents in Memphis. The board also approves PILOTs, or payment-in-lieu-of-tax programs, for multifamily housing, allowing a developer to invest money to repair properties.

The problem is that in too many cases these apartment developments have a host of maintenance and crime issues that defy the rationale for government assistance to the owners.

The shameful living conditions documented last year by The Commercial Appeal at three rent-subsidized apartment complexes owned by Global Ministries Foundation is emblematic of the situation. In February, GMF lost funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development after the nonprofit failed to provide good living conditions to its tenants.

The Health, Educational and Housing Facilities Board also is dealing with the after effects of a bond issued to Global Ministries Foundation to buy the decrepit Warren and Tulane apartments. As a result, bond holders received a default letter and the value of the $11.8 million bond decreased dramatically.

The quasi-government facilities board, in fact, has issued $49.9 million in bonds to GMF to buy seven properties.

Much of the attention about the deplorable living conditions at the these kinds of apartment complexes has focused on Global Ministries, but there are dozens in similar or worse condition across the city, whose owners literally receive federal, state and local assistance to operate apartments that barely meet standards for human habitation.

HUD has finally realized that. Still, it needs to do more to make sure that the owners of rent-subsidized apartment complexes maintain them. And, while we realize that city code enforcement officers are stretched thin, we hope they can find a way to keep a sharper eye on negligent owners.

As for the facilities board, THDA Executive Director Ralph Perrey said the facilities board should temporarily stop issuing bonds so it can deal with the problem bond for Warren and Tulane, and while it looks to fill its executive director vacancy. "It concerned us that the agency is in transition," Perrey said on Monday. "They are working through a number of issues that attracted local and national media. We wanted them to deal with those issues without adding to their workload."

Daniel Reid, the housing facilities board chairman, disagreed with the THDA's decision, but the state agency made the right call.

This is a good time for the housing facilities board and HUD to really take a hard look at the nonprofit and private entities receiving government help in the name of helping poor and low-income residents.

Are they really helping, or are they making the lives of these families worse?
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By Fred Hiatt

Who would have predicted that the last true democrats in Washington might be found on the Supreme Court?

As partisanship and jockeying for electoral advantage become all-consuming, Congress refuses to do its job, while the White House reaches perilously toward doing Congress' job as well as its own. The Senate majority and minority leaders no longer work together. President Obama and House Speaker Paul Ryan long ago gave up on finding common ground.

When Justice Antonin Scalia died, it seemed a safe bet that the court, too, would fall victim to partisan paralysis.

Already reviled by the left for Bush v. Gore and Citizens United v. FEC, and by the right for not blocking Obamacare, the court instantly rose to the top of the presidential campaign agenda. Candidates boasted of litmus tests for appointing judges that, until recently, no self-respecting politician would have admitted to. The justices found themselves evenly divided and are likely to remain so for a long time  a scenario, if there ever was one, for gridlock and point-scoring.

But so far we have seen the opposite. The justices, Republican- and Democrat-appointed alike, seem determined to insulate their institution as much as possible from the poison flowing through the other two branches. In this brave attempt, they are providing an example of how adults behave in a democracy.

The first sign came in response to the latest challenge to the Affordable Care Act. Obama wants to give all Americans access to contraception. Catholic employers say doing so offends their faith. Attempts at compromise failed, and the Little Sisters of the Poor ended up pleading their case before the court.

The court's response was, essentially: Seriously? You guys can't work this out? The administration had agreed that the Little Sisters wouldn't have to pay for birth control coverage: The charity only had to certify its unwillingness to do so and provide enough information to allow someone else to offer coverage. The Little Sisters said even providing that information violated their conscience.

In a highly unusual move, the justices declined to rule, as though they couldn't believe they were being asked to issue a major opinion on religious freedom over something so manageable. They ordered the parties to the case to look again for a compromise. Amazingly, all sides of the dispute welcomed the parental intervention.

Last week, in a case that could have riven the country along partisan lines, the justices again found a better way.

Conservatives in Texas had asked them to throw out the rule by which the nation has long apportioned legislative districts  one person, one vote. The challengers said that every district should have not an equal population but an equal number of eligible voters.

As a question of political philosophy, the case was fascinating: Do children merit representation? How about undocumented immigrants, or felons, or people who choose not to register to vote?

But the practical effect was not complicated: A win for the plaintiffs would have been a win for the Republican Party. Maybe it was no surprise, then, that liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote the majority opinion, approving the traditional method of counting.

What was striking, though, was the modesty of her opinion: She wrote that one person, one vote is constitutional, but she did not rule out other methods as unconstitutional. And her opinion was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Anthony Kennedy, making clear that liberals and conservatives on the court can and will work together.

None of this sits well with the poisonmongers, of course. Roberts has been attacked by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, because (before Scalia's death) Roberts spoke regretfully of the increasing politicization of the confirmation process. And he has been attacked by the left for refusing to call directly for the Senate to confirm Judge Merrick Garland to the court.

Obama has been attacked by both sides, too: by the right, for daring to nominate a successor to Scalia; by the left, because he declined to treat Scalia's death as an opportunity to mobilize the Democratic base by nominating a liberal firebrand. Instead, admirably, he nominated a superbly qualified judge who would be committed to working with colleagues as the justices are doing this spring.

None of this means the court will always find a route to compromise; the next inflammatory decision could come today or tomorrow, for all I know. The justices disagree profoundly. Roberts, for example, is suspicious of affirmative action because he sees it as allowing the government to discriminate on the basis of race; Justice Sonia Sotomayor will always be reluctant to limit government's ability to help victims of past discrimination.

But while remaining faithful to their core principles, the justices are trying to find a way to make their institution work for the good of the country. That's the definition of democracy, which so many others have forgotten.

Fred Hiatt is editorial page editor for The Washington Post.
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By Greg Sargent

Over the weekend, Bernie Sanders emphatically declared that there's still plenty of time to prevent Hillary Clinton from winning a majority of pledged delegates, and hinted that if so, he might move to extract concessions from her at a contested convention. That could happen, since Sanders has the money to keep on going until the last votes are cast.

If so, here's one way this could end: Sanders could demand concessions in the form reforms to the Democratic nominating process. That's something voting reformers (and a lot of Sanders supporters) would be very grateful to see happen  and it would make sense, given that one of the big stories of the Sanders challenge is that it has exposed a number of flaws with that process.

The Sanders campaign has been hinting that he will move to peel away unpledged delegates  so-called super delegates, who are not bound to a candidate by the voting in primaries and caucuses  from Clinton, even if he's trailing in the battle for pledged delegates (who are bound). Mark Murray has a good post spelling out why this is unlikely to happen: Going back to the advent of super-delegates in 1984, they have never sided with the candidate who trailed in pledged delegates, and Clinton is all but certain to be leading in the pledged delegate count when it's all over, even if she doesn't have an outright majority.

But even so, if Sanders can keep Clinton short of a majority of pledged delegates, he could still try to use whatever leverage he has to prod the Democratic Party to make changes to the way it selects its nominees. Some possibilities:

It's possible that the party could discuss doing away with super-delegates, or at least scaling down the number of them. There are currently more than 700 super-dels in a process that requires 2,383 overall delegates to win. It's more likely that the party would discuss limiting them rather than eliminating them, given that the Donald Trump challenge has got elites talking anew about the perils to a party of not having any at all.

It's also possible that the party could discuss doing away with closed primaries. Clinton is heading into a stretch of closed primaries  which only permit voting by registered Democrats  and she's very likely to win big in New York in part because of overly restrictive voting rules that make it harder for unaffiliated voters to register as Democrats.

"Independents are the fastest-growing political affiliation, but they are often shut out of the nominating process," Ari Berman, the author of "Give Us The Ballot," a history of the struggle over voting in America, tells me. "Many younger voters have less of a party affiliation. We should look at how the process is shutting out these voters." Such a reform would help the Democratic Party stand for engaging these voter groups.

Another possibility: Limits on the number of primaries that can be held on one day. Clinton won big on days (such as March 1 and March 15) that held many contests at once; that automatically favors the candidate with more national name recognition and establishment support, because an insurgent struggles to catch up in many states at once.

"Having a bunch of states go all on one day creates an unnatural advantage for wealthy and high-name-ID candidates, and disadvantages insurgents," Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg says. "The contests should be more spread out. It should be the principle of the Democratic Party that we're not advantaging privilege."

Also: A more rational, transparent process for setting debate schedules. The Sanders campaign charged early on that the Democratic National Committee was rigging the Dem debate schedule to minimize exposure to Clinton's challengers. That was to some degree unfair, but the DNC did to some degree bow to the demands of the Clinton camp for fewer debates. While the Clinton camp and DNC did ultimately agree to more debates, the end result was still far fewer eyeballs on Dem debates and a fair amount of uncertainty about the legitimacy of the process.

Sanders might push for some kind of reform (perhaps a commission to recommend changes to how the debate schedule is set) that would make this process more rational, transparent, and more obviously geared towards the good of the party overall.

And, finally: An end to caucuses. Here a nuance intrudes: Sanders, too, arguably benefited from a less-than-democratic element to the process, since he overwhelmingly won caucus states, which require a greater commitment from voters. "One reform should be getting rid of caucuses," Berman says, adding that their sheer inconvenience ends up excluding lower-income voters, particularly those of color.

It's obviously anyone's guess whether any of this will happen. Clinton could win a majority of pledged delegates outright, perhaps making all this moot. But it's something to start thinking about. A discussion over how to improve the Democratic Primary process might benefit the party and more firmly align it with a reformist impulse that might be in sync with the widespread sense that the system is rigged, broken, and corrupt.

"All of these things have exposed the fact that the Democratic process  the big-D democratic process  isn't that democratic," Berman says. "All this could be tied to a broader pro-democracy message that talks about the distortions of big money, ending gerrymandering and making voting easier."

If the Sanders challenge has exposed flaws in the Democratic nominating process  and if Clinton does finish with more pledged delegates, forcing a convention showdown of sorts  then reforming that process could be one of the Sanders challenge's legacies.

Greg Sargent writes the Plum Line blog for The Washington Post.
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Zuora is an interesting vendor -- founded by one of Salesforce's earliest executives, Tien Tzuo, the company was set up to deliver upon the promise of the so-called subscription economy. Tzuo is a long-time subscription economy prophet and, listening to him over the years, it would be easy to assume that in the future every possible transaction will be based on a subscription paradigm.

Of course, it isn't quite that simple and many organizations are more than happy to continue using their traditional billing approaches, but what is true is that increasingly it is a general requirement from organizations that they will have increasing flexibility about how they package and price their products and services.

The broader space is particularly interesting with a number of pure billing vendors (joining Zuora are Aria, Vindicia and Monexa among others) as well as vendors who tick of this functional space as part of a broader contract management solutions -- vendors like Icertis, Apttus and SteelBrick. if that wasn't enough competitive tension, we also have the enterprise resource planning (ERP) vendors stepping up and suggesting that they, too, fulfill this need -- in particular cloud-based vendors FinancialForce and NetSuite have been singing from this song sheet for awhile.

And then, just as we were starting to get our heads around the way the ecosystem works, Salesforce comes along and acquires SteelBrick, causing no end of pain to Apttus (who, like SteelBrick is/was a strong Salesforce partner). Zuora was also caught in the crossfire of the SteelBrick deal and many of us were waiting to see how the company would respond.

Which is why it is particularly interesting to be watching the conversation at Subscribed Zuora '16, the company's annual conference. At the event, Zuora is announcing the latest release of its product, which it includes within the broader space of relationship business management (RBM).

Particular highlights of this release include unified subscriber insights, a pricing engine that supports any monetization model, and capabilities for managing complex global organizations with multiple locations and business entities with diverse revenue streams. The release also includes "subscription economy dashboards," visualizations that blend traditional and customer-centric business health metrics.

We are seeing a once-in-a-century shift happening where digital transformation is giving rise to a whole new set of subscription-based business models, said CEO Tzuo. The most successful brands in the world today are those harnessing digital technology to deliver new sources of value for customers, and the winners will be those who pair digital innovation with subscriber-centric business models and hyper-agile business practices.

Tzuo goes on to justify his perspective on why these new subscription tools are becoming so critical. "New business models create new challenges that legacy order-to-cash systems were not designed to address," Tzuo believes, Established enterprises today are running on legacy systems developed for a pure-product era. These systems cant support subscriber-centric business models and dont easily adapt to the rapid iteration and innovation required in todays market.

And Zuora seems to be delivering. The company has raised a quarter of a billion dollars in funding and used that cash to fuel over 600 employees spread across 15 offices. All of those resources have seen Zuora pick up over 800 large enterprise customers and seen 6 times growth in the value of transactions being pumped through their system (a metric that admittedly does more for the ego than the bottom line, since it doesn't really indicate Zuora's own financial standing). The company is also releasing a piece of research that it commissioned from MGI Research that suggests there is a $102 billion total addressable market for the variety of software tools tailored for the subscription economy. Of that, Zuora's total addressable market is predicted to be around the $15 billion mark.

There is a massive amount of positioning going on in this space and Zuora is a well-funded and well-regarded vendor. Whether that translates into long-term success is going to be an interesting thing to watch.
by Paul Craig Roberts, March 26, 2016.

To answer the question that is the title, we have to know of what the US consists. Is it an ethnic group, a collection of buildings and resources, a land mass with boundaries, or is it the Constitution. Clearly what differentiates the US from other countries is the US Constitution. The Constitution defines us as a people. Without the Constitution we would be a different country. Therefore, to lose the Constitution is to lose the country.Does the Constitution still exist? Let us examine the document and come to a conclusion.The Constitution consists of a description of a republic with three independent branches, legislative, executive, and judicial, each with its own powers, and the Bill of Rights incorporated as constitutional amendments. The Bill of Rights describes the civil liberties of citizens that cannot be violated by the government.Article I of the Constitution describes legislative powers. Article II describes executive powers, and Article III describes the power of the judiciary. For example, Article I, Section 1 gives all legislative powers to Congress. Article I, Section 8 gives Congress the power to declare war.The Bill of Rights protects citizens from the government by making law a shield of the people rather than a weapon in the hands of the government.The First Amendment protects the freedom of speech, the press, and assembly or public protest.The Second Amendment gives the people the right "to keep and bear arms."The Third Amendment has to do with quartering of soldiers on civilians, a large complaint against King George III, but not a practice of present-day armies.The Fourth Amendment grants "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures" and prevents the issue of warrants except "upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." The Fourth Amendment prevents police and prosecutors from going on "fishing expeditions" in an effort to find some offense with which to charge a targeted individual.The Fifth Amendment prohibits double jeopardy, self-incrimination, the taking of life, liberty, or property without due process and the prohibition of seizing property without just compensation.The Sixth Amendment guarantees speedy and public trial, requires that a defendent be informed of the charge against him and to be confronted with the witnesses, to present witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of an attorney.The Seventh Amendment gives the right of trial by jury to civil suits.The Eighth Amendment prevents excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishments.The Ninth Amendment says that the enumeration of certain rights in the Constitution does not deny or disparage others retained by the people. In other words, people have rights in addition to the those listed in the proscriptions against the government's use of abusive power.The Tenth Amendment reserves the rights not delegated to the federal government to the states.The Tenth Amendment is a dead letter amendment. The Third Amendment protects against an abandoned abusive practice of government. The Seventh Amendment is still relevant as it allows damages in civil suits to be determined by a jury, once a protection against unfairness and today not always the case.The other seven amendments comprise the major protections of civil liberty. I will examine them in turn, but first let's look at Section 1 and Section 8 of Article I. These two articles describe the major powers of Congress, and both articles have been breached. The Constitution's grant of "all legislative powers" to Congress has been overturned by executive orders and signing statements. The president can use executive orders to legislate, and he can use signing statements to render sections of laws passed by Congress and signed by the president into non-enforced status. Legislative authority has also been lost by delegating to executive branch officials the power to write the regulations that implement the laws that are passed. The right that Section 8 gives to Congress to declare war has been usurped by the executive branch. Thus, major powers given to Congress have been lost to the executive branch.The First Amendment has been compromised by executive branch claims of "national security" and by extensive classification. Whistleblowers are relentlessly prosecuted despite federal laws protecting them. The right of assembly and public protest are overturned by arrests, tear gas, clubs, rubber bullets, water cannons, and jail terms. Free speech is also limited by political correctness and taboo topics. Dissent shows signs of gradually becoming criminalized.The Fourth Amendment is a dead letter amendment. In its place we have warrantless searches, SWAT team home invasions, strip and cavity searches, warrantless seizures of computers and cell phones, and the loss of all privacy to warrantless universal spying.The Fifth Amendment is a dead letter amendment. The criminal justice system relies on self-incrimination as plea bargains are self-incrimination produced by psychological torture, and plea bargains are the basis of conviction in 97% of all felony cases. Moreover, physical torture is a feature of the "war on terror" despite its illegality under both US statute and international law and is also experienced by inmates in the US prison system.The Fifth Amendment's protection against deprivation of life, liberty, and property without due process of law has been lost to indefinite detention, executive assassination, and property takings without compensation. The Racketer Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) passed in 1970. The act permits asset freezes, which are takings. The Comprehensive Forfeiture Act passed in 1984 and permits police to confiscate property on "probable cause," which often means merely the presence of cash.The Sixth Amendment is a dead letter amendment. Prosecutors routinely withhold exculpatory evidence, and judges at prosecutors' requests have limited attorneys' ability to defend clients.The "war on terror" has introduced secret evidence and secret witnesses, making it impossible for a defendant and his attorney to defend against the evidence.The Eighth Amendment's prohibition of excessive bail and torture are routinely violated. It is another dead letter amendment.It is paradoxical that every civil liberty in the Bill of Rights has been lost to a police state except for the Second Amendment, the gun rights of citizens. An armed citizenry is inconsistent with a police state, which the US now is.Other aspects of our legal protections have been overturned, such as the long standing rule that crime requires intent. William Blackstone wrote: "An unwarrantable act without a vicious will is no crime at all." But today we have crimes without intent. You can commit a crime and not even know it. See for example, Harvey Silverglate, Three Felonies A Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent.Attorney-client privilege has been lost. The indictment, prosecution, and imprisonment of defense attorney Lynne Stewart is a good example. The DOJ prevailed on her to defend a blind Muslim regarded by the DOJ as a "terrorist." She was informed that "special administrative measures" had been applied to her client. She received a letter from the federal prosecutor informing her that she and her client would not be permitted attorney-client privilege, and that she was required to permit the government to listen to her conversations with her client. She was told that she could not carry any communications from her client to the outside world. She regarded all this as illegal nonsense and proceeded to defend her client in accordance with attorney-client privilege. Lynne Stewart was convicted of violating a letter written by a prosecutor as if the prosecutor's letter were a law passed by Congress and present in the US code. Based on a prosecutor's letter, Lynne Stewart was sentenced to prison. No law exists that upholds her imprisonment.Our civil liberties are often said to be "natural rights" to which we are entitled. However, in historical fact civil liberty is a human achievement that required centuries of struggle. The long struggle for accountable law that culminated in the Glorious Revolution in England in the late 17th century can be traced back to Alfred the Great's codification of English common law in the 9th century and to the Magna Carta in the early 13th century. Instead of issuing kingly edicts, Alfred based law on the traditional customs and behavior of the people. The Glorious Revolution established the supremacy of the people over the law and held the king and government accountable to law. The United States and other former British colonies inherited this accomplishment, an accomplishment that makes law a shield of the people and not a weapon in the hands of the state.Today law as a shield of the people has been lost. The loss was gradual over time and culminated in the George W. Bush and Obama regime assaults on habeas corpus and due process. Lawrence Stratton and I explain how the law was lost in our book, The Tyranny of Good Intentions. Beginning with Jeremy Bentham in the late 18th century, liberals saw the protective shield of law as a constraint on the government's ability to do good. Bentham redefined liberty as the freedom of government from restraint, not the freedom of people from government. Bentham's influence grew over time until in our own day, to use the words of Sir Thomas More in A man for All Seasons, the law was cut down so as to better chase after devils.We cut down the law so that we could better chase after the Mafia.We cut down the law so that we could better chase after drug users.We cut down the law so that we could better chase after child abusers.We cut down the law so that we could better chase after "terrorists."We cut down the law so that we could better chase after whistleblowers.We cut down the law so that we could better cover up the government's crimes.Today the law is cut down. Any one of us can be arrested on bogus charges and be helpless to do anything about it.There is very little concern in legal circles about this. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) does attempt to defend civil liberty. However, just as often the ACLU is not defending the civil liberties in the Bill of Rights that protect us from the abuse of government power, but newly invented "civil rights" that are not in the Constitution, such as "abortion rights," the right to homosexual marriage, and rights to preferential treatment for preferred minorities.An attack on abortion rights, for example, produces a far greater outcry and resistance than the successful attack on habeas corpus and due process. President Obama was able to declare his power to execute citizens by executive branch decision alone without due process and conviction in court, and it produced barely audible protest.Historically, a government that can, without due process, throw a citizen into a dungeon or summarily execute him is considered to be a tyranny, not a democracy. By any historical definition, the United States today is a tyranny.This article was reposted with permission from Dr. Roberts.was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide following. Roberts' latest books are The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West, How America Was Lost, and The Neoconservative Threat to World Order. Check out his website - http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/
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.
It has been far too many years since the Woke theology interlaced its canons within the fabric of the Indoctrination Realm, so it is nigh time to ask: Does this Representative Republic continue, as a functioning society of a self-governed people, by contending with the unusual, self absorbed dictates of the Woke, and their vast array of Victimhood scenarios?

Yes, the Religion of Woke must continue; there are so many groups of underprivileged, underserved, a direct result of unrelenting Inequity; they deserve everything.

No; the Woke fools must be toppled from their self-anointed pedestal; a functioning society of a good Constitutional people cannot withstand this level of "existential" favoritism as it exists now.
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The American Cancer Society Relay For Life of Madison County will be held on Saturday, June 4, 2016 at Oneida High School. Local Cancer survivors together with their caregivers will be taking the celebratory first lap.

Anyone who has been diagnosed with cancer may join the survivor's lap, which will begin at 2 p.m. Other participants will cheer as the survivors walk to show support and celebration, according to Madison County Courier.

Last year, 4 million participants joined the Relay For Life in more than 6,000 events worldwide. In Madison County, teams and individuals set up campsites at a school, fairground or parks and take turns running or walking around a track. The event is held to raise money that will support cancer research, risk reduction efforts and education. It also provides free information and services for cancer patients who need them.

There are an estimated 14.5 million patients who survived from cancer in America following the 68 percent increased the rate of the five-year survival for all the cancer patients.

Relay For Life is a fundraising event initiated by the American Cancer Society. It has been celebrated in more than 5,200 communities in 20 countries. Although the event is individually held in each community, thousands of participants, volunteers and supporters are working together in helping the American Cancer Society to save more lives from cancer. The Relay For Life movement raises more than $400 million annually.

The first part of the event is the Survivor's Lap. All cancer survivors who participate in the event will take the first lap on the track. It also recognizes the caregivers who gave their time, love and support to their family, friends, neighbors and co-workers who are battling cancer.

The second part is the Luminaria Ceremony. It is done at night where the participants will light a candle to honor those who have died in cancer, battled with cancer and currently battling with cancer. The candle is lit in a personalized bag and placed around the Relay track as a tribute to those who are affected by cancer.

The last part is the Fight Back Ceremony. This powerful ceremony inspires the participants to act against cancer. This ceremony symbolizes the commitment that each people can make to fight cancer.

The Relay For Life started when Dr. Gordy Klatt ran and walked for 24 hours in May 1985 around a track in Tacoma, Washington. He was able to raise $27,000 to help the American Cancer Society to save cancer patients. It lately grew into a worldwide event raising around $5 billion to fight the disease.

See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
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The White House issued a dire warning to the public on the Zika virus as government health authorities expressed their fears which erased their previous beliefs on the virus.

Zika which can be spread via both animal and insect bites or stings and unprotected sex has grown on a larger scale on the U.S. as it has introduced itself to an estimated 30 states in the U.S. Previously, the government gave an account that the virus had a registry of 12 cases only which has now been considered to have crippled hundreds and thousands in Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory near the Florida state.

Deputy Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Anne Schuchat expressed her concern, especially that the government lacks funding to prepare itself for a virus that has slowly spread like wildfire.

"Everything we look at with this virus seems to be a bit scarier than we initially thought. And so while we absolutely hope we don't see widespread local transmission in the continental U.S., we need the states to be ready for that," the director laid out a worst-case scenario to Reuters.

Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases also ominously pointed out to Reuters that he doesn't want to anticipate the horrible byproduct of this "funding crimp" of which may drastically springboard to more untimely government pillaging on other important health care research.

"I don't have what I need right now - we'll have to start raiding other accounts, and very important research in other diseases is going to suffer, and suffer badly," the director expressed his concern on Congress' stranglehold scenario on the Zika virus emergency funding.

Alarmingly, a recent research presentation in Vancouver has closely associated the Zika virus to the autoimmune disorder named acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) which causes inflammation of both the brain and the spinal cord, according to a report from USA Today.

See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
The Population Problem:Should The Pope Tell people To Stop Breeding Like Rabbits?

By Ugo Bardi

12 April, 2016

Cassandra's Legacy

In this post, I argue that overpopulation is a complex problem that has to do with human choices at the level of single families. It is not impossible that such choices will eventually lead to a stabilization of the world population at a sustainable level. It has happened in some historical cases, such as in Japan during the Edo period.

The population question arises strong feelings everytime it is mentioned and there is a general feeling that people will keep reproducing like rabbits unless something drastic is done to stop them. This position often goes in parallel with criticism to religious leaders and to religions in general, accused of encouraging people to reproduce like rabbits. Or, at least, to hide the fact that reproducing like rabbits is bad for the planet.

But is it true that people tend to reproduce like rabbits? And would they stop if someone, let's say the pope, were to tell them to stop? Maybe, but things cannot be so simple. Let me show you an example: Japan during the Edo period.

The population of Japan during the Edo Period (uncorrected data as reported by the bBafuku government). It shows how it is perfectly possible to attain a stable population in an agricultural society, even without "top-down" rules and laws. (data source, see also this link)

Note how the population has remained relatively constant for at least 150 years. It is a fascinating story, discussed in detail in the book "Mabiki: Infanticide and Population Growth in Eastern Japan, 16601950" by Fabian Drixler. Here is an illustration from the book:

Another impressive set of data: the net reproduction rates in Japan remained around or below the replacement rate during the Edo period, keeping the population constant for, indeed, something like one century and a half. It is also impressive to note how the reproduction rate literally exploded afterward, bringing the Japanese population from the ca. 25 millions of the Edo period to the present level of around 125 million, five times larger. Note also how rapidly the reproduction rate collapsed after the 1950s; it is a stark example of what we call the "demographic transition."

As we can see from these data, human reproduction strategies are much more complex than what you would imagine if you limit yourself to the biblical commandment "grow and multiply". The Japanese did NOT reproduce like rabbits during the Edo period. It doesn't appear that they were forced to reduce their birthrate by the government or by religious credences. Some famines are reported in Japan during the Edo period, but they couldn't have been truly disastrous, otherwise you would see their effects in the population curve. The population remained stable, it seems, mainly by "bottom-up" strategies at the level of single women or single families: contraception and, when that was not enough, infanticide.

So, what led the Japanese families to choose (rather than being forced) to limit their reproduction rate? There is plenty of scientific literature on the strategies of reproduction of various species, including the human one. The basic idea is that, in all cases, parents have a choice on how to employ their limited resources. Either they invest in having a large number of offspring (the "r-strategy", also the "rabbit strategy") or they invest in caring for their young until they reach adulthood (the "K-strategy" or the "Elephant strategy"). The choice of the reproductive strategy depends on the situation. Let me cite directly from a paper by Figueredo et al. (1)

...... all things being equal, species living in unstable (e.g., fluctuation in food availability) and unpredictable (e.g., high predation) environments tend to evolve clusters of r-selected traits associated with high reproductive rates, low parental investment, and relatively short intergeneration times. In contrast, species living in stable and predictable environmental conditions tend to evolve clusters of K-selected traits associated with low reproductive rates, high parental investment, and long intergeneration times.

Humans, clearly, are more like elephants than like rabbits. The number of children that a human female can give birth to is limited, and it is normally a good strategy for her to maximize the survival chances of fewer children, rather than trying to have as many as possible. So, for most of humankind's history a family - or a single woman - would examine its environment and make a rough estimate of what chances their (or her) children could have to survive and prosper. In conditions of limited resources and strong competition, it makes sense for parents to maximize the health and fitness of their children by having a small number of them. It seems to be what happened in Japan during the Edo period: facing limited resources in a limited island, people decided to limit the number of their offspring, applying the "K-strategy."

The opposite is true for periods of abundant resources and scarce competition. When the economy is growing, families may well project this growth to the future and estimate that their children will have plenty of opportunities, then it makes sense to have a larger number of them - hence to apply the "r-strategy". The dramatic growth of population during the past 1-2 centuries is the result of the increasing consumption of fossil fuels. Everywhere, and in Japan as well, people reacted by filling up what they saw as open slots for their children. But with the second half of the 20th century, economic growth slowed down and people started to perceive that the world was rapidly filling up and that the economy wasn't growing anymore. They may not have perceived the depletion of mineral resources, but the result was obvious anyway. It was the "demographic transition," normally related to increasing wealth, but that we may also see as the result of a perception of the future that was seen as less rosy than before.

There are other cases of human populations that remained stable for some periods, so we may conclude that humans do not - definitely - reproduce like rabbits; except in some very special are rare conditions of history. Humans are intelligent creatures and, within some limits, they choose how many children to have in such a way to maximize their survival probabilities. The human population will tend to grow in a condition of economic growth, but it should tend to stabilize in static economic conditions. So, if we were able to stabilize the economic system, avoiding major wars and the need of cannon fodder, then the human population may well stabilize by itself, without any need for a "top-down" intervention by governments (or maybe by the Pope). Unfortunately, between now and then, there is a little problem called "overshoot" and stabilization at a sustainable level may be anything but painless. But if stabilization was possible on the island of Japan during the 19th century, why can't it happen in the larger island that we call "Earth"?

See also a post of mine titled "The cuckoo that won't sing: sustainability and Japanese culture"

1. Aurelio Jose Figueredo, Geneva Vasquez, Barbara H. Brumbach, Stephanie M.R. Schneider, Jon A. Sefcek, Ilanit R. Tal, Dawn Hill, Christopher J. Wenner, W. Jake Jacobs, Consilience and Life History Theory: From genes to brain to reproductive strategy, Developmental Review, Volume 26, Issue 2, June 2006, Pages 243-275, ISSN 0273-2297, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2006.02.002

Ugo Bardi teaches physical chemistry at the University of Florence, in Italy. He is interested in resource depletion, system dynamics modeling, climate science and renewable energy.








Libya War, Empires Worst Mistake

By Farooque Chowdhury

12 April, 2016

Countercurrents.org

A ruined Libya still lives in the US politics. Theres still no escape from the country devastated with imperialist intervention. It was, as is claimed, a failure in planning. But is it a failure in planning or something else? The oil-rich land is now reined by anarchy, and actually is not a single country.

Barack Obama, the US president, said, as news agencies reported, the biggest mistake of his presidency was a lack of planning for the aftermath of toppling and murdering Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, with the country descending into chaos. Asked in a Fox News interview aired in near-mid-April to cite the worst mistake of his presidency, the US president said it was probably failing to plan for the day after, what I think was the right thing to do, in intervening in Libya in 2011.

It wasnt the first time the US president admitted the failure in its intervention in the now war-ravaged country. In a recent profile in The Atlantic, Obama called Libya a mess. He blamed, partly, the European coalition led by David Cameron, the British prime minister now tarnished by Panama Papers, for not doing enough. The US leader also put blame on Nicolas Sarkozy, former French leader now sunken in scandal. However, the US president blamed his own analysts for failing to understand the Libya-reality.

Theres an opposite view also. Hillary Clinton cites intervention in Libya as one of her chief accomplishments when she headed the US state department. As secretary of state, she was one of the strongest proponents of the intervention. A leading mainstream US newspaper evaluates the decision to military intervention in Libya as arguably her moment of greatest influence as secretary of state.

Theres Hillarys famous pronouncement: We came, we saw, he died. Corbett Dalys report said: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton shared a laugh with a television news reporter moments after hearing deposed Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi had been killed. We came, we saw, he died, she joked when told of news reports of Qaddafis death by an aide in between formal interviews. (Clinton on Qaddafi: We came, we saw, he died, CBS News, October 20, 2011, also CNN, Hillary Clintons real Libya Problem, June 9, 2015)

Contrasting evaluations, one by Mr. Obama and another by Mrs. Clinton, of the intervention appear. The fact, which is told, appears: Libya intervention was Hillary Clintons war. Scott Greer refers to The Washington Post that dubbed Libya-intervention as Hillarys war, and adds: She was the one who pushed President Obama to agree to enforcing a no-fly-zone that allowed Gaddafis opposition to regroup and win the bloody 2011 civil war. She advocated for supplying weapons and military training to rebel forces, some of whom were affiliated with the Islamic militants who later assaulted the US compound in Benghazi. Scott informs: Hillary was evidently proud of her work. On the day of the Benghazi attack, she emailed a staffer a note indicating she wanteda documentary on Libya that celebrated her as a hero. (Remembering Libya: Hillarys Iraq, The Daily Caller, May 28, 2015)

The long news report by The Washington Post that Scott referred detailed Hillarys pivotal role  both within a divided Cabinet and a fragile, assembled-on-the-fly international alliance in the Libya War. The report quoted Hillary: [W]e set into motion a policy that was on the right side of history, on the right side of our values, on the right side of our strategic interests in the region. Citing an administration official it said she had become a strong advocate for US intervention. The Post report by Joby Warrick cited one US State Department official: This is important to the United States, its important to the president, and its important to me personally, Clinton told Arab leaders. The Washington Post report said: Clinton, ignoring the advice of the State Departments lawyers, convinced Obama to grant full diplomatic recognition to the rebels, a move that allowed the Libyans access to billions of dollars from Gaddafis frozen accounts. At a meeting in Istanbul on July 15, she pressed 30 other Western and Arab governments to make the same declaration. (Hillarys war: How conviction replaced skepticism in Libya intervention, October 30, 2011)

Paul Mirengoff terms it as the Clinton inspired intervention:

More than anyone else, Hillary Clinton pushed for, and helped effectuate, the overthrow of Moammar Qaddafi.

Clintons recently released Benghazi emails confirm  that, in the words of her deputy chief of staff, Hillary was instrumental in securing the authorization [to intervene in Libya], building the coalition [that intervened], and tightening the noose around Qadhafi and his regime. (Clintons Benghazi emails confirm her lack of post-intervention plan for Libya, Powerline, May 29, 2015)

On Hillarys leadership in Libya intervention, John Hinderaker cites Hillarys emails released by the US state department and writes:

It was Hillary who, more than anyone else, pushed to overthrow Moammar Qaddafi.

Clinton and her cohorts in NATO overthrew Qaddafi .

Who says Hillary Clinton is responsible for the Libya fiasco? She does. In fact, at one point she was poised to claim Libya as the notable accomplishment of her term as Secretary of State. In August 2011, Jake Sullivan, Hillarys deputy chief of staff, wrote an email in which he summarized Secretary Clintons leadership on Libya. He sent [it to] henchwoman Cheryl Mills and State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland, who passed it on to Hillary. Sullivans email begins:

[] it shows S [Secretary Clintons] leadership/ownership/stewardship of this countrys Libya policy from start to finish.

The email continues, with bold print in the original:

HRC has been a critical voice on Libya in administration deliberations, at NATO, and in contact group meetings  as well as the public face of the US effort in Libya. She was instrumental in securing the authorization, building the coalition, and tightening the noose around Qadhafi and his regime.

Sullivan goes on to itemize, day by day, how Clinton drove the Libya policy not just in the US, but in NATO as well. []

[S]he [Hillary] bears primary responsibility for a policy that was not just a failure, but a disaster. (Hillarys Real Benghazi Problem, Powerline, May 23, 2015)

Former US defense secretary Robert Gates also describes her [Hillary Clinton] pivotal role in the decision making in his memoir. The intervention split the administration with vice president Joe Biden and national security adviser Tom Donilon against. In the final phase of the internal debate, Hillary threw her considerable clout behind Rice, Rhodes and Power, Gates wrote. (CNN, Hillary Clintons real Libya Problem, June 9, 2015) These have been cited in detail in Libya War: The unknown costs and the indemnified interventionists, (Farooque Chowdhury, Countercurrents, June 30, 2015) The interventionist drive is public.

Interventionists are not a few individuals. Their well-connected coalition is broad with political-military-business-media-academia coterie. But the questions are: Does a leader or a group of leaders prevail in case of major decision at state/empire level? Whats the condition of the state/empire or its institutions/mechanisms/processes where one leader/politician or a group of leaders/politicians ignores assessment/analysis by those institutions, etc. while they prevail over those? Or, are there some other dynamics and relations, which empower one person or a group of persons to ignore those? Does the reality, which comes to light, signify one or a number of diseases?

In a state/empire plans cant be pushed, decisions cant be imposed by any individual, even if the individual is empire himself and the state is a monarchy. That planning/work style  individual-pressed  doesnt bring expected output. It has been adopted on the basis of accumulated experience and handling of interests, which are not always symmetrical. Decisions making processes and institutions and organizations required for feeding the processes have been created to minimize errors and mistakes. Output is not positive whenever the arrangement is ignored.

When the arrangement is ignored? Its ignored either with an alternative arrangement or in case of a breakdown of the arrangement. Both signify a complicated disease, not healthy for any state or any empire. The two US leaders  Obamas and Hillarys  contradictory position or evaluation of the Libya disaster signal the state of the state considered an imperial power.

Many parts of the interventionists story are unexposed. Was there intelligence failure? Was there failure in comprehending the prevailing social reality there in Libya? Was there failure in analysis of parties involved within and outside of Libya? Was there lack of exercise with possible consequences of the intervention? The questions may or may not haunt a commission of enquiry.

Blunders and debacles wait in the wing whenever immediate interests or interests of a group overwhelm collective intelligence, whenever business interests of a group manipulate collective political wisdom, whenever an individual ignores institutional wisdom. The Empires Libya War is such a case. The interventionists were driven by, as show the officially released Hillary mails, business interests of a few groups. They overwhelmed and manipulated institutional scholarship, and a political leadership failed to prevent the manipulation. The much discussed Hillary mails expose business-intervention nexus.

Its  the Empires Libya War  not a narrow question only related to Obamas or Hillarys role. Role of individual leader, his or her wisdom and prudence depend on state of state mechanism, and broadly a socio-economic reality; and state mechanism is an essential requirement for securing reining interests. A failure there, a blunder here only enhances the states perils, and simultaneously shows quality of leadership the reining interests produce/select. Its fact also in case of other societies. The Empires Libya War, one can identify it as a part of its Africa War, thus shows at least a bit of a reality, which still stands as triumphant but in decay.

Moamer Kadhafi is spelled as in original.

Farooque Chowdhury, a Dhaka-based freelancer, has authored/edited three (03) books in English: Micro Credit Myth Manufactured (ed.), The Age of Crisis and What Next: The Great Financial Crisis (ed.).










Printer Friendly Version Re-Tooling The U.S Asian Neocolony, The Philippines: A Dispatch From The "Belly Of The Beast" By E. San Juan, Jr. 12 April, 2016

Countercurrents.org As the 2016 electoral game here ratchets up to nasty polemics, the US media has mainly focused on the carnival atmosphere of the Republican Party candidates. The Democratic Party in-fighting is just beginning to boil over. Meanwhile, the Obama regime continues its drone warfare in Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and elsewhere. The refugee crisis in Europe reverberates only as some horrible Muslim terrorist threat, made more imminent by the carnage in Paris and Brussels. Except for Cuba which Obama visited recently, and the ongoing Syrian turmoil, other peripheries of the Empire have been overshadowed or forgotten.



The Philippines may be one of those, despite media snippets of election shenanigans. The only former Asian colony of the US, the Philippines is synonymous only with Paquiao the Boxer, Miss Universe, or some terrifying volcano or typhoon such as Yolanda/Haiyan. And despite nearly three million Pinays and Pinoys in the US, potential votes for the coming May electionsnow the largest Asian-American migrant group from one Asian country (the Chinese come from all over the world, not just China), Filipinos tend to trail other Asian in their civic interventions, unless wealthy Filipino doctors or businessmen trumpet their tithe to local candidates. We are really neglible, though many persist in claiming to be 200% American. During the years of the brutal Marcos dictatorship (1972-1986), Filipinos were mobilized to join political rallies. Younger Filipino Americans were radicalized by the last upheavals of the anti-Vietnam War and Central America Solildarity movements. But with the neoconservative resurgence in the eighties up to the 9/11 disasters. Filipinos returned to the deeply ingrained colonial mentality acquired in over a half-century miseducation, called by genteel academics as American tutelage. The result: endemic underdevelopment, flagrant inequality between 75% of over 100 million Filipino peasants and workers, chronic corruption, and the ruling oligarchys inveterate subservience to Washington dating back to the Cold War. The Philippines is by consensus an operational U.S. neocolony. While US military bases were removed by strong nationalist protest in 1992, several hundred US Special Forces remain in the islands owing to mendacious executive agreements. Most notorious is the 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) approved last January by the Philippine Supreme Court. This sanctions the return of additional forward-deployed US forces to Philippine bases (including Marine fighter planes and US Navy fighter-bomber squadrons), claimed to be a strategic deterrent force against Chinese incursions in the disputed Spratley islands. In effect, with this Asia pivot of the Obama administration, the Philippines has returned to the pre-1992 situation when Clark Field and Subic military bases served as springboards for US military intervention in Asia (Vietnam, Indonesia, Korea, etc.) and the Middle East. Meanwhile, ever since the U.S. granted formal independence to the colony in 1946, Philippine sovereignty has never been actualized. Aside from parity business agreements, territorial concessions, etc., the country never exercised self-determination of its economy, bureaucracy, and security agencies. For example, the local military and police forces remain dependent on US aid and supervision, as well as foreign policy toward US enemies (China, North Korea, Russia). FBI and CIA agents assist grilling insurgent suspects and intervene in local conflicts (as in the bloody Mamasapano ambush by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front last year). Peace talks between the government atand the communist-led insurgency have been stalemated (the US classified the communist New Peoples Army as terrorists) while the various Muslim guerilla forces (often stigmatized as Abu Sayyaf bandits by the foreign press) are paralyzed by reformist schemes offered by the US-supported elite. About 4-5 thousand Filipinos leave the country every day. Subsisting on less than $2 a day, the majority are victimized by rapacious para-military groups and warlord gangs protecting multinational companies which plunder the land for minerals, lumber, and other resources. Local compradors and semifeudal landlords act as accomplices. The March 30 bloody dispersal of thousands of peaceful demonstrators in the starved rural corner of Kidapawan, southern Philippines by governemt troops follow a familiar pattern of violent repression dating back to the US campaign against the Huk peasant rebellion in the fifties up to the Mendiola massacre of unarmed farmers by the Corazon Aquino regime in 1987 and by Benigno Aquinos kin in the Hacienda Luisita murders in 2014. Perennially judged criminal by Amnesty International and international agencies, the US-backed oligarchy in the Philippines enjoys impunity. They live luxuriously amid ongoing incidents of torture, detention and killing of citizens demanding employment, food relief in times of disaster, lack of decent housing, medical care, etc. Hundreds of political prisoners languish in jail. Politicians habitually raid the public treasury, earning the rubric of bureaucrat-capitalists. The courts are inutile, chiefly serving the rich families of landlords and compradors. No single officlal of the Marcos dictatorship has been tried and punished for ruthless human-rights violations; impunity applies to his equally vicious successors. This culture of impunity has been exacerbated by the absolute dependence on human-labor export that earns billions of dollars to keep the economy afloat. Currency remittances from abroad intensify mindless consumerism and a proud slavishness to foreign lifestyles and mentalities. No wonder over 11 million Filipinos have desperately fled to find work abroad, escape the murderous status quo, and disavow the accursed land of their birth. Here in Washington DC, where political lobbies and embassies dominate, most Filipinos we meet in public spaces work as caregivers, domestic help, and professionals in the service industries (nurses, clerks, etc.). We met Pinays enjoying special visas to take care of diplomatic families. Local issues such as tenants rights, unemployment, voter registration imbroglios, drugs and police abuse function as symptoms of the historically rooted racial conflict hiding permanent class warfare. The legacy of the sixies survive in the militancy of BlackLivesMatter. Note that DC is less than an hour away from the still smoking Baltimore battleground. The prison-industrial complex and mass incarceration policy still regulate state mechanisms geared to control organized rebellion. Discontent seethes everywhere, visible in urban riots and demonstrations against police abuse. Inequality and blasted dreams of success drive most ordinary people to the arms of neofascist calls for white-supremacist authoritarianism, hence the populist appeal of Trump and Cruz. Bernie Sanders has offered American voters an alternative to the Wall Street darling Hillary Clinton. But the Establishment machinery of both parties amid social decadence maintains hegemonic controlunless the phenomenal voter approval for Sanders program betokens a glimmer of hope for radical systemic change. No one listens to Noam Chomsky or Edward Snowden; film clips of OccupyWallStreet only exude nostalgic aura. What do we make of this conjuncture of events? Perhaps a comment from an experienced observer of the US political scene can clarify some of the hidden sociopolitical trends behind the largely pro-corporate bias of the mass media. Having moved to DC recently, we were fortunate in encountering our old friend from Boston, Bill Fletcher Jr. In the seventies we were involved in diverse civil rights and anti-imperialist struggles. We collaborated in educational campaigns around the resistance to the Marcos dictatorship, in support of the free labor union movement in the Phiippines. He recently conducted an interview of Jose Maria Sison regarding the peace-talks of the National Democratic Front and the Arroyo administration (see Alternet Website for 22 January 2012; www.alternet.org). Fletcher has been a well-honed activist since his youth. Upon graduating from college, he worked as a welder in a shipyard and thus became involed in the labor movement. Over the years he has been active in workplace and community struggles as well as electoral campaigns. He was senior staffperson in the national AFL-CIO, after which he became the president of TransAfrican Forum. He is also an editorial board member of BlackCommentator.com. He is co-author (with Peter Agard) of The Indispensable Ally: Black Workers and the Formation of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, 1934-1941; and (with Fernando Gapasin) of Solidarity Divided: The crisis in organized labor and a new path toward social justice. His recent book is Theyre Bankrupting Usand Twenty other myths about unions. This interview took place in DC on April 3-5, 2016. ESJ: As one of the few progressive public intellectuals who have commented on US foreign policies in your blogs and lectures, what do you think is the prospect of any change in Washingtons policy toward the Philippines? BF: I do not anticipate any changes in the near future in the absence of a movement on the ground in the USA that pushes the US on foreign policy generally and the US/Philippines relationship in particular. Frankly, the relationship is very comfortable for the USA and the ruling circles see no reason to change this. The guerrilla war, led by the New People's Army, seems to be stalemated and the government of the Philippines seems to be able to get away with tolerating (and promoting) human rights abuses against the popular movements. The USA media gives precious little attention to the democratic struggle in the Philippines. Therefore, in order for a change to take place, there needs to be a broad movement built in the USA that is analogous to those built against US policy towards Central America and the US relationship towards apartheid South Africa. ESJ:. If it is a continuation of the old neocolonizing treatment, is there a prospect of change if Hillary Clinton succeeds Obama? BF: There is very little incentive for Clinton to change policies. If the Republicans get in, we should expect a further militarization of the conflict. What may be especially dangerous, whether it is Clinton--should she receive the nomination--or any Republican, is the possibility that they might provoke a military confrontation with China, using as a pretext, the territorial disputes between China and the Philippines. ESJ. What is your sense of the US publics understanding of foreign policy with regard to the Philippines in confrontation with China and other powers in the Asian region? BF: The US public has very little sense of the Philippines or, for that matter, foreign policy. Most foreign policy discussions in the USA focus on matters of Islamic terrorism or, periodically, the antics of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea [North Korea]. The US public neither understands the struggle for democracy in the Philippines nor the dispute with China. ESJ: Do you foresee any change in the US publics consciousness of the US imperial war on terror in the near future? BF: Fear is a driving force in the USA and the fear of terrorism obscures so much of what is really at stake in matters of foreign policy. In the recent nuclear conference held in the USA, for instance, much attention was focused on the possibility of terrorist groups getting nuclear materials and/or nuclear weapons. The bulk of the US public does not see the "war against terror" as an imperial adventure, irrespective of whether they support or oppose the war against terror. After 11 September 2001, the entire debate around US foreign policy shifted. ESJ: Given the debate on tightening the borders, what is your opinion on the possible changes in immigration policy toward Filipinos and other Asians? BF: Part of the answer depends on who wins the election and the balance in Congress. But, in general, Filipino migrants are not perceived as a threat in the same way that Latinos have been demonized as a threat. Part of this is the result of the nature of the occupations that Filipino migrants tend to occupy. Yet, there is job competition, so no group of immigrants is exempt from ultimate demonization. Ask Arabs. Before 11 September 2001, many of them felt quite secure whether they were born in the USA or migrated here. ESJ: Do you see any effect of Bernie Sanders challenge to the Democratic Party Establishment? and of Trumps disregard for the old Republican elite? BF: We are in the midst of a complicated systemic crisis, at least at the political level. There has been growing anger with the dysfunctionality of the system. The challenges led by Sanders are exciting and progressive, though there is a tendency for Sanders to limit his narrative to matters of economics. Increasingly he is speaking out on matters of foreign policy but he needs to be pushed. The support for Trump and Cruz, however, comes from a combination of factors that include frustration, but also the declining living standard for many white Americans and their refusal to accept that the cause of this decline is not the result of Jews, immigrants, Blacks, women, etc., but that the problem resides with capitalism and the manner in which it is working. To put it another way, white America looks at the crisis of US capitalism through the prism of racial lenses. To paraphrase a slogan from the 1992 Presidential campaign, white America does not quite get that 'it is the system...stupid...' rather than any of the myriad scapegoats. ESJ:. Finally, what is your diagnosis of the crisis of the US empire in the next decades? Would Black Lives Matter movement coalesce into a larger mass movement that can challenge the corporate hegemony in the next five to ten years? BF: To borrow from the late Dr. Manning Marable, we need a movement for a '3rd Reconstruction.' The first was 1965-1977. The second, metaphorically, was during the 1960s. We need a 3rd which really moves to expand democracy, take on racial and gender privilege, address the environmental crisis, and alter US foreign policy. I do not think that this means that socialism is on the immediate agenda, though it is clear that socialism has risen in the polls recently. The '3rd Reconstruction' is a metaphoric way of referencing a popular-democratic movement that actually fights for power and introduces major structural reforms. Movements such as the movement for Black Lives, the immigrant rights movement, Occupy, etc., can all play a major role in the configuration of such a movement. Yet, to build such a popular-democratic bloc, there will need to be a "political instrument, to quote Marta Harnecker, that is an organizational formation on the Left that helps to bring such a bloc into existence. It will not happen on its own and it will not happen as simply a spontaneous reaction to increasing authoritarianism and right-wing populism. It must be consciously advanced. And, by the way, we are running out of time. {A revised shorter version first appeared in MR Zine]-#



E. San Juan was recently a fellow of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute, Harvard University; emeritus professor of English, Comparative Literature and Ethnic Studies from Washington State University and Bowling Green State University; and professorial lecturer at Polytechnic University of the Philippines. Among his recent books are US Imperialism and Revolution in the Philippines (Palgrave), In the Wake of Terror (Lexington) and Between Empire and Insurgency (University of the Philippines Press.)







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Washington Continues To Destroy Latin American Reformers

By Paul Craig Roberts

12 April, 2016

Countercurrents.org

Currently, Washington is conducting operations against Latin American presidents who tried to represent their own peoples instead of American business interests and Washingtons foreign policy. Washington is trying to unseat and indict President Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, President Evo Morales in Bolivia, President Rafael Correa in Ecuador, and President Dilma Rousseff in Brazil. Washington has succeeded in getting the president of Argentina, Chistina Kirchner, out of office, and is now seeking to have her indicted. To round off its attack on Brazils reformist political party, Washington is orchestrating crimes with which to tar and indict Rousseffs predecesor, Lula da Silva.

Everyone on Washingtons Latin American list of people to be destroyed is a far better person than anyone in Washington. Washingtons Latin American targets have far more integrity, are tainted with far less corruption, and are far more committed to those who voted for them than anyone in Washington.

The danger that these reformers face is due to their innocence. They naively believe in good will between classes. They think that the rich elites, who are well connected to Washington, and that Washington itself, will accept democratic outcomes.

They believe this despite the fact that Washington, using the Spanish elite that Hugo Chavez left unmolested, overthrew Chavez. Chavez had to be rescued from Venezuelas Spanish elite, who are agents of the CIA , by the Venzuelan people and military, who secured Chavezs release and reinstatement before Washingtons Spanish elites could kill him.

Chavez, being a man of good will, did not exact retribution against the Spanish elites who cooperated with the CIA to overthrow him. Consequently, the elites are now working with the CIA to overthrow Chevezs successor, who lacks Chavezs charisma.

Lenin did not make this mistake. Lenin made his power stick by eliminating unreliable elements.

So did Pol Pot.

Pol Pot is regarded in the West as some crazed figure who emptied entire cities and turned the inhabitants into piles of bones and skulls. He is seen as a madman, but he was just a good Marxist. He understood that if he left the elites and the bureaucracies that served them in place, his revolution was history. The elites would use their media and Washingtons money to overturn the peoples revolution.

The complete and total inability of Washington to accept democratic outcomes in Latin America

means that unless Latin America has a Lenin or Pol Pot in its future, Latin America can forget about existing independently of Washingtons control and exploitation by US corporations. Americas Latin American colony will continue to be ruled by Washington, Wall Street, and American corporate interests. Latin American governments will represent Washington, not the peoples of Latin America.

In the online journall, Strategic Culture Foundation, Nil Nikandrov provides a view of how Washington operates against those who do not accept Washingtons control: http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2016/04/04/the-us-media-war-against-leaders-latin-america-i.html

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide following. Roberts' latest books are The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West, How America Was Lost, and The Neoconservative Threat to World Order.








Odisha: Hunger Striking Prisoners Demanding Speedy Trials In Critical Condition

By Persecuted Prisoners Solidarity Committee

12 April, 2016

Countercurrents.org

Ashutosh Soren, Kishore Jena, Kamlakanta Sethi, Rabi Dulai, Chandrabati Tukruka, Ranjit Sana and another, falsely accused in 5 cases pertaining to a 2008 series of Maoist attacks in Nayagarh district, including a raid on the local police armoury, are on hunger strike since March 30th, and their condition is most serious at the moment. 12 prisoners, 7 in Bhubaneswar Special Jail and 5 in Bhanjanagar Sub-jail of Ganjam district of Odisha, in incarceration for a period of 3 to 8 years as undertrials launched an indefinite hunger strike since March 30 and 31, respectively, demanding an end to the deliberate procrastination going on in their trials in spite of clear directions from the Odisha High Court to conclude them long before. Those who went on strike at Bhubaneswar were:

1. Kamalakanta Sethi, aged about 37 years.

2. Chandrabati Tukruka (woman), aged about 30 years.

3. Asutosh Soren, aged about 46 years.

4. Kishore Kumar Jena, aged about 43 years.

5. Rabi Dulai, aged about 30 years.

6. Ranjit Sana, aged about 29 years.

7. One other. 

They are all accused in one and the same set of cases at Nayagarh, 90 km south of Bhubaneswar, and used to be taken to the court at Nayagarh for their hearings until recently. The cases, 5 in number, are related to one particular chain of events in the conflict between the Maoists and the State.

In response to a bail petition heard in the High Court for some of the accused in this case, the court had given an order rejecting the bail plea, but directing that the trials be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2012. There were a couple of more bail pleas made after that as the trial court failed to dispose off the cases in the stipulated time, following which fresh orders in a similar vein were issued by the High Court, denying bails but directing to conclude the trials forthwith.

However, only 3 of the 5 trials have been concluded so far, 2 others are still pending. All the 3 concluded cases, out of the total of 5, have resulted in acquittals. The cases that have resulted in acquittals include the main armoury raid case wherein all those facing the trials were accused of having participated in the raid. The remaining 2 trials have remained blocked for long, with the Investigating Officers neither producing witnesses nor coming forth themselves to depose.

The failure of the prosecution witnesses to depose over almost a year now has led to this form of protest with the hope that this might bring pressure upon the Government and the concerned trial court to adopt stringent measures to ensure a speedy disposal of the last two cases by producing the remaining witnesses for the trial hearings.

Less than a year ago, these same prisoners had resorted to a hunger strike, after which there was an agreement with the Government to conclude the remaining cases soon. However, only one of the then remaining three cases was concluded within a few weeks, after which there has not been any further progress. From March 31st, another group of alleged Maoist prisoners languishing at Bhanjanagar Sub-jail also joined the indefinite hunger strike. They were:

1. Malati Majhi (woman), aged about 24 years.

2. Telem Soni (woman), aged about 25 years.

3. K. Anita Majhi (woman), aged about 28 years.

4. Kandra Dalabehera, aged about 40 years.

5. Kadam Bijal, aged about 27 years. 

While these 5 political prisoners were learnt to have withdrawn their strike subsequently, all the 7 who began the hunger strike at Bhubaneswar Special Jail, are still continuing their hunger strike, and have been admitted to the Government Hospital at Cuttack in a serious condition.

The oldest among the striking prisoners is Ashutosh Soren who belongs to Dhanbad, Jharkhand, and is in his late forties. The prisoners are predominantly adivasis. Ashutosh Soren also faces two cases at Rourkela where he was arrested along with another person.

Kamlakanta Sethi faces one more case in the Koraput district of the state

.A chronic diabetes patient, Ashutosh Soren was admitted last week to the Government Hospital at Cuttack in a serious condition, along with the others. Kishore Jena is also in an extremely serious condition, having developed blood dysentery while on the hunger strike..

Earlier, following a petition filed by Mr. Vishwapriya Kanungo, an advocate from Peoples Union of Civil Liberties, and Mr. Narendra Mohanty, a social activist from Campaign Against Fabricated Cases, with the Odisha State Human Rights Commission urging urgent attention to the ongoing hunger strike, the OSHRC Acting Chairperson, Shri BK Mishra, had passed an order directing the Principal Secretary (Home) and the Director General of Police to ensure that the witnesses, who are required to depose for the said trials, including the Investigating Officers, do so immediately, so that the trials may be concluded without further delay.

The OSHRC Acting Chairperson also directed the Inspector-general (Prisons) to take measures to prevent the hunger strike from snowballing into a major strike by prisoners all over the state. The argument advanced by the petitioners was that it was immaterial that the cases pertained to serious offences. The right to speedy trial was a fundamental right of an undertrial under Article 21 of the Constitution. Hence there could be no ground for any delay in the conduct of the trials. 

The only apparent reason for such gross violation of this constitutional right of these prisoners is that the state intends to keep them imprisoned for as long as possible. Recent reports about the deteriorating health of the prisoners indicate that the government does not seem to care even if they lose their lives. The height of the inhuman handling of the situation by the Odisha Police and the government is that even in this serious condition they have all been handcuffed while they lie as weak as ever on their hospital beds.

In the absence of pressure from civil society to expedite their much delayed trials, the impunity of the state goes unchallenged.

Most of the prisoners are so poor that their family members who come and meet them occasionally would themselves need help and advice for their own upkeep. None of them are in a position to confer with the appointed lawyers and decide what course of action should be taken in order to fetch justice in time. At present there are close to 400 undertrials in about 18 jails of Odisha facing trials, all proceeding at snail pace, or simply not moving ahead at all.

The offences would range from waging war or some such conspiracy against the state, to sedition and/or indulging in terrorist activities as per the sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, attacking police personnel who are government employees, restricting or restraining then from performing their duties, committing murders, attempting to murder and/or causing physical injuries with the use of sharp or blunt objects which may serve as weapons, often while holding illegal arms, either small and automatic and semi-automatic, or country-made guns.

The prisoners struggle could benefit if letters are sent in support of their demands to the Director General of Police, Principal Secretary (Home), as well as to the Chief Secretary, the Chief Justice of Odisha and the Chief Minister.

Stan Swamy, Sudha Bharadwaj, Prasanta Kumar, Jena Parthosarothi Ray - On behalf of: Persecuted Prisoners Solidarity Committee, Bagaicha, ATC Campus, Namkum, Ranchi.






Printer Friendly Version Why Kobad Ghandy Should Be Released On Bail By Dr. P.S. Sahni 12 April, 2016

Countercurrents.org What is it that has happened to our people? Why have they lost the power to fight?

- Chinua Achebe: Things Fall Apart Kobad Ghandy, arrested in 2009 continues to be incarcerated in Tihar jail with multiple ailments including life threatening ones. He is passionate about the ideology of Maoism. Several decades of his life have been spent for the cause of the indigenous peoples, downtrodden and other oppressed sections of the society. Constant medical attention and care is not possible within the jail premises. Kobad Ghandy is an under-trial. Anyway, every provision of the Indian Constitution applies to him. Various judgments of the Supreme Court of India which point to and read the right to health as a fundamental right apply as much to Kobad Ghandy as to any other citizen. The WHO and UN have express provisions for entitlement to prisoners to the highest attainable standard of health care. The 198-paged WHO document (2007) titled Health in Prisons is a guide to the essentials in prison health. Certain points raised in this document need to be quoted: i. This guide outlines some of the steps prison system should take to care for prisoners in need. This specially requires that everyone working in prisons understand well how imprisonment effect health and the health needs of prisoners. Other essential elements are being aware of and accepting internationally recommended standards for prison health providing professional care with the same adherence to professional ethics as in other health services and while seeing individual needs as the central feature. ii. People who are in prison have the same right to health care as everyone else. iii. Health care staff must have the same professional independence as their professional colleagues who work in the community. Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (UN 1976) establishes the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. This applies to prisoners just as it does to every other human being. Those who are imprisoned retain their fundamental right to enjoy good health and retain their entitlement to a standard of health care that is at least the equivalent of that provided in the wider community. iv. The United Nations (1990) Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners indicate how the entitlement of prisoners to the highest attainable standard of health care should be delivered. Prisoners shall have access to the health services available in the country without discrimination on the grounds of their legal situation. When a state deprives people of their liberty it takes on a responsibility to look after their health in terms both of the conditions under which it detains them and of the individual treatment that may be necessary. (emphasis provided) v. All health care staff members who work in prisons must always remember that their first duty to any prisoner who is their patient is clinical. This is underlined in the first of the United Nations (1982) Principles of Medical Ethics. Of course the Hippocrates Oath to which all doctors are bound cannot be violated for fear or favour. Kobad Ghandys precarious health During the pendency of one of the applications moved by Kobad Ghandy before the Court of Additional Sessions Judge, New Delhi District, Patiala House Courts, New Delhi, a Report was called and received from the Superintendent, Tihar Jail, regarding the medical condition of the accused, Kobad Ghandy. In this official Report it is stated: This is to inform you that above said inmate patient is follow-up case of HTN, Decreased vision, Ingrowing Toe Nail with Keloid, BPH, Cervical Spondylitis and getting treatment from GBPH/ Cardiology Department, AIIMS Hospital / Skin Department & Nephrology Department, Jail Orthopedic S/R, Jail Skin S/R and Doctor on duty. The inmate patient recently reviewed at the AIIMS Hospital / Nephrology Department on 22.08.2015 and they advised some investigation and medication and to review after 03 weeks. The investigation has been done and is plan to review at AIIMS Hospital /Nephrology Department on 12.09.2015 as per advice. The inmate was also reviewed at GB Hospital / Cardiology Department on 29.08.2015 and advised to USG KUB with Renal Doppler and oral medication and to review with investigation report after 01 month. The USG KUB with Renal Doppler has been done and the inmate will be reviewed at GB Pant Hospital / Cardiology Department as per advice. The USG KUB shows mild Prostatomegely with Bilateral Renal Artery Doppler normal. The inmate also reviewed at AIIMS Hospital / Skin & Eye Department on 25.08.2015, for his complaint of Ingrowing Toe Nail, the inmate advised local ointment for 04 weeks from the Skin Department and glasses were prescribed and to review after 06 months for his eye problem from Eye Department. The inmate also reviewed by Doctor on duty on 10.09.2015 for his complaint of loose motion since 01 day and advised appropriate medication for the same. At present his general condition is stable and vitals are stable. (Reproduced verbatim from order dated 24.09.2015 of the Additional Sessions Judge, New Delhi) How these ailments affect Kobad Ghandys daily life in prison The hypertension (high blood pressure) gives him breathlessness, palpitations (eerie feeling of heart beats) and severe headache. His cardiac problem accentuates these symptoms apart from giving heaviness in the chest and dull pain. Extreme anxiety results when his heart beat falls to low levels of 60, 50 and even 40 per minute. Getting up urgently from a lying down position  say to visit the toilet  could result in hypo-tensive (low blood pressure) episode and a fall  which at his age could result in fracture of the hip bone and Colles fracture (fracture of the wrist bone, radius). As he suffers from Irritable Bowel Syndrome he has to rush to the toilet due to the urgent need. This process of rushing to and fro is repeated several times from morning to forenoon till he feels that bowel is cleared. Such is the very nature of Irritable Bowel Syndrome. One of the causes for this is the stressful situation in which he is placed. As if this were not enough he has to cope with Benign Hypertrophy of the Prostrate (enlarged prostrate gland); this requires frequent visit to the urinal; he has to get up several times during the night and literally rush to the urinal. The triad of frequency, urgency and nocturnal urination is deeply disturbing and exhausting. It is also a painful attempt as he also has cervical spondylitis, a degenerative process of the seven bones forming the neck part of his spine. His neck movements are restricted and painful. The nerves emanating from the spinal cord to both his arms get compressed resulting in pain, tingling and numbness of both arms and hands. Occasionally this pain is excruciating  described as a feeling of passing of electric current. Coupled with this is the possibility of associated VBI (Vertebro-Basilar-Insufficiency) causing blood supply to a part of the brain to be less than normal; this results in episodes of dizziness/nausea/vomiting/attacks of black-outs. This itself could result in a fall. The concomitant decreased vision in both eyes increases the chances of this fall  remember he has not been provided an attendant/sevadar. A person with cervical spondylitis is expressly forbidden to carry heavy weight, is advised to use a cotton mattress over a hard bed; and H-shaped pillow for the neck at night, as also a cervical collar during the day. Daily physiotherapy, hot/cold therapy for neck is needed but is not practical within the jail premises. Besides a nurse is required to give him several medicines at the right time on a twenty-four hour basis. This, too, has been denied to him. It has been reported that several times he had been shifted to a newer ward. This entails that he has to carry his luggage/belongings himself  a hard labour of sorts. This further plays havoc with his neck ailment. The in-growing toe nail with keloid causes gnawing pain (akin to being bitten by a rat). This itself causes sleeplessness as there is a constant urge to scratch the skin in and around the keloid which gets itchy. At times the scratching actually increases the itching! One could spend a sleepless night and not be over with it. It is humanly impossible for any prison inmate to be coordinating visits to different hospitals in Delhi and different departments within the same hospital. The only correct way of treating his host of ailments is to ensure that he is admitted in a multi-specialty hospital under a physician in the Department of Internal Medicine. All other specialists could be visiting him upon referral by the physician. This ensures that comprehensive medical care and treatment gets provided. It also simplifies undertaking a battery of tests and investigations. Till such time that all his ailments are under control he should be allowed to continue to stay in the hospital. It is ironic that Kobad Ghandy was arrested in 2009 while he was visiting Delhi for better medical care of his ailments. Right since his arrest this has been denied to him. Kobad Ghandy is in a unique situation which calls for extraordinary medical attention. Piecemeal medical care will not do. It will only lead to preventable death in the prison. The inhumanity faced by Kobad Ghandy is no different from that faced by the protagonist, K. in Kafkas The Trial. The Trial Additional Sessions Judge, New Delhi ordered on 24.09.2015: From contents of the above report, it is apparent that Kobad Ghandy is suffering from a host of medical ailments. He is aged about 65 years. His condition has visibly deteriorated during the period the trial of this case has progressed before this Court. Kobad Ghandy is in custody since 20.09.2009. His co-accused Rajinder Kumar has been granted bail (though he has not filed bail bonds and remains in custody). In these facts and circumstances, I admit the accused Kobad Ghandy to interim bail for a period of three months on his furnishing a personal bond in the sum of Rs. 1,00,000/- (Rupees One lac) and two sureties of the like amount. But this bail order brings no relief. Kobad Ghandy sent a public appeal which was published in Mainstream issue dated 27 November, 2015. A few lines need to be quoted: Now, once the Delhi case is over, I will have to face serial trialsand that too at the age of 69 with serious heart, kidney and arthritis problems. The cardiologist seriously considered I may need a pace-maker if my pulse continued to drop below 40. Though the Delhi trial is nearing its end, the learned judge, in September 2015, considered my health conditions so serious as to grant me three months interim bail. Let alone avail of this bail to get proper treatment (impossible in jail), I will now be taken from one court/jail to another all over the country, which is nothing but an attempt to kill me. Given that all the above cases (except the one in Delhi) have questionable legal norms, and given that I have been denied my constitutional right to speedy trials, and, most importantly, given my age and failing health, I request that an appeal be sent out urgently to the government to release me on bail on health/humanitarian grounds. Please consider this as urgent. How bail has eluded Kobad Ghandy in another trial in Andhra Pradesh is a commentary on the sad state of affairs in the judiciary. The High Court of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad in its judgement and order dated 10 August, 2011 had granted regular bail to Kobad Ghandy. The State of Andhra Pradesh went in appeal against this order to the Supreme Court which in its order dated 27 January, 2012 granted interim stay of the bail order! This interim stay on grant of bail  a rarity  continued till 18 July, 2014 i.e. for over thirty months!! It was only in July 2014 that the Supreme Court of India directed the District and Sessions Judge in Andhra Pradesh before whom Kobad Ghandys case was pending to decide the same as expeditiously as possible in accordance with law!!! Two things are pertinent about these orders by the apex court. A citizen expects the apex court to be concerned about his/her liberty being deprived. In Kobad Ghandys case the Supreme Court of India stayed the grant of bail for thirty months in the first instance and worse still after thirty months it allowed the stay on bail to continue till the disposal of Kobad Ghandys case before the learned District and Sessions Judge, Andhra Pradesh. Thus bail has been stayed by the apex court since 27 January, 2012; and this stay continues till date. Why could the apex court not direct the case to be decided as expeditiously in its 2012 order itself? And why should Kobad Ghandy be made to suffer prison incarceration unnecessarily? In true Orwellian double-speak, bail for Kobad Ghandy has so far meant further stay in jail. Limits of Anglo-Saxon Jurisprudence At the behest of the powers that be Kobad Ghandy is facing cases emanating from Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Patiala, Surat and Delhi. The Jharkhand case allegedly dates back to the year 2007; 15 cases from 1990s to 2005; and so on. Kobad Ghandy denies all the charges levelled against him by various State governments. The trial in the Delhi case itself continues in 2016 while the trial in other cases has not even begun. At this rate it would take 4 to 5 decades before the trial in all cases gets completed unless the trials in all the cases run concurrently. Right from the judges of the subordinate judiciary to those of the highest court of the land, as also the political establishment is well aware that the whole attempt is to ensure that Kobad Ghandy dies in this or that jail without the trial being completed in all the cases. There is not even a pretence of ensuring that justice is done. Kobad Ghandy has publicly stated that his constitutional right to speedy trials has been taken away. It so happens that the Delhi Lt. Governor has ensured that Kobad Ghandy cannot attend cases outside Delhi till the Delhi case is over. The Delhi Lt. Governor ensured this by invoking Section 268 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Since the delay in trials is patently due to the legal rigging by the minions of the Indian State, the latter should now be obliged to ensure the following: 1. Bail for Kobad Ghandy on health and humanitarian grounds. 2. Shifting of Kobad Ghandy to a multispecialty hospital on a long term basis for his treatment and care at state expense. 3. Simultaneous trial of all cases through video conferencing while Kobad Ghandy recuperates in a home care set-up after being discharged from the hospital. Kobad Ghandy has invoked his constitutional right to speedy trials; he had been on a peaceful hunger strike in 2015 within the jail premises against the harassment by the authorities. It is not just Kobad Ghandy who is on trial; it is the Indian judicial system too, which has to innovate and find a creative legal solution so that Kobad Ghandy is set free on bail and gets the best treatment for his fast deteriorating health. After all what would be achieved if Kobad Ghandy dies in jail without proper treatment? Would it end Maoism?  That is the philosophical question. (Dr. P.S. Sahni, Orthopaedic Surgeon is a member of PIL Watch Group. The group is campaigning on bail not jail since 2014 particularly in cases of public importance wherein a socio-political environment has been manufactured which goes against the accused getting justice. Email: pilwatchgroup@gmail.com)





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I recently read a headline that challenged the notion of work/life balance. I didn't make it very far into the article because, frankly, it isn't something I want to believe.

Many of us wear multiple hats as parents, significant others, sons or daughters, colleagues, employees, etc. There must be a way to find balance within these roles.

This concept of homeostasis, a relatively stable equilibrium, has proved even more important as my husband and I welcomed our fourth child. Her arrival has allowed me to give some thought to giving my best at home and work while keeping sacrifices minimal.

Let go of perfection. The pressure we put on ourselves to meet expectations that don't fall in line with reality can be unbearable. Unrealistic expectations can weigh on our relationships with our significant others and children. Prioritize what is most important to you and strive for that while keeping expectations in check. And don't forget to cut yourself some slack.

Embrace your village. If you have family or a dependable baby sitter available to help with your children, having caregivers that truly care for your child can put your mind at ease when at work or taking time for yourself. Ask for and accept offers of help.

Plan ahead. It seems simple enough, but taking a few minutes the evening before can save a lot of frustration and rush in the morning. Prepare lunches, lay out clothes and pack up school or diaper bags. Place items near the door alongside keys for a quick departure. Use Sunday evening to prepare for the week, discussing the school lunch menu, extracurricular activities and logistics, and planning meals for the week.

Implement a family calendar. We have recently developed a family calendar to compliment what is in my personal planner. Our calendar includes after school activities, weekend events and the school lunch menu. Yours can be catered to the needs of your family. My kids have enjoyed the ownership of having their activities included. We can direct them to the calendar when they have questions about what will be served for lunch at school or who will pick them up.

Develop family rituals. Make family time rich in quality in the event there is limited quantity. This doesn't have to be intensive. For example, encourage each family member to share one thing they are thankful for each day. Write these items on a slip of paper and collect in a jar or write them in a notebook to review together later. Take turns allowing each family member to plan an activity. Limit television or checking your phone so that you can focus on interactions with one another. Ultimately, it is less about what you do as long as you do it together.

Carve out time for yourself. Whether you spend time recharging with a book before bed or prefer to get up a few minutes early to enjoy the quiet with a cup of coffee, setting time aside for self-care helps us to be more effective in all our roles. It isn't selfish or a luxury.

Deena Bodine is a school social worker for Youth First, Inc., a local nonprofit dedicated to strengthening youth and families. Youth First provides 39 Master's level social workers to 57 schools in six Southwestern Indiana counties. Over 60,000 youth and families per year are served by Youth First's school social work and after school programs that prevent substance abuse, promote healthy behaviors, and maximize student success. To learn more about Youth First, visit youthfirstinc.org or call 812-421-8336.
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Suspect makes initial court appearance

By Shannon Hall of the Courier and Press

A woman who witnessed a truck flip on Saturday about 12:07 p.m. on Indiana 68 and saw a man run from the scene thought maybe the man was fleeing because he had drugs.

She called 911 to let them know that about the wreck. Moments later, she made a horrifying discovery  she found the body of 30-year-old Beverly Karns of Evansville. The woman became part of a series of bizarre events that transpired that day, according to local police.

Police arrested Michael Damien Howell, 28, who has a Dale address. He faces charges in two counties: a murder count and intimidation charges in Vanderburgh County related to Karns fatal shooting, according to court documents; and Warrick County, Howell is charged with attempted murder, robbery, auto theft, resisting law enforcement and criminal recklessness, all felonies. He is currently lodged in the Warrick County jail.

He had his initial court appearance Tuesday. Circuit Court Judge Greg Granger increased his bond to $75,000. The court appointed attorney Rick Martin to represent Howell, who entered a preliminary not-guilty plea on Howells behalf. His next court appearance in Warrick County is scheduled for May 9.

During the 911 call, the woman tells the operator that a womans body was under the trucks bed cover, and that it fell out when the truck rolled.

The caller expressed doubts that the woman had died in the accident. The back of the truck was covered in blood, she said, but no windows were broken in the cab, according to the 911 call.

I think ... theres no way that carpet would be that soaked if it just happened, the woman said in the 911 call Saturday. To me, it looks like she wasnt inside the vehicle  that she was dead in the back of the truck before he wrecked his car, which explains why hes running.

She looks like shes dead? the operator asked.

She is dead, the woman responded.

The woman told the 911 operator that two people checked for a pulse and didnt find one.

As she stayed on the line until a deputy showed up, she said she saw a four-door red Ford truck come out of the area where the man ran. She, at first, thought it was the man.

I dont think it is (him), she said. Theyre driving slow with the hazards on. Surely he would be driving like a bat out of hell if it was him.

Before she ended the call, she allegedly saw the man police allege to be Howell truck shoot at the man in the red Ford truck.

According to police, Howell allegedly shot Charles Scales, 74, of Tennyson, who was a witness to the accident. Scales was waiting for police to arrive at the scene of the wreck, according to the Warrick County Sheriffs Office. Scales has been treated and released from the hospital.

Howell allegedly took the vehicle and led deputies on a pursuit through Spencer, Warrick and Dubois counties before surrendering in Holland, Indiana, according to a Warrick County Sheriffs news release.
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By Zach Osowski, zach.osowski@courierpress.com

INDIANAPOLIS  After making teacher recruitment a priority, the Indiana Department of Education helped host the state's first ever "Be a Teacher Day" in Indianapolis.

"There's a lot of negative things out there about teaching," Indiana State Superintendent Glenda Ritz said to a room full of high school students thinking about going into education. "But I think we're on the right track."

The event at Bankers Life Fieldhouse gave students a chance to meet with colleges that specialize in education. The day was part of a renewed effort to get teachers into Indiana's classrooms after fears that the state might be facing a teacher shortage.

"You should always be thinking a step ahead," Ritz told the students. "Go find those shortage areas. We have them in science, we have them in math, we have them in special education."

Ritz said specializing in shortage areas, if that's a subject a student is passionate about, is a great way to make sure a teacher always has job opportunities.

After hearing from Ritz, high schools students from all over the state got a chance to meet the 18 schools in attendance and find out about their programs.

Braeden Ford, a senior at Beech Grove High School, said she is thinking about going into education but has some concerns  specifically if there will be a job for her when she graduates.

"I hear how scary it is to go out there," she said. "You hear there's not enough jobs and schools are getting rid of teachers."

After talking to the various education programs, Ford said the job prospects seem more encouraging than she thought.

"I talked to a few people and they seem very promising that there are spots open that I will have if I choose to my career," Ford said.

Carol Werham, an education professor at Purdue University, said this was a day to help high school students help themselves.

"We want you to be asking questions," Werham said to the students. "Find out as much as you can. Maybe a school you've never heard of will surprise you."

She also mentioned the option of community college for aspiring teachers. She said most education majors think they need to go to a four-year school and get started in education right away. She encouraged the students to look at all possibilities, especially if they are unsure about cost or worried about leaving home as soon as they graduate high school.
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By Sarah Loesch of the Courier and Press

Jerry Hu spent four years of his life in a three-meter cell with two men who beat and tortured him.

Hu was imprisoned for his beliefs, which did not align with the Communist Party in China. The men who shared his prison cell were told they could have their sentences shortened if they were able to get Hu to renounce his beliefs.

He underwent sleep deprivation. The moment his eyes closed, he was beaten awake.

"Because of lack of sleep and torture I lost my consciousness," he said.

Eventually Hu was put into a hospital where he was bound to a bed, force fed and injected with an unknown drug.

But he survived.

Hu was one of the two guest speakers discussing the Tuidang Movement at Willard Library Monday evening.

The Tuidang Movement is a campaign to renounce the Chinese Communist Party. It currently has 20 million volunteers within China.

The Tuidang Movement started after the Epoch Times, an international media company, printed the "Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party," which explain the history of communism in China.

"The reason the Chinese people are (volunteering) is because this is hope for the Chinese people," said David Tompkins, public relations director for the Tuidang Center in new York. "This book is giving these people hope for a new China without the Chinese Communist Party."

Tompkins said many Chinese people make an oath to the Communist Party in kindergarten as members of the Young Pioneers.

"Children are actually taught to take the Chinese Communist Party as their mother," he said. "...That's the beginning of brainwashing."

Tompkins said the beginning of freedom comes when people renounce their original oath. But the decision to quit the Communist Party is a life and death decision.

He said many people in the U.S. think Chinese people are unified under the Communist Party. But many are not.

"In China you have no rights," he said. "They rule by terror."

Part of the reason Laura Market wanted to bring the Tuidang Movement discussion to Evansville was because of her German heritage.

She said it was devastating to see the concentration camps during a visit to Germany in 1988. She said it made her realize how easily a country can be taken over.

Market said she knew she wanted to be "a voice for the voiceless." She worked for 10 years as a part of the Sound of Hope Network: a Chinese and English radio network that broadcasts uncensored news into China.

She originally approached the library about showing the film version of the Nine Commentaries of the Communist Party, but was offered the opportunity to bring speakers in for a discussion.

She said the Tuidang movement is one of the few movements standing up for human rights in China.

"It's actually going to bring peace to Americans if we have peace in China," she said. "...We need to consider our relationship with China in a different way because those people are people."
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By John Martin of the Courier and Press

Multiple Republican Party political campaigns  including those of rival presidential hopefuls Ted Cruz and Donald Trump  will be using the same office building on John Street.

Indiana's primary, which includes the presidential nominating contest, is May 3. Trump's campaign formally announced it will be locating city operations in a suite at 815 John St., adjacent to the Vanderburgh County GOP headquarters.

Cruz's local campaign is renting space in the same building, according to Vanderburgh Republican Chairman Wayne Parke. The building is owned by Frank and Michelle Peterlin, GOP volunteers.

The two campaign offices are side by side, down a short hallway from one another.

"They will be passing one another, and all that kind of stuff, going up the same stairs," Parke said of the Trump and Cruz campaigns. "They will be intermixed there. Trump people have already moved in. The Cruz people (are moving in) maybe (Tuesday)."

Parke said he is supporting another Republican candidate, John Kasich, who is trailing Cruz and Trump in the chase for the nomination.

"But as far as the candidates and other people, we will treat them as equal and help them out any way we can, within reason," Parke said.

A grand opening celebration of both campaign headquarters will run 4-9 p.m. Wednesday.

Michelle Peterlin said the close proximity of the local Trump and Cruz campaign offices is a non-issue, despite bitterness between the two candidates themselves.

"For the past three months, everybody has wanted a Cruz or a Trump sign, baseball cap or to know how to volunteer," she said. "Both camps are here. They moved in within the last 24 hours and are still unpacking, getting ready for the opening tomorrow. We support the process. Both campaigns are cordial to each other. They are professional people. It's grassroots, like any other campaign that's happened in Vanderburgh County.

"They are very polite, very professional and that's been nice to see. And they have said local people have gone out of their way to be polite and friendly. We didn't know what to expect, either, but it's just like if it was Pence's campaign, or a local campaign. It's all the same way. This is typical. They just happen to be in the same building. Both sides are good people and a pleasure to be around."

Besides the presidential candidates, Parke said the re-election campaign of Gov. Mike Pence, the U.S. Senate campaign of Todd Young and the re-election campaign of 8th District U.S. Rep. Larry Bucshon also will be based in the John Street building.

Peterlin said the building works well for campaign operations because it is welcoming to short-term renters.
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In Connecticut, a man tried to flee the scene of a crash on a bike, only to ride it straight into the side of a police cruiser, because he was a shitty driver on any mode of transport.

But ground escapes are for amateurs -- the high-rollers glide along the waterways of the world. Criminals frequently try to escape the authorities on boats, no doubt inspired by the gondola gangs of Venice. Drug traffickers are into speedboat getaways, Miami Vice-style. Back in 2000, three Florida coke smugglers hauled boat-ass past Marina police before parking at a sea wall and making a run for it through a subdivision. Two of them got away, probably by buying a house in the neighborhood. It was Florida before the mortgage crisis, after all.

Achim Prill/iStock/Getty Images

"Don't worry, the cops won't chase us. They've got a weekend coming up at our timeshare and they do not want to lose it."

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Criminals in northern climates, on the other hand, prefer a slower pace. One pair of fugitives in Vermont were caught trying to get away in a rowboat, and north of the border, a man was caught red-canoed trying to paddle away from a robbery. "They were almost too cute to arrest," said a delighted officer, probably.

But none of these crimes can hold a candle to a gang of diamond thieves who took aquatic getaways to another level.
500cc world champion Kenny Roberts Jr, the most recent Suzuki rider to win the premier-class title in 2000, made a visit to the Austin MotoGP weekend.

And the American didn't just spectate. KR Jr, son of 'King' Kenny Roberts, also played an active role in trying to help his former team.

"We always have one guy [watching] out on track, trying to help us with videos and comparing us with the other riders. Kenny was with him during the weekend, he has a lot of experience so was looking at our bike and the other bikes," explained Suzuki racer Aleix Espargaro, speaking during Monday's private test at Circuit of the Americas.

"We compare and talk a lot. We see a lot of videos this weekend! It's good that a rider like him can be outside and check both bikes. He talked a lot with Tom [O

Kane, Espargaro's crew chief], which is even more important. It's always positive that somebody like him can help us."

The Spaniard added: "Basically he just reconfirmed - I mean, I didn't know he was out on track for FP1 and after FP1 he said what I had been saying to Tom five minutes before. So this means I'm not an idiot! Not crazy!

"But the good thing is he has a lot of experience with a lot of different bikes. He talked a little bit with Tom and put some ideas together for the future and also today we tried something different. So it's good."

Espargaro finished fifth in Sunday's race, his best result since joining Suzuki but one place behind team-mate Maverick Vinales, having regained feeling and aggression with the GSX-RR.

"We came back to last year's feelings," he said. "I was able to ride aggressive. When I ride aggressive I brake hard, which is where I feel I'm fast and quick. Here I was able to be aggressive with no crash. Because in Qatar and Argentina every time I push I lose the front.

"So we changed a little bit the bike here and the feelings are coming better. Also we start to work for the first time with the '34' [harder tyre] carcass and for me it's the first time I'm able to use, the bike feels better and more safe. I couldn't use in the first two rounds."
Criminal charges have reportedly been laid after a Melbourne tech company collapsed with almost $2 million of debt.

LDS International, which traded as Nextstep Computers, entered liquidation on 29 March, according to ASIC records. Brent Morgan of Rodgers Reidy was appointed liquidator.

LDS has at least $1.9 million of liabilities, according to a record of the first creditors meeting lodged with ASIC.

Liabilities include $1.34 million debt owed to unsecured creditors and $144,000 owed to preferential creditors. The companys asset position is unknown, but the document did reveal $414,000 of assets subject to specific charges.

The list of unsecured creditors shows debts of $395,000 to Ingram Micro, $291,000 to Centre Com, $202,000 to Synnex Australia and $83,000 to 888 Software.

The document also lists nine secured creditors, although their claims are not yet known. The secured creditors list again includes Ingram Micro and Synnex, as well as Avnet, Bluechip Infotech, Compucon Computers and Dicker Data.

Morgan from Rodgers Reidy told CRN that the collapse is likely to play out in court.

The company collapsed because of alleged fraud committed by an ex-employee who had allegedly transferred considerable assets out of the company, he said.

LDS had about 20 staff, according to Morgan, who added that the employee in question was not the director.

Morgan said it was unclear at this stage how much money would be recouped, with recovery of debts partly dependent on litigation.

He also said that he understood criminal charges had been laid against the ex-employee.

CRN phoned LDS for comment but the listed numbers either rang out or were disconnected. According to an internet archive, the Nextstep Computers website has been offline since 2015.

The second creditors meeting is scheduled for 14 April.
Recent research has found that code written by women has a higher approval rating than that written by men  but only if their gender is not identifiable.

The US researchers analysed almost 1.4 million users of the online code-sharing service GitHub, and found that pull requests  or suggested code changes  made by women on the service were more likely to be accepted than those by men.

Despite these findings, the lack of gender diversity within the web and tech industry is still a huge problem; last year, it was revealed that just 16% of Facebook's tech staff were women, and only 30% of Google's tech staff.

In this small percentage of females, there are a select few who use their platform for change, encouraging the next generation of female coders and helping other organisations to understand the importance of diversity within the workplace.

Anne-Marie Imafidon is the co-founder of Stemettes  an award-winning British social enterprise that's inspiring the next generation of females to take on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) roles via a series of events and opportunities. She argues that girls need to be encouraged to explore these male-dominated subjects even before school begins.

Look at the toys we get for boys and the toys we get for girls  girls are told to play house or play with Barbie, whereas boys are taught to build stuff and create... bigger, better, faster, she said.

It's also in the media that they're consuming and the characters that are portrayed in films. There are so many places where you can lay the blame that it's hard to know where to start.

Noticing a lack of gender diversity during a US conference, Imafidon learnt that the number of women embarking on computer science study had been in steady decline for almost 30 years.

"I initially thought it was just a problem in the US, but once I got back to the UK and did some more reading, I realised that it has been shrinking year on year," she said. "I don't want to be in a shrinking minority; it's the 21st century, technology is everywhere  that fact that it is how it is, is criminal."

For every male studying computing at AS-level in 2013/2014, there were just 0.09 females. And recent UCAS figures show that only 3,560 female students started computer science university courses in 2015, compared to 22,380 male students, meaning that for every one woman studying computing, there are more than six men.

Once women embark on their tech-focused courses, it doesn't mean the end of gender discrimination. Fellow Stemette Emma-Ashley Liles is a software developer, currently penning a book entitled A Teenager's Guide to Software Development. During her time at university, she found she had to change the way she put herself across in order to fit in with her fellow students.

I noticed the lack of diversity the second I walked into my first lecture. I was wearing a little pink dress and it was like 200 eyes just staring at me, she says. The other girls were dressed in T-shirts and jeans, so I did have to change myself a little bit. Less make-up. Less pink. I definitely felt the pressure to do that.

Next: why women are better at coding than men
Empired chief financial officer and company secretary Mark Waller has resigned effective 2 May.

According to a media statement, Waller is leaving to spend time with his family. He will stay on with Empired until 31 October to oversee the transition to new chief financial officer David Hinton.

Empired said Waller has no intention to return to full-time work in the near future.

Waller joined Empired in 2005 when the company was generating approximately $2 million in revenue per year. Empired listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in 2007 and grew its revenue to $128 million in the 2015 fiscal year. That performance saw it stamp into 13th position in the 2015 CRN Fast50.

"On behalf of the board and all of the companys stakeholders, I would like to sincerely thank Mark for his unparalleled support and commitment to the company over the past 11 years, said Empired managing director Russell Baskerville.

I wish Mark every happiness with his young family and for the future.

David Hinton was formerly chief financial officer of Perth solutions provider Amcom. He joined the company in 2006 and led the company through its merger with Vocus Communications in 2015, which valued Amcom at $750 million.

I am confident that Davids extensive experience, particular the relevance of his Amcom experience to Empired, will be of great value to our company, said Empired managing director Russell Baskerville.

I am delighted to welcome David to the team and am looking forward to working with him through the next exciting chapter in Empireds development as a market leader.

Empired landed in hot water with the ASX in January when the authority questioned why the companys share price plummeted 53 percent in two weeks, in conjunction with a significant increase in stock trading. Waller, as company secretary and CFO, fielded the ASX enquiries on behalf of Empired and publicly denied that the firm had any involvement in leaking sensitive information.

After that incident, Empired revealed to the market that transitional difficulties had impacted Empireds first half of the 2016 financial year. The ASX then grilled Empired again on when the company became aware of the difficulties.

Waller said at the time that the revised earnings forecast had not been updated to reflect the transition costs because earnings reports from Empireds New Zealand and US subsidiaries were still being reviewed.

Empired forecasted revenue for the 2016 fiscal year to range between $159 million to $169 million, which would be a growth of between 24 and 32 percent.
Channel programs News

Synnex CEO: Future Growth Opportunity Lies Beyond Hardware

Jimmy Sheridan

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Addressing a gathering of his companys channel partners Monday morning, Synnex Chairman and CEO Kevin Murai urged them to focus on what he calls the third platform, a mix of cloud, mobility, big data and analytics solutions and services.

In the future, Murai told about 500 attendees at his companys spring Varnex event in Dallas, growth opportunity is going to be coming from the third platform.

While the second platform, technology hardware, will still be around and should not be ignored, Murai said that according to analyst firm IDC, most, if not all, of the growth during the next four years will be in areas that make up the third platform.

[RELATED: Synnex CEO Talks Ingram-HNA Deal, Concentrix Delivery Changes And New Verizon Program]

"Do not ignore the second platform, the head of the technology distributor and services provider warned. It is still where the vast majority of the technology is sold, and partners need to continue to do a good job there.

"But, in the future, growth opportunity is going to be coming from the third platform" he said.

Dean Edourarde, a vice president at Apex Data Corp., a cloud-focused Synnex partner in Los Angeles, said hes already on board with that new platform, and is expecting significant growth in the coming year with analytics and big data.

"I just looked at (our) quota for 2017 gross and it is literally triple in that area," he said, "It will be a big focus for me and the rest of my team."

However, for partners like Craig Sehi, a vice president at Sehi Computer Products in Rochester Hills, Mich., who works in large part in the K-12 education space, it can be difficult to start moving toward the third platform.

"It is a big struggle for us to get into that space," he said, "and that is where Synnex comes in, with partnerships that help."

In the education space, cloud, infrastructure and storage are huge  there is a whole bunch of opportunity around that, he said. Murai said Fremont, Calif.-based Synnex is moving to help its partners capture that business with solutions from its Solv methodologies in cybersecurity, cloud, and mobility, all of which make up a large part of third-platform opportunities.

With Synnex's Solv solutions, Synnex specialists help partners create and customize hardware, software services and support solutions to meet client demands in their markets.

Murai also took time to discuss the importance of cybersecurity, noting that its one of technologys highest growth areas and that partners should be keenly focused on how to keep the information they possess secure.

"You possess significant confidential information," Murai said, "and you cant let that information get out."

Murai also briefly discussed that Synnex is moving toward an Internet of Things focus that will be "narrow and deep," with attention on solutions in building controls and public-sector surveillance.

"We cant be everything to everyone," he said, adding that the company will instead focus on specific areas and do well in them.

"We are only valuable to you if we help you grow," Murai said.

"And the more we can work together to explore new opportunities, the more you can help us direct our investment and capability and where we are going in our go-to-market" strategy.

This week's conference is being held just two weeks after Synnex announced it would lay off at least 868 customer care workers -- roughly 1 percent of the company's 70,000 employees -- while closing three of its U.S. delivery centers and offshoring the work to lower-cost locations.

Synnex saw revenue fall year over year for the fourth consecutive quarter, recording a quarterly decline of 2.4 percent, to $3.13 billion, the company reported last month.
Security News

Cisco's Security Channels Leader For The Americas Departs

Mark Haranas

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Faraz Siraj

Faraz Siraj, who was head of the Americas Security Channels at Cisco Systems, has left the company to join security startup ThreatQuotient.

Siraj joined ThreatQuotient Tuesday as director of channels for its new Threat Alliance Program. Siraj previously was a top channel sales executive at Sourcefire, which Cisco acquired in 2013 for $2.7 billion.

Cisco did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco has unergone a massive executive overhaul over the past 12 months since Chuck Robbins replaced John Chambers as CEO last May. Most recently, Cisco's leading technologist, Pankaj Patel, said he would be leaving after 20 years at the company.

[Related: Partners: Brocade's Acquisition Of Ruckus Wireless Creates More Formidable Foe To Cisco]

Kent MacDonald, vice president of converged infrastructure and network services at Long View Systems, a Calgary, Alberta-based solution provider and Cisco Gold partner, said the executive transition hasn't impacted channel sales due to Cisco's "deep bench" of talent.

"If you look across the business units, there's a plethora of talent in every team," said MacDonald. "[Siraj's departure] doesn't give me pause for concern about Cisco's direction as an organization or their commitment, and [they] are still moving forward under Chuck's leadership."

MacDonald said Cisco's security push at Partner Summit 2016 in March is resonating in the market and the networking giant is following through on its pledge to better align Cisco's internal sales organization with channel partners.

"It's quite clear that [Cisco's] sales team [is] on the same page as us; our meetings [were] very much aligned when we went back to work the Monday after Partner Summit," said MacDonald. "We've been seeing more security traction in Cisco."

Cisco executives have touted the acquisition of Sourcefire as a key strategic move that has significantly bolstered its security portfolio.

In an interview in January, Cisco CEO Robbins said, "We have taken the Sourcefire technology that we bought a couple of years ago, and our teams have done a phenomenal job of integrating that capability throughout every element of the network and they've really created an architecture, and that's been the secret to our success. It has created some challenges for some of our competitors."

Reston Va.-based ThreatQuotient provides a threat intelligence platform. Siraj is now responsible for driving the vendor's channel program and growing its channel community and strategic alliances.

"ThreatQuotient has done an excellent job distinguishing itself from the competition," said Siraj, in a statement. "I look forward to leading this initiative and ushering in a new way of partnering that will provide the alliances needed to support the phenomenal growth path the management team has established.

ThreatQuotient said it is committed to being a 100 percent channel company, according to a release.
Security News

Optiv Security Bets Big On Identity And Access Management Market With Advancive Acquisition

Sarah Kuranda

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Optiv Security, formerly Accuvant and FishNet Security, has made its first acquisition move as a combined company, revealing Tuesday that it had bought identity and access management consultancy Advancive.

Terms of the deal, which closed Friday, were not disclosed.

Advancive, based in Pasadena, Calif., focuses on providing services and solutions around identity and access management. That's an area that Denver-based Optiv is looking to place a big bet on in the coming year, Bryan Wiese, vice president of identity and access management, told CRN. The identity and access management space is one of Optiv's fastest-growing business practices, he said, with 40 percent to 50 percent year-over-year growth for the past three years.

[Related: Optiv Security Joins Identity Defined Security Alliance]

"For Optiv, this is a big thing," Wiese said. "From here on, we are going to continue to see a lot of growth from an identity and access management perspective."

The acquisition nearly doubles Optiv's current identity and access management practice, Wiese said, adding 35 new employees to Optiv's 50 and adding new capabilities around services and solutions. In particular, Wiese said, Advancive brings new vendor specialties around Ping Identity and RSA, adding to Optiv's expertise with CyberArk and SailPoint. Advancive also adds capabilities around managed security services for identity and access management and global consulting and services capabilities with the company's offshore office in Bangalore, India.

Those capabilities will prove key for Optiv, Wiese said, as the market for identity and access management continues to grow and change in the coming years. According to research firm MarketsandMarkets, the identity and access management market is expected to grow from $7.2 billion in 2015 to $12.8 billion in 2020. Wiese said Optiv is already seeing "a ton" of growth in the space, driven by customer demand for better solutions in response to many recent breaches that involved identity issues.

"Within Optiv, we're aligning our messaging and focus and growth around growing identity to address those concerned customers," Wiese said. "We're doing this, not just to tackle the growth we're seeing but position us for bigger, larger growth going forward."

Advancive co-founders Art Poghosyan and Alex Gudanis will take new positions at Optiv to help spearhead some of those areas that the company sees as key in the identity and access management market going forward, Wiese said. Poghosyan will now serve as vice president of managed identity and access management at Optiv, building from the ground up a practice around managed security services for identity and access management. Gudanis will be responsible for running a new intellectual property development group at Optiv, focused on adding value through product integrations and solutions.

The integration of the two companies will take place over the next 120 days, Wiese said. That process will include combining customer bases as well as internal people from a culture, process and benefits perspective. Wiese said there are no plans to relocate employees at this point.

"Even though this is an acquisition from a company perspective, it's really a merger," Wiese said. "We will merge everything from a delivery methodology perspective, tools perspective and people perspective over the next 120 days." The result, he said, will be a "new, shiny, better identity and access management consultancy" within Optiv.

The Advancive acquisition "certainly won't be the last" move by Optiv to grow inorganically in the coming months, Wiese said. He declined to comment on what other areas Optiv might be looking to make acquisitions in.
Security News

Symantec Channel Exodus Continues With Departure Of Americas Channel Chief

Sarah Kuranda

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Symantec has lost yet another one of its top channel executives: Americas channel chief Stephen Thomas has left the security vendor.

Thomas has joined Cyberbit Commercial Solutions as vice president of sales for North America. Cyberbit, a subsidiary of Israel-based Elbit Systems, focuses on solutions for protecting critical infrastructure and other high-value assets. The company announced his appointment Tuesday.

Sources told CRN that other top members of the channel team have left recently, including Matt Smith, senior director of global partner sales and business development.

[Related: Q&A: Symantec CEO On Split, New Security-Focused Channel Vision And Apple Vs. FBI]

Symantec confirmed the departure of Thomas in an email to CRN, as well as naming which executives would be assuming Thomas' role.

"We can confirm that Stephen Thomas is leaving the company and we wish him the best. John Sorensen has been appointed the permanent leader of worldwide enterprise sales. Rob Potter will continue to oversee the Americas channel and the management team will report directly into him," a Symantec spokesperson said in an email.

The team reporting to Potter includes Scott Lieberman, director of channels and national access resellers; Mo Sabnani, director, system integrators and service providers; and Erick Foy, director of distribution and managed partners.

Cyberbit CEO Adi Dar said in a statement that Thomas' appointment will help the company "rapidly grow" its North American commercial cybersecurity business.

In an email to CRN, Thomas said he chose to leave Symantec to pursue an opportunity to boost channel and North American sales at Cyberbit. "Symantec is and remains a leader in the cyber security industry. I was presented with an opportunity to bring some extraordinary solutions to the North American market. I appreciate everything that Symantec has done for me," Thomas said.

Thomas said in the email that the channel will be "critical" to the company's push in the region. He said he plans to support partners through engagement and opportunity, including setting up tools, programs and platforms to build and maintain strategic practices with Cyberbit.

The Symantec channel executive shuffle is happening in a time of significant change for the security vendor, which just completed its split from storage vendor Veritas earlier this year. Symantec has also seen multiple top channel-focused departures in the past six months, including Adrian Jones, executive vice president and general manager of global sales and operations; Tom LaRocca, vice president of global channel programs and sales; and Sean Maxwell, vice president of global sales strategy and field enablement.

Despite those departures, one Symantec partner exec said he was confident in the company's channel strategy and the leadership team it has in place.

"We're still very excited with the channel focus, how they're restructuring and how they will be moving forward with the channel," said Jason Eberhardt, vice president of strategic alliances at Chicago-based Conventus. "The people they're moving into place, the puzzle pieces are coming together. Its a very exciting time for Symantec."

Eberhardt said Potter called him directly to discuss the executive changes. He said he thinks the new structure will allow Symantec to better work together to do the best thing for resellers and distribution.

That being said, Eberhardt said, he is sad to see Thomas go after working closely with him for nearly a decade.

"I've worked with him for a long time. ... I'm sad to see him go. I've loved working with him," Eberhardt said. "It's always unfortunate to lose someone youve worked with for so long, but I think we'll still be very successful moving forward."
Fifty-four zero-day vulnerabilities were discovered last year, according to a report released this morning by Symantec, more than double that of 2014, and the number of mega-breaches of more than 10 million records also hit a record high.

In fact, the number of newly-discovered vulnerabilities stayed between eight and 15 a year since 2006, then jumped to 23 in 2013 and 24 in 2014, leading researchers to hope that it had reached a new plateau.

Instead, last year's 125 percent increase in zero-days was a sign of the increasing professionalization of the industry.

"People figured out that they could make money by finding zero-day vulnerabilities and selling them to attackers," said Kevin Haley, director of security response at Symantec. "So there became a marketplace, and these things started to have value, and people started to hunt for them."

According to Symantec, attack groups exploit the zero-day vulnerabilities until they are publicly exposed, then move on to new ones.

The most attractive zero-days for attackers are those in widely-used software such as Internet Explorer and Adobe Flash.

Last year, four of the five most exploited zero-days were in Adobe Flash.

Overall, Symantec discovered a total of more than 430 million new unique pieces of malware total in 2015, up 36 percent from 2014.

In addition, according to the report, spear-phishing campaigns targeting individual employees increased 55 percent in 2015 and ransomware increased 35 percent.

But there was also some good news. The overall email spam rate last year was 53 percent, down from 60 percent in 2014 and 66 percent in 2013.

Generic phishing emails, those not targeted at specific individuals, accounted for just one in 1,846 emails, down dramatically from one in 965 in 2014 and one in 392 in 2013.

The overall email malware rate was one in 220 in 2015, down from one in 244 in 2014.

The number of bots also fell, from 2.3 million in 2013 and 1.9 million in 2014 to 1.1 million in 2015. According to Symantec, this is due to successful law enforcement activity against cyber criminals and increased cybersecurity awareness in general.

One significant exception was China. Even as the number of bots in the United States fell by 67 percent, the number of bots originating in China rose by 84 percent, so that China now accounts for 46 percent of the global population of bots, as a result of increased broadband penetration in that country.

More companies hiding breach data

The total number of personal identities exposed as a result of breaches rose 23 percent to 429 million, the second-highest year on record after 2013.

But 2015 also saw a record-setting nine mega-breaches, and the largest single data breach ever reported, at 191 million U.S. voter records.

More worrisome, however, is that the number of companies choosing not to report the number of records they have lost rose by 85 percent, from 61 to 113.

"More and more companies aren't actually revealing what was breached," said Haley. "They will say attackers came and stole from us, but not saying how many records were lost."

Not all companies have to disclose all the details of every breach, he explained -- the disclosure laws vary by location and industry.

Symantec estimates that the total number of records breached could be more than half a billion.
Most enterprises today are digital publishers. From banks to hotels and large companies, few enterprises are without some level of ecommerce.

Chris Olson, CEO at The Trust Media, said, "Whether the enterprise is brick and mortar or ecommerce, they are earning a significant amount of revenue via the Internet."

Within the ecosystem, 78 percent of all code that renders is not first-party owned. The issue for enterprise security, said Olson, is that most IT governance frameworks pay little to no attention to code that is running on the user side to do all of their analytics.

Millions of very normal transactions occur on a daily basis where customers click to book hotel rooms, order clothing, have groceries delivered or simply browse a company website. "For a hotel company, 50% of the revenue is booked via its website," Olson said.

When a consumer hits the browser on a desktop, "Approximately 20% of the code is maintained by the website. The other 80% is code from third parties used for tracking or web analytics to create that unique digital experience," Olson said.

[ ALSO ON CSO: FBI's top 10 most wanted cybercriminals ]

That third party code is most often where the enterprise is vulnerable to malware, malware delivery, and data leakage. Olson said, "It is very rare that an enterprise's own code is hacked. Its almost always a third party running on the website that is hacked instead."

The predominance of malware delivery on the web comes from the third party, mostly unmonitored code.

The security risk for companies is that the large enterprises are concerned about every website but their own. "They are very concerned about employees going to other websites because they know that is where malware lives, so they go to great lengths to limit where employees can go on the web but rarely think about their own site as a potential attack vector for themselves or for the users," Olson said.

Few enterprises are monitoring the code that is not their own. "Third parties check code once, but once its put into the content management system (CMS), its then rendering on the client side and that company that provides that code is no longer looking at it. If that company is attacked, there is no control because it resides in the CMS," Olson said. The predominance of malware delivery on the web comes from the third party, mostly unmonitored code.

When you look at any individual website, its made up of all of these third parties that need to be monitored to prevent malware or have a direct connection with the third party to enable turning the bad things off, Olson explained. When a third party is hit, though, that means every site that it is on is also hit. "If they are on 500 websites, that means 500 sites are being hit. Many dont know that something is happening. Architecture is hacked all the time without even realizing," Olson said.

If they were always monitoring and able to get alerts, then they could detect these attacks. "Every enterprise needs to be monitoring their website, but they dont. They check the source code that is their own, but they are ignoring the 80% via third party," Olson said.

The first step, said Olson, is to actually know what companies are rendering on the consumer, like how many cookies are dropped, the purpose of the cookies, what are they used for, and whether they are against their privacy policy.

Enterprises for the most part dont do this checking at all. According to Olson, "They dont scan anything so the third parties are free to do whatever they want. Thats how companies learn all about user behavior. This is how the Internet works. Enterprises dont actually control what third parties are doing."

In order to mitigate these security risks, Olson recommends the following:

Know and connect. Once you know third parties, have a connection with them. The third parties that are there need to be monitoring their code in the wild as well.

Once you know third parties, have a connection with them. The third parties that are there need to be monitoring their code in the wild as well. Put someone in charge. At any given large enterprise, everyone is involved with website but no one is in charge of it. They all have their hands in the digital presence, but n o one is actually tasked with this. It's like the Wild West.

At any given large enterprise, everyone is involved with website but no one is in charge of it. They all have their hands in the digital presence, but n Governance. Create a process where you are always monitoring that. Actively engage in understanding and knowing what those companies do, what they want, why they are there. If you dont want them there, prevent them from being there.

Olson said, "Once companies are actively governing and enforcing, a lot of the mess is cleaned up."
A woman in Houston, Texas is out $1,825 after scammers targeted her using the name of a legitimate company that specializes in mystery shopping. The victim came to Salted Hash's attention after a family member read a post on CSO's XSS blog detailing a resurgence of Walmart-themed mystery shopping scams.

The Houston-based victim didn't want her name used, nor did she want to provide additional comments. Though a relative, she shared details of the scam that led her to lose a significant sum of money within a short amount of time.

Earlier this month, a package arrived at the victim's home. Upon on a passive examination, it appeared to come from BestMark, Inc.

Based in Minnetonka, MN, BestMark provides mystery shopping services to organizations across the country. A Google search of the company's name will be all most people need to believe what they see in their mailbox  a check for nearly $2,000.

Along with the check, the package also contained instructions. Follow-up communications from the scammers, via email and text message, encouraged the victim to follow the instructions and collect her commission.

The email the victim received is worded with broken English, but simple enough to follow. The text of the email is reproduced below, with no edits or corrections made.

Hello, We are glad to let you know that your Assignment package has been delivered. Please let me know if you have received it. Attached to this email is the assignment instruction. Kindly read the assignment report sent to me via email. Attend to assignment as soon as you can in order to have prompt assignment delivery. I will be expecting your assignment report. Regards, chris Braun

The first step was to deposit the check into her bank account. Using some of the funds, she was instructed to purchase OneVanilla pre-paid Visa gift cards in the amount of $500. The funds remaining after the purchases are completed were supposed to be hers to keep, payment for her efforts and time.

After the cards were purchased, she was to remove all the retail packaging and take clear photos of the front and reverse sides of each card. The images were then emailed to an account maintained by someone claiming to be associated with BestMark, Inc.

The same day the images were sent, the cards were emptied of their balance several states away in South Carolina . A short time later, the check bounced and the victim's bank deducted the full amount deposited  leaving her with a loss of $1,825.

There's no happy ending here. She's left holding the bag, and the scammers walked away with her hard-earned money.

In Tyler, Texas, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) issued a warning last week urging residents not to be fooled by phone calls or job offers concerning mystery shopping opportunities.

In their alert, the BBB notes that the scammers are posing as BestMark, Inc., and in addition to USPS, telephone, and email, they're also targeting people on social media. One recent victim was targeted by LinkedIn, and similar scams have been observed on Facebook and job-hunting websites.

BestMark Inc. issued a scam alert on their website about the issue, reminding existing and future employees that the company will never require "that you cash or deposit a check that we send you as part of a mystery shopping assignment."

Furthermore, the company says they will never send letters telling potential shoppers that they've been selected to take part in a research program, nor would they require any pre-payments before a project was to begin.

If in doubt, anyone receiving an offer allegedly from BestMark Inc. should call the company directly during normal business hours Monday though Friday, to confirm the offer directly. The phone number is 952-922-3890.

On thing that stands out in these types of scams is their personal nature. It's likely that the scammers are using public records to target people, which would explain how they know names, addresses, and phone numbers. If that's the case, then anyone could be a potential target.

But, as yesterday's article on the Walmart scams stated - if something looks or sounds too good to be true, it is.
They call them ESD dogs, a kind of K9 that can sniff out computers and cell phones.

These Electronic Storage Detection Labradors have been trained to search for hidden cell phones and computers through the scent of a chemical compounds inside the devices. The computer dogs are capable of alerting handlers to, and finding, any kind of electronic storage device including, but not limited to DVDs, USB drives, hard drives, SD cards, and micro SD cards.

The K9 computer teams have helped law enforcement search for and recover electronics that can provide evidence and information in criminal cases.

According to a State Police release, Dr. Jack Hubbal, a chemist at the Forensic Lab, was able to isolate a chemical compound, triphenylphosphine oxide, which surrounds the memory board in all phones and computers. Another compound, hydroxycyclohexyl phenyl etone, was discovered on DVDs, CDs and floppy disks.

After training the dogs to sniff out these chemical compounds, state police put two computer K9 teams out into the field in 2012. The first teams included State Police Detective George Jupin and K9 Selma and Rhode Island State Police Detective Adam Houston and K9 Thoreau.

On Friday, a second class of these specialized K9 teams will graduate and join computer crimes units across the nation.

The latest class of computer K9 teams started their training Feb. 1, at the Connecticut State Police K9 Unit. The computer dogs spent five weeks at the K9 Unit for the imprintation stage of training, and on March 7, police officers from Anchorage, Alaska, St. Charles County, Mo., Franklin County, Va., a trooper from the Massachusetts State Police and a special agent from the Federal Bureau of Investigations began training with their new K9 partners.

All Connecticut State Police computer dogs come from Guiding Eyes for the Blind in New York.

Trooper First Class Kelly Grant said, The Connecticut State Police K9 Unit is one of the premier police K9 training units in the country. The K9 Unit has developed and trained K9s not only for the Connecticut State Police, but for the CT Department of Corrections, numerous CT local police departments, federal agencies, police departments throughout New England, and K9 teams for foreign countries to include Greece and Chile. In 1986 the Connecticut State Police K9 Unit trained the worlds first accelerant detection dog, K9 Mattie, a CSP black Labrador that assisted in fire investigations around New England. In addition, the Connecticut State Police K9 Unit has trained dogs in bomb, narcotic, bloodhounds, and cadaver/human remains detection, along with search and rescue recovery.
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ANSONIA  The owner of a house that caught fire on Marshall Lane Monday afternoon has been arrested on first-degree arson and second-degree reckless endangerment charges.

Steven Weider, 50, who according to Ansonia property records owns the house, is being held on $100,000 bond pending arraignment in Derby Superior Court.

On Monday afternoon, about 60 firefighters from Ansonia and Derby responded to the blaze on the two cities border. They found heavy smoke and fire coming from the back of the brick house.

According to arrest warrant, fire personal observed slippery, oily conditions on the floor in several areas of the residence. The fire department detected a strong odor of diesel fuel or home heating oil. The fire personal observed at least four separate and distinct areas of fire origin inside the residence. A plastic five-gallon bucket was lying in a bedroom which contained a reddish colored liquid that looked and smelled like home heating oil. Fire personnel also observed an oil tank in the garage area with an apparent hole drilled into the tank and a power drill near the tank. The oil tank appeared to contain home heating oil.

There were no injuries in the fire.

The warrant said that before the fire started, a witness stepped inside the house and smelled oil and observed oil all over the kitchen floor as well as the refrigerator, counter tops and kitchen sink. Steven Weidler was covered in oil and Steven Weidler was telling the witness, he spilled oil and to leave the house.

The warrant continues: Steven Weidler's dog was loose and the witness went after the dog and came back to find Steven Weidler leaving the house and the witness could see smoke coming from the back of the house and they called 911.

According to the warrant Woodbidge Police later found Weidler and The officers could smell a strong petroleum base product emanating from him. His clothes were covered in liquid which smelled like a petroleum based product.

Records also show Weider purchased the house in December 2007 for $251,000.
Berlin, Windber and North Star bring plenty of momentum into Week 10

Check out what we learned in Week 9 of the high school football season across Somerset County.
Videos of Floridian arrests bring renewed criticism of crackdown on election fraud

Law enforcement body camera footage showed stunned and confused Floridians being arrested on voter fraud charges. Advocates are calling for changes.
Despite objections from president M. David Rudd and chief of campus police services Bruce Harber, full-time U of M employees may soon be allowed to carry handguns on campus. The two sent an email to students and faculty Monday stressing the potential issues of handguns on campus.

Austin Anderson Despite objections from president M. David Rudd and chief of campus police services Bruce Harber, full-time U of M employees may soon be allowed to carry handguns on campus. The two sent an email to students and faculty Monday stressing the potential issues of handguns on campus.

The University of Memphis student government will host aGuns on Campusa open forum today at 7 p.m.

Both sides of the argument will be represented in an open discussion, which will provide a better audience understanding.

This forum comes as Tennessee lawmakers are in the process of voting on a bill that would allow employees on college campuses to carry a concealed firearm.

Newly elected president of government, Jared Moses will begin the evening by presenting the issues within the campus carry legislation as well as its status. He will also take questions from the audience.

aHaving guns on campus is so important to talk about from a students perspective,a Moses said. aItas important that the student voice is heard.a

With the potential of the upcoming bill being passed, university employees with issued state permits would have the right to conceal carry.

Moses said heas taking the forum as a chance to become more informed about guns on campus.

aI like to hear what both sides have to say,a Moses said. a(I hope students) have a better understanding of both sides with opinions expressed.a

M. David Rudd, U of M president, and Bruce Harber, chief of campus police, said allowing weapons on campus awill disrupt our academic mission and will adversely impact student success,a in an email on April 4.

The two take pride in the safety the University of Memphis has upheld over the years. The passing of the bill is out of their control.

Itas the state legislatures choice.

aWe oppose this legislation and do not believe the presence of more weapons will make our campuses safer,a Rudd and Harber in the email sent to students and faculty wrote.aThe University of Memphis has consistently been one of the safest places in the state. We believe our exemplary safety record is due in part to guns being prohibited on our campuses.a

This is not the first time an event is being held to discuss concealed carry of firearms. On March 1, the U of M also held active shooter training to inform students on what to do during a potential shooting situation.

aWhile acts of mass violence are rare on college campuses, we recognize our responsibility to prepare for a number of crises,a as written in the email sent by Rudd and Harber. aIn addition to having addition to having our own well trained and adequately equipped police department that can respond quickly, the U of M has a multihazard emergency response plan, conducts regular training exercises for emergency events, and has an overlapping emergency notification system.a

But with Tuesdayas event approaching, the student government wants to focus on hearing the voice of the students.

They want to make sure all students are informed on the benefits and dangers of concealed carry.

aThe U of M is very safe,under initiatives by Bruce Harber,a Moses said. aThatas a good feeling to know.a

Tuesdayas event will take place in the UC Ballroom at 7 p.m. Refreshments will also be served. Questions can be tweeted to @SGA_U of M.
After his Wednesday afternoon class, University of Memphis student Tim Givens found the driver window of his Honda Civic smashed and his car radio stolen.

It looks like they shoved a screwdriver into the door lock first, the 22-year-old said. Its a pretty big hit.

Between the window and radio, Givens said hes out nearly $600.

I would have never though this could have happened in broad daylight, he said. Especially during a time when people are leaving and entering the parking lot.

Givens parked in the Central Avenue lot and attended class between about 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. He said police told him this is the first time in a while that a car was burglarized in daylight.

Unless they install some cameras, I wont feel safe anymore, he said.

Last year, 19 cars were burglarized at the U of M, according to the campus crime report produced by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Thieves have stolen from at least four cars on campus since Jan. 1, according to police reports written by U of M Campus Police Services.

Derek Myers, the Assistant Chief and Director of Police Operations, said there were 38 theft from vehicle and theft of motor vehicle parts reports last year. Only three of these cases were cleared when an arrest was made.

Traditionally, more burglaries happen during the day, because there are more cars out here during the day, Myers said.

Sometimes we recover the property, but Im not sure how much, if any, we recovered last year. Often when we catch car burglars, we know they committed multiple crimes, but can only clear those we can prove they committed.

Myers said there are cameras in lots where upgrades have been made.

We were able to add the infrastructure, like electricity and Ethernet, to the upgraded lots and we are consistently adding to the 700 plus cameras on campus, Myers said.

Michael Logan, 29, had a MacBook Pro stolen from his vehicle on Jan. 1. The laptop was later returned by someone who claimed a friend found it in the back of a truck.

An initial officer report was filed on the first of January, Logan said. A campus officer followed up. I wanted to know what really happened, but the only lead relied on the person who brought my laptop back. I had the option of continuing the investigation and pressing charges, but I decided to just let it drop.

Logans vehicle was parked in Lot #15-A on Southern Avenue.

Another break-in took place in Lot #15-A on February 13 around noon. The investigation was never solved.

On Jan. 21, a report was filed when a student saw a man near his car in the Living Learning Center parking lot and hit the panic button. The only thing that appeared to be missing was loose change.

On Feb. 3, a license plate was removed from a car parked in the Pan-Hellenic Lot.

In 2014, 18 cases of theft from motor vehicles were reported with no clearances. Theft of motor vehicle parts gathered 27 reports with two arrests.

The best thing someone can do to prevent motor vehicle theft is to keep valuables out of sight, said Myers.

Use anti-theft measures if students have them, like locking doors, turning on alarms and other things like that, he said.
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After a week of hysteria driven by the politics of envy, David Cameron yesterday undertook the vital task of defending aspiration and wealth-creation.

He declared in the Commons that these are not somehow dirty words, and pointed out that many millions of people strive to better their lot in order to do something for the next generation.

It was high time he took this soundly conservative stand. For as this newspaper has warned, the leak of his familys tax affairs, and his own at first woefully inadequate response to the story, unleashed a deeply troubling lynch mob mentality.

After a week of hysteria driven by the politics of envy, Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday undertook the vital task of defending aspiration and wealth-creation

Jeremy Corbyn and his followers have done their utmost to demonstrate there must be something dodgy in Mr Camerons behaviour.

Yes, its entirely right that the Opposition and the Press should subject the Prime Minister and other members of the Government to searching scrutiny.

But since Mr Corbyn has been unable to offer a scintilla of evidence that Mr Cameron has done anything illegal, these attacks must not be allowed to do lasting damage.

In fact, what they have served to underline is that Labour finds something inherently distasteful in making money and handing it on to ones children.

Labour swept back to power with a landslide majority in 1997 because it had persuaded voters it was no longer hostile to peoples natural desire to get on in life. That reputation endured through the partys two subsequent election victories, but is now in the process of being trashed by Mr Corbyn.

That is Labours problem. For Mr Cameron, the lesson he must learn is that he has to demonstrate, on every possible occasion, that the Government is on the side of the many millions of people who for the sake of their own families are determined to work hard and create wealth.

Cruel wait for justice

The collapse of the case against four students at the Royal Agricultural University who were put through hell after being accused of rape raises profoundly troubling questions.

The police will have to explain how evidence favourable to the defendants and casting grave doubt on the credibility of their accuser came to be buried, and was not supplied to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Extraordinarily, 13 months elapsed before a decision was taken to charge the students. While the speed with which the case crumbled in court may be of some comfort to them, it cannot compensate for the deep injustice of their being charged in the first place.

Let MPs speak out

John Bercow wants to bar MPs from naming the cheating celebrity whose identity has been in the American and Scottish press, and all over the internet.

What can have possessed the Commons Speaker to make such an ass of himself? Are MPs at Westminster to enjoy less freedom of speech than people in Glasgow or Edinburgh?

John Bercow wants to bar MPs from naming the cheating celebrity whose identity has been in the American and Scottish press, and all over the internet

The draconian privacy injunction obtained by the celebrity already has more holes than a colander, and the Speaker will do further harm to his already damaged standing if he refuses to see this.
One funeral director said requests are becoming increasingly outlandish

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In life they were accustomed to having the finer things so it is perhaps no surprise that the uber wealthy continue to splash the cash after their deaths.

A new Channel 4 documentary has lifted the casket lid on just how much is spent by the country's wealthiest families when one of their nearest and dearest dies.

From fleets of luxury limos to 20,000 gold-plated coffins, no expense is spared to ensure a a loved one is seen off in style.

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Company director Matthew, pictured, runs the funeral parlour AW Lymn in Nottingham. Their most expensive casket is the Promethean, pictured, for 19,999 while their flagship hearse is this 500,000 Rolls Royce

Fleets of limos and Rolls Royces can be arranged to transport grieving relatives in comfort and style to the funeral of a loved one

Britain's top funeral directors reveal on the show how they will endeavour to meet any request - no matter how outlandish - so a grieving family can give a loved one a lavish remembrance service.

The programme explores the challenges these funeral directors face as they organise some of the biggest funerals of their careers, pulling out all the stops, with just one chance to get it right.

One of them is Matthew, the company director of AW Lymn in Nottingham.

He said: 'Sometimes it is surprising just how much people are willing to spend on a funeral which you could argue is not necessary, we could all be laid to rest in a cardboard coffin with a very simple service.

'People expect so much more today and what may have been considered outrageous in the past is now considered a fitting and proper way to say goodbye to their loved one.'

Matthew recently arranged an extravagant funeral for a travelling family who wanted a fleet of cars and a Routemaster bus for transportation

Rolling out the red carpet is often requested of Matthew, pictured, when he organises a funeral. He said: 'Sometimes it is surprising just how much people are willing to spend on a funeral'

At one recent funeral for a travelling family, Matthew provided a fleet of Rolls Royces and a double decker Routemaster bus to transport the family to the service.

Once there, they wanted farmyard animals grazing outside and a red carpet laid out.

Another mother-of-three planning her funeral requested a glass coffin because she wanted it to emulate Snow White and have a fairytale theme.

Matthew said no request is too big for his clients and it is the travelling community who often make the most outlandish requests, with everyone they know chipping in to cover the expense, from funeral cars to the casket and flowers.

Matthew said: 'If a family ask for something unusual we don't just say no. If a client wants something that isn't in our brochure we will see if we can find it.

'The travellers' funerals are almost always a big affair. Numbers of people, numbers of vehicles, travellers like a good show and they like to have more and bigger of anything we can provide.'

Dozens of floral wreaths laid out at a funeral organised by Matthew's company where no expense was spared

Matthew said displays like this are becoming more common as 'what may have been considered outrageous in the past is now considered a fitting and proper way to say goodbye to their loved one'

The casket can often be the biggest outlay with the most expensive - the Promethean casket - costing nearly 19,999.

Matthew explains that this one is in demand because it was chosen by late celebrities including Michael Jackson.

'Some of our most expensive caskets are a status symbol, so much so the manufacturer provides a list of famous people who have been in their caskets, he said.

Of the Promethean, he said: 'It is to my knowledge the most expensive in stock in the UK. It is made out of solid 48oz bronze, polished and each piece 24 carat gold plated.

'It comes with a handbook with a 15 year warranty and guarantee - I don't know if anyone has claimed it but it is piece of mind for the customer that when this casket is in the ground it is safe and nothing would go wrong with it. We have sold three to members of the travelling community.'

Meanwhile 'cheaper' options include the Millennium casket for 9,999 which is made from premium stainless steel, gold plated and lined with custom velvet.

A classic gold casket costs 5,999 while one with a painting of The Last Supper in the inside of the lid is 1,899.

For those who don't want to be buried, they could be cryogenically frozen from 80,000.

When it comes to funeral cars, expensive Bentleys and Limos are often in demand but Matthew said the flagship of their luxury fleet is a bespoke Rolls Royce worth half a million.

Michael Jackson was laid to rest in the Promethean casket, pictured, which is made out of solid 48 oz bronze and 24 carat gold plated

Matthew, pictured, has sold three of the expensive Promethean caskets from his Nottingham company

Horse drawn carriages like this traditional one organised for a London funeral by T Cribb and Sons can be costly. Matthew's company charge cost 2,200 for a white hearse pulled by six grey horses

Matthew said: 'In terms of funeral vehicles this is the ultimate. It has Has LED lights, an automated rear door and built-in sound system.

'This car makes you feel a million dollars. The fact it is a hearse puts a different spin on that but the car itself is incredible.'

Horse drawn hearses are alas available with the most expensive in Matthew's stable a white hearse and six grey horses for 2,200.

Meanwhile at T Cribb and Sons London Funeral parlour, which has been operating in London for 135 years, reserving space in rapidly filling up the cemeteries can be costly.

To reserve a spot at one in demand North London burial place can cost 32,000 - which doesn't include the cost of a stone which could be another 15-20,000.

Flashy Funerals is on Channel 4 Tuesday at 11.05pm
A mother-of-two has saved up to 18,000 in the past five years by shopping only from the reduced shelf at the supermarket.

Kelly Eroglu, 40, from Cwmbran, South Wales found herself on a tighter budget five years ago when she reduced her hours as first class cabin crew with a major airline to spend more time with her children.

She used to spend 90 a week on food shopping but has now reduced her spend to 20 a week, which feeds herself, her husband Stewart and two children, her stepson who visits at weekends and visiting friends and relatives.

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Kelly Eroglu, 40, from Cwmbran, South Wales, pictured with her daughter Emma, has saved up to 18,000 in the past five years by shopping only from the reduced shelf at the supermarket

Kelly with her son Arin and daughter Emma reduced her hours as an air hostess five years ago to spend more time with her children and found herself on a tighter budget

Her saving of 70 a week amounts to over 18,000 and Kelly has recently started a blog Reduced Grub, to share low cost recipes for family meals for 50p to 1 a portion.

She's getting more than 1,000 hits a day thanks to recipes such as lamb stuffed aubergine that serves four for 75p a head; sea bass stuffed with rice and chorizo for 1 a head and chicken kebabs for 50p a head.

Kelly brands herself a 'whoops warrior', after the sticker which sometimes appears on cut price goods, who 'shops like a ninja' by learning all the times that supermarkets reduce their produce and shopping accordingly.

'I've always had friends over for dinner and always done big meals and that hasn't changed. I have a curry club and friends come over and I make a bit pot for 10 for six to eight people. Nobody's got a clue how little it costs,' Kelly told FEMAIL.

Kelly's blog Reduced Grub features recipes for family meals such as Saucy Spaghetti and Meatballs for six people, which costs just 4 to make

Sea bass stuffed with rice and chorizo costs 1 a head

A minced beef tortilla tower that serves four people costs less than 3 worth of ingredients

'We have a really big table in our house and we're always feeding the kids' friends.

'For my husband's 40th birthday recently we had 40 guests and it cost me 50 for everything and everyone commented on how nice the food was.'

In 2011, Kelly cut down her flying hours as she wanted to spend more time with her children Emma, now 13, and Arin, now 10.

She has always tried to cook from scratch and make healthy meals with good quality ingredients - and she didn't want to break the budget in the process.

Despite her tight budget, Kelly regularly entertains family and friends without spending a fortune

Kelly's son Arin (left) tucking into homemade bread

Kelly's daughter with one of the langoustines her mother bought for just over 1 reduced from 6 at Sainsbury's

When Kelly's husband Stewart (pictured) turned 40 she threw a party for dozens of guests at a cost of just 50

'That's how I got into this bargain hunting in a big way so we could all still eat really well and nobody's noticed the difference.

'I always cooked from scratch but when I had a flexible budget I would nip to the supermarket and pick up a few things without really thinking about the cost.

'I could spend 90 a week in Sainsbury's but now it can be as little as 20.

'When you an air hostess, people always think of it as very glamorous and sometimes even pretentious, and I did ask myself: "Am I scabby or super savvy?".'

Kelly's thrifty meals include sea bass stuffed with rice and chorizo for 4 and feta and spinach pie for just 1.50

Lamb stuffed aubergine serves four and costs 3 to make, which works out at 75p a portion

Feta and Spinach pie for four people costs just 37p a portion

'But why should I be embarrassed about being clever about my food? 'I went to Waitrose last Sunday and got Duchy Organic sticky chicken wings for 69p, which I made with butternut squash and stir fry veg.

KELLY'S TOP MONEY SAVING TIPS Ask a friendly member of staff at your local supermarket what times they reduce produce at.

Look out for newly opened shops that will probably be overstocked to begin with and will have lots of goods to reduce.

Don't stick to big name brands at the supermarket. Often the best offers are one brands you might not have heard of.

Look beyond the supermarket. You can get great bargains on store cupboard essentials at Home Bargains and B&M.

Seasonal products such as Easter and Christmas treats will be reduced after the event but many will keep for months.

Remember the sell-by date is often well before the use-by date so don't be put off grabbing a bargain. Advertisement

'It cost just 3 altogether for four of us. And last week I made roast chicken, which I got from Sainsbury's for 1.99 and served with lemon and tarragon sauce.

'From the leftover carcass I made soup and so I got two meals out of the one chicken.'

Kelly shares the reduction times at her local shops on her blogs, but she says that anyone can compile their own list by asking around.

'The best way to find out when your local supermarket reduces produce is to find the nicest, friendliest looking shop assistant and ask them,' she said.

People may think that they can't get to the supermarket at the right time, but Kelly insists that anyone can find bargains as there will be at least one shop reducing at a time that suits their schedule.

'My local M&S does it in three different waves throughout the day, whereas Asda will wait as long as possible before discounting anything,' she said.

'My cousin in Newport finishes at the gym at 8.30 and goes to the supermarket and picks up big joints of meat for a fraction of the price.

'A really good tip is if you find a new supermarket that's just opened where they haven't established how much stock they need yet so there will probably be lots of reductions.'

The part-time air hostess says that anyone can take advantage of supermarket bargains if they know the right times to shop

Slow cooked beef curry with homemade chips for costs 2.80 to make and serves four people

A tropical Victoria sponge made by Kelly's daughter Emma costs just 3

Low fat, healthy chicken kebabs for cost just 50p per portion to make

Kelly also believes that anyone can cook great food from scratch and there's no excuse for relying on more expensive processed foods.

'I've done a few cooking courses. In India I paid 9 and did a half day cooking course. It's amazing what you can learn,' she explained.

'But you don't need to be a genius cook. Anyone can do it. On my blog I do step-by-step pictures to make it really easy.'

PAELLA WITH PRAWNS, MUSSELS AND CHICKEN INGREDIENTS 275G Paella or rissotto rice

2 diced chicken breast

1 finely sliced onion

Pack of prawns

1/4 chorizo sliced

A handful of mussels

One large red pepper sliced

2 chopped tomatoes

1 glass of white wine

1 1/4 pint of chicken stock

A couple of strands of saffron

2 cloves of finely chopped garlic

Handful of garden peas

Chilli flakes

1tsp paprika

Parsley to garnish METHOD Put the onion, garlic and choritzo into a wok or large pan with a glug of olive oil, and fry on a medium heat until the onions are soft. Add the peppers and fry for a further two minutes. Make up the chicken stock and pop the saffron into the liquid. Coat the rice in the mixture and add the glass of wine, paprika, chilli flakes and tomato. Stir well for a minute. Add the chicken stock with the saffron, the diced chicken and stir well. When the rice has expanded, put in the peas and stir well. Do not cover. Stir frequently and add salt if needed. Just before it's cooked add the mussels and prawns and give it a good stir. Serves 4-6: 1.25 per portion Kelly bought the ingredients for her Paella from the reduced produce shelf at the Co-op Paella with prawns, mussels and chicken serves up to six people for 1.25 a portion Advertisement

People have now become used to shopping for unfamiliar brands at Aldi and Lidl, and Kelly also recommends Home Bargains and B&M Bargains.

'They are both little goldmines,' she said. 'B&M bargains recently had this Cattlemen's BBQ sauce from the US that's a really great quality product. If you go on Amazon people are paying 5 a bottle plus the cost of having it shipped.

But another top tip from Kelly is to look out for lesser known brands at supermarkets such as Sainsbury's and Tesco.

'Because I'm travelling a lot I get to see different products so I'm more open to them,' she said.

SAUCY SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS INGREDIENTS 1 packet of spaghetti

Pcaket of Mince beef

1 large diced onion

2 garlic cloves chopped

1tsp paprika

1 piece of stale bread crumbled

1 tbsp passata

Grated cheese

Chopped dried or fresh basil

Tin of tomato soup

Glass of red wine

1/4 diced chorizo

Salt and pepper METHOD Mix mince, cheese, onion, passata, garlic, paprika, basil, seasoning and bread. Roll into balls and put on a greased tray. Bake in a medium oven, shaking the tray after about 10 minutes. Cook for another 5 minutes. Pour olive oil into a large saucepan. Add tinned tomatoes, soup, basil, choritzo and seasoning. Simmer while the meatballs finish cooking. Drain fat from the meatballs and place in sauce. Lower temperature while you cook your spaghetti. Serves six: 66p per portion Kelly purchased reduced products for Spaghetti meatballs and M&S Six servings of saucy meatballs with spaghetti costs just 4 Advertisement

Recently she picked up spices from Morrison's for just 39p that she recognised as a high quality if little-known brand.

'You can save so much by experimenting with different brands,' she said. 'You get the best chocolate in Lidl for 30p a bar and I recently got really good Quiona for 1.79.'

Since setting up her blog two months ago, Kelly has been overwhelmed by positive messages and even TV presenter Lorraine Kelly.

'I met her on a flight and she was delightful,' Kelly explained. 'I told her about my idea and she said it sounded great and promised to take a look.

Yesterday, Lorraine tweeted about Kelly's blog saying: 'LOVE this! Great idea.'

However, Kelly hopes that her work can help anyone who is struggling to get by on a budget.

'One lady sent me a letter to say, "thank you so much for your blog",' she explained.

'She said that after her wages she had 15 a week to live on for her and her partner and she had to pay her electric out of that.
Princess Alexandra has revealed how the young Princess Elizabeth kindly gave her hand-me-down clothes during the Second World War.

The youngest granddaughter of King George V and Queen Mary, who turned 79 last year, is cousin to the Queen and spent much of her childhood with the young Princess Elizabeth and her younger sister Margaret.

But despite a charmed upbringing - she was baptised in the private chapel at Buckingham Palace and spent much of her childhood in Buckinghamshire country pile Coppins, which once belonged to Queen Victoria - she has now recalled how even the Royal family were not immune to wartime rationing, and struggled to purchase clothes.

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Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra, now 79, recalled how a young Queen Elizabeth - then just a Princess - gave her hand-me-down clothes during World War II, at a time when rationing made it difficult to buy clothes

Princess Alexandra (second left) with (left to right): Pamela Mountbatten, Princess Margaret and Princess Elizabeth, who were bridesmaids at the 1946 wedding of Captain Lord Brabourne and Patricia Mountbatten

In a new interview which will air later this month, the Princess recalled how a young Elizabeth - then a Princess - gave her hand-me-down outfits when she couldn't buy clothes due to rationing.

'Because of the clothing coupons, it was quite difficult to get hold of clothes,' she explains.

'So they were very kind to me, my cousins  I think it was Princess Elizabeth mainly  they let me have one or two of their dresses.'

Princess Alexandra, who is currently 50th in line to the throne, was being interviewed for the BBC's Elizabeth At 90 - A Family Tribute, a new BBC One documentary which will air on the Queen's 90th birthday on 21 April.

It will feature interviews with six family members, as well as several 'home movies' shot by the monarch and the her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh through the ages.

When the Second World War broke out in September 1939, Princess Alexandra was just three years old and her cousin Princess Elizabeth was more than 10 years older.

Princess Alexandra (centre) recalled: 'Because of the clothing coupons, it was quite difficult to get hold of clothes. So they were very kind to me, my cousins  I think it was Princess Elizabeth mainly'

As close as ever: Princess Alexandra with her cousin the Queen, at the Epsom Derby in 2007 (left) and in 2009 (right). She was a bridesmaid when the Queen walked up the aisle in 1947 for her wedding to Prince Phillip

She served as a bridesmaid at the Queen's wedding to Prince Phillip in 1947, and in 1963 she married Angus James Bruce Ogilvy at Westminster Abbey.

Although her wedding was viewed by around 200 million people worldwide, Alexandra - who was widowed in 2004 - has lived a relatively private life.

The Princess's remarks on her cousin come just weeks after an equally revealing ITV documentary - Our Queen at 90 - which also saw members of the family give touching tributes to the monarch ahead of her landmark birthday.

The ITV special saw Sophie, Countess of Wessex commenting on her grandmother's sense of style.

Princess Alexandra, who is currently 50th in line to the throne, was being interviewed for the BBC's Elizabeth At 90 - A Family Tribute, a new BBC One documentary which will air on the Queen's 90th birthday on 21 April

In a new interview which will air later this month, Princess Alexandra (pictured in 2014) recalled how a young Elizabeth - then a Princess - gave her hand-me-down outfits when she couldn't buy clothes due to rationing

Speaking about the Queen, who often favours bright pastel colours and distinctive hats, the Countess said: 'When she turns up somewhere, the crowds are 15-deep and somebody wants to be able to say that they saw a bit of the Queen's hat when she went past.

'She needs to be able to stand out, for people to be able to say, "I saw the Queen".'

The two-hour documentary also featured interviews with Prince Charles and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who touchingly revealed that her son George calls the Queen 'Gan Gan'.

In a conversation at Clarence House, Charles, recalling a recent discussion, said: I was saying to my mother the other day, Do you realise that when you reach 90, I shall have known you for 68 years? She had to laugh a little bit.'

Princess Alexandra with herbrother, the Duke of Kent, attending a Service for the Order of the Garter at St. George's Chapel, Windsor in 2011. She was baptised at Buckingham Palace and is close to her cousin

Cameras folllowed Her Majesty on a Chinese State visit and arriving at Euston Station to take the 1.5million Queen's Messenger overnight train.

She was seen making preparations for a large State banquet for the recent Chinese State visit at Buckingham Palace's ballroom, with the narrator explaining that the Royal's attention to detail extends to the lighting and even the position of microphones hidden in the flowers.

In another clip, the Queen is seen arriving at Euston Station at 11pm to board the private 1.5million Queen's Messenger overnight train.

'She needs to be able to stand out': Sophie, Countess of Wessex has previously revealed that the reason behind her grandmother's distinctive fashion sense is so that well-wishers can spot her in the crowd

Prince Charles, recalling a recent discussion, said: I was saying to my mother the other day, Do you realise that when you reach 90, I shall have known you for 68 years? She had to laugh a little bit'

Edward Young, deputy private secretary, described the attention to detail that goes into every royal engagement. 'For the Queen there's no such thing as an average engagement; every visit is very carefully planned for,' he explained.

'There's just as much preparation put into a visit to a school or a hospital as there is to an audience with the Prime Minister.

Footage showed the monarch attending to daily paperwork that is delivered to her via her famous red box, a briefcase filled with Cabinet minutes, documents to read and sign.
Sizzling in black and white, original Nineties supermodels Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell pose for one of the world's most famous fashion photographers - and it's all for a good cause.

Kate, 43, and Naomi, 45, have been photographed by Mario Testino to mark the campaign launch of Fashion Targets Breast Cancer in the UK - which this year celebrates its 20th anniversary.

The new images unveiled across UK billboards today see Testino re-invent Moss and Campbells original poses, 20 years on.

Kate Moss, 43, smoulders as she poses for Mario Testino for the cancer charity. She said: 'Fashion Targets Breast Cancer has gone on to impact so many lives by funding vital research into this devastating disease'

Naomi Campbell said: 'I never could have expected back in 1996 that I would go on to experience first-hand the harrowing effect this disease can have on individuals, families and loved ones'

Since the two models helped to launch the campaign in 1996, Fashion Targets Breast Cancer has raised 14 million for Breast Cancer Nows research.

The campaign calls on British shoppers to show their support by buying something from its limited 2016 collection to help raise money for charity.

The exclusive range is hand-picked from high street retailers including Marks & Spencer, Debenhams, River Island, Topshop, Laura Ashley, Simply Be, Hush, The Fold, SVP and Blow Ltd.

Each item in the range carries a minimum 30 per cent donation towards Breast Cancer Nows research, throughout the six-week campaign.

Money raised by Fashion Targets Breast Cancer will be donated directly to Breast Cancer Now, the UKs largest breast cancer charity, to fund its research into the disease and help it to reach its target that, by 2050, no woman will die from breast cancer.

Mario Testino OBE said: 'When I was asked to photograph Fashion Targets Breast Cancers original faces, Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss, to mark its 20th anniversary I couldnt say no.

Naomi Campbell in the famous target T-shirt in the first Fashion Targets Breast Cancer campaign in 1996

Supermodel BFFs: Naomi, left, and Kate, right attend the De Beers/Versace 'Diamonds are Forever' celebration at Syon House on June 09, 1999. They've reunited to pose for Fashion Targets Breast Cancer

Party girls: Naomi and Kate attend a private dinner celebrating the Global Launch of the Kate Moss for Topshop Collection at The Connaught Hotel in London, April 2014

'Sadly, we have all been affected by cancer at some point in our lives and there is nothing worse than knowing that a woman close to your heart has breast cancer.

'That is why this campaign is so important. We know that when we join together we can achieve great things; the last 20 years of Fashion Targets Breast Cancer has shown us this.

'We must continue to stand together, for the next 20 years and beyond, to raise more money for crucial research that will ultimately save lives now and in the future.'

Kate said: 'Its great to be returning to support Fashion Targets Breast Cancer on this very special anniversary year. Since its UK launch in 1996, when I first appeared in the campaign poster, Fashion Targets Breast Cancer has gone on to impact so many lives by funding vital research into this devastating disease.

Mario Testino has worked with Kate and Naomi since the 1990s (pictured with Naomi at the new Gold Collection fragrance launch hosted by Michael Kors in New York, 2015

Kate and Mario at the Burberry Prorsum AW06-07 show, February 2006. The pair have joined forces to help raise money for breast cancer. Mario said: 'When I was asked to photograph Fashion Targets Breast Cancers original faces, Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss, to mark its 20th anniversary I couldnt say no'

Naomi added: 'I never could have expected back in 1996 that I would go on to experience first-hand the harrowing effect this disease can have on individuals, families and loved ones.

'For the last 20 years Fashion Targets Breast Cancer has united us all  scientists, models, designers, mothers, photographers, retailers  as a powerful force against the disease. Thats two decades of incredible support for cutting-edge breast cancer research and its vital that we dont stop now.

'With 2016s campaign, Im honoured to stand with people across the UK, united in our belief that, together, we will win this fight.'

Originally founded by Ralph Lauren in the US in 1994 after he lost a close friend to the disease, Fashion Targets Breast Cancer hit the UK in 1996.

Kate (second left) pictured with Paloma Faith, Cara Delevigne and Mario Testino at London Fashion Week 2015

Elle Macpherson posed for Ellen Von Unwerth in 2004 in a black and white shoot where the only colour was the target logo on the front of her sweatshirt

Sienna Miller stripped off for a sultry shoot by Mario Testino in which she was covered by a silk scarf

Abbey Clancy joined the A-list pantheon when she posed in a white shirt for the 2015 campaign

Over the last two decades the campaign has collaborated with Claudia Schiffer, Elle Macpherson, Kylie Minogue, Georgia May Jagger, Sienna Miller, Lily Donaldson, Twiggy, Yasmin le Bon and Abbey Clancy.

Behind the camera, photographers such as Ellen von Unwerth, Patrick Demarchelier, Rankin and Simon Emmett have lent their creative vision to the campaigns striking look.

Baroness Delyth Morgan, Chief Executive of Breast Cancer Now, said: 'Over the last 20 years Fashion Targets Breast Cancer has united the world of fashion as a force against breast cancer. The heartfelt backing of our retail partners, celebrity supporters and UK shoppers means that we are 20 years closer to finding a way to stop this dreadful disease.
It seems as though Married At First Sight's Clare Verrall and Jono Pitman are well and truly past the honeymoon phase of their relationship.

While the newlyweds were able to overcome initial differences and bond during their holiday in the Northern Territory on Monday night's episode, the pair's problems were magnified as soon as they moved in together.

32-year-old Clare, from Melbourne, said she was feeling 'positive' about Jono moving in with her, but by the end of the episode the couple had clashed multiple times and she ended up hinting that he had cheated on her with a receptionist at his gym.

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A rocky relationship: Married At First Sight's Clare Verrall and Jono Pitman moved in together on Tuesday night's episode, and Clare presented Jono with a crocodile t-shirt to welcome him to her home

Road rage: Jono appeared to lose his temper multiple times, especially in the car, but put his anger down to stress

To welcome her TV beau to her abode, Clare had purchased a crocodile shirt for Jono to hint at his extreme fear of them - a fear that came to light during a canoe ride on their honeymoon.

The couple spent their first Saturday night together watching the movie Frozen and discussing cartoons before later arguing about Jono's short fuse and 'daily tantrums'... something Clare tried to fix with breathing exercises.

'Sometimes I don't feel like doing breathing exercises... she means really well by it but I don't really like being told what to do, never have, I don't think I ever will,' a frustrated Jono said in an interview.

Trying to make things work: Shortly after Jono moved in things appeared to be fine between them, but their relationship soon spiralled

Taking over the kitchen: Jono wouldn't allow Clare in the kitchen, but Clare was okay with that as she only went in there to retrieve 'forks and wine glasses'

Clare then explained the issues she had with Jono.

'The way Jono reacts when he is frustrated is ridiculous... I think Jono lacks a little bit of understanding around his moods and temper and the fact that he gets hangry,' she said.

Jono stormed off during their argument and when he came back they went at it again.

'He just needs to grow up, I'm 32, too old for this s**t,' she said, 'If he's not willing to compromise and he's going to be that stubborn on things then it's not going to work. And he needs to stick with dating girls, not women.'

In an attempt to try and move on from their rocky few days, the couple then went out to a wine bar to try to relax and start fresh... but things did not go to plan.

3,12,6: Clare attempted to help Jono with his temper issues by teaching him breathing exercises

'He just needs to grow up, I'm 32, too old for this s**t': Clare said she was sick of Jono throwing tantrums and walking off during arguments

Stuck in his ways: 'I don't really like being told what to do, never have, I don't think I ever will,' a frustrated Jono said in an interview

'Initially we started off just chatting and happy and everything but again, very quickly, spiralled down into this very negative conversation,' Clare said.

Jono, after complaining about the 'horrible' cheese, started talking about the importance of feeling 'physically good about yourself' to feel 'mentally better' and how he is always able to find time for the gym.

But Clare took the statement personally.

'I love to train and I love to work out but at the same time I'd expect that if I was to have kids and be running ragged with that you don't have time for that s**t... I'd have time to wash the vomit out of my hair but that's kind of about it,' she said.

Big Saturday night: On their first Saturday night together, Jono and Clare sat down and watched Frozen

Over it? Clare looked unimpressed during multiple conversations and arguments with Jono

Not so fun: In an attempt to try and move on from their rocky few days, the couple then went out to a wine bar to try to relax and start fresh... but things did not go to plan

Later she said: 'Where are you supposed to put the baby when you go to the gym? On the squat rack?'

Jono was offended and said if Clare thought he would mind if she 'blew out' after having kids, then she didn't know him 'from a bar of soap.'

'The person you think I am, I am not, and for you to say what you've just said is one of the biggest insults I've copped,' he said.

Clare then suggested Jono be with 'people like personal trainers,' and started to walk off.

Out of control: Clare became defensive after Jono started talking about the importance of fitness and then suggested he was speaking to a receptionist from his gym on the side

Surprised? 'She thinks I've got something going on with the receptionist at the gym,' Jono said to the camera crew after she left

At it again: The next day the pair had yet another argument during a date on the beach after Clare accused Jono of having daily tantrums

'I'm going to go to the bathroom but you have fun with your receptionist,' she said quietly as she stormed out.

'She thinks I've got something going on with the receptionist at the gym,' Jono said to the camera crew after she left.

It has since been revealed that Jono was in fact messaging a woman while filming the show who, if recent social media posts are to believed, is now his girlfriend.

Flirty social media exchanges between Jono and blonde Melbourne-based beauty, Rachael, go back as far as August - filming for the show started in November - and Clare has revealed Rachael was contacting Jono on the honeymoon.

At the conclusion of Tuesday night's episode Jono moved out of Clare's home after yet another argument on the beach, leaving Clare in tears and Jono questioning their future.

Is this her? It has since been revealed that Jono was in fact messaging a woman while filming the show who, if recent social media posts are to believed, is now his girlfriend

Happy couple: Flirty social media exchanges between Jono and blonde Melbourne-based beauty, Rachael, go back as far as August and filming for the show started in November

Unhappy outcome: At the conclusion of Tuesday night's episode Jono moved out of Clare's home

ALSO ON TUESDAY NIGHT'S EPISODE...

For the other three couples, moving in together proved to be a more positive experience.

39-year-old Christie was faced with a huge lifestyle change when moving in with her TV groom Mark and to get to work needed to catch a train, a plane, a bus and a taxi from Mark's 'isolated' farm in Thorpdale, Victoria.

But despite Christie's exhaustion and the negative impact it was having on her cleaning business, Mark's surprise romantic gestures and calming personality once again won her over.

'I really feel this [the distance] is going to be a massive hurdle for us... but he's really going out of his way and making me feel at home and making me feel like a real princess/Queen,' Christie said.

Ready for the farm: 39-year-old Christie was faced with a huge lifestyle change when moving in with her TV groom Mark and to get to work needed to catch a train, a plane, a bus and a taxi from Mark's 'isolated' farm

'He's really going out of his way': Despite Christie's exhaustion and the negative impact it was having on her cleaning business, Mark's surprise romantic gestures and calming personality once again won her over

Erin, then 25, moved out of her parents home for the first time and her groom Bryce made her feel welcome by preparing a bunch of flowers, a Milky Bar and a little card.

'I'm a little bit nervous because I've never had to do any of these domestic things,' Erin said, but decided to cook Bryce a lasagne and viewers watched as she struggled to make her way around a supermarket for the very first time.

'For me that was a very significant moment,' Bryce said, with Erin admitting it was a way for her to show him how she felt without having to tell him.

Growing feelings: 'I think I may be crossing into the territory now where I have feelings for Bryce and theyre almost scary,' Erin said of her match Bryce

The little things: Erin, then 25, moved out of her parents home for the first time and her groom Bryce made her feel welcome by preparing a bunch of flowers, a Milky Bar and a little card

'I've never had to do any of these domestic things': Erin decided to cook Bryce a lasagne and viewers watched as she struggled to make her way around a supermarket for the very first time

The pair later enjoyed a romantic road trip together - their growing connection very obvious.

'I think I may be crossing into the territory now where I have feelings for Bryce and theyre almost scary because I'm not the sort of person who easily feels this way about people,' Erin said.

'I really really really like him and I'm s**t scared.'

Simple relationship: Simone and Xavier both admitted they would struggle to live with another person after being single for so long and at first struggled to maintain their initial 'spark'

Still okay: Although they shared a very comfortable, routine-focused week together, they seemed to grow closer by the end of day 13

Simone and Xavier, who both admitted they would struggle to live with another person after being single for so long, first struggled to maintain their initial 'spark' but were able to move past it and enjoy a romantic beach meal together.

'I haven't lived with anybody for a long, long time... my manspace is definitely sacred,' Xavier said.

And although they shared a very comfortable, routine-focused week together, they seemed to grow closer by the end of day 13.
Chontel Duncan, a fitness expert and model from Brisbane, Queensland, was recently at the centre of criticism on social media after posting a photo of herself holding her then 13-day-old baby boy, Jeremiah.

Critics took to her Instagram page to raise concerns about the image, saying Jeremiah's neck was too far back... prompting Mrs Duncan to later clarify that he had in fact lifted his own neck up.

Speaking on The Morning Show on Tuesday, Mrs Duncan once again defended herself, after first sparking debate when she was pregnant for her very tiny baby bump and intense workout regime.

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Defending herself: Fitness model Chontel Duncan has defended herself after people criticised the way she held her newborn baby in a selfie

'People just need to lay off me a bit more': Mrs Duncan, the founder of HIIT Australia, said that despite online criticism about the selfie (pictured) she would continue to post 'whatever I want to post'

'People just need to lay off me a bit more,' Mrs Duncan, the founder of HIIT Australia, said.

'He [Jeremiah] keeps lifting his head and nurses did say when he first came out that he was quite strong... so it just happened that I caught the head lifting.

Mrs Duncan also said that despite online criticism she would continue to post 'whatever I want to post' and revealed she wasn't afraid to be 'honest and open.'

Defending herself: Chontel defended the photo, which she said captures the moment her son lifted his head off her chest for a 'second'

'More important than a selfie': The photo prompted some social media users to express their concerns over how the baby was being held

'Don't hide away because of judgement': Mrs Duncan took to Instagram to say her '"not supporting" Miah head photo seems to be a pretty popular photo' and that 'no matter what I do people will try to slam me'

'Hold ur child properly': Some people expressed concern over the photo, saying Jeremiah was not being held properly and worried about the support for his neck

'If I think people might say something it doesn't bother me so I'll just go right ahead and do it... so whatever comes my way I'll back myself up and just show people that you don't need to hide,' the new mother said.

Afterwards, Mrs Duncan took to Instagram to say her '"not supporting" Miah head photo seems to be a pretty popular photo' and that 'no matter what I do people will try to slam me.'

'Maybe I should post a photo of a white wall... the message is clear, don't be afraid to be raw, open & honest with who you are. Don't hide away because of judgement and stand tall with every decision you make in life,' she wrote to her 485,000 followers.

'If someone is confident NOTHING can shatter them.'

Fit mum: Chontel continued to train throughout her pregnancy, and at 37-weeks-pregnant, shared videos of herself kickboxing and doing strength sessions

Mrs Duncan's followers leapt to her defence as well, praising her for her confident attitude and approach to online criticism.

'Oh my god I couldn't imagine getting torn apart like that you honestly are an inspiration taking all of this in your stride. You're a beautiful woman and mama, a wonderful role model,' one woman wrote.

'I love that you are sharing your story and not worrying about any negative comments! As long as baby is happy and healthy that's all that really matters,' said another.

Baby love: 'Newborns can lift their own heads up its not me standing there with his head flicked back shooting away,' she said

'My son did exactly the same thing when he was a baby': Chontel also had her fair share of supporters, who said there was no cause for concern and their babies had done something similar

'I think you are a wonderful role model to all young girls worldwide, I just recently started following you and you have motivated me in every aspect of my life,' a follower agreed.

Mrs Duncan defended herself after many believed the way Jeremiah was being held led to his neck falling backwards.

'I'm concerned on how you're holding the baby,' one person wrote.

'Omg that babys poor neck. Hold ur child properly! More important than a selfie [sic],' wrote another.

A mother's love: Chontel welcomed her son, Jeremiah Thomas, on Good Friday

Baby bumps: She rose to fame after sharing this photo, that shows 'two ladies 4-5 weeks apart in their pregnancies'

The response prompted Chontel to re-post the photo alongside a similar shot of Jeremiah, this time resting his head on her chest.

'I'm not going to be nice about what I think about your belittling attempts to educate me on the safety or better yet my intentions as a new mum,' Chontel wrote on Saturday.

'As explained earlier Miah lifted his head up an for that second that he did so, I just happened to have caught it on camera, before he then laid his head back down on my chest.

'New borns can lift their own heads up its not me standing there with his head flicked back shooting away... So have faith people and if you honestly don't like my page just click unfollow. [sic]'

Not unusual: 'My body is sooooo use [sic] to my constant hard work that it can handle high stress environments like what brushing your teeth may be for someone else,' she said

In a previous post Chontel spoke of her son's strength, writing: 'he is extremely alert and very strong shocking the staff here with his arms and neck strength'.

Despite the negative comments, Chontel also had the support of many of her followers.

'Wow people really need to get over this and have some faith,' one person wrote.
The mystery over Victoria Beckham's thigh gap has apparently been solved after the editor of VogueChina claimed the missing leg also appeared on the 'raw' image.

Editor-in-chief Angelica Cheung told MailOnline the alleged Photoshop fail is merely an optical illusion caused by Victorias white underwear.

The series of images sparked controversy this week in the latest row to emerge from what many claim are the 'unrealistic' physical demands of the fashion industry.

It is an optical illusion due to the mix of the lighting used together with the shadows and the white underwear which, in a black-and-white image, might seem as if there is a gap, Ms Cheung told MailOnline.

Row: The editor-in-chief of VogueChina has waded into the 'Thighgate' dispute, as to whether or not Victoria Beckham was the victim of a Photoshop fail in this image - which appears to show part of her thigh missing

'Raw image': Ms Cheung insisted that she didn't question the image at the time, as in 'another unpublished shot her white underwear was very clearly visible, and allowed us to make sense of the image at the time'

However Ms Cheung admitted there were two versions of the image - a raw picture and a slightly different version that appeared in print - and said she wanted to speak to the New York-based photographers themselves to understand how the optical illusion worked.

'On the raw file originally shown after the shoot it was pretty much like this,' she continued.

'The Photoshop was done by the photographers themselves, not by VogueChina.

'I did not order even one detail of Photoshop really. If I had been more obsessed about Photoshopping I would have made it more natural to the outside eye.

I will ask the photographers about what technically happened there. With black and white images it can sometimes come out like this because different shades of colours can't show in black and white.

But thats all I can say before New York wakes up. I think the photographers themselves even probably need to check what happened.'

She added: I didnt question the image because we had another unpublished shot where her white underwear was very clearly visible, and thus allowed us to make sense of the image at the time.'

Amazement: VogueChina editor Angelica Cheung confessed to being stunned by the enormous reaction to what she described as a 'throwaway comment' made about the photograph on Twitter

Global: Despite the furore, Ms Cheung said she was delighted that the photographs had captured Victoria as she 'has never been pictured before', and that the images had 'captivated the world'

When asked about the post-production for the photoshoot, she continued: Everybody focuses on this.

I think in total we have about 12-14 pages. We selected the six pictures you see now.

Because there is a sequence in the pictures that we chose we didnt look at this particular detail closely.

Now I look at it, I can understand why people would think about it like that. There is a bit of a gap in there. Angelica Cheung, editor-in-chief of VogueChina

We just checked our original raw file, its basically the same.

So before the retouching and after the retouching, the two versions are very similar. So Im very, very much convinced that its an optical illusion. I cant explain it otherwise.

She continued: The reason why we didnt even look at this detail was because it wasnt on our mind to look for details to post-produce.

If we had had that kind of mindset, we would probably have asked the photographer to address it with Photoshop.

Now I look at it, I can understand why people would think about it like that. There is a bit of a gap in there.'

Stark: Victoria Beckham appeared in a series of black-and-white images for the Chinese branch of the fashion magazine. Pictured, Victoria and Angelica Cheung at the International Woolmark Prize in Beijing, March 2015

Ms Cheung continued: Victorias always seen as a role model for VogueChina women.

A VogueChina woman is more like a have-it-all woman, successful and glamorous, who has a life, embraces life and makes an effort with everything, and this is what Victoria Beckham is all about.

The mother-of-four appeared in a series of stark images for VogueChina that showed her wearing minimal make-up and pulling bold poses.

But her Instagram followers were quick to point out the bizarre 'gap' where a section of her upper thigh should have been.

The answer is not to Photoshop or not. Its the same answer if you ask me should a woman wear makeup or not. How can you answer a question like that? Angelica Cheung, editor-in-chief of VogueChina

Branded Thighgate, the controversial images caused a rift between online fans of the designer.

Some praised the pictures and Victoria herself, for showing off her lean, toned limbs and impressive flexibility.

Meanwhile others criticised the unfortunate Photoshop fail.

In the offending picture, Victoria stares directly into the camera as she poses in just a white shirt on her tip toe, holding her other leg against her body.

Various theories have arisen as the how the gap may have come about. Some claim it is the result of a Photoshop error; others say it is an item of clothing that has become blended with the background; while a third theory suggests the photograph is a composite of two separate images that have been blended inaccurately together.

But Ms Cheung appears to have clarified the issue once and for all.

On the question of whether or not to use Photoshop, Ms Cheung continued: All the fashion magazines have a little bit of Photoshopping. I think that the answer is not black and white.

Outrage: Victoria shared the image with her Instragram followers after the shoot - but some were quick to point out the 'gap' in her thigh

The answer is not to Photoshop or not. Its the same answer if you ask me should a woman wear makeup or not. How can you answer a question like that?

I think if you wear makeup that enhances your good features and it doesnt really change you into a different person, I think its good. Its still you.

But if you wear makeup and it turns you from A to B totally, then I dont think its a good thing. And its also about how you look at yourself.

So I feel my view to Photoshopping is to use it moderately, to probably improve the overall feel, but its not a tool to change you into somebody else.

She added: I am amazed at the attention drawn by a throwaway Twitter comment, but gratified that so many people have viewed the ground-breaking VogueChina shoot with Victoria Beckham.

The photographers were pushing the artistic boundaries, showing Victoria as she has never been pictured before, and clearly the world has been captivated by those images.

Victoria herself seemed oblivious to the alleged thigh gap, sharing the image with her 9.8million Instagram followers, with the caption: Loved working on this shoot for @voguechina May issue.

A spokesman for Victoria insisted it was 'simply the shirt tucked under from behind'.
This Morning presenter Phillip Schofield has been forced to take to Twitter to set the record straight after viewers spotted what they thought was a live mouse on set in the ITV studio yesterday.

Several people took to social media on Monday to claim they had seen a rodent running past co-host Holly Willoughby, after footage showed a dark shape darting across the screen.

But ahead of today's programme, Phillip, 54, tweeted: 'Nope, it wasn't a mouse, we'll explain at start of show.'

As the show got underway, 35-year-old Holly asked her co-host: 'So, have you seen it this morning anywhere? Can we stop talking about it, because it makes me a little bit jumpy.'

When Phillip admitted he hadn't seen any sign of the rodent, he said: 'I was thinking about putting bicycle clips on the bottom of my trouser legs just in case.'

But after they replayed the clip from yesterday's show, they said: 'Don't panic; after expert analysis, we have concluded it's just someone's head walking past on the Southbank. So rest assured, we do not have a rodent.'

A close-up of the 'mouse' showed that it was bobbing up and down - like a person walking - and even had a human ear.

The pair were joined today by Ferne McCann from TOWIE, who said she felt that body-shaming should be made illegal.

'This is something I feel passionately about,' the reality star said. 'I think it should be illegal, body shaming. They are sitting behind their keyboards. They don't know... celebrity or not, what that person is feeling.'

Keen to set the record straight, Holly and Phillip today revealed that experts had confirmed the so-called mouse that appeared on yesterday's show was in fact just a person walking past outside the studio

The pair were also joined by Ferne McCann from TOWIE, who said she felt that body-shaming should be made illegal. 'This is something I feel passionately about,' the reality star said. 'I think it should be illegal'

Viewers took to Twitter yesterday after spotting what appears to be a mouse (circled) during This Morning

Yesterday, Holly was giving details about a phone-in competition when something appeared to scuttle past in the background.

Chloe Robinson tweeted: '@itvthismorning @PhilipScofield @hollywills what has just ran behind Hollie? (sic.)'

She shared a short clip of the ITV programme in which the barely-noticeable dark shape was seen scuttling past in the background.

Fellow tweeter Nicole Cunningham wrote: 'What is running behind Holly and Phil as they announce the competition before the bgt item. it looks like a mouse,' alongside a sad face.

Chloe Robinson tweeted: '@itvthismorning @PhilipScofield @hollywills what has just ran behind Hollie? (sic)'

Another viewer, Nicole Cunningham, took to social media to say: 'What is running behind Holly and Phil as they announce the competition before the bgt item. it looks like a mouse,' alongside a sad face emoji

Post-holiday blues: Holly Willoughbys holiday glow yesterday was equally matched by her co-host Phillip Schofield as the pair revealed that had enjoyed their family breaks in the same location in Portugal

Holly has just returned from a family break in Portugal where she admitted she stayed just 'two streets away' from co-host Phillip Schofield.

Phillip explained: It's lovely to be back - in fact while it's like we haven't seen each other for a long time, we were two streets away from each other in Portugal.

Holly added: You ended up having massive waterfight with my son.

Her co-host joked: Yes, you had to lend me some of Dan's clothes. I threw his shoe in to the swimming pool, I could see on his face he wasn't very happy so I went to the pool to get it for him - and the next thing I knew, I was straight in.

Happy to be back: On yesterday's show, the popular presenting duo admitted that they hadnt truly had a break away from each other as Phillip joked, We cant keep away from each other

Sittin pretty: Holly made sure she continued to showcase her sartorial prowess for her return to work on Monday as she sported a figure-hugging duck egg blue dress from Closet London

Holly continued to showcase her sartorial prowess for her return to work as she sported a figure-hugging duck egg blue dress from Closet London.

She completed the look with nude heels and wore her blonde locks in glossy waves.

Holly tied the knot to her husband Dan Baldwin in 2007, before the pair welcomed her first child in 2009 - a son named Harry, six. The couple also have a five-year-old daughter Belle, and son Chester, 18 months.
Ivanka Trump has only been on maternity for leave for two weeks, but the entrepreneur is already itching to get back to her office.

The 34-year-old, who gave birth to her third child Theodore James on March 27, stopped by Ivanka Trump HQ on Monday to surprise her staff while modeling an ensemble from her eponymous label's spring line.

'I have been following the team on Snapchat, and I missed it here, so I snuck away from the baby while he was sleeping for just a few minutes,' Ivanka says in a clip from her outing that was shared on her Snapchat account.

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Can't stay away: Ivanka Trump took to Snapchat on Monday to reveal that she left her newborn Theodore James at home so she could surprise her staffers at her office

Quick visit: Ivanka explains in the clip that she has been following her team on Snapchat, and she missed the office so much that she decided to stop by while Theodore was napping

At the start of the video the camera is pointed at Ivanka's blue pumps, black pants, and black leather bag before it it slowly moves up to show off her black and blue floral print top.

When the camera reaches her face, Ivanka happily waves as she reveals that she left baby Theo home for a bit so she could stop by her office and visit her beloved employees.

Ivanka was always on the go throughout her third pregnancy, so it is unsurprising that the busy mom took some time catch up with her staff on Monday.

Just three days after giving birth to her son, Ivanka took her four-year-old daughter Arabella and two-year-old son Joseph to school.

A week later she introduced her father Donald to a massive crowd in their home city of New York as she explained why voters should back him for the Republican nomination.

Walking advertisement: The 34-year-old models a floral print shirt, black pants, and blue heels from her eponymous clothing and accessories line in the short video

Sibling bond: Ivanka took to Instagram on Sunday to share this photo of her four-year-old daughter Arabella lovingly cradling her tiny, newborn brother Theodore in her arms

'Happy #NationalSiblingsDay!': Ivanka also shared a precious photo of Arabella hugging her little brother, two-year-old Joseph

Ivanka, who spent a great deal of her pregnancy on the campaign trail for her dad, admitted that although it was difficult to leave Theo at home, she did sow because she thinks this election 'is more important now than ever'.

However, Ivanka and her brother Eric won't be voting in the in the April 19 New York GOP primary as they admitted this week that they missed last fall's deadline to register to vote next week.

And while Ivanka is undoubtedly busy, the proud mom has found plenty of time to dote on her three children and her 35-year-old husband Jared Kushner.

The former model took to Instagram on Sunday to share a precious photo of Arabella lovingly cradling Theodore in her arms.

'Sunday morning cuddles,' she captioned the photo which sees her daughter still in her pajamas as she holds her baby brother who is clad in just a diaper.

Doting sister: The proud mom posted a short video of Arabella serenading her baby brother last week

Back on the campaign trail: Just eleven days after giving birth, Ivanka introduced her father Donald at an event in their home city of New York

Later that day she posted a sweet snapshot of Arabella hugging Joseph in honor of National Siblings Day.

Ivanka has a history of sharing family photos and videos on her social media accounts, a practice that has only increased with the arrival of the family's new addition.

Last week, Ivanka shared a video that sees her eldest child sitting on a sofa holding her then one-week-old brother and sweetly singing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.

Arabella manages to hold the baby confidently for most of the song, but at one point the baby's neck is unsupported and a pair of hands come into view to help.

Earlier in the day, she shared a picture of Jared and Joseph looking lovingly at the newborn - a day after his circumcision ceremony.

Donald's eldest daughter converted to Judaism before she married Jared seven years ago, and in keeping with their beliefs, Theodore was circumcised in a ceremony on the eighth day of his life, also known as brit milah.

Family event: Ivanka and Arabella, pictrued hand-in-hand, wore matching outfits to Theodore's cirumcision ceremony last week

Support system: Ivana Trump was spotted arriving for the ceremony in a blue furry coat and headscarf

Smiles: Theodore James, who is pictured in the hospital with his father and big sister, was born on March 27 at 5:43pm. This photo was taken just two days later

Ivanka had given birth just one week before the ceremony, but she looked trim in a figure-hugging white and pale pink dress paired with a matching pink handbag.

Arabella was dressed to coordinate with her mother in a white patterned dress worn under a pale pink coat.

Jared meanwhile left the family's apartment in Trump Park Avenue on Manhattan's Upper East Side with a car seat holding baby Theodore who remained out of sight under a blanket.

Joseph later stepped out hand in hand with his father and dressed in a white shirt and black suit.

Ivanka's mother, Donald's first wife, Ivana Trump, was also seen going to the ceremony which was carried out at an undisclosed location in Midtown, Manhattan.

The 67-year-old wore a furry blue coat and a scarf around her head.
She admitted she suffered insecurity after her song, Whip My Hair, got popular but has grown more confident

Willow also gushed about her love of science and plans to attend the prestigious

Willow Smith and her big brother Jaden are two years apart in age  oh, and the opposite sex  but the 15-year-old daughter of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith says it can still feel like they're the same person.

Covering the May issue of Teen Vogue, Willow opened up about her feelings about fashion, shared her dreams of going to MIT, and explained how incredibly close she is to her big brother .

'Were like binary stars, like two parts of one thing. I know what hes thinking at all times. And he knows what Im thinking,' she told the magazine. 'Were not identical twins, but it feels like that in a lot of ways.'

Cover girl: Willow Smith appears on the cover of the May issue of Teen People

Samesies: The 15-year-old said that she and her 17-year-old brother Jaden are almost like identical twins

Connected: She said she always knows what he's thinking, and vice versa

As the teenagers are growing up and finding their own distinct personalities, it seems that they've still managed to become quite similar people, with plenty in common.

One thing they share is a love of fashion  and the privileged of being loved by the fashion world.

Willow is still quite proud of her big brother's Louis Vuitton womenswear campaign, in which the 17-year-old modeled a skirt by the designer brand.

And now she's gearing up for a campaign all her own, after Karl Lagerfeld announced earlier this month that she'd been named Chanel's newest' ambassadress'.

'Being a young African-American woman with dreads, it blows my mind that Im a Chanel ambassador. Like, how am I a Chanel ambassador? It is so beautiful,' she said.

'Im coming into a new part of my life that is completely unknown, and Im jumping right in. All I can do from here is continue to shift paradigms and continue to push the envelope further and further. But I am doing it every day just by being myself.'

No boundaries: Her parents, Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, have let her freely experiment with her style and interests

Fashion favorite: In March, Karl Lagerfeld announced that Willow would be the new brand ambassador for Chanel

Model time: She said that it 'blows her mind' that she is an African American woman with dreads and is an ambassador for the brand (pictured at the Fall 2016 fashion show)

Despite her public persona, though, Willow wasn't always so confident. In fact, she suffered a bit of a self-esteem setback shortly after her first single, Whip My Hair, swept the internet in 2011, when she was just ten years old.

'After Whip My Hair and all the publicity, after going on tour in the U.K., after saying no to the Annie film, all of this crap was going on in my life, and I had to sit down and say, "Who are you? On a real note. Are you this or this?"

'During that time of figuring it out, I was lost and super insecure. But then I stopped trying to find myself in these other inanimate objects, people, and ideas. I realized it isnt about finding yourself  its about creating yourself.'

Since then, the version of herself that's she's created is a boundary-pushing, fashion-experimenting, enigmatic interview-giving star, but also one that sees the importance of focusing on school work as much as what she'll wear to fashion week.

After sitting front row at the Chanel show in Paris in March, Willow came back stateside for a campus visit at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology  her dream school, where she hopes to study science someday.

Self-esteem: She admitted that after Whip My Hair became popular, she started to feel insecure while she figured out who she was

Just a kid: She was just ten at the time, and said she took a long time afterward trying to find herself

Bright future: She loves science and math and hopes to attend MIT some day

Bringing up subjects like nanoscience, civil engineering, and microbiology  and how we need more women in those fields  Willow said she had a great time talking to female students and teachers at MIT because science is 'such a man's world', and she hopes that will change.

Though she didn't reveal what she plans to major in (and still has a few years to decide), she did divulge that she's a 'STEM freak' (STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) and is working to create songs out of mathematical equations.

Certainly, the teen is setting the example that it can be cool for girls to like math and science, and favoring those traditionally 'nerdy' subjects isn't mutually exclusive with liking fashion, make-up, or even celebrity culture.
A young woman who beat cancer but lost a leg in the process has gone on to become a successful model and travel blogger.

Cacsmy Brutus, 26, a Brooklyn-born but Haiti and Montreal-raised writer who prefers to go by the name Mama Cax, was just 14 years old when she was told she had Osteosarcoma, an aggressive cancer attacking both her bones and lungs. Originally, the teen was told she would have just three weeks to live.

But thanks to an experimental drug and a lot of determination, she beat the terrible disease - though didn't come out of the battle unscathed.

Inspiring: Cacsmy Brutus, 26, a model and blogger from Brooklyn who goes by the name Mama Cax, was given just three weeks to live at 14 years old when she was told she had Osteosarcoma

The result: While battling the cancer, Cax lost her leg and part of her hip in order to get rid of the affected bone

Moving on: Since the surgery, Cax walks with a prosthetic leg and crutches

'At age 16 I had a hip replacement attempting to get rid of the affected bone,' Cax told Huffington Post. 'Unfortunately, the surgery was unsuccessful so I ended up getting some of my right hip removed - along with my right leg.'

As a result, Cax now walks with a prosthetic leg and the help of crutches.

However, the young girl did not let her new disability stop her from doing anything that any other women her age were doing. When she was 17, she took a trip to Costa Rica and swiftly caught the travel bug.

Her blogging career began in earnest with a Tumblr photoblog, documenting her travels and her life as an amputee, but found the market to be so supersaturated with travel bloggers with the same stories that she was put off putting her own stories to the page.

Out and about: Despite her new disability, Cax has become a world traveler

Got the look: Her striking looks have also led her into modelling for ad campaigns and fashion blogs

Getting started: Cax was originally overwhelmed by the amount of travel blogs out there, starting just a Tumblr page at first

The moment of realization: While backpacking in South East Asia in 2013, Cax realized that her experiences as a woman of color and a woman with a disability was worth blogging about

That is, until one backpacking trip to South East Asia in 2013, where she had a revelation.

'I use crutches and when I travel I like to bring a couple of extra crutch tips (rubber tips at the base of the crutches),' Cax explains on her website.

'Thailand is one of the top producers of rubber meaning packing six pairs of crutch tips all the way across the world was so unnecessary and this made me realize that the world doesnt need more bloggers. It needs more bloggers with unique experiences.'

From there, Cax decided to add her voice to the blogosphere, not just as a traveler, but 'as person of color and as a person with a physical disability'.

Showing off: Thanks to her beautiful face and inspiring writings, Cax has nearly 40,000 followers on Instagram

On the side: Aside from her blogging and modelling, she also works as a fellowship/program manager at the office of the mayor of New York City

Taking a stand: Cax claims to be on a personal mission 'to infiltrate the "beauty industry"'to hit out at mainstream beauty standards

All around: She has so far traveled to 19 countries over five different continents

Today, Cax is not only a successful blogger with nearly 40,000 followers on Instagram, but is also a model - or 'muse' as she prefers to be called - all while working as a fellowship/program manager at the office of the mayor of New York City.

Thanks to her striking features and gorgeous smile, has been featured in fashion ad campaigns, in magazines and on blogs and considers herself to be on a 'mission to infiltrate the "beauty industry"' and hit out against mainstream beauty standards.

'Walking down the street with crutches and a prosthetic leg, people often shout: You go girl! youre still beautiful STILL?. I AM beautiful and Im here to show you how beautiful I am inside and out,' she said.
An anorexic is pleading for help to get specialist treatment after her disease became so severe she now believes she can inhale calories.

Sophie Hartwell, 23, from Devon, developed the eating disorder five years ago and it quickly caused her weight to plummet below four stone.

Doctors feared her organs could fail at any moment and even taught her devastated mother Diane, 55, how to do CPR in case her daughters heart stopped at home.

Sophie Hartwell, 23, from Devon, developed the eating disorder five years ago and it quickly caused her weight plummeted below four stone

Pictured here 1.5 stone above her lowest weight, doctors feared Ms Hartwell's organs could fail at any moment and even taught her mother Diane, 55, how to do CPR in case her daughters heart stopped

She cannot even walk past the oven when it is on or go near people who are eating for fear of 'catching' the calories -and absorbing them through her skin.

Her family claim Ms Hartwell - who now also suffers from osteoporosis - cant even stand to look at photographs of food in cookery books, for fear of getting fat.

The once-healthy woman has been hospitalised, had in-patient treatment and met with countless specialists for years, but has been unable to conquer her disorder.

Now, love dones are trying to raise 100,000 for specialist in-patient treatment at a facility in America in the hope of treating her entrenched underlying symptoms once and for all.

Writing on their daughter's fundraising page, her parents wrote: 'In the US they believe in full recovery, they include in their therapy vital groups that are a big part of eating disorder recovery. These groups include nutrition, portioning, exercise, body image, outings, three transitional living stages and visits to restaurants and cafes and all with full support.

Her family claim Ms Hartwell - who now also suffers from osteoporosis - cant even stand to look at photographs of food in cookery books, for fear of getting fat

'The US therapy model has been proven to work with high success rates for a full recovery and it has been identified as the type of treatment that Sophie needs in order for her to make a full recovery.'

Ms Hartwell, from Sidmouth, Devon, said: 'I strongly and firmly believe that I can breathe in calories and absorb them through my skin.

'I cant be in the kitchen when food is cooking, nor can I walk past the oven when it is on. I cant walk past let alone go into a food shop like a bakery.

'My OCD is mental torture, with its compulsions, routines and rituals and obsession with even numbers and being forced to repeat tasks until it feels right.

'I do constant hand washing to get rid of calories and germs. The anorexic voice tells me that I will balloon up and that it can and will happen.

'I can feel the calories on me- all over me. Its strange but very real.My illness is like a tangled web - lots of intricate pieces to a broken puzzle.I am trapped and I feel like I am being controlled by the devil that I cant fight and I cant move on.

'Watching my younger brother and sister move on, living their lives, doing all of the things I want to do, is extremely difficult and it makes me angry.

Ms Hartwell, from Sidmouth, Devon, said: 'I strongly and firmly believe that I can breathe in calories and absorb them through my skin'

Ms Hartwell also self harms and suffers from anxiety and mood swings, which exacerbate her problems

'It is like the evil other half of me that has completely taken me over and consumed me. I have forgotten what it is like live and to feel free. At the moment I am just existing.'

Ms Hartwell adds she has always suffered from low self-esteem and endured psychological bullying at her all-girls school, where she said she was side-lined by her confident peers.

But she began restricting her food age 18, in the midst of an ongoing battle with depression, due to the death of her grandfather and her dad Stephen, 55, who broke his back in an accident at work - all in the space of 18 months.

Four years ago she was admitted to Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital as an emergency patient when her weight hit an all-time low of just four stone.

She was fed through a nasogastric tube, and was too weak to even walk to the bathroom, and her mother had to visit daily to look after her.

Ms Hartwell adds she has always suffered from low self-esteem and endured psychological bullying at her all-girls school, where she said she was side-lined by her confident peers

The 23 year-old enjoyed a carefree childhood and only developed her eating disorder after peer problems

'If there wasnt any intervention at this point in my illness, I think I would have died,' she adds. 'I just would have carried on restricting and refusing food and excessively exercising.

'I couldnt stop, even knowing that the consequence could have meant death at any moment.'

She was discharged home - despite being severely underweight - and forced to wait three months before getting a place at a specialist eating disorder unit.

Sadly, the programme didnt work and she was eventually discharged.

'My last week there I didnt eat a thing and was exercising ten hours a day,' adds Ms Hartwell, who self harms and suffers from anxiety and mood swings.

Her mum, who is her carer, and dad, a carpenter, claim she has been waiting for specialist NHS psychology and psychotherapeutic help for more than two years.

Meanwhile Ms Hartwell continues to obsessively exercise, cant go out to a restaurant, and cant be in the house if someone is cooking strong-smelling food.

Diane and Stephen Hartwell from Sidmouth, Devon, are appealing for help for their anorexic daughter

Her mother has to watch her eat extremely low-calorie foods - such as smoothies or cereal.

'Stepping on the scales is a torment if the number doesnt fall in the right direction', who is still severely underweight, but does not want to give her exact size.

'Seeing the number go down is fantastic. I feel elated and completely spurred on to lose more and more to become weightless and free. If the number stays the same or dare I say it goes up then I am crestfallen - anger doesnt even cover it.

'When this happens I can physically feel Ana scalding me, screaming fat - and then she sets me an even more impossible target.

'It becomes your life. Its like a train is coming towards you at full speed, and you cant move out of the way.I feel guilty putting my family though this. I dont want the people I love to see me like this.'

The family, including siblings Emma, 22, and Toby, 19, are desperate for her to get better, and have found a treatment centre in America which specialises in extreme cases.

The centre offers different types of treatment for eating disorders, including exercise therapy and nutrition groups, rather than adopting a one size fits all approach.

The family, including siblings Emma, 22, and Toby, 19, are desperate for her to get better, and have found a treatment centre in America which specialises in extreme cases

Sophie added: 'The UK doctors are misinformed and wrongly believe that weight defines the severity of your eating disorder and that is so wrong.

'The US are far move advanced in treating eating disorders and with better long term success rates.'

She added that she does not want to share photos of herself at her lowest weight because it may trigger fellow sufferers, as it is so competitive.

'The illness is not always visible. Even at my lowest weight, mentally I was not as bad or complex as I am now. I want the dispel the myth that you have to be emaciated to have anorexia.'

Ms Hartwell's desperate dad Stephen claims the NHS cant help his daughter and nor can any private clinics in the UK. He added: 'She is 23 now and she has not even started her life.

'It just tears your heart out. If we cannot get her to America, I do not know what will happen because the NHS cannot do it.

'We are desperate for help.'

For more information about her fundraising, visit Ms Hartwell's page.
A woman who developed skin cancer after using sunbeds from the age of 13 has released shocking images of the coin-sized hole she had cut out of her nose as a result.

Desperate to be tanned, Jade Thrasher, 26, used sunbeds three times a week for 20 minutes at a time for 11 years.

In 2014, she noticed a clear spot forming on her nose, which kept bursting and failing to heal.

Mrs Thrasher, a nurse, was just 24 years old when a string of biopsies revealed that the growth was actually skin cancer.

Surgeons had to cut out a circle the size of a five pence piece from above her right nostril.

Then, they replaced the skin with flesh taken from her chest - where she now has a six-inch scar.

Jade Thrasher, 26, has shared the shocking images of the coin-sized hole she had cut out of her nose as a result of suffering skin cancer from using sunbeds for years. Pictured before her diagnosis and after surgery

Mrs Thrasher, of Nashville, Tennessee, has now made a full recovery, but says she would never use a sunbed again and is sharing the gory pictures of her face to warn others of the dangers of tanning.

Mrs Thrasher, married to Matthew, 29, who owns a house moving business, said: 'There was so much pressure to be tanned  everyone wanted to be bronzed.

'It is seen as unattractive to be pale where we live in Nashville.

'I want teenagers to see the photo of the hole in my nose so that they know what could happen.

She continued: 'I used to have a sunbed in my house, but I've thrown it in the trash. I didn't want to sell it, because I didn't want anybody else to go through what I went through.

'I definitely regret the years of tanning, but in a way I saved my skin at a young age because I got cancer.

'If I had carried on tanning, my skin would have been a whole lot worse.'

When she was in her early teens, Mrs Thrasher's parents Charles, 55, and Penny, 50, had a sunbed at home.

Rather than use it, she preferred to go to a salon and pamper herself.

A spot that wouldn't heal developed on Mrs Thrasher's nose (left) and two biopsies revealed it was cancer. She went into surgery to remove it (right, afterwards) with doctors unsure of how much they would have to take

Doctors had to remove six inches of the skin on Mrs Thrasher's chest to replace the tissue taken from her nose. Pictured is the resulting scar

Luckily the cancer was caught early and she didn't need radiotherapy or chemotherapy. After the operation she had laser surgery on the scar on her chest and an operation to sand down her nose (pictured afterwards)

She said going on sunbeds was normal in her community, and she did not know of anyone who had ever developed cancer after using them.

Then, when she got engaged to Matthew in February 2010, her tanning schedule became more intense to prepare for her wedding in June.

After a few months when my spot failed to heal, being a nurse, I realised what was going on. I just knew. I went to my doctor in and said "I have cancer on my face.'' Jade Thrasher, 26,

'I would spend 20 minutes on the sunbed six or seven times a week, because I wanted a tan for the wedding,' she said.

After her wedding, when the pair moved into her first marital home, Mrs Thrasher bought her own tanning bed, which she began using twice a week.

By this point, she was aware her skin was becoming wrinkled.

But it wasn't until the spring of 2014, when her father, a quoting manager, noticed a sore on her face.

At first, she didn't think much of the spot  then, one morning in August of the same year, she woke up with blood running down the side of her cheek.

'The sore had burst open overnight,' she said. 'I just thought I must have scratched myself in my sleep.'

A month later, it had almost healed but then started bleeding again.

'After a few months when it failed to heal, being a nurse, I realised what was going on,' Mrs Thrasher said.

'I just knew. I went to my local doctor in and said "I have cancer on my face.''

From the age of 13 Mrs Thrasher used sunbeds three times a week, often for 20 minutes at a time. Pictured is the spot that was actually cancer (left) and flesh doctors were forced to cut out of her nose to treat her (right)

Oddly, she wasn't scared by the news - but her family were terrified.

She said: 'As a parent or a husband, you never want it to be your child or spouse, so they were pretty torn up.'

Mrs Thrasher had two biopsies at her local doctor's surgery because the first one was inconclusive.

The second confirmed she did indeed have cancer, and she was transferred to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville to meet with consultants.

There, doctors told her the cancer could have been there for up to five years, without her knowing.

You have to be confident in your own skin, regardless of what colour it is. Everybody is beautiful in their own way and you should never do anything that's going to harm you Jade Thrasher, 26

Surgeons did not know how much of her nose they would have to take off until the day of the procedure in January 2015.

It was this uncertainty that Mrs Thrasher describes as the 'scariest part' of her ordeal.

In the end, medics sliced away a 5p sized portion of flesh.

When she first saw the hole, Mrs Thrasher said she felt an awful 'sinking feeling.'

She underwent plastic surgery on the same day, with doctors removing six inches of the skin on her chest to replace the tissue taken from her nose.

To her and her family's utter delight, as the cancer had been caught early, she did not need chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

In the run up to her wedding, Mrs Thrasher went on sunbeds for 20 minutes at a time. Now, she says she would never use one again

She spent two months away from work to recover from the surgery, which left her in agony for weeks.

Mrs Thrasher said: 'After surgery, for three weeks I could not bend over or do anything for myself because the graft on my sore was so crucial that I wasn't allowed to apply pressure to my head.

'My husband had to help me get dressed and do daily tasks.

Left with a scarred nose and chest, she underwent laser surgery and a procedure to sand down her nose to make the scars less obvious.

She said: 'There's always going to be a scar on my nose, but it's not noticeable. The scar on my chest is more obvious.

'I was scared that I would look significantly different. It could have been a lot worse than it was.'

Now, she now has full body check ups every three months to make sure the disease has not spread.

And she has vowed never to use a sunbed again - and remains under an umbrella in the sun, or wears factor 50 cream.

'When you're a teenager you think you're invincible,' she said.

'But I covered my face while using the sunbed and I still got cancer.'

'I have had tonnes of girls saying I have saved their skin, after they've seen my picture and been put off sunbeds.

'You have to be confident in your own skin, regardless of what colour it is.
This is the excruciating moment doctors struggle to pull a live fish out from a mans throat.

The patient, believed to be from Malaysia, is moaning in pain as medics try to prise the wriggling animal from his mouth.

His eyes are closed in agony as doctors desperately try to grasp the fishs tail with forceps.

As they tug, the man continues to make guttural groaning sounds.

The fish is still alive, a doctor says in English. We must pull the fish out.

Finally there is a loud scream as is is dragged from the patient's throat.

Oh my God, the doctor explains.

The fish  silver with a tail streamed with blood  is laid on the white sheets of the hospital bed where it twitches, still very much alive.

Doctors pick up the wriggling animal and the camera zooms in on its face.

The film has been viewed more than 2,000 times since it was uploaded to Liveleak.

There is no explanation as to how the fish got stuck in his throat.

Commenting on YouTube, some users suggest he was 'hungry' while others believe it is a prank gone wrong.

This revolting video shows a man moaning in agony as doctors pull a live, wriggling fish which is stuck in his throat (left). After they manage to prise it free, the camera zooms in on it twitching on the hospital bed (right)

In 2014, MailOnline reported on the story of a Brazilian man who had a live fish removed from his intestine.

Graphic footage shows the man having an operation to remove a South American lungfish from his body.

In the horrific clip, a surgeon pulls out the eel-like fish, known to grow up to a length of 125 cm (4.10 ft), which had apparently burrowed into the man's body.

The video shows it being pulled from his abdomen and wrapped in a cloth.

Miraculously, the fish was still very much alive when it was removed - and could be seen wriggling around.
Children of older mothers are healthier, taller and obtain more education than children of younger mothers, according to a study.

Researchers claim health and educational opportunities steadily improve year-by-year, meaning it pays to be born later.

Most research has previously suggested that older motherhood causes a heightened probability of Down Syndrome, Alzheimer's disease, hypertension and diabetes.

However, while not arguing against this, the latest findings by the London School of Economics and the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, in Germany, suggest there are also benefits.

The study used data from 1.5 million Swedish born between 1960-1991 to examine the relationship between maternal age at the time of birth, and height, physical fitness, grades in high school, and education attainment

Specifically, the fact a ten-year difference in maternal age is accompanied by a decade of changes to social and environmental conditions.

'Those twenty years make a huge difference,' explains author Mikko Myrskyla.

'A child born in 1990, for example, had a much higher probability of going to a college or university than somebody born 20 years earlier.'

Scientists used data from over 1.5 million Swedish men and women born between 1960 and 1991 to examine the relationship between maternal age at the time of birth, and height, physical fitness, grades in high school, and educational attainment of the children.

Physical fitness and height are good proxies for overall health, and educational attainment is a key determinant of occupational achievement and lifetime opportunities, they said.

Most research has previously suggested that older motherhood causes a heightened probability of Down Syndrome, Alzheimer's disease, hypertension and diabetes

They found that when mothers delayed childbearing to older ages, even as old as 40 or older, they had children who were taller, had better grades in high school, and were more likely to go to university.

The benefits associated with being born in a later year outweigh the individual risk factors arising from being born to an older mother. We need to develop a different perspective on advanced maternal age

For example, comparing two siblings born to the same mother two decades apart, they found on average the child born when the mother was in her early 40s spends more than a year longer in the educational system.

The researchers compared siblings who share the same biological mother and father and who grew up in the same household environment.

'By comparing siblings who grew up in the same family it was possible for us to pinpoint the importance of maternal age at the time of birth independent of the influence of other factors that might bias the results,' said Barclay.

'The benefits associated with being born in a later year outweigh the individual risk factors arising from being born to an older mother. We need to develop a different perspective on advanced maternal age.'

The research was published in the Population and Development Review.
A man left with a gaping hole in his leg after being bitten by a false widow spider has shared a gruesome video of his wound to warn others not to ignore seemingly minor injuries.

Richard Stevens, from Orpington, Kent, has released a revolting film showing his cut being cleaned - showing bandages green and slimy with pus being dragged out of his leg.

The 40-year-old woke up to find a tiny insect bite on the outside of his right thigh in early December last year - but ignored it, believing it would heal on its own.

To his horror, over the next eight days it grew into a swollen, inflamed lump which was so painful he walked with a limp.

Eventually he went to the doctors who referred him for surgery immediately, who removed the dead flesh from his leg, leaving a crater an inch-and-a-half deep.

Scroll down for video

Richard Stevens, 40, was left with a wound in his leg and inch-and-a-half-deep after being bitten by a false widow spider. He is pictured in hospital having his dressings changed

Initially Mr Stevens ignored the spider bite, until he eventually went to the doctor when it became inflamed (right). There, they said he needed surgery and cut out the dead flesh, leaving him with a huge wound (right)

He was told a false widow spider had bitten him, injecting poison into his leg and causing the wound to become infected.

Now, he has shared the video of his wound being cleaned - which is not for the squeamish - which he hopes will encourage others to seek medical help should they be bitten.

Mr Stevens, a project manager at John Lewis, initially ignored the insect bite until his boss noticed his limp

He said: 'My boss asked why I was limping and I told him I had this bite.

'I got home and my girlfriend Hayley told me I should go to the doctors. But I'm a man.

'I was a bit blase. I thought "You don't go to the doctors about an insect bite".'

But by 9pm that evening it was quite painful, and he decided to go to a 24 hour minor injuries unit at Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup, Kent.

The wound - which was like a tunnel in his leg - left Mr Stevens in so much pain he could barely walk

There, he was referred to A&E department at the Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH) in Farnborough, where doctors said he would need an operation.

'The doctor looked at it and straight away told me "You need to go to surgery",' he said.

'At this point we didn't know what it was. When I said "when?" he said "You need to go now."

It looked like someone had got a cigarette lighter from a car and plunged it in to my leg Richard Stevens, 40

He was told to go home and prepare to come back in for surgery when he was called.

But over the next few days, the wound became more inflamed and a black dot appeared under the surface of the skin and began to spread.

Eventually, the skin broke and the wound burst and began weeping and bleeding.

By the time he was called for surgery, he had an open crater in his leg, the size of a 1 coin in width and an inch and a half deep.

'It looked like someone had got a cigarette lighter from a car and plunged it in to my leg,' Mr Stevens said.

Under general anaesthetic, doctors cut out the dead flesh from his leg and cleaned the wound.

Doctors said his injuries been caused by a false widow spider, which had bitten him and poisoned his leg, causing the flesh to die

'It looked like someone had got a cigarette lighter from a car and plunged it in to my leg,' Mr Stevens said. Pictured is the cut after surgery (left) and once it had healed (right)

He was left with a hollow tunnel in his thigh, and the recovery was long and painful.

The wound had to be packed with a long, ribbon gauze to keep it clean.

Every two days, he had to return to hospital to have it redressed, which was so gruesome he decided to film it.

Clean white bandages would be stuffed into the crater, but when they were later removed they were green and sodden with pus.

Doctors sent off toxicology reports to find out what had caused the huge, infected hole to appear in Mr Stevens' legs.

He has released a gruesome video which shows his wound being packed with bandages. When they are removed, they are green and sodden with pus

At one follow-up appointment, a doctor told him the culprit was probably a false widow spider - venomous arachnids that are becoming more widespread in Britain.

'I asked what had caused it to be such a bad reaction, the fact that my flesh had rotted away,' he said.

Dont assume that things that are seemingly irrelevant will go away, and if something isnt right get it checked out Richard Stevens, 40

'I was told the toxicology reports weren't conclusive but they were very confident it was a false widow spider.'

Mr Stevens was shocked that a spider bite incurred in Britain in December could have such a horrendous impact.

Though by March 2016 his wound has completely healed and is no longer painful, he wants to urge others to get trivial symptoms checked by doctors immediately.

'It's completely healed now but left a deep scar. It looks like a bullet wound,' he said.

'The doctors said if I had gone earlier they would have given me some antibiotics and the antibiotics would have solved it.'

Writing in the video, Mr Stevens added: Dont assume that things that are seemingly irrelevant will go away, and if something isnt right get it checked out.

Had I left it a few days longer tings could have been very different.
The unanimous selection of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as the next Janata Dal (United) president will not come as a surprise to those who have witnessed the rise, fall, and rise again of the party over the last 13 years.

Veteran Sharad Yadav may have been the partys national president for 10 years, but it is Nitish who has emerged as its natural leader at the national level over this period.

Between ousting Lalu Prasad Yadav from power in 2005 and tasting a crushing defeat by the BJP-led NDA in the 2014 parliamentary polls, Nitish was widely acknowledged as the leader who led the JD(U) from the front.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar (right) has succeeded Sharad Yadav (left) as Janata Dal (United) president

And whatever doubts remained over his leadership were promptly dispelled when he steered the Grand Alliance to a historic win in the state assembly elections last year.

It would be no exaggeration to say that the fate of his party remained inextricably linked to Nitish's own fate in the past decade or so.

No other JD(U) leader mattered much in his party. Even Sharad Yadav, regardless of his political acumen and experience, had to remain content playing second fiddle to his popular younger colleague.

It was, therefore, natural for Nitish to take over the mantle of the partys president once Sharad opted out after three consecutive terms.

A leader of national stature, Sharad had played a key role in consolidating the party, allowing Nitish to focus on his agenda of good governance and development as the chief minister.

With Sharad at the helm, Nitish did not have to bother much about the day-to-day party affairs.

But the changed political scenario in the wake of the 2015 assembly polls in Bihar gave Nitish a good reason to step into national politics.

The ignominious defeat of the NDA in the assembly polls had given an unambiguous message of unity to all the forces opposed to Modi.

It was primarily the consolidation of votes of the JD-U, RJD and the Congress that had sealed the fate of the BJP in Bihar.

Nitish believed that the Bihar results were a ray of hope for all the anti-BJP parties on a common mission to oust the BJP from power at the Centre in 2019. It was apparently under this belief that Nitish agreed to shoulder the additional responsibility in his party.

With no other party colleague worthy of stepping into Sharads shoes, Nitish had to accept the twin responsibilities if he were to make a serious foray into the national politics for forging unity of the like-minded parties.

The timing of Nitishs appointment is also significant.

It has taken place at a time when the JD(U) has initiated merger talks with Ajit Singhs Rashtriya Lok Dal in Uttar Pradesh and Babulal Marandis Jharkhand Vikas Morcha in order to become a bigger political force ahead of the 2017 Uttar Pradesh elections.

Although Nitish has time-and-again insisted that he does not harbour any ambition to become the prime minister, he has also gone on record saying that he is no less qualified than any other claimant.

With allies like Lalu Prasad and the Congress by his side and his acceptability among different parties, including the Left Front, growing by the day, Nitish appears to be gradually shunning his inhibitions to vie for the top post now.

His recent statements backing reservation for the SCs, STs and OBCs in the private sector and lifting off 50 per cent ceiling on their quota in the public sector were interpreted in the political circles as his conscious attempt to enlarge his support base across the country.

It is true that other powerful regional leaders such as Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mayawati, Mamata Bannerjee, J Jayalalithaa and even Naveen Patnaik will not let go of their own ambitions and accept Nitish wholeheartedly as the prime ministerial candidate of the united Opposition in 2019.

Besides, the Congress would like to bounce back under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi.

But as the latest developments in JD(U) indicate, the Bihar chief minister will definitely be among the serious contenders in the next Modi-versus-the-others battle.

'Muslims are the biggest casualties of terrorism, says Imam'

There was a lot of buzz in Patna over the arrival of the Imam of Masjid al-Haram of Kaaba in Mecca, Sheikh Salih Aal Talib.

He was expected to participate in the Friday prayers at the historic Gandhi Maidan, at an event organised by Tauhid Educational Trust.

Thousands of devout Muslims were eager to join him in the prayers, but he failed to make it on Friday because of visa issues.

Imam of Masjid al-Haram, Sheikh Salih Aal Talib, has spoken about peace and brotherhood being at the core of Islam

The Imam, however, arrived the next day in Patna and talked about peace and brotherhood being the core of Islam.

He said that Islam and Muslims were the biggest casualties of terrorism across the world.

We are Muslims, but we see that terrorists target mosques and kill Muslims on Eid, he said.

Terrorism has no religion. There is no place for terrorism in Islam; Islam is what Prophet Muhammad taught.

He said that terrorism first surfaced in Western nations before it hit the Muslim countries.

When followers of other religions indulge in terror acts, their religions are never blamed, he said.

Why is Islam blamed then?

The Imams visit generated a lot of political buzz in the state capital as several politicians made a beeline to meet him.

Sunny Leone keeps it brief in Bihar

Bihar had its Sunny Leone moment on Sunday.

The pornstar-turned-Bollywood actor performed her biggest hits during her maiden visit to Patna.

Sunny gyrated to her famous number - Baby doll - at the open air theatre, Bharatiya Nritya Kala Mandir.

Sunny Leone performed the hit Baby doll at the open-air theatre in Patna

A large number of families turned up in their Sunday best to enjoy the show along with hundreds of enthusiastic boys and girls who rooted for Sunny throughout the performance.

But Sunnys show lasted barely a few minutes, leaving her admirers disappointed.

It feels good to be here. I hope you liked my performance. May I request you to watch my upcoming movie, One Night Stand, she said before disappearing from the stage.

The crowds kept asking for more and it was left to Mohit Chouhan to belt out his hit numbers to mitigate their disappointment.

Nitish and Sushil stand the test of time

The friendship between Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushil Kumar dates back to the days of Total Revolution launched by the great socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan against the erstwhile Indira Gandhi regime in the 1970s.

The pair were together as students at Patna University, and since then the two stalwarts have become close during the 17-year-long alliance of their parties.

Nitish and Sushil sitting together. The pair were students together at Patna University, and have largely been firm friends and allies since.

They struck a perfect rapport with each other during the seven-and-a-half years of the NDA government and raised the bar of coalition politics in Bihar.

However, they have been firing salvos at one another since Nitish sacked Sushil and 10 other BJP ministers from his government after the JD(U) walked out on the NDA in protest against the rise of Narendra Modi in his party.

Still, both leaders have retained their mutual respect and admiration for each other.

At an all-party meeting convened on Saturday in Patna to discuss the centenary celebrations to commemorate Mahatma Gandhis visit to Champaran in Bihar, Nitish noticed Sushil sitting in a corner and promptly invited him to sit beside him - just the way they used to do when Sushil was the deputy chief minister in his government.

Nitish and Sushil chatted like the good, old days on the occasion.

Even during Prime Minister Narendra Modis recent visit to Bihar, Nitish had referred to Sushil as his good, old friend.

Sushil, in fact, has been sharing the stage with his political adversaries these days.

Recently, he also rubbed shoulders with RJD president Lalu Prasad on a common platform.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi is all set to crack the whip against a dozen private schools for brazen violations of the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota admissions.

This could also mean the Delhi government taking control of such schools.

On Monday, Maxfort School was issued a show-cause notice by the Delhi government, asking why the school shouldnt pass into the total control of the government.

The AAP government is set to crack the whip against a dozen private schools for brazen violations in the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota admissions

Sources told Mail Today that this is not an isolated case.

There have been several complaints and many such schools are being probed. We are preparing to send notices to them, said a Delhi government official.

Two branches of Maxfort School in Rohini and Pitampura have been issued with notices under section 20 of the Delhi School Education Act, 1973 alleging financial irregularities and other malpractices like EWS violations, land violations, tax evasions and forged records.

After receiving complaints from parents and teachers from the school, Delhi government initiated an inquiry against alleged violations in EWS admission and other financial irregularities. The government is preparing to take over both the branches of the school, Deputy CM and Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia tweeted.

However, the school management committee does not consider the governments move legal.

It is very unfortunate that we have been issued such a show cause notice by the government. This is an illegal order. As it is a show-cause notice, we will definitely respond to it, Sanjeev Khanna from the management committee of Maxfort School told Mail Today.

The move came after a large number of parents complained to the education department about the financial irregularities and high fee structure.

The school used to ask for donations even after receiving strict orders from the government. Their functioning is extremely unjustified, a parent told Mail Today.

Not only the private schools, but even government schools are under the scanner.

After finding financial irregularities in five government schools, Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia had fired the principals for their alleged involvement.

The government is following a zero-tolerance policy. There is no partiality from the governments end. Those found guilty, will be punished, another senior government official said.

Recently, the Directorate of Education had formed 24 teams to visit the schools and verify the record of admissions under EWS and Disadvantaged Group (DG) categories in entry-level classes for the 2016-17 session.

The teams will be regularly visiting the schools, added the official.
The famous Shani Shignapur temple in Maharashtras Ahmednagar district is indeed passing through difficult times.

After being directed by the Bombay High Court to lift the centuries-old ban on the entry of women into its inner sanctum, the temple is now facing another controversy.

It is now battling claims in the Supreme Court that a massive 22-acre chunk of land adjoining the temple is actually a Wakf property.

The Shani temple recently opened its doors to women after a Bombay High Court order, and now it is facing another controversy over the Wakf's land claims

The Shaineswar Devasthanam Trust had acquired the property way back in 2004, to build various amenities for the benefit of lakhs of pilgrims, who visit the shrine every day.

The trust moved the Supreme Court on Friday, challenging the petition filed by Sayyad Shaukat Mehboob and five others before the Maharashtra Wakf Tribunal in Aurangabad.

They had sought the cancellation of the sale deed, contending that it had been acquired through illegal means.

The apex court, after hearing lawyers Jayant Bhushan and Sandeep Deshmukh, who represented the Trust, has given some relief by ordering a status quo with regards to the possession of property.

It also restrained the Wakf tribunal from passing any final order in the matter.

The lawyers vehemently argued that the Wakf Tribunal under section seven of the Wakf Act neither has the power to hear the matter, nor the authority to set aside the sale deed which only a civil court could do.

The Trust had moved the Supreme Court after its plea was rejected by the Bombay High Court.

Ruling in favour of the Shaineswar trust for the timebeing, a bench of justice Anil R Dave and justice Adarsh Kumar Goel ruled: Status quo as on today shall be maintained with regard to the possession of the property in question. The tribunal shall not pass any final orders after hearing the parties concerned.

Urging the tribunal to quash the sale deed saying that the Newasa Tehsildar had given possession to the Trust without the authority of law, Mehboob held that the Wakf Tribunal has jurisdiction to try and decide the present proceeding.

The Shani temple trust argued that in Bhanwar Lal Vs Rajasthan Board of Muslim Wakf, the Supreme Court held that a relief of cancellation of sale deed has to be tried by the Civil Court as it is not covered under section 6 or 7 of the Wakf Act, 1995, whereby jurisdiction is conferred upon the Tribunal to decide such an issue.

The Bombay High Court did a mistake in not appreciating that a relief of cancellation of sale deed has to be tried by the civil court. Moreover, the property is also not shown in Wakf Register. Then how could the tribunal adjudicate over the piece of property? the Trusts lawyer said.

'Women's entry will spike rapes', says Shankaracharya

By Mail Today Bureau

Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati ruffled some feathers and created a controversy by saying that women's entry into the Shani Shingnapur temple will lead to a rise in crimes such as rape.

Women should not feel triumphant about visiting the sanctum sanctorum of Shani Shingnapur temple in Maharashtra. They should stop all the drum-beating about what they have done. Worshiping Shani will bring ill luck to them and give rise to crimes like rape, he told the reporters in Haridwar on Sunday.
A day after the terrible tragedy at the Puttingal Devi temple in Kollam district that claimed 109 lives, the focus has shifted to what caused the accident.

An FIR has been filed against temple officials, and five persons have been detained for questioning.

They are believed to be associates of K Surendran, one of the contractors who organised the fireworks at the temple on the night of April 9-10.

The tragedy at the Puttingal Devi temple in Kollam district, Kerala, has claimed 109 lives and injured many more

Surendran himself is believed to have been admitted to Thiruvananthapuram medical college hospital suffering from 90 per cent burns.

On the ground, investigations have begun into the kind of explosives that were used in the fireworks.

Experts from Nagpur said banned explosives that violate the Act and Supreme Court guidelines may have been used.

Three cars with fire crackers stocked in gunny bags were also found about 3 km away from the temple site.

Devastation in Kerala: Experts say banned explosives may have been used in the fireworks display

The cars reportedly belong to the family of one of the organisers of the programme.

While no one has been arrested yet, Kerala police ADGP Ananthakrishnan told Mail Today that three senior temple administration members are absconding.

The police will try to find out who took the decision to go ahead with the competitive fireworks despite the Kollam district administration refusing permission on paper.

Meanwhile, the fallout of the Kollam incident has been on the mother of all temple festivals in Kerala, the Thrissur Pooram on April 17.
US Defence Secretary Ashton Carters second visit to India in less than a year and within four months of our own raksha mantri (foreign minister)s visit to the US suggests an acceleration of the India-US defence agenda.

The elements of this agenda are clear:

Increasing US arms sales to India in view of Indias plans to buy $100 billion worth of new weapons over the next ten years

Moving from a buyer-seller relationship to co-development and co-production, with technology transfers, under the Defence Trade and Technology Initiative (DTTI) and our own campaign for Make in India in defence manufacturing

Developing a defence partnership with India to support the US pivot towards Asia

Promoting India as a net security provider in the Indo-Pacific region and linking this strategically with Indias own Act East policy.

Project progress

How much can this agenda actually be accelerated? Of the four DTTI pathfinder projects, only two -mobile electric hybrid sources and chemical and biological warfare protection gear - have made progress.

US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter's visit to India suggests an acceleration of the India-US defence agenda

Discussions on jet engine and aircraft carrier technologies will be protracted as these are long-term projects.

Jet engine technology is a prized technology that the US private sector will not part with easily.

The right balance between trade and technology will have to be found within the DTTI, between the US's push for trade and India's for technology.

While the Pentagon has a dedicated team working exclusively on DTTI, the complexity of US export control legislation and Congressional oversight on technology transfers are formidable barriers.

The US India Business Council wants the US Congress to pass legislation authorising any proposed export of defence equipment or technical data to India to be treated in a manner similar to that of the USs closest partners and allies - NATO members, Australia, Japan, Korea, Israel and New Zealand.

However, this is likely to run aground because of over-ambition and opposition by Pakistan or China-linked anti-India lobbies within the US strategic community, notwithstanding bipartisan support for India.

The effort is to obtain the maximum possible for the India-US relationship in the last months of the Obama presidency, and leave him with a substantive, non-controversial legacy involving a major country like India, unlike his other two legacies - Iran and Cuba - which are controversial domestically.

Beyond that, the US will look for political concessions from India in exchange for technology transfers and more congruence in foreign policies, which India may hesitate on so as not to lose its strategic autonomy.

Carter revealed US political objectives regarding India in his address to the Council of Foreign relations in New York just before his current India visit.

He made it apparent that he viewed India-US defence ties as an integral part of US policies in the Asia-Pacific, which he considered the single most consequential region for America's future.

Regional concerns

According to him, the US wants to manage the historic change in this vital region, including Chinas rise. Carter noted in this context tensions created by Chinese actions in the South China Sea, which have raised serious regional concerns which the US shares.

The US is therefore enhancing its force posture in the region by stationing more military personnel and some of Americas most advanced capabilities, including more potent missiles, undersea drones ,and bombers.

In this context he spoke of the remarkable convergence of US and Indian interests - what I call a strategic handshake between the two countries, reflected in the Joint Strategic Vision Statement released in January 2015 and the 2015 Framework for the US-India Defence Relationship.

He intended discussing exciting new projects in Delhi and advised the audience to stay tuned for when I meet with Minister Parrikar.

Weaving ties

He spoke of Indias outreach to the US last year to discuss the possibility of launching joint production on a new platform, and mentioned that US officials and industry representatives were already discussing in Delhi the potential production of the fighter aircraft.

He did not mention the three foundational agreements -the LSA, CISMOA and BECA - considered necessary for transferring cutting edge technologies to India.

With the Asia-Pacific region lacking a NATO-like structure, Carter spoke of the US building less formal structures to provide security and stability by augmenting bilateral relationships and alliances with trilateral and multilateral arrangements, and weaving these partnerships together to bolster American and regional security through security burden sharing.

In this regard he cited the burgeoning of the US-Japan-India trilateral relationship into practical security cooperation and welcomed the Japan-Australia-India trilateral meeting last June.

In this background, unsurprisingly, the US CINCPAC chief Admiral Harris proposed joint patrols in the South China Sea at the Raisina Dialogue in Delhi December last, a proposition that Parrikar chose to reject immediately.

The US is focused on Chinas conduct in the western Pacific, and does not believe in a China threat in the Indian Ocean, which is why it disregards our concerns about the China-Pakistan relationship.

We have interests in Iran and have a strategic partnership with Russia, both countries identified by Carter as security threats in his speech.

India, because of its wider strategic interests, has a serious challenge ahead - that of leveraging Pentagons courting of India to its advantage, but without entering into too tight a US embrace.
BJP Minister of Home Affairs Rajnath Singh will be enjoying access to the 'elite' facilities in the North Block

There is an elite loo club in the home ministry.

Senior officers in North Block who till now had keys to a separate toilet have been given access cards for the exclusive zone.

Officers of the rank of Joint Secretary and above are given the facility of a separate toilet that can be accessed with a card now .

The officers need only touch the card on the door for it to open.

Radha Mohan joins Modi fan club

After Union minister Venkaiah Naidu, another BJP leader has termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Gods gift to India.

Venkaiah Naidus statement was widely criticised for resembling the sycophancy prevailing in the Congress.

Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh said on Monday that no government has worried so much about the country as the Modi dispensation.

Addressing a meeting of the BJPs farmers' cell, Radha Mohan Singh said that Modi was gods gift to India.

Kher to launch book on Kashmir

Anupam Kher, who had to return from Srinagar after he was not allowed to visit the besieged National Institute of Technology, will launch a book on Jammu and Kashmir on April 18.

The Story of Kashmir through the Ages has been written by AN Chaku and Inder K Chaku.

Major general GD Bakshi (retired) will also be present at the launch.

Yechury gets candid on Arjun Singh

CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury has said Congress stalwart Arjun Singh never forgave him for preventing Jyoti Basu from becoming Prime Minister.

Yechury shared his views at a function organised by the Arjun Singh Sadbhavna Foundation.

The CPI (M) decision not to allow Basu to become prime minister in 1996 was termed as a historical blunder.

Inderjit steps in for Parrikar

With Manohar Parrikar away at the naval base Karwar where he received his US counterpart Ashton Carter, the Indian Air Force commanders conference in New Delhi was led by junior defence minister Rao Inderjit Singh.

The biennial meetings of the top commanders are usually presided over by the defence minister.

Rao Inderjit was accompanied by defence secretary G Mohan Kumar and secretary (defence production) AK Gupta.




Activists fighting for a cause, especially one that has a lot of popular emotion attached to it, are usually loud and shrill when holding forth in public.

They tend to be belligerent and turn excessively aggressive if their views are contradicted.

In a sense, loud speech, belligerence, and aggression are necessary for effective activism. After all, if an activist is an easy pushover, then his or her cause cannot be worth fighting for.

Pakistani soldiers in Balochistan: The Baloch were, and remain, a fiercely independent people

At the same time, needlessly pushy activism can put people off and make them indifferent to causes that could be perfectly legitimate and deserving of support.

Hence listening to Prof Naela Quadri Baloch at a recent discussion on Balochistan organised by the Observer Research Foundation came as a pleasant surprise.

She was soft-spoken yet firm, persuasive yet polite. She presented her case, or rather the case for a free Balochistan, without recourse to either maudlin sentiments or theatrical hyperbole.

Much of the story of Balochistan is uncluttered and uncontested, provided we do not pay undue attention and attach unwarranted credibility to Pakistans claims.

In 1947, when British colonial rule came to an end in the Indian subcontinent, 535 princely states were given the option of either acceding to India or Pakistan through merger of territory, or remaining free and independent.

The Khan of Kalat, which comprised nearly all of Balochistan barring three minor principalities, was not too eager to accede to Pakistan.

A member of the Pakistan Navy at the Gwadar port in Balochistan Province

The Baloch were, and remain, a fiercely independent people, with their own cultural and social identity, along with a land endowed with natural resources.

That early impulse for freedom became the root cause of Balochistans subsequent misery.

Since its violent Caesarian birth, assisted by a scalpel-wielding Britain, on August 14, 1947, Pakistan has been as deceitful as its Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah was during his brief and bitter life as the ruler of a moth-eaten country, one half of which fell off the map in 1971.

Jinnah the barrister helped the Khan of Kalat to prepare his brief for independence and a Standstill Agreement in the interim.

Jinnah the smash-and-grab politician paved the path for Kalats annexation by Pakistan on March 27, 1948.

Thus was Balochistan forcibly converted into a province of Pakistan, against the wishes of the Baloch and their Khan.

Balochistans struggle against Pakistani rule and Islamabads One Unit policy has been relentless since the annexation of Kalat.

Brutal repression by the Pakistani Army has failed to break the spirit of resistance. Beginning with 1948-49, it has been a horrific campaign to put down dissent and silence the voice of freedom.

There are several similarities between the Pakistani Army committing hideous crimes in Bangladesh (what was then East Pakistan) and Balochistan.

Mass killings, the rape of women, laying human habitations to waste, targeted assassinations - Bangladesh saw it all during its Liberation War of 1971. And Balochistan continues to witness these horrors.

General Tikka Khan, nicknamed the Butcher of Bangladesh, had the dubious distinction of also being called the Butcher of Balochistan for the bloody campaign he led from 1973 to 1977.

But for all the sorrow, grief and misery heaped on the people of Balochistan, they have risen again. The freedom movement, relaunched in 2004, continues unabated.

Divided by the Goldsmith Line of 1871, Balochistan is split between Pakistani and Iranian occupation, with some bits spilling into Afghanistan on account of the flawed Durand Line.

Britain understood the strategic importance of Balochistan and played its game accordingly to keep the Russians out.

Today, both Pakistan and Iran are leveraging that strategic importance to further their own economic and security interests.

Indias position on Balochistan has been, at best, ambivalent. Notwithstanding the arrest of an Indian national (Pakistan claims he is a R&AW agent and was arrested on its side of the Goldsmith Line; there are credible claims he was arrested by the Iranians and handed over to the ISI) it would be silly to imagine a grand Indian conspiracy in action. New Delhi has long been incapable of doing what Mrs Indira Gandhi did in 1970-71.

Yet there is a case for an Indian policy on Balochistan. India did play a major role in propping up the Northern Alliance so as not to concede all ground to the Taliban and its mentor, Pakistan, in Afghanistan.

A hands-off approach, therefore, is lacking in precedence, even if we were to discount Indias proactive role in the liberation of Bangladesh from the tyranny of Pakistan. The issue is what should be that policy.

Investing in Chabahar port that lies on the Iranian side of Balochistan cannot be a policy in entirety. At best it will partially countervail Chinas captive port at Gwadar on the Pakistani side of Balochistan. Thats one pawn moved.

What next? One possible option is for India to declare moral and diplomatic support for the freedom movement in Balochistan, while calling for a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

That would require gumption. Indeed, it would need the political courage of Mrs Gandhi coupled with popular support for a righteous cause that India believes in.

Great nations and rising powers have to be risk-takers. The inevitable backlash of supporting Balochistans liberation war will no doubt be huge. But if Mrs Gandhi, prime minister of an impoverished nation, could turn up her nose at what the world thought, surely Narendra Modi, prime minister of the fastest growing economy, can do likewise.

A successful Balochistan policy premised on Indias historical association with just causes would also lead to the forging of a successful Pakistan policy. Is the government game?
Overturning years of resistance, the Narendra Modi government has agreed to sign a logistics support agreement that will enable automatic clearance for US warships and military aircraft to get fuel, food or other assistance while transiting through India.

With his US counterpart Ashton Carter standing by his side, defence minister Manohar Parrikar announced on Tuesday that the logistics support agreement was on the cards in the coming weeks, but underlined that it does not mean permission for the deployment of US troops on Indian soil.

Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar (right) and his US counterpart, Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter, in New Delhi on Tuesday

The logistics support agreement has been under negotiations for more than 10 years - but the previous UPA regime had resisted intense pressure from Washington to initiate what had been termed as an enabling pact for deeper defence ties.

New Delhi had felt that the content of the pact was intrusive, and Parrikar cautioned that no comment on the agreement should be made until the final draft is ready.

Carter, who described Indo-US defence ties as a defining partnership of the 21st century, explained that the logistic support pact will simplify interactions between the armed forces of the two countries.

India is looking to acquire cutting-edge technology from the US, and the two sides discussed ongoing initiatives like cooperation in developing a new flat deck aircraft carrier, and jet engine technology.

New Delhi and Washington agreed to initiate two new pathfinder projects under the Defence Trade and Technology Initiative.

These new projects are Digital Helmet Mounted Displays and the Joint Biological Detection System.

They also finalised four government-to-government science projects on Atmospheric Sciences for High Energy Lasers, Cognitive Tools for Target Detection, Small Intelligent Unmanned Aerial Systems, and Blast and Blunt Traumatic Brain Injury.

New Delhi also conveyed its concern over the sale of F-16 fighter jets by the US to Pakistan.

Carter maintained that the sale to Pakistan was linked to fighting terrorism, and that Washingtons relationship with India was unique.
British consumers will soon have far less choice if David Dyson has his way.

Dyson, 45, is the mobile phone boss who is seeking to convince competition czars in Brussels that if the UK goes the way of much of the rest of Europe and cuts the number of mobile phone operators from four to three it will actually be better for all of us.

Never mind the fact that if his Hong Kong controlled mobile service Three is combined with 02, it will create a communications colossus with 31million customers and the ability to set prices rather than continue the fight as a nimbler, lower cost challenger.

Tough call: David Dyson, 45, began his commercial life as an auditor at KPMG and is now, as boss of 3, working to push through a merger with o2

In many ways Dyson is an unlikely telecoms tycoon. He began his commercial life as an auditor at KPMG.

But he cultivates the look of the off-the-shelf media executive replete with designer stubble and fashionable open neck shirt.

As might be expected of a numbers person turned techie, he is at his most enthusiastic when talking about gadgets.

The iPad is a brilliant tool and I am just trying out Samsungs latest virtual reality goggles.

When we meet on an elegant terrace of the upmarket Renaissance Hotel at Marylebone in Central London there is a real sense of frustration about the way in which the regulatory process had gone since the 10.3billion telecoms deal was unveiled almost 12 months ago.

It has been travelling along at a fairly pedestrian pace as far as I am concerned, says Dyson.

What really gets his goat is that while his proposed deal is being examined in granular detail by the European Commission, forcing him to come up with all kinds of potential fixes to satisfy concerns, the BT takeover of EE was nodded through by the UKs Competition and Markets Authority with barely a whimper.

It created a goliath of a company with 24billion of turnover, huge assets  mobile, WiFi and broadband.

'Once BT made the move to buy EE it was the catalyst for us to say the market is shifting quite dramatically and unless we do something we are going to be left behind, he argues.

THE BEANCOUNTER WHO BECAME A TECH NERD Family: The 45-year-old is married to Samantha, an accountant, currently working in education. Two children, a boy 14, a girl 15 Hobbies: Road and mountain biking, supporting Manchester United, exploring new technologies Favourite gadget: iPad Movie: The Hangover with Bradley Cooper Books: Likes business orientated books such as Good To Great by Jim Collins Education: Bury Grammar School, read accountancy at University of Cardiff Inspired by: Two uncles who were accountants Career: Joined KPMG and qualified as a chartered accountant in 1993. Moved to KPMG in Hong Kong in 1995. Left in 1998 and joined Hutchison in Hong Kong working for Li Ka Shing, Hong Kongs richest man. He ended up at Three, one of Hutchisons mobile phone ventures. Working Day: An early riser who between 7am and 9am clears emails and maps out rest of his day. From 9am involved in back-to-back meetings. Finds time for a breakfast of Weetabix, muesli or sometimes porridge at local cafe. Uses the BBC app to keep abreast of news as the day progresses. Tends to work through lunch. If he is training for a triathlon will go for a lunchtime swim. Stays in the office until 6.30pm and then home to Marlow to have dinner with the family. Avoids business meetings and dinners in the evening. Spare time: Tries to do one triathlon a year at least which means time in the gym or on his road bike. Relaxes by watching movies and sport on TV. Also enjoys testing new technology.

Dyson's frustration is easy to understand and it is ridiculous that the two biggest UK telecoms deals of the decade should be examined by different competition authorities in London and Brussels.

But it also shows that when companies are faced with competition from a behemoth the inclination is to create their own giant irrespective on the long-term implications for consumer choice and service.

He does, however, have a point. Before EE was bought by BT  which controls almost all the UKs telecoms and broadband infrastructure  it already was the largest mobile provider in the UK with 25million customers.

The second largest was 02 (once part of BT) with 21million-22million customers, followed by Vodafone, Britains mobile phone pioneer, with around 20million.

Three with just 9million accounts was the industry laggard. Contrary to most economic and market theories, Dyson is seeking to demonstrate that fewer players in the market is better than many.

It is a hard case to make at a time when challenger grocers, banks, fashion retailers and no-frills airlines have helped to bring prices down and improve customer experience in the markets in which they operate.

Not surprisingly, perhaps, given the struggle that Three is having with the European Commission, Dyson has not yet been frightened into thinking that Brexit would be a disaster for his company or Britain.

No he answers emphatically when asked if he has a fear of leaving the EU. Not from a business or personal perspective. If he had been asked (which he wasnt) to sign a letter underlying the harm likely to be done by leaving the EU, the Three chief executive would have desisted.

Britains communications regulator Ofcom has concerns about a Three-O2 merger. It has pointed to the Austrian experience arguing that after the number of players in the market came down, prices rose.

Dyson concedes that they did go up but suggests it has nothing to do with mergers and more to do with the auction of new spectrum  essentially a mobile phone signal  by the Vienna authorities.

I think a couple of the operators said they would try and recover some of the financial costs through higher prices, but they never actually put prices up, he claims.

He accepts, however, that where the number of mobile companies have come down  in Germany, Ireland and in Austria  the remedies sought by regulators seek to make sure they can be comfortable that prices wont go up post merger.

In seeking to swing opinion of the public, City and regulators Dyson is making two promises. A better deal for older users and better connections for the whole population.

The feedback the industry has from the older generation is that they are less interested in data than their younger counterparts and if they dont want it, they dont want to pay for it.

The answer from a combined Three-O2 is that they wont have to.

We have proposed a tariff that strips out all the data but allows unlimited voice and text. We are prepared to offer it for 5-a-month, says Dyson.

The other commitment that he is making is to end the frustration of most mobile users about unreliable signals. Analysis by OpenSignal suggests that only 70 per cent of the UKs roads have coverage and just 72 per cent of railways.

He says that by bringing together the combined technical assets of the two enterprises a merged group will be able to offer 90 per cent coverage.

Plans: If Three is combined with 02, it will create a communications colossus with 31million customers and the ability to set prices rather than continue the fight as a nimbler, lower cost challenger

At this point Dyson descends into technical gobbledegook about masts and spectrum. Essentially his claim is that because there will be more masts, and O2 has spectrum that reaches further, the new entity will be able to eliminate many of the blank spots.

The deal would also offer a future route for the new company to the stock market. Three is wholly owned by Hong Kongs richest man Li Ka Shing, one of the largest investors in Britains infrastructure.

The new company will have a broader ownership with the stake of Li Ka Shings Hutchison coming down to 67 per cent and investors including sovereign wealth funds from Canada, Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Brazil taking the rest.

Promising to share the benefits with consumers as well as the new owners, Dyson sees massive cost saving opportunities of 4billion over time.

As for the name of the new group, he is still undecided: We could go with one of the brands or go with 03, 0 Cubed or whatever it might be.

'Or you could create a new brand as EE have done [from T-Mobile and Orange]. Or we could run with both of them.

At the moment, however, branding is the least of Hutchison and Threes problems. The European Commission remains a significant hurdle and it may well decide too much mobile power would be concentrated in two few hands.
The UK competition watchdog has joined the chorus of opposition to the 10.3billion tie-up of Three and O2 after its boss urged Brussels to block the deal.

Alex Chisholm, chief executive of the Competition and Markets Authority, outlined his serious concerns to Margrethe Vestager, the head of the European Commission, who is deciding whether to approve the mobile phone merger.

O2 and Three combined would become the largest mobile firm in the UK, with a customer base of 31million, reducing the number of mobile networks from four down to three.

Competition concerns: The proposed merger between O2 and Three would lead to a 'significant impediment to effective competition' in the UK's mobile network sector, the UK competition watchdog has warned

In his letter Chisholm warned such a move would be a significant impediment to effective competition.

He said: The CMA urges the Commission to act to prevent the long-term damage to the UK mobile telecoms market, and therefore to the interests of UK consumers, that both of our authorities have predicted will result from this merger.

Threes owner, CK Hutchison, has offered a raft of concessions in a bid to get the deal waved through.

These include selling up to 40 per cent of space on its network to Sky and Virgin Media for 3billion, offering to sell a 20 per cent stake in Three and pledging to run O2 as a separate company.

Letter: Alex Chisholm, chief executive of the Competition and Markets Authority

Canning Fok, boss of Hutchison, has promised Three would invest 5billion in Britains mobile industry, and freeze prices for consumers until 2021, as well as offering cheaper tariffs for pensioners.

But Chisholm said these remedies fall well short of what would be needed to protect competition.

He said the only way for the deal to be approved is if one of the businesses is separated off, either in entirety or by carving out certain operations.

Chisholms comments echo criticisms made by Ofcoms chief executive Sharon White, as well as Richard Lloyd, director of consumer organisation Which?, who have both opposed the deal.

Lloyd said: The CMA is right that this merger, if it is allowed to go ahead, would seriously reduce choice and competition for UK customers in the mobile market.

Which? has also written to the European Commission to set out our concerns. Fewer players in a market rarely leads to better outcomes for consumers.

Virgin Medias boss Tom Mockridge hit back at the CMA, though, and criticised it for causing a dearth of competition after approving an earlier merger between mobile phone operator EE with telecoms giant BT.

Mockridge claimed BT/EE now owns 45 per cent of the total network capacity, known as spectrum, in the UK, including 60 per cent of the fast 4G internet capacity.

Under scrutiny: European regulators have been scrutinising the proposed deal for several months since Three owner Hutchison Whampoa entered into exclusive talks to buy O2 from Spain's Telefonica in January 2015

He said: In comparison Vodafone has 28 per cent of UK spectrum, O2 has 15 per cent, and Three has 12 per cent. This is the very reason it is now difficult to create a new, fourth mobile network operator.

A combined O2/Three would provide a counter balance to the strength of BT/EE, offering an alternative source of capacity to other providers who will drive competition in their own right.

Hutchison said it was very disappointed by the CMAs letter, which it described as an entirely one-sided argument designed to support a preordained outcome.

It described the CMAs letter as astonishing and argued it can have no legitimate status in the merger control process.
Murder detectives investigating one of Russias worst ever serial killers have uncovered a series of grisly graves full of womens remains.

Siberian beast Mikhail Popkov, nicknamed The Werewolf, was jailed for life over the rape and slaughter of 22 women.

The married ex-policeman, who sexually attacked his young victims and butchered them with axes, knives or screwdrivers, is 'singing like a bird' and confessing to killings not previously linked to him, say sources.

Murders: Russian serial killer Mikhail Popkov is already in jail for the slaughter of 22 women, but he is now confessing 'many' more to police officers - leading investigators to believe he could be the most prolific serial killer ever in Russia

Victim: Viktoria Chagaeva holds a picture of her 20-year-old sister Tanya Martynova, who was killed by Popkov after attending a concert with a friend in 1998

Innocent: Yulia Kuprikova, who was murdered with her friend Tanya Martynova after a concert in 1998

Popkov, 51, has directed police to human remains of women who had been reported as missing but whose fate was unknown until now.

On his arrest in 2012, the mass killer told police he wanted to 'cleanse the streets of prostitutes' in Angarsk, an industrial city in Irkutsk region, where he presided over his reign of terror.

Police refuse to put a total on the gruesome new discoveries of female victims because the 'long and painstaking' investigation is still continuing.

But it is now believed that Popkov's toll may even exceed his idol, the worst-ever Soviet serial killer Andrei Chikatilo, aka the Butcher of Rostov, who was convicted of 53 murders, and the more recent Moscow maniac Alexander Pichushkin, known as the 'Chessboard Killer', who killed 49.

Crucially, police have evidence Popkov's killing spree lasted at least five years longer than known at his trial which ended in January 2015.

As a policeman, Popkov was able to offer his trusting victims lifts home in his car at night, before taking them to remote locations where he killed them.

He then dumped their naked bodies in woods by the side of the road, many of which were never found again.

The victims included a teacher and a shop assistant as well as several prostitutes.

Senior investigator Andrei Bunayev revealed: 'The investigation will be very long because there are a lot of cases.

'He names the places where bodies are hidden. We find these bodies and check his involvement. He says very clearly when and what was done.

'We are looking for evidence that confirms his words. A large number of episodes are confirmed.

'So far I can only say that a lot of new episodes have been revealed. We will announce the exact number later.

Jailed: A former police officer, Popkov was able to evade capture for so long because investigators couldn't believe that the killer they were hunting was one of their own

Spark: According to investigators, Popkov began his killing spree after discovering contraceptives in the family rubbish bin - leading him to assume, wrongly, that his wife Elena (pictured) was having an affair

'Popkov left biological traces in some cases which were not studied earlier - but now there is an opportunity to examine them.'

He continued: 'He is collaborating with us. Everything he says is confirmed. He confidently guides us to the place where a body is found and explains what happened, what injuries he caused.'

It was previously believed that Popkov had ended his killing spree in 2000, when he claimed to suffer impotence after contracting a venereal disease from a victim.

But it has now emerged that some cases were just 10 years ago, while detectives have also dusted off files of unsolved murders dating back to the 1990s - over a vast area of eastern Russia.

Speculation in Russia has suggested that as many as 50 new cases have been revealed.

Family man: After Popkov was first accused, his wife Elena, 50, and daughter Ekaterina (pictured with Popkov), 28, refused to believe that he could have been capable of the murders

Escape: After the latest revelations about the 'many' new murders, however, they have moved to a different city to try to start a new life. Pictured, Ekaterina with her father

Caring: Popkov was able to hunt his victims so easily, as he would offer them lifts late at night in his police car. But he then drove them to remote locations where he raped and killed them, dumping their bodies

Pain: Speculation in Russia has suggested police are examining up to 50 new cases but police have refused to comment on the exact number that Popkov has now revealed to them. Pictured, Popkov's wife Elena

Popkov is expected to face trial for the cases that have now emerged later this year.

He was known to regularly drive between Angarsk and Vladivostok, on the country's Pacific coast - a distance of around 2,500 miles.

Two of his earlier victims were Tatiana (Tanya) Martunova, 20, and Yulia Kuprikova, 19, who were found dead on 29 October 1998 in an Angarsk suburb following a night out.

Tanya's sister Viktoria Chagaeva, 48, who owns a beauty salon in Angarsk, said: 'The pain does not go away. It was me who gave Tanya a ticket to go to a concert, and she was killed after attending it,'

Popkov's wife Elena, 50, and daughter Ekaterina, 28, a teacher, initially stood by him, refusing to believe he was a mass killer.

But since his trial they have moved to another city to begin new lives.

One theory is that he began his murder spree after, wrongly, suspecting his wife of cheating on him.

He found two used condoms in the rubbish at home, and this sparked his drive to take revenge on women, it is claimed.

In fact the contraceptives had been used by guests.

'I just had some reasons to suspect her,' said Popkov, of his belief that his wife had slept with another man.

'I'm not looking for excuses, but this was the impetus for my future.'

He admitted to having a negative view of women who went out at night to drink without their husbands or boyfriends.

Killed: It has not yet been revealed how many more women Popkov killed. Two of his victims were Tanya Martynova (right), 20, and Yulia Kuprikova (centre), 19, found dead on 29 October 1998 after a night out

Guilt: Tanya's elder sister Viktoria (pictured with her and their mother Lyubov) says the pain of her Tanya's loss never goes away - and it was Viktoria who bought her the concert ticket after which she was murdered

Appeal: A newspaper cut out of the police appeal for Tanya's friend Yulia Shapovalova after she went missing

Now he says: 'I had no right to evaluate people, their behaviour... this is my repentance.'

He evaded capture for years because police could not contemplate that one of their own officers could be a mass killer. He was finally captured after 3,500 officers were made to take DNA tests.

His daughter at first refused to believe he could be a murderer.

'I do not believe any of this. I always felt myself to be "Daddy's girl",' she said.

'For 25 years we were together, hand in hand. We walked, rode bikes, went to the shops, and he met me from school.

Dumped: A road near the town of Meget, Russia, where bodies of the two friends Tanya and Yulia were found

Home: Block of flats in Angarsk where Tanya lived - and failed to return after she was targeted by Popkov

'We both collect model cars, so we have the same hobby.

'I wanted to be a criminologist, so I read a book with tips of how investigators catch serial killers and there were also basic classifications [about murderers].
The number of people linked to the ISIS network that attacked Paris and Brussels reaches easily into the dozens, with a series of new arrests over the weekend that confirmed the cell's toxic reach and ability to move around unnoticed in Europe's criminal underworld.

From Belgium's Molenbeek to Sweden's Malmo, new names are added nearly daily to the list of hardened attackers, hangers-on, and tacit supporters of the cell that killed 130 people in Paris and 32 in Brussels.

A computer abandoned by one of the Brussels suicide bombers in a trash can contained not only his will, but is beginning to give up other information.

Criminal underworld: Police investigate an area where terror suspect Mohamed Abrini was arrested in Brussels

It includes an audio file indicating the cell was getting its orders directly from a French-speaking extremist in Syria, according to a police official with knowledge of the investigation.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the investigation.

Ten men are known to be directly involved in the November 13 attacks in Paris; others with key logistical roles then - including the bomber, a logistics handler, and a hideout scout - went on to plot the attack March 22 in Brussels.

But unlike Paris, at least two people who survived the attack have been taken into custody alive, including Mohamed Abrini, the Molenbeek native who walked away from the Brussels international airport after his explosives failed to detonate.

But investigators fear it may not be enough to stave off another attack.

Abdelhamid Abaaoud, another Molenbeek native whose charisma made him a natural draw to many in the Brussels neighborhood after he joined IS extremists in Syria, said before his death that he returned to Europe among a group of 90 fighters from Europe and the Mideast, according to testimony from a woman who tipped police to his location.

Patrick Skinner, a former CIA case officer who is now with the Soufan Group security consultancy, described the Brussels-Paris network as a 'supercell.'

'The hope was that they had died out in the Paris attacks, and obviously that's not true,' Skinner said in an earlier interview with The Associated Press.

After nearly three weeks of frantic searching, Belgian authorities announced Saturday they had finally arrested and identified the elusive 'man in the hat' spotted alongside two suicide bombers who blew themselves up at Brussels Airport

'They (authorities) knew who these people were. And they still managed to pull off the first Paris attack, which was the worst attack in France since WWII, and then under incredible scrutiny, they still pulled off the worst attack in Belgium since WWII. So this is a highly functioning cell.'

Normally, Skinner said, an extremist cell has six to 10 people linked by pre-existing ties.

'It makes it very difficult to crack. You're not sending an informant into this group, because they know each other. So no one new is just walking into this,' he said.

'It's so big, look at the people on the periphery, logistics, the people that are suspected. You're looking at 50 people. That's not a cell; that's a terrorist group.'

It was a group already intimately familiar with European law enforcement. Abrini was a petty criminal long before his younger brother was killed in Syria in 2014.

Both Abdeslam brothers had brushes with the law, and Brahim spent time in prison for stealing Belgian ID cards  background that took on new importance amid revelations that many people in the IS cell had forged passports.

And Abaaoud's female cousin, Hasna Ait Boulhacen, who died with him on November 18 after finding a hideout for him, was under surveillance in a narcotics operation at the time, although her ties to the man already wanted on terrorism offenses were unknown to French investigators.

Police secure an area during a house search in the Etterbeek neighborhood in Brussels on Saturday April 9

The man arrested for renting that fly-by-night flat in Saint Denis, Jawad Bendaoud, had been sentenced to eight years in prison for the accidental killing of a man he described as his 'best friend' over a cellphone.

The Belgian brothers who blew themselves up on March 22 had ties to violent crime, as did two suspects with ties to Sweden, one dead and one captured this weekend.

The latest name to emerge, Osama Krayem, was a delinquent in Malmo, Sweden, before leaving for Syria. Krayem 'was the perfect target for radicalization - no job, no future, no money,' said Muhammad Khorshid, who runs a program in the neighborhood of Rosengard to help immigrants integrate into Swedish society.

It's a neighborhood with its own parallels to Molenbeek, and has proven to be fertile recruiting ground for Muslim extremists.

Krayem, who like Abrini is suspected of accompanying a suicide attacker on March 22, was detained on Friday.

He traveled with Salah Abdeslam through Ulm, Germany, on one of Abdeslam's many journeys putting extremists into place for attacks, authorities said.

Stephane Berthomet, a former French counterterrorism officer who now works as a writer and security consultant in Canada, said the arrest of multiple key suspects will prove crucial.

'When there are declarations made by an accomplice, you can confront them and make progress in the discussions with the other suspects,' he said in an interview just ahead of the news of Abrini's arrest Friday.

The hope, of course, is that anything the suspects say will crack open a network that seems to grow by the day.

'There is not a single person at large  there are dozens of people at large. That's the reality,' Berthomet said.
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.

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.

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

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 Organization 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.

Although Zika has not been conclusively proven to cause microcephaly, the World Health Organization has said that there is a 'strong scientific consensus' that it does.

The WHO also stated that researchers are now convinced that Zika is responsible for increased reports of a nerve condition called Guillain-Barre that can cause paralysis.

A team of Purdue University scientists recently revealed a molecular map of the Zika virus, which shows important structural features that may help scientists craft the first treatments to tackle the disease.

The map details vital differences on a key protein that may explain why Zika attacks nerve cells - while other viruses in the same family, such as dengue, Yellow Fever and West Nile, do not.

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.

The National Center for Atmospheric Research determined the Zika virus risk estimates for 50 US cities.

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

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.

The CDC said mosquitoes that can transmit the Zika virus may live in a larger swath of the US than previously thought, however.

But, the expanded range doesn't mean that they will cause disease in those areas.

The CDC revealed new maps of the estimated range of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and a related cousin.

It had been thought that the mosqutioes would primarily reside in the southern part of the country.

But, the new map shows the range of the Aedes aegypti mosquito could extend to parts of the Midest and Northeast.

The CDC said the new maps are a best understanding of where the mosqutioes have been seen recently or previously.

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.
A white South Carolina police officer who shot and killed a black driver at the end of a car chase will serve no time in jail after he took a plea deal and was sentenced to three years of probation.

Justin Craven, 27, who was charged with a felony, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor misconduct in office at the Edgefield County courthouse yesterday, according to multiple media outlets.

A prosecutor wanted the North Augusta police officer charged with voluntary manslaughter, which carries up to 30 years in prison, but a grand jury refused to indict Craven. He was later charged with a different felony.

Justin Craven, 27, who was charged with a felony, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor misconduct in office yesterday

The shooting happened after a 13-minute chase after Craven tried to pull Ernest Satterwhite (pictured) over for drunken driving

Craven's plea comes amid a nationwide debate over the use of force and how white police officers treat black people.

This has been fueled by high-profile incidents including the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Freddie Gray's death after he was injured in a Baltimore police van.

The death of 68-year-old Ernest Satterwhite was captured on video from Craven's dashboard camera.

The footage shows Craven run to Satterwhite's car after the man stops at his home and stick a gun and both arms into the driver's open window.

A black arm is seen pushing back, and Craven pulls the weapon out of the window and fires several shots.

Craven feared for his life because Satterwhite was trying to grab his gun, Craven's lawyer Jack Swerling said after the plea hearing.

'His mistake in judgment was approaching the car and getting too close. He had to make a split-second decision instead of like now, when everyone gets all the time they want to analyze it,' Swerling said.

The footage shows Craven run to Satterwhite's car after the man stops at his home and stick a gun and both arms into the driver's open window

Craven feared for his life because Satterwhite was trying to grab his gun, Craven's lawyer Jack Swerling said after the plea hearing. No weapon was found in Satterwhite's car

Police experts recommend officers don't charge into an unknown situation but instead stay behind cover in case a suspect is armed. No weapon was found in Satterwhite's car.

Others who have seen the video think Satterwhite might have been stunned that the officer pointed his gun at his head and just was swiping his arm in surprise.

'What he did was murder this man, and the judicial system just let him get away with it,' said state Rep. Joe Neal.

Neal is a black Democrat from Hopkins who saw the video and has spent decades speaking out against racism in law enforcement and demanding accountability through data and police cameras.

A lawyer for Satterwhite's family did not return a phone call. North Augusta paid the family nearly $1.2 million to settle a lawsuit.

The shooting happened after a 13-minute chase after Craven tried to pull Satterwhite over for drunken driving, chasing him from North Augusta all the way to Satterwhite's home on a dirt road in adjoining Edgefield County.

North Augusta police officer Justin Craven looks on during his hearing as a dash camera video plays on a screen at the Edgefield County courthouse in South Carolina yesterday

Satterwhite drives through a Wal-Mart parking lot and is seen swerving at times into oncoming traffic and off the side of the road. He hits at least two cars, although no other injuries were reported.

Swerling said the chase did reach 100mph at one point and Satterwhite's erratic driving was placing people at risk. State police said Satterwhite had a blood-alcohol level of 0.15 percent - nearly twice the legal limit to drive.

Police records show Satterwhite had been arrested more than a dozen times on traffic violations during his life, including three times for fleeing police. However, there is no evidence he ever physically fought with officers.

Judge Frank Addy told Craven he was giving the officer probation because he could understand how the shooting happened after a long chase, the Aiken Standard reported.

Addy said the shooting wasn't similar to other high-profile police killings like in North Charleston, where white officer Michael Slager is awaiting trial on a murder charge for killing an unarmed black man as he ran away from a traffic stop.

Lawyer Jack Swerling said Craven regrets that Satterwhite died in the shooting and has no plans to be a police officer again

Neal said the video shows him a 'gun happy' officer. 'He runs up and opens fire. How is that different from North Charleston? It is exactly the same thing,' Neal said.

Prosecutor Donnie Myers, himself facing a driving under the influence charge, got a different grand jury to indict Craven on a felony charge of discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle.

If convicted of that charge, Craven could have faced up to 10 years in prison. Instead, Myers accepted the plea deal to a misdemeanor that carries a maximum sentence of a year in jail.
A spiral-bound notebook belonging to the Sandy Hook shooter who slaughtered 20 first-graders and six teachers in a bloody shoot out, will not be released under a freedom of information act request.

The book contains 'The Big Book of Granny' story, written by mass-killer Adam Lanza while he was in fifth grade.

Disturbing stories in the book include a woman who has a gun in her cane and shoots people and another character who likes hurting people, especially children, police said.

A spiral-bound notebook belonging to Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza (left and right) who slaughtered 20 first-graders and six teachers in a bloody shoot out, will not be released under a freedom of information request

Disturbing stories in the book include a woman who has a gun in her cane and shoots people and another character who likes hurting people, especially children, police said. Pictured: Children are led out from Sandy Hook school following the horror in 2012

Pictured: A parent walks away from the Sandy Hook Elementary School with her children following a shooting at the school in Newtown

The state Freedom of Information Commission had ordered police to release the documents seized by police to newspaper The Hartford Courant last year.

But the ruling went to Superior Court and on Friday Judge Carl Schuman overturned the decision.

Schuman concluded that state statutes requiring the return of seized property supersede the state's open-records law and shield such records from disclosure.

The judge wrote that his decision would be an important one because it will apply to all future cases in which public disclosure is sought for private personal documents not used in criminal trials that police have seized from victims, witnesses and suspects, including diaries, medical records and phone records.

"Exposure of these items to the public when the state has not seen a need to do so in the criminal case entails a significant invasion of the owner's privacy and interference with his or her property rights," the judge wrote.

Lanza, who was 20 years old, killed his mother - Nancy- (right) at their home and then shot his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown on December 14, 2012. Pictured left, responders gather at the scene of a mass school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School

The Freedom of Information Commission had ruled that Lanza's belongings were public records and were not exempt from disclosure. State public safety officials and prosecutors appealed the decision to Superior Court.

The executive director of the Freedom of Information Commission, Colleen Murphy, declined to comment on the judge's ruling. She said the commission will consider whether to appeal.

The publisher and editor-in-chief of the Courant, Andrew Julien, said the newspaper is "disappointed in the decision" and is assessing its options.

Lanza, who was 20 years old, killed his mother - Nancy- at their home and then shot his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown on December 14, 2012.

He killed himself as police closed in. Investigators have said the motive for the shootings may never be known.
Two skiers trapped on an Alaskan glacier for four days have been forced to dig snow caves to survive as a four-person rescue team from the Alaska Air National Guard struggles to reach them.

Jennifer Neyman, 36, and Christopher Hanna, 45, both of Soldotna, have been stranded since Friday on Bear Glacier in the Harding Ice Field on the Kenai Peninsula, south of Anchorage.

The rescuers have trudged several miles through difficult terrain and harsh weather after parachuting onto the glacier to save the two skiers.

Jennifer Neyman, 36, and Christopher Hanna, 45, both of Soldotna, have been stranded since Friday on Bear Glacier (shown) in the Harding Ice Field on the Kenai Peninsula, south of Anchorage (File photo)

Staff Sgt. Edward Eagerton with the Alaska Air National Guard said the team is battling blowing snow and winds of up to 30 knots.

A helicopter dropped the rescue team about 15 miles from the stranded duo.

The Alaska Air National Guard said that the rescuers bedded down for the night about six-and-a-half miles from the man and woman and hoped to reach them on Tuesday.

The pair have been in contact via text message but reported they were running low on provisions.

An aircraft dropped supplies to them but was unable to land because of poor weather.

The supply plane dropped sleeping bags, food, fuel and a radio, all in a lighted package.

Bear Glacier is on the Harding Ice Field, which covers 700 square miles of Alaska's Kenai Mountains in glacier ice, according to the National Park Service. Staff Sgt. Edward Eagerton with the Alaska Air National Guard said the team is battling blowing snow and winds of up to 30 knots

An Air National Guard statement issued Monday night said it was unclear whether Neyman and Hanna had collected the supplies.

The pair used cellphone and satellite text messages to tell friends they spent the first night in the tent they carried until wind and snow shredded it on Saturday.

Satellite coordinates indicated Neyman and Hanna were on the 13-mile-long glacier at an elevation of about 4,300 feet.

Bear Glacier is on the Harding Ice Field, which covers 700 square miles of Alaska's Kenai Mountains in glacier ice, according to the National Park Service.

The ice field is made up of more than 30 glaciers, the largest entirely within U.S. boundaries.

The Rescue Coordination Center and troopers at first tried reaching the ice field on Sunday but were not successful.
President Barack Obama designated a historic Washington, D.C., home that's central to the women's rights movement as a national monument.

The Sewall-Belmont House and Museum is now the Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument.

Alva Belmont and Alice Paul were key figures in the women's rights and suffrage movements.

Paul founded the National Woman's Party and was the chief strategist, as Belmont was a major benefactor.

President Barack Obama designated the Sewall-Belmont House and Museum, a historic Washington, D.C. home that's central to the women's rights movement, as a national monument Tuesday

Obama traveled to the site on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, when National Equal Pay Day is observed. He said 'this house is a monument to the fight for women's equality'

At the site, Obama said: Equal pay for equal work should be a fundamental principal of our economy'

The home located on 144 Constitution Avenue NE near the Supreme Court and Senate office building is one of the oldest historic mansions in the capital.

It was first built around 1800 by Robert Sewall and the Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin moved in to use the home during the Jefferson Administration.

In 1812, the home was the only site of resistance to the British invasion of D.C. and was burned down, according to Curbed. It was rebuilt by Sewall shortly after.

Obama traveled to the site on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, when National Equal Pay Day is observed.

'Equal pay for equal work should be a fundamental principal of our economy,' Obama said at the site.

'It's the idea that whether you're a high school teacher, a business executive, or a professional soccer player or tennis player, your work should be equally valued and rewarded whether you are a man or a woman.

'It's a simple idea, it's a simple principal ... It's one where we still fall short. Today the typical woman who works full time earns 79 cents for every dollar that a typical man makes.

Alva Belmont (left) and Alice Paul (right) were figures in the women's rights and suffrage movements. Paul founded the National Woman's Party and was the chief strategist, as Belmont was a major benefactor

'The gap is even wider for women of color - the typical black woman makes only 60 cents, the Latina woman 55 cents for every dollar that a white man earns.'

Obama said that America should be a level playing field.

He then highlighted how he has made equal pay for women a major platform in his policy.

Obama noted that he signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, making it easier for women to sue for pay discrimination, and has issued executive orders prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating against employees who discuss or inquire about their compensation.

He also urged that Congress needs to pass the Pay Check Fairness Act 'to put sensible rules in place.'

'I'm not here just to say we should close the wage gap. I'm here to say we will close the wage gap,' Obama said.

The president added that he hopes young people will come to the home and draw inspiration for years to come.

'This house is a monument to the fight for women's equality,' Obama said.

He also said he looks forward to a time when girls are 'astonished' that women once made less than men and a female had never occupied the Oval Office.

Obama added that he's not sure when that time will come, but 'I know we're getting closer to that day.'

The president has not endorsed a successor, but his comment is the latest in a series that suggest he's rooting for Democrat Hillary Clinton.

The National Woman's Party bought the house in 1929 and uses it as its headquarters, advocating for equality and full political representation for women. Above Alice Paul is pictured sewing the suffrage flag

In announcing the plans for the house, the White House said: '[The] designation will permanently protect one of the oldest standing houses near the U.S. Capitol and help preserve an extensive archival collection that documents the history, strategies, tactics and accomplishments of the movement to secure women's suffrage and equal rights in the United States and across the globe'.

The declaration says: 'The political strategies and tactics of Alice Paul and the NWP became a blueprint for civil rights organizations and activities throughout the 20th century.

'Today, the House tells the story of a century of courageous activism by American women.'

The National Woman's Party bought the house in 1929 and uses it as its headquarters, advocating for equality and full political representation for women.

The site will be managed by the National Parks Service.

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said in a statement Monday according to The Washington Post that the monument 'will honor and forever remind us of the risk, the work and the dedication of those who gathered in this house to fight for women's equality.

'We must never forget their hard-fought struggle for the right to vote and equal rights for women under the law.

'The timing could not be more symbolic as we mark National Equal Pay Day, an important reminder that women are still fighting for equality today.'
A runaway groom who skipped bail after being released from jail to attend his own wedding now faces up to 10 years behind bars for threatening and firing shots at a woman.

The Herald Sun reports that Murat Shomshe, 34, faced the Victorian County Court on Monday where he pleaded guilty to one charge of reckless conduct endangering life, after pulling a gun on a woman in August 2014 and firing shots at her car.

He was arrested in Campbellfield, Melbourne, last August after his failure to return to court about the shooting incident on July 27, 2015 - the day after his marriage. Shomshe walked out on his new bride Belinda Dulevski while she was reportedly in the shower.

His new wife Dulevski, also reportedly lost the $10,000 surety she fronted for him so they could marry.

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Murat Shomshe (left), 34, was arrested by police in Campbellfield, north of Melbourne, last August. He skipped bail after being released from jail to attend his own wedding to Belinda Dulevski (right)

Shomshe walked out on his new bride while she was reportedly in the shower

Shomshe was due to go to trial after the shooting incident but spent a week on the run after skipping bail to get married. He was tracked down and arrested at a 'pole dancing studio' in Campbellfield.

Shomshe was supported in court on Monday by his wife. The incident took place while he was free from prison on a suspended sentence, and was working as a car mechanic in August 2014 when he claimed a the woman customer owed him money for work he did on her car.

It's alleged that he fired shots into the woman's car outside a Coburg factory after she failed to pay fully what was owed.

His defence counsel claimed that Shomshe was on the drug ice at the time he shot at and threatened the woman. He will be sentenced at a later date.

His capture last August came soon after videos surfaced online of Shomshe, as the police manhunt was continuing.

The videos show him rapping, dancing to Beyonce and sipping on a Corona while driving - at times with his hands off the wheel.

The clips were uploaded by Shomshe on his YouTube channel four years ago.

In the footage, shot by the 33-year-old himself, he flaunts his musical and dancing prowess showing the camera his latest rhymes and moves.

Shomshe pleaded guilty to one charge of reckless conduct endangering life after pulling a gun on a woman in August 2014 and firing shots at her car

His new bride had fronted up his $10,000 surety so he could get married to her

Videos of Shomshe emerged of him rapping, dancing and drinking a Corona while driving. The 33-year-old went on the run while his new bride was in the shower

In footage shot by the 34-year-old himself four years ago, he flaunts his musical and dancing prowess showing the camera his latest rhymes and moves

He even breaks it down to pop diva Beyonce's hit Crazy In Love in one of the videos while mouthing the words - some of which he did not know - and downing a Corona.

In another, Shomshe raps about 'driving for hours' and how he is going to lose his 'mojo like Austin Powers'.

Ms Dulevski's mother, Vaibe, told the Herald Sun her daughter Belinda did not know Shomshe was planning to evade the police.

'She was not aware of what was going on. She didn't help him,' Vaibe said.

Despite police opposition, Shomshe was granted bail by County Court judge Richard Maidment on July 24 after the 33-year-old successfully argued he would lose his $6,000 deposit if he did not wed Dulevski.

But Shomshe, who police say have a history of violence and bikie links, failed to appear in court as required on the day after his wedding.

In another, Shomshe raps about 'driving for hours' and how he's going to lose his 'mojo like Austin Powers'
A 'suicidal' man who survived after deliberately driving his car into an oncoming vehicle - killing two friends - has been found guilty of murder in a landmark decision.

Michael Frank Knowles, 38, crashed his Nissan Patrol into another car on the Lincoln Highway near Middleback, northwest of Adelaide, in 2014, killing Natasha Turnbull and James Stephen Moore.

He offered to plead guilty to two counts of causing death by dangerous driving, but his pleas were rejected by prosecutors who pressed ahead with the murder trial.

During the trial in Port Augusta Supreme Court, the jury was told Knowles was depressed following a breakup and had told his ex-girlfriend he planned to take his own life by driving into a truck.

Michael Frank Knowles, 38, (pictured) has been found guilty of murder in a landmark decision following a fatal crash

Prosecutor Mark Norman said Knowles 'must have known' that driving his car into the other vehicle with sufficient force to kill himself would probably kill or seriously harm anyone in the other car.

Knowles admitted to causing the fatal crash but denied he was guilty of murder following the shocking crash which left two other passengers in Mr Moore's car with injuries.

He was found guilty of murder on Monday in what is believed to be the first time in South Australian legal history that a person has been convicted of murder involving a road crash.

The 38-year-old is due to be sentenced on Tuesday and faces at least 20 years in prison before being eligible for parole.

Mr Moore's sister Lesley said the guilty verdict was a 'relief' to the family, but that nothing would bring her brother or Ms Turnbull back.

'We definitely are relieved and we feel like justice has been served, we are incredibly grateful to the DPP and the police for doing the hard yards,' Ms Moore told The Advertiser.

Knowles, 38, crashed his Nissan Patrol into another car on the Lincoln Highway near Middleback, northwest of Adelaide, in 2014, killing James Stephen Moore (left) and Natasha Turnbull

The court heard that Knowles made a series of Facebook posts in the hours before the fatal crash, including one simply stating: 'the pain ends now'

'It is an incredible feeling, but obviously it doesn't bring my brother or Tash back and we will live with that for the rest of our lives.'

Victims rights' commissioner Michael O'Connell said the verdict was a 'landmark' decision which shows there is a willingness to prosecute for murder in the most serious road crash cases.

'The jury's decision is quite profound,' he told the ABC.

'It's a landmark [decision] to the extent that to the best of my memory in modern history in this state, a driver of a motor vehicle that has killed other people has managed to avoid being prosecuted and found guilty of murder.

'This is an important statement and it's a statement that shows that the harm that is being done to victims, when the evidence is there, can be acknowledged.'

The court heard that Knowles made a series of Facebook posts in the hours before the fatal crash, including one simply stating: 'the pain ends now'.

He admitted causing the crash and being drunk, but disputed prosecution allegations that he was trying to take his own life.

His lawyers told the jury to keep an open mind over whether he was trying to commit suicide.

Ms Turnbull and Mr Moore died in the crash after spending the day with friends digging for fossils at Coffin Bay.

Their friends, Jason Bristow and Amy Jones survived the crash but sustained serious injuries.
A local RSL club has outraged veterans for charging $50 per seat to sit in a 'premium' spot at its Anzac Day dawn service.

The Currumbin RSL on Queensland's Gold Coast has introduced the fee for people wanting to sit in the grandstand in a bid 'to offer this area back to the general public' this year.

But RSL National Chief Executive Officer Sam Jackman said the matter was 'of concern as it [was] unusual to charge for an Anzac Day service'.

The Currumbin RSL on Queensland's Gold Coast has introduced the $50 fee for people wanting to sit in the grandstand in a bid 'to offer this area back to the general public' this year

The popular event, which airs on Channel Seven's Sunrise from Elephant Rock, attracted 35,000 people last year and costs $240,000 to put it on.

It has been specified on the dawn service's website '100 per cent of profits raised from ticket sales go directly to veterans' welfare'.

The RSL has also introduced a gold coin donation for their previously free shuttle bus service, with veterans exempt from the small payment, and a $5 charge for its gunfire breakfast.

Vietnam War veteran Ralph Ackerman said he understood the RSL was trying to make up costs by charging for the seats but feared the extra charge would put people off.

The popular event, which airs on Channel Seven's Sunrise from Elephant Rock, attracted 35,000 people last year and costs $240,000 to put it on

The RSL has also introduced a gold coin donation for their previously free shuttle bus service, with veterans exempted from the small fee, and a $5 charge for its gunfire breakfast. Above are two at the dawn service

'Being a returned serviceman there's a lot of national pride that goes into Anzac Day and people look forward to the occasion on Anzac Day and participate in it,' Mr Ackerman told Daily Mail Australia.

'If this sort of thing is going to scare people off, next thing they will be begging people to turn up to the Anzac Day service.

'I don't agree with [the $50] amount. Maybe $5 is more reasonable figure, [people] aren't getting anything for $50 but to sit down. Unless they're getting a cup of tea or breakfast, I wouldn't pay $50.

'Imagine if they put a charge like that on Gallipoli? There would be a massive outrage about that.'

Another veteran Bob Meehan told the Gold Coast Bulletin 'old diggers would be rolling in their graves' if they heard about the new charge.

Currumbin RSL spokeswoman Laura Prout said the $50 fee was a way to help cover the costs of running the large-scale operation. Above are crowds at the service last year

A serviceman takes part in the Anzac Day dawn service held by the Currumbin RSL last year

Currumbin RSL spokeswoman Laura Prout said the $50 fee was a way to help cover the costs of running the large-scale operation.

'I guess a lot of people are going to jump on the bandwagon and say you can't charge for the dawn service. [But] people can still come along and get free access and a view,' Ms Prout told the Gold Coast Bulletin.

'It's just us being a bit more savvy because of costs being so high. It's a way to recoup those.'

Ms Prout said the RSL should not feel 'ashamed' about introducing the charge as it was only 110 seats out of 35,000.
An internal investigation has been launched by Channel Nine as the network tries to find out who commissioned the 60 Minutes role in the botched recovery of Sally Faulkner's children in Beirut last week.

Daily Mail Australia understands that the operation may have been several months in planning, and those who organised the trip to Lebanon will be asked to provide an 'email and paper-trail' from the lead-up.

Brisbane mother Sally Faulkner and the 60 Minutes television crew, including senior reporter Tara Brown, are accused of trying to kidnap two children with the help of a controversial child abduction recovery team.

The incident is linked to an ongoing child-custody case between the Lebanese father, Ali al-Amin, and Ms Faulkner.

It's also emerged that Lebanese security officials tipped off the children's father, Ali al-Amin, that his ex-wife was in the country before the incident unfolded last Thursday.

And further complicating the case for the five Australians involved are reports that Mr al-Amin's mother, Ibtissam Berri, is related to the long-standing Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, Nabih Berri.

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Sally Faulkner reportedly hired a controversial child recovery agency to get Noah and Lahlea back from Lebanon after their father Ali al-Amin refused to bring the children home to Australia. They are pictured in their family home in Beirut after being reunited

Sally Faulkner (centre) remains in custody awaiting a hearing over the botched recovery of her two young children in Beirut last Thursday

Mr al-Amin's mother and the children's paternal grandmother (pictured), Ibtissam Berri, claims she was pistol whipped and threatened with a gun during the abduction from a Beirut bus stop. She is believed to be closely related to a high-ranking Lebanese government official

An image showing the moment where the al-Amin children are taken from a street in Beirut leading to the arrest of Brisbane mother Sally Faulkner and the 60 Minutes crew

Senior journalist Tara Brown has been moved to a female only detention centre outside Beirut with the children's mother Sally Faulkner ahead of their first court appearance which is expected to be later this week

Brisbane mother Sally Faulkner (above) is among seven people expected to face court in Lebanon over their involvement in a botched child recovery operation allegedly orchestrated by her and a 60 Minutes crew

Ibtissam Berri told police she was with her grandchildren Noah, 4, and Lahela, 6, in the southern town of Hadath waiting for their school bus when they were snatched off the street by three men.

Ms Berri also alleges that she was 'pistol-whipped' during the attempted abduction.

Lebanon's The Daily Star reports that Mount Lebanons general prosecutor Monday has questioned all the seven suspects over their alleged involvement.

'Judge Claude Karam interrogated the seven suspects after receiving testimonies from the Amin family,' it reported.

No charges have yet been laid and there is no clear indication as to when the next round of questioning will take place, according to the website's judicial source.

Two Britons and two Lebanese nationals were among nine people originally taken into custody but two have since been released.

There are reports that those freed by authorities may have 'rolled over', providing full details of the botched operation to Lebanese police before being released.

It's claimed that a short time after the 60 Minutes crew and members of Child Abduction Recovery International (CARI) were arrested last Thursday, Ms Faulkner made contact with Colin Chapman, who runs a rival child recovery agency from Queensland.

The children at the centre of the abduction drama last Thursday, Lahela al-Amin (left) and Noah al-Amin (right) pictured in the Beirut home of their father Ali after he was reunited with them

Lebanese police allege the crew paid for and filmed the attempted kidnapping of the Brisbane mother's two children Noah, four, and Lahela, five, after their father Ali al-Amin moved them to the Middle East without her permission last April

Lebanese authorities have split up the detained Australians, sending Ms Faulkner and Tara Brown to a female-only detention centre and the male members to another detention centre

The mother has previously said she did not know about her ex-husband's intention to take her children

The two young children have both since been reunited with their father, who says he is 'disappointed' by the recovery attempt led by his ex-wife

According to text messages and emails obtained by the Sydney Morning Herald, Ms Faulkner confirmed that 60 Minutes recorded the operation but said police didn't have the footage.

She went on to beg Mr Chapman to help her find a way out of the country via boat or through Syria.

The 29-year-old said local police had thwarted a plan to sneak the children out of Lebanon on a yacht but that she could make it to a boat 'within a day'.

The Brisbane mother, who left an infant child behind in Australia, said 60 Minutes would pay for the agency to organise another extraction via boat, but Mr Chapman said he would need 'some sort of deposit or guarantee' that the 75,000 euros would be paid.

Ms Chapman claims Mr al-Amin, a surfing instructor from the southern Beirut suburb of St Therese, took the children last April

'Is there any way your team could do the recovery and get the money later. I know 60 will pay up if it means I don't do the rest of the story and I get out,' Ms Faulkner reportedly said.

'60 refusing to pay for the boat. They're relying on [Foreign Minister Julie] Bishop to get them out,' Mr Chapman responded.

Once Lahela and Noah went to Beirut, Mr el-Amien told allegedly Ms Faulkner she would never see her children again

A group of seven people are expected to be charged over their involvement in the botched recovery operation allegedly orchestrated Ms Faulkner and the 60 Minutes team

Ms Faulkner denied that any force was used against her children's paternal grandmother after she claimed she was pistol whipped and threatened with a gun during the abduction from a busy Beirut bus stop, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

'They say we took them using guns and hit [the grandmother] in the head. We didn't even touch the grandmother,' she said.

Ms Faulkner reportedly said that she and the 60 Minutes crew were in 'a bit of sh*t', also confirming that 'Adam', suspected to be head of CARI Adam Whittington, had been 'pulled in for questioning'.

Channel Nine's Director of News and Current Affairs, Darren Wick, is in the Lebanese capital trying to negotiate the release of his staff members as they prepare to face court.

The network has hired a well-respected local criminal lawyer to represent its staff members at their first hearing.

The group of seven people are expected to be charged over their involvement in the botched recovery operation allegedly orchestrated Ms Faulkner and the 60 Minutes team.

Daily Mail Australia understands the group was advised on Sunday that the legal process could see them remain in custody for up to a month, at least

Daily Mail Australia understands the group was advised on Sunday that the legal process could see them remain in custody for up to a month, at least.

Lebanese authorities have split up the detained Australians, sending Ms Faulkner and Tara Brown to a female-only detention centre and the male members to another detention centre.

Lebanese police allege the crew paid for and filmed the attempted kidnapping of the Brisbane mother's two children after their father Ali al-Amin moved them to the Middle East without her permission.

The case has been referred to Mount Lebanon general prosecutor Judge Claude Karam who interrogated all seven involved on Monday, and plans to conduct more one-on-one questioning in coming days.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has spoken to her Lebanese counterpart and says she expects the question of charges will be determined soon.

Ms Faulkner claims her ex-husband took their children to Beirut on a holiday last year and then refused to bring them back home to Australia, allegedly telling her that she wouldn't see the kids again.

Lebanese authorities reportedly have evidence that Channel Nine paid for the abduction.

According to the ABC, police said they had a signed statement from a member of CARI confirming they received $115,000 for the operation.
Patients should be given two weeks to think about a procedure before agreeing to surgery, says new guidelines

Cheap cosmetic surgery should be banned and patients given two weeks of reflection time before agreeing to go under knife, under new guidance for doctors.

Experts say too many extremely vulnerable patients  many who are women  are being exploited by cowboy surgeons and other practitioners.

In the past, patients have been targeted with buy one get one free offers. And women and daughters have been targeted with four for the price of three breast implant offers.

Joint guidelines by the Royal College of Surgeons and General Medical Council also state that treatments should only be carried out by qualified experts.

A doctor or surgeon wanting to carry out Botox fillers, breast enlargements or other nip and tuck procedures must have the relevant certificates.

The guidelines follow on from a major report by the NHSs Medical Director Professor Bruce Keogh in 2013 which warned that many patients were being put at risk.

It was commissioned in the wake of the PIP breast implant scandal, whereby up to 47,000 women were fitted with cut price devices filled with harmful silicone.

Professor Terence Stephenson, Chair of the GMC, said: Cosmetic interventions should not be entered into lightly or without serious considerations.

Above all, patients considering whether to have such a procedure need honest and straightforward advice which allows them to understand the risks as well as the possible benefits.

It is a challenging area of medicine which deals with patients who can be extremely vulnerable.

Most doctors who practise in this area do so to a high standard but we do sometimes come across poor practice, and it is important that patients are protected from this and that doctors understand what is expected from them.

Our new guidance is designed to help drive up standards in the cosmetic industry and make sure all patients, and especially those who are most vulnerable, are given the care, treatment and support they need.

While most doctors practise at a high standard, a report found there were doctors carrying out procedures they were not qualified for

The reforms stipulate that clinics must not offer cheap two for one style deals to try and entice customers.

Clinics must also ensure patients have at least two weeks to reflect after their first consultation before agreeing to have the procedure.

Health Minister Ben Gummer said: Anyone who chooses to have a cosmetic procedure should expect to have high quality and safe clinical care.
Rex and Rebecca Clark were arrested for first-degree murder, child neglect, child abuse and

Colton Levi Clark, 9, disappeared in 2006 and is believed to be dead

Police are searching the rural property of an Oklahoma couple arrested in connection with the disappearance of their 9-year-old nephew in 2006.

Authorities refused to reveal what information had prompted the new search on Monday.

A court hearing is tentatively scheduled Tuesday for Rex and Rebecca Clark, who were arrested Friday after authorities obtained a warrant linked to the disappearance of Colton Clark, who was also the couple's foster son.

They are currently being held on $3million bail each.

Assistant District Attorney Paul Smith has said the arrest warrants allege first-degree murder, child abuse, child neglect and conspiracy to commit a felony, but no formal charge had been filed by late afternoon Monday.

Seminole County Sheriff's investigator David Hanson declined to say why authorities reopened the case seven months ago or where they got the information that led to the arrests, citing the fact that charges had not yet been filed.

'We have interviewed a lot of people,' Hanson said.

'I believe we have a very strong case against them.

'There is a lot of evidence that has come to light.'

Seminole County District Attorney Chris Ross said Monday he did not know whether Rex and Rebecca Clark had hired an attorney.

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A court hearing is tentatively scheduled Tuesday for Rex and Rebecca Clark (pictured), who were arrested Friday after authorities obtained a warrant linked to the disappearance of Colton Clark

Colton was reported missing on April 20, 2006. The Clarks told police that the boy jumped out of a window and ran away because he was scared to attend a counseling session (pictured officials search the property)

Colton and his older brother lived with their aunt and uncle after their parents terminated their rights to the boys.

Their parents, who were excluded as suspects early in the investigation, were both seeking treatment for drug addiction.

The Clarks home-schooled the boys and were under the supervision of the Department of Human Services. A counselor tried to set up a meeting with Colton multiple times, police said.

'The Clarks kept making excuses. They would schedule an appointment but then call back and say he was sick...they made several excuses,' Seminole County Sheriff Investigator David Hanson told the Red Dirt Report.

'Finally the worker told them, 'Look we're coming out there today and we're going to see Colton'. That's when Rebecca called 911.'

Colton was reported missing on April 20, 2006, prompting investigators to launch a wide-scale search across 2,500 acres using helicopters and search dogs.

At the time, investigators thought he may have run away in part because his backpack was gone.

But then Homer told police that his brother's favorite shoes were still at the house, claiming Colton would have never left behind his boots.

Police searched the Clark's five-acre property for evidence and possible human remains

'Homer said he had two pairs of shoes that he always wore and both pairs were still at the house,' Seminole County Sheriff Shannon Smith told the paper.

Smith also observed that Homer wouldn't look at police throughout the entire interview, only at Rebecca and Rex.

'There was total control in that room,' he said. 'It was like he was looking at them, checking with them for permission to say anything.'

A scent dog also failed to pick up any track outside of Colton's window or 10 feet beyond the home, despite Rebecca's claim that he had jumped out of it.

There was also the fact that the couple immediately referred to Colton in the past tense, refused to take a lie detector test and that Rex Clark 'didn't seem concerned' by his disappearance.

He told authorities that he had raised the boys to be survivalists who knew how to survive for days - or years - on their own.

A neighbor was the last person outside the Clark home who saw Colton alive, a month before his disappearance.

Smith said Friday that Colton is presumed dead and that investigators were searching the couple's rural Seminole County 5-acre property, about 65 miles east of Oklahoma City, for his remains.

Investigators initially handled Colton's disappearance as a runaway case, and hundreds of officials - including the FBI - searched 2,500 acres of terrain in Seminole County

The Sheriff's Office had medical examiners and other professionals on hand Monday as they searched, Hanson said.

He said the search could take just a few more days or could even last a month or more.

As for Colton's brother, Homer was quickly removed from the home. His name was changed and investigators have not been able to locate him.
The two Australian university students injured in a shooting in New Orleans last week have recovered enough to be moved out of intensive care in hospital.

Jake Rovacsek, 23, and his friend Toben Clements, 21, were taken to hospital after being shot in the chest and stomach in New Orleans after a drug deal gone wrong.

The pair were in a Bourbon Street bar when they approached 'an unknown black male', asked about purchasing drugs from him and then left the bar and followed the man to a four-door, dark-coloured sedan where a driver was waiting inside.

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Jake Rovacsek, 23, was one of the Australian students shot in New Orleans in a drug deal gone wrong

Toben Clements, 21, was also shot. The pair were in the U.S. with Curtin University for the International Collegiate Mining Competition

CCTV footage obtained by 9News, shows the pair arriving with friends at the bar known as The Swamp, drinking and then leaving around 1.30am - about three hours before they were shot.

According to police, the students left the bar with a man who drove them to Algiers, a residential suburb on the west bank of the Mississippi River.

The driver told them the drugs would cost several hundred dollars to purchase and the students told them they did not have the money.

'When they arrived at LB Landry Avenue and Shepard Street, the pair said they exited the vehicle and were approached by another unknown male who demanded their money,' local police said in a statement.

'When they told him they didn't have it, the unknown male shot them both and then jumped in the vehicle with the unknown driver and fled the scene,' a police spokesman said.

They were taken to New Orleans University Medical Centre around 4.30am. Their condition has since improved enough that they have both been moved from intensive care but remain hospitalised.

The students were drinking at The Swamp, a bar on Bourbon Street in the city's old district

The students were in the country with Curtin University's Western Australia School of Mines for the 38th Intercollegiate Mining Games in Montana. They had travelled to New Orleans on a private holiday after the event had finished.
The mother of alleged murderer Meechaiel Criner, 17, is a convicted prostitute who makes pornographic films and took drugs throughout her pregnancy.

Vivian Lafrance Criner, 43, claims to be based in Las Vegas but was arrested on prostitution charges in Shreveport, Louisiana last September and still has an active warrant out for her arrest.

She was also part of a prostitution ring busted by Louisiana's Caddo County police department in March 2015 and was, on that occasion, released on a $700 bond.

Criner, who uses the stage name De Collecter, is currently thought to be in Nevada where she sells X-rated videos for $75 each and uses social media sites to promote them.

But although active online, the mother-of-five has not come forward to speak about her youngest son who was charged with the murder of Portland dance student Haruka Weiser, 18.

Vivian Lafrance Criner, 43, the mother of accused murderer Meechaiel Criner, claims to be based in Las Vegas but was arrested on prostitution charges in Shreveport, Louisiana last September and still has an active warrant out for her arrest

Haruka Weiser was a promising ballet student at the University of Texas at Austin when her life was tragically cut short

On the day Meechaiel's arrest was announced, Criner created a Go Fund Me Page aimed at raising funds for a book she hopes to publish on sexual hygiene.

Written in error-strewn English, the page describes the 'years of research' she did while working as an 'adult star' and says the aim is to create bodies that are 'smell free zones'.

On April 5, the day that Weiser's battered body was discovered beside an Austin creek, Criner was busy plugging a 'bootie clip' on Twitter  and continued to do so, even after her son was charged.

Meechaiel, who had been living rough in a derelict building close to the University of Texas campus, was arrested two days after Weiser's remains were found and was caught with some of the dance student's possessions.

The 17-year-old is thought to have arrived in Austin late last year, having made his way there via Seagoville and McKinley - where he was caught shoplifting  after running away from his grandmother's Texarkana home.

He had lived with Mary Wadley, 62, since the age of 'five or six' according to his great uncle Leo Criner, 61, and spent his earliest years in foster care.

Wadley, who made no effort to find her grandson after he ran away in August 2015, is now thought to be travelling to Austin to visit him in jail.

The teenager, who endured a chaotic upbringing at the hands of his mother and grandmother, also suffers from a panoply of medical conditions  among them schizophrenia, depression and autism.

He is thought to have been taking medication for the latter but, says his uncle, had not had access to the drugs for six months prior to the murder.

Meechaiel was also subjected to violence by Wadley while still very young and, in 2009, was discovered with both of his eyes swollen shut and with marks on his face following a beating.

Although his grandmother claimed to be disciplining the boy and said he had suddenly turned as she hit him on the back with a belt, when asked why he was being punished, the child appeared not to know.

The police file, seen by Daily Mail Online, adds: 'Criner [Meechaiel] spoke as if he were mentally handicapped and "slower" than normal children. At no time was he taken for medical treatment.'

An addendum to the report, written by Criner's CPS case worker, says Wadley described her actions as 'whooping' him and, when asked why, became irate but later said it was because the boy had been 'acting up'.

Criner's grandmother, although initially booked into the local jail, was later freed with a warning and a $2,000 fine.

His health problems, said his uncle Leo, who also lives in Texarkana, can be traced back to his mother, who was 'on drugs real bad' during her pregnancy.

'His mother, when she was carrying him, she was on drugs real bad. Real bad,' he said. 'When she had him, she really didn't want him. She didn't want this kid around.

Leo Criner is the great uncle of Meechaiel Criner,

'Him and his sister were in one foster home after another until their grandmother came into the picture.

'To my knowledge, as long as they were with their grandmother, they were pretty much alright.'

Criner, who continued to plug her X-rated clips on YouTube over the weekend, rarely bothered to see any of her children and allowed two of the five to be permanently taken into foster care.

'She had very little if anything to do with him at all,' he said. 'As he grew up, she would have some contact with him.

'Maybe two or three months at a time. But no extended time to raise him up or teach him anything. She was not that kind of mother.'

He also claims that the convicted streetwalker has no idea who the fathers of any of her five offspring might be and added that the children 'could have been brought by the stork for all I know'.

'I don't know who his [Meechaiel's] daddy is,' Leo said. 'Never saw him, never even heard his name. Never. I don't know who the daddy of any of her babies is.

'She got five kids and I couldn't tell you who the daddy of any of them is. Any of them. I know who the mommy is because that's my sister's child.

Criner, who uses the stage name De Collecter, is currently thought to be in Nevada where she sells X-rated videos for $75 each and uses social media sites to promote them

On the day Meechaiel's arrest was announced, Criner devoted herself to creating a Go Fund Me Page aimed at raising funds for a book she hopes to publish on sexual hygiene

On April 5, the day that Weiser's battered body was discovered beside an Austin creek, Criner was busy plugging a 'bootie clip' on Twitter  and continued to do so, even after her son was charged

Criner, who is yet to comment on her son's arrest, has not been in contact with any of her relations and is thought to be in Las Vegas.

Criner, who is yet to comment on her son's arrest, has not been in contact with any of her relations and is thought to be in Las Vegas. Daily Mail Online has been unable to reach her for comment

She was also part of a prostitution ring busted by Louisiana's Caddo County police department in March 2015 and was, on that occasion, released on a $700 bond

'As for who the daddy is, they could have been brought by the stork for all I know.'

Criner, who is yet to comment on her son's arrest, has not been in contact with any of her relations and is thought to be in Las Vegas.

Daily Mail Online has been unable to reach her for comment.

Meechaiel remains in the custody of the Austin PD and has been charged with the first degree murder of Oregon native Weiser.

Video footage of the night she was killed appears to show him brandishing a 'sharp silver object', although police have refused to confirm whether or not she was stabbed to death.

The stretch of Waller Creek behind the University of Texas Alumni Center, where Weiser's body was found, remains cordoned off and an autopsy is expected to be completed later this week.

However, despite Meechaiel's arrest, Leo says he still does not believe that his great-nephew is responsible for Weiser's death.

'Truly in my heart, I don't believe he really did this,' he said. It's not in him. He don't have that type of mentality or mindset.

He added: 'He was always an amenable young man, helping me around the yard. He was not no bad kid at all. He was well liked.
The Channel Nine crew currently detained in Lebanon after a botched child abduction could face charges along with Australian mother Sally Faulkner.

60 Minutes journalist Tara Brown, three crew members, four people from a child recovery agency and Ms Faulkner were arrested on Thursday and are accused to trying to kidnap her two children.

A judge in Lebanon has been asked by prosecutors to investigate the charges which are punishable by a minimum of three years in jail, the ABC reported.

Scroll down for video

Seven people are expected to face court in Lebanon over their involvement in a botched child recovery operation allegedly orchestrated by an Australian mother Sally Faulkner (pictured) and a 60 Minutes crew

Senior journalist Tara Brown has been moved to a female only detention centre outside Beirut with the children's mother Sally Faulkner ahead of an expected court appearance on Monday night

Noah (left) and Lahela al-Amin pictured here with their father Ali Zeid al-Amin in their family home in Beirut, Lebanon

The judge will be the one to decided if the group will be released on bail or whether they will continue to be detained as investigations continue.

There are also reports that Lebanese authorities have footage of the alleged abduction attempt, however Channel Nine said their crew was not connected to the recovery team.

Additionally, the crew have thanked Lebanese authorities for their 'treatment in custody'.

The crew are in 'relatively good spirits given the situation the find themselves in', according to Nine News correspondent Tom Steinfort.

Earlier it was revealed Ms Faulkner sent text messages to another child recovery agency during the operation stating that her and the 60 Minutes crew who accompanied her were in 'trouble'.

Sally Faulkner and the Australian television crew, including reporter Tara Brown, accused of kidnapping two children had their court hearing in Beirut delayed on Monday, according to Steinfort.

Ms Faulkner attempted to abduct her children Noah, four, and Lahela, five (left)

Ms Faulkner told A Current Affair last year that she would do 'anything' to get her children back

The 29-year-old said local police had thwarted a plan to sneak the children out of Lebanon on a yacht but that she could make it to a boat 'within a day'

David 'Tangles' Ballment (left) and Stephen Rice are part of the 60 Minutes crew currently detained

Lebanese police allege the crew paid for and filmed the attempted kidnapping of the Brisbane mother's two children Noah, four, and Lahela, five, after their father Ali el-Amien moved them to the Middle East without her permission

She reportedly hired a controversial child recovery agency to get Noah and Lahlea back from Lebanon after thier father Ali el-Amien refused to bring the children home to Australia

Lebanese prosecutors were expected to question the group, who have been detained since Thursday, for the first time about their involvement in the botched snatch and grab' recovery operation of Ms Faulkner's two children Noah, four, and Lahela, five.

A short time after the 60 Minutes crew and members of Child Abduction Recovery International (CARI) were arrested on Thursday, Ms Faulkner made contact with Colin Chapman, who runs a rival child recovery agency from Queensland.

According to text messages and emails obtained by the Sydney Morning Herald, Ms Faulkner confirmed that 60 Minutes recorded the operation but said police didn't have the footage.

She went on to beg Mr Chapman to help her find a way out of the country via boat or through Syria.

The 29-year-old said local police had thwarted a plan to sneak the children out of Lebanon on a yacht but that she could make it to a boat 'within a day'.

The Brisbane mother, who left an infant child behind in Australia, said 60 Minutes would pay for the agency to organise another extraction via boat, but Mr Chapman said he would need 'some sort of deposit or guarantee' that the 75,000 euros would be paid.

The mother has previously said she did not know about her ex-husband's intention to take her children

The children have both since been reunited with their father, who says he is 'disappointed' by the recovery attempt

'Is there any way your team could do the recovery and get the money later. I know 60 will pay up if it means I don't do the rest of the story and I get out,' Ms Faulkner reportedly said.

'60 refusing to pay for the boat. They're relying on [Foreign Minister Julie] Bishop to get them out,' Mr Chapman responded.

Ms Faulkner denied that any force was used against her children's paternal grandmother after she claimed she was pistol whipped and threatened with a gun during the abduction from a busy Beirut bus stop, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

'They say we took them using guns and hit [the grandmother] in the head. We didn't even touch the grandmother,' she said.

Ms Faulkner reportedly said that she and the 60 Minutes crew were in 'a bit of sh*t', also confirming that 'Adam', suspected to be head of CARI Adam Whittington, had been 'pulled in for questioning'.

Channel Nine's Director of News and Current Affairs, Darren Wick, has flown to the Lebanese capital to try and negotiate the release of his staff members as they prepared to face court.

A group of seven people are expected to be charged over their involvement in the botched recovery operation allegedly orchestrated Ms Faulkner and the 60 Minutes team.

A judicial source told a local newspaper the group had been questioned on Monday, contrary to reports from Nine correspondent Tom Steinfort.

Ms Faulkner denied that any force was used against her children's paternal grandmother (pictured), who claims she was pistol whipped and threatened with a gun during the abduction from a busy Beirut bus stop

Once Lahela and Noah went to Beirut, Mr el-Amien told allegedly Ms Faulkner she would never see her children again

A group of seven people are expected to be charged over their involvement in the botched recovery operation allegedly orchestrated Ms Faulkner and the 60 Minutes team

Daily Mail Australia understands the group was advised on Sunday that the legal process could see them remain in custody for up to a month, at least.

Lebanese authorities have split up the detained Australians, sending Ms Faulkner and Tara Brown to a female-only detention centre and the male members to another detention centre.

Lebanese police allege the crew paid for and filmed the attempted kidnapping of the Brisbane mother's two children after their father Ali el-Amien moved them to the Middle East without her permission.

A judicial source has told a local newspaper that two of the nine people initially detained over the snatch and grab operation have been released while seven others will likely be charged on Monday.

Nine's European correspondent Tom Steinfort told the Today Show that Channel Nine had hired a well-respected local criminal lawyer to represent its staff members at their first hearing.

Lebanese authorities have split up the detained Australians, sending Ms Faulkner and Tara Brown to a female-only detention centre and the male members to another detention centre

Daily Mail Australia understands the group was advised on Sunday that the legal process could see them remain in custody for up to a month, at least

In Skype call, both Ms Faulkner's children can be heard begging to be returned to their mother's side

'We are likely to find out whether or not they will be facing charges and perhaps what those charges may well be. It is a tricky legal process here and it's one that is likely to take some time,' Mr Steinfort said.

The case has been referred to Mount Lebanon general prosecutor Judge Claude Karam.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has spoken to her Lebanese counterpart and says she expects the question of charges will be determined soon.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull declined to comment extensively on the situation on Sunday but said that the TV crew are receiving consular help as they wait to learn if charges will be filed against them.

Ms Faulkner claims her ex-husband took their children to Beirut on a holiday last year and then refused to bring them back home to Australia, allegedly telling her that she wouldn't see the kids again.

Lebanese authorities reportedly have evidence that Channel Nine paid for the abduction.
David Cameron launched a passionate defence of aspiration and the right to make money lawfully yesterday.

The Prime Minister angrily hit back at critics of his familys tax affairs, saying his late father had been traduced as a tax dodger for setting up an investment fund in Panama.

And he savaged Labour as the enemy of aspiration, over Jeremy Corbyns suggestion that he might ban parents from giving tax-free gifts to their children.

The Prime Minister (pictured leaving Downing Street yesterday) angrily hit back at critics of his familys tax affairs, saying his late father had been traduced as a tax dodger for setting up an investment fund in Panama

This is a Government  and this should be a country  who believe in aspiration and wealth creation, he said. We should defend the right of every British citizen to make money lawfully.

Aspiration and wealth creation are not somehow dirty words. They are the key engines of growth and prosperity  we must always support those who want to own shares and make investments to support their families. As for parents passing money to their children while they are still alive  its something that we should not just defend but we should proudly support.

It came as senior figures scrambled to publish tax returns in a bid to close down the controversy over the leaked Panama Papers. In yesterdays other developments:

George Osborne released details showing he earned 198,738 last year, with his salary topped up by rental income from his London home and dividends from shares in his fathers wallpaper firm;

Boris Johnson published financial information showing he earned almost 2million from 2011 to 2015 and paid 916,481 tax in the period;

Jeremy Corbyn released details revealing that he was fined 100 for filing his tax return late last year. He declared earnings of 1,850 on top of his MPs salary;

Mr Cameron faced questions over 72,000 worth of shares he sold two months after becoming prime minister in 2010;

He revealed controversial UK dependencies including the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands had agreed in the past 48 hours to do more to improve tax transparency;

Mr Cameron released six years of tax returns at the weekend, showing he has earned about 200,000 a year since becoming PM.

The move follows revelations that his late father Ian had registered his Blairmore investment fund in Panama.

The Prime Minister eventually disclosed last week that he and wife Samantha sold a 31,500 investment in Blairmore months before he entered Downing Street in 2010.

But the confession came only after days of prevarication from No10.

HMRC BOSS: 'TAX IS EXTORTION' The HMRC boss overseeing the 10million inquiry into the Panama Papers was a partner at a City law firm that acted for David Camerons fathers offshore company. Edward Troup, HMRCs executive chairman and permanent secretary once called tax legalised extortion. Between 1997 and 2004 he was a partner at Simmons & Simmons, whose clients included Ian Camerons Blairmore Holdings and other firms registered in Panama. The law firms name appears on dozens of documents and emails in the Panama Papers in connection with Mossack Fonseca. But Mr Troup did not personally deal with Mossack Fonseca or any of the firms named in the files. There is no suggestion either he or Simmons & Simmons did anything wrong. An HMRC spokesman said: Edward Troup had a successful career in the private sector, during the course of which he dealt with many companies. He can confirm that he never had any dealings with Mossack Fonseca, was unaware of the company until recently, and that none of the individuals or organisations named so far were clients that he advised. His role in HMRC has never involved responsibility for operational activities or direct dealings with companies on their tax affairs. Advertisement

Yesterday he insisted neither he nor his father had done anything wrong. He told the Commons his stockbroker father had been a victim of deeply hurtful and profoundly untrue comments. Mr Cameron said Blairmore had been an entirely standard unit trust, similar to offshore funds invested in by trade unions and Labour councils.

Media critics such as the BBC and The Guardian, which led the charge over the Panama Papers, have also invested in similar funds, he said.

I accept all of the criticisms for not responding more quickly to these issues last week but as I said I was angry about the way my fathers memory was being traduced  he was a hardworking man and a wonderful dad and Im proud of everything he did to build a business and provide for his family, Mr Cameron told MPs.

He insisted the Government had done more than any other to tackle aggressive tax avoidance, including an announcement yesterday of a criminal offence for companies that allow staff to facilitate it. But he said this should not be confused with legitimate investments in things such as unit trusts.

He also addressed questions over a 200,000 gift from his mother which followed the 300,000 inheritance he received after his fathers death. The payments by Mary Cameron in May and July 2011 were given tax-free, and will become liable to inheritance tax only if she dies within seven years of handing over the money. There is no suggestion they have broken any rules.

The PM said: Far from people being embarrassed about passing things to their children  its a natural human instinct and something that should be encouraged.

Jeremy Corbyn said the statement was a masterclass in the art of distraction. There is now one rule for the super-rich and another for the rest, the Labour leader added. Im honestly not sure that you fully appreciate the anger that is out there over this injustice. The PM also faced questions over 72,000 in shares he sold in July 2010. Downing Street said he had supplied full details to Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Kathryn Hudson, who is considering a Labour request to launch an inquiry into the PMs failure to declare his shareholding.

No 10 said rules had not required him to declare his shares or his Blairmore stake. But it refused to divulge details of the shares. Aides could not explain why he had sold his Blairmore stake before becoming PM, but held on to his stake in other shares for another six months.

Labour is considering a demand that all MPs should publish their tax returns. But Mr Cameron and other Tories dismissed the idea.

Sir Alan Duncan said the PMs critics hate anyone who has got a hint of wealth and forcing MPs to declare all financial details risked creating a Commons of low achievers who hate enterprise, hate people who look after their own family and know absolutely nothing about the outside world.

Boris paid nearly 1million in tax over four years

Boris Johnson earned nearly 2million over the past four years and paid nearly 1million in tax.

The Mayor of Londons City Hall salary totalled more than half a million pounds in the four years ending 2014/15, according to a summary of his tax return published yesterday.

But this was dwarfed by earnings of nearly 1.5million from writing  taking his total taxable income between 2011/12 and 2014/15 to 1,985,901. This included 575,644 in mayoral salary. He was paid 987,097 for his Daily Telegraph column, while book royalties earned him 469,385.

Boris Johnson earned nearly 2million over the past four years and paid nearly 1million in tax

His tax bill over the period totalled 916,481. Mr Johnson had an overseas income tax bill of 728 but did not have any US tax liabilities during the period, according to the document.

Sources close to the politician said he has never had trusts, shares or offshore investments and all earnings have been from writing or his salaries as an MP or Mayor.

Osborne declares 45,000 dividend

The Chancellor made almost 45,000 in one year on dividends from holdings in his fathers high-class wallpaper firm, according to his tax return released yesterday.

The Chancellor made almost 45,000 in one year on dividends from holdings in his fathers high-class wallpaper firm, according to his tax return released yesterday

And he made more than 33,000 in rental income from his six-bedroom London townhouse while he lives in his grace and favour apartment in Downing Street.

As Chancellor, his salary in 2014/15 was nearly 135,000. In that year, Mr Osborne had income of almost 200,000, of which 72,210 was paid in tax.

Mr Osborne told Sky News: Im the first Chancellor ever to publish details of my tax return. I will continue to do so.

He said the move showed an unprecedented degree of transparency from the Government, adding that Labour wanted to target people who leave any money to their children, a move he said was anti-aspiration.

Mr Osbornes rental income comes from the five-storey Notting Hill house he bought with his wife Frances in 2006 for 1.85million. Assuming the rental income is split with his wife, the total is 67,124, suggesting a monthly rent of almost 5,600.

In addition, the Chancellor has a sizeable stake  reported to be some 15 per cent  in Osborne and Little Group Ltd, established by his father Sir Peter Osborne and his fathers brother-in-law Antony Little in 1968.

Private Eye reported last year that, despite having made a pre-tax profit of 722,000, the firm paid no corporation tax for 2015.

MINISTER ASKS MEDIA FOR PANAMA PAPERS The Guardian and the BBC are refusing to hand over the leaked Panama Papers to the taxman, a Treasury minister said last night. Financial Secretary David Gauke said HMRC had asked for the 11.5million documents leaked from law firm Mossack Fonseca to be handed over for thorough investigation. The data needed to be checked against what is already being probed by the tax authorities, he told the Daily Telegraph. A BBC spokesman said it had received no requests from HMRC and that the raw data was held by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). A spokesman for Guardian News and Media said requests for the data should go to the ICIJ. The ICIJ said it had a long-standing policy of not handing over such material. Advertisement

The detail of Mr Osbornes tax return showed a total taxable income of 198,738, including 44,647 in the form of dividends.

His taxable pay and earnings  his salary minus the personal allowance  as MP and Chancellor was listed as 120,526. In addition, he earned bank interest of 3.

A Treasury spokesman said the dividends were derived from shares the Chancellor owns directly, and also as life tenant of a family trust based and resident in the UK which holds shares in that company as its sole asset. The Chancellor paid income tax on these dividends, added the spokesman.

A Treasury source said this is the first year for several years Osborne and Little has paid a dividend, meaning it is the first year the Chancellor has benefitted significantly from the reduction in the top rate of tax from 50p to 45p.

The release comes days after the Prime Minister released his own tax details.

But while Mr Camerons details went back to 2010, Mr Osbornes were only for one year.

Corbyn was fined 100 for filing later return

Jeremy Corbyn took hours to produce a copy of his self-assessment after vowing to publish it.

After aides reportedly struggled to find the paperwork, the Labour leader revealed that he had been fined 100 for filing his tax return a week late.

Jeremy Corbyn took hours to produce a copy of his self-assessment after vowing to publish it

The ten-page document discloses that he declared 1,850 in extra income on top of his parliamentary salary  1,350 lecture fees and 500 for taking part in surveys. He also declared another 500 as part of the share of costs of a home study.

There is no mention of any income from the lodger whom Mr Corbyn took into his home in Islington, north London, before the General Election.

A source close to the MP said the rent he collected was below the declarable rate. The Labour leader has never declared any earnings from his lodger in the Register of Members Interests, where the threshold is 10,000 a year.

For the last tax year, homeowners could make 4,250 in rent without declaring it or paying any tax. Under that threshold, Mr Corbyn would have had to rent a room out for less than 354 a month  around half the average for the area. The tenant moved out in January.

Mr Corbyns total income last year was 70,795. Most of that was his MPs salary. His pay is expected to soar to 137,000 as Leader of the Opposition.
BBC journalists are threatening to strike over plans to cut their evening meal allowance from 16 to 10.

At the moment, staff are allowed to claim 16 of licence fee payers money on expenses every time they have a late shift. But bosses want to cut this by 6, saving an estimated 300,000 a year.

The reduction comes as the BBC is battling to save 800million a year in costs.

At the moment, BBC staff are allowed to claim 16 of licence fee payers money on expenses every time they have a late shift. But bosses want to cut this by 6, saving an estimated 300,000 a year

It has already slashed its sports budget, pledged to cut its news budget by 80milllion and is currently eyeing up which channels and services to axe.

And under proposals first put forward last October, bosses are trying to stop staff spending licence fee payers money on luxuries they could do without or that they should arguably be paying for themselves.

Corporation chiefs want to ban employees from taking first class trains. They have also told staff to stop using taxis in central London, and to take public transport wherever possible.

Furious journalists now claim they are being unfairly forced to subsidise the BBC from their own pockets.

In a statement, the National Union of Journalists said: Staff say the cut to expenses will mean they will be subsidising the BBC from their own wages.

The NUJ, together with the unions Bectu and Unite, have warned the BBC that staff are very angry and could ballot for strike action if the controversial proposals are not withdrawn.

Sue Harris, NUJ national broadcasting officer, said: Why should our members pick up the tab? These are legitimate expenses which staff incur as they do their jobs often during unsocial hours.

The talks to discuss the changes of rates have been a farce and our patience has run out. Our members are angry and if the management insists on foisting this unfair deal, we will be a balloting for strike action.

The unions suggested that the BBC could instead make the savings by slashing car perks for senior executives, which cost the broadcaster 344,000 last year.
He said Muslim communities could become 'a nation within a nation'

Labour MP Khalid Mahmood, pictured, said more Muslim men should be 'brave' and challenge 'unacceptable attitudes'

Urgent calls for Britain to adopt a more muscular approach to integrating Muslims into society triggered a furious row last night.

Former equalities watchdog Trevor Phillips urged Muslims to change their values and behaviour, saying the UK risks sacrificing a generation of young British people if hardline Islamic values are not challenged

His call, in yesterdays Daily Mail, was backed by MPs, although it also provoked a backlash from community groups who accused him of stigmatising and scapegoating Muslims.

Labours Khalid Mahmood, Englands first Muslim MP, said: A lot of people are challenging unacceptable attitudes.

'There are womens groups doing this. I only wish more men in some communities were able to be as brave.

But he said successive governments going back to the 1980s had pursued policies which had led to the ghetto-isation of Muslim communities.

Trevor Phillips is right in terms of saying we must get the community to integrate far more, he said.

But a lack of planning going back decades means they have not had a chance to move out of their areas.

Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee which is investigating extremism, said: There should be no no-go areas in the UK. The first generation of migrants came here because it was the most open and tolerant country in the world.

We should celebrate different cultures and religions. However, we are clearly not doing enough to challenge those who wish to undermine our values.

'It is these values that hold us together. We should be tirelessly promoting them.

However, the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said it did not recognise Mr Phillips analysis, which was based on a Channel 4 poll for a documentary tomorrow night.

It also questioned the decision to survey some of the most deprived neighbourhoods in the UK with a disproportionately high number of people with a Pakistani or Bangladeshi ethnicity.

It comes amid fears of a divide in society. Pictured is a muslim woman in a niqab selling ice cream to a child in Dewsbury (file picture)

Choosing specifically to poll in areas that are poor and more religiously conservative, skews the results and makes it indicative of these areas and not of British Muslims nationally, the MCB said.

We recognise that Muslims, like people in other faiths, must reconcile their deeply held beliefs and the evolving norms of our British society.

But this cannot be done by stigmatising and scapegoating Muslims  we are in no doubt the presentation of these results will be seized by some to create anxieties.

'The vast majority of Muslims are appreciative of their nation and what it offers, particularly in the respect of religious plurality.

'To single out Muslims in this study may be deemed as courageous by the establishment, but in our view it will do nothing but harden attitudes on all sides.

In his Daily Mail article, Mr Phillips  former head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission  expressed concern at the growing chasm between British Muslims and their compatriots on issues such as marriage, segregation, freedom of speech and justifying violence in defence of religion.

Former head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission Trevor Phillips, pictured, said there was a growing chasm between British Muslims and non-Muslims over marriage, segregation and freedom of speech

He demanded an end to the complacency of senior figures, including politicians, turning a blind eye to appalling misdemeanours, which contributed to sexual grooming scandals in Rotherham and Rochdale.

He said British Muslims were becoming a nation within a nation  with many holding different standards and wanting to lead separate lives in ghetto housing estates.

The Channel 4 poll, for which ICM interviewed 1,081 British Muslims aged 18 and over, found that four per cent  which would equate to more than 100,000 of the nearly 3million British Muslims  said they had sympathy for suicide bombers who claimed they were fighting injustice.
Here at a pyretic Place de la Revolution the bearded ladies with their knitting sticks were looking pretty cheesed-off yesterday teatime.

The aristocrat Cameron had been brought, bound and shivering in a collar-less shirt, to the tax-mobs guillotine. All was ready for his execution.

Fervid-eyed tricoteuses relished the thought of seeing that privileged bean separated from its neck and plopping into the wicker basket. Blood, blood, blood!

Labour MPs had gathered at the House of Commons to sink their teeth into Prime Minister David Cameron (pictured with Chancellor George Osborne) over the recent scandal regarding his personal tax affairs

But with one bound, or rather one hour of Commons exchanges, the drawly-voiced Marquis de Cameron was free. Zut et merde, muttered Madame Defarge. Or was that Polly Toynbee under the tea-cosy bonnet?

Antique class warrior Dennis Skinner was banished from the Chamber after calling the Prime Minister Dodgy Dave.

Speaker Bercow instructed Skinner to withdraw the adjective. Which one? asked Mr Skinner, grammar not his strong point. The one beginning with D and ending with Y, said Bercow, in the tone of Blackadder addressing Baldrick.

Mr Skinner snarled: Not a chance! The wigged Clerk dolefully handed the Speaker a printed sheet and Mr Bercow spoke the oft-used words banning Mr Skinner from the Chamber for the day. It wont be the last time.

These are manic times, mes braves. Top politicians are being forced to bare quite unnecessary details (the Register of Interests already covers most of this stuff). Next, some Puritan will be demanding their medical records. Cough please, Prime Minister.

Some Tory MPs almost sobbed with gratitude to Mr Cameron for being so bold. The sycophancy champ was arguably a moist fellow called Oliver Dowden (Con, Hertsmere) who went on about the sacrifices DC had made on becoming PM. Little Dowden used to be a Whitehall special adviser.

Dennis Skinner (pictured) was banished from the Chamber after calling the Prime Minister Dodgy Dave

Pictured, class warrior Skinner walks out after being banished from the chamber by Speaker John Bercow

With Jeremy Corbyn again meandering and misfiring (es not exactly Tony Blair, is e? shouted a Tory wearily), Labour MPs seethed as they sensed their prey escaping. Sir Alan Duncan (Con, Rutland and Melton) suggested that the Lefties should snap out of synthetic indignation and admit they hate anyone whos got a bit of wealth.

Sir Alan, himself no doubt a veritable pauper, added that if all MPs had to publish their tax returns, the Commons would soon attract only low achievers who hate enterprise and who know absolutely nothing about the outside world. Yeowsie! That shot up the Labour lots backsides like a vindaloo steam jet.

Mr Cameron had gone directly into his personal tax affairs, telling the House he sold all his stocks and shares before he became PM in 2010. Did he turn a little pink and gasp for breath at first as Labour heckled? Possibly.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was meandering and misfiring during the debate at the House of Commons

But his voice remained pretty level as he spoke of some deeply hurtful and profoundly untrue things that had been said about his late father.

He also referred to his mother and disclosed that she told him the other day that she was increasingly developing a thick skin. From what I recall of my one encounter with the Mater Cameron, she already possessed the hide of a Bengal eyed terrapin. It may only be a matter of time before she is recruited by the SAS.

The longer her son continued yesterday, the more he warmed to the argument that foreign-based unit trusts were legal investments  popular, indeed, with trade unions and, to pick a council entirely at random, Islington.

Discussing his personal tax affairs, Mr Cameron spoke of the 'deeply hurtful' things that had been said about his late father

He also hit a riff about aspiration and the perfectly natural desire to leave money to your children.

As he spoke about the clothing allowances he and his wife received from the Tory party  we even learned about the 7,000 benefit the Camerons are judged by the Revenue to derive from living in Downing Street  Im not sure I felt liberated or refreshed by all this transparency. Cheapened was more like it. The whole thing just felt a little unedifying.
Actor Dustin Diamond, who famously played Screech in the TV show Saved by the Bell, has been released from jail a month early.

Diamond was booked in mid-January after he stabbed a man at a Wisconsin bar on Christmas Day in 2014 and was convicted of disorderly conduct and carrying a concealed weapon.

He managed to knock 30 days off his four-month sentence because he cleaned the floors and did laundry at Ozaukee County Jail as part of their 'Jail Porter Program', Fox6 reported.

Actor Dustin Diamond (pictured), who played Screech in Saved by the Bell (right), has been released from jail a month early after he was convicted of disorderly conduct and carrying a concealed weapon

In exchange for every 24-hours he worked as a general custodian at the jail, he would get one day deducted from his sentence.

Diamond had also received a felony charge of recklessly endangering public safety, but he was cleared and convicted of the two misdemeanors instead.

Diamond, who played Samuel 'Screech' Powers on the iconic 1990s TV sitcom, said some people had wanted to shake his hand and pose for photos at the Grand Avenue Saloon in Port Washington, Wisconsin on Christmas Day 2014.

But a fight broke out, and Diamond's girlfriend, Amanda Schutz, was punched in the face.

The actor testified that he didn't mean to stab anyone, but he was trying to scare the bar patrons in order to protect Schutz.

'I felt like we were being set up for antagonistic purposes,' he said.

Witnesses testified that Schutz pushed one woman at the bar and grabbed another woman's hand, initiating the incident. Schutz also faced a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge.

Diamond said he tried to help Schutz and took out his pocketknife to deter the group from hurting her more.

The man who was stabbed, 25-year-old Casey Smet, testified Thursday that he didn't know he had been stabbed until he had left the bar and was talking to police.

During sentencing in June, he told the court: 'I sincerely apologize to everyone involved. This was the single most terrifying experience of my life,' according to People.

'This is all I've been able to think about for the last six months.'

He was cleared of a felony charge of recklessly endangering public safety, and managed to knock 30 days off his four-month sentence because he cleaned the floors and did laundry at Ozaukee County Jail (pictured in court with his girlfriend Amanda Schutz in May)
British overseas territories that operate as tax havens have agreed to share information with the police and tax inspectors for the first time, David Cameron said yesterday.

The Prime Minister said the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands had agreed to establish registers setting out the true ownership of companies set up in their jurisdictions, in the wake of controversy ignited by the so-called Panama Papers.

Bermuda, the Isle of Man and Jersey have already signed up. And the Prime Minister said Guernsey and Anguilla were also now expected to agree to the move.

Prime Minister David Cameron has revealed that British overseas territories which operate as tax havens have agreed to share information with the police and tax inspectors for the first time

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said it was a scandal that more than half of the shell companies identified in the Panama Papers were based in British overseas territories.

The truth is that the UK is at the heart of the global tax avoidance industry, he said.

It is a national scandal and it has got to end. Mr Cameron insisted the overseas territories were now taking action to deal with concerns under pressure from the UK.

For the first time UK police and law enforcement will be able to see exactly who really owns and controls every company incorporated in these territories - Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Isle of Man, Jersey, the lot, he said.

The countries will set up so-called registers of beneficial ownership that reveal the true ownership of companies and assets.

Government sources said the registers would be open to HM Revenue and Customs and the police. But, despite previous pledges, they will not be made fully public.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said it was a scandal that more than half of the shell companies identified in the Panama Papers were based in British overseas territories

Christian Aid said that the announcement amounted to a climbdown on Mr Camerons previous support for public registers of companies beneficial ownership.

The Prime Minister himself knows that central registers do not solve the problem and that to curb the sort of activities exposed in the Panama Papers, the public, journalists and other businesses must be able to see those registers, the charity said.
Singer has been trying to sell his property in

Crowded House's Neil Finn has appeared in court with his neighbours in a dispute over plans to build a garage and access way next to his house in Auckland, New Zealand.

The singer has been trying to sell his property at 18 Corunna Avenue in Parnell since July 2015 reported the NZ Herald.

Mr Neil changed the cross lease arrangement on the house, which is currently being rented out, to assist with selling the land.

Crowded House's Neil Finn has reached an agreement in court in a dispute over plans to build a garage and access way next to his house at 18 Corunna Avenue in Auckland

A potential buyer wanted to add a new garage and access way as well as make the land freehold, but his neighbours did not agree with the plans.

Under a cross lease, owners share a piece of land and any major structural changes to properties and common areas require in the cross lease to agree on the changes.

On Tuesday lawyers in the High Court of New Zealand presented an agreement reached between the parties that meant the cross lease agreement would be split into five freehold sections.

The matter is now waiting for approval from the Auckland Council.

Lawyers for Mr Finn said the neighbours initially didn't consent to the plans because they liked to have control over what happened on the property.

The legal team said the garage and access way were no longer going ahead, but the potential buyer was still interested in the property, one of the conditions on the house no longer being part of a cross lease.

Mr Neil changed the cross lease arrangement on the house, which is currently being rented out, to assist with selling the land

It could take up to three months for the land to officially become freehold, but Auckland Council manager resource consents Mark White told the NZ Herald it was a relatively common process.

The 114-year-old villa has five bedrooms, five living areas, three bathrooms and a recording studio.

In 2014, according to information from the Auckland Council, the capital value for the property was $5.1 million.

Mr Finn lived in the property with his family for 13 years, between 1993 and 2006.

The 114-year-old villa has five bedrooms, five living areas, three bathrooms and a recording studio

In 2014, according to information from the Auckland Council, the capital value for the property was $5.1 million

Mr Finn lived in the property with his family for 13 years, between 1993 and 2006

A potential buyer wanted to add a garage and an access way to the property but the neighbours were against the plans

The property has been on the market since July 2015, when it failed to sell at auction, and Mr Finn is currently renting it out

The property opened on a vendor bid of $3 million in July 2015 but passed in at auction with no bids

Lawyers for Mr Finn said neighbours did not consent to the original plans because they wanted to have some control over what happened on the property

On Tuesday an agreement was reached in the High Court that meant the cross lease agreement would be split into five freehold sections
Unrepentant: Howard Marks was glamorised as a Bohemian rogue

He enjoyed being referred to as Britains most famous drug smuggler. He wore his self-styled soubriquet Mr Nice like a flashing halo.

For decades he successfully paraded himself as a folk hero whod spent much of his life battling draconian laws.

A million people bought his cult autobiography, Mr Nice, published in 1996. Youll like him, trumpeted the blurb on the front cover, above a picture of him exercising his devastating smile.

Inevitably, the book was made into a film, with fellow Welshman Rhys Ifans playing him as a swashbuckling character.

Thousands flocked to hear his lectures promoting cannabis and, as one drooling admirer put it, he sounded like Richard Burton and looked like a Rolling Stone.

While his articles in publications which, inevitably, included The Guardian, had a sizeable following.

So was Howard Marks, who has died of cancer aged 70, really the good guy he portrayed?

Or was he, in fact, the unsavoury proof that with enough chutzpah and charm  and he had both in plenty  it is not all that difficult to hoodwink people in search of a hero?

Once Britains most wanted man, his lifes work was being an international Mr Big dealing in cannabis  endless tons, worth hundreds of millions, smuggled from far-flung producers into this and other countries, while he adopted an astonishing 43 aliases to avoid arrest on his travels.

The self-regarding Mr Nice was the one he liked best of all  and the one he used to promote himself when he emerged from an American jail, his criminal career over.

Yet this was no affectionate tribute bestowed by friends, but said to be taken from a passport hed bought from a convicted murderer  though others said it had come to him as he booked a flight to Nice in France.

Marks was an exceptionally bright young man from the mining village of Kenfig Hill, near Bridgend, South Wales, his mother a teacher and his father a foreman at the Port Talbot steelworks.

While his classmates were destined for the mill or the mines, he won a coveted place to Oxfords Balliol College to read physics.

You may think his subsequent career was a pitiful way of utilising that opportunity.

Never did Marks see his criminal life in these terms, any more than he accepted any of the medical evidence that cannabis can damage brains and lives, and is, for many, a bridge to heroin and other hard drugs. But then, that would hardly have been good for business, would it?

While his classmates were destined for the mill or the mines, Howard Marks won a coveted place to Oxfords Balliol College (pictured) to read physics. You may think his subsequent career was a pitiful way of utilising that opportunity, writes Geoffrey Levy

Nothing he ever said about his vile trade offered his listeners reason for the slightest concern, even as evidence mounted up of the wreckage cannabis wrought  its association with psychotic illnesses and other mental health problems, in some cases leading to suicide.

Was he oblivious to it or, perhaps more likely, cynically focused on his line of business and couldnt care less?

It was at Oxford that Marks began smoking cannabis  widely used by undergraduates at the time.

In 1965, during his second year there, he watched as the body of his university friend Joshua Macmillan, grandson of the late Conservative Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, was carried away after his accidental death from a combination of drink and drugs.

The young Macmillan had, at the time, been trying to beat his heroin addiction.

Joshuas death was tragic in every respect, wrote Marks in his autobiography more than 30 years later, and forced me to carefully examine my attitudes to drug-taking.

That didnt involve giving them up, however. Although one Oxford doctor was already publicly warning that cannabis could introduce people to the more addictive drugs, Marks would later offer himself as proof that, as a lifelong cannabis user, he suffered no ill effects.

In early years he had thought of becoming an academic. When he graduated in 1967 and moved with his fellow graduate first wife Ilze to Brighton (where she became a teacher), he began a science post-graduate degree course at Sussex University that he never bothered to finish.

As a cannabis user, hed discovered that smuggling cannabis was profitable and so much easier.

What made Marks so skilled at it wasnt just his intellect. It was also his good looks and oozing charm  qualities he wielded to the full. It wasnt long before the Oxford graduate was a major player, trafficking drugs throughout Europe.

At first he used the drum kits and sound systems of travelling rock bands in which to hide the drugs, but before long he had graduated to deliveries of furniture  some contained 30 tons of cannabis.

All was going well until 1973 when he was arrested in Holland on charges of trafficking.

At the time, a Balliol contemporary, Hamilton McMillan, who was in MI6, had asked him to consider using his position in the underworld to help British Intelligence.

Marks trotted out this true tale to the Netherlands authorities in an effort to suggest he wasnt a genuine drugs dealer, but it didnt wash and he was extradited to Britain. He would use the same tale at a later date  with spectacular success.

Back in Britain he was placed on 20,000 bail, which he promptly jumped. So began his use of aliases and disguises, using wigs, moustaches and false passports to come and go in Britain almost as before.

When an old Oxford friend gave a party in London in 1977, Marks turned up in disguise to spend a happy couple of hours in the company of two unsuspecting future Tory government ministers, William Waldegrave and Chris Patten.

It was nearly seven years  and business as usual  before Marks was rearrested at a Channel port. As he subsequently explained: While I was a fugitive I smuggled as much cannabis as I could. I felt that this was my destiny.

So it was hardly a surprise that when he stood trial in 1980 at the Old Bailey, charged with being the British link in a 20 million cannabis ring, he portrayed himself as something between Robin Hood and the Scarlet Pimpernell, with just a touch of James Bond.

Out came the MI6 card he had tried to play in Holland. A Mexican witness was produced to give evidence that Marks was working for his own country, as well as British Intelligence, to infiltrate the Colombian drugs cartel and the IRA.

Nothing Howard Marks ever said about his vile trade offered his listeners reason for the slightest concern, even as evidence mounted up of the wreckage cannabis wrought  its association with psychotic illnesses and other mental health problems, in some cases leading to suicide, Geoffrey Levy writes

Incredibly, the jury believed that this really was Howard Marks role, and acquitted him. He was sentenced to 18 months for possessing false passports, and released two months later because of the time he had already spent in custody.

So it was back to business and, as he was to crow years later in his book, his acquittal enabled him to expand his operations even more, with 25 companies that allowed him to launder his drug money.

By then, he was living in Palma, Majorca, with his second wife Judy and their children (in the divorce papers dissolving his first marriage, Marks described himself as a wastrel). He was still travelling the world in his umpteen disguises but his time was running out.

In America, catching him had become an obsession with Craig Lovato, an agent of the U.S. Drugs Enforcement Agency.

In July 1988, Lovato finally caught up with Marks at home in Palma. When he and Judy were arrested, Spanish police seized 16 tons of cannabis worth 35 million.

Marks put up a massive legal battle against extradition, but the following year was removed to Miami.

While awaiting trial, he was telephoned in his prison cell by an old friend from his Oxford days, the journalist Lynn Barber.

She remembered him as a good-looking undergraduate who didnt bother with chat-up lines but made it much simpler by asking virtually every girl he met: Fancy going to bed with me? I was one of dozens, scores, probably hundreds who said yes, and never regretted it.

But now, their talk was about crime and punishment, with Marks indignantly telling her: Im a victim of American judicial colonialism.

He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 25 years; his wife got 18 months. The Americans gave him maximum parole and let him out after seven years.

The deification of Mr Nice continued with small roles in films and as a guest on television programmes, including the BBC quiz show Never Mind The Buzzcocks, comments Geoffrey Levy

But he didnt go back to drugs trafficking. He didnt have to, because, as the gates of prison opened, the scent of legitimate money was in the air.

With a 100,000 advance, he wrote his autobiography, painting himself as a good-hearted drugs trader, and referring to himself, in that honoured Oxbridge phrase, as a Balliol man.

Then came the film rights. After that, more books and one-man shows, talking about his life, and cannabis, and why it should be made legal.

He was a celebrity, on first-name terms with virtually everyone  quite an achievement for a global drugs dealer.

By then, he had become a darling of the liberal Left who pored over The Guardians serialisation of his book and applauded his national speaking tour.

Because the drug he smuggled was supposedly harmless, his crime was dismissed by the chattering classes who glamorised him as a bohemian old rogue.

The deification of Mr Nice continued with small roles in films and as a guest on television programmes, including the BBC quiz show Never Mind The Buzzcocks.

In 1997, he stood unsuccessfully for Parliament on the single issue of the legalisation of cannabis.

He and Judy parted in 2003 and he moved back home to Wales, still insisting that he had committed a victimless crime.
As the Queen celebrates her 90th birthday our thoughts will turn to the future of the Royal Family

Next week, the Queen will celebrate her 90th birthday. As the nation marks that milestone, our thoughts will inevitably turn to the future.

I believe we must face the reality that, when the Queens reign comes to its natural end, there is likely to be an urgent debate about the role of the Royal Family in modern Britain  a debate whose outcome is uncertain.

Like no other public figure, the Queen has become part of our lives over the decades, a calm, reassuring presence above the bitter political fray.

Indeed, no Briton under the age of 64 has the experience of rule by any other monarch.

It is partly because of her dutifulness and longevity that the institution of British monarchy looks, to some, so secure. Even in our noisy, democratic age, where tradition is treated with suspicion and most politicians with contempt, there is no powerful opposition to her position as Head of State.

Revelations

Even with socialist Jeremy Corbyn as Labour Party leader, the republican movement has never been at a lower ebb.

As recently as the Diamond Jubilee of 2012, the Queens approval ratings passed 80 per cent, a level of popularity of which prime ministers can only dream. Yet it would be wrong for monarchists to be too complacent.

A belief in the long-term security of the throne could be badly misplaced. For it is possible that the Queens longevity and fidelity may disguise much deeper misgivings about the role of the monarchy in the 21st century.

After all, admiration for the present incumbent does not necessarily translate into support for the institution itself.

So far, the debate over its continued existence has been largely suppressed out of respect for both Elizabeth IIs remarkable sense of duty and the fact that she is in the sunset of her reign.

But the questions will not go unasked once a new monarch ascends the throne. That event is bound to be the cue for a very public argument over the institution, one that could see the beginnings of wholesale changes in our governance.

There is no absolute guarantee about the monarchys long-term survival  particularly when so many aspects of our constitution are questioned and in flux (for example, leading to votes on Scottish independence and UK membership of the EU). The Queen may represent reassuring continuity, but current high levels of support for the monarchy could quickly evaporate.

There are several factors to consider. One is that apart from the Queen herself, there is growing suspicion about the legitimacy of an unelected, unaccountable ruler whose elevated position is based only on an accident of birth.

Throughout the world, there is now a deep antipathy towards governing elites that act in their own vested interests, as shown by the widespread anger about the revelations in the Panama tax scandal.

That feeling is particularly strong among young people, who have been brought up with the concept of social justice and have no time for the concept of hereditary privilege.

A central element of the Queens Coronation in 1953 (pictured) was her anointment by the Archbishop of Canterbury, a ritual that reinforced the ancient belief that monarchs ruled by divine right

In my work as an academic, I talk to a lot of students, many of them born since Princess Diana died, and the traditions of the monarchy mean little to them. The very concept of hereditary privilege is likely to provoke resentment rather than reverence.

In the same vein, we live in an increasingly secular, multi-faith society, where traditional, Anglican Christianity is no longer the dominant national religion.

Again, that ultimately weakens the grip of the monarchy, partly because the sovereigns key role as Defender of the Faith now has little resonance, and partly because so few people have any connection with the Church.

A central element of the Queens Coronation in 1953 was her anointment by the Archbishop of Canterbury, a ritual that reinforced the ancient belief that monarchs ruled by divine right.

That moment was treated with such veneration that it could not even be shown by the television cameras. But by the time of the next Coronation, any such ritual might provoke incomprehension and even hostility.

Part of the Queens enduring appeal is that she has never bared her soul to the public  unlike Prince Charles. Even in the era of the celebrity confessional, she has remained enveloped in mystery.

The problem for future King Prince Charles is that he brings a lot of baggage, both personal and political

The great 19th-century constitutional expert Walter Bagehot famously wrote that, for the monarchy to survive, it was important not to let daylight in on the magic. The Queen has brilliantly fulfilled that edict.

We know nothing of her political views. She has never given an interview in her entire reign, nor become embroiled in any spat  despite the recent claim by a red-top tabloid newspaper that she supports Brexit.

Turbulence

But it will be impossible for her successor to behave in that way.

Elizabeth IIs reticence belongs to a bygone epoch, long before the invention of 24-hour news coverage, social media and the selfie photograph.

She came to the throne when Churchill was Prime Minister, Britain still had an Empire and less than 10 per cent of the population had television sets.

Public restraint was then expected of our rulers. But we now live in a very different world, one where accessibility is everything and self-discipline is often seen as aloofness.

There is also the question of the personality of her heirs. Queen Elizabeth, with her selfless, profound sense of duty forged during World War II, has been ideally equipped for the role of sovereign. The problem for Prince Charles is that he brings a lot of baggage, both personal and political.

In many ways he is an admirable figure, with his pioneering interests in architecture, environmentalism and the fight against inner-city deprivation.

But all these pursuits have involved him in controversy.

Moreover, the past turbulence of his private life, especially his fraught relationship with Princess Diana, alienated many of his long-term subjects who, even to this day, view him in the shadow of that tragic saga.

The clouds over Prince Charles have prompted some to call for the succession to be passed to Prince William.

Privilege

Yes, William and his wife are popular (as their current tour in India proves) but not only would doing so make a mockery of the very essence of the hereditary monarchy, but the prospect of William on the throne presents its own problems.

In the eyes of many monarchists, he and his wife Catherine have not yet proved themselves as fully paid-up members of The Firm, with eyebrows raised at Williams part-time position with the air ambulance and the couples relatively few official engagements, notwithstanding their responsibilities as parents to young children.

The Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William are popular, but the prospect of William on the throne presents its own problems

They are now under considerable pressure to show that they can rise to the roles that await them.

All of this shows how difficult it is to maintain a hereditary system in an era when privilege is so widely disliked.

The British monarchy has been through many crises before and survived, as with the abdication of Edward VIII in 1936.

Similarly, Queen Victorias neglect of her duties in the 1870s, following the death of her beloved Prince Albert, led to widespread public resentment, only for her to emerge as the revered imperial sovereign towards the end of the 19th century.
A dairy cow has been fitted with a lightweight camera to deliver real life videos of life on the farm to shoppers in a British first.

The cow cam idea is part of a landmark initiative by Waitrose to reveal how its farmers care for their animals.

The company will also be streaming live images from its own farm, Leckford Estate, in Hampshire, to big screens at some of the UKs busiest railway stations, including Waterloo.

The cow cam idea is part of a landmark initiative by Waitrose to reveal how its farmers care for their animals

From dawn to dusk, commuters will be able to watch live footage from three different locations on the farm, including its beehives, oilseed rape fields and panoramic views of the countryside.

The cow chosen to wear the camera is called Mo, who is a particular favourite of the herdsman on another dairy farm near Newbury, Berkshire, which supplies the chain.

The tiny lightweight camera is attached to her health monitor collar which tracks she is getting enough grazing and cud chewing time.

Footage captured on the camera will be used in TV commercials that will be filmed, edited and shown all on the same day in a first for a UK supermarket.

Its print advertising will only use images of real farms that have been taken within 24 hours of publication.

The move is part of an attempt to connect customers with farmers and highlight welfare and production standards.

It comes at a time when families are demanding to know more about how their food is produced and where it comes from.

Waitrose is keen to highlight the fact that it is the first major supermarket to ensure its dairy cows are guaranteed at least 100 days grazing outside every year

Interestingly, the measure comes at the same time as Tesco is under fire for inventing seven farm names for its value ranges of meat and fresh produce.

The names  such as Rosedene and Nightingale - conjure up idyllic images of the British countryside, however these farms do not exist and some of the products are imported from as far afield as Morocco, Spain and Chile.

The retailer is not the only supermarket to use a tactic condemned by critics as legal deception.

Waitrose is keen to highlight the fact that it is the first major supermarket to ensure its dairy cows are guaranteed at least 100 days grazing outside every year.

It is in response to concerns from animal welfare groups about the rise of mega dairies which apply controversial 'zero grazing'.

Cracking: Another insightful advert from Waitroise will focus on farms are producing their free range eggs

Cows on these milk factory units spend their entire productive lives inside, often being milked in automated parlours with minimal human contact.

The first of the new Waitrose TV adverts, which will air on Friday, will feature Mo and the other cows from the Berkshire farm.

Rupert Thomas, Marketing Director, Waitrose, said: We've always been proud of where our food comes from, and the care and commitment our farmers and suppliers put into producing it.

We have never compromised on quality, and never will - but rather than telling customers what we do, we've decided to show them in an open and honest way.

Two further two adverts will focus on farms producing free range eggs and fishermen supplying its fresh fish counters.
Police officers have gone to court seeking compensation for injuries sustained from their heavy uniform.

Senior Constable Robert Catalucci, 41, is the latest to take legal action after 10 years with the force. The Victorian police officer has lodged a County Court writ seeking damages for injuries to his back.

Speaking with Daily Mail Australia, Police Association secretary Ron Iddles said: 'Since mid-last year, police have been required to wear body armour when on patrol.

'This can cause discomfort for some members, an issue that we have raised with Victoria Police who advise that they are looking to introduce updated equipment in the future.'

The Police Association was unable to tell Daily Mail Australia the weight of the officers uniform but added they were aware that some members find wearing operational safety equipment for long periods of time tiresome and uncomfortable

While the Police Association was unable to tell Daily Mail Australia the weight of the officers uniform, Secretary Iddles added 'We are aware that some members find the wearing operational safety equipment for long periods of time tiresome and uncomfortable.'

Speaking to The Herald Sun, Senior Constable Catalucci argued that the force failed to assess the risks of carrying equipment on a belt, something that he claims caused soft tissue damage to his lumbar region and a prolapse that required a disc replacement.

While he still works in a lower-earning administrative capacity, Senior Constable Catalucci says he now suffers with pain, shock, anxiety and depression. He is seeking damages for loss of income and superannuation.

He added the force failed to ensure equipment could be readjusted when seated and that police cars had suitable seats, and took too long to provide alternatives to the heavy leather utility belt.

While the Police Association was unable to say what the weight of the officers uniform was, Secretary Iddles (pictured) supposed there's been an increase in muscular skeletal injuries

After 10 years on the force, Senior Constable Robert Catalucci, 41, is taking legal action and seeking damages for injuries to his back

While the ballistic vest is considered to be the main concern, a uniformed officer's standard kit also includes a pistol, ammunition, a radio, an extendable baton, capsicum spray canisters, handcuffs, a mobile phone and sometimes a Taser.

Velcro belts, equipment vests and thigh holsters help to spread the load, but for many the change has come too late or offers little relief.

Daily Mail Australia reached out to the Victoria Police who responded saying, The safety of our employees is paramount. We continue to monitor and promote health and safety for our people to reduce illnesses and injuries.

In regards to equipment they added, During procurement phase, equipment is rigorously tested to ensure it provides protection and best fit for our members. Members are regularly communicated with around safety issues, such as the correct wearing of integrated operational equipment vests and ballistic vests.

Victoria Police told Daily Mail Australia that equipment is rigorously tested during the procurement phase to ensure it provides protection and the best fit for their members

Secretary Iddles also spoke with 3AW breakfast, saying that, 'There's been an increase I suppose in muscular skeletal injuries since members have been required to wear it eight hours a day'.
Donald Trump provided a preview Monday night of the battle royale to come in the fall if he squares off against Hillary Clinton in November's presidential election, calling her 'guilty as hell' in the email scandal that the FBI has been investigating for months.

The Republican front-runner spoke to an estimated 15,000 screaming supporters in the Times Union Arena, the largest public gathering place in New York's capital city of Albany.

Republicans pondering their votes in the April 19 primary heard Trump pass judgment on Clinton, who became the subject of a criminal inquiry after it was disclosed that more than 2,000 classified documents once resided on a private email server she kept in her home while she was secretary of state.

'It would take anybody else down, but it's not going to take her down because she's being protected by the Democrats, which is a disgrace,' Trump said.

'But she's going to have to live with that when she runs because everybody knows that she is guilty as hell, okay? Everybody!'

'GUILTY AS HELL': Donald Trump hammered Hillary Clinton Monday night in Albany, claiming that 'everybody knows that she is guilty as hell' in her classified email scandal

IS IT NOVEMBER ALREADY? Donald Trump previewed a general election campaign devoted to hammering Clinton over her email scandal and foreign policy decisions he called 'so bad' and 'so wrong'

LIVE, FROM NEW YORK: Trump spoke to an estimated 15,000 people at the Times Union Arena in Albany, where fans waited for hours in the bone-chilling wind for Secret Service Screening

Just like quickly, the billionaire businessman's temper flared above its normal medium-high thermostat.

'Her whole life has been a big, fat, beautiful lie!' Trump boomed, almost rejoicing in the prospect of low-hanging curve balls to swing at after the GOP's nominating convention in July.

'It's been a terrible, terrible lie. Everything about her is a lie,' he said.

'So let's see how she does.'

Trump devoted much of his 51-minute speech railing against a 'rigged, disgusting, dirty system' that he says has robbed him of convention delegates through the nominating process  comparing his plight to that of Clinton's rival Bernie Sanders, a democratic socialist senator from Vermont.

But ultimately his common cause with Sanders boiled down to their common disdain for Clinton.

'He's saying bad things about Hillary, and he's really correct,' Trump said of the Vermonter.

'He says she doesn't have the judgment to be president. And you know what? She got us into Libya. You look at Benghazi. You look at her war in Iraq, the "yes" vote. "Let's go into Iraq," she said, and she voted for Iraq. And lots of other things.'

Trump said that other than a mutual disagreement with U.S. trade policy, 'the one thing I agree with him on ... he's absolutely right, Hillary Clinton does not have the judgment to be president. She doesn't have the judgment! Believe it!'

Attack: One man (on the left) loses his temper with another (right) and pushes his hand into his face at the Trump rally in Albany

Shove: The man (on the left covered in Trump signs) pushes another man square on in the face (right)

Held back: The man who shoved the face of the Trump protester tries to go for him again - but is restrained in Albany, New York on Monday night

THE BIG STEAL: Trump complained that Ted Cruz collected extra delegates in Louisiana after the businessman beat the senator there by more than 3 percentage points

THE CROWD GOES WILD: Trump drew about 15,000 people to an arena that can fit 17,500, filling everything but the nosebleed seats

NEW YORK STATE OF MIND: The Donald brought out all kids of supporters including these two  the woman at right was commenting on a Ted Cruz jab from a January Republican debate

Clinton's decisions, he claimed, 'have been so bad, and they've been so wrong. I so look forward to running against  getting rid of these guys  and running against Hillary.'

'These guys' was a reference to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, the two remaining obstacles along his way to the convention in Cleveland.

'This is a bad guy,' the real estate tycoon said of Cruz. 'We call him "Lyin' Ted" Cruz for a reason. He's a liar and he misrepresents everything.'

Trump complained about losing convention delegates to Cruz in Louisiana through the Texan's aggressive ground game and skillful manipulation of party rules.

'I end up winning Louisiana,' he recalled of the March 5 election, 'and when everything is done I find out I get less delegates than this guy that got his ass kicked, okay?'

'Give me a break. Really disgusting,' he carped.

He also reminded voters of a January debate confrontation in South Carolina that saw the Texan appealing to southerners with a dismissive sneer at what he called 'New York Values.'

PICK YOUR POISON: 'You talk about liars!' Trump exclaimed, 'I think Hillary might be worse than Ted!'

NOT QUALIFIED: Trump said he agrees with Clinton's rival Bernie Sanders, who said she lacks the 'judgment' to be President of the United States

WE'RE NOT IN TEXAS: Trump hammered Ted Cruz for his sneering 'New York values' criticism

Cruz has insisted as the New York primary draws near that he was referring to 'liberal' politicians, but Trump  as he did in January  has made hay by reminding his fellow New Yorkers of their courage after the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001.

'He does not like New York, and he does not like the people of New York,' Trump said Monday night. 'And that came out loud and clear.'

'All you had to do  forget about his words. His words were "New York Values." Take a look at the scorn on his face when he said that. Am I right?'

Minutes later, though, he pivoted back to Hillary in a move that he hopes to play out in slow-motion as the primary season gives way to months of general election campaigning.

'You talk about liars!' Trump exclaimed. 'I think Hillary might be worse than Ted!'
Sunrise presenter David Koch was on the receiving end of an angry spray from embattled MP Clive Palmer who is accused of controlling Queensland Nickel while he was an elected official.

Mr Palmer appeared on the Channel Seven breakfast show and denied any wrongdoing after the allegations were aired on Monday night's Four Corners on the ABC.

When questioned by Koch about the claims on Tuesday morning, Mr Palmer accused the presenter and other media outlets of targeting him unfairly.

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Sunrise presenter David Koch (left) was on the receiving end of an angry spray from embattled MP Clive Palmer (right) who is accused of controlling Queensland Nickel while he was an elected official

'This is the biggest beat up. There's always something happening with Clive Palmer,' he said.

'For three years I've come on your program, I've heard allegations about this, taking $12 million. It's just rubbish.'

Mr Palmer then took aim at Koch, claiming the presenter did not care about the 22,000 people who had lost their jobs at Queensland Nickel.

'Thousands of people have lost their jobs... but you haven't reported it. You haven't been there for the other companies have you?' the Queensland MP said.

Mr Palmer appeared on the Channel Seven breakfast show and denied any wrongdoing after the allegations were aired on Monday night's Four Corners

When questioned by Koch about the claims on Tuesday morning, Mr Palmer accused the presenter and other media outlets of targeting him unfairly

'I'm not important, they're important Kochie. Do your job, investigate them.'

But Koch hit back, saying: 'You're accusing everybody else of not looking after workers, you've got some [you're] directly responsible for... and you're actually not supporting them.

'What are you doing for Queensland Nickel workers who are owed $70 million?'

To which, Mr Palmer replied: 'I feel confident and sure that over the next couple of weeks their entitlement will be paid.'

Four Corners aired allegations Mr Palmer had been signing off on millions of dollars worth of spending for Queensland Nickel when he was not listed as a director.

The investigation claimed he was making the approvals and acting as a 'shadow director' under the alias 'Terry Smith'.

Administrators of Queensland Nickel (right is the refinery) recommended on Tuesday the company should go into liquidation and a report done by them revealed Mr Palmer had told the company to give him $15 million

After the heated argument between the pair, Koch wrapped up the interview, saying: 'Alright Clive Palmer I'm not sure we got [any] answers out of this'

Despite the report, Mr Palmer maintained he had 'retired' from business back in 2013 when he elected as the Member for Fairfax on the Sunshine Coast.

He did explain he was one of six people who was part of a joint venture committee that was started by the Queensland Government, which is made up of two companies that own the refinery managed by Queensland Nickel.

This stance was reiterated by Mr Palmer during Tuesday morning's interview and claimed the motivation for his critics was political.

'The press runs wild because "Let's get Clive Palmer off the political scene", because he stopped the 2014 budget, he saved the country from obliteration by the Abbott government,' Mr Palmer said.

After the heated argument between the pair, Koch wrapped up the interview, saying: 'Alright Clive Palmer I'm not sure we got [any] answers out of this.'

Farewelling the presenter, the MP said: 'Good on you, you're a great Australian, Kochie.'

Administrators of Queensland Nickel recommended on Tuesday the company should go into liquidation.
Jackson, 20, has reportedly decided not to press charges

But Massey says Jackson fell accidentally and security wrongly thought he had pushed her

Authorities said he had been accused of pushing her to the ground

Was booked for misdemeanor domestic violence and released on bail

Christopher Massey, 26, got into an argument with girlfriend Cassie Jackson on Sunday at a Las Vegas club

Christopher Massey, 26, got into an argument with his girlfriend Cassie Jackson, 20, early on Sunday morning at a Las Vegas club

An actor who rose to fame in Nickelodeon's Zoey 101 alongside Jamie Lynn Spears was arrested for domestic violence.

Christopher Massey, 26, got into an argument with his girlfriend Cassie Jackson, 20, early on Sunday morning at a Las Vegas club,TMZ reported.

Authorities told the website Massey had been accused of pushing the young woman to the ground.

Security at the Marquee Club held Massey until police arrived and arrested him for misdemeanor domestic violence.

Massey, who has been released on bail, told friends he did get into an argument with Jackson, TMZ reported.

But he says she fell accidentally as they were leaving the club together and security wrongly thought he had pushed her.

Massey played Michael Barret in Zoey 101 throughout the show's run between 2005 and 2008.

Jackson will not press charges according to the website.

Her mother, Shar Jackson, was once engaged to Kevin Federline, who later married Britney Spears.

They had two other children together before Federline left her to begin a relationship with the pop star.

Jackson and her mother recently starred together in Lifetime's Mother/Daughter Experiment.

On the show, the 20-year-old said she thought her mother's experience with Federline had led her to be overprotective, including when it came to her daughter's dating choices.

Massey, pictured with Jackson in September last year, was arrested for misdemeanor domestic violence and released on bail
Fluffy toy was the first gift Alexey gave to Irina 10 years ago when they met

They have since posted 31 reward notices on the Hume Highway

The pair posted a $5000 reward for finding the bear - all of their savings

Teddy bear last seen when they were driving from Melbourne to Sydney

A couple are going to great lengths to find their beloved teddy bear 'lost somewhere in Australia' and have posted a $5000 reward for anyone who finds the toy.

Alexey, 31, and Irina Mironov, 29, were returning to Sydney from Melbourne on the night of March 13 with Irina's parents when they last saw their fluffy bear, which the couple describe as 'being like a child to them'.

Mr Mironov, who works as a senior manager at polling company Nielsen, said he and his wife often play with the teddy bear who wears a blue jumper with two love hearts on it and has eyes sewn really close together.

The couple launched a drastic search and embarked on a journey back down the Hume Highway and posted 31 notices on the Hume Highway including at Yass and Tarcutta

The bear had travelled to 17 countries with the couple including Cuba, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Switzerland

Mr Mironov, who works as a senior manager at Nielson, said he and his wife often play with the teddy bear who wears a blue jumper with two love hearts and eyes are placed close together

'As we immigrated from Russia we were always kind of still playing with him as a child, lots of people have something dear to them.'

The bear had accompanied the family to support Mr Mironov who was competing in a fitness model contest, the International Natural Body Building Assocation rising star rookie of the year.

The alarm wasn't raised until two weeks later when the couple went to clean their Roseberry, eastern Sydney, after Mr Mironov's parents left following a visit to Australia.

The alarm wasn't raised until two weeks after the bear went missing when the couple went to clean their Roseberry, eastern Sydney, after Mr Mironov's parents left following a visit to Australia

'Until this point we didnt realise how special he was to us' - The bear was the first gift Mr Mironov (right) gave to his wife Irina (left) when they met 10 years ago

The Russian couple are going to great lengths to find their beloved teddy bear, who is 'like a child', lost somewhere in Australia and have posted a $5000 reward for anyone who finds the toy

The bear had accompanied the family to support Mr Mironov (pictured) who was competing in a fitness model contest, the International Natural Body Building Assocation rising star rookie of the year

The bear is believed to have been lost during a stop along the Hume Highway.

The couple launched a drastic search and embarked on a journey back down the Hume Highway and posted 31 notices on the Hume Highway including at Yass and Tarcutta.

The bear, which was the first gift Mr Mironov gave to his wife when they met 10 years ago, had been sitting in the back seat of the car for most of the journey between Irina and her mother.

It had travelled to 17 countries with the couple including Cuba, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Switzerland.

'It sounds a little bit weird for some people, but its not weird to us and thats the only thing that matters to me,' Mr Mironov said.

'The thing is this that teddy bear is really special to us, and he was always with us sleeping in our bed.

Mr Mironov (right) said they plan to do a second trip down the Hume Highway on Anzac Day long weekend to further spread the word

'And until this point we didnt realise how special he was to us.'

Mr Mironov said the $5,000 would drain he and his wife of all their savings, a sign of the lengths they are willing to go to find the bear.

He said they plan to do a second trip down the Hume Highway on Anzac Day long weekend to further spread the word.

'My wife is unhappy' - Irina Mironov has been left devastated since the bear went missing last month

'Im 100 per cent sure with proper level of dedication and hope we will find him' - Mr Mironov said he will spend at least six months looking for the bear

'Im 100 per cent sure with proper level of dedication and hope we will find him - I will spend six months trying to find him,' he said.

'My wife is unhappy.'

A post on Mr Mironov's Facebook page says: 'My Aussie friends! We've lost our best friend - our beloved teddy bear! Please, share my post and help us to create the buzz and bring him home! Our life is not full without him! He means the World to us!

'Thanks in advance for your help! You never know who might see the post and be aware of the place where our teddy bear may be. Every re-post counts!'

Mr Mironov said the $5,000 would drain he and his wife of all their savings, a sign of the lengths they are willing to go to find the bear
Investigators have visited the offices of Mossack Fonseca to examine its claims a computer hacker leaked documents about tax havens the firm set up to benefit influential people around the globe.

The company filed a complaint about alleged hacking shortly before circulated detailing how politicians, celebrities and companies were hiding assets in offshore bank accounts and anonymous shell companies.

Panama's public ministry spokeswoman Sandra Sotillo said the visit to the offices of Mossack Fonseca in Panama City, was made by investigators from the intellectual property prosecutor's department.

Investigators have visited the Panama offices of Mossack Fonseca (pictured) amid claims a computer hacker leaked documents about tax havens the firm set up to benefit influential people around the globe

'Finally the real criminals are being investigated,' firm co-founder Ramon Fonseca said.

Fonseca has maintained that the only crime which can be taken from the leak was the computer hack itself.

He has said he suspects the hack originated outside Panama, possibly in Europe, but has not given any details.

Panama's government has said it will cooperate with any judicial investigation arising from the documents.

Panama's public ministry spokeswoman Sandra Sotillo said the visit to the offices of Mossack Fonseca was made by investigators from the intellectual property prosecutor's department. Elias Solano, a lawyer from the firm, speaks to the media outside the offices

Some critics of the government have called for a rapid investigation of the law firm, which is one of the most important in the world for creating overseas front companies.

Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela has defended the country's financial sector, which is considered of strategic importance for the economy.
He told Murdoch that he 'will get what is coming to [him]'

Paynter, who said he is a family friend, became upset and leapt to his feet

Murdoch, a father of two, is charged with the murder of Kylie Blackwood

Liberal MP Brian Paynter leapt to his feet and lashed out at the man accused of murdering Kylie Blackwood in a Melbourne court on Tuesday.

'You're a coward, you will get what's coming to you. You're a gutless coward,' Mr Paynter, who said he is a family friend of the Blackwood family, said while pointing at accused murderer Scott Alan Murdoch, 38, according to the Herald Sun.

Murdoch, 38, hardly reacted during the outburst as he appeared briefly in the Melbourne Magistrates Court charged with murdering the 42-year-old mother, and was remanded in custody until August.

Mr Paynter, who is the trustee of the anti-violence Kylie Blackwood Foundation, was approached by police after the hearing and had to give his details to a Protective Services Officer, the Herald Sun reported.

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A family friend leapt to his feet and lashed out at the man accused of murdering Kylie Blackwood (pictured) in a Melbourne court on Tuesday, telling him that he 'will get what's coming to you'

Morwell man Scott Alan Murdoch (pictured), 38, was charged with Ms Blackwood's murder last week - three years after her daughters found her dead in their Melbourne home

Murdoch was arrested the day after police released this CCTV footage of a late model Nissan Tiida sedan with a rear spoiler, it was seen near the Blackwood's home on McCaffrey Rise around the time of the murder

Murdoch was charged with Ms Blackwood's murder on Friday.

Murdoch, a father of two, was arrested in Rowville earlier on Friday, a day after investigators released CCTV footage of a white Nissan Tiida seen in the area before and after Ms Blackwood's death.

The homicide squad said when they released the footage they believe there was a link between the car and a man seen acting suspiciously in the area on the same day of Ms Blackwood's murder.

The motivation for Ms Blackwood's (pictured) murder remains unclear, an attempt to use her bank card was made shortly after her murder

CCTV footage showed a white Nissan Tiida (pictured) seen in the area before and after Ms Blackwood's death

The breakthrough prompted Detective Inspector Mick Hughes to issue a warning to her killer.

'We're coming for you - that's the message,' Detective Inspector Mick Hughes told the Herald Sun.

The following day - three years after Ms Blackwood's murder - Murdoch was arrested.

The Pakenham mother was discovered bleeding to death on a couch inside her home by her twin 11-year-old daughters after they returned home from school at 3.40 pm on August 1 2013.

Murdoch (pictured) has been remanded into custody until August

Policce released a sketch of a man in a striped hooded top lurking near Ms Blackwood's home prior to her death

The motivation for the murder still remains unclear, a bungled burglary is one of the many possible scenarios.

A few possessions, including a bank card, were stolen from Ms Blackwood.

An attempt to withdraw cash from Kylie's bank card was made at a local bank on the same day.

Unfortunately, the bank had erased the footage of the attempted withdrawal before police could review it.

Ms Blackwood, a popular figure in the semi-rural town, left behind her daughters, a 13-year-old son and her husband Peter.
Jailed: Mother Mariana Lizeth Salas Hernandez

A mother whose neglected daughter died in agonising pain after she was eaten alive by ants has been jailed for 30 years.

Luna Estefania, was just 18 months old when she was found starving and severely ill at home in the southern Mexican city of Chihuahua in 2014. She was taken to hospital but died two months later.

Her mother, Mariana Lizeth Salas Hernandez, 20, was arrested over the death after concerned neighbours told police that the toddler was often left on her own.

She was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison by a federal judge.

Investigators told how Hernandez simply did not take care of her daughter, even neglecting to feed her for 15 days at the end of April and beginning of May in 2014.

The toddler had also been left paralysed as a result of a fall she suffered while her mother was not looking after her.

The girl also sustained a head injury when she was just two months old.

When she was found by police and social services, Luna Estefania was described as being severely malnourished and covered in ants who had eaten parts of her body.

She was immediately taken to hospital but later died. Medics said the toddler must have endured agonising pain in her final months.

It comes just days after a four-month-old baby was chewed to death by rats after her 18-year-old mother left her at home to go to a party in Acolman, Mexico.

Shocking cruelty: Luna Estefania, was just 18 months old when she was found starving and severely ill at home in the southern Mexican city of Chihuahua, pictured in file image. She died in hospital two months later

It was not until the teenage mother, Lizbeth Jeronima Fuentes Munguia, returned home after midnight that she discovered the child bloodied and lifeless in her crib.

First responders pronounced the baby dead at the scene.
Police have refused to reveal if security cameras in the park where 15-month-old Sanaya Sahib was found dead were working at the time she was allegedly abducted.

Two CCTV cameras are clearly visible near where the toddler's body was found in a creek at Heidelberg West in Melbourne early on Sunday morning.

The cameras could be critical to finding out what happened to little Sanaya after her mother, Sofina Nikat, told police her daughter was snatched from her pram at Olympic Park about 10am on Saturday.

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Two CCTV cameras are clearly visible near where 15-month-old Sanaya Sahib's body was found in a creek at Heidelberg West in Melbourne early on Sunday morning

The body of 15-month-old Sanaya Sahib was found in a creek at Heidelberg West in Melbourne early on Sunday after her mother said she was snatched from her pram while they were walking on Saturday at 10am

Ms Nikat claims she was pushed to the ground by an African man who smelt of alcohol before he fled across a footbridge towards a nearby shopping centre, which is right where the CCTV cameras are located.

There has been suggestions the cameras were not working at the time and police will not confirm if they recorded any footage of the alleged abduction.

Darebin Council, who is believed to have paid for the cameras with the nearby Northland shopping centre, would also not answer questions about the cameras.

Minutes from a council meeting on October 5 revealed the cameras had been installed but they were not active and it was considered a priority to get them working.

'In 2015/2016 the priority will be the delivery of the CCTV system in the public space along Darebin Creek,' the council minutes read.

'The project aims to increase perceptions of safety and reduce crime. The location has been chosen due to its isolation.'

The girl's mother told police she was pushed to the ground by a man who smelt of alcohol before he fled across a footbridge (pictured) towards a nearby shopping centre, which is right where the CCTV cameras are located

Detectives spent four hours scouring the home where Sanaya was staying as as welfare workers took the child's mother to police to help with the investigation

The girl's mother, Sofina Nikat, says her daughter was snatched from her pram at Olympic Park about 10am on Saturday by an African man who smelt of alcohol and was not wearing shoes

Ms Nikat was escorted from her home by welfare workers to speak with police on Sunday as they continue to investigate the girl's murder

Sanaya's grieving uncle Habib Ali (pictured) revealed the toddler was treated by an ambulance for a 'seizure' just a week before she died

Sanaya's body was found before 3am on Sunday morning submerged in Darebin Creek - just 200 metres from Northland shopping centre where the alleged offender is believed to have fled towards.

An autopsy has since revealed the toddler died due to smothering.

Ms Nikat was taken by welfare workers to speak with police on Sunday.

They are yet to make an arrest over the alleged abduction and say they are still investigating.

It comes after Sanaya's grieving uncle Habib Ali revealed the toddler was treated by an ambulance for a 'seizure' just a week before she died.

Paramedics were concerned the fit had been caused by a lack of oxygen when they attended the family home on Sunday, April 3, the Herald Sun reports.

Police spent Sunday scouring the crime scene at Heidelberg West, retracing her mother's steps and searching a home where they had been staying

Tribute flowers and teddy bears have been left at the scene where the little girl was found dead on Sunday

Sanaya's body was found before 3am on Sunday morning submerged in Darebin Creek - just 200 metres from Northland shopping centre where the alleged offender is believed to have fled towards

Neighbours and sources close to the family told The Age that the 15-month old was raised in a dysfunctional environment and was in close contact with two men facing serious criminal charges in the week before she died.

Homicide detectives will reportedly investigate links between the men, who are reportedly close to the family, and who cannot be named for legal reasons, and the toddler's death.

One of these men is charged with serious domestic violence offences, including assault with a weapon.

Detectives spent four hours scouring the family home as as welfare workers took the child's mother to police to help with the investigation.

Ms Nikat told police she never saw the face of the man who allegedly snatched her daughter but described him as being of African appearance, between 20 and 30 years old and about 1.8m tall.

It's believed Sanaya and her mother, from Mitcham, were staying with family in Heidelberg West near the former 1956 Olympic Village following a separation from the tot's father.

Both parents have been helping police and are said to be extremely distressed.

Emergency workers put up a plastic sheet to cordon off the location where Sanaya was found

Police recover what is believed to be the body of a 15-month-old girl who was found in Darebin Creek after being abducted in Heidelberg West

Police retraced Ms Nikat's steps on Sunday and conducted line searches in bushland near the creek.

Detective Senior Sergeant Stuart Bailey said it wasn't known how long the toddler's body had been in the water
Russian handguns that were taken out of circulation by police after they were used in a spree of killings nearly a decade ago have reportedly found their way back on to Britain's streets.

The Baikal IZH-79, often imported from Russia and Eastern Europe, was the weapon of choice for British gangsters in the late 2000s. The guns, which were often sold with a silencer and bullets, were so commonplace that they became known to both sides of the law simply as the 'hitman kit'.

British security forces believed they had smashed the Baikal import market following a co-ordinated effort with agencies across Europe to breakdown the supply chain.

Deadly: The Baikal IZH-79, pictured in file image, often imported from Russia and Eastern Europe, was the weapon of choice for British gangsters in the late 2000s. They became known as simply the 'hitman kit'

However at least 15 Baikal pistols have been seized at British ports in the last six months, prompting fears that more might already be in the hands of criminals, according to The Times.

In the late 2000s Latvian gangsters were able to buy vast quantities of Baikal guns over the counter in Russia and neighbouring Latvia, for as little as 8 a weapon.

The guns are manufactured to fire tear gas pellets but were converted in underground workshops to fire 9mm ammunition.

The barrels were also threaded to fit silencers, which allowed the gun to be used discreetly at close quarters, meaning targets rarely escape with their lives.

These guns were then driven into Britain and distributed to cities including London, Manchester and Birmingham. Reports suggest a Baikal could be bought for as little as 1,200 in 2009.

The influx in the number of weapons lead to an increase in the number of gun-related offences - including murder.

Teenagers Philip Poru, 18, Tarek Chaiboub, 17, and James Andre Smartt-Ford, 16, and Jonathan Matondo, 16, were all shot dead by Baikals over just 18 months in 2007 and 2008.

Victims: James Smartt-Ford, left, was just 17 when he was murdered on February 3, 2007, with a Baikal. Right, Philip Poru, 18, was reportedly shot dead with a Baikal in Plumstead, south-east London, in October 2007

A number of other youths were arrested at the end of the 2000s for firearm-related offences, many of them younger siblings of established gangland figures.

Amid fears of a resurgence in gun violence, British and European came together and clamped down on the illegal trade, although some still remained in the hands of criminals.

However in October last year, five Baikal together with silencers and 35 rounds of ammunition were found hidden in 'meat products' aboard a postal bus arriving in Dover from Lithuania.

Four months later, 10 more handguns - again with silencers and ammunition - were discovered in a hidden compartment in a car driving through the port, according to The Times.

A report published last month by the National Crime Agency (NCA) revealed that the October seizure was the first time Baikal pistols had been detected at the border since 2009.

Although the agency did admit that their 'continued use in criminality in the UK is prevalent'.

Indeed a Baikal had been acquired by a pair of home-grown terrorists planning Islamic State-inspired shootings targeting soldiers, police officers and civilians.

The NCA report also warned that deadly weapons and ammunition ordered online are being smuggled into the country under the cover of the boom in the legitimate shopping trade.
He previously wished her a happy birthday on March 21, three weeks ago

Mr Mehajer appears to be celebrating Aysha's birthday for the second time

He posted SnapChat videos showing how mansion has 'money in the floor

American rapper was there to celebrate Mr Mehajer's wife Aysha's birthday

He was far away from home in the heart of Sydney's western suburbs but even the rapper Tyga was impressed by the Salim Mehajer's wealth when he visited the controversial politician's home.

Appearing at Mehajer's Lidcombe mansion for wife Aysha's birthday celebrations this week, Kylie Jenner's other half expressed shock at the family's luxurious lifestyle.

The American rapper posted a series of Snapchat videos of himself posing with the home's glowing staircase and strutting down a corridor where the floor panels were decorated with cash.

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American born rapper Tyga (left) and singer Omarion (right) made a surprise appearance at Aysha's birthday

Down the golden staircase! The American-born rapper soaked up the glitz and glamour of the Mehajer pad

Tyga gestured to the unique staircase as he soaked up life in the home of the headline-grabbing Sydney family

Strutting along the corridor, Tyga remarked upon how there was 'money in the floor' of the Mehajer home

Tyga also appeared to be appreciate the Mehajer's collection of vehicles parked out the front of their home

Tyga jumped in a car with a remarkably similar roof (left) to the Mehajer family's (right)

'Money in the floor, yeah, money all in the floor,' a person could be heard saying as Tyga filmed the in-your-face display of wealth.

Despite already celebrating her birthday in March, Mr Mehajer snapped a photo of himself overnight holding Aysha's birthday cake with Tyga and the singer Omarion.

He said it was 'just the beginning to an eventful week'.

On March 21, Mr Mehajer penned a different birthday message to Aysha alongside a picture of the couple embracing on a picturesque beach.

'Happy Birthday to my wonderful wife, Aysha! I feel blessed to have such a loving and caring person in my life,' the post read.

'May God protect your doll face... Love you dearly; always and forever! Now, Let the celebrations begin.'

This comes after reports suggested the newlyweds were living apart and the deputy mayor was constantly calling and texting his wife in an attempt to get her back.

He has attempted to douse the rumours by posting a picture after picture of himself with his wife to social media.

Recent entries... Mr Mehajer has thrown picture after picture of his wife up on Facebook amid rumours their relationship is on the rocks

Mr Mehajer has said the Tyga visit was a tribute for his 'beautiful wife Aysha' and 'just the beginning to an eventful week'

This comes after reports suggested the newlyweds were living apart and the deputy mayor was constantly calling and texting his wife in an attempt to get her back

Salim Mehajer attempted to douse rumours that he and wife Aysha are now living separately after he posted an image of the pair to Facebook (pictured)

The birthday tribute is not the first time Mr Mehajer has opened the door of his mansion to famous American rappers. Bow Wow shot a music video at the property last year (pictured)

The birthday tribute is not the first time Mr Mehajer has rubbed shoulders with famous American rappers.

In October of last year, the controversial politician opened the doors to his Lindcombe home in Sydney's inner west to allow Snoop Dogg's rapper pal Bow Wow shoot a music video.

The couple's illuminated spiral staircase was the centre piece to the video and scantily-clad dancers lined the corridor.

The celebrations come a week after Daily Mail Australia revealed Mr Mehajer was photoshopping his thigh-to-ankle leg tattoo from various pictures.

Mr Mehajer had long denied having the tattoo - which featured his initials 'SM' and the name of his wife Aysha - until picture proof was published last week.

The word 'MILLIONAIRE' was also sprawled across his right thigh.

Something missing... Mr Mehajer often posts pictures of himself bare-legged where there isn't a tattoo in sight
Uber is about to be legalised South Australia as the ride-sharing app continues its march across Australia despite strong opposition from the taxi industry.

Premier Jay Weatherill said legislation to be introduced to state parliament would allow new entrants - meaning Uber - from July 1.

Under the changes announced by Weatherill at a news conference on Tuesday, passengers who use UberX and similar services will be charged $1 extra per trip to help fund a $34million compensation package for the taxi industry.

The state's 1,035 licence holders would receive a one-off payment of $30,000 under the plan.

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Ride-sharing app Uber to set to legalised in a third Australian state, after South Australia announced the change would be included in wide-ranging legislative reform to the taxi industry (stock image)

And ride-sharing drivers will not be allowed to pick up customers from Adelaide Airport, with taxis granted the exclusive licence for the airport and ranks around the city.

Taxi fares across the market will also be increased as part of the regulation, and an extra 20 per cent tarriff to be added to all trips made on Friday or Saturday night.

Licencees will receive $50 per week for 11 months as part of the compensation package, and there will be a five-year freeze on new licences being granted.

Premier Weatherill said the new legislation found a 'balance' between the existing taxi industry and ride-sharing services.

South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill confirmed Uber would become legal at a press conference in Adelaide on Tuesday, saying 'new entrants' will be allowed to operate from July 1 (stock image)

'Our reforms deliver a genuine level playing field between taxis, chauffeur vehicles and new entrants like Uber,' he said, the ABC reports.

The changes were introduced after a review into the industry was ordered in January 2015.

It comes after the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales were the first two Australian states to legalise UberX.
A Nebraska college student says she has been kicked out of her sorority because of a 'provocative' picture posted on her Tinder profile eight months ago.

Shannon Workman, a junior at the University of Nebraska Omaha, and her mother found the picture innocent - it showed her standing next to two girls as they all wore Bid Day shirts that read 'Sweet Home Chi Omega.'

However her sorority, Chi Omega, reportedly described it as 'risque' and told Workman the photo violated the sorority's Human Dignity rule, and the 20-year-old was ultimately kicked out.

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University of Nebraska Omaha student Shannon Workman said she was kicked out of her sorority because of a 'provocative' picture (shown above) posted on her Tinder profile eight months ago

Workman (pictured as she became emotional during an interview) had been a member of the sorority for three years before she was kicked out last week

'There's nothing provocative about the picture whatsoever. It's in very good taste and not risque. It's ridiculous,' Workman's mother, Jill, told WOWT.

Workman, who had been a member of the sorority for three years before she was kicked out, had posted the picture on her Tinder profile in August.

'It was me at Bid Day wearing the outfit they gave us,' she told the station.

But last week, her sorority called her in for a meeting with its new executive board during which she was told she had violated its Human Dignity rule.

According to the rule, it states sorority sisters would not post photos wearing their letters on platforms that would bring 'disrespect to the chapter,' her mother told the New York Daily News.

Workman had reportedly already removed the picture from her profile on Tinder, so she as not sure why she was still in trouble.

'There's no way she could read that rule and see it apply to Tinder,' Mrs Workman said. 'It's not different from Facebook or any other site.'

The college junior (right) and her mother, Jill (pictured left), found the picture to be innocent, but she said Chi Omega found it 'risque' and told Workman the photo violated the sorority's Human Dignity rule

On Facebook last week, Workman's mother wrote of how her daughter was kicked out of her sorority and said she is proud of her daughter for sticking up for herself

Mrs Workman said after the photo had appeared on her daughter's profile for eight months, how it 'suddenly' became a problem, calling the ordeal 'ridiculous', according to WOWT.

When she was initially contacted by her sorority, she said she started questioning them about what rule she had broken.

So when she was told to come in for a former personnel, she said she had a feeling that something was going to go wrong.

As she met with the executive board, she recorded the meeting on her phone in which she can be heard telling the board she does not see where she is in the wrong.

A person who appears to be a board member at one point is heard telling Workman they are receiving a combative attitude and disrespect from her, WOWT reported.

'We've asked you multiple times do you see where this is in violation and you keep saying no. So that tells me that you do not...' a person is heard saying before Workman interrupts stating, 'I was just being honest.'

'That's okay and that's great,' a woman is heard saying.

'If I'm going to get kicked out for that then let it be,' Workman then says.

Later in the conversation, Workman asks if the sorority has a 'hit list of people' they are trying to get out of the chapter, to which a person responds no.

Workman and her mother pictured above. The two other girls standing next to Workman in the picture in question, her big and her little, have reportedly since left the sorority

Workman, a cheerleader at the university for two years, is no longer a Chi Omega and her mother said she told them 'I'm never coming back' after she left the meeting

'I don't understand this. Out of all the people in the chapter I'm the only one getting kicked out because I'm standing up for what I believe in,' Workman is heard saying through tears.

'What you believe in doesn't align with what we believe in,' a woman is heard saying in response.

Workman walked out of the meeting no longer a Chi Omega and her mother said she told them 'I'm never coming back,' according to the New York Daily News.

The two other girls standing next to her in the picture, her big and her little, have reportedly since left the sorority.

Former Chi Omega member, Lacey McPhail, wrote on Facebook that she was 'forcibly kicked out' of the sorority and that she knows at least 10 other girls who were forced to resign their membership.

'I am glad someone is speaking out about the corrupt goings on of this "Christian" sorority,' she wrote in a post last Monday.

Former Chi Omega Zeta Delta, Lacey McPhail, wrote on Facebook how she was 'forcibly removed' from the sorority and said that she is glad someone is speaking out 'about the corrupt' things on on of this 'Christian' sorority

'Since I have been removed I know of at least 10 other girls who have been removed for dating profiles, liking tweets/statuses, going to a party, and similar, very common college activities.

She continued: 'This sorority is not run by the active members but instead by the advisors, they have a complete dictatorship over what the girls can wear, post, and say.'

Dustin Wolfe, the Assistant Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life, at the university said in a statement to WOWT that the incident is a 'personnel matter' of a social organization.

Chi Omega's national chapter did not respond to the New York Daily News and WOWT requests for comment.
A New Zealand school has been blasted after female pupils were told to wear knee length skirts so that they stop distracting male teachers and giving boys 'ideas'.

Around 40 pupils were called into an assembly at Henderson high school, Auckland, and told they must lower the hemlines on their skirts.

Deputy principal Cherith Telford reportedly told them it was to 'keep our girls safe, stop boys from getting ideas and create a good work environment for male staff'.

But the move has been criticised by former and current students who said the school should stop blaming teenage girls for men being aroused.

A New Zealand school has been blasted after female pupils were told to wear knee length skirts so they stop distracting male teachers and giving boys 'ideas'

Pupils Sade Tuttle and Jazmyn Green, who were both rounded up with a group of girls after a uniform inspection at a school assembly, said it was the reason behind the rule that upset them.

'The rules themselves aren't the problem; the problem is when these codes target girls specifically because their bodies are sexual and distracting,' Sade told Newshub.

'Basically we were told that the skirts needed to be lowered to below our knees or we would be given detention after school.'

Another student wrote on Facebook saying: 'I came to school to learn. Not to be sexualised,' one student wrote.'

Pupils Jazmyn Green (left) and Sade Tuttle (right) who were both rounded up with a group of girls after a uniform inspection at a school assembly, said it was the reason behind the rule that upset them

Around 40 pupils were called into an assembly at Henderson high school, Auckland, and told they must lower the hemlines on their skirts

Head teacher Mike Purcell defended the rule, saying it was introduced so that pupils could 'focus on their learning'

A former Henderson High student posted: 'How about you stop telling 15 year old girls - that aren't even legal to have sex - how sexual their knees are and how they need to cover themselves up because its a risk and distracting to male staff.'

But head teacher Mike Purcell defended the rule, saying it was introduced so that pupils could 'focus on their learning'.

'Henderson High School has rules relating to the wearing of school uniforms.' he said in a statement.

'These rules are not new and all families are made aware of them when they enrol. They include a stipulation that the hemline of female students' skirts must be on the knee, no higher.

'The uniform is practical for school wear and these rules are regularly enforced to ensure that all students can focus on their learning and feel comfortable in the school environment.

'As principal, I make no apology for insisting on high standards throughout the school and I have high expectations. That includes wearing the uniform according to the agreed rules.'

The school rules state that all skirts must not be shorter than 3inch or 7cm above the knee.

"See-through, provocative and excessively tight clothing are not allowed," and students must wear "appropriate undergarments", the rules state.
A snake catcher has died after a fatal taipan bite on Sunday evening, despite administrating first aid on himself.

Wayne Cameron, 54, was out on a job for Reptrix Reptiles in Rockhampton, Queensland when he was bitten. He initially thought the coastal taipain had only grazed his arm and hadn't broke through the skin.

Mr Cameron and his wife, fellow snake catcher Jenny, applied first aid at the scene before heading to Rockhampton Hospital.

Despite the efforts of doctors and nurses, he died within the hour, convulsing when his bandages were removed in the city's hospital.

Mr Cameron and his wife Jenny applied first aid at the scene before heading to Rockhampton Hospital where he died 50 minutes later

Mr Cameron's close friend and co-worker, Nicole Sloan was devastated when she heard the news, confirming the snake catcher had been bitten after being called out to capture a coastal taipan which had hidden itself in a duffle bag.

According Ms Sloan, a Rockhampton Wildlife Rescue worker, the hospital had run a series of tests which all came back negative. Mr Cameron was about to head home when they took the bandage off the bite.

When the bandage was removed he convulsed and his heart stopped, 'he walked into hospital at 5.30pm and he was gone at 6.20pm,' Ms Sloan said to The Brisbane Times.

Wayne Cameron was on a job for Reptrix Reptiles in Rockhampton, Queensland when he was bitten. He initially thought the coastal taipain had only grazed his arm and hadn't broke through the skin.

Tributes for Mr Cameron have been pouring in from social media and on the Reptrix Reptiles Facebook page.

'Sincere condolences Robbie to you, your mum and family. Such a tragic loss. I have known your dad a long time having attended Uni and working at the hospital. He had already been through so much. Sorry for your loss,' said Renee Burnham.

'I was so sorry to hear of this tragic loss for your family. Sincere condolences to you' wrote Sandy Morrice.

Mr Cameron was a father of two and suffered with cancer. He had previously worked as a nurse at Rockhampton Hospital where he died on Sunday

The coastal taipan is a species of large, highly venomous snake and is considered the third-most venomous land snake in the world. It's native to the island of New Guinea and the coastal regions of northern and eastern Australia

The father of two had suffered with cancer and had previously worked as a nurse at Rockhampton Hospital where he died. Ms Sloan spoke with sunshinecoastdaily.com.au on the impact Mr Cameron's death will on the community, 'Apart from him we don't have many people in town (who catch snakes). He is a massive loss to our group and our town.'

The coastal taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus), or common taipan is a species of large, highly venomous snake. It's native to the island of New Guinea and the coastal regions of northern and eastern Australia.

It is considered the third-most venomous land snake in the world.




North Korea has tried warnings of nuclear attack and racist diatribes to criticize US President Barack Obama.

Now it is turning to the memory of Abraham Lincoln.

North Korea's state media have constructed an imaginary letter from the 16th president that attacks Obama's 'deception' over Pyongyang's pursuit of nuclear weapons.

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North Korea's state media have constructed an imaginary letter from Abraham Lincoln (right) that attacks Obama's 'deception' over Pyongyang's pursuit of nuclear weapons. Kim Jong-Un (left) has stepped up rhetoric against Washington and Seoul recently

This is the latest response from the North to rising animosity with Washington after Pyongyang's nuclear test and long-range rocket launch earlier this year.

The letter, posted only in Korean on the DPRK Today website, says: 'Hey, Obama, I know you have a lot on your mind these days ... I've decided to give you a little advice after seeing you lost in thought before my portrait during a recent Easter Prayer Breakfast.'

The letter, titled 'Advice from Lincoln to Obama,' goes on: 'If the United States, a country with the worlds largest nuclear weapons stockpile, only pays lip service, like a parrot, and doesnt do anything actively, it will be a mockery to the entire world.

In the letter, Lincoln derides Obama's (above) Nobel Peace Prize-winning push to build a nuclear-free world by questioning why the United States has not taken the initiative to scale back its nuclear arsenal first

'Hey, Obama, it's the 21st Century.

'The tactic by past American presidents, including me, who deceived the people ... is outdated. That doesn't work now.

'The world doesn't trust an America that doesn't take responsibility for what it says.'

'Advice from Lincoln to Obama' 'Hey, Obama, I know you have a lot on your mind these days. 'I've decided to give you a little advice after seeing you lost in thought before my portrait during a recent Easter Prayer Breakfast. 'If the United States, a country with the worlds largest nuclear weapons stockpile, only pays lip service, like a parrot, and doesnt do anything actively, it will be a mockery to the entire world. 'Hey, Obama, it's the 21st Century. 'The tactic by past American presidents, including me, who deceived the people...is outdated. 'That doesn't work now. 'The world doesnt trust an America that doesnt take responsibility for what it says.' Advertisement

DPRK Today is a relatively little-known outlet compared with the North's main Korean Central News Agency and the Rodong Sinmun newspaper, which outsiders regularly check to find news from the authoritarian country.

In the letter, Lincoln derides Obama's Nobel Peace Prize-winning push to build a nuclear-free world by questioning why the United States has not taken the initiative to scale back its nuclear arsenal first, as it asks countries such as North Korea to scrap their atomic programs.

Although the fake Lincoln criticizes Obama, the North does not portray the late president as a good leader.

North Korea's state media has often used harsh language against U.S. and South Korean leaders in times of tension.

In recent weeks, Pyongyang has stepped up rhetoric against Washington and Seoul during their annual springtime military drills, which it calls an invasion rehearsal.

The drills are set to end later this month.

In 2014, the North's state news agency, KCNA, called Obama a 'monkey.'

Earlier that year, it called Secretary of State John Kerry a wolf with a 'hideous lantern jaw' after US and South Korean troops launched summertime drills.

The North has also called South Korean President Park Geun-hye a 'prostitute' numerous times.

This is the latest response from the North to rising animosity with Washington after Pyongyang's nuclear test and long-range rocket launch earlier this year
One of America's biggest read news websites has named the celebrity involved in a secret threesome after a prominent blogger based in Ireland became the latest publication to name the couple

One of America's biggest news websites has today named the celebrity who had a threesome with another couple as his identity spread further around the world.

The major news aggregator also cited a story written by a top blogger who has named the cheating star.

The story has appeared mainly in print in the United States until now - but in a watershed moment the website with worldwide appeal has named the star.

It means that the well known celebrity's identity will be seen by the millions who visit the site every day.

But because of a draconian privacy injunction agreed at the Court of Appeal in London last week, the man involved still cannot be named in England and Wales.

It came as a national newspaper launched a bid to overturn the privacy injunction preventing the media from reporting on a celebrity's 'extramarital activities'.

A spokesman for the judiciary has confirmed that the Court of Appeal in London has received an application to discharge the order - no date has yet been set for a hearing.

The decision to repeatedly name the man in America and across the globe has plunged British justice further into farce - especially because the celebrity was also named in a Scottish newspaper on Sunday.

His name and details of his affair are there for all to see in Scotland while millions in England and Wales cannot be told the same information.

One of those involved in the threesome, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has said the decision to gag the media is getting 'more crazy' every day.

The celebrity and his partner have already been named in print in Scotland, in the US and around the world.

But a draconian privacy injunction means more than 56million people in England and Wales remain in the dark about who they are.

Yesterday a blogger based in Ireland became the latest publication to defy the court order and name the couple.

The blogger, who uses US internet servers, told The Times: 'I don't want to see a situation develop where the rich and famous can hide what they've been up to.'

Judgement: The Court of Appeal in London has blocked the naming of the celebrity in the UK even though it can be read in the United States. Pictured, the Royal Courts of Justice

Meanwhile one of those involved in the threesome told Sun reporters Tom Wells and Mike Hamilton the situation is becoming 'more and more crazy'.

'When does this injunction become pointless? One day it's Scotland where the celeb is named, the next it's because a blogger thinks he can do it as his internet domain is registered abroad.'

The controversy centres on a Court of Appeal decision to grant a swingeing anonymity order to the celebrity couple.

The man, who has young children with his spouse, was involved in a threesome with another couple. Earlier this year the couple approached a newspaper offering to tell their story.

The High Court turned down an application for a privacy injunction, but this was overruled by the Court of Appeal.

Lord Justice Rupert Jackson said the story would be 'devastating for the claimant' and the need for privacy was stronger than the right to publish.

But last Wednesday a publication in the US printed the story and at the weekend a Scottish newspaper followed suit.

This meant Scots were able to read details of the affair but people a few miles away, on the other side of the border, could not.

Meanwhile, the Sun On Sunday quoted another man who said he was involved in an affair with the celebrity five months later.

Media lawyer Mark Stephens said: 'In the absence of the celebrity couple posting their lawyers at airports and train stations across the land, this is a farce. The injunction obviously cannot stand.'
Paparazzo-turned-mayor Darryn Lyons has been accused of swearing at staff as the entire council faces being sacked over allegations of bullying and harassment in the workplace.

The Victorian Government is seeking to pass legislation in parliament on Tuesday to dismiss the former media personality along with his fellow councillors after an independent inquiry found it to be 'dysfunctional'.

A report has been tabled in parliament that details a list of abusive incidents involving Cr Lyons and other councillors, including the mayor's alleged threats to close down a Geelong business after swearing at staff.

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Paparazzo-turned-mayor Darryn Lyons has been accused of swearing at staff as the entire council faces being sacked over allegations of bullying and harassment in the workplace

'F*** me, I'm the mayor, I don't need to be meeting with someone one week and then meeting with them the next,' Cr Lyons allegedly told one staff member.

He threatened to close down a local business after yelling at its staff, before later telling investigators he did not remember the incident.

On another occasion he allegedly told a staff member that he should be 'picking up dog s***'.

The report also detailed evidence from when Cr Lyons was asked by a staff member if wanted to be interviewed for a particular event.

He responded: 'Where the f*** were you? I needed you to take photos, the f***ing leader of the opposition was in Geelong for the breakfast'.

A council manager is also alleged to have taken to a chemicals shed with an axe after a pregnant worker asked for some ventilation.

'Ventilation, I'll give you f***ing ventilation,' the manager said before attacking the shed walls with an axe.

The Victorian Government is seeking to pass legislation in parliament on Tuesday to dismiss the former media personality along with his fellow councillors after an independent inquiry found it to be 'dysfunctional'

Celebrity mayor Darryn Lyons and the entire Geelong City Council are set to be sacked amid bullying and harassment allegations

A report has been tabled in parliament that details a list of abusive incidents involving Cr Lyons and other councillors, including the mayor's alleged threats to close down a Geelong business after swearing at staff

The report found one councillor threatened to take a staff member to a 'dark place that she would not like' if they did not comply with the councillor's wishes.

Another councillor retweeted a tweet describing a local citizen as a 'Greek property parasite'.

She also used her position to spread false rumours about a former employee's family.

'It destroyed me, I was suicidal,' the employee told the independent investigators.

The report recommends the council be sacked and an administrator put in place until 2020, when a new council will be elected.

It follows a damning investigation by former commissioner from Australian Human Rights Commission Susan Halliday found explosive evidence of bullying, sexism, and favouritism within the council.

Ms Halliday found that Geelong Council and some of its councillors were 'aggressive, belligerent, threatening, disempowering, sexist, dogged, bombastic, arrogant, rude, spiteful, frightening, demeaning, belittling, objectified, exploitative, calculated, humiliating and intimidating'.

Cr Lyons - known for his trademark mohawk and quirky outfits - has previously claimed he is not a bully and doesn't deserved to be sacked, the Geelong Advertiser reports.

But he admitted it was possible his 'passionate and forthright demeanour' may have potentially been mistaken for bullying since he was elected two years ago.

Cr Lyons - known for his trademark mohawk and quirky outfits - has previously claimed he is not a bully and doesn't deserved to be sacked

The state government will introduce legislation into parliament on Tuesday to dismiss the former photographer

Cr Lyons hit back on 3AW disputing claims the council was 'dysfunctional'.

'I don't agree that it is dysfunctional,' Mr Lyons said, adding he was yet to see the report.

'We're living in an extremely sad place, when it comes to democracy.

HIGHLIGHTS OF DARRYN LYONS Worked as a paparazzi in the UK and featured on UK Celebrity Big Brother in 2011. Elected as mayor of Geelong Council in 2013 wearing a purple suit and fluoro-pink shirt. Came under fire for hiring a friend as his chief of staff after shock election. Spent $1 million on a Christmas tree for the city. Slammed for wearing a t-shirt with a naked woman and offensive message to a public event last year. Advertisement

'This is all about party politics and not the people of Geelong and that is a sad indictment of two leaks, within a week, from the state government.

'It's an absolute disgrace.'

He denied he'd been aggressive, belligerent and threatening as mayor, instead saying he was robust and forthright in demanding accountability for the people he was working for.

Local Government Minister Natalie Hutchins said the report's findings were too significant to ignore.

'The government has no choice but to dismiss the Geelong council,' she said.

Victoria's opposition leader Matthew Guy said he won't support the move until he sees the report.

He accused the Labor government of using the potential sacking as a stitch-up designed to get rid of political opponents like Cr Lyons.

'The Labor party has wanted to sack Darren Lyons for 12 months,' Mr Guy said.

'Richard Marles, the federal member, made it pretty clear he sees Darren Lyons as a threat federally in his seat.'

Local Government Minister Natalie Hutchins (right) said the report from the Commission of Inquiry outlined serious failure by the council to provide good government

Cr Lyons, who appeared on the UK Celebrity Big Brother in 2011 (pictured), has never been far away from controversy and admitted previously he has never tried to hide his colourful background

Darryn Lyons was a former paparazzi photographer before deciding to run for mayor in Geelong

Cr Lyons, who appeared on the UK Celebrity Big Brother in 2011, has never been far away from controversy and admitted previously he has never tried to hide his colourful background.

Following his shock election to Geelong Council two years ago, Cr Lyons came under fire for hiring a friend to chief of staff.

More recently he was slammed for wearing a t-shirt printed with a naked woman and an offensive message to Oktoberfest celebrations last year.

He also spent $1 million on a Christmas tree last year with the expenditure criticised by some.

The former paparazzo won the mayoral race for Geelong in 2013 by taking 29.79 percent of the primary vote.

His campaign slogan was 'vision, passion and change,' and he publicised his message with adverts, T-shirts, and a stream of public appearances.

Mr Lyons was victorious despite the fact he has lived in Europe for several decades - he arrived in London aged 22.

Darryn Lyons came under fire for wearing a t-shirt to a public Oktoberfest event that featured a naked woman and an offensive message last year

He also spent $1 million on a floating Christmas tree for Geelong last year with the expenditure criticised by some

Local Government Minister Natalie Hutchins said the move comes after a report from the Commission of Inquiry outlined serious failure by the council to provide good government
The 'sexist' song university college students chanted at a 'Boys Night Out' which 'glorified acts of rape' has resulted in a snap protest calling for respect.

Male students from a University of New South Wales (UNSW) college were filmed chanting an offensive song on Friday night while they took a bus on a 'Boys Night Out' for the Philip Baxter College.

Fellow students campaigned for respect by forming a giant R on the university lawn in Kensington, east Sydney, at noon on Tuesday after footage was shared by Junkee.

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University of New South Wales (UNSW) students have protested after male college students chanted a 'sexist' song on a bus on Friday night on a 'Boys Night Out'

The song said they wished women 'were holes in the road' so the men could 'fill them with my load'.

A spokesperson for the UNSW Student Representative Council (SRC) said the university, collective and college are working together to decide appropriate action against the students responsible.

'Serious and meaningful action will definitely be taken', the spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.

The punishment, with the potential to include expulsion from the college or university, is yet to be decided.

Any disciplinary action would need to ensure 'this type of behaviour is known to be completely inappropriate' and 'ensure it would never occur again'.

All of the students responsible are yet to be identified, the spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.

There is expected to be reform to strengthen education on such matters within the colleges.

Jocelyn Dracakis, the women's officer at the Student Representative Council at UNSW, told Daily Mail Australia the misogynistic chants are thought to be widespread and regularly used.

The protesters on Tuesday formed the 'human sign' in the shape of an R to 'make a loud statement condemning all derogatory, oppressive or misogynistic attitudes towards women'

She said there were allegations of mobile phones being confiscated from students by organisers prior to events to prevent sexist behaviour from being filmed.

Male students on a 'Boys Night Out' chanted: I wish that all the ladies Were little red foxes And if I was a hunter I'd shoot them in their boxes I wish that all the ladies Were buns in the oven And if I were a baker I'd cream them by the dozen I wish that all the ladies Were holes in the road And if I was a dump truck I'd fill them with my load Advertisement

Footage of the incident had been posted to a private Facebook group for the college students.

It was then forwarded on by a student to the UNSW Women's Collective and leaked.

The college released a statement of apology on Tuesday afternoon, and called the conduct 'sexist and misogynistic'.

'As a College we acknowledge and understand the boundaries that we have crossed. As a College community we condemn the actions outlined within the chants and their misogynistic sentiments.

The statement said the 'mere fact' they had sung the lyrics was 'enough to tarnish the integrity of every resident'.

'Bringing this issue to light has made us realise the naivety we have been clouded by for not realising the impact issues of this nature have on society.'

A UNSW SRC spokesperson said the university, Women's Collective and college are working together to decide appropriate action against the students responsible - which could include expulsion from the college and even from the university

The protesters on Tuesday formed the 'human sign' in the shape of an R to 'make a loud statement condemning all derogatory, oppressive or misogynistic attitudes towards women'.

The protesters also listened to speakers from the Student Representative Council who condemned the 'disgusting' video.

The university said it was appalled by the 'sexist and demeaning' behaviour.

'The University has zero tolerance for offensive behaviour of this nature and is taking immediate steps to investigate,' UNSW said in a statement on Tuesday.

The UNSW Women's Collective on Monday night released a statement saying the chanting had 'degrading lyrics which objectify women and glorify acts of rape'.

A survey found 73 per cent of women had experienced some form of sexual harassment and 27 per cent had experienced sexual assault during their time at university, National Union of Students found in February.

The college released a statement of apology on Tuesday afternoon, and called the conduct 'sexist and misogynistic'

'The University has zero tolerance for offensive behaviour of this nature and is taking immediate steps to investigate,' UNSW said in a statement on Tuesday
It should have been a blunder Hillary Clinton would want everyone to forget.

The Democratic frontrunner, and self-professed New Yorker, became the butt of political jokes after she failed to swipe her card on the Subway during a campaign trip last Friday.

But instead of brushing the mishap aside, she has embraced the gaffe and is now using it as an error message on her website.

If you try to go to a page that doesn't exist, instead of the dreaded '404' message, there is a GIF of Hillary trying to swipe the card.

Hillary Clinton has poked fun at herself by using her Subway gaffe in New York last week for an error page on her campaign website

'Trying to get where you want to go? This page isn't it,' the site says.

Then it asks for campaign volunteers.

Saturday Night Live and local tabloids slammed Hillary's embarrassing incident.

SNL veteran Kate McKinnon reprised her role as the former Secretary of State to mock the Democratic front-runner's race for New York against Bernie Sanders.

This week's show opened with Clinton wearing a Yankees cap - which still has its price tag on - as she pretended to eat a hot dog and nuts to prove what a real 'New Yorker' she is. She later switches her cap for a Mets one.

The clip then goes on to makes fun of Clinton's subway gaffe.

'The subway. I love to ride. I'm comfortable riding it,' said Clinton before swiping several times with no success.

She then attempted to climb over the turnstile only to get stuck and give up.

'I'll just take a cab,' she added.

America Rising PAC  which produces opposition research against Democrats  also called out Clinton for her multiple swipes, calling it 'SHOCKING' video of an 'out-of-touch' candidate struggling to use her Metrocard.

The Democratic frontrunner, and self-professed New Yorker, became the butt of political jokes after she failed to swipe her card during the campaign stop

Clinton's journey started from the 161st Street Station at Yankee Stadium and she just went two stops to the 170th Street Station on the 4 train, according to CNN.

The candidate was joined on the ride by Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., members of her staff and some press.

Clinton told CNN she hadn't ridden the transit system in a year and a half or maybe two years.

That was meant to distinguish herself from Brooklyn-born Sanders, who was asked by New York Daily News editorial board members, 'How do you ride the subway today.'

Sanders had previously said that he had ridden the system about a year ago, 'but I know how to ride the subways, I've been on them once or twice.'
Herzer filed a suit against Redstone's estate and his daughter Shari after she was removed as his primary caretaker in October

Now lawyers are getting ready for the trial, which could happen early next month in Los Angeles

But the deal fell apart when details of the terms were leaked

She and Redstone, 92, seemed to have reached an agreement last week

Manuela Herzer, 52, filed a suit against Redstone's estate and his daughter Shari after she was removed as his primary caretaker in October

An agreement reached by Sumner Redstone and his former girlfriend Manuela Herzer has fallen apart - and now lawyers are getting ready to go to court.

The 92-year-old media magnate was to give Herzer, 52, between $25 and $30 million, in exchange of which she would drop her bid to regain a position of power in his life.

But the agreement fell apart when details of the terms were leaked, a person close to the case told the LA Times.

Now, lawyers are getting ready to go to court as the case could go to trial early next month.

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Sumner Redstone (right) and Manuela Herzer (left) appeared to have reached an agreement just last week but the deal fell apart after details of its conditions were leaked. The pair is pictured in 2012

Herzer, who met Redstone in 1999 and was once romantically involved with him, remained close to him after their split and acted as a confidante throughout his life.

Redstone, who is currently worth an estimated $5.2billion, banned her from his Beverly Park mansion suddenly in October last year and removed her as his primary caretaker.

Until that point, Herzer was in charge of making decisions regarding Redstone's health if he became incapacitated.

The terms of the abandoned settlement required that a local, neutral third party oversee the day-to-day care of Redstone, according to a source, who asked to remain anonymous because they are not permitted to speak to the media.

Redstone's daughter Shari became his new healthcare agent last week, ahead of the now-defunct agreement with Herzer.

The magnate also removed Herzer from his will as he seemingly renounced her in October.

She was to receive '$50 million and Redstones Beverly Park home, worth roughly $20 million' upon his death according to a court filing earlier this month in the Superior Court of the State of California.

That money would come on top of the $70million in cash and assets Redstone's daughter Shari said her father gave to Herzer since just 2009 while she lived near his home.

Shari Redstone will give a deposition next week according to the LA Times' source.

She is the vice chair of Viacom Inc, one of two companies controlled by Redstone along with CBS Corporation.

Viacom Chief Executive Philippe Dauman will likely give a deposition too in the future, the LA Times wrote.

Herzer filed more paperwork in the Superior Court of the State of California in February after the 92-year-old was evaluated by Dr. Stephen L. Read, who stated that Redstone is not capable of acting in his 'own rational self-interest' and 'lacked the mental capacity to make a change in his appointed health care agent' at the time he kicked Herzer out of his home.

She also provided a timeline of her relationship with Redstone, from when they first met and began dating in 1999 through the day he stepped down as head of Viacom earlier this month.

Redstone's daughter Shari (pictured with him in 2011) became his new healthcare agent earlier this month. Herzer was his primary caretaker until he banned her from his Beverly Park mansion in October

The timeline detailed Redstone's tempestuous relationship with his daughter Shari, claiming that in late 2014 he offered his daughter '$1billion to surrender her stake in National Amusements Inc,' an offer she declined.

Then, just this past September, the filing claims that Redstone had Shari and her son Tyler ordered out of his home.

The April issue of Vanity Fair also revealed a few of the claims being made by Herzer in her filing.

One of these allegations details the media magnate's decision to ignore the advice of medical professionals when they urged him to limit his sexual activity to just once a week so he could have enough energy to swallow on his own.

If Redstone could pass his swallowing test then the feeding tube in his throat could be removed Herzer claims he was told in her filing, and as a result he would be able to enjoy his favorite food once again - steak.

'Sumner is obsessed with eating steak and would attempt to eat one if it were placed in front of him, not seeming to recall or understand why he cannot do so,' wrote Herzer.

Redstone refused to take this advice however according to Herzer, choosing sex over the ability to eat solid food.

The billionaire stepped down from his role as chairman at both CBS and Viacom in February, becoming chairman emeritus at both and handing over the reins to Les Moonves and Philippe Dauman respectively.

Herzer was banned from his mansion in October for reasons that remain unclear.

Six weeks prior, Redstone had kicked out his live-in lover of four years Sydney Holland, 44, after learning she was having an affair.
An Australian delegation has warned the United Nations that killer robots are 'close to being developed', and urged the international body to prepare for the 'Terminator conundrum'.

The delegation delivered the ominous message during the latest round of talks at the Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems being held in Geneva, Switzerland on Monday night.

'The development of fully autonomous systems able to conduct military targeting operations which kill and injure combatants or civilians may be closer than many of us had imagined,' the Australian delegation's statement said, the Brisbane Times reports.

Representatives have warned the United Nations killer robots are 'close to being developed', and urged the international body to prepare for the 'Terminator conundrum' (stock image)

'It is an appropriate time to consider the risks of such weapons systems and to make sure we understand fully what might constitute misuse as well as legitimate use of emerging technologies.'

The statement also said the international community needs to work harder to understand the potential threat, saying: 'we remain some way from common understandings and universal acceptance of the potential use of lethal autonomous weapons systems, and a long way from being able to set enforceable standards for their use'.

The talks are focused on understanding and controlling the way artificial intelligence technology is improving, and the implications that could have for weapons, including Predator and Reaper Drones, as well as other machines used on battlefields.

Prior to the meeting getting underway in Geneva, Human Rights Watch said the growing concern is that humans could lost control of the weapons used in war.

An Australian delegation delivered the ominous message during the latest round of talks at the Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems being held in Geneva, Switzerland

'It is appropriate to consider the risks of such weapons systems and to make sure we understand fully what might constitute misuse as well as legitimate use of emerging technologies,' an Australian statement said

United States vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Paul Selva has referred to the decision about whether humans should program machines with the ability to kill as the 'Terminator conundrum' (stock image)

'There is a real threat that humans would relinquish their control and delegate life-and-death decisions to machines,' a HRW report said.

'Humans should retain control of weapons systems and individual attacks, not only of overall operations.

'Mandating human control would help avoid threats to the fundamental moral principles over the decision to use force.'

Since the last round of talks were held, more than 1,000 leading scientists and academics signed a letter warning 'killer rebots' could become a reality within years.

'This technological trajectory is obvious: autonomous weapons will become the Kalashnikovs of tomorrow,' the letter said.

The UN are focused on understanding and controlling the way artificial intelligence technology is improving, and the implications that could have for weapons, including Predator and Reaper Drones (pictured)

There are a series of further UN talks planned for 2016, before a 'Review Conference' from December 12 to 16 in Pakistan (stock image)

Tech genius and Telsa Motors CEO Elon Musk - who signed the letter - said: 'We need to be super careful with AI. Potentially more dangerous than nukes.'

United States vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Paul Selva has previously referred to the decision about whether humans should program machines with the ability to kill as the 'Terminator conundrum'.

There are a series of further talks planned for 2016, before a 'Review Conference' from December 12 to 16 in Pakistan.
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Russia's real-life female 007, who was unmasked by the FBI and deported from the U.S. when her spy role was discovered, is back with a new mission: attacking western governments from her new Instagram account.

The bombshell spook wears a succession of new outfits - a different one for every attack - as she blasts David Cameron over the Panama Papers revelations, attacks Hillary Clinton and backs Donald Trump for the White House.

Posing in a figure-hugging red dress, glamorous Chapman says the leaked documents hit the British prime minister hardest, even though Western media were intent on damaging Kremlin strongman Vladimir Putin.

'Twist of fate: Western journalists arranged an offshore scandal targeting Putin but shot David Cameron,' she wrote two days ago.

Leaders: Agent Anna Chapman, who was unmasked as a spy by the FBI, is back with a new Instagram account. She wears a succession of outfits as she blasts western governments. Alongside this image, the 34 year old agent appears to back Trump for the White House

Blame game: Russian spy Anna Chapman wrote on her new Instagram account that the Panama Papers leak hit David Cameron harder than Vladimir Putin

Targets: Chapman is writing messages in support of Vladimir Putin, and two days ago she posted: 'Twist of fate: Western journalists arranged an offshore scandal targeting Putin but shot David Cameron'

'It has already been a full week of him making excuses for his family that had been hiding profits of its investment fund Blairmore Holdings Inc. from the British tax service.'

Leaving aside the accuracy of her claims, there is no doubt Russia's real-life female 007 is back on manoeuvres, with the foreign intelligence agent - deported from the US in a spy swap after being unmasked by the FBI - now delivering regular and pithy verbal blasts in support of Putin and his government.

In one, the 34 year old flame haired agent appears to back Donald Trump for the White House, suggesting the tycoon and her commander in chief would warm the currently icy relations between the Cold War superpowers.

'Trump will "get along with Putin", he approves of the Russian operation in Syria and is surprised why the USA supports Ukraine. Changes in America are closer? What do you think?' she posted in a shimmering blue outfit.

She also turns on would-be Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton.

Caught: Anna Chapman is seen as having made a fortune since she was caught red handed operating as a spy in New York in 2010. She was deported from the U.S.

Celebrity status: Anna Chapman has worked as a TV presenter with her show on Mysteries of the World but also uses a new Instagram account that appears to back Donald Trump for the White House. She turned on Hillary Clinton in a post alongside this photograph

'New York ex-mayor Rudolph Giuliani has blamed Hillary Clinton for creating ISIS,' she wrote. 'It is hard to argue with it.

'In Reagan times, the USA created the conditions that made Taliban and al-Qaeda appear.

Twist of fate: Western journalists arranged an offshore scandal targeting Putin but shot David Cameron Spy Anna Chapman

'Probably it is the main fun of the U.S. presidents: to pave the way for terrorists and to fight with them for years later.'

Now in green, the spy took aim at the recent Dutch referendum won by Eurosceptics amid claims Putin wants to see a break-up of the European Union.

'The results of the Dutch referendum on the Ukrainian association with EU are very informative,' she told her 970 followers on a new Instagram account.

'Two thirds of Dutch people do not care at all about Ukraine and the remaining one third strongly does not want to see them in the EU.'

Turning her fire on America, Ms Chapman - who last year gave birth to her first child - mocked: 'The USA decided to send 100 soldiers and four tanks to Estonia.

'This "destruction force" is designed to protect the Estonians from the "Russian menace".

'It is not important that our Defence Ministry didn't even register this "armada". The main thing is to start anti-Russian hysteria in the Baltics.'

Blasted: In one recent message alongside a picture of her wearing a khaki coloured blouse, she states: 'Explosions in Brussels - there aren't "good" and "bad" terrorists'

Pro-Putin: Anna Chapman is now delivering regular verbal blasts in support of Putin and his government. Alongside a picture of her wearing a patterned green dress, she wrote: 'The USA decided to send 100 soldiers and four tanks to Estonia. This "destruction force" is designed to protect the Estonians from the "Russian menace"'

Limelight: Red-head Anna Chapman's new high profile comes after she gave birth to a son in summer 2015

Spy: 'For how many years in Ukraine will there be killed lawyers, journalists, judges and just ordinary people craving for a well deserved peace?' she wrote in a post accompanied by a picture of herself wrapped in a blanket

In one recent message, she accuses Washington of double standards over corruption in Ukraine, comparing the alleged theft under pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych, toppled in 2014, and the strongly pro-Western premier Arseniy Yatsenyuk who quit this week.

'Voice of America' gave the news that people who surrounded Yanukovych stole 30 billion USD from the budget of Ukraine.

'Interesting, how will the radio-station created by the CIA half a century ago estimate what was stolen by those around Yatsenyuk?,' she opined, this time alongside a photograph of herself dressed in a brown coat on a spring walk.

In a dig at the Obama administration, she hit out: 'Within the last ten months John Kerry visited Russia three times.

'Today in the White House they were talking again about the isolation of Russia.'

The dialogue on the picture shows the U.S. Secretary of State apparently queuing to enter Putin's office with German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Criticim: In one recent message, posted alongside this picture of her in a brown coat, she accuses Washington of double standards over corruption in Ukraine

Behind closed doors: Anna Chapman said she was trying to keep the birth of her child a secret but 'failed'

Employed: Anna Chapman works for Ren-TV, a channel owned by National Media Group, headed by the woman rumoured to be Putin's secret girlfriend

'Who is the last here to meet Putin?' asks Kerry. Steinmeier replies: 'Are you also here on the question of Russia's isolation?'

The 'free' Western media also came under attack from Ms Chapman, whose family name comes from her ex-public schoolboy husband in Britain, where she lived before returning to Russia and being sent on her ill-fated mission to the U.S. when she and a spy network were unmasked by the FBI.

'The Western mass media keeps silent about release of Palmyra from terrorists, because they must keep comparing Russia to ISIS not to destroy the image,' she posted.

But she had another explanation too.

'The Western FREE media is keeping quiet about the release of Palmyra from terrorists. Why? There were no correspondents on the spot?.'

Closer to home, she warned: 'For how many years in Ukraine will there be killed lawyers, journalists, judges and just ordinary people craving for a well deserved peace?'

In another comment, she states: 'Explosions in Brussels - there aren't "good" and "bad" terrorists.'

Social media post: Anna Chapman posted this picture. It shows the U.S. Secretary of State apparently queuing to enter Putin's office with German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. 'Who is the last here to meet Putin?' asks Kerry. Steinmeier replies: 'Are you also here on the question of Russia's isolation?'

New career: Anna Chapman runs her own label fashion boutiques in Moscow and works for a TV channel. Alongside a picture of her sitting in an office chair wearing a green dress (left) she took aim at the recent Dutch referendum won by Eurosceptics amid claims Putin wants to see a break-up of the European Union

Ms Chapman's new high profile comes after she gave birth to a son in summer 2015.

'I was trying to keep it secret until the last moment but unfortunately I failed,' she admitted.

But she has not disclosed the identity of the child's father.

She has worked as a TV presenter with her show on Mysteries of the World, and is expected back on screen soon, possibly in a new role.

She works for Ren-TV, a channel owned by National Media Group, headed by ex-Olympic gymnast Alina Kabaeva, 32, rumoured to be Putin's secret girlfriend.

Chapman - who also runs her own label fashion boutiques in Moscow - is seen as having made a fortune since she was caught red handed operating as a spy in New York in 2010.

Her British passport - which she obtained after her British marriage - was also annulled.
This is the dramatic moment Belgian police arrested three Paris attack suspects at gun point.

Armed police swooped during a daylight raid in Uccle, Brussels as part of continued investigations into the atrocity, which left 130 people dead and hundreds wounded.

The pictures emerged as two more people were charged with terrorism-related offences linked to the Brussels bombings last month,

Belgian prosecutors said they had charged Smail and Ibrahim Farisi, for alleged involvement in renting a flat that served as a hideout for the bomber who attacked the Brussels subway and a suspected accomplice.

Sixteen victims died in the March 22 attack on the Metro, an hour after a pair of suicide bombers also killed 16 victims at Brussels airport.

Pictures captured the dramatic moment Belgian police arrested three men Paris attack suspects at gun point

Armed police swooped during a daylight raid in Uccle, Brussels as part of continued investigations into the atrocity, which left 130 people dead and hundreds wounded

Earlier today, a magistrate ordered Smail Farisi, born in 1984, and Ibrahim Farisi, born in 1988, be held on charges of participating in the activities of a terrorist group, terrorist murder and attempted terrorist murder as perpetrators, co-perpetrators or accomplices, the prosecutors' office said in a statement.

The statement said no further information would be released and that the investigation 'is continuing actively day and night.'

Authorities said the extremists who struck Brussels had initially planned to launch a second assault on France in the wake of the November attacks in Paris.

But the perpetrators were 'surprised by the speed of the progress in the ongoing investigation' and decided to rush an attack on Brussels instead of going back to France, Belgian prosecutors said.

Raids: Belgian police arrested another three people in a Brussels suburb during a new swoop linked to the investigation into the Paris attacks

Swoop: Belgian officers conduct a search linked to the Paris attacks, in Uccle, Brussels today April 2016

A statement from prosecutors said the trio were 'held for questioning' after being detained in the Belgian capital's southern suburb of Uccle

Investigators have found links between the cell behind those attacks and the group that killed 130 people in Paris on November 13.

A laptop seized from a rubbish bin on a street outside the suicide bombers' last known address contained a message purportedly from Ibrahim El Bakraoui, who blew himself up in the airport attack.

The message indicated he was expecting to be arrested imminently following the arrest of key Paris attacks fugitive Salah Abdeslam.

In it, prosecutors said El Bakraoui wrote that he felt 'in a hurry,' and 'no longer knowing what to do,' and 'being hunted from everywhere' - all indications they might have looked for a speedier attack than initially planned.

Two more people have been charged over the Brussels bombings. The suspects, Smail F and Ibrahim F, were allegedly involved in renting a flat that served as a hideout for the bomber who attacked the Metro (above)

Prosecutors released CCTV footage (left) showing the 'man in white' leaving the airport on foot, walking to the nearby town of Zaventem and then into Brussels, where all traces of him were reportedly lost. Mohamed Abrini (right) has now admitted to being the 'man in white'

Confession: Mohamed Abrini has admitted to being the 'man in white' who was seen with two suicide bombers at Zaventem airport on March 22 just before the attack that killed 16 people

Video footage has emerged showing a man - believed to be Mohamed Abrini - being pinned down on a sidewalk as he is arrested by police

Belgian police detained four men in Brussels raids over the weekend who were charged with participating in 'terrorist murders' and the 'activities of a terrorist group' in relation to the Brussels attacks.

One of them, Mohamed Abrini, has also been charged in relation to the Paris attacks, prosecutors said.

Abrini has acknowledged being the 'man in the hat' spotted alongside the two suicide bombers who blew themselves up at Brussels Airport, officials said.
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Just an hour or two earlier, the Duchess of Cambridge was playing games with India's most vulnerable children in a 50 frock and flat pumps.

But after a swift costume change that would impress many a West End theatre, she was stepping out to have lunch with the Indian Prime Minister in an 800 lace dress paired with a formal chignon.

It was all part of another busy day on the Royal tour, which started with the Duchess looking radiant in a casual printed maxi dress as she joined her husband at a centre for street children in New Delhi.

The royal couple visited a facility run by the Salaam Baalak Trust, an organisation supporting some of the youngsters who arrive into the city's railway station each day in search of a better life.

Unusually on a public engagement, Kate, 34, opted for flat cream pumps which she paired with a long burgundy ethnic-style dress with a belt tied around the middle. She wore her hair in loose curls half tied up off her face to finish her relaxed look.

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Art class: The Duchess of Cambridge sat cross-legged as she drew pictures with some of the street children helped by the charity

Costume change: Kate was whisked away to have lunch with the Indian Prime Minister in an 800 lace dress paired with a formal chignon

William and Kate, who are on the third day of their week-long tour of India and Bhutan, today met some of the 6,000 children who travel to New Delhi each year, often fleeing from abuse or appalling poverty.

Once they arrive in the Indian capital, the youngsters become a target for prostitution, people trafficking or sexual and physical abuse.

The royal couple heard how the Trust's outreach workers try to identify the most vulnerable young children as soon as they arrive, encouraging them to seek support.

The Duke and Duchess heard how some of the children have their eyes gouged out and hands hacked off to make them more 'attractive ' as professional beggars.

But the horrors of life on the street seemed far removed from the children's minds as they invited the visiting royals to join them for a round of carrom, a traditional table game.

William and Kate appeared in good spirits as they crouched down on the floor with the boys, who live in the nearby station.

Relaxed: Kate wore flat cream pumps underneath a long burgundy ethnic style dress with a belt tied around the middle

Low-key style: The Duchess wore her hair in soft curls that were half tied back from her face for the visit to the train station

Playtime: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge enjoyed a game of the traditional table game Carrom with street children in New Delhi

Greeting: The couple couldn't keep the smiles off their faces as they met with some of the thousands of children helped by the charity

Namaste: Kate gives the children a traditional greeting (left) while one of the boys looks on as the Duchess draws a picture (right)

A picture of a house drawn by the Duchess of Cambridge during her visit to a children's centre run by the charity Salaam Baalak in Delhi

Light-hearted moment: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge play a game of carrom with street children at a centre in New Delhi

Joining in: The Duke and Duchess then also visited a temporary shelter for boys, located close to the train station

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited a contact centre run by the charity Salaam Baalak, which provides emergency help and long term support to homeless children at New Delhi railway station

Prince William, 33, asked one of the boys: 'What's the game you're playing? Ah, carrom board. Can you show us how to play?' Flicking the draught, he laughed as it went too far and invited his wife to have a go.

The charity's director Sanjoy Roy told the couple about the charity's work. 'The boys come here for four hours of lessons and some food every day,' he said. 'When they're not here, they're at the railway station.'

When Prince William asked whether it was dangerous, Mr Roy replied: 'Yes, so they try to stick together. We look after around 7,000 kids a year but every day around 40 to 50 new children arrive at the station.

'They often have to deal with trauma, learning difficulties, ADHD and we have special programmes to help them with that. These children that we look after are the most vulnerable. Some may have their eyes gauged out or hands hacked off.

'The primary reasons they run away from home are misunderstanding with step-parents, physical and mental abuse, incredible poverty or a life event such as forced marriage.'

The charity has six homes, 21 contact centres and three Childline centres near stations, bus stands and railway stations across Delhi.

Prince William asked what he could do to help, and Mr Roy replied: 'Spread the word. People think of them as street kids, beggars, thieves but they are just children. They deserve an education, future and a life. They have a right to a childhood.'

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive for a visit to a children's centre run by the charity Salaam Baalak, which provides emergency help and long term support to homeless children at New Delhi railway station on day three of the Royal visit to India and Bhutan

Crowds gather before the arrival of Kate and William at a contact centre run by the charity Salaam Baalak at New Delhi railway station

The Royal couple receive a drawing on their visit to a children's centre that supports homeless children at New Delhi railway station

The couple also heard how Salaam Baalak Trust always tries to reunite children with their families but where that's not possible they provide permanent care in one of their shelters, where they are given medical care as well as educational, creative and social opportunities.

Dr Amit Sen, who started the charity's mental health programme, explained to the couple why this support is vital to help children coping with the trauma of life on the streets adapt to life in a nurturing environment.

Aides said the Duke and Duchess were particularly interested to see children's mental health being treated as a key priority in helping children to seek physical healthcare, shelter, and eventually education. Young people's mental health is a major focus of their charitable work.

Prince William and Kate also met two Salam Baalak City Walk Guides. The Trust is famous for its city walks, guided tours of the Delhi streets by the children who used to live there before being rescued.

The tours provide revenue for the Trust, but more importantly allow the young people to tell their stories of hardship and survival as well as helping them with their English and communication skills.

Salaam Baalak Trust was set up in 1998 with the proceeds from the film Salaam Bombay, a film depicting the lives of vulnerable street children.

The name Salaam Bombay means 'salutes the child'. Salaam Baalak Trust runs five children's shelters,which house over 500 children,and 13 contact points in and around Delhi, supporting children living and working on the streets.

Formal: Prince William (left) shakes hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he and wife Kate arrive for lunch in New Delhi

Official engagement: The Duke of Duchess of Cambridge changed into more formal wear for lunch with Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Demure: The Duchess of Cambridge opted for a mid-length teal dress with cut-out detailing for her lunch with the prime minister

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are on a week-long tour of India and Bhutan taking in Mumbai, Delhi, Assam, Bhutan and Agra

Good spirits: The royal couple shared a joke with the prime minister before joining the leader for lunch at Hyderabad House in New Delhi

Kate's ethereal sea green lace dress was high necked and the severity of its cut was echoed by the Duchess's formal chignon

Kate and William then visited a boys' home near Delhi station where around 50 boys live in the four-storey building.

They were greeted in traditional Indian style with red tika spots and flower garlands.

After climbing four flights of stairs to the roof terrace, they chatted to some of the boys and joined in their art work.

Having been presented with some of their drawings, Kate said: 'Did you do this? It's beautiful, well done. Shall I do a drawing for you?'

Kate sat down next to Shansad Abdul, 12, who asked her to draw a picture of her house.

It's unknown exactly which of her two houses she drew, but the resulting picture with large chimney, slated roof and big front door did bear an uncanny resemblance to their Norfolk mansion, Anmer Hall.

Shansad helped her colour it in-doing blue clouds and a large yellow sun. He said afterwards (through a translator): 'I liked doing it with her very much and I learnt how to draw trees and greenery.

'She was a very good lady and very happy to sit and draw with me. I ran away from home because my family are very poor and couldn't look after me.

'I came to Delhi from Purniya in the state of Bihar because I knew my older brother was married and living here. I came on my own and all I knew was that I wanted to find him.

'But when I went to his address he had moved and I had no knowledge of where he was and nowhere to go. Childline found me at the station and brought me here-I've been here for two months. My brother doesn't know I'm here.

'I'm happy but I do miss my parents. They don't know I'm here as I have no way of contacting them.'

Close links: A Kensington Palace spokesman said the couple are 'grateful to have this chance' to meet the Prime Minister, adding that the tour was first announced following Mr Modi's lunch with The Queen in January

William and Kate appear to share a joke as they sign a book during their meeting with Mr Modi at Hyderabad House in New Delhi

The Duchess smiles while posing for cameras during their private lunch with Mr Modi at a former palace in New Delhi

The royal couple also met the charity's founder Praveen Nair, 85, who used money from her daughter's Oscar-nominated film Salaam Bombay to establish it 28 years ago.

Mrs Nair was very impressed with their interest.

She said: 'It's really very heartening to see well-to-do people are aware of the problems and they come and see it for themselves. It's very fulfilling for me' the staff and the kids to come and see us. It's very good for the children as it makes them feel important and goes a long way to building their self-confidence.

'It was a revelation to see that they were like anyone else, like you or I. They didn't say 'oh it's dirty' or refuse to shake people's hands. That is the pre-conceived opinion for all well-to-do people and Britishers.'

Kate and William then returned to the High Commissioner's residence for private meetings with two other NGOs. They also met embassy staff and children who live in the compound.

The couple later had lunch with Indian Prime Minister Modi, where William discussed 'the pressures facing steel manufacturers in the UK and India', say sources.

There had been heightened speculation that the Duke of Cambridge would raise the issue of Indian firm Tata's decision to pullout of the British steel industry which has put 40,000 jobs in jeopardy.

Happy Birthday, Gran! Kate and William use a sword to cut a special cake for the Queen at a party to celebrate her 90th in New Delhi

William paid tribute to the Queen, describing her as a 'wonderful great-grandmother' for his children and very much his 'boss'

Kate changed into an ethereal sea green lace dress which was high necked and the severity of its cut echoed by the Duchess's formal chignon, courtesy of her personal hairdresser Amanda Cook Tucker.

The 'Desdemona' dress costs 795 and is by Temperley London.

A Kensington Palace spokesman said of the meeting: 'Their Royal Highnesses are grateful to have this chance to meet the Prime Minister - this tour was first announced following Mr Modi's lunch with The Queen in January.'

They will then fly to Assam where they will spend two days in Kaziranga National Park to highlight rural and conservation issues.

As well as enjoying a safari in the World Heritage Site, which boasts tiger and the Rhinoceros Unicornis - Indian one-horned rhino - as elephant and swamp deer, they will take part in a colourful sunset ceremony.

Their visit comes at the time of the Bohag Bihu festival, the celebration of Assamese New Year. William and Kate will meet local people around a campfire and and watch dance and musical performances. They may even take part themselves.

Guests of honour: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive for a reception at the British High Commissioner's residence in New Delhi to celebrate the Queen's 90th birthday at the end of the second day of their Royal visit to India

William was expected to speak to a large gathering of prominent Indians at the reception in tribute his grandmother
There were 239 passengers on board when the plane disappeared in 2014

Relatives claim the airline didn't do enough for the safety of the

The families of four Australians traveling together on the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 are suing the airline for failing to prevent the plane from going off course.

Two Queensland couples, Robert and Catherine Lawton and Rodney and Mary Burrows, were heading from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on the Boeing 777 in March 2014 when it suddenly disappeared.

The families of the close friends are now seeking $200,000 in compensation for 'suffering varying degrees of nervous shock and consequential economic loss,' according to the Canberra Times.

The families of Robert and Catherine Lawton (pictured) and Rodney and Mary Burrows, who were killed on Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 in 2014, are suing the airline

Rodney and Mary Burrows (pictured) were heading from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with the Lawtons on the Boeing 777 in March 2014 when it suddenly disappeared

The families of the close friends are now seeking $200,000 in compensation for 'suffering varying degrees of nervous shock and consequential economic loss' after the plane disappeared with 239 passengers on board

They are also asking the Federal Court of Australia to reimburse them for the funeral costs and for administering the estates, the Canberra Times reported.

The families are arguing that Malaysian Airlines 'failed to take any or any adequate precautions for the safety of the passengers.'

There were 239 passengers on board when the plane vanished.

The plane disappeared soon after it took off from Beijing in March 2014

A part of the lost airliner's wing called a flaperon was found on Reunion Island last July (pictured)

The airline also 'failed to prevent the Flight from being operated in a manner that caused it to crash,' the families claim.

When they boarded the flight, Rodney and Mary Burrows had just sold their Brisbane home and were going to travel.

Robert 'Bob' Lawton was taking his wife on a five-week-long trip to Malaysia and china 'before she lost her eyesight,' according to the Courier Mail.

The status of the case will be updated on August 17.

Families have asked MH370 investigators not to stop the search two years after the airliner's disappearance
In out-of-sessions hearing in Melbourne West she made 'full confessions'

She previously said stranger of African appearance had grabbed child

Her mother Safina Nikat, 22, has been charged with her murder

The mother of 14-month-old Sanaya Sahib has been charged with her murder after making 'full confessions'.

The little girl's body was found in a creek at Heidelberg West in Melbourne early on Sunday morning.

Her mother Sofina Nikat, 22, faced an out-of-sessions hearing at the 313 Spencer Street Police Complex in Melbourne West at 5.46pm.

On Tuesday, police released chilling CCTV footage of a woman pushing an infant in a pram toward Darebin Creek in Heidelberg West, 7News reported.

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Sofina Nikat - the mother of 14-month-old Sanaya Sahib - has been charged with her murder after making 'full confessions' in court

Police obtained CCTV footage of a woman pushing a pram toward Darebin Creek

In the footage, the woman returns with an empty pram.

The court heard Nikat made 'full confessions' regarding the killing of the infant, The Herald Sun reported.

She did not apply for bail and has been remanded in custody to appear before Melbourne's Magistrate Court on Wednesday. Nikat was arrested in Mont Albert on Tuesday morning.

An autopsy has revealed the baby died due to smothering and the toddler's mother was taken to a secret location by welfare workers to speak with police on Sunday.

It comes after Sanaya's grieving uncle Habib Ali revealed the toddler was treated by an ambulance for a 'seizure' just a week before she died.

A Victorian police spokeswoman said investigators are 'no longer looking for anyone else' in connection to the crime.

A woman has been charged over the murder of Melbourne 15-month-old Sanaya Sahib

A toddler was reportedly in the pram when she headed toward the creek and was not visible when she returned

A Victorian police spokeswoman said investigators are 'no longer looking for anyone else' in connection to the crime

On Tuesday, police obtained chilling CCTV footage of a woman pushing an infant in a pram toward Darebin Creek in Heidelberg West

The family home that Ms Nikat was staying in with her 15-month-old toddler near the park where she was taken

Nikat had earlier told police her daughter was snatched from her pram at Olympic Park about 10am Saturday.

She told police a shoeless stranger of African appearance who smelt of alcohol had grabbed her child.

The charges follow reports an ambulance was called to treat the toddler just a week before her death.

Earlier on Tuesday, police refused to reveal if the security cameras in the park were working at the time the baby was killed.

Police and rescue workers at the site where the body if the little girl was found in Darebin creek, Heidelberg West, in Melbourne on Sunday

Police recovered what is believed to be the body of a 15-month-old girl who was found in Darebin Creek

Sanaya's grieving uncle Habib Ali (pictured) revealed the toddler was treated by an ambulance for a 'seizure' just a week before she died

The family home that Ms Nikat was staying in with her 15-month-old toddler near the park where she was taken
The man who admits killing three people at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs said he dreamt he would be met in heaven by aborted fetuses thanking him for saving unborn babies, court documents show.

Robert Dear, 57, also told police he attacked the clinic on November 27 last year because he was upset about the 'the selling of baby parts'.

During an interview in which he repeatedly recited Bible passages, Dear told police he dreamt he would be 'met by all the aborted fetuses at the gates of heaven and they would thank him for what he did because his actions saved lives of other unborn fetuses'.

Robert Dear, 57, (shown) killed three people on November 27 last year in Colorado Springs because he was upset about the 'the selling of baby parts'

It was also revealed he asked several people for directions to the Planned Parenthood address before finally getting the location by calling the clinic.

He wore a homemade ballistic vest made from silver coins and duct tape when he barged into the clinic with four Soviet-style semi-automatic rifles.

He told police he had other weapons including two handguns and a shotgun in his truck.

After killing his first victims, surveillance footage shows him shooing out the window of an employee entrance, going back and forth between the clinic and his truck, and setting up propane tanks in the parking lot that he told police he hoped would explode if he shot them.

During an interview in which he repeatedly recited Bible passages, Dear told police he dreamt he would be 'met by all the aborted fetuses at the gates of heaven and they would thank him for what he did because his actions saved lives of other unborn fetuses'

'I'm for a speedy trial, this will help the victims' families,' Dear told KKTV in March.

He added: 'Everybody deserves to have information about what's going on and what caused this tragedy events of everything, but they don't want that to come out because it might embarrass the feds and Obama.'

Dear is charged with 179 counts, including murder, attempted murder and assault.

If found competent and convicted, Dear could face the death penalty.

He held police at bay for more than five hours at the clinic, injuring nine others and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of people from surrounding businesses.

The dead included mother-of-two Jennifer Markovsky (shown). Dear is charged with 179 counts, including murder, attempted murder and assault

Army veteran Ke'Arre Stewart (left) and University of Colorado police officer Garrett Swasey (right) were also killed

As he was being put in a patrol car, Dear began yelling about the killing of babies and 'no more baby parts.'

The dead included a police officer from the University of Colorado, officer Garrett Swasey, Army veteran Ke'Arre Stewart and mother-of-two Jennifer Markovsky.

None of the three worked for Planned Parenthood.

In courtroom outbursts, Dear declared himself a 'warrior for the babies' and said he was guilty.

The documents show Dear had been nursing a grudge against abortion providers for years.

It was also revealed he asked several people for directions to the Planned Parenthood address before finally getting the location by calling the clinic. Police investigators work near the Planned Parenthood clinic (above)

He held police at bay for more than five hours at the clinic, injuring nine others and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of people from surrounding businesses. Victims being moved from the scene (above)

As he was being put in a patrol car, Dear began yelling about the killing of babies. A victim being taken from the Planned Parenthood clinic (shown)

He told police he admired Paul Hill, a former minister who was executed in 2003 for the 1994 shootings of abortion provider Dr John Bayard Britton and his bodyguard, a retired US Air Force officer named James Herman Barrett, outside the Ladies Center in Pensacola, Florida.

At the time of Hill's execution, some urged that he be spared for fear the extreme wing of the anti-abortion movement would turn him into a martyr.

Dear often talked about Hill, including once when he drove past a North Carolina abortion clinic and again when he learned that Colorado Springs had a clinic, his girlfriend told police.

Dear's comments after the gunbattle even seemed to echo Hill, who spoke of being rewarded in heaven for his actions.

A small shack with no electricity or running water where Planned Parenthood clinic shooting suspect Dear spent time

A trailer near Black Mountain, North Carolina, where Dear spent time. Before the shooting, Dear frequently posted messages online about his anti-abortion views

'He was happy with what he had done because his actions ... ensured that no more abortions would be conducted at the Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado Springs,' which has since reopened.

Before the shooting, Dear frequently posted messages online about his anti-abortion views, he told police.

In 2009, he emailed his son a link to a website that has the stated purpose of 'honoring heroes who stood up for the unborn,' with links to information about Hill and others who had targeted abortion clinics.

He also told investigators he put glue in the locks of an abortion clinic when he lived in South Carolina, a common protest technique among activists trying to shut down such facilities.
Killed: Katy Rourke (pictured) was stabbed three times in the flat she shared with a hospital worker

A hospital worker who murdered his flatmate because she refused to have sex with him had repeatedly lost his temper with other women who turned him down, it has emerged.

Gary Stevenson stabbed Katy Rourke three times in the flat they shared - then told police of his violent urges, saying: 'If it wasn't her, it would be someone else.'

Now university friends have revealed that the killer had a long history of turning on women when they rejected his advances, breaking one student's iPhone and locking himself in another's bedroom.

Stevenson, 27, faces life in prison after he yesterday admitted murdering Miss Rourke, a 25-year-old former cruise ship worker who had moved in to his Glasgow flat just two weeks earlier after answering an advert on Gumtree.

Officers found him 80 miles away from the scene having attempted to kill himself - and as they drove him back to Glasgow, he told them that he had no 'moral boundaries' and struggled with violent urges.

The city's High Court heard yesterday that Stevenson had sex with Miss Rourke after a drinking binge on December 29, but that she refused to sleep with him a second time later that night because she had work in the morning.

Former friends of the defendant from Stirling University, where he studied for a term before dropping out, suggesting that those who had known him 'saw it coming' because of his furious temper.

One source told the Daily Record that Stevenson was 'really forceful' and made girls 'scared to say no' when he came on to them.

He apparently slept with 15 women during his short time at the university, and infected several of them with the sexually transmitted disease chlamydia, which can leave women infertile.

A female friend said that the 'really creepy' Stevenson locked himself in her room and stood over the bed, asking why she would not have a relationship with him.

She told the Record: 'I said, "It's not happening." He stared at me, went to the sink and used my toothbrush, then knelt beside me and said: "It is happening."'

Tragic: Miss Rourke's death came just two weeks after she moved in to Stevenson's flat in Glasgow

Brutal: The former cruise ship worker was stabbed three times in her own bedroom in December

On another occasion, he was left 'shouting and swearing' at a woman who turned him down, another friend claimed, and he once 'smashed up' a student's iPhone because she did not want to sleep with him.

Sources also revealed that he led drinking binges which lasted all night and through to noon the next day, and would secretly top up other people's drinks with vodka if they had not drunk enough.

Stevenson joined Stirling University as a 23-year-old biology student, but left in March 2013 after spending much of his time at the university drunk.

Despite his violent past, he is not believed to have been in serious trouble with the law before his arrest over Miss Rourke's murder.

Police Scotland refused to reveal whether or not Stevenson had ever been under investigation for the alleged attacks carried out while he was a student.

The court hear yesterday that after killing his flatmate, he escaped through a rear window and climbed down the drainpipe, travelling 80 miles to the town of North Berwick where he tried to kill himself.

Investigation: Police hunting for evidence after Miss Rourke's body was found in Glasgow

Confession: Stevenson told officers, 'If it wasn't her, it would be someone else'

When he was arrested and returned to Glasgow, Stevenson told police during the car journey: 'If it wasn't her, it would be someone else. I just want to tell the truth for the sake of the family. I need to give Katy's family a chance to seek justice.'

He added: 'I've never been in trouble for violence. But when I did lose control, it just felt like there was nothing to stop me. There were no moral boundaries left in my life.'

Miss Rourke moved in to his property on December 15 after responding to an online advert placed by Stevenson, and she was killed two weeks later.

The flatmates had sex in Miss Rourke's bedroom after sharing a bottle of vodka together, and Stevenson later returned to her room and asked her to do it again

When she refused he started punching her then grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed her three times before fleeing the scene.

He told investigators: 'I lost control. I didn't think about the consequence of my actions. Once it started it just took off.

'She started kicking and stuff so I started punching her in the face. I tried to stop her moving but then she started shouting for help and stuff. I went into the kitchen to get a knife.'

A post-mortem examination revealed a stab wound to Miss Rourke's chest had gone through her heart and she had suffered bruising, cuts and blunt force trauma to the head and face.

Her friends became worried when she failed to turn up for work at a clothing shop, and launched an appeal to find her on Facebook.

When they turned up at her flat and could not get in, they stopped two passing police officers who broke in and found her dead body in her bedroom.
A Brisbane mother and an Australian 60 Minutes crew could be facing 20 years in jail and hard labour after being charged by Lebanese officials over their involvement in a botched 'child recovery operation' in Beirut.

Sally Faulkner and the four-member television crew, including reporter Tara Brown, walked into a Lebanon judge's private office on Tuesday where they were charged with numerous offences including abduction at gunpoint, threatening the lives of children and harming them.

If found guilty they could face up to 20 years in jail.

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The 60 Minutes crew, including reporter Tara Brown, could be facing 20 years in jail and hard labour after being charged by Lebanese officials over their involvement in a botched 'child recovery operation' in Beirut

The crew were arrested on Thursday after the two children of Australian mother Sally Faulkner (pictured) were torn from their grandmother's arms at a bus stop in Beirut

60 Minutes had followed Ms Faulkner to film the recovery of her children, Noah and Lahela, from her estranged husband Ali Zeid al-Amin, who she claims kept her children in Lebanon without her permission

'These are all charges that will be strenuously denied by the 60 Minutes crew,' said Nine reporter, Tom Steinfort, who is covering the case.

Along with Ms Faulkner, Tara Brown and colleagues Benjamin Williamson, David Ballment and Stephen Rice were among the seven charged over the recovery operation.

The two others are believed to be members of the child recovery agency hired for the kidnapping.

Mr Steinfort said each of the TV crew faced brief, five-minute questioning from the judge with reports from media on the ground that they were composed and well.

Tara Brown emerged smiling despite being cuffed to another defendant and reportedly stumbling when led away by a guard.

Ms Faulkner was reportedly less composed and in tears following her appearance.

Her ex-husband, Ali al-Amin, was brought into the judge's office and stayed there during a 20 minute questioning.

The Daily Star, a Lebanese newspaper, has reportedly quoted a judicial source who claims that Ms Faulkner's legal right to custody of the two children could be a mitigating factor in her sentencing.

A judge in Lebanon has been asked by prosecutors to investigate the charges which are punishable by a minimum of three years in jail, the ABC reported.

The judge will be the one to decided if the group will be released on bail or whether they will continue to be detained as investigations continue.

Ms Faulkner claims her two children Noah and Lahela were being kept in Lebanon without her permission

Ms Faulkner told Nine's A Current Affair last year that she would do 'anything' to get her children back

Nine has hired a legal team in Beirut to represent its crew but it's unknown whether Ms Faulkner has legal representation.

Mr Steinfort said the accused would be formally questioned by the the prosecutor in coming days, with another hearing expected soon where the team will be able to mount a defence.

'After that, the judge will decide if some of those charges may well be struck off. That is certainly what their lawyer here will be arguing very hard for.'

There are also reports that Lebanese authorities have footage of the alleged abduction attempt, however Nine said its crew was not connected to the recovery team.

It comes after the TV crew thanked Lebanese authorities for their 'treatment in custody'.

The crew are in 'relatively good spirits given the situation the find themselves in', according to Mr Steinfort.

The five Australians were arrested last week following the incident on the streets of Beirut.

The 60 Minutes crew had followed Ms Faulkner to the Middle East to film the recovery of her children from her estranged husband, who she claims kept her children in Lebanon without her permission.

CCTV footage aired in local media and on Nine appeared to show Noah, 4, and Lahela, 6, being snatched from their paternal grandmother by a group of masked men and bundled into a car.

Australian diplomats in Lebanon and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials in Canberra have been supporting the detained Australians.

The 60 Minutes crew had followed Ms Faulkner to the Middle East to film the recovery of her children from her estranged husband, who she claims kept her children in Lebanon without her permission

David 'Tangles' Ballment (left) and Stephen Rice are part of the 60 Minutes crew currently detained

Lebanese police allege the crew paid for and filmed the attempted kidnapping of the two children Noah and Lahela after their father Ali el-Amien moved them to the Middle East

Ms Faulkner hired a controversial child recovery agency to get Noah and Lahlea back from Lebanon after their father Ali el-Amien refused to bring the children home to Australia

Earlier it was revealed Ms Faulkner sent text messages to another child recovery agency during the operation stating that her and the 60 Minutes crew who accompanied her were in 'trouble'.

A short time after the 60 Minutes crew and members of Child Abduction Recovery International (CARI) were arrested on Thursday, Ms Faulkner made contact with Colin Chapman, who runs a rival child recovery agency from Queensland.

According to text messages and emails obtained by the Sydney Morning Herald, Ms Faulkner confirmed that 60 Minutes recorded the operation but said police didn't have the footage.

She went on to beg Mr Chapman to help her find a way out of the country via boat or through Syria.

The 29-year-old said local police had thwarted a plan to sneak the children out of Lebanon on a yacht but that she could make it to a boat 'within a day'.

The Brisbane mother, who left an infant child behind in Australia, said 60 Minutes would pay for the agency to organise another extraction via boat, but Mr Chapman said he would need 'some sort of deposit or guarantee' that the 75,000 euros would be paid.

The mother has previously said she did not know about her ex-husband's intention to take her children

The children have both since been reunited with their father, who says he is 'disappointed' by the botched recovery attempt

'Is there any way your team could do the recovery and get the money later. I know 60 will pay up if it means I don't do the rest of the story and I get out,' Ms Faulkner reportedly said.

'60 refusing to pay for the boat. They're relying on [Foreign Minister Julie] Bishop to get them out,' Mr Chapman responded.

Ms Faulkner denied that any force was used against her children's paternal grandmother after she claimed she was pistol whipped and threatened with a gun during the abduction from a busy Beirut bus stop, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

'They say we took them using guns and hit [the grandmother] in the head. We didn't even touch the grandmother,' she said.

Ms Faulkner reportedly said that she and the 60 Minutes crew were in 'a bit of sh*t', also confirming that 'Adam', suspected to be head of CARI Adam Whittington, had been 'pulled in for questioning'.

Ms Faulkner denied that any force was used against her children's paternal grandmother (pictured), who claims she was pistol whipped and threatened with a gun during the abduction from a busy Beirut bus stop

Once Lahela and Noah went to Beirut, Mr el-Amien told allegedly Ms Faulkner she would never see her children again

CCTV footage aired in local media and on Nine appeared to show Noah, 4, and Lahela,6, being snatched from their paternal grandmother by a group of masked men and bundled into a car.

Daily Mail Australia understands the group was advised on Sunday that the legal process could see them remain in custody for up to a month, at least.

Lebanese authorities have split up the detained Australians, sending Ms Faulkner and Tara Brown to a female-only detention centre and the male members to another detention centre.

Lebanese police allege the crew paid for and filmed the attempted kidnapping of the Brisbane mother's two children after their father Ali el-Amien moved them to the Middle East without her permission.

Lebanese authorities reportedly have evidence that Channel Nine paid for the abduction.

According to the ABC, police said they had a signed statement from a member of CARI confirming they received $115,000 for the operation.

Lebanese authorities have split up the detained Australians, sending Ms Faulkner and Tara Brown to a female-only detention centre and the male members to another detention centre

Daily Mail Australia understands the group was advised on Sunday that the legal process could see them remain in custody for up to a month, at least
The Taliban has announced the start of its warm-weather offensive, declaring suicide bombings and assassinations will be used in its jihad against the American 'infidel army'.

Naming their spring mission 'Operation Omari' in honor of Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, it said the war would use guerrilla warfare-style tactics to undermine their opponents' morale.

Fighting subsides in Afghanistan during the winter, when snow and the cold hits the mountainous border with Pakistan, making it difficult for the militants to travel back and forth to stage attacks.

The Taliban has announced the start of its spring offensive, which it has named in honor of its late founder. PIctured are a group of fighters listening to a commander speak in the western province of Farah

The group's statement said fighters would carry out suicide bombings and assassinations in a bid to destroy the U.S. and Afghan forces' morale

The Taliban's resurgence last year raised serious questions about Afghan forces capacity to hold their own

The Taliban's resurgence has raised serious questions about Afghan forces capacity to hold their own following the 2014 U.S. troop withdrawal, with an estimated 5,000 troops killed last year.

It marked the worst-ever toll since the 2001 invasion, as the Taliban clawed back regions and at one point, seized and held the northern city of Kunduz for three days.

At one point, the former governor of the infamous Helmand province, Abdul Jan Rasoolyar, issued a plea for help on his Facebook page, warning the entire province could fall.

'Without good leadership and coordination between the security forces, they just let the Taliban gain control over more territory,' Khan recently told the Associated Press.

The Taliban's statement said: 'Jihad against the aggressive and usurping infidel army is a holy obligation upon our necks and our only recourse for reestablishing an Islamic system and regaining our independence.

'The present operation will also employ all means at our disposal to bog the enemy down in a war of attrition that lowers the morale of the foreign invaders and their internal armed militias.

It added: 'By employing such a multifaceted strategy it is hoped that the foreign enemy will be demoralised and forced to evict our nation.'

It marks the 15th year of the group's jihad as it seeks to topple the U.S.-backed Afghan government in Kabul and reestablish an Islamic state.

The Taliban added that in areas under their control, 'mechanisms for good governance will be established so that our people can live a life of security and normalcy.'

The Taliban said they would try to avoid killing civilians or destroying civilian infrastructure, and would carry out a 'dialogue with our countrymen in the enemy ranks' to try to convince them to join the insurgency.

The Taliban went through a period of infighting after Mullah Omar's death became public last summer.

The Afghan government is still trying to bring the militants (pictured) back around the negotiating table

A Taliban fighter hands over his weapon to as part of a reconciliation process which collapsed last year

Mullah Omar's deputy, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, had run the insurgency in his name and was elected as his successor by a small clique amid mistrust from the rank and file.

The dispute had little impact on the battlefield, however, where the Taliban have advanced on a number of fronts over the past year.

And in recent months, Mansoor has consolidated power, bringing several onetime rivals back into the fold.

The Kabul government has meanwhile been working with the U.S., China and Pakistan - which has some influence over the Taliban - to revive peace negotiations, but the insurgents earlier this year refused to take part in any talks.

But the Taliban remained on the march in the warmer south of the country, where they threatened or briefly seized strategic territory in three provinces.

The violence is expected to intensify once the poppy harvest in the southern provinces is finished in coming weeks. The Taliban will deploy extra forces to protect smuggling routes used for arms, minerals and other contraband that fund the insurgency.

Jabbar Qahraman, presidential envoy to Helmand, said most of the estimated 5,500 government troops and police killed in action in 2015 lost their lives in the opium-producing southern province.

He blamed not only the Taliban but an 'opium mafia' working with the insurgents. The drugs gangs 'are a big headache as they are so active, and they have the full support of Taliban fighters in Helmand, each helping the other to their own benefit,' he said.

Afghan military personnel walk near the airport during fighting against Taliban militant forces in Kunduz

Local officials in Helmand say security forces have been overwhelmed by months of heavy fighting in the area

Most of the world's heroin is produced from Helmand's poppy crop, worth up to $3 billion a year, with much of the profits going to fund the insurgency.

Officials and diplomats in Kabul have said that Mansoor is the kingpin of this illicit trade.

Local officials say security forces have been overwhelmed by months of heavy fighting across Helmand.

Ali Shah Khan, a tribal elder in Sangin district - which was under attack for weeks - said Kabul had been warned of the Taliban threat 'so many times but no one listened and that is why the Taliban have gained control of more than half of the province.'

U.S. and NATO forces formally concluded their combat mission at the end of 2014, shifting instead to a training and advisory role while continuing to carry out counterterrorism operations.

But as the situation in Helmand deteriorated last year, some 800 U.S. soldiers were sent there in the first deployment since the drawdown.
to leave but are eventually forced away

This is the moment an elephant mum charged at a pack of hungry wild dogs who were eyeing up her baby as a snack.

The footage reveals how the protective parent chased the dogs off while trumpeting wildly and her ears flapping in an act of aggression which her pint-sized calf mimicked.

Accountant Marc de Chalain captured the astonishing scenes at bush camp while on tour with guests in the Kruger National Park, South Africa.

This is the moment an elephant mum charged at a pack of hungry wild dogs who were eyeing up her baby as a snack

My baby is not food! The footage reveals how the protective parent chased the dogs off while trumpeting wildly and her ears flapping in an act of aggression which her pint-sized calf mimicked

Marc, 55, said: 'While we have spent much time in the bush and have seen a number of animal interactions, this was the first time we'd seen this level of interaction.

'We were out in the lovely late light of a tranquil African wilderness and as the dogs passed the elephant she came out at them trumpeting wildly with her ears raised and tail out straight behind her.

'Her cries varied from a low rumble to a high shrill trumpet which her calf copied completely.'

When the mum seemed satisfied that she'd scared the wild dogs off, the pair lumbered off leaving the wild dogs to slink off with empty stomachs and their tails between their legs.

Elephant calves are born to females every 4-5 years after a gestation period of 22 months - the longest of any mammal.

The can weigh nearly a whopping 300lbs at birth.

Calves stay with their mothers for years and are also looked after by other females in the group who help ensure the baby's survival by giving the mother a rest so she can obtain enough sustenance to feed her calf.

Elephant herds, formed of females and calves, are led by a matriach, while male elephants live in isolation.

Get away with you! Accountant Marc de Chalain captured the astonishing scenes at bush camp while on tour with guests in the Kruger National Park, South Africa

Show of aggression: 'We were out in the lovely late light of a tranquil African wilderness and as the dogs passed the elephant she came out at them trumpeting wildly with her ears raised and tail out straight behind'
The first photograph of captured Paris ISIS attacker Salah Abdeslam has emerged showing the failed suicide bomber looking bearded and broken inside a prison in Bruges.

The terrorist has been described as a 'model prisoner' and that guards have been checking on him eight times an hour for fear he might try to harm himself, according to local media Nieuwsblad who quoted a prison source and an investigation report on his reaction to life in prison.

Abdeslam is believed to have played a key role in the logistics of the Paris attacks, hiring the cars and renting the safe houses for the other members of the ISIS cell.

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The first photograph of captured Paris ISIS attacker Salah Abdeslam has emerged showing the failed suicide bomber looking bearded and broken inside a prison in Bruges

Salah Abdeslam has been described as a 'model prisoner' and that guards have been checking on him eight times an hour for fear he might try to harm himself

The former bar owner, whose brother Brahim blew himself up in a coffee shop in Paris, has grown a straggly beard and looks far from the preened image of his wanted poster.

His face appears swollen and tired, with heavily dark bags underneath his eyes.

Abdeslam is thought to have grown a beard to disguise his clean cut appearance whilst he was on the run from the authorities for four months after the attacks in Paris, which left 130 people dead.

Belgian media have quoted an intelligence report on Abdeslam which allegedly describes the prisoner as 'a very good boy' and 'an example for many other detainees in terms of behaviour.'

'We do not have to report any negative comment about his doings. And his appetite is excellent,' according to Nieuwsblad.

Abrini has been on Europe's most wanted list since being identified on CCTV video (above) in a car with Salah Abdeslam, the recently arrested prime surviving suspect, two days before the Paris atrocities

Mohamed Abrini is believed to have played a major role in the Paris massacre (above) in which killed 130

Carnage: The once-bustling departure hall of Brussels' Zaventem airport was left unrecognisable after the double explosions that killed 30people. Pictured, response crews clear the debris left behind by the blasts

The 26-year-old appeared to have changed his mind at the last minute on the night of the attack, choosing to dump his suicide vest and flee over the border to Belgium.

Despite an international manhunt for the wanted jihadi, Abdeslam evaded security services until he was shot in the leg and arrested on 18 March.

He had been tracked down to the Brussels' district of Molenbeek, where it is thought several of the terror cell had been living before they went to Syria.

Mohammed Abrini, Abdeslam's accomplice who helped drive him over the border, was arrested last week in Belgium.

He has reportedly admitted to being 'the man in white' who was filmed at Brussels airport walking alongside the two suicide bombers Najim Laachraou and Ibrahim El Bakraoui.

The suspect in the video is thought to be Mohamed Abrini, who is a suspect in the Paris and Brussels attacks

Abrini was arrested at the Petillon Metro station in the Anderlecht district, near the Free University of Brussels
Jeremy Corbyn has been branded 'chaotic' and 'sloppy' after it emerged he failed to include thousands of pounds of income on his tax return.

Aides to the Labour leader have confirmed he was receiving a pension from his time in local government worth thousands of pounds in 2014-15.

Mr Corbyn, who turned 65 in May 2014, was also getting the state pension of around 6,000 a year.

However, neither streams of income appeared on the return he published yesterday.

Asked whether the veteran left-winger had filled out the form wrongly, his spokesman told MailOnline: 'That is between him and HM Revenue & Customs,'

The issue is particularly embarrassing for Mr Corbyn as after demanding transparency from the Prime Minister, he seemingly struggled to locate a copy of his return yesterday and was then forced to admit he had been fined 100 for filing the document late.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn left the pensions section on his tax return for 2014-15 blank

Mr Corbyn was able to build up entitlements during a nine-year spell as a councillor in Haringey, London.

The spokesman initially suggested that the pension was 'not taxable'.

Nearly 10 hours later the position shifted to saying that all taxes due on the income had been collected through the PAYE system.

Mr Corbyn's office also claimed that he had sent the taxman documents about his pensions.

Jeremy Corbyn's tax return was sent in a week late and incurred a 100 fine, which MPs are warned about on the tax return (pictured above)

The tax return for 2014/15 was dated February 6 2016 - a week after the January 31 deadline

'All his earnings were declared including his pension earnings,' the spokesman said.

However, an HMRC spokeswoman confirmed that such figures needed to be included on a tax return.

The spokeswoman said: 'Generally, for all UK taxpayers in Self Assessment, all income received needs to be noted on a Self Assessment tax return, including income from employment and pensions and any tax already taken.'

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell did declare his 14,000 a year local government pension as income on his 2014-15 tax return.

Danny Cox of financial services firm Hargreaves Lansdown said although Mr Corbyn was likely to have paid the right level of tax, he did appear to have committed an offence.

LABOUR ARE PLANNING TO BAN TAX-FREE GIFTS FOR CHILDREN An inheritance tax crackdown that would ban people from giving tax-free gifts to their children is being examined by Labour. Senior party figures seized on revelations that David Cameron's mother Mary gave him a 200,000 gift following the death of his father in 2010 as evidence that the inheritance tax system is flawed. The rules on gifts mean that if Mrs Cameron lives for another two years then her son will not be liable for any inheritance tax on the sum. In theory the move could save him up to 80,000. Financial experts yesterday pointed out that the rules on gifts in the inheritance tax system are legitimately used by thousands of families, with people often trying to help their children buy a home or fund their education. But shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the rules would now be included in a wide-ranging Labour Party review of the tax system. Mr McDonnell said people were 'angry' about the tax system because it was not seen to be 'fair'. He said he would reverse Tory plans to raise the inheritance tax threshold from 325,000 to 500,000. Mark Serwotka, of the PCS union, said cash gifts to children should be taxed by a future Labour government. Advertisement

'You are duty bound to declare all of your tax affairs on your tax return,' Mr Cox said.

'It is certainly pretty sloppy not to have declared money on your tax return.'

Tory MP Alec Shelbrooke told MailOnline: 'What we have seen in the last 24 hours is an absolutely chaotic personal life.

'How on Earth could he run the country?

'It is a typical socialist doctrine - "do as I say and not as I do".'

The confusion emerged as the row over politicians financial affairs raged on.

David Cameron mounted a passionate defence of aspiration and wealth creation in the Commons yesterday, condemning critics who had wrongly traduced his stockbroker father Ian over his offshore funds.

Downing Street released a summary of the Prime Minister's tax returns covering the past six years over the weekend in a bid to restore trust after damaging revelations about his links to the Blairmore investment vehicle.

They showed that Mr Cameron had an income of around 1.1 million over the period and paid some 400,000 in tax. Renting out his London home while he lives in a grace-and-favour apartment has been bringing in more than 90,000 a year.

Labour has lashed out at the revelation that Mr Cameron received gifts totalling 200,000 from his mother Mary after the death of her husband Ian in 2010.

If he had received the money as an inheritance it could have attracted duties of up to 80,000.

Meanwhile, George Osborne is still under scrutiny after disclosing his return for 2014-15  showing he had an income of nearly 200,000 including 44,000 in dividends from his familys luxury wallpaper firm.

But the Chancellors aides insisted he will not be following the PMs example by revealing information for previous years  arguing that those details are not of particular interest.

David Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne during the Commons debate yesterday, in which the Prime Minister made a passionate defence of 'aspiration' and his father Ian

Labour MP Yvette Cooper has demanded to know whether Mr Osborne was right in 2012, when he suggested during an interview that he would not benefit from the cut in the top rate of tax from 50p to 45p for earnings over 150,000.

So how does Osborne explain difference between 2012 claim that he wasn't top rate tax payer/didn't benefit from tax cut & the 2014 facts? for former frontbencher posted on Twitter.

According to the Treasury, Mr Osborne was referring to the 2010-11 tax year when he received less income from renting out his London and no dividends.

London Mayor Boris Johnson pitched in by disclosing that his tax and income details for the past four years  revealing he has earned more than 2 million and paid nearly 1 million in tax. The money came from his official salary, columns for the Daily Telegraph, and royalties from books.

Mr Corbyn's tax return for 2014-15 - which he filled in himself rather than using an accountant - included MP pay of around 70,000, and a total of 1,350 for nine lectures he gave about the Foreign Office to Capita.

The Opposition Leaders office said he had declared 150 too much income from the lectures.

Former foreign secretary Lord Hague

Former foreign secretary Lord Hague called for 'maturity' in the debate over politicians' finances.

'The consequence of greater transparency in tax, in medical records, whatever else it may be among leaders, is that there has to be a maturity in the public debate about those things and a recognition that the circumstances and habits of people who are effective leaders will vary greatly, and that those personal circumstances are not necessarily a good guide to how good they will be as a prime minister, a chancellor or anything else,'Mr Hague told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

'Weve had leaders in the history of our country whove had chaotic personal finances, like William Pitt the Younger, but who were brilliant at handling the nations finances.

'Weve had leaders whove had tax returns, like Churchill, that would have been more difficult to defend in public than Prime Minister David Camerons tax returns.

'But Churchill was the greatest leader of modern times.
Notorious prison escapee the 'Postcard Bandit' has been ordered by a magistrate to return to Western Australia where he could face a 16 year jail sentence.

Brenden Abbott, 53, was released from the SuperMax at the Woodford Correctional Centre northwest of Brisbane after serving 18 years of a 25-year sentence for bank robberies and escapes.

But the infamous criminal, who earned his nickname by taunting police with postcards while on the run, was detained again and faced Brisbane Magistrates Court on Tuesday after his hard-won appeal for parole was superseded by an extradition warrant.

Deputy Chief Magistrate Terry Gardiner ordered that he be extradited to Western Australia to face the remainder of his sentence there for various crimes, including breaking out of jail.

Notorious prison escapee the 'Postcard Bandit' has been ordered by a magistrate to return to Western Australia where he could face a 16 year jail sentence

Brenden Abbott was under heavily police guard as he was transferred back to the Brisbane Police watch-house after he was denied bail at the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Tuesday

The court heard Abbott is yet to serve 4,590 days of his sentence, plus an additional third of that as a penalty for escaping from Freemantle Jail in 1989, Perth Now reported.

Magistrate Gardiner suspended the order pending a Supreme Court application by Abbott's legal team to review the decision.

They now have 24 hours to lodge the application or the suspension will be lifted and Abbott given two days to get to Perth, where police prosecutor Kevin Carmont said he could spend an estimated 16 years in jail.

But his lawyer, Andrew O'Brien, argued the proposed extradition was oppressive and an abuse of power, partly because Abbott had himself repeatedly tried to resolve the WA matters but been rebuffed.

Brenden Abbott, 53, spent more than six years evading authorities and managed to escape from two prisons

West Australian Police have confirmed they will seek Abbott's extradition so that he can face the remainder of his sentence there for various crimes, including breaking out of jail

Mr O'Brien said it was unfair a matter from the late-1980s was being brought up now given Abbott had sought to be transferred to WA from Queensland custody in 2002 but was knocked back.

However Sergeant Carmont said the matter shouldn't fall into oblivion because a lengthy amount of time had elapsed.

If the legal team meet the deadline, the stay of execution will persist until the review is finalised. He will remain behind bars in the meantime.

Abbott, who spent more than six years evading authorities and managed to escape from two prisons - by dressing up as a guard and using wire to slice the bars on his cell, was denied bail as he was deemed an unacceptable risk of failing to appear.

This comes after the infamous bank robber was whisked to the Brisbane Watch House under heavily armed guards on Tuesday morning shortly after being released on parole from the Brisbane Correctional Centre at Wacol following 18 years in Queensland prisons.

South Australian authorities have also confirmed there is a warrant in that state for Abbott's arrest but reaffirmed they have no current plans to pursue it.

While behind bars, Abbott took up painting portraits of famous figures and on the back of each work, would leave a thumb print and sign his name

Abbott (pictured left with tourist) spent more than six years evading authorities and managed to escape from two prisons before finally being sentenced to 25 years served at the SuperMax at the Woodford Correctional Centre northwest of Brisbane

Abbott, who grew up in the suburb of Broadmeadows in Melbourne's north, has an extensive criminal history.

When he was just 12 years of age, he hit a schoolgirl with a bicycle pump and was subsequently sent to a Perth detention centre as a ward of the state, according toThe Courier Mail.

He left school at 15 and by his mid-20s, joined a gang who robber Perth electrical stores. After being arrested in a raid, he asked a Nollamara police officer for a drink, unlocked the door to the interrogation room and escaped.

Abbott then participated in a number of bank robberies throughout the 1980s, where he would 'drop' from the ceiling wearing a balaclava and threaten staff with a gun.

He was convicted of one of the robberies in 1987, and sentenced to 12 years in prison served at the high-security Fremantle prison

Abbott grew up in the suburb of Broadmeadows in Melbourne's north and when he was just 12 years of age, he hit a schoolgirl with a bicycle pump and was subsequently sent to a Perth detention centre

Abbott was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment at the then-new SuperMax at Woodford Prison (pictured), 80 kilometres north of Brisbane

While behind bars, Abbott began painting portraits of famous figures such as former prime minister Gough Whitlam and boxer Mike Tyson (pictured) to send to his then-girlfriend

While behind bars, Abbott was hired by the tailor shop and used the opportunity to make prison guard uniforms. Along with fellow inmate Aaron Reynolds, he managed to escape through the roof of the prison.

Abbott, spend five and a half years on the run, donning disguises, making fake IDs and committing bank robberies to keep himself afloat. It is estimated he stole up to $6 million.

He was finally captured in Queensland in 1995 and sent back to prison in Brisbane. Two years later, he broke out for a second time by cutting through his cell bars with wire smuggled in by an accomplice.

Abbott and his accomplice Brendan Berichon, 19, travelled to Melbourne and managed to evade authorities for another eight months, before Abbott was finally arrested at a laundromat in Darwin in 1988.

He was sentenced to 25 years at the then-new SuperMax at Woodford Prison, 80 kilometres north of Brisbane.

Abbott was subject to surveillance checks every 15 minutes and the bars checked twice a day while in solitary confinement. He has been moved between cells more than 200 times.

While behind bars, Abbott began painting portraits of famous figures such as former prime minister Gough Whitlam and boxer Mike Tyson to send to his then-girlfriend.
This is the disturbing moment machete-wielding vigilantes tied up three Afghan migrants in a 'citizen's arrest' after they crossed the Turkish border into Bulgaria.

The migrants had their hands bound behind their backs with plastic handcuffs and were filmed lying face down on the ground in the mountainous Strandja area.

At one point their captors can be heard saying 'no Bulgaria' and 'go back to Turkey immediately' in scenes that have sparked condemnation from human rights group.

Footage captured the disturbing moment machete-wielding vigilantes tied up three Afghan migrants in a 'citizen's arrest' after they crossed the Turkish border into Bulgaria

The migrants had their hands bound behind their backs with plastic handcuffs and were filmed lying face down on the ground in the mountainous Strandja area

At one point their captors can be heard saying 'no Bulgaria' and 'go back to Turkey immediately' in scenes that have sparked condemnation from human rights group

Footage shows the vigilantes dressed in military-style clothing and tying the frightened migrants up while another shot shows one of the men carrying what appears to be a machete.

Border police who arrived at the scene found the three men unhurt and with their hands free.

Such arrests have happened increasingly in recent weeks, targeting migrants arriving through the border with Turkey in a move denounced by the Bulgarian branch of the Helsinki Committee (BHC) rights group.

'These images (show) the most brutal citizen's arrest so far in Bulgaria. The prosecution must open a probe immediately,' BHC president Krasimir Kanev said, warning that a failure to act by the authorities would only encourage such acts.

But the authorities' reaction has been ambiguous.

'This is.. illegal,' border police chief Antonio Angelov told private bTV television in comments a week after he handed out certificates of appreciation to another vigilante group for intercepting some 20 migrants near the border with Turkey.

Prime Minister Boyko Borisov also expressed his thanks to the group's leader in a telephone call. 'The state belongs to all of us, whoever wants to help (protecting it) is welcome,' he said on Monday.

Footage shows the vigilantes dressed in military-style clothing and tying the frightened migrants up while another shot shows one of the men carrying what appears to be a machete

'Citizen's arrest': Border police who arrived at the scene found the three men unhurt and with their hands free

But the BHC denounced such rewards as 'unacceptable', warning that Bulgaria risked turning 'into a cradle of Balkan fascism'.

Bulgaria, which has so far remained on the sidelines of Europe's worst migration crisis since the Second World War, is concerned that the closure of the western Balkans migrant route could see increasing numbers of people trying to cross its territory.

To prevent an influx, it has sped up construction of an 82-mile razor-wire fence along the Turkish border and holds regular army and border police training sessions along the frontier in a show of force.
Jeremy Corbyn has been told to make Labour's position on the EU referendum 'unequivocally' clear as he came under fire for failing to show leadership on the issue this morning.

Former Labour foreign secretary David Miliband criticised him for not doing enough to persuade Labour voters of the merits of the EU.

He pointed to research showing 50 per cent of Labour voters are not aware of Labour's position on the EU, despite the vast majority of the party's MPs and senior figures strongly in support of remaining in the Brussels club.

David Miliband (pictured left) criticised Jeremy Corbyn (right) for showing a lack of leadership on the EU referendum and told him to put beyond doubt Labour's 'unequivocal' support for the union

Mr Miliband, who quit British politics after losing out to his brother Ed in the Labour leadership election in 2010, entered the referendum debate today by describing Brexit as 'uniltaeral political disarmament'.

He piled the pressure on Mr Corbyn, demanding he use a planned speech on Thursday to put beyond doubt Labour's position on the EU, claiming the union is not only good for the economy but also benefits and protects workers.

PHOTOGRAPHER 'LIVID' AFTER MINISTERS USED HIS PICTURE ON EU LEAFLET WITHOUT PERMISSION Photographer Mike Page (pictured) only discovered his pictured had been used when the leaflet landed on his doormat yesterday A Eurosceptic photographer has said he is 'livid' with the Government for using one of his pictures on its pro-EU leaflet without asking for permission. Mike Page's shot of Port of Felixstowe featured in the Government's 16-page booklet that set out its case for remaining in the EU. The 76-year-old, who takes aerial shots of East Anglia to raise money for charity, only discovered the pictured had been used when the leaflet landed on his doormat yesterday. The Government has been heavily criticised for the mailshot, which cost the taxpayer 9.3million. Tory MP Nigel Eveans even accused David Cameron of 'spiv Robert Mugabe antics' over the booklet, which Justice Secretary Michael Gove branded 'one-sided propaganda'. Mr Page told the Eastern Daily Press: 'I had a quick look at it and thought 'that looks like mine'. I checked, and it was.' 'I totally disagree with what they are doing, particularly producing this brochure. 'They are submitting that to every house in the UK and it has cost us a fortune and a lot of the stuff they are putting in there is total rubbish. But the point is they used it without asking.' Today Boris Johnson became the latest high profile Tory to hit out at the Government's 9.3million pro-EU leaflet, warning that it will distract Londoners from next month's mayoral election. The 16-page booklet will not be sent to households in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland until after the parliamentary and assembly elections on May 5, but it has been sent to Londoners despite the looming mayoral election in the capital on the same day. 'It's a nonsense that the government sees that this leaflet would be a distraction at a time when there are elections in Scotland and Wales but it is being inflicted on Londoners. 'Londoners need to focus on these very important elections. It's bad enough that taxpayers should have to pay for this leaflet. It is even worse that it's been carpet-bombed on Londoners at a time when they should be focusing on the mayoral elections.' Advertisement

But his intervention came as more than 50 healthcare workers - including doctors, nurses and paramedics - called for Britain to leave the EU to save the NHS.

In a letter today they argue the Government has 'starved the NHS of necessary funding' and claim that leaving the EU will allow the Government to spend more on healthcare.

The Vote Leave campaign claims thousands more NHS workers have signed up to the 'Save our NHS' Brexit campaign but do not want to be named publicly in fear of retaliation by the Government if they speak out.

Dr Philip Cunnington said: 'Billions of pounds of UK taxpayers' money is sent to Brussels every year while the NHS is starved of funding. Let's Vote Leave on June 23rd and take control of our spending, allocating it to important things such as the NHS'.

The support for Brexit among NHS workers undermined Mr Miliband's claim that the vast majority of Labour voters are in favour of staying in the EU.

Criticising Mr Corbyn's lack of leadership on the issue, he told the BBC this morning: 'I have a slight sense that there's a bit of a phony war at the moment, that the real battle over the European question hasn't really started.

'Labour is unequivocally for Britain to remain a major player in the European Union.

'If Jeremy Corbyn is able to say on Thursday to those 50 per cent of Labour voters who don't yet know what Labour's position is 'we are unequivocally for', that can only be a good thing because Labour voters - whether it be because of the Social Chapter or our economic gains, never mind our place in the world - have a huge amount to gain, and a huge amount to lose if we get this decision wrong.'

But he came under fire for claiming Britain already has control of its borders and leading Brexit Cabinet minister Priti Patel hit out at his role in Tony Blair's government that 'relentlessly surrendered national powers to the EU'.

She said: 'As foreign secretary he signed us up to the Lisbon Treaty that sacrificed important EU vetoes and misled the public about the power of the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

'Voters will be in no mood for lectures from someone who was wrong then on the EU and is wrong now.'

Today's latest rows on Europe come after Tory Eurosceptics blasted ministers over the decision to send out leaflets to 27 million households setting out the Government's case for staying in the EU.

David Cameron was accused of 'spiv Robert Mugabe antics' over the 9.3million of taxpayers' money spent on the 16-page booklet, which began to land on doormats across England yesterday.

Today Boris Johnson became the latest high profile Tory to hit out at the Government's 9.3million pro-EU leaflet, warning that it will distract Londoners from next month's mayoral election.

The 16-page booklet will not be sent to households in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland until after the parliamentary and assembly elections on May 5, but it has been sent to Londoners despite the looming mayoral election in the capital on the same day.

The London Mayor said it was wrong that Londoners were being carpet-bombed by the nonsense leaflet at a time when they should be focussing on who should succeed him in City Hall.

His criticism comes after scores of Tory Eurosceptic MPs blasted ministers over the leaflet in the Commons yesterday.

As the booklet began to land on doormats across England yesterday, some households posted images on Twitter with handwritten comments asking the Royal Mail to return to sender.

There are now fears that Downing Street will be inundated with rejected leaflets.

Attacking the Governments decision to distribute the taxpayer-funded booklet, Mr Johnson said today: 'It's a nonsense that the government sees that this leaflet would be a distraction at a time when there are elections in Scotland and Wales but it is being inflicted on Londoners.

'Londoners need to focus on these very important elections. It's bad enough that taxpayers should have to pay for this leaflet. It is even worse that it's been carpet-bombed on Londoners at a time when they should be focusing on the mayoral elections.'

In the House of Commons yesterday, Conservative backbenchers lined up to accuse the Government of an 'abuse of public money' in sending the document to every house in the nation.

A former minister branded it a 'dodgy dossier sequel', while another said it would drive more towards the Brexit camp.

Pro-Brexit Cabinet minister Priti Patel (pictured) hits out at his role in Tony Blair's government that 'relentlessly surrendered national powers to the EU'

Yesterday John Longworth, forced out of the British Chambers of Commerce owing to his Eurosceptic views, called the Government a pro-Brussels 'campaign group' which cannot be trusted.

The booklet makes a series of assertions disputed by Leave campaigners, including the claim that Mr Cameron's reforms have given Britain a meaningful 'special status' in the EU.

And it says we should stay in the EU because its members 'buy 44 per cent of everything we sell abroad'.

The Leave camp claims we would still be able to trade if we left.

The leaflet claims 3million jobs are linked to exports to EU countries, and that membership makes it attractive for foreign companies to invest in the UK.

It also says leaving would cause 'pressure' on the pound, and argues: 'If the UK voted to leave the EU the resulting economic shock would risk higher prices of some household goods.'

And it claims EU membership makes it easier to keep criminals and terrorists out.

Mr Longworth told the Mail last night he was 'incensed' by the Government move, adding: 'We can't believe anything they say because they are a campaigning organisation.'

In a stormy Commons session, Europe Minister David Lidington was forced to defend the booklet, insisting none of its facts were 'over-egging the pudding'.

He said the leaflets cost only 34 pence per household  and insisted the Government was 'not neutral' in the debate.

But he was met with a barrage of criticism from Tory backbenchers over the document being sent to 27million households across the UK.

Former Tory vice-chairman Nigel Evans compared ministers to the Zimbabwean leader.

'If I witnessed in any of the countries that I go to the sort of spiv Robert Mugabe antics that I've seen by this government then I would condemn the conduct of that election as being not fair,' he said.

An angry Mr Lidington reminded him that campaigns in Zimbabwe involved 'murder, maiming and intimidation of voters'  suggesting Mr Evans' outburst 'was not his finest moment in the House'.

PM'S EU RENEGOTIATION IS NOTHING MORE THAN A DEAL 'HAMMERED OUT DOWN THE LOCAL BAZAAR' AND ISN'T LEGALLY BINDING, SAYS EUROCRAT Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, vice-president of the European Parliament, said the deal was not legally binding David Cameron's renegotiation with Brussels is nothing more than a deal 'hammered out down the local bazaar', a senior EU figure has said. The Prime Minister spent months meeting European leaders to come to his agreement, which he claims gives Britain a 'special status' in the EU and powers to suspend migrants' benefits. But Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, vice-president of the European Parliament, said the deal was not legally binding  and warned that MEPs may vote down any elements which hampered the EU principle of freedom of movement. Out campaigners said the comments showed that the British people had been 'hoodwinked'  because the European Parliament could tear up the deal after the referendum. Mr Lamsdorff  also known as Count Lamsdorff as he is part of the German aristocracy  sits as an MEP for the country's liberal Free Democratic Party. Five years ago he was quoted saying: 'It was a mistake to admit the British into the European Union.' Speaking to the EurActiv Germany website, he said yesterday that the deal between the European Council and the UK was 'not legally binding'. 'At the moment, the whole thing is nothing more than a deal that has been hammered out down the local bazaar,' he said. 'The European Union, however, is a community of law, in which there are regulated responsibilities. Out campaigners say the Prime Minister's (pictured) deal has 'hoodwinked' the British people 'If the British are going to put all their eggs in one basket, in a promise made like this, which has not yet complied with our clean process of law, them for me, this process of law is more important and preferable.' Mr Lamsdorff said that the 'emergency brake' idea  under which in-work benefits for EU migrants could be suspended for four years in times of pressure  went 'too far', and could lead to the end of the single market. For the emergency brake to come into force, the EU directive on free movement has to be modified with the consent of the European Parliament. Asked whether this might be refuse, he said: 'I'm sure that I will certainly not agree to a change of the directive, as it would restrict one of our basic fundamental freedoms. 'I assume that many in my group will feel the same. What position the other groups take remains to be seen. 'But I believe that we in the Parliament have an institutional responsibility to protect the common European integration, which is incompatibl with measures that will help bring down the internal market.' Last night Priti Patel, the employment minister and member of the Leave campaign, said: 'These comments suggest that EU politicians entered into the renegotiations with profound ill-intent. 'They hoped that the British people could be hoodwinked into remaining in the EU on the basis of a deal that the European Parliament will tear up within days of the referendum result. 'It serves as a timely reminder that so-called reform agreements with the EU are not worth the paper they are written on.' Advertisement

Eurosceptics liken PM to Mugabe over EU leaflets: Backbenchers line up to attack 'abuse of public money' as Government struggles to defend its decision

David Cameron was accused of 'spiv Robert Mugabe antics' last night as his government sought to defend its decision to spend 9.3million of taxpayers' money on a pro-EU mailshot.

Conservative backbenchers lined up to accuse the Government of an 'abuse of public money' in sending the document to every house in the nation.

A former minister branded it a 'dodgy dossier sequel', while another said it would drive more towards the Brexit camp.

Yesterday John Longworth, forced out of the British Chambers of Commerce owing to his Eurosceptic views, called the Government a pro-Brussels 'campaign group' which cannot be trusted.

David Cameron, pictured, has been slammed over the Government's 9.3million pro-EU leaflet campaign

The 16-page mailshot began yesterday, with all homes in England set to receive them by tomorrow. Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish voters will get theirs after their devolved elections in May.

It makes a series of assertions disputed by Leave campaigners, including the claim that Mr Cameron's reforms have given Britain a meaningful 'special status' in the EU.

And it says we should stay in the EU because its members 'buy 44 per cent of everything we sell abroad'.

The Leave camp claims we would still be able to trade if we left.

The leaflet claims 3million jobs are linked to exports to EU countries, and that membership makes it attractive for foreign companies to invest in the UK.

It also says leaving would cause 'pressure' on the pound, and argues: 'If the UK voted to leave the EU the resulting economic shock would risk higher prices of some household goods.'

And it claims EU membership makes it easier to keep criminals and terrorists out.

Mr Longworth told the Mail last night he was 'incensed' by the Government move, adding: 'We can't believe anything they say because they are a campaigning organisation.'

In a stormy Commons session, Europe Minister David Lidington was forced to defend the booklet, insisting none of its facts were 'over-egging the pudding'.

He said the leaflets cost only 34 pence per household  and insisted the Government was 'not neutral' in the debate.

But he was met with a barrage of criticism from Tory backbenchers over the document being sent to 27million households across the UK.

Former Tory vice-chairman Nigel Evans compared ministers to the Zimbabwean leader.

Some have even likened the Prime Minister to Zimbabwe leader Robert Mugabe, pictured, over the scheme

'If I witnessed in any of the countries that I go to the sort of spiv Robert Mugabe antics that I've seen by this government then I would condemn the conduct of that election as being not fair,' he said.

An angry Mr Lidington reminded him that campaigns in Zimbabwe involved 'murder, maiming and intimidation of voters'  suggesting Mr Evans' outburst 'was not his finest moment in the House'.

John Redwood, former Welsh secretary and Tory leadership candidate, said the leaflet was an 'insult to the electorate', adding: 'Does he not realise that it will drive many more people to vote to leave?'

And former defence secretary Liam Fox called the leaflet 'Dodgy Dossier the Sequel', in reference to a Blair government document in favour of the Iraq War.
Joseph Maxwell Spencer, 35, took photos of the girl in a red and black basque and made film clips that showed her crying out in distress, a court heard

A teenager with severe learning difficulties was bound, gagged and sexually abused by a 35-year-old man after he watched the film Fifty Shades of Grey.

Joseph Maxwell Spencer took photos of the girl in a red and black basque and made film clips that showed her crying out in distress, Bradford Crown Court heard.

He was jailed for seven years after a judge said he ruthlessly exploited the girl to gratify his own pleasures.

Following a trial, Spencer was convicted by a jury of causing or inciting the girl to engage in sexual activity and eight charges of making indecent photos of her.

He was cleared of three allegations of having sex with the girl when she was 15.

Judge Peter Benson said the girl's learning difficulties meant she behaved like a child of seven or eight when she was 15.

He told Spencer: 'You exploited her vulnerability in a ruthless way and acquired a bondage kit based on the film Fifty Shades of Grey, and she was forced to dress up in it.

'It consisted of a gag, handcuffs, a red and black basque and a whip.'

During his trial at Bradford Crown Court, West Yorkshire, the jury was shown photos Spencer had taken of the bound and gagged girl posing indecently in the red and black basque.

Two film clips showed him having sex with her as she cried out in distress.

Although some of the photos may have been with the girl's consent, Spencer had persuaded her to gratify his sexual pleasures.

He tormented her on video while having sex with her when she was bound and gagged, the judge said.

During his trial at Bradford Crown Court (pictured), West Yorkshire, the jury was shown photos Spencer had taken of the bound and gagged girl posing indecently in the red and black basque

'It was a most disgusting picture and you were acting with a degree of brutality which I am sure the jury found quite shocking,' added Judge Benson.

During the trial, the court heard that Spencer ordered the Fifty Shades of Grey bondage kit on the internet after watching the film.

He was arrested after one of the girl's schoolteachers saw him walking hand-in-hand with her and police found the photos and film clips on his computer.

Spencer's barrister, Nicholas Barker, said he was previously of good character and had suffered trauma and tragedy fighting as a child soldier in Liberia.

During the trial, the court heard that Spencer ordered the Fifty Shades of Grey bondage kit on the internet after watching the film. Pictured: Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan sharing a kiss in the film's trailer

Detective Constable Donna Hector, of the Bradford District Safeguarding Unit, said: 'Spencer befriended his victim and her family then took advantage of her vulnerabilities to sexually exploit and degrade her'. Pictured: Dakota Johnson with her eyes blindfolded in Fifty Shades of Grey, released in 2014

The images of the girl dressed in bondage gear were all taken on one day after she had turned 16.

Spencer befriended his victim and her family then took advantage of her vulnerabilities to sexually exploit and degrade her Detective Constable Donna Hector, of the Bradford District Safeguarding Unit

Judge Benson made a Sexual Harm Prevention Order banning Spencer from approaching or contacting the girl and from having unsupervised contact with children.

He must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

After the case, Detective Constable Donna Hector, of the Bradford District Safeguarding Unit, said: 'Spencer befriended his victim and her family then took advantage of her vulnerabilities to sexually exploit and degrade her.

'I hope the sentence he has received today will be of some comfort to her and help her to move forward with her life.

'We would also like to thank our partners in education who first brought Spencer's inappropriate behaviour to our attention.

'Police in Bradford District are committed to protecting the vulnerable and would urge anyone with concerns about exploitation to report them to our specialist officers, who will investigate every report with the aim of bringing perpetrators to justice.'
Former Taliban members in Afghanistan have revealed why they fled the lure of ISIS because the jihadi group was too violent and do not adhere to the teachings of Islam.

The defectors described how they were fighting for the Taliban when a franchise of ISIS began to spring up in nearby eastern Afghanistan.

With their promises of better money and weapons, the Taliban members switched allegiances before fleeing the jihadi group after being shocked by their indiscriminate level of brutality.

The two experienced Taliban fighters, known as Arabistan and Zaitoun, told CNN that ISIS were only interested in carrying out beheadings and punishing civilians.

The defectors described how they were fighting for the Taliban when a franchise of ISIS began to spring up in nearby eastern Afghanistan

ISIS have released propaganda videos from Afghanistan showing the training of jihadis and executions

'They just like beheadings. They knew who was rich to take their money, and the poor they would arm to fight with them, or kill them,' Zaitoun said.

One of the defectors recalled the horrific moment he witnessed the beheading of seven men, including members of the Pakistani Taliban, in a market.

They described their shock at seeing the levels of sadistic levels of violence and how ISIS fighters showed a disdain towards the dead, refusing to give prisoners an Islamic burial.

The jihadi group first emerged in the east of the country, setting up training camps and enforcing their radical brand of Shariah law.

ISIS first emerged in the east of the country, setting up training camps and enforcing their radical brand of Shariah law

One of the defectors recalled the shocking moment he witnessed the beheading of seven men, including members of the Pakistani Taliban, in a market

The rise of ISIS fighters in Afghanistan has led to a growing use of US drones in Afghanistan, targeting jihadi training camps and ISIS strongholds

It is thought that many of the fighters who formed the ISIS franchise in Afghanistan may have come from Pakistan, according to CNN.

Kunar and Nangahar provinces have been seen a rising presence of militants, claiming to have pledged their allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

The rise of ISIS fighters in Afghanistan has led to a growing use of US drones in Afghanistan, targeting jihadi training camps and ISIS strongholds.
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A two-bedroom maisonette which has barely been touched in 40 years has gone on the market for 670,000.

Visitors to the flat in Balham, South London, are transported back in time to a period when lime green and mustard were all the rage.

The home has ceiling tiles, flowery curtains and a kitchen which reflect the Seventies and have remained untouched ever since.

In 1975, the average home in London cost 15,000 but the property is now on sale for 120,000 more than the capital's typical price now.

Riz Ali, from estate agent Haart, said the property on a tree-lined street represents an exciting opportunity for the right buyer.

He added: Weve had lots of requests for viewings so far and most people see the Seventies decor as distinctly charming.'

And Helen Whiteley from OnTheMarket.com said: 'While the maisonette is in need of some TLC, the home is in a fantastic location.'

The average home in London now costs 550,000, according to the Land Registry, while in Balham a typical property costs 775,000.

Meanwhile today it was revealed that the Seventies has been voted the most shocking for home decor, while the Nineties came out on top.

Timewarp: Visitors to the flat in South London are transported back in time to a period when lime green and mustard were all the rage

Dated: The home has ceiling tiles, flowery curtains and a kitchen which reflect the Seventies and have remained untouched ever since

Rising values: In 1975, the average home in London cost 15,000 but the flat is now on sale for 120,000 more than today's typical price

Exterior: Riz Ali, from estate agent Haart, said the property in South London represents an exciting opportunity for the right buyer

Pink decor: The two-bedroom maisonette which has barely been touched in 40 years has gone on the market for 670,000

Well position: The home is said to be in a 'fantastic location close to Balhams rail station and sits in a tree-lined street'

Another era: The estate agent has had 'lots of requests for viewings so far and most people see the Seventies decor as distinctly charming'
A father has pleaded guilty to leaving his three-year-old son locked inside a car on a scorching hot Summer day while he went off to an appointment.

Shocking footage taken in February captured the exact moment a security guard at Perth's Booragoon shopping centre was forced to smash open the car's window with a hammer.

The heat-stricken boy was lifted out of the car and taken into the arms of officers while they awaited for an ambulance. He was later cleared by medical staff.

The boy's 35-year-old father pleaded guilty in the Fremantle Magistrates Court on Tuesday to leaving a child unsupervised in a vehicle, the WA Today reported.

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Dramatic footage shows the security guard smashing the window of the parked car and pulling the boy from the sweltering hot car

He will be sentenced in May, and could face a maximum punishment of three years in jail and a $36,000 fine.

'After ten minutes, he was out from the car. I appreciate the guard and the police that took the action. It was my mistake I suppose,' he told 9 News on the day his son was rescued.

Ryan Pratt, the schoolboy bystander who filmed the dramatic rescue, said the child might have been in the car for longer than ten minutes.

'We were there for quite a while before the window was actually smashed, as the kid came out you could see the sweat actually pouring off of him,' he said.

Kidsafe WA has urged parents to be aware that leaving children unattended in cars, even for short periods of time, can be fatal.

According to their website, temperatures inside parked cars can rise to 20-30 degrees higher than the outside temperature.

Three-quarters of that temperature rise occurs within five minutes, and 90 per cent of that temperature rise occurs within 15 minutes, according to figures on the site.

Bystanders said the three-year-old boy was dripping with sweat

'I appreciate the guard and the police that took the action. It was my mistake, I suppose,' the father told 9 News on the day of the dramatic rescue
A couple have been left fuming after Panasonic refused to fix their 800 42-inch television because damage to the flat-screen had been caused by their smoking.

Thomas Defty, 53, and partner Denise Head, 60, bought the TV in 2012 and thought the five-year warranty would cover any problems they encountered.

They later noticed shadowing had appeared on the screen which affected the quality - but Panasonic put that down to the couple's smoking and said this was not covered under guarantee.

Mr Defty described the decision as 'disgraceful' and vowed to never buy 'another thing from Panasonic again'.

Evidence: Mr Defty holds up the five-year guarantee certificate that Panasonic refused to agree to, as they said the TV had been damaged by the couple's smoking

Furious: Thomas Defty, 53, (pictured) and his partner bought their TV in 2012 but Panasonic have refused to fix the shadowing on their screen as the company said it was caused by their smoking

'Disgraceful': The 53-year-old said he would never buy another item from Panasonic following his problems

The 53-year-old, from Seaham in Co Durham, said: 'Me and Denise smoke. We have about 20 a day, but we're not in the same room all day and we have the window open, so it's not a smoke-filled room.'

USE SOFT MICROFIBRE CLOTH TO CLEAN TV, CLEANING EXPERTS SAY Cleaning experts say a soft microfibre cloth should be used to clean a television regularly to remove nicotine. Specialist LCD cleaner can also be bought or created using distilled water and surgical spirit, sweeping it across the screen in circular motions, making sure not to press too hard. The cleaning.tips.net website recommend carrying out the process a couple of times a month. Advertisement

After the shadows started creeping onto the screen, Mr Defty sent pictures to the TV manufacturer.

When he had not heard anything for two weeks, he phoned Panasonic who told him, after an investigation, they would not be fixing the television.

'They said they wouldn't be fixing the TV because of nicotine smoke. It's disgraceful. They should be replacing the screen. It's wrong.'

He added: 'I'm not buying another thing from Panasonic again and we've told our friends and family not to either. We used to get everything from them, but not any more.'

Turned off: Mr Defty has urged friends not to buy from Panasonic after they refused to fix his TV - as part of a five-year guarantee - as they said it had been damaged by smoke

CIGARETTE SMOKE AND PLASMA TV Plasma TV screens require different care than older glass screens. Smokers should take to clean smoke to prevent it damaging their screens. Those who have experienced problems in the past have advised others on forums to use a microfibre cloth and distilled water and then lightly wipe the screen. They say smoking makes the dust harder to remove on the fan blades as well and 'can reduce cooling to the point the set will shut down.' Advertisement

A spokesman for Panasonic said the TV was taken to one its approved service centres and added: 'Upon investigation and receipt of photographs the service centre advised that there was evidence of smoke ingress and a smell was also present which seemed to have caused the shadowing in the panel.

'Unfortunately this meant that the fault was not covered by the extended five-year warranty.

'The exposure to nicotine is classed as an environmental cause of damage. This, unfortunately, is not something that is classed as a manufacturing defect and was therefore not covered for repair by Panasonic.'

The spokesman added: 'Our television sets are not sealed units, in that they have vents built in.

'In order to cool the panel - the screen - the television injects air from its surrounding environment and this is passed through to the viewing panel.

'The panel is manufactured with many layers of diffusers; when the set is exposed to air that contains nicotine this is subsequently also passed through the television and to the panel, which can then cause damage to the picture quality.

'Usually in these cases the customer is either then presented with the option of having this repaired at a charge, where applicable, or purchasing a new television set of their choice at a cost.'

Since their problems, the couple have bought a new television for 500.

Consumer rights activist Helen Dewdney told MailOnline: 'On first appearance this does seem daft as plenty of people smoke, but we don't know all of the facts and though it might seem unlikely - some goods are susceptible to external contamination.

'In these instances, it might be fair based on the evidence to conclude that the product has failed for a reason other than because of a manufacturing defect  and if the reason falls outside of the warranty there would be no remedy for the consumer.

'However if the consumer believed that the assessment of the manufacturer was incorrect, they could seek an independent inspection of the TV which may either affirm the position of the manufacturer or return evidence to the contrary which would support their case.

'The couple could then go to court.'
In addition to the sketch, a $5,000 reward has been offered for the suspects

Police have issued an artists impression of the male and female suspect

The Manchester-born IT specialist died one month after the brutal attack

San Francisco police have released artist sketches of a man and woman they believe are responsible for the murder of a British tourist stabbed in the head last month.

Paul Tam, 48, from Manchester was murdered near San Francisco cathedral.

Last month, investigators released surveillance video that shows a man chasing Tam onto a street, stabbing him while he's on the ground and taking his bag before running away.

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San Francisco Police have released a mugshot showing the two suspects wanted for Paul Tam's murder

Tam (right) was visiting his niece in San Francisco when the attack occurred. His niece was uninjured

Tam died on March 24 at a San Francisco General Hospital, where he was taken after the February 18 attack.

Police have yet to make an arrest in the attack, which is now being investigated as a homicide.

The San Francisco Police Officer's Association is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the two suspects.

Tam was walking with his niece through the area around 8.30pm on February 18 when he was attacked..

The tourist was ambushed by an unidentified man and woman.

The pair were after Tam's messenger bag, which had his contained his passport, a mobile phone, money and bank cards, according to the Telegraph.

He held on to the bag as the man chased him into the street.

Tam ran into into the street and into the way of oncoming traffic, in an attempt to escape the mugger.

Tam worked as a web content and digital marketing manager at Manchester University for 10 years and was in the process of moving to the U.S. when he was killed

British tourist Paul Tam, 48, (left) was stabbed by an unidentified suspect (right) in San Francisco on February 18

Brutal attack: The man chased Tam into the street to steal his messenger bag before stabbing him in the head

In security footage, the man wielding a knife is seen chasing Tam, stabbing him while he was on the ground and taking his messenger bag before running off.

It is not known what was used to stab Tam, but his attack appears to strike him twice before grabbing the bag and running off.

The wounded 44-year-old tries to stand, but is unable and lies in agony on the street

Both suspects are still at large.

The male attacker is described as being black, in his 30s or 40s, and around 5-foot 10-inches.

The female accomplice is allegedly also black, in her 20s, and approximately 5-foot 4-inches.

She is believed to have braided or dreadlocked hair.

Tam's niece, who he was with at the time, was unharmed.

It is believed Tam was in the process of moving to the U.S. after working for as a web content and digital marketing manager at Manchester University for ten years, the Manchester Evening News reported.

The stabbing is now being investigated as a homicide.
Dylan Harding, 10, severed three fingers in his right hand in the horrifying accident as he scaled the sharp metal fence

A schoolboy sliced off his fingers while clambering over a fence to take a short cut home - and his devastated mother had to search for them in the grass.

Dylan Harding, 10, severed three fingers in his right hand in the horrifying accident as he scaled the sharp metal fence.

His friends took him to a nearby doctors' surgery - where the GP saw his fingers were missing.

A doctor then contacted his mother, Anna Savery, asking her to retrace her son's steps and find the fingers so they could be stitched back on.

The schoolboy had been playing with friends in Blaenavon, near Pontypool, and had tried to take a quick route home when the accident happened.

His mother recalled: 'We had a phone call from the doctor saying Dylan had been in an accident and I had to get to the doctors.

'The doctor then said "I just need to let you know there are missing fingers." Then we had to find Dylan's fingers. We couldn't waste a minute and had to do it straight away. It was absolutely horrendous and horrific.'

Ms Savery, 41, returned to the scene with her husband James to try and find the fingers in the grass under the fence.

She said: 'It was a nightmare. One of his friends told us where to look and the doctor gave us a container with saline solution to put them in. We found his little finger and one of the middle fingers in the grass under the fence.

'But we couldn't find the top of another finger and had to leave. It was unbelievable.'

Dylan was then transferred to Morriston Hospital, in Swansea, where he had a 10-hour operation to repair his fingers.

The youngster also badly damaged his index finger which was reattached with pins along with the little finger. He is still recovering at the hospital.

Dylan sliced his fingers while trying to climb over this fence, belonging to utilities firm Welsh Water

Dylan was taken to Morriston Hospital, in Swansea, where he had a 10-hour operation to repair his fingers

The fence, which had razor-sharp metal tips, belonged to utilities firm Welsh Water.

His mother said: 'I want to warn people about climbing fences. He was out with friends playing and two of them had already climbed over. But he slipped and caught his hand on the top of the fence.

'I asked him about the fence being really sharp and said "you definitely should not have been climbing over there".

'But all he said was "all my friends were doing it".

'Children don't see the danger. But I want to warn them all about this. I was devastated. We don't know how he is he going to write.

'I can't really be angry. It's a terrible, terrible accident. It could have been a lot worse. But I want to make sure that nobody has to go through what we had to.'

Fellow pupils at Dylan's school have been warned about the danger and Gwent Police have told his mother they will be visiting other schools.

A spokesman for Welsh Water said: 'We are aware of an incident that took place at one of our operational site in Blaenavon last week.

'We understand that a young person was seriously injured after climbing a perimeter fence that surrounds this site.

'Such operational sites can be dangerous and these fences are meant to prevent people from entering our sites illegally.
A suspected ISIS militant is being hunted in India over fears they are planning to carry out attacks while Kate and William are visiting the country.

The Sikh-Canadian woman is believed to be travelling to Delhi to link up with associates already lying in wait in the city.

Intelligence agencies have the passport details of the 35-year-old and an alert has been sent to airports and other security services tracking jihadists.

The manhunt comes as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge spent their second day in the Indian capital, where they met underprivileged children at the city's train station before having lunch with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive for a visit to a children's centre run by the charity Salaam Baalak, which provides emergency help and long term support to homeless children at New Delhi railway station on day three of the Royal visit to India and Bhutan

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge enjoyed a game of the traditional table game Carrom with street children

Police also issued a terror alert days before their trip, warning that three jihadists may have entered the country and could target Delhi, Goa and Mumbai - the city where the couple began their tour.

In the latest warning, Mail Today reported that it had details of Canadian's passport but her identity was being withheld due to the ongoing intelligence operation.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which has arrested 25 recruits and is probing several cases related to ISIS, has also been called in.

Sources said the information regarding the possible entry of the Canadian-Indian woman was shared with Indian intelligence agencies by their counterparts in another country.

Intelligence reports have recently raised fears of Indians living abroad being attracted to the Sunni jihadi group, which has lured hundreds of youths from the West.

Sources say over 40 people suspected of having links with ISIS have been arrested from across the country.

A total of 24 Indians have so far joined the terror outfit, of whom six were reportedly killed in different incidents.

While two returned, 16 are still reportedly part of ISIS. Several Indian youths aspiring to join ISIS have been stopped from travelling abroad.

Prince William shakes hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he and wife Kate arrive for lunch

An intelligence official said: 'In the past, Adil Fayaz Wada, an Indian living in Australia, travelled to Syria to be part of jihad.

'This is the first time, though, that information has been generated of a Sikh living abroad and suspected of having links with ISIS.'

One of the Indians reportedly killed fighting in Syria, Atif Vaseem Mohammed, who was a resident of Hyderabad, also lived in the US for a brief period before returning to India and travelling to Syria.

Some Indians living in UAE have been identified for their alleged ISIS links.

In January, three Indian nationals who were based in Abu Dhabi were deported and later arrested by the NIA on suspicion of being involved in activities linked to ISIS.

The growing influence of ISIS on Indians living in the Gulf has alarmed the security establishment.

William and Kate share a joke during their meeting with Mr Modi at Hyderabad House in New Delhi

The concern was flagged at a recent meeting chaired by union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to combat the ISIS threat.

'Several Indians living in the Gulf are getting attracted to ISIS,' a government official said.

'These are Indian citizens and the threat of them coming back and carrying out strikes in the name of ISIS cannot be ignored.'

Sources said it is feared that many members of home-grown terror group Indian Mujahideen who fled the country following a crackdown ended up fighting on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border or the Af-Pak region, before joining ISIS.

Earlier in the year, the NIA busted an Indian module drawing inspiration from ISIS called Janoodul- Khalifa-e-Hind, or the Army of Caliph in India, after countrywide raids prompted several arrests.

India adopted a unique strategy to combat the ISIS threat by carrying out a de-radicalisaiton programme for young people attracted by ISIS ideology.
A canine behaviour expert has has staked his claim as the world's biggest animal lover after moving into a kennel to live with 150 stray dogs in Morocco.

Karl Scarr, 52, shares 33ft by 13ft shack with the unwanted animals and refuses to turn away a dog.

Mr Scarr, who is originally from Cambridge, lives with dogs which have been abandoned and badly tortured dogs in Tangier, Morocco.

Karl Scarr, 52, shares 33ft by 13ft shack with the unwanted animals and refuses to turn away a dog

The father-of-two has admitted that living conditions aren't very easy, with only a limited amount of space and some of the more feral dogs are unpredictable

To improve the lives of the country's strays, Mr Scarr set up Le Sanctuaire de la Faune de Tanger - The SFT - and has helped 1,000 animals over the past four years.

The father-of-two has admitted that living conditions aren't very easy, with only a limited amount of space and some of the more feral dogs are unpredictable.

'Being the leader of a pack this size requires complete concentration and vigilance at all times, watching out for deadly scorpions and snakes, or breaking up fights before they become serious.

'But it's a sacrifice that I willingly make to protect these wonderful animals, most of which have either been abused, starved, abandoned, or simply left for dead.'

Karl's dogs are a mixture of domesticated breeds, mongrels, strays, wild dogs and pariah dogs. A number of them are disabled having been cruelly treated or suffered from disease.

At any one time he has between 150 and 200 dogs on site.

This includes Van Gogh, who was repeatedly tortured, having had his ears chopped off with pliers, teeth broken and his torso cut open.

To improve the lives of the country's strays, Mr Scarr set up Le Sanctuaire de la Faune de Tanger - The SFT - and has helped 1,000 animals over the past four years

Mr Scarr, who is originally from Cambridge, lives with dogs which have been abadoned and even badly tortured dogs in Tangier, Morocco

Some of the animals have been so badly treated they are now aggressive and 'very likely to inflict injury'

Karl, a leading expert on dog behaviour, has written three books in a bid to help owners raise responsible animals and better understand their behaviour

Theo and Lucky were both hit by a car and require wheelchairs for the rest of their lives.

There is Rex, who had his tail cut off for fun and the vet had to amputate the total length as it had gone gangrenous.

Karl's second-in-command is a Dogue de Bordeaux crossed with a Bullmastiff named Khan, which he shares his bed with. He has everything from pit-bulls and poodles to a chihuahua.

Some of the animals have been so badly treated they are now aggressive and 'very likely to inflict injury'.

Every day Karl goes through 40kg of food feeding the dogs, with everything paid for by charitable donations and sales of books.

His back-breaking daily duties, which begin at 4am, include bottle-feeding baby animals and cleaning out 12 animal houses, including the paddock, dog house and donkey stables.

Medicated dogs are treated and numerous vet trips are made with Karl driving around Tangier to check on the dogs that have been rehomed or live wild in the community.

He also has to clear-up a whopping 30kg of dog poo during the course of a typical 18-hour day.

Every day Karl goes through 40kg of food feeding the dogs, with everything paid for by charitable donations and sales of books

His back-breaking daily duties, which begin at 4am, include bottle-feeding baby animals and cleaning out 12 animal houses, including the paddock, dog house and donkey stables

Medicated dogs are treated and numerous vet trips are made with Karl driving around Tangier to check on the dogs that have been rehomed or live wild in the community

'Every day we meet victims of horrific physical and mental abuse, with animals having been stabbed, burned, blinded, mutilated with their ear or tails cut off, or had their legs broken,' he said.

'This nearly always happens to puppies and kittens when they become inquisitive and venture from their mother only to be snatched and tortured or killed.

'Many others are badly ravaged with mange, fleas, ticks, worms, severe malnutrition and even diseases such as canine distemper or rabies.

Mr Scarr revealed he set up the sanctuary to take in abandoned pets, strays and nurse sick animals back to health to help change perceptions about animal welfare.

'The Sanctuary has become the focal point for a major campaign for change to animal protection laws in the country, which is hugely exciting, and our new Animal Spotter app will also be a huge tool in the battle for better animal welfare.

'We want to give the animals the love and affection they deserve, in surroundings they enjoy.

'Many of these dogs have been left in the streets to suffer and are badly in need of affection.'

Karl, a leading expert on dog behaviour, has written three books in a bid to help owners raise responsible animals and better understand their behaviour.

Scarr's Pocket Guide to Canine Diseases, Scarr's Pocket Guide to Dogs Aggression, and Leader of the Pack are all on sale now. Proceeds go towards the upkeep of the Sanctuary.

The charity's ground-breaking protocols for vaccination, sterilisation and adoption programmes, as well as educational schemes in local schools and colleges, are now being embraced across the North African country.
Dempsey Nibbs, 69, (pictured) who beheaded his estranged wife before crushing her skull and flushing it down a toilet, was today found guilty of her murder

A man who beheaded his estranged wife before crushing her skull and flushing it down a toilet was today found guilty of her murder.

Crane driver Dempsey Nibbs, 69, killed Judith Nibbs, 60, at their flat in Hoxton, east London after she told him she was having sex with at least eight other men.

He had also discovered chat records from Skype which showed how she had flashed her breasts to an online suitor.

During a row on April 10, 2014, he battered the Meals On Wheels worker over the head with an iron bar for ruining his plans to retire by the sea.

Mrs Nibbs, who had two children with Nibbs, could have still been alive when he beheaded her because he could not stand the sight of her face, the Old Bailey heard.

Nibbs had admitted killing Mrs Nibbs but denied murder, despite having no mental health issues. He showed no emotion as a jury today found him guilty of the charge and he is due to be sentenced in the coming weeks.

During the trial, the court heard how Nibbs had become enraged after his vivacious partner of 30 years taunted him as their relationship fell apart by saying she had been seeing other men.

The fatal attack came just two days after mother-of-five Mrs Nibbs predicted her own killing after an earlier row, chillingly telling her colleagues as she left work: 'If I'm not in Friday, I might be dead.'

The pair had never married, but regarded one another as husband and wife and she had taken his last name.

The court heard how Nibbs knocked her out with an iron bar before cutting her head off, and when he realised the head was took big to flush away, he smashed it up with a hammer as he attempted to dispose of the pieces in the lavatory.

Mrs Nibbs, (pictired) who had two children with Nibbs, could have still been alive when he beheaded her because he could not stand the sight of her face, the Old Bailey heard

During a row on April 10, 2014, Nibbs battered the Meals On Wheels worker over the head with an iron bar at their flat in Hoxton, east London, (pictured as her body was carried out) for ruining his plans to retire by the sea

Afterwards, Nibbs wrote a note to his 30-year-old son Kirk, who lived with the couple, and called 999 to say police would find two bodies at the property. They also had a daughter, Lauren, who was autistic and later went to live in a care home.

A police officer broke down the door when he saw Mrs Nibbs' headless body through the letterbox and bravely grappled a shotgun and knife from Nibbs as he attempted to stab himself in the bathroom.

Nibbs, suffered from prostrate and bladder cancer and had to wear a colostomy bag, said he killed his wife because he thought she was a 'snake' but jurors heard he had shown no signs of mental illness.

The crane driver killed Mrs Nibbs, 60, (pictured) after she told him she was having sex with at least eight other men

Prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC told an Old Bailey jury that the couple's relationship soured in the spring of 2014 as Nibbs suspected his wife of having affairs, and that he had begun drinking heavily after his cancer diagnosis.

Their son said that since his mother no longer had to care for his younger sister, Nibbs felt she had changed and was not 'the housewife' she used to be.

Nibbs had moved into the spare room and an 'undercurrent of violence emerged' as the relationship fell apart.

In early March, Nibbs opened his own bank account after discovering she had transferred 20,000 out of their joint account into her account in May 2012.

Later that month, while Mrs Nibbs was visiting her sister in Preston, he asked Kirk to investigate her computer for evidence she was having an affair. He found videos of her blowing kisses and saying 'I love you' as well as sexually explicit pictures which he stored in a file entitled 'Mum Slut'.

Nibbs searched his wife's drawers and discovered bank transfer slips from their joint account to one in Morocco in the name of a close male friend and neighbour with whom she had gone on a road trip to Rabat in 2013, and stayed at his family home.

She had told Nibbs she was visiting Europe with old schoolfriends but then refused to show him any photos of the trip.

An examination of her computer was to show that she went on to exchange sexually explicit messages on Skype with another man called Khalid in Morocco, including chat logs which revealed she had flashed him images of her breasts.

Mrs Nibbs had confided in her sister and a colleague at Meals On Wheels that her husband - who was regarded as a model employee at Balfour Beatty - had threatened to kill her and grabbed her by the throat.

During a row on April 7, Mrs Nibbs, who was originally from Kirkham, near Preston, Lancashire, admitted seeing other men, taunting Nibbs by saying: 'I have had sex eight times.'

The following day she made the grim prediction of her death to her colleagues at the Hackney Council-run meal delivery service.

Three days later, Nibbs said he confronted his wife in the front room of their home, starting a row when she asked: 'What do you want' in what he described as 'an aggressive manner.'

Nibbs said he had armed himself with a metal bar in case there was a struggle because his illness had left him too frail to defend himself.

'When I confront her I wouldn't let her get the better of me,' he had told the court, claiming he took a heavy metal bar with him 'to get her attention, like a threat.'

After killing Mrs Nibbs, Nibbs wrote a note to his 30-year-old son Kirk, who lived with his parents, and called 999 to say police would find two bodies at the property (pictured)

He added: 'I went up to her, she said 'What do you want?' and I hit her.

'I just tapped her on the head, I tapped her to get her attention.'

Nibbs claimed that his wife then lunged for his stomach area and yanked on his colostomy bag. He said he put the metal bar in her mouth to stop her screaming so they didn't disturb the neighbours.

Nibbs, of the Charles Estate in Hoxton, told jurors he had not meant to kill his partner when he went to confront her over money taken from their bank account which he took as 'proof' of her infidelity.

He said he had only meant to 'slap her around a bit' and it was only after she was dead that he cut her head off in anger because she 'betrayed' him.

During a row on April 10, 2014, he battered the Meals On Wheels worker (pictured) over the head with an iron bar for ruining his plans to retire by the sea

But the jury rejected his claim of self-defence and found him guilty of murder.

Nibbs had calmly told the jury how he said he dragged his wife into the hallway where there was 'less clutter' and laid her on a tarpaulin bag.

'That's when I started to cut her head off. I used a knife. The knife was n the kitchen,' said softly-spoken Nibbs. 'To be honest with you, if the toilet was big enough it was in my mind to take the head and flush it down the toilet.

'It wasn't big enough. That's why I had to smash it up.

Nibbs said he scooped up the pieces, put them in a bag and placed them next to his wife's body.

He said he intended to kill himself and got in a bath with a shotgun after calling the police.

But the gun misfired and he was stabbing himself in the chest when the police arrived.

Prosecutor Crispin Aylett, QC, said: '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.'

Detective Chief Inspector Dave Whellams of Met Police, who led the investigation, said: 'Dempsey Nibbs believed his wife was having an affair and used this misplaced jealously to launch a ferocious and brutal attack on Judith.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have discussed the British steel crisis with the Indian Prime Minister during their tour of the country.

William and Kate spoke about the state of the industry during a lunch meeting with Narendra Modi, his officials and business and cultural leaders in Delhi.

It comes after Indian firm Tata's decision to pull out of Britain left the industry on the brink of collapse with the loss of 40,000 jobs.

Formal: Prince William (left) shakes hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he and wife Kate arrive for lunch in New Delhi. A source said among the matters raised was 'the pressures facing steel manufacturers in the UK and India' after Indian firm Tata's decision to pullout of the British industry put 40,000 jobs at risk

One senior Royal source told MailOnline the topic of Port Talbot's faltering steel industry was raised, just as parliament began to debate issues surrounding Tata's decision to sell its Welsh assets.

'The pressures facing steel manufacturers in the UK and India was discussed,' said the aide.

William and Kate's discussions are likely to be welcomed by some of the thousands of British steel workers, employed by Tata, who face an uncertain future.

It may not be a direct intervention into the issue, but talking about the situation will keep it in the public eye.

The move is reminiscent of William's father the Prince of Wales who has in the past spoken out in support of industries like farming and fishing when they have faced difficulties.

William and Kate, who are touring India, chatted with Mr Modi, his officials and business and cultural leaders about a range of topics including the issues facing steel manufacturers in their respective countries

Lighter moment: William and Kate appear to share a joke as they sign a book during their meeting with Mr Modi at Hyderabad House in New Delhi

The informal lunch meeting was held in New Delhi's Hyderabad House, a former royal residence of Maharajas.

The source said the Duke and Duchess had a 'friendly and informative lunch' with Mr Modi.

Announcing its decision to pull out of the UK in March, Tata said it could no longer endure mounting losses caused by increased shipments to Europe from countries like China, high manufacturing costs and domestic market weakness.

Tata's decision to pull out of the UK left the industry on the brink of collapse with the loss of 40,000 jobs

Britain's Business Secretary Sajid Javid flew to India last week to meet company executives and ask for enough time to find a buyer.

He later revealed the Government was prepared to 'co-invest' in one of the steel works at Port Talbot.

He has repeatedly insisted a full nationalisation of the massive South Wales steel works would not work despite demands from Labour and trade unions to take nothing off the table.
Arsonist Gemma Keefe, 29, (pictured) set fire to her own home while her three-year-old son was inside before blaming her estranged husband

An arsonist mother set fire to her own home while her three-year-old son was inside before blaming her estranged husband.

Gemma Keefe, 29, phoned police and said that her husband or his new partner had targeted her property in Fareham, Hampshire. She even phoned the local newspaper to report that an arsonist had set fire to the storage area inside her home.

But when detectives found her estranged husband and his partner had alibis, Keefe was arrested on suspicion of arson.

She has now been spared jail after admitting one charge of arson so she can continue to receive treatment for mental health problems.

Handing her a 12-month community order, Judge Roger Hetherington said it was a 'very serious matter'.

He added: 'Of course one of the serious factors here is that your son, then aged three, was living with you.'

Portsmouth Crown Court was told how Keefe had been with two friends, Coral Gray and Michael Craddock, and her three-year-old son Ryan.

That morning, she phoned police to report that someone had cut her wires on her smoke alarm.

She then told her friends: 'Someone is going to burn my house down'.

Prosecutor Richard Cherrill said Keefe then went to a neighbour and asked him to call 999. The neighbour went to her house, smelled smoke but could not see any fire in the cupboard.

Keefe then went to her other neighbour, who called the fire service.

When the fire engines arrived, Keefe's young son was taken out of the house and her friend Coral was treated for smoke inhalation.

Mr Cherrill said: 'Keefe was spoken to by the police and she claimed either her estranged husband or his new partner had been responsible.

'Their whereabouts at the relevant time were checked and they clearly had alibis making it clear they were not responsible.'

Daniel Reilly, defending, said Keefe had suffered mental health problems since the breakdown of her marriage in June 2014 but that she had since improved.

He said: 'Those witnesses who know her well, and many over a significant period of time, describe her as someone who is an ordinarily kind, caring, considerate person.

'She is described as a devoted mother, that's something that comes from many, if not all.'

Keefe was handed a 12-month community order with 12 months of supervision after admitting one charge of arson.

Speaking after court, Chantelle Lewis, 26, who was accused by Keefe of starting the fire, said she was investigated by police, who also contacted friends and family, for a month.

The care home worker, also from Fareham, said: 'It was heartbreaking being accused of something, especially when there's a three-year-old in the house.

'I've had nightmares. I've had a miscarriage because of the stress, I didn't know what was going to happen to me.

'It's all "feel sorry for Gemma" but where's the sympathy for us? I've had people say things about me when I've been walking through Fareham, I've had threats.
A British 'child recovery' agent is set to appear in a Lebanese court today accused of being part of a botched child abduction attempt in the country.

Former Scotland Yard detective Adam Whittington faces claims that he led an attempt to kidnap the two children from a street in Beirut in an operation allegedly involving their mother and a television crew.

The youngsters were reportedly briefly reunited with their Australian mother, Sally Faulkner, but the Brisbane resident, Whittington and members of the television crew were later arrested and the children returned to their father.

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Former Scotland Yard detective Adam Whittington (pictured) faces claims that he led an attempt to kidnap the two children from a street in Beirut in an operation allegedly involving their mother and a television crew

Sally Faulkner (right with Ali el-Amien) has previously said she did not know about her ex-husband's intention to take her children

Faulkner had claimed that her former husband Ali el-Amien (centre) moved their son Noah, four, and daughter Lahela, five, to the Middle East without her permission in May last year - a claim he disputes

Noah (left) and Lahela al-Amin pictured here with their father Ali Zeid al-Amin in their family home in Beirut, Lebanon

60 Minutes journalist Tara Brown, three crew members and Whittington, who runs Child Abduction Recovery International (CARI), are among those who now face charges, The Nine Network reports.

ABC reported earlier today that a judge in Lebanon has been asked by prosecutors to investigate the charges which are punishable by a minimum of three years in jail.

The judge will be the one to decided if the group will be released on bail or whether they will continue to be detained as investigations continue.

Faulkner, 29, who has another young child in Australia, had claimed that her former husband Ali el-Amien moved their son Noah, four, and daughter Lahela, five to the Middle East without her permission in May last year - a claim he disputes.

Ms Faulkner was allegedly involved in an attempt to abduct her children Noah, four, and Lahela, five (left)

60 Minutes journalist Tara Brown (pictured), three crew members and Whittington, who runs Child Abduction Recovery International (CARI), are among those who now face charges, The Nine Network reports

Ms Faulkner told A Current Affair last year that she would do 'anything' to get her children back

The television crew are reported to be in 'relatively good spirits given the situation they find themselves in', according to Nine News correspondent Tom Steinfort.

Channel Nine's Director of News and Current Affairs, Darren Wick, has flown to the Lebanese capital to try and negotiate the release of his staff members as they prepared to face court.

The Foreign Office said it was aware of Thursdays arrests and was providing consular assistance.
A man has been arrested after a therapy dog was 'aggressively sexually assaulted' before being hanged and dying of 'asphyxiation'.

James Leroy Evans, 33, from Washington, is accused of first-degree animal cruelty after he allegedly raped and killed three-year-old pitbull mix Diamond.

The suspect is currently being held in Thurston County jail on $50,000 bail and allegedly told investigators he killed the dog because it had killed his pet iguana.

James Leroy Evans, 33, from Washington, was arreseted in Grays Harbor County and is accused of first-degree animal cruelty

Three-year-old pitbull mix Diamond had been working as a therapy animal for the eight-year-old owner's son

The dog had been working as a therapy animal for the eight-year-old son of the owner.

Diamond was temporarily staying with the suspect, while her owner looked for a permanent residence that allowed dogs, according to a Thurston County Animal Services statement.

The dog had been with the suspect, who is a relative of the family, for four days before Evans carried out the alleged rape and murder.

According to a veterinary autopsy, the dog had been sexually assaulted before it later died of asphyxiation, the statement said.

The dead dog was found by a mountain biker, who came across it hanging from a tree branch in the Summit Lake area of Thurston County.

Erika Johnson, the Thurston County animal control officer investigating the case, initially named the dog Justice, according to Q13 Fox News.

The suspect, who allegedly raped and killed the dog, is being held in Thurston County jail on $50,000 bail

The dead dog was found by a mountain biker, who came across it hanging from a tree branch

The suspect was later found after tips from Washington's Most Wanted viewers.

The paper also reported that in court records, authorities said Evans, who was arrested in Grays Harbor County, 'seemed pleased with himself' over killing the dog.

Johnson added: 'I believe that Mr Evans felt like he was doing the right thing by putting her down.'

Thurston County Joint Animal Services has been assisted by a Pasado's Safe Haven's investigator, who said: 'What this man allegedly did to Diamond is unspeakable,' according to the statement.

The investigator added that the dog suffered tremendously before she died and that the case is 'burned into my mind and my heart'.

Pasado's Safe Haven and Thurston County Animal Services are now looking into creating a public memorial for the dog.
Lashawn Stevens Hardy, 44, is accused of setting her husband on fire

A South Carolina woman is accused of trying to kill her husband by setting him on fire while he was asleep.

Lashawn Stevens Hardy, 44, is charged with attempted murder and second-degree arson in the alleged attack against DeWayne Hardy early on Saturday, according to the Union County Sheriff's Office.

Police say they found a mattress and bed sheets burned when they arrived at the home on Tinker Creek Road, in Union.

The victim told deputies that Hardy poured gasoline on him while he slept before lighting him on fire.

He was flown to a Augusta Burn Center in Georgia to have second-degree burns on his neck and back treated.

It is unclear whether Lashawn Stevens Hardy has an attorney.

She was denied bond and will have a bond hearing over the weekend, deputies say.
Thomas Fulton, accused of raping an Army colleague who later took her own life, sent a cryptic message to his girlfriend on the night of the claims

An Army corporal accused of raping a colleague with another soldier sent a text message insisting he had 'done nothing wrong' shortly after the alleged incident, a court heard.

Thomas Fulton and Jeremy Jones, both 28, allegedly raped Royal Military Police corporal Anne-Marie Ellement at their barracks in the early hours of November 20 2009.

The men, who have since left the Army, admit they both had sex with Cpl Ellement while stationed in Germany but claim she consented to what happened.

The court martial heard Cpl Ellement, from Bournemouth, Dorset, took her own life two years after alleging that she had been raped.

Text messages between Fulton and his then-girlfriend Corporal Sarah Noteyoung in the hours surrounding the alleged incident were read to the court today.

At 1.33am, Fulton sent: 'All I can say is I honestly didn't do anything wrong and I'm sorry, I'm going to turn my phone off night! X'

An investigation at the time of the alleged incident found there was not enough evidence to prosecute Fulton and Jones.

However the pair, both now both aged 28 years, were each charged with two counts of rape last October and they now face a court martial hearing at Bulford Barracks, near Salisbury, Wiltshire.

Jones, formerly of the 3 Regiment of the RMP, and Fulton, formerly of the Close Protection Unit of the RMP, each deny the two counts, which are said to have happened between November 18 and 21, 2009.

A panel of civil servants and senior military officers heard Cpl Ellement, Fulton and Jones were drinking in their mess before the incident.

Witnesses told how they discussed having a threesome, with the trio flirting, kissing and touching as they drank together.

The soldiers went to Jones's room at 12.30pm. Cpl Ellement discovered naked, save for a cardigan, and crying outside her barracks at 1.37am.

Anne-Marie Ellement took her own life after she accused two fellow soldiers of raping her in Germany

Giving evidence at the court martial today, Arran Harries, who had since left the military and is now in the reserves, was in A Section 6 Platoon of the Royal Military Police on November 2009.

He told the panel he was in the mess bar sharing drinks with Jones and Fulton and others on the night of the alleged rape.

Asked about Fulton and Ellement's interaction at the bar as they drank vodka, Mr Harries said: 'They were being very friendly. There was no hesitation there was kissing as the evening drew on but it was good natured.

'They were kissing and I remember her stroking his leg and arms. It was passionate kissing, their conversation turned towards sex and a threesome that was clearly being discussed.

'Anne Marie was saying she wasn't hesitant in the actual act but she was saying about how it might look to the rest of the unit. He (Fulton) said that 'no one was going to say anything and neither will those two', meaning me and Lance Corporal Joseph Merron.

'The first contact Anne Marie had with Jones was when she was sat in his lap. He was stroking her leg and outer thigh. She made no move to stop that. Tom was next to Anne Marie while this was happening.

The court heard Jeremy Jones (left) and Fulton (right) were drinking with Ellement before the alleged incident

Mr Harries added: 'She was biting her lip, which made me think she was drunk.

'At one point she was sat in between Jez's (Jones) legs and her legs were parallel to his. His hands were on her outer thighs.

'Tom was sat in front of them on a bar, her legs were touching his. His hands were on her stomach and appeared to be caressing her. No one was talking, all three seemed to be enjoying what was going on.

'She was saying that her breasts' size had changed - that they used to be a double G and now they were a double D. She ran her hands down across her breasts and to emphasise this she turned to her side.

'I left. To me it looked like they were going to go somewhere and continue what was happening,' he added.

The pair, pictured in a court sketch, both deny two counts of rape at the court martial

Yesterday, the court heard Corporal Ellement was found almost naked and crying in an Army barracks corridor on the night she alleged she was raped

Sarah Whitehouse QC, prosecuting, told the court: 'In the early hours of the morning of November 20 2009 a young woman was found in a corridor in the Army quarters where she lived at the time.

'This young woman was entirely naked apart from a long cardigan that she was carrying.
Fears over Brexit are set to hit UK plc this year and could have 'long term' costs for the economy, the global financial watchdog has warned.

The stark message from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) came as it downgraded growth prospects from 2.2% to 1.9%.

George Osborne seized on the news as proof that there are 'bad things to come' if the public votes to leave in the crucial referendum on June 23.

But he was immediately accused of colluding with the IMF to 'talk down' the economy.

Chancellor George Osborne said Britons were now seeing 'the direct impact of the risks of leaving the EU'

Responding to the world economic outlook report, the Chancellor stressed that Britain was the only G7 country not to have its growth expectations for 2017 revised down, with the IMF still predicting 2.2%.

However, he pointed to the experts' reference to 'heightened uncertainty ahead of the June referendum on EU membership'

'While Britain remains one of the fastest growing advanced economies in the world, the IMFs warnings about our exit from the EU are stark,' Mr Osborne said, 'For the first time, were seeing the direct impact on our economy of the risks of leaving the EU.

'The IMF says that these risks are a reason why they have reduced Britains growth forecast this year.

The Prime Minister has also seized on the IMF report, writing on Twitter that leaving the EU would 'pose major risks'

'If Britain leaves the EU, the IMF says there would be a short-term impact on stability and long-term costs to the economy.

'If the British economy is hit by the mere risk of leaving the EU, can you imagine the hit to peoples income and jobs if we did actually leave?

'The IMF has given us the clearest independent warning of the taste of bad things to come if Britain leaves the EU.'

Posting on Twitter, David Cameron added: 'The IMF is right - leaving the EU would pose major risks for the UK economy. We are stronger, safer and better off in the European Union.'

The grim assessment emerged as:

Tory Eurosceptics blasted ministers over the decision to send out leaflets to 27 million households setting out the Government's case for staying in the EU

Former foreign secretary David Miliband warned that 50% of Labour supporters do not even know the party's position on the EU

More than 50 healthcare workers - including doctors, nurses and paramedics - called for Britain to leave the EU to save the NHS

Business leaders blamed a 0.2% rise in the UK inflation rate on Brexit fears

According to the IMF report: 'A British exit from the European Union could pose major challenges for both the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe.

'Negotiations on post-exit arrangements would likely be protracted, resulting in an extended period of heightened uncertainty that could weigh heavily on confidence and investment, all the while increasing financial market volatility.

PHOTOGRAPHER 'LIVID' AFTER MINISTERS USED HIS PICTURE ON EU LEAFLET WITHOUT PERMISSION Photographer Mike Page (pictured) only discovered his pictured had been used when the leaflet landed on his doormat yesterday A Eurosceptic photographer has said he is 'livid' with the Government for using one of his pictures on its pro-EU leaflet without asking for permission. Mike Page's shot of Port of Felixstowe featured in the Government's 16-page booklet that set out its case for remaining in the EU. The 76-year-old, who takes aerial shots of East Anglia to raise money for charity, only discovered the pictured had been used when the leaflet landed on his doormat yesterday. The Government has been heavily criticised for the mailshot, which cost the taxpayer 9.3million. Tory MP Nigel Eveans even accused David Cameron of 'spiv Robert Mugabe antics' over the booklet, which Justice Secretary Michael Gove branded 'one-sided propaganda'. Mr Page told the Eastern Daily Press: 'I had a quick look at it and thought 'that looks like mine'. I checked, and it was.' 'I totally disagree with what they are doing, particularly producing this brochure. 'They are submitting that to every house in the UK and it has cost us a fortune and a lot of the stuff they are putting in there is total rubbish. But the point is they used it without asking.' Advertisement

'A UK exit from Europes single market would also likely disrupt and reduce mutual trade and financial flows, curtailing key benefits from economic cooperation and integration, such as those resulting from economies of scale and efficient specialization.'

The watchdog said 'domestic private demand supported by lower energy prices and a buoyant property market' were expected to offset 'headwinds from fiscal consolidation and heightened uncertainty ahead of the June referendum on European Union membership'.

The forecast is now marginally below the estimate from the Government's Office for Budget Responsibility.

But Vote Leave Chief Executive Matthew Elliott said: The IMF has talked down the British economy in the past and now it is doing it again at the request of our own Chancellor. It was wrong then and it is wrong now.

'The irony is that if we Vote Remain our voice at the IMF will be silenced as the EU wants to take our seat at the top table in return for the 350 million we hand to Brussels every week.

The biggest risk to the UKs economy and security is remaining in an unreformed EU which is institutionally incapable of dealing with the challenges it faces, such as the euro and migration crises.

Leading Tory Eurosceptic MP Jacob Rees-Mogg dismissed the IMFs warning, claiming the organisation lacked credibility over its embarrassing U-turn on UK growth forecasts in 2013. It had warned Mr Osborne was playing with fire with austerity and downgraded its forecast for Britain, urging him to adopt a plan B. A year later IMF chief Christine Lagarde admitted they got it wrong.

Mr Rees-Mogg also questioned Ms Lagardes personal credibility over allegations she was involved in a political fraud in France.

He told MailOnline: I seem to remember the IMF in about 2011 said that George Osborne had got absolutely everything catastrophically wrong and was making all the wrong decisions of any global economy.

So I think it might be worth reminding people of the success of the IMFs forecasts in the past.

The IMF is led by a friend of George Osborne  somebody who he has publicly said he has admired, who is under criminal investigation in France and so if we want to take advice from people who are of suspect bona fides then I suppose we can, but I wouldnt choose to.

Shes under criminal investigation for pretty serious impropriety involving many tens of millions of euros.

Today Boris Johnson became the latest high profile Tory to hit out at the Government's 9.3million pro-EU leaflet, warning that it will distract Londoners from next month's mayoral election.

The 16-page booklet will not be sent to households in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland until after the parliamentary and assembly elections on May 5, but it has been sent to Londoners despite the looming mayoral election in the capital on the same day.

The London Mayor said it was wrong that Londoners were being carpet-bombed by the nonsense leaflet at a time when they should be focussing on who should succeed him in City Hall.

David Miliband (pictured left) criticised Jeremy Corbyn (right) for showing a lack of leadership on the EU referendum and told him to put beyond doubt Labour's 'unequivocal' support for the union

QUELLE SURPRISE! MEPS WANT PUPILS TO BE TAUGHT BENEFIT OF EU School children should be taught about the benefits of the European Union to help to overcome scepticism towards the project, MEPs said yesterday. The European Parliament called for Brussels to be more visible in textbooks and for there to be lessons on the blocs values. British MEPs accused the EU of promoting propaganda, but the report setting out the measures was passed by 482 votes to 146. Tory, Labour, Ukip and Lib Dem MEPs voted against the report or abstained. The report said it was necessary for citizens to be encouraged to take an active interest in the European unification project. One central way to do so is enhancing an EU dimension in school education that can help to overcome Euroscepticism, it added. Suggestions included training teachers on how to give lessons about the EU, rewriting textbooks with more of a focus on the union, and for the Commission to draw up guidelines on the curriculum. Given its impact on citizens everyday life, the EU should be more visible in teaching materials, at all levels and in all forms of education, it said. Teacher training needs to systematically prepare educators to teach about the EU and the values on which it is founded, both in theory and in practice. Textbooks should guarantee a broader coverage of Europe-related topics. MEPs said the European Commission should continue to actively disseminate information, such as with worksheets on the EU that are sent to schools. They warned that insufficient knowledge about the union and poor understanding of its value may contribute to the perception that it lacks democracy. Conservative MEP Andrew Lewer said last night: It is unacceptable for the EU to meddle with what we teach in our classrooms. Our schools and our curriculum are our business. We do not want to further the EUs quest for a united states of Europe by filling our classrooms with propaganda. Unfortunately, this is the way the union works. Ultimately, it is all aimed at securing an expanded, more powerful role for the EU. The spectacle of MEPs saying what textbooks should be like is just breathtaking. Ukip MEP Louise Bours added: First the EU came for our money, then for the sovereignty of our courts and now they wish to fill our childrens heads with propaganda. The education of children should not be used and abused as a political tool. This vote gives an idea of the direction of travel of the European institutions and its centralising thrust should worry both parents and democrats. A UK Government spokesman said that education is a national competence so none of the measures will be binding. She added: The EU has no power to intervene in the content of teaching or the organisation of national education systems. Advertisement

His criticism comes after scores of Tory Eurosceptic MPs blasted ministers over the leaflet in the Commons yesterday, with Nigel Evans even accusing David Cameron of spiv Robert Mugabe antics.

Attacking the Governments decision to distribute the leaflet, Mr Johnson said today: 'It's a nonsense that the government sees that this leaflet would be a distraction at a time when there are elections in Scotland and Wales but it is being inflicted on Londoners.

'Londoners need to focus on these very important elections. It's bad enough that taxpayers should have to pay for this leaflet. It is even worse that it's been carpet-bombed on Londoners at a time when they should be focusing on the mayoral elections.'

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has also been warned he urgently needs to make the party's position on the EU referendum 'unequivocally' clear.

Former foreign secretary David Miliband criticised him for not doing enough to persuade the party's voters of the merits of the EU.

INFLATION BLAMED ON POLL FEARS Europhiles were last night accused of desperation after claiming the threat of Brexit was already pushing up prices. The Institute of Directors seized on figures from the Office for National Statistics that showed inflation increased to 0.5 per cent in the year to March. This was an increase from 0.3 per cent in February, and the highest price hike under the Consumer Prices Index measure of inflation since the end of March 2014. The ONS attributed the sharper than expected rise on an early Easter, which prompted air fares to soar 22.9 per cent between February and March. But the IoD blamed the small price hike on uncertainty created by the June 23 referendum and the depreciation of the pound. Michael Martins, economist at the IoD, said: The slight rise in inflation is likely connected to depreciation of the pound as uncertainty surrounding the EU referendum increases and international investors begin to sell of sterling. But Eurosceptic John Longworth, forced to quit as boss of the British Chambers of Commerce after speaking out in favour of quitting the EU, said: This really is desperate. If the stay campaign put out this kind of rubbish what else are they prepared to lie about? The pound has fallen around 6 per cent against the dollar since November. Advertisement

He pointed to research showing 50 per cent of supporters are not aware of its position on the EU, despite the vast majority of MPs and senior figures strongly supporting the Brussels club.

Mr Miliband, who quit British politics after losing out to his brother Ed in the Labour leadership election in 2010, entered the referendum debate today by describing Brexit as 'uniltaeral political disarmament'.

He piled the pressure on Mr Corbyn, demanding he use a planned speech on Thursday to put beyond doubt Labour's position on the EU, claiming the union is not only good for the economy but also benefits and protects workers.

But his intervention came as more than 50 healthcare workers - including doctors, nurses and paramedics - called for Britain to leave the EU to save the NHS.

In a letter today they argue the Government has 'starved the NHS of necessary funding' and claim that leaving the EU will allow the Government to spend more on healthcare.

The Vote Leave campaign claims thousands more NHS workers have signed up to the 'Save our NHS' Brexit campaign but do not want to be named publicly in fear of retaliation by the Government if they speak out.

Dr Philip Cunnington said: 'Billions of pounds of UK taxpayers' money is sent to Brussels every year while the NHS is starved of funding. Let's Vote Leave on June 23rd and take control of our spending, allocating it to important things such as the NHS'.

The support for Brexit among NHS workers undermined Mr Miliband's claim that the vast majority of Labour voters are in favour of staying in the EU.

Criticising Mr Corbyn's lack of leadership on the issue, he told the BBC this morning: 'I have a slight sense that there's a bit of a phony war at the moment, that the real battle over the European question hasn't really started.

'Labour is unequivocally for Britain to remain a major player in the European Union.

'If Jeremy Corbyn is able to say on Thursday to those 50 per cent of Labour voters who don't yet know what Labour's position is 'we are unequivocally for', that can only be a good thing because Labour voters - whether it be because of the Social Chapter or our economic gains, never mind our place in the world - have a huge amount to gain, and a huge amount to lose if we get this decision wrong.'

But he came under fire for claiming Britain already has control of its borders and leading Brexit Cabinet minister Priti Patel hit out at his role in Tony Blair's government that 'relentlessly surrendered national powers to the EU'.

She said: 'As foreign secretary he signed us up to the Lisbon Treaty that sacrificed important EU vetoes and misled the public about the power of the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

'Voters will be in no mood for lectures from someone who was wrong then on the EU and is wrong now.'

BREXIT CAMPAIGN OPENS UP THREE-POINT LEAD The latest poll on the EU referendum found the Brexit campaign has a three-point lead The campaign to leave the EU has opened up a three-point lead, the latest poll revealed today. The weekly ICM tracker poll - conducted online - found 45 per cent of voters will opt for Brexit, compared to 42 per cent in favour of remaining in the EU. It showed 12 per cent of voters are undecided over which way to vote The ICM tracker poll showed the gap widens to four points when undecided voters are taken out. Today's findings are further proof of how close the referendum campaign is, with neither side able to gain a decisive or consistent lead. Advertisement

PM's EU renegotiation is nothing more than a deal 'hammered out down the local bazaar' and isn't legally binding, says Eurocrat

David Cameron's renegotiation with Brussels is nothing more than a deal 'hammered out down the local bazaar', a senior EU figure has said.

The Prime Minister spent months meeting European leaders to come to his agreement, which he claims gives Britain a 'special status' in the EU and powers to suspend migrants' benefits.

But Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, vice-president of the European Parliament, said the deal was not legally binding  and warned that MEPs may vote down any elements which hampered the EU principle of freedom of movement.

Out campaigners said the comments showed that the British people had been 'hoodwinked'  because the European Parliament could tear up the deal after the referendum.

Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, vice-president of the European Parliament, said the deal was not legally binding

Mr Lamsdorff  also known as Count Lamsdorff as he is part of the German aristocracy  sits as an MEP for the country's liberal Free Democratic Party.

Five years ago he was quoted saying: 'It was a mistake to admit the British into the European Union.'

Speaking to the EurActiv Germany website, he said yesterday that the deal between the European Council and the UK was 'not legally binding'.

'At the moment, the whole thing is nothing more than a deal that has been hammered out down the local bazaar,' he said.

'The European Union, however, is a community of law, in which there are regulated responsibilities.

'If the British are going to put all their eggs in one basket, in a promise made like this, which has not yet complied with our clean process of law, them for me, this process of law is more important and preferable.'

Mr Lamsdorff said that the 'emergency brake' idea  under which in-work benefits for EU migrants could be suspended for four years in times of pressure  went 'too far', and could lead to the end of the single market.

Out campaigners say the Prime Minister's (pictured) deal has 'hoodwinked' the British people

For the emergency brake to come into force, the EU directive on free movement has to be modified with the consent of the European Parliament.

Asked whether this might be refuse, he said: 'I'm sure that I will certainly not agree to a change of the directive, as it would restrict one of our basic fundamental freedoms.

'I assume that many in my group will feel the same. What position the other groups take remains to be seen.

'But I believe that we in the Parliament have an institutional responsibility to protect the common European integration, which is incompatibl with measures that will help bring down the internal market.'

Priti Patel, the employment minister and member of the Leave campaign, said: 'These comments suggest that EU politicians entered into the renegotiations with profound ill-intent.

'They hoped that the British people could be hoodwinked into remaining in the EU on the basis of a deal that the European Parliament will tear up within days of the referendum result.

'It serves as a timely reminder that so-called reform agreements with the EU are not worth the paper they are written on.'

Experts? Well, they've got it so wrong before

ANALYSIS BY ALEX BRUMMER, CITY EDITOR FOR THE DAILY MAIL

The IMF has come under fire for a series of errors including getting its forecast on Britains economy seriously wrong and bungling its predictions for growth in Brazil and Russia.

Its chief economist, Olivier Blanchard, warned in 2013 that the UK government was playing with fire by continuing to cut public spending.

But a year later managing director Christine Lagarde was forced to backtrack, saying the body had got it wrong in its view of Britain.

She stopped short of an apology, telling the BBC: Do I have to go on my knees? We said very clearly that we had underestimated growth for the UK and that our forecasts had been proven wrong by the reality of economic developments.

The IMF has come under fire for a series of errors including getting its forecast on Britains economy seriously wrong and bungling its predictions for growth in Brazil and Russia

Despite the budget cuts, the UK saw growth surge and was the star performer among advanced economies. In 2013, growth climbed back to 2.2 per cent confounding the IMFs weak forecast. By 2014, Britains output had grown to a rate of 2.9 per cent.

Mr Blanchard, who is French, left the organisation last year to be replaced by the American economist Maurice Obstfeld.

The IMF also famously failed to get its sums right in 1976 when Denis Healey and the Labour government went cap in hand to the Fund for loans, forcing an uncalled-for austerity on the British people.

The Fund was among those forecasters that failed to spot or warn on the dangerous build-up of mortgage and financial debt ahead of the 2007-2009 financial crisis that brought about the worst crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

It also faced criticism that between 2011 and 2014, it over-forecast the growth of investment in the so-called Bric countries  Brazil, Russia, India and China.

It also made forecast errors for growth in the Middle East. The IMF was established at Bretton Woods in New Hampshire in 1944, and was intended to ensure economic stability after the trauma of the Second World War.




Miller was already a felon and prohibited from using a gun

Jim LaManno is now suing Walmart and other gun distributors over the sale of the shotgun used in the attack, a lawsuit filed on Monday said

The ex-Klansman said he shot the three people because he 'wanted to kill Jewish people' before he dies, although none of his victims were

Miller also killed William Corporon, 69, and is 14-year-old grandson, Reat Underwood at a nearby Jewish center

supremacist, killed the wife of Jim LaManno at the Village Shalom retirement home in Kansas City in 2014

The husband of one of the three people killed by a former KKK leader at two Jewish sites in Kansas City, Missouri, has sued over the sale of the shotguns used in the April 2014 attack.

Jim LaManno, who filed the lawsuit on Monday afternoon, names Walmart and several other entities, The Kansas City Star reported.

Frazier Glenn Miller Jr, 75, of Aurora, Missouri, a former Ku Klux Klan grand dragon, was given the death penalty last year for the shooting that killed LaManno's wife, Terri, 53.

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Jim LaManno (pictured right) has sued Walmart and other gun distributors over the death of his wife, who was among three people shot and killed by former KKK leader Frazier Glenn Miller Jr

Terri LaManno, 53, (left) and William Corporon, 69, (right picture, left) and his 14-year-old grandson, Reat Underwood (right) were all killed in the April 2014 shooting

She was murdered at the Village Shalom retirement home in Overland Park, Kansas.

William Corporon, 69, and his 14-year-old grandson, Reat Underwood, were killed at the nearby Jewish Community Center.

The lawsuit said Miller used two weapons that were purchased by friend John Mark Reidle: one at a gun show and the other at Walmart.

The suit also said Reidle and Miller attended a Springfield gun show in October 2013, where Reidle bought one or more firearms.

Miller (pictured) said he 'wanted to kill some Jews' before he died. Miller was a convicted felon when he had a friend buy the shotgun for him

Based on the men's remarks and behavior, the suit says, employees at Friendly Firearms LLC 'knew, had reason to know, or recklessly failed to know that Miller was not lawfully entitled to purchase or possess a firearm'.

Miller was a felon and prohibited from purchasing guns.

Miller has chronic emphysema and doctors said he has five to six years left to live due to the disease. Despite this, he was sentenced to death row for the klilings

Miller said he shot his victims because he wanted to kill Jewish people before he dies, NBC News reported.

'I wanted to make damned sure I killed some Jews or attacked the Jews before I died,' he told the Kansas City Star.

Miller told officers that he was anti-Semitic and after his arrest asked the police officers: 'How many did I get?'

He suffers from chronic emphysema and has said he doesn't have long to live, which a doctor confirmed during his trial.

Reidle, also of Aurora, was sentenced earlier this year to five years of probation for falsely claiming he was buying one of the shotguns for himself on a federal form.

The form was filed out at a Missouri Walmart just days before the shooting.

Miller claimed the gun was a present for his son and asked Reidle to fill out the form, according to the plea agreement.

Reidle told investigators that Miller asked for help with the purchase because he didn't have any identification with him.

The phone number for Friendly Firearms rang unanswered Tuesday morning.

Walmart didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Miller has said it was his duty to stop genocide against the white race.

None of the victims was Jewish.
Girls captured by Boko Haram in Nigeria are volunteering to become suicide bombers because they can no longer bear the sexual abuse and constant hunger they suffer as prisoners.

Many of the young women take the shocking decision as a last resort to try and escape the jihadi group, even if it costs them their life.

Women who managed to escape Boko Haram have revealed that the young bombers don't believe in the radical ideology of the group but rather they want to run away from the nightmare conditions.

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Fati (pictured) said that the militants turned up at her village, demanding to take the young girls to marry them off to their fighters. When the girls said they were too young, they were seized by force

She recalled the terrifying conditions inside the camps, which were regularly attacked by the Nigerian army, forcing the Islamists to move on a regular basis

They would ask, 'Who wants to be a suicide bomber?' The girls would shout, 'me, me, me.' They were fighting to do the suicide bombings,' Fati, a survivor of Boko Haram, told CNN.

Fati said that the militants turned up at her village, demanding to take the young girls to marry them off to their fighters. When the girls said they were too young, they were seized by force.

She said that some of the young girls living in Boko Haram's base in the Sambisa forest were from the large group of schoolgirls taken from Chibok.

She recalled the terrifying conditions inside the camps, which were regularly attacked by the Nigerian army, forcing the Islamists to move on a regular basis.

Boko Haram child suicide bombings have surged 11-fold in West Africa over the last year, with children as young as 8, mostly girls, detonating bombs in schools and markets

Across Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad, over 2.7 million people mostly women and children have now fled the Boko Haram-related violence

Women who managed to escape Boko Haram have revealed that the young bombers don't believe in the radical ideology of the group but rather they want to run away from the nightmare conditions

Boko Haram child suicide bombings have surged 11-fold in West Africa over the last year, with children as young as 8, mostly girls, detonating bombs in schools and markets.

Suicide bombings have spread beyond Nigeria's borders, with an increasing number of deadly attacks carried out by children with explosives hidden under their clothes or in baskets.

'The use of children, especially girls, as so-called suicide bombers has become a defining and alarming feature of this conflict,' said Laurent Duvillier, regional spokesman for UNICEF.

'It's basically turning the children against their own communities by strapping bombs around their bodies,' he said.

There were 44 child suicide bombings in West Africa last year, up from four in 2014, UNICEF said, mostly in Cameroon and Nigeria.

She said that some of the young girls living in Boko Haram's base in the Sambisa forest were from the large group of schoolgirls taken from Chibok

Abubakar Shekau who calls himself the 'Emir' of Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram has spoken of his aim to create a Caliphate in Africa

Amnesty International estimates Boko Haram has kidnapped about 2,000 women and girls since 2014 for use as cooks, sex slaves, fighters and suicide bombers

Islamist Boko Haram's six-year campaign to set up an Islamic emirate in northeastern Nigeria has killed some 15,000 people, according to the U.S. military

Some young children probably do not know they are carrying explosives, which are often detonated remotely, Duvillier said.

Islamist Boko Haram's six-year campaign to set up an Islamic emirate in northeastern Nigeria has killed some 15,000 people, according to the U.S. military.

Outmanoeuvred after a regional offensive drove it from strongholds in Nigeria last year, it is increasingly using children to carry out attacks.

The tactic has proven effective in increasing the number of casualties as people do not usually see children as a threat.

Amnesty International estimates Boko Haram has kidnapped about 2,000 women and girls since 2014 for use as cooks, sex slaves, fighters and suicide bombers.

It is two years since the militants abducted some 270 Nigerian schoolgirls in Chibok, many of whom were forced to convert to Islam and marry their captors.

One woman, who asked not to be named, cares for her sick twins with one suffering from malnutrition

Almost one million Nigerian children are missing out on education as Boko Haram has destroyed more than 900 schools and killed more than 600 teachers, Human Rights Watch said

Nigerian refugees gatehr together at the Minawao refugee camp in Northern Cameroon

Three-quarters of the suicide bombers have been girls, UNICEF said, who are often were thought less likely to arouse suspicion, although that may be changing now.

Abducted boys are forced to attack their own families to demonstrate their loyalty to Boko Haram, it said.

Although many children are being released from captivity as the military reclaims territory from Boko Haram, they often face stigma and rejection.

'Some women would beat me,' 17-year-old Khadija, who lives in a camp for displaced people in Nigeria, told UNICEF.

She and her baby, born of rape, escaped captivity during a Nigerian army attack on Boko Haram.

'They said: 'You are a Boko Haram wife, don't come near us!'' she told UNICEF.

Children are the main victims in one of Africa's fastest growing humanitarian crises, UNICEF said, making up the majority of the 2.3 million people displaced since mid-2013.

Those separated from their families by the conflict and out of school are vulnerable to recruitment by armed groups, Duvillier said.

Almost one million Nigerian children are missing out on education as Boko Haram has destroyed more than 900 schools and killed more than 600 teachers, Human Rights Watch said.
Killed: Darren Kelly, 42, was lured to his death by a 'vigilante' gang who mistakenly believed he was a paedophile, a court heard today

A father-of-one was lured to his death by a 'vigilante' gang of youths who mistakenly believed he was a paedophile, a court heard.

Darren Kelly, 42, thought he was meeting with a woman he had been chatting via an online dating app in the week leading up to his murder.

But instead, the lorry driver was jumped upon and punched, kicked and then stabbed by a gang of four including Chris Carroll, 20, and three teenagers who cannot be named for legal reasons, a jury was told.

Witnesses described seeing Mr Kelly running for his life as one of his attackers allegedly shouted 'he's a paedo'. But the gang are said to have caught up with him after chasing their alleged victim through the street.

Mr Kelly was stabbed six times, including two wounds to his lung, and died later in Basildon Hospital.

After the alleged attack, the group of youths are said to have gone into a house and ordered pizza.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard Mr Kelly regularly used the internet app Whisper to meet up with women for sex but there was no evidence to show he was interested in underage girls.

Carroll, 20, from Pitsea, Essex, is accused of murder, along with a 17-year-old boy, also from Pitsea, a 17-year-old boy from Basildon, Essex, and a 16-year-old girl from Pitsea.

The four are jointly charged with killing Mr Kelly on the evening of October 20 last year.

They appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court today and sat alongside each other in the dock with a security guard behind each of them.

Crispin Aylett QC, prosecuting, said: 'This, you may come to think, is a terrible case that is as disturbing as it is extraordinary.

'The prosecution allege that last October, at a time when the defendants were 15, 16, 17 and 20, the four of them - at the instigation of the first defendant [the then 15-year-old girl] - formed a group of vigilantes in order to attack a 42-year-old man.'

The jury of eight men and four women heard how Mr Kelly was punched, kicked and then stabbed to death.

Mr Aylett said: 'In the minutes leading up to the murder, as the defendants were seen chasing Mr Kelly through an alleyway, a passer-by asked what was going on.

'Chris Carroll called out "he is a paedophile".'

On trial: Chris Carroll (pictured), 20, from Pitsea, Essex, is accused of the murder of Mr Kelly, along with a 17-year-old boy, also from Pitsea, a 17-year-old boy from Basildon, and a 16-year-old girl from Pitsea

The court heard there was absolutely no evidence - other than claims from the female defendant - that Mr Kelly was interested in underage girls. In fact detectives found conversations with various women in which he said they were too young for him as he was looking for a partner who was over the age of 45.

Messages recovered by police suggested that Mr Kelly may in fact have believed he was meeting an adult, possibly the mother of the schoolgirl defendant.

'Whilst, certainly, it was the case Mr Kelly had used the internet to meet people for sex, there was nothing to suggest Mr Kelly had been interested in underage girls,' Mr Aylett added.

A witness described how the gang punched and kicked Mr Kelly to the ground before Carroll was allegedly heard saying 'Leave it to me'. He was seen bending down as if to stab him, the court was told

On the day of the murder, the teenage girl defendant arranged to meet Mr Kelly outside her school.

The other defendants, along with a 13-year-old girl - who was arrested but later released without charge - gathered nearby, with some of them hiding in bushes.

When he arrived, the group started to punch and kick him and Carroll slashed the tyres on his car, Mr Aylett said.

Mr Kelly managed to run away but the group chased after him. Witnesses described seeing him running for his life.

Mr Aylett said: 'In the moments leading up to the murder, as they were chasing him through an alleyway, a passer-by asked the group what was going on.

'Perhaps indicating the inflamed sense of self-righteousness shared by the others, Chris Carroll shouted out "He's a paedo".'

Another witness described how they punched and kicked him to the ground before Carroll was allegedly heard saying 'Leave it to me'. He was seen bending down as if to stab him, the court was told.

Mr Kelly managed to get help from residents at a nearby block of flats. But he had been stabbed six times and died later in hospital.

After the alleged attack, the group went to a house and ordered pizza. The two teenage boys were later handed in to police by their parents.

When officers arrived at a house to find Carroll and the girl, the court was told he tried to escape while she shouted: 'Do I look like a murderer?'

Scene: Mr Kelly, 42, thought he was meeting with a woman he had been chatting to online in the week leading up to his murder. But instead he was allegedly set upon by a gang of four in Basildon, Essex (pictured)

Mr Aylett said text messages later showed that Carroll was besotted with the girl.

One said: 'I know you're not ready for a relationship but I'm going to wait for you.

'I'm not going to quit until you're mine.'

After the teenage schoolgirl was arrested she told the police she had on two earlier occasions set up meetings with older men in order that they might be arrested.

She told how she had met the men online - through Facebook - before calling the police.

The teenager was asked what she hoped to achieve and told officers it was 'to get them arrested because they were perverts and I don't think perverts should be walking around.

'I don's see anyone else doing anything about it.'

In March 2014, when the defendant was just 14, she met a 23-year-old man - referred to in court as 'H'.

The court heard they had taken part in sexually explicit exchanges with the man telling the defendant he was going to rape her. The teenager turned up at the scene and met with the man.

Police were called to the scene and the man was arrested on suspicion of sexual grooming.

Witnesses described seeing Mr Kelly (pictured) running for his life as one of his attackers allegedly shouted 'he's a paedo'. But the gang are said to have caught up with him after chasing after their alleged victim

In May last year the schoolgirl received a Facebook friend request from a 67-year-old man who then followed it up with a message.

The two lied about their ages with the teenager initially saying she was 25 but later admitted she was only 15.

By August the man's messages became 'more intimate' and the pair agreed to meet in September at Tesco in Pitsea.

The teenager met with the man - referred to as only 'C' - whilst her friend stood by and the pair began shouting at C, telling him it was wrong to meet up with young girls.

A passer-by spotted the altercation and called the police and C was arrested.

There is nothing to suggest that Mr Kelly was interested in underage girls and plenty of evidence which shows the opposite Crispin Aylett QC, prosecuting

Mr Aylett said it appeared the teenager had been running a 'campaign against paedophiles' but lost patience with the police and the court system.

Mr Kelly, who had a daughter, had separated from his wife.

After the murder, police searched his address and found an old mobile phone he had been using in 2014.

He was using an app named 'Whisper' in order to make contact with people on the internet.

He used photographs of different men as well as different ages for himself and from time to time he arranged to meet adult women for sex.

'There is nothing to suggest that Mr Kelly was interested in underage girls and plenty of evidence which shows the opposite,' Mr Aylett said.

The jury heard how on one occasion he was exchanging messages with a 22-year-old but then told her he was looking for someone older.

His phone also showed evidence of how he had commented to another woman 'So sick - all the kids on here.'

And he said to one teen: 'Was hoping you was older.'

The four are jointly charged with killing lorry driver Mr Kelly in Basildon on the evening of October 20 last year

The teenage defendant used the the Whisper app to make contact with Mr Kelly and then set-up the meeting.

The phone that Mr Kelly had been using to contact the teenager has never been recovered.

A second phone was found but it was not the one used to exchange messages with the female defendant.

When the teenager was arrested, police seized her iPad mini which had been locked.

She later provided the code but admitted to police she had deleted the app on which she made contact with Mr Kelly.

Only two messages survived - those which were sent on to Chris Carroll.

Mr Aylett added: 'Neither of the messages supported the defendant's claim. What is left suggested Mr Kelly had been looking for an older partner'.

In the minutes leading up to Mr Kelly's murder she sent a series of text messages to her co-defendants as she discussed the imminent meeting.
A university student who took part in a 'sexist' chant that 'glorifed rape' during an annual Boys Night Out event has admitted the song was offensive.

This week, a disturbing video emerged of a group of Philip Baxter College students from the University of New South Wales singing a tune that objectified women on Friday night.

House president of the college James Dunn, who was among his fellow peers at the 'Boys Night Out', revealed he doesn't know why he participated in the 'appalling' chant.

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House president of the college James Dunn (pictured), who was among his fellow peers at the 'Boys Night Out' for the Philip Baxter College, said he doesn't know why he participated in the offensive song from Friday night

University of New South Wales (UNSW) students have protested after male college students chanted a 'sexist' song on a bus on Friday night on a 'Boys Night Out'

'As a leader of this college and me being a part of the group that was likely in the video, for me it is really personal and I have no idea why I did it,' Mr Dunn told ABC's 7:30.

'I'm sort of condemning my own actions at this time, and the actions of everyone in the video.'

Mr Dunn said he just accepted the behaviour as part of the college culture when he moved to Sydney to study at the university about two years ago.

'I walked into the culture that is Baxter and was taught these chants as part of the culture that we have here and something we do as a night out, as a whole college both males and females,' he said.

This comes after the video sparked outrage, with fellow students campaigning for respect by forming a giant R on the university lawn in Kensington, east Sydney, on Tuesday.

The protesters on Tuesday formed the 'human sign' in the shape of an R to 'make a loud statement condemning all derogatory, oppressive or misogynistic attitudes towards women'

The song said they wished women 'were holes in the road' so the men could 'fill them with my load'.

A spokesperson for the UNSW Student Representative Council (SRC) said the university, collective and college are working together to decide appropriate action against the students responsible.

'Serious and meaningful action will definitely be taken', the spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.

The punishment, with the potential to include expulsion from the college or university, is yet to be decided.

Any disciplinary action would need to ensure 'this type of behaviour is known to be completely inappropriate' and 'ensure it would never occur again'.

All of the students responsible are yet to be identified, the spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.

There is expected to be reform to strengthen education on such matters within the colleges.

Jocelyn Dracakis, the women's officer at the Student Representative Council at UNSW, told Daily Mail Australia the misogynistic chants are thought to be widespread and regularly used.

She said there were allegations of mobile phones being confiscated from students by organisers prior to events to prevent sexist behaviour from being filmed.

Male students on a 'Boys Night Out' chanted: I wish that all the ladies Were little red foxes And if I was a hunter I'd shoot them in their boxes I wish that all the ladies Were buns in the oven And if I were a baker I'd cream them by the dozen I wish that all the ladies Were holes in the road And if I was a dump truck I'd fill them with my load Advertisement

Footage of the incident had been posted to a private Facebook group for the college students.

It was then forwarded on by a student to the UNSW Women's Collective and leaked.

The college released a statement of apology on Tuesday afternoon, and called the conduct 'sexist and misogynistic'.

'As a College we acknowledge and understand the boundaries that we have crossed. As a College community we condemn the actions outlined within the chants and their misogynistic sentiments.

The statement said the 'mere fact' they had sung the lyrics was 'enough to tarnish the integrity of every resident'.

'Bringing this issue to light has made us realise the naivety we have been clouded by for not realising the impact issues of this nature have on society.'

A UNSW SRC spokesperson said the university, Women's Collective and college are working together to decide appropriate action against the students responsible - which could include expulsion from the college and even from the university

The college released a statement of apology on Tuesday afternoon, and called the conduct 'sexist and misogynistic'

The protesters on Tuesday formed the 'human sign' in the shape of an R to 'make a loud statement condemning all derogatory, oppressive or misogynistic attitudes towards women'.

The protesters also listened to speakers from the Student Representative Council who condemned the 'disgusting' video.

The university said it was appalled by the 'sexist and demeaning' behaviour.

'The University has zero tolerance for offensive behaviour of this nature and is taking immediate steps to investigate,' UNSW said in a statement on Tuesday.

The UNSW Women's Collective on Monday night released a statement saying the chanting had 'degrading lyrics which objectify women and glorify acts of rape'.

A survey found 73 per cent of women had experienced some form of sexual harassment and 27 per cent had experienced sexual assault during their time at university, National Union of Students found in February.

'The University has zero tolerance for offensive behaviour of this nature and is taking immediate steps to investigate,' UNSW said in a statement on Tuesday
Tory candidate Zac Goldsmith, pictured today at a campaign event, has been accused of a 'racist scream' against Labour's Sadiq Khan

Zac Goldsmith was today condemned for turning his London mayor campaign into a 'racist scream' against his Labour rival Sadiq Khan.

Yvette Cooper, the former Labour leadership contender, slammed the Tory campaign for escalating his attacks from 'dog whistles' as polls show Mr Khan growing a lead in the race.

Mr Goldsmith today insisted accusations of racism against him and his campaign were 'absurd' and 'irresponsible'.

Londoners will choose a new Mayor on May 5 to replace Boris Johnson, who is standing down after two terms.

Mr Goldsmith has repeatedly accused Mr Khan of being 'extreme' and close to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, warning the pair want to test a hard left agenda on the capital.

Ms Cooper today claimed the 'smears and innuendoes get louder' in a column for The Times.

She accused the Tory campaigning of trying to link Mr Khan to Islamist extremism 'based on no evidence at all'.

Ms Cooper said: 'We can't let this go by  it's time to call it out for what it really is before it gets worse.

'What started as a subtle dog-whistle is becoming a full blown racist scream.'

Ms Cooper said Mr Khan had spent 'his whole life fighting extremism' and insisted he had paid a 'heavy personal price for it'.

The former shadow home secretary warned the claims by Mr Goldsmith's campaign about extremism would undermine work to tackle genuine extremists.

She warned: 'It's the campaigning equivalent of pointing and shouting 'don't vote for him, he's a Muslim'  a nasty approach straight from the Lynton Crosby playbook.'

In a speech today, Mr Goldsmith accused Mr Khan of having 'given platforms, oxygen and even cover  over and over and over again  to those who seek to do our police and capital harm'.

But taking questions at the event, Mr Goldsmith said it was 'absurd' to suggest he was racist.

He said: 'I don't even know how I answer a question of that sort.

'I haven't seen her [Yvette Cooper's] article but if she did [say that] then that is absurd. My campaign has been an overwhelmingly positive campaign.

'The thread that runs through every piece of literature that I have put out has been about my action plan for London.

'It's been about more homes, better transport, safer streets and cleaner air. That is the thread that has run through every part of my campaign.'

Mr Khan, left, and Mr Goldsmith have clashed repeatedly during the mayoral campaign, which comes to a head on polling day on May 5

Mr Goldsmith added: 'If she is making reference to questions asked about Sadiq Khan's past and his links then is she suggesting it's not legitimate to ask those questions of someone who wants to be Mayor of London?

'If that's what's being said, then I think it's absurd and I think its irresponsible.'

In a Guardian interview earlier this month, Mr Goldsmith defended attacks on 'radical' Mr Khan and Labour.

He said: 'Love it or hate it, the Labour party is more radical now than any time in my lifetime.

'He is radical and divisive because of his approach to politics. He is a fundamentally partisan figure in politics.

'These are terms that I use and will continue to use to describe Sadiq Khan.'

Polling suggests Mr Khan holds a substantial lead in the race for City Hall with just three weeks until polling day.

A ComRes survey found he leads the field with 44 per cent of the vote on the first round of voting.

And in a forced choice between Mr Khan and Mr Goldsmith, the Labour candidate won by 55 per cent to 45 per cent.

Mr Khan's advantage in the survey, carried out earlier this month, was larger than in several earlier polls.
He lives in campus housing and has a male roommate

The 18-year-old is a freshman business major at the pricey Christian

Arnold Schwarzenegger's son Joseph Baena is definitely a chip off the old block, and it's not just because he looks like his famous father.

Daily Mail Online has learned exclusively that 18-year old Joseph is currently enrolled at Pepperdine University in Malibu. He's a freshman and he has listed his major as 'Business' and 'Business Management.'

According to sources on the Pepperdine University campus, a sprawling 830 acres overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Joseph lives in campus housing and has a male roommate.

Team Spirit: The son of Arnold Schwarzenegger was spotted running errands in Malibu over the weekend. You can see the Pepperdine mascot, Willy the Wave on his bag, and you can see the word Pepperdine on his key chain

Spotter: Joseph, every inch his father's son in the keeping fit department, spots a friend lifting weights at a local gym

Pumping iron: 'I've seen him at the [campus] gym a lot,' said one student, 'he's definitely serious about working out. He seems like a nice enough guy'

The Pepperdine University campus sits on a sprawling 830 acres overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Pepperdine Waves basketball team mascot Willie the Wave (left) dances before the team's semifinal game

'I've seen him at the [campus] gym a lot,' said one student, 'he's definitely serious about working out. He seems like a nice enough guy.'

Baena is the lovechild of Schwarzenegger and the Schwarzenegger family's longtime housekeeper Mildred Patricia 'Patty' Baena.

The world was shocked in 2011, when it was revealed that Arnold's wife Maria Shriver had been pregnant with their son Christopher, 18, at the same exact time as Patty Baena.

Christopher was born five days before his half brother Joseph. The love child revelation doomed the 25-year marriage of Arnold and Maria

Pepperdine University Pepperdine is a private, Christian university established in 1937. There are 7,632 students enrolled in both undergraduate and graduate studies. The school is moderately competitive: Admissions rate is 37%, average GPA requirement 3.59, and SAT score composite 1853. Average undergraduate cost: Flat-rate tuition (12-18 units per semester) $48,090 Room & Board (double occupancy, half room, meal plan) $13,810 SGA Fees (student government activity fund) $252 Books and Supplies $1,500 Loan Fees $1,000 Transportation $1,000 Personal Expenses $1,500 Advertisement

Before heading off to college last fall, Joseph lived for the past few years in a $268,000 home in Bakersfield, California, where it is believed that Arnold provided $65,000 for a deposit to secure a bank loan for Patty Baena.

In June 2015, Joseph graduated from Frontier High School [in Bakersfield, with reportedly good marks.

Proud pop Arnold bought Joseph a brand new Jeep just months after his 16th birthday, worth an estimated $30,000.

Austrian born Arnold, 68, got his business degree at University of Wisconsin when he was 31. He took courses online as well as a smattering of classes taken at Santa Monica City College and UCLA extension.

The body builder turned action star turned governor has had unbelievable success in movies, politics, business and real estate investments.

The cost of attending Pepperdine and living on campus for the 2015-2016 school year comes with a staggering price tag of about $67,150.

The pricey tuition has led to speculation that Arnold himself is footing the bill for his mini-me to pursue higher education.

If so, the investment has already paid off.

Joseph was recently honored by Pepperdine for his 'Student Philanthropy.'

According to a source at Pepperdine, his contribution could have been monetary, through a donation, or more likely he volunteered to help in some capacity at an event or on a project that benefited the student population in general.

'It shows his commitment to the school, and it's a great way to meet other students.'

While Joseph has been spotted around Malibu casually grocery shopping and wearing his beach togs, it may have belied his inherent determination and book smarts.

'He's on a great path, it will be interesting to see if he follows in his father's footsteps, it certainly seems like he could end up working with Arnold some day.'




A white student has claimed he was viciously bullied and beaten at a Long Island high school because of the color of his skin.

Giovanni Micheli claims he was attacked and beaten with a chair while teachers and school administrators ignored his pleas for help.

Micheli, who went to a school where the majority of students are Latino or black, said he was called 'cracker' and 'white boy' by other students.

Lawyers for Micheli, who is now 23, claim their client was bullied because he was a 'minority' at Brentwood High School.

Giovanni Micheli claims he was viciously bullied and beaten at Brentwood High School (pictured), in Long Island, because he is white

They claim school officials told the boy to 'project more self-confidence' to stop the attacks or leave the school, the New York Post reported.

'Giovanni was a minority because he was Caucasian,' attorney Wayne Schaefer told Brooklyn Federal Court on Monday, six years after Micheli first filed the lawsuit.

'This case is about discrimination against a minority student. Our claim is that there was deliberate indifference because he was a Caucasian student complaining in a district where Caucasians are a minority.'

Micheli's parents complained and he was eventually taken out of Brentwood High School and home schooled instead.

Micheli's family asked administrators to move him to a different school district, but his parents claim they were told: 'If we do that for him, we would have to do that for all the white children.'

School district attorney Jack Shields claimed Micheli was never able to describe the students attacking him in enough detail, telling a teacher on one occasion that his bullies were black and slim.

'Had the district rounded up all African-American students who were thin, we'd be here for another reason,' Shields told the court.

The attorney claimed the school tried to help Micheli, but that he had to be removed from the school after using a racial term during a stand-off with black students.
Prosecutors offered no evidence against Thady Duff, Leo Mahon and Patrick Foster, all 22, and James Martin, 20, who had denied charges of rape and sexual assault

Quarter were cleared yesterday after their trial collapsed on the day it had been due to open

A spokesman for Gloucester Police said: 'We will continue to support the victim through what is and has been an extremely traumatic experience'

Police revealed victim will not face any action for making false allegation

The woman who said she was raped by four students at a college 'Mad Hatters' May Ball will not be prosecuted for making a false allegation, police have said.

The quartet, who were arrested after a group sex session at the ball at the Royal Agricultural University, were cleared yesterday after their trial collapsed on the day it had been due to open.

Prosecutors at Gloucester crown court offered no evidence against Thady Duff, Leo Mahon and Patrick Foster, all 22, and James Martin, 20, who had denied charges of rape and sexual assault.

The case against the students fell apart after it emerged the alleged victim had given 'different accounts' as a witness in another rape case.

But police revealed the victim will not face any action for making a false allegation 'because there has been no doubt the incident happened.'

'The central issue in this case has always been that of consent', a spokesman for Gloucestershire police told MailOnline. 'We will continue to support the victim through what is and has been an extremely traumatic experience.'

Cleared: Leo Mahon, Patrick Foster, Thady Duff and James Martin (all pictured left to right) were all been found not guilty of rape - police today revealed the victim will not be prosecuted for making a false claim

Anger: James Martin with his father Andy after leaving court. Mr Martin's barrister said there needed to be a review into the handling of the case against his client

It comes as detectives were accused of 'cherry-picking' evidence to support their case, while 'airbrushing' out anything that suggested the men were innocent.

Officers are also facing questions over why it took 13 months to charge the men, with lawyers alleging evidence had been 'withheld' by officers before the trial.

This included messages taken from the victim's phone hinting that she may have consented.

The judge, Jamie Tabor QC, returned not guilty verdicts on the defendants. He had earlier likened the new evidence to the prosecution case 'running into an iceberg'.

But the judge told the mens counsel to 'remind them of the very careful path they tread'.

He warned: 'If there is any contact or harassment of the complainant by any of the defendants, the crown will no doubt consider prosecution.'

Last night amateur jockey Mr Martin criticised the 'devastating' police investigation.

He said: 'If they had done their job properly it would have been over a long time ago and I would have years of my life back.'

His barrister Edward Henry accused officers of 'airbrushing' and 'cherry-picking' evidence and said there will need to be a review.

He added: 'We need to know the answers to some questions. Why this should have gone on for so long as it has? Why it took 13 months to decide to charge these defendants in the first place?'

Mr Henry had told the court there had been an 'absolute failure' by a police officer 'to take notes except for self-serving acts on occasion'.

The group were accused of raping the alleged victim at the end-of-year ball at the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester, Gloucestershire (pictured). The college is known as the Oxbridge of the countryside

THE WORLD-RENOWNED ROYAL AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY The University's annual Summer Ball is held in late May to mark end-of-year exams. The Royal Agricultural University is known as the 'Oxbridge of the Countryside' and the sons and daughters of many of Britain's biggest landowners are among its 1,200 students. The patron is Prince Charles and one of its former students is Captain Mark Phillips, former husband of Princess Anne. Around 1,200 students attend the RAU, which became the first agricultural college in the English-speaking world in 1845 when it was granted a Royal Charter by Queen Victoria. Former students include political commentator Jonathan Dimbleby, Princess Anne's ex-husband Captain Mark Phillips and the late champion horse trainer Sir Henry Cecil. Her descendants have always been Patrons of the institution which stands in a beautiful 25-acre campus on the edge of Cirencester, Gloucestershire. Since 2008, it has seen a 49 per cent rise in applications and is ranked top in the UK for investing in campus facilities. The internationally renowned university, which until 2013 was known as the Royal Agricultural College, is rated the Oxbridge of agricultural studies. Founded in 1845, it was the first agricultural college in the English-speaking world. Advertisement

He said: 'There are two notes where sexual behaviour has been mentioned to the officer and these notes have never made their way into the defence material.

'He has vandalised the trial process. It is broken and cannot be fixed.'

The young men were arrested on suspicion of rape and sexual assault after the drunken sex session on the night of the 85-a-head ball at the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, in 2014. The college is known as the Oxbridge of the countryside.

A 'pornographic' video of the act was shared on social messaging app Snapchat  leading the woman involved to tell police she had been raped.

The young men were facing prison sentences of more than ten years if they had been convicted.

But it emerged on the eve of the trial opening the police had failed to reveal that the alleged victim had given 'different accounts' as a witness to an alleged rape on an Army base in October 2014. The alleged rapist was a soldier but he was later cleared.

Detectives were also said to have 'buried' text messages sent by the woman which said she was worried she would 'look bad' if the sex tape got out.

Mr Martin yesterday spoke of his relief. The amateur jockey said he had been 'devastated' to be arrested and to have the charges hanging over him for two years, adding: 'I didn't feel like it was real. It was hard, very hard. It's always been there.

'It's changed the way I think about things. I look at people in a different way now  a bit paranoid. It's harder to trust anybody.

'It has been hard, really hard for the families. It is a big relief for everyone. I'm relieved but annoyed it got this far.'

The son of a farrier said the police had treated the men as 'guilty until proven innocent'. He added: 'It just seems like something out of the 80s. You don't expect to see the police do this to better themselves.'

Mr Martin said it was 'frustrating' that the woman behind the claims remained anonymous under law while the defendants were named and shamed.

He said: 'She is twisted  she really is. To try to do that to four people just to save her name  I am lost for words.'

His parents Andy and Julia, from the tiny village of Swerford near Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire, said it had been 'very distressing'.

Sobbing, his mother said: 'I have seen my son change. The day we heard the case was closed, I got my son back.'

Melanie Duff, 54, whose polo-playing son Thady had been accused of three charges of rape and one of sexual assault, said the two-year ordeal had been 'horrendous'.

Mrs Duff, who runs a livery in rural Wiltshire, said: 'Today is his first day of starting to rebuild his life. It is something which has been hanging over their heads.'

DID POLICE 'AIRBRUSH' KEY EVIDENCE ABOUT GIRL BEFORE TRIAL? Key details that raised questions about the alleged rape victim's credibility were 'airbrushed' out by police, it was claimed last night. Five months after the Royal Agricultural University's May Ball, where she said she was raped by the four young men, the woman was involved in a sex session with an Army officer which led to the soldier being accused of rape by another woman. It is understood the complainant in the May Ball case was in the same Army barracks room when the soldier was alleged to have raped another woman. Initially the accuser said they had consensual sex but changed her story later to support the other woman's rape accusation The soldier was court martialled but cleared of rape and sexual assault charges after she gave 'different accounts' of the alleged rape. The officer on the May Ball case was revealed to have kept quiet about the 'different accounts' the woman had provided. Leo Mahon of Cirencester, Gloucestershire (left) and Patrick Foster of Kelvedon, Colchester in Essex (right) Defence barristers acting for the four men argued the case showed the woman's interest in group sex and demanded to know why neither they, nor the Crown Prosecution Service, had been told about it. Further analysis of the complainant's phone revealed she had sent text messages on the night of the ball which raised further doubts about her accusations. The black-tie May Ball at the Royal Agricultural University is a chance for its students to let their hair down and celebrate finishing their exams. Hosted by the student union, the 'Mad Hatters' event is described as 'the biggest ball of the year and the main event in the RAU social diary!' Publicity for the event promises: 'Live bands and top DJs, a funfair and partying from dusk 'til dawn.' Yet for the four young men, the 'drunken and riotous' 85-a-head night at the Cotswolds university evolved into a sordid sex session and a two-year ordeal that had them labelled rapists with heavy jail sentences hanging over them. Based on the outskirts of Cirencester, Gloucestershire, and close to Prince Charles's Highgrove home, the Royal Agricultural University counts the sons and daughters of many of Britain's biggest landowners among its 1,200 students. But the ball in May 2014  where unlimited beer, wine and cider was on offer  revealed a sleazy sexual side to student life. Former private schoolboys Patrick Foster and Thady Duff, farrier's apprentice James Martin and jockey Leo Mahon were all accused of rape after indulging in a sex session with one young woman which was filmed and shared online. The 'pornographic' video surfaced on the social messaging app Snapchat and the 'infuriated' woman was 'prompted' by a student officer to go to the police. Thady Duff of Blunsdon, Swindon in Wiltshire (left) and James Martin of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire (right) Final-year university students Mr Duff, Mr Foster and Mr Mahon were all immediately suspended and have been unable to collect their degrees. They were kept on bail for more than a year before being charged with multiple counts of rape and sexual assault against the woman they all insisted had consented to sex. A student at the time said: 'The ball was, as usual, a riotous occasion, with everyone throwing a considerable amount of alcohol down their throats. 'We've got 1,200 students here and a good many of them were at the ball, as well as quite a few ex-students and staff. There's never any trouble normally, beyond people letting their hair down and having a good time.' The Royal Agricultural University became the first agricultural college in the English-speaking world in 1845 when it was granted a Royal Charter by Queen Victoria. The college, which stands in a beautiful 25-acre campus on the edge of Cirencester, became a university in 2013. Advertisement

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY RAPE TRIAL: A TIMELINE OCTOBER 2013: Thady Duff was accused of a further sexual assault involving the same alleged victim, which allegedly took place in October 2013. MAY 2014: Leo Mahon, 22, Patrick Foster, 22, James Martin, 20, and Thady Duff, 22, had been accused of subjecting a woman to a rape ordeal on the night of the annual May Ball in 2014. JULY 2015: All four men were charged by the Crown Prosecution Service in July 2015. MARCH 29, 2016: A jury of six men and six women were sworn in on March 29 to hear the case but were discharged a week later not having heard any evidence. The group appeared at Gloucester Crown Court on March 29 to deny all charges against them. MARCH 30, 2016: Their trial had been due to start on March 30, 2016. APRIL 2016: The case had been reviewed last week and a decision not to offer any evidence against the four defendants had been made. APRIL 11, 2016: All charges were dropped today save for one of possession of extreme pornography against Mr Duff. Advertisement

Three of the men were students at the university and they were suspended in their final year. They have been unable to collect their degrees.

A defence source last night said the police investigation had also been 'detrimental' to the woman who made the claims.

He said: 'To egg someone on, to give them unrealistic expectations  it sends out a dreadful message to women who have been raped and who will feel scared or reluctant to come forward.'

A spokesman for Accused.me.uk, the support group for victims of false allegations, said the young men should have been given life-long anonymity unless they had been convicted  just like the woman who made the complaint.

He said: 'Why should their lives be for ever associated with these disgusting allegations?

'The next time they go for a job, or go on a date, these stories will stick to them.

'The fact that they were put on a trial which then collapsed illustrates the hell that many thousands of us are put through by the police and legal system each year.'

A hearing will be held at a later date to consider defence legal costs.

None of the men is currently a student at the agricultural university.

A Gloucestershire Police spokesman said it would be 'inappropriate to comment' because it was waiting to hear 'the specific detail' of the criticism by the defence.

A CPS spokesman said: 'The CPS has a duty under the Code for Crown Prosecutors to keep cases under continuous review.
Killed: Dave Curnow, 20, the youngest British soldier to serve in Afghanistan at the age of 18, died during an alcohol-fuelled attack that was totally without provocation, a jury was told today

The youngest British soldier to serve in Afghanistan was killed on leave in his home town by vodka-swigging thugs who shook hands after leaving him to die in the street, a court has heard.

Serviceman Dave Curnow, 20, died during an alcohol-fuelled attack that was totally without provocation, a jury was told.

The victim was posted to Helmand province in March 2013 just days after turning 18 and survived a six-month tour that included several firefights with the Taliban.

But when he returned home Mr Curnow was killed while catching up with friends on a night out in Redruth, Cornwall, after he was brutally attacked outside a takeaway.

Liam Laing, 21, of Chacewater, Cornwall, has already admitted killing the brave serviceman.

But his co-accused, Connor Hammond, also 21, of Redruth, today denied one count of murder at Truro Crown Court.

At the start of Hammond's trial a jury of five women and seven men were shown shocking CCTV of the duo shaking hands after allegedly leaving their victim for dead.

The court was told by prosecutors that the two men killed Mr Curnow in a 'team effort' of 'unnecessary violence'.

Simon Laws QC, prosecuting, said the pair had already started trouble at the Cornish nightclub, The Zone, before their encounter with Mr Curnow.

Mr Laws said: 'David Curnow was a soldier and he was at home on leave. He spent much of the evening talking to people. He was at the club with his girlfriend.

'There was no sign of any trouble. It was a perfectly ordinary evening out. Let's look at the evening Liam Laing and Connor Hammond had.

'They were at The Zone that night. Their time at the club was less peaceful.'

The court was then shown CCTV footage of Laing and Hammond both involved in a fight in the club - with Hammond throwing a punch.

After leaving the venue, the pair walked around Redruth drinking from a bottle of vodka.

Mr Curnow and his friend had left the club to get a kebab when they encountered Hammond and Laing, who were walking behind the soldier and his friend.

Alleged attack: Mr Curnow, a rifleman who served in the 4th Batallion, The Rifles, was found unconscious on the ground following an assault outside a Cornwall nightclub at 2.45am on Sunday, September 20

The young soldier was taken by ambulance to the Royal Cornwall Hospital before being transferred to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth where he died the following day

Mr Laws revealed that there was 'banter' between Mr Curnow and his friend over the fact that Laing had taken his top off.

On CCTV, the serviceman was seen making a monkey gesture in a 'brief and meaningless encounter'.

Laing and Hammond were then seen stopping in the street and exchanging words before a fight is said to have broken out.

The court was shown CCTV which appeared to show Laing punch Mr Curnow before Hammond got him in a headlock and swung him around in the street - while Laing punched him.

Mr Curnow's friend tried to intervene when the soldier was being punched on the floor but was stuck, too.

Mr Laws added: 'This was never going to be a fair fight - it was two against one.

'It was simply Hammond and Laing assaulting a man, lying on his back.'

Connor Hammond (pictured left), 21, of Redruth, today denied one count of murder at Truro Crown Court. Liam Laing (right), 21, of Chacewater, Cornwall, has already admitted killing the brave serviceman

The court head that the pair went back to look at the soldier's body after the alleged attack and were later seen on CCTV shaking hands.

Mr Laws said: 'It was very much a team effort. Each participated in a joint assault intending to cause David Curnow serious harm and he died as a result.'

The court heard that the soldier's jaw was broken in two places and that an examination showed that one of the arteries that supplied blood to his brain was damaged.

Mr Laws added that 'kicking' could have caused the damage.

The victim, who served in the 4th Batallion, The Rifles, was found unconscious on the ground following the assault at 2.45am on September 20 last year.

He was taken by ambulance to the Royal Cornwall Hospital before being transferred to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth where he died the following day.

The serviceman left behind parents Michael and June and sister Charley. An estimated 800 people attended Mr Curnow's funeral at Truro Cathedral as he was given full military honours.

In an emotional speech at the service, the young soldier's father Michael Curnow described Mr Curnow as 'the best son a father could ask for'.

Mr Curnow (pictured playing for West Cornwall FC) was killed while catching up with friends on a night out in Redruth, Cornwall, on September 20 last year when he was brutally attacked outside a takeaway

Serving his country: The victim (pictured) was posted to Helmand province in March 2013 just days after turning 18 and survived a six-month tour that included several firefights with the Taliban

After the ceremony the 20-year-old's father said the support from the local community had been a big help to the family.

He said: 'The last time we saw him was the night before when he was preparing to go out, and we gave him a hug and said goodnight, and told him we would see him in the morning.

'Since he died we have been humbled and overwhelmed by the scale of the tributes towards David.

'He was a much loved son, and I'm very privileged to have been his dad for the last 20 years and six months.'

Mr Curnow told how his son had dreamed of joining the army from the age of 12.

Outpouring of grief: The serviceman left behind parents Michael and June and sister Charley. An estimated 800 people attended Mr Curnow's funeral at Truro Cathedral as he was given full military honours

Paying tribute: In an emotional speech at the service, the young soldier's father Michael Curnow described Mr Curnow as 'the best son a father could ask for'

He said: 'I thought he would grow out of it, but he never did.

'He just felt he was doing the right thing and joined the army at 16, straight out of school, and was offered a place at Harrogate.

'When he was in Afghanistan I was constantly worried about him.

'While he was out there he got in some firefights, but his outlook and general balance was very strong and he came back unscathed.

'But you never think anything like this will happen here.'
The European Union today said it is 'very concerned' that Austria may be planning to build a fence on its border with Italy over fears of a new migrant influx.

Austrian Defence Minister Hans Peter Doskozil announced plans to introduce border controls at the Brenner Pass crossing from June 1 as part of its tough response to the migrant crisis.

With border restrictions along the Balkan route, Vienna expects migrant arrivals to Italy by sea to nearly double 300,000 this year.

Asked if Austria planned to build a fence at the border, Doskozil referred to a system 'similar to the one in Spielfeld' at Austria's border with Slovenia, which consists of fences, lanes and tents.

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'Very concerning': Workers begin to erect a new border control centre, which is thought to include a fence, to prevent migrants from passing through the Brenner crossing at the border between Italy and Austria

The exact date of its introduction depended on the number of migrants and the progress of construction of the new border control centre, Doskozil said, adding such work had started.

Natasha Bertaud, a spokeswoman said the European Commission, said: 'The Commission is very concerned.

'If these plans were to materialise then we would have to look at them very seriously.

'The Brenner Pass is essential for the freedom of movement within the European Union.'

She was referring to the passport-free Schengen zone, a symbol of European freedom and unity which has come under threat of collapse with the reintroduction of border controls to stem the massive influx of refugees and migrants in the last year.

'The reintroduction of border controls at internal Schengen borders has to be exceptional and proportionate,' Bertaud added.

'So the Commission will assess any measures that are taken by the Austrian government from the perspective of the necessity and the proportionality of the measures,' she said, adding that EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos contact Austria's interior minister later Tuesday.

Austria and several other EU member states have reintroduced temporary border controls along the so-called Balkans route from Greece to stem the massive inflow of migrants, many coming from war-torn Syria.

Austrian Defence Minister Hans Peter Doskozil announced plans to introduce tough border controls at the Brenner Pass crossing from June 1 as part of its tough response to the migrant crisis

Austria is concerned that following the closure earlier this year of the Balkan trail from Greece towards Austria, a new route across the sea from Libya to Italy and then northwards will open up.

But Bertaud said: 'For the time being there is indeed no evidence that flows of irregular migrants are shifting from Greece to Italy, though we have seen an increase in the numbers of people arriving to Italy.'

Meanwhile, Italy's European Affairs Minister European Affairs Minister Sandro Gozi criticised the Austrian plan in a statement.

'It is not by erecting improvised walls that we will resolve problems,' he said.

'Vienna should reconsider this decision which runs counter both to the spirit and the letter of European rules as well as to the friendship that links Italy and Austria.'

Austria's parliament is due to vote on a draft law for tougher asylum rules in the coming weeks.

The highway across the Brenner Pass is the main thoroughfare through the Alps to get to Germany from Italy  by way of Austria  and Germany is Italy's top trading partner.

About two million trucks cross it every year. A rail base tunnel has been discussed for years.

For transportation companies, long lines to get over the Brenner Pass would cause higher costs and slower services, said Franco Santagata, a former executive at Deutsche Post AG's Italian unit and now a transport industry consultant in Italy.

'If the border controls mean that it will take more time to get from Milan to Munich and back, then the transport company is going to have to raise its prices,' he said.
A horse trainer died just days after he was diagnosed a condition dubbed the human form of mad cow disease.

Mark Douglas, 37, from Dumfries, Scotland, died of the rare brain disease Creutzfeldt-Jakob (CJD), which has been linked with mad cow disease, earlier this year.

He had been rushed to hospital with a mystery illness and was diagnosed with the condition just two weeks before his death.

Horse trainer Mark Douglas, 37, (pictured) died just days after he was diagnosed with the rare brain disease Creutzfeldt-Jakob (CJD), often described as the human form of mad cow disease

His girlfriend of 20 years, Laura Baird, 40, said the diagnosis came as a complete shock to his family.

'We thought it can't be CJD - he was the wrong age group and all sorts but that was what he had,' she said. 'It was a massive shock to us.'

The rare condition claims the lives of fewer than 100 people in the UK each year. Doctors are unsure how Mr Douglas, a former army reservist, contracted the disease.

Mr Douglas, who was born in Edinburgh, had spent more than 20 years working as a horse trainer before moving to Dumfries with Ms Baird to found Chamfron Stud Farm when he was struck down with the illness.

Mr Douglas was rushed to hospital with a mystery illness and was diagnosed with the condition just two weeks before his death

'He was very confident, very capable,' said Ms Baird, who is originally from Loanhead. 'There wasn't anything he couldn't turn his hand to and he would always give anything a go.

'He was very loyal to his friends. He was by all accounts an exceptional horseman and a good bloke.

'The day he was diagnosed I had 29 horses in the stud and I just stood in the barn and thought, "What am I going to do?"

Mr Douglas was first rushed to hospital on December 23 last year after falling ill, but doctors were initially unable to establish what was wrong.

Following a negative CAT scan, lumbar puncture and blood tests, it was decided that he would undergo a brain scan - his last hope for diagnosis.

After spending Christmas wracked with anxiety, Mr Douglas was finally diagnosed with CJD on January 4 - a degenerative condition dubbed the human form of mad cow disease.

Announcing his condition to friends on social media at the time, Ms Baird said she struggled to come to terms with losing her 'best friend'.

She wrote: 'On Monday, January 4 Mark was given the diagnosis of CJD and the prognosis of months not longer, in reality I think it will be sooner.

'I think Mark had been so tough for so long and so determined to protect me that none of us realised how desperately ill he is.

'I can't imagine my life without my best friend beside me.'

The illness is currently untreatable and Mr Douglas died on January 20.

His cousins, Lynne Riddell, 42, and Karen Muir, 39, are now taking part in a charity obstacle course to to raise money for the Alexandra Unit at Dumfries and Galloway Hospital, where he spent his final days.

Along with their husbands, Barry, 43, and David, 33, the sisters will take on the UK's biggest obstacle course on The Meadows, Edinburgh. in June.

Mother-of-two Mrs Riddell, from Bathgate, said: 'We were all going to meet at Karen's wedding this year but sadly he never got there.

'After he died we decided we were going to do something in his memory.

'Hopefully we can raise a good amount of money to help make a difference.'

Ms Baird said Mr Douglas would be proud of his cousins for taking on the challenge.

She added: 'He was always someone that would help out others. He was a brilliant sportsman and horseman, and if he had been running he would have been very competitive.

'I think it is a lovely thing for Lynne and Karen to do. The people who looked after him were absolutely outstanding.'
Donald Trump is ready to move into a new, more 'presidential' phase of his campaign, including a rapprochement with some of the Republican rivals whose political carcasses have littered his battlefields.

That could mean a reconciliation  and even a vice presidential nod  for 'Little Marco' Rubio, even as he continues to cross swords with 'Lyin' Ted' Cruz.

'Yes. I like Marco Rubio. Yeah. I could,' Trump told USA Today columnist Kirsten Powers when she asked if there would be a place in a Trump administration for the presidentially underperforming Florida senator.

'There are people I have in mind in terms of vice president. I just haven't told anybody names,' Trump said, adding: 'I do like Marco. I do like [John] Kasich.  I like [Scott] Walker actually in a lot of ways.'

'I hit him very hard ... but I've always liked him,' the Republican front-runner said of the sometimes feckless governor of Wisconsin who worked overtime to make sure Cruz beat him there last week.

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READY TO BE PRESIDENTIAL? Donald Trump is looking ahead to a time when he can put his rhetorical guns away and make nice with some of the Republicans he's stomped on during the campaign

YES, EVEN HIM: Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, derided by Trump as 'Little Marco,' could be on a VP short list

HE LIKES THEM: Ohio Gov. John Kasich (left) and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (right) are examples of politicians Trump says he could get along with  if only they would meet him halfway

But Trump hinted that his love-fest trial balloon could ultimately be shot down.

'There are people I like, but I don't think they like me because I have hit them hard,' he said.

Rubio's U.S. Senate office did not respond to a question on Tuesday about whether or not he would accept the number-two slot on Team Trump.

But he told reporters in Washington on March 17, two days after suspending his presidential campaign, that 'I'm not going to be anybody's vice president.'

Powers spoke with Trump in his New York City office last Thursday for an hour, a rare opportunity for a left-of-center pundit with political roots in the Clinton/Gore campaign of 1992.

Asked if he was about to make a grand pivot away from bluster and toward a more statesmanlike public profile, he said: 'The time is going to be soon.'

And that, he predicted, would allow him to 'start building coalitions' with people who have become his political enemies.

'People you see excoriating me on TV ... are calling my office wanting to get on the team,' the billionaire real estate developer said of his political fortunes

'I actually asked a couple of them, "How can you do this after what you said?" And they said, "No problem".'

'It's a crazy business,' he said.

Even Rubio, who was the but of endless jokes and famously overplayed his hand when talking about the size of Trump's hands, could come back into the fold.

'He made a mistake,' Trump said. 'He became Don Rickles for about four days, and then I became worse than Don Rickles.'

Rubio's insult-comic act included pot-shots about Trump's hair, claims that he is a spray tan user, and a now-famous quip about the size of his private parts.

Trump, true to form, gave as good as he got.

LUCKY SCRIBE: Left-of-center pundit and columnist Kirsten Powers scored the interview in Trump's New York City office

'SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO BREAK AN EGG': Trump has knocked off rival after rival during his White House cmapaign and risks the prospect of winning with few colleagues left to high-five him

He still believes, Powers writes, that he has to remain aggressive and pugnacious if he is to survive the rest of the GOP primary process and stay in the news  the best way for him to keep his issue portfolio in front of voters.

'If I didn't do it, then you might not be talking to me about a race where we are leading substantially,' he said of his decision to keep his dukes up and continue a scorched-earth strategy until Cruz and Kasich are both vanquished.

'Sometimes you have to break an egg,' he told the Washington Post two weeks ago. 'I think I have two more left.'

Trump predicted that if the Republican National Convention devolves into a floor fight and he loses, 'if I leave, all those people are gone, and the Republicans will go down to one of the great defeats in history.'

He also said he lacks the personality flip-side, one that allows for personal vulnerability to balance his tough-guy persona.

'I don't love to see leaders who sit back and cry. We've seen some of them,' he said, adding that he hasn't cried since he was a child.




Hillary Clinton is blaming Democratic rival Bernie Sanders' home state of Vermont for gun violence in New York - a state critical to both candidates' bids for their party's White House nomination.

Clinton said Monday at a roundtable in Port Washington, 'Here's what I want you to know. Most of the guns that are used in crimes and violence and killings in New York come from out of state. And the state that has the highest per capita number of those guns that end up committing crimes in New York come from Vermont.'

Vermont's Governor, Peter Shumlin, is a Clinton backer. But he says her claims about his state aren't 'entirely accurate' and hurled an accusation of his own in New York's direction about heroin distribution.

The Sanders campaign pointed to Shumlin's defense of his state in a statement sent to reporters with the header 'Clinton misfires.'

Hillary Clinton said Monday at a round table in Port Washington, 'Here's what I want you to know. Most of the guns that are used in crimes and violence and killings in New York come from out of state. And the state that has the highest per capita number of those guns that end up committing crimes in New York come from Vermont'

Yesterday, for the first time, Clinton publicly linked Vermont, a state that Sanders has represented in Congress for more than 25 years but has never led, to gun trafficking in New York.

She tested out the message at fundraisers beforehand, though, and the attack line made its way into news reports.

Addressing Clinton's comments last week, Shumlin said, 'It is campaign season, therefore sometimes things are said by all the candidates that sometimes arent entirely accurate. I would just say this  I think youd have a hard time convincing Vermonters that New Yorks crime problems are coming from Vermont.'

He pointed the finger in the other direction and said New York is responsible for the influx of heroin into Vermont.

'Theres no question that the  heroin heading into Vermont right now doesnt originate in Vermont,' he said, according to the Barre Montpelier Times Argus.

Shumlin said, 'It comes from parts south, and you may well notice that often when folks are busted bringing this stuff in they have New York plates.'

Clinton's campaign cities a 2014 Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms report to back up the candidate's claims.

More guns were found at New York crime scenes from Vermont, per-capita, than from any other state, it says.

In 2013, 61 guns at New York crime scenes were traced back to Vermont, the campaign said in a statement Monday evening.

The next highest state was New Hampshire.

Last October the New York Police Department reported a 25 percent increase in homicide by gun over the previous year and made reduction a priority.

Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon continued the siege on Sanders over gun crimes yesterday and said on Twitter, 'When Sanders cites his home state to defend his pro-gun positions, it's worth noting how the impact of VT gun laws don't end at state border.'

Michael Briggs, a spokesman for Sanders, directed reporters to Governor Shumlin's comments in the Time Argus in a statement.

Briggs added, 'I dont know why Secretary Clinton would be so critical of the governor of Vermont who strongly supports her candidacy.'

Vermont's Governor, Peter Shumlin, is a Clinton backer. But he says her claims about his state aren't 'entirely accurate.' The Sanders campaign pointed to Shumlin's defense of his state in a statement sent to reporters with the header 'Clinton misfires.' Sanders is seen here yesterday in Buffalo

The Washington Post's fact checkers determined that Clinton was relying on a 'misleading data point' to make her case.

'The per capita calculation is skewed by Vermonts small population,' it said.

Looking at the raw numbers in 2014, 2,556 guns would have been on the street aside from the 55 that came from Vermont that year.

'The number of crime guns in New York from Vermont is so small that it could even be attributed to one or two bad actors,' the Post said. 'Using the per capita measure of trafficked guns originating from Vermont is as pointless as counting guns trafficked per 100,000 head of cattle.'

Clinton has made Sanders' stance on guns the centerpiece of her campaign against him in New York, where her lead dropped to 12 points in a poll on Monday from 21 in February.

Sanders' most recent rating from prominent gun lobby group the National Rifle Association is a D- and for many years he had an F.

Throughout the 2016 campaign Clinton's made him out to be a cohort of the organization, though, and she frequently highlights his vote on a bill that gave manufacturers immunity from crimes committed using their firearms.

In Port Washington on Monday she charged, 'When Senator Sanders was in the House, he voted against the Brady Bill five times. I was very proud when my husband passed and signed the Brady Bill, and I'm very grateful that it has saved lives.

Clinton has made Sanders' stance on guns the centerpiece of her campaign against him in New York, where her lead dropped to 12 points in a Monmouth University poll on Monday from 21 in February

'We want comprehensive background checks, and that means close the gun show loophole, close the online loophole, close what's called the Charleston loopholeThis is another feature that Senator Sanders voted for.'

At the event Sandy Phillips, a mother of an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater shooting victim, talked about a lawsuit her family is involved in against an online dealer who sold 4,000 rounds of ammunition to would-be mass murderer James Holmes.

'The judge dismissed our case and said that we must pay $200,000 to the online company that sold the ammo,' Phillips said.

In a statement promoting the remarks, Clinton's campaign stated: 'The Phillips lawsuit was dismissed because of a dangerous law that Sanders voted for twice, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. Sanders has yet to follow up on a promise to the Phillips family to meet them in person.'

Sanders has attached his name to legislation in the Senate this legislative session that would open up firearms manufacturers to the types of lawsuits supported by Clinton and a majority of liberals.

He's stipulated that it rests on the inclusion of a study to determine how the law affects rural states like Vermont and small, mom and pop style firearms dealers.

Speaking to the New York Daily News editorial board this month he said of gun violence, 'Nobody can guarantee that some lunatic is not going to pick up a gun today and kill people. But we have to do the best that we can to prevent those type of killings.'

Sanders said he was in favor of expanding background checks, getting rid of a rule that allows private sales without a check at gun shows, cracking down on straw sales and increasing funding for mental health.

'So I support pretty much the President's agenda,' he said.

But in response to a question on the 2014 Sandy Hook massacre in Connecticut, Sanders said he does not believe families of the victims should be able to sue the firearms manufacturer for damages.

'In the same sense that if you're a gun dealer and you sell me a gun and I go out and I kill him [a person in the room]. Do I think that that gun dealer should be sued for selling me a legal product that he misused?' Sanders shook his head no.

Continuing he said, 'But I do believe that gun manufacturers and gun dealers should be able to be sued when they should know that guns are going into the hands of wrong people.'

'So if somebody walks in and says, "I'd like 10,000 rounds of ammunition," you know, well, you might be suspicious about that. So I think there are grounds for those suits, but not if you sell me a legal product.'

Throughout the 2016 campaign she's made him out to be a cohort of the NRA, and she frequently highlights his vote against a bill that would have made gun manufacturers liable for crimes committed using their firearms

A progressive who is further to the left than Clinton on almost every issue but guns, his position on immunity for firearms makers is a perceived weakness that Clinton has effectively exploited.

Following the NYDN interview, Clinton's campaign convened lawmakers that have endorsed her for a call.

Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy accused Sanders of 'shielding the firearms industry' and said his position 'is hard to understand.'

'His comments earlier this week in an interview that he gave to the New York Daily News are disturbing,' Murphy said.

Sanders for his part is sticking Clinton with her support for trade deals opposed by labor groups and the manufacturing industry as he tours liberal, upstate New York.

In New York City, he's played up the 18 years spent in Brooklyn before college and primarily left attacks on Clinton to high-profile surrogates like actress Rosario Dawson, who told Clinton at a rally in the Bronx, 'Shame on you, Hillary.'

She mocked the Clinton campaign for saying it wouldn't agree to debate in New York until Sanders improved his 'tone' and said, 'Sorry, hold on, let me watch my tone, because we very, very much want a debate.'
The husband of late actress Lynda Bellingham has spoken out over claims made by his step-sons that he has deprived them of their inheritance.

Her sons Michael and Robbie Peluso claim their mother's third husband Michael Pattemore squandered thousands from Lynda's estate and evicted them from the family home.

The actress, famous as the 'Oxo mum', died of bowel cancer in 2014 and the brothers are now challenging him over her will.

Speaking for the first time about the allegations, Mr Pattemore said the situation was 'frustrating' and insisted the whole story hadn't been given.

Michael Pattemore has angered the sons of his late wife Lynda Bellingham by going on repeated holidays (including a trip to India, right) since her death and 'taking control' of her will

Michael (left) and Robbie Peluso claim they have been disowned by Mr Pattemore privately and are challenging him over their late mother's will

Mr Pattemore, from Crewkerne, Somerset, said: 'We are still going through probate so everything is still frozen.'

His comments suggest the will is still being processed so none of Lynda's estate has yet been given to either him or her sons.

It comes after Bellingham's son Michael Peluso criticised Pattemore over how her estate has been handled.

Michael, 32, said: 'This isn't about money. It's about the fact that he's got control over everything my mother worked for her entire life, and we know that's not what she wanted.'

They say their mother wanted Mr Pattemore to ensure they were looked after, yet aside from gifts amounting to 750 each, they say have received nothing from him.

The boys went public with their criticism of Pattemore after he gave an interview in which he said Lynda visited him from the afterlife and that he had made love to her 'ghost spirit'.

Lynda, who found fame as the Oxo mother and with appearances on Loose Women, died in 2014

Robbie, left, and Michael Peluso, pictured with mother Lynda Bellingham when they were children

Michael said: 'She should be remembered for all the wonderful work she did as an actress and the inspiring courage she showed at the end of her life, not for these tacky revelations that are tarnishing the reputation she worked so hard for.

'When I read the interview about her ghost, I knew it was time to stand up for her, and give our side of everything that's happened since my mother's death.'

Pattemore has been pictured enjoying holidays around the world since her death and reportedly slept with another woman in the marital bed.
Berlin police have arrested eight suspected criminal members of large Arab families amid claims their 'clans' have taken over the city's underworld.

Officers carried out 16 dawn raids across the German capital as part of investigations in to a series of crimes including robberies at a major city department store and incitement to a contract killing.

Investigators say information led them to suspected 'criminal members of large families of Arab origin aged from 20 to 56'.

Berlin police have arrested eight suspected criminal members of large Arab families amid claims their 'clans' have taken over the city's underworld

Officers carried out 16 dawn raids across the German capital as part of investigations in to a series of crimes including robberies at a major city department store and incitement to a contract killing

They are suspected of offences including involvement in a 2014 robbery at the KaDeWe department store in which jewelry and watches were stolen, incitement to a contract killing and illegal weapons possession.

Police spokesman Stefan Redlich told n-tv television that authorities seized a gun, ammunition, cash, jewelry and a Porsche car, among other things.

Berlin's top security official, Frank Henkel, welcomed what he called a 'blow against organised crime.'

He said it was encouraging and 'unusual for this scene' that witnesses had come forward. The suspects are long-term residents in Germany, not recent arrivals.

It comes amid claims the city's underworld is being taken over by so-called clans.

Investigators say information led them to suspected 'criminal members of large families of Arab origin aged from 20 to 56'

Dirk Jacob, the director of the State Criminal Police Office (LKA), told German newspaper Die Welt how groups were specialising in drug trafficking and property crime.

He said it was becoming 'extremely difficult to penetrate' criminal elements of the clans that had become 'solid structures'.

Jacob added that there was an increasing problem with witness intimidation.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said 'count me out' of the presidential campaign once again, instructing Republican delegates not to nominate him for the White House at this summer's convention.

'We have too much work to do in the House to allow this speculation to swirl or to have my motivations questioned,' Ryan told reporters today at the headquarters of the Republican National Committee on Capitol Hill. 'So let me be clear, I do not want nor will I accept the nomination for our party.'

Ryan's name has been brought up again and again as someone who could unite the Republican party amid a contested convention this summer in Cleveland, Ohio, if neither Donald Trump nor Ted Cruz can secure enough delegates to create a majority during the early ballots.

He's continually said he's not in the running, though played coy before ascending to his current role of Speaker of the House too. Today he called that comparison 'apples and oranges.'

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House Speaker Paul Ryan gave brief remarks today from the headquarters of the Republican National Convention instructing GOP delegates not to nominate him for president

Not It: House Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters 'count me out' trying to silence speculation once and for all that he could be nominated from the floor of this summer's Republican National Convention

'I want to put this to rest once and for all,' Ryan said.

He tried speaking directly to Republican delegates, who are bound to their candidates, whether it be Trump, Cruz, Ohio Gov. John Kasich or even Sen. Marco Rubio, for only the first round of voting.

'If no candidate has a majority on the first ballot, I believe that you should only choose from a person who has actually participated in the primary,' Ryan said.

'Count me out,' he continued.

'I simply believe if you want to be the nominee for our party, to be the president, you should actually run for it. I chose not to do this, therefore, I should not be considered. Period. End of story,' he implored.

Last week Politico fanned the flames of a Ryan-topped Republican insurgency, reporting that insiders are predicting the House Speaker will be nominated by the GOP on the convention's fourth ballot.

Furthering speculation, the New York Observer reported that Ryan had planned to meet with top GOP donors in New York next week.

Todd Ricketts, the co-owner of the Chicago Cubs, was arranging a meeting at the Mandarin Oriental with 'twenty or so' top GOP bundlers, which Ryan will attend.

House Speaker Paul Ryan has made a number of moves that indicated he might secretly be interested in being nominated from the floor in Cleveland if neither Donald Trump nor Ted Cruz secure a nominating majority

Ryan, for his part, has said no, he's not running for president again and again.

'Get my name out of that,"' the speaker recently told radio host Hugh Hewitt.

'Im not that person. Id like to think my face is somewhat fresh, but Im not for this conversation,' Ryan also said. 'I think you need to run for president if youre going to be president, and Im not running for president. So period, end of story.'

He sang a similar tune a month before, telling NBC News on March 15, 'I actually think you should run for president if you're going to be president, if you want to be president.'

'I'm not running for president. I made that decision, consciously, not to,' he added.

The 2012 vice presidential nominee originally stated that he was not running for president in January 2015.

PAUL RYAN SAYS 'NO' MANY TIMES 'I have decided that I am not going to run for president in 2016.' - January 12, 2015 'I actually think you should run for president if you're going to be president, if you want to be president. I'm not running for president. I made that decision, consciously, not to.' March 15, 2016 'Im not that person. Id like to think my face is somewhat fresh, but Im not for this conversation, Ryan said. I think you need to run for president if youre going to be president, and Im not running for president. So period, end of story.' - April 4, 2016 'People put my name in this thing, I said "Get my name out of that."' - April 4, 2016 'So let me be clear, I do not want nor will I accept the nomination for our party.' April 12, 2016

Haven't I heard this somewhere before? Oh yes, he did't want to be Speaker either: 'I will not be a candidate for Speaker. I continue to believe I can best serve the country & this conference as Chairman of the Ways & Means.' - October 8, 2015 Advertisement

'I have decided that I am not going to run for president in 2016,' he told NBC News, saying he was 'at peace' with the decision, which he had made 'weeks ago.'

'Let me say again, I am not going to be our party's nominee,' he said again today at his brief press conference.

But actions speak louder than words and Ryan had made a number of moves recenty that indicated he might have been interested in the job.

Next week's meeting would find Ryan not only face-to-face with Ricketts, but alongside Randy Kendrick, the wife of Arizona Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick.

The two families have thrown money at political action committees associated with the 'Stop Trump' movement.

Additionally, at the end of March, Ryan delivered a speech to Capitol Hill interns discussing his own vision for American politics, what he dubbed a 'confident America,' which most political watchers viewed as a long-winded wag-of-the-finger aimed at Republican frontrunner Trump.

'We shouldn't accept ugliness as the norm, we should demand better for ourselves,' Ryan implored.

'Instead of playing to your anxieties we can appeal to your aspirations. Instead of playing the identity politics of our base versus their base, we unite people around ideas and principles,' Ryan continued.

'And instead of being timid we go bold  we don't just resort to scaring people, we dare to inspire people,' Ryan said, sounding like the anti-Trump many Republicans in his party want him to be.

Last week, his office encapsulated some of his best lines from the speech into a 43-second video spot.

Was that, as the Drudge Report speculated, Ryan's 'first campaign ad?'

Ryan tried explaining away those moves today.

'But I'll also be clear on something else, not running does not mean I'm going to disappear,' he said. 'When I accepted this speakership, I did so on the condition that I would do things differently than they had been done in the past.

Ryan reminded reporters that he had 'made it clear' that 'this would be a policy and communications-focused speakership' and that he had always planned to put out an agenda.

The expected release of an agenda before the convention led to more speculation that he was trying to exert influence over the party's eventual nominee.

As for his big-idea speech, Ryan said as Speaker he had not just 'an opportunity, but an obligation' to further the debate on what kind of country this would be.

'Politics today tends to drift toward personality contests, not policy contests. Insults get ink more than ideas,' he said. 'But we still owe it to the country to show what we would do if given a mandate from the people.'

'We have an obligation to give a clear picture, a clear choice to talk about solutions,' he continued.

'That's why I've been giving speeches,' he explained. 'That's why I've been communicating a vision for where our party and our country can be and that is why I'm going to continue doing just that.'

On Sunday, the New York Times labeled Ryan's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a 'parallel campaign' and Ryan himself 'a mirage candidate.'

Ryan noted this attention as well, explaining that one of the reasons he decided to have his press conference today was all the queries he fielded while he was abroad.

'It is really amazing how our politics is followed so closely overseas,' he said.

'I was asked about it everywhere I went,' he added.

'I'm also aware that while I was overseas there was more speculation that someone other than the current candidates will emerge as our party's nominee,' he acknowledged outright.

The New York Times article noted how Ryan was happily raising money for his fellow Republican candidates.

The National Republican Congressional Committee raised $185,000 from two emails Ryan had sent out last month.

Activists had already started raising money for the Speaker as well, using the website CrowdPAC.

Despite his insistence that he would not be running for president, more than $50,000 had already been raised.

Ryan said today that a lot of the work he's been doing has been on behalf of his House colleagues.

There's also the past precedent of how Ryan got the speaker's job, playing coy at first until a majority of House Republicans were vocally on board with Ryan replacing former House Speaker John Boehner.

'I will not be a candidate for Speaker. I continue to believe I can best serve the country & this conference as Chairman of the Ways & Means,' Ryan tweeted back in October, before relenting and taking the job.

Today he said that his coyness shouldn't be comparable.

'Being Speaker of the House is a far cry from being president of the United States, specifically because I was already in the House. I'm already a congressman,' he continued.
A Philadelphia father has been acquitted of voluntary manslaughter after he fatally shot his daughter's boyfriend believing that he was an intruder.

Charles Jordan, 42, killed Marc Carrion, 32, on September 14, 2014 believing that Mr Carrion had broken into his daughter's room in their Philadelphia apartment.

In fact his daughter, Brenda Jordan, 20, had been dating Mr Carrion for a month, and told police she invited him up to her room.

Common Pleas Court Judge Rose Marie DeFino-Nastasi listened to several witnesses and the five-minute 911 audio recording of the confrontation between Jordan and Carrion before delivering the ruling on Monday, according to Philly.com.

Charles Jordan (left), 41, was acquitted of voluntary manslaughter after shooting Marc Carrion (right), 32, in the head in September of 2014 after mistaking him for an intruder

Jordan found Carrion in his daughter Brenda's room, and believed he had broken in. However, Brenda told police the pair were dating for a month and she invited him up

'Don't you move! I will shoot you!' Jordan can be heard shouting during the 911 call he made to authorities on at 11.35pm that night nearly two years ago.

Carrion can be heard telling the father that he is his daughter's boyfriend and lives nearby.

His shooting death can be heard along with screams from Brenda, Jordan's 20-year-old daughter.

'Dad, he's dead!' she screamed during the call.

During testimony the father said he did not know Carrion and thought he was an intruder who broke into the apartment he shared with his daughter.

He added that he heard several 'bangs', which prompted him to grab his loaded .38-caliber revolver.

Jordan said he knocked on his daughter's bedroom door and she answered 'What?'

He testified that he spotted someone's arched back hiding beside her bed near the window and he ordered Carrion to get on the floor while he called 911 on his cellphone.

The shooting took place inside the Jordans' apartment at the Holme Circle housing complex (above)

Authorities said that Brenda was a heroin addict and that Carrion supplied her with the drug. They found 10 to 15 heroin packets on her bed

But when Carrion began to move stating that he needed to stand, Jordan said he shot him.

'My daughter did not say a word,' Jordan testified in court. 'I thought she was just as scared as I was.'

She didn't testify during a preliminary hearing in January 2015 or during her father's actual trial.

Philadelphia Deputy Medical Examiner Albert Chu said a blood test showed that Carrion had used the illegal stimulant PCP, according to Philly.com.

At Jordan's preliminary hearing, Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore and defense attorney Todd E. Henry said that Brenda was a heroin addict and that Carrion supplied her with the drug.

Authorities found 10 to 15 heroin packets on Brenda's bed, Philly.com reported.

DeFino-Nastasi told the courtroom that to find Jordan guilty of voluntary manslaughter, she would have to believe his conduct was 'unreasonable under all circumstances known at the time.'

The courtroom was reportedly packed with more than 70 supporters of Jordan and Carrion's family members.
Lane Ravey, 30, was busted after an alleged burglary in Florida Sunday

The dramatic moment a burglary suspect's truck burst into flames after he fled police has been caught on camera.

Lane Ravey, 30, and his girlfriend escaped the blaze consuming their getaway car but couldn't dodge the cops after allegedly stealing $100,000 worth of loot from a Florida home.

Ravey also admitted to cops he had swallowed five balloons of heroin and stuffed more drugs near his butt in the arrest, officers claim.

The 30-year-old had made it less than seven miles down the road from the Summerfield home he allegedly robbed before the vehicle caught on fire on Highway 441 near Southeast 132nd Street Road.

When officers arrived on the scene shortly before 7pm, they had to talk the suspect out of arming himself with a long gun before cuffing him, according to the Marion County Sheriff's Office.

After body searching Ravey, police said they found methamphetamine, a methadone pill, a glass pipe and part of a 'marijuana blunt' on his person.

After allegedly burglarizing a Summerfield, Florida, home on Sunday, Lane Ravey was apprehended by cops

Dashcam footage shows Marion County deputies leading Ravey away from a smoldering truck

The truck, which was possibly stolen, went up in flames shortly after Ravey was handcuffed

From Ravey's pockets and the bed of his flaming getaway vehicle - a 2003 GMC Sierra pickup truck - police recovered nearly 80 gold and silver coins worth more than $40,000, a silver Rolex watch worth $2,800, six Casio watches worth $300 each, a motorbike, $10,000 in cash, and other stolen property.

Ravey also stole a black powder rifle and a Blackhawk BB gun, police said.

Dashcam footage shows Ravey being cuffed and led to the police car with the sun setting in the background. The truck then bursts into flames and explodes just as a fire truck arrives to extinguish the flames.

In a police report, officers noted that 'Due to [the pickup truck] becoming fully engulfed in flames, it is hard to determine exactly what items were still in the vehicle.'

The burglary victim stated that he lost property worth a total of almost $100,000 in the robbery.

Police also recovered three different driver's licenses and bank checks that did not belong to Ravey.

A spokesperson with the Marion County Sheriff's Office told Daily Mail Online that the getaway truck belonged to one of the individuals whose driver's license and bank checks were found on Ravey's person, although it wasn't clear whether or not he stole the truck.

Firefighters were called in to put out the flames ravaging the 2003 GMC Sierra pickup truck

Police said it's possible some of the goods Ravey allegedly stole from a nearby home were still in the truck as it went up in flames

While he was cuffed, Ravey allegedly kicked the inside of a cop car until he was put in a hobble restraint.

Natalie Kaiser, 31, was nabbed along with Ravey

Afterwards, Ravey told police he had swallowed five balloons filled with heroin. Another plastic baggie of heroin was found 'located near the suspect's anus,' police wrote in a report.

Police said Ravey was transported to Ocala Regional Medical Center and placed in the intensive care unit where he was still being treated as of Tuesday afternoon.

It was unclear if his injuries stemmed from his arrest or the drugs on his person.

When questioned by police, his female 'accomplice', Natalie Kaiser, 31, said she waited in the truck while Ravey - 'her boyfriend of three days,' according to the police report - robbed the Summerfield residence shortly after noon Sunday.

She said Ravey - to whom she referred as 'Tat,' possibly because of his numerous face tattoos - had told her he was collecting a debt from the owner of the house.

According to Kaiser, Ravey knocked the front door, went around to the back of the house, and returned with the bike and a 'laundry basket full of items.'

Later that afternoon, the owner of the house spotted the pair and gave chase. The homeowner told police Ravey at one point aimed the BB gun at him while they were driving.

Kaiser was booked into Marion County Jail on armed burglary and grand theft charges. Once released from the hospital, Ravey will be charged with the same crimes, and possibly some narcotics charges, police told Daily Mail Online.
A six-year-old girl fell to her death from a 43-floor apartment complex in Osaka minutes after she watched a ainme DVD featuring a family who could fly.

The girl, who has not been named by Japanese authorities, climbed over a one metre-high fence at the edge of the balcony before plunging to her death.

Authorities do not want to release the name of the film involved either in case it provoked copycat events.

The girl died after plunging from the 43rd floor of an apartment complex in the Japanese city of Osaka, pictured

The accident happened in the southern Japanese coastal port city of Osaka, about 250 miles from Tokyo

It is understood the girl climbed out through a window onto the balcony and used a chair to scale the fence at the apartment in the Abeno Ward area of Osaka, which is about 250 miles from Tokyo.

The family members saw the girl standing on the top of the fence before she lost her balance and tumbled over the side.

A police official told The Guardian: 'We do not suspect any foul play at this time. We received a call on Sunday afternoon from a man who witnessed the girls fall. It may seem strange that it was not the family who called, but somebody on the ground witnessed the tragedy, and as soon as he saw it, he immediately called authorities.'

The official claimed he did not want to name the film involved as this could provoke copycat attempts. He said: 'We dont want to name the anime she was watching because it could lead to people saying "this is what happens when you watch this movie".'
A single mother who made headlines earlier this year when she was arrested for having sex with a stranger on a Las Vegas Ferris wheel has struck a plea deal with prosecutors.

Chloe Scordianos of Hicksville, New York was celebrating her 21st birthday in Las Vegas on February 5 when she met Philip Panzica, 27.

Panzica was in town to get married, but had a falling out with his fiancee and went on a bender when he met Scordianos. The two were arrested when they decided to go on the High Roller Ferris wheel and allegedly started having sex.

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Chloe Scordianos, 21 (left), and Philip Panzica, 27 (right), were arrested on February 5 for having sex on a Las Vegas Ferris wheel. About a month later, Panzica was murdered in a car jacking

On Tuesday, Scordianos will agree to plead no contest to a misdemeanor charge in connection to the arrest on the Las Vegas Highroller Ferris wheel (stock image pictured above)

Scordianos previously planned to plead not guilty, but her lawyer Chris Rasmussen told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Tuesday that she had changed her mind after speaking with prosecutors.

She will now plead no contest to a misdemeanor in exchange for prosecutors dropping the initial felony charge of committing a sex act in public.

'Ms Scordianos has learned that the phrase "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" is not always true,' Rasmussen said. 'This plea will allow her to close this embarrassing chapter in her life and keep this salacious video private.'

Ms Scordianos has learned that the phrase 'what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas' is not always true. Chris Rasmussen, Chloe Scordianos' lawyer

Rasmussen will enter his client's plea in court on Tuesday. Scordianos will not be in court for the hearing.

A little over a month after their tryst, Scordianos' partner in crime was tragically murdered in a carjacking.

Panzica (right) was in Las Vegas to get married to his fiancee Mistie Bozant, left, but the two had a falling out and he went on a bender when he met Scordianos

Panzica and Bozant remained friendly after the one-day affair. Back in Texas, about a month later, Panzica was shot dead while driving Bozant home from her job at a strip club (above)

Panzica and his former fiancee, Mistie Bozant, profited from his fall from grace by agreeing to do interviews about his arrest.

Police said he bragged about earning $4,000 to appear on Inside Edition to Aaron Jones, a shoe-shiner at the strip club where Bozant worked, the night Jones' brother, Bryant Christopher Watts, shot him dead.

Watts has claimed innocence, saying he felt like Panzica and Bozant were about to rob him and his brother and that he pulled out his gun in self defense.

Panzica is survived by a son, who he had with a former girlfriend.
A man revealed to police that he thinks he shot and killed his uncle after a day of drinking but could not remember why he had done it, according to affidavit released today.

Jeremy Erving, 24, appeared in Skowhegan District Court on a murder charge after his uncle Randy Erving, 53, was found dead in his bed at his home in St Albans, Maine.

Randy suffered a gunshot wound to the back of his head and a .30-30 shell was found on the floor near his body, wrote Maine State Police Detective Hugh Landry in the affidavit.

Jeremy Erving, 24, revealed to police that he thinks he shot and killed his uncle after a day of drinking

Erving previously told his girlfriend, her father and officers that his uncle was his best friend, according to another, probable cause affidavit filed on Friday, reported The Bangor Daily News.

Chief Judge Charles LaVerdiere ordered the 24-year-old suspect be held without bail pending a hearing, which will take place in early May.

On the day of the incident, Erving was dropped to his uncle's house on Thursday 7 and the pair began drinking in the afternoon, the court document stated.

It adds that around 7pm, Randy went to bed and Erving stayed up drinking before going to his aunt's residence with a rifle and later returning to his uncle's house. Erving later went to his uncle's room and woke him up for a cigarette.

The affidavit continues: 'Jeremy advised he drank a few more beers but does not remember much beyond this point. Jeremy advised he remembers a 'bang' and a barrel.'

The officer wrote that the next thing Erving remembers is being pulled over in Dexter for DUI while behind the wheel of Randy's truck.

The suspect had a rifle and Randy's pet dog in the backseat of the vehicle, which his uncle had never let him drive before.

The suspect appeared in Skowhegan District Court (pictured) on a murder charge after his uncle Randy Erving, 53, was found dead

The court document adds that Erving was arrested and taken to Penobscot County Jail after Police discovered his blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit and the rifle was loaded.

Erving was later picked up from jail by his girlfriend and her father and allegedly told them he had shot his uncle in the back of the head.

He later claimed that he did not recall saying he had shot his uncle in the back of the head, but that 'all he remembers is that he shot him,' wrote the police officer.

Erving was taken to Somerset County Sheriff's Office where he told an officer he thought he had 'shot his uncle', according to the court document.

Deputy Chris Dyer and Deputy Wilfred Dodge went to the house on McNally Road and confirmed that Randy was dead.

Writing in the court document, the police officer also revealed a part of the interview with the suspect in which he asked him whether he remembered shooting his uncle.

The officer wrote that Jeremy replied: ''Well ," and stated he was the only one there, it was pretty obvious.'
are not united by one goal but discuss many things from rewriting the constitution to women's rights

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French youths have been occupying an iconic Paris square every night for two weeks in protests against labour reforms with echoes of the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations.

The 'Nuit Debout' or 'Up all Night' movement began on March 31 when a group of activists decided not to go home after a march against labour reform.

Protesters  from high school pupils to trade unionists - are hostile to government pro-business reforms which include plans to make layoffs easier and cheaper, and encourage enterprise-level bargaining on working hours and wages.

French youths have been occupying an iconic Paris square every night for two weeks in protests against labour reforms with echoes of the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations

A general assembly sit-in on Place de la Republique. The 'Nuit Debout' or 'Up all Night' movement began on March 31 when a group of activists decided not to go home after a march against labour reform

Protesters - from high school pupils to trade unionists - are hostile to government pro-business reforms which include plans to make layoffs easier and cheaper, and encourage enterprise-level bargaining on working hours and wages

People gather on the Place de la Republique holding a banner reading 'Panama Leaks, People Racketeer Enough' in reference to the recent revealing of the extensive use of offshore funds to avoid tax by some of the wealthiest people in the world

Crowds ranging from several hundred to a few thousand have been gathering at The Place de la Republique for a spontaneous happening that is a mixture of street theatre, party and ritual initiation for a new generation of activists.

Inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement in the United States and Spain's 2011 Indignados street sit-ins, 'Nuit Debout' unites the discontented who debate everything from rewriting the French constitution to protesting against police violence and labour reforms.

Working groups on the square discuss utopian projects such as a universal income, a lifetime job guarantee or worker takeovers of companies, but also women's rights, the media, unemployment and climate change.

Place de la Republique had become an improvised shrine and a symbol of national unity where huge crowds rallied after last year's Islamist attacks in Paris.

The 'Nuit Debout' movement has pitched its tents and built its stalls around that shrine, still festooned with candles, banners, graffiti and flowers.

Veterans of the Spanish youth protests, which gave rise to the far-left Podemos (We Can) party, came to Paris to offer informal advice on how to organize, and at the weekend the all-night sit-ins spread to some 60 towns around the provinces across France.

President Francois Hollande, who made a big play for the youth vote in his 2012 election campaign, is now considering whether to run again in 2017 despite record low approval ratings.

In response to the protests government announced about 500 million euros in extra subsidies for young job seekers on Monday.

A young couple embrace in the square as people dance to the sound of brass instruments during the 'Up All Night' protests in Paris

Crowds ranging from several hundred to a few thousand have been gathering at The Place de la Republique for a spontaneous happening that is a mixture of street theatre, party and ritual initiation for a new generation of activists

A youth waves a flag which reads 'La Nuit Debout' ('The Night awake' or 'The Night Standing up'), the name of the protests inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement in the United States

Dedicated protesters use umbrellas and tarpaulin to keep themselves dry in the iconic Parisian square. The discontented debate everything from rewriting the French constitution to protesting against police violence and labour reforms

Working groups on the square discuss utopian projects such as a universal income, a lifetime job guarantee or worker takeovers of companies, but also women's rights, the media, unemployment and climate change

But protesters say the latest handouts to students and apprentices miss the point.

'The thinking behind the 'Nuit Debout' is to find new confidence in our own strength precisely because we don't trust those who rule us any more,' 20-year-old political science student Victor said.

'When they (the government) say that they're working for young people, it's a huge lie. They're just trying to halt the momentum.'

Victor declined to give his full name to avoid appearing as spokesman of a movement that insists it is leader-less even if a few high-profile activists, including an economist and a documentary filmmaker, helped launch it.

Participants of the social media-born movement fasten a flag next to a dummy representing French Prime Minister Manuel Valls with a sign around its neck reading 'Valls is Finished' atop the monument on Place de la Republique

Veterans of the Spanish youth protests, which gave rise to the far-left Podemos (We Can) party, came to Paris to offer informal advice on how to organize, and at the weekend the all-night sit-ins spread to some 60 towns around the provinces across France

Protester Zoe, a 19-year-old literature student, said: 'This is amazing, people are finally taking the political debate into their own hands.'

The 'Nuit Debout' protesters agree only that they want change. There is no defined platform beyond widespread anger at the government's pro-business reforms.

'It is really uplifting to see so many people around me who want something else, even if it's not quite clear yet what that something else is,' said Clementine, who works for a non-governmental organization.

There are committees to discuss specific issues and a daily general assembly at 6pm, where all are free to speak but must register first and respect a time limit.

When the sound system goes down, all those within hearing range relay the speakers' words by shouting to those at the back of the square.

Asked what their objective is, a common response among the participants is 'We'll see where this gets us'.

A protester chants at the demonstrations against labour reforms. President Francois Hollande, who made a big play for the youth vote in his 2012 election campaign, is now considering whether to run again in 2017 despite record low approval ratings

Activists hold up a banner reading 'Hollande do you sleep?' In response to the protests government announced about 500 million euros in extra subsidies for young job seekers on Monday

A woman addresses the crowds of activists in the square. One protester called Victor said: 'When government say that they're working for young people, it's a huge lie. They're just trying to halt the momentum.'

A sign reads 'respect existence or expect resistance.' Many youths feel that the latest handouts to students and apprentices miss the point: they simply no longer trust the government

The movement insists it is leader-less even if a few high-profile activists, including an economist and a documentary filmmaker, helped launch it

Protester Zoe, a 19-year-old literature student, said: 'This is amazing, people are finally taking the political debate into their own hands'

But experts say the the lack of clear platform is one of the movement's limits.

Albert Ogien, a director at the CNRS research institute and specialist in new political movements, said: 'The student-worker uprising of May '68 was all about having an actual revolution against capitalism.

'Now it's much more diffuse... and it's hard to have another May '68 if you don't have one clearly identified common enemy.

'It takes more than a thousand to make a May '68, you need a whole country.'

So far, the numbers are far from achieving the critical mass to sustain a nationwide movement.

School and university holidays starting next week and exams after the break could well add to protest fatigue, analysts said, noting that the Indignados and Occupy movements eventually fizzled.

Participants point to another issue they say the movement needs to remedy: the protesters are overwhelmingly white students and workers from central Paris, and few come from France's under-privileged, ethnically diverse suburbs.

People stand next to a sign reading 'Up all night, tonight our home is here'. The 'Nuit Debout' protesters agree only that they want change. There is no defined platform beyond widespread anger at the government's pro-business reforms

There are stalls providing food for the activists during the demonstrations. Activist Clementine said: 'It is really uplifting to see so many people around me who want something else'

Francois Miquet-Marty, head of the Viavoice polling institute said: 'Nuit Debout shows the government is struggling to talk with parts of its own electorate,'

'While 'Nuit Debout' is too disorganised for now to threaten the system, 'it would be dangerous for the government to let it get bigger.'

Socialist lawmaker Malek Boutih told Le Monde daily: 'Nuit Debout is a problem for Hollande because it's largely his 2012 voters who are taking to the street and saying 'We were fooled. Never again'.

Police moved in to clear the square peacefully early on Monday, but the protesters were back by the evening.

The government has taken a mostly hands-off approach despite a nationwide state of emergency in force since last November's deadly Paris attacks.

Security forces have intervened only when a small group of rioters tried to reach Prime Minister Manuel Valls's nearby home on Saturday.

Experts say the the lack of clear platform is one of the movement's limits. Albert Ogien, a specialist in new political movements, said: 'The student-worker uprising of May '68 was all about having an actual revolution against capitalism. Now it's much more diffuse'

School and university holidays starting next week and exams after the break could well add to protest fatigue, analysts said, noting that the Indignados and Occupy movements eventually fizzled

People take shelter under a tarpaulin during the demonstrations. Francois Miquet-Marty, head of the Viavoice polling institute said: 'Nuit Debout shows the government is struggling to talk with parts of its own electorate'

Socialist lawmaker Malek Boutih told Le Monde daily: 'Nuit Debout is a problem for Hollande because it's largely his 2012 voters who are taking to the street and saying 'We were fooled. Never again'
His mother Janet Tobin said she constantly lives in fear he will re-

A mother whose son disabled son was arrested at his workplace after inappropriately touching a girl at the train station has opened up about her fear that he will re-offend and end up in jail.

Janet Tobin's developmentally delayed son Alex, 23, spends three days a week happily working at a KFC in Sydney's airport.

But despite his willingness to work and ability to catch a train there, Ms Tobin has lived in constant fear of a knock on the door from police since Alex was arrested and charged with a sexual offence.

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A mother whose son disabled son was arrested at his workplace after inappropriately touching a girl at the train station has opened up about her fear that he will re-offend and end up in jail

Janet Tobin's developmentally delayed son Alex, 23, spends three days a week happily working at a KFC in Sydney's airport

'There was a period in his life when there was a lot of disruption and he played out in a sort of sexual way whereby he was being inappropriate on public transport,' she told Insight on Tuesday night.

Ms Tobin opened up about the devastating moment she found out Alex, who also suffers from dyspraxia, was to be arrested during an episode of Insight that discussed the sexual lives of people with serious disabilities.

'I got a call from the police saying we're on our way to your son's work and we're going to arrest him. And I said "Please, can you not go to his work. I promise, I will bring him to the station, please don't do that to him",' she said.

But the police did not listen to Ms Tobin's pleas and Alex was arrested and charged with sexual offence that required him to go to court.

'I got a call from the police saying we're on our way to your son's work and we're going to arrest him,' she said

Alex, who catches the train to work each day, had perpetrated a sexual offence against a girl at a train station

After a drawn out legal proceeding, Alex was granted a section 32, which diverted him out of the criminal system and towards a psychologist where he received six months of mandatory counselling about sexual boundaries.

Ms Tobin said it was difficult to explain to Alex that he shouldn't approach strangers given his friendly nature and effort to befriend others.

'He can get quite anxious so trying to teach him... you shouldn't have gone up to her, you know, it's okay to sort of smile at someone but you've got to be careful how you engage with that person.'

Alex continued counselling for a number of years, which Ms Tobin said she thought had been an effective way to teach him sexual boundaries.

But her fears were renewed recently when a local man approached her and expressed his concerns about Alex's behaviour towards his daughter.

'I had a man actually come to my house not that long ago and say "look, your son frightened my daughter. My daughter was walking to the train station and your son came up and tried to talk to her".'

Alex continued counselling for a number of years, which Ms Tobin said she thought had been an effective way to teach him sexual boundaries

But her fears were renewed recently when a local man approached her and expressed his concerns about Alex's behaviour towards his daughter

He told Ms Tobin that Alex had smiled at her but when she walked away he followed, which caused her to become frightened and hide.

Ms Tobin said her case worker had warned her about a number of mentally or intellectually disabled people who had been locked up after committing multiple sexual offences, despite it being 'the wrong place for them'.

She was concerned Alex still had not grasped the concept of boundaries or sexually inappropriate behaviour so in her desperation she reached out to a doctor about medically reducing his libido.

'I rang my GP and I said "Alex, though he might be 21, mentally he's that of a 12-year-old, is there any medication that I can give him to lower his libido until mentally he can catch up to what's going on in his body?" The GP was horrified. She said you can't speak to me about this, this is not your role.'

Desperate to find a way to protect her child, Ms Tobin approached a public guardian to ask about her options to stop her son's behaviour however they responded in a very similar way - stating that medically reducing Alex's libido was a breach of his 'most basic rights'.

Relationship expert Liz Dore said Alex was among many disabled youths who have not been taught about how to express their sexuality safely and argued education was the key to reducing these instances.

Ms Tobin was concerned Alex still had not grasped the concept of boundaries or sexually inappropriate behaviour so in her desperation she reached out to a doctor about medically reducing his libido

Relationship expert Liz Dore said Alex was among many disabled youths who have not been taught about how to express their sexuality safely and argued education was the key to reducing these instances

'It's just that people haven't taught them about good sex, bad sex, masturbation in a private in a way we understand,' Ms Dore told Insight.

'We do it for reading, maths, for trouble training, why not ways to satisfy your sexual feelings safely and privately?'

Clinical psychologist Dr Kerry Arrow said children with disabilities are not 'overtly' given medication to reduce their sexual drive, but that it does occur 'under the guise of behaviour management strategies'.

'If there was violent behaviours or challenging behaviours, it could be seen as a way to dampen the behaviours and the side effect can be reducing libido,' she said.

It has become more common for sex workers to help people with disabilities to express their sexuality, however Ms Tobin said she was concerned that if Alex became sexually active with a woman he would not be able to differentiate between one who had given consent and one who had not

It has become more common for sex workers to help people with disabilities to express their sexuality, however Ms Tobin said she was concerned that if Alex became sexually active with a woman he would not be able to differentiate between one who had given consent and one who had not.

She said Alex's psychiatrist tried to teach him extensively about boundaries, using a method called circles that helps teach what levels of intimacy are accepted with different people, but found that he often difficulty identifying who he could touch, hug or kiss.
Saudi Arabia's long-term credit rating has been lowered with the plunge in oil prices having 'major negative implications' for the world's biggest crude exporter, according to Fitch Ratings.

The agency also noted increased tensions with long-time rival Iran and greater uncertainty over economic policy, now overseen by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Fitch downgraded the kingdom's credit rating to AA- from AA, which still denotes expectations of very low default risk.

Saudi Arabia's long-term credit rating has been lowered with the plunge in oil prices having 'major negative implications' for the world's biggest crude exporter, according to Fitch Ratings

Fitch downgraded the kingdom's credit rating to AA- from AA, which still denotes expectations of very low default risk

Fitch said it had revised downwards its oil price assumptions for this year and next, to $35 and $45 a barrel, which 'has major negative implications for Saudi Arabia's fiscal and external balances'.

In February another agency, Standard and Poor's, cut the kingdom's credit rating by two notches to A-, citing the impact of lower oil prices on Saudi finances.

Last month, Moody's placed Saudi Arabia and other Gulf oil producers on review for downgrades.

Oil prices have collapsed from above $100 in early 2014, to just over $40 today.

The fall led Riyadh to impose unprecedented cuts in its 2016 budget - which projects a deficit of $87 billion - and to push economic diversification.

The government has said oil income made up 73 percent of revenue in 2015, compared with an average of 90 percent in the previous decade.

To cope with the fiscal gap, it raised retail fuel prices by up to 80 percent in December and cut subsidies for electricity, water and other services.

It has also delayed some major projects under King Salman, who acceded to the throne last year.

Referring to such efforts, Fitch said: 'The pace of fiscal consolidation has increased.'

It said further reforms are to be presented under a 'National Transformation Programme' to boost non-oil revenues and streamline spending.

'Even if fully implemented, the measures will not prevent a substantial erosion of fiscal and external buffers during 2016 and 2017, although the buffers will still be sufficiently high to constitute an important rating strength,' Fitch said.

Salman named his son Prince Mohammed as defence minister and head of the main Council of Economic and Development Affairs. Mohammed also chairs a body overseeing state oil company Saudi Aramco.

Oil prices have collapsed from above $100 in early 2014, to just over $40 today. The fall led Riyadh to impose unprecedented cuts in its 2016 budget and to push economic diversification

According to the International Monetary Fund, Saudi Arabia's economy grew by 3.4 percent last year

'Control over economic policy making has been concentrated in the hands of Prince Mohammed,' Fitch said.

'This may have contributed to an acceleration of the economic policy making process, but has also reduced the predictability of decision-making.'

The agency also noted that Saudi Arabia faces high geopolitical risks relative to AA-rated peers.

'Tensions have risen between Saudi Arabia and its long-standing regional rival Iran, and are expected to persist, although a direct confrontation is highly unlikely.'

Fitch mentioned Saudi Arabia's military intervention in Yemen and its policy towards Syria, showing 'a greater assertiveness'.

For more than a year the kingdom has led an Arab military coalition supporting Yemen's government against Iran-backed rebels.

Fitch said other Saudi indicators are also 'weaker' compared with its peers. These include GDP per capita and World Bank measures of governance, which include 'accountability' and 'rule of law'.

According to the International Monetary Fund, Saudi Arabia's economy grew by 3.4 percent last year.

Fitch sees growth slowing to 1.5 percent this year and 1.7 percent in 2017.

Saudi Arabia is to meet on Sunday in Doha, Qatar with other members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC producers including Russia.

They are to discuss a proposal to freeze output at January levels to try to ease oversupply and support prices.

The Kingdom Tower, a landmark of Riyadh owned by Saudi prince Walid bin Talal, epitomises the wealth of Saudi Arabia, costing around $1.23 billion

An oil refinery on the east coast of Saudia Arabia near the Gulf city of Dhahran

The International Monetary Fund has said that the global economy faces wide-ranging threats from weak growth and rising protectionism, warning of possible 'severe' damage should Britain quit the European Union.

The Fund cut its global forecast for the third straight quarter, saying economic activity has been 'too slow for too long,' and called for immediate action by the world's economic powers to shore up growth.

It said intensifying financial and political risks around the world, from volatile financial markets to the Syria conflict to global warming, had left the economy 'increasingly fragile' and vulnerable to a turn toward recession.

The IMF raised concerns over 'fraying' unity in the European Union under pressure from the migration crisis and the 'Brexit' possibility.

And it pointed to the contractions in large emerging market economies, most notably Brazil, where the economic downturn has been accompanied by deep political crisis that has President Dilma Rousseff facing impeachment.

Seeing a broad fall in trade and investment, the IMF cut its forecast for world growth this year to a sluggish 3.2 percent, 0.2 percentage points down from its January outlook and down from the 3.8 percent pace expected last July.
Children should be taught about the benefits of the European Union in schools to help to overcome euroscepticism, MEPs demanded today.

The European Parliament called for Brussels to be more visible in textbooks and lessons on the values on which European integration is based.

British MEPs accused the EU of seeking to fill classrooms with propaganda, but the report setting out the measures was passed by 482 votes to 146.

The Learning EU at school report said it was necessary for citizens to be encouraged to take an active interest in the European unification project.

The EU report backed by MEPs said enhancing the EU 'dimension' of lessons would help children to overcome Euroscepticism

One central way to do so is enhancing an EU dimension in school education that can help to overcome euroscepticism, it added.

Suggestions included giving teachers training on how to give lessons about the EU in schools, urging textbooks to be rewritten with more of a focus on the EU and for the Commission to draw up guidelines on the curriculum.

Given its impact on citizens everyday life, the EU should be more visible in teaching materials, at all levels and in all forms of education, it said.

Teacher training needs to systematically prepare educators to teach about the EU and the values on which it is founded, both in theory and in practice.

Textbooks should guarantee a broader coverage of EU-related topics.

MEPs said the European Commission should continue to actively disseminate information such as with pamphlets and worksheets on the EU that are sent to schools.

They warned that insufficient knowledge about the EU and poor understanding of its concrete added-value may contribute to the perception of a democratic deficit and lead to widespread Euroscepticism.

Conservative MEP Andrew Lewer last night said: It is unacceptable for the EU to meddle with what we - and other member states - teach in our classrooms.

Our schools and our curriculum are our business. We do not want to further the EU's quest for a united states of Europe by filling our classrooms with EU propaganda.

Unfortunately, this is the way the EU works. Ultimately, it is all aimed at securing an expanded - more powerful - role for the EU.

The spectacle of MEPs saying what textbooks should be like across Europe is just breathtaking.

MEPs backed the Learning EU at School report by 482 to 146 but every British European Parliament member either voted against or abstained (file picture)

Ukip MEP Louise Bours said: First the EU came for our money, then for the sovereignty of our courts and now they wish to fill our children's' heads with EU propaganda.

The education of children should not be used and abused as a political tool to undermine euroscepticism.

This vote gives an idea of the direction of travel of the European institutions and its centralising thrust should worry both parents and democrats.

British Tory, Labour, Ukip and Lib Dem MEPs voted against the report or abstained.

A UK government spokesman said that education is a national competence so none of the measures will be binding.

The EU has no power to intervene in the content of teaching or the organisation of national education systems, she said.

We do not agree that the EU should get more involved in the development of national curricula. The European Parliament report places no obligations on the UK or other Member States.
A mother has won $1.7 million from her ex-husband five years after he abducted their son and held him in Greece.

Alissa Zagaris, of Noblesville, Indiana, was given custody over her son Leo, then aged eight, when she divorced Nikos Zagaris in 2009 - a year after the Athens native was charged with domestic violence.

They agreed Leo would spend 10 weeks a year with his father in Greece but would be permanently based in the US.

However, while Leo was visiting in summer 2011, Nikos called Alissa telling her the child had mumps and that he would have to stay longer - and he kept him there for two years.

Alissa Zagaris with son Leo and her daughter this year, three years after Leo was returned home from Greece

Alissa won over Leo, then aged eight, when she divorced Nikos Zagaris in 2009. They agreed Leo would spend 10 weeks a year in Greece but would be based in the US. In 2011 he didn't fly home. He stayed until 2013

Despite reporting the kidnapping to the International Criminal Court, Alissa's case got nowhere until 2013. And in that time Leo refused to speak to her.

Nikos ignored a Greek judge's ruling to send Leo home, and another from a judge in the US.

Finally, Greek police were deployed to Leo's school to seize him and send him back to his mother.

Now, after three years of counselling for Leo and legal battles with Nikos, Alissa has won a $1.7 million default judgement against Nikos for kidnapping.

She sued Nikos for fraud, breaching a custody agreement and damaging her relationship with Leo.

It is not certain whether she will receive the money, but Alissa insists her priority was the ruling rather than the payment.

'It was more about suing the attorney that created the scenario for the abduction I was going after, more than my ex when I originally filed this suit,' Alissa told Daily Mail Online.

'It was filed before Leo had even returned home. My ex and the attorney have managed to continue and delay it for the last few years.'

During his time in Greece, she said, Leo refused to speak to Alissa and to his US-based half sister.

Leo told the Star his father claimed Alissa had rejected him. Alissa tried to explain on the phone that she loved him, he said, but Nikos told him 'she's lying'.

'I literally felt, when I picked him up, that I picked up a mini version of my ex-husband. He had a weird sense of superiority. He was a narcissist,' Alissa told the Star, remembering the day at the airport in 2013.

She has since launched an organization,iStand, to help other parents battling international kidnapping by a parent. According to her website, around 1,000 American children are abducted by a parent each year.

And next year, when Leo turns 16 and cannot be held captive by his father, Alissa plans for them to go to Greece together - for closure and to ensure his connection with his Greek heritage isn't soured.

Leo told the Star his father rarely speaks to him. But Alissa insists the trip will be good for their family.

'As for Leo, his relationship is very estranged with his father now. A choice made by both, I think,' she wrote in a blog post.

'Nick has made it clear that unless Leo returns to Greece, he is not his son.

'Basically the mind of a taking parent does not change even post abduction. If they can't hold on, they let go, I guess.

'Its hard. Leo wants things to be different like the way the were.

'He loved going back and forth and liked being an 'international kid". I mean yes he is 100% American born and grew up his entire life in Indiana. Habitual residence was never an issue.

'But he is still half Greek by blood and has a big part of his identity that he has lost access to.'

This was the wanted posted issued in 2011, which Nikos ignored

According to legal papers, Nikos told Leo (pictured before his abduction) that Alissa didn't want him anymore

Writing on the iStand website's conference page, Alissa said social media was her greatest tool during the legal battle as she struggled to get adequate representation in Greece.

'Nikos furthered his power position by placing the top English speaking Hague attorneys in Greece on retainer,' she wrote.

'I was forced to use a Hague rep in Greece (which is only obligated to uphold the treaty and is not a representative of the parent, I had no contact or communication with her).

'This left me 100% dependent on the [Deparment of Security and Office of Criminal Investigations].

'They were my only link to Greece. It took me 18 months for the civil process to exhaust itself before the FBI became officially involved and warrants were issued.

'I give our Dept of Justice the greatest credit for the return of my little boy.
A Georgia man whose donated sperm was used to create 36 children duped 26 families - on both sides of the Atlantic - into believing he was the healthy man he advertised on his sperm-bank profile.

Chris Aggeles, a now 39-year-old man from Georgia, advertised on the site that he was healthy - other than color blindness on his dad's side - and working on his PhD in neuroscience engineering.

But in June 2014, couple Angela Collins and Margaret Elizabeth Hanson of Port Hope, Ontario, discovered Aggeles, whose real name is James Christian Aggeles had schizophrenia and a criminal history that led to him serving time in jail. He was also a college dropout and struggled to hold down jobs.

In addition to schizophrenia, court documents also show that he was diagnosed with bipolar and narcissistic personality disorders, and he has self-described himself as having schizoaffective disorder.

Nancy Hersh, a San Francisco-based crusader on women's health issues who is representing many of the people involved, now intends to file lawsuits in the US on behalf of affected American and British families.

In June 2014, couple Angela Collins and Margaret Elizabeth Hanson of Port Hope, Ontario, discovered their sperm donor was not who they thought he was

Chris Aggeles, a now 39-year-old man from Georgia, advertised on sperm-bank site Xytex that he was healthy and well-educated. Families who used his sperm later found out he was a college drop out, had a history of mental illness and criminal activity

Aggeles' sperm has been used to create 19 boys and 17 girls from 26 families, a 2014 email to Collins from Georgia-based sperm bank Xytex Corp revealed

Aggeles sold his sperm to Xytex between 2000 and 2014, and some was stored to be made available after 2014

Aggeles' sperm has been used to create 19 boys and 17 girls from 26 families, a 2014 email to Collins from Georgia-based sperm bank Xytex Corp revealed, according to The Star. Hersh believes there could be more out there, however.

Aggeles sold his sperm to Xytex between 2000 and 2014, and some was stored to be made available after 2014.

Collins, a 45-year-old teacher from this quiet town east of Toronto, said she felt physically ill when she discovered that the life of her son, who was created with Aggeles' sperm, 'could just turn on a dime in puberty'.

'It was like a dream turned nightmare in an instant,' she told The Star.

She and Hanson intend to file additional lawsuit against Xytex from Toronto, and more Canadian families might join in the legal action.

Allegations against Xytex, which include fraud and negligent misrepresentation, have yet to be proven in court. The company denies any wrongdoing.

Xytex lawyer Ted Lavender said the company will 'vigorously defend' itself against any lawsuits.

Collins and Hanson tried to sue Xytex in Georgia a year ago, but the case was dismissed because it was considered a 'wrongful birth' claim, which is not recognized under the state's law.

Collins and Hersh have reached out to the public in hopes of pressuring sperm-banks and the government to make changes in the industry.

'Given the current state of affairs in the sperm-bank industry, it is strictly a matter of luck if a sperm donor is an upstanding and healthy individual, not a matter of testing, screening, regulating or legislating,' Collins told The Star.

Xytex texts donors for infectious diseases including HIV, hepatitis B and C and syphilis, and requires a physical exam and psychological exam. In compliance with Health Canada regulations, they are also tested for chlamydia and gonorrhea.

Donors must also complete an extensive questionnaire that goes deep into personal and medical history. They must also go through genetic testing for a number of conditions, including cystic fibrosis.

Collins and her partner Beth Hanson intend to file a lawsuit against Xytex, accusing the company of fraud and negligent misrepresentation

They are required to update their medical history and undergo a physical exam every six months.

Collins said she chose 'donor 9623' because he was 'the male version of my partner'.

Like Hanson, the man in the profile was blue eyed, intelligent and musically talented.

The profile said donor 9623 had an IQ of 160, a bachelor of science degree in neuroscience, a master's degree in artificial intelligence, and was working on his PhD in neuroscience engineering.

The profile said he was an internationally acclaimed drummer.

In a six-page health questionnaire asking if he or any blood relative had any of the 143 medical conditions, donor 9623 answered no to all but one - he said his father was color blind.

When asked if he had schizophrenia or manic depression (bipolar disorder), the donor said 'no'.

In an audio interview of donor 9623, Xytex corporate donor counsellor Mary Hartley calls him the 'perfect donor'.

He further details his intelligence in the recording, saying he speaks five languages and reads four or five books a month, according to The Star.

Collins was impregnated with Aggeles' sperm through artificial insemination at a Toronto fertility clinic. She gave birth to her son in July 2007.

The mothers who used donor 9623's sperm learned of the man's real identity in 2014 when Xytex released information inadvertently and 'in a breach of confidentiality'.

Through their own research, the women who used the sperm then found that he had dropped out of college and had been arrested for burglary, and that his pictures had been doctored to remove a large mole from his cheek.

Aggeles was charged with one count of burglary in 2005 and his case was discharged in May 2014 under terms of the First Offender Act, said Kimberly Isaza, spokeswoman for the Cobb County District Attorney's office.

The Constitution Journal reported that he served eight months in jail, with the rest of his 10-year sentence on probation, ending in May 2014.

Aggeles' stepfather said in a testimony that Aggeles started suffering from psychotic episodes when he was 19 years old.

Collins, pictured avobe with her son, said she chose 'donor 9623' because he was 'the male version of my partner'. The mothers who used donor 9623's sperm learned of the man's real identity in 2014 when Xytex released information inadvertently and 'in a breach of confidentiality'.

Before that he was a bright student who was attending the University of Georgia on a full scholarship.

'High stress situations and lack of medication cause him to have psychotic episodes . . . With supervision with medication, I think he is a productive citizen,' the stepfather told the court.

When Aggeles was in court on a burglary charge, his mother testified that he had trouble holding down jobs, but things 'finally' were turning around.

She said 'for the first time in ten years' he was taking care of his mental health, education and employment.

Aggeles finally graduated from UGA last year, two decades after he began at the university. He received a bachelor's in cognitive science, minoring in computer science, according to The Star.

He's currently working on his master's in artificial intelligence and working at UGA as a research assistant.

Social media shows he got married last year and plays the drums in an indie rock band.

Xytex is adamant that it has done nothing wrong, and that the company relied on the honor system when it comes to medical and social histories of the donors.

Xytex president Kevin O'Brien said in an open letter that the company is upfront about the aforementioned information to would-be parents.

'He (Aggeles) reported a good health history and stated in his application that he had no physical or medical impairments. This information was passed on to the couple, who were clearly informed the representations were reported by the donor and were not verified by Xytex,' O'Brien wrote, referring to Collins and Hanson when mentioning the couple.

Collins and Hersh want sperm banks to have more more rigorous vetting systems for donors, and specifically want them to get applicants to sign released granting medical-record access.

They also want the sperm banks to do criminal and education background checks.

Hersh is in contact with 16 of the families who used Aggeles' sperm to have 23 children. She told The Star that none of them were informed by Xytex about problems with donor 9623.

Collins also wants the Canadian government to amend the 2004 Assisted Human Reproduction Act, which made it illegal to pay sperm donors, egg donors and surrogates anything but expenses.

She also worries about the future of her son, who is now a healthy eight-year-old.

'The most important entity to me is potentially facing a very debilitating lifestyle,' she said.
Georgia wildlife authorities say they've arrested a man accused of keeping exotic snakes, an alligator and other critters inside a zoo-like home in suburban Atlanta.

An arrest warrant lists a Gaboon viper, two cobras, an alligator, a squirrel and a raccoon among animals seized from the Gwinnett County home of Jesus Cruz-Concepcion.

Jail records show that he is charged with unlawful possession of wildlife and marijuana possession.

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A man in Georgia was arrested this week after wildlife authorities found a viper, two cobras, a squirrel and a raccoon in his home

Above, two of the snakes seized from the home of Jesus Cruz-Concepcion on Sunday

Police found 52 grams of marijuana at the residence.

WSB-TV reports that Cruz-Concepcion was taken into custody Sunday by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

WSB reports that on Monday, he had an initial court appearance where his bond was set at $22,000.

Jail records do not list an attorney who could be reached for comment on his behalf.

Cruz-Concepcion (pictured in court on Monday on the left and in his mugshot on the right) was arraigned in court on Monday and ordered held on $22,000 bail

In court documents, Cruz-Concepcion said he planned to hire his own attorney, as opposed to a court-appointed attorney.

Neighbor Lisa Oden, who lives across the street from the suspect, expressed shock that he was keeping so many exotic homes in his unassuming house.
Randy Iannacone, 60, handed himself into police in after discovering he was wanted for the theft of a television in 1989

A Florida man has voluntarily handed himself into police in Connecticut after discovering he was wanted for the theft of a television in 1989.

Randy Iannacone, 60, traveled more than 1,000 miles from his house in Port St Lucie to hand himself in at a police station in his former hometown of Norwalk.

Iannacone told The Hour that he had only just learned that there was a warrant for his arrest in relation to a TV that was stolen from a Jewish center in Norwalk 27 years ago.

He turned up at Norwalk Police Station at 9am on Sunday after taking a flight up the east coast of the United States with the sole intention of handing himself over to cops.

Iannacone worked as a custodian at Norwalk Jewish Center - which no longer exists - in the 1980s.

Police found the stolen TV in 1989 and its new owner claimed Iannacone had given it to him as payment for a debt.

The television's serial number matched that of the large TV taken from the Jewish center, according to 27-year-old police reports.

A warrant was issued for Iannacone's arrest at the time but police were unable to track him down.

He moved to Florida and only became aware of the warrant in the last few weeks when a letter arrived at his new home telling him to report to police in Connecticut.

Iannacone was arrested and charged with third-degree larceny. He was released and is due in court on April 19.

Norwalk Police Lieutenant Paul Resnick said: 'We try to go out and serve [a warrant] when we first get it, but sometimes people move. They're nowhere to be found.
Mystery: The family of 25-year-old Laura Hill (pictured) maintain she was murdered in the South American country after falling in with bad company

The death of a British dental nurse who travelled to Argentina to help smuggle cocaine into Europe is 'unexplained' and 'suspicious', a coroner has ruled.

But the family of 25-year-old Laura Hill maintain she was murdered in the South American country after falling in with bad company.

Her body was found by a resident near a lift on the first floor of a six-storey block of apartments she had been staying at in Buenos Aires on October 1 2007.

Relatives of Miss Hill have fought for years to get answers about her cocaine death amid fears she may have been killed.

But, in his conclusion, East Sussex coroner Alan Craze said he could not record a verdict of unlawful killing as 'it simply has not been proven, even on a balance of probabilities'.

Mr Craze believed she was probably moved from the flat she was staying at to near the lift where she was found. And he said he believed local Argentinian police, whose investigation he labelled 'hopeless', had been bribed.

After recording a narrative verdict, Mr Craze said in summary: 'The deceased travelled to Argentina in 2007 with the intention of smuggling cocaine from there into Europe.

'She spent some time with other members of the smuggling gang. On the morning of October 1 2007, her body was found in a corridor of a block of flats she and others were living in.

'She was found to have taken a large amount of cocaine. The local police investigation was rudimentary. Members of the gang probably do know what happened but their evidence could not be relied upon.'

The coroner praised Miss Hill's family for their 'compassion' and 'dignity' and for remaining constructive during their long battle to gain answers.

Outside the hearing, Miss Hill's parents Alison and Kevin welcomed the coroner's conclusion and the amount of evidence uncovered during the inquest.

Laura's body was found by a resident near a lift on the first floor of a six-storey block of apartments she had been staying at in Buenos Aires on October 1 2007. She is pictured left with her sister Kerry

But they reiterated their belief that she was murdered, saying they will never believe she died from a self-administered drug overdose.

Mrs Hill said afterwards: 'We do know that Laura was in a very bad situation in Argentina and she was concerned about getting home, and it had gone wrong over there.

Miss Hill's parents Alison and Kevin (pictured) have fought for years to get answers about her cocaine death amid fears she may have been killed

'She was left in a very unbearable position and she was with a lot of bad people.'

She added: 'I believe Laura was murdered.'

A toxicologist said Miss Hill would have suffered a 'rapid death' possibly within minutes, after tests revealed a high level of cocaine in her bloodstream.

The inquest, sitting at Eastbourne Law Courts in East Sussex, heard that she had apparently been 'a bit frightened' days before her death.

A former boyfriend, Iain Hall, told how Miss Hill had in the past disclosed she had been offered money to smuggle drugs into the UK.

Her sister, Kerry, 29, said in a statement that Miss Hill had become secretive with her six months before she died, visited her less often and was vague about being in Argentina.

But friend Gemma Liddiard, 26, said although 'there was absolutely no routine' to Miss Hill's lifestyle, she would never have got involved in international drug smuggling.

Pathologist Dr Peter Jerreat, who carried out a second post-mortem examination on Miss Hill in January 2008, gave her cause of death as acute cocaine intoxication.

Toxicologist John Slaughter said there was nothing to suggest Miss Hill, from Eastbourne, had packages of cocaine concealed inside her before she died.

Mrs Hill said the family still felt the loss of Miss Hill 'as if we lost Laura yesterday'.

She added: 'It's been very very difficult but at the same time we have been moving towards today.
A British helicopter pilot facing trial over child sex allegations in Bristol may try to secure South African citizenship in order to avoid being extradited to the UK following 15 years on the run.

Lee Tucker, 52, is accused of being a member of a paedophile ring that was operating in the Bristol area in 1998.

Tucker, who is originally from Swansea, appeared in Cape Town Community Court on Monday in the first stage of an extradition process.

Lee Tucker, left last month, and right in a 1998 police mugshot , from Swansea in South Wales, appeared in Court in Cape Town yesterday where the helicopter pilot is facing extradition back to the United Kingdom

Magistrate Grant Engle asked whether Tucker was entitled to South African citizenship due to the length of time he has stayed in the country.

Tucker is accused of being part of a group of men who targeted boys aged between 12 and 15.

British authorities want Tucker returned to the UK to face 42 counts of indecent assault.

Tucker's lawyer Rueben Little argued Tucker was now entitled to citizenship of the country, and suggested the charge of indecent assault is no longer on the South African statute book, meaning he should not be extradited.

According to the South African Independent, Judge Engle told the court: 'The matter against Tucker is not prescribed; the prescription was well interrupted when a warrant for Tuckers arrest was issued and possibly because Tucker fled the country (UK).

'The fact that the warrant of arrest refers to indecent assault does not render the application ineffective as South Africa has corresponding legislation. The fact that prosecution was not instituted against him by July 29, 2002 is due to no fault of the prosecuting authorities as Tucker was a fugitive of justice at the time.'

A British helicopter pilot wanted over alleged child sex offences has been arrested in Cape Town, (pictured) South Africa after 15 years on the run, it has been reported

The case was adjourned until Thursday for the state to supply Tucker's defence team with documentation.

A spokesman from Avon and Somerset police told MailOnline: 'A 52-year-old former Bristol man has been arrested by the South African Police Service in Cape Town on our behalf.

'The man is wanted by Avon and Somerset Police in connection with non-recent sex offences committed in the South Wales area .

'The offences are alleged to have occurred in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
A teenager obsessed with serial killers including the Yorkshire Ripper and the Stockwell Strangler told police: 'I murdered James Attfield, the disabled man, by stabbing him 102 times and I murdered the student Nahid', when he was arrested for carrying a knife.

The boy, now 17, has admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility following the killings of Mr Attfield, 33, and Nahid Almanea, 31. He denies murder.

A court was told a photo of Peter Sutcliffe was found on his phone along with material entitled 'five horrific serial killers who are free right now'.

This is the last known sighting of disabled man James Attfield, who was stabbed 102 times on March 29, 2014

Police said Mr Attfield, 33, left most of his pint behind when he left and headed towards his home in Colchester

Prosecutor Philip Bennetts QC, told the jury the boy was 15 at the time of the killings, saying: 'There is no dispute he killed both people, people he did not know. Both people who had no connection with him.'

Mr Bennetts said the boy pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the basis that at the time of the killings his responsibility was diminished, which the prosecution did not accept.

The teenager claimed he experienced auditory and visionary hallucinations which led him to carry out the killings.

But Mr Bennetts told the jury he 'understood his conduct at the time' and he was able to form a reasonable judgment.

He said the teenager made preparations for the killing and 'took steps to conceal afterwards'.

A book called The World's Worst Crimes was recovered among his possessions and he also allegedly looked up the case of Kenneth Erskine, the Stockwell Strangler who killed seven pensioners. It was argued Erskine should have his convictions reduced to manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility.

Another search found material called 'I was a hunter and they were the victims', the jury was told.

DVDs found at the boy's premises included Wrong Turn: The Carnage Collection, the prosecutor said, adding the description that 'killers sometimes lurk in bushes waiting to ambush their victims'.

The jury was also told a DVD about Sutcliffe was found.

Mr Bennetts told the jury the defendant's claims of experiencing hallucinations had been deemed to be of 'doubtful' authenticity by an expert.

Police described the stabbing of James Attfield, pictured, as one of the most brutal attacks they had ever seen

The boy knifed Saudi student Ms Almanea 16 times as she walked along the Salary Brook Trail (pictured) on the morning of June 17 2014, with some of the wounds puncturing her brain

The boy, who is in a hospital, admitted stabbing Mr Attfield 102 times in Colchester on March 29 2014, the jury heard.

Mr Attfield was found fighting for his life in the town's Castle Park in the early hours of the morning. He died a short time later.

Mr Bennetts said one of the injuries suffered by the victim was a stab wound to the left eye, which he said a pathologist described as 'uncommon'.

Three months later, the boy knifed Saudi student Ms Almanea 16 times, as she walked along the Salary Brook Trail on the morning of June 17 2014, with some of the wounds puncturing her brain.

The teenager's DNA was later found on a swab from the back of Ms Almanea's hand.

It was claimed the boy threw the knives into a river and the blood-stained clothes into a bin after both attacks.

The teenager, from Colchester, was wearing gloves when he was arrested after being found with a lock knife on May 26 2015, close to where the Saudi student's body was discovered.

Asked what he was doing in the area, the teenager replied he was 'out for a walk to clear his head.'

He has since pleaded guilty to having that weapon.

A witness, Vincent Burgess, said he saw believed someone was sunbathing when he looked out from his block of flats on a built-up housing estate - but later discovered it was the bloodied body of student Ms Almanea.

In a statement read out in court he said: 'I was close enough to hear her gurgling, her face was all smashed to bits. I could not comprehend what I had just seen, it was terrifying. I felt sick.'

Mr Bennetts, for the prosecution, said when the boy was being assessed over his fitness to be detained and interviewed, he said: 'I want to tell you, because it's weighing heavily on me. I have been hearing voices which have told me to murder people and I've murdered two people.'

The prosecutor said the boy admitted he murdered Mr Attfield and Ms Almanea, and that voices had told him to 'sacrifice people'.

He told police he had seen Mr Attfield lying in the grass by a riverside path 'like he was drunk' before describing in detail how he killed him.

He said: 'I stabbed him in the head. One shot missed on the side. I hit him in the eye... There was a big pool of blood. I thought he was dead. He gurgled.'

He also recalled sneaking up on Ms Almanea saying: 'I went behind her and hit her, she stumbled. It was a long knife and obviously went all the way through. I hit her in the eye and killed her instantly. It went through the brain.'

The trial continues.




Migrants desperate to reach the UK are paying social media smugglers 13,500 per head so they can covertly enter Britain via quiet ports on the south and east coast.

The criminal gangs, who help bring migrants to Britain by sea or air, are advertising their five-figure services on more than 200 websites, including the likes of Facebook and Twitter and many of the successful migrants have now become naturalised British citizens.

They charge migrants up to 13,500 to arrange flights and false documents while a crossing over the Channel in inflatable boats can come up at around 12,000.

The National Crime Agency - the UK's equivalent to the FBI - also revealed that criminal networks are now targeting quieter ports such as Hull and Portsmouth, as well as the key hotspot at Kent, in a bid to covertly smuggle migrants into the country.

The criminal gangs, who help bring migrants to Britain by sea or air, are advertising their five-figure services on more than 200 websites

Migrants trying to reach the UK are paying smugglers up to 13,500 to arrange their journey into quiet ports on the south and east coast, it has emerged. Pictured: a migrant stands on a gate at the Macedonian border

They said the cost of journeys varies hugely, depending on whether the migrant wants a staged or 'end to end' trip. The migrants will also pay for what smugglers deem as the level of risk.

Tom Dowdall, deputy director of the NCA's border policing command, said someone wishing to travel from Iraq to the UK could pay just under 4,000 to go over land through Turkey and Europe.

But he said the price jumps to more than 13,500 for a journey by air.

Referring to the more expensive example, Mr Dowdall said: 'That's someone who has been able to access a good quality travel document in the first instance to be able to cross borders and to be able to fool airlines as well.'

Asked how frequent such activity is, he said: 'There is a regularity to that.'

He added: In addressing social media recruitment, the taskforce has analysed over 200 social media sites to help secure evidence for potential prosecutions or to disrupt criminal activity.

THE PEOPLE SMUGGLER WHO MADE 7 MILLION FROM HIS UK HOSTEL Jamal Owda, who claims to be Palestinian, was arrested in a dawn raid for his involvement in a trafficking ring making at least 7 million last year. He is suspected of smuggling desperate migrants from the Balkans into EU countries - including the UK where he was tracked down after arriving here nearly two years ago. The gang, who used social media and online forums to run the operation, also supplied housing and forged travel documents. Authorities are trying to extradite the 26-year-old to Greece, where he faces 20 years in jail for smuggling refugees and migrants into Europe. The flush smuggler was caught with 17,500 stashed in a speaker in the room he was staying in at a hostel for asylum seekers in Liverpool when he was detained by the NCA. Arrested: Jamal Owda, 26, is thought to be the head of a 7 million smuggling ring that brought hundreds of migrants into the EU on boats from Turkey and Syria to Greece Investigators believe his criminal network was responsible for more than 100 people entering southern Europe every day for at least 16 months  the equivalent of nearly 50,000 migrants. Each person was charged about 1,000. National Crime Agency officers, tipped off by Greek police, tracked Owda down to an asylum centre near Sefton Park, south Liverpool. He had been living in the publicly funded hostel, which is in an affluent area popular with young professionals, for several months. As Owda was arrested, another 22 suspected gang members, the majority of whom are Greek and Syrian, were held in raids in Greece, Austria and Sweden. The gang smuggled migrants, most of them Syrians arriving from Turkey, through Greece and to northern Europe via Macedonia, Serbia, Hungary and Austria. The majority of the networks members are Greek nationals whose work was co-ordinated by an Albanian working in close co-operation with Owda. Advertisement

We are also working to build a capacity to disrupt social media recruiting in source and transit countries.

Mr Dowdall said the smugglers were changing their routes and methods every day to avoid detection. He said: We are aware of use of air travel where migrants are able to pay. At each stage they use false documents, forged passports and ID cards.

The cost and sophistication of efforts to smuggle migrants into Britain from France also varies considerably.

Prices can range from as little as just over 100 for a single, basic attempt to more than 6,000 for a journey in a 'high-quality concealment'.

Intelligence even suggests that some migrants have paid up to 12,000 for transport from Dunkirk to the UK in Rigid Hulled Inflatable Boats.

Those intent on coming to Britain are paying criminal gangs five-figure sums to make the trip by air, while others are spending as much as 12,000 to travel across the Channel in inflatable boats (file picture)

Some migrants have paid up to 12,000 for transport from Dunkirk to the UK in Rigid Hulled Inflatable Boats. Pictured: A rubber dinghy of refugees and migrants is towed by a Turkish Coast Guard back to land

The criminal networks are seen as adaptable, quickly changing their methods in response to law enforcement action or increased security.

Investigators suspect that, as well as the main Channel crossing between Calais and Kent, criminals may be using less busy ports within the UK.

'We've seen on the east coast evidence from Tilbury and Purfleet, up as far as Hull and Immingham. And on the south coast from Newhaven to Portsmouth,' Mr Dowdall said.

The NCA provided examples of recently detected 'concealments'.

One migrant found in a tanker at Dartford Crossing had travelled from Iran to Calais via Turkey, Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece, Austria, Switzerland and, once in France, Paris and Lille.

He had paid around 4,000 US dollars (2,800 at current rates) to various 'agents', with the journey to the UK costing an additional 1,000 euro (800).

In another episode, six men found on a freight train near Folkestone reported that they had paid 500 euro (399) to get on at Calais, where they were sealed in containers.

Desperate: Migrants and refugees at Calais clash with French police who try to stop them from crossing into the UK via the Eurotunnel. The NCA said only a handful of arrests have been made so far

The NCA's 90-officer taskforce - codenamed Project Invigor - has up to 60 open lines of enquiry into organised crime gangs at any one time.

Groups involved are often formed along national or community lines, including those from the Middle East, China and various Eastern European countries. British-based groups are often comprised of naturalised UK citizens.

Smugglers find their 'customers' through word of mouth recommendations, at transit hubs and through advertising on social media, the NCA said.

Investigators who interviewed stowaways caught trying to get into Britain on lorries and tankers found that someone wishing to travel from Iraq to the UK could pay just under 4,000 to go overland through Turkey and Europe.

Pictured: Two migrants are pictured clinging to a freight truck in Folkestone

The price depends on the weather, with some criminals offering cut-price 80 deals for dangerous sea crossings in bad weather from Turkey to Greece.

One man paid 3,000 to travel from Iran to Calais via Turkey, Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece, Austria and Switzerland before forking out another 800 to hop into a tanker at Calais bound for Dartford where he was eventually caught.

In another episode, six men found on a freight train near Folkestone reported that they had paid 399 to get on at Calais, where they were sealed inside containers.

No official figures for the number of illegal crossings attempted are available, but NCA investigators say they have up to 60 lines of inquiry into crime gangs at any one time.

Ian Cruxton, director of the National Crime Agencys organised crime command, said: We are probably doing more than any other country to tackle organised immigration crime.
Billy Midmore, 22 (pictured), has been found guilty of GBH after throwing acid in a mother-of-six's face

A 22-year-old man has been found guilty of blinding a mother-of-six in one eye by throwing a 'face melter' acid in her face in revenge for a botched drug deal.

Billy Midmore and his brother Geoffrey, 26, ambushed Carla Whitlock, 37, as she walked through Southampton city centre with her boyfriend Matthew Wedgner.

The pair, who were furious about a deal which left them 2,000 out of pocket, doused Ms Whitlock in a high-strength drain cleaner which is so powerful that it is recommended by plumbers.

The 8.94 One Shot drain cleaner - which can have up to 93 per cent concentration of sulphuric acid - scarred her face and burned her eyelids, leaving her blind in one eye.

It was only because of help from a passing doctor that her injuries were not more severe.

Before attacking Ms Whitlock, the court was told how Geoffrey Midmore sent a picture of the bottle to an acquaintance with the words: 'This is one face melter.'

And less than an hour after the attack, the brothers were seen on train CCTV laughing and 'jubilantly' giving high fives and fist bumps.

Today, Billy Midmore, from London, was convicted by jurors after denying causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

After the jury's verdict, the defendant said: 'Oh my God. You lot are joking.'

His brother had previously pleaded guilty to the same charge. They will be sentenced at a date to be fixed.

When being addressed by Judge Peter Ralls QC about his sentencing, Billy said: 'I'm not coming back though.' As he was escorted back to the cells, he said: 'F*** them, f*** all of them.'

Prosecutor Kerry Maylin told the trial the attack had been out of revenge after Miss Whitlock introduced a man called Levi to the Midmore brothers, and a deal with him worth 2,000 went wrong.

Billy Midmore and his brother Geoffrey, 26, ambushed Carla Whitlock, 37 (right), as she walked through Southampton city centre with her boyfriend Matthew Wedgner. She is pictured left with her injuries

She said Miss Whitlock and her partner were drug users and had recently bought drugs from the Midmore brothers.

Geoffrey Midmore had previously pleaded guilty to GBH. They will be sentenced at a later date

Miss Maylin told jurors: '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.'

The court was told how, before the attack, Billy Midmore sent a text message to Miss Whitlock saying 'B**** you dead over chump change', which Miss Maylin said was a threat over the stolen money.

The two-week trial was halted on the second day because Billy had been wearing the same clothes for a week and the prison service had not washed his clothes.

The postponement could cost up to 10,000 in court costs, according to legal experts.

Speaking to the jury Judge Ralls QC thanked them for their work.

He said: 'We do not live in the Wild West where people can act like this to cause massive harm and disfigurement.'
Was sentenced to six months in jail and given life ban from keeping pets

He also sprayed bleach in the eyes of one dog and broke a pug's jaw

He almost ripped tail off a female cockapoo after they were 'playing rough'

A hospital inspector who 'systematically abused' puppies by beating, choking and stabbing them has been jailed for six months.

After a tiny puppy choked to death with cable ties was found in his bin, Robert Koch was warned not to get any more dogs by horrified inspectors - but bought more puppies to torture as he was investigated.

The 50-year-old from Hendon, north London, almost ripped the tail off a female cockapoo and sprayed bleach in the eyes of another dog that he tortured for months.

Horrific: Robert Koch, 50, of Hendon, north London, was sentenced to just six months after a dead puppy choked to death with cable ties was found in his bin

Another pup, a tan-coloured pug cross called Petra, had its jaw broken after Koch claimed he fell on her by mistake.

The RSPCA said another dog had been continuously tortured over several months and had suffered from broken bones, haematomas and had bleach sprayed in his eyes.

Koch took the puppies to several different vets and it was only when one reported him to the RSPCA that the full scale of the torture was uncovered.

He had previously pleaded guilty at Hendon Magistrates court to abusing nine puppies between January and October last year.

Alongside his 26 weeks imprisonment - the maximum the court allows - Koch was banned from keeping all animals for life

The RSPCA, which led the 'long and complex investigation' into Koch, say he would take them to different veterinary clinics around north London with different excuses for their injuries.

Traumatised: Koch took Max a shih 'Tzu cavalier cross (pictured) to another vet, suffering with severe chest injuries

Prosecutor Narinder Behal said: 'These offences took place between January and October last year.

'The defendant came to the attention of the police and the RSPCA in relation to two animals. These two animals had been taken to MediVets in Hendon. One had been suffering with a broken jaw.

'The other had severe injuries to the tail, which had severed or teared the nerves and tendons.

'He provided false details to the vet, but the animals were taken in by the vet and the RSPCA were contacted.'

The court heard about another dog, a shih 'Tzu cavalier cross called Max, who was taken to another vet, suffering with severe chest injuries, and Koch was warned the pup could die if he wasn't treated immediately.

Mr Behal said: 'Despite the warnings he would die, the defendant refused treatment and left the vet saying he had to check the insurance.

'The police were contacted again by the vets and as a result the RSPCA attended his address.

'They found a number of dog products outside the property. After further searching, they were horrified to then find the deceased remains of a male pup in the refuse bin outside.

'A cable had been tied around the next and used to choke the puppy.'

Nearly fatal: He was warned that the abused puppy could die if he wasn't treated immediately

The magistrates were told at the police station after he was arrested, Koch spoke to his father on the phone.

He was heard saying: 'I was feeling anxious and I hurt a dog. I bought it and hurt it. I thought it could comfort me. I killed it. I stabbed it this morning. I took it to the vet. I took it to the vet first.'

The court heard despite being warned by officials in June last year not to purchase any more animals while he was being investigated, he got more puppies.

Some of the dogs survived the torture and were able to be rehomed, but others had to be put down by vets.

Speaking for the defence, Cameron Collins said a lifetime ban on owning animals was not opposed by his client.

He said: 'You are dealing with a man with questionable and weakened mental and emotional fortitude, who had been diagnosed with OCD.'

Awful discovery: The dog in a shopping bag was unearthed as Koch admitted to abusing nine puppies between January and October last year

He told the court Koch, a hospital inspector and primary carer for his two elderly parents, bought the puppies because he is 'isolated from his wife and children' and they were intended to 'provide companionship'.

He added: 'He does not purchase the animals with the intention of treating them in this manner. He doesn't use them for fighting. He has simply lost his temper with them and lost control.'

The court heard before sentencing he had been assessed for a psychiatric report which found he had a personality disorder and a mild form of OCD.

Magistrate Michael Herlihy said the panel took into account his early plea but could not ignore aggravating features in the case.

He said: 'You caused severe injuries to these dogs and you used weapons to torture them. You pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and you are of previous good character.

'But due to the serious nature of these injuries and the regularity of the cruel behaviour to the dogs we do not feel we can suspend this sentence, despite the care requirements of your parents.'

As part of his sentence, Koch was also ordered to pay 85 in costs and 80 victim surcharge.

After the sentencing RSPCA DCI Nicole Broster, said: 'This was one of the most disturbing cases I have ever worked on. This man systematically violently abused numerous puppies. At first glance it appeared that he was just an owner who had a mishap with his puppy.

'But after piecing bits of the jigsaw together I found a catalogue of events showing he would regularly take different puppies to different vets across the area - all with horrific injuries.

'It really distresses me to think about the fear and pain these poor defenceless animals must have experienced.'

She added: 'We are very relieved he has received a ban on keeping all animals for life so that hopefully his reign of terror over these animals can come to an end and he can cause no more suffering.'
Back surgeon Dr Cully White has been accused of installing counterfeit parts inside of patients

A back surgeon has been accused of installing counterfeit parts inside patients in Milwaukee.

Dr Cully White, 47, allegedly fitted the parts in a number of patients before removing them again in follow-up operations years later.

White, who was convicted of health insurance fraud in 2013 and lost his medical license, allegedly left his patients in agony and some fear the damage done is permanent.

One of his former patients, Linda Haynes, has filed a lawsuit against White, claiming he installed knock-off parts inside her during surgery on her back in 2009, Fox 6 reported.

She also claims White called her in for a further operation in 2013 so he could take out the counterfeit medical devices.

Ms Haynes' attorneys named Spinal Solutions LLC as the California-based company behind the fake parts.

White is alleged to have flown on Spinal Solutions private jet to vacation spots in Mexico and Colorado, the Center for Investigative Reporting reported.

Lawyers for Ms Haynes say these were kickbacks to persuade him to use the counterfeit devices.

The operations took place at Aurora St Luke's Medical Center in Milwaukee, according to the lawsuit.

Another of White's former patients, Mike Matteson, said there could be hundreds of people fitted with bogus parts.

He had rods installed by White removed years ago, but held on to them.

Roger Williams came to White in 2005 after a spinal injury at work, but now believes the operation was botched

The operations took place at Aurora St Luke's Medical Center (pictured) in Milwaukee, according to the lawsuit

'You can clearly see that these are [counterfeit]. Both of the rods are rusting,' he said.

Roger Williams came to White in 2005 after a spinal injury at work, but now believes the operation was botched.

'I don't think I'll ever be back to normal again,' Mr Williams, who is yet to take any legal action, said.

'Something has to happen to this guy for what he's done to us.

'He's been caught using machine parts, when he should have been using parts made at a medical place.'

White was forced to give up his medical license in 2013 as part of a plea deal leading to his conviction for health insurance fraud. He served a six-month jail sentence and spent a further six months under house arrest.

The surgeon had been performing about 600 surgeries a year before he lost his license, which is more than double the average, according to the Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel.

Last year, White settled a medical malpractice claim filed against him by a former patient for $2.5million.
Crabb took over at DWP after Iain Duncan Smith's bombshell resignation

But he warned 'chaotic' families undermined the life chances of children

Stephen Crabb insisted he was not talking about the 'nuclear family'

Stephen Crabb today insisted a stable home gives children the best possible chance

Stable families are crucial for children to grow up with good life chance, the new work and pensions secretary declared today.

Stephen Crabb made no mention of marriage in his first major speech since replacing Iain Duncan Smith at Whitehall's biggest department.

But he insisted the Government believed families were the building block of strong society.

Mr Crabb, seen by some as a possible future Tory leader and Prime Minister, was handed the big promotion last month when Mr Duncan Smith walked out of Government in protest at fresh benefit cuts.

His replacement's first act was to scrap the controversial slashing of disability benefits, adding a warning about the need to remember the human beings behind statistics.

Mr Crabb today paid tribute to his predecessor for paving the way for the Government's pro-family agenda.

And speaking at the Early Intervention Foundation, Mr Crabb said: 'All of our life chances work, from the health sector to schools, to decent places to live is vital, but I believe it is a stable home and a family life that gives children the best possible chance.

'It is hard to overstate the importance of family. Because no-one can doubt that from a young age, it is the family that helps to define us.'

Mr Crabb, raised in a council home by a single mother, insisted he was not talking about an 'idealised model' of the 'nuclear family'.

Mr Crabb last month had an extraordinary reunion with his frail, elderly father for the first time in 30 years.

They became estranged when Philip, now 72, split from Crabbs mother, Jacqui, after a series of violent rows which led to police visiting their home when Stephen was just a teenager.

In his speech today, the minister added: 'Family is the training ground for life. And a good start provides a great platform for a fruitful life.

'In contrast, as you well know, family life which is chaotic, violent, broken, damaged, turbulent leads so often to a life characterised by educational failure, crime, poverty, and where that cycle is then repeated in another generation.

'And the impact on the individual, on society, the economy and the welfare budget is massive.'

Mr Crabb also used the speech to pledge to make supporting disabled people into jobs one of his priorities.

He said there was an 'employment gap' between disabled and able-bodied workers and added: 'This employment gap isn't because of a lack of aspiration on the part of sick and disabled people. We know the majority want to work or stay in work.

'Some attitudes held by society have stopped disabled people from moving into work for many decades. I want to challenge health and care professionals, employers and wider society to break down those barriers.'

Mr Crabb, pictured in his first Commons appearance as Work and Pensions Secretary signalling an embarrassing Government u-turn on disability benefits, replaced Iain Duncan Smith

Rossanna Trudgian, head of campaigns at the learning disability charity Mencap, said: 'Disabled people will be disappointed to hear little in Stephen Crabb's first major speech as to how this Government will overturn the harmful effects from the past six years of cuts to benefits and the social care sector.'

Alison Garnham, chief executive of the Child Poverty Action Group, said: 'What we now need is action to match the rhetoric, or else Stephen Crabb will be faced with the very real threat that this Government's main social policy legacy could be the biggest rise in child poverty for a generation.'

Shadow work and pensions secretary Owen Smith said: 'The cuts to Employment Support Allowance that will make half a million disabled people over 1,500 a year worse off are just as rotten as the Personal Independence Payment cuts and should also be reversed.
A Trump-supporting student who wore a 'Make America Great Again' cap to school has claimed he was ridiculed by faculty staff.

Connor Mullen, 16, made the decision to wear the red hat to South Portland High School, in Maine, three weeks ago after meeting the controversial Republican presidential candidate at a rally.

Connor said he was expecting to take flak from students but never thought he would encounter any problems from staff.

Trump-supporting Connor Mullen, 16, claims he was ridiculed by faculty staff after wearing a 'Make America Great Again' cap to school

Connor (left) made the decision to wear the red hat to school after meeting Donald Trump (right) at a rally

The Trump-supporting teenager told the Portland Press Herald that two adults mocked him because of the hat, including a teacher who is accused of saying: 'Thank God you can't vote.'

Another staff member held up the hat in class, drawing laughter from classmates, Connor said.

'I knew kids would pick on me about it, that's just kids being kids, but when the adults started doing it I thought that's problematic,' Connor said.

'This is a school that preaches equality,' he added.

On Friday, Connor told assistant principal Phil Rossetti what happened but was shocked when he suggested he leave the cap at home.

Connor was speaking to teachers about the hat after a teacher told senior staff that a female student had snatched it from his head and thrown it into a trash can.

Connor said he expected to take flak from students at South Portland High School (pictured), but not staff

Disciplinary action has been taken against the girl who threw the cap in the trash and school officials say they 'did follow up' the complaints with the two staff members - although it is not clear if any serious action was taken.

The bullying continued on Monday, when the baseball cap was knocked off his head and a classmate told him: 'I'm glad you're being bullied.'

School principal Ryan Caron said he told Connor he could continue to wear the cap.

Connor claims two adults mocked him because of the hat, including a teacher who is accused of saying: 'Thank God you can't vote'

However, he admitted that Mr Rosetti 'suggested that he might consider not wearing the hat' because of the 'charged political climate and the attention that the hat might draw'.

Mullen said he wears the cap because 'I like the slogan, I like Donald Trump, and I like hats'.

He said Trump has inspired him to pursue a career in the military or law enforcement.

Connor met his idol at a rally in Maine in March, and a video posted on the 16-year-old's Facebook page shows Trump signing a placard for him.

He has no intention of turning up to school without the hat as he does not want his political opinion to be stifled.

Superintendent Ken Kunin said he would defend students' rights to free speech.

'This is a beautiful problem to have in a school because it's a chance to practice democracy,' he said.

'It's a great example of why we need public schools. You don't all of a sudden wake up and know how to act in a democracy. You learn how to act in a democracy.'

Cruz beat Trump in the Republican caucus in Maine on March 5, taking 45.9 per cent of the vote to The Donald's 32.6 per cent.

In the Democratic race, Bernie Sanders comfortably beat Hillary Clinton.
Snoop Dogg has branded Arnold Schwarzenegger 'b****' and a 'racist' as the killer he pardoned at end of gubernatorial term is freed early.

Esteban Nunez, 27, the son of Fabian Nunez - a political ally while Schwarzenegger was governor - was released from jail Sunday after serving less than six years of a 16-year sentence.

Nunez was jailed in June 2010 for stabbing college student Luis Santos, who was 22 at the time, to death in San Diego. But, on his last day in office in 2011, Schwarzenegger commuted the sentence to just seven years.

Now Snoop Dogg has hit out at the Hollywood actor calling him a 'racist piece of s***' for commuting his friend's son's sentence, while rejecting a stay of execution for Crips gang founder and former leader Stanley 'Tookie' Williams.

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Snoop Dogg has branded Arnold Schwarzenegger 'b****' and a 'racist' as the killer her pardoned at end of gubernatorial term is freed early

'Arnold Schwarzenegger is a straight b****,' the rapper said in a video released on his Instagram page.

'How the f*** you gonna let this n***** out of jail but you gonna kill Tookie Williams? You are one motherf***ng racist piece of s***.

'You is a b****, you is a punk. Mother f***er I can't stand you.'

Tookie Williams was one of the early leaders in the West Side Crips, based in South Central Los Angeles in 1969.

In 1979, he was convicted of four murders, shooting dead a 7-Eleven clerk, as well as an elderly Taiwanese couple and their daughter.

After entering jail, was said to have renounced gang membership and even wrote several anti-gang and anti-violence literature and children's books. He was even nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his anti-gang efforts.

Tookie was executed by lethal injection in 2005 after the then-Governor Schwarzenegger rejected both his plea for clemency and a four-week stay of execution.

Esteban Nunez (pictured), 27, has been freed after his manslaughter sentence was reduced from 16 years to seven in 2011 by then-Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger

Snoop Dogg has hit out at the Hollywood actor calling him a 'racist piece of s***' for commuting his friend's son's sentence

Tookie Williams (pictured as a baby-faced teen, left) was just 15 when he became the leader of a small street gang. Two years later he founded the infamous Cripps gang. He was convicted of murder and later became a leading anti-gang and anti-violence proponent (pictured in jail, right)

Tookie was executed by lethal injection in 2005 after the then-Governor Schwarzenegger rejected both his plea for clemency and a four-week stay of execution. Rapper Snoop Dogg (right) had protested against the execution wearing a t-shirt which read 'Save Tookie.org'

'Arnold punk a** didn't let tookie out or reduce his sentence,' Snoop wrote on Instagram. 'N he was a Nobel piece prize nominee. Sad day in politics. F*** u Arnold n the horse u rode in on b****.'

He also warned former body builder and action star Schwarzenegger that he would not be removing his video rant any time soon.

'I ain't changing s***.How dare you think I'm goina take this post down. You don't scare me n*****,' he said in a second video post.

Nunez will spend three years on parole supervision in Sacramento County after his release on Sunday, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Since his release, Schwarzenegger has also come under fire from the victim's famil

My son (was) stabbed in the heart when he was alive,' Fred Santos, Luis's father told CNN. 'Schwarzenegger stabbed him in the back after my son is killed.

Last summer, a Court of Appeal ruled that the Hollywood star's decision to free Nunez early could be seen as 'grossly unjust'.

But as it was not illegal, the court was not able to overturn the ruling.

'Back-room dealings were apparent,' the court wrote of Schwarzenegger's move.

Presiding Justice Vance W. Raye wrote in a concurring opinion, 'As reprehensible as the Governor's action in this instance might have been, it would be equally reprehensible to ignore the clear language of a constitutional provision.'

Mr Santos, had been outraged and complained that, as Luis' family, they had not been informed of the decision.

Nunez is the son of Fabian Nunez (left), the former speaker of the state Assembly and a political ally while Schwarzenegger (right) was governor

Former California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez's (right) son Esteban Nunez (left) had his sentence slashed by Arnold Schwarzenegger

Nunez was jailed in June 2010 (pictured in court in 2008) for stabbing college student Luis Santos, who was 22 at the time,to death in San Diego

'I guess if you're the son of somebody important, you can kill someone and get all sorts of breaks,' Santos told the Contra Costa Times in 2011.

Esteban Nunez received credit for good behavior and was ultimately released after serving less than six years.

'Our son has paid his debt to society. ... He is committed to continuing the work of healing, self-reflection and spiritual growth,' the Nunez family said in a statement released Friday.

Santos' mother had anticipated Nunez's early release and she steadfastly believes a high-level political favor is sending him home.

'It makes you sick that something like this can happen, and you have no power,' Kathy Santos told the Los Angeles Times, adding she doesn't believe the young man has reformed.

Prosecutors said Nunez and Ryan Jett, both armed with knives, acted together in the attack that killed unarmed Santos at San Diego State University in October 2008, according to the LA Times.

The defendants had faced the possibility of life in prison if they went to trial and lost so instead, they pleaded guilty to lesser charges of voluntary manslaughter and assault.

Schwarzenegger argued that Nunez should have received a lighter sentence than co-defendant Jett, because Jett had a prior record and Nunez did not, according to the LA Times.

The prosecution's theory that Jett had been the one who delivered the fatal knife blow also played into the governor's argument.

But it was never clear who stabbed Santos and prosecutors said that the law should treat the attackers with equal severity.

The Santos family (left) with Luis Santos (back row center) had been bitterly disappointed by Schwarzenegger's decision

Santos' mother Kathy, pictured with husband Fred in 2012, had anticipated Nunez's early release and she steadfastly believes a high-level political favor is sending him home

Fabian Nunez said the judge had been too harsh on his son.

He told the LA Times that he used his 'relationship with the governor to help my own son', adding that he would 'do it again'.

Jett is expected to serve out his original sentence.

The Santos family sued to overturn the shortened sentence, but without success.

In 2012, a Sacramento judge called the commutation 'repugnant' but legal.

And in 2015, an appeals court wrote that 'back-room dealings were apparent', but upheld Schwarzenegger's power to reduce the sentence.

Schwarzenegger said at the time that he acted because he thought the 16-year sentence was excessive, but he also acknowledged he was helping a friend.
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Many people turned to exploring local nature paths for their daily exercise when lockdown closed gyms and group sports took a hiatus amid the pandemic.

Amateur photographers who captured stunning images of animals in their natural habitat were quick to submit their snaps to Weekend magazine's annual Wildlife Photography Challenge in the hopes of winning a package worth over 1,000.

The entrants were split into five categories - Birds; Mammals; Insects; Under-18s; and Reptiles, Fish, Amphibians & Molluscs.

While each category winner received a Nikon mirrorless digital camera kit and a year's subscription to Nikon Owner magazine, the overall winner also received a trip to the Camargue with wildlife photographer Simon Stafford, courtesy of Create Away, for a four-night masterclass in photographing the region's wild horses, flamingos and bulls.

Judges David Suchet, Clare Balding, Lucy Cooke, Steve Brown, Kelly Brook and Michael Eleftheriades were impressed with Lee O'dwyer, 67, a retired engineer from Lancashire, who was awarded the overall winner for his shot of a long-tailed tit.

These runner-up snaps taken by talented amateur photographers prove choosing an overall winner was a tough decision...

BIRDS

PUFFIN: Taken by Joseph Bristow, 23, a retail supervisor from Llantwit Major. 'Arriving at 3am and queueing for the 6am ticket office to open. First in line I caught the boat over to Skomer Island. With only a few hours permitted on the island I had no time to waste. Surrounded by the Puffins was an amazing spectacle and allowed me to capture some amazing photos. I found this one puffin who seemed very tame and loved posing for the camera. As he stared down the barrel of my lens I took my shot and was pleased with the result. I found the black background really provides a provocative and striking image highlight the vibrant colour of the Puffins.'

KESTREL CHICKS: Taken by Jayne Kirkby, 20, from Braintree, Essex. 'Beautiful pair of Kestrel chicks, taken at Wrabness on 20th June 2020.'

KINGFISHER: Tim Clifton, a 59-year-old from, St Leonards on Sea, snapped this captivating photo of a kingfisher hunting for small fish

MALLARD: William Watson, 64, a semi retired HGV driver from East Dunbartonshire. 'Taken on the Forth & Clyde canal (December '19') Bishopbriggs, As I went to take this photo of this female Mallard it stretched creating a nice reflection....'

INSECTS

BUTTERFLY: Adam Lane, a 27-year-old host at Legoland, from Slough, captured a butterfly perched on a purple flower in specular detail

WASP: Shelia Moth took this captivating photo of a wasp on a thistle, capturing the insect and plant in immense detail

SPIDER: Taken by Geoffrey Wells, 67, a maintenance caretaker from North Yorkshire. 'This picture was taken in my back garden during the recent lockdown.'

REPTILES

MATING FROGS: Taken by Steve Jellett, 64, from Essex, who is retired. 'Taken in small garden pond when 21 frogs descended to mate.'

MAMMALS

ROE DEER: Tim Cliffton, a 75-year-old from St Leonards on sea, took a photograph of two roe deer spotted in a field

MOUSE: Taken by Cameron Parfitt, 20, a student at the University of Brighton, from Worthing. 'I would love to highlight that even in your back garden there are images to be had. This image is of a cheeky wood mouse that keeps stealing food from what we have now dubbed the mouse feeder. It's not unheard of for this little guy to be found inside the feeder without a care in the world stuffing himself with the bird seed.'

JUNIORS

FOX CUB: Billy Evans-Freke, 15, a secondary school student from East Sussex. 'It wasn't a long wait in the hide before the first fox cub woke up from its nap and came out into the open. It was soon followed by another cub. At first they stayed in the shadows of the bushes near the den. But once they gained their confidence they started coming closer. This cub in particular was very curious and came very close to the hide.'
But others warn move could threaten human health and destroy fish stocks

Many scientists calling for tritium-laced water to be drained into the ocean

Radioactive tritium remains in the waste fluid which is kept in 1,000 tanks

300 tonnes of water needed each day to keep melted-down reactors cool

Japan is considering releasing thousands of tonnes of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean from the beleaguered Fukushima plant.

The nuclear power station, north of Tokyo, was wrecked by a 50-foot tsunami in March 2011, disabling three of its reactors.

To keep the melted-down reactors cool, 300 tonnes of water needs to be pumped through them each day, leaving waste fluid that still contains tritium, a radioactive material.

Japan is considering releasing thousands of tonnes of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean from the beleaguered Fukushima plant (pictured)

The nuclear power station, north of Tokyo, was wrecked by a 50-foot tsunami in March 2011, which disabled its three reactors. Shown here is the third reactor during the disaster

As removing the substance would be extremely costly, many scientists argue it is not worth it and say the risks of dumping the tritium-laced water into the sea are minimal.

But their calls to release the effluent into the Pacific Ocean are alarming many in Japan and elsewhere.

The ranks of the country's anti-nuclear activists have been growing since the disaster, and many oppose releasing the water before the tritium has been removed.

Japan's fishermen have also opposed the plans, claiming a release of the water could devastate local fish stocks.

There are also concerns for human health, as tritium goes directly into soft tissues and organs of the human body, potentially increasing the risks of cancer and other sicknesses.

Smoke billows from the nuclear power plant's third reactor. To keep the reactors cool since the incident, 300 tonnes of water was pumped through them each day, leaving waste fluid that still contains a radioactive material, tritium

As removing the substance would be extremely costly, many scientists argue it is not worth it and say the risks of dumping the tritium-laced water into the sea are minimal. But others say releasing waste water from the damaged power plant (pictured) could harm human health and destroy fish stocks

The Japanese government has been keen to downplay the threat posed to the public by the power plant. Here, Japan's Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office Yasuhiro Sonoda drinks a glass of decontaminated water taken from puddles inside the buildings housing reactors five and six

The line between safe and unsafe radiation is murky, and children are more susceptible to radiation-linked illness.

Robert Daguillard, a spokesman for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said: 'Any exposure to tritium radiation could pose some health risk.

'This risk increases with prolonged exposure, and health risks include increased occurrence of cancer.'

But Rosa Yang, a nuclear expert based in Palo Alto, California, who advises Japan on decommissioning reactors, is unconcerned.

She said a Japanese government official should simply get up in public and drink water from one of the tanks to convince people it's safe.

Collected in one place, the amount of tritium in the contaminated water would amount to just 57 millilitres, or about the amount of liquid in a couple of espresso cups - a minuscule quantity in the overall masses of water.

Shunichi Tanaka, chairman of the Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority, said this would be well below the global standard allowed for tritium in water.

He said: 'The substance is so weak in its radioactivity it won't penetrate plastic wrapping.'

Tokyo Electric Power Co., the company that manages the Fukushima plant, has not made its position clear on releasing the waste water.

It is thought to be waiting for a decision from the Japanese government.
Europe should spend 23billion and accept 500,000 migrants a year to avoid the EU being torn apart by the refugee crisis, a billionaire financier has argued.

George Soros claimed the huge cash injection was vital to stop the 'real threat' of the collapse of the Schengen system - the 26 European countries that have scrapped border control at their internal borders.

The American investor stressed that EU leaders needed to embrace 'surge' funding rather than 'scraping together insufficient funds year after year'.

George Soros, 85, claimed Europe must spend 23billion and accept 500,000 migrants a year to avoid the EU being ripped apart by the refugee crisis

In his essay written for the New York Review of Books, Mr Soros stressed that Europe should absorb between 300,000 and 500,000 refugees each year.

The investor, 85, estimated the EU would need at least 23billion ($30billion) a year to finance his plan.

'Thirty billion might sound like an enormous sum, but it is not when viewed in proper perspective,' he wrote.

'First, we must recognize that a failure to provide the necessary funds would cost the EU even more.

The investor stressed that EU leaders needed to embrace 'surge' funding to respond to the 'most dangerous consequences' of the migrant crisis

A refugee exchange programme is in place that will see the EU admit one refugee directly from Turkey for each Syrian it takes back from the Greek islands

'There is a real threat that the refugee crisis could cause the collapse of Europe's Schengen system of open internal borders among twenty-six European states.'

Over a million migrants and refugees fled the Middle East and Africa last year and crossed into Europe.

Now a refugee exchange programme is in place that will see the EU admit one refugee directly from Turkey for each Syrian it takes back from the Greek islands.

All migrants intercepted as they head to Greece on boats will be returned to Turkey. They will not be part of any exchange deal.

Mr Soros also claimed a humanitarian meltdown is happening in Greece, writing: 'The asylum seekers are desperate. Legitimate refugees must be offered a reasonable chance to reach their destinations in Europe.

Mr Soros said: 'The asylum seekers are desperate. Legitimate refugees must be offered a reasonable chance to reach their destinations in Europe'

'EU leaders need to embrace the idea that effectively addressing the crisis will require 'surge' funding, rather than scraping together insufficient funds year after year.

'Spending a large amount at the outset would allow the EU to respond more effectively to some of the most dangerous consequences of the refugee crisis.'

Mr Soros suggested the European Commission's Multiannual Financial Framework - Europe's long-term spending planfor ongoing funding.

He argued that it was imperative to get separate 'surge' funding to stem the refugee crisis - saying the European Financial Stabilization Mechanism (EFSF) and the Balance of Payments Assistance Facility contain 47billion of unused funding.

He said: 'Throughout history, governments have issued bonds in response to national emergencies. That is the case in Europe today. When should the triple-A credit of the EU be mobilized if not at a moment when the European Union is in mortal danger?'
James Weldon Ecford was shot in the head and died later a Houston, Texas hospital

Police say a man was shot and killed Monday night while trying to save his mother from an armed robber during a purse snatching.

James Weldon Ecford was shot in the head and died later a Houston, Texas hospital, according to KPRC.

The 26-year-old and his mother were just returning from an outing around 11pm when he went inside to the home ahead of her.

She was confronted outside in the parking lot by a man demanding her purse.

Police say Ecford heard his mother's screams and immediately ran outside to help her.

Ecford and the man started to struggle and at some point the robber pulled out a gun and shot the son, KPRC reported.

The suspect got away in a small four-door compact vehicle with three other suspects.

The mother was not physically hurt, but the suspect was able to steal her purse.

'She (the mom) was crying, 'I should have just let them have my purse,'' neighbor Jaime Mendoza told KPRC.

The 26-year-old was shot and killed Monday night while trying to save his mother from armed robbers a purse snatching. He is pictured above center

Police say they were just returning from an outing around 11pm when he went into their apartment ahead of her. She was confronted outside in the parking lot by a man demanding her purse

'If I would have had my wife and child next to me I would have been like here take it.'

KHOU reported that the victim's mother and father lived in one of the condos while he lived in his own not far away.

The family has lived in the complex since Ecford was born.

'I heard two shots, and it was about 11.15,' one neighbor who didn't want to be identified told KHOU.

Police say Ecford heard his mother's screams and immediately ran outside to help her. Ecford and the man started to struggle and at some point the robber pulled out a gun and shot the son, KPRC reported

'It was right outside my front door. I opened my door  the body was right there.'

The neighbor also told KHOU that she'll forever be haunted by what she saw.

Police have yet to release a description of the gunman and the other suspects.

Anyone with information about this case is urged to contact the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
Ian Halperin is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and award-winning investigative journalist whose highly-anticipated forthcoming book, Kardashian Dynasty, has already disclosed sensational new details about reality TV's First Family.

Now he writes for Daily Mail Online and reveals how fame-hungry ex-stripper Blac Chyna has set her sights on marrying Rob Kardashian so she can secure her own fly-on-the-wall franchise.

He also lays bare their destructive lifestyle, Chyna's sordid plans to make a sex tape and the bitter custody battle that threatens to tarnish the Kardashian brand.

Halperin was dubbed the Nostradamus of Hollywood by the world's media for predicting the death of Michael Jackson exactly six months to the day.

For the first time in years, he's going to make another chilling prediction that will make uncomfortable reading for fans of this newly-engaged couple.

Blac Chyna has ruthlessly gatecrashed the world of the Kardashians and now wants to eclipse their fame and riches.

The first stage of her master plan was to seduce the family's only male heir, Rob, and seize the Kardashian name for herself through marriage.

Master plan: Blac Chyna an even more extreme, unexpurgated, unscripted reality show to take the place of the Kardashians - and a family of children with the most valuable name in showbusiness

Taste of the future: Chyna has been using her Snapchat account to post pictures and video of herself and Rob but what she is actually planning includes a possible sex tape - to ape the success of Kim's - and a show

No shy about social media: The former stripper has made use of social media as part of her bid to position herself as not just the successor to the Kardashians, but their nemsis

Working out: Rob Kardashian has been the star of Blac Chyna's Snapchat posts, with scenes of him working out to lose weight part of her move towards reality show domination

Now I can lay bare the next step in her reality TV takeover - to secure her own show that will be more outrageous, more shocking and more popular than any before.

Unlike the sanitized, glitzy world of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, the pole dancer-turned celebrity vixen wants her fly-on-the-wall franchise to be edgy, raw and entirely unscripted.

Chyna, 27, has told her advisers that it has to be filmed in real time and editing will be kept to a minimum.

The curvy model has started releasing videos of her and Rob on social media in a choreographed move to build their brand.

And my sources say major networks are already showing serious interest.

There have also been rumblings of a sex tape as Chyna wants to emulate Kim's now infamous X-rated home movie with former boyfriend Ray J.

She thinks it will make them an even bigger commodity and help them land the multi-million dollar TV deal she craves.

My sources say they have put it on the backburner for now because of Rob's reluctance - but his buxom fiancee has not abandoned the idea altogether.

Rob, 28, has always struggled with fame and his battles with drugs, depression and weight gain are documented at length in my upcoming book, Kardashian Dynasty.

However he is completely on board with the idea of an upstart reality show because he is sick of constantly living in the shadow of his siblings.

He told friends that he grew tired of the scripted and formulated concept of Keeping Up With The Kardashians and wants to do 'something real, something raw that will be a true reality show - not fake'.

Put a ring on it: The engagement to Rob Kardashian - and the accompanying ring - makes Blak Chyna a huge star, but it has caused showckwaves in his family. Now, reveals Ian Halperin, those closest to him are worried he is becoming her 'puppet'

Inspiration: The sex tape Kim Kardashian made with Ray J turned her from a minor celebrity into a huge star, and Blak Chyna is willing to go down the same road

Concern: In her time as a stripper, Chyna;s lifestyle sparked fears from her colleagues. 'One day she could come in looking like some yoga guru and the next she would come in looking completely trashed.'

Drugs fears: Chyna was arrested at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, Texas. She was charged with public intoxication and possession of a controlled substance - ecstasy.

Understandably, those closest to the recovering addict are worried he is becoming Chyna's 'puppet' and won't be able to cope with the pressure.

'I hope he hasn't sold his soul in hopes of getting a new reality show with Chyna,' a friend told me. 'She is a dominating personality while Rob is chilled out and easy going.

'It saddens me to say I don't think this Hollywood fairytale will have a happy ending. I'm inclined to believe it's going to get very messy after the honeymoon period expires.'

According to multiple sources close to the Kardashians, several family members are already insisting that Rob pursues an airtight prenup.

But one source, who works in family law, predicted the negotiations with Chyna will be intense and awkward.

'If I was Rob I would be hesitant to sign one,' the source said. 'The way Chyna's garnering worldwide attention will turn her into one of Hollywood's richest celebrities.

'She's a shrewd businesswoman. She'll end up monetizing her relationship with Rob to the max, she'll make tens of millions in the first two years.

'Rob should sit tight, because at the end of the day if the relationship goes sour he'll be eligible to get spousal support from Chyna.'

The source went further to detail the impending prenup, adding: 'There will be extraneous clauses in there that protect Rob, clauses like if Chyna cheats on him he gets that much cash or if they divorce he gets sole custody of the kids.

'On the flip side Chyna might insist for clauses about Rob's weight, such as if he doesn't shed a certain amount of pounds over a defined period then she gets to divorce him.'

I can also reveal that Rob's friends and family are also worried about the risk of him relapsing while under Chyna's influence.

According to sources close to the couple drugs are everywhere around them - including pot, ecstasy and lots of alcohol.

Chyna was known as the 'ultimate party girl' in her stripping days when she earned as much as $10,000 a night thanks to her Jessica Rabbit figure and wild antics.

Gigi, who worked alongside Chyna at the King of Diamonds Gentleman's Club in Miami, told me 'she often dabbled in alcohol and other things.'

'It was a case of two steps forward, one step backwards with Chyna,' she explained. 'One day she could come in looking like some yoga guru and the next she would come in looking completely trashed.'

Messy dispute: A custody battle between Tyga and China over their son, King Cairo, (pictured before their split) would be explosive but there is concern about the lifestyle the child is exposed to, especially fears about the presence of drugs

Run its course? Although Tyga has moved on to be with Kylie Jenner there are fears that relationship too is reaching its end. But even so the Kardashians are likely to side with Tyga

Shortly after Chyna and Rob announced in January that they were dating, the 5ft 2in model was arrested at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, in Texas, after being barred from a flight and causing a disturbance.

A police report details how she smelled of alcohol, her eyes were bloodshot and how her behavior veered from 'extremely angry, cursing at everyone, then to crying'.

She was charged with public intoxication and possession of a controlled substance after officers discovered two white pills in her bag that were later confirmed to be ecstasy.

Rob duly drove for around 24 hours from LA to Austin - a journey of 1,400 miles - to bail Chyna out and bring her home.

His slavish devotion raised yet more red flags with his family and friends who fear for his wellbeing.

'I just don't think it's going to last,' one close pal confided in me. 'They just don't appear to be the ultimate match. They seem like complete opposites.

'I hear rumors of partying and drugs but I'm not in the room with them. I hope he stays clean. Although he's distanced himself recently from his circle of friends I still love him like a brother.'

The arrest and rumors of drug abuse have also caused massive alarm for Chyna's ex-fiancee Tyga, who is said to be preparing a fresh legal bid to win custody of their three-year-old son, King Cairo.

I can also reveal that Tyga, 26 - real name Michael Ray Stevenson - has asked friends to track Chyna because he's worried she's surrounding the toddler with booze, drugs, strippers and undesirables.

The pair enjoyed a whirlwind romance after he spotted Chyna grinding in a strip club and immediately cast her in the lead role for the video to his 2011 hit 'Rack City'.

They set up home in Calabasas, California and grew close to the Kardashians before Tgya broke off their engagement and months later announced he was dating Kylie Jenner, then aged just 17.

Matriarch will decide: Kris Jenner must work out how a hotter couple than Kylie and Tyga - his ex Chyna and her brother Rob - fit into the future of the family

In the series: The latest series of Keeping Up With The Kardashians had the drama of Caitlyn Jenner's revelation as a woman - but will the next season have Rob and Chyna?

Chyna saw this as the ultimate betrayal and vowed to get revenge on both Tyga for walking out on her and former 'bestie' Kim, whom she blames for not stepping in.

She told friends she would respond by seducing and marrying Rob - the family's 'weak link' - then giving birth to a 'new generation' of Kardashians to steal attention away from the older siblings.

Insiders tell me that Tyga is particularly worried that Chyna is trying to brainwash their little boy into thinking Rob is his real father figure.

My sources say the Kardashians have been drawn into a proxy war - with Caitlyn and Kris Jenner and several other family members providing the rapper with legal advice.

Now that Kylie has turned 18 they are no longer uneasy about the age gap and believe they have to support the relationship while it lasts.

My sources say they have encouraged Tyga to seek full custody of King Cairo.

An indie hip hop artist who has known both Chyna and Tyga for several years said: 'After all is said and done my heart goes out to Tyga, I feel for the brother.

'His motivation is to be the best father but Chyna has her own agenda - and it's getting nasty. The saddest part of all is that a gorgeous child is caught in the middle of this.

'Without Tyga, Chyna would be a nobody to the world. He made her famous.

'Now, it's a bitter feud. I have a feeling it's Tyga who's going to get thrown out in the cold.

'This is all causing a lot of strain in his relationship with Kylie. It could end any second, any day. I think this is too much for young Kylie to deal with.

'She will probably realize it's best to move on. Chyna is positioning herself for the long haul - she's on a mission.'

An LA stylist who knows Kylie and Tyga concurs that the relationship is 'all but over'  but he says Chyna has little to do with it.

'Tyga likes to live well above his means,' the stylist said. 'Kylie is fed up. She wants a man who's in the elite, a man with power and lots of money.

'Tyga pretends to be rich but actually he's gone bankrupt and has been evicted from multiple homes for not keeping up with the rent.

'Kylie finally smelled the coffee and is trying to move on. I don't think she sees a long term plan with Tyga.'

Eery parallel: 'I've been struck by the similarities between Rob and Chyna and Nick Gordon and Bobbi Kristina Brown.They also set the world on fire. But behind the scenes there were drugs, there was abuse, there was self-destruction,' writes Ian Halperin

In the course of writing my book I have gotten close to the Kardashian family's inner circle and those who are privy to their thoughts and strategies.

They are the closest thing to reality TV Mafia and will not sit idly by when someone declares war on their brand.

They may flash the Kardashian smile and play nice in public - but behind the scenes they will be plotting a decisive counterattack to get Chyna out of Rob's life and halt her power grab.

One industry insider told me that the Kardashians will try to keep Rob and Chyna in the fold for the time being, to stave off the immediate threat of a rival reality franchise.

'Although it appears likely that Chyna and Rob want their own reality show, Kris Jenner is one of the shrewdest and sharpest people in TV today and will be making every attempt to sign them up to the next season of KUWTK,' said my source.

'She would not want to lose this cash cow as they are going to be huge.'

Which all leads me to a rather unsettling conclusion.

In December 2008 I predicted in a magazine article that Michael Jackson, The King of Pop, would only live six more months.

My eerie prediction made headlines across the globe - and Michael died six months to the day.

I made that prediction because Michael was addicted to drugs and had a lot of greedy enablers around him.

If he would have had better people looking out for his best interests, he would still be alive today.

I also wrote another book last year, Whitney and Bobbi Kristina: The Deadly Price of Fame - and I've been struck by the similarities between Rob and Chyna and Nick Gordon and Bobbi Kristina Brown.

They also talked about a reality show. They also set the world on fire. But behind the scenes there were drugs, there was abuse, there was self-destruction.

If the marriage between Rob and Chyna goes ahead she will almost certainly achieve her dream of becoming the most talked-about Kardashian.

But I also predict that the longer they stay together, the less chance there is that both of them emerge from the relationship alive.
Two UC Berkeley students have taken their sexual harassment complaints to state after their university failed to discipline a professor found guilty of misconduct.

Kathleen Gutierrez, 28, lodged an official complaint last year that professor Blake Wentworth touched her inappropriately and would make sexual comments such as bragging about doing drugs off a stripper's body.

Fellow student Erin Bennett, 25, who was enrolled in Wentworth's Asia languages class also complained that the married teacher would sexually harass her with inappropriate comments such as what he would do 'if Ms. Bennett were his wife,' according to the complaint.

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UC Berkeley students Kathleen Gutierrez (center) and Erin Bennett (left) have taken their sexual harassment complaints to state after their university failed to discipline a professor found guilty of misconduct

University officials investigated and found that Wentworth had violated the school's anti-sexual harassment rules last October, Mercury News reports.

But Berkeley failed to discipline the teacher. Even after five more students came forward to complain about the professor.

Only when the students threatened to take their complaints to state did the university order the professor to stay away from the girls.

He has also finally been removed as the student adviser of one of the girls - a year after the original allegations of sexual harassment were made.

Bennett says she was encouraged by Wentworth to take his one-on-one study course in the Tamil language in 2014.

But she claims her professor immediately began making inappropriate comments, referring to her as his 'poor little lamb.'

Gutierrez, 28, complained professor Blake Wentworth (pictured) had touched her inappropriately

She also complained he touched her hand, placed his hands on her shoulders. Bennett later dropped the class.

Gutierrez, an instructor in Wentworths department, said that on 17 February last year, she agreed to go on a walk with him.

She alleged that at one point, Wentworth grabbed her hand and said: I could lose my job over this  but Im just so attracted to you.

She also claims he came up behind her and put his hands over her eyes.

Wentworth vehemently denies all the allegations against him which he branded as 'baseless'.

But his accusers says the alleged harassment has already taken a huge toll on them.

'I can't be on campus,' Bennett told the Guardian.

The comparative literature student says the university's handling of the case and having to face Wentworth everyday has forced her to take time off with stress.

'It's been debilitating. It's completely derailed my future career, my education.'

Both she and Gutierrez say they do not feel safe coming back to school until Wentworth is removed.

'I don't have any faith in Berkeley's independent judicial system,' Bennett said. 'What's most important to me is that this doesn't happen anymore.'

The complaint could open the door for a possible lawsuit against the California school.

This is the latest sexual harassment case to rock the campus in recent months. Only last fall, astronomer Geoff Marcy received an official warning for sexually harassing students over the past decade.

Gutierrez and Erin Bennett were joined by their fellow students on Monday to protest against the handling of their cases

University officials at Berkeley (pictured) investigated and found that Wentworth had violated the school's anti-sexual harassment rules last October. But the school had failed to act

While just last month former law school executive assistant Tyann Sorrell filed a lawsuit over the university's handling of her sexual harassment complaint against the law school's former dean, Sujit Choudhry.

Choudhry has since resigned from his post and has been asked to stay away from campus.
19 on Monday, will appear before a judge as an adult on Wednesday to hear the new details of his probation

The Texas teenager who killed four people and injured nine in a drunk driving crash and then avoided jail will appear in court Wednesday after violating his probation when he and his mother went on the run to Mexico in December.

Affluenza teen Ethan Couch turned 19 on Monday and will appear in adult court where he will receive the new conditions of his probation, which could include up to 180 days in jail.

He was initially sentenced to 10 years probation and a year of court-ordered rehab, which it has now been revealed cost taxpayers $200,000 because his parents could not afford to pay.

Couch finished in February 2015 and went on the run just months later in December, shortly after video emerged of him at a party surrounded by alcohol.

He was not allowed to drink as part of his probation.

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Pricey: Ethan Couch's court-ordered rehab as part of his sentence for killing four people in a drunk-driving cash in 2013 cost taxpayers $200,000 (above in February)

Scene: Couch's parents, whose wealth was used as part of his affluenza defense in the deadly crash (above), said they could not afford the rehab and paid just $1,170 a month

The Star-Telegram reports that Couch's stay at the North Texas State Hospital in Vernon cost approximately $20,000 a month, and that he was there for 10 months in 2014 from February through November.

His parents were only forced to pay $1,170 of that amount, claiming they could not afford the cost.

He then received treatment at The Next Step Program in Amarillo which cost a total of $11,000, which the court ordered his parents to pay.

He was released from that program in February 2015, and on December 2 video emerged of him at a beer pong table.

Couch was reported missing just days later when he missed a probation hearing. He was captured with his mother on December 28 in Puerto Vallarta.

Tonya did not attempt to fight deportation and within days was back in Texas where she posted bail of $75,000 and is now awaiting trial for hindering the apprehension of a felon.

Meanwhile, Couch launched an appeal against deportation and stayed in Mexico for over a month after being captured in December.

He eventually dropped and his attorney, Scott Brown, hinted that Couch could have been taken to Mexico against his will.

Troubled: Couch, who turned 19 on Monday, will appear before a judge as an adult on Wednesday to hear the new details of his probation (2013 mugshot on left, 2016 mugshot on right)

Couch did not appear to be being held unlawfully when he was captured and was caught after using a credit card to order pizza.

It later emerged that he had been to a strip club while he was on the run with his mother and spent $2,000 on a single night.

Tonya Couch faces up to 10 years in prison for helping her son flee to Mexico.

Couch was 16 and had a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit for adult drivers when he swerved off a road near Fort Worth and hit a disabled car, killing its driver and three people helping her. Several other people were injured.

Breanna Mitchell, 18, had broken down at the side of a highway in Texas and was trying to fix her vehicle alongside Hollie Boyles and her daughter Shelby, who lived nearby, and youth minister Brian Jennings, who had also stopped to help.

Couch left the road while traveling at 70mph and hit the group, killing all of them, and paralyzing friend Sergio Molina from the neck down after he was thrown clear of the truck.
President Barack Obama may visit Hiroshima during his final visit to Japan next month, the White House indicated today.

The president would like to see the world rid of nuclear weapons, his spokesman said today, and 'symbolically' there's probably 'no more powerful illustration of that commitment than the city that contained the victims of the first use of that weapon.

If he doesn't make the side trip it won't be because of pressure from within the United States not to apologize for the war-ending bomb that killed 140,000 people in 1945, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said.

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President Barack Obama may visit Hiroshima during his final visit to Japan next month, the White House indicated today. If he doesn't it won't be because of pressure from within the United States not to apologize for the war-ending bomb that killed 140,000 people in 1945, White House said

'It's not' a factor, Earnest told reporters this afternoon as he defended the president from the type of criticism that Republicans are sure to eschew if he goes and offers some sort of apology for America's actions during World War II.

Obama has spoken about the 'debt of gratitude that all Americans owe to the greatest generation of Americans,' Earnest said.

THE BOMBING OF HIROSHIMA Hiroshima became the first city in history to be targeted by a nuclear weapon when the U.S. Army dropped an atomic bomb on it on the morning of August 6, 1945. The bomb, containing a destructive power never before witnessed, directly killed an estimated 80,000 people, while some 160,000 - almost half the city's population - are thought to have died due to injury and radiation. Three days later a second atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki, causing a similar number of deaths. The massive scale of destruction and killing led to Japan's surrender. The two bombings remain the only instances of nuclear weapons targeting cities during warfare. While some have called for the U.S. to apologize, many believe the bombings were justified and helped avoid thousands of deaths by speeding up the end of the war. Advertisement

'The president will be focused on the policy considerations, and whatever decision he makes and whatever policy decision the administration makes will be consistent with the president's strong view about the bravery, courage and heroism of those Americans who fought and won WWII thereby securing the liberty and freedom not just of the United States but of human beings around the world.'

Earnest declined to discuss the president's thinking on the issue while noting that the topic comes up publicly and privately every time Obama goes to Japan.

'The president and his team will obviously consider our options here,' he said and pledged to shed more light on those conversations once a decision has been made.

No U.S. president has visited the Hiroshima.

Secretary of State John Kerry became the highest ranking U.S. official to acknowledge the tragedy when he and his foreign counterparts participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the bomb memorial on Monday.

'What I got here was a firsthand sense of what happened in Hiroshima and what happens with a nuclear weapon, particularly in terms of its types of destruction,' Kerry said at a news conference after.

Kerry pointedly said, 'Everyone should visit Hiroshima, and "everyone" means everyone.'

'So I hope one day, the President of the United States will be among the everyone who is able to come here.'

Secretary of State John Kerry became the highest ranking U.S. official to acknowledge the tragedy when he and his foreign counterparts participated in a memorial at the bomb site Monday

John Kerry and British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond wave to children after laying wreaths at the Memorial Cenotaph

Kerry became the first US secretary of state to travel to Hiroshima after the atomic bomb obliterated the city in 1945. He visited with other Group of Seven (G7) ministers including from British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, third from left, and other foreign ministers from Canada, France, Germany, Italy as well as Japan

The cabinet official said he did not know whether or not Obama would be able to make it during his presidency.

'That is subject to a very, very full and complicated schedule that the president has to plan out way ahead of time,' he said. 'I know, because he has said so publicly, he wants to come to Hiroshima sometime. But whether or not that can work in the next visit, I just dont know.'

But Kerry said he'd try to get him to come.

'I promise you when I get back to Washington Tuesday night and I see the president this week, I will certainly convey to him what I saw here and how important it is at some point to try to get here,' he said. 'You can be assured of that.'

Obama will be in Japan for the G7 Summit.

His spokesman entertained a question about Kerry's remarks today today and said, 'I don't know at this point whether or not any side trips will be on the president's itinerary.'

Earnest said, 'The symbol of Hiroshima is the significant ...and even in some ways even tragic ability that mankind has to wreak terrible destruction.'

A nuclear-free world continues to be a 'long-term goal' of the president's, he said, and that's why he began hosting his annual nuclear summit.

'That goal is unlikely to be achieved during his lifetime but there certainly is progress that we can make in pursuit of that goal,' he said.
Donald Trump's social media universe saw a new kind of mini-gaffe on Tuesday as a staffer posted a tweet on the businessman's account in the third person  writing 'he' instead of 'I.'

The Republican front-runner's online communications team is known for firing brush-back pitches against his political adversaries, retweeting sometimes inappropriate fan messages, and even for tweeting from an iPhone while the boss urges a boycott of Apple Computer.

But mixing up pronouns is a no-no in the online big leagues, where big names often hire big talent to feed the illusion that they're carrying out big-time online trolling at all hours of the day and night.

'Missouri just confirmed a victory for Donald Trump,' the billionaire's Twitter account squawked just before noon. 'He actually gained votes in the recount and picks up an additional 12 delegates.'

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TRUMP ON TRUMP: The billionaire politician's Twitter account framed news about him in the third-person on Tuesday until the posting was deleted

NOT ALWAYS HIM: Trump's tweets are a mix of his own sentiments and messages from staff, neither of whom always gets it right he first time

THAT'S BETTER: Trump's tweetstream got a replacement without the pronoun 'he'

In short order that post was gone, replaced by one that read: 'Missouri just confirmed #Trump2016 as the official winner- with an additional 12 delegates. #MakeAmericaGreatAgain'

Trump does send many of his own tweets in real-time, but others are the province of Dan Scavino, his social media director

Neither he nor campaign press secretary Hope Hicks responded to emails seeking comment.

Trump is in the middle of a tour through upstate New York including stops in Rochester, Albany and Rome. He heads to Pittsburgh on Wednesday and then to New York City where he will speak at a GOP fundraising gala alongside rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich.

The real estate tycoon's lean campaign operation doesn't have a dedicated bureaucracy to vet and post Twitter and Facebook entries, resulting in the occasional gut-wrenching mistake.

In October when a poll showed Trump's once-robust lead in the Iowa caucuses slipping, his account retweeted a message mocking then-rival Dr. Ben Carson's simultaneous rise.

'Too much #Monsanto in the #corn creates issues in the brain? #Trump #GOP,' that message read.

Trump's account posted a followup message pointing a finger down the campaign food chain.

'The young intern who accidentally did a Retweet apologizes,' that tweet read.

THAT'S AN APPLE: Dan Scavino (left) often posts tweets for Trump using an iPhone, which got the boss in trouble after he called for a boycott of Apple Computer this year

CREEPING TWITTER DISEASE: Trump himself retweeted this anti-Jeb Bush message in November, complete with the swastika at upper right

But one such young Trumpworld recruit told the International Business Times that lowly interns aren't trusted with passwords to post directly to the boss's accounts.

'As an intern for the internal headquarter campaign, we do not manage, or in that case, have any access to Mr. Trumps personal Twitter,' the intern wrote.

Trump has personally taken responsibiility for other mistakes  including retweeting a message that mocked former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush without noticing an accompanying photo collage included a Photoshopped image of Bush next to a Nazi swastika.

He more recently drew scorn from Florida Sen. Marco Rubio when he tweeted that it was a 'great honer' [sic] to be declared the winner of a primary debate.

Trump's other unforced error that week was referring to Rubio in a tweet as a 'chocker'  not a 'choker.'

He had earlier tweeted that MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell was 'one of the dummer [sic] people on television.'
Mark Zuckerberg took aim at Donald Trump in his keynote speech at Facebook's F8 developer conference on Tuesday.

Without naming the GOP frontrunner, the Facebook CEO slammed Trump's plan to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

His thinly-veiled dig came during a speech about freedom of expression and immigration as he warned America risks cutting itself off from the world.

'As I look around and I travel around the world, I'm starting to see people and nations turning inward, against this idea of a connected world and a global community,' he said.

'I hear fearful voices calling for building walls and distancing people they label as others. For blocking free expression, for slowing immigration, reducing trade, and in some cases around the world even cutting access to the internet.'

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Without naming the GOP frontrunner, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg slammed Donald Trump's plan to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico in his pro-immigration speech on Tuesday (pictured) at the F8 conference

Immigration, he told the audience in San Francisco's Fort Mason center, fuels economic success.

'Instead of building walls we can help build bridges,' he added as he mentioned Facebook's plans to launch a plane that will provide internet signal to disconnected parts of the world.

He concluded: 'It takes courage to choose hope over fear. People will always call you naive but its this hope and this optimism that's behind every important step forward.'

Zuckerberg has not given his backing to any specific candidate, but this is not the first time he has hit out at Donald Trump.

In February, the president of Zuckerberg's pro-immigration lobby group FWD.us, Todd Sculte, described Trump's policies and 'horrible and fatal' in an interview with CNBC ahead of the Iowa caucus.

'For the first time, a major party [is] putting forth people who are saying they are going to round up and deport 11.5 million people; theyre going to eliminate high-skilled immigration,' Schulte said.

'And look, that may get you a win or second place in the Iowa caucuses. That is just a horrible and fatal position in a general election.'

He later tweeted: 'Trumps a hack, runs for [sic] policy specifics. Be it immigration, trade, foreign policy  answer is always hes a strongman, others are weak.

'On immigration, he wandered into something awful that credentialed past apostasies as ok  rounding up every last undocumented immigrant.'

When Zuckerberg launched FWD.us, he wrote an editorial calling for more H1B visas, which are issued to workers.

Zuckerberg said of Trump: 'I hear fearful voices calling for building walls'. His words come days before Trump (pictured in Albany on Monday) is expected to easily win the Republican primary in New York

'Instead of building walls we can help build bridges,' said Zuckerberg on Tuesday (pictured running in China)

'To lead the world in this new economy, we need the most talented and hardest-working people,' he wrote.

'We need to train and attract the best. We need those middle-school students to be tomorrows leaders.

'Given all this, why do we kick out the more than 40% of math and science graduate students who are not US citizens after educating them?

'Why do we offer so few H1B visas for talented specialists that the supply runs out within days of becoming available each year, even though we know each of these jobs will create two or three more American jobs in return?'

According to FEC records read by Inc, Zuckerberg received a reimbursement from Marco Rubio's campaign after the Florida senator dropped out of the race.
Jemal Williams is said to have knifed Shaquan Sammy-Plummer, pictured, in the chest outside his home in Winchmore Hill, north London, after refusing him entry to a house party because he didn't recognise him

A party host allegedly stabbed a sixth-form student to death after he tried to gatecrash the celebration.

Jemal Williams is said to have knifed Shaquan Sammy-Plummer, 17, in the chest outside his home in Winchmore Hill, north London, after refusing him entry because he didn't recognise him.

The 21-year-old is believed to have told the teenager, who had arrived with two friends, he had 'five seconds to move from the door' before launching the attack in January last year.

He was arrested 10 days after the death but was only rearrested and charged in October last year. He is currently on trial at the Old Bailey having denied murder.

The court heard Williams was throwing a party with his sister on the night of the alleged incident.

Jurors were shown CCTV footage of Sammy-Plummer and his two friends deliberating over what drinks they were going to take to the party at a Costcutter close to the address.

The victim opted for just a couple of cans of soft drink and a packet of sweets, and was later seen joking and play fighting with his friends as they walked to the address.

Williams is said to have initially become angry with the friends the teenager had arrived with, asking: 'What are you bringing next people [strangers] to my house?'

He then left the front door to get a knife before stabbing Sammy-Plummer he was turning to walk away, prosecutors said.

The student victim, who also worked part-time at Waitrose, was so surprised by the attack he did not realise he had been been stabbed instead telling friends 'he banged me', the court heard.

He was declared dead shortly after being airlifted to hospital on January 30, 2015.

The police investigation was hampered by witnesses' refusal to cooperate with the police, the Old Bailey heard.

Prosecutor Aftab Jafferjee, commenting on the CCTV, said: 'Despite the overwhelming wall of silence, matters developed so that this defendant can be tried before you.

'There was a persuasive combination of not wanting to be known as a grass, a mistrust of police in some parts of our society, perhaps with some justification, and a fear of the consequences having seen what this defendant was capable of doing.

The 21-year-old is believed to have told the teenager, who had arrived with two friends, he had 'five seconds to move from the door' before launching the attack on this street in January last year

'From [Shaquan's two friends] there was an absolute lack of information coming from both of them, which in fact resulted in both of them being arrested for their friend's murder.

'In fact, the net was cast so wide that even the defendant's mother and sister were arrested.'

Only one witness could be persuaded to give evidence in court.

Mr Jafferjee said: 'The actions of this 19-year-old, a callous knifing just because he could, it was his '"manner" and he could and would do what he pleased.

'He might not have intended to kill him, but what did he expect by knifing someone in such a vulnerable part of the human anatomy.'

Giving evidence from behind a screen, one of Sammy-Plummer's friends said Williams had 'low eyes' - he was slightly intoxicated - when he answered the door 'but he was in control'.

He said the pair had been at the same parties in the past, but had never spoken to one another.

He added: 'Jamal was getting slightly hostile. He said: "You've got five seconds to get away from my door.'

'Shaquan was mostly baffled, I could see from his facial expression, then he muttered "What's this guy's problem?"

'Jamal didn't like it. He went back inside the house. The first door [to the porch] was open and the second door was slightly open.'
A group of Greek tourists taking pictures of fountains at a seafront were wrongly accused of being paedophiles - because some children happened to be in their photos.

The three innocent sightseers, who are all teachers, were circled by a mob of angry mothers who confronted them and called the police at Marine Parade, Southend, on Friday.

They seized the men's phones and one resident even posted pictures of the trio on Facebook, boasting that she had 'smashed' a 'paedophile ring' - a post that has been shared 13,000 times.

A trio of Greek tourists taking pictures of fountains at Marine Parade in Southend (pictured) were wrongly accused of being paedophiles

Essex police reviewed the holidaymakers' photographs after being called to the scene and left the crowd shame-faced by clearing the men of any wrong-doing.

Martin Richardson, a local seafront trader, claimed the tourists had simply been unaware of 'English ettiquette'.

He added that the 'silly' scaremongering actions of the group could have a detrimental effect on tourism in the area.

He told the Southend Echo: 'People have now got it in their heads there are paedophiles lurking around the seafront when these tourists, who were all teachers, were only taking pictures of the fountains so they could suggest something similar back home.

The three innocent sightseers, who are all teachers, were circled by a mob of angry mothers at Marine Parade, Southend, on Friday, who confronted them and called the police (File photo)

'But some stupid girl decided she'd 'smashed a paedophile ring' on Southend seafront and it's been shared about 13,000 times on Facebook.'

He added: 'I had three people come into my shop asking about it but these poor people were just unaware of the English 'etiquette' that if you take pictures of children you're suddenly a paedophile - as though paedophiles come down to the seafront in plain sight wearing cameras with big lenses on.

'We are a tourist destination - we openly welcome people to come here and visit and look at the unique features we have here.

'We don't need people scaring them off with silly things like that.'

An Essex Police spokesman said: 'The photographs were reviewed by officers who found no offences had been committed.'
He is believed to be a vice president at California real estate and mortgage company Homeland Financial Network

Flight crew got help from police in ejecting the three men from the flight

Also claimed he 'owns six houses,' has an IQ score of 176, and 20/20 vision

A drunk passenger who was thrown off a JetBlue flight after claiming he was a millionaire and owned six houses has been pictured.

David Brackett, who is believed to be a vice president at California real estate and mortgage company Homeland Financial Network, was filmed disobeying crew and yelling obscenities with two other people.

The incident happened on Friday on a flight from Long Beach to Sacramento and was caught on tape by passenger Sara Walter Bear.

Her video was widely spread after appearing on the blog Rants of a Sassy Stew.

In the footage, Brackett identifies himself and then goes on a rude rant, prompting him to be shown the aircraft door.

David Brackett, who is believed to be a vice president at California real estate and mortgage company Homeland Financial Network, was filmed disobeying crew and yelling obscenities with two other people

The man self-described as David Bracket is seen in the video trying to take photos with his phone - presumably to gather evidence for the lawsuit he threatens to file

Even as a flight attendant tries to make it past, the man continues to yell. Right, his two alleged co-culprits chime in with insults of their own

The blonde woman in front is visibly embarrassed as the man in white, who also ended up being thrown off, tries to communicate with 'David Bracket'

The man in white next to a man in a hat were both thrown off. 'David Bracket' is further down the aisle

At various points in the video, the man threatens to sue his fellow passengers.

'I did not sign any disclaimer for this to be released,' he says at one point to the woman filming.

'So I will be filing a lawsuit.'

One woman shouts back: 'Go ahead Jay Z. Bye Felicia'.

Earlier on, the self-proclaimed millionaire turned to a man in a white shirt, who also ended up getting thrown off, and said 'Eat s**t and die, I wasn't f*****g talking to you!'

'Nerd? Look to yourself, sir. Mister bald-can't-grow-a-set-of-hair... I'm 28 and I make $4 million a year, what do you do?'

'Hey guys,' the man in white replies. 'Can I whoop this guy in the back real quick?'

Later on, the man who identifies himself as David Bracket said, 'You're right, I'm a loser, I own six houses...'

Even as he's being thrown out by the JetBlue officials in the background, 'David Bracket' continues to yell insults and speak into his phone

Before stepping off the plane he tried taking a picture of the woman who captured the video - in order to 'sue her'

The man in the white shirt was also thrown off - he's seen here getting his luggage down from the overhead compartment

The third man, wearing a hat, was the last one to be ejected from the flight, after other passengers pointed him out

He also brags that he has an IQ score of 176 - and 20/20 vision.

After the plane is redirected back to the gate, airline officials step in and throw the man off the plane. Two other men are also taken away after passengers identify them as co-culprits.

The woman who uploaded the video wrote on Facebook the three men at some point 'started talking really loudly about plane bombings,' freaking out another woman who can be seen in the video.

In response to Daily Mail Online's inquiry into the incident, JetBlue issued the following statement:

'On April 8, Flight 266 from Long Beach to Sacramento returned to the gate shortly before departure following a report of disruptive customers in the cabin. The aircraft was met by local authorities where the customers were removed before the flight continued on to Sacramento.'
Lauri Love, 31, was arrested at his home in Suffolk on three warrants from the USA relating to alleged offences committed in New Jersey, Virginia and New York during 2012 and 2013

A British activist faces up to 99 years in a US jail for allegedly hacking into agencies including the US Army, NASA and the FBI.

Lauri Love, 31, was arrested at his home in Suffolk on three warrants from the USA relating to alleged offences committed in New Jersey, Virginia and New York during 2012 and 2013.

The Aspergers sufferer turned up at court today wearing a green hat featuring a bear.

He allegedly broke into the computers of various major US government agencies, including the Federal Reserve Bank and the Missile Defence Agency.

Love turned up at his latest extradition hearing carrying a copy of Saving Gary McKinnon: A Mothers Story.

Glasgow-born McKinnon had faced similar hacking charges in the US but he was saved from extradition after the home secretary, Theresa May, intervened.

Love appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court today as the UKs National Crime Agency began a fresh attempt to force him to reveal his encryption keys and passwords.

He was allegedly part of a criminal network specialising in computer intrusions, and is said to have taken part in a hacktivist protest against the US government by Anonymous.

He refused to hand over his encryption keys and passwords following his arrest at his parents home in Stradishall, Suffolk, in 2013.

His case has been compared to McKinnon, 50, who escaped extradition to the US in 2012 after being accused of the biggest military computer hack of all time.

NCA prosecutors today asked District Judge Nina Tempia to order Love to disclose the information after failing to obtain the data using section 49 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.

Love, who is on bail, has begun legal action against the agency as he tries to secure the return of his computer equipment.

He was joined in court by supporters from Courage Foundation, who argue he could not cope with conditions in the U.S. prison system.

Judge Tempia rose for an hour to read case papers and said she would reserve judgement to herself.

The hearing continues.
China's military has landed fighter jets on a highly contested strip of land in the South China Sea.

The air force has also strengthened their hold on the island by deploying several surface-to-air missile systems capable of downing passing planes.

In images provided by satellite, two Chinese Shenyang J-11 fighter jets can be seen parked on Woody Island, Fox News has reported.

The planes are modified versions of the Russian Sukhoi Su-27, similar to U.S Air Force F-15s.

Their deployment is likely to escalate regional tensions between China and the Philippines.

Woody Island is the largest island in the Paracel chain of islands in the South China Sea.

The Chinese military built a runway on the thin strip of land in the 1990s - and island they have claimed ownership of since the 1950s.

China's military has landed fighter jets on a highly contested strip of land in the South China Sea. The air force has also strengthened their hold on the island by deploying several surface-to-air missile systems capable of downing passing planes

Both Taiwan and Vietnam dispute that it is theirs.

Around 3trillion of cargo and natural resources are moved through the sea lanes beside Woody Island each year.

Satellite images show a fire control radar system which was not previously on the land.

The U.S. military is worried the new equipment allows China to track U.S. fighter jets, bombers and intelligence gathering aircraft keeping an eye on the Chinese military.

In images provided by satellite, two Chinese Shenyang J-11 fighter jets can be seen parked on Woody Island

The ImageSat International pictures also show four of eight surface-to-air missiles prepared to fire.

China has sent jets to Woody Island twice recently, with the last report being in February.

President Xi Jinping vowed not to militarise the South China Sea when he visited the White House in September.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter is heading to the Philippines later this week to discuss regional disputes.
Adam Troy Weimer, 40, murdered his father and his father's fiancee before killing himself, police said

A 40-year-old Minnesota man fatally beat his father and stepmother-to-be before shooting himself in a standoff with police Tuesday, police said.

Terry Weimer, 68, and Renee Ahrens, his 67-year-old fiancee, were found dead inside their home around midnight in the 1100 block of Dakota Street in the Twin Cities suburb of Shakopee, police said according to the Star-Tribune, which identified the couple after asking neighbors.

The couple had been 'beaten pretty badly,' police said.

Afterwards, cops traced the woman's vehicle to the town of Waseca, about an hour's car ride south, where it was discovered unoccupied outside the home of Weimer's son, Adam Troy Weimer.

At the younger Weimer's house, officers tried to coax him into giving up until noon, when cops entered the residence.

Weimer was found dead inside his home from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Police told the Star-Tribune Weimer has a 'criminal history' and the paper reported he'd been convicted for theft, drunk driving and assault.

Terry Weimer, 68, and Renee Ahrens, 67, were found dead inside their Shakopee, Minnesota home on Tuesday

Police said Terry Weimer, pictured right, was killed by his son, who also beat Renee Ahrens, left, to death

According to family and neighbors who spoke to the Star-Tribune, the murdered couple were both retired substitute teachers who were planning to get married.

'She was an unbelievable person, so full of life,' said Glenn Ahrens, a former brother-in-law of the dead woman. 'She was just someone that everybody liked.'
A woman died in her dentist's parking lot after getting 16 teeth removed.

April Walters, 46, was meant to lose 18 teeth at Southfield Dental Care in Michigan on Friday due to an infection.

But the mother-of-one was told towards the end of the procedure that her heart rate was alarmingly high - a staggering 130 bpm.

The dentist, Dr Rana Rabban, told Walters' sister Crystal to take her to the hospital.

However, when they got to Crystal's car April said she could not breathe and passed out. She was later declared dead in hospital.

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April Walters, 46, was meant to lose 18 teeth at Southfield Dental Care in Michigan on Friday due to an infection but the mother was told to go to hospital for a high heart rate after 16 were pulled. She died in the parking lot

Walters relies on an oxygen tank due to a number of respiratory and blood conditions, including diabetes, a pulmonary disease, and sarcoidosis - a condition when inflamed cells affect breathing.

Nonetheless, her family insist she was coping with her conditions, which were not life-threatening.

'I just couldn't understand how she walked out happy and fine and just died all of a sudden,' Walters' daughter Amber Waddell said in an interview with Fox 5 News.

Crystal described the ordeal to Fox.

'Her heart rate was still 130, the dentist came in, ready to do the procedure,' Crystal told the network.

'The dental assistant said, "I am waiting for her heart rate to come down". The dentist said, "we're fine" and the procedure starts.'

After pulling 16 teeth, she says, the dentist voiced concern.

'She was talking to April, she said, "I think you need to go to the doctor and get your heart checked on",' Crystal described.

Worried, April and her sister Crystal made their way to the car, with Crystal carrying April's oxygen tanks.

Her sister Crystal (pictured) said staff came out to help but did not perform CPR before April passed away

The family has demanded an explanation from the dentist (parking lot pictured) as they await autopsy results

But once April was in the back seat she said she couldn't breathe.

Crystal rushed for help. She claims staff came to the car but did not perform CPR.

'They were just rubbing her chest,' Crystal said.

'When the dentist came out she started yelling, "I told you to take her to the hospital" so I yelled back at her, "I have to get her in the car in order for that to happen".'

An ambulance was called to take April to hospital where she later died.

The family has demanded an explanation from the dentist as they await the results of a post-mortem examination.

A representative of Southfield Dental Care told Fox: 'We feel deeply for what happened. Our thoughts go out to them. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.'

Dr Rana Rabban has not commented on the incident.
The Portland Hospital is where the rich and famous go to give birth - but its not just babies they deliver. The London hospital also offers a five-star hotel service where new mothers can quaff vintage champagne, feast on oysters... and leave the nappy changing and feeding duties to staff.

Little wonder that celebrities such as Victoria Beckham, Jools Oliver, Jemima Goldsmith and the Duchess of York all chose to give birth there.

Now a new BBC series takes a peek inside the UKs most exclusive, not to mention expensive, maternity hospital.

Here, the Mail looks at the luxury on offer - and the eye-watering price tags that go with it.

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The UK's most exclusive hospital: A BBC series is taking a peek into The Portland Hospital (pictured) in London where new mothers can quaff vintage champagne and feast on oysters

ROOMS PRICIER THAN THE RITZ

The Portland has 36 private rooms and suites available to the 1,600 women who give birth there every year, the cheapest of which is 1,200 a night.

The more luxurious rooms cost 1,800 and feature a separate lounge area and en-suite bathroom.

Bathrooms are kitted out with Molton Brown toiletries and 24-hour room service is available, as well as extra beds for partners.

The cheapest of births at the Portland (natural and midwife-led) are unlikely to leave parents with much change from 10,000

The Portland Hospital is where the rich and famous go to give birth - but its not just babies they deliver

There are a handful of super-deluxe suites reserved for VIPs and royalty that cost upwards of 2,100 per night. By comparison, an executive suite at The Ritz hotel in London seems an absolute snip at 900 per night.

As Portland Hospital CEO Janene Madden says: Its like having a holiday. After two to three days you leave fit and well. You only have to pick up Hello! magazine to see the patients we have here in the hospital.

REDECORATE BEFORE THE BIRTH

The cheapest of births at the Portland (natural and midwife-led) are unlikely to leave parents with much change from 10,000.

An epidural, available on demand at a minutes notice, costs 995 (plus 85 for each top up), while an induction is 630 and a forceps delivery costs an extra 138.

A consultant-led package, with planned C-section, costs in the region of 20,000 depending on how many nights the mother chooses to stay afterwards, while CEO Janene says some patients spend 500,000.

A-list clientele: Jemima Goldsmith chose to give birth at the elite hospital (pictured leaving with her new-born son Sulaiman in November 1996)

Sometimes patients want a whole floor to themselves. They might want to refurbish and redecorate and its important for our brand that we meet those needs, she says.

The hospital employs a designated VIP liaison team and has secret entrances for their most prized guests. An unnamed Saudi princess seen in the BBC show sends her PA ahead of her visit to give instructions on her requirements, along with an interior designer to make over the rooms to her specification.

She required four luxury suites: one for herself, one for the baby, one for family and one for visitors.

Women are usually unable to fly after their 36th week of pregnancy due to airline restrictions, but if youre Arab royalty with your own private jet, such constraints dont apply. Also arriving with her were her own catering assistant and florists, while her maids brought her own soft furnishings, linens and towels.

The princesss stay resulted in the arrival of a healthy new prince... and a 250,000 bill.

No surprise that the HCA group of private hospitals, of which the Portland is a member, boasts a 25 billion annual turnover.

C-SECTIONS ON DEMAND

Portland consultant Shazia Malik claims to be known for doing a good scar. In other words she can deliver a baby by Caesarean section and leave little trace of her work.

And with half of all patients opting for a Caesarean (compared with 26 per cent of NHS births) its little surprise the Portland has become the place to go for mothers who dont want the pain of natural labour.

There are a handful of super-deluxe suites reserved for VIPs and royalty that cost upwards of 2,100 per night. By comparison, an executive suite at The Ritz hotel in London seems an absolute snip at 900 per night

In the documentary we meet Bella, from Hampstead in London, who has her second child Harrison by C-section. Yes you can label it too posh to push. I have a very low pain threshold. I know myself and I wouldnt be able to put up with the pain.

Chinese fashion designer and It-girl Lu Hui makes no bones about being unwilling to even try for a natural labour. Im too scared to push the baby out. It will hurt.

There have long been rumours that Portland women can request a tummy tuck at the same time as their C-section is performed, but Janene categorically denies this to be true. Bad news for Hampstead mum Bella, who is seen asking the surgeon: Youll do a tummy tuck too, right?

CELEBRATE WITH AFTERNOON TEA

In NHS hospitals the average spend on breakfast is 90p per head. At the Portland there is fresh fruit, pancakes or a hot breakfast cooked to order.

New parents get one complimentary celebration meal, with most opting for the opulent afternoon tea that comes with cucumber sandwiches, scones and luxury pastries. After that its a pay-as-you-go affair with five-star hotel prices to match.

Food is cooked by one of nine chefs, presented on silver platters and served to the patients silver-service style. The whole operation is headed up by Sonia, the head of catering, who was poached from the five-star Dorchester Hotel in London.

As hotel services manager Paul says: We can get lobster, oysters, foie gras and Dom Perignon.

New parents get one complimentary celebration meal, with most opting for the opulent afternoon tea that comes with cucumber sandwiches, scones and luxury pastries. After that its a pay-as-you-go affair

CAN'T SLEEP? PUT THE BABY IN A NURSERY

When patients are paying tens of thousands of pounds for the Portlands services, they expect the best.

There are three operating theatres and 50 full-time midwives (mostly trained by and poached from the NHS), as well as 21 cleaners and nursery nurses to wind, change and settle the babies. If mum doesnt want to change a single nappy during her stay, she doesnt have to.

Former NHS midwife Doreen says: They are very demanding I must say, because of the money they spend. Thats their way of life, they have everything done for them. If they ask for the baby to be changed, they want it done there and then.

There are three operating theatres and 50 full-time midwives (mostly trained by and poached from the NHS), as well as 21 cleaners and nursery nurses to wind, change and settle the babies

She adds: Sometimes you feel like a servant. One lady had a glass of water right next to her, but she called me to come and hand it to her.

No-nonsense Glaswegian Pat runs the nursery, where mothers can check their babies in for the night so they arent disturbed by the infants crying. Oh, Ive had mothers say, Dont you know who I am? I just say no. I dont get star-struck, she says.

Without the sleep deprivation that most new mothers have to contend with, is it any wonder that one member of staff observes: They leave the labour ward looking like film stars.

Anna, the glamorous Home Counties wife of a property developer, features in the documentary having given birth to daughter Skylar at a cost of 13,000. She says the hospital has a certain cachet among her set. Its like a club. I can say my baby was born at the Portland.

Tummy tucks may not be available, but some mothers do ask for their C-sections to be scheduled so that their babies can arrive on particular dates and times.

Weve had patients want to deliver at 7pm on the seventh day of the seventh month for example, says CEO Janene, adding that this is only possible if youre lining up to deliver at that time anyway.

Famous fans: Liz Hurley is another celebrity name who delivered at the hospital (pictured with her baby son Damian Charles in 2002)

CONSULTANT WHO'S A COUNTESS

Patients with deep pockets can even have their little ones delivered by a real-life countess. Dr Penelope Law is a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at the Portland. Shes also the Countess of Bradford, married to the 7th Earl of Bradford.

She met the 68-year-old Earl when their children were both pupils at Rugby public school and they married eight years ago. As she performs many of the hospitals C-sections, she is affectionately known as the doctor who is not too posh to pull.

With a quarter of the hospitals patients arriving from overseas, including from the lucrative Chinese market, having a real-life aristocrat on the books does no harm.

The Countess admits that being on call 24/7 for Portland patients wreaks havoc with her social life.

Nobody would come to my house in Shropshire for lunch at Easter, she says. Because on two previous occasions Ive left them to make their own lunch.

FOUR-POSTER COT THAT COSTS 14,000

Portland babies sleep in the same plastic, transparent cot used in NHS hospitals. But if Mummy and Daddy dont think thats good enough for their little darling, they neednt worry.

Dragons of Walton Street, an exclusive shop in West London which specialises in luxury nursery furniture, is on hand to kit out the nurseries for new arrivals.

The new parents can then transfer their sparkling new baby kit to a residence of their choice.

While a standard Moses basket from John Lewis costs 35, Dragons most-requested basket is 3,295, decorated with French Chantilly lace and silk crepe, stitched with hand-cut glass crystals.

Another popular item is the four-poster Little Duchess cot at 14,000. The cot is hand-carved from beech and draped with French silk and hand-quilted padding.

GOODIE BAGS WITH TOYS AND FIZZ

Unlike in NHS hospitals, where new mums leave with a few spare nappies and baby wipes, Portland mums are given a lavish goodie bag upon departure.

The gifts include a bottle of Portland champagne, a stuffed toy panda called Portly Bear and luxury toiletries.

Also included is a complimentary photo session and a set of prints, plus a free consultation with an upmarket baby list company (thats like a wedding list but for babies).

ARRIVAL OF THE CHINESE IT-GIRL

The most talked-about star of the TV series will undoubtedly be Lu Hui, the beautiful 24-year-old Chinese socialite and wife of a Hong Kong shipping magnate, who wanted to birth like Beckham.

Her four-day stay at the Portland, following a planned Caesarean, cost her 40,000. Lu Hui says she chose the Portland for the birth of her first child after googling private hospitals and discovering that it was where her idol Victoria Beckham had gone.

The most talked-about star of the TV series will undoubtedly be Lu Hui, the beautiful 24-year-old Chinese socialite and wife of a Hong Kong shipping magnate, who wanted to birth like Beckham

Most mothers choose immediate skin-to-skin contact  having the baby placed on their chest to encourage bonding  after giving birth. Not Lu Hui. She requests that her son Lucas is cleaned up and placed in a nappy before he is handed to her.

Back in her private suite, she appears surprised to discover that newborn babies can occasionally cry at night. I couldnt sleep at all, he kept waking up, she tells the film crew. So after the second night I sent him to the nursery.

She eventually leaves the hospital with a nanny in tow. Its good to have a nanny live-in. I dont need to cook or do dishes. The nanny will take care of me . . . and the baby.

She is filmed a fortnight later overcome and tearful  not due to the joys of motherhood, but because she fears her husband will leave her for not regaining her figure quickly enough.

Im worried someone is going to take my husband from me, she sobs. I had a C-section and my belly is still very big. I know lots of men want their wives to be back to normal  the same size. Not big and no stretch marks.

Five Star Babies: Inside the Portland Hospital, BBC2, tonight at 9pm
A 25-year-old mother died hit by a car on Tuesday morning moments after she put her five-year-old son on the school bus.

Skye Brunetti, 25, had just said goodbye to Antonio and was walking home with her dog in East Islip, New York, when the car struck her around 9am, ABC 7 reported.

The driver, who has been identified as Barbara Cottone, 50, lost control of her car in Long Island and jumped the curb, hitting Brunetti and crashing into a utility pole, the East Islip Fire Department said.

Brunetti, a single mother, was pronounced dead at the scene.

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Single mother Skye Brunetti (pictured), 25, died on Tuesday morning after being hit by a car. She had just put her son Antonio, five, in the school bus and was waling home in East Islip, New York

The driver, 50-year-old Barbara Cottone jumped the curb and struck Brunetti before crashing into a utility pole (pictured), officials said. She might have had a medical condition that caused her to lose control of the vehicle

She likely didn't see the car coming as she was walking with her back to the traffic, investigators said.

Brunetti's dog died in the car crash too.

A Go Fund Me page set up for Brunetti says Antonio was 'the world to her'.

'Wonderful mother, did everything for her son,' one of her friends, Angela Abbatiellos told ABC 7.

'She was always there for her son. She stayed home. She did what she had to do as a parent. She was great.'

Her brother TJ Kindner told the network: 'She was the best person you could ever think of. And I loved her a lot.'

Cottone was taken to the hospital in serious condition. She might have lost control of her vehicle due to a medical condition, officials told CBS.

Authorities are still investigating the crash and have taken Cottone's car for a safety check.

About 45 people lost power after the pole fell down. Authorities shut traffic in both directions as they worked at the scene.

A fundraising page set up for Brunetti (pictured) said Antonio was 'the world to her'. She got his name as her first tattoo in December last year (right)

Officials said Brunetti (pictured) likely didn't see the car coming at her as she was walking with her back to the traffic. Her dog, which she was walking at the time, also died in the crash
Geelong paparazzo-turned-mayor Darryn Lyons has been slammed by Nine's Today host Karl Stefanovic after he was accused of bullying and swearing at staff.

The Victorian parliament is set to sack the entire Geelong Council, including Mr Lyons, after a damning report identified a culture of bullying and harassment in the 'dysfunction' council.

Mr Lyons has been forced to defend himself after details of abusive incidents involving him and other councillors were revealed on Tuesday.

Stefanovic questioned Mr Lyons about some of the incidents on the Today show on Wednesday and eventually told him he hoped he was sacked 'for everyone's sake'.

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Karl Stefanovic questioned Geelong paparazzo-turned-mayor Darryn Lyons about some of the incidents on the Today show on Wednesday and eventually told him he hoped he was sacked 'for everyone's sake'

'You are the only person mentioned here. There are councillors who are cited as bullies as well, their names have been left out. Managers and senior managers, their names have also been left out,' Stefanovic said.

'There's a culture of bullying, there's a culture of cover up here at the council and I hope for everyone's sake in Geelong everyone gets the sack, including you.'

Mr Lyon had previously admitted to being 'bullish' but said he wasn't a bully.

He insisted there'd been a culture of bullying throughout the organisation dating back 20 years - well before he became mayor three years ago.

'There are many situations and many people involved in this long, long before my time,' Mr Lyons said. 'A lot of it has been blown out of proportion.'

The mayor did admit his 'razzamatazz' and in-your-face style had not been to everyone's liking.

He blamed a November incident when he verbally abused one of his own staff - who later took extended stress leave - on a 'bad day at work' following 'some pretty grieving news from London'.

As for his use of foul language generally Mr Lyons said: 'I suppose the f-word that's been mentioned throughout the report is F for frustration and trying to get things done'.

The report, which was tabled in parliament, included the mayor's alleged threats to close down a Geelong business after swearing at staff.

Paparazzo-turned-mayor Darryn Lyons has been accused of swearing at staff as the entire council faces being sacked over allegations of bullying and harassment in the workplace

'F*** me, I'm the mayor, I don't need to be meeting with someone one week and then meeting with them the next,' Cr Lyons allegedly told one staff member.

He threatened to close down a local business after yelling at its staff, before later telling investigators he did not remember the incident.

On another occasion he allegedly told a staff member that he should be 'picking up dog s***'.

The report also detailed evidence from when Cr Lyons was asked by a staff member if wanted to be interviewed for a particular event.

He responded: 'Where the f*** were you? I needed you to take photos, the f***ing leader of the opposition was in Geelong for the breakfast'.

A council manager is also alleged to have taken to a chemicals shed with an axe after a pregnant worker asked for some ventilation.

'Ventilation, I'll give you f***ing ventilation,' the manager said before attacking the shed walls with an axe.

The Victorian Government is seeking to pass legislation in parliament on Tuesday to dismiss the former media personality along with his fellow councillors after an independent inquiry found it to be 'dysfunctional'

Celebrity mayor Darryn Lyons and the entire Geelong City Council are set to be sacked amid bullying and harassment allegations

A report has been tabled in parliament that details a list of abusive incidents involving Cr Lyons and other councillors, including the mayor's alleged threats to close down a Geelong business after swearing at staff

The report found one councillor threatened to take a staff member to a 'dark place that she would not like' if they did not comply with the councillor's wishes.

Another councillor retweeted a tweet describing a local citizen as a 'Greek property parasite'.

She also used her position to spread false rumours about a former employee's family.

'It destroyed me, I was suicidal,' the employee told the independent investigators.

Mr Lyons said he had been unfairly singled out in the damning report.

'I'm disgusted and upset at the 115-page inquiry report that very much solely singled out and identified the mayor,' Mr Lyons told the Nine Network.

'The fact of the matter is all other identities have been completely covered up in this.'

The report recommends the council be sacked and an administrator put in place until 2020, when a new council will be elected.

Legislation to sack the council needs to pass parliament but is being held up as the government and opposition parties negotiate over a future council election date and new mayoral voting model.

'I'm pretty sure it won't get through the upper house,' Mr Lyons said.

It follows a damning investigation by former commissioner from Australian Human Rights Commission Susan Halliday found explosive evidence of bullying, sexism, and favouritism within the council.

Cr Lyons - known for his trademark mohawk and quirky outfits - has previously claimed he is not a bully and doesn't deserved to be sacked

The state government will introduce legislation into parliament on Tuesday to dismiss the former photographer

Local Government Minister Natalie Hutchins said the report's findings were too significant to ignore.

'The government has no choice but to dismiss the Geelong council,' she said.

Victoria's opposition leader Matthew Guy said he won't support the move until he sees the report.

He accused the Labor government of using the potential sacking as a stitch-up designed to get rid of political opponents like Cr Lyons.

'The Labor party has wanted to sack Darren Lyons for 12 months,' Mr Guy said.

'Richard Marles, the federal member, made it pretty clear he sees Darren Lyons as a threat federally in his seat.'

Local Government Minister Natalie Hutchins (right) said the report from the Commission of Inquiry outlined serious failure by the council to provide good government

Cr Lyons, who appeared on the UK Celebrity Big Brother in 2011 (pictured), has never been far away from controversy and admitted previously he has never tried to hide his colourful background

Darryn Lyons was a former paparazzi photographer before deciding to run for mayor in Geelong

Cr Lyons, who appeared on the UK Celebrity Big Brother in 2011, has never been far away from controversy and admitted previously he has never tried to hide his colourful background.

Following his shock election to Geelong Council two years ago, Cr Lyons came under fire for hiring a friend to chief of staff.

More recently he was slammed for wearing a t-shirt printed with a naked woman and an offensive message to Oktoberfest celebrations last year.

He also spent $1 million on a Christmas tree last year with the expenditure criticised by some.

The former paparazzo won the mayoral race for Geelong in 2013 by taking 29.79 percent of the primary vote.

His campaign slogan was 'vision, passion and change,' and he publicised his message with adverts, T-shirts, and a stream of public appearances.

Mr Lyons was victorious despite the fact he has lived in Europe for several decades - he arrived in London aged 22.

Darryn Lyons came under fire for wearing a t-shirt to a public Oktoberfest event that featured a naked woman and an offensive message last year

He also spent $1 million on a floating Christmas tree for Geelong last year with the expenditure criticised by some

Local Government Minister Natalie Hutchins said the move comes after a report from the Commission of Inquiry outlined serious failure by the council to provide good government
Police then tracked them down to a wood as they tried to

Two dangerous inmates who escaped from a Missouri jail have been captured after almost two days on the run.

Matthew Miller, 22, and Keith Davis, 24, were picked up in Bowie County, Texas, on Tuesday afternoon, 300 miles from the prison they fled.

They were pictured with their heads down, looking dejected, moments after they were put in handcuffs and taken back into custody.

The pair squeezed through a shower room door at the McDonald County Detention Center on Sunday night.

Miller was in jail for kidnapping a woman in 2014, while Davis was serving time on multiple theft charges.

Matthew Miller, 22, and Keith Davis, 24, have been captured in Texas after they escaped from a jail in Missouri on Sunday night

Miller, who was in was in jail for kidnapping and burglary, sits on the ground looking dejected in handcuffs after he surrendered to Texas police

Miller (mugshot left) and Davis (mugshot right) squeezed through a shower room door at the McDonald County Detention Center on Sunday night

They then made their way into a maintenance facility and then somehow managed to make it past the walls.

Police believe they then stole a van and two dirt bikes during their short-lived bid for freedom.

After leaving Missouri, Davis and Miller are believed to have headed across the Arkansas border just 15 miles away.

According to KSLA they stole a maroon Toyota Land Cruiser and two dirt bikes taken from a motor shop in the town of Springdale.

They were spotted by a group of railroad workers who contacted authorities.

Police hunted them down to a wooded area. They had abandoned the vehicles and were trying to flee on foot.

Eventually they surrendered and were taken into custody.

During the search nearby schools were placed on lockdown.

The duo were wanted for escape, stealing and assaults and were described as dangerous by McDonald County Sheriff Michael S. Hall when they were discovered missing on Sunday.

It was not the first escape for the pair.

According to KAOMTV, they fled and then broke back into the same facility in December.

The pair also had visits from family over the weekend.

The duo are believed to have travelled through Arkansas with a stolen van and two dirt bikes before they were taken into custody in Bowie County, Texas

Police hunted them down to a wooded area. They had abandoned the vehicles and were trying to flee on foot. Eventually they surrendered and were taken into custody

The pair, pictured sitting on the grass on the side of the road, were picked up 300 miles away from McDonald County Detention Center where they were being detained
Amsterdam airport was evacuated last night as armed police and a bomb squad patrolled the terminal after officials reported a 'suspicious situation'.

One man was arrested by military police on the plaza outside the main entrance to the airport following the warning and his bags were searched by bomb disposal experts.

Heavily armed Dutch special military police, wearing balaclavas, were seen guarding the airport, which has been on high alert since the March 22 attacks in Brussels.

Evacuation: Amsterdam's Schiphol's airport was partially evacuated after officials raised the alarm

Bomb squad: One man was arrested and his luggage was searched by members of the bomb squad

Armed: Police carrying assault rifles spent several hours guarding the airport during the bomb scare

Military police later said the terror scare was triggered by a man 'acting suspiciously' at the airport

Emergency: Military police spokesman said a man was arrested at 21.45 local time outside the main entrance

Police evacuated part of the airport plaza and the adjacent Sheraton Hotel and arrested one person amid a suspicious situation,' spokeswoman Danielle Timmer told agencies, adding she had no further information.

Military police spokesman Alfred Ellwanger said that 'around 9:45 pm (1945 GMT) a man was arrested on the square in front of the main entrance to the airport's plaza'.

'The bomb disposal squad is also on the scene and they are checking the man's luggage,' he said.

In the early hours of this morning he confirmed that 'no dangerous materials were found' in the man's luggage and the tight security measures were lifted.

He said the suspect remained in custody and was under investigation. He added the arrest followed 'a report of a suspicious situation,' but didn't elaborate.

Ellwanger added that no flights were disrupted at the busy airport and trains were arriving as normal at the underground station which links the huge travel hub to the rest of the Netherlands.

It was not immediately clear how many people were evacuated when military police cordoned off the area, but Ellwanger said there had only been a few departures or arrivals left for the day.

Schiphol, which lies just outside the Dutch capital Amsterdam, is one of Europe's busiest travel hubs with about 50 million visitors passing through each year.

Tensions have been high since the Brussels airport and metro bombings killed 32 people in neighbouring Belgium.

Like the November attacks on Paris, the March 22 bombings were claimed by the Islamic State (ISIS) group.

Armed: Schiphol Plaza and the next door Sheraton Hotel was cleared as a precaution

Hub: The airport's underground train services were running as normal and flights were uninterrupted

However, scores of passengers unable to reach their parked vehicles were left stranded

One person was also arrested late Tuesday at the nearby Leiden railway station for raising a 'false alarm', a spokeswoman for The Hague police said.

Another person was arrested at Schiphol, but in an unrelated incident, police said.

There has been concern in the Netherlands about whether it could be targeted in a terror attack, due to its proximity to both Belgium and France.

As a precaution, the government stepped up security at national airports and train stations and tightened controls on its southern border with Belgium.

Dutch police carried out raids in Rotterdam last month, uncovering about 99lbs of ammunition in one apartment linked to a foiled attack on France.

French suspect Anis Bahri was arrested at the flat in the southern port on March 27 at Paris' request.

He is fighting his extradition to Paris, where he is wanted on suspicion of plotting a foiled attack on France for Islamic State with another man, Reda Kriket.

Two Algerians arrested with Bahri have been remanded in custody in the Netherlands.

A hooded member of the security forces guards a part of Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam

Dozens of passengers wait outside Schiphol Airport after military police arrested a man
The eurozone crisis engulfing southern Europe has driven tens of thousands of workers to Britain from what would be considered prosperous countries, research shows.

The Migration Observatory think-tank, based at Oxford University, said that 168,000 people from Italy, Spain and Portugal had flocked to the UK in the past four years  many to escape the ongoing economic downturn.

The crisis-hit countries rank alongside three Eastern European nations  Poland, Romania and Hungary  in accounting for 80 per cent of the explosion in the UKs EU-born population.

The Migration Observatory think-tank, based at Oxford University, said that 168,000 people from Italy, Spain and Portugal had flocked to the UK in the past four years to escape the economic downturn (file image)

There have been an extra 696,000 EU citizens moving to Britain since 2011. Of these, 553,000 were from just those six countries.

The report also warned that Chancellor George Osbornes controversial national living wage could attract even more migrants to the UK  dealing a blow to Government promises to slash immigration.

Academics warned that the higher minimum wage, which rose 50p an hour to 7.20 at the start of the month and could increase to about 9 an hour by 2020, might lure more workers from the continent.

David Cameron came to office pledging to reduce annual net migration  the number of people moving to Britain minus those leaving  to the tens of thousands by the end of the decade. It currently stands at 323,000.

The report also warned that Chancellor George Osbornes controversial national living wage could attract even more migrants to the UK  dealing a blow to Government promises to slash immigration

The think-tanks paper, published today, will be seized upon by the Leave campaign, which has said that ditching the EU is the only way to allow Britain to seize back control of borders. The number of EU citizens living in the UK has doubled to more than 3million since 2004, when Tony Blairs government threw open the doors to mass migration from Eastern Europe.

The latest analysis studied pull factors for EU migrants coming to the UK. These included English being a global language and the fact there were already established foreign communities here that made it easier for migrants to settle down.

But one of the key drivers for EU citizens moving to Britain was the booming economy, said the report.

AUSTRIA TIGHTENS BORDER Austria last night threatened to bring back controls on its border with Italy amid fears of a new migrant influx. Construction work began on checkpoints at the Brenner pass in the Alps after EU officials privately warned that an extra 450,000 people could cross the Mediterranean to Italy from Libya this summer. Austria, which has threatened to completely close the pass if migrant flows become uncontrollable, said it was preparing extra controls from June 1. The EU said it was very concerned about the move, adding: The Brenner pass is essential for freedom of movement. Advertisement

Record high employment rates and low unemployment in the UK contrast with continued weak labour market conditions in some Eurozone countries, such as Spain, where unemployment in 2014 was still well above 20 per cent, it said.

Between 2012 and 2014, the number of people in the UK with jobs increased considerably by just over 1,000,000  compared to big falls in Italy (425,000), Spain (375,000) and Portugal (68,000).

Low wages in Eastern Europe also encouraged people to strike out for the UK, said Migration Observatory. Disposable income in Britain was 1.8 times higher than in Poland and 4.2 times higher than in Romania.

However, a large proportion are on low earnings  meaning more of them will be in line for a pay rise when the national living wage is introduced. But the paper suggests that it is too early to tell how the rise will affect migration because it could also lead businesses to restructure their workforce.

The report also disputed Government claims that state benefits were an unnatural draw for migrants.

Only 2.2 per cent of EU nationals claimed unemployment benefits, compared with a working-age population of 6 per cent. Instead, EU migrants were more likely to claim in-work pay-outs such as tax credits.
A mother and father who never gave up the hope of finding their abducted son were finally reunited after 19 years apart.

Their son Xiaowei was just three years old when he was taken away from a dormitory he was staying in with his 46-year-old mother, the People's Daily Online reports.

They were reunited after police used DNA samples to ensure they were a match.

19 years apart from each other: Xiaoyuan, or Xiaowei to his parents is reunited with his family on April 11

Long time no see: Xiaowei was kidnapped from his parents when he was just three-years-old

A missing part of the family: His mother holds up a picture of Xiaowei showing when he was just two-years-old

The boy's mother surnamed Zhan took the children to visit their father who was working in a coal mine at the time.

She was undressing her son, ready for the next day when there was a sudden knock at the door.

She said: 'At the time I thought it was an acquaintance, when young people rushed over and put a quilt over my head. I kicked them and tried to break free.

When I was free there was no one in the house and my son was missing.'

She rushed to the police to inform them of what had just happened before going to the post office to call her husband surnamed Xiang.

Two people helped look for the son but failed.

A bit too small now: Xiaowei holds up one of his baby clothes after he is reunited with his biological parents

The couple returned to their home in Ziyang in Sichuan province.

Their seven-year-old daughter would cry saying she 'must find her brother'.

In 2012, the sister Xiaojing came across a website called 'Baby Come Home' which helps parents find their abducted children. Thinking they may as well try, she posted a message about her brother on the site along with some similar websites.

In March. the provincial police found information about a man named Xiaoyuan through the national DNA database. They realised Xiaoyuan's blood sample might match with the family. .

In order to track down more information and DNA data, civil police made a trip to Xiang's home. After searching, they finally got in touch with Xiaoyuan who was then in Jiangsu province. The police went to Jiangsu province and confirmed that Xiaoyuan is related to them.

Yesterday afternoon the family were reunited in an emotional meeting.

He had been reportedly living with an adoptive father who had treated him so well, he had never suspected he had been a victim of child trafficking.

He now works in Kunshan City, east China's Jiangsu province.

A big celebration: Local residents welcome back Xiaowei to Ziyang in China's Sichuan province
A Chinese multimillionaire has given up his wealthy, metropolitan lifestyle in order to live with his true love in her modest rural village, in a story that has touched hearts across the country.

Yao Nanshan, 60, made his considerable fortune abroad in Spain after running a restaurant chain business in Seville for 30 years, according to a report by People's Daily Online.

He married Liu Lijuan, who he met whilst he was stranded in the mountains on holiday and kept in touch with, in December 2015 and wants to live a simple life with her where she comes from.

Fate: Yao Nanshan, right, and Liu Lijuan met and got married by a twist of fate following Yao's botched hike

Real feeling: Yao gave up the seven homes he owns in his hometown of Qingtian, southeast China for love

Yao gave up the seven homes he owns in his hometown of Qingtian, southeast China, and always had a yearning to detach himself from 'big city existence.'

In 2002 he was devastated by the tragic loss of his first wife to aggressive stomach cancer and felt as if he had lost the purpose of his life in her death, despite his significant riches.

During a hiking trip to a local mountain range in later 2013, Yao and a friend got lost and missed their last bus to take them back to Qingtian.

The only option was to knock on the doors of local villagers' houses and grovel for a bed for the night - and fortuitously stumbled upon the home of Liu.

Yao has told of how he was impressed by Liu's 'kindness' and 'happiness', even in spite of the cruel and difficult upbringing she had faced earlier in life which had left her in serious poverty.

The pair, who were attracted to each other, kept in touch once Yao returned to Spain to work and eventually he returned to see Liu and profess his love to her.

Sympathetic ear: Yao was impressed by Liu's 'kindness' and 'happiness', even in spite of the cruel upbringing

Yao told reporters how 'at first she did not believe [him]' and that she thought he was 'playing with him', particularly given the significant financial gulf between them.

After news of their impending marriage was announced, Yao gave up all his properties and businesses to his three children from his previous marriage to live a more 'rustic' life.

According to reports, Yao has purchased a small countryside hostel since their wedding on Christmas Day last year, in order to make a meagre but stable living together.
We may think of black holes as a one-way pit from which nothing escapes - but the movement isn't all in one direction.

When gas falls towards a black hole, some of it can come out as energy beams which scientists refer to as jets of radio emission.

Now, researchers in South Africa have discovered a bizarre phenomenon in which a group of supermassive black holes all seemed to spin out their radio jets in the same direction.

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Researchers recently discovered several supermassive black holes with radio jets all pointing in the same direction. The white circles in the image on the left point out the black holes spewing radio jets in alignment

The study shows how black holes can be aligned with each other over distances stretching billions of light-years

It was made possible by a three-year deep radio imaging survey of the radio waves coming from a region called ELAIS-N1 using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT).

The jets are produced by the supermassive black holes at the centres of these galaxies.

The only way for this alignment to exist is if supermassive black holes are all spinning in the same direction, says Professor Andrew Russ Taylor, joint University of Cape Town and the University of the Western Cape Chair.

The only way for this alignment to exist is if supermassive black holes are all spinning in the same direction, says Professor Andrew Russ Taylor, from the University of Cape Town

'Since these black holes don't know about each other, or have any way of exchanging information or influencing each other directly over such vast scales, this spin alignment must have occurred during the formation of the galaxies in the early universe,' he notes.

LARGEST BLACK HOLE EVER SEEN IS 200 MILLION LIGHT YEARS AWAY Supermassive black holes patrolling our local region of space may be more common than previously thought after astronomers made a surprise discovery. A new object with the mass of 17 billion suns has been found in a sparsely-populated area of the local universe, just 200 million light-years from Earth. This makes it one of the most massive black holes ever discovered, and it's in a region of space thought to be mostly empty. The black hole, nicknamed the Beast of NGC 1600, is in a 'galactic desert', according to Professor Chung-Pei Ma from the University of Berkeley, California. Reporting the discovery in the journal Nature, she explained the unexpected discovery of such a large black hole in a sparse region means these monsters may be much more common than previously thought. Advertisement

This implies that there is a coherent spin in the structure of this volume of space that was formed during the creation of the large-scale structure of the universe.

The finding wasn't planned for: the initial investigation was to explore the faintest radio sources in the universe, using the best available telescopes.

So what could these large-scale environmental influences during galaxy formation or evolution have been?

There are several options: cosmic magnetic fields; fields associated with exotic particles (axions); and cosmic strings are only some of the possible candidates that could create an alignment in galaxies even on scales larger than galaxy clusters.

UWC Professor Romeel Dave, SARChI Chair in Cosmology said: 'This is not obviously expected based on our current understanding of cosmology. It's a bizarre finding.'

A large-scale spin distribution has never been predicted by theories.

An unknown phenomenon like this presents a challenge that theories about the origins of the universe need to account for, and an opportunity to find out more about the way the cosmos works.

'We're beginning to understand how the large-scale structure of the universe came about, starting from the Big Bang and growing as a result of disturbances in the early universe, to what we have today,' says Professor Taylor.
The first private space station is set to be an inflatable - and could launch in 2020.

United Launch Alliance will team with billionaire entrepreneur Robert Bigelow to market and fly habitats for humans in space, the two revealed today.

An inflatable module based on the Bigelow technology is currently being attached to the International Space Station.

United Launch Alliance will team with billionaire entrepreneur Robert Bigelow to market and fly habitats for humans in space - with the first blasting off in 2020.

HOW THEY WORK Bigelow has designed inflatable space habitats made of a Kevlar-like material and other fabrics that protect against impacts from orbiting debris. They are folded for launch, then inflated with air once aloft. The light, compact habitats should save millions of dollars in launch costs, the companies say. Advertisement

The project hinges on space taxis being developed by SpaceX, Boeing Co and other firms, ULA and Bigelow said on Monday.

The agreement, announced at a news conference at the U.S. Space Symposium in Colorado Spring, Colorado, includes a 2020 launch of a 12,000-cubic foot (330-cubic meter) inflatable habitat aboard a ULA Atlas 5 rocket, currently the only vehicle with a big enough payload container to hold the module.

Bigelow told the news conference that partnering with ULA, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing, is 'a potentially enormously important relationship,' to open space to non-government research, commercial endeavors and tourism.

ULA and Bigelow did not give details on their alliance. ULA President and Chief Executive Tory Bruno said at the news conference that ULA is contributing 'resources of technology and talent.

'We don't talk about dollars and investment.

'You'll see as time goes by what this fully encompasses.'

The design was evolved from NASA's TransHab habitat concept. The B330 will have 330 cubic meters (12,000 cu/ft) of internal space. The craft will support zero-gravity research including scientific missions, manufacturing processes, a destination for space tourism and a craft for missions destined for the Moon and Mars.

Bigelow has designed inflatable space habitats made of a Kevlar-like material and other fabrics that protect against impacts from orbiting debris.

They are folded for launch, then inflated with air once aloft.

The light, compact habitats should save millions of dollars in launch costs, the companies say.

Bigelow Aerospace has been working on inflatable habitats for 15 years.

The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, Beam for short, will stay on the station for two years, with astronauts occasionally entering it. It will be the first time an astronaut steps inside an expandable habitat structure in space. The pod's size, compared to an average man, is pictured

A miniature version of the expandable, fabric module arrived at the International Space Station on Sunday aboard a SpaceX Dragon cargo ship.

The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM, is expected to be attached to a station docking port on Saturday and inflated next month for a two-year trial run.

BEAM is the firm's first manned spacecraft. Bigelow had previously launched two unmanned prototypes in 2006 and 2007.

WHAT IS THE BIGELOW EXPANDABLE ACTIVITY MODULE? BEAM (CGI pictured) will be the first inflatable space habitat to ever be attached to the International Space Station (ISS) Beam will be the first inflatable space habitat to ever be attached to the International Space Station (ISS). Designed by Nasa and Bigelow Aerospace, Beam is scheduled to launch on the eighth SpaceX Commercial Resupply Service mission, due to take off on 8 April. Made up of aluminum and soft fabric, BEAM is designed to pack down into a relatively compact 5.7 feet (1.7 metres) long and just under 7.75 feet (2.4 metres) in diameter when stowed for the flight into space. When it is attached to the station's structure and inflated, it will expand to 12 feet (3.7 metres) long and 10.5 feet (3.2 metres) in diameter. Although this will be the first of these habitats tested on the ISS, Nasa thinks expandables could be a key technology to help humans on the journey to Mars. Advertisement

Once attached to the station, the soft-sided Bigelow compartment will be inflated to the size of a small bedroom. Made up of aluminum and soft fabric, Beam is designed to pack down into a relatively compact 5.7ft (1.7 metres) long and just under 7.75ft (2.4 metres) in diameter when stowed for the flight into space

Bigelow plans to follow BEAM with modules that are 20 times larger to serve as space outposts that will be leased to companies and research organizations.

Bigelow said he also would like to attach one of the modules, known as B330, to the space station for use by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and commercial customers.

The projects are dependent on commercial space transportation services, such as those under development by SpaceX and Boeing, to fly astronauts to and from the space station for NASA.
Hundreds of fossil fragments scatter the dirt at excavation sites in Patagonia, revealing the mass graves of duck-billed dinosaurs.

The find is a part of a years-long study, in which researchers set out to excavate and analyse fossil remains from the base of South American to the northern tip of Antarctica.

Doing this will help scientists better understand the changing conditions as the continents began to form millions of years ago.

Hundreds of fossil fragments scatter the dirt at excavation sites in Patagonia, revealing the mass graves of duck-billed dinosaurs. The find is a part of a years-long study, in which researchers set out to excavate and analyse fossil remains from the base of South American to the northern tip of Antarctica

The researchers uncovered more than four miles of hadrosaur bones, including parts of the rib cage, femur, and vertebrae, according to Scientific American.

These dinosaurs were duck-billed herbivores, and are so far the southernmost dinosaurs found in South America.

'Something big happened here,' Marcelo Leppe, a paleobotanist and chief scientist at the Chilean Antarctic Institute (Inach) told Scientific American.

'There were thousands of animals whose bones are partially burned; perhaps they were victims of a paleo-wildfire. It's somewhat strange.'

Researchers have excavated sites throughout Patagonia, including El Puesto, Las Chinas and Cerro Guido, and part of the Dorotea and Cerro Fortalexa formations near the border of Argentina.

In their excavations in Chile, the researchers have also found the oldest fossil leaves of the Nothofagus tree, above, and other forest features which have also been found in Antarctica. These finding support theories of a land bridge connecting the two continents

Doing this will help scientists better understand the changing conditions as the continents began to shift form millions of years ago. The researchers uncovered more than four miles of hadrosaur bones, including parts of the rib cage, femur, and vertebrae

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

Along with the hadrosaur fossils, the sites have revealed titanosaurid sauropods, the largest dinosaurs in Chile, along with marine reptiles and the remnants of plants.

These provide a glimpse at the continent between 72 and 66 million years ago, Scientific American explains, the periods just before the Chicxulub meteorite struck.

Now, the researchers say the time period was active with new species and competition.

Records of this kind were once considered a missing factor, and can now help to explain the events at the end of the Cretaceous period.

The researchers uncovered more than four miles of hadrosaur bones, including parts of the rib cage, femur, and vertebrae. Pictured is an artist's impression of a Hadrosaurus dinosaur

Along with hadrosaur fossils, the sites have revealed titanosaurid sauropods (artist's impression pictured)

So far, the team's findings support earlier theories on the era's changing climate.

It's thought that this period experienced a severe drop in sea level  at least 25 meters over a million years.

In Patagonia and Antarctica's James Ross Basin and the South Shetland Islands, the researchers have found evidence to support declining sea levels following three cooling events 73 million, 70 million, and 68 million years ago.

Over the course of several years, the international team of researchers has just three weeks every summer to dig sites in the mountains of Patagonia.

In their excavations in Chile, the researchers have also found the oldest fossil leaves of the Nothofagus tree and other forest features which have also been found in Antarctica.

These finding support theories of a land bridge connecting the two continents.

Along with the hadrosaur fossils, the sites have revealed titanosaurid sauropaods, the largest dinosaurs in Chile, along with marine reptiles and the remnants of plants. These provide a glimpse at the continent between 72 and 66 million years ago, the periods just before the Chicxulub meteorite struck

Records of this kind were once considered a missing factor, and can now help to explain the events at the end of the Cretaceous period. So far, the team's findings support earlier theories on the era's changing climate. It's thought that this period experienced a severe drop in sea level  at least 25 meters over a million years

Patagonia, where the study was conducted, is a sparsely populated region located at the southern end of South America, shared by Argentina and Chile




Those who break wind may have to come up with some new excuses beyond blaming the family pet for appalling smells.

Scientists have developed a robot capable of tracing the source of gas - from natural flatulence to more serious industrial leaks.

It uses a sensor, laser range finder, camera and electronic compass to detect and hunt down the source of the gas, while an algorithm reveals what kind of gas it is.

Scientists have developed a robot capable of tracing the source of farts (shown above, with close-up of the gas sensor) - but there's a serious side too. The device could be used to detect potentially deadly gas leaks, and could have proved handy in pinpointing California's massive methane leak, for example

The device could be used to detect potentially deadly gas leaks, and could have proved useful in pinpointing California's massive methane leak, for example.

Researchers at Tianjin University in China developed the idea for a mobile robot that can locate the source of any smell using the complex dynamics of air.

They devised a 'novel odour source localisation algorithm based on particle filters.'

The robot searches for a smell and when it finds it, 'performs an exploratory behaviour, such as a plume-tracing strategy, to collect more information about the previously unknown odour source,' the team wrote in a paper published in the Journal Autonomous Robots.

The robot could be used for the fun application of sourcing the origin of a fart (illustrated). The scientists proposed a 'novel odour source localisation algorithm based on particle filters'

The team continued: 'The information collected is analysed by the algorithm 'to estimate the location of the odour source in real-time.'

It is designed to pinpoint the source to a small area, which could be a person, or a point underground.

And this week the researchers, led by Ji-Gong Li, were given a Pineapple Science Award for their work.

The award, bestowed by Zhejiang Science and Technology Museum and China's top science writing website Guokr.com celebrates the light side of science, Chinese news outlet Xinhuanet reported.

The robot searches for a smell and when it finds it, 'performs an exploratory behaviour, such as a plume-tracing strategy, to collect more information about the previously unknown odour source' (process shown left and map showing the trajectory of the bot and how it founds an odour source, right)

This graph shows the outcome of an experiment, including data bout wind speed and direction, which the robot takes into account to accurately find the source of smells

IS SNIFFING FARTS GOOD FOR YOU? The smell of flatulence has secret health benefits - and could help stave off cancer, strokes, heart attacks and dementia, scientists have revealed. Hydrogen sulphide is one of a number of potent smelly gases produced by bacteria as it breaks down food in the gut. It is toxic in large doses but in tiny amounts it helps protect cells and fight illness, according to experts at Exeter University. When cells become stressed by disease they try to draw in enzymes to generate their own minute quantities of hydrogen sulfide. The chemical helps to preserve mitochondria, which drive energy production in blood vessel cells and regulate inflammation, and without it the cell can switch off and die. Now researchers have come up with a new compound named AP39 to assist the body in producing just the right amount of hydrogen sulfide. They believe it will help prevent or reverse mitochondrial damage, which is a key strategy in treating conditions such as stroke, heart failure, diabetes, arthritis, dementia and ageing. Advertisement

Research on why flies rub their front legs together also won an award, but both studies have a serious side too.

Li explained the 'fart detecting' device can be fitted to a robot that can locate and fix toxic gas leakage, keeping rescuers out of harm's way.

The technology could have helped detect the source of the California methane leak, which was the largest of its kind in US history, spewing more than 100,000 tons of the harmful greenhouse gas methane into the atmosphere.
An island known best for its hoards of squabbling penguins is revealing more evolutionary secrets with its unique plant life.

Macquarie Island, a remote rocky landmass between New Zealand and the Antarctic, has flowering plants that have evolved without the help of birds or bees.

Scientists say the unique environment is providing insights into exactly how plants can thrive in the absence of bees, which are so critical in helping plants reproduce in the rest of the world.

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Macquarie Island (pictured), a remote rocky landmass between New Zealand and the Antarctic known for its penguins, has flowering plants which have evolved without the help of birds or bees. Scientists believe that flies have had a hand in the evolution of the plants, as the green flower colours are suited to their vision

Over the last 100 million years or so on the planet, plants have adapted their flowers to become biological billboards to advertise themselves to pollinators, ensuring they are noticed among the crowd.

From sunflowers to tiger-lilies, this has led to the stunning array of colours and intricate designs which bind pollinators and plants in a mutually beneficial pact.

But the flowers on Macquarie Island aren't so loud, blending in to the foliage with their cream-green hues.

Now a team of Australian researchers believes that the absence of bees and birds  which can see the bright hues of most flowers  has driven the colours.

Australian researchers believe that the absence of bees and pollinating bird species has driven the evolution of the island's plant species. The pale green flowers of the island's plants (pictured) would likely not stand out on the mainland, but are perfectly suited to the visual range of the flies which pollinate them

FLIES DRIVE FLOWER EVOLUTION Australian researchers believe that the absence of bees and birds on Macquarie Island has driven the evolution of its flowering plants. The group suggests that the pale green flowers are best suited to the visual range of the flies. Outside of the island setting, the flowers would likely be lot in the visual noise of colourful flowers, they explain. But in their remote island habitat, in the absence of bees, birds and colourful contending plant species, the flowers stand out just fine. This makes it highly unlikely that the flowering plants dispersed from other islands, and suggests that pollination by the flies has imposed a strong 'ecological filter' on the plants, as the insects opt the flower colours which would be rarer on the mainland. Advertisement

And that the dull green colour may be a sign to the island's pollinating species, flies.

Professor Adrian Dyer, a researcher at RMIT University in Melbourne, who led the study, explained: 'To our eye, they are just a pale green colour.

Speaking to The Age, said: 'Although to flies, the flowers are probably more of a yellowish colour, as flies have a different visual system. And yellow is their favourite colour.'

The researchers suggest the flies have had a hand in the evolution of the plants, as the flower colours are best suited to their visual range.

Outside of the island setting, the flowers would likely be lot in the visual noise of colourful flowers, they explain.

But in their remote island habitat, in the absence of bees, birds and colourful contending plant species, the flowers stand out just fine.

This makes it highly unlikely that the flowering plants dispersed from other islands, and suggests that pollination by the flies has imposed a strong 'ecological filter' on the plants, as the insects opt the flower colours which would be rarer on the mainland.

The group's findings could help to provide more insight into the issue of declining bee populations (stock image), and the potential future need to alter flowers to be more attractive to other pollinators

Over millions of years, plants have adapted their flowers to become biological billboards to advertise themselves to pollinators, ensuring they are noticed among the crowd. From sunflowers to tiger-lilies (pictured left and right), this has led to the stunning array of colours and intricate designs of flowers

MACQUARIE'S INVASIVE SPECIES The island has faced unique ecological challenges, with a population of wild cats killing sea birds, which were then eradicated by Australian officials. This in turn led to the proliferation of rabbits on the island, which have damaged the plant species which nesting birds use for cover. Mice have also been thrown into the mix, and conservation groups have said that all invasive species should have been removed at once, rather than just removing the feline predators, which kept the numbers of the other invasive species down. Advertisement

Writing in a paper, published online in the journal Plant Biology, the authors explain: 'This is one of the strongest demonstrations that plant-pollinator interactions play an important role in plant community assembly.'

The group's findings could help to provide more insight into the issue of declining bees.

Insect pollinators have had a hard time of late, with population numbers nose diving due to a range of factors, including parasites, pesticide use, habitat loss and the changing global climate.

As key pollinators of flowers and food crops, declining bee populations could have a huge knock on effect in global food production.

Professor Dyer told The Age: 'If we don't have birds and bees and we have to rely on flies as pollinators, then we may have to think about genetically engineering completely different-looking flowers.'

Macquarie Island is off the coast of New Zealand and the Antarctic (marked on this map)

Macquarie Island is famed for its resident penguins, of which there are estimated to be more than four million individuals from species including king and royal penguins (pictured)

Macquarie Island is famed for its resident penguins, of which there are more than four million.

Conservationists are looking to non-invasive approaches in their continued efforts to monitor the island's species.

Australian researchers are taking to the skies to monitor the island's bird populations using drone technology.
Everyone knows driving and texting is dangerous.

Studies show drivers using a phone are slower at recognising and reacting to hazards, but 67 per cent of drivers admit to still using their phones while behind the wheel.

This is why new legislation proposed in New York sets out to use a new device, called a 'textalyser', to help police determine whether the person driving was being unlawfully distracted.

Studies show drivers using a phone are slower at recognising and reacting to hazards, but according to the New York Police, 67 per cent of drivers admit to still using their phones while behind the wheel. This is why new legislation proposed in New York sets out to use a new device, called a 'textalyser'

The roadside technology is being developed by Cellebrite, an Israeli firm specialising in mobile forensics.

Under legislation proposed in New York, drivers involved in accidents would have to submit their phone to roadside testing from a textalyzer to determine whether the driver was using a phone ahead of a crash.

The bill was announced by the Senate together with awareness organisation Distracted Operators Risk Casualties (DORCs).

THE CAMPAIGN FOR EVAN'S LAW Distracted Operators Risk Casualties co-founder Ben Lieberman is an advocate against distracted driving since he and his family lost their 19-year-old son, Evan, in a 2011 collision caused by a distracted driver. For weeks following the crash that resulted in Evan's death, the driver's phone was sitting in a junkyard, and police never retrieved the phone or phone records. Through his own civil lawsuit, Lieberman subpoenaed the phone records and discovered the driver had been texting while he was driving, leading up to the crash. Lieberman was surprised to learn that the local police force was not to blame for avoiding the driver's device, but rather that this was typical because there is no official, consistent police protocol. He has been working closely with Senator Murphy and Assemblyman Ortiz to implement the new law, known as 'Evan's Law.' Advertisement

It makes New York the first US state to attempt a distracted driving policy solution that lets police examine phones at an accident site.

Each day in the US nine people die and more than 1,153 are injured because of distracted driving accidents, roughly 20 per cent of mishaps caused by distracted driving.

DORCs co-founder Ben Lieberman is an advocate against distracted driving since he and his family lost their 19-year-old son, Evan, in a 2011 collision caused by a distracted driver.

He has been working closely with Senator Murphy and Assemblyman Ortiz to implement the new law, known as 'Evan's Law.'

'The general public knows distracted driving is a problem, but if people knew the extent of the damage caused by this behavior, they would be amazed,' said Mr Lieberman.

'I have often heard there is no such thing as a breathalyzer for distracted driving, so we created one.

'Respecting drivers' personal privacy, however, is also important, and we are taking meticulous steps to not violate those rights.'

The textalyzer would keep conversations, contacts, numbers, photos, and application data private. It would only say whether the phone was in use prior to a motor-vehicle mishap.

Further analysis, which might require a warrant, could be necessary to determine whether such usage was via hands-free dashboard technology and to confirm the original finding.

Each day in the US nine people die and more than 1,153 are injured because of distracted driving accidents, roughly 20 per cent of mishaps caused by distracted driving. Car crash in London pictured. The new law is expected to reduce the number of accidents

The roadside technology is being developed by Cellebrite, an Israeli firm specialising in mobile forensics. Cellebrite already has roadside devices to scrape the contents of a phone, which this technology would build on. If the legislation passes, Cellebrite would have to bid on the project, as would other tech firms

The 'textalyser' will work in a similar way to breathalysers (pictured) for drink driving, to make people more accountable for dangerous driving

Cellebrite already has roadside devices to scrape the contents of a phone, which this technology would build on.

If the legislation passes, Cellebrite would have to bid on the project, as would other tech firms.

'Cellebrite has been leading the adoption of field mobile forensics solutions by law enforcement for years, culminating in the formal introduction of our UFED FIELD series product line a year ago,' Jim Grady, Cellebrite's boss said in a statement.

'We look forward to supporting DORCs and law enforcementboth in New York and nationally to curb distracted driving.'

'When people were held accountable for drunk driving, that's when positive change occurred,' Mr Lieberman said. 'It's time to recognize that distracted driving is a similar impairment.'

The law, which is before the New York Senate Transportation Committee, would adapt the law to make it so that motorists give 'implied consent' for determining whether the operator of a vehicle was using a phone at or near the time of the accident or collision.

Police will inform motorists involved in an accident that 'the person's license or permit to drive and any non-resident operating privilege shall be immediately suspended and subsequently revoked should the driver refuse to acquiesce to such field test.'

'The facts regarding distracted driving are startling,' said Republican New York Senator Terrence Murphy, who is one of the proposal's backers.
Most people would count getting married as one of the most romantic steps a couple can take.

A wedding day marks the special bond between two people, marking a promise to share their lives together.

But the root of marriage can be traced back to nothing more romantic than avoiding sexually transmitted diseases, a new study has revealed.

Most people would count getting married as one of the most romantic steps a couple can take but the root of marriage can be traced back to nothing more romantic than avoiding sexually transmitted diseases, a new study has revealed (stock image)

Monogamy is a trait present in just three per cent of mammal species, and for a long time scientists have wondered why it evolved in humans.

Now a study shows monogamy emerged in early farmers after 'sleeping around', which had been the norm among hunter gatherers, became too risky because of genital herpes and other diseases.

Scientists have long thought our ancestors did not start raising crops until 12,000 years ago, although a study earlier this year suggested it dawned much earlier with the first cultivation beginning 23,000 years ago on the shores of the Sea of Galilee in Israel.

Monogamy is a trait present in just three per cent of mammal species, and for a long time scientists have wondered why it evolved in humans. Now a study shows monogamy emerged in early farmers after 'sleeping around' became too risky because of genital herpes, gonorrhea (pictured) and other diseases

Scientists have long thought our ancestors did not start raising crops until 12,000 years ago, although a study earlier this year suggested it dawned much earlier with the first cultivation beginning 23,000 years ago. Whenever it was, as hunter gatherers began living in bigger groups the spread of STIs became a risk

But, whenever this was, as hunter gatherers began living in bigger farming groups the spread of STIs may explain a shift towards the emergence of preferring one sexual partner over many.

Computer simulations found larger populations fuelled by agriculture meant outbreaks of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) would be more prolonged, harming women's fertility and giving monogamy an evolutionary advantage over the previous polygamous lifestyle.

Mathematician Professor Chris Bauch and colleagues from the University of Waterloo, Canada, believe this led to prehistoric humans remaining in stable, faithful relationships, leading to the institution of marriage.

WHY ANCIENT HUMANS STOPPED SLEEPING AROUND The results follow a paper published earlier this week that claimed Neanderthals (shown) were killed off by catching STIs from humans In early hunter-gatherer populations, it was common for a few men to monopolise many women in order to increase their number of offspring. In these small societies with a maximum of 30 sexually mature individuals, STI outbreaks were short lived and tended not to have as significant an effect on the population. But as societies evolved around agriculture and the size grew to a maximum of 300 the prevalence of STIs became endemic in the population, reducing fertility rates and favouring the emergence of monogamists. These would have punished both members of their own community, and other groups, that did not conform. With the absence of modern medicines infertility from syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhea would have been high among those refusing to adopt the new social norm. Males were better off mating monogamously and, more importantly, punishing other males who did not. Groups that enforced monogamous social norms could therefore out-compete those lacking them. Advertisement

The researchers added STIs may be one factor among many, including female choice, pathogen stress and technological impacts, which altered human behaviour from polygamy to monogamy (wedding bells pictured)

Polygamists would have been punished and made social outcasts thanks to the presence of STIs and peer pressure not to spread them.

'This research shows how events in natural systems, such as the spread of contagious diseases, can strongly influence the development of social norms and in particular our group oriented judgements,' said Professor Bauch.

'Our research illustrates how mathematical models are not only used to predict the future, but also to understand the past.'

Historically, most human societies have been polygynous, a form of polygamy where males are allowed to mate with multiple female partners.

THE HISTORY OF SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES Syphilis is caused by the bacterium treponema pallidum (pictured) The researchers think the presence of syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhea would have been high among those refusing to adopt the new social norm. This means STIs will have been present much earlier than any recorded cases known today. The first well-recorded European outbreak of what is now known as syphilis occurred in 1494. It broke out among French troops besieging Naples in the Italian War of 1494 and 1498. Gonorrhoea is recorded at least 700 years ago and associated with a district in Paris formerly known as 'Le Clapiers'. This is where the prostitutes were found at that time and is why the disease is informally referred to as the 'clap.' Prior to the invention of modern medicines, sexually transmitted diseases were generally incurable, and treatment was limited to treating the symptoms of the disease. In the 1980s, first genital herpes and then Aids emerged into the public consciousness as sexually transmitted diseases that could not be cured by modern medicine. Advertisement

As hunter gatherers began living in bigger groups the spread of STIs explains a shift towards the emergence of preferring one sexual partner. Infertility from syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhea would've been high among those refusing to adopt the social norm. These days, STIs are treated by modern medicine (pictured)

HOW THE STUDY WORKED The study used computer modelling to simulate the evolution of different social mating behaviours in populations based on demographic and disease. They conducted 2,000 simulation runs, each lasting 30,000 years of simulated time. Historically, most human societies have been polygynous, a form of polygamy where males are allowed to mate with multiple female partners. But the researchers found when population sizes become large the presence of STIs decreases fertility rates more among males with multiple partners. This changes which mating behaviour proves to be most beneficial to individuals and groups. It was published in the journal Nature Communications. Advertisement

But the researchers found when population sizes become large the presence of STIs decreases fertility rates more among males with multiple partners.

This changes which mating behaviour proves to be most beneficial to individuals and groups.

'Our social norms did not develop in complete isolation from what was happening in our natural environment. On the contrary, we cannot understand social norms without understanding their origins in our natural environment,' said Professor Bauch.

'Our social norms were shaped by our natural environment. In turn, the environment is shaped by our social norms, as we are increasingly recognising.'

The researchers note that STIs may be one factor among many, including female choice, pathogen stress and technological impacts, which altered human behaviour from polygamy to monogamy.

The results follow a paper published earlier this week that claimed Neanderthals were killed off by catching STIs from humans with whom they mated.
Stephen Hawking has teamed up with Russian billionaire Yuri Milner and Mark Zuckerberg to launch the most ambitious alien-hunting mission in history.

The $100m project, called Breakthrough Starshot, will rely on tiny so-called 'nanocraft' flying on sails pushed by beams of light through the universe.

They will travel to the Alpha Centauri star system 25 trillion miles (4.37 light years) away on a twenty year mission to look for alien life.

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Stephen Hawking (left), Yuri Milner (center) and Mark Zuckerberg (right) have teamed up to launch a $100 million hunt for alien life. The project, dubbed 'Breakthrough Starshot', was announced in New York today

The project, dubbed Breakthrough Starshot, will rely on tiny so-called 'nanocraft' flying on sails, similar to the one illustrated, pushed by beams of light. Each of these tiny craft will carry cameras and a built in GPS

WHAT IS ALPHA CENTURI? The Alpha Centauri star system is 25 trillion miles (4.37 light years) away. With today's fastest spacecraft, it would take about 30,000 years to get there. Breakthrough Starshot aims to establish whether a gram-scale nanocraft, on a sail pushed by a light beam, can fly over a thousand times faster. Astronomers estimate that there is a reasonable chance of an Earth-like planet existing in the 'habitable zones' of Alpha Centauri's three-star system. Advertisement

'For the first time in human history, we can do more than look at the stars, we can reach them,' said Yuri Milner, founder of the Breakthrough Initiatives.

Each of these 'interstellar sailboats' is expected to carry cameras and a built in GPS to search deep space for habitable planets.

'55 years ago today, Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space.

'Today, we are preparing for the next great leap.'

'Earth is a wonderful place, but it might not last forever,' commented Stephen Hawking, 'Sooner or later, we must look to the stars.

'Breakthrough Starshot is a very exciting first step on that journey.

'With light beams, light sails and the lightest spacecraft ever built we can launch a mission to Alpha Centauri within a generation,' said Hawking.

The $100 million research and engineering program will seek proof of concept for using light beam to propel super lightweight nanocraft to 20 per cent of light speed.

A possible fly-by mission could reach Alpha Centauri within about 20 years of its launch, Milner said, and also revealed Mark Zuckerberg is joining the project's board.

These craft are designed to take images of planets and other scientific data in our nearest star system, Alpha Centauri, just over 20 years after their launch.

Astronomers estimate that there is a reasonable chance of an Earth-like planet existing in the 'habitable zones' of Alpha Centaur's three-star system.

The Alpha Centauri star system is 25 trillion miles (4.37 light years) away (right). With today's fastest spacecraft, it would take about 30,000 years to get there. Breakthrough Starshot aims to establish whether a gram-scale nanocraft, on a sail pushed by a light beam, can fly over a thousand times faster (left)

'Today we commit to this next great leap into this cosmos, because we are human and our nature is to fly.'

The program will be led by Pete Worden, the former director of Nasa Ames Research Center, and advised by a committee of world-class scientists and engineers.

'We take inspiration from Vostok, Voyager, Apollo and the other great missions,' said Worden.

'It's time to open the era of interstellar flight, but we need to keep our feet on the ground to achieve this.'

WHO IS YURI MILNER? A onetime physics PhD student in Moscow who dropped out to move to the United States in 1990, Milner is one of a handful of technology tycoons devoting time and money to space exploration. Yuri Milner was born into a Jewish family on 11 November 1961 in Moscow and studied theoretical physics at Moscow State University, graduating in 1985. He began his business career selling illegal DOS computers in the Soviet Union. When the national government collapsed enrolled at Wharton School of Business to earn an MBA. He then went on to work for the World Bank in Washington, D.C., as a Russian banking specialist tasked with the development of the private sector banking. He rose up in the banking world, and from 1997 to 2000, Milner was Director General of the investment fund New Trinity Investments But his real success came when he founded investment firms Digital Sky Technologies (DST) - now called Mail.ru Group - and DST Global. DST Global has invested in a number of major technology firms including Facebook, Spotify, Twitter and Alibaba. An aerial view of Yuri Milner's mansion. Milner currently works as an investor and has earned his fortune from backing successful technology firms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The Russian space enthusiast says he has replaced all the artwork in his $65 million mansion in San Francisco with 50 flat screen TVs. In 2012, Milner established The Breakthrough Prize - a set of international awards recognize three fields of endeavour: Fundamental Physics, Life Sciences and Mathematics. Laureates receive $3 million each in prize money, making the Breakthrough Prizes the largest scientific awards in the world. Earlier this year, he teamed up with Stephen Hawking in the search for alien life as part of the 'Breakthrough Initiatives.' The $100 million quest will see telescopes scour one million of the closest stars to Earth for faint signals thrown out into space by intelligent life beyond our own world. As part of his long-term vision, Milner believes that the internet will develop into a 'global brain' that will work as a type of nervous system for Earth. Advertisement

The Alpha Centauri star system is 25 trillion miles (4.37 light years) away.

With today's fastest spacecraft, it would take about 30,000 years to get there.

Breakthrough Starshot aims to establish whether a gram-scale nanocraft, on a sail pushed by a light beam, can fly over a thousand times faster.

It brings the Silicon Valley approach to space travel, capitalising on exponential advances in certain areas of technology since the beginning of the 21st century.

Nanocrafts are gram-scale robotic spacecrafts comprising two main parts: A Starchip and Lightchip.

BREAKTHROUGH STARSHOT The project involves deploying thousands of tiny spacecraft to travel to our nearest star system and send back pictures. If successful, scientists could determine if Alpha Centauri, a star system about 25 trillion miles away, contains an Earth-like planet. The catch: It could take years to develop the project, dubbed Breakthrough Starshot, and there is no guarantee it will work. The small light-propelled vehicles will carry equipment like cameras and communication equipment. Scientists hope the vehicles, known as nanocraft, will eventually fly at 20 per cent of the speed of lightt. 'The thing would look like the chip from your cell phone with this very thin gauzy light sail,' said Nasa's Pete Worden 'It would be something like 10, 12 feet across.' He envisions sending a larger conventional spacecraft containing thousands of nanocraft into orbit, and then launching the nanocraft. If they reach the star system and succeed in taking photographs, it would take about another four years to transmit them back. Advertisement

When in orbit, the tiny craft would unfold thin sails and then be propelled by powerful laser beams from Earth

'Starchip is about the size of a postage stamp, although a little bit thicker. It can be massed produced at the cost of an iPhone,' said Milner.

The light beamer is modular and scalable.

Once it is assembled and the technology matures, the cost of each launch is expected to fall to a few hundred thousand dollars.

The research and engineering phase is expected to last a number of years.

'The thing would look like the chip from your cell phone with this very thin gauzy light sail,' said Nasa's Pete Worden. 'It would be something like 10, 12 feet across'. Pictured on the left is Yuri Milner holding a prototype chip and on the right is an aritst's impression of what the 'interstellar sailboat' would look like

'Earth is a wonderful place, but it might not last forever,' commented Stephen Hawking, 'Sooner or later, we must look to the stars. 'Breakthrough Starshot is a very exciting first step on that journey'

A still image taken from a video rendering shows phased arrays of lasers which could be used on Breakthrough Starshot, a $100 million research and engineering program aiming to demonstrate proof of concept for light-propelled spacecrafts

'55 years ago today, Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space,' said Yuri Milner, who was named after the pioneering astronaut (shown on screen). 'Today, we are preparing for the next great leap'

Breakthrough Starshot is likely to target Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to Earth, where an an Earth-like planet may exist within its 'habitable zone.' It could also help confirm the existence of Planet Nine (illustrated)

THE CHALLENGES The idea has precedents with mixed results. Two years ago, Cornell University's KickSat fizzled after the craft carrrying 104 micro-satellites into space failed to release them. The plan was to let the tiny satellites orbit and collect data for a few weeks. Nasa's Peter Worden acknowledges challenges, including the nanocraft surviving impact on launch. They would then endure 20 years of travel through the punishing environment of interstellar space, with obstacles such as dust collisions. 'The problems remaining to be solved - any one of them are showstoppers,' Worden said. Governments likely would not take on the research due to its speculative nature, he said, yet the technology is promising enough to merit pursuing. Advertisement

Following that, development of the ultimate mission to Alpha Centauri would require a budget comparable to the largest current scientific experiments.

However, the key elements of the proposed system design are based on technology either already available or likely to be attainable in the near future under reasonable assumptions.

The proposed light propulsion system is on a scale significantly exceeding any currently operational analog.

The very nature of the project calls for global co-operation and support.

Clearance for launches would be required from all the appropriate government and international organizations.

As the technology required for interstellar travel matures, a number of additional opportunities will emerge, including the following:

Astronomers estimate that there is a reasonable chance of an Earth-like planet existing in the 'habitable zones' of Alpha Centauri's three-star system.

A number of scientific instruments, ground-based and space-based, are being developed and enhanced, which will soon identify and characterize planets around nearby stars.

A separate Breakthrough Initiative will support some of these projects.

The Breakthrough Starshot initiative will establish a research grant program, and will make available other funding to support relevant scientific and engineering research and development.

The idea for a spacecraft to be equipped with a solar sail to use the solar wind for propulsion was described by the late astrophysicist Carl Sagan four decades ago.

It was theorised that solar sails could accelerate spacecraft far beyond the speeds of traditional fuels, to make interplanetary - and interstellar - travel more feasible.

12: Scientist and investor Yuri Milner holds up a prototype of the "Star Chip", a small robotic space craft that will enable intersteller travel as he poses with Professor Stephen Hawking and Professor Freeman Dyson

The team envisions sending a larger conventional spacecraft containing thousands of nanocraft into orbit, and then launching the nanocraft

'For the first time in human history, we can do more than look at the stars, we can reach them,' said Yuri Milner (left), founder of the Breakthrough Initiatives. 'Earth is a wonderful place, but it might not last forever,' added Stephen Hawking (right), 'Sooner or later, we must look to the stars'

A BRIEF HISTORY OF SOLAR SAILS LightSail is not the first spacecraft to test this innovative form of propulsion. Japan's Ikaros probe successfully 'sailed' on its way to Venus in 2010. Ikaros measured 2,000 square ft (185 square metres) in size. Nasa also tested solar sails with its NanoSail-D2 satellite in January 2011, with a sail expanding to 110sq ft (10 square metres). The spacecraft burned up in Earth's atmosphere as planned in November 2011. Advertisement

The most recent version of this technology has four triangular sails, made of mylar, that create a rectangular-shaped surface.

It can send a cubesat to an orbital altitude of 500 miles (800 km), before sails deploy creating a total surface area of 32 square metres.

The Planetary Society recently released a video showing a sail deployment test at Ecliptic Enterprises Corporation in Pasadena.

LightSail 1 was launched on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on 20 May from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

At its core is a tiny craft made up of three 'CubeSats', which are essentially tiny spacecraft that can be launched relatively cheaply.

In total, the core of the vehicle weighs 22lbs (10kg) and is just 11.8-inches (30cm) high and 3.9-inches (10cm) wide - about the size of a loaf of bread.

At the bottom of the spacecraft on each of its four sides, a huge solar sail has been 'folded up'.

This sail, measuring 345 square ft (32 square metres) in size, is made of an extremely reflective material called Mylar.

The idea for a spacecraft to be equipped with a solar sail to use the solar wind for propulsion was described by the late astrophysicist Carl Sagan four decades ago. Although not confirmed, the project is likely to use technology that developed by The Planetaru Society's LightSail (pictured)

It is just 4.5 microns thick - about a quarter of the thickness of a bin bag.

If it is unfurled, photons from the sun will strike the sail and push it forwards, similar to how a sail on Earth catches the wind.

The push is extremely minimal - less than holding a sheet of paper in your hand - but it is theorised that, over time, this push could build up enough to reach high speeds.

The latest project is part of Milner's decade-long search for extraterrestrial intelligence , which he set up last year, under the banner Breakthrough Initiatives.

Milner, who is worth $2.9 billion, has collaborated with Hawking before.

In July 2015, the two revealed a $100 million plan, called 'Breakthrough Listen', to look for alien life.

Worden said today that in the near future, Breakthrough Listen, will observe all stars within 25 light years from Earth.

'In the last five years, we have discovered that planets in the habitable zone of stars are common,' Breakthrough Initiatives' the website states.

'Based on the numbers discovered so far, there are estimated to be billions more in our galaxy alone.

'And there are hundreds of billions of galaxies in the visible Universe.

'Yet we are still in the dark about life. Are we really alone? Or are there others out there?

'It's one of the biggest questions. And only science can answer it.'

From left to right; Freeman Dyson, Professor, Princeton Institute for Advanced Study; Ann Druyan, CEO of Cosmos Studios; Avi Loeb, Professor of Science at Harvard University; Mae Jamison, Nasa Astronaut; and Peter Worden, Chairman, Breaktrough Prize Foundation




The book says: 'Whatever you prefer to call them toilets are a window into the secret soul of a destination'

There are more than 100 WCs featured in the book from places like Antarctica, Alaska,

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Spending a penny is one of life's most mundane chores, but a new book aims to show just how interesting a loo break can be.

While the majority of humans make their call of nature in a bog-standard (no pun intended) bathroom, some innovative WCs in awe-inspiring locations perfectly complement their environment.

From desert huts made from palm fronds, to a cistern hanging off a rock in British Columbia that is powered by the moon, Toilets: A Spotter's Guide, by Lonely Planet, reveals more than 100 of the wackiest loos around the globe.

The book says: 'The lavatory is a great leveller  everyone feels the call of nature, every day  but, like any common species, being ubiquitous doesn't make it uniform.

'Around the planet, toilets have followed various evolutionary pathways to best suit their environment.'

Read on to see some of the zaniest toilets from Tunisia and Japan to outer space...

Chott el Djerid, Tunisia

A toilet block in Chott el Djerid, southern Tunisia, provides a colourful pit stop for tourists needing to spend a penny

This colourfully painted block in Chott el Djerid, Tunisia, might look basic but the cubicles are marketed to tourists as 'comfort toilets'.

The loos are situated on the edge of a large salt lake in the south of the country, which was made famous as the setting for Luke Skywalker's childhood home in the original Star Wars film.

Outer space

This suction toilet has been designed for astronauts wanting to spend a penny in outer space

A loo break in zero gravity could have dire consequences, so engineers came up with this terrifying toilet to stop any nasties escaping into the air.

The suction system pulls any waste into the machine as soon as it leaves the body.

Futuristic urinals in Berlin

Helmut Jahndesigned urinals in he Sony Center in Berlin's Potsdamer Platz provide a futuristic loo break

Spending a penny becomes a work of art when using these loos in the Sony Center in Berlin's Potsdamer Platz.

The Helmut Jahndesigned urinal is built on the no-man's land buffer zone between East and West Germany during the days of the Berlin Wall.

Redwoods toilets, Rotorua, New Zealand

These toilet cubicles in Redwoods Forest in Rotorua, New Zealand, portray native endangered birds

These toilets in the Redwoods Forest in Rotorua, New Zealand, have been designed by Maori artist Kereama Taepa.

Each cubicle represents an endangered or extinct bird from New Zealand's North Island.

Moon-powered toilet in Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, Canada

This toilet in Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, Canada, has a flush that is powered by the moon

Forget solar power, this loo cubicle on the shoreline of Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, Canada, is powered by the moon.

The toilet has an automatic flush that washes its waste away twice a day.

Just don't look down...

Log bog, Chena Hot Springs Resort, Alaska

The staff toilet at Chena Hot Springs Resort, Alaska, is certainly off the beaten track

Employees at the Chena Hot Springs Resort in Fairbanks, Alaska, get a unique job perk.

They get to use this rural stream-side toilet cabin.

The log-built outbuilding guarantees workers the ultimate privacy while on their loo break.

Loo on the Nordkalottleden Trail, Enontekio, Finland

A lonely toilet hut provides a welcome pit stop for trekkers in Enontekio, Finland, on the Nordkalottleden Trail

You'd be unlikely to find much of a queue at this toilet in Enontekio, Finland.

The hut, which overlooks Salmivaara Fell, is on a 500-mile trekking route through Finnish Lapland called the Nordkalottleden Trail.

His and hers loos in Brazil

These His and Hers beach toilets on Jericoacoara Beach in Brazil are made using palm fronds

Couples visiting the Jericoacoara Beach on Brazil's east coast get the added pleasure of using these His and Hers toilets.

The rustic huts are made with palm fronds, giving them a shaggy dog appearance.

Toilet fountain in Foshan, China

This toilet fountain in Foshan, China, uses more than 10,000 pre-used and factory seconds toilets, urinals and sinks

What this toilet fountain by Chinese artist Shu Yong in Foshan, China, lacks in practical terms, it makes up for in ingenuity.

The monument, which can be found in the city's Shiwan Park, is made from factory seconds and second-hand 10,000 toilets, sinks and urinals, and measures 100m in length.

Eco toilet on Waitpinga Beach, south Australia

This green eco toilet complements its surroundings on the edge of Waitpinga Beach, South Australia

Toilets: A Spotter's Guide by Lonely Planet is out on Tuesday

This green toilet, which also appears in the book, provides the perfect pit stop for visitors to the Waitpinga Beach in Encounter Bay, South Australia.

The book's introduction says: 'As any experienced traveller knows, you can tell a whole lot about a place by its bathrooms.

'Whatever you prefer to call them  lavatory, loo, bog, khasi, thunderbox, dunny, washroom or water closet - toilets are a (sometimes opaque, often wide-open) window into the secret soul of a destination.'

Meanwhile, in 2014 it was revealed by a UK water company that it spends 7million every year clearing sewers that have been blocked by foreign objects accidentally flushed down the toilet.

Among the detritus recovered from Anglian Water's sewers are toys, mobile phones and even some false teeth.

Such is the extent of the problem, that workers are removing on average one tonne of waste a day.

Much of the rubbish, such as disposable wipes, needs to be removed by hand and then compacted.

Emma Staple, spokeswoman for Anglian Water Services, said: 'All that should go down is poo, pee and paper.

'The main problem by a long stretch is disposable wipes which people put down the toilet instead of in the bin.

'It costs around 7 million to clear all these things out of the sewage network.

'That does reflect in customers' bills and it's money that would be better spent elsewhere.'
It also has a built-in phone charging station with a battery and USB ports

Each case has a flexible shell that'll withstand impacts and prevent cracks

The days when luggage simply stored passengers clothes and souvenirs as they travelled between their home and destination are over.

With this $400 smart suitcase, travellers are told everything from how much it weighs to how long theyll have to wait in the security queue at the airport.

Available in two sizes, the sleek new case from Raden syncs with a smartphone and sends important information or alerts to a companion app to take some of the stress out of travel.

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Raden's new suitcase is designed with a hard, flexible shell to withstand impacts and prevent cracks

Each suitcase syncs to a companion app that relays important travel information and alerts to an iPhone

Radens first generation of luggage, the A series, is intended to make the journeys to and from the airport as smooth as possible.

Each case has built-in sensors that calculate the weight  and display it on the iOS app  when it is lifted off the floor.

Proximity sensors use Bluetooth technology to locate the bag when it is nearby and send an alert when it is coming down the baggage carousel.

The app also provides updates on traffic to or from the airport, wait times at security queues, flight details and weather conditions, and there is a live chat for customer service support.

The suitcases come with reversed zipper lining with waterproof sealing, a built-in lock and polyester interior

Available in a range of colours, the case also acts as a phone charging station, with two USB ports and a battery.

Radens suitcases come in two sizes  the $395 (280) A28 Check which goes in the cargo hold and the $295 (200) A22 Carry which is small enough to fit in the overhead storage bin. The set costs $595 (415).

Both cases have hard Makrolon polycarbonate shells which Raden said are durable enough to withstand impacts and flexible enough to prevent cracks.

They also come with reversed zipper lining with waterproof sealing, a built-in TSA-approved lock, polyester interior and 360-degree wheels.

The A28 Check weighs 11.2lbs when empty while the A22 Carry weighs 7.5lbs.

Raden's 'smart' suitcases come in a range of colours, including white (left) and pink (right)

Josh Udashkin, Radens founder and CEO, said: The $40 billion luggage industry is built on providing a basic travel product, with little innovation in design and technology.

Weve spent nearly two years in stealth mode developing a case that successfully combines design, technology and value in an effort to solve the headaches we all experience while traveling.

We eliminate the worry about getting to the airport on time, the anxiety of being subject to overweight baggage fees and the fear of your phone dying in transit.

Raden, based in New York, has financial backing from First Round Capital, which has also backed Uber, and Lerer Hippeau Ventures, with participation from the likes of tycoon Silas Chou and fashion designer Rachel Zoe.

The development team includes the designer behind Beats By Dre, while the production team is based in Hong Kong.
She is the queen of silver screen comedy and his outrageous films regularly have viewers creasing.

So it was no wonder Isla Fisher and Sasha Baron Cohen appeared to be in chirpy spirits as they stepped out in London on Monday.

The 40-year-old actress beamed as she joked around with her hubby of six years, looking casual in skinny jeans and a padded jacket.

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Hollywood's funnest couple? Isla Fisher and husband of six years Sacha Baron Cohen appeared in chirpy spirits as they hung out in London on Monday

The Confessions of a Shopaholic star wrapped up warm against the London chill in a cosy-looking Canada Goose jacket which she layered over a colour-block turtleneck sweater.

Flaunting her enviably slim pins in skinny blue jeans, Isla opted for comfort with her footwear and donned some simple adidas trainers.

Going for a casual vibe, the mother-of-three toted her belongings in an edgy white backpack complete with multiple zip detailing.

She scraped her auburn tresses into an artfully dishevelled up-do and appeared to go make-up free for the occasion, shielding her peepers with some round-eye aviator shades.

All smiles: Isla, 40, beamed as she wrapped up warm against the London chill in a cosy-looking Canada Goose jacket which she layered over a colour-block turtleneck sweater

Just chillin': Sacha, 44, cut a towering figure as he looked down wryly at his smiling wife - who he tied the knot with in Paris in 2010 after they met at a party in Sydney in 2002.

Meanwhile Sacha cut a towering figure as he looked down wryly at his smiling wife - who he tied the knot with in Paris in 2010 after they met at a party in Sydney in 2002.

The pair share three children - daughters Olive, eight, and Elula, five, and one-year-old son Montgomery.

The 44-year-old Grimsby star went low-key in stonewash jeans and an edgy leather bomber jacket teamed with heavy duty-boots.

Sporting a hint of stubble, the London-born actor smiled as he chatted away with his Australian partner and checked his phone.

Cool yet casual: Flaunting her enviably slim pins in skinny blue jeans, Isla opted for comfort with her footwear and donned some simple adidas trainers

Sacha may have looked relatively relaxed but the Borat and Ali G star has been embroiled in controversy this week after he was lined up to play Freddie Mercury in a biopic.

He said he quit the role as he wanted to portray a 'warts and all' view of Freddie - and claims he wasn't allowed to do that by Queen rockstar Brian May.

Brian told the Mail on Sunday: Sacha became an a***.'

He added: We had some nice times with Sacha kicking around ideas but he went off and told untruths about what happened.'

'Why would he go away and say that we didnt want to make a gritty film?'
She hit a milestone on Monday.

But Alessandra Ambrosio looked to be still fresh as a daisy as she celebrated her 35th birthday with fiance Jamie Mazur in Los Angeles.

The supermodel and her beau enjoyed a celebratory lunch at Tavern Restaurant as she showed off her ageless and well toned figure.

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Special day: Alessandra Ambrosio turned 35 and celebrated her birthday with fiance Jamie Mazur at Tavern Restaurant in Los Angeles on Monday

The Victoria's Secret Angel put her endless slim pins on display in black skinny jeans which revealed a bit of leg in the torn garment.

She wore a crisp white button-down shirt which knotted at the waist and carried a matching Fendi handbag that retails for $2900.

Her silky honey tresses were swept back to highlight her exquisite facial features and she opted for barely makeup, further accenting her natural beauty.

Stylish! The Victoria's Secret Angel went effortlessly chic in distressed denim jeans and a crisp white shirt

Stepping out! The Brazilian beauty donned a pair of sexy taupe suede ankle boots

The Brazilian beauty finished her look off with taupe suede ankle boots, several silver bracelets and tortoise shell shades.

Mazur, 35, matched Alessandra's laid back look in khaki trousers with a basic white tee and unbuttoned vintage denim shirt.

Ambrosio enjoyed her birthday with her loved one but on Sunday relaxed solo as she partook in a leisurely tanning session.

Drawing attention to her cleavage with a sexy pose, she appeared to be in a blissful state as she stared at the camera from behind her stylish shades.

Pricey purse! The supermodel carried a white leather Fendi handbag that retails for $2900

Proud parents: Alessandra has dated businessman Mazur since 2008 and the couple share two children - daughter Anja, seven, and three-year-old son Noah

Her wet locks fell about her makeup-free face while she teamed a silver pendant with her colourful bikini top.

The brunette beauty simply captioned the image saying: 'Sunshine #foreveronvacation #sundayfunday.'

Alessandra has dated businessman Jamie Mazur since 2008 and the couple share two children - daughter Anja, seven, and three-year-old son Noah.

The genetically gifted supermodel will hit the big screen in Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 as Will Arnett's character's girlfriend in the action movie that hits cinemas in June 2016.
They gave thousands of Star Wars fans a moment to remember by recreating the iconic scene between Master Yoda and Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back.

And while Mark Hamill and Daisy Ridley's playful snap was shared in a lighthearted message by Mark on Twitter, the photo promptly received a series of hilarious re-touches from Star Wars fans.

Although the 64-year-old actor and his co-star, 24, recreated the iconic Jedi training scenes from George Lucas' second Star Wars film - Mark's followers went one-step further with their creative process.

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Inspiration: While Mark Hamill and Daisy Ridley's playful Yoda and Luke snap was shared in a lighthearted message by Mark on Twitter, the photo promptly received a series of hilarious re-touches from Star Wars fans

Responding to the actor's post in their droves, some of Mark's 1.05million followers did their best to illicit a laugh from the notoriously playful actor with their best memes and photoshop spoofs.

Ranging from transforming Mark into Yoda himself, to photoshopping the actor onto his younger self's back, the myriad of snaps and memes certainly seemed to tickle the actor's sense of humour

Promptly retweeting his favourites to his timeline, the actor was clearly tickled by some of the parody pics.

One fan chose to go down a simple but effective route, photoshopping Mark and Daisy's faces on a still from the original scene - with the actor's visage receiving a green tint to match Yoda's.

Some playful trolling: While the 64-year-old actor and his co-star, 24, recreated the iconic Jedi training scenes from George Lucas' second Star Wars film - Mark's followers went one-step further with their creative process

Old times: The original and photoshop pictures mimiced the scene from the Empire Strikes Back in 1977 where he had Yoda on his back when training as Luke Skywalker to learn the ways of the Force

Clearly proud of his work, @Nicolas_guiz wrote: '@HamillHimself Hope you like it ahah.'

Meanwhile another creative fan, @thesheikh, photoshopped the very modern image of Mark onto his younger self's back - giving the impression a grizzled Luke Skywalker was tutoring himself.

The fan accompanied his humorous effort, with the caption: '@HamillHimself well.. Someone had to do it .. @starwars,' and promptly received a retweet from the actor.

Another Star Wars fan with a sense of humour recreated a scene from the opening of The Empire Strikes back.

Photoshopping the co-stars into a wintry backdrop, @skywalker_eve turned Daisy into a tonton - which unfortunately dies moments into the film - with Mark reprising his role as Luke Skywalker on her back.

Seeing double! Another creative fan, @thesheikh, photoshopped the very modern image of Mark onto his younger self's back - giving the impression a grizzled Luke Skywalker was tutoring himself.

Caught his attention: The fan accompanied his humorous effort, with the caption: '@HamillHimself well.. Someone had to do it .. @starwars,' and promptly received a retweet from the actor

Another Star Wars fan with a sense of humour recreated a scene from the opening of The Empire Strikes back.

Photoshopping the co-stars into a wintry backdrop, @skywalker_eve turned Daisy into a tonton - which unfortunately dies moments into the film - with Mark reprising his role as Luke Skywalker on her back.

Other meanwhile stuck to memes, and pointed out the Yoda reference with a quote from the green-skinned Jedi master.

While another quick-witted fan cracked a joke by drawing an arrow to a trailer parked behind the pair, with an accompanying caption reading: 'Everybody talking about Mark & Daisy and I'm sitting here excited about the first Episode VIII trailer!!'

Back on Hoth! Another Star Wars fan with a sense of humour recreated a scene from the opening of The Empire Strikes back, and turned Daisy into Luke Skywalker's Tonton

A classic line! Other meanwhile stuck to memes, and pointed out the Yoda reference with a quote from the green-skinned Jedi master

Wise-cracking: Another fan drew an arrow to a trailer parked behind the pair, with an accompanying caption reading: 'Everybody talking about Mark & Daisy and I'm sitting here excited about the first Episode VIII trailer!!'

The memes came hot on the heels of the actor's original post, which showed him clinging to Daisy's back in a homage to the scene form the original trilogy.

It mimics the image from the original Star Wars film from 1977 where Mark had Yoda on his back when training as Luke Skywalker to learn the ways of the Force.

Yoda was trying to get the young Jedi to lift objects without using physical force.

In the new image, Daisy and Mark were in the parking lot of Pinewood Studios.

His caption read, 'A long time ago (last week I think) in a galaxy far, far way (@PinewoodStudios) THIS happened! Happy Birthday Daisy!'

He got it: Fan Maruice Schutte tweeted about Mark's posting, noting it looked like a scene from the old film

Daisy and Mark worked together in a scene that came only at the very end of Force Awakens.

Her character Rey was seen visiting his remote island to hand him his old Light Saber.

Hamill, who was in the first three Star Wars films, did not say a word.

Star Wars VIII will be out on December 15, 2017.
Ashley Judd showed off her Henna tattoo as she visited the Zaatari refugee camp.

The 47-year-old is using her celebrity influence to make a change and a genuine difference in the world by meeting with refugees from war-torn Syria in the northern Jordanian city of Mafraq.

She has spent the past week meeting refugees and talking to leaders like Alice Wells, the United States Ambassador to Jordan, about forced marriage and other issues plaguing women and girls who have fled the war.

The Double Jeopardy star was seen preparing food with refugees as she showed off her Henna tattoo.

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Actress Ashley Judd showed off her Henna tattoo as she visited the Zaatari refugee camp

The Double Jeopardy star was seen preparing food with refugees as she showed off Henna tattoo (pictured)

The United Nations Population Fund Goodwill Ambassador was also seen talking UN employees at the refugee camp near the city of Mafraq

Ashley (center) has spent the past week with refugees and talking to leaders like Alice Wells, the United States Ambassador to Jordan, about forced marriage and other issues plaguing women and girls who have fled the war

She visited the Zaatari refugee camp in Mafraq, Jordan, on Sunday

The United Nations Population Fund Goodwill Ambassador was also seen cradling and embracing the children, and talking with other Syrian refugees in the camp.

Ashley tweeted Sunday that the 'Za'atari Refugee Camp reflects the resilience & initiative of #Syrian #refugees'.

It seems the actress has been inspired by Angelina Jolie, who famously visited Syrian refugees in recent months.

During her humanitarian, the mother of six said that the issues in Syria have created a wave of human suffering.

Ashley has clearly taken the same stance on the matter and can be seen emotionally and visually moved by the individuals in the camp.

The American actress has never had children of her own and for her there is a very good reason for that.

She told the Sunday Mail that she feels it would be selfish to procreate with the amount of children who are starving to death in impoverished countries.

It seems the 47-year-old actress has been inspired by Angelina Jolie as she is currently in the northern Jordanian city of Mafraq visiting refugees from war-torn Syria

Close to her heart: It was a bittersweet experience for the generous actress as she's seen here smiling

A Syrian refugee woman places a veil on the actress

Goodwill Ambassador: Ashley can be seen in a tender embrace with one of the individuals in the camp

Respectful: Ashley was seen wearing a large silk head cloth, also known as Shambar out of respect

The controversial statement attracted worldwide attention and as a result Ashley received a fair share of criticism.

The actress believes it isn't fair for people to put their resources into making their own children when those resources can help children that are already born and suffering.

A natural: Despite choosing to have no children of her own, Ashley looks content cradling the baby

She strongly believes that through service to refugee camps and impoverished countries we can transform the world into a place where no child ever needs to be born into poverty or abuse again.

Ashley says she already feels like a mother to all the children already out there. She likes nurturing orphaned or abandoned children who need love, care and attention.

Just like the Lion King! Ashley can be seen hoisting the child into the air like Mufasa raised Simba

Sweet embrace: The children looked just as happy to see Ashley as she was to see them

Ouch! Ashley was in good spirits as she was seen playfully biting the child's hand

Peekaboo: It's as if motherhood comes naturally to her as she's seen playing games with one of the children

Meet and greet: Ashley met a lot of people in the camp and seemed overjoyed to be able to spend time with them all

Judd is best known for her movie thrillers High Crimes and Kiss The Girls. She has also bee in 2012's Missing. And in 2014 she appeared in Divergent.

The beauty - whose sister is country singer Wynonna - will next appear in Trafficked and Good Kids.

She also will pop up in the reboot of Twin Peaks and the sequel Tangles: Before Ever After.

Judd is best known for her movie thrillers High Crimes and Kiss The Girls. She has also bee in 2012's Missing. And in 2014 she appeared in Divergent

A sailor went to sea sea sea: The pair looked like they were having fun during their clapping game

New experiences: Ashley learnt a lot on her trip as she was seen speaking with one of the local doctors

Jolie, meanwhile, has been in London with her family.

Her husband Brad Pitt has been shooting his sequel to World War Z in the country.

The pair reportedly have rented a massive mansion that is more than suitable for her six children.

Supermum: Angelina has six children of her own which has been a huge incentive for her to help suffering child refugees

Due to Angelina's dedicated service to the cause of refugees she's been asked to deliver a keynote speech on the global refugee crisis.

The Maleficent actress will give the speech in the programme, World On The Move. The show will be broadcast from the BBC Radio Theatre and will also air across several BBC shows on May 16.
Debbie McGee appeared on Good Morning Britain on Tuesday to talk about dealing with her grief following the death of her husband Paul Daniels, three weeks ago.

The 57-year-old put on a brave face as she told hosts Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid that she was grateful she had a 'happy life with Paul,' who passed away from a brain tumour aged 77 in March.

She said: 'You have no idea how you will cope until you're in this position. We had a happy life and he didn't know he was dying. I keep counting my blessings.

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Strong: Paul Daniels' widow, Debbie McGee says she is 'counting her blessings' following her husband's death

True love: Pictured in August 2015, Paul and Debbie were married for almost 30 years

'I loved living with him and we had such a good life and he had more to live for. Obviously it is a huge loss, a tragedy and I'm sad, but it helps that everyone has been amazing.'

Debbie also said that Paul wouldn't have believed how much love and affection would have been shown in the wake of his death.

'He would have had no idea,' she said. 'He wasn't a person to look back. Living for the minute was always important to Paul.'

She said: 'You have no idea how you will cope until you're in this position. We had a happy life and he didn't know he was dying. I keep counting my blessings'

She also spoke of her relief that she left nothing unsaid with her husband.

'We were always telling each other we loved one another. After getting over the shock after Paul was diagnosed, I thought, well actually, we have no regrets. There's nothing we've left unsaid.

'I was so comforted by the fact that we always said "I love you". We enjoyed every day of life. We were a team, even through the bad times.

'I will miss watching him with other people. Most people he met, he made them feel good, they took something away which was nice. It was lovely to see that.'

Adding: 'I loved living with him and we had such a good life and he had more to live for. Obviously it is a huge loss, a tragedy and I'm sad, but it helps that everyone has been amazing'

Smiling through the pain: Debbie also spoke of her relief that she left nothing unsaid with her husband

Talking about events leading up to his death, Debbie reiterated how glad she was that her partner of over 30 years had no idea he was dying.

'He was very happy, joking and laughing up until 48 hours before he died. He could still interact with you but I'm not sure what he was taking in.'

Debbie also said that she was glad that she and Paul proved the doubters wrong about their relationship - after enduring a long and happy relationship despite their 20 year age gap.

'We would always say that we knew what the truth was and anyone who met us would see how well suited we are. We would just ignore it.

'We would giggle about it and it's nice that we proved people wrong.'

'He was very happy': The 57-year-old revealed Paul was joking and laughing up until 48 hours before he died

Courageous: Debbie looked lovely in a fray detail blazer teamed with a white skirt

Her appearance came one day after she called herself a fragile 'eggshell', as she made her first television appearance since Paul passed away.

Appearing on Loose Women, the grieving 57-year-old maintained her composure while reflecting on his illness just three weeks after the television personality died of a brain tumour.

She spoke affectionately of her 30-year marriage to Paul, explaining how he had been romantic everyday and 'didn't really understand' that he was dying.

And she's off! McGee traded her heels for a pair of white pumps as she headed off to her next location

Overwhelmed: Debbie also said that Paul wouldn't have believed how much love and affection would have been shown in the wake of his death

On her grief, Paul's former stage assistant Debbie told the panel on live TV: 'I really havent been on my own too much. The days I've been there on my own I've tried not be there all day.'

'You go out, have a cup of tea and before you know it an hour gone passed where you havent thought about it.'

'You go through phrases. Last week, I had a couple of days where I fell to pieces. I held myself together at the funeral. I am a pretty strong person.'

She went on to say: 'Its a weird thing because you feel like your body is made from like eggshells. Before coming on I was getting so nervous and I never get nervous. You have to tell yourself to think of something positive.

And as she tried to make light of the situation, she added: 'One good thing that has happened is that I've lost like three quarters of a stone [in weight].'

Show of support: Debbie received a hug from old pal and panelist Gloria Hunniford (right) during her first television interview since Paul died on Monday

Emotional: Though it was an emotional appearance, Debbie kept her composure superbly beside panelists (from left) Coleen Nolan, June Sarpong, Gloria and Nadia Sawalha

She spoke of their 'fairytale' life together, explaining: 'We told each other we loved each other every 10 minutes.'

Debbie later added: 'He was always romantic everyday. He said about three years ago, I wish I'd never married you and then we could do it all over again."'

'I'm a person who really counts their blessings, I had 30 almost 38 amazing years with Paul. He wouldnt have wanted a funeral that was depressing.'

She recalled noticing how Paul was 'not his usual chirpy self' when they did pantomime season together in 2015, saying that a blood test with the doctor quickly revealed severe anaemia.

Memories: A picture of the couple flashed up behind the panel as she spoke

Elegant: She wrapped a scarf around her neck and wore retro spectacles

Peach dream: She put on an elegant display in a nude ensembles

Asked whether he knew that he was dying, she answered: 'No because the tumour was pressing on the part of the brain that processes that. I wanted to get him out of hospital because I couldnt bear the thought of him not coming home. He didnt really understand.'

At the time, Debbie said in an interview that Paul spent his final days 'laughing, joking and singing the Beatles.'

Debbie has remained strong since Paul's funeral 10 days ago, which was held at the Milton Chapel at Chilterns Crematorium, Buckinghamshire.

She lovingly placed a touching note, simply reading 'love you always, Debbie xxx' - on top of his coffin, which was also adorned with a huge bunch of red roses.

Glamorous: She tried to make light of the situation by joking that she had lost just less than a stone in weight

Old friends: She cuddled up to Gloria even when she was photographed later

Having a cuddle: Debbie was bright and smiley despite her grief on Monday

Paul - arguably the nation's most-loved magician - enjoyed a highly successful career before the shock announcement that he was suffering from terminal brain cancer in February.

His passing on March 17, 2016 was announced by his publicist and confirmed by his son Martin, who revealed the star was diagnosed with terminal cancer after a fall at home.

The magician's family initially thought the fall was due to a stroke but doctors diagnosed the tumour after a series of tests.

Well -loved: She spoke of her romantic relationship with Paul in which she said she felt loved every day

Brave smile: The star managed to keep her composure as she arrived at ITV studios

The 77-year-old, who married Ms McGee in 1988, spent his last days at their 2.5million Thameside home in Berkshire eating 'lots of' Magnums - his favourite ice cream - in the sunshine and watching ITV game show The Chase.

In an interview with the Mail on Sunday, Ms McGee, who worked alongside her husband as an assistant during his career, said she was in 'shock' following his death.

She said: Im in such shock, it hasnt sunk in. Its been so quick. I dont think Paul and I will meet again in heaven. I dont believe in the afterlife  I wish I did.'

She added: But Pauls presence is still everywhere. Im waiting for him to walk through the door.

Sad: The 57-year-old was preparing to give her first television interview since her husband Paul Daniels passed away on March 17 after being diagnosed with a brain tumour
With Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, Rita Ora and Nick Grimshaw all confirming they're not to return to The X Factor judging panel, it's thought Simon Cowell is weighing up his options for replacements with secret meetings.

The music mogul is said to have held a pre-X Factor rehearsal with rumoured returnees Louis Walsh and Sharon Osbourne recently in order to determine whether there's still chemistry between them.

The Sun claims Simon, 56, invited the pair to dinner to see whether or not their friendly banter would work on the panel when the show returns for a thirteenth series in summer.

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The originals: Simon Cowell reportedly held a secret pre-X Factor rehearsal with rumoured returnees Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh recently

A source told the newspaper: 'He invited Louis and Sharon for dinner so he could see if it was still the same as before.'

Sharon, 63, who was a permanent fixture on the judging panel from day one in 2004 until 2007, had previously refused to 'come back with Simon' as she claimed his behaviour was controlling but Louis could swing her vote.

They added: 'Louis is determined for Sharon to take the job. He has made it a big part of his decision to come back and has urged Simon to persuade her.'

MailOnline has contacted Simon's management for clarification.

Building bridges: The Sun claims Simon, 56, invited the pair to dinner to see whether or not their friendly banter would work on the panel when the show returns for a thirteenth series in summer

This woman could be for turning: Sharon, 63, who was a permanent fixture on the judging panel from day one in 2004 until 2007, had previously refused to 'come back with Simon' as she claimed his behaviour was controlling but Louis could swing her vote

The source added: 'Louis is determined for Sharon to take the job. He has made it a big part of his decision to come back and has urged Simon to persuade her'

Earlier in the month, it was reported that the flame-haired TV star had had talks with show bosses and it was a case of juggling her commitment to American chat show The Talk.

Sharon - who returned to the show briefly for the tenth year anniversary, alongside Louis, Gary Barlow and Nicole Scherzinger - is believed to be keen to work alongside the Irish music manager once more.

She quit the show after the final of the 2007 season and was replaced by Cheryl Fernandez-Versini the following year.

Meanwhile, veteran judge Louis's rumoured comeback follows his firing last year but it's thought Simon wants 'his friend back by his side like the good old days'.

The deciding factor: Sharon is believed to be keen to work alongside the Irish music manager once more. The pair are pictured here at the National Television Awards in 2007

Louis has previously admitted his willingness to return to the show, and claimed the ultimate line-up would also include Sharon.

'If Simon asked me back, and I thought it would be fun, then absolutely I would,' he said.

'If he wants the dream team then he gets me, him, Sharon Osbourne and either Mel B or Nicole Scherzinger.'

Back in the day: Sharon returned to the show for the tenth year anniversary, alongside Louis, Gary Barlow and Nicole Scherzinger
She recently enjoyed a fun-filled bachelorette weekend with her girlfriends in Mexico.

And despite a weekend of partying, bride-to-be Nicole Trunfio showed no sign of over-indulgence as she flashed her taut tummy in a crop top as she arrived back in Los Angeles on Monday.

The 30-year-old looked impeccably fresh as she made her way through the arrivals terminal and showed off her toned abs in a very small crop top.

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Abs-olutely fresh and fabulous: Nicole Trunfio flashed her taut tummy in a crop top as she arrived back in Los Angeles on Monday after her bachelorette celebrations in Mexico

Nicole's toned stomach was on-display as she wore a very small black crop-top paired with white jeans that sat on her waist.

Rips throughout the skin tight jeans added a casual touch to her look and she draped a grey sweater around her shoulders.

The brunette beauty wore her dark tresses loose around her shoulders in waves and appeared to be wearing minimal makeup as she donned a pair of dark shades.

Low-key: The 30-year-old showed no signs of over-indulgence on her getaway as she flaunted her slim figure and toned stomach in a small crop top and jeans

Stylish: The mother-of-one added to her effortless styled with rips in her white jeans and added black sandals

Busy: She appeared to be heavily invested in a phone call as she walked through the Los Angeles airport followed by a bevy of pals who had joined in on her weekend away

Nicole carried an oversize grey leather tote bag in the nook of her elbow and finished her look with strappy black sandals.

She appeared to be heavily invested in a phone call as she strode through the Los Angeles airport followed by a bevy of pals who had joined in on her weekend away.

The Australian model ensured her bikini-clad bachelorette weekend was well-documented on social media and flaunted her incredible figure across a range of snaps.

Shady lady: The brunette beauty wore her dark tresses loose around her shoulders and appeared to be wearing minimal makeup, covering her eyes with a pair of dark shades

Big things ahead: Nicole is set to marry her singer-songwriter fiance Gary Clark Jr. later this month and she appeared well rested and sun-kissed after her luxurious weekend

Smitten: The loved-up couple announced their engagement in November 2014, and they share one child together, one-year-old son Zion

Nicole is set to marry her singer-songwriter fiance Gary Clark Jr. later this month and she appeared well rested and sun-kissed after her luxurious weekend.

The loved-up couple announced their engagement in November 2014, and they share one child together.

Their son Zion was born in January last year and the parents are besotted with their cherubic tot who is a regular feature on both of their social media accounts.

Leisurely: The Australian model ensured her bikini-clad bachelorette weekend was well-documented on social media and flaunted her incredible figure across a range of snaps

And as the their nuptials draw closer, the Perth-born star recently revealed that her bridesmaids will be none other than fellow models Gemma Ward and Jessica Gomes.

Speaking in an interview in the April issue of Instyle Australia, Nicole confessed she 'couldn't get married without them'.

'They were the first two people that I thought of - I couldnt get married without them by my side,' she told the magazine

'Gemma says she is going to give Gary the lowdown: that if he does anything to hurt me, shell do some sort of kung fu, she added.

Star studded: The Perth-born star recently revealed that her bridesmaids will be none other than fellow models Gemma Ward and Jessica Gomes
The Real Housewives franchise introduced its new group of socialites - fueled by lashings of Jesus Juice.

As the girls from The Real Housewives of Dallas hit screens for the first time, many appeared driven by the desire to drink wine all day - and giving it the nickname still strongly associated with Michael Jackson.

The main drinkers and party girls are Brandi Redmond and Stephanie Hollman - and their love for Jesus Juice sparks tension between them and other members of Dallas high society who fear they demean well-heeled charity events.

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Ready for some fun: The Real Housewives franchise introduced its new group of socialites - fueled by lashings of Jesus Juice; Brandi Redmond pictured from The Real Housewives Of Dallas during series premiere

But best friends Brandi and Stephanie are hell-bent on just having fun - especially if it allows them to drink.

Life is always a little more fun with Jesus Juice, insisted Brandi, a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader who is now a stay-at-home mother.

Seemingly unaware of the Jacko connections where the late pop superstar was accused of plying children with wine by also calling it Jesus Juice - Brandi insisted: Seriously, Jesus turned water into wine. So thats why I call it Jesus Juice.

Communion is taken with Jesus Juice. You can take communion ever day. Any time of day.

Having a blast: As the girls from The Real Housewives of Dallas hit screens for the first time, many appeared driven by the desire to drink wine all day; Stephanie Hollman pictured

Brandi also admitted that their shared sense of humor when drunk is the driving force behind her friendship with Stephanie, another stay-at-home mother whose husband Travis makes her do chores to make my money in the marriage.

We have a little bit too much to drink and well pee in bushes and she will fart on command and I will dance in her fart, Brand admitted with clear delight.

After a little bit of Jesus Juice we get the giggles and annoy people.

For a laugh: Best friends Brandi and Stephanie are hell-bent on having fun - especially if it allows them to drink

Goofing off: Brandi also admitted that their shared sense of humor when drunk is the driving force behind her friendship with Stephanie

Getting into trouble: We have a little bit too much to drink and well pee in bushes and she will fart on command and I will dance in her fart, Brand admitted with clear delight

That kind of behavior sparked the first tension in the series, when charity event organizer LeeAnne Locken - a former carny who one friend said is so well known she is like the mayor of Dallas - infuriated by their behavior.

She initially had to walk away at one charity event when Stephanie joked in the kitchen about how she pooped while in childbirth.

Then at a second event for an AIDs charity where Stephanie admitted she planned to be Jesus Juicing it all night, LeeAnne confronted Brandi after hearing she was going around doing impressions of her.

Not impressed: That kind of behavior sparked tension, when charity event organizer LeeAnne Locken - a former carny who one friend said is so well known she is like the mayor of Dallas - infuriated by their behavior

Disapproval: She initially had to walk away at one charity event when Stephanie joked in the kitchen about how she pooped while in childbirth

After an awkward showdown where Brandi refused to be the Mean Girl and do the impression, they went aside to talk - with Brandi accusing LeeAnne of making all her charity events about her, telling her: Honestly, I feel sorry for you.

While she only sneered at her at the time - sarcastically thanking her - LeeAnne said later: Are you kidding me? Ive spent the last six years raising money for charities. What of you do? You get to come out, drink a little bit, mimic people, talk about farts and poop - yeah, I need help.

After warning Brandi that she only goes on the offense and attack anyone if Im attacked, Brandi continued her critique by telling LeeAnne it is kind of s****y that so much money is spent on her events when it could just go straight to the charity.

Awkward: LeeAnne confronted Brandi after hearing she was going around doing impressions of her

Time for the truth: While Brandi only sneered at her at the time - sarcastically thanking her - LeeAnne said later: Are you kidding me?'; LeeAnne and Tiffany Hendra pictured

I dont judge anyone, its not my job - its Gods. Hes the ultimate judge, LeeAnne insisted, with Brandi telling her: And you need help.

While the confrontation did not escalate, LeeAnne again complained later: This is a charity event and you are acting like a little b***h.

Surprisingly given her standing in social circles - at least the way she personally positions herself - LeeAnne later admitted she is far from being a millionaire like the people she mixes with.

Truthful: I dont judge anyone, its not my job - its Gods. Hes the ultimate judge, LeeAnne insisted; LeeeAnne pictured with Tiffany

Not happy: While the confrontation did not escalate, LeeAnne again complained later: This is a charity event and you are acting like a little b***h

And she also seemed embarrassed admitting that she is living in sin with my boyfriend, local policeman Rich, insisting: Its real with him, and he tells me were going to get married some day, so Id like to.

But the relationship promises to be a source of yet more tension, with a teaser showing Rich storming out of a restaurant when she asks about his vague suggestion of marriage.

Stephanie, however, seemed less concerned with her own unusual domestic situation, with husband Travis making her do demeaning chores to earn her keep.

Staying close: After a little bit of Jesus Juice we get the giggles and annoy people, Brandi said about her friendship with Stephanie

Taking a break: Stephanie, however, seemed less concerned with her own unusual domestic situation, with husband Travis making her do demeaning chores to earn her keep

Its ridiculous but I just kind of do it because I dont want to fight, she smiled, while Brandi admitted she gets really tickled at her best friends list.

She should just steal the money like I do, she joked.

One of the charity events was organized in part by another colorful character from the series, Cary Deuber who works as a nurse assisting her plastic surgeon husband Dr. Mark Deuber.

Getting it done: Its ridiculous but I just kind of do it because I dont want to fight, she smiled; Stephanie pictured working on one of her tasks with her friend Brandi helping her

Honesty: Brandi admitted she gets really tickled at her best friends list, joking that she should just steal the money like I do

If youre a woman in Dallas, the essentials are you need a great handbag, you need a great pair of shoes, and you need a great pair of boobs, she insisted.

Thats what we do - boobs by Deubs.

Their event was supporting the Doris Daniely Outreach which offers breast reconstruction for women who cant afford it after a mastectomy.

Focused: One of the charity events was organized in part by another colorful character from the series, Cary Deuber who works as a nurse assisting her plastic surgeon husband Dr. Mark Deuber

Hard at work: Their event was supporting the Doris Daniely Outreach which offers breast reconstruction for women who cant afford it after a mastectomy; Cary's husband Dr. Deuber pictured

The silver lining after having breast cancer is at least get a new pair of tits that are pretty! she joked.

Of her husband - who had been married twice before and was so close to her family and went to his second wedding in Hawaii - she said: Everyone in Dallas probably thought we had an affair - maybe we shouldve. I would at least have gotten something out of all the idle gossip.

The show also introduced former model Tiffany Hendra and her rocker husband Aaron who moved from L.A. after getting too deep in the model party scene.

Ready to go: The silver lining after having breast cancer is at least get a new pair of tits that are pretty! Cary joked during the premiere episode

Time to unwind: The show also introduced former model Tiffany and her rocker husband Aaron who moved from L.A. after getting too deep in the model party scene

The coke, the Cristal, the private planes, the glitz and glamour. I needed to get back to my roots, she said.

I had a come-to-Jesus moment on the bathroom floor. Thank God for Aaron. When I hit rock bottom he was there to pick me up.

She was seen buying him a new guitar - and being reduced to tears as he sang a song about first meeting her - but clearly worried about whether she has ruined his rock dreams by taking him away from Los Angeles.

I had a come-to-Jesus moment on the bathroom floor. Thank God for Aaron. When I hit rock bottom he was there to pick me up; Tiffany and Aaron pictured
It's a Marvel-ous role for any actor.

And now, David Wenham has become the next Australian to land a highly coveted role in the Marvel comics universe, having just been announced on Tuesday as part of the cast in the new Netflix series Iron Fist

The 50-year-old Lord Of The Rings actor will play 'ruthless corporate leader' Harold Meachum in the upcoming production.

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Marvel-ous! David Wenham has become the next Australian to land a highly coveted role in the Marvel comics universe, having just been announced on Tuesday among the cast of the new Netflix series Iron Fist

The series, the latest comic book adaptation, follows a superhero who relies on martial arts and a mystical force called the Iron Fist, but by day, he is known as Daniel Rand.

In the Netflix show, Daniel returns to New York having been missing for years and fights against the criminal element corrupting the city.

David's character is set to be the villain in the piece and a business partner of Daniel's parents at the time of their deaths.

Villain: David's character Harold Meachum is expected to be the villain of the piece, being described as a 'ruthless corporate leader'

Comic book series: Netflix will bring the series to the small screen, which follows a superhero who relies on martial arts and a mystical force called the Iron Fist, but by day, he is known as Daniel Rand

Iron Fist: Game of Thrones actor Finn Jones has landed the lead role of Iron Fist and his alter ego Danny Rand

David will star alongside Game of Thrones actor Finn Jones, who has landed the lead role of Iron Fist/Danny Rand.

While Jessica Henwick, who also appeared in Game Of Thrones and the recent Star Wars reboot The Force Awakens, will play Iron Fist's love interest Colleen Wing.

Iron Fist's showrunner Scott Buck spoke of his excitement of the Australian casting, saying in a statement: 'I'm very excited to have David as our Harold Meachum.

'David is capable of displaying raw, visceral strength as well as extremely keen intelligence,'

''I'm very excited': Iron Fist's showrunner Scott Buck spoke of his excitement of the Australian casting

'Capable of drawing visceral strength': Producers of the show have told of their delight at the Aussie star's involvement in the series (Pictured in 2009 film Pope Joan)

'This will add up to a character of complex depth who will keep us off balance all season.'

Head of Marvel Television, Jeph Loeb said David brings 'a vulnerability and a danger to his many diverse roles'.

'This key quality creates a gravitas our series requires as Danny unravels the secrets behind Rand Enterprises.'

David joins a long list of Aussie actors who have been welcomed into the Netflix fold including Ruby Rose (Orange Is The New Black) and Rachael Taylor (Jessica Jones).

The Moulin Rouge star will next be seen on the big screen in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales as well as reunited with Nicole Kidman in Lion.
They're on/off romance has been hitting headlines since before they left the Celebrity Big Brother house in February.

But contrary to numerous reports that their romance was on the rocks, Jeremy McConnell has insisted he and Stephanie Davis are happy - despite a playful jibe at her jealous nature.

Appearing on Ireland's The 7 O'Clock Show, the 26-year-old CBB star insisted he and the former Hollyoaks actress are 'very happy together' despite their rollercoaster romance.

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'We're very happy together': Contrary to numerous reports that their romance was on the rocks, Jeremy McConnell has insisted he and Stephanie Davis are happy - despite a playful jibe at her jealous nature

Speaking to hosts Lucy Kennedy and Martin King on the popular TV3 chatshow, Jeremy explained that despite the public's contrasting and divided opinion on their romance, the couple are happy.

'We're very happy together,' Jeremy explained, before aiming a joke at his girlfirend, quipping: 'She's [Stephanie] sat over there with a pair of Binocular... watch out, Lucy!'

Obviously making a cheeky reference to the various rumours surrounding his encounters with girls outside of his relationship with Stephanie, Jeremy playfully jibed that she might be getting jealous.

However, despite the furor that the couple's romantic highs and lows have caused in recent weeks, the Irish model insisted the couple we're content with their romance.

A happy man? Appearing on Ireland's The 7 O'Clock Show, the 26-year-old CBB star insisted he and the former Hollyoaks actress are 'very happy together' despite their rollercoaster romance

And it seems that Jeremy was in the mood to confront the rumours that their public spats have started - in particular their fondness for airing their dirty laundry on Twitter.

Both Jeremy and Stephanie have taken their relationship to a VERY public platform on social media: breaking up, arguing and making up in a series of car crash moments, on multiple occasions.

And while he accepted the couple haven't helped themselves in that respect, he also explained that too much has been made of these moments.

'We're still young for that kind of life - just living in the papers and stuff,' he said of the spotlight being shone on their romance.

'We're still young for that kind of life - just living in the papers and stuff': While he accepted the couple haven't helped themselves in that respect, he also explained that too much has been made of these moments

Though he did admit that a lot of their more negative press has been down to their own actions, admitting: 'We don't help ourselves with some of the stuff we do obviously.

A TIMELINE OF STEPHANIE AND JEREMY'S ROCKY ROMANCE 5 January: Couple meet for the first time on Celebrity Big Brother. At the time, Stephanie is in a relationship with male model Sam Reece. 29 January: Jeremy is evicted from Celebrity Big Brother 5 February: Stephanie leaves the CBB house and confirms she considers her relationship with Sam over and is hoping to be with Jeremy. 21 February: The pair briefly split after a misunderstanding over drunken text messages, leading them to cancel an appearance on Loose Women. 22 February: The couple reveal they are back together and make a joint appearance on Loose Women a few days later. 2 March: Stephanie dumps Jeremy after their CBB co-star Scotty T reveals the Irish model slept with dancer Caroline Pope. 11 March: The pair are reunited on holiday in Majorca after Jeremy insists he slept with Caroline before they were officially dating. 26 March: Stephanie announced she has dumped Jeremy again after accusing him of sleeping with five different women in recent weeks. 4 April: Following a series of loved-up posts Jeremy and Stephanie once-again confirm their relationship is back on track. Advertisement

'We put things on social media and it gives people a right to comment.'

Though he seemed bemused by many of the stories emerging from their spats on Twitter, saying: 'The two of us are sick of 'US' now. You wake up and theres another news article and it doesnt make sense to you.'

Jeremy's heartfelt comments, and clarification on their relationship comes after the couple briefly split following yet another claim that he'd cheated on Stephanie.

Only weeks ago the Irish model was accused on cheating with Stephanie with five women, however, the claims appeared to be false.

As Stephanie later took to Twitter to clear up the confusion, saying: 'I can confirm the messages supposedly sent from Jeremy aren't true.

'Everyone can hate and say what they like, but at the end of the day I met a boy who I fell in love with.

'It's been hard with all the press and tweets, have all you not experienced heartache. It's been so hard for us. And if you could all see the pain I've been in and him you would understand.

'Yes you're right and I won't be posting my life on social media. But when you meet someone you love and can't live without, you know its real.

'This week has been the worst week of my life and I just want to be happy. Against me or not I'll do what I have to do and follow my heart. Where sets what will be will be.

She finished: 'There's a lot u don't know only by what papers say. It's my life and my choice, I might be wrong I might be right... I can only follow my heart & I hope.'
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner are reportedly renting a house in London so they could be together with their three kids as he films his next blockbuster film.

And the estranged couple continued to put on a united front on their latest outing.

The two 43-year-old stars were spotted out together on a casual outing in Los Angeles on Monday.

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Together again: Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner were spotted on an outing with four-year-old son Samuel in Los Angeles on Monday

As they have kept their children as paramount in their relationship, it comes as no surprise that they were accompanied by their youngest child, four-year-old son Samuel, who trailed behind them.

Ben was dressed comfortably in a varying shades of grey including dark fleece jacket over a shirt, sweatpants and Adidas trainers.

No doubt he is enjoying some downtime before he works on his next project as he had plenty of scruff on his face and his hair was dishevelled.

Comfortable customer: Ben, 43, wore varying shades of grey including fleece jacket, shirt, sweatpants and Adidas trainers

Communication is key: Jennifer and Ben were spotted talking as their son hopped in their car

Jennifer went casual chic for the occasion as she sported a navy blue suit jacket with gold buttons over a black top.

She also sported skinny blue jeans with black leather loafers and accessorised with black Wayfarer shades.

Her straight-brunette tresses were worn down tucked behind her ear to show off her face which had natural, complimentary make-up on it.

Not seen on the outing were Samuel's older sisters: ten-year-old Violet and seven-year-old Seraphina.

Looking good: Jennifer, 43, sported a navy blue suit jacket with gold buttons, skinny blue jeans and black leather loafers

The outing comes just days after reports that the Argo actor is contemplating renting a sizable property in London in the hopes that Jennifer and the kids will join him while he shoots upcoming DC flick Justice League: Part One in Hertfordshire's Leavesdon Studios.

'Ben and Jennifer are a very strong cohesive unit. They have created a new normal, which will continue while they are living in London,' a source told The Sun's Dan Wootton.

'Ben wants his family close when he's working, and staying together in a new country will be a great experience, despite himself and Jennifer being no longer a couple.'

The pair split announced their split on June 30, one day after their ten year anniversary.
Lindsay Lohan is to be engaged to be married.

The 29-year-old Mean Girls vet has accepted a proposal from 22-year-old Russian heir Egor Tarabasov, according to a Tuesday report from TMZ.

The stunner has been flashing an emerald ring on her wedding finger since the news broke and celebrated with family, including mother Dina Lohan and father Michael at a Duran Duran concert.

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Mrs T! Lindsay Lohan is engaged. The 29-year-old Mean Girls vet has accepted a proposal from 22-year-old Russian heir Egor Tarabasov, according to a Tuesday report from TMZ; here they are seen in February

Entrepreneur Egor - whose father is a multi-millionaire businessman - asked for her hand in marriage 'over the weekend,' the site reported.

While at the 2016 Asian Awards in London on Friday night, the Liz & Dick actress wore an engagement ring and diamond wedding band on her left wedding finger, before switching for a new design.

However, her spokesperson said soon after the Eastbound & Down star is not betrothed. 'The story is untrue and holds no merit,' Lohan's rep, Hunter Frederick. He did not comment on why the star is wearing rings on her wedding finger.

Happy days: The beauty and her man (centre) celebrated their betrothal at a Duran Duran concert at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NYC - her mother Dina, (left) father Michael (right) and sister Ali

Savouring the memories: Lindsay and her little sister Ali were dressed to the nines and took selfies of the special night out

Taking the plunge: Lindsay looked incredible in her silver embellished outfit which had a very daring neckline

Bringing her family together: Dina and Michael joined Lindsay despite feuding in the past, as she threw some shapes on the dancefloor

Egor met the Herbie actress 'through mutual friends at a party,' the site alleged. She told The Sun she started dating him eight months ago and added: 'He is a great guy. I met him in the summer. Im really happy.'

Tarabasov spent the holidays in New York with Lindsay and her family, which includes mother Dina and sister Ali. It was claimed the meeting went well.

It was reported in March by People that the couple have moved in together in London.

What a gent: Egor drove the family home after the concert as he showed how well they are all getting on

Happy: Dina appeared to be in high spirits as she sat in the back of the car

Low-key: Michael covered up in a baseball cap as he joined the rest of his family

On Tuesday the cover girl did not comment on her engagement; rather she posted a photo of a pool overlooking the sea with a caption about her birthday destination.

The star turns 30-years-old on July 2.

A source told The Mirror this year: 'Hes a bit younger than she is, but hes a very smart businessman. Hes much more mature than his age suggests, and hes a good influence.'

Stunning: Earlier in the evening, Lindsay sported jeans and a blue jumper and perfect locks

Wow thing: She added some elegance with a pair of statement heels as she made her way down the street

Winning the race: She sprinted forwards while her man remained in the driver's seat of his car

Letting her natural beauty shine through: Her flame red locks were blow-dried into perfect curls

It was also noted his money is helpful to the cash-strapped Lindsay, who has reportedly been investigated by the IRS in recent years.

'He is a perfect boyfriend and  as he is quite wealthy  pays for quite a lot of stuff like meals and trips away. He has been traveling the world with her and posting loads of pictures of their trips online.'

As far as his feelings, the source noted he has been 'spending all his time with her' and is 'massively taken.'

A hint? While at the 2016 Asian Awards in London on Friday night, the Liz & Dick actress wore a diamond engagement ring and diamond wedding band on her left wedding finger

Taken! A rock can be seen on the Machete star's left wedding finger; her rep has denied she is engaged

Lohan has never been engaged before even though she has had many high-profile relationships, including a two-year, on-and-off romance with DJ Samantha Ronson.

Bling it on! The looker flashes an engagement ring and band at the event

The Georgia actress has also dated Wilmer Valderrama, Brandon Davis, Harry Morton and Calum Best.

The redhead has been linked with several other stars as well, including Jude Law and Jamie Dornan, but it is not known if they were brief flings or serious relationships.

Lohan got her start in acting as a child and shot to superstardom when she played twins - one American and one British - in 1998's The Parent Trap.

The blockbuster Freak Friday followed in 2003 as did the cult classic Mean Girls in 2004.

Herbie Fully Loaded was a success as well in 2005 and she showed off her acting talents in 2006's A Prairie Home Companion and the ensemble Bobby.

In 2007 Lohan held her own opposite Jane Fond in Georgia Rule.

They clicked right away: Egor met the Herbie actress 'through mutual friends at a party.' They began dating five months ago; here they are pictured in March in London

This is a first for the former child star: Lohan has never been engaged before

SO, WHO IS EGOR? - Egor Tarabasov is 22-years-old - He was born in Moscow but now lives in London - The heir graduated from the Anglo-American School of Moscow then the Cass Business School - His dad is 50-year-old multi-millionaire Dmitry Tarabasov -Dmitry owns several large businesses in Moscow - Egor started his own real estate agency, Home House Estates - The businessman is also a shareholder of Moscows Ivy Bank - Tarabasov often travels to Switzerland, Costa Rica and France - He met Lindsay in the summer of 2015 and they have allegedly already moved in together Advertisement

But at about that time the Long Island native developed a reputation for being less than professional as she showed up late on set.

Wild nights at West Hollywood clubs, arrests, a DUI, time in jail and rehab followed.

In the past four years Lindsay has been spending time in London where she has kept out of trouble.

Her love life has been a bit of a mystery for the past five years as she has not been in a public relationship. So her romance with the Russian heir comes as a bit of a surprise.

In 2014 the siren told The Guardian: 'In LA I didnt know what to do apart from go out every night.

'Thats when my friends were free. And I would go out and there would be all these cameras there and thats when it became difficult.'

The Scary Movie 5 star added she felt less eyes on her in England.

'I can go for a run here on my own,' she said.

'I do every morning, early, and I think how my friends in New York would still be up partying at that time.

'I needed to grow up and London is a better place for me to do that than anywhere else.'

Interesting love life: The Georgia actress has also dated Wilmer Valderrama (who she is pictured with in 2004), Brandon Davis, Harry Morton and Calum Best

It wasn't love: For a brief time the Disney vet had a relationship with Best; here they are pictured in 2006
She's followed in her famous mother's footsteps by pursuing an acting career.

And Mamie Gummer, 32, was naturally supporting Meryl Streep, 66, at the London premiere of her new film Florence Foster Jenkins on Tuesday, attending the star-studded after-party held in Asia de Cuba at St Martins Lane, alongside her lookalike mum.

The Good Wife actress looked every bit as effortlessly stylish as the A-list screen star, showing off her flair for fashion in a cute crop top and floral skirt as she posed with fellow actress Sarah Solamani.

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Show of support: Mamie Gummer, 32, joined her mother Meryl Streep at the UK premiere of her new film Florence Foster Jenkins, partying the night away at the after-party held at Asia de Cuba in London on Tuesday night, where she was joined by Him & Her actress Sarah Solamani

Mamie displayed her flat stomach in the tiny tee, which she paired with a voluminous tulle skirt featuring colourful embroidery.

The blonde added a pair of patent peep toe heels and a slick of red lipstick to complete the look, wearing her blonde locks pulled back in a loose updo.

She caught up with Him & Her actress Sarah at the bash, who was looking lovely in a red silk jumpsuit.

Runs in the family: The Good Wife actress Mamie is not only a dead ringer for her mum Meryl, right, but she is following in her footsteps by pursuing an acting career

Statement look: Meryl jazzed up her simple black jumpsuit with a giant beaded necklace

Earlier in the evening, Meryl posed with Hugh Grant at the UK film premiere of the Stephen Frears-directed film at the Odeon Leicester Square.

The movie tells the real-life story of aspiring singer Florence Foster Jenkins - played by Meryl - and the infamous socialite's partner, St Clair Bayfield (Grant).

The story follows the infamous New York heiress and socialite's attempts at launching an opera career, despite her terrible voice.

Main man: Hugh Grant was looking sharp to promote the film, in which he plays aspiring opera singer Florence Foster Jenkins' protective partner, St Clair Bayfield

True tale: The story follows the infamous New York heiress and socialite's attempts at launching an opera career, despite her terrible voice

Date night: Actor Simon Helberg was joined by his wife Jocelyn Towne as they toasted his new film

Florence obsessively pursued her singing dream with the help of her partner and manager St Clair.

The aristocratic English actor was desperate to protect Florence from the truth - which proved impossible when she decided to perform at Carnegie Hall in 1944.

The hilarious tale of Florence Foster Jenkins will be released on May 6 in the UK.

VIPs: Director Stephen Frears celebrated the premiere of his new film alongside presenter Alan Yentob

Fancy seeing you here: Former Labour Party leader Ed Miliband was enjoying a night out
US ready to raise pressure on N. Korea, open to talks: Kerry

Washington is ready to "ratchet up" pressure on an increasingly aggressive North Korea, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday, but remains open to negotiations if Pyongyang scraps its nuclear weapon development.

North Korea has taken a series of actions this year that have ramped up regional tensions, starting with its fourth underground nuclear test in January.

That was followed by the launch of a long-range rocket a month later -- which was widely seen as a disguised ballistic missile test.

US Secretary of State John Kerry answers questions following the G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Hiroshima, on April 11, 2016 Kazuhiro Nogi (AFP)

In response the UN Security Council slapped its toughest sanctions yet on the secretive state.

"I would like to see a few measures we were not able to get into the (Security Council) resolution implemented, depending on what actions the North decides to take," Kerry told reporters after a Group of Seven foreign ministers' meeting in the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

On Saturday North Korea said it had successfully tested an engine designed for an inter-continental ballistic missile, which it claimed would "guarantee" an eventual nuclear strike on the US mainland.

"So it is still possible we will ratchet up even more depending on the actions" of North Korea, Kerry said.

"But we have made it clear... we are prepared to negotiate a peace treaty" on the Korean peninsula.

"It all depends on the North making the decision that they will negotiate on denuclearisation. We are waiting for that opportunity."

The 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice and not a full peace treaty. The US has long insisted that Pyongyang must denuclearise as a condition for talks on a peace pact.

The State Department confirmed in February that Pyongyang had reached out to Washington in a tentative bid to discuss a treaty, but said its January nuclear test had derailed the possible talks.

- 'Absurd' -

Saturday's test was the latest in a series of claims by the North of significant breakthroughs in nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes.

They included Pyongyangs alleged success in miniaturising a nuclear warhead to fit on a missile.

Earlier Monday the G7 meeting in Hiroshima, which suffered the world's first nuclear attack in the closing days of World War II, issued a statement calling for a "world without nuclear weapons".

It said North Korea's nuclear ambitions were a key hurdle to achieving that lofty goal.

Kerry also took a swipe at North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, saying his actions "stand out as such an aberration against the direction the world wants to go" -- referring to moves aimed at reducing nuclear weapons.

"It is also why any suggestion by any candidate for high public office that we should be building more weapons and giving them to a country like (South) Korea or Japan are absurd on their face and run counter to everything that every president, Republican or Democrat alike, has tried to achieve since World War II," he said, apparently referring to Donald Trump.

The Republican front-runner for November's presidential election sparked criticism recently by suggesting that he could accept a nuclear-armed Japan and South Korea to counter North Korea.

The Korean peninsula remains the world's last Cold War frontier and the two countries remain technically at war since the 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce and not a formal peace treaty Kim Jae-Hwan (AFP/File)

North Korea's Taepodong-class ballistic missiles have an estimated range of more than 6,000 kilometres Ed Jones (AFP/File)
Fewer Russian jets on ground in Syria but Moscow still key to fighting

Around a dozen Russian warplanes stand on the tarmac at the Hmeimim base inside government-held territory on Syria's Mediterranean coast.

Nearby the giant radar of an S-400 air defence system -- the most modern in Russia's arsenal -- whirs non-stop.

A month ago Russian President Vladimir Putin surprised the West by ordering the "main part" of his forces to pull out -- just as he had when launching Moscow's bombing campaign in Syria around five months earlier to back up ally Bashar al-Assad.

Russian servicemen prepare a Russian Sukhoi Su-30SM fighter jet at Hmeimim military base in Latakia province, Syria Paul Gypteau (AFP)

After regime troops managed to claw back key territory, Putin said Russia's warplanes had "on the whole" completed their task after flying some 9,000 bombing raids over Syria.

Since then Russian state media has shown a string of fighter jets returning home to be greeted by brass bands and much fanfare.

On the ground now at the Russian base in Syria -- at least during a tightly-controlled tour for journalists organised by the defence ministry in Moscow -- the situation appeared to have changed strikingly.

When an AFP correspondent visited during an earlier press trip at the height of the air campaign in December, the deafening roar of jets taking off on bombing runs was almost constant.

This time, no jets could be heard and the number of aircraft stationed there had dropped visibly.

"More than 20 planes have been withdrawn -- including Su-34 jets, Su-24 and all the Su-25s. Also helicopters have been withdrawn -- some Mi-8, Mi-24," Russian military spokesman Igor Konashenkov told AFP during the return flight to Moscow.

"Less than half of the aircraft we had have remained."

- Palmyra and Al-Qaryatain -

The partial withdrawal, however, does not mean that Moscow's forces are not still heavily involved in the fighting in Syria.

Since the Kremlin said it was scaling down its air presence in the country, regime forces -- backed up crucially by Russian firepower -- have in fact scored some of their most dramatic successes in areas not covered by the February ceasefire.

On March 27 Syrian forces reclaimed the world heritage site of Palmyra from the Islamic State group and on April 4 they retook the jihadist bastion of Al-Qaryatain.

Standing next to the gutted remains of a former cultural centre that served as an IS headquarters in the heart of devastated Al-Qaryatain, Syrian army colonel Ezdasher Mando said Russian air power had played a key role in the town's recapture.

"The fighters from (IS) had set up fortified positions all around here," he told journalists.

"With the help of Russian aviation the Syrian army and militias could gradually get closer and closer."

Russia's military says its main role was using its airpower to wipe out IS positions in the hills around the towns and then blast convoys of reinforcements as they tried to join the fighting.

They say attack helicopters -- more suited to backing up infantry operations on the ground -- played a key part but were limited mainly to night time strikes due to their vulnerability from the ground.

In terms of ground forces, the official narrative remains that Russian artillery and troops are not engaged directly in frontline fighting.

Moscow does admit that its advisors and special operations forces on the ground played an "essential" role in planning the operations and guiding Russian airstrikes.

In a rare move during the operation to retake Palmyra, Moscow announced one special ops soldier helping to target Russia's bombing was killed when he called in an air strike on himself after being surrounded by IS fighters.

- 'Still enough forces' -

Despite Russia appearing to scale down its presence after a game-changing intervention to shore up Assad's crumbling forces, its military role in Syria appears far from over.

The situation remains intensely volatile with the ceasefire frequently violated and peace talks making little headway.

On Monday jihadists from Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra and allied rebels pressed offensives against regime troops in Aleppo, Hama and Latakia provinces, a monitoring group said.

In recent days Russia has warned that Al-Nusra has taken over or subsumed groups in areas around Aleppo and has massed thousands of fighters.

Putin said that he could ramp up his forces in Syria in the space of "several hours" if the gains that Moscow has helped win appear to be unravelling.

Military spokesman Konashenkov insisted that Moscow has left enough hardware behind in Syria to carry out all the tasks it needs to.

"Our base is fully-equipped and has everything that is necessary to both make sure it can function autonomously and in order to carry out different military operations," Konashenkov said.

"Everything that we need is still there."

A Russian Defence Ministry photo reportedly shows an army sapper working in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra
China slams G7 statement on maritime disputes

China is "strongly dissatisfied" with a Group of Seven statement calling for restraint in disputed waters, the foreign ministry said Tuesday, as worries grow in Asia over Beijing's territorial and military ambitions.

"China is strongly dissatisfied with relevant moves taken by G7," foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a statement.

"We urge G7 members to abide by their promise of not taking sides on territorial disputes, respect the efforts by regional countries, stop all irresponsible words and actions, and make constructive contribution to regional peace and stability."

G7 foreign ministers visit the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima on April 11, 2016 Toshifumi Kitamura (AFP)

A two-day meeting of G7 foreign ministers -- a grouping that excludes China -- in the Japanese city of Hiroshima issued a joint statement saying: "We are concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas, and emphasise the fundamental importance of peaceful management and settlement of disputes.

"We express our strong opposition to any intimidating, coercive or provocative unilateral actions that could alter the status quo and increase tensions."

The G7 statement did not explicitly name China, but Beijing lays claim to almost all of the South China Sea despite conflicting partial claims from Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines.

It has constructed artificial islands in the area in recent months as it asserts its sovereignty.

Japan, meanwhile, has its own dispute with China in the East China Sea over uninhabited islands that it administers but that are also claimed by Beijing.

The G7 also urged "all states to refrain from such actions as land reclamations" and "building of outposts... for military purposes".

Beijing indicated that it felt targeted by the comments.

"Given the sluggish global economic recovery at the moment, G7 should have focused on global economic governance and cooperation instead of hyping up maritime issues and fuelling tensions in the region," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu said.
Cambodian opposition MP faces jail term for 'inciting revolt'

An outspoken Cambodian opposition lawmaker faces up to five years in prison after he was charged Tuesday with inciting revolt by criticising government border maps, as premier Hun Sen threatened to "handcuff" anyone who raises the issue.

Um Sam An, a dual Cambodian-US national, was arrested late Sunday in Siem Reap province after returning from overseas.

He was a prominent campaigner against Hun Sen's government for using contested maps as a guideline to demarcate the border with Vietnam, accusing it of conceding land to the neighbouring country.

Cambodian lawmaker Um Sam An (C) is being escorted by police at the Ministry of the Interior in Phnom Penh, on April 11, 2016 Thmey Thmey (AFP)

Prosecutors at a Phnom Penh court ordered his detention pending trial.

Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak told AFP the lawmaker used the border issue to incite people to revolt against the government.

"He also incited racism between Cambodia and Vietnam. We cannot accept this," he added.

Under Cambodia's criminal code he faces up to five years in jail if convicted.

Strongman Hun Sen on Tuesday warned of further arrests.

"Anybody who dares to say the government is using fake maps must be handcuffed," Hun Sen said in a speech broadcast on a state-run radio.

Hun Sen also asked parliament, which is dominated by lawmakers from his ruling party, to vote to allow the court to continue proceedings against Um Sam An -- who as a lawmaker is meant to be exempt from prosecution.

Parliament will discuss the case later Tuesday.

Anti-Vietnamese sentiment is strong in parts of Cambodia and is often used by the opposition as a touchstone issue.

Sam Sokong, a lawyer for Um Sam An, confirmed the charges with AFP through a text message.

"His expression did not damage society," he added.

Cambodia's opposition party has long been critical of Phnom Penh's cosy ties with Hanoi and routinely accuses Vietnam of taking Cambodian territory along the 1,270-kilometre (787-mile) border, which is not fully demarcated.

The Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) denounced the arrest of Um Sam An as a "serious violation of the principle of parliamentary immunity".

An opposition senator was also arrested last year after Hun Sen accused him of committing treason by posting a "doctored" version of an old treaty about the Vietnamese border on Facebook.

He is still in detention as his trial has been delayed.

Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia for more than three decades, is highly sensitive to criticism that he is too soft on Vietnam over the disputed areas of the shared border.
One killed, 47 injured in Turkey car bombing: military source

A car bomb exploded at a military post in Turkey's restive Kurdish-dominated southeast, killing a soldier and wounding nearly 50 people, a military source said on Tuesday.

Turkish authorities blamed the late Monday attack on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). It targeted a military outpost in the Hani district of Diyarbakir province and left 47 people injured, including eight civilians, the source added.

The security forces launched a search operation following the bombing.

Turkish special forces at the site of a bomb attack in Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkey, on March 31, 2016 Ilyas Akengin (AFP/File)

Turkey has waged an offensive against the PKK after the collapse in 2015 of a two-year ceasefire with the group that has been a thorn in its side for three decades.

The renewed conflict has also struck at the heart of the country, with two attacks that killed dozens in the capital Ankara claimed by Kurdish rebels.

A radical PKK splinter group, the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), claimed responsibility for the two suicide car bombings in Ankara on February 17 and March 13.
Italian PM in Iran in push to win back economic clout

Italy's prime minister looked to restore his country's economic clout in Iran Tuesday as he became the highest-ranking European leader to visit Tehran since its nuclear deal with world powers.

Accompanied by a 250-member delegation, Matteo Renzi began a two-day trip aimed at rebuilding ties that before sanctions had seen Italy ranked as the Islamic republic's top European trading partner.

A deal to build two high-speed rail lines was among projects announced.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (right) attends a press conference at the presidential palace in Tehran with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on April 12, 2016

After an official welcoming ceremony, Renzi held talks with President Hassan Rouhani, who visited Rome in January days after sanctions were lifted under the nuclear accord.

"Italy has a special place among Iranians. Its companies and its industry are appreciated here," Rouhani said at a joint press conference after signing provisional agreements on energy, tourism and infrastructure.

"Italy is at the forefront among EU countries wanting to develop relations with Iran," he added.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who met Renzi, said he was in favour of "developing relations with Italy, particularly in economic terms".

"Some European governments and companies come to Iran to negotiate, but the results of these discussions aren't tangible," he was quoted as saying by the IRNA news agency.

Annual trade between Iran and Italy -- a member of the G7 group of leading industrialised nations -- once peaked at about $8 billion (seven billion euros).

A decade of nuclear-related sanctions has seen the figure plummet to $1.8 billion.

When Rouhani visited Rome, the two countries agreed initial terms on long-term contracts that could be valued as high as $19.4 billion, including deals in the oil, transport and shipping sectors.

Iran has said it wants European help to modernise and expand its rail, road and air networks, as well as seeking investment to boost its manufacturing base, notably in the automobile industry. All were severely damaged by sanctions.

Tuesday's rail agreement between Italy's state railways and its Iranian counterpart will see a new line built between Tehran and Hamedan, in the northwest of the Islamic republic.

A second line between Qom, south of Tehran, to Arak in the north will also be constructed. No details on the value of the agreement or the date of completion were immediately given.

- Charm offensive -

When Rouhani was in Rome he talked of rebuilding a relationship between "two superpowers of beauty and culture" that dates back to the days of the ancient Roman and Persian empires.

Renzi has spoken of plans for cultural and academic exchanges.

Rouhani's visit to Rome, however, also prompted criticism that Renzi's government was going too far in its efforts to charm Iran's theocratic rulers.

It emerged just after Rouhani had left Italy that ancient nude statues in the capital's City Hall had been covered up by wooden boxes to spare the Iranian president any possible embarrassment.

The diplomatic niceties also extended to ensuring that no alcohol was served at any of the official meals during Rouhani's stay -- a gesture France was not prepared to make, meaning plans for a state banquet had to be scrapped in Paris.

The rapprochement has been possible because of the nuclear deal which Iran and six powers -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany -- struck last July after more than two years of negotiations.

The accord was implemented in January with sanctions being lifted in exchange for curbs lasting at least a decade on the Islamic republic's nuclear programme.

Iran has always denied Western allegations that it sought to develop an atomic bomb, insisting that its atomic activities are for peaceful energy development and medical research purposes.
Loyalists and rebels clash in Yemen, jeopardising truce

Loyalists and rebels have clashed on several fronts in Yemen, officials said Tuesday, the second day of a UN-brokered ceasefire the insurgents are warning is in jeopardy, less than a week before peace talks.

Forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi fought with the Shiite Huthi rebels in the province of Marib, east and north of the rebel-held capital Sanaa, officials said.

The rebels and their allies loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh advanced overnight in the area of Sarwah, in Marib, wresting control of two hills, a military official said.

A Yemeni fighter loyal to the exiled president walks past a tank in the southwestern city of Taez on April 11, 2016 Ahmad al-Basha (AFP)

The Saudi-led coalition, which launched a military campaign against the Iran-backed rebels last year, had described violations on Monday as "minor".

Seven soldiers have been killed and 15 others wounded in Sarwah in rebel attacks since the ceasefire entered into force at midnight between Sunday and Monday, the official said.

There were also clashes in Nihm, northeast of Sanaa, military officials said, while rebels said they confronted an attack by Hadi's forces in the area.

The rebels said Monday that pro-government forces were behind 39 violations of the truce, including attacks in Taez and the central province of Baida.

They also said warplanes belonging to the Saudi-led coalition flew sorties over several areas of Yemen despite the ceasefire.

A soldier was killed and nine others wounded in a rebel attack on an army base near the southern city of Baihan which borders Marib province.

- Saudi suicide bomber -

Rebel spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam warned in a statement on Facebook that "continued military action endangers the peace process and reduce the chances of holding the forthcoming dialogue" in Kuwait.

But violations did not seem to discourage the United Nations which is sponsoring peace talks in Kuwait next week.

"The cessation of hostilities seems to be largely holding," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Monday, although he noted that there were "some pockets of violence."

More than 6,300 people have been killed in the war that has worsened the humanitarian crisis, with more than 80 percent of the population on the brink of famine.

The conflict in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula nation has ruined large parts of the country and raised Middle East tensions, with Saudi Arabia and its Sunni allies backing the government and Shiite powerhouse Iran supporting the rebels.

The peace talks are scheduled to take place in Kuwait on April 18.

Elsewhere, a Saudi bomber suspected of belonging to Al-Qaeda killed five soldiers when he detonated his explosive belt Tuesday among army recruits in Aden, the southern city that serves as a temporary capital for the government.

Army and government installations have been the target of several attacks by extremists since pro-government forces drove out Shiite rebels in the summer.

Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have taken advantage of the chaos caused by the war between the government and the rebels to strengthen their grip on southern Yemen.

Suicide attack in Yemen -, - (AFP Graphic)

A Yemeni fighter loyal to the country's exiled president salutes at a checkpoint in the southwestern city of Taez on April 11, 2016 Ahmad al-Basha (AFP)
One killed as IS rockets hit Turkey border town

The Turkish border town of Kilis on Tuesday came under fire from rockets launched from an area of Syria controlled by Islamic State (IS) jihadists, killing one person and prompting Turkey's army to retaliate.

Eight people were wounded in the second consecutive day of rocket fire on the town centre, including a 42-year-old man who later died of his wounds, the state-run Anatolia news agency said.

In response, Turkish artillery hit IS in neighbouring Syria, a Turkish government official told AFP.

Tanks stationed at a Turkish army position near the Oncupinar crossing gate close to the Turkish border town of Kilis, fire towards the Syria border, on February 16, 2016 Bulent Kilic (AFP/File)

During a separate incident, a Turkish soldier stationed on the border in the Kilis region was seriously wounded after being hit by gunfire from a region where IS was clashing with rebels, the Dogan news agency reported.

Two rockets fired from northern Syria had earlier hit the centre of Kilis -- just a few kilometres north of the Syrian border -- one landing in an empty field and the other hitting a four-storey hostel, Anatolia reported.

Several more people were wounded when rockets fired from northern Syria hit the town on Monday. The Turkish official told AFP that the rockets were fired from IS-held territory.

Following the latest strikes on the town, dozens of people rallied in the centre of Kilis to call for greater security measures against the fire, Turkish media reports said.

"Kilis, unfortunately, is face-to-face with external terrorist actions," the town's mayor Hasan Kaya told Anatolia.

NTV television said 19 people had been hurt in the town this week alone by rocket fire from IS-controlled areas.

Turkish armed forces "responded immediately within the frame of rules of engagement and struck Daesh positions," Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told his party's lawmakers in parliament, using another name for the IS group.

He said the government had taken every measure to ensure the safety of the Turkish people. "We are ready to take any step when needed," he said.

The exchange of fire comes after the IS wrested back control of the town of Al-Rai, near Turkey, which rival rebels had captured last week.

Neither the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra Front nor IS are included in a truce brokered by the United States and Russia that came into force on February 27.

In mid-February, Turkish artillery had also shelled targets of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) inside Syria, with the military saying it was responding to incoming fire.
US courts India to balance China's military ambitions

US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter will meet Indian leaders in New Delhi later Tuesday, seeking to bolster a strategic relationship Washington sees as crucial in the face of China's growing military ambitions.

Carter will hold talks with his Indian counterpart Manohar Parrikar and with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the visit, aimed at shoring up security and defence ties with the regional power.

Washington has increasingly turned its focus to Asia as it tries to counter China's growing assertiveness in the South China Sea, and is eager for India to play a greater role in its network of regional defence alliances.

US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter (2nd L) tours the Indian Navy's flagship INS Vikramaditya, at Karwar Naval Base in Goa, on April 11, 2016 - (Indian Ministry of Defence/AFP)

India, the world's biggest arms importer, wants access to US technology so it can develop sophisticated weapons at home -- a key part of Modi's "Make in India" campaign to boost domestic manufacturing.

"Both our values and our interests overlap in so many important ways, and that happens with few countries around the globe," Carter told reporters late Monday in India.

A senior US defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said China was "operating more frequently both throughout Southeast Asia and in the Indian Ocean", something both Washington and New Delhi were "watching closely".

Modi, who enjoys close ties with US President Barack Obama, has criticised what he called China's "expansionist mindset".

Regional superpower China is expanding its deep-water naval presence and staking a claim to disputed areas of the South China Sea and the East China Sea.

Beijing claims almost all of the contested South China Sea, which is important for international shipping, and has in recent months built massive structures including radar systems and an airstrip over reefs and outcrops.

It has also courted countries in the Indian Ocean, pouring money into the Maldives and Sri Lanka -- where it funded the construction of a deep-sea port.

India, which has historically relied heavily on Russia for arms imports, is seeking US help to develop its own new-generation aircraft carriers.

New Delhi wants American know-how on building more sophisticated launch technology that would allow it to deploy heavier aircraft on the vessels than existing carriers allow.

The US is also hoping to sell its F-16 or F-18 fighter jets to India as part of a major co-production deal involving more than 100 planes which would be partly manufactured in India.

Washington is also hoping to finalise a military logistics agreement with India that has been in the pipeline for years and would allow the two countries to expand military cooperation in the region.

"It is an enabling agreement that would facilitate us to do a number of things together from exercises to contingencies," said a senior US defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Abbas says 'urgent' need for UN resolution on Israeli settlements

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has said there is an "urgent" need for a UN resolution on Israeli settlements as he embarks on a multi-country tour that may be among his last chances to renew peace efforts.

Speaking in an interview with AFP, Abbas criticised what he said was insufficent action from US President Barack Obama's administration while also firmly backing a French initiative to hold an international peace conference this summer.

Abbas spoke ahead of a tour beginning Tuesday that will take him to Turkey, France, Russia, Germany and New York, where the Palestinians are discussing a UN draft resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas speaks to AFP during an exclusive interview in his office in Ramallah on April 11, 2016 Thomas Coex (AFP)

The trip comes with the clock ticking for both the 81-year-old and the Obama administration, with speculation the US president could change tack and support a resolution on the peace process before he leaves office in January.

"The Security Council is a very important subject because it has now become urgent due to settlement activities and because Israel has not stopped these activities," Abbas said late Monday at his office in Ramallah.

Settlement construction in the West Bank "is something that has seriously jeopardised the two-state project."

The United States has repeatedly vetoed resolutions opposed by Israel at the UN Security Council, but the Palestinians are hoping for a change of heart.

"So far, we have not got any reaction from the Americans regarding the Security Council," said Abbas.

He criticised US efforts so far.

"We were expecting from the US administration over the past eight years that it would take positive steps forward to achieve what America believes in, which is the two-state vision," he said.

"Until now, it hasn't happened from the US administration."

Asked whether he was disappointed, he said: "We do not want to use this expression, but we are saying that we were expecting a lot from the US administration and it never happened."

- Doubts on compromise -

Abbas' two-week tour starts with a summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul and ends in New York.

It may be one of the last chances at renewing peace efforts for the successor to Yasser Arafat who has for years been at the centre of attempts to resolve one of the world's longest-lasting conflicts.

International attention in recent years has however turned elsewhere, with war raging in Syria and Islamic State group jihadists carrying out attacks.

Within Israel and the Palestinian territories, the chances of progress have rarely seemed so far off, with both sides appearing reluctant to make compromises.

A US initiative collapsed in April 2014 and peace efforts have since been at a standstill.

Palestinian militants and Israel fought yet another war in the Gaza Strip later in 2014, and a wave of Palestinian knife, gun and car-ramming attacks erupted in October.

Though there has been a steady decline in the violence that has killed more than 200 people, there are concerns of another upsurge for the Jewish Passover holiday beginning April 22.

Among the Palestinians themselves, reconciliation efforts have been underway between the Palestinian Authority dominated by Abbas's Fatah and the Islamist movement Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, but with little progress reported.

For Abbas and the international community, Israel's continued settlement building in the West Bank is one area of agreement.

Such settlements are considered illegal under international law and are seen as major stumbling blocks to peace efforts since they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state.

- Will French plan stick? -

Abbas said his trip will promote two main projects, which he sees as complementary: a UN resolution condemning the settlements and the French peace initiative.

Israel has criticised the French plan to organise the international peace conference, but without rejecting it outright.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken out against "international dictates" and called for direct negotiations.

The latest declarations from both Netanyahu and Abbas that they are ready to meet at any time have failed to translate into action.

"I have said more than once that I am prepared to meet with Mr. Netanyahu and I am ready to receive him," Abbas said in the interview.

"This is not the first time where I say I am ready to meet him whenever he wants."

Concerned that the lack of any initiative would provoke a sharp deterioration and play into the hands of extremists, France re-launched its peace project in January.

Its point man on the project, Pierre Vimont, has sought to lay the groundwork in recent months by meeting a wide range of officials, including the Palestinians and those from Israel, Arab nations, the United States and Russia.

The Palestinians count France among their strongest supporters in the West and Abbas will meet President Francois Hollande on Friday.

Former French foreign minister Laurent Fabius had previously alarmed Israel by saying Paris would recognise a Palestinian state if its initiative failed.

Hollande's administration has since backed away from the claim.

"What is important is to hear from the (French) president if those ideas have turned into a French initiative that the French government will stick by until the end," Abbas said.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas pictured during an interview with AFP at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah on April 11, 2016 Thomas Coex (AFP)

US President Barack Obama (right) and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas meet at the White House in March 2014 Saul Loeb (AFP/File)

Buildings under construction in the Israeli settlement of Har Homa in annexed east Jerusalem on March 7, 2016 Thomas Coex (AFP/File)

A Palestinian protester hurls stones towards Israeli security forces during clashes near Nablus in the occupied West Bank on April 8, 2016 Jaafar Ashtiyeh (AFP/File)
Italy FM in Libya to boost 'game changer' unity government

Italy's foreign minister hailed Libya's new unity government Tuesday as a "game changer" as he held talks in Tripoli during the first visit by a top Western official since 2014.

In another boost to the unity leaders, lawmakers with Libya's internationally recognised parliament said they would vote next week on whether to endorse the UN-backed cabinet.

Italy's top diplomat Paolo Gentiloni met Fayez al-Sarraj, named prime minister-designate under a UN-backed power-sharing deal in December, amid tight security in Tripoli.

Italy's Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni (left) holds a press conference upon his arrival in the Libyan capital Tripoli on April 12, 2016 Mahmud Turkia (AFP)

It came as representatives of dozens of countries and international organisations including the World Bank held talks in neighbouring Tunisia on ways to help the unity government shape its priorities.

World powers see the establishment of the unity cabinet as vital to tackling a raging jihadist insurgency and rampant people smuggling in the North African state.

"This decision was a game changer," Gentiloni said in Tripoli of the establishment of the UN-backed government.

Foreign embassies would be reopened in the capital in "the near future", he added.

Italy is supporting the unity government "because it will pave the way to the stabilisation of Libya -- then we can manage human trafficking and smugglers and terrorism," Gentiloni said.

He said that European countries were ready to work with Libya to tackle the Islamic State group (IS), but that the country's government and people must lead the fight.

"We can cooperate but cannot decide for the Libyans," he said before flying to Tunisia to join the international conference.

Gentiloni's brief visit comes nearly two weeks after Sarraj arrived in Tripoli by sea with a naval escort and established his headquarters at a naval base.

He has since won the support of key institutions that control Libya's wealth and also appears to have the backing of at least some militias.

But Sarraj has not yet received the endorsement of the country's internationally recognised parliament, and the head of a rival Tripoli-based administration has refused to recognise his authority.

The recognised legislature will, however, meet on Monday for a vote of confidence in the unity government, parliamentarians said.

Libya has been plagued by instability since the 2011 uprising that ousted longtime ruler Moamer Kadhafi, with IS taking advantage of the chaos to seize territory.

- No 'combat mission' -

The oil-rich country has had two rival administrations since mid-2014 when a militia alliance overran Tripoli, setting up its own authority and forcing the recognised parliament to flee to the remote east.

Italy, the former colonial power in the North African state, has played a leading role in international efforts to pressure Libya's warring rivals to rally behind the unity government.

European nations in particular have been alarmed by the expansion of IS in Libya, just 300 kilometres (185 miles) from Italy across the Mediterranean.

The jihadist group last year seized control of Kadhafi's coastal hometown of Sirte and has been fighting to expand to other areas.

The number of IS fighters in Libya has doubled in the past 12-18 months and now stands at about 4,000 to 6,000, the head of US forces in Africa, General David Rodriguez, said last week.

As well as tackling IS, European governments hope the unity government can crack down on people smugglers who have stepped up their lucrative business in Libya amid the chaos.

Libya has long been a stepping stone for migrants, and there are concerns that European efforts to shut down the migrant sea crossing from Turkey to Greece will encourage more people to leave from North Africa.

Libyan coastguards on Tuesday intercepted six boats carrying 649 would-be migrants and returned them to Tripoli, a spokesman said.

Sarraj posted on Facebook that he and Gentiloni discussed the fight against extremism as well as the migrant crisis.

"What the unity government will ask the international community to do in the fight against terrorism is (provide) support and coordination to safeguard national security, rather than a combat mission," he wrote.

Western nations are openly considering military action against the extremists but have said that this can only happen at the request of a unity government.

Italy said Tuesday it had provided 1 million euros worth of food and medicine in western Libya over the past month.
Princess Kate's 'Marilyn' moment causes a stir in India

One of India's top newspapers faced a social media backlash on Tuesday after it splashed a picture across its front page of Britain's Princess Kate suffering a "Marilyn moment" as her dress rose up in the wind.

Readers accused the Times of India of being disrespectful to the Duchess, who was wearing a white 1950s-style dress reminiscent of the one in the iconic Marilyn Monroe photo as she laid a wreath at the India Gate war memorial with her husband, Prince William.

'Times of India' was one of the top trending topics on Twitter on Tuesday morning as users questioned the paper's judgement in picturing the Duchess inadvertently flashing an expanse of royal thigh.

Britain's Princess Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, during her visit with Prince William to the India Gate war memorial in New Delhi on April 11, 2016 Manish Swarup (Pool/AFP)

"Sleazy journalism at its best," tweeted reader Shagun in response to the image, which was accompanied by the headline "Kate's Marilyn moment at India Gate".

"Well done Times of India! Our guests come to India and this is the photo you decide to put on your front page..." tweeted another.

Many recalled an incident last year in which the paper was strongly criticised for promoting video footage of a top Bollywood actress with a tweet that read "OMG! Deepika Padukone's cleavage show".

But Shekhar Gupta, who has edited some of India's biggest news publications, took a different view.

"Objections to ToI on Kate's Marilyn moment silly. Brits have grown-up view of royals as glamorous celebs," Gupta tweeted.

Britain's newspapers took a more restrained approach. Several published shots of her dress rising in the wind, but none was as revealing as the picture on the front page of The Times of India.

Popular tabloid The Sun came closest with an image of the Duchess laying the wreath under the headline "A Royal Flash in India -- Kate's Marilyn moment".

The Daily Telegraph -- a conservative daily known for its royal coverage -- said a series of such problems had prompted "suggestions that she should follow the Queen's lead and slip small lead curtain weights into the linings of her outfits".

On Tuesday Prince William and Kate met Prime Minister Narendra Modi for lunch at Hyderabad House, a former palace in New Delhi, with the Duchess pictured wearing a calf-length teal-coloured dress.
Car bomb in Lebanon's Sidon kills Palestinian official

A car bomb exploded on Tuesday in Lebanon's southern port city of Sidon, killing at least one person identified as a Palestinian official, a security source said.

The source said the blast killed Fathi Zeidan, who headed the Fatah movement in the Miye Miye Palestinian refugee camp near Sidon.

"His identification card was found near the car which exploded, which was also his," the source told AFP.

Lebanese soldiers guard a Palestinian refugee camp near the southern coastal city of Sidon on August 6, 2011 Mahmoud Zayyat (AFP/File)

A statement from Lebanon's armed forces said Zeidan had been driving the car when one kilogram of explosives hidden inside his vehicle detonated.

The army's forensics unit arrived at the scene of the blast and cleared away scorched body parts lying near a car in flames, according to an AFP correspondent at the scene.

More than 450,000 Palestinians are registered in Lebanon with the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, and many live in squalid conditions in 12 official camps.

The camps are administered by Palestinian officials and security forces, rather than the Lebanese authorities.

In recent years, tensions have risen between Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas' Fatah movement and the Jund al-Sham Islamist group, especially in the Ain al-Hilweh camp, which is also near Sidon.

The rival factions in Ain al-Hilweh have clashed several times in the past year, with each side accusing each other of assassination attempts.
Bangladesh blames domestic Islamists for activist's murder

Bangladeshi police said on Tuesday they suspect a domestic Islamist militant group of being behind the brutal murder of a secular activist in Dhaka, days after a branch of Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility.

Nazimuddin Samad, a law student who criticised Islamism in Facebook posts, was killed last week near his university in the capital by attackers carrying machetes, the latest in a string of deadly assaults on secular activists.

Ansar al-Islam, a Bangladesh branch of Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), said on Friday it was behind the 26-year-old's murder, according to the US monitoring group SITE.

Bangladesh authorities have consistently denied that international Islamist networks such as Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State group are active in the country Munir Uz Zaman (AFP/File)

But Dhaka Metropolitan Police officers said they believe it was the work of Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), a homegrown militant outfit that has been blamed in similar cases.

"We suspect Ansarullah Bangla Team has carried out the murder," Maruf Hossain Sorder, a spokesman for the force, told AFP.

"There were some similarities between the latest murder and the previous killings of bloggers," he added.

Bangladesh authorities have consistently denied that international Islamist networks such as Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State group are active in the country.

"Al-Qaeda or IS (Islamic State) do not exist in Bangladesh," Sorder said.

Samad was the seventh secular activist -- the sixth in the past 15 months -- to have been murdered by suspected Islamist militants over their writings.

Police have previously arrested several suspected members of ABT in connection with at least three of these murders.

Eight ABT members, including a top cleric said to have founded the group, were convicted late last year for the murder of atheist blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider in February 2013.

The murders have sparked outrage at home and abroad, with international groups demanding that the secular government protect freedom of speech in the Muslim-majority country.

Hundreds of secular activists last week held a days-long protest in Dhaka and Samad's home-town of Sylhet to demand action over his death.
Pakistani port to be operational by 2017: Chinese official

A multi-million dollar port being developed by China in Pakistan is set to be at "full operation" by the end of the year, a Chinese official said Tuesday, part of Beijing's ambitious economic plans in the region.

Gwadar port, on Pakistan's southwest coast, will see roughly one million tonnes of cargo going through it by 2017, said Zhang Baozhong, chairman of the Chinese public company in charge of the development.

Current trade there is "basically nothing", he told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar about the port's development Tuesday.

Gwadar, in Balochistan province, forms what officials call the "heart" of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, a grand $46 billion project giving Beijing greater access to the Middle East, Africa and Europe through Pakistan Behram Baloch (AFP/File)

"We hope a big jump will take place... Our dream is to make Gwadar a regional trading centre," he said.

Gwadar, in Balochistan province, forms what officials call the "heart" of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, a grand $46 billion project giving Beijing greater access to the Middle East, Africa and Europe through Pakistan.

The port was built in 2007 with technical help from Beijing as well as Chinese financial assistance of about $248 million.

Zhang said the tonnage will initially comprise "quite a number" of construction materials for the city's development, which Pakistani officials envision turning into another Dubai.

Exports will at first focus on the local fishing industry, he said, with a modern processing plant planned for the area, though he would not give a timeline for the plant.

"We shall try to process it here... So that the locals can benefit," he told reporters after the seminar.

Desperately poor Balochistan has been roiled since 2004 by a separatist insurgency aimed at seeking greater control over the province's resources.
Mass burial after army-Shiite clash in northern Nigeria

Nearly 350 dead bodies were buried in a mass grave in northern Nigeria after clashes between the army and supporters of a Shiite cleric, a public official has told an inquiry into the unrest.

The testimony on Monday from Muhammad Namadi Musa, the director-general of the Kaduna State religious affairs office, lends weight to claims that at least 300 people were killed in the violence in December last year.

Amnesty International, which has previously said "hundreds" were killed, said the revelation was "an important first step in bringing all those suspected of criminal responsibility" to trial.

Clashes broke out between the Nigerian army and supporters of a Shiite cleric in December last year after the army accused supporters of Ibrahim Zakzaky, who heads the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) group, of trying to kill the chief of army staff Pius Utomi Ekpei (AFP/File)

"It is now imperative that the mass grave sites are protected in order that a full independent forensic investigation can begin," said the organisation's Nigeria director, M.K. Ibrahim.

"The bodies must be exhumed and Nigerian authorities should immediately reveal the whereabouts of those held in unacknowledged detention and either charge or release them."

The clashes came after the army said supporters of the cleric Ibrahim Zakzaky, who heads the pro-Iranian religious sect Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) group, tried to kill the chief of army staff.

Zakzaky has not been seen since his home and the IMN mosque in Zaria, Kaduna state, were destroyed, prompting calls for his release and criticism that the government is flouting due process.

Musa said told the hearing he was ordered on December 13 to travel to Zaria with the Kaduna state commissioner of police "to find out the number of corpses and how they would be buried".

At the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) "we counted 156 corpses", while 191 others were collected from the army base in Zaria, he said.

- Army denials -

"Most corpses were covered with black materials and they included women and children," he told the inquiry, saying the bodies were transported for burial in a convoy of trucks with military escort.

Earlier, the secretary to the Kaduna state government, Lawal Balarabe Abbas, said the mass burial was authorised by "a warrant obtained from a chief magistrates' court in Kaduna".

Nigeria's military, which has been accused of human rights abuses against civilians in the insurgency by Sunni Muslim jihadists Boko Haram, has said its troops acted appropriately.

Chief of Army Staff General Tukur Yusuf Buratai in January told a separate inquiry by the National Human Rights Commission that soldiers "acted in accordance to the rule of engagement" and their orders.

No official death toll has been released but Human Rights Watch has said "at least 300" were killed. The Nigerian army has said the high death toll numbers were "unsubstantiated".

One medic at ABUTH told AFP in January he counted at least 400 bodies in the morgue on the evening of December 12 while locals said as many bodies also littered on the streets.

The IMN has said some 730 members were unaccounted for, "either killed by the army or... in detention".

In February, prosecutors said 191 IMN supporters in custody were charged with firearms and public order offences.

Zakzaky and the IMN have previously clashed with Nigeria's secular authorities over their quest to establish an Islamic state through an Iranian-style revolution.

The cleric has periodically been incarcerated for alleged incitement and subversion.
US, India agree to strengthen maritime cooperation

US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and his Indian counterpart agreed Tuesday to strengthen their cooperation on maritime security, as concerns grow in Washington over Beijing's growing military ambitions.

Carter is in New Delhi to bolster a strategic relationship Washington considers crucial in the face of what it sees as China's rising assertiveness, particularly in the South China Sea.

"Both sides agreed to strengthen cooperation in the area of maritime security," said a joint statement issued after Carter held talks with Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.

US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter (left) with Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar after a press conference in New Delhi on April 12, 2016 Prakash Singh (AFP)

The two sides "reaffirmed the importance of safeguarding maritime security and ensuring freedom of navigation and over flight throughout the region, including in the South China Sea," said the statement.

Washington has increasingly turned its focus to Asia as it tries to counter China's growing assertiveness in the South China Sea, and is eager for India to play a greater role in its network of regional defence alliances.

Regional superpower China is expanding its deep-water naval presence and staking a claim to disputed areas of the South China Sea and the East China Sea.

Beijing claims almost all of the contested South China Sea, which is important for international shipping, and has in recent months built massive structures including radar systems and an airstrip over reefs and outcrops.

It has also courted countries in the Indian Ocean, pouring money into the Maldives and Sri Lanka to the annoyance of New Delhi, which regards those countries as part of its sphere of influence.

A senior US defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said China was "operating more frequently both throughout Southeast Asia and in the Indian Ocean", something both Washington and New Delhi were "watching closely".

Carter also held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi later on Tuesday as part of his three-day visit, aimed at shoring up security and defence ties with regional power India.

"#SecDef meets with @PMOIndia to discuss the significant progress on US-India defense relationship and innovation," the US Department of Defense posted on Twitter.

Modi, who enjoys close ties with US President Barack Obama, has in the past criticised what he called China's "expansionist mindset".

- Biggest arms importer -

Carter said after his meeting with Parrikar that the two countries had agreed "in principle" to share and exchange military logistics, a deal which has been in the pipeline for years and would allow the two countries to expand military cooperation.

But there was no final agreement on a series of deals under negotiation.

India, the world's biggest arms importer, wants access to US technology so it can develop sophisticated weapons at home -- a key part of Modi's "Make in India" campaign to boost domestic manufacturing.

New Delhi has historically relied heavily on Russia for arms imports, but is now seeking US help to develop its own new-generation aircraft carriers.

India wants American know-how on building more sophisticated launch technology that would allow it to deploy heavier aircraft on the vessels than existing carriers allow.

The US is also hoping to sell its F-16 or F-18 fighter jets to India as part of a major co-production deal involving more than 100 planes which would be partly manufactured in India.

The two countries had a long history of mutual suspicion during the Cold War, when non-aligned India developed closer ties to the Soviet Union, while the US allied with Pakistan.

But Modi's election in May 2014 gave fresh momentum to negotiations on a number of issues that had become bogged down under the previous administration.

"The courtship began more than a decade ago, but in the last two years we have really seen things move a lot faster on a range of things," said Rick Rossow, India specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in the US.

US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter (L) meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on April 12, 2016

Indian Navy Captain K. Swaminathan (L) welcomes US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter to the Indian Navy's flagship INS Vikramaditya at Karwar Naval Base in Karnataka, India on April 11, 2016
Spielberg, Foster and Penn likely to feature in Cannes line-up

Steven Spielberg, George Clooney and Jodie Foster are tipped to be among those who will walk the red carpet at Cannes next month when the line up for the world's top film festival is revealed Thursday.

While the movies in the running for the main Palme d'Or prize are still under tight wraps, it appears that Spielberg will almost certainly show his adaptation of Roald Dahl's children's classic "The BFG" (The Big Friendly Giant) out of competition.

It will most likely be joined by Jodie Foster's new thriller "Money Monster", about a television financial pundit taken hostage by a man whose family has been left penniless by his dud tips.

Jodie Foster's new thriller "Money Monster", about a television financial pundit taken hostage by a man whose family has been left penniless by his dud tips, is tipped for Cannes David Buchan (Getty/AFP/File)

Starring Clooney as the Wall Street tipster and Julia Roberts as his TV producer, the film will be released internationally during the festival, which runs in the French Riviera resort from May 11 to 22.

Festival chiefs Thierry Fremaux and Pierre Lescure have already announced that Woody Allen's new Amazon-backed film "Cafe Society" will open the annual jamboree, also out of competition.

The movies in the main competition, however, are harder to call, with the final list often not decided until the very last minute.

- Reeves hint -

But Hollywood star Keanu Reeves dropped a heavy hint to AFP Tuesday that the Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn's supermodel horror story "The Neon Demon" had made the line-up.

The actor, who is the male lead, confirmed he "would be in Cannes" when he arrived in Paris to promote his own documentary "Side by Side".

The dark tale of a young beauty swallowed up by the Los Angeles fashion and celebrity scene has already been billed as a cross between "Valley of the Dolls" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre".

However, the presence of festival favourite Pedro Almodovar, who made his name with "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown", has been thrown into doubt when he was named as having an offshore company in the Panama Papers leak last week.

The Spanish director -- a leftwinger known for his support of environmental causes -- cancelled a press conference to promote his new film "Julieta" about a girl who disappears for a decade, and did not show up at a preview screening in Barcelona.

Insiders, however, are predicting that the American actor-director Sean Penn's new film "The Last Face", starring his ex-girlfriend Charlize Theron and Javier Bardem will figure in the line-up.

The romance set in Africa among humanitarian workers also stars the French actress Adele Exarchopoulos.

Another US director Jeff Nichols, who made the highly praised "Midnight Special" last year, is also thought to be a shoo-in for "Loving", his story about a mixed-race couple confronting racism in 1950s Virginia.

- Doubt over Loach -

The Canadian wunderkind Xavier Dolan, who first came to international attention at Cannes with "I Killed My Mother" in 2009 when he was only 20, seems a near certainty for his new family drama "It's Only the End of the World", with its stellar cast of Marion Cotillard, Vincent Cassel and Bond star Lea Seydoux.

"La fille inconnue" (The Unknown Girl) by Belgium's Dardenne brothers -- two-time Palme d'Or winners -- also seem assured of being among the 19 contenders for the main competition.

The Bosnian Serb Emir Kusturica -- who has also lifted the prize twice -- is a clear candidate with "On the Milky Road" starring Monica Bellucci as is another past winner, Romania's Cristian Mungiu with "Family Photos".

But there were questions over whether "I, Daniel Blake", the latest film from Cannes favourite, Briton Ken Loach -- about welfare cuts hurting vulnerable families -- will make the final cut.

Cannes' traditionally strong Asian presence is likely to be led by Japan's Hirokazu Kore-Eda with "After the Storm", Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "The Woman in the Silver Plate" and South Korean Park Chan-Wook's "The Handmaid".

"Showgirls" director Paul Verhoeven may mark his comeback with "Elle" with French actress Isabelle Huppert in the lead, with the Mexican director Amat Escalante's "The Untamed" and Chilean film "Neruda" by Pablo Larrain also being talked up.

US actor George Clooney, pictured on February 11, 2016, is tipped to attend Cannes for the thriller "Money Monster" directed by Jodie Foster Gregor Fischer (DPA/AFP/File)

It appears that Steven Spielberg, pictured on April 5, 2016, will almost certainly show his adaptation of Roald Dahl's children's classic "The BFG" (The Big Friendly Giant) out of competition at Cannes Matt Winkelmeyer (Getty/AFP/File)
Deutsche Bank freezes expansion in N. Carolina over anti-LGBT law

Deutsche Bank, Germany's biggest lender, on Tuesday added its voice to a growing protest by major companies against legislation recently passed in some US states targeting gay and transgender people.

The bank said in a statement that it would "freeze plans to create 250 new jobs at its Cary, North Carolina, location" by the end of 2017.

The decision was "due to state-wide legislation enacted in North Carolina on March 23 that invalidated existing protections of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender fellow citizens in some municipalities and prevents municipalities from adopting such protections in the future," the German bank said.

Deutsche Bank said in a statement that it would "freeze plans to create 250 new jobs at its Cary, North Carolina, location" by the end of 2017 Daniel Roland (AFP/File)

"We take our commitment to building inclusive work environments seriously. We're proud of our operations and employees in Cary and regret that as a result of this legislation we are unwilling to include North Carolina in our US expansion plans for now," said co-chief executive John Cryan.

Deutsche Bank said it currently employs approximately 900 people at its software application development centre in Cary and "is committed to sustaining that existing presence."

It said it hoped it could "re-visit" plans, which had been announced last September, to expand its operations there "in the near future".

Deutsche Bank's announcement comes as a growing number of major companies, including PayPal, Starbucks, Apple, Facebook and Twitter, protest against the legislation, part of a series of measures that have been labelled anti-gay that are sweeping southern US states.

Known as HB2, the North Carolina law prohibits local governments within the state from enacting policies protecting the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community from discrimination at public facilities and restrooms.

It specifically requires that transgender people use the restroom corresponding to the sex on their birth certificates.

Another state, Mississippi, has also signed into law a measure that allows government officials and businesses to deny gay people service if it conflicts with their religious beliefs.
Iraq PM delivers new cabinet list, angering some MPs

Iraq's premier presented a new list of cabinet nominees on Tuesday that angered some lawmakers, who criticised it as perpetuating the system of ministries being distributed according to political quotas.

Parliament descended into chaos after the session was postponed to Thursday, with lawmakers shaking fists and chanting against political quotas and then beginning a sit-in.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has called for a government of technocrats to replace the current party-affiliated ministers, but has faced major resistance from powerful parties that rely on control of ministries for patronage and funds.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has been in power since 2014 Adam Berry (AFP/File)

He presented a list of 13 cabinet nominees to parliament on March 31, but lawmakers later said that the political blocs would nominate other candidates, a process that apparently resulted in the current list of names.

Abadi gave the new list of candidates to parliament speaker Salim al-Juburi, then met with him and leaders of the political blocs, according to posts on their official Twitter accounts.

But with major disagreement over the proposed list of candidates, the session was postponed until Thursday, Juburi's office said.

Lawmakers chanted "The people want the fall of the quotas!" after the session ended, according to video shot inside parliament.

The phrase is a variation on "The people want the fall of the regime", which was chanted at Arab Spring protests against despots across the region.

More than 100 MPs then began a sit-in inside parliament to protest against the delay of the session, lawmakers Haider al-Kaabi and Iskander Witwit told AFP by telephone.

"We announced an open sit-in inside parliament because of the postponement of the session until Thursday," Kaabi said, adding that they are demanding an emergency session on Wednesday.

According to the new list of 14 names, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, most of Abadi's original nominees did not make the second cut.

The nominees for water resources, health and transport stayed the same, while a fourth nominee from the original list became a candidate for the planning ministry.

- 'Ministries for them' -

The new list also includes Faleh al-Fayad, a long-time member of the Dawa party who served as national security adviser under former premier Nuri al-Maliki and then Abadi, as the nominee for foreign minister.

Sunni lawmaker Ahmed al-Juburi said that the new list is opposed by almost a third of MPs.

The MP said he had gathered 98 names of lawmakers who are against the list and who reject the "principle of (political) quotas that was agreed upon by the leaders of the blocs".

"The blocs and the parties do not want to give up their gains and their ministries," said Shiite MP Hassan Salem.

"They do not consider them ministries of the people as much as they consider them ministries for them," Salem said.

And MP Zainab al-Tai, from the bloc affiliated with powerful Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who has called for a government of technocrats, threatened a no-confidence vote in Abadi.

"We demand the formation of an independent government, and if not, we will go to withdraw confidence from Abadi's government," Tai said.

Abadi called in February for "fundamental" change to the cabinet so that it includes "professional and technocratic figures and academics".

That kicked off the latest chapter in a months-long saga of Abadi proposing various reforms that parties and politicians with interests in the existing system have sought to delay or undermine.

Sadr, the scion of a powerful clerical family from the Shiite holy city of Najaf, later called for his supporters to protest and then stage a sit-in at Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, where the government is headquartered.

Sadr relented after Abadi presented his list of nominees at the end of March, calling off the sit-in.

But efforts to change the government have run up against entrenched political interests that do not want to cede the power and funds that controlling ministries confers.
EgyptAir hijacker claims Cyprus asylum

A man accused of hijacking an EgyptAir plane and diverting it to Cyprus is expected to fight his extradition from the Mediterranean island after claiming asylum, authorities said on Tuesday.

Authorities said that Seif al-Din Mohamed Mostafa, 58, is fighting his extradition by also applying for asylum to stay on the island.

His asylum request is being reviewed by the immigration department while extradition proceedings go ahead.

Cypriot suthorities said that Seif al-Din Mohamed Mostafa, 58, is fighting his extradition by also applying for asylum to stay on the island George Michael (AFP/File)

"The suspect has asked for asylum and this procedure will run in parallel with the court hearing on extradition," an official source told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Cyprus has approved a request from Cairo to extradite Mostafa, and a hearing is scheduled to take place on April 22.

Mostafa reportedly argues that he faces the death penalty if sent back to Egypt.

Nicosia expects Cairo to state in writing that he will not face the death penalty at a trial in Egypt, local daily Phileleftheros said on Tuesday.

Mostafa, currently in police custody, is accused of using a fake suicide belt to seize the Alexandria to Cairo flight on March 29 and force it to land at Larnaca airport.

Cyprus is expected to try to fast-track the extradition process, which could take several weeks.

Mostafa is expected to remain in custody until the extradition papers are ready.

The Egyptian state prosecutor's office had asked for him to be handed over under a 1996 bilateral extradition treaty.

Described by authorities in Cyprus as "psychologically unstable", Mostafa has said he acted out of desperation to see his Cypriot ex-wife and children.

Cypriot prosecutors said he faced possible charges of hijacking, kidnapping, reckless and threatening behaviour and breaches of anti-terror legislation.

Police said Mostafa gave a voluntary statement admitting to the hijacking.

His ex-wife has been quoted by Cypriot media as describing their five years of marriage as a "black period" in her life.

The hijacking ended peacefully with Mostafa's arrest.

Most of the 55 passengers were quickly released after the plane landed, but some escaped only minutes before the six-hour standoff ended.

Map charting the route of the hijacked EgyptAir plane out of Alexandria which later landed in Cyprus
Zambian journalists arrested over president partying report

Zambian police on Tuesday arrested two journalists over a story alleging that President Edgar Lungu went night-clubbing and played pool at taxpayers' expense while on holiday.

The journalists working for the privately-owned Post Newspaper were charged with defamation in a move widely seen as part of a clampdown on the president's critics ahead of elections in August.

The story, published a year ago, quoted opposition politician Eric Chanda saying that Lungu went on a state-funded holiday to the Mfuwe resort, where he was said to have played pool and gone "clubbing".

Zambian Newspaper "The Post" managing editor Joan Chirwa-Ngoma (L) and reporter Mukosha Funga (R) are led to detention on April 12, 2016 in Lusaka, after being arrested and charged with defamation of President Edgar Lungu Dawood Salim (AFP)

"Funga Mukosha and Joan Chirwa have been officially charged with the offence of defamation of the president," said police spokeswoman Charity Chanda in a statement.

The journalists were freed on bail, according to the Post Newspaper deputy managing editor Joseph Mwenda.

Police said that they will appear in court on April 18, along with Chanda, president of the opposition 4th Revolution Party, who was arrested last month on the same charge and also released on bail.

The three if convicted could face a sentence of seven years in prison.
Putin could visit Japan, as island row lingers

Russian President Vladimir Putin is just waiting for Tokyo to propose a date for him to visit Japan -- which has a festering territorial dispute with Moscow -- Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday.

"Nothing is preventing President Vladimir Putin's visit to Japan," Lavrov said. "For it to take place, the invitation that was made long ago needs to get some kind of specific date."

Lavrov added that Moscow "will consider" whatever dates Tokyo proposes, in comments to Asian media outlets according to a transcript on his ministry's website.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, pictured on April 7, 2016, is just waiting for Tokyo to propose a date for him to visit Japan Dmitry Lovetsky (Pool/AFP/File)

He added that Russia has already proposed "concrete dates" for a visit by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and "as far as I understand, such a visit will take place in the very near future."

Lavrov was speaking as he is about to make official visits to Japan, Mongolia and China. He is scheduled to meet his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida on Friday as the two sides seek to lay the ground for a meeting between Putin and Abe.

Japanese-Russian relations have been hampered by a festering territorial dispute over four islands claimed by both countries.

Known as the Kuril Islands by Russia and the Northern Territories by Japan, the archipelago was seized by Soviet troops at the end of World War II just after Japan surrendered.

The dispute has prevented the countries ever officially signing a peace treaty and hindered trade ties.

Lavrov said in January that Putin and Abe had agreed that the question of a peace treaty between their two countries was on a list of issues "to be decided."

Lavrov on Tuesday criticised Japan for joining Western countries in imposing sanctions against Moscow over the Ukraine crisis, suggesting Tokyo's foreign policy was guided by the United States and European Union.
US jury to decide if 'Stairway to Heaven' stolen

A Los Angeles jury will determine whether Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven," one of the most recognizable songs in rock history, was stolen.

A representative of Spirit, a Los Angeles psychedelic band that enjoyed a niche following but never the superstardom of Led Zeppelin, said the song's famous opening melancholy guitar line was lifted from its instrumental track "Taurus."

After two years of legal proceedings, a judge stopped short of agreeing that the song was copied but said there was enough of a case for a jury trial, which was scheduled for May 10.

Led Zeppelin band members Robert Plant (L) and Jimmy Page listen during an event in the East Room of the White House December 2, 2012 in Washington, DC Brendan Smialowski (AFP/File)

Spirit's representative "failed to proffer evidence of striking similarity, but he has successfully created a triable issue of fact as to access and substantial similarity," US District Court Judge Gary Klausner said in a decision last week that was made public Monday.

The judge said the two sides had "vehemently contested" the question of whether Led Zeppelin had access to 1967's "Taurus" before recording "Stairway to Heaven" in London in December 1970 and January 1971.

Led Zeppelin was the opening act for Spirit when the hard British rockers -- Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and John Bonham -- made their US debut on December 26, 1968 in Denver.

But surviving members of Led Zeppelin submitted testimony to the court that they never had substantive interaction with Spirit or listened to the band's music.

Led Zeppelin argued that the opening of "Stairway to Heaven" -- a descending sequence mostly in A-minor -- had been used in music for centuries and that the lawsuit ignored the rest of the song, which builds over eight minutes.

The judge disagreed, writing that the two songs had additional similarities including the bass line.

Spirit's guitarist Randy Wolfe never took legal action and died in 1997. The lawsuit was filed by Michael Skidmore, identified as a trustee for the late artist.

The lawsuit, which seeks damages, comes amid a rise in such copyright cases, with the family of Marvin Gaye last year controversially winning more than $7 million from a jury over the song "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams.

The judge rejected Led Zeppelin's argument that it was too late to file a lawsuit, pointing out that the band released a remastered version of "Stairway to Heaven" in 2014.
IS seizes most of Damascus camp from Qaeda: PLO

The Islamic State group took control on Tuesday of most of a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Damascus, seizing territory held by Syria's Al-Qaeda affiliate, a Palestinian official told AFP.

"(IS) began attacking positions of its former ally Al-Nusra and took control of 60 percent of the camp," the Palestine Liberation Organisation chief in Damascus, Anwar Abdel Hadi, said.

"Some Nusra fighters joined (IS) ranks. IS then besieged the last remaining Nusra positions and demanded that they leave the camp," he said, adding that at least three civilians were killed in the clashes.

Palestinians fill containers with water at the besieged Yarmuk refugee camp in the Syrian capital Damascus on August 18, 2015 Ramil al-Sayed (AFP/File)

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights -- a Britain-based monitoring group -- confirmed the fighting.

Once a thriving district that was home to some 160,000 Syrians and Palestinians, Yarmuk has been devastated by violence since late 2012.

The Syrian army imposed a tight siege on the camp that reportedly led to deaths because of shortages of food and medicines.

IS seized parts of Yarmuk in April 2015, and has fought alongside Nusra battalions inside the camp, although Palestinian factions and pro-government forces pushed the jihadists back in places.

Amaq, a news agency affiliated with IS, said the group was now in command of most of the camp.
Facebook brings 'chat bots' to Messenger

Facebook extended its reach beyond online socializing by building artificial-intelligence powered "bots" into its Messenger application to allow businesses to have software engage in lifelike text exchanges.

The move announced at the leading online social network's annual developers conference in San Francisco came as the number of monthly users of Messenger topped 900 million and the Silicon Valley company works to stay in tune with mobile Internet lifestyles.

"We think you should be able to text message a business like you would a friend, and get a quick response," Facebook co-founder and chief Mark Zuckerberg said as he announced that developers can build bots that could even be better than real people at natural language text conversations.

Facebook chief and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg discusses Messenger and other platforms at an annual developers conference in San Francisco on April 12, 2016 Glenn Chapman (AFP)

Bots are software infused with the ability to "learn" from conversations, getting better at figuring out what people are telling them and how best to respond.

The bots could help Facebook over time monetize its messaging applications and get a start on what some see as a new way of interacting with the digital world, potentially shortcutting mobile applications and sidestepping search.

"Our goal with artificial intelligence is to build systems that are better than people at perception -- seeing, hearing, language and so on," Zuckerberg said while laying out a long-term vision for Facebook.

A look at the number and types of services that titans such as Facebook, Google and Apple have rolled out in the last couple of years, it appears the companies are "trying to dominate the customers' mobile moments," Forrester analyst Julie Ask told AFP.

- Getting smarter -

Artificial intelligence is already used in Messenger to recognize faces in pictures, suggesting recipients for messages and for filtering out spam texts.

"Soon, we are going to be able to do even more," Zuckerberg said.

He promised a future in which Facebook AI would be able to understand what is in pictures, video or news articles and use insights to recommend content members of the social network might like.

Bot-building capabilities will be in a test mode with Facebook approving creations before they are released, according to vice president of messaging products David Marcus.

Some of the latest tools include one for the creation of "high-end, self-learning bots," along with ways for them to be brought to people's attention at Messenger, Marcus said.

"If you want to build more complex bots, you can now use our bot engine," Marcus told a packed audience of developers.

"You feed it samples of conversation, and it's better over time. You can build your bot today."

The list of partners launching Messenger bots included Business Insider, which said it will use the technology to deliver news stories to people in real-time.

"We are excited about this new offering because we know that messaging apps are exploding in popularity," Business Insider said in a story at its website announcing the move.

Cloud computing star Salesforce planned to use the platform to help businesses have "deeper, more personalized and one-to-one customer journeys within the chat experience," said Salesforce president and chief product officer Alex Dayon.

- Bridges, not walls -

Zuckerberg laid out a future for Facebook that, aside from Messenger, included ramping up live video streaming and diving into virtual reality.

"We think we are at the edge of the golden age of video," Zuckerberg said.

Facebook opened its Live platform to allow developers to stream video content from their applications to audiences at the social network.

Zuckerberg demonstrated with a drone that flew over those seated, streaming live video to Facebook while he spoke.

Messenger and Live will be built out further in coming years, along with virtual reality technology at Facebook-owned Oculus, according to Zuckerberg.

When his daughter takes her first steps, Zuckerberg said he planned to record it in 360-degree video so family and friends can experience it in virtual reality as if they were there for the moment.

At one point, Zuckerberg's comments took on a political tone, with the Facebook chief maintaining that the mission to connect the world is more important than ever given rhetoric about building walls and fearing those who are different.

"If the world starts to turn inward, then our community will have to work even harder to bring people together," Zuckerberg said.

"Instead of building walls, we can build bridges," he added, in an apparent reference to the fiery rhetoric of Donald Trump.

AI-powered bots could help Facebook over time monetize its messaging applications and get a start on what some see as a new way of interacting with the digital world Tobias Schwarz (AFP/File)
Pentagon wants drones to replace some US troops in Sinai

The Pentagon wants to cut the number of US peacekeeping troops in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, partly because of the growing threat from the Islamic State group, an official said Tuesday.

About 700 US troops participate in a UN operation established after Israel and Egypt signed a 1979 peace deal and agreed for a Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) mission to monitor compliance.

The mission has historically been somewhat low-key, but in recent months attacks from IS jihadists have put forces on a state of constant high alert.

Colombian infantry soldiers to be deployed as the Multinational Force and Observers peacekeeping force in the Sinai peninsula take part in a military ceremony at Bolivar square in Bogota, Colombia, on April 03, 2013 Eitan Abramovich (AFP/File)

In September for instance, a roadside bombing injured six peacekeepers including four Americans.

Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said the Pentagon remains "fully committed" to the MFO mission but wants to use drones and other high-tech tools to assume some of the riskier work.

"I don't think anyone is talking about a wholesale withdrawal, I think we are just going to look at the number of people we have there and see if there are functions that can be automated," Davis said.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter and other US officials have begun "formal conversations" with Israel and Egypt, Davis added.

US officials are also considering moving some US and international troops into a camp in the southern Sinai, far from their current base -- called El-Gorah -- near the Gaza Strip.

Sinai jihadists pledged allegiance in November 2014 to IS fighters, who control parts of Iraq and Syria and also has a presence in conflict-ridden Libya.
Bono tells US senators aid is security, not charity

The United States should not see the aid money it spends abroad as charity but as a vital national security tool, Irish rock star Bono told US lawmakers Tuesday.

Addressing a Senate sub-committee that oversees funding for campaigns against violent extremism, Bono said he had recently met with refugees in Africa and the Middle East.

"The fact is that aid can no longer be seen as charity, as a nice thing to do when we can afford it," said Bono, U2 frontman and founder of the anti-poverty campaign One.

Bono testified before a Senate sub-committee that oversees funding for campaigns against violent extremism Mike Theiler (AFP)

"If there's one thing I would like you to take away from this testimony, it is that aid in 2016 is not charity. It is national security," he told lawmakers.

"And when it's structured properly with a hard focus on fighting corruption and improving governance to qualify for that aid, it could be the best bulwark we have against violent extremism gaining traction."

Bono -- who visited Kenya, Jordan, Turkey and Egypt as part of a US congressional delegation led by Senator Lindsey Graham -- warned that refugee crises like the one triggered by fighting in Syria typically last for 25 years.

And he said that without a coordinated global response, the Middle East, Africa and now increasingly Europe would face the type of chaos that allows extremist groups to find willing recruits among desperate young people.

"Of the top ten countries that are hosting refugees today, five of them are African. In Europe, the problem has moved from practical to existential," he said.

"Let me soberly suggest to you that the integration of Europe, the very idea of European unity, is at risk here," he said, echoing the private view of many US foreign policy officials.

"Europe is America's most important ally since the Second World War. Are we not your most important ally in the fight against violent extremism?

"This should really matter to you. I know it does. Put simply, as we Europeans have learned, if the Middle East catches fire, the flames jump any border controls. And if Africa fails, Europe cannot succeed."

The United States is leading a coalition of western and Arab allies to fight the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.

And, with Russia, Washington has spearheaded an international diplomatic effort to end the broader civil war in Syria through a negotiated political settlement.
IS ranks at lowest level since 2014: US official

The Islamic State group's ranks have been pared back by international and local military action in Iraq and Syria to their lowest level since Washington began monitoring the group, a senior official said Tuesday.

The comments from deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken came one day before President Barack Obama was due to convene his national security team at CIA headquarters to take stock of the anti-IS fight.

"Working by, with and through local partners, we have taken back 40 percent of the territory that Daesh controlled a year ago in Iraq and 10 percent in Syria," Blinken told US lawmakers in prepared testimony.

Syrians carry their belongings upon their return to the modern town of Palmyra, adjacent to the ancient Syrian city, on April 9, 2016 Louai Beshara (AFP/File)

"In fact, we assess Daesh's numbers are the lowest they've been since we began monitoring their manpower in 2014," he added, using one of three terms US officials use interchangeably to refer to IS.

Blinken did not put a new figure on the size of the jihadist group's fighting force in his statement to the Senate committee overseeing funding for the State Department's program to counter violent extremism.

But in September 2014, the last estimate to which Blinken referred, a US intelligence official told AFP that the CIA believed the group could put between 20,000 and 31,500 fighters in the field, both foreign fighters and local recruits.

Since then, US-backed Iraqi and Kurdish forces have pushed IS fighters back from the cities of Tikrit and Ramadi and taken territory in northern Syria, while Syrian forces receiving Russian support have recaptured the Syrian city of Palmyra.

On Wednesday, Obama and his top aides are set to evaluate the progress made so far in the anti-IS fight and weigh proposals for upping the pressure on the jihadists.

"The president has asked them to come to him with suggestions for how it is possible to reinforce those elements of our strategy that are showing the most success," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters Tuesday.

When asked about a possible increase in the number of US troops in Iraq, Earnest refused to say if any announcements were on the horizon, saying only that Obama would make a statement after the meeting.

"It's not uncommon for the president to make decisions in the context of these meetings," he said.

Washington has led an international coalition against the IS group in Iraq and Syria since August 2014.

The United States, which withdrew its forces from Iraq in 2011 after eight years of war, officially redeployed 3,870 troops to the insurgency-wracked country in recent months.
Russian billionaire, Hawking unveil plan to reach Alpha Centauri

Billionaire Russian investor Yuri Milner and British cosmologist Stephen Hawking on Tuesday announced an ambitious new space initiative for a mission to Alpha Centauri, the nearest star system to Earth.

Milner and Hawking are spearheading the "Breakthrough Starshot" team of scientists working on the bold research program to create a fleet of super-compact, ultra-light space vehicles or "nanocraft."

The goal is to send the light-propelled mini space vehicles -- each no bigger than a cell phone -- to Alpha Centauri, which is 4.37 light years away, or 25 trillion miles, from Earth.

Yuri Milner and Stephen Hawking during a press conference at One World Observatory on April 12, 2016 in New York Timothy A. Clary (AFP)

They estimate it could take about 20 years to reach the star system from the time of the launch -- rather than the 30,000 years it would take with today's fastest spacecraft.

"Space travel as we know it is slow. How do we go faster and how do we go further? How do we make this great leap?" Milner, who is planning to initially commit $100 million to the project, told a press conference in Manhattan.

"For the first time in history, we can do more than just gaze at the stars. We can actually reach them," added the 54-year-old Russian philanthropist, whose fortune is estimated at $2.9 billion by Forbes.

"It is time to launch the next great leap in human history."

- 'Interstellar sailboat' -

Milner -- one of the original investors in Facebook -- said the team hoped to send a super light robotic spacecraft streaking through space at 60,000 kilometers (faster than 37,000 miles) per second -- about 20 percent the speed of light.

The initiative will work by creating a giant laser array to propel the mini-probes -- which would deploy micro-sails -- toward a given star, creating what Milner likened to an "interstellar sailboat."

"The Breakthrough StarChip concept is based on technology either already available or likely to be available in the near future. But as with any moonshot, there are major engineering problems to solve," Milner cautioned.

Hawking noted: "I believe what makes us unique is transcending our limits."

Milner said that he will contribute $100 million from his own pocket for the project, which could cost as much as $10 billion before it is fully realized.

"It's very clear that it's a non-profit initiative," he joked, acknowledging that the chance for success and the final cost were unclear.

Milner, Hawking and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg will sit on the project's board.

- Search for life -

A team has already been working on the endeavor for a year, Milner said.

Initial research results indicate that the giant laser array -- the "light beamer" -- would require about 100 gigawatts, roughly the energy needed to launch a space shuttle, said Avi Loeb, a professor at Harvard University and a project member.

"When there is a vision for a grand project like this one, just like the vision that JFK had in the 60s, it lifts many bolts," said Loeb in a nod to former US president John F. Kennedy, whose vision it was to land a man on the moon.

Milner and Hawking have teamed up previously.

Last July, Hawking launched a massive search for intelligent extraterrestrial life in a $100-million, 10-year project to scan the heavens funded by Milner.

Milner said at the time that the "Breakthrough Listen" initiative would be the most intensive scientific search ever undertaken for signs of alien civilization.

The project, they said, would use some of the biggest telescopes on Earth, searching far deeper into the universe than before for radio and laser signals.

One aim of the mission to Alpha Centauri is also to look for signs of extraterrestrial life, Loeb said.

And what might those living creatures be like?

"Judging by the election campaign, definitely not like us," joked Hawking -- who is wheelchair-bound and uses a computerized voice system to communicate -- in reference to the drama-filled race for the White House.
Delegates could change Republican convention rules vs. Trump

WASHINGTON (AP)  Forty-two rules govern the Republican Party and how it picks a presidential candidate. Yet with the nomination potentially being decided at July's party convention, one reality prevails: Delegates can change their procedures to help or hurt any candidate.

Front-runner Donald Trump has 743 of the 1,237 delegates needed to leave the Republican gathering as the nominee. That's less than 200 better than his closest competitor, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

Yet many top Republicans view Trump as a certain loser in the November general election who could cost them congressional seats, and some have similar concerns about the conservative Cruz.

FILE - In this July 8, 2014, file photo, a man sits on a picnic table with a view of downtown Cleveland. Forty-two rules govern the Republican Party and how it picks a presidential candidate. Yet with the nomination potentially up for grabs at Julys GOP convention, one reality prevails: Delegates can change their procedures to help or hurt any candidate they want. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak, File)

A look at the rules governing the contest, and how they could be rewritten to affect the nomination:

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AS IT STANDS

The Republican rules describe how delegates are divided among the 56 states and territories, who gets into the convention hall, who can be nominated, how votes are cast and how disputes are resolved.

These bylaws are temporary. This year's convention will be governed by whichever rules the delegates approve by majority vote when their four-day gathering begins July 18.

The Republican National Committee is already working on rules to present to the convention. But the convention delegates  initially a 112-member rules committee, then all 2,472 of them  will have final say.

Usually, each convention renews the rules with minor changes. They generally reflect the interests of the presumptive presidential nominee.

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NO CLEAR NOMINEE?

This year, there may not be a presumptive nominee as the convention begins.

It's possible that this gathering will be the Republicans' first since 1976 that will be competitive, with no candidate coming in with a majority of delegates. Candidates' campaigns would compete for support for rules advantageous to them.

Trump and Cruz could have enough delegates combined to form an alliance for rules that would make it all but impossible for a third rival to emerge. On the other hand, Republicans looking to block the two could seek support for rules making it easier for someone like House Speaker Paul Ryan, who has expressed disinterest, to become the nominee.

"The golden rule of conventions is he who has the votes makes the rules," said Republican operative John Yob, author of "Chaos: The Outsider's Guide to a Contested Republican National Convention, 2016."

The current AP delegate count stands at Trump 743, Cruz 545, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich 143. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who suspended his campaign, has 171 delegates.

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HIDDEN HAZARD

While most delegates must initially vote for the nominee they're elected to represent, they don't have to back that contender's preferred rules package. The candidates personally select only about a quarter of the delegates, leaving many who might secretly prefer a different contender. Campaigns are aggressively recruiting supporters to become delegates.

"Without knowing who the delegates are and who they're sympathetic to, trying to assess what the convention is likely to do is next to impossible," said Josh Putnam, a University of Georgia lecturer and delegate process expert.

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TO BE NOMINATED

Currently, candidates are nominated by submitting petitions showing support by most delegates from eight states and territories. That rule could be weakened to allow more competition.

For now, Trump and Cruz appear likely to be the only candidates capable of collecting majority support from eight states.

If no one gets a majority of delegates on the first ballot, things could quickly sour for Trump. While various state laws and rules "bind" around 9 in 10 delegates to vote for their candidate in the first round, about 7 in 10 are allowed to support whoever they want on the second ballot, with even more freed up later.

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OTHER POTENTIAL CHANGES

There could be efforts to:

Let former contenders like Rubio assign their delegates to a remaining candidate, a practice that now varies by state.

Allow delegates bound to specified candidates to sign nominating petitions for others.

Permit new presidential nominations if no one wins on the first ballot. Currently, voting continues until a winner emerges.

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NIGHTMARE SCENARIO

Television viewers could end up watching battles on the convention floor over contested delegates, rules and the party platform before they even get to nominations. Or they could see bored delegates killing time as deals are cut backstage, instead of speeches and choreographed displays of unity aimed at motivating voters.

"The single worst thing that can happen for Republicans is they reach Thursday and don't have a nominee," said Randy Evans, a Republican National Committee member and convention delegate from Georgia.
ACLU: Chicago police monitoring protest groups 'unsettling'

CHICAGO (AP)  The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois says reports of Chicago police monitoring peaceful protest groups is "unsettling" and is calling for City Council hearings.

The group issued a Sunday statement responding to a Chicago Sun-Times report (http://bit.ly/1qes8R0 ), which outlined seven investigations by police since 2009 to monitor groups exercising free-speech rights.

Emails released by the city in the wake of the 2014 fatal police shooting of Laquan McDonald showed officials watched actions of protesters closely. The black teenager was shot by a white officer 16 times.

The Sun-Times reports the department's top attorney approved 2015 plans to send undercover officers to monitor meetings, including those held by Black Lives Matter activists, churches and philanthropic organizations.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says the investigations were to ensure safety. He says while the department was approved to send undercover officers, it sent plainclothes officers.

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Tensions fray in both parties ahead of New York primary

NEW YORK (AP)  Tensions frayed in both the Democratic and Republican presidential races on Monday, as Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump tried to stave off the prospect of a lengthy battle for the nomination with big victories in New York.

While Clinton escalated her attacks against rival Bernie Sanders, Republican front-runner Donald Trump complained about a "rigged" nomination process, prompting a fierce defense from party leaders. Both candidates are pushing for big wins in next week's New York primary, hoping to create a sense of inevitably around their candidacies with sizable delegate gains.

Campaigning in southern California, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz described Trump's attacks on the Republican nomination process as "whining."

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton wldtalks to community leaders and politicians at the Jackson Diner in the Queens borough of New York, Monday, April 11, 2016. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

"Donald has been yelling and screaming. A lot of whining. I'm sure some cursing. And some late-night fevered tweeting," Cruz told hundreds of supporters gathered in Irvine, California.

He noted Trump's complaints follow his struggles in recent primary contests in Utah, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Colorado.

Trump has seized upon his delegate woes in recent days as evidence that "the fix" was in. He angrily denounced the allocation of all of Colorado's delegates to Cruz as "dirty and disgusting" during a Monday night rally in Albany, New York.

Trump compared his loss there to the situation in Louisiana, where he won the primary but lost the delegate count to Cruz. Trump said a similar game was playing out on the Democratic side, where "Bernie Sanders wins and wins and wins" but yet "can't win the race."

"The system is rigged, folks," said Trump, who spoke to more than 10,000 people in an Albany, New York, arena during a rally that was interrupted several times by protesters.

Trump's accusations come as he seeks to outmaneuver Cruz in local state gatherings where the delegates who will attend the summer convention are being chosen. In state after state, Cruz's campaign has implemented a more strategic approach to picking up delegates, which, despite Trump's current lead, are essential if he wants to reach the 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination.

Cruz is pinning his hopes on a contested convention with no candidate having enough delegates to win on the first ballot. On subsequent ballots, many of the pledged delegates will become free to vote for any candidate.

Trump's complaints call into question the integrity of the voting process at a time when the party could be working to unify behind its front-runner. In an interview with conservative radio host Mike Gallagher, Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, pushed back against Trump's claims, saying that the convention system used in Colorado is "not an affront to the people of Colorado. It just is what the rule is."

"I don't know why a majority is such a difficult concept for some people to accept," he said.

On the Democratic side, the April 19 primary in New York has become a make-or-break moment for both the Clinton and Sanders campaigns.

Clinton hopes to capture what her team says would be an all-but-insurmountable lead by the end of the month in primaries in New York and other Eastern states.

Sanders believes he can turn a string of primary wins into a victory in delegate-rich New York. But he faces the daunting challenge of needing to win 68 percent of the remaining delegates and uncommitted superdelegates, party officials who can vote for any candidate, if he hopes to clinch the Democratic nomination. That would require blow-out victories in upcoming states, big and small, including New York.

Campaigning across southern New York on Monday, Clinton targeted Sanders' record on guns, immigration, Wall Street reform and foreign policy.

"I have noticed that under the bright spotlight and scrutiny here in New York, Sen. Sanders has had trouble answering questions," she told reporters after a campaign event at an Indian restaurant in the New York borough of Queens.

Sanders hit back at a rally in the city of Binghamton in upstate New York, rallying supporters by slamming Clinton for promoting fracking as secretary of state and only offering conditional opposition to the practice. The oil and gas drilling method, reviled by environmentalists, has been banned in New York.

The harsher tone comes just days before the two Democrats will meet on stage for the first Democratic primary debate in more than a month. Since their last faceoff, the contest has taken a decidedly negative turn, with the two candidates trading a series of barbs over their qualifications for the White House.

Clinton has avoided directly calling for Sanders to exit the race, saying she campaigned until the last primary in 2008 and that she's all for a "good hard contest." But she denounced the aggressive tone that some of Sanders' supporters have taken toward her, saying she'd seen reports that her backers have been targeted and harassed.

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Peoples reported from Irvine, California. Kathleen Ronayne in Binghamton, New York, Jonathan Lemire in Albany, New York, Jill Colvin in Rochester, New York, and Vivian Salama in Washington contributed to this report.

Supporters of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump wait to get into the Times Union Center for a rally in Albany, N.Y., Monday, April 11, 2016. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)

Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. speaks at a campaign rally, Monday, April 11, 2016, in Binghamton, N.Y. Sanders may be behind when it comes to delegates and votes, but he has one clear advantage over his Democratic and Republican counterparts, a lot of people actually like him. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. speaks at a campaign rally, Monday, April 11, 2016, in Binghamton, N.Y. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a rally at JetSmart Aviation Services on Sunday, April 10, 2016, in Rochester, N.Y. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)
Judge holds off assessment of hospital escapee's competence

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP)  It's impossible at this moment to determine the mental competence of an escapee from Washington's largest state psychiatric hospital who was captured on Friday night, a judge said Monday.

U.S. Magistrate James P. Hutton ordered that Anthony Garver, 28, remain in custody until his competence could be established. A disheveled-looking Garver was wearing chains as he appeared for the first time in federal court on a charge of violating supervised release.

His attorney, Peter Schweda, said it would be unfair to make Garver, also known as Anthony Burke, enter a plea at this time. Garver's next court appearance is April 21.

FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Lakewood Police Department shows Anthony Garver. Garver, 28, who escaped from a Washington state psychiatric hospital on Wednesday, April 6, 2016, where he was held after being found too mentally ill to face charges that he tortured a woman to death was captured Friday. Garver was taken into custody by law enforcement in Spokane, Wash., State Patrol spokesman Todd Bartolac said. (Lakewood Police Department via AP, File)

"The court is not in a position to gauge his competence," Schweda said.

Garver escaped last week from Western State Hospital in Lakewood, Washington, where he was being held after he was accused of torturing a 20-year-old woman to death in 2013.

The state Department of Social and Health Services initially reported that Garver and fellow patient Mark Alexander Adams escaped through a key-locked window. There were no indications that the locks were defective, and officials suspected that the patients tampered with the bolts over several months, said Kathy Spears, an agency spokeswoman.

On Saturday, hospital officials sent an internal email to staff asking them to check the windows on their wards, according to an email thread obtained by The Associated Press.

Staff reported that 17 windows were compromised in wards E-6 and E-4, the emails said. Three windows had loose bolts and four had loose window panes on the E-4 ward, the staff reported. Ten windows were loose and could be pulled from the frames, or the frames themselves were loose on the E-6 ward, the emails said.

On Monday, Susan Benson, with the hospital administration, said she submitted a work request to have the windows repaired, the email said.

It was not immediately known how many other windows were not secure at the 800-bed facility.

Garver was recaptured in a rural part of Spokane County after a two-day, cross-state manhunt that some worried would not end peacefully.

Garver escaped from Western State Hospital in Lakewood on Wednesday night. He crawled out a window of a locked, lower-security unit with Adams, 58, who was caught the next day.

Garver was charged in 2013 with tying a 20-year-old woman to her bed with electrical cords, stabbing her 24 times in the chest and slashing her throat, prosecutors said. He was committed to the mental hospital to receive treatment to have his competency restored. When those efforts were unsuccessful, the state petitioned to have him held under the state's civil commitment law, which states he is a danger to himself or others. A judge granted that request.

After Garver escaped, he bought a bus ticket to Spokane, where his parents live. His father called authorities to report his son had stopped by Thursday for a visit, triggering the manhunt that led to his capture.

While Garver was facing federal charges, Lakewood police said they were talking with the Pierce County prosecutor's office about charging Garver with escape, Lt. Chris Lawler said.

Another hospital patient who walked away from the facility on an "unauthorized leave" on the same day as the escapes remains missing, Lawler said.

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Puerto Rico church strips teachers of pension amid crisis

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP)  After 36 years teaching English at a Roman Catholic school near Puerto Rico's capital, Norma Cardoza planned to retire with a modest pension she trusted she would get from the Archdiocese of San Juan.

Her faith was misplaced.

Archdiocese officials in recent weeks informed Cardoza and several hundred other current and retired teachers that their pensions will be eliminated because payouts exceeded contributions. Enrollment at Catholic schools in Puerto Rico has plunged with so many families leaving the island for the U.S. mainland amid the island's economic crunch.

In this July 29, 2015, file photo, U.S. and Puerto Rican flags fly in front of Puerto Ricos Capitol as in San Juan, Puerto Rico. As Puerto Rico teeters on the brink of insolvency, the The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Juan has told several hundred current and retired teachers that their pensions have been dispensed with because payouts exceeded contributions. The island has no law overseeing private pensions and its unclear if the archdioceses fund was insured. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo, File)

It has been a devastating blow to Catholic school teachers who had counted on those pensions to supplement the Social Security checks they'll be getting.

The church noted in the letter that its contract with employees allows it to terminate the pension plan at any moment and said the remaining money would be distributed among retired teachers. Officials signed off with, "May God bless you all."

"I'm 62 years old. Do you think I can come up with a pension plan in four years? There's no way," said Cardoza, who had expected to get $930 a month from the church upon a retirement that had been scheduled for May but she has now postponed. "That's why I find it so horrendous."

As Puerto Rico's government teeters on the brink of insolvency, the grim fate of this group of current and former teachers could signal more pain to come for other workers expecting pensions  not only at private workplaces like the church, but also in the island's troubled public sector.

Government workers haven't yet gotten the same bad news on pensions. But mired in a deep economic crisis, the island government has begun defaulting on billions in debt. Many financial experts here and on the U.S. mainland say underfunded public pension obligations totaling more than $41 billion will likely wind up on the chopping block.

If the money runs out, public school teachers, police officers, firefighters and thousands of other government employees could have their pensions cut, too.

Vicente Feliciano, an economist and business consultant in San Juan, predicts that various public pension systems will be unable to make full payments within two years. "When that happens, then what? Do we leave retirees on the street?" he says.

There are about 120,000 government employees and thousands more public sector retirees in Puerto Rico. Many, including teachers and police officers, are in retirement plans that are an alternative to Social Security so they wouldn't even get Social Security checks to depend on if their pensions were cut. The government's general fund is supposed to cover pension obligations if needed, but even that money is running out.

"We are extremely worried because the government has been completely negligent about this," said Pedro Pastrana, who represents a retired teachers union.

Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla, who was elected with the support of public sector unions, in 2013 approved government pension system changes that included raising the retirement age, which varies depending on type of job and number of years worked, and requiring employee contributions.

But the government began defaulting on debt last year and is expected to miss a $422 million payment due in May. Congress is considering a bill to create a federal oversight board that would have powers that might include layoffs and pension cuts sought by some investors in Puerto Rican bonds.

As officials in Washington and San Juan debate what to do about public pensions, the island's retired Catholic school teachers are already living in straitened circumstances.

Isabel Casanas, a former Catholic school director who came to Puerto Rico from Cuba in the 1960s, is considering work as a private tutor but worries her age could be a problem.

"People think that since I'm 83 years old, that I'm already in the afterlife," said Casanas, who retired last year. "I have worked all my life. I've never depended on anyone."

The Catholic school teachers who are losing their pensions said they there blindsided by the announcement.

The archdiocese created the pension plan in 1979 in part to lure teachers who were joining the island's public school system because of its pension plan. But the island's population has dropped as much as 10 percent over a decade in the largest exodus in many years.

"It doesn't cease to surprise me that it came from a Catholic entity, which is supposed to help others," said Ana Perez, a 53-year-old physical education teacher. "What about those 25 years that we have worked? We lost them."

It is unclear how much money is in the pension fund. Catholic officials did not respond to requests from The Associated Press for comment on the elimination of the pensions or if the fund was insured.

Cardoza had to cancel plans for a cruise and a visit to her children and grandchildren on the U.S. mainland. She gets angry when she talks about how officials did not respond to her questions.

"Thirty-six years of my life dedicated to teaching and this is what I worked for?" Cardoza said, her voice cracking. "I still wake up in the middle of the night saying, 'No, this can't be true.'"

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Danica Coto on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/danicacoto

In this March 31, 2016 photo, Catholic school teacher Norma Cardoza talks on her mobile phone to another teacher about losing her pension, in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Juan says the economic crisis has forced so many families to flee Puerto Rico that it is running out of money and has to eliminate pensions, leaving several hundred teachers like Cardoza to face an uncertain future. (AP Photo/Danica Coto)
Afghan Taliban announce spring offensive

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP)  The Taliban announced the start of their warm-weather fighting season on Tuesday, vowing "large-scale attacks" in the 15th year of their war against the U.S.-backed Afghan government.

In an email to media, the militants said the spring offensive had begun at 5 a.m. They dubbed the campaign "Operation Omari" in honor of Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, who died three years ago.

The Taliban added that in areas under their control, "mechanisms for good governance will be established so that our people can live a life of security and normalcy." The insurgents control several rural districts and last year seized the northern city of Kunduz and held it for three days.

In this Monday, April 11, 2016 photo, an Afghan child carries a shovel on his shoulder as he walks in a poppy field in Zhari district of southern Kandahar province, Afghanistan. A recent uptick in violence across the south will worsen once the poppy crop is harvested in coming weeks and the extremists deploy gunmen to protect their vast smuggling empire, officials, analysts and diplomats are predicting. (AP Photos/Allauddin Khan)

The Taliban said they would try to avoid killing civilians or destroying civilian infrastructure, and would carry out a "dialogue with our countrymen in the enemy ranks" to try to convince them to join the insurgency.

More than 11,000 civilians were killed or wounded in 2015, according to the U.N.

The Taliban went through a period of infighting after Mullah Omar's death became public last summer. Mullah Omar's deputy, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, had run the insurgency in his name and was elected as his successor by a small clique amid mistrust from the rank and file.

The dispute had little impact on the battlefield, however, where the Taliban have advanced on a number of fronts over the past year. And in recent months, Mansoor has consolidated power, bringing several onetime rivals back into the fold.

The Taliban said late Monday that around 20 fighters with a local Islamic State affiliate in the eastern Nangarhar province had pledged their support for Mansoor. It would be the first time IS militants, many of whom are disgruntled former Taliban members, have joined the Taliban in the province, which has seen heavy fighting between the rival jihadi groups.

The Kabul government has meanwhile been working with the U.S., China and Pakistan -- which has some influence over the Taliban -- to revive peace negotiations, but the insurgents earlier this year refused to take part in any talks.

The fighting subsides in much of Afghanistan during the winter, when snow and inclement weather descends on the mountainous border with Pakistan, making it difficult for the militants to travel back and forth and stage attacks.

But the Taliban remained on the march in the warmer south of the country, where they threatened or briefly seized strategic territory in three provinces.

The violence is expected to intensify once the poppy harvest in the southern provinces is finished in coming weeks. The Taliban will deploy extra forces to protect smuggling routes used for arms, minerals and other contraband that fund the insurgency.

Jabbar Qahraman, presidential envoy to Helmand, said most of the estimated 5,500 government troops and police killed in action in 2015 lost their lives in the opium-producing southern province. He blamed not only the Taliban but an "opium mafia" working with them. The drugs gangs "are a big headache as they are so active, and they have the full support of Taliban fighters in Helmand, each helping the other to their own benefit," he said.

Most of the world's heroin is produced from Helmand's poppy crop, worth up to $3 billion a year, with much of the profits going to fund the insurgency. Officials and diplomats in Kabul have said that Mansoor is the kingpin of this illicit trade.

Local officials say security forces have been overwhelmed by months of heavy fighting across Helmand. Ali Shah Khan, a tribal elder in Sangin district  which was under attack for weeks  said Kabul had been warned of the Taliban threat "so many times but no one listened and that is why the Taliban have gained control of more than half of the province."

At one point in December, the province's former deputy governor, Abdul Jan Rasoolyar, issued a plea for help on his Facebook page, warning that the entire province could fall.

"Without good leadership and coordination between the security forces, they just let the Taliban gain control over more territory," Khan told the Associated Press last week.

U.S. and NATO forces formally concluded their combat mission at the end of 2014, shifting instead to a training and advisory role while continuing to carry out counterterrorism operations.

But as the situation in Helmand deteriorated last year, some 800 U.S. soldiers were sent there in the first deployment since the drawdown.

Some 13,000 U.S. and NATO forces remain in Afghanistan.

___

Associated Press writer Mirwais Khan in Kandahar, Afghanistan, contributed to this story.

___

This story has been corrected to show that the figure of 11,000 casualties includes civilians who were killed or wounded.

In this Monday, April 11, 2016 photo, Afghan farmers harvest raw opium at a poppy field in Zhari district of southern Kandahar province, Afghanistan. A recent uptick in violence across the south will worsen once the poppy crop is harvested in coming weeks and the extremists deploy gunmen to protect their vast smuggling empire, officials, analysts and diplomats are predicting. (AP Photos/Allauddin Khan)

In this Monday, April 11, 2016 photo, an Afghan farmer shows some harvested raw opium at a poppy field in Zhari district of southern Kandahar province, Afghanistan. A recent uptick in violence across the south will worsen once the poppy crop is harvested in coming weeks and the extremists deploy gunmen to protect their vast smuggling empire, officials, analysts and diplomats are predicting. (AP Photos/Allauddin Khan)

In this Monday, April 11, 2016 photo, Afghan farmers harvest raw opium at a poppy field in Zhari district of southern Kandahar province, Afghanistan. A recent uptick in violence across the south will worsen once the poppy crop is harvested in coming weeks and the extremists deploy gunmen to protect their vast smuggling empire, officials, analysts and diplomats are predicting. (AP Photos/Allauddin Khan)

In this Monday, April 11, 2016 photo, an Afghan child harvests raw opium at a poppy field in Zhari district of southern Kandahar province, Afghanistan. A recent uptick in violence across the south will worsen once the poppy crop is harvested in coming weeks and the extremists deploy gunmen to protect their vast smuggling empire, officials, analysts and diplomats are predicting. (AP Photos/Allauddin Khan)

In this Monday, April 11, 2016 photo, a harvested poppy is seen at a poppy field in Zhari district of southern Kandahar province, Afghanistan. A recent uptick in violence across the south will worsen once the poppy crop is harvested in coming weeks and the extremists deploy gunmen to protect their vast smuggling empire, officials, analysts and diplomats are predicting. (AP Photos/Allauddin Khan)

In this Monday, April 11, 2016. file, photo, Afghan women walk past a damaged bus after a roadside bomb explosion on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, The Afghan Taliban have announced the start of their warm-weather fighting season, an annual declaration that marks the launch of a summer of violence. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Paramount teases 'Baywatch,' confirms 'Fences' at CinemaCon

LAS VEGAS (AP)  From the bodacious bodies of "Baywatch" to the literary credentials of August Wilson's "Fences," Paramount Pictures has a diverse slate of films on its schedule.

The studio teased some upcoming properties Monday at CinemaCon, kicking off the annual gathering of theater owners and exhibitors, with stars, footage, and some announcements.

Paramount confirmed that Denzel Washington and Viola Davis will reprise their Tony-winning roles in a big screen adaptation of "Fences," which Washington will direct.

Will Arnett, left, and Megan Fox, cast members in the upcoming film "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows," address the audience during the Paramount Pictures presentation at CinemaCon 2016, the official convention of the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), at Caesars Palace on Monday, April 11, 2016, in Las Vegas. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

Audiences also saw some comedic, self-referential footage from the "Baywatch" movie starring Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron, scheduled for release next year. Johnson, Efron, and co-star Alexandra Daddario teased the film in a video message bedecked in the signature red bathing suits.

Stars present at the conference included Megan Fox and Will Arnett who took the stage to hype "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows," which comes out on June 3, while Jack Huston was there to tout the Aug. 19, 3D release of the "Ben-Hur" remake.

Jeremy Renner and Amy Adams also showed footage from their upcoming sci-fi drama "Story of Your Life" from "Sicario" director Denis Villeneuve. The film follows a linguist (Adams) who is called upon to interpret the language of an alien species that have landed on earth.

"There's not enough cinema in Hollywood where we have a strong, intelligent, badass female lead. That's why I did it," Renner said  a moment of life in an otherwise flat presentation.

Tom Cruise, who last year wowed the exhibitor audience with his tales of practical stunts in "Mission: Impossible  Rogue Nation" addressed the conference this year in video message from London. Cruise said the next "Mission: Impossible" film will start shooting this fall, but first previewed "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back," which Ed Zwick, who directed Cruise in "The Last Samurai," is directing.

Later, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" director J.J. Abrams accepted a showman of the year award. On stage, Abrams, a backer of the controversial Screening Room, made a plea for the exhibitors to be "thoughtful partners in the evolution of this medium."

"We have to adapt. We have to meet that challenge with creative solutions and not fear," Abrams said. "To me there is nothing better than going to the movies and there never will be."

Despite having Abrams and "Star Trek Beyond" writer and star on hand, Paramount mysteriously did not preview any footage from the Justin Lin-directed film which hits theaters this summer.

Abrams, a producer, only said that it is "looking like the most thrilling 'Star Trek' yet."

CinemaCon runs through Thursday.

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Online: www.cinemacon.com

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Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr
Health workers get lead-test help from Flint student nurses

FLINT, Mich. (AP)  A nurse volunteering at the free lead-testing clinic at a Flint school sensed immediately that the boy was nervous about being poked in the finger. Veronica Robinson explained to 7-year-old Zyontae that it would feel like a mosquito bite.

Robinson, a University of Michigan-Flint nursing lecturer, worked alongside student Mat Rowden, who will complete his nursing degree in the fall. They helped with the event at Richfield Public School Academy, where Flint parents who were worried about the city's lead contamination could bring their children for testing.

The nursing students and faculty members from UM-Flint, who draw and test blood and provide educational materials to parents, have been a huge assist to the overworked Genesee County Health Department as it has tested tens of thousands of people for lead exposure since the scope of the problem became clear last year. Around 150 representatives of the university volunteered at clinics in February and March, according to Robinson.

This Thursday, March 24, 2016, image taken from video shows University of Michigan-Flint lecturer Veronica Robinson drawing blood from Ketisa Looney's 7-year-old son Zyontae during a lead-testing clinic held at Richfield Public School Academy in Flint, Mich. Thousands of Flint parents have had their children tested at free clinics run by the Genesee County Health Department since residents became aware that their water had become contaminated with lead after the city began drawing water from the Flint River to save money. The overworked health department has gotten help administering lead tests from nursing faculty and students from UM-Flint. (AP Photo/Mike Householder)

Volunteering has illustrated "the need for health care, the need for nursing, goes way outside the hospital walls," said Rowden, 21.

The county health department's staff of about 100 has borne the brunt of the testing work, said director Mark Valacak, whose office is also responsible for about 50 programs.

"In one way or another everyone is involved in this, helping out in some way because of the impact it's had on the community," he said. "It's taken over."

About 8,000 children under age 6 have been potentially exposed to lead since the city, which was under state financial management, began drawing its drinking water from the Flint River in 2014 to save money. Officials failed to treat the corrosive water properly to prevent lead from leaching from old pipes into homes and businesses.

Elevated lead levels have been found in more than 200 children and 100 adults in Flint, a worry since lead contamination has been linked to learning disabilities and other problems. From Oct. 21 to March 25, about 20,000 people of all ages in Flint had been tested for lead, state officials say.

At Richfield, Zyontae wasn't buying the mosquito bite prediction. His yells of pain elicited laughter from his mom, who said the second-grader "was really acting out." Next, 29-year-old Ketisa Looney anxiously waited for the results for Zyontae and her two other children.

"I just came out to get them tested for lead, so I can make sure that they're free and clear of lead and nothing is wrong with them," said Looney, who works as a medical assistant.

When the results came back, the news wasn't good: Elevated levels of lead in their blood. Following an on-site meeting with medical professionals, Looney called the results "unsettling" and vowed to set up doctor visits and have her children undergo more testing.

Robinson, who has been appointed the nursing department's liaison to the county health department, works to match services from UM-Flint nursing and affiliate groups to the needs of the department  including organizing student volunteers for clinics, such as the one at Richfield.

"This experience is irreplaceable," Robinson said. "They (students) will remember this experience for the rest of their lives."

___

Associated Press reporters Jeff Karoub in Flint and Roger Schneider in Detroit contributed to this report.

This Thursday, March 24, 2016, image from video shows a hand-written sign placed at the entrance to a lead-testing clinic held at Richfield Public School Academy in Flint, Mich. Thousands of Flint parents have had their children tested at free clinics run by the Genesee County Health Department since residents became aware that their water had become contaminated with lead after the city began drawing water from the Flint River to save money. The overworked health department has gotten help administering lead tests from nursing faculty and students from University of Michigan-Flint. (AP Photo/Mike Householder)
N. Koreans: Brutal work abroad better than life back home

SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  One North Korean who worked abroad says that as a waitress in China, she was forced to put up with male customers who groped her and tried to get her drunk. Two others recall the frozen bodies of their countrymen stored in Russian logging camps. Another says he toiled for up to 16 hours a day at a Kuwaiti construction site surrounded by wire fences.

As difficult as those lives were, the four workers told The Associated Press, it beat staying in the North. The jobs actually conveyed status back home, and were so coveted that people used bribes and family connections to get them.

"I beat the odds of 1 in 12 to become a waitress ... People's views of jobs in North Korea are totally different from here," said Lee Soung Hee, 42, who worked at a North Korean-run restaurant in the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian in the early 2000s and now lives in South Korea. "Women in North Korea have a fantasy about an overseas waitress job."

In this Dec. 5, 2014 photo, North Korean defector Lee Soung Hee, 42, who worked at a North Korean-run restaurant in the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian in the early 2000s, speaks during an interview in Seoul, South Korea. Four North Koreans who were sent to work abroad confirm many of the brutal conditions rights groups have decried, but also say their lives were better than they had been back home. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

The stories of Lee and the other three workers, all of whom have also defected to rival South Korea, speak volumes about how different life appears when viewed through a North Korean lens.

The country has sent tens of thousands of workers abroad with a mission to bring in foreign currency. Human-rights organizations have called those workers modern-day slaves, while also decrying human-rights abuses North Koreans face back home. To the workers themselves, there is little debate about which plight is more favorable.

The defectors, who worked overseas from the 1990s until the early 2000s, said they had to submit much of their salaries to Pyongyang authorities and never received some of their promised wages. But they said the money they did receive, sometimes earned through moonlighting, still greatly exceeded what they had earned at home.

They said they were also fed relatively well, placed under less strict surveillance and given a rare chance to see the world and learn truths about their homeland.

Lee had expected her overseas experience to elevate her social standing so that she could have a husband with a better job. The other three workers, all men, wanted to buy televisions, cassette players and refrigerators after their typical three years of service.

"I had seen people who had returned home after foreign service smoking good cigarettes and going out for a beer," said Lim Il, who worked at a Kuwait City construction site in the late 1990s. "For ordinary people, things like those were 'rice cake in a picture,'" a Korean expression equivalent to "pie in the sky."

North Koreans working overseas more recently hold similar views, according to South Korean experts and activists who have interviewed current workers or defectors with recent foreign service experience.

The average monthly wage for ordinary North Korean workers is less than $1, according to defectors. Many North Korean families now make money via businesses in unauthorized markets.

"From our viewpoint, it's labor exploitation. But for them, going abroad is a special benefit. They view it as a chance to get away from abysmal lives at home," said Go Myong-Hyun of the Seoul-based Asan Institute for Policy Studies, co-author of a 2014 research paper on North Korean workers. "The problem is that North Korea is making bad use of this."

North Korea denies its workers suffer abuses, calling international criticism a plot to undermine its system.

South Korea's spy agency says 50,000 to 60,000 North Korean workers are in about 50 countries, mostly Russia and China; some experts believe the number of foreign workers is much higher. The Seoul-based North Korea Strategy Center said in a 2012 paper that the country's foreign workers earned the North between $150 million and $230 million annually.

There is consensus among outside experts that North Korea is pushing to expand labor exports because long-running international sanctions have left the country with few legitimate sources of foreign currency.

They are employed in factories and restaurants in China; and logging camps and construction sites in Russia. Others work construction in the Middle East, or are in Africa building giant political statues, teaching taekwondo or providing health care. Their monthly average income was estimated at $120 to $150, according to the Asan Institute.

The North usually sends relatively affluent, loyal citizens who it believes can be less affected by foreign cultures. The vast majority are married men whose families must stay home, discouraging would-be defectors, analysts and activists specializing in North Korea said.

Defections of North Korean workers abroad appear to be relatively uncommon, though statistics are not available. An exception occurred last week, when South Korea announced the defections of 13 North Koreans who had worked abroad together at a restaurant.

Lee was teaching literature to North Korean middle- and high-school students when she jumped at the chance to be a waitress abroad. Lee said her father gave local officials up to 15,000 won (about $70) to help her land the waitress job. Others chosen were fellow teachers, doctors and new college graduates.

Lim used 20 bottles of high-quality liquor and 30 packs of cigarettes as bribes. Kim Sae-gil, a truck driver at a Siberian logging camp, said a relative pulled some strings.

"When I was informed I would go abroad, I felt really, really happy," said Kim, 49, who worked in Siberia from 1995 to 1998. "It was a feeling that I've never experienced since then. It's still probably the best moment in my life."

Much of the workers' actual experiences overseas, however, was grim.

Lee Soung Hee said she was given only one day off per month and had to work even when she learned her mother had died. She said secret police agents monitored waitresses and beat them for hiding tips.

"There were customers who were touching our bodies, but we must not refuse that because our mission was to curry favor with them as much as possible to make them spend all their money," she said. "When customers poured drinks for us, we had to drink them all. But we could not get intoxicated or we would have been criticized for failing to be loyal to the party."

She said colleagues who failed to earn target incomes had to go to motels to have sex with customers who would pay about 650 yuan ($100).

Lee found some positives. She said she enjoyed fruits she had never eaten before, including pineapples, prickly pears and longans.

Lim, a novelist, was a carpenter during his several months in Kuwait. He said he never received his promised $120-a-month salary, though he worked from dawn to midnight at a site surrounded by wire fences. He said he was frustrated when he learned Bangladesh and Indonesian workers nearby earned at least $450 per month.

Lim said he was allowed to moonlight at other construction sites after promising North Korean officials a cut of the extra income.

Lee Yong-ho, a defector who was a truck driver at a Russian logging camp, said he often worked 12 to 14 hours per day but never thought about his working conditions.

"Slaves? Well, I didn't actually think about something like that. I only thought how much I could earn each month," said Lee, now a manual laborer in South Korea.

Kim, who worked at a different Siberian logging camp with about 900 other North Koreans, said dozens of workers died during his stay, many after being hit by falling trees. He said dead workers were stored for months in some vacant houses, with their entire bodies except their heads wrapped by blankets.

"It was so cold there that they hadn't decomposed. Their faces looked just the same as before," he said. "I once touched some of their faces and it was like touching ice."

Lee Yong-ho also saw frozen bodies stored. It was cheaper to them home in groups.

Kim said he had some extra income because he was sometimes allowed to collect wild fruits to sell. He enjoyed drinking alcohol with colleagues and deriding then-leader Kim Jong Il  the late father of current leader Kim Jong Un.

"We just called him 'Kim Jong Il' though we called him 'the general' when we were in North Korea," he said. "We sometimes even called him a 'little child' as he was small. We had such freedom there."

All four workers eventually escaped while working overseas.

"I didn't want to go back to an inferior country," said Lee Soung Hee, who ran away with a South Korean customer who is now her husband. Lee now teaches defector students in Seoul.

She later learned authorities in North Korea forced her relatives to move to remote places or put them under stricter surveillance systems in reprisal against her defection.

The other three workers know nothing about their families' fates.

Kim said that although he decided not to return to North Korea "after getting a taste for freedom," he misses his family, including a baby daughter he left behind.

"She should be 22 now," said Kim, who is now a janitor near Seoul. "I'm still thinking about her."

__

Follow Hyung-jin Kim on Twitter at www.twitter.com/hyungjin1972

In this Feb. 3, 2016 photo, North Korean defector Lee Yong-ho, who often worked 12-14 hours per day as a truck driver at the Russian camp, speaks during an interview at his house in Geumchon, South Korea. Four North Koreans who were sent to work abroad confirm many of the brutal conditions rights groups have decried, but also say their lives were better than they had been back home. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

In this Feb. 3, 2016, North Korean defector Lee Yong-ho, who often worked 12-14 hours per day as a truck driver at the Russian camp, speaks during an interview at his house in Geumchon, South Korea. Four North Koreans who were sent to work abroad confirm many of the brutal conditions rights groups have decried, but also say their lives were better than they had been back home. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

In this Dec. 5, 2014 photo, North Korean defector Lee Soung Hee, 42, who worked at a North Korean-run restaurant in the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian in the early 2000s, puts her hands together during an interview in Seoul, South Korea. Four North Koreans who were sent to work abroad confirm many of the brutal conditions rights groups have decried, but also say their lives were better than they had been back home. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

In this Dec. 9, 2014 photo, North Korean defector Lim Il, who worked at a Kuwait City construction site in the late 1990s, speaks during an interview in Seoul, South Korea. Four North Koreans who were sent to work abroad confirm many of the brutal conditions rights groups have decried, but also say their lives were better than they had been back home. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Navy secretary to Marines: Women in combat is irreversible

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (AP)  Navy Secretary Ray Mabus had a simple message Tuesday for 1,500 Marines and sailors: The decision to let women compete for all military combat positions is as irreversible as earlier edicts to integrate blacks and allow gays and lesbians to openly serve.

It was Mabus' third visit to a major Marine Corps base to explain the issue to rank-and-file audiences since Defense Secretary Ash Carter said in December that all combat positions would be open to women.

Mabus repeatedly emphasized that standards won't be lowered.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus speaks to Marines regarding women in combat during a speech at the Camp Pendleton Marine Base, Tuesday, April 12, 2016, at Camp Pendleton, Calif. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

"Marines, we're past the decision now. The secretary of defense has made the decision. Now we're into implementing," he said Tuesday at Camp Pendleton in California.

Marine Corps leaders had sought to keep certain infantry and combat jobs closed to women, citing studies showing combined-gender units are not as effective as male-only units. Carter, backed by Mabus, overruled them.

Since December, the military services have put together plans outlining how they will integrate women into male-only units.

Marines who sat cross-legged around Mabus on a large concrete surface used for ceremonies didn't object to the change when the secretary invited questions. Some who volunteered to speak with reporters said any resistance might come from older Marines.

"This generation, so much has been changing, whether it be with gays and lesbians and all that, everything's just changing," said Lance Cpl. Guillermo Arenas, 20, who joined the Marines in July. "We have a lot of older Marines that were in longer, so it might take them a little while to adapt to it, but then eventually they'll know that they're Marines."

Four of the seven questions that Mabus took were about women in combat. Others were more interested in his thoughts on Iraq and the future size of the Marine Corps.

One questioner asked for his thoughts on drafting women. He said he supports the idea but it's a decision for Congress. Another wanted to know how quickly women would be fully integrated into combat jobs.

"I think it won't happen all in one day," Mabus said. "It'll be relatively gradual but the decision's been made."

Gunnery Sgt. Janet Marrufo, 31, said Mabus' simple message was effective.

"It was important for Marines to hear out in the open, and let them know officially that it's a full change and that this is happening," said Marrufo, who has been a Marine for 12 years. "I think some Marines were unclear about that at first but he cleared the air."

Mabus, a former Democratic governor of Mississippi, has carried the same message to large audiences at Marine bases at Parris Island, South Carolina, and Quantico, Virginia, after Marine Corps leaders expressed reservations about the change.

Gen. Robert Neller, the Marine Corps commandant, told senators in February that he worried about retention, injury rates and unit effectiveness.

"We have a decision and we're in the process of moving out," Neller told senators. "We will see where the chips fall. And, again, our hope is that everyone will be successful. But hope is not a course of action on the battlefield."

Neller told senators that Marine Corps testing revealed two significant differences between all-male units and those with men and women. He said all-male units were able to better march long distances carrying heavy loads and also were able to fire their weapons more accurately after marching over distance.

Being big and strong and having a "certain body mass give you an advantage," said Neller.

Mabus told the Marines Tuesday that fully integrating women was akin to the integration of blacks in the 1940s and the repeal of the 'don't-ask-don't-tell' policy against gays and lesbians openly serving.

"We are stronger because we have Marines of color," he said. "Same thing when 'don't-ask-don't-tell got repealed. We're stronger because we don't judge people by who they love but on whether they can do the job as Marines. A more diverse force is a stronger force."

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus speaks to several thousand Marines regarding women in combat during a speech at the Camp Pendleton Marine Base, Tuesday, April 12, 2016, at Camp Pendleton, Calif. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus speaks to Marines regarding women in combat during a speech at the Camp Pendleton Marine Base, Tuesday, April 12, 2016, at Camp Pendleton, Calif. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus speaks to Marines regarding women in combat during a speech at the Camp Pendleton Marine Base, Tuesday, April 12, 2016, at Camp Pendleton, Calif. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

FILE - In this Feb. 2, 2016 file photo, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus Jr. gestures while testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington, before the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing to examine the implementation of the decision to open all ground combat units to women. Mabus has squared off against Marine Corps leaders who resisted recruiting women for all combat jobs. On Tuesday, April 12, 2016, he takes his case to a broader audience at Camp Pendleton, Calif. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)
Turkey's military raises number of wounded in attack to 47

ANKARA, Turkey (AP)  Turkey's military has raised the number of people wounded in a car bomb attack at a military police station to 47, including eight civilians. A soldier was killed.

The military blamed militants linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, for detonating the car bomb near the station and military lodgings in the town of Hani in Diyarbakir province late on Monday. A military statement on Tuesday raised the number of those wounded in the attack from the initial report of 25.

Turkey's southeast has witnessed a surge in violence since July when a fragile peace process between the state and the PKK collapsed. Hundreds of people, including more than 350 security force members, have died in the renewed conflict.
Navy flyer describes spotting island castaways

HONOLULU (AP)  The U.S. Navy officer in charge of a flight crew that located three castaways on a remote Pacific island said Monday he has never seen or heard of another rescue quite like it.

The stranded men, who were reported missing last Tuesday after a wave overtook their skiff, were found on a tiny Micronesian island on Thursday, officials said.

The three had spelled out the word "help" with palm fronds after they swam to the deserted island when their boat capsized.

This photo provided by U.S. Navy released Thursday, April 7, 2016, shows a man waving a life jacket and two others looking on as a U.S. Navy P-8A maritime surveillance aircraft discovers them on the uninhabited island of Fanadik. The three men were back to safety on Thursday, three days after going missing. Officials say three men who had been missing for three days were rescued from a deserted Pacific island after a U.S. Navy plane spotted a gigantic "help" spelled out with palm leaves. (Ensign John Knight/U.S. Navy via AP)

"I've never seen anything like that, nor am I aware of anyone in our community seeing anything like that," U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander John Harkins said during a telephone interview with The Associated Press Monday.

Harkins' crew was searching an area given to them by the U.S. Coast Guard when Petty Officer 3rd Class Garrette Odor noticed a strong return on his infrared camera. Harkins said the heat came from a signal fire the stranded men had built, but had already gone out.

The Navy crew began to fly around the island when Petty officer 2nd Class Justin Burns saw the word "help" scrolled out on the beach. About 15 seconds later, three men came running out of the jungle waving their orange life vests over their heads, Harkins said.

After spotting the men, Harkins' crew made several low passes in front of them and eventually dropped a smoke signal to let them know they had been found.

"Initially they weren't so sure that we had seen them," Harkins said. "We made an effort to alleviate their concerns."

The flight crew first rocked the aircraft's wings, then made several low approaches before eventually dropping the smoke marker in the water in front of the men.

"Eventually they actually started relaxing," Harkins said. "We have a photo of all three of them laying down, some on top of the 'help' sign."

"Finding them on the island was not necessarily what we expected to happen," Harkins said of the mission. "We all stood up and gave each other high-fives."

The men's families reported them missing Tuesday after they failed to show up at the Micronesian island of Weno, where they were traveling from their home island, Pulap.

The U.S. Coast Guard notified the Navy, and Harkins' crew began their search after a stop in Guam early Thursday.

"Fortunately for them, they were all wearing life jackets and were able to swim to the deserted island," U.S. Coast Guard spokeswoman Melissa McKenzie said.

A local boat picked the men up and took them to back to their home island, which was only about 5 miles away from where they were found, Harkins said.

The Coast Guard said it didn't have information on the men's condition, but officials told the Washington Post they were not injured.

The Navy crew followed the local boat back to their island, then made a final low pass and rocked their wings "to say goodbye," Harkins said.

Two bulk carriers searched a combined 17 hours for the men as part of AMVER, a U.S. Coast Guard voluntary search and rescue program. With AMVER, rescue coordinators can identify participating ships in the area of distress and ask them to help.

In the last two weeks, 15 people have been rescued in the Pacific with the help of 10 AMVER vessels and six aircrews, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

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Follow Caleb Jones on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalebAP

This photo provided by U.S. Navy released Thursday, April 7, 2016, shows a man waving a life jacket as a U.S. Navy P-8A maritime surveillance aircraft discovers them on the uninhabited island of Fanadik. The three men were back to safety on Thursday, three days after going missing. Officials say three men who had been missing for three days were rescued from a deserted Pacific island after a U.S. Navy plane spotted a gigantic "help" spelled out with palm leaves. (Ensign John Knight/U.S. Navy via AP)
Supreme Court to swear in large group of deaf lawyers

WASHINGTON (AP)  Mobile phones ordinarily are strictly forbidden in the marble courtroom of the nation's highest court, but the justices are making an exception next week when roughly a dozen deaf and hard-of-hearing lawyers will be admitted to the Supreme Court bar.

The lawyers will use their phones to see a real-time transcript as they take part in an April 19 swearing-in ceremony featuring the largest group of hearing-impaired attorneys ever admitted at one time to practice before the high court.

Advocates for deaf lawyers say they hope the event will encourage others with disabilities to pursue legal careers.

"We wanted to do an event that would help break down stereotypes and demonstrate clearly that deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals can achieve anything they set their minds to," said Anat Maytal, a New York lawyer and president of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Bar Association.

Nearly 4,000 lawyers join the Supreme Court bar each year, though the vast majority will never actually represent a client there. Membership requires a $200 fee, membership in a state bar for three years and sponsorship by two current Supreme Court bar members.

Still, it's considered an honor to stand before the justices and be welcomed in person by Chief Justice John Roberts. Maytal says her group spent weeks working with court officials to set up the unique arrangements for the ceremony.

Two sign language interpreters will be in the courtroom and a special court reporter will be there to offer real-time captions that hearing-impaired lawyers can see on cell phones or other electronic devices.

It's a big exception to the rules for a court that is famously slow to adapt to new technology and requires everyone participating in or watching arguments to leave electronic devices outside the courtroom.

Maytal said the court set up a special wireless connection limited only to those participating in the ceremony. The phones can't be used for any other purpose and no photography will be allowed.

"The very fact that the Supreme Court will be admitting a group of deaf and hard-of-hearing lawyers shows tremendous progress," Maytal said. "We hope that this event signals to everyone that deaf and hard-of-hearing attorneys are capable of succeeding at the highest levels of the profession just like everyone else."

The ceremony will take place at 10 a.m., followed by arguments in two cases.
Britain urges refrain in South China Sea's disputes

HANOI, Vietnam (AP)  British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has urged claimants of the South China Sea to refrain from the use of force and uphold international law in resolving their disputes.

"It is our firm view that claimants (of the South China Sea ) should refrain from the threat or use of force and from unilateral actions such as deployment of military forces and equipment on disputed maritime features," Hammond told reporters Tuesday at a press briefing with his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh in Hanoi.

He said Britain has "strong national interests in the continued stability and security of this region."

Britain's Foreign Minister Philip Hammond, left, shakes hands with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in Hanoi, Vietnam Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Hammond is in Vietnam for a two-day visit to boost ties between the two countries. (AP Photo/Tran Van Minh)

His comments come at a time when massive land reclamation by China and increased military action in the South China Sea have raised concerns among countries in the region and the United States.

Hammond is on a two-day visit to Vietnam to seek ways to expand trade and investment with the Southeast Asian country.

Britain's Foreign Minister Philip Hammond, left, shakes hands with Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh in Hanoi, Vietnam Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Hammond is in Vietnam for a two-day visit to boost ties between the two countries. (AP Photo/Tran Van Minh)

Britain's Foreign Minister Philip Hammond meets with Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh in Hanoi, Vietnam Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Hammond is in Vietnam for a two-day visit to boost ties between the two countries. (AP Photo/Tran Van Minh)
Brussels authorities charge 2, detain 3 others over attacks

BRUSSELS (AP)  Two men have been charged with offenses related to the Brussels bombings, and three others have been detained in Brussels in connection to the Paris attacks, Belgian authorities said Tuesday.

The Belgian Federal Prosecutor's Office said the two who have been charged, identified only as Smail F. and Ibrahim F., were involved in renting an apartment in the Etterbeek area of Brussels that served as a hideout for the bomber who attacked the Brussels subway on March 22 as well as a suspected accomplice.

It said the detention of the three related to the Paris attacks followed a morning search in Uccle, an upscale district of the Belgian capital. A judge will decide Wednesday whether the three people should remain in custody, it said. It said no further information would be made public about the search.

Police secure an area during a house search in the Etterbeek neighborhood in Brussels on Saturday April 9, 2016. The arrest Friday of six men suspected of links to the Brussels bombings, including the last known fugitive in last year's Paris attacks, raised new questions about the extent of the Islamic State cell believed to have carried out the intertwined attacks that left 162 people dead in two countries. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Brussels was home to many of the attackers who struck the French capital Nov. 13, killing 130 victims. According to Belgian and French investigators, the same cell was behind the March 22 suicide bombings that killed 32 victims at the Brussels Airport and in the Brussels subway.

A total of six people are currently under arrest in Belgium and charged with involvement in the Brussels attacks, including the two charged Tuesday, federal magistrate Thierry Werts said. At least eight people, included key suspect Salah Abdeslam, are also being held by Belgian authorities on charges related to the Paris attacks, he said. Responsibility for both acts of carnage was claimed by the Islamic State extremist group.

An investigating magistrate on Monday ordered Smail F., born in 1984, and Ibrahim F., born in 1988, held on charges of participating in the activities of a terrorist group, terrorist murder and attempted terrorist murder as perpetrators, co-perpetrators or accomplices, the prosecutors' office said in a statement.

Werts declined to provide additional details, but state-run RTBF broadcasting, citing information from unspecified sources, reported the two suspects were brothers, and that the older sibling had rented the apartment on the Rue des Casernes, while the younger brother helped empty and clean it following the attacks.

Belgian police searched the Etterbeek apartment Saturday but found no weapons or explosives.
Syria pushes offensive on eve of elections, talks in Geneva

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP)  Syrian government troops pushed an offensive Tuesday against militants in the country's north on the eve of parliament elections  a vote that is expected to rubber-stamp an assembly loyal to President Bashar Assad ahead of a new round of peace talks in Geneva resuming this week.

Damascus says the vote, which will only be held in areas controlled by the government, is constitutional and separate from the talks aimed at ending the war. But the opposition says it contributes to an increasingly unfavorable climate for negotiations amid fierce fighting that threatens an increasingly crumbling cease-fire engineered by the United States and Russia.

The new offensive, launched by Syrian troops and their allies Tuesday, seeks to retake an important hilltop village south of the city of Aleppo from militants, including al-Qaida's local affiliate.

An empty ballot box with Arabic that reads,"Syrian Arab Republic, Damascus Governorate, Election ballot box, number 210", is seen at a polling station as a worker hangs a Syrian National flag in Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Parliamentary elections will be held in Syria to elect the People's Council on 13 April 2016. The vote - expected to be a rubber stamp of President Bashar Assad's loyalists - will only proceed in government-controlled areas as the Damascus authorities are unable to organize any balloting in rebel-controlled areas or the territory under the Islamic State group. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Al-Manar TV, run by Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group, which is fighting alongside Syrian government forces, reported the offensive to retake the village of Tel al-Ais. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist-run monitoring group, said clashes were ongoing around Tel al-Ais and the nearby village of Khan Touman.

The Observatory said dozens of troops and pro-government fighters were killed in Tuesday's clashes in Aleppo province, without providing precise figures.

Tel al-Ais overlooks a supply line connecting the capital, Damascus, to the northern city of Aleppo, parts of which have been held by groups opposed to the government since 2012. Militants captured Tel al-Ais earlier this month after heavy fighting despite the U.S.-Russian-brokered truce, which excludes the al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front.

The Syrian National Coalition, an Istanbul-based opposition group, said the offensive in Aleppo is a violation of the cease-fire, warning that the agreement will lose all meaning if the attacks continue unheeded.

The fighting comes as U.N. brokered indirect peace talks are set to resume on Wednesday in Geneva where the U.N. envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, will be meeting with an umbrella opposition coalition backed by Saudi Arabia, the United States and other Western powers.

The Syrian government says its delegation will arrive in Geneva on Friday, once the balloting in the parliament elections is completed.

De Mistura has said this upcoming round of talks will focus on a political transition in Syria, but government officials say any talk of Assad's departure is a red line.

In Damascus, streets were festooned with posters of campaigning candidates on the eve of the elections. Voting for parliament is held every four years in Syria.

The overriding theme was the grinding war, now in its sixth year. "Hand in hand, we will rebuild," said a candidate's slogan, written in Arabic over his photograph. "For the sake of our children who have died, we will continue," read another poster.

Around 3,500 government-approved candidates are competing for seats in Syria's 250-seat parliament, after more than 7,000 others dropped out.

The election, in which soldiers are being allowed to vote for the first time, will be conducted only in areas under government control. Western leaders and members of the opposition have denounced the process as a sham and a provocation that undermines the Geneva peace talks.

The government says the election is constitutional and has nothing to do with a roadmap for peace agreed on by international powers, which envisions free elections in Syria after a new constitution is drawn and a political transition begins.

In Damascus, many residents rejected voices from abroad calling the elections a farce.

"The Syrian people represent themselves, they don't need anyone from outside to tell them this is right or wrong," said Mahmoud Hilal, a resident who was visiting Damascus from the eastern, Islamic State-held Deir-el-Zour province.

Samer Dabboura, a Damascus resident, said elections are a national duty for every Syrian. "It's a duty for me to choose who should represent us in this parliament, because it is our voice. It is not fake or mandatory, or as they say being forced on us."

Sharif Shehadeh, a member of the current parliament running for re-election, acknowledged that the elections are not perfect or consensual but said those who criticize from abroad have an agenda.

"I'm not saying elections in Syria are like elections in Switzerland but it's a stage that we must assist in as Syrians to move forward toward the future," Shehadeh said.

Shehadeh said the Syrian leadership was prepared to offer a national unity government that would include members of the opposition, and added that any talk of a transitional government is unacceptable because it would lead to a Libya scenario.

"The opposition is still talking about a transitional government. This will not happen in Syria under any circumstances, even if it means prolonging the war for one hundred years," he said.

Also Tuesday, a Russian helicopter crashed near the central Syrian city of Homs, killing the two pilots.

Russia's Defense Ministry said the Mi-28N helicopter gunship crashed early in the day after completing its mission. It said there was no evidence that it came under fire. The bodies of the pilots were recovered and taken to the Hemeimeem air base on Syria's coast, the ministry said.

Russia has been carrying out airstrikes since Sept. 30 in support of Syrian government forces. The air campaign has allowed Russia to test some of its latest weapons, including the Mi-28N helicopter.

The crash brings to three the number of aircraft that Russia has now lost in Syria. The two others were a Su-24 bomber that was shot down by a Turkish jet in November and a helicopter sent on a rescue mission, which was hit by ground fire.

In northern Syria, Turkish artillery shelled Islamic State targets in the Syrian town of Azaz from across the border, after rockets fired from Syria struck a Turkish border town, according to Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency.

Two rockets landed in the Turkish town of Kilis on Tuesday, wounding at least eight people. At least four other people were wounded in a similar incident on Monday.

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Issa reported from Beirut. Associated Press Writer Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, contributed to this report.

Syrians pass by campaign posters for parliamentary candidates in Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Parliamentary elections will be held in Syria to elect the People's Council on 13 April 2016. The vote - expected to be a rubber stamp of President Bashar Assad's loyalists - will only proceed in government-controlled areas as the Damascus authorities are unable to organize any balloting in rebel-controlled areas or the territory under the Islamic State group. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Syrians make their way on a sidewalk in Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Parliamentary elections will be held in Syria to elect the People's Council on 13 April 2016. The vote - expected to be a rubber stamp of President Bashar Assad's loyalists - will only proceed in government-controlled areas as the Damascus authorities are unable to organize any balloting in rebel-controlled areas or the territory under the Islamic State group. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

An empty ballot box with Arabic that reads,"Syrian Arab Republic, Damascus Governorate, Election ballot box, number 210", is seen at a polling station as workers hang a portrait of Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Parliamentary elections will be held in Syria to elect the People's Council on 13 April 2016. The vote - expected to be a rubber stamp of President Bashar Assad's loyalists - will only proceed in government-controlled areas as the Damascus authorities are unable to organize any balloting in rebel-controlled areas or the territory under the Islamic State group. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Ballot envelopes are seen at a polling station in Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Parliamentary elections will be held in Syria to elect the People's Council on 13 April 2016. The vote - expected to be a rubber stamp of President Bashar Assad's loyalists - will only proceed in government-controlled areas as the Damascus authorities are unable to organize any balloting in rebel-controlled areas or the territory under the Islamic State group. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A duck swims as Syrian men pray inside a mosque in the old town of Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Parliamentary elections will be held in Syria to elect the People's Council on 13 April 2016. The vote - expected to be a rubber stamp of President Bashar Assad's loyalists - will only proceed in government-controlled areas as the Damascus authorities are unable to organize any balloting in rebel-controlled areas or the territory under the Islamic State group. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Syrian men pray inside a mosque in the old town of Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Parliamentary elections will be held in Syria to elect the People's Council on 13 April 2016. The vote - expected to be a rubber stamp of President Bashar Assad's loyalists - will only proceed in government-controlled areas as the Damascus authorities are unable to organize any balloting in rebel-controlled areas or the territory under the Islamic State group. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Syrian women walk on a bridge in Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Parliamentary elections will be held in Syria to elect the People's Council on 13 April 2016. The vote - expected to be a rubber stamp of President Bashar Assad's loyalists - will only proceed in government-controlled areas as the Damascus authorities are unable to organize any balloting in rebel-controlled areas or the territory under the Islamic State group. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
The Latest: More than 2,000 people rescued in Mediterranean

BRUSSELS (AP)  The Latest on Europe's response to mass migration (all times local):

8:15 p.m.

Italy's coast guard says more than 2,000 migrants have been rescued in a single day in 17 different operations in the Mediterranean Sea.

Iraqi Yazidi people carrying their belongings leave Idomeni camp, Greece, and head towards another camp near the town of Katerini in Greece, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. More than 12,000 people have been stuck at the Idomeni camp for more than a month with hopes that the border would reopen. (AP Photo/Amel Emric)

A Maltese ship, a redirected cargo vessel and a ship that is part of the EU's Frontex operation joined forces with Italian coast guard, navy and customs rescue ships.

Warm weather and calm seas have resulted in a rebound in the number of people who pay smugglers to cross the Mediterranean to Europe from Libya.

The Coast Guard said the 2,154 rescued Tuesday were found on 16 rubber dinghies and one boat, each crammed with around 100-200 people.

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6:55 p.m.

Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann is defending his country's decision to build border controls at the main crossing with Italy despite EU criticism.

He says that it is "politically necessary and important to take the needed steps" at the Brenner crossing as long as the control of the EU's outer borders is not guaranteed.

He spoke Tuesday amid expressions of concern about the construction from the European Commission, the EU's executive arm. Commission spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud said that "if these plans should materialize, then we would have to look at them very seriously."

Crews started building barriers, a registration hall and other facilities on the Austrian side of the crossing Tuesday. The work is scheduled to be finished by late May.

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5:25 p.m.

Hundreds of migrants and refugees are boarding buses from the impromptu refugee camp on Greece's border with Macedonia and heading to organized camps in northern Greece.

Police said about 350 people on seven buses left Idomeni Tuesday heading to shelters, while a further four buses were to leave later in the afternoon.

More than 11,000 people have been living in Idomeni for weeks after Macedonia shut its border to refugees in early March. The majority live in small tents pitched in fields and along railway tracks, while aid groups have also set up large communal tents. Violent clashes broke out there on Sunday between people attempting to cross the border and Macedonian police.

The Greek government has said it wants to evacuate the sprawling camp in the next weeks.

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5:20 p.m.

Danish police warn that migrants attempting to reach Sweden are endangering their lives by trying to cross the rail and motorway bridge and tunnel between the two countries by foot.

Henrik Moeller Jakobsen from the Copenhagen Police says that since February officers have stopped 25 people on foot trying to sneak onto the 12-kilometer (8-mile) link, which is strictly banned for pedestrians.

Moeller Jakobsen said Tuesday that signs warn of the dangers  mainly of being run over by a train  and that controls are so tight accidents are unlikely. The Oresund bridge is used daily by some 75,000 people and is also equipped with CCTV cameras.

In January, Denmark and Sweden tightened border controls, including requiring that everyone traveling between the two countries shows valid travel documents.

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4:20 p.m.

Greek police temporarily detained 17 people, mostly foreign nationals, during a crackdown on volunteers suspected of spreading malicious rumors at a restive migrant tent city on the border with Macedonia.

Police said Tuesday that 16 of the detainees were subsequently released without charge, while a German man found carrying a knife was charged with possessing a weapon.

The detainees were identified as German, Austrian, Swedish and Portuguese nationals, as well as two Greeks, a Palestinian resident in Greece and a Syrian.

Greece's left-led government has said some volunteers and charity workers at the Idomeni camp are behind recent riots involving hundreds of migrants and refugees trying to force their way into Macedonia.

About 11,000 refugees and migrants have been stuck for weeks at Idomeni, hoping to move on north through Macedonia.

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3:40 p.m.

The European Union says Greece's plan to strengthen its borders to cope with the refugee emergency is not good enough and it has given Athens two weeks to flesh out the details.

The EU demanded that Greece draw up the plan after hundreds of thousands of migrants entered the country, and nations like Germany, Austria, Denmark and Sweden tightened border controls in response.

The Commission said in a statement on Tuesday that "further improvements to the action plan and its implementation are needed in order to comprehensively address the deficiencies identified."

It called on Greece to "provide the additional elements and clarifications by 26 April."

If Athens fails to do so, the Commission is set to recommend that some other countries be allowed to prolong their border controls, possibly until the end of the year.

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3:30 p.m.

The Greek government says it sets "immediate priority" on evacuating a sprawling migrant tent city of 11,000 on the border with Macedonia, where clashes broke out with Macedonian police over the weekend.

Spokeswoman Olga Gerovassili also says efforts are intensifying to move people from Piraeus harbor, the country's second-biggest informal migrant camp, to organized shelters.

She said Tuesday more than 1,000 people have left Piraeus, Greece's main port and gateway to the Aegean islands, in recent days. About 3,800 are still living in squalid conditions at the port, down from a high of almost 6,000.

Gerovassili said Greek authorities are in the process of identifying and prosecuting volunteers and charity workers at the border Idomeni camp, whom the government blames for fomenting Sunday's clashes.

More than 53,000 migrants are trapped in Greece.

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1:45 p.m.

The European Union's executive arm says it's very concerned about plans by Austria to set up border controls at a main crossing point to Italy over fears of a new migrant influx.

European Commission spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud said Tuesday that "if these plans should materialize, then we would have to look at them very seriously."

Austrian police said that crews were to begin pouring concrete on Tuesday for the foundations of a registration hall, barriers and other structures at the Brenner Pass crossing.

Bertaud said "the Brenner Pass is essential for the freedom of movement within the European Union."

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12:30 p.m.

An amateur video that aired on Bulgarian TV appears to show three migrants with their hands tied behind their backs and a group of vigilantes ordering them to return to Turkey.

The migrants, carrying backpacks, are lying on the ground restrained with black zip ties. One of the men surrounding them tells the trio, "No Bulgaria. Go back (to) Turkey," and that they should leave immediately. One of the migrants nods his head to indicate that he understands.

It wasn't immediately clear when the video was shot, but it appears to be in an area near the Bulgaria-Turkey border. It aired on multiple Bulgarian TV stations on Monday, after the video first appeared on social media with a comment reading: "DETENTION OF MIGRANTS AND RETURN TO TURKEY."

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10:05 a.m.

The European Union has welcomed in 74 Syrian refugees from Turkey and sent more than 300 migrants back there under a new agreement between the EU and Ankara.

European Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos announced the figures to EU lawmakers on Tuesday, and noted that "implementing this agreement is a challenge."

Under the deal, which entered force on April 4, migrants arriving in Greece from Turkey from March 20 who do not qualify for international protection will be sent back.

For every Syrian returned, the EU has pledged to accept one Syrian refugee directly from Turkey, where an estimated 2.7 million Syrians are taking refuge from the conflict in their homeland.

The United Nations and rights groups are concerned the deal might infringe on people's rights.

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9:45 a.m.

Turkey's state-run news agency says two more rockets fired from Syria have landed in a Turkish border town, wounding two people.

Anadolu Agency said one of the rockets hit a guesthouse in the town of Kilis on Tuesday while the second landed on an empty field near a bus terminal, wounding two people who were passing by.

Authorities evacuated children from a nearby youth center that has been turned into a temporary school for Syrian refugees, the report said.

Kilis has been hit by cross-border rocket fire in the past week, prompting Turkish artillery units to retaliate in line with the Turkish military's rules of engagement.

The wider province of Kilis borders areas in Syria that are controlled by the Islamic State group, Syrian Kurdish militia or anti-government Syrian rebels.

FILE - In this May 4, 2015 file photo, the Bridge between Denmark and Sweden 'Oeresundsbroen' is seen from the village of Dragor in Denmark. In the search for new routes, migrants in northern Europe have tried an illegal and dangerous crossing _ from Denmark to Sweden along a rail and motorway bridge and tunnel that links the two countries. Henrik Moeller Jakobsen from the Copenhagen Police said Tuesday April 12, 2016 that since February officers have stopped 25 people on foot trying to sneak onto the 12-kilometer (eight-mile) link, strictly banned for pedestrians. (Janus Engel/Polfoto via AP) DENMARK OUT

FILE - In this December 8, 2006 file photo, the border between Denmark and Sweden is seen on the middle of 'Oeresundsbroen' the Bridge between the two countries. In the search for new routes, migrants in northern Europe have tried an illegal and dangerous crossing _ from Denmark to Sweden along a rail and motorway bridge and tunnel that links the two countries. Henrik Moeller Jakobsen from the Copenhagen Police said Tuesday April 12, 2016 that since February officers have stopped 25 people on foot trying to sneak onto the 12-kilometer (eight-mile) link, strictly banned for pedestrians. (Finn Frandsen/Polfoto via AP) DENMARK OUT

An Iraqi Yazidi girl waves from a bus as she and her family leave Idomeni camp, Greece, and head towards another camp near the town of Katerini in Greece, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. More than 12,000 people have been stuck at the Idomeni camp for more than a month with hopes that the border would reopen. (AP Photo/Amel Emric)

Iraqi Yazidi people carrying their belongings leave Idomeni camp, Greece, and head towards another camp near the town of Katerini in Greece, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. More than 12,000 people have been stuck at the Idomeni camp for more than a month with hopes that the border would reopen. (AP Photo/Amel Emric)

An Iraqi Yazidi mother plays with her child as she waits for a bus to leave the Idomeni camp in Greece, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. More than 12,000 people have been stuck her for more than a month amid hopes that the border would reopen.(AP Photo/Amel Emric)

Men lay across the rail tracks preventing a Greece locomotive to drive away a cargo wagon at the makeshift camp at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. More than 12,000 people have been stuck here for more than a month with hopes that the border would reopen. (AP Photo/Amel Emric)

An Afghan woman holds her baby outside their tent at the old international airport, which is used as a shelter for over 4,300 refugees and migrants, in southern Athens, on Tuesday, April 12, 2016. More than 53,000 people who made their way to Greece from Turkey have been stranded in the country since Balkan and European nations shut their land borders to stem the largest refugee flow the continent has seen since World War II. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

A young girl walks past a banner that reads, ''The European Union murderous'', during a march in support of refugees and migrants entering Europe, in Pamplona, northern Spain, Monday, April 11, 2016. (AP Photo/ Alvaro Barrientos)
The Latest: US urges Russia to get Syria to end violence

BEIRUT (AP)  The Latest on the Syrian civil war (all times local):

10 p.m.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations is urging Russia and other countries with influence to get the Syrian government to honor the cease-fire, warning that the current escalation of violence could threaten this week's peace talks in Geneva.

A Syrian man feeds pigeons in front of campaign posters for parliamentary candidates in the Marjeh square, Damascus, Syria, Monday, April 11, 2016. The vote - expected to be a rubber stamp of President Bashar Assad's loyalists - will only proceed in government-controlled areas as the Damascus authorities are unable to organize any balloting in rebel-controlled areas or the territory under the Islamic State group. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Samantha Power told reporters after U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura briefed the Security Council on Tuesday that the United States is "very alarmed" at Syria's announcement of an offensive around Aleppo which would hurt prospects to end the five-year Syrian conflict.

Power criticized Syria for allowing only two humanitarian convoys in April and no access to the besieged town of Daraya where "there are reports of kids walking around looking like skeletons" and people eating grass.

She says "it is a much more delicate environment for de Mistura to convene political talks when you're seeing regressions on humanitarian access and regressions on the cessation of hostilities."

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8 p.m.

The head of the world's largest bloc of Islamic countries says there should be no place for President Bashar Assad in the foreseeable future in Syria.

Tuesday's remarks by Iyad Madani, the secretary-general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, came on the eve of a new round of indirect peace talks in Geneva. Madani spoke after a meeting of OIC member-states' foreign ministers in Istanbul.

Madani says the 57-member OIC does not believe Assad can be "part of the solution." He says that the Syrian president "is not even part of the problem. He is the problem itself."

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7:30 p.m.

The U.N. special envoy for Syria says he and a leading Iranian diplomat agree that steps toward political transition in the war-ravaged Syria are "crucially urgent."

Staffan de Mistura met with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Tehran on Tuesday as he ended a trip through the region ahead of Wednesday's resumption of Syria peace talks in Geneva.

In comments relayed later by his office, de Mistura said it was important to meet with Iranian officials because they have "influence" and have been giving him advice during the talks that resumed in February.

Iran is a key backer of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

On Sunday, Iranian state TV quoted a top adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as saying that Iran believes Assad should remain in power until the end of his term.

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12 p.m.

Turkey's state-run news agency says Turkish artillery have shelled Islamic State targets across the border in Syria, after rockets fired from Syria struck a Turkish border town.

Anadolu Agency says Turkish military fired at IS positions around the town of Azaz, in northern Syria.

Two rockets landed in the Turkish town of Kilis on Tuesday, wounding at least eight people. At least four other people were wounded in a similar incident on Monday.

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11:30 a.m.

Russia says one of its helicopters crashed in Syria, killing the two pilots.

The Defense Ministry says the Mi-28N helicopter gunship crashed early Tuesday near Homs after completing its mission. It says there is no evidence that it came under fire.

The ministry says the bodies of the pilots have been recovered and taken to the Hemeimeem air base on Syria's coast.

Russia has been carrying out airstrikes since Sept. 30 in support of Syrian government forces. The air campaign has allowed Russia to test some of its latest weapons, including the Mi-28 helicopter.

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9:30 a.m.

A pro-government media outlet says Syrian troops have launched an offensive to retake a strategic hilltop village south of Aleppo from insurgents, including al-Qaida's local affiliate.

Al-Manar TV says the attack on Tel al-Ais was launched on Tuesday. Al-Manar is run by Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group, which is fighting alongside Syrian government forces.

The village overlooks a supply line connecting the capital, Damascus, to the northern city of Aleppo, parts of which have been held by insurgents since 2012.

A coalition of insurgent factions captured Tel al-Ais earlier this month after heavy fighting despite a U.S. and Russian-brokered cease-fire, which excludes the al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front.
Possible lost Caravaggio painting found in attic in France

PARIS (AP)  A 400-year-old picture that might have been painted by Italian master Caravaggio has been found in an attic in southern France.

Eric Turquin, the French expert who retrieved the painting two years ago, said it is in an exceptional state of conservation and estimated its value at 120 million euros (about $135 million), even though he acknowledged experts disagree about its authenticity.

Called "Judith Beheading Holofernes," it depicts the biblical heroine Judith beheading an Assyrian general. It is thought to have been painted in Rome around 1604-05.

Auction officer Marc Labarbe presents the painting to the media in Paris, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. A 400-year-old painting that might have been executed by Italian master Caravaggio and could be worth more than 100 million euros has been found in an attic in Southern France.The picture, whose authenticity has not been established, had been left for more than 150 years in a property in the outskirts of Toulouse. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Turquin told a news conference on Tuesday that there "will never be a consensus" about the artist.

Two Caravaggio experts he consulted with attributed the painting to Louis Finson, a Flemish painter and art dealer who was familiar with Caravaggio, Turquin said. Finson possessed a number of works from the Italian master and made copies of his pictures.

"But the third expert I met told me that it was not only a Caravaggio, but also a masterpiece," Turquin said. "'Judith Beheading Holofernes' must be considered the most important painting, by far, to have emerged in the last 20 years by one of the great masters."

The picture has been awarded "National Treasure" status by French authorities, meaning that it can't be exported for 30 months, leaving the national museums enough time for its acquisition.

While the art work has yet to be authenticated, France's Culture Ministry justified its decision to ban the export of the painting because it "deserves to be kept on (French) territory as a very important landmark of Caravaggism."

Bruno Arciprete, the Naples-based expert who restored Caravaggio's "Flagellation of the Lord" and "Seven Works of Mercy," said the painting could well be a Caravaggio but that further studies are needed.

"It has interesting characteristics that can be attributed to Caravaggio," he said in a phone interview.

Arciprete said he saw the work a few months ago in Paris and came away with a "very good impression."

"What is required is more scientific research, and then studies by art historians," to specifically look at the technique, pigments, the type of canvas and its preparation to see if it corresponds to those used by Caravaggio, he said.

However Richard E. Spear, a scholar of Italian Baroque art who is an expert on Caravaggio, said he was "highly dubious" that the Italian master actually painted the art work.

Spear, who has only seen photos of the painting, told the AP that he wasn't convinced by the handling of the brushwork and that some anatomical details of the characters raised questions.

"Altogether, the picture looks rather coarse and heavy to me," he said.

The owners of the house in Toulouse discovered the painting, which had been partially damaged by water, when they went to the attic to fix a leak.

Turquin kept the picture away from the public eye for two years, cleaning it and submitting it to a deep examination that included infra-red reflectography and X-rays. Because of the painting's large size, some of the checks were made at a veterinary school.

"In between a horse and a cow, the radiologist was a bit surprised," Turquin joked. "Then she told us we brought her a stolen picture, because she thought it was actually the contemporary copy from Finson."

That copy is on display in Naples and belongs to an Italian bank.

According to Turquin's team of experts, the two paintings were recorded in Finson's will made in Amsterdam in 1617. Then the original disappeared.

"It's a painting of a composition that we know of from the other versions, and whether there's a Caravaggio behind it we still have not found, or is this an invention by Finson? That, we don't know for sure," Spear added.

Turquin, on the other hand, says he doesn't need further expertise.

"Everybody agrees on the fact that it's one of the most important masterpieces from the 17th century to have emerged over the past 30 years," said Turquin, who has been watching over the painting. Since its delivery in Paris, he has been sleeping with the painting in his bedroom, as a security measure.

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Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed to this report.

Julie Ducher, French expert specialized in old master paintings, talks to the media in Paris, Tuesday, April 12, 2016 next to a painting that might have been executed by Italian master Caravaggio. The painting could be worth more than 100 million euros has been found in an attic in Southern France.The picture, whose authenticity has not been established, had been left for more than 150 years in a property in the outskirts of Toulouse. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
UK lawmakers to discuss ailing steel industry

LONDON (AP)  U.K. lawmakers are set to hold an emergency debate on saving the country's struggling steel industry.

The three-hour debate Tuesday comes a day after the government suggested it could use public funds to invest in plants owned by Tata Steel, which employs thousands across the country. The company's holdings are for sale after losing 1 million pounds ($1.43 million) a day.

Several firms are thought to be interested in buying Tata's plants, including the commodities group Liberty House.

Business Secretary Sajid Javid told Parliament on Monday the government was prepared to co-invest with any buyer of Tata's plants. These include the steelworks at Port Talbot in Wales, which employs 5,500 workers.
Russian cartoon bear takes the world by storm

MOSCOW (AP)  A proverbial Russian bear has long alarmed Westerners as the symbol of Moscow's might and purported ferocity. But the Russian who has taken the world by storm is a sweet goof who hasn't fired a single shot.

Masha and the Bear, a Russian animated television series launched in 2009, now broadcasts in more than 120 countries including the United States. Its YouTube channel is in the top 10 most-viewed worldwide. While Russia's mammoth oil and gas industries grunt under the weight of low energy prices, the cartoon's producer Animaccord has a steady 40 percent annual revenue increase.

The cartoon, loosely based on a Russian fairy tale, centers on the mischievous and minuscule girl Masha and the towering Bear, a retired circus performer who falls victim to the green-eyed sprite's pranks. The cartoon is set in an idealized countryside, loaded with traditional bric-a-brac.

In this Wednesday, March 2, 2016 photo, a notebook with the characters of cartoon TV series Masha and the Bear lays on the desk at the company's office in Moscow, Russia. Masha and the Bear, a Russian animated television series launched in 2009, now broadcasts in more than 120 countries including the United States. Its YouTube channel is in the top 10 most-viewed worldwide. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

Their real home is a former Soviet kindergarten in Moscow's northern outskirts. There, more than 70 animators each produce 2 to 4 seconds of screen time a day.

It's slow work due to the highly detailed images, unusual for television series. The images have a convincing 3-D effect, move fluidly and are so precise that viewers can count Masha's tiny teeth. That costs money as well as time  up to $250,000 per six-minute episode.

Senior animator Andrei Belyayev can spend hours trying on a myriad of expressions for Masha's face as she bursts into the bear's house to announce an unexpected guest. The animators are particular about even small pieces of the cartoon such as food in the refrigerator and flowers on the lawn.

"Children are very discerning viewers," Belyayev said in a recent interview. "You think again and again how to tell this story and show the scene from a new angle so that children would not be bored when they watch it for the 10th or 100th time."

The cartoon has roots in the Soviet animated film industry, which had unusual freedom. Officials regarded cartoons as fairly insignificant and did not apply smothering censorship. Despite the industry's creativity, its cartoons remained largely unknown outside the Russian-speaking world until Masha and the Bear broke through.

Masha and the Bear's creator Oleg Kuzovkov, like many other Russian animators, moved to work in Los Angeles amid the post-Soviet economic troubles of the 1990s, before returning in 2003. He still divides his time between Moscow and Los Angeles; all pre-production for the series such as screenwriting and storyboard is done in California.

"Some types of professionals like storyboard artists are nowhere to be found in Moscow," Kuzovkov said by phone from LA.

While giant Russian companies like energy exporters complain of unfair treatment in the West, linked to economic sanctions against Russia, Masha's creators say they face no discrimination in the West.

"There is no animosity, no rivalry, and no one tries (in the United States) to protect their animation market from foreign projects," Kuzovkov. "When they see something unique and unusual, something they don't have, they take it."

Unlike many Russian companies, Animaccord has not lined up for state subsidies. It won two grants for a cinema foundation when the series was already established, but Masha's creators still want to steer away from government money.

"They have their own hierarchy there," he said. "I'm not part of it and I didn't want to waste time elbowing for a place at the feeder."

In 2015, Masha and the Bear won a prestigious Kindscreen award as the Best Animation and was listed as one of 250 shows "destined to be classics" by Animation Magazine.

The cartoon has gone on from critical acclaim to a commercial success, bringing the company 292 million rubles ($4.3 million) in revenues in 2013, according to the RBC business newspaper. Animaccord would not disclose its profits but managing director Dmitry Loveyko says they have been posting roughly a 40 percent increase in revenue annually.

About two-thirds of YouTube royalties that Animaccord receives comes from views outside Russia, Loveyko says. In August, Animaccord struck a deal with Netflix to bring the cartoon to the United States where Masha is dubbed by Elsie Fisher, who spoke for Agnes in "Despicable Me."

Apart from television deals and YouTube royalties, Masha and the Bear gets 60 percent of all revenues from goods licensing, and thanks to the deals with global consumer brands Masha's face is glowing from children's toys to tea bags at supermarkets around the globe.

Getting a foot in the door in the West was tough, but Animaccord found the better-regulated Western markets easier to navigate. In Russia, Masha and the Bear has to compete against a vast amount of counterfeit goods, which Loveyko estimates at 30 percent of the market, something that is not an issue in Western Europe or North America:

"The Russian market should be a kind of launch pad for testing ideas: if you make it here, on a very tough Russian market where everything is difficult, I think it will require only a small step to present yourself in the West."

The cartoon's creators never set out to make the cartoon to suit the mores and customs of other countries, but some elements of it turned out to be a happy coincidence.

Masha, who is dressed in a folk costume with a headscarf, became a household name in many Muslim nations including Indonesia. "It's a Muslim country, so we thought we're lucky she wears a headscarf and her legs are covered!" Loveyko said.

Masha's creator Kuzovkov says he is still baffled by the success of the one-toothed girl.

"It was conceived as a local project, tailored to the Russian audience but with all the trappings of the American industry like tempo, editing, a quality picture," he said. "The atmosphere, that TV set, the telephone, it's all from (my) childhood. This world is native to me  for them it's a new style."

In this Friday March 4, 2016 photo, Dmitry Loveyko, managing director of Animaccord which produces the Masha and the Bear cartoon series, talks to The Associated Press in Moscow, Russia. Masha and the Bear, a Russian animated television series launched in 2009, now broadcasts in more than 120 countries including the United States. Its YouTube channel is in the top 10 most-viewed worldwide. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

In this Wednesday, March 2, 2016 photo, a storyboard for a new episode of the Masha and the Bear cartoon series at the company's office in Moscow, Russia. Masha and the Bear, a Russian animated television series launched in 2009, now broadcasts in more than 120 countries including the United States. Its YouTube channel is in the top 10 most-viewed worldwide. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

In this Wednesday, March 2, 2016 photo, senior animator Andrei Belyayev works a on new episode of the Masha and the Bear cartoon series in Moscow, Russia. Masha and the Bear, a Russian animated television series launched in 2009, now broadcasts in more than 120 countries including the United States. Its YouTube channel is in the top 10 most-viewed worldwide. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

In this Wednesday, March 2, 2016 photo, a storyboard for a new episode of the Masha and the Bear cartoon series hangs on a cork board at the company's office in Moscow, Russia. Masha and the Bear, a Russian animated television series launched in 2009, now broadcasts in more than 120 countries including the United States. Its YouTube channel is in the top 10 most-viewed worldwide. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

In this photo taken Wednesday, March 2, 2016, animator Andrei Belyayev works on a new episode of the Masha and the Bear cartoon series in Moscow, Russia. Masha and the Bear, a Russian animated television series launched in 2009, now broadcasts in more than 120 countries including the United States. Its YouTube channel is in the top 10 most-viewed worldwide. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

In this Wednesday, March 2, 2016 photo, animator Alexander Goncharov works on a new episode of the Masha and the Bear cartoon series in Moscow, Russia. Masha and the Bear, a Russian animated television series launched in 2009, now broadcasts in more than 120 countries including the United States. Its YouTube channel is in the top 10 most-viewed worldwide. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

In this Wednesday, March 2, 2016 photo, animator Elena Golyankova works on a new episode of Masha and the Bear, a cartoon series in Moscow, Russia. Masha and the Bear, a Russian animated television series launched in 2009, now broadcasts in more than 120 countries including the United States. Its YouTube channel is in the top 10 most-viewed worldwide. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

In this Wednesday, March 2, 2016 photo, senior animator Andrei Belyayev works on a new episode of the Masha and the Bear cartoon series in Moscow, Russia. Masha and the Bear, a Russian animated television series launched in 2009, now broadcasts in more than 120 countries including the United States. Its YouTube channel is in the top 10 most-viewed worldwide. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

In this Wednesday, March 2, 2016 photo, a diploma for 100,000 YouTube subscribers is displayed at the headquarters of a company which produces the Masha and the Bear cartoon series in Moscow, Russia. Masha and the Bear, a Russian animated television series launched in 2009, now broadcasts in more than 120 countries including the United States. Its YouTube channel is in the top 10 most-viewed worldwide. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)
Greenpeace protests logging in Poland's rare primeval forest

WARSAW, Poland (AP)  Environment activists have protested Poland's plans of extensive logging in Europe's last primeval forest and have demanded full protection for the rare Bialowieza woods.

Greenpeace members on Tuesday spread a banner on the Environment Ministry that read "(Make) All of the Forest a National Park," a protective status that would ban logging.

Last month, Environment Minister Jan Szyszko approved extensive logging in the Bialowieza Forest, in northeastern Poland, saying it was to help fight the spreading invasion of bark beetle, a kind of woodworm that attacks and kills trees.

Greenpeace activists spread a giant banner on Poland's Environment Ministry that reads: "(Make) All the Forest a National Park" in Warsaw, Poland, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. The protest comes in reaction to government plans for widespread logging in the Bialowieza forest, Europe's last primeval forest. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)

The forest is on UNESCO's World Heritage list and is home to hundreds of wild bison, over 60 other species of mammals and hundreds of species of trees, plants and lichens. It stretches into Belarus.

Greenpeace activists hold a banner as they stand on the roof of Poland's Environment Ministry building in Warsaw, Poland, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. The protest comes in reaction to government plans for widespread logging in the Bialowieza forest, Europe's last primeval forest. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)

A photographer takes pictures as Greenpeace activists spread a giant banner on Poland's Environment Ministry that reads: "(Make) All the Forest a National Park" in Warsaw, Poland, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. The protest comes in reaction to government plans for widespread logging in the Bialowieza forest, Europe's last primeval forest. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)
Putin plays up Russia-US cooperation in space

MOSCOW (AP)  Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday highlighted the ability of Russia and the United States to cooperate closely in space, despite all of the difficulties the two countries face on Earth.

Putin spoke by video link with astronauts from both countries aboard the International Space Station on the day Russia celebrates Cosmonauts Day. It was on April 12, 1961, that Yuri Gagarin orbited the Earth to become the first man in space.

"We attach great importance that despite whatever difficulties we face on Earth, people in space work shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand, to help each other and fulfill tasks that are essential not just for our countries but for all of humanity," Putin told the six-man crew.

Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a model of a space ship during a visit to Roskosmos in Moscow on Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Putin has highlighted Russia's cooperation with the United States in space, despite all of the difficulties the two countries face on Earth. Putin spoke by video link with astronauts from both countries aboard the International Space Station on Tuesday, the day Russia celebrates Cosmonauts Day. It was on April 12, 1961, that Yuri Gagarin orbited the Earth to become the first man in space. (Alexei Druzhinin/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Timothy Kopra, the American commander of the mission, congratulated Putin on the 55th anniversary of Gagarin's flight. "I am thankful for that fantastic event," he said in Russian.

Putin also spoke by video link with officials at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, which will hold its first launch on April 27. He expressed hope that Russia and its partners in the space program  in the U.S., Europe and Japan  would work together in ways that "would help us bring our positions closer and perhaps through space understand one another better on Earth."

The sprawling space center in Russia's Far East will give Russia its own facility for manned launches and ease its reliance on the Soviet-era Baikonur launch pad in Kazakhstan.
Chinese women getting mixed social signals on beauty, roles

BEIJING (AP)  Chinese women are being taken on a roller-coaster ride by social media, getting bombarded on one side by extreme expectations about physical beauty while getting support for female independence in a society where women who aren't married by their late 20s are considered "leftovers."

In recent months, social media here has been swept by a series of body image crazes. The "A4 waist" fad challenged women see how skinny they were by posting photos of their middles to show that a piece of standard copy paper 21 centimeters (8 1/4 inches) wide covered their waists.

Then "iPhone knees" tested whether a cellphone would cover the knees, an indication of slender legs. Most recently, the "100-yuan wrist" had women showing they could wrap a bank note around their wrists.

A computer screen displays blogs showing women taking up online challenges such as an "A4 waist" or "iPhone knees" in Beijing, China, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Online trends challenging women to show an A4 waist or iPhone knees, are a counterpoint to a recent viral advertising campaign taking on the issue of leftover women, those in their later 20s or older who are still unmarried and widely considered by society to be social failures, old maids who are past their prime. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

The online fads  slammed by women's advocates as unhealthy and emotionally harmful to women who feel like they don't measure up  come even as Chinese women are attaining higher educational, professional and economic status than ever. Yet as they try to break old barriers, women still feel pressure to meet cultural expectations about getting married in their early 20s, having children and being the main caregiver  as well as traditional notions equating slenderness with feminine beauty.

"Male-oriented aesthetics still dominate the mainstream, and the Internet or the new media have magnified this proclivity," said Beijing-based social scholar Wu Qiang.

Taking the opposite tack  and also garnering lots of attention  has been a four-minute online ad by a cosmetics brand SK-II that depicts the struggles of unmarried women in their late 20s.

The video starts with several women talking in painful tones about the pressures they face from family and society. A few parents also appear, including one father who tells his daughter he won't be able to go peacefully to his grave until she's married off. But it ends with the women speaking confidently about their right to choose their way of life, including one who says she's happy being single.

"The campaign really is to inspire women to overcome their limitations, to make their own destiny," said Markus Strobel, global president for the cosmetic line, which is owned by Procter & Gamble Co.

Since being posted on the brand's official microblog on April 7, the video has received nearly 5,000 likes and been shared more than 25,000 times. Altogether, the video has been viewed nearly 10 million times globally on all platforms, garnering more than 3.9 million comments, likes, shares and reposts, Strobel said.

The company chose to feature "leftover women" in China because it's a topic much discussed, he said. All characters in the video  the women and their parents  are non-actors discussing their real-life struggles, he said.

Women's rights activist Zheng Churan said she welcomed the ad despite its obvious commercial motives. Too often, however, the stereotype of the "leftover woman" ignores the struggles of poor, less-educated women, she said.

"We only see white-collar, elite women in this ad, but an 18-year-old factory girl pressed into marriage still has no voice," Zheng said.

Fellow advocate Li Tingting said the popularity of the video is a sign that Chinese women have become more independent.

"It's progress, compared to most other ads where women are expected to get married," Li said. "The fact it has gone viral shows there have been changes in women's attitudes."

While seeking to empower women, the ad also speaks to how Chinese women have grown more conscious of their looks than ever. Workplace discrimination has frequently prompted women to undergo cosmetic surgery in hopes of gaining an edge in the job market, and in many cases, attracting a desirable husband.

Before the most recent body image crazes, the test to pass for being slender was whether a woman could wrap one of her arms around her back to reach her navel. Then came a test to see how many coins a woman could balance on her collarbone  supposedly to demonstrate a sculpted figure.

While women's attitudes are changing, those of parents and society are taking much more time. The SK-II video depicts the Shanghai "marriage market," where parents display information about their daughters in public parks in hopes of finding a suitor.

Zheng Lei, a 30-year-old Beijing man, said that while women have worked hard to become attractive, they also have become too picky and demanding.

"They demand the men to have money, houses, cars and urban residency permits. But there are only one thousand men who are able to meet this demand. Of course these women are left," Zheng said. "So women should lower their demands and be realistic."

___

Associated Press videojournalist Aritz Parra contributed to this report.

Women's rights advocates Zheng Churan, left, and Li Tingting talks during an interview about the recent SK-II ad about leftover women in Beijing, China, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Members of the Chinese public say the ad campaign, despite its commercial motivations, promotes confidence for Chinese women, although some critics say the portrayal of leftover women in a gloomy and depressing light in the first half of the ad has done disservice by reinforcing the social prejudices and is still discriminating. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Women's rights advocate Li Tingting talks about a print highlighting the gender ratio imbalance in number of female lavatories during an interview about the recent SK-II ad about leftover women in Beijing, China, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Li said the popularity of the SK-II video is a sign that Chinese women have become more aware of their rights after years of efforts by advocates for womens rights. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Women's rights advocate Li Tingting, at right talks during an interview about the recent SK-II ad about leftover women in Beijing, China, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Li said the popularity of the SK-II video is a sign that Chinese women have become more aware of their rights after years of efforts by advocates for womens rights. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

In this image made from an online ad released by SK-II on April 7, 2016, a female character described to be one of several struggling with the social pressure to get married is seen. Members of the Chinese public say the ad campaign, despite its commercial motivations, promotes confidence for Chinese women, although some critics say the portrayal of leftover women in a gloomy and depressing light in the first half of the ad has done disservice by reinforcing the social prejudices and is still discriminating.(SK-II via AP)

In this image made from an online ad released by SK-II on April 7, 2016, a female character, left, described to be one of several struggling with the social pressure to get married is seen seated at the dinner table with her parents. The four-minute online ad for skin treatments by the high-end cosmetic line SK-II encouraged Chinese women to be independent and not cave to social pressures. Since being posted on the companys official microblog on April 7, the video has been viewed nearly 10 million times globally on all platforms, garnering more than 3.9 million comments, likes, shares and reposts, said SK-IIs Marcus Strobel, global president for the cosmetic line.(SK-II via AP)

In this image made from an online ad released by SK-II on April 7, 2016, a female character described to be one of several struggling with the social pressure to get married is seen crying during an interview. The four-minute online ad for skin treatments by the high-end cosmetic line SK-II encouraged Chinese women to be independent and not cave to social pressures. Since being posted on the companys official microblog on April 7, the video has been viewed nearly 10 million times globally on all platforms, garnering more than 3.9 million comments, likes, shares and reposts, said SK-IIs Marcus Strobel, global president for the cosmetic line.(SK-II via AP)

In this image made from an online ad released by SK-II on April 7, 2016, a female character, right, described to be one of several struggling with the social pressure to get married is seen seated at the dinner table with her mother. The four-minute online ad for skin treatments by the high-end cosmetic line SK-II encouraged Chinese women to be independent and not cave to social pressures. Since being posted on the companys official microblog on April 7, the video has been viewed nearly 10 million times globally on all platforms, garnering more than 3.9 million comments, likes, shares and reposts, said SK-IIs Marcus Strobel, global president for the cosmetic line.(SK-II via AP)
Police say Indian army firing kills 2 young men in Kashmir

SRINAGAR, India (AP)  Two young men were killed in firing by Indian government forces at rock-throwing protesters in the Himalayan region of Kashmir on Tuesday, police said.

The protest erupted following an allegation by local residents that an Indian army soldier tried to sexually assault a young woman in the town of Handwara in the Indian portion of Kashmir.

Police Inspector-General Syed Javaid Mujtaba Gillani said hundreds of people hurled rocks and chanted slogans against Indian rule and demanded the arrest of the soldier.

A Kashmiri masked Muslim protester throws back an exploded tear gas shell at Indian policemen during a protest in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Two young men were killed in firing by Indian government forces at rock-throwing protesters in the town of Handwara around 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of here on Tuesday, police said. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Gillani said the soldiers fired at protesters who tried to torch their bunker, leading to the death of two men.

As the news spread about the killings, hundreds of more residents took to the streets chanting pro-freedom and anti-army slogans. Handwara is around 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Indian Kashmir's main city of Srinagar.

Angry protesters torched an army armored vehicle. The troops fired tear gas and pellet guns to disperse the swelling crowd, police said.

Anti-India sentiment runs deep among the mostly Muslim population of Kashmir and human rights groups have for long accused the Indian military of using rape and sexual molestation to cow down the local population.

The Indian army and police separately ordered investigations into the incident.

Rights groups, however, say such probes rarely yield any concrete results and are often aimed at calming public anger.

Kashmir is split between Indian and Pakistani control, but claimed in full by both countries.

Rebel groups have been fighting since 1989 for independence from India or merger with Pakistan. More than 68,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in the armed uprising and subsequent Indian crackdown.

A Kashmiri masked Muslim protester throws rocks at Indian policemen during a protest in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Two young men were killed in firing by Indian government forces at rock-throwing protesters in the town of Handwara around 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of here on Tuesday, police said. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Indian paramilitary soldiers throw brick and rocks at Kashmiri Muslim protesters during a protest in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Two young men were killed in firing by Indian government forces at rock-throwing protesters in the town of Handwara around 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of here on Tuesday, police said. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Kashmiri Muslim protesters jump in air to avoid pellets fired at them by Indian policemen during a protest in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Two young men were killed in firing by Indian government forces at rock-throwing protesters in the town of Handwara around 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of here on Tuesday, police said. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

A Kashmiri masked Muslim protester throws rocks and bricks at Indian policemen amid tear gas smoke during a protest in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Two young men were killed in firing by Indian government forces at rock-throwing protesters in the town of Handwara around 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of here on Tuesday, police said. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
Man accused of shooting Ohio police officer is denied bond

A man accused of opening fire on a SWAT team and critically wounding an Ohio police officer had behaved erratically in the weeks before he allegedly set a fire at his estranged wife's house, according to a detective who testified at a bond hearing Tuesday and the suspect's former employer.

A Franklin County Municipal Court judge ordered 44-year-old Columbus resident Lincoln Rutledge held without bond on charges of felonious assault and aggravated arson. The judge cited concerns about a risk to public safety if Rutledge was released from custody.

Columbus police say Rutledge shot SWAT Officer Steven M. Smith and held police at bay for several hours Sunday after officers tried to arrest him for the fire, which was set the day before.

Columbus Police Chief Kim Jacobs discusses a shooting that left a SWAT officer in critical condition as officers attempted to arrest a suspect on an arson charge, on Sunday, April 10, 2016, in Columbus, Ohio. Police said the officer was in a SWAT vehicle approaching the suspects apartment early Saturday morning when shots were fired, hitting the officer. (AP Photo/Andrew Welsh-Huggins)

Police Detective Anne Pennington told the judge Tuesday that Smith, who remained on life support Tuesday, was shot in the head and is "not expected to survive."

The Franklin County Public Defender Office is representing Rutledge. County Public Defender Yeura Venters declined to comment Tuesday.

Rutledge's former employer, Ohio State University, and others have commented on Rutledge's behavior over recent months.

A statement from the university says Rutledge resigned April 3, 2016 as an information technology security engineer there while on a leave that he had requested Feb. 1.

"His I.T. and building access were revoked on March 23, 2016, when he began to behave erratically while on leave," the statement says. Ohio State said it arranged for wellness checks on Rutledge and encouraged him to contact its employee assistance program.

WCMH-TV reports that university police documents dated March 22 and March 23 said a co-worker told police he saw weapons, including a gun and ammunition when he went to check on Rutledge and that Rutledge began to swing a hammer at him.

Rutledge's estranged wife had told police that since mid-March, Rutledge had threatened her with gun violence and had been sought for a court-ordered mental-health evaluation, but no one could find him, The Columbus Dispatch reported.

A preliminary hearing for Rutledge has been set for April 21.

Fire trucks and police vehicles converge near the corner of Pacemont and North High Street near where a fire occurred in the Clintonville neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio on Sunday, April 10, 2016. A police officer was shot during the overnight standoff that lead to the fire. (Brooke LaValley / The Columbus Dispatch via AP)

Fire trucks and police vehicles converge near the corner of West California Avenue and North High Street where a fire occurred in the Clintonville neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio on Sunday, April 10, 2016. A police officer was shot during the overnight standoff that lead to the fire. (Brooke LaValley/The Columbus Dispatch via AP)

The charred remains of an apartment building on West California Avenue are the remnants of an overnight standoff between one of the apartment's residents and Columbus SWAT officers in the Clintonville neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio on Sunday, April 10, 2016. In addition to the fire, one police officer was shot. (Adam Cairns/The Columbus Dispatch via AP)

This undated photo provided by the Columbus Division of Police shows police SWAT Officer Steven M. Smith, who authorities say was critically injured after police say a man opened fire on a SWAT team trying to arrest him Sunday. Smith is a 27-year veteran with the Columbus Division of Police. (Columbus Division of Police via AP)
Senate Judiciary chair Grassley has breakfast with Garland

WASHINGTON (AP)  Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley told President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee on Tuesday that the Senate won't advance his nomination "during this hyper-partisan election year," the lawmaker's office said.

Grassley's breakfast meeting with federal judge Merrick Garland was "cordial and pleasant" and lasted about 70 minutes, according to a written statement released by the Iowa Republican's aides.

Grassley has been a favorite target of Democrats criticizing Republicans for their refusal to consider Obama's nomination this year. GOP opposition has been led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., with Grassley refusing to allow his committee to hold even the usual hearings for the nominee.

Judge Merrick Garland, President Barack Obamas choice to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court, arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 12, 2016, for a private breakfast meeting with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Grassley evaded reporters waiting for him outside the Senate Dining Room in the Capitol, where he met with Garland. He had said in advance that he would recite to the judge the Republican position that the Senate won't consider a nominee until the new president elected this November makes a selection.

"As he indicated last week, Grassley explained why the Senate won't be moving forward during this hyper-partisan election year," Grassley's five-sentence statement said. "Grassley thanked Judge Garland for his service."

Garland as usual said nothing to reporters.

Obama nominated Garland last month to fill the vacancy created by the February death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

Minus Scalia, the high court is balanced 4-4 between justices who usually lean liberal or conservative. With voters about to choose a new president and control of Congress at stake in November, Republicans don't want to infuriate conservative voters and approve a justice who could tip the court in the liberal direction.

The judge had three other Senate meetings scheduled Tuesday, including with two Republicans, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. Like Grassley, Murkowski and Toomey agreed to meet with Garland but have lined up behind McConnell in saying no nominee should be considered this year.

A spokeswoman for Murkowski said the senator had a private meeting with Garland Tuesday morning and discussed issues important to Alaska. Toomey's meeting was scheduled for later in the day.

Grassley, Murkowski and Toomey are all up for re-election this year. Grassley is heavily favored to win, but he drew a well-known Democratic challenger, former Lt. Gov. Patty Judge, after he announced that his committee would not hold hearings.

For weeks, Democrats have been criticizing Grassley almost daily on the Senate floor. With Grassley seeking a seventh Senate term in this November's voting, they have said they believe the pressure is beginning to show.

"These are not the actions of a senator who is confident in his decision to block a Supreme Court nominee," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Tuesday on the Senate floor, citing the private breakfast and accusing him of stifling committee business. "This is the behavior of a senator who knows he's on the wrong side of the Constitution and the wrong side of history."

Told of Grassley's meeting with Garland as he entered the Capitol Tuesday near the dining room, Reid said, "I'm glad he's doing something."

Conservative groups issued statements supporting Grassley.

"The American people are grateful that Senator Grassley is standing up to President Obama's cynical attempt to force the Senate to confirm Merrick Garland, another liberal judge who will ensure the left dominates the Supreme Court for a generation or more," said Carrie Severino, chief counsel of the conservative Judicial Crisis Network.

Democrats and liberal groups have used demonstrations and press conferences to pressure Grassley back in Iowa.

Keith Uhl, a Republican attorney who helped manage Grassley's first Senate campaign, told reporters on a conference call Monday that the Senate should "man up and vote" on Garland. He was joined on the call by Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, a Democrat, and Drake University Law Professor Mark Kende.

In Des Moines, Iowa, the Ritual Cafe coffee shop was renaming menu items after owner Denise Diaz was approached by liberal groups. Listings on Tuesday included Obstruction Oats, oatmeal topped with hemp nuts, and the Justice Delayed Bowl, which was steamed eggs roasted with peppers and olives.

Judge Merrick Garland, President Barack Obamas choice to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court, arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 12, 2016, for a private breakfast meeting with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Judge Merrick Garland, President Barack Obamas choice to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court, arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 12, 2016, for a private breakfast meeting with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Iraqi lawmakers protest after vote on new Cabinet is delayed

BAGHDAD (AP)  Iraqi lawmakers staged a protest inside the country's parliament on Tuesday after a vote on new Cabinet nominees proposed by the prime minister was postponed earlier in the day.

Haider al-Abadi presented the Cabinet reshuffle after weeks of pressure from influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and thousands of his followers who staged weekly rallies in Baghdad.

After the vote was postponed, dozens of lawmakers refused to leave the parliament building's main hall, demanding the resignation of the country's top political leadership and an end to the current system of government dominated by powerful political blocs determined by sectarian quotas, according to video posted to social media and lawmakers who took part in the protest.

In this Monday, April 11, 2016 photo, Iraqi Security forces and allied Popular Mobilization forces fire towards extremist's positions in the Islamic State group held town of Besher, during a military operation to regain control of the small town, outside the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, 180 miles (290 kilometers) north of Baghdad, Iraq. (AP Photo/Anmar Khalil)

"We will remain inside the parliament until our demands are met," Sunni lawmaker Mishan al-Jabouri posted to his Facebook page along with footage of the sit in.

After night fell, the lawmakers remained inside parliament in an unusual sit-in. The protesting lawmakers were representatives from across the country's political spectrum, reflecting the current broad opposition to Iraqi political leadership and frustration with the slow pace of reforms that are meant to address corruption and mismanagement.

Al-Abadi last month proposed a new lineup of Cabinet ministers and reduced the number of ministerial seats from 21 to 16. He left the incumbent ministers of defense and interior in place due to the ongoing war against the Islamic State group in the country's north and west.

The political crisis has rocked Baghdad and put a significant burden on al-Abadi, threatening to become a more destabilizing factor for the country, even as authorities wage war against the Islamic State group.

The measure saw instant opposition from Iraq's political blocs, which rely on patronage systems to remain in power. Several of the Cabinet nominees subsequently withdrew from the list, claiming they didn't desire the posts.
Biden returning to West Point, Syracuse for commencement

WASHINGTON (AP)  Vice President Joe Biden will return to West Point next month to deliver the commencement address at the U.S. Military Academy.

The White House says Biden will speak May 21 at West Point where he also was the commencement speaker in 2012.

President Barack Obama delivered the address in 2014.

Biden also will give two other commencement speeches this year.

On May 7, he'll speak at Delaware State University, a historically black university in Biden's home state.

On May 13, Biden will speak at Syracuse University's College of Law where he received his law degree.
Prosecutor: Despite video, officer's shooting was tough case

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  Prosecutors in the Carolinas have charged at least five white officers recently with felonies after on-duty shootings of black men, but they're finding that getting jurors to send them to prison can be a far more difficult challenge.

Solicitor Donnie Myers still believes officer Justin Craven committed a felony when he ran up to Ernest Satterwhite's car and fired repeatedly through his window as the 68-year-old drunken-driver sat in his driveway after leading officers on a 13-mile chase.

But when he tried to indict Craven for voluntary manslaughter, the grand jury refused, returning a misdemeanor misconduct charge instead. Myers told The Associated Press that he decided then that the only way to get any justice for the dead driver was to offer a plea deal to this lesser charge.

FILE- In this April 7, 2015, file booking photo provided by Edgefield County Detention Center, shows Justin Craven, a North Augusta, S.C., police officer. Craven took a plea deal Monday, April 11, 2016, in the shooting death of Ernest Satterwhite in February 2014. Craven was sentenced to three years probation and 80 hours of community service. (Edgefield County Detention Center via AP)

After all, if a grand jury, with its rules favoring prosecutors, couldn't be convinced of the seriousness of Craven's actions, getting a unanimous verdict from a regular jury would be even more difficult, Myers said.

"We've got to convince all 12. All the defense has to do is convince one," Myers said.

Craven was sentenced to three years' probation and 80 hours of community service after pleading guilty on Monday. The indictment accused him of "using excessive force and failing to follow and use proper procedures."

It's a challenge for prosecutors as more police officers are charged with on-duty crimes: Unless there is evidence of obvious bad intentions, jurors are often wary of second-guessing an officer's judgment call, said Tom Nolan, a professor of criminology at Merrimack College in Massachusetts.

"People have been conditioned by what they see on television to think that police officers face dangerous situations all the time," said Nolan, who was a Boston police officer for 27 years. "They give leeway, thinking these extreme situations happen frequently."

Craven's dashboard camera from February 2014 shows him charging up to Satterwhite's open window, gun in hand, and reaching inside with both arms. A struggle ensues inside the car, beyond the camera's view.

Craven said Satterwhite tried to grab his gun. The video shows him stepping back from the car before firing.

The video has no audio to tell what was being said because the battery on Craven's body microphone had gone dead, State Law Enforcement Division spokesman Thom Berry said.

Craven is the third white officer in the past year to avoid any time behind bars after being accused of felonies for killing a black man in the Carolinas.

Another officer, North Charleston's Michael Slager, is under house arrest waiting for his murder trial for fatally shooting a fleeing black motorist. And former state Trooper Sean Groubert is in jail facing up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty in March to aggravated assault and battery for shooting a black man who was reaching for his driver's license at the officer's request.

Prosecutors charged former Eutawville Police Chief Richard Combs with murder for shooting a man trying to leave a police station, saying he escalated the confrontation. But after two hung juries, prosecutor David Pascoe agreed to a misdemeanor misconduct in office conviction and a year of home detention. Pascoe said he doubted he could ever get a unanimous verdict in that case, the most polarizing of his 20-year career.

North Carolina prosecutors dropped a voluntary manslaughter charge against Charlotte police officer Randall Kerrick after a jury voted 8-4 to acquit him in the shooting of a black motorist who had knocked on a door seeking help after a car wreck.

In Craven's case, the officer's defense team rejected the plea offer for more than a year, even after Myers persuaded a different grand jury to indict him on the felony charge of firing into an occupied vehicle, carrying up to 10 years in prison.

Craven finally took the deal as his trial loomed this week, and Myers said he couldn't rescind the offer at that point.

"I couldn't back up on that. It had been offered," Myers said. Besides: "It would have been a tough trial. Based on the chase  it would have been a tough matter."

Satterwhite's relatives accepted a nearly $1.2 million settlement from the city of North Augusta in April 2015 after suing the police department, and the criminal conviction could make it difficult for the 27-year-old Craven to serve again in law enforcement. He currently works as a building inspector for the city.

Defense lawyer Jack Swerling said it was a mistake in judgment to rush up to the driver, but said Craven's concern was justified because the 13-minute chase, also captured on dashcam video, showed him swerving into oncoming traffic and off the side of the road, and hitting at least two other cars.

State police later said Satterwhite's blood-alcohol content was 0.15 percent, nearly twice the legal limit. Court records show the car mechanic had more than a dozen traffic violations, including at least three times when he refused to stop for police. The same records also showed that he was never violent toward officers.

Elected prosecutors face pressure from voters who want them to be fair, but not too tough on the people protecting them, Nolan said.

In Myers' case, getting re-elected is no longer a concern. After 40 years as an elected prosecutor, he decided last month not to run again after his own arrest in February on a charge of driving under the influence.

___

Follow Jeffrey Collins on Twitter at http://twitter.com/JSCollinsAP. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/jeffrey-collins

In this Feb. 18, 2013 photo made available by the Columbia County Sheriff's Office, shows Ernest Satterwhite. North Augusta Police officer Justin Craven took a plea deal Monday, April 11, 2016, in the shooting death of Satterwhite in February 2014. Craven was sentenced to three years probation and 80 hours of community service. (Columbia County Sheriff's Office via AP)

This Feb. 9, 2014, image made from a dashcam video provided by North Augusta Police shows an altercation between South Carolina police officer Justin Craven, left, and driver Ernest Satterwhite in Edgefield, S.C. Craven, who was charged with a felony for shooting and killing Satterwhite at the end of a chase, took a plea deal Monday, April 11, 2016, and was sentenced to three years of probation. (North Augusta Police via AP)

This Feb. 9, 2014, image made from a dashcam video provided by North Augusta Police shows South Carolina police officer Justin Craven, left, after shots were fired at driver Ernest Satterwhite in Edgefield, S.C. Craven, who was charged with a felony for shooting and killing Satterwhite at the end of a chase, took a plea deal Monday, April 11, 2016, and was sentenced to three years of probation. (North Augusta Police via AP)

North Augusta police officer Justin Craven looks on during his hearing as a dash camera video plays on a screen Monday, April 11, 2016, at the Edgefield County courthouse in South Carolina. Craven, who was charged with a felony for shooting and killing a black driver at the end of a chase took, a plea deal Monday and was sentenced to three years of probation. (Maayan Schechter/The Aiken Standard via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT
Forensic veterinarians in US battle pet abuse, neglect

NEW YORK (AP)  The cocker spaniel arrives at the animal hospital with a police officer, whimpering and shaking. He has a pus-filled socket for a left eye and is so skinny his spine and ribs show through his fur.

Because animal abuse is suspected, this dog won't be handled like the other pets coming to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for treatment. It will go instead to a specialized team of forensic veterinarians who are trained to treat animals while developing evidence for possible criminal charges.

"The message to people who are abusing animals is that there is action being taken," said Dr. Alison Liu, one of the forensic vets on staff. "And if they're thinking they may not get caught, that's not always the case."

Dr. Laura Niestat, one of three veterinarians with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA ) forensic unit, holds photo evidence of a dog missing layers of skin from a tight collar, Thursday April 7, 2016, in New York. The New York based ASPCA unit works with the New York Police Department to capture evidence and punish animal abusers. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

The New York-based nonprofit has a team of three forensic vets whose jobs include traveling to crime scenes and working with the New York Police Department in a new partnership that has seen cruelty-related arrests double in the past two years. They have a necropsy lab, evaluation unit and a rehabilitation center that houses about 60 animals with the goal of adoption.

The team leader, Dr. Robert Reisman, developed evaluation standards that are used nationwide in determining cases of abuse and neglect, and testified in some of the first animal cruelty cases to use DNA at trial to obtain felony convictions.

The nonprofit agency has also created an animal forensic sciences program at the University of Florida, and has a traveling team of forensic vets that help out around the country. The nonprofit is funded mostly through donations.

Last year, the forensic team in New York saw 700 animals  mostly cats and dogs, but some chickens and rabbits, too.

"You can't really separate out what's happening to animals with what's happening to people," Reisman said. " The cases we see on a regular basis are domestic abuse cases where there's both a human victim and an animal victim."

One such case was a pit bull named Honey who was shot in the mouth by a man who was also accused of beating up his girlfriend. He was charged with animal cruelty, menacing and strangulation. The girlfriend and the dog survived.

Veterinarian Laura Niestat said that in addition to starvation, the vets often see cases of neglect in which tight collars wear off layers of skin, frostbite destroys ears and tails, and extreme matting of fur chokes limbs like a tourniquet.

Some animals have been shot, others beaten and suffocated.

"We try to focus on how we're helping the animals," Niestat said, "and not on how awful it is."

Before and after photos are shown Thursday April 7, 2016 of a boxer named Brewster cared for at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA ) forensic unit, after he was dropped off last year by a good Samaritan who said he found the starving animal in a park, in New York. The ASPCA forensic veterinarians work with the New York Police Department to capture evidence and punish animal abusers. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

Dr. Alison Liu, right, a veterinarian with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA ) forensic unit, and Ellen Vancelette, forensic sciences administrator with the unit, weighs Lulu, a 5-year-old Boston terrier rescued from abuse, Thursday April 7, 2016, in New York. Dr. Liu is one of three forensic vets at the New York based ASPCA unit working with the New York Police Department to capture evidence and punish animal abusers. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

Veterinarians at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA ) forensic unit show evidence and the skeletal remains of a dog used for dog fighting, Thursday April 7, 2016, in New York. The ASPCA forensic veterinarians work with the New York Police Department to capture evidence and punish animal abusers. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
UK's Prince Harry lays wreath to Tunisia attack victims

LONDON (AP)  Prince Harry has honored Britons killed in attacks in Tunisia, sharing in the grief of survivors and loved ones during a solemn ceremony at Westminster Abbey.

The service Tuesday included the lighting of 31 candles, one for each person who died in the Tunisian resort town of Sousse and at the Bardo Museum last year. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the slayings.

Harry placed a wreath of white and yellow flowers at the Innocent Victims Memorial. The circular stone and slate memorial is devoted to victims of war, violence and oppression across the world.

Britain's Prince Harry arrives to lay a wreath at the Innocent Victims Memorial prior to a service of commemoration for the victims of the 2015 terrorist attacks in Tunisia at Westminster Abbey in London, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. The service, for family members of those who lost their lives or were seriously injured and those who witnessed the attacks in Tunisia, commemorates the British nationals who were killed during the attacks. (Justin Tallis/Pool via AP)

Survivors Richard Paciukanis, 60, and his wife, Bernadette, said they found the lighting of the candles "moving."

Britain's Prince Harry addresses a service of commemoration for the victims of the 2015 terrorist attacks in Tunisia at Westminster Abbey in London, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. The service, for family members of those who lost their lives or were seriously injured and those who witnessed the attacks in Tunisia, commemorates the British nationals who were killed during the attacks. (Justin Tallis/Pool via AP)

John Hall, Dean of Westminster, left, gives a reading during a service of commemoration for the victims of the 2015 terrorist attacks in Tunisia at Westminster Abbey in London, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. The service, for family members of those who lost their lives or were seriously injured and those who witnessed the attacks in Tunisia, commemorates the British nationals who were killed during the attacks. (Justin Tallis/Pool via AP)

Britain's Prince Harry leaves after attending a service of commemoration for the victims of the 2015 terrorist attacks in Tunisia at Westminster Abbey in London, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. The service, for family members of those who lost their lives or were seriously injured and those who witnessed the attacks in Tunisia, commemorates the British nationals who were killed during the attacks. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Britain's Prince Harry leaves after attending a service of commemoration for the victims of the 2015 terrorist attacks in Tunisia at Westminster Abbey in London, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. The service, for family members of those who lost their lives or were seriously injured and those who witnessed the attacks in Tunisia, commemorates the British nationals who were killed during the attacks. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Britain's Prince Harry leaves after attending a service of commemoration for the victims of the 2015 terrorist attacks in Tunisia at Westminster Abbey in London, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. The service, for family members of those who lost their lives or were seriously injured and those who witnessed the attacks in Tunisia, commemorates the British nationals who were killed during the attacks. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Britain's Prince Harry lays a wreath as he and Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron attend a service of commemoration for the victims of the 2015 terrorist attacks in Tunisia at Westminster Abbey in London, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. The service, for family members of those who lost their lives or were seriously injured and those who witnessed the attacks in Tunisia, commemorates the British nationals who were killed during the attacks. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Britain's Prince Harry lays a wreath as he and Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron attend a service of commemoration for the victims of the 2015 terrorist attacks in Tunisia at Westminster Abbey in London, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. The service, for family members of those who lost their lives or were seriously injured and those who witnessed the attacks in Tunisia, commemorates the British nationals who were killed during the attacks. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Britain's Prince Harry lays a wreath as he and Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron attend a service of commemoration for the victims of the 2015 terrorist attacks in Tunisia at Westminster Abbey in London, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. The service, for family members of those who lost their lives or were seriously injured and those who witnessed the attacks in Tunisia, commemorates the British nationals who were killed during the attacks. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

John Hall, Dean of Westminster, left, gives a reading during a service of commemoration for the victims of the 2015 terrorist attacks in Tunisia at Westminster Abbey in London, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. The service, for family members of those who lost their lives or were seriously injured and those who witnessed the attacks in Tunisia, commemorates the British nationals who were killed during the attacks. (Justin Tallis/Pool via AP)

Britain's Prince Harry lays a wreath as he and Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron attend a service of commemoration for the victims of the 2015 terrorist attacks in Tunisia at Westminster Abbey in London, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. The service, for family members of those who lost their lives or were seriously injured and those who witnessed the attacks in Tunisia, commemorates the British nationals who were killed during the attacks. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

British journalist Frank Gardner speaks during a service of commemoration for the victims of the 2015 terrorist attacks in Tunisia at Westminster Abbey in London, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. The service, for family members of those who lost their lives or were seriously injured and those who witnessed the attacks in Tunisia, commemorates the British nationals who were killed during the attacks. (Justin Tallis/Pool via AP)
Brazil President lashes out at VP over impeachment bid

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP)  Embattled Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Tuesday called her Vice President Michel Temer the "head of the conspiracy" that seeks to remove her from office in her most direct attack on him so far.

Speaking to teachers and students at the Presidential Palace in Brasilia, Rousseff said Temer and Lower House Speaker Eduardo Cunha are working together to gather votes for her impeachment.

A lower house commission on Monday put Rousseff one step closer to impeachment after approving a report in favor of her removal. Hours earlier, a 13-minute-long audio of Temer rehearsing a post-impeachment speech was leaked.

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff attends a ceremony focusing on education at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Rousseff on Tuesday called her Vice President Michel Temer the head of the conspiracy that seeks to remove her from office in her most direct attack on him so far. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Rousseff said the recording shows Temer has "arrogance and contempt for the people."

"The mask of the conspirators has fallen," she said.

Rousseff is facing impeachment proceedings over allegations her administration violated fiscal rules to mask budget problems by shifting around government accounts ahead of her 2014 re-election.

Opposition parties claim sleight-of-hand accounting moves allowed her to boost public spending to shore up votes. Rousseff has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with any crime.

Her opponents say the impeachment process is in line with the wishes of the majority of Brazilians, while Rousseff's supporters call it a blatant power grab by her foes.

In another development, a former senator was detained in the latest sweep in a sprawling corruption investigation here.

Officials said Gim Argello was placed in preventive detention early Tuesday, accused of taking bribes from construction firms involved in the massive bribes scheme at the state-run Petrobras oil company. The bribes were allegedly in exchange for Argello's help in keeping the firms' executives from being called to appear before parliamentary committees investigating the scheme.

Federal prosecutor Carlos Fernando de Lima said the illicit funds were then passed on as legal donations to political parties.

Lima told journalists at a news conference the practice "has existed for a long time."

He said that "corruption in Brazil is not partisan."

Argello's aide and another person were temporarily detained in the sweep.

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff attends a ceremony with teachers and students at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. The sign that say "Hate" in Portuguese are part of a longer phrase that says: "This is not a country of hate". Rousseff on Tuesday called her Vice President Michel Temer the head of the conspiracy that seeks to remove her from office in her most direct attack on him so far. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff makes a heart sign during a ceremony with teachers and students at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Rousseff on Tuesday called her Vice President Michel Temer the head of the conspiracy that seeks to remove her from office in her most direct attack on him so far. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Arizona lawmaker drops ban on journalists who refuse checks

PHOENIX (AP)  The speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives allowed journalists who refused to submit to extensive background checks back on the floor of the chamber Tuesday amid pressure from lawmakers and the public over the sudden shift in decades-old policy.

Republican House Speaker David Gowan banned reporters last week who refused to comply with new security rules requiring extensive criminal and civil background checks. He said the checks were needed after several disruptions in public areas in the House and the Capitol.

Media organizations criticized the move, saying it could hinder the ability to hold lawmakers accountable. Journalists were forced to cover House sessions from the public gallery area and lost access to legislators.

Arizona Republic photographer Nick Oza and Associated Press journalist Bob Christie report from the gallery of the Arizona House of Representatives after reporters were denied access to the floor pending criminal and civil background checks, in Phoenix on Thursday, April 7, 2016. (AP Photo/Ryan VanVelzer)

Reporters who routinely cover the House receive credentials and get access to the chamber's floor through an electronic key card. For decades, they had desks to do their work. When the House isn't in session, reporters can talk to lawmakers and ask questions about important legislation and other matters. It's a key method for journalists to get to know and understand the positions of lawmakers in both major parties.

While reporters will again be allowed on the floor, Gowan will not restore key-card access that allowed journalists to freely come and go from the chamber, spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said. Instead, reporters will have to sign in with the chief clerk to get to the floor and sign out when they leave.

She acknowledged the backlash that erupted after the decision to bar reporters.

"He has heard his members, and he has heard the public, and he has compromised," Grisham said of Gowan.

Gowan changed the rules after the Arizona Capitol Times reported in January that the lawmaker was using a state vehicle and collecting per diems while traveling the state to campaign for Congress. Gowan repaid the state more than $12,000 after the report and took the unusual step of asking the Arizona attorney general to investigate whether he broke the law. He has denied he intentionally misused state resources.

The publisher of the Capitol Times suggested the changes had to do with its investigative journalism that has exposed Gowan to heightened scrutiny. The policy Gowan imposed would bar anyone convicted of a felony in the past 10 years or misdemeanors within five years. The Capitol Times reporter who discovered Gowan's vehicle use would have been banned because of a minor misdemeanor conviction.

House Democrats, who are in the minority, publicly criticized the policy. They tried to change House rules Tuesday to severely limit when reporters could be denied access to the floor, but Republicans quashed the effort on a 24-34 party-line vote.

The Democratic House leader said the ban "created a diversion from doing the work the people and our constituents sent us here to do."

"Obviously, we think it should have never been done it the first place  there was never any risk from a reporter," Minority Leader Eric Meyer said. "This took us away from the task at hand, which is to address the budget, finish up session, fund our schools and invest in our universities."

But Gowan did not apologize for barring reporters.

"The safety and security of the employees and members who work in the building remain a priority for leadership and me," Gowan wrote in a letter to House members. "I had a duty to everyone who works in the House to act quickly and decisively to provide a safe environment in the wake of the chaotic and potentially dangerous events that you all witnessed on March 28."
Brazil president lashes out at VP over impeachment effort

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP)  Embattled Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Tuesday lashed out at the two men in line to succeed her if she is impeached, calling her vice president and the lower house speaker "heads of the conspiracy" to remove her from office.

Speaking to teachers and students at the presidential palace in Brasilia, Rousseff said Vice President Michel Temer and Chamber of Deputies Speaker Eduardo Cunha are jointly plotting her downfall.

The remarks came on the heels of an allegedly accidental release Monday of an address to the nation that Temer intended to deliver after a hypothetical congressional vote that would suspend Rousseff from office. In the 13-minute audio, which Temer said he unintentionally sent to lawmakers through an instant messenger app, the vice president speaks as if he had already assumed the top job.

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff attends a ceremony focusing on education at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Rousseff on Tuesday called her Vice President Michel Temer the head of the conspiracy that seeks to remove her from office in her most direct attack on him so far. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Rousseff said she was "shocked" by the recording, which she said "reveals treason against me and against democracy."

"The mask of the conspirators has fallen," she said.

"I don't really know which one is the chief and which is his second-in-charge," Rousseff said, referring to Temer and Cunha, both members of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, which pulled out of Rousseff's governing coalition late last month.

"One of them is the not-so invisible hand that's leading this impeachment process, through perversion of power and unimaginable abuses," she said. "The other is rubbing his hands together and is rehearsing the farce of a would-be inauguration speech."

On Twitter, the head of Rousseff's office and a close confident of the president, Jaques Wagner, said that "there is no possibility of pardon for conspirators."

"After impeachment is vanquished, the only possibility for Temer is resignation," Wagner wrote.

With 342 votes in the 513-member Chamber of Deputies needed for the process to move forward, analysts say the outcome of that vote is too close to call. Rousseff took a hit Tuesday when 31 of the 47 deputies with the Progressive Party, the country's fourth-largest party and a member of her governing coalition, announced they would vote for impeachment.

U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters that Washington is confident in Brazil's ability to overcome its political crisis.

"We believe Brazil's democracy is mature. It's strong enough to ensure that its current political challenges are met and get resolved in a way that allows Brazil to prosper," Toner said in Washington.

On Monday, a lower house commission brought Rousseff one step closer to impeachment after approving a report in favor of her removal.

The proceedings stem from allegations her administration violated fiscal rules to mask budget problems by shifting around government accounts. Opposition parties claim sleight-of-hand accounting moves allowed her to boost public spending to shore up votes.

Rousseff and her supporters say the allegations are bogus and insist financial maneuvers like the ones she made are common practice, used by two prior presidents. She has repeatedly denounced the proceedings as a blatant power grab by her foes.

Her opponents say the impeachment process is in line with the wishes of the majority of Brazilians.

Rousseff has seen her approval ratings tumble amid the worst recession in decades, a spike in both joblessness and inflation, and a spiraling corruption investigation at the state-run Petrobras oil company that has ensnared dozens of top politicians across the political spectrum as well as some of Brazil's richest and most powerful business executives.

The latest person to be caught up in the scandal was a former senator, detained early Tuesday. Officials said Gim Argello was placed in preventive detention, accused of taking bribes from construction firms involved in the bribery scheme at Petrobras.

The bribes were allegedly in exchange for Argello's help in keeping the firms' executives from being called to appear before congressional committees investigating the scheme.

Federal prosecutor Carlos Fernando de Lima said the illicit funds were then passed on as legal donations to political parties.

Lima told journalists at a news conference the practice "has existed for a long time" and underscored that "corruption in Brazil is not partisan."

Argello's aide and another person were temporarily detained in the sweep.

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff attends a ceremony with teachers and students at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. The sign that say "Hate" in Portuguese are part of a longer phrase that says: "This is not a country of hate". Rousseff on Tuesday called her Vice President Michel Temer the head of the conspiracy that seeks to remove her from office in her most direct attack on him so far. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff arrives for a ceremony with teachers and students at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Rousseff on Tuesday called her Vice President Michel Temer the head of the conspiracy that seeks to remove her from office in her most direct attack on him so far. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff makes a heart sign during a ceremony with teachers and students at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Rousseff on Tuesday called her Vice President Michel Temer the head of the conspiracy that seeks to remove her from office in her most direct attack on him so far. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Mel Brooks records telephone endorsement in NY Senate race

MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP)  Mel Brooks is offering a ringing endorsement for his great-nephew, who's running for a seat in New York's state Senate.

The entertainer tells voters in an automated telephone call: "Yes, it really is Mel Brooks."

The call urges voters to support Democrat Todd Kaminsky in next Tuesday's special election for the Long Island seat. Brooks made a similar endorsement two years ago when Kaminsky won a seat in the state Assembly.

FILE - In this June 6, 2013 file photo, honoree Mel Brooks addresses the audience during the American Film Institute's 41st Lifetime Achievement Award Gala at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Brooks is offering a ringing endorsement for his great-nephew, whos running for a seat in New Yorks state Senate. The entertainer tells voters in an automated telephone call: Yes, it really is Mel Brooks. The call urges voters to support Democrat Todd Kaminsky in the Tuesday, April 19, 2016, special election for the Long Island seat. Brooks made a similar endorsement two years ago when Kaminsky won a seat in the state Assembly. (Photo by Chris Pizello/Invision/AP, File)

In the call, Brooks mostly avoids making gags and instead reminds voters to vote. He urges them to write down the election date: April 19.

Advises the comedian: "You're liable to forget."

Kaminsky is running against Republican attorney Chris McGrath.
Syria talks to resume amid disputes, escalating violence

BEIRUT (AP)  Indirect peace talks between Syria's warring parties are scheduled to resume in Geneva on Wednesday, the third round this year. There are two main groups at the negotiations in Switzerland, in addition to others that were invited by the United Nations as advisers.

The U.N. envoy for Syria says the talks this time are to focus on a political transition in the war-torn country, but chances for a breakthrough are slim as distrust and continuing disagreements between rival factions remain deep.

Here's a look at the talks:

FILE - In this Thursday, March 17, 2016 file photo, delegations prepare their notes ahead of a meeting on Syria peace talks at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Indirect peace talks between Syria's warring parties are scheduled to resume in Geneva on Wednesday, April 13, 2016 the third round this year. There are two main groups at the negotiations in Switzerland, in addition to others that were invited by the United Nations as advisers. (Denis Balibouse/pool photo via AP, File)

BACKDROP OF VIOLENCE

The talks this week resume amid an escalation, with clashes underway mainly between government forces and militants, mainly near the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. The fighting could endanger a truce brokered by Russia and the United States that has mostly held since going into effect on Feb. 27. The first round of talks collapsed earlier in February amid a government offensive on Aleppo, Syria's largest city and once its commercial center. U.N. special envoy Staffan de Mistura said after talks with officials in Damascus earlier this week that keeping the truce was key, describing the cease-fire as fragile and stressing that all sides "need to make sure that it continues to be sustained."

MAIN PLAYERS

The main players are the Syrian government, which is backed by Iran, Russia and Lebanon's Hezbollah group, and the main opposition faction, the High Negotiations Committee or HNC, which includes groups that are backed by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The Islamic State group and al-Qaida's branch in Syria known as the Nusra Front are not taking part in the talks because they are opposed to negotiations and are considered terrorist organizations by the U.N.

WHO IS ATTENDING

The Syrian government delegation is headed by the country's ambassador to the U.N., Bashar Ja'afari, while the HNC's chief negotiator is Mohammed Alloush of the rebel group Jaysh al-Islam or Army of Islam. Other opposition groups are taking part in Geneva as well, including members of the internal opposition that has been tolerated by President Bashar Assad. All opposition groups other than the HNC were invited to Geneva by de Mistura as advisers so as not to anger the HNC, which considers itself the sole representative of the opposition.

MAIN POINTS OF DISAGREEMENT

The Syrian government delegation says the priority in the "proximity talks" should be on fighting terrorism while the HNC says the focus should be on setting up a Transitional Government Body with full executive powers in which Assad will have no role. The government says Assad was elected by the people and any talk about removing him from power is a red line. Over the past months, Syrian troops have captured wide areas from militants under the cover of Russian airstrikes. Syrian legislator and member of Assad's ruling Baath party Sharif Shehadeh says "the problem of the opposition is that it ... is still talking about a transitional government. This will not happen in Syria under any circumstances, even if this means prolonging the war for one hundred years."

WHO IS ABSENT

The Syrian Kurds, or rather, the Kurdish Democratic Union Party, PYD, and its military wing known as the People's Protection Units or YPG have not been invited to the talks. The U.S.-backed YPG has been the most effective force in fighting the Islamic State group in northern and eastern Syria. Although they consider themselves opposed to Assad, the HNC considers the PYD and YPG as pro-government. The Syrian Kurds' move to set up a federal region in northern Syria has angered both the government and the HNC.

U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura briefs media after his talks with Iranian deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, April 12, 2016. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
South Carolina, 6 months after floods: 'Rough road ahead'

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  In a flood, nature can steal everything: lives and homes, delicate Christmas ornaments, a favorite flannel shirt, a special fishing hole.

The historic rains and floods that battered South Carolina in October claimed 19 lives, destroyed more than $1 billion dollars in homes and property, and left thousands struggling to recoup.

Many in the region are still trying to regain their balance. Here are a few of their stories.

In this Tuesday, March 29, 2016 photo, a construction worker labors to prepare a new foundation for Bruce Guignard's home on Lake Katherine in Columbia, S.C. The house was deluged by flood waters during the historic rains and floods that hit South Carolina last October and is being lifted above flood plain level in Columbia. (AP Photo/Richard Shiro)

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Bruce Guignard's ancestors have been in South Carolina since the 1730s. Five feet of water swept through his Lake Katherine home last October, but that won't push him anywhere else. The neighborhood was his stomping grounds as a child, he says, and he wants to pass that link along to his grandchildren.

He's lifting his house up one story to meet flood standards. He says that has a bright side: a concrete floor underneath where the children can roller skate.

For his family, once-lost treasures do turn up: His wife Claudia's plastic tub of cherished Christmas ornaments was found intact, buried in a mound of silt after it floated over a dam about a mile away.

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From the floods came lasting images of damage. In some areas hit hard, major roads have reopened, schoolchildren are back in class and clean water is restored to residents. But pockets of destruction remain along the Gills Creek waterway. Columbia city Councilman Moe Baddourah calls it "ground zero" for the floods. Baddourah once ran a restaurant in the area and said he's worried about property values plummeting and entire sectors losing residents. "This city saw lots of love during the recovery," he said. "But we still have a rough road ahead."

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A raccoon found here, a mass of copper wire checked there. Columbia police Patrolman Michael Thompson keeps his eyes open for wildlife as well as thieves as he patrols homes stripped to wooden skeletons after the floods.

Volunteering to work on his days off, Thompson says repeat visits help him recognize returning residents as well as contractors licensed for home repairs. His says the patrols deter those who might do even more damage to homes through thefts or vandalism.

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Rachel Larratt's small bungalow was knocked off its foundation from the force of floodwaters and 2 feet of rain that cascaded through her neighborhood above Gills Creek in southwest Columbia. Nearly everything she had was ruined.

Instead of moping, Larratt got active: She founded a nonprofit foundation to help people manage the process of seeking assistance to relocate, and selling or repairing damaged homes. She set up a warehouse distribution site, where flood victims get household and personal items free of charge, and organized volunteers to help clear the flood-damaged creek.

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"Warning: Four large water moccasins inside!" the door reads on a home near Gills Creek. It is one of the estimated 1,600 homes in the central Richland County area hit by the floods. Many residents are waiting to see whether they can get federal assistance to lift their homes or demolish them, or perhaps start over somewhere else. If demolished, the home site must be turned into green space  not built on again.

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More than 102,000 South Carolina residents registered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the wake of the floods. Every day, Delwander Brewer tries to make life easier for a few of them.

Brewer works in the Columbia warehouse stocked with donated supplies  clothing, cleaning items, mattresses, toothbrushes. Brewer says people still come in daily. "I didn't realize so many people still needed help," she said. "On the first day I began working here, I just cried. It helps you realize just how blessed you are."

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Over the days of rain, residential ponds and lakes that dot suburban neighborhoods around Columbia "filled up like a cup," says Erich Miarka, the director of the Gills Creek Watershed Association. The watershed drains about 47,000 acres in the heart of the state. About three dozen dams in the state gave way, crumbling roads built atop them and devastating neighborhoods downstream. At the height of the disaster, 541 roads were closed. State transportation officials say 48 roads are still closed, uncertain of repairs to the many dams they once traversed.

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Miarka, who has helped organize volunteers cleaning the battered Gills Creek watershed, surveys what remains of an earthen dam that once held back Cary Lake in the community of Arcadia Lakes. Homeowners are trying to figure out how to repair the dam so the Department of Transportation can fix the road. Miarka says the cost of fixing the dam alone might carry a $1 million price tag, and homeowners are hoping for state or federal assistance with the bill. Repairs to dams and roads in the region may take years.

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For Roosevelt Durham, floodwaters have calmed enough to let him get back to a favorite fishing spot along Gills Creek. "It gives me peace of mind," he said.

The water had risen well above the roadway behind him, collapsing buildings and flooding nearby homes and businesses. On a recent sunny afternoon, Durham had already caught about seven bream. He fishes for them daily and cooks them up in a pan with onions and bell peppers  "I can eat it every day," he said.

FILE -In this Oct. 6, 2015, file photo, floodwaters rush over a diversion dam in Columbia, S.C. The historic rains and floods that battered South Carolina last October destroyed more than $1 billion dollars in homes and property, and left thousands struggling to recoup. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton, File)

In this Wednesday, March 30, 2016 photo, Columbia resident Roosevelt Durham is back at one of his favorite fishing spots along Gills Creek, the urban stream that overflowed its banks and flooded major sections of Columbia following historic rains and dam failures last October, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Richard Shiro)

In this Wednesday, March 30, 2016 photo, Gills Creek Watershed Director Erich Miarka overlooks the remains of one of the largest earthen dams that failed in central South Carolina. Miarka said rapid urbanization hasn't allowed local streams and waterways to flood and recede naturally, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Richard Shiro)

This Wednesday, March 30, 2016 photo shows a portion of the crumbled remains of the Cary Lake Dam in the community of Arcadia Lakes in Columbia, S.C. Heavy rains and floods topped the dam, eating away at its earthen sides and collapsing the road on top of it. (AP Photo/Richard Shiro)

In this Tuesday, March 29, 2016 photo, Delwander Brewer shows visitors the stores of privately-donated items available free of charge to those who have registered as flood victims with the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the wake of last October's devastating South Carolina floods, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Richard Shiro)

In this Tuesday, March 29, 2016 photo, a damaged home bears a warning about snakes inside, near the Gills Creek watershed in Columbia, S.C., awaiting repair. Six months ago, historic rains and floods battered South Carolina in October destroying more than $1 billion dollars in homes and property. (AP Photo/Richard Shiro)

In this Tuesday, March 29, 2016 photo, resident-turned-activist Rachel Larratt stands inside one of the damaged homes in her neighborhood near Gills Creek, where many ranch-style, single level homes were flooded or submerged to their rooftops, in Columbia, S.C. After the historic rains and floods battered South Carolina in October, Larratt founded a nonprofit foundation to help people manage the process of seeking assistance to relocate, and selling or repairing damaged homes. (AP Photo/Richard Shiro)
Fujimori's accidental rival embraces 'gringo' label in Peru

LIMA, Peru (AP)  Comedians in Peru ridicule his American accent and his longstanding ties to Wall Street anger some in an impoverished nation increasingly hostile toward foreign mining companies.

But despite being labeled a foreigner, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski is positioning himself to become Peru's next president after coming from behind in the polls to finish runner-up in the first round of voting. He'll face Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of disgraced former President Alberto Fujimori, in a June 5 runoff vote.

While Fujimori is seen as the front-runner after almost doubling Kuczynski's vote tally, the race is expected to be competitive. One poll, taken before Sunday's balloting, even gave Kuczynski a slight edge as Peruvians fear a return of authoritarian rule with Fujimori, whose father is serving a 25-year sentence for corruption and sanctioning death squads during the fight against Maoist-inspired rebels.

Presidential candidate Pedro Pablo Kuczynski gestures for pictures after casting his vote in Lima, Peru, Sunday, April 10, 2016. With the daughter of Perus jailed former strongman the runaway favorite to get the most votes in Sundays election, all eyes are on the race for second place and the right to face Keiko Fujimori in an expected presidential runoff. Also up for grabs on Sunday are all the seats in Perus congress. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

It's a dramatic turnaround for someone who until a few years ago was contemplating a quiet retirement in the United States.

PPK, as Kuczynski is universally known in Peru, entered politics accidentally. After earning an economics degree from Oxford University, he went to work for Peru's central bank.

His technocrat's career was cut short in 1968, when he lost his job during a military coup. He spent much of the next three decades in the United States working first at the World Bank and then for First Boston International, later acquired by Credit Suisse, and on the boards of several companies and private equity firms.

He returned to Peru following Fujimori's resignation in 2000 and went on to serve twice as finance minister as well as Cabinet chief under former President Alejandro Toledo.

Friends say that he began to think seriously about running for president after creating a nonprofit organization, Agua Limpia, in 2007 to deliver drinking water to impoverished areas of Peru. There he saw up close the lack of managerial skills in Peru's public sector and decided he could make a difference, said Carlos Rojas, CEO of Andino Asset Management, a Lima-based brokerage.

"He's not someone who as a boy dreamed one day of becoming president," said Rojas, who served with Kuczynski on the board of a fishing company.

In 2011, he shocked much of the political establishment by finishing a strong third in that year's presidential election.

At the time, he threw his support behind Keiko Fujimori to prevent the election of Ollanta Humala, an ally of socialist Venezuela who once led an army uprising. But after being elected, Humala governed with the same pro-business framework of his predecessors and Kuczynski never had to execute what, at the time, he told a journalist was his "escape plan" of retiring on a farm in the U.S.

"No question he could have a cushy life if he stayed out of politics," said Michael Shifter, president of the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue, who lived in Peru in the late 1980s and early 1990s. "But he got the bug, especially after last election, when he exceeded expectations. It's heady stuff."

His business dealings have drawn controversy. Leftists accused him of a conflict of interest when, as Cabinet chief in 2005, he pushed through regulatory changes that allowed Dallas-based Hunt Oil, a firm he previously advised, to export large quantities of natural gas to Mexico over the objection of local communities.

"I don't believe in his integrity if while governing he'll be promoting foreign direct investment," said Cesar Hildebrandt, one of Peru's most-influential columnists.

He's also been scolded for having an American passport, and under pressure renounced his U.S. citizenship last year. His first wife was the daughter of a U.S. Congressman and his current spouse, Nancy Lange, is a relative of Hollywood actress Jessica Lange. Fujimori's husband, who she met while studying abroad, is also American, so Peru's next first spouse will be an American no matter who wins June's runoff vote.

Despite the elite pedigree, Kuczynski has deep Peruvian roots as well.

His parents arrived in Peru in the 1930s, fleeing Nazi Germany. His Jewish-Polish father, a pathologist, pioneered the treatment of leprosy in Peru. A campaign slogan proudly proclaims that he's "Gringo on the Outside, Cholo on the Inside," a term referring to the indigenous ancestry of most Peruvians. At rallies, he entertains crowds by playing flute renditions of Andean classics.

But even allies recognize his popular appeal is limited, especially against Keiko Fujimori's well-oiled ground game, which handed her victory in 16 of Peru's 24 electoral districts. Kuczynski prevailed in just one.

While the polarizing legacy of Alberto Fujimori's 1990-2000 government is likely to dominate the campaign  almost half of Peruvians say they'll never vote for anyone associated with the former strongman  picking up the anti-Fujimori votes won't be automatic.

The third-place finisher, leftist Veronika Mendoza, hasn't endorsed either candidate, reflecting the view that Kuczynski is just a more-democratic promoter of the free-market policies blamed for rising tensions in communities dominated by foreign mining projects.

At 77, Kuczynski would also be Peru's oldest president. Some rivals question his health, but his doggedness in coming back from under 7 percent in the polls would seem to support his oft-repeated claim he remains vital and young at heart.

"My aunts lived until they were 95, so I figure I've got like 20 years left," he said at a campaign stop in late March.

"But I won't spend 10 years in office," he added in a not-so subtle dig at his opponent's democratic credentials. "I'll govern only five to achieve our country's development."

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Franklin Briceno on Twitter at https://twitter.com/franklinbriceno. His work can be found at: http://bigstory.ap.org/author/franklin-briceno .

Joshua Goodman is on Twitter: https://twitter.com/apjoshgoodman His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/journalist/joshua-goodman

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Goodman reported from Bogota, Colombia. AP Writer Jacobo Garcia from Bogota and Hannah Dreier from Caracas contributed to this report.

Presidential candidate Pedro Pablo Kuczynski waves to supporters after casting his vote in Lima, Peru, Sunday, April 10, 2016. With the daughter of Perus jailed former strongman the runaway favorite to get the most votes in Sundays election, all eyes are on the race for second place and the right to face Keiko Fujimori in an expected presidential runoff. Also up for grabs on Sunday are all the seats in Perus congress. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

Presidential candidate Pedro Pablo Kuczynski of the "Peruanos por el Kambio" political party and his wife Nancy Lange, celebrate the first official results that place him in second place in the elections, in Lima, Peru, Sunday, April 10, 2016. Early official results in Peru's presidential election point to Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of jailed former President Alberto Fujimori emerging as the winner of the first round. Keiko Fujimori will likely face Kuczynski in a June runoff. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
Most Mexican prisons overcrowded, dirty, dangerous

MEXICO CITY (AP)  Mexico's National Human Rights Commission said Tuesday that most of the country's prisons are ill-equipped, overcrowded and dangerous.

A report by the governmental commission said that of 130 state prisons inspected, 95 lack adequate guards and staff and 104 fail to adequately separate convicted inmates from people facing trial.

The most shocking part of the report was the overcrowding found at 71 of the 130 penitentiaries. Commission President Luis Raul Gonzalez said as many as 30 inmates were found living in cells designed for four people.

FILE - In this Sept. 14, 2008 file photo, relatives and friends of inmates stand outside La Mesa state penitentiary as rioting prisoners stand on the facility's roof, angered by the alleged deaths of inmates at the hands of guards, in Tijuana, Mexico. Mexicos National Human Rights Commission said Tuesday, April 12, 2016 that most of the countrys prisons are ill-equipped, overcrowded and dangerous. The most shocking part of the report was the overcrowding found at some of the penitentiaries. Commission President Luis Raul Gonzalez said as many as 30 inmates were found living in cells designed for four people. (AP Photo/Guillermo Arias, File)

Inmates were found to be partly in control of more than half the prisons, the report added.

In February, a brawl between inmates armed with hammers, cudgels and makeshift knives at the Topo Chico prison resulted in 49 deaths. Gonzalez said the government should not "wait until something else serious happens at a prison to turn its attention" to the problems.

Gonzalez said there had been only "minimal" improvement over the last year in the 247,000-inmate prison system. The report said only one of Mexico's 31 states had acceptable conditions at its prisons.

The commission said it found similar problems at Mexico's 21 federal prisons, although it said those facilities were somewhat better than the state prisons.

Conditions had improved slightly at the country's highest security prison, the Altiplano penitentiary west of Mexico City, where drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is being held, the report said. It said there was less overcrowding and control had improved at the facility, from which Guzman escaped last July, before being recaptured and returned in January.

The report said Altiplano was built to hold 836 inmates and holds 1,018.
U2's Bono testifies before Congress on the refugee crisis

WASHINGTON (AP)  U2 frontman Bono brought his star power to Capitol Hill Tuesday as he called on members of Congress to take swift action to deal with the global refugee crisis and violent extremism.

In testimony before a Senate subcommittee, Bono drew a bleak picture as he described the flood of people fleeing their homes in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. The human torrent threatens the very idea of European unity, he said, as he urged lawmakers to think of foreign aid as national security instead of charity.

"When aid is structured properly, with a focus on fighting poverty and improving governance, it could just be the best bulwark we have against the extremism of our age," Bono said.

Irish rock star and activist Bono arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 12, 2016, to testify before the Senate State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs subcommittee hearing on the causes and consequences of violent extremists, and the role of foreign assistance. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Bono said members of Congress need to confront an "existential threat" to Europe that hasn't been seen since the 1940s. Countries such as Poland and Hungary are moving to the right politically, a shift he described as a "hyper nationalism." The United Kingdom is even considering leaving the European Union.

"This is unthinkable stuff," he said. "And you should be very nervous in America about it."

Africa, in particular, is grappling with what Bono called a phenomenon of three extremes  ideology, poverty and climate.

"Those three extremes make one unholy trinity of an enemy and our foreign policy needs to face in that direction," he said. "It's even bigger than you think."

Bono said he understood the financial stress the U.S. and other nations are under as they debate how much foreign aid to allot. But he warned the bills will only get bigger without action.

"If you don't do it now, it's going to cost a lot more later," he said. "I do know that."

Bono also suggested using comedy to fight extremist groups. "It's like, you speak violence, you speak their language. But you laugh at them when they are goose-stepping down the street and it takes away their power," he said. "So I am suggesting that the Senate send in Amy Schumer and Chris Rock and Sacha Baron Cohen, thank you."

In Syria, five years of violence has killed more than 250,000 people and displaced another 11 million from their homes. Nearly 174,000 migrants have reached Europe by sea since the beginning of this year alone and 723 are missing or dead, many drowning in the cold, rough waters, according to the International Organization for Migration.

Before sitting at the witness table, Bono posed for photos with three members of the anti-war group Code Pink, who wore pink tiaras and held cardboard torches and signs reading "Refugees Welcome."

Cameras whirred furiously as Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, the subcommittee chairman, quipped, "So this is what it's like to be chopped liver." Bono took part in a congressional delegation led by Graham that had just returned from Africa and the Middle East.

Bono co-founded the One Campaign, an advocacy group that works to end poverty and preventable disease.

Irish rock star and activist Bono, left, speaks with Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April, 12, 2016, prior to testifying before the Senate State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs subcommittee hearing on the causes and consequences of violent extremists, and the role of foreign assistance. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Irish rock star and activist Bono holds up a folder with the logo for "One" the advocacy organization to work to end extreme poverty and preventable disease he co-founded, as he prepares to testify on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 12, 2016, before the Senate State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs subcommittee hearing on the causes and consequences of violent extremists, and the role of foreign assistance. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Q&A: What is a 'Jesus shot' and what's it supposed to do?

AUSTIN, Texas (AP)  The Texas agriculture commissioner spent at least $1,120 in taxpayer money to travel to Oklahoma last year. Sid Miller says he made the trip to meet with elected officials, but the Houston Chronicle reported that while there he may have received a "Jesus shot" that supposedly offers long-term relief from pain. Here's a look at the procedure:

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Q: WHAT IS A "JESUS SHOT?"

A: An anti-inflammatory injection that is supposed to reduce chronic pain. It is available only through its developer, Dr. John Michael Lonergan in Oklahoma, and reportedly costs $300.

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Q: WHO IS LONERGAN?

A: In 2004, Lonergan was convicted in Ohio of eight felonies, including health care and mail fraud and tax evasion. His medical license was revoked by that state, and he was sentenced to two years in prison.

Lonergan is now licensed to practice medicine in Oklahoma. A 1976 graduate of the University of the Texas School of Medicine at San Antonio, his specialties are pediatrics, anesthesiology and emergency medicine.

His medical license lists Lonergan's practice at the Oklahoma Health and Wellness Center in Weatherford, west of Oklahoma City. Calls there were referred to a cellphone belonging to Lonergan's secretary. She did not return messages Tuesday.

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Q: WHAT'S IN THE SHOT?

A: Lonergan has not said. But Mary Schrick, owner of Full Circle Health in Edmond, Oklahoma, which once housed Lonergan's practice, has written that it contains Dexamethasone, Kenalog and vitamin B12.

Dexamethasone is a hormone used to treat disorders including arthritis. Kenalog is a brand name for a synthetic anti-inflammatory medication. A B12 deficiency can cause joint pain.

Schrick wrote about the procedure in a 2014 issue of Thrive Magazine, a health and wellness periodical where she serves on the board of directors. She reported that the dosage "differs depending on the patient's general health, age, weight, medical history and so on." The administering doctor, she said, performs a "thorough one-hour review" with each patient to rule out allergies and interactions with other medications.

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Q: WHY IS IT CALLED A "JESUS SHOT"?

A: An ordained minister, Schrick wrote that "Jesus shot" is a "term of endearment coined by Dr. Lonergan. He credits Jesus with the idea to combine the ingredients in one injection." She said that her clinic did not use the term and instead referred to the procedure as "inflammation protocol."

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Q: WHAT DOES IT DO?

A: Schrick wrote that the shot has been mischaracterized in the media, saying: "There is no claim that the injection cures pain for life."

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Q: DOES IT WORK?

A: Miller, 60, says he suffers from chronic pain exacerbated by his side career as a rodeo cowboy. He confirmed to the Chronicle that he received the shot but would not say if it came during last year's trip. Asked if it worked, Miller told the newspaper: "I'm not going to share that with you. But it's worked out good."
Neutral in presidential race, Obama digs in for other Dems

WASHINGTON (AP)  In a rural stretch of Kentucky, voters picked up the phone in March to hear President Barack Obama on the line, urging them to vote for a little-known Democrat named Jeff Taylor.

That an obscure special election for a Kentucky House seat had caught the president's attention seemed odd. Yet Taylor won, joining two other victorious Democrats to deny Republicans the chance to take over the last Democratic-run legislative chamber in the South.

Though he's staying neutral in the Democratic presidential race, Obama is wading deep into Democratic primaries for Congress, state legislature and even mayoral races, cherry-picking candidates he sees as stronger while preparing to campaign in person for Democrats in the fall.

In this photo taken May 8, 2014, Katie McGinty speaks during a Pennsylvania Democratic Gubernatorial Primary Debate in Philadelphia. On the sidelines in the 2016 presidential race, Obama is putting himself at the center of his partys campaigns in Congress, state legislatures, and even mayoral races. Hes taking sides in contested primaries and raising dollars while preparing to campaign in person for Democrats in the fall. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Democratic officials said Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are in high demand this year a sharp reversal from just two years ago, when Obama was politically toxic. Most Democratic candidates in 2014 practically begged Obama and his sagging poll numbers to stay away, relegating the president to a few Democrat-friendly states like Michigan.

This year, upbeat economic news and rising approval ratings have increased his value to Democrats in the last election cycle before he leaves office.

"You're going to see ever-increasing requests for Obama and Biden to campaign for candidates this year," said Amy Dacey, the CEO of the Democratic National Committee.

So far this year, Obama has endorsed candidates in nine races, in addition to four he endorsed last year. He's backed former Gov. Ted Strickland for Senate in Ohio over Cincinnati councilman P.G. Sittenfeld, and he came to the aid of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who faces a surprisingly strong primary challenge despite being the chairwoman of the Democratic Party.

Obama and Biden also endorsed Katie McGinty in Pennsylvania, who faces an uphill battle to defeat former Rep. Joe Sestak in the Democratic primary for Senate. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which works to elect Senate Democrats, touted the endorsements in a television ad released Tuesday as part of a $1.1 million campaign.

In Florida, Obama sided with Rep. Patrick Murphy over Rep. Alan Grayson, a favorite of the liberal wing of the Democratic Party who is under scrutiny by the House Ethics Committee. The two Democrats are running for outgoing GOP Sen. Marco Rubio's seat.

All the Senate candidates Obama has endorsed have also been endorsed by the DSCC, a wing of the Democratic Party.

"It's mirroring what's going on with Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, where the establishment Democrats are backing different candidates than their liberal, progressive base wants," said Andrea Bozek, communications director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Bozek called it a sign of desperation that Democrats felt they needed to bring in Obama to secure their preferred candidates.

Even Democrats denied Obama's endorsement are reluctant to complain about favoritism, wary of turning off loyal Obama supporters. Tim Canova, the law school professor challenging Wasserman Schultz, said the attention actually helped because it "really put us on the map."

"It seemed like a sign that Wasserman Schultz is worried about our campaign, that she would have gone running to the White House for an endorsement," Canova said.

Two years ago, Democrats fought their toughest Senate races in conservative-leaning states where Obama has always been deeply unpopular. The map shifted this year to states Obama won twice, including New Hampshire, Nevada and Colorado  also critical states for winning the White House.

"The president right now is the most popular elected official in the country among Democrats and independents," said David Simas, the White House political director. "When you start looking at what these battleground states will be at the presidential, Senate and House level, the map is pretty wide open for the president to engage and be helpful."

Though Obama won't be on November's ballot, the stakes for his legacy are just as high. A return of the White House to GOP control would augur the likely rollback of many of his policies on health care, immigration and the environment. Yet Democrats say the chaos in the GOP presidential race has created an opening to take back the Senate and maybe even the House, preserving Obama's policies for years to come.

Obama's involvement in lower-tier races stands in contrast to his lower profile in the presidential race, where Obama is avoiding publicly choosing sides between Clinton and Sanders. White House officials said Obama will campaign full-force for the eventual nominee, but in the meantime his main role has been to attack Donald Trump.

Biden, huddling with House Democratic candidates over the weekend in New Mexico, told them having Trump or Texas Sen. Ted Cruz on the ballot would benefit Democrats in lower-tier races, said a Democratic aide who requested anonymity to discuss the private meeting. Biden has already campaigned for Senate candidates in Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Nevada.

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Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP
Trump faces convention test: Delegates might not be loyal

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)  Republican front-runner Donald Trump has missed crucial deadlines in a number of states to lock up delegates who would stay loyal beyond the first ballot at the party's national convention in July.

That could doom his presidential candidacy if he is unable to win the nomination in the initial voting at the convention. After the first ballot, most delegates are no longer bound to support the winner of their state's party primary or caucuses. Instead, they're free agents who can support the candidate of their choosing.

Most of the delegates are elected at state and congressional district conventions run by party insiders, members of the Republican establishment that Trump has run against from the start of his campaign.

FILE - In this April 11, 2016 file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks in Albany, N.Y. It's not just thatTrump is behind the curve in organizing to win an increasingly likely second ballot at the Republican National Convention. It's that he's missed his chance altogether to line up potential delegates who will remain loyal, thanks to deadlines in some states that have already passed. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File)

While Trump's team has had little contact with these loyal party activists, his chief rival for the Republican nomination, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, has been courting them for months.

Trump has spent the past two days criticizing his party's delegate selection process as "rigged," ''unfair" and "corrupt."

His team is only now starting to engage in the delegate selection process, the choosing of the actual people who will attend and vote at the convention. Republicans have already selected delegates in at least nine states. In others, such as Virginia and Arizona, the deadline to apply to be a delegate has passed.

Indiana's primary, for example, won't take place until next month, but the deadline to become a national convention delegate was in mid-March.

"Are we concerned? Yes, definitely," said Tony Samuel, vice chairman of Trump's Indiana campaign.

Trump is the only candidate with a realistic path to the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the nomination before the convention. But the path is narrow, and Cruz is working to block him.

Cruz has built an organization of volunteers who are working in state after state to get his supporters selected as delegates, even those who must vote for Trump at first.

In Virginia, where Trump won the primary, he missed the deadlines to assemble lists of potential delegates. Cruz, however, has delegate candidates in 10 of Virginia's 11 congressional districts.

Trump's campaign hired a convention manager, Paul Manafort, last week. Manafort helped lead the fight against Ronald Reagan's challenge of then-President Gerald Ford at the 1976 Republican convention.

Manafort has accused Cruz's campaign of strong-arming would-be delegates.

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Ohlemacher reported from Washington. AP reporters Jonathan Lemire in Albany, New York, Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina, and Brian Slodysko in Indianapolis contributed.
Washington governor fires hospital chief following escape

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP)  Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday fired the head of a beleaguered state psychiatric hospital after a man who had been charged with murder escaped from the facility last week.

The escape was the latest in a litany of problems at the 800-bed Western State Hospital, where violent assaults on both staff and patients have occurred.

"These incidents have justifiably eroded public confidence in the hospital," Inslee said at a news conference. "It is clear that transformative cultural change is needed at this hospital."

Cheryl Strange, the new head of Western State Hospital, talks to the media as Washington Gov. Jay Inslee looks on, during a news conference, Tuesday, April 12, 2016, in Olympia, Wash. Strange replaces former Western State Chief Executive Officer Ron Adler, who was fired after a man charged with murder escaped from the facility last week, the latest in a litany of problems at the 800-bed hospital. (AP Photo/Rachel La Corte)

Inslee said he had relieved Western State Chief Executive Officer Ron Adler of his duties. Inslee said he would be replaced by Cheryl Strange, effective April 25. Strange had previously managed the state public mental health system.

Anthony Garver escaped last week from the facility in Lakewood, Washington, where he was being held after he was accused of torturing a 20-year-old woman to death. Garver and fellow patient Mark Alexander Adams escaped April 6 through a key-locked window. Adams was apprehended the next day. Garver travelled to Spokane, where he was caught by authorities Friday night.

U.S. regulators have repeatedly cited the facility over safety concerns and threatened to cut millions in federal funding. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently extended the hospital's deadline for fixing the problems from April 1 to May 3.

A federal judge also has said the hospital has failed to provide timely competency services to mentally ill people charged with crimes.

Many of the hospital's problems stem from a staffing shortage, Inslee said. As of April 3, there were 146 nursing and therapy vacancies, according to a state spokeswoman. Inslee said this year's budget offered bonuses and an increase in salaries to recruit and retain more hospital staff.

Strange said her immediate focus will be on meeting with staff and residents to see "what's working, what's not working."

"That's a really critical component," she said.

Sen. Mark Miloscia, a Republican from Federal Way, said that the firing was "better late than never."

"I've been calling on him to take control of his agency and start firing people for their incompetence," he said.

Western State Hospital nursing supervisor Paul Vilja said Adler was difficult to work with.

"As a previous union officer, I met with this CEO at least two times per week for several years," Vilja told the Associated Press. "At no time did I feel that he assimilated the data that was provided. ... In some meetings, he lost his temper and often made inappropriate comments."

Inslee said that he talked with staff, who shared their concerns.

"In my discussions with the staff, they did not have the sense that their ideas, recommendations, aspirations were getting adequate consideration by the leadership team," he said. "They did not have confidence that the CEO was going to be able to really bring them into the decision-making process."

He said that while Adler tried to make improvements in recent months, "they just were not adequate to what we need to see happen there."

Kathy Spears, spokeswoman for the Department of Social and Health Services, said Adler was not available for comment until later in the week.

Dennis Brockschmidt, a nurse who had been assaulted by a patient in 2014 and feared for his safety, said he was pleased with Adler's firing.

"We are all overjoyed here and are wondering why it took so long," he said. "We're hoping that some of the policies that he implemented that hurt us will be overturned."

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announces that Cheryl Strange, second from left, is the new head of Western State Hospital as Pat Lashway, secretary of the Department of Social and Health Services, left, looks on, during a news conference, Tuesday, April 12, 2016, in Olympia, Wash. Strange replaces former Western State Chief Executive Officer Ron Adler, who was fired after a man charged with murder escaped from the facility last week, the latest in a litany of problems at the 800-bed hospital. (AP Photo/Rachel La Corte)

FILE - This Nov. 18, 2015, file photo shows a sign near the main entrance of Western State Hospital, the largest psychiatric hospital in the state, in Lakewood, Wash. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday, April 12, 2016, fired the head of a the state psychiatric hospital after an accused murderer escaped from the hospital last week. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

Cheryl Strange, the new head of Western State Hospital, waits during a news conference, Tuesday, April 12, 2016, in Olympia, Wash. Strange replaces former Western State Chief Executive Officer Ron Adler, who was fired after a man charged with murder escaped from the facility last week, the latest in a litany of problems at the 800-bed hospital. (Steve Bloom/The Olympian via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT
Comey: FBI, Apple court clash created unproductive 'emotion'

WASHINGTON (AP)  FBI Director James Comey said Tuesday he was glad a court fight in California over access to a locked iPhone had ended because it "was creating an emotion around the issue that was not productive," likening the rhetoric and passion surrounding the discussion to the debate over gun control.

Comey told an audience of Catholic University law school students that the FBI was correct to ask a judge to force Apple Inc. to help it hack into the phone used by a gunman in the December mass killing in San Bernardino, California.

"That litigation," he said, "had to be brought, in my view, because that case had to be investigated in a reasonable way. That's what that litigation was about."

But generally speaking, Comey said, lawsuits and court fights won't resolve the broader collision between privacy and national security. He said he regretted that the San Bernardino case in particular had "created an emotion around the issue that was not productive" and was glad that that case had ended.

"We can't resolve these really important issues that affect our values  technology, innovation, safety and all kinds of other things  in litigation," he said.

The Justice Department last month told a magistrate judge that it had managed to access the phone of Syed Farook without Apple's help  though it didn't say how  effectively ending the case. The FBI is examining the device, but officials have not revealed whether any useful information has been recovered, and they have not said whether they will share with Apple the method they used to break into the phone.

Comey said one "unintended benefit" of the Apple case has been greater public dialogue and engagement about the balance between privacy and security. But he said he hoped "some of the emotion would come down" and that the dialogue was not well-served by "being tweeted about" or being spoken of in absolutes.

"Some of the emotion that I've received around this issue reminds me sometimes  (in) the absolutist and slippery slope arguments  remind me of some of the rhetoric we hear in the gun debate. It's the same kind of rhetoric and passion in this conversation," he said.

Comey said the conversation would certainly persist given that there are "plenty" of cases affected by encryption. The Justice Department last week said that it would continue trying to force Apple to reveal an iPhone's data in a New York City drug case.

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UN official: More help needed for Africa's Sahel region

UNITED NATIONS (AP)  A senior U.N. official on Tuesday said the ongoing poverty and horror resulting from attacks by the extremist Boko Haram group in Africa's Lake Chad basin are at their worst and called for increased relief funding for its 3 million people and broader international engagement in the region.

Toby Lanzer, the world body's regional humanitarian coordinator for the Sahel region, of which the Lake Chad basin is a part, said in a briefing with reporters that more relief money alone will only serve as a stop-gap if it is not coupled with investments in development and infrastructure. He called on governments and international organizations to address poverty and environmental degradation and invest in education and vocational training.

The poverty in this area of northern Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger is "of the like I've hardly ever seen before," he said.

Lanzer, who is based in Dakar, Senegal, described how his team recently drove through Nigeria's Borno state to the border with Cameroon, seeing along the way "village after village destroyed and deserted, not a goat, cat of any sort and certainly no humans" as a result of attacks by Boko Haram.

Upon arrival at the town of Bama, Lanzer said they found its 30,000 residents on the brink of starvation.

Boko Haram's six-year-old Islamic insurgency has left at least 20,000 people dead and forced more than 2.8 million people in the Lake Chad basin from their homes, according to the U.N. The Nigeria-based Boko Haram last year pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group. Attacks by Boko Haram increased early last year in Nigeria's neighboring countries, who are now contributing to a multinational force that was formed to destroy the militant Islamic group.

Lanzer said the city of Maiduguri in the center of Borno state normally has about 1 million residents but its population has swelled to 2.6 million because of the many people in the region displaced by the fighting.

The Sahel region is the zone of transition between the Sahara Desert to the north and the Sudanian Savanna and includes Burkina Faso, Chad, Cameroon, the Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal.

The Sahel is home to about 150 million people and Lanzer said that number is expected to double in two decades, making the need for more to be done more urgent.

The Nigerian government, Lanzer said, has suffered under a financial crisis resulting from a drop in oil prices and is unable to handle "such devastation and such number of people in need."

"We have to help the governments of the Sahel stabilize the situation, whether it's Mali, whether its the Lake Chad basin," he said.

According to the U.N.'s humanitarian affairs office, international humanitarian agencies operating in Nigeria plan to provide $248 million in aid to people in Northeast Nigeria in 2016, but it is only 12 per cent funded.

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An 18-year-old Mormon missionary died on Tuesday after being hit by a car in Taiwan.

David Smith Hampton, of North Ogden, Utah, was riding his bike when the crash occurred near Taichung.

He was taken to hospital after the crash and died of head trauma and other injuries, Bishop Peter Wollschleger, acting as a spokesman for Hampton's family, told KSL Newsradio.

Hampton had begun his two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints just four months ago.

David Smith Hampton (pictured), of North Ogden, Utah, was on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints when he died near Taichung in Taiwan, after a car hit his bike. He was 18 years old

The 18-year-old, who started learning Mandarin in Utah in December, had been in Taiwan for about two months according to the Deseret News.

Hampton, who told his parents about his pleasure of being on a mission, finished all of his letters home with the words: 'It is not about you.'

Now, Steve and Cyndi Hampton, who learnt about their son's death on Tuesday morning, are keeping this statement in mind as they grieve for him, the Deseret News wrote.

'As can be imagined, we are still processing the news,' they said in a statement. 'However, we are thankful he was serving the Lord as a missionary.

'In each of his letters, he expressed his pleasure to be on a mission. It was hard work, but it was a blessing for him and for us. And we know it will continue to be a blessing for us.'

Their daughter is currently on a mission with the church in Tahiti.

Hampton, who was an Eagle scout and had been in several school plays, finished every letter home with the sentence: 'It is not about you.' He is pictured with his family

No funeral plans have been made so far for Hampton, who was an Eagle scout, had been in several school plays and enjoyed running and biking according to Wollschleger.

'The family's handling this incredibly well,' the bishop said according to Deseret News. 'I know it's a difficult time for them, but they're a very strong family, very strong in the faith, in the Latter Day Saints community.'

Hampton's death comes three weeks after four missionaries were injured in the Brussels airport bombing.

Church figures show he is the second missionary to die this year. Six died in 2015 and ten in 2014.

The religion currently has about 75,000 missionaries serving around the world.
Mexican central banker criticizes Trump's remittance plan

MEXICO CITY (AP)  Mexico's central bank boss is criticizing Donald Trump's proposal to block remittances from Mexicans living in the U.S. as a way to force Mexico into paying for a border wall.

Bank chief Agustin Carstens said Tuesday that the plan would violate people's rights. He says money being remitted is the property of the people who earn it and they have the right to transfer their funds internationally.

Trump has said he would modify a clause of the anti-terrorism Patriot Act to keep the money until Mexico agreed to make a one-time payment of $5 billion to $10 billion for the wall.

FILE - In this April 11, 2016 file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks in Albany, N.Y. It's not just thatTrump is behind the curve in organizing to win an increasingly likely second ballot at the Republican National Convention. It's that he's missed his chance altogether to line up potential delegates who will remain loyal, thanks to deadlines in some states that have already passed. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File)
Two corporals raped an "extremely drunk" colleague after spending the evening drinking together in their mess, a court heard.

Thomas Fulton, 28, and Jeremy Jones, also 28, are accused of raping army corporal Anne-Marie Ellement in the early hours of November 20 2009.

Bulford Court Martial Centre in Wiltshire heard the soldiers, who have since left the Army, admit that sexual activity took place.

Corporal Anne-Marie Ellement died two years after alleging she had been raped

However, they insist Cpl Ellement - who died two years after alleging she had been raped - fully consented to what happened.

Prosecuting, Sarah Whitehouse QC, told the court: "In the early hours of the morning of November 20 2009 a young woman was found in a corridor in the Army quarters where she lived at the time.

"This young woman was entirely naked apart from a long cardigan that she was carrying.

"She appeared to be extremely drunk. She was struggling to keep her balance. Her feet were muddy and she was crying.

"This young woman was Corporal Anne-Marie Ellement."

Ms Whitehouse said Cpl Ellement was aged 28 at the time of the incident and was serving with the Royal Military Police in Germany.

Cpl Ellement had a disagreement with a colleague at work on November 19 2009 and drank two bottles of beer before heading to the mess.

Fulton - the boyfriend of Cpl Ellement's friend Cpl Sarah Noteyoung - and Jones were at the bar along with two others when she arrived there at about 10pm.

"There's no doubt that over the next hour or two hours Miss Ellement drank a great deal, as did Mr Fulton and Mr Jones," Ms Whitehouse said.

"At some stage during the evening Miss Ellement drank a Red Bull cocktail. It was undoubtedly a very potent mix."

It is unclear whether Cpl Ellement or Jones poured the drink, which contained four to five shots of vodka, one to two shots of brightly coloured spirits and Red Bull, the court heard.

Witnesses described flirting and kissing between Cpl Ellement, Fulton and Jones.

Fulton and Jones were heard discussing a threesome, which Fulton later suggested to Cpl Ellement, it was alleged.

Cpl Ellement is said to have declined this because of Fulton's girlfriend Cpl Noteyoung, who was attending a funeral in England at the time.

She left the mess with Fulton and Jones then headed to Jones's room at about 12.30am on November 20.

"Some things she remembers, other things she doesn't," Ms Whitehouse said.

"She remembers Thomas Fulton having sex with her and she found it painful. She remembers Jeremy Jones grabbing her breast."

Jones later said the three had all undressed in his room and both he and Fulton had consensual sex with Cpl Ellement, the court heard.

He described them all as "giggling and being silly" throughout. Cpl Ellement, in her video interview, had no recollection of sex with Jones.

Ms Whitehouse described how a shakey and "very confused" Cpl Ellement was discovered in her corridor by colleague Cpl Charlene Pritchard at 1.37am that morning.

Another colleague, Cpl Kelly Broadhurst, came to help Cpl Ellement and heard her say "I didn't want it. He tried to have sex with me".

"She said he had sex with her and she said 'stop' but he carried on for 10 minutes," Ms Whitehouse said.

Fulton and Jones were arrested later that morning and were interviewed. Fulton declined to comment, while Jones insisted both men had consensual sex with Cpl Ellement.

Ms Whitehouse told the panel Cpl Ellement had died in 2011, adding that the "circumstances of that sad event are not relevant" to their task.

Ex-corporals Fulton, formerly of 174 Provost Company 3 Royal Military Police, and Jones, 28, formerly of Close Protection Unit Royal Military Police Operations Wing, deny two charges of rape each.

The rapes are alleged to have taken place between November 18 and 21 2009.

The trial, in front of Judge Jeff Blackett, is expected to last between two and three weeks.

In a lengthy video interview, Cpl Ellement said she had returned home from work at about 5.45pm.

"I was a bit angry because I had a disagreement with one of the girls," she said.

"I started drinking at about 7pm. At about 10pm I wanted to get out of the block because all of the girls were around.

"I thought I would go to the mess. I cycled down to the mess on my bike.

"When I got into the mess Jez Jones was behind the bar. Tom Fulton was in the bar."

Cpl Ellement said Fulton and Jones were in their uniforms, while she was dressed in a long brown cardigan and blue jeans.

She first had a beer before Fulton suggested they did shots, then she had a "vodka and Red Bull with blue balls", she said.

"The last drink I had was a Corona," she said. "The total was eight drinks.

"We were joking about doing the splits and then when I was trying to stretch to touch my toes as a joke.

"Jez came up behind me and started to do like he was trying to have sex with me from behind.

"I thought it was just a joke. Then Tom kept mentioning to me about having a threesome."

Cpl Ellement said Fulton showed her a text message from Cpl Noteyoung to him, saying "Tell Anne-Marie Jez fancies her".

She believed her friend was having a joke with her, knowing that she used to find Jones "quite cute".

"I can't remember the majority of the stuff that happened in the mess," she said.

The three colleagues went upstairs to Jones's room so he could get changed to go out to another bar, she said.

"The next thing I can remember is that Tom was on top of me and I was like 'no, it is really hurting'," she said.

"The last thing I remember is Jez grabbing my breasts. Then I have a massive memory block and I can't remember anything.

"I can't remember how I got back to my accommodation."

Cpl Ellement said she would never have had sex with Fulton as Cpl Noteyoung was "one of my best friends".

"I was saying 'no it really hurts, it really really hurts, stop'," she said.

"I know for a fact that I would never have done anything with Tom because of Sarah and because I don't like him like that."

Cpl Ellement described how colleagues had found her naked outside her accommodation block but she had no recollection of going there.

"I had no clothes on whatsoever," she said.

"There's no way that I would run across camp naked. For me to run out of the room naked something has to have happened but I don't remember."

During the alleged rape, Cpl Ellement said Fulton was acting "like it was a joke".

"As he was doing it he was laughing and smiling," she said.

"I was getting angry at the fact that I was trying to get up and pull my trousers up.

"I know that he was wearing uniform to begin with but I don't remember entering the room.
Voters should not expect all politicians to be "perfect" or "normal", Lord Hague said amid pressure for more disclosure of their personal circumstances.

Chancellor George Osborne is the latest senior Westminster figure to find their financial interests under intense scrutiny following the Panama Papers leak.

He published his tax return on Monday after Prime Minister David Cameron took the unprecedented step of setting out his circumstances following the revelation that he benefited from an offshore fund set up by his father.

Lord Hague said politicians couldn't be expected to be perfect or normal

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and London Mayor Boris Johnson followed suit - with shadow chancellor John McDonnell having taken the lead some months previously.

The Chancellor declared 198,738 of taxable income, meaning that he benefited personally from the reduction of the top rate of income tax from 50p to 45p, prompting Labour criticism that he profited at the same time as cutting public services and welfare payments.

Mr Osborne also faced questions over claims that he received a five-figure payout from his family's firm despite it paying no corporation tax for seven years.

The Times said wallpaper firm Osborne & Little - from which he received dividends worth 44,647 - rolled over losses and deferred tax payments so that its bill was zero despite multimillion-pound profits.

Mr McDonnell said the tax summaries published by senior Conservatives were "transparent as dishwater" and left "more questions than answers".

Mr Cameron said he did not believe an expectation of openness should extend to all MPs.

But ex-Tory leader Lord Hague said an "age of greater transparency" would require more and more openness by public figures - on issues such as health as well as finances - and that politics would be diminished if all were found to be squeaky clean.

"If Parliament consisted of people who had the simplest possible personal finances, perhaps all having come through the public sector with no questions of business ownership or dividends ... then you would have a very one dimensional Parliament," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

"The consequence of greater transparency in tax, in medical records, whatever else it may be among leaders, is that there has to be a maturity in the public debate about those things and a recognition that the circumstances and habits of people who are effective leaders will vary greatly."

Winston Churchill's tax affairs "would have been more difficult to defend in public than Prime Minister David Cameron's", he said of the man widely lauded as the UK's best leader.

And characters such as William Pitt the Younger - whose biography he wrote - had "chaotic personal finances" but were "brilliant at handling the nation's finances".

"Personal circumstances are not necessarily a good guide to how good they will be as a prime minister, a chancellor or anything else," he said.

He went on: "We're going to have to bear those things in mind and not expect everybody to be perfect or everybody to be normal."

Lord Hague cautioned that the new era should be tested "in careful stages" rather than a rush to force all MPs to publish their own records.

Mr Corbyn - whose tax return was submitted late but showed he had no savings on which to pay income tax - has suggested public figures beyond Westminster should also be more transparent.

Mr Johnson's disclosure showed his taxable income over four years was 1,985,901, leaving him with a 916,481 bill.

The Prime Minister, who inherited 300,000 from his father and received gifts worth 200,000 from his mother Mary, said it was "natural human instinct" for parents to want to pass assets on to their children.

He also set out new measures to make it harder for people to hide the proceeds of corruption offshore as he sought to draw a line under the row.

Most British crown dependencies and overseas territories have now agreed to share information in future with UK police and law enforcement authorities.

The Government is providing 10 million for a new cross-agency task force to analyse the information contained in leaks linked to Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.

Lord Hague said it was "wise to try to draw a line around those who are responsible or seek to be responsible for the nation's finances".

"But we live in an age where digital technology and a lack of trust in government, internationally, come together to demand greater transparency all the time.

"So I think it is very difficult to stand out against that."

He went on: "The answer is only to extend transparency in careful stages. Let us see how it works over several years for those who have now published their tax returns and others who come after them rather than extend it to all Members of Parliament, for instance."
Hague warns over 'age of greater transparency' after Panama Papers tax calls

Voters should not expect all politicians to be "perfect" or "normal", Lord Hague said amid pressure for more disclosure of their personal circumstances.

Chancellor George Osborne is the latest senior Westminster figure to find their financial interests under intense scrutiny following the Panama Papers leak.

He published his tax return on Monday after Prime Minister David Cameron took the unprecedented step of setting out his circumstances following the revelation that he benefited from an offshore fund set up by his father.

Lord Hague said politicians couldn't be expected to be perfect or normal

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and London Mayor Boris Johnson followed suit - with shadow chancellor John McDonnell having taken the lead some months previously.

The Chancellor declared 198,738 of taxable income, meaning that he benefited personally from the reduction of the top rate of income tax from 50p to 45p, prompting Labour criticism that he profited at the same time as cutting public services and welfare payments.

Mr Osborne also faced questions over claims that he received a five-figure payout from his family's firm despite it paying no corporation tax for seven years.

The Times said wallpaper firm Osborne & Little - from which he received dividends worth 44,647 - rolled over losses and deferred tax payments so that its bill was zero despite multimillion-pound profits.

Mr McDonnell said the tax summaries published by senior Conservatives were "transparent as dishwater" and left "more questions than answers".

Mr Cameron said he did not believe an expectation of openness should extend to all MPs.

But ex-Tory leader Lord Hague said an "age of greater transparency" would require more and more openness by public figures - on issues such as health as well as finances - and that politics would be diminished if all were found to be squeaky clean.

"If Parliament consisted of people who had the simplest possible personal finances, perhaps all having come through the public sector with no questions of business ownership or dividends ... then you would have a very one dimensional Parliament," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

"The consequence of greater transparency in tax, in medical records, whatever else it may be among leaders, is that there has to be a maturity in the public debate about those things and a recognition that the circumstances and habits of people who are effective leaders will vary greatly."

Winston Churchill's tax affairs "would have been more difficult to defend in public than Prime Minister David Cameron's", he said of the man widely lauded as the UK's best leader.

And characters such as William Pitt the Younger - whose biography he wrote - had "chaotic personal finances" but were "brilliant at handling the nation's finances".

"Personal circumstances are not necessarily a good guide to how good they will be as a prime minister, a chancellor or anything else," he said.

He went on: "We're going to have to bear those things in mind and not expect everybody to be perfect or everybody to be normal."

Lord Hague cautioned that the new era should be tested "in careful stages" rather than a rush to force all MPs to publish their own records.

Mr Corbyn - whose tax return was submitted late but showed he had no savings on which to pay income tax - has suggested public figures beyond Westminster should also be more transparent.

Mr Johnson's disclosure showed his taxable income over four years was 1,985,901, leaving him with a 916,481 bill.

The Prime Minister, who inherited 300,000 from his father and received gifts worth 200,000 from his mother Mary, said it was "natural human instinct" for parents to want to pass assets on to their children.

He also set out new measures to make it harder for people to hide the proceeds of corruption offshore as he sought to draw a line under the row.

Most British crown dependencies and overseas territories have now agreed to share information in future with UK police and law enforcement authorities.

The Government is providing 10 million for a new cross-agency task force to analyse the information contained in leaks linked to Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.

Lord Hague said it was "wise to try to draw a line around those who are responsible or seek to be responsible for the nation's finances".

"But we live in an age where digital technology and a lack of trust in government, internationally, come together to demand greater transparency all the time.

"So I think it is very difficult to stand out against that."

He went on: "The answer is only to extend transparency in careful stages. Let us see how it works over several years for those who have now published their tax returns and others who come after them rather than extend it to all Members of Parliament, for instance."
Migrants paying smuggling gangs up to 13,500 to travel to UK

Migrants attempting to reach the UK are paying smuggling gangs as much as 13,500 to arrange their journey, the National Crime Agency (NCA) has revealed.

Some of those intent on coming to Britain are quoted five-figure sums to make the trip by air, while others are even believed to have spent as much as 12,000 to travel from France in inflatable boats.

It also emerged that criminal networks are suspected to have begun targeting quieter ports on the east and south coasts in addition to the key hotspot at Kent.

Migrants at the Jungle camp in Calais

The NCA - the UK's equivalent to the FBI - is running the largest dedicated operation against organised immigration crime in Europe.

Officers said the cost of journeys varies hugely depending on the service being sought from the gang.

Factors that affect the price include whether the migrant wants a staged or "end to end" trip, how much they can afford and the level of risk perceived by smugglers.

Tom Dowdall, deputy director of the NCA's border policing command, set out examples of the sums for those attempting to come to the UK.

Someone wishing to travel from Iraq to the UK could pay just under 4,000 to go over land through Turkey and Europe, while the price jumps to more than 13,500 for a journey by air.

Referring to the more expensive example, Mr Dowdall said: "That's someone who has been able to access a good quality travel document in the first instance to be able to cross borders and to be able to fool airlines as well."

Asked how frequent such activity is, he said: "There is a regularity to that."

The cost and sophistication of efforts to smuggle migrants into Britain from France also varies considerably.

Prices can range from as little as just over 100 for a single, basic attempt to more than 6,000 for a journey in a "high-quality concealment".

Intelligence even suggests that some migrants have paid up to 12,000 for transport from Dunkirk to the UK in Rigid Hulled Inflatable Boats.

The criminal networks are seen as adaptable, quickly changing their methods in response to law enforcement action or increased security.

Investigators suspect that, as well as the main Channel crossing between Calais and Kent, criminals may be using less busy ports within the UK.

"We've seen on the east coast evidence from Tilbury and Purfleet, up as far as Hull and Immingham. And on the south coast from Newhaven to Portsmouth," Mr Dowdall said.

The NCA provided examples of recently detected "concealments".

One migrant found in a tanker at Dartford Crossing had travelled from Iran to Calais via Turkey, Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece, Austria, Switzerland and, once in France, Paris and Lille.

He had paid around 4,000 US dollars (2,800 at current rates) to various "agents", with the journey to the UK costing an additional 1,000 euro (800).

In another episode, six men found on a freight train near Folkestone reported that they had paid 500 euro (399) to get on at Calais, where they were sealed in containers.

The NCA's 90-officer taskforce - codenamed Project Invigor - has up to 60 open lines of enquiry into organised crime gangs at any one time.

Groups involved are often formed along national or community lines, including those from the Middle East, China and various Eastern European countries. British-based groups are often comprised of naturalised UK citizens.
Nations seek rapid ratification of Paris climate deal, 4-year lock

By Alister Doyle

OSLO, April 10 (Reuters) - Many nations are pushing for swift ratification of a Paris agreement to slow climate change and lock it in place for four years before a change in the White House next year that might bring a weakening of Washington's long-term commitment.

More than 130 nations with 60 leaders including French President Francois Hollande are due to sign December's pact at a U.N. ceremony in New York on April 22, the most ever for a U.N. agreement on an opening day, the United Nations said.

Both China and the United States, the world's top emitters accounting together for 38 percent of emissions, have promised to sign then. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to attend.

But signing is only a step in a tortuous U.N. process for the deal to enter into force, which requires formal approval by at least 55 nations representing 55 percent of man-made greenhouse gas emissions.

In many countries, that needs a parliamentary vote.

Some experts predict the 55 percent thresholds can be reached this year, before President Barack Obama leaves office in January 2017.

But many developing nations want the Paris agreement to move forward as rapidly as possible on ratification, partly to lock in the United States if Republican candidates Donald Trump or Ted Cruz, who do not think that climate change is man-made, win the U.S. presidency.

Once the Paris accord enters into force, a little-noted Article 28 says any nation wanting to withdraw will first have to wait four years - the length of a U.S. presidential term.

"I would expect non-compliance, but not necessarily a formal withdrawal," under a Republican president, said Oliver Geden, of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.

And many nations see self-interest in signing up.

"Moving to clean energy is in every country's interest and I am confident that climate action is an historic inevitability," Maldives Environment Minister Thoriq Ibrahim, chair of the Alliance of Small Island States, told Reuters.

NICARAGUA

All 195 nations in Paris agreed the deal except Nicaragua, which objected that it demanded too little of the rich. Some were reluctant such as OPEC oil producers led by Saudi Arabia.

Still, the agreement could reach 55 percent of emissions with support from just a handful of countries, for instance China, the United States, Russia, India, Japan and Brazil. The European Union, with a 12 percent share, is likely to lag because it first has to share out promised curbs among member states.

Many nations want to avoid a repeat of the U.N.'s previous climate deal, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which only entered into force in 2005 after years of disputes between Washington and its main allies.

Kyoto dictated cuts in greenhouse gas emissions only for developed nations, unlike the Paris Agreement which involves both rich and poor but lets all countries set national targets.

U.S. President Bill Clinton's administration signed Kyoto but never submitted it to a hostile Senate for ratification. His successor, Republican President George. W. Bush, stayed out, saying Kyoto would threaten U.S. jobs.

Obama says his administration can now join the Paris agreement without getting approval from the Senate.

"A lot has changed" since Kyoto, Christiana Figueres, head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, told Reuters, noting that prices of wind and solar energy have tumbled and scientists are ever more certain that burning fossil fuels causes global warming.

"Much is made by some of the politics in the United States but it seems unthinkable that, whatever political complexion is in the White House ... (they) cannot see the self-evident economic and social benefits" of reducing emissions, she said.

And more countries say they are suffering heatwaves, desertification, downpours and rising sea levels.

Several vulnerable nations have already ratified the Paris agreement, even before the signing ceremony, led by Fiji, the Marshall Islands, Palau and the Maldives.

"My sense is that it (ratification) will move fairly quickly, possibly this year," said Alden Meyer, of the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Shell CEO says may sell some North Sea assets to improve portfolio

By Sonali Paul

PERTH, April 12 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell could sell some of its older, lower grade North Sea assets to improve the quality of its portfolio, CEO Ben van Beurden said on Tuesday, part of a two-year programme to help finance its purchase of gas major BG Group.

After completing the $52 billion acquisition of BG in February, Shell said it would sell $30 billion in assets between 2016 and 2018 to help finance the deal and to maintain its dividend following a sharp drop in oil prices since mid-2014.

"The North Sea for us will be an area where we will have to take a look, as we have to do with our entire conventional upstream, now that we have a much enlarged portfolio," van Beurden told reporters at a conference.

BG assets Shell acquired in the North Sea are newer, have more running room and are of higher quality, so the company would look to sell some of its other properties there, he said.

Van Beurden also said Shell still sees the Brazil deepwater assets it acquired with BG as highly attractive. Any potential delays in developing those assets due to political and economic problems in the country had been factored into Shell's valuation of BG, he said.

"These are still fundamentally the best deepwater resources that are available on the planet. And that will not change."

While Shell has been selling some refining and gasoline retail businesses around the world, van Beurden played down the chances it would sell its huge refinery in Singapore, saying it was core to Shell's fuel trading and integrated petrochemicals business, despite its profit margins being "not that exciting".

"We consider Singapore part of the backbone of our oil products business," he said.

On new opportunities, Shell would look at Iran, alongside other potential developments, he said, although adding that it was important to remain cautious on dealings with Tehran as it has just emerged from sanctions.

"I look at it with optimism or positive intent. But we also have to be cautious we don't get too carried away too early," van Beurden said, when asked about the opportunities in Iran.
Czech Republic - Factors To Watch on April 12

PRAGUE, April 12 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Czech financial markets on Tuesday. 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 - Czech and Austrian Presidents to attend business forum (0900 GMT). Related news PRAGUE - The lower house of parliament to hold a session (until April 22). Related news ---------------------- MARKET SNAPSHOT ------------------------ Index/Crown Currency Latest Prev Pct change Pct change close on day in 2016 vs Euro 27.02 27.006 -0.05 -0.08 vs Dollar 23.664 23.677 0.05 4.81 Czech Equities 893.56 893.56 -0.64 -6.56 U.S. Equities 17,556.41 17,576.96 -0.12 0.75 Pvs close or current levels vs prior domestic close at 1500 GMT ========================PRESS DIGEST============================ WORKFORCE: Around one third of Czech companies have experienced having to turn down a job due to lack of skilled workers, a survey among 500 companies showed. There were 117 thousand jobs available at the end of March, while there were 443 thousand people unemployed. Mlada Fronta Dnes, page A1 (Reuters has not verified 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 (Reporting by Prague Newsroom)
Turkey strikes Islamic State in Syria after attacks on border town

ISTANBUL, April 12 (Reuters) - The Turkish army hit Islamic State targets in northern Syria, in response to cross-border rocket fire that struck a border town in southeastern Turkey for the second day in a row, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.

The military was responding to attacks on Kilis, near the Syrian border, Davutoglu said.

The town is home to an estimated 110,000 Syrian refugees and is frequently targeted by artillery from across the border, a region controlled by Islamic State militants.

"Yesterday and today, rockets belonging to Daesh terrorist organisation landed inside Kilis, wounding 21 citizens," Davutoglu said in the speech to his ruling AK Party in parliament.

"Our armed forces, within rules of engagement, responded immediately and hit Daesh targets," he said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.

One person died of wounds following the attacks on Kilis, hospital sources told Reuters later on Tuesday.

In March, two people, including a young child, were killed by rocket fire in Kilis.

Mayor Hasan Kaya told Reuters that one rocket on Tuesday struck road works and the other landed inside an empty lot. Some of the wounded were municipal workers, he said.
Belgium charges two, detains three over Brussels, Paris attacks

By Robert-Jan Bartunek

BRUSSELS, April 12 (Reuters) - Belgium has charged two more men with terrorist offences linked to last month's bombings in Brussels and also searched a house related to the attacks in Paris, detaining three people, federal prosecutors said on Tuesday.

A judge charged the two men, identified as Smail F., born in 1984, and Ibrahim F., born in 1988, over alleged links to the rental of a property that investigators believe was used as a "safe house" before the March 22 suicide bombings in Brussels.

Prosecutors said in a statement that they had searched a house in the southern Brussels district of Uccle, taking into custody three people for questioning over the Nov. 13 shooting and bombing rampage in Paris.

Prosecutors did not comment on what was found in the house search but said the three people detained would appear before a judge on Wednesday to decide whether they would be charged.

Investigations into the attacks in Paris and Brussels, both claimed by Islamic State militant group, unveiled significant overlap between the groups that orchestrated them.

Belgian prosecutors said on Sunday they had reason to believe that those behind the Brussels attacks, which killed 32 people, had initially planned to strike again in France.

Including Smail F., and Ibrahim F., six suspects have been arrested and charged since late last week as a result of investigations into the Brussels bombings.

"They are charged with participation in the activities of a terrorist group, terrorist murders and attempts to commit terrorist murders, as a perpetrator, co-perpetrator or accomplice," prosecutors said in their statement.

Police raided the suspected safe house in the central Brussels district of Etterbeek on Saturday, but found no weapons or explosives.

The Belgian newspaper DH said the two men had been seen on security camera footage entering the house the day after the attacks and carrying out several bags. Prosecutors were not immediately available for comment on that report.

Four other suspects were arrested on Friday, including Mohamed Abrini, who investigators say has confessed to depositing a bomb at Brussels airport, and Osama Krayem, suspected of buying bags used by the bombers.
Indonesia's Pertamina plans to develop South China Sea border areas

By Fergus Jensen and Wilda Asmarini

JAKARTA, April 12 (Reuters) - Energy company Pertamina plans to explore for oil and gas in areas close to Indonesia's maritime border in the South China Sea to assert the country's territorial rights, the upstream director of the state-owned company said.

"The government needs to have activities around the borders and one of Pertamina's strategies is to support this," Syamsu Alam told Reuters in an interview on Monday.

He said Indonesia had lost sovereignty over two disputed islands in the past because it was not developing those areas.

"So, like the South China Sea and the borders in North Kalimantan, we need to have some activities there," he said.

China claims 90 percent of the South China Sea, which is believed to be rich in oil and gas, with overlapping claims from Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan.

Its reclamation of rocky outcrops and development of infrastructure there has caused alarm around the region.

Indonesia is not a claimant and has projected itself as an honest broker in the dispute.

However, there is concern in Jakarta that Beijing believes its maritime territory - demarcated by a u-shaped nine-dash line - includes areas around the Indonesian-ruled Natuna islands.

After an incident last month involving an Indonesian patrol boat and a Chinese coastguard vessel and fishing boat in what Indonesia said were its waters, Jakarta said it "felt sabotaged" in its efforts to maintain peace in the South China Sea.

China has said that it recognises Indonesia's sovereignty over the Natuna Islands.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said he was not aware of Pertamina's plans.

"China and Indonesia do not have a territorial dispute," he told a daily news briefing.

Alam did not spell out Pertamina's plans for development in the South China Sea, but asked about security, he said: "Of course, we have to have support from the military." He did not elaborate on what role the military might play.

He said Pertamina has a three-year timeline for a technical and commercial evaluation of the East Natuna gas field, working with Exxon Mobil, Thailand's PTT and Total .

The company also has interests in other blocks close to Indonesia's other border areas, he added, referring to the Masela and Babar Selaru blocks next to its border with Australia and the Nunukan, Simenggaris and Ambalat blocks in areas next to Malaysia.

Indonesia and Malaysia have been embroiled in a long-running dispute over the oil-rich Ambalat area, off Borneo, while the area between Indonesia and East Timor and Australia contains huge gas reserves.

The International Court of Justice ruled in 2002 that the Sipadan and Ligitan islands off northeastern Borneo belonged to Malaysia, based on evidence that Kuala Lumpur was doing more on the islands to indicate its authority.

Alam said Pertamina has a budget of up to $2 billion for mergers and acquisitions in oil and gas assets this year, and is looking to buy into projects in Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Russia among other countries.

Pertamina plans to increase output through mergers and acquisitions by 14,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) this year, and by 117,000 boepd in 2017, he said.

Indonesia's crude production, which peaked in 1981, dipped below 1 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2011 and is set to fall towards 600,000 bpd by 2020. The country currently has less than 13 years of reserves.

Among the assets Pertamina is eyeing domestically are the East Kalimantan and Rokan oil and gas blocks operated by Chevron , whose contracts are due to expire in coming years.
LONDON, April 12 (Reuters) - Iceland's Finance Minister Bjarni Benediktsson said on Tuesday he would not resign over the Panama Papers leaks, which showed he was once had a stake in an offshore investment firm in the Seychelles.

Asked by reporters in London whether he would quit, Benediktsson answered: "No".

The statement came a week after Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson resigned as prime minister over the leaked documents which showed his wife owned an offshore company that held debt from failed Icelandic banks.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which saw the leaked papers from Panamanian lawyers Mossack Fonseca, said they showed Benediktsson and two Icelandic businessmen had power of attorney over a shell company called Falson & Co. created in 2005 in the Seychelles.

The Consortium reported that Benediktsson had confirmed he owned a third of the company and had said it was set up for investing in four apartments in a building which was being built in Dubai, but that the company had been wound down in 2009.
Political storm clouds outlook for Brazil's climate change plan

By Nadia Pontes

BRASILIA, April 12 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - As at least 130 countries prepare to sign the Paris climate agreement in New York later this month, environmental experts have warned that enthusiasm for climate change action may be waning in Brazil.

The political and economic crises now rocking the Latin American heavyweight could undermine the key role played by Brazil in shaping the new international deal to curb global warming, they say.

"It is very clear that the federal government is struggling for its political survival. As a consequence, the climate change agenda is frozen," said Carlos Rittl, executive secretary of the Climate Observatory, a Brasilia-based coalition of 35 nongovernmental groups.

President Dilma Rousseff faces charges of breaking budget laws to support her re-election in 2014. This week, a committee of the lower house of Congress recommended her impeachment, with a vote in the full lower house expected on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Brazilians are grappling with a major corruption scandal over a kickback scheme at state-run oil company Petrobras, and hard times after a decade of prosperity. The economy suffered its worst slump for a quarter of a century last year and unemployment is rising.

Brazilian diplomats are expected to attend the U.N. signing ceremony for the Paris climate deal on April 22. But there are growing concerns the country's woes could thwart efforts to meet the pledges made in its contribution to the global agreement reached in December.

Brazil has set a target to cut its carbon emissions 37 percent from 2005 levels by 2025, and has indicated an "intended reduction" of 43 percent by 2030.

GREATER AWARENESS

Brazil is among the 188 countries that have submitted climate action plans as part of an international effort to limit global average temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius.

But Brazil's contribution will only become law when Congress ratifies the Paris Agreement.

With discussion among parliamentarians focused on the president's impeachment, it is highly likely the Paris deal ratification will take longer than it should, Rittl said.

Nonetheless, Brazilian Climate Change Secretary Jose Miguez believes Congressional approval will come in the next five years, based on the time Brazil took to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, the existing international treaty to curb global warming.

Negotiated in 1997, it was ratified by Brazil in 2002 and entered into force in 2005.

At that time, Brazil had no targets to pursue, as the Kyoto Protocol binds only developed countries to cut emissions.

"The situation regarding climate change nowadays is much more serious - so there is far more awareness among the parliamentarians than there was back in 2002," said Miguez.

It is not necessary to wait for Congress to ratify the Paris agreement before kick-starting action, he added, as business was involved in government discussions on the U.N. plan for two years before it was submitted.

"The agriculture, energy and industry sectors have begun to adapt in order to cut their emissions," he said.

Rittl warned, however, that falling investment in programmes such as low-carbon agriculture and wind power - due to the economic slowdown - could have a harmful impact.

Still there are reasons to believe Brazil will stick to its climate pledges despite the political and economic storm clouds, said Jacques Marcovitch, professor and former president of the University of So Paulo.

"Before going to Paris, Brazil signed bilateral agreements with the United States and Germany. These are very strong environmental accords and indicate the country is committed to fulfilling its goals," he said.

FORESTS KEY

For Brazil to meet those goals, the agricultural sector will have to act, said Gustavo Junqueira, president of the Brazilian Rural Society. Agriculture is responsible for 37 percent of Brazil's carbon emissions, the same as the energy sector.

Compliance with the Forest Law would help reduce farming emissions, Junqueira added. It is also key to meeting another goal in Brazil's U.N. climate plan: to eliminate illegal deforestation by 2030.

The legislation to protect forests, modified amid controversy a few years ago, establishes a proportion of rural land that must be maintained as forest depending on the region.

In the Amazon biome, for example, where demand for beef and animal feed has fuelled an increase in deforestation, landowners have to set aside 80 percent of forests as a natural reserve.

While the forest code was approved in 2012, there are ongoing challenges to its implementation. A deadline for mapping and registering all rural properties had to be extended to May 2016, for example.

A study released last year by a consortium of Brazilian and international research institutes concluded that implementing the forest code would bring about a major reduction in Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions.

But forthcoming research argues it will not be enough.

Andrea Azevedo, one of the authors of the study to be published soon by the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM), said deforestation would have to be cut by 87 percent to meet Brazil's 2025 emissions goal, and reduced to zero by 2030.

But a lack of land-use planning threatens that, she added.

"We see large land owners clearing forest areas to make a plantation next year without knowing for sure whether that area will be needed. And this has an impact on carbon emissions," she said.

According to official data, emissions from deforestation fell from 58 percent of Brazil's total emissions in 2005 to 15 percent in 2012.

Brazil has also committed to restore 12 million hectares (29.7 million acres) of land by 2030, but has yet to put together a clear plan for this, while it is unclear how it would directly affect agriculture.

A recent survey by Brazil's Instituto Escolhas said the reforestation plan would cost around $14 billion (52 billion reais).
Italian foreign minister meets new leaders in Libya, pledges support

By Aidan Lewis

TRIPOLI, April 12 (Reuters) - Italy's foreign minister made a flying visit to Tripoli on Tuesday to meet Libya's U.N.-backed unity government, pledging broad international support as the new administration tries to consolidate its presence.

Western powers hope the new government can unite Libya's warring factions, end its political chaos and request foreign help to tackle Islamic State insurgents and migrant trafficking across the Mediterranean.

The visit by Italy's Paolo Gentiloni was the first by a senior Western official since the arrival in Tripoli nearly two weeks ago of the unity government's Presidential Council.

Italy, Libya's former colonial ruler, has played a prominent role in rallying international support for the new government. After meeting the unity government's leader Fayez Seraj, Gentiloni told reporters he believed his visit would be "a precedent that other countries will follow".

"We are all studying and discussing the possibility of reopening our diplomatic presence here in Tripoli," he said, though he added that no dates had yet been fixed.

Western diplomatic staff were evacuated from the Libyan capital in 2014 amid heavy fighting between rival factions.

Many moved to Tunis, where the United Nations launched a stabilisation fund for the unity government on Tuesday aimed at rebuilding infrastructure and supporting businesses to provide "very visible and tangible quick-wins to the population at the local level".

The fund received pledges from several countries, including 10 million euros ($11.38 million) from Germany, and $2 million each from the United States, Italy and Qatar.

Gentiloni and Seraj met at the Tripoli naval base where the Presidential Council has been operating since it arrived in the Libyan capital by ship from Tunisia.

The Council has faced resistance in both Tripoli and eastern Libya, the bases for Libya's two rival governments, and its opponents in the capital closed down the air space to prevent it from flying in.

It has so far enjoyed the support or acquiescence of most of Tripoli's powerful armed groups, but has yet to move into ministries to start work.

Still, the Council's decision to move to Tripoli has been a "game changer", Gentiloni said. "We do believe that this can pave the way to the stabilisation of Libya."

He noted, however, that the government was still establishing itself, and had yet to be approved by Libya's internationally-recognised eastern parliament in Tobruk.

Italy made a first delivery of food aid and medical kits to the Tripoli area on Tuesday and plans to deliver assistance to hospitals in the war-torn eastern city of Benghazi, Gentiloni said.

Bilateral meetings over illegal migration, transport links and security assistance are also planned, but counter-terrorism planning should be Libyan-led, the Italian minister said.

"If and when the Libyan authorities will ask for international support on security this will be considered, it will be discussed in the Security Council of the United Nations," he said. "It's not something that can be decided in Rome or in London or in Washington."

Seraj said he was confident about receiving future support from Italy and the international community, and that counter-terrorism would be a "priority".

"We will be moving forward from protocol visits to more effective and specialised meetings," he said.

The reopening of diplomatic missions could eventually pave the way for the return of international oil industry staff, though some of Libya's major oil facilities have recently come under attack from Islamic State.
Italy to supply credit lines, guarantees to boost exports to Iran

ROME, April 12 (Reuters) - Italy announced 8.8 billion euros ($10.05 billion) in credit lines and financial guarantees to relaunch exports to Iran, the Italian export agency said on Tuesday during Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's visit to Tehran.

Italy's state-run lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti will offer credit lines of 4 billion euros to companies building oil and gas infrastructure, while export agency SACE will guarantee loans and offer trade financing of 4.8 billion euros, a SACE statement said.
Pakistan shelves privatisation of national airline with new law

By Mehreen Zahra-Malik

ISLAMABAD, April 12 (Reuters) - Pakistan's parliament has adopted a law that will convert the cash-strapped national airline into a limited company but bar the government from giving up its management control, officials said on Tuesday.

The passage of the law, which blocks selling off a majority share in Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), late on Monday, was a major setback for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who made the privatisation of the company a top goal when he came to power in 2013.

The privatisation of 68 state-owned companies, which include loss-making enterprises like PIA and Pakistan Steel Mills, is also a major element in a $6.7 billion IMF package that helped Pakistan stave off a default in 2013.

The government had struggled to meet its deadline to sell PIA, which has accumulated losses of more than $3 billion, after a delay of many months in amending a 1956 law that barred it from being privately owned.

After months of legal wrangling between government and opposition representatives, a joint session of the upper and lower houses of parliament unanimously passed a bill that blocks the privatisation of the airline.

"Management control of the company and any of its subsidiary companies ... shall continue to vest in majority shareholders, which shall be the federal government and whose share shall not be less than 51 per cent," the law reads.

The IMF did not respond to emails and calls seeking comment.

Privatisation Commission Chairman Mohammad Zubair, who is a member of Sharif's ruling party, said the government would remain the major shareholder.

"We have agreed with the opposition parties that PIA will not be privatised," he told Reuters. "It is only being converted into a private entity to ensure more efficient running."

He said the bill was a compromise because resistance from unions and opposition parties was "too strong".

The government has struggled to restructure loss-making companies, which cost it an estimated $5 billion a year, and which include power distribution companies and steel giant Pakistan Steel Mills.

In February, the government shelved plans to privatise power supply companies. It has, however, made some progress, including raising more than $1 billion by selling its stake in Habib Bank Ltd.

But while the loss-making firms are a drain on resources - about an eighth of the government's fiscal revenue last year - few fear Pakistan will slide into crisis.
Australian mother and TV crew face kidnapping charges in Lebanon

BEIRUT, April 12 (Reuters) - An Australian mother and TV crew, who were in Beirut to film the woman's efforts to take her children back to Australia after a custody dispute with the Lebanese father, were charged with involvement in kidnapping by a Lebanese prosecutor on Tuesday.

The mother and a four-member Channel Nine crew have been detained in Beirut since last Wednesday, judicial sources said, after authorities scuppered their attempt to take the woman's two children back to Australia.

CCTV footage broadcast on Lebanese television appeared to show several people grabbing the children, who the father said were aged five and three, from their grandmother and bundling them into a car.

The mother was subsequently arrested and the children were returned to their father.

Channel Nine said its crew was not connected to the people who grabbed the children, Australian media reported.

The files on the case have been transferred to a judge for further investigation.

Lebanon, unlike Australia, is not a signatory of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, which allows for children normally resident in one location to be returned if taken by a relative.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said on Saturday she could not "understate the seriousness with which the Lebanese authorities are viewing the case" and added that Canberra was handling it "very carefully".
Failed spring rains worsen Ethiopia drought, malnutrition spreading

By Katy Migiro

NAIROBI, April 12 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Poor spring rains have made Ethiopia's worst drought in 50 years even more severe, and the government estimates the number of districts suffering a humanitarian emergency has risen by nearly one-fifth in three months.

The new figures will feed into the current revision by the government and aid agencies of a joint appeal in December for $1.4 billion for more than 10 million people, some of them herders whose cattle are lying dead on the dry, dusty ground.

The number of priority 1 districts - the most severe category on a four-point scale - rose to 219 in March from 186 in December, an 18 percent rise, the government's National Disaster Risk Management Commission said.

This points to "a deteriorated humanitarian situation", the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said late on Monday. Ethiopia has around 750 districts.

Priority 1 districts have a "very severe lack of adequate food security" which "may include excess mortality" and "very high and increasing malnutrition", according to the government's Early Warning and Response Directorate.

The number of priority 1 districts has risen by almost 350 percent since February 2015.

Aid agencies have said the February-April spring rains are performing poorly. In some of the worst-hit areas, the rains have failed three times in a row, Save the Children said.

"Rains are now two months overdue," the charity said in a statement on Friday. "Places like Sitti Zone in the east, and the remote Afar region in the north, have seen barely any rain."

These areas are mainly home to livestock herders who have been hit hard by shortages of water and fodder.

Kim Pozniak, a spokeswoman for Catholic Relief Services, visited eastern Haraghe zones in early April.

"The landscape there really looks apocalyptic - it's just grey dust and stone," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"There were dead cattle lying everywhere in between the cactuses. The locals were telling me there are so many dead cattle, not even the hyenas can eat them all."

The crisis is expected to worsen until August when people hope to harvest crops they will plant in June to catch the summer rains.

The total number of "hotspot" districts in need of aid rose by 3 percent to 443 from 429, the disaster commission said.

ENDS
Greece expects first asylum decisions under EU deal in two weeks

By Karolina Tagaris

ATHENS, April 12 (Reuters) - Greece said authorities would start ruling on asylum applications from hundreds of migrants in the next two weeks, in a major test of a new deal to try to control the flow of people desperate to reach Europe.

By the latest count, more than 50,000 people, most from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, have been stranded in Greece since Balkan countries closed their borders in February to migrants and refugees wanting to cross, mostly on the way to Germany.

Many of them are refugees from war, but others are economic migrants.

Asylum applications have been piling up since March, when the European Union and Turkey signed an agreement intended to close off the main route into Europe, has seen an influx of over a million refugees and migrants since last year.

Under the EU-Turkey deal, those who arrive to Greece from March 20 will be screened, registered and detained in holding centres until their asylum applications are processed. Rejected applicants, and those who do not apply, are returned to Turkey.

"The first results of the asylum applications will be ready in about 15 days and the next phase of the implementation of the agreement will begin," government spokeswoman Olga Gerovasili told reporters.

Amnesty International has called the situation in Greece "very chaotic," without enough attention for individual processing and has voiced concerns that the process will be a "rubberstamping exercise" to send people back.

So far, around 325 people who did not request asylum have been returned from the Greek islands under the accord, which the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) has condemned and rights advocates say may violate international law.

A spokesman for the European Asylum Office (EASO), a partner in implementing the deal, said the time frame was "feasible". EASO officials have been deployed on the island of Lesbos since last week carrying out "admissibility assessments" of arrivals.

RUMOURS

Most of the 50,000 stranded in Greece arrived before March 20 and are not subject to being returned under the latest deal. Their fate remains unclear, however some are expected to be moved to other European countries under relocation plan agreed many months ago.

More than 11,000 live in tents in a makeshift camp near the town of Idomeni on the Greek-Macedonian border, where clashes broke out on Sunday after a group tried to storm the border fence. The government has blamed unidentified "activists" for instigating attempts to cross the border.

Gerovasili, the spokeswoman, said authorities were monitoring the activities of such individuals and were distributing leaflets to those camped at Idomeni asking them to not believe "rumors and false information given out irresponsibly by strangers.

"The Greek government is constantly informing refugees at Idomeni that the western Balkans corridor is closed," Gerovasili said. "We're examining the possibility of intervening directly without creating problems for the humanitarian work of non-governmental organisations."
Solar power, text messages fight maternal deaths in rural Cameroon

By Elias Ntungwe Ngalame

IDENAU, Cameroon, April 12 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - J ulianna Senze, 40, had been in heavy labour for eight hours when she arrived at the Idenau Health Centre in Limbe, on the southwest coast of Cameroon.

Like many women in the country, she had had no prenatal care, so what should have been a routine delivery was now a high-risk medical procedure. The nurses, looking worn and tired, rushed her to the delivery room.

"We had to get her here quickly from Batoke village, some eight kilometres away, after receiving an SMS message from the doctor on duty," said her husband, his voice strained with worry. Less than an hour later, Senze safely delivered a healthy baby boy.

Only a few years ago, Senze's story could have had a more tragic ending.

Cameroon has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. More than 7,000 women die due to pregnancy-related causes and 58,000 children under the age of 5 lose their lives every year in Cameroon, according to the United Nations Population Fund in Cameroon.

Most of them live in rural parts of the country, where health services are weakest.

But a combination of solar energy and a new mobile phone platform, which gives women access to important health information, is changing that.

New renewable energy projects are giving more people the electricity they need to access health information, and giving hospitals power to deliver essential care, experts say.

The message that may have saved Senze's life was sent using Gifted Mom, a mobile platform founded by Cameroon engineer Alain Nteff in 2012.

The text-messaging service and app gives women in out-of-the-way rural communities free health advice, sending reminders about prenatal check-ups and children's vaccinations. It tells users when and where to get the treatment they need, and gives them access to doctors who can answer health-related questions.

According to Nteff, Gifted Mom is now used in all 10 regions of the country.

"The project expects to help reduce the number of Cameroonian women who die during childbirth and the number of babies who die at birth by at least 70 percent by 2020," said Nteff, talking to the press in Yaounde.

But Gifted Mom's success would be impossible if it weren't for the other projects tackling another issue that blights the lives of those living in rural Cameroon: lack of electricity.

SOLAR AND WIND STEP IN

According to the World Bank, nearly 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa - most of them in rural areas where poverty is high - still lack access to energy, and electrification is barely keeping pace with population growth.

Limbe, a big coastal town in southwest Cameroon, runs on hydroelectricity provided by ENEO, the country's lone energy provider. But even residents connected to the grid can't rely on having electricity when they need it.

Prolonged droughts have caused a severe drop in the water levels of the Sanaga river, which feeds the area's hydropower plant, resulting in crippling power outages.

"We suffer from persistent blackouts  on a daily basis," said Motanga Andrew, the government delegate to the Limbe city council.

In Idenau and Batoke, two fishing villages about 12 kilometres from Limbe city, there are pretty beaches and vast tracts of unspoiled mangrove forests that bring in the tourists.

But, until recently, the communities couldn't access enough power to meet the most basic needs of running their businesses and health services.

The recent arrival of solar power, however, is already improving the lives, health experts say.

In 2015, a renewable-energy expert from Canada began using homemade wind turbines and solar panels to build a network of renewable energy electrical stations to supply power to homes and medical clinics in the area.

The networks are also used to charge motorcycle batteries, which residents take home to power their lights and charge their cell phones, which they can then use to conduct business and access health information.

Also last year, the African Resource Group Cameroon (ARG-CAM), in collaboration with the Limbe city council, built mini-electrical grids to provide light, cooking energy and phone-charging stations to the people of Limbe, Idenau, and Batoke.

According to the non-governmental group's director general, Edmond Linonge Njoh, the initiative, funded by the African Union's New Partnership for Africa's Development, aims to reduce the fishing communities' dependence on fuel wood and kerosene, both of which come with significant health risks.

"The coming of alternative and cheaper energy to our council area is a welcome relief," said the government delegate to Limbe.

In Idenau, storekeeper Njombe Ikome said the provision of solar energy to the community has changed the lives of people there.

"Our children can now do their homework at night and they are doing well in school," he said. "Idenau is a business community and so the use of cell phones for communication with business partners is very important."

According to Rose Agbor, assistant warden of the Idenau Health Centre, the facility used to help fewer than 15 pregnant women and nursing mothers each day.

Now, with solar energy providing a reliable electricity supply and the Gifted Mom platform raising awareness of the availability of prenatal care, the centre sees over 50 patients daily.

"The arrival of solar electricity here has changed everything," she said.
Russia has completed buying last year's grain crop on home market

MOSCOW, April 12 (Reuters) - Russia's Agriculture Ministry has completed its current programme of buying last year's grain crop on the domestic market, it told Reuters on Tuesday.

Russia, one of the world's largest wheat exporters to North Africa and the Middle East, currently has 3.2 million tonnes of grain in these state stocks. It buys grain on the domestic market every year in what are known as interventions.

In March, the ministry said it was completing the programme soon. However, its auctions were running until April 6.

The ministry did not say on Tuesday when purchases would restart. Its stocks are meant to be used for boosting domestic supplies when harvests are poor and to support prices in years that yield large crops.
Few options for Italy as it pressures Egypt over murdered student

By Crispian Balmer

ROME, April 12 (Reuters) - Italy's desire for justice over the killing of one of its students in Cairo is knocking up against the demands of realpolitik, with Rome unwilling to jeopardise commercial ties over the brutal murder.

Looking to register its frustration over the slow-paced investigation into the death of Giulio Regeni, whose badly tortured body was found in a ditch in February, Italy last week recalled its ambassador from Cairo for consultations.

It has promised further action unless it sees signs that Egypt is serious in uncovering the truth behind the killing, but is sending a carefully calibrated message, anxious not to wreck previously strong relations with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

"Given that the cooperation (over the investigation) has been deemed to be insufficient, we have decided to take proportional action without starting a world war," Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said at the weekend.

A foreign ministry official, speaking off the record because of the sensitivity of the issue, said that without a breakthrough, Italy could advise against tourist travel to Egypt and halt cultural or educational exchanges.

Beyond that, Italy would look to develop a pan-European approach to the issue, seeking strength in numbers.

"I don't think Italy will jeopardise trade ties, not in the current economic climate," said Silvia Colombo, a senior fellow at the Istituto Affari Internazionali in Rome.

It is not just about trade. Like other Western nations, Italy also needs Egyptian support in trying to stabilise neighbouring Libya and stem the flow of migrants streaming across the Mediterranean in search of a new life in Europe.

SISI SUPPORTER

Regeni, 28, a postgraduate student at Britain's Cambridge University, was in Egypt doing research on trades union movements when he vanished on Jan. 25. An autopsy showed he was tortured over several days before dying.

Human rights groups have said the torture indicated he died at the hands of the security forces, an allegation Cairo denies.

By coincidence, his body was found as an Italian trade delegation was visiting Egypt, aiming to bolster economic ties.

Italy was the north African country's fourth largest trade partner both in terms of imports and exports in 2015, according to Egypt's official statistics agency, CAMPAS.

Those ties were worth $5.72 billion in 2014, Italy's export agency SACE said, slightly down on the previous two years. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, determined to reverse this decline, visited Egypt twice between 2014 and 2015, heaping praise on Sisi. The Egyptian leader came to Rome last year.

Some 100 Italian companies operate in Egypt, led by energy firm Eni which announced last August that it had discovered the biggest gas field in the Mediterranean off Egypt's shores, which could start production next year.

"Everyone is keeping their heads down and hoping this crisis ends soon," said an official with an Italian finance company heavily involved in Egypt. "Most of our projects are being developed over the medium-to-long term so should be safe."

Should Italy pull back, other nations would fill the space. Underscoring that, French President Francois Hollande will visit Egypt next week, with French media reporting that Cairo was set to sign defence contracts worth more than $1.1 billion.

"Italy could limit its commercial ties, but that is a very dangerous game," said former Italian ambassador Sergio Romano, who is an editorialist with Corriere della Sera newspaper. "The government should be pushing to make this a European issue."

In that vein, the EU's top diplomat, Federica Mogherini, an Italian said this weekend that the European Union was ready to "support Italy's efforts to obtain the truth over the death".

She did not say what this support might be. The Italian foreign ministry official said Rome might seek a common statement by EU foreign ministers to express their concern.

The saga remains front page news in Italy, meaning the government cannot let the matter drop. Regeni's family has also said it will keep up the pressure, with his mother threatening to release a photograph of his battered body - a potential public relations blow for Egypt as it tries to revive its flailing tourism industry.
Iran, France concerned at Syria violence with talks set to resume

By Tom Perry, John Irish and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin

BEIRUT/PARIS/DUBAI, April 12 (Reuters) - France and Iran voiced concern over escalating violence in Syria on Tuesday, echoing warnings from the United States and Russia as fighting near the city of Aleppo added to strains on a fragile truce agreement.

The already widely violated "cessation of hostilities" agreement brokered by Russia and the United States has been strained to breaking point by an upsurge in fighting between Syrian government forces and rebels near Aleppo.

The escalation underlines the already bleak outlook for peace talks set to reconvene this week in Geneva. The United Nations says the talks will resume on Wednesday. The government delegation has said it is ready to join the talks from Friday.

With President Bashar al-Assad buoyed by Russian and Iranian military support, the Damascus government is due to hold parliamentary elections on Wednesday - a vote seen by Assad's opponents as illegitimate and provocative.

Iran said an increase in ceasefire violations could harm the political process a day after Russia said it had asked the United States to stop a mobilisation of militants near Aleppo, Syria's biggest city until the conflict erupted in 2011.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, speaking after a meeting with U.N. Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura in Tehran, blamed the "increasing activities of armed groups" for the violations.

France, which backs the opposition, also expressed concern, but blamed the other side. "It warns that the impact of the regime and its allies' offensives around Aleppo and Eastern Ghouta are a threat to the cessation of hostilities," government spokesman Romain Nadal said. The Eastern Ghouta is an opposition-held area near Damascus.

Syria's civil war has killed more than 250,000 people, created the world's worst refugee crisis, allowed for the rise of Islamic State and drawn in regional and international powers. The intervention of Russia swung the war in Assad's favour.

WASHINGTON "VERY, VERY CONCERNED"

The United States, which also backs rebels fighting Assad, on Monday said it was "very, very concerned" about increased violence and said the vast majority of violations were by the Syrian government.

Both the government and a large number of rebel groups had pledged to respect the cessation of hostilities agreed in February with the aim of allowing a resumption of diplomacy towards ending the five-year-long war. Jihadist groups including the Nusra Front and Islamic State were not part of the deal.

A senior official close to the Syrian government said the truce had effectively collapsed.

"On the ground the truce does not exist," said the official, who is not Syrian and declined to be named because he was giving a personal assessment. "The level of tension in Syria will increase in the coming months."

The eruption of fighting on the frontlines south of Aleppo marks the most serious challenge yet to the truce.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based organisation that tracks the war, said government forces had launched a big offensive to take the town of Telat al-Eis near the Aleppo-Damascus highway on Tuesday.

A rebel fighting in the area said the assault launched at dawn was backed by Russian air strikes and Iranian militias. The Syrian military could not be reached for comment.

Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Lebanon's Hezbollah have both deployed in the southern Aleppo area in support of the government, while the Nusra Front is also fighting in close proximity to other rebels.

The Syrian prime minister was quoted on Sunday as saying government forces were preparing a major operation in the region with Russian support.

Further south in Homs province, Russia said one of its attack helicopters had crashed in the early hours of Tuesday, killing both pilots. It said the helicopter had not been shot down and the cause of the crash was being investigated.

"PROVOCATIVE" ELECTION

De Mistura, on a regional tour, said he had raised the need to end hostilities in Syria, send in humanitarian aid, and press on with efforts towards a political solution during his talks in Tehran, the Iranian news agency IRNA reported.

De Mistura, whose two predecessors quit, has said he wants the next round of Geneva talks to be "quite concrete" in leading towards a political transition.

Ahead of the first round of talks, Damascus had ruled out any discussion of the presidency, calling it a red line.

A senior Iranian official on Saturday rejected what he described as a U.S. request for Tehran's help to make Assad leave power, saying he should serve out his term and be allowed to run in a presidential election "as any Syrian".

Some members of the main Syrian opposition alliance, the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), arrived in Geneva on Tuesday, and U.N. spokesman in Geneva Ahmad Fawzi said the talks were expected to begin on Wednesday.

De Mistura is working according to a U.N. Security Council resolution approved in December that sets out a political process including elections after the establishment of "credible" governance and the approval of a new constitution.

The Syrian government says it is holding Wednesday's elections in line with the existing timetable that requires a vote every four years. Russia has said the vote does not go against the peace talks and is in line with the constitution.

French President Francois Hollande last month, however, said the idea was provocative and "totally unrealistic".
Macedonian president halts wiretap inquiry, opposition brands move a "coup"

By Kole Casule

SKOPJE, April 12 (Reuters) - Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov ordered a halt on Tuesday to all criminal inquiries into allegations of a vast government wiretap operation, prompting the opposition to demand his resignation for a move it said amounted to a "coup d'etat".

Macedonia, a poor Balkan country of two million people on the front line of Europe's refugee crisis, has been in turmoil since the opposition accused then-Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and his counter-intelligence chief in February last year of orchestrating the wiretapping of more than 20,000 people.

Ivanov's decision on Tuesday to shelve all investigations into the scandal, an action also sharply criticised by the European Union as contrary to the rule of law, looks set to compound rather than ease the crisis.

"I have decided to put an end to this agony for Macedonia," Ivanov told reporters, announcing he would sign a decree bringing a halt to all legal proceedings against politicians over the wiretap allegations.

Opposition Social Democratic leader Zoran Zaev, who made the original allegations, rejected Ivanov's decision as a "coup".

"We want Gjorge Ivanov to resign. If he doesn't do that, he will lead the state to the brink. This today is a coup d'etat. We will use all tools that we have to stop it," Zaev told a news conference, adding that he would call for a protest against the decision.

Several hundred protesters gathered soon afterwards, throwing eggs at Ivanov's office and ruling party headquarters and pushing and shoving with police.

The EU commissioner in charge of relations with would-be member states, such as Macedonia, condemned Ivanov's decision as contrary to the rule of law and questioned whether a general election planned soon could be credible.

The EU's Johannes Hahn said recent actions by the Macedonian leadership had jeopardised the former Yugoslav republic's prospects of closer relations with the EU and NATO.

EU DEAL

The opposition released a slew of phone-taps last year that they said had been made by allies of Gruevski and which it said exposed government control over journalists, judges, public sector recruitment and the manipulation of elections.

Ivanov is an ally of Gruevski, who backed the president's election, though the president's powers are limited under Macedonia's parliamentary system.

The EU brokered a deal with Macedonia under which a special prosecutor was appointed to investigate the revelations and Gruevski agreed to an early election, now expected in June. The opposition has already pledged to boycott the election.

The special prosecutor launched criminal proceedings in February against two former ministers on suspicion of intimidating voters.

Gruevski and his centre-right VMRO-DPMNE party denied any wrongdoing.

Shortly before he aired the wiretapping allegations last year, Zaev was charged with conspiring with an unidentified foreign intelligence service to topple the government.

It was not immediately clear whether Ivanov's decision to halt all criminal proceedings applied to Zaev, but the opposition leader said that, in any case, he would reject such a step. "I neither ask for nor will accept amnesty," he said. "We are not all the same and we are not all criminals."

Ivanov said he was intervening because the long-running crisis had seriously damaged Macedonia, which closed its border in March to thousands of migrants hoping to reach northern Europe, leaving them bottled up in Greece.

"Politics (has) turned itself into who will open more criminal proceedings or submit criminal charges against one another," Ivanov said. "The thing is so tangled up that nobody can untangle it."

Arsim Zekolli, a former Macedonian ambassador to the main European security and rights watchdog OSCE, told the Balkan Insight news website that Ivanov's decision was to be expected "in a country where it is common knowledge that it is run by one political party and where crime and corruption flourish."
Bulgarian man arrested for vigilante action on migrants

SOFIA, April 12 (Reuters) - Bulgarian police on Tuesday arrested a Bulgarian man who had documented tying up three migrants near the Turkish border in a video posted on social media.

The prosecutor's office said it had opened an investigation into the case after the video went viral and drew criticism from human rights groups.

The video showed two men lying on the ground with their hands already tied behind their backs. A third man lay flat on his stomach as he was being restrained with long plastic cable ties, while an unidentified voice shouted in English: "Go back. Back Turkey. Now. No Bulgaria, go Turkey immediately".

A statement from the interior ministry said the incident had taken place in woods near the village of Zvezdets, some 5 km (3 miles) from the border with Turkey.

Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boiko Borisov initially praised the "boys" by declaring that protecting the country's borders was a joint effort.

However, following a backlash from human rights groups and local media who accused the prime minister of endorsing the actions of vigilante groups, Borisov made a U-turn.

"Society should not be indifferent ... but rights shouldn't be exceeded. Any illegal or inhumane attitude will not only not be tolerated but will also be prosecuted under the law," Borisov wrote in a Facebook post.

A number of vigilante groups have emerged in Bulgaria in recent months in response to Europe's migrant crisis. They include one set up by a Bulgarian trader in spare parts near the Turkish border which has won praise from some Bulgarians and raised serious concerns among others.

Last week a Sova Harris poll showed that 60 percent of Bulgarians think that refugees threaten national security.

The Black Sea state has stepped up security on its borders with Turkey and Greece to avoid a possible refugee influx.
Iran, France concerned at Syria violence with talks set to resume

By Tom Perry, John Irish and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin

BEIRUT/PARIS/DUBAI, April 12 (Reuters) - France and Iran voiced concern over escalating violence in Syria on Tuesday, echoing warnings from the United States and Russia as fighting near the city of Aleppo put more pressure on a fragile truce agreement.

The already widely violated "cessation of hostilities" agreement brokered by Russia and the United States has been strained to breaking point by an upsurge in fighting between Syrian government forces and rebels near Aleppo.

The escalation underlines the already bleak outlook for peace talks set to reconvene this week in Geneva. The United Nations says the talks will resume on Wednesday. The government delegation has said it is ready to join the talks from Friday.

With President Bashar al-Assad buoyed by Russian and Iranian military support, the Damascus government is due to hold parliamentary elections on Wednesday, a vote seen by Assad's opponents as illegitimate and provocative.

Iran said an increase in ceasefire violations could harm the political process a day after Russia said it had asked the United States to stop a mobilisation of militants near Aleppo, Syria's biggest city until the conflict erupted in 2011.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, speaking after a meeting with U.N. Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura in Tehran, blamed the "increasing activities of armed groups" for the violations.

France, which backs the opposition, also expressed concern, but blamed the other side. "It warns that the impact of the regime and its allies' offensives around Aleppo and Eastern Ghouta are a threat to the cessation of hostilities," government spokesman Romain Nadal said. The Eastern Ghouta is an opposition-held area near Damascus.

Syria's civil war has killed more than 250,000 people, created the world's worst refugee crisis, allowed for the rise of Islamic State and drawn in regional and international powers. The intervention of Russia swung the war in Assad's favour.

WASHINGTON "VERY, VERY CONCERNED"

The United States, which also backs rebels fighting Assad, on Monday said it was "very, very concerned" about increased violence and blamed the Syrian government for the vast majority of truce violations.

Both the government and a large number of rebel groups had pledged to respect the cessation of hostilities agreed in February with the aim of allowing a resumption of diplomacy towards ending the five-year-long war. Jihadist groups including the Nusra Front and Islamic State were not part of the deal.

A senior official close to the Syrian government said the truce had effectively collapsed.

"On the ground the truce does not exist," said the official, who is not Syrian and declined to be named because he was giving a personal assessment. "The level of tension in Syria will increase in the coming months."

The eruption of fighting on the front lines south of Aleppo marks the most serious challenge yet to the truce.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based organisation that tracks the war, said dozens of government fighters had been killed in a big offensive to take the town of Telat al-Eis near the Aleppo-Damascus highway on Tuesday.

A rebel fighting in the area said the assault launched at dawn was backed by Russian air strikes and Iranian militias, adding that the attackers had suffered heavy losses. The Syrian military could not be reached for comment.

Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Lebanon's Hezbollah have both deployed in the southern Aleppo area in support of the government, while the Nusra Front is also fighting in close proximity to other rebels.

The Syrian prime minister was quoted on Sunday as saying government forces were preparing a major operation in the region with Russian support.

Further south in Homs province, Russia said one of its attack helicopters had crashed in the early hours of Tuesday, killing both pilots. It said the helicopter had not been shot down and the cause of the crash was being investigated.

"PROVOCATIVE" ELECTION

De Mistura, speaking in Tehran, said he and Amir-Abdollahian had agreed on the importance of the cessation continuing, that aid should reach every Syrian and that "a political process leading to a political transition is now crucially urgent".

De Mistura, whose two predecessors quit, has said he wants the next round of Geneva talks to be "quite concrete" in leading towards a political transition.

Ahead of the first round of talks, Damascus had ruled out any discussion of the presidency, calling it a red line.

A senior Iranian official on Saturday rejected what he described as a U.S. request for Tehran's help to make Assad leave power, saying he should serve out his term and be allowed to run in a presidential election "as any Syrian".

Some members of the main Syrian opposition alliance, the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), arrived in Geneva on Tuesday, and U.N. spokesman in Geneva Ahmad Fawzi said the talks were expected to begin on Wednesday.

De Mistura is working according to a U.N. Security Council resolution approved in December that sets out a political process including elections after the establishment of "credible" governance and the approval of a new constitution.

The Syrian government says it is holding Wednesday's elections in line with the existing timetable that requires a vote every four years. Russia has said the vote does not go against the peace talks and is in line with the constitution.

French President Francois Hollande last month, however, said the idea was provocative and "totally unrealistic".
Macedonian opposition rejects decision to halt wire-tap probe as "a coup"

SKOPJE, April 12 (Reuters) - Macedonian opposition leader Zoran Zaev called on President Gjorge Ivanov on Tuesday to resign, saying his decision to halt all criminal investigations into a government wire-tap scandal amounted to a coup.

"We want Gjorge Ivanov to resign. If he doesn't do that, he will lead the state to the brink. This today is a coup d'etat. We will use all tools that we have to stop it," Zaev told reporters, adding that he would call for a protest against the decision.
Israel gives blessing to Egypt's return of Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia

By Dan Williams

JERUSALEM, April 12 (Reuters) - Israel gave its blessing on Tuesday to Egypt's return of two Red Sea islands in a strategic strait to Saudi Arabia, and Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said that Riyadh had undertaken to respect relevant terms of the Israeli-Egyptian peace deal.

The islands of Tiran and Sanafir, located at the southern entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba, will be formally demarcated as being in Saudi waters under a treaty announced on Saturday by Cairo, which has had de facto control over them since 1950.

In 1967, Egypt blocked the Strait of Tiran, a move that prompted Israel to launch a Middle East war. In its 1979 peace deal with Israel, Cairo promised to respect freedom of shipping in Aqaba and Eilat, a commitment that Saudi Arabia says it will uphold when it takes over the islands.

Eilat is Israel's only port in the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea, while Aqaba is Jordan's sole outlet there.

Yaalon confirmed in a briefing to Israeli military reporters on Tuesday that the Saudis, who have no formal relations with the Jewish state, would abide by the details of the peace deal, Israel Radio said.

Israel's Haaretz newspaper said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been told in advance of the Egyptian-Saudi treaty and raised no immediate objection.

A powerful lawmaker in the premier's rightist Likud party said the treaty would not threaten Israel.

"It relates to us and it does not bother us," the lawmaker, Tzachi Hanegbi, who heads parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, told Israel's Army Radio in an interview.

"The Saudis, who are committed to freedom of shipping under international law, will not harm the essence of the agreement between Egypt and us in this regard, and freedom of shipping in Aqaba and Eilat will remain as is."

For its part, Riyadh is keeping a frosty posture to Israel.

"There will be no direct relationship between the kingdom and Israel due to the return of these islands," Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told Egypt's CBC television on Sunday.

But in an apparent allusion to Egyptian-Israeli relations, he added: "There is an agreement and commitments that Egypt accepted related to these islands, and the kingdom is committed to these."

Some Israeli commentators suggested that the islands treaty, and a related plan to build a bridge linking Saudi Arabia to Egypt, might make it easier for Islamist militants to reach the Sinai.

Hanegbi dismissed this as "paranoid anxiety" and welcomed the closing of ranks by Sunni Muslim Arab states that share Israeli hostility to Shi'ite Muslim power Iran and its Lebanese guerrilla ally Hezbollah, as well as to Sunni Islamist insurgents racking the region.

"We have an interest in expanding the cooperation in the Sunni axis, which is struggling against the radical axis headed by Iran," said Hanegbi, a long-time Netanyahu confidant.
U.S. air strikes kill suspected al Shabaab militants in Somalia

WASHINGTON, April 12 (Reuters) - About a dozen suspected militants from the al Qaeda-linked group al Shabaab were killed in U.S. air strikes in southern Somalia on Monday and Tuesday, the Pentagon said.

Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said those targeted posed an "imminent threat to U.S. personnel." He said the strikes were carried out by unmanned aircraft.

Last month the U.S. military targeted an al Shabaab training camp in Somalia in an air strike that the Pentagon says killed more than 150 fighters.

The militant group, which seeks to impose a strict version of sharia law, was pushed out of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, by African Union peacekeeping forces in 2011 but has remained a potent force in the country.
EU slams Macedonia president, doubts vote can be valid

BRUSSELS, April 12 (Reuters) - The commissioner in charge of European Union relations with would-be member states condemned a move on Tuesday by Macedonia's president to end legal proceedings against politicians and questioned whether a parliamentary election expected soon could be credible.

Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn also said that recent actions by Macedonia's leadership had jeopardised the former Yugoslav republic's prospects of closer relations with the European Union and NATO.

"Today's actions of President (Gjorge) Ivanov are not in line with my understanding of rule of law," Hahn said on Twitter. "In light of these developments, I have serious doubts if credible elections are still possible.
Turkey submits draft proposal to strip MPs of immunity -AKP officials

By Gulsen Solaker

ANKARA, April 12 (Reuters) - The Turkish government submitted a draft proposal to parliament on Tuesday that would strip lawmakers of immunity from prosecution, ruling AK Party officials said, a move seen as largely targeting a pro-Kurdish party.

President Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly called for deputies of the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP) to face prosecution, accusing them of being an extension of the outlawed militant group, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

HDP deputies have criticised Turkey's large-scale security operations in the mainly Kurdish southeast of the country. Violence in the region has increased sharply since the collapse of a two-year ceasefire with the PKK militants last summer.

The HDP criticism has fuelled Turkish nationalist calls to prosecute politicians seen as close to the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey and its Western allies.

All 316 AK Party lawmakers signed Tuesday's draft proposal, party officials told Reuters. Lawmakers in Turkey are normally protected from prosecution.

"Turkey is conducting its largest and most comprehensive fight ever against terror, while some lawmakers made statements giving support to terrorism before or after being elected, some gave de facto support and help and some lawmakers called for violence, which created great public disgust," the draft said.

The government has vowed to crush the PKK and has ruled out any return to the negotiating table.

The HDP is the subject of more than half of some 550 dossiers in parliament calling for the lifting of immunity from prosecution.

The HDP gained 59 lawmakers in last year's parliamentary election after clearing the 10 percent threshold to enter the assembly. It is the third largest party in the parliament.

In 1994, at the height of Turkey's conflict with the PKK, some lawmakers had their immunity revoked after speaking Kurdish in parliament. Four MPs spent a decade in prison, drawing criticism from Turkey's Western partners.
Peru's finmin warns next govt not to spend too much

LIMA, April 12 (Reuters) - Peru's next president must be "very careful" not to jeopardize the country's long-term economic stability and credit ratings with new stimulus spending aimed at boosting growth, Finance Minister Alonso Segura said Tuesday.
Why China's latest power play may roil Russia

By Peter Marino

April 12 (Reuters) - Western media and political institutions tend to describe China and Russia as something of an anti-Western bloc. More autocratic than Western governments - and more skeptical of open institutions and a free press - China and Russia often side with each other in international disputes against European and American interests.

While this characterization isn't entirely wrong, it overlooks the competition and suspicion between Moscow and Beijing. Today the Sino-Russian rivalry is back in the spotlight, thanks to a recent Chinese proposal for an anti-terror alliance in Central Asia, which does not include Russia - and raises the possibility that tension between the two countries will grow in the coming decades.

For centuries, the region had been a source of strategic insecurity for both China and Russia, but more so for China, which was regularly on the receiving end of raids from Central Asian tribes. By the mid-18th century, both empires' efforts to establish more control over the region - and also security for themselves - had borne fruit, as Russia brought Siberia under its control, and Qing-dynasty China established settlements in Xinjiang, which literally means "New Border Region." While this permanent presence managed to mitigate the threat they faced from local tribes, it also put the two Eurasian empires on a course of competition and rivalry with each other in Central Asia that has endured to the present day.

For most of the period since, Russia has been more powerful than China, sometimes significantly so, and it grew accustomed to its "top-dog" role in the region, eventually extending its influence into control of the Central Asian Republics, and even Mongolia, during the Soviet period. Now the shoe is on the other foot, as re-emergent China continues to assert itself in a big way, worrying Moscow.

China's proposed anti-terrorism alliance is the latest iteration of this kind of "Great Power Foreign Policy." If formalized and constituted, the alliance would focus on sharing intelligence and coordinating monitoring and military efforts among China and Central Asian governments. Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan have expressed interest, and early talks have been proposed with other republics as well. The relative absence of details so far suggests that many sticking points could arise and torpedo the whole proposed enterprise, particularly since Chinese diplomacy has sometimes been ham-handed and overreaching when dealing with countries China regards as junior partners in a project.

That said, the proposal follows China's recent $70 million grant to Afghanistan to help with anti-terror efforts, as well as broader Chinese commercial diplomacy in the region, notably involving Xi Jinping's "One Belt, One Road" infrastructure initiative, designed to link up Europe and China overland through Central Asia. None of these efforts explicitly involve Russia at the top tables, so to speak. This omission of Russia from the proposed alliance is especially notable given that both countries have been involved in a major treaty group in Central Asia, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, for the last 15 years. This organization, at least on paper, is designed to engage in exactly the kinds of activities that Beijing is now attempting to undertake without Russian involvement and in an entirely new entity.

Possible terrorist activity from local Islamist groups is a real problem in the region; indeed, Islamic State has recently made more efforts at expanding to the region and has put Beijing more firmly in its crosshairs. This complicates any Russian efforts to claim that the alliance is merely a ploy for China to expand its influence. Central Asian peoples, mostly Turkic, are not part of the ethnic or cultural majority in either country. Nearly 25 million of them live in Russia and China, and are not especially well-integrated into local society, producing no small amount of resentment and tension. Ethnic Uighurs in Xinjiang have tried to mobilize and agitate against Chinese rule before, and it's possible that they will again, given Beijing's harsh treatment of them. The Chinese security presence in Xinjiang has increased substantially, leading to what amounts to martial law in certain parts of the province. A permanent Chinese security presence in Central Asia would be merely an extension of this.

What makes these Chinese efforts at diplomacy and alliance-building in Central Asia especially notable is that they come at a time when Beijing is starting to throw its weight around with global diplomacy. Earlier this year, China finalized arrangements to establish its first overseas military base, a naval station in Djibouti - where the United States and Japan, among others, are already present. These developments come on the heels of a massive shakeup in the People's Liberation Army, which involves trimming land forces and giving the armed forces a more explicit role to protect Chinese national interests around the world, rather than purely on national defense. This pattern of Chinese behavior is not lost on Moscow, which has been historically very uncomfortable with foreign involvement in what Putin often calls Russia's "near abroad," including Ukraine, the Caucasus and Central Asia.

A major "X factor" in any possible Sino-Russian showdown in Central Asia is the United States. After nearly 15 years of military involvement in Afghanistan, the United States has a great deal of direct interest and experience in the region's security, and may yet decide to weigh in or engage with the new Chinese efforts, should they come to fruition. The alliance could also provide a unique diplomatic venue for the United States to cooperate with Russia, if it considers Chinese efforts more suspect than Russian ones in the region, or indeed possibly the converse, with China and the United States jointly resisting Russian pressure. It could also set the stage for a "Mexican standoff," if Washington decides it isn't comfortable with either country's presence there.
FARC rebels involved in drug trade despite peace talks -police

By Luis Jaime Acosta

BOGOTA, April 12 (Reuters) - Colombia's Marxist FARC rebels are still involved in drug trafficking and are stoking resistance to eradication of illicit crops, the head of the anti-narcotics police said on Tuesday, despite the group's ongoing peace talks with the government.

The rebels have so far failed to give up the lucrative drugs business, which has helped fund the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia's (FARC) five decades of war, even though it has reached partial accord at talks that would require them to abandon the trade.

The FARC and the government of President Juan Manuel Santos have been holding peace talks in Cuba since late 2012. Negotiators say a final accord could be reached soon.

The rebels agreed in 2014 to break ties with drug traffickers, help eradicate illegal crops like coca, the raw material used to make cocaine, and help fight the production of narcotics.

"What's been agreed is that the FARC will stop narco-trafficking, that's what we hope for, that once they sign the FARC will stop," anti-narcotics police head Jose Angel Mendoza told Reuters in an interview.

"But up to now what's clear is that areas where the FARC are coincide with areas of cultivation. And so in that order of ideas things continue much as they were," Mendoza said, adding that the rebel group is encouraging local farmers to protest the eradication of coca.

The fight against drug trafficking could become easier for law enforcement if the 7,000-strong FARC do comply with a peace deal and demobilize, Mendoza said.

A peace deal with second-largest rebel group the National Liberation Army (ELN) would further allow police to focus their anti-drug efforts on crime gangs that grow, process and export narcotics.

"We would be talking about combating not on multiple fronts but on one, organized crime," Mendoza said at his office in Bogota.

Coca cultivations have increased since the government banned aerial spraying with the herbicide glyphosate because of cancer concerns.
As Chinese banks speed up expansion in Australia, regulators edgy

By Sharon Klyne and Swati Pandey

SYDNEY, April 13 (Reuters) - China's banks are muscling into Australia by financing fast-growing Chinese property and corporate investments Down Under, invoking a warning from the Australian regulator that rapid expansion by foreign lenders is a potential systemic threat.

Total loans by Chinese banks that operate in Australia grew by more than 36 percent in the year to end-February compared with a 9 percent growth in loans overall, according to the latest Australian government data.

And more Chinese lenders are looking to set up shop in the $1.2 trillion Australian economy that is dominated by four major domestic banks. China Merchants Bank is finalising plans to open its first branch in the country this year, sources told Reuters.

But the speedy growth of foreign banks, spearheaded by Chinese lenders, is worrying Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Glenn Stevens. In March he cited the risk of overheated markets and consequent loan losses to the domestic banking system from foreign lenders' unbridled growth, and also criticised them for being fair-weather friends in the past.

Foreign lenders' expansion and the associated risks could be a significant theme in the central bank's half-yearly report on financial stability due later this month, analysts said. Some said RBA may even eventually introduce regulation if the trend of foreign lenders' strong growth continues.

"I don't think regulators would go as far as macroprudential regulatory adjustments...in the short term. If current growth rates continue it's always possible," said Martin Smith, head of markets analysis at business banking research firm East & Partners.

For Chinese lenders, Australia has emerged as a bright spot, especially as profit growth at home has fallen to a decade-low.

In the $75 billion syndicated-loan market, which funds commercial property and corporate transactions, Chinese banks more than doubled their share in 2015 to 7.1 percent of this market, data from Thomson Reuters Loan Pricing Corp showed.

They are also bulking up in the residential property and consumer loans businesses.

Chinese investment in Australia is surging. China beat the United States for the second straight year to become the top investor in Australia in 2014/15 by value of all approvals, mainly driven by property, according to latest government data. China's industrial investment also feeds its hunger to secure global supply chains.

"Our primary client base is Chinese, we are following the movements of our China clients," a Sydney-based loans banker at a top Chinese bank told Reuters of the push into Australia. The banker declined to be identified as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Major Chinese banks lending in Australia include Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and China Construction Bank.

China Merchants Bank and the other lenders did not respond to requests for comment.

BOOM-BUST CYCLE

RBA's Stevens fears that the rapid growth in lending, especially to property developers, would create oversupply in the market and a boom-bust cycle could eventually lead to large loan losses for all banks. That would spill over to an economy already grappling with a severe commodity downturn.

"One is duty bound to observe that there is a history of foreign players expanding aggressively in the upswing only to have to retreat quickly when more difficult times come," Stevens said in a speech last month. He did not single out China, but its banks are the fastest growing among foreign lenders in Australia.

For the main domestic banks - Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank and Westpac Banking Corp - the growth at the Asian lenders comes as another challenge as they seek to improve shareholder returns and profits amid slowing revenue growth and stricter regulatory capital rules.

Stevens did welcome the stiffer competition in lending, as the dominance of the big banks had risen after European and U.S. lenders retreated following the global financial crisis. RBS , Barclays and the arm of General Electric are among lenders that have pulled back from Australia in recent years.

The big four domestic banks together account for nearly half the total share of Australia's syndicated loans and over 80 percent of $1.75 trillion overall loans.

Some industry players said the presence of foreign players will benefit the loan market as a whole.

"The fact that there are more players willing to participate in deals is good news," said John Corrin, ANZ's head of loan syndications in Hong Kong, as more players mean greater liquidity in the market.
US defence secretary Ashton Carter's second visit to India in less than a year and within four months of our own raksha mantri's visit to the US suggests an acceleration of the India-US defence agenda.

The elements of this agenda are clear: Increased US arms' sales to India in view of India's plans to buy $100bn worth of new weapons over the next ten years; moving from a buyer-seller relationship to co-development and co-production, with technology transfers, under the Defence Trade and Technology Initiative (DTTI) and our own campaign for Make in India in defence manufacturing; develop a defence partnership with India to support the US pivot towards Asia; promote India as a "net security provider" in the India-Pacific region and link this strategically with India's own Act East policy.

Project progress

How much can this agenda actually be accelerated? Of the four DTTI pathfinder projects, only two-mobile electric hybrid sources and chemical and biological warfare protection gear have made progress.

Discussions on jet engine and aircraft carrier technologies will be protracted as these are long term projects. Jet engine technology is prized technology that the US private sector will not part with easily.

The right balance between trade and technology will have to be found within the DTTI, between the US push for trade and India for technology. While the Pentagon has a dedicated team working exclusively on DTTI, the complexity of US export control legislation and Congressional oversight on technology transfers are formidable barriers.

Moves involving the US-India Business Council to get the Congress to pass legislation authorising any proposed export of defence equipment or technical data to India to be treated in a manner similar to that of US' closest partners and allies - NATO members, Australia, Japan, Korea, Israel and New Zealand - are likely to run aground because of overambition and opposition by Pakistan/China linked anti-India lobbies within the US strategic community, notwithstanding bipartisan support for India.

Outgoing US President Barack Obama. (AP)

The effort is to obtain the maximum possible for the India-US relationship in the last months of the Obama presidency, and leave him with a substantive, non-controversial legacy involving a major country like India, unlike his other two legacies - Iran and Cuba - which are controversial domestically.

Beyond that, the US will look for political concessions from India in exchange for technology transfers and more congruence in foreign policies, which India may baulk at so as not to lose its strategic autonomy.

Carter revealed US political objectives regarding India in his address to the Council of Foreign Relations in New York just before his current India visit. He made it apparent that he viewed India-US defence ties as an integral part of US policies in the Asia-Pacific, which he considered the single most consequential region for America's future.

Regional concerns

The US wanted to manage, according to him, the historic change in this vital region, including China's rise, noting in this context tensions created by Chinese actions in the South China Sea that had raised serious regional concerns which the US shared.

The US was, therefore, enhancing its force posture in the region by stationing more military personnel and some of America's most advanced capabilities, including more potent missiles, undersea drones and bombers.

In this context, he spoke of the "remarkable convergence of US and Indian interests - what I call a strategic handshake" between the two countries, reflected in the joint strategic vision statement released in January 2015 and the 2015 framework for the US-India defence relationship. He intended discussing in Delhi "exciting new projects" and advised the audience to "stay tuned for when I meet with minister Parrikar".

Weaving ties

He spoke of India's outreach to the US last year "to discuss the possibility of launching joint production on a new platform", and mentioned that US officials and industry representatives were already discussing in Delhi the potential production of fighter aircraft. He did not mention the three foundational agreements - the LSA, CISMOA and BECA - considered necessary for transferring cutting edge technologies to India.

With the Asia-Pacific region lacking a NATO-like structure, Carter spoke of the US building less formal structures to provide security and stability by augmenting bilateral relationships and alliances with trilateral and multilateral arrangements, and weaving these partnerships together to more effectively bolster American and regional security through security burden sharing. He cited in this regard the burgeoning of the US-Japan-India trilateral relationship into practical security cooperation and welcomed the Japan-Australia-India trilateral meeting last June.

In this background, unsurprisingly, the US CINCPAC chief admiral Harris proposed joint patrols in the South China Sea at the Raisina dialogue in Delhi December last, a proposition that Parrikar chose to reject immediately.

The US is focused on China's conduct in the western Pacific and does not believe in a China threat in the Indian Ocean, which is why it disregards our concerns about the China-Pakistan relationship. We have interests in Iran and have a strategic partnership with Russia, both countries identified by Carter as security threats in his speech.

India, because of its wider strategic interests, has a serious challenge ahead that of leveraging Pentagon's courting of India to its advantage, but without entering into too tight a US embrace.
RICHMOND  In one grand bargain, Gov. Terry McAuliffe and General Assembly budget leaders have reached an agreement that would allow $2.1 billion in pending capital projects to proceed, along with a long-standing plan to replace the General Assembly Building and provide funding to build a new juvenile correctional center and a new facility for civilly committed sexually violent predators.

The amendments that McAuliffe proposed Sunday to a bond package adopted by the legislature would end a political standoff over the 2-year-old plan to transform the seat of government around Capitol Square and avert what he had warned would be a long delay in critical projects at colleges and universities, as well as state parks and a state mental hospital.

Itll free up all of them, Secretary of Finance Richard Ric Brown said in an interview Sunday.

In addition to avoiding a prolonged impasse over the $300 million plan to replace the General Assembly Building, build a parking deck for the new facility and renovate Old City Hall, the deal gives McAuliffe the green light on constructing a new juvenile correctional center in Chesapeake to replace one of Virginias two youth prisons. The amendments also would allow the state to begin planning for replacing the second one, pending a study of how best to transform the juvenile justice system.

Were taking a new approach to juvenile justice, and this is going to be a big part of it, said Brian Coy, the governors communications director.

The revised bond package also would allow the governors request to proceed with expansion of the states overcrowded facility in Burkeville for sexually violent predators and restore a project to build a new admissions office at Longwood University that the assembly left out of the bill by mistake.

I think its a good compromise, House Appropriations Chairman S. Chris Jones, R-Suffolk, said Sunday. It meets the intent of what were trying to accomplish.

McAuliffe had until the end of Sunday to veto legislation or submit amendments to bills adopted by the assembly, including a $105 billion two-year budget. The assembly will act on his amendments and vetoes when it reconvenes April 20.

The governor proposed modest changes to the budget, submitting 29 amendments, primarily to policy language, Brown said. The amendments would increase available revenues by $14.1 million and spending by $12.6 million.

Brown would not address specific spending amendments, but he confirmed the governor seeks to restore some funding for cybersecurity initiatives in higher education and development of solar energy.

Michael Martz reports for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
The presidential race of 2016 has clarified for me what has happened to our country over the last 40-50 years. A brief uneducated history is the backdrop to my conclusions. Starting in the late 1960s and expanding into the 1970s, our countrys elected officials, and hence the public at large, began rejecting intolerance and prejudice on the surface because they were unpopular and not socially acceptable. People of almost all political persuasions ostensibly evolved into submerging or ignoring their tendencies or propensities toward intolerance. This had a fundamental salutary impact on their progeny.

Further, the increase in Hispanics, Muslims, Asians and African-Americans and the ascendancy of women in our society contributed to their acceptance in our country. For reasons of acceptance in polite society, in employment and in church and community, as well as due to social ascendancy and public acceptance, outright intolerance and bigotry appeared to begin to significantly disappear.

There were and are other reasons for this ostensible change of heart and attitude of so many Americans, but the specifics are not important to my thesis.

However, the question is: Where did the intolerance and bigotry go? Did it just vanish into thin air? Did some magnificent and unexplained phenomenon occur that swept our country to create acceptance and tolerance at the core of our beings?

The answer is mostly "no, but some progress has legitimately been made.

The emergence of Donald Trump, et al., is one of the most disheartening events that has occurred in a very long time. This is not meant to paint every Trump supporter with the broad brush of intolerance or bigotry, but one wonders how a person of good conscience can support, condone or sanction the outrageous words and conduct of this demagogue.

Our society has had its thin veneer of tolerance and acceptance and brotherhood stripped away, and the true nature of many of our fellow citizens has been revealed.

It is not a pretty sight! It is not a healthy sign for our future. It appears that we have a long way to go before we are who we thought we were.

Ronald R. Tweel

Albemarle County
Faced with a shortage of lethal injection drugs, Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Monday suggested maintaining the death penalty in Virginia by allowing the state to acquire drugs in secret from unidentified pharmacies rather than relying on the electric chair as a fallback.

At a Capitol news conference, McAuliffe said he will not sign Republican-backed legislation that would make the electric chair the default execution method if the state lacks the necessary drugs to perform a lethal injection.

The Democratic governor said his recommendation to give the Department of Corrections the power to work with hidden contractors to compound drugs is a reasonable solution to a "very difficult" issue. He said he will veto the electric-chair bill if it comes back to him in its original form, and he expects lawmakers to consider his proposed changes carefully.

"If they pass up that opportunity, they will bring the death penalty to an end here in Virginia," McAuliffe said.

Virginia gives death-row inmates a choice between lethal injection and the electric chair, with lethal injection serving as the default if no choice is made. Since 1995, when prisoners were first given the choice, 80 inmates have been executed by injection. Seven picked the chair.

The original legislation, House Bill 815, was pitched as a way to avoid a crisis in which the state is unable to honor a prisoner's choice for lethal injection due to a lack of drugs. Virginia is one of 31 states that have capital punishment.

Del. Jackson H. Miller, R-Manassas, the bill's sponsor, said he prefers his version to the governor's substitute, but he welcomed McAuliffe's changes as an acknowledgement that the death penalty is necessary for heinous crimes. He said he'll ask colleagues to support the amendments.

Miller also agreed with the governor about the need for secrecy.

"Because death penalty advocates would just absolutely harass anyone that works with the Department of Corrections to no end," Miller said. "That's why we can't get the pharmaceuticals now."

McAuliffe said he will not seek to end the death penalty, but called the electric chair a "terrible form of punishment."

"I personally find it reprehensible," McAuliffe said. "We take human beings, we strap them into a chair and then we flood their bodies with 1,800 volts of electricity, subjecting them to unspeakable pain until they die."

Under the governor's recommendation, the identity of any pharmacy working with the state to produce lethal drugs would be exempt from public-records laws, a provision similar to a bill that failed in the General Assembly last year after opposition from an unlikely coalition including tea party activists, the ACLU and death penalty opponents.

Sen. Scott A. Surovell, D-Fairfax, a death penalty opponent who has pushed for more transparency in executions, said McAuliffe's amendment "replaces one bad idea with another bad idea."

"I don't know how a court is supposed to evaluate whether we're complying with the constitution if we're going to kill somebody using a secret drug," Surovell said.

McAuliffe said the secrecy provision - which he called controversial but necessary - was included in laws passed in other states facing the same problem.

"These manufacturers will not do business in Virginia if their identities are to be revealed," McAuliffe said.

Contractors providing drugs would also have protection against being outed in civil lawsuits.

Surovell said the proposal would mean more transparency in buying toilet paper than in "extinguishing a human life."

"The more significant and important an act that the government takes is, the more transparency it ought to have," Surovell said.

Senate Minority Leader Richard L. Saslaw, D-Fairfax, who sponsored the execution secrecy bill last year, said he saw little reason why the public needs to know the origins of drugs used to put "the worst of the worst" to death.

"Can you tell me who makes the electric chair? Probably not," Saslaw said. "What difference does it make where we get the chemicals from?"

The electric-chair legislation was one of the most controversial issues left undecided ahead of the governor's Sunday deadline to act on bills passed in the 2016 session. The legislature will reconvene on April 20 to take up the governor's vetoes and recommendations.

Questions over the state's drug stockpile have loomed over the pending execution of Ricky Javon Gray, who was scheduled to die March 16 for his role in the brutal murders of Richmond's Harvey family on New Year's Day in 2006. Gray's execution was stayed in late February as he continues to appeal his case. The delay means the pending legislation could affect the death sentence for Gray, whose victims included the Harvey family's two young daughters.

Religious leaders and other activists had urged McAuliffe to veto the bill, suggesting it would be a return to inhumane practices of a bygone era.

Virginia's Catholic bishops released a statement Monday slamming McAuliffe, who is Catholic, over previous actions upholding gay rights and access to abortion and his decision on the execution bill.

"We argued against similar legislation last year because it would hide from the public details about how the state exacts the ultimate punishment," Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo of Richmond and Bishop Paul S. Loverde of Arlington said in a joint statement. "This action by the governor - and the General Assembly - ignores a very public plea Pope Francis made earlier this year that government leaders carry out no executions in this Year of Mercy and abolish the death penalty throughout the world."

McAuliffe said his recommendation offers a "valid path forward to continue Virginia's policy of capital punishment."

"If my amendments to this bill are judged fairly, I do believe that a majority of Virginians will conclude that I have found a reasonable middle ground on an issue that sometimes defies honest conversation," McAuliffe said.
LONDON - England - David Miliband is to speak on the EU referendum. He was wrong during office, and he is wrong now.

Responding to David Milibands expected comments in a speech on the EU referendum, Priti Patel MP said:

David Miliband talks of political disarmament but appears to have conveniently forgotten his leading role in the Blair Government that relentlessly surrendered national powers to the EU, gave away billions from the British rebate, campaigned to scrap the pound and failed to retain control over our borders.

As Foreign Secretary he signed us up to the Lisbon Treaty that sacrificed important EU vetoes and misled the public about the power of the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Voters will be in no mood for lectures from someone who was wrong then on the EU and is wrong now. The safer option in this referendum is to stop handing Brussels 350 million every week and Vote Leave on 23 June.

David Miliband supported UK entry into the single currency, claiming this was vital. He was wrong then and he is wrong now.

David Miliband, the former head of Tony Blairs policy unit who was elected to parliament last June, is to join a panel of Labour MPs who will put forward the pro-euro case at Labour party events throughout Britain.

In May 2002, Miliband signed a parliamentary motion claiming that the five tests for scrapping the pound had already been met.

David Miliband supported the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty and the transfer of more powers to the EU institutions.

David Miliband was Foreign Secretary at the time of Lisbon Treaty.

He claimed the UK had an opt out from the Charter of Fundamental Rights, stating: A new legally binding protocol guarantees that nothing in the charter extends the ability of any court to strike down UK law. The European Court has since ruled that the relevant Protocol does not intend to exempt the Republic of Poland or the United Kingdom from the obligation to comply with the provisions of the Charter or to prevent a court of one of those Member States from ensuring compliance with those provisions.

The European Court has used the Charter to create a right to vote in elections to the European Parliament for convicted prisoners. The law firm Leigh Day stated that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has confirmed that the UKs blanket bans on prisoners voting in European elections is likely to be unlawful. The decision opens up the UK Government to claims for compensation by prisoners unable to vote in elections held in May 2014 and further legal action if the UK Government refuses to take action to allow prisoners to vote in the May 2019 elections.

The Charter is a threat to national security. In July 2015, the Divisional Court struck down the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 as inconsistent with the Charter. In November 2015, the Court of Appeal referred the law to the ECJ to see whether or not it is allowed. When the Act was introduced the Home Secretary, Theresa May, stated that it was crucial to fighting crime, protecting children, and combating terrorism The European Court will hear this case tomorrow.

David Miliband will claim that the European Union multiplies British power and that leaving means less influence. This is false. The UK is constantly outvoted in the EU institutions.

On all 72 occasions that the UK has voted against a measure in the Council of Ministers, it has been outvoted. This is happening with increased frequency: of the UKs 72 defeats, over half (40) have occurred in the last five years. This costs the British taxpayer 2.4 billion each year .

that the UK has voted against a measure in the Council of Ministers, it has been outvoted. This is happening with increased frequency: of the UKs 72 defeats, over half (40) have occurred in the last five years. This costs the British taxpayer . The UK has been defeated in over 77% of cases in which it has been a party in the European Court. Since the current Government entered office in May 2010, the UK has been defeated on 16 occasions: a failure rate of 80% .

of cases in which it has been a party in the European Court. Since the current Government entered office in May 2010, the UK has been defeated on 16 occasions: a failure rate of . The UKs representatives are often outvoted in the European Parliament as well. The majority of UK MEPs voted against 576 EU proposals between 2009 and 2014, but 485 still passed, a failure rate of 84%.

David Miliband will claim leaving the UK will amount to an act of unilateral political disarmament. This is false.

If we Vote Leave, we will remain a permanent member of the UN Security Council and will still have the worlds fifth largest military budget. A vote to leave the EU is not a vote to endanger political cooperation or defence cooperation.

Statistics from NATO show other EU countries have consistently failed to meet their obligations to NATO, spending just 1.29% of their collective GDP on defence, far short of the 2% target met by the UK and NATO as a whole.

David Miliband will claim that leaving the EU means less security. This is false, as many experts have made clear.

The respected former Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, Sir Richard Dearlove, has said: 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 Rightsremember the difficulty of extraditing the extremist Abu Hamza of the Finsbury Park Mosqueand, more importantly, greater control over immigration from the European Union.



General Michael Hayden, the former chief of the CIA, agrees stating: Sir Richard is right that a vote to leave the EU would have little impact on Americas willingness to work with the UK: The union is not a natural contributor to national security and gets in the way of the state providing security for its own citizens.

The EUs own Frontex Agency has admitted that the EUs open borders policies are damaging, stating: there is a risk that some persons representing a security threat to the EU may be taking advantage of this situation and that there is clearly a risk that persons representing a security threat maybe entering the EU.

has admitted that the EUs open borders policies are damaging, stating: there is a risk that some persons representing a security threat to the EU may be taking advantage of this situation and that there is clearly a risk that persons representing a security threat maybe entering the EU. Major General Julian Thompson , who commanded land forces during the Falklands War, has said membership of the EU weakens our national defence in very dangerous times.

, who commanded land forces during the Falklands War, has said membership of the EU weakens our national defence in very dangerous times. Richard Walton, former Head of Counter Terrorism Command at New Scotland Yard (2011-15), has said: membership of the EU does not really convey any benefits that we couldnt access if we were outside it Success in countering terrorism does not depend on any of us being members of a particular club. It is simply achieved through international collaboration to prevent known threats from passing across borders.

(2011-15), has said: membership of the EU does not really convey any benefits that we couldnt access if we were outside it Success in countering terrorism does not depend on any of us being members of a particular club. It is simply achieved through international collaboration to prevent known threats from passing across borders. The former Secretary-General of Interpol, Ronald K Noble has said the EU is effectively an international passport-free zone for terrorists to execute attacks on the Continent and make their escape.

The EU and the European Court is weakening security.

The European Court has said that our Government cannot require family members of EU nationals to have a permit issued by UK authorities, but must accept permits from other EU countries. This is despite the fact that Mr Justice Haddon-Cave found that permits from other EU countries are forged on a systemic basis. This will make it easier for terrorists to enter the UK using forged documents. The former Secretary General of Interpol, Ronald K Noble, has observed that eight Schengen countries were on the list of the top 10 nations reporting stolen or lost passports in Interpols databases.

On 4 February 2016, Advocate General Professor Maciej Szpunar issued an opinion stating that it was in principle contrary to the Treaties to remove CS from the UK, notwithstanding the fact that she had been convicted and sentenced to a years imprisonment. It was subsequently revealed under parliamentary privilege that CS was the daughter-in-law of Abu Hamza, who was convicted of attempting to smuggle a SIM card to him in high security prison.

David Miliband will claim being in the EU is needed to ensure public services can survive the flight of capital from western tax authorities. The EU is facilitating tax avoidance.

Large companies have been using EU law to reclaim tax from HMRC. The OBR has forecast HMRC will pay out 7.3 billion in refunds over the next five years, enough to pay for twenty-five brand new fully-staffed hospitals. HMRCs contingent liabilities for taxes being challenged under EU law are 35.6 billion, 105 times as much as what is spent on the Cancer Drugs Fund each year. The UKs new 45% tax on corporate tax refunds is currently being challenged by multinational businesses under EU law, which could lead to billions of further payouts.

The Commission has previously accepted that there are many cases where it [the Parent-Subsidiary Directive] is being abused by companies to avoid paying taxes in any Member State.

This is on top of the 19.1 billion the UK sends to the EU institutions each year.

David Miliband will claim that being in the EU gives the UK the power to help shape the negotiation of global trade deals. This is false. The EU has an extremely poor track record at negotiating free trade deals.

The EU has been very poor at negotiating trade deals. In 2015, the aggregate GDP of all the countries with which the EU had a trade agreement in force was $7.7 trillion. By contrast, the aggregate GDP of all countries with which Chile had trade agreements was $58.3 trillion. The figure for South Korea was $40.8 trillion and that for Switzerland was $39.8 trillion (albeit these all include the EU with a GDP of $16.7 trillion).

The EU has failed to negotiate a free trade agreement with China. By contrast, both Iceland (which has a population of less than half a million) and Switzerland have negotiated free trade agreements with China.

The EU has failed to negotiate trade agreements with major emerging economies, such as India and Brazil. It is safer to take back control of trade policy.

The International Rescue Committee of which Miliband is President is funded by the EU.

David Miliband is President and Chief Executive Officer of the International Rescue Committee.

In 2014 alone, the International Rescue Committee received 28,525,880 from the European Commission.
LONDON - England - In a letter today more than fifty healthcare workers including doctors, nurses and paramedics have called for the UK to Vote Leave to save the NHS.

In the letter they argue that the Government has starved the NHS of necessary funding and that if we Vote Leave we will be able to spend more on the NHS.

The letter concludes: As healthcare professionals who have worked for the NHS for years we believe that the best choice in the EU referendum is to Vote Leave on June 23rd and save the NHS.

Thousands more NHS workers have signed up to back the Vote Leave Save our NHS campaign, but do not want to be named publicly as they are worried about the pressure that would be put on them by the Government if they speak out.

Commenting, one of the signatories, Dr Philip Cunnington said:

Billions of pounds of UK taxpayers money is sent to Brussels every year while the NHS is starved of funding. Lets Vote Leave on June 23rd and take control of our spending, allocating it to important things such as the NHS.

Vote Leave Chair Gisela Stuart MP said:

The NHS is struggling to cope with rising demand. The Government has simply not given it the funding that it needs.

Instead of handing over 350 million a week to Brussels we should spend our money on our priorities like the NHS.

If we Vote Leave we will be able to stop our money being spent on EU bureaucrats and instead invest in the NHS so that patients can get the best possible care.

Letter text

Dear Sir,

The NHS is a great British institution that families rely on in times of need. But as it slips into financial crisis the NHS itself needs some urgent attention.

The NHS is being asked to make huge cuts at a time of rising demand. Patients are having to wait longer for treatment, hospital deficits are increasing and doctors are on strike after being told they must take a pay cut. The Government must accept responsibility for this  they have starved the NHS of necessary funding for too long.

If we Vote Leave on 23 June we will be able to spend more on our priorities like the NHS. If we put the billions that currently go to EU bureaucrats into the NHS instead it would hugely improve patient care. For example, the 350 million a week we hand to Brussels is similar to the entire yearly Cancer Drugs Fund budget.

As healthcare professionals who have worked for the NHS for years we believe that the best choice in the EU referendum is to Vote Leave on June 23rd and save the NHS.

List of signatories

Dr Abdullah Abbasi Clinical Fellow Accident and Emergency Dept Wye Valley NHS Trust Carol Akrbi Retired senior carer Iain Ashworth GP tutor Dave M Bruce NHS Paramedic Janet Bugg Practice nurse Nigel Butterworth Paramedic Practitioner with Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust. Andrew Cobb Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon Nicola Colley Midwife Dr Philip Cunnington General Manager (IAPT), Primary Care Mental Health Professor Angus Dalgleish Professor of Oncology Dr Peter Dawson GP Nisam Deen Psychiatric nurse Giselle Devereaux Community nurse Guy Dickinson Retired GP John Dilks Retired Mental nurse Geraldine Douglas Retired RGN nurse Sarah Elliott Administrator for patient experience Gill Fairclough Retired RGN nurse Wendy Foster Practice Manager  NHS GP Surgery Samantha Green A&E nurse Joan Halton Retired community nurse Brian Halton Retired ambulance patient transport driver. Sarah Hardy NHS Property Manager Mark Higginson Nurse Nicola Hill Staff nurse Dr Charles Holford (retired) Consultant General Surgeon MS (Lond), FRCS (Eng), MRCP (Eng) Dr Timothy Jardine-Brown Retired GP Robert Jeakins Ambulance Care Assistant Dr Teck Khong GP Michelle Knight Qualified nurse Karen Layton Healthcare assistant Rachelle Lewis Retired nurse Susan Lisemore Retired ITU nurse Dr Peter Minnis Junior Doctor Dr William Morgan Retired GP Dr Thomas Nixon Ophthalmology Registrar Nicholas Palmer Ex MLA Cytology Thakorbhai Patel Retired pharmacist Dr Kim Peacock Retired GP Dr David Ratliff Retired GP Michelle Reilly Nurse Michael Schweiger Community First Responder Margaret Scott Retired nurse Marsha Shack Student nurse Dr Paul Smith Retired GP Dr Laurel Spooner Lead Clinician Dr Michelle Tempest Psychiatrist Dr Merion Thomas Consultant Oncologist Liz Troy Community psychiatric nurse Robert Watkins Healthcare Worker offender health Stephen Webb Operating department practitioner (ODP) Dr Klaus Witte Associate Professor and Consultant Cardiologist Katrina Woodrow Kinesiologist Clive Wraight Healthcare Assistant
NEW YORK - USA - Former foreign secretary says EU referendum poses question of whether to shore up international order or contribute to its destruction.

Leaving the EU would be an act of political arson that risks the destruction of international order, the former foreign secretary David Miliband has said.

Since when has reclaiming Britains sovereignty, its rights to make its own laws and economic affairs and securing its borders been a risk to the international order? When we Vote Leave on June 23, there will be minimal risk to the international order as Britain will retain its ties with Europe as well as NATO and the United States. Britain will retain its seat on the UN Security Council and will still have the worlds fifth largest military budget.

It means forsaking our position at the negotiating table and abandoning our international responsibilities  unilateral political disarmament. No nation in human peacetime history has voluntarily given up as much political power as we are being invited to throw away on 23 June.

Absolute rubbish and falsity spouted from an out-of-touch exile. Miliband is scaremongering with false pretensions and lies. Britain would not forsake its position on any negotiating table. However, Britain in the EU is outvoted on a constant basis with little or no influence in any EU laws costing the UK 2.4 billion each year.

The British question is not only one of what we get out of Europe. It is also one of whether we want to shore up the international order, or contribute to its dilution and perhaps even destruction, said Miliband, who now heads the International Rescue Committee in New York.

The International Rescue Committee received 28,525,880 from the European Commission in funding in 2014 alone, so of course Miliband would say that. Shoring up the international order would increase with a Brexit, because the UK would then forge more lucrative global trade deals and still retain the EU business. The international order would be further strengthened with a strong economically viable Britain.

Britain cannot solve these problems alone. But we do more in and for the world than our modest size would suggest. At our best, we lead in defending the values, building the structures and defining the substance of international cooperation.

If the world is increasingly divided between firefighters and arsonists, then Britain has for centuries been a firefighter. This is no time for Britain to join the ranks of arsonists and there should be no doubt that Brexit would be an act of arson on the international order.

Freedom to conduct ones own business is NOT arson Mr. Miliband. You are scaremongering and showing a defeatist attitude. Here is a man who had no qualms in pushing for Britain to join the euro currency in 2002, which would have been a major disaster for the country and its economy. Here is a man who signed us up to the Lisbon Treaty and misled the public about the power of the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

The world is even more divided now with the EU in existence than since World War II, who is Miliband kidding? The EU has stoked tensions in Ukraine, and the Middle East. The EU has created a passport free area for terrorists, and smuggling of high grade weaponry. Paris, Brussels, London 7/7? Securing our borders on Brexit will ensure our security, in the EU Britain has no control whatsoever of its border integrity.



Outside the EU Britain would prosper economically and even the ONS admits it. Moodys has also refuted claims from the Project Fear camp.

We must therefore Vote to Leave on June 23, for the sake of Britains security, economic development and international standing.

Do not listen to defeatist scaremongering from the likes of failed politicians like David Miliband, and his equally lacklustre brother.

More facts here
For Patrick Bondy, winner of a Rising Star award at this years Dalhousie student Impact Awards, its all about adventure.



I think adventure is anything you experience as if for the first time, he says. The as if is important because I think the connotation around being an adventurer is that you have to do something like run away to Peru to do it. I disagree.



It was this idea of every-day discovery that inspired Patricks Adventure by Bus project. At its heart, Adventure by Bus, or ABB, is simply the concept of using public transit to get outside and explore the outdoors, as he puts it. But since launching the initiative in October, Patrick says its become so much more.

It's really allowed me to connect with a lot of people, and spending time in nature is key to me for living well," says Patrick.

Weekly discoveries



Patrick is a first-year Arts and Social Sciences student in the Environment, Sustainability and Society program, coming to Dalhousie from Kansas City, Missouri. He based the ABB program around English author Alastair Humphreys philosophy of Micro-Adventures: small trips which get an individual out into the world and break up the mundane nature of the day-to-day. Because of the UPass that full-time students receive with their tuition, the trips are essentially no-charge for most students, and a bus ticket or two at most for others.



Some of the destinations for the groups hiking trips, which occur weekly during the school year, have included York Redoubt, the Northwest Arms Dingle, Frog Pond Park, Micmac Lake, Purcells Cove and more. The experience allows students like Patrick and others to get to know the Halifax region and its natural environment.



Even when the weather doesnt always cooperate, theres great fun to be had.



The worst trips are often the best trips, says Patrick. We went on a trip to Sambro during Munro Day and it was one or two degrees and raining heavily the whole day. We went on this 20 kilometre hike and it was awful. But in the midst of that terribleness thats where memories are forged.



Photo from a recent Adventure by Bus trip to Deadman's Island Park.

It doesnt necessarily need to be all hardship and struggle though, as most ABB events are much more tranquil in nature, and scheduled to allow for a welcome break from hectic student life.



A classic two-hour adventure would be to take the #1 bus route out to Dartmouth, out to the commons, and run around for as long as you like, then take the ferry back. It gives you great views of the city and is a very fun time.



Sustainability in action



Patrick is very keen on studying and exploring sustainability topics, and for him part of the appeal of the Adventure by Bus concept is that all transportation to and from its desintations is by public transit. Its empowering to not need a car," he says. "I think its a common stereotype that you need a car to get out and experience nature, but in a city like Halifax thats just not true.



Adventure by Bus is just one of the reasons cited for Patricks Rising Star Impact Award, which is an award presented to students outside of their final years of study whove quickly demonstrated commitment, leadership, creativity and initiative in student life. Hes been an active member of the Environmental Sustainability Society, including working on its Wave of Waste project, and he was a key organizer of the SkilledUp conference on campus which focused on helping students learn sustainability skills.



Good work is valuable for its own sake, but its sweet to be recognized for what you do, says Patrick. He hopes the message his Rising Star award suggests is that students can, and should, think about what they can contribute to their campus and community.



You can actually make something new, he says. I dont necessarily think that I can change the entire world, but you can legitimately create something that wasnt there before.

Want to connect with Adventure by Bus? Visit its Facebook page.


At least 13 countries have reported cases of Guillain-Barre linked with outbreaks of Zika, according to the World Health Organization. (Photo: AP)

Chicago: Scientists in Brazil have uncovered a new brain disorder associated with Zika infections in adults: an autoimmune syndrome called acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, or ADEM, that attacks the brain and spinal cord.

Zika has already been linked with the autoimmune disorder Guillain-Barre syndrome, which attacks peripheral nerves outside the brain and spinal cord, causing temporary paralysis that can in some cases require patients to rely on respirators for breathing.

The new discovery now shows Zika may provoke an immune attack on the central nervous system as well.

The findings add to the growing list of neurological damage associated with Zika.

According to the World Health Organization, there is a strong scientific consensus that, in addition to Guillain-Barre, Zika can cause the birth defect microcephaly, though conclusive proof may take months or years. Microcephaly is defined by unusually small heads that can result in developmental problems.

Brazil said it has confirmed more than 940 cases to be related to Zika infections in the mothers. Brazil is investigating nearly 4,300 additional suspected cases of microcephaly.

In addition to autoimmune disease, some researchers also have reported patients with Zika infections developing encephalitis and myelitis - nerve disorders typically caused by direct infections in nerve cells.

"Though our study is small, it may provide evidence that in this case, the virus has different effects on the brain than those identified in current studies," Dr. Maria Lucia Brito, a neurologist at Restoration Hospital in Recife, Brazil, said in a statement.

ADEM typically occurs in the aftermath of an infection, causing intense swelling in the brain and spinal cord that damages myelin, the white protective coating surrounding nerve fibers. It results in weakness, numbness and loss of balance and vision, symptoms similar to multiple sclerosis.

Brito presented her findings on Sunday at the American Academy of Neurology meeting in Vancouver. The study involved 151 patients who visited her hospital between December 2014 and June 2015. All had been infected with arboviruses, the family of viruses that includes Zika, dengue and chikungunya.

Six of these patients developed symptoms consistent with autoimmune disorders. Of these six, four had Guillain-Barre and two had ADEM. In both ADEM cases, brain scans showed damage to white matter. ADEM symptoms typically last about six months.

All six patients tested positive for Zika, and all had lingering effects after being discharged from the hospital, with five patients reporting motor dysfunction, one with vision problems, and one with cognitive decline.

At least 13 countries have reported cases of Guillain-Barre linked with outbreaks of Zika, according to the World Health Organization, and WHO believes that Zika likely is the cause.

Dr James Sejvar, a neuroepidemiologist for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the ADEM cases linked with Zika do not appear to be occurring at the same accelerated rate as cases of Guillain-Barre, but said doctors should be on the lookout for ADEM and other central nervous system illnesses.

"Of course, the remaining question is 'Why?'" Sejvar said. "Why does Zika virus appear to have the strong association with GBS and potential other immune/inflammatory diseases of the nervous system?"

Sejvar, who has studied Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) in Brazil and is involved in a major clinical trial of Guillain-Barre in Puerto Rico, said he hopes future studies will shed more light on such questions.
A man carries his child as he walks past the debris of a damaged building at the spot where a massive fire broke out during fireworks display at Puttingal temple in Kollam, Kerala. (Photo: AP)

Kochi: Use of high decibel fire crackers must be banned at all Kerala temples, a senior Kerala High Court Judge suggested on Monday, seeking immediate judicial intervention by the court to stop man-made tragedies like Kollam mishap.

In a letter to Registrar General of the HC, Justice V. Chitambaresh said, The time is more than ripe for immediate judicial intervention to stop such man-made tragedies by banning the use of high decibel explosive fire crackers.

The Devaswom Bench comprising Justices Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan and Anu Sivaraman will consider the petition on Tuesday afternoon. Justice Chitambaresh said, The right to profess, practice and propagate the religion of ones choice under Article 25 of the Constitution of India does not take in the freedom to use dangerous crackers.

Pyrotechnics display using Amittu, Gundu, Kathinavedi etc have to be banned and at best only low decibel Chinese-type crackers can be permitted for display, he said.

He urged the Registrar General to place his letter before Devaswom bench and consider if it could be treated as a Public Interest Litigation and appropriate interim orders passed. The Judge said the fireworks tragedy at Puttingal Devi Temple at Paravur in Kollam has left more than 100 people dead.

No nod for even normal fireworks

The fireworks at Paravur Puttingal Devi temple that claimed over 100 lives were carried out without any permission, even for a small-scale show. The local police and revenue authorities remained mute spectators to the blatant violation allegedly due to political pressure.

It has also come to light that the temple authorities had spread a false propaganda that they had got permission to carry out normal fireworks and even announcements in this regard were made.

The police and revenue officials failed to act even as they were aware that no permission was granted. Though the temple authorities had sought fresh permission for firework with 15 kg gun powder and the local police recommended that it may be allowed, no permission was granted.
The move came after hue and cry from several quarters including opposition on handing over farmers land to other countries. (Representational image)

Hyderabad: The state government has decided to reduce the extent of land to be given to Singapore to 500 acres from the initial demand of 3,000 acres in the capital city of Amaravati. The move came after hue and cry from several quarters including opposition on handing over farmers land to other countries. Singapore is likely to be the development partner with Capital City Development and Management Corporation.

In the first proposal, Singapore planned to develop 3,000 acres and in the revised proposal it was reduced to 1,600 acres. But the state government wants Singapore to develop only 500 acres. Discussions are going on between Singapore and AP government officials and a final decision would be taken soon, top officials in AP government said.

Singapore in its first Swiss Challenge proposal to become Amaravati development partner proposed to develop 3,000 acres in Amaravati capital city. After studying the proposal, AP government officials found many deviations in the Singapore proposal against the agreement reached between AP and Singapore governments. Following objections raised by AP officials, Singapore submitted its revised Swiss Challenge proposal. In the revised proposal, Singapore has mentioned plans to develop 1,600 acres.

Singapore expressed many doubts on the returns after development of the land and at one stage state government thought that the Singapore may go back to become Amaravati development partner. When asked why the state government is very particular to make Singapore as Amaravati development partner, the official said that China and Japan also expressed interest to take part in Amaravati development partner. But Singapore has a global brand image prompting the state government to choose it as a development partner.

After taking a final decision on the development of Amaravati city with Singapore government, the state government will form a joint venture with the companies of both the governments. The joint venture will include Ascendas, and Singbridge from Singapore and Capital City Development and Management Corporation (CCDMC) from AP.

In the agreement between Singapore and AP governments, the Singapore government said 100 per cent Singapore-government owned companies will be in the Joint venture. But the proposed Singapore-based companies Ascendas and Singbridge are not 100 per cent owned by Singapore government. When this was pointed out by AP officials, Singapore officials assured that the government will give guarantee for the companies. The state government had decided earlier to develop 1,600 acres in the capital city with Singapore government. But now it has decided to develop only 500 acres initially with Singapore. After seeing the progress, the state government may increase the area, officials said.

Land change goes to CRDA:

AP government has transferred powers to AP Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) to give permissions on the change of land use in capital city area limits. The CRDA Act originally empowered the authority to permit change in land use in the capital area. However, the government was still handling the issue after the CRDA was formed.

CRDA chief commissioner N. Srikant recently wrote to the government to transfer powers to CRDA to permit change of land use according to the Act. Subsequently, the state government issued memo orders transferring powers to CRDA in giving permission in change of land use in CRDA limits.
PU Director Ramegowda told Deccan Chronicle that all the security and safety measures are in place.

Bengaluru: Don't try to forward anything suspicious on any mobile applications, including WhatsApp. Cyber, city and CID police squads may be watching you!

To ensure that the Chemistry reexamination goes without a hitch on Tuesday, the state PU Department has taken unprecedented security measures.

Part of this is the decision to monitor online activities of suspected students, colleges and agents who are still at large, as mobile applications were used extensively to sell the leaked question papers on last two occasions.

PU Director Ramegowda told Deccan Chronicle that all the security and safety measures are in place. Students need not worry about the safety of the question paper. They can attend the examination calmly, he said.
Toronto: Almost 102 years after Canada turned away more than 376 migrants, mostly Sikhs from India, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will formally apologise on May 18 for the incident that happened due to discriminatory laws of the time.

Speaking at the Baisakhi celebration in Ottawa on Monday, Trudeau said that the Komagata Maru's passengers were seeking refuge and better lives, like millions of immigrants to Canada since.

With so much to contribute to their new home, they chose Canada. And we failed them utterly, the prime minister said, adding that the passengers were refused entry to Canada due to discriminatory laws of the time.

As a nation, we should never forget the prejudice suffered by the Sikh community at the hands of the Canadian government of the day. We should not and we will not, Trudeau said at the Gurdwara Sahib Ottawa Sikh Society. He further said that he will formally apologise on May 18 in the House of Commons, 102 years after the infamous incident, Toronto Star reported.

The Japanese steamship Komagata Maru, carrying 376 immigrants, mostly Sikhs, from India was denied entry by the Canadian government in May 1914 and was forced to return to India. Two months later, the ship arrived in Calcutta where British soldiers fired upon the disembarking passengers in which 19 people died.

A painful chapter in the history of Sikhs in Canada, the incident also highlighted the discriminatory immigration policies Canada had followed against Asian immigrants in the 19th century.

Former PM Stephen Harper did apologise for the incident at a public event in British Columbia in 2008, but the Sikh-Canadians were demanding a formal statement in the Parliament. Trudeau-led Liberal Party, which has four Sikh ministers in the cabinet, has promised a formal apology during the election campaign last year.
The grainy picture shows three men pushing trollies with suitcases past the check-in area at Brussels airport. (Photo: AFP)

Brussels: Belgian prosecutors on Saturday held Mohamed Abrini in connection with the Paris attacks and a new suspect in the Brussels attacks identified as Osama K, charging them both with terrorist murders.

But it was not possible yet to confirm that Mohamed Abrini indeed was the third suspect, the so-called man in the hat seen with the two suicide bombers at Brussels airport on March 22, the federal prosecutors office said in a statement.

Abrini and Osama K, whom the media have identified as Osama Krayem, were among six people arrested in raids on Friday across Brussels in an important blow to the cell believed to have carried out both attacks claimed by the Islamic State group.

Osama K was identified as the man who appeared with the suicide bomber at the Malbeek subway station and the one who bought bags used to conceal the bombs set off by two suicide attackers at the airport on March 22, the statement said.

It said both were charged with participation in the activities of a terrorist group and terrorist murders, the first in connection with the November 13 Paris attacks and the second in the Brussels attacks.

It said two people arrested with Abrini were released following a thorough investigation.

Another suspect who was arrested Friday at the same time as Osama K. was identified as 25-year-old Rwandan national Herve BM, who is suspected of having offered assistance to Mohamed Abrini as well as Osama K, the statement said.

He is charged with participating in the activities of terrorist group and complicity in terrorist murders, it said.

It added that another man, Bilal EM, was charged with participating in the activities of a terrorist group and complicity in terrorist murders over suspicions he helped Abrini and Osama K.
A special train carrying around five lakh litres of water for parched Latur in Marathwada region, which is battling the worst drought ever, reached the destination after 18 hours this morning.



The 'water train' with 10 wagons carrying water for Latur had left from Miraj in western Maharashtra at around 11 am yesterday and reached Latur at 5 am today, taking 18 hours to traverse a distance of around 350 kilometres.



"The first batch of ten wagons, each with a capacity of around 50,000 litres, were filled with water at Miraj railway station in Sangli district," said Chief spokesperson of Central Railway Narendra Patil.



The district administration has acquired a huge well located near Latur railway station to store the water which will then be supplied to Latur town. On April 8, the train had left from Kota workshop for Miraj in Pune division. The second train consisting of 50 wagons is expected to be ready for water loading around April 15, a Railway official said earlier.



"As per instructions from the Ministry of Railways, Kota workshop received two goods trains consisting of 50 tank wagons each for deployment in drought-affected areas of Latur during the summer season and the trips of the trains will be arranged as per the requirement," he said. The carrying capacity of these wagons is 54,000 litres of waters per wagon.
Casting serious doubts over the official version of DMRC regarding the Rajendra Place Metro station robbery, CISF officials said the so-called victim could be involved in the Rs 12-lakh-robbery incident.





Duty station controller Kunal Kishore was stabbed as two men fled with Rs 12 lakh on Monday morning.



On the question of how the incident came to the fore, one CISF official on the condition of anonymity told Deccan Herald that a CISF officer had bumped into Kishore in the washroom a few minutes after the incident and asked him why blood was dripping from his shirt.



When the officer asked Kishore about the blood stains on his shirt, he paused for a second and told him that he was attacked by two men and that they also managed to flee with Rs 12 lakh cash from the control room, said a senior CISF official over phone.



The official further said Kishore took 20-25 minutes to reveal the incident to the CISF staff there. He didnt even scream for help. Another thing to be noted is that the accused knew where the CCTV coverage is in the station. They also knew where the cash was stashed by the Metro staff. How can someone from outside know so many things? said the officer.



Even if we agree for a moment that the duo did manage to overpower the Metro staffer, how is it possible they found the keys of the locker where the cash had been stashed and flee the spot without anyone getting any wind of it, the officer added.



The two men had entered Rajendra Place Metro station early morning on Monday and robbed Rs 12 lakh cash from the control room of the station.



According to DMRC, the two men forcibly entered the control room and stabbed the controller with a sharp object.



CISF, which is the designated force to provide security at all Metro stations said that no sharp object had passed their metal detectors on the entrance.



However, Delhi Polices Deputy Commissioner of Police (Metro) Jitendra Mani refused to rule out the possibility of the men entering the station with sharp objects.


Equities jumped for a second straight session today, led by gains in auto stocks on forecast of an 'above normal' rains this year, following back-to-back monsoon failures, while domestic investors and foreign funds increased buying ahead of key macroeconomic data due later in the day.



A firm opening in Europe and a mixed trend in regional markets also buoyed trading sentiment here.



The benchmark BSE Sensex surged by 123 points to 25,145.59 on sustained buying ahead of key macroeconomic data -- IIP for February and Consumer Price Index (CPI) for March.



Broader markets also continued to display firm trend as retail investors enlarged their exposure, with the BSE mid-cap index rising 1 per cent and small-cap gaining 0.90 per cent.Meanwhile, forecaster Skymet had yesterday said rainfall in India is expected to be 'above average' this year.



Indian Meteorological Department today came out with its prediction, saying the monsoon will be "above normal" and there would be fair distribution across the country.



Consequently, agriculture-linked stocks were in the limelight. Major gainers were Insecticides (India) at 16.17 per cent followed by Jain Irrigation Systems 6.13 per cent, Chambal Fertilisers 4.07 per cent, Kaveri Seed 3.39 per cent and Deepak Fertilisers 0.75 per cent.Moreover, from auto pack, Maruti Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto and M&M surged by up to 2.82 per cent.



The 30-share Sensex after shuttling between 25,180.02 and 24,996.44, finally ended 123.43 points or 0.49 per cent higher at 25,145.59, its highest closing since April 4. Yesterday, the index had by rallied 348.32 points.



The broader NSE Nifty recaptured the 7,700-mark and ended at 7,708.95, up 37.55 points or 0.49 per cent. Intra-day, it touched a high and a low of 7,717.40 and 7,663.35.



Stocks of jewellery firms, Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri rose 4.60 per cent to Rs 64.80 and PC Jewellers surged 3.57 per cent to Rs 361.40 after they reopened shops following six weeks of protest against the 1 per cent excise duty on non-silver jewellery.



From Asia, Japan's Nikkei settled 1.13 per cent higher and indices in Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea moved up by 0.19 per cent to 0.56 per cent, while those in China and Taiwan fell by up to 0.37 per cent.



Europe was narrowly mixed with indices in France and the UK down by up to 0.10 per cent while Germany's Dax was up by 0.20 per cent.



"Indian markets took heart from weather forecasts pointing to higher potential for an above normal rainfall this season, but the shortened nature of the week kept buyers in two minds," said Anand James Chief Market Strategist at Geojit BNP Paribas.

Out of the 30-share Sensex pack, 23 scrips ended higher.



Major gainers were GAIL (3.87 pc), Maruti Suzuki (2.82 pc), Hero MotoCorp (2.47 pc), Tata Motors (2.40 pc), Adani Ports (1.92 pc), Dr Reddy's (1.79 pct, ICICI Bank (1.71 pc), Bajaj Auto (1.53 pc), ONGC (1.37 pc), Lupin (1.20 pc), HDFC (0.92 pct) and HUL (0.86 pc), while Coal India lost 2.28 per cent, followed by Tata Steel (2.11 pc), ITC (1.18 pc) and HDFC Bank (0.55 pc).



Among major indices, auto rose by 1.61 per cent followed by Industrials 1.43 per cent, Oil&Gas 1.21 per cent, Utilities 1.03 per cent, Healthcare 1.00 per cent, consumer durables 0.74 per cent and capital goods 0.69 per cent, while metal fell by 1.38 per cent.

The market breadth remained positive as 1,5 "Indian markets took heart from weather forecasts pointing to higher potential for an above normal rainfall this season, but the shortened nature of the week kept buyers in two minds," said Anand James Chief Market Strategist at Geojit BNP Paribas.



Out of the 30-share Sensex pack, 23 scrips ended higher.

Major gainers were GAIL (3.87 pc), Maruti Suzuki (2.82 pc), Hero MotoCorp (2.47 pc), Tata Motors (2.40 pc), Adani Ports (1.92 pc), Dr Reddy's (1.79 pct, ICICI Bank (1.71 pc), Bajaj Auto (1.53 pc), ONGC (1.37 pc), Lupin (1.20 pc), HDFC (0.92 pct) and HUL (0.86 pc), while Coal India lost 2.28 per cent, followed by Tata Steel (2.11 pc), ITC (1.18 pc) and HDFC Bank (0.55 pc).



Among major indices, auto rose by 1.61 per cent followed by Industrials 1.43 per cent, Oil&Gas 1.21 per cent, Utilities 1.03 per cent, healthcare 1.00 per cent, consumer durables 0.74 per cent and capital goods 0.69 per cent, while metal fell by 1.38 per cent.

The market breadth remained positive as 1,519 stocks ended higher, 1,101 closed lower, while 125 ruled steady.



The total turnover fell to Rs 2,466.46 crore from Rs 3,856.05 crore yesterday.

Meanwhile, Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 107.23 crs yesterday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. PTI RD RSU19 stocks ended higher, 1,101 closed lower, while 125 ruled steady.



The total turnover fell to Rs 2,466.46 crore from Rs 3,856.05 crore yesterday.

Meanwhile, Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 107.23 crs yesterday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.


The Kerala government today called an All-Party Meeting on April 14 to discuss whether or not to ban fireworks display during festivities in places of worship in the backdrop of the Kollam temple tragedy which has claimed 109 lives and left over 350 injured.



Talking reporters here after a meeting with senior officials and doctors attending to the injured, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy also announced earmarking of Rs 20 crore for relief and rehabilitation of the victims of the April 10 fireworks tragedy at the century-old Putingal Devi temple at Paravoor, about 70 km from here. Rs 10 crore had already been put at the disposal of the Kollam District Collector for immediate action, he said.



The government will formulate a policy on fireworks after reaching a consensus at the All-Party Meeting on Thursday, he said after chairing the meeting this morning during which facilities being provided to the injured undergoing treatment at various hospitals were discussed.



Chandy's announcement came amid growing calls for banning fireworks displays in the backdrop of Kollam accident. The Kerala High Court is set to hear later today one of its judge's suggestion that high-decibel crackers be banned to prevent man-made tragedies such as the one in Kollam.



The accident occurred during an 'unauthorised' display of fireworks in the wee hours of Sunday after a spark from a firecracker fell on the storehouse containing crackers, triggering explosions.

Meanwhile, BJP state President Kummanam Rajasekaran opposed any complete ban on the fireworks display in temples. It should be allowed with sufficient safety measures, he told reporters, adding certain groups were trying to make 'political gain' by raising the demand for banning fireworks display.



State Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, who addressed media in Alappuzha, said as the state was heading for polls, the government cannot take a unilateral decision. After discussions, the government would move forward in this regard, he said.



He made it clear that strict instructions have been given to police to carry out raids on illegal cracker manufacturing units.

Chennithala also said action would be taken against those who used banned chemicals for making gunpowder and crackers, especially in view of the coming 'Vishu' festival on April 14.



Chandy said, "Our full concentration is on providing the best treatment to the patients on a war footing and we need to work unitedly to face the situation."



Medical teams which arrived here with Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he visited the Kollam temple on Sunday, were still camping in the state to assist local doctors in treating the patients, he said.



At present, there was no need to shift the patients to other states, he said, adding, "We are taking the advice of the experts." The PM had offered to provide all help to take the patients to hospitals in Mumbai and Delhi, Chandy said.



Asked about difference of opinion between Kollam District Collector A Shainamol and Kollam Police Commissioner P Prakash on the conduct of the fireworks display despite a ban on it, Chandy said all these issues would be looked into.



"This is the time to focus all our energy on providing treatment to the injured," he stressed. Chandy said that out of 109 killed in the state's worst fireworks mishap, thirteen bodies were yet to be identified.



However, police have received complaints that 21 persons from nearby places of Paravoor were missing since the mishap. The condition of 27 injured persons, including seven in Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital, was serious.



So far, a total of 1,039 persons were treated as outpatient in various hospitals in Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram, he said. Chandy said that treatment for the victims was free and the government would bear all the expenses.



No private hospital should charge any fees from the victims, he said. The Chief Minister also said the government would take a decision after receiving a report from the Revenue Secretary on the steps to be taken for the protection of two boys -- Kishore and Krishna, who have been orphaned after their parents died in the devastating accident.



Chennithala made it clear that the government would take stern action to crack down on fireworks that cause heavy explosion.



To a question on the controversy over the conduct of the display even after the district administration had banned it, he said the judicial probe and Crime Branch investigation would look into all issues connected with the accident.



"Any person found guilty will be brought before the law. But, now it is not the time for any row. All effort now is to help the people injured in the accident," Chennithala said.
Noted woman biker Veenu Paliwal died after her two-wheeler skidded off a road near Gyaraspur town in the district, police said today.





Jaipur-based Paliwal (30), also known as "Lady of the Harley", was on a motorcycle trip from Kashmir to Kanyakumari with her companion Dipesh Tanwar, when the mishap happened yesterday, Rajesh Tiwari, In-charge Kotwali police station said.



The duo started their journey from Lucknow during early hours yesterday for Bhopal on separate Harley Davidson bikes.



Paliwal's motorcycle skidded off the road near Gyaraspur and was seriously hurt, Tiwari said.



After primary treatment at Gyaraspur, she was referred to Vidisha for treatment where she succumbed to her injuries, he said, adding, postmortem will be conducted today at the district hospital.
TTK Prestige has acquired UK-based Silampos for an undisclosed sum, through which it has gained full control of table and cookware supplier Horwood Homewares.





The acquisition has been carried out by TTK British Holdings Ltd, the wholly owned subsidiary of TTK Prestige Ltd.



This transaction is a step forward in strengthening the globalisation strategy of TTK Group by introducing and expanding globally renowned brands in the home appliances segment, the company said in a statement today.



TTK Prestige Executive Chairman T T Jagannathan said: "Horwood brands will provide a strong footing for the rapid expansion of TTK's business in the European markets."



The company will combine the design, manufacturing and marketing capabilities of TTK prestige to expand and grow the Horwood business in the European markets, he added.



TTK intends to have continuity in the management and supplement Horwood with enough investments in product development, channel development and also new market development, Jagannathan said.



Jeremy Horwood, a fourth generation member of the Horwood family, said the transaction will be the next stage in Horwood's development.



"Both companies will improve as a result of this new relationship and our customers and the buying public will be the beneficiaries," he added.



Horwood has been in operations since 1896 and is one of the largest table and cookware suppliers in the UK with brands Horwood, Stellar and Judge. The business had revenues of 18 million pounds in 2015.



TTK Prestige is a major player in India's kitchen appliances segment. It has has 10 factories, 23 warehouses and caters to 50,000 retailers across India. Its international presence is in the UK, Europe, the US, the Middle East, Africa, South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand.


After keeping shutters down for almost six weeks against the proposed 1 per cent excise duty on non-silver jewellery, a large section of jewellers and bullion traders across the country opened their shops today.





While some jewellery shops and showrooms were seen resuming their regular transactions in National Capital and Mumbai, the others remained closed.



Jewellery showrooms in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh were also opened.

"Jewellers, bullion traders and artisans have reopened their establishments in Rajasthan after the government's assurance it would simplify implementation of excise duty", Subhash Mittal, President, Rajasthan Sarafa Sangh told PTI from Jaipur.



If the demands were not met, the jewellers in the state will resume the strike, he said.

Meanwhile, jewellers in Maharashtra have called off their strike temporarily, from April 14 to 24.



"We are meeting the Union Minister Piyush Goyal in Delhi today with our demands, which include paying additional 1 per cent additional tax on VAT instead of excise duty, no maintenance of extra register keeping details of each items, no additional tax on remake of old jewellery and no inspection of manufacturing and retail units.



"For this we have temporarily halted the strike in the state from April 14 to 24," Maharashtra Rajya Saraf Suvarnakar Federation President Fatechand Ranka told PTI.



Meanwhile, Chairman of Assocham's National Council on Gems and Jewellery Sankar Sen said the jewellers may call off strike in next few days following the government's assurance that Ashok Lahiri committee will consider all the demands.



The Centre has already constituted a panel under former chief economic advisor Ashok Lahiri to look into their demands.



The sub-committee, which has been asked to submit its report in 60 days, will look into issues related to the compliance procedure for the excise duty, including records to be maintained, forms to be filled, operating procedures and other relevant aspects.



The government, in the Budget for 2016-17, had 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 those studded with diamonds and precious stones.



Meanwhile, in Mumbai gold 99.9 purity traded at Rs 29,250 per 10 gram, while at Delhi it traded at Rs 29,150 per 10 gram. At Kolkata it quoted at Rs 29,620 per 10 gram in opening trade. At Chennai, the precious metal opened at Rs 29,630 per 10 gram.
China today lashed out at the G-7 advanced economies and asked them to focus on global economic recovery rather than hyping up issues, after the bloc strongly opposed any "coercive or provocative" actions that may fuel tensions in the disputed East and South China Seas.





"We urge the G7 member states to honour their commitment of not taking sides on issues involving territorial disputes," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said.



Lu said that as recovery of the world economy remains weak, the G7 bloc should have focussed on global economic governance and cooperation rather than hyping up the disputes.



"China's stance on the East and South China Seas are consistent and clear," he said, adding it is completely within China's sovereignty to build structures on some of its Nansha islands and reefs and that there is no problem with freedom of navigation and overflight in the East and South China Seas.



The comments come in response to a statement issued by the foreign ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US yesterday in Japan's Hiroshima city.



The G7 Ministers statement, regarded as the strongest veiled attack on China said, "We are concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas, and emphasise the fundamental importance of peaceful management and settlement of disputes".



"We express our strong opposition to any intimidating, coercive or provocative unilateral actions that could alter the status quo and increase tensions, and urge all states to refrain from such actions as land reclamations including large scale ones, building of outposts, as well as their use for military purposes and to act in accordance with international law including the principles of freedoms of navigation and overflight," the grouping has said.



While China is locked in a dispute with the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan in the SCS, it clashed with Japan over the disputed islands in East China Sea.



The G7 ministers have also called on all states to pursue peaceful management and settlement of maritime disputes in accordance with international law and fully implement any decisions rendered by the relevant courts and tribunals which are binding on them, including as provided under UNCLOS, (UN Commission on Law of Seas).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today hosted British royal couple Prince William and Kate Middleton for lunch to the accompaniment of classical music.





The Prime Minister received the couple on the steps of the Hyderabad House located next to the India Gate. While Kate wore a knee-length gauze green dress, William donned a dark-coloured suit and a tie.



A four-course Indian meal, both vegetarian and non- vegetarian, was served at the lunch hosted at the historic mansion here which before Independence served as the grand residence of the Nizam of Hyderabad.



The event was marked by santoor recital by classical musician Rahul Sharma. One of the highlights of the performance was the rendition of Beatles' famous number 'Let It Be'.



Among those who attended the event included External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.



Bharti Group chief Sunil Bharti Mittal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of ICICI Chanda Kochhar, actor Anupam Kher and former badminton player Pullela Gopichand were among some of the noted personalities who also attended.



The royal couple are on a week-long tour of India and Bhutan that began on Sunday.

Their India visit began in Mumbai where they paid homage to the victims of the 26/11 terror attacks. In Delhi, they yesterday visited Gandhi Smriti, Mahatma Gandhi's memorial at Tees January Marg, and paid tribute to the Father of the Nation.



The couple also paid homage to Indian soldiers at the Amar Jawan Jyoti at the India Gate and attended a reception at the British High Commissioner's residence last evening to commemorate the 90th birthday of William's grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, Britain's longest-reigning monarch.
Superstar Shah Rukh Khan says while he believes stars should "check and cross check" from their end before endorsing a product, they should not be held entirely responsible for its quality.





There has been a debate for sometime now whether the celebrities endorsing a brand should be taken into account if it fails quality checks.



Last year, an FIR was registered against megastar Amitabh Bachchan and actresses Preity Zinta and Madhuri Dixit Nene for featuring in Maggi advertisements besides two top officials of its company Nestle India after a lawyer complained that he was taken ill after eating the 'two-minute' noodle.



Later, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said that celebrities associated with misleading ads on the nutrition value of Maggi noodles should also be held responsible.



When asked about his opinion on the issue, Shah Rukh said, "There is only limited knowledge that we have of everything. Like I cannot be an expert on how a car drives but yes you check the company, its experience and you go by that...



"There is a responsibility (of the stars) to check and cross check and there is a limited responsibility because there are institutions, checking points to check things much before the actor comes in the picture. So if I see a product with ISI mark, I will assume it has been checked..."



The 50-year-old actor, who is among India's topmost celebrity endorsers, was speaking at the press conference for his upcoming thriller "Fan", held at PVR Superplex Logix City Centre, Noida.



The film hits theatres this Friday, April 15.
In an interim order, the Hyderabad High Court today directed the registrar of the Hyderabad Central University and the Cyberabad police commissioner not to allow any political party or association to hold a meeting on the varsity's campus.





HCU has been at the centre of controversy since the suicide of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula on January 17 and recently after resumption of duty by Vice Chancellor Appa Rao Podile.



Justice A Rama Lingswara Rao, in an interim order, directed the registrar and the police commissioner not to allow any political party or association to hold a meeting on the university premises and to give provocative speeches vitiating the academic atmosphere.



The order came on a petition filed by professor G Vinod Kumar, complaining that the HCU administration has failed to maintain a peaceful academic atmosphere on the campus. Political leaders are visiting the HCU campus for their own selfish motives, it said.


By blocking Indias bid to get the United Nations to include Jaish-e-Mohammed leader Maulana Azhar in a blacklist of terrorists with links to the al-Qaeda, China has laid bare yet again its duplicitous approach to fighting terrorism. It has committed itself to cooperate with India on fighting terrorism and evolving joint positions on the issue in international forums. Yet, when it comes to delivering on these commitments, Beijing has repeatedly fallen short especially when it comes to addressing Indias concerns on terrorism emanating from Pakistani soil. Although the Jaish is banned in Pakistan, its leaders enjoy the patronage of the political and military establishment. Clearly, China is keen to avoid annoying Pakistan, its all-weather friend. Azhars inclusion in the terrorist list would result in his funds and assets being frozen, reducing, however marginally, his capacity to carry out attacks. And Pakistan would not want that to happen to the Jaish leader. In the past too, China has blocked Indias efforts to have the Jaish and other Pakistan-based terrorist groups and their leaders blacklisted by the UN.



China too has a problem with Pakistans support to terrorism as radical Uighur Islamists are benefiting from it. Beijing prefers to deal with the Pakistan government directly on the matter. Given its close ties with the government as well as the military establishment, it has been able to pressure Pakistan to crackdown on militant Uighurs operating from its soil. However, this isnt enough as groups like the East Turkestan Islamic Movement are getting help from ISI proteges like Jaish and the Lashkar-e-Toiba. Weakening ETIM will therefore require cutting not only its ties to Jaish and others but removing the ISI infrastructure that sustains extremism and terrorism in Pakistan. Chinas soft approach towards those it sees as good terrorists while demanding action against the bad terrorists is thus deeply flawed. China may not feel directly threatened by the Jaishs violence or fundraising. But its repeated blocking of action against Azhar and others is indirectly weakening its own campaign against militant Uighurs.



India has expressed disappointment with Chinas response to New Delhis concerns on terrorism. Reports in the media had indicated initially that India was considering retaliatory action against China, that it would tighten security clearances for Chinese firms operating in India. However, the government has ruled out such moves. This mature approach is welcome. Using quiet diplomacy and negotiations is likely to be more productive. India must use the upcoming meeting between the Special Representatives of the two countries to raise its concerns over Chinas decision on Azhar.


As a measure towards further improving the ease of doing business, the government on Tuesday relaxed norms for any foreign entity looking to open its branch or liaison office in India for a prospective business venture.



Earlier, to open the branch, liaison or project offices, a foreign entity needed to seek permission from the Reserve Bank of India. However, foreign entities seeking to open branch, liaison or project offices for critical sectors such as defence, telecom, private security, information and broadcasting and non-government organisation will have to come through the RBI nod, according to a government order.



It has now been decided that except for a few sectors viz defence, telecom, private security, information and broadcasting and non-government organisation and except a few countries, the power to grant approvals for establishment of Branch Office (BO)/Liaison Office (LO)/Project Offices (PO) in India by foreign entities, would be delegated to the Authorised Dealers Category-I Banks, a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance said.



Further, anyone who has been awarded a contract for a project by a government authority or a public sector undertaking will, henceforth, be automatically given approval to open a bank account, it said.



The foreign entities can set up their BO/LO/PO in India without registering themselves as companies/trusts under Indian laws, the statement said.


A battalion commander level flag meeting was held between Indo-Pak armies on the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday.





A Battalion Commander level flag meeting was held at Chakan-Da-Bagh in Poonch Sector at 11 am on Tuesday to take forward the peace process initiated since the Brigade Commander level flag meeting of 21 September 2015, defence spokesman SD Goswami said in a statement.



The representatives of the two nations deliberated to address on the recent ceasefire violations in Poonch sector. In the meeting which lasted for nearly thirty minutes, he said.



He added, both the sides acknowledged each others efforts in maintaining peace and tranquillity on the Line of Control in the recent past, he said.



Exercising restraint

He added that both the sides mutually agreed to the importance of exercising restraint on the Line of Control and keeping the communication alive through established reconciliation mechanism of exchange of hot line messages and flag meetings.



Benefit for farmers

Goswami said stress was also laid on the fact that farmers on the two sides of the Line of Control were beginning their agricultural activities after the winter months.

He added that all possible steps should be taken to ensure these activities on which livelihood of farmers depends remain unaffected.


To make up the shortage of electricity due to lower hydro power output in view of water scarcity in the country, the Centre on Thursday promised that it will provide additional power to states to meet the demand if they submit requests.





Union Minister for Power Piyush Goyal, who chaired a meeting of the state power secretaries here, said It is obvious that due to scarcity of water in the country, hydro power generation has come down particularly in states including Karnataka. Power sector and states are monitoring the situation. If states want power then they would get it provided transmission facility is in place, he said.



India has enough capability to make up for shortfall due to lower hydro power generation, by thermal and gas based plants, he added.



The Minister also launched DEEP (Discovery of Efficient Electricity Price) e-Bidding & e-Reverse Auction portal for procurement of short term power by DISCOMs.



About the portal, Goyal said, In power exchanges, trading of electricity is done for medium term and long term. But trading for short term and same day trading is not there. Here on this portal you can do that."



The short term procurement on the portal could be for a period of more than one day up to one year. Currently out of total generation of around 91671.33 million units about 10% (9215.24MUs) is transacted through short term bilateral agreements and through power exchanges etc.



The guidelines for short term procurement of power have already been notified by Power Ministry and effective from April 1, 2016, making it mandatory for all the Procurers to procure short term power by using this e-Bidding portal.



Power Procurement from Power Exchange shall be excluded from the scope of these guidelines. This would introduce uniformity and transparency in power procurement by the DISCOMs and at the same time promote competition in electricity sector.



This e-Reverse auction process for competitive procurement is expected to result in overall reduction of cost of procurement of power thereby significantly benefiting the ultimate consumers.


On a day when the first water train reached Latur station, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday asked the Maharashtra government to ensure that the water reaches the villages and is not just distributed in the town.





Please ensure that apart from Latur town, it goes to the nearby villages as well, a division bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justice V M Kanade and Justice S M Karnik, told acting Advocate General Rohit Deo during the hearing of a PIL filed by economist and activist Prof. H M Desarda.



Deo, however, added, When I was referring to Latur, it was Latur district. I am talking about the Latur district. He informed that the first water train reached Latur in the wee hours of Tuesday and this was among the short term or immediate measures that the government has undertaken.



He said that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is constantly monitoring the situation. Besides the Maharashtra State Disaster Management Authority that is headed by the Chief Minister too is taking stock of the situation.



Deo said that several long-term measures too have been initiated and one of these is a World Bank-funded project that would soon be introduced. This is nearly Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 crore project and all eight districts of Marathwada region is covered besides other places. This is aimed at creating farm ponds, desilting of water bodies, soil health, artificial recharge, ground water recharge and so on. The government, he said has also introduced the Jalyukt Shivar project which aims at making 25,000 villages drought free in five years.






With the end of the crucial Assembly polls in Assam, the state is getting ready to welcome a special couple, who will be travelling to the state to visit the Kaziranga National Park in Central Assam, known as the home of the one-horn Rhinoceros.





The British royal couple, Prince William and Princess Catherine, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge reached Tezpur in central Assam in a special Jet on Tuesday evening and then drove down to Kaziranga. The royals will spend two days enjoying the park, interacting with local communities and taking part in Rongali Bihu, spring festival of Assam which starts this week.



Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi received the royal couple and they would be accorded a ceremonious official welcome.



The couple would be spending two nights at the Difflo River Lodge adjacent to the park, sources added. On Wednesday, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will undertake a jeep safari in the western range of Bagori of the national park. They will interact with the frontline forest staff guarding the national park, Assam Forest department sources added.

Later, the couple will also meet villagers who have been relocated from an elephant corridor.



They will also visit the Kaziranga Discovery Centre built by Elephant Family, a charity founded by late Mark Shand, brother of the Duchess of Cornwall.
Massive protests erupted in north Kashmirs Kupwara district on Tuesday after two youths were killed when army opened fire on villagers agitating over an alleged molestation by a trooper.





Reports said hundreds of people at main chowk Handwara in Kupwara, 80 kms from here, took to streets demanding arrest of the army personnel involved in the alleged molestation.



Protesters alleged that some soldiers molested a school girl returning home, following which the youth started pelting stones on an army picket in the town.



As the situation turned violent, the Army opened fire and injured at least four people, reports said, adding Two of them later succumbed to their injuries at the hospital.

The slain youth have been identified as 22-year-old Mohammad Iqbal and 19-year-old Nayeem Qadir Bhat.



Medical Superintendent, sub-district hospital Handwara, said Iqbal had bullet injuries in head, while Nayeem had bullet injuries in the abdomen. Rest of the injured are stable as they have received mild injuries, he said.



Superintendent Police (SP) Handwara Ghulam Jeelani Wani confirmed that two civilians were killed in during protests. We are monitoring the situation and the investigation has been taken up, he told reporters. Deputy Commissioner Kupwara, Kumar Rajiv Ranjan said a magisterial inquiry has been ordered into the incident. The situation is critical, and the stone pelting is going on in the town. Police is at the spot, Ranjan said.



Regretting the incident, the Army said probe has been ordered and the guilty will be dealt as per the law. Army deeply regrets the unfortunate loss of life. Matter will be investigated and anybody found guilty will be dealt as per law, Army spokesman Colonel N N Joshi said.



Reports said massive clashes broke out in Handwara immediately after news of the killings spread in nearby areas.


A week after Nitish Kumar imposed ban on sale and consumption of toddy, Jitan Ram Manjhi has come out in defence of the health drink of the poor.





Its wrong to brand toddy as liquor. In fact, toddy is a natural juice, said Manjhi extolling its virtues as a health drink.



The former chief minister of Bihar, who is the national president of HAM (Hindustan Awam Morcha), an ally of the BJP, cited a personal experience to buttress his point. When I was appearing for Class Xth examination, I developed some health-related problems. My father then gave me toddy for around a fortnight. I recovered fully and since then I have been working properly without any health hazards, said Manjhi, addressing a protest rally by those in the toddy business.



At least I have not met any such person who consumes toddy and is suffering from asthma or tuberculosis, said Manjhi as he continued to extol the virtues of the health drink of poor, particularly Dalits from Pasi community.



Urging the Nitish government to not impose any such prohibition on toddy, Manjhi said the decision had rendered many toddy tappers (mostly people from Pasi community) jobless.



Notably, Pasi community had been traditionally associated with the toddy business. I appeal to Nitish Kumar to not brand toddy as liquor as these poor people (toddy tappers) will face starvation. And if the Chief Minister is adamant on not revoking ban order, then alternate arrangements should be made for them, argued Manjhi.


An undergraduate student was mysteriously injured while climbing down the stairs at Cauvery Pre-University College at Surajakannahalli in Anekal, south Bengaluru, on Tuesday morning.





The college staff found Veena, 20, a second-year BA student, lying on the ground floor of the three-storey building around 9.30 am. She was taken to Narayana Hrudayalaya hospital, where doctors found she had internal bleeding and some fractures.



Some eyewitnesses told the police that she felt giddy and rolled down the flight of stairs while coming down from the first floor.



But the police suspect there is more to it than meets the eye. They didnt find any bloodstains on the spot where she fell down.



The police said there was no clear picture of the incident and that they were investigating if she tried to commit suicide or had an accidental fall. They are yet to record her statement.



Veenas father, Venkatappa, who is a labourer, has been informed, but no formal complaint has been registered as yet.


Karnataka, which has the largest tiger population in the country, is expecting a lion's share for the conservation of big cats.



A senior Forest official from the state, who is attending a three-day Global Tiger Forum organised by Ministry of Environment, National Tiger Conservation Authority among others in New Delhi, told Deccan Herald, The Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate Change increased the funding from Rs 180 crore to Rs 380 crore. Add to it the 40% stakeholder funding, it will be increased to Rs 500 crore.



The funds will be divided among 49 tiger reserves across India, based on the tiger reserve area and tiger population. Since Karnataka has the highest tiger population in India, maximum funds will be diverted to the state, the official added.



The funds will be used to increase the area to mitigate conflicts, strengthen tiger and elephant corridors and buy land to increase forest cover.



These are vital to increase the tiger density in the state. At present, tiger density is 18 tigers per 100 sq km in Bandipur and Nagarhole. Stress will also be laid on habitat improvement, the officer said.



As per the latest Tiger Census report, Karnataka houses 406 tigers of the 2,226 in India. The Western Ghats stretch, in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Goa, now houses 776 tigers; making it the richest and most densely tiger-populated landscape globally.



The Karnataka Forest department was represented by Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) B G Hosmath, Chamarajanagar Chief Conservator of Forests B P Ravi, Bandipur Tiger Reserve Director B B Mallesh and Forest, Environment and Ecology Minister Ramanath Rai.



Interestingly, heads of all tiger reserves from Karnataka were not made a part of the forum. Another senior Forest official said: Though the invite from NTCA was extended to heads of all tiger reserves, due to internal bickerings, the invitation to several heads was denied. We were given the task to attend meetings in Bengaluru instead.
The decision of a Hindu family to marry off their daughter to a Muslim man has enraged right-wing elements who even protested outside the familys home at Ashok Nagar locality here on Thursday, suggesting it was a case of Love Jihad.



Ashitha, 24, an MBA graduate, was dating a Muslim man, who has been reportedly identified as Shakeel, for the last 12 years. She convinced her father Dr Narendra Babu and the rest of the family. The boys family also consented to the marriage which is scheduled for April 17 at a choultry in Mysuru, according to a family source. The man is also an MBA graduate.



But local BJP leaders, including C T Manjunath, Siddarajegowda and Bajrang Dal leader Manjunath, opposed the marriage. They led a crowd of protesters outside the girls house. They demanded why the girl was being trained in Islamic practices and the Quran if it was a genuine love marriage. The police later arrived at the place and dispersed the protesters. No police complaint has been lodged.



Dr Narendra Babu, a paediatrician, refuted the allegation of Love Jihad, saying his daughter had courted the man who happened to be the son of his old friend. Both the families respected their choice and arranged for the wedding, he told reporters. He said his daughter's happiness was more important to him that religion didnt not matter at all. We have never given importance to religion or caste. We did not know about it. They were in love for the last 12 years. At first, even I thought it would be difficult as the guy is a Muslim, but later I learnt he is the son of my childhood friend. They are good people, he said.



Ashitha appeared belligerent. Its my personal matter and others have no right to interfere when our families have given their consent... Even if I marry a Hindu guy, I have to practise the traditions of his family. Im in love with him and Im getting happily married with the consent of our parents.



The mans father Mukhtar Ahmed said there were no differences between the families about religion and that his family happily consented to the marriage. The girl and boy are not uneducated, they are MBA graduates. The girl has been abroad also. There is nothing called Love Jihad. They both were in love and now they are getting married with our consent and blessings, he said.
Over 100 people had a close shave when they were trapped in a fire that engulfed a five-storeyed building in Kashimpur area of Bhiwandi in Thane district.





The Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation (BNMC) was involved in an over six-hour-long rescue operation.



Bhiwandi tahsildar Vaishali Lambhate said that residents took shelter on the terrace of the building after the fire broke out.



Fire tenders from Kalyan, Thane, and four fire stations of Bhiwandi were rushed to the spot and the blaze was brought under control, she said.



At least three people were injured in the incident. They were taken to IGM Hospital. Fire tenders, water tankers, ladders and snorkels were sent by nearby municipal areas of Thane city, Kalyan-Dombivli and Navi Mumbai, which managed to rescue the people who were trapped in the terrace of the building.



Short-circuit

The cause of the fire is not yet known. However, short-circuit is one of the possible causes. Cooling operations were carried out throughout the night.



The building housed power loom on the ground floor and cloth godown on the first floor while the remaining three floors were occupied for residential purposes.


Setting aside years of rejection, India on Tuesday has agreed to sign a pact with the USA, which would allow the two militaries to share their logistics.





The pact would also allow access to each others bases under specific circumstances.

The two sides announced their in principle agreement to conclude a Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreementa tweaked version of the previous logistics support agreement (LSA)though it would take few weeks more to finalise the draft.



Asked if the agreement would lead to opening up of Indian bases for US troops, Parrikar asserted that the agreement would provide support for each others military platforms and not for deploying US troops on Indian soil.



The defence minister said permission to the US platforms for using the Indian bases would be on a case to case basis. In return, India may get access to the US bases in Djibouti or Diego Garcia.





We agreed in principle to conclude the LEMA in the coming months, he said.

The agreement would make it more routine for us to operate here logistically so that we don't need separate agreement for each exercise, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said.



In a television interview, Carter clarified the agreement was not binding on either party and the US military can use the Indian bases only if they are invited by the Indian government.



Three pacts

The logistics agreement was one of the three pacts proposed by the USA after the two sides inked a framework agreement on defence cooperation in 2005. Washington claimed bilateral military could flourish only if New Delhi signed these documents.



Besides the LSA, other two pacts under discussions are the Communications and Information Security Memorandum of Agreement and the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement.



The UPA regime and its defence minister A K Antony developed cold feet on these agreements due to political reasons and they were shelved.



The NDA government, however, stated it would have a relook at the US proposal. Both Carter and Parrikar ruled out the possibility of US troops operating from Indian soil. In a written reply to questions in the Lok Sabha in 2007, former external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee stated LSA would not affect the independence of Indias foreign policy, rather it would rather provide a framework for mutual logistical support when deploying defence resources in disaster relief operations or joint exercises.






Pre-university college lecturers across Karnataka, who have been protesting for the past 10 days demanding better salaries and other facilities, will intensify their agitation by sitting on a hunger strike from Wednesday.





The talks between the lecturers and the government collapsed for the second time on Tuesday.



Although the G Kumar Naik Committee report has recommended an increase of Rs 2,500 in our basic pay, we are ready to compromise and agree on Rs 1,750 and start the evaluation immediately, said an office-bearer of the State PU Lecturers Association.



The government has not agreed to their demands even after four rounds of talks. All this while, the government has been offering only Rs 200 over the Rs 500 ex gratia that was already sanctioned to us since Sadananda Gowdas time.We are in no mood to relent over such a meagre amount, he said.



However, Ramegowda, Director, Department of Pre-University Education (DPUE), said that the talks would fructify in two days. He again assured that the lecturers agitation would not delay the PU results.



Unaided college lecturers

Primary and Secondary Education Minister Kimmane Ratnakar hinted at roping in lecturers from private unaided colleges and those not affiliated to any associations to start evaluation immediately.



An office-bearer of the Lecturers Association said that it was impossible that private college lecturers would be willing be take up evaluation as most of them had pledged their support to government lecturers.



Meanwhile, the PU department issued an official communique to all deputy chief examiners and assistant examiners to report for evaluation by April 16.


The metro train is undergoing a final set of trials in the underground stretch between the Majestic and Cubbon Park stations before the commercial launch of the underground section of the Baiyappanahalli- Mysuru Road east-west corridor.





The date for the commercial launch will be announced in 10-15 days and after the completion of the trials.



Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited Managing Director, P S Kharola, told Deccan Herald that the safety trials had been completed. There were some issues the Commissioner for Railway Safety (CRS) had raised over safety during his inspection last week. We have addressed all of them. Safety has been taken care of as per the directions of the CRS. We had to obtain a fire safety certificate, particularly concerning the Majestic station. That too has been done, he said.



Now, the service trials are underway. During this period, the train is run like it would in actual circumstances. We are doing service trials to fine-tune the train timings. We are running it as though it is a train with full load of passengers  the speed, the stopping at stations, etc. Since the distance between the stations is about one km, we are running the trains at the speed that is required to run between the stations and at the speed that trains are now running at. That will give us the data about the trains  when to stop, when to start, at what speed to approach stations, how to run during gradients, etc. All these are part of the service trials we are undertaking to get ready for the commercial launch, Kharola said.



The trains can run at a maximum of 80 km/hr, while in actuality, they run at 38 km/hr. It can run at 80 km/hr only if there is a long stretch and at least a two-km distance between the stations. If it runs at 80 km/hr now, it wont have enough time to decelerate as it approaches a station and will find it hard to stop at the required station. The 38 km/hr speed allows the train to stop at the required station. The distance required to start immediately again will also be less.




For Sale:

Hitzer Amish built woodstoves. JHMW Plastic sled runners. 543-2379. (11)(3/1-cnx)

FOR SALE

300 Gallon Plastic Water Tanks in stock. Call Shorty at Shortys Shop for pricing. 543-3158 or 545-3157 (19)(9/18-cnx)

18 SSV Lund with 60 hp high thrust Yamaha 20 inch shaft. About 150 hours on motor, maintained well with no problems. In excellent condition. Lund boat reinforced side and motor mount, no leaks. Minor dents. Asking $11,000. Email me at boy4ever79[email protected] (42)(12/23-cnx)

FOR SALE 24 X 56 4PLEX MUST BE MOVED CALL 545-0929. (11)(2/24-cnx)

For Sale: 10 x 20 Walk In cooler/freezer, unassembled. Complete with 6 floor, ceiling, wall panels & foundation beams. 4 door, 240V compressor, evaporators. Make an offer. Ron Kaiser 545-4936. (30)(6/8-cnx)

House for Sale

2424, freshly remodeled, 1 bedroom. Must be moved. 545-1890. (12)(9/21-cnx)

Association of Village Council Presidents is selling Speed Queen Commercial Washer/Dryer Stacks. The units are located at the former Allanivik Hotel, 1220 Chief Eddie Hoffman Highway, Bethel, AK 99559. All sales will be completed on a First come, first served basis.

Sale price is $2,500, or best offer.

Considerations:

Each unit is sold as is, where is, with no warranty expressed or implied.

Each unit new is approximately $4000 new, without shipping.

Each unit is approximately three (3) years old.

Each unit is considered to be in good condition.

The purchaser is responsible for the immediate removal and transportation of each unit upon sale.

Please contact John at 907-545-2538 for more information. (112)(3/22-29)

For Rent

OUTSIDE STORAGE SPACE FOR RENT. EQUIPMENT, BOATS OR VEHICLES. NEAR BOAT HARBOR. FENCED IN AREA. 543-2402. (16)(3/17-cnx)

Small Apartments available. Some utilities paid. 543-2750. (7)(9/1-22; cnx)

FOR RENT

1,350 sq/ft office/commercial space for rent. Excellent space in very nice well-maintained building located next to Arctic Chiropractic at Alex Hately on Chief Eddie Hoffman Highway. Available starting in October. $3,750/mo for building. $4,000/mo for building and garage. Call Chris 543-7600. (43)(9/30-cnx)

House for rent. 2 bedroom, furnished, washer/dryer. No pets. 545-0832. (10)(12/21-cnx)

Real Estate

For Sale 23,500 square foot lot/downtown location on Chief Eddie Hoffman Highway (or State Highway) across from Fire Station. Serious offers only. 907-543-3552. (23)(7/28-cnx)

235 Mission Lake RD

12820 FT all filled and leveled with 2 buildings. One 22 by 34, 1496 sf 3plex. One 30 by 56, 1680 sf 3 plex. 545-0929. (29)(9/21-cnx)

Home for Sale Downtown location, 1011 Delapp; 2 story home, 2 bdrm, 1 bath, Up-graded to 4 star energy rating in 2011, 3 toyo stoves, on City piped water. Back deck. Must sell $230,000.

Tri-plex for Sale: 238 & 236 A&B East Ave. List price $300,000 $40k below last appraisal; Each unit has 2 bdrms, 1 bath, remodeled in 2012 Great investment properties.

Home for Sale  350 Alder St. 2 story; 1 bdrm, I bath, log home. House is 1,369 sq. ft; lot is 20,384 sq. ft. toyo stove + wood stove. 2001 appraisal @ $156k; owner moved & doesnt want to be distant landlord, $76,000.

Home for Sale: 135 Ptarmigan 2 bdrm, 1 bath, piped water; VERY well maintained, laundry room, computer room, shed. $155,000.00

Call for showing 907-545-1944 REMAX Dynamic Properties (133)(3/29-cnx)

Invitation to Bid

INVITATION TO BID

BULK FUEL DELIVERY

Yupiit School District is accepting sealed bids for delivery of bulk grade #1 diesel fuel oil and bulk gasoline for Akiachak, Akiak, and Tuluksak schools. All schools are located in remote rural Alaska and none are accessible by road. The scope of work will include the purchase, transport, delivery, pumping and transfer of bulk fuel to the Yupiit School Districts bulk tanks.

Sealed bids will be accepted at the Yupiit School District Office. Sealed bids shall be addressed to:

Yupiit School District

Attn: Director of Maintenance & Operations

P.O. Box 51190

Akiachak, AK 99551

Bids will be accepted until 2:00 p.m. Alaska time on Friday, April 21, 2017. All bids will be publically opened on that date. Bid review and notice of award shall occur within 7 days of the bid opening date.

Bid instructions are available from the Yupiit School District and may be requested by calling (907) 825-3600 or by downloading from the Yupiit School District website at www.yupiit.org. (167)(3/22-4/19)

STATE OF ALASKA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION & PUBLIC FACILITIES (DOT/PF)

CENTRAL REGION

INVITATION FOR QUOTES

Project Bid Title: Napakiak Airport (WNA) Maintenance Re-Bid

Project Bid No.: 17-25A-1-020

Estimated Cost: Between $10,000 and $20,000

Bid Opening: 1:00 PM on April 13, 2017

Telephone: (907) 269.0767

TTD: (907) 269.0473

TTY: (800) 770.8973

Copies of the Contract bid documents may be obtained at the Napakiak Post Office or the M&O Bethel Station Airport Managers Office.

Up to date and additional information is available on the web at (http://dot.alaska.gov). Under the Section called Find it Fast!, select DOT&PF Public Notices. Look through the section called Procurement for the Invitation for Quotes. (107)(3/29-4/5)

Public Notice

VFW MEMBERSHIP Freedom isnt free, and millions of Americans have paid the price for the freedom we enjoy today. Since 1899, the Veterans of Foreign Wars has served those who served America. From writing veterans legislation and then leading the fight to get it through Congress, to community projects that benefit all Americans, the VFW is an opportunity for veterans to continue to serve. Contact the VFW Robert V. Lindsey Post #10041 at 543-2241 and ask what you can do for your community. (83)(3/26-cnx)

IN THE SUPERIOR COURT FOR THE STATE OF ALASKA FOURTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT AT BETHEL

In the Matter of the Estate of:

SETH GRANT FAIRBANKS, Deceased.

Case No. 4BE-17-6PR

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

You are notified that the court appointed DEBORAH FAIRBANKS as Personal Representative of this estate. All persons having claims against the person who died are required to present their claims within four months after the date of first publication of this Notice or said claims will be forever barred.

Claims must be presented to DEBORAH FAIRBANKS, Personal Representative of the Estate of SETH GRANT FAIRBANKS, or filed with the Court.

DATED this _22nd_ day of March 2017 at Bethel, Alaska

DEBORAH FAIRBANKS

Personal Representative (115)(3/22-4/5)

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by Spc. Grace Nechanicky

The Alaska Army National Guards Recruiting and Retention Battalion debuted a new program earlier this year for recruits to earn high school credit for their time in basic combat training. The first Soldier to take advantage of this opportunity, Pfc. Hunter Skaw, graduated from basic combat training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina earlier this month, just two weeks before starting his senior year at Colony High School in Wasilla.

This program offers high school credit for health, physical education or electives, for students who join the Alaska Army National Guard and complete basic training while they are still in high school, said Lt. Col. Donna Johnson, assistant chief of staff for the Alaska Army National Guard.

The Recruit Sustainment Programwhich is where recruits are assigned until they are fully trained and handed off to their unitsalready offered high school students a split-train option, allowing them to join the Army National Guard while still in their junior year.

They could attend basic combat training during the summer before their senior year, and usually finish their advanced individual training after graduating from high school. This new program provides Soldiers an opportunity to earn high school credit for their time spent in BCT over the summer.

Basic combat training is 10 weeks long, so they could easily fit it into their summer, said Lt. Col. David Jurva, commander of the RRB.

And basic training is challenging, I would say that its probably more challenging than a normal P.E. class in high school, added Johnson. Its pretty awesome that the board of education worked with us to make this happen.

As the first Soldier to benefit from this new program, Skaw agrees.

You can earn credits for doing something that you love, and it helps better yourself, he said. Not just on a physical level and an emotional level, but on an educational level as well.

Next, Skaw will finish out his senior year at Colony High School before moving on to Advanced Individual Training for his military specialty, a 16-week long school in Fort Eustis, Virginia, to become a CH-47 Chinook helicopter repairer.

Skaw plans to attend college for aviation or engineering and then hopes for an opportunity to be hired full-time with his Army Guard unit. He wants to stay in Alaska to serve his state and nation while he pursues his education at University of Alaska Anchorage.

[Basic training] was a great learning experience, and the majority of it was learning how to become very disciplined, explained Skaw. I did come out with a few new things, but it definitely helps with maturity and also the amount of self-confidence that people have.

Soldiers may also earn high school credit for completing AIT if they are able to complete it after basic training and prior to their senior year. According to Jurva, it is up to the school to decide how many credits the student will receive for their hard work at BCT and AIT.

This [program] is something that is only available within the Army National Guard component, said Jurva. Its a great option for students who want to maximize the advantages of joining the military early.

Skaw shared his advice for any other students that may be considering joining the National Guard and using this program.

Dont give up on yourself even when everything is tough, he said. Just keep pushing through and eventually youll make it to that finish line and break on through.

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Alaska Sports Hall of Fame

April 22, 2020: The Alaska Sports Hall of Fame announced the three boys finalists for the 2020 Pride of Alaska Youth Award.

They are Anchorage wrestler Aedyn Concepcion, Bethel wrestler Hayden Lieb and Anchorage alpine skier Finnigan Donley.

The winner will be announced May 6 at 2 p.m. ADT by Alaska Sports Hall of Fame executive director Harlow Robinson via Facebook Live on the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame Facebook page.

Past winners include Anchorages Gus Schumacher in 2018 and Soldotnas Jersey Truesdell in 2019.

2020 FINALISTS

Aedyn Concepcion, Anchorage  The South wrestler captured his fourth straight individual championship to join an elite group of 14 Alaskan boys who have achieved a four-peat. He became the first from South High to do so with a 7-1 decision over a Wasilla wrestler in the 119-pound division. The senior also won his fourth straight Cook Inlet Conference title and only lost two matches in his four-year career.

Finnigan Donley, Anchorage  The teenage alpine skier was the undisputed champion of the 2019 U14 Western Regionals, claiming gold medals in the slalom, giant slalom and super-G. A 14-year-old at West Anchorage High School, he became the first Alaskan in 13 years to qualify for the 2020 Alpe Cimbra Childrens Cup in Italy, one of the worlds most prestigious alpine ski series for young racers.

Hayden Lieb, Bethel  Hayden became the 14th Alaska high school wrestler to win four state titles as an individual. He added three more team championships for Bethel. The high school All-American finished his career with a 139-12 record and signed with NCAA D1 University of Wyoming. In his final match at the 2019 state championships, Lieb defeated a Petersburg wrestler 15-0 at 160 pounds to help Bethel take a narrow victory over Glennallen.

***

The Pride of Alaska Youth Award honors consistent excellence in athletic competition. It rewards an athlete or team that not only excelled in sports but did so with integrity and sportsmanship. Recipients must be in high school or younger at time of selection.

HONORABLE MENTION

Patrick McMahon, Palmer  The Colony basketball star was named AABC Class 4A Player of the Year in addition to Northern Lights Conference Player of the Year and MVP of the Doc Larson Roundball Classic. The 6-foot-5 junior is the best above-the-rim player in the state. He signed with NCAA D1 Montana State.

Mikey Connelly, Eagle River  Connelly represented Team USA and placed third in the Vertical Kilometer event at the International Skyrunning Federation Youth World Championships in Italy. As a 17-year-old, he also became the 1st person to complete 13 laps at the Alyeska Climbathon to set a new event record.

Jace Henry, Fairbanks  The 6-foot-4 senior quarterback rushed for 1,573 yards and 23 touchdowns and led Lathrop to the D2 state championship game. Henry also passed for 1,296 yards and 14 touchdowns and was named Gatorade Alaska Player of the Year. He signed with Dartmouth.

Sonny Prosser, Anchorage  The Dimond cross-country runner cruised to a state title with a 27-second victory in D1 5K race. He also broke two course records, knocking off 10 seconds off Kincaid Park mark that had stood since 1993 and three seconds off Bartlett High mark that had stood since 2014.

Chase Solberg, Anchorage  The West hockey player amassed 100 points on the season and led the Eagles to a 24-1-1 record and second consecutive state championship. The senior bagged two goals and two assists in the title game.

Isaiah Moses, Anchorage  Moses racked up Gatorade Alaska Player of the Year honors in addition to being named MVP of the Alaska Prep Shootout and Alaska Airlines Classic. He averaged 27.2 points, 4.9 assists and 2.3 steals. He signed with UAA.

Jersey Truesdell, Soldotna  An all-state performer in football and basketball, Truesdell will focus on hoops at UAF. He was the quarterback for a state champion on the football field and one of the conferences top scorers on the basketball court.

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YKHC will leverage GCIs existing network to bring urban-level internet service to Western Alaskas largest rural economic hub.

Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation (YKHC), the Tribal health organization for the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, and GCI, Alaskas largest telecommunications provider, today (July 30th, 2021) announced that they will apply to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for a $53 million grant to launch a project to extend high-speed, low-latency fiber internet service to Bethel, Alaska.

The project, which would be completed in 2024, would bring urban-level 1 gig internet speeds and service to Bethel and other communities along the fiber route and will ultimately transform internet connectivity throughout the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.

Fibers high speed and almost unlimited capacity will be substantially more affordable for the families, businesses and schools of the region, said YKHC President & CEO Dan Winkelman. Our project is truly unique and yet complementary to other regional proposals since fiber can be the backbone of any local or regional network to achieve necessary redundancy and reliability standards.

GCI is committed to closing the digital divide in rural Alaska and has a long history of investing in rural broadband infrastructure projects, said GCI CEO Ron Duncan. Federal broadband support has never been higher and YKHC and GCI are taking advantage of this once-in-a-generation funding opportunity to deliver urban-level internet speeds to a region that, by any measure, is one of the most remote in the nation. When the fiber project is complete, Bethel residents will enjoy internet speeds as fast or faster than those offered in New York City, Los Angeles, or Chicago.

Bethel is the transportation and services hub for the larger Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, home to roughly 30,000 Alaskans. Situated on the banks of the Kuskokwim and Yukon Rivers, the region is the traditional home for the Yupik, Cupik, and Athabascan people. Bethels comprehensive, Tribal health care system serves 58 federally recognized Tribes and operates 41 village clinics, five sub-regional clinics, numerous residential and outpatient treatment programs, and a regional hospital. The regions school district office, supporting 4,300 students, is based in Bethel, as well as the headquarters for the Association of Village Council Presidents and AVCP Regional Housing Authority.

The proposed project will follow a combined submarine route from GCIs existing fiber network in Levelock, Alaska, to the mouth of the Kuskokwim River where it is expected to follow a terrestrial route to Bethel. GCI also will upgrade its local access network in Bethel to offer lightning-fast 1 gig internet speeds to residents. YKHC and GCI are working to secure support from Tribal partners along the proposed route.

The proposed projects will be submitted for consideration by NTIAs Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program, which will distribute $1 billion for major broadband infrastructure project across the nation. The deadline for grant applications is Sept. 1, 2021, and award announcements are expected before the end of the year.

Access to affordable fiber will launch the Yukon-Kuskokwim region deep into the technologies of the 21st century and open the doors to a world of possibilities, said Winkelman.

GCIs commitment to the project doesnt stop in Bethel. GCI has committed to offer service improvements throughout the Yukon-Kuskokwim area with substantial capacity increases to the heart of the region, which GCI plans to extend to surrounding communities through future microwave and local access upgrade projects. In addition, GCI will be upgrading wireless services in Bethel and the surrounding communities, leveraging the increased capacity that the project will bring to the region.

GCI has a long track record of delivering on ambitious projects and initiatives to connect remote Alaska communities. GCIs TERRA network, completed in 2017 with support from the Department of Agricultures Broadband Initiatives Program, is a 3,300-mile fiber/microwave network that connects 45,000 Alaskans in 84 remote communities in the western region of the state.

The Alaska United Aleutians Fiber Project, supported by the Department of Agricultures ReConnect Program and slated for turn-up at year-end in 2022, is an 800-mile, $58 million fiber project that will deliver 1 gig service to remote communities along the Aleutian chain including Dutch Harbor.

Earlier this month, GCI announced a $150 million partnership with Intelsat, a leading global satellite service provider, to increase satellite capacity fourfold to meet growing demand in rural communities not served by its fiber or microwave networks.

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Thank you for finding our loved ones

To the Search & Rescue Volunteers of Alakanuk, Emmonak, Kotlik, and Mountain Village

Thank you so much for volunteering your time and resources to help search for our daughters, Patience and Haley, last month. Your willingness to help on short notice is much appreciated and helped contribute to their safe return and a positive outcome. We could not have found them without you. Special thanks goes to Jason Fancyboy and Jeff Unok of Kotlik who found them, fed them, made sure they were warm, and delivered them home safely. God bless all of you that helped with their safe return! Thank you so much, the Alstrom and Moses families.

Audrey Alstrom

Anchorage, AK

A GREAT BIG Bethel THANK YOU!

The 2017 Bras n Bros fundraiser event sponsored by the VFW Auxiliary Post 10041 at the end of January was a success due to the involvement of several state, city and local agencies and businesses PLUS the selfless contributions of time from many individuals.

THANK YOU to the Robert V. Lindsey VFW Post 10041, YKHC and YKHC Injury Prevention, Lynden Air Frieght, Bethel Police Department, Bethel Fire Department, Immaculate Conception Church, the Magic Man, Mike Calvetti, Gold Rush Liquor and Swansons Store.

With everyones support, the VFW Auxiliary raised over $8,000.00 for scholarships, funeral and medical assistance, Americanism, Veterans recognition and Veterans family support.

LaTesia M. Guinn

VFW Auxiliary Bras n Bros Chairperson

Post 10041, Bethel AK

Lets stand as one, not as divided tribes

It has been a while since I last wrote. To my displeasure of some leaders of this region, I dont need to name names as you know who you are. There are a select few of us without getting compensated are trying our best to help this region.

I personally have spent countless hours of phone conversations with some respected and tireless elders and real leaders that affect our economically depressed region. I applaud those that had the courage to attend last weeks first YK Delta Intertribal Conference. Alcohol was the main topic first day and many of the attendees were affected by this very hard topic.

From my perspective it was a good turnout.

Many spoke out mostly because there already have been many preventable and premature deaths. Young and old have died from alcohol since the liquor store opened. I would like for the City of Bethel to reconsider their position with the two that are open now. The AC and BNCs licenses to operate. Needless to say the BNCs store has not been operating after the leaders of that corporation advocated publically that it is time. Time for the younger generation to learn how to drink moderation and what not.

One old man from Bethel testified when the Wild Goose was open back in the late 70s which was heartbreaking. As for the AC liquor store, what has it brought to our delta? Are they going to send food, attention, comfort, and especially LOVE to those children that are being neglected? The money that AC liquor store earns is only benefitting a Canadian company. I can only imagine if they earned 2.7 million last quarter to date this delta contributed over 5 million dollars by now.

It is time that we stand as one not as divided tribes. These organizations that you tribes erected have their own agendas. We tried and cried wolf but never got heard but turned the other way. With that being said I hope you tribes can come together. We can all agree to disagree as united tribes and great people of this Yupik, Cupik, Cupig, and Athabaskans of this great region.

Steven M Alexie

Napaskiak, AK

You, Womens History, and the Power of Social Security

March is Womens History Month  a time to focus not just on the past, but also on the challenges women continue to face. Nearly 60 percent of the people receiving Social Security benefits are women, and in the 21st century, more women work, pay Social Security taxes, and earn credit toward monthly retirement income than at any other time in our nations history. Knowing this, you can be the author of your own rich and independent history, with a little preparation.

Social Security has served a vital role in the lives of women for over 80 years. With longer life expectancies than men, women tend to live more years in retirement and have a greater chance of exhausting other sources of income. With the national average life expectancy for women in the United States rising, many women will have decades to enjoy retirement. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, a female born today can expect to live more than 80 years. As a result, experts generally agree that if women want to ensure that their retirement years are comfortable, they need to plan early and wisely.

You can start with a visit to Social Securitys Retirement Estimator. It gives you a personalized estimate of your retirement benefits. Plug in different retirement ages and projected earnings to get an idea of how such things might change your future benefit amounts. You can use this valuable tool at www.socialsecurity.gov/estimator.

You should also visit Social Securitys financial planning website at www.socialsecurity.gov/planners. It provides detailed information about how marriage, widowhood, divorce, self-employment, government service, and other life or career events can affect your Social Security.

Your benefit is determined based on your earnings. You can create your personal my Social Security account to verify that your earnings are correct. Your account also can provide estimates of future retirement, disability, and survivors benefits.

If you want more information about how Social Security supports women through lifes journey, Social Security has a booklet that you may find useful. It is Social Security: What Every Woman Should Know. You can find it online at www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/10127.html.

Robin Schmidt

Social Security Administration

Alaska Public Affairs Specialist

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I always look for your articles for advice. I dont always have that type of advice. Im grateful you share.

Brittany Laraux

Bethel, AK

Vaccine Eligibility Expanded in AK!

Yesterday (March 3rd, 2021), the State of Alaska Vaccine Task Force significantly expanded the criteria for who is eligible for the state-allocated COVID-19 vaccine! The new eligibility group, Phase 1C, includes people 55-64 years old, people 16 and older who are essential workers under the CISA definition, high-risk or might be high-risk according to CDC guidelines, those living in a household that includes three or more generations, or skipped generations (e.g., a grandchild living with an elder), and people living in unserved communities as specifically defined by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.

I would encourage everyone to take some time to look through this information and find out if your family or friends are eligible and desire to receive a vaccination. This is a big step forward in the COVID-19 mitigation effort and is very encouraging news!

If you do qualify, visit CovidVax.Alaska.Gov to check the availability of appointments in your area.

Senator Scott Kawasaki

Juneau, AK

I will support the first Native American who would hold this position with the expectation that Representative Haaland will be true to her word

During a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing, U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) today (March 4th, 2021) announced that she will support the nomination of Representative Deb Haaland to serve as Secretary of the Department of the Interior.

The Department of the Interior  and thus the Secretary who leads it  both play an outsized role in our state. Alaska has more federal lands, more mineral resources, and more natural hazards than any other state. We are set apart by unique laws and frameworks that Congress enacted and that Presidents signed, whether our Statehood Act or ANCSA or ANILCA. We are an Arctic nation because of Alaska. And we are a diverse state, with many indigenous peoples and cultures who have lived there since, as they say, time immemorial. We are a state that is just different.

I seek to ensure every nominee who comes before us understands that. I have spent a considerable amount of time trying to educate others about Alaska and our unique needs and our unique peoples. And I spent a considerable amount of time with Representative Haaland reiterating what is at stake for us.

Alaskas prosperity is directly linked to decisions made by Interior  whether through their trust responsibilities, their authority over responsible resource development, or their monitoring of hazards and other threats.

Ive had two separate meetings with Representative Haaland that lasted for more than an hour each. I participated in both days of her nomination hearing, asking many questions, and have reviewed the answers she provided to all of our members. Ive also spent considerable time listening to Alaskans views on her nomination. They are paying attention to this nomination.

Ive heard two sentiments over and over again. The first is that many Alaskans  Alaska Natives in particular  are enormously proud to have a Native American nominated to this position. It is truly a historic nomination and they believe Alaska Native issues can be elevated to one of the highest levels of government.

The second concern that Im hearing is that many Alaskans are concerned about the agendas Representative Haaland will seek to implement on her own and on behalf of the White House. They are concerned by her opposition to resource development on public lands, including her opposition to key projects in Alaska and her questioning of the vital role that Alaska Native Corporations serve in our communities.

Weighing on top of that is my experience from the Obama administration, when I voted for a Secretary who promised to be a good partner for Alaska, but proved to be anything but that after confirmation.

So I struggled with this vote. How to reconcile a historic nomination with my concerns about an individuals  and an administrations  conception of what Alaskas future should be.

I believe Representative Haalands heart is there for Native peoples and all who treasure our public lands. I dont believe that is the extent of Interiors mission, but she has also told us that she recognizes that if confirmed, she will be serving in a different capacity. She told me that she knows she will need to represent every Alaskan, including those who know how to responsibly develop our lands. And she committed to me that she will make sure that we are doing all we can to ensure that your constituents have the opportunities that they need.

Given the early days of this administration, I have my doubts about whether that will be the case. But I have decided to support this nomination today, to support the first Native American who would hold this position, and with the expectation that Representative Haaland will be true to her wordnot just on matters relating to Native peoples, but also responsible resource development and every other issue.

I also fully anticipate that she will have a strong management team in place with people who understand the value of resource development from public lands. She needs thiswe need thiswithin the Department of Interior.

I am going to place my trust in Representative Haaland and her team, despite some very real misgivings. And Representative Haaland, if you are listening, know that I intend to work with you because I want you to be successful and need you to be successful, but I am also going to hold you to your commitments to ensure that Alaska is allowed to prosper.

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski

Washington, D.C.

Clean Water Act protections needed for Bristol Bay

This is a letter to Michael Regan, Administrator- designate and Jane Nishida, Acting Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency dated March 1, 2021.

Dear EPA Administrator-designate Regan and Acting Administrator Nishida,

We write to you today requesting immediate action to ensure the Bristol Bay salmon fishery and the 14,000 men and women whose livelihoods depend on it are not destroyed by development of the proposed Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay, Alaskas headwaters. Bristol Bays commercial fishermen have been fighting the threat of the proposed Pebble Mine for over a decade now, still with no protections in place which would give our industry the assurances we need and deserve.

Bristol Bays commercial salmon fishery is unlike any other in both its volume of fish and number of renewable jobs. Its a thriving economic engine that supplies over half the worlds wild sockeye salmon and provides over 15,000 renewable jobs. Bristol Bay is a torch-bearer for sustainable fisheries management, boasting record returns over the past decade, following a record 135 years of commercial fishing of this incredible resource.

Its sustained a fishing tradition for generations of families throughout Alaska and the U.S. with Bristol Bay commercial fishing permit holders and crew hailing from nearly every US state. Unmatched in both size and sustainability, action under the Clean Water Act is needed and justified to ensure this $2.2 billion a year commercial fishing industry continues to thrive.

In spite of consistent findings by both the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers that the Pebble Mine would pose unacceptable adverse impacts to the Bristol Bay watershed and fisheries, the Bristol Bay region remains vulnerable to large-scale mining and the door remains open for the Pebble Mine to be developed. Without Clean Water Act 404(c) protections in place, Bristol Bay is not safe and Bristol Bays fishermen cannot rest.

We now have an opportunity to stop the Pebble Mine for good and put an end to the uncertainty that has been hanging over Alaskas fishing industry and the thousands of American fishing families who depend on Bristol Bay. We hope that you listen to the call from Bristol Bay tribes, fishermen, and others to establish Clean Water Act protections for Bristol Bay without delay. Please help us ensure that we can continue to provide our fellow Americans and the world with nutritious wild seafood and support our families for generations to come.

Commercial Fishermen for Bristol Bay Advisors; Katherine Carscallen, Hattie Albecker, Erica Madison, Heidi Dunlap, John Fairbanks, Michael Jackson, Michael Friccero, Holly Wysocki, Mark Niver

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Avoid long hold times or a drive to a local Trooper post by reporting certain crimes online.

The Alaska State Troopers have launched a new crime reporting system that will allow Alaskans to submit information about certain crimes securely online. The new system, which is available today (June 10th, 2022), is intended for certain non-emergency incidents and situations where the suspect is not known and the crime was not witnessed. While the new online reporting system may be expanded, reports for fraud, harassing phone calls, shoplifting, theft, trespassing, and vandalism/criminal mischief are currently being accepted.

Online police reporting systems are used across the state and nation to give citizens a different path to report certain crimes to law enforcement, saving both the agency and the citizen time and resources. Before this convenient reporting option, Alaskans were forced to call a non-emergency phone number or physically go to an Alaska State Trooper post to file a police report.

This new reporting option for Alaskans will not only free up our Troopers to respond to more calls for service but will also allow for a convenient option whenever someone may be hesitant to call or drive to a post to inform us of crime that is impacting their life, said Alaska Department of Public Safety Commissioner James Cockrell. Your Alaska State Troopers are committed to doing our part to address all levels of crime that occur within our state and holding anyone that victimizes Alaskans accountable.

After a report is filed through the new system, each report is reviewed for accuracy and any needed follow-up by Alaska State Trooper professional staff members. Once the report has been reviewed and accepted, the reporter will receive an email acknowledging receipt of the report, and a second email when the report has been reviewed and accepted. This second email will contain a copy of the incident report number that can be used for insurance purposes or their personal records. The new system will be available within the Alaska State Troopers area of responsibility, and crimes occurring in an area patrolled by a local police department should still be reported directly to them.

Alaskans interested in using this option to report a crime can find more information online at: https://dps.alaska.gov/crimereport

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The Colorado Republican Party came under siege Monday as presidential front-runner Donald Trump escalated his criticism of the states delegate selection process, calling it a crooked deal.

The billionaire businessmans criticism came days after Sen. Ted Cruz captured all 34 Colorado national delegates at stake in a series of congressional district and state conventions.

They are going absolutely crazy (in Colorado) because they werent given a vote, Trump told the Fox News channel Monday, adding later this was a political hack deal.

Trump suggested Colorado GOP leaders canceled a binding presidential straw poll to help a guy like Cruz and accused his rivals campaign of buying votes with favors.

Its not a system; there is no voting, he said again and again in the interview, calling it rigged.

The remarks generated a frenzy of criticism across the nation about the Colorado caucus system and renewed questions about why the state didnt hold a vote to allow broader participation.

The attention spotlighted party errors in the balloting that hurt the Trump campaign and raised questions about a possible challenge to the Colorado delegation at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. A group that calls itself Colorado Votes Matter is organizing a protest Friday at GOP headquarters in Greenwood Village.

The whole vote in Colorado should be thrown out because it was done badly, said Shirley Robinson of Aurora, who volunteered Saturday at the state convention, where the final 13 delegates were decided.

Colorado Republican officials reaffirmed their decision not to hold a straw poll March 1 to make sure the states delegates were not bound to a candidate no longer in the race.

The caucus process this year is the same used in prior elections, where party members nominate delegates at the precinct level to higher levels, ultimately culminating in votes for national delegates at the congressional district and state conventions largely based on presidential preference.

Colorado GOP chairman Steve House pushed back against Trumps attacks, saying 60,000 party members participated in the caucus and the party followed the rules.

We ran a process exactly as the law prescribed, and this happens, he said, acknowledging the errors but noting the efforts the party made to correct them at the convention. Im glad people are engaged, but a lot of this is over the top, for sure.

The partys critics posted Houses cellphone number online and asked people to call and express their displeasure. He said he received well over 2,000 calls since the results were announced.

The Cruz campaign, likewise, rejected the notion that it didnt win the delegates fairly.

We simply knew what the process was and followed it, said Regina Thomson, a top Cruz organizer in Colorado. They had as much opportunity to be engaged in this process as any other campaign.

She also dismissed the idea that the rule change was made to benefit Cruz.

It had nothing to do with a particular candidate because at that time there were 17 in the race, Thomson said.

For the Trump campaign, the battle is expected to continue.

Of Cruzs delegate haul, 30 are pledged to his campaign on the first ballot. The remaining four are unpledged delegates who announced their support for the Texas senator but technically remain free agents at what many expect will be a contested convention in July.

Patrick Davis, a Trump adviser in Colorado, told The Denver Post on Friday that the battle to win delegates didnt end with the vote and he considers the unpledged delegates ripe territory for persuasion.

The Trump campaign put little effort into winning within the system, suggesting it was dominated by party insiders.

On the Cruz side, Thomson said she would get the unpledged supporters to sign legal affidavits requiring them to support Cruz, although the binding commitment is not effective until new paperwork is submitted on the floor at the national convention.

Most of the Cruz-pledged delegates declared they would support Cruz on every ballot, or at least until the candidate releases them.

Under Colorado Republican Party rules, the delegates who are pledged to Cruz cannot change their loyalties on the first ballot because they signed a document committing their vote, party officials said.

Asked in an interview Saturday with The Post what he will do to keep his Colorado delegates on additional ballots, Cruz sidestepped the question only to say the grass roots has been our strength across the country from the beginning, and it is our overwhelming strength here in the state of Colorado.

John Frank: 303-954-2409, jfrank@denverpost.com or @ByJohnFrank
By Michelle Innis

9 April 2016 SYDNEY, Australia (The New York Times)  Kim Cobb, a marine scientist at the Georgia Institute of Technology, expected the coral to be damaged when she plunged into the deep blue waters off Kiritimati Island, a remote atoll near the center of the Pacific Ocean. Still, she was stunned by what she saw as she descended some 30 feet to the rim of a coral outcropping. The entire reef is covered with a red-brown fuzz, Dr. Cobb said when she returned to the surface after her recent dive. It is otherworldly. It is algae that has grown over dead coral. It was devastating. The damage off Kiritimati is part of a mass bleaching of coral reefs around the world, only the third on record and possibly the worst ever. Scientists believe that heat stress from multiple weather events including the latest, severe El Nino, compounded by climate change, has threatened more than a third of Earths coral reefs. Many may not recover. Coral reefs are the crucial incubators of the oceans ecosystem, providing food and shelter to a quarter of all marine species, and they support fish stocks that feed more than one billion people. They are made up of millions of tiny animals, called polyps, that form symbiotic relationships with algae, which in turn capture sunlight and carbon dioxide to make sugars that feed the polyps. An estimated 30 million small-scale fishermen and women depend on reefs for their livelihoods, more than one million in the Philippines alone. In Indonesia, fish supported by the reefs provide the primary source of protein. This is a huge, looming planetary crisis, and we are sticking our heads in the sand about it, said Justin Marshall, the director of CoralWatch at Australias University of Queensland. Bleaching occurs when high heat and bright sunshine cause the metabolism of the algae  which give coral reefs their brilliant colors and energy  to speed out of control, and they start creating toxins. The polyps recoil. If temperatures drop, the corals can recover, but denuded ones remain vulnerable to disease. When heat stress continues, they starve to death. Damaged or dying reefs have been found from Reunion, off the coast of Madagascar, to East Flores, Indonesia, and from Guam and Hawaii in the Pacific to the Florida Keys in the Atlantic. The largest bleaching, at Australias Great Barrier Reef, was confirmed last month. In a survey of 520 individual reefs that make up the Great Barrier Reefs northern section, scientists from Australias National Coral Bleaching Task Force found only four with no signs of bleaching. Some 620 miles of reef, much of it previously in pristine condition, had suffered significant bleaching. In follow-up surveys, scientists diving on the reef said half the coral they had seen had died. Terry Hughes, the director of the Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University in Queensland, who took part in the survey, warned that even more would succumb if the water did not cool soon. There is a good chance a large portion of the damaged coral will die, he added. [more]
By Keith Bacongco

8 April 2016 ARAKAN, Philippines (UCA News)  Swathes of corn stand withered on the parched rolling hills near the farming town of Arakan in the southern Philippines, while shallow cracks scar what were once fertile rice paddies. El Nino is wreaking havoc in agriculture-rich Cotabato province. Allan Salon, a member of the Manuvu tribe, says life is hard these days. There is nothing to harvest and hunger is rife. In the village of Malibatuan, people only eat once a day with the children getting most of what there is to eat. Desperation and hunger forced Allan and his brother, Lito, to join their neighbors, in heading to the provincial capital, Kidapawan, on March 29. The village leader said everyone who went to the city would get a sack of rice. Allan and Lito believed that they would return home that same afternoon with their bags of rice. I was told we would be going joining a picket,' said Allan. But I did not know what that meant. We went because we were told the governor give a sack of rice to each of us, he said. They, along with 6,000 other poor and hungry farmers and tribal people, gathered and blocked a major highway linking the Cotabato and Davao provinces in Mindanao. At least three people were reported killed when police moved in to break up the highway blockade on April 1. The states Commission on Human Rights identified at least two of the victims  Enrico Fabligar, a bystander from Kidapawan, and Darwin Sulang, a farmer from Arakan. Sulangs friend, who asked not to be named, says they also went to Kidapawan thinking they were going to collect rice. [] The vulnerable also includes Melody Ababon who has to gather banana stalks near her home in the town of Kibungan to feed her cow. The animals have nothing else to eat, she says. The fields are dry, and the bananas are slowly going too. Before the dry spell, her cow was fat, Melody says. Now, the ribs are showing. Some farmers have already sold their farm animals to buy food, she says. In the town of Pigcawayan, Nonoy Domaguit, says he already sold a pair of goats because the animals have nothing to eat. I did not want to sell them, but I pitied them because they have nothing to eat, he said. The vulnerable also includes Melody Ababon who has to gather banana stalks near her home in the town of Kibungan to feed her cow. The animals have nothing else to eat, she says. The fields are dry, and the bananas are slowly going too. Before the dry spell, her cow was fat, Melody says. Now, the ribs are showing. Some farmers have already sold their farm animals to buy food, she says. In the town of Pigcawayan, Nonoy Domaguit, says he already sold a pair of goats because the animals have nothing to eat. I did not want to sell them, but I pitied them because they have nothing to eat, he said. [more]

Drought takes a terrible toll on poor Filipino farmers

MANILA, 12 April 2016 (Reuters)  Crippling drought brought on by the El Nino weather pattern could cut rice stocks among the worlds top exporters to levels not seen since 2008, potentially fuelling a price crisis similar to one seen that year, an industry expert warned. Total stocks in top shippers of the grain India, Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, and the US are likely to fall to 19 million tonnes by the second half of the year, from a peak of nearly 41 million tonnes in 2013, said Samarendu Mohanty, head of the social sciences division at the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute. If we have a bad monsoon, with drought still persisting in many parts of Asia, the risk significantly increases in terms of price response, Mohanty said in a telephone interview. Dwindling stockpiles could crimp volumes exporters are willing to ship abroad. Although a severe El Nino is now fading, it has brought drought to swathes of Asia, drying irrigation channels and destroying crops. It has also stoked concerns on the strength of the South Asian monsoon due to start around June. Export restrictions by major rice producers including India fed panic in the market in 2008, forcing big purchases by countries such as the Philippines that caused Asian benchmark prices to nearly triple to around US$1,000 a tonne. After that, consumers and exporters, mainly in Asia, rebuilt rice inventories to avoid another crisis, but Mohanty said stocks have been declining since 2013. Last year, nobody was panicking because they were sure that theres plenty of rice in the market if theres any shortfall. I think we dont have that luxury anymore this year. The price of Thai 5% broken rice touched an eight-month high of US$378.50 a tonne in March, while Vietnams own 5% broken rice last month rose to a 2-month peak of US$385 a tonne. Mohanty said India and Thailand, the worlds top two exporters, would have combined stocks of around 16 million tonnes by the third quarter, around 70% lower than levels in 2013. That buffer will be much smaller than recent stock levels of 16.2 million tonnes for India and about 12 million tonnes for Thailand. India will be very cautious in exporting if its rice output is hit by a weak monsoon, said Mohanty. That could push big buyers such as the Philippines and Indonesia to accumulate the grain, a staple food for nearly half of the worlds population, similar to what happened in 2008. We might see the same thing as we move forward and countries get scared about the weather situation around them, Mohanty said. The Philippines is considering importing another 500,000 tonnes of rice this year to boost state reserve stocks.

Is there a rice shortage looming due to El Nino drought?

By Paolo Romero

9 April 2016 MANILA, Philippines (The Philippine Star) A lawmaker warned yesterday of a severe and irreversible food crisis hitting the country in the next 15 years as more and more people are opting to live and work in urban areas rather than pursue agriculture as a means of livelihood. Iloilo Rep. Jerry Trenas said many agricultural lands have been converted into industrial and residential estates, and the production capacity of the remaining farmlands is dwindling due to the damaging effects of climate change. However, he said that the biggest threat to the countrys ability to produce a sustainable food resource is the rapidly decreasing number of farmers and even fishermen. He warned there might come a time when there will not be enough farmers and fishermen to sustain the countrys food requirement. This would force the country to rely more on imported food products, which in turn may lead to devastating food and financial crises. Nowadays, the younger generation doesnt want to get their hands dirty. They would rather work night shifts as call center agents rather than work on farmlands. If we cannot stop this widening shortage of agricultural workers, there might come a time that we can no longer buy any fresh produce even if we have the money to buy them, Trenas said. He said according to recent Department of Agriculture statistics, the average age of farmers in the Philippines is 57 years old. It estimated that the shortage for farmers might reach critical stage in the next 15 years. [more]

Lawmaker warns of food crisis within 15 years
By Alan Gomez 10 April 2016 MIAMI (USA TODAY)  Anyone familiar with Panamas economic history isnt surprised by revelations of shell companies and hidden assets created by a law firm based in the small nation. Ive been screaming about it for decades, said Jack Blum, an attorney and former U.S. Senate staffer who focused on international tax evasion. In fact, Panama has been a widely used tax haven for nearly a century, a practice that goes all the way back to U.S. industrialist John D. Rockefeller that has evolved into a complex relationship between the countrys banking, legal and financing sectors. That long, secretive history came crashing out this week with the release of the Panama Papers, which revealed exactly how Panama has created conditions for foreigners to hide their assets through corporations there. The influx of foreign cash to take advantage of that system is so big that Panamas financing sector accounts for 7% of the countrys entire GDP. You can walk into a bank there with a stack of U.S. money and they just say, Fine,' Blum said. This has been going on for so long, and is so obvious and problematic, that the question is, How come nothing was done about it before?'

Several other countries allow foreigners to hide their assets, but few are as well-positioned to do so as Panama. The Central American country took its first step into that shady world nearly 100 years ago, when the government first allowed foreign companies to register foreign ships, according to a report from the Norwegian Center for Taxation. That move was designed to help Rockefellers Standard Oil avoid taxes in the U.S., and set the stage for a 1927 law that allowed foreigners to establish tax-free, anonymous corporations with few questions asked, according to the report. [] Critics in the U.S. are also pointing to the 2011 Free Trade Agreement, first negotiated by President George W. Bush and ultimately signed by President Obama. The White House has defended the agreement, saying it helped force Panama to sign on to a separate tax information exchange treaty, which has improved transparency into deals that take place in Panama. But Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizens Global Trade Watch, said the free-trade agreements fundamental problem was that it gave Panama a U.S. stamp of approval. [] The International Monetary Fund conducted an investigation into Panamas regulations and found gaping holes still exist. The countrys anti-money laundering law, for example, is designed to regulate banks and other financial institutions. But the IMF found that the law didnt cover lawyers, accountants, insurance companies, notaries, real estate agents or dealers of precious metals and stones. Because Panama is an important international financial and corporate services center  this lack of coverage is a key systemic deficiency, the report found. [more]
11 April 2016 (UN)  More than a month after the killing of Berta Caceres, a female human rights defender, eight United Nations experts have jointly reiterated their appeal to the Government of Honduras to provide justice and reveal the truth in her murder, and to ensure the security and protection of all people defending the environment and human rights in the country. Berta Caceres, founder of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations Honduras (COPINH), was shot to death on 3 March 2016 in spite of the 2009 decision by the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights requiring Honduras to protect her. Despite repeated acts of intimidation, including gender-specific attacks, arrests and violence that she suffered over the years, she continued to defend the rights of the Lenca community of Rio Blanco, denouncing and opposing the exploitation of indigenous natural resources, especially via the hydroelectric project of Agua Zarca. The murder of Berta Caceres, which is believed to be directly linked to her work and to the fact that she was a woman and indigenous, sadly illustrates an appalling backlash against women human rights defenders and, especially against environmental activists, the joint appeal stated. Women human rights defenders are generally further exposed to retaliation, harassment and violence as they usually challenge the patriarchal culture and deep-rooted gender stereotypes about the role of women in society. Honduras must intensify its efforts to end the persistent climate of impunity and insecurity for women human rights defenders, indigenous leaders and ecologists, it said. The UN experts were pleased to see the Honduran Governments decision to finally allow the return of Gustavo Castro Soto to Mexico. They also noted the arrest of a suspect in the murder of another member of COPINH, Nelson Garcia, and recalled the necessity to investigate who ordered this crime. They expressed hope that those responsible for Berta Caceres murder will be shortly brought to justice. We reiterate our call for a fully independent, impartial, transparent investigation of Berta Caceres assassination and in this regard we support the request made by the relatives of the victim that a group of experts be established under the authority of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, they recommended. The UN human rights experts welcomed the decision of the investors of the Agua Zarca dam project to suspend their funding after the recent murders and attacks. The experts are Eleonora Zielinska, Chairperson of the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice, and seven Special Rapporteurs; Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, on the rights of indigenous peoples; Michel Forst, on the situation of human rights defenders; and Maina Kiai, on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association; David Kaye, on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; Dubravka Simonovic, on violence against women, its causes and consequences; John Knox, on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment; and Baskut Tuncak, on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes. Independent experts or special rapporteurs are appointed by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a country situation or a specific human rights theme. The positions are honorary and the experts are not UN staff, nor are they paid for their work.
Ethiopia has reportedly enacted a blackout targeted at mobile data connections which has taken services such as WhatsApp and Twitter offline.

According to local users, the apps have been inaccessible for over a month in certain regions of the East African country. Facebook Messenger is reportedly also unavailable via the network of state-owned Ethio Telecom, the countrys only mobile provider.

One of the affected regions is Oromia, where recent protests against planned urban expansion resulted in alleged violent government crackdowns and the deaths of 226 demonstrators. The southern city of Hawassa is also understood to be affected.

A government spokesperson suggested that the blackout was caused by issues with either the network or the apps themselves, adding that the government had not enacted a policy of blocking access to the services.

However, Ethio Telecom chief executive Andualem Admassie has reportedly gone on record saying that the government is able to control access to messaging applications such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.

WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook, has been hit with bans in other markets such as Brazil, where it was banned for 48 hours last year after failing to comply with a judicial order to surrender user data relating to an drug trafficker alleged to have used the service.
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by Kathleen Gilbert BEIJING, September 7, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com)  Escaped Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng is leading international opponents of forced abortion in calling upon the worlds largest company to end compliance with the Chinas one-child policy. Family planning police have targeted employees (569)

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Church Militant, we need to band together to protect our religious liberties and win the culture war!
Over the past few years, startup has been the buzzword in India and now, with the Prime Ministers Startup India, Standup India initiative, things are only looking up for budding entrepreneurs. But, when it comes to hardware tech startups, India is still to create a mark on an ecosystem dominated by western countries. While our country is big on app & service based innovation, hardware based startups are few and far apart.



Owing to this very fact, technology stalwart Qualcomm announced its Design in India initiative back in December 2015. Qualcomm India President, Sunil Lalvani tells us, Our Executive Chairman Paul Jacobs met Prime Minister Modi during the PMs visit to the US. Qualcomm had committed to a $150 million investment through ventures into India. This entails investments into the startup ecosystem and what we call Design in India. And as you know, it is a key element of Make in India. It fosters innovation and fosters the whole ecosystem into manufacturing in India. So we were encouraging manufacturing companies to come forward with their creative ideas.

So, with an aim to boost local manufacturing and design, Qualcomm invited entries from Indias budding hardware tech startups to harness the companys technological prowess and create products that would hold the flag of innovation and bring about localisation to the Indian hardware design and manufacturing ecosystem. With 400 plus entries, Qualcomm had their task cut out for them. We had panellists comprising of Qualcomm and Nasscom members. You know we are doing this in partnership with Nasscom. We had a very difficult task of shortlisting from 400 to 23 finalists and then a presentation by all these 23 finalists to the Jury members to select the Top 10, recalls Lalvani.



Sunil Lalvani, President, Qualcomm India, speaking at the 'Design in India' finalist announcement event

This is where things got really really interesting. Qualcomms 10 finalists for the Design In India Challenge are bunch of young and dynamic techies, who may just have remained hidden had it not been for the extremely attractive winner spoils by the company.



So, whats on offer? For starters, these 10 finalists got to dip into Qualcomms promise of $150 million investment in Indias startup ecosystem. Not only did each of the 10 finalist startups walk away with an initial prize money of $10,000, but now, they will also enjoy the privilege of being incubated by the chipset manufacturer at a fully equipped incubation laboratory based in Bangalore. Each finalist will have access to the facility which Qualcomm calls The Innovation Lab. Within the facility, these aspirants will be provided with tools and equipment to create their prototypes, be in close contact with Qualcomms engineering team for technical support and get a wide variety of development kits & reference designs to build upon. Sounds like a very sweet deal, doesnt it?

With all this and a promise of $100,000 on winning the competition, you must be wondering, just what is so special about these 10 hardware startups? Lets give you a few examples from the ones that caught our attention.

A startup called Aarav Unmanned Systems is building an intelligent quad rotor drone, capable of executing autonomous flights without using GPS, but instead, using vision based navigation techniques. Another cool startup called Carrot Technologies is building an IoT device that connects a car or a bike to a users phone and lets them monitor the safety of their vehicles. GRoboMac is a company thats dedicated to automating farming tasks while Kiba by Lensbricks is the worlds first interactive self-editing camera! And theres more, lots more. Its been fascinating. When we ran this contest back in December, we thought majority will still be a smartphone, tablet based application list that will come out, but we were pleasantly surprised, says a proud Lalvani.



On the left, Quad-rotor drone by Aarav Unmanned Systems. On the right, Kiba camera by Lensbricks

We surely cant wait to see which one of these awesome tech startups wins the coveted $100,000 prize. Infact, we promise to get you more when their prototypes are ready to go. India sure does need more such initiatives to boost hardware talent in the country. Lalvani says, If we are able to collectively reduce the import bill by moving some amount of component manufacturing into the country, help startups like the ones that were announced today, you can actually have a true manufacturing hub growing out of India. We agree!



Check out our Live chat with Sunil Lalvani for more on Qualcomm's Design in India initiative.
Goldman Sachs downgraded AstraZeneca to sell from neutral and cut the price target to 3,700p from 4,400p saying current long-term estimates are overly optimistic.

Goldman said the company has a strong pipeline of new medicines but, as ever with pharma, there is a certain amount of uncertainty associated with the clinical success of pipeline development and commercial success once the products are launched.

It sees three key potential areas of downside: below-consensus estimates for the base business and pipeline, limited M&A flexibility, and relatively high valuation.

For 2020, the bank is 10%/20% below consensus on revenue and earnings per share.

Goldman said AZNs core earnings benefit disproportionately (relative to EU peers) from income streams associated with asset disposals and product out-licensing.

At the current stock price, we forecast AZNs implied IRR on its R&D investment to be 9%-12%, significantly higher than that discounted for the peer group (2%-3%); this suggests to us that that the current stock price already discounts significant pipeline success.

Goldman made it clear the downgrade reflects its view that at the current price, there are better risk-reward ratios across other European pharma names, including Roche, Novo Nordisk and Bayer.

For investors looking for UK exposure, it said GlaxoSmithKline offers a meaningfully better risk-reward, with a higher estimated dividend yield over 2016-17, supported by higher real cash dividend cover.

At 0825 BST, AstraZeneca shares were down 1.6% to 4,001.50p.
The European Commission on Tuesday unveiled new proposals that would force large companies such as Google , Apple and Starbucks to disclose their profits and taxes in all EU member states where they operate.

Under the plans being put forward by finance commissioner Jonathan Hill (pictured), all multinational companies with a turnover of more than 750m (598m) would have to comply with stricter disclosure rules such as pre-tax profits, tax due, yearly profits and the amount of tax paid on a country-by-country basis.

In addition, companies would have to publish an aggregate figure for total taxes paid outside the EU.

The rules were also extended to cover overseas tax havens in light of the revelations from the Panama Papers documents leak.

"The Panama papers have not changed our agenda, but they have strengthened our determination that taxes are paid where profits are generated," Hill told a news conference.

The commission said the plans would build on the Commission's work to tackle corporate tax avoidance in Europe, estimated to cost EU countries 50bn-70bn a year in lost tax revenues, and supplements other measures such as the introduction sharing of information between tax authorities.

The commission said the proposal was a proportionate way to increase large multinationals' accountability on tax matters without damaging their competitiveness.

"Our economies and societies depend on a tax system that's fair, a principle that applies both to individuals and to business. Yet today, by using complicated tax arrangements, some multinationals can pay nearly a third less tax than companies that only operate in one country," Hill said.

"I would prefer businesses to be concentrating on their customers, on service, on product innovation, on true competition rather than on competition of the creativity of their tax advisers."

"Our proposal to increase transparency will help make companies more accountable. It will promote fairer competition between companies regardless of their size".

While our proposal on country-by-country reporting is not of course focused principally on the response to the Panama Papers, there is an important connection between our continuing work on tax transparency and tax havens that we are building into the proposal, he said.
Defective building work has been found in more schools among the 17 closed in Edinburgh in an emergency safety measure imposed by the city's council on Friday.

Three primary schools are already having repair work done, including Oxgangs (pictured) where a major section of wall was blown off during Storm Gertrude in January. It emerged on Monday night that two high schools would also had faults that needed rectifying.

All the affected schools were built 10 years ago under a 360m deal using the controversial private finance initiative (PFI) scheme. Critics are now rounding on the way the project seemed to be focused on financial targets rather than solid construction and the needs of pupils.

Malcolm Fraser, an architect and former deputy chair of Architecture and Design Scotland, the Scottish governments advisory body, said he had raised concerns about the quality of the build environment.

Speaking to the BBC, he cited the sheer expense and fantastically complex financial instruments that were used to procure the schools adding that all the focus was on the process and enrichment of bankers and lawyers along the way.

As it turns out there's also been shoddiness in the way these buildings have been built in addition to the financial and design shoddiness that were inherent in the process, Fraser said.

I think it's a basic problem in Britain that we care less for making things and we care most for financial processes.

The five high schools, 10 primaries and two special schools were built by the Edinburgh Schools Partnership (ESP), a consortium of Amey and Miller Construction and the Bank of Scotland.

Galliford Try bought Miller Construction in 2014. On Tuesday it said the costs of remedial work would not be "material" to the group. Edinburgh Council has said it will not be footing the bill to make the schools safe.

The closure has affected more than 7,700 students. At least 2,000 are secondary students trying to prepare for exams in two weeks.

Edinburgh Council said significant work was taking place to ensure the 2,000 pupils affected will be accommodated in high schools in Edinburgh.

This will ensure they are fully supported in readiness for their exams, it said in a statement.

Additional offers of support with accommodating pupils have come in from Edinburgh University, the Scottish Parliament, NHS Lothian, community groups and venues and private sector companies.
UK government co-investment with any potential buyer of Tata Steel's Port Talbot plant could involve taking on some of its debt, Business Secretary Sajid Javid said on Tuesday.

Speaking during an emergency debate on the steel industry in parliament, Javid repeated the government's position, stated on Monday, that taking a partial stake in the plant was one of the options it was considering.

During the debate Javid was pressed by shadow Business Secretary Angela Eagle to clarify what "co-investment" meant.

The key point is that any co-investment would have to be on commercial terms. Investment can take a variety of forms, such as debt, but what I said was a demonstration of all the options that the government are considering, he told MPs.

The debate was called by the opposition Labour Party in response to the government's refusal to recall parliament during the Easter recess. Tata announced on March 29 it was offloading all its UK assets in response to weaker commodity prices.

Labour MP David Anderson noted Prime Minister David Cameron had managed to recall parliament within two days to discuss the death of Margaret Thatcher in 2013.

What does that say about the government's priorities? he said during the three hour debate.

Eagle said the government had been "found wanting".

"They have been behind rather than ahead of events. Their response to the biggest crisis in steelmaking for a generation has been warm words but little effective action. There has been what can only be described as an ideologically driven reluctance to get involved as the crisis has deepened. It has been a mixture of indifference and incompetence," she said.

Tata has so far sold its Long Products Europe business, which included a plant in Scunthorpe, to investment firm Greybull Capital for a nominal 1.

Greybull is expected to invest 400m in a deal that would save 4,400 UK jobs. In return workers have been asked to accept a 3% cut in pay and a pensions freeze.
European stocks reversed earlier losses to trade a little firmer on Tuesday as oil prices turned higher, although losses for luxury goods stocks kept a cap on gains.

The benchmark DJ Stoxx Europe 600 index finished the day sporting gains of 1.77 points or 0.53%, Germanys DAX was 0.81% higher and Frances CAC 40 rose 0.77%.

At the same time, oil prices reversed earlier losses to trade higher amid growing hopes that Sundays OPEC and non-OPEC meeting in Doha will lead to a production freeze.

West Texas Intermediate shot up 3.904% to end the day at $44.57 a barrel and Brent crude was 3.93% higher to $44.57 This helped to push the Stoxx 600 oil and gas index up by another 1.64%.

The meeting on Sunday comprises producers of around three quarters of global output and if a deal is agreed on a production freeze or even a cut, the latter of which is very unlikely, it could be the catalyst that drives the next rally in oil and take it back above $50 for the first time since November, said Oandas Craig Erlam.

There are a lot of obstacles to such a deal being done though, not least Irans determination to return to pre-sanctions production levels, which makes me sceptical that it can be achieved.

In corporate news, Anglo American surged after its diamond unit De Beers said it generated $660m from provisional rough diamond sales in the third sales cycle of 2016.

In Italy, bank stocks were stronger again after the countrys financial industry approved a government-backed plan to set up a rescue fund. The Atlante fund - made up by private money - will buy up shares and bad debt in struggling banks.

Swiss fragrance maker Givaudan was on the front foot after posting a solid rise in first quarter sales.

On the downside, luxury goods company LVMH traded lower after its first quarter results missed expectations, with London-listed peer Burberry also in the red.

AstraZeneca was under the cosh after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to sell from neutral saying current long-term estimates were overly optimistic and the valuation was high.

Whitbread was also in the red after announcing the departure of Christopher Rogers from the posts of managing director of coffee shop chain Costa and executive director of the firms board.

Earlier, figures from Destatis showed German consumer prices rose 0.8% in March from the previous month, in line with the initial estimate and expectations.

Consumer prices were up 0.3% compared with March 2015, having been flat in February, in line with consensus and the initial estimate.
The International Monetary Fund has cut its forecast for global growth in 2016 to 3.2% from the 3.4% it expected in January, with all advanced economies revised downwards.

The UK's growth is expected to slow to 1.9% in 2016 from the 2.2% growth last year, before bouncing back to 2.2% in 2017.

As well as the forecast for the US growth being cut to 2.4% versus 2.6% at the start of the year, the eurozone was revised down to 1.5% for this year from 1.7%.

In a new report titled "Too slow for too long", the IMF's chief economist Maurice Obstfeld called for more monetary stimulus to boost a flagging global economy facing multiple threats.

"The threat of synchronized slowdown, the increase in the already significant downside risks, and restricted policy space in many economies call for bold multilateral actions to boost growth and contain risks at this critical stage of the global recovery," his report said.

Other risks included another bout of financial market turmoil, while a potential vote by Britain to leave the European Union "could do severe regional and global damage".

Nigeria was hit by the deepest downgrade, to 2.3% from the previous forecast of 4.1% due to the country's troubles with its oil industry.

The Russian economy is expected to contract 1.8% (from 1%) and Brazil by 3.8% (from 3.5%).

However, India's forecast was unchanged and China's growth forecast was lifted to 6.5% from 6.3%.
Anglo American could have found a buyer willing to pay around $1bn for its niobium and phosphates business in Brazil, according to reports late on Tuesday.

Brazilian mining giant Vale was said to be working with American private equity firm Apollo on a deal, according to sources cited by Reuters.

With commodity prices at historic lows, Anglo's chief executive Mark Cutifani has been looking to offload non-core assets, targeting sale worth between $3bn to $4bn to bring its net debt down from more than $10bn at present.

Last week the FTSE 100 group announced it had entered into a sale and purchase agreement to offload its 70% interest in the Foxleigh metallurgical coal mine in Australia.

The agreement, with a consortium led by Taurus Fund Management, was to be effected by the sale of shares in the subsidiary companies holding Anglo Americans interest in Foxleigh, though the exact terms remained confidential.

Last month, it received regulatory approval to sell subsidiary Anglo American Platinums Rustenburg platinum mines (RPM) and Aquarius Platinum's its own adjacent operation by Johannesburg-listed Sibanye Gold.

Meanwhile, Vale has also been shifting around its assets as it looks to focus on its core mining businesses.
Italys strongest banks, insurers and asset managers have agreed to create a 5bn backstop fund to bail out weaker lenders in an effort to calm growing investor concern about the stability of the banking sector of the eurozones third-largest economy. The rescue fund, announced by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi after a six-hour meeting of financiers, regulators and ministers in Rome, comes after a plunge in the value of Italian bank shares this year on widening concerns about the effect of 360bn of non-performing loans on Italys financial stability.  Financial Times

Sajid Javid, the business secretary, opened up the possibility of a part-nationalisation of Port Talbot steelworks after offering to co-invest with a buyer on commercial terms. Pressed on what he meant by co-invest, Mr Javid told MPs that there is no option that is off the table. Later, a government aide said that an equity investment represented a last resort for ministers.  Financial Times

Financial services hiring crashed last months as banks stopped spending as weaker economic growth, a lack of big corporate deals, the impending referendum on Britains EU membership and the Brussels terrorist attacks all shook confidence, according to recruiter Morgan McKinley. The number of available jobs in the industry dived by 21pc to 7,215 in March, down from 9,135 a year earlier.  Telegraph

The highly anticipated meeting of the worlds largest oil producing nations in Doha this weekend is unlikely to offer a bullish surprise for the embattled oil market, and may cause prices to reverse from recent gains, Goldman Sachs has warned. Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) are due to meet with non-Opec producers to thrash out a deal to limit oil production in a bid to ease the oversupply which has crippled prices for almost two years.  Telegraph

Goldman Sachs will pay $5.06bn for its role in the 2008 financial crisis, the US Department of Justice said on Monday. The settlement, over the sale of mortgage-backed securities from 2005 to 2007, was first announced in January. This resolution holds Goldman Sachs accountable for its serious misconduct in falsely assuring investors that securities it sold were backed by sound mortgages, when it knew that they were full of mortgages that were likely to fail, acting associate attorney general Stuart Delery said in a statement. - Guardian

Fans of craft beer could soon face higher bar bills as small, independent brewers face a potentially serious shortage of hops. The hot and dry weather last summer blighted the European hop harvest, andstrong demand for craft beers, many of which use a large amount of hops, is putting small brewers profit margins under pressure and forcing them to raise prices.  Guardian

BHP Billiton is facing fresh criticism for its part in Brazils worst environmental disaster, amid claims that the firm it hired to investigate the incident suffers from a conflict of interest. The Anglo-Australian miner and its Brazilian partner, Vale, ordered an American law firm to conduct the independent investigation into why a dam had burst at their Samarco iron-ore mine in November, sending a torrent of mud and waste water through nearby villages and killing 19 people.  The Times

Had fate taken a slightly different turn, NBNK could have been one of Britains biggest new generation of smaller lenders and a rising candidate for inclusion in the FTSE 100. As it is, the cash shell backed by some of the countrys largest fund managers that had aspirations of becoming a vehicle for consolidating smaller banks is set to be wound up after failing to complete a single investment.  The Times
RetailMeNot is expanding into the Spanish and Italian markets, match up consumers with retailers offering deals and vouchers.





The launch of RetailMeNot.es and RetailMeNot.it extends the companys reach to 11 markets.

The company is now present in the United States of America, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain.

Founded in Austin, Texas, in 2009, RetailMeNot currently works with over 70,000 of the worlds leading retailers and brands across seven key markets. The global network counted over 718 million visitors in 2015 and facilitated almost $5 billion in retail sales for its partners over the same period.

Following entrances into Canada (www.RetailMeNot.ca) and Germany (www.RetailMeNot.de) as RetailMeNot, new market expansion into Spain and Italy is powered by a newly developed technology platform that makes expansion into new markets possible within a couple of weeks.

Cotter Cunningham, founder and CEO of RetailMeNot, said: We are very excited about bringing RetailMeNot to Italy and Spain. Our successful operations in numerous international markets, which vary in size and maturity, as well as our new unified European platform, will allow us to leverage technological synergies and best practices as we enter new markets. We know how to help consumers save money when they shop, and we know how the power of a promotion will help our retail partners in Spain and Italy build their brands, drive traffic and ultimately sales.

Giulio Montemagno, Senior Vice President International at RetailMeNot added: Expanding our global offering has been part of RetailMeNots DNA from the offset. With large e-commerce markets and impressive growth rates, Spain and Italy are natural choices for us to expand. We believe that Spanish and Italian shoppers are already on the lookout for attractive digital offers, and will be receptive to the RetailMeNot brand as discount seeking becomes a natural part of the shopping journey. In both markets online commerce and mobile retailing are accelerating and retailers are looking to drive sales and improve the customer experience for shoppers, by providing a consistent experience at all times.

Some facts about the retail industry in Spain and Italy

Spain and Italy are now the 4th and 5th largest e-commerce markets in Europe.[1] Both markets continue to prosper (+19% growth in both markets in 2015) and offer promising prospects for retailers. While the online spend per person is still slightly lower than in the mature markets of the UK, Germany and France, Italy and Spain are among the most heavily-populated countries in Europe (60 and 47 million respectively), with high mobile connectivity and strong potential for future growth.

A recent study has revealed more than three quarters (76%) of the Spanish population regularly use the Internet, and 62% of those choose to shop online. Whats more, 83% of Spanish homes have Internet access. [2] Italians are following close behind with 61% of the Nation admitting to regularly using the Internet in 2015.

Looking more specifically at offers, coupons already have a strong appeal for both Spanish and Italian consumers.

According to the research from CETELEM (https://www.cetelem.es/banco/), half of Spanish shoppers often use coupons and voucher codes when shopping. RetailMeNot will allow consumers to enjoy coupons and savings from leading brands and retailers, even if they have not already engaged with them.

The new entities will be operated from the companys headquarters for continental Europe in Amsterdam, headed by Mike Lester, Vice President and General Manager, New Markets.
Decker: Was corrupt ex-Columbus vice officer's sentence too light?

Former Columbus vice cop Steven Rosser mocked the Constitution and his oath to protect and serve. Is 18 months in prison really enough?
Reservists motivated to help others

Lt. Col. (Dr.) Joni Scott-Weideman is just one of more than 100 service members from across the United States who is spending long April days here supporting Operation Arctic Care, an Innovative Readiness Training project designed to give military members valuable training while providing much-needed medical services to people in this small fishing village. But her reason for being here is the same as all her fellow Airmen, Soldiers and Sailors.



It just gives you a good feeling inside to help others, Scott-Weideman, an optometrist assigned to the 413th Aeromedical Staging Squadron at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, said Monday as she took a quick break from seeing patients inside what used to be an old grocery store in the downtown area.



Just across a curtain from the makeshift optometry clinic, military doctors and nurses were addressing the general health needs of a host of local residents. On the other side of the optometry section, dentists and dental assistants were taking care of a wide variety of oral health problems. In a small room in the back, specialists from the Naval Ophthalmic Support and Training Activity were assembling glasses as fast they were getting prescriptions from the optometrists. And on the other side of the grocery store, Army veterinarians were making sure Kodiaks four-legged citizens got the medical care they needed.



Scott-Weideman, a veteran of six other IRT projects in the Philippines, Indonesia and Belize among other places, loves to see the reaction she gets from patients who are seeing clearly for the first time.



We get to treat patients who have never had an eye exam before, and its amazing to see the look on their faces when they are finally seeing like they should be, she said. I had a lady in yesterday who works at a fishery, and she told me that she was constantly cutting her fingers at work. I told her, You keep cutting your fingers because you need glasses. We were able to get her fitted with a new pair of glasses, and she was able to see clearly. Thats going to be huge for her.



Scott-Weideman said she really enjoys working with her active-duty and Reserve counterparts from all the other services, but its the feeling she gets from helping others that keeps her signing up for IRT projects.



The training we get is awesome, and its important that we work together as a total force, but the best part about projects like Arctic Care is bringing care to people who otherwise couldnt get it. Its just a great feeling.
Tata Steel to formally launch sale of UK operations today: report

Tata Steel, Europe's second-largest steelmaker, is expected to formalise the process of selling its loss-making UK plants, inviting interested bidders to submit their offers.

Reports said besides Sanjeev Gupta's Liberty Steel that has publicly expressed an interest in acquiring Tata Steel's UK asset (See: Liberty House boss Sanjiv Gupta in talks to buy Tata Steel), investment firm Greybull Capital has also been in talks to buy the business for several months.

Greybull could invest up to 400m to buy Tata's Scunthorpe plant, BBC reported, adding that a deal could be finalised on Monday.

A deal could help save thousands of workers in England and Wales who risk losing their jobs without a deal.

Scunthorpe, in north-east England, making bloom, billet and slab; medium sections, rail, wire rod and plate.

Besides, Tata Steel has plants in Port Talbot in south Wales, which produces slab, hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanised coil.

Steel is also made at a scrap-fed mini-mill complex in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, in northern England. Alloy and special steels are made at this site. Ultra-pure remelted steels are made at the nearby Stocksbridge works

Tata Steel employs 15,000 people directly in the UK, across plants in Port Talbot, Rotherham, Corby and Shotton, besides supporting thousands of other jobs.

Besides Liberty Steel and Greybull Capital, German Group ThyssenKrupp has also been reported to be interested in acquiring part of Tata's UK steel operations.

Tata Steel has said there is "no fixed timeline" for the sale process, but said that it would avoid "a long period of uncertainty" as it would hurt employees and customers.

According to the BBC, Greybull, which has been in talks to buy the business for several months, could finalise a deal to buy Tata's Scunthorpe plant today.

A deal would safeguard more than 4,000 jobs but workers would have to forego some perks and accept a lower pension scheme.

While Tata wants a quick deal, Liberty's Gupta said in an interview with the Sunday Telegraph that he felt there was "a very clear opportunity to turn things around, make money and create a sustainable business".

But he said, "I feel passionately about this and would like to do it, but I am not married to it.

"It is too big a deal for us to get wrong. It could put the whole company at risk."

UK Business Secretary Sajid Javid had last week met Tata Group chief Cyrus Mistry in Mumbai and had sought a "reasonable amount of time" for the sale process, so that other interested parties would come forward.

Javid said he was caught unawares by Tata's announcement, telling the BBC that while he had known the firm was reviewing its UK operations, it had gone "much further than we expected". He is under pressure over the handling of the crisis.

Unions have accused the business secretary of "taking his eye off the ball" and have called for him to stand down if a buyer for the steelworks is not found.

The steel industry crisis has been driven by falling prices and a global oversupply, especially from cheap Chinese products.
Britain's Business Secretary Sajid Javid told the House of Commons on Monday that the government was working very hard to find a buyer for the South Wales plant being sold by Tata Steel. Among options being considered was "the possibility of co-investing with a buyer on commercial terms", he said. Earlier, Tata announced the sale of its Scunthorpe plant to Greybull Capital (See: Tata Steel UK sells long products business to Greybull). The Long Products Europe business was sold to the investment firm for a token 1. The move will safeguard 4,400 UK jobs, but workers are being asked to accept a pay cut and less generous pension arrangements (Greybull to buy Tata's UK long steel arm for 1). The future of the larger Port Talbot is still in doubt, however, although at least one potential buyer  the Sanjeev Gupta-led metals trader Liberty House - has expressed an interest. The government has resisted calls from unions and opposition politicians to nationalise the Port Talbot plant, Britain's biggest steelworks, to safeguard thousands of jobs. Javid said that the sale process for Port had only just started, but all options are still being explored. This included "investment or funds from government", Javid said. "But it has to be on commercial terms," he added. "I've been in contact with potential buyers, making clear that the government stands ready to help." Javid said, "Several weeks ago Tata told me in confidence that they were seriously considering an immediate closure of Port Talbot - not a sale, a closure. "That would have meant thousands of hard-working men and women could already be out of a job. Thousands more would have been facing a very bleak future. I was not prepared to let that happen." Tony Burke, assistant general secretary of Unite, said the union would be holding Javid to his commitment to co-invest if necessary. "The penny appears to have dropped that there should be an active government supporting steel and manufacturing as the best hope of securing the future of the industry. "We look forward to sitting down with the secretary of state to hear more of his plans for co-investment," Burke said. Emergency debate MPs will hold an emergency debate on the steel industry on Tuesday, called for by Labour's shadow business secretary, Angela Eagle. She complained that the government had refused to recall parliament from its Easter break to discuss the news that Tata was selling its UK steel operations. Tata Steel is losing millions a week and Monday's deal with Greybull took six months to conclude. Group executive director Koushik Chatterjee told a BBC correspondent that the process would be given "due time" without specifying what that might be. He also said workers should take comfort from the fact that the company had already waited two weeks before starting the process to sell Port Talbot and other assets and that he saw potential buyers in "the tens". There has already been tentative interest from the steel company Liberty House but the vision outlined by its chairman, Sanjeev Gupta, would require a radical and time consuming restructuring of operations at Port Talbot along with significant government support (Liberty House boss Sanjiv Gupta in talks to buy Tata Steel). That appeared to be on hand as Javid said the government would be prepared to co-invest with a buyer on commercial terms to secure a sale of Tata's remaining assets. This is a step further than the government has gone before, and, while giving extra hope, also shows just how difficult it may be to find a buyer.








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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.
BMW launched a car-sharing service in Seattle on Friday, where it will offer customers the use of 370 BMW and Mini vehicles, before expanding to other cities in the United States.

Established carmakers worldwide are looking for ways to stay relevant for a generation of drivers that increasingly prefer the convenience of using car-sharing and ride-service companies offered by a string of new technology rivals such as Uber, Zipcar and IGO.

"Our customers rightly expect uncomplicated and fast solutions to their individual mobility needs, especially in metropolitan regions," Peter Schwarzenbauer, BMW's board member responsible for mobility services, said.

The service, called ReachNow, will offer several options, including short-term rental, delivery service, chauffeur service or longer-term rental. Car sharing can also be made available to closed groups such as companies or entire residential complexes, BMW said.

Users will be able to unlock and use the cars using their smartphones.

Consultants Roland Berger say the market for car sharing will grow by 30 percent a year and generate revenue of between 3.7 billion euros and 5.6 billion euros ($5.6 billion to $8.5 billion) by 2020.

In Europe, BMW launched its DriveNow service in 2011, rolling it out in major German cities, Vienna and parts of London with a model that allows users to make one-way journeys without having to return the car to the point of departure.

The scheme now has more than 450,000 users and makes a profit. It has gained popularity because it allows clients to use cars without having to worry about fuel costs, insurance, repairs, vehicle tax and - most importantly - where to park.

About 38 per cent of clients who tried DriveNow - mainly those living in cities and who only used their cars at weekends - sold their own vehicles, BMW said, illustrating the dilemma facing the industry.

ReachNow is also offering customers the option of renting out their private vehicles to the ReachNow fleet for limited periods, such as when the owner is on holiday.

Rival carmakers are making similar moves. Toyota has a scheme renting cars from dealerships, Ford launched Ford2Go car-sharing in Germany, while General Motors' Opel arm has its CarUnity scheme. (Reporting by Edward Taylor; editing by Susan Thomas)
It seems Jaguar-Land Rover isn't done tinkering with the V8 engine just yet.

At a time when most manufacturers including the conjoined British brands have embraced or are in development of greener drivetrains, the company says it isn't warding off its staple engines in any hurry.

And for good reason, as Jaguar-Land Rover has enjoyed something of a renaissance in the past 18 months, delivering a new line of models along with the introduction of a specialised performance portfolio.

Central to that success, particularly in the case of the SVO division, has been the brand's supercharged 5.0-litre V8 engine, which does service in several models including the Range Rover Sport SVR and upcoming Jaguar F-Type SVR.

Speaking with Drive at the launch of the new F-Pace SUV this week, Jaguar's chief engineer Mike Cross said there was scope for more power in the V8, a clear indication that Jaguar is far from consigning the popular engine to retirement. Jaguar has, however, conceded the need to adopt electric and hybrid technology in order to comply with the next wave of emissions regulations.

Before that point, Cross said that 450kW from the V8 was completely within the realms of being possible with an undertaking of only light modifications  well up on the current output of 423kW on the F-Type SVR due to land in Australia late this year.

"It is easily capable of 600 horsepower (450kW)," he said, pointing to straight-forward modifications on the engine's intake and exhaust systems.

Asked whether there was a particular application in which the higher tune would be relevant, Cross indicated that Jaguar would only ever complete the fillip for marketing purposes.

"It doesn't really want for more power at present," he said.

"We haven't put a lot of time into getting more power of it just yet, because it's relatively unstressed."

One particular application might be the heavily rumoured F-Pace SVR. However, Cross declined to comment on such a model, as did every other Jaguar official at the F-Pace's launch.

Late last year, the F-Pace's vehicle program director Andy Whyman indicated the F-Pace's long snout could accommodate the V8 powertrain.

"The temptation's there but we can't talk about that at the moment," he said.

"There's a lot of work going on with our SVR structure and branding at the moment, and we're going through all options."

"If you drop it from a big enough height anything will fit, won't it? Nothing's impossible and there is a huge amount going on at Jaguar Land Rover at the moment and that's one of the options that we're looking at. There's a lot going on."

In March, the boss of Jaguar's Special Vehicle Operatoins, John Edwards, told Drive Jaguar was looking at more SVR products.

"We've got three cars now  the Range Rover Sport SVR, the Range Rover SVR Autobiography and now the F-Type SVR  there's certainly room for more products," he said.
Volkswagen Australia is set to adopt a new approach to the local market, positioning itself as "premium, but for the people".

The brand's Australian product marketing manager, Jeff Shafer, says it will look to carve out a niche above mainstream brands such as Toyota or Hyundai, but below the likes of Audi.

"We want to position our vehicles as being premium but for the people, Shafer says.

"We are not talking about becoming a luxury brand or moving out of reach. [But] we want to bring those attributes to a broader customer base."

The first car to receive the treatment will be the new Tiguan. Bigger than the last model, and loaded up with technology ranging from an Audi-style fully digital driver display to a new self-driving mode for traffic jams, the Tiguan is set to offer tech that other models in the class can't match.

"We aim to make this a benchmark in its segment," Shafer says.

"It will still represent really good value.

"[But] the price will move up from where it is. It will be a reasonable amount."

Shafer says the approach comes from Volkswagen's top brass, who have dropped a push to become the world's number one manufacturer by volume.

Instead, Volkswagen is modelling itself on Apple's success. Shafer says the iPhone isn't the cheapest smartphone on the market, but that customers are willing to spend more than they might on a rival brand to secure the features inherent in an Apple product.

As such, the brand's recent tactics involving cut-throat drive-away pricing may disappear.

"I don't think that huge discounts are really what Volkswagen is about," Shafer says.

"The intention isn't to be the lowest price point."
It's a convertible, but not as we know it. Or, at least, not as we've known them.

The S-Class Cabriolet is Mercedes-Benz's new drop-top flagship, the first top-shelf four-seat convertible from the German luxury brand since 1971. Utilising the bones of the S-Class  Benz's most lavish limousine  it's all about style, space and the ultimate in luxury, with the ability to have the roof down adding to the experience.

Indeed it makes a sumptuous statement. It starts with the styling, which largely mimics the roof silhouette of the coupe it mostly shares a body with. Rather than a folding hard-top  as with the two-seat SLC and SL models  the S Cab gets a multi-layered folding soft-top.

From the outside the fabric top instantly screams convertible, with up to four roof colours giving the choice of how you show off the lid.

Our test drive was in the south of France, through the glamourous holiday towns of Monaco, Nice and Cannes. The perfect place to sample what will be one of the most exclusive Mercedes-Benzes on the market.

Inside, is a blend of elegance and attention to detail with a roof that's as close as a folding hard-top roof as we've ever experienced in a convertible. You can choose between six different roof liner trims, including Alcantara. Throw in 28 leather choices and 14 exterior colours and the S is tailor made for most (expensive) tastes.

Designers momentarily considered four doors for the S-Class Cabriolet, something hinted at with the Ocean Drive concept from 2007. But space was a limiting factor. While the prospect of easy rear access and more rear legroom was appealing, the extra length it added to the car meant a longer, more involved roof and a bigger boot to fit all that roof once it was folded. It simply wasn't going to work, at least not with the proportions that are key when you're shelling out upwards of $360,000.

Even with two doors there's no shortage of space. Up front the seats are soft and sumptuous. Craftsmanship is beautiful, from the sweep of carbon fibre or wood across the dash to the elegant metal surfaces touching everything from the Burmester speaker grilles to the top of the electronically retractable wind deflector.

Those in the back are cocooned in seats with slightly more upper body lateral support than those up front. With someone tall up front, though, leg room is good rather than exceptional. Still, there are rear air vents, some elegant storage areas between the seats and a folding arm rest to continue the luxury theme.

It's immediately apparent many hours went into the acoustics and aerodynamics. At 100km/h-plus with the roof down there's still the rustle of wind above, but the front cabin is remarkably unruffled. Deploy the electronic front and rear wind deflectors and it sends more air over the heads of those inside, while still maintaining the all important UV rays above. Those extra wind deflectors do nothing for the look, though, especially at the front; it's a strip partially floating above the top of the windscreen. They also add a decent dose of wind noise to the equation. But it achieves its target of significantly reducing wind rustle in the rear, making life more pleasant for all involved.

Roof up (an operation that takes a bit less than 20 seconds) and the refinement equation is even better, with things such as double glazed windows helping keep most frequencies at bay. Engineers claim the same sound levels as the Coupe at speed, albeit with a subtley different sound due to different frequencies making it into the cabin.

Because the S Coupe was designed from the outset to also be produced as a convertible engineers ensured the requisite bracing to account for the lack of a roof structure was accounted for in the basic design. The only additional bracing for the Cabriolet is under the bonnet. That means weight isn't as much of a penalty as we expected, and the extra 85kg is put down purely to the motors and mechanisms to operate the roof.

The biggest compromise with the S-Class Cabriolet is boot space. The sizeable cavity of the Coupe is diminished courtesy of a storage box that accommodates the roof once folded. A large suitcase is out but some softer weekend-away bags will be fine.

Yet there are more pleasant surprises in store from the S, especially once you hit the road. It's a big car, and a heavy one at just over two tonnes, but it's surprisingly adept. Nicely weighted steering is impressively responsive, teaming with 20-inch tyres to capably attack corners.

The Cabriolet misses out on the innovative Curve cornering function of the Coupe, which droops the air suspension on the inside of the corner to gently tilt the car into the bend, countering leaning. And there's no chance of it arriving, either, because engineers say the larger suspension components won't fit into the soft-top body. Even without that additional control, the S is superbly competent.

But it's the ride that gives the S Cabriolet its effortless character. Even in the sporty AMG models there's a plushness few luxury cars come close to, ably suppressing all manner of imperfections. And there's beautiful body control, with the S gliding from one corner to the next, squatting and settling nicely over undulations in the process.

Effortless is also a way to describe the performance. The base 4.7-litre V8 in the S500 Cabriolet musters plenty of mumbo (335kW and 700Nm), with hearty mid-rev response and a graceful delivery through a nine-speed auto. The V8 noise is also in keeping with the luxury ambitions of the car and while it's muted (moreso than in the S-Class Coupe) it's still discernible.

The S63 AMG, with its bigger V8 (430kW and 900Nm, with a seven-speed auto) is noticeably quicker and with a far more pronounced bark, but the extra punch is rarely needed for most cruising. There's piles of effortless grunt and potent carbon ceramic brakes that stop brilliantly and better reduce fade compared with the steel setup in the 500. Unleash the engine through a tunnel or with a rock wall alongside and the noise is satisfyingly amplified.

Despite the temptation to splash out on the AMG  and ordinarily we'd launch at the prospect - for our money we'd be more than happy with the S500; the S-Class Cabriolet is one of those cars where less is more.

It's easy to see the S Cab being cross shopped with a Ferrari or Porsche, albeit without the harder edged go-fast focus of those cars. More logical competitors  where the emphasis is on luxury rather than pace  would wear a badge from Rolls-Royce or Bentley.

Its strengths lie in its all-round comfort and ability. It's resolutely stuck to its guns on focusing on luxury over sportiness  and all for the better. It backs it up with lashings of luxury and refinement that ensure a supremely comfortable means of travelling with the roof down. That it is so convincing with the roof up in some ways makes the S Coupe redundant.

2017 Mercedes-Benz S-Class Cabriolet price and specifications

On sale: September, 2016

Price: From $360,000 (estimated), plus on-road costs

Engines: 4.7-litre V8 (S500); 5.4-litre twin turbo V8 (S63 AMG); 6.0-litre twin turbo V12 (S65 AMG)

Power: 335kW; 430kW; 463kW

Torque: 700Nm; 900Nm; 1000Nm

Transmission: 9-speed automatic (S500); 7-speed automatic (S63 AMG, S65 AMG); rear-wheel drive

Fuel use: TBA
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Dear Editor:Thanks for the assistance.Yes, that's the message Taylor Quarles, Apex Clean Energy's project manager, sent to the Millwright's Local 1163 the day after Somerset had its public hearing on its new wind law. Quarles was thanking the union for sending 40 to 50 union men to occupy seats, so many seats that Somerset Town Supervisor Dan Engert had to ask everyone in attendance at our small town hall to get back into their cars and drive over to the Barker school cafeteria, to reconvene the meeting, so that everyone could have a seat. These guys marched into our meeting with new hats from Apex -- embroidered with orange wind turbines -- and "Fear Not the Wind" stickers on their jackets.Quarles' letter of thanks of Feb. 2, the day after the hearing, to Brian Scruton, Millwrights Council Rep, stated that he was "personally grateful" for "our strongest showing ever for a public event." Quarles added "those who are opposed to progress in this area" (that's apparently anyone who opposes Apex's 620-foot industrial wind turbines here) "will stop at nothing in their attempt to keep renewable energy projects from coming to upstate New York. You heard the mis-information and the attacks on working people and the farmers of our area. Your ongoing support will be important as we move forward."Wait. People who oppose this project will "stop at nothing?" Now there's an accusation. We are not The Mob. We're just residents who don't want our raptors chopped, our lands blighted, and our residents' health possibly affected by hulking towers amid our homes. Yes, our voices are strong, but hey, when you work hard for what you have, and suddenly some Virginia company comes around and tells you what's going to go down in your neighborhood, you will speak out strongly.Quarles' letter also implies that if Somerset residents don't want wind turbines here that we are attacking "working people and farmers." We also work. We also appreciate the hard work of those who farm in Somerset.Now the Town of Yates has scheduled its own public hearing April 21 on its own newly revised wind law. Two surveys in that town revealed that Yates residents are also strongly opposed to Apex. The letter mentions"continued ongoing support". Is this a hint that Yates will see these and more union guys at this next hearing? Anyway, the Yates Town Supervisor is prepared, since he has scheduled the public hearing at the Lyndonville school auditorium. This way there will be enough seats, both for residents of Somerset and Yates, and for any out-of-town Apex "guests". Apex is trying hard to create the illusion of public opinion beginning to turn in their favor.There is good news in all of this: On March 28, former NYS Attorney General Dennis Vacco, presently the attorney for the Town of Somerset, has requested Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to begin a formal investigation of Apex Clean Energy for their deceptive business practices. There are more Apex hijinx. Anyone who wants interesting reading can view more of the accusations as well as the Exhibits -- like Quarles' letter -- on the NYS Public Service Commission's website, Case 14-F-0485.It remains to be seen whether Apex will clean up its act and follow NY State's Code of Ethics for wind companies, or continue business as usual, just skipping the telltale thank you notes.
This transgender woman lived a double life for decades, but not anymore.

This is part of a story series about the lives of transgender people. Read the introduction here.

To the rest of the world, it seemed like Becky Veal had a life anyone would want. She supported her wife and their three children, served in the U.S. Army, and worked as a union organizer and negotiator for much of her professional life.

But while she was living the life expected of the male gender she was assigned at birth, she felt like her mind was boiling, she says. The only way to relieve what she describes as the pressure cooker inside her was to check into a motel, lock the door, draw the curtains and dress in the feminine clothes that made her feel like herself for a while  even if she had to do it in the dark.

But it came at a cost, both financial and emotional, Veal says.

You never get ahead because youre trying to keep two people going. I would take off work because that was the only time I could get away and not have anyone think anything of it. I never made a great deal of money, but I had to take time for Becky. I was fighting a battle inside that no one knew I was fighting, and I didnt even have a name for it. So I thought I was the worst person in the world. My self-esteem was at a low ebb most of my life, until I came out. I didnt think I was worth much.

Veal knew from the time she was 12 years old that she wanted to be a woman. She didnt know what that meant  after all, she says, there was no internet and no one to ask about it. So she kept it mostly to herself and called it cross-dressing.

When she got married at age 20, Veals wife found out about her cross-dressing within the first week. It wasnt an easy conversation, but her wife accepted it and didnt question it again during their 42-year marriage.

But what started with what Veal describes as a late-night thing with a nightgown didnt end there.

Over the years it kept snowballing and going downhill and the snowball kept growing, she says. It became something I had to do more and more often.

Veal tried to fight her desire to live as female. It was during what she calls her macho period that she enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving in both Vietnam and Korea before returning home. She considered joining the police department, but when she learned a background investigation would be required she gave up on the idea of that career, because she dreaded anyone finding out about Becky. She then worked at General Motors, serving as District Committeeman for the UAW in Flint for 12 of her 17 years there. She went on to other union organizing jobs, too, successfully negotiating major labor agreements.

But she could not let go of Becky, despite trying many times.

I would purge  throwing everything female away, telling myself This isnt right, Im going to stop this. I was in a battle. I just wanted to be like everyone else. I felt I had the equipment to be a man and I should be a man. I thought wearing dresses and wanting to be a woman was so perverted. I just didnt understand it. So I fought it. I told myself I had to do whats right for my wife and kids. Its like being in the darkness your entire life. A little dark place you go to.

In 2008, Veals wife was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer. Veal quit working to be with her wife, who died two years later. It was devastating, Veal says. She was my best friend, my girlfriend, my soul mate. When I lost her, I lost everything.

Veal purged all her female clothes once again and moved in with her daughter. About six months later, she found herself contemplating the barrel of the gun she used for deer hunting. But Veal knew deep down she could never do that to her family, so she woke up the next morning and did something else.

She decided it was time for Becky to come out into the light  and stay there. Feeling the need to do that on her own, Veal went to Missouri, where her family is from, using the excuse that she was studying her family genealogy.

Veal found a psychologist she connected with and came out to her during their first session. Veal asked if she could bring Becky along to her second session, to which her psychologist replied, Thats a great idea.

Veals memory of that day, August 11, 2011, is vivid.

I went out and bought a nice new outfit. I had to get up early and put my makeup on and get dressed. I grabbed my purse and my keys, and my hands were shaking. I was shaking. I walked out of the house and Im in the sunlight. This is the first time Becky has been out in public in the sunlight, not behind a closed, locked door  out in the sunlight. I told myself, Youre never going back in the darkness and I meant that. I havent.

Veal returned home and started telling her family, which includes eight grandchildren, and most of them have accepted her transition. In fact, presenting as Becky has mostly been met with validation  including from the man who had been her best friend since the 8th grade. Veal told him about her transition over the phone, and when he laid eyes on her for the first time as Becky, he exclaimed, My God, youre lovely!

But when he passed away just three weeks later, Veal knew she needed to expand her circle of friends, which she has done largely through activism. In addition to being part of the ACLU of Michigans Transgender Advocacy Project, she is the President of Transgender Connect (Flint Chapter) and the field coordinator for Transgender Michigan in Flint.

Not only has Veal found a new community of friends  shes found a renewed sense of purpose in retirement, one that brings her great satisfaction: fighting for transgender equality.

I have a big mouth and Im not afraid to use it. The only way were going to win this battle is to have visibility and to have our stories out there. Once you know me, how could you vote against anything that would benefit me? Maybe we only want to use the restroom. Why are you putting me into a mens room where I could get hurt, when all I want to do is relieve myself? Cant you understand that I have to pee? My advocacy is for my little brothers and sisters. What Im involved in here will take years. Some of the young people in this movement today will be old by the time we get it done. Id like to leave an epitaph that I did what a could for my community.

Veal knows the journey to equality wont be a short one. After all, her personal journey has taken decades, and starting hormone replacement therapy (HRT) was only one step. She hopes to have sex reassignment surgery (SRS), if she can get her heart health under control. But if that isnt possible, she accepts it.

Veal sees the beauty in herself now, and in the transgender community, which she says Native Americans have long referred to as two-spirited.

We are two-spirited. Weve lived both sides of the fence. We know what its like to live in the darkness and to have fear and anxiety as a constant companion  you cant even imagine the dreams I used to have. But for those of us who live authentically, we know what its like to stand in the light.

Not only does Veal feel better now that her hormones are in balance with who she knows herself to be, she feels like her advocacy and authenticity have given her a new lease on life.

Its so eye-opening when you stop living the lie and become who you are. Its like the statement, The truth shall set you free. Its true, honey, and Im vibrant. And Im never going back in the dark again.

Read all the stories in this series HERE.



[Photo courtesy of Becky Veal.]
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Days after the FBI found a workaround that ended the epic legal battle to compel Apples cooperation in unlocking an encrypted iPhone, the American Civil Liberties Union on Wednesday announced that it had identified dozens of other criminal cases in which the government has made similar requests  both of Apple and of Google.

The government has used the All Writs Act to compel a phone manufacturer to hand over data to law enforcement in a total of 63 cases, the ACLU report shows. That appears to back up Apples and privacy advocates assertions that the government request would have direct implications on cases well beyond the San Bernardino encryption fight.

We think this is important, because it shows just how widespread the governments attempts to get tech firms to bypass phone security are, and they are mainly doing it in non-terrorism cases, said ACLU spokesperson Josh Bell.

It also makes it clear how inevitable another court showdown is, he told the E-Commerce Times.

The 63 cases, dating back to 2008, are confirmed All Writs Act requests that force either Apple or Google to unlock their phones, with most of the prosecutions involving drug-related crimes, according to the ACLU.

Pending Showdowns

The ACLU knows of an additional 13 pending cases, said Sweren Becker, a staff attorney with the organizations Speech, Privacy and Technology Project. Apple has confirmed 12 of those cases. An additional case in Massachusetts has not been confirmed due to a lack of publicly available information.

The ACLU expects to learn of additional cases from a Freedom of Information Act request jointly filed with the Stanford University Center for Internet and Society, Becker said.

The FBIs demand that Apple write new code to help investigators access encrypted data took the public-private cooperation to a level that Google could not accommodate.

We carefully scrutinize subpoenas and court orders to make sure they meet both the letter and spirit of the law, Google said in a statement provided to the E-Commerce Times by spokesperson Aaron Stein.

However weve never received an All Writs Act order like the one Apple recently fought that demands we build tools that actively compromise our products security, the company added. As our amicus shows, we would strongly object to such an order.

Google joined a group of technology companies in an amicus brief filed earlier this month in support of Apple, as it fought the data transfer request by the Department of Justice in the San Bernardino terrorist shooting.

Google supports the governments goal of thwarting terrorist acts, noted Richard Salgado, director of law enforcement and information security, in a blog post last month. However, the FBI request had implications that went far beyond the immediate case.

The key question is whether the government should be able to use the All Writs Act to force private companies to actively compromise the safety and security features that we all build into our products, Salgado wrote. These are the same security features that we all develop to keep people safe from identity thieves, hackers and other criminals.

A bad precedent in the Apple case could have forced companies to hack into the phones, computers, software or networks of their own customers, he went on to say.

Companies might cooperate in criminal investigations for a variety of reasons, including whether a proper warrant has been served, noted the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a group that has criticized the governments position in the Apple encryption case.

In the All Writs context, Apple has chosen to challenge the governments power to require assistance accessing data on phones, which is allowed, but not required to do under the law, EFF Staff Attprmeu Andrew Crocker told the E-Commerce Times.

Earlier Compliance

The governments use of the All Writs Act to pursue encrypted data in criminal cases is warranted, Department of Justice officials maintained.

The fact that federal law enforcement uses court process to obtain critical evidence in criminal investigations should not be surprising nor newsworthy, said Peter Carr, a spokesperson for the Justice Department.

The government has made it clear on multiple occasions in the court that judges across the country have issued prior All Writs Act orders to Apple, and counsel for Apple has noted in court that it received All Writs Act orders with frequency, he told the E-Commerce Times.

Apple had an established track record of helping law enforcement agents with accessing passcode-locked iPhones under the All Writs Act, and never objected to such a request until October 2015, Carr noted.

Apple complied with requests in several criminal cases, Carr noted, including a 2008 child exploitation case in the Northern District of New York, which resulted in two guilty pleas and life sentences for the defendants; a Florida narcotics case that resulted in a conviction and a five year sentence; and a Washington state child pornography and sexual exploitation case that resulted in a guilty plea and 23-year prison sentence. Apple initially had objected to cooperating in that case, but eventually came around.

Apple officials were not immediately available for comment.
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(Photo:  Peter Kenny / Ecumenical News)Worshipers at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem on Feb. 14, 2016.

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is one of Christianity's best known places of worship which is said to house the tomb of Jesus in Jerusalem, but it is rather run down in parts.

The church is run as a consortium consisting of Custodia Terrae Sanctae, a Franciscan order that represents the Catholic Church; the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate; and the Armenian Patriarchate, who do not always agree and Coptic, Ethiopian and Syriac Orthodox churches also have a say.

The agreement assigns each part of the building, every floor tile, door, window and corridor, to a specific church, and any alternation, addition or repair requires all three churches to agree.

The church is located in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem.

After decades of wrangling, however, within two months, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher will begin its first major renovation since Israel was established in 1948, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports.

The privileges to look after the church were granted by the Ottoman rulers in 1853, and there have been disagreements aplenty since then sometimes even resulting in fisticuffs within the church.

The renovation will cost $3.4 million, Christian Today reports noting that the monument, dating back to 1810 in its present form, it to be completely rebuilt.

Marble slabs will be taken off and with repairs to the 12th century Crusader shrine beneath and the cracks in the rock-hewn tomb under that, where many Christians believe Jesus was buried, will be filled.

The Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches will each pay a third of the cost.

The renovations will carried out National Technical University of Athens team and work will start May 15, expected to last eight months. The complex will remain open throughout this time.

In 1995 the six churches involved the Holy Sepulcher reached an agreement on painting a section of the central dome after taking 17 years of deliberation as an illustration of why the building look so rickety.

On Palm Sunday in 2008 a brawl erupted when a Greek monk was ejected from the building by a rival faction and in November of the same year, Armenian and Greek clerics clashed during celebrations for the supposed 4th-century discovery of the cross on which Christ was crucified.

The Armenians found their path blocked by a Greek Orthodox monk posted in the tomb and the clash went viral on Youtube.
A Melbourne school has taken legal action after its teachers were bullied online by parents.Australias leading cyber safety expert, Susan McLean, said a Melbourne primary school she advises has written a legal letter to parents asking them to stop abusing its teachers on social media and online forums.They were talking about the quality of teaching, defaming people, using obscene language, McLean told The Herald Sun.We are seeing more and more of totally inappropriate, disrespectful behaviour online. People think it is harmless fun, but it can ruin a teacher's life, and what kind of message is it sending to their children?McLean warned that this scenario was becoming increasingly common and many parents were now lashing out on forums like Facebook rather than through the proper channels.McLean said some parents have even up Facebook pages and websites in order to publicly name schools and teachers they have grievances with.Victorian Association of State Secondary Principals (VASSP), Judy Crowe, called the situation unfair, adding many teachers need incredibly thick skin to avoid becoming demoralised.Often people feel comfortable on social media saying something they wouldnt be prepared to say to someone directly, and it may be untrue, she said.While many schools teach students about digital citizenship  such as being responsible when accessing, sharing or posting online material  what level of understanding do parents have on this concept? Alex Kohn from Makinson dApice lawyers told The Educator that it is imperative that all people understand the consequences of acting outside the law when it comes to using the Internet.Kohn said the main thing people should be aware of is that posting comments online means that those comments can be seen by a very wide audience.Online comments are no different from paper based comments in that the laws of defamation apply, he said.Therefore, all of us who post online need to be mindful not to defame someone else or breach their privacy.
Education agendas can flip in what seems like a New York minuteat least in political time.

As recently as January 2015, Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo had called for New York legislators to bust up the monopoly of public schools, and referred to the states 5-year-old teacher-evaluation system as baloney. Decrying the states lackluster academic results, he proposed to base up to half of teachers evaluations on the states standardized tests aligned to the Common Core State Standards.

But then, last spring, hundreds of thousands of students opted out of the states exam, delivering a wave of political setbacks to whats widely described as the states education reform movement, which, among other policies, advocates using the results of common-core-based tests to evaluate and even fire teachers.

By December, Cuomo had seemingly altered course on some of his policies, calling for a total reboot of the states common-core standards. The states board of regents, which oversees K-12 schools, instituted a four-year moratorium on test scores being used in teacher evaluations. And the state did not renew its contract with the testing company, Pearson, to administer the tests after controversies involving both the writing and administration of the exams.

Then last month, state legislators replaced three of the regents, including Chancellor Merryl Tisch, whose term was up after two decades on the board and a term as chancellor that started in 2009. She had been among those leading the push to adopt the new standards and use test scores to evaluate teachers.

The new chancellor, Betty Rosa, a former Bronx educator who was already on the board, signaled her own change of course when she said that if she were a parent, shed opt out of the exams, too.

We, as a board, must move away from what was the so-called ... reform movement, Rosa said shortly after the regents elected her chancellor. I say, welcome the transformers. We collectively as a board have a commitment of social justice and equity.

Cuomo, whose office didnt return a request for comment on his shifts in position, has attributed the opt-out movements angst to the state education departments sloppy roll-out of the common-core standards. Hes tasked the regents to come up with more state-specific standards and to rebuild parent trust.

Taking Stock

For the states self-described reformers, the setback on the use of assessments and evaluations is disappointing. But they tout other successes, such as the education departments authority as of this year to take over persistently failing schools and hand them over to independent operators, and the sparking of a necessaryalbeit combativedebate over teacher quality.

You cant solve problems you dont have information about, said Derrell Bradford, the executive director at the New York Campaign for Achievement Now, a strong champion of using the states standardized-testing program to improve schools. Saying you dont need test data to make decisions about how to improve schools is like saying we can solve wealth inequality without income data and job reports. Its just not real.

In recent weeks, as the latest round of state testing got underway, opt-out activists held protests and launched a campaign that included billboards and robocalls urging parents to opt out again this year. Local reports indicate that large groups of students are still steering clear of the tests, known as regents exams at the high school level and as the states English/language arts and mathematics tests at the elementary and middle school levels. The exams continue through the end of April.

The state schools chief, MaryEllen Elia, has crisscrossed the Empire States rural regions and city suburbs where opt-outs were most intense last year in an attempt to rebuild trust. Shes told parents and teachers that the state has shortened the English and math tests, reduced the stakes the results have for teachers and students, and tossed out confusing questions.

I dont want you to think its all done, its not, Elia told teachers in Lancaster last week, according to the Associated Press. But I also dont want you to think we havent done anything and I didnt listen, because I did, and weve made significant changes.

New Yorks education debate mostly revolves around the role assessments play in improving schools. Cuomo, specifically, had gone back and forth on when and how to incorporate test scores in teacher evaluations.

Shortly after being re-elected in 2014, Cuomo rolled out an aggressive education agenda that included giving high-performing teachers bonuses of up to $20,000, easing the process for school districts to remove persistently bad or failing teachers, and allowing charter operators to take over failing schools. Most controversially, he said he wanted up to half of teachers evaluations to be based on the states common core-aligned test scores. The other half would be based on observations.

The key to education reform is a teacher-evaluation system, Cuomo said in his 2015 State of the State address. Who are we kidding, my friends? The problem is clear, and the solution is clear. We need real, accurate, fair teacher evaluations.

Budget-Driven Moves

The changes were tied to the governors budget, a move many saw as hostile and unfair. (The state is under court order to increase its education funding.)

Teachers unions that aggressively fought his re-election said Cuomo had declared war. Teacher effectiveness was inevitably tied to a students home life, they argued. The states overdependence on testing would turn teachers off and ultimately be ineffective, they said.

This was a one-size-fits-all, top-down approach, said New York State United Teachers spokesman Carl Korn.

The backlash to policies being pushed by Cuomo and the regents was intensified by New Yorks testing-opt-out movement, the breadth, scope, and power of which took many by surprise.

Started by a group of angered parents and later supported by NYSUT, the movement takes credit for more than 200,000 students opting out of last years state exam, almost a fifth of the states student body and a fourfold increase from the prior year, according to the state education department.

Parents and teachers complained that students were overwhelmed with testing and about questions on the Pearson-designed test.

Were beginning to gain traction, but the system is still very, very wrong for kids said Leonie Haimson, an opt-out activist and the executive director of Class Size Matters, a New York City education advocacy group. Until the standards are revamped completely, the tests are redone completely, and all stakes removed from these exams, the opt-out movement will continue.

Several components of Cuomos 2015-16 budget were scrapped before it was passed, such as his 50 percent test-score component in teacher evaluations, but key aspects of his agenda, including handing over failing schools to charter schools remain intact. Teachers will still be evaluated based on a 4-point scale, but it is up to the commissioner to determine the weight test scores will have on exams.

Task Force Review

By September of last year, in response to the states large opt-out numbers, Cuomo appointed a task force to review the state common-core standards.

In December, a common-core task force appointed by Cuomo reported that the states rollout of the standards and the tests associated with them was clumsy and haphazard.

The report found that the state education departmentthen led by now-U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr.had left teachers and parents out of the decisionmaking process. Professional development had been spotty and ineffective. And the standards were inappropriate for K-2, the states English-language-learner population, and students with disabilities, the report said.

The common core was supposed to ensure all of our children had the education they needed to be college- and career-readybut it actually caused confusion and anxiety, Cuomo said in December. That ends now. Today, we will begin to transform our system into one that empowers parents, teachers, and local districts and ensures high standards for all students.

After the task force came out with its recommendations, the regents put a four-year moratorium on tying test scores to teacher evaluations.

Then last month, the General Assembly, which had undergone its own political shift after the scandal-plagued speaker abruptly resigned, appointed the three new regents to the board to replace two whose terms expired and another who resigned unexpectedly. The new chancellor has since said she will work closely with the state commissioner to improve the test and review the standards. The regents are expected to vote on them this November, but they wont go into effect until spring 2019. The state is reviewing its teacher evaluations.

Simply put, the education system fails without parental trust, Cuomo said in his State of the State address in January. Our goal was to restore that trust, and we said we would correct the state education departments common-core-curriculum-implementation mistakes and testing regimen. ... We urge the state education department to do it right this time, and we are all fully available to assist in and monitor in this effort.
Schools in this city, known for its aging casinos, are using a comprehensive social-emotional learning strategy to tackle student engagement and academic success.

The 64,000-student Washoe County district wants to raise its graduation rate, which reached a record 75 percent in 2015, to 90 percent by 2020, an ambitious goal in a state where young adults can make a middle-class salary valet-parking cars without a diploma, Superintendent Traci Davis said.

A growing body of research connects skills like responsible decisionmaking and recognizing and responding to emotions with greater engagement in the classroom and improved academic outcomes such as higher graduation rates. But, until recently, the district had very few ways of measuring the effectiveness of its social-emotional learning efforts, which it launched as a result of a 2010 strategic plan.

It asked questions many educators and researchers are facing: Whats the most accurate way to determine if students are learning so-called soft skills, like how to empathize with their peers? And whats the best way to respond to the resulting data?

Better data would also help answer a core question for the district: Is social-emotional learning contributing to that rising graduation rate? Educators whove embraced the strategy believe its necessary, but theyve lacked data in the past that proves how much they are moving the needle for students.

If we could come up with good measures, then maybe we could measure the mediating effect of social-emotional learning competencies on this risk [of not completing high school], said Ben Hayes, the districts chief accountability officer. That became the kind of learning goal, and from there we found out very quickly that we need to have better measures.

While Washoe County is way ahead of other school districts on developing more refined and careful measures of students skills, educators there say there is much more work to be done before the results should be used for accountability.

With the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act, the main federal K-12 law, states are now required to include at least one measure other than test scores in their accountability systems, an issue that has raised the profile of social-emotional measurement questions.

Better Measures

With the help of a federal grant and assistance from the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, or CASEL, Washoe County administrators developed new survey measures, working with students to understand how they respond to questions about social-emotional skills and with teachers to develop data that could actually be used to change what happens in the classroom.

Alongside the districts existing early-warning system, which tracks risk factors for dropping out throughout a students school career, the data being gathered around social-emotional learning is helping educators ensure that students needs are met and their skills are developed as they progress through school.

A majority of the districts enrollment is students of color. Next to white students, who make up about 46 percent of Washoe Countys enrollment, Hispanic students are the largest group, at about 40 percent. Nearly half of students qualify for free and reduced-price meals, a common measure of poverty, and about 16 percent of them are English-learners.

Social-emotional learning is a key to helping otherwise successful students thrive after graduation and to helping buffer risk factors for students considered more likely to drop out, the district found.

In an analysis of 2014 data, students who were classified as high risk in the districts early-warning system but who also demonstrated strong social-emotional competencies performed just as well as their low-risk peers on state assessments.

Taking Measure of Students' Skills

The districts work has been noticed and replicated. Questions developed through its social-emotional measurement project have been adopted by the district in Austin, Texas, and incorporated into statewide student surveys in Alaska and Nevada.

Washoe County is one of eight urban districts that have committed to implementing comprehensive social-emotional learning practices for students in elementary, middle, and high schools and allowing researchers from the American Institutes for Research to measure their results. Districts in the group, coordinated by CASEL, include Anchorage, Austin, Chicago, Cleveland, Nashville, Tenn., and Oakland and Sacramento in California. All have taken their own approach, reworking discipline policies, boosting student-staff relationships, and gradually adopting direct instruction of social and emotional skills in classrooms.

In Washoe Countys elementary and middle schools, for example, students learn the concepts through role-playing exercises, games, and class discussions.

Older students, like those in Damonte Ranch High School, learn about forming healthy relationships and meeting long-term goals in their traditional, subject-oriented classes and in special advisory periods.

And adults in the school have learned new skills, too.

Administrators now require teachers to solve non-violent problems in the classroom or by calling for a quick consultation in the hallway, rather than sending a student directly to the office.

Principal Denise Hausauer, an exuberant woman who is passionate about the schools strategies, wears a jingle bell on a lanyard around her neck so students can hear her coming down the hall. She wants to catch them doing something good so she can reinforce positive behaviors through praise.

When I say, Ill be there with bells on, I mean it literally, she said.

And the schools values and expectations for students are painted colorfully in the schools hallways.

If youre not strategic about this stuff, youre not doing enough for your kids, Hausauer said.

Ceiling Effect

But how do Washoe County educators know if the strategy is working?

Good data both informs efforts and helps motivate teachers by showing them how they are helping students, said Laura Davidson, director of research and evaluation for the district.

The district first incorporated questions about social and emotional skills into a 2013 version of a school climate survey it administers to students annually, but administrators quickly realized the responses to those questions werent helpful.

The surveys asked students to rate on a one-to-five scale whether it was easy or difficult for them to do various tasks, like empathizing with a peer.

But Davidson found a massive ceiling effect, she said, because large amounts of students ranked everything as easy. The team working on the measures analyzed the data and found that students were topping out for three reasons: they really did have high skills in those areas, they got bored taking the surveys, or they didnt understand the questions.

Lots of kids were saying that they had perfect skills or really good skills, Davidson said. The problem with that is that we cant tell, do the students really have these skills or are they really not engaging in the survey?

So the team turned to the students themselves, holding focus groups to create questions they could understand and relate to and about skills they would find more challenging, skills linked to the districts social-emotional learning goals.

By having them talk about these relationship skills as they happen in their classroom, we were able to come up with all sorts of ideas for more challenging items, Davidson said.

And researchers also teamed up with teachers to generate items they could actually respond to and address, said Jeremy Taylor, CASELs director of assessment and continuous improvement.

If a teacher cant really do anything about it, its not really useful to measure it, he said.

Through the process, the district came up with 150 items that measure students competency in the five areas it seeks to nurture: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decisionmaking.

Within that list, the district identified 17 anchor items, questions it plans to include on future student surveys. High student scores on those items correlate with stronger academic and behavioral outcomes, the team found, suggesting they are valid measures.

Washoe County isnt using its social-emotional data for high-stakes school accountability, and both Davidson and Hayes said they dont recommend using their survey items for that purpose.

The Future of Measurement

Concerns about how measurements of non-academic skills should be used have gotten a heap of attention since Congress passed the Every Student Succeeds Act late last year. Some social-emotional learning advocates have suggested that using measures of students skills in state accountability systems would encourage more schools to adopt such programs.

But some high-profile researchers have said the measures shouldnt be used for any kind of accountability because they are still prone to biases, and because they could lead to unforeseen consequences, like shallow classroom exercises that focus on how to correctly answer surveys rather than really changing student behavior.

The question of how to responsibly and accurately measure students social-emotional strengths and skills is one that CASEL and other groups are working to address, Taylor said.

A 30-member working group of researchers and practitioners will review what measures schools are currently using and how to use the resulting data.

The group will also work to explore the future of social-emotional learning assessments, examining the feasibility of tools like classroom-based performance items and computer programs to measure student strengths, Taylor said.

We want to determine the characteristics that make any measure as useful and practical for educators as possible, he said.

As researchers work to refine measures, schools are already putting them in place.

Washoe County plans to make its measures available for other schools to use, along with some resources about how to learn from the resulting data.

And the district wants to continue exploring how to analyze students strengths, particularly among younger students, Davidson said. The answer may be a more creative vehicle, like video games that put students in hypothetical situations, she said.

Once Washoe County finalizes results from its most recent survey, it will share them with students in a student data summit where they can openly ask questions and learn about how their schools measure up in academics, social-emotional learning, and other comparative data.

When the social-emotional measurement team sought students input, they realized just how interested the students were in their schools results, Hayes said.

They know what were talking about, and they can really inform the conversation.
The EIB Group (EIB, EIF and EIB Institute) are sponsoring the 13th edition of the European Microfinance Networks Annual Conference Shaping European Microfinance: Who, What and for Whom?, which takes place on 16 -17 June in Warsaw, Poland. During this two day- conference, microfinance practitioners are sharing experiences and discussing the role of microfinance in the coming years with a view to jointly shaping the next steps.

The event provides an opportunity for microfinance practitioners to review continuously changing market realities, share best practices and learn from each other. About 300 delegates are expected to attend, including EMN member organisations, and representatives from public and private institutions active in the microfinance sector.

The EMN Annual Conference is convened by the European Microfinance Network that is the leading network of European organisations involved in European microfinance issues, bringing together 90 member organisations from the EU Member States.

This event is excellent for networking and should allow identifying new activities within the remit of the EIB Institute as well as new short-term and medium-term businesses opportunities, for example in the context of the ElB Groups expansion of microfinance operations in the EU (notably Greece).

EIF is looking forward to presenting its very good achievements and future plans under EaSI, the EU Programme for Employment and Social Innovation, a new instrument that it has been managing since June 2015.

For more information about the event, please refer to the website
Speaking ahead of the IMF/World Bank Group meetings in Washington, President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Werner Hoyer commented, "The EIB, as the EUs bank, has a vital role to play in partnership with others in tackling the global challenges facing us today. The worlds challenges are beyond the capacity of any single institution. The EIB seeks partners and is a partner. Alongside other Multilateral Development Banks and National Promotional Banks, we can achieve even more to improve the lives of people around the world.



The EIB delegation to the World Bank Group/IMF Spring Meetings in Washington will join government leaders and officials, international financial institutions and civil society groups in addressing the challenges of climate action, sustainable growth and the current refugee crisis.



He added, Put simply, the EIB is a partner for the public and private sectors in crowding in investment to support economic development. We can catalyse and attract private funds to projects which are in the public - and the global interest. We can help to convert the crucial agreements of 2015 on Climate Change and the Sustainable Development Goals into reality, both in Europe and outside; we can support the international communitys response to the current refugee crisis and the challenge of migration; furthermore we are committed to sharing our experience and expertise to help bridge the global infrastructure gap - as we are doing on an unprecedented scale for example in Europe through the European Fund for Strategic Investments in the context of the Investment Plan for Europe. There is an ongoing shift in the financing of development policies from grants and budget funds to financial instruments, which the EIB strongly supports. This is aimed at maximising impact through the most efficient possible use of public funds as well as the increased mobilisation of public and private investment in order to accelerate the implementation of our Sustainable Development Goals. The EIBs expertise and experience means we are well placed in this respect. But no single bank or institution can do this alone. This is why partnerships with MDBs and public and private sector institutions and companies are so crucial."



Background

The 2016 Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will take place in Washington DC from 15-17 April (USA).

As the EUs bank, the EIB provides long-term finance for sound and sustainable investment projects in support of the EUs policy goals of sustainable economic growth in Europe and beyond. The EIB is owned by the EUs 28 member states. It also makes long-term finance available to support the UNs Sustainable Development Goals and help implement the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

The EIB invests in four priority areas in support of growth and job creation: innovation and skills; access to finance; climate action and the environment; and strategic infrastructure.

As the worlds largest climate financier, the EIB is playing a particularly important role in helping to tackle climate change. Last year, around 27% of all lending went towards climate action. The Bank is committed to raising the proportion of climate investment to 35% in developing countries by 2020, and placing a greater emphasis on helping regions on the front line of climate change to adapt. The EIB is active in 160 countries around the world.

Visit our Tackling Global Challenges Together page for updates on the EIBs agenda, projects, news and videos during the Spring Meetings: www.eib.org/globalcooperation

President Hoyer on the global infrastructure challenge: Video

European Strategic Fund for Investments www.eib.org/efsi

Find out more about the EIBs Climate Strategy here
Ely, Cambridgeshire is best known for its majestic cathedral dubbed the 'Ship of the Fens' because it dominates the flat landscape. The city, which is the second smallest in England, is about 14 miles north-northeast of Cambridge and about 80 miles by road from London.

08:11, 22 OCT 2022
February 24, 2022, the day of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, will go down as a tragic date not only for the Ukrainian people, but also for the whole civilised world.
MHK wants tighter regulation after corporatisation call



Chris Thomas MHK

Corporatised public-sector entities must be properly regulated.

That's the message from a Douglas West MHK - he'll ask the House of Keys to heighten its governance measures before any changes are made to the Isle of Man Post Office structure.

The organisation announced it may become a government-owned company after recommendations made in a report by an independent expert.

Chris Thomas explains why he's put forward leave to introduce a Private Members' Bill to manage the process:

Media

Chris Thomas MHK
Open verdict at inquest of woman found in Manx waters

The Coroner of Inquests has recorded an open verdict after the death of a Polish woman who was found in Manx waters.

33-year-old Joanna Dabrowska's badly decomposed body was pulled from the water on July 5th last year near to Port Jack.

DNA recovered from muscle tissue, and dental records, were used to identify the remains - it's estimated she died between May 27th and June 5th.

The company director had been holidaying in Dublin when she was reported as missing by her landlord - he'd tried to contact her for a week.

Known as "Asha" to her family Miss Dabrowska had left her native country after struggling with the death of a younger sister in a car crash.

She'd moved to Germany, and then on to Switzerland, before arriving in the Irish Republic - the court heard she'd planned to move to the USA and had applied for a visa.

E-mails between Miss Dabrowska and her sister were read to the court which indicated she was acting "out of the ordinary" in the run up to her disappearance - she was also described as "very fragile".

Coroner John Needham told the court that due to a lack of evidence he couldn't determine the cause or place of her death.

Toxicology reports showed no drugs were found in her system with Mr Needham confirming there was no evidence of any criminal activity at this time.
Remand for Peel man accused of importing cocaine

A Peel man who's accused of importing cocaine to the Isle of Man has been remanded in prison.

29-year-old Matthew Prendergast appeared at Douglas Courthouse this morning.

He's been charged with production of the Class A drug and possession of it with intent to supply.

Police arrested him at Ronaldsway Airport at 5.10pm on Saturday after he arrived off a flight from Liverpool - he was subsequently taken to Noble's Hospital.

He produced three packages which had been concealed internally - it's alleged they contained three ounces of the drug with a street value of between 4,200 and 5,880.

The substances have been sent away for forensic testing - an application for bail was refused and he's been remanded at the Isle of Man Prison until his next appearance on April 19th.
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/
Re: End of Expat Assignment Meloncollie and Longboat expressed it perfectly, there is no such thing as coming home. It is in many aspects like moving to another country.



I wish I had known that after we came back for Paris, I was totally unprepared for what hit me during the first few months in Norway. The second time around, after Singapore was easier, but that was mainly because I had been commuting between both countries on a monthly basis and we had kept the flat. And I was 7 months pregnant, I had other things to think about than the lack of chicken rice.



Just keep in mind you'll need about 6 months to get back, be kind to yourself and the family and take it easy. It will get better after a while, the roots just have to take in the new soil.



If you have kids, make sure to have loads of goodbye parties with the friends before leaving, and be prepared to spend some energy helping them making new friends once you're back Stateside. They'll also need help readjusting to "normal" life. Not sure about how your package was, but Junior here will have quite a shock the day we move to a flat we pay the rent on, send him to public school and when I'll start working again...not to mention less travelling and friends that no longer come from everywhere in the world.



If you don't have kids, transpose that to your own network: take time to say goodbye, make sure you keep in touch with the most significant people you've met here, and be prepared to do some cleaning in your US network as well as make new friends over there.



If you don't have a job to get back to, don't fret too much. I freaked out trying to find a job in Norway while still living in Paris, of course I didn't find anything and I was in a complete state of panic when I arrived in July, middle of vacation time there. Had a really tough 2 months, and suddenly at the end of September I had 4 offers to chose from, all of which I had applied from Norway... In other words, focus on the practicalities of moving and wait for the job search until you've unpacked. It will save you some grey hair and worry.



Hope that helps...
Re: How to sell furniture



With Anibis you will be dealing with locals so you need some level of French to answer emails and talk with them.



Then there is a buy and sell group on FB in Switzerland and seems to be quite active in the Swiss French area. Do a search on FB. The group operates in English



You could also sign up for / advertise on



You could also check with the hotel school (EHL) above Lausanne to see if you can advertise on their website for students moving into apts. The same idea with EPFL and UNIL for students and faculty moving in.



A lot of this depends on what you are trying to sell and the quality level. You should not expect any more than 30-40% on the original price if you want to see the stuff. If you have unrealistic expectations, you will be sitting there with a full apt. when the movers come.



Good luck. The most active sales site in the Swiss French area is www.anibis.ch With Anibis you will be dealing with locals so you need some level of French to answer emails and talk with them.Then there is a buy and sell group on FB in Switzerland and seems to be quite active in the Swiss French area. Do a search on FB. The group operates in EnglishYou could also sign up for / advertise on www.glocals.com which has a lot of members in the Geneva-Lausanne area. There you will be dealing in English. Same with EF but not as many members down in this end of the country.You could also check with the hotel school (EHL) above Lausanne to see if you can advertise on their website for students moving into apts. The same idea with EPFL and UNIL for students and faculty moving in.A lot of this depends on what you are trying to sell and the quality level. You should not expect any more than 30-40% on the original price if you want to see the stuff. If you have unrealistic expectations, you will be sitting there with a full apt. when the movers come.Good luck. __________________

Do or do not, there is no try(ing). Yoda
Top vanilla producer Madagascar is experiencing a shortage of the plant due to rising global demand for natural flavorings, potentially leading to a spike in ice cream prices this summer.

What do you think?

I have this six-year-old bottle of extract in my cupboard, if that helps things. Don Buckley, Systems Analyst

Edys can gouge me all they want for that real slow-churned stuff. Chet Baisell, Unemployed

We should be able to get through this. Theres no vanilla in pizza. Eva Landiss, Element Namer
ID01, Tuesday morning. Five young scientists scrutinize the screens in front of them while Marie Ingrid Richard, researcher on the beamline, shows them how to aim the X-ray beam onto a silicon-germanium wafer to map its strain and structure. They are participants of the 26th Hercules school, the Higher European Research Course for Users of Large Experimental Systems, and this is the first of a series of practical sessions at the ESRF.

For most, this is their first visit to a synchrotron. It is very exciting, the practicals give you a different view of the facility compared to the lectures, although both are necessary, explains Alexandra Mannig from ETH Zurich in Switzerland. "The course is as good as I expected it to be after hearing about it from people at Uni", says Tomas Verhallen from TU Delft in The Netherlands. "The lectures are given by professionals and are really well explained".

Two beamlines further around the ring, on ID29, five other HERCULES students are fishing crystals with Daniele de Sanctis, beamline scientist. After this they will try to solve the structure of a protein, following the same steps the users follow when they come here. The atmosphere is relaxed and although the students are only two weeks into their five week course, they already seem to know each other quite well.

On ESRF ID29, from left to right: D. De Sanctis (ESRF), Alejandro Panjkovich, EMBL Hamburg, Chris Yen-Chen Lo, NTHU, TPS, Taiwan, Manuela Denz, Georg August University, Germany, Jacopo Cantela, University of Rome "Sapienza", Italy. Photo: ESRF/M. Capellas. On ESRF ID01, from left to right: Tomas Verhallen, TU Delft, The Netherlands, Alexandra Mannig, ETH, Zurich, Switzerland, Benoit Geslot, CEA Cadarache, Yu-Hsiang Chen, Linkoping University, Sweden, Marie-Ingrid Richard (ESRF). Photo: ESRF/M. Capellas.

Every year since 1991 the HERCULES European school brings together around 80 scientists from all over the world to train them in the use of large instruments by providing a general overview of the techniques and scientific possibilities associated with neutrons and synchrotron radiation. Competition is fierce and only half the applicants obtain a place on the course.

This year, HERCULES includes students from as far away as Russia, South Africa and Taiwan. Some are already studying for their PhDs at a synchrotron, for example Alejandro Panjkovich from DESY in Germany, and Chris Yen-Chen Lo from the NTHU in Taiwan. They have already spotted some differences between their home institutes and the ESRF: "Coffee machines are everywhere around the ring here. It's a great idea, we should really take up on that in Taiwan, says Chris. He adds that the safety measures here are very strict compared to back home. For Alejandro, "DESY is very similar to the ESRF", although the "food here is great by comparison!

On 22th April, the Taiwanwese students received the visit of M.Zhang Ming-Zhong, Ambassador of Taiwan in France. It wa the occasion to present the HERCULEs School in presence of the Director General of the ESRF, Francesco Sette, the President of the COMUE Grenoble, Patrick Levy, the president of the University Grenoble-Alpes, Lise Dumasy, and the Administrator General of Grenoble INP, Brigitte Plateau.

Over the five week course, the students will spread their time between the ESRF, ILL and IBS on the EPN campus, as well as spending one week on another site, either at Soleil and Laboratoire Leon Brillouin in Paris-Saclay, at DESY and the European XFEL in Hamburg, Elettra and Fermi in Trieste, Italy, or PSI in Villigen, Switzerland.



HERCULES is co-organised by Universite Grenoble Alpes and Grenoble Institute of Technology, in partnership with the CNRS (French National Centre for Scientific Research) and the CEA, and the large scale research infrastructures mentioned above.
Younited Italia, Nicola Manzari e il nuovo Coo, Luca Faccini e Head of Growth e Domenico Petraroli e General Counsel
An improvement project in Lothian is boosting uptake of food and vitamin vouchers for low income pregnant women in the area.

The scheme has seen a 13% rise in eligible women receiving vouchers in Lothian compared with an 8% decline for the rest of Scotland.

The full results are published in BMJ Quality Improvement Reports today - an open access forum to help clinicians share improvement ideas.

Healthy Start is a UK wide food and vitamin voucher scheme for low income pregnant women and families. But across the UK, at least 25% of eligible women and children miss out on vouchers, and that figure has remained static for many years.

So a team at NHS Lothian set out to increase uptake receiving vouchers in the area by December 2015. Using an improvement model, they identified ways to improve documentation, sign up, and referral.

Comparing average figures for January-June 2014 and March-August 2015, there was a 13.3% rise in voucher receipt in Lothian (increase from 313 to 355 women), versus an 8.4% decline for the rest of Scotland (fall from 1688 to 1546 women).

The scheme has also increased the number of women referred for welfare rights advice, boosting family budgets by an average of 4,500.

This improvement project "has had a measurable impact on pregnant women across Lothian," conclude the authors. "Our findings have relevance across the UK, particularly at a time of worsening finances for many families," they add.

The team, led by Graham Mackenzie, a Consultant in Public Health, will present their project at the BMJ/IHI International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare next week (12-15 April 2016), in Gothenburg, Sweden.

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Countries are in a 'race to the bottom' to make themselves look as unattractive as possible to migrants

European countries must stop denying migrants their fundamental right to healthcare, argues a doctor in The BMJ today.

Europe is experiencing the largest mass migration of people since the Second World War, according to estimates from the Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Jonathan Clarke, a doctor and Kennedy Scholar at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, says that "many people think that all migrants to Europe have meaningful access to healthcare, but the reality is different."

Earlier this year, Dr Clarke visited six clinics run by the charity Medecins du monde (MdM), also known as Doctors of the World, across Europe as part of his research project. The charity has been caring for Syrian migrants and refugees since the early days of the conflict in Syria.

He says two thirds of the 15,648 migrants attending clinics run by MdM throughout Europe last year had no access to healthcare. And in the UK, four in five (1154 of 1395) migrants had been unable to access a GP.

While the media tends to report that generous healthcare access promotes migration, only 3% of 15,648 migrants were motivated to travel for health reasons. And on average, migrants sought healthcare for the first time 6.5 years after arriving in Europe, and only a tenth with chronic illnesses knew about their condition before migration.

Around 85% of Doctors of the World's patients have experienced violence before, during or after their migration, and a third of asylum seekers have been tortured. Therefore, he says "migrants have considerable healthcare needs that must be recognised and respected by European nations."

But Europe is "taking a series of regressive, harmful political steps" and "states are 'in a race to the bottom' to make themselves look as unattractive as possible to migrants," he warns.

Denmark, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Germany "deprive migrants of their assets before they may access state support", while the Spanish government removed rights to healthcare for undocumented migrants in 2012.

The UK Department of Health is consulting plans to start charging for emergency and primary care for migrants. Dr Clarke says this move would make the NHS one of the most restrictive healthcare systems for undocumented migrants in Europe.

"Increasingly unwell, unhappy, and isolated migrant communities are an almost inevitable consequence of these discriminatory actions," he explains, and calls on "governments [to] seize the opportunity to reverse their recent regressive political course."

"Only then can they honour their humanitarian obligations to provide care to the people in greatest need," he concludes.

Anders Bjorkman, representing Doctors of the World International Network, will speak about delivering healthcare to migrants in Europe at the BMJ / IHI International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare, next week (13 April) in Gothenburg, Sweden.

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Pasadena, CA-- You can never predict what treasure might be hiding in your own basement. We didn't know it a year ago, but it turns out that a 1917 image on an astronomical glass plate from our Carnegie Observatories' collection shows the first-ever evidence of a planetary system beyond our own Sun. This unexpected find was recognized in the process of researching an article about planetary systems surrounding white dwarf stars in New Astronomy Reviews.

Here's what happened: about a year ago, the review's author, Jay Farihi of University College London, contacted our Observatories' Director, John Mulchaey. He was looking for a plate in the Carnegie archive that contained a spectrum of van Maanen's star, a white dwarf discovered by Dutch-American astronomer Adriaan van Maanen in the very year our own plate was made.

Stellar spectra are recordings of the light emitted by distant stars. Spectra spread out all of the component colors of light, like a rainbow from a prism, and they can teach astronomers about a star's chemical composition. They can also tell them how the light emitted by a star is affected by the chemistry of the things it passes through before reaching us on Earth.

Stellar spectra images allowed 19th century astronomers to develop a system for classifying stars that is still used today. Modern astronomers use digital tools to image stars, but for decades, they would use glass photographic plates both to take images of the sky, and to record stellar spectra.

As requested, the Observatories located the 1917 plate, made by former Observatories Director Walter Adams at Mount Wilson Observatory, which was then part of Carnegie. Other than a notation on the plate's sleeve indicating that the star looked a bit warmer than our own Sun, everything seemed very ordinary.

However, when Farihi examined the spectrum, he found something quite extraordinary.

The clue was in what's called an "absorption line" on the spectrum. Absorption lines indicate "missing pieces," areas where the light coming from a star passed through something and had a particular color of light absorbed by that substance. These lines indicate the chemical makeup of the interfering object.

Carnegie's 1917 spectrum of van Maanen's star revealed the presence of heavier elements, such as calcium, magnesium, and iron, which should have long since disappeared into the star's interior due to their weight.

Only within the last 12 years has it become clear to astronomers that van Maanen's star and other white dwarfs with heavy elements in their spectra represent a type of planetary system featuring vast rings of rocky planetary remnants that deposit debris into the stellar atmosphere. These recently discovered systems are called "polluted white dwarfs." They were a surprise to astronomers, because white dwarfs are stars like our own Sun at the end of their lifetimes, so it was not at all expected that they would have leftover planetary material around them at that stage.

"The unexpected realization that this 1917 plate from our archive contains the earliest recorded evidence of a polluted white dwarf system is just incredible," Mulchaey said. "And the fact that it was made by such a prominent astronomer in our history as Walter Adams enhances the excitement."

Planets themselves have not yet been detected orbiting van Maanen's star, nor around similar systems, but Farihi is confident it is only a matter of time.

"The mechanism that creates the rings of planetary debris, and the deposition onto the stellar atmosphere, requires the gravitational influence of full-fledged planets," he explained. "The process couldn't occur unless there were planets there."

"Carnegie has one of the world's largest collections of astronomical plates with an archive that includes about 250,000 plates from three different observatories--Mount Wilson, Palomar, and Las Campanas," concluded Mulchaey. "We have a ton of history sitting in our basement and who knows what other finds we might unearth in the future?"

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The Carnegie Institution for Science (carnegiescience.edu) is a private, nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with six research departments throughout the U.S. Since its founding in 1902, the Carnegie Institution has been a pioneering force in basic scientific research. Carnegie scientists are leaders in plant biology, developmental biology, astronomy, materials science, global ecology, and Earth and planetary science.
DURHAM, N.C. -- Habitat mapping software and satellite imagery can help conservationists predict the movements of endangered species in remote or inaccessible regions and pinpoint areas where conservation efforts should be prioritized, a new Duke University-led case study shows.

The Duke team used the software and images to assess recent forest loss restricting the movement of Peru's critically endangered San Martin titi monkey (Callicebus oenanthe) and identify the 10 percent of remaining forest in the species' range that presents the best opportunity for conservation.

"Using these tools, we were able to work with a local conservation organization to rapidly pinpoint areas where reforestation and conservation have the best chance of success," said Danica Schaffer-Smith, a doctoral student at Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment, who led the study. "Comprehensive on-the-ground assessments would have taken much more time and been cost-prohibitive given the inaccessibility of much of the terrain and the fragmented distribution and rare nature of this species."

The San Martin titi monkey inhabits an area about the size of Connecticut in the lowland forests of north central Peru. It was recently added to the International Union for Conservation of Nature's list of the 25 most endangered primates in the world.

Increased farming, logging, mining and urbanization have fragmented forests across much of the monkey's once-remote native range and contributed to an estimated 80 percent decrease in its population over the last 25 years.

Titi monkeys travel an average of 663 meters a day, primarily moving from branch to branch to search for food, socialize or escape predators. Without well-connected tree canopies, they're less able to survive local threats and disturbances, or recolonize in suitable new habitats. The diminutive species, which typically weighs just two to three pounds at maturity, mate for life and produce at most one offspring a year. Mated pairs are sometimes seen intertwining their long tails when sitting next to each other.

Armed with Aster and Landsat satellite images showing the pace and extent of recent forest loss, and GeoHAT, a downloadable geospatial habitat assessment toolkit developed at Duke, Schaffer-Smith worked with Antonio Boveda-Penalba, program coordinator at the Peruvian NGO Proyecto Mono Tocon, to prioritize where conservation efforts should be focused.

"The images and software, combined with Proyecto Mono Tocon's detailed knowledge of the titi monkey's behaviors and habitats, allowed us to assess which patches and corridors of the remaining forest were the most critical to protect," said Jennifer Swenson, associate professor of the practice of geospatial analysis at Duke, who was part of the research team.

The team's analysis revealed that at least 34 percent of lowland forests in the monkey's northern range, Peru's Alto Mayo Valley, have been lost. It also showed that nearly 95 percent of remaining habitat fragments are likely too small and poorly connected to support viable populations; and less than 8 percent of all remaining suitable habitats lie within existing conservation areas.

Areas the model showed had the highest connectivity comprise just 10 percent of the remaining forest in the northern range, along with small patches elsewhere. These forests present the best opportunities for giving the highly mobile titi monkey the protected paths for movement it needs to survive.

Based on this analysis, the team identified a 10-kilometer corridor between Peru's Morro de Calzada and Almendra conservation areas as a high priority for protection.

"For many rare species threatened by active habitat loss, the clock is literally ticking," Schaffer-Smith said. "Software tools like GeoHAT - or similar software such as CircuitScape - can spell the difference between acting in time to save them or waiting till it's too late."

Schaffer-Smith, Swenson and Boveda-Penalba published their peer-reviewed research March 16 in the journal Environmental Conservation.

GeoHAT is a suite of ArcGIS geoprocessing tools designed to evaluate overall habitat quality and connectivity under changing land-use scenarios. It was developed by John Fay, an instructor in the Geospatial Analysis Program at Duke's Nicholas School, and can be used to assess habitats for a wide range of land-based species. (Learn More: http://sites.duke.edu/johnfay/projects/geohat/)

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CITATION: "Rapid Conservation Assessment for Endangered Species Using Habitat Connectivity Models," Danica Schaffer-Smith, Jennifer J. Swenson, Antonio J. Boveda-Penalba. Environmental Conservation, March 16, 2016, DOI: 10.107/S0376892915000405.
Boulder, Colo., USA - Remote sensing techniques facilitate observations and monitoring of ground displacements. In particular, space-borne Differential Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (DInSAR) allows accurate measurements of ground deformation by properly analyzing multi-temporal satellite acquisitions over the region of interest. However, limitations of DInSAR may arise when large and/or rapid surface deformation occurs, including those caused by active rifting. Understanding the three-dimensional characteristics of the deformation field, as well as its temporal evolution, cannot be accomplished by DInSAR alone.

Accurate spatial and temporal dense information on the displacements is, however, crucial for the correct interpretation of complex geological phenomena. In this paper, Francesco Casu and Andrea Manconi propose an algorithm to retrieve the four-dimensional (i.e., along north, east, up, and time) surface deformation field over zones affected by active rifting.

In the Afar depression system, one of the locations worldwide where active rifting processes can be observed, Casu and Manconi retrieved information in areas where data was not previously recorded. Their method demonstrates its validity in complex situations such as rifting episodes, where the deformation associated to repeated intrusions, faulting, and lithospheric extension might overlap in space and time.

FEATURED ARTICLE

Four-dimensional surface evolution of active rifting from spaceborne SAR data

Francesco Casu, 1 IREA (Istituto per il Rilevamento Elettromagnetico dell'Ambiente), National Research Council, Via Diocleziano 328, 80124 Napoli, Italy; and Andrea Manconi and Dept. of Earth Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, 8902 Zurich, Switzerland. Themed issue: Anatomy of Rifting: Tectonics and Magmatism in Continental Rifts, Oceanic Spreading Centers, and Transforms. This article is OPEN ACCESS online at http://geosphere.gsapubs.org/content/early/2016/04/07/GES01225.1.abstract.

All GEOSPHERE articles are available at http://geosphere.gsapubs.org/. Representatives of the media may obtain complimentary copies of GEOSPHERE articles by contacting Kea Giles at the address above. Please discuss articles of interest with the authors before publishing stories on their work, and please make reference to GEOSPHERE in articles published. Non-media requests for articles may be directed to GSA Sales and Service, gsaservice@geosociety.org.

Other recently published articles are highlighted below:

Implications for the structure of the Hat Creek fault and transfer of right-lateral shear from the Walker Lane north of Lassen Peak, northern California, from gravity and magnetic data

V.E. Langenheim et al., U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA. Themed issue: Origin and Evolution of the Sierra Nevada and Walker Lane. This article is online at http://geosphere.gsapubs.org/content/early/2016/03/25/GES01253.1.abstract.

The region between two of California's major volcanoes, Mount Shasta and Lassen Peak, lies at the junction of several different geologic provinces. In this study, V.E. Langenheim and colleagues investigate the structure of the Hat Creek fault, the region's most prominent fault that is well expressed at Earth's surface. Yet how it projects into the subsurface is not well known. Their investigation shows that it dips steeply to depths where earthquakes nucleate. The spatial relationship of the fault at the surface with respect to micro-earthquakes suggests that deformation is stepping westward with time. The crust is not only being stretched in an east-west direction, but also sheared in a right-lateral sense, similar to deformation associated with the Walker Lane along the east side of the Sierra Nevada. Langenheim and colleagues write that their interpretations limit where Walker Lane right-lateral shear passes to the north of the Hat Creek Fault, indicating that the zone of right-lateral shear either ends abruptly near Mount Lassen, steps west south of the Klamath Mountains, or is geologically young, less than one million years old.

Paleogeographic implications of late Miocene lacustrine and nonmarine evaporite deposits in the Lake Mead region: Immediate precursors to the Colorado River

James E. Faulds et al., Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada 89557, USA. Themed issue: CRevolution 2: Origin and Evolution of the Colorado River System II. This article is online at http://geosphere.gsapubs.org/content/early/2016/04/07/GES01143.1.abstract.

This paper describes sedimentary deposits that accumulated in basins across the Lake Mead region in southern Nevada and northwestern Arizona immediately prior to development of the Colorado River. These deposits record the paleogeographic evolution of an important time period in the region from ca. 12 to 5 million years ago, including a sequence of events that ultimately led to development of the Colorado River. The deposits include thick sections (up to 2.5 km thick) of halite that formed in non-marine playas and limestone that accumulated in the lakes. The distribution and similar age of the limestone and evaporite deposits suggest a system of axial lakes near the future course of the Colorado River and extensive continental playas and salt pans in deeper satellite basins to both the north and south. The elevated terrain of the nearby Colorado Plateau was probably a major source of groundwater and possibly some surface water that fed the lakes and playas. Other basins farther south along the Colorado River may contain similar deposits. The Colorado River arrived in the Lake Mead region ca. 5.3-4.9 million years ago and may have initially emptied into the Las Vegas basin prior to spilling over into basins to the south along its present course.

Reevaluation of the Crooked Ridge River--Early Pleistocene (ca. 2 Ma) age and origin of the White Mesa alluvium, northeastern Arizona

Richard Hereford et al., U.S. Geological Survey, 2255 N. Gemini Drive, Flagstaff, Arizona 86001, USA. Themed issue: CRevolution 2: Origin and Evolution of the Colorado River System II. This article is online at http://geosphere.gsapubs.org/content/early/2016/04/07/GES01124.1.abstract.

The essential features of the previously named and described Crooked Ridge River in northeastern Arizona (USA) are reexamined with new geologic and geochronologic data. Cenozoic alluvium at Crooked Ridge and White Mesa was proposed to be the product of a large, vigorous river draining the 35-23 million years old (Ma) San Juan Mountains volcanic field. The paleoriver was thought to be important in the early pre-Miocene evolution of the Grand Canyon. The results presented here by Richard Hereford and colleagues show that alluvial deposits of the ancient river (the White Mesa alluvium) accumulated in several low energy suspended sediment channel systems and that the drainage basin consisted mainly of Cretaceous bedrock. Dating detrital sanidine grains using the 40Ar/39Ar method demonstrates the alluvium is younger than about 2 Ma. Inset geomorphic relations show that the alluvium is older than the 1.2-0.8 Ma Bishop-Glass Mountain tuff. This young age of the alluvium is evidence of an unexpectedly young erosional history for northeast Arizona. The volume of eroded Cretaceous bedrock exceeds 3,000 cubic kilometers. Substantially more bedrock was removed to reach the present elevation of the Colorado and San Juan rivers.

Volcanic field elongation, vent distribution, and tectonic evolution of a continental rift: The Main Ethiopian Rift example

Francesco Mazzarini et al., Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Via della Faggiola 32, 56126 Pisa, Italy. Themed issue: Anatomy of Rifting: Tectonics and Magmatism in Continental Rifts, Oceanic Spreading Centers, and Transforms. This article is online at http://geosphere.gsapubs.org/content/early/2016/04/07/GES01193.1.abstract.

Are volcanoes distributed randomly? Does volcanic vent pattern in volcanic fields reflect crustal and or lithospheric scale controls? To answer these questions, Francesco Mazzarini and colleagues studied the spatial distribution of volcanoes in a well-defined geotectonic setting: the Main Ethiopian Rift. Their new approach allows them to recognize different mechanisms acting at different spatial scales that rule the volcanoes distribution. The overall shape of volcanic fields reflects the deep control of magma storage by large lithospheric structures and geometries. On the other hand, inner structures of volcanic fields are controlled by crustal states of stress and strain. These methods can be successfully applied for studies in remote areas or planets where volcanism occurs.

Carboniferous basin in Holm Land records local exhumation of the North-East Greenland Caledonides: Implications for the detrital zircon signature of a collisional orogen

William C. McClelland et al., Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA. This article is online at http://geosphere.gsapubs.org/content/early/2016/04/07/GES01284.1.abstract.

Carboniferous strata of the Wandel Sea basin, North-East Greenland, provide a record of unroofing of continental crust that was deeply subducted during collision of Eurasia and North America approximately 400 million years ago. The northernmost remnants of the metamorphic basement exposed in Holm Land give a U/Pb zircon age demonstrating that the crust formed as part of a 1.8 to 2.0 billion year old magmatic arc complex. The crust includes lenses of high-pressure metamorphic rock known as eclogite that formed at 423 plus or minus seven million years, thus documenting the northern extent of the North-East Greenland eclogite province during the Caledonian collision. U/Pb ages of detrital zircon from sandstones of the Sortebakker and Kap Jungersen Formations match the igneous and metamorphic ages observed in the depositionally underlying crystalline basement, reflecting a local provenance sourced in the North-East Greenland eclogite province. Other Devonian and Carboniferous basins within and peripheral to the Caledonides in Greenland and Scandinavia also show distinct signatures, demonstrating that there is not a simple, representative detrital zircon signature for the Caledonian orogen.

Detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology and Hf isotope geochemistry of the Roberts Mountains allochthon: New insights into the early Paleozoic tectonics of western North America

Gwen M. Linde et al., Dept. of Geological Sciences and Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada 89557-0172, USA. This article is online at http://geosphere.gsapubs.org/content/early/2016/04/07/GES01252.1.abstract.

This study examines the sedimentary rocks of the Roberts Mountains allochthon (RMA) of north-central Nevada. The RMA is a package of rocks that geologists believe were emplaced onto the western margin of North America in Late Devonian-Early Mississippian time. The origin of these rocks has long been controversial; geologists have theorized that the rocks came from as far away as the ancient continents of Baltica or Gondwana. The RMA rocks are of great interest, as they are closely related to the rich gold-bearing strata of Nevada. The researchers analyzed the zircon grains in these rocks, and determined both the uranium-lead ages and the hafnium isotope ratios. Using these data, the researchers discovered the provenance of the sandstones. The RMA strata are from two distinct regions, neither of them exotic to North America. The Ordovician lower Vinini Formation originated in the central continent, while the remainder of the strata, from Ordovician to Devonian in age, originated near the Peace River Arch of western Canada. The researchers proposed a tectonic evolutionary history for the RMA rocks wherein the rocks were deposited from Ordovician through Devonian time and subsequently transported south along the western margin of North America by a transform fault system, and then emplaced onto the continent.

How diking affects the tectonomagmatic evolution of slow spreading plate boundaries: Overview and model

Valerio Acocella and Daniele Trippanera, Dipartimento Scienze, Universita Roma Tre, L. S.L. Murialdo, 1, 00146 Roma, Italy. This article is online http://geosphere.gsapubs.org/content/early/2016/03/25/GES01271.1.abstract.

This article summarizes the state of our knowledge on how divergence may occur along oceanic and continental plate boundaries. Based on this, it proposes an original model stressing the importance of magmatic intrusions (dikes) in achieving such a divergence. This implies that non-magmatic processes may have a subordinate role in rifting plate boundaries.

http://www.geosociety.org/

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Contact:

Kea Giles

1-303-357-1057

kgiles@geosociety.org
WASHINGTON (April 12, 2016) -- A review article published today in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal discusses testosterone therapy for transgender men (female to male), outlining desired and undesired effects, potential risks, and additional benefits. The review also revealed a lack of research in this field, calling for more data.

"My review looks at published literature on testosterone therapy in transgender men -- principally from the last 15 years," said Michael S. Irwig, M.D., associate professor of medicine at the George Washington University (GW) School of Medicine and Health Sciences and director of the Andrology Center at the GW Medical Faculty Associates, who authored the article. "Overall, testosterone therapy appears to be quite safe in the short term."

Testosterone therapy is prescribed for transgender men in order to obtain male secondary sexual characteristics, to improve well-being, and to decrease gender dysphoria. Within several months of starting testosterone therapy, transgender men begin to notice many desired effects such as increased facial and body hair, increased lean mass and strength, decreased fat mass, a deeper voice, increased sexual desire, cessation of menses, clitoral enlargement, and lower rates of gender dysphoria, perceived stress, anxiety, and depression, according to the review. The review also found that an additional benefit of testosterone therapy (with or without mastectomy) is a reduction in the risk of breast cancer.

However, potential undesired effects and risks were found to include acne, alopecia, lower HDL cholesterol, higher triglycerides, and a possible increase in systolic blood pressure.

The review looked at articles published in English and Spanish from January 2000 to May 2015 about testosterone therapy in transgender men and other populations for comparisons. A select number of older publications were also included. In the article, Irwig discusses a major limitation in the field being a lack of high-quality data. He cites that difficulties in obtaining this data stem from a lack of randomized controlled trials due to ethical issues, suboptimal control groups, loss to follow-up, difficulties in recruiting representative samples, few prospective studies, and few long-term studies. Because of this, long-term consequences of the therapy are somewhat unknown.

"Given that transgender medicine is a relatively new field, research is desperately needed, especially larger and longer studies looking at diverse populations," said Irwig. "Only with this research can we be sure we are providing the best care possible to our transgender patients."

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"Testosterone Therapy in Transgender Men," published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal on April 12, is available at http://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8587(16)00036-X/abstract.

Media: To interview Dr. Irwig, please contact Lisa Anderson at lisama2@gwu.edu or 202-994-3121.

About the School of Medicine and Health Sciences:

Founded in 1824, the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) was the first medical school in the nation's capital and is the 11th oldest in the country. Working together in our nation's capital, with integrity and resolve, the GW SMHS is committed to improving the health and well-being of our local, national and global communities. smhs.gwu.edu
Cloud-based security providers commonly use DNS redirection to protect customers' websites. The success of this strategy depends on shielding the website's original IP address. Computer scientists from KU Leuven, Belgium, and digital research centre iMinds have now revealed that the IP address can be retrieved in more than 70% of the cases. This means that the DNS redirection security mechanism can easily be bypassed.

Websites and online services increasingly have to deal with acts of cybercrime such as 'distributed denial-of-service' (DDoS) attacks: the site or service is deliberately bombarded with huge numbers of malicious communication requests from different computers so that it collapses.

"Website owners can protect themselves against cyberattacks by installing dedicated hardware," says Thomas Vissers from the KU Leuven Department of Computer Science and iMinds. "Yet, this is typically too expensive and too complex for most of them. That's why website owners often rely on the services offered by cloud-based security providers. One strategy these providers commonly use to protect websites includes diverting incoming web traffic via their own infrastructure, which is sufficiently robust to detect and absorb cyberattacks. However, the success of this strategy heavily depends on how well the website's original IP address can be shielded. If that IP address can be retrieved, protection mechanisms can easily be bypassed."

According to the researchers, this is the Achilles heel of cloud-based security. Therefore, they set up the first large-scale research effort in this domain and actively explored vulnerabilities in the DNS redirection strategy that is used by many cloud-based security providers to intercept web traffic.

Nearly 18,000 websites, protected by five different providers, were subjected to the team's DNS redirection vulnerability tests. To this end, the researchers built a tool called CLOUDPIERCER, which automatically tries to retrieve websites' original IP address based on eight different methods, including the use of unprotected subdomains.

"Previous studies had already described a number of strategies that can be used to retrieve a website's original IP address. We came up with a number of additional methods. We were also the first to measure and verify the exact impact of these strategies on a larger scale," says Thomas Vissers.

"The results were pretty confronting: in more than 70% of the cases, CLOUDPIERCER was able to effectively retrieve the website's original IP address, thereby providing the exact info that is needed to launch a successful cyberattack. This clearly shows that the DNS redirection strategy still has some serious shortcomings."

The researchers have already shared their results with the cloud-based security providers under consideration, allowing them to respond properly to the risk that their customers are still running.

However, the researchers also want to inform the general public - and, more specifically, website owners - about the shortcomings of the popular DNS redirection strategy. That is why they've made CLOUDPIERCER available for free.

"With CLOUDPIERCER, people can test their own website against the eight methods that we have used in our research. CLOUDPIERCER scans the website, and indicates to which IP detection method it is most vulnerable," concludes Thomas Vissers.

When websites use DNS redirection as a defence mechanism against cyberattacks, two simple measures can be taken to prevent the original IP address from being retrieved. One option is adjusting the website's firewall settings to only allow web traffic from the cloud-based security provider. Alternatively, the IP address of the website can be changed once the contract with the cloud-based security provider is initiated.

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The New Jersey Black Mayors Alliance for Social Justice (NJ-BMASJ), along with top-ranking school officials and administrators, met on April 7 at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) to establish a statewide partnership and dialogue between their municipalities and schools to prepare students for education and work in the digital environment of the 21st century.

The event, "Digital Learning, Revolutionizing Traditional Education," engaged the participants in a new partnership with the Future Ready Schools-New Jersey (FRS-NJ) program designed to promote digital learning throughout the state's elementary and secondary public schools. The FRS-NJ program will be housed in the Collaborative for Leadership, Education and Assessment Research (CLEAR) at NJIT under the leadership of Dr. James Lipuma and Dr. Bruce Bukiet. Bukiet, associate professor in NJIT's Department of Mathematical Sciences and associate dean of the College of Science and Liberal Arts, moderated the event and commenced the day with opening remarks from NJIT President Joel S. Bloom.

President Bloom cited the exceptional professional opportunities available to all young men and women who earn a degree in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, with the majority of 2015 STEM graduates having multiple, high-paying job offers. As New Jersey's public polytechnic university, Bloom went on to say that the number of NJIT students from the communities represented at the meeting should be even greater. But the challenge, he added, is to create an effective partnership for encouraging students to pursue STEM careers and providing the resources at the elementary and secondary levels, including the digital resources, essential for preparing students for the rigorous academic requirements of STEM degrees.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, chair of the NJ-BMASJ, commended NJIT for the outreach and pre-college programs that have increased the number of his city's residents at NJIT. He also said that this effort in Newark aligns with the goals of the NJ-BMASJ to promote social justice and opportunity throughout New Jersey. Accordingly, he described the FRS-NJ initiative as an "incredibly important" component of improving elementary and secondary education so that students can succeed in rigorous STEM studies in college. "It's vital that we improve the preparation of students at every level in our communities," he said.

Newark Superintendent of Schools Chris Cerf cited the strides that the city had made toward such improvement, particularly with the opening of the new Central High School and Science Park High School. "Nonetheless, we are on the cusp of much greater change, with the digital revolution that has already transformed fields such as medicine and engineering offering the potential for equally great transformation in education," he said.

The NJ-BMASJ, in partnering with NJIT, the state Department of Education and the New Jersey School Boards Association, convened the leadership from municipalities and schools to discuss the digital opportunities and challenges and to help launch the FRS-NJ program. The NJ-BMASJ mayors hope that school districts in their communities will be the first to be recognized by the state and nationally for completing a comprehensive self-assessment of their "digital readiness" with input from administrators, teachers, students and parents.

FRS-NJ will provide guidance and resources to school administrators, school board members and other school leaders, helping them identify gaps in districts' preparedness for digital learning, then directing them to resources that can help address those gaps. FRS-NJ is modeled after the successful Sustainable Jersey for Schools program, and aligned with the national Future Ready Schools program.

In Cerf's estimation, every student can thus engage with the best teachers in every subject, and do so in an effective interactive manner. Students are already deeply and enthusiastically engaged with the digital world outside of the classroom, he said. Bringing this engagement into the classroom not only promises to improve the quality of instruction but enthusiasm for learning as well.

The potential and enthusiasm that Cerf mentioned was evident in the demonstration of VoiceThread that those attending shared with a group of 11th-grade students using the collaborative learning software in a classroom in another NJIT building. VoiceThread integrates multimedia content with face-to-face interaction between teachers and students, and very personally on April 7 with the NJ-BMASJ representatives present from the students' communities.

The program also included a presentation of national, state and local perspectives on digital readiness that highlighted requirements and strategies for moving ahead toward digital goals in education. The overview was given by Sara White Hall, vice president for policy and advocacy digital learning for the Washington D.C.-based Alliance for Excellent Education; Laurence Cocco, director of the New Jersey Department of Education Office of Educational Technology; and Patrice Maillet, director for business development and director of the Educational Leadership Foundation of New Jersey and the New Jersey School Boards Association.

To close the meeting, Angela Garretson, director for policy and partnerships in the NJIT president's office and mayor of Hillside Township, presented an FRS-NJ digital-learning pledge. Acknowledging the challenges of providing the highest-quality education for every student in the communities represented by the NJ-BMASJ members, Garretson said that the pledge signifies a commitment to clear self-assessment of community digital-learning needs, and to initiating collaboration for achieving improved student outcomes statewide. In the concluding words of the pledge, the commitment to FRS-NJ participation is a "focal point for our collective efforts to lead our communities to a better tomorrow."

In addition to mayors, superintendents and students from the City of Newark and Hillside, those attending included Mayor Derek Armstead of Linden, Mayor Dwayne D. Warren of Orange, Mayor Tony Vauss of Irvington, Mayor Andre C. Daniel of Westhampton, and Mayor Nat Anderson from Willingboro, as well as board members and administrators from East Orange, Orange, and Linden.

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Visit http://csla.njit.edu/clear/ for more about the presentations.

About NJIT

One of the nation's leading public technological universities, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) is a top-tier research university that prepares students to become leaders in the technology-dependent economy of the 21st century. NJIT's multidisciplinary curriculum and computing-intensive approach to education provide technological proficiency, business acumen and leadership skills. With an enrollment of 11,300 graduate and undergraduate students, NJIT offers small-campus intimacy with the resources of a major public research university. NJIT is a global leader in such fields as solar research, nanotechnology, resilient design, tissue engineering and cybersecurity, in addition to others. NJIT ranks fifth among U.S. polytechnic universities in research expenditures, topping $110 million, and is among the top 1 percent of public colleges and universities in return on educational investment, according to Payscale.com. NJIT has a $1.74 billion annual economic impact on the state of New Jersey.
Powerful thunderstorms circled the low-level center of newborn Tropical Cyclone Fantana in infrared imagery from NASA's Aqua satellite.

At 1800 GMT (2 p.m. EDT) on April 11, Tropical Cyclone Fantala formed from System 99S near 13.0 degrees south and 71.2 degrees east in the Southern Indian Ocean. It was 354 nautical miles southeast of Diego Garcia.

At 0900 UTC (5 a.m. EDT) on April 12 Fantala's maximum sustained winds increased to 60 knots (69 mph/111 kph) and it is expected to continue strengthening for the next three days. Fantala was centered near 13.3 degrees south latitude and 69.7 degrees east longitude, about 407 nautical miles south-southwest of Diego Garcia. Fantala was moving to the west at 8 knots (9.2 mph/14.8 kph).

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center noted that animated multispectral imagery showed a developing 15 nautical-mile-wide (17.2 miles/27.7 km) eye. The bulk of the strongest storms were seen in the western quadrant of the storm

At 0915 UTC (5:15 a.m. EDT) the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite gathered infrared temperature data on the clouds within the storm. MODIS found powerful thunderstorms with very cold cloud tops near minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 62.2 Celsius).

Fantala is intensifying rapidly as it moves west toward Madagascar. The storm is expected to peak at 120 knots (138 mph/222 kph) after three days.

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ARLINGTON, Va.--Lookouts on the bridge of the USS Michael Murphy (DDG-112) scanned the surrounding ocean. All seemed well--clear skies, peaceful waters, busy merchant ship traffic.

Suddenly, a swarm of small fast-attack boats buzzed toward the destroyer. Within moments, a machine gunner shot withering streams of 50-caliber bullets at the approaching enemies, forcing their retreat.

This wasn't a real attack on an American ship, but a tribute to the realism of the Fleet Integrated Synthetic Training/Testing Facility (FIST2FAC)--which develops, tests and demonstrates simulator training technology blending live-action exercises with virtual assets and adversaries.

"This is the future of training for the Navy," said Dr. Terry Allard, head of the Warfighter Performance Department at the Office of Naval Research (ONR). "With simulation, you can explore endless possibilities without the expense and logistical challenges of putting hundreds of ships at sea and aircraft in the sky."

Recently, ONR--with support from members of its Reserve Component--demonstrated new and improved training technology at FIST2FAC, located on Ford Island, Hawaii. FIST2FAC combines a hassle-free setup, software and gaming technology to help naval forces develop strategies for diverse missions and operations. It allows Sailors to interact with artificially intelligent forces in countless virtual settings--and train for multiple missions simultaneously. The system can replicate situations involving aircraft carriers, helicopters (in this case, a squadron from Marine Corps Base Hawaii), lethal and nonlethal weapons, and more.

"FIST2FAC was created in response to an urgent need for a more portable way for ships to train in any given operating area," said Glenn White, ONR's integration and transition manager for the project. "It allows Sailors to 'train like they fight' by presenting realistic forces in a visual, tactical and operational environment."

During the demonstration on Ford Island, Sailors manning a virtual ship were pitted against several fast-attack craft in waters crowded with merchant traffic. They quickly determined the boats to be hostile and engaged them with machine-gun fire from both the ship and a virtual helicopter.

FIST2FAC, which was developed with support from the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Keyport Division, has demonstrated simulator technology since 2010. The latest event showcased improved capabilities and new enhancements to FIST2FAC training simulators:

-- The bridge of the USS Michael Murphy, docked at nearby Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, was equipped with an array of computer screens and big-screen television monitors--allowing it to engage in virtual combat scenarios while maintaining contact with Ford Island. -- Sailors operating the 50-caliber machine gun on the ship wore augmented-reality glasses, enabling them to see virtual enemy combatants within a live physical setting. -- Participants on Ford Island and the destroyer experienced degraded radar, video streaming and communications, mirroring the effects of an enemy jamming communication signals. -- A virtual adversary vocally hailed the participants, speaking in a foreign language as well as broken English.

White said the technology demonstrated at FIST2FAC is a valuable tool for the Navy for two main reasons--savings and security.

The software is reusable and can be modified for different environments. By comparison, it costs about $250,000 just to get an aircraft carrier out for live training--and approximately $6 million to fuel a strike group for a week. A live event lasting six to 10 hours may cost a million dollars.

The ability to recreate so many combat scenarios anywhere also is useful in training for any challenge a ship might face worldwide--from vessel maintenance to landing a fighter jet to navigating hostile waters.

Currently, FIST2FAC is shore based, but one day White wants to make the capabilities developed there available to ships at sea. "The ultimate goal is to wrap a destroyer in an augmented world where everyone throughout the ship can see virtual vessels, aircraft and adversaries and train to respond appropriately."

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COLUMBUS, Ohio - There are six components to an apology - and the more of them you include when you say you're sorry, the more effective your apology will be, according to new research.

But if you're pressed for time or space, there are two elements that are the most critical to having your apology accepted.

"Apologies really do work, but you should make sure you hit as many of the six key components as possible," said Roy Lewicki, lead author of the study and professor emeritus of management and human resources at The Ohio State University's Fisher College of Business.

In two separate experiments, Lewicki and his co-authors tested how 755 people reacted to apologies containing anywhere from one to all six of these elements:

1. Expression of regret 2. Explanation of what went wrong 3. Acknowledgment of responsibility 4. Declaration of repentance 5. Offer of repair 6. Request for forgiveness

The research is published in the May 2016 issue of the journal Negotiation and Conflict Management Research. Lewicki's co-authors were Robert Lount, associate professor of management and human resources at Ohio State, and Beth Polin of Eastern Kentucky University.

While the best apologies contained all six elements, not all of these components are equal, the study found.

"Our findings showed that the most important component is an acknowledgement of responsibility. Say it is your fault, that you made a mistake," Lewicki said.

The second most important element was an offer of repair.

"One concern about apologies is that talk is cheap. But by saying, 'I'll fix what is wrong,' you're committing to take action to undo the damage," he said.

The next three elements were essentially tied for third in effectiveness: expression of regret, explanation of what went wrong and declaration of repentance.

The least effective element of an apology is a request for forgiveness. "That's the one you can leave out if you have to," Lewicki said.

The first study involved 333 adults recruited online through Amazon's MTURK program. All the participants read a scenario in which they were the manager of an accounting department that was hiring a new employee.

At a previous job, the potential employee had filed an incorrect tax return that understated a client's capital gains income. When confronted about the issue, the job candidate apologized.

The participants were told that the apology contained one, three or all six of the apology components. They were then asked to rate on a scale of 1 (not at all) to 5 (very) how effective, credible and adequate the apology statement would be.

The second study included 422 undergraduate students. The students read the same scenario as in the first study, but instead of being told which components the apology contained, they read an actual apology that included anywhere from one to six statements based on the six elements. For example, for acknowledgment of responsibility, the apology statement read "I was wrong in what I did, and I accepted responsibility for my actions."

They again rated how effective, credible and adequate the apology statement would be.

The results of the two studies were not identical, but they were very similar, Lewicki said. For both studies, the more elements that the apology contained, the more effective it was rated.

When the elements were evaluated one at a time, there was general consistency in the importance of the components across the two studies, with slight variations. But in both studies, the request for forgiveness was seen as least important.

In both studies, half the respondents were told the job applicant's incorrect tax return was related to competence: He was not knowledgeable in all relevant tax codes. The other half were told it was related to integrity: He knowingly filed the tax return incorrectly.

The value of each of the six components was the same whether the apology was related to failures of competence or integrity. But overall, participants were less likely to accept apologies when the job applicant showed a lack of integrity versus a lack of competence.

Lewicki noted that, in this work, participants simply read apology statements. But the emotion and voice inflection of a spoken apology may have powerful effects, as well.

"Clearly, things like eye contact and appropriate expression of sincerity are important when you give a face-to-face apology," he said.

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Contact: Roy Lewicki, Lewicki.1@osu.edu

Written by Jeff Grabmeier, 614-292-8457; Grabmeier.1@osu.edu
A mobile-phone-based system for rabies surveillance in Tanzania is demonstrating huge potential for mobile technologies to improve public health service delivery, especially in resource-poor settings, according to a new article in PLOS Medicine by Katie Hampson from the University of Glasgow, UK, and colleagues.

The article describes the implementation and evaluation of a large-scale surveillance system for rabies in southern Tanzania. Rabies is a fatal disease that kills thousands of people every year in low and middle income countries, where it is primarily spread by domestic dogs. Following a bite, human rabies deaths can be prevented through prompt administration of a course of vaccinations administered over several weeks, together with antibody administration for high-risk exposures. More proactively, the risk of exposure can be reduced and the disease ultimately eliminated through well-implemented mass vaccination programmes for dogs. However, coordinating these activities requires disease surveillance that can be a challenge in resource-limited settings.

Since 2011, the researchers have been monitoring a cross-sector mobile phone-based (mHealth) system that they developed and implemented for rabies surveillance across southern Tanzania. The system was used to report real-time instances of rabid animal bites on humans, as well as human and animal rabies vaccination use. It is currently used by more than 300 frontline health and veterinary workers in a 150k square km area with more than 10 million inhabitants.

The authors note, "[t]he system has facilitated ongoing data collection across large programmatic scales, greatly improving data quality, timeliness, completeness, and cost-effectiveness. The resulting surveillance is being used to evaluate the impacts of ongoing rabies control activities and improve their management, directly informed by the experiences of frontline users. As a result, the system has become an integrated, popular, and valuable tool within the health and veterinary sectors in southern Tanzania."

The overarching research project won the 2016 Guardian University Award in the International Projects category.

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Health in Action

Funding:

This study was funded by the UBS Optimus Foundation and the Wellcome Trust (082715/B/07/Z and 095787/Z/11/Z to KH) and the Research and Policy for Infectious Disease Dynamics Program of the Science and Technology Directorate, Department of Homeland Security, Fogarty International Centre, National Institute of Health. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing Interests:

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Citation:

Mtema Z, Changalucha J, Cleaveland S, Elias M, Ferguson HM, Halliday JEB, et al. (2016) Mobile Phones As Surveillance Tools: Implementing and Evaluating a Large-Scale Intersectoral Surveillance System for Rabies in Tanzania. PLoS Med 13(4): e1002002. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1002002

Author Affiliations:

Ifakara Health Institute, Ifakara, Morogoro, Tanzania

Boyd Orr Centre for Population and Ecosystem Health, Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom

School of Computing Science, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom

Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Sokoine University of Agriculture, Department of Preventative Veterinary Medicine, Morogoro, Tanzania

Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Department of Vector Biology, Liverpool, United Kingdom

Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

World Health Organization, Country Office, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

IN YOUR COVERAGE PLEASE USE THIS URL TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE FREELY AVAILABLE PAPER:

http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002002

Contact:

Katie Hampson

University of Glasgow

Boyd Orr Centre for Population and Ecosystem Health

Graham Kerr Building

Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences

Glasgow, G12 8QQ

UNITED KINGDOM

44-141-330-4433

katie.hampson@glasgow.ac.uk
Around half of all heterosexual men and women potentially carry so-called homosexuality genes that are passed on from one generation to the next. This has helped homosexuality to be present among humans throughout history and in all cultures, even though homosexual men normally do not have many descendants who can directly inherit their genes. This idea is reported by Giorgi Chaladze of the Ilia State University in Georgia, and published in Springer's journal Archives of Sexual Behavior. Chaladze used a computational model that, among others, includes aspects of heredity and the tendency of homosexual men to come from larger families.

According to previous research, sexual orientation is influenced to a degree by genetic factors and is therefore heritable. Chaladze says this poses a problem from an evolutionary perspective, because homosexual men tend not to have many offspring to whom they can provide their genetic material. In fact, they have on average five times fewer children than their heterosexual counterparts.

Chaladze used an individual-based genetic model to explain the stable, yet persistent, occurrence of homosexuality within larger populations. He took into account findings from recent studies that show that homosexual men tend to come from larger families. These suggest that the genes responsible for homosexuality in men increase fecundity (the actual number of children someone has) among their female family members, who also carry the genes. Other reports also suggest that many heterosexual men are carriers of the genes that could predispose someone to homosexuality.

Based on Chaladze's calculations, male homosexuality is maintained in a population at low and stable frequencies if half of the men and roughly more than half of the women carry genes that predispose men to homosexuality.

"The trend of female family members of homosexual men to have more offspring can help explain the persistence of homosexuality, if we also consider that those males who have such genes are not always homosexuals," says Chaladze.

The possibility that many heterosexual men are carriers can also explain why estimates of the number of men who have reported any same-sex sexual behavior and same-sex sexual attraction are much higher than estimates of those who self-identify as homosexual or bisexual. According to Chaladze, non-homosexual male carriers might sometimes manifest interest in homosexual behavior without having a homosexual identity.

The possibility that a large percentage of heterosexual people are carriers of genetic material predisposing to homosexuality has implications for genomic studies. Researchers should therefore consider including participants who do not have homosexual relatives in such studies.

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Reference: Chaladze, G. (2016). Heterosexual Male Carriers Could Explain Persistence of Homosexuality in Men: Individual-Based Simulations of an X-Linked Inheritance Model, Archives of Sexual Behavior. DOI 10.1007/s10508-016-0742-2
Lung ultrasound has been shown to be highly effective and safe for diagnosing pneumonia in children and a potential substitute for chest X-ray, according to a study conducted at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Results are currently published in the medical journal Chest.

To watch study author discuss this research, click this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd-26HdJP6I

Pneumonia is the leading cause of death in children worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Symptoms include fever, cough, and rapid breathing. Chest X-ray is considered the test of choice for diagnosing pneumonia in children, but the WHO estimates three-quarters of the world's population does not have access to radiography.

Investigators conducted a randomized controlled trial in the pediatric Emergency Department at The Mount Sinai Hospital comparing lung ultrasound to chest X-ray in 191 children from birth to 21 years of age. The patients were randomly assigned into an investigational arm (received a lung ultrasound and if the physician needed additional verification, a chest X-ray) and a control arm (received a chest X-ray followed by a lung ultrasound). Researchers found a 38.8 percent reduction in chest X-rays in the investigational arm compared to no reduction in the control arm, with no missed pneumonia cases and no increase in any other adverse events.

The research team was led by James Tsung, MD, MPH, Associate Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine and Department of Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and former clinical fellow Brittany Pardue Jones, MD, who's currently Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

"Ultrasound is portable, cost-saving and safer for children than an X-ray because it does not expose them to radiation," says Dr. Tsung. "Our study could have a profound impact in the developing world where access to radiography is limited."

Furthermore, the reduction in chest X-rays in the investigational arm resulted in an overall cost savings of $9,200, and length of stay in the Emergency Department was decreased by 26 minutes.

"In the era of precision medicine, lung ultrasound may also be an ideal imaging option in children who are at higher risk for radiation-induced cancers or have received multiple radiographic or CT imaging studies," says Dr. Tsung.

As more and more handheld ultrasound machines come to market, these results suggest that lung ultrasound has the potential to become the preferred choice for the diagnosis of pneumonia in children. Further research is needed to investigate the impact of lung ultrasound on antibiotic use and stewardship.

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About the Mount Sinai Health System

The Mount Sinai Health System is an integrated health system committed to providing distinguished care, conducting transformative research, and advancing biomedical education. Structured around seven hospital campuses and a single medical school, the Health System has an extensive ambulatory network and a range of inpatient and outpatient services--from community-based facilities to tertiary and quaternary care.

The System includes approximately 6,100 primary and specialty care physicians; 12 joint-venture ambulatory surgery centers; more than 140 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and 31 affiliated community health centers. Physicians are affiliated with the renowned Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, which is ranked among the highest in the nation in National Institutes of Health funding per investigator. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked as one of the nation's top 10 hospitals in Geriatrics, Cardiology/Heart Surgery, and Gastroenterology, and is in the top 25 in five other specialties in the 2014-2015 "Best Hospitals" issue of U.S. News & World Report. Mount Sinai's Kravis Children's Hospital also is ranked in seven out of ten pediatric specialties by U.S. News & World Report. The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked 11th nationally for Ophthalmology, while Mount Sinai Beth Israel is ranked regionally.

For more information, visit http://www.mountsinai.org/, or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have received a five-year, $9.5-million award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to establish an interdisciplinary center to define the systems biology of antibiotic resistance. The program will be led by Bernhard Palsson, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Bioengineering and Pediatrics, and Victor Nizet, MD, professor of pediatrics and pharmacy.

Bacteria that no longer reliably respond to antibiotic therapy, so-called "superbugs," pose one of the greatest threats in modern medicine. Superbugs, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Clostridium difficile (C. diff), and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), often strike hospitalized patients, the elderly or those with weakened immune systems or chronic medical conditions. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that at least 2 million Americans become infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria and at least 23,000 people die each year as a direct result of these infections.

"I worry that approaches currently used in the clinic to evaluate antibiotic activity are antiquated and simplistic, and address the drug's action only on bacteria growing in artificial laboratory media without attention to the human immune system," Nizet said. "Our research has shown that certain antibiotics can synergize with the natural defenses of our immune system to clear infections in a way that wouldn't have been predicted by current testing paradigms."

Palsson is a leader in the emerging field of systems biology, which explores the complexity of living systems -- from the genome to the entire organism -- using experimental and computational methods. Concerned by the exploding problem of drug-resistant bacterial pathogens, Palsson reached out to Nizet, a physician-scientist, to explore whether systems-level approaches could be coupled with experimental models of antibiotic drugs, living bacterial pathogens, human immune cells and animal models of infection to benefit patients with antibiotic-resistant infections.

"Dr. Nizet's work demonstrates how unexpected environmental factors influence the efficacy of antibiotics. Thus, improving treatment outcomes in serious or antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection will require systems-level analyses at the molecular level," said Palsson. "We could paraphrase and honor geneticist and evolutionary biologist Theodosius Dobzhansky's famous quote by saying: 'Nothing in biology makes sense, except in the light of systems thinking.'"

"By bringing together researchers from our School of Medicine, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Jacobs School of Engineering, this new center embodies the collaborative, interdisciplinary spirit for which UC San Diego is known," said David Brenner, MD, vice chancellor of UC San Diego Health Sciences and dean of UC San Diego School of Medicine. "We're grateful to the NIH for recognizing our leading-edge capabilities in medicine, engineering and computer science, and for supporting researchers ambitious and talented enough to take on one of the greatest global medical challenges of our time."

The new research program will be headquartered in the UC San Diego School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Host-Microbe Systems and Therapeutics. Other faculty leaders in the team are:

Joseph Pogliano, PhD , professor of biological sciences, who uses advanced microscopy techniques for real-time analysis of bacterial antibiotic responses

, professor of biological sciences, who uses advanced microscopy techniques for real-time analysis of bacterial antibiotic responses Rob Knight, PhD , professor of pediatrics and computer sciences and engineering and director of the UC San Diego Center for Microbiome Innovation, who will oversee microbial genome analysis and antibiotic effects on the normal human microbiome

, professor of pediatrics and computer sciences and engineering and director of the UC San Diego Center for Microbiome Innovation, who will oversee microbial genome analysis and antibiotic effects on the normal human microbiome George Sakoulas, MD , associate professor of pediatrics, an infectious disease clinician-scientist who provides bedside-to-bench analysis of novel antibiotic combinations

, associate professor of pediatrics, an infectious disease clinician-scientist who provides bedside-to-bench analysis of novel antibiotic combinations Pieter Dorrestein, PhD , professor of pediatrics and pharmacy, who uses advanced mass spectrometry techniques to study metabolic responses of bacteria to antibiotic exposure

, professor of pediatrics and pharmacy, who uses advanced mass spectrometry techniques to study metabolic responses of bacteria to antibiotic exposure Adam Feist, PhD, associate project scientist in bioengineering, who has pioneered advanced laboratory systems to understand the adaptive evolution of bacterial genomes and metabolic circuits

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In addition to this new systems biology and antibiotic resistance center, funded by NIH grant 1-U01-AI124316-01, the UC San Diego School of Medicine's Division of Host-Microbe Systems and Therapeutics played a key leadership role launching the UC San Diego Center for Microbiome Innovation in October 2015. In late 2016, the division will launch another campus-wide research and educational initiative known as Collaborative to Halt Antibiotic-Resistant Microbes (CHARM), which will support a wide range of innovative scientific and outreach strategies to address this pressing challenge to clinical medicine and public health.
A team of scientists led by Oxford University have made a discovery that could improve our chances of developing an effective vaccine against Tuberculosis.

The researchers have identified new biomarkers for Tuberculosis (TB) which have shown for the first time why immunity from the widely used Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine is so variable. The biomarkers will also provide valuable clues to assess whether potential new vaccines could be effective.

TB remains one of the worlds major killer diseases, causing TB disease in 9.6 million people and 1.5 million deaths in 2014. The only available vaccine, Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), works well (estimated 50% effective) to prevent severe disease in children but is very variable (0% to 80% effective) in how well it protects against lung disease, particularly in countries where TB is most common.

While BCG is one of the safest and most widely used vaccines worldwide, there is one key issue: It is currently very difficult to determine whether it will work or not. This also makes it really hard to determine if any new vaccines might work.

For many vaccines, medics and scientists can use what are called immune correlates or biomarkers, typically in the blood, which can be measured to determine whether a vaccine has successfully induced immunity. Not only are these correlates useful in measuring the success of existing vaccination programmes, they are also invaluable in assessing whether potential new vaccines could be effective.

With a pressing need for a TB vaccine that is more effective than BCG, a research team drawn from a number of groups at Oxford University, working with colleagues from the South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative at the University of Cape Town and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, set out to identify immune correlates that could facilitate TB vaccine development. The team, funded by the Wellcome Trust and Aeras, and led by Professor Helen McShane and Dr Helen Fletcher, studied immune responses in infants in South Africa who were taking part in a TB vaccine trial.

Professor McShane said: 'We looked at a number of factors that could be used as immune correlates, to try and find biomarkers that will help us develop a better vaccine.'

The team carried out tests for twenty-two possible factors. One - levels of activated HLA-DR+CD4+ T-cells - was linked to higher TB disease risk. Meanwhile, BCG-specific Interferon-gamma secreting T-cells indicated lower TB risk, with higher levels of these cells directly linked to greater reduction of the risk of TB.

Antibodies to a TB protein, Ag85A, were also identified as a possible correlate. Higher levels of Ag85A antibody were associated with lower TB risk. However, the team cautions that other environmental and disease factors could also cause Ag85A antibody levels to rise and so there may not be a direct link between the antibody and TB risk.

Professor McShane said: 'These are useful results which ideally would now be confirmed in further trials. They show that antigen-specific T cells are important in protection against TB, but that activated T cells increase the risk".

Dr Helen Fletcher from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: "For the first time we have some evidence of how BCG might work, and also what could block it from working. Although there is still much work to do, these findings may bring us a step closer to developing a more effective vaccine for TB."

Dr Tom Scriba from the South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative said: 'TB is still a major international killer, and rates of TB disease in some areas of South Africa are among the highest in the world. These findings provide important clues about the type of immunity TB vaccines should elicit, and bring us closer to our vision, a world without TB.'

The team is continuing its work to develop a TB vaccine, aiming to protect more people from the disease.

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Prehistoric humans may have developed social norms that favour monogamy and punish polygamy thanks to the presence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and peer pressure, according to new research from the University of Waterloo in Canada.

As hunter-gatherers began living in larger populations of early settled agriculturalists, the spread of STIs could explain a shift towards the emergence of social norms that favoured one sexual partner over many.

The work, published today in Nature Communications, uses computer modeling techniques to simulate the evolution of different social mating behaviours in human populations based on demographic and disease transmission parameters.

"This research shows how events in natural systems, such as the spread of contagious diseases, can strongly influence the development of social norms and in particular our group-oriented judgments," said Chris Bauch, a professor of applied mathematics and a University Research Chair at Waterloo. "Our research illustrates how mathematical models are not only used to predict the future, but also to understand the past."

The study, by Professor Bauch and Richard McElreath from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, found that when population sizes become large, the presence of STIs decreases fertility rates more among males with multiple partners, therefore changing which mating behaviour proves to be most beneficial to individuals and groups.

In early hunter-gatherer populations, it was common for a few males to monopolize mating with multiple females in order to increase their number of offspring. In these small societies where there is a maximum of 30 sexually mature individuals, STI outbreaks are short-lived and tend not to have as significant an effect on the population.

However, as societies evolved around agriculture and group sizes grew, the research predicts that prevalence of STIs increased amongst polygamist networks that overlapped. With the absence of modern medicines, infertility from syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhea would likely have been high. This made it more advantageous for males to mate monogamously, and more importantly, to punish other males who did not. Groups that enforced monogamous social norms could therefore outcompete groups lacking such norms.

"Our social norms did not develop in complete isolation from what was happening in our natural environment. On the contrary, we can't understand social norms without understanding their origins in our natural environment," Professor Bauch. "Our social norms were shaped by our natural environment. In turn, the environment is shaped by our social norms, as we are increasingly recognizing."

The researchers note that STIs may be one factor among many - including female choice, pathogen stress and technological impacts - that altered human behavior from polygamy to monogamy.

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About the University of Waterloo

University of Waterloo is Canada's top innovation university. With more than 36,000 students we are home to the world's largest co-operative education system of its kind. Our unmatched entrepreneurial culture, combined with an intensive focus on research, powers one of the top innovation hubs in the world. Find out more at uwaterloo.ca
Two University of Washington undergraduates have won a $10,000 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize for gloves that can translate sign language into text or speech.

The Lemelson-MIT Student Prize is a nationwide search for the most inventive undergraduate and graduate students. This year, UW sophomores Navid Azodi and Thomas Pryor -- who are studying business administration and aeronautics and astronautics engineering, respectively -- won the "Use It" undergraduate category that recognizes technology-based inventions to improve consumer devices.

Their invention, "SignAloud," is a pair of gloves that can recognize hand gestures that correspond to words and phrases in American Sign Language. Each glove contains sensors that record hand position and movement and send data wirelessly via Bluetooth to a central computer. The computer looks at the gesture data through various sequential statistical regressions, similar to a neural network. If the data match a gesture, then the associated word or phrase is spoken through a speaker.

They honed their prototype in the UW CoMotion MakerSpace -- a campus space that offers communal tools and equipment and opportunities for students to tinker, create and innovate. For Azodi and Pryor, that meant finding a way to translate American Sign Language into a verbal form instantaneously and in an ergonomic fashion.

"Many of the sign language translation devices already out there are not practical for everyday use. Some use video input, while others have sensors that cover the user's entire arm or body," said Pryor, an undergraduate researcher in the Composite Structures Laboratory in the Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics and software lead for the Husky Robotics Team.

"Our gloves are lightweight, compact and worn on the hands, but ergonomic enough to use as an everyday accessory, similar to hearing aids or contact lenses," said Pryor.

The duo met in the dorms during their freshman year and discovered they both had a passion for invention and problem solving. Azodi has technical experience as a systems intern at NASA, a technology lead for UW Information Technology and a campus representative for Apple. His long history of volunteer work -- which includes organizing dozens of blood drives and working with Seattle Union Gospel Mission, Northwest Harvest and Ethiopia Reads -- gave motivation to build a device that would have real-world impact.

"Our purpose for developing these gloves was to provide an easy-to-use bridge between native speakers of American Sign Language and the rest of the world," Azodi said. "The idea initially came out of our shared interest in invention and problem solving. But coupling it with our belief that communication is a fundamental human right, we set out to make it more accessible to a larger audience."

The team received support and mentoring from Mike Clarke, who manages the CoMotion MakerSpace and met the students after one asked for help with some soldering equipment that turned out to be broken.

"We disassembled it and fixed it together while talking about their sign language translation project. I recognized from working and talking with Thomas and Navid that they were standouts and that the invention they made was really impressive," Clarke said.

Pryor and Azodi's first target audience is the deaf and hard-of-hearing community and those interested in learning and working with American Sign Language. But the gloves could also be commercialized for use in other fields, including medical technology to monitor stroke patients during rehabilitation, gesture control and enhanced dexterity in virtual reality.

Their "Use It" Student Prize is one of seven awarded by the Lemelson-MIT Program this year. Each winning team of undergraduates will receive $10,000, and each graduate student winner will receive $15,000. The winners of this year's competition were selected from a diverse and highly competitive applicant pool of students from 77 colleges and universities across the country.

"This year's Lemelson-MIT Student Prize winners have outstanding portfolios of inventive work," said Lemelson-MIT Program faculty director Michael Cima. "Their passion for solving problems through invention is matched by their commitment to mentoring the next generation of inventors." Students interested in applying for the 2017 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize can complete this interest form.

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For more information or to arrange interviews with Azodi and Pryor, contact Chrissy Redmond at 617-939-8369 or credmond@conecomm.com.
DETROIT - Cancer Research, the premier journal published by the American Association for Cancer Research, is celebrating its 75-year history. As part of the celebration, the magazine recently honored 48 of the most influential scientific articles in its history. Gloria Heppner, Ph.D., associate vice president for research at Wayne State University, was selected as one of the 48 outstanding researchers for her 1984 article " Tumor Heterogeneity," which was described as being "more often highlighted by editors, AACR Fellows, and cancer researchers than any other (article)."

According to a special Cancer Research commentary written by Danny R. Welch, Ph.D., associate director of basic science at the University of Kansas Cancer Center, older literature is often overlooked or ignored because of lack of ease to access older articles not available on PubMed. Welch said the longevity of Heppner's article is due to her "clarity of thought, objective presentation, and interpretation of the data, and, as importantly, by the insights that have withstood the tests of time."

Heppner thought the article had been long forgotten until about two years ago, when researchers began renewing their interest in the concept that cancer is a disease that involves a system, with subpopulations within tumors. Those subpopulations act differently within a tumor, making diagnosis and treatment challenging.

"This honor is stunning to me," said Heppner upon learning of the recognition. "I worked hard on the article and it went over big. We went well over 1,000 reprints. I always felt it was my best article."

"Gloria was clearly ahead of her time in the seventies and eighties with her contributions to cancer research," said Stephen Lanier, Ph.D., vice president for research at Wayne State University. "However, her contributions and spirit go far beyond the laboratory and research programs. She also has an unwavering commitment to nurturing creative initiatives in the humanities and arts. She has done an exceptional job in conceptualizing programmatic initiatives involving team science across what at first glance may seem somewhat disparate areas. These initiatives will most certainly bear fruit for years to come."

Heppner began her cancer research career in the 1960s, and arrived in Detroit in 1979, joining the Michigan Cancer Foundation, now the Karmanos Cancer Institute. She joined the Office of the Vice President for Research at Wayne State University in 2003.

"One of Gloria's signature contributions is the establishment of the Komen Detroit Race for the Cure here at the Karmanos Cancer Institute," said Lanier. "This initiative, now in its 25th year, has benefitted a number of breast cancer victims and assisted with many research initiatives. Gloria was a major person to make this important event happen right here in Detroit."

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About Wayne State University

Wayne State University is one of the nation's pre-eminent public research universities in an urban setting. Through its multidisciplinary approach to research and education, and its ongoing collaboration with government, industry and other institutions, the university seeks to enhance economic growth and improve the quality of life in the city of Detroit, state of Michigan and throughout the world. For more information about research at Wayne State University, visit research.wayne.edu.


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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY  The central bank is forecasting growth of 8%  Barriers to that include poor infrastructure and low-skilled workers  Bangladesh has won awards for bottom-up development  Now is the time for top-down solutions  The government wants to open 100 special economic zones  Privatization successes so far include the power sector

Euromoney Bangladeshs economy is performing well, growing at between 6% and 7% on a regular basis and set to pass more than $200 billion in size during the current fiscal year. What can be done to convert strong growth into quality growth: the sort that attracts new foreign direct investment?





AMM The challenge is to push economic growth to a higher level. We have been stuck at an average of 6.2%, 6.3% for the past 15 years, and moving out of that bracket is the challenge. One headwind that has been removed is the political uncertainty, which gives me hope that the economy will grow at more than 6% in the current fiscal year to June 2016. Our longer-term target is 7%, which should be realistic in the next full fiscal year. One of the impediments to investment is that there are so many licences and approvals needed to secure land or get permission to build a factory. We are getting better at apportioning land in export-processing zones (EPZs) and special economic zones (SEZs). There are 44 public-private partnerships either approved or in the process of being built, ranging from hotels and highways to high-tech parks and port terminals. But we need to attract more investment and more skilled workers into those zones  that is the key to our economic future. On the plus side, tax revenues have risen by an average of 10% a year over the last six years.





AR, Bangladesh Bank Our latest five-year plan envisages an 8% growth path. For that, we have prioritized power, energy, infrastructure and land management. The government has already launched the first 10 of our planned 100 privately run SEZs. Under-construction mega projects  expressways connecting Dhaka with the port city of Chittagong; the Dhaka metro; the deep-sea port  will transform our infrastructure. Let me share some good news: exports are growing by 8% a year, defying global gloom and a strong currency, and outstripping our regional peers, all of which is a testament to our competitiveness. Foreign direct investment is rising, as companies relocate factories from China, Thailand, Japan and elsewhere. We expect FDI to make up a quarter of total investment in the coming years. Remittances, now running at $16 billion annually, comprise 8% of GDP, supporting domestic demand and laying the foundations for social inclusion.

MAK, Summit This is an amazing time for the domestic private sector. Materials  copper, metals, plastics, materials to build power plants  have become so inexpensive. But we face some challenges. First, we need to educate our workforce: to create a generation of skilled workers able to take the economy to the next level. Second, we need to cut the taxes we levy on business. A 37% corporate tax is not a reasonable tax; nor is a 20% dividend tax or a 30% personal income tax.

MA, FBCCI The worlds big multinationals are coming here. Their fears surrounding Bangladeshs erstwhile political unrest are more or less over. But we need to make it easier for companies to list shares in their firms, both domestically and overseas, and to be able to decide when they want to pursue a listing. Business people want to be able to pay their taxes far more simply and easily, preferably online. The process should not be a chore. That is one cancer eating away at Bangladesh, the other being how to deal with the level of non-performing loans in the banking sector.

SH, City From my conversations with local and foreign customers, I can tell you that 8% to 9% annual GDP growth is considered realistic and sustainable. But we do see the low rate of investment in infrastructure as a key impediment to growth. Bangladesh needs to spend $100 billion over the next 10 years on infrastructure, including $7.4 billion to $10 billion each year until 2020 on power grids, roads and water supplies  sourcing capital from government and from local and foreign private investors  to bring those services up the level required to service our growth momentum. We should target sourcing a quarter of all capital injected into PPP [public-private partnership] projects from external sources; for that to happen, foreign investors will need to see a certain level of infrastructure already in place.

The PPP Authority of Bangladesh has identified 39 PPP projects worth $10 billion, with another $15 billion-worth in the pipeline over the next five years. But we are always looking for ways to get more private local and foreign investment involved. Its vital to note that FDI is about more than just equity; its also about the transfer of technology and standards; improving compliance to international standards; and improving corporate and project governance.

We have a genuine demographic dividend in play  the average age of our workforce is 24 years  but we need to convert this workforce into a technologically skilled set of workers, and that requires more investment in education.

Foreign investors want to see facilities in place before they put their cash to work, along with skilled workers, good vocational training, and better infrastructure. Bangladesh may be a bright spot in the emerging world, but we need to consolidate our strength, usher in more FDI, improve our sovereign rating further, and improve our position in the World Banks Doing Business rankings.

We should raise our sovereign rating to investment grade and issue a sovereign bond with the express aim of building an international yield curve. Eventually, local firms will raise bonds locally and internationally, and will list on bourses here and around the world.

Local banks will have a big role to play when it comes to securing more FDI. The first port of call when foreign capital crosses the border is the Board of Investment. The second is local banks: we have done a good job in creating networking relations with foreign correspondent banks, bilateral and multilateral institutions, offshore funds, rating agencies and export credit agencies.

WW, IFC Infrastructure financing is a critical point. In recent years, the government has turned the previously moribund power sector around, transforming it into a genuine investment opportunity. Bangladesh now has a highly positive track record in terms of building IPPs [independent power plants]. Investors are given clear construction parameters and clarity on contracts, returns and land ownership. The next stage is transforming the transport and logistics spaces and integrating them with global supply chains. Those two factors will be vital, certainly in terms of building all-important SEZs. That would send a powerful signal to the global business community. There are two big assets that primarily need to be transformed and exploited: Dhaka Airport and Chittagong Port, both of which are huge enablers of the economy, able to integrate the country more deeply into global value chains and generate a big new source of income for the government. Making the most of those two physical assets is key to the countrys future.

AM, PRI Total exports in volume and value terms have doubled over the last five years. The big change has been a major improvement in macroeconomic stability. We are looking to double the size of our economic base from $200 billion to $400 billion by 2021; the question is whether we are bold enough to take on that challenge. I think we should strive for $500 billion. It is doable, but we need to change our mind-set from one of surviving to one of thriving.

The power sector alone requires an extra $60 billion in fresh investment to meet anticipated demand by 2030. Financing wont be a stumbling block, but proving to local and foreign investors that we can deliver on these major projects, and make them work, will be vital.

Euromoney How can we get everything in lockstep: cutting inflation, boosting growth, bringing in more FDI and keeping interest rates low?

FA, Bangladesh Bank Bangladesh is now going through its middle-income transition. We have a large pool of diligent workers and savvy entrepreneurs who can partner with foreign investors. The governments focus on investing in power and infrastructure in order to cut the cost of business is timely and welcome.

Viewed through the lens of the east Asian economic miracles of the 1960s to 1980s, Bangladesh shares features with both South Korea and Thailand.

Like Korea, Bangladesh has an export-oriented homegrown manufacturing base; like Thailand, the priority is to attract labour-intensive manufacturing FDI. Our plan is to be a part of the evolving Asian production network and then to move up the value chain.

Real lending rates in Bangladesh are now lower than they are elsewhere in the region, reflecting domestic liquidity and high savings rates (at around 30% of GDP). In fact, prime borrowers can now borrow from the banking system in the single digits, implying a real interest of around 3%.

Bangladesh Bank is committed to making continued progress in bringing down inflation (now around 6%) to ensure that nominal interest rates also become more affordable, while sufficiently compensating depositors. We are also working on making sure credit can reach a wider base of investors through our inclusion initiatives.

Euromoney A lot of these subjects interrelate: a desire to double exports, to double the size of the economy, and to push through more PPP and infrastructure projects. What can be done to convince more foreign investors to put their money to work here?

AR, Bangladesh Bank Fortunately, good sense has prevailed, and political stability has resumed. Just look at the confidence and optimism exuded by the average Bangladeshi and our small and medium-sized enterprises. The governments commitment to solving power, transport and logistics bottlenecks has reinforced that positive sentiment.

MA, FBCCI Bangladesh has been a bottom-up growth story for so long. Now the opposite is happening: its a top-down story, driven by sensible policy making and building quality infrastructure. It is something that east Asia has been good at in recent times but not south Asia, but that is changing.

AAK, City Lee Kuan Yew was a dynamic voice for Singapore: a political giant and business visionary. He made the strategic decision to attract global multinationals, developing a dynamic business environment and a tax-efficient economy. Global firms arrived, shifting their operations to the city, paying their taxes, and transforming Singapore into a mature and developed economy.

I recall an incident involving the CEO of a global corporate. Singapore was trying to convince him to move his Asia operations to the Lion City. But while he was in town, his beloved dog got sick. The local handlers hustled around town trying finding a veterinary practice, so determined was the city to get the companys business. That is what we should all be doing here.

We still suffer from a lack of basic infrastructure: its a huge concern that we factor in here every day of our lives. We despatch 300 trucks a day from our headquarters, yet we have to send many of them of them out half-empty. We could do the same amount of business with half that number of trucks. But if they were fully packed, the axle would snap, or a pothole would shatter the undercarriage. We would rather send 100 or 150 trucks, cutting the cost of distribution, but we cant.

The government has set up 100 SEZs to allow us to diversify our economy, but we need to connect the dots, linking up each zone. We need to brand Bangladesh aggressively as a quality, trusted business destination and a safe investment environment, building a coherent message around the country.

Thats the only way we can become south Asias leading manufacturing and logistics hub, utilise our strategic location, educate our predominately young workforce and make a genuine, sustainable difference to our rate of economic growth.

MAK, Summit Summit is a leading player in the infrastructure space, in power generation, ports, communications. We have received $500 million as investment via loans, and I feel there is more investment coming in and taking place.

Its an exciting place to be. The challenge for foreign investors lies more outside Bangladesh than inside. Some look at the region and worry about terrorism, but that is not a concern here.

The big challenge for us is to broaden and open up our capital markets. That is key to a free-market economy: how else can companies raise capital or people viably manage their savings? We need to instil depth and vibrancy in our capital markets, and to give comfort to local and foreign investors. Capital-account convertibility is a subject very dear to my heart. We have invested $1.5 billion in domestic infrastructure. But what if we want to list our companies abroad? I have asked Bangladesh Bank and the securities regulator, but they have no answers, as there are no such laws in place yet.

AMM Several issues are important to us here. First, tax collection. I have set a target of increasing the number of registered taxpayers by 800,000 but the National Board of Revenue puts its expectation at closer to 500,000. I find it disgraceful that just 1.1 million people pay tax in this country. So yes, we are in a serious jam.

We have a construction programme in place to build a third terminal for Dhaka Airport, which may meet projected demand over the next 50 years. Financing the project will be critical. We have received interest from six parties and I am on the verge of making up my mind as to who will secure that contract. Chittagong Port also needs a lot of improvement, but there is another port, Mongla, that wasnt much used when we came to power. A third, in Chalna, is also being considered for expansion.

Then there is the planned North-South Dhaka-Chittagong road, which will cost $3 billion to $4 billion. Dredging the Karnaphuli and Meghna rivers are contracts worth $2 billion to $3 billion.

Those are very attractive infrastructure investments that I will put in the budget for parliaments approval in the near future.

I would say that we now have a solid capital-markets foundation in place. Our capital markets didnt really exist until 2011 and while it remains relatively small, it has taken root now

Euromoney International banks are keen to set up joint ventures or acquire stakes in local lenders; at the same time there is a concern about rising NPLs. How can Bangladesh create a banking sector that is fit, well-financed and able to fund a growing economy?

SH, City At City Bank, we aim to raise our capital-adequacy ratio (CAR) to 14% this year. But I think the big change lying ahead for the banking sector will be a rise in the number of joint ventures and strategic equity investments between domestic lenders and foreign institutions. That would be good for local banks, particularly listed ones, as it would boost the perception of the markets  and the industrys  quality of governance. More ratings on Bangladeshi banks are a good thing. More internationally accredited auditors are a good thing.

Another future focus should be on allowing more Bangladeshi corporates and lenders to list  both equity and debt  outside the country. Our best ambassadors are the multinationals that are already here.

The banks roles are multifarious: they are conduits for various investment proposals, and also they can be investment conduits themselves.

When it comes to the NPL problem that developed over the past four-to-five years, we are now seeing light at the end of the tunnel. Yes, state banks have high levels of NPLs, but at private banks, which make up 70% of the market, they are coming down rapidly. At City Bank, the level of NPLs is falling rapidly.

FA, Bangladesh Bank The IFC taka bond will help benchmark the currency risk. That in turn would allow our investors to issue local-currency bonds abroad. It would also aid foreign investors to better price local-currency government and corporate bonds. The size of the bond market in Bangladesh is around $30 billion. We are working on making it easier for foreign investors and non-resident Bangladeshis to access our domestic bond markets. Amid the recent emerging and frontier market volatility, Bangladesh stands out for its external stability. The good news is that exports have performed well despite trade headwinds and the global slowdown. External debt remains sustainable, with public external debt at only 13% of GDP. This also provides ample room for prudent external borrowing, as needed.

AR, Bangladesh Bank Bangladesh Bank has been championing the governments agenda of inclusive growth and macro-financial stability. We place the highest emphasis on good governance, while being mindful of current challenges. We have leveraged digitization to upgrade our supervision and real-time monitoring of loan quality and terms. We have taken strict measures to make bank boards more functional. We are also encouraging banks to increase their capital buffer proactively.

MAK, Summit Our financial sector is in very good health. Not a single lender in Bangladesh has ever gone bankrupt. There has never been a Lehman Brothers here. Still, we could improve the industry by pushing through better bankruptcy laws for troubled companies, and laws to deal with the resolution of failed assets and non-performing loans. Our bankruptcy laws are inefficient.

Capital gains taxes are too high, and local capital markets too shallow. We do not do enough to create a working, deep and liquid bond market. So while the banking sector is doing well, we struggle to generate enough working capital. We must work toward deepening our capital markets. That will support our banks, as well as increasing CARs.

WW, IFC IFC will issue offshore taka-linked bonds. This will go a long way to boosting confidence in the markets, while ensuring that portfolio investors who want to gain access to Bangladesh, but who are limited in terms of what instruments they can put to work in the country, can add that instrument to their portfolio.

Then in each tranche, we can increase tenors over a period of time to build a yield curve, which will allow corporations to build on that yield curve, leading in time to Bangladesh starting to issue sovereign bonds. And that will secure the higher levels of capex that Bangladesh needs to fund its future.

Euromoney How fast can the taka bond market grow?

WW, IFC Look at Indias masala bond market. Its only been in place for a few years, but already we have seen tenors rising from three years, to five years and then 10 years. Then multilaterals started diversifying, issuing rupee-denominated green bonds offshore.

FA, Bangladesh Bank Foreign investors need to take a nuanced view of the banking sector. Most of them would work with the private banks  domestic and foreign  that now provide world-class services. Bangladesh Bank is continually upgrading its supervisory capacity to ensure a sound banking system. State-owned banks constitute only 30% of the system and mostly cater to public entities.

AM, PRI At some point, you need the market to accept a round of mergers or acquisitions. Not all banks are as strong as the others. A round of consolidation in the banking sector would be a positive step, and it needs to be done. We need to brand our government as a corporate would brand itself. Something along the lines of Bangladesh Incorporated.

AR, Bangladesh Bank At Bangladesh Bank, we have a tireless focus on financial inclusion and stability, to ensure that growth touches all of our citizens. Bangladesh is also enjoying increasing global recognition for its developmental innovation and inclusive growth. That said, we are aware that more needs to be done, but work is under way.

Euromoney To return to your earlier point, perhaps a new sovereign bond, issued by the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh, would be a good start?

AR, Bangladesh Bank We take the debut sovereign issuance seriously, and we are determined to do it right in terms of timing and usage of proceeds. We are being methodical in building a responsible track record. In this regard, the IFCs upcoming $1 billion taka bond will provide useful lessons. In terms of domestic-market development, we are also working on floating the first taka-denominated green bond.

FA, Bangladesh Bank Bangladesh is taking a gradualist and building-block approach to its sovereign bond issuance strategy. We would like our sovereign issuance to finance specific projects that can generate sufficient economic and cash returns. We want to avoid using the proceeds for general budgetary purposes. This approach would also comfort our foreign investors that proceeds are used judiciously, minimising any repayment risks, a lesson many emerging markets learned through costly mistakes. We believe a methodical approach will go a long way in guaranteeing that we can tap international markets sustainably to finance our large infrastructure projects.

Euromoney Bangladesh has an abundance of large infrastructure projects that would return plenty of long-term cash to investors, from toll roads to airports to deep-water ports. Why not speed up bond issuance to fund those plans?

AR, Bangladesh Bank The government has ample reserves  $28 billion, or around seven months-worth of imports  and generous access to multilateral funding from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. The pipeline donor support is also sizeable, at around $20 billion.

MA, FBCCI Id like to turn to the manufacturing sector. Weve seen some major corporates invest in Bangladesh in recent years, such as Hero MotoCorp and Tata Motors, which are putting money to work in new motorcycle facilities. This shows Bangladesh can attract quality investments, and that global firms can profit here.

Hero combed the world and chose Bangladesh as its next big investment destination. It is investing very heavily in motorcycle production with the aim of exporting back to India. Both participated in a recent trade conference sponsored by the BOI and the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce & Industry. When companies like that arrive, others follow.

Two sectors key to manufacturing are truly taking off. One is to improve urban infrastructure and to develop new smart cities  there are too many people living in Dhaka. Second, the country needs more cargo planes. Our exporters are struggling to satisfy demand for air shipments, and that needs to be resolved.

WW, IFC IFC is a long-term investor here and our investments here are very successful. There is huge potential in the domestic market, and all of the challenges are being addressed, be it infrastructure in the energy sector.

We can see active changes being made and value being created. There are more opportunities to be had here. Investors want to be here. The prime minister is very ambitious. Yes, there are perception problems, but those who visit, who set up shop here, quickly see that their perceptions were wrong. The harder they look, the longer they stay, and the more they understand.

Euromoney What is the final key message you would like to send to investors?

SH, City We are at a critical juncture in Bangladeshs evolution. At City Bank, we expect several very complex large-scale markets to develop over the next two to five years. We believe export-led growth is here to stay, and that opportunities abound for both domestic and foreign investors. The government has undertaken a lot of major projects, and getting them implemented quickly is a key challenge. They are also working to boost citizens skill sets. We have positive macroeconomic indicators, a large market, and we are moving up in the World Banks Doing Business index.

AM, PRI Bangladesh has come a long way. We have plucked almost all the low-hanging fruits. Now we have to prepare for a bigger shift, as doubling GDP every five years will require significant institutional change. If the government really wakes up to that reality and adopts a more corporate mind-set, we can achieve our ambitions.

AAK, City Business-process outsourcing (BPO) is key. If we can train the right people in the right way, we will see a lot of BPO investments coming here.

FA, Bangladesh Bank Bangladesh had a perception problem in the past, but the good news now is that perceptions are moving in the right direction. In the 1970s, we were viewed as a basket case, struggling with war reconstruction efforts and food shortages. Then came the floods of the 1980s. Fortunately, those were also the decades of green revolution, disaster management, and social and microfinance innovation, which later made Bangladesh a positive outlier in human development indicators. During the 1990s and 2000s, Bangladesh laid the foundation of a manufacturing- and export-led takeoff.

From the 2000s, multilateral development partners started describing Bangladesh as a development surprise for defying its initial conditions. It is also around this time that Bangladesh came onto the radar of the investment banks and ratings agencies as a confident frontier economy.

In 2012, the Economist published a special report titled Out of the box, highlighting our growth and potential.

Perceptions are sticky, so they take time to change. But look at the trend and its slope. We definitely have crossed the threshold.

MAK, Summit Digital Bangladesh is a reality. At Summit, we have laid out more than 30,000 kilometres of fibre-optic lines, covering a total of 55,000 square miles. Three quarters of the population is connected digitally to the grid. The country will take off like a rocket and I invite everyone to get on board.

AR, Bangladesh Bank Let me again echo all the optimism voiced here. Our economy is transforming rapidly. So are global perceptions. A recent Gallup poll showed Bangladesh to be the most optimistic country in the world. This year, Bangladesh is expected to be the second-fastest growing large economy after India.

My message to foreign investors is simple: please come and join this $200 billion-dollar economy, with its 160 million-strong populace, as it takes off. Let me assure foreign investors that we are working on both hard and soft infrastructure, improving areas such as skills and our regulatory framework. Working together, I have no doubt we can be the global growth leader of tomorrow.
Article update published in the May 2016 edition of Euromoney magazine

The remaining business will be of a very different scale. The Instinet brokerage business that Nomura bought in 2007, and which houses the bulk of the firm's equity trading, is understood to be untouched in all regions by the cuts. There will be some remaining European sales and sales trading presence for Japanese and Asian stocks.

Also remaining is a convertible bond origination and structuring capability, as well as an equity capital markets presence to service Japanese corporate activity in Europe.

We had known something was in the offing since an offsite in Tokyo finished on Good Friday [March 25], says one departing senior banker, who was preparing to gather with colleagues in the City to mull over the situation.

We knew big decisions were being taken and that the firm was under huge pressure to stop sending excess capital over here to support the business. And now that we know we are in a structural rather than a cyclical decline, it was clear something had to be done.

But even so, I had reckoned there was only about a 25% chance of a complete shutdown.

Sources within Nomura are at pains to highlight that what has happened stops short of a complete shutdown, but it is certainly big enough for those on the way out to be feeling dazed. The decision was communicated to staff at about 8.30am by senior equities and investment banking management, with one banker estimating that the cuts numbered in the hundreds. About 300 staff are to remain across the entire equity-related business in EMEA, according to one source at the bank, although there has been no official comment on the number of departures in specific business lines.

As of December 31, 2015, Nomura as a whole employed 3,400 people in Europe.

Nomura on Tuesday released a statement saying it was implementing a strategic change to its wholesale businesses in EMEA and the Americas, in response to the extreme volatility and significant decline in liquidity seen in global markets since the second half of 2015.

However, it said it would not announce details of its new strategy until its fourth-quarter and full-year results on April 27. It said it would close certain businesses in EMEA and would rationalize others in the Americas, while there would be no changes to the Asia-Pacific platform.



Tetsu Ozaki, Nomura

We are taking decisive action to refine the services we offer to our clients, while continuing to leverage our dominance and unique strengths in Asia, providing tailored solutions to our clients globally and continuing our 90-year legacy of putting clients at the heart of everything we do, says Tetsu Ozaki, Nomuras group chief operating officer.

This exercise will deliver significant efficiencies and cost savings for Nomura, refocusing the firms activities and reallocating resources towards its areas of expertise and most profitable business lines.

Other staff might be picked out during the 45-day consultation period to stay on in other capacities, said one banker.

One option mentioned could be to create a small equity advisory team, which would benefit from being capital-light and would be in keeping with the corporate finance focus that appeared last year to serve the firm well in Europe.

However, it would doubtless still have a tough job competing with the likes of Lazard and Rothschild on the equity front, particularly no longer having the primary equity underwriting capability to bolt onto it.

Nomura has struggled to make its European primary equity franchise compete, largely because it fell between the two stools of bulge bracket and niche without effectively being either. Former Nomura bankers recall it had an excellent year in 2009, when it had many hundreds more bankers than today, but its presence has faded since.

The European equity market will not blink at the fact that Nomura has gone, says one banker. We are a pin-prick in the excess capacity that exists in this industry.

We were positioned as a bulge bracket equity house, but we were finding it hard to compete and nor were we niche enough to compete with the likes of smaller shops. And the industry is now as tough as Ive known it.

Turning point

Some point to the entry of new management in 2012 as the turning point in terms of pressure, with profitability a key concern from that point. It was at that time that Koji Nagai took over from Kenichi Watanabe as group CEO as the bank sought to build what it said was a new global business model that would allow it to remain flexible and adapt quickly to a changing environment.

But even with expensive staff cut over the years, the pressure in a region like Europe only increased as revenues stagnated and market share fell.

Nomura does not feature in Dealogics top 25 ECM bookrunner rankings so far this year in EMEA. It ended last year in 25th place, with a 0.7% market share.

Globally, Nomuras equities revenues totalled 76.9 billion in the most recent quarter, which ended December 31, just below the contribution from fixed income.

At group level, the bank posted pre-tax losses for all its regional businesses outside Japan in the most recent quarter. Overall, Nomuras wholesale division has posted falling revenues for the last four quarters, falling from 231 billion in the quarter ending March 31, 2015, to 186 billion in the last calendar quarter of the year. Nomuras financial year runs until April. Regional numbers were not broken out, but the bank said that cash equities had fallen in EMEA, while they were flat in the Americas and rising in Asia ex-Japan.

The US equity business appears to be safe for the moment, which will come as good news to staff such as Mark Connelly, who joined the firm as head of Americas ECM in late November 2015, having previously been global co-head of ECM at Jefferies.

However, some bankers leaving the European business struggled to understand how the firm would make a better fist of things in the US. The question is why keep the US? I would have understood just keeping Asia, says one.

There is no talk of similar cuts in fixed income, where a round of rationalization took place in the middle of 2015. At that time, layers of middle management were removed from European fixed income, with staff such as Benedict Nielsen, head of EMEA DCM origination and syndicate, Simon Deeny, co-head of global finance EMEA, and James Wilkinson, head of flow rates and frequent borrower group trading, heading out of the door.

The fixed-income franchise was already also being seen as safer than equities after a recent change at the top of Nomuras wholesale bank, with Steven Ashley (who was head of global markets) appointed as co-head.

Joining him was Kentaro Okuda, global head of investment banking. They replaced Ozaki, who became group chief operating officer. The changes became effective on April 1.
Have you noted the parallel between speech codes on college campuses, at places like Yale (most notoriously), applying to discussion of racial and sexual matters  and those that apply to scientists on more technical topics? (Review the video above of last years Yale Halloween tantrum if youve forgotten; warning: foul language.) In a BreakPoint commentary kindly citing Stephen Meyer and myself, Eric Metaxas reflects on the recent #Creatorgate story. Thats where Chinese scientists writing in PLOS ONE on the architecture of the human hand brought an angry Internet mob down on their own heads by referring to the design of a creator.

The reference was superfluous and in passing. The paper could easily stand without it. Yet instead of being satisfied with a minimal editorial fix, the hysterical online mob demanded and obtained a retraction from the journal. That is, of course, a damaging and embarrassing result for the scientists, who claimed that it was all due to a translation error anyway.

Says Metaxas:

The panic over this translation goof says a lot about the state of science. Not only does it call into question the peer review process, but it shows how averse the gatekeepers of published research are to anything that challenges the status quo. Writing in the London Times, Melanie Phillips suggests weve entered a kind of scientific dark age. Much of what passes for scientific literature today, she writes, is simply untrue. Peer-reviewed journals have lately published a slew of embarrassing hoaxes and fabrications. Why the sloppiness? The scientific rat-race is partly to blame. Mounting pressure to meet publication quotas and win grants makes researchers prone to error. But Phillips points to something else that might explain the bizarre panic over PLOS ONEs inadvertent nod to a Creator: Underlying much of this disarray, she writes, is surely the pressure to conform to an idea, whether political, commercial or ideological. From the Christian view, that idea is called scientism, the notion that science alone offers truth about our world. And its poisoning not only the peer review process, but the way the public views science itself. Scientists [today] pose as secular priests, writes Phillips. They alone, they claim, hold the keys to the universeThe resulting absence of openness and transparency is proving the scientists undoing. If nothing else, Creatorgate reinforces her point. If scientists can look at the wonders of creation and still insist there are no explanations beyond nature, we ought to question their judgment and objectivity.

Compare the panic sparked by Creatorgate to the phenomenon of PC college student bullying of those holding even slightly heterodox views. In a fascinating essay, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt says this dynamic actually takes hold in high school, in particular among girls. He recounts speaking at a prestigious West Coast academy where young people (again, girls especially) showed their displeasure with his critique of PC culture by threateningly snapping their fingers at him during his speech:

I had never heard the snapping before. When it happens in a large auditorium it is disconcerting. It makes you feel that you are facing an angry and unified mob  a feeling I have never had in 25 years of teaching and public speaking.

The Chinese scientists probably felt the same way when they first heard the finger-snapping response, or what amounted to that, from readers of their PLOS ONE paper.

Whats the solution? According to Haidt:

The only hope for Centerville High  and for Yale  is to disrupt their repressively uniform moral matrices to make room for dissenting views. High schools and colleges that lack viewpoint diversity should make it their top priority.

One amusing journalist, Milo Yiannopoulos, proposes to visit Yale and give a lecture on cultural appropriation in full Native American garb and headdress right before Halloween. The purpose is to deliberately incite something just short of a riot and thereby inspire second thoughts about the intellectual manacles imposed by PC.

What would be an equivalent gesture in the repressively uniform world of evolutionary biology and origin-of-life studies? Im not sure. Your thoughts? Drop me a note by clicking on the Email Us button at the top of this page. Some brave soul, the Milo Yiannopoulos of Darwin skeptics, should give it a try.
Writing here at Evolution News, Casey Luskin has warned Darwin skeptics against using the line that airily dismisses evolution as just a theory. First of all, youd need to know which of three major definitions of evolution youre talking about. (See Caseys post Is Darwinian Evolution Just a Theory?)

Second, the term theory is equivocal. In conversation it can refer to mere speculation. In science, were always told, it designates something much more firmly grounded. Theories are neither hunches nor guesses, writes science reporter Carl Zimmer. They are the crown jewels of science.

Casey points out that scientists too sometimes use the word theory in the more conversational sense. But leave that aside.

Writing in the NY Times (In Science, Its Never Just a Theory), Zimmer cites Brown University biologist Kenneth Miller, articulating the familiar talking point about crown jewels. But then he quotes philosopher Peter Godfrey-Smith, who offers a helpful analogy. Says Godfrey-Smith, a theory in the scientific context is like a map. It seeks to relate sets of facts. But then it seems to follow that the map itself is not necessarily a fact.

Peter Godfrey-Smith, the author of Theory and Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Science, has been thinking about how people can avoid the misunderstanding embedded in the phrase, Its only a theory. Its helpful, he argues, to think about theories as being like maps. To say something is a map is not to say its a hunch, said Dr. Godfrey-Smith, a professor at the City University of New York and the University of Sydney. Its an attempt to represent some territory. A theory, likewise, represents a territory of science. Instead of rivers, hills, and towns, the pieces of the territory are facts. To call something a map is not to say anything about how good it is, Dr. Godfrey-Smith added. There are fantastically good maps where theres not a shred of doubt about their accuracy. And there are maps that are speculative. To judge a maps quality, we can see how well it guides us through its territory. In a similar way, scientists test out new theories against evidence. Just as many maps have proven to be unreliable, many theories have been cast aside.

Exactly. Zimmer goes on to list evolution, however defined, as among those rock-solid theories, on a par with the general theory of relativity, the theory of plate tectonics, the theory that the sun is at the center of the solar system, and the germ theory of disease.

And sure, you knew thats what he was going to say. But the point here is that agreeing that evolution (in its controversial sense of an unguided mechanism successfully accounting for all biological innovation) is a theory doesnt tell you whether it satisfactorily maps the known facts. It might, or it might not. The question cant be adjudicated by an appeal to the dictionary, but only by a careful weighing of evidence.

Casey concludes:

How, then, should we speak about evolution as a theory? Rather than using imprecise language, and saying things like Evolution is just a theory, a better way to express legitimate doubts on the subject is simply to say, The scientific evidence does not support Darwinian evolution.

Another way to say the same thing is that as a theory, it is a failed  or perhaps more generously, a failing  map.

Image: Peppered moths, by Martinowksy [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons.
Hi All,



Following is my present bio-data:



1. IELTS Score: Overall 7, Listening 7.5, Reading 7.5, Writing 6.5, Speaking 7.0

2. Work Experience 8 years: Sector - Telecom, From April 2008 to March 2012 in Networking , From April 2012 to till date in Telecom Testing.

3. Age: 31+

4. Highest Qualification : B.Tech in Electronics and Communication

5. More than 5 yrs of continuous English education: 4 yrs engg+ 12 yrs of schooling (ICSE & ISC)

6. Traveled to Melbourne Australia for 2 months (b/w Feb 2015 to April 2015) as skilled worker (subclass 457)



1. Please let me know with my present profile how much suitable i am for applying now?.

2. What are the steps to be followed till submitting my EOI?.

3. Which will be a better option for me, considering my profile and job opportunities in telecom testing-- to apply for australia or new-zealand?
SALEM, Ohio  A bill designed to reform certain parts of Ohios Current Agricultural Use Value and more closely tie the CAUV value to agricultural conditions, saw its first action April 5 in the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

The bills primary sponsor, Sen. Cliff Hite, R-Findlay, gave proponent testimony, in which he praised the intent and importance of CAUV, but also the need to update certain parts.

In an industry with such small profit margins, many farmers simply could not afford to keep farming their land without CAUV, he said.

The CAUV formula allows land to be taxed according to its use in agricultural production, rather than its development value. It generally saves farmers quite a bit of money, but in recent years, some farmers have seen their taxes more than double.

Two bills

The Senate bill, S.B. 246, mirrors H.B. 398, and both bills are a continuation of CAUV reforms called for by Ohio farmers and landowners, the Ohio Farm Bureau and other farm groups.

Hite noted in his testimony, that part of the increase is due to the rising commodity prices, which rose to historical levels during the most recent assessments. But other factors, he said, have artificially inflated the taxes our farmers are paying.

The Senate bill, like the House bill, seeks to do two main things.

Accurate values

The first is to improve the valuation of farmland by prohibiting the use of certain nonagricultural factors  like equity buildup and appreciation.

Currently, the formula attempts to account for a theoretical percentage of equity buildup achieved by farmers who take out loans to finance land. And the formula assumes that the demand for farmland will increase at a pre-determined rate  assumptions that have no bearing on the lands capability to produce agricultural income, according to the bill.

Second, the Senate bill would make farmers investments in conservation practices more tax friendly.

Hites bill argues that when farmers take acreage out of farm production and place those same acres into practices that help preserve the soil and protect water quality, the value of that land should reflect that lack of production.

Currently, the formula taxes farmers as though an income is being realized on those lands  even though an income is not realized.

Earlier work

Farmers were successful in getting some of their reforms adopted in 2015, by working with the Ohio Department of Taxation and its commissioner, Joe Testa. They chose to work through the legislature when they felt the final two reforms were not being adopted.

As of Farm and Dairys press time, the Senate Ways and Means Committee was scheduled to hold the second proponent hearing April 13.

The House version of the bill sits in the Government Accountability and Oversight Committee, and has not been heard. The House bill was sponsored by Rep. Brian Hill, R-Zanesville, and has more than two dozen co-sponsors.

Related coverage:
Legal ruling set to have implications for farm inheritance rows
"We're always going to need food and meat is going to be the massive boom in the world in terms of agriculture, however they're going to need something to feed that meat.
"So we have to air freight a sample of our milk to Melbourne for testing at the same time as we are sending the consignment to China and hope that by the time the consignment gets there the approval for it to enter the country has arrived.
Fayetteville mother says four charged in son's killing were his friends

The mother-of-two is struggling to understand not just how her son could be gone so quickly, but why his friends turned on him.
The Unaoil story first published by The Age and Huffington Post on March 30, and supplemented yesterday with another chapter, has it all. There are code names, huge dollar amounts and intrigue.

There have since been raids on the companys offices by the Monaco police and the anti-bribery community fully expects to be hearing more about this story for years to come.

TRACE has been caught up in the story; we completed TRACEcertified due diligence reports on two of the fifteen or more Unaoil entities in this complicated group of companies.



The public may find these stories shocking, but the compliance community knows better. Its a scary world out there. Companies are operating in challenging industries and in tough neighborhoods. Most are trying hard to get things right. Due diligence is part of a robust defense, but its far from a guarantee.

No compliance officer has the luxury of presiding over a community of straight A third parties. They generally have a fairly diverse collection of Bs and Cs, with an occasional, worrying, D. Each requires a judgment call. The closest calls require ongoing vigilance. Sometimes, those calls fall on the wrong side of a very sharp edge. But when an auditor misses something, no one suggests that the audit function has no value. When a prosecutor loses a case, few people cry out that we should end our pursuit of criminals.

Unaoil was cooperative and responsive throughout multiple due diligence reviews with at least four different due diligence companies. They provided information when asked. As part of their TRACEcertification due diligence review alone, they adopted a code of conduct and successfully completed online anti-bribery training.

They were screened against international watchlists on a daily basis. They were screened annually against multilingual international media. They provided TRACE with financial references and, over the years, business references from many different companies in different industries. Our due diligence reports contain an executive summary and the Unaoil summary included four red flags. They were far from an A candidate, but they werent a D, either.

The term certification, when discussing compliance credentials, can cause confusion. Certification, defined generally, is the process of publicly attesting or confirming that a standardized process has been completed or that specified requirements have been met. TRACEcertification seeks to do exactly that  to confirm that an entity has completed a rigorous due diligence process based on international standards. It does not mean that a company will never pose any compliance risk. An entity can never be certified risk free.

But compliance professionals dont really need to be reminded of this. Due diligence is one aspect of a very difficult, judgment-laden process that they have to navigate every day. No company would argue that a due diligence report alone satisfies entirely their compliance responsibility. Good, well-run companies document the business justification for using a third party. They review the compensation for reasonableness. They require statements of work, describing what tasks the agent is undertaking in order to earn that compensation. They meet to discuss the details of specific deals. They often have at least a restricted audit clause that permits them to audit the agents books upon reasonable suspicion of misconduct.

Unaoil was adept at the screening process. If they paid bribes, they must have been good at that too. Their big four audit firm didnt find any. An international law firm didnt find any. Two expensive boots on the ground due diligence firms didnt find any and a High Court judge in London didnt find any, even when one party to the lawsuit was arguing that it was there. In that case, the judge concluded that evidence of corrupt payments was at best tenuous. Law enforcement, with all of the powerful tools available to it, didnt find any. And, until a secret cache of emails was provided to the media, journalists didnt find anything either. When asked what TRACE might have done differently in order to uncover the misconduct, one of The Age reporters said: without access to the emails, there was no way to find this.

Due diligence is a critically important and very challenging balancing act. Companies need to redouble their efforts to stay ahead of the wrong doers. They wont always be able to do that, but this is a timely reminder to try. None of us is certifying the purity of heart of commercial intermediaries. Indeed, the enforcement agencies dont require it. They require a robust, reasonable assessment of the risk, good judgment, and vigilance. With the benefit of hindsight and an extensive email record, were reviewing what clues might have tipped us off and what we can learn from this. As bribe payers grow more sophisticated, so too must compliance officers. Well share what we learn and we invite the compliance community to join in the effort.

_____

Alexandra Wrage is president and founder of TRACE. She is the author of Bribery and Extortion: Undermining Business, Governments and Security, co-editor of How to Pay a Bribe: Thinking Like a Criminal to Thwart Bribery Schemes, and the host of the training DVD Toxic Transactions: Bribery, Extortion and the High Price of Bad Business, produced by NBC. Shes a former member of FIFAs Independent Governance Committee and served on the 2015 B20 Taskforce on Anti-Corruption, which drafted recommendations to G20 leaders for consideration in their global economic policies. Prior to founding TRACE, she was international counsel at Northrop Grumman. She can be contacted here.
Per diems. We in the FCPA bar love to hate them, and with good reason. Who likes the idea of giving cash to foreign officials? If theres anything that should rankle the anti-corruption specialist, this is it.

Yet, in an earlier post for the FCPA Blog I examined a narrow set of circumstances in which paying cash per diems to foreign officials is appropriate.

To refresh the readers recollection, I believe that per diem payments are sound when: (i) expressly required by a contract with a foreign government, (ii) the amount of the per diem is clear and unambiguous in the contract, (iii) the amount of the per diem is reasonable, and (iv) the government customer, not the supplier, was responsible for the requirement ending up in the contract.

I frequently hear assertions that the DOJ and the SEC have condemned per diems. But have the agencies actually said this? At first blush, they seem to do just that in the Resource Guide (pdf). On page 24 of the Guide, the DOJ and SEC set out a list of things to avoid when covering reasonable and bona fide expenditures for visiting foreign officials. In that list, the SEC and DOJ admonish companies to pay all costs directly, and not to advance funds or pay for reimbursements in cash.

Lets look at that list in a bit more detail, starting with how the agencies describe their own admonition.

The Resource Guide describes the list as a set of safeguards that may be helpful to businesses in evaluating whether a particular expenditure is appropriate or may risk violating the FCPA. This does not sound like a definitive expression of what companies can and cannot legally do. Rather, if we take it at face value, this list is a set of factors that companies ought to consider in evaluating the FCPA risks attendant to particular travel-related expenditures. Nothing more.

Moreover, other items in the very same list specifically contemplate cash payments. For example, the DOJ and SEC advise companies to ensure that any stipends are reasonable approximations of the costs likely to be incurred. According to the good people at Merriam-Webster, the word stipend means a fixed sum of money paid  to defray expenses. Sounds like a cash payment to me.

The agencies also say that companies should provide no additional compensation, stipends, or spending money beyond what is necessary to pay for actual costs incurred. In other words, you can provide spending money, just not too much.

If we continue to dissect the Resource Guide, we also find that the agencies favorably cite two Opinion Procedure Releases in which the DOJ considered cash payments given to foreign officials, and ultimately decided that the payments did not violate the FCPA. In fact, the agencies describe these OPRs in the Resource Guide as examples of legitimate promotional and contract-related expenses.

Lets look at these legitimate expenses.

In OPR 04-04 (pdf), a U.S. company planned to pay for a trip to the United States by a group of foreign officials who were drafting a new insurance law in their home country. The purpose of the trip was to help them study the issue. The requestor disclosed to the DOJ that it intended to apply for a license to sell insurance in the country in question, and as part of the application process it needed to demonstrate that it has been supportive of the countrys socio-economic needs, proactive in the development of the insurance industry, and active in promoting foreign investment. The requestor hoped to satisfy this requirement by paying for the officials trip.

The requestor proposed covering airfare, hotels, local transportation, occasional meals and tourist activities, as well as a modest per diem of $35/day. The DOJ indicated that it did not intend to take enforcement action with respect to the proposed trip.

In OPR 08-03 (pdf), the folks at TRACE wanted to hold a press conference in China regarding the information it had gathered in that country through BRIBEline, its online tool for reporting bribery. To help journalists at state-owned media outlets attend the event, TRACE proposed to cover their lodging costs, and also to provide a cash stipend to cover lunch, local transportation costs, and incidental expenses.

TRACE hoped that the press conference would help increase its membership, enhance its reputation, [and] promote its initiatives, such as BRIBELINE. In other words, TRACE considered the press conference to be, at least in part, promotional in nature.

As above, the DOJ indicated that it did not intend to take any enforcement action with respect to the planned provision of the stipends and the other costs that TRACE proposed to cover.

Notice that the costs incurred on behalf of foreign officials in these OPRs were for marketing and promotional purposes. The cash payments were not required as part of contract performance. In other words, the provision of those payments  while appropriate  was more aggressive from an FCPA perspective than the position Ive staked out on per diems.

What that means from a practical perspective is this: If the DOJ and SEC think its reasonable in certain situations to make voluntary cash payments to foreign officials during marketing trips, then it stands to reason that it must also be acceptable to do so pursuant to clear and unambiguous contractual requirements.

In sum, having parsed through the Resource Guide and the relevant OPRs, we find that in the right circumstances, the DOJ and SEC have given per diems the proverbial thumbs-up. We can therefore dispense with the notion that the enforcement agencies frown on the practice.

However, this is not to suggest that companies should handle per diems lightly. Like I said in my first post in this series, paying a per diem  even one that is clearly set forth in a contract  is a risky affair. Cash payments are intrinsically vulnerable to abuse, perhaps even more so than other travel and hospitality expenditures. Companies must therefore impose strict controls and risk mitigation steps on all per diem payments.

Im getting ahead of myself. Before I delve into risk mitigation, in my next post Ill distinguish between legitimate per diem payments and the corrupt payments featured in several prominent FCPA enforcement actions  just in case we still have some naysayers out there.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned.

___

Bill Steinman is the senior partner at Steinman & Rodgers LLP, a boutique law firm in Washington, D.C. specializing in international anti-corruption compliance and investigations. He can be contacted here.
Britain's Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will sample the world's hottest chilli during their trip to India.

Britain's Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

The royal couple are set to visit Kaziranga National Park, which is home to the biggest population of one-horned rhinos, where they will be treated to a tasting session featuring the Bhut Jolakiya chilli.

Prashanta Kumar Sharma, general manager at the IORA Resort, where the couple are expected to stay, said: "Our hotel employees are planning to welcome the royal couple in the traditional way with the Bihu and Jhumur dance.

"We are also planning to serve them traditional dishes, along with the world's hottest chilli Bhut Jolakiya. We are excited and eagerly awaiting their arrival."

And the locals in Assam are looking forward to welcoming the royal couple - who have two-year-old Prince George and 11-month-old Princess Charlotte together - to their village.

Amal Saikia added to India Today: "We are very proud that the royal couple is going to visit our national park. But I want them to visit our villages as well, to understand our culture. The people of Assam are well known for their hospitality. Ahead of the Bihu festival, I would rather have them visiting our village."
HBO are on top of their hype game this week, first allowing a small selection of media to see the first episode of the new season before dropping a brand new official full-length trailer for season 6 last night (April 11).

In it we see Jon Snow, still very much dead, being talked about by those that once followed him. Now they have to deal with 'The Long Night' without him, but whether or not he'll remain a corpse throughout the entire season remains to be seen.

Tensions continue to rise at King's Landing, with Jaime Lannister threatening The High Sparrow with violence. The High Sparrow asks him: 'You would spill blood in this holy place?', before Jaime retorts: 'The Gods won't mind. They spill more blood than the rest of us combined.'

Viewers also get a glimpse of Arya's training now that she is blind, and it looks to be brutal. She's being given a second chance but we're reassured that there 'won't be a third'.

Daenerys is stripped down once more, seemingly taken prisoner by the Dothraki army she stumbled upon following her dramatic escape on the back of Drogon at the end of the last season.

Despite dire circumstances, Sansa now seems to be looking for revenge against all those who have wronged her. Noting that 'what was taken from me' is all she thinks about, we get glimpses of Ramsey Bolton and the Frey Family celebrating, hopefully foreshadowing that their demise is on the horizon.

After being banished by Daenerys, Ser Jorah Mormont continues to deal with his Greyscale disease whilst more battles and fighting than ever before are teased. Though it's not entirely clear who's attacking who, there is a Targaryen sigil on one warrior who plants his sword straight through another.

'Show them what Lannisters are, what we do to our enemies', Cersei commands following her very public shaming in season 5. It seems as though the Lannister family are getting back to their roots, fighting for power against the High Sparrow and his holy cult which have infiltrated King's Landing and gained an incredible amount of power in such a short amount of time.

'The real war is between the living and the dead, and make no mistake, the dead are coming', promises Davos Seaworth, whilst we get glimpses of the White Walker army, ready to engage and unleash their wrath against the living.

'Dragons do not do well in captivity', says Tyrion, before being asked, 'How do you know this?'

'That's what I do. I drink and I know things' he replies. He's already on top form. Just what position he'll be playing in this season remains to be seen, but dealing with dragons is definitely going to be high up on his priorities list.

We get the tiniest glimpse of Podrick who seems happy enough, but his future could be limited if the arm around his neck truly is a threatening one. Someone else seems to be in peril as we see a bloody hand disappear around a corner into darkness - but who has the wound?

Game of Thrones season 6 premieres in the US on April 24 at 9pm on HBO, simulcast in the UK on Sky Atlantic and shown on the same channel in the UK each Monday thereafter at 9pm.

by Daniel Falconer for www.femalefirst.co.uk

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Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has authorised an allocation of Tk 1,000 crore to the textiles and jute ministry, part of which will be used for paying arrear in salaries and wages of jute mill workers before Pohela Boishakh, the Bangla New Year that falls on April 14.The money would also be used for modernisation of the state-owned jute mills to make them profitable.

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has authorised an allocation of Tk 1,000 crore to the textiles and jute ministry, part of which will be used#

State Minister for Textiles and Jute Mirza Azam told reporters at a press conference that at the weekly cabinet meeting, the Prime Minister directed Finance Minister AMA Muhith and Senior Secretary Mahbub Ahmed of the ministry to disburse the money immediately.Out of the Tk 1000 crore, Tk 600 crore will be spent on paying arrear in salaries and wages of the jute mills employees and the rest on modernising old jute mills owned by Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC), he said.The allocation came against the backdrop of the ongoing agitation by jute mill workers in Khulna.The state minister said Tk 40 crore would be given to workers immediately so that they can celebrate Pohela Baishakh. The remaining money would be handed over to the workers after a week.He hoped the workers would call off their agitation following the allocation of the fund. Azam also said the ministry would take back 14 jute mills from private owners which were sold out to them. The BJMC now owns 27 jute mills. (SH)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
There is need for more public-private initiatives to further enhance the credit support to the textile sector as part of an exercise to turn Bangladesh into a developed country , speakers at a seminar in Dhaka said.The speakers made the observation at the seminar on "Increasing the bank credit facilities for developing the textile industry" and demanded increasing the credit rate of all commercial banks for the sector, the BSS news agency has reported.

There is need for more public-private initiatives to further enhance the credit support to the textile sector as part of an exercise to turn#

Bangladesh Specialized Textile Mills and Powerloom Industries Association (BSTMPIA) organised the seminar.Addressing the seminar, Additional Secretary of Industries MinistrySushen Chandra Das said the government is providing all sorts of efforts to develop the textile industries along with all other industries to attain the next development goal to become a middle income country.He urged the textile industries owners and bankers to build good bilateral relation aiming to make easy the credit facilities in the sector.BSTMPIA Chairman Azizul Haque called upon all to further accelerate the textile sector and develop the country's economy. (SH)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Alternative Turkmenistan News (ATN) and International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF), partners in the Cotton Campaign, have filed a formal complaint against the import of cotton goods from Turkmenistan, all of which are made with forced labour, ILRF said in a press release.Under the recently amended Tariff Act of 1930, US Customs is required to deny entry to goods that arrive at American ports that contain materials made with forced labour.

Alternative Turkmenistan News (ATN) and International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF), partners in the Cotton Campaign, have filed a formal complaint#

Turkmenistan is the world's seventh largest cotton exporter, and the government of Turkmenistan uses forced labor to produce it. Annually the Turkmen government forces farmers to deliver production quotas and tens of thousands of citizens to pick cotton, all under threat of penalty. The government's use of forced labour violates Turkmen citizens' fundamental rights and national and international law, and fuels corruption. The government maintains a monopoly on cotton purchasing and sales, and does not disclose any information on cotton income or its use. The government is also responsible for hundreds of forced disappearances; denies freedoms of association, movement, expression and religion; and refuses cooperation with UN human rights bodies, the release said.Forced labor in Turkmenistan's cotton sector is particularly pernicious for being state-led, industry-wide, and violating the rights of tens of thousands of Turkmen citizens each year, said Ruslan Myatiev, Director at ATN. We are shocked to learn that Ikea and other companies are using it in their products.Turkmen cotton enters global markets via cotton traders that openly buy and sell it around the globe, as well as retailers that source ready-made cotton goods from Turkmenistan. Since Turkmenistan imports no cotton, all cotton goods produced there are made from domestically sourced cotton, all of which is produced in the government's forced labour system. The world's largest home furnishing retailer, Ikea, sells cotton products made in Turkmenistan, and US import records indicate additional companies import cotton goods from Turkmenistan to the US.The complaint calls on US Customs to classify cotton goods from Turkmenistan as illicit, issue a detention order on all imports of them, and direct port managers to block their release into the US.With the recently enacted reforms to strengthen the Tariff Act, Congress and the President have made it clear that the United States is serious about banning the importation of any goods produced with forced labor, said Eric Gottwald, legal and policy director at ILRF. We expect US Customs will conduct a thorough investigation and effectively ban imports of cotton goods from Turkmenistan. (SH)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
We all have read the news of Mira Rajput's pregnancy but did you know that Shahid Kapoor's ex girlfriend Kareena Kapoor was the first one to know about this good news. But How? Read further to know.

According to Bollywood Life, ''Saif Ali Khan and Shahid are shooting for Rangoon and the elated Kapoor informed them about the stork coming to visit their home.''

Click On VIEW PHOTOS To See Some Rare Pics Of Shahid & Kareena

Shahid Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan are working together for the first time in Rangoon. Many speculated that they will not sign this Vishal Bhardwaj film because of obvious reasons but the two surprised everyone by saying 'Yes' to the movie.

Treat For The Eyes! Aishwarya, Amitabh, Ranveer, Sonam & Others At The Hello Hall Of Fame Awards

In fact Shahid Kapoor even praised Saif Ali Khan in one of his interviews, "I have shot for one, one-and-a-half days with him. He (Saif) is very professional, nobody could have done the role like him. He is a great cast in the film, same goes to Kangana, who has been doing great work. Looking forward to know how people will react to the casting.''

Saif Ali Khan too, had some really nice words for the Kapoor boy, ''I am looking forward to working with Shahid in Rangoon and he seems like a very nice guy. It's not the first time that I met him. I know him from a long time."

On the work front, both Shahid Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan are busy with the shooting of Rangoon. The movie also stars Kangana Ranaut.
Elli Avram became famous when she participated in the reality show hosted by Salman Khan. During the shooting of the show, Salman and Elli bonded really well and became good friends. But you will not believe that Salman trusts Elli so much that he only allows her to touch his cellphone.

According To Business Of Cinema, ''Salman Khan is helping Elli Avram to get more Bollywood films. The two have always been seen bonding together like besties and the recentinstance with surely amaze you. It's known to all that Salman Khan never allows anyone to touch his cell phone but he never says 'no' to Elli Avram. Yes, the actor gives all the rights to Elli to touch his phone and play games.

Click On VIEW PHOTOS To See Salman Khan & Elli's Pictures



The source further added, ''At times he even jokes with her and asks if she is trying to read his messages or playing games. Salman Khan is known for his large-heartedness and is almost always there when his friends need them.''

Kareena Kapoor Was The First One To Know About Shahid Kapoor's Wife Mira Rajput's Pregnancy

Not many people know that when Elli was new to Bollywood, Salman even helped her to find good bodyguards....Hmm, it seems Elli holds a special place in Salman's heart!

In the past, Elli Avram too revealed that Salman Khan loves to help people and he has helped her a lot in every way and she is grateful for that.

The actress also confessed that she really wants to work with Salman Khan and she is confident that the day will soon come.

Well, we are waiting for that day too, Elli!
Arpita Khan's baby boy Ahil, is having the sweetest time sleeping on the lap of his grandmother Salma Khan. The picture looks adorable and is filled with love, care and family bonding. Arpita Khan, captioned the picture on Twitter as saying, "Nani loving , blessed with the best".

Click here to view more pictures of Baby Ahil with his mommy, pappa and Salman Khan!

Baby Ahil, is seen wrapped in a yellow baby suit and grandmother Salma Khan, is putting the baby to sleep on her lap. The smile that is on Salma's face is priceless, as she's holding the most precious, and a new person in their family.

So Funny! 15 Pics Of Aishwarya Rai Clicked When She Was Not Ready

They say a picture speaks a thousand words, and we're sure they're meant for sweetest and the most happiest pictures like these. The picture of Salma Khan and Baby Ahil, has reached the highest number of likes and comments, and this shows how much people love the little child.

A few days back, The Night Suit Co, had posted a picture on their Instagram account of baby Ahil having a peaceful sleep wearing a Superman baby suit. The picture, also had Salman Khan sleeping like a baby and the duo, looked very sweet and innocent.

10 Pictures Of Deepika Padukone Rocking In An RCB Jersey!

Salman Khan, is one doting uncle and we're sure that the Sultan actor, will find it difficult to leave home and shoot for his upcoming movie, as he just wants to spend time with baby Ahil. Salman Khan, is fond of children and he never stops showering his love on them.

The Sultan actor, had also gifted Arpita Khan a brand new luxury car as a gift and parked it right outside the hospital. Mommy Arpita and daddy Aayush, brought baby Ahil home in the same car!

Shahrukh Khan Finally Opens Up About Aryan & Suhana's Social Media Accounts!
India is often touted as the next mega technology play after China. But a series of problems stand in the way of a homegrown version of Alibaba or Amazon.

In Part One, FinanceAsia looked at the people who are helping to build India's e-commerce sector and the challenges of turning a country where cash is still king into one that buys products online.

But the challenging financial landscape is only one issue. Poor and costly distribution networks represent another big challenge for Indias e-commerce aspirations.

On Alibabas marketplace, the logistical costs are borne by merchants and buyers. In the US, Amazon adopts an inventory-based model and spends about 10% of its net income on warehousing and logistics. But in India, e-commerce companies pay as much as 30% of net income, reckons Technopak Advisors.

Thats because of poor infrastructure  a relative lack of haulage-worthy roads, bad internet connectivity, and terrible traffic, which results in huge bottlenecks.

India has a long road network but the quality is sub-standard. Indias railways are also quite extensive but, again, inefficient.

India will spend up to 970 billion rupees ($15 billion) building roads and highways during the fiscal year ending March 2017, the countrys Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said during his budget speech in February.

To work around this, Indias e-commerce companies rely on last-mile delivery or third-party delivery. That means orders have to be picked up by a delivery agent on a scooter with GPS-enabled addresses plugged into his or her mobile phone, before they reach their final destination.

An unreliable national postal service is another hurdle as there is no standard way of writing an address and many people can share similar names in a district.

And yet, for all the logistical difficulties, Indian consumers are some of the most demanding in the world when it comes to delivery. According to a global survey by logistics firm DHL in 2013, Indian online shoppers expect delivery in five days, compared with a global average of 6.5 days and 5.5 days in China.

Prompt delivery is a deal-clincher for many Indians. About 70% of all returns comprise customers unhappy with the delivery time, according to Sellerworx, a Bangalore-based consulting firm for e-commerce vendors.

So, in order to improve connectivity between vendors and buyers, the race is on to build new fulfillment centres  state-of-the-art packing warehouses that use both humans and automated processes such as computer-controlled chutes to move items.

All the e-commerce majors are building warehouses and the focus will be on a warehouse-led model in coming years, as they can ensure quality control and customer experience, Satish Meena, a Delhi-based analyst at Forrest Research, told FinanceAsia.

Technopak Advisors estimates the e-commerce industry will invest between 3% and 6% of its top-line sales from 2017 to 2020 building modern warehouses  a cumulative spend of $450 million to $900 million. Online retailers could spend an additional $500 million to $1 billion on logistics for the same period, enabling them to make faster deliveries at a lower cost.

Amazon added eight new fulfillment centres last year, boosting its storage capacity in India to almost 5 million cubic feet across 21 cities. It claims to have the countrys largest storage capacity and warehouse infrastructure.

Flipkart opened its 17th fulfillment centre in November and plans to invest more than $500 million in building further such facilities. Using automated technology to select and move packages to designated pickup stations and make the whole warehouse process quicker and smoother.

FUNDRAISING BANDWAGON

Despite the challenges facing the Indian e-commerce industry, there seems to be no shortage of capital to make it work.

Investors pumped $9 billion last year into Indias technology start-ups, up 50% on the previous year, and Goldman Sachs estimates that the private e-commerce start-ups, which received more than 80% of the venture capital money last year, could raise another $20 billion between 2015 and 2020.

ShopClues, a Gurgaon-based e-commerce marketplace, raised an undisclosed amount in its latest round of funding in January, valuing the company at $1.1 billion and placing it in the ranks of Indias technology unicorns.

The recent addition of [Singapore sovereign wealth fund] GIC and the continued strong support from our existing investors is a validation of our capital efficiency with a clear path to profitability, Sanjay Sethi, chief executive officer of ShopClues, said in a statement.

Snapdeal raised a further $200 million in February from a group of investors that included the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, one of the worlds largest pension funds. The investment valued Snapdeal at up to $7 billion, up from $4.8 billion in August.

Flipkart, meanwhile, is said to be in talks with investors including Alibaba and Chinese conglomerate Fosun Group, according to two people familiar with its fundraising plans.

Flipkart declined to comment directly on the matter but its CFO told FinanceAsia that the companys current cash holdings can last it until 2019. The company, which claims on its website to have more than 46 million registered users and gets 10 million daily page visits, is one of the most heavily funded technology start-ups in India, having raised more than $3 billion since 2014, according to investment research firm CB Insight.

The company raised $700 million in its 10th round of private funding last year, valuing it at $15.2 billion.

However, that was before Morgan Stanley  specifically the Morgan Stanley Institutional Fund Trust  disclosed in February that it had marked down the value of its stake in Flipkart by 27%, highlighting the difficulties Indias burgeoning e-commerce industry is still facing to make money.

None of Indias e-commerce leaders are close to profitability and, as a result, some pricing adjustments are being made, according to some industry analysts.

The investors are moving beyond [gross merchandise volume] and asking for a more reasonable valuation before investing in the e-commerce companies, said Meena at Forrest Research.

According to Goldman Sachs, e-commerce companies in India are burning cash at an average rate of 1.35x of the GMV sold as a result of free shipping and other various marketing incentives.

Loss-leading a business thats riding a wave of new technology and fighting for market share often makes sense but also has its limits; at some point, its got to come back to the ultimate commercial goal of making money.

We need a constant balance. You cannot burn money [in a] stupid way as long as you invest in [a] smart way, Masayoshi Son, founder of Japanese technology giant Softbank, said in January at a government conference in New Delhi to promote start-ups.

India plans to set up a Rs100 billion ($1.5 billion) fund to encourage start-up businesses and has pledged to ease regulations for entrepreneurs, as the administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi strives to create more jobs and boost growth.

Son, who will probably dine all his life on the $20 million investment he made in 2000 in a certain Chinese e-commerce company that was unprofitable at the time called Alibaba, is looking for new hidden gems in India. A Snapdeal backer, Softbank is on course to exceed its planned $10 billion investment in India over the decade, after spending $2 billion last year.

But being patient is well worth it when the potential is so great.

It is OK not to make money but what is important is customer acquisition, business model, and customer satisfaction. The overall business should be created to get enough scale, active user base, and you will make profits, Son said.
S&P recently placed the China sovereign rating on negative outlook. Will this rating action affect Chinas provincial governments?

We are not expecting a serious deterioration in provincial governments' credit metrics in the short term. Our current assessment of their creditworthiness already incorporates our forward-looking view of these entities' economic, fiscal, and debt dynamics. We believe that the central government's ongoing support of provinces will outweigh the downside risks that may arise from higher debt burdens and a weaker economy. In addition, we estimate that the cash positions of almost all Chinese provincial governments may cover 100% of their debtservicing task for the next12 months.

Is the weakening Chinese economy a major concern?

The economic slowdown has hit fiscal performances of many provinces hard, and it is possible that revenue prospects for provincial governments may weaken further than expected. At the same time, growth in government fiscal spending shows no sign of abating. Further deterioration in revenue prospects could lead us to lower our assessment of the budgetary performance of local governments.

Wealthy provinces, such as Beijing, Guangdong, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang, tend to hold up better during difficult times and their budgetary performances have remained broadly in balance. The provinces with only average income levels have balances after capital accounts around 0% to negative 5%, while Qinghai and Ningxia (the two underdeveloped northwestern provinces) have imbalances of greater than 10%, despite having two-thirds of their revenue supported by transfers from the central government.

What is the impact of the governments debt-refinancing program?

China's local government debt-refinancing program, launched in 2015, has significantly enhanced the debt-servicing capacity of provincial governments by deferring principal payments and lowering interest costs. The resulting stronger liquidity position of provinces has been a key support for the sectors creditworthiness.

The debt-refinancing program is designed to restructure approximately RMB13 trillion of non-bond debt (which are mostly short term and bear high interest costs) into provincial government bonds by 2017. In 2015, RMB3.2 trillion in bonds were issued for refinancing old debt, with another RMB5 trillion to RMB6 trillion to be issued this year and next year (see chart 1).

What are the provincial governments' key credit weaknesses?

A high and rising debt burden, combined with contingent risks, are the key weaknesses weighing on the credit profiles of provincial governments. Their debt has increased to just under 40% of GDP, from 27% a few years ago. We estimate that their debt burden as a whole was 180% of their total revenue at the end of 2015. This level is high compared with international peers and constrains the creditworthiness of Chinese provincial governments.

Given the debt ceiling on provincial governments that went into effect last year, we expect growth in their direct debt stock to be moderate. However, most provinces have set similar or higher growth targets for 2016 compared with that for 2015 to stabilize the local economy, implying that fiscal spending will continue to prop up growth. This will exacerbate the revenue-expenditure imbalance, and build more contingent risks for the provincial governments.

What determines regional governments resilience to negative trends?

The economic strength of provincial governments is a key factor that determines whether they can withstand negative rends. The more diversified regional economies with a larger share of the services sector, such as the financial industry and the strong property sector, may have better tax revenue-generating capacity (see chart 2). For example, we see tax revenue growth rates in Shanghai, Guangdong, Beijing, and Jiangsu above 10%, boosted by their large and relatively more profitable services sectors.

Besides tax revenue, land sales affect local governments' fiscal revenue significantly. Beijing and Shanghai are two outliers, with their land sales revenue increasing in 2015 thanks to their top-tier property market, while Zhejiang and Guangdong experienced 30% and 15% declines, respectively. Overall, we expect land transactions to remain sluggish in 2016. The Ministry of Finance forecasts overall land sale income for provincial governments to drop another 13%. Data for February suggests that land sales revenue might have bottomed, possibly due to the strong recovery in top-tier property markets.

What's behind the differences in credit profile estimates?

In general, the Eastern provinces tend to have better credit profiles than those in inland areas. Most Chinese provincial governments display some common credit features, including a high debt burden, limited budgetary flexibility, and strong liquidity. The primary factors currently driving the differences in our estimated credit profiles are the economic strength and fiscal profiles, which tend to vary more widely across provinces. The economic profile has a significant impact on an individual credit profile assessment in its own right, and it also has a follow-on impact on the fiscal profile.

As a starting point, most Chinese provinces sit at the lower end of the income range compared with international peers. However, their economic profiles look quite different after taking into account their economic structure and growth prospects. Although all Chinese provincial governments are experiencing negative economic trends, regional economies with greater exposure to the service sector tend to be more resilient to downward pressure on their fiscal revenue. By contrast, provinces with more exposure to industrial overcapacity and the commodity sectors have suffered most from shrinking economic activity and deflation.

Whats S&P's assessment of the relationship between central and provincial governments?

We view China's fiscal framework and relations between the central and provincial governments as evolving and unbalanced. continues to take incremental steps to improve its fiscal system, which was largely formulated in 1994. Recent efforts have included moves to improve debt and liquidity management by, for example, imposing a legislated ceiling on local governments' direct borrowing to increase the transparency of their debt position.

The progress and the sequencing of fiscal reforms appear to be falling behind schedule. The lack of clear boundaries for economic and fiscal responsibilities between the central and provincial governments remains. Local governments are still facing shortfalls in funding fiscal spending, which their on-budget debt financing may not offset completely. China is aiming to increase local governments' revenue flexibility and is committed to firming up fiscal transfers to local governments. However, these measures are not adequate to address the imbalance.

The article is authored by Xin Liu, Associate Director of Sovereign and International Public Finance Ratings at Standard & Poors Ratings Services
Technavio has announced the top five leading vendors in their recent global titanium mill products market report. This research report also lists seven other prominent vendors that are expected to impact the market during the forecast period.

Competitive vendor landscape

The market for titanium mill products is highly consolidated. North America dominates the market as most manufacturers are based in the region. Producers of melted and mill products are located in the US, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, China, and the UK. Alcoa, Allegheny Technologies, Baoji Titanium Industry, Precision Castparts, and VSMPO-AVISMA are a few prominent vendors in the market. These vendors contribute 50%-60% of the market share. Russia-based VSMPO-Avisma is the largest supplier of mill products to the aerospace industry.

According to Chandrakumar Badala Jaganathan, a lead analyst at Technavio for metals and minerals "Vendors compete based on pricing, product quality, and service. Technological advances and reduced operational costs are the prime factors that decrease the costs of these products significantly, thus increasing the market share of a few vendors."

Top five titanium mill products market vendors

Alcoa

Alcoa was founded in 1888 and is headquartered in New York, US. The company processes lightweight metals such as aluminum, titanium, and nickel. Its products are used in automobiles, aircraft packaging, building and construction, commercial transportation, oil and gas, defense, consumer electronics, and other industrial applications.

In July 2015, the company acquired RTI International Metals, a producer of fabricated titanium and specialty metal components. This acquisition helped the company expand its reach into the titanium market and enhances its advanced technologies and materials capabilities. This transaction also enabled the company to capitalize on the strong growth in the commercial aerospace sector.

ATI

ATI is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US. The company produces diversified specialty materials and components. Its products include precision and engineered stainless steel strip, titanium and titanium alloys, precision forgings, castings and machined components, nickel-based alloys and specialty steels, zirconium and related alloys, and grain-oriented electrical steel.

ATI is an integrated supplier of titanium sponge raw materials. In 2014, the company planned an expansion project, which is worth USD 70 million; it is expected to be completed in two years. It is operated as ATI Specialty Materials business unit in Monroe, North Carolina, US.

Baoji Titanium Industry

Baoji Titanium Industry was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Baoji, China. The company produces rare metal products, including titanium, titanium alloy, and other metallic composites. It provides titanium products, including tubes, plates, rods, rings, ingots, and castings; nickel products, including tubes and plates; and zirconium products such as zirconium sheets and plates, and bars. The company also offers composite materials in tube, plate, and rod forms.

In November 2015, Baoji Titanium Industry won the National Nonferrous Metals Industry Excellence brand award for its titanium mill products.

Precision Castparts

Precision Castparts was founded in 1953 and is headquartered in Portland, Oregon, US. The company manufactures complex metal components and products, including investment castings, forgings, fasteners, and fastener systems.

As of March 2015, the company had 30,100 employees and generated a revenue of USD 10.01 billion. It has 155 manufacturing facilities worldwide and an order backlog of USD 8.1 billion. General Electric, Boeing, Airbus, Rolls-Royce, United Technologies, Spirit AeroSystems, and Pratt Whitney are some of its prominent customers.

VSMPO-AVISMA

VSMPO-AVISMA is a Russia-based non-ferrous metallurgical company that produces titanium and aluminum products. The company serves the aerospace, medical, military, automotive aftermarket, and consumer goods markets globally. Its principal products are manufactured from titanium, titanium alloys, and ferrotitanium. Other products include aluminum and its alloys, steel, and nickel-based alloys.

The company provides these products as slabs, die forgings, tubes, sheets, and foils. It also manufactures engineering equipment, including heat exchangers and tubing systems and forged aluminum wheels. Airbus, Boeing, Rolls Royce, Embraer, Goodrich, Safran, and Messier Dowty are some of its prominent customers.

Browse Related Reports:

Global Titanium Dioxide Nanomaterials Market 2015-2019

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About Technavio

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies.

Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, re-sellers, and end-users.

If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com.

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DURHAM, NC -- (Marketwired) -- 04/11/16 -- Mi-Corporation today is proud to announce Winnie Webber, JIS Director of the 19th Judicial Circuit Court, Lake County, IL, as a morning Keynote Presenter and Mobile Technology Spotlight speaker at the 2016 Mobility Summit. Mobility Summit will be held at the Durham Convention Center in downtown Durham, NC, on April 13th and 14th.

Ms. Webber and the 19th Judicial Circuit Court of Lake County, Illinois, under the supervision of Robert Zastany, Executive Director, and in support of the overall vision of Chief Judge Jorge L. Ortiz, are deploying the Mi-Forms mobile business process software platform as part of a system modernization program for data capture. In continued support for the Paperwork Reduction and Elimination Acts, the Mi-Forms platform will be deployed to support the Pre-Trial Bond Report, as well as other mission critical workflow documents that are integral to court operations.

With over 21 years of experience with the 19th Judicial Circuit Court, Ms. Webber holds a BS in Math and Computer Science from the University of Manila, and earned the title of Fellow of the Institute for Court Management in 2010. Robert Zastany, who received both his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Youngstown State University, is a 3-time recipient of the prestigious "Lady of Justice" Award, and was inducted into the Warren E. Burger Society in 2010. Both Court leaders have been recognized nationally for their commitments to the Courts and operational excellence.

"Clearly leading the way for operational excellence within the Courts, the leaders of the 19th Judicial Court have always challenged the status quo. By moving processes away from paper to modern digital solutions, they continue to reduce the use of paper documents required to support the business of the Courts," stated Robert Letzeisen, Software Executive at Mi-Corporation.

About Mi-Corporation

Mi-Corporation, a 16-year industry leader in mobilizing mission-critical business processes, offers enterprise-class mobile software solutions that quicken business cycles, drive productivity, and increase revenues. Mi-Corporation's products can be used with Windows, iOS, and Android devices and the Digital Pen among other mobile devices across diverse industries. Organizations like Transport for London, North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, United Nations, United States Department of Transportation, and many others use Mi-Corporation's mobile business process software solutions. Register for the 2016 Mobility Summit: mobilitysummit.co

About the 19th Judicial Court

The Court is located at 18 N County Street in Waukegan, IL with a mission to serve the public by providing a fair and efficient system of justice. This includes effectively managing advanced Judiciary and Judicial Systems in the successful dissolution of thousands of cases per year.

CONTACT

Maura Ambrosino

919.485.4819 x 1600

Email Contact




Groundbreaking On-Bus HetNet Technology Set to Benefit Public Transit Riders with Seamless, High Throughput Wireless Experience

To Provide Real-time Interactive Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Capabilities over HetNets

NASHUA, New Hampshire, Apr. 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Parallel Wireless, Inc., the pioneer in making cellular network deployments as easy and as cost-effective as Wi-Fi, today announced that its innovative HetNet solution has been selected by M1 Limited, Singapore's most vibrant and dynamic communications company, to support its WiFi-On-The-Go service as a part of the HetNet trial.

The mobile operators in Singapore are looking for innovative technologies to address spectrum scarcity as subscriber demand is growing rapidly with smartphone penetration reaching 130 devices per 100 people. Maximizing utilization of the spectrum and easing network congestion in areas with heavy human traffic is necessary to meet Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (iDA) vision of connecting the whole nation as a part of world's-first Smart Nation initiative.

Parallel Wireless worlds-first on-Bus NFV-enabled HetNet technology, successfully trialed as a part of the HetNet trial in Singapore, changes the economics of pervasive mobile coverage with real-time HetNet orchestration, traffic prioritization made possible by HetNet Gateway (HNG). All bus riders receive seamless, high throughput connectivity from an on-bus multi-mode LTE/Wi-Fi Converged Wireless System (CWS) small cell with integrated backhaul including licensed assisted backhaul. By enabling carrier aggregation for backhaul, the end user throughput can be increased 10 times (up to 300 Mbps) allowing transit passengers to enjoy multimedia content without buffering.

Enabling Smart Cities represents a tremendous opportunity for businesses in Singapore and M1 is committed to providing wireless subscribers customers with solutions to stay always connected to the Internet via their mobile devices anywhere anytime with seamless connectivity. This breakthrough HetNet solution, enabled by Parallel Wireless vRAN architecture, allows M1 to better manage network demands, enable intelligent traffic steering and load balancing. Additionally, the network can seamlessly scale capacity up or down with intelligent traffic offload to address the changing usage patterns, while maintaining seamless end user Quality of Service. In the future, the same small cell can include M2M features to provide fleet management capabilities to transit companies.

"We are proud to support M1's WiFi-On-The-Go service HetNet trial, Singapore's first connected public bus service as a part of the iDA initiative to make Singapore the worlds-first Smart Nation." said Steve Papa, Founder, Chairman and CEO, Parallel Wireless. "Innovative operators like M1 are leading a market disruption in new growth areas such as enabling Smart Cities. Parallel Wireless's cost-effective and efficient HetNet solution was designed to make this disruption a reality."

Supporting Resources

www.parallelwireless.com

About M1 Limited:

M1 is Singapore's most vibrant and dynamic communications company, providing mobile and fixed services to over 2 million customers. Since the launch of commercial services in 1997, M1 has achieved many firsts, including the first operator to offer nationwide 4G service, as well as ultra high-speed fixed broadband, fixed voice and other services on the Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network (NGNBN). With a continual focus on network quality, customer service, value and innovation, M1 links anyone and anything; anytime, anywhere. For more information, visit www.m1.com.sg.

About Parallel Wireless

Parallel Wireless is reimagining the wireless infrastructure market, enabling carriers, public safety, and enterprise to deploy cellular networks as easy and as cost-effective as enterprise Wi-Fi. Currently, the company has been selected by the largest LTE provider in Europe and is engaged in many trials globally. Parallel Wireless' innovation and excellence has been recognized with 15 industry awards and a nomination to the "Fierce 15" top emerging technology startups list. Connect with Parallel Wireless on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Streetlight (Wako Denken Co., Ltd.) Light projector (Wako Denken Co., Ltd.) Light projector (S.E.I. Co., Ltd.)

TOKYO, Apr 12, 2016 - (ACN Newswire) - Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K.*1 (Head office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director & CEO: Akira Tanae) and S.E.I. Co., Ltd. (Head office: Hamada City, Shimane Prefecture; Representative Director: Makoto Saito) announced that they have developed LED (light-emitting diode) modules with higher power than existing products by using AuRoFUSE*2 with sub-micron size (one-ten thousandth of a millimeter) gold particles as a low-temperature bonding material.The new LED modules use AuRoFUSE as a bonding material to eliminate the wire bonding*3 that is currently the mainstream method and enable face-down bonding.*4 This improves electrical characteristics while maintaining high thermal dissipation and makes smaller modules possible. In addition, existing face-down structures*5 require the use of expensive aluminum nitride in the substrate, but by using AuRoFUSE, direct bonding with a metal substrate is possible, reducing costs and making possible to manufacture more compact and higher-performance modules.By introducing the new module into manufacturing and combining it with other products such as high-power projectors, it is expected that in the future a wide range of products can be developed including LED illumination for harsh environments such as refrigerated warehouses and automotive illumination.- Issues regarding LED modulesThe power of LED lighting components steadily declines with rising temperatures caused by heat generation when the component is on. As a result, improving thermal dissipation is important issue in developing LED modules. When using the current mainstream method wire bonding, it is difficult for heat to escape outside the component since the LED light emitting surface is at the top, imposing a limit on thermal dissipation. Because of this reason, face-down bonding, which bonds the LED chip directly to the substrate, has attracted considerable attention.A face-down structure helps to release the heat to outside because the light-emitting surface is closer to the substrate. In addition, advantages of this structure are downsizing because of wiring space is not required and improving electrical characteristics because of wiring is eliminated. With a conventional bonding technology using AuSn solder, however, it is used on the substrate of expensive aluminum nitride which is difficult to shift to face-down structures in terms of cost.- Benefits of this LED moduleThe new LED module adopts a face-down structure using AuRoFUSE as the bonding material, enabling direct bonding with the metal substrate. The difference in coefficients of thermal expansion between the LED chip and metal substrate is large, resulting in damage of conventional bonding. The gold particle bonding with AuRoFUSE has a function of stress release against thermal expansion mismatch, and consequently, the LED chip can successfully be bonded directly to the substrate.The new LED module is proof against the environment temperature change, making possible to apply in refrigerated warehouse illumination during import and export. These compact LED modules also can enhance the designability of automobiles when used in automotive illumination. The new LED modules will expand the potential to manufacture diverse range of products that in the past entailed high development costs or were otherwise difficult to develop.- Roles of Tanaka Precious Metals / S.E.I. and future developmentTanaka Precious Metals manufactured and provided the AuRoFUSE bonding material, while S.E.I. was responsible for manufacturing the module. As a result of this development, Tanaka Precious Metals will be able to give materials proposals to customers from a perspective that is closer to the final products.*1 Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K., is a core company of Tanaka Holdings Co., Ltd. as a holding company.*2 AuRoFUSE is a paste-type bonding material containing a mixture of an organic solvent and gold particles with particle diameter controlled on the sub-micron size. Generally, microscopic particles exhibit a property known as "sintering" where particles bond to each other when heated to a temperature under the melting point. When AuRoFUSE is heated to 200 degrees Celsius, the solvent evaporates, and the gold particles undergo sinter bonding without the application of pressure. Sufficient bonding strength of approximately 30 megapascals (MPa) can be maintained at temperatures under 300 degrees Celsius. Bonding strength at high temperatures can be achieved without applying load onto components during bonding.*3 Wire bonding is a method of electrically bonding chips to lead frames or substrates. Wire bonding is currently the mainstream bonding technique since existing LED mounting technology can be used without modification.*4 Face-down bonding is a method of electrically bonding chips to lead frames or substrates using protruding electrodes (bumps). Chips with electrodes are turned over and bonded directly to the substrate.*5 A face-down structure is a substrate structure that uses face-down bonding.Press release: http://www.acnnewswire.com/clientreports/1339/160412_EN.pdfTanaka Holdings Co., Ltd. (Holding company of Tanaka Precious Metals)Headquarters: 22F, Tokyo Building, 2-7-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, TokyoRepresentative: Akira Tanae, Representative Director & CEOFounded: 1885Incorporated: 1918Capital: 500 million yenEmployees in consolidated group: 3,511 (FY2014)Net sales of consolidated group: 856.4 billion yen (FY2014)Main businesses of the group: Strategic and efficient group management and management guidance to group companies as the holding company at the center of the Tanaka Precious Metals.Website: http://www.tanaka.co.jp/english (Tanaka Precious Metals), http://pro.tanaka.co.jp/en (Industrial products)Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K.Headquarters: 22F, Tokyo Building, 2-7-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, TokyoRepresentative: Akira Tanae, Representative Director & CEOFounded: 1885Incorporated: 1918Capital: 500 million yenEmployees: 1,992 (as of October 1, 2015)Sales: 872,677 million yen (FY2014)Main businesses: Manufacture, sales, import and export of precious metals (platinum, gold, silver, and others) and various types of industrial precious metals products.Website: http://pro.tanaka.co.jp/enAbout the Tanaka Precious MetalsEstablished in 1885, the Tanaka Precious Metals has built a diversified range of business activities focused on the use of precious metals. On April 1, 2010, the group was reorganized with Tanaka Holdings Co., Ltd. as the holding company (parent company) of the Tanaka Precious Metals. In addition to strengthening corporate governance, the company aims to improve overall service to customers by ensuring efficient management and dynamic execution of operations. Tanaka Precious Metals is committed, as a specialist corporate entity, to providing a diverse range of products through cooperation among group companies.Tanaka Precious Metals is in the top class in Japan in terms of the volume of precious metal handled, and for many years the group has developed and stably supplied industrial precious metals, in addition to providing accessories and savings commodities utilizing precious metals. As precious metal professionals, the group will continue to contribute to enriching people's lives in the future.The five core companies in the Tanaka Precious Metals are as follows.- Tanaka Holdings Co., Ltd. (pure holding company)- Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K.- Tanaka Denshi Kogyo K.K.- Electroplating Engineers of Japan, Limited- Tanaka Kikinzoku Jewelry K.K.S.E.I. Co., Ltd. (formerly Shimane Electronics Imafuku Works, CO., Ltd.)Headquarters: 281-1 Kanagi-cho Imafuku, Hamada City, Shimane PrefectureRepresentative: Makoto SaitoFounded: 1978Capital: 21 million yenEmployees: 32 (as of April 2016)Sales: 300 million yen (FY2015)Main businesses: Manufacture of device and development and manufacture of application productsWebsite: http://www.s-imf.co.jp/Press inquiriesTanaka Holdings Co., Ltd.https://www.tanaka.co.jp/en/protanaka/inquiry/index.phpSource: Tanaka Holdings Co., Ltd.Copyright 2016 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
IRVINE, CA--(Marketwired - April 11, 2016) - First Direct Lending LLC, a leading consumer direct mortgage lender serving a broad spectrum of homeowners and buyers, has achieved a record-breaking 2015, with the company realizing massive growth in revenue, office space, and employee headcount. Commitment to providing a simple and effortless financing experience built on treating all customers with care and respect has also earned the mortgage lender multiple industry expert awards and recognitions.

Staying true to the motto "Growth Happens Here Every Day," First Direct Lending LLC helped more customers and processed more loans than ever in 2015, while substantially improving loan processing times and procedures. The company, on average, funds loans in half the time compared to industry average. In addition, the company added a new 11,000 square foot Loan Operations Center, greatly expanding the footprint of their Orange County, California headquarters. In one of its most consequential areas of growth, the mortgage lender more than doubled its employee headcount, owing partly to a key expansion into several major new U.S. markets including New York, Texas, Connecticut, and Oregon.

Due to their dedication to promoting a streamlined, yet personal, approach to the home mortgage industry, First Direct Lending LLC has received multiple honors and awards in the past year, including the most recent recognition by LendingTree, LLC as a "Top Customer-Rated Lender," an accolade based solely on customer ratings and reviews. The lender has also received outstanding feedback on comprehensive employee surveys, gaining them backing by the industry experts from the leading Orange County publications as they named First Direct Lending LLC one of the "Best Places to Work" and one of the county's "Top Workplaces in 2015", by the Orange County Business Journal and the Orange County Register respectively. The National Mortgage Professional Magazine has also listed the company as one of the "America's Top 100 Mortgage Employers," appreciating its successes on the national level. Dave Brown, President and Co-CEO of First Direct Lending, credits the achievements of 2015 to the exceptional work environment that has been built throughout the years, "Our growth and success is a direct result of having an amazing team of talented people and a company culture that allows such people to thrive."

Founded by an experienced team of entrepreneurial executives, Irvine-based First Direct Lending LLC is a leading consumer direct mortgage lender going beyond their streamlined technology and helping businesses, families, and individuals receive a simple and effortless financing experience. The company currently offers FHA, VA, Conventional, HARP and Non-QM loans, as well as refinance options to current and prospective homeowners in 24 states and prides itself on its ability to fund refinance loans in as little as 7 days. From application to post closing, First Direct Lending LLC handles every facet of the loan cycle with 100% of their loans underwritten in-house within the 24-hour guaranteed turnaround time. Its commitment to superb technology based lending and employee satisfaction has earned the mortgage lender multiple industry awards and recognitions.

First Direct Lending: http://firstdirectlending.com

First Direct Lending, LLC - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/firstdirectlending/app/108302412533701

First Direct Lending - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/first-direct-lending

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According to the latest market study released by Technavio, the global air and missile defense radar system marketis set to reach USD 10.58 billion by 2020, growing at a CAGR of 6.81% during the forecast period.

This research report titled 'Global Air and Missile Defense Radar System Market 2016-2020' provides an in-depth analysis of the market in terms of revenue and emerging market trends. This market research report also includes up to date analysis and forecasts for various market segments and all geographical regions.

Request sample report: http://goo.gl/wgRG9F

Based on platform, the global air and missile defense radar system market is classified into the following segments:

Airborne

Land-based

Naval

Global naval AMDR market

The naval AMDR systems market gained its importance after the commencement of the Cold War in the early 1990s. Since then, countries like the US, Russia, Israel, South Korea, and Japan have made enormous investments in the development and procurement of these systems. Moreover, member nations of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) such as the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and Greece and the US are upgrading their existing naval fleets to dual-band capability, which was introduced in 2014.

Abhay Singh, a lead analyst at Technavio for defense, says, "In response to the increasing demand for naval AMDR systems from the US DOD and the Russian Ministry of Defense, the US Navy initiated a joint commission to increase the ballistic missile defense radar systems in the future naval fleets. These systems would deliver an enduring, supportable, operationally efficient, and integrated ballistic missile defense capability in destroyers and cruisers."

Global land-based AMDR market

AMDR systems facilitate defense authorities to enhance the capabilities of their military vehicles and units to track incoming missiles. In addition, the defense industry is embracing new radar technologies and shifting toward a new generation of sophisticated systems that enable faster, secure, weather-resistant, and wider frequency bandwidth detection of missiles.

In 2016, AMEC, a US-based vendor, signed a contract, worth USD 182.8 million, with the US DOD for the development and installation of an Aegis Ashore land-based BMDS in Poland. The Aegis Ashore is the successor of the shipborne Aegis Combat System (both built by Lockheed Martin). Both systems are equipped with the Lockheed Martin's SPY-1 passive electronically scanned array (PESA) air defense radar.

Global airborne AMDR market

Technavio expects the global airborne AMDR system market to grow from USD 1.61 billion in 2015 to USD 2.13 billion by 2020. In 2014, 34,073 fighter aircraft and combat helicopters were in service, which was an increase of 1.37% from the total number in 2013. During the same period, Russia accounted for a 7.81% increase in the number of such aircraft, followed by the US with 2.82% and China with 2.54%. In the same year, India had 1,346 such planes, reflecting a growth of 3.78% compared to that of 2013. Similarly, Japan had a 0.11% increase in the total number of such aircraft in 2014.

"The growing number of aircraft would simultaneously result in increased investments by the defense authorities for the development and procurement of AMDR systems, driving the market during the forecast period," says Abhay.

The top vendors highlighted by Technavio's research analysts in this report are:

General Dynamics

Lockheed Martin

Northrop Grumman

Raytheon

Reutech Radar Systems

Browse Related Reports:

Global Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Market 2016-2020

Global X-Band Radar Market 2016-2020

Global Radar Systems and Technology Market 2016-2020

Purchase these three reports for the price of one by becoming a Technavio subscriber. Subscribing to Technavio's reports allows you to download any three reports per month for the price of one. Contact enquiry@technavio.com with your requirements and a link to our subscription platform.

About Technavio

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies.

Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, re-sellers, and end-users.

If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160411006363/en/

Contacts:

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media Marketing Executive

US: +1 630 333 9501

UK: +44 208 123 1770

www.technavio.com
TSX: SLW

NYSE: SLW

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Silver Wheaton Corp. ("Silver Wheaton" or the "Company") (TSX:SLW) (NYSE:SLW) announced today that the syndicate of underwriters for the Company's previously completed bought deal public offering of 33,135,000 common shares of Silver Wheaton (the "Offering") have elected to exercise their option in full to purchase an additional 4,970,250 common shares at a price of US$16.60 per share. The sale of the additional common shares is expected to be completed on April 14, 2016 and will increase the gross proceeds by an additional US$82.5 million, resulting in total gross proceeds from the Offering of US$632.5 million.

The Offering was led by RBC Capital Markets, BMO Capital Markets, CIBC Capital Markets and Scotiabank (the "Underwriters").

Silver Wheaton intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering, including proceeds from the exercise of the over-allotment option, to repay a portion of the debt that was drawn on the Company's US$2 billion revolving credit facility in November 2015 for the US$900 million purchase of the silver stream on the Antamina mine in Peru.

The Offering was completed by way of a prospectus supplement dated March 31, 2016 (the "Supplement") to the Company's existing short form base shelf prospectus dated May 4, 2015, which was filed in all of the provinces of Canada and was registered in the United States pursuant to a registration statement filed under the Canada/U.S. multi-jurisdictional disclosure system. These documents may be accessed for free by visiting SEDAR at www.sedar.com or EDGAR at www.sec.gov. A written prospectus relating to the Offering may be obtained upon request in Canada by contacting RBC Capital Markets, Distribution Centre, RBC Wellington Square, 8th Floor, 180 Wellington St. W., Toronto, Ontario, M5J 0C2 (Tel: 1-416-842-5349; E-mail: Distribution.RBCDS@rbccm.com), and, in the United States, by contacting RBC Capital Markets, LLC, 200 Vesey Street, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10281-8098; Attention: Equity Syndicate; (Tel: 1-877-822-4089; E-mail: equityprospectus@rbccm.com).

This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the common shares in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of that jurisdiction.

About Silver Wheaton

Silver Wheaton is the largest pure precious metals streaming company in the world.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING-STATEMENTS

The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements, which are all statements other than statements of historical fact, include, but are not limited to statements with respect to the intended use of proceeds of the Offering.

Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "projects", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", "potential", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Silver Wheaton to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to those factors discussed in the section entitled "Description of the Business - Risk Factors" in the Supplement filed in Canada in connection with the Offering on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and in the United States as part of the Registration Statement on Form F-10 filed with the SEC.

Although Silver Wheaton has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results, level of activity, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate and even if events or results described in the forward-looking statements are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, Silver Wheaton. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and are cautioned that actual outcomes may vary. The forward-looking statements included herein for the purpose of providing investors with information to assist them in understanding Silver Wheaton's expected financial and operational performance and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Any forward looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Silver Wheaton does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that are included or incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.



Patrick Drouin, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations, Silver Wheaton Corp., Tel: 1-844-288-9878, Email: info@silverwheaton.com
CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese yen weakened against the other major currencies in the Asian session on Tuesday. The yen fell to 123.50 against the euro, 113.47 against the Swiss franc and 154.15 against the pound, from yesterday's closing quotes of 123.09, 113.07 and 153.65, respectively. The yen edged down to 108.28 against the U.S. dollar, from yesterday's closing value of 107.93. Against the Australian, the New Zealand and the Canadian dollars, the yen dropped to 5-day lows of 82.72, 74.54 and 83.93 from yesterday's closing quotes of 81.96, 73.99 and 83.68, respectively. If the yen extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 126.00 against the euro, 115.00 against the franc, 159.00 against the pound, 111.00 against the greenback, 85.00 against the aussie, 76.00 against the kiwi and 86.00 against the loonie. 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.
DUBIN, IRELAND -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 -- Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: FO)(AIM: FOG)(ESM: FAC) ("Falcon") announces that its Annual General and Special Shareholder Meeting will be held at Calgary Petroleum Club, 319 5th Avenue S.W., Calgary, AB T2P 0L6, Canada on 21 June 2016 at 11:00 a.m. (Calgary time).

A complete notice and related documents will be sent to the shareholders of record as at 10 May 2016 and will also be filed on the Canadian System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval ("SEDAR") at www.sedar.com and Falcon's website at www.falconoilandgas.com.

The Notice of the Annual General and Special Shareholder meeting was filed on SEDAR on 1 April 2016.

For the information of shareholders; Origin Energy, the operator of Falcon's joint venture Beetaloo Basin, Australia drilling program is presenting at the American Association of Petroleum Geologists ("AAPG") with SEPM ("Society for Sedimentary Geology") and Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists ("CSPG") Annual Convention & Exhibition 2016 at the BMO Centre at Stampede Park, Calgary on Monday 20 June 2016 a paper titled "Unconventional Gas Potential in the Northern Territory, Australia: Exploring the Beetaloo Sub-Basin". The paper will be presented by Dr. David Close, Chief Geologist and Unconventional Exploration Manager, Origin Energy.

About Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd.

Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd is an international oil and gas company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of conventional and unconventional oil and gas assets, with the current portfolio focused in Australia, South Africa and Hungary. Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd is incorporated in British Columbia, Canada and headquartered in Dublin, Ireland with a technical team based in Budapest, Hungary.

For further information on Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd. please visit www.falconoilandgas.com

About Origin Energy

Origin Energy (ASX: ORG) is the leading Australian integrated energy company with market leading positions in energy retailing (approximately 4.2 million customers), power generation (approximately 6,000 MW of capacity owned and contracted) and natural gas production (1,093 PJ of 2P reserves and annual production of 82 PJe).

Through Australia Pacific LNG, its incorporated joint venture with ConocoPhillips and Sinopec, Origin is developing Australia's biggest CSG to LNG project based on the country's largest 2P CSG reserves base.

www.originenergy.com.au

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.

Contacts:

Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd.

+353 1 417 1900



Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd.

Philip O'Quigley

CEO

+353 87 814 7042



Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd.

Michael Gallagher

CFO

+353 1 417 0814



Davy (NOMAD & Broker)

John Frain

+353 1 679 6363



Davy (NOMAD & Broker)

Anthony Farrell

+353 1 679 6363




A first exascale-class computer, Bull sequana is capable of processing a billion billion operations while consuming 10 times less energy than current systems



Designed to integrate the most advanced technologies in the futures, Bull sequana is already being implemented at the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA)



Atos strengthens its leadership in high-volume data processing and analysis, enabling its customers to reinvent their business models through "Atos Codex", an integrated end-to-end analytics solution

Paris, 12 April 2016 - Speaking before industry executives and researchers, in the presence of French Minister of Economy, Emmanuel Macron, Atos Chairman and CEO, Thierry Breton, will reveal today Bull sequana, the first exascale-class supercomputer offering a thousand times more performance than current petaflops-scale systems.

Taking the compute performance to a whole new level, Bull equana will reach exascale level by 2020, processing a billion billion operations per second.

Compared to existing systems for a given performance level, Bull sequana is 10 times more energy-efficient and 10 times denser, to fully optimize our sustainability targets and space-efficiency.

 Atos is one out of three or four worldwide players having the expertise and know-how to build supercomputers today - and the only one in Europe. It is a source of pride for our company and provides a unique competitive advantage for our clients. With Atos' Bull sequana astounding compute performance, businesses can now more efficiently maximize the value of data on a daily basis. By 2020, Bull sequana will reach exaflops level and will be able to process a billion billion operations per second." says Atos Chairman and CEO Thierry Breton.

Real-time security, personalized medicine, precision agriculture or meteorology - just to name a few industries - demand exceptional levels of data processing abilities that sequana generation computers will provide. With greater computational power, meteorology services for instance will be able to provide extremely precise forecasts, predicting fog patches and storms near and around airports.

Atos' Bull sequana is currently being implemented at the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA). It will be integrated with the most advanced technologies in the coming years while adapting to existing operating systems. Its open architecture has been designed around major industry standards for hardware and software in order for clients to maximize their investment and save substantial costs.

While extremely high-level computational capacities are primarily designed for major research centers, Bull sequana's tremendously high density and easy-to-implement integrated components, along with its outstanding reliability, will serve smaller organizations, allowing new usages and services to thrive.

Built in the Atos factory of Angers, Bull sequana supercomputer has benefited from the internationally renowned expertise of Atos engineers - working closely with partners in Europe and across the globe. Its development has been supported by the unmatched experience acquired working with key accounts such as the CEA and the French High Performance Computing Equipment Agency (GENCI) along with long-term technological partners like Intel.

Numerous institutions and private companies throughout the world use Bull supercomputers to accelerate research and innovation and maximize their competitiveness. Among them are for instance:

In France : Valeo, Safran, Dassault-Aviation, Thales, Meteo-France, Grenoble and Reims Champagne Ardenne universities ;

In Brazil: LNCC national laboratory;

In Germany: DKRZ meteorological research center, Dresden and Dusseldorf universities;

In Belgium: Cenearo simulation center for aeronautics;

In Spain: BBVA banking corporation.

Bull supercomputers' high-data volume processing capabilities are also maximized within Atos' Big Data services such as "Atos Codex", an integrated end-to-end analytics solution including predictive computing and cognitive analytics. Atos -named as a visionary in the Magic Quadrant Business Analytics Services Worldwide in September 2015 by Gartner - offers its clients data processing and analytics end-to-end along the complete IT value chain. According to Gartner, "by 2017, organizations using predictive business performance metrics will increase their profitability by 20%".

About Bull

Bull is the Atos brand for its technology products and software, which are today distributed in over 50 countries worldwide. With a rich heritage of over 80 years of technological innovation, 2000 patents and a 700 strong R&D team supported by the Atos Scientific Community, it offers products and value-added software to assist clients in their digital transformation, specifically in the areas of Big Data and Cybersecurity. Bull is the European leader in HPC and its products include bullx, the energy-efficient supercomputer; bullion, one of the most powerful x86 servers in the world developed to meet the challenges of Big Data; Evidian, the software security solutions for identity and access management; Trustway, the hardware security module and Hoox, the ultra-secure smartphone. Bull is part of Atos.

For more information: www.bull.com (http://www.bull.com/)

About Atos

Atos SE (Societas Europaea) is a leader in digital services with pro forma annual revenue of circa EUR 12 billion and 100,000 employees in 72 countries. Serving a global client base, the Group provides Consulting & Systems Integration services, Managed Services & BPO, Cloud operations, Big Data & Cyber-security solutions, as well as transactional services through Worldline, the European leader in the payments and transactional services industry. With its deep technology expertise and industry knowledge, the Group works with clients across different business sectors: Defense, Financial Services, Health, Manufacturing, Media, Utilities, Public sector, Retail, Telecommunications, and Transportation. Atos is focused on business technology that powers progress and helps organizations to create their firm of the future. The Group is the Worldwide Information Technology Partner for the Olympic & Paralympic Games and is listed on the Euronext Paris market. Atos operates under the brands Atos, Atos Consulting, Atos Worldgrid, Bull, Canopy, Unify and Worldline.

For more information: www. (http://www.bull.com/)atos.net

For more information, please contact :

Atos

Jose de Vries

+31 6 30 27 26 11

Jose.devries@atos.net





Atos reveals Bull sequana the worlds most efficient supercomputer (http://hugin.info/143359/R/2002681/739119.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: ATOS via Globenewswire



HUG#2002681




Milestone Group plc Granted Membership of the Social Stock Exchange



London, April 11th, 2016 - the Social Stock Exchange (www.socialstockexchange.com) - the UK's market for impact - has today announced that Milestone Group plc (www.milestonegroup.co.uk) has been approved as a member following the ratification of its impact report by the independent Admissions Panel.



Milestone has developed a new business model in the media / technology sector and is focused on developing a brand synonymous with innovation and social impact, with the Passion Project as its flagship initiative.



The Social Stock Exchange enables its accredited impact issuers to raise capital or undertake primary or secondary listings of debt or equity instruments from all investors specifically those with an interest in socially and environmentally aware companies.



About the Social Stock Exchange



The Social Stock Exchange provides access to the world's first regulated exchange dedicated to businesses and investors seeking to achieve a positive social and environmental impact through their activities. The aim of the exchange is to help businesses that deliver a social or environmental impact to connect with investors and unlock capital at scale. All issuer member companies must meet a rigorous set of criteria before joining, including the publication of an Impact Report.



Approved membership of the Social Stock Exchange stands at 31 firms with a combined value of over 2bn.



In January 2015, the Social Stock Exchange and ICAP Securities & Derivatives Exchange Limited ('ISDX') launched the Social Stock Exchange branded market segment for impact businesses.



The Social Stock Exchange Ltd (FRN: 625231) is an appointed representative of Kession Capital Limited (FRN: 582160) which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority ('FCA') in the UK.



Deborah White, CEO of Milestone Group commented: ' I am very pleased to be able to report that we have passed the strict entry criteria laid down by the Social Stock Exchange. A listing on the Social Stock Exchange is not easy to come by or keep as more than 50% fail to reach the criteria of social/environmental impact performance, which is reviewed annually. Having a listing on this exchange affords us the opportunity to reach those investors who have a preference for investing in socially and environmentally conscious companies. '



For further information: Milestone Group plc



Deborah White, Chief Executive Tel: 0207 929 7826



Cairn Financial Advisers LLP, Nominated Adviser



Liam Murray / Avi Robinson Tel: 0207 148 7900



Hybridan LLP, Broker



Claire Louise Noyce Tel: 0203 764 2341



Walbrook PR Limited, PR



Gary Middleton / Paul Cornelius / Paul Whittington Tel: 0207 933 8780



This announcement is distributed by GlobeNewswire on behalf of GlobeNewswire clients. The owner of this announcement warrants that: (i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and other applicable laws; and (ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.



Source: Milestone Group PLC via GlobeNewswire [HUG#2002132]



9131143312791R21



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
ASCHHEIM, Germany, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Expansion of the Eleos till system

Wirecard has entered into a new partnership in the field of mobile point of sales (mPOS) with a company from Singapore: Software till system manufacturer Eleos Web Pte Ltd has placed its trust in the Munich-based technology and payment provider's white label solution. The collaboration will expand Eleos' till functionality to incorporate mobile card acceptance. Eleos will first launch the solution in Singapore before extending it to Southeast Asia with Wirecard providing the mPOS technology including technical integration and CIMB Bank supporting with a slew of services and solutions including credit facility and online banking as the acquiring bank.

Eleos has been developing and operating automated till systems under the name Octopus[TM] for the past 13 years. The systems are used in the retail and dining sectors and are operated via tablet or smartphone apps. Eleos' client base in Singapore and South-East Asia exceeds 400, and Wirecard's integrated mobile card reader solution will now grant them the ability to fully process orders and credit card payments. The solution is to be swiftly rolled out to all existing and new customers who adopt the Octopus retail POS.

Ong Whee Shiong, Managing Director at Eleos said, "As a supplier of state-of-the-art till systems, Eleos' new tie-up with Wirecard and CIMB Bank enhances the mobile card acceptance solution which ties in seamlessly with our omnichannel retail solutions. In addition, our customers stand to benefit from the simplicity of the application, as they will be able to manage their orders and invoices using a single application from now on."

"As we witness an increase in demand for mobile payment options, CIMB Bank's partnership with Wirecard is a complementary alliance where we embark on new market opportunities and identify new ways to generate value for different stakeholders. Through this latest collaboration with Eleos, CIMB Bank will continue to provide that quintessential one-stop payment and banking solution to the businesses who adopt the Octopus retail POS through Eleos," said Mak Lye Mun, CEO of CIMB Bank Singapore and Country Head of CIMB Group Singapore.

Jeffry Ho, Managing Director at Wirecard Singapore: "Card payments are exceptionally popular in the Asian market and mPOS solutions are drivers of card transactions in the region. Given that Eleos already has an established till system at its disposal, we were able to integrate our mPOS Software Development Kit with utmost ease. We fully adapted the functionality of our solution to the till system."

With its mPOS platform, Wirecard offers businesses of all sizes from all industries the opportunity to accept cashless payments via credit or debit card. A wide range of card reader devices are available for this purpose. Wirecard's mobile card readers are white label solutions. This means they can be individually tailored in terms of configuration and design.

Wirecard media contact:

WirecardAG

JanaTilz

Tel.:+49(0)89-4424-1363

E-Mail:jana.tilz@wirecard.com



About Wirecard:

Wirecard AG is a global technology group that supports companies in accepting electronic payments from all sales channels. As a leading independent supplier, the Wirecard Group offers outsourcing and white label solutions for electronic payments. A global platform bundles international payment acceptances and methods with supplementary fraud prevention solutions. With regard to issuing own payment instruments in the form of cards or mobile payment solutions, the Wirecard Group provides companies with an end-to-end infrastructure, including the requisite licences for card and account products. Wirecard AG is listed on the Frankfurt Securities Exchange (TecDAX, ISIN DE0007472060, WDI). For further information about Wirecard, please visit http://www.wirecard.com or follow us on twitter @wirecard.

Eleos media contact:

EleosWeb

Tel.:+65-6221-6601

Email:markhoe@eleos.comsolutions@eleos.com



About Eleos:

Headquartered in Singapore - with offices in Sri Lanka and Shanghai - Eleos is an independent software vendor with a strong focus on the retail and F&B industries. With over 400 customers in Singapore and South Asia, like Picket And Rail, Orbis, Bikes and bites, Billabong, powermac and more, the Group is forging ahead with its plan to establish a foothold in China. Eleos has both boutique chain stores and strategic accounts in its customer portfolio and is now looking to expand within China and Asia.

http://www.eleos.com

CIMB media contact:

Josandi Thor

Managing Director

Head of Brand, Marketing and Communications

CIMB Group

DID: +603-2261-0628 (Malaysia) | +65-6302-3885 (Singapore)

Mobile: +60-12-357-7714 (Malaysia) | +65-9022-0129 (Singapore)

Email: josandi.thor@cimb.com

Daryl Tan

Assistant Vice President, Communications

Group Marketing and Communications, Singapore

DID:+65-6317-2334| Mobile:+65-9720-8466

Email: daryl.tan@cimb.com



About CIMB Bank Singapore

CIMB Bank Singapore was officially established on 29 September 2009 as part of CIMB Group's longstanding commitment to Singapore - the Group has had a local presence since 1947 through Ban Hin Lee Bank and acquired GK Goh Securities in 2005. CIMB Bank Singapore represents the consumer banking arm of CIMB Group, a leading ASEAN universal bank. Strategically located in the financial centre of ASEAN and operating on a full banking license, CIMB Bank Singapore offers individuals, businesses and corporate clients a comprehensive suite of financial solutions.

CIMB Group is Malaysia's second largest financial services provider and one of ASEAN's leading universal banking groups. It offers consumer banking, investment banking, Islamic banking, asset management and insurance products and services. Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, the Group is now present in nine out of 10 ASEAN nations (Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Brunei, Vietnam, Myanmar and Laos). Beyond ASEAN, the Group has market presence in China, Hong Kong, Bahrain, India, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Korea, the US and UK.

CIMB Group has the most extensive retail branch network in ASEAN of more than 1,000 branches as at 31 December 2014. CIMB Group's investment banking arm is also one of the largest Asia Pacific-based investment banks, offering amongst the most comprehensive research coverage of more than 1,000 stocks in the region.

CIMB Group operates its business through three main brand entities, CIMB Bank, CIMB Investment Bank and CIMB Islamic. CIMB Group is also the 97.9% shareholder of Bank CIMB Niaga in Indonesia, and 93.7% shareholder of CIMB Thai in Thailand.

CIMB Group is listed on Bursa Malaysia via CIMB Group Holdings Berhad. It had a market capitalisation of approximately RM46.3 billion as at 31 January 2015. The Group has over 40,000 employees located in 17 countries.


AIM: MARL Suite 102, 3 Eden Street 12 April 2016 North Sydney, NSW 2060 Australia



Mariana Announces Withdrawal from the Nassau Gold Project to focus on Portfolio



Mariana Resources Ltd ('Mariana' or the 'Company'), the AIM listed exploration and development company with projects in Turkey and South America, today announces that it has notified Sumin Resources Limited ('Sumin') of its decision to withdraw from the Nassau Gold Project, located 120km from the capital, Paramaribo, and 20km south west of Newmont's Merian gold mine development in Suriname. This decision was made taking into consideration the following; evaluation of all results received from exploration activities to date, the significant future financial commitment associated with the earn-in agreement and the Company's other, higher priority, opportunities.



Chief Executive Officer, Glen Parsons, today commented:



'Mariana considers Suriname to be an attractive gold exploration destination and remains committed to the region. Whilst the Nassau Gold Project has been an active project for Mariana, the results to date and milestones achieved were not what the Company had anticipated in terms of the strategy to drive projects up the value chain. It is therefore difficult for Mariana to justify further expenditure under the current earn-in agreement and as a direct consequence the decision has been made to terminate the option agreement with Sumin.



'Mariana has earned a direct interest of 10.2% in the Nassau Gold project through exploration expenditures to date, and will monitor any progress made by Sumin on the property and maintain this interest as warranted.



'The project certainly could have further potential as there are several secondary targets that have not been tested. However, Mariana believes that the significant financial obligation that would be required under the earn-in would be better utilised elsewhere. Funds will instead be used in line with the Company's strategy, to advance prospective projects that offer significant scale and economics, in particular the Hot Maden project in north east Turkey.



'Meanwhile, exploration and resource extension drilling continues at Hot Maden, drilling has just commenced at Mariana's Dona Ines project in Chile and we continue to position our Argentinean assets under the new positive political climate. Progress updates will be made in due course.'



Background The earn in agreement for the Nassau Gold Project required Mariana to pay Sumin an option payment of $300,000 by the end of March 2016 as well as to expend a further $700,000 to acquire an additional 20% interest in Nassau Gold Limited. Thereafter a further option payment of $300,000 and $2.2 million in expenditure is required to acquire a further 10.1% interest.



Mariana has been operating and managing exploration at the Nassau Gold Project since January 2015, targeting high grade gold veins and laterite-hosted bulk tonnage gold deposits related to Palaeoproterozoic volcano-sedimentary greenstones, which form part of the Guyana Shield. The following work has been completed: - Airborne geophysical survey (data and interpretation) - entire concession area - Geological mapping (Nassau Plateau and Witlage) - Auger Drilling (54 holes for 1,378 metres) - Soil and rock chip geochemical sampling  Duricrust sampling (919 samples) - Plateau  Rock chip (256 samples) - various targets  Ridge and Spur sampling (599 samples) - headwater to Bamboo Creek  Trenches and Hand Auger (eight trenches, 212 samples) - Witlage  Follow Up Hand Auger (258 samples) - Witlage  Wallaba (Plant) Geochemistry - Selective over the entire concession



While anomalous areas have been outlined from this work, no standout reverse circulation or diamond drilling targets have emerged from follow up geochemical sampling that would warrant the continuation of the earn-in.



**ENDS**



Qualified Person The information in this release has been reviewed by Eric Roth, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director of Mariana Resources. Mr Roth holds a Ph.D. in Economic Geology from the University of Western Australia, is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM), and is a Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists (SEG). Mr Roth has 25 years of experience in international minerals exploration and mining project evaluation.



For further information please visit website at www.marianaresources.com or contact the following.



In Australia:



Glen Parsons (CEO) Mariana Resources Ltd +61 2 9437 4588



Eric Roth (COO) Mariana Resources Ltd +56 9 8818 1243



Rob Adamson RFC Ambrian Limited (Nomad) +61 2 9250 0041



Will Souter RFC Ambrian Limited (Nomad) +61 2 9250 0050



In U.K.



Oliver Stansfield Brandon Hill Capital (UK Broker) +44 20 3463 5061



Jonathan Evans Brandon Hill Capital (UK Broker) +44 20 3463 5016



Camilla Horsfall Blytheweigh (Financial PR) +44 20 7138 3224



Megan Ray Blytheweigh (Financial PR) +44 20 7138 3203



About Mariana Resources Mariana Resources Ltd is an AIM quoted exploration and development company with an extensive portfolio of gold, silver and copper projects in South America and Turkey. Mariana's most advanced asset is the Hot Maden gold-copper project in NE Turkey, which is a joint venture with our Turkish JV partner Lidya (30% Mariana and 70% Lidya). A maiden mineral resource estimate of 2.03 Moz Gold Equivalent (Indicated Category) and 0.97 Moz Gold Equivalent (Inferred Category) (100% basis) was reported for Hot Maden on August 18, 2015. Elsewhere in Turkey, Mariana holds a 100% interest in the Ergama gold-copper project. In Suriname, Mariana has 10.2% direct interest in Nassau Gold Limited, via a company controlled by Sumin Resources Limited ('Sumin') which in turn holds an option to earn up to 80% of the Nassau Gold Project. The Nassau Gold Project is a 28,000 Ha exploration concession located approximately 125 km SE of the capital Paramaribo and immediately adjacent to Newmont Mining's 4.2Moz Au Merian project. In southern Argentina, the Company's core gold-silver projects are Las Calandrias (100%), Sierra Blanca (100%), Los Cisnes (100%), Bozal (100%). These projects are part of a 160,000+ Ha land package in the Deseado Massif epithermal gold-silver district in mining-friendly Santa Cruz Province. Mariana acquired 100% interests in the Dona Ines Au-Ag and Exploradora East Cu prospects in northern Chile through the Aegean Metals Group transaction which closed in January, 2015, with Mariana exploration now being funded by Asset Chile through the provision of $1.65m for a total 50% interest. In Peru, Mariana holds a portfolio of interesting very early stage properties.



Safe Harbour This press release contains certain statements which may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as at the date of this press release and include, without limitation, statements regarding discussions of future plans, the realization, cost, timing and extent of mineral resource estimates, estimated future exploration expenditures, costs and timing of the development of new deposits, success of exploration activities, permitting time lines, and requirements for additional capital. The words 'plans', 'expects', 'budget', 'scheduled', 'estimate', 'forecasts', 'intend', 'anticipate', 'believe', 'may', 'will', or similar expressions or variations of such words are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause actual results to vary materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to: the effects of general economic conditions; the price of gold, silver and copper; misjudgements in the course of preparing forward-looking statements; risks associated with international operations; the need for additional financing; risks inherent in exploration results; conclusions of economic evaluations; changes in project parameters; currency and commodity price fluctuations; title matters; environmental liability claims; unanticipated operational risks; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining governmental approvals or in the completion of development or construction activities; political risk; and other risks and uncertainties described in the Company's annual financial statements for the most recently completed financial year which is available on the Company's website at www.marianaresources.com . Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions and have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, 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 forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward- looking statements. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.



This announcement is distributed by GlobeNewswire on behalf of GlobeNewswire clients. The owner of this announcement warrants that: (i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and other applicable laws; and (ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.



Source: Mariana Resources Ltd via GlobeNewswire [HUG#2002660]



B12GJ72R4



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - Alibaba Group Holding Limited (BABA) Tuesday said it has entered into an agreement to acquire a controlling stake in Lazada Group S.A, an eCommerce platform in Southeast Asia. The deal includes an investment of approximately $500 million in newly issued equity capital of Lazada and acquisition of shares from certain shareholders of Lazada. This makes a total investment by Alibaba of approximately $1 billion.



Lazada is the one-stop eCommerce gateway for local and international brands and distributors in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.



The transaction is expected to help brands and distributors around the world that already do business on Alibaba's platform, as well as local merchants, to access the Southeast Asian consumer market.



In connection with the transaction, Alibaba entered into a put-call arrangement with certain Lazada shareholders, giving Alibaba the right to purchase, and the shareholders the right to sell collectively, their remaining stakes in Lazada at fair market value during the 12 to 18 month period after the closing of the transaction.



Michael Evans, President of Alibaba, said, 'With the investment in Lazada, Alibaba gains access to a platform with a large and growing consumer base outside China, a proven management team and a solid foundation for future growth in one of the most promising regions for eCommerce globally. This investment is consistent with our strategy of connecting brands, distributors and consumers wherever they are and support our ecosystem expansion in Southeast Asia to better serve our customers.'



Lazada said the deal would help it to accelerate its goal to provide the 560 million consumers in the region access to the broadest and most unique assortment of products.



In the transaction, Credit Suisse (Hong Kong) Limited acted as exclusive financial advisor to Alibaba and Goldman Sachs (Asia) LLC as exclusive financial advisor to Lazada.



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CapMan Plc Stock Exchange Release 12 April 2016 9.45 am EEST

CapMan Real Estate advises Bayerische Versorgungskammer on the acquisition of an 80 million prime residential portfolio in Finland

CapMan Real Estate has advised Bayerische Versorgungskammer (BVK), Germany's largest pension scheme group with approximately 62 billion assets under management, on the acquisition of a prime residential portfolio in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area.

The portfolio comprises seven residential assets in growing communities in the Helsinki metropolitan area with 356 apartments totalling 18,781 square metres. The portfolio was acquired from the Finnish real estate fund Tapiola KR IV Ky. In addition to sourcing and advising on the transaction, CapMan Real Estate will manage the assets.

"We are delighted to work with BVK on this transaction. This commitment demonstrates the strength and high regard of our team in the Nordic real estate market. As advisors, we are able to leverage our expertise and networks while utilising value added strategies that we have successfully implemented in our own funds over the years," comments Mika Matikainen, Head of CapMan Real Estate.

"This deal is a continuation of our growth strategy and our ambition to serve LPs beyond the traditional fund model," says Heikki Westerlund, CEO of CapMan Plc.

For additional information, please contact:

Mika Matikainen, Head of CapMan Real Estate, tel. +358 40 519 0707

Heikki Westerlund, CEO, CapMan Plc, tel. +358 50 559 6580

About CapMan www.capman.com (http://www.capman.com/)

CapMan is a leading Nordic investment and asset management company active in the private equity industry. For more than 25 years, we have been developing companies and real estate and supporting their sustainable growth. We are committed to understanding the needs of our customers in an ever-changing market environment. Our objective is to provide attractive returns and innovative solutions for our investors and value adding services for professional investment partnerships, growth-oriented companies and tenants. Our independent investment partnerships - Buyout, Real Estate, Russia and Credit - as well as our associated company Norvestia are responsible for investment activities and value creation. CapMan's service business offering includes fundraising advisory services, purchasing activities and fund management services to both internal and external customers. CapMan has 100 private equity professionals and assets under management of 2.8 billion.

Bayerische Versorgungskammer (BVK) www.versorgungskammer.de (http://www.versorgungskammer.de/)

Bayerische Versorgungskammer is the competence and service centre for occupational and communal pension schemes and Germany's largest pension scheme group under public law. It is the joint executive body of twelve liberal professions' and communal pension schemes. BVK covers about 2 million insured persons in total, with contributions of 4 billion and 2.9 billion pension payments annually. It currently has 62 billion assets under management and 1,200 employees.

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: CapMan Oyj via Globenewswire



HUG#2002675


SANTA CLARA, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 --

Powers cloud applications that need to manage complex and highly connected data

Graph-specific use cases include master data management, recommendation & personalization, security & fraud detection, IoT & networking

Part of the only multi-model, scalable, distributed database management platform that includes key-value, tabular, JSON/document and graph data capabilities

DataStax Enterprise Graph early access program participants include Kaiser Permanente, Cambridge Intelligence and Linkurious

DataStax, the leading provider of database software for cloud applications, today announced DataStax Enterprise (DSE) Graph, a scale-out graph database built for cloud applications that need to manage highly connected data. Built on the foundation of Apache Cassandra and Apache TinkerPop, the open source graph computing framework, DSE Graph delivers continuous uptime, predictable performance and scalability for modern systems dealing with complex and constantly changing data. DSE Graph will be generally available in Q2.

Click to Tweet: DataStax announces @DataStax Enterprise Graph, the only scalable real-time graph database bit.ly/1StyiDI

Perspectives on the News

"We evaluated DataStax Enterprise Graph against traditional databases for some of our large banking customers and found that DSE Graph improves performance by an order of magnitude when working with data sets that include a large number of nodes and relationships -- on use cases such as client data for financial services," said Anil Gurnani, Banking and Capital Markets Solution, Mphasis.

"We're seeing growing demand from customers who are ready to utilize graph databases for their cloud applications, but they need a truly scalable and production-ready platform that has the enterprise-class functionality required to be successful," said Robin Schumacher, VP of Products, DataStax. "DSE Graph provides them exactly what they need because it's built on the foundation of Apache Cassandra and imports all of DSE's enterprise functionality, including advanced security, built-in analytics and enterprise search functionality, visual management and monitoring, and much more."

As stated in the July 25, 2015 report, "Making Big Data Normal With Graph Analytics," authored by Gartner analysts Mark Beyer and Nick Heudecker:

"Graph is an excellent method of evaluating, expressing and analyzing previously unrecognized relationships in data. Instead of examining and analyzing data as a set of discrete and unrelated atomic elements, graph allows for the exploration of the frequency, strength and direction of relationships in data." The report also advises, "graph can be used by the business when traditional analytics fails to identify what is causing a business process to behave in unexpected ways. It also supports networks of people, processes and machinery as well as forms multifaceted recommendation engines, multiple transaction analysis engines including fraud models, and more."(1)

Introducing DataStax Enterprise Graph

DataStax Graph is inspired by the open source Titan graph database. Aurelius, the team behind Titian was acquired by DataStax in 2015 and the team has built a new set of software that extends significantly beyond the basic capabilities of Titan while still maintaining backwards compatibility. This backwards compatibility allows existing Titan and other users of TinkerPop supported graph databases to migrate with little or no effort. DSE Graph inherits Cassandra's key benefits including constant uptime, read/write/active-everywhere functionality, linear scalability, predictable low-latency response times and operational maturity. DSE Graph also incorporates enterprise-class extensions found in DataStax Enterprise including advanced security, built-in analytics, enterprise search, visual management monitoring and development tooling.

DataStax Enterprise Graph is a complete solution for developing and managing graph functionality in cloud applications and includes:

DataStax Enterprise Server: delivers advanced graph database functionality that includes an adaptive query optimizer, automatic graph data partitioning, a distributed query execution engine, and graph-specific index structures all designed to increase performance for online graph applications. DSE Graph is built with TinkerPop, which is the industry standard framework and language for graph databases.

DataStax OpsCenter: updated to provide full provisioning, management and monitoring for DSE Graph.

DataStax Studio: a new web-based solution that helps developers visualize graphs and write/execute graph queries.

DataStax Drivers: available for all popular development languages and enhanced to support the Gremlin graph language in addition to CQL and DSE Analytics/Search API's.

Graph-Specific Use Cases

There are a variety of use cases where a graph database is a better fit than other database management systems including relational or general NoSQL database systems.

Master Data Management: A company must understand the data relationships across its multiple business units to create a holistic view of its customers. A graph model consolidates disparate data for use by both business intelligence tools and business applications.

Recommendation and Personalization: Enterprises need to understand how to quickly and effectively influence customers to purchase their product. Graph analysis is the most effective tool for handling recommendation and personalization tasks in an application and making key decisions from the value found in data.

Security and Fraud Detection: In a complex and highly interrelated network of users, entities, transactions, events and interactions, a graph database can help determine which interaction is fraudulent, poses a security risk or compliance concern.

IoT and Networking: As IoT use cases commonly involve devices or machines that generate time-series information such as event and status data, graph databases work well because the streams from individual points create a high degree of complexity when blended together. Additionally, analytics involved in tasks such as root cause analysis, involve numerous relationships that form along the data elements and tend to be of much greater interest when examined collectively versus in isolation.

Solving Business Problems with Multi-Model Support

As stated in the August 4, 2015 report, "Market Guide for NoSQL DBMSs," authored by Gartner analysts Nick Heudecker, Merv Adrian and Etisham Zaidi(2), "the future of DBMS architectures and deployments will be multimodels." Gartner also states "by 2017, all leading operational DBMSs will offer multiple data models, relational and NoSQL, in a single platform."

Because today's modern cloud workloads involve numerous components that differ in their data model support requirements, a database that provides multi-model capabilities will deliver a simplified and more agile solution for quickly bringing cloud applications to market. DSE Graph, part of DSE's multi-model platform, provides support for Cassandra's key-value and tabular data models, JSON/document models and graph, with each data model inheriting Cassandra's key benefits and DSE's enterprise grade functionality.

Availability

DSE Graph will be sold as an option to either a DSE Standard or DSE Max subscription and will be generally available in Q2.

To learn more about DSE Graph, please join us at DataStax Summit Europe taking place April 19-20, 2016 in London.

DSE Graph Resources

Introducing DataStax Enterprise Graph

Why Graph?

The Multi-Model Database

Introduction to Graph Databases

PlanetTinkerPop.org: a new website launched today by the TinkerPop community and DataStax to provide a place to discuss and share information about TinkerPop Gremlin, the industry standard language for graph databases.

About DataStax

DataStax, the leading provider of database software for cloud applications, accelerates the ability of enterprises, government agencies, and systems integrators to power the exploding number of cloud applications that require data distribution across datacenters and clouds, by using our secure, operationally simple platform built on Apache Cassandra.

With more than 500 customers in over 50 countries, DataStax is the database technology of choice for the world's most innovative companies, such as Netflix, Safeway, ING, Adobe, Intuit, Target and eBay. Based in Santa Clara, Calif., DataStax is backed by industry-leading investors including Comcast Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Meritech Capital, Premji Invest and Scale Venture Partners. For more information, visit DataStax.com or follow us @DataStax.

(1) Gartner, Making Big Data Normal With Graph Analytics, Mark Beyer and Nick Heudecker, July 25 2015

(2) Gartner, Market Guide for NoSQL DBMSs, Nick Heudecker, Merv Adrian, Etisham Zaidi, August 4 2015

Wendy Hynes

DataStax

408.503.0279

wendy.hynes@datastax.com




CapMan Buyout Press Release 12 April 2016 at 9.55 am EEST

CapMan Buyout's latest fund exits its first portfolio company

The CapMan Buyout X fund has agreed to sell the majority holding in Varmelux Oy - the parent company of Suomen Lampoikkuna Oy - to Inwido AB (publ). This is the first exit of the CapMan Buyout X fund.

Suomen Lampoikkuna Oy - best known for its service brand Lampolux - has grown fast since its establishment in 2010. The company has continued its rapid growth after CapMan Buyout's investment in 2014: turnover has risen around 15% per year from 23 million to 30 million. In addition, the company's profitability has improved and the number of employees has nearly doubled from 126 to 210 persons.

"We are very satisfied with our investment in Lampolux. The company's rapid growth has been supported by strengthening the organisation, developing the quality and efficiency of sales and installations and by investing in digital services. The company's success is based on strong concept know-how and comprehensive tailor-made service according to customer preferences. We want to thank Lampolux's skilled management and employees for delivering excellent work and we are certain that the company will continue growing successfully also in the future," comments CapMan Buyout's Senior Partner Tuomo Raasio.

After the transaction, Suomen Lampoikkuna Oy will continue its business as usual as part of Inwido Group and the company's management will remain as owners and in current positions.

The CapMan Buyout X fund, established in 2012, has six companies remaining in its portfolio. The fund is still actively investing.

Further information:

Tuomo Raasio, Senior Partner, CapMan Buyout, tel. 040 040 5682

CapMan www.capman.com (https://intra.capman.com/workspaces/Communications/Documents/VIP/www.capman.com)

CapMan is a leading Nordic investment and asset management company active in the private equity industry. For more than 25 years, we have been developing companies and real estate and supporting their sustainable growth. We are committed to understanding the needs of our customers in an ever-changing market environment. Our objective is to provide attractive returns and innovative solutions for our investors and value adding services for professional investment partnerships, growth-oriented companies and tenants. Our independent investment partnerships - Buyout, Real Estate, Russia and Credit - as well as our associated company Norvestia are responsible for investment activities and value creation. CapMan's service business offering includes fundraising advisory services, purchasing activities and fund management services to both internal and external customers. CapMan has 100 private equity professionals and assets under management of 2.8 billion.

Suomen lampoikkuna Oy www.lampolux.fi (https://intra.capman.com/workspaces/Communications/Documents/VIP/www.lampolux.fi)

Established in 2010, Suomen Lampoikkuna Oy is best known for its service brand LampoLux, providing turnkey window and door renovation solutions in Finland. The company's turnover for 2015 was 30 million and it currently employs around 210 people. The company is headquartered in Oulu and has 18 offices around Finland.

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: CapMan Oyj via Globenewswire



HUG#2002679


Symphogen, a private biopharmaceutical company developing recombinant antibody mixtures, announced today dosing of the first patient in its Sym015 program. Sym015 is an investigational mixture of two antibodies, targeting the MET receptor. The Phase 1 dose escalation study in patients with solid tumors will be followed by an expansion cohort in a subset patient population with a pre-identified gene signature. Two sites, START of San Antonio, Texas and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre of Houston, Texas, will conduct the first-in-human study.

Kirsten Drejer, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, said, "The initiation of this Phase 1 study represents a significant achievement by Symphogen in moving this promising program forward. It is our second proprietary clinical program, using antibody mixture targeting receptor tyrosine kinase, bringing Symphogen's total number of ongoing clinical studies to four. Importantly, we have retained all rights to the program."

Anthony Tolcher, MD, FRCPC, FACP, President and co-founder of START, said, "We are enthusiastic about bringing this unique approach of an antibody mixture into the clinic. MET is a very exciting target for several solid tumors, and may have potential across multiple other tumor types. As such, Symphogen's novel antibody mixture may provide a unique opportunity to improve the life of patients with limited therapeutic options."

Symphogen also announced today that new pre-clinical data will be presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in New Orleans. At the poster session on Growth Factor Receptors and Surface Antigens as Therapeutic Targets, Monday April 18, 2016 8:00 AM 12:00 PM the following two posters will be presented:

A novel synergistic antibody pair targeting non-overlapping epitopes of MET effectively inhibits MET-driven cancer models (Abstract 1218).

Sym015, a novel antibody mixture targeting non-overlapping epitopes of MET, effectively inhibits growth of MET dependent tumors and overcomes resistance to a single monoclonal antibody (Abstract 1219).

About START

South Texas Accelerated Research Therapeutics (START) directs clinical trials of novel anticancer agents using a high quality and innovative information technology infrastructure to ensure accurate and rapid clinical trials in a setting that emphasizes personalized and compassionate clinical care. START's head office is located in San Antonio, Texas, in the heart of the South Texas Medical Center.

About Symphogen A/S

Symphogen is a private biopharmaceutical company leading the field of recombinant antibody mixtures for therapeutic use in oncology. The European-based company is developing next-generation antibody therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. Symphogen is dedicated to bringing truly innovative oncology products to the market, creating optimally selected antibody mixtures that address multiple oncology targets in a single drug product. The company has collaborations for the development of antibody therapeutics in the infectious disease area with Genentech and in immuno-oncology with Baxalta Incorporated. Symphogen employs more than 90 people, has offices in Denmark and New Jersey, US and its investors include Essex Woodlands Health Ventures, Novo A/S, PKA, Sunstone Capital, Gilde Healthcare Partners, Danica Pension, Takeda Ventures, Inc., and Genentech. For more information, please see www.symphogen.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160412005076/en/

Contacts:

Symphogen

Kirsten Drejer, 45 22 10 99 59

Chief Executive Officer

kd@symphogen.com

or

Symphogen

Ivan Horak, 45 20 55 26 04

Chief Scientific and Medical Officer

idh@symphogen.com

or

Consilium Strategic Communications

Mary-Jane Elliott, Amber Fennell, or Lindsey Neville, +44 20 3709 5700

symphogen@consilium-comms.com

or

Annes Associates

Shari Annes, 650-888-0902

sannes@annesassociates.com
plista is First to Provide Single Source Programmatic Solution for Buying Native Ads across In-Feed, Outstream Video, Recommendation Widgets and In-Ad Formats

Xaxis, the world's largest programmatic media and audience platform, and native ad specialist plista, which is now part of the Xaxis portfolio, announced today the launch of the world's most comprehensive programmatic platform for native advertising. The new offering is the first to bring the personalisation benefits of audience data to a broad portfolio of native formats, creating a single source programmatic solution for native ads.

Nicolas Bidon has also been named global CEO of plista, which came under the Xaxis umbrella at the start of 2016. Bidon was previously managing director, UK of Xaxis, Light Reaction and plista. In addition, plista has announced the launch of a Thailand office, increasing its global presence to 11 markets across Europe and Asia.

Through plista, advertisers will now be able to buy native ads programmatically across in-feed, outstream video, recommendation widgets and in-ad native formats using audience data from Turbine, Xaxis' industry-leading data management platform (DMP). By applying Turbine data to native formats, advertisers can gain a significant edge in delivering engaging native content that better reflects audiences' interests and intents as compared to using contextual data alone. This allows advertisers to target their native content more effectively because they will know more about the interests, intents and consumer path of the audiences viewing the content.

"By leveraging Turbine data across the plista platform we're offering a powerful way for advertisers to programmatically engage with their target audiences via well accepted native formats," said plista global CEO Bidon. "It's the first single source solution for running native campaigns, at scale, and in coordination with advertisers' existing digital spend."

By leveraging plista's premium publisher network and Xaxis' publisher relationships, plista provides access to more premium native formats than any other provider with a significant reach across desktop and mobile. Advertisers can sync their native campaigns with existing display, mobile, online video, digital radio, connected TV and social media campaigns, allowing for more effective cross-channel attribution of native ads. plista is currently available to advertisers across 11markets in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, including Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Australia and China. plista will launch in the U.S. later this year.

"Nicolas has played a key role in the development of Xaxis in the UK market and brings a wealth of product and technical expertise to the plista global CEO position," said Brian Gleason, global CEO of Xaxis. "We look forward to his leadership in growing the plista business as we continue to bring Turbine data to new environments and advertising categories."

Prior to Xaxis, Bidon was director of brand display for EMEA at Yahoo!, where he was responsible for shaping the regional strategy for display solutions and video, and for developing innovative, multi-screen offerings for brand advertisers across desktop, tablet and mobile. Earlier, he led new business development for Yahoo! in Europe, creating several notable strategic partnerships around video, display and search with companies such as VEVO, AOL, Last.fm and AVG. Nicolas holds a Master of Science from Georgia Tech and is a graduate of ICN Business School (France).

About Xaxis

Xaxis is a global digital media platform that programmatically connects advertisers to audiences across all addressable channels. Through the expert use of proprietary data and advertising technology along with unparalleled media relationships, Xaxis delivers results for over 2,800 clients in 45 markets across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East. Advertisers working with Xaxis achieve exceptionally high return on advertising spend through the company's proprietary media products, as well as through its specialist companies, Light Reaction, Bannerconnect, plista and ActionX. For more information, visit www.xaxis.com.

About plista

plista is a pioneer in developing innovative solutions for targeted digital advertising and content distribution in editorial environments. With its data-driven platform, the Berlin based company has been successfully bringing advertisers and media together since 2008. With its proprietary real-time Recommendation Technology, plista is able to deliver both content and advertising that matches users' individual interests across all channels and devices. Publishers benefit from longer user visit duration, increased traffic and the additional monetization of their digital products. By using plista's native ad formats, advertisers are able to address users seamlessly and efficiently along the entire sales funnel. plista employs over 180 people and offers its solutions in 11 international markets. For more information, visit www.plista.com/uk.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160412005452/en/

Contacts:

Harmonica Xaxis

Peter Epstein or Adrian Brophy

+1-323-251-3567 or +44 (0)1962 883 203

peter@harmonica.co or adrian@harmonica.co


Fujitsu Limited Public and Investor Relations Tel: +81-3-3215-5259 URL: www.fujitsu.com/global/news/contacts/ Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. ICT Systems Laboratories Server Technologies Lab E-mail: Retimer_ISSCC2015@ml.labs.fujitsu.com

TOKYO, Apr 12, 2016 - (JCN Newswire) - Fujitsu Limited, Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd., and Transtron Inc. today announced that in the Fiscal 2016 Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, they have received the Prize for Science and Technology in the Development Category for their "Development of Advanced Noise-Suppression Technology Using Microphone Arrays." In addition, Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. and Fujitsu Laboratories of America, Inc. were honored in the Research Category for their "Research into High-Speed Data Transmission Circuits for Implementing High-Performance ICT Systems."The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) commends individuals for their important achievements in science and technology R&D and their promotion of science and technology understanding. The awards are aimed at motivating researchers and helping to raise the level of Japan's science and technology.Award Recipients and Technology Being RecognizedPrizes for Science and Technology, Development CategoryThis category recognizes people who have made extraordinary R&D achievements or inventions that have real-world applications and that improve Japan's society, economy, and the lives of its citizens.Recipients:- Naoshi Matsuo (Research Manager, Media Processing Laboratory, Fujitsu Laboratories)- Shoji Hayakawa (Staff Researcher, Media Processing Laboratory, Fujitsu Laboratories)- Chikako Matsumoto (Media Processing Laboratory, Fujitsu Laboratories)- Junichi Watanabe (Department Manager, Vehicle Control Second Development Unit, Transtron)- Hiroshi Katayama (Ubiquitous IoT Division, Fujitsu)Project:Development of Advanced Noise-Suppression Technology Using Microphone ArraysVoice-quality degradation due to ambient noise is a problem for voice-recognition technology when using such recognition to control devices in moving cars, and for outdoor conversations on mobile phones. Arrays that use multiple microphones are an effective way to suppress such noise, but such noise reduction is difficult to achieve with the small units that can be installed in car interiors and mobile phones. This technology effectively suppresses the frequency components of noise that come from directions and distances other than that from a target speaker. The feature of this technology is to suppress only noise in bands likely to be perceptible by taking into account not only the properties of waveforms based on the direction and distance of the sound source, but also auditory properties used by voice-recognition and mobile phones.Unlike conventional noise suppression technologies that require a great number of microphones for strict full-band processing, this approach, using only two microphones, achieves more than 20 dB (less than 1% relative power) of noise suppression in moving cars or on the street. This result contributes to safer and more certain device operation when driving, thanks to better voice-recognition accuracy in the noisy cabin environment via an in-car microphone array. This will also contribute to quicker responses to accidents, when used as microphones for in-car emergency-information systems in Europe. Finally, the microphone array named "Super Double Microphone" mounted on mobile phones such as "Raku Raku PHONE", contributes to improved mobile-phone usability, thanks to higher voice quality when calling on phones.Prizes for Science and Technology, Research CategoryThis category recognizes people who have had highly creative research achievements or inventions with the potential to advance science and technology in Japan.Recipients:- Yoichi Koyanagi (Project Director, Computer Systems Laboratory, Fujitsu Laboratories)- Takuji Yamamoto (Project Director, Computer Systems Laboratory, Fujitsu Laboratories)- Yasuo Hidaka (Senior Researcher, Novel Computing Laboratory, Fujitsu Laboratories America)Project:Research into High-Speed Data Transmission Circuits for Implementing High-Performance ICT SystemsModern servers and supercomputers use large-scale parallel architecture in which numerous processors are connected to process big data and compute massive scientific calculations. Maximizing the performance of these systems requires not only that individual processors run fast but also that the data be moved quickly between them. In the past, data transfer speeds between processors, either in the form of electrical or optical signals, have been limited to 20 Gbps, due to significant waveform distortions. Another problem has been that higher transmission speeds have required more power.This research successfully developed an equalizer circuit that compensates for distortions of the electric signals in low frequency as well as high frequency, and also a control circuit that automatically adjusts the compensation for each of several thousand signal lines in a system. In addition, this research produced a circuit that drives optical modulators at high speed and in low power for optical transmission systems.This research has enabled high-speed electrical and optical signal transmission at 25 Gbps or higher in low power. It also supports large-scale systems with numerous signal lines. These results will contribute to building higher-performance systems used for big data and scientific calculations, and their reduced power demands will help lighten environmental footprints, including reducing CO2 emissions.About Fujitsu LtdFujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company, offering a full range of technology products, solutions, and services. Approximately 159,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT to shape the future of society with our customers. Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702; ADR:FJTSY) reported consolidated revenues of 4.8 trillion yen (US$40 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015. For more information, please see http://www.fujitsu.com.* Please see this press release, with images, at:http://www.fujitsu.com/global/about/resources/news/press-releases/Source: Fujitsu LtdContact:Copyright 2016 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.
SAN DIEGO, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 -- Fresh Healthy Vending International, Inc. (OTCQB: VEND), the nation's leading healthy vending franchisor, today launched its Reis & Irvy's franchise of first-of-its-kind interactive, robotic frozen yogurt kiosks. Now available for franchise pre-orders, Reis & Irvy's kiosks signal a radical shift in the frozen yogurt industry, away from messy, high-maintenance self-serve stations and into a revolutionary, automated design that delights consumers and requires just minutes of manual upkeep per day.

The Reis & Irvy's "FroYo Kiosk" is the first fully-automated frozen yogurt robot to the market. The automated kiosk is fully enclosed, eliminating the possibility of spillage and drastically improving food safety conditions. The Froyo Kiosk serves up nine flavors and a choice of six delicious toppings, allowing dozens of possible combinations, and its interactive, robotic design makes it a visual spectacle for consumers of all ages. The touch screen ordering process accepts all major debit and credit cards, Apple Pay, and Google Wallet.

"The Reis & Irvy's FroYo kiosk is a trailblazer in the frozen yogurt space, offering a unique, exclusive proposition for franchisees as the first to market with this innovative concept," said Nick Yates, chairman of Fresh Healthy Vending International. "It's a low-cost, low-floor-space, high-profit-margin opportunity, and its interactive, robotic design really draws a crowd wherever it's placed. We'll use the relationships and experience we've built over the last five years with FHV to launch what we believe is the future of frozen yogurt."

That future, which appears very bright, also comes with many options available to potential franchisees and structured within a franchise model that is built on historic success. Operators will be offered different tiers of packages and with both part time and full time investment options. The minimum part time package will include four Froyo Kiosks for an investment of $140,000 (each unit comes with a pricetag of $32,500 and a per unit franchise fee of $2500) and expands into a full time package that includes eight Froyo Kiosks at $280,000. Franchisees are then fully-supported from start to finish by the corporate team at Reis and Irvy's, who provide all operators with premiere location procurement services, local and national marketing initiatives, franchise training and complete turnkey support.

"Our support and resources are available to all our future operators well beyond their initial investment and include a number of key initiatives," says TJ Rogers, Director of Franchising for Fresh Healthy Vending and Reis and Irvy's. "We take the time to procure premiere locations in which these kiosks will thrive and generate an unmatched consumer experience. For example malls, quick serve restaurants, hospitals, theme parks, movie theaters, supermarkets, practically anywhere there are captive consumers. We then continue to support that experience and our franchisee with both national and local marketing efforts. Thereby helping the success of our operators as well as the success of our brand."

Fresh Healthy Vending (soon to be Generation Next Franchise Brands), based in San Diego, is North America's leading healthy vending franchisor. Fresh Healthy Vending pioneered the concept of vending machines stocked with tried-and-tested fresh, healthy snack options and capitalizes on a growing market of health-conscious consumers. The Company has more than 250 active franchisees throughout the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas, and continually looks to partner with like-minded entrepreneurs who share its vision. The Company has booked more than 3000 machines for placement in schools, universities, hospitals, community centers, military bases, airports, fitness facilities, YMCAs, libraries and many other locations. Using its current infrastructure, the franchisor will replicate its franchise model and apply it to Reis and Irvy's, offering a comprehensive, turnkey model consisting of kiosk supply, location procurement, national service infrastructure and best in class franchisee support.

Reis & Irvy's kiosks are available for pre-order as of today. Potential franchisees can find more information by contacting Reis and Irvy's directly at 855-385-5333 or by going to www.froyofranchising.com. To see the kiosk in action, check out their video at https://vimeo.com/160788415

The Reis and Irvy's Frozen yogurt Kiosk will be officially unveiled at the International Franchise Expo in New York City on June 16.

This information is not intended as an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, a franchise. It is for information purposes only. No Reis and Irvy's franchises will be sold to any resident of any state until the offering has been exempted from the requirements of, or duly registered in and declared effective by, such state and the required FDD (if any) has been delivered to the prospective franchisee before the sale in compliance with applicable law. Currently, the following states in the United States regulate the offer and sale of franchises: California, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. If you reside in one of these states, or even if you reside elsewhere, you may have certain rights under applicable franchise laws or regulations.

About Fresh Healthy Vending

Fresh Healthy Vending, based in San Diego, California, is North America's leading healthy vending franchisor. Fresh Healthy Vending pioneered the concept of vending machines stocked with tried-and-tested fresh, healthy snack options to serve the growing market of health-conscious consumers. The Company has over 250 active franchisees throughout the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas, and continually looks to partner with like-minded entrepreneurs who share its vision.

The Company has booked over 3000 machines for placement in schools, universities, hospitals, community centers, military bases, airports, fitness facilities, YMCAs, libraries and many other locations.

Fresh Healthy Vending's stock is traded on the OTC Markets, Symbol: VEND.

Cautionary note on forward-looking statements

Except for historical information contained in this release, statements in this release may constitute forward-looking statements regarding assumptions, projections, expectations, targets, intentions or beliefs about future events that are based on management's belief, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management. While the Company believes that expectations are based upon reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurances that goals, results and strategy will be realized. Numerous factors, including risks and uncertainties, terms and availability of financing, may affect actual results and may cause results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements made by the Company or on its behalf. In addition to statements, which explicitly describe risks and uncertainties, readers are urged to consider statements labeled with such terms as "believes," "belief," "expects," "intends," "feels," "anticipates," "proposes," "proposed," or "plans" to be uncertain and forward-looking. More detailed information on these and additional factors that could affect Fresh Healthy Vending's actual results are described in Fresh Healthy Vending's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Form 10-Q's for the quarterly periods ended December 31, 2015 and September 30, 2015, and its annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2015. All forward-looking statements in this news release speak only as of the date of this news release and are based on Fresh Healthy Vending's current beliefs and expectations. Fresh Healthy Vending undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Christina Erwin / Danny Beardsworth

cerwin@konnect-pr.com

dbeardsworth@konnect-pr.com

www.konnect-pr.com




12 April 2016NORDIC SHIPHOLDING A/SCompany Announcement No. 3/2016Course of the annual general meeting of Nordic Shipholding A/S on 12 April 2016Today, Tuesday, 12 April 2016, Nordic Shipholding A/S held its annual general meeting with the agenda published in the notice convening the meeting dated 21 March 2016.The annual report for 2015, the remuneration of the board of directors for 2015 and the board of directors' proposal on the application of the result was approved.At the board of directors' proposal, the company's management and board of directors were granted discharge.The board of directors' remuneration for 2016 was approved.In accordance with the proposal of the board of directors, board members Knud Pontoppidan, Kristian Mrch, Jon Lewis, Philip Clausius and Kanak Kapur were re-elected.PricewaterhouseCoopers Statsautoriseret Revisionspartnerselskab was re-elected as the company's auditor.The following proposals from the board of directors were adopted by the general meeting:-- Resolution to make certain editorial amendments to the articles of association in order to reflect that the authorisation to issue warrants had expired and that the current warrant programmes have expired or are set to expire in April 2016.-- Authorisation to the board of directors until 12 April 2021 to let the company acquire or enter into agreements to acquire up to 20% of the company's share capital at a price equal to the share price quoted at the time of acquisition or entry into the agreement, as applicable, with a deviation of up to 10%.At a subsequent board meeting, the board of directors appointed Knud Pontoppidan as chairman and Jon Lewis as deputy chairman.Copenhagen, 12 April 2016Kind regards,Knud Pontoppidan, Chairman of the board of directors, Nordic Shipholding A/S: +45 3929 1000.Attachment:https://cns.omxgroup.com/cds/DisclosureAttachmentServlet?messageAttachmentId=555935
CADOGAN PETROLEUM PLC

Operations Update

12 April 2016

Cadogan Petroleum plc ("Cadogan" or the "Company"), an independent oil and gas exploration, development and production company with onshore gas, condensate and oil assets in Ukraine, is pleased to advise that Brend Vik has completed its re-evaluation of the Company's reserves and resources in Ukraine.

A summary of the revised reserves and resources as at 31 December 2015 is presented in the table below:

Reserves & Resources (MMboe) (net to Cadogan) Licence Type Working

interest(%) Area(km2) Currentnet

production

(boepd) 3Preserves 2C

contingent

resources Best estimate

prospective

resources Expirydate Monastyretska Oil 99.2 25 48 4.5 0.6 0.2 Nov.2019 Debeslavetska (Production) Gas 99.2 27 60 0.2 0.1 Nov.2026 Debeslavetska (Exploration) Gas 99.2 218 Sept.2016 Cheremkhivska Gas 54.2 119 16 0.01 0.6 May.2018 Bitlyanska Gas&Condensate 99.2 390 3.2 14.8 4.5 Dec.2019 Slobodo Rungurska Oil 100 101 3.5 Apr.2016 Pokrovska Gas&Condensate 70 50 0.8 14.7 0.6 Aug.2016 Totalcurrentlicences 930 124 8.7 30.1 9.5 Pirkovska Gas&Cond 100 88 12.7 6.2 5.0 *Expired Zagoryanska Gas&Cond 100 34 1.6 2.6 **Expired Totallicencessubjecttorenewal 122 14.3 8.8 5.0 Total 1,052 124 23.0 38.9 14.5

* Application for 20 year production licence filed

** Application for a 20 year production licence filed by Cadogan only (100% P.I.) as Eni elected not to do so

The evaluation has broadly confirmed the Company's 1P reserves at 0.4 MMboe and has identified 3P reserves and 2C contingent resources which are significantly greater than Management estimates as notified on 22 December 2015 (and detailed in Appendix A). This increase is primarily concentrated in the Monastyretska and Bitlyanska licenses in Western Ukraine. This is offset by a downward revision of the best estimate prospective resources across the portfolio which is primarily concentrated in the three Eastern Ukraine licenses. This downward revision is principally a result of the low oil price environment and a more conservative interpretation of the available geological and geophysical data.

In conjunction with this update, the Company is pleased to advise that it has today published an updated Company presentation reflecting the revised figures whichis available on its website at: www.cadoganpetroleum.com

Guido Michelotti, CEO, commented:

"We are pleased with the significant upward revision of the Monastyretska and Bitlyanska reserves against previous management estimates, which will prolong the life of the Company's producing fields and provide access to further production upside. Cadogan intends to work towards exploiting this upside while maintaining our focus on exercising financial discipline, in order to preserve our cash resources for further growth opportunities in the current oil price environment."

Enquiries:

Cadogan Petroleum plc +380 (44) 594 5870 Guido Michelotti, Chief Executive Officer

Marta Halabala, Company Secretary Cantor Fitzgerald Europe +44 (0) 20 7894 7000 David Porter

Sarah Wharry







Appendix A

Management reserves and prospective resources estimates, 22 December 2015
SEATTLE, WA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 -- On Equal Pay Day today, PayScale, Inc., the leader in modern compensation software, announced its new Gender Pay Comparison feature, designed to help organizations easily spot inequalities in pay between men and women. More employers are concerned about the gender gap as women today make just 78 percent of men's earnings and women hold only 25% percent of highly compensated executive positions at S&P companies, according to Catalyst. PayScale's new feature is designed specifically to address disparity in pay between genders, increasing companies' confidence that they are paying all employees fairly and improving retention. In addition, the new feature dramatically reduces the time required to conduct a comprehensive gender analysis from weeks or months to just minutes, allowing employers to quickly identify and address problems with pay equity.

"Companies across every industry tell us they want to pay all their employees fairly. However, many don't know how to determine whether a problem exists or they lack the time and resources required to conduct a manual review of their jobs, skills and salaries. As a result, these companies are left crossing their fingers and hoping they're practicing equal pay for equal work," said Dave Smith, Chief Product Officer at PayScale. "Our goal was to simplify this process by offering a comprehensive, but easy-to-use solution that would provide immediate insights into the way a company pays men and women. With this new feature, employers can fix inequity problems today and also prevent them from happening in the future."

The California Fair Pay Act and other pending legislation mandates that companies must pay men and women fairly. In addition to the legal implications, gender pay inequity can result in morale and performance issues among employees who feel they are underpaid. However, a company-wide compensation analysis can be incredibly complex because employers must ensure they are making accurate comparisons when reviewing each employee's salary.

To address these challenges, PayScale's new Gender Pay Comparison tool provides the following capabilities:

a simplified process which automates and prioritizes steps in the gender comparison process such as verifying job responsibilities and equalizing for skills and talent markets by geographies

sophisticated algorithms to analyze compensable factors for every employee to ensure the resulting gender comparisons are both accurate and fair

presentation of results in a highly visual format which is easy to understand, immediately showing where an organization stands in relation to equal pay and identifying outliers

recommendations and specific steps employers can take for resolving any pay inequities that are revealed across an organization

PayScale believes gender equity in the workplace isn't just the right thing to do, it's also good business. "I firmly believe that companies which become transparent about gender pay issues will have a competitive advantage," Smith added. "I'm very excited for that future."

PayScale's Gender Comparison feature is available immediately for no additional charge to PayScale Insight customers. For more information, please visit www.payscale.com

About PayScale:

Cloud software, crowdsourced data and unique algorithms power the world's largest real-time database of rich salary profiles giving PayScale the unique ability to provide employees and employers alike with immediate visibility into the right pay for any position. PayScale's cloud compensation software is used by more than 3,500 customers including Bloomberg BNA, Cummins, Intercom, Clemson University and Signature HealthCARE. For more information, please visit: www.payscale.com or follow PayScale on Twitter: http://twitter.com/payscale.

Press Contacts:

Phyllis McNeice

Email: phyllis@fireflycmns.com

Tel: 206-954-1481




Scania and Doosan have deepened their long-standing cooperation with the signing of an agreement for Scania to supply the engines for two new generators. The new Scania-powered generators are produced by Doosan Portable Power and are being launched at the Bauma 2016 exhibition in Munich, 11-17 April.

The new agreement is the latest collaboration between the two companies. Doosan Infracore, one of the world's largest manufacturers of construction equipment, already uses Scania's engines in its wide range of wheel loaders, excavators and articulated dump trucks.

"We are delighted to announce that we are now extending our cooperation with Doosan into the power generation segment," says Peter Sundell, Key Account Manager, Scania Engines.

For Pascal Duponcheele, Product Manager Generators and Lighting systems EMEA, at Doosan Portable Power, the decision was clear:

"Choosing Scania's engines for these new generators is a logical step in our already existing and fruitful collaboration with the company and aligns with the strategy of the Doosan group. We have tested Scania's engines in our products and they meet up to our expectations when it comes to reliability, outstanding performance and high fuel efficiency. This way, we continue to work together with Scania to create value for our customers," he says.

Doosan Portable Power's new generators, G400 and G500, are both fitted with robust and reliable Scania engines. The G400 is fitted with a Scania DC13, with 400 kVA prime power, while the G500 is fitted with a Scania DC16 with 500 kVA prime power. The G500 will be on display during Bauma 2016, at Doosan Portable Power's stand FM.612/3.

Scania is a part of Volkswagen Truck Bus GmbH and one of the world's leading manufacturers of trucks and buses for heavy transport applications. Scania is also leading provider of industrial and marine engines. Service-related products account for a growing proportion of the company's operations, assuring Scania customers of cost-effective transport solutions and maximum uptime. Scania also offers financial services. Employing some 44,000 people, the company operates in about 100 countries. Research and development activities are concentrated in Sweden, while production takes place in Europe and South America, with facilities for global interchange of both components and complete vehicles. In 2015, net sales totalled SEK 95 billion and net income amounted to SEK 6.8 billion. Scania press releases are available on www.scania.com (http://www.scania.com/se)

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160412005646/en/

Contacts:

Scania Engines

Peter Sundell, Key Account Manager

Tel +46 8 553 897 37

Email peter.sundell@scania.com
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 -- Newmarket Gold Inc. ("Newmarket" or the "Company")(TSX: NMI)(OTCQX: NMKTF) is pleased to announce production results for the three months ended March 31, 2016.

First Quarter 2016 Highlights

-- Strong consolidated production of 58,057 ounces was comprised of a quarterly record 33,138 ounces from Fosterville, 16,340 ounces from Cosmo and 8,579 ounces from Stawell -- Fosterville achieves a quarterly record 33,138 ounces, record mill grade of 7.34 g/t Au, up 28% YoY, and strong recovery of 86.8% -- 27% improvement in Cosmo production over Q4, 2015 to 16,340 oz, grade of 3.09 g/t and recovery of 90.7% -- 8,579 oz production at Stawell at an average grade of 1.43 g/t and 79.9% recovery -- Fosterville Gold Mine updated Mineral Reserves at year-end 2015 increased 34% to 244,000 ounces of gold, after depletion, as a result of the of the high-grade, visible gold-bearing Eagle Fault Zone which comprises approximately 18% of total Fosterville underground Mineral Reserves. Mineral Reserve grade as at year-end 2015 increased 25% to 6.95 g/t from 5.55 g/t as at December 31, 2014 (see Newmarket Press Release dated March 21, 2016) -- Recent drilling results from the Fosterville Lower Phoenix gold system include drill intercepts of 500.7 g/t Au over 12.5 metres ("m") (ETW(i) 4.5 m, UDH1501) and 112.2 g/t Au over 19.0 m (ETW(i) 11.9 m, UDH1487) (See Table 1, 2) -- Fosterville's new gravity gold circuit is operational and being commissioned with free gold currently being recovered

(i)ETW: Estimated True Width

Cash Balance and Working Capital

-- Cash balance of approximately US$52.1 million as at March 31, 2016 represents an increase of US$15.6 million from December 31, 2015. Working capital at quarter-end was approximately US$38.0 million and includes approximately US$3.8 million in growth expenditures during the quarter and US$5.0 million in proceeds from the exercise of warrants. -- Total debt at March 31, 2016 was US$1.5 million following the full conversion and redemption of convertible debentures.

Douglas Forster, President & Chief Executive Officer of Newmarket stated: "Newmarket achieved a very strong first quarter where we substantially increased our cash position to US$52.1 million, underpinned by record results from our flagship Fosterville Gold Mine and a marked improvement in operating performance at Cosmo Gold Mine. A disciplined and continued focus on safety resulted in a 25% reduction in our total reportable injury rate compared to Q4, 2015. We also announced a significant increase in our Mineral Reserves at Fosterville and continued to advance on our high-priority, near-mine exploration targets on the Lower Phoenix gold system. Latest results from the Lower Phoenix system include drill intercepts of 500.7 g/t Au over 12.5 metres (ETW 4.5 m, UDH1501) and 112.2 g/t Au over 19.0 m (ETW 11.9 m, UDH1487).

Operationally, Fosterville continued to outperform during the first quarter with record quarterly production of 33,138 ounces and record mill grade of 7.34 g/t Au. Mill feed grades trended higher reflecting the processing of high grade, visible gold-bearing Eagle and East Dipper mineralization from the Lower Phoenix gold system. With the increased presence of visible gold from the Lower Phoenix system, Newmarket is currently commissioning a gravity gold circuit. We are encouraged with the commissioning progress and the potential for improvements in overall recoveries. During the quarter, Cosmo's improved performance was demonstrated with a 27% sequential increase in production to 16,340 ounces reflecting higher mill feed grade of 3.09 g/t Au, and increased recovery of 90.7%.

With our strong start to 2016, a strong cash balance of US$52.1 million and essentially no-debt, Newmarket is exceptionally well positioned to fund key organic growth and exploration initiatives, while delivering on our 2016 production guidance of 205,000 - 220,000 ounces."

First Quarter 2016 Consolidated Operating Summary ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q1 2016 Q1 2015 Q4 2015 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ore Milled (tonnes) 572,451 585,720 586,940 Grade (g/t Au) 3.63 3.58 3.30 Recovery (%) 86.8% 86.4% 84.0% ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gold ounces Produced 58,057 59,676 53,179 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operating Mine Results ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q1 2016 Q1 2015 Q4 2015 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fosterville Gold Mine Ore Milled (tonnes) 161,868 175,327 179,450 Grade (g/t Au) 7.34 5.75 6.33 Recovery (%) 86.8% 89.2% 86.3% Gold Production (oz) 33,138 29,135 31,519 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cosmo Gold Mine Ore Milled (tonnes) 181,025 190,306 180,261 Grade (g/t Au) 3.09 3.70 2.56 Recovery (%) 90.7% 91.0% 86.9% Gold Production (oz) 16,340 20,612 12,898 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stawell Gold Mines Ore Milled (tonnes) 229,558 220,087 227,229 Grade (g/t Au) 1.43 1.75 1.50 Recovery (%) 79.9% 80.2% 80.0% Gold Production (oz) 8,579 9,929 8,762 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total Gold ounces Produced 58,057 59,676 53,179 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

First Quarter 2016 Mine Operating Highlights

Fosterville Gold Mine

Fosterville produced 33,138 ounces of gold in Q1 2016, a new record quarterly production result surpassing the previous best achieved in Q3 2015 of 32,793. This result marked a 5% increase over the previous quarter and a 14% increase over Q1 2015.

Mine production continued to deliver strong, consistent performance during the quarter, producing 169,931 mined tonnes at an average grade of 7.22 g/t compared to 172,981 tonnes at 6.38 g/t in Q4 2015 and 178,676 tonnes at 5.85 g/t in Q1 2015. Compared to last quarter, mined tonnes were slightly lower however grade continued to increase to a new quarterly record level, a 13% increase on previous quarter and 23% higher than Q1 2015. The improvement was driven by continuing high-grade development and stope production on multiple levels in the Lower Phoenix area where both higher grade west and east-dipping lenses were extracted.

Mine development advanced at an average monthly rate of 597 m during Q1 2016, slightly below Q4 2015 (-5%) and Q1 2015 (-6%). Total development during the quarter included 191 m of growth development to extend a drill drive off of the Harrier decline to establish a platform for drilling into the Central and Phoenix areas.

During Q1 2016, the mill processed 161,868 tonnes at an average grade of 7.34 g/t compared to 179,450 tonnes at 6.33 g/t in Q4 2015, and 175,327 tonnes at 5.75 g/t in Q1 2015. Mill throughput was driven by availability of mine tonnes coupled with an 8kt increase in the stockpile over the quarter. Recovery for the quarter was 86.8% which was slightly ahead of the previous quarter (86.3%) and below Q1 2015 (89.2%). Overall mill recovery was impacted in January and February by high stibnite levels which affected leach recovery, this improved in March with process optimization coupled with lower stibnite levels driving a record monthly recovery of 91.2%. In addition, construction of the gravity circuit upgrade was completed and commissioning commenced at the end of the quarter which is expected to improve recovery over the coming quarters.

Cosmo Gold Mine

Cosmo produced 16,340 ounces of gold in Q1 2016, a 27% improvement over the previous quarter due to significantly higher grade, reflecting a combination of mine sequencing and improvements in grade control, and also due to mill recovery.

Mine production delivered a strong performance in terms of volume and grade compared to the previous quarter, producing 192,939 mined tonnes at an average grade of 3.12 g/t compared to 181,254 tonnes at 2.62 g/t in Q4 2015 and 197,589 tonnes at 3.66 g/t in Q1 2015. Compared to the previous quarter, volume improved 6% with strong stoping performance in particular. Mined grade was 19% higher than Q4 2015 and improved successively throughout the quarter resulting in a record monthly mined grade for March of 4.18 g/t. This was driven by the production sequence moving towards the higher-confidence core of Mining Block 8 supported by initiatives to focus on ore quality.

Mine development reduced to 449 m compared to 1,048 m in the previous quarter as the focus shifted to stoping activities in Mining Block 8 and reducing the mining fleet by 1 jumbo. The important addition of the 640 Drill Drive commenced during the quarter as a growth development drive to provide a platform for a number of near-term drilling programs. The 640 Drill Drive advanced 108 m during the quarter.

The mill processed 181,025 tonnes at an average grade of 3.09 g/t compared to 180,261 tonnes at 2.56 g/t in Q4 2015, and 190,306 tonnes at 3.70 g/t in Q1 2015. Mill throughput was driven by availability of mine tonnes and a 12kt increase in the stockpile which will benefit the next quarter. Recovery for the quarter was 90.7% which was a significant improvement over the previous quarter of 86.9% (Q1 2015 - 91.0%). Recovery for January and the first half of February was similar to the previous quarter, improvement from mid-February onwards was driven by the improvement in grade and a change to milling strategy through reducing daily throughput to improve dissolved oxygen levels. This reduction lead to a continuous milling campaign in March to process the stockpile increase from the previous month and delivered a strong recovery performance of 93.3% for the month.

Stawell Gold Mine

Stawell produced 8,579 ounces of gold in Q1 2016, down 2.1% compared to the previous quarter and down 13.6% compared to Q1 2015. Lower year-over-year quarterly gold production is due to a 0.8 g/t decrease in underground ore grade to 1.89 g/t in Q1 2016. Production in Q1 2016 consisted predominantly of non-reserve upper levels ore and the commencement of production in the Federal Albion. Ore delivery from Magdala was deferred to Q2 due to delays in ground support activities. Grade to the mill was reduced as underground production feed to the mill was supplemented with lower grade development ore sources.

Mine development was 824 m in Q1 2016 compared to 815 m in the previous quarter. Capital development advanced 82m into the U2 production area while operating development advanced 742 m in the Federal Albion South area.

Low grade oxide stockpiles continued to supplement underground ore resulting in total mill feed of 229,558 tonnes at 1.43 g/t and recovery of 79.9%.

Cash Balance and Working Capital Position

At March 31, 2016, preliminary cash balance was approximately US$52.1 million, a US$15.6 million improvement from Q4, 2015 cash of US$36.5 million. Working capital at quarter-end was approximately US$38.0 million and includes US$3.8 million invested in growth expenditures and US$5.0 million proceeds from the exercise of warrants. With the full conversion and redemption of convertible debentures, total debt at March 31, 2016 was only US$1.5 million.

Upcoming Events

-- Full financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2016 will be released Friday, April 29, 2016.

First Quarter 2016 Financial Earnings Results and Conference Call Details

Full financial results and associated operating and all-in sustaining cash cost details for the three months ended March 31, 2016 will be released on April 29, 2016 before the opening of the stock markets.

Douglas Forster, President and Chief Executive Officer, Robert Dufour, Chief Financial Officer, and Darren Hall Chief Operating Officer will also host a conference call to discuss the results on Friday, April 29 at 11:00 a.m. (EDT).

Participants may listen to the call by dialing toll free 1-800-319-4610 or 1-416-915-3239 at approximately 10:50 a.m. (EDT) and ask to join the Newmarket Gold conference call. International or local callers should dial 1-416-915-3239 at approximately 10:50 a.m. (EDT) and ask to join the Newmarket Gold conference call.

The call will also be webcast live at http://services.choruscall.ca/links/newmarketgold20160429.html and at www.newmarketgoldinc.com in the Events and Webcast section under the Investor Relations tab.

The live audio webcast will be archived and made available for replay at www.newmarketgoldinc.com.

Presentation slides which accompany the conference call will be made available in the Investors section of the Newmarket Gold website, under Presentations, prior to the conference call.

Qualified Person

Mark Edwards, MAusIMM (CP), MAIG, General Manager, Exploration, Newmarket Gold, is a "qualified person" as such term is defined in National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information and data included in this press release.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Douglas Forster, M.Sc., P.Geo., President & Chief Executive Officer

About Newmarket Gold Inc.

Newmarket Gold is a Canadian-listed gold mining and exploration company with three 100% owned operating mines across Australia. The Company is focused on creating substantial shareholder value by maintaining a strong foundation of quality gold production, over 200,000 ounces annually, generating free cash flow and maintaining a large resource base as it executes a clearly defined gold asset consolidation strategy. The Company is focused on sustainable operating performance, a disciplined approach to growth, and building gold reserves and resources while maintaining the high standards that the Newmarket Gold core values represent.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Information

Certain information set forth in this news release contains "forward-looking statements", and "forward-looking information under applicable securities laws. Except for statements of historical fact, certain information contained herein constitutes forward-looking statements, which include the Company's expectations about its business and operations, and are based on the Company's current internal expectations, estimates, projections, assumptions and beliefs, which may prove to be incorrect. Some of the forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as "will", "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "projects", "plans", and similar expressions. These statements are not guarantees of future performance or outcomes and undue reliance should not be placed on them. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made and they are 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 statements or forward-looking information. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or 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 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 and forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information that are included in this press release or incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Table 1: Drill Assay Intercepts for Lower Phoenix Faults

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Downhole Estimated From To Interval True Width Gold Grade Geological Hole ID (m) (m) (m) (m) (g/t Au) Structure ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eagle ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- UDH1487 245.8 247.55 1.75 1.6 16.11 Eagle ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- UDH1487(1) 257.5 276.5 19.0 11.9 112.18 Eagle ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Including(1) 260.0 267.0 7.0 4.4 290.4 Eagle ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- UDH1501(1) 284.35 296.85 12.5 4.5 500.74 Eagle ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Including(1) 287.9 293.9 6.0 2.3 1038.61 Eagle ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Including(1) 289.15 290.65 1.5 0.9 3849.57 Eagle ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- East Dipping ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- UDH1501 65.75 67.3 1.55 1.5 4.57 East Dipping ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- UDH1501 71.9 72.95 1.05 1.0 6.89 East Dipping ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notes: (1) - Visible gold observed in drill intercept

Drill intercepts greater than 30 Gram-Metres (gold grade x estimated true width) are shown in bold text

Table 2: Exploration Underground Drill Hole Collar Locations, Fosterville Gold Mine

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Collar Collar Northing Easting Elevation Azimuth Plunge Depth Hole ID (m) (m) (m) ( degrees ) ( degrees ) (m) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- UDH1487 6,512 1,755 4,307 283 -44 294.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- UDH1501 6,566 1,754 4,314 274 -35 326.9 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Drilling and Assay QA/QC

Newmarket Gold has in place quality-control systems to ensure best practice in drilling, sampling and analysis of drill core. All diamond drill hole collars (Table 2) are accurately surveyed using a Leica Total Stations instrument and down hole deviations are measured by electronic multi-shot cameras.

All reported drill intercepts are from NQ2 sized diamond drill core that was either whole core sampled or cut longitudinally in half with a diamond saw. In the cases of sawn drill core, one-half of the drill-core was sent for assay and the other half retained for reference. Drill core sample intervals vary between 0.3 and 1.2m in length and were determined from logging of sulphide and visible gold.

Samples containing visible gold or considered likely to contain visible gold were separated from sulphide gold samples and dispatched independently for assaying. At the laboratory "visible gold" jobs were processed through a single pulverizer and material barren of gold was crushed before and after each sample to minimize the potential for gold to contaminate successive samples.

Assay results are based on 25-gram charge fire assays. Mean grades are calculated using a variable lower grade cut-off (generally 2 g/t Au) and maximum 2m internal dilution. No upper gold grade cut has been applied to the data. However, during future resource work the requirement for assay top cutting will be assessed.

Drill samples were assayed at On Site Laboratories, an independent laboratory in Bendigo, Victoria. The facility is registered ISO 9001:2008 (CERT-C33510). A lesser number of samples were also assayed at Gekko Systems Assay Laboratory in Ballarat, Victoria. The facility achieved NATA accreditation (No. 19561) in October 2015 in the field of chemical testing.

Contacts:

Laura Lepore

Director, Investor Relations

Newmarket Gold, Inc.

T: 416.847.1847

E: llepore@newmarketgoldinc.com

www.newmarketgoldinc.com



Ryan King

VP, Corporate Communications

T: 604.540.8040

E: rking@newmarketgoldinc.com




OAKVILLE, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 -- Canoe Mining Ventures Corp. (TSX VENTURE: CLV) (the "Company" or "Canoe") would like to announce the resignation of Mr. Ron Reed, the Chief Financial Officer ("CFO") of the Company, effective April 5, 2016.

Mr. Duane Parnham, President and CEO, will act in the capacity of CFO until a new appointee is made. The Company would like to thank Mr. Reed for his contribution and dedication to Canoe and wish him success in his future endeavours.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of Canoe,

Duane Parnham, President and CEO

Forward Looking Statements

This news release includes certain forward-looking statements or information. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release or other future plans, objectives or expectations of Canoe are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Canoe's plans or expectations include risks relating to the actual results of current exploration activities, fluctuating gold prices, possibility of equipment breakdowns and delays, exploration cost overruns, availability of capital and financing, general economic, market or business conditions, regulatory changes, timeliness of government or regulatory approvals and other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by Canoe with securities regulators. Canoe expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation.

Contacts:

Canoe Mining Ventures Corp.

Duane Parnham

President and CEO

1.905.844.7612

dparnham@canoemining.com

www.canoemining.com




SPRING VALLEY, NY -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 -- Kickfurther, a leading inventory and invoice financing crowd-funding platform that connects companies and backers seeking qualified short-term deal financing, is proud to announce it has successfully completed a $15,336.79 inventory financing in 04 days with Bryland, a high quality polo shirt brand. The funds will be used to finance growing purchase orders for Bryland's inventory. Bryland is expected to payout a consignment profit of 13% over a projected offer term of 8 months.

In this Kickfurther campaign, Bryland funded their inventory for their polo shirts in their hottest selling colorways. The inventory will be shipped to Bryland in the name of their Kickfurther backers and the brand intends to provide a total payout of $17,330.57 USD.

Their funded production includes 100 Navy and 100 White with Multi-colored logo polos, as well as 100 Navy with Sea-green logo and 100 White with Navy logo polos, their hottest selling colorways in the Bryland collection. This is Bryland's first campaign with Kickfurther.

Click here to see the successful Bryland offering summary information.

About Kickfurther

Kickfurther is a leading inventory and invoice financing crowd-funding platform that connects companies with backers seeking qualified short-term deal financing. The platform enables productive growth oriented companies seeking capital to finance production to share their sales opportunities with backers interested to put their money to work in short term profit opportunities in the retail supply chain.

Businesses post offers by choosing the amount of inventory capital they need, the profit percentage backers will earn, and a projected timeline based on sales history. Since its 2015 launch, Kickfurther has funded more than $6.1 Million in 246 offers by more than 170 companies. Their backers have earned an average greater than 2% consignment profit per month on completed offers.

For additional information, please visit www.kickfurther.com.

About Bryland

Bryland clothing brings together old world craftsmanship with new world innovation and design. Just like Harbour Island, the Bahamian island that inspired them and where they have their roots, Bryland is a stopping point in a journey from the old world to the new.

Bryland's shirts are made with the highest quality fabrics, hand-dyed and with careful tailoring to collar length, sleeves, hemming and shape. The end result: the shirts are subtle and traditional, but strikingly contemporary character.

For additional information, please visit: www.bryland.co and Instagram.com/BrylandCo

** News, Media, PR and Content distribution provided by 1-800-PublicRelations, Inc.

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Offering Contact

Nic Chatfield

CEO

Bryland

Direct: 917-499-8766

Email: nic@bryland.co



Company Contact

Erik Straub

CMO

Kickfurther, Inc.

Direct: 908-698-3130

Email: erik@kickfurther.com



Media / PR Contact

Matthew Bird

President

1-800-PublicRelations, Inc.

Direct: 646.401.4499

Main: 800.782.6185

Email: support@1800pr.com

Website: www.1800pr.com




VIENNA (dpa-AFX) - Actinium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ATNM) announced the company has entered into an agreement with Zevacor Pharma, Inc. for the clinical production and supply of Iomab-B for the upcoming Phase 3 SIERRA trial. Zevacor will perform the Good Manufacturing Practices manufacturing, testing, releasing and distribution of Iomab-B for Phase 3 SIERRA trial. Iomab-B is a radioimmunotherapy intended to be an induction and conditioning agent prior to a bone marrow transplant for Acute Myeloid Leukemia patients over the age of 55. 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) - China Information Technology Inc. (CNIT) said that it has entered into two agreements with a leading advertising agency in Fujian Province for the combined sale of 8,500 CNIT elevator digital display terminals to be installed in 20 major cities throughout China. These agreements, both signed with Haojing (Xiamen) Culture Media Co., Ltd., have total base revenue of about $5.2 million, all of which will be remitted to CNIT during calendar 2016. The agreements also carry a non-binding contract addition of 60,000 to 80,000 terminals to be purchased by Haojing from CNIT over the following three years. The 8,500 terminals covered under the agreements will be installed in elevators in office buildings, hotels, shopping malls and prime residential communities in Beijing,Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and 16 other large Chinese cities and will carry advertising targeted to specific audiences in high-traffic locations. The terminals will enable viewers to request information about, or make purchases of, advertisers' products and services. For advertisers, the terminals are expected to significantly reduce the cost of advertising while increasing the ability to target ads to their most likely customers. In addition to sales revenue on the terminals, CNIT receives recurring monthly fees for the life of the units from customers' use of Yunfa Net, the company's cloud-based content delivery platform that enables advertisers to design and update ads on their PC or mobile app and transmit them to the display terminals of their choice across China. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
VIENNA (dpa-AFX) - Tourists to Japan will shortly be able to make a hassle-free journey as the country is planning to introduce finger print recognition to replace use of currency and cards. At the airports, the visitors will be given the facility to register themselves with the fingerprint taken and credit card details given. This will help them get into a souvenir shop, or restaurant and pay for things by flashing the fingerprint on the machine, that will be linked to a payment system. When a tourist wants to move to different places, this system can also serve to replace verification of passports. The Tokyo-based Aeon Bank is planning to recognize fingerprints for cash withdrawal also. Japan plans to make the fingerprint system completely foolproof by 2020, before the Olympics and Paralympic Games. By next summer the system will be introduced to more places. The government is looking ahead to receive 40 million foreign tourists by 2020. On an experimental basis, Japan has introduced the fingerprint system at the Huis tem Bosch theme park in Nagasaki in October 2015. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 -- Cornerstone Capital Resources Inc. ("Cornerstone" or "the Company") (TSX VENTURE: CGP)(FRANKFURT: GWN)(BERLIN: GWN)(OTCBB: CTNXF) announces the following project update for the Cascabel copper-gold porphyry joint venture exploration project in northern Ecuador, in which the Company has a 15% interest financed through to completion of a feasibility study. SolGold Plc is funding 100% of the exploration at Cascabel and is the operator of the project.

HIGHLIGHTS:

-- Porphyry style mineralization discovered on surface 100m south of the surface projection of Alpala Structural Zone (ASZ), defining a new target area, Alpala South. -- 1:500 scale geological mapping progresses and upgrades the Hematite Hill Prospect. -- Detailed geological mapping continues as rock-saw channel sampling begins over both Hematite Hill and Alpala South areas.

Figures, photographs and tables referred to in this news release can be seen in PDF format by accessing the version of this release on the Company's website (www.cornerstoneresources.com) or by clicking on the link below:

http://www.cornerstoneresources.com/i/pdf/NR16-07Figures.pdf.

DETAILED INFORMATION:

Cascabel Project

The Cascabel Project is located within the northern portion of the Andean copper belt (refer Figure 1 Regional Setting). The project is located on a sealed multi-lane national highway at a low elevation with abundant water, labour, hydroelectric power, and a short 80km distance to a Pacific deep water port site at San Lorenzo and 180kms to an established deep water port at Esmeraldas (refer Figure 2 Location Map).

Field Work Update

Ongoing expansion of 1:500 scale geological mapping and rock-saw channel sampling across the growing Cascabel porphyry field has led to another discovery of porphyry copper-gold mineralization in outcrop, along the northern and southern slopes of the newly discovered Alpala South prospect, which lies 400m due south of Hole 5 at Alpala Central (Figure 3). The extent of outcropping mineralization at Alpala South and Hematite Hill has not yet been defined, as mapping continues over the ridges that separate Alpala Central and Alpala Southeast (Figure 4).

The prospective centres at Alpala South and Hematite Hill occur within an area of elevated magnetic response within part of the complex magnetic signature that occurs over the wider Alpala area, known as the Alpala Magnetic Complex (Figure 5).

These new prospects occur along either side of the south-eastern extension of the surface projection of Alpala Structural Zone ("ASZ"). The ASZ is a deep seated regional north-west trending structure inferred to be a zone of crustal weakness tapping into copper and gold rich intrusions at Alpala Central.

The presence of a discrete copper / zinc soil anomaly, supports a preserved porphyry centre characterized by higher temperatures of mineralization. This geochemical signature is typical of the metal zonation around many global porphyry copper-gold deposits. The occurrences of more distinct copper / zinc anomalies further south of Alpala South, and at Alpala Southeast are priority areas for the ongoing reconnaissance field inspection (Figure 6).

The outcrops at Alpala South contain porphyry style quartz - iron oxide veins, the fresh sulphides having been leached from the weathering environment. The veining occurs within volcanic host rocks in a sheeted form, with veins orientated along a WNW trend, and dipping steeply towards the NNE (Figures 7 and 8).

The Alpala South discovery, like the recent finds of outcropping copper and gold mineralization at Aguinaga and Trivino, highlights the fertility and potential of the broader porphyry copper-gold system at Cascabel.

About Cascabel:

SolGold Plc owns 85% of the equity of Exploraciones Novomining S.A. ("ENSA"), an Ecuadorean company that holds 100% of the Cascabel concession in northern Ecuador. Cornerstone owns the remaining 15% of ENSA, which also holds the rights to the La Encrucijada gold-silver project. SolGold is funding 100% of the exploration at Cascabel and is the operator of the project. Cornerstone's 15% interest is financed through completion of a feasibility study.

Cascabel is located in northwestern Ecuador in an under-explored northern section of the richly endowed Andean Copper Belt, 60 km northeast of the undeveloped inferred resource of 982 million tons at 0.89% Cu Junin copper project (0.4% Cu cut-off grade; Micon International Co. Ltd. Technical Report for Ascendant Exploration SA, August 20, 2004, pages 28 & 29). Mineralization identified at the Junin copper project is not necessarily indicative of the mineralization on the Cascabel Property.

Qualified Person:

Yvan Crepeau, MBA, P.Geo., Cornerstone's Vice President, Exploration and a qualified person in accordance with National Instrument 43-101, is responsible for supervising the exploration program at the Cascabel project for Cornerstone and has reviewed and approved the information contained in this news release.

Plans:

SolGold has announced it is planning a resource statement at Alpala, the most advanced target at Cascabel, during 2016, in addition to drill testing the other key targets at Aguinaga, Trivino, Alpala NW, Hematite Hill, Alpala SE, Cristal, Tandayama America and Chinambicito within the Cascabel concession.

Readers are cautioned that the potential quantity and grade of any resource at Cascabel is currently conceptual in nature, there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the Alpala target being delineated as a mineral resource.

About Cornerstone:

Cornerstone Capital Resources Inc. is a mineral exploration company with a diversified portfolio of projects in Ecuador and Chile, and a proven ability to identify, acquire and advance properties of merit. The company's business model is based on generating exploration projects whose subsequent development is funded primarily through partnerships.

Further information is available on Cornerstone's website: www.cornerstoneresources.com and on Twitter.

Cautionary Notice:

This news release may contain 'Forward-Looking Statements' that involve risks and uncertainties, such as statements of Cornerstone's plans, objectives, strategies, intentions and expectations. The words "potential," "anticipate," "forecast," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "may," "project," "plan," and similar expressions are intended to be among the statements that identify 'Forward-Looking Statements.' Although Cornerstone believes that its expectations reflected in these 'Forward-Looking Statements' are reasonable, such statements may involve unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors disclosed in our regulatory filings, viewed on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com. For us, uncertainties arise from the behaviour of financial and metals markets, predicting natural geological phenomena and from numerous other matters of national, regional, and global scale, including those of an environmental, climatic, natural, political, economic, business, competitive, or regulatory nature. These uncertainties may cause our actual future results to be materially different than those expressed in our Forward-Looking Statements. Although Cornerstone believes the facts and information contained in this news release to be as correct and current as possible, Cornerstone does not warrant or make any representation as to the accuracy, validity or completeness of any facts or information contained herein and these statements should not be relied upon as representing its views subsequent to the date of this news release. While Cornerstone anticipates that subsequent events may cause its views to change, it expressly disclaims any obligation to update the Forward-Looking Statements contained herein except where outcomes have varied materially from the original statements.

On Behalf of the Board,

Brooke Macdonald, President and CEO

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.

Contacts:

For investor, corporate or media inquiries, please contact:

Investor Relations

(613) 421-6923

ir@cornerstoneresources.ca

www.cornerstoneresources.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, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Habito, launched today, has taken aim at the 95 billion[i] mortgage broking market, one of the only pillars of the consumer finance sector yet to benefit from technological disruption.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160412/354195LOGO )



Using unique proprietary technology, habito analyses every mortgage on the market across 100 lenders in seconds. It identifies the very best mortgage for each applicant, based on their individual circumstances, and enables them to complete their application online, from a phone or tablet, within around 30 minutes.

Backed by some of the most successful fintech entrepreneurs in Europe - including Transferwise CEO Taavet Hinrikus and Funding Circle CEO Samir Desai - habito is the world's only digital mortgage broker.

Having raised a 1.55 million seed funding round led by Mosaic Ventures, habito plans to revolutionise a market that has failed to keep pace with the needs of 21st century consumers.

With a mortgage market that's often opaque and confusing, it's no surprise that more than two-thirds of people seek advice from a broker. The average broker will look at fewer than 10% of the mortgages available and take 2-3 weeks to process an application. It's impossible for one person to look at every mortgage out there, so people often end-up with the wrong mortgage.

In fact, 1 in 4 British homeowners is currently spending over the odds due to this 'mortgage mismatch', paying lenders an average of around 4,000 more than they need to every year[ii].

Habito has created a way to eliminate this problem and save consumers up to 29bn annually.

Even after the right mortgage is found, habito will continually monitor the market and alert the customer if a better deal ever becomes available, helping them switch smoothly. People never need worry about their mortgage again. Directly authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, habito is completely impartial and free to use.

With 7.6 million active mortgages in Britain, 69%[iii] of which are completed with the support of a mortgage broker, the market potential for the company is huge. Because the process is fully automated, the company is built on strong foundations to achieve significant scale quickly.

Daniel Hegarty, CEO and Founder ofhabito, said: "Technology has transformed our lives beyond recognition, so it's hard to believe applying for a mortgage today remains no different from the difficult and often protracted process of 10, 20 or even 30 years ago.

"It is an industry that has seen no meaningful innovation, yet technology can do so much to take the pain out of mortgages for consumers. It's not right that millions of people are paying over the odds on the wrong mortgage.

"It's time for technology to bring mortgages into the 21st century. Habito scours every mortgage from over 100 lenders in seconds and matches the best one for you. It is an easy, fast and transparent way to find and apply for the right mortgage seamlessly."

Taavet Hinrikus, co-founder and CEO of Transferwise, added:"Applying for a mortgage is stressful and time-consuming. Habito have built a great product that takes away that pain and helps consumers find the best product for them."

Notes to Editors:

About Habito

Habito is using technology to bring the mortgage application process into the 21st century. Using habito, home buyers can for the first time be sure they're getting the best mortgage for them. We have developed a simple, honest and transparent way to help people find and apply for the best mortgage. No jargon, no fees and no misinformation.

Our technology allows us to access and analyse every mortgage from over 100 lenders in seconds. We'll find the best match for you and help you make your application online in about 30 minutes. You can apply on your phone or tablet, 24/7. No appointment necessary.

We're a group of designers, engineers, mathematicians and mortgage experts with a really big idea. We hold ourselves to highest standards and are committed to transforming the mortgage market.

Habito has raised 1.55m in seed funding, the round was led by Mosaic Ventures, with participation from angels including Taavet Hinrikus, Samir Desai, Yuri Milner, Tom Stafford and Paul Forster.

i. Bank of England statistics, monthly house purchase approvals (non-seasonally adjusted). Based on annual house purchase lending January - December 2015

ii. According to an analysis of SVR mortgage holders by HSBC, Nov 2015

iii. Council of Mortgage Lenders Regulated Mortgage Survey, July 2015
PORTLAND, Oregon, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

A new report published by Allied Market Research titled, "World Medical Tourism Market - Opportunities and Forecasts, 2014 - 2022", projects that the world medical tourism market would reach $143.8 billion by 2022, with a CAGR of 15.7% from 2015 to 2022. Cancer treatment would continue to be the highest revenue-generating segment throughout the forecast period. North America and Asia-Pacific are estimated to remain principal revenue-generating regions and collectively accounted for more than 60% of the global medical tourism market in 2015, in terms of revenue.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140911/647229 )



To know more about the report, visit the website at https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/medical-tourism-market

The major factors that boost the market growth include affordability, availability, and accessibility of superior quality healthcare services with healthy support and assistance from tourism departments & local governments. In addition, increasing incidence of cancer and other serious ailments is anticipated to drive the demand for healthcare services, which in turn is expected to drive the world medical tourism market. Limited coverage and lengthy partial reimbursement offered by insurance companies along with difficulties associated with cross border travel, such as language barriers, connectivity, documentation, and Visa approval issues, are likely to restrict the market growth.

Cancer treatment segment would continue to lead the market throughout the analysis period owing to increase with the number of cross-border travellers seeking better cancer treatment. In addition, cancer treatment is expensive and prolonged, hence better treatment available at affordable prices motivates several patients to choose medical tourism. North America and Asia-Pacific are the major hosts for travellers seeking cancer treatment. Neurological treatment emerged as the fastest growing segment with a CAGR of 16.2%, in terms of revenue, during the forecast period. Neurological treatment requires high level of expertise and limited personnel with requisite expertise. Increasing number of people are diagnosed with neurological ailments, owing to their stressful lifestyles. This is anticipated to increase the number of medical tourists travelling to destinations for better neurological treatment.

Geographically, North America and Asia-Pacific dominated, and collectively accounted for two-thirds of the overall medical tourism market in 2015. The growth of these regions is attributed to the availability of affordable medical treatments for several disease conditions in countries such as Mexico, Thailand, Malaysia, India and Singapore. However, Asia-Pacific is the fastest growing region followed by LAMEA, owing to the increasing treatment success rates, coupled with the affordable price range. Within Asia-Pacific medical tourism market, India and Malaysia are few of the fastest growing countries.

Increase in reach of internet and various medical tourism associations such as Europe Medical Tourism Alliance (EuMTA) & Medical Tourism Association (MTA) along with medical travel agencies in the last decade, helped to raise awareness about the treatment options beyond the home country. Furthermore, several medical travel facilitators have emerged, such as Beijing Saint Lucia Consulting Ltd, Kangtai Health Network, Ryavo Healthcare, Medigo, PlacidWay, and government tourist associations of respective countries. These agencies provide assistance ranging from information about available treatments and their quality in various destinations to travel arrangements, accommodation, and post-treatment recovery.

Key findings of the study:

In 2015, cancer treatment segment generated the highest revenue, accounting about one-third of the overall market revenue and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 16.0% during the forecast period.

Neurological treatment segment is expected to grow at an above-average CAGR of 16.2%, owing to increased number of skilled medical personnel.

North America accounted for about one-third of the global medical tourism in 2015. Mexico occupies the major market share within North America followed by the U.S.

The Asia-Pacific region is anticipated to be the fastest growing medical tourism market during the analysis period, followed by LAMEA region.

Thailand, Singapore, and India are the major shareholders in Asia-Pacific with a combined share of more than three fourth of the medical tourism market in the region.

Major market players have established overseas promotional offices to attract more medical tourists. Moreover, respective tourism departments promote their countries as center of excellence in specific healthcare services. Such strategic measures aid in increasing the number of medical tourists choosing to avail their healthcare services. Key service providers include Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited, Fortis Healthcare Ltd., Asian Heart Institute and Research Centre Private Limited, KPJ Healthcare Berhad, Barbados Fertility Centre, NTT Medical Center Tokyo, Seoul National University Hospital, UZ Leuven (University Hospitals Leuven), Infectious Diseases Partners Pte. Ltd., Aditya Birla Memorial Hospital, Barbados Fertility Centre, Prince Court Medical Centre, and Samitivej Public Company Limited.

About Us:

Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions". AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.

We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.

Contact:

Sona Padmanabhan

5933 NE Win Sivers Drive

#205, Portland, OR 97220

United States

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ALBANY, New York, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

According to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research entitled"Telecom Expense Management Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024,"theglobal telecom expense management (TEM) marketis expected to reach a value of US$7.19 bn by 2024. The market is estimated to expand at a CAGR of 19.9% during the forecast period from 2016 to 2024.

Increasing expenditure on telecom infrastructure is one of the major factors driving the TEM market. Furthermore, the rising adoption of enterprise mobility policies is increasing the demand for TEM to manage portable devices in enterprises and establish secure connection with enterprise networks. Also, enterprises must handle partnerships with carriers across all the regions; TEM provides contract management solutions for enterprises to handle these partnerships effectively. Moreover, the rules and regulations related to the maintenance of electronic records have forced enterprises to implement TEM solutions.

Increasing adoption of portable devices in enterprises have increased security requirements. TEM can separately manage these portable devices in enterprise networks. In 2015, North America held the major market share in terms of revenue generated for telecom expense management globally, followed by Europe. However, Asia Pacific and Middle East and Africa are forecast to grow at a faster rate than these mature markets.

Browse the Regional Press Release: http://www.europlat.org/global-telecom-expense-management-market.htm

Among the telecom expense management applications, inventory management held the largest market share of approximately 25% in 2015, due to the increasing need to manage portable devices. Wired and wireless device inventory must be maintained and managed in order to reduce costs and increase employee efficiency. Furthermore, inventory management helps in differentiating between company-owned and employee-owned devices used in enterprises. In terms of the mode of delivery, cloud services accounted for a major share of revenue in 2015 and are also expected to grow at the fastest rate due to their easy implementation.

BFSI sector was the largest segment in the TEM market in 2015 and it would continue to grow by holding its top position throughout the forecast period. Automation of paper-based processes in the BFSI sector has increased the popularity of TEM. TEM also helps in maintaining the security of confidential data involved in the BFSI sector.

Get Sample Report Copy or For further inquiries, click here:

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=3752

Some of the key players operating in the TEM market include Anatole SAS, Asentinel LLC, Calero Software LLC, Comview LLC, Cimpl, Ezwim B.V, MDSL, Valicom Corporation, Tangoe, Inc., Veropath Limited (IntelligentComms), WidePoint Solutions Corporation, Inc., and Avotus Corporation.

The telecom expense management market is segmented as below.

Telecom Expense Management Market

By Application

Financial Management

Order Management

Business Intelligence

Inventory Management

Contract Management

Dispute Management

Others

By Mode of Delivery

Managed Services

Complete Outsourcing

Cloud Services

By End-use Adoption

Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI)

Retail

IT and Telecommunication

Healthcare

Transportation and Logistics

Manufacturing

Government and Defense

Others

By Geography

North America

Europe

Latin America

APAC

Middle East and Africa

Other Research Reports by Transparency Market Research:

IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) Market: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/it-asset-disposition-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/it-asset-disposition-market.html Healthcare BI Platform Market: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/healthcare-business-intelligence.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/healthcare-business-intelligence.html Cloud Access Security Brokers Market:http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/cloud-access-security-brokers-market.html

About Us

Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company,providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experiencedteam of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.

Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMR's syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.

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VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 -- International Millennium Mining Corp. ("IMMC" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: IMI) is pleased to announce that its wholly-owned subsidiary, International Millennium Mining Inc. ("IMMI") has completed the purchase of Silver Reserve Corp.'s ("SRC") fifteen percent (15%) interest in the Nivloc, Nevada Silver Mine Property (the "Transaction"), thereby acquiring a one hundred percent (100%) undivided interest in the Nivloc Property.

Pursuant to the Sale and Purchase Agreement, which includes an Option to Purchase Royalty Interest (the "Agreement"), announced on February 2, 2016, IMMI has paid SRC a total of US$120,000 for the Nivloc Property interests. Subject to the terms of the Agreement, SRC retains two percent (2%) of Net Smelter Returns royalty interest in the claims (the "Royalty Interest"). As a condition of the Agreement, IMMI has a time-limited option to purchase SRC's Royalty Interest for a sum of US$120,000, payable on or before December 24, 2016.

IMMI is focusing on developing the Nivloc silver and gold property, which is situated in the Silver Peak Mining District of Esmeralda County, Nevada, USA, where it has reported a National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") compliant Inferred Mineral Resource, at 40 g/t Ag cut-off, of 1,640,000 tonnes grading 106.47 g/t Ag and 0.78 g/t Au. See the Company's news releases of August 16, 2012, December 4, 2012 and January 8, 2013, either on the Company's website www.immc.ca or on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Trading of the Company's securities on the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSX-V") was halted in December 2013, pending the completion of a proposed transaction with Elephant Copper Ltd. ("Elephant"). On November 27, 2015, the Company announced that the transaction with Elephant was terminated by written notice from Elephant on September 13, 2015. Following the termination of the Elephant transaction, the Company initiated discussions with the TSX-V to remove the trading halt and resume trading of its securities.

During discussions with the TSX-V, the Company proposed to complete the following transactions (together the "Proposed Transactions"), concurrently with the resumption of trading:

a. A Private Placement at $0.05 per unit, each unit consisting of one share and one warrant, with each warrant exercisable for two years at $0.05 per share; b. Shares for Debt at $0.05 per share; and, c. A Debenture convertible to units at $0.05 per unit, each unit consisting of one share and one warrant, with each warrant exercisable for a period of up to a maximum of four years at $0.05 per share; with the debenture being convertible for up to four years, by the lender for the full term and by the Company, pursuant to various terms, after the second anniversary.

It is the Company's opinion that the Proposed Transactions are necessary, and should occur concurrently with the lifting of the trading halt of the Company's securities. However, it is the opinion of the TSX-V that the Company's securities must be trading for a period of time before the pricing of the Proposed Transactions are announced and approved.

Management of the Company is of the opinion that completing the Proposed Transactions concurrently with the resumption of the trading of its securities is essential; therefore, IMMC is currently exploring its options for a voluntary delisting from the TSX-V and applying for a listing with the Canadian Securities Exchange (the "CSE"). The Company has not paid its 2016 annual TSX-V sustaining fees pending the resolution of these conditions. It is the Company's intention to continue its discussions with the CSE and seek a listing transfer from the TSX-V to the CSE, which transfer is proposed to be completed concurrently with the Proposed Transactions.

International Millennium Mining Corp. (TSX VENTURE: IMI) is a mineral exploration and development company engaged in acquiring known smaller mine deposits, such as its Nivloc, Nevada silver-gold mine project, in the Americas, with the goal of advancing the properties to the mining stage. Emerging targets include silver, gold, copper, zinc and lead. The Company's common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol: IMI and on the Frankfurt Exchange under the symbol: L9J.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

John A. Versfelt, President and CEO

Further information about the Company can be found on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, potential mineral recovery processes and other business transactions timing. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore, involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements.

Contacts:

International Millenium Mining Corp.

Mr. John Versfelt

President & CEO

604-527-8135

604-527-9126 (FAX)

info@immc.ca




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 -- Coventry Resources Inc. (ASX: CYY)

1. HIGHLIGHTS

-- Recoveries of greater than 95% copper returned in ongoing metallurgical testwork on samples from the Caribou Dome Copper Project -- Further metallurgical testwork in progress; to continue to optimise recoveries and concentrate grades -- Results provide further confidence a conventional flotation processing plant may be a viable low-CAPEX development alternative

2. FURTHER RESULTS FROM ONGOING METALLURGICAL TESTWORK

Coventry Resources Inc. (ASX: CYY) ("Coventry" or "the Company") is pleased to advise it has received further results from an ongoing metallurgical testwork program on samples from the high-grade Caribou Dome Copper Deposit in Alaska, USA ("the Project" and "the Caribou Dome Project").

Since December 2015, conventional flotation testwork has been progressing, utilising representative drill core from the Company's 2015 drilling program at the Project. Testwork to date has been undertaken on a composite sample from the Lense 4, 5 and 6 area, which averaged 5.03% copper.

Having recently achieved cleaner concentrates grading as high as 24.5% copper, recent testwork has been further investigating potential recoveries.

Very encouraging results have been achieved during recent rougher flotation tests, with recoveries of greater than 95% copper returned. This considerably exceeds recoveries achieved in the most recent historical testwork (2009).

These results provide further confidence that a conventional flotation processing plant may provide a viable low-CAPEX pathway for the development of the Caribou Dome Project.

Initial flotation testwork on a composite sample from the Lense 7/8 area will now be undertaken, to assess whether the metallurgical properties of mineralisation in that area are similar to those in the Lense 4, 5 and 6 area. Additional samples of mineralisation will also be collected during the forthcoming 2016 field work program to undertake further metallurgical testwork to continue to refine the optimal processing flowsheet for the Project.

Mike Haynes, Managing Director and CEO

Qualified and Competent Person

The information in this announcement that relates to exploration results and metallurgical testwork for the Project is based on information compiled by Mr Ben Vallerine, who is a consultant to the Company and holds an indirect shareholding in the Company. Mr Vallerine is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists. Mr Vallerine has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and the activity he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results (JORC Code). Mr Vallerine is also a Qualified Person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr Vallerine consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on the information in the form and context in which it appears.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may contain "forward-looking statements" and/or "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities regulations in Canada and the United States (collectively, forward-looking information"). Any forward-looking information contained in this news release is made as of the date of this news release. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, Coventry Resources Inc. ("Coventry") does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update this forward-looking information. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to resource project identification and evaluation, exploration and development activities and expected outcomes. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects, "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes", or the negatives thereof or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved.

Any forward-looking information contained in this news release is based on certain assumptions that Coventry believes are reasonable, including, that the current price of and demand for mineral commodities will be sustained or will improve, that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner, that financing will be available if and when needed on reasonable terms, that supplies, equipment, personnel, permits and local community approval required to conduct Coventry's planned exploration and development activities will be available on reasonable terms and that Coventry will not experience any material accident, labour dispute, or failure of equipment.

However, forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Coventry to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others, risks and uncertainties relating to the actual results of exploration activities being different than anticipated, cost of labour increasing more than expected, cost of equipment or materials increasing more than expected, fluctuations in the commodity prices, currency fluctuations, risk of accidents, labour disputes and other risks generally associated with mineral exploration and unanticipated delays in obtaining or failing to obtain governmental or community approvals or financing. Although Coventry has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to not be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information due to the inherent uncertainty thereof.

Contacts:

Coventry Resources Inc.

+61 8 9226 1356

+61 8 9226 2027 (FAX)

info@coventryres.com

www.coventryres.com




The Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of Tallinna Kaubamaja Grupp AS was held on 12 April 2016 in the Conference centre of Nordic Hotel Forum, Viru valjak 3, Tallinn. 32,330,056 votes, i.e. 79.38% of the Company's 40,729,200 votes were represented at the meeting.The decisions of the General Meeting were as follows:1. Approval of the annual report of Tallinna Kaubamaja Grupp AS for 2015With 32,278,252, i.e. 99.84% votes in favour, to approve the annual report of Tallinna Kaubamaja Grupp AS for 2015, according to which the consolidated balance sheet of Tallinna Kaubamaja Grupp AS as at 31.12.2015 is 347,980 thousand euros, the sales revenue for the accounting year is 555,447 thousand euros and the net profit 22,071 thousand euros.2. Profit distributionWith 32,098,479 i.e. 99.28% votes in favour, to approve the profit distribution proposal of 2015 of Tallinna Kaubamaja Grupp AS as follows:Retained profits of previous years 73,197 thousand euros Net profit of 2015 20,071 thousand euros Total distributable profit as at 31.12.2015 95,268 thousand euros To pay dividends 0.52 euros per share 21,179 thousand euros Retained profits after distribution of profits 74,089 thousand eurosThe list of shareholders with a right to receive dividends shall be fixed as at 26 April 2016 at 23.59. Dividends shall be paid to the shareholders via transfer on 27 April 2016 to a bank account of a shareholder.Raul Puusepp Chairman of the Board Phone +372 731 5000

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.
HURRICANE, UT -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 -- A first-of-its kind study released in March 2016 confirms the link between significant improvements in key measures of a school's climate to academic gains. The Research Alliance for New York City Schools report, titled "School Organizational Contexts, Teacher Turnover, and Student Achievement," found that an increase in school safety and academic expectations corresponds to increases in student achievement.

Schools that focus on a safe and structured experience may produce the equivalent of an extra month and a half of math instruction. Residential treatment centers for teens like Diamond Ranch Academy show how dramatically upgrading a student's public school setting -- from one that may have the presence of bullying, drugs and alcohol, and un-motivating teachers -- leads to more opportunities for academic and personal development.

"This study confirmed our philosophy at Diamond Ranch Academy, which is that an intimate, secure, and protected setting empowers students to live healthier and more positive lives while improving their capacity to learn," says Diamond Ranch Academy Executive Director Ricky Dias. "By focusing on academics and safety while also allowing students to explore a variety of personal interests, Diamond Ranch Academy helps students feel more confident and prepared for family and college life than ever before."

The 2016 study also found a correlation between a positive school climate and a reduction in teacher turnover, as strong academic and safety expectations decreased turnover by 25 percent. The study cites research that high rates of teacher turnover negatively impacts student achievement, as staff coordination is damaged, and less experienced replacement teachers are less effective for students.

"Our school is also living proof of how a positive school climate helps retain the best teachers to help troubled teens," Dias continues. "Most of our staff members have been with us for years and continue to have the same passion for helping teens in need succeed."

Diamond Ranch Academy strives to create an environment that allows students to focus on studies and personal growth, rather than be worried about the safety of their physical well-being. Students at Diamond Ranch Academy are constantly on a journey of self-discovery, as they continually learn techniques to improve their emotional health. Activities ranging from working with animals, to hiking and physical fitness, to art clubs and student council allow students to discover interests that drive and motivate them to contribute positively to society.

Parents who are interested in Diamond Ranch Academy for their teen may receive a free info packet here, or may call 877-636-2094 for more information.

About Diamond Ranch Academy: Diamond Ranch Academy is an industry leader in residential treatment centers for teens, offering an exemplary variety of college preparatory courses and diverse activities to help students grow both academically and personally. Since its founding in 1999 in Hurricane, Utah, Diamond Ranch Academy has fostered a sense of a supportive community for thousands of students, helping them form healthy relationships with peers and families through therapeutic techniques.
PORTLAND, OR -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 -- Lensbaby, makers of award-winning creative effects lenses, optics and accessories, today announced the availability of the Twist 60 lens. Twist 60 helps creative photographers find their visual voice by seeing the world differently.

This metal-bodied non-tilting 60mm f/2.5 lens with gold anodized accents creates powerful portraits, spotlighting subjects by freeing them from their background and surrounding them with swirly blur and enhanced vignette. The brighter the aperture, the greater the swirl and the greater the vignette.

"Twist 60 embodies our love of old lenses and their unique ways of helping photographers discover creative possibilities," said Craig Strong, Lensbaby Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer. "True to an 1840 design by Joseph Petzval, this lens reveals striking separation between subjects and their background, a quality that modern lens designs lack."

Twist 60 Lens specs:

12 blade f/2.5-22 aperture

60mm focal length

Twisty, swirly blur

Recommended for use on full frame cameras

Available in Canon EF, Nikon F, and Sony E mounts

4 elements in 3 groups

Filter threads: 46mm

Black anodized body with gold anodized aperture ring

Minimum focus distance - 18"

Images:

http://lensbaby.com/resourceroom

Availability

Twist 60 lens retails for $279.95 and is available via pre-order beginning April 12, 2016 (shipping May 5th, 2016). Twist 60 Optic will also be sold separately for use with other Lensbaby Optic Swap System-compatible lenses. It retails for $179.95. For best results, when using it in a tilting Lensbaby such as the Composer Pro, photographers should shoot with Twist 60 pointed straight ahead. Lensbaby products are available at lensbaby.com, B&H, Adorama, and from select specialty photo stores worldwide.

About Lensbaby

For over a decade, photographers have relied on Portland, Oregon based Lensbaby to help them break free of routine, tinker, and open themselves up to unexpected results -- dancing, playing and delighting in what's possible with a creative lens and their imagination.

Lensbaby makes award-winning creative effects lenses, optics and accessories that follow this philosophy, including the Velvet 56, a versatile portrait and macro lens; their unique Optic Swap System, which lets photographers swap their optic and tilt their lens for limitless effects; and mobile lenses that transform everyday smartphone photography. Lensbaby products are sold and distributed worldwide. For more information, visit www.lensbaby.com

Media Contacts:



Jeff Denenholz

Jerome Bruhn and Associates

206-437-9810

Email Contact



Keri Friedman

Director of Marketing

Lensbaby

503-278-3288

Email Contact




HOUSTON, TX -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 -- Sionix Corporation (OTCQB: SINX) reported April 5, 2016 that it has successfully financed, built and started operations in a facility to treat, reclaim and market production and flowback water from crude oil production and fracking in the Bakken Shale.

The plant, located in Culbertson, Montana, employs Sionix's proprietary patented Dissolved Air Flotation technology in combination with hydrocarbon separation, pH control, chemistry, flocculation, filtration and biocide treatment to treat both flowback brines from fracking and produced water from existing wells. In addition to process equipment, the physical plant includes heated tank storage, enclosed process and laboratory buildings, on-site water wells and multiple truck loading/unloading stations with convenient highway access at the junction of Montana State Highway 16 and U.S. Highway 2.

A new entity, Sionix Oilfield Solutions, LLC ("SOS") was formed to build and operate the plant under a License from Sionix Corporation. Sionix is the majority owner of SOS. A shareholder in Sionix, Steelworks Investments Limited, provided $1.365 million in funding for the project. Steelworks will own 39% of SOS. The plant facility is leased by SOS from a subsidiary of Steelworks.

"We are fortunate and gratified to have a shareholder and partner who supported the Company's strategic initiative during this difficult period. Steelworks has been instrumental in achieving this milestone", said Jim Alexander, a long term member of the Board of Directors of Sionix Corporation.

Rex Crick, General Manager of Sionix Oilfield Solutions, remarked, "We are excited to be in operation with an experienced, local staff and the ability to meet our customers' requirements for fresh and treated water for well maintenance, drilling and reuse in fracking. We are logistically well positioned to serve customers in the Bakken fields of Montana and North Dakota and meet their quality requirements at a reduced all-in water cost. We would not have been able to meet our startup and production goals were it not for the local support including Roosevelt County commissioners, Culbertson City Council, and local business leaders."

About Sionix Corporation Sionix designs, constructs and operates innovative water treatment systems based on a range of technologies, including its proprietary patented Dissolved Air Flotation System. While the Company is concentrating on treatment of fracking and production water from gas and oil operations, it continues to explore applications in manufacturing, energy, agriculture, food processing and municipal utilities. For more information about Sionix's new water reclamation facility and details of the financing, please review its Report on form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 6, 2016, including the exhibits thereto which can be obtained at the SEC website or by requesting it from the Company's CEO, Henry Sullivan, at the contact info below.

Forward-Looking Statements All statements in this press release that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including any projections of earnings, revenue, or other financial items, any statements of the plans, strategies, and objectives of management for future operations, any statements concerning proposed new products, services or developments, any statements regarding future economic conditions or performance, statements of belief and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. These statements are based on expectations and assumptions as of the date of this press release and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, whether Sionix Corporation can raise capital as and when it needs to, whether the water treatment systems will generate significant sales, whether it can compete successfully in its market and industry, and other factors beyond the control of Sionix Corporation, including those detailed from time to time in the reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Sionix Corporation assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.

Company Contact:

Henry W. Sullivan

Chief Executive Officer

hsullivan@sionix.com




SEATTLE, WA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 -- Avalara, Inc., a leading provider of tax compliance automation for business, today announced general availability of its extension for the leading ecommerce platform, Magento, 2.0. Since 2011, Avalara has partnered with Magento to provide customers with an integrated, automated solution for calculating sales tax in real-time, for each line item generated in Magento.

Avalara has been integrated with Magento for five years, and was named a Magento Gold Partner in 2011. With this latest version of the Avalara extension for Magento 2.0, customers can seamlessly take advantage of Avalara's Compliance Cloud platform innovations for all of their sales tax calculation needs. Avalara helps reduce the tedious work and complexity of calculating sales taxes for millions of products and services across the U.S., Canada, Europe, and dozens of other international jurisdictions, giving customers more time to focus on driving their own business success. In addition, Magento users can add Avalara's tax return preparation, filing, and remittance services.

Marshal Kushniruk, executive vice president of business development at Avalara, said, "This integration is another strong proof point in a longstanding and rewarding partnership with Magento. Our multi-faceted relationship includes this latest integration, sponsorship and exhibition at Imagine 2016, more than 1,000+ mutual customers and more than 300 partners in the Magento ecosystem. We are delighted to be a vibrant part of Magento 2.0."

For more than a decade, Avalara has pioneered innovations in tax compliance for businesses of all sizes. Today, Avalara integrates with hundreds of ERP systems, accounting packages, ecommerce shopping carts, Point of Sale systems, and mobile payment platforms.

About Avalara

Avalara helps businesses of all sizes achieve compliance with sales and use, excise, communications, VAT, and other transactional tax requirements by delivering comprehensive, automated, cloud-based solutions that are fast, accurate, and easy to use. Avalara's Compliance Cloud platform helps customers manage complicated and burdensome tax compliance obligations imposed by state, local, and other taxing authorities in the United States and internationally.

Avalara offers hundreds of pre-built connectors into leading accounting, ERP, ecommerce and other business applications. The company processes millions of tax transactions for customers and free users every day, files hundreds of thousands of transactional tax returns per year, and manages millions of exemption certificates and other compliance related documents.

A privately held company, Avalara' s venture capital investors include Sageview Capital, Battery Ventures, Warburg Pincus, Technology Crossover Ventures, Arthur Ventures, and other institutional and individual investors. Avalara's headquarters are in Seattle, WA and it has offices across the U.S. and London, England; Brussels, Belgium; and Pune, India. More information at: www.avalara.com

About Magento Commerce

Trusted by more than 250,000 businesses worldwide, Magento Commerce is the leading provider of open omnichannel innovation to retailers, brands and branded manufacturers across retail B2C and B2B industries. In addition to its flagship open source digital commerce platform, Magento Commerce boasts a strong portfolio of cloud-based omnichannel solutions empowering merchants to successfully integrate digital and physical shopping experiences. More information can be found at http://www.magento.com

Embedded Video Available

Embedded Video Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=2991143



Sheri Renner

sheri.renner@avalara.com




DALLAS, TX -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 -- Chron Home Services, Inc. (OTC PINK: CHRO), a wholly owned subsidiary of The Chron Organization, Inc. announced today that it is making preparations to roll out its first of three planned go-to-market product lines. This initial line shall encompass CHRON's 'Do It Yourself' (DIY) products. This segment of the home automation industry is expected to reach $21.3 Billion in annual revenue by the year 2020 according to industry trade publication, Security Sales & Integration. Other industry reports cite that this segment will achieve nearly 38% growth over that same time frame.

Alex Rodriguez, President of CHRON, stated, "While the Company is planning two additional go-to-market product lines aimed at the new construction and the retrofit segments, we are especially excited about this initial product line because it represents the most explosive growth aspect of all the product lines. The DIY rollout enables us to incorporate a savvy internet-based marketing strategy that will enable us to start building a national brand immediately."

Byron Young, Chairman of CHRON, said, "We are very excited to be bringing our home alarm and home automation products to market soon and are also looking forward to leveraging the internet and social media to help raise awareness of the Company and our brand."

The Company is also pleased to announce that it is giving away twenty (20) free systems (along with free monitoring service for the first year) to homeowners and/or apartment renters. CHRO is looking for individuals, families and/or households of all types and backgrounds, whom would also be interested in being part of the Company's video marketing campaign. For information on how to apply for this opportunity to be one of CHRON's first customers and participate in its video testimonials, please email us at MyDIY@chronhomeservices.com.

Young continued, "We are looking forward to our giveaways, our first customers, and gathering testimonials for the future."

ABOUT THE CHRON ORGANIZATION

The Chron Organization, Inc. (OTC PINK: CHRO), is a 21st century services company providing state-of-the-art Smart Home technologies and the next generation in energy utility services. The Company provides homeowners with the latest in security, monitoring and automation controls enabling homeowners to have a Smart Home at an affordable price. CHRON combines that with its cloud-based, green energy services, reducing both their carbon footprint and their monthly energy expense. The Company's plan is to capture 5% of homeowners, while dramatically reducing the nation's peak electricity demand. To learn more, please visit the website at www.chronhomeservices.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release may contain forward-looking statements. The words "believe," "expect," "should," "intend," "estimate," "projects," variations of such words and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, but their absence does not mean that a statement is not a forward-looking statement. These forward-looking statements are based upon the Company's current expectations and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ significantly from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements are risks that are detailed in the Company's filings, which are on file at www.OTCMarkets.com.

INVESTORS & MEDIA CONTACT:



Email: Email Contact

Phone: (469) 626-5275



Investor Relations:

The Eversull Group, Inc.

Jack Eversull, President

972-571-1624

214-469-2361 fax

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MONCTON, NEW BRUNSWICK -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 -- OrganiGram Holdings Inc. (TSX VENTURE: OGI)(OTCQB: OGRMF) (the "Company") provides a preliminary synopsis of its 2nd quarter results.

Highlights from the financial results for the quarter include a 38% increase in revenue, a 14% improvement in gross margin percentage and the achievement of positive year-to-date (YTD) EBITDA and cash flow from operations. See further details below. The information detailed below is a preliminary review of our financial highlights. Full financial statements for the quarter ending February 29, 2016 are expected to be released April 25, 2016.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quarter Ending Quarter Ending February 2016 November 2015 Figures in CDN$ (Unaudited) (Unaudited) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Grams Sold 169,215 142,790 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net revenue for the period $ 1,425,466 $ 1,029,376 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net revenue per gram sold $ 8.42 $ 7.21 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gross Margin $ 1,082,648 $ 640,834 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gross Margin % 76.0% 62.3% ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cost of goods sold(1) per gram $ 2.03 $ 2.72 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net Income (Loss) $ 55,267 $ (201,211) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- EBITDA(2) $ 370,139 $ 16,660 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- EBITDA (excluding fair value adjustment to biological assets) $ 72,424 $ (62,158) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cash Flow from Operations (YTD) $ 25,958 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Cost of goods sold is defined as cost of sales, indirect production costs and fair value adjustment to biological assets. 2 EBITDA is defined as net income (loss) excluding depreciation and financing costs.

OrganiGram is in the midst of a fully-funded expansion of its current location which, when completed later this year, could bring annual production capacity in the order of 3,500 kilograms. Additionally, with the advent of recreational regulations forthcoming, OrganiGram's existing acreage and infrastructure enable the Company to pursue an additional 5x increase in production capacity to accommodate the expected increase in consumer demand.

"We continue to focus on all aspects of our business with an eye towards delivering exceptional products for our customers, increasing market awareness, and driving incremental value for our shareholders. Our company is geographically positioned to benefit from some of the lowest power and labour costs in the country, which we are beginning to see reflected in our operating margins. We continue to focus on strategic initiatives to position the Company for incremental market share as we prepare for future recreational possibilities down the road," said Denis Arsenault, CEO.

To support these initiatives, OrganiGram is pleased to announce that it has entered into an engagement agreement with XIB Consulting Inc. ("XIB"), to assist OrganiGram with its corporate development initiatives including M&A activities, strategic business development and market awareness.

Subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") and pursuant to the engagement agreement, which has an initial term of six months, the Company shall satisfy the engagement fee payable to XIB by issuing 123,456 of Common Shares in the capital of OrganiGram to XIB, which may be credited against incremental fees payable under certain circumstances. The Common Shares will be issued at a price of $0.81 per share. Any issuance of shares will be subject to applicable hold periods required under securities laws.

The appointment of XIB as a consultant of OrganiGram and the corresponding share issuance remains subject to standard regulatory acceptance of applicable filings with the TSX Venture Exchange.

OrganiGram also announces that the company's change in jurisdiction from the Province of British Columbia to a Federally incorporated company under the Canada Business Corporations Act is now complete (the "Continuance"). The Company would like to specify that the Continuance does not represent a reorganization, amalgamation or merger and will not alter the shareholdings of the shareholders of the Company. Furthermore, the continuance will not affect the operations of the company nor will it affect the management and executives of OrganiGram.

About OrganiGram Holdings Inc.

OrganiGram Holdings Inc. is a TSX Venture Exchange listed company whose wholly owned subsidiary, OrganiGram Inc., is a licensed producer of medical marijuana in Canada. OrganiGram is focused on producing the highest quality, condition specific medical marijuana for patients in Canada. OrganiGram's facility is located in Moncton, New Brunswick and the Company is regulated by the Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations.

About XIB Consulting Inc.

XIB Consulting Inc., part of the XIB Financial group of companies, is a Toronto-based capital markets consulting and advisory firm founded by Sean McNulty and Peter Hatziioannou. With over 15 years of combined mergers and acquisitions advisory, institutional equity sales, and event-driven hedge fund experience, XIB offers clients corporate consulting services from a unique perspective in the Canadian capital markets.

On behalf of the board of directors, Denis Arsenault, Director and CEO

OrganiGram Holdings Inc.

For further information, please visit www.organigram.ca.

The TSX Venture Exchange Inc. has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.

This news release contains forward-looking information, which involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual events to differ materially from current expectation. Important factors - including the availability of funds, the results of financing efforts, crop yields - that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations are disclosed in the Company's documents filed from time to time on SEDAR (see www.sedar.com). Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The company disclaims any intention or obligation, except to the extent required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contacts:

OrganiGram Holdings Inc.

Giselle Doiron

Director of Investor and Media Relations

(506) 801-8986

www.organigram.ca




CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The New Zealand dollar continued to be higher against its major rivals in European deals on Tuesday. The kiwi rallied to a 5-day high of 74.98 against the yen, 11-day highs of 0.6926 against the greenback and 1.6459 against the euro, off early lows of 73.92, 0.6851 and 1.6655, respectively. The kiwi reversed from an early 4-day low of 1.1125 against the aussie, recovering to 1.1076. The kiwi may find resistance around 76.00 against the yen, 0.70 against the greenback, 1.63 against the euro and 1.09 against the aussie. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 -- Carl Data Solutions Inc. (CSE: CRL)(FRANKFURT: 7C5) ("Carl" or the "Company"), a developer of Big-Data-as-a-Service ("BDaaS")-based solutions for data integration and business intelligence, is pleased to announce that it's wholly owned subsidiary, FlowWorks Inc., has entered into an Open-Ended Extension Service Agreement (the "Agreement") with the City of Kimberley, British Columbia ("City of Kimberley" or the "City") for Carl's FlowWorks Application ("FlowWorks" or the "Application").

The City of Kimberley signed an initial contract for the use of FlowWorks in October 2013 and has been an active user ever since. A case study was conducted on the City's use of the Application, which can be found on the FlowWorks Inc. website at: http://www.flowworks.com/wp-content/uploads//City-of-Kimberley-Case-Study.pdf.

FlowWorks is a powerful Software-as-a-Service ("SaaS")-based application for collecting, monitoring and analyzing environmental data. FlowWorks is flexible, affordable and easy-to-use compared to competing software packages. The Application has the unique ability to collect data from all sensor hardware, public and private data sources and merge the information into a comprehensive analytics and reporting online portal.

FlowWorks' advanced tracking features have allowed the City of Kimberley to perform nightly flow analysis to identify specific areas, volumes and rates of water leakages in near real-time. Such information has facilitated more proactive water system servicing, preventing flooding and property damage throughout the region. Mike Fox, Manager of Operations and Environment of the City of Kimberley, commented, "FlowWorks has brought the City of Kimberley into a new age with regard to understanding what is happening in our water system."

The City of Kimberley has benefited from FlowWorks' alarm features, particularity in regard to transportation, recreation and tourism. Alarms are set based on the City's pre-defined environmental parameters and once water levels approach critical levels, the Application automatically alarms the City's utility and servicing departments. The City then uses this information to announce weather alerts to the public and to recommend and advise on snowmaking activities at Kimberley Alpine Resort (the "Resort"), a popular local ski resort and tourist attraction.

FlowWorks displays the City's water reservoir levels on its online dashboard, enabling the City to advise the Resort of the most optimal snowmaking conditions. The Application's alert features enable the City to immediately notify the Resort of depleting water reservoirs, which restricts the Resort's snowmaking capabilities. This has reduced strain on the local water system and has enhanced snowmaking productivity at the Resort, resulting in significant cost-savings and synergies between the City and the Resort.

In addition, FlowWorks' advanced reporting features have allowed the City to report its data to federal government agencies like Health Canada and Statistics Canada more efficiently, accurately and faster than was possible prior to using the Application. The City no longer manually records compliance-monitoring data, streamlining its performance reporting for operations and management of personnel.

Chris Mummery, the City of Kimberley's Utilities Supervisor, commented, "With FlowWorks, we know what's actually going on in the field. Operations staff and management alike utilize FlowWorks on a daily basis. The first thing I do in the morning after checking my emails is to go to FlowWorks and track trends. We have been able to pick up on leaks and issues at Press Relieve Valve stations, which are used to divert excess water out of the City's system, much, much faster than in the past."

Greg Johnston, CEO of Carl Data Solutions Inc., commented, "The City of Kimberley has expressed its intentions to expand its use of FlowWorks. It will incorporate all of the City's water and wastewater sites, weather stations and temperature sensors on roads leading to the Resort, which highlights the multifaceted and dynamic uses of our FlowWorks application. The City of Kimberley is a significant part of our established presence in British Columbia, which includes 78 sites provincially and growing. Contracts within British Columbia are very important because the west coast receives a lot of rainfall annually. Consequently, these governments require the most advanced environmental and water management systems available, which is what FlowWorks offers. It's a great achievement to have such a sizeable portfolio of FlowWorks users in British Columbia and we look forward to continuing to grow our client base over this year."

About Carl Data Solutions Inc.

Carl Data Solutions Inc. is focused on providing next generation information collection, storage and analytics solutions for data centric companies. Building on its recent acquisitions, Flow Works Inc., a company that helps its clients analyze and understand all forms of environmental data through a powerful platform of data collection, monitoring, analysis and reporting tools and Extend to Social Media Inc., a company with an application that allows clients to leverage their customers' social networks for referral marketing and analytics, Carl develops applications to work with new cloud-based mass storage services and analytics tools (Big-Data-as-a-Service ("BDaaS")).

Carl is creating a virtually unlimited data storage environment from which informative visual representations of data can be created and new insight generated. Carl's goal is to deliver a comprehensive data management solution for datasets of any size and type from any source. More information can be found at www.CarlSolutions.com. More information on the FlowWorks Application can be found at www.FlowWorks.com.

On behalf of the Board of Directors:

Greg Johnston

President, Chief Executive Officer, Director

Carl Data Solutions Inc.

The Canadian Securities Exchange (operated by CNSX Markets Inc.) has neither approved nor disapproved of the contents of this press release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. In particular, forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, Greg Johnston's expectation that the City of Kimberley will expand its use of FlowWorks to include all water and wastewater sites, weather stations and temperature sensors on roads leading to the Resort, and his expectation that the client base in BC will continue to grow throughout the remainder of this year.

Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the statements including, without limitation, risks with respect to: the ability of the Company to establish a market for its services; competitive conditions in the industry; general economic conditions in Canada and globally; the inability to secure additional financing; competition for, among other things, capital and skilled personnel; potential delays or changes in plans with respect to deployment of services or capital expenditures; possibility that government policies or laws may change; technological change; risks related to the Company's competition; the Company's not adequately protecting its intellectual property; interruption or failure of information technology systems; and regulatory risks relating to the Company's business, financings and strategic acquisitions. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities laws.

Contacts:

Mario Vetro

Investor Relations

Carl Data Solutions Inc.

(778) 379-0275

mario@carlsolutions.com




DENVER, CO--(Marketwired - April 12, 2016) - FutureLand Corp. (OTC PINK: FUTL), a Colorado company and leading provider of strategic real estate investment, grow facilities and material solutions to the global cannabis industry, today announced that the Company has entered into an equity purchase agreement ("Agreement") with Kodiak Capital Group, LLC ("Kodiak"). Under the terms of the Agreement, and subject to the filing of a Form S-1 registration statement and its effectiveness by the Securities and Exchange commission, FutureLand has the right to sell to, and Kodiak is obligated to purchase, $1,000,000 of FutureLand's common stock. Under the deal, Kodiak cannot require any sales by FutureLand, however Kodiak is obligated to make purchases as directed. FutureLand expects that net proceeds from this offering to be used for acquisitions, as well as working capital.

"This space is rife with opportunity and we intend to take full advantage of that. Kodiak's support to help make this happen creates an effective team to ensure our future success," commented Cameron Cox, FutureLand's Chief Executive Officer.

"Kodiak is a supporter of the cannabis and hemp land leasing model as well as growing and is pleased to add FutureLand Corp to our expanding portfolio of cannabis companies. Kodiak has confidence in management's ability to execute and to establish industry leadership by intelligently deploying institutional capital," said Jim Fitzpatrick, a member of Kodiak's Advisory Committee.

Additional details regarding the Agreement are included in a current report on Form 8-K filed by FutureLand with the SEC April 12, 2016.

FutureLand has been working diligently with FutureWorld Corp (OTC PINK: FWDG) and HempTech Corp (OTC PINK: BLDWD) for an aggressive and profitable strategy to acquire specialty zoned properties and grow facilities to lease to prospective license holders in legal States. With our current ownership of 240 acres of prime land in Southern Colorado and our upcoming purchase of fertile land and grow facility in Southern Oregon, FutureLand is poised to become the leader in specialty zoned real estate.

About FutureLand Corp

FutureLand Corp., a Colorado company, is a cannabis and hemp specialty zoned land leasing company formed to capitalize upon the emerging global cannabis market. FutureLand, focuses on target acquisition, zoning, license fulfillment, site plan preparation and financing of cannabis or hemp grow facilities throughout the United States. We give growers the opportunity to grow. We monetize through leasing the land, leasing the structures on the land, financing interest revenue and management fees associated with cultivation centers. FutureLand retains ownership of all the land and the structures in most cases. FutureLand leases to both medical marijuana, retail marijuana as well as industrial hemp growers. FutureLand does not currently grow, distribute or sell marijuana, but is poised to get directly into the market soon. To request further information about FutureLand, please email us at info@futurelandcorp.com, log onto our website at http://www.futurelandcorp.com, or visit us on FB @ futurelandcorp and Twitter @futurelandcorp.

For more information, please visit www.futurelandcorp.com

About Kodiak Capital Group, LLC

Kodiak is an institutional investor headquartered in Newport Beach, CA. Kodiak makes private investments in public and private entities utilizing proprietary equity and debt instruments. These investments provide long-term strategic capital offering companies certainty, flexibility and consistency. Kodiak's investments are in a wide range of industries emphasizing alternative energy, consumer products, life sciences, natural resources, and social media technology. For more information, visit www.kodiakfunds.com.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995



This press release may contain forward-looking statements covered within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements relate to, among other things, plans and timing for the introduction or enhancement of our services and products, statements about future market conditions, supply and demand conditions, and other expectations, intentions and plans contained in this press release that are not historical fact and involve risks and uncertainties. Our expectations regarding future revenues depend upon our ability to develop and supply products and services that we may not produce today and that meet defined specifications. When used in this press release, the words "plan," "expect," "believe," and similar expressions generally identify forward-looking statements. These statements reflect our current expectations. They are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, changes in technology and changes in pervasive markets. This release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 27E of the Securities Act of 1934. Statements contained in this release that are not historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain. Actual performance and results may differ materially from that projected or suggested herein due to certain risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, ability to obtain financing and regulatory and shareholder approval for anticipated actions.

Media Contact

FutureLand Corp.

http://www.futurelandcorp.com

info@futurelandcorp.com

cox@futurelandcorp.com

(720) 370-3554

Twitter - @futurelandcorp

Facebook - futurelandcorp
New Bangalore Office Will Support the Delivery of Dynamic Digital Services Designed to Empower Citizens and Help Companies Conduct Global Business

Comptel Corporation (OMX Helsinki: CTL1V) today announced the opening of a new office in Bangalore, India. The office will be an extension to Comptel India's Noida Global Delivery Centre and will provide specific competencies related to the company's Digital Service Life Cycle Management (DSLM) proposition and its FlowOne Service Orchestration solution.

Designing a service infrastructure capable of delivering dynamic digital services to today's tech-savvy and digital native consumers requires comprehensive IT technology knowhow and deep domain understanding of complex telco environments. Through the Bangalore global delivery centre, local Comptel staff will contribute the best of the telecom and IT industries' architecture and engineering expertise to deliver solutions for customers' service orchestration challenges.

The office opening echoes two government initiatives, Digital India and Make in India. These programmes are aimed at the digital empowerment of citizens and encourage businesses to manufacture and sell technology, digital infrastructure and services on a global basis.

"Creating a presence in the heart of India's IT sector is not only a key driver to our success as a business it also allows us to play a role in India's transformation into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy," said Antti Koskela, EVP of Service Orchestration Business Unit. "We are very excited to welcome all the new employees in Bangalore to join our growth journey towards the Nexterday."

The official inauguration of the new office will take place on Wednesday, 13 April 2016, with an opening address by Aapo Polho, Finland's Ambassador in India, to Comptel customers, partners and employees.

Resources

Learn more about the capabilities of FlowOne

Download a copy of Comptel's research report, "Digital Service Lifecycle Management: How Communications Service Providers Can Play a Successful Role in the Digital Economy."

Connect with Comptel on its blog and on Twitter and LinkedIn

Visit Nexterday.org to learn more about digital transformation in telco and beyond

About Comptel Corporation

Life is digital moments. Comptel perfects these by transforming how you serve, meet and respond to the needs of "Generation Cloud" customers.

Our solutions allow you to innovate rich communications services instantly, master the orchestration of service and order flows, capture data-in-motion and refine your decision-making. We apply intelligence to reduce friction in your business.

Comptel has enabled the delivery of digital and communications services to more than 1 billion people. Every day, we care for more than 20% of all mobile usage data. Nearly 300 service providers across 90 countries have trusted us to perfect customers' digital moments.

For more information, visit www.comptel.com

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160412006023/en/

Contacts:

Comptel Corporation

Jukka Janonen, +358 9 700 1131

Global Communications Manager

jukka.jannonen@comptel.com
NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 -- Fiduciary Trust Company International, a leading wealth management firm and wholly-owned subsidiary of Franklin Resources, Inc., today announced the appointment of John M. Dowd as chief executive officer and a member of the Board of Directors. Mr. Dowd will be based in New York where he will direct Fiduciary Trust's business and long-term growth strategy.

"John is an outstanding leader and veteran in the wealth management industry," said Gail Cohen, chair and general trust counsel of Fiduciary Trust. "His significant experience and leadership acumen aligns with Fiduciary Trust's core values and complements our firm's client-focused culture. Our clients and firm will benefit from his impressive track record and deep understanding of the complex situations our clients face."

Mr. Dowd, 52, brings to Fiduciary Trust almost 30 years of experience in wealth management. He previously served as executive vice president and senior managing director for Wells Fargo Wealth Management, where he oversaw the Northeast region, focusing on investment management, trust and estate, financial planning, custom credit, brokerage and insurance services. Prior to joining Wells Fargo, he was the managing executive of BNY Mellon's wealth management business for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. He also served as head of wealth management and chief trust officer for Bank of New York and was chairman of the Bank's trust and investment committee.

A graduate of Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina, Mr. Dowd earned his M.B.A. from Columbia University. He is a past chairman of the trust and investments section of the New York State Banker's Association and has served on the boards of Junior Achievement of New Jersey and the Senior Care and Activities Center. He is currently a trustee of the Montclair Art Museum in Montclair, New Jersey.

Mr. Dowd will be supported by a long-tenured team of senior leaders, all of whom have more than two decades of experience in the industry. In addition to Ms. Cohen, the senior management team includes Larry Sternkopf, president and chief operating officer; Ronald Sanchez, chief investment officer; Carin Leong Pai, director, Equity Management; Wayne Sprague, director, Strategic Advisory Services; Warwick Carter, national head, Trusts and Estates; and Elizabeth Hughes, chief compliance officer.

Ms. Cohen added: "Over the past year, Fiduciary Trust has achieved record levels of new business and wealth management assets. We are confident that John's addition to the firm will build on this strong foundation. We are thrilled to welcome him to the firm."

About Fiduciary Trust

Fiduciary Trust Company International, a global investment management firm, has served individuals, families, endowments and foundations since 1931. With over $75 billion in assets under administration and management as of December 31, 2015, the firm specializes in strategic wealth planning, investment management and trust and estate services, as well as tax and custody services. The firm and its subsidiaries maintain offices in New York, Coral Gables, FL, Boca Raton, FL, St. Petersburg, FL, Los Angeles, San Mateo, CA, Washington, D.C., Wilmington, DE, and London. For more information please visit fiduciarytrust.com.

About Franklin Resources

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE: BEN) is a global investment management organization operating as Franklin Templeton Investments. Franklin Templeton Investments provides global and domestic investment management to retail, institutional and sovereign wealth clients in over 180 countries. Through specialized teams, the company has expertise across all asset classes -- including equity, fixed income, alternative and custom solutions. The company's more than 600 investment professionals are supported by its integrated, worldwide team of risk management professionals and global trading desk network. With offices in 35 countries, the California-based company has more than 65 years of investment experience and over $742 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2016. For more information, please visit franklintempleton.com.

Copyright  2016. Fiduciary Trust Company International. All rights reserved.

Contacts:

Rebecca Radosevich

212-632-3207

Email Contact



Michael Chiong

646-922-7764

Email Contact




LINCOLNSHIRE, IL -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 -- Bentley's Pet Stuff, a family-owned healthy pet foods business founded by Lisa and Giovanni Senafe, along with entrepreneur Marcus Lemonis, host of CNBC's reality series The Profit, today announced the acquisition of Zoey's Eatz and Treatz, a leading local pet products store in the Willowbrook area. Following the acquisition, plans have been put in place to renovate and expand the current facility over the coming months.

Zoey's Eatz and Treatz opened in 2008 near the Willowbrook Town Center Mall at 7189 South Kingery Highway in Willowbrook, IL, and enjoyed stellar reviews on the staff's friendly service, expertise and quality of their natural pet products. The knowledgeable staff will continue to work at the newly merged business to assist with the expansion of the Bentley's Pet Stuff brand.

"This acquisition continues our quest for a strong position in the natural pet food sector," said business partner, Marcus Lemonis. "It will enable us to enhance the health and well-being of even more cats and dogs and represents an exciting expansion of our business in the greater Chicagoland suburb market."

Bentley's Pet Stuff sells natural food, pet care essentials, toys, grooming products and treats for their four-legged friends. The company focuses on the three critical elements in caring for pets: to nourish, energize and reward. Specialty pet food brands such as Fromm, Orijen, Zignature, Honest Kitchen and Stella & Chewy's can be obtained at all Bentley's Pet Stuff locations. In addition, seasonal products and holiday gift items are available for purchase throughout the year.

Lisa Senafe, CEO and Founder of Bentley's Pet Stuff, stated, "The businesses acquired by Bentley's Pet Stuff know that we will honor their mission and history in our commitment to promoting healthy foods and treats for the well-being of animals." Mrs. Senafe added, "We look forward to discussions with additional small business owners that may be concerned about managing inventory, handling taxes and dealing with landlords to see how Bentley's can be of assistance in their communities to continue to offer the best, quality products to their four-legged friends."

For more information regarding Bentley's Pet Stuff visit online at www.petstuff.com.

About Bentley's Pet Stuff

Bentley's Corner Barkery opened its doors in 2008 with a mission to feed animal lovers' pets genuine real meat products made in the USA. Their dedication to customers' animals is why they hand pick and research every item stocked on their shelves, allowing customers to be at ease when making a purchase at any of their retail stores throughout the Chicagoland area. Started from a single retail store eight years ago, Bentley's Corner Barkery grew to encompass seven locations offering natural pet food, a variety of treats, toys and more! In November 2015, Bentley's Corner Barkery acquired Pet Stuff and the newly formed company, Bentley's Pet Stuff, now features 15 locations across Chicagoland. http://www.petstuff.com/

For business opportunities, contact Giovanni Senafe at 708-214-4197 or giovanni@bentleyspetstuff.com.

About Marcus Lemonis

Marcus Lemonis is an entrepreneur, investor, television personality, and chairman and CEO of Marcus Lemonis LLC as well as Camping World and Good Sam Enterprises. Camping World is the nation's largest RV and outdoor retailer, and Good Sam is the world's largest RV owner's organization. Visit www.campingworld.com for more information.

Lemonis is known as the "business turnaround king" and host of CNBC's prime time reality series, The Profit, in which he lends his expertise to struggling small businesses around the country and judges businesses based on a "Three P" principle: People, Process, and Product. The Profit returns on Tuesday, August 23rd at 10pm ET/PT on CNBC.

More about Marcus Lemonis can be found at http://www.marcuslemonis.com, Facebook https://www.facebook.com/marcus.lemonis and Twitter @MarcusLemonis.

Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=2991416



For media, contact:

Karen L. Porter

Director of Media Services

Email Contact




WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Walt Disney Pictures is reportedly planning to produce a sequel to the film The Jungle Book, which released in India last week, and is set to open in the US this Friday. Justin Marks, who wrote the movie, is in negotiations with its director Jon Favreau to return for a follow-up, The Hollywood Reporter reported. Brigham Taylor, who produced Jungle Book with Favreau, will also return, it added. Based on Rudyard Kipling's timeless stories and inspired by Disney's classic animated film, The Jungle Book is an all-new live-action epic adventure about Mowgli (newcomer Neel Sethi), a boy who was raised by a family of wolves, and befriends various jungle animals. PETA awarded the director their 'Innovation in Film' award for his use of CGI to animate animals in The Jungle Book. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 -- Raging River Capital LP ("Raging River") will hold a telephone town hall and webcast tomorrow where it will provide full details about its plan to create long-term value for all stakeholders and give shareholders a chance to ask the director nominees - Paul Blythe, Randy Davenport, Henry Park and Mark Radzik - questions directly. Town hall details:

Wednesday, April 13th, 2016 at 11:00am (ET) Conference ID: 83971136 Participant call-in: (647) 788-4919 Local and International or (877) 291- 4570 (North American toll free number) Webcast is broadcast live and archived at: www.gowebcasting.com/lobby/7436 If you are unable to join, a replay will be available: Replay number: (416) 621-4642 Local and International or (800) 585-8367 (North American toll free number) Conference ID: 83971136 Available until: 11:59 pm on April 27th, 2016

A copy of Raging River's plan and a replay of the shareholder town hall will be available www.aTrustedTaseko.com.

SHAREHOLDERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO VOTE FOR CHANGE

Shareholders are encouraged to vote their BLUE proxy or VIF "FOR" the removal of each of the self-interested and conflicted incumbent Taseko Mines directors: Ronald Thiessen, Russell Hallbauer and Robert Dickinson and the election of the following four independent and highly qualified new directors to the Board: Paul Blythe, Randy Davenport, Henry Park and Mark Radzik.

Shareholders with questions should contact Kingsdale Shareholder Services at 1-888-518-6832 toll-free in North America, or 1-416-867-2272 outside of North America, or by email at contactus@kingsdaleshareholder.com.

ADVISORS

Raging River has engaged Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP as its legal advisor and Kingsdale Shareholder Services as its strategic and communications advisor and proxy solicitor.

Contacts:

Media: Kingsdale Shareholder Services

Ian Robertson

Executive Vice President, Communication Strategy

Direct: 416.867.2333; Cell: 647.621.2646

irobertson@kingsdaleshareholder.com






WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Senate Republican leaders still refuse to consider President Barack Obama's nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, but they did allow the confirmation of the first judicial nominee in two months on Monday.



The Senate voted 92 to 0 in favor of the nomination of Waverly Crenshaw Jr. to be U.S. District Judge for the Middle District of Tennessee.



Crenshaw was nominated to fill an emergency vacancy on the district court in February of 2015 and was unanimously approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee last October.



However, his nomination languished in the Senate for months even though he had the support of both of Tennessee's Republican Senators.



Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., noted that Senate Republicans have allowed just 17 judicial nominees to be confirmed since taking over the majority last year.



The number compares to the 68 judicial nominees confirmed by the Senate Democratic majority in the final two years of President George W. Bush's administration.



'The American people expect Senators to do their jobs,' Leahy said. 'This is true with judicial nominations to the lower courts, but it is even more crucial for the Supreme Court of the United States because no one can fill in for the vacant seat on our highest court.'



'In just the last few weeks, the Supreme Court has deadlocked twice so it was unable to serve its highest constitutional function,' he added. 'Refusing to consider Chief Judge Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court is not only unfair to him, it is irresponsible and a threat to a functioning democracy.'



Leahy noted 19 more judicial nominees are awaiting Senate action on the floor and dozens more are pending in the Judiciary Committee.



However, Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who has steadfastly refused to hold hearings on Garland's nomination, took a broader view of the Senate's record of confirming Obama's judicial nominees.



Grassley pointed out that Crenshaw is Obama's 324th judicial nominee confirmed since he took office in 2009, just two shy of the 326 confirmed during Bush's entire presidency.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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Tickets Now On Sale to the Public

LONDON, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Tickets to the Opening Session and Reception at the debut Aspen Security Forum: Global are now on sale to the public for $40/28 each. The Forum, running from April 21-23, will feature top-level government officials, industry leaders, noted print and broadcast journalists, and leading thinkers discussing and debating the key issues in international security. The Opening Session is as follows:

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prn/20130417/DC96489LOGO

Thursday, April 21

The Complexities of Today's Security Challenges

The Director of the FBI has said that the bureau has counterterrorism investigations underway in all 50 states, underscoring the gravity of the "insider" terrorism threat in the United States. Simultaneously, terrorists from abroad, especially "foreign fighters" from among ISIL's ranks in Iraq/Syria, are seeking to enter Western countries, including the United States, to carry out attacks. Complicating matters further, technology innovation is advancing so quickly that terrorists are leveraging these advancements, making it easier for them to plot and plan undetected by counterterrorism professionals. Director Comey will address the complexity of today's security challenges and how and the FBI is working both at home and with global partners to confront them.

James Comey, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation

Moderated by: Brooke Masters, Companies Editor, Financial Times

18:00 - 19:00pm GMT + 1, to be followed by a reception

WHERE: Tickets can be purchased online at https://aspeninstitute.wufoo.com/forms/asf-globalaopening-session-reception/. The event will take place at Banqueting House on Whitehall in London.

WHEN: Tickets are now on sale.

Daily video highlights from the Aspen Security Forum will be posted at www.aspensecurityforum.org, and event updates will be featured at www.twitter.com/AspenSecurity, www.twitter.com/aspeninstitute, and www.facebook.com/aspeninstitute. Stay engaged on social media with AspenSecurity.

For a complete list of currently confirmed speakers and moderators, registration information, and sponsorship details, please visit www.regonline.com/asfglobal2016. The 2016 Aspen Security Forum: Global is presented by the Aspen Institute Homeland Security Program in partnership with BBC Global News Ltd. and POLITICO Europe, with support from M&C Saatchi World Services.

About The Aspen Institute

The Aspen Institute's Homeland Security Program works to heighten public awareness as to the nation's continued vulnerability to terrorism, and to persuade the nation to take the necessary steps to close the gap between how secure we should be and how secure we actually are. For more information, please visit www.aspeninstitute.org/security.

The Aspen Instituteis an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, DC. Its mission is to foster leadership based on enduring values and to provide a nonpartisan venue for dealing with critical issues. The Institute is based in Washington, DC; Aspen, Colorado; and on the Wye River on Maryland's Eastern Shore. It also has offices in New York City and an international network of partners. For more information, visitwww.aspeninstitute.org.
LONDON, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 -- Note to editors: There is a photo associated with this press release.

This April 19-21, London, Ontario is expected to host up to 5,000 students and young adults from across the province for Future Building 2016, an annual career exhibition giving career seekers hands-on access to activities in all areas of the construction sector. The career fair, which moves to a new city each year and is open to the public, is organized by the Ontario Construction Secretariat (OCS) with support from Ontario's Ministry of Colleges, Training and Universities (Employment Ontario).

Future Building invites participants to interact one-on-one with professionals from a variety of associations and high-tech construction trades, to learn about the industry's changing academic and technical demands, and to gain exposure to future career and apprenticeship training opportunities. Attendees will "learn to rock" with the brick and stone masons, "move the earth" with the operating engineers, "hammer it home" with the carpenters and take a "virtual walk" on skyscraper scaffolding. Apprentices from across Ontario will also participate in an Apprenticeship Skills Competition.

"Skilled tradespeople are, and will continue to be, in high demand across Ontario," said Sean Strickland, Chief Executive Officer of the Ontario Construction Secretariat (OCS). "Ontario's economic future depends on a strong workforce with the technical skills needed to build tomorrow's vital infrastructure projects. This is especially important as modern construction projects become more technical and complex."

According to the 2016 Construction Confidence Indicator, an annual province-wide survey of construction firms developed by Ipsos Reid and the OCS, London is reporting more confidence in regional construction growth throughout 2016 than any other city in Ontario. But firms in the region also predict they will face the largest labour shortages, with 80 per cent of local contractors expecting to be "somewhat or extremely affected" by a skilled labour shortage.

Students and teachers representing 19 school boards from across Ontario will be attending Future Building 2016 at the Western Fair District - Metroland Media Agriplex. There will also be an evening session on Wednesday, April 20 from 5pm - 8pm for young adults and professionals considering a career change.

For more information, including a full list of exhibitors and registration details, please visit www.FutureBuilding.ca.

Future Building 2016

Future Building is a three-day hands-on construction career exhibition that helps young people, teachers, educators and the public better understand opportunities in Ontario's industrial, commercial and institutional construction industry. The exhibition is a joint initiative, co-sponsored by Employment Ontario and the Ontario Construction Secretariat. Direct in-kind involvement from the building trade unions and management representatives who work in Ontario's unionized construction industry is a key part of the exhibition.

About the Ontario Construction Secretariat (OCS)

OCS was formed in 1993 as a joint labour/management organization representing 25 unionized construction trades and their contractor partners in Ontario's industrial, commercial and institutional (ICI) construction sector. Its mandate is to enhance Ontario's ICI construction industry by developing relationships, facilitating dialogue, providing value-added research, disseminating important information to client groups and promoting the value of ICI unionized construction across Ontario and beyond. Visit the OCS online at http://www.iciconstruction.com.

To view the photo associated with this press release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/Photo_2015_002.

Contacts:

Katy James

Pilot PMR

Katy.James@pilotpmr.com




ZURICH, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The European Aluminium Foil Association (EAFA) has selected three Amcor packaging solutions as winners of an Alufoil Trophy 2016 in the categories of Consumer Convenience, Technical Innovation, and Resource Efficiency.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160412/354128

Consumer Convenience

Winning an award for Consumer Convenience, Emmi's "All In One Fondu" is a ready-to-eat cheese fondue contained in a microwaveable metal bowl with an easy-peel aluminium foil lid. To prepare the All In One Fondu, the bowl is heated in a microwave or oven and then kept at the right temperature over a small candle in a specially designed can holder. The fondue can be eaten directly from the bowl. This novel packaging won a joint award for Ardagh Group and Amcor.

"This concept is a clever combination of a number of packaging elements to create a highly original product," explained head judge, Louis Lindenberg, global packaging sustainability director for Unilever. "Fondues can be time consuming and messy due to the complexity of setting them up. But here we have a product where all the packaging works together to make the concept work. The alufoil lid is a core element. And even the tea light holder is alufoil!" he added.

The alufoil lid uses Amcor's AluFix Retort Pro membrane, which is part of Ardagh's convenient lid system Easy Peel. The AluFix membrane is sealed onto a metal ring, guaranteeing secure closure of the bowl for a long self-life and high product protection until the consumer is ready to prepare the fondue. Key to improving consumer convenience is its easy, safe and quick opening.

"The All in One Fondu concept is a great example of packaging improving consumer convenience," said Bruno Mucciolo, marketing manager for Amcor's high performance foil business. "Amcor is pleased to be able to contribute an alufoil lid robust enough to stand up to retort processing, yet easy to open for consumers."

Technical Innovation

Winning in the category of Technical Innovation,Amcor's LuxPrem+ is an innovative overcap solution for premium spirits made from a special aluminium-based material. Developed by Amcor's R&D team, the overcap's intricate design features rival tin overcaps traditionally used for premium spirits. LuxPrem+ perfectly reflects the sophistication of premium brands with high visual appeal and on-shelf impact, smooth opening and a reassuringly substantial feel once the bottle has been opened.

When designing the LuxPrem+ overcap, Amcor's R&D team chose aluminium for a variety of reasons. Its thickness offers the same easy opening as tin overcaps, and its excellent online crimping performance ensures a superior quality finish on the bottle. Plus, the aluminium allows for the printing of intricate designs, giving brand owners new options to create a strong brand identity and visual impact. Using aluminium also offers economic advantages over tin.

Louis Lindenberg, commented: "To take on the traditional tin overcap is a big challenge. The company has achieved a high quality alternative which stands out as a 'better package' and is finished to a high standard."

Nicolas Freynet, general manager for Amcor capsules business, stated, "The development of LuxPrem+ was challenging, and we are honoured that it has been recognised by the jury to win this prestigious award for technical innovation. Our customers are delighted with the result. LuxPrem+ demonstrates our ability to meet their needs with breakthrough innovations."

Resource Efficiency

Winning in the category of Resource Efficiency is Amcor's Formpack Ultra, a new cold form blister for pharmaceutical products. The material can be elongated more than standard cold form solutions, resulting in cavities that can be drawn deeper and with sharper wall angles than ever before. This gives pharmaceutical companies two options: 1) design a smaller blister card, or 2) add more cavities without increasing the blister card size. Formpack Ultra's superior elongation is possible thanks to 'best in class' selection of raw materials, advanced manufacturing processes and extensive quality control.

Louis Lindenberg explained, "Not only is there a significant saving in material usage, but the additional benefits in terms of production, logistics and storage make it a truly world class example of resource efficiency."

Commenting on the award, Andrea Della Torre, R&D director at Amcor Flexibles said, "Formpack Ultra supports a more responsible packaging use across the value chain and lowers the total cost of goods for pharmaceutical companies. Its reduced size also meets patients' needs for smaller, more discreet and convenient blister packs."

About Amcor Flexibles Europe, Middle East and Africa

Amcor Flexibles EMEA is a division of Amcor, the market leader and the world's largest supplier of flexible packaging. With 56 plants in 20 countries, we deliver innovative packaging solutions and provide enhanced quality products for the food, beverage, pharma, personal care, medical and industrial markets. Our award winning approach towards sustainability makes Amcor Flexibles EMEA the preferred partner for customers looking for responsible packaging solutions. For more information visit www.amcor.com.

About Amcor

Amcor (ASX: AMC) applies art and science to create responsible packaging solutions that enhance the products people use in everyday life. With global leadership positions in flexibles and rigid plastics packaging, Amcor continually innovates to find new and better ways to protect essential products such as food, beverage, pharmaceutical, medical, personal and household goods. Headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, Amcor employs almost 29,000 people worldwide and has operations across over 43 countries. For more information, visit www.amcor.com

About the Alufoil Trophy

The Alufoil Trophy is organised by the European Aluminium Foil Association. There are five categories - Consumer Convenience, Marketing + Design, Product Protection, Resource Efficiency and Technical Innovation. For 2016 there were 11 winners. All winning entries can be viewed at www.alufoil.org

For further information, including interviews please contact:

Johanna Boland

Tel: +61 408 808 852

Email: johanna.boland@amcor.com
SCOTTSDALE, Arizona, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --ABI Research, the leader in transformative technology innovation market intelligence, projects that mobile broadband operators will reap 5G revenues of $247 billion in 2025 with North America, Asia-Pacific, and Western Europe being the top markets. Specifically, network operators, vendors, and standards bodies will finalize technical details concerning the millimeter wave by 2020, with rollout ramping up afterward.

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"5G will be a fast-growing cellular technology, most probably faster than preceding generations including 4G," says Joe Hoffman, Managing Director and Vice President at ABI Research. "The technology migration over the next few years will mean the continued decline of 2G. 3G and 4G will grow in many markets but 5G will generate new use cases and market revenues."

As infrastructure vendors and mobile operators prepare for the future of 5G, the market faces several key challenges. Obstacles include spectrum fragmentation, standards development, coverage range, availability of devices, and CAPEX/OPEX, and most importantly, the development of use cases that ensure profitable outcomes from the unique competitive advantages of 5G.

Unlike the case with LTE, 5G stakeholders are trying hard to achieve spectrum harmonization. As with LTE, however, 5G will also include unlicensed and shared spectrum schemes. Government organizations worldwide will need to work together to regulate the 5G spectrum and set the new standard.

Additionally, Enhanced Mobile Broadband coverage will be best achieved in urban areas that require faster speeds and greater capacity. While smart antenna technology can extend coverage reach, it will mean a small cells deployment. ABI Research forecasts 8.5 million small cells to be deployed by 2020, setting in place the infrastructure for a rapid 5G millimeter wave rollout. And in-band backhaul is a new tool to solve connectivity issues.

At the early stage of deployment, the leading 5G use case is enhanced mobile broadband, closely followed by critical and massive machine type communications. Leading mobile operators in North America and Asia-Pacific recently announced projects and plans to roll out their own 5G initiatives. For example, Verizon Wireless, NTT DoCoMo, KT, and SK Telecom formed the 5G Open Trial Specification Alliance. In addition, Verizon Wireless's acquisition of XO Communications' fiber network business brings strategic access to licensed millimeter wave spectrum with which to deploy 5G.

"The 5G Network of Tomorrow will, over time, evolve to embrace cellular, Wi-Fi, and wired connectivity, in addition to millimeter wave," concludes Hoffman. "It will be better, cheaper, greener, and incredibly high-speed wireless data access for the mass market that will cause business innovation to explode."

These findings are part of ABI Research's LTE & 5G Service (https://www.abiresearch.com/market-research/service/4g/) and Network Market Tracker Service (https://www.abiresearch.com/market-research/service/network-market-tracker/), which includes research reports, market data, insights, and competitive assessments.

About ABI Research

For more than 25 years, ABI Research has stood at the forefront of technology market intelligence, partnering with innovative business leaders to implement informed, transformative technology decisions. The company employs a global team of senior analysts to provide comprehensive research and consulting services through deep quantitative forecasts, qualitative analyses and teardown services. An industry pioneer, ABI Research is proactive in its approach, frequently uncovering ground-breaking business cycles ahead of the curve and publishing research 18 to 36 months in advance of other organizations. In all, the company covers more than 60 services, spanning 11 technology sectors. For more information, visit www.abiresearch.com.
Stock Exchange Announcement 2016Copenhagen, 12 April 2016On Tuesday 12 April 2016 at 3 pm, the Annual General Meeting of Copenhagen Airports A/S was held with the following agenda:1. The report of the Board of Directors on the Company's activities during the past year. 2. Presentation and adoption of the audited annual report. 3. Resolution to discharge the Board of Directors and the Executive Board from liability. 4. Resolution on the appropriation of profit or loss as recorded in the adopted annual report. 5. Election of members of the Board of Directors, including the Chairman and the Deputy Chairmen. 6. Approval of remuneration to the Board of Directors for the current year. 7. Appointment of auditor. 8. Proposal by the Board of Directors to amend the Company's articles of association 9. Proposals by the shareholders. 10. Authorisation to the Chairman of the General Meeting. 11. Any other business.Re item 1The General Meeting adopted the report of the Board of Directors.Re item 2The General Meeting adopted the 2015 annual report.Re item 3The General Meeting discharged the Board of Directors and the Executive Board from liability.Re item 4The General Meeting approved the proposed distribution of profit as recorded in the adopted annual report.Re item 5Lars Nrby Johansen was re-elected as Chairman of the Board of Directors, and David Mark Stanton and Simon Boyd Geere were re-elected as Deputy Chairmen.Janis Carol Kong, John Kevin Bruen and Charles Thomazi were re-elected to the Board of Directors.Re item 6The General Meeting approved the proposed remuneration of the Board of Directors for the current financial year.Re item 7The General Meeting re-elected PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers Statsautoriseret Revisionspartnerselskab).Re item 8The General Meeting approved the amendments to the Company's articles of association as proposed by the Board of Directors. Reference is made to the notice convening the general meeting for the full text of the amendments to the articles of association.Re item 9The General Meeting did not approve the proposals submitted by the shareholders.Re item 10The General Meeting authorised the Chairman of the General Meeting to register the resolutions with the Danish Business Authority.Yours sincerelyKBENHAVNS LUFTHAVNE A/SP.O. Box 74 Lufthavnsboulevarden 6 DK-2770 Kastrup Contact: Lars Jnstrup Dollerup CFO Telephone: +45 3231 3231 Fax: +45 3231 3132 E-mail: cphweb@cph.dk www.cph.dk CVR no. 14 70 72 04Attachment:https://cns.omxgroup.com/cds/DisclosureAttachmentServlet?messageAttachmentId=555729
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 --



WHO: Oski Technology, Inc., the only dedicated formal verification service provider

WHAT: Will host its comprehensive Decoding Formal Training Day on "Achieving Formal Sign-off"

WHEN: Thursday, June 9, from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. It will be held in conjunction with the 53rd Design Automation Conference (DAC) June 5-9.

WHERE: Hilton Hotel, Austin, 500 East 4th Street, Austin, Texas

SPONSOR: Synopsys, Inc.

The Decoding Formal Training Day is intended for engineers who want to learn how to use formal verification more efficiently and the techniques to adopt a formal sign-off methodology. The Training Day is an abbreviated version of Oski's two-week Advanced Formal Training.

A complete agenda will be announced in May, and would include topics around achieving Formal Sign-Off, such as writing end-to-end formal checkers, handling formal complexity, using abstraction models and managing constraints efficiently, and using formal coverage

The event is open to a limited number of attendees. The registration fee is $199, including lunch. To register, go to: http://bit.ly/1VOfyUF

For more information about Oski Technology, visit: www.oskitechnology.com

Details about DAC can be found at: www.dac.com

About Oski Technology

Oski Technology is a formal verification services company with expertise in deploying formal verification on complex, digital designs. Oski Technology has developed a unique Formal Sign-off Methodology and Oski Abstraction Models to solve challenging capacity problems with formal verification. Its formal methods bring a higher level of productivity than traditional simulation and formal verification approaches. Oski Technology, headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., with a design center in India, has built a team of the world's foremost experts in formal verification. More information about Oski Technology can be found at: www.oskitechnology.com

Formal Sign-off Methodology is a trademark of Oski Technology, Inc. All trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

For more information, contact:

Nanette Collins

Public Relations for Oski Technology

(617) 437-1822

Email Contact




According to their latest report, Technavio analysts expect the global API as a service marketfor 2016-2020 to reach USD 965 million by 2020, growing at a CAGR of over 30%.

According to Amit Sharma, lead research analyst at Technavio for cloud computing research, "API as a service is a relatively new IT concept. Organizations have now become increasingly dependent on mobile applications to access company resources. API delivers available company data and services in the form of software response queries. With intelligent API platforms, businesses can easily predict the next plan of action and develop applications faster."

Technavio's lead ICT market research analysts have identified the following four factors that will drive the global API as a service market:

Strong control over cloud product development

Highly competitive IoT market

Mobile enablement

Growing requirement for data and functional integration

Strong control over cloud product development

API as a service can significantly increase the performance of infrastructure management and deployment processes. Developers can build applications with greater efficiency as the service provides the necessary flexibility and enables cross-platforms for user-defined actions. Also, APIs allow organizations to integrate the existing software with the cloud API. However, this may expose the system to theft and external breaches.

API as a service provides better control over the product development processes for enterprises. Cloud APIs harness the power of analytics to allow organizations to deliver exceptional user experience. Cognitive computing and speech recognition are the most popular applications of API as a service.

Highly competitive IoT market

With the rise in digital transformation, many companies are entering into the IoT space. Companies such as Honeywell have introduced API support for their IoT programmed products. API has become one of the advanced technological widgets that bring together applications, devices, data, and the cloud. It establishes communication among different sensors deployed through multiple devices and also allows data analysis in the cloud.

APIs are a critical part of the ecosystem for service providers, that build tools and solutions to integrate API with their products. As APIs work well with digital products, Honeywell has integrated API solutions with its thermostat-based products to design more user-friendly products.

Mobile enablement

Organizations implement mobile workforce to improve their overall productivity. Companies worldwide are encouraging employees to use smartphones and tablets at the workplace as well as outside the office premises. APIs can help employees gain data access to mobile devices. Without APIs, working experience on devices might deteriorate due to the lack of dynamic programming interface. Some enterprises seek mobile strategies that involve moving traditional IT services to an API layer to create new experiences for their employees. Technavio expects mobile enablement to drive the use of API as a service and security for external interfaces over the forecast period.

Growing requirement for data and functional integration

Increased data proliferation and complexity have made it difficult to deploy and maintain reliable data interfaces. To overcome these issues, enterprises focus on data integration that offers on-demand accessibility and real-time synthesizing of data that requires APIs to perform functions. This helps organizations to perform real-time analysis for efficient decision-making process.

Also, this enables enterprises to monitor, transform, and deliver data; understand the business process; and reduce IT complexities. "API as a service helps perform data integration with different business processes from multiple sources and converts this into meaningful information," says Amit.

Browse Related Reports:

Global PaaS Market 2015-2019

Global IT-as-a-Service (ITaaS) Market 2015-2019

Global Data Protection as a Service (DPaaS) Market 2015-2019

Purchase these three reports for the price of one by becoming a Technavio subscriber. Subscribing to Technavio's reports allows you to download any three reports per month for the price of one. Contact enquiry@technavio.com with your requirements and a link to our subscription platform.

About Technavio

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies.

Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, re-sellers, and end-users.

If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160412005078/en/

Contacts:

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media Marketing Executive

US: +1 630 333 9501

UK: +44 208 123 1770

www.technavio.com

media@technavio.com
KANSAS CITY, MO -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 -- Twentyseven Global was founded in April of 2008 on the principle of offering high quality software development talent to the small and midsize business market to solve IT talent shortage problems. The company aims to help high-growth companies create and sustain competitive advantage through the use of information technology. Today, Twentyseven Global stands six times as big as it was in 2010, experiencing a 44 percent compound annual growth rate between 2010 and 2015.

Steve Roatch, CEO of Twentyseven Global, said, "Our premise that there is unmet demand for quality software development services in the mid-market has proven to be true. We've had the opportunity to work with some great companies."

In a blog from the company, Twentyseven Global discussed how its combination of onshore and offshore development has solved increasing IT shortages in Kansas City and Denver. Midsized companies are currently being forced to spend heavily on recruiting firms, hire expensive consulting boutiques or risk handing over their projects to hard to manage offshore teams.

Roatch said, "Over the next couple of years we are going to see incredible wage pressure in IT. While that means we will have to compete for local talent, the IT wage pressure will actually benefit us. Companies are going to be drawn to our unique onshore/offshore business model, where we are able to source high quality software engineering teams while leveraging our onshore management and consulting expertise to make the projects successful."

The local onshore teams have the project management, architecture, consulting and quality control skills required to make projects successful, while the offshore team has an ample supply of software development talent. Often times with traditional offshore firms, clients are offered little to no local project management, or worse, have their projects staffed with brand new project managers or freelance developers.

Twentyseven Global has cultivated a partnership with its offshore team in Vietnam for more than six years. The company has access to over 2,000 software developers in Vietnam and visits on a regular basis to work on methodologies, deliverable templates and tools, as well as overall business culture. This helps to create a team atmosphere between the onshore and offshore offices. Learn more about the team in Vietnam.

Some of the company's most recent accomplishments include helping develop custom applications for Play-it Health and Happy Food Co. Twentyseven Global partnered with Play-it Health to create its health tech mobile application, Plan-it Med, through the company's startup program, Factory 27. Plan-it Med is making waves in the digital health industry and is currently being piloted with different hospitals across the nation to evaluate the app's effectiveness. For Happy Food Co., Twentyseven Global helped build out the Eat Well Platform, which is a custom web-based application that enables customers to join as members, browse menu items, select and reserve meal packages and then pay for them.

Looking to the future, Roatch has the bar set high in order to keep Twentyseven Global a leader in the technology industry.

Roatch said, "Maintaining this rate of growth is challenging but exciting. We see no signs of a slowdown. We are fortunate to have an outstanding team and sustaining clients who grow each year and are happy to refer us to new clients."

About Twentyseven Global: Twentyseven Global is a global custom software engineering company with offices in Kansas City, Denver and Vietnam. The firm combines experienced on-site leadership with its offshore development center to produce exceptional results. Twentyseven Global aims to help high-growth companies create and sustain competitive advantage through the use of information technology.

Contact:

Valerie Jennings

valerie@jenningssocialmedia.com

816.221.1040




Company Begins Production of First of a Planned Fleet of Commercial In-Space Servicing and Repair Vehicles

Mission Extension Vehicle-1 for Intelsat Scheduled for 2018 Launch

Announcement Expands Orbital ATK's Leadership in Space Logistics

Orbital ATK, Inc. (NYSE: OA), a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, today announced that Intelsat, S.A. (NYSE: I), operator of the world's first Globalized Network, has signed a contract to become the first customer for Orbital ATK's new satellite life extension service. As one of the world's leading commercial satellite services providers, Intelsat has a long track record for incorporating innovative satellite technologies into its global operations. Under the agreement, Orbital ATK will manufacture, test and launch the first Commercial Servicing Vehicle (CSV), the Mission Extension Vehicle-1 (MEV-1), which incorporates flight-proven technologies the company has used in its commercial satellite and space logistics businesses. After successfully completing a series of in-orbit tests, the MEV-1 will begin its mission extension service for Intelsat in 2019.

"We are delighted to partner with Intelsat to introduce this innovative new service to the commercial satellite market," said David W. Thompson, Orbital ATK's President and Chief Executive Officer. "The MEV-1 demonstrates the combined capabilities of Orbital ATK following the merger of our two legacy companies last year. The MEV-1 benefits from the capabilities in space logistics that both companies had developed. This new service is synergy at its best and presents an opportunity for Orbital ATK to open a new market in commercial space."

Mr. Thompson continued, adding, "There is a vital need to service fully functional but ageing satellites in both commercial and government markets. Backed by our continued investment, today's announcement signals that we are just getting started in expanding our CSV fleet to provide a diverse array of in-space services in the future."

"Given the size of our satellite fleet, any technology that enhances our in-orbit flexibility allows us to be more responsive to our customers, such as extending the life of a healthy satellite so that it can be deployed for a late-breaking opportunity at another orbital location or maintaining service continuity before the arrival of new technology. We have actively supported in-orbit servicing from its inception, and are proud to pioneer with Orbital ATK on this game-changing innovation," said Stephen Spengler, Chief Executive of Intelsat.

"Orbital ATK is an established satellite manufacturer with the platform as well as the system and operational expertise to make this happen. We will break new ground together with this space rendezvous at 22,000 miles above the earth and I am already looking forward to the in-orbit servicing possibilities that future robotic technologies will enable," Mr. Spengler concluded.

Tom Wilson, President of Space Logistics, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Orbital ATK, said, "Rather than launching new satellites, operators can extend the life of healthy in-orbit satellites, providing enhanced flexibility through Orbital ATK's scalable and cost-efficient capabilities. Our simple approach minimizes risk, enhances mission assurance, and enables our customers to realize the maximum value of their in-orbit satellite assets."

Orbital ATK will introduce in-orbit satellite servicing with the Mission Extension Vehicle-1 which is based on the company's GEOStar spacecraft bus platform. Controlled by the company's satellite operations team, the MEV-1 uses a reliable, low-risk docking system that attaches to existing features on a customer's satellite. The MEV-1 provides life-extending services by taking over the propulsion and attitude control functions. The vehicle has a 15-year design life with the ability to perform numerous dockings and undockings during its life span.

The launch of the first MEV is slated for late 2018 with in-orbit testing and demonstration to be performed with an Intelsat satellite. This testing is scheduled for completion by early 2019. MEV-1 will then relocate to the Intelsat satellite scheduled for the mission extension service, which is planned for a five-year period. Intelsat will also have the option to service multiple satellites using the same MEV.

"With this first contract for satellite life extension we are creating a new and very real market for space logistics," said Frank Culbertson, President of Orbital ATK's Space Systems Group. "Orbital ATK is already a leader in the emerging space logistics market through our commercial cargo delivery to the International Space Station, our participation in NASA's Tipping Point program and our work in designing a bus for the asteroid robotic retrieval mission. The contract with Intelsat builds on our leadership position and we are ready to introduce even more space logistics capabilities and services for commercial and government customers alike."

Orbital ATK's vision is to establish a fleet of servicing vehicles that can address the diverse servicing needs of GEO satellites as well as perform other services such as repair and assembly. In addition to its commercial mission extension services, the company is working closely with U.S. government agencies to develop additional space logistics technologies, such as robotics and high-power, solar-electric propulsion.

About Orbital ATK

Orbital ATK is a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies. The company designs, builds and delivers space, defense and aviation systems for customers around the world, both as a prime contractor and merchant supplier. Its main products include launch vehicles and related propulsion systems; missile products, subsystems and defense electronics; precision weapons, armament systems and ammunition; satellites and associated space components and services; and advanced aerospace structures. Headquartered in Dulles, Virginia, Orbital ATK employs approximately 12,000 people in 18 states across the U.S. and in several international locations. For more information, visit www.orbitalatk.com.

About Intelsat

Intelsat S.A. (NYSE: I) operates the world's first Globalized Network, delivering high-quality, cost-effective video and broadband services anywhere in the world. Intelsat's Globalized Network combines the world's largest satellite backbone with terrestrial infrastructure, managed services and an open, interoperable architecture to enable customers to drive revenue and reach through a new generation of network services. Thousands of organizations serving billions of people worldwide rely on Intelsat to provide ubiquitous broadband connectivity, multi-format video broadcasting, secure satellite communications and seamless mobility services. The end result is an entirely new world, one that allows us to envision the impossible, connect without boundaries and transform the ways in which we live. For more information, visit www.intelsat.com.

Intelsat Safe Harbor

Statements in this news release constitute "forward-looking statements" that do not directly or exclusively relate to historical facts. When used in this release, the words "may," "will," "might," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "project," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "intend," "potential," "outlook," and "continue," and the negative of these terms, and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information.

The forward-looking statements reflect Intelsat's intentions, plans, expectations, assumptions and beliefs about future events and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside of Intelsat's control. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements include known and unknown risks. Known risks include, among others, the risks described in Intelsat's annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2015, and its other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Because actual results could differ materially from Intelsat's intentions, plans, expectations, assumptions and beliefs about the future, you are urged to view all forward-looking statements with caution. Intelsat does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Orbital ATK Safe Harbor

Certain statements in this press release may be "forward-looking statements" as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements often include the words "forecast," "expect," "believe," "will," "intend," "plan," and words of similar substance. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or performance to differ, including the company's ability to attract and maintain customers; the failure to win or retain key contracts; the failure of relevant business markets to develop as quickly as expected; the availability of sufficient funding; the successful development of key technologies; and the costs and ultimate outcome of contingencies, including litigation and other legal proceedings. Orbital ATK undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as may be required by law.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160412006249/en/

Contacts:

Orbital ATK Media Contact:

Vicki Cox, 410-409-8723

Director of Communications

Orbital ATK's Space Systems Group

vicki.cox@orbitalatk.com

or

Orbital ATK Investor Contact:

Barron Beneski, 703-406-5528

Vice President of Investor Relations

Orbital ATK

barron.beneski@orbitalatk.com

or

Intelsat Media and Investor Contact:

Michele Loguidice, 703-559-7372

Director, Corporate Communications and Investor Relations

Intelsat

michele.loguidice@intelsat.com
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 -- True North Gems Inc. (TSX VENTURE: TGX) ("True North", "TNG", or the "Company") is pleased to provide a construction update for the Aappaluttoq Ruby Mine, SW Greenland. Since the last update on February 18th, 2016, the company and our joint venture partners (LNS Group, "LNSG") have continued to make steady progress with development of the Aappaluttoq mine infrastructure.

Processing Plant Milestones:

-- Completed installation of the processing plant structural steel framing for the weight-bearing equipment within the plant; -- All major heavy processing equipment items are now in-place on the structural steel framing. Processing equipment installed includes the scrubber, sizing screens, dryer, oversize recovery conveyors, secondary cone crusher, dense media separation unit, and the optical sorter. Installation of the electrical wiring and plumbing of the various pieces of processing equipment continues; -- Installation of the main drag-chain conveyors is now complete. Testing of the conveyors will commence once power supplies are fitted; -- The primary fresh water supply to the plant was installed in the lower lake basin with all pipework from the lake to the plant now complete. Electrical supply is currently being installed to ready the pumps and primary ring-main systems for commissioning; -- Construction and installation of the processed ore waste pipe is currently in-progress. This pipe leads from the plant into the upper lake basin where it will deposit -1.7mm processed ore waste in a stable state below the lake thermocline. The pipe is positioned on its foundations with all installation welding complete. Installation of the insulation and heat-tracing is in progress; -- The construction of the security complex, locker/lunch-room, electrical switch room, and process plant control center is still in-progress. All walls are completed and activities are now focused on supplying independent heating, electrical and plumbing into the process building. The server rooms are installed however final installation of sensitive computer equipment will take place once all heavy engineering and construction has been completed in the rest of the main building;

Ground Infrastructure:

The remaining ground infrastructure required to be built by LNSG as part of their earn-in to the project are expected to be completed over the summer months when the ground is dry and final construction will be both cheaper and easier to complete. Specifically, this covers the remaining work to upgrade the site roads and the installation of the concrete pier to replace the current floating barge landing at the outer port.

Mine Operations Pit:

The 2016 pit operations and extraction are currently in the planning stages for summer activity. Mining activity completed through to the end of February 2016 provided an ore stockpile feed for the primary crusher of sufficient volume to complete the upcoming wet commissioning of the processing plant. Sufficient waste-rock has been removed from the pit to provide near-immediate access to the orebody upon resumption of mining activity once the processing plant has been fully commissioned;

Nuuk Facilities:

-- The concentrate upgrading facility in Nuuk has now completed its final design and negotiation are in progress regarding a suitable building for retrofitting in Nuuk. Building design approvals from the Municipality of Nuuk have recently been granted. -- Final designs for the Nuuk rough ruby and pink sapphire sorting and grading facility have been completed and the necessary equipment is currently being sourced and procured; -- The RubyTrack inventory and tracking software is currently undergoing final testing in Vancouver; specific equipment needs are currently being assessed and sourced prior to the implementation of field testing in Greenland;

Continued progress reports will be issued and updated images can be viewed in the "Our Mine" section under "Construction Updates" on the Company's website: www.truenorthgems.com.

Mr. Andrew J. Fagan M.Sc. C.Geol. FRSA, is a professional chartered geologist and the Company's internal Qualified Person in accordance with NI43-101. Mr. Fagan has reviewed the geological information provided to True North by LNS-Greenland and is responsible for the accuracy of this information as presented in this release. LNS-Greenland remains responsible for the supervision and construction of the process plant and its associated site infrastructure.

Visit our website: www.truenorthgems.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This document contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (together, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, which are made as of the date of this document or the document(s) referred to herein. Statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "expects", "anticipates", "plans", "projects", "estimates", "intends", "strategy", "goals", "objectives" or variations thereof or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of these terms and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements with respect to: the amount of mineral reserves and mineral resources; the amount of future production over any period; net present value and internal rates of return of the proposed mining operation; capital costs; operating costs; strip ratios and mining rates; and mine life. The forward-looking statements are made based upon certain assumptions which, if untrue, could cause the actual results, performances or achievements of the Company to be materially different from future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These assumptions include, without limitation: the price of gemstone products produced; anticipated costs; the presence of and continuity of gemstones at modeled grades and values; the capacities of various machinery and equipment; the availability of personnel, machinery and equipment at estimated prices; exchange rates; appropriate discount rates; tax rates applicable to the proposed mining operation; financing structure and costs; anticipated mining losses and dilution; gemstone recovery rates; reasonable contingency requirements; and receipt of regulatory approvals on acceptable terms. By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performances or achievements to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These include, without limitation: price volatility, discrepancies between actual and estimated production, mineral reserves and resources and metallurgical recoveries, mining operational and development risks, regulatory restrictions (including environmental regulatory restrictions and liability), activities by governmental authorities (including changes in taxation), currency fluctuations, the speculative nature of gemstone exploration, the global economic climate, dilution, share price volatility, competition, loss of key employees; additional funding requirements and defective title to mineral claims or property. This list is not exhaustive. See also, for example, the risks disclosed in the Company's other disclosure documents filed at www.sedar.com, including, without limitation, those disclosed in the Company's management's discussion & analysis. The Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation.

Contacts:

True North Gems Inc.

Lisa May

Investor Relations Manager

604-687-8055

info@truenorthgems.com

www.truenorthgems.com






BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Swiss stock market ended Tuesday's session in the green as crude oil prices extended their recent gains. The market got off to a weak start Tuesday, but recovered much of its losses by midday. However, the market did not break out into positive territory until the final hour of trade.



According to media reports, Saudi Arabia and Russia have reached an agreement to cut oil production. Investors will be watching for developments at the upcoming meeting of 16 oil producing nations in Doha this weekend. It is unclear at this point if Iran would be willing to cut production.



The Swiss Market Index increased 0.48 percent Tuesday and finished at 7,788.78. The Swiss Leader Index climbed 0.61 percent and the Swiss Performance Index rose 0.39 percent.



Givaudan was the top gainer of the session, with an increase of 2.8 percent. The flavours and fragrances group reported better than expected results for the first quarter.



Baloise jumped 2.3 percent and Swiss Life gained 1.9 percent. Richemont finished higher by 1.6 percent, after initial losses, and Swatch rose 0.2 percent. The luxury goods companies struggled due to weak results from French rival LVMH.



Shares of Sika were halted late in the morning and remained that way for the rest of the session. The halt was requested by the company, due to its annual shareholder meeting today. Sika's Board has moved to limit the voting rights of the Burkard family in an effort to prevent a sale of the company to Saint-Gobain.



Among the index heavyweights, Novartis fell 0.1 percent after Morgan Stanley downgraded its rating on the stock to 'Underweight' from 'Equal weight.' Nestle rose 0.1 percent and Roche advanced 0.6 percent. Roche has received approval from the U.S. FDA for Venetoclax for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
PUNE, India, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

MarketReportsOnline.com adds 2016 hemophilia market research report covering global, US and Europe hemophilia industry analysis while talking about Shire PLC, Bayer Group, Novo Nordisk and Pfizer Inc. as the major players in the industry.

Complete hemophilia market research of 52 pages with 47 Charts and 2 Tables, covering 4 major companies is now available in the pharmaceuticals category of MarketReportsOnline.com at http://www.marketreportsonline.com/463723.html .

The market is anticipated to be driven by key factors such as increasing penetration of recombinant factor VIII, increasing healthcare expenditure, emerging use of treatments in low income countries and increasing diagnosis rates. Some significant progresses of this industry include increasing adoption of prophylaxis therapy, introduction of extended half-life products etc. However, the growth of respective industry is faced by challenges such as high cost of treatments and high reluctance by patients to switch to new treatments/products.

The research report, "Global Hemophilia Market Report: 2016 Edition" provides a wide-ranging research and comprehensive analysis of the global hemophilia industry, along with a detailed study of its various regional markets such as the US the European market. It also discusses the major trends of the industry such as the development of gene therapy. The industry is highly competitive comprising a number of large companies including the Bayer Group, Shire Plc, Pfizer Inc, Novo Nordisk etc. Order a copy of this research at http://www.marketreportsonline.com/contacts/purchase.php?name=463723 .

The competitive landscape of the respective market, along with the company profiles of the leading players including companies' important growth strategies, business overview and financial position are also conferred for reference. The report is a must read for all those willing to invest in this area and trying to assess potential opportunities.

Even though Hemophilia is rare bleeding disorder, the number of people affected by it has been increasing with time. While mild hemophilia is easy to diagnose especially in kids, when they learn to move and walk, and get large bruises from minute falls, severe hemophilia patients need to go for periodic transfusion of the respective factors so as to avoid the event of life-threatening bleeding episodes. Such a periodic transfusion is done through what is commonly known as the replacement therapy. With increasing sophistication and modernization of technology, demand for advanced treatment options increases, thereby making the entire market grow.

For the healthcare and pharmaceutical decision makers, MarketReportsOnline.com offers another newly published research titled Global Constipation Market Report: 2016 Edition, which shows a vast opportunity for new drug entry. There exist vast opportunities for prescription drugs in the constipation market. However, OTC drugs and laxatives are generally used for treating constipation, patients and physicians have started recognizing the importance of branded drugs. Future growth of the constipation market is based on continued growth of prescription therapies to treat constipation, increased research and development of novel drugs by biopharmaceutical companies, increasing patient and physician awareness of effective prescription alternatives to Over-the-Counter medications.

Growth of the constipation market is driven by several factors including rising prescription opioid consumption, growing ageing population, vast opportunity for drugs with significant potential in the U.S., rising spending on medicines, growing female population and rising healthcare expenditure. However, the growth of the market can be hindered by certain challenges including rising tide of OTC drugs for constipation and lower awareness of prescription medication for OIC.

The report, "Global Constipation Market" analyzes the currently prevailing condition of the market along with its future scope of development. The specific markets of the U.S. Japan China and Europe are being discussed in the report. The major trends, growth drivers as well as issues being faced by the industry are being presented in this report. The major players in the industry are being profiled, along with their key financials and strategies for growth.

Comprehensive table of contents for this constipation market research is available at http://www.marketreportsonline.com/463724-toc.html .

Explore more reports on pharmaceuticals market at http://www.marketreportsonline.com/cat/pharmaceuticals-market-research.html .

About Us:

MarketReportsOnline.com is your one stop market research and industry analysis reports' library providing business data and intelligence information on thousands of micro markets with global as well as regional coverage. Category focused research, country reports, company profiles, regional and global industry profiles and guides to premium reports offering extensive coverage of other 20+ industries are all available in our library of syndicated market research reports.

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Tel: + 1 888 391 5441

E-mail: sales@marketreportsonline.com


Regulatory News:

Gunnebo AB's (STO:GUNN) Annual General Meeting 2016 was held in Gothenburg on April 12.

Adoption of the profit and loss statement and balance sheet

The profit and loss statements and the balance sheets of the parent company and the Group for the financial year 2015 were approved.

Dividend

In accordance with the proposal of the Board, it was decided on a dividend to the shareholders of SEK 1.00 per share (previous year SEK 1.00) and that Thursday, April 14, 2016, shall be the record date for receipt of the dividend.

Election of the Board of Directors

Tore Bertilsson, Goran Bille, Charlotte Brogren, Bo Dankis, Eva Elmstedt, Mikael Jonsson and Martin Svalstedt were re-elected as members of the Board of Directors. Martin Svalstedt was re-elected as Chairman of the Board.

Board fees

The AGM decided on a total fee to the Board of Directors for 2016 amounting to SEK 2,000,000, to be divided with SEK 500,000 to the Chairman of the Board (including remuneration for committee work) and with SEK 250,000 to each of the other Board members elected by the shareholders, and a special fee for committee work amounting to SEK 50 000 for the respective chairman of the Audit Committee and the Remuneration Committee and SEK 30 000 each to other committee members.

Nomination Committee

The AGM approved the proposal presented regarding the Nomination Committee and its tasks.

Election of the Auditor

The AGM re-elected the registered auditing company Deloitte AB for the period until the end of the Annual General Meeting of the Shareholders 2017.

Principles for remuneration to senior executives

The AGM approved the Board's proposal regarding principles for remuneration to senior executives.

Authorisation for the Board to decide on new share issue

The AGM approved the Board's proposal regarding an authorization for the Board to decide upon a new share issue in connection with company acquisitions.

Comments from the President's address to the AGM

In his address to the AGM, Gunnebo's President CEO Henrik Lange shared an updated view on the Group's customers, offering and new launches during 2015. He then reviewed the results for 2015 by region. Thereafter he summarized the overall activities that the Group will have in focus into 2020:

"Gunnebo's journey towards profitable growth is about leaving behind the 'island mentality' where sales companies are still to a large extent running daily business according to local processes. This has resulted in an unsatisfactory level of profitability and a lack of focus on cash flow. To become a profitable company, we will therefore focus heavily over the next four years on finding an efficient and standardised way of doing business.

"In addition, we will utilise our technologies to capture growth in a better way, improve our work with key accounts and service delivery, strengthen our value chain, focus on productivity, and last but not least attract and retain good employees.

"Both myself and the Group Executive Team are convinced that these activities will contribute to better customer focus, increased profitability and an improved cash flow."

GUNNEBO AB (publ)

Group Communications

www.gunnebogroup.com

Gunnebo discloses the information provided herein pursuant to the Swedish Securities Markets Act and/or the Financial Instruments Trading Act. The information was submitted for publication at 19.05 CET on April 12, 2016.

The Gunnebo Group is a global leader in security products, services and solutions with an offering covering cash management, safes and vaults, entrance security and electronic security for banks, retail, CIT, mass transit, public commercial buildings and industrial high-risk sites.

The Group has an annual turnover of 660 million, employs 5,500 people and has sales companies in 32 countries across Europe, Middle East Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Americas as well as Channel Partners on over 100 additional markets.

We make your world safer.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160412006453/en/

Contacts:

Gunnebo

Henrik Lange, President CEO

tel: +46 10 2095 000

or

Karin Wallstrom, Marketing Communication Director

tel: +46 708 283339

Karin.wallstrom@gunnebo.com
VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - April 12, 2016) - GoldQuest Mining Corp. (TSX VENTURE: GQC) (FRANKFURT: M1W) (BERLIN: M1W) ("GoldQuest" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Government of the Dominican Republic has re-granted the La Tachuela concession, to the south and adjacent to the Company's mining application over their multi-million ounce Romero gold/copper deposit. In addition, the 2016 Induced Polarization ("IP") program continues to deliver excellent results. The trend of strong chargeability anomalies has been expanded to at least seven kilometres, from the northern end of the La Tachuela concession to the current southern limit of the survey. (See exploration update map attached.) Upon completion of this phase of geophysics, the company will review the complete data set and rank targets for drilling.

The La Tachuela Concession

The 330.25 hectare, La Tachuela concession covers approximately 3 kilometres strike length of the Tireo volcanic formation, where GoldQuest geologists have identified a corridor of argillic alteration indicating mineralizing hydrothermal activity, with silicified dacite as seen at Romero. Grab samples from mapped alteration areas within La Tachuela have returned highly anomalous results of up to 7.1 g/t gold at Minero's Ridge and 9.7 g/t gold at Fortuna. Of 144 rock samples taken within the concession to date, 36 returned over 1 g/t gold; 18 samples have over 3 g/t gold and 6 samples have over 5 g/t gold. A strong magnetic low identified in the Company's 2013 airborne survey underlies the area, and current IP program shows coincident strongly chargeable anomalies, with resistivity highs. The pattern of overlapping anomalies from the two geophysical methods is identical to other discovery areas in the Tireo Trend. Direct evidence of permissive conditions in the form of mapped hydrothermal alteration and anomalous gold in rock samples results in a growing set of compelling drill targets.

Update on IP survey

The Company's extensive ground geophysical survey employing Gradient IP is continuing southward, with approximately a quarter of the survey's area completed. Crews are at work in the Toribio concessions (granted July 2015). A remarkably consistent chargeability anomaly extends over 16 kilometers south from Romero, with a further 6.5 kilometres to be surveyed towards the Company's shared concession boundary with Precipitate at their Ginger Ridge discovery.

GoldQuest's Chairman Bill Fisher commented, "The new Minero's Ridge and Fortuna targets display a number of similarities to our 2012 Romero gold/copper discovery. GoldQuest has always stressed the importance of the Tireo trend as a potential 'mining camp' capable of hosting multiple deposits. We're gratified to see the number of compelling and undrilled new targets expand as we enlarge our geophysical and mapping program."

The attached map displays the mapping of intense argillic alteration showing the clear spatial correlation between alteration at surface and areas of underlying high chargeability. The continuous high chargeability zone is coincident with a high resistivity signature, which may correlate with the high silicification areas of Romero. The anomalous gold and copper in surface grab samples at Mineros Ridge and Fortuna strengthen the mineral potential of the target. Some of the strongest chargeability response and broadest areas of alteration are in the most recently surveyed area and are completely open to the south.

The Company will issue further news on exploration results as they become available.

The information in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Jeremy Niemi, P. Geo., Vice President, Exploration of GoldQuest and a Qualified Person for the technical information in this press release under NI 43-101 standards.

Rock samples were bagged, sealed and delivered directly to Acme Labs preparation facility in Maimon Dominican Republic where they were dried, crushed and pulped. Sample pulps were then delivered to Acme labs facilities in Vancouver BC (an ISO 9001 accredited facility) for analyses. Samples were crushed to with up to 80% passing 2mm and split using a riffle splitter. An approximately 250 gram sub-sample split was pulverized to minus 200 mesh (74). A 30 gram sample was subjected to fire assay and rock results with gold greater than 10 ppm were subjected to fire gravitational finish. In addition, multi-element ICP-MS was performed on all samples.

About GoldQuest

GoldQuest is a Canadian based mineral exploration company with projects in the Dominican Republic and trades on the TSX-V under the symbol GQC and in Frankfurt/Berlin with symbol M1W.

Additional information can be viewed at the Company's website www.goldquestcorp.com.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of GoldQuest Mining Corp.,

"Bill Fisher"

Chairman

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this news release are "forward-looking" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward looking information. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to exploration on the Tireo Project, exploration results, the Company's future plans and exploration programs, including the timing of such plans and programs, and the merits of the Company's mineral properties. 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", "indicate" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon the current belief, opinions and expectations of management that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and other contingencies. Many factors could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. These factors include, among others, the timeliness and success of regulatory approvals, market prices, metal prices, availability of capital and financing, general economic, market or business conditions, as well as other risk factors set out under the heading "Risk and Uncertainties" in the Management's Discussion and Analysis dated September 30, 2015, which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein.

Attachment Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/4/12/11G093053/GoldQuest_Exploration_-_2016_IP_Program_Chargeabil-70983eb67e12b4b6acf3e522e506fc49.pdf

For further information, please contact:



GoldQuest Mining Corp.

www.goldquestcorp.com



Julio Espaillat

President & CEO - Santo Domingo

+1-829-919-8701

JEspaillat@GoldQuestCorp.com



Bill Fisher

Executive Chairman - Toronto

+1-647-271-4505

BFisher@GoldQuestCorp.com



Jason Roy

Managing Partner - Partner (Presmont Group)

+1-416-775-3575

jroy@presmont.com
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 -- Oban Mining Corporation (TSX: OBM) ("Oban" or the "Corporation") is pleased to provide the following corporate update on the progress of the Corporation and work plans for 2016.

The Corporation completed fifteen transactions in the last eight months since reorganizing the company in August 2015, which included the acquisition of five exploration/development companies, the acquisition of two 100% owned mining properties, five investments resulting in significant ownership in four exploration/development companies, and three financings. The transactions have resulted in a strong shareholder base, with over 33% of Oban's shares held by four funds and one corporation (Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd). During the same period, the company has evaluated numerous additional potential transactions which were not pursued.

From the outset of the first transaction in August 2015, the Corporation's principal objectives have been to grow the company to a point where critical mass was achieved in terms of owning gold resources and high-potential gold deposits; to establish a strong financial position; to attain significant market capitalization; to establish a solid shareholder base and to improve shareholder value. The Corporation has grown at a rapid rate from a position in June 2015 when Oban had no defined resources, $10 million in cash and a market capitalization of less than $10 million. Following the completion of the last transaction in March 2016, the three main deposits owned by the Corporation currently contain 3.49 million ounces of global resources in Measured and Indicated categories (see table below) and 2.27 million ounces of global resources in Inferred category (see table below), the Corporation holds approximately $74 million in cash and investments as of March 31, 2016 and Oban has a significant market capitalization of over $135 million. Management of the Corporation believes these fundamental elements provide the solid base necessary to build a mining company that will provide growing value to its shareholders over time.

Work is progressing well on Oban's 100% owned Windfall Lake and Marban projects. At Windfall Lake, the 55,000 metre drill program commenced in October 2015 continues with four drill rigs, and there are approximately 20,000 metres left to complete in the current program. Results to date have been very encouraging, providing verification and good correlation with historic drilling performed by previous operators on the property. The deposit remains open at depth below the Red Dog intrusion, and is open at both the eastern and western ends. The results of the current program will be modeled along with historic drilling in the second half of 2016, and a resource update is anticipated in Q4 2016. A decision on extending the current drill program will be made by the end of Q2 2016.

At Marban, work is continuing on the updated resource model. Following the 72,000 metre drill program completed in 2015 and complete geological re-modelling of the deposit, the new resource estimate is nearing completion on Marban and Norlartic. The final report is expected to be available this month. Following delivery of the updated resource estimate, the Corporation expects to immediately proceed with environmental and pre-feasibility work at Marban with the intention of filing a preliminary economic assessment by year end.

The Corporation also anticipates summer exploration drilling on a number of targets on the claim groups surrounding the Marban and Windfall deposits, as well as confirmation and exploration drilling on the Garrcon-Jonpol deposits in Ontario. These work programs will be outlined towards the end of Q2.

Oban is well funded at the present time and does not anticipate any near-term need for additional financing. With current and planned exploration/development programs, the company anticipates finishing this fiscal year with a strong financial position of over $50 million in cash and equities. With over 100,000 hectares of highly prospective exploration ground containing three substantial gold deposits in Quebec and Ontario, the Corporation is not anticipating any further large, near-term acquisitions.

Commenting on the progress of the Corporation to date, President and CEO John Burzynski noted: "We have had a very productive eight months at Oban, and for every deal we've completed we've looked at four or five others along the way. I would like to congratulate the team for successfully incorporating the new companies and properties into Oban, and for quickly establishing new, active and dynamic work programs. With the recent closing of the NioGold transaction we have now completed the acquisitions we felt were necessary for adding substance and size to our strong financial position. We have been drilling at Windfall with very good results to date, and are already looking at the possibility of increasing the current drill program to determine the outer limits of the deposit, which are still undefined. We have had success in extending the deposit both at depth and on the western end, and Windfall remains open to the east, west and at depth. We are also looking forward to the release of the new resource at Marban, which we anticipate will be in our hands within the coming month. Marban and Windfall are now the main focus of Oban's efforts, and it is the Corporation's goal to move both projects forward in short order towards what we hope will become Quebec's two newest gold mines."

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical content of this press release regarding the Windfall Lake and Marban deposits has been reviewed by Mr. John Burzynski, P.Geo. President and CEO of Oban Mining Corporation, Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). The scientific and technical content of this press release regarding the Garrcon-Jonpol deposits has been reviewed by Mr. Gernot Wober, P.Geo. Vice President Exploration for Oban Mining Corporation, Qualified Person as defined NI 43-101.

About Oban Mining Corporation

Oban is a mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of precious metal resource properties in Canada. Oban holds a 100% in the high-grade Windfall Lake gold deposit located between Val-d'Or and Chibougamau in Quebec and holds a 100% undivided interest in a large area of claims in the surrounding Urban Barry area (82,400 hectares), a 100% interest in the Marban project located in the heart of Quebec's prolific Abitibi gold mining district, and properties in the Larder Lake Mining Division in northeast Ontario, including the Jonpol and Garrcon deposits on the Garrison property, the Buffonta past producing mine and the Gold Pike mine property. The Company also holds interests and options in a number of additional properties in northern Ontario. Oban is well financed with approximately $74 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities.

Global Resources

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cut-Off Au Grade Au Windfall Lake (g/t) tonnes g/t (troy oz) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Indicated 3.0 2,762,000 8.42 748,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Inferred 3.0 3,512,000 7.62 860,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Marban ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Measured 6,600,000 1.4 300,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Indicated 25,600,000 1.5 1,240,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Inferred 16,500,000 1.13 600,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Garrison ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Garrcon Measured 0.4 15,100,000 1.07 521,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Garrcon / Jonpol Indicated 0.4/3.0 14,972,000 1.40 676,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Garrcon / Jonpol Inferred 0.4/1.5/3.0 7,873,000 3.18 808,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wt Avg Totals tonnes Grade Au (oz) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Measured 21,700,000 1.17 821,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Indicated 43,334,000 1.91 2,664,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Inferred 27,885,000 2.53 2,268,000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 92,919,000 1.92 5,753,000 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation that is based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. The information in this news release about the pending drilling, potential mineralization, the ability to realize upon any mineralization in a manner that is economic, the ability to complete any proposed exploration activities and the results of such activities; the continuity or extension of any mineralization; and any other information herein that is not a historical fact may be "forward looking information". Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking information and are intended to identify forward-looking information. This forward-looking information is based on reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of Oban, at the time it was made, involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Oban to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others, risks relating to property interests; ability of Oban to complete further exploration activities; the results of exploration activities; risks relating to mining activities; the global economic climate; metal prices; dilution; environmental risks; and community and non-governmental actions. Although the forward-looking information contained in this news release is based upon what management believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions, Oban cannot assure shareholders and prospective purchasers that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking information, as there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended, and neither Oban nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of any such forward-looking information. Oban does not undertake, and assumes no obligation, to update or revise any such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information contained herein to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required by law.

Contacts:

John Burzynski

President and Chief Executive Officer

(416) 363-8653






WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, met with Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland on Tuesday but remained steadfast in his opposition to holding a hearing on his nomination.



A statement released by Grassley's office following the breakfast in the Senate Dining Room described the meeting as cordial and pleasant.



However, Grassley told reporters nothing has changed regarding whether he would hold a Judiciary Committee hearing on Garland's nomination.



The statement from the senator's office said he explained to Garland why the Senate won't move forward with his nomination during a hyper-partisan election year.



In a recent op-ed piece for the Des Moines Register, Grassley shrugged off concerns that refusing to consider Garland's nomination will leave a vacancy on the Supreme Court for the next year.



Grassley described the argument that the federal judiciary is debilitated without a ninth Supreme Court justice as 'absurd.'



'The temporary impact of a split decision pales in comparison to the damage an election-year political brawl would cause the court and the country,' Grassley wrote.



He added, 'A nomination considered during this heated campaign season would be all about politics, not the Constitution.'



Grassley and other Senate Republicans have argued that the seat of late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia should be filled by the next president.



However, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., took to the Senate floor on Tuesday to bash Grassley's argument that it is 'no big deal' for the Supreme Court to deadlock on important cases.



'With all due respect, that's the type of argument you make when you know logic and reason aren't on your side; when you know the Constitution isn't on your side,' Reid said.



Reid also criticized Grassley for his recent attacks on Chief Justice John Roberts and for meeting with Garland far from the public eye.



'These are not the actions of a Senator and Chairman who is confident with his decision to block a Supreme Court nominee,' Reid said. 'This is the behavior of a Senator who knows he's on the wrong side of the Constitution, and the wrong side of history.'



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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ROAD TOWN, BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 -- Talon Metals Corp. ("Talon" or the "Company") (TSX: TLO) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. David Deisley to the Company's Board of Directors.

Mr. Deisley is Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of NOVAGOLD Resources Inc., responsible for all aspects of the Company's legal governance and corporate affairs. Mr. Deisley has over 25 years of experience in the mining industry in the Americas, with an extensive track record in project permitting, corporate social responsibility, mergers and acquisitions and corporate development. In addition, Mr. Deisley is regarded as a human rights expert relative to resource projects and local populations. Mr. Deisley received his Juris Doctor from the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law and his Bachelor of Arts from Brown University.

"We are extremely pleased to be able to welcome David to Talon's Board of Directors. His extensive mining industry expertise, including his track record in project permitting and corporate social responsibility, will provide valuable insight to the Board as we continue to progress the Tamarack Project with our partner Kennecott Exploration Company", said Talon's Executive Chairman, Mr. Warren Newfield.

Mr. Deisley's appointment stems from the board nomination right granted to Resource Capital Fund VI L.P. ("RCF") under the terms of the loan agreement entered into between the Company and RCF on November 25, 2015.

About Talon

Talon is a TSX-listed company focused on the exploration and development of the Tamarack Nickel-Copper-PGE Project in Minnesota, USA (which comprises the Tamarack North Project and the Tamarack South Project). The Company has a well-qualified exploration and mine management team with extensive experience in project management.

For additional information on Talon, please visit the Company's website at www.talonmetals.com.

Contacts:

Talon Metals Corp.

Sean Werger

President

(416) 361-9636 x 247

werger@talonmetals.com




OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 -- Dr. Richard Hebda is the 2015 recipient of the Alliance of Natural History Museum of Canada's (ANHMC) Bruce Naylor Award. The award is given annually to recognize achievement by an individual orindividuals of national or international significance in the museum-based natural history field in Canada through distinctive leadership, publications or other remarkable endeavours.

The award will be presented to Dr. Hebda at the Canadian Museums Association Conference on April 13 in Halifax. Well known in British Columbia, Canada and internationally, Dr. Hebda is Curator of Botany and Earth History at the Royal BC Museum in Victoria, British Columbia.

Nominated by his peers, Dr. Hebda is a trained botanist, ethnobotanist, paleontotologist, palaeoecologist, and phytogeographer. A widely published leader in his field, his work has been ground-breaking in palynology (the study of ancient pollen) and palaeoecology (study of ancient ecosystems). He has furthered the understanding of ancient landscapes and vegetation in British Columbia, especially wetlands, forest and alpine ecosystems.

Famous for his work in environmental restoration and promoting use of native plants, Dr. Hebda has mentored many graduate students and students in the Restoration of Natural Systems Program at the University of Victoria, a program he helped found. He was one of the main research collaborators on a large research team for the Kwaday Dan Ts'inchi discovery, the first ancient human body from a North American glacier, found in northwest British Columbia. Exceptional in his public outreach through hundreds of lectures and a brilliant teacher, Dr. Hebda has inspired many and has been instrumental in encouraging students to pursue careers in natural history and botany. He has spearheaded the conservation of fossil sites in British Columbia and worked with NGO's to preserve the province's spectacular natural heritage.

The Alliance of Natural History Museums of Canada is a national network of natural history museums and similar institutions dedicated to the preservation and understanding of Canada's natural heritage and the enhancement of the benefits museums provide to the people of Canada.

Contacts:

Elizabeth McCrea

Alliance of Natural History Museums of Canada

(613) 410-1199

mccrealiz@gmail.com



Erik Lambertson

Royal BC Museum

(250) 387-5851

lambertson@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA and JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 -- Platinum Group Metals Ltd. (TSX: PTM)(NYSE MKT: PLG) ("Platinum Group" or the "Company") reports the Company's financial results for the second quarter ended February 29, 2016 and provides recent highlights and outlook. For details of the consolidated financial statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis for the six months ended February 29, 2016, please see the Company's filings on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) or on EDGAR (www.sec.gov).

All amounts herein are reported in United States dollars unless otherwise stated. The Company holds cash in Canadian dollars, United States dollars and South African Rand. Changes in exchange rates may create variances in the cash holdings reported in United States dollars.

Recent Highlights

-- The Maseve Mine surface milling facility is now complete. Hot commissioning and final checks and testing of the mill were completed in February and March, 2016. -- The Maseve Mine mill ran for 20 days during hot commissioning in February, 2016. A total of 66,231 tonnes of low grade development material were milled from which 1,049 4E ozs in concentrate were produced and shipped. Commissioning was smooth and mill recoveries and performance has been good. -- Grade reconciliation from underground sampling to the deposit block model has been good. Underground development has accessed the Merensky Reef in more than 15 headings. Underground development is fully staffed and equipped but is behind schedule. -- On March 17, 2016 the Company reported new high grade T zone drilling results from the Waterberg deposit including; -- Hole WB195 - 13.91 g/t 3E over 11.87 meters (or 15.03 g/t 3E over 8.68 meters, from 898.32 meters to 907.00 meters). -- Hole WB186 - 5.84 g/t 3E over 19.00 meters from 812.00 meters to 831.00 meters (this hole first announced December 4, 2015). -- Hole WB200 - 5.92 g/t 3E over 7.56 meters from 938.44 meters to 946.00 meters. -- On January 12, 2016 the Company announced an expanded diamond drilling program at Waterberg, located on the Northern Limb of the Bushveld Igneous Complex, South Africa, to delineate and upgrade shallow mineral resources. Pre-feasibility work at Waterberg continues at present. -- On November 20, 2015 the Company announced the draw-down of both a $40 million Senior Secured Loan Facility from the Sprott Resource Lending Partnership and a $40 million Loan Facility from Liberty Metals & Mining Holdings, LLC, a subsidiary of Boston based Liberty Mutual Insurance and the Company's largest shareholder.

Results for the Six Months Ended February 29, 2016

During the six months ended February 29, 2016, the Company incurred a net loss of $2.5 million (February 28, 2015 - net loss of $1.1 million). Results for the comparative period in 2015 included the write off of deferred finance fees and finance termination fees amounting to $5.34 million in addition to a foreign exchange gain of $7.6 million. General and administrative expenses during the current period were $3.0 million (February 28, 2015 - $4.1 million), gains on foreign exchange were $0.72 million (February 28, 2015 - $7.6 million) while stock based compensation expense, a non-cash item, totalled $0.88 million (February 28, 2015 - $1.2 million). Finance income consisting of interest earned and property rental fees in the period amounted to $0.5 million (February 28, 2015- $1.9 million). Loss per share for the period amounted to $0.03 as compared to a loss of $0.00 per share for the six month period ending February 28, 2015. During the period the Company completed a share consolidation on the basis of ten old shares for each one new share and all per share amounts have been retrospectively restated.

The Company's cash position at February 29, 2016 was $48.2 million (August 31, 2015 - $39.1 million). Accounts receivable at February 29, 2016 totalled $5.6 million (August 31, 2015 - $10.1 million) while accounts payable and other liabilities amounted to $5.1 million (August 31, 2015 - $16.4 million). Accounts receivable were comprised primarily of value added taxes repayable to the Company in South Africa and amounts receivable from partners. Accounts payable included contract construction fees, drilling expenses, engineering fees, accrued professional fees and regular trade payables for ongoing exploration, development and administration costs.

During the six month period ending February 29, 2016, total expenditures by the Company for development, construction, equipment and other costs for the Maseve Mine totaled approximately $60.7 million. Total expenditures on the Waterberg projects were approximately $3.4 million, all of which was funded by joint venture partner the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation ("JOGMEC").

The Maseve Mine, also known as Project 1 of the former Western Bushveld Joint Venture, is fully constructed and is now in the initial ramp up phase of production. First concentrate was produced in February, 2016 with commercial production expected late in calendar 2016. Initial monthly revenue from concentrate sales before commercial production will be treated as a reduction in project capital cost.

Outlook

The Company's key business objectives for calendar 2016 will be to continue with underground development and production ramp up at the Maseve Mine and to advance the Waterberg Project. Development at the Maseve Mine will continue to utilize a majority of the Company's cash on hand until production increases and positive cash flow is achieved. Commissioning of the Maseve mill is now complete and initial production of concentrate has begun. The Company commenced production in February 2016 largely with low grade stockpile material to hot commission and balance the mill and flotation circuits. Milling in March of 2016 continued primarily with low grade stockpile material. Mill feed in April 2016 is scheduled to include a higher proportion of ore mined from planned mining blocks.

Development work in blocks 12, 11, 10 and 9 in the north mine and block 16 in the south mine are critical to the underground mining plans and ramp up profile of production for the Maseve Mine. Underground development at Maseve is behind schedule and Company engineers and third party specialists are working to improve development rates. The volume of stoping material must increase in accordance with the mine plan to meet production ramp-up plans and covenants according to existing loan facilities. Continued performance behind the mine plan schedule, lower metal prices, delays in production ramp up or a stronger South African Rand could all result in requirements for further financing.

The Company plans to continue work on the Waterberg Project with its joint venture partners. Twelve drill rigs were mobilized to the Waterberg site in January 2016 for an expanded drill program which was completed in late March 2016, with a further two holes later approved for deep drilling on the T zone, which are currently in progress.

An updated resource calculation for Waterberg is now due for publication. Publication of the update was delayed due to assay laboratory backlogs. The updated resource calculation will be published imminently and will then be incorporated into pre-feasibility study work already in progress. The pre-feasibility study is planned to be complete in mid-calendar 2016. The scope of the pre-feasibility study now includes portions of the Waterberg Extension Project, due to the May 2015 2nd Amendment to the JOGMEC Agreement. Funding for drilling and engineering at Waterberg is in place from JOGMEC, allowing the project to advance and grow without a significant draw on the Company's working capital.

About Platinum Group Metals Ltd.

Platinum Group Metals Ltd., based in Johannesburg, South Africa and Vancouver, Canada, has a successful track record with more than 20 years of experience in exploration, mine discovery, mine construction and mine operations.

Formed in 2002, Platinum Group holds significant mineral rights in the Bushveld Igneous Complex of South Africa, which is host to over 70% of the world's primary platinum production. The Company is currently focused on moving the Maseve Mine, its first near-surface platinum mine, to commercial production.

Platinum Group has expanded its exploration efforts on the North Limb of the Bushveld Complex on the Waterberg Project. Waterberg represents a new bulk type of platinum, palladium and gold deposit that is being studied for potential mechanized mining.

Qualified Person

R. Michael Jones, P.Eng., the Company's President, Chief Executive Officer and a significant shareholder of the Company, is a non-independent qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects and is responsible for preparing the technical information contained in this news release.

On behalf of the Board of Platinum Group Metals Ltd.

Frank R. Hallam, CFO and Director

Disclosure

The Toronto Stock Exchange and the NYSE MKT LLC have not reviewed and do not accept responsibility for the accuracy or adequacy of this news release, which has been prepared by management.

This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws and forward-looking statements within the meaning of U.S. securities laws (collectively "forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, plans, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. All statements that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, without limitation, the construction, development and ramp up of the Maseve Mine (also known as Project 1 of the former Western Bushveld Joint Venture); operational and economic projections with respect to the Maseve Mine; future activities at Waterberg and the funding of such activities; trends in metal prices; the Company's overall capital requirements and future capital raising activities; plans and estimates regarding exploration, studies, development, construction and production on the Company's properties, other economic projections and the Company's outlook. Statements of resources also constitute forward-looking statements to the extent they represent estimates of mineralization that will be encountered on a property and/or estimates regarding future costs, revenues and other matters. Although the Company believes the forward-looking statements in this press release are reasonable, it can give no assurance that the expectations and assumptions in such statements will prove to be correct. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including; the Company's capital requirements may exceed its current expectations; the uncertainty of operational and economic projections; the ability of the Company to negotiate and complete future funding transactions; variations in market conditions; the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located; metal prices; other prices and costs; currency exchange rates; the Company's ability to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its activities; the Company's ability to produce minerals from its properties successfully or profitably, to continue its projected growth, or to be fully able to implement its business strategies; and other risk factors described in the Company's Form 40-F annual report, annual information form and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and Canadian securities regulators, which may be viewed at www.sec.gov and www.sedar.com, respectively.

Contacts:

R. Michael Jones, President

or Kris Begic, VP, Corporate Development

Platinum Group Metals Ltd., Vancouver

(604) 899-5450 / Toll Free: (866) 899-5450

www.platinumgroupmetals.net




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 -- Golden Arrow Resources Corporation (TSX VENTURE: GRG)(FRANKFURT: GAC) (WKN: A0B6XQ) ("Golden Arrow" or the "Company") is pleased to announce an updated Mineral Resource Estimate prepared in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") for the Company's 100% owned Chinchillas Silver Deposit in Jujuy Province, Argentina.

The recently completed Phase V drill program successfully converted more than fifty million ounces of silver equivalent ("AgEq") resources to the Measured and Indicated ("M+I") categories, at the base cut-off grade. This includes 17 million ounces of AgEq as Measured resources in the central part of the Silver Mantos zone, and expansion of Measured plus Indicated to the north, south and at depth. In addition, the average grade of M+I increased from 125 g/t to 142 g/t AgEq.

The updated resource estimate is 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. Between October 2015 and February 2016, approximately 15,000 metres of diamond drilling was completed at the deposit in the Phase V program. The main objective of the program was to infill the Silver Mantos area of the deposit with sufficient density to convert a significant portion of the resource estimate reported July 31st, 2015 to M+I, as required for the studies being completed by Silver Standard.

Highlights of the Mineral Resource Estimate:

-- New Measured Resource of 17 million ounces of AgEq at 149 g/t AgEq grade. (3.6 million tonnes grading 115g/t silver, 0.56% lead, 0.38% zinc at a 45g/t AgEq cut-off) -- Increase in Indicated Resources by 34 million ounces to 138 million ounces AgEq. (30.6 million tonnes grading 88g/t silver, 0.85% lead, 0.60% zinc at a 45g/t AgEq cut-off) -- Average grade increased from 125g/t AgEq to 142 g/t AgEq in Measured and Indicated. -- Inferred Mineral Resource of 90 million ounces of AgEq at 85 g/t AgEq grade (32.9 million tonnes grading 42g/t silver, 0.44% lead and 0.76% zinc at a 45g/t AgEq cut-off) -- Deposit continues to remain open to expansion

Details of the mineral resource estimate methodology, including metals pricing and equivalency calculations, a comparison with the previous estimate, sensitivity analysis to cut-off grades and sampling QA/QC can be found in the section below.

A NI 43-101 Technical Report supporting disclosure of this mineral resource and containing addition details will be filed by Golden Arrow on SEDAR within 45 days of this press release.

Mineral Resource Estimate Details

Mineral resources, which are not mineral reserves, do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of mineral resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, sociopolitical, marketing, or other relevant issues. The quantity and grade of reported Inferred resources are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to classify these inferred resources as Indicated or Measured, and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in upgrading them to an Indicated or Measured category.

Table 1. Mineral Resource Statement for the Chinchillas Project, April 12, 2016.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- AgEq Ag Pb Zn AgEq Ag Pb Zn Type Mtonnes (g/t) (g/t) (%) (%) (Moz) (Moz) (Mlbs) (Mlbs) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Measured ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Silver Mantos 3.6 149 115 0.56 0.38 17 13 44 30 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Indicated ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Silver Mantos 11.9 118 72 0.63 0.64 45 28 166 168 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mantos Basement 13.6 176 125 1.16 0.27 77 55 347 81 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Socavon 5.0 97 29 0.54 1.37 16 5 59 152 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALL 30.6 141 88 0.85 0.60 138 87 574 401 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Measured and Indicated ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Silver Mantos 15.5 125 82 0.62 0.58 62 41 210 198 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mantos Basement 13.6 176 125 1.16 0.27 77 55 347 81 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Socavon 5.0 97 29 0.54 1.37 16 5 59 152 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALL 34.2 142 91 0.82 0.57 155 100 618 431 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Inferred ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Silver Mantos 4.1 115 58 0.78 0.83 15 8 71 76 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mantos Basement 1.5 107 78 0.64 0.14 5 4 22 5 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Socavon 7.3 79 33 0.37 0.91 18 8 59 146 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Socavon Basement 20.0 79 39 0.39 0.73 51 25 170 321 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALL 32.9 85 42 0.44 0.76 90 44 322 548 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notes to Tables 1,2 and 3:

-- Totals may not add correctly due to rounding -- Mineral resources are contained within a pit shell generated using a silver equivalent price of $25/oz. -- Silver equivalent calculated using the formula: AgEq = Ag g/t + (Pb% (i) 36.09) + (Zn% (i) 36.09) -- Silver equivalent grades, and the base case cut-off grade of 45g/t AgEq, are based on metal prices of $19/oz silver and $1/lb for lead and zinc. -- Recovery is assumed as 90% silver equivalent. -- Mineral resources, which are not mineral reserves, do not have demonstrated economic viability. -- The quantity and grade of reported Inferred resources are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to classify these inferred resources as Indicated or Measured, and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in upgrading them to an Indicated or Measured category.

Table 2. Comparison of the new Mineral Resource Estimate with the July 31, 2015 Estimate

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- AgEq Ag Pb Zn AgEq Ag Pb Zn Date Mtonnes (g/t) (g/t) (%) (%) (Moz) (Moz) (Mlbs) (Mlbs) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Measured + Indicated ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- April 2016 34.2 142 91 0.82 0.57 155 100 618 431 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- July 2015 25.9 125 77 0.66 0.66 104 64 379 379 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Inferred ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- April 2016 32.9 85 42 0.44 0.76 90 44 322 548 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- July 2015 47.2 92 50 0.52 0.64 140 76 544 661 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Table 3. Sensitivity of Resources to Cut-Off Grade

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cut-off AgEq AgEq Ag Pb Zn AgEq Ag Pb Zn (g/t) Mtonnes (g/t) (g/t) (%) (%) (Moz) (Moz) (Mlbs) (Mlbs) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Measured and Indicated ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 30 38.5 130 83 0.75 0.53 161 103 640 453 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 40 35.5 138 89 0.80 0.56 157 101 625 439 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 45 34.2 142 91 0.82 0.57 155 100 618 431 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 50 32.6 146 94 0.85 0.58 153 99 608 420 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 60 29.7 155 101 0.90 0.60 148 96 587 394 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 70 27.0 164 107 0.95 0.61 142 93 564 365 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 80 24.4 173 115 1.00 0.62 136 90 538 334 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 90 21.9 183 123 1.06 0.62 129 86 510 301 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 100 19.6 194 131 1.12 0.62 122 83 482 270 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 110 17.5 204 139 1.17 0.62 115 79 453 241 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 120 15.6 215 148 1.23 0.62 108 75 423 213 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 130 13.9 226 158 1.29 0.61 101 71 394 187 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 140 12.4 238 167 1.34 0.60 95 67 367 165 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 150 11.0 249 177 1.40 0.59 88 63 341 143 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 160 9.8 260 187 1.46 0.58 82 59 316 126 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 170 8.8 272 197 1.51 0.57 77 55 293 111 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Inferred ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 30 40.6 76 37 0.40 0.67 99 49 355 602 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 40 35.5 82 40 0.43 0.73 94 46 335 572 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 45 32.9 85 42 0.44 0.76 90 44 322 548 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 50 30.1 89 44 0.46 0.78 86 42 307 517 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 60 24.1 97 49 0.51 0.83 75 38 271 440 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 70 18.4 107 54 0.57 0.88 63 32 230 359 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 80 13.6 118 61 0.63 0.94 52 27 190 282 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 90 10.2 129 69 0.71 0.98 42 22 158 219 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 100 7.6 141 76 0.79 1.01 34 19 132 170 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 110 5.8 153 83 0.87 1.05 28 15 111 133 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 120 4.4 164 91 0.98 1.05 23 13 95 102 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 130 3.5 175 98 1.08 1.05 19 11 82 80 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 140 2.7 186 105 1.18 1.07 16 9 71 65 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 150 2.2 195 110 1.29 1.08 14 8 63 53 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 160 1.8 205 116 1.40 1.08 12 7 55 42 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 170 1.4 216 122 1.53 1.09 10 6 47 34 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chinchillas Geology Overview

Golden Arrow holds a 100% interest in the Chinchillas project, located in the prolific Bolivian silver-zinc-tin belt which extends into northern Argentina.

Chinchillas is a Tertiary aged volcanic complex that has erupted through the Paleozoic basement schists. The resulting depression or basin, filled with volcanic tuffs and tuff breccias. Shallow disseminated silver, lead and zinc mineralization occurs in thick layers or "mantos" within the tuffs and breccias. A second style of silver, lead and zinc mineralization occurs within the fractures of the brecciated Ordivician basement pelite and sandstone schists beneath.

Silver-lead-zinc mineralization included within the resource model occurs in four units which are differentiated based on host rock and geometry. Mineralization occurs in four main zones: to the west the Silver Mantos area includes the Silver Mantos tuff-hosted zone and the Mantos Basement zone; to the east the Socavon del Diablo area includes the Socavon tuff-hosted zone and the Socavon Basement zone, with the Socavon also including some mineralization hosted in dacite intrusions.

Methodology

The resource estimate was based on data from 276 diamond drill (core) holes containing 34,510 sample assays, with sample data dating to 2007. The majority of drilling on the property has been conducted by Golden Arrow since 2012. A total of 115 new drill holes were added to the database since the previous resource estimate was generated in August 2014.

The mineral resource has been estimated in conformity with generally accepted CIM Estimation of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves Best Practices Guidelines (November, 2003) and reported according to the CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, (May, 2014) in accordance with the Canadian Securities Administrators' (CSA) National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101).

Estimations are made from 3D block models based on geostatistical applications using commercial mine planning software (MineSight v10.6). The model uses a nominal block size of 8 x 8 x 4 m (LxWxH).

The resource estimate has been generated from drill hole sample assay results and the interpretation of a geologic model which relates to the spatial distribution of silver, lead and zinc. Interpolation characteristics were defined based on the geology, drill hole spacing, and geostatistical analysis of the data. The resources were classified according to their proximity to sample data locations related to drill hole spacing.

Due to the polymetallic nature of the deposit, mineral resources were calculated on a silver-equivalent basis (AgEq) using the formula: AgEq = Ag g/t + (Pb% (i) 36.09) + (Zn% (i) 36.09). Silver equivalents (AgEq) are calculated in model blocks, for use in the floating cone algorithm, using the contributions of silver, lead and zinc and include adjustments for metallurgical recoveries. There are no adjustments for mining losses or dilution. Since this is a resource limiting pit shell, and the fact that mineral resources must show reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction, an elevated silver price of $25 per ounce is used to generate the pit shell.

The following technical and economic parameters were used (all prices are in US dollars):

-- Metal prices for Silver Equivalent calculation: silver $19/oz, lead $1/lb, zinc $1/lb -- Metal price used to generate resource limiting pit shell: silver equivalent $25/oz -- Recoveries: 90% silver equivalent. -- Mining cost: $2.45/t -- Process cost: $16/t -- G&A: $8.30/t -- Pit slope: 45 degrees

Based on a $19/oz silver price, the base cut-off grade for the resource is estimated to be 45 g/t silver equivalent.

Quality Assurance and Quality Control

The samples were collected and analyzed in accordance with industry standard practice. The majority of samples analyses were completed by Alex Stewart Assayers, in Mendoza, Argentina, an ISO 9001:2008 and ISO14001: 2004 certified laboratory. All samples were analyzed by method ICP-MA-39 that consists of a four acid digestion followed by ICP-OES detection. Silver results greater than 200 Ag g/t were re-analyzed by fire assay with a gravimetric finish on 50-gram samples. Lead and zinc results greater than 10,000 ppm were re-analyzed by a 3 acid digestion and ICP-OES detection. A small percentage of samples were analysed by ALS Minerals in Mendoza, Argentina. All samples were analyzed by method ME-ICP61 that consists of a four acid digestion followed by ICP-OES detection. Silver results greater than 100 g/t Ag were re-analyzed by fire assay with a gravimetric finish on 50-gram samples. Lead and zinc results greater than 10,000 ppm were re-analyzed by method OG62 that consists of a 4 acids digestion and ICP-OES or AAS detection. A quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) program following industry standard practices was incorporated with the assay program. It consisted of blank, duplicate and standard samples inserted into the drill core sample sequence sent to the laboratory for analysis.

Qualified Persons

The mineral resource estimate and associated information in this news release was prepared under the direction of Robert Sim, P.Geo, SIM Geological Inc. (SGI), with the assistance of Bruce Davis, FAusIMM, BD Resource Consulting, Inc. and input from Brian McEwen, P.Geol. VP Exploration and Development to the Company. Based on education, work experience relevant to this style of mineralization and deposit type, and membership in a recognized professional organization, both Mr. Sim and Mr. Davis are independent Qualified Persons (QP) and Mr. McEwen is a non-independent QP, within the requirements of NI 43-101 for the purpose of the mineral resource estimate contained in this release.

The contents of the news release have been reviewed and approved by Mr. McEwen.

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 Pirquitas silver mine.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Mr. Joseph Grosso, Executive Chairman, President, CEO and Director

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Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. Such forward-looking statements concern the Company's anticipated results and developments in the Company's operations in future periods, planned exploration and development of the Chinchillas project, plans related to its business and other matters that may occur in the future. Statements concerning mineral resource estimates and the interpretation of drill results may also constitute forward-looking statements to the extent that they involve estimates of the mineralization that will be encountered if the Chinchillas project is developed. These statements are based on a number of assumptions which may prove to be incorrect, including, but not limited to, assumptions about the following: assumptions made in the Chinchillas Mineral Resource Estimate, including geological interpretation, grade, recovery rates, silver, zinc and lead price assumptions and operating costs; the availability of financing for exploration and development activities, including Silver Standard Resources Inc. ("SSRI") meeting certain milestones and exercising its election to proceed with the transactions contemplated under the Business Combination Agreement dated September 30, 2015 among the Company, SSRI and certain other parties; the Company's ability to attract and retain skilled staff; the Chinchillas project development schedule; the exchange rates of the Canadian dollar and United States dollar to the Argentina peso; market competition; ongoing relations with impacted communities; and general business and economic conditions.

Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual events or results to differ from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to precious and base metal price fluctuations; risks related to the transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement; risks related to fluctuations in the currency markets (particularly the Argentinean peso, Canadian dollar and United States dollar); risks related to the inherently dangerous activity of mining, including conditions or events beyond our control, and operating or technical difficulties in mineral exploration, development and mining activities; uncertainty in the Company's ability to raise financing and fund the development of the Chinchillas project, including as recommended in the Chinchillas Mineral Resource Estimate; uncertainty as to actual capital costs, operating costs, production and economic returns, and uncertainty that development activities will result in a profitable mining operation at Chinchillas; risks related to mineral resource figures being estimates based on interpretations and assumptions which may result in less mineral production under actual conditions than is currently estimated and to diminishing quantities or grades of mineral resources as properties are mined; risks related to governmental regulations and obtaining necessary licenses and permits; risks related to the business being subject to environmental laws and regulations which may increase costs of doing business and restrict our operations; risks related to the Chinchillas project being subject to prior unregistered agreements, transfers, or claims and other defects in title; risks relating to inadequate insurance or inability to obtain insurance; risks related to potential litigation; risks related to the global economy; and risks related to the Chinchillas project being located in Argentina, including political, economic, social and regulatory instability. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The Company's forward-looking statements are based on beliefs, expectations and opinions of management on the date the statements are made. For the reasons set forth above, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

The information provided in this news release addresses the drill results from the Chinchillas project and is not intended to be a comprehensive review of all matters and developments concerning the Company. It should be read in conjunction with all other disclosure documents of the Company. The information contained herein is not a substitute for detailed investigation or analysis. No securities commission or regulatory authority has reviewed the accuracy or adequacy of the information presented. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements other than as required under applicable law.

We advise U.S. investors that the SEC's mining guidelines strictly prohibit information of this type in documents filed with the SEC. U.S. investors are cautioned that mineral deposits on adjacent properties are not indicative of mineral deposits on our properties.

Contacts:

Golden Arrow Resources Corporation

Corporate Communications

1-604-687-1828 or Toll-Free: 1-800-901-0058

604-687-1858 (FAX)

info@goldenarrowresources.com

www.goldenarrowresources.com




FORT LAUDERDALE, FL -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 -- Scott Keller, Director of Operations for Oceanside Direct, Inc. celebrated 15 years of revolutionizing the way their clients reach target markets in Mach of 2016. Recent projections released a sneak peak of the future growth for the organization, and the future is bright.

Oceanside Direct, Inc. boasts 23 locations throughout the nation with footprints in Florida, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and now Texas. The newest expansion took place in February as Scott assisted Sam Quilice, previous manager of an office in California, in an expansion to Dallas, Texas. With the assistance of Oceanside Direct, Inc.'s management team, Sam launched a brand new campaign in Dallas that is expected to reach record-breaking production numbers within the first few months.

When reviewing the 2016 projections for the organization Scott said, "after the national merger between two of our multi-million dollar clients happened last year, we knew this year was going to be huge. Not long after the merger occurred, we signed a third client, which sealed the deal."

The management team within Oceanside Direct, Inc. is given the opportunity to take part in a training program developed specifically for the clients the organization represents. Scott explains, "A lot of what we teach revolves around life lessons. There is no such thing as 'Success 101' and you surely can't learn to manage and organization through a textbook. We want to teach from experiences." The associates of Oceanside Direct, Inc. learn to manage themselves and the products first. Once the product is mastered, the company offers training for team management, and finally business management.

At the headquarters office in Fort Lauderdale, the entrepreneurial spirit of the organization can be seen as the associates receive one-on-one training from the Director of Operations. The family atmosphere and competitive nature of the organization spans across the nation as well. "We drive personal relationships and we are extremely tight throughout the entire organization because of our regional meetings and our annual Rest and Relaxation trips," says Scott. "We love rewarding hard work and productivity and our team loves to travel." The top representatives and the management team of Oceanside Direct, Inc. are currently planning their annual R&R trip at an undisclosed location in the Dominican Republic this October.

As the end of the first quarter of the new year comes to a close, Scott reflects on the last 15 years and modestly states, "This life is a roller coaster no matter what your profession is, but I would much rather take the ride here, with Oceanside Direct, Inc. than with anyone else."

For more information abut Oceanside Direct, Inc. career opportunities, visit them at www.oceansidedirect.com.

Oceanside Direct, Inc.

Naomi Figueroa

954-901-7681

Email Contact

www.oceansidedirect.com




MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 -- Golden Tag Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: GOG) ("the Company") is pleased to announce that it has signed a letter of intent with Golden Minerals Company ("Golden Minerals") allowing Golden Tag to purchase Golden Mineral's 50% interest in the San Diego Silver Project, Mexico. On completion of the formal purchase agreement, the Company will hold a 100% interest in the project. The proposed terms of purchase call for the payment of $Cdn Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($Cdn500,000) and the issuance of Two Million, Five Hundred Thousand (2,500,000) common shares of Golden Tag. Golden Minerals will also be granted a 2% NSR on the property. Completion of the purchase is subject to the negotiation and execution of binding legal agreements, Golden Tag raising the cash portion of the price (which it is currently seeking to secure) and TSX Venture Exchange acceptance. The LOI contemplates closing must all occur by June 17, 2016.

The Company also announces that it has terminated the option agreement to sell a 50% interest in the Aquilon property with 9395261 Canada Inc. due to failure of the optionee to make required payments. (see Company news release of October 15, 2015) The Company received $80,000 in non-refundable option payments under the terminated option.

Statements in the release that are "forward-looking statements" are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially. We undertake no duty to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statements to actual results or changes in our expectations.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Contacts:

Golden Tag Resources Ltd.

Marc A. Carrier

President & CFO

(514) 426-8542

(514) 426-8543 (FAX)

pres@goldentag.ca

www.goldentag.ca




TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 -- A year has passed since the release of the Ontario Health Coalition's Code Red report on Ontario's hospital cuts crisis. Not only have the cuts continued, in many communities they have deepened.

Ontario is now in the ninth year of real-dollar cuts to global hospital budgets. Patients are paying the price: they are being left on stretchers in hallways, surgeries are being cancelled and vital health services are being privatized, subject to user fees, or moved out of town. Join as the Ontario Health Coalition releases a shocking new report entitled Beyond Limits: Ontario's Deepening Hospital Cuts Crisis.

When and Where: Wednesday April 13, 2016.

10 a.m. The hospital emergency sign at the northwest corner of Gerrard St. W. and Elizabeth St., Toronto.

Will be highly visual with emergency sign as backdrop and giant scissors prop.

11 a.m. Cross-Province Media Teleconference.

Join by teleconference as patients and local health care advocates from across Ontario discuss the devastating cuts in their communities.

To join the conference call, please dial: 1-866-891-6590.

Who: Ontario Health Coalition and local health coalitions from across Ontario.

What: Media conference and teleconference to release shocking new Beyond Limits report on Ontario's deepening hospital cuts crisis.

Contacts:

Ontario Health Coalition

Natalie Mehra

Executive Director

416-441-2502 (office)

416-230-6402 (cell)




GATINEAU, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 04/12/16 -- Public Services and Procurement Canada

Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) today released a Request for Proposal for a web-based procurement service for federal government departments as part of the government's procurement modernization.

This new, modern service will replace the current 20-year-old technology. Moving from a largely paper-based service to an online business model will contribute to greening the Government of Canada's operations. The new procurement service will also speed up and simplify how the government does business and will make it easier for suppliers to find opportunities. The service will allow users to search electronic catalogues for goods and services from pre-qualified suppliers. It will also allow the government to review bids electronically.

The new Government of Canada e-procurement service will be implemented over two years. The contract is expected to be awarded in the fall of 2016.

Quick Facts

- PSPC is one of the largest public buyers in Canada, purchasing approximately $15 billion in goods and services every year, such as office supplies, tires, professional services, and major construction and defence equipment, on behalf of federal departments and agencies.

- PSPC provides acquisition services and support to Government of Canada departments, managing more than 470,000 contracts per year.

Quotes

"Part of my mandate is to modernize government purchasing. Once implemented, our new procurement portal will make procurement practices simpler, greener and less administratively burdensome, and will better support our economic policy goals."

The Honourable Judy M. Foote

Minister of Public Services and Procurement

Associated Links

E-Procurement Solution Request for Proposal

E-Procurement Solution Draft Request for Proposal

E-Procurement Solution Invitation to Qualify

Follow us on Twitter!

Contacts:

Annie Trepanier

Office of the Honourable Judy M. Foote

819-997-5421



Media Relations

Public Services and Procurement Canada

819-420-5501




CALGARY, AB--(Marketwired - April 12, 2016) - Husky Energy will release its first quarter 2016 results after the close of markets on Monday, April 25, 2016. A conference call will be held on Tuesday, April 26 beginning at 8 a.m. Mountain Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time).

CEO Asim Ghosh, COO Rob Peabody, CFO Jon McKenzie and Downstream Senior VP Bob Baird will participate in the call.

Conference Call Details:

To listen live:

Canada and U.S. Toll Free: 1-800-319-4610

Outside Canada and U.S.: 1-604-638-5340

To listen to a recording (after 10 a.m. April 26)

Canada and U.S. Toll Free: 1-800-319-6413

Outside Canada and U.S.: 1-604-638-9010

Passcode: 2658 followed by # sign

Duration: Available until May 29, 2016

Audio webcast: Available for 90 days at www.huskyenergy.com under Investor Relations

Following the call, the Company will hold its Annual Meeting of Shareholders at 10:30 a.m. Mountain Time in Exhibition Hall E, North Building, at the TELUS Convention Centre, 120 - 9 Avenue S.E., Calgary, Alberta.

A live webcast of the meeting will be available at www.huskyenergy.com under Investor Relations. The archived webcasts of the conference call and the meeting will be available for approximately 90 days.

Husky Energy is one of Canada's largest integrated energy companies. It is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and its common shares are publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol HSE. More information is available at www.huskyenergy.com

For further information, please contact:

Investor Inquiries:

Rob Knowles

Manager, Investor Relations

Husky Energy Inc.

587-747-2116



Media Inquiries:

Mel Duvall

Manager, Media & Issues

Husky Energy Inc.

403-513-7602
CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Australia will on Wednesday see April results for the consumer confidence index from Westpac Bank, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. In March, the index slid 2.2 percent to a score of 99.1. Japan will release March numbers for money stock and producer prices. The M2 money stock is expected to hold steady at 3.1 percent, with M3 called unchanged at 2.5 percent. Producer prices are expected to be flat on month after slipping 0.2 percent in February. PPI is called lower by 3.5 percent on year after falling 3.4 percent in the previous month. New Zealand will provide March figures for food prices; in February, prices added 0.2 percent on month but fell 0.6 percent on year. China will release March numbers for imports, exports and trade balance. Imports are expected to fall 8.5 percent on year after losing 13.8 percent in February. Exports are called higher by 4.0 percent after shedding 25.4 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at $33.00 billion, up from $32.59 billion a month earlier. Finally, the markets in South Korea and Thailand are closed on Wednesday, for Election Day and for the Songkran Festival, respectively. The KOSPI will re-open on Thursday, while Thailand is off until Monday. 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.
Forbion Capital Partners, a Naarden, The Netherlands, and Munich, Germany-based life sciences venture capital firm, held the final close of its third main fund, at 183m (approx. $208m).

Forbion Capital Fund III (FCF III) has an investment strategy similar to its predecessor fund, FCF II, aiming to invest the majority of the fund (around 70%) in Europe and the remainder in the US and Canada.

The investment focus is on private companies developing novel drugs, medical devices and diagnostics for high, or even unmet, medical needs.

The fund has already invested in seven portfolio companies, including:

 Engene, a Canadian molecular therapeutics company,

 Rigontec, a German leader in RIG-I targeting RNA therapeutics,

 Replimune, a UK oncolytic immunotherapy company,

 Autonomic Technologies Europe, a German medical device company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative therapies for the treatment of severe headache,

 Sanifit, a Spanish biopharmaceutical company focused on treatments for calcification disorders,

 Staten Biotech and

 Akarna Therapeutics, a UK biopharmaceutical company.

Led by General Partners Holger Reithinger and G-J Mulder, Venture Partners Avi Molcho and Philip Astley-Sparke, Managing Partners Sander van Deventer, Sander Slootweg and Martien van Osch, and Partner Marco Boorsma, Forbion manages three main funds, co-investment venture growth funds and co-manages earlier stage funds with BioGeneration Ventures. With the close of FCF III, the firm now manages well over 700m.

Last year, Forbion was involved in two of the most successful exits of private, European life sciences companies, with the sale of Dezima Pharma to Amgen (total exit value of USD 1.55 billion) and the sale of Acerta Pharma to AstraZeneca (an investment of its affiliate BioGeneration Ventures with a total exit value of USD 7 billion).

In addition to the close, the firm also announced the expansion of its investment team with Matthias Falcenberg, who joined as an Analyst in Munich, from the Max-Planck-Institute of Biochemistry.

FinSMEs

12/04/2016
Sonitor Technologies Inc., an Oslo, Norway- and Stamford, Conn.-based provider of high definition, indoor positioning technologies for real-time visibility and intelligence, raised NOK80m (approx. $9.5m) in funding.

Backers included current shareholders and employees.

The company intends to use the funds to expand into new industry verticals, and continue to invest in the development of its system.

Led by Arne Oyen, President and CEO, Sonitor provides ultrasound-based real-time location systems (RTLS), with patented High Definition Ultrasound capabilities, which are specifically developed and designed for indoor positioning in complex environments. The company has developed Sonitor Sense, a wireless system which supports a wide range of applications to make hospital operations more efficient.

FinSMEs

12/04/2016
Testlio, a San Francisco, CA-based customer-focused mobile app testing company, closed $6.25m in Series A funding.

The round was led by Silicon Valley-based Altos Ventures and Vertex Ventures.

The company intends to use the funds to build out infrastructure in San Francisco and Tallinn, Estonia to support its global customers.

Founded in 2012 by Kristel Viidik and Marko Kruustuk, Testlio is a global testing service provider that allows development teams to enhance their quality assurance function by taking ownership of the test plan management and execution processes. Testlio leverages a vetted global testing community to test software builds, delivering validated bug reports within a customers existing development and testing environment.

FinSMEs

12/04/2016
Suriya is among the most popular actors down South, with a huge fan base across the Telugu and Tamil film industries.

Small wonder then, that interest in the actor's upcoming big summer release  the sci-fi film 24  is extremely high. Marketed as a bilingual (in Tamil and Telugu), 24 is being directed by directed by Vikram Kumar, who had last made the blockbuster Nagarjuna family story Manam in Telugu. 24 has Suriya in a triple role as a scientist and a gangster, while the third role is that of a romantic youngster. The film also has Samantha and Nithya Menen with music by Oscar winner AR Rahman.

The teaser of the film (released a month ago) was a runaway hit on YouTube and had record views. On Monday, it was a double delight for Suriya fans when the Tamil and Telugu audio and trailer of the film were released on the same day (10 April): in the morning at Chennais Sathyam Cinemas and in the evening at the Shilpa Kala Vedhika in Hyderabad.

The trailer is slickly cut and the three characters Suriya plays in the film are something to watch out for. Suriyas body language and variation in dialogue delivery is well brought out in the trailer, which also has him romancing Samantha. The music by AR Rahman is peppy and sure to catch on.

The audio launch in Chennai was unique as not just Suriya, but also his brother (the popular actor Karthi) and father (veteran actor Sivakumar) were all present on the same stage.

Sivakumar spoke in emotional tones about Suriya's talent: "If Kamal Haasan is Sakalakala Vallavan (all rounder) Suriya is a silent Sakalakala Vallavan. He was always a silent child and I could never imagine him becoming such a big star.

About how he took up 24, Suriya said : I chose the film after a nearly 5-hour narration by director Vikram Kumar. The script is amazing and it is different within the commercial format. Rahman initially gave us half an hour to narrate the script, but sat through for hours listening to the script and later sent me a text message  Its going to be an ambitious project and lets work together. Rahman who was also present at the audio launch, smiled as Suriya recounted this anecdote.

A huge turnout of fans was present at the 24 audio launch,clapping and cheering on their favourite star. Suriya had a message for all of them: 24 is an output of our dedication and commitment to making good cinema. Im here today because of you. But I do not take my fans for granted. If my films are good, appreciate them, if they are bad please reject them, only then will I chase good scripts.

Well said!
A day after he filed a petition for anticipatory bail in the Bombay High Court, Rahul Raj Singh  the boyfriend of Balika Vadhu actress Pratyusha Banerjee  was granted interim relief by the court.

After hearing his bail application, the High Court ruled that the TV actor-producer "not be arrested for the next one week".

The court's ruling grants Rahul a measure of relief. He had approached the Bombay HC after his previous plea for bail was turned down by a sessions court.

The reprieve offered by the HC, however, is temporary as Rahul has been asked to present himself to the police after a week.

Justice Mridula Bhatkar asked Rahul to appear before the Bangur Nagar Police Station in Goregaon West daily for two hours from Wednesday till 18 April, and in case he was arrested, he should be released on a bond of Rs30,000.

His lawyer Abad Ponda said the actor was currently in hospital and the FIR copy was not provided to him though police has filed a report before the court.

Pratyusha Banerjee allegedly committed suicide on 1 April. Rahul, who had rushed her to hospital, was questioned by the police for two days in connection with the incident. He then complained of chest pain and was admitted to hospital.

On 5 April, Rahul was booked by the police for abetting Pratyusha's suicide. However, since he was still in hospital, the police could not arrest him.

Yesterday, the doctors overseeing him, said that Rahul's health was improving and that he would be discharged within the next couple of days.

Rahul's case suffered a setback when his lawyer Neeraj Gupta withdrew from the case, citing 'humanitarian' reasons.

Gupta claimed that Rahul and his family had kept back several crucial details about the case from him. In the meantime, Rahul has hired the services of a new lawyer.

Ever since Pratyusha's death came to light, the TV fraternity has stepped forward with tales of a troubled relationship. Several have laid accusations of abuse and cheating at Rahul's doorstep.

Pratyusha's parents  Soma and Shankar Banerjee  have also spoken out against their daughter's relationship with Rahul, which they have said was more troubled than they had been led to believe. In fact, it was on the basis of a fresh statement from Soma Banerjee that the police booked Rahul for abetment.

Rahul has steadily professed his innocence in the meantime and has asserted that he and Pratyusha were deeply in love.
New Delhi: Bharti Airtel on Monday said its mobile commerce subsidiary, Airtel M Commerce Services, has received payments bank licence from the Reserve Bank of India.

"We are pleased to inform you that Airtel M Commerce Services Limited (AMSL), a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel Limited has been granted payments bank licence from Reserve Bank of India on April 11, 2016," Airtel said in a regulatory filing.

RBI in August last had given in-principle to the company, which operates under brand name of Airtel Money, along with 10 others, including Reliance Industries, Aditya Birla Nuvo, Vodafone m-pesa, Department of Posts, for starting operations as a payments bank.

The Payments Bank will be set up as a differentiated bank and shall confine its activities to acceptance of demand deposits, remittance services, Internet banking and other specified services, as per RBI notification.

Payments Banks will initially be restricted to holding a maximum balance of Rs 1 lakh per individual customer. They will be allowed to issue ATM/debit cards as also other prepaid payment instruments, but not the credit cards.

These banks can also distribute non-risk sharing simple financial products like mutual funds and insurance products. They will not be allowed to undertake lending services and non resident Indians will not be allowed to open accounts.
Conquest, the 11 year-old BITS Pilani is gearing up for its 12th edition of the annual International Startup Challenge which begins in April. The finale will be held in the last week of August or first week of September.

From among the applicants, the top 50 will be shortlisted by investors and VCs. This year Conquest has widened its outreach with incubation partners in Asia and South-East Asian countries. Unlike every year where the top 50 shortlisted start-ups get introduced and connected with VCs and investors after the finale, this time they will be introduced to them before the finale.

It offers incubation opportunities, networking sessions with industry leaders, funding opportunities and equityless cash prize of Rs 3 lakh. It also provides a million dollar worth startup resources for the top 50 shortlisted start-ups.

Mentoring sessions will be held in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bangalore while the finale will be held in Delhi in the last week of August or first week of September.

Conquest began as an in-house event for students of the campus. In time, it has expanded its scope to what it is today.

The challenge has been backed by investors from over 13 investment firms and industry bigwigs like Neeru Sharma, CEO at Infibeam, Satyen Kothari, MD at Citrus Pay and Samay Kohli, CEO at GreyOrange Robotics, Rohit Bansal, COO at Snapdeal as mentors and judges in its past editions.

Commenting on his associations with Conquest, Sanjay Nath, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Blume Ventures said, I was pleasantly surprised by the variety (covering both BITSian founded as well as other startups) and maturity of startups at the Conquest finale. I'd encourage more startups to tap into such start-up friendly platforms to grow.

Dhairik Fuletra, CEO at Conquest, says, "We provide them [start-ups] with the perfect platform to launch their venture in the form of networking and funding opportunities.

Conquest focused the so-far untapped start-ups in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities of the country and provides them an opportunity to be on equal footing with ventures across the globe.

Some of Conquest winners in the past include Gamezop, iTraveller, PosterGully, GharPay (Acquired by Delhivery) and Voonik. Gamezop, the runner-up of Conquest 15, raised a funding of USD 350,000 after Conquest Grand Finale. Gaurav and Yashash, the Agarwal siblings, who founded Gamezop in 2015, have been featured in Forbes 30 under 30 this year.

The Application Process

Participants are required to fill a form on the Conquest website  www.conquest.org.in. The Jury, a panel of entrepreneurs and investors, will screen the applications based on various parameters gauging the startup performance. The semifinalists would get personalized mentoring across five major cities in India, wherein the teams will be offered to choose their own mentors. In the finale, shortlisted candidates will get an opportunity to interact with industrialists and a pitching opportunity to the biggest VC firms.

Registrations for participation close on April 20, 2016.

(Disclaimer: FirstPost is media partner, Conquest 2016)
London - Tata Steel agreed to sell one of its main British steelworks to investment firm Greybull Capital for 1 pound on Monday, saving a third of the 15,000 jobs placed in jeopardy by the Indian conglomerate's decision to sell up in Britain.

Prime Minister David Cameron has been under pressure to keep the plants open to save jobs after Tata, one of the world's biggest steelmakers, said on March 30 it would sell its loss-making British business.

As Tata formally appointed advisers for the sale of its steel assets in Britain, turnaround specialist Greybull Capital LLP said it would buy the Indian company's Long Products Europe division in Scunthorpe, northern England, which employs 4,400.

It declined to rule out further purchases of Tata's British steel assets, including its plant at Port Talbot in Wales, while British Business Secretary Sajid Javid said the government would consider jointly investing with a buyer to secure the sale of the Indian group's other UK assets.

"I've been in contact with potential buyers, making clear that the government stands ready to help," Javid told parliament. "This includes looking at the possibility of co-investing with a buyer on commercial terms."

The sale to Greybull - for a nominal pound or 1 euro - includes a 400 million pound ($570 mln) investment and financing package for the Scunthorpe business, as well as agreements with suppliers and unions on cutting costs.

"We're expecting no redundancies going forward, the business plan calls for no redundancies," Greybull co-founder Marc Meyohas told reporters on a conference call.

The Greybull deal, which is subject to a ballot by union members, includes two additional mills, an engineering workshop and a design consultancy in Britain, plus a mill in Hayange, in northeast France.

The purchase will see the business renamed 'British Steel', in a revival of a historic name last used almost two decades ago.

Cameron, already grappling with a divided ruling party ahead of a June 23 referendum on membership of the European Union, has been scrambling to try to find buyers for Tata's steel operations, to save jobs.

Britain's eurosceptic media has blamed Brussels for preventing London from taking greater steps to protect the steel industry, while the opposition Labour Party has called on Cameron to do more to save the plants.

Tata, which owns iconic brands such as Jaguar Land Rover and Tetley Tea, is offloading its British steel operations, citing a global oversupply of steel and cheap imports from China, high costs and weak domestic demand.

British Steel?

The deal for the Scunthorpe plant, which Tata had been trying to sell since 2014 before revealing talks with Greybull were underway in December, is expected to complete in eight weeks subject to certain conditions being met.

Greybull, which is not taking on pension liabilities, said about half of the 400 million pound package would come from shareholders of Greybull and half from banks and government loans.

"Were expecting the company to be profitable in year one and thats very much the management plan," said Meyohas, who co-founded Greybull in 2008 after 12 years as CEO of technology services company Cityspace.

Though the deal is positive for the Scunthorpe workers, there is deep unease in Port Talbot, Britain's biggest steel plant, where 4,000 people could be out of a job if Tata fails to find a buyer.

Tata appointed KPMG as adviser on the sale process for its UK assets while Slaughter and May was appointed its legal adviser on the sales.

"While very welcome it does not mean that we are out of the woods yet," said Gareth Stace, director of trade association UK Steel.

"A long-term investor is needed, in the very short term, for the remainder of the whole of the Tata Steel UK business, including Port Talbot," said Stace.

Javid said the government had appointed Ernst and Young to act as its financial advisers on any deal for Tata's other British assets.

However, he said that despite government support, he couldn't guarantee there would not be further job losses across the industry.

Scunthorpe produces steel mainly used in construction and infrastructure projects, whereas Port Talbot produces slab, hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized coil which is used in products from cars to washing machines to food cans.

Finding buyers for Port Talbot and Tata's other assets, could take some time given the complexity of any deal, including negotiations over everything from pensions liabilities to energy subsidies.

Greybull said to date it had been wholly focused on the Scunthorpe deal, but declined to rule out future interest in the Port Talbot plant.

"Whether it's Tata or any other assets, we'll review it as and when is appropriate," Meyohas said.

Another potential bidder for the Port Talbot plant is Sanjeev Gupta, the boss of metals trader Liberty House Group.

"Loss-Making"

Gupta told Reuters on Friday that he was serious about making an offer and had the backing of a group with $7 billion of revenues, hitting back at critics who have questioned his capacity to take on a business dragged down by heavy debt and weak sales.

However, much will depend on how much any potential investor is willing to pay to even hope of turning around the business.

"It's a loss-making business and a loss-making business is not worth a lot in itself to buy," Gupta said. "It's more of a question of what are the resources required in turning it around."

Tata, under former Chairman Ratan Tata, bought its UK steel operations in 2007 by purchasing Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus for $12 billion as a way to access the European market.

But the Indian conglomerate, controlled by philanthropic trusts endowed by the Tata family, struggled to turn the steelmaker around.

Like competitors such as ArcelorMittal, the world's top steel producer, Tata has been hit by plunging prices due to overcapacity in China, the world's biggest market for the alloy.

China said on Monday it wants to work with the rest of the world to find an appropriate resolution to overcapacity in the steel sector, after Britain asked Beijing to hurry up and tackle the problem.

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.
The deepening scandal initiated by a massive leak of financial documents from a Panama-based law firm, Mossack Fonseca and Co. has once again highlighted the glaring loopholes in the global financial system  which is at once big news and tediously familiar. One may concur with the shock at corruption in Russia, involvement of political leaders from various countries, and the fact that the leaks have prompted a political crisis in Iceland.

However, the Panama Papers only point towards what has always been in plain sight  crime, violence, corruption and inequality are directly aided by financial secrecy offered to the rich and powerful through tax havens and enablers (institutions or individuals like lawyers and accountants) of such secrecy and illicit wealth. While Mossack Fonseca offers a range of services, its specialty lies in helping foreigners set up shell companies in Panama, and in a range of notorious tax havens around the world.

Mechanisms of secrecy

A shell company or an anonymous company (though not all shell companies are anonymous) are entities used to disguise the identity of their true human owner  the person(s) who ultimately control or profit from the company. These people are also known as the beneficial owners. Anonymous companies often have very few or no employees at all, and most dont conduct any real business. However, they are legally eligible to make financial transactions, shift capital globally, buy a million-dollar yacht or a penthouse in Monaco. The problem gets further complicated when a company is owned by an anonymous company  looking a little like Russian Matryoshka dolls of different sizes placed one inside another  making it close to impossible to trace the profits back to the true beneficial owner.

The picture becomes even more intriguing when tax havens or secrecy jurisdictions come into play. Tax havens are countries or jurisdictions that offer extremely low tax rates, secrecy in various forms, avoidance of financial regulations and criminal laws, and escape from corporate governance rules. Tax havens also change their laws for wealthy individuals and organizations located elsewhere, thus making them offshore secrecy jurisdictions. They are thus the perfect place to go if an individual or company does not want to want to declare their income, wealth or assets. 98 percent of the companies listed on the London Stock Exchange have subsidiaries located in tax havens.

In 2009, Barack Obama had pointed towards Ugland House in Cayman Islands being home to 12,000 US-based corporations; while overlooking the fact that there are 217,000 companies housed at 1209 Orange Street, Wilmington, in the American state of Delaware. Tax havens are therefore not palm-fringed island nations alone  such financial havens range from small island jurisdictions to financial centres such as the City of London and New York.

Estimates and consequences of secrecy

Tax havens and the use of anonymous companies have complex and wide-ranging effects. Offshore bank accounts are not used by drug dealers and money launderers alone  they are also used by the rich who do not want to pay their fair share of taxes. According to Gabriel Zucman, an economist at University of California, Berkeley, 8 percent of global wealth or $7.6 trillion sits in offshore tax havens  half of which belongs to developing countries. A 2012 study by James S. Henry of the Tax Justice Network (an independent think tank striving to achieve fair tax systems) had estimated that at least $21$32 trillion have been invested virtually tax-free through secrecy jurisdictions. There are many who believe that both these estimates could be very conservative.

A recent report by Oxfam, a global confederation of affiliated organizations working to alleviate poverty and inequality, reveals that in 2015, 62 individuals had as much wealth as 3.6 billion people  the bottom half of humanity. Between 2010 and 2015, the wealth of the poorer half of the worlds population fell by over $1 trillion. The people benefitting from the global economy are those at the top, simply because our economic system is heavily skewed in their favour  and maybe increasingly so. Clearly, wealth is not trickling downwards; it is instead being sucked upwards. Such stark economic inequality undermines growth and social cohesion, while further aggravating gender inequality and other social inequalities.

At the heart of such gross inequality lie tax havens or secrecy jurisdictions. The rich are not getting richer merely by way of increased economic activity  they are getting richer by avoiding taxes through the vast network of tax havens and intermediary institutions that enable flows of illicit wealth and facilitate sweetheart deals for them. There are different estimates regarding global GDP that goes untaxed, due to schemes outlined in the Panama Papers, and the figure could be anywhere between 10 to 25 per cent of global GDP.

A study by Washington-based think tank, Global Financial Integrity (GFI) reveals that in 2013 alone, developing countries worldwide lost over $1 trillion to illicit financial flows  money that is illegally earned, utilized or transferred. Thats trillion with a T. India lost over $510 billion to illicit financial flows between 2004 and 2013, averaging $51 billion every year over the decade for which data is available. While crimes such as drug trafficking, smuggling and money laundering definitely contribute to the illicit or shadow economy, the study concludes that 83.4 per cent of illicit financial flows result from trade mis-invoicing.

However, contrary to popular imagination, these illicit flows dont always result in fat bank accounts sitting in tax havens  a significant portion of offshore wealth makes its way back into the country through reinvestment and conversion into different forms of assets, such as securities, real estate or bullions, through a process called round-tripping.

The dominant market fundamentalist view holds that low taxes (or tax incentives) for wealthy individuals and multinational corporations are necessary for economic growth. It is in fact the richest individuals and companies who should be paying higher taxes than the rest of the populace. This leads governments of developing nations to lower taxes on businesses and rich individuals in what has been termed a race to the bottom. However, research shows that lower taxes and tax incentives are not necessarily the only driving factor for foreign investment in an economy.

Tax dodging and stowing away of untaxed and unaccounted for income by wealthy individuals and big businesses pinch government budgets, in turn leading to cuts in crucial public services. Governments also turn to greater indirect taxation (like the Value Added Tax or Goods and Services Tax) to compensate for the shrinking revenue, disproportionately affecting poorer sections of the population. The effects of tax competition and tax avoidance alone cost developing countries across the world around $50 billion a year  and this estimate does not even include transfer mispricing or under-reporting of profits.

What can be done?

The stir caused by the Panama Papers is staggering. However, these documents have been leaked from a single law firm in only one secrecy jurisdiction. The Panama Papers are not the tip of the iceberg  they are a mere speck of ice in the entire iceberg.

There are solutions though. Countries across the world should invest in staffing their tax departments adequately and increasing capacity. Its only going to mean more efficient collection of revenue.

Jurisdictions could create black-lists which would refuse company registration where an entity,

shareholder or partners are based in secrecy jurisdictions such as Panama. The EU has gone a step ahead and is contemplating a withholding tax (on the lines of the United States federal law FATCA, or the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) on jurisdictions which do not share information reciprocally. Finally, all countries should implement a register of beneficial owners of firms and entities in their respective jurisdictions, which should be available in the public domain.

Getting it right in India

A proposal for registering significant beneficial owners  persons with beneficial interests of not less than 25 percent in the shares of a company or significant control or influence over the company  by way of a declaration to the company, has been included in The Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2016 introduced in the Lok Sabha on March 16, 2016. However, the amendment does not include public registries for beneficial owners. It remains to be seen if the political will of the government to clamp down on the shadow economy is going to spell into meaningful measures. We could get it right the first time, by implementing registries of beneficial owners available in the public domain.

The author works with Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA), New Delhi. She can be reached at neeti@cbgaindia.org. Views are personal.
Given the trend of questioning in the Supreme Court, where women activists are fighting a ban on the entry of menstruating women in Sabarimala, it is clear that the temple authorities are fighting a losing battle.

On 11 April, the Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra asked questions that cannot but indicate how the case is going. Among the questions asked: What right does the temple have to forbid women from entering any part of the temple? Every argument has to meet the test of constitutionality.

Then: Can you deny a woman her right to climb Mount Everest? The reasons banning anything must be common for all.

Or take these questions and observations: Why this kind of classification for devotees to visit the temple? We are on constitutional principles. Gender discrimination in such matters is untenable. You cannot create corrosion or erosion in constitutional values.

And, finally: We will be guided by (a) rational dimension and that is the Constitution. I just believe in the Constitution.

The last one takes the cake. When did anything with a religious dimension have pure rationalism as its core? In fact, our Constitution itself hardly passes the test of rationality in the way it framed provisions on religious rights.

Our constitution has an imbalanced approach to religious issues. In fact, it ties itself in knots by professing one high principle in one place, and then allowing exceptions to this principle in other places when it involves another community.

The contrast with the US Constitution is stark. The US Constitution has just 16 words to describe its approach to religious freedom, while we have multiple articles in our tome. The first amendment to the US Constitution, which deals with religious and other freedoms, has this to say:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

This simple sentence allows religious groups to practice what they preach: this could include the right to discriminate against homosexuals, oppose abortion, or practice polygamy (Mormons) or whatever, as long as an individual claims it is part of his or her religious faith or practice.

India, on the other hand, has elements in the constitution that say contradictory things. One part will say such laws will apply only to Hindus (including Sikhs, etc), and another says some laws will not apply to others. Our constitution is egalitarian in spirit, but discriminatory in many of its provisions.

Thus, civil laws will apply to Hindus, but not minorities.

Thus, you can make laws that discriminate against beef-eating, and still claim you dont discriminate against minorities who want to eat beef.

Thus, you can make laws (like the Right to Education) that are supposed to be applicable to all, but not minority-unaided institutions.

Thus, you can profess the right to religious freedom, but states can also put in laws to hinder it.

This is why the Supreme Court can claim it is following the constitution, even while defeating the spirit of it.

The real villains are Articles 25, 29 and 30. Article 25 gives the state the right to interfere in how Hindu temples are run, but articles 29 and 30 give minorities the right to run their own institutions according to their own traditions and culture. This is why Sabarimala is a losing battle, but Haji Ali may not be.

Article 25 is about Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion.

It says: (1) Subject to public order, morality and health and to the other provisions of this Part, all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion.

This should have given Sabarimala the space to argue that its practices are part of its religious belief, but there is an important but in Article 25.

It says: (2) Nothing in this article shall affect the operation of any existing law or prevent the state from making any law

(a) regulating or restricting any economic, financial, political or other secular activity which may be associated with religious practice;

(b) providing for social welfare and reform or the throwing open of Hindu religious institutions of a public character to all classes and sections of Hindus.

Article 25(2)(b) would thus allow the Supreme Court, if not the government, to claim that Sabarimala is an institution of public character and should be open to all classes and sections of Hindus.

Given the recent tendency of the Supreme Court to make the law rather than just interpret it, the fact that the Kerala government is on the Sabarimala temples side may not matter much.

On the other hand, Article 29 gives minorities the right to protect their culture and institutions. It says, inter alia, that (1) Any section of the citizens residing in the territory of India or any part thereof having a distinct language, script or culture of its own shall have the right to conserve the same.

If Sabarimala had not been covered under Article 25(2)(b) which gives the state the right to enforce its own idea of egalitarianism, it could have claimed protection under Article 29. Article 29 negates a part of the ideas in Article 25. Giving minorities a right not enjoyed by a majority is essentially iniquitous, but the Supreme Court may not spend much time discussing this anomaly.

Clearly, the Indian Constitution is a mish-mash of contradictory provisions. It needs to be seriously rewritten.

This is not to say that Sabarimala is right to keep out menstruating women, but we cant deny that our laws are wonky.
New Delhi: A CRPF officer, who suffered severe IED splinter injuries and had slipped into coma for a month after an anti-Naxal operation in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, on Tuesday died at a hospital in Hyderabad.

The officer, Deputy Commandant BK Shyam Niwas, had been under intensive care of doctors due to grievous injuries on his head during an operation that took place on March 11.

"After showing signs of recovery, the officer eventually succumbed to injuries at around 8:30 am with his family by his side at a hospital in Hyderabad," a senior officer of the paramilitary said.

45-year-old Niwas, a veteran of numerous successful anti-Naxal and counter-insurgency operations, is survived by his wife, a teenaged daughter and son. He was airlifted after the blast from Sukma to Bhadrachalam and subsequently to Hyderabad.

The officer, hailing from Keshogiri in Ranga Reddy district of Andhra Pradesh, had joined the country's largest paramilitary in 1993 as a Sub-Inspector and rose through the ranks by way of getting out-of-turn promotions by the sheer dint of his dare-devil exploits in operations.

The incident in which Niwas got injured occurred under the Konta block of the worst Maoist violence affected Sukma district of the state when a squad of the 217th battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force men were securing an under-construction road and subsequently some Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) were recovered.

While the bomb disposal squad was trying to defuse it under Niwas's close supervision, the IED blasted causing serious injuries to him, his colleague and another Deputy Commandant Prabhakar Tripathi and Head Constable Ranga Raghavan.

Raghavan had succumbed to his injuries the same day when they were being evacuated to Hyderabad while Tripathi is stable now.

CRPF Director General K Durga Prasad described the slain officer a brave and gallant commander.

"His martyrdom is an irreparable loss to to the family and the force. The force stands by the aggrieved family in their hour of grief," he said.

CRPF said Niwas was a "gallant officer and he served with great distinction in Punjab, Northeast and Chhattisgarh and was involved in many successful operations against the Maoists.

"He achieved martyrdom leading one such operation. He was very popular amongst his peers and subordinates alike for his sense of responsibility and leadership traits."

A senior officer said IEDs have become a menace for security forces operating in Left Wing Extremism affected areas and Niwas's death is yet another example how the Maoists are using these hidden deadly bombs to maim and kill these personnel.

Parts of south Bastar in Chhattisgarh and other states have witnessed an increasing usage of IEDs since May last year.

Early this month, Naxals had used a deadly cocktail of IEDs, explosives and trigger wires to target a civil CRPF vehicle killing seven personnel in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh.
The fire that broke out on Tuesday morning in a garment factory in Bhiwandi has been doused, officials confirmed. More than 200 residents have been rescued and firefighters are in the process of clearing the fumes.

Seven residents of the nearby area who helped the firefighters save the people trapped were injured in the rescue operation and one is in critical condition, an official said.

An officer from the fire brigade present at the spot said that the four-storey building had a powerloom on the ground floor and private residences on the rest of the floors. An elderly lady who lives in the building was rushed to Sion Hospital for stress-related issues.

Many residents tried to escape from the second floor with the help of firefighters. Others broke an iron gate on the fourth floor to reach the terrace so the firefighters could rescue them. The building was only two years old and the officials are yet to determine the cause of the fire.

The fire broke out at 6 am. Four fire engines from Bhiwandi were sent to the area.

Fire tenders from Thane and Kalyan were also called to the spot for rescue efforts.

Ambulances and four water tankers were rushed to the spot to battle the fire.
New Delhi: Army on Tuesday ordered inquiry into the killing of two youths in Handwara in North Kashmir during alleged firing by Armymen as Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said such incidents have a "negative impact" on the state government's efforts to consolidate peace efforts.

The decision of holding an inquiry was conveyed by Lt Gen D S Hooda, heading the strategic Udhampur-based Northern Command, to the Chief Minister who had called him to ascretain the situation on the ground.

Expressing grief over the incident, Mehbooba, who is here on her maiden visit after taking over the reins of the state, called Lt Gen Hooda who informed her that the Army has already ordered an inquiry into the incident and that tangible action will be taken once the probe is completed, an official statement said.

Mehbooba said that security personnel involved in the killing of two youths in Handwara will be handed exemplary punishment, saying such incidents "cannot" be tolerated.

The Army officer informed that he would look into the demand of the locals in Handwara area for shifting of a bunker.

The Chief Minister said such tragic incidents have a huge negative impact on the efforts of the government and the political leadership aimed at consolidating the peace efforts in the State.

She said the security forces must exercise maximum restraint and adhere to the Standing Operating Procedure (SOP) while dealing with the public protests as incidents of innocent killings cannot be tolerated.

The Chief Minister has expressed solidarity with the families of the two youth.

According to Jammu and Kashmir police, an alleged incident of "misbehaviour/molestation" by an army man took place in Handwara town.

"Within minutes public in large numbers gathered there and attacked the army bunker in Handwara chowk. They assaulted the personnel deployed there, ransacked the bunker and attempted to set fire to the bunker," a police spokesman said.

In retaliation the security forces deployed used force to disperse the violent rampaging mob and in the process two individuals namely Mohammad Iqbal and Nayeem Qadir Bhat were killed.

A criminal case has been registered in Police Station Handwara and investigation launched to ascertain the facts, the spokesman said.
Srinagar: National Conference, Congress and CPI(M) on Tuesday demanded action against those involved in the firing in Handwara in Kashmir Valley in which two youths were killed and said the guilty be brought to book without any delay.

NC President Farooq Abdullah and Working President Omar Abdullah said the onus was on Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to ensure that the truth comes to the fore without any delay and the guilty are brought to book.

They expressed grief and sorrow over the incident and conveyed their solidarity with the families of the two youths, a party spokesman said in Srinagar.

Condemning the firing by security forces, Congress and CPI(M) demanded a probe into the killing of two youths.

"Expressing deep shock and grief over loss of two precious lives in Handwara, JPCC President G A Mir has strongly condemned the firing by army personnel," a PCC spokesman said.

He said the "unfortunate incident could have been avoided" and demanded a probe into the incident, "so that the truth comes out and the guilty personnel are punished".

CPI(M) MLA from Kulgam Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami also condemned the firing in Handwara town and demanded a time-bound judicial probe into the incident.

"The alleged incident of molestation of a girl and subsequent killing of two youth in firing during protests is highly condemnable and heinous act which cannot be tolerated in any civilised society," Tarigami said.

He demanded that the authorities take action against those involved in the incident.

Hardline Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani called for shutdown across Kashmir tomorrow to protest

the killing of the two youths.

Moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq also condemned the firing by security forces.
Chandigarh: After denying outright any incidents of rapes during the violent Jat agitation in February this year, the Haryana government on Monday admitted to the Punjab and Haryana High Court that there could be a possibility that rapes could have happened then.

The admission by the Haryana government came up during hearing of a case by the high court here on Monday.

Submitting a report by way of an affidavit filed by Inspector General of Police, South Range-cum-in-charge, Special Investigation Team (SIT), Mamta Singh, the state police has include section 376-D (rape) of the Indian Penal Code to the FIR No. 118 registered on 30 March this year regarding the incidents at along National Highway No. 1 (NH-1) near Murthal in Haryana's Sonipat district.

The section (of rape) has been included on the basis of complaint of Delhi resident Bobby Joshi that women were allegedly sexually assaulted by the agitators. The state government said that it had received anonymous letters alleging that the rapes took place.

In February this year, the Haryana government had emphatically told the high court that no such incidents of rape or molestation were reported from Sonipat district during the Jat agitation. The government had submitted a status report in the high court in this regard.

The preliminary status report was submitted following investigations into the mass gang-rape allegations by an all-women SIT constituted by the Haryana government. The SIT report said that no victim of the alleged mass gang rape or molestation had come forward to complain.

The high court, taking suo moto notice of the reports in the media about the mass gang rapes, had asked the Haryana government and police to submit a status report.

It had appointed lawyer Anupam Gupta as amicus curie in the matter.

The high court on Monday also questioned the Manohar Lal Khattar government on the appointment of the Parkash Singh Committee to look into the incidents of violence during the Jat agitation, asking it to clarify its constitutional and legal status.

At least 30 people were killed and over 320 injured in the nine-day long Jat agitation for reservation.
Seven people who fled after the Kerala temple fire killed at least 116 people at Kollam, have surrendered to police to face prosecution, police said on Tuesday.

Police officer Gupakumar said the seven were taken into custody late Monday after a two-day hunt by police.

Police are investigating temple board members and associates of firework contractors for possible charges of attempted murder and culpable homicide, both punishable by life imprisonment, and illegally storing a cache of explosives.

Police questioned five workers on Monday about fireworks stored at the site, hoping to learn more about who owned the fireworks and who had contracted the pyrotechnical display, police constable R. Unnikrishnan Nair said. The five were later released.

According to a report in The Hindu, at around 2:30 am, nearly an hour before the tragedy occurred, two of the fireworks operators were injured after an explosion on the ground. This was first of the four set 'Suryakanti' fireworks show at the Puttingal Devi temple.

The two operators were rushed to the hospital, sustaining only minor injuries, and loud announcements asking the crowd to clear the ground for the ambulance were made.

The show was resumed at about 3 am when the second in the four set 'Suryakanti' fireworks also misfired and injured a couple of other operators. They also sustained minor injured and were immediately rushed to the hospital, reports The Hindu.

The first two sets should have served as a warning sign, but they were blatantly ignored as at 3:10 am the third set of crackers were fired and it was successful. At 3:20 am the fourth set of fireworks were set aflame, which gravely misfired and lead to the loss of atleast 116 lives and injured 383 people.

Villagers and police had to pull many of the injured out from under slabs of concrete and twisted steel girders. Rescuers searched the wreckage for survivors, while backhoes cleared debris and thousands of worried relatives went to the temple to search for loved ones.

The temple holds a competitive fireworks show every year, with different groups putting on displays for thousands gathered for the end of a seven-day festival honoring the goddess Bhadrakali, a southern Indian incarnation of the Hindu goddess Kali.

Oommen Chandy, the state's chief minister, said he had appointed a retired judge to investigate the events leading to the fire and that action would be taken against those who had ignored rules.

With inputs from AP
Two days after the fireworks tragedy at Puttingal Devi temple in Paravur in Kollam that left at least 116 people dead and more than 380 injured, the police on Tuesday recorded the arrest of 13 temple officials as the Kerala High Court said that a CBI inquiry should be launched into the tragedy.

Kerala HC observes, #PuttingalTempleFire matter should be inquired by CBI.  ANI (@ANI_news) April 12, 2016

Thirteen persons, including members of the managing commitee of the Puttingal Devi Temple, were today arrested in connection with the fireworks mishap there in which 110 people have died, police said.

The arrested included seven members of the managing committee and six workers of the two contractors, who carried out the fireworks display on the final day of the seven-day long festival early Sunday.

The arrests were made by the police after day-long questioning, sources said.

In a dramatic move, the temple trust's President Jayalal, Secretary J Krishnankutty and members Shivaprasad, Surendran Pillai, Ravindran Pillai had surrendered before the Crime Branch police in the wee hours of Tuesday.

Two other managing committee members Srendranathan Pillai and Murugesan were picked by police here this morning.

Other six workers of the two contractors who carried out the fireworks disply were also picked by police after the accident.

A Crime Branch probe into the fire tragedy is currently underway.

According to reports, authorities in Kollam on Tuesday began taking steps to conduct DNA tests on unclaimed bodies as 21 people remained missing after the tragedy. Officials said the health department had told the family members of those missing to reach Kollam on Wednesday.

They have been asked to bring identity proof of the missing ones and provide samples of their blood at a special counter at the Kollam district hospital. While the Kerala government informed the court that fireworks were not allowed to be taken inside the temple premises, the High Court questioned how the police could have permitted the inflammable substances inside, ANI reported.

The court also directed the police and the district administration to submit a separate affidavit on the incident, saying strict action needs to be taken against those involved for "dereliction of duty". Besides temple authorities, the court also held the revenue department responsible for the mishap.

Kerala HC: Police and the district administration need to submit a separate affidavit on the same #PuttingalTempleFire  ANI (@ANI_news) April 12, 2016

Strict action needs to be taken against those who have been involved In dereliction of duty: Kerala HC #PuttingalTempleFire  ANI (@ANI_news) April 12, 2016

Kerala HC asks State Govt "Why did Police allow the fireworks then, why didnt they stop the fireworks?" #PuttingalTempleFire  ANI (@ANI_news) April 12, 2016

No permission given for fireworks inside temple, says State Govt tells Kerala HC. HC asked "how did fireworks happen without permission?"  ANI (@ANI_news) April 12, 2016
Latur: Bhaurao Limbaji Raut, a farmer from Gangapur village in Latur district, was an unassuming man. The 39-year-old farmer had a family of 10 to support. Since income from agriculture was meagre, he had started a small side business of selling milk. He owned 1.5 acres of land. But, like with most farmers in Marathwada, three years of drought had taken a toll.

His father and brother were diagnosed with cancer, his niece was of marriageable age and the day-to-day expenses were increasing. He took loans to pay the bills, but was unable to repay them. He never told anyone about his financial worries: not family, nor friends. No one had a clue. Neither his body language nor speech betrayed to anyone in the close-knit village community the psychological impact of his financial liabilities.

On the morning of 14 October, 2015, Bhaurao walked to his farm before the crack of dawn, threw a noose around a branch and hung himself.

In a note that he left behind, he wrote: I am committing suicide, please dont blame anyone for it. My debts have become too much for me to bear. I am going, please take care of my family.

Farmer-activist Sudhakar Shinde, who lives in the same village, got to know about the suicide shortly after dawn and rushed to the spot. But it was too late. I never saw it coming. I talked to him every day, but never knew he was in so much trouble, Shinde said in an interview with Firstpost in the fourth week of March in Latur.

Latur district has nearly 1,000 villages. In 2015, there were 106 farmer suicides spread across 100 villages. Most of the victims were male, small farmers (with less than 5 acres of land) who have taken small loans (Rs 50,000-Rs 1,50,000).

Marathwada suicide notes

But thats not all.

Mohini Bhise, was a 21-year-old woman from Bhisewagholi village. Her father was a commission agent for a local bank. Business was lean and commissions were drying up. Although he owned 1.5 acres of land, money was scarce. Mohinis education was stopped after Class 12. Her elder sister was married and the parents were thinking of finding a match for her. Apart from the wedding expenses, there was also the dowry to think of.

Her parents started thinking of selling the land for Rs 8-9 lakh to pay for the wedding expenses of around Rs 5 lakh and buying a smaller parcel of land with the rest of the money. Mohini started blaming herself for the familys plight. She had a younger sister and brother who had to be educated. The parents were arguing about whether to sell the land or not.

One morning in January 2016, Bhise fixed a rope to the ceiling of her home and hung herself.

In her suicide note, she wrote: Pappa, dont drink. Pappa, I did this because of the dowry. I never thought I would take this step, but I saved the money you would have spent on my dowry. I am happy that I saved the money for the family. This dowry system should end. Why do they ask for dowry? After my death, dont spend any money on rituals. You do these rituals for giving peace to souls. But my soul will be in peace if you dont conduct any rituals. Take care of my younger siblings, take care of mother.

No one knew Mohini would take this drastic step, because she didnt show any sign of distress. She felt the only way to save her family was by ending her life.

Marathwada has seen a rise in farmer suicides due to a combination of shrinking agricultural income and an inability to repay loans. Reported suicides in the eight districts comprising Marathwada jumped 570 per cent between 2012 and 2015, according to state government figures. There has been a corresponding rise in social and medical interventions to help farmers.

Sudhakar Shinde, who is conducting a survey on suicides in Latur district, revealed that not even close family members or friends are able to tell beforehand whether a person will take his or her life. The outwardly signs of mental turmoil or depression are so deeply concealed that people who interact with the eventual victims have no inkling of their state of mind.

Not everyone who is depressed will commit suicide, and everyone who commits suicide is not necessarily depressed, Shinde said in an interview in Latur. No one knows what the line is when a person decides to take his own life, and no one knows when someone will cross that line.

Shinde said its important to have a support structure in place, a network of people at the grassroots to talk to, who proactively reach out and talk about debt, depression and the importance of not taking ones own life. But who to reach out to, if no one knows who the next person to take his life will be? Shinde and his team of ten visit each and every house and spend time talking to the family, friends and visitors.

Meanwhile, a pilot project in neighbouring Osmanabad district seeks to train barefoot psychiatrists to provide palliative medical treatment to people who are psychologically distressed. The project, which is a collaboration between two local NGOs, is training people in basic mental health concepts. They will in turn fan out in the villages, meet families and assess their distress levels on a depression scale that stretches from mild to severe. If a person is on the lower end of the scale they can be provided counselling by the barefoot psychiatrists. If assessed as severe, they will be referred to the nearest professional psychiatrist.

One of the NGOs, Society for Wellbeing Awareness and Rehabilitation (SWAR) has also started a helpline (1800 233 1434) for people who are depressed. In the last two and a half months, they have received 750 calls.

In Parbhani, Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Agricultural University attempts to provide assistance to farmers with its initiative Umed. University staff, along with local school children and volunteers, go to the worst-affected villages across Marathwada and counsel farmers about social-psychological issues like depression, water management and effective farming techniques.

Umed, which means hope in Marathi, aims to convince farmers that suicide is not the only option to escape misery. The spouses and relatives of farmers are advised to alert the university via a helpline if they sense suicidal tendencies. Over 10,000 farmers and their families have been counselled in almost 283 villages.

Not everyone is convinced. Kusumavati from Babalgaon village in Parbhani said, These initiatives are like temporary painkillers. I lost my nephew to drought last year, despite being counselled. Counsellors dont repay farmers debt. The farmer has to do it himself.

With inputs from Shraddha Ghatge

This is the seventh segment of a 13-part series on Marathwadas drought.

Part 8: Lack of legal framework governing water and irrigation prompts mismanagement

Read the previous parts of the series here:

Part 1: Region is parched, impoverished and desperate, but it's a crisis of its own making

Part 2: In the midst of severe economic downturn, private water sellers reap profits in Latur

Part 3: Drought has brought the economy down and is forcing farmers to leave the region

Part 4: Water scarcity has created a region where trust has eroded and left the social fabric frayed

Part 5: Maha has the most dams in the country, but the least effective irrigation network

Part 6: A surveyor of suicides tells the story behind the statistics and the lonely struggle of Indian farmers
With the controversy over the 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' slogan and the row in NIT Srinagar, the debate over nationalism has become one of the biggest issues in the country today.

And Delhi L-G Najeeb Jung is the latest political leader to make a statement on this issue.

Jung on Monday had said that he disfavoured action against students for alleged anti-national slogan shouting in JNU campus and had suggested that instead they should be engaged in dialogue.

He had also said that police "is invited only in cases of acute arson, not when there is sloganeering".

Jung had told India Today TV that while he would not encourage anti-nationalism, he would also not take action against students for mere slogan-shouting. "I would feel sorry for them," he had said.

On the debate over raising of slogans such as 'Bharat Mata ki Jai', Jung said no one can be "forced" to say anything.

"You can say I don't want to say it but that does not mean I am not nationalistic, that would not mean I am anti-India," he said.

Jung said there was a difference between raising slogans hailing the motherland and those praising the almighty, including 'Allah'.

"People are losing the nuances of the words. Saying 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' is different from worshipping any deity or Allah or god. It's a matter of pride for a person belonging to any country to love his country and, therefore, would be absolutely happy to say 'madre-watan zindabad', 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' or whatever," he said.

Jung is not the only leader who has spoken on religious tolerance in April though.

Vice-President Hamid Ansari had said on 3 April that principles of faith need to be segregated from contours of culture, according to PTI.

Quoting set of judgements in Bommai case, the V-P had said, The principle so laid down is emphatic. Despite its clarity, however, different interpretations were placed on it and there is no real consensus within the Court on what secularism entails. It has been opined that what the Court said is different from what it did.

Observers have noted that subsequent pronouncements of the Supreme Court have effectively vindicated the profoundly anti-secular vision of secularism of some quarters. For this reason, it has been argued whether a more complete separation of religion and politics might not better serve Indian democracy.

The difficulty lies in delineating, for purposes of public policy and practice, the line that separates them from religion...Since a wall of separation is not possible under Indian conditions, the challenge is to develop a formula for equidistance and minimum involvement.

For this purpose, principles of faith need to be segregated from contours of culture since a conflation of the two obfuscates the boundaries of both and creates space to equivocalness. Furthermore, such an argument could be availed of by other faiths in the land since all claim a cultural sphere and a historical justification for it, he had said.

On 9 April, President Pranab Mukherjee had said that "pluralism and tolerance" are the "hallmark of our civilisation".

"Diversity of our country is a fact. This cannot be turned into fiction due to the whims and caprices of few individuals. Plurality of our society has come about through assimilation of ideas over centuries. The multiplicity in culture, faith and language is what makes India special. We derive our strength from tolerance. It has been part of our collective consciousness for centuries. It has worked well for us and it is the only way it will work for us. There are divergent strands in public discourse. We may argue. We may not agree. But we cannot deny the essential prevalence of multiplicity of opinion. Otherwise, a fundamental character of our thought process will wither away, Indian Express had quoted the president as saying.

With inputs from PTI
New Delhi: Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday said that he disagreed with Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati's comments that the entry of women in Shani Shingnapur temple will lead to rise in crimes like rape.

"Politely disagree with the views expressed by Swami Swaroopananda ji about women's entry in Shani Shingnapur temple will bring ill luck to them and give rise to crimes against them; and attributing drought situation in Maharashtra to Shirdi Saibaba worship," Naidu said on Twitter.

Politely disagree wid d views expressed by Swami Swaroopananda Ji abt women's entry in Shani Shingnapur temple will brng ill luck 2 them 1/2  M Venkaiah Naidu (@MVenkaiahNaidu) April 12, 2016

On Sunday, the Shankaracharya had waded into a controversy by saying that entry of women in the Shani Shingnapur temple will lead to rise in crimes against them like rape.

"Women should not feel triumphant about visiting the sanctum sanctorum of Shani Shinganapur temple in Maharashtra. They should stop all the drum beating about what they have done. Worshipping Shani will bring ill luck to them and give rise to crimes against them like rape," he had told reporters in Haridwar on Sunday.

Swaroopanand also kicked up a controversy when he said that the prevailing practice of worshipping Sai Baba in the temples of Maharashtra was responsible for the drought in the state.

A 400-year-old ban on entry of women into the shrine's core area was lifted by the temple trust last week following advocacy group Bhoomata Brigade's agitation against gender bias and the Bombay High Court order upholding women's equal rights to worship.
After four months of efforts put in by women led by activist Trupti Desai, the trust of the Shani Shingnapur temple in Maharashtra has finally permitted women to enter the temple and pray in the sanctum sanctorum putting an end to a 400-year-old custom. This comes after the Bombay High Court made it clear that it was incumbent upon the state government to ensure that the Maharashtra Hindu Places of Worship (Entry Authorisation) Act, 1956 was properly enforced.

The Maharashtra temple entry act, originally enacted to enable temple entry for Dalits, long forbidden to enter public temples by Hindus, was held to be equally applicable to women who had been excluded from praying at the temple. Since 2011, women had been allowed to enter the Shani Shingnapur temple though they were not allowed into the sanctum sanctorum.

The demand for temple entry to all classes has long been a part of the larger struggle for social reform in India. Initially begun as a movement towards seeking equality for Dalits with other caste Hindus, it has now also embraced within its scope Hindu women who seek parity with men in access to temples.

History of temple entry laws and their constitutionality

Temple entry for Dalits, who had been barred on grounds of "untouchability", was one of the leading social reform movements that ran parallel to the larger Independence movement in the early part of the last century in India. The first legal measure guaranteeing the rights of Dalits to enter temples at par with all other caste Hindus was the Temple Entry Proclamation issued by the then Maharajah of Travancore. It opened the doors of all temples in the princely state of Travancore to all classes of Hindus. This was subsequently followed by the Temple Entry Authorisation and Indemnity Act, 1939 passed in the then Madras Presidency guaranteeing Dalits the right of temple entry there. Other states have followed since, and the aforementioned Maharashtra Hindu Places of Worship Act is one of those laws protecting the rights of all classes of Hindus to access places of worship equally. Article 25(2)(b) of the Constitution of India clarifies that temple entry laws are not tantamount to restriction of individual's right to religion under Article 25(1).

These laws have not gone unchallenged in Court. The Bombay Harijan Temple Entry Act, 1947 (the precursor to the Maharashtra temple entry law) was challenged in Bombay High Court by members of the Jain community arguing that it did not apply to them since their temples were not open to Hindus generally, even though the definition of "Hindus" under the Act included Jains. The Bombay High Court upheld this contention holding that Hindus couldn't enter the temple as a matter of right, Dalits could also therefore not claim to enter the temple as a matter of right under the Bombay Act.

Did this necessarily mean that as long as a temple was set up by a given denomination it could ignore all temple entry laws? The Constitution protects both an individual right to religion under Article 25 and a denominational right to manage its own religious affairs under Article 26 of the Constitution, so an argument could be made that temple entry laws won't affect a temple used exclusively by a given denomination. The Supreme Court of India in Venkataramana Devaru versus State of Mysore did not think so. In a challenge raised by a temple meant for Gaud Saraswat Brahmins in the coastal regions of the then Mysore state (now Karnataka), the Supreme Court clarified that temple entry laws would also apply to so-called denominational temples. It read the permission to make temple entry laws contained in Article 25 of the Constitution to be applicable as a limitation on the rights of denominations of a religion to manage their own religious affairs, including the running of temples. In effect, as some legal scholars pointed out, it raised the statutory right of Dalits to enter temples to the level of a constitutional right - an interpretation that was perhaps more in line with the Constitution than a pedantic reading would suggest.

As it stands, where a law guaranteeing temple entry for all classes of Hindus for temples which are generally open to the public such a law will validly apply to not just temples which are meant for the general public but also temples for the exclusive use of a denomination. Even if it had been claimed that the Shani Shingnapur temple had been built for a particular denomination of Hindus, women would still have a right to enter such temples under the Maharashtra Temple Entry law.

Impact on Haji Ali and Sabarimala cases

Shani Shingnapur is not the only instance where women are seeking entry to temples on par with men. The Sabarimala temple in Kerala and the Haji Ali dargah have also become the focus of efforts by women to seek entry to religious places of worship. The entry of women to both are presently under litigation before the Supreme Court of India and the Bombay High Court respectively. The Bombay High Court has stated that it will wait for an authoritative ruling by the Supreme Court in the Sabarimala case before deciding the Haji Ali case.

One distinction must be pointed out between the two cases in court - whereas the Constitution explicitly states that laws makes the throwing open of Hindu religious places of worship to all classes is an exception to any claimed right to religion by a person or a denomination, no similar clause exists for other religious places of worship. Even Article 15 which specifically prohibits discrimination on the basis of caste, religion, gender et al in public places does not include "temples or places of worship" as public places. This does not necessarily mean that there is no constitutional protection for Muslim women who wish to access the Haji Ali dargah. Rather that the argument for the same may have to be made on the constitutional guarantee of equality rather than rely on specific statutory provisions regarding temple entry.

Shorn of all the legal and religious construction, the justifications offered for denying women entry into places of worship rests on a supposed inferiority of women in matters of religion. Whether such an argument is linked to menstruation, the weakness of physical frame or some other physical attribute of women, the fact remains that the arguments offered for restricting women's entry to religious places is a brute exercise of patriarchal power and nothing more. When such barriers and obstacles in the path of equality of women is being slowly but steadily being eroded in most aspects of society, one hopes that the Constitutional courts of India will find themselves on the right side of history in clearing the path for equal rights for women in matters of religion.
New Delhi: West Bengal on Monday reported a 79.51 percent turnout in part two of the first phase of Assembly elections while Assam saw 82.02 percent in its second and final phase of the polls which Election Commission said was "very peaceful".

EC said the voting figures are based on text messages sent to Nirvachan Sadan in New Delhi by poll officials in the two states at 5 pm. The final figures would be higher as people were still waiting in queues to cast votes when the officials sent their texts, it said.

With the final figures still to come in, election officials refused to term the turnout in Assam on Monday a 'historic' or 'record' one.

Deputy Election Commissioner Sandeep Saxena said there was "no violence, injury or death" inside any polling station in the two states.

In West Bengal, there was information of "sporadic" clashes between workers of different political parties. In Jamuria, two sacks containing crude bombs were found 2 km away from a polling station but no untoward incident was reported.

In Raniganj's booth number 50, a candidate and her husband entered a polling station leading to disciplinary action against the presiding officer and FIR against those who violated the rules, he said.

In Assam's Barpeta, there was a clash between CRPF jawans and locals who pelted stones at the former. The CRPF personnel had to resort to a lathi-charge to disperse the crowd.

A 19-year-old boy, Abdul Rashid, died of injuries in the hospital and EC is verifying whether he received injuries during the melee or in the action by security men. A magisterial probe has been ordered by EC into the circumstances leading to the teenager's death.

Saxena said that in the 2011 Assembly polls in Assam, the voter turn-out in the 61 Assembly seats, which went to poll on Monday, was 76.05 percent while it was 80.21 percent in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in the same constituencies. The Assam Assembly has a total of 126 seats.

For the 2011 Assembly polls in West Bengal, the turnout in 31 of the 294 seats, which went to elections on Monday, was 83.72 percent while in the 2014 general elections it was 83.39 percent.

Saxena said that "in our assessment, the election today was very peaceful".
Thiruvananthapuram: In the backdrop of the Kollam temple tragedy which has claimed 109 lives and left over 350 injured, the Kerala government on Tuesday called an All-Party Meeting on 14 April to discuss whether or not to ban fireworks display during festivities in places of worship.

Talking to reporters here after a meeting with senior officials and doctors attending to the injured, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy also announced earmarking of Rs 20 crore for relief and rehabilitation of the victims of the April 10 fireworks tragedy at the century-old Putingal Devi temple at Paravoor, about 70 km from here.

"Rs 10 crore had already been put at the disposal of the Kollam District Collector for immediate action," he said.

The government will formulate a policy on fireworks after reaching a consensus at the All-Party Meeting on Thursday, he said after chairing the meeting this morning during which facilities being provided to the injured undergoing treatment at various hospitals were discussed.

Chandy's announcement came amid growing calls for banning fireworks displays in the backdrop of Kollam accident. The Kerala High Court is set to hear later on Tuesday one of its judge's suggestion that high-decibel crackers be banned to prevent man-made tragedies such as the one in Kollam.

The accident occurred during an 'unauthorised' display of fireworks in the wee hours of Sunday after a spark from a firecracker fell on the storehouse containing crackers, triggering explosions.

Meanwhile, BJP state President Kummanam Rajasekaran opposed any complete ban on the fireworks display in temples.

It should be allowed with sufficient safety measures, he told reporters, adding certain groups were trying to make 'political gain' by raising the demand for banning fireworks display.

State Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, who addressed media in Alappuzha, said as the state was heading for polls, the government cannot take a unilateral decision. After discussions, the government would move forward in this regard, he said.

He made it clear that strict instructions have been given to police to carry out raids on illegal cracker manufacturing units.

Chennithala also said action would be taken against those who used banned chemicals for making gunpowder and crackers, especially in view of the coming 'Vishu' festival on 14 April.

Chandy said, "Our full concentration is on providing the best treatment to the patients on a war footing and we need to work unitedly to face the situation."

Medical teams which arrived here with Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he visited the Kollam temple on Sunday, were still camping in the state to assist local doctors in treating the patients, he said.

At present, there was no need to shift the patients to other states, he said, adding, "We are taking the advice of the experts."

The PM had offered to provide all help to take the patients to hospitals in Mumbai and Delhi, Chandy said.

Asked about difference of opinion between Kollam District Collector A Shainamol and Kollam Police Commissioner P Prakash on the conduct of the fireworks display despite a ban on it, Chandy said all these issues would be looked into.

"This is the time to focus all our energy on providing treatment to the injured," he stressed.

Chandy said that out of 109 killed in the state's worst fireworks mishap, thirteen bodies were yet to be identified.

However, police have received complaints that 21 persons from nearby places of Paravoor were missing since the mishap.

The condition of 27 injured persons, including seven in Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital, was serious.

So far, a total of 1,039 persons were treated as outpatient in various hospitals in Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram, he said.

Chandy said that treatment for the victims was free and the government would bear all the expenses. No private hospital should charge any fees from the victims, he said.

The Chief Minister also said the government would take a decision after receiving a report from the Revenue Secretary on the steps to be taken for the protection of two boys, Kishore and Krishna, who have been orphaned after their parents died in the devastating accident.

Chennithala made it clear that the government would take stern action to crack down on fireworks that cause heavy explosion.

To a question on the controversy over the conduct of the display even after the district administration had banned it, he said the judicial probe and Crime Branch investigation would look into all issues connected with the accident.

"Any person found guilty will be brought before the law. But, now it is not the time for any row. All effort now is to help the people injured in the accident," Chennithala said.
Nonagenarian chief of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), M Karunanidhi, was wheeled onstage at the event to release the partys manifesto ahead of the 2016 Assembly polls. The applause from the packed hall of the DMK cadre was raucous. Karuna was helped onto the chair set for him onstage, a pointed statement to waiting cameras, that the aged politician was still active and working hard.

Not many freebies were expected in this manifesto to begin with. In 2006, it was the DMK which began the culture of government-sponsored freebies with its announcement of free colour television sets for BPL families. At the time, ally and Union Minister P Chidambaram had lauded the DMKs manifesto calling it the hero of the elections. Predictably the DMK won and Karunanidhi was installed in the chief ministers seat.

In July 2013 though, the Supreme Court came down heavily on the culture of promising freebies using government funds. In its order disallowing such announcements, the apex court said that announcements of freebies influences all people and shakes the root of free and fair elections to a large degree.

The DMK has cleverly remained just within the boundaries of the Supreme Court order. Free internet upto 10GB has been promised for students along with free smartphones for poor farmers, the rationale being that they could only then access the Kissan Call Centre app.

One positive thing in the DMK manifesto is that they have reduced the freebies, said C Lakshmanan, Associate Professor at the Madras Institute of Development Studies, a political analyst.

Amma Canteens will be renamed as Anna Canteens (after former Chief Minister CN Annadurai). Amma gives laptops, he will give datacards  there is competitive populism, he added.

Farmer, Student Focus

The DMK has clearly focused on farmers as its prime target votebank with this manifesto. Farm loan waivers for small and marginal farmers, a separate budget for agriculture, a separate ministry for irrigation and various other sops relating to crop insurance and power supply have been made with the clear aim of wooing farmers.

The other big announcement which could win the DMK a lot of brownie points is the promised educational loan waiver for students. This is an important finding of the manifesto committee because all students and parents are suffering under this burden, said a DMK leader who did not wish to be named.

Women have been targeted in some measure with the promise of reduction of the price of milk to Rs seven a litre.

Good Governance Aim?

The DMK has also promised to set up a Lokayukta which will cover the chief minister and ministers in its ambit, as a signal of its seriousness to deliver on the partys promise to fight corruption. This move comes at a time when the DMKs credibility is at an all time low  2G, Kalaignar TV loan and land grabbing cases against its leaders have dented the partys prospects severely.

The Lokpal and Lokayukta Act came into existence three years ago but Karunanidhi did not bother about it until now, said political critic Gnani Sankaran. Lokayukta should have been implemented long ago. It is only now that these politicians are talking about it, simply because of the strength of social movements in the state.

The DMK has also announced that it would bring in a Right to Services Act if voted back into power.

Prohibition promise

What Karunanidhi announced in 2015 at the height of anti-liquor protests in the state, was reiterated in the manifesto of the party. Prohibition is the first promise in the document. Jayalalithaa has said Prohibition will be implemented step-by step, said Karunanidhi at the manifesto release event in Chennai on Sunday. Why should it be done step-by-step? We will do it completely, in one go, he stated.

Total prohibition is the promise. But political analysts are sceptical. Why do they need a law to bring about Prohibition? asked Sankaran. Existing laws are enough, you just have to pass a government order, he said.

Questions have also arisen about how the DMK plans to fund the various waivers and sops promised if it does indeed come to power, since imposition of prohibition would take away Rs 30,000 crore from the states kitty, which amounts to one-third of total revenues to the exchequer.

We do not wish to disclose the nuts and bolts of our plan, said a senior DMK leader who did not wish to be named. We have chalked out a plan. Tamil Nadu has a lot of money, he said.

Sankaran said that it would be possible to implement this manifesto is corruption is tackled with an iron hand. Forty percent of state revenue is being pilfered through commissions in projects, he stated. You have to stop these cuts, only then you can implement these schemes. Funds are there, you dont need new funds. There is no question of government not having enough money. Look at the sand and granite mafia, there is so much pilferage in all these sectors. There is a lot of money with the government, no dearth of funds at all, he said.

Criticism though abounds from the marginalised sections of the state. There is no special concern or attention being paid to the SC/ST population, said Lakshmanan of MIDS. There is an exaggerated sense that all is well and all communities are equal, according to the DMK manifesto. Such a negation amounts to alienation of these communities, he stated.

DMKs arch rival, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and the leader of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), J Jayalalithaa has already set her campaign in motion. Speaking at Vriddhachalam on the second leg of her campaign today, she lashed out once again at the DMK chief, saying that Karunanidhi, of all people, did not have the right to speak of prohibition. Karunanidhi is the person who introduced alcohol to a generation which did not know what liquor was, she said. He is responsible for lifting prohibition in the state in 1971.

Jayalalithaa does not appear to be too keen on giving promises to the voter ahead of the polls. She is relying instead on the goodwill from her myriad welfare schemes rolled out under the Amma brand. Populism goes head-to-head in Tamil Nadu this May.

The author tweets @sandhyaravishan
Chennai: DMK president M Karunanidhi will contest from his native Tiruvarur constituency for the 16 May Assembly polls, seeking a successive term from the rural seat.

The 92-year-old veteran will also launch his election campaign from Saidapet on 23 April, according to his campaign schedule released by the party on Tuesday.

Though the party is yet to release the list of its candidates for the 176 seats it is contesting, Karunanidhi's choice of seat has been mentioned in his tour itinerary.

He will file his nomination at Tiruvarur on 25 April and also address a public meeting the same day.

A five-time chief minister, Karunanidhi represents Tiruvarur in the outgoing 14th Assembly, dominated by arch rival AIADMK, which he chose in 2011 after contesting in constituencies from the state capital here for a long time.

In his three-phase election tour, Karunanidhi will campaign across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, and address rallies in various districts including Chennai, Erode, Vellore, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Salem, Krishnagiri and Kancheepuram.

The DMK President will wind up his tour in Tiruvarur, the party release said.

Octogenarian Karunanidhi is leading his party in one of the toughest electoral battles, with a multi-cornered contest involving ruling AIADMK and PWF-DMDK-TMC combine threatening to give DMK a run for its money.

DMK has managed to stitch an alliance with Congress and two Muslim parties besides smaller outfits as its seeks to dethrone AIADMK and capture power.

The party had drawn a blank in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, where it was virtually led by its Treasurer and Karunanidhi's son, M K Stalin.
Election is a strange animal. During the poll season, the usually surefooted political leaders start suffering from sudden insecurities. They see Banquo's ghost at dinner table, strange apparitions haunt them during even daytime and spirited netas spend most of their energy fighting against the ghouls  real and imaginary.

Suffering the throes of an unpredictable Assembly elections, West Bengal is also witnessing an invasion of phantoms. They are looming large and affecting leaders and ballot boxes as rival parties suddenly accuse each other of hitherto unheard-of "tacit understandings".

Narendra Modi flew in and landed punch after punch on Congress for rivalry with Left in Kerala and 'dosti' in West Bengal. That still is an explicit embrace.

But then he twisted the knife into Mamata Banerjee, accusing her of bonhomie with Congress President Sonia Gandhi and posing for joint photographs during visits to New Delhi. So if Congress and Left were already in an alliance and if the TMC has one hand still in Congress's pocket, then the entire election in West Bengal is one huge tamasha of Goliath proportions and BJP is the only David that can slay it, indicated the Prime Minister.

"Sab miley hue hai ji," said Modi, in an apparent Arvind Kejriwal moment.

The Left and Congress, in turn, accused the BJP of "tacit understanding" with the ruling TMC ostensibly because Union home minister Rajnath Singh, during a rally in Bankura on 6 April, didn't focus on the Narada sting videos in his speech.

"Only bomb-making industry has flourished in Bengal," Rajnath had said, focusing on terror modules active in Bengal. Though he was followed by the Prime Minister who launched a scathing attack on the ruling party and touted TMC as "Terror, Maut, Corruption sarkar" before Arun Jaitley came and accused it of being a "mirror image" of the Left, that still didn't impress CPM and Congress.

They dismissed these barbs as "mere theatrics" and said, firm in belief, that the match is fixed between TMC and BJP. Evidence, or no evidence.

"Whom are they trying to fool? People have already understood that the so-called fight between Mamata Banerjee and Narendra Modi are shadow fights to fool the masses. Their policy is that they will have a friendship in New Delhi and stage a fight in Bengal," CPM state secretary and Opposition leader Surya Kanta Mishra said recently.

It suits the Left and Congress to paint the BJP and TMC in the same corner because they are desperately hoping for a consolidation of anti-incumbency votes and are terrified of BJP eating into their pie. But if this ghost is of the imaginary kind, the one haunting the ballot boxes, polling booths and affecting the voting percentages is not and it shows the Election Commission in poor light.

One of the main reasons why polls in West Bengal are spread over an unprecedented six phases is the state's history of electoral violence. That the TMC in just five years has perfected Left Front's three-decade old practice of violence and large-scale rigging during polls became clear last year when reports of widespread violence emerged during 2015 municipal elections.

TMC goondas and henchmen jammed polling booths, abused and attacked rival party leaders, voters and didn't spare even members of the media. Things came to such a pass that the state election commissioner, Susanta Ranjan Upadhyay, was forced to resign after he was believed to have been intimidated by the ruling establishment into making a U-turn on the poll process in three corporations where fraud and violence were reported, said The Telegraph.

Against this backdrop and fearing a rerun of the hooliganism, the Central Election Commission this time vowed strict measures to control law and order during the Assembly polls and started off by ordering the immediate transfer of 35 officials including four superintendents of police (SP) and a district magistrate last month.

Ghosts, however, are resilient creatures.

It became clear during Part 1 one of the first phase when 18 constituencies ushered in the Assembly polls that the EC's ghostbusters have failed to banish the specter from raiding ballot boxes. During the first phase of polling on 4 April, many booths saw a mysterious spike in the number of votes and in some cases, 100 percent voter turnout was recorded.

In Booth No.18 of a West Midnapore village in Binpur constituency, all 331 voters cast their ballots. While the belief of the villagers in democratic process is commendable, it is hard to explain how one dead man and at least three absent residents managed to exercise their voting rights.

Local TV channels showed footage of central forces catching a moment of rest under the shadow of trees to counter the hot summer as state police, whose presence in the booth is expressly forbidden, going at their job with admirable sense of duty.

There were reports that in some booths, police were either accompanying voters, taking records or even facilitating their entry in clear violation of EC's electoral norms.

Predictably the opposition raised a stink forcing the EC, which was coming increasingly under the scanner, to announce even stricter measures as voting kicked off for Part 2 of first phase on Monday.

As Left Front and Congress announced their displeasure over the EC's handling of affairs on 4 April, the panel on Sunday announced a slew of steps including appointing 23 general observers, eight police observers and 1,519 micro observers. The EC said some booths will have webcams and CCTV cameras for better surveillance. There were reports that 176 companies of central forces will be deployed in "sensitive booths" of West Midnapore alone, leaving 160 for other two districts.

That was the promise, at least.

As polling began in 31 constituencies spread over three districts in Part 2 of the opening phase in Bengal where 70 lakh voters will decide the fate of some heavyweight opposition leaders including state CPM leader Surya Kanta Mishra, BJP state president Dilip Ghosh and Congress heavyweight Manas Bhuiyan, the familiar scene of violence returned.

Till about 1.30pm in the afternoon, reports of violence kept pouring in from different parts of the state amid 60 per cent voter turnout.

In Bankura's Sonamukhi constituency, an unidentified man was seen roaming around with an open revolver; live crude bombs were recovered from Jamuria in Asansol; a CPM polling agent in Gopalpur was hospitalised after he was beaten up in Gopalpur area of Chandrakona and in Ghatal, state cops were once again seen presiding over in booths with central forces nowhere to be found.

In just three hours of polling since 7 am in the morning, the EC received 573 complaints of electoral malpractices and violence. The number would obviously go up till voting is concluded.

Unidentified gunman moving around in Sonamukhi, assembly constituency in Bankura district of West Bengal. pic.twitter.com/fT9Ca6qIQl  ANI (@ANI_news) April 11, 2016

Two bags with crude bombs in them found in Jamuria (Asansol,West Bengal). Police team present at the spot. pic.twitter.com/fE8sbKkHsN  ANI (@ANI_news) April 11, 2016

#BREAKING West Bengal: TMC-CPM cadres clash in Jamuria; 5 CPM workers & booth agent beaten up allegedly by TMC workers  TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) April 11, 2016

These incidents raise uncomfortable questions about the role of EC and what seems as its failure so far to rein in violence, rigging and ensure free and fair elections in a state notorious for bloodshed despite the might of central forces at its command.

Inevitably, this has also led to the opposition seeing another phantom. Central forces are extremely organised, disciplined units, they say. If the forces are not being able to their job properly, that can only mean that their hands were tied. Who tied their hands, they ask. Is it not true that by going soft on TMC, the BJP stands to gain in Parliament where they need Mamata Banerjee's support, they pose.

Bengalis love their fish, sweets and ghosts.
New Delhi: India and the United States have agreed, in principle, to conclude a 'Logistic Exchange Memorandum of Agreement' on mutual military logistic support.

It, however, does not mean that troops of one country will be stationed in the other country, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said at a joint press conference with US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter on Tuesday.

Our countries and militaries are closer than ever before - brought together by shared values and mutual interests pic.twitter.com/GfFTM8Zu4B  U.S. Dept of Defense (@DeptofDefense) April 12, 2016

Parrikar said the growing interaction between armed forces of the two countries is a "significant aspect of bilateral relationship", pointing out that India has more joint exercises with the US than any other country in the world.

"In this context, Secretary Carter and I agreed, in principle, to conclude a Logistic Exchange Memorandum of Agreement in the coming months," Parrikar said.

#SecDef Carter announces launch of maritime security dialogue with India and commit to doing more complex maritime exercises  U.S. Dept of Defense (@DeptofDefense) April 12, 2016

Parrikar said the draft of the agreement will be ready in a month.

Asked if it will mean the presence of US troops in India, Carter said: "No one is talking about the US troops on Indian soil." He added that the details of the logistic support will be decided by the two governments.

#SecDef: US-India relationship is destined to be 1 of the defining partnerships of 21st century & that destiny is rapidly becoming a reality  U.S. Dept of Defense (@DeptofDefense) April 12, 2016

#SecDef Carter and @manoharparrikar host a press conference at the Indian Ministry of Defense pic.twitter.com/BpuJV9xHgl  U.S. Dept of Defense (@DeptofDefense) April 12, 2016

Carter is on a three-day visit to India. He is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi later on Tuesday.
Dhaka: Bangladeshi police said on Tuesday they suspect a domestic Islamist militant group of being behind the brutal murder of a secular activist in Dhaka, days after a branch of Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility.

Nazimuddin Samad, a law student who criticised Islamism in Facebook posts, was killed last week near his university in the capital by attackers carrying machetes, the latest in a string of deadly assaults on secular activists.

Ansar al-Islam, a Bangladesh branch of Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), said on Friday it was behind the 26-year-old's murder, according to the US monitoring group SITE.

But Dhaka Metropolitan Police officers said they believe it was the work of Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), a homegrown militant outfit that has been blamed in similar cases.

"We suspect Ansarullah Bangla Team has carried out the murder," Maruf Hossain Sorder, a spokesman for the force, told AFP.

"There were some similarities between the latest murder and the previous killings of bloggers," he added.

Bangladesh authorities have consistently denied that international Islamist networks such as Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State group are active in the country.

"Al-Qaeda or IS (Islamic State) do not exist in Bangladesh," Sorder said.

Samad was the seventh secular activist -- the sixth in the past 15 months -- to have been murdered by suspected Islamist militants over their writings.

Police have previously arrested several suspected members of ABT in connection with at least three of these murders.

Eight ABT members, including a top cleric said to have founded the group, were convicted late last year for the murder of atheist blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider in February 2013.

The murders have sparked outrage at home and abroad, with international groups demanding that the secular government protect freedom of speech in the Muslim-majority country.

Hundreds of secular activists last week held a days-long protest in Dhaka and Samad's home-town of Sylhet to demand action over his death.

AQIS previously claimed responsibility for the murder of an American atheist blogger who was hacked to death on the streets of Dhaka in February 2015.
Beijing: On Tuesday, China lashed out at the G-7 advanced economies and asked them to focus on global economic recovery rather than hyping up issues, after the bloc strongly opposed any "coercive or provocative" actions that may fuel tensions in the disputed East and South China Seas.

"We urge the G7 member states to honour their commitment of not taking sides on issues involving territorial disputes," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said.

Lu said that as recovery of the world economy remains weak, the G7 bloc should have focused on global economic governance and cooperation rather than hyping up the disputes.

"China's stance on the East and South China Seas are consistent and clear," he said, adding it is completely within China's sovereignty to build structures on some of its Nansha islands and reefs and that there is no problem with freedom of navigation and overflight in the East and South China Seas.

The comments come in response to a statement issued by the foreign ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US on Monday in Japan's Hiroshima city.

The G7 Ministers statement, regarded as the strongest veiled attack on China said, "We are concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas, and emphasise the fundamental importance of peaceful management and settlement of disputes".

"We express our strong opposition to any intimidating, coercive or provocative unilateral actions that could alter the status quo and increase tensions, and urge all states to refrain from such actions as land reclamation including large scale ones, building of outposts, as well as their use for military purposes and to act in accordance with international law including the principles of freedoms of navigation and overflight," the grouping has said.

While China is locked in a dispute with the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan in the SCS, it clashed with Japan over the disputed islands in East China Sea.

The G7 ministers have also called on all states to pursue peaceful management and settlement of maritime disputes in accordance with international law and fully implement any decisions rendered by the relevant courts and tribunals which are binding on them, including as provided under UNCLOS, (UN Commission on Law of Seas).

A tribunal of the UNCLOS is currently hearing Philippines' petition, which China has boycotted stating it was politically instigated by the US.

Lu said China is committed to resolving relevant disputes immediately through negotiations in line with international law, on the basis of respecting historical facts.

He reiterated that China will neither accept nor participate in any arbitration illegally forced upon it.

"We urge the G7 member states to fully respect the efforts made by countries in the region, stop making irresponsible remarks and all irresponsible actions, and truly play a constructive role for regional peace and stability," said the spokesman.
Tokyo: As Japan grapples with the aftermath of the nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima five years ago, the question of whether or not to dump the little-discussed substance, tritium, is brewing in the country.

The radioactive material is technically near-impossible to remove from the huge quantities of water used to cool melted-down reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, which was wrecked by the massive tsunami in northeastern Japan in March 2011.

The water is still accumulating: 300 tons are still needed a day to keep the reactors chilled. Some is leaking into the ocean.

Huge tanks lined up around the plant, at last count 1,000 of them, each hold hundreds of tons of water that have been cleansed of radioactive cesium and strontium but not of tritium.

Ridding water of tritium has been carried out at the laboratory level. But it's an effort that would be extremely costly at the scale required for the Fukushima plant, which sits on the Pacific coast.

Many scientists argue it isn't worth it and say the risks of dumping the tritium-laced water into the sea are minimal.

Their calls to simply release the water into the Pacific Ocean are alarming many in Japan and elsewhere.

Rosa Yang, a nuclear expert at the Electric Power Research Institute, based in Palo Alto, California, who

advises Japan on decommissioning reactors, believes the public angst is uncalled for. She says a Japanese government official should simply get up in public and drink water from one of the tanks to convince people it's safe.

But the line between safe and unsafe radiation is murky, and children are more susceptible to radiation-linked illness.

Tritium goes directly into soft tissues and organs of the human body, potentially increasing the risks of cancer and other sicknesses.
Dole: French baker Michel Flamant, who owes his life to the homeless man who begged for handouts outside his bakery, knows more than anyone that man does not live by bread alone.

To show his gratitude, Flamant is selling the business in the eastern town of Dole to Jerome Aucant for a symbolic one euro.

The corpulent Flamant, who wears a tank top and shorts to help him cope with the heat of his bread ovens, says he has always had a big heart despite his "piggish character".

In fact, long before the fateful day in December when he nearly died from carbon monoxide poisoning, he would greet Aucant every morning with a cup of coffee and a croissant.

"If Jerome wasn't around that day I would have been a goner," the 62-year-old Flamant said, recounting how a defective bread oven began leaking the odorless, lethal gas.

When Aucant noticed Flamant begin to stagger around the bakery, he called the emergency services.

The poisoning landed Flamant in the hospital for 12 days.

Back at work, the baker initially offered Aucant, 37, a part-time job.

He soon realised how well the tattooed, dreadlocked homeless man applied himself.

"And I'm demanding. The work has to be done as I say and that's that!" the white-haired Flamant said as he lined up baguettes on an oven tray.

He said he loves teaching people like Aucant who are "smart enough to listen to my advice".

The garrulous Paris native says that as a child he thought he would be a truck driver when he grew up.

But his father put him to work in the family bakery when he was 14 and the job pleased him.

His companion minds the till on the ground floor while he makes bread, croissants and pastries in the basement from midnight to noon, six days a week.

'I don't care about money'

Flamant, whose three daughters are not interested in taking over the business, had been trying to sell it for the past two years.

Then it dawned on him to cede the bakery to Aucant for a token one euro.

"What's more important, money or life? I don't care about money. I'm not rich but I don't care. I want to be free, I want to take it easy now. And also, if this makes him happy..."

Flamant has taken Aucant under his wing until September when he will retire and hand over the keys.

After that, "It will be up to him to make it work," Flamant said. "Jerome is a hard worker and he wants to succeed. He deserves a chance."

Aucant, who has shorn his dreadlocks, revels in his new work.

"I want to work and the hours don't put me off," he said.

Aucant, with little previous work experience besides occasional seasonal stints at funfairs, is fully aware of the responsibility he will be taking on.

"I have to be 100 percent on the job," he said, adding: "Michel has given me a real gift, and now... I want to be worthy of it."

Flamant, sitting on a stack of plastic crates to rest his arthritic legs, said for his part: "I've made bread all my life, now I'm tired."
Tehran: Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi started a two-day visit to Iran on Tuesday, the highest ranking European leader to do so since world powers completed a nuclear deal with Tehran.

Accompanied by a 250-person delegation, Renzi is seeking to re-establish Italy's economic clout in the Islamic republic which, before sanctions, made it Iran's number one European trade partner.

The official IRNA news agency said Renzi would meet Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, who visited Rome in January just days after sanctions were lifted as a result of Tehran's deal with six world powers, which included the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany.

Annual trade between Iran and Italy peaked at about $8 billion (seven billion euros), but a decade of nuclear-related sanctions saw it plummet to its current level of $1.8 billion.

When Rouhani visited Rome the two countries agreed initial terms on long-term contracts that could be valued as high as $19.4 billion, including deals in the oil, transport and shipping sectors.

Iran has said it wants European help to modernise and expand its rail, road and air networks as well as seeking investment to boost its manufacturing base, notably in the automobile industry.

When Rouhani was in Rome he talked of reconstructing a relationship between "two superpowers of beauty and culture" that dates back to the days of the ancient Roman and Persian empires.
Seoul: Pyongyang's state media has published an open letter purportedly from Abraham Lincoln to President Barack Obama, chastising him for stifling the "government of the people, by the people, for the people"  ie, North Korea.

In the piece uploaded on the North's propaganda website DPRK Today on Monday, the 16th US president who was assassinated in 1865 "advised" the 44th president that North Korea would never crumble under sanctions and economic blockades.

"Lincoln" said he had decided to give Obama this advice when he saw Obama "standing in front of my portrait deeply engaged in contemplation during your Easter prayer meeting".

"I felt heavy in mind to hear such words as 'the toughest and most effective sanctions in the history of the United Nations' were imposed' on North Korea," he said.

"I will repeat what I said when I was alive. Government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the Earth. This is truth", the fake letter said, quoting Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in 1863.

"It looks as if I had prepared these words in advance for US politicians who target a country where the people rule," the piece said.

It also derided Obama's speech he made in Prague seven years ago expressing commitment to creating a nuclear-free world.

It is a "mockery to the entire world" that the United States which boasts the world's largest nuclear arsenal "pays only a lip service like a parrot" and does nothing to removing its own nuclear weapons, the article said.

North Korea's state media often derides US and South Korean leaders at times of high tension, but such historical allusions are rare.
Beirut: Syria's landmark ceasefire was threatening to fall apart Tuesday amid a surge of fresh fighting, especially in northern Aleppo province, just as peace talks were set to resume in Geneva.

The UN's Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura, who has said the negotiations due to start Wednesday would be "crucially important," was in Iran for talks with a key backer of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad.

This week's round of talks in Geneva will be the second since Assad's regime and rebel forces agreed to a partial truce brokered by Moscow and Washington, which has largely held since 27 February.

It has raised hopes that steps may finally be taken towards resolving the five-year-old conflict, which has devastated the country and left more than 270,000 dead.

But concern has been growing that a recent rise in violence focused mainly in Aleppo province, which borders Turkey, is putting intense strain on the ceasefire.

Pro-government forces were on Tuesday pressing an advance against the town of Al-Eis, held by fighters from Al-Qaeda's local affiliate, Al-Nusra Front, and allied rebels, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.

Jihadists like those from Al-Nusra and the Islamic State group are excluded from the ceasefire but in some areas the Al-Qaeda militants are allied with rebel forces meant to be covered by the truce.

Regime warplanes have also carried out "unprecedented" air strikes in recent days on the rebel-held eastern parts of Aleppo city, according to the Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a broad network of sources inside Syria.

US concerns over Aleppo

Russian-backed regime forces pressed a similar offensive around Aleppo city during a previous failed round of peace talks at the end of January.

Western powers blamed the government's military escalation for the breakdown of those talks.

Al-Nusra and allied rebel groups were meanwhile pushing their own offensive on the town of Khan Touman near Aleppo city, the Observatory said.

Washington has expressed worries that an assault against Al-Nusra in Aleppo may spread to moderate rebel factions, which could cause the truce to collapse and derail peace efforts.

"We are concerned about plans to attack and seize ... Aleppo when there are clearly opposition groups there that are part of the cessation of hostilities," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters on Monday.

Human Rights Watch also warned Tuesday that continued indiscriminate attacks on civilians could cause the truce to break down.

It said recent attacks by rebel groups on Kurdish-majority neighbourhoods in Aleppo city and by government forces east of Damascus "threaten to derail the 'cessation of hostilities'."

"A decrease in casualty numbers brought a much-needed respite for Syrians, but many civilians are still dying in unlawful attacks," Nadim Houry, HRW's deputy Middle East director, said in a statement.

The ceasefire brought relative calm to swathes of Syrian territory in the north and centre, allowing increased humanitarian aid deliveries and a significant drop in daily deaths.

Syria's government and opposition will resume indirect peace negotiations on Wednesday in Geneva, with the fate of Assad still a major stumbling block.

The High Negotiations Committee, which represents Syria's main opposition groups, was due to arrive in Switzerland on Tuesday afternoon.

Russian helicopter crashes

The UN's De Mistura, who will host the talks, said the negotiations will focus on aspects of a peace roadmap calling for a transitional government, a new constitution and eventual elections.

"We will be focusing in particular on the political transition, on governance and constitutional principles," he told reporters in Damascus on Monday.

Despite the talks, Syria's regime will be going ahead on Wednesday with parliamentary elections taking place in government-controlled areas.

The United Nations does not recognise the vote and it has been dismissed by Assad's foreign and Syrian opponents as illegitimate.

De Mistura travelled from Syria to Iran on Tuesday to meet with senior officials in Tehran, which along with Moscow is one of Assad's key international backers.

As well as providing economic aid, Iran has sent military advisers from its elite Revolutionary Guards to Syria, dozens of whom have been killed.

Moscow launched a wave of air strikes in support of the regime last September, though last month Moscow ordered the bulk of Russian forces to withdraw.

Moscow's defence ministry said two Russian military pilots were killed in a helicopter crash near the central Syrian city of Homs on Tuesday.

It said the Mi-28 attack helicopter "was not fired at" and that the bodies were transported to the Hmeimim air base in northwest Syria.

Other world powers, including Turkey, have been drawn in to Syria's complex war and on Tuesday Turkish artillery hit IS targets across the border after rockets landed in the frontier town of Kilis, an official told AFP.
Ramallah: Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said there is an "urgent" need for a UN resolution condemning Israeli settlements, in an interview ahead of a multi-country diplomatic tour.

"The Security Council is a very important subject because it has now become urgent due to settlement activities and because Israel has not stopped these activities," Abbas told AFP, with the Palestinians currently discussing a new draft resolution at the UN Security Council on the subject.

Abbas also criticised what he said was insufficent action from the Obama administration, while at the same time he firmly backed a French initiative to hold an international peace conference this summer.

He spoke late Monday ahead of a tour beginning Tuesday that will take him to Turkey, France, Russia, Germany and New York. The two-week tour may be among the last chances at renewing peace efforts for the 81-year-old leader.

Peace efforts have been at a complete standstill since a US initiative collapsed two years ago. Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are considered illegal under international law as well as major

stumbling blocks to peace efforts since they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state.

The United States has repeatedly vetoed resolutions opposed by Israel at the UN Security Council, but there has been speculation that Obama could change tack in the waning days of his administration.
Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that Israel has carried out "dozens" of attacks in Syria to prevent weapons transfers to Lebanon's Hezbollah.

This was the most explicit statement Netanyahu, who was visiting a training exercise of reserve military soldiers in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, has made in regards to airstrikes conducted in recent years against convoys allegedly carrying weapons in Syria, which Israel did not officially acknowledge in the past, Xinhua reported.

"We operate when we need to operate, as well as just over here across the border," Netanyahu told Israeli soldiers and journalists on Monday, pointing towards the direction of Syria.

"We have acted with dozens of attacks in order to prevent Hezbollah from receiving game-changing weapons," Netanyahu said.

Israel conquered and annexed the Israeli Golan Heights from Syria following the 1967 Six-Day War. Israel passed the Golan Heights Law extending Israeli law and administration throughout the territory in 1981. This move was condemned by the United Nations Security Council in UN Resolution 497, which stated that "the Israeli decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights is null and void and without international legal effect."

Israel claims Iran and its proxies in Syria are providing weapons to Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shia militant organisation situated in southern Lebanon, against which Israel had fought a war in 2006.

The repeated attacks against convoys allegedly carrying weapons in Syria were connected to Israel by international media outlets, but Israel did not officially acknowledge these attacks.

Israeli officials only said they will operate "when and where" they see fit in order to defense Israel's security interests.
Aden: A suicide bomber suspected of belonging to Al-Qaeda killed five Yemeni soldiers when he detonated his explosive belt Tuesday among army recruits in Aden, a security official said.

The man mixed in with a group of recruits as they headed to their base in the southern city which serves as a temporary capital for the government, the official said.

Army and government installations have been the target of several attacks by extremists since pro-government forces drove out Shiite rebels in the summer.

Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have taken advantage of the chaos caused by the war between the government and the rebels to strengthen their grip on southern Yemen.

But after having long ignored them, forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi have launched operations against them in the past few weeks, backed by the firepower of a Saudi-led military coalition.
Ankara: Turkish artillery hit Islamic State (IS) targets in neighbouring Syria on Tuesday, after rockets landed in a border town, wounding several people, an official said.

"The Turkish army has retaliated in kind after rockets fired from IS-controlled territory hit the border town of Kilis," the official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The state-run Anatolia news agency reported that the Turkish armed forces struck IS targets around the northern Syrian town of Azaz in Syria's Aleppo province on Monday and Tuesday.

Turkish artillery fired shells from howitzers positioned on its border with Syria as part of military rules of engagement, Anatolia said.

Two rockets fired from northern Syria had earlier hit the centre of Kilis in the second straight day of firing on Tuesday, leaving eight people wounded.

One of the rockets landed in an empty field and the other hit a four-storey hostel, Anatolia said.

They landed in the centre of Kilis  just a few kilometres north of the Syrian border  at 0640 GMT on Tuesday, the private Dogan news agency reported. Medical teams were dispatched to the scene.

At least four people were wounded when five rockets fired from northern Syria hit the town on Monday.

The Turkish official told AFP that the rockets were fired from IS-held territory.

Turkish armed forces "responded immediately within the frame of rules of engagement and struck Daesh positions," Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told his party's lawmakers in parliament, using another name for the IS group.

He said the government had taken all measures to ensure the safety of the Turkish people.

"We are ready to take any step when needed," he said.

The exchange of fire comes after the IS wrested back control of the town of Al-Rai, near Turkey, which rival rebels had captured last week.

Neither the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra Front nor IS are included in a truce brokered by the United States and Russia that came into force on 27 February.

In mid-February, Turkish artillery had also shelled targets of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) inside Syria, with the military saying it was responding to incoming fire.
London: The British Foreign Office has hired a cat to wage a war on mice inside the iconic building in Whitehall, nearly five years after 10 Downing Street employed a feline to kill rats in the Prime Minister's home.

Appointed as the Chief Mouser, two-year-old Palmerston, will be living at one of the country's most famous addresses among the UK's top diplomats and ministers.

Foreign Office bosses were quick to point out Palmerston will be no burden on the taxpayer.

"Palmerston's domestic posting will have zero cost to the public purse as a staff kitty will be used to pay for him and all aspects of his welfare."

The Foreign Office statement also read: "Palmerston is Her Majesty Diplomatic Service's newest arrival and in the role of FCO Chief Mouser will assist our pest controllers in keeping down the number of mice in our King Charles Street building.

"We have worked closely with Battersea Dogs and Cats Home on Palmerston's deployment and they have inspected his new home, as they do for all pawtential new owners of their rescue cats."

The cat with short hair was found wandering the streets of London. He was hungry, underweight, and had no microchip, meaning his previous owners could not be traced, the BBC reported.

Battersea's Head of Catteries, Lindsey Quinlan told Newsbeat: "He's a very confident cat, loves being with people, and enjoys a good chin rub.

"If his behaviour at Battersea is anything to go by, we predict Palmerston will be a formidable feline, very deserving of his new name."

There are a number of cats living in important government buildings, many of which are old and full of mice.

The cat is apparently named after Viscount Palmerston, who was foreign secretary almost 200 years ago before twice serving as prime minister.

In 2011, the British Prime Minister's home, Number 10 Downing Street, had employed a cat named 'Larry' to kill rats.

Like Palmerston, he is a rescue cat from Battersea Cats and Dogs Home in London.

Prime Minister David Cameron had said that Larry was working hard as a "mouser" and had been busy dealing with Number 10's rodent infestation.

He also said Larry did not generally like men but was friendly with US President Barack Obama.

Larry even has his own "unofficial" Twitter account, with 47,500 followers.
New Delhi: The US takes terror emanating from Pakistan "very seriously" and the F-16 fighter jets have been given to it to fight terrorism, US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said on Tuesday.

"We take terrorism emanating from Pakistan very seriously," Carter said.

India has expressed concern over the US decision to sell eight F-16s to Pakistan, with Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar conveying the government's concerns to Carter, who is presently visiting India.

At a joint press conference with Parrikar, on being asked if the US was trying to be a trusted ally of India while supplying the F-16 fighters to Pakistan, Carter said, "We do try to be trusted partner of India."

He said the US has given some unique technologies to India. "We don't have an agreement like that with other countries."

Asked about the same issue, Parrikar said he did express his concerns to Carter and the US defence secretary assured him the fighter jets would be used to fight terrorism.

Drawing a parallel with India's relations with Russia, Carter said the US values its relations with Pakistan.

"India also has relations with other countries like Russia. We respect that," he said.

"What we do in Pakistan is directed towards counter terrorism. We too have suffered from terrorism emanating from the territory, more specifically Afghanistan," Carter said.

"Pakistan has used F-16 in operations in FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas). We have approved it. We take terrorism emanating from Pakistan very seriously," Carter added.

He also said the US did not want any conflict between India and Pakistan.

The US confirmed in mid-February the supply to Pakistan of eight F-16 fighter aircraft worth $699.04 million despite protests from India.
Chandigarh: Punjab's Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Tuesday hailed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's move to apologise for the then Canadian government's decision in 1914 to deny entry to a boatful of Indians into the country.

"It is very heartening that the Canadian government has decided to apologise in the country's parliament for the Komagata Maru episode to acknowledge the hurt caused to the (Sikh) community in 1914," Badal said.

On the occasion, Badal recalled Gurdit Singh who had rented Japanese ship 'Komagata Maru' to rescue Punjabis stranded in Hong Kong and took them to Canada in 1914.

"The Shiromani Akali Dal has been pushing for years for this formal apology in the Canadian parliament and the Trudeau government has at last decided to offer the apology," Badal said in a statement.

Trudeau announced on Monday that he will offer a full apology for a government decision in 1914 to deny entry to the Sikhs and Indians in the country.

"As a nation, we should never forget the prejudice suffered by the Sikh community at the hands of the Canadian government of the day. We should not and we will not," Trudeau was quoted by Xinhua news agency as saying.

"That is why, on 18 May, I will stand in the House of Commons and offer a full apology for the Komagata Maru incident," he said.

The chartered Japanese ship Komagata Maru sailed into the Vancouver harbour on May 23, 1914, with 376 people from Punjab. Most of them were Sikhs.

The Canadian government refused to allow the passengers to disembark and Komagata Maru sat in the harbour for two months. On July 23, 1914, the Komagata Maru was escorted out to sea by a Canadian naval cruiser and it returned to India, where 20 people were killed as they tried to disembark and the others were jailed by the then British Indian government authorities.

The Punjab assembly passed a resolution on 26 May, 2015, seeking an apology from the Canadian parliament for the tragedy.

Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, the first Sikh-Canadian to command a Canadian army reserve regiment, tweeted on Monday that he is "truly honoured" by Trudeau's commitment to a formal apology.
Qualcomm launched its Design in India Challenge few months back, today it has announced 10 finalists of the first edition of the Challenge. In association with the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), the Qualcomm Design in India Challenge aims to catalyze the creation of a product and hardware design ecosystem in India in the domains of smartphones, tablets and Internet of Things (IoT) for agriculture, automotive, banking, education, healthcare, smart cities and wearables, said Qualcomm.

These 10 companies will now be incubated in the Qualcomm Innovation Lab and the top three winners will each receive a funding of $100,000 at the end of the incubation period expected around November 2016.

The ten shortlisted companies for the first edition of the Qualcomm Design in India Challenge are: Aarav Unmanned Systems  Nayan, a high performance quadrotor for researchers and developers

Artificial Machines  HAZE Platform, an End-to-End IoT platform to make your products smarter

Carnot Technologies  A smart bike platform that makes any conventional two wheeler smarter  get towing/security alerts, engine/battery health and performance insights on you phone

Green Robot Machinery  Developing smart and compact precision farm machinery for small farms

iFuture Robotics  Building Ark Robot, an Army of autonomous Robots for Smart Logistics

Lensbricks Technology  Bringing you Kiba, a camera to automatically capture and share joy through videos

Myelin  Hybrid Octo-copter with inter changeable modules for different sectoral applications

Treepie Computing  High Performance Computing (HPC) framework using Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC for IoT applications

Uncanny Vision  Next generation surveillance solution to bring intelligent security to smart cities

Watchy Technology  Innovations that enable our customers to broadcast reliably
Pfizer's (PFE 4.75%) decision to walk away from Allergan (AGN) after rules changed that made it unable to move to the low-tax haven of Ireland suggests its interest in Allergan was always tied more to potential tax savings, rather than Allergan's products and pipeline. Despite arguing that Allergan's products and pipeline could spark sales and profit in the future, Pfizer was willing to walk away from the deal over a 8% difference in tax rate.

In this clip from The Motley Fool's Industry Focus: Healthcare podcast, analyst Kristine Harjes and contributor Todd Campbell discuss Pfizer's decision and what investors should know about it.

A transcript follows the video.

This podcast was recorded on April 6, 2016.

Kristine Harjes: Pfizer had said that this deal is not about the tax inversion. They were saying that it's more about bolstering up their business, and you hear all this talk about potentially breaking up Pfizer into different business units. Now, all of a sudden, this tax scenario doesn't work, and Pfizer tells Allergan to, "Go your own way," so, now what?

Todd Campbell: Yeah. Is this kind of a case where the lesson that we're going to learn from this is that management sometimes fibs or stretches the truth, or whatever? You're right! When this deal got announced, Pfizer had slide upon slide, upon slide touting how excited it was to get Allergan's Botox, and all of these drugs that are used to treat Alzheimer's, and depression and everything else, and this huge pipeline that Allergan would bring to PfizerGan. Sure enough, when push came to shove, eliminating the chance to go from 25% effective tax rate to 17% tax rate is what killed $160 billion deal.

Harjes: Yeah, and Ian Reid, the CEO of Pfizer, his words actually did say something to the effect of, "While it's not only about the tax rate, if that part of it were to fall through, then the price point might be a little bit different." What do you think? Do you think we're going to see another attempt from Pfizer, just at a different price?

Campbell: You know, I would have thought that those negotiations already happened, and for whatever reason, either Allergan looked at it and said, "No, we're worth more on a stand-alone basis," or Pfizer said, "You know what? We're really, really not that interested."

Harjes: Yeah, that makes sense.

Campbell: Surprise, surprise! We wanted the tax break and now we're not getting it.

Harjes: Yeah, that's what I thought of.

Campbell: We're going to walk away now because we have an opportunity to do it, relatively cheaply. Usually break-up fees are in the billions of dollars. Abbvie paid Shire, I think it was $1.7 billion or $1.8 billion when they called off their tax inversion deal. This one Kristine, was what? A rounding number?

Harjes: It was $150 million.

Campbell: Yeah, here's some walking around money.

Harjes: Yeah, that's pocked change. Maybe not to you and me, but for Pfizer.

Campbell: Yeah, I mean for Pfizer it is; absolutely. You saw numbers being tossed around yesterday. They were going to be, "Oh, they'll get $300 or $400 million. Oh they'll get a billion. Who knows what they'll get."

Harjes: Yeah, I think I saw up to a billion and a half.

Campbell: Yeah, and you know what? It basically said, "Tell you what, we know you racked up a lot of legal fees. We'll pay for your legal fees."

Harjes: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yeah, and then, that's where you get that $150 million which is really not a whole lot of money. Pfizer has already tried to do a tax inversion deal in the past with AstraZeneca, and that failed, and now you have this Allergan deal, which also has failed. Do you think there's any sense of, "Never mind, I'll find someone like you," and they might look to another acquisition, either for tax reasons, or otherwise?

Campbell: You know, it would have to be a really big company, now, I think, based on these rules. Could they tie up with somebody like a Glaxo? Let's start some rumors, right? Could they tie up with a Glaxo? Could they go back to AstraZeneca again, and say, "Hey, how about us now? How do you like us now?" Sure, anything's possible. Pfizer has, arguably, one of the best balance sheets in pharma. They're sitting on an absolute mountain of cash, and that cash is just getting bigger and bigger every quarter. I don't know. They've got enough things going on where I think that the corner has turned for them and they can continue to grow for the next few years.

They've got new drugs that are coming out. They're selling pretty quickly. The drag and sales from losing Lipitor's patent protection, that's pretty much come to an end. They've cut a lot of costs. You know what? Investors could get a nice big windfall in the form of extra buybacks or a hike in the dividend. Pfizer may decide, "Hey, you know what? You guys have wanted us to split off our generics business, or our existing products business for a while. Maybe we'll spin that out."

Harjes: Yeah, that's definitely the thing to watch next with Pfizer: Is whether they do split into two distinct business units. The one being the one that you just mentioned, which is Global Established Pharmaceuticals, and the other one is Innovative Products. There have definitely been a lot of speculation about Allergan being of use to that split by bolstering both sides of that portfolio. Either way, Pfizer says that it will still make a decision about any potential separation by the end of this year.
Wynn Palace will change everything for Wynn Resorts. Image source: Wynn Resorts

Wynn Resorts released preliminary first quarter earnings last week, and there was little for investors to cheer. But the first half of 2016 is going to be like a pregame show before the big game. The performance matters, but it will be this summer when Wynn Palace opens that the real game begins. And by the second half of the year, the whole business will change.

The first quarter will leave you wantingMacau is always the first thing to consider when evaluating the company, and in the first quarter, revenue from the region is expected to fall from $705.4 million in the year-ago period to a range of $603 million to $613 million. Adjusted EBITDA likely fell from $212.3 million to an expected range of $187 million to $195 million. At the midpoint of each range, those numbers represent year-over-year declines of about 14% and 10%, respectively.

Given the additional expenses the company is incurring for the Wynn Palace opening, having EBITDA fall just over 10% would be pretty impressive, but Macau is still suffering from ongoing declines in gambling revenue, down about 50% from their peak in early 2014. As a result, growth is nowhere to be found unless building a new resort.

Nevada presents a different story. The Strip has been relatively healthy over the past year, and Wynn may have even seen a little growth during the first quarter. Revenue is expected come in between $384 million and $394 million, versus $386.9 million a year ago. Adjusted EBITDA is expected between $105 million and $113 million, compared with $110.7 million last year.

But as I mentioned, the excitement or disappointment investors may see in the first quarter will pale in comparison with the impact of Wynn Palace.

What investors should really be looking at We know that Wynn Palace will open in Macau some time this summer, but the resort's impact on company results remains to be seen. History tells us that Wynn Resorts outperforms even larger competitors in Las Vegas and Macau, so the property's contribution to financial results should be significant.

For example, in Las Vegas, Wynn generated $477.2 million in EBITDA from the 4,750 room Wynn Las Vegas, while Las Vegas Sands generated $305.5 million from the 7,117 room Venetian-Palazzo properties. Wynn Macau also generated $708.6 million in EBITDA versus $226.1 million at the neighboring Sands Macau.

Wynn Palace should easily top Wynn Macau's EBITDA contribution given its much larger size and more desirable location. The better comparison might be Las Vegas Sands' Venetian Macau, which opened its doors in 2007 and generated $1.08 billion in EBITDA last year.

If Wynn Palace outperforms the Venetian Macau and generates another $1 billion or more in EBITDA, the new property will leave an impressive mark on a company worth just over $10 billion as of this writing.

Focus on the long game Investors may not have been impressed with the preliminary numbers first quarter results, but coming up a few million dollars short of expectations today is small compared to what waits on the horizon. The company needs a successful launch for Wynn Palace, which should give the stock plenty of room to run higher.

The article Falling Revenue Masks Opportunity at Wynn Resorts Limited originally appeared on Fool.com.

Travis Hoium owns shares of Wynn Resorts, Limited. The Motley Fool recommends Wynn Resorts, Limited. 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: BlueWaikiki.com, Flickr.

What looked like would be a strong start to the week ended up fizzling out on Monday, and the Dow and S&P 500 had to settle for modest losses after early gains evaporated. An early bounce in the commodity markets initially helped spur optimism among investors ready for a longer-term rebound, but by the end of the day, investors seemed more concerned about what many are predicting will be a tough earnings season. In addition, some high-profile stocks posted substantial declines, and among them were Avis Budget Group , Endo International , and PHH Corp. .

Avis Budget declined 8% in sympathy with rival Hertz Global Holdings, which warned that a key measure of its financial success is likely to decline for the first quarter of 2016. Hertz said that its rental car revenue per available car day would fall 2.5% to 3.5% compared to the year-earlier quarter, and it also reined in previous expectations for full-year growth, replacing them with calls for performance to be flat to down 1.5%. Avis Budget fell in large part because Hertz blamed the entire industry's capacity for its difficulties, pointing to competitive factors as playing a role in its own troubles. Given that both Avis Budget and Hertz face many of the same challenges from ride-sharing and other trends, investors can expect the same pressures affecting Hertz today to hit Avis Budget in the near future.

Endo International fell 8% on industry-relevant news of its own. Fellow drug company Insys Therapeutics announced that sales of its drug Subsys, which is an opioid painkiller, would amount to just $61 million to $62 million during the first quarter. That was far below the $86 million that Insys investors had expected, and it would represent a sequential decline in demand. Investors fear that concern about opioid drugs generally will hurt demand, and some of Endo International's own painkillers, including Opana ER, are also opioids. Endo recently settled a probe from the New York Attorney General in connection with the potential addiction risks of opioid drugs, but the controversy could continue well into the future and weigh on results both for Endo and Insys.

Finally, PHH dropped 17%. The mortgage-services provider revealed Monday morning that a key customer, Merrill Lynch Home Loans, intends to bring its mortgage-origination process in-house for a number of its mortgage products by late April, and PHH now believes that volume from Merrill Lynch will fall dramatically for the rest of the year. The reduction of about a fifth in Merrill Lynch dollar volume will represent about a 5% hit to PHH overall, and Merrill also intends to bring its sub-servicing portfolio into its internal operations by the end of 2016 as well. With Merrill representing between a quarter and a third of PHH's overall business in loan closing volume and sub-servicing assets, PHH investors have to be nervous about its future. The company did get some good news from Morgan Stanley Private Bank, which extended its mortgage original services agreement through October 2017, but PHH will still have to work hard to make up for the big hit to Merrill Lynch-related activity.

The article Why Avis Budget Group, Endo International, and PHH Corp. Slumped Today originally appeared on Fool.com.

Dan Caplinger 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.
A Costco membership warehouse. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Costco Wholesale continues to parlay its membership warehouse model into impressive growth. While competitors like Wal-Mart are struggling to compete against the likes of Amazon.com, Costco is building new locations and growing in popularity among existing customers.

This success made Costco the world's second largest global retailer in 2015, with sales of $114 billion. While that's a far cry from the nearly $500 billion in annual revenue earned by Wal-Mart, Costco does so with far fewer locations and is catching up quickly. Over the past three years, Costco's top line has grown at roughly three times the pace of Wal-Mart's.

I recently waded through Costco's regulatory and investor-related filings. Here are 10 numbers that go a long way toward explaining the warehouse giant's success:

1. Costco has 83 million cardholders worldwide, equating to 45 million households.

2. Almost all Costco members renew their memberships -- 91% of members in the U.S. and Canada, and 88% worldwide did so last year.

3. While other retailers struggle to attract traffic to their stores, Costco's members are shopping its warehouses more frequently than ever. Last year, shopping frequency among existing customers increased by 4% compared to 2014.

4. Executive members, who pay twice as much as Gold Star members, represent over one-third of Costco's membership base but account for nearly two-thirds of its sales.

5. Speaking of members, the membership fees make up more than all of Costco's annual profit. In 2015, membership fees added up to $2.6 billion. The company's net income, meanwhile, was only $2.4 billion.

6. Sales of organic products are becoming increasingly popular at Costco, topping $4 billion in 2015.

7. Costco operates 698 warehouses. A large majority are in the United States (488), followed by Canada (90), Mexico (36), the United Kingdom (27), Japan (24), Korea (12), and Taiwan (11), among others.

8. As of calendar 2015 year-end, 490 gasoline stations were in operation.

9. Costco sold 128 million hotdogs last year at its food court. That's purportedly four times as many as major league ballparks sold last year combined.

10. Costco consistently increases the amount of money that it distributes to shareholders. Its dividend growth rate since 2004 is 13% per year. Its first dividend, initiated in 2004, was $0.40 per share per year. Today, it's at $1.60 per year.

Ultimately, Costco's continued success will be based on two things: stocking its stores with attractive and popular products, and offering a great value proposition. The latter is particularly important given that Costco's primary brick-and-mortar competitor, Wal-Mart, is founded on the principal of everyday low prices.

Costco comments on this in its latest 10-K:

The membership warehouse chain has thus far lived up to this goal, and, for investors looking for a strong and stable company, there seems to be little reason to believe that it won't continue to do so going forward.

The article 10 Revealing Numbers about Costco Wholesale Corp. originally appeared on Fool.com.

John Maxfield has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon.com and Costco Wholesale. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Image source: NVIDIA.

Over the past three years, graphics-chip company NVIDIA has been a share-buyback machine. From fiscal 2014 through fiscal 2016, which ended in January, the company spent a total of $2.29 billion repurchasing its own shares, knocking its diluted share count down by about 9%. NVIDIA's mountain of excess cash, as well as consistent free cash flow generation, fueled the company's capital return policy.

At the beginning of this period, NVIDIA's stock was in the doldrums. At the start of fiscal 2014, shares of NVIDIA traded for just 7 times earnings after backing out the company's net cash. In other words, NVIDIA was able to buy its own shares for a song. Shares of NVIDIA steadily rose over the following two years and then spiked higher during the second half of 2015. When it was all said and done, the stock had nearly tripled in a little over three years.

NVDA data by YCharts

A few weeks ago, NVIDIA announced that it was entering into an accelerated share repurchase agreement as part of its plan to return $1 billion to shareholders in fiscal 2017. NVIDIA is paying $500 million to receive about 12.1 million shares, with additional shares set to be delivered at settlement, depending on the daily average price of NVIDIA stock. Here's a great explanation of how these accelerated share repurchase agreements really work.

A $500 million buyback may sound like a great idea, considering how much cash NVIDIA has sitting on its balance sheet. But because the stock price has increased by so much, share buybacks are the last thing NVIDIA should be doing right now.

A tale of two buybacksPrice matters when it comes to share buybacks. At the beginning of fiscal 2014, NVIDIA's stock was so cheap, even assuming no growth whatsoever, that buybacks were an excellent use of capital. Today, NVIDIA's stock is so expensive that buybacks are an awful idea.

Warren Buffett, in his 1999 letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, laid out his philosophy on when share buybacks make sense: "There is only one combination of facts that makes it advisable for a company to repurchase its shares: First, the company has available funds -- cash plus sensible borrowing capacity -- beyond the near-term needs of the business and, second, finds its stock selling in the market below its intrinsic value, conservatively calculated."

On the first point, NVIDIA passes with flying colors. At the end of fiscal 2016, the company had $5.04 billion of cash and just $1.42 billion of debt, leaving a net cash position of about $3.62 billion. The second point, though, is no longer true. NVIDIA is far from inexpensive, even under optimistic assumptions. At a stock price of $36, and after backing out the net cash, NVIDIA trades for about 27.8 times GAAP earnings. That's a far cry from the cash-adjusted P/E ratio of 7 the stock sported a few years ago.

Let's look at it another way. At the beginning of fiscal 2014, a $500 million buyback, if it could be done all at once, would have boosted EPS by 6.9%. Today, the same buyback would boost EPS by only 2.5%, thanks to the higher stock price. What if that $500 million were invested back into the business? Using NVIDIA's fiscal 2016 tax rate, what pre-tax rate of return would be necessary to achieve the same EPS increase?

Source: author's calculations.

At the beginning of fiscal 2014, NVIDIA would have needed to generate a pre-tax return of 9.44% on that $500 million to match the EPS boost of a share buyback. In other words, share buybacks looked like a fairly attractive option at the time, effectively generating a return of nearly 10% guaranteed.

Today, NVIDIA would only need to achieve a 3.72% return to match the effects of a share buyback. That's a fairly dismal result. If, instead of a buyback program, NVIDIA had announced that it was investing $500 million in a new project, and that it expected a 3.72% return on investment, some eyebrows would have certainly been raised. But the end result, in terms of EPS, would have been exactly the same.

Share buybacks made sense when NVIDIA's stock was cheap. Today, the stock trades at a hefty premium, and while one could argue that the company's growth prospects may justify the price tag, NVIDIA's new $500 million share buyback program is more likely to destroy shareholder value than create it.

The article NVIDIA Is Making a $500 Million Mistake originally appeared on Fool.com.

Timothy Green owns shares of Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool recommends Nvidia. 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: REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.

Earlier this week, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals inked a collaboration deal with the privately heldIntellia Therapeutics that could have moonshot implications in various disease indications. The agreement merges Regeneron Pharmaceuticals existing expertise in genetic research with Intellia Therapeutics preclinical research into a new genetic editing technique known as CRISPR-Cas9 that could revolutionize patient treatment. Let's take a closer look at this deal and what it may mean to these companies.

IMAGE SOURCE: REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS.

First, a bit of backgroundRegeneron Pharmaceuticals is a fast-growing, commercial-stage biotechnology company that already markets the multibillion-dollar blockbuster Eylea for use in wet age-related macular degeneration and Praluent, a drug it co-developed with Sanofi SA that can lower cholesterol levels in tough-to-treat patients. Also, the FDA could potentially approve two additional Regeneron drugs that target autoimmune diseases within the next year and a half.

Intellia Therapeutics is an early-stage biotech company that hopes to develop novel medicine using a gene-editing technique that is based on the immune system of bacteria.

When bacteria is attacked by a virus, it memorizes a bit of the attacking virus' DNA into the genetic code of its immune system. These DNA bits are stored in repeating spaces within its genetic code called clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats, or CRISPR. When the invader reappears, bacteria recognize it and use CRISPR-associated proteins, or Cas, to act like scissors and cut up the invading virus DNA to prevent it from replicating.

This defense system's simplicity, precision, and effectiveness have Intellia and its peersbelieving that they can mimic it to create therapies that use a guide-RNA to knock out, repair, or insert specific genetic sequences to treat gene-related diseases.

Detailing the dealRegeneron Pharmaceuticals is giving Intellia Therapeutics $75 million in up-front cash and it has also agreed to buy $50 million in Intellia Therapeutics stock during Intellia's next round of private equity fundraising.

In return, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals gains a license to develop up to 10 CRISPR-Cas therapies, including five therapies that will target liver diseases and up to five other therapies that will address non-liver targets.

The first therapy that the two companies will work on will be one that addresses transthyretin amyloidosis, a life-threatening disease that causes abnormal protein deposits known as amyloids to build up in the body's organs and tissues.

The companies haven't indicated what other liver disease targets they might go after, but investors might find it interesting to know that Intellia Therapeutics Chief Technology Officer David Morrissey was formerly Senior Director of Antiviral Therapeutics at Sirna Therapeutics. In that role, he led efforts to develop a hepatitis C drug.

IMAGE SOURCE: INTELLIA THERAPEUTICS.

Competitive marketAlthough there are currently limited treatment options available to patients with transthyretin amyloidosis, work is underway by Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Sanofi on patisiran, an RNA interference therapy that could make its way the FDA for approval as early as 2017.

Alnylam's patisiran attempts to battle back against transthyretin amyloidosis by silencing messenger RNA responsible for creating proteins associated with familial amyloid polyneuropathy, a form of transtheyretin amyloidosis that represents about 10,000 patients worldwide.

In early stage studies, patisiran reduced the impact of the disease in patients and results from a fully enrolled phase 3 study of patisiran are expected next year.

Alnylam and Sanofi are also developing a second drug, revusiran,to address familial amyloid cardiomyopathy, the version of transthyretin amyloidosis that impacts cardiac function in 40,000 patients globally. A phase 3 study of revusiran is enrolling patients and is expected to have data available in late 2018.

Looking aheadAlnylam and Sanofi's headstart could allow them to have their transthyretin amyloidosis medications on the market long before Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Intellia Therapeutics, but if Alnylam's approach slows disease progression and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Intellia Therapeutics' approach cures or reverses it, then this target could still be a big commercial success for the two companies.

Perhaps, more important to investors, however, is that Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Intellia Therapeutics efforts in transthyretin amyloidosis could inform research into more common liver diseases that could open up a much bigger commercial opportunity for the companies.

Admittedly, this research is in the uber-early stages of development, so anything could go wrong from here. But, given how intriguing this approach is, investors may want to keep tabs on the progress of these two companies; especially since their efforts could lead to game-changing advances in patient treatment someday.

The article Regeneron's Bold Bet on the Future of Medicine 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 owns shares of and recommends Alnylam Pharmaceuticals. The Motley Fool recommends Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. 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.
Verizon Communications' wireline employees will go on strike starting Wednesday after reaching an impasse in talks over a new labor contract, union officials said on Monday.

The Communications Workers of America (CWA) and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers unions say they jointly represent nearly 40,000 employees of the wireline business, which includes FiOS Internet, telephone and TV services.

Unless Verizon reconsiders its stance on unsettled issues, wireline workers will stage the walkout starting at 6 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, CWA President Chris Shelton said on a media call.

"Verizon has forced us there ... Nobody wants to go on strike," Shelton said. "It's a hardship for our members and our families, it's a hardship for customers."

Verizon and the unions, which represent Verizon workers from states such as Massachusetts, Virginia, New York and Rhode Island, have been in talks over the company's plans to cut healthcare and pension-related benefits over a three-year period since June. Wireline workers have been working out of contract since the last agreeement expired in August.

While a compromise on healthcare plans has been reached, dispute over offshoring call center jobs and pensions still remain, union representatives said.

"We've tried to work with union leaders to reach a deal," said Marc Reed, Verizon's chief administrative officer, said in a company statement

The company said it is fully prepared to serve its customers in the event of a strike.

The last round of contract negotiations in 2011 also led to a strike.

"We are available," said Verizon spokesman Rich Young, when asked about the outlook for negotiations. He said no further talks were currently scheduled with the unions, however.

Verizon said the wireline business generated about 29 percent of its revenue in 2015 but less than 7 percent of operating income. Wireline workers perform network maintenance, among other duties, and also provide customer service at call centers.

(Reporting by Malathi Nayak; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Tom Brown)
SOURCE: AMICUS THERAPEUTICS

What:After reporting additional late stage trial data and ahead of learning that a key European advisory committee had voted in support of its lead drug, shares of Amicus Therapeutics shot 23.4% higher in March, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

So what:On March 1, Amicus Therapeutics reported data from phase 3 studies showing that Galafold patients who hadn't been treated with the current standard of care, enzyme replacement therapies, saw a statistically significant improvement in podocytes, or cells in the kidneys that build up in Fabry disease patients. Galafold also appears to positively effect kidney and cardiac function in a 19-30 month extension study.

At the time, the data added conviction to the idea that European regulators may OK the drug for use in treating Fabry disease patients. Enzyme replacement therapies, including Shire plc's Replagal,replace alpha-gal A, an enzyme that's missing or damaged in patients with Fabry disease and that's responsible for breaking down a fatty substance that can otherwise accumulate and damage the body's organs.

Unlike enzyme replacement therapies, Galafold helps alpha-gal A work more effectively in patients that still produce some of it. Amicus Therapeutics estimates that up to half of all Fabry disease patients still produce at least some alpha-gal and thus, could benefit from Galafold therapy. Given its different mechanism of action, an approval could be big news for patients, the company, and investors.

On April 1, the EU'sCommittee for Medicinal Products for Human Use backed the approval of Galafold, a move that clears the way for an official approval in Europe within the next couple months.

Now what:Enzyme replacement therapies like Shire's command prices near $200,000 annually, and according to Amicus Therapeutics management, discussions with payers suggest similar pricing potential for Galafold.

Although Galafold only addresses a limited subset of Fabry disease patients, the drug's addressable patient population could still result in hundreds of millions of dollars in annual sales for the company. If so, then Amicus Therapeutics would have plenty of financial firepower to advance other therapies it has in development for rare disease, such as its program targeting Pompe disease.

Overall, Amicus Therapeutics presents an intriguing rare-disease targeting investment opportunity for risk tolerant investors and as such, it may be worth considering for portfolios.

The article What Caused Amicus Therapeutics Shares To Skyrocket 23% Last Month originally appeared on Fool.com.

Todd Campbell owns shares of Amicus Therapeutics,. 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.
IMAGE SOURCE: MANNKIND CORPORATION.

What: A week before its planned investor conference on April 19 to explain its commercialization strategy for Afrezza, shares ofMannKind Corporation are skyrocketing 13.7% at 12:00 p.m. ET today.

So what:Much-maligned MannKind Corporation's stock has been on a roller-coaster ride since former commercialization partner Sanofi SA opted out of its distribution deal with the company back in January.

Sanofi's inability to establish Afrezza, an inhaled insulin, in the multibillion-dollar insulin market cast significant doubt on MannKind's future, especially given its arguably precarious financial position.

Next week, investors should gain greater insight into MannKind's plans to relaunch Afrezza in a conference call that will begin at 5 p.m. The company announced the investor update yesterday, causing shares to rally significantly.

Now what:Despite efforts by Sanofi's previously successful diabetes sales team, Afrezza has been more of a commercial dud than a commercial stud. Ahead of the drug's launch in 2015, investors and industry watchers were projecting Afrezza to become a billion-dollar blockbuster, yet its sales have struggled to eclipse $2 million per quarter, and as a result, MannKind reported a $345 million operating loss last year.

MannKind bulls maintain that Afrezza's failure was due to the fact that Sanofi was never committed to the Afrezza rollout -- the deal had been orchestrated by its soon-to-depart CEO back in 2014 -- and as a result, bad decisions, including pricing it to a premium versus traditional insulin products, are to blame for lackluster sales.

Among the details that could be divulged next week during MannKind's conference call is a new marketing program that includes lower pricing and improved efforts to convert patients given free trials of the drug into repeat customers. It's unclear what other efforts it may outline.

Given that the company's past struggles have led to a massive short position, which stands at roughly 47% of all MannKind's shares available for trading, and that there's uncertainty tied to the specifics of next week's update, short-sellers may be covering positions to reduce their risk.

MNKD Short Interest data by YCharts.

Nevertheless, considerable headwinds are facing this company (not the least of which are its debt levels and cash burn). For that reason, investors are probably best served by other investment ideas.

The article Why MannKind Corporation Shares Are Soaring 14% Today 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.
Long-time Republican, Larry Lindsey has left the party after he was replaced at the Colorado convention -- allegedly because hes a Trump supporter.

In a video posted to YouTube (NASDAQ:GOOG) Lindsey burns his registration card broadcasting his exit.

Republican Party take note, I think youre going to see a whole more of these. Ive been a Republican all my life but I will never be a Republican again, he said.

The former Douglas County delegate told the FOX Business Networks Charles Payne, although he had missed a meeting for county assembly, he was disenfranchised for what he was supposed to represent.

The GOP caucus as it is currently in place in the state of Colorado is archaic, confusing, and too easily manipulated so that the GOP can get the outcome it desires instead of the outcome that the voter desires, he said.
Doctors and patients have been at each others throats for decades over how to treat a little gland in the neckand patients may be gaining ground.

The butterfly-shaped thyroid gland produces hormones that regulate virtually every system in the body. Not enough production of thyroid hormones, known has hypothyroidism, can cause fatigue, weight gain, depression and other metabolic and fertility problems. Too much, the less common hyperthyroidism, can cause heart palpitations, tremors and bone loss.

Because those symptoms can have several other causes, many doctors diagnose thyroid disorders mainly with blood tests. Many also rely on a single form of treatment for hypothyroidism, which has made the synthetic hormone levothyroxine (Synthroid and other brands) among the most prescribed medications in the world.

But a vocal group of patients say they havent gotten better on levothyroxine, though their blood tests have returned to normal. Theyve banded together online to share their frustrations and promote alternative therapies.

Some top endocrinologists are coming around to their view. Studies have confirmed that 5 percent to 15 percent of patients dont get better on levothyroxine alone. Discoveries of gene variations may help explain why.

More doctors are thinking, Have we missed something? Could there be a role for combination therapy in some patients?  says Jacqueline Jonklaas, an endocrinologist at Georgetown University Medical Center.

I credit this to patients pushing doctors and saying, You dont know what youre talking about. I dont feel fine,  says Antonio Bianco, president of the American Thyroid Association. Dr. Bianco, who is also chief of endocrinology at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, says he has refocused the research to search for answers for such patients.

Click for more from The Wall Street Journal.
Dry shampoo, a hair styling product that cleans hair without water, is a convenient product for people on the go. For one Irish woman, her quick-styling habit lead to baldness, she claims.

Nicole Baxter, 21, of Belfast, Ireland, said regular use of Batiste dry shampoo, made her scalp itchy, flaky, and eventually lead to blistering, news.com.au reported. In a Facebook post thats been shared 30,000 times, Baxter claims to have been diagnosed with triangular alopecia, hair loss on one area of the head.

Just wash your hair people! It is not worth having this awful patch that I might be stuck with on the side of my head all because I cant be [bothered] to dry my hair, Baxter wrote in the April 7 post.

The diagnosis of triangular alopecia is incorrect and dry shampoo is safe for most people, skin specialists told news.com.au.

This is not triangular alopecia [as stated in the post], because that is a childhood disorder, and its not associated with itchy, flaking or sores on the scalp, which is what she had, professor Robert Sinclair of Sinclair Dermatology in Melborne, who did not treat Baxter, told news.com.au.

Using information from social media, Sinclair speculated that the womans baldness and irritation were caused by an allergy to an ingredient in the dry shampoo, inflammatory alopecia, or alopecia areata.

Dr. Hanna Kuchel, a dermatologist with The Skin Hospital in Darlinghurst, New South Wales, questioned whether Baxter had dyed her hair, a common cause for contact allergy.

Dont lose any sleep over using dry shampoo, Kuchel, who has not treated Baxter, told news.com.au. In this case, although I dont know the history of the patient, her baldness probably had nothing to do with dry shampoo, and have more to do with dye products.

Sinclair suggested Baxter should have tested the dry shampoo on an area of her forearm to see if it caused a similar allergic reaction.

You wouldnt want to decimate a whole industry based on one patchy report, where its not clear what caused it, because its quite possible her condition has nothing to do with the product, he told news.com.au.
It really takes a special kind of low-life to desecrate a military display honoring prisoners of war and those missing in action.

Over the past several months the Military Religious Freedom Foundation has waged a campaign to have Bibles removed from Missing Man displays located on federal property. They claim the inclusion of the Bible is a violation of federal law.

Click here to join Todds American Dispatch: a must-read for Conservatives!

So far at least three VA medical clinics and one Air Force base have complied with the MRFFs demands to cleanse the displays of the Good Book.

I have been reporting on this religious cleansing for the past two years  and now a group of conservative organizations is preparing to fight back against the MRFF.

Fox News has exclusively obtained a letter sent to Robert McDonald, secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs  urging him to reinstate the Bible to the Missing Man displays.

The removal of the Bible not only violates the integrity of these displays, but insults those returned POWs who gained daily strength from their faith in the prisons of our enemies, they wrote. When a governmental agency such as the VA removes any part of the display, it is a grave insult to the nations veterans who often gather together to honor those who have not returned, while also interfering with the message being expressed.

The letter was signed by representatives from Family Research Council, American Family Association, First Liberty Institute, Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, Center for Military Readiness, Freedom Alliance, Liberty Counsel, Alliance Defending Freedom, Freedom X, Judicial Watch, LION Associates, Military-Veterans Advocacy, Stand Up America US and the International Conference of Evangelical Chaplain Endorsers.

Secretary McDonald did not return my telephone calls or emails.

There is definitely an all-out assault on the Christian faith within our military today, said Lt. Gen. (Ret.) William Boykin, executive vice president of the Family Research Council and one of the signers.

Boykin accused the VA of having a knee-jerk reaction to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.

Its a sad situation that a guy would actually try to destroy the traditions of our military and the basic values of our country, he told me.

The Missing Man Table was established during the Vietnam era. It was a solemn reminder of those who were Prisoners of War or Missing in Action.

The tables are typically displayed on military bases and VA clinics  and they are steeped in tradition. There are empty chairs for each of the five services, a red rose, an inverted glass, a yellow ribbon, salt sprinkled on a plate, a lemon slice, a candle  and a Bible.

The Bible represents the strength gained through faith to sustain us and those lost from our country, founded as one nation under God, reads the official ceremony script.

But the Military Religious Freedom Foundation believes the Bibles presence on the Missing Man table represents a violation of the law.

Mikey Weinstein, the founder and president of the MRFF, demanded VA clinics in Youngstown, Ohio and Akron, Ohio remove the Bibles from the displays.

In a disgusting act of cowardice, VA officials in Youngstown and Akron obeyed Weinsteins demands and removed the Bibles. The MRFF also reports that a VA clinic in Houston got rid of the Bible, too.

The Youngstown clinic replaced the Bible with a generic book  a prop - One whose symbolism can be individualized by each of our veterans as they pay their respects, a VA official told Vindy.com.

In a separate incident, the Bible was also removed from a display at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

This is not persecution or victimization of Christianity, Weinstein told the Air Force Times. This is simply an example where the Air Force should have a policy that makes it absolutely clear that nobodys religious affiliation is on (exclusive) display.

A base spokesperson confirmed to the newspaper that the Bible had been stripped from the display.

Mutual respect is an essential part of the Air Force culture and we must ensure we create an environment in which people can realize their highest potential, regardless of ones personal religious or other beliefs, spokesperson Marie Vanover told the Times.

And by mutual respect  they mean anything remotely related to the Christian faith must be cleansed from the United States military.

I hope Secretary McDonald follows the wise counsel of conservative leaders like Gen. Boykin.

And I also hope he listens to the words of people like Ann Mills-Griffiths, the chairman of the board for the National League of POW/MIA Families.

Her brother, Commander James B. Mills, disappeared somewhere over North Vietnam on Sept. 21, 1966. The 26-year-old naval aviator remains classified as missing in action.

The Bible kept many of our POWs alive and sustained their families through decades of uncertainty, she told me. The Bible has always been a part of the tradition. Until now  no one has ever suggested the Bible should be removed from the table.

Mikey Weinstein and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation should be ashamed  declaring war on such a revered military tradition.

The Missing Man table is not about you, Mr. Weinstein. Its about brave patriots like Commander James B. Mills and their families.

Never forget that.
Reports are swirling that Russia is finally delivering an advanced S-300 air defense system to Iran, although they may be premature again. The implications of that and the other items on Irans military shopping list need our attention fast.

An Iranian military hardware spree can quickly fuel a Middle East arms race, drive U.S. allies to seek more advanced weapons, and, in the case of Israel, spur development of their own.

More importantly it can force the West to change the way it thinks about possible military confrontation with Iran and even about how it can operateif at all-- in the Persian Gulf.

The S-300 PMU-2 mobile surface-to-air system, with four launchers per battery, is just one example. It can identify and shoot down aircraft 120 miles away. Its mobility makes it hard to find and destroy, and the Mach Seven speed and accuracy of its missiles makes them deadly. The S-300 will mark the first upgrade of Irans missile defense system in nearly 40 years.

But Iran wants much more. The Minister of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, Hossein Dehghan, presented Moscow with a $6 billion shopping list in February, including the Yakhont anti-shipping missile, the Su-30 long-range air superiority fighter-bomber, T-90 tanks, and other goodies.

Ali Akbar Velayati, a close advisor to Irans Supreme Leader, has declared that Vladimir Putins regime wants to positively respond to such requests.

The Yakhont is a supersonic missile that can hit ships with great accuracy out to 180 miles or so. Experts are convinced that Russia has already placed the Yakhont in Syria.

Yakhont missiles on the Iranian coast would threaten all shipping merchant and military-- in the Persian Gulf. They could force the U.S. Navy and its partners to reconsider whether to deploy aircraft carriers or big-deck Marine amphibious ships in those watersa huge rebalancing of U.S. forces and diplomatic leverage.

The Su-30 that Iran has also requested is roughly equivalent to the F-15E Strike Eagle. Its delivery would be the first upgrade to Irans air capabilities in decades.

With a combat range of about 750 miles (roughly equivalent to the Shahab 3 intermediate-range ballistic missile), the Su-30 could give Iran rough parity with its Arab-speaking Gulf Cooperation Council rivals and even with U.S. and allied aircraft in the region.

Iran would suddenly have a vastly improved air defense and an impressive degree of sea control throughout the Gulf, in the Strait of Hormuz, and well into the North Arabian Sea.

All of this would come alongside a growing array of Iranian ballistic missiles that are being tested in total disregard for the United Nations Security Council Resolution that forbids them.

The Yakhont and Su-30 purchases are far from done deals. The Su-30, in particular, falls explicitly under the same U.N. Security Council resolution that endorsed the nuclear agreement.

For what its worth, that resolution gives the U.S. or any permanent member of the Security Council the power to veto such a weapons delivery, and the Obama Administration has said that it will use that power.

The Iranians dont seem worried. They recently reiterated their conviction that a Su-30 deal will be completed this year.

Their optimism is not groundless. The U.N. Security Council resolution does not impose automatic penalties on either Iran or Russia for violating the weapons ban and completing the transaction, either while bypassing the Security Council or despite a veto.

The sale would not violate the nuclear deal itself and thus could not be used to invoke much-touted snapback sanctions.

The U.S. would thus be forced to forge a new coalition to impose sanctions or take other actions against Russia and/or Iranor else helplessly watch the deal go through.

The military balance in the Middle East is at stake in these considerations.

It is not enough for the administration to promise to veto the sale of these systems, although that is essential.

It must start right now to build an international coalition to impose penalties on Russia and Iran in the event of any deal, and it must be prepared to impose unilateral sanctions on Russian and Iranian individuals and companies flouting the weapons ban imposed by the Security Council.

Words and votes alone are not enough to meet this challenge. Iran is muscling up, and we should be prepared for it.


For over four years now, the Obama administration, through its HHS mandate, has been telling non-profit religious groups across the nation that we must participate in the distribution of abortion-causing drugs and devices to our employees. While it has changed the ways by which we are supposed to take part in this scheme, it has remained unyielding in its demand  take part or else.

We have explained to the administration over and over again that our faiths forbid complicity in evil and that taking innocent human lives is evil. We have argued that forcing us to choose between our religious beliefs and government-imposed, crippling fines violates our rights under the law. But the administration has responded only with the back of its hand.

In effect, the government has told us, My way or the highway.

However, the Supreme Court may have just ordered a detour.

The so-called HHS mandate is a bureaucratic regulation issued by the Department of Health and Human Services under Obamacare. It orders some religious entities  but not others  to take actions that authorize their own health care plans to offer coverage for abortifacients, contraceptives, and sterilization procedures.

Last year, the Supreme Court, in a five-to-four decision held that Hobby Lobby and other closely-held, for-profit businesses did not have to obey the HHS mandate if they objected to it on religious or moral grounds. This year, the Supreme Court is considering whether non-profit religious groups should also be free to practice their faiths. The case, which is a consolidation of seven lawsuits, is Zubik v. Burwell.

One of those seven consolidated cases was filed by the group I lead, Priests for Life. We were the first of the current Supreme Court petitioners to challenge the HHS mandate back in early 2012. Now, our efforts and those of the more than 100 other religious organizations that have filed suits against the mandate may be nearing a final result.

Of course, the tragic death of Justice Antonin Scalia has created uncertainty. Justice Scalia voted in favor of upholding Hobby Lobbys religious rights last year. Without him, observers say, there may be a four-to-four split in the Zubik case.

But recently, about one week after hearing oral arguments in our case, the Supreme Court issued an order to both sides that may result in a victory for Priests for Life and the other petitioners. The Court ordered both sides in our lawsuit to file supplemental briefs  due today  that address whether and how contraceptive coverage may be obtained by petitioners employees in a way that does not require any involvement of petitioners.

That the Court has asked for an explanation of these ways is greatly encouraging, for two reasons.

First, the Court is deferring to our religious beliefs. In the only stance that is proper to it, the Court is acknowledging that we, the believers, are the ones who draw the line between behavior that is acceptable or unacceptable to our religion. It is not the role of the Court or the government to draw that line for us or to second-guess our beliefs.

Second, the Court is asking us to identify a way for the government to pursue its interests in a way that is less restrictive of our religious freedom than the current "accommodation" provides.

The administration has for years argued that its "accommodation" already provides us the least restrictive means. Priests for Life and the other 36 petitioners in this case argue in the brief, however, that there are in fact ways by which our employees could receive coverage for abortifacients and contraceptives without involving the religious organizations for which they work.

And if such ways exist, then the government has failed to meet its burden under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to use only the least restrictive means to pursue its interests. And we win the case.

If, for instance, the government or the insurance company contacts our employees independently of us, to offer the coverage by means of a truly separate plan -- rather than hijacking our own -- and if, as we insist, there is no payment, authorization, permission, or any other kind of involvement by us, then our religious freedom would not be burdened in the way it is under the current "accommodation."

Our position throughout this lawsuit has not changed in any way. Priests for Life opposes contraception and abortion. We also oppose the government's plan to make these so-called 'services' more widely available. But this lawsuit is not about whether the government expands access to those life denying and life ending drugs and devices, or whether our employees have access to them. Rather, its about whether we are complicit in providing that access.

The supplemental brief that we and other religious petitioners file today describes how we can exercise our religious freedom to provide health care insurance in a way that corresponds to our faith. Now it is up to the Court to decide whether it will protect that freedom.


Last week more than a dozen attorneys general gathered in New York. You might think they were there to discuss how to combat crime, the heroin epidemic maybe even terrorism. They werent. Instead they were conferring on how to use the law to punish scientists and researchers who question climate change orthodoxy.

Thats rightif your scientific research bucks the party line on global warming, you could face government-inspired lawsuits. The ringmaster of this legal circus, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, was not at all subtle about what he was trying to achieve. He vowed collectively, collaboratively and aggressively to investigate whether fossil-fuel companies have misled shareholders about the risks of climate change. And its not just state officials who are itching to prosecute dissident scientists.

A couple of weeks earlier, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch had told a congressional hearing that she had asked the FBI to look into this question of climate fraud.

This is perfectly Orwellian. Put aside what you may think about climate change. Should government lawyers be threatening to punish scientists and researchers who may, for example, merely question why the results of some computer models dont match up with real world events? Should the iron hand of the law be employed to enforce conformity in science, supposedly in the name of a scientific consensus, when in fact there is nothing approaching consensus as to whether human activity has us headed for global-warming catastrophe? And if money is such a corrupter of science, as Schneiderman and others argue, why are not the billions of dollars funneled into pro-climate change research, often through government subsidies, fair game for accusations of fraud? After all, there are documented instances of pro-climate change scientists misrepresenting evidence in the now infamous climategate case at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom.

You might think such nonsense is isolated, but its not. A new breed of intolerance is sweeping all across the land, and to the surprise of many its not coming from the right, but the left. Judges, prosecutors, government officials, politicians and activists are increasingly using public shaming rituals and the force of the law to impose their views on people with whom they disagree.

Corporate leaders are forced to resign if they dont toe the line of a particular political agenda. Religious people are punished with fines for their personal beliefs, while a city government (New York City) threatens to fine employers up to $250,000 for misgendering bathrooms (i.e., not allowing transgender people to choose which ones to use).

Courts routinely overturn laws and referenda over policy differencesa practice that is patently anti-democratic and in many cases unconstitutional. Colleges and universities across America have abandoned free speech and open debate in favor of speech codes and safe spaces where students need never hear a viewpoint they dont already embrace. Due process, too, is in short supply on campus, where administrators send students accused of sexual assault to kangaroo courts.

Not even our local governments are immune from the new spirit of intolerance. A seventh grader, for example, was recently expelled from school for sharing an inhaler with a girl suffering an asthma attack, even though doing so likely saved the girls life.

Theres a pattern here: All of these abuses are being done in the name of progressive liberalism. No matter what the cause, progressives are increasingly willing to use any means necessarythe law, public shaming and in some cases even a threat of violence (no justice no peace) to get their way.

Its not even correct to call progressivism liberal anymore. It has, in fact, become its opposite, an illiberal code of coercion and intoleranceand a movement intent on shaming all those who disagree. It is fast becoming a political force hostile to freedom, democracy and even equality. It champions intolerance in the name of tolerance, closed-mindedness in the name of open-mindedness, and hatred in the name of compassion. Its the master of double-thinkto pretend things other than they really are.

Whatever progressivism is, it is not the liberalism of yesteryear. Its become something much more radicaland mendacious. And its threatening the constitutional order, not to mention the civil peace, of the country.
Republican front-runner Donald Trump blasted Colorados GOP leadership late Monday, calling the way the state divvied up its delegates a dirty system.

At a campaign rally in Albany, N.Y., the real estate mogul told the crowd theres been so much pressure  like in Colorado, which was a total fix. Theres so much - the people all wanted to vote. They took away their votes.

Over a series of several days, Colorado Republicans picked delegates on the congressional and statewide level for the national convention in Cleveland. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz swept the state, winning all delegates for the national convention.

They took away their vote and they gave it to these delegates, Trump said. I think its going to come back to haunt them because people arent going take it anymore. Were not going to take it anymore. Its a corrupt system. Its a totally corrupt, rigged system.

In a tweet, Cruz said 65K Coloradans voted--they just voted against Trump. That's 11 elections in a row we've won. #WhiningIsntWinning".

Trump and Cruz have also battled in Louisiana for control over GOP delegates.

In the states early March primary, Trump won the popular vote by three percent but the close result gave both candidates the same amount of delegates.

I end up winning Louisiana and then when everything is done, I find out I get less delegates, than this guy that got his ass kicked, he said.

As Trump wrapped his remarks reminding New Yorkers to vote next Tuesday, he tied in the controversy in Colorado.

Youre going to go out and vote  well we found out in Colorado it's not a democracy like we thought and were not going to have a rigged election [here]," he said.

Fox News' Christopher Snyder contributed to this report
Charles Krauthammer told viewers Monday on Special Report with Bret Baier that he does not think the process of choosing delegates to the national convention was designed to stop Donald Trump from becoming the Republican presidential nominee.

Krauthammer, a syndicated columnist and Fox News contributor, responded to comments made by GOP front-runner Donald Trump over Texas Sen. Ted Cruz sweeping all of Colorados 34 delegates without any votes being cast by citizens in a traditional primary process.

He doesnt even have a chance to talk about his issues in New York, he said. Hes got to defend the New York values stuff, which was an enormous mistake. It didnt really help him in Iowa. He couldve done it without that phrase. And now how does he defend it? He cant. And I think because he is talking only about that, I think his numbers are going to stay very low here.

Krauthammers comments come as the battleground for the 2016 presidential nomination has shifted to New York, Donald Trumps home state. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has said that he supports Trump.

Youve got people who are really holding their noses in support [of Trump] but with Giuliani, you get the sense that he is sort of sincere in this and he is relatively unreserved," he said. "Look, Giuliani is a folk hero in New York. He was, at the time a folk hero in the country. And I think thats going to help soften the image for Trump."
The Army has ruled that three Sikh enlistees will be allowed to serve while keeping their distinctive beards and turbans.

The three Sikhs filed a lawsuit seeking to end a military policy that generally bans beards. The Sikh religion requires men to grow beards as an article of their faith.

On Friday, the Army granted exceptions to its policy to the three enlistees, Kanwar Singh, Harpal Singh and Arjan Singh Ghotra. They will now be allowed to wear beards and turbans when they begin basic training next month.

A fourth soldier, Capt. Simratpal Singh, also won an accommodation earlier this month.

The Sikh Coalition, which sued on the soldiers' behalf, said it will still pursue its lawsuit in hopes of winning a permanent policy change for all Sikhs.
President Obama will decide whether to declassify 28 pages of sealed documents  which some suspect show a Saudi connection to the 9/11 attacks  within 60 days, according to a former senator who co-chaired the 2002 joint congressional inquiry into the attacks.

Former Florida Democratic Sen. Bob Graham told Fox News late Tuesday that the White House had informed him that a decision on whether to declassify the documents would be made in one to two months.

Graham, who has pressed for the documents to be made public, told Fox he was "pleased that after two years this matter is about to come to a decision by the president."

Both the George W. Bush and Obama administrations have refused to unseal the documents, claiming it would jeopardize national security. Critics claim the reluctance is a calculated move to hide Saudi Arabias involvement in the attacks that killed almost 3,000 people.

Obama had come under renewed pressure to release the documents ahead of a planned presidential trip to Saudi Arabia for a summit of Gulf leaders next week.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., told CBS 60 Minutes she believes the documents, which she has seen, should be made available to the family members of 9/11 victims.

I dont know how the Saudi government will react to it, but I think its just information, Gillibrand said Sunday.

Gillibrand is among a growing, bipartisan group of lawmakers advocating for the release of the documents.

"If the president is going to meet with the Saudi Arabian leadership and the royal family, they think it would be appropriate that this document be released before the president makes that trip, so that they can talk about whatever issues are in that document," Gillibrand said.

Asked about the renewed information requests on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said he doesnt know whether Obama has read the 28 pages but they are the subject of an intelligence community classification review.

Earnest said Obama has confidence in their ability to consider those documents for release. Asked about any potential Saudi ties to 9/11, Earnest cited the 9/11 Commission's findings that there was no evidence the Saudi government or senior Saudi officials funded Al Qaeda.

But House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she, too, wants the pages declassified.

"As the former Ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee and top the House Democrat on the Joint Congressional investigation looking into the 9/11 attacks, I agree with former Senator Bob Graham that these documents should be declassified and made public, and that the Bush Administration's refusal to do so was a mistake," Pelosi said in a written statement. "I have always advocated for providing as much transparency as possible to the American people consistent with protecting our national security."

Last year, convicted Al Qaeda member Zacarias Moussaoui implicated high-level Saudi royals in the 9/11 attacks. fueling the ongoing congressional effort to declassify the official report.

Some Saudi connections to the attacks are already well-known, including that 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi Arabian citizens -- and that mastermind Usama bin Laden was the son of a wealthy Saudi Arabian contractor with close ties to the Saudi royal family.

There are a lot of rocks out there that have been purposefully tamped down, that if were they turned over, would give us a more expansive view of the Saudi role, Graham told "60 Minutes."

"The Saudis know what they did. We know what they did," Graham said.

Fox News earlier reported on the Saudi connection to the 9/11 hijackers and the mysterious 28 pages in a 2011 documentary called Secrets of 9/11.

Graham has said in the past the 28 classified pages lay out a network of people he believes helped the hijackers obtain housing in the U.S. and enroll in flight school.

You believe that support came from Saudi Arabia? CBS reporter Steve Croft asked.

"Substantially," Graham responded.

"And when we say, 'the Saudis,' you mean the government, the -- rich people in the country? Charities?" Kroft pressed.

"All of the above," Graham confirmed.

Nineteen militants associated with Al Qaeda hijacked four airliners and carried out attacks in New York, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania on 9/11. Two of the planes were flown into the World Trade Center in New York City. Another plane hit the Pentagon while a fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.

The United States went after the masterminds behind the attack and, in May 2011, killed the terror groups leader Usama bin Laden.

Fox News' Lesa Jansen contributed to this report.
House Speaker Paul Ryan tried Tuesday to put an end once and for all to the rampant speculation about his 2016 ambitions, ruling out a late-stage bid for the Republican presidential nomination and definitively declaring: Count me out.

The Wisconsin lawmaker and 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee made the announcement on Capitol Hill upon returning from the Middle East, where he said the speculation had followed him.

I want to put that to rest once and for all, Ryan said. Let me be clear. I do not want, nor will I accept, the nomination for our party. ... Count me out.

He also made clear that as speaker his role is to preside as chairman over the Republican convention in July, at which the GOP presidential nominee will be decided.

My job is to ensure that theres integrity in the process, that the rules are followed by the book, Ryan said at the Republican National Committee headquarters.

Ryans name as a potential, last-minute candidate has circulated amid discontent in some parts of the so-called GOP establishment over the two leading candidates -- billionaire businessman Donald Trump and first-term Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz.

Despite Ryan's past insistence that he's not in the running, some have floated him as a potential alternative candidate in the event of a contested convention in Cleveland.

The potential for a contested convention has only increased as Trump struggles to reach the 1,237 delegates needed to secure the nomination.

The speakers office stoked speculation in recent weeks with a series of sophisticated videos that appear to show Ryan on the so-called "big stage" including one shot from behind Ryan with his arms extended and showing an enormous crowd and a phalanx of TV cameras and still photographers.

Ryan has said 'no' before to a big party leadership job, only to reverse course.

When House Speaker John Boehner retired and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., abruptly withdrew from the speakers race late last year, Ryan said, While I am grateful for the encouragement Ive received, I will not be a candidate.

However, he agreed weeks later to take the post.

On Tuesday, he told reporters that trying to make that comparison was like "comparing apples to oranges."

Ryan also waded into the potentially messy politics of a contested convention, in which essentially anybody could win the nomination if neither Trump nor Cruz or Ohio Gov. John Kasich get the support of 1,237 delegates on the first round of balloting.

Let me speak directly to the delegates on this: If no candidate has a majority on the first ballot, I believe you should only choose a person who actually participated in the primary, he said. If you want to be the nominee -- to be the president -- you should actually run for it.

Nevertheless, Ryan vowed to remain relevant in the national debate that will help decide who becomes the next president, including presenting ways to improve free enterprise and the tax code and secure the U.S. border.

This job provides a platform to communicate a conservative vision for our country, he said. This is a critical role that has to be played, and I am in a position to play it.

Fox News' Chad Pergram contributed to this report.
Democratic officials' campaign against fossil fuel companies is entering a new phase as state attorneys general launch investigations that mirror the Justice Departments landmark case against Big Tobacco, probing claims that oil companies misled the public about the risks of global warming -- a charge industry representatives adamantly reject.

Massachusetts and the U.S. Virgin Islands are the latest to announce probes, specifically into whether ExxonMobil was up-front regarding what it knew about climate change.

Fossil fuel companies that deceived investors and consumers about the dangers of climate change should be held accountable. Thats why we have joined in investigating ExxonMobil, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said in announcing the inquiry.

The announcements follow a similar investigation by New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman, who subpoenaed Exxons financial records and emails last November. Schneiderman has indicated ExxonMobil is not the only energy company in his office's crosshairs, vowing to prosecute any that committed fraud to maximize profit at the public's expense to the fullest extent of the law.

Yet industry representatives and their allies say whats really going on is a coordinated attempt to silence climate change skeptics while punishing the industry itself for societys use of fossil fuels, all based on spurious claims of a cover-up. Exxon representatives say the accusations against the oil giant are laughable and not credible, blasting recent news reports that assert the industry tried to mislead the public about global warming dangers.

The stories were designed to put forth the inaccurate notion that our researchers had reached definitive conclusions about climate change decades and decades before the worlds experts on climate change had, ExxonMobil media relations manager Alan Jeffers told FoxNews.com.

The legal pressure is mounting at both the state and federal levels, even as congressional Republicans accuse the Obama administration of unfairly hampering Americas energy industry.

In January, California Attorney General Kamala Harris initiated a similar investigation, while Peter J. Kazik, an assistant U.S. attorney general, notified two Democratic congressmen that the Justice Department had passed their request for an investigation of ExxonMobil onto the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

A month later, California Reps. Ted Lieu and Mark DeSaulnier followed up in a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch, urging her to investigate "a conspiracy between Shell, Exxon Mobil and potentially other companies" to deceive the public, according The Los Angeles Times.

While the state investigations utilize different laws, they all aim to replicate the success of the federal governments 1999 case against Big Tobacco, in which the industry was accused of misleading the public about smoking and nicotine risks.

In a May 2015 Washington Post op-ed last May, Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse alleged there are striking parallels between what both industries did.

The tobacco industry was proved to have conducted research that showed the direct opposite of what the industry stated publicly  namely, that tobacco use had serious health effects. Civil discovery would reveal whether and to what extent the fossil fuel industry has crossed this same line, Whitehouse wrote.

Republicans, though, see an effort to silence climate change skeptics.

This scientific and political debate is healthy, and it should be encouraged. It should not be silenced with threats of criminal prosecution, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt and Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange said in a statement. Pruitt and Strange were referring more broadly to the "AGs United for Clean Power" coalition, which came together in New York in a push to build on global warming initiatives pursued by the Obama administration.

What kicked off the investigative dominoes was a series of stories published in the Los Angeles Times by reporters with the Columbia University Energy and Environmental Reporting Fellowship, and also by InsideClimate News. The articles cite internal documents written by Exxons scientists that possibly demonstrated that researchers had concluded as early as the 1980s that fossil fuel emissions were linked to global warming, but actively sought to mislead the public.

Jeffers says the articles conveniently left out some truth about the scientists conclusions.

During a 1989 presentation, Exxon scientist Duane G. Levine told the board of directors that concerns about the enhanced greenhouse effect resulting from human activity had been the subject of scientific study for some time. But, Levine had said, any linkage was deeply imbedded in scientific uncertainty.

The stories also claimed the fossil fuel industry financed a distortion campaign by funding various think tanks, including the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), which received a subpoena from U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Claude E. Walker, an independent.

CEI said it will vigorously fight the subpoena.

It is an affront to our First Amendment rights of free speech and association for Attorney General Walker to bring such intimidating demands against a nonprofit group, CEI General Counsel Sam Kazman said in a statement.

The subpoena seeks emails, statements and other documents about CEI's work on environmental issues, as well as information about its donors.

Jeffers says environmentalists have targeted them because they cant blame the 7 billion people who consume fossil fuels every year, so they blame us.
The release Tuesday by the National Archives of a fresh trove of documents detailing the Clinton administration's dealings with billionaire Donald Trump could become the latest fuel for flame-throwing in an already incendiary 2016 presidential race.

The documents include: a signed copy of Trump's The Art of the Deal, delivered to a top aide to then-President Clinton; logs of Trumps invitations to the Clinton White House; and an entry about a Trump Towers photo-op with the president.

The files come at a sensitive time in the Republican presidential race, and could be used by Trumps top rival Texas Sen. Ted Cruz to paint the billionaire businessman as too closely tied to the Clinton family  as Hillary Clinton leads the 2016 primary race on the Democratic side. Trump previously has brushed off the criticism, saying he had contact with Bill and Hillary Clinton, and countless other powerful people, because as a businessman he had to get along with everybody.

The newly released files shed light on that relationship.

One document is a photocopy of his best-selling book, The Art of the Deal, sent to Bill Clinton aide Mark Middleton. An autographed page says To Mark  Best Wishes, and adds, Your Mom Is The Best.

Another is a 1993 invitation to President Clinton, though not from Trump himself, to join a charity event in Atlantic City where Trump was slated to attend.

A 2000 entry reflects that the president participated in a photo op with Trump at Trump Towers in New York. And another set of database entries appears to reflect a handful of White House events attended by Trump in 1995.

The documents were among nearly 500 pages of files -- pertaining to the Clinton White Houses communications regarding Trump and the Trump Organization  that were released by the National Archives and published by the Clinton library, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

The Clintons and the Obama White House were notified back in January by the National Archives that the files would be released in April, unless President Obama or former President Bill Clinton requested a one-time extension or tried to assert a privilege to keep some documents private. While the Clinton library houses the records, the National Archives and Records Administration reviews and rules on requests to release such presidential documents.

The National Archives said they had reviewed a batch of several FOIA requests, for which they planned to release more than 9,000 pages. Regarding the Trump files request, the record-keepers said just three pages would be restricted.

The FOIA request itself came from BuzzFeed, an archivist told FoxNews.com.

The documents released Tuesday also reflect the Clinton White Houses interest in Trumps flirtation back in 1999 and 2000 with a third-party presidential run.

One internal White House email in early 2000 among staff notes that Trump has his eye on the big JOB. Another from November 1999 forwards an Associated Press article detailing then-potential candidate Trumps proposal for a one-time 14.25 percent tax on the net worth of wealthy Americans.

We may need guidance on this, says the subject line in the email.

Fast-forward to 2016, and Trump is the leading candidate for the GOP presidential nomination. The document dump comes ahead of next Tuesdays New York primary, where Trump leads by double-digits in most polls.

Cruz, though, has racked up a string of wins, including in the Wisconsin primary -- though his recent success out-maneuvering Trump in the more esoteric battle for delegates at conventions like the one last weekend in Colorado has prompted complaints from Trump that the system is rigged. Cruz counters that hes just whining.

FoxNews.com has asked the Cruz and Trump campaigns for comment on the Clinton documents. Neither campaign has yet weighed in.

FoxNews.coms Judson Berger contributed to this report.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton were forced to defend a joke made by the mayor at a charity dinner that critics considered racially offensive.

The incident occurred Saturday night, when Clinton and De Blasio took part in a skit at the Inner Circle dinner, a black-tie event in which New York City's political press corps and politicians spend the evening making fun of each other.

Clinton took the stage ostensibly to thank De Blasio, a former aide, for his belated endorsement of her for the Democratic nomination.

"Took you long enough," Clinton said.

De Blasio responded, "Sorry, Hillary. I was running on C.P. time." The phrase, popular in pop culture, is a reference to the stereotype that African-Americans are typically late for appointments.

Broadway actor Leslie Odom Jr., who was also on stage with Clinton and De Blasio and appeared to be in on the joke, said, "That's not - I don't like jokes about that, Bill."

Clinton then turned to Odom and delivered the punch line, "Cautious Politician Time. I've been there."

The exchange takes place at the 8:30 mark of this video, posted on the NYC Mayor's Office YouTube channel.



The joke was widely criticized in the media, with New York magazine calling it "amazingly unfunny, terribly executed". Left-leaning website Salon called it "cringeworthy", as did The Root, which bills itself as a site for "Black News, Opinion, Politics, and Culture."

The skit came at an awkward time for Clinton, who has ridden strong African-American support to several wins in key primary states but has also been criticized by some for using the term "superpredator" during her husband's administration to describe criminals.

Last week, former President Bill Clinton clashed with Black Lives Matter activist and defending his criminal justice policies at an appearance in Pennsylvania. Hours before her Inner Circle appearance, Hillary Clinton told the New York Daily News that she also agreed with critics who say the bill contributed to high levels of incarceration for non-violent crimes, like drug offenses.



De Blasio told CNN Monday evening that critics of the skit were "missing the point."

It was clearly a staged show. It was a scripted show and the whole idea was to do the counter intuitive and say 'cautious politician time,'" he said. "Every actor involved, including Hillary Clinton and Leslie Odom Jr., thought it was a joke on a different convention."

A Clinton spokesman said in a statement to ABC News, "We agree with the mayor."
Minneapolis-based Indeed Brewing is putting a new name on one of its popular spring beers after getting in trouble with the federal government.

Formerly known as LSD Ale, the brewery will now have to use the less entertaining (and absurdly long) title of Lavender, Sunflower Honey, Date Honey Ale to describe its sweet and tasty seasonal brew. Seriously, how is all of that supposed to fit on the side of a beer can?

Minnesota regulators had no trouble with the old name, and that was fine until this year when Indeed Brewing expanded its distribution across state lines. Thats when the federal government got involved and told the company the beers name was no joking matter, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported this week.

The feds did not like the name LSD, said Indeed co-founder and co-owner Thomas Whisenand. They made that clear very quickly.

Whisenand told the newspaper that the brewery tried to come up with a few different labels that downplayed the offending acronym while still maintaining the hippie-themed design.



But unfortunately we sell a regulated product and theres not much you can do when the feds say no, he said.

Click for more from Watchdog.org
The National Labor Relations Board suspended a top-ranking Philadelphia official after receiving complaints that he helped raise money from unions for his pro-union charity.

Dennis Walsh, the regional director for the agencys fourth district, was suspended without pay for 30 days in December after an inspector general investigation revealed that he had misled ethics officers about his tenure as chairman of the Peggy Browning Fund.

The nonprofit, named after a former NLRB board member, has close ties to some of the major unions that appeared before Walshs office, which handles unfair labor practice cases and local elections. The agency inspector general found that nearly 60 percent of Region 4s casework involved at least one prohibited source who made a contribution to the Peggy Browning Fund.

Walsh and the NLRB did not return requests for comment.

Walsh disclosed his relationship to an ethics officer in July 2013 when he began work at the agency. He was cleared to retain his position as chairman of the nonprofits board after telling the officer that he had no direct involvement in fundraising.

I do not directly ask anyone for contributions, and I do not allow my name to be used on any literature that directly solicits contributions, Walsh said. My role is to run our quarterly meetings, keep track of committee assignments, and responsibilities.

Click for more from The Washington Free Beacon.
Many commentators will declare that House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., uttered a Shermanesque pledge Tuesday to rebuke those who would court him for the Republican presidential nomination.

In his remarks, Ryan said, let me be clear: I do not want, nor will I accept the nomination for our party.

The term Shermanesque is derived from American politics in the late 19th century.

There was an effort to draft Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman to run for president in 1884. Sherman didnt, famously snubbing his suitors by saying I will not accept if nominated and will not serve if elected.

Hence the origin of a Shermanesque pledge.

Shortly after the Civil War, Sherman also indicated he had no interest in running for president. At that point, Sherman said I hereby state, and mean all that I say, that I never have been and never will be a candidate for President; that if nominated by either party, I should peremptorily decline; and even if unanimously elected I should decline to to serve.

President Lyndon Johnson bowed out of re-election in 1968, saying I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president.

Richard Nixon also had something of a Shermanesque statement in November, 1962. He lost the California gubernatorial contest to Democratic Gov. Pat Brown. Nixon famously said to the press, you don't have Nixon to kick around anymore, because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference.

But Nixon came back and won the GOP Presidential nomination and won the presidency in 1968.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz waded into the controversy over the Republican party's nominating process Monday, accusing his rival for the GOP nomination, Donald Trump, of "whining" over Cruz's sweep of Colorado's delegates for this summer's Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

"Donald has been yelling and screaming. A lot of whining. I'm sure some cursing. And some late-night fevered tweeting," Cruz told hundreds of supporters in Irvine, Calif.

Cruz went after Trump again at an appearance in San Diego, saying, "As we know in the state of California, whine is something best served with cheese."

Addressing the real estate mogul directly, Cruz then said, "Donald, it ain't stealing when the voters vote against you. It is the voters reclaiming this country and reclaiming sanity."

Trump has repeatedly blasted Colorado's Republican leadership since this weekend's state convention, and did so again Monday at a rally in Albany, N.Y., calling Cruz's win "a total fix."

"Theres so much - the people all wanted to vote. They took away their votes," Trump said. "I think its going to come back to haunt them because people arent going take it anymore. Were not going to take it anymore. Its a corrupt system. Its a totally corrupt, rigged system."

Cruz noted that Trump's complaints follow his struggles in recent primary contests in Utah, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Colorado. He also took to social media to drive home the point.

Trump tied the Colorado controversy to next week's New York primary, where polls show him holding a big lead over Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

"Youre going to go out and vote  well, we found out in Colorado it's not a democracy like we thought and we're not going to have a rigged election," Trump said.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus pushed back against Trump's claims Monday, telling conservative radio host Mike Gallagher in an interview that the convention system used in Colorado is "not an affront to the people of Colorado. It just is what the rule is."

"I don't know why a majority is such a difficult concept for some people to accept," Priebus said.

Colorado isn't the only delegate battleground between Trump and Cruz. Trump won the popular vote in Louisiana's early March primary by three percentage points but the close result gave both candidates the same amount of delegates.

"I end up winning Louisiana and then when everything is done, I find out I get less delegates than this guy that got his ass kicked, Trump said Monday.

The top two in the Republican party delegate race are not only seeking votes, but are also looking to outmaneuver each other in state gatherings where the delegates who will attend the summer convention are being chosen. Cruz's campaign has implemented a more strategic approach to picking up delegates, which, despite Trump's current lead, are essential if he wants to reach the 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination.

Fox News' Christopher Snyder and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Buzz Cut:

 Trump helps Hillary survive a rocky year

 Bernie takes a hard line on fracking, knocks Hillary

 Dude

 Cruz, team Rubio hit back at Trump, Kasich

 Um, would you believe meow?

TRUMP HELPS HILLARY SURVIVE A ROCKY YEAR

Today is the one-year anniversary of the official start of presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clintons presidential campaign, which she launched with a brief online video.



It was a revealing choice, as was her subsequent trip to Iowa in a blacked-out Scooby van, including the seemingly furtive visit to an Ohio fast-food restaurant.



Keeping the candidate in the campaign equivalent of a hamster ball may have been about her teams desire for a cloistered Clinton and an avoidance of the sloppy mistakes of her first presidential run. But there was also a bigger consideration.



Clinton, who had unmistakably been preparing for a second run since the moment of her 2008 defeat, had toyed with the idea of a Jeb-esque protracted phony campaign, delaying the official launch  and official fundraising rules  until as late as July of last year.



But March blew a chill wind into Clintons plan for conquest when it was revealed that the former secretary of state had engaged in some very dreggy electronic hygiene. Her efforts to put the matter to rest went, um, poorly.



The once and future frontrunner had a problem. She couldnt announce her run in the teeth of a scandalous gale, but neither could she afford to create any doubts in her party that she might be backing out because of her email woes. A viable rival might emerge. So she tried an announcement version of a modified limited hang out.



It was not a hit, but it did achieve its apparent goals of crossing the legal threshold of candidacy while insulating the candidate from scrutiny and those pesky reporters. Team Clinton would try a do-over in June on New Yorks Roosevelt Island, but that only reinforced the thickness of the membrane around the candidate and campaign.



One year ago today, Clinton was broadly disliked, with real ethical concerns from her time as secretary of state and the proprietor of a heavy-handed and airless campaign. And she also looked quite inevitable.



And nothing seems to have changed



Despite more scandals over the course of the year involving the Clintons money-making machine, Benghazi, and the discovery of classified information on a private server, Clinton still remains the unquestionable Democratic frontrunner. Sen. Bernie Sanders still doesnt have a path to victory that doesnt involve the mass defection of his partys leadership.



But if we look a bit closer, some things have changed for Clinton.



At this time last year, Republicans were eagerly ticking off the days until the general election. With a strong primary field of contenders and another batch of Clinton scandals looming, the GOP figured Clinton would be easier to beat than they had once anticipated.



The debate among Republicans wasnt whether Clinton could be beaten, but rather about with whom they would trounce her. The reformist Midwestern governor? The charismatic Cuban-American senator? The time-tested scion of the old guard?



Nope.



Two months after Clintons Scooby adventure, her fellow New Yorker and erstwhile friend Donald Trump declared his own candidacy on the GOP side. And what started out as a punch line or the threat of a third-party run would go on to take the dominant position in every national GOP primary poll by the end of the summer.



The words written about how and why Trump managed to eat the GOP nominating process are so numerous that their pixels might overwhelm even the data vaults at the NSA. The tyranny of multiplicity? The dislocation of millions of Americans by technological change? The ripeness of the issue of illegal immigration? And the failure of the existing Republican order to deliver on lavish promises? Yep, yep, yep and yep.



But whatever the reasons for his rise, Trump has been a boon to Clinton. Here were not talking about surveys on the still-far-off general election that show Trump going down in a Hoover-sized landslide.



The immediate benefits to Clinton of Trumpism are that what should have been a damaging primary-election season has been substantially ignored. Rather than talking about Clinton scandals, restive liberals, Clintons record or anything else, she has mostly been able to roll along in her Habitrail.



Who wants to talk about that dusty old server when youve got an outrage industry banking the furnaces of umbrage until they are white hot? And that means further opportunity for Clinton, who can jump in the news cycle from time to time by flaying Trump and his party.



Trump even takes the heat off of Clinton on the Democrats undemocratic nominating process. Clintons party is far more controlling than Republicans when it comes to the actual seating of delegates, but Sanders complaints are buried under a pile of Trump accusations of corruption, illegality and misconduct.



Trumps supporters may be right that in the general election, he will break her down like a church table after a picnic. But so far, he has been the best part of her very rough year.



[Pro-GOP group America Rising is taking a victory lap for getting more than 1 million views with its online clip of Clintons troubles navigating the New York subway system.]



Bernie takes a hard line on fracking, knocks Hillary - NYT: Bernie Sanders, campaigning across New York State on Monday, called for a nationwide ban on fracking and pointedly criticized Hillary Clinton for her record and stances on environmental issues. The Vermont senator began his day speaking to an estimated 5,000 people in Binghamton and by releasing a new television ad that called for the end of fracking across the country. Mr. Sanders said Mrs. Clinton has advocated for natural gas pipelines that will hurt the environment, and that as secretary of state she had rewarded companies through fracking expansions.



Dude - The Hill: Hillary Clinton performed in a racially tinged skit at an annual New York City press dinner  Clinton took the stage for a surprise appearance at Saturdays Inner Circle Dinner and proceeded to needle Mayor Bill de Blasio for his belated endorsement. I just have to say thanks for the endorsement, Bill. Took you long enough, Clinton told her former campaign manager. Sorry, Hillary, I was running on C.P. time, de Blasio replied to gasps from the crowd. As Raw Story explains, C. P. time, or colored people time, refers to the stereotype that African Americans generally tell as a reason for being late to an event or a traditionally black event not beginning on time.



[Dem delegate count: Clinton 1756; Sanders 1068 (2,383 needed to win)]



WITH YOUR SECOND CUP OF COFFEE

On this date in 1861, the first shot was fired on Fort Sumter beginning the bloodiest four-years in American history. The Civil War Trust brings us the story of the man who fired that fateful shot: Although some popular legends have attributed that iconic shell to the militant Virginia secessionist Edmund Ruffin, the distinction actually fell to Capt. George S. James of the South Carolina ArtilleryInitially, he served as an aide to Brig. Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard, bringing messages to the Union contingent inside Fort Sumter. As the situation worsened, the Southerners began to make plans for the attack on the fort. The honor of firing the first shot was initially given to Virginia congressman Roger Pryor. But at the 11th hour, Pryor demurred, and military veteran James volunteered for the jobHe was killed while leading the battalion at Foxs Gap on September 14, 1862.



Got a TIP from the RIGHT or the LEFT? Email FoxNewsFirst@FOXNEWS.COM



POLL CHECK

Real Clear Politics Averages

National GOP nomination: Trump 39 percent; Cruz 32.3 percent; Kasich 20.5 percent

National Dem nomination: Clinton 46.8 percent; Sanders 45.8 percent

General Election: Clinton vs. Trump: Clinton +10.6 points

Generic Congressional Vote: Republicans +0.5



CRUZ, TEAM RUBIO HIT BACK AT TRUMP, KASICH

After Ohio Gov. John Kasichs campaign teamed up with Donald Trumps organization in Michigan to help Trump shut out Ted Cruz in the final round of Michigans delegate selection process, Cruzs Arkansas team returned the favor with the help of supporters of the since-suspended campaign of Marco Rubio. David Drucker explains how Rubios delegates are teaming up with Cruz ahead of an anticipated floor fight: Since Rubio ended his presidential bid March 15, his network of party insiders has lined up behind Cruz to win delegates whod vote for the Texas senator once theyre no longer bound to Trump in a floor fight.



Trump: Colorado a total fix - Fox News: Republican front-runner Donald Trump blasted Colorados GOP leadership late Monday, calling the way the state divvied up its delegates a dirty system. At a campaign rally in Albany, N.Y., the real estate mogul told the crowd theres been so much pressure  like in Colorado, which was a total fix. Theres so much - the people all wanted to vote. They took away their votes. Over a series of several days, Colorado Republicans picked delegates on the congressional and statewide level for the national convention in Cleveland. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz swept the state, winning all delegates for the national convention.



Cruz: Stop whining - Fox News: Texas Sen. Ted Cruz waded into the controversy over the Republican partys nominating process Monday, accusing his rival for the GOP nomination, Donald Trump, of whining over Cruzs sweep of Colorados delegates for this summer's Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Donald has been yelling and screaming. A lot of whining. Im sure some cursing. And some late-night fevered tweeting, Cruz told hundreds of supporters in Irvine, CalifAddressing the real estate mogul directly, Cruz then said, Donald, it aint stealing when the voters vote against you. It is the voters reclaiming this country and reclaiming sanity.



[Watch Fox: Heidi Cruz sits down with Megyn Kelly tonight to discuss the recent controversy surrounding Trumps comments about her on The Kelly File at 9 p.m. ET]



What Trumps Colorado debacle tells us about his campaign - The Federalists Mollie Hemingway gives insight into Trumps ground game in Colorado from the perspective of a delegate: In the lead-up to those assemblies, [Trey, a Republican delegate] received communications about logistics. Since all campaigns had access to delegate emails, he received communications from campaigns seeking his vote. The Cruz campaign was very organized. They set up a CruzColorado.com site, with an easy-to-navigate interface that allowed delegates to quickly see who was on the Cruz slate for each assembly. The Trump campaign wasnt visibly organized. Trey did, however, receive a few emails from Trump delegates and unofficial Cruz supporters. The Trump campaign issued error-filled ballots that caused problems for his supporters.



[WaPos Chris Cillizza explains why Trump may have realized his delegate issue too late.]



Negative ads piling up against Trump - NYT: More than half of the record spending on negative advertising during the 2016 presidential primary has been directed at a single candidate, Donald J. Trump, a barrage that threatens to undermine his candidacy even as he continues to march toward the Republican nomination. Of the more than $132 million spent on negative ads by candidates and the groups supporting them, nearly $70 million has gone to commercials assailing Mr. Trump, according to a New York Times analysis of data provided by Kantar Media/CMAG. The sharp focus on a single candidate is especially surprising given the exceptional size of the initial Republican field.



[GOP delegate count: Trump 743; Cruz 545; Kasich 143 (1,237 needed to win)]



UM, WOULD YOU BELIEVE MEOW?

KETV: Multiple first responders safely rescued a 120-pound Great Dane after it was stuck in a tree. Owner Wes McGuirk says his pet, Kora, probably ran up the tree in pursuit of a raccoon or squirrel after surmounting a 5-foot-tall fence. McGuirk says he found her on a limb about 20 feet up when he returned home from Omaha. His efforts to get her down failed, so he called for help from firefighters...Several crews from Cass County responded, including the K-9 handler from the sheriff's office[A] plan was made: attaching Kora to a long leash and harness, and lowering the dog the groundWhich is pretty much what happened -- Kora fell into the tarp, bounced off onto the ground -- and promptly walked away.



Chris Stirewalt is digital politics editor for Fox News. Sally Persons contributed to this report. Want FOX News First in your inbox every day? Sign up here.
Archaeologists and mathematicians in Israel have unearthed evidence that could suggest key biblical texts were composed earlier than previously thought.

Using algorithmic handwriting analysis, the experts studied 16 inscriptions on ceramic shards from the remote desert fort of Arad, written around the 6th century B.C. The inscriptions, which were written by six different authors, indicate a higher level of literacy in the ancient kingdom of Judah than many scholars thought.

The study, conducted by a team from Tel Aviv University, was published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The research continues a long-running debate about when biblical works were composed - did it take place before or after the Babylonian siege and destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC and the exile of its inhabitants to Babylon?

Related: Archaeologists discover Israel's oldest glassworks

The inscriptions are not biblical texts - they detail troop movements and expenses for provisions. The tone of the inscriptions also suggests they were not written by professional scribes.

Therefore, the inscriptions indicate a high degree of literacy in the Judahite administrative apparatus and provides a possible stage setting for compilation of biblical texts, the study says. Proliferation of literacy is considered a precondition for the creation of such texts.

The experts note that, after the kingdom of Judahs demise, a similar level of literacy only re-emerges around 200 B.C.

Related: Archaeologists discover rare incense shovel in Israel

In recent years, many scholars have attributed the composition of a group of biblical texts, from the Book of Joshua to the second Book of Kings, to the period after the siege and destruction of Jerusalem, according to Israeli archaeologist Israel Finkelstein, who participated in the study. That theory holds that the biblical texts were written as a result of the exile to Babylon, when the composers began to think about their past and put their history to parchment.

Finkelstein, however, said he has long believed those texts were written in the late 7th century B.C. in Jerusalem, before the siege. He said the study offers support for that theory.

"It's the first time we have something empirical in our hands," said Finkelstein.

Related: 42 tombs and a shrine discovered in Egypt

The Tel Aviv University team was made up of doctoral students in applied mathematics, math professors, archaeologists and a physicist. Their research employed new methods for image processing and document analysis, as well as machine learning algorithms, according to the study. These techniques enable identification of the minimal number of authors in a given group of inscriptions.

The results indicate that in this remote fort literacy had spread throughout the military hierarchy, down to the quartermaster and probably even below that rank, the experts add, in the study . This implies that an educational infrastructure that could support the composition of literary texts in Judah already existed before the destruction of the first Temple.

A high level of literacy would support the idea that some biblical texts had already been authored by this time. The Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest known collection of certain biblical texts, are believed to date several centuries later.

Related: Christian saint's bones unearthed in monastery destroyed by ISIS

Shmuel Ahituv, an Israeli bible scholar who did not participate in the study, also believes literacy in ancient Judah was widespread before 586 BC and that the biblical texts in question were written before the siege of Jerusalem. He said he believes this is apparent through a literary analysis of the biblical texts alone.

"I don't need algorithms," Ahituv chuckled.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Experts have tentatively identified a shipwreck discovered off Oak Island, N.C. in February as the Civil War blockade runner Agnes E. Fry.

Three blockade runners - the Agnes E.Fry, Spunkie and Georgianna McCaw - are known to have been lost in the area.

Related: Civil War-era shipwreck found off North Carolina coast

Citing its location, size, and the missing pieces of the vessel, archaeologists with the N.C. Office of State Archaeology now suspect that the ship is the Agnes E. Fry, the states Department of Natural and Cultural Resources announced Monday.

Deputy State Archaeologist Billy Ray Morris explained that the vessel remains are 225 feet in length, similar to the Agnes. E. Fry, which was 236 feet long. Spunkie and Georgianna McCaw are both considerably shorter and also a much earlier design than the Agnes E. Fry, he added. The boiler type, as well as the hull design of the wreck are both indicative of a more modern vessel than either McCaw or Spunkie, said Morris. The difference in the lengths has to do with the damage to the bow and stern.

Related: Does this photo of Ulysses S. Grant look strange to you?

Detailed analysis of a sonar image generated on Feb. 27 shows a 225-foot vessel structure with both engines and the paddlewheel shaft missing. This fits precisely with salvage records and the March 22 underwater site inspection, notes the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

"Every piece of evidence we have examined to date, from sonar images to primary documentation, points directly to this shipwreck being Agnes E. Fry," said Institute for International Maritime Research (IIMR) Director Gordon Watts, in the statement. "We look forward to working with the Charlotte team to confirm our suspicions."

Related: Man says photo at center of Civil War mystery is a 30-year-old hoax he did as a teen

Initial side scan sonar images of the vessel were generated during remote sensing operations aboard the IIMR survey vessel, Atlantic Surveyor, on Feb. 27.

The Charlotte Fire Department is also supporting archaeologists efforts, and will deploy a sophisticated 3D sonar device to help confirm the ship's identity.

Related: Navy tug, lost for nearly a century, found in waters off California

Capt. J.D. Thomas of the Charlotte Fire Department Special Operations/EMS Command and a team of five search and rescue divers will assist the state's maritime archaeologists next week. Brian Abbott, president of Nautilus Marine Group International and the 3D sonar equipment's owner, will accompany the dive team to operate equipment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Cuban cruises are all the rage in the news as Carnival Corporations new Fathom line has been approved to bring U.S. citizens to the Caribbean island nation and Ponant announces that it too will take Americans to Cuba.

However, permission has not been granted to all cruise lines, and one peculiar restriction applies to Fathom as well.

Cubans are not allowed to return to the country of their birthplace if they are now U.S. citizens, thus excluding Cuban-Americans from sailing aboard Fathom on its itineraries-- except trips to the Dominican Republic.

USA Today is reporting that Pearl Seas Cruises has had to cancel several planned voyages to Cuba because it still has not received final approval from the government there. Pearl Seas, like Fathom, had begun taking advance bookings before receiving final permission in hopes that it would be received, but its approval has not materialized. So far at least three such cruises have been canceled.

According to Pearl Seas website, the company remains optimistic as its schedule for Cuban sailings extends from April 25, 2016 through at least the end of 2017. Booked guests may be upset over cancellations, but the itinerary page has said, these cultural voyages are subject to final government approvals for some time now. Whether or not that approval will be extended in the near future is still to be seen.

Meanwhile, Fathom, who has received Cuban approval has come across its own stumbling block. Seatrade Cruise News reports that the cruise line can take Americans to the foreign country but that it may not transport Cuban-born guests to the island.

This odd stipulation has apparently long been in place by the Cuban government saying that Cubans are not allowed to return even if they are now U.S. citizens, thus excluding Cuban Americans from sailing aboard Fathom on its itineraries, save for those to the Dominican Republic.

In response, Carnival Corp. stated to Seatrade, it is our policy to obey the regulations and laws of the countries we sail to around the world. However, we have requested a reconsideration of this particular regulation. We understand and empathize with the concerns being voiced and will continue to work the issue with Cuban officials. It is our hope and intention that we will be able to travel with everyone.

The understanding is that this Cuban regulation will apply not just to Fathom but to any cruise lines that otherwise receive approval to sail there including those that already do.

Besides the aforementioned lines, Celestyal Cruises, International Expeditions and Group IST already sail to Cuba under cultural exchange permissions, and only sailings aboard Pearl Seas Cruises and bankrupt Haimark Line remain uncertain.

Fathom will begin sailing to Cuba on May 1, 2016, and Ponant will start in 2017.

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A man accused of endangering the safety of a transatlantic flight became extremely angry and swore when he was told he could not have extra nuts and crackers, according to court proceedings Monday.

A United flight attendant claimed passenger Jeremiah Mathis Thede pointed his finger at her face and demanded to know her name when she refused his request for additional snacks.

Flight attendant Lisa Hall told Thedes trial: He became very angry and he told me he could have all the f----ing peanuts and crackers he wanted.

The United Airlines flight from Rome to Chicago diverted to Belfast International Airport after the alleged air rage incident last June.

Hall gave her version of the in-flight encounter with Thede as she gave evidence at Antrim Crown Court, Ireland.

She claimed Thede, who is from the U.S., had come back to the galley area of the economy section a short time after takeoff, when the seat belt sign was on, and asked for peanuts and crackers.

He was given the snacks at first but when he returned a short time later, Hall said she told him there was only one snack per passenger.

The flight attendant claimed Thede became enraged and pointed his finger at her face.

She said: I felt like my heart was pounding, that something wasnt right with him.

He started shouting at me before I could even finish my sentence.

Asked to characterize his demeanor, Hall said: He seemed extremely angry and it was just not normal behaviour.

The flight attendant with almost 30 years of experience told the court she expressed concern to the head flight attendant that somebody was going to get hurt.

Asked who, she added: Anybody confronting this passenger  any passenger on the aeroplane or any flight attendant.

A lawyer representing Thede said his client denied swearing or pointing his finger during the conversation about the peanuts and crackers.

The Boeing 777 carrying 264 passengers was flying to the US on June 20 last year when the captain made the decision to touch down at Belfast.

Thede, who resides in Berkeley, California, denies a charge of endangering an aircraft or persons in the aircraft.

The plane had to dump thousands of gallons of fuel before making the unscheduled stop in Northern Ireland.

As the crew would have exceeded their legal flying hours if the aircraft had resumed the journey straight away, the passengers had to wait almost 24 hours before the plane could take off again, with many having to sleep on the terminal floor.

The trial is ongoing.
The Illinois megachurch campus of Willow Creek Community Church is one step closer to opening at an approximately 193,000 square foot site for its growing congregation.

Crystal Lake Planning and Zoning Commission voted 5-0 on Wednesday in favor of allowing Willow Creek Community Church to open a new campus at a former Oak Industries site.

Marcus Bieschke, lead pastor for the Crystal Lake campus, told The Christian Post that he and his congregation were "grateful" for the result of the vote.

"We're extremely grateful to the members of Crystal Lake's Zoning & Planning Commission for their unanimous affirmation that our church's future plans align with our shared dreams for our great city and surrounding communities," said Bieschke.

"This is one more very important step in the process to ensure that our church's dreams are not just compatible but also complementary with our City's needs and future."

Founded in 1975 by Bill Hybels, Willow Creek has gone from holding worship services in a movie theatre to a multisite church with approximately 20,000 regular worship attendees.

Recently the Crystal Lake campus outgrew its present 56,000 square foot worship space and opted to move to a larger facility.

In January, the church presented its plans before the Crystal Lake City Council before submitting an official proposal for their plans with the former Oak Industries location.

Don Greetham, stewardship pastor at Willow Creek Crystal Lake, told CP in an earlier interview that they plan to perform "significant renovation" and "construction of some new portions of the building."

Click Here to Read the Full Story at ChristianPost.com
The New York woman allegedly caught on video having sex on a Las Vegas Ferris wheel in February reached a plea deal with prosecutors, The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Monday.

Chloe Scordianos, 21, was filmed by security cameras during her romp Feb. 5 on the High Roller  a Las Vegas attraction billed as the worlds tallest observation wheel. She and her partner were arrested and Scordianos is now set to plead no contest to a misdemeanor on Tuesday. The specific misdemeanor charge is unclear.

The Hicksville natives public frolic occurred on her 21st birthday with a man she had just met in Sin City. That man, Philip Frank Panzica III, was shot and killed in Houston last month during a robbery.

Ms. Scordianos has learned that the phrase what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas is not always true, her lawyer, Chris Rasmussen, told The Review-Journal. This plea will allow her to close this embarrassing chapter in her life and keep this salacious video private.
One week until the critical New York primary.. thats shaping up to be a potentially make-or-break primary for both sides of the aisle.

New polling from the Wall Street Journal, Marist and NBC News have Donald Trump with a 33 point lead over his closest rival (John Kasich). Hillary Clinton has a 14-point lead over Bernie Sanders.

0930EDT -- Hillary Clinton holds a roundtable discussion. The Times Center, New York, NY. LIVE via LiveU

1000EDT -- Sen Sanders holds a town hall meeting. Monroe Community College, Rochester, NY. LIVE via LiveU

1030EDT -- Fmr Pres Clinton speaks. Mudan Banquet Hall, Flushing, NY. LIVE via LiveU

Sanders attracted thousands the three separate rallies in New York yesterday. Bernie has continued pounding Hillary for lack of judgment.

New AP-GfK polling suggests at least half of Americans would be disappointed or angry if Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton are nominated.

Hillary Clinton has released a new anti-Trump ad. More than half of the money spent so far on negative ads have targeted Donald Trump.

Donald Trump continued complaining about what he calls a corrupt and crooked delegate selection process. Trump has not gotten a share of delegates equal to his popular vote in several primary and caucus states. Trump saying last night, The system is rigged, folks.

Last night, Ted Cruz said Trump was doing a lot of whining.

The New York Times writes about John Kasichs struggling campaign today. Reporter Jonathan Martin writes:

He received fewer votes in one state than a candidate who was no longer in the race. He has not added a single delegate since March 15. And outside of his home state  the only one he has won to date  he has been the top vote-getter in just four counties.

Gov. John Kasich of Ohio has performed so abysmally in the Republican presidential primary that his curious insistence on remaining in the race has made him into a cant-take-a-hint punch line.

As the race for the Republican presidential nomination turns toward a series of Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states this month, even Mr. Kasichs supporters concede that he must quickly demonstrate relevance if he is to have even a long-shot hope of emerging as an alternative candidate at a contested convention this summer.

1030EDT -- OH Gov Kasich delivers speech on the "Two Paths" facing America. Women's National Republican Club, New York, NY. LIVE via LiveU

President Obama set to make remarks at a newly-designated Womens Equality National Monument. The Sewall-Belmont home in Washington will become the Belmont-Paul Womens Equality National Monument. Alva Belmont and Alice Paul were figures in the womens rights and suffrage movements.

1125EDT -- POTUS delivers remarks at the newly-designated Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument. Washington, DC. LIVE

The White House is asking Congress for more money to fight the Zika virus.. which the CDC yesterday said is scarier than they first thought.

An Ohio man has pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges. Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud is accused of plotting to attack a prison or military base.

Two more suspects have been charged in the Brussels terror attacks. The two men are believed to have rented the apartment that was a hideout for one of the bombers and an accomplice. 32 people were killed in the dual attacks on a subway and the Brussels airport.

The lower house of Congress in Brazil could vote as early as this weekend on whether to vote to impeach Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff. If they vote in favor, the Senate would hold a trial.

Goldman Sachs will pay $5.1 billion to settle an investigation of the Wall Street firm and its contribution to the Great Recession.

Alcoa kicked off earnings season after the close yesterday with the announcement it may cut as many as 2,000 jobs.. an inauspicious beginning to the quarterly reports.

For more news, follow me on Twitter: @ClintPHenderson
Police say thieves carved a hole in a roof to gain access to a bank vault and steal hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The NYPD says employees of the HSBC branch on 13th Avenue in Brooklyn discovered the break-in on Monday.

The New York Times says police initially said the thieves made off with $280,000. Officials later said that number would probably change.

Police believe the theft occurred sometime over the weekend. The bank was closed both Saturday and Sunday.

The bank says customers' deposits will not be affected; the money is insured.

A spokesman says the bank is cooperating with authorities in the investigation.

No arrests have been made.
A 17-year-old girl in Florida was literally up the waterway without a paddle.

Karlin ONeill said she was kayaking with family members Sunday off the shore of Tarpon Springs, Fla. when she got separated from her group, forcing a U.S. Coast Guard team to rush in and rescue her.

This boat went by and part of the wake, I went right into it, ONeill told Fox13. It almost tipped my kayak, but I only lost the paddle.

ONeill tried shouting and whistling to no avail. Her family was too far beyond her and never heard her pleas for help.

As the hours passed by and day turned to night, ONeill tried not to let her imagination get the best of her.

The moonlight, the way it was hitting the waves, it looked like it was sharks or something, and that really freaked me out, she said.

Finally, a U.S. Coast Guard boat spotted her four miles off shore and pulled her to safety. Despite being adrift for eight hours, ONeill reportedly showed only signs of mild hypothermia.

U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Frank Cheske said ONeill did everything right: She stayed in the kayak, drank fresh water she had in bottles on board and kept her life jacket on.

Click for more from Fox13.
Virginia State Police say a tractor-trailer carrying 4,600 gallons of milk overturned and spilled some of its load in the Richmond area.

Photos of overturned milk truck that's closed ramp from Staples Mill Road east to 295 south bound in Henrico County. pic.twitter.com/L8UETzWPYA  WTVR CBS 6 Richmond (@CBS6) April 11, 2016

Troopers told media outlets that the spill occurred Monday afternoon on a ramp leading from a road to Interstate 295 in the suburb of Glen Allen. Police say the truck driver was taken to a hospital with injuries, but those weren't considered life-threatening.

Authorities say the ramp had to be closed for about two hours while crews cleaned up the spilled milk. It wasn't immediately clear how much milk had spilled.

Police say the investigation continues into what caused the truck to overturn.
Prosecutors say three people have been detained in Brussels for questioning in connection to the Paris attacks.

The Federal Prosecutor's Office said in a statement Tuesday that the three were detained following a morning search in Uccle, an upscale district of the Belgian capital.

It said a judge would decide Wednesday whether the three people should remain in custody. It said no further information would be made public about the search.

Brussels was home to many of the attackers who struck the French capital Nov. 13, killing 130 victims.
The Chinese military has deployed new fighter jets to a contested island in the South China Sea and bolstered their advanced surface-to-air missile system on the island, new satellite imagery provided exclusively to Fox News shows. The move is expected to escalate tensions in the region days before Defense Secretary Ash Carter visits the Philippines, where Chinas recent provocative actions in the region are expected to be a point of discussion.

Satellite imagery from ImageSat International (ISI) taken on April 7 and authenticated by U.S. defense officials Tuesday show two Chinese Shenyang J-11 fighter jets on Woody Island. The Chinese J-11s, known as Flankers by the Pentagon first entered service in 1998. They are a modified version of the Russian Sukhoi Su-27, comparable to a U.S. Air Force F-15 or Navy F/A-18 Hornet.

Woody Island is the largest island in the Paracel chain of islands in the South China Sea. The Chinese installed a runway there in the early 1990s. It lies 250 miles southeast of a major Chinese submarine base on Hainan Island. China has claimed Woody Island since the 1950s, but it is also contested by Taiwan and Vietnam.

The concern among senior officials in Washington is that China will eventually control the South China Sea if its militarization continues unchecked. An estimated $5 trillion in cargo and natural resources pass through these coveted sea lanes each year.

The satellite photos also show a newly installed fire control radar system on Woody Island, which makes Chinas surface-to-air missile launchers first deployed in February fully operational. The U.S. military is concerned the new radar allows China to track U.S. fighter jets, bombers and intelligence gathering aircraft keeping an eye on the Chinese military. The photos from ImageSat International show four of the eight surface-to-air missiles ready to fire on the eastern side of Woody Island.

The Chinese HQ-9 radar system, which closely resembles Russias S-300 missile system, has a range of 125 miles and can pose a threat to civilian airliners in addition to U.S. military aircraft. Fox News first reported the deployment of the missile system in late February while President Obama was hosting 10 Southeast Asian leaders in Palm Springs.

In a separate disputed island chain, located 200 miles from Manila, U.S. defense officials are also tracking a number of Chinese ships near Scarborough Shoal. Defense Secretary Ash Carter is headed to the Philippines later this week to talk about regional threats. He also will finalize a deal allowing the U.S. military to be stationed there for the first time since the closing of the Subic Bay naval base in 1992.

There were discussions that Carter would visit China on his current trip to Asia, but the visit was postponed amidst rising regional tensions. In February on a visit to Washington, Chinas foreign minister expressed interest in visiting the Pentagon, but a scheduling conflict prevented the visit from happening according to Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook.

China has deployed J-11s to Woody Island on separate occasions recently. Fox News reported one deployment in late February, when Secretary of State John Kerry was hosting his Chinese counterpart in Washington. In November, Chinese state-run media showed photos of J-11s on Woody Island as well.

Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged not to militarize the South China Sea when he visited the White House in September. Chinas foreign minister, in a February press conference with Secretary Kerry, asked that the U.S. military end what the Pentagon calls freedom of navigation operations conducted by U.S. Navy warships and military aircraft, bringing them within 12 miles of the South China Sea islands in question.

"We dont hope to see any more close-up military reconnaissance or the dispatch of missile destroyers or strategic bombers to the South China Sea," Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at the State Department.

"It is important for all of the nations  China, Philippines, Vietnam, others  not to engage in any unilateral steps of reclamation, of building, of militarization. And the fact is that there have been steps by China, by Vietnam, by others that have unfortunately created an escalatory cycle," Kerry said in late February.

"We take the [Chinese] foreign minister at his word today that he wants to see this resolved through dialogue," Kerry added.

In late January, a U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer passed by Triton Island in the Paracel Islands, the same island chain where Woody Island is located. There is an open window for the U.S. Navy to conduct another freedom of navigation operation in the next few weeks, one defense official tells Fox News, but a final decision has not been made. Defense Secretary Ash Carter has repeatedly stated U.S. military freedom of navigation operations would continue in the South China Sea.

President Obama met with Chinese President Xi on the sidelines of the 50-nation nuclear summit in Washington on the last day of March. In a statement provided by the White House, President Obama urged China to address differences with its neighbors on maritime issues peacefully.

In the last two years, China has created 3,000 acres of artificial islands atop reefs hundreds of miles south of Woody Island in the Spratly chain of islands. One runway was tested in January, when two commercial airliners landed at Fiery Cross Reef.

After the deployment of fighter jets to Woody Island, defense officials are concerned the Chinese might send them south to the Spratly Islands next.

In February, the head of the U.S. militarys Pacific Command said China is clearly militarizing the South China Sea, in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"Youd have to believe in a flat Earth to believe otherwise," Admiral Harry Harris told lawmakers.

Yonat Friling is a producer in the Middle East Bureau for Fox News Channel. You can follow her on Twitter: @Foxyonat
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that his country launched dozens of strikes in Syria to prevent the transfer of weaponry with Hezbollah fighters, Reuters reported.

Netanyahu, who did not specify when the strikes occured or the percise number, said they were meant to prevent the terror group from obtaining more lethal firepower.

"We act when we need to act, including here across the border, with dozens of strikes meant to prevent Hezbollah from obtaining game-changing weaponry."

In March, Syyed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah in Lebanon, warned Israel against attacking Lebanon, saying it will fight any new war with the Jewish state without any red lines.

We can strike any target we want inside occupied Palestine, he told a TV station in Lebanon. He said the group has a list of potential targets, including nuclear reactors and biological research centers.

Israeli leaders have said that Hezbollah has built up its rocket arsenal, and some can strike deep inside Israel.

The Associated Press contributed to this report
To dump or not to dump a little-discussed substance is the question brewing in Japan as it grapples with the aftermath of the nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima five years ago. The substance is tritium.

The radioactive material is nearly impossible to remove from the huge quantities of water used to cool melted-down reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, which was wrecked by the massive tsunami in northeastern Japan in March 2011.

The water is still accumulating since 300 tons are needed every day to keep the reactors chilled. Some is leaking into the ocean.

Huge tanks lined up around the plant, at last count 1,000 of them, each hold hundreds of tons of water that have been cleansed of radioactive cesium and strontium but not of tritium.

Ridding water of tritium has been carried out in laboratories. But it's an effort that would be extremely costly at the scale required for the Fukushima plant, which sits on the Pacific coast. Many scientists argue it isn't worth it and say the risks of dumping the tritium-laced water into the sea are minimal.

Their calls to simply release the water into the Pacific Ocean are alarming many in Japan and elsewhere.

Rosa Yang, a nuclear expert at the Electric Power Research Institute, based in Palo Alto, Calif., who advises Japan on decommissioning reactors, believes the public angst is uncalled for. She says a Japanese government official should simply get up in public and drink water from one of the tanks to convince people it's safe.

But the line between safe and unsafe radiation is murky, and children are more susceptible to radiation-linked illness. Tritium goes directly into soft tissues and organs of the human body, potentially increasing the risks of cancer and other sicknesses.

"Any exposure to tritium radiation could pose some health risk. This risk increases with prolonged exposure, and health risks include increased occurrence of cancer," said Robert Daguillard, a spokesman for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The agency is trying to minimize the tritium from U.S. nuclear facilities that escapes into drinking water.

Right after the March 2011 disaster, many in Japan panicked, some even moving overseas although they lived hundreds of miles away from the Fukushima no-go zone. By now, concern has settled to the extent that some worry the lessons from the disaster are being forgotten.

Tritium may be the least of Japan's worries. Much hazardous work remains to keep the plant stabilized, and new technology is needed for decommissioning the plant's reactors and containing massive radioactive contamination.

The ranks of Japan's anti-nuclear activists have been growing since the March 2011 accident, and many oppose releasing water with tritium into the sea. They argue that even if tritium's radiation is weaker than strontium or cesium, it should be removed, and that good methods should be devised to do that.

Japan's fisheries organization has repeatedly expressed concerns over the issue. News of a release of the water could devastate local fisheries just as communities in northeastern Japan struggle to recover from the 2011 disasters.

An isotope of hydrogen, or radioactive hydrogen, tritium exists in water form, and so like water can evaporate, although it is not known how much tritium escaped into the atmosphere from Fukushima as gas from explosions.

The amount of tritium in the contaminated water stored at Fukushima Dai-ichi is estimated at 3.4 peta becquerels, or 34 with a mind-boggling 14 zeros after it.

But theoretically collected in one place, it would amount to just 57 milliliters, or about the amount of liquid in a couple of espresso cups  a minuscule quantity in the overall masses of water.

To illustrate that point, Shunichi Tanaka, chairman of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, showed reporters a small bottle half-filled with blue water that was the equivalent of 57 milliliters.

Public distrust is running so high after the Fukushima accident that Tokyo Electric Power Co., or TEPCO, the utility that operates the Fukushima plant and oversees its decommissioning, has mostly kept quiet about the tritium, pending a political decision on releasing the water.

Privately, they say it will have to be released, but they can't say that outright.

What will be released from Fukushima will be well below the global standard allowed for tritium in the water, say Tanaka and others favoring its release, which is likely to come gradually later this year, not all at once.

Proponents of releasing the tritium water argue that tritium already is in the natural environment, coming from the sun and from water containing tritium that is routinely released at nuclear plants around the world.

"Tritium is so weak in its radioactivity it won't penetrate plastic wrapping," said Tanaka.
Russia says one of its helicopters crashed in Syria, killing the two pilots.

The Defense Ministry says the Mi-28N helicopter gunship crashed early Tuesday near Homs after completing its mission. It says there is no evidence that it came under fire.

The ministry says the bodies of the pilots have been recovered and taken to the Hemeimeem air base on Syria's coast.

Russia has been carrying out airstrikes since Sept. 30 in support of Syrian government forces. The air campaign has allowed Russia to test some of its latest weapons, including the Mi-28 helicopter.
The Taliban announced the start of their warm-weather fighting season on Tuesday, vowing "large-scale attacks" in the 15th year of their war against the U.S.-backed Afghan government.



In an email to media, the militants said the spring offensive had begun at 5 a.m. They dubbed the campaign "Operation Omari" in honor of Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, who died three years ago. The statement said waging jihad against American invaders is a holy obligation.



It said this year's campaign will incorporate suicide attacks, assassinations, and other tactics aimed at undermining the enemy's morale.



The Taliban added that in areas under their control, "mechanisms for good governance will be established so that our people can live a life of security and normalcy." The insurgents control several rural districts and last year seized the northern city of Kunduz and held it for three days.



The Taliban said they would try to avoid killing civilians or destroying civilian infrastructure, and would carry out a "dialogue with our countrymen in the enemy ranks" to try to convince them to join the insurgency.



More than 11,000 civilians were killed or wounded in 2015, according to the U.N.



The Taliban went through a period of infighting after Mullah Omar's death became public last summer. Mullah Omar's deputy, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, had run the insurgency in his name and was elected as his successor by a small clique amid mistrust from the rank and file.



The dispute had little impact on the battlefield, however, where the Taliban have advanced on a number of fronts over the past year. And in recent months, Mansoor has consolidated power, bringing several onetime rivals back into the fold.



The Kabul government has meanwhile been working with the U.S., China and Pakistan -- which has some influence over the Taliban -- to revive peace negotiations, but the insurgents earlier this year refused to take part in any talks.



The fighting subsides in much of Afghanistan during the winter, when snow and inclement weather descends on the mountainous border with Pakistan, making it difficult for the militants to travel back and forth and stage attacks.



But the Taliban remained on the march in the warmer south of the country, where they threatened or briefly seized strategic territory in three provinces.



The violence is expected to intensify once the poppy harvest in the southern provinces is finished in coming weeks. The Taliban will deploy extra forces to protect smuggling routes used for arms, minerals and other contraband that fund the insurgency.



Jabbar Qahraman, presidential envoy to Helmand, said most of the estimated 5,500 government troops and police killed in action in 2015 lost their lives in the opium-producing southern province.

He blamed not only the Taliban but an "opium mafia" working with the insurgents. The drugs gangs "are a big headache as they are so active, and they have the full support of Taliban fighters in Helmand, each helping the other to their own benefit," he said.



Most of the world's heroin is produced from Helmand's poppy crop, worth up to $3 billion a year, with much of the profits going to fund the insurgency. Officials and diplomats in Kabul have said that Mansoor is the kingpin of this illicit trade.



Local officials say security forces have been overwhelmed by months of heavy fighting across Helmand. Ali Shah Khan, a tribal elder in Sangin district -- which was under attack for weeks -- said Kabul had been warned of the Taliban threat "so many times but no one listened and that is why the Taliban have gained control of more than half of the province."



At one point in December, the province's former deputy governor, Abdul Jan Rasoolyar, issued a plea for help on his Facebook page, warning the entire province could fall.



"Without good leadership and coordination between the security forces, they just let the Taliban gain control over more territory," Khan told the Associated Press last week.



U.S. and NATO forces formally concluded their combat mission at the end of 2014, shifting instead to a training and advisory role while continuing to carry out counterterrorism operations.



But as the situation in Helmand deteriorated last year, some 800 U.S. soldiers were sent there in the first deployment since the drawdown.



Some 13,000 U.S. and NATO forces remain in Afghanistan.
A contractor said Tuesday that he negotiated with an Australian television network to snatch two Lebanese-Australian children from their father's family in Beirut but the network chose a cheaper option.

Col Chapman, who describes himself as a child recovery specialist, said executives at the Nine Network's "60 Minutes" program told him to "sharpen his pencil" when he quoted them 150,000 Australian dollars ($114,000) late last year to get the children, Lahala, 6, and Noah, 4, out of Lebanon.

The children's Australian mother, Sally Faulkner, a four-member crew from Nine, two British agents from the Britain-based Child Abduction Recovery International company, known as CARI, and two Lebanese men are in police custody in Beirut over a bungled attempt last week to smuggle the children out of the country. They could be charged within days.

Lebanese authorities filed charges Tuesday against the TV crew, including presenter Tara Brown, Nine reported.

Four charges against all four journalists include at least one related to kidnapping. They are expected to face a judge later Tuesday, Nine said.

The crew were recording from a car window on April 6 as the two CARI agents grabbed the children from their grandmother and a domestic servant at a South Beirut bus stop.

Chapman said his business Child Recovery Australia would never allow a media client to direct their operations during a child recover attempt to suit filming priorities and deadlines.

"The reason '60' didn't go with us is we were dearer and we don't work with media, not in that sense, anyway," Chapman said.

Nine refused to say if it paid for CARI's bid to retrieve the children. Faulkner accuses her former husband Ali al-Amin of taking them from Australia last year without her permission.

"We don't ever talk about payment in relation to a story," network spokeswoman Victoria Buchan said.

She declined to say whether the network had ever been in negotiations with Chapman.

Lebanese authorities had a signed statement from one of the CARI agents in custody that said the network had paid AU$115,000 for the operation, Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

The custody dispute between Faulkner, 29, and he ex-husband has been going on for several years, and Australia media have reported that he took the two children to Lebanon for a holiday last year but did not return.
Baymont Brand Booming After Just 10 Years with Wyndham Hotel Group

Wyndham Hotel Groups fastest-growing brand defies expectations with record growth in 2015, robust outlook for 2016

April 12, 2016 // Franchising.com // PARSIPPANY, N.J.  Wyndham Hotel Group is marking the 10th anniversary of its fastest-growing brand, Baymont Inn & Suites, a midscale, limited-service brand focused on good, old-fashioned service.



Since being acquired in 2006, Baymont has more than tripled in size and, at 410 hotels strong, continues to grow exponentially. Recent milestone openings, including its 400th hotel and first hotel in Mexico, marked an unprecedented 2015 and landed Baymont on Entrepreneur Magazines Top Fastest Growing Franchises of the Year in 2016.



Baymont has resonated with hoteliers from the beginning. Nearly 30% of Baymont owners have been with the brand since the acquisition and 50% of the brands 2006 locations still remain Baymont hotels. More than 20% of the brands franchisees own multiple Baymont hotels.

Baymont is no longer the underdog the industry once thought it was, said Greg Giordano, the brands vice president of operations. Weve defied the odds by growing steadily for a decade, proving that welcoming service is timeless. Ive been with Baymont every step of the way and I know, as do our owners, that this brand has staying power.

The momentum continues in 2016 thanks to record growth  more than 50 hotels joined the brand in 2015 alone - and an interior prototype design that contains elements of community while offering cost efficiencies for owners. Baymont has more than 40 hotels already in the pipeline for 2016 and plans to open new construction hotels under the prototype design in Midland, Texas and Long Island City, New York later this year.



With hotels in 43 states, Baymont is on a quest to conquer its homeland while expanding across borders. The brand has set its sights on the remaining 7 states (Alaska, Hawaii, Maryland, Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon and Rhode Island), and is looking forward to further expansion in Canada later this year.



My first Baymont property was a conversion property from AmeriHost when Wyndham Hotel Group merged the two brands  back then I was probably the last guy that wanted to be become a Baymont because it was a small, unknown brand, but I'm glad I made the right decision, said Ketan Patel, owner of the Baymont Inn & Suites Muskegon, in Muskegon, Michigan. Over the last 10 years my family has grown to a handful of properties and Baymont is always our first choice. I see myself growing even further with the brand over the next 10 years.

Baymont has cornered the market on genuine, old-fashioned service, coining a culture of hometown hospitality aimed to make guests feel like theyre in familiar territory when theyre away from home. Many Baymont owners and their employees are true hometown hoteliers, residing in the very same communities where their hotel is located.



Our hotels are mostly in small towns where most of our team members have lived for years. They are proud to be part of the hotel and proud to represent a brand like Baymont in their hometown to guests from all over the world, said Tony Maness, vice president of Channel Point, which operates 16 Baymont hotels.

Acquired in 2006, Baymont Inn & Suites was originally established in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, as an economy brand under the name Budgetel. After a series of evolutions, the brand inched out of its segment and was re-positioned as midscale under the name Baymont Inn & Suites, meaning from the bay to the mountains. The name reflected a lofty ambition for a brand which at the time was confined to the Great Lakes region of the U.S. With Wyndham Hotel Group, the 126-hotel brand grew exponentially thanks to a merger with the former AmeriHost brand, adding more than 50 hotels in a span of three years, and steady, progressive growth ever since.

About Baymont Inn & Suites

Part of Wyndham Hotel Group, the Baymont Inn & Suites hotel brand is a chain of more than 400 midscale hotels located throughout the United States and in Mexico that takes pride in neighborly hospitality. Many locations feature free Wi-Fi, continental breakfast at the Baymont Breakfast Corner, swimming pools, fitness centers, airport shuttle service and the opportunity to earn and redeem points through Wyndham Rewards, the brands guest loyalty program. Travelers can join the free program at www.wyndhamrewards.com.

Each Baymont Inn & Suites hotel is independently owned and operated under a franchise agreement with Baymont Franchise Systems, Inc. (BFS), or its affiliate. BFS is a subsidiary of Wyndham Hotel Group, LLC and parent company Wyndham Worldwide Corporation (NYSE: WYN). Reservations and information are available by visiting www.baymontinns.com.

Wyndham Hotel Group is the worlds largest hotel company based on number of hotels, encompassing over 7,800 properties and 678,000 rooms in 72 countries. Additional information is available at www.wyndhamworldwide.com. For more information about hotel franchising opportunities visit www.whgdevelopment.com.

SOURCE Baymont Inn & Suites

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Executive Care Launches Exclusive Client Care Management Program

Trusted Home Care Provider Rolls Out Executive Care 360

April 12, 2016 // Franchising.com // HACKENSACK, N.J.  Executive Care, the home care company widely recognized as the most trusted provider of skilled and personal care services, announced the roll out of Executive Care 360, a new client care management program. The launch includes Executive Care 360 availability nationwide, within each of the companys office.

The time couldnt be better to roll out this program to our franchise partners at our offices nationwide, said Todd Leonard, vice president of operations and franchise development. After piloting the process at our company-owned Northern New Jersey location for the past year, were ready to share the new program with the rest of our team. Were excited about what this means for the future of Executive Care.

Executive Care 360 is a comprehensive program that encompasses all services. Executive Care designed the new program, which employs a complete team approach to the well being of clients and results in higher client satisfaction and continuity of care. These factors, plus Executive Cares advanced technology management system, have made it stand out in one of the nations most rapidly expanding industries.

The care management systems that Executive Care puts into place will achieve the goal of offering an optimal level of client wellness through the improved coordination of care while providing cost effective, non-duplicative services.

This feature allows Executive Care caregivers to have 24/7 contact with their clients. Having the ability to diagnose the early signs and symptoms of illness, will allow for the best possible patient care, in turn, helping to cut medical costs.

Executive Care offers a variety of caregiving and skilled nursing services to help families who are often overwhelmed with the responsibility of providing care to a loved one  all while ensuring the patient remains in the comfort of his or her own home. In a crowded sector, the company has built a reputation from the ground up.

The full-service home care franchise introduces this initiative amid a remarkable franchise growth phase in which Executive Care has extended its presence into four new states including North Carolina, Florida, Texas and Connecticut. The brand has plans in place to open 10 new franchise offices by the end of 2016, doubling the current total of locations.

Executive Cares unique ability to blend a variety of companion and skilled home health care services and maintain top-notch customer engagement has made it a trusted resource for health care referral partners and families.

Entrepreneurially spirited individuals interested in investing in the home care franchise, will receive support services ranging from initial and ongoing training to sales and marketing programs.

To learn more about Executive Cares franchise opportunities, please visit: http://www.executivehomecarefranchise.com

About Executive Care

Executive Care, based in Hackensack, N.J., delivers a comprehensive selection of home care services tailored to the every need of its customers. From companionship and personal care to 24/7 live-in care and skilled nursing, Executive Care ensures customers receive safe, reliable and certified in-home medical and personal services. At the heart of Executive Care is the relationship forged between caregivers, customers and families. The company has announced plans to grow, offering an attractive franchise opportunity in the fast-growing home care sector. To learn more about Executive Cares services, visit ExecutiveHomeCare.com. For more information on the Executive Care franchise opportunity, email Todd Leonard at todd@executivehomecare.com or call (855) 393-2372.

SOURCE Executive Care

Media Contact:

Bailey Hewitt

Account Lead

O: 847-897-7487

C: 773-818-1321

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Hwy 55 Burgers, Shakes & Fries Plans Major Expansion in Texas

April 12, 2016 // Franchising.com // Mount Olive, NC - As the saying goes, Everything is Bigger in Texas and Hwy 55 is about to prove it.

Already a household name in its home state of North Carolina and a highly-decorated brand in the restaurant industry and franchising community, Hwy 55 Burgers, Shakes and Fries is planning to expand its retro-themed diner in the Lone Star State.

Hwy 55 recently signed a master franchise agreement with two existing franchise owners to bring more than 300 locations to Texas in the next 10 years. Currently, Hwy 55 has two locations in the Dallas/Forth Worth area and recently signed a franchise agreement for a location in Houston.

Hwy 55 boasts a fresh, All-American diner experience with fresh, never-frozen burgers, premium sliced cheesesteaks piled high on steamed hoagies, and frozen custard made in-house every day. With its open-grill design, the kitchen's dedication and care when hand-crafting meals is front and center.

Chris LaCoe and J.R. Cottle began flipping burgers at Hwy 55 while still in high school. Both grew into managerial roles and later were given the opportunity to become store owners while in only in their 20s. Now they share Hwy 55 master franchisee duties for South Carolina and Texas, and are responsible for developing 350 stores as part of the agreement.

Hwy 55 is not a franchise concept, it's a true American success story, said Hwy 55 president and founder Kenney Moore, who recently published a book, Behind the Drive, which details his own journey from growing up poor to now owner and founder of Americas next great burger joint. Chris and J.R. are one of nearly 50 current franchise owners who started as hourly-waged employees. It shows that hard work, dedication and commitment can lead to amazing success.

Celebrating its 25th year in business, Hwy 55 has sold the rights to more than 1,000 franchise locations around the world. Currently with 125 locations, Hwy 55 is one of the fastest growing restaurant brands in the US. In the past year, Hwy 55 has signed franchise agreements for West Virginia, western Virginia, Kentucky, and Indiana for a total of 90 locations. The brand plans to open 25 locations in 2016.

Hwy 55 has not only resonated with the burger-loving public, the restaurant and franchising industries have taken notice as well. Hwy 55 won BurgerBusiness.com's "Best Burger" in 2012 and in 2014, Franchise Business Review named Hwy 55 one of the best restaurant franchises in the country. The brand also was recently named a top 500 franchise in the United States by Entrepreneur magazine and a "Next 20" restaurant brand by Nation's Restaurant News.;

About Hwy 55

Hwy 55, a retro-themed diner that features fresh, never-frozen hand-pattied burgers, house-made frozen custard, and other classic favorites in a unique open-kitchen setting, was founded in Goldsboro, North Carolina in 1991. Hwy 55 reflects founder Kenney Moore's commitment to authentic hospitality and fresh food. Widely known in the state for its fresh food and service that exceeds expectations, the chain won BurgerBusiness.com's "Best Burger" in 2012. It also was recently named a top 500 franchise in the United States by Entrepreneur magazine and a "Next 20" restaurant brand by Nation's Restaurant News. HWY 55 currently has 125 locations in 10 states, Denmark and the United Arab Emirates. Like HWY 55 on at https://www.facebook.com/Hwy55burgers or follow us at https://twitter.com/hwy55burgers. For more information, visit https://www.hwy55.com.

SOURCE Hwy 55

Media Contact:

Tom Beyer

150PR (formerly DFPR)

480-722-1461

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Pizza Ranch Celebrates National Park Services Centennial Anniversary with Substantial Donation

Revered Pizza Restaurant Donates $25,000 to National Park Foundation, Unveils Find Your Park Promotion for Trip of a Lifetime

April 12, 2016 // Franchising.com // ORANGE CITY, Iowa  In celebration of the National Park Services centennial anniversary, Pizza Ranch, the legendary buffet-dining concept revered for its community leadership initiatives, announced today its donation of $25,000 to the National Park Foundation. The donation will help the organizations mission of enriching the countrys national parks and programs, safeguarding decades of heritage and inspiring generations of national park enthusiasts.

Our country is fortunate to have so many magnificent and diverse national parks from coast to coast, and its our job to help protect them, connect people from all backgrounds to them, and inspire the next generation of park stewards, said Stefanie Mathew, vice president of corporate partnerships for the National Park Foundation. This generous donation from Pizza Ranch will help us carry on a proud legacy of private support for our national parks.

To kick off the celebration, Pizza Ranch also announced today its Find Your Park promotion. From now until April 30, guests are encouraged to use their Ranch Rewards card to be entered into a drawing to win a 5-day, 4-night trip for four to any national park in the United States. The prize includes the cost of airfare and hotel accommodations, a $250 gift card and an annual Federal Recreational Lands Pass valid for free entrance to national parks and thousands of federal recreation sites across the country.

This promotion is an example of the countless ways there are to #FindYourPark. Launched in March 2015, Find Your Park/Encuentra Tu Parque is a public awareness and education movement to inspire people from all backgrounds to connect with, celebrate, and support Americas national parks and community-based programs. Celebrating the National Park Service Centennial and setting the stage for the Service's next 100 years, #FindYourPark invites people to discover and share their own unique connections to our nation's natural landscapes, vibrant culture, and rich history.

Pizza Ranch guests can earn an entry every time they use their Ranch Rewards card for dine-in, carryout or delivery. Two entries will be awarded for every purchase that includes a Coca-Cola product.

We are thrilled to be able to send one of our loyal guests on the trip of a lifetime, said Adrie Groeneweg, co-founder and president of Pizza Ranch. Everyone should be able to experience the beauty of our national parks; the National Park Service ensures that future generations will have that opportunity, and Pizza Ranch is a proud supporter of the work they do.

Pizza Ranch brings to life an experience that blends the perfect mix of mouthwatering buffet menu items and community camaraderie in a lively, ranch-themed atmosphere. Beyond serving delicious meals, the restaurant also partners with local schools, churches, non-profits and other organizations to host fundraisers and social functions.

For more information on the promotion, please visit www.PizzaRanch.com.

About Pizza Ranch

Cultivating its mission To give every guest a legendary experience since its inception in 1981, Pizza Ranch connects with its communities in a way that provides bridges for friends, family and colleagues to come together. Today, Pizza Ranch is based in Orange City, Iowa and owns, operates and franchises more than 195 locations in 13 states. Consistent growth has been a Pizza Ranch staple, with the brand becoming a beacon of community involvement and exceptional food. The Pizza Ranch buffet features legendary pizzas, The Countrys Best Chicken, salads and desserts, and is delivered with unmatched service quality.

SOURCE Pizza Ranch

Media Contact:

Sydney Trepel

All Points Public Relations

(847) 897-7497

strepel@allpointspr.com

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Ziebart International Corporation Takes On the Fight against Childhood Cancer, Partners with Journey 4 A Cure

Partnership Aims to Increase Awareness About the Realities of Childhood Cancer

April 12, 2016 // Franchising.com // TROY, MI - Ziebart International Corporation, the global leader in detailing, films and protection services announces a national partnership with Journey 4 A Cure (J4AC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to finding ways to fund childhood cancer research, increase awareness about the realities of childhood cancer, and enhance the lives of children battling cancer. As a leading sponsor, the company will work with their U.S. franchised and company-owned locations, as well as the headquarters employees, to promote the nonprofits mission of increasing funding for childhood cancer research and enhancing the lives of children and their families currently battling cancer.

Journey 4 A Cure is so very excited about the opportunity to partner with Ziebart International Corporation. Childhood cancer is the #1 disease related killer of children in the U.S. The incidence of childhood cancer is on the rise, 1 in 285 children will be diagnosed with cancer before the age of 19. Despite compelling facts, childhood cancer research is severely and consistently underfunded. Our partnership with Ziebart International Corporation will support the Journey 4 A Cure mission and enhance our efforts to fund research, raise awareness about the realities of childhood cancer and help brave kids. We thank Ziebart International Corporation for this opportunity and their corporate values that foster giving back, said Donna Carmical of Journey 4 A Cure.

As we continue to reintroduce our brand to new franchise owners, new markets and new customers, we want to make sure they all understand the culture of our company. In all of our local communities, we look toward ensuring that all children live a healthy, quality, happy life. We are proud to be partnering with J4AC to help in the fight to end childhood cancer said Thomas E. Wolfe, President/ Chief Executive Officer, Ziebart International Corporation.

Ziebart will support their partnership through in-store donations at point-of-sale, ongoing awareness campaigns via their website and social media to promote online giving and a variety of events during Childhood Cancer Awareness month in September. As the largest organized company of detailing, films and protection products, we are incredibly honored to share our stage with J4AC. Through in-store donations and online giving support, we look to help grow the awareness of this organization, that has positioned itself to help change the lives of many, says Larisa Walega, Director of Marketing, Ziebart International Corporation.

For more information on J4AC, visit www.journey4acure.org.

About Journey 4 A Cure

Journey 4 A Cure is a pediatric cancer foundation committed to finding ways to fund research, increase awareness about the realities of pediatric cancer and enhance the lives of children battling cancer. They journey toward achieving this mission, by enabling cutting-edge pediatric cancer research, informing the community about the realities of pediatric cancer, the statistics and funding inequities, and encouraging public policy reform.

About Ziebart

Ziebart International Corporation is the worldwide leader in vehicle appearance and protection services. Since 1959, our company has served the automotive enthusiast with valuable product and service offerings. Headquartered in Troy, Michigan, U.S.A., the Ziebart franchise has grown to an international network including approximately 400 licensed locations in 33 countries with over 800 service centers worldwide.

SOURCE Ziebart

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VestLo Announces Application To Operate As An Illinois Investment Crowdfunding Portal

The new Illinois Intrastate Investment Crowdfunding Exemption represents a game-changing capital raising tool for Illinois-based businesses.

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VestLo.com has officially become the first to submit an application with the Illinois Secretary of State, Securities Division, to register as a "qualified" crowdfunding portal under the new Illinois Intrastate Crowdfunding Exemption, which recently became effective. Seeking to take advantage of this new game-changing law, VestLo intends to serve as the premiere portal for connecting Illinois residents interested in investing locally with in Illinois-based businesses looking to raise capital.

The new Illinois Intrastate Investment Crowdfunding Exemption represents a game-changing capital raising tool for Illinois-based businesses. This new exemption makes it easier for local companies to find much needed start-up and growth capital by allowing them to raise up to $4mm, per year, from Illinois residents. Under the new exemption, local businesses will now be able to turn their friends, family, fans and even customers into investors, so long as they are Illinois residents. While Illinois businesses have always had the ability to seek capital from "accredited" (i.e. high net worth) angel investors and the like, such funding is often difficult, if not impossible, to find. Moreover, "non-accredited" investors (i.e. everyone else) have traditionally been completely excluded from investing in local businesses. Well not anymore! Under the new exemption Illinois residents, whether they are "accredited" or "non-accredited," will now have the ability to invest directly in their favorite local businesses or startups through qualified crowdfunding portals like VestLo.com. To learn more about the law itself, you can go HERE to see a thorough presentation prepared by Anthony Zeoli, a local attorney and author of the exemption (as well as being VestLo's outside counsel).

VestLo is a Chicago based FinTech company that was formed specifically to help foster local investment here in Illinois through local crowdfunding. Besides simply being a local company, the founders themselves have significant and relevant industry knowledge which they intend to leverage, including deep experience in both the financial markets and crowdfunding industry. Regarding the reasons for creating an intrastate crowdfunding portal for Illinois, VestLo Co-founder, Howard Orloff says:

"There are soon to be a ton of national level crowdfunding portals, but we truly believe in the power of "Investing Local" and the significant potential benefits such investments can provide to Illinois businesses and investors, as well as the local economy. As local guys ourselves, we know the importance of supporting Illinois businesses, that is why we are so excited about the new exemption. By "Investing Local," not only will Illinois' residents have the potential to earn financial returns, they will be directly, and positively, impacting the local economy by supporting local businesses. Not to mention, by keeping more investment dollars here in Illinois we will be able to create more local jobs. We see the new exemption, and the resulting local investment it will create, as an absolute win-win for the state and its residents and we are absolutely ecstatic to help bring local investors and businesses together. "

VestLo.com intends to focus exclusively on facilitating the funding of local "investment based" crowdfunding opportunities. For purposes of clarity, unlike the reward or donation models of crowdfunding, commonly found on popular platforms such as Kickstarter, Indiegogo or GoFundMe, VestLo's "investment based" model will allow Illinois residents to actually invest in local businesses by purchasing equity in the company or loaning money to the business (or some combination of the two, such as convertible debt). As VestLo Co-founder, Hector Robles put it: "[w]e intend to make it easier for companies to raise capital by crowdfunding the needed funds from multiple individual investors. As an alternative to traditional capital raising channels, VestLo will leverage the power and support of the crowd by pooling together individual investments to support local business."

About VestLo LLC: VestLo, is a FinTech company based in Chicago that is committed to the concept of investing locally. We believe individual customers, neighbors and communities can come together to support local businesses through crowdfunding the investment needed to operate or expand their business. Investing locally will benefit local communities and boost our local economy. Investors see the return on their investment through improvements in their community and potential investment gains. VestLo has two offices in Chicago including a satellite office in 1871, the startup hub of the Midwest.

For more information about us, please visit http://www.VestLo.com

Contact Info:

Name: Howard Orloff

Email: Howard@VestLo.com

Organization: VestLo LLC



Source: http://marketersmedia.com/vestlo-announces-application-to-operate-as-an-illinois-investment-crowdfunding-portal/110125

Release ID: 110125

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Great Plains Painting Relaunch Website To Better Promote Kansas Painting Services Online

Great Plains Painting has relaunched their website with an all new design, utilising the latest features and approaches to maximize user engagement and lead generation.

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Buying services online is becoming more common than ever before, with the vast majority of initial searches now taking place on major engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo. As such, it is important for every service provider to have a top-performing website in order to compete for custom in this new arena. Great Plains Painting is arguably Kansas City's best residential painter, and has now relaunched its website so that its online presence can reflect the quality, reputation and popularity the company has gained over its many years in service.

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The website also has a gallery of their previous work, including both residential and commercial spaces, with both interior and exterior painting, to help potential clients see the quality of the finished product for themselves. All this is combined with the latest on page SEO techniques to organically draw potential customers to the site.

A spokesperson for Great Plains Painting explained, "We are thrilled with the new website and excited about what this means for the growth of our business in 2016. The work we have been doing on behalf of clients is tireless and of unmatchable quality, which guarantees repeat customers. New customers however are increasingly dependent on online performance, which is why we have taken these steps to improve our website. It is important to us that the citizens of Kansas City and beyond can discover the best painting services available when they are searching online. Thanks to this new website, now they can."

About Great Plains Painting: Great Plains Painting are dedicated to delivering the highest quality home painting services available in Kansas City, MO. They offer both interior and exterior painting, creating the latest looks with the best quality finish available. Their experienced team of professional painters are constantly working with the latest techniques and trends to create quintessentially modern spaces, for the best value.

For more information about us, please visit http://greatplainspaintingkc.com/

Contact Info:

Name: Stetson Ramey

Organization: Great Plains Painting

Phone: (913) 912-3806

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/great-plains-painting-relaunch-website-to-better-promote-kansas-painting-services-online/110356

Release ID: 110356

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Bed Bug Exterminator Philly Launches New Website To Promote Services Online

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Spring has sprung, and with the warmer weather comes an explosion in animal populations. Unfortunately for those in urban areas, much of the burgeoning wildlife is unwanted, from ants and termites to bed bugs and even fleas. Infestations of this kind can be annoying, disruptive and even dangerous for home and business owners. Bed Bug Exterminator Philly take care of these problems in no time, and have just launched a brand new website designed to help people discover their services by searching online through major search engines.

The new website (http://www.toppestexterminating.com) uses the latest techniques and approaches in order to make it as discoverable as possible by new users. The website uses a fully responsive build that will load flexibly to fit the elements to any screen size, while the website itself uses the latest on page SEO to ensure the algorithms are as engaged with the content as human visitors are.

The website provides a full accounting of the company's services (http://www.toppestexterminating.com/philadelphia/bed-bug-exterminator/) together with information on their team and approach. The website has full contact details for emergency call outs together with a contact form that individuals can use to receive a free no obligation quote on the services they need.

A spokesperson Bed Bug Exterminator Philly explained, "We are excited to be able to share our new website with the Philadelphia community. We understand that in order to for individuals to use the best pest exterminators in the state, we need to be discoverable through common online searches. This website will enable people to find us more easily than ever, as well as help them recommend us to friends and family who might be experiencing similar problems. We are the best equipped and most experienced exterminators in the region, making us the ideal choice."

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For more information about us, please visit http://www.toppestexterminating.com/

Contact Info:

Name: Tim Wilkins

Email: support@toppestexterminating.com

Organization: Bed Bug Exterminator Philly

Phone: (267) 202-7911

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/bed-bug-exterminator-philly-launches-new-website-to-promote-services-online/110351

Release ID: 110351

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Affordable Web Design For Self Employed And Local Businesses - Starts 14/04/2016

ProLocal Web Design & Marketing announced the availability of their new Affordable Web Design and Marketing Service beginning 14/04/2016. More information can be found at http://prolocal.uk/webdesign-marketing/.

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Customers looking for the latest Affordable Web Design Service will soon be able to get involved with ProLocal Web Design & Marketing. Today Andy Mason, Owner of ProLocal Web Design & Marketing at ProLocal Web Design & Marketing releases details of the new Affordable Web Design Service's development. Click Here for the website.

This affordable Web Design Service is designed to appeal specifically to self employed business people and any kind of local business: it includes:

Fast professional quality website designs - This feature was included because it will speed up the creation of small business websites. This should be great news for the consumer as this service will enable business owners and self employed people to have an awesome online presence without wasting their own time building it..

Local business search engine ranking - This was made part of the service since it will help small business websites to compete better in the search results for their keywords.. Customers who invest in the service should enjoy this feature because will be better for everyone - the end user will find quality local products and services more easily and the business owner will generate more revenues and leads..

Fast loading pages - ProLocal Web Design & Marketing made sure to include this within the affordable Web Design Service's packages as this feature helps reduce lost business and gains higher ranking in search engines.. Customers of the Affordable Web Design Service will likely appreciate this because it will almost always stops customers from skipping off to another website due to poor loading performance of the page they wanted.

Andy Mason, when asked about the Affordable Web Design Service said:

"I have been providing local business websites within Sussex and Kent (and further afield too) for years now, and it excites me to see a new fresh business taking off and getting clients through my work. Having experience in the problems and issues that website owners can occasionally have also helps things run smoothly and I speak their language, using terms and expressions they will understand - not the jargon that usually gets thrown at people. "

This is the latest offering from ProLocal Web Design & Marketing and Andy Mason is particularly excited about this launch because there have been many changes in web design and marketing recently. Also so many businesses need quality services like this to meet the needs of their website visitors today. He is also enthusaistic to point out that ProLocal is going to be in a position to help people in all walks of life with any kind of website and any kind of business and any locality.

Those interested in learning more about ProLocal Web Design & Marketing and their Affordable Web Design Service scan do so on the website at http://prolocal.uk/webdesign-marketing/

For more information about us, please visit http://prolocal.uk/webdesign-marketing/

Contact Info:

Name: Andy Mason

Organization: ProLocal Web Design & Marketing

Address: 6 Brewery Place, Norfolk Way, Uckfield.

Phone: 07591446296

Release ID: 110383

For more information visit r



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Curtainsmarket.com Keeping On Launching New Useful Products Won A Great Number Of Consumers

Huge amounts of new curtains launched on Curtainsmarket.com really surprised and pleased lots of consumers, especially those who are fond of unique and beautiful curtains.

--

Huge amounts of new curtains launched on Curtainsmarket.com really surprised and pleased lots of consumers, but equally important is the affordable price and good service. Product manager of Curtainsmarket.com claimed that their aim was to help people choose affordable curtains with good quality and win the trust of consumers instead of tricking them.

It is particularly worth mentioning here that major products such as Kids Curtains and Bedroom Curtains become highlights of the website. In order to meet customers' different needs, they support customized curtains. Customers can tell their requirements to customer service staff.

Different and warm atmosphere for customers the website creates also play important roles in the sales process. "Our phone lines are open through the week and anyone can call them on any business day to place a query or an order and in the future", the sales manager said. He also informed the press that they are gradually trying to have a larger share in the industrial curtains market in the US and abroad.

Good attitude can decide a company's future and that is why the website can earn trust from consumers. At the same time, it takes time and experience to become trustworthy company, and that gives the website perspective to deal with all problems and questions of consumers.

For more information about us, please visit http://curtainsmarket.com

Contact Info:

Name: Shi Lei

Organization: Chang Xiang

Phone: 1(347) 688 7991

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/curtainsmarket-com-keeping-on-launching-new-useful-products-won-a-great-number-of-consumers/109867

Release ID: 109867

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1825s restricted status does not equal advisers shoe-horning clients into unsuitable products, chief executive Steve Murray has said, as he seeks to distance the firm from a narrow definition of non-independent advice.

Founded last year when Standard Life bought Pearson Jones from Skipton , 1825 offers restricted advice with products from a list of providers including Canada Life, Axa, Novia, Prudential and Cofunds.

But Mr Murray said he wanted to make sure advisers are not shoehorning their clients into unsuitable products.

He said: We are calling ourselves restricted, but the advice people will be able to give is very broad and we are looking to broaden that over time.

If we see gaps in our proposition, advisers will be able to go outside those panels; we want to make sure we are not shoehorning people into things, stated Mr Murray, adding: If we realised it needed to be broadened out, you could step outside the proposition and look at the whole of the market.

Restricted advice has been on the rise in the years since the Retail Distribution Review, which saw the rules around independent advice tighten. According to Apfa, 9 per cent of income in the financial advice industry in 2013 came from restricted models while in 2014 this surged to 20 per cent.

It went down slightly in 2015 - but remained broadly similar - at 18 per cent.

In recent weeks, 1825 has bought Norwich-based Almary Green and central Scotland-based Munro Partnership.

When he announced the sale of his company to 1825, Almary Green managing director Carl Lamb admitted he had not taken the decision to renounce independent status lightly, but said the argument for independence has weakened with the pressures on affordability.

Following its two recent deals, 1825 has 59 financial planners advising 8,700 clients on more than 2.6bn of their assets.

Mr Murray said 1825 is aiming to reach 150 advisers, which he said would give the company national coverage.

Our desire is to make sure we have quality financial advice and that we build things in the right way. When we get to the point that we have 150 advisers over the next few years we will have a look and see what is appropriate.

He added that 1825 expects to see some organic growth over the medium term. In most industries, particularly ours, personal recommendations tend to be a good way for people to grow and the firms we are working with have got strong partnerships.
Failed claims management company Rebus has handed over its entire book of claims against financial advisers to a law firm for 100,000.

The Law Practice (TLP) agreed to buy the collapsed firms client contracts to pursue hundreds of outstanding claims.

An administrators report dated 2 April revealed TLP must pay Rebus half of the gross profit it earns from the claims.

Seven offers had been recieved for parts of the business, and the administrator said the sale to TLP offered the best return for the creditors of Rebus.

According to a notice on Rebuss website, which appeared in February and was quickly taken down, about 1,700 clients stood to lose a total of 930m.

The company collapsed after it took on complicated cases against advisers for an upfront fee and struggled to recoup money for clients due to the long lead time of the claims and the insolvency of some of the advice firms.

Rebus concentrated on investors seek redress for failings over negligent advice given by IFAs, and was particularly interested in complex cases involving tax avoidance.

The claims management company expected clients to recover losses from the advisers professional indemnity insurers.

In February, Mark Osgood, partner at law firm Moore Blatch, said Rebus clients typically stand to lose 100,000 each if their cases miss the six-year limitation cut off.

Resolve Partners was appointed as administrator for Rebus Management Services, Rebus Investment Group and Rebus Investment Solutions in January.

Five Rebus employees were made redundant immediately after the appointment of Resolve, with the remainder kept on to service existing clients.

When TLP agreed to purchase the client books on 23 February, the remaining 10 members of staff were also made redundant.

Last year Rebus took to crowdfunding to help raise cash, with 100 investors ploughing more than 800,000 through Crowdcube.

However, the crowdfunding investors also stands to lose out as negotiations for a buyer broke down, meaning Rebus was unable to continue trading.

Paul Harris, managing director of TLP, said he was having to take a great deal of care with clients because many have either been given bad advice or their cases have been neglected by Rebus.

He said ReSolve wanted a solicitors practice which could immediately give the necessary levels of client care and expertise and be able to meet the stringent time limits on recovering client damages to ensure the claims are secure.

Speaking broadly about the claims management companies, Gareth Fatchett director at Regulatory Legal Solicitors, said many find it difficult to make enough money out of mis-selling claims as they try to move on from payment protection insurance (PPI) complaints.

Colin Low, managing director of Kingsfleet Wealth, said: Where does it all end? Will the Crowdfunders want to litigate against Rebus? What about their clients? Who can they sue?

Unfortunately, I cant see an end to this unless some form of caveat emptor legislation is specifically implemented. However, which political party would be able to do that?
Young UK investors are the keenest users of online advice solutions, according to a survey by Legg Mason.

The firm surveyed more than 1,000 investors aged between 18 and 39, finding that those in the UK place almost as much trust in the online channel as face-to-face advice.

In total, 85 per cent of UK-based millennials said they were comfortable with robo-advice, while 80 per cent said they would trust such advice.

Adam Gent, head of UK sales at Legg Mason, said: Robo-advice remains a relatively new concept in the UK compared to the US, where it is more established, but the levels of support for this new advice channel suggests it is far more than a passing fad.

Indeed, with such trust being placed in online advice by younger investors, many of whom will have grown up with the internet, it would appear the future looks bright for robo-advisers as they seek to establish footholds in the UK advice market.

On average, 59 per cent of millennials globally expressed comfort with robo-advice, with 63 per cent trusting it. Within Europe, 70 per cent were comfortable with robo-advice, with 65 per cent trusting it.

Overall, professional financial advisers scored more highly among UK millennials, with 91 per cent feeling comfortable with their adviser and 88 per cent having trust in them.

But Mr Gent said the narrow gap between the different channels shows the extent to which robo-advice is taking off among the younger generation.

Last month the regulator and government published the final report of the Financial Advice Market Review to tackle the advice gap, which recommended increased use of mass-market automated advice.

Providers like LV and Scottish Widows, direct-to-consumer platforms such as Nutmeg, and financial advice firms such as Lighthouse and Bellpenny are all considering moves into the market.

Legg Masons research was carried out on total of 5,370 high-net worth investors across 19 markets between 3 December and 8 January.

Of these, 2,122 were in Europe, with 200 aged between 40 and 75 in each of the eight markets where the study was conducted and 60 aged between 18 and 39.
The fund house said the launch was in response to client demand for a way to protect against, or potentially play, volatility in the exchange rate between the euro and sterling.

Sterling has been weak in the lead up to the referendum over the UKs membership of the European Union, but the share class seeks to guard against a possible reversal of this trend.

Barry Norris, manager of the FP Argonaut European Alpha fund, said: UK investors often have strong views on the euro. Fears of a Brexit have recently triggered significant weakness in sterling, which may reverse post-referendum in the event of a pro-EU result.

Therefore the time is right to offer a hedged share class option for Alpha unitholders wishing to protect themselves against future euro weakness.

The FP Argonaut European Alpha fund has returned 33.8 per cent over three years, compared 22.3 per cent generated by IA Europe ex-UK sector over the same period, according to FE Analytics.

Matthew Harris, director of Dalbeath Financial Planning, said: For most of the overseas funds that we recommend to clients we would not want a currency hedge, as a diversified exposure to many different currencies is an important part of spreading the risk of a portfolio.

However, in some cases we can see the rationale for it, and for investors who really hate the Euro this is a nice option to have.
Hidden in the Budgets small print lurked changes likely to force platforms to scrap paying interest distributions net of tax, adding a fresh admin burden while the sector draws breath as the sunset clause ends.

If enacted, from April 2017 there will no longer be any reason for a platform to offer separate net and gross nominee accounts, according to Zurich UK Lifes head of retail platform strategy Alistair Wilson.

He said: It might sound like a minor change, but it could be a big deal for platforms and fund managers.

At present, platforms can choose to run two different nominee accounts: one gross for Isa and self-invested personal pension investors, and a net nominee account for general investment account investors.

Where there is a single net account, the platform reclaims the tax suffered on interest distributions for Isa and Sipp investors from HM Revenue & Customs and pays the tax into the investors Isa or Sipp account. It might sound like a minor change, but it could be a big deal for platforms and fund managers. Alistair Wilson

But under the proposals announced in the Budget, from next April all interest distributions will be paid gross.

According to Zurichs analysis, these new rules will only apply to distributions made by funds that hold predominantly interest-bearing assets.

At present, interest distributions may be paid gross to Isa and Sipp investors, but interest distributions paid to general investment account investors are subject to the deduction of 20 per cent basic rate tax at source.

Platforms will need to adapt to the proposed changes and update their systems to accommodate the receipt of gross distributions by 2017, Mr Wilson said.

Some platforms have looked to differentiate themselves in the market by offering a gross nominee, so this change may be a bit of a headache.

The changes will also mean an alteration to the tax vouchers issued to clients each year, although the first set will not be issued until 2018.

On the upside for platforms, Isa and Sipp investors will automatically receive gross income, Mr Wilson said, adding this means there will be no need for the platform operator to reclaim tax from HMRC, eventually simplifying its administration.

Mark Polson, principal at the Lang Cat, said fund managers will be the most affected by the changes, with some offering gross and net probably looking to amalgamate these.

Ken Lambden, chief investment officer at Baring Asset Management, called it a positive initiative to make UK funds more competitive in the long term.

The change is welcome in that it should remove the current complexities around the operation of UK fixed interest funds and make them generally much more competitive with offshore fixed interest funds. This should also mean all forms of UK source interest will be received gross by UK intermediaries.

Abraham Okusanya, principal at FinalytiQ, said platforms powered by modern technology should be able to deal with this change.
HMRCs rules for UK-Australian pension transfers have come under fire from experts, who accuse the taxman of running a policy of no checks, based only on trust.

Amid a rush of Australian recognised overseas pension funds re-entering the UK tax offices list, following last years cull, there are concerns not all of the schemes meet HMRCs and the Australian Tax Offices rules.

Geraint Davies, managing director at Montfort International, said the current situation makes it extremely difficult for anyone in the UK to give advice to transfer to an Australian scheme.

We still feel most of these Australian schemes are not compliant with UK rules  they will say that they are compliant with Australian rules.

In Mr Davies view, the Australian Super Fund Lookup website states the Australian Tax Office can accept Australian transfers but this is not the standard the UK has set for transfers to Rops.

UK rules come first and if you read them, they [these schemes] are not compliant. Safety first says apply for Rops status once you meet UKs definition of a complying scheme. Anybody who thinks otherwise is dicing with danger.

A spokesperson for HMRC said the Rops notification list shows pension schemes that have notified HMRC they meet the requirements, have undertaken to provide information and consented to appearing on the list.

Last year, the list of Australian recognised overseas pension funds was slashed, as HMRC confirmed to the Australias Treasury its superannuation funds no longer complied with UK rules under the new pension age test.

Superannuation funds have the facility to allow recognised overseas pensions. HMRCs pension age test requires schemes to assert savers are not able to access funds before the age of 55 in line with UK law.

FTAdviser reported in October last year a superfund listed on the recognised overseas pensions list - P Wyns Age 55 Super Fund - is not compliant with the Australian tax office.

After the initial reintroduction of Australian Rops to HMRCs list, the number from the country now total 137.

Nigel Darnley, technical services manager at London and Colonial, said transferring to an overseas scheme needs to be considered very carefully.

Funds which have the status registered-not determined on the ATOs search engine, are in a limbo, he said, where Australia has not yet determined whether it is compliant or non-compliant, which can make a huge difference to retirees tax bills.

If it is compliant the tax rate is 15 per cent, if it is non-compliant it is 45 per cent.

It may be that the scheme is fine, but if for some reason it is different, then there is a 30 per cent tax difference.

He recommended advisers look at the ATO super fund website as well as HMRCs list to establish whether the scheme is a Rops.

But Robin Ellison, consultant at Pinsent Masons, said an Australian superfund listed as of not determined status does not mean it is ineligible to be recognised by HMRC, because this is an Australian status, not a UK one.
A life ban has been slapped on a former RBS banker after he recklessly disregarded the risk of corrupting the Libor benchmark rates integrity.

Despite the Financial Conduct Authority waiving the 250,000 fine due to Paul White being in serious financial hardship, the regulator has prohibited him from performing any function relating to regulated financial activity.

White worked for the Royal Bank of Scotland as the primary submitter for Japanese yen and Swiss franc Libor between 8 March 2007 and 24 November 2010.

The FCA found he had allowed his submissions to be set by those with collateral financial interests in the outcome.

This follows three other occassions where the FCA has taken public action against a trader for manipulating Libor submissions, and follows a string of fines and bans for Libor compliance failures.

To date the financial watchdog has imposed seven fines, totalling 426m, on firms for misconduct relating to Libor. White recklessly disregarded the risk  the obvious risk - that his Libor submission might corrupt Libors integrity. Mark Steward

Mark Steward, director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA said White had an obligation to ensure the submissions he made were proper ones, and said he recklessly disregarded the obvious risks.

White received 68 documented communications from derivatives traders requesting submissions that would benefit their trading positions, including requests received from brokers on behalf of an external Japanese derivatives trader.

For example, on 22 June 2010 Mr White engaged in a Bloomberg communication with an external broker as follows:

External Broker: u got a bit less emotion in the 3s fix [JPY] today?

White: unchanged should be the call, u want higher?

External Broker: yah, if not a msve prob

White: will c what we can do, maybe up a pip

External Broker: nice, much appreciated.

He also sat next to a Swiss franc derivatives trader who had asked him to make Swiss franc Libor submissions to him on a weekly basis.

White submitted these rates to the British Bankers Association.

Mr Steward said: This ban should reinforce the message that working in financial markets entails obligations and responsibilities and that serious failures will result in substantial penalties including fines and prohibitions.

The FCA had already issued a warning on 18 June 2014, but proceedings were frozen until a criminal investigation by the Serious Fraud Office into former employees at RBS had concluded.

katherine.denham@ft.com
As politicians prepare to vote on the re-approval of glyphosate on Wednesday (13 April), Farmers Weekly is calling on UK growers to speak out on what the loss of the worlds most widely used herbicide would mean for them.

MEPs from all EU member states will gather in the European Parliament to vote on the routine licence re-approval of glyphosate, an active ingredient in a wide range of agrochemical products including Roundup.

It is an essential tool used in growers fight against yield-robbing weeds such as blackgrass, and is also used for crop desiccation before harvest.

What do you think? You can tell Farmers Weekly what impact the loss of glyphosate would mean for you and crop production on your farm. Tweet @FarmersWeekly, or contact Oli Hill by emailing oli.hill@rbi.co.uk or call 07881 803 480 to make your voice heard.

See also: Glyphosate licence renewal faces further delays

The chemical has caught the attention of the public and politicians after the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that glyphosate is probably carcinogenic to humans last year.

The European Parliament vote was deferred in March because of a difference of scientific opinion as to whether glyphosate is carcinogenic or not, after the European Food Safety Authority (Efsa) declared the product was safe.

The final decision on glyphosates licence renewal rests with the European Commission, not the European Parliament, which means this vote is not legally binding.

However, it may reveal the political mood towards the continued use of products containing the worlds most popular active ingredient.

Growers are being urged by the NFU to contact their MEPs explaining the importance of glyphosate to thier farm business.

You can tell Farmers Weekly what impact the loss of glyphosate would mean for you and crop production on your farm.

Tweet @FarmersWeekly, or contact Oli Hill by emailing oli.hill@rbi.co.uk or call 07881 803 480 to make your voice heard.
Details of a radical plan allowing dairy farmers to get together and restrict milk output in a bid to firm up prices have been published by Brussels.

EU farm commissioner Phil Hogan called for the speedy implementation of the special rules in a speech to the European Parliament on Tuesday (12 April).

It would see the activation of Article 222 of the Common Market Organisation, which allows farmers, co-operatives and other producer organisations to restrict milk output.

See also: EU ministers meet to discuss farm crisis measures

Such a move would usually be deemed a breach of EU competition rules. But Article 222 allows for special measures to be activated when there is severe imbalance in the market.

It means dairy co-operatives and producer organisations can agree to curtail production for an initial period of six months and up to one year with EU permission. (See the European Commissions website for details on the rules for voluntary planning milk production).

UK-based dairy companies Arla, First Milk and Direct Milk Dairy Producer Organisation have all said they have no plans to take advantage of Article 222.

But countries such as France are more in favour of market stabilisation measures, including restrictions on the amount of milk produced.

Mr Hogan has also confirmed that Brussels will allow member states to pay farmers up to 15,000 (12,000) each as an incentive to freeze production in a bid to address oversupply in the dairy market.

In the UK, the NFU says Defra is unlikely to fund such a measure. But supporters of Article 222 believe that could change if other countries are seen to fund a production freeze.

Addressing MEPs, Mr Hogan said responsibility for the speedy implementation of Article 222 now lay with EU co-legislators  in other words, the European Parliament.

I call on you to seize that responsibility with a view to ensuring this measure is used as an effective contribution towards greater market balance in the dairy sector, he said.

Article 222 was introduced in 2013 but has never been used and can only be applied when the market is deemed to be severely imbalanced.

But Brussels announced on 14 March that the strict criteria for Article 222 to be activated had now been met for the dairy sector.

The same day, it was included in a package of aid measures which EU farm commissioner Phil Hogan said should now be given the chance to succeed.
The Welsh Liberal Democrats have pledged a 20m annual package to support hill farmers in their manifesto for agriculture ahead of the Assembly elections.

The scheme, for Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC), would offer dedicates support to hill farmers on difficult terrain to improve their resilience and competitiveness, the party says.

NFU Cymru and the Farmers Union of Wales (FUW) have called for the introduction of new measures to help upland farmers since the Welsh government scrapped the Tir Mynydd scheme in 2012, which had run for four years.

See also: Welsh farmers tell election candidates to back badger cull

The previous scheme enabled hill farmers to receive additional CAP payments in line with the EUs less favoured area (LFA) definition. These payments were worth between 19.5m and 21.3m.

The Lib Dems said their proposed scheme would be worth about 20,687,000 each year.

Ahead of the 5 May Assembly elections, the Lib Dems launched their agriculture manifesto on a farm in Llanilar on Monday (11 April).

Speaking at the launch, party leader Kirsty Williams said: Farmers in Wales deliver some of the greatest produce in the world, but too often they are not getting the support they need from an out-of-touch Labour government.

Every member state of the EU and each of the UK devolved administrations has some form of financial support for those who farm in difficult areas, all except here in Wales.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats would end this unfair competitive disadvantage.

In the manifesto, the Lib Dems also included a promise to promote share farming and succession planning to ensure the survival of the family farm.

A third key pledge seeks to help farmers apply for small grants for agri-environment schemes.

Elizabeth Evans, Liberal Democrat Assembly candidate for Ceredigion, said: We would look to offer more small-scale, accession grants for farmers to invest in animal welfare, reducing carbon emissions, and more efficient IT so they can increase diversity and profitability.

The Lib Dems said it would also look to simply the Glastir agri-environment system, which it said had been a source of great confusion and frustration for many farmers to ensure payments were made on time.
The UK has refused to support an EU plan to increase school visits to farms and encourage youngsters to eat more fruit and vegetables.

European farm ministers meeting on Monday (11 April) adopted a regulation that aims to promote the consumption of milk, fruit and vegetables in schools.

The UK abstained from the vote. The Hungarian and Netherlands delegations voted against the adoption of the regulation.

See also: Children want to know more about farming  survey

The EU scheme will have an annual budget of 250m (201m). It will see selected agricultural products supplied to schools in a bid to promote healthy eating habits and local food.

Brussels said one of the new features of the new scheme was a strengthened emphasis on educational activities, such as farm visits for children.

Participating countries would be able to choose from a list of eligible foods and supply them to schools, with an emphasis on fresh and healthy products, it said.

The school fruit and vegetables scheme and the school milk scheme are currently separate programmes. The new regulation will merge them into one.

Strengthening the two schemes was of great importance, said Brussels, particularly in the context of declining consumption among children of fresh fruit and vegetables and milk products.

The new regulation will be applicable from August 2017.

Farmers Weekly has asked Defra why the UK abstained from the vote. Any Defra response will be added to this article once it has been received.
Story Highlights 70% of Americans say postsecondary education "very important"

Blacks and Hispanics attach greater importance than whites

Individuals seen as most responsible for increasing percent attaining degree

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Americans strongly endorse the value of postsecondary education, with 70% saying it is "very important" for adults to have a degree or professional certificate beyond high school. The percentage of Americans who view having a degree or certificate as very important has held steady near 70% since 2012, even amid declining college enrollment and growing discussions in this country about the value of higher education.

Blacks and Hispanics, who have lower levels of college degree attainment than whites according to the National Center for Education Statistics, place a greater value on postsecondary education than whites do. Seventy-nine percent of blacks and 78% of Hispanics say education beyond high school is very important, compared with 67% of whites.

These results are based on the fifth annual Gallup-Lumina Foundation poll on Americans' opinions about higher education. The latest study was conducted Oct. 1-Nov. 5, 2015, with 1,616 U.S. adults, including 300 blacks and 302 Hispanics.

The poll also finds Americans place a value on postsecondary education in its own right -- 66% strongly agree or agree that taking some college classes is a good idea even if it does not lead to a degree.

However, perhaps echoing research on lifetime earnings by educational attainment, Americans also see a strong connection between completing a postsecondary education program and finding a good job. Seven in 10 Americans strongly agree (39%) or agree (31%) that having a professional certificate or degree beyond high school is essential for getting a good job. Although solid majorities of whites, blacks and Hispanics agree that a postsecondary education is essential for getting a good job, Hispanics (58%) and blacks (50%) are much more likely than whites (33%) to strongly agree.

Americans' Views of a Degree or Certificate as Being Essential for Getting a Good Job On a 5-point scale, where 1 means strongly disagree and 5 means strongly agree, please rate your level of agreement with the following item: Having a professional certificate or degree beyond high school is essential for getting a good job. 5 - Strongly agree % 4 - Agree % Total agree % U.S. adults 39 31 70 Non-Hispanic whites 33 35 68 Non-Hispanic blacks 50 23 73 Hispanics 58 21 79 2015 Gallup-Lumina Foundation Survey on Higher Education

And despite frequent news stories of recent college graduates being unable to get a job in their chosen field after investing tens of thousands of dollars in college tuition, 70% of Americans say having a postsecondary degree or professional certificate will be "more important" in the future to getting a good job; only 7% predict it will be less important.

Consistent with these views, 58% of Americans say it is very important to increase the proportion of people in the U.S. who have a degree or professional certificate beyond high school. That view is held by 71% of Hispanics, 70% of blacks and 54% of whites.

Americans Say Individuals Most Responsible for Increasing Postsecondary Education

A public consensus on the value of postsecondary education is just the first step in increasing education levels in the U.S. population. The survey asked Americans which institutions or actors are most responsible for increasing the proportion of Americans with a college degree or professional certificate.

Americans overwhelmingly believe that individuals themselves are responsible for ensuring that more people in the U.S. earn degrees or certificates beyond high school, with 72% saying individuals are "very responsible." But most Americans also see a variety of U.S. institutions as "very" or "somewhat responsible" for increasing educational attainment, including colleges and universities, government institutions, local communities and businesses.

Americans' Views on How Responsible Various Actors Are for Increasing Postsecondary Degree and Certificate Attainment How responsible are each of the following to ensuring that more Americans have a degree or certificate beyond high school -- very responsible, somewhat responsible, not too responsible or not responsible at all? Very responsible % Somewhat responsible % Individuals themselves 72 24 Colleges and universities 53 40 State governments 38 42 The federal government 36 37 The president of the United States 35 31 Local communities 31 49 Businesses 27 49 2015 Gallup-Lumina Foundation Survey on Higher Education

Among Those Without Degree, 15% Enrolled in a Degree Program

In addition to assessing how much they value higher education, the survey asked Americans about their intentions for completing a college degree program. The 59% of respondents who have not received an associate degree or higher were asked about their current or prospective enrollment in a college degree program. Fifteen percent report they are currently enrolled in a degree program, while another 24% say they plan to enroll in the next five years. The remaining 61% have no plans to enroll in a degree program in the next five years.

Enrollment intentions are particularly high among younger adults; 35% of those between the ages of 18 and 34 say they are currently enrolled and 39% in this age group plan to enroll in the next five years. Also, more than one-third of Americans between the ages of 35 and 49 are enrolled (8%) or plan to enroll (30%) in some education program.

If all those who are enrolled in a degree program or who plan to enroll completed the program, the percentage of U.S. adults with an associate degree or higher would increase from 41% to 64%.

Implications

Although the value of postsecondary education is a matter of increasing debate, Americans are largely convinced that such education is important, is essential to getting a good job and will be more important in the future. That strong commitment to education suggests younger as well as older adults will continue to find ways to attain a degree or professional certificate. And despite the financial obstacles to higher education, 59% of Americans believe postsecondary education is available to anyone in this country who needs it.

In a changing U.S. job market that sees fewer manufacturing positions and more jobs in the information, technology and service fields, the importance of learning advanced skills taught in college or in professional settings is clear. Americans view individuals themselves as most responsible for helping to increase the proportion of those in this country with degrees or certificates, but Americans also see many government and nongovernment institutions as bearing at least some responsibility.

Hispanics and blacks place an especially high value on postsecondary education, even though, on average, those groups are less likely to complete college degree programs than whites or Asians. To some degree, these facts indicate considerable barriers to postsecondary educational attainment still exist. Cost may be the most obvious barrier, and Americans largely share this view, with 76% saying education beyond high school is not affordable to anyone who needs it.

Survey Methods

Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted Oct. 1-Nov. 5, 2015, with a random sample of 1,616 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The sample included oversamples of 300 non-Hispanic blacks and 302 Hispanics. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is 3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

For results based on the total sample of 930 non-Hispanic whites, the margin of sampling error is 4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

For results based on the total sample of 300 non-Hispanic blacks, the margin of sampling error is 7 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

For results based on the total sample of 302 Hispanics, the margin of sampling error is 7 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

All reported margins of sampling error include computed design effects for weighting.

The sample of national adults included a minimum quota of 60% cellphone respondents, with additional minimum quotas by time zone within region. Landline and cellular telephone numbers were selected using random-digit-dial methods.
Fans who attended the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach in 2022 can renew their ticket orders for next year beginning Monday, Oct. 24.
June 27, 1927  April 2, 2016

Robert Bob Buckman died peacefully at age 88 in Corvallis at his home at Stoneybrook Lodge.

Bob was born in 1927 in Superior, Wisconsin, and grew up in Spooner, Wisconsin, as the first child of Leola and Herman Buckman. A brother, Donald, arrived two years later.

At age 17 Bob enlisted in the U.S. Army and as a lieutenant served with the Army of Occupation in Germany during 1946-47. He was recalled during the Korean War.

Bob studied forestry at the University of Minnesota and University of Michigan, where he earned a PhD in forestry in 1959. In 1968-69 Bob spent a year at Harvard earning a masters degree in public administration.

In 1950 Bob married Marie L. Eidenschink, a marriage that lasted over 60 years until her death in 2011. They had two daughters, two sons and six wonderful grandchildren.

Bobs forestry career began in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, in 1955 as a research forester with the Lake States Forest Experiment Station of the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). Bob moved to Washington, D.C., in 1965 where he served in a variety of staff positions in forest research. In 1971 he transferred to Portland as Director of the Pacific Northwest Forest Experiment Station. Five years later he returned to Washington, D.C., as a deputy chief of the USFS where he directed the forest research and international programs; work that he lead until his retirement in 1986. Bob was passionate about his career in forest research and the USFS until his last days.

Bob joined the College of Forestry at Oregon State University in Corvallis shortly after his retirement. He taught forest policy and international forestry and guided several graduate students until he retired again in 1995. During this time he served as vice president, then president of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (1986-1990) representing 15,000 forest scientists in 110 countries. In this capacity, he and Marie enjoyed travel to many parts of the world.

Bob and Marie built their retirement dream home in Corvallis, a home that was open to relatives and friends from the world over as well as the center for many family gatherings for the last 30 years. He was proud of the wide variety of rhododendrons he carefully nurtured in the yard. Bob also became an avid researcher of family genealogy, resulting in a family document as well as numerous trips to visit newly discovered relatives in the US and northern Europe. His stays in D.C. cultivated a lifelong interest in the Civil War and American history. Bob was an avid hunter and fisher wherever he called home. He looked forward to fall elk camp with family and friends. His family shared the appreciation for the outdoors that he instilled through annual camping, fishing and hunting trips.

Bob was recipient of a number of awards in recognition of his contributions to forestry, including election as Fellow in the Society of American Foresters, Fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Honorary Member of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations.

Bob is survived by his children, Mary Buckman and Patricia Cirello, both of Corvallis, Robert Buckman of Newport and John Buckman (Pam) of Pendleton; six grandchildren, Sally Feiner, Brenda Grill, Alyssa Salstrom, Angie Cirello, Robert Buckman and Joe Cirello; and brother Don Buckman (Carol) from Shell Lake, Wisconsin.

At Bobs request, there will be no service. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Oregon Public Broadcasting (7140 SW Macadam Ave, Portland, OR 97219) or the Society of American Foresters (5400 Grosvenor Lane, Bethesda, MD 20814).

Share your thoughts and memories of Bob at: robertbuckman.forevermissed.com.
United Nations Climate Change : Christiana Figueres to step down

Bonn After six years as Executive Secretary of UNFCC, Christiana Figueres announced she will not serve out another term.

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After serving two terms as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), Christiana Figueres announced she will step down when her second term ends on July 6. She had been appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in 2010 and reappointed for a second term in July of 2013.

A native of Costa Rica, Figueres is recognized for having stepped in after the failed Copenhagen conference of 2009 and persevered for a universal framework on climate change. This eventually culminated in the Paris Agreement of 2015 in which all countries of the world agreed to cutting carbon emissions. World leaders will gather at the UN in New York on April 22 to officially sign this agreement. Figueres is known for being firm but charming, and a skilled negotiator with lots of experience. She has been involved in climate change negotiations since 1995.

When Figueres made known that she would not accept another term, she also announced a decision by UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon to elevate the current position she holds of Executive Secretary to Under Secretary General. This is comparable to a cabinet position in a national government. It takes into account the political impact of climate change and the enormous responsibility of the Climate Secretariat.

Possible successors to Figueres are thought to include Fatih Birol from Turkey who is the Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, Gambias Environmental Minister Pa Ousman Jarju, Nozipho Joyce Mxakata-Diseko from South Africa and Brasilian Andre Correa do Lago who led negotiations at the Rio-20-plus meeting. Names also up for discussion are Teresa Ribera from Spain, Patricia Espinosa from Mexico, Dessima Williams from Grenada, Manuel Pulgar Vidal from Peru, Izabella Teixeira from Brasil and Laurent Fabius from France.
Speeders Beware : Speeding is Killer No. 1

Dusseldorf A speeding enforcement crackdown is planned for April 21, not only in Germany but all over Europe.

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From one minute to the next, life can change dramatically. When 2-year-old Rene let go of the hand holding his and ran in front of a speeding motorcycle, he and his family would never go back to the life they knew. The little boy suffered a skull fracture with mild spasticity. In Germany, 70,000 people receive brain injuries every year due to traffic accidents. North Rhine Westphalia (NRW) Interior Minister Ralf Jager wants to warn speeders of the consequences and get drivers to slow down. On April 21, there will be a major clamp down not only in Germany but all over Europe. Expect to see many radar controls on this day.

According to Jager, speed is the No. 1 Killer with one of every three traffic deaths attributed to speeding. In NRW in 2015, traffic accidents claimed the lives of 524 people. Of the 13,000 persons who were seriously injured, some of them hospitalized for several months, ten percent remain impeded with physical and emotional scars. These scars will stay with some accident victims for their entire lives. Not only are the injured people victims, but also their friends and families who may not get back their loved ones back as they once were.

Bonn has the Hannelore Kohl Foundation (ZNS) which supports families who have been altered by the tragedy of a serious traffic accident. Chief Executive of ZNS, Helga Lungen says she supports the speeding crackdown on April 21, even though it is politically controversial. In the last widespread radar crackdown, there were complaints that it took away too much time and energy from an already strapped police force. In response, Jager says this radar will be shortened to 6:00 a.m.  10:00 p.m. and focused in areas where major accidents occur.

Criticism came from Marc Lurbke of the Federal Democratic Party (FDP), Police in NRW have more than four million hours in overtime. The number of burglaries has risen 18 percent. To carry out a major radar crackdown under these circumstances is to falsely prioritize what is needed most. The learning effects of such radar crackdowns only last a few days.

Even 35 years after his accident, Rene is still fighting to find his place in society. After completing middle school, he studied to be an office worker and hopes to work for the German soccer team Bayer Leverkusen in the future. Soccer is his passion. At the European championship for persons with physical disabilities, Rene stood in the goal for the German national team.
What is this Airtel's Social Car All About? News oi -Vigneshwar

Airtel, announced that India's first "Social Car" made a pit stop at Hyderabad. A trio of popular TV Actor Karan Wahi, MTV VJ of 'Student of the Year' fame Sana Saeed, and MTV's Zerxes Wadia were joined by food blogger Adarsh Munjal to soak in the culture of Hyderabad.

In an exciting initiative, the Airtel Social Car, which runs on social media conversations is undertaking a journey from Mumbai to Kolkata, today reached 700 kms on route to its destination. What sets Airtel Social Car apart is the fact that it is powered by conversations around the hashtag #Airtel4GDrive across digital platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

SEE ALSO: Lenovo's Latest Smartphone Offers a Massive Screen for Less Money!

The trio of Popular TV Actor Karan Wahi, MTV VJ of 'Student of the Year' fame Sana Saeed, and MTV VJ Zerxes Wadia are part of this exciting road trip. During this adventure filled journey, the team will continue to be a part of the social media conversations and post exciting content from their road trip. The team will make pit stops in Hyderabad, Vishakhapatnam and Cuttack and reach Kolkata on April 15, 2016.

In Hyderabad the team was joined by food critic Adarsh Munjal of the 'The Big Bhookad' fame, who helped them indulge in the Nizami culture of the city and have a savoring gourmet experience with fans at popular eateries.

Venkatesh Vijayraghavan, Chief Executive Officer, Andhra Pradesh & Telangana, Bharti Airtel Ltd, while flagging off the team said, "At Airtel, innovation is an essential part of our cultural fabric. The mission of taking up a 4G Drive through India's first Social Car is another testimony of our desire to constantly innovate. We are super excited to welcome the Airtel Social Car crew here in Hyderabad."

He added, "Digital conversations today fuel our lives and I am sure the Social Car will be fuelled enough to travel through the scenic stretch from Telangana to Andhra Pradesh. I wish the team all the best and an exciting journey ahead. Keep the social conversations flowing in at #Airtel4GDrive."

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The Most Affordable Network in India is Now 4G Ready..Almost! News oi -GizBot Bureau

Telecom operator Telenor India, which positions itself as the most affordable network, expects to have 4G services ready in six circles by the end of this fiscal.

"As we speak, we have already swapped 7,000 mobile sites. They are LTE ready. Based on this transformation we have started offering LTE in Varanasi. We expect entire network will be upgraded by end of this financial year," Telenor India Chief Executive officer Sharad Mehrotra told PTI.

SEE ALSO: 7 Reasons to be Excited About Huawei Smartwatch Launched at Rs 22,999!

The company has awarded Rs 1,240 crore contract to Chinese telecom equipment firm Huawei for modernising all its 25,000 mobile base station in six telecom circles where it operates.

Telenor provides mobile services in UP (West), UP (East), Bihar (including Jharkhand), Andhra Pradesh (including Telangana), Maharashtra and Gujarat. Together, these circles account for more than 50 per cent of India's population.

The company has permit for Assam but is yet to start its services. Mehrotra said 30 per cent Telenor customers are using data and rest are using voice.

"No doubt future is of high speed but at same time first time data users that are trying to experiment with internet on network like Telenor. We have our own target segment. As customer evolves they expect higher service. In future we have to have high speed data play. We are looking at spectrum auction very closely," Mehrotra said.

SEE ALSO: This is the First India-made Smartphone Launched with VR Headsets

As per Trai data, Telenor had 7.24 lakh mobile subscribers at the end of January and was among top five telecom operators in terms of new subscriber addition. He said the firm is working to build up digital products that its offers to customers as it ramps up network.

Source PTI

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MND declines comment on U.S. naval officer's espionage charge

ROC Central News Agency

2016/04/11 15:12:03

Taipei, April 11 (CNA) The Ministry of National Defense (MND) declined to comment Monday on a report that a Taiwanese-American naval flight officer has been accused of passing secrets to foreign countries.

"The case does not involve the Republic of China, and the ministry has no comment on related reports," the MND said.

"It is also not appropriate to comment on the national defense affairs of other countries," the ministry pointed out.

According to U.S. media, Lt. Cmdr. Edward C. Lin, who moved to the United States with his parents when he was 14, has served on some of the U.S. Navy's most sensitive intelligence-gathering aircraft and as a signals intelligence specialist on the U.S. Navy's Lockheed Martin EP-3E Aries II reconnaissance aircraft.

The media said that Lin is currently in detention pending trial, accused of passing secrets to other countries, although the reports did not specify the countries supposedly involved.

At least one Taiwan media outlet suggested that Lin may have sold U.S. secrets to Taiwan as well as China.

The United States Naval Institute (USNI) News, which first reported on the leaks, said, however, that Lin passed the secrets to China.

The USNI is a private, non-profit, professional military association.

MND sources said that the U.S. in accordance with protocol, will ask the MND for further information if it has any doubts, but added that no such information has been forthcoming in relation to the Lin case.

(By Lu Hsin-hui and Lilian Wu)

ENDITEM/J

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US Naval cmdr. charged over 'espionage for China, Taiwan'

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 11, 2016 9:57AM

A US Navy flight commander has been nabbed, facing charges of espionage for China and Taiwan.

Lieutenant Commander Edward Lin, the commander in question who is of Taiwanese origin, reportedly relayed sensitive US intelligence to those countries while he was assigned to the headquarters for the Navy's Patrol and Reconnaissance Group, which oversees intelligence collection activities.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters on Sunday that a redacted Navy charge sheet accused the suspect twice of communicating secret information and three times of attempting to do so to a representative of a foreign government "with intent or reason to believe it would be used to the advantage of a foreign nation."

The redacted sheet did not disclose the suspect's name and the Navy declined to provide details on his identity.

However, the US Naval Institute (USNI), which first reported Lin's identity, said the senior officer managed the collection of electronic signals from the EP3-E Aries II signals intelligence aircraft.

The unnamed US official further said both China and Taiwan were possible receptors of intelligence but stressed the investigation was still ongoing.

The suspect was also accused of engaging in prostitution and adultery. He has been held in pre-trial confinement for the past eight months or so, the official added.

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US Navy Officer Faces Spy and Prostitution Charges

by VOA News April 11, 2016

A U.S. Navy officer who is a naturalized citizen from Taiwan is facing espionage and other charges for allegedly passing state secrets, possibly to China and Taiwan.

A U.S. official, speaking on anonymity, identified the officer as Lieutenant Commander Edward Lin. According to Navy article that profiled Lin in 2008, he left Taiwan at age 14, lived in other countries and eventually came to the U.S.

A redacted Navy charge sheet said Lin was assigned to the Navy's Patrol and Reconnaissance Group, which manages intelligence-gathering activities.

The charge sheet accuses him of communicating secret information two times to a representative of a foreign government and attempting to do so on three other occasions with "reason to believe it would be used to the advantage of a foreign nation."

The document did not identify any countries, but the U.S. official said China and Taiwan were possible.

Lin is also facing prostitution and adultery charges and has been held in pretrial confinement, the official added.

Chinese and Taiwanese foreign ministry and defense officials have either said they do not have information about the case or declined to comment.

The suspect's identity and link to the charges were initially reported by USNI News.

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Air Force approves RPA initiatives

By Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs, / Published April 11, 2016

WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- The Air Force recently approved two initiatives for the remotely piloted aircraft career field. First, eight RPA reconnaissance squadrons will be redesignated as attack squadrons. Second, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III authorized RPA aircrews to log combat time when flying an aircraft within designated hostile airspace, regardless of the aircrew's physical location.

The changes were two of many recommendations that emerged as part of Air Combat Command's Culture and Process Improvement Program, which seeks to address a number of issues affecting operations and the morale and welfare of Airmen across the RPA enterprise.

"The Airmen who perform this essential mission do a phenomenal job, but we learned from the RPA pilots, sensor operators and their leaders that these Airmen are under significant stress from an unrelenting pace of operations," said Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James. "CPIP was established to help stabilize the RPA enterprise. These policy changes are steps toward addressing issues highlighted by RPA operators in the field."

The redesignation will affect the names, but not the core missions of RPA squadrons at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico; Whiteman AFB, Missouri; and Creech AFB, Nevada. These units, consisting of approximately 600 officers and 700 enlisted Airmen, will continue to provide real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to commanders, close air support to ground troops, and post-operation battle damage assessment to senior leaders.

Previously, squadrons consisting of MQ-9 Reaper aircraft were designated attack squadrons, while squadrons of MQ-1 Predator aircraft were designated reconnaissance squadrons. The redesignation anticipates the Air Force's ongoing transition to an all MQ-9 fleet and acknowledges the capability of these units to support military operations that can include strikes against targets. The cost of the redesignation is minimal, mostly affecting signs, stationary and other local items that display the unit's name or emblem.

"Aerial warfare continues to evolve. Our great RPA Airmen are leading that change. They are in the fight every day," Welsh said. "These policy changes recognize the burdens they bear in providing combat effects for joint warfighters around the world."

Since their first employment over the Balkans, Air Force RPAs have been in high demand, according to Air Force senior leaders. This has led to rapid expansion of both the number of squadrons and the number of operators.

Unique organizational structures and names evolved during this time, and the Air Force is now taking steps to standardize operations and improve conditions for operators.

The RPA mission "is instrumental to achieving decision advantage against our enemies, is an indispensable asset to our national security, and is the backbone to the success of our fights in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and other areas combating extremism and terrorism," Gen. Hawk Carlisle, commander of ACC, said March 16 in his testimony to the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services. "The Air Force is fully invested in continuing to achieve sustainability of this enterprise."

The Air Force reduced the number of combat lines to 60, from 65 in 2015. They also increased incentive retention pay for pilots to $25,000, matching incentive pay for rated pilots in other airframes.

ACC is expanding the training pipeline for operators, creating a more robust force and decreasing the current operational tempo. A combat operations-to-dwell ratio of 2:1 will provide Airmen predictable schedules, improve work-life balance, enable further professional development, offer increased training opportunities, and ultimately improve readiness, according to Col. Jeffry Long, ACC's director of CPIP.

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Airmen help South Korea, US Soldiers enhance search, recovery techniques

By Senior Airman Dillian Bamman, 51st Fighter Wing Public Affairs / Published April 11, 2016

CAMP BONIFAS, South Korea (AFNS) -- Firefighters from the 51st Civil Engineer Squadron assisted Joint Security Area service members with rescue tools and safety precautions during a joint exercise April 8 at Camp Bonifas.

South Korea and U.S. Army Soldiers practiced search and recovery techniques after a simulated aircraft crash north of the Korean Demilitarized Zone.

"This exercise is to show that our Soldiers have the skills necessary to extract and treat casualties from the aircraft and to get to that aircraft safely to an area that is potentially mined or has unexploded ordnance," said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Christopher Nyland, the United Nations Command Security Battalion commander.

Every month, the United Nations Command exercises their right to train in accordance to the Korean Armistice Agreement. During this iteration, the security battalion called upon the Osan Air Base fire prevention flight for assistance.

"They have been helping us make sure we have the right tools in our toolkit  and to train these Soldiers and our leaders on how to gain entry into a crashed aircraft," Nyland said. "They were able to join us on this exercise and provide their observations and critique on how well we're using these lessons and applying them in a tactical scenario. We've really opened our aperture on how to utilize these tools thanks to them."

The exercise incorporated a wooden structure to simulate a downed helicopter with injured troops. Security battalion Soldiers used their new equipment including a circular saw and Jaws of Life to enter the aircraft safely and without further injuring the individuals inside.

"In a perfect world, a downed helicopter will land straight down, but oftentimes that is not the case," said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Nathaniel Andrews, a 51st CES fire prevention crew chief. "We're here to ensure they're able to work around situations like this to save lives. Our big part of this exercise is making sure these Soldiers are able to safely enter the downed aircraft and extricate patients for medical help.

"I'm glad we were able to come out and train with the Army," Andrews continued. "Especially coming up to Camp Bonifas, where the threat is real. Helping them out with this certainly shows the strong alliance we have here."

The Osan fire prevention team plans to continue participation in exercises with the JSA Security Battalion to ensure the peace and stability on the Korea Peninsula.

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U.S. Department of Defense

Press Operations

News Release

No. NR-002-16 April 11, 2016

Secretary Mabus Names Next Destroyer Carl M. Levin

Today, during a ceremony in Detroit, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced that the next Arleigh Burke class destroyer, DDG 120, will be named Carl M. Levin in honor of the longest serving senator in Michigan history.

During his 36 years in the Senate, Levin was a member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services and its chair for more than nine years. He also served as chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, as a member of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. He led the Senate in adoption of the Defense Authorization Acts from 2007 through January 2015 when he retired.

Currently, Levin is Senior Counsel at Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP and Chair of the Levin Center at Wayne State University Law School and the law school's distinguished legislator in residence.

"It is a great honor to name this ship in recognition of such a dedicated public servant," said Mabus. "I have no doubt that all who serve aboard her will carry on the legacy of service and commitment exemplified by Carl Levin during his storied career."

"My family and I are deeply moved by this singular honor and to be so wonderfully connected to the men and women of our great Navy," said Levin.

Arleigh Burke class destroyers conduct a variety of operations from peacetime presence and crisis response to sea control and power projection. DDG 120 will be capable of fighting air, surface and subsurface battles simultaneously and will contain a combination of offensive and defensive weapon systems designed to support maritime warfare including Integrated Air and Missile Defense and Vertical Launch capabilities.

The ship will be constructed at Bath Iron Works in Maine and expected to enter the Navy fleet in 2020. The ship will be 509 feet long, have a beam length of 59 feet and be capable of operating at speeds in excess of 30 knots.

Levin's wife Barbara is the sponsor of the littoral combat ship USS Detroit (LCS 7), which is expected to be commissioned later this summer along the Detroit River.



Additional information about the Arleigh Burke class destroyers is available online at http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=4200&tid=900&ct=4.

Media may direct queries to the Navy Office of Information at 703-697-5342. For more news from Secretary of the Navy Public Affairs, visit www.navy.mil/SECNAV.

http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/718195/

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USS Emory S. Land Returns to Guam, New Homeport

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS160411-04

Release Date: 4/11/2016 9:24:00 AM

By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jason Amadi, USS Emory S. Land Public Affairs

NAVAL BASE GUAM (NNS) -- The submarine tender USS Emory S. Land (AS 39) returned to its homeport in Guam, April 11, following a six-month deployment.

Emory S. Land's return is its first since officially shifting homeport from Diego Garcia to Guam, Dec. 23.

"We're excited to be back in Guam," said Capt. Mark A. Prokopius, commanding officer of USS Emory S. Land. "Our Sailors were able to accomplish many great things during this deployment and I look forward to what we'll be able to accomplish now that we're back in our homeport."

During their six-month deployment, Emory S. Land's crew visited Malaysia, the Philippines, Diego Garica, Singapore and Japan, conducting tended moorings with four submarines, voyage repair periods on six submarines and four surface ships, and served as the lead maintenance activity during a successful continuous maintenance availability period for the USS Florida (SSGN 728).

Emory S. Land Sailors and Military Sealift Command civilian mariners were also able to participate in subject matter expert exchanges with local partner navies and community outreach programs such as beach cleanups and volunteer opportunities with local charities and children's homes.

Some Sailors and civilian mariners have special connections to Guam and are excited about what the change of homeport means for them.

"I'm really happy to be back in Guam and even happier that my ship is homeported here," said Logistics Specialist Seaman John Ervin Cagang. "I lived here when I was growing up and it's just good to be back home."

Now that the ship has returned from deployment, the focus of its officers and crew will shift toward work in port.

"We remain focused on the challenges ahead: performing maintenance on forward-deployed submarines and executing the repair facility turnover with our sister-ship, USS Frank Cable (AS 40)," said Prokopius.

Emory S. Land is a forward deployed expeditionary submarine tender conducting coordinated tended moorings and afloat maintenance in the U.S. 5th and 7th Fleet areas of operations.

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Mason Participates in Multiship Live-Fire Exercises

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS160411-20

Release Date: 4/11/2016 2:28:00 PM

By Seaman Janweb B. Lagazo, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Public Affairs

ATLANTIC OCEAN (NNS) -- Guided-missile destroyer USS Mason, assigned to Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, participated in a multiship warning shot/disabling fire exercise during a composite training unit exercise in the Atlantic Ocean, April 4.

The training scenario allowed Mason to hone its ability to engage a non-compliant vessel with a variety of weapons in order to increase its effectiveness during maritime interdiction operations.

"The warning and disabling exercise simulates a scenario where Mason is faced with a potential MIO (maritime interdiction operation) vessel that refuses to slow and allow a boarding," said Cmdr. Christopher J. Gilbertson, Mason's commanding officer.

Gilbertson explained, if the threat is validated and the fleet commander authorizes it, the ship will use warning shots or if deemed necessary disabling fire to force a vessel to accept Mason's boarding team alongside.

"The purpose of WD-EX is to increase our overall weapons familiarity and increase our proficiency to react during these situations," said Ensign Kenneth Williams-Spittner, anti-terrorism tactical watch officer during the exercise.

The target was an unmanned vessel towed with a 5,000 foot cable by a training support vehicle, Hugo. Hugo, a government-owned and civilian-crewed ship, is able to perform a variety of military training functions to include electronic warfare services, operational security monitoring, cryptologic training, threat simulation, maritime interdiction operations training support and mine laying and retrieval operations.

"This was my first time granting release authority," said Williams-Spittner. "We definitely performed well and maintained a safe environment for the evolution."

Mason engaged the unmanned vessel with 10 blind, loaded and plugged rounds fired from the MK 45 5-inch gun, 100 rounds from a M2HB .50-caliber machine gun, 100 rounds from an M240B machine gun, 100 rounds from a 25mm M242 Bushmaster chain gun, and 200 rounds from close-in-weapons system.

"It was a great demonstration of American firepower and superior gunnery skills," said Lt. j.g. Alex Bracco, officer of the deck during the exercise.

All rounds were deployed to the stern of the towed target. Half of the rounds served as warning shots while the remaining rounds were aimed to hit the target.

Bracco praised his bridge team for their flexibility and effort.

Ensign Derek Fox, the conning officer during the evolution, explained their success was due to a thorough pre-watch tour and a detailed brief.

"I knew the criteria for green range and gave the orders to maneuver accordingly," Fox said.

Mason, along with guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey and guided-missile destroyers USS Stout and USS Roosevelt participated in WD-EX.

"The exercise is intended to hone Mason's skills and practice key elements of counter-piracy operations. You never know what kind of actions you will need to take when deployed, and we train for the worst so we are prepared for almost every eventuality," said Gilbertson.

Along with Mason, Ike CSG includes the Carrier Strike Group 10 staff, Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 3, aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), guided-missile cruisers USS San Jacinto (CG 56) and USS Monterey (CG 61), and Destroyer Squadron 26 with its associated ships: USS Stout (DDG 55), USS Roosevelt (DDG 80) and USS Nitze (DDG 94).



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Kearsarge Hosts Head of Tunisian Coastal Surveillance

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS160411-22

Release Date: 4/11/2016 2:36:00 PM

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Travis DiPerna, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet Public Affairs

MEDITERRANEAN SEA (NNS) -- Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group flagship USS Kearsarge hosted senior leaders of the Tunisian navy while at sea, April 10.

Tunisian navy Rear Adm. Houssem Allouche, head of national coastal surveillance department, and accompanying staff were provided a Maritime Domain Awareness and ARG capabilities brief during the visit.

Quotes:

"The visit by our Tunisian partners to the USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) was delightful. We were able to discuss the importance of working together to enhance Maritime Domain Awareness and strengthening our partnership throughout the region."

- Capt. Augustus P. Bennett, commodore, Amphibious Squadron 4

"It is an amazing and humbling experience to have the opportunity to meet senior leaders of the countries we work with, building our ties in order to strengthen maritime security in the Mediterranean. Engagements like these unify the efforts of the U.S. and our African partners in our continued efforts to work toward a stable and prosperous region."

- Capt. Larry Getz, commanding officer, USS Kearsarge

Quick Facts:

- The Kearsarge ARG-MEU team is comprised of the multipurpose amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3), amphibious dock landing ship USS Oak Hill (LSD 51), amphibious transport dock ship USS Arlington (LPD 24), and embarked Marines from the 26th MEU, departed the U.S. Oct. 6, 2015.

- The Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group entered the U.S. 6th Fleet of area of operations April 5, and is conducting naval operations in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe.

- U.S. 6th Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied, joint, and interagency partners, in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa.

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VP-9 Golden Eagles Return from Overseas Deployment

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS160411-24

Release Date: 4/11/2016 3:00:00 PM

From Patrol Squadron 9 Public Affairs

KANEOHE BAY, Hawaii (NNS) -- Following a seven-month deployment, the last P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft, belonging to the "Golden Eagles" of Patrol Squadron 9, touched down, April 4, and Sailors were joyfully reunited with friends and family at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

From September through March, the squadron proved its capabilities through operations across Europe, Africa and South America. The squadron's versatile aircraft and aircrew maintained an impressive 99.8 percent mission completion rate, completing 760 missions encompassing a total of 4,839 mishap-free flight hours.

Commander Gonzalo Partida, the squadron's commanding officer, praised the tireless efforts and accomplishments of his Sailors.

The commitment and professionalism of more than 350 Sailors is what allows us to accomplish our great nation's tasking across the globe, said Partida.

"We've operated from 12 countries over the past seven months and I could not be prouder of what the Golden Eagles have achieved. Homecomings are a reminder of why we deploy, to keep our loved ones safe and to protect the freedom we enjoy."

During the course of deployment, VP-9 participated in eight major military exercises.

"Participating in multilateral exercises allows us to maintain interoperability with our allies and helps our crews stay sharp and ready for the fight," said Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Francis Riley, a naval aviator in the squadron.

"Working with NATO and non-NATO countries significantly increased theater security cooperation in Europe and provided VP-9 Sailors an opportunity to learn about the culture and people from our closest allies," said Lt. Celesse Hidrovo-Guidry, a naval flight officer.

"I feel so fortunate to have seen so many different parts of the world that most people never get a chance to experience," said Aviation Structural Mechanic 3rd Class Sabrina Rios. "As a squadron, we worked hard to keep the [aircraft] flying on these important missions and meet our objectives. I'm proud of our dedication while deployed, but I'm so happy to finally be coming home!"

Golden Eagles made an additional positive impact in the community of their host nations by participating in several community relations events.

"It has been great to get out into the local community and help other people while soaking up the culture at the same time," said Information Systems Technician 1st Class Robert Leviker. "I am excited to have been part of such a unique experience."

"It's been an honor to serve my country overseas," said Aviation Electronics Technician 2nd Class Allison Grimes. "We've all made some great memories, but after seven months I'm definitely looking forward to making some new memories in Hawaii."

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Bombing attack in eastern Afghanistan kills 12, injures dozens

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 11, 2016 3:1PM

At least 12 people have lost their lives and dozens sustained injuries in a bombing attack in eastern Afghanistan, officials say.

The attack took place when a bomber stormed a bus which was carrying Afghan army recruits in the provincial capital of Jalalabad in Nangarhar Province on Monday.

"In the attack, 12 army recruits were killed and 38 others were wounded," said Attaullah Khogyani, the spokesman for Nangarhar province.

Afghanistan's Defense Ministry spokesman General Dawlat Waziri confirmed the incident and the death toll, saying the attacker struck the bus while riding a motorized tricycle.

"The recruits were being transferred from Jalalabad to Kabul," said Waziri, putting the number of injured at 26.

The head of a regional hospital in the province, however, put the death toll at 13.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack on his Twitter page.

Taliban militants regularly target military and government installations in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan is gripped by insecurity 15 years after the United States and its allies attacked the country as part of Washington's so-called war on terror.

The war removed the Taliban from power but insecurity is still rampant in the country despite the presence of thousands of foreign troops.

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Philippine soldiers kill four Takfiri terrorists in south

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 11, 2016 2:30PM

Filipino forces have killed four more Daesh-affiliated Abu Sayyaf militants in the wake of recent heavy clashes in the country's troubled south, a military official says.

According to Major Filemon Tan, the regional military spokesman, the killings happened on the southern island of Basilan on Sunday, a day after the Takfiri terrorist group claimed the lives of 18 Philippine soldiers and wounded at least 52 others.

"It is continuous. There will be no let-up in the operations," said Tan, adding that the government military is determined to arrest one of most senior leaders of Abu Sayyaf group.

Tan also talked about the killing of Moroccan national Mohammad Khattab in the weekend clashes.

He said Khattab was a bomb-making instructor who was trying to unify the various outlaw groups in the south.

"We pre-empted the possibility of bombing attacks. He can no longer teach his terroristic tradecraft," the spokesman said.

Hapilon has publicly pledged allegiance to the Daesh terrorist group and has been hunted for years for suspected involvement in a number of terrorist attacks.

The Abu Sayyaf group has also been blamed for a surge in kidnappings for ransom in recent weeks, including the separate abductions of 10 Indonesian tugboat crewmen near southern Tawi Tawi province and four Malaysian tugboat crew members off Malaysia's Sabah state on Borneo Island.

On Friday, an Abu Sayyaf faction released a former Italian missionary after six months of captivity in Jolo Island in southern Sulu province.

The terror group is also suspected of holding reportedly three Filipinos and 18 foreigners, including two Canadians and a Norwegian.

Established in the early 1990s, Abu Sayyaf is listed as terrorist by both the United States and the Philippines. It was once regarded as an offshoot of al-Qaeda.

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Saudi Arabia violates truce agreement in Yemen

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 11, 2016 6:15AM

Saudi warplanes have reportedly bombarded a number of areas in Yemen's southwestern province of Ta'izz, violating a UN-brokered truce agreement that had just taken effect.

Yemen's al-Masirah news website reported that Saudi bomber aircraft targeted the Salah and al-Huban districts of Ta'izz just two hours after the truce came into force at midnight (2100 GMT) on Sunday.

Yemeni sources also said that Saudi warplanes had pounded several areas in the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, and the province of Omran.

This is while Riyadh had earlier issued a statement in which it pledged to honor the truce. Saudi Arabia is "going to respect a ceasefire... but reserves the right to respond" to any attacks by the Houthi Ansarullah fighters, the statement read.

The Houthis, along with allied army troops loyal to Yemen's former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, had sent the UN a letter on Saturday, committing to "cease land, sea and air military operations" throughout Yemen.

The truce was announced by the UN special envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed as a step to calm the situation ahead of negotiations scheduled to be held in Kuwait on April 18.

Ahmed welcomed the ceasefire and called on all warring sides to respect it.

"I ask all the parties and the international community to remain steadfast in support for this cessation of hostilities to be a first step in Yemen's return to peace," he said. "This is critical, urgent and much needed. Yemen cannot afford the loss of more lives."

In the lead-up to the truce, Saudi fighter jets intensified their bombing campaign against various Yemeni cities, launching airstrikes on dozens of civilian houses and properties.

The warplanes targeted the Sirwah district in the central province of Ma'rib. They also carried out air raids against the Matun district in the northern province of Jawf and launched another attack on the Karsh district of the southwestern province of Lahij.

Hoping for the better but fearing the worse

The residents of Sana'a, which has been under Houthi control for the last 18 months, hoped that the attempt at peace succeeds after two rounds of talks failed last year.

"I am tired of the fighting, the destruction, everything," said 57-year-old Hussein Ali. "The situation is very difficult for people without work, without electricity, without water, and with the fear that, at any moment, [Saudi] bombardment could kill those dear to us."

Amal Ahmed, a 16-year-old student, said, "I hope that, when I wake up in the morning, the war has stopped, and I can go to school, my classmates too, without being afraid of raids and death."

Saudi Arabia has been waging a war on Yemen since late March 2015 in a bid to reinstate Yemen's former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and undermine the Houthi movement, which took over state matters after Hadi resigned. Nearly 9,400 Yemenis, including 4,000 women and children, have lost their lives in the deadly military campaign.

Yemenis, in return, have been carrying out retaliatory attacks on the Saudi forces deployed in the country as well as targets inside Saudi Arabia.

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Norway Chief of Defense Warns Armed Forces Ill-Prepared for Attack

Sputnik News

17:04 11.04.2016(updated 17:23 11.04.2016)

Norwegian armed forces are poorly prepared for an attack, Norwegian Chief of Defense Haakon Bruun-Hanssen disclosed in an annual defense report on Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Bruun-Hanssen argued that "reprioritization" against national training in favor of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) exercises and an increased presence in the Arctic "put the whole apparatus under pressure."

"Demand for our capacities has increased over the past year. Today's defense is not sustainable within the financial framework," Bruun-Hanssen said in a report to Defense Minister Ine Eriksen Soreide broadcasted on national television and translated by The Local news outlet.

Military spokesman Eystein Kvarving named a long-term plan to prepare for a military attack on Norway was "the most important thing for the Norwegian Armed Forces."

"It is a real problem that we haven't been sufficiently well-prepared," Kvarving said as quoted by the NRK broadcaster.

Head of the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) Benedicte Bjornland warned in early February that Russian intelligence gathering posed "the potentially biggest challenge against independence and territorial integrity."

Nordic countries, including Sweden and Finland, have expressed concerns in recent about increased Russian military activity in the region, such as the growing number of military exercises and intelligence activities being carried out by Moscow.

Russia maintains that its activities are conducted in response to NATO's encroachment of western Russian borders in violation of post-Soviet agreements.

 Sputnik

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UN survey finds displaced Palestinian families in Gaza Strip live in desperate conditions

11 April 2016  More than 75,000 Palestinian families internally displaced in the Gaza Strip as a result of the 2014 escalation of hostilities continue to live in fraught conditions and are in need of homes, the United Nations relief coordination wing for the Occupied Palestinian Territory reported today.

In a press release, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said it conducted an "unprecedented profiling exercise" of Palestinian families internally displaced in the Gaza Strip.

"After hearing from over 16,000 displaced families in the Gaza Strip, it is clear that most continue to live in desperate conditions," said Robert Piper, the UN Coordinator for Humanitarian Aid and Development Activities for the occupied Palestinian territory. "International support to end this situation is urgently needed," he said.

According to the survey, more than 80 per cent of families borrowed money to get by in the past year, more than 85 per cent purchased most of their food on credit, and more than 40 per cent have decreased their consumption of food.

In addition, some 62.5 per cent of internally displaced households reported that they are renting living space, including from extended family members, and nearly 50 per cent fear being evicted from their accommodations.

The situation of women and girls is of particular concern, OCHA said. Many families report living in shelter conditions that are lacking in safety, dignity and privacy, including living in tents, makeshift shelters, destroyed houses, or the open air.

"Funding is needed more than ever. We face a funding gap to reconstruct some 6,600 houses, or about 37 per cent of the overall caseload. Without this support, thousands of Palestinians will see no end to their displacement," said Mr. Piper.

"But this support must go hand in hand with significant changes at the policy level, including a lifting of the blockade and progress towards Palestinian reconciliation. Without such action, coping capacities of exhausted and vulnerable households risk being depleted altogether," he concluded.

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What's Hiding Behind Russia's Calls for Peace in Nagorno-Karabakh

by Fatima Tlisova, Mehdi Jedinia April 11, 2016

The presidents of Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan  Vladimir Putin, Hassan Rouhani and Ilham Aliyev, respectively -- are planning to hold security talks in Baku soon.

While no further details of the planned meeting have been announced, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last week in a meeting in Baku that security cooperation in the Caspian Sea region, which he said has become a "corridor" for the "trafficking" of terrorists, will top the meeting's agenda.

The announcement of the Putin-Rouhani-Aliyev summit followed a rapid escalation of the "frozen conflict" between Azerbaijan and neighboring Armenia over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, which officially is a part of Azerbaijan.

Since the end of separatist war in 1994, the region has de facto been under the control of the local Armenian forces and the Armenian military, and low-level armed clashes have occasionally broken out.

Moscow and Tehran are facilitating the peace talks between the warring sides as Armenia and Azerbaijan accuse each other of violating the cease-fire, reached last week after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Lavrov spoke by telephone.

The United States encouraged Armenia and Azerbaijan to resume peace talks and avoid further escalation.

History of conflict

The fighting that erupted in Nagorno-Karabakh last weekend is the worst outbreak of violence in the history of the conflict. According to The Associated Press, at least 64 people were killed in the fighting.

Since the emergence of the conflict in 1994, Russia has been a key member of the Minsk group, an international body created to provide a "road map" for peace in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Minsk group showed little success, and the group's format was gradually marginalized, at least in part due to Moscow's attempt to "sabotage" the efforts, said Paul Goble, an American expert on Russia who served as a U.S. State Department special adviser on Soviet nationality issues and Baltic affairs.

"Moscow has been the prime reason why there has been no movement in the Minsk group talks," Goble said. "Moscow was happy to keep this low-grade conflict that could be used to Russia's benefit."

Despite its public posture of being committed to resolving the conflict, he said, Moscow continues to play a double game, trying to use the recent escalation of violence to its advantage.

Goble believes Russia will desert its current client state, Armenia, as soon as developments allow the Kremlin to claim credit for returning to Azerbaijan what Baku calls its "occupied territories."

"There is no doubt in my mind that, for Moscow, Azerbaijan is the prize and Armenia is the tool for achieving that," he said, adding that Azerbaijan's geopolitical location and rich oil resources are what interest the Kremlin.

IS allegation

On April 4, one day before Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to stop fighting after several days of intense combat, LifeNews, a Russia-based TV station, aired a program alleging that Azeri forces were using Islamic State fighters in the battle in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The report claimed that Azerbaijani IS militants in Syria had crossed Turkish territory to reach Azerbaijan and join the fight against the Armenians in the contested territory.

Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry rejected the allegations, charging on April 5 that the LifeNews report was "sabotage by Kremlin media" aimed at raising questions about Azerbaijan's "sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability."

The ministry added that any member of a terrorist organization who attempted to enter Azerbaijan for any reason would be prosecuted.

Following the LifeNews report, its TV crew in Azerbaijan was expelled from the country.

Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry accused the station's employees of having arrived in Azerbaijan without accreditation, reporting false information and staging "provocations."

Secular state

While more than 90 percent of Azerbaijan's population is Muslim, the country's constitution declares that it is a secular state, and a 2013 study by the Pew Research Center found that support for basing national laws on the Islamic code of sharia was lower in Azerbaijan than in any other Muslim nation in the region.

Another key factor is that the vast majority of the Azeri Muslims are Shi'ites, while the IS and other extremist groups consist of Sunni Muslims.

IS considers Shi'ites "not pure Muslims" and violently represses Shi'ites in areas under its controls.

According to the Soufan Group, a New York City-based security consulting firm, 216 Azerbaijani citizens joined IS in Iraq and Syria, 49 of whom returned home. Forty of the latter were reportedly arrested after returning to Azerbaijan.

In an online posting a few months ago, an Azerbaijani IS fighter accused Azerbaijan's government of harshly treating practicing Muslims.

"We are much criticized in Azerbaijan," the figher said. "There is a reason why we came here. The cause is to be found in Azerbaijan itself. We are pressured and not accepted as people. The media speaks against us, calling us Wahhabis. The police shave our beards. Therefore, we decided to go to Syria."

Maxim Shevchenko, a prominent Russian journalist and editor-in-chief of the Caucasus Politics (Kavpolit) news agency, said, "The Azeri government is frequently criticized for harsh treatment of religious activists. There is no tolerance towards Islamist extremism."

Station owner denounces Azerbaijan

After the LifeNews TV crew was deported from Azerbaijan, the station's founder and owner Aram Gabrielyanov, a Russian of Armenian extraction, denounced Azerbaijan's government via Twitter, calling it "a clique of corrupt, stupid politicians, sitting in the pocket of the stupid fascist Erdogan."

Although Gabrielyanov, who is at the helm of a growing media empire in Russia, denies any ties to the Russian government, his loyalty to President Putin is no secret.

In numerous interviews, he has referred to Putin as "Papa Natsii"  the father of the nation.

In May 2014, Putin recognized Gabrelyanov's contribution to Russia's efforts against Ukraine by decorating him with the Order of Honor, which is usually reserved for those who have directly participated in combat.

Some experts say Gabrelyanov's political preferences and apparent participation in the Kremlin's information wars cast doubt on the objectivity of LifeNews' reporting.

Journalist Shevchenko said the LifeNews report alleging that Azerbaijan is using IS militants in the fight against Armenia is "a hideous lie based on gossip."

Still, he praised the "bravery" of LifeNews' journalists in the field. He said they "actually provided quality reporting from the both sides of the conflict zone."

Questions news report

Like Shevchenko, Goble questions the veracity of the LifeNews report alleging the involvement of Azeri IS militants in the Nagorno-Karabakh fighting.

"I think it was invented," he said, noting that the Azerbaijani government is very careful "in making sure that the country's military and law enforcement is not infected by radicalization."

"It is clear that there are people in Moscow who are interested in discrediting Azerbaijan and that was part of it," Goble said.

Two days before the sides reached a cease-fire, an IS-style video appeared on the Internet claiming to show the beheading of an Armenian Yezidi soldier by a person wearing an Azeri military uniform.

In the video, which was posted on VKontakte, a Russian social network similar to Facebook, the person in the uniform is holding what appears to be a head in his hands.

VOA could not verify the veracity of the video. Azerbaijani officials said it was fabricated.

LifeNews, however, said the video supports its claims that IS militants are fighting on the Azeri side in Nagorno-Karabakh.

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Coalition Strikes Target ISIL Terrorists in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, April 12, 2016  U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Iraq and Syria 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 aircraft conducted four strikes in Syria:

-- Near Manbij, a strike struck a large ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two ISIL fighting positions and an ISIL mortar system.

-- Near Mara, three strikes struck three separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed two ISIL vehicles, an ISIL tunnel entrance, two ISIL fighting positions and an ISIL improvised explosive device.

Strikes in Iraq

Fighter aircraft and rocket artillery conducted nine strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq's government:

-- Near Hit, two strikes struck two ISIL tactical units and destroyed 20 ISIL fighting positions, 16 ISIL heavy machine guns, four ISIL rocket-propelled grenade systems, an ISIL anti-air artillery piece and two ISIL staging areas and denied ISL access to terrain.

-- Near Mosul, four strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and two separate ISIL headquarters and destroyed an ISIL fighting position and an ISIL assembly area.

-- Near Qayyarah, a strike destroyed three ISIL machine guns and denied ISIL access to terrain.

-- Near Sinjar, two strikes destroyed an ISIL staging area and suppressed an ISIL mortar 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.

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Carter Visit Underscores 'Robust and Deepening' U.S.-India Defense Relationship

DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, April 12, 2016  Defense Secretary Ash Carter's visit to India this week -- his fourth meeting with Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar within a year -- demonstrates the regular ministerial-level oversight of the robust and deepening bilateral defense relationship between the two nations, DoD officials said in a joint U.S.-Indian statement released today.

"The United States and India share a deep and abiding interest in global peace, prosperity and stability," the statement said. "Bilateral defense cooperation is a key component of the strategic partnership between India and the United States."

Carter travelled to Karwar, India, to visit the Indian naval base there and to tour the INS Vikramaditya aircraft carrier with Parrikar. The two leaders also visited the amphibious command ship USS Blue Ridge, which was in Goa on a regularly scheduled port call.

New Delhi Meeting

Parrikar and Carter then met in New Delhi to review the steps taken to deepen bilateral defense ties since the signing of the new framework for the U.S.-India defense relationship last June, the statement said.

"They discussed the priorities for the coming year in defense ties," it said, "as well as specific steps both sides will take to pursue those priorities." These include expanding collaboration under the Defense Technology and Trade Initiative; the Make in India efforts of India's government; new opportunities to deepen cooperation in maritime security and maritime domain awareness; military-to-military relations; the knowledge partnership in the field of defense; and regional and international security matters of mutual interest, the statement said.

The two leaders said they welcomed the efforts by the Indian and U.S. armed forces to further expand collaboration and to increase complexity in their military engagements and exercises, including developing plans for more advanced maritime exercises, the statement said.

Carter and Parrikar noted India's participation in this year's Rim of the Pacific multilateral naval exercise, the participation of the Indian air force in the multilateral Red Flag exercise in April and May in Alaska, and U.S. participation in the international fleet review of the Indian navy at Visakhapatnam in February.

"They expressed their desire to explore agreements which would facilitate further expansion of bilateral defense cooperation in practical ways," the statement said. "In this regard, they announced their in principle agreement to conclude a logistics exchange memorandum of agreement, and to continue working toward other facilitating agreements to enhance military cooperation and technology transfer."

Maritime Security

"In support of the India-U.S. Joint Strategic Vision for the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region and the maritime security objectives therein, both sides agreed to strengthen cooperation in the area of maritime security," the statement said. Carter and Parrikar reaffirmed their desire to expeditiously conclude a "white shipping" technical arrangement to improve data sharing on commercial shipping traffic and agreed to commence navy-to-navy discussions on submarine safety and anti-submarine warfare.

The two leaders also agreed to launch a bilateral Maritime Security Dialogue, co-chaired by officials at the joint secretary and assistant secretary level of the Indian Defense and External Affairs Ministries and the U.S. Defense and State Departments.

Also during their meeting, Carter and Parrikar reaffirmed the importance of safeguarding maritime security and ensuring freedom of navigation and overflight throughout the region, including in the South China Sea, the statement said.

"They vowed their support for a rules-based order and regional security architecture conducive to peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean and emphasized their commitment to working together and with other nations to ensure the security and stability that have been beneficial to the Asia-Pacific for decades," it said.

The two leaders reviewed the progress and reiterated their commitment to pursue co-development and co-production of advanced defense articles under the Defense Technology and Trade Initiative. In this context, they agreed to initiate two new pathfinder projects on digital helmet mounted displays and the joint biological tactical detection system.

Cutting-Edge Defense Technologies

Carter and Parrikar commended the ongoing discussions at the Jet Engine Technology Joint Working Group and the Joint Working Group on Aircraft Carrier Technology Cooperation, the statement said.

The two leaders also agreed to work towards greater cooperation in the field of cutting-edge defense technologies, including deepening consultations on aircraft carrier design and operations and jet engine technology, it said, and they noted the understanding reached to conclude an information exchange annex to enhance data and information sharing specific to aircraft carriers.

"With the aim of encouraging greater participation of U.S. defense industries in the Make in India program," Parrikar informed Carter about the recently announced defense procurement policy and other reforms in the Indian defense sector, the statement said.

"Both sides agreed to encourage their respective defense industries to develop new partnerships in the pursuit of a range of cutting-edge projects," it said. And in support of Make in India, the United States shared for consideration of India's government two proposals to bolster India's suite of fighter aircraft, the statement said.

Carter and Parrikar "welcomed the finalization of four government-to-government project agreements in the area of science and technology cooperation: atmospheric sciences for high energy lasers, cognitive tools for target detection, small intelligent unmanned aerial systems, and blast and blunt traumatic brain injury," the statement said.

Before departing India, Carter will oversee a repatriation ceremony of U.S. World War II remains from India to the United States. The defense secretary thanked Parrikar and India for their support in facilitating the recovery effort.

India's government agreed to support America's commitment to bringing its fallen personnel home and providing their families the fullest possible accounting, and looks forward to further humanitarian missions of this kind over the next few years to return the remains of these U.S. heroes to their families, the statement said.

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U.S. Department of Defense

Press Operations

News Release

No. NR-124-16 April 12, 2016

India-United States Joint Statement on the visit of Secretary of Defense Carter to India April 10-13, 2016

U.S. Secretary of Defense Dr. Ashton Carter is on an official visit to India at the invitation of Raksha Mantri Shri Manohar Parrikar from April 10-13. Raksha Mantri hosted Secretary Carter in Goa. They visited the Indian Naval Base in Karwar and the INS Vikramaditya aircraft carrier. They also visited the USS Blue Ridge which was conducting a port call in Goa during the secretary's visit. Secretary Carter then traveled to New Delhi where he held official talks with Raksha Mantri, and will also meet with the national security advisor and the prime minister.

The United States and India share a deep and abiding interest in global peace, prosperity, and stability. Bilateral defense cooperation is a key component of the strategic partnership between India and the United States. Secretary Carter's visit marked the fourth meeting between him and Raksha Mantri Parrikar within a year, demonstrating the regular ministerial-level oversight of the robust and deepening bilateral defense relationship.

During their meeting, Raksha Mantri Parrikar and Secretary Carter reviewed the important steps taken since the signing of the new Framework for the U.S.-India defense relationship last June to deepen bilateral defense ties. They discussed the priorities for the coming year in defense ties, as well as specific steps both sides will take to pursue those priorities. These included expanding collaboration under the Defense Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI); Make in India efforts of Government of India; new opportunities to deepen cooperation in maritime security and maritime domain awareness; military-to-military relations; the knowledge partnership in the field of defense; and regional and international security matters of mutual interest.

Raksha Mantri Parrikar and Secretary Carter welcomed the efforts by the Indian and U.S. Armed Forces to further expand collaboration in the years to come. They welcomed plans across our services for greater complexity in their military engagements and exercises, including developing plans for more advanced maritime exercises. Both sides acknowledged India's participation in the Rim-of-the-Pacific (RIMPAC) multilateral naval exercise in 2016 as well as participation by the Indian Air Force in the multilateral Red Flag exercise in April-May in Alaska and U.S. participation in the international fleet review of the Indian Navy at Visakhapatnam in February. They expressed their desire to explore agreements which would facilitate further expansion of bilateral defense cooperation in practical ways. In this regard, they announced their in principle agreement to conclude a logistics exchange memorandum of agreement, and to continue working toward other facilitating agreements to enhance military cooperation and technology transfer.

In support of the India-U.S. Joint Strategic Vision for the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region and the maritime security objectives therein, both sides agreed to strengthen cooperation in the area of maritime security. In this context, they reaffirmed their desire to expeditiously conclude a "white shipping" technical arrangement to improve data sharing on commercial shipping traffic. They agreed to commence navy-to-navy discussions on submarine safety and anti-submarine warfare. They also agreed to launch a bilateral Maritime Security Dialogue, co-chaired by officials at the joint secretary/assistant secretary-level of the Indian Ministries of Defence and External Affairs and the U.S. Departments of Defense and State.

Secretary Carter and Raksha Mantri Parrikar reaffirmed the importance of safeguarding maritime security and ensuring freedom of navigation and over flight throughout the region, including in the South China Sea. They vowed their support for a rules-based order and regional security architecture conducive to peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean, and emphasized their commitment to working together and with other nations to ensure the security and stability that have been beneficial to the Asia-Pacific for decades.

Raksha Mantri Parrikar and Secretary Carter reviewed the progress and reiterated their commitment to pursue co-development and co-production of advanced defense articles under the DTTI. In this context, they agreed to initiate two new DTTI pathfinder projects on digital helmet mounted displays and the joint biological tactical detection system. They commended the on-going discussions at the Jet Engine Technology Joint Working Group (JETJWG) and the Joint Working Group on Aircraft Carrier Technology Cooperation (JWGACTC). They agreed to work towards greater cooperation in the field of cutting-edge defense technologies, including deepening consultations on aircraft carrier design and operations and jet engine technology. They noted the understanding reached to conclude an information exchange annex (IEA) to enhance data and information sharing specific to aircraft carriers.

With the aim of encouraging greater participation of U.S. Defense industries in the Make In India program of the Government of India, Raksha Mantri Parrikar informed Secretary Carter about the recently announced defence procurement policy and other reforms in the Indian defense sector. Both sides agreed to encourage their respective defense industries to develop new partnerships in the pursuit of a range of cutting-edge projects. In support of Make in India, the United States shared two proposals to bolster India's suite of fighter aircraft for consideration of the Government of India.

Secretary Carter and Raksha Mantri Parrikar welcomed the finalization of four government-to-government project agreements in the area of science and technology cooperation: atmospheric sciences for high energy lasers, cognitive tools for target detection, small intelligent unmanned aerial systems, and blast and blunt traumatic brain injury.

Before departing India, Secretary Carter will oversee a repatriation ceremony of U.S. World War II remains from India to the United States. Secretary Carter expressed his gratitude to Raksha Mantri Parrikar and the Government of India for their support in facilitating the recovery effort. The Indian Government agreed to support America's commitment to bringing its fallen personnel home and providing their families the fullest possible accounting, and looks forward to further humanitarian missions of this kind over the next few years to return the remains of these U.S. heroes to their families.

http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/718589/

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Freedom House: Economic Troubles Threaten Stability In Ex-Soviet 'Dictatorships'

April 12, 2016

by Antoine Blua

In a new report, Freedom House warns that economic woes are threatening the stability of "entrenched dictatorships" in the former Soviet Union, the migration crisis is fueling populism in Eastern Europe, and reforms in the Balkans are in retreat.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's "naked embrace of autocracy" deepened in 2015, the U.S.-based human rights group says.

Freedom House made the assessments in its annual Nations In Transit report, which monitors the democratic development of 29 countries in the former Soviet Union, the Balkans, and Central Europe. It was published on April 12.

The report assigns each country a score to measure democratic progress. Weighted for population, the average Democracy Score in the 29 countries covered has declined for 12 years in a row.

On The Brink

The situation is particularly grim in the former Soviet Union, where seven countries are led by "dictators" who have been in power for at least 10 years -- Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan.

Freedom House says the collapse in global commodity prices, especially oil, combined with U.S. and European sanctions on Russia and Russian countersanctions, has driven economies of the region "to the brink."

Economic troubles have pushed Russia into recession and triggered similar currency crises and budget shortfalls in other oil- and gas-producing countries including Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan.

The crisis has also rippled through non-energy-based economies that are dependent on Russia through subsidies and migrant labor, with Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan "also facing possible recession in 2016," the report says.

Nate Schenkkan, project director of Nations In Transit, told RFE/RL that these states now have to face the consequences after years of failing to diversify their economies or create transparent and accountable systems of government.

"It's certainly likely that there's going to be considerably more social protest in this year," he said. "There was probably more in 2015 already."

"Anecdotally, we know that there are large numbers of labor migrants returning, especially to Tajikistan," Schenkkan added. "This then creates a large class of unemployed young menand that of course is a very potent potential protest group."

Harsher Crackdown

Schenkkan said that leaders in the region had responded with measures intended to "reaffirm their control."

In Russia, the report says, Putin's "naked embrace of autocracy since his return to the presidency in 2012 deepened in 2015 with an ever-harsher crackdown on civil society and political organizing."

It says Russian "innovations in authoritarianism," such as restrictions on nongovernmental organizations, spread further within the region.

"One of the foremost among those [new tactics] is the 'foreign agents' law, the branding of NGOs as foreign agents which in Russia has been frankly very effective in driving NGOs underground or forcing them to leave the country or to cease their activities," Schenkkan said. "And you've seen this imitated in a number of countries in Eurasia.

"You have in Tajikistan quite similar legislation that's been applied somewhat arbitrarily and unevenly -- but has been applied," he said. "In Kazakhstan, you have a different kind of NGO restrictionthat's also having very, very pernicious effects now that it's being applied in 2016. And in Kyrgyzstan, a 'foreign agents' law has been debated in parliament now for over a year."

The report says Tajikistan's government pursued "one of the harshest crackdowns the region has seen in years," banning the main opposition party and imprisoning its leaders.

The country "began prosecuting lots and lots of civil society activists as well as people like the lawyers of those members who were arrested as well as the lawyers of the lawyers," Schenkkan said.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev held early elections to reaffirm his mandate while signing a new law to "increase control over civil society," he said.

Schenkkan also said that governments were increasingly prosecuting people for speech on online platforms, and that the "charge of inciting ethnic or social hatred is now being applied more widely."

In Kyrgyzstan, he said, the government had been "using the tools of the state, especially the security services, to blacken the names of the opposition and to put its opponents on the back foot and try to prevent them from organizing rallies or organizing expressions of discontent."

The Nations In Transit report says Azerbaijan "continued a crackdown that began in the summer of 2014," citing last year's sentencing of investigative journalist and RFE/RL contributor Khadija Ismayilova to 7 1/2 years in prison.

In Belarus, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka freed political prisoners and allowed "mild criticism" ahead of a presidential election in October, in an effort to "court the EU and replace the patronage that Russia can no longer provide," the report says.

Ukraine "remains the single most important opportunity for establishing democracy" in the region, it adds.

The government achieved "some progress" in reforms in 2015, but continuing Russian occupation of Crimea, the separatist conflict in the country's east, widespread corruption, and impunity for crimes during the political upheaval of 2014 are holding back further progress."

"Ukraine is really at a pivot point where they have to go forward," Schenkkan warned. "And if they don't, there's a real significant threat that Ukraine falls back and continues a tradition of very, very corrupt governance."

Balkan Retreat

In the Balkans, Serbia and Montenegro have begun the EU accession process, Albania and Macedonia are official candidates, while Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo are potential candidates.

But Freedom House says reform "has slowed and now retreated," with the region's average Democracy Score back to where it was in 2004, as the EU struggled to find a balance between ensuring short-term stability in the Balkans and pressing for convergence with European norms.

There has been modest movement "backward," Schenkkan said. In part, he said, that is because some leaders who have dominated their countries' political systems have been "eroding checks and balances and eroding independent institutions that might push back against them."

"That's certainly the case that we see in Serbia, it's very much what we saw in Macedonia, and to another degree in Montenegro," Schenkkan added.

The report says that state-building in Kosovo and Bosnia has reached an "impasse," with governmental structures built to keep the peace preventing progress, and political and economic stagnation fueling popular frustration.

It also describes "gradual success in functionalizing local governance and protecting media" in Kosovo.

These developments risk being compounded by European border closings to prevent migrants from reaching the EU, the report notes.

With crippling youth-unemployment rates, turning the Balkans "into an island inside Europe would be catastrophic for the region's development," Schenkkan warned.

Rising Populism

Meanwhile, Freedom House warns that the EU's "disjointed response" to the migration crisis has left the door open to xenophobia and nationalism in Central Europe.

It says several leading politicians in the region joined Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in using xenophobic rhetoric to denounce migrants, positioning themselves as protectors of their countries' Christian identity against a Muslim "invasion."

Schenkkan said that renewed nationalism, as well as the erosion of freedom of movement and other fundamental principles, were threatening the consolidation of democracy in Eastern Europe and the entire European project.

"The European Union is a project that requires countries to give up some sovereignty in exchange for other benefits. So this very aggressive, nationalist approach to politics and to policy challenges the values of the EU but it also challenges the policies of the EU," he said.

"And as we are seeing, the EU is having a very hard time now transforming and finding new policies in part because of this kind of rejectionist approach by leaders who are not necessarily interested in finding a solution within the EU."

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/freedom-house-economic- troubles-threaten-post-soviet-stability/27668684.html

Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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UN reports tenfold jump in number of children used in 'suicide' attacks in Nigeria regional conflict

12 April 2016  The number of children involved in 'suicide' attacks in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger has risen sharply over the past year, from 4 in 2014 to 44 in 2015, according to a United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) report released today.

The report, entitled Beyond Chibok, is being published two years after the abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls in the town of Chibok, in Borno State, Nigeria, and shows alarming trends in four countries affected by Boko Haram over the past two years.

"Let us be clear: these children are victims, not perpetrators," said Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa. "Deceiving children and forcing them to carry out deadly acts has been one of the most horrific aspects of the violence in Nigeria and in neighbouring countries."

Among the trends highlighted in the report is that between January 2014 and February 2016, Cameroon recorded the highest number of suicide attacks involving children (21), followed by Nigeria (17) and Chad (2).

In addition, the report found that over the past two years, nearly 1 in 5 suicide bombers was a child and three quarters of these children were girls. In 2015, children were used in 1 out of 2 attacks in Cameroon, 1 out of 8 in Chad, and 1 out of 7 in Nigeria.

UNICEF said that this past year, for the first time, suicide bombing attacks in general spread beyond Nigeria's borders. The frequency of all suicide bombings increased from 32 in 2014 to 151 in 2015. Of the attacks in 2015, a total of 89 were carried out in Nigeria, 39 in Cameroon, 16 in Chad and 7 in Niger.

The calculated use of children who may have been coerced into carrying bombs has created an atmosphere of fear and suspicion that has devastating consequences for girls who have survived captivity and sexual violence by Boko Haram in north-east Nigeria, the agency stressed.

UNICEF said that as shown in recent research it conducted with International Alert, children who escaped from, or were released by, armed groups are often seen as potential security threats. Children born as a result of sexual violence also encounter stigma and discrimination in their villages, host communities, and in camps for internally displaced persons, the agency noted.

"As 'suicide' attacks involving children become commonplace, some communities are starting to see children as threats to their safety," said Mr. Fontaine. "This suspicion towards children can have destructive consequences; how can a community rebuild itself when it is casting out its own sisters, daughters and mothers?"

The report assesses the impact that conflict has had on children in the four countries affected by Boko Haram. It notes that nearly 1.3 million children have been displaced; about 1,800 schools are closed  either damaged, looted, burned down or used as shelter by displaced people; and more than 5,000 children were reported unaccompanied/separated from their parents.

UNICEF said it is working with communities and families in Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger to fight stigma against survivors of sexual violence and to build a protective environment for former abductees.

The agency also noted that the response to the regional crisis remains "severely underfunded." Thus far this year, 11 per cent of the US$97 million needed for UNICEF's humanitarian response has been received.

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Darfur Votes in Referendum Amid Boycott

by Jill Craig April 12, 2016

Voting is underway this week in Sudan's Darfur region on a controversial referendum over whether to unify Darfur's five states into a single administrative unit. The exclusion of voters displaced by fighting since 2003 has many questioning the credibility of the poll.

Sudan's government has carved up the Darfur region twice, in 1994 and 2012, creating five states there. Khartoum is in favor of preserving the status quo.

But proponents of unification say it will give Darfur more autonomy and influence, addressing a key driver of conflict since 2003. Rebel groups have long said Darfur is economically and politically marginalized, as well as facing daily insecurity.

Still, many in Darfur say they aren't voting this week.

"I don't see people enthusiastic in order to vote, It seems that referendum is a boycott by a majority of the people in Darfur," said a man who lives in Al-Fashir, the capital of North Darfur state.

Internally displaced people

The government says internally displaced people (IDPs) living in Darfur will be able to vote. However, people displaced outside the region or the country are not eligible.

According to the government, 3.5 million people are registered to vote. Analysts dispute that number, citing wide discrepancies in the past between government and U.N. figures on IDP's.

The United States says voter registration in IDP camps was "inadequate" and that the poll cannot be considered credible and will undermine Darfur's peace process.

And some of the rebels, who are boycotting due to ongoing fighting, say while the displaced are being excluded, the government is mobilizing its supporters in the larger towns to vote.

Bushara Manago is with the Mini Minawi faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement army.

"You know, how you can conduct this referendummore than three million people in IDP camps, and refugees and the war is still going on. The people, no freedoms of expression," said Manago.

An additional 138,000 people have fled their homes since mid-January because of renewed fighting between government troops and rebel forces loyal to Abdul Wahid.

2011 peace agreement

Sudan's Information Minister Ahmed Bilal Osman told VOA's Daybreak Africa that his government was upholding one of the terms of the 2011 peace agreement by organizing the referendum.

But John Hursh, a policy analyst at the Enough Project, a Washington-based atrocity prevention policy group, disagreed.

"It's really unclear to me how following through on a peace agreement that is widely considered illegitimate as well is going to do anything to move this situation forward," he said.

Many consider that peace deal to be incomprehensive and poorly implemented.

Rosalind Marsden is an associate fellow at Chatham House and a former British ambassador to Sudan.

"For the government, what they hope is to send a signal that by holding the referendum, the conflict in Darfur is over, and I think they then hope they will be able to say the time has come to close the camps for the internally displaced people and that UNAMID, the U.N. African Union peacekeeping mission, should leave. But those who feel that Darfur is still very insecure, are very concerned that the referendum could in fact raise tensions," said Marsden.

The U.N. says more than 300,000 people have died in Darfur since 2003, when rebels there launched a rebellion citing discrimination and marginalization. The government responded by forming militias known as the Janjaweed, that caused chaos in the region.

Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court for charges of crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide in Darfur.

Polling in the referendum ends Wednesday.

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Report: Boko Haram Using More Child Suicide Bombers

by Chima Nwankwo April 12, 2016

Nigeria's Boko Haram militants are increasingly using children to carry out suicide bombings, the United Nations Children's Fund reported Tuesday.

The report said 44 children were involved in Boko Haram suicide attacks in 2015, a tenfold increase from just four children used a year earlier.

Over the past two years, one in five Boko Haram suicide bombers was a child and 75 percent of those children were girls, according to the report.

'Appalling statistic'

UNICEF Nigeria spokeswoman Doune Porter said those children are victims, not perpetrators.

"It's an appalling statistic," Porter said. "Deceiving children and forcing them to carry out these horrific acts is one of the worst aspects of the violence in Nigeria and neighboring countries."

Nearly all of those attacks have been in Cameroon and Nigeria.

The terror group has sent the children, who are sometimes unaware they are carrying explosives, into crowded markets and mosques where they are rarely perceived as a threat.

'Calculated use'

"The calculated use of children who may have been coerced into carrying bombs, has created an atmosphere of fear and suspicion that has devastating consequences for girls who have survived captivity and sexual violence by Boko Haram in North East Nigeria," UNICEF said.

Nigeria's defense spokesman General Rabe Abubakar said using children is just one of the group's strategies.

"Some people will even come disguising as mad men. You see them trying to gain access to a crowd in order to blow up themselves," Abubakar said.

"There was a situation where some people came looking for water for absolution. But they blew themselves up as soon as they gained access to the crowd," he said. "We have seen men disguise[d] as women and women disguise[d] as men, wearing turbans, just so they can get into the mosque and detonate their bombs."

In the past two years, Cameroon has recorded 21 suicide attacks involving children. Nigeria has seen 17 and Chad two, the UNICEF report found.

The report was issued two days before the two-year anniversary of the kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls from Chibok, in northern Nigeria. More than 200 remain missing.

'Robbed' of education

Nigeria's children have been "robbed of an education" by Boko Haram, the group Human Rights Watch said in a report released Monday.

HRW said that since 2009, Boko Haram has killed 611 teachers and forced 19,000 to flee. Attacks have destroyed or shut down more than 2,000 schools and left nearly 1 million children in the country's northeast with little or no access to an education.

"In its brutal crusade against Western-style education, Boko Haram is robbing an entire generation of children in northeast Nigeria of their education," said Mausi Segun, an HRW Nigeria researcher. "The government should urgently provide appropriate schooling for all children affected by the conflict."

Between 2009 and 2015, the terrorist group has abducted more than 2,000 civilians, many of them women and girls, including large groups of students, the HRW report said.

Women and girls freed from Boko Haram said militants used them as sex slaves or forced them to assist in terror operations.

UNICEF said as more girls are being used to carry bombs, the former captives often have been met with suspicion when they've been freed.

Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF's regional director for West and Central Africa, said these children should be considered victims, not perpetrators.

Indoctrinated

"In many cases, they might be unaware that they are carrying a bomb," he said. "In some cases, they have been indoctrinated and they are actually too young to really understand the consequence of their acts. ... This whole thing basically creates a sense of fear and suspicion toward children, which is really a very unnatural feeling."

Fontaine said deceiving children and forcing them to carry out deadly acts is one of the most horrific aspects of the violence in Nigeria and neighboring countries.

He also expressed concern for "increasing stigma"  not only toward children who have been abducted, but also "for girls and women raped and carrying babies of Boko Haram" and for "boys who have been recruited and used. ..."

Nigerian and regional troops have ramped up pressure on Boko Haram in the past year. As the militants are pushed out of towns and villages, they have returned to a strategy of hit-and-run attacks and have increased the number of suicide bombings.

The militant group has set out to impose strict Islamic law in northern Nigeria, including waging war on Western-style education.

Boko Haram's now seven-year insurgency has killed 20,000 people and displaced more than 2 million.

Lisa Schlein in Geneva contributed to this report.

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Iran to hold 4 massive drills

ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency

Mon 11 Apr 2016 - 11:31

TEHRAN (ISNA)- Commander of the Iranian Army's Ground Forces Brigadier General Ahmad-Reza Pourdastan said that the country plans to stage 4 massive drills in the current Iranian calendar year, which started on March 21, 2016.

The first one is going to be held late May or in June in Isfahan City, central Iran, he said, adding the country plans to hold 17 technical drills as well. "We will boost our capability based on threats."

He noted that achievements of the Ground Force of the Army would be unveiled on Wednesday.

The Iranian military official said that Iran has sent military advisors to Russia but has sent no unit to the country.

End Item

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First phase of S-300 deal passes executive path, says Iran

ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency

Mon 11 Apr 2016 - 13:01

TEHRAN (ISNA)- Iran said that S-300 missile system would be delivered to Iran soon.

Talks between Iran and Russia on transfer of S-300 missile-defense system have been concluded. "A new agreement has been obtained between the two countries to implement the delayed deal," said Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hossein Jaber-Ansari regarding transfer of the first series of the missile to Anzali port, northern Iran.

"We have already said a new agreement has been achieved between the two countries to implement the delayed agreement whose timing had been postponed."

He also said that the first phase of the agreement has passed its executive path. We hope that all executive phases will be accomplished based on the new timing.

End Item

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'First phase' of S-300 delivery completed

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 11, 2016 11:49AM

Iran says Tehran and Moscow have begun implementing a contract on Russia's delivery of S-300 missile defense systems to the Islamic Republic.

"The first phase of the contract has completed the implementation course," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaberi-Ansari said during his weekly news conference in Tehran Monday.

"We hope that under the new plan, different phases of implementation will be completed to the end of the contract," he added.

Russia's delivery of the S-300 system under a USD 800-million deal signed in 2007 is already long behind time.

Moscow cancelled the contract in 2010 under pressure from the West. President Vladimir Putin lifted that self-imposed ban in April 2015, after an interim agreement that paved the way for July's full nuclear deal with Iran.

Russia's agreement to provide Iran with S-300 has sparked worries in Israel which has repeatedly threatened to attack Tehran's nuclear facilities.

Ties with Saudi Arabia

Jaberi-Ansari chided Saudi Arabia for opting to follow a confrontational policy with Iran after a nuclear agreement signed with the Islamic Republic.

"Saudi Arabia is following a policy of moving against the clock which is an abortive policy and will not succeed," he said.

"Saudi Arabia's stances, which are beyond its practical capacities, defy the international determination and implementation of agreements reached among various sides," the spokesman added.

The official said Iran's top foreign policy priority is to bolster cooperation and connectivity with all its neighbors based on mutual interests.

"Iran will employ all capacities it its foreign policy to boost cooperation and interaction in political, economic, regional and international fields in order to resolve regional crises," Jaberi-Ansari said.

Diplomatic visits to Iran

Jaberi-Ansari said Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi will arrive in Tehran on Tuesday to discuss bilateral ties and issues of mutual interest with top Iranian officials.

He also said that EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and seven EU commissioners will pay a visit to the Iranian capital on April 16.

UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura will also arrive in Tehran later on Monday to discuss the conflict in the Arab country.

Jaberi-Ansari said Iran has always supported efforts by the UN and its envoy to resolve the crisis in Syria, adding Tehran will continue its cooperation with de Mistura.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. According to the UN, at least 270,000 people have been killed in the conflict. Some reports, however, put the death toll at as high as 470,000.

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South Korea Plays Defector Card Ahead of Election

by Brian Padden April 12, 2016

Recent North Korean defections have been touted over the past week by the government in Seoul, but the issue is sparking allegations of political opportunism in South Korea.

Coming just days before legislative elections, Seoul's announcements of the new defections has the political opposition and even some independent observers crying foul.

South Korean voters will go to the polls on Wednesday to choose all 300 seats in the National Assembly. President Park Geun-hye's Saenuri Party is expected to win a clear majority, but many of the races are very close and the margin of victory is not assured.

"I think it is really bad. It is really the politicization of inter-Korean relations on local politics," said Chung-in Moon, a political science professor with Yonsei University in Seoul.

Seoul's announcement on Monday that a senior North Korean intelligence officer had defected to South Korea came only days after it was disclosed that 13 North Korean restaurant staffers had defected.

North Korea analyst Cheong Seong-chang at the Sejong Institute in South Korea criticized the defector announcements as politically motivated moves to "promote President Park's tough stance" on North Korean sanctions "in order to appeal to conservative voters."

Park has been a strong advocate for the tough new United Nations sanctions imposed on North Korea in response to its fourth nuclear test in January and long-range rocket launch using ballistic missile technology in February.

Suspicious timing

South Korea rarely confirms defections by North Koreans because it does not want to compromise sensitive contacts and damage diplomatic relations with the countries through which they travel.

But other than for gaining political advantage, there seems to be little reason for the sudden announcements of these defections.

The South Korean Defense Ministry on Monday said the North Korean army colonel, who was involved in espionage efforts at the Reconnaissance General Bureau, actually defected last year.

Meanwhile, last week's announcement that 13 workers at a North Korean restaurant had defected seemed overly rushed. Usually Seoul's National Intelligence Service will conduct a lengthy investigation to cull useful intelligence and protect the defectors' families and others who may have aided in their escape.

"It violated the practice that the government should not make public such defections to prevent their families in the North from being put in danger," said Kim Sung-soo, the spokesman for the Minjoo Party of Korea, South Korea's main opposition political party.

South Korea's Unification and Defense Ministries denied political motives, saying the disclosures were made in the public interest.

Park's supporters argue that it is fair and legitimate to underscore the success of her national security policies prior to the election.

"I think the argument that the [South Korean government] tried to use the case for the political election is just a judgment depending on the timing not the truth," said North Korean defector and analyst Ahn Chan-il with the World Institute for North Korean Studies in Seoul.

Escape route

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang on Monday confirmed that 13 North Korean workers left China last week, but would not say if they were the same group that defected. He stressed however that the group used "valid identity documents and legally came to the country, not North Koreans who have entered illegally."

Both North Korea and China have increased cooperation and border patrols in recent years to prevent defectors from illegally crossing the border.

South Korean media reported that the restaurant defectors were working in the Chinese eastern port city of Ningbo and may have made their way to South Korea through Southeast Asia.

The Seoul government has declined to comment on details of the defection route, citing the issue's sensitivity and diplomatic aspects.

South Korea has banned its citizens from visiting North Korean restaurants because they are suspected of serving as a source of dollars for Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs.

The North Korean restaurant workers cited the lack of revenue due to the sanctions as one of the reasons for their mass defection.

Election bump

Polls have indicated a spike in the approval ratings for Park and for her Saenuri Party for supporting a tough response to the North Korean nuclear threat, including sanctions and an increased military readiness posture.

Saenuri's opponents want to keep the voters more focused on the under performing economy, with youth unemployment over nine percent, jobs moving to lower wage countries and a drop in exports, due in large part to the economic slowdown in China.

Youmi Kim in Seoul contributed to this report.

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Russian Navy Set to Receive 6 Advanced Patrol Ships by 2019

Sputnik News

14:53 11.04.2016(updated 14:55 11.04.2016)

The Russian Navy will receive six advanced Project 22160 patrol ships equipped with an integrated bridge system by 2019, the Kronstadt Technologies company's military-technical head said Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The Project 22160 ships are intended for patrolling, search-and-rescue operations, anti-piracy and anti-smuggling activities, environmental monitoring, as well as coastal defense and escort service. They have a range of 6,000 nautical miles and are armed with a single 57mm cannon, heavy machine guns, air defense system and missile launchers.

"The Russian state program envisions the construction of six Vasily Bykov-type ships that will be included in each of the four fleets before 2019. The modular concept will allow the vessel's reequipment at short notice to perform tasks," Ilya Brilliantov told reporters.

Brilliantov added that his company is responsible for the development of an integrated bridge systems which will be delivered to the Zelenodolsk shipbuilding plant for installations on the vessels' first and second hulls.

"The integrated bridge system is a set of the ship's technical navigation tools, lighting, control and communication used by the crew," he specified.

The system includes equipment for measuring, testing and navigation, communication, internal and outside radio and television equipment, radiolocation equipment, radio-navigation and remote control, as well as an electronic mapping complex, Brilliantov added.

 Sputnik

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Saudi King Visits Turkey in Sign of Improving Relations

by Dorian Jones April 11, 2016

Relations between Turkey and Saudi Arabia have deepened over their cooperation in the Syrian civil war and their concerns over rising Iranian power.

Saudi King Salman arrived in the capital Ankara with an entourage numbering in the hundreds. It is the first visit to Turkey by Salman since being crowned in January 2015.

Relations between the two countries have markedly improved in the past few years.

Visiting scholar of the Carnegie Institute Sinan Ulgen says the two countries' shared objectives over Syria are the main driving force behind deepening relations.

"The Kingdom has supported the agenda of regime change in Syria. Given that Turkey is finding it difficult to get additional support in the region for its objectives in Syria, the relationship with Saudi Arabia has become much more critical," said Ulgen.

Both countries are among the strongest backers of the Syrian opposition, and the conflict is expected to top the agenda of talks between the Saudi king and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the presidential palace.

The deepening relations have extended to military cooperation with Turkish forces participating in joint exercises in February.

Steps are reportedly expected to be taken in formalize ties with the creation of a high level strategic council.

Economic ties are also on the agenda with a large trade delegation accompanying the Saudi king. Last year bilateral trade was nearly $6 billion.

Until recently Erdogan's strong backing of the Muslim Brotherhood in the region has been a point of tension between the countries.

But international relations expert Soli Ozel of Istanbul's Kadir Has University says the improvement in ties has accelerated following last year's death of Saudi King Abdullah.

"Salman decided that the Brotherhood was not as a big enemy as Abdullah made them out to be. So there was some softening there. And I think the Turkish side convinced them there are common interests. And I think Iran just concentrates the minds," said Ozel.

Observers say both leaders are concerned with the growing influence of Iran in the region, which is predicted to continue with the lifting of international sanctions against Tehran.

Tensions are exacerbated by Tehran's strong backing of the Syrian regime.

But Riyadh's strong support of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi remains a thorn in relations with Ankara.

Erdogan strongly backs the deposed Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi and is a staunch critic of Sissi. Salman comes to Turkey after visiting Cairo, and observers say improving relations between the Egyptian and Turkish leaders is a priority of his meetings with Erdogan.

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Israel PM admits strikes in Syria for first time

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 11, 2016 5:26PM

Israel has launched dozens of strikes in Syria, the regime's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admits for the first time.

Visiting Israeli troops in the occupied Golan Heights on Monday, Netanyahu said Israel carried out the attacks to prevent alleged arms transfers to Lebanon's resistance movement Hezbollah.

"We act when we need to act, including here across the border, with dozens of strikes meant to prevent Hezbollah from obtaining game-changing weaponry," he added.

The Israeli premier did not give any time frame for the strikes in Syria. He also did not elaborate on what kind of strikes the Israeli army had carried out.

It was the first time an Israeli official has admitted to launching strikes in Syria, after several media reports that Tel Aviv conducted such attacks.

"We are also working on other fronts, near and far, but we do it intelligently," Netanyahu said, adding that Israel may itself "enter the battlefield."

Hezbollah has been aiding Syrian forces in their fight against Takfiri militants across the Arab state over the past few years.

Lebanon has seen acts of terror associated with the militancy in Syria. Daesh and al-Nusra Front terrorists have been active on the outskirts of the Lebanese town of Arsal, located on the border with Syria.

Israel launched two wars on Lebanon in 2000 and 2006. About 1,200 Lebanese, most of them civilians, lost their lives during the 33-day war in the summer of 2006.

On both occasions, Hezbollah fighters gave befitting responses to the Tel Aviv regime's acts of aggression, forcing the Israeli military to retreat without achieving any of its objectives.

The Tel Aviv regime has resorted to an intelligence and psychological campaign against Hezbollah to compensate for its fiascos in the two wars on Lebanon.

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Militants carry out attacks in central, southern Syria despite truce

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 11, 2016 5:5PM

A number of Syrian civilians have been injured in attacks by militants in central and southern Syria, while the Damascus government is observing a ceasefire and holding talks with opposition groups to end the conflict in the Arab country.

At least six people were injured in the southern city of Dara'a on Monday after militants fired mortar shells into residential neighborhoods, Syria's official news agency, SANA, reported.

Some 14 mortar rounds were fired at al-Matar and al-Sahari neighborhoods and an area near the National Hospital, a local police official told SANA.

The official added that two of those injured are in critical condition, noting the attack caused material damage to houses and private and public properties.

Militants also detonated an explosive device in Qamishli city in Hasakah Province and injured two civilians. The attack also resulted in material damage.

In Homs, militants fired a rocket shell on the main street in Karm al-Louz neighborhood, while another rocket landed in an area near a school in al-Nizha region. Two other rockets hit a residential neighborhood in al-Arman.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem on Monday lashed out at Turkey and Saudi Arabia for undermining a truce agreement in the war-ravaged country.

A ceasefire brokered by the US and Russia went into effect on February 27 across Syria. The truce agreement does not apply to Daesh and al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front.

The Syrian army has vowed to press ahead with its counter-terror military operations and drive Daesh elements out of their major strongholds in the war-wracked country.

The Syrian government is also involved in indirect negotiations with opposition groups on a political settlement of the crisis in the Arab state. A new round of discussions is to resume between the two sides in Geneva later this month.

Syria has been grappling with a deadly conflict it blames on some foreign states for more than five years. The militancy has left over 470,000 people dead so far, according to a February report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research.

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Daesh seizes Syrian town from Turkish-backed militants

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 11, 2016 10:42AM

Militants from the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group have seized a key town in northern Syria from Turkish-backed militants.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Daesh took control of al-Rai along the Turkish border on Monday morning after intense fighting with other militants in the town.

The news comes four days after Deash lost control of al-Rai to other militants groups, including al-Nusra Front, which is al-Qaeda's Syrian branch.

Al-Rai, located in Aleppo Province, is a main supply route for Daesh. The Syrian army, backed by Russian aerial cover, seeks to purge the northern province of all Takfiri militants.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Nader al-Halqi said the Syrian army is gearing up to liberate Aleppo.

"We, together with our Russian partners, are preparing for an operation to liberate Aleppo and to block all illegal armed groups which have not joined or have broken the ceasefire deal," he said.

Syria is currently observing a ceasefire brokered by Russia and the United States, which entered into force on February 27.

The truce was reached between the Syrian government and dozens of militant groups operating in the country. The ceasefire does not apply to Daesh and al-Nusra Front terrorist groups.

A Russian delegate on a visit to Syria, Dmitry Sablin, voiced his country's readiness to support Syria in the operations for the liberation of Aleppo.

"Russian aviation will help the Syrian army's ground offensive operation," he said in Damascus.

Russia has been conducting airstrikes on the positions of Daesh and other terrorist groups in Syria since September last year. The aerial campaign came after a request by the government in Damascus.

On March 14, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial military pullout from Syria; however, operations at the Russian Hmeimim airbase in Latakia and at the Tartus naval base will continue.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday an unspecified number of al-Nusra Front terrorists had been killed near Aleppo's Khalidiya neighborhood and the village of Khan Tuman.

It cited a "fierce fighting" underway between Syrian army forces and terrorists in the region.

Syrian army units and their allies retook Barneh and Zaytan villages, which lie south of Aleppo, the latest in a string of victories by government forces over terrorist groups in the war-hit country.

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Armed group vows to join Syria govt. in fight against Takfiris

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 11, 2016 6:13AM

The Syrian government signs a peace deal with a militant group northeast of Damascus as UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura arrives in the capital ahead of Geneva talks.

The village of al-Nasiriyah, some 70 km (45 miles) from Damascus, became the latest location in Syria to have a local truce agreed between government and opposition groups.

Government forces, local militants and representatives from Russia's truce coordination center took part in the signing ceremony.

The deal is set to boost the Syrian army in its push to drive out Daesh and Nusra Front terrorists from their positions, including in Aleppo which government troops are preparing to recapture.

Syrian forces have liberated large swathes of the provinces of Latakia, Hama and Homs, with some 60 residential areas such as Nasiriyah signing the truce agreement with the government.

Many of the groups signing truces with the government join Damascus in the fight against the Takfiri Daesh terrorists and other extremist groups which are not party to the cessation of hostilities.

On Sunday, a representative of the armed opposition group in Nasiriyah pledged to help the government fight against Nusra Front.

"We oppose the extremist group. We, with weapons in our hands, will fight against the extremist group. Three days ago, we were engaged in a fierce battle with them in a city, which is not far from here. We are willing to help the government troops to fight against them," Reuters quoted him, identified only by his first name as Mohammed, as saying.

Russia mediated the deal on the request of local residents, Defense Ministry spokesperson Major General Igor Konashenkov said, adding "the people made their own choice in favor of reconciliation."

"Today all documents are signed and people returned to peaceful life," he said.

Russian soldiers also distributed humanitarian aid in the form of flour, bread, canned goods, rice and sweets for children, to local people who lined up in front of trucks carrying relief, the AFP news agency reported.

In September, Russia launched a massive military campaign on the request of the Syrian government to prevent Takfiri terrorists from capturing further territory.

Since then, Moscow has mediated several local truces. "Russia is acting as a mediator," said Yury Zrayev, leader of the Russian team overseeing the implementation of the six-week ceasefire around Damascus.

Along with Washington, Moscow also brokered a ceasefire for the whole country, which has largely held since coming into force on February 27.

On Sunday, de Mistura arrived in Damascus in a bid to advance struggling diplomatic efforts to maintain the "cessation of hostilities agreement" which has come under new strain amid intensified fighting in Aleppo.

The UN envoy was scheduled to meet the Syrian foreign minister and his deputy and planned to also visit Iran ahead of the new round of peace talks in Geneva set for April 13.

The Syrian government's delegation, however, is expected to arrive in the Swiss capital on April 14, a day after parliamentary elections in the country.

The last round of the UN-backed peace talks for Syria came to a halt on March 24 over disagreements on the role of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's future.

The foreign-backed Syrian opposition says Assad must step down before a transitional government can be established.

Last month Foreign Minister Walid Muallem reiterated that Syria "will not talk with anyone who wants to discuss the presidency," adding "Bashar al-Assad is a red line."

"If they continue with this approach, there's no reason for them to come to Geneva." He said the purpose of the talks was to agree a new constitution and the modalities for a referendum to sanction that constitution.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says at least 270,000 people have been killed in the conflict; however, some reports put the death toll as high as 470,000.

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Syria's Aleppo Comes 'Under New Shelling' With Poisonous Gas

Sputnik News

21:45 11.04.2016

The Kurdish-controlled Sheikh Maqsoud district of the Syrian city of Aleppo came under new shelling with the usage of poisonous gas on Monday, injuring several people, in the second such attack since the beginning of the month, Senam Mohamed, European representative of Rojava (Syrian Kurdistan) administration told Sputnik on Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  According to her, civilians are experiencing severe coughing and suffocation, as well as vomiting and watering eyes. Two civilians and two fighters of the People's Protection Units (YPG) were hospitalized.

"There is heavy shelling on the neighborhood of Sheikh Maqsoud the neighborhood was bombarded with missiles and bombers in the morning The bombing is filled with poison gas. It happens today, in Aleppo," Mohamed said.

On Thursday, April 7, spokesman for Syrian Kurds told Sputnik that gas poisoning cases had been reported among the civilian population and Kurdish militias after an attack on Aleppo by Islamic militants.

The Jaysh al-Islam militant group took responsibility for the shelling of Sheikh Maqsoud and stated that it had deployed "forbidden" weapons. The group, however, did not specify whether it used chemical agents.

Commenting on the situation of April 7, Mohamed told Sputnik that factions and brigades of the Syrian opposition coalition (Ahrar al-Sham, militants of the Army of Conquest, of Sultan Murad, the Army of the Mujahideen, Movement and the gathering of Fastqm, Nour al-Din al-Zenki, Jund al-Aqsa group, Hawks Mountain Brigade and Hamza Brigade) were those who shelled the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood with shells carrying chemical materials and gases. They also used homemade rockets, mortar bombs and Grad rockets during the attack, according to Mohamed.

Asked whether the same factions and brigades of Syrian opposition that attacked Aleppo's district last week were responsible for the attack, Mohamed responded affirmatively.

During Monday's attack militants used hand made bombs called Jahanamiya, which in Arabic means "hell," Mohamed said.

 Sputnik

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Al-Nusra Front Deploys Up to 10,000 Terrorists Near Aleppo - Russian MoD

Sputnik News

18:32 11.04.2016(updated 21:19 11.04.2016)

According to the Russian General Staff, al-Nusra Front terrorist group has deployed up to 10,000 militants near the Syrian city of Aleppo ahead of a major offensive.

"According to our intelligence, about 8,000 al-Nusra Front militants have been deployed south-west of Aleppo, while up to 1,500 militants have been deployed north of the city," Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy said Monday.

"It is known that a large-scale offensive is planned [by al-Nusra terrorists] to cut the road linking Aleppo and Damascus," Sergei Rudskoy said Monday.

He added that al-Nusra Front has been fighting to the north and south of Aleppo.

Syrian government forces are not planning to storm Aleppo, their efforts are focused on preventing a blockade of northern Syria, Sergei Rudskoy said.

"Terrorists continue attacks on Sheikh Maqsoud and al-Zagra on the outskirts of Aleppo," head of the General Staff's Main Operational Directorate Rudskoy said.

"If these attacks are successful, the northern parts of Syria could fall under blockade again. That's why all actions by the Syrian army and the Russian aviation are aimed now at thwarting al-Nusra Front's plans. No storming of the city of Aleppo is being planned," the general stressed.

The flow of weaponry and militants reinforcing al-Nusra Front terrorist group continues across the Turkish-Syrian border, including through areas controlled by US-backed opposition groups, the Russian General Staff said.

"Despite the progress in the implementation of the ceasefire regime, the supplies of weapons and militants from the Turkish side [of the border] to reinforce al-Nusra Front terrorists continue, including through areas controlled by US-backed opposition groups."

Russia has asked the United States to curb massing of militants near Aleppo, Rudskoy said.

According to Syrian Prime Minister Wael Nader Halqi, the Syrian army supported by the Russian combat aircraft were planning to take control over Aleppo.

The number of settlements that have joined ceasefire regime in Syria has increased to 61, the Russian General Staff said Monday.

Russia fully complies with its obligations on the agreement with the US on the cessation of hostilities in Syria, Rudskoy said.

 Sputnik

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Syrian Cease-fire Fraying; Aleppo in Regime Sights

by Jamie Dettmer April 11, 2016

Rebel commanders and opposition politicians who have been battling to unseat Syrian Presidential Bashar al-Assad for five years say the cessation of hostilities brokered by the U.S. and Russia in February is on the verge of collapse, and they are readying for a regime offensive on Aleppo.

Anti-Assad activists say they have recorded at least 66 breaches of the truce by the Assad regime and Russian forces over the past 48 hours, with nearly 100 people, including 7 children and 5 women, killed in government airstrikes.

The cease-fire may be close to the end of its usefulness for all sides, though, and not just the government.

Bassma Kodmani, one of the rebel negotiators at the Geneva peace talks set to restart later this week, warned Sunday that the last 10 days had "witnessed a serious deterioration, to the point where the cease-fire is about to collapse".

Multiple breaches

Both the government and anti-Assad rebels have blamed each other for breaches of the cease-fire. The regime also has been accused by U.N. officials of blocking international aid from going to some strategic rebel-held towns.

In the past 48 hours there has been a noticeable surge in fighting on all points of the compass, with all the warring parties in the country involved. IS militants retook on Monday a strategically important town in northern Syria that was lost to rebel forces just last week. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a pro-rebel monitoring group, reported that after fierce clashes, al-Rai, close to the border with Turkey, was overrun.

Since the end of March, rebel factions have seized a dozen IS-held villages along the Syrian-Turkish border. According to the Syrian Observatory's director, Rami Abdul Rahman, the lack of air cover from the U.S.-led international coalition was to blame for the rebels' failure to hold the town. IS was not included in the cessation of hostilities, which took effect on February 27.

Rebel factions, along with al-Qaida affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, launched offensives Monday in the provinces of Aleppo, Hama and Latakia, where they seized a hilltop. The coastal province of Latakia is the stronghold of Assad's minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam. In Hama the rebel focus has been on Syrian government positions in the Sahl al-Ghab plains, east of Latakia. Both sides claimed to have made advances, with regime and Russian warplanes mounting ferocious airstrikes.

In the southern Aleppo countryside regime warplanes launched more than 40 airstrikes, according to political activists, as rebel and al-Nusra fighters made advances around Zitan and Berneh in an attempt to forestall a government offensive on the city of Aleppo itself.

On Sunday, Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Haiqi told Russian news networks the regime is preparing a major operation to retake the rebel-controlled parts of the city of Aleppo. Syria's one-time commercial capital which has been divided into government and rebel zones since 2012. It was the prospect of a regime siege of the Aleppo rebels that added urgency in February to Western efforts to secure a cessation of hostilities.

"We, together with our Russian partners, are preparing for an operation to liberate Aleppo and to block all illegal armed groups which have not joined or have broken the cease-fire deal," Wael al-Halaki was quoted as saying by TASS news agency. Dmitry Sablin, a Russian lawmaker, told RIA news agency "Russian aviation will help the Syrian army's ground offensive operation."

Russian offensive

On Monday regime and Russian warplanes mounted several strikes on rebel districts, including al-Salhin, al-Maysar, Ba'edin, Bani Zaid and al-Shaqif. There also were several regime air-raids on Handarat, al-Mallah, and the Castillo road north of Aleppo  key supply routes for the rebels in Aleppo. Rami Abdulrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, "in Aleppo there is a real collapse of the truce."

Al-Haiqi was quoted as saying that a successful regime offensive on the rebels in Aleppo would allow government forces to advance to the east toward Islamic State-held territory, and he cited the province of Deir ez-Zor, where on Sunday the U.N.'s World Food Program carried out its first ever successful high-altitude airdrop, to deliver 20 tons of food aid.

The upsurge in fighting is adding to the challenges facing the U.N., according to special envoy Staffan de Mistura, who held talks Monday in the Syrian capital.

In a meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moalem, de Mistura urged the Assad government to abide by the truce and allow more humanitarian aid access.

"We did raise and discuss the importance of protecting and maintaining and supporting the cessation of hostilities, which is, as you know, fragile but is there," de Mistura told reporters in Damascus.

Assad's future

A total breakdown in the cease-fire would auger badly for the resumption of peace talks on Wednesday. There has been little progress made with negotiations so far, with the major stumbling block being the future of President Assad. The rebels insist he has to go and should play no part in any transition government.

With Assad's battlefield position strengthened, thanks to Russia's military intervention that started in earnest last year, there are no signs of any weakening of support from the regime's foreign allies. A top Iranian official told Iran TV this past weekend that Assad should serve out his term and be allowed to run in a presidential election "as any Syrian."

An adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had asked "Iran to help so that Bashar Assad leaves. Ali Akbar Velayati said, "We should ask them: 'What does this have to do with you? Shouldn't the Syrian people decide?'"

Velayati said for Iran, the Western precondition of Assad going is "a red line for us."

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UK and France launch rapid deployment exercise

10 April 2016

A joint force between the UK and France will face its biggest development test to date as the two countries come together for an exercise.

More than 5,000 personnel from the UK and France will take part in Exercise Griffin Strike, which will test the Combined UK and French Joint Expeditionary Force (CJEF).

The exercise will see a UK-French headquarters planning and executing major land, sea and air activity for the first time in a demonstration of the force's 'full validation of concept'. This marks a significant milestone in the generation of a rapidly deployable force for bilateral operations ahead of any coalition action.

The CJEF has been developed since 2010 as a product of the bilateral Lancaster House Treaty and will enable the UK and France to deploy forces rapidly to conflict zones ahead of a wider NATO or coalition operation, or to meet peace-keeping, disaster relief or humanitarian assistance requirements.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said:

"This joint force will combine the might of two of the world's biggest militaries, backed by our rising defence budget. It will enable us to deploy rapidly with our French allies, helping to keep Britain safe while contributing to security in the world."

French Defence Secretary Jean-Yves Le Drian said:

"France and the UK share common security interests. In order to face high level domestic and international threats it is now more than important to continue to strenghten our operational cooperation between our two countries."

This exercise will demonstrate the sending of a tri-service force into an area of operations. Aircraft including Typhoon and Rafale jets will operate from RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire, while at sea warships including HMS Ocean, Bulwark and Duncan will work off the south and west coast of England with French ships including FS Dixmude, FS Cassard and FF La Motte Piquet. On Salisbury Plain elements of the Army's 3(UK) Division and French 7th Mechanised Brigade including paratroopers, armoured units and infantrymen, will work together.

Standing Joint Force Commander Maj Gen Skeates CBE said:

"Exercise Griffin Strike marks a key milestone in the development of the Combined Joint Expeditionary Force, the embodiment of our military relationship with France. The next two weeks will see French and British servicemen and women training side by side on the sea, on land and in the air. Together with Admiral Laurent Isnard, my French counterpart, we are anxious to demonstrate that our military partnership is now on a new level and show how the combined UK-France Combined Joint Task Force in the most testing of circumstances, stands shoulder to shoulder. This is an immensely exciting prospect and one which will put our sailors, soldiers and airmen through their paces."

Simultaneously, over 3,400 more NATO troops will exercise by land, sea and air during the two weeks of Exercise Joint Warrior.

During Joint Warrior, much of which will take place off the coast of Scotland, 22 ships, four submarines and more than 40 aircraft from 12 NATO nations and three partner nations will take part. Around 1,500 personnel from the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force will participate. Other countries taking part include Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the US.

Last year, following a UK offer, Joint Warrior was linked to the NATO military exercise programme. That allowed the alliance to send specific groups to participate, including Standing Maritime Groups, Maritime Counter-Measures Groups and NATO Airborne Early Warning Aircraft. Joint Warrior is an example of the UK and NATO allies working together as a coalition on land, sea and in the air. This includes training in anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, submarine training, mine countermeasure training and maritime security operations. On land and in the air the exercise will offer the UK and its allies training in air operations, close air support, tactical intelligence surveillance target acquisition and reconnaissance, electronic warfare training, jamming operations and joint firing.

Captain Andrew Stacey, Royal Navy, responsible for the planning and delivery of Joint Warrior said:

"Joint Warrior remains a unique opportunity for UK, NATO and Partner Nations' forces to train alongside each other and test their capabilities in an operationally realistic and challenging environment. The complexity of the exercise, which is always evolving, supports maritime, land and air training at large scale and delivers intense scenarios that drive our combined warfighting capabilities."

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Volodymyr Hroysman: Ukraine's Likely Next Prime Minister Is Loyal Poroshenko Ally

April 11, 2016

by Ron Synovitz

The man identified by Ukraine's outgoing prime minister as his successor, Volodymyr Hroysman, is a 38-year-old loyalist of President Petro Poroshenko who was thrust onto the national scene after the Euromaidan unrest that toppled a government.

Hroysman's meteoric rise from mayoral upstart to speaker of a notoriously obstreperous parliament was fueled in part by perceptions that a relative outsider with little political baggage could unite rival lawmakers, but it also prompted questions about his inexperience and political indebtedness to Poroshenko.

Announcing his planned resignation to avoid any "destabilization of the executive branch during a war" despite having batted down a no-confidence vote by lawmakers last month, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said the ruling Petro Poroshenko Bloc "has nominated" Hroysman to the head the next government.

Hroysman, who recently underlined Kyiv's commitment to Western-backed reforms, responded by saying he was prepared to lead the next Ukrainian government.

Prior to the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014, with pro-European and anticorruption anger boiling over under the Euromaidan banner, Hroysman had expressed no desire to serve in the national government, telling journalists he was not interested in Kyiv or any ministry post.

But within days of Yanukovych's exit, Hroysman became government minister for regional development and a deputy prime minister.

The ascension to the presidency in June of industrial mogul Poroshenko, whose confectionery conglomerate Roshen had recently built a plant in Hroysman's hometown, by many accounts lent further weight to Hroysman's political ambitions.

There was also speculation that the appointment of Hroysman, a Jew, to a top government post was aimed in part at blunting suggestions in Russia's state-controlled media that the post-Yanukovych government in Kyiv was unduly influenced by anti-Semites. After Hroysman was named deputy prime minister, the BBC quoted chief Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich as saying it was meant to "shut the mouths of those who say the government is anti-Semitic."

In his government posts, Hroysman coordinated Kyiv's relief efforts for civilians displaced by the war against Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

He was also put in charge of Kyiv's investigation into the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over Ukraine, arguably a key turning point in the conflict as public outrage allowed Western governments to impose sanctions against Russia.

A Fresh Face

By November 2014, Hroysman was voted in as speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, as a deputy for the Petro Poroshenko Bloc.

Political analyst Anatoliy Oktysyuk told RFE/RL at the time that Hroysman's selection was part of Poroshenko's plan to "lessen the degree of conflict in parliament" with the support of a "loyal and reliable" parliamentary speaker.

Hroysman was seen by some as a young politician with a fresh approach to resolving differences among the parties and parliamentary factions within the fractious governing coalition.

Political analyst Vadym Karasyov, director of Kyiv's Global Strategies Institute, warned that Hroysman was too young and that his political rise -- a result of lobbying efforts by Poroshenko -- had been too rapid.

Today, most political commentators in Kyiv see Hroysman's appointment as the next Ukrainian prime minister as a move that would give Poroshenko more control over a reform process that had stalled amid corruption allegations and vicious coalition infighting under Yatsenyuk's government.

One crucial task for Hroysman would be to push through parliament the remaining constitutional changes required under the Minsk accords -- a package of decentralization reforms that give special status to separatist-held territory in eastern Ukraine.

Another task would be overseeing economic reforms demanded by the West in order to put negotiations back on track for a new $1.7 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) -- money that is desperately needed to prop up Ukraine's struggling economy.

Western-Oriented

Hroysman graduated in 2003 from the Interregional Academy of Personnel Management with a specialization in jurisprudence.

He first entered politics in 2005 when he joined Yanukovych's Our Ukraine party as a 27-year-old city councilor in the central city of Vinnytsya.

He was elected in 2006 as the mayor of Vinnytsya and remained in that post for eight years -- becoming known at the time as a young progressive who was oriented more toward Western Europe than Russia.

As the youngest head of a city administration in Ukraine, Hroysman continued his studies until February 2010, when he graduated from the National Academy of State Administration.

His specialization there was in community-development management, with a focus on local and regional management.

Hroysman continued to serve as Vinnytsya's mayor until the first government of Prime Minister Yatsenyuk was created on February 27, 2014.

Hroysman was appointed as deputy prime minister for regional policy as well as the minister of regional development, construction and housing, and communal services.

Five months later, when the parliamentary coalition that supported Yatsenyuk's first government collapsed and Yatsenyuk submitted his resignation, Hroysman was nominated to serve as acting prime minister until new parliamentary elections could be held.

However, the parliament rejected Yatsenyuk's resignation  setting the stage for the October 2014 snap elections that brought Hroysman into parliament as an ally of Poroshenko and which led to his appointment as speaker of parliament in November 2014.

In March 2016, Hroysman vowed he would "do everything that society expects of me and what our state needs now."

He told journalists in Kyiv on March 24 that, if he became Ukraine's prime minister, he was "not going to serve the interests of the powerful elite of the world."

He said he wanted to "work with people who are trusted and not rejected by the people" and that he would "never agree to lead a cabinet that is made up of losers."

"It's important to form a qualified team to carry out a plan of action," he said. "People who will work in the government should have untarnished reputations and professional qualifications."

Hroysman also has vowed that his government would not sit on the sidelines "observing the crisis that is hurting our people today."

"With the current crisis in Ukraine, it is unacceptable to take a wait-and-see approach about how things develop," he said.

With additional reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine- volodomyr-hroysman-next-prime-minister- yatsenyuk-poroshenko/27667141.html

Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Talks On Forming New Ukraine Government Continue

April 12, 2016

Lawmakers in Ukraine are continuing efforts to agree a new coalition to end a political deadlock that has stalled billions of dollars in foreign loans.

Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk announced his resignation on April 10, and current parliament speaker Volodymyr Hroysman has emerged as his likely successor.

Yatsenyuk, who survived a no-confidence vote in parliament in February, has been blamed in part for the country's slow pace of reform.

However, Hroysman, an ally of President Petro Poroshenko, has apparently raised objections to candidates to fill cabinet posts.

Hroysman has the backing of the president's Petro Poroshenko Bloc (BPP) and the People's Front party.

Earlier on April 12, deputy speaker of parliament Andriy Parubiy said four independent deputies had joined the BPP faction.

That would mean BPP and the People's Front party have enough members to form a coalition with a small majority.

Meanwhile, a new cabinet appears to be taking shape.

Oleksandr Danylyuk, a former investment manager, has been mentioned as the likely new finance manager.

He would replace U.S.-born Natalie Jaresko, who has been praised for her handling of the country's finances amid economic meltdown and a conflict with Russia-backed separatists in the east.

The 40-year-old Danylyuk is the deputy head of Poroshenko's administration.

Analysts say his nomination could raise concerns among reformists that the reshuffle under Hroysman will consolidate power in the hands of the president and his circle.

Lawmakers said parliament would most likely vote on the coalition and the appointment of the new government under Hroysman later on April 12.

"If we do not do this, I fear that the whole arrangement could fall apart by [April 14] and that's a quick road to snap elections," People's Front lawmaker Viktoria Syumar said.

Snap parliamentary elections would further delay stalled reforms under the $17.5 billion International Monetary Fund program.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-hroysman- cabinet-talks-continue/27669256.html

Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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A Secretary or a General? UN Seeks New Chief

by Margaret Besheer April 12, 2016

While much of the world is watching the U.S. presidential race play out, another contest is taking shape that, while not as contentious, could have significant international implications. It is the election of the next U.N. secretary-general.

Eight governments have put forward candidates since the nomination process officially opened in December. For the first time, half of them are women.

In the past, secretaries general were chosen behind closed doors, but this year, in another first, the process will be open to public scrutiny.

This week, the candidates will be publicly questioned by member states about their qualifications for the top post and their vision for the organization, during two-hour "informal dialogues" in the U.N. General Assembly.

Starting Tuesday, each candidate will have 10 minutes to explain his or her vision for the 70-year-old institution and then take questions from member states. There also will be a chance for civil society groups to ask questions via short videos they have already submitted to the president of the General Assembly.

Regional Diversity

Traditionally, the role of world's top diplomat is rotated regionally. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is from Asia; his predecessor, Kofi Annan, was from Africa.

Eastern Europe is hoping it will be its turn this year and has so far nominated six candidates - from Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro and Slovenia.

"There is nothing in writing, there is nothing set in stone that says the candidate and next secretary-general has to come from any specific region," cautioned Dan Thomas, spokesman for the president of the General Assembly.

A Secretary or a General?

The U.N. describes its top job as "equal parts diplomat and advocate, civil servant and CEO." Others have asked whether the job requires a secretary or a general.

With the world facing serious challenges -- including the largest displacement of civilians since World War II, the growing threat of global terrorism and effects of climate change  many diplomats say the organization needs a strong leader at the helm.

Those vying for the post include two current U.N. officials  the head of the U.N. Educational and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Bulgarian Irina Bukova, and New Zealander Helen Clark, who runs the U.N. Development Program (UNDP). Clark was her country's prime minister for nearly a decade.

Former Portuguese prime minister Antonio Guterres also is in the race. In December, he stepped down as the head of the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR). During his 10-year tenure, the agency went from coping with 38 million displaced persons globally to more than 60 million.

From Eastern Europe, there is former Slovenian president Danilo Turk, who also served as his country's U.N. ambassador in the 1990s and in a senior U.N. political post under Kofi Annan. The current foreign ministers of Croatia, Montenegro and Moldova also have been nominated, as has been Srgjan Kerim of Macedonia. He is a former foreign minister and was president of the U.N. General Assembly in 2007-2008.

The nominating process remains open. Slovakia is expected to put forward its foreign minister, Miroslav Lajcak, by the end of this month, and there has been wide speculation that Argentina will enter its foreign minister, Susana Malcorra. She resigned her post as chief of staff to Ban Ki-moon at the end of 2015 to become her nation's top diplomat. Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd also is tipped to be a possible entrant.

"Gradually the generals are coming into the race," said one Security Council diplomat.

Process

The informal dialogue in the General Assembly will give member states an opportunity to hear from the candidates, but the real decision making will happen in the U.N. Security Council.

The 15-nation council will review the candidates' credentials and, after a series of secret straw polls, will eliminate contenders until they come up with one name, which will be sent to the General Assembly for approval. That process is not likely to be easy, and the permanent five members  Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States  are likely to have more influence on the outcome than their 10 non-permanent counterparts.

The contest will take several months, with a winner not likely to be confirmed until as late as November. The secretary-general-elect will then have to hurry to prepare to take over from Ban Ki-moon on January 1, 2017. There will be no shortage of crises and conflicts awaiting the new chief.

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THUNDER BAY, ON, April 12, 2016 /CNW/ - Wolfden Resources Corp. (WLF:TSX-V) ("Wolfden" or the "Company) today announces the remaining assay results obtained from their winter drilling program recently completed on the Rice Island property (the "Property"). The 100%-owned Property is located 10 kilometres south-southeast of the Town of Snow Lake, in west-central Manitoba.

RICE ISLAND DRILL RESULTS:

The winter drilling on the Property totalled 1,445 metres, comprising a total of eight holes. Seven holes (RI-16-20 to RI-16-26) tested the New Lower Zone as well as the Main Zone at Rice Island and a single drill hole (SB-16-01), tested a regional target located 6 kilometres northeast of Rice Island. Results for the first four drill holes were announced in Wolfden's news release dated March 22, 2016; the purpose of this news release is to document the remaining assay results.

Highlighting the remaining results, is a wide zone of nickel-copper sulphides obtained in drill hole RI-16-25, assaying 1.62% nickel, 0.86% copper and 0.09% cobalt over a core length of 52.1 metres. Included within this broad zone of mineralization is the Main Zone, yielding 3.29% nickel, 1.08% copper and 0.09% cobalt over 6.3 metres as well as the New Lower Zone, assaying 2.42% nickel, 1.29% copper and 0.16% cobalt over 21.10 metres.

Immediately underlying the New Lower Zone on this and adjacent drill sections, is a strong conductor delineated by both the VTEM airborne geophysical survey as well the ground-based, fixed-loop EM survey, completed earlier by the Company. These anomalies in combination with this drill intercept, auger well for further expansion of high-grade nickel-copper mineralization comprising the New Lower Zone.

Drill holes RI-16-23 and 24 also yielded significant intercepts from the Main zone assaying 1.29% nickel, 0.68% copper and 0.05% cobalt over 11.20 metres and 3.44% nickel, 1.91% copper and 0.12% cobalt over 1.30 metres, respectively. A summary of the significant drill results are tabulated below:

Hole No. Coordinates Dip Azimuth

(degrees) From (m) To (m) Interval

(m) Ni (%) Cu (%) Co (%) Comments RI-16-23 6074692, 440818 -57 302 57.60 91.60 34.00 0.77 0.65 0.04 Main Zone







incl. 57.60 68.60 11.20 1.29 0.68 0.05









that incl. 57.60 59.90 2.30 2.51 0.81 0.09









& 78.60 91.60 13.00 0.70 0.75 0.03









Incl. 89.60 91.60 2.00 1.42 0.87 0.08

RI-16-24 6074692, 440818 -45 302 59.40 81.60 22.20 0.65 0.70 0.03 Main Zone







Incl. 59.40 60.70 1.30 3.44 1.91 0.12









& incl. 80.20 81.60 1.40 1.50 1.17 0.06

RI-16-25 6074691, 440868 -55 302 85.30 137.40 52.10 1.62 0.86 0.09 Main & New Lower

Zones







incl. 85.30 91.40 6.10 3.29 1.08 0.09 Main Zone







and incl. 106.60 127.70 21.10 2.42 1.29 0.16 New Lower Zone







& 135.60 137.40 1.80 3.34 1.17 0.15



Note 1: True widths are estimated at 70-90% of core width

Note 2: Sample analyses performed by Actlabs Ltd. of Thunder Bay, Ontario utilizing the 4 Acid ICP-OES method; a 0.25 g sample

is digested with hydrofluoric acid followed by a mixture of nitric and perchloric acid; the sample is then dried and brought back into

solution using aqua regia; the sample is then analyzed using Agilent 735 ICP instrumentation

All of the data generated from Wolfden's drilling completed to date in 2015 and 2016 will be compiled and will be modelled in three dimensions. The purpose of the modelling will be help to guide future drilling programs in efforts to expand both the Main Zone and New Lower Zones. Such drilling is anticipated for the summer of 2016.

Rice Island is well situated proximal to the established mining communities of Flin Flon and Snow Lake and approximately 5 kilometres from HudBay Minerals' Snow Lake concentrator. The area offers access to power, labour force, supplies and mineral processing facilities. Proximity to such infrastructure will enable the Company to explore the Property year-round.

ABOUT WOLFDEN RESOURCES:

Wolfden is a mineral exploration company that recently acquired the Rice Island and Nickel Island properties in Manitoba. Manitoba is ranked #6 in Canada and #19 in the world as the most favourable jurisdiction to conduct mining and exploration (Fraser Institute (2015-2016).The Company also holds a dominant, 24,000 hectare, land position in the heart of the Bathurst Mining Camp in New Brunswick and a 100% interest in the Clarence Stream gold-antimony property in southern New Brunswick that hosts a significant 43-101 mineral resource.

The technical information in this news release has been prepared and approved by Donald Hoy, P. Geo., President, CEO and a director of the Company. My Hoy is also a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101.

This press release contains forward-looking information (within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation) that involves various risks and uncertainties regarding future events. Such forward-looking information includes statements based on current expectations involving a number of risks and uncertainties and such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance of the Company, and include, without limitation, statements relating to plans and results of exploration and the magnitude and quality of the property. There are numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and the Company's plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information in this news release, including without limitation, the following risks and uncertainties; (i) risks inherent in the mining industry; (ii) regulatory and environmental risks; (iii) results of exploration activities and development of mineral properties; (iv) risks relating to the estimation of mineral resources; (v) stock market volatility and capital market fluctuations; and (vi) general market and industry conditions. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. This forward-looking information is based on estimates and opinions of management on the date hereof and is expressly qualified by this notice. Risks and uncertainties about the Company's business are more fully discussed in the Company's disclosure materials filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada at www.sedar.com. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward looking information or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from such information unless required by applicable law.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its regulation services provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) has reviewed or accepts responsibility for the accuracy and adequacy of this news release.

SOURCE Wolfden Resources Corp.
VANCOUVER, April 12, 2016 /CNW/ - Corvus Gold Inc. ("Corvus" or the "Company") - (TSX: KOR, OTCQX: CORVF) announces the start of its Phase I 2016 drill program at the North Bullfrog Project, Nevada on April 11th. The 5,000 metre reverse circulation (RC) drill program will focus on two main areas 1) Expanding the new high-grade NW Sierra Blanca target in the large unexplored area just west of the current Sierra Blanca deposit and; 2) Follow-up drilling to the new Lower Savage target and the West Jolly Jane fault approximately 500m directly south of the YellowJacket deposit (Figure 1). The program will be the first stage of follow-up on new geologic, structural and mineralization results from the 2015 exploration program.

Jeff Pontius, President and CEO of Corvus said "The positive results from Corvus' 2015 exploration program have outlined a number of high priority targets for 2016. The phase I drill program will begin by testing a new high-grade structural zone discovered last year at the NW Sierra Blanca target which has potential to host another YellowJacket type deposit. In addition we will be testing the new detachment style structural zones at the lower Savage target which we believe has potential to host a new style of high-grade mineralization. This targeted phase I drill program will address new areas for deposit expansion and what might be an entirely new deposit just below the existing resource area. The more exploration we do at North Bullfrog the greater the potential we unlock from this evolving new Nevada Gold district."

NW Sierra Blanca Target

The new NW Sierra Blanca Zone is currently defined by about a dozen drill holes over a kilometre of strike length (Figure 2). The gold system is over 100 metres wide and extends to at least 150 metres in depth of low-grade gold and silver with narrower 2-20 metre wide zones of 1-5 g/t stockwork related gold-silver mineralization. The system trends to the northeast and includes the new Rhyolite zone as seen in hole NB-15-267 (NR15-14, October 15, 2015), with 10.7m @ 3.47 g/t Au & 3.6 g/t Ag within 210m at 0.47 g/t Au & 1.4 g/t Ag, and hole NB-15-282 (NR16-02, January 19, 2016) that is 600 metres to the SW which returned 3.1m @ 5 g/t Au and 42 g/t Ag within 99.1m of 0.64 g/t Au and 4.08 g/t Ag.

Drilling this year will focus on outlining the shape and extent of the higher grade stockwork zones and assessing their potential impact on the overall mine plan and project economics. The initial drill program at NW Sierra Blanca and the northern extension of the YellowJacket deposit into the Swale target area, will involve about 15 drill holes.

Lower Savage and West Jolly Jane Fault Targets

The Lower Savage target is a unique new discovery that could have an impact on the gold and silver potential of the North Bullfrog District (Figure 3). Mineralization intersected near the bottom of Savage hole NB-15-273 (NR16-03, January 26, 2016) with 3.1m @ 2.05 g/t Au and 178 g/t Ag, the deepest drilled at North Bullfrog, is characteristic of a hotter and more intrusion related gold-silver system which could be the source of mineralization for the overlying Sierra BlancaYellowJacket deposit. This mineralization which lies about 100 metres below the current deposit is high in silver with significant copper (up to 0.2%). The mineralized zone appears to be a splay off of the West Jolly Jane listric fault, a structural system that is related to large scale movement at low angles and is similar to the structural environment that hosts the historic Bullfrog deposit located 10 kilometres to the south. The initial follow-up drilling on this new discovery will test the north and south extension of the zone and if positive will be followed with oriented core drilling of the zone.

The West Jolly Jane structural zone intersected in the Lower Savage target come to surface in the North Jolly Jane area and recent exploration along this zone has identified outcropping banded quartz-carbonate veins up to a kilometre to the north of the northern most drilling (over 1.5 km to the north of the Jolly Jane Deposit). This structural zone remains essentially untested. Two or three scout holes will be drilled on this structural zone in the first phase to assess its potential to host YellowJacket/Bullfrog type vein systems.

About the North Bullfrog Project, Nevada

Corvus controls 100% of its North Bullfrog Project, which covers approximately 72 km in southern Nevada. The property package is made up of a number of private mineral leases of patented federal mining claims and 865 federal unpatented mining claims. The project has excellent infrastructure, being adjacent to a major highway and power corridor as well as a large water right.

The North Bullfrog project includes numerous prospective gold targets at various stages of exploration with four having NI 43-101 mineral resources (Sierra Blanca, Jolly Jane, Mayflower and YellowJacket). The project contains a measured mineral resource of 3.86 Mt at an average grade of 2.55 g/t gold and 19.70 g/t silver, containing 316.5k ounces of gold and 2,445k ounces of silver, an indicated mineral resource of 1.81 Mt at an average grade of 1.53 g/t gold, and 10.20 g/t silver, containing 89.1k ounces of gold and 593.6k ounces of silver and an inferred resource of 1.48 Mt at an average grade of 0.83 g/t gold and 4.26 g/t silver, containing 39.5k ounces of gold and 202.7k ounces of silver for oxide mill processing. The mineral resource for the mill process was defined by WhittleTM optimization using all cost and recovery data and a breakeven cut-off grade of 0.52 g/t gold. In addition, the project contains a measured mineral resource of 0.3 Mt at an average grade of 0.25 g/t gold and 2.76 g/t silver, containing 2.4k ounces of gold and 26.6k ounces of silver, an indicated mineral resource of 22.86 Mt at an average grade of 0.30 g/t gold and 0.43 g/t silver, containing 220.5k ounces of gold and 316.1k ounces of silver and an inferred mineral resource of 176.3 Mt at an average grade of 0.19 g/t gold and 0.67 g/t silver, containing 1,077.4k ounces of gold and 3,799.2k ounces of silver for oxide, heap leach processing. The mineral resource for heap leach processing was defined by WhittleTM optimization using all cost and recovery data and a breakeven cut-off grade of 0.15 g/t.

Qualified Person and Quality Control/Quality Assurance

Jeffrey A. Pontius (CPG 11044), a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has supervised the preparation of the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for this news release and has approved the disclosure herein. Mr. Pontius is not independent of Corvus, as he is the CEO & President and holds common shares and incentive stock options.

Carl E. Brechtel, (Nevada PE 008744 and Registered Member 353000 of SME), a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has coordinated execution of the work outlined in this news release and has approved the disclosure herein. Mr. Brechtel is not independent of Corvus, as he is the COO and holds common shares and incentive stock options.

The work program at North Bullfrog was designed and supervised by Mark Reischman, Corvus Gold's Nevada Exploration Manager, who is responsible for all aspects of the work, including the quality control/quality assurance program. On-site personnel at the project log and track all samples prior to sealing and shipping. Quality control is monitored by the insertion of blind certified standard reference materials and blanks into each sample shipment. All resource sample shipments are sealed and shipped to ALS Chemex in Reno, Nevada, for preparation and then on to ALS Chemex in Reno, Nevada, or Vancouver, B.C., for assaying. ALS Chemex's quality system complies with the requirements for the International Standards ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 17025:1999. Analytical accuracy and precision are monitored by the analysis of reagent blanks, reference material and replicate samples. Finally, representative blind duplicate samples are forwarded to ALS Chemex and an ISO compliant third party laboratory for additional quality control.

For additional information on the North Bullfrog project, including information relating to exploration, data verification and the mineral resource estimates, see "Technical Report and Preliminary Economic Assessment for Combined Mill and Heap Leach Processing at the North Bullfrog Project, Bullfrog Mining District, NYE County, Nevada" dated June 16, 2015, which is available under Corvus Gold's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

About Corvus Gold Inc.

Corvus Gold Inc. is a North American gold exploration and development company, focused on its near-term gold-silver mining project at North Bullfrog, Nevada. In addition the Company controls a number of other North American exploration properties representing a spectrum of gold, silver and copper projects. Corvus is committed to building shareholder value through new discoveries and the expansion of those discoveries to maximize share price leverage in a recovering gold and silver market.

On behalf of

Corvus Gold Inc.

(signed) Jeffrey A. Pontius

Jeffrey A. Pontius,

Chief Executive Officer

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and US securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements regarding the potential for new deposits and expected increases in a systems potential; anticipated content, commencement and cost of exploration programs, anticipated exploration program results, the discovery and delineation of mineral deposits/resources/reserves, the potential to develop multiple YellowJacket style high-grade zones, the Company's belief that the parameters used in the WhittleTM pit optimization process are realistic and reasonable, the potential to discover additional high grade veins or additional deposits, the potential to expand the existing estimated resource at the North Bullfrog project, the potential for any mining or production at North Bullfrog, the potential for the Company to secure or receive any royalties in the future, business and financing plans and business trends, are forward-looking statements. Information concerning mineral resource estimates may be deemed to be forward-looking statements in that it reflects a prediction of the mineralization that would be encountered if a mineral deposit were developed and mined. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, variations in the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, variations in the market price of any mineral products the Company may produce or plan to produce, the Company's inability to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its activities, the Company's inability to produce minerals from its properties successfully or profitably, to continue its projected growth, to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies, and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's 2013 Annual Information Form and latest interim Management Discussion and Analysis filed with certain securities commissions in Canada and the Company's most recent filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings in Canada may be accessed via www.sedar.com and filings with the SEC may be accessed via www.sec.gov and readers are urged to review these materials, including the technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral properties.

Cautionary Note Regarding References to Resources and Reserves

National Instrument 43 101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") is a rule developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators which establishes standards for all public disclosure an issuer makes of scientific and technical information concerning mineral projects. Unless otherwise indicated, all resource estimates contained in or incorporated by reference in this press release have been prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 and the guidelines set out in the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (the "CIM") Standards on Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserves, adopted by the CIM Council on November 14, 2004 (the "CIM Standards") as they may be amended from time to time by the CIM.

United States investors are cautioned that the requirements and terminology of NI 43-101 and the CIM Standards differ significantly from the requirements and terminology of the SEC set forth in the SEC's Industry Guide 7 ("SEC Industry Guide 7"). Accordingly, the Company's disclosures regarding mineralization may not be comparable to similar information disclosed by companies subject to SEC Industry Guide 7. Without limiting the foregoing, while the terms "mineral resources", "inferred mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" and "measured mineral resources" are recognized and required by NI 43-101 and the CIM Standards, they are not recognized by the SEC and are not permitted to be used in documents filed with the SEC by companies subject to SEC Industry Guide 7. Mineral resources which are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability, and US investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of a mineral resource will ever be converted into reserves. Further, inferred resources have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and as to whether they can be mined legally or economically. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of the inferred resources will ever be upgraded to a higher resource category. Under Canadian rules, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of a feasibility study or prefeasibility study, except in rare cases. The SEC normally only permits issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute SEC Industry Guide 7 compliant "reserves" as in-place tonnage and grade without reference to unit amounts. The term "contained ounces" is not permitted under the rules of SEC Industry Guide 7. In addition, the NI 43-101 and CIM Standards definition of a "reserve" differs from the definition in SEC Industry Guide 7. In SEC Industry Guide 7, a mineral reserve is defined as a part of a mineral deposit which could be economically and legally extracted or produced at the time the mineral reserve determination is made, and a "final" or "bankable" feasibility study is required to report reserves, the three-year historical price is used in any reserve or cash flow analysis of designated reserves and the primary environmental analysis or report must be filed with the appropriate governmental authority. U.S. investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our latest reports and registration statements filed with the SEC. You can review and obtain copies of these filings at http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml. U.S. Investors are cautioned not to assume that any defined resource will ever be converted into SEC Industry Guide 7 compliant reserves.

This press release is not, and is not to be construed in any way as, an offer to buy or sell securities in the United States.

SOURCE Corvus Gold Inc.
Toronto, Ontario / TheNewswire / April 12, 2016 - Noble Mineral Exploration Inc. ("Noble" or the "Company") (TSX-V:NOB, FRANKFURT: NB7, OTC.PK:NLPXF) announces that Mr. Robert Suttie has been appointed Chief Financial Officer ("CFO") of Noble, effective April 1, 2016. Mr. Suttie replaces Mr. Gaetan Chabot, who has resigned as CFO of the Company. Mr. Chabot will remain available to the Company as a consultant and resource.

H. Vance White, President of the Company, stated: "On behalf of Noble, I would like to thank Mr. Chabot for his substantial contribution and dedication over the years as CFO. We wish him well in his future endeavors."

Robert Suttie currently works with Marrelli Support Services as its Vice President, possessing more than 20 years of experience, ten of which were in public accounting prior to his tenure with the Marrelli organization. Mr. Suttie specializes in management advisory services, accounting and the financial disclosure needs of the Marrelli group's public client base. In addition to Noble, Mr. Suttie also serves as Chief Financial Officer for a number of other junior mining companies listed on the TSX and TSX-V, leveraging his skills and experience to become integral to the reporting issuers.

About Noble Mineral Exploration Inc.:

Noble Mineral Exploration Inc. is a Canadian based junior exploration company holding in excess of 70,641 hectares of mineral rights in the Timmins - Cochrane areas of Northern Ontario. The Company also holds a portfolio of diversified exploration projects at various stages of exploration: Gold in the Wawa area of Northern Ontario, and Uranium in Northern Saskatchewan. More detailed information is available on the website at www.noblemineralexploration.com.

Cautionary Statement:

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.No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.

The foregoing information may contain forward-looking statements relating to the future performance of Noble Mineral Exploration Inc. Forward-looking statements, specifically those concerning future performance, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from the Company's plans and expectations. These plans, expectations, risks and uncertainties are detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with the TSX Venture Exchange and securities regulators. Noble Mineral Exploration Inc. does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contacts:

H. Vance White, President

Phone: 416-214-2250

Fax: 416-367-1954

Email: info@noblemineralexploration.com

Investor Relations

Email: ir@noblemineralexploration.com

Copyright (c) 2016 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.
April 12, 2016 / TheNewswire / Vancouver, British Columbia- Nevada Energy Metals Inc., TSX-V: BFF (OTC: SSMLF) (Frankfurt: A2AFBV) is pleased to announce the acquisition of 60 claims (approximately 1200 acres/484 hectares) in Clayton Valley, Esmeralda County, Nevada.

The Clayton Valley BFF-1 Lithium Project southern boundary lies 250 meters from Albemarle Corporation's Silver Peak lithium mine and brine processing operations. The mine has been in operation since 1967 and remains the only brine based lithium producer in North America. It is also the location of Pure Energy Minerals' 816,000 metric tonnes Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE) Inferred Resource NI 43-101 announced in July 2015. Clayton Valley's centralized location between Nevada and Reno and its highways, access to power, water and labor provide excellent infrastructure for mineral exploration and development. The Clayton Valley BFF-1 Lithium Project is approximately 3.5 hours away from Tesla's Gigafactory, which has a planned annual lithium-ion battery production capacity of 35 gigawatt-hours per year by 2020.



Click Image To View Full Size

Clayton Valley is one of the few locations globally known to contain commercial-grade lithium-enriched brine. The Valley is an internally drained closed-basin and is surrounded by mountains, hills and ridges on all sides. It contains an underground unconsolidated water bearing system (or aquifer system) which is host to lithium-enriched brines and is contained by the surrounding rock.

The decision to acquire the project was based on descriptions of geological modeling and historical drilling results (Western Geothermal Ltd) in a report authored by J.B. Hulen, PG, (July 31,2008). Mr Hulen concluded that shallow thermal-gradient drilling and lithium-exploration drilling by previous operators demonstrated that the area underlying this portion of Clayton Valley contained the valley's highest subsurface temperatures.



Click Image To View Full Size

Within the graben (A graben is a depressed block of land bordered by parallel faults) and within the boundary of the claim block , a drill hole by Western Geothermal Partners 2007 logged as WGP#2

reported as follows:' From 280 - to 305 ft., fine grained green sand and silt logged as volcanic ash was encountered. This unit may be correlative to the Main Ash Aquifer, which is a marker bed in other areas of the Clayton Valley Basin."

Nevada Energy Metals is planning a detailed exploration program on our Clayton Valley BFF-1 Lithium Project for the fall 2016/winter 2017 The property was acquired for cost of staking with no overriding royalties or work programs. A finder's fee is payable.

About Nevada Energy Metals: http://nevadaenergymetals.com/

Nevada Energy Metals Inc. is a well funded Canadian based exploration company who's primary listing is on the TSX Venture Exchange. The Company's main exploration focus is directed at lithium brine targets located in the mining friendly state of Nevada. The Company has 100% ownership in 60 claims in Clayton Valley, only 250m from Rockwood Lithium, the only brine based lithium producer in North America. Nevada Energy Metals has also acquired, 100 claims (Teels Marsh West) covering 2000 acres (809 hectares) at Teels Marsh, Mineral County, Nevada, a highly prospective lithium exploration project, 100% owned without any royalties, located on the western part of a large evaporation lake where a phase one, 20 hole shallow auger exploration program is in progress. Recently, on March 23, 2016 the Company announced the addition of the San Emidio Desert lithium project in Washoe County, Nevada. The Company's first lithium project, Alkali Lake, in Esmeralda county is a 60% earn in option agreement from Dajin Resources Corp. where near surface lithium has been confirmed.

Qualified Person:

The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by

Ali Alizadeh, MSc P.Geo, MBA, a director of the company and a Qualified Person under the provisions of National Instrument 43-101.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Harry Barr Chairman & CEO

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.



Copyright (c) 2016 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.
Vancouver, April 12, 2016 - Vancouver, BC - Dajin Resources Corp. ("Dajin") (C: DJI) (OTC: DJIFF) (Frankfurt: A1XF20) is pleased to announce that, subject to regulatory approval, a non-brokered Private Placement has been arranged for 10,000,000 Units at a price of $0.12 per unit for gross proceeds of $1,200,000. Each Unit is comprised of one common share and one share purchase warrant. Each warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one additional common share of Dajin at a price of $0.17 per share for a period of two years from the closing of the Private Placement by the TSX Venture Exchange. A finder's fee may be paid in cash or units on closing in accordance with TSX Venture Exchange policy. The proceeds from the Private Placement will be used for property exploration, project development and for general working capital.

About Dajin: (www.dajin.ca)

Dajin is an early stage energy metals exploration company holding a 100% interest in 265 placer claims known to contain Lithium and Boron values in the Teels Marsh region of Mineral County, Nevada. These claims, which cover 5,282 acres (2,138 hectares), are the birth place of US Borax Corp's first borax mine. Dajin also holds claims in the Alkali Lake region of Esmeralda County, Nevada. Dajin has entered into an option agreement with Nevada Energy Metals Inc. (C: BFF) to explore their 191 placer claims covering 3,851 acres (1,558 hectares) in this region, 7 miles (12 kilometers) northeast of Rockwood's Clayton Valley Lithium operations.

Dajin also holds a 100% interest in concessions or concession applications in Jujuy Province, Argentina that were acquired in regions known to contain brines with Potassium, Lithium and Boron values. These concessions total approximately 93,000 hectares (230,000 acres) and are located in the Salinas Grandes/Guayatayoc salt lakes basin adjacent to concessions held by Orocobre Ltd. (TSX: ORL), who is partnered with Toyota Tsusho. In July 2015, Dajin completed an agreement with the Tres Morros Cooperativa for exploration of the San Jose Project consisting of 4,400 hectares (10,873 acres) of mineral concessions (San Jose and Navidad) within the Salinas Grandes salar.

For further information please contact:

DAJIN RESOURCES CORP.

Brian Findlay, President

Phone: 604-681-6151; Fax: 604-689-7654

Email brian@dajin.ca

The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the

adequacy or accuracy of this release.



Copyright (c) 2016 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.


Blooming onion is one of the fresh, wine-friendly snacks. Photo: Dominic Lorrimer

Address 231A Victoria St Darlinghurst, NSW 2010 View map Permanently Closed

There so many lines being blurred at Bar Brose, it's not easy to focus. It's called a bar, but everyone is eating. It's breezy and informal, yet the kitchen is serious. The menu lists poulet au vin jaune from the French Alps, spaghetti carbonara from Rome, and a ham and pineapple toastie from late nights everywhere. It's like your whole week of eating played out at random.

Mitch Orr and the team behind ACME, the slashie Italian/Asian diner in Rushcutters Bay, have turned The Passage, their long, oesophagus-like Darlinghurst bar, into a vehicle for young-gun chef Analiese Gregory. After working in such celebrated kitchens as Michel Bras and Le Meurice in France and The Ledbury in London since leaving Quay in 2012, it was expected she would re-enter town at fine dining level.

Instead, she's chosen the street.

Bar Brose in Darlinghurst is fluid, ambiguous and difficult to categorise. Photo: Dominic Lorrimer

And the crowd is loving it, whether perched at small high tables and stools in the front, lounging on sculptural wooden benches at tables in the middle dining room, or sipping wine from slim-stemmed glasses at a bookend bar overlooking Darlinghurst Road; Moby and the Eurythmics on high rotation.

Gregory's menu is curious; a seemingly disparate collection of things that each have individual appeal but cannot easily be curated into a single meal. I'm not sure that matters. This is the Spotify generation, after all, preferring its genre, gender, artist and country on shuffle.

So, in equally random form: An ever-changing terrine ($16) is the last word in rustic, a chunky, brawn-like assembly of porky bits and cornichons that can be served cold or warmed. A golden fist-sized choux pastry gougere ($6) is the opposite; refined and refined until it is a fragile shell with a soft, velvety lining that tastes and smells deliciously of Comte cheese.

Poulet vin jaune d'Australie is the stand-out dish. Photo: Dominic Lorrimer

The stand-out dish is poulet vin jaune d'Australie ($18/$30), the busty Holmbrae chicken bathed in a ladleful of glossy, winey sauce (not the celebrated yellow wine of the Jura but Gregory's own blend of Pennyweight Oloroso, Tom Shobbrook's Il Chicco, and shao hsing), enriched with foie gras butter and flagged with crisp chicken-in-a-biskit shards.

It's even better with a "blooming onion" ($12), a frazzled radioactive-looking thing that was once an onion before being southern-fried in its entirety. It's these sorts of fresh, wine-friendly, snack-time ideas that make Bar Brose the new good-time go-to.

Like the toasted sarnie of gruyere, nduja and pineapple-glazed leg ham Late Night Sandwich ($14); a guilty Nigella's-been-at-the-fridge-again treat. Pan-fried potato gnocchi with lap cheong, chilli and kombu butter ($20) isn't enough to convince me that pan-fried gnocchi isn't inherently boring. The spag carb ($20), however, is the sort of dish that made Italy great; the faithfully al dente pasta luxuriously bound with egginess (no cream allowed) and studded with salty fried guanciale.

There's also a Michel Bras-inspired potato crisp millefeuille dessert squished together with brown butter mousse and salted caramel ($12) that is sure to break Instagram, but feels a little too close to eating a packet of crisps.

Katrina Birchmeier, Gavin Wright and Ed Loveday's wine list is filled with the poster children of the natural wine movement, including a fresh and lively organic Muscadet 2014 by Domaine Vincent Caille ($12/$24/$72). For such a wine-lovin' crowd, the 120-millilitre pour feels ungenerous.

Bar Brose is but a baby, yet it has immediately been christened Sydney's new It bar, in spite of the fact that it's fluid, ambiguous and difficult to categorise. Or perhaps because of it. It's not clear.





THE LOWDOWN

Best bit: Talented young chef gets her own gig.

Worst bit: Hard stools (so to speak)

Go-to dish: Poulet au vin jaune d'Australie ($18 a quarter; $30 a half)

Terry Durack is chief restaurant critic for The Sydney Morning Herald and senior reviewer for the Good Food Guide. This rating is based on the Good Food Guide scoring system.

http://barbrose.com.au/
Paxton is accused of deceiving investors in high-tech startup Servergy Inc.

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By Paul J. Weber And Jim Vertuno, Associated Press

AUSTIN  Federal securities regulators charged Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Monday with four civil counts of fraud, piling on more legal troubles for the Republican already under criminal indictment for allegations that he deceived friends and wealthy investors  at least once with high-pressure tactics.

The lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission provoked new calls from critics that Paxton should resign but no public response from state Republican leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott.

Paxton, who has pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of securities fraud handed up by a Texas grand jury last summer, has said he won't step down and has faced no public pressure from state leaders to do so. But questions about his private financial dealings have made for a tumultuous first 16 months on the job.

The new federal lawsuit essentially mirrors the charges in Paxton's criminal case  that he defrauded investors in a high-tech startup called Servergy Inc.  but provides a far more detailed narrative of Paxton's alleged misdeeds than what has previously been made public.

The SEC describes how Paxton allegedly betrayed a friend, raised $840,000 and pressured one investor to make a "hasty decision" to immediately invest, thereby increasing the value of Servergy stock that Paxton received as commission. Paxton's investor recruiting took place in 2011, when he was still a state legislator.

SEC investigators say Paxton claimed he planned to invest $100,000 of his own money into Servergy but that company founder Bill Mapp refused. The lawsuit alleges Paxton said Mapp told him, "I can't take your money. God doesn't want me to take your money." Paxton claimed he accepted Servergy shares as a gift, according to the lawsuit.

But both state prosecutors and now the SEC accuse Paxton of never telling investors Servergy paid him to raise money.

The investors wouldn't have invested had they "known Paxton was being paid to promote the company," the lawsuit reads.

Those same allegations led to Paxton's indictment in his hometown and facing a possible sentence of five to 99 years in prison if convicted. By filing a civil lawsuit, federal regulators aren't seeking prison time but instead want Paxton to pay back "any ill-gotten gains or unjust enrichment" and be ordered to pay additional financial penalties.

SEC investigators allege that one investor considered Paxton "a personal friend" and believed that Paxton was also investing in the company. According to the lawsuit, investor "grew worried" when promises about product shipment failed to materialize, and that Paxton "did nothing" to determine whether those company milestones were true.

A Dallas state appeals court is scheduled to take up the criminal indictments next month.
Math teacher Eddison James works with students at Liberty High School in Houston. The school serves a large immigrant population, including "unaccompanied" minors. " offers information about legal and other services available and works to connect students with community groups if they need help re-integrating with family members. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

SHARE Associated Press file photos New York State board of regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch (left) sits in on a bilingual kindergarten class in 2014 at Washington-Rose Elementary School in Roosevelt, N.Y. Immigrant children have faced long enrollment delays and have been turned away from classrooms as the result of some districts' arbitrary interpretations of residency rules and state laws, researchers say.

By Garance Burke, Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO  Immigrant children living in the U.S. without legal status have been blocked from registering for school and accessing the educational services they need, according to a report on school districts in four states by Georgetown University Law Center researchers.

Such students have faced long enrollment delays and have been turned away from classrooms as the result of some districts' arbitrary interpretations of residency rules and state laws, the researchers said.

All children  including those living in the U.S. illegally  must attend school through at least the eighth grade or until they turn 16 under compulsory education laws in all 50 states.

But some districts' elaborate paperwork requirements effectively have kept immigrant youths out of school, while lack of translation and interpretation services have left their families uninformed about the process, the report found.

The Obama administration's efforts to find and deport the tens of thousands of unaccompanied Central American children and families who arrived during the 2014 surge of illegal crossings have further complicated the situation, prompting some students to avoid school for fear that they will be picked up by authorities, the report's authors said.

"U.S. law is clear on this point  no child in the United States should be excluded from public education," said Mikaela Harris, a Georgetown law student who co-wrote the study issued by the university's Human Rights Institute and the nonprofit Women's Refugee Commission. "That doesn't always play out in practice."

In May 2014, then-Education Secretary Arne Duncan issued joint guidance with the Justice Department reminding districts that a 1982 Supreme Court ruling gives all children the right to enroll in school, regardless of immigration status.

The report, which studied school districts in Florida, New York, Texas and North Carolina, calls for a strengthening of federal outreach to districts unaccustomed to serving newcomer populations and better assurances that educational access continues amid immigration enforcement.

Researchers said they had presented their recommendations to the Department of Education.

"We remain vigilant about our responsibility to protect the civil rights of all students, including immigrant students, undocumented students and unaccompanied immigrant students," Education Department spokeswoman Dorie Nolt said. "We have provided a number of resources to communities in order to do so."

U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement spokesman Bryan Cox said he had not seen the report so could not comment on it, but he said agency policy in general precludes any enforcement activity at schools and other sensitive locations.

The report analyzed barriers to education faced by the 775,000 children under age 18 estimated to be living in the United States without legal permission, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of 2012 Census figures. Since fall 2013, more than 100,000 unaccompanied children from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras also have sought refuge in the U.S. and have been placed in communities across the country after being apprehended at the border.

Researchers said an additional estimated 1.6 million school-aged immigrant children who were brought to the U.S. legally may live in mixed-status families and face similar barriers. Public school districts are entitled to request and vet paperwork to establish students' residency, but some have gone a step beyond, requiring immigration documents, researchers found.
SHARE Josh Bailey

By Titus Falodun, titus.falodun@reporternews.com

Sweetwater Police Chief Brian Frieda said Josh Bailey, a former Wendy's employee in Sweetwater, was in custody Monday morning after allegedly burglarizing the restaurant at 403 N.E. Georgia Ave. and leading a chase that ended up just north of San Angelo.

According to Frieda, police responded about 5 a.m. after the morning manager at Wendy's came to work and noticed things in the kitchen out of place.

The manager then looked into the restaurant's dining area and saw Bailey either sleeping or attempting to hide in one of the booths, which prompted the 911 call.

Police arrived, with two officers coming from two different doors, and Bailey ran out of a door to a nearby convenience store.

He then reportedly got into a vehicle and attempted to leave when the owner of the vehicle confronted him, so he allegedly hit her with the door of the vehicle.

"She instinctively grabbed onto the vehicle and so he dragged her through the parking lot until she lost her grip, causing minor injuries," Frieda said. "It just so happened that I had a patrol car that was at that intersection and watched all that take place, so he activated his emergency equipment to try to stop the fleeing suspect."

Bailey then reportedly took off south on State Highway 70, as two police units pursued him, out of Nolan County. The chase continued through Coke County, transitioning onto U.S. Highway 277, and into Tom Green County where local Sheriff's Deputy Crabtree saw the suspect vehicle, a black Nissan Juke, coming toward him followed by pursuing law enforcement vehicles around 6:12 a.m., according to Sheriff's Department information officer Christina Lopez.

She said Crabtree had time to set up and deploy stop sticks, strips of hollow spikes designed to deflate tires, at Red Creek Bridge on Highway 277 North.

While the strips were successful, the chase continued and the vehicle turned on to Highway 67.

The vehicle exited at Pulliam Street entering city limits.

Lopez said at that point, TGC deputies backed off.

"We were clearing traffic and keeping people off the roads so the pursuit could continue," she explained.

At 6:47 a.m. the car crashed at the intersection of FM2105 and state highway 208, where Bailey was apprehended.

During initial pursuit, Frieda said Sweetwater police had two successful spike deployments to slow down the vehicle, which was traveling "on three metal wheels and one good tire."

Bailey, 27, is in the Nolan County Jail on bonds totaling $80,000 on charges of burglary of a building, aggravated robbery and evading arrest.

"This is not his first time of doing this with former employees," Frieda said. "In fact, we have an ongoing investigation where he's done this to some other previous employers."

The Texas Department of Public Safety out of Nolan and Tom Green County, along with the Nolan County Sheriff's Office, assisted in the pursuit of Bailey, Frieda said.

Rashda Khan contributed to this report.
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The following editorial appeared in the April 4 Washington Post:

Governors of the nation's most and fourth-most populous states, California and New York, respectively, have signed a $15-per-hour minimum wage into law. In the District, a judge has just ruled that proponents can try to get a $15 minimum on the ballot in November; Mayor Muriel E. Bowser supports accomplishing the $15 goal legislatively.

What the success of the $15 minimum wage movement shows, in part, is that politics abhors a vacuum. In the absence of action by the Republican-controlled Congress to raise the federal minimum wage, states and cities encompassing about 65 percent of the U.S. population have decided to enact higher minimums, though usually less than $15. Maybe the GOP should have taken President Obama up on his request for a $9 minimum when he offered it back in his 2013 State of the Union address.

Another lesson, however, is that, when it comes to public policy, popular and wise are not necessarily the same. Stuck on $7.25 per hour since 2009, the federal minimum is due for an increase, especially in light of stagnant wages and income inequality.

The magnitude of that increase, however, is a matter for caution, given the widely varying labor-market conditions across the country and the likelihood that sharp mandatory wage hikes would reduce the supply of jobs. Also, the minimum wage is not an especially well-targeted way to help the working poor, because  unlike the earned-income tax credit wage subsidy  it benefits many workers who are not poor, not supporting families, or both.

Moderate minimum wage increases in the past have not produced disastrous short-term employment consequences, at least not sharp enough to outweigh the perceived benefits of protecting workers from a race to the bottom of the labor market. Yet $15 per hour would represent a quantum leap in the U.S. minimum wage, from its present level of about 35 percent of the median full-time hourly wage to nearly 75 percent of it, based on our reading of figures from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. No other industrialized country's statutory minimum wage even comes close.

Even phased in over a few years, $15 would represent a major departure, about which existing economic research offers little solid guidance. This might be why Alan B. Krueger, the minimum-wage expert who formerly headed Mr. Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, has written: "A minimum wage set as high as $12 an hour will do more good than harm for low-wage workers, but a $15-an-hour national minimum wage would put us in uncharted waters, and risk undesirable and unintended consequences."

The obvious risks  borne disproportionately by the very-low-income workers whom minimums are meant to help  are apparent even to advocates of the $15 minimum, as the many loopholes and caveats built into the California and New York increases implicitly demonstrate.

The minimum wage should go up, but sustainably. Setting the minimum at a particular historical benchmark, such as a percentage of the poverty line for a family, or a share of the median wage, would help focus the debate, and anchor it.
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback on Monday signed into law a major reform of the state's juvenile justice system, an overhaul meant to shift the focus from detention to treatment for many young offenders.Calling it likely the state's premier piece of legislation in 2016, Brownback said at a ceremony outside the Johnson County Courthouse in Olathe that the new law was a practical, sensible reform that was smart on crime."Being smart on crime promotes public safety and the rehabilitation of youthful offenders so that they can become law-abiding citizens," Brownback said. "This bill does just that. The legislation aligns our juvenile justice system with what the research shows works best to reduce victimization, keep families strong and guide youth towards a better path."The legislation won overwhelming and bipartisan support in the Kansas Legislature this session, a bright spot amid statehouse turmoil over budget shortfalls and a dire state Supreme Court ruling on school finance.Rep. John Rubin, a Shawnee Republican, and Sen. Greg Smith, an Overland Park Republican, shepherded the reform bill through the Legislature. They were on hand at the bill-signing Monday along with several other legislators, state corrections officials and representatives from juvenile justice advocacy groups.The reform is intended to reduce the reliance on detention and other out-of-home placements for low-risk juvenile offenders. More low-level offenders would stay at home and participate in community-based educational, vocational and therapy programs. One focus would be drug and alcohol treatment.Under the new law, the number of youth sent to out-of-home facilities is expected to drop by about 60 percent over five years. That would save about $72 million over that time, money to be reinvested in community-based programs.Rubin and Smith said the changes are data-based, backed by solid research with assistance from the Pew Charitable Trusts.Smith called it "monumental" legislation that centers on the root causes of juvenile crime. Rubin said he had no doubt that the law will give troubled youth and their families a chance at better outcomes."And I also have no doubt as a result of this legislation that youth offender recidivism in Kansas will substantially decrease and it will make Kansas a safer and better place for all citizens," Rubin said.But the reforms have drawn objections from the Kansas County and District Attorneys Association, a professional organization for prosecutors in the state.In a statement Monday, the organization said aspects of the bill "undermine the discretion of the courts to hold offenders accountable and protect the public." And the necessary funding has not been identified to support the "expansive agenda" of the bill, the association said.A juvenile justice work group, headed by Rubin and Smith, began its study last summer and released recommendations in December. It found that although juvenile crime rates were down, the state had one of the highest rates of detention and out-of-home placements in the country. The group held roundtable discussions, reviewed research and received technical assistance from the Pew Charitable Trusts.A growing proportion of youth in out-of-home placements were lower-level offenders, the group found. Out-of-home placements can cost up to $90,000 a year for each offender, more than 10 times the cost of probation. The system was not only costly, it didn't reduce recidivism or improve public safety, the work group concluded.Besides the shift in focus to counseling and training for many juvenile offenders, the law sets new standards for case lengths, creates a juvenile justice oversight committee and increases training for juvenile justice personnel.The 140-page bill, SB 367, passed unanimously in the Senate and won approval 118-5 in the House.
Planting the Seed

Farm-to-Table

Is Farming a Public Service?

Other Options

The farm of Bryce Brewers dreams would produce strawberries during even the worst Wisconsin winters. The climate-controlled setup would use no chemicals, less water and one key element: fish waste.Brewer, 23, learned in college about this unconventional, emerging agricultural method called aquaponics. Yet, with $35,000 in student loan debt, he said it will be a while before he can get the $100,000 he needs to start the farm.While aspiring farmers like Brewer have always had a hard time getting loans and land, they now point to student loan debt as another obstacle to a career in agriculture. Hearing their struggles  and hoping to entice more young people into a graying industry  federal and state lawmakers want to help them pay down their debt.The U.S. Congress is considering a bill that would add farmers to the list of occupations that qualify for a federal program that forgives student loans for public service workers, such as teachers and police officers. In the meantime, New York started a small student loan forgiveness program for farmers last year, and the Wisconsin Legislature is considering doing the same.Proponents, such as the National Young Farmers Coalition (NYFC), a national nonprofit, say the programs will encourage more young people to farm at a time the industry needs them. The American farmer is aging  the average age of a principal farm operator in 2012 was 58, compared to 51 in 1982. At the same time, the number of new farmers is decreasing. The number of farmers who had been operating their farm for less than five years fell 23 percent from 2007 to 2012, to 171,550.Seeing the trends, the state lawmakers who introduced the loan-forgiveness measures, New York Republican state Sen. Patty Ritchie and Wisconsin Democratic state Rep. Mark Spreitzer, say states should be doing everything they can to attract new farmers, given agricultures importance to the economy. Farming and its related industries provided nearly one of every 10 jobs in the U.S. in 2014. And every dollar in farm exports in 2014 stimulated another $1.27 in business activity.The proposals to aid beginning farmers come as concerns grow about the increasing cost of college and debt from student loans. Seven in 10 students who graduated from college in 2014 had student loan debt, with an average of $28,950 per borrower.Yet some agricultural economists and state agricultural officials say what new farmers need more than student loan forgiveness are programs that make it easier to find and buy land and obtain credit, the two barriers beginning farmers most often face.Farmers are rugged individualists, said Richard Ball, commissioner of the Department of Agriculture & Markets in New York. Although they do want the government to recognize the importance of the industry, they dont want subsidies, he said. Most farmers will say, get the policy right, get the attitude right, and then let us do our job. Farmers have a harder time making monthly student loan payments than other young workers, said Eric Hansen, policy analyst at NYFC. Many get paid once a year, at the end of the harvest season. And they have to spend money before they make it, which makes access to credit vital.Also, most farmers dont earn enough on the farm to make ends meet; the majority of farm households in 2014 made most of their money away from the farm.Beginning farmers, on average, have higher non-farming income than established farmers, as they make less on the farm and are more likely to have a second full-time job. The average farm income in 2012 was $2,229 for beginners and $26,217 for established farmers, while off-farm income  which can include a spouses job, interest and dividends  was $111,130 for beginners and $82,104 for established farmers.In a survey of new or aspiring farmers, NYFC found that those with student loan debt owed on average $35,000. Of those, 28 percent said that because of their debt, they didnt pursue farming or are waiting to start. Many also said they couldnt get credit because of their loans.With enormous start-up costs, such as land and machinery, new farmers have greater financial worries than student loan debt, said Paul Mitchell, associate professor of agricultural and applied economics at University of Wisconsin-Madison.Some of these government programs are just like throwing rocks into the Mississippi River, Mitchell said.The cost of agricultural land is on the rise, from $2,300 to $3,020 per acre from 2011 to 2015. The cost of tractors is also increasing sharply. The average cost of a 95-horsepower tractor increased from $62,000 in 2005 to $107,970 in 2015.And although forgiving student loans may help some starting farmers, it wont reach the bulk of them. Spending for the New York program was capped at $100,000 last year and $150,000 this year, and the Wisconsin bill would cap spending at $60,000 in the first year, gradually increasing to $300,000 by 2020.To be eligible for the New York program, a farmer must have graduated in the last two years. In Wisconsin, the proposal is five years. Yet half the new farmers who responded to the NYFC survey said it took five years or longer to get started. Nearly half of new farmers are older than 35.State officials are hopeful the programs will add momentum to the farm-to-table and organic food movements, which are often fueled by young people using new technology and new farming methods. In Wisconsin, preference would be given to farmers who agree to use sustainable-agriculture techniques.Brewer, who lives in Oshkosh, said fish would do much of the work at his aquaponics farm. The fish waste acts as the organic matter supplying nutrients to help crops grow.In New York, Leanna Mulvihill used the money she received from the student loan forgiveness program to build her farm. At 26, she is in her second year of operating a community supported agriculture (CSA) meat business with 15 pigs, 40 lambs and two cows on 50 acres she is leasing in Germantown. With CSAs, a group of people pay a local farm or farms at the start of a season for a share of an anticipated harvest and then receive it as it is produced.Mulvihill, who graduated from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse with a degree in environmental engineering, received $10,000 of the total $100,000 awarded by the state last year in loan forgiveness payouts. She received another $8,000 this year.The program allows recipients to get funding for multiple years, at a cap of $50,000 per person. It requires recipients to have an undergraduate degree from an in-state college, and to agree to operate a farm full-time for five years. But it doesnt require that the money be spent paying down student loans. Mulvihill used part of the check she received from the state on her loans, and part of it on her business.The program proposed in Wisconsin would provide up to $30,000 in student loan forgiveness per person, and it would require participants to commit to farming for five years.The federal proposal  which would forgive student loans for farmers after 10 years of monthly payments  has drawn more opposition than the state proposals.Its based on the concept that farmers provide a public service, Hansen said, by feeding the public, helping to hold rural communities together, and being stewards of the land, on the front line of conservation efforts.Yet some in agriculture, such as Ball in New York, arent so sure farmers qualify as working in public service. Farmers provide a service to the public, he said. But thats different.Alexander Holt, a policy analyst at New America, a nonpartisan think tank that examines social, economic and political issues, said that if farming is considered a public service, then perhaps food delivery truck drivers and grocery store cashiers should also get loan forgiveness. If their job is a public service, then is every job a public service? he said.Besides, Holt said, farmers with loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency already have the option of getting income-based repayment plans, which can lower monthly payments.In those plans, loans are forgiven after a certain amount of time  often 20 to 25 years  although recipients must pay taxes on the forgiven amount. With the federal forgiveness program, loans would be paid off after 10 years, and the money would be awarded tax-free.Some states have other programs to assist beginning farmers. The most common is a tax-exempt bond program authorized by the federal tax code, known as Aggie Bonds. The program  available in states such as Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Oregon and South Dakota  provides low-interest loans for buying land, machinery, buildings and livestock.These loans, and the FSA loan program for beginning farmers, have become more important as banks have tightened credit to new businesses since 2008, said Wyatt Fraas, farm and community program assistant director of the Center for Rural Affairs.Only Iowa has found a way to support new farmers without spending taxpayer money.The Iowa Agricultural Development Division provides tax credit and loan programs for farmers, and is paid for by participants loan application fees and closing costs, as well as interest earned from a trust fund. New farmers can get low-interest loans from the agency, and retiring farmers who hire new farmers or lease them land, equipment or livestock can get tax credits. Nebraska started a similar tax credit program for retiring farmers in 2013.New York also began offering matching grants last year for new farmers who make improvements to their farms. The state awarded $610,000 in grants last year and budgeted for $1 million in grants this year. Massachusetts and Texas have similar programs. In Texas, the grants are only available to young farmers.
Attorney General Andy Beshear filed a lawsuit Monday in Franklin Circuit Court challenging Gov. Matt Bevin's authority to cut the budgets of Kentucky's public colleges and universities without legislative approval.Beshear contends that Bevin's March 31 decision to implement a 4.5 percent spending cut for universities in the current fiscal year violates Kentucky's constitutional provision for separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches of state government.The state's chief law enforcement official also said during a Capitol news conference that Bevin's actions violated numerous state laws governing budget reductions and that he would ask the courts for an expedited hearing to force the release of withheld appropriations to each university.Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate is to hold a hearing on Beshear's request for a temporary injunction to block Bevin's cuts at 10 a.m. Thursday.Bevin, a Republican who took office in December, responded with harsh criticism of Beshear, the son of former Gov. Steve Beshear."As best we can make sense of his rambling press conference, we strongly disagree with the attorney general and will respond as necessary in court," said Jessica Ditto, a spokeswoman for Bevin. "Given the amount of alleged corruption and personnel problems in the office of attorney general and his father's administration, it is clear that he is attempting to deflect attention away from his own challenges."That is an apparent reference to Beshear's former deputy attorney general Tim Longmeyer, who was charged with bribery last month in federal court for allegedly taking more than $200,000 in kickbacks to steer business to a consulting company and making illegal contributions to political candidates. Longmeyer was personnel secretary in Steve Beshear's administration. U.S. Attorney Steve Harvey has said the allegations against Longmeyer relate only to his former job, and no one in Andy Beshear's office is a target of the investigation.Beshear said he was not filing the lawsuit against Bevin willingly, but must do so to challenge the governor's view of the law."Under his view, a budget is merely a suggestion and the legislature is merely an advisory body," Beshear said.He said the governor could use the same rationale to make any cuts to a budget, including funds to pay for public schools, state police or state prosecutors. Beshear contends that the legislature has exclusive authority over the budget and that a governor cannot make any cuts unless there is a declared shortfall in revenue.Bevin has said the cuts are legal and needed to help fund the state's financially strapped pension programs, which has an unfunded liability of more than $30 billion.Beshear said he was surprised that Bevin cut higher education. He said education is not a privilege but a necessity for the state's economic survival, an apparent rebuttal of recent comments by Lt. Gov. Jenean Hampton.The Eastern Progress, the student newspaper at Eastern Kentucky University, reported that Hampton called higher education a "privilege" and "not a right.""I would not be studying history," Hampton said, suggesting that students should focus on education programs that produce jobs.Beshear also took issue with Bevin's focus on public pensions as the state's biggest problem. He said it was an epidemic of drug abuse in the state.Beshear said he would drop his lawsuit only if Bevin rescinded his order for the cuts and agreed not to reduce university spending after a budget is signed.House and Senate budget negotiators resumed their work Monday afternoon after reaching a stalemate late Sunday. They hope to produce a $21 billion, two-year budget by Wednesday night so the entire legislature may vote on it Friday, the last day of this year's law-making session.Last Friday, seven of Kentucky's eight university presidents reluctantly told Bevin they could manage "the governor's final offer" of a 2 percent cut in the ongoing fiscal year "if it is determined by the courts to be permissible" and a 4.5 percent cut in the following two years.
New Jersey lawmakers raised doubts Monday about the Christie administration's efforts to rein in fiscal excess in Atlantic City since it installed a monitor in 2010 to oversee the city's finances, suggesting there was little evidence to justify a proposed takeover of the local government now."It seems like there hasn't been real conviction to deal with this problem in five years, or four years, or three years," Assemblyman John DiMaio (R., Somerset) told Charles A. Richman, commissioner of the state Department of Community Affairs, during a budget committee hearing.DiMaio said he feared that if the takeover legislation passes, "will we really have the intestinal fortitude to do what we need to do . . . to make spending match the revenues that are available?"Richman responded: "I believe the governor has made pretty clear that the administration will make those moves."DiMaio, in an extraordinary rebuke of the Republican governor, replied, "I'm not sure about that."Gov. Christie, speaking at a Statehouse news conference later, said, "I think Assemblyman DiMaio knows full well that if I were given the authority to do something I would do it."Other lawmakers questioned why the Christie administration had provided transitional aid to Atlantic City, even as its government failed to cut costs, and asked why the state had approved city budgets it now deems fiscally irresponsible."If you want to suggest that we didn't take sufficient action earlier, maybe we didn't," Richman told the panel. But he emphasized that the city's current challenges -- it's running a $100 million deficit on a budget of roughly $250 million and carries some $550 million in debt, he said -- require a robust response by the state.In his 30 years at the department, Richman said, "this is a municipality whose finances are the worst I've ever seen."The hearing came after the struggling resort town essentially ran out of cash Friday when it paid its employees. It faces the prospect of defaulting on its debt payments this year or even going bankrupt. Municipal employees have agreed to a deferred wage plan to keep the city operating.Lawmakers have proposed competing plans to prevent financial disaster. Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester), supported by Christie, is pushing for a five-year takeover of the city's government. Under that plan, the state would be able to restructure the city's debt, modify or terminate collective bargaining agreements, and dissolve agencies, among other powers. The Senate last month passed that legislation, as well as a bill that would establish a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) system for the city's eight casinos. That bill is intended to halt property-tax appeals.Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D., Hudson) has refused to hold a vote on the Christie-Sweeney proposal, saying it would be unfair to organized labor.Prieto last week introduced a bill that would require Atlantic City to meet certain fiscal benchmarks within two years. If those weren't met, the state would gain most of the powers outlined in Sweeney's bill. Prieto's legislation includes a similar PILOT provision.There was no sign Monday that the legislative leaders had moved closer to a compromise. "My point is: What's the endgame?" Sweeney told reporters. "You can have the speaker and I in agreement, but if the governor is not going to sign the bill, what do you have? I have a bill I know the governor will sign."Yet there was little support for Sweeney's legislation at the Assembly hearing.Assembly Budget Chair Gary Schaer (D., Passaic) noted that the state had granted $13 million in transitional aid annually to Atlantic City in 2014 and 2015 -- "almost a reward for fiscal irresponsibility."Richman said the the city needed the money last year to help close a budget gap.A number of the labor contracts Christie wants to break through the takeover bill, Schaer added, have expired and are up for negotiation. The state already has the authority to approve contracts, unless they advance to arbitration."The State of New Jersey," Schaer said, "which apparently by any number of recollections has not fulfilled its responsibilities to the municipality -- we're now going to reward the state again by having it involved even more so?"Richman reiterated Christie's position that the state, under existing law, cannot effect significant change in Atlantic City's government. For example, the state can approve a budget, but it may not cut spending or negotiate contracts."When you're the person sitting across the table, and you have the authority that I think comes from (the takeover bill), you are in a much stronger position to see that the bargaining agreement fits the needs of the taxpayers, than you are at the backend, possibly approving them, and more likely watching agreements go to arbitration, where you don't have the authority to deal with it," Richman said.In any case, he said, the state didn't expect the city's ratable tax base to "fall off the cliff" from $20.5 billion in 2010 to $6.5 billion today.
Among Providence, R.I.'s students, chronic absenteeism is a serious problem. In some schools, it's as high as 40 percent. But that is changing. Chronic absenteeism has decreased by 5 percent in schools that have consistently implemented evidence-based programs. "This is all the more impressive," said Suzanne Barnard, "when you consider that chronic absenteeism has increased across the school district as a whole."Barnard oversees the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Evidence2Success initiative, which uses data and proven programs to help young people and their families in disadvantaged urban neighborhoods. Four years ago, Casey launched its first Evidence2Success project in Providence, partnering with the Providence Children and Youth Cabinet, a cross-sector, cross-agency working group convened by the mayor's office. The cabinet had been looking for ways to lower the demand for high-cost youth services, such as special education, juvenile detention and foster care.With Caseys help, the cabinet surveyed about 5,000 city public school students in 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th grades to identify the biggest problems facing young people -- and the root causes behind those problems. By identifying and treating those issues early on, city officials hope to prevent bigger problems later on in life. "The reason that we think prevention is so important is that its also a cost-effective investment," said Jessie Watrous, a senior associate at the Casey Foundation.The cabinet, which includes city, state and community leaders from both the nonprofit and private sectors, used the survey results to isolate six areas they wanted to address: chronic absenteeism; school suspensions; anxiety and depression; emotional well-being; and delinquency. The group chose to target anxiety and depression, for example, because they found that 91 percent of middle school students had elevated levels of stress in the pilot neighborhoods. Many students confirmed getting slapped, punched, or hit; seeing someone else get attacked or stabbed with a knife; seeing someone point a gun at another person; or being separated from a parent or someone they depend on.The working group decided to focus on chronic absenteeism because more than half of the high school students in the pilot neighborhoods said they were absent from school for at least 10 percent of school days.For solutions, the cabinet turned to Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development , a website maintained by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence at the University of Colorado Boulder. Essentially, Blueprints functions as a Yelp for youth-related policy programs that have been studied for effectiveness. Government agencies can go to the website, find interventions where the results were validated by high-quality research, and use them to address local issues.In the case of Providence, the cabinet selected six programs and have launched three so far, including one addressing chronic absenteeism. Another program they implemented focuses on elevated levels of stress using a program called Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS). Its a school-based intervention led by mental health professionals that teaches small groups of students relaxation training, how to combat negative thoughts and other cognitive behavioral skills.Blueprints lists the program as "promising" based on results from two randomized control studies conducted by the RAND Corp. in Los Angeles and New Orleans. ("Promising" is the second highest rating, below "model.") Providence only launched its version of CBITS last year, but the early results have been encouraging. With the first two groups who participated in the program, a follow-up assessment found an average reduction of 35 percent across key stress-related symptoms.Program officials will talk later this month in a webinar about what they've learned from implementing these evidence-based youth programs in Providence. It's the first in a planned series that will look at Casey's Evidence2Success initiative and how state and local governments can use data and research to improve child well-being.What makes the Evidence2Success approach novel is that it combines several of today's leading ideas in youth policy, said Rebecca Boxx, who directs the Providence Children and Youth Cabinet. "How that all comes together is part of the innovation of Evidence2Success," said Boxx, "and why weve seen the success that we have seen."Similar Evidence2Success pilots are getting off the ground in Salt Lake County and two Alabama cities -- Mobile and Selma.*A previous version of the story listed the wrong Alabama cities with Evidence2Success pilots. The correct sites are Mobile and Selma.
More than six years after the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was first signed into law, President Barack Obama on Monday announced plans to address what many had hoped the act would do all along: move the nation's health-care system away from a traditional fee-for-service model.The newly announced Comprehensive Primary Care Plus program, which will be part of the ACA, will impact the way 20,000 doctors serve 25 million patients. The five-year program, which will launch in January 2017, will pay participating providers a fixed monthly fee, along with bonuses for meeting various health goals. Traditionally, those providers have been reimbursed based on the number of patient visits or procedures they log. That approach has long been lambasted by health-care experts as a big reason for rising costs.The new move could incentivize states to adopt the "health-care home" model of care that's been shown not only to improve health outcomes but also to save billions of dollars. Despite the promising potential of that model, it hasn't been widely embraced by states.One state that has become a model for health-care homes is Minnesota, which has saved more than $1 billion over the past five years by investing in that form of care, according to a study by the University of Minnesota earlier this year. These health-care homes embody precisely what advocates of a coordinated health-care system want: a one-stop shop for a patient to get all of her health needs met in as few visits as possible.In 2008, before the Affordable Care Act had been introduced, then-Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty formed a task force to study how to cut health-care costs across the board. The state had a maternal and child health-care coordination program, which parents had been happy with, so the state expanded that program to transform all primary care clinics into patient-centered health-care homes.Eight years later, 54 percent of Minnesota's primary care clinics are certified health-care homes. Nationwide, only about 15 percent of primary care clinics are considered health-care homes.In traditional clinics, patients meet with a primary care doctor, who then may refer them to an outside specialist for further care, or a pharmacy to pick up a prescription. In a health-care home, however, all those functions -- including primary and specialist care, pharmacy assistance, mental health specialists and more -- are housed under one roof. The staff, even down to the front desk assistant, are part of a care team. Even the intake is different; you dont fill out forms because staff that morning already had a huddle about the needs of each patient that day," said Marci Nielsen, president and CEO of the national Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative. "The idea is for all of your medical needs [to] meet you where you are, instead of a 15-minute visit where youre rushed out of the door."The medical home model traces back to a 1960s movement to provide better care for special needs children. Pockets of the country, along with insurers like Kaiser Permanente and Group Health, have embraced the concept of a patient-centered medical home. But the nationwide dependence on fee-for-service has prevented the model from becoming widespread. Even in Minnesota, there are still parts of the state -- particularly rural areas -- that dont have access to these homes.In Minnesota, we just decided to go whole hog on it. People in this state just care about improving health care, period, said Douglas Wholey, a health policy professor at the University of Minnesota who co-wrote the report. While it was a significant investment up front, it works because it reduces costs overall and improves the quality of care."In addition to saving around a billion dollars, the University of Minnesota's report highlights improvements in health. For example, 39 percent of asthmatic children treated in medical homes met health-care goals such as fewer hospitalizations;compared to only 19 percent in traditional primary care clinics. There were also modest but positive health improvements in patients with vascular issues, diabetes and depression.While the health data is overwhelming, the state doesn't have data on how satisfied the doctors themselves are with this model.We dont have the cold data, but weve heard anecdotally that having that support from the state really improves workforce culture, said Bonnie LaPlante, director of Minnesotas health-care home program. Doctors are actually able to do what they are trained to do, instead of having to wade through paperwork and middlemen to make sure a patient gets care, she said.And for patients, they feel like that have an advocate. They have a care coordinator that calls them and makes sure all of their appointments are in one day. You know youre part of a team-based care system, said LaPlante.The new push from the Obama administration could incentivize more states to adopt a model similar to Minnesotas. This model is really vital for the future of health care," said LaPlante. "It establishes a really strong foundation to move away from fee-for-service once and for all."Nielsen, of the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative, agrees. It truly is exciting, and its just in time," she said in reaction to Monday's announcment. "So much of what weve been saying is important is embedded in the language of Comprehensive Primary Care Plus. Were optimistic that this will help providers stuck on the hamster wheel of fee-for-service and give them more options.
California workers who need to take time off to care for a newborn or family member will receive up to 70 percent of their pay after Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill Monday to expand the benefit.Brown said AB908 adds to the state's efforts to address income inequality. He recently signed a bill to raise the state's minimum wage to $15 by 2022."We are trying to compensate for gross inequality," Brown said at a Capitol news conference in his office. "This will help a lot of people."The bill's author, Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez, D-Los Angeles, said many low-wage workers can't afford to take advantage of the Paid Family Leave Program, which now provides 55 percent of a person's pay for up to six weeks of leave, and the state disability insurance program, which provides 55 percent of pay for up to 52 weeks depending on the non-work-related injury.Under AB908, workers making around minimum wage would be eligible for 70 percent of their pay while on paid family leave or on state disability, while other workers who earn more would be eligible for 60 percent of their pay, Gomez said.The new law goes into effect in 2018 and comes on the heels of San Francisco becoming the first U.S. city to require six weeks of fully paid leave for new parents."This program is for all workers and all families -- women and men, gay or straight," Gomez said. "However, after 10 years of data, we've learned that the Paid Family Leave Program is simply out of reach for many Californians because the wage-replacement rate is simply too low."President Obama lauded the expansion, calling it "great news for California."Expanding the program will cost the state an additional $348 million in 2018 and $587 million by 2021, which would come out of the state's Disability Insurance Fund, which is funded by employee payroll deductions. That fund has reserves of $3.3 billion, which is 60 percent of annual program costs.California was the first state in the nation to create a paid family leave program, which began in 2004. In 2013, the program was used by 204,000 people, with 90 percent of those claims filed by parents taking time off to bond with a newborn. The average claim in 2013 was $527 a week for 5.4 weeks.The current maximum weekly amount is set at $1,104 and is adjusted every year based on the statewide average weekly rate.Vivian Thorp of the Alameda County Homeless Action Center, who is now taking care of her ill mother, said the bill will help many people who find themselves in the unexpected position of caring for a loved one."This is absolutely vital," Thorp said.
Three years ago, forestry staff in Boulder, Colo., discovered that an invasive wood-boring beetle was killing local ash trees. Because of the infestation, the city will have to remove roughly 4,500 affected trees in the next eight years. Put another way, it will have to cut down about 11 percent of its tree canopy. The problem left Yvette Bowden, the director of Parks and Recreation, wondering, How can we turn these trunks into something that is usable?Her solution: Supply the treated wood as materials for a carpentry class teaching job skills to the formerly homeless and other residents looking for work. With a $200,000 grant announced today by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Bowden plans to help about 80 people over the next two year learn to make art and furniture out of wood. They'll also gain experience pricing and selling their products at a local farmers market.Boulder is one of 19 places to win a Knight Cities Challenge grant this year. Last October, more than 4,500 people from 26 communities where the Knight brothers once owned newspapers applied for a piece of the $5 million grant. Officially, the foundation looks for proposals to attract and keep talented people, expand economic opportunities and create a culture of civic engagement.Other winners include a user testing group that provides feedback for new government apps and other technology projects in Miami; a series of pop-up events in Charlotte, N.C., where residents can meet elected officials and sign up for city services; and a new bicycle park in an abandoned section of highway in downtown Akron, Ohio.Although anyone can pitch an idea, more than a dozen of the winners are public employees. Rachael Tanner, a program specialist in the Long Beach City Managers Office, pitched an outdoor office at the Harvey Milk Promenade Plaza, a small park located downtown. We have amazing weather here. It rains very seldomly, and yet most of us are inside all day working, Tanner said.Tanner said her winning idea developed organically from a community meeting hosted by a local foundation. A newer resident mentioned how much he used to enjoy working at a park in Brooklyn. His observation inspired Tanner and her coworkers to look for ways to spur a culture of outdoor working in Long Beach.Within 18 months, Tanner expects to have WiFi, charging stations and office-like furniture in place. She also hopes the initial $300,000 from Knight will serve as seed money that she can leverage for additional infrastructure investments from local foundations.The Knight Cities Challenge is but one of many philanthropic competitions seeking to support urban innovation. While other foundations place a greater emphasis on the role of government and demonstrating impact, Knight prioritizes succinct and creative proposals. The initial application was just 300 words long. "We want to be surprised by the ideas we receive," the foundation said on the competition's homepage.One of the things that I appreciate about them is that theyre willing to try things that arent so measurable, said Margaret Jones, whose position with the city of St. Paul, Minn., is funded through a Knight Cities Challenge grant.Jones is a vitality fellow, focused on making connections between economic development and parks and the transportation network so that St. Paul is a vibrant and accommodating place for residents of all ages. Much of her work involves acting as a city ambassador at neighborhood meetings and convening employees within an agency and across agencies. What theyre doing is huge and innovative, Jones said, and its a little bit risky in the sense that it isnt your typical measurable goal.
The amount of garbage in cities is growing. Global trash production has risen to more than 3.5 million tons, according to the World Bank, which estimates that will hit the 6 million mark by 2025. With loads of trash increasing, disposal costs also are rising  the World Bank further predicts that by 2025, global garbage collection expenses will skyrocket by 83 percent, from $205 billion a year in 2010 to $375 billion by 2025. The predicament is concerning for cities, especially in developing countries where budgets are already tight. But one startup hopes to help. San Francisco-based Compology , co-founded by entrepreneurs Ben Chehebar and Jason Gates in 2012, claims it can reduce waste collection costs by as much as 40 percent with its Internet of Things (IoT) cloud solution. The company has created sensors that detect garbage levels in city trash bins and notify waste removal trucks when its time to collect. Dubbed WasteOS, the operating system behind the sensors delivers real-time percentages of dumpster capacity and historical usage information of these city-owned assets.The IoT startup is part of a national waste management trend in cities to balance costs through efficiency. Boston New York and Pasadena , Calif., have already deployed a similar system for their smaller sidewalk trash bins, and citizens are starting to see IoT garbage receptacles  like the soon-to-be released Bruno Smart Can  on the market as well.Compared to the competition, Compology's sensor is more affordable and long lasting, and fits with the large metal rollout dumpsters that often service apartment complexes or other sizable facilities. And perhaps its major advantage is that the sensor systems installation doesnt require bin replacement, unlike its competitors. City officials just need to attach the sensors to their trash receptacles, ensuring they're contained in their tough plastic housing to prevent damage.Compology was included in the recent GovTech100 , a list of the 100 top companies that impact government services. Gates recently spoke with, detailing the companys upcoming plans.Ben [Chehebar] and I met in high school and collaborated on a number of projects over the years before starting Compology.The waste management industry has embraced the use of technology to provide incremental improvement to the same processes that have been used for the last 100 years. By using rugged sensors and software, Compology enables new processes.We have customers across the U.S. Compology partners with waste haulers and governments to develop programs that work for all constituents.To date, governments have been tremendously supportive of technology innovation, but change has been slow. Going forward, the biggest support cities can provide to IoT companies like Compology is making decisions faster. Enabling IoT companies to implement and refine their products faster will benefit the companies and the end users.The hardest part about the government procurement process for early stage companies is the timeline.
(TNS) -- The chief magistrate of the Rhode Island Traffic Tribunal expects problems when a traffic ticket is written so sloppily that he can't read it."The administration of justice bogs down from a time standpoint," Magistrate William R. Guglietta said. "And there's also, to the motorist, sort of an inherent unfairness to them because they're reading it one way and we may be reading it another way."The solution, Guglietta said, is "eTicket."Later this year, the police in every Rhode Island city and town, with the possible exception of New Shoreham, are expected to be using eTicket or eCitation, according to the tribunal.The technology is what any speeder should expect in the Information Age: The police officer keys in a plate number, or a driver's license number, and the in-cruiser laptop computer handles the vast majority of data entry after that.With eTicket, the system also sends the data to the tribunal right from the road.On June 8, 2015, the tribunal asserted its rule-making powers under state law to require all ticket-writing police agencies in the state to the equipment and training necessary to send ticket information to the tribunal electronically.Many police departments were already using the technologies. Some, including Providence and various campus departments, were not. But Providence is expected to be using the technology by midsummer.The Providence Police Department has tapped into a $150,000 federal grant to cover the cost of outfitting 40 vehicles with the software and hardware, according to a spokeswoman, Lindsay Lague.Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare said the system minimizes human error. For example, when officers fill in a field for a particular violation, the system automatically calculates the fine.It reduces human error significantly while providing accountability, he said.Daniel Beardsley, executive director of the Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns, wants to cite the tribunal for creating an unfunded state mandate."An unfunded mandate is an unfunded mandate," he said, "and if the state thinks it's a good idea, they should have asked for it in the appropriations act."Craig Berke, a spokesman for the tribunal, said the vast majority of police departments were already doing electronic ticketing prior to the requirement and the departments can meet the requirement by simply sending in ticket information in electronic form, which isn't as costly as using the eTicket system from the cruiser.But Cranston Officer Jared Hardy would like to hold onto the system that he demonstrated last week from behind the wheel of his advanced black patrol SUV.Hardy set up along Garfield Avenue near Texas Roadhouse and quickly spotted an expired inspection sticker on a minivan.He pulled the woman over. With the laptop computer, he ran her license plate through the system in about 15 seconds."All of her information pops up right here," Hardy said."There's the VIN number," he added. "It doesn't put in the model number, so we've got to put that in."Other fields of data are filled in."Offense locations are put in  247 Garfield Ave., that's about where we are," he said.The front passenger seat of Hardy's cruiser isn't so comfortable for long trips: That's because a printer, encased in metal, has replaced the headrest. It spits out the ticket and Hardy is out the door to hand it off.The computer has already sent the data to the tribunal. Typically, in the past, departments without eTicket or eCitation sent someone over each week to turn in all the tickets. Staff at the tribunal then processed them.All of this is automatic now, Guglietta said. No tickets get left in someone's back seat.Out on Garfield Avenue, Hardy hands out the ticket. The process has taken a little longer than normal because he's been explaining everything.A few minutes later he pulls over a truck for the same violation. The entire stop takes him seven minutes.
Bill draft gets leaked

Soliciting input now

Easy prey for bad actors

Setting a precedent

(TNS) -- California Sen. Dianne Feinstein confirmed Friday she is seeking new legislation to compel technology companies to assist government agencies in gaining access to encrypted technology, opening a new front in a continuing battle over the issue.A leaked draft of the legislation co-sponsored by Feinstein appeared online as the Department of Justice renewed its efforts to obtain access to an iPhone in a Brooklyn drug-dealing case and an Apple executive accused the government of attempting to expand its powers beyond what the law allows.The rapid-fire series of events shows how the debate over encryption  the technology that safeguards government secrets, online bank transactions, medical records, and an increasing swath of personal communications  is moving to a new stage, with battle lines more clearly drawn than before.Feinstein represents a faction in the government and law enforcement who are seeking to limit the use of encryption and force companies to build products with back doors that law enforcement agents can access.Technology companies, alarmed by revelations of government spying and concerned that consumers will distrust them and stop using their products, want to include encryption tools that even company officials and engineers cant break. That way, even if served with a court order, they would not be able to decode and turn over user data.Feinsteins office confirmed toFriday that the senator was working with Sen. Richard Burr, R-North Carolina, on legislation to address encryption. The leaked draft called the bill the Compliance with Court Orders Act of 2016.All providers of communications services and products (including software) should protect the privacy of United States persons through implementation of appropriate data security and still respect the rules of law and comply with all legal requirements and court orders, reads the draft, which was posted online Thursday by The Hill reporter Cory Bennett In a joint statement, Burr and Feinstein said the bill remains a discussion draft, and would not comment on the specific language of the leaked document.However, the underlying goal is simple: when there's a court order to render technical assistance to law enforcement or provide decrypted information, that court order is carried out, the senators said. No individual or company is above the law.Feinstein and Burr said they were still soliciting input from stakeholders and hope to have final language ready soon.Such controversial legislation is highly unlikely to pass the Senate during an election year.Reuters reported Thursday that White House sources said the legislation would also lack administration support. Reuters pointed to President Obamas remarks last month suggesting the government should have access to encrypted information, but also to White House press secretary Josh Earnests remarks saying he was skeptical of legislative attempts to solve the problem.The American Civil Liberties Union called the Feinstein-Burr bill a clear threat to everyones privacy and security ... that ignores economic, security, and technical reality.Linda Moore, president and CEO of TechNet, a group representing industry executives, said the bill could establish standards that force companies to eliminate security features that may be exploited by others who do not share law enforcements good intentions. Moore warned that should it pass, common transactions will become easy prey for bad actors and cause customers everywhere to lose faith in the trustworthiness of American products and choose alternatives that dont have the same vulnerabilities.Meanwhile, on Friday morning, Department of Justice lawyers sent a letter to Eastern District of New York Judge Margo K. Brodie stating that the FBI continued to be unable to break into a drug dealers iPhone.In late February, U.S. Magistrate James Orenstein of Brooklyn denied the Justice Departments original request to compel Apple to assist the FBI in accessing data on the phone, saying that the government lacked legal authority to do so.The wording of the leaked legislation suggests that its authors are trying to find a way to give law-enforcement agencies legal room to maneuver in such cases.In March, after the FBI announced it had found a way to unlock an iPhone used by San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook, Apple asked the Brooklyn court to postpone a hearing on the order. Company lawyers argued that the outcome of that case would affect the Brooklyn case.In this case, we still need Apples help in accessing the data, which they have done with little effort in at least 70 other cases when presented with court orders for comparable phones, Justice Department spokeswoman Emily Pierce said.This week, FBI Director James Comey made a speech at Kenyon College where he said that the scope of the technique used on the San Bernardino shooters iPhone was limited.Various iPhone models have different hardware features and run different versions of Apples mobile operating system. Techniques used to defeat Apples protections often depend on a devices specific configurations and cant be applied across the board. In the San Bernardino case, for example, the iPhone was a 5C and the Brooklyn phone was a 5S, a newer model. Yet the Brooklyn phone was running an older operating system. For law-enforcement agents, dealing with all these complexities is just part of the challenge.As Comey put it, the San Bernardino phone was a bit of a technological corner case.The world is moving on to (iPhone) 6s. This (technique) doesn't work in 6s, it doesn't work in a 5S, and so we have a tool that works on a narrow slice of phones.An Apple executive who spoke to reporters on a conference call Friday morning on the condition that he not be named, said the Department of Justice was trying to set a precedent in the Brooklyn case.There reportedly are hundreds of iPhones  as well as other models of smartphones  held as evidence in cases where law-enforcement officials have said they cant access data on the devices.Apple is expected to file a brief in the Brooklyn case on Thursday.
Home  Motorcycles & Bikes  Top 10 Best Motorcycle GPS Trackers Of 2022 Reviews & Buying Guide Motorcycles & Bikes Top 10 Best Motorcycle GPS Trackers Of 2022 Reviews & Buying Guide

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Motorcycles are excellent vehicles for travel and adventure both on and off-road. It is an investment you need to keep safe from those who would love to take that treasure off your hands. Wheel-locking systems may not be enough for those with enough mechanical ability to hot-wire it, and in some cases, one or two people could simply load it onto a truck without unlocking anything.

You dont want to wait months for the police to try to get it back. You want to know where it is right now.

A GPS tracking system is the perfect security investment for your motorcycle, and we have reviews of the best motorcycle GPS trackers here for you.

Top 10 Best Motorcycle GPS Trackers You Should Buy Of 2022 Reviews

1 AMERICALOC GL300W Mini Portable Real-Time GPS Tracker. XW Series

Leta start with this Americaloc mini portable GPS tracker. This is a mid-range GPS tracker both regarding cost and ability. It comes in about the size of a heavy keychain, so if you are looking for something tiny, this is not it. It is detectable by someone who knew what they were looking for but depending on where you attached it to your motorcycle, it may take them a bit of time to identify it.

There are diverse opinions in the reviews about its battery life. It appears that it will last at least 3-4 days, but there are sometimes problems when recharging it. Make sure to follow the instruction guide that comes with this tracker.

You also need to recognize that this service is run by a tech that is not as widespread as most cellphone GPS trackers. While is advertises real-time the reality is that it updates once per minute, thirty, or ten seconds  depending on your setting. This setting will affect battery life, and depending on where it is, the updates may not be entirely accurate. It is not a bad tracker, but you need to have realistic expectations for it.

Pros GPS Tracker for vehicles, people, assets

GPS Tracker for vehicles, people, assets This GPS tracker has the longest battery life version with extended multicarrier coverage. Battery life is measured in weeks.

This GPS tracker has the longest battery life version with extended multicarrier coverage. Battery life is measured in weeks. Alerts: movement, parked, speeding, device on/off, low battery, entering or leaving zones

Alerts: movement, parked, speeding, device on/off, low battery, entering or leaving zones Real-Time Tracking and 1 year of tracking history. Track from any computer, tablet or phone or just download our Android and iPhone APP.

Real-Time Tracking and 1 year of tracking history. Track from any computer, tablet or phone or just download our Android and iPhone APP. Works in the US, Canada, Europe and in almost every country in the world

Works in the US, Canada, Europe and in almost every country in the world 1-minute location updates while moving. Can be configured for location updates every 60, 30 or 10 seconds with no additional cost. Cons Slightly bigger than something described as mini.

Slightly bigger than something described as mini. Sometimes faces battery charging issues

Sometimes faces battery charging issues Behind cellphone GPS technology and occasionally is off a block or so in tracking

Behind cellphone GPS technology and occasionally is off a block or so in tracking No mobile app and website can be buggy

2 Spy Tec STI GL300 Mini Portable Real-Time Personal and Vehicle GPS Tracker

Spy Tecs GL300 GPS is about the same size as the Americaloc, but about half the price. As with most GPS devices, there is a monthly subscription fee that can quickly add up over time. In practice, this GPS seems to function a little more smoothly than others, with many short-term satisfied customers.

For this GPS to work well for you, you need three things. First, you need to be using it in an area covered by T-mobile, or else you may have accuracy problems. Second, you need to be able to recharge it every few days. Finally, this is a short-term solution. The charging cable seems to break down over months, not years, and the customer and tech service can be a pain to deal with. If you are looking for a long-term GPS, you may want to take a pass on Spy Tec.

Pros Perfect for tracking vehicles, people, or assets

Perfect for tracking vehicles, people, or assets Compact size can go anywhere

Compact size can go anywhere Tracks with Google Maps in real-time over the Internet

Tracks with Google Maps in real-time over the Internet Get text or email when a person leaves an area (geo-fencing) Cons Inconsistent customer service

Inconsistent customer service Works primarily in T-mobile coverage areas

Works primarily in T-mobile coverage areas Problems with charging cable

Problems with charging cable Short life span

3 Amcrest AM-GL300 V3 Portable Mini Real-Time GPS Tracker for Vehicles

Here is another low-end GPS tracker for your motorcycle. What makes this one of the best motorcycle GPS trackers is that it works with mobile apps from Google and Apple, so you can track your motorcycle from your phone and not just your computer or a webpage.

It comes with lots of tracking options as well. You can create zones and be alerted if your motorcycle moves outside of it. You can set speed alerts or other proximity alerts, which will be pushed to your phone via text and email. The Amcrest is a solid package for taking care of your needs, and there is no contract required to use it.

How you use it will determine the battery strength, and, like other devices in this low-cost range, the batteries are a weak point, particularly if not re-charged correctly. Also, it relies on 2G coverage and does not connect with all carriers. To get your moneys worth out of this motorcycle GPS tracker, make sure to inquire about coverage in your area and this tracker, and be sure to read the instructions about recharging your GPS.

Pros Works with apps from Google and Apple store

Works with apps from Google and Apple store This GPS device allows you to create zones that you specifically want to monitor, such as your home to you know when your loved one leaves or returns. Set maximum speed alerts and proximity alerts for your vehicles to suit your needs.

This GPS device allows you to create zones that you specifically want to monitor, such as your home to you know when your loved one leaves or returns. Set maximum speed alerts and proximity alerts for your vehicles to suit your needs. Receive text, push and email notifications straight to your personal device.

Receive text, push and email notifications straight to your personal device. Long-lasting  Stay connected with a longer battery life of 10-14 days on a full charge.

Long-lasting  Stay connected with a longer battery life of 10-14 days on a full charge. Access the reports from your GPS device from your PC, Mac or smartphone.

Access the reports from your GPS device from your PC, Mac or smartphone. No contract required Cons GPS Tracker is limited to 2G and will only work in areas where there is 2G coverage.

GPS Tracker is limited to 2G and will only work in areas where there is 2G coverage. Batteries can be faulty leading to short lifespan of the device

4 GPS Tracker  Optimus 2.0

This low-end tracker has a better performance record than some of the others, making it one of the best motorcycle GPS trackers on the market. This GPS has a monthly subscription fee but no contract required and it comes with apps you can use to track your motorcycle from your phone. There is no limit to how much data you can save on the secure databases, and so will update you every 30 seconds while your motorcycle is moving, or you can upgrade it to update you every 10 seconds.

Fortunately, there are only two reported issues from the reviews of this GPS tracker. It is slightly larger than some of the other models, making it a bit more challenging to hide securely. It also sends out false reports occasionally if the cell service is interrupted.

Pros No Contract

No Contract Adjustable position report frequency from 30 Seconds while moving.

Adjustable position report frequency from 30 Seconds while moving. iPhone and Android App

iPhone and Android App Email and Text Message notifications for Movement, Speeding, Leaving or Entering Areas, etc.

Email and Text Message notifications for Movement, Speeding, Leaving or Entering Areas, etc. Unlimited Tracking Data Saved During Service

Unlimited Tracking Data Saved During Service SIM Card and Data Plan all Included

SIM Card and Data Plan all Included Easy to install and use Cons Will occasionally send out false reports if it loses cell service

Will occasionally send out false reports if it loses cell service Slightly larger than other models

Which of the best motorcycle GPS trackers have the best batteries?

5 Trackmate Mini 3G H GPS Tracker for Vehicles

Unlike the previous models of the best motorcycle GPS trackers, the Trackmate does not rely on a rechargeable lithium battery. Instead, it is hardwired directly into the motorcycle battery itself. This has the benefit of preventing the GPS from turning off when the battery dies at inopportune times.

The downside of this setup is that installation is more difficult, and while the device is easily concealable, it also has wires running between it and the battery. This connection can cause your motorcycle battery to run down if you do not monitor it closely, causing both the device and motorcycle to fail to operate.

This is a 3G tracker and has better accuracy than the previous 2G GPS trackers, making this one of the best motorcycle GPS trackers on the market.

Pros On/Off Detection, Speed Indicator, and Live Map Tracking.

On/Off Detection, Speed Indicator, and Live Map Tracking. Numerous alerts such as low-battery, tampering and towing. Historical location reports available.

Numerous alerts such as low-battery, tampering and towing. Historical location reports available. All-Weather Resistant and Waterproof.

All-Weather Resistant and Waterproof. STAY IN TUNE: Unique system Tracks via AT&T and T-Mobile networks, simultaneously.

STAY IN TUNE: Unique system Tracks via AT&T and T-Mobile networks, simultaneously. EASILY CONCEALABLE: 3.4 X 1.75 X 0.50 , 2oz. No visible external light. Cons Can drain the motorcycle battery

Can drain the motorcycle battery Challenging to install since it is hardwired to the motorcycle battery

6 MotoSafety Mwaas1P1 Wired 3G GPS Car Tracker

The MotoSafety Mwaas1P1 is another hardwired GPS tracker that you can use on your motorcycle. It also uses 3G service and, as long as you are in the United States, typically does an excellent job of tracking through mobile apps. It sends detailed reports, particularly useful for tracking teen drivers, such as speeding, hard braking, and curfew notices. You must subscribe to a monthly fee, but there are no contracts.

Overall, this is one of the best motorcycle GPS trackers. There are about 10% of customers though who encounter significant issues trying to get this GPS to function properly. Many of these are being used in cars, rather than motorcycles. However, since this GPS is hardwired into the vehicle system, the fault seems to be a compatibility issue, between the GPS and the vehicle. There are no reports of which vehicles are incompatible or why.

You take a small risk with this GPS that it may not be compatible with your motorcycle. Otherwise, this is one of the best motorcycle GPS trackers.

Pros Monitor driving activity using Google Maps.

Monitor driving activity using Google Maps. Use GPS to review driving routes, set geofences around key locations and know when the vehicle is in use after curfew.

Use GPS to review driving routes, set geofences around key locations and know when the vehicle is in use after curfew. No contracts or cancellation fees.

No contracts or cancellation fees. Track anywhere with free GPS tracking mobile apps with real-time email & text message alerts. Cons Has some issues updating consistently

Has some issues updating consistently Only works in the United States

7 ATian Vehicle Car personal GPS/GSM/GPRS/SMS Tracker

The ATian GPS Tracker is one of the less expensive of the best motorcycle GPS trackers available. It comes with both a Lithium-ion battery and power supply to be installed to the motorcycle battery. Be warned though, that it will drain both rather quickly if you use it continuously. The lithium-ion battery, for example, is only rated up to 29 hours of continuous use, meaning you have to recharge it daily.

This GPS is not waterproof so some kind of external cover may be necessary to keep it working correctly. It comes with a remote control though, to turn it on and off without getting on the motorcycle yourself.

The biggest challenge with this GPS is that they do not provide a SIM card in it. Being foreign made, they have adapted to the global cellular service challenge by forcing you to get your own SIM card for it. This means that, although there is only a minimal service fee for using this GPS, you have to pay a cell service company to use it. With the frequent false alerts reported in the reviews on this GPS, that cell service bill can cost you a pretty penny.

Pros Single Locating

Single Locating Auto track continuously

Auto track continuously Track with limited times upon time interval, Smart track upon time and distance interval

Track with limited times upon time interval, Smart track upon time and distance interval The tracker will update the positions automatically to web server once the vehicle changing driving direction over preset angle value to form a smooth trajectory consistent with the actual road, this function works only in GPRS /GSM mode Cons Drains motorcycle battery

Drains motorcycle battery May often send false alerts

May often send false alerts Requires a SIM card and the additional cost of that cellular service.

Looking for a higher end GPS for your motorcycle?

8 AES RGT90 GPS Tracker

The difference (besides the price) between the AES RGT90 and some of the other best motorcycle GPS trackers that operate with a lithium-ion battery, is that the folks over at AES implemented a sleep mode into their device. That saves you hours and hours of battery use wasted when your motorcycle is simply sitting in your garage. That is how they are able to get 90 days worth of use out of their battery.

The other reason that this GPS tracker costs so much is that it has the broadest range of the best motorcycle GPS trackers  extending all through North America and over 100 other countries as well. By comparison, most other trackers have difficulty even covering the USA alone.

Pros Works Anywhere in the USA, Canada, and Mexico, plus over 100 other countries

Works Anywhere in the USA, Canada, and Mexico, plus over 100 other countries Internal battery Operates GPS tracker up to 90 days on a single charge. Recharges by Micro USB for better convenience. Charge using any USB Charger.

Internal battery Operates GPS tracker up to 90 days on a single charge. Recharges by Micro USB for better convenience. Charge using any USB Charger. Covert, Discrete, Waterproof Magnetic Case

Covert, Discrete, Waterproof Magnetic Case Goes to sleep when the vehicle is parked for 5 minutes or more. Displays the last location before going into Sleep Mode. Access anytime via text.

Goes to sleep when the vehicle is parked for 5 minutes or more. Displays the last location before going into Sleep Mode. Access anytime via text. Track on your phone or on the website. You can also receive GPS coordinates via SMS Text. Cons Phone app is not the easiest to use

Phone app is not the easiest to use Relies on magnetic attachment

What is the best reviewed of the best motorcycle GPS trackers?

9 Goome 3G/WCDMA/GSM/GPS GM36W

The Goome has the least amount of negative reviews of the best motorcycle GPS trackers on the market. It also has the fewest reviews in total, so take that with a grain of salt. Many of the reviews commented that they got more value than they expected from this GPS. It is easy to install and very accurate, and the company offers global service.

The only problem the reviews have reported is that the app associated with this tracker is in Chinese and can be difficult to navigate. Even so, most customers were able to use this GPS quite well directly through SMS communication between their phones and devices.

Pros Support 3G/WCDMA/GSM/ Network

Support 3G/WCDMA/GSM/ Network Waterproof features, level  IP67 will prevent water damage the inter electric components.

Waterproof features, level  IP67 will prevent water damage the inter electric components. Geo-fencing, playback history tracks, speeding alarm, low power &battery alerts, etc.

Geo-fencing, playback history tracks, speeding alarm, low power &battery alerts, etc. OTA Upgrade Program, Anti-theft

OTA Upgrade Program, Anti-theft One year free trial for North America customers Cons App is Chinese and hard to navigate

App is Chinese and hard to navigate Can be difficult to find to purchase

What is the least expensive best motorcycle GPS tracker on the market?

10 MOTOsafety OBD GPS Tracker Device

Here is the least expensive of the best motorcycle GPS trackers you can find. This GPS, like several of the others reviewed, was made with teen drivers in mind. It gives comprehensive reports on driving stats, but it is not meant to be long-lasting.

If you are looking for a short-term GPS tracker, and you are living in the US, this is an inexpensive option for you. If you are looking for a GPS for security reasons, you may want to see another option.

Pros Monitor driving activity using Google Maps.

Monitor driving activity using Google Maps. Get a complete driving report cards that score safe driving habits such as speeding, harsh braking, and rapid acceleration to improve driving habits.

Get a complete driving report cards that score safe driving habits such as speeding, harsh braking, and rapid acceleration to improve driving habits. 3G vehicle tracking coverage that updates every minute in the US, Canada, and Mexico

3G vehicle tracking coverage that updates every minute in the US, Canada, and Mexico Track anywhere with the free GPS tracking mobile apps and real-time email & text message alerts.

Track anywhere with the free GPS tracking mobile apps and real-time email & text message alerts. Use the GPS tracking to review reports such as driving routes, set geofences around key locations (school, home, or friends house) and know when the vehicle is in use after curfew. Cons Inconsistent updating

Inconsistent updating Only works in the US

So, how do these reviews line up?

Best Motorcycle GPS Trackers Buying Guide

Best Value

The MOTOSafety OBD GPS Tracker is the least expensive option if you are looking for a short-term tracker for your motorcycle. It is made for tracking the driving habits of teenage drivers.

The Trackmate is a more expensive device, but it has a lower monthly subscription cost and is hardwired into your motorcycle, so you dont have to worry about recharging the battery.

The ATian GPS tracker is inexpensive as well, but you may end up paying more for your SIM card (not included) usage.

Accuracy

The AES is the most expensive of the best motorcycle GPS trackers but can provide you with some of the best accuracy across the greatest number of countries. The ATian is one of the least expensive devices but can offer service in any country you can get a SIM card to use in it. The Goome GPS also provides excellent service if you can navigate the Chinese app or use SMS to connect to the device.

Durability

How long do the best motorcycle GPS trackers last?

The most durable of these trackers are the ones that are hardwired into your motorcycle battery. The lithium-ion battery is one of the earliest failing points on these devices, and if it doesnt have one, it lasts that much longer. You also want one that is waterproof, to prevent moisture from damaging the electronics.

The Trackmate is a great hardwired GPS that is recommended for motorcycles and is waterproof. It is one of the more durable of the best motorcycle GPS trackers.

There is one exception to the battery rule, and that is the AES RGT90 GPS tracker. This tracker, because of its sleep mode, causes less wear on the battery and ends up lasting much longer than any other GPS with a lithium-ion battery.



Conclusion You can get inexpensive GPS trackers if you are only interested in short-term use. If you want something to last longer, you need to spend a little more money. You also need to be able to install it to your motorcycle battery. It is also important to watch for the subscription costs. The device may be inexpensive, but most subscriptions are around $20 each month. Some may require cell phone contracts (although most do not). Also, the more expensive GPS trackers have better service (3G instead of 2G) and a much wider area of coverage. If youre looking for the best motorcycle GPS trackers, the reviews suggest checking out the AES RGT90 and the Trackmate Mini 3G H GPS Tracker.
Rio Haryanto's former boss has hit back at suggestions the Indonesian is a straightforward F1 'pay driver'.

A common analysis is that while the Mercedes-backed Pascal Wehrlein is effectively at Manor on merit, it is Indonesian Haryanto's state-fuelled dollars that are powering his own 2016 debut.

But driving for former F1 driver Adrian Campos' GP2 team last year, Haryanto finished fourth overall and beat eventual champion Stoffel Vandoorne in a couple of notable races.

"He is a guy who has measured himself against Vandoorne and beaten him twice," Campos told Spain's El Confidencial newspaper.

"Vandoorne is one of a kind; everyone in this world accepts that the Belgian is something else. But Rio is on the only one that beat him in a fight head to head."

So Campos says it is wrong to simply surmise that the Indonesian government is powering Haryanto's rise to F1.

"He comes with the support of a sponsor, but he's not a pay-driver. Maldonado is, but not Rio," said Campos.

(GMM)
Claire Williams thinks F1 has learned from the 'musical chairs' qualifying debacle.

F1's governing body announced late on Monday that the World Motor Sport Council rubber-stamped by 'e-vote' the decision to revert to the 2015 format ahead of this weekend's Chinese grand prix.

Williams, the Grove team's deputy, suggested the episode has been both good and bad for the sport.

"You don't want to play out scenarios like that in the public arena," she said.

"(But) I do think we have learned that we need to take more time to consider the proposals that come to us," Claire added.

It is a tumultuous time politically for F1, with many experts suspecting qualifying got pulled into a wider power struggle.

"My theory is that this is a political move from whatever the source is to destabilise the F1 strategy group," former F1 driver Stefan Johansson said on his blog.

"I think the ultimate goal is to get rid of it or break it up somehow," he added.

F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has alleged repeatedly that the democratic system of voting in modern F1 is now badly damaging the sport.

He has said the powerful manufacturers, Mercedes and Ferrari, effectively control F1 because their engine clients usually toe the line in the voting processes.

"Absolutely not," Claire Williams hit back on Monday, as the British team announced a small profit for 2015.

But F1 veteran Gerhard Berger says what has become clear over the past weeks and months is that F1's democratic processes are not working.

"The interests of all the different sides are just too different," he told Germany's Sky.

(GMM)
Ganta Up In Arms Against Naidu?

Andhra Pradesh Minister for Higher Education Ganta Srinivasa Rao is said to be extremely upset with his boss and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu for caring a damn for him in Visakhapatnam politics.

For some time, there have been reports that Naidu might drop Ganta from the State Cabiinet in the forthcoming reshuffle.

As if adding fuel to the fire following these reports, the Chief Minister recently turned down the request of Ganta for appointing his close aide Prof Narayana as the Vice Chancellor of Andhra University.

While Ganta is of the view that the Chief Minister should consider his request as he has every right to recommend the names for VC post in the capacity of Higher Education Minister, the Chief Minister reportedly conveyed to him that VC post is not a political appointment and as per norms, a person with high academic calibre should be given the post.

Despite intense lobbying and repeated phone calls to the CMO, the search committee constituted for the VC appointment did not take Prof Narayanas name into consideration. This has terribly upset Ganta.

On the other hand, Naidu is also not happy with Ganta for hobnobbing with Chiranjeevi at Sarainodu audio function. Apparently, he felt there is something cooking between Ganta and Chiranjeevi  may be on setting up of a studio at Visakhpatnam.

It remains to be seen how long this cold war between Ganta and Naidu will go on.
Sujana Chowdary Gets Court Reprieve!

Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Y S Chowdary alias Sujana Chowdary, who was facing arrest threat following a non-bailable warrant against him, got reprieve from the Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday in connection with the alleged loan default case filed by a Mauritius bank.

The high court, however, asked the minister to personally appear before the court concerned on May 5 in the case.

The minister of state for science and technology, in his petition, urged the high court to quash the criminal case registered against him and also the NBW.

Sujana contended that since he is only a non-executive director of Sujana Universal Industries Limited, he cant be proceeded against. The high court, in its interim order, quashed the warrant and adjourned hearing in the case to June 16.

On April 7, The XIIth additional chief metropolitan magistrate issued the warrant as the minister failed for the third time to personally appear in response to the court summons.

The counsel for Mauritius Commercial Bank had told the lower court that the minister was evading the process of court and sought NBW against him.

Chowdary and others were accused of defaulting in repayment of loan in excess of Rs.106 crore. The loan was taken for Mauritius-based Hestia Holdings Ltd., a subsidiary of Sujana Universal Industries Ltd.
TDP Getting Ready To Counter Pawan!

It is not known whether power star-cum-political activist Pavan Kalyan would really activate his Jana Sena Party by 2019 elections, but the ruling Telugu Desam Party appears to be getting ready to take on him, in case political equations change because of his entry.

In his latest interview to media channels, Pawan made it clear that he is going to contest the elections in 2019. But it is not yet clear whether his Jana Sena would go it alone in the elections or ally with any other party.

If he allies with the TDP, as desired by senior leader Gali Muddukrishnama Naidu, there is nothing to worry. But what if he contests independently or joins hands with the BJP or any other party?

So, TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu is learnt to have asked his party leaders to get ready with an alternative strategy to counter Pawan.

As part it, he reportedly contacted party MP from Guntur Galla Jayadev to rope in his brother-in-law Mahesh Babu into the electioneering.

Mahesh campaigned for Galla in the last elections and there might not be any objection for him to campaign for the party in other parts as well.

At the same time, Naidu is also trying to mollify his nephew Junior N T Rama Rao so as to take his help for the party.

And, senior actor Nandamuri Balakrishna is anyway already there in the party. With this star power, the TDP can neutralise the Pawan factor in the next elections, say sources.
Wanted: Jagan, Pavan To Revive Cong!

Surprising as it might sound, the Congress party seems to be hoping against hope in staging a comeback in Andhra Pradesh, riding on the popularity of two leaders of different mind-set: YSR Congress party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and Jana Sena Party president Pavan Kalyan.

Senior Congress leader and former MP Chinta Mohan told media in Nellore on Thursday that the Congress party was inviting both Jagan and Pavan to take on the Telugu Desam Party in the next elections.

Our party is suffering from bankruptcy of leaders. We need strong leadership and that is precisely why, the high command wants to utilize the services of Jagan and Pavan Kalyan to stage a comeback in AP, he said.

However, it looks to be a completely far-fetched idea of the Congress high command, if at all, it has any such thoughts.

Jagan is highly ambitious person and he does not want any high command above him; so, there is no question of him accepting Sonia leadership. Secondly, he doesnt need Congress at all, though the latter might need him.

On the other hand, Pavan is a fickle minded person and doesnt have any political skill. There are reports that he might prevail upon his mega brother Chiranjeevi to join the BJP. So, the Congress doesnt have to have any hope on him either!
Conducted in February 2015, the studyConsumer Views on Plug-in Electric Vehicles-National Benchmark Reportcovered a 1,015-household sample designed to be representative of the US population. NREL plans to repeat the study annually to track changing consumer perceptions. High level findings from the study included:

NREL has released a new report presenting the findings of a study on the publics sentiments regarding plug-in vehicles (PEVs), with a focus on vehicle purchasing behaviors, awareness, and barriers to acceptance.

Vehicle Purchasing Behaviors

60% of respondent households owned two or more vehicles.

53% stated their last vehicle purchases were sedans.

48% stated their next vehicle purchases would likely be sedans.

29% had purchased vehicles in the last year.

Plug-in Electric Vehicle Awareness

48% were able to name a specific plug-in electric vehicle make and model.

49% reported having seen plug-in electric vehicles in parking lots.

52% stated plug-in hybrid electric vehicles were just as good as or better than traditional gasoline vehicles.

45% stated pure electric vehicles were just as good as or better than traditional gasoline vehicles.

24% stated they would consider or expect to purchase plug-in hybrid electric vehicles for their next vehicle purchase or lease.

20% stated they would consider or expect to purchase pure electric vehicles for their next vehicle purchase or lease.

Barriers to Plug-in Electric Vehicle Acceptance

A pure electric vehicle would need to be able to travel 300 miles on a single charge for 56% of respondents to be willing to consider purchasing one.

55% said they would not consider a PEV because the vehicles are too expensive. A majority (70%) stated they expected to pay $30,000 or less for their next vehicle, and 42% expected to pay $20,000 or less.

18% were aware of charging stations on the routes they regularly drove.

53% of respondents could consistently park their vehicles near electrical outlets at home.

51% of respondents would be willing to pay incremental costs for plug-in electric vehicles.

Plug-in Electric Vehicle Acceptance

Respondents who were aware of plug-in electric vehicle charging stations were more likely than respondents overall to view plug-in electric vehicles positively and be willing to consider purchasing them.

Respondents who were able to name one of the top nine best-selling plug-in electric vehicles were more likely than respondents overall to view plug-in electric vehicles positively and be willing to consider purchasing them.

New vehicle purchasers were more likely than used vehicle purchasers to view plug-in electric vehicles positively and be willing to consider purchasing them.

Most of the data presented in the report are the results of interviews conducted by the Opinion Research Corporation (ORC) for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The ORC CARAVAN studies were conducted via telephone with randomly selected telephone numbers. The study used a dual-frame sampling design in which the sample was drawn from independent landline and cell phone sample frames and is based on responses from individuals across the country who were at least 18 years old.

Response samples were weight-adjusted to better ensure that the sample reflects the general US population. The CARAVAN studies relied on ORCs weighting mechanism, which pulls from data reported in the National Health Interview Survey and the US Census Bureaus Current Population Survey. When ORC study data are presented, the specific ORC study number is noted along with the year of the study and the study sample size. The study had a margin of error of 3% at the 95% confidence level. Smaller subgroups of the respondents will have larger error margins.

Resources
Whitley French has told the story of her parents death over and over to friends, family and investigators since that night in 2012, when she was the only one to emerge alive from her familys home.

She has detailed those early morning hours of Feb. 4, 2012, when, while spending a rare night in her childhood bedroom, she awakened to find a hooded intruder on top of her. Her screams roused her parents, Troy and LaDonna Moseley French, who raced to her rescue and were shot to death by the fleeing intruder as Whitley French, then 19, watched from the staircase.

She has told family members about her relationship with her parents, about things she had told them that she regrets and about the final hours of her parents lives.

The Frenches and the Moseleys, two close-knit families deeply embedded in the fabric of Rockingham County, will tell you that there was a lot of discussion in the family back then about Whitley Frenchs relationship with John Alvarez.

He wasnt Whitley Frenchs first boyfriend, but their relationship blossomed quickly. They began dating at least two years before she graduated from high school. Thats evident in public Facebook posts in which the pair declare their love for each other as far back as 2010.

Like her mother, Whitley French stayed busy in high school. She played basketball, volleyball and soccer. She was popular, bubbly, a petite redhead who sometimes was more interested in her friends than in playing sports.

She saw a lot of John Alvarez during school and after, because his best friend, C.J. Banner, lived across Brown Road in a house Whitley Frenchs great-grandmother once owned.

The couples relationship quickly developed, and it wasnt popular idea with Whitleys parents, especially LaDonna French.

A divided family

LaDonna told family members that Alvarez demeaned Whitley, and that Whitley and John held different religious views.

Whitleys childhood church, Reidsville Bible Chapel, is known for being strictly fundamental, with a doctrine that women should be submissive to men.

But Whitley couldnt be talked out of her love for her boyfriend, who graduated Rockingham County High in the spring of 2010, a year ahead of her, and headed to East Carolina University in Greenville to study geological sciences.

Whitley told her parents that she wanted to follow Alvarez to Greenville after she completed her senior year.

College was always in the Frenches' plans for their daughter, but following a boyfriend three hours across the state was not. Her parents were fans of UNC-Chapel Hill and always hoped she and their son, Hunter, would enroll there.

Her mother begged her to slow down and reconsider her relationship with Alvarez. They had many arguments, some of them loud and some that spilled over into family events. Whitley was not going to reconsider. She told her mother so.

Whitley wasnt admitted to either college for the fall semester in 2011. She was wait-listed at ECU until the spring semester 2012 and, in the meantime, began classes at Rockingham Community College.

But in January 2012, over the continuing protests of her parents, Whitley began studying nursing at ECU. Her parents grudgingly had helped her move into an off-campus apartment and paid her tuition. John Alvarez, in his second year, was living with friends.

Even then, the Frenches were reconsidering their support of their daughters decision.

Nancy Moseley, LaDonna Frenchs mother, said her daughter and son-in-law began discussing whether to continue paying for their daughters tuition and apartment.

"She could get loans and scholarships like anyone else," the Frenches told Moseley.

And there was more: Whitley was talking about marrying Alvarez.

Moseley knew that the Frenches were trying to persuade their daughter to reconsider that idea, too. Whitley made it just as clear that she wanted to be with Alvarez.

That (her relationship with Alvarez) is the whole reason she went to school (at ECU)," Moseley said. "They would have sent her anywhere, but she wanted to go there.

Whitleys frustration grew as the financial discussions continued. The day she returned for her visit they had purchased a new Nissan. They also kept her younger brother, Hunter French, enrolled in a year-round baseball academy.

Family members said Whitley thought her brother got more attention than she did. Troy French made sure his son had access to the best baseball programs, bought him equipment to practice with in the backyard and traveled with him to away games.

A lot of sibling rivalry is built up in your mind, Moseley said of her granddaughters concerns.

'We're going to settle this'

Whitley French didnt see her brother the day before their parents were killed, when she returned from ECU for a weekend visit.

Hunter French also was a budding swimmer, and he called his mother the afternoon of Feb. 3 and told her he had decided to go to an overnight swim meet in Goldsboro. Whitley would be spending that Friday evening alone with her parents.

Hours before the deaths of her parents, Whitley walked across Pinewood Road from their home to Nancy Moseleys house.

After they chatted for a while, the granddaughters cellular phone rang. It was her father calling to say dinner was ready. He had prepared her favorite meal, a Japanese dish.

Whitley made her way to her grandmothers front door to leave. Moseley stopped her, then asked if she planned to talk to her parents about the issues they had with her boyfriend, finances and college.

Whitley, turning to look at her grandmother, said: Were going to settle that tonight.

Whitley has since told family members that she wishes she never had made that remark, Moseley said.

By sunrise on Feb. 4, 2012, at their two-story home in the community of Bethany, the deaths of Troy French, 48, and LaDonna French, 45, would become one of the most discussed and analyzed homicides in Rockingham County.

For four years investigators tried to determine exactly what happened that night and the identity of the hooded intruder who had fired those lethal shots.

The focus for investigators was based on the recounting of that evening by the only witness, Whitley French.

John Alvarez

Concerns about the relationship of Whitley French and John Alvarez apparently didnt end in the French and Moseley homes. Jose and Elaine Alvarez, John Alvarezs parents, told family members that they, too, objected to the relationship.

Jose and Elaine Alvarez run Alvarez Landscape and Lawn Maintenance in Southern Rockingham County. The couple lives nine miles from Troy and LaDonna French, in Stokesdale, in a house protected by an electronic gate they erected in 2011. They raised their four sons there.

Occasionally, the Alvarezes saw the Moseley and French families at family gatherings held at Donald Moseleys farm. And theyd run into one another on the ball fields when their sons played.

They had come to know Whitley French because of her relationship with their son, and it was clear to those who knew them that they didnt like her. After the Frenches were killed, they expressed that view clearly.

Family members say Whitley confronted her boyfriends father about her relationship with their son the weekend of Feb. 11. John Alvarez also had returned to Rockingham County that weekend. She stopped by the Alvarezs house that Friday afternoon. She told Jose Alvarez Sr. she knew he didnt like her.

Whitleys family members said John Alvarez Sr. told her that he didnt think she and his son should be together or consider marriage.

Ive seen, in the past (relationships) that the families didnt like," Nancy Moseley said, "but when they get married, everything turns out hunky dory."

None of the Alvarezes will speak publicly about the Frenches deaths and the relationship between Whitley French and John Alvarez.

Court records give no account of John Alvarez ever having been questioned by investigators.

Deputies did take a DNA sample from him early in the investigation. They wanted to see if it matched five drops of blood on the stairs and railing, inside the French home, from which investigators believe they were shot. He was among dozens of people tested to determine who might be a suspect.

Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page said in October 2012 that John Alvarez had been ruled out as a suspect. He later recanted that statement, saying he meant that John Alvarez was ruled out as a person who left DNA behind at the crime scene.

Their wedding day

Despite protests from both sets of parents, Whitley French wed John Alvarez in May 2015 at Summerfield Farms in northern Guilford County.

Rows of white chairs were set side-by-side in a field leading toward a pond. An aisle divided the chairs, and it was down this aisle that the bride walked, escorted by her brother, Hunter, to an archway, where Jerry Denny, an elder at Reidsville Bible Chapel, would marry them. Antique doors stood upright at the beginning of the aisle, between which dozens of guests passed.

The bride wore a long, form-fitting, strapless, white dress. White flowers were woven into her long, red hair, swept atop her head. Her five bridesmaids wore long, strapless, dark-blue dresses.

John Alvarez and his five groomsmen, which included his older brother, Jose Alvarez Jr., wore light-gray suits with white shirts and pale-gray ties and yellow roses pinned to their lapels.

The wedding celebration continued in the field throughout the day. A wooden dance floor was set, and tables were arranged for the reception.

A four-tiered wedding cake was decorated with roses and lilies. The cake melted in the sun and fell over during the reception.

Whitley, much as her mother had during her 1985 wedding, mugged for the camera, kissing her husband while her bridesmaids pretended to catch the tiers of the cake as they fell.

Her parents werent forgotten on her wedding day.

Troy and LaDonna Frenchs daughter set aside two chairs in the front row in their memory. Photos of the couple were placed on the chairs.

Although relatives remember Troy and LaDonna French as opposed to Whitley French's relationship with John Alvarez, she remembers it differently.

Six months after their deaths, Whitley said her parents had begun to soften to the idea that she had followed Alvarez to Greenville.

"They were a little upset when I wanted to go to ECU..." she said. "They went up there with me when I had orientation and stuff and bought sweatshirts and shirts...

"I moved up there in January (2012), so for Christmas, my mom got me apartment stuff. Everything in the apartment reminds me of her....I still think about them (her parents) every day.

Whitley discussed her parents deaths without discernible emotion. She sat stiff in a conference room. She never cried. She made rare eye contact with others. She once rapped her knuckles on the table to emphasize a point. Talking about the events, she said, helped her work through her grief, but, she said in that one-on-one interview, friends and family seemed afraid to talk to her about it.

That night

Whitley said that the night her parents were killed started out normal.

"It was really weird," she said. "All I can tell you is we had dinner. We had a good night.

"My brother was out of town....It was just me, my mom and dad. It was just a normal night, so it was really shocking when everything started happening. Because it was like, 'OK, I didn't expect this to happen.'

After their special dinner, the Frenches went to a basketball game at Rockingham County High School, where the Cougars split a girls-boys doubleheader with Eastern Alamance.

Whitley last saw her parents around 10:30 p.m. Feb. 3, when she climbed the steps to her bedroom on the second floor of her childhood house. She turned on her computer to watch something on Netflix  she didn't say what  but fell asleep.

She would awaken at 1:30 a.m. to use the bathroom, and she said she turned off her computer, climbed back into bed and drifted back to sleep.

She said didnt see her parents again until they were looking down the barrel of a gun when they tried to help their screaming daughter.

Minutes later, both would be dead.

"It was just really shocking and crazy. I really can't talk about details about it. I did try to help them (her parents) as much as I could, and I hope I did everything right, but it was just me, my mom and my dad there," she said.

Whitley also has had several conversations with investigators. At their urging, she has helped re-enact the shootings in the living room and on the stairs. Investigators have interviewed her at least five times in the years since.

She also had to face the rumors that resulted because of those interviews. When residents learned that Whitley was being questioned by investigators the day after her parents funeral, they began to speculate if deputies thought she had been involved.

They questioned why an intruder would leave behind a witness. They have picked apart her 911 call for any nuance or detail that seemed off.

Because of those questions, Whitley has not talked publicly since August 2012. In person, she politely turns down requests. Phone calls, to the same number she has had since 2012, go to voicemails that are never returned.

At her apartment in Greenville earlier this year, she politely listened as a reporter asked if she would talk. She said her schedule wouldnt allow for an interview.

In 2012 Whitley said she was aware there have been questions and rumors  even accusations  from inside and outside the French and Moseley families.

The Frenches will not discuss any of their theories about who may have been behind the double shooting. The Moseleys are more vocal, which has caused some friction between the two families.

The Frenches especially are incredibly protective of Whitley after hearing the rumors in the community and seeing the negative posts written about her and her now husband on social media.

"I was kind of clueless. I didn't hear any of the rumors unless somebody told me. I didn't watch any of the news stories," Whitley said.

"When all that was happening, on, like, Facebook, I never saw any of it. I was kind of clueless then, but, of course, my friends and family have told me what's been said.

"I hate it. I hate it for John... because I know he didn't do it, and people are saying really bad stuff about him. He's a good person. He's probably one of the only reasons I am doing OK, because he's been really supportive of me and Hunter, too.

Hunter's journey

Hunter French was 14 when his parents were killed. LaDonna and Troy Frenchs will stipulated that Lisa and Todd Moore, Troy Frenchs younger sister and brother-in-law, would have custody of their son.

Eventually, acting on a request from Hunter, Donald Moseley and Kathy Hayes, LaDonna Frenchs father and sister, went to court to seek custody of him. The court allowed Lisa Moore to continue to oversee Hunters inheritance while he lived with Hayes.

But that also didnt work out for the family, so Hunter went to live with Troy Frenchs aunt and uncle, Faye and Carl Stone, who lived next door to his childhood home. All the families except Lisa Moore live in the same area, called Bethany.

Hunter has lived with the Stones since November 2014. After the double homicide, he transferred from Rockingham County High School to Greensboro Day School. He will graduate from this pricey private school this spring. He gave up baseball and joined the golf team and in November became an Eagle Scout, which fulfilled a wish of his fathers.

Both Hunter and Whitley French Alvarez are receiving an annual allowance from their parents estate but wont receive their full trusts until they turn 25. Whitley has had part-time jobs. The actual value of their inheritance, managed by Lisa Moore, is difficult to determine.

Who did it?

It took some encouragement for Whitley to return to school, too. Family members guided her as she coped with the death of her parents and navigated both a homicide investigation and rumors about her involvement.

Whitley lived with her paternal grandmother, Ann French-Faucette, until the end of March 2012, when French-Faucette convinced her to return to ECU.

The only thing that disturbs me is that people have their preconceived ideas," French-Faucette said. "They think they know what happened. Evidently they think they know more than I do, in life.

Being in her parents' house got easier with time for Whitley. She initially could not be left alone there. She never again slept there.

"It's better now," she said about six months after the Frenches died. "At first I couldn't even look at the house. It just scared me."

Back then, she said the family was being patient about the pace of the investigation. "We haven't asked them (investigators) too many questions. We left them alone so they could do what they have to do. We just don't want to bother or bug them to death," she said.

For the next three years after those words, family members struggled to understand an investigation that was seemingly dormant. There had been no arrest, no updates and no hope that the investigators were making progress.

What no one was saying was that investigators were closer than ever to identifying the intruder who Whitley French Alvarez said shot and killed her parents.
GREENSBORO  The Guilford County Board of Education took advantage of an annual sit-down with the local legislative delegation to talk about some of the school systems most urgent needs and concerns.

Among them: Schools are struggling to recruit teachers because fewer are choosing to enter the profession. Textbook funding from the state isnt enough to buy one book per student in one subject area. Veteran teachers, who havent gotten raises as large as their more novice peers, are leaving the classroom. And the system for grading schools is based too heavily on standardized tests.

At times, board members pleaded.

Please, please, fully fund our schools, board member Jeff Belton said.

Just how dire the situation is for local schools could become more clear tonight when the board meets again. Co-interim Superintendents Terrence Young and Nora Carr plan to present the board the 2017 budget proposal.

Much of the discussion Monday night dealt with funding.

Board member Darlene Garrett praised a recently announced proposal from Gov. Pat McCrory to fund an average 5 percent pay raise for teachers. She said she wishes it could be more.

That way, Garrett said, teachers wouldnt have to work two or three jobs. She also mentioned the school systems struggle with recruiting teachers and the need to raise pay for other employees such as bus drivers.

Its not a good situation and our classified workers havent had a meaningful raise since the Great Recession, she said.

Belton said he thinks teachers salaries should be doubled, and he asked the delegation to think about the caliber of educator they might attract with a salary that high.

Folks have figured out the math and theres no future in teaching at the current salary rate, Belton said.

Board members also raised concerns about legislation that would establish an achievement school district, consolidating persistently failing schools into one statewide district and then have charter school operators intervene.

Rep. Cecil Brockman, who along with Rep. Jon Hardister is on a committee considering a bill that would establish the achievement school district, said he wants to do something different from the status quo.

The plan now is for the bill to pass out of committee Wednesday to go up for a vote in the upcoming short session, Brockman said.

A school can have persistently low achievement or fail for years and theres no accountability there, Brockman said.

That status quo affects students who look just like me, added Brockman, who is black.

Board members and district leaders challenged that idea.

Guilford County Schools had a local version of the achievement school district called the Enrichment Region, where officials targeted resources and services to the most struggling schools. They collapsed that region in 2013 to save money in anticipation of another tight budget year.

On Monday night, school officials argued they have tried to innovate. But they had to halt those efforts because there wasnt enough money.

When the funding goes away, we cant figure out if they really worked or not, Belton said.
My wife and I were married in Washington, D.C., in May 2014, five months before same-sex marriage was legalized in our home state where we live and pay taxes. We were tired of waiting for our state to catch up with equality, and we wanted the legal protections and benefits that marriage provides. Ironically, we had to leave our home to protect our home.

Our honeymoon is officially over as the Republican-controlled legislature has passed HB 2, a bill intentionally designed to discriminate against the LGBT community. And instead of focusing on genuine issues like unemployment, poverty and access to health care, these folks have reverted back to the Karl Rove strategy of God, guns and gays and created a faux furor over bathrooms.

This fear-mongering is unconscionable and promotes stigma against the LGBT community. Having worked in the HIV/AIDS community for more than two decades, I know that stigma fosters prejudice and abuse and diminishes dignity. I know that stigma can be deadly.

Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote that Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. It is time for all fair-minded North Carolinians to renew our vows.

Repeat after me, We are not this.

Addison Ore

Winston-Salem
Lindsay Pendleton (letter, March 30) says he went to Raleigh in support of HB 2 as he will always stand with the downtrodden and the underdog. Really? I wonder what parameters he used when deciding who fits that description. Then theres Susan Ladd who, while being both ashamed and proud of her state, points out that the transgender people are the most vulnerable to violence and that, because they lack civil rights, the citizens of this state should rally around them.

Heres the problem: Neither addressed those who would be made most vulnerable by Charlottes ordinance: the children. People would abuse this law to hunt/attack children at their most vulnerable. Remember, the person leading the effort for the ordinance was a registered child molester. Until those who support this law can prove that abuse or other harm to children/young adults will not happen, I believe most citizens of this state will stand firmly against Charlottes law. As for corporations that stand with the LGBTQ people against North Carolina: Think about your families tonight and how youd feel if something happened to one of them.
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The Raindrop Cake, a unique gelatinous dessert that looks like a water drop, has come to a food venue in the United States after being available only in Japan.

The mesmerizing vegan cake is at Smorgasburg, a popular flea market focused on food in Brooklyn form April through November, for $8, according to BuzzFeed.

RELATED: Arizona Diamondbacks debut crazy new dessert: the 'Churro Dog'

Chef Darren Wong said on his website he got the idea to create the cake after it went viral in Japan a few years ago. When the dish wasnt available a year after the craze, he decided to make it himself.

The cake is known as mizu shingen mochi in Japan, and has become as popular as the Cronut or the rainbow bagel here in the States, according to the Huffington Post.

It kind (of) reminds me of that scene from A Bugs Life where they drink water drops off of leaves. Wong said on his website.

RELATED: Hottest dessert? It's ice cream

Its made from agar, a gelatin-like substance, and mineral water.

And the way you eat it? You dip your spoon into it and mix in some of the toppings, which include Kuromitsu black sugar cane syrup and roasted soy flour.

It reportedly tastes like eating a water droplet, but its unique texture makes it an interesting dish to try, Wong said.

RELATED: Taco Bell unveils new dessert filled with cream and covered in Capn Crunch cereal

If you get a chance to eat the rare cake, you do so fast, because the raindrop cake melts into a puddle after being exposed to room temperatures for 30 minutes. The dish has zero calories, according to BuzzFeed.

Wong said the cake is currently only going to be available at Smorgasburg, but he is open to expanding it to other locations in the future.

Click through the slideshow to see photos the Raindrop Cake provided by Tim Ireland.

twhite@mysa.com

Twitter: @tylerlwhite
GREENWICH  A former Greenwich resident is suing the Greenwich Police Department for what he claims was harassing behavior and a nighttime entry at his residence in which guns were drawn.

Galiano Tiramani, 28, said he was startled one night in November while he was in bed trying to fall asleep in the home he was renting on Hettiefred Road, a home that was in foreclosure.

I saw flashlights. Then they were running up the stairs with their guns drawn, said Tiramani, who now lives in California.

That incident is now the basis of the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in New Haven.

The suit claims the police activity constituted an unreasonable and warrantless search and seizure which violated the plaintiffs rights under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. It seeks unspecified damages.

Town Attorney Wayne Fox declined to discuss specifics of the case. We are reviewing the case and the fact pattern. As best as we can tell, everything done by the officers involved was done correctly, he said.

The suit stems from a contentious housing situation in which Tiramanis landlord had fallen behind on mortgage payments, ending in foreclosure. Tiramani said town police were looking to get him out of the house, which had gained the reputation as a party house while he lived there.

This type of intimidation is a step too far, he said.

The police report on the incident in question said officers were concerned about burglaries when they made contact with Tiramani at the residence on the night of Nov. 24 after 11 p.m.

According to the report, four officers responded to the Hettiefred Road residence on a report of a suspicious vehicle in the driveway.

The report states: Officers made numerous attempts to raise someone in the residence. ... Attempts consisted of both ringing the doorbell and knocking on doors. ... While checking the security of the residence, officers determined that the garage door was unsecured. ... Officers made entry into the residence to check the interior. It should be noted that the town of Greenwich has been subject to a number of residential burglaries and that intelligence information has suggested the perpetrators have been armed during the commission of the burglaries. With this in mind officers had their weapons drawn while checking the interior. ... Officers explained to Tiramani that this department had received a complaint of a suspicious vehicle and that the vehicle registration did not belong to Tiramani. That officers had found an unlocked door and that officers were checking the security of the interior when attempts to raise someone within went unanswered. ... Officers apologized to Tiramani and ... subsequently left the residence.

Tiramani said he had told police on previous occasions that the vehicle in question, a silver GMC, a rental, belonged to him. He said he heard nothing before the police officers came up the stairs, and that guns were pointed at him when he emerged from the bedroom.

The lawsuit cites the actions of four officers involved and names them as defendants, though the town is the primary defendant in the case, said Tiramanis lawyer, John Willams. The municipalities defend and indemnify their officers, said Willams. Police officers are covered for their actions by the town and its insurance provider, except in cases of extreme malfeasance.

The officers named in the suit are Carl Johnson, John DInverno, Sean Welsh and Joel Berry; messages sent were not returned. Police Lt. Kraig Gray said the department deferred to the town attorneys office on litigation and offered no comment.
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HARTFORD  The eight-year-old juvenile detention center in Bridgeport would be closed under the governors new fiscal initiative, which would slash state agencies across the board and add $352 million in cuts above and beyond last weeks legislative budget.

The proposal is aimed at saving more than $11 million. It would eliminate 130 staff from the $54-million building, which also houses educational and courtroom facilities. Those in detention would be transferred to a similar facility in Hartford that according to a fiscal analysis, has enough capacity for additional detainees.

As part of his goal to reduce spending by $922 million next year, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy would take away about $100 million from towns and cities and $53 million from the states cost-sharing formula for local education, forcing affluent towns to pay more for their public schools. He would retain transportation funding, which the governor said is crucial to supporting business growth.

The proposal identifies and maintains funding for core services, Malloy said Tuesday, after laying out his plan. We have the obligation as elected officials to tackle the full scope of our challenges. That means we must align our spending with the revenue that we actually have, not the revenue we wish we had.

Malloy would ask non-union employees, appointees and elected officials in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches to pay 20 percent of their health care premiums. The 5,000 affected employees currently pay 12 percent. The move would save $5 million a year and would cost the employees each about $120 per month.

Layoffs continue

More Information Paring down The governor's latest budget-cutting proposals would take about $100 million from Connecticut municipalities and trim $53 million from the state's education cost sharing. Malloy's plan also asks non-union employees, appointees and elected officials in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches to pay a higher percentage of their health-care premiums. See More Collapse

Malloy told reporters he expects that between layoffs and attrition, 2,500 state employees will leave their jobs before the next fiscal year starts on July 1. On Tuesday, 71 employees in the Department of Social Services and the Department of Economic and Community Development were informed of layoffs.

The $20.1 billion budget approved last year would be reduced to $19.1 billion under Malloys proposal, which is a follow-up to his February budget proposal of $19.5 billion. Last week, the General Assemblys Appropriations Committee approved a budget that addressed only $570 million of a budget deficit that is estimated at up to $930 million because of sharp shortfalls in tax revenue.

Now, with the legislative adjournment date of May 4 less than a month away, Malloys second budget plan joins the legislative budget and will become the focus of potential negotiations with legislative leaders for a compromise.

Democrats on the (Appropriations) Committee have put out a budget that doesnt do the job, Malloy said. We have turned around another budget that makes very difficult decisions, but allows us to live within the revenue that we can reasonably project and hope to have.

Speaker of the House Brendan Sharkey, D-Hamden, said his majority caucus would not agree to the cuts in municipal aid.

I dont take that proposal seriously, and its certainly not something that would garner any votes here in the House, Sharkey said. The Legislature produces budgets. The governor signs them.

Initial Republican reaction was positive.

We thank the governor for recognizing the full scope of the states sizable deficit. However, the path to attain long-term fiscal stability is not through layoffs and budget cuts alone, said House Minor ity Leader Themis Kla rides, R-Derby, and Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, in a joint statement.

Disagreement on cuts

But Klarides and Fasano stressed that three initiatives for which they have been calling for years are not included: mandatory approval of labor contracts by the General Assembly; a hard cap on bonded debt; and the creation of a new Office of Overtime Accountability.

Joe Brennan, president and CEO of the Connecticut Business & Industry Association, said the cuts are deep but needed at a time when state revenue continues to fall short of expectations.

I think its critical for the state to close the balance of that (deficit) as soon as possible, Brennan told reporters. We dont want to have these things continuing to hang out there when Connecticuts in yet another deficit and people are still talking about the need for further tax increases.

While Malloy said his proposal contains no tax increases, the funding shifts would put more strain on local budgets.

Betsy Gara, executive director of the Council of Small Towns, called the budget a disaster for the vast majority of small towns in Connecticut.

(COST) understands the difficult challenges facing the governor and lawmakers in addressing the states budget deficit, Gara said in a statement. However, Governor Malloys proposed budget slashes education funding, leaving towns with huge holes in their budgets. Make no mistake  this budget is a tax increase. Deep cuts in education funding will force steep increases in property taxes.

kdixon@ctpost.com
GREENWICH  The Musicians from Marlboro are coming back to Greenwich Library for a concert on May 1.

The performance will feature an original composition, Terre Memoria, by Kaija Saariaho, who was the 2014 Marlboro Music Composer in Residence. Also played will be Haydns String Quartet in F Major, Op. 77, and Schumanns Piano Trio in D Minor, Op. 63.

The group has been a staple of the Greenwich arts scene, appearing at many concerts through the years. This performance will close out the Friends of Greenwich Librarys Cole Concert Series.

Performing will be Francisco Fullana and Joseph Lin on violin, Pei-Ling Lin on viola, Jay Campbell and Ahrim Kim on cello and Zoltan Fejervari on piano.

Musicians from Marlboro is now in its 51st season. It is the touring extension of the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont. The touring ensemble groups young professional musicians with veteran players.

The organization has received rave reviews for its work. The Washington Post has called its concerts  a virtual guarantee of musical excellence. And the Chicago Sun-Times has said, The secret is a sense of joy  apparent from the very first note.

Doors open at 3:30 p.m. for the Greenwich concert, which will begin at 4 p.m. inside the librarys Cold Auditorium. Admission is free.

For more information visit www.marlboromusic.org or call (203) 622-7938.

The Friends Cole Concert Series is supported by the Sylvia and Leonard Marx Foundation and the Friends of Greenwich Library.

kborsuk@scni.com
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A new Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study shows that increases in speed limits over two decades have cost 33,000 lives in the U.S. According to an article from the institute, in 2013 alone, the increases resulted in 1,900 additional deaths, essentially canceling out the number of lives saved by frontal airbags that year.

Maximum speed limits are set by the states, and they have been on the rise since 1995. However, during most of the 1970s and 1980s, the threat of financial penalties held state speed limits to 55 mph.
The real deal. Photo: Shenghung Lin Photos

Italians do not take kindly to people messing with their pasta. That didnt stop the French website Demotivateur from publishing a recipe for one-pot pasta carbonara. The recipe, and its accompanying video, took some  lets call it creative license with the traditional mix of pasta, cured pork jowel, and an egg.

The French version called for farfalle (spaghetti is the traditional noodle) and suggests the cook just throw everything into a single pot of boiling water. That means the guanciale is never properly cooked. The recipe also called for onions and  in a tres French touch  creme fraiche. Finally, the recipe calls for a single raw egg yolk, which is left atop the pasta, instead of the traditional method of mixing it in so its gently warmed by the hot noodles.

Italians, naturally, considered this a horror show. So much so that this scandal has prompted national outrage. Responding to the affront against culinary decency, being billed as Carbonagate, newspapers in Italy have accused the website of single-handedly destroying centuries of pasta tradition in less than a minute. The paper that levied that charge, La Republica, even devoted a full page to fighting this grave, Gallic threat, complete with secrets on perfecting the dish and an article on its disputed origins.

But heres where the story gets even stranger: Demotivateur is an editorial partner of Italian pasta titan Barilla, whose noodles are actually featured in the offending video. But even Barilla scolded Demotivateur for going too far. It then forced Demotivateur to remove the entire video. What kind of lasting impact this will have on the relationship between the two countries  uneasy allies, always  is unclear, but its probably only a matter of time before Italy retaliates with a recipe for escargots thats made with tomatoes.

[Guardian]
The just-unveiled HTC 10 will unfortunately not be sold by AT&T in the US. It's still headed to the other three of the 'big four' carriers stateside in due course, however - so you'll soon be able to pick one up from Verizon, Sprint, or T-Mobile.

And if you love AT&T and crave an HTC 10 at the same time, there's a choice for you too, albeit a rather expensive one. See, the unlocked model that HTC is selling through its own US online store is compatible with AT&T's network, so no one's stopping you from purchasing one for $699.99 outright and then using it on that particular carrier. There's also an option to use PayPal Credit to get 12-month 0% interest financing, keep that in mind.

Moving on up to the north, the HTC 10's exclusive carrier partner in Canada is Bell. So you'll only be able to buy one with a contract from that company, which will only be offering the phone in Glacier Silver. If you happen to have another carrier of choice, once again you can turn to HTC's website and purchase an unlocked unit for CAD 999 (in Glacier Silver or Carbon Grey). This version is compatible with Telus, Rogers, Bell, Koodo, Fido, Virgin Mobile, Wind Mobile, Videotron, and Sasktel.

Source 1  Source 2
HTC 10 available now, here are the US and European prices [UPDATED]

Did you see that blur? It was the HTC 10 becoming instantly available - from unofficial to on sale in a blink of an eye. Here are the prices and carrier offers in several countries.

Update: the official websites have been changed and now say it's a pre-order that will ship in May. You've got some extra time to think about it then, we guess.

Note that there's no storage mentioned so we assume only the 32GB phone is available.

The unlocked phone goes for $700 and is available in Gray and Silver. The phone is compatible with AT&T and T-Mobile networks, but you get no subsidy options.

570 is the cost, no carrier deals. There is a third color - Gold.

Converting to Old Continent banknotes, the HTC 10 costs 700 in Germany. You can get the phone from O2 on contract (24 months x 30), or SIM-free from Sparhandy or Notebooksbilliger.

The currency rate must be different in France, 'cause it's 750 over there.

France shouldn't complain since these countries will have to pay even more - 800. Update: now down to 750.

750 as well here.
These are the best offers from our affiliate partners. We may get a commission from qualifying sales.
Published on 2016/04/12 | Source

It will be two year anniversary of Sewol Ferry four days later. It is not that easy to find someone wearing those yellow ribbons and badges commemorating the tragic event these days. While the tragic event has not seen the closure yet, the sorrowful emotions are fading away.

Advertisement

Under these circumstances, a celebrity's consistent behavior has caught our attention. He is actor Park Hae-jin. Park Hae-jin has been wearing the Sewol Ferry Bracelet to all the important public events to display his commemoration for the last two years.

He did not forget to wear the bracelet to the press conference for "Cheese in the Trap" in December last year and also to the 2016 Cable Broadcasting Awards last month.

He also wears the bracelet during his daily life. The bracelet around his write has been spotted several times at the airport. He also gifts it to his friends.

According to the video clip revealed on Park Hae-jin's SNS account on April 12th, he also gave the Sewol Ferry bracelet to his close Chinese friend actor Zhang Liang.

Zhang Liang explained the yellow bracelet around his write was from Park Hae-jin. And Park Hae-jin explained, 'I gave it to him hoping that he'll remembers".

Then why is Park Hae-jin still wearing the bracelet even two year after the tragic event of Sewol Ferry?

In fact, everybody from Park Hae-jin's agency have been joining to wear the bracelet for the last two years.

An associate with Park Hae-jin's agency said, "We wear the bracelet as a way to pay a service for the repose of the souls" and "I think it's about time to take off the bracelet to let go of the children".

Wearing a bracelet is seemingly a trivial act in a sense. However, if it's the case of a celebrity like Park Hae-jin, each of the small acts can be significantly influential. Just by looking at him, we get to remember the Sewol Ferry.

As the second year anniversary of Sewol Ferry has approached quickly in these warm spring days, these are the reasons why Park Hae-jin's Sewol Ferry bracelet is precious.
By Jessica Isaacs | [email protected]

Prepare your taste buds! TASTE! A Restaurant Showcase is back this year, and the fun begins at 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 14.

This coming together of local establishments will give you an exclusive opportunity to try food prepared from the best chefs in town.

Part of SAVOR Blowing Rock, formerly known as the Blue Ridge Wine and Food Festival, the restaurant showcase is your best bet for trying a little bit of everything. Local chefs will serve up small plated portions of their signature dishes, and you can be sure that theres something there for everyone.

The restaurant showcase will take place under the Main Tent at SAVOR, which will be located at 1021 Main Street in downtown Blowing Rock.

Stick with your favorites or try something new  you cant go wrong! While you enjoy dinner, tap into a variety of North Carolina produced beers, wines and other beverages.

Wine and dine with friends and neighbors as you sit back to enjoy live music at this cant-miss Blowing Rock event.

Taste! A Restaurant Showcase

Ugga Mugga Bakerys Beth Zagst said she looks forward to collaborating with folks from other restaurants to offer this exciting event to festivalgoers.

It is such a blast to network, visit and enjoy the company of other working professional chefs in the town. Its a really great way to taste what everybody is doing, especially for me, because I can give referrals to my customers for restaurants in town, said Zagst. These people are my co-workers. A lot of the time were alone in our kitchens, so its great to get out and talk to each other. The wine festival is a huge event and its a most fantastic way for me to share my baking with people and let them know were open year-round.

Tickets are $35 in advance and $45 at the door. Call the Blowing Rock Chamber of Commerce at 828-295-7851 to get yours today!

While youre around this weekend, dont forget to enjoy some of the other SAVOR events. Tastings, seminars and celebrations galore await you in Blowing Rock! Check out the schedule here.

Establishments participating in the showcase will include:

Best Cellar

Roots

Canyons

Makotos

Casa Rustica and CR Catering

Twigs

Timberlakes Restaurant at Chetola

Blowing Rock Ale House

McKethan Brothers Barbecue

The Table at Crestwood

Bistro Roca

The Restaurant at Gideon Ridge Inn

Covington Vodka

Six Pence Pub

Town Tavern

Peppers Restaurant

Woodlands Barbecue

Defiant Whisky

Rowlands at Westglow

The Chestnut Grille at Green Park Inn

Ugga Mugga Bakery

Grandfather Vineyards

Lost Province Brewing Co.

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The casualty and property insurer reports that parents with under school-aged children are particularly concerned about the amount of time they spend on social media. More than ten per cent of them estimated that their use of social media is often excessive, while the corresponding percentage for the entire population is roughly six per cent.

One-half of parents in Finland are concerned that their use of social media is occasionally excessive, finds a survey commissioned by If P&C Insurance.

Finns are particularly prone to use social media between 6pm and 10pm, according to If.

Over one-half of the parents surveyed indicated that they tend to use a smartphone or tablet in bed before falling asleep. If points out in a press release that the light emitted by such smart devices hinders the production of melatonin, a sleep-inducing hormone, and thus makes it more difficult to fall asleep.

Three in ten parents in Finland indicated that social media use disturbs their sleep. One-quarter of the entire population feel that social media use disturbs their sleep, the insurance company states.

One-fifth of the parents surveyed also estimated that their partner spends too much time on social media, while one-third said they hope their partner would pay more attention to them instead of gadgets. Many also admitted to being concerned about the social media use of their children and to having set limits on their children's screen time.

A total of 1,011 people, including 262 parents with underage children, responded to the survey conducted by YouGov Finland in February 2016.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Photo: Anni Reenpaa  Lehtikuva

Source: Uusi Suomi
Dandelion takes over Playhouse dining hall

The Dandelion staff poses on Fifth Avenue West.

Related Stories

The Dandelion Eatery, a downtown cafe staffed by women from Safelight, the domestic violence shelter, will take over management of the dining hall at the Flat Rock Playhouse and the concessions at the Mainstage and Playhouse Downtown locations, the Playhouse and Safelight announced Tuesday.

"We couldn't be more excited or proud to partner with Safelight, Flat Rock Playhouse Producing Artistic Director Lisa K. Bryant said in a news release. Their dedication to the community is exemplary, and their successes on behalf of the families they attend inspire. That we have the opportunity to help expand their mission and good works at any level is, frankly, an honor. Dually, the quality of their products will exponentially enhance our patron's experience when visiting the Playhouse, while the cultural impact it will have on our artists as they relish delicious meals together is sure to be significant."

Safelight Executive Director Tanya Blackford also praised the partnership.

Safelight is thrilled to partner with Flat Rock Playhouse to provide concessions for their theatre productions and summer programs through Dandelion Eatery, our job training restaurant, she said. At Dandelion, interns learn the job skills they need to secure stable employment and provide financial security for themselves and their families. This opportunity with Flat Rock Playhouse means we will be able to expand the Dandelion internships we offer to even more survivors of violence or trauma.

During the high season at Flat Rock Playhouse, the dining hall provides food for 24 Apprentices and 8 Interns working at the Playhouse. Three meals a day, six days a week are provided at no cost to those participating in the Flat Rock Playhouse Apprentice and Internship programs. Professional actors and Playhouse staff will also be able to dine in the dining hall, should they choose to elect for a meal plan or punch card program.

Safelight runs one of the largest shelters in Western North Carolina for abused women, men and their children. Services are free and available to victims of interpersonal violence in shelter and outreach (non-shelter). It is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Over time, Safelight has evolved from a strictly crisis-driven agency to one striving to develop longer-term services addressing community needs such as low-income housing and the availability of medical, mental health and substance abuse resources. They have also created job training programs for their residents and non-residents in The Safelight Resale Shop (formerly The Purple Ribbon) and Dandelion Eatery.

Dandelion, a local eatery in downtown Hendersonville, opened in 2013 and is exclusively staffed by women making a new start for themselves. While working at Dandelion, these interns are trained to re-enter the workforce by either working front or back of house. Dandelion has also been praised for their use of locally sourced fresh produce and baked goods. This partnership with Flat Rock Playhouse, overseen by Dandelion chef Anna Masteller, will be similar in terms of staffing and quality.

In addition to running the dining hall for Flat Rock Playhouse, Safelight will be managing the concession stands at both venues, providing delicious baked goods and treats to attending patrons.

"This partnership is one of the most exciting things to come together in my two years at the Playhouse, says Flat Rock Playhouse Director of Development Ashley Pirsig. Our patrons are going to be blown away by the delicious and creative concession stand offerings including signature cocktails, organic air-popped popcorn, even hot offerings like grits bowls and flat breads."

The concessions partnership with Safelight will take effect with the opening of Million Dollar Quartet at the Flat Rock Playhouse Mainstage on April 28th and run through the closing of A Celtic Christmas in December at the Playhouse Downtown.
Artists projection of how College Green Plaza would look

Plans to create a College Green Plaza and remove cars from the area could bring changes to as many as 40 bus routes.

Dublin Bus said between 30 and 40 routes would be affected if the plan went ahead, but added that everything would be done to minimise the impact on passengers.

Operations manager Donal Keating said that having looked at the options for College Green, he believed that those decided on by Dublin City Council (DCC) and the National Transport Authority (NTA) were "probably the best proposals".

"What Dublin Bus has been able to do is work around schemes and minimise the impact for customers," he said.

"There are pluses and minuses, but I think as the major public transport provider we have always shown ourselves to be flexible and able to work on schemes.

Consultation

"Overall, I think from a public transport point of view there are many merits to this plan."

Some areas such as Dawson Street may benefit more from changes to routes, said Mr Keating.

The council is undertaking a process of public consultation over proposed traffic management measures at College Green. It began yesterday and will continue until May 24.

If approved, the measures would remove all east-west traffic from College Green, improving safety for pedestrians and cyclists and the flow of public transport.

This would also allow for the creation of a civic plaza in College Green, from Church Lane to Lower Grafton Street, which it is hoped would become a major tourism attraction.

Green Party councillor Ciaran Cuffe, who chairs the council's Strategic Policy Committee on transport, welcomed the plans for the city centre.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reclaim a civic space in the heart of Dublin city," he said.

"I think it is visionary, necessary and achievable.

"It's very important to note that safety is a cornerstone of this scheme. It will improve the safety, in particular, of more vulnerable road users."

NTA chief Anne Graham was also positive.

"From the NTA's perspective, our main concern is the efficient movement of public transport, and we support this proposal," she said.

"We now ask people to put forward their views via the consultation process."

The project would cost several million euro, but the council said it will not have detailed costs until the final design is produced.

Under the new simplified plan, buses and trams would run north and south along Grafton Street Lower and through College Green, connecting to Westmoreland Street and College Street at the northern end and Nassau Street at the southern end.

A segregated cycle track would run between the Bank of Ireland and Trinity College.

Workable

Dublin Chamber of Commerce has said businesses will need more detail when members meet with the council later this week.

"More than 150 million public transport journeys are made annually into and out of Dublin city centre from across Dublin and the surrounding counties," said chamber chief Gina Quinn.

"The creation of a pedestrian plaza in College Green would be nice to have, but ultimately it is a by-product of what must be a workable transport solution."
The smashed-in door of the pub

These pictures show the extensive damage caused to a Dublin pub after a car was rammed through the front door.

Pub-goers were lucky to escape serious injury after a man drove the vehicle at the pub after being refused service on Sunday night.

Gardai believe the same individual was behind an attempted assault on a member of staff at another Dublin premises only minutes earlier.

The ramming incident happened at The Laurels pub in Clondalkin shortly after 8pm.

The pub was packed with regulars and families, and a number of people were leaving the building when the incident happened.

A man, believed to be aged in his late 20s, was reportedly refused service from the pub and proceeded to attack a number of staff members.

The man eventually left, but moments later he returned and rammed his silver-coloured hatchback car through the pub's front door.

He then reversed out of the car park and fled the scene.

A vehicle believed to be the one used in the incident was later found burnt out.

It is not yet known if the car was stolen.

Staff at the pub declined to comment when contacted by the Herald last night.

Gardai believe they know the identity of the culprit, and are in the process of collecting CCTV evidence.

A source said it was "pure luck" that nobody was seriously injured.

"This act was committed with absolute intent.

"Families with young children would have been leaving the pub at this time, and it is simply pure luck that nobody was seriously injured," said the source.

"Gardai have identified a chief suspect and are in the process of tracking down this individual."

The source added that the man is believed to be from the Clondalkin area, but was not known to staff at the pub.

A garda spokesman said the ramming was being treat- ed as a criminal damage incident.

Officers from Clondalkin Garda Station are investigating the incident, but so far no arrests have been made.

The same man is believed to have been thrown out of a Lucan pub only half-an-hour before he drove a car at The Laurels.

He entered the premises shortly before 7.30pm, and after being refused service he threw a glass at a member of staff.

After security staff dealt with the man, he proceeded to throw a brick at the pub.

Nobody was injured during the incident, and no serious damage was caused.

Alight

Last month, the Herald told how two men rammed a Transit van into the front door of a pub in Duleek, Co Meath.

The vehicle, which had a Northern Ireland registration number, was subsequently set alight.

There were at least a dozen people in the premises at the time, including a 15-month-old child and an elderly man with Parkinson's disease.

All managed to escape unharmed.
Gardai said the victim suffered head and leg injuries as well as bruising to his upper arm and a cut to the right eye. (Stock picture)

A motorist was hit by his own broken-down car after another driver struck the side of it, shunting it forward as he looked under the bonnet, a court heard.

Mechanic Graham Paul (46) said visibility was poor near the M50 at Dundrum at the time of the accident.

Judge John Lindsay fined him 300 but did not disqualify him.

Paul, with an address at Hillcrest Road, Sandyford, admitted before Dun Laoghaire District Court to careless driving and driving without insurance.

The incident happened at the R113 between junctions 13 and Dundrum on the M50 last May 17.

Gda Sgt Peadar McCann said a vehicle had broken down and was parked at the side of the road.

He said Paul's vehicle hit the right hand side of the stationary vehicle and shunted it forward, hitting the driver who was standing in front of his car and looking under the bonnet.

Sgt McCann said the victim suffered head and leg injuries as well as bruising to his upper arm and a cut to the right eye.

Recovery

He said the Dublin Fire Brigade was called and the victim was taken to St Vincent's Hospital for treatment.

Sgt McCann said Paul stayed at the scene to offer help to the injured party.

The sergeant said he admitted to gardai at the scene that he was not insured to drive at the time.

Sgt McCann said the victim has since made a full recovery from his injuries.

Defence solicitor Ronnie Lynam told the court that "visi- bility wasn't ideal" in the area at the time, but Paul realised the incident should not have happened.

Mr Lynam said the defendant previously had a successful business but had suffered a heart attack in 2011 and lost it.

He said his client is trying to get work again as a car mechanic and recently took out a lease on a small premises.

Mr Lynam said the defendant was moving the car from his home to Clondalkin at the time of the incident and realised he was not insured to drive the vehicle.

The solicitor asked Judge Lindsay not to put Paul, a separated father-of-one, off the road as he is trying to set himself up in business again.
Will high school cross country competition be different in 2023?

Proposal calls for elimination of one postseason race, leaving several options for new format and what that might mean for small schools
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On April 10, over a dozen women in pink saris protested outside Governor Droupadi Murmus palatial residence in Ranchi, Jharkhand.

The women, who call themselves the Gulabi Gang, were protesting for a total ban on liquor like the one in neighbouring Bihar.

But some were not impressed by the demand. Questioning the rationale behind it, Ratan Tirkey, a member of the states Tribal Advisory Council, said: Why ban? The rural people have their own way of life. Why should we follow other states?

On April 1, Bihar went dry. During his pre-election campaign, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had promised the women that alcohol would be banned. Gujarat, Nagaland and Manipur have banned alcohol. Other states such as Andhra Pradesh and Kerala have also experimented with partial bans.

READ | Bihar goes dry: Five things you must know about the liquor policy

With elections round the corner, Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa is also promising a ban in Tamil Nadu if she is re-elected.

READ | Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa promises phased prohibition if re-elected

But prohibition has not always met with success. In the past, bans have led to the rise of a black market trade in alcohol like it has happened in Ahmedabad and Kohima. Loss of livelihood is also an issue.

And, sometimes, one states loss turns out to anothers good fortune: Towns which are just located outside Bihar such as Dalkhola in the North Dinajpur district of West Bengal is reaping the benefits of the ban in Bihar.

READ | Cheers! Dalkhola in Bengal celebrates booze ban in Bihar

PROHIBITION, A HALF MEASURE

However, prohibition will be a half measure to tackle the problem of violence against women unless government wants to tackle other related issues.

A first-of-its kind analytical study on alcohol and violence against women (VAW) done by International Center for Research on Women, a global research institute, and commissioned by IPE Global, an international development consulting firm, has concluded that though not all types of alcohol consumption are linked to VAW, heavy and frequent alcohol consumption definitely is and must be made a part of policy frameworks that look at alcohol treatment, de-addiction and prevention.

The review of evidence also showed that structural policy level changes in alcohol policies have an impact on decreasing alcohol consumption and reducing rates of violence.

SOME QUICK TAKEAWAYS

First, India must have a national policy/regulatory framework. At present, alcohol policy is a state subject. Consequently, systemic loopholes exist that impede implementation. For example, in Maharashtra the minimum age of drinking is 25 where as in Goa it is 18, thus keeping alcohol accessible.

Second, the role of alcohol must be recognized by law.

For example, in the US, if alcohol is found to be a prominent trigger in violence against women, the court mandates treatment of the perpetrator on mental health issues as well as alcohol treatment. Completion of such treatment is made mandatory by the law. Additionally, at the ground level, many mental health and de-addiction treatment services coordinate with each other to address the issue of violence jointly.

Third, bring binge drinking and habitual drinkers into the ambit of mainstream de-addiction and alcohol treatment programmes. The government must draft suitable guidelines and treatment protocols and strengthen the scale-up for screening of alcohol consumption.

Fourth, the State must generate reliable secondary data sources on various facets of alcohol consumption: These data sets can include sale and consumption patterns of alcohol by undertaking better cost analyses of alcohol and VAW. This evidence will help present an argument that demonstrates revenue generated by sales of alcohol vis-a vis cost to women and families in terms of VAW, allied health and economic costs.

In India, where knee-jerk and populist reactions have become the normal political response to any problem, not many governments are interested to address the issue holistically. They are more happy to allow a parallel black market than tackle the issue head-on and holistically. It seems alls well as long as its behind the scenes.

Read | The Full Study

(The views expressed by the writer are personal. She tweets as @kumkumdasgupta)

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The Justice Vishnu Sahai Commission, which probed the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, has excoriated the police and social media but exculpated the state government. It raised questions about the utility of commissions to arrive at the truth. It held the disinformation campaign on social media responsible for fanning communal frenzy and observed that the BJP MLA Sangeet Som uploaded on YouTube an old video clip of the Pakistani Taliban to allege that two Hindu youths were brutally killed. Notwithstanding social medias capacity to create mischief and the need to restrain it, the clean chit given to the state government and all senior officials is baffling.

Read | Judiciary facing crisis of credibility, Bar uncooperative: CJI Thakur

Justice Sahai identified 14 causes for the communal riots but he has not indicted any ruling party leader or senior police officer, much less the chief minister or the state government. Whose duty is it to control law and order? The Justice RN Misra Commission, constituted to inquire into the massacres of Sikhs after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, exonerated the Union government and the Congress leaders. Justice Misra, then a sitting judge of the Supreme Court, departed from the well-established tradition of conducting proceedings in the open and decided to do it in camera arguing that the victims would be able to depose fearlessly as their identities would remain secret. He allowed a battery of lawyers who were anti-victims to bolster the proposition that it was not a pogrom but a spontaneous reaction to Mrs Gandhis murder and earlier killings of Hindus in Punjab.

Read | Transparency worries: Judges ditch cases midway without giving reasons

Misra became the Chief Justice of India, and after retirement, the first chairman of the National Human Rights Commission. Later he went to become a member of Rajya Sabha as a Congress candidate. George H. Gadbois, Jr, wrote, India is a land of commissions  a commission culture was the term used by one Chief Justice of India. Commissions are a highly institutionalized tradition, a deeply ingrained feature of the political culture. The British made occasional use of judge-staffed commissions, but after Independence they have exploded in number. At any time dozens are functioning, providing many job opportunities for retired Supreme Court of India and high court judgesNot all commissions are established for noble purposes. Retired judges have acknowledged that some they headed were politically motivated, witch-hunts aimed at harassing political rivals.

Read | Not just JNU: With lawyers acting as goons, time for SC to step in

While it should be noted that there are many former chief justices who did not accept any post-retirement assignments from the government, finance minister Arun Jaitley has found it necessary to spell out the position that there is a need to regulate the conduct of judges as pre-retirement judgments are influenced by post-retirement prospects. But it is not specific to one party or one government. There is a need to impose a total ban on any post-retirement jobs for judges. This was proposed in the Constituent Assembly by Professor KT Shah who wanted to introduce a new article 193-A for imposing such a ban. However, the proposal was defeated. The first Law Commission, headed by MC Setalvad, recommended that judges of the higher judiciary should not accept any government job after retirement. Judges of the higher judiciary must not forget that their conduct even post-retirement is crucial to preserve peoples faith in the judiciary.

Sudhanshu Ranjan is a senior TV journalist and columnist. The views expressed are personal
From the rubble of two world wars, European countries came together to launch what would become the worlds largest experiment in unification and cooperative, shared sovereignty. But, despite its impressive achievements over the decades, the European project now risks disintegration.

An unresolved financial crisis, a refugee crisis, a deteriorating security environment, and a stalled integration process have created throughout Europe a toxic, unstable political environment in which populism and nationalism thrive. Perhaps the clearest manifestation of this is the erosion of the rule of law in the European Union.

Two EU members in particular, Hungary and Poland, are now jeopardising hard-won European democratic norms  and thus undermining the very purpose of European integration.

In Hungary, liberal-democratic values have come under systematic attack from Prime Minister Viktor Orbans government. Since his return to the premiership in 2010, Orban has committed Hungary to an authoritarian nationalist path, and he has exploited the refugee crisis to cement a siege mentality that helps him sustain popular support.

In the process, fundamental rights have been ignored, media freedom has been curbed, refugees have been demonised, and Orban is doing everything in his power to weaken the EU. Attempts by EU institutions to convince Orban to change course have only emboldened him to commit further outrages against democratic norms.

Read | Migrant crisis: EU unveils fresh plans to reform asylum policy

Meanwhile, a democratic crisis has emerged in Poland as well, starting last October, when the Law and Justice (PiS), a Euroskeptic party that also opposes immigration, secured an outright parliamentary majority by promising to implement populist economic policies and put Poland first. Yet, since the election, PiS has launched a series of attacks on the Polish constitution itself.

Government legislation aimed at reforming Polands Constitutional Court has been condemned by the Court itself and the European democracy watchdog, the Venice Commission. The government has effectively precluded the Court from ruling on the constitutionality of legislation. This weakens a key pillar of the democratic rule of law  and thus is highly problematic for Poland and Europe alike.

Hungary and Poland are the leading edge of a far-right agenda that has taken hold throughout Europe, pursued by parties that are exploiting the political vacuum created by the EUs failure to address the financial and refugee crises. So how can the tables be turned?

In democratic countries, it is vital that democracys enemies be fought with democratic means. It is vital that the outside world impress on the Hungarian and Polish people themselves that in a globalised world, nationalism offers only false security and economic irrelevance. Both countries, at the heart of Europe, have profited enormously in every sense from EU membership; they must not throw away their opportunity to make further progress.

Read | Greece counts down to first Turkey migrant returns under EU deal

Hungarians and Poles rejected international isolation in 1989. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, both countries became staunch Nato allies even before they joined the EU. The geopolitical and security arguments for European unity are overwhelming, and there can be no united Europe without Hungary and Poland.

But all of us, and in particular the peoples of Hungary and Poland, must remember that Nato, like the EU, was founded on the fundamental principles of democracy, individual liberty, and the rule of law. A government that flouts those principles jeopardises the coherence and solidarity of the alliance. It is therefore vital that the United States and other Nato allies speak out now and insist that functioning democratic checks and balances are safeguarded. It would be unimaginable for Nato heads of state to go ahead with their planned leadership summit in Warsaw in June if Poland remains in its constitutional crisis, with the government disregarding the rule of law and the opinion of a respected international body.

Hungarians and Poles must be reminded that Russian President Vladimir Putin is actively attempting to divide and weaken the EU and Nato. If Europe is to face down aggression from the Kremlin, it is essential that Poland and Hungary adhere to these groups fundamental values and principles.

But it is also necessary that the EU itself develop a more comprehensive mechanism for safeguarding the rule of law within the Union. The EU has mechanisms to regulate economic policies, safeguard the environment, and police the Single Market. But Europe has always been much more than an economic project; it is also a union of values, which no member can be allowed to repudiate without consequence.

Governments are created and fall apart, and politicians come and go; but democratic institutions should be spared from political interference. The sad reality is that, were they to apply for EU membership today, neither Hungary nor Poland would be admitted. Their people should weigh carefully what that means. Their current leaders claim to be defending national interests. But is it really in their countries interest to be sidelined by the US, Nato, and the rest of Europe?

Guy Verhofstadt, a former Belgian prime minister, is President of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group (ALDE) in the European Parliament

Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2016.

www.project-syndicate.org
Examination season is stressful for both students and their families, and the stakes could hardly be higher. Within the next decade, India will be home to the worlds largest pool of human resources. How can India make the most of this opportunity?

In todays global marketplace, where the demand for skills of greater complexity is on the rise, a good secondary education is a necessity. While earlier eight years of education might have been enough, now the minimum is 10 years. Today, however, less than half of Indias 15-year-olds  just 44%  complete Class 10.

If India is to build a globally competitive workforce, a larger share of its children must finish secondary education. Moreover, the emphasis on girls education should be maintained at the secondary level. India can certainly achieve this. Since 2001, it has brought record numbers of children into primary schools. And, in the last six years, some 10 million more have been enrolled in secondary education, with gender parity being achieved at both the primary and secondary level.

Read | Education dept plans to upgrade primary schools to high schools

By 2017 the number of primary age children is expected to fall by 9 million, from 197 million now. As this happens, some resources can be shifted to the secondary level.

But while money can help upgrade infrastructure, imparting quality education will call for sustained effort. China, for example, has increased enrolment while also improving quality of education. Its success can be attributed to education reforms that transformed pedagogy and focused classroom activities on problem solving.

If India is to ramp up the quality of secondary education, its teachers will need to be trained to teach for the 21st century. Teaching methods will need to be upgraded and embedded within the system, and multimedia aids to learning be used to supplement classroom instruction. Board examinations and school assessments will need to move in tandem and assess students on their problem-solving skills, going far beyond todays emphasis on testing their knowledge of the curriculum.

Read | Jharkhand schoolgirl protests marriage, invokes law against parents

All schools will need to be staffed with an adequate number of teachers. Today, less than one in five secondary schools have teachers who can teach the core subjects of languages, mathematics, science and social science.

To raise the standards some states will need more support than others. Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are home to almost one-third of Indias secondary age population, but less than half of them are in school, compared with almost two-thirds in Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh.

Building a nations human resources takes time, because unlike infrastructure which can come up quickly, human development calls for a lifetime of investments in health, nutrition and education. There is no time to lose as an educated, skilled, and talented population can be a countrys strongest asset in a rapidly changing world.

Onno Ruhl is World Bank country director for India and Toby Linden is lead education specialist, World Bank, New Delhi

The views expressed are personal
To underline that in the supercar world, the Lamborghini Miura is considered an artistic masterpiece, Automobili Lamborghini is hosting a special exhibition by artist Alfonso Borghi made up entirely of works inspired by the car.

Velocita e Colore (or Speed and Color) will open to the public at the Lamborghini museum in Sant Agata Bolognese, Italy on April 28. The 10 works on 200x150cm and 180x180cm canvases explore some of the more subtle details of Lamborghini design language past and present in a style described as an unconscious revision of dynamic shapes and one that incorporates strong interplays of color and three-dimensional effects.

The encounter of art and automotive legend is a winning combination, said Lamborghini CEO Stefano Domenicali. With this exhibit, we wish to pay tribute to the richness of our heritage and to the 50th Anniversary of the Miura. We also intended to try out new means of expressing our culture and new approaches to its enhancement.

The exhibition, which runs until June 30 is just one of a number of special high-profile events the company has organized to celebrate the Miuras 50th anniversary.

Read: Montegrappa pen, Steinways speakers, Lamborghini phones... luxury auction woos Indias wealthy

In March at the annual Amelia Island Concours dElegance, the company unveiled the original, completely restored SV specification Miura that made its debut at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show. The same car along with cutaway models and restored V12 Miura engines will also take pride of place at this weeks Techno-Classica vehicle show in Essen, Germany.

Celebrations will culminate in June with a huge traveling party for all current Miura owners which will see the cars being driven from Bologna to Florence via Parma.

Unveiled to an unsuspecting public in 1966, the Miura was the supercar movements Genesis moment. The first car with a transversely mounted V12 engine positioned between the front seats and rear axle, it was as technologically advanced as it was aesthetically desirable. Styled by design legend Marcello Gandini when he was still at Bertone, and standing just 105cm tall, the Miura had a top speed of 280km/h, making it the fastest car in the world when it went on sale.

Just 763 examples were built between 1966 and 1972 when it was replaced by the Countach, and famous owners include Frank Sinatra, Rod Stewart, Johnny Hallyday, the Prince of Monaco and original supermodel, Twiggy.

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The Election Commission of India (ECI) removed Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar on Tuesday after allegations of working at the behest of the Trinamool Congress, embarrassing West Bengals Trinamool Congress at a time the assembly elections are underway.

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 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.

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.

We have implemented the ECI directives soon after we received it today (Tuesday), said a senior bureaucrat at the state secretariat Nabanna.

The ECI move is unprecedented in Bengal. For the first time a police commissioner is removed from his post on charge of his bias role relating to elections, he added.

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.

CPI(M) MP and politburo member Md Salim said Kumars removal was a good decision.

EC has taken the right decision by removing Rajeev Kumar who is close to the chief minister. Free and fair elections were not possible under him, said BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha.

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 Bengal, is in an alliance with the Congress.
Bollywood actors such as Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone have recently bagged plum projects in Hollywood, however Ajay Devgn says that he is yet to find good work in the West. I have got many offers, but nothing that I would like to do. In the future, if I get good work, I will take it up. I am always on the lookout for good work, so if I get offered anything worth my while, why not?, says the 47-year-old actor.

Trying to overcome my fear of heights, do you guys think this will help?? pic.twitter.com/gSGJNuD73V  Ajay Devgn (@ajaydevgn) December 26, 2015

More than happy with how his career is going in Bollywood, Ajay, who is shooting for his production Shivaay, is confident that the film will recover money. We can recover the amount we have spent. We are making it (the film) in a different way. The hard work which we put into the film and the way we have shot it, is unique. Its a drama, but planned on a large scale, he says.

Cranes and more Cranes! NASA operation, UFO landed, Construction Site...NO! It's our film Shoot! SHIVAAY! pic.twitter.com/cBmEexMzbd  Ajay Devgn (@ajaydevgn) December 19, 2015

Talking about how he planned the film, he says, Instead of roping in people who would charge high prices to be in the film, we have used the money in making a better film. This is why the price of shooting the film has increased, he adds.

Shivaay first look: Ajay Devgn gives us a cliffhanger

The previous schedule was shot in Bulgaria and Ajay is happy with the results. We shot in -20 degrees. I want to thank my unit for going through the hardship with me. I didnt meet my family for two-and-a-half months, but they visited the sets in the last days, he says.

Read: Ajay Devgn: One of the most underrated Bollywood superstars

Ajay has been in the industry for more than two decades, but a new film still makes him nervous. There is a little bit of nervousness while shooting, which pushes you to do better. You question yourself, with every shot, if you would be able to pull this off. During the release, I think you are anxious and not nervous. You want to know if people will like it, he says.

However, the years in the industry has taught him to choose his projects well. You grow with the times. Many films which I did, I would not do now. The audiences are changing and this changes your mindset too, he says.

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Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who will be soon sharing the screen space with Pakistani actress Mahira Khan in Raees, recently, revealed that he is missing the actress.

The 50-year-old actor said in an interview, First Ill talk professionally. Mahira is a really fine actor. And shes very different. Shes very quiet. A Hindi film is a world in itself and shes fortunate to have come in a film like Raees, which is still a little more realistic than the likes of Dilwale or Happy New Year, reports the Express Tribune.

Watch: Shah Rukh Khan in Raees teaser

Revealing that Mahira brought chappals for him from Pakistan, the Fan star said she is such a big star, but shes very unassuming on the set and shes ready to adapt to the situation, which is very interesting.

Raees, which was earlier supposed to hit cinemas on Eid, will now be released a few weeks later.

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Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd said on Tuesday it agreed to buy a controlling stake in online retailer Lazada for about 1 billion dollar to expand its platform into Southeast Asia.

Alibaba would invest about $500 million in newly issued Lazada shares and acquire shares from shareholders of the company for a total of about $1 billion.

Lazada operates in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. In a separate announcement, Britains biggest supermarket operator Tesco Plc said it agreed to sell an 8.6% stake in Lazada to Alibaba for $129 million.
When Satish Cadabom recently brought a pair of Korean Dosa Mastiff pups, it hit the headlines  for the Rs 2 crore he shelled out for them. He spends another Rs 30,000 a month on food and care. Expensive breeds are in high demand, said Satish, who has been a dog breeder for 20 years, adding that the demand for pets is on the rise.

Statistics agree. A study by Euromonitor International says the Indian pet-care market, at Rs 1,394 crore, has more than doubled from Rs 538 crore in 2011. The growth between 2014 and 2015 itself was about 26%.

But what is more interesting is the growth in e-commerce in the pets and pet-accessories business. Though it currently accounts for less than 1% of dog food value sales, digital sales are on the verge of an explosion, industry sources said.

A pet is a like kid. People love to show them off, said Rana Atheya of Dogspot.in, an online portal, which in January raised investment from Ratan Tata. Pet population is growing at 25%, and most of the companies are also witnessing 30% to 35% growth.

The Indian market is still less than half of the size of that of Portugal, said Damian Shore, analyst at the Euromonitor. The international market was worth about Rs 6.7 lakh crore in 2015, but it grew only about 3.5% between 2011 and 2015. With a strong economy and attitudes to pets changing fast, this explosive growth is set to continue.

According to Binny Pappachan of Petcart, an online platform, the consumer engagement is highly important in this segment, compared to other e-commerce platforms. About half of the customers call us back due to our expertise, he says. The company has also opened a physical store in Bangalore.

Dheraj Gambhir of Petsworld says there is a trend of humanisation of pets. People love buying cloths, and other accessories for pets. For instance, we sold more than 7,000 dog beds last year, compared to about 1,000 in 2014.

Awareness is a challenge: it is easy for a disgruntled customer to spoil the image of a company on social media after to a poor experience.

So companies are spending a lot of attention and time, using blogs and other means, to spread awareness about their products, aspects of pet-care like buying the right breed, giving right food and animal health issues.

Atheya of Dogspot.in says the company focuses on community building and customer engagement than marketing and advertising.
With an aim to reduce inspector raj, excise inspectors will soon double up as food inspectors. In a first of its kind decision aimed to reduce bureaucratic intervention , FSSAI has asked state chief secretaries to empower excise commissioners to also hold powers of food inspectors. However, initially the idea will be applicable over alcoholic drinks category, a segment that sees high instances of adulteration.

Pawan Agarwal, CEO, FSSAI in his letter dated April 8, has asked states, to delegate powers of a food safety officer to excise commissioners which will reduce the number of inspection trips from various officials. Confirming the development to HT, Agarwal said, This is not only going to reduce the inspector raj at the ground level but it will also help us to keep a close watch at the retail outlets more frequently.

The step is also aimed at bringing synergies in the functioning of both departments and to avoid duplication of work.

The removal of one layer of inspection will be a big relief for retailers, otherwise bothered by several rounds of inspections.

However, it doesnt mean that safety standards will be compromised. Before giving the dual charge the inspectors qualification will be checked, said FSSAI chief.

The notification of excise inspectors as food safety officers would be contingent on their possessing the educational qualifications. They would continue to work as excise inspectors for their work to implement the excise policy and be responsible to the office of Excise commissioner of state, said the letter written by Pawan Agarwal, CEO, FSSAI. Copy of letter is available is with HT.

A food safety officer is responsible for verifying valid licenses of alcohol retailers and testing samples for ensuring safety standards are maintained. Whereas, an excise inspector has the duty to keep a check on the stocks maintained by the seller and to check tax compliance.

According to NSSOs 2011-12 consumption data, splits per capita weekly consumption of alcohol into four categories  toddy, country liquor, beer and foreign/ refined liquor or wine. The average rural Indian consumes 220 ml of drinks across types of alcohol in a week, or 11.4 litres in a year. Toddy is the most popular drink for rural India followed by country liquor. The average urban Indian, meanwhile, drinks 96 ml per week or 5 litres in a year, country liquor being most popular.
Budget carrier AirAsias India operations appear to be remote controlled from overseas with even routine decisions such as fares and in-flight food menu decided at the airlines global headquarters in Malaysia.

This has raised questions whether the airline has broken rules by giving away effective control to its foreign partner.

AirAsia India (AAI), which started operations two years ago, is a joint venture between Malaysia-based Air Asia and Indias Tata Group.

Documents in HTs possession show that AAI needs permission from Malaysia even for regular decisions such as on-board services, ticket pricing and branding.

AAI shall observe and comply strictly with the following operating requirements which are to be determined in AirAsias sole discretion: ancillary, branding, catering and in-flight services, engineering, finance, flight operations, marketing, network planning....., said the Brand License Agreement signed in 2013 between AAI and its Malaysian parent AirAsia Bhd.

Laws require that the local partner effectively control the airlines in India. The Tata Group and AirAsia Bhd own 49% stake each in AAI. Two board members hold 2%.

According to the agreement AAI cannot enter into negotiations with any vendor for any system of equipment without prior approval from its global headquarters.

AAI did not offer comments for the story.

A Tata Sons spokesperson said that AAI has not broken any rules.

Majority ownership and effective control are with Indian parties, the spokesperson said in an e-mailed statement.

Further, all the important decisions concerning the day-to-day operations of the airline are taken by the management team of the airline under the overall supervision, control, and direction of the board of directors (which include a majority of Indian nationals).

According to the agreement, AAI can offer services such as excess baggage and duty-free only if the Malaysian parent approves.

Managers appointments in AAI also need the headquarters approval. Contracts with oil vendors to buy jet fuel in India are also approved from Malaysia.

Any and all artwork representing the AirAsia brand shall be approved by AAG. AAI shall establish such promotions, advertising and publicity budget templates as are approved by AirAsia. AAI shall establish an internal reporting system as approved by AirAsia, said the agreement.

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In 1987, when the Maharashtra government published BR Ambedkars complete works on his birth centenary, the Shiv Sena made a major issue of a chapter in a volume titled Riddles of Hinduism. Ambedkar had questioned how Lord Rama could be Maryada Purushottam when he (Lord Rama) had toed the line of the Brahmanical order and agreed to destroy the tapasya (meditation) of a lower-caste man. Ambedkar had also questioned how Dronacharya, in the Mahabharata, could ask for Eklavyas thumb in the form of guru dakshina.

The Sena held agitations but then Bal Thackeray took fright when he saw Ambedkars followers unite and rise as a formidable force. That was the only occasion when I saw them sink their differences and come together. That year the Dalit groups demonstrated what they were really capable of  and that shut Thackeray up effectively. He then chose to come to a compromise with the government. Riddles could be published but as an appendix. The government agreed with alacrity.

READ: Maha govt to decide on Ambedkar statue height by next week

Now the Shiv Sena and Raj Thackeray are making noises over another view of Ambedkar without quite understanding its import. While the RSS, if not the BJP, is quoting Ambedkar on the division of Maharashtra, no one is sure how his followers might now react to a public avowal of or opposition to Ambedkars views on the issue. During the states reorganisation, when Bombay State was formed in 1956 out of parts of todays Maharashtra and Gujarat, Ambedkar had described it as a monster state. Jawaharlal Nehru had asked both the Gujaratis and Maharashtrians to try out the experiment but in a few years the leaders of both these communities had decided there would be no justice to either in a mixed state. That was something that even Ambedkar had cautioned against but then he went ahead and advocated that four states be carved out of Maharashtra  Bombay as a city state or union territory; Deccan, comprising parts of Western Maharashtra today; Central Maharashtra (Marathwada); and Eastern Maharashtra (Vidarbha). Since the debate then was about linguistic states, Ambedkar had said it was not necessary to have one state for one language. Rather one language for one state, he said.

But now, 60 years later, the situation is such that if these four states are indeed carved out of Maharashtra, as MG Vaidya of the RSS advocates, where will it leave Marathi? Vidarbha will slip back into a Hindi-speaking region, Marathwada will return to the Dakhani of old as it was under the Nizamshahi dynasty of Hyderabad. Bombay has a majority of non-Marathi-speaking people, notably Gujaratis and Hindi-speaking Uttar Bharatiyas. Only Western Maharashtra will remain Marathi-speaking. I am not surprised, then, that both Uddhav and Raj Thackeray have seen this impending danger. But what are they doing about it?

READ: Maharashtra not your birthday cake, Raj roars

Raj has merely threatened RSS leaders with dire consequences if they dare to divide the state. Uddhav has been content with pointing out that the move is aimed at reducing the influence and power of the Marathi-speaking people, 106 of whom died in the 1950s for a unified Maharashtra.

There is a feeling among Shiv Sainiks that their party must break with the government now on this issue to keep their Marathi asmita ethos alive. That might lead to a mid-term assembly poll, whose beneficiary could be only the Shiv Sena.

READ: What is going on between BJP and Shiv Sena?

But does Uddhav have the courage to upset the apple cart? Even his supporters have doubts.

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The nine disqualified Congress legislators urged the Uttarakhand high court on Monday to stay their disqualification from the assembly, saying the Election Commission will declare their seats vacant and will conduct elections which would leave their plea infructuous.

Even if we succeed in our endeavour then nothing would come out of it and this would only become an academic case, said their counsel CA Sundaram.

The argument was made before the single bench of judge UC Dhyani, who is hearing their plea against disqualification by Speaker Govind Singh Kunwal.

Sundaram said if the order is not stayed, then the Election Commission would declare the seats as vacant and order elections.

After hearing arguments of the counsels of the rebel MLAs, the judge said the hearing would continue on Tuesday.

Sundaram said on March 18 a memo signed by the MLAs of the BJP and the nine Congress MLAs said the Harish Rawat government should be dismissed since he has lost the support of the people.

The counsel pointed out that in the Ravi Nayak case of Goa and the Jagjit Singh case, the MLAs had left the party on their own. Announcements had been made by the MLAs that they were leaving the party and joining another, which strengthened the case for their disqualification.

The matter had gone to the division bench and the SC ruling said when a MLA expresses his no confidence in the CM, then the CM has to prove majority. It is clear that the act of no confidence in the leadership does not amount to a MLA leaving the party, the court had said.

The judge had also observed that deserting the leader and deserting the government is not synonymous with deserting the party and that dissent was not defection.

Representing the disqualified Congress MLAs, counsel Dinesh Dwivedi said the speaker has said the Presidential proclamation was not brought to his notice that is why he disqualified the nine Congress MLAs after the proclamation, which was not justified.

Kapil Sibal, the counsel for the speaker, did not get a chance to put forth his arguments on Monday.
Fill, a 33-year-old Nigerian, is cooling his heels in Tihar Jail under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

With his arrest, Delhi Police have heaved a sigh of relief as the kingpin was heading a well-organised drug racket that used to supply high quality cocaine at Delhis plush pubs and bars.

Fill, alias Steve (who uses only one name), was nabbed on a tip-off on April 2 from Rajendra Nagar in central Delhi, where he had gone to supply 54 gram of pure cocaine to one of his well-heeled clients.

The drug was worth between Rs.10 lakh and Rs.50 lakh, depending on negotiation, and would have fetched at least Rs 54 lakh in the international market.

Joint commissioner of police (Crime Branch) Ravindra Yadav told IANS that Fill was the kingpin of the drug racket, which was running in Delhi since 2009. The racket had a network of suppliers, comprising youngsters, who did dealings with clients.

Top Delhi Police sources told IANS they are close to capturing the other members of the gang.

The drugs business, though, was apparently not in Fills scheme of things when he landed in India in 2008.

According to what he has told police, he had come here to start a business venture in readymade garments. However, Fill was cheated by a fellow countryman of all his money -- leaving him penniless, which forced him to take up the drug peddling business.

Fill is lodged in Tihar Jail on charges of possessing, purchasing, selling, storing and transporting contraband drugs in the national capital.

After he was cheated of his money, Fill told police, he had to beg to fulfil his daily needs, and later started providing consultancy to Nigerian visitors about Delhi.

Thereafter, he came in contact with another Nigerian named KC, a supplier of cocaine in Delhi, in the beginning of 2009 and joined his gang, Yadav said.

The officer said that Fill started selling cocaine to Indian customers along with KC in south Delhi pubs and bars.

Later in 2011 or 2012, KC was caught by police and deported to Nigeria. But Fill continued to evade the police. His illegal cocaine business was thriving. He used different mobile phone numbers for his cocaine business, the officer said.

Fill used to sell one pudia (one gram) of cocaine for between Rs.15,000-Rs.1 lakh, depending on the demand and time of day. The rates would go up as the evening advanced.

A crime branch team of ACP Ranbir Singh, inspector Devender and his team, led by DCP MA Rizvi arrested Fill from Rajendra Nagar on a tip-off on April 2.
Ajay Chikara, 19, is Delhi Transport Corporations (DTC) youngest employee. A junior clerk at the corporations Rohini Sector 3 depot, his colleagues are twice or thrice his age. They call him beta (son) and often tease him about his age.

But it wasnt meant to be like this.

A moment of rage changed everything in his life.

On May 10 last year, Ajays father Ashok Kumar -- a DTC bus driver -- was beaten to death by a woman and her son in west Delhis Mundka village after his bus grazed past their motorcycle.

It was a moment of madness in which Ajay lost his father and with him all his dreams.

The phone call

Ajay was at the gates of Jeevan Jyoti Hospital in Nangloi when he got a phone call from his uncle  a conversation he will never forget. His mother Rakesh was admitted just five days ago for stomach infection. She was to be discharged that afternoon. The previous night, Ajay had asked his father money to pay hospital bills. That was the last time they had talked.

Ashok Kumar, a DTC bus driver, was beaten to death in west Delhi after his bus grazed past a motorcycle on May 10 last year. (Virendra Singh Gosain/HT Photo)

My father had returned from work. After taking the money, I stayed the night beside my mother. In the morning when I was leaving the hospital, my phone rang. It was my uncle. He told me papa had been killed.

Life at DTC

Ajay wanted to be a postmaster, a job that fascinated him since childhood. We depended on our fathers money so after his death, I quit studies and started working part-time as a security guard. Later, DTC offered me a job on compassionate grounds, he said.

Read more:Tragedy revisited: A family devastated in a moment of rage

When Ajay was asked to select his workplace, the choice was clear. He chose the Rohini Sector 3 depot, where his father reported for work every morning.

At the general office, he helps his colleagues draft papers for contractual employees and prepares RTI replies.

Everyone knows my father here. My colleagues were his friends. When I am stuck with any paperwork, they help me. They say they see my father in me.

Satish Kumar, who sits next to Ajay, had joined DTC in 1983, 13 years before he was born, and was friends with his father. Kumar helps Ajay handle paperwork.

He is a good boy. He is always smiling. He must be missing his father but doesnt speak about it, Kumar said.

Delhi Transport Corporation officials protest after Ashok Kumar was beaten to death. (Sonu Mehta/HT File Photo)

Kumar and Ajay are now friends and have lunch together.

Family left their ancestral village

In August last year, four months after his fathers death, the family shifted to Sonipat from their ancestral home in Bahadurgarh when Ajay got a job in DTC.

There was no one to look after his mother Rakesh. Ajay is out the whole day and returns home in the evening. Initially his father and he would look after her. After the incident, they shifted to my house, Ajays uncle Sahab Singh said.

Rakesh is bedridden since 2003 after suffering a hip displacement.

Unfulfilled promises

Ajays sister Varsha, 18, was studying at SRM University near Sonipat till September last year. After her fathers death, she quit studies.

After the incident many politicians offered help. Mundka MLA Sukhbir Dalal and Rakhi Birlan promised to fund Varshas education and her wedding. I have a copy of their speech. The money never came and their promises vanished like them, said Singh.

Studying at the depot

Ajay had cancelled the interview with HT the first day. Minutes before the team reached the bus depot, he called, saying he came to know that his history examination was scheduled that day.

Read more: Road rage: Only exemplary punishment can cure Delhis power driving trip

My friend told me I have my history exam today. I have to rush, Ajay said over the phone.

The next day, he apologised and admitted he did not know about his examination. I am doing my graduation from the Open School but I hardly get time to study. My friends tell me about the exam dates and help me with study material. I hope to be a graduate so that I am considered for promotion, he said.

His day starts at 6 in the morning. By 7, he starts from his village in Sonipat and takes a bus for a two-hour ride to his office. I plan to get my books here and study during exams but I get little time. By the time I reach home it is 8.30-9 pm, Ajay said.

Piece of advice

Last month, while returning home, his car collided with a car near Swaroop Nagar in North Delhi. It brought back memories of his father and what might have happened that day.

I stepped out of the car, so did the other person. He quickly apologised. There were dents in both our cars. We told each other that the cars were insured and moved on with our lives, he said.

Ajay says he knows the price his family had to pay for a few seconds of rage.

Read more: Living on the edge: Heres why you are seeing more aggression on roads

A year after the incident, Ajay is a changed man -- more responsible as he likes to describe himself. He has no grudge against the woman and her son who are out on bail.

The law will punish them someday.

He has a piece of advice, though. Yes, my life has changed but so has theirs. I am sure the woman and her son regret what they did. What good did their rage serve?

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New Delhi residents facing water shortage on Tuesday criticised chief minister Arvind Kejriwals move to send 10 lakh litres of water to the drought-hit Latur per day for two months.

Ashok Bhasin, president of the North Delhi Resident Welfare Association Federation, said Kejriwal should first provide water to city residents, before supplying it elsewhere.

Over 40% of Delhi residents are hit by the water crisis in different parts of the city. In such a scenario, how can the CM plan to send so much water to Latur. We ourselves our getting help from Punjab and Haryana to meet our daily water demands, said Bhasin. He has written to the chief minister, the Prime Minister, the President and the lieutenant-governor.

It is surprising that the chief minister is ignoring the rights of Delhi residents and fulfilling the demands of other states. Water for Latur is a good initiative. But first take care of the people, who elected you as chief minister, said Bhasin.

Anil Chatrath, general secretary of the RWA of pocket A of phase II in Mayur Vihar, said, It is our right to get clean drinking water. From getting water throughout the day to getting it for an hour a day, the situation is grim. The water quality is also poor. Not everyone can afford to buy an RO or drinking water, said Chatrath.

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The Delhi Police have denied inaction in the Patiala House Court violence and say they handled the episode very tactfully and in a professional manner.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had asked the police to respond to allegations that they remained mute spectators when JNU students union president Kanahaiya Kumar and media persons were beaten up inside the court complex on February 15.

The allegations of alleged inaction, dereliction of duty, and negligence by police are denied. The situation at Patiala House Court was handled very tactfully and in a professional manner by the officers present there. Cases have been registered, guilty  including the lawyers and OP Sharma MLA  have been arrested, says the March 1 letter sent by Delhi Police to the commission.

The NHRC had asked the Delhi Police commissioner, secretary, ministry of home affairs and Delhi chief secretary to prepare and submit a report on the matter. The report filed by the Delhi Police was forwarded to the complainant Shehzad Poonawala, founder Policy Samvad.

Also read: Was JNUSU president Kanhaiya beaten? 3 reports, different results

The violence in the court complex had drawn severe criticism. The lawyers had beaten up Kumar and media persons for allegedly supporting anti-national activities.

Kumar was earlier arrested by the police for allegedly shouting anti-India slogans inside the JNU campus at an event to mark the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

The Delhi Police report said that the police took all necessary actions. An argument took place between the lawyers and the lady teachers. The police immediately intervened and separated the two groups and the lady teachers were safely escorted out of the court room and the court premises, the police report says.

The police prevented escalation of violence between lawyers and other groups by separating them and by closing the gate, it said.
New Delhi:

The Delhi University has invited comments from teachers and students to take a final decision on changes to the Choice-Based Credit System (CBCS) grading system.

Students protested against CBCS saying the new marking system does not take individual performances into account and grades are awarded on the basis of the average score of the class resulting in mass failure.

The university had constituted a committee to look into issues related to examination under CBCS. The committee suggested minor variations in the formula for calculation of letter grade and numerical grade.

All concerned are advised to look at the proposed changes and send their comments, if any, to dsw@du.ac.in up to 15 April, 2016. The committee will consider the suggestions received and take final decision on the proposed changes after due deliberations, the university said in a statement on Monday.

The proposed changes have been put up on the DU website, www.du.ac.in, under Notification titled CBCS Grading System.

After the first semester results, it was found that under the relative grading system introduced in undergraduate courses, students will have to score more than 100% marks to get the top O (outstanding) grade in some subjects.

Under CBCS, students are marked by relative grading system in which students grades are dependent on their performance in relation to that of other students and not their individual performance.

The Executive Council members of the varsity had also raised objections, saying the relative grading system was neither placed before the statutory bodies nor was it notified to the colleges before the results were declared.

Saying that CBCS allows a cafeteria approach, University Grants Commission (UGC) had in 2014 asked all central universities to implement it from the next academic session.
The Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology (MANIT) in Madhya Pradesh has reintroduced the British-time convocation dress code, reportedly on students demands.

The institute had discarded the robe and adopted the Gandhian cap and a sash in 2011.

MANIT public relations officer (PRO) Ajay Verma said, The decision was taken at a meeting of administrators (taking cognizance of the students demand). Institute sources said that the decision was taken when director Appu Kuttan, who favoured the Gandhi cap and the sash, was on leave and not taking part in any decision- making now.

However, students have different takes on the decision.

The idea of Gandhi cap was a remarkable one. While graduating from the college, it is a pleasure for any student to wear the Gandhi cap. I dont agree with the decision, said Ashutosh Pratap Singh, a fourth year student.

I am happy that MANIT administration has taken this decision. Every occasion has its dress code and I think the robe is a suitable dress for convocations, said another student Pratik Ranjan Verma.

Minister for state of higher education Deepak Joshi said, The MANIT administration has not taken a good decision. Soon we are going to adopt new dress code which represents our countrys tradition.

In fact, the dress switch began in 2010 when former environment minister Jairam Ramesh had removed his gown during the convocation of Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM) in Bhopal dubbing robes a barbaric colonial relic.

Later, higher education minister Umashankar Gupta supported the move and advocated an Indian dress code. The issue got so hyped that even the state government had to hold a meeting the convocation dress code.

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Steven Spielberg, George Clooney and Jodie Foster are tipped to be among those who will walk the red carpet at Cannes next month when the line up for the worlds top film festival is revealed Wednesday.

While the movies in the running for the main Palme dOr prize are still under tight wraps, it appears that Spielberg will almost certainly show his adaptation of Roald Dahls childrens classic The BFG (The Big Friendly Giant) out of competition.

Watch the BFG trailer here

It will most likely be joined by Jodie Fosters new thriller Money Monster, about a television financial pundit taken hostage by a man whose family has been left penniless by his dud tips.

Starring Clooney as the Wall Street tipster and Julia Roberts as his TV producer, the film will be released internationally during the festival, which runs in the French Riviera resort from May 11 to 22.

Watch the Money Monster trailer here

Festival chiefs Thierry Fremaux and Pierre Lescure have already announced that Woody Allens new Amazon-backed film Cafe Society will open the annual jamboree, also out of competition.

The movies in the main competition, however, are harder to call, with the final list often not decided until the very last minute.

But Hollywood star Keanu Reeves dropped a heavy hint to AFP Tuesday that the Danish director Nicolas Winding Refns supermodel horror story The Neon Demon had made the line-up.

Watch a trailer for Refns Cannes winner Drive here

The actor, who is the male lead, confirmed he would be in Cannes when he arrived in Paris to promote his own documentary Side by Side.

The dark tale of a young beauty swallowed up by the Los Angeles fashion and celebrity scene has already been billed as a cross between Valley of the Dolls and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

The star and director of The Neon Demon, Elle Fanning and Nicolas Winding Refn in a publicity still for the film.

However, the presence of festival favourite Pedro Almodovar, who made his name with Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, has been thrown into doubt when he was named as having an offshore company in the Panama Papers leak last week.

The Spanish director -- a leftwinger known for his support of environmental causes -- cancelled a press conference to promote his new film Julieta about a girl who disappears for a decade, and did not show up at a preview screening in Barcelona.

Watch the trailer for Julieta here

Insiders, however, are predicting that the American actor-director Sean Penns new film The Last Face, starring his ex-girlfriend Charlize Theron and Javier Bardem will figure in the line-up.

The romance set in Africa among humanitarian workers also stars the French actress Adele Exarchopoulos.

Another US director Jeff Nichols, who made the highly praised Midnight Special last year, is also thought to be a shoo-in for Loving, his story about a mixed-race couple confronting racism in 1950s Virginia.

The Canadian wunderkind Xavier Dolan, who first came to international attention at Cannes with I Killed My Mother in 2009 when he was only 20, seems a near certainty for his new family drama Its Only the End of the World, with its stellar cast of Marion Cotillard, Vincent Cassel and Bond star Lea Seydoux.

Watch a trailer for Dolans Cannes winner Mommy here

La fille inconnue (The Unknown Girl) by Belgiums Dardenne brothers -- two-time Palme dOr winners -- also seem assured of being among the 19 contenders for the main competition.

The Bosnian Serb Emir Kusturica -- who has also lifted the prize twice -- is a clear candidate with On the Milky Road starring Monica Bellucci as is another past winner, Romanias Cristian Mungiu with Family Photos.

But there were questions over whether I, Daniel Blake, the latest film from Cannes favourite, Briton Ken Loach -- about welfare cuts hurting vulnerable families -- will make the final cut.

Cannes traditionally strong Asian presence is likely to be led by Japans Hirokazu Kore-Eda with After the Storm, Kiyoshi Kurosawas The Woman in the Silver Plate and South Korean Park Chan-Wooks The Handmaid.

Showgirls director Paul Verhoeven may mark his comeback with Elle with French actress Isabelle Huppert in the lead, with the Mexican director Amat Escalantes The Untamed and Chilean film Neruda by Pablo Larrain also being talked up.

Watch the trailer for Elle here

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Austrian prosecutors have said they are probing the possibility that a Pakistani man detained last year for the terror attacks in Paris is linked to the 2008 Mumbai attacks carried out by the Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Leads pointing to this are being looked into, said a statement from the prosecutors office in Salzburg. It added the identity of the Pakistani suspect, who has been in custody since December in the western Austrian city, has not been confirmed.

The statement made it clear Pakistan had not responded to an Austrian request for information on the man for more than three months.

Wide-ranging investigations on this question, among others, are ongoing, although the public prosecutors office has been waiting for information on this from Pakistan since December 2015, the statement said on the issue of the suspects identity.

The Sunday Times, citing sources close to a multinational investigation, identified the Pakistani suspect as 34-year-old Muhammad Ghani Usman. It quoted investigators as saying that Usman was linked to the Mumbai attacks and had joined the Islamic States plot to commit atrocities in Europe.

The investigators said they suspected Usman was a veteran bomb maker for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ).

A senior security official in Pakistan told AFP he had no information on the suspect. We are in completely in the dark about such a person...who he is, his identity and his affiliations, the official said.

India has blamed LeT, which is allegedly linked to Al Qaeda, for the Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people. The LeJ has carried out a series of high-profile attacks targeting Pakistans Shia minority in recent years.

Usmans name does not figure in several charge-sheets filed by Mumbai Police in connection with the Mumbai attacks. Senior police officials involved in the investigation of the attacks told Hindustan Times they had not come across any bomb-maker named Usman.

Usman was detained along with another suspected Islamic State fighter, 28-year-old Algerian national Adel Haddadi, The Sunday Times reported.

Officials said Usman and Haddadi apparently were on the same boat bringing migrants to Greece as two men involved in the November 13 Paris attacks that killed 130 people.

French investigators suspect the IS, which claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks and the suicide bombings in Brussels on March 22, sent Usman and Haddadi to Europe to carry out attacks.

Usman and Haddadi were arrested soon after they arrived on the Greek island of Leros on October 3 along with nearly 200 refugees after police found out that their passports were among 4,000 stolen by IS.

However, they were released on October 28 and allowed to travel to Austria, where they applied for asylum at a refugee shelter in Salzburg after the Paris attacks.

They were arrested again on December 10 when a fingerprint search linked them to the passports stolen by the IS.

(With inputs from agencies)
Barhara RJD MLAs sister, who was assaulted and thrown out of an autorickshaw in Chandi area near Ara when she protested the alleged misbehaviour with her by some miscreants, died during treatment at the Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) on Tuesday.

The incident of alleged misbehavior had taken place on Saturday when the victim, Shail Devi, was going to Chandi market in connection with her treatment by ayurveda practitioner Dr Shankar Rai.

She took an auto to reach there. Midway through Chandi market, the auto driver and four to five co-passengers allegedly misbehaved with her. When she disclosed her identity and said she was Barhara MLA Saroj Yadavs sister, she was reportedly assaulted and thrown out of the auto. Some passersby took her to Chandi market and her son, Krishna Kumar Yadav, was informed about the incident. Krishna rushed her to the Ara Sadar Hospital from where she was referred to PMCH for better treatment.

On Monday, the Barhara MLA had given an ultimatum to the Bhojpur district and police administration to arrest all those involved in the incident within 12 hours, or else a road blockade would be put up on Tuesday.

When no one was arrested, the MLA led a road blockade near Kayamnagar situated on Ara-Patna national highway on Tuesday for two hours. Ara Sadar SDPO Sanjay Kumar, along with other police officials, reached the spot and pacified the MLA and his supporters. Only then was the blockade lifted.

The MLA alleged that four persons had been taken into custody after the incident by the police but they were released later on. He also alleged that the police were trying to conceal their failure by trying to present this incident as a road mishap.

Soon after the lifting of the road blockade, the MLA got the information that her sister had died during treatment. He immediately rushed to her sisters place at Shardapur under Krishnagarh area of Barhara.

The SDPO said raids were going on to arrest all the accused. An inquiry will be made into the MLAs allegation regarding release of four persons after they were taken into custody. If anyone is found guilty, action will be taken against him, he added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address members of more than two lakh panchayats this month  much like his interaction with students on Teachers Day in 2014  in a rural outreach that will begin on April 14, the birth anniversary of Dalit icon BR Ambedkar.

The address to villages on April 24, the national Panchayati Raj Day, from Jamshedpur in Jharkhand will mark the end of the 11-day long Gram Uday se Bharat Uday.

The objective is to generate nationwide efforts to increase social harmony across villages and strengthen panchayati raj, said rural development minister Birender Singh. The PMs interaction will help members of gram panchayats share ideas to help improve government schemes meant for them, he said.

The PM will kick off the campaign on April 14 from the Dalit icons birthplace, Mhow, in Madhya Pradesh. The campaign has been divided into three phases.

The first phase will include a social harmony programme from April 14 to 16 under which villagers will pay tribute to Ambedkar and resolve to strengthen social harmony. In its second phase farmers assemblies will be organised from April 17-20 in order to familiarise farmers with the governments schemes related to agriculture. In the last leg of the campaign, gram sabhas will be organised across the country from April 21 to 24.

GRAM SABHAS ON MODIS MIND Beginning April 14, the birth anniversary of BR Ambedkar, the government will start its rural outreach PM Modi will address villages on April 24, the national Panchayati Raj Day, from Jamshedpur in Jharkhand. This will mark the end of 11-day long Gram Uday se Bharat Uday The objective is to generate nationwide efforts to increase "social harmony" across villages and strengthen panchayati raj Central government ministers and MPs too will travel to their constituencies to interact with people

The PMs outreach comes amid a sustained campaign by the opposition to project the NDA government as anti-Dalit, anti-poor and anti-farmer.

The government has been seeking to counter the oppositions onslaught with farmer-centric measures, including an emphasis on irrigation and farming in the last Union Budget.

Agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh, who also addressed the media, said the farmers will be provided with information on schemes such as Fasal Bima Yojana and Soil Health Card scheme.

The campaign will see massive mobilisation of central and state government officials who will be directed to be present in the gram sabha meetings. Central government ministers and MPs too will travel to their constituencies to interact with people.

The five states including West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry, where assembly elections are on, will not participate in the campaign.
A six-year-old horse, who had injured its foreleg and was abandoned in Dehradun, underwent a surgery to amputate the damaged limb in an operation that lasted over three hours.

Veterinarians said the white horse is still not out of danger and it will take at least a months time for its wounds to heal.

It was injured in an accident a month ago and was brought to Raahat shelter home in Nanurkheda, in the state capital on April 8. It developed gangrene and septicemia or an infection of the blood and needed immediate amputation.

It is being compared to the police horse Shaktiman that was injured during an alleged attack by a BJP legislator on March 11. His leg was amputated on March 18 and on April 8, it received its permanent leg under expert care.

Read | Dehradun: This injured and abandoned horse is not as lucky as Shaktiman

Dr Kailash Uniyal, veterinary officer, along with three other veterinarians from the department of animal husbandry and two indoor doctors of the shelter home performed the surgery on Monday evening.

The injury was big. And so it will take at least a months time to heal. However, unlike Shaktiman, theres a positive thing about this horse - it has injury in its foreleg. Generally, the maximum weight of the body rests on hind legs and so we are hopeful that it will be able to stand soon, Uniyal said.

He added that Shaktimans weight was about four quintal and that of Rola is 2.25 quintal so it might have an advantage in the future.

Jamie Vaughan, a prosthetic expert from Bhutans The Maya Foundation and who is looking after police horse Shaktiman, was also present during the surgery along with Tim Mahoney, a volunteer from the US.

The state veterinary department had volunteered to provide support but said it didnt have resources like medicines, oscillating cutter, bandages, syringes and other items. Volunteers at Raahat generated Rs 25,000 to make the surgery successful.

We wanted to save the equine and through contribution from people we know, we managed to get its surgery done, Pooja Bahukhundi, vice-president Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and founder of Raahat, told Hindustan Times.

The NGO does not have resources to arrange for a temporary prosthetic leg for the horse. Bahukhundi said that dealing with its daily expenses would also be a severe challenge if they are unable to raise more money.

About Rs 4000 is needed every day for its bandage, medicines and feed. We are trying to seek funds through our contacts and wildlife lovers, but its one of our major concerns as we wont be able to manage for long. Under such circumstances, we want people to come forward and support Rola, Pankaj Pokhriyal, an activist associated with Raahat, said.

The decision to transfer the animal to Gurgaon-based Donkey Sanctuary post amputation have been dropped considering its condition.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday hosted lunch for Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who are on a visit to India.

Modi welcomed Prince William and wife Kate on the steps of Hyderabad House, once a princely residence designed by British architect Sir Edwin Lutyens. Kate wore a knee-length light blue dress, William a dark suit and tie, while Modi appeared in a traditional white kurta and cream waistcoat.

A royal summer in Delhi! PM @narendramodi receives the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at Hyderabad House, external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted along with pictures of Modi with Prince William and Kate.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi shakes hands with Britain's Prince William and his wife, Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge at Hyderabad House. (Sanjeev Verma/ HT photo)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Britain's Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, at Hyderabad House in New Delhi. (PTI)

The royal couple have spent much of their three days in India meeting children and charities that work with them. (Sanjeev Verma/ HT photo)

Britain's Prince William shakes hands with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, smiles during a photo opportunity at Hyderabad House. (REUTERS)

Children play with a replica of elephant a park near Kaziranga national park which the British royal couple are scheduled to visit. (PTI)

Kate wore a full-sleeved gauze green dress, while William donned a blue suit and Modi was clad neck-to-toe in white at their meeting. (AFP)

Prince William and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge at the residence of British High Commissioner in New Delhi on Monday. (PTI)

Sources said the four-course lunch featured Indian veg and non-veg cuisine but, citing protocol, declined to specify the dishes served. Renowned Indian classical musician Rahul Sharma played the santoor rounding off his performance with the Beatles classic Let It Be.

During his visit to Britain in November last year, Modi was hosted to a lunch banquet by Queen Elizabeth II.

The royal couple, who arrived in Mumbai on Sunday, attended a reception hosted by the British high commissioner in Delhi on Monday night to mark Queen Elizabeth IIs 90th birthday that falls next week.

William and Kate wielded a sword at the to cut a cake for the Queen. After paying tribute to his grandmother as an energetic and dedicated guiding force for her family, William read a message to the Indian people from the Queen.

Striking a lighter note, he concluded: Now I can report back to Granny that I have done my duty!

The couple have spent much of their three days in India meeting children and charities that work with them. On Tuesday, they visited a shelter of the Salaam Baalak Trust that provides support and shelter for street kids in Delhi and Mumbai.

But theres been glamour too, with A-list Bollywood film stars led by Shah Rukh Khan and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai turning out on Sunday night for a charity gala in Mumbai.

The week-long tour will take the royal couple to see the famed one-horned rhinos in Assams Kaziranga National Park, on to the isolated kingdom of Bhutan before returning to India on Saturday to visit the Taj Mahal.

(With inputs from IANS and AP.)
India and Pakistan held a flag meeting along the line of control (LoC) in the Poonch sector on Tuesday to discuss the recent incident of ceasefire violation. The defence spokesperson said both nations agreed to exercise restraint and keep channels of communication open.

The spokesperson said the battalion commander-level 30-minute meeting was held at ChakanDaBagh in the Poonch sector on Tuesday morning.

Pakistan had fired heavily on Saturday night along the LoC in the Poonch sector in which some buildings were damaged. It was the first incident of cease-fire violation during the last six months.

The spokesperson said the meeting was held to take forward the peace process, which was initiated at the brigadiers-level meeting held on September 21, 2015. There was no incident of firing after this meeting.

The two sides held discussion over the incident and acknowledged each others efforts in maintaining peace and tranquility on the LoC in the recent past. The two sides agreed on the importance of exercising restraint, said the army spokesperson.

The spokesperson said the two sides also agreed to keep the communication channel alive through hotline messages and flag meetings.

Stress was also laid on the fact that farmers on the two sides of the LoC were beginning their agricultural activities after the winter months and all possible steps should be taken to ensure these activities on which livelihood of farmers depends remain unaffected, the spokesperson added.
An Indian national who was languishing at a Lahore jail for more than 20 years on spying charges was found dead in his cell on Monday.

Kirpal Singh, 50, had allegedly crossed Wagah border into Pakistan in 1992 and was arrested. He was subsequently sentenced to death in a serial bomb blasts case in Punjab province.

Kirpal Singh was found dead at his cell in early hours of Monday at Kot Lakhpat Jail, an official told PTI.

He said the body of Kirpal has been shifted to the Jinah Hospital Lahore for autopsy. A judicial magistrate was also called who recorded the statements of some prisoners about the death of Kirpal, the official said.

Read | Pak arrests RAW agent, India denies link: All you need to know

To a question about the death of Kirpal by torture, he said: The inmates of the jail near to Kirpal stated that he complained about pain in his chest and died instantly.

Jail police station head Nafees Ahmed said the authorities had called police to shift the body to the dead house.

Apparently, it seems the Indian prisoner died of natural death. However, autopsy will tell the exact cause of death, he said. Kirpal Singh, who hails from Gurdaspur district in Punjab, had reportedly been acquitted of bomb blast charges by the Lahore high court but his death sentence could not be commuted because of unknown reasons.

Jagir Kaur, Kirpals sister, had earlier said that the family couldnt raise voice for his release due to financial constraints and no politician came forward to plead his case.

Read | Kulbhushan Jadhavs Indian passport a sign that he isnt a spy

Earlier, in last week of April, 2013, Indian prisoner on death row Sarabjit Singh was brutally attacked and murdered by his fellow prisoners at Kot Lakhpat Jail. Both accused - Muhammad Muddasar and Amir Tamba also condemned prisoners - are facing trial of his murder at the jail.

Sarabjit was arrested on charges of conducting four bomb blasts in Faisalabad, Multan and Lahore that killed 14 bystanders in 1990. He was sentenced to death.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, expressing the national capital regions ability to send 1 million litres of water to the drought-hit Latur per day for two months.

Read more | Laturs water train reaches today, Kejriwal says Delhi ready to help

The people of Delhi are ready to give 10 lakh litres (1 million liters) of water to Latur per day. If the central government can make arrangements to send this water to Latur, the Delhi Government will make this water available immediately, the letter stated.

Delhi offers 10 lakh litres of water everyday for 2 months for brothers/sisters in Latur pic.twitter.com/SALb6Tf2kp  Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) April 12, 2016

Even though water is always in short supply in Delhi, the horrific condition in Latur makes extending help to the people every Indians responsibility. If you deem fit, one appeal can also be made to every Chief Minister. I am hopeful every state will extend its help for this cause, the letter read, adding it would be a matter of shame if people died due to water crisis in India in the 21st century.

Read more | Mets pre-monsoon outlook predicts abnormally hot summer this year

The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) supplies close to 900 million gallons of water to the city per day. This translates to about 340 crore litres of water. Sending 10 lakh liters out of this to Latur per day will hardly dent Delhis water availability, DJB board officials claimed.



Watch: Special train reaches drought-hit Latur

Kejriwal appealed to Delhiites through Twitter on Monday, asking if they were ready to save some water to aid the Marathwada region in Maharashtra where Latur is located. The region is facing its worst draught season.

The central government on Tuesday sent across five lakh litres of water by train, while arrangements are being made for a second delivery in a few days.

Read more | Drought-hit Latur gets 5 lakh litres water, courtesy 10-wagon train
The Delhi government has offered a clerical job to the brother of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula whose suicide triggered a debate on campus discrimination and led to a confrontation between student groups and the BJP-led government at the Centre.

Raja Vemula  a Masters degree holder in applied geology -- said on Tuesday he was yet to accept the job, offered on compassionate grounds.

Delhi chief minister Kejriwal made an announcement on a job to Rohiths brother after meeting the Dalit students mother in Delhi on February 24.





Copy of the compassionate appointment letter issued by the Delhi government to Rohith Vemulas brother. (HT Photo)

The university campus turned into the epicentre of nationwide protests after Rohith committed suicide in January following his suspension along with four other students for alleged assault on a leader of the right-wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).

Students and opposition parties had accused the BJP government of driving the student to suicide due to its alleged bias towards Dalits and so-called lower castes.

Besides the MSc degree from Pondicherry Central University with 72.8% marks, Raja has cleared the national eligibility test (NET) which qualifies him to be hired as an assistant professor in any college in the country.

The candidate has been given relaxation from normal procedure of selection and relaxation of skill test qualifications, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) governments letter sent on April 4 says. It is a temporary post.

According to Delhi government officials, only group c and d jobs -- clerical level -- can be offered on compassionate grounds.



Copy of the letter sent by Delhi government to Rohith Vemulas brother. (HT Photo)

When the family came to Delhi, they had asked for a job for Rohiths brother and expressed a desire to move to Delhi. We have offered them a houseThe aim is to help the family tide over financial distress, an official said.

Raja told HT he was grateful to Mr Kejriwal but added he has not yet made up his mind about taking the job.

Rohith Vemula: An unfinished portrait

When my brother was alive, he would often say that his dream was to see me do a PhD from a foreign university. I have a strong urge to make his dream come true. I want him to be proud of me.

However, some students and teachers at Hyderabad university criticised Kejriwal for insulting the academic qualifications of Rohiths brother.



Rohith Vemulas brother is an MSc in Applied Geology from Pondicherry University. (HT Photo)

Raja is a highly qualified, hard working and bright Dalit. Offering him a job like this is simply insulting, said Gummidi Prabhakar, a close friend of Rohith and a leader of the Ambedkar Students Association.

Sowmya Dechamma, an assistant professor at the university supporting the students agitation, was also critical of the AAP offer.

Also Read | Not suicide, its murder: Kejriwal attacks Modi on Dalit student death

Also Read | A lesson in Rohith Vemulas death: India is shackled to caste

Also Read | Death as a Dalit: What Rohith Vemulas suicide tells about India
Seven office-bearers of the Puttingal Devi temple, where a fireworks tragedy killed more than 100 people and injured over 300 in north Kerala on April 10, were taken into custody by the police early on Tuesday.

Sources said Crime Branch officials were questioning the temples seven managing committee members, including the trust president, who had gone missing ever since the incident occurred.

A fire had broken out on Sunday morning during a banned fireworks display that went awry. A case was filed against the temple authorities for conducting the pyrotechnic display despite not being granted permission by the district administration. Officials also said that safety guidelines were ignored during the display.

Read: Kerala to decide on cracker ban on Apr 14, all-party meet called

While temple trust president SL Jayalal, secretary J Krishnankutty and three other members  Shivaprasad, Surendran Pillai and Ravindran Pillai  surrendered before Crime Branch officers, two more  Surendranathan Pillai and Murugesan  were picked up by the police.

A case was registered against at least 20 people, including managing committee members and the contractors responsible for the fireworks display.

The authorities were booked under different sections of the Indian Penal code, including section 307 for attempt to murder, 308 for attempt to culpable homicide and section 4 of the explosive substances act. Contractors who organised the show were also booked, six of who were already detained. The main contractor, Surendran, is currently in the hospital, battling for his life after being injured in the accident.

Read: Kerala blaze: Locals accuse temple officials of using political clout

Investigations into the accident indicate that the crackers used by the temple were made of banned chemicals. Sudarshan Kamal, chief controller of explosives in charge of monitoring the use, storage and licensing of such items, visited the accident site and pointed to gross violation of explosive norms.

The scale of the tragedy led to locals and other bodies seeking a ban on the practice of bursting crackers during temple festivities. The Kerala High court will hear a plea regarding the same on Tuesday morning.
The Kerala government on Tuesday decided to address the rising concerns over firework shows in the state by calling an all-party meeting to discuss a cracker ban in the state.

I have convened an all-party meeting on April 14, 2 pm. In that meeting we will discuss this (cracker ban) and in that meeting concerned ministries opposition leader and all party leaders will be there, Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy said.

This is a major policy decision, we will take a proper decision after the deliberations of that meeting, he added.

Chandy visited the victims of the Puttingal Temple tragedy and assured that the government is providing special healthcare to all the patients.

Earlier, a senior Kerala High Court Judge suggested seeking immediate judicial intervention by the court to stop man-made tragedies like Kollam mishap.

In a letter to Registrar General of the HC, Justice V Chitambaresh said, The time is more than ripe for immediate judicial intervention to stop such man-made tragedies by banning the use of high decibel explosive fire crackers.

The Devaswom Bench comprising Justices Thottathil B Radhakrishnan and Anu Sivaraman will consider the petition on Tuesday afternoon.

Justice Chitambaresh said, The right to profess, practice and propagate the religion of one?s choice under Article 25 of the Constitution of India does not take in the freedom to use dangerous crackers.
India should have a heart-to- heart dialogue with China to win its support at the United Nations to ban JeM chief Masood Azhar, former external affairs minister Salman Khurshid has said.

You cannot expect China to deliver unless we talk to them. This is not carrying a shopping list, Khurshid said, days after China scuttled Indias bid at the UN to ban Azhar.

If we have to make friends and we cannot be selfish in your demeanour and we have to be accommodative and willing, he told PTI during a business event in Chinas Changsha city.

I am sure China will respond and support. You need to have heart-to-heart conversation, he said.

India has expressed disappointment over China putting a last minute technical hold over its move to ban Azhar in connection with his alleged involvement in the Pathankot terror attack.

Jaish-e-Muhammad has already been listed as terrorist organisation by UN in 2001, besides US State Department and the Pakistan government.

Both Beijing and New Delhi said the issue is being discussed. Chinese officials say they have sought more details from India.

The issue is expected to figure in the talks between the two countries as defence minister Manohar Parrikar and later national security adviser Ajit Kumar Doval were scheduled to visit Beijing in the next few weeks.

Parrikars visit is due to take place on April 18.

About the Sino-India relations, Khurshid said, My view is that we should not have unreasonable expectations. China is not easy to handle. They have their concern and priorities.

He said both sides have to find a win-win path.

I suspect enough has not happened. China has its concerns and we have ours, he said.

Khurshid took part in China-India Corporate Dialogue held by Chinas Hu Nan Commerce Bureau in association with Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC) of the Ministry of Commerce and co-sponsored by New Delhi-based Global Dialogue Review quarterly magazine.

Over 150 Chinese business houses took part in the dialogue that focussed on a host of issues including dispute resolution in trade and business related matters.
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti will meet union home minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on Tuesday.

This is the first meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief who took oath as the first woman chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir on April 4.

Moreover, this is the first time Mehbooba is holding an administrative post in the state or at the national level, as so far she had limited herself to party work.

The government formation had ended a three-month long political crisis in the state which started after the death of former chief minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed on January 7.

The 2014 state elections threw up a hung assembly in which the PDP won 28 seats, mainly from the Kashmir Valley, and the BJP 25, almost all from the Jammu region, leading to a coalition government headed by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

Mufti took the oath in Jammu along with 17 cabinet ministers and six ministers of state (MoS). Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) Nirmal Singh also took oath as deputy chief minister, as per the alliance agreement between the two parties.
Private engineering colleges in Indore have been directed to send 100 students for the April 14 rally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Mhow, to commemorate 125th birth anniversary Dr BR Ambedkar. The move has drawn flak from the Congress-backed students body while the Bharatiya Janata Party has distanced itself from the directive.

The National Students Union of India (NSUI) submitted a memorandum to the local administration and directorate of higher education (DHE) on Monday alleging that it was a sheer misuse of power.

State NSUI president Vipin Wankhede said, How could you call any citizen on a National holiday to attend any political function. It is a violation of right to freedom of any Indian citizen. My question to BJP is that do they fear a flop show before the Prime Minister and that is why they had called students to attend the programme?

On Sunday, Madhya Pradesh Congress spokesperson KK Mishra lambasted the BJP government saying that such orders had never been issue.

Taking a swipe at Modi, Mishra said, The directive proves that prime ministers popularity has nosedived in the last 22 months and the party is not sure of drawing a big crowd and therefore forcing students to attend it.

There are at least 350 colleges in the division and with 100 students, it comes to a respectable attendance of 35,000.

The order, dated April 7 and signed by assistant commissioner (tribal welfare) Mohini Shrivastava, asked the colleges to compulsorily send the students, arrange for their transport and meals.

The students were asked to wear their uniforms and bring their IDs and were to be accompanied by their teachers.

RC Verma, additional director of department of higher education (Indore division), said the notice was only for NCC and NSS students from colleges in Mhow and it was not mandatory.

At a meeting recently, the district administration had requested us to provide volunteers for water, food and medical arrangements on the spot. Since we had no bus, we asked the colleges to provide us buses and the students, he said.

However, the notice clearly mentions that it is compulsory for the colleges to send their students and nowhere is it mentioned that it is for NCC and NSS students or restricted to Mhow colleges.

The local BJP distanced itself from the notice.

Indore district BJP president Ashok Somani and city BJP president Kailash Sharma said they were not aware of such an order but the motive behind it could be to ensure that maximum number of youths get to see and hear Modi.

We dont need to bring in people for Modiji, they will come on their own. The entire Malwa is our stronghold, Sharma said.

A petition has been filed at the Indore bench of the high court in this regard by advocate Anshumaan Shrivastava on behalf of Pankaj Prajapat on Monday.

Advocate Shrivastava said after going through the order, it clearly appeared that it was to gain political mileage and such an order will degrade the system. The action of respondent prima facie appears to be arbitrary and unconstitutional and this is an attempt to infringe the freedom and right to life guaranteed under the constitution of India, he added.
What actor and activist Anupam Kher cant, Shilpi Tewari apparently can.

The former aide of union education minister Smriti Irani on Monday tweeted pictures of herself at the National Institute of Technology (NIT) campus in Srinagar where she handed over a letter of support and the national flag to two students  a feat which Kher wanted to achieve but was unable to.

#ChaloNIT reached with a letter of support & National Flag to #NITSrinagar. The last image is an email from students, Tewari posted on the micro-blogging site.

#ChaloNIT reached with a letter of support & National Flag to #NITSrinagar. The last image is an email from students pic.twitter.com/qMyIiQkFps  shilpi tewari (@shilpitewari) April 11, 2016

Tewari has 85,000 Twitter followers, is an active supporter of the BJP on social media, and is known for trolling the national partys critics. She came under severe media scrutiny though during the JNU controversy when she was accused of aggressively campaigning on issues of nationalism. Tiwari had reportedly circulated false videos of the JNU event that sparked a raging controversy and led to arrests of several student leaders .

Read more | Shilpi Tiwari, Iranis close aide is the latest to face the JNU heat

Actor Anupam Kher had attempted to meet NIT students in Srinagar on Saturday. He was however, forced to return from the airport itself as Jammu and Kashmir police barred his entry into the city citing security concerns. Kher had announced his arrival on Twitter as soon as he landed in the valley, stating he would gift students the national flag.

Read more | Eternal optimist: Anupam Kher not demoralised after Srinagar refusal

I have been told by J&K police that I cannot enter Srinagar city at all. I have asked them to show me the orders. Still at the airport, he tweeted at the time.

As i return from Srinagar airport, my heart is heavy but i have hope that things will change & become better. I remain an #EternalOptimist.  Anupam Kher (@AnupamPkher) April 10, 2016

Tewari, on the other hand, managed to get past the police radar. When a follower expressed surprise over this, Tewari replied, Ofcourse they had no such intention .. We crossed it is another story.

Ofcourse they had no such intention .. We crossed it is another story  https://t.co/SxeP8J8Nc5  shilpi tewari (@shilpitewari) April 11, 2016

The institute has been tense since the World Twenty20 semi-final between India and West Indies last month when students clashed over some cheering for West Indies. The clash escalated over the following days, turning into a Kashmiri versus non-local students tussle. Police intervened in matters when protests got out of hand, but were accused of brutality when the lathicharged a group of students.

Read more | We feel suffocated: 1000 non-Kashmiri NIT students leave campus

Read more | NIT Srinagar row: Outstation students return to their homes
Lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung said on Monday he had no problem in saying Bharat Mata Ki Jai but argued that refusal to chant the slogan doesnt make any Indian anti-national.

In an interview to India Today on Monday, Jung said the 21 Aam Aadmi Party MLAs who were made parliamentary secretaries last year are liable to be disqualified unless the Centre clears the Bill passed by the Assembly to that effect.

Jung said he shared a good personal equation with Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal but clashes between the L-G and CM office were inevitable as they arose out of their different powers and roles defined in the constitution.

Making a distinction between worshipping God and ones country, Jung said: We are happy to say Bharat Mata Ki Jai or Madre Vatan. But one may refuse to chant Bharat Mata Ki Jai, that doesnt make one anti-national.

Jung said politicians who say Indians not chanting Bharat Mata Ki Jai had no right to live in this country needed to be ignored.

He had some advice for Asaduddin Owaisi, saying it was the AIMIMleader who made Bharat Mata Ki Jai an issue of priority and importance.

He has lot of following in his community there are many more issues confronting the Muslim community like health and education that deserve attention, Jung said.

On the JNU row, Jung said had he been the vice-chancellor of the university, he would have permitted the police to enter only if there was widespread arson. He said police could enter because the V-C was new and inexperienced.

Jung said Kashmiris had genuine problems with the presence of so many armed personnel in the valley.

L-G vs Kejriwal

On administrative jurisdiction, Jung said differences were inevitable as the CM took oath to abide by the Constitution and his oath was to defend the Constitution.

He makes some statements for his political constituency but he knows the truth, Jung said.

Jung said though Arvind was not a friend of his, he got along well with him. Delhi CM has never apologised for calling me a dog but I have forgiven him, Jung added.

Kejriwal security

On the shoe and ink-throwing incidents, Jung said adequate security had been provided to the chief minister. Jung, to whom Delhi Police reports, however said it was difficult to prevent incidents like the shoe-throwing one in a small gathering unless people were asked to remove their shoes. His (Kejriwal) security is only a shade lesser than the Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi.

Difficult to make odd-even permanent

Jung said the odd-even scheme had made no impact on pollution although it did reduce congestion. While its worth repeating, it would be difficult to make it a permanent feature as being contemplated by the government, he said.

He said running odd-even ad infinitum would put a huge strain on the police as well as raise security problems for the metro.

Action against police

On the attack on Kanhaiya Kumar in court, Jung defended the police and said action was taken keeping in mind several issues, including the court complex, the fallout of a crackdown on lawyers among others.

The L-G, however, said the role of police was being probed. The outcome will be known shortly. If the need arises action against errant policemen will be taken, Jung said.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar denied being in the race for prime ministership on Monday, but said he had the credentials required for the post.

Talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of the Janata Darbar, Kumar said he was not a claimant for the PMs post.

I am working in national interest while in Bihar. I put my views on national issues in a categorical and transparent way, he said.

Kumar added, I have nothing to say on the matter. It all depends on what people think about others. The people of Bihar have given me a massive mandate for the third successive term, which is not an ordinary thing. People trust me and I will not let them down.

Talking about his efforts to float an anti-BJP front at the national level ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Kumar said he had always insisted on broad unity among like-minded parties that could defeat the BJP.

Efforts are on. Even though JD(U) and Lalu Prasads party did not merge, it led to the formation of a Grand Alliance that also comprises the Congress and it was appreciated across the country, he said.

Referring to the merger plans of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (P) and JD(U), Kumar said a merger was not the only solution to challenge the might of the BJP and a broad alliance, like the one successfully implemented in Bihar, could also be a way out.

The chief minister said the added responsibility on him as the national president of the JD(U) would not impact his determination to serve the state. Bihar is my first priority. I have to take up the responsibility of the JD(U) chief as Sharad Yadav refused to continue for the fourth time, he said.

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Even as the state government has been opened and upgraded over 800 schools in the last three years, the enrolment rate, especially in primary schools has taken a plunge downwards.

In primary classes, the number of enrolments has come down from 5.89 lakh in 2003 to 3.23lakh in 2015.

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) reportdistrict information system for education (DISE) for year 2015-16revealed that in all there are 14, 33, 260 students in the schools of Himachal, out of which 9, 31, 187 students are in government run schools.

In 2003, when the first DISE report was published, the number of schools was 14,964 including 13,925 government institutions. Enrolment across the state was 10, 86, 819 including 9, 71, 329 in the government schools making up to 89.50%.

Only 1.15 lakh were enrolled in aproximately 1,000 private schools.

Today, there are 18,039 schools across the state of which 15,327 are government schools. Of total 14, 44, 260 students enrolled in the state, 9, 31, 187 (65%) are in government schools while around 2,700 private schools have over 5 lakh students enrolled.

Major loss in the enrolment is in primary classes.

The decline in the enrolment rate in the government schools has been attributed it to the improved living standards and low fertility rate in the state. Chief minister Virbhadra Singh had informed the Vidhan Sabha that due to the easy availability of private schools, low fertility rates and improving the living standards, the enrolment in government schools is declining.

In 2015, the state had 5.81 students enrolled in all schools, out of which, 3.23lakh (55%) were in government schools and 2.57 lakh (45%) in private schools. The enrolment in primary schools has come down drastically since 2003. In 2003, 77,000 were enrolled in private schools which is only 11% of total students enrolled in the state in primary education.

Government not in the mood to merge schools

Earlier, a proposal had come from Mandi district to merge the primary schools into model schools but state government is not in the mood to merge despite the declining enrolment trend.

It was also a known fact that the norms to open new schools for the children coming from distant places, have not been followed in several cases. State had also sought suggestion over merging schools but nothing concrete was expected to be done as chief minister Virbhadra Singh had repeatedly refused to shut any school.

In 2021-22, same trend could lead to opposite picture

So far there were 55% students in government primary schools and overall 65% in the government schools. If the trend remained same, in the next 5-6 years, the picture would be just the opposite. Projection shows that there would be around 3.42 lakh students in private primary schools while 2.36 lakh in government schools by 2021-22.

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The Narendra Modis governments efforts to address grievances of overseas Sikhs moved a step further after Canada-based representatives of the community backed the dialogue but said they want talks to be held outside India.

Modi sought to address the fractious relationship between the Indian state and overseas Sikhs since Operation Bluestar of 1984 during his visit to London in November. His meeting with UK-based Sikh leaders at the time was described as a breakthrough.

The London meeting, opposed by some sections of the Sikh community, was followed by the release of some political prisoners, who had served their terms in Indian jails, and the removal of names from a so-called blacklist of individuals who allegedly cannot visit India.

London-based Jasdev Singh Rai, who led the talks in November, recently visited Canada and told Hindustan Times that Sikh leaders there supported the dialogue process but want talks to be held outside India after the release of all prisoners and abolition of the blacklist.

National security adviser Ajit Doval was deputed at the London talks to carry forward the dialogue with overseas Sikhs. Key demands included an official apology for Operation Bluestar, supremacy of Darbar Sahib and release of all political prisoners.

Vancouver-based Harjit Singh Atwal, who acknowledges he was a supporter of the Khalistan movement and is one of those blacklisted, said he is willing to grab the olive branch of talks extended by the Indian government.

There is support in the community for this. Everyone has to sit at the table sooner or later, Atwal told Hindustan Times after meeting Rai. He said, like many others, he was incensed by the 1984 storming of the Golden Temple: Everybody was upset but slowly with time, we are moving on with our livesIt is better to resolve this issue.

Atwal discussed the matter in local gurdwaras just as Jaskaranjit Singh has done in nearly 15 gurdwaras in Greater Toronto Area and neighbouring towns of Ontario.

Singh said: I think this is a beginning. But he added that before talks commence, the Indian government has to ensure goodwill by releasing all political prisoners and abolishing the blacklist.

He said Rai contacted him after meeting Modi, and added the initiative was positive.

Rai said: There is general apprehension about the sincerity of the Indian state given previous experiences with similar initiatives. Moreover, there is concern about the extremely slow process on the release of political prisoners. Many suspect that blacklists are still operational particularly at the local level of Indian consulates.

But groups say that dialogue is a parallel process that has long history in Sikh struggles. The Gurus also engaged in dialogue while conflicts continued in the field. The Misls also fought Mughal power but held dialogue when the opportunity arose. So there is a tradition of dialogue within Sikhs.
The Supreme Court criticised the Reserve bank of India on Tuesday, saying banks were pursuing distressed farmers for loan payments but werent bothered by mounting bad corporate debt.

A top court bench of Chief Justice TS Thakur and justice R Banumathi reminded the RBI of its duty as a watchdog and wanted to make public the mind boggling amount of bad loans held by banks.

But the central bank opposed the idea, saying it will have major ramifications on the economy.

Companies take loans from banks, run their empires and declare themselves bankrupt. You dont take money from them but banks are after poor farmers who are unable to pay due to crisis, the bench said.

The court was examining a list submitted by the RBI that named defaulters who owed more than RS 500 crore to banks and wanted to disclose the outstanding amount.

We do not want to make the names public. But the mind-boggling amount can be disclosed. Its a substantial amount and makes out a case for us to hear it further, the bench told the RBI.

Rising debt default hit the headlines in February when 29 state-owned banks said they wrote off Rs 1.14 lakh crore of bad debts between 2013 and 2015. This figure was much higher than that in previous years.

The next month, the government told the top court that embattled liquor baron Vijay Mallya left India despite probes against him for defaulting on loans worth around Rs 9,000 crore.

In contrast, farmers across the country have been hit by unseasonal rainfall and two successive droughts that have hurt crop yields and ravaged farm incomes.

The courts comments came after the RBI counsel suggested banks should be heard to determine why loans were written-off or restructured. He said the central bank did not monitor daily functioning of banks and could not respond to specific court queries.

But the court asked him, If a bank does not manage funds prudently and there is no hope of recovery, what do you do? Arent you supposed to keep a vigil and take action if banks violate guidelines or are found in the wrong?

The RBI assured the court it did so and will disclose on directions. But it added, the details should not be made public.

The top court is hearing a 2003 public interest litigation (PIL) where the petitioner - Centre for Public Interest and Litigation (CPIL) - alleged state-owned Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) wrote off debt worth RS 40,000 crore.

In the last hearing, the bench widened the PILs scope and made RBI a party, asking it to submit names of defaulters who owe more than Rs 500 crore to banks.

The SC bench told solicitor general Ranjit Kumar to appear on behalf of the Union finance secretary and issued notices to banking associations.

The court fixed April 26 to hear the matter and permitted petitioner CPILs counsel Prashant Bhushan, the solicitor general and the RBI advocate to formulate questions to be considered.

The court told Bhushan one of the issues framed should be whether the information pertaining to the outstanding amount is confidential, though the lawyer held a firm view it wasnt in the wake of a 2015 SC verdict that brought the RBI under the ambit of the Right to Information Act.

Bhushans contention was disputed by the banking regulator that said information could be disclosed subject to certain conditions in the special law governing RBIs functioning.

After decentralisation ,certain amount of decision has been left to the banks, the advocate told the bench, saying it was important to hear the banks.

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A special train carrying around five lakh litres of water for parched Latur in Maharashtras Marathwada region, that is battling the worst drought ever, reached on Tuesday morning.

The water train with 10 wagons left from Miraj in western Maharashtra at around 11am on Monday and reached Latur at 5am on Tuesday, taking 18 hours to traverse a distance of around 350 kilometres.

The first batch of 10 wagons, each with a capacity of around 50,000 litres, was filled with water at Miraj railway station in Sangli district, said chief spokesperson of Central Railway, Narendra Patil.

The district administration acquired a huge well located near Latur railway station to store the water which will then be supplied to Latur town.

#WATCH: Ten Railway wagons with 50000 litres of drinking water each, reached drought hit Latur (Maharashtra).https://t.co/nxFp3MglfO  ANI (@ANI_news) April 12, 2016

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday said his government and the railway ministry were working to bring relief to the people in the region.





A second train consisting of 50 wagons is expected to be ready for water loading around April 15, a railway official said earlier.

WATCH | Train carrying five lakh litres water reaches drought-hit Latur
A relative of a slain National Investigation Agency (NIA) sleuth was among two people arrested over the assassination but the prime accused continued to evade a multi-state dragnet, police officials said on Tuesday.

NIA officer Tanzil Ahmed, 46, was shot dead by motorcycle-borne assailants in front of his wife and two children on April 3 when he was returning from a wedding at Bijnor, around 450 km from capital Lucknow. The NIA officials wife was also injured.

Police have ruled out any terrorism angle in the killing of Ahmed and said that property dispute and personal enmity was behind the incident.

Bareilly zone inspector general (IG) VS Meena and Moradabad deputy inspector general Omkar Singh addressed a press briefing to announce the arrest of Tanzils nephew Mohd Reyan and his accomplice Mohd Jainni, both in their twenties.

The motorcycle used to commit the crime has been recovered, they said.

According to police, Reyan was upset with Tanzil as he allegedly didnt help his aunt and uncle when they were involved in a feud with their neighbour. As a result, the couple had to spend two days in jail.

Police quoted Reyan as saying that Tanzil not only insulted his aunt on several occasions but also implicated her in a false mobile theft case.

To settle scores with Tanzil, Ryan got in touch with a known criminal Muneer and told him that the NIA officer was spying on him and would inform the police about his involvement in a Rs 91 lakh robbery from a bank cash van in Bijnor district in December.

Muneer and Tanzil had also bought two properties that had led to enmity between the two, police added.

However, we are still trying the facts, Meena said.

At the time of the crime, Reyan was driving the motorcycle while Muneer fired at Tanzil, he said.

Muneer is wanted in eight cases  including murder and attempt to murder -- lodged in Aligarh and Bijnor.

Police, however, said Muneer is still absconding and an alert have been issued to prevent him from leaving the country. He owns a passport made in 2011.

The weapons used in the crime are with Muneer. Raids are being conducted to arrest him, Meena added.

The killers had pumped 24 bullets into Ahmed and four into his wife Farzana, as their 14-year old daughter and 12-year old son watched the incident from the back seat of the Wagon-R car in which they were travelling.
A blaze at Keralas Puttingal Devi temple last Sunday blew the lid off Indias poorly implemented safety norms that have made fires and stampedes recur with alarming frequency at shrines and public gatherings.

Thousands have died in major fires since the 1997 Uphaar cinema blaze in Delhi, where smoke from a burning electricity transformer choked 59 people to death.

But as the Kerala fire shows, few lessons were learnt in the past two decades.

In Kerala, a fireworks show was happening at 3am when there is a Supreme Court ban on bursting crackers after 10pm, said Neelam Krishnamoorthy, whose two children died in the Uphaar fire.

Pamphlets were distributed advertising a fireworks competition, so everyone, including the police personnel, knew such a show was to take place.

(AFP)

Indias poorly staffed fire and emergency services often struggle to control such man-made disasters. The country only has 2,900 fire stations as opposed to the home ministry-mandated number of 8,500.

Firefighters are operating at just 8% of their sanctioned strength and there is 83% shortage in fire tenders and vehicles.

On Sept 30, 2008, 224 pilgrims died at Chamunda Devi temple in Jodhpur after falling off the narrow pathway on a hillock. (PTI file photo)

The crunch affects response time but authorities say temple trusts and festival organisers flout norms.

The (Kerala) temple authorities should have taken no-objection certificate from the fire department and a license to store explosives. They should have conducted fireworks competition at a safe distance, said DK Shami, fire adviser to the home ministry.

(PTI)

Massive pilgrim congregation at festivals and holy shrines several times a year also causes stampedes with distressing regularity.

Nearly 500 people have been killed in crushes at major religious places in the past six years, with authorities saying temple trusts often allow far more people to gather than is permitted.

In Kerala too, more than 10,000 people had congregated for the fireworks display.

I heard the fireworks competition is organised to attract more devotees. Even in the Uphaar case, extra seats were installed by closing the gangway and exit door. Greed seems to be the common factor here, said Krishnamoorthy.

INDIAS UNHOLY TRAGEDIES Jan 25, 2005 340 people killed in stampede at Mandhar Devi temple in Maharashtras Satara district. People panicked after sparks flew from an electrical short circuit in the wiring. The crowds rushed to a narrow path leading to the temple, and people tripped and fell over each other August 3, 2008 162 dead and 47 are injured in a stampede triggered by rumours of a rockslide at Naina Devi Temple in Himachal Pradesh Sept 30, 2008 In Rajasthans worst-ever stampede, 224 pilgrims died at Chamunda Devi temple in Jodhpur after falling off the narrow pathway on a hillock. Devotees apparently slipped on water from smashed coconuts offered to the deity March 4, 2010 63 people, mostly women and children, killed after main gates of a temple in UPs Pratapgarh district collapsed due to crush of devotees, leading to a stampede Jan 14, 2011 104 pilgrims die and 100 others injured in a fire on Makara Jyothi Day at Sabarimala in Kerala Oct 13, 2013 115 devotees crushed to death or drowned after falling from a bridge near a temple in Madhya Pradeshs Datia district Apr 10, 2016 113 killed and more than 300 injured in fireworks explosion during a temple festival in Kollam district of Kerala

Officials say a deterrent for law-breakers would be swift and strict punishments for those who make shoddy arrangements. But probes often take years to complete and court cases go on for decades, often without any relief for the families of the victims.

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Veenu Paliwals love for motorcycles started in 1990 when she got her college friends to teach her how to ride. But, work and then marriage made the road bumpy.

Travelling was one of my passions. But back then, it was against my husbands social status to have his wife driving a bike. So I stuck to a car, she told Hindustan Times during an interview earlier this year.

Forty four-year-old Paliwal, one of the leading woman bikers in the country, was doing what she loved when she was killed in a road accident in Madhya Pradeshs Vidisha district on Monday evening. She was on a countrywide tour on her Harley Davidson along with fellow biker Deepesh Tanwar when her motorcycle skidded off the road.

After her divorce came through last year, the restaurateur decided she needed to go back to riding.

Once I took time to settle down after my divorce, I realised I needed to do something for myself. My passion for biking was always there - it was hidden inside me, she had said.

(Photo courtesy: Twitter/@indscribe)

Paliwal bought the Harley Davidson and soon she and her motorcycle became a familiar sight in the narrow bylanes of Jaipur.

I always travel in full gear so most people dont recognise me initially. It is only after I remove my helmet that people realise Im a woman. It still shocks them. Women may have progressed in many fields but people still get surprised to see one on such a powerful machine, she had said.

Once people overcame the initial shock, I would get a lot of questions - isnt it heavy, how much does it cost, arent you scared, etc.

For Paliwal, being a biker automatically meant she was changing stereotypes about women. She always followed one motto - If men can do it so can we. That is why she also started her own bar and lounge called Chah Bar in Jaipurs Diggi Palace.

There are constant challenges for women in todays male-dominated world. It is up to us to break out and prove that we are capable of anything. Biking was one such way of telling both men and women that, hey, we women can ride too, she had said.

Paliwal had clocked 17,000 km since November and aimed to hit 50,000 km in a year, before upgrading to Harleys touring bike Road King.

Riding a bike gave her a sense of accomplishment and an increased awareness of road safety. When youre on a bike, all your senses are aware and on overdrive. You have to be alert because youre on your own, and if anything happens, you have to take control, she said.

This summer, Paliwal wanted to teach her teenaged daughter to ride so that she could follow her footsteps. She was also planning to make a documentary on her motorbike journey across the country.

Read | Free-wheeling: Why Indian women are turning bikers
A day after Veenu Paliwal, Indias top woman motorcyclist, was killed in a road mishap in Madhya Pradeshs Vidisha district, an autopsy on Tuesday identified excessive internal bleeding as the cause of her death.

The 44-year-old Jaipur resident was killed after her Harley Davidson motorcycle skidded off a road while negotiating a turn near Gyaraspur on Monday evening.

The autopsy was conducted by a panel of four doctors  comprising RL Singh, RK Verma, RK Sahu and Neha Jain  after fellow-biker Dipesh Tanwar alleged that a local primary health centre at Gyaraspur may have subjected Veenu to wrong medical treatment.

Watch | Veenu Paliwals interview with Hindustan Times

<span itemprop="name" content="Watch | Veenu Paliwal&#x27;s interview with Hindustan Times"></span><span itemprop="description" content="Veenu Paliwal, one of India&#x27;s top women bikers passed away after a road accident in Madhya Pradesh. In February, she spoke exclusively to Hindustan Times and shared her biking experiences."></span><span itemprop="duration" content="83"></span><span itemprop="thumbnail" content="http://cfvod.kaltura.com/p/1679921/sp/167992100/thumbnail/entry_id/0_3hjoih3q/version/100011/acv/191"></span><span itemprop="width" content="640"></span><span itemprop="height" content="362"></span>

Speaking to mediapersons on Tuesday morning, fellow-biker Dipesh Tanwar had said that staffers at the primary health centre in Gyaraspur  where she was taken after the road mishap  may have made an error in judgment. There were no external injuries, and its quite possible that the wrong treatment was administered to her, he had said.

However, the medical experts  after conducting the autopsy over a period of one hour  dismissed Tanwars suspicions. A compressive injury caused by a hard object, possibly the motorbikes handle or a wall, ruptured her liver badly  triggering excessive internal bleeding and her eventual death. She was administered an anti-tetanus injection at the PHC, which was not wrong treatment at all. Any patient of trauma is given an antibiotic, anti-tetanus and anti-inflammatory treatment at the outset, eye specialist Dr RK Sahu told HT.

Read: Veenu Paliwal, a biker who loved the road and her Harley

Veenu Paliwal on her Harley Davidson. ((Photo courtesy: Twitter/@indscribe))

Veenus 72-year-old father, KC Paliwal, refused to comment on the allegations of wrong medical treatment levelled against staffers of the Gyaraspur health centre. I am not going to make allegations without knowing about the reality. Why should I cause anybody any inconvenience when my daughter is no more? he asked.

Vidisha SHO Rajesh Tiwari said that though the Gyaraspur primary health centre rushed Veenu to the better-equipped Vidisha district hospital, she was declared dead on arrival. She was reportedly riding her bike at over 110 kmph when the accident occurred on the Sagar-Vidisha-Bhopal highway around 6.30 pm on Monday.

Despite her injuries, Veenu called up Tanwar  who was just behind her  and informed him about the incident. She was conscious for about half an hour after that, said Tiwari.

After the autopsy was done, Veenus relatives took her body to Jaipur on Tuesday morning.

Describing Veenu as somebody who lived her life for others, KC Paliwal said: She believed that we  who have everything we need in life  should give back to society. She was multi-faceted, and she aimed to achieve a lot in life. She was extra-caring towards her family, friends and especially the poor and differently abled.

Read: Prominent woman biker Veenu Paliwal dies in road accident in MP

He recounted how Veenu was passionate about two-wheelers even as a child. I had three bikes  a Rajdoot, Jawa and Bullet  and she was always trying to ride them. She started riding bikes at 12 years of age, and sometimes even in my absence, he said.

Veenus demise also evoked sympathy from Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje. Sad to know of the untimely demise of Indias ace motorcyclist Veenu Paliwal. Her passion will remain an inspiration. May her soul rest in peace, she tweeted.

Veenu is survived by two children  Shiven, an engineering student, and Shivika, who has just completed her Class 12 examinations.
Blowing the poll bugle soon after his arrival here on Monday, newly-appointed Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya said the partys aim was to make the state SP-BSP free.

He said party cadres would play a key role in achieving the BJPs aim of wresting power from the SP in the 2017 assembly polls.

He also talked about honouring and respecting party cadres, hundreds of whom turned up to welcome him at Charbagh railway station and escorted him to the BJP office. Maurya was in the state capital to announce the launch of Mission 265-plus in UP. The OBC leader faces a tough challenge as the party has been out of power in the state since 2003. A confident Maurya also told party workers that the BJP would form the government in UP in 2017.

Mauryas visit comes a day after the BJP expelled a member of its womens wing, Rajeshwari Patel, for questioning Mauryas appointment. Patel, who like Maurya belongs to Allahabad, argued that several criminal cases against him could spoil the partys image ahead of the assembly polls. Later speaking at the party office, Maurya said the cases were political. He asserted that the BJPs campaign would be based on development.

BJP UP unit general secretary Pankaj Singh, who is son of union home minister Rajnath Singh, and former party state president Laxmikant Bajpai were among those who welcomed Maurya at the railway station.

Several other leaders, including those believed to be in the fray for Mauryas position, were also there to welcome him. They included union ministers Ram Shankar Katheria, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti and Santosh Gangwar and some other former UP BJP chiefs -- Vinay Katiyar, Om Prakash Singh, Surya Pratap Shahi and Ramapati Ram Tripathi, among others. Maurya thanked everyone and solicited their support. I must admit that I was surprised by my appointment. I am relatively young and inexperienced. But by appointing a karyakarta like me, the party has shown how democratic it is. I would seek your help and guidance from time to time, he said.
The Duchess of Cambridge has left everyone swooning with her stylish appearances in India. And while we were still in awe of her outfits from Day 1 of her India visit, she threw a curve ball on the second day and showed us that no one can beat her when it comes to being regal.

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge(C)and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge(L)are watched by Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (R)as they cut a cake during 90th birthday celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II. (AFP)

With all the hype and hoopla around the royal visit, Kate and Prince William concluded the second day of their visit to India at the British high commissioners residence in Delhi. The high commissioner threw a rather grand reception for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at his residence in New Delhi to mark the Queen of Englands 90th birthday. William jokingly referred to the Queen as the boss at the do.

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge meeting guests during 90th birthday celebration of The Queen Elizabeth II at the residence of British high commissioner. (PTI)

A-listers including entrepreneurs, politicians queued up to meet Kate and Prince William and all were heard gasping with awe and admiration. Kate looked stunning in an Alice Temperley embroidered crop top and skirt while Prince Williams opted for a traditional red-tie look. As they chatted with the guests, a medley of James Bond tunes filled the air. The couple were bombarded with a barrage of selfie requests from the crowd .

Read: In pics: Kate Middleton, William attend a royal Bollywood reception

The British high commissioner Sir Dominic Asquith with wife Louise Asquith (Manoj Verma/ HT)

The British high commissioner, Sir Dominic Asquith raised a toast to the Queen before inviting the royal couple on stage. In his speech, William paid tribute to his grandmother I am honoured that we also have a chance, tonight, to celebrate a very happy milestone for the United Kingdom and for my family in particular. Next week, Her Majesty The Queen, my grandmother, turns 90. The Queen is very fond of India, having visited this great country three times during her reign. And India, of course is the biggest country in the Commonwealth. She may be my grandmother, but she is also very much the boss!.

Britain's Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, attend a garden party celebrating the Queen's 90th birthday. (REUTERS)

Kate and William, quite peculiarly used a sword to cut the special cake for the queen at the party. Among those present included minister of state for information and broadcasting, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Admiral Robin Dhowan, chief of Naval Staff.

Read: William, Kate play cricket, bowler Sachin says fantastic experience

Farooq Abdullah along with Dinesh Trivedi were seen at the royal gala. (Manoj Verma/HT)
A major fire broke out at a powerloom unit located in a four-storey residential building at Rahat Manzil in Bhiwandi around 6.45am on Tuesday, injuring four residents and three fire officers.

The ground floor of the building housed the powerloom unit, first floor was a godown, while the second, third and fourth floors were residential. The 300 residents of the 63 flats in the building woke up to smoke inside their houses. As the news spread, around 200 youngsters from the area rushed to the spot to help the rescue operations. A few powerloom owners opened their units to give temporary shelter to those who were evacuated.

The injured residents were identified as Raju, Mohammed Yasin Qureshi, Babu and Shakila Bano. Fire officers Kantilal Temlal Gujar, Kamlakar Govind Kanath and chief fire officer Datta Salvi, too, suffered injuries.

Mohammed Yasin Qureshi, 26, an electrician, who came to the help of those stranded in the building, said, On reaching the spot, I saw residents crying for help. Without a thought, I climbed the stairs. The smoke cover was so thick that I could not see a thing.

The residents were evacuated using two hydraulic lifts obtained from Thane and Bhiwandi. (Rishikesh Choudhary)

Qureshi managed to reach the second floor, only to be hit by the fire brigades water spray. The pressure of the water was such that I got thrown out of the window. I fell on the shed of another factory, which gave way. I had to be taken to the Indira Gandhi Memorial hospital with the other injured people, he said.

Read more: Illegal powerlooms in Bhiwandi cause for concern

Atik Ansari, 33, owner of a powerloom unit in the area, said, I opened the unit to give shelter to residents of Rahat Manzil. We asked all residents to disconnect the gas cylinders in their homes and put them on the terrace.

Apart from the fire tenders from Kalyan, Thane, Ulhasnagar, Bhiwandi and Mumbai, nearly 28 other water tankers were brought to the spot. The residents were evacuated using two hydraulic lifts from Thane and Bhiwandi. The fire was doused after three hours. We suspect short circuit was the cause of the fire, said Datta Salvi.

R Shinde, senior inspector, Shantinagar police station, said, We have registered a case of negligence. The owner of the unit, Sayyed Waliullah Ansari, has been charged, but is yet to be arrested. The investigation is on. We are yet to ascertain the loss of property and whether there was negligence on part of the owner.

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Exposing chinks in the security armour in Bihar, criminals on Monday shot dead a medicine trader in the business hub of Patna and an undertrial prisoner on Muzaffarpur court premises.

Another undertrial prisoner escaped from the Muzaffarpur court, taking advantage of the commotion following the murder.

In Patna, three unidentified criminals  aged 18 to 22 years  gunned down medicine wholesale dealer Anil Kumar Agarwal, 42, at his new Anil Generic Shop in Sharda Ghosh lane in front of Pirbahore police outpost on Govind Mitra Road around 9.20am. Police have recovered four used cartridges from the spot.

Agitated over the incident, businessmen of Govind Mitra Road closed their shops. Bihar Chemists and Druggists Association president Arjun Yadav gave an ultimatum to the police that medicine traders would launch agitation if culprits were not immediately arrested. Agarwal was shot minutes after he opened his shop and he died on the spot.

Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manu Maharaaj, City SP Chandan Khushwaha, other officials and an FSL team reached the spot soon after the incident to start investigation. A police officer said the CCTV footage from a nearby girls hostel could throw some light on the identity of the criminals. It has captured the incident, he added.

The SSP said prima facie it was not a case of loot, as around Rs 2 lakh in the cash box was not touched. The killers intention was clearly to kill Anil, he added.

In the course of investigation, it came to light that about 20 days ago an argument had taken place between a cart-puller and Anil over parking. The cart-puller was subsequently sent to jail. The family members have also given names of some suspects. Efforts are on to trace the criminals, the SSP said, adding Anils family had been provided security.

In another incident, 80km north of Patna, making a mockery of the security arrangements on Muzaffarpur civil court premises, armed criminals opened fire leading to the death of undertrial prisoner Suraj Kumar.

The victim was taken to court for production in connection with the murder of Mohammad Sarfaraj alias Prince, a resident of Pankaj Market area under town police station. The court is adjacent to the office of the inspector general of Tirhut range.

The incident took place at around 9am when Suraj was being escorted to the court of the judicial magistrate from the court lock-up.

As soon as my handcuffed brother came out of the lock-up, three assailants blocked his way and shot him from point blank range. He fell down and died on the spot, said one of the victims sisters, who had gone to the court campus to meet Suraj.

The incident created panic in the court, as advocates, judicial officers as well as common people ran for safety. The judicial work remained disrupted for several hours. Muzaffarpur SSP (in-charge) Ashish Kumar said the police had got some clues about the offenders.

Taking strong action, Kumar has suspended the court lock-up in -charge and four others, while sending town police station SHO Manoj Kumar Singh to the police lines. Five securitymen manning the lock-up have been asked to report at the police lines after their suspension for dereliction of duty. Even the SHO of town police station has been directed to report at the police lines with immediate effect, said Kumar.

Meanwhile, police had to resort to lathicharge to bring the situation under control at Saraiyaganj Tower chowk in town police station area of Muzaffarpur when supporters of Suraj went on the rampage.

However, no police officer was ready to speak on the serious security lapse in the court where 40 armed policemen have been deputed since the bombing incident last year.

Muzaffarpur district magistrate Dharmendra Singh said, The incident seems to be the fallout of a gang war. Police have started investigations.
A day before the Patna high court is set to hear the case against complete liquor ban in the state, former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi came out in support of toddy, extolling its virtues as a health drink of the poor.

When I was in matriculation and developed problems, my father made me drink it for 15 days. I recovered and I am still fine. I have not come across a person who consumes toddy suffering from tuberculosis or asthma. Toddy is a natural juice, he said at a protest rally by thousands associated with the toddy business in Patna.

Even as Manjhi came out in its defence, CM Nitish Kumar made it clear that there was no turning back on prohibition.

Manjhi said it was wrong to brand toddy as liquor.  It is an age-old occupation of toddy tappers (people of Pasi community) and banning it would be akin to forcing them to starvation. If at all the government wanted to ban it, alternative arrangements for the community should have been made beforehand, he added.

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Three special trains ferrying 900 devotees chugged off for a 10-day pilgrimage to Sikh historical shrines in Pakistan on Wednesday.

Among the pilgrims is an 834-strong jatha being led by Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) members Raghbir Singh Saharan Majra and Hardev Singh Roogla. The remaining pilgrims are travelling in their individual capacity after having secured visas from the Pakistan high commission in Delhi.

The SGPC jatha was given a warm send-off by SGPC chief secretary Harcharan Singh at Teja Singh Samundri Hall in the Golden Temple complex. After being cleared by the Indian customs and immigration officials, the pilgrims boarded the trains at the Attari station, with many chanting verses from the Gurbani.

The trains will take the pilgrims to the historical shrine of Panja Sahib at Hasan Abdal, where, as is the tradition, they will celebrate Baisakhi on April 14. The following day, they will move to Gurdwara Nankana Sahib, the birth place of Guru Nanak.

On April 18, the devotees will leave for Dera Sahib in Lahore, where they will pay obeisance at Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib in Narowal and Gurdwara Roori Sahib in Gujranwala during their three-day stay.

The jatha will return home on April 21. SGPC additional secretary Daljit Singh Bedi has asked all those who could not get visa for the pilgrimage to take back their passports from the SGPC office in Amritsar. The visa was denied to 60 persons out of the list of 894 that was forwarded to the Pakistan high commission.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has welcomed the announcement made by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday of tendering an apology in the House of Commons next month for the infamous Komagata Maru incident of 1914.

Trudeau made the announcement during the Baisakhi celebrations held in the Central Block of the Canadian Parliament. Over the years a large number of Sikhs residing in Canada and even in the United States and India have been demanding an apology from the Canadian government for the incident that is remembered as an example of Canadas discriminatory immigration policies in the early 19th century.

In a statement released in Amritsar on Tuesday, SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar welcomed the announcement and said it will send a positive message to the non-resident Indian (NRI) community, particularly Sikhs residing in Canada and other parts of the world.

Of the 376 Indians on board the Japanese ship Komagatu Maru, as many as 340 were Sikhs. Carrying the Indians, the ship left from Hong Kong and reached Vancouver, only to have nearly all of its passengers denied entry. As the ship remained docked in Canadian waters, 15 persons aboard it died of hunger and disease. The ship was eventually sent to Calcutta and at least 19 people were killed in an ensuing skirmish with British soldiers, while others were jailed.

Former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper did apologise for the incident at a public event in British Columbia in 2008, but Canadian-Sikhs have been demanding a formal statement in the Parliament.

Trudeau-led Liberal Party, which has four Sikh ministers in the cabinet, had promised a formal apology during the election campaign last year.

On Monday, admitting that Komagata Maru passengers were refused entry to Canada due to discriminatory laws of the time, Trudeau said he will stand in the House of Commons on May 18 to deliver the full apology.

Makkar praised Trudeau and said he had always come forward to help the Sikh community in Canada. He (Justin Trudeau) has always been sympathetic to the demands of the Sikhs of his country, said the SGPC chief.

Shakeel showers praise on Trudeau

New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday hailed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus statement that he would offer a formal apology for the 1914 Komagata Maru incident. Party general secretary and in-charge of party affairs in Punjab Shakeel Ahmad said on Twitter: Welcome, Canadian PM Justin Trudeaus statement, he will offer apology for Komagata Maru. Worthy son of the worthy father, Pierre Trudeau! (sic).
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has expressed surprise over the deletion of 60 names from the list of 894 that was sent to the Pakistan High Commission for issuance of visas.

The jatha  of pilgrims will leave by three special trains from Attari on Tuesday. After a 10-day pilgrimage to the shrines of Panja Sahib, Nankana Sahib, Dera Sahib and a few others, the jatha  will return on April 21.

Additional secretary, SGPC, Daljit Singh Bedi said before being sent to the Pakistan High Commission, the list was sent to the Union home ministry. As many as 60 names have been deleted  some by the home ministry and other by the high commission.

We do not know what yardsticks were adopted for clearing the names. The cancellation of names from the list hurts the religious sentiments of those who have waited for long for undertaking this pilgrimage, he said.

Makkar to flag off jatha today

SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar will flag off the jatha of 834 pilgrims from the religious bodys headquarters here. From Attari, the jatha will go directly to gurdwara Panja Sahib where the pilgrims will celebrate Baisakhi on April 14. Thereafter the pilgrims will also visit the shrines of Nankana Sahib, Dera Sahib in Lahore and other shrines.

Former Pak gurdwara body chiefs portrait to be part of museum

A portrait of Sham Singh, former president of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC), will be installed at the Central Sikh Museum inside the Golden Temple complex soon. The decision was taken by SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar here on Monday.

In recognition of his services to the Sikh panth, we have decided to give him a place of honour, Makkar said.

A three-member SGPC delegation had returned from Pakistan a few days back after taking part in the bhog ceremony of Sham Singh at Nankana Sahib. Sham Singh had passed away on March 27 following a cardiac arrest.

It will be first portrait of a Pakistani national to adorn the walls of the museum alongside the photographs of panthic stalwarts like Master Tara Singh, Baba Kharak Singh, Gurcharan Singh Tohra, Sarmukh Singh Chabal and others.

Makkar inaugurates chhabeel at Golden Temple complex

Makkar on Monday inaugurated a chhabeel (sweet water kiosk) at the Golden Temple complex. This chhabeel  is located near Manji Sahib Dewan Hall.

There are four other chabeels at the shine, but they serve only plain water. The chhabeel will be managed and run by Baba Kashmira Singh Bhurewale, who has been doing kar sewa of renovating historical buildings of Sikh shrines for a number of years.
The ongoing tussle between parents and private schools in city over fee hike does not seem to be getting resolved. The parents teachers association is up in arms against the schools for levying development charges at the beginning of every session, while the private schools are not giving any lending ear to the repeated demands of the parents.

A delegation of the association met deputy commissioner, Ravi Bhagat, on Monday, and demanded the implementation of the decision of 15 members committee which was formed by the DC. After the meeting, the DC met officials of private schools and asked them to sort out the issue amicably.

Paramjit Kaur Chahal, district education officer, (secondary) denied receiving any orders. We have not gotten any orders regarding the reduction in fee from DC office. If we receive such orders, we will issue instruction to private schools, Chahal said.

President of the association Rajinder Ghai said, We demanded (in the meeting) that the decision to lower developmental charges should be implemented as soon as possible because some schools are not implementing this decision.

A private school principal, on condition of anonymity said, we were called for informal meeting and another meeting will be called by the DC soon. We mentioned that we have not increased fee like some other prominent schools in the city and we are running schools on no profit base.

Tracing the protest

March 17 Parents intensified the agitation against private schools.

March 28 Deputy Commissioner formed 15 members committee to resolve the issue.

March 30 Additional deputy commissioner (ADC, general) Ajay Sood conducted a meeting with five parents and five management members/principals, including both primary and secondary district education officers, but the issue might take one more meeting to be resolved.

April 2 Along with other protest in the city, three parents started a hunger strike against Greenland School.

April 5 Parents call of hunger strike: Parents of Greenland Convent School called off their three-day hunger strike against the school management but claimed that the peaceful protest will be continued till the demands are not met.

April 6 Schools asked to reduce development charges, make minimal hike in tuition fee: Deputy commissioner Ravi Bhagat directed the schools to decrease development charges by 30% and increase tuition fee by only 5%.

April 8 A total of 23 private Schools in the district have refused to obey the DCs orders. The decision during a meeting by Ludhiana Sahodaya Schools (a body of private schools) held at BCM school Sector 32 on Friday.

April 11 DC convenes meeting with private schools, asks them to sort out the issue.
On Monday, a new Jan Aushadhi outlet was inaugurated at the new OPD of Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER). It is a new model which is directly managed by Bureau of Pharma Public Sector Undertakings of India (BPPI) and has 450 drugs and around 250 surgical items in stock.

Dr VK Subburaj, secretary, department of pharmaceuticals, ministry of chemicals and fertilizers shares more details.

How will this new Jan Aushadhi centre be different from the existing stores?

Previously, the scheme was started in 2008 and it was opened at 250 places. Subsequently, many stores were closed because of changes in the policy of the state governments. For example, in Rajasthan, 100 stores were closed because state government decided they will provide free drugs in government hospitals. In other states, where Jan Aushadhi stores were functional, they were supplying only 100 drugs and now 450 drugs are here.

Secondly, continuous supply chain mechanism has been established now. Earlier, it was not there, so supply was not forth coming adequately. Now, we (BPPI) are stocking drugs in huge quantity and have appointed distributers-supply chain mechanism is available and there will be no problem. So, BPPI will take over all exiting Jan Aushadhi centres. 3,000 fully stocked Jan-Aushadhi stores across the country.

Doctors have their own doubts about the quality of generic drugs. Within PGIMER, there are doctors who are not confident when it comes to prescribing generic drugs to critical patients. What do you have to say on this?

These doubts are unfounded, because whenever we offer anything very cheap in the country, people think that it is of poor quality. This is a psychological problem, where people think that only high costs product can be of good quality. As far as drugs are concerned, private companies pack the same drugs, call it branded and charge high cost. Virtually, there is no difference between generic and branded quality.

Does the ministry take the responsibility of the quality of generic drugs provided at Jan Aushadhi stores?

We do take the responsibility, because we are getting it from good quality companies and are also procuring from our own public sector undertakings which are directly under the control of the government of India. So, quality is not the problem at all and we take the responsibility. To assure the quality, we send the samples to accredited laboratories for checking. After getting the quality certificate only, these medicines are sent to these hospitals.

How will Jan Aushadhi stores provide relief to patients suffering from chronic ailments like diabetes, blood pressure?

We have drugs for all chronic ailments. A diabetic patient has to spend at least Rs 2000 per month for his treatment, but if he takes same drugs through Jan Aushadhi route the cost would come down to around Rs 350 per month. Likewise, we have high quality and low cost drugs for almost all chronic diseases like BP, heart related complications, dermatology, cancer, kidney ailments and others.

Does ministry have any plan to break the nexus between doctors and pharmaceutical companies? People often complain that many doctors take commission from pharmaceutical companies and prescribe only branded drugs?

To regulate the system, the ministry is coming up with new codes of conduct for pharmaceutical companies where firms will be directed not to give any gifts or payment to doctors. We will make the order mandatory and it will be issued in a month or so. The pharmaceutical companies will not give any freebies to doctors. The binding will be on doctors as well.

How to inculcate confidence among people?

BPPI will launch media plan to create awareness among people and doctors about the generic medicines.

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In what could be seen as the compulsion of coalition politics, Union food processing minister and SAD leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who was here on Monday, defended alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government for staying away from the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal issue.

On being asked as to why her party has not received much support on the issue from alliance partner BJP, which also heads the central government, Harsimrat said, It is better that the central government has decided to stay away from the issue as it concerns BJP-ruled states of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. Being an inter-state issue, the Union government has decided that the concerned state governments should resolve the issue.

During her ongoing visit in Mansa, the minister has repeatedly criticised Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal for his doublespeak on the SYL issue.

His hypocrisy has been exposed after they (Delhi government) filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court, supporting the state of Haryana. A Haryana-born leader, now ruling Delhi, can never be loyal to Punjab, Harsimrat said.

Meanwhile, she heaped praises on Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal for taking a bold decision regarding de-notification of SYL Canal land.

Speaking on the expulsion of leaders in AAP and Congress, Harsimrat said the opposition will decimate itself before the upcoming elections and the SAD-BJP alliance will easily regain power. Voices of dissent are being stifled, which is evident after the expulsion of Jassi Jasraj from AAP and Jagmeet Brar from Congress. It only shows that the opposition will be decimated before the assembly elections, she said.

While wooing the farming class, the minister defended the state government over the pesticide scam, leading to severe damages to cotton crop.

A misleading campaign was launched by the opposition to target the state government over the loss of cotton crop. Had it been the supply of adulterated pesticide which led to the damage to cotton crop, how come farmers in states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana and Rajasthan also faced the same issue? Was it the SAD-BJP government which supplied the pesticide in all these states? she said.

The Bathinda MP visited around five villages, viz. Dhapi, Hodla Kalan, Dalewan, Kishangarh Pharwahi and Phaphre Bhaike and distributed grants worth crores for development works.

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The sister of alleged Indian spy Kirpal Singh (54) has claimed his death in a Pakistani jail on Monday to be a murder like the Sarabjit Singh case before.

During her protest on Wednesday at the Pakistan border here, Jagir Kaur (55) of Amritsars Mustafabad village said her brother had not died of heart failure. Dalbir Kaur, sister of Sarabjit Singh, another Indian terror convict murdered earlier in a Pakistani jail, joined her in demanding an inquiry before more Indian prisoners in Pakistan meet the same fate.

Letters Kirpal sent from the jail. (Photo credits-ANI)

We know nothing is going to come out an inquiry but still we demand justice that eluded us in the Sarabjit case, said Dalbir Kaur, addressing the relatives of Kirpal Singh who had travelled to the border. The protest outside Integrated Check Post (ICP) was over in 15 minutes, as the protesters were not allowed to go beyond. The least that Pakistan can do is return the body of Kirpal Singh, said Jagir Kaur, asking the Punjab government to help.

Read: After two decades behind bars, Gurdaspur man dies in Lahore jail

In 1992, Pakistan caught Kirpal Singh of Gurdaspur district as an Indian spy and convicted him of terror activities (a bomb blast at the Faisalabad, then Lyallpur, railway station). First sentenced to death, his punishment was, later, reduced to 20 years in prison. He was in Kot Lakhpat prison near Lahore since February 29, 1992, and his family had for all these years been asking Pakistan to set him free.

On Monday, he reportedly complained of chest pain and was moved to Jinnah Hospital in Lahore, where doctors declared him dead. The Pakistani authorities have ruled out foul play.

Dalbir Kaur said she would take the family of Kirpal Singh to external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj in Delhi so that she can convey its demand to Pakistan.

Deserter or spy?

Gurdaspur: The family of Kirpal Singh want his body brought to his Mustafabad village near here. It says he was not a spy but an army deserter-turned-labourer.

However, Mustafabad villagers who did not want to be named termed Kirpal a martyr, a spy indeed, caught on his second mission to Pakistan. Kirpals parents, until they died, used to get financial aid from the intelligence agency, said of the them. Kirpal was a matriculate from a Gurdaspur school, with three brothers and three sisters. His wife remarried six months after he was captured in Pakistan; they had no children. Kirpals elder brother Roop Lal said the man had been writing to the family of his late sibling Jagir Lal as recently as this February.

On learning about Kirpals death, late Jagir Lals wife, Kanta, and her sons, Ashwani Kumar and Lucky, joined Jagir Kaur on Tuesday near Verka village in Amritsar district to prepare to contact the Indian authorities to get the body for cremation.
With the vast properties and businesses of the Namdhari sect being seen to be behind the succession war, Thakur Dalip Singh on Monday claimed that not even an acre of the hundreds of acres under the Bhaini Sahib and Jeewan Nagar deras had been willed by his grandfather Satguru Partap Singh to his sons, Satguru Jagjit Singh and Maharaj Bir Singh.

The property had created bad blood between my father and his brother. But I used to tell both that the property belonged to the sangat (community) as it had been created by donations. There is no will that entitles you two to it, Dalip Singh told HT.

Read more: Chand Kaurs life depicted in photographs in Bhaini Sahib gurdwara

He said the Bengaluru farm of Namdhari Seeds was spread over 175 acres when bought around 1972, adding that he had no information about the properties his younger brother, Uday Singh, the incumbent sect head, bought in India and abroad later. I was never involved in the properties being bought or those owned by the Bhaini Sahib dera. My grandfather had bought 1,200 acres in Sirsa, including Jeewan Nagar and Mastangarh. Of this, he donated nearly half to an educational institute. Of the remaining, 125 acres are in Jeewan Nagar and 375 at Mastangarh, which is under the control of Bhaini Sahib. My father did not will the land at Jeewan Nagar in my name, neither did I take it. It belongs to the sangat (community). After Satguru Jagjit Singh passed away, unlike Uday Singh, who was never approached by the sangat to ascend the guru gaddi, I was forced by my followers to sit on the guru gaddi. But after two months, I declared that I did not want the dera or the gaddi and came to Jeewan Nagar as my mother still lived there. I do not want to get into the power tussle and am happy that my brother has earned millions, he added.

HT Spotlight: Many intrigues in bitter Namdhari succession war

On Chand Kaurs daughter, Sahib Kaur, too pointing fingers at him, he said she would say whatever they asked her to say. They do not allow her to meet me. Why is she not allowed? Why could she not be her fathers successor? Is there a law that prohibits a daughter from succeeding the father? he asked.

Rs 10-lakh reward for info on killers of Namdhari Mata Chand Kaur
An ongoing row over payment of fee between some parents and the management of Budha Dal Public School in Patiala turned ugly after the school staff allegedly confined nearly 40 students of various classes to the library for about two hours, and police had to be called in. Probes were started by the police as well as the civil administration after at least three students were hospitalised due to trauma; one who was highly diabetic had his sugar levels peaking.

The school principal, Amrit Aujla, claimed that the students were kept comfortable and the parents had created drama and manhandled staff, at which we had to call the police. But a senior practitioner at the paediatrics medicine department at Government Rajindra Hospital, Dr Parveen Mittal, confirmed that the students were highly under trauma: We administered initial medication and admitted them for further examination. However they were discharged in the evening on the request of the parents.

The non-payment relates to an annual capitation fee of Rs 11,000 to Rs 13,000 each, which is the subject of a battle between nearly 200 parents association and the private schools management in the Punjab and Haryana high court.

The latest flashpoint came after the court, on Monday, directed the school to declare the held-back results of the last session and promote the thus-eligible students to the next class. It left the legality of the annual fee undecided as of yet.

On Tuesday, however, the school segregated students over non-payment as soon they reached the morning assembly around 9am and detained them in the library.

The matter came to light after one of the students called her parents through a visitors mobile phone. Parents led groups that barged into the school and took away the kids by 11am.

One of the detained students, Kiranpreet Kaur, said the staff had switched off the fans and denied them food and water in the library. Khemant, a diabetic boy who was later hospitalised, said, I told them that I am a patient of diabetes and have to eat at regular intervals; but the staff did not let me go even to drink water.

One of the parents in tears said, Such arbitrary action breaches all human principles.

SSP, DC mark inquiries

As parents lodged a police complaint over the trapping of the students in the school library, Patiala senior superintendent of police (SSP) Gurmeet Singh Chauhan said he had marked an inquiry to the DSP, city-1. We have procured the footage of the CCTV camera in the library, he added. A seperate inquiry has been marked to the district education officer (DEO), said deputy commissioner (DC) Ramvir Singh.

Also read: Patiala school detention case to reach President

Patiala school detention row: Cops claim students not confined, CID report suggests otherwise
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur on Tuesday slammed the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) for its statewide protests against AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal on the SYL and piao issue.

Talking to mediapersons at his residence in Chhotepur village near here, the former Punjab minister said Arvind Kejriwal had carved a place in the hearts of the people of India by providing good governance in Delhi.

Chhotepur said the Badal government had lost its cool seeing AAPs rising popularity in the state and was displaying its low-level thinking by burning effigies of Kejriwal, who wanted to lead the state on the new path of development.

Claiming the SAD-BJP alliance had lost its base in Punjab, Chhotepur said the state was witnessing vast unemployment, drug abuse among youths, farmer suicides and traders protests due to the governments anti-people policies.

The AAP state convener said the protests were being carried out on the behest of Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, but these would have no impact on the minds of the people of Punjab.
The stage is all set for political conferences of the Shiromani Akali Dal, Congress and Aam Aadmi Party on the eve of Baisakhi at Talwandi Sabo in Bathinda on Wednesday.

With this being the last mass political gathering at a religious fair before the state goes to polls in early 2017, none of the parties is leaving any stone unturned to have a grand show.

Through social media or traditional door-to-door mobilisation, leaders of the three main political parties in the fray are approaching people and appealing to them to reach their respective venues in huge numbers.

Litmus test for AAP

Having witnessed a record gathering during the Maghi Mela conference earlier this year, the AAP is banking on its state leadership for a similar footfall this time.

In the previous rally, partys national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was the main crowd-puller. At Talwandi Sabo, his deputy Manish Sisodia was expected to address the gathering, but the visit was cancelled due to some engagements in New Delhi.

AAP state women wing president Baljinder Kaur said invitations had been sent to senior leaders in New Delhi, but due to their busy schedule, now the state leadership will address the gathering. Kaur along with Lok Sabha member from Sangrur Bhagwant Mann and fellow comedian-turned-politician Gurpreet Ghuggi are posting special messages on their Facebook pages, appealing to their followers to make the Baisakhi rally a historic success.

We are expecting a heavy footfall this time, as even the previous year, the AAP managed to draw crowds despite having no party structure in the state. This year, the party has a strong foundation with leaders having mass appeal, said Baljinder Kaur.

Cong leaders camping in Malwa region

The Congress, too, has gone all out for mobilising its workers for the Baisakhi conference. Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Captain Amarinder Singh will be the main speaker at the event.

Many senior leaders and state legislators of the party from other areas have been camping in Malwa region for past several days to make arrangements for it. Manpreet Badal, who is the in charge of the rally, said the party has a stronghold across the region, which will help it draw huge support.

Sukhbir overseeing preparations

Deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal is monitoring the preparations for the SAD conference. The party president has tasked his officer on special duty Charanjit Singh Brar and political adviser Paramjit Singh Sidhwan with the arrangements.

A huge number of members of the SAD and its women, youth and student wings will take part in the rally, said Brar.

Race for bigger venue

Expecting a heavy footfall, all three main political parties are trying to outdo each other as far as the venue is concerned. While the SAD venue will be spread over 170-by-600-square-foot area, the AAP has finalised 180-by-480-square-foot venue. The Congress is making arrangements for the public rally in an area spread over 250-by-850 square feet. The parties have also worked on the dimensions of the stage minutely.

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Canada might be making waves worldwide for being an inclusive society with the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau famously commenting that he had more Sikhs in his cabinet than Narendra Modi. But it wasnt always so.

Canada had a number of exclusion laws in place during the early 20 th century designed specifically to keep out Asian immigrants.

With Justin Trudeau announcing that he would offer a full apology in the House of Commons of the Parliament there on May 18 for the infamous Komagata Maru incident, here are things you should know about it:

1) The infamous incident took place in 1914.

2) Komagata Maru was the name of a Japanese steam ship which was sailing to Canada.

3) The ship was carrying 376 passengers from British Indias Punjab.

4) The passengers argued a 1908 provision that required all Asian immigrants to have $200 did not apply to them because they were British subjects.

5) With no one allowed to disembark, the ship was in harbour for 2 months.

6) Subsequently, the government ordered the ship to sail but passengers took over the ship and refused to leave.

7) Vancouver police officers and special immigration agents attempted to board the vessel and were beaten. Thirty were injured.

8) Only 24 of the passengers were allowed on Canadian soil and the ship was forced to return to India.

9) 340 Sikhs, 24 Muslims and 12 Hindus were on board.
Days after a portion of the Vivekananda flyover collapsed in Kolkata, killing 24 people, authorities in Delhi, Noida and Gurgaon are getting their act together to ensure that such incidents do not happen.

In Delhi, the Public Works Department (PWD) has initiated a safety audit of all the flyovers across the city and repair work is expected to be carried out as per requirements.

For all projects undertaken by PWD, there are in-house quality assurance and safety teams and independent third party quality assurance visits for projects. This is part of the procedure followed by PWD, says Sarvagya Srivastava, secretary, PWD.

In Noida, where work is in full swing at different sites in view of the 2017 elections, the authorities are conducting stringent site inspections post the Kolkata collapse.

After the elevated road collapse in Kolkata, the Noida authority team is conducting on-site inspections at all major projects  the bridge being constructed across the Yamuna and the elevated road project to ensure that all safety procedures are being followed. We have roped in international consultants like Holtec and CEC Jacob so that construction agencies adhere to all safety norms during the construction process, says Saumya Srivastava, deputy chief executive officer (DCEO) at Noida Authority.

Gurgaon authorities have scrapped a Rs 56-crore plan to widen and decongest the Old Delhi-Gurgaon road after an inquiry team found flaws in the design of the project. The decision was taken following the collapse of the under-construction flyover in Kolkata.

The development of the 7.8 -km road near Kapashera border is vital for commuters as the stretch connects the national capital with the city besides the National Highway 8 and Mehrauli-Gurgaon road. It caters to people working in industrial units in Sectors 21, 22 and 23. The project had been in the works since 2012 and was scheduled to be completed by mid-2018.

The Kolkata incident is serious and an eye-opener. We will conduct a survey to find the actual status of roads and bridges, says TL Satyaprakash, DC, Gurgaon.

Although all the roads under the NHAI are maintained, we are still taking a serious view of the Kolkata incident.We will conduct a survey to understand the actual status of roads and flyovers, says Ashok Sharma, project director, NHAI.

In Ghaziabad, where work is in on on the elevated road and the Metro, city authority officials say that the design of infrastructure projects by private parties is vetted by institutions like IIT. Even GDAs own projects are vetted by IIT and regularly supervised by GDA engineers. Further, there are third party checks undertaken by specialised

agencies like Central Road Research Institute, Central Building Research Institute and RITES, says Ishtiyak Ahmed, chief architect and town planner from Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA).

For their coveted 10.3 km elevated road project costing nearly Rs 1,147 crore, the design is scrutinised at three levels of selected third party agencies before finalisation. One of these is an empanelled consultant of the ministry of road transport and highways. Further, there are onsite third party engineers and senior engineers who constantly monitor the project during the execution stage.

(With inputs from HT Correspondents in Noida, Gurgaon and Ghaziabad)
Actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasans Tamil film with his daughter Shruti Haasan will begin shooting later in April 2016. On Tuesday, while having a conversation with actor R Madhavan on micro blogging platform Twitter, Haasan revealed that he will start working on his next film with his daughter from April 29.

Thank you Madhavan. All the best for part 2. Starting mine with Shruti on 29th. Would you be in Chennai by any chance? Haasan wrote on his Twitter page.

Read: Shruti Haasan, Kamal Haasan to play daughter-father in new film

Read: Kamal Haasan was my first dance mentor, says Shruti Haasan

To be directed by Rajeev Kumar, the project is tipped to be a full-length comedy outing, and will be predominantly shot in the US. Haasan will be bankrolling the project under his home banner Raajkamal Films International. Maestro Ilayaraja will se the music for the film.

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Tamil superstar Vijays actioner Theri will open in 144 screens in the US on Thursday with special premieres planned for Wednesday. The film releases on April 14, 2016.

According to CineGalaxy Inc, the distributor of the film in North America, this is tipped to be the biggest release for a Vijay film in recent years.

In an official statement, CineGalaxy Inc confirmed that the film will be released in 144 screens across USA in places such as Fremont, San Jose, Los Angeles, Dublin, Roseville, Manchester and Newark among other locations.

Directed by Atlee, Vijay will be seen as a police officer and a doting father in the film. Theri, which has music by GV Prakash Kumar, also stars Amy Jackson and Samantha Ruth Prabhu.

Read: Vijay starrer Theris US rights goes for Rs 3 crore!

Read: Theri teaser | Star feast for Tamil star Vijay fans

The film releases worldwide on Thursday, while the Telugu dubbed version, which is titled Policeodu, will release on Friday.

Watch the Theri trailer here:

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Love him or hate him, but theres no way you can ignore Kanhaiya Kumar. With his intense rendition, the JNU student made his azadi slogan a rage among young people  it inspired a Chandigarh-based musician to come up with an azadi song, we saw Kanhaiya T-shirts being sold in Delhi, and a recent Delhi government ad too used azadi as its catchphrase.

The latest from brand Kanhaiya is a viral travel portal ad that shows Kanhaiyas look-alike raising the azadi slogan at an airport to get a window seat. Raghu Bhat, founder, Scarecrow Communications, the brain behind the ad says that the popularity of the word azadi rests completely on Kanhaiyas soul-stirring speech.

Kanhaiyas speeches illustrate two important principles of communication. Firstly, people respond to emotion rather than logic. Good communicators, from Churchill to Malcolm X, were never scared to display their naked emotions in front of the audience. Secondly, give the audience a communication takeaway or the hook. In this case, it is the word azadi. It distils a long speech into a simple, catchy word, says Bhat.

Watch the ad here:

While Raghu knew that the ad would click, he didnt expect such an overwhelming response. This is the only pure viral campaign I have ever seen as it wasnt artificially boosted like many other ad campaigns. It started from a single Facebook post and didnt even have a celebrity which guarantees a critical mass of viewership, says Bhat who shot the ad in an eight hour adrenaline-high night shift in an airport set in the western suburbs of Mumbai. There was no audition for the ad. Both Naren Multani (the director) and me were very clear that only actor Avinash Dwivedi could pull this off, says Bhat.

The fact that Avinash is from Gorakhpur where the accent is not very different from Bihar only helped get the accent and detailing right. Avinash never comes to the sets without doing his homework. We briefed him about the story and left him alone for three days to work it all out, shares Bhat.

As for critics who have called the ad a political statement, Bhat says he respects their right to have an opinion. Some have criticised it for having a socio-political agenda. But this diversity of opinions is inevitable. Even the Eiffel Tower and Michelangelos David were criticised...Surely an ad shouldnt expect immunity from criticism, should it?, he says.

Read: Travel agency Yatra.com spoofs Kanhaiya Kumars Azadi speech

And of course the compliments are pouring in even now. The biggest honour the audience can bestow to any creative work is to understand the intentions behind it. A lot of people have taken the ad for what it is - a funny ad with a topical twist. One guy wrote to me saying You have revived the sleeping giant of satire in just 75 seconds! Another said Hans hans ke sofa se gir gaya!, shares Bhat.

The only challenge that Bhat couldnt overcome  too many retakes while shooting the ad, for other actors who had to shout Aazadi along with Avinash in the ad just couldnt stop giggling!

Avinashs fiancee is in love with his Bihari avatar !

When Avinash Dwivedi got a WhatsApp message from Raghu Bhat asking him to do the ad, the actor had no idea that he was going to be a part of a viral video . Ive done so many TV ads but this has never happened to me before. I started getting friend request on Facebook as soon as the ad was uploaded. By the end of the day, I already had more than 600 requests, says the 28-year-old actor.

Playing a Bihari has not only given a boost to his career but has made his fiancee actor Sambhavna Seth fall in love with him all over again. She adores the Bihari character. She says this is my best work so far, says Avinash. Avinashs work has got him rave reviews, but the actor wasnt sure of his act when he gave the first take. I had practiced 2-3 styles of raising the azadi slogan. As I gave the first take, there was pin-drop silence for a few seconds. I thought my performance wasnt impactful enough. But soon everyone was cheering and laughing hysterically, shares the actor.

Sambhavna Seth and Avinash Dwivedi (Photo: VISHAL SETH)

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The police have recorded the statement of Rahul Raj Singhs former girlfriend Saloni Sharma while investigating the suicide abetment case of actor Pratyusha Banerjee. Sharma, in her statement to police said Rahul had taken Rs 25-30 lakh from her and she was in touch with him to get the money back.

The police have also recorded the statement of Banerjees uncle Dipankar and aunt Barnali, who told officials that Banerjee had shown her injuries to her a couple of months ago.

Read: Who took Rs 24 lakh from Pratyushas account? Police on money trail

Sources said Sharma stated, I gave him the money as he said he wants to start an event management company. But he refused to return the money. I was in touch with him only because he promised to return the money. Officials are also looking into an event management company owned by Rahul to ascertain if it is the same company which he set up after taking money from Sharma.

Sharma had told officials she had gone to the Goregaon apartment, where Banerjee stayed with Rahul, a couple of months ago. Officials also quizzed her about her alleged fight with Rahul and Banerjee.

Read: Pratyusha was tortured by Rahul, he should rot in jail, say parents

According to sources, Sharma said she had a fight with Rahul and got into a scuffle with Banerjee when she allegedly hit Sharma. The police said they will corroborate Sharmas statements with that of Rahul once he is arrested.

In her statement to the police, Banerjees aunt Barnali said that the actor had visited their Ambernath home early in February for two days. Banerjee showed her the injuries she sustained on her thigh after a fight with Rahul.

Her uncle then called Banerjees mother Soma and told her they are sending her back home. However, Banerjee decided to stay back.

Barnali also told the police that Banerjee had called her on March 31, a day before the suicide to complain that her life has gotten very difficult. The police have so far recorded statements of total 17 persons in the case.

Dr Santosh Goel of the Shree Sai Hospital told the media on Monday, Rahuls condition is somewhat better now. However he should be under observation for a couple of days. The police can take him if they are shifting him to a government hospital.

Rahuls lawyers have moved the high court after the Dindoshi session court rejected his anticipatory bail application.
The Pentagon has allowed three more Sikhs to serve in US armed forces while maintaining their articles of faith like keeping a beard and wearing a turban, in the fourth such approval in less than a month, bringing cheer to the Sikh community in the US.

The landmark decision, taken on Friday but made public only today, comes days after the soldiers filed a lawsuit against the department of defence (DoD) seeking to serve in the US armed forces without being forced to compromise with their articles of faith.

Two have been accommodated in the Army National Guard, and one in the US Army Reserve, a media release said. Arjan Singh Ghotra, 17, has been accommodated to serve in the Virginia Army National Guard and will continue his service while attending George Mason University this year.

I will proudly wear my articles of faith with my military uniform, he said.

I am excited and honoured to have the opportunity to serve my country as an observant Sikh in the Virginia National Guard, Ghotra said.

Kanwar Singh has been accommodated with the Massachusetts Army National Guard, while Harpal Singh, a California telecommunications engineering specialist, has been accommodated to serve with the US Army Reserve through a programme available for non-US citizens with critical foreign language skills.

All three are scheduled to attend basic combat training with their respective units this May, according to the release.

On March 31, 28-year-old Sikh-American decorated combat veteran Captain Simratpal Singh became the first active duty Sikh soldier to receive approval to maintain his articles of faith while actively serving in the US Army.

We commend the US Department of Defence for its decision to allow these soldiers to serve with their religious turbans and beards, said Sikh Coalition legal director Harsimran Kaur.

Sikhs observe five articles of faith - kesh (uncut hair), kara (a steel bracelet), kangha (a wooden comb), kachera (cotton underwear) and kirpan (steel sword).
Belgium has charged two men with terrorist offences over alleged links with the rental of a property thought to have been used as a safe house before the Brussels attacks, federal prosecutors said on Tuesday.

Four other suspects were picked up on Friday, including Mohammed Abrini, who investigators say has confessed to depositing a bomb at Brussels airport and Osama Krayem, suspected of buying bags used by the bombers.

Abrini is also wanted in connection with Novembers attacks in Paris, which killed 130 people.

The March 22 attacks in Brussels killed 32.

Prosecutors identified the two men, who were charged on Monday, only as Smail F, born in 1984, and Ibrahim F, born in 1988.

They did not say when the two were detained. Under Belgian law, suspects usually need to appear before an examining judge within 24 hours.

They are charged with participation in the activities of a terrorist group, terrorist murders and attempts to commit terrorist murders, as a perpetrator, co-perpetrator or accomplice, federal prosecutors said in a statement.

Police raided the suspected safe house, in the central Brussels district of Etterbeek, on Saturday, but found no weapons or explosives.
A fuming China on Tuesday said developed countries led by the US are taking sides on the South China Sea dispute after foreign ministers of G7 issued a statement opposing any intimidating and coercive actions in the region.

Mondays statement by the foreign ministers of the grouping of developed nations did not name any country involved in the maritime dispute but gave enough indications that it was referring to China.

Expectedly, the statement caught Beijings attention. What would have added to the fire was that it was issued in Japan, with which China has tense relations steeped in history of colonisation and violence.

We urge the G7 member states to honour their commitment of not taking sides on issues involving territorial disputes, foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said told a regular news conference on Tuesday.

The G7, Lu said in his terse reaction, should focus on the recovery of the global economy, which remains weak.

China is locked in disputes with several countries such as the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan and Japan over the ownership of islands and reefs in a maritime region said to be floating on rich oil and gas reserves.

The statement issued by the foreign ministers of the US, Britain, Italy, Germany, Canada, France and Japan in Hiroshima expressed their strong opposition to any intimidating, coercive or provocative unilateral actions that could alter the status quo and increase tensions.

They also reiterated their commitment to the freedoms of navigation and overflight.

Lu said Chinas stance on the East and South China Seas is consistent and clear. It is within Chinas sovereignty to build structures on some of its Nansha islands and reefs and that there is no problem with freedom of navigation and overflight in the East and South China Seas, he added.

We urge the G7 member states to fully respect the efforts made by countries in the region, stop making irresponsible remarks and all irresponsible actions, and truly play a constructive role for regional peace and stability, Lu said.

The G7 statement indicated the grouping is particularly worried about Beijings ongoing spat with Manila, which has appealed to the International Court of Arbitration in The Hague to settle the row.

Last week, foreign minister Wang Yi told his visiting British counterpart, Philip Hammond, that China hopes Britain will adopt an objective and fair stand on the issue and not take sides on the South China Sea dispute.
Elderly men in South Korea have allegedly been given erectile dysfunction drugs to buy their votes in legislative elections, prosecutors said Tuesday, announcing an investigation into the suspected breach.

South Koreans go to the polls on Wednesday in an election already overshadowed by North Korean nuclear threats and economic difficulties.

The alleged vote-buying took place in Suwon, 30 kilometres (around 20 miles) south of the capital Seoul.

We have yet to verify the allegations. If confirmed, this could constitute a breach of election law, the spokesman for Suwon Prosecutors Office told AFP.

Vote-buying in South Korea carries a sentence of up to five years in prison or a fine of 10 million won ($8,750).

Erectile dysfunction drugs are a prescription medication in South Korea and prosecutors will investigate how the unnamed candidate was allegedly in possession of so many, the Dong-A Ilbo daily said.

Anyone found guilty of vote-buying risks being stripped of their election victory, while voters face fines of up to 50 times the value of the cash or gift they received in return for supporting the candidate.
Following a scandal over an archbishop accused of covering up a Catholic priests crimes, the Catholic Church in France on Tuesday pledged to shed light on all cases of paedophilia, including historic cases.

Bishops decided that special groups would be set up to listen to complaints from victims of sexual abuse and an independent national commission would be set up to investigate, led by a lay person.

Individual cases remain in our dioceses, even historic cases, and we need to shed light on them, said Archbishop Georges Pontier, president of the French bishops conference.

We pledge to do this work just as we treat cases brought to our attention, particularly by victims, he said.

So-called listening cells will be set up in every diocese to hear complaints from victims, Pontier added.

The measures were announced after the case of Archbishop of Lyon Philippe Barbarin re-opened the debate about paedophilia in the Church in France.

Barbarin is the focus of two investigations focusing on accusations that he failed to inform prosecutors about Bernard Preynat, a priest who has admitted sexually abusing boy scouts he was supervising in the Lyon area of central France more than 25 years ago.

Preynat was charged in January after confessing he had abused children.

A group of victims has criticised Barbarin for failing to report Preynat to the authorities, even though he was made aware of the allegations against him in 2007.

The diocese did not remove Preynat from ministry until 2015.

Since the Preynat case has come to light, other allegations of sexual abuse by priests in the Lyon diocese have emerged.

Barbarian, one of the highest-profile figures in the French Church, said last month he had never covered up paedophilia.

(AFP)

We must cooperate

Under increasing pressure, he has asked for forgiveness for what he called Preynats abominable crimes, but insists he did nothing wrong.

It is the worst scandal to hit the Catholic Church in France since a bishop was convicted in 2001 for failing to report abuse.

Another bishop came under attack last week when he refused to describe paedophilia as a sin.

Stanislas Lalanne, the bishop of Pontoise outside Paris, later tried to clarify his position, saying paedophilia, in every case, is objectively serious.

Writing in Le Monde newspaper on Tuesday, the archbishop said the Church now had a better understanding of the depth of the hurt inflicted by abuse and admitted: We have not always done a good job of managing the cases in the best way.

A child sex abuse victim wears a t-shirt that says "no more silence" and shows a tattoo on his arm as he stands in front of the Quirinale hotel in Rome in February. (REUTERS)

He wrote: We must cooperate fully with the judicial authorities and we must listen to the victims in an open and caring way.

The Catholic Church has been rocked by sexual abuse scandals in recent years, especially in Ireland, the United States and Mexico.

Pope Francis has said dealing with abuse is vital for the Churchs credibility and that perpetrators must face sanctions.
A 21-year-old Indian-origin student at Rutgers University was killed and his roommate seriously injured in a shooting incident at their apartment near the schools campus in the US state of New Jersey.

Shani Patel, a junior economics major at the university, was shot and killed on Sunday at an off-campus apartment building in Newark, a spokeswoman for the Essex County Prosecutors Office as saying.

Patels roommate, whose identity was not released, was seriously injured in the shooting, authorities said.

The Rutgers Police Department said the shooting was not random and that the downtown campus, which serves about 12,000 students, was not under threat, The New York Times reported.

Authorities are investigating the incident.

Essex County Prosecutors office and Newark Public Safety Director said in a statement that no suspects have been identified so far and no arrests have been made.

The investigation is active and ongoing, they said.

In a letter to the Rutgers Universitys Newark community, Chancellor Nancy Cantor expressed shock and sadness at Patels death.

While law enforcement is still investigating and we understand that it was not a random act that led to Shanis death, it is a shock to lose a member of our community under any circumstances, Cantor said.

Our deepest condolences go out to Shanis family and to all who knew him as a student, colleague, or friend, she added.

The Rutgers police said in a statement issued to the Newark campus that the shooting occurred inside a private residence.

Two assailants, both believed to be in their early to mid-20s, fled the scene.
Angered by a letter sent by Prime Minister David Cameron to London voters with Sikh names, Britains oldest Indian diaspora organisation has demanded he tender an apology in parliament for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919.

Cameron and Zac Goldsmith, the Conservative candidate for the London mayor polls to be held on May 5, have been criticised by Indian-origin voters who believe they were racially profiled when the British leaders sent them letters and leaflets that sought their support.

Letters addressing voters by name specifically mentioned the Indian, Gujarati, and Sikh communities, ostensibly based on surnames in the voters list. Goldsmiths leaflets included photos that showed him with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting temples.

The Indian Workers Association, established in 1938, noted Camerons letter mentioned his visit to the Golden Temple in February 2013, but it reminded him of his words while visiting Jallianwala Bagh, when he described the massacre a deeply shameful act in British history.

IWA vice-president Harsev Bains wrote to Cameron to ask that he make the same remarks in parliament, so the apology could be recorded as the centenary of the massacre approaches. This single action will cost nothing. The effect on the people of India and the Indian diaspora will be of historic magnitude, he wrote.

Bains told Hindustan Times: From their mail shots it would appear that the Tories are in a panic. This is the first time in our life in the UK that we are witnessing such communal and divisive tactics in a political election campaign. Letters have been sent to people based on their perceived religious background.

On April 13, 1919, soldiers of the British Indian army led by Col Reginald Dyer fired at more than 10,000 people who had gathered at Jallianwala Bagh to protest against British rule. According to official records, around 400 civilians were killed and another 1,200 wounded. Unofficial records put the tally much higher.

Goldsmith mentioned in his leaflets to Sikh voters that as MP he had campaigned against making the Golden Temple a Unesco site in order to preserve control of this holy place in the hands of the Sikh community.

He also reminded voters that he campaigned for the release of classified official documents relating to Britains alleged involvement in the storming of the Golden Temple in 1984, to which the government agreed.

Camerons letter and Goldsmiths leaflets claim Labour candidate Sadiq Khan would put you and your familys future at risk.

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The office of a senior politician in Malaysias Penang state, who described a visiting fiery Islamic preacher as Satan, was attacked by a petrol bomb on Tuesday.

State officials said no one was injured and no damage caused in the early-morning attack after the firebomb landed on the centres metal shutters.

State deputy chief minister P Ramasamy said the attack may have been prompted by his Facebook post over the weekend about preacher Zakir Naik.

It could possibly be related to my comment on Zakir as Satan, he told AFP.

Ramasamy accused Zakir, an Indian national, of giving speeches designed to promote hatred of other faiths.

His posting was not directed against Islam or Muslims but against this particular person, he said in a statement.

I regret the use of the word Satan which has caused uneasiness and unhappiness among Muslims in Malaysia, Ramasamy said, adding that the word was later deleted.

Malaysia generally practises a moderate brand of Islam among its majority Malay community, but conservative views have gained increasing traction in recent years.

Minorities -- mainly ethnic Indians and Chinese -- complain of what they see as Islamisation.

Religious tensions escalated in 2010 after three churches were attacked with firebombs, causing major damage to one, as Muslims pledged to prevent Christians from using the word Allah.

Zakir, 51, is an Islamic preacher on comparative religion.

Ramasamy, who is also the Penang Hindu Endowment Board chairman, had spoken out against a planned programme by Zakirs son, also an Islamic preacher, in Penang state on April 15.

On Sunday police banned Zakir from giving a lecture at a university in the southern state of Malacca following complaints from minority groups.

He had planned to speak on Similarities between Hinduism and Islam.

National police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said in a tweet on Monday that Zakir was barred to ensure public order.

The aim was to protect public order and religious sensitivities in Malaysia, he wrote.

Issues related to race, religion and language are considered sensitive in Malaysia, which witnessed deadly riots mainly between ethnic Malays and Chinese in 1969.
French police killed Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the suspected mastermind of the attacks in which at least 130 people died in Paris in November last year, after a tip-off from a crucial source led them to an apartment in the French capitals suburb.

A Washington Post report has said the crucial source was a Muslim woman connected to Hasna Aitboulahcen, Abaaouds cousin who died as police stormed the flat where she was holed up with six Islamic State terrorists days after the attacks.

The woman along with Aitboulahcen met Abaaoud two days after the Paris bombings and shootings, according to the newspaper. While Aitboulahcen was excited to meet her cousin, the source was caught off-guard after seeing Abaaoud who she immediately identified as an ISIS terrorist from the videos she had seen on TV.

Aitboulahcen was under surveillance in a narcotics operation at the time.

The Post accessed the French investigative documents and learned that the other woman secretly met with the police and informed them of the meeting. Three days later the authorities zeroed in on the flat in the Saint-Denis suburb.

Its important the world knows that I am Muslim myself, the woman said to The Post in an interview. Its important to me that people know what Abaaoud and the others did is not what Islam is teaching, she added.

The Belgian

Abaaoud, a 28-year-old Belgian, was killed by the police in a shootout in the Paris suburb of St Denis on November 18. Having fought in Syria as Abu Omar al-Beljiki (The Belgian), he avoided capture in a Belgian police raid in Verviers on January 16 in which two fellow Belgians were killed.

He boasted of flitting between Syria and Europe and was believed to have promoted attacks including the 2014 shooting at Brussels Jewish Museum and the Thalys train attack last August.

Abaaoud was sentenced to 20 years in prison in absentia in July last year, part of a case known as the Syrian Connection, in which some 30 suspects were handed jail sentences.

His father Omar accused him of kidnapping his younger brother Younes who at the age of 13 was vaunted as becoming the youngest foreign fighter in Syria.

Another attack stopped

The French investigative documents also revealed that the police learned that Abaaoud was gearing up for another attack on Paris.

According to Washington Post, Abaaoud told the women that dozens of Islamic State militants had accompanied him into Europe by hiding among streams of refugees.

The attack on Brussels last month were carried out by remnants of a network assembled by Abaaoud.

The number of people linked to the Islamic State network that attacked Paris and Brussels reaches easily into the dozens, the AP reported last week. A series of new arrests confirmed the cells toxic reach and ability to move around unnoticed in Europes criminal underworld, the report claimed.

From Belgiums Molenbeek to Swedens Malmo, new names are added nearly daily to the list of hardened attackers, hangers-on, and tacit supporters of the cell that killed 130 people in Paris and 32 in Brussels.

A computer abandoned by one of the Brussels suicide bombers in a trash can contained not only his will, but is beginning to give up other information as well, including an audio file indicating the cell was getting its orders directly from a French-speaking extremist in Syria, a French police official told AP last week.

(with inputs from Agencies)
A car bomb exploded at a military post in Turkeys restive Kurdish-dominated southeast, killing a soldier and wounding nearly 50 people, a military source said today.

Turkish authorities blamed the late yesterday attack on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). It targeted a military outpost in the Hani district of Diyarbakir province and left 47 people injured, including eight civilians, the source added.

The security forces launched a search operation following the bombing.

Turkey has waged an offensive against the PKK after the collapse in 2015 of a two-year ceasefire with the group that has been a thorn in its side for three decades.

The renewed conflict has also struck at the heart of the country, with two attacks that killed dozens in the capital Ankara claimed by Kurdish rebels.

A radical PKK splinter group, the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), claimed responsibility for the two suicide car bombings in Ankara on February 17 and March 13.

Over 40,000 people have been killed since the PKK took up arms in 1984 demanding a homeland for Turkeys biggest minority. Since then, the group has pared back its demands to focus on cultural rights and a measure of autonomy.
An alleged Indian spy arrested in Pakistan has been charged with sabotage and terrorism, media reports said on Tuesday.

The counter-terrorism department at Quetta has lodged a case against Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was arrested from Balochistan last month on charges of being an agent of Indian spy agency RAW (the Research and Analysis Wing).

The daily, News International, quoted police sources as saying that a complaint was filed by the Balochistan home department on a directive from the federal government. Terrorism, foreign act violation and sabotage charges have been included in the FIR, sources said.

Read: Pak arrests RAW agent, India denies link: All you need to know

Jadhav, accused of being a RAW operative, was arrested by Pakistani authorities last month on charges of illegally entering the country to carry out subversive activities in the Balochistan province. Though the Indian government acknowledged the fact that the man is a former Indian Navy officer, it dismissed all allegations of espionage.

Islamabad, however, maintains that Jadhav is an Iran-based RAW operative who used to visit Pakistan regularly.
It is raining tax returns in the wake of the Panama Papers leaks, and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn wants political journalists to reveal their sources of income  a demand that invited some ridicule and mockery.

After Prime Minister David Cameron published his six-year tax returns to ward off criticism for benefiting from his late fathers investment fund in Panama, the rush for transparency has seen more returns from Corbyn, chancellor George Osborne and Scotland first minister Nicola Sturgeon.

Now there is a demand that all ministers, MPs, civil servants and political journalists publish their tax returns. Top leaders revealing their returns is unprecedented in British politics, but asking others to follow is seen as extreme.

Jeremy Corbyns plan to make journalists publish their tax returns is North Korea-style madness, said the headline of a column in The Daily Telegraph on Tuesday.

When Corbyn was asked if all those who stand for election, political journalists and newspaper editors should reveal their financial details, he replied: Money and politics have to be treated with the greatest sense of openness possible.

He told presenter Andrew Marr: I mean you are involved in public life as a very important commentator on the BBC, as many others are. I think we need to know what influences are at work.

I think we are moving in that direction, I think its probably a good thing if we move generally in that direction so everybody knows what influences are at play.

But Cameron had other views about journalists being asked for tax returns. He wants returns to be declared only by the prime minister, chancellor, leader of opposition, shadow chancellor and the first minister of Scotland.

He told the House of Commons on Monday: We should think carefully before abandoning completely all taxpayer confidentiality in this House, as some have suggested.

If this were to come in for MPs, people would also ask for a similar approach for those who ask us questions, those who run large public services or lead local government, or indeed those who edit news programmes or newspapers.

I think this would be a very big step for our country. It certainly should not take place without a long and thoughtful debate, and it is not the approach that I would recommend.

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Some of the worlds biggest aid agencies voiced concern on Monday that they may be further exposed to risk from the murky world of offshore finance after the latest release of the Panama Papers showed the name of the Red Cross was falsely used.

The cache of documents revealed how Panamanian law firm created dummy foundations, with one of its fictitious beneficiaries listed as the International Red Cross.

The misappropriation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) name was condemned by the Swiss-based agency and other international aid organisations concerned about the reputational risk this may carry for the sector as a whole.

The leaked emails, which first appeared in European newspapers, suggested the law firm used the humanitarian organisation as a cover when facing down demands for information from prying banks and financial institutions.

It has become difficult to withhold the identity of the beneficiary, one of the alleged emails from an unnamed Mossack Fonseca staffer said.

This is the reason why we created this structure, that is, appointing the International Red Cross (sic). So it is not complicated, the leaked 2009 email said.

The ICRC said it was not previously aware that the name of its organisation had been misappropriated and would investigate.

But the leaked emails exposed the risk charities take in accepting private donations, whose origins can sometimes be hard to trace.

An ICRC spokeswoman, Jenny Tobias, said the organisation cannot be 100 percent sure other private donors do not have links to the Panamanian law firm, as it has neither the means nor the expertise to examine each and every fund or trust.

The agency, which depends on the generosity of governments for more than 80 percent of its funding, has a number of due diligence procedures in place for all donations, including anonymous ones, over 100,000 Swiss francs ($105,000), she said.

We strive to ensure the funds we receive will not contravene our principles of action and jeopardise our humanitarian operations for those most is need, Tobias told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

LACK OF MORALS

Other aid groups voiced concern about the revelation that the name of the Red Cross had been usurped in shady financial dealings.

This shocking lack of morals is damaging not only to charities but to the people we work to help in the poorest parts of the world, said Ben Jackson, chief executive of Bond, a network of 450 charitable organisations.

Oxfam said the use of the Red Cross name was concerning.

This is another example of why the secrecy and shady practices surrounding tax havens needs to be urgently addressed, an Oxfam spokesman said.

Mossack Fonseca did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the documents regarding the Red Cross first published on Sunday in Frances Le Monde, together with Swiss newspapers, Sonntags Zeitung and Le Matin Dimanche.

Tobias said the ICRC was concerned about the potential impact on the safety of its 14,000-strong global workforce which prides itself on remaining neutral in conflict zones.

Trust by all actors is essential to protect its staff and enable its humanitarian action for those most in need, Tobias said.

The name of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) also appeared to have been falsely used in Mossack Fonseca paperwork.

The nature conservation organisation said it had no knowledge of and had never given consent to the use of its name by so-called Panamanian foundations.

Accountability experts warn that the ICRC and WWF were unlikely to be the only examples of charity names being misused in this way.

Where funds are actually donated, charities should consider the risks posed by anonymous or opaque donors and take reasonable steps to identify them - especially if amounts are large or unusual, said Oliver May, an expert on fraud in humanitarian agencies.

But there are limitations to what such organisations can reasonably do, said May, a former head of counter-fraud at Oxfam GB.

The latest Panama Papers leaks add to a slew of files revealing financial arrangements of prominent global figures, including friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin, relatives of the prime ministers of Britain and Pakistan, as well as Ukraines president.

The scandal broke more than a week ago when an investigation was published, with German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung saying it had received a cache of 11.5 million leaked documents from Mossack Fonseca.

It then shared them with more than 100 other international news outlets and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
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The son of a once-prominent California lawmaker who was convicted in the stabbing death of a Bay Area man, has been released from prison after serving less than 6 years of a 16-year sentence thanks to his sentence being reduced by then Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Esteban Nunez, 27, was released on Sunday morning and will live in Sacramento where he will be on parole for three years, according to California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesman Luis Patino.

Nunez pleaded guilty to the stabbing death of college student Luis Santos in San Diego On Oct. 4, 2008. Court records indicate that Nunez and three other men were angry because they weren't granted entry into a party, prompting them to attack and later stab Santos in the chest.

In June 2010, Nunez entered prison to begin his 16-year sentence. However, Schwarzenegger, who was friends with Nunez's father, Fabian Nunez, intervened on his last day in office in 2011 and reduced Esteban's sentence to seven years. The move prompted the Santos family to sue in a failed attempt to overturn the ruling.

"I feel disgusted," said Santos' mother, Kathy. "Makes me sort of sick that two guys in political power can pull strings to get one of their own murdering children off the hook. I just don't understand that."

The 3rd District Court of Appeal in Sacramento last year upheld Schwarzenegger's power to reduce the sentence, despite feeling that his ruling could be viewed as unjust.

"Back-room dealings were apparent," the court wrote of Schwarzenegger's decision.

Adding insult to injury, Nunez was released for good behavior after serving less than six years. Which means he served less than half of what he was initially supposed to serve before Schwarzenegger's intervention.

"While Esteban is probably out celebrating with his family tonight, this is where we come to be with our family," Kathey added, who brings flowers and balloons and sometimes blows bubbles at her son's grave.

As for the Nunez family, they said in a statement that even as they celebrate Esteban's release, they still grieve over the losses due to their son's involvement in the incident.

We continue to grieve over the losses related to our son's involvement in this tragic incident and pray daily for God's healing grace," they said. "Our son has paid his debt to society .... He is committed to continuing the work of healing, self-reflection, and spiritual growth."

The state Supreme Court has not yet said if it will consider an appeal of that ruling.

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Scientists from the University of California (UC), Berkeley have revamped the tree of life through the addition of more than 1,000 new species that have been discovered in recent years. The additions are mostly comprised of Archaea, a kingdom of single-celled microorganisms, revealing the abundance of life and biodiversity that remains unseen to the human eye.

"The tree of life is one of the most important organizing principles in biology," said Jill Banfield, a professor at UC Berkeley. "The new depiction will be of use not only to biologists who study microbial ecology, but also biochemists searching for novel genes and researchers studying evolution and earth history."

The newly added microbial diversity was unearthed due to the ability of scientists to now directly search for genomes in the environment as opposed to culturing them in a lab dish. Since many of these microbes cannot be cultured as they do not have the ability to live on their own, this genome revolution opens up an opportunity to reveal the numerous Archaea that would otherwise have never been discovered.

"Bacteria and Archaea from major lineages completely lacking isolated representatives comprise the majority of life's diversity," said Banfield. "This is the first three-domain genome-based tree to incorporate these uncultivable organisms, and it reveals the vast scope of as yet little-known lineages."

The newly reported organisms on the revised tree of life originate from a variety of environments including Yellowstone National Park, Chile's Atacama Desert and the inside of a dolphin's mouth. Each of the newly discovered organisms were revealed using just their genomes.

"What became really apparent on the tree is that so much of the diversity is coming from lineages for which we really only have genome sequences," said Laura Hug, first author of the study and a member of the biology faculty at the University of Waterloo. "We don't have laboratory access to them, we have only their blueprints and their metabolic potential from their genome sequences. This is telling, in terms of how we think about the diversity of life on Earth, and what we think we know about microbiology."

Although the tree of life has yet to solve the mystery of the relationship between Archaea and eukaryotes - any organism whose cells are contained in a nucleus - the new tree offers a new perspective on the history of known organisms.

"This incredible diversity means that there are a mind-boggling number of organisms that we are just beginning to explore the inner workings of that could change our understanding of biology," said Brett Baker, co-author of the study and a researcher from the University of Texas.

The findings were published in the April 11 issue of Nature Microbiology.

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Yahoo!, one of the internet's great pioneers, is attractive again. Well, it is, but not because it is dominating the industry. The firm is prominent again since its core internet businesses are finally up for sale, and many bidders are now lining up to grab their own share of a company that fully helped bring about the age of the internet.

Though the companies that are attempting to purchase Yahoo! are many, there is one that seems to be the most dominant so far. Among Yahoo!'s suitors, Verizon is looking to be the bidder to beat. However, a new contender has emerged, and it might very well put a dent in Verizon's possibly dominant offer for the once-prominent internet firm.

Though rumors had already emerged that the media company is attempting to purchase a part of Yahoo!, the British publisher of prominent news firm The Daily Mail has confirmed that it is actually interested in making a bid for Yahoo!'s core business assets.

Considering that The Daily Mail is currently attempting to increase its share of non-U.K. revenues, the acquisition of Yahoo! would fit in perfectly with the company's most recent thrust. Plus, The Mail's media presence is significant, making it an ideal host for Yahoo!'s acquisition.

Despite this, however, Verizon's sheer size and financial firepower is something that might very well outshine that of its investors. After all, Yahoo! also fits perfectly with the telecom giant's focus on mobile video content and online advertising.

Plus, Verizon also has experience on its side, since it was already able to successfully purchase AOL for an admirable $4.4 billion last year. By adding Yahoo! to its inventory, Verizon would become a much more powerful firm than it already is.

One factor that Yahoo! might definitely look into is if the acquisition offers from its suitors would include the firm's assets in Yahoo! Japan and Alibaba Group Holding. While it is unlikely that The Mail is looking to purchase Yahoo!'s Asian assets, some analysts are alleging that Verizon might actually include them in its planned takeover.

Yahoo! used to be one of the internet's most dominant companies. During the height of its power back in 2000, the firm was valued at a whopping $255 billion. After a series of grave miscalculations, which included a late entry into the mobile world, the firm quickly lost its value. Today, Yahoo! is now valued at a very humble $34 billion.

Yahoo! has announced that it is giving prospective buyers until April 18 to submit their final offers for the company's acquisition.

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As it turns out, North Korea lost one of its top-ranking officials last year, as defense officials in Seoul, South Korea, announced on Monday that a colonel who worked for the North's General Reconnaissance Bureau defected to the South sometime last year.

The news was announced by Defense Ministry spokesman Moon Sang Gyun, who provided details about the defection at a press briefing in the South Korean capital. According to the South's Ministry of Unification, the defection of the colonel serves as a great example of just how unstable the North's leadership currently is.

What is particularly ironic is the fact that back in the North, the colonel specialized in espionage activities against the South. After the high-ranking official defected, he was reportedly granted political asylum by South Korea.

North Korea's General Reconnaissance Bureau is believed to be an organization focused on developing measures to infiltrate the computer networks of the South and other countries. Though it has not been confirmed, the bureau is believed to be the organization which successfully hacked into Sony Pictures' computers in 2014.

But that is not all. South Korea's Unification Ministry also reported that a senior North Korean diplomat stationed in an African country has decided to defect to South Korea last year, taking his family with him.

Also, a group of 13 North Koreans has reportedly defected to the South. The 13 were allegedly workers at a restaurant in China who grew disillusioned about the North Korean regime after being exposed to the outside world.

An important part of North Korea's revenue comes from employees who work abroad and operate businesses such as restaurants across countries such as China.

Though defections are a sensitive subject, the Chinese government nonetheless confirmed the defections in an announcement. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang described the defection.

"After an investigation, (we found) the 13 North Koreans used valid passports to leave the country normally in the early hours of April 6. What needs to be stressed is that these people had valid identity documents and legally came to the country, not North Koreans who have entered illegally," he said.

North Korea has not issued a statement about the defections so far.

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The Angola yellow fever epidemic that started in December is spreading to neighboring countries and has so far claimed the lives of 21 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo amid a vaccine shortage, according to a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO).

The WHO on Tuesday said that there have been a total of 151 cases of yellow fever and 21 deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo from early January to March 22. Tests have linked the cases in Congo to last year's Angola outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease that has so far infected 490 and killed 198 Angolans since December 2015.

"Of the 151 suspected cases, 9 were confirmed by serology (IgM) at the Institute National Biomedical Research (INRB) in Kinshasa. Given possible cross-reactions with other arboviruses, IgM positive samples were sent to the Pasteur Institute of Dakar for confirmation where 4 tested positive for the infection. Of the 4 cases confirmed in Dakar, 3 were imported from Angola and were detected in the areas of Nsona-Pangu, Kimpese and Kitona in Kongo Central province (formerly, Bas-Congo), DRC. This province shares borders with Angola," the WHO said Friday in a released statement.

While 5.7 million people in the Angola's capital have now been vaccinated against yellow fever, WHO emphasizes that vaccines should first be given to individuals at highest risk due to the current worldwide vaccine shortage

"Whilst concerted efforts are being made to stop the outbreak, there is a global vaccine shortage, with the emergency stockpile completely depleted. An additional 1.5 million doses are needed to vaccinate the population at risk in Luanda province alone," WHO said in a news release. "With the spread of the outbreak to other provinces in Angola, and travelers bringing sporadic cases to other parts of Africa and China, WHO requests prioritizing vaccination of people at highest risk. WHO is in discussion with manufacturers and partners to divert shipments of vaccines for national routine immunization programs until the emergency stockpile is replenished."

Symptoms of the yellow fever virus, which is transmitted by infected mosquitos (Aedes aegypti), include headache, fever, nausea, muscle pain, fatigue and vomiting. In some cases, the virus, which is spread by the same mosquito that spreads the Zika virus, patients experiencing the second phase of the illness can have symptoms like high fever, jaundice and internal bleeding. According to WHO, at least half of patients experiencing severe symptoms and who don't receive treatment die within two weeks.

"This is the most serious outbreak of yellow fever that Angola has faced in 30 years," said Dr. Margaret Chan, WHO's director-general. "WHO is taking urgent action to support the Government to control this outbreak with a widespread vaccination campaign."

"The vaccination campaign has so far been effective. We are seeing case numbers dropping considerably, especially in Luanda," said Dr. Sergio Yactayo, expert on epidemic diseases at WHO. "We need to vaccinate the maximum number of people in Luanda and the affected provinces as possible to stop the spread of this deadly disease."

In light of the latest report, WHO experts warn that there is a "serious risk of further spread of the disease" in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The WHO said that government officials have taken extreme precautions to control the outbreak.

"The Ministry of Health of DRC has activated the National Committee for outbreak management to respond to this event. Undertaken activities include the establishment of coordination mechanisms, social mobilization and community engagement, strengthening surveillance through the training of health workers, dissemination of case definitions, screening and sanitary controls at Points of Entry and screening of refugees' vaccination status. Other activities are targeting the vaccination of all individual traveling to Angola, strengthening vector control and case management," WHO said in a statement.

Health experts recommend that all individuals traveling to Angola should be vaccinated against yellow fever.

"WHO urges Members States especially those where the establishment of a local cycle of transmission is possible (i.e. where the competent vector is present) to strengthen the control of immunization status of travelers to all potentially endemic areas," the organization concluded.

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North Carolina has been the focal point of the LGBT debate since a controversial legislation limiting the rights of LGBT individuals was hastily passed a few weeks ago. Today, however, Gov. Pat McCrory decided to sign an executive order that lightens the effects of the infamous bill - albeit just a little.

Specifically, the N.C. governor decided to restore the rights of LGBT individuals to sue for discrimination. In his announcement, he described the decision as a means to expand on the state's employment policy in order to emphasize sexual orientation and gender identity.

"Simply put, I have listened to the people of North Carolina, and the people of North Carolina are entitled to both privacy and equality. We can and we must achieve both of these goals," McCrory said.

Critics, however, remain unimpressed, mostly due to the fact that the most controversial aspect of the law, which mandates that transgender individuals be required to use bathrooms which corresponded to the gender listed on their birth certificate, remains intact.

Roy Cooper, a Democrat and McCrory's opponent in the upcoming elections, honed in on the executive order, stating that the move is ultimately insufficient, with the added bonus of keeping the discrimination in the state pretty much intact.

"Gov. McCrory's executive order is a day late and a veto short," he said. "The sweeping discrimination law he signed has already cost North Carolina hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in revenue. I'm glad Gov. McCrory has finally acknowledged the great damage his legislation has done, but he needs to do much more."

Sarah Preston, acting executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, also expressed her disappointment over the governor's efforts.

"Gov. McCrory's actions today are a poor effort to save face after his sweeping attacks on the LGBT community, and they fall far short of correcting the damage done when he signed into law the harmful House Bill 2," she said.

Immediately after the bill was passed, numerous high-profile companies criticized the decision, including tech giants Apple and Google, as well as other prominent firms. Critics then were quick to point out that the bill would end up costing the state millions of dollars and thousands of jobs.

Indeed, PayPal and Deutsche Bank, two very prominent financial firms, canceled planned expansion in the state due to the presence of the law. Even the NBA, which is scheduled to conduct an All-Star game in Charlotte, is reportedly thinking of pulling out.

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The business of hoteliering dates back to the time when the first explorer trudged into a strange, undiscovered land and, wishing to put up his tired, over-wrought feet on a comfortable bed, sauntered into a kind man's front yard seeking a bed for his body and bread for his hungry stomach.

Or perhaps, it all began with the wandering cowboy in the Wild West, who wishing to escape the law, sought refuge on the top floor of a drinking salon, paying for the shave, rounds of drink and a meal before he rode off. Whatever may have been the first reason for its genesis, man soon realized that this was a lucrative business that he could get into.

With need-based evolution, desire-led ideation and reacting to the diversity in the market mix, hotels have developed into several brand types and niche categories.

Regardless of the type and slotting into stars, the best hotels in their own coves have a common thread running through them. The world's best brand leaders seem to share some common aspects that set them apart from the hoi polloi that dot the global hoteliering landscape.

Here are some of the 'basics' that make the best establishments stand above others 

1. Business Acumen

It is only comme il faut that one must build upon one's knowledge and experience to such levels that egg you on to do inspiring work. So, if you wish to create brands and run them as successful and profitable places then you must know your business like the back of your hand. There is need to know your market, understand your customers, run parallels with competition, comb the globe for inspiration, not be scared of treading on new pastures, stoke your drive for innovation and entrepreneurship and evolve your uniquely, outstanding product.

Knowing your business also extends to knowing your guests extremely well. When you consciously rely on word of mouth recognition as against paid publicity, it becomes extremely essential to be clued on to your guest profile, their characteristic and differentiating facets, likes and dislikes. So, whether it is serving whole fruits instead of sliced because guests like it so, putting a hot plate under that personal pot of coffee, increasing healthy choices across all meal options, adhering to a no-alcohol policy even at the expense of foregoing profits because guests wish to 'live' in a quiet, serene and peaceful ambience; World's best hotels employ a pronounced 'outside-in thinking.'

In the course of my working with hotels, I have seen legendary owners get down to the Housekeeping basics as and when the need arose. I have noted entrepreneurial General Managers know as much about ducting and laundry machines as about the food and wine. And the guest has definitely been God whether it is the individualistically iconic Aman Group or the template-benchmarked Four Seasons or the service-trendsetting Ritz Carlton. From Cesar Ritz, Conrad Hilton, Bill Marriott to Jay Pritzker, Biki Oberoi and Adrian Zecha  these legends have known their business so well that they have envisioned way forwards and outcomes, set trends and spelled out how hoteliering should be conducted. Therefore, in order to be a consummate hotelier you must endeavour to know all. No piece of information is too small and no responsibility big enough for you to learn and handle.

2. The A Team

Could you win any combat just on the basis of a great war strategy (think Brand positioning here) and a very able General (think top leadership) if your henchmen and foot soldiers failed to toe the line with their loyalty, commitment, passion, hard work and astuteness?

Ask any well-bred hotelier and they will tell you about the million battles they must meet head-on, all in a day's work. A hotel job is inundated with gazillion crises that must be fought and smoothened in little time. This would not be possible without enlisting the moral, physical and cerebral support of a committed and qualified work force.

Your dedicated team comprised of happy, satisfied and trained staff are the biggest reason that will make your hotel stand out and above the competition when most other parameters are more or less the same  you know the set of services, the offerings, the linen, crockery, bathrobe, technology, even the plush airport pick-ups.

As an Owner / Manager, always endeavour to keep your team happy, satisfied, motivated, committed, enthusiastic, conscientious and yes, crisis-ready.

Ensure this and you have a dreamboat to navigate.

3. Great F&B

Food at the place must be such that people travel from far and wide just to experience the culinary marvel that the Hotel can proudly boast of. And the world's best hotels have that.

Is the food at your place so great that it becomes a sight that guests must visit to see and an experience that they wish to make that special trip for? Think Tea at the Ritz, Brunch at the floating Jumbo restaurant in Hong Kong, a once in a lifetime meal at the now closed elBulli by Ferran Adria!

Food is, indeed, the other pivot on which your success story can rest. If you do great food then there is a lot you can get by. Guests will happily dine at your restaurants, will entertain proudly at one of your crown jewels, chat with your chefs, get enamoured by the little stories you weave around your ingredients, how they are sourced, how they blend into your majestic presentations, the appeal of your culinary craftsmen and the superlative taste most of the items on your menu promise to leave on the discerning palate.

Great set of restaurants, strong focus on food quality, plating par excellence and taste including an above-par Room Service will help in entrapping even the toughest of guests and bind them into your fold.

The good food crafted by trained hands and delivered by guest-oriented staff is a great strategy for winning and keeping guests. Rustle up food lores from the historical annals of the culinary fare you serve, create your irrepressible food scents around your specialities popping out of your specialized boulangerie, patisserie, delicatessen, let the guests eat out of the hands of your rocking F&B star team members, proudly present a wine list that is the talk of the town, get a mixologist to train your barmen to become blending masters. The opportunities are endless and serve to work as a sensory binding of the guest loyalty for your brand.

These three then  the core of business and its overall nous, the dedicated team and outstanding Food & Beverage  have been refined and polished by the World's best hotels to build up their own benchmarks and best practices. They have developed such exacting standards that easily put them in the league of extraordinary gems in the hotel business worldwide.

L. Aruna Dhir
Hospitality Net today

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Leading leisure travel tour operator Thomas Cook is introducing its new Casa Cook brand of lifestyle beach resorts to the world from Rhodes, Greece on May 1, as Tornos News (www.tornosnews.com) reported on October 29, 2015 and the group's chief marketing officer, Remo Masala officially announced to Greek journalists in Athens today.

In an exclusive interview to Tornos News (www.tornosnews.com) Mr. Masala described Casa Cook's launching as "the hottest hotel opening in the Mediterranean" and disclosed that most Greek destinations are already performing satisfactorily during 2016, according to the official data that listed Thomas Cook company will announce in the following days.

"I am not worried about Greece this year," he stressed adding "most Greek destinations are already doing well and those that still lag behind will catch up during April and May. This year, Catholic Easter was too early for many Europeans to come to Greece because the weather was not warm enough yet. So bookings and traffic reasonably fell a little behind but are expected to catch up in the following weeks. Overall, this year will prove to be a good tourism season for Greece.

"Regarding the global prospects for the tourism industry this year, he admitted that "it is not a secret that the whole industry is operating in a pretty challenging environment" but reassured that "there are some markets that are doing well already and there are others that will catch up later as late bookings will be strong this year."

One of the most beautiful countries in the world

Especially about Greece, he pointed out that "it is one of the most beautiful countries in the world, as far as I am concerned, and it also has a very special energy. It is the second strongest market in the Mediterranean for Thomas Cook after Spain. This year Greece is developing on a general level quite normally and there are also some specific destinations that will catch up with late bookings. Even the refugee crisis could end up having a positive effect eventually, since publicity usually works like this, in this business, and the Greek spirit of philoxenia (hospitality) towards these poor souls is appreciated by travellers all around the world. Overall, I think that the Greeks are handling this crisis very well."

Mr Masala admitted that other markets such as Turkey and Egypt will suffer losses this year because,"even though some tourists still fly to these places and are not afraid to stay on the beach, many have switched destinations and moved westward. Spain and Portugal were the first to profit but when Majorca capacity is filled up, for example, demand will shift to other places like Greece."

Elaborating on the Casa Cook concept, he explained that "this new hotel concept is important for Greece because it caters to the new needs of a specific target group living in urban centers. It embodies many special features but, in essence, we can say that it brings an urban flair and bohemian spirit to the beach. Food, for instance, is called Soul Food because it signifies a way of sharing with friends while you eat, something which is not new to Greeks, we have even copied that from the Greeks maybe."

Unfolding his strategy as Thomas Cook's chief marketing officer he concluded:

"I am responsible for customer experience in all of the Thomas Cook brands as well as innovation and, of course, marketing. Casa Cook is a product, a logical consequence, if you like, of all our latest hotel developments and target group research."

The Casa Cook concept

Thomas Cook outlined the Casa Cook concept as follows:

Its time for innovation: an original boutique hotel concept by Thomas Cook brings an urban flair and bohemian spirit to the beach, tailored for those in search of a stylish home away from home.

Opening in May 2016, the 90-room Casa Cook Rhodes in Greece will be the first of the new Casa Cook lifestyle resorts to launch. The affordable adult-only hotel offers inspiring and eclectic design throughout, swim-up pools for every room, laid-back lounge spaces, as well as bikes, a gym and open-air yoga.

With a focus on experience and atmosphere, the bar, restaurant, main pool and lounge areas form the hotels vibrant hub. The kitchen offers day-to-night delights, from smoothies on-the-go to fresh Mediterranean plates for sharing at communal tables.

The relaxing holiday rhythm is easy to come by in a poolside hammock or sunbed and guests can enjoy DJ sets, film nights or sunset drinks during the evening. Sandals, beachwear, home accessories, hammocks and cosmetics are all available at the concept store so travellers can take home a bit of the boho dream.

Breezy beach style with an urban edge

Casa Cook Rhodes is an ensemble of sleek white buildings framed by lush vegetation, wooden decks and pools. To create the feeling of staying with friends, vintage furniture, handcrafted pieces and unique curios infuse the interiors with a characterful bohemian flair. Textured surfaces like wood and canvas, are matched with playful prints and patterns. Tropical designs add a burst of colour and the decor shows off craftsmanship from near and far.

The design language is carried through to the rooms, which are divided among several buildings, each flanked by its own shared pool. All of the five room categories feature swim-up pool access from a private terrace. Inside, rooms are equipped with high-end mattresses, air-conditioning, a mini-bar and free WiFi. Some also feature indoor Jacuzzis  including the two bungalow suites with private pools.

The creators of Casa Cook

Casa Cook Rhodes was developed by Thomas Cook Group plc in collaboration with a team of consultants from the premium lifestyle segment. Michael Schickinger of Lambs & Lions spearheads the conceptual development in close collaboration with interior designer Annabell Kutucu and architect Vana Pernari.

Were excited to introduce a uniquely different brand into the mix  not only within our own Group, but in the hospitality market overall, as Mr Masala said.

The second property of the Casa Cook brand is expected to open in Mallorca, Spain, while further hotels are planned for the summer season of 2017, with more details to be announced soon. Each resort will be individual and unique, yet exhibiting a consistent design language.

Casa Cook is the sixth brand within Thomas Cooks hotel portfolio, each with a unique guest experience catering to different customer segments.

The new concept has been created in line with the company strategy for profitable growth and differentiation, complimenting the existing five hotel brands  SENTIDO, SunConnect, Sunwing, Sunprime and smartline.

Location, reservations ans rates

Kolymbia is located on the Eastern coast of Rhodes, approximately 30km from the airport. Kolymbia Beach is within walking distance, approximately 700m away. Tsambika Beach  one of the island's most beautiful  is a 6km drive.

The hotel is adult-only and room rates, including breakfast, start at EUR 100 per night (approx. 78.50).

Casa Cook Rhodes is bookable online at www.casacook.com or www.thomascook.com, as well as by phone: +44 0844 412 5970 and through Thomas Cook and Co-operative Travel Stores.

Thomas Cook offers packages with prices in May, starting from 481 per person. The price is based on two adults sharing, with breakfast and flights from London Gatwick included. Optional extras may be applicable at the time of booking and prices are subject to availability.

The firm currently operates 49 hotels through franchise in Greece, from the 189 it manages worldwide.

About Thomas Cook

Thomas Cook Group plc is one of the world's leading leisure travel groups with sales of 7.8 billion and more than 20 million customers in the year ended 30 September 2015. Thomas Cook is supported by 21,813 employees and operates from 15 source markets; it is number one or two (by revenue) in all its core markets. Thomas Cook Group plc's shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange (TCG). Thomas Cook is the world's best-known name in travel, thanks to the inspiration and dedication of a single man. May 1 is Thomas Cook's 175th anniversary of operation as the first tourism agency in the industry, which launched in 1841.

Under the umbrella Hotels & Resorts, Thomas Cook offers six hotel brands - each with a very distinct character and each one catering to our guests' individual needs and desires. Thomas Cooks most recent hotel brand is Casa Cook, an original boutique hotel concept that brings an urban flair and bohemian spirit to the beach.

Panos Thomakos

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Hyatt Place Shenzhen Airport and Hyatt House Shenzhen Airport open today in southern Chinas Guangdong province. The opening of Hyatt House Shenzhen Airport marks the first Hyatt House hotel and the first combined Hyatt Place and Hyatt House hotels in the Asia Pacific region, creating an experience that enables guests to enjoy the benefits of both brands in one location.

Hyatt Place Shenzhen Airport brings the Hyatt Place brands intuitive design, casual atmosphere, and practical amenities, such as free Wi-Fi and 24-hour food offerings, to the Shenzhen Baoan International Airport. Hyatt House Shenzhen Airport offers apartment-style suites with fully equipped kitchens, providing guests with the spaces and places that help make them feel more like home. The two hotels combine to create a hotel experience that offers an array of shared services and amenities that meet the needs of guests.

We are excited to announce our first Hyatt House hotel and the first dual-branded Hyatt Place and Hyatt House hotels in China, said Christopher Koehler, Hyatts vice president and managing director, China operations. The opening of these hotels reinforce our commitment to thoughtful and purposeful growth, and we hope the hotels provide new and existing guests with more options when they are traveling in China.

Convenient located at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport with direct access to the new Terminal 3, Hyatt Place Shenzhen Airport and Hyatt House Shenzhen Airport provide guests with a relaxing and uncomplicated place to pause before beginning the next leg of their journey. Connected to the citys ground transportation system, the combined hotels offer easy access to the citys shopping, industrial and business areas, including Dongmen shopping area. The hotels are a 40-minute drive to Futian central business district and Shekou free trade zone, and for guests looking to explore Hong Kongs city center, shuttle buses are available everyday at the airport. Recreational spots such as the Happy Valley and the Shenzhen Window of the World are 40 minutes away by car.

It is a great honor for the team at Hyatt Place Shenzhen Airport and Hyatt House Shenzhen Airport to be part of these significant openings, said General Manager Julie Tan. We are ready to welcome guests to experience the modern comforts these two hotels offer  from the contemporary design and spacious layout of our guestrooms  from the separate spaces to sleep and work at Hyatt Place Shenzhen Airport to the apartment-style suites with real kitchens at Hyatt House Shenzhen Airport  our guests can choose a hotel that fits their needs.

Hyatt Place Shenzhen Airport Offers:

167 spacious guestrooms and suites with separate spaces to sleep, work and relax, as well as a Cozy Corner sofa-sleeper

with separate spaces to sleep, work and relax, as well as a Cozy Corner sofa-sleeper Free Wi-Fi everywhere

everywhere Free breakfast features an array of delicious hot breakfast items and fresh fruit

features an array of delicious hot breakfast items and fresh fruit 24/7 Gallery Menu and Market , enjoy a freshly prepared meal or pick up bottled beverages or perfectly packaged grab n go sandwiches, salads and snacks, any time of the day or night

, enjoy a freshly prepared meal or pick up bottled beverages or perfectly packaged grab n go sandwiches, salads and snacks, any time of the day or night Meetings Places with more than 3,200 square feet (300 square meters) of flexible and multi-functioning spaces equipped with the latest audio-visual technology and supported by the hotels expert Gallery Host team. Ranging from 650 square feet (61 square meters) to 750 square feet (70 square meters), the five meeting rooms are perfect for business gatherings, interviews and training events

with more than 3,200 square feet (300 square meters) of flexible and multi-functioning spaces equipped with the latest audio-visual technology and supported by the hotels expert Gallery Host team. Ranging from 650 square feet (61 square meters) to 750 square feet (70 square meters), the five meeting rooms are perfect for business gatherings, interviews and training events 24-hour Gym featuring cardio equipment with LCD touch screens and free ear buds

Hyatt House Shenzhen Airport offers:

112 Suites, ranging from spacious studios to one-bedroom Kitchen Suites with fully-equipped kitchens. Each Kitchen Suite features a full-sized refrigerator, microwave, dishwasher, and other small appliances and utensils, as well as a separate living space, bedroom and work area with a flat screen high definition television

ranging from spacious studios to one-bedroom Kitchen Suites with fully-equipped kitchens. Each Kitchen Suite features a full-sized refrigerator, microwave, dishwasher, and other small appliances and utensils, as well as a separate living space, bedroom and work area with a flat screen high definition television Free Wi-Fi throughout the hotel and guestrooms

throughout the hotel and guestrooms Complimentary Morning Spread , a full hot breakfast served daily for guests, featuring a build-your-own Omelet Bar, savories, fresh fruit and more

, a full hot breakfast served daily for guests, featuring a build-your-own Omelet Bar, savories, fresh fruit and more The H BAR , a private, cozy space for both Hyatt Place and Hyatt House Shenzhen Airport guests to unwind in the evening, featuring a delicious menu, including sandwiches, pizza and snacks, in addition to a comprehensive selection of premium beers, wines and cocktails.

, a private, cozy space for both Hyatt Place and Hyatt House Shenzhen Airport guests to unwind in the evening, featuring a delicious menu, including sandwiches, pizza and snacks, in addition to a comprehensive selection of premium beers, wines and cocktails. The H Market to meet the everyday needs of guests, from snacks and sundries to freshly prepared salads and sandwiches

to meet the everyday needs of guests, from snacks and sundries to freshly prepared salads and sandwiches Gathering Rooms with more than 1,900 square feet (180 square meters) of flexible meeting spaces, Hyatt House Shenzhen Airport features three Gathering Rooms ranging from 645 square feet (60 square meters) to 688 square feet (64 square meters that can accommodate up to 50 people in a variety of meeting formats. With all-inclusive packages available, each meeting room comes fully serviced with extensive menu options, comprehensive event planning support and audio-visual equipment

with more than 1,900 square feet (180 square meters) of flexible meeting spaces, Hyatt House Shenzhen Airport features three Gathering Rooms ranging from 645 square feet (60 square meters) to 688 square feet (64 square meters that can accommodate up to 50 people in a variety of meeting formats. With all-inclusive packages available, each meeting room comes fully serviced with extensive menu options, comprehensive event planning support and audio-visual equipment A 24-hour Workout Room to keep fitness routines going

to keep fitness routines going Borrows Menu with often-forgotten items from phone charges to razors

with often-forgotten items from phone charges to razors Additional services, including same-day dry cleaning services, 24-hour laundry room, and complimentary grocery shopping

Hyatt Place Shenzhen Airport and Hyatt House Shenzhen Airport share an indoor heated swimming pool situated between their respective gyms, which is open daily from 6 AM to 10 PM.

Hyatt Place Shenzhen Airport and Hyatt House Shenzhen Airport are under the leadership of General Manager Julie Tan and Director of Sales Rock Han. In her role, Tan is directly responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the hotels, including overseeing the hotels 140 associates and ensuring guests encounter the thoughtful service for which Hyatt Place and Hyatt House hotels are known. Han is responsible for providing sales service and support to travelers and meeting planners frequenting Shenzhen Airport and the Baoan area.
Best Western Signs Agreement in Thailand for Four New Hotels

Four New-Build Best Western Plus Properties Totalling 4,150 Keys Will Include the Three Largest Hotels in Best Western System; Two Vib Thailand Hotels Also Announced

Best Western Hotels & Resorts yesterday announced major activity in Thailand, with the signing of the largest-ever multi-hotel agreement in the companys 70-year history. The signing of an agreement with real estate developer A.D. Houses Co. Ltd. will lead to the opening of four Best Western Plus hotels in top resort destinations across Thailand. Three of the four new-build hotels will be the largest properties in the international Best Western Hotels & Resorts portfolio.

"In addition to celebrating Best Westerns 70th birthday this year, 2016 also marks our 15th year of having a strong presence in Asia. I am thrilled to mark these milestones with the signing of such an important agreement," said Ron Pohl, Best Western Hotels & Resorts' Senior Vice President of Brand Management.

"With Best Western's Asia Head Office located in Bangkok, Thailand is very much our home market in Asia, and as such, we have a strong commitment to continue development across the country. A.D. Houses Co. Ltd. is a highly respected real estate company in Thailand and by aligning with them, we now have the opportunity to further strengthen our presence here, contributing to the fast-growing Thai tourism and hospitality sectors. We look forward to working with A.D. Houses Co. Ltd., as we embark upon an exciting new journey together, said Olivier Berrivin, Best Western Hotels & Resorts' Managing Director of International Operations  Asia.

Best Western Hotels & Resorts currently operates a portfolio of eight hotels and resorts in Thailand under the Best Western, Best Western Plus and Best Western Premier brands. Collectively, the four new-build hotels included in this landmark deal represent 4,150 keys. Three of the properties are located in Pattaya, marking the companys entry into this thriving tourism market. The fourth is in Hua Hin. These properties will be Best Westerns largest properties globally.

The new hotels are: The Best Western Plus AD Wongamart Pattaya (500 keys), Best Western Plus AD The Grand Jomtien Beach Pattaya (1,400, pictured right), Best Western Plus AD Bang Saray Lake and Resort (1,200) and Best Western Plus AD Hua Hin Lake and Resort (1,050).

In addition to announcing its deal with A.D. Houses Co. Ltd., Best Western Hotels & Resorts simultaneously today announced its first two Vib hotels in Thailand, which are expected to open in Bangkok in 2017 and 2018.
By Mike Ford, Co-Founder and Managing Director, SiteMinder

Managed guest relationships, integrated technology systems, and improved data collection and security are the three most critical needs of hoteliers when it comes to distribution and online marketing. That is the finding of a whitepaper SiteMinder recently produced in partnership with Revinate and Dr Peter OConnor  and it begs the question: what support is available for todays hoteliers to meet these needs?

For those of us within the hotel technology space, it seems obvious. I recently wrote a piece as such, asking myself why some hoteliers continue to bemoan OTAs and yet do curious things like display lower room rates on third-party channels, and ignore the free opportunities provided by the worlds largest travel sites  Google and TripAdvisor  to maintain their direct relationships with guests.

But how many of our customers became hoteliers so they could be masters of distribution and online marketing? I am willing to bet there are few, if any. It is precisely our job as technologists to be the experts in these fields for them.

Importance/urgency matrix of hoteliers top challenges and concerns over the next three years.

The Envisioning the Future of Hotel Distribution and Online Marketing whitepaper is based on research conducted in late 2015 with hotelier delegates of World Travel Market London, who said they saw overcoming the challenges of a fast-paced online environment, advancing technology and ever-increasing consolidation within the OTA space as priority.

Is this a huge surprise for us? Perhaps not, but lets take a minute to understand why. With all the continually-shifting booking trends we are witnessing, the emergence of new and exciting technological solutions, and the plethora of headlines on acquisitions and mergers by the OTA duopoly and others, it is becoming increasingly difficult for any player within the hospitality landscape to always lead the charge  let alone predict whats coming next. What chance does the hotelier have, while they also make sure the beds have been made on time and their amenities are kept clean?

As Dr OConnor  current academic director of information systems at Institute de Management Hotelier International, part of ESSEC Business School in France  rightly points out: Most people involved in hotel distribution and online marketing would agree that the whole area is in turmoil right now, with both technology and consumer expectations evolving extremely rapidly. At the same time, competition in the online environment continues to become more intense, with the result that hotels need to pay much more attention to how and where they are being sold, as well as invest in the right systems and expertise to ensure they can compete effectively in this highly turbulent environment.

Dr OConnors words reflect the key challenges and concerns that hotelier participants nominated in relation to distribution and online marketing  now and over the next three years. Topping the list was the guest experience, with hoteliers admitting they invest too much of their already-limited time and resources into driving one-off transient bookings which lead to high costs of guest acquisition.

According to our partners at Revinate, the key to drive guest loyalty and increase direct bookings revolves around building and managing close relationships with clients. They say that in order to do so, as a means to exceed the expectations of these clients, hoteliers need to collect, store, analyse and use the trove of guest data available today through a single, integrated view.

Its a perspective we share at SiteMinder. In addition to its strong conversion rates, built-in analytics and complete mobile functionality, the capability found within our Internet booking engine, TheBookingButton, to allow hotels to own the guest relationship with personalised email marketing  pre-arrival, during and post-stay  was developed for this very reason. Hotel users of TheBookingButton can also encourage repeat bookings by sending their guests direct incentives, such as promotional codes to gain discounted rates. And, guests can make their direct booking both in their own currency and language, which is key when considering that international tourist arrivals now top 1.2 billion and a significant portion of these travellers do not speak English.

In truth, hoteliers have access to big data that nobody else does  that is, their own guest data. Even a 100-room hotel that has 1.5 guests per room and runs at 65% occupancy has data on more than 35,000 guests every year.

What we continue to see, however, is the use of disparate, legacy systems that not only prevent the real-time automation hoteliers need to do their jobs, but eliminate any opportunity for hoteliers to see the granularity of their data. How effective is my hotel website when compared with my third-party distribution channels? Which channels are performing best for my hotel and where are my guests coming from? How can I get a seamless flow of information running through each of my systems, so I have one powerful source of truth? Every hotelier should be asking these questions. And we know from our study with Revinate and Dr Peter OConnor that many of them are, with integrated technology systems coming in as the second greatest challenge and concern hoteliers have, but how many hoteliers can identify solutions to this?

Additionally, its interesting to note that hotelier participants of the study nominated improved data collection and security as their third greatest challenge and concern. If I can speak for hotel technologies specifically here, would it be inaccurate to say that far too many of these technologies today still do not meet todays data security standards? While no technology can guarantee full protection of guest data, using technology that has achieved the industrys stringent security benchmarks is one way hoteliers can be ahead. I am referring, of course, to PCI DSS compliance and the day SiteMinder achieved this across its full product suite two years ago was a very important one. It was an important milestone because fundamentally it meant we could ensure we not only prepared our own systems, but the systems and businesses of our hotel customers in a world where online fraud is rife and on the increase. Again, however, how many hoteliers really understand the potential consequences of using technology that does not adhere to data security standards?

It is clear that solutions do exist for hoteliers to overcome their top challenges and concerns as they relate to distribution and online marketing. However, it is up to hoteliers to adopt these solutions and it is up to us, as the experts within these spaces, to better educate all hotels and guide them to technological solutions that are both easy-to-use and affordable. Hoteliers need most to understand how they can navigate through the demands of todays consumer-led, Internet economy and we as an industry need to do more to support them in this regard.

SiteMinder runs a number of seminars on these very issues throughout the year, all around the world, and I would encourage hoteliers to attend one in their local area.

Media contact:

Maria Franco

+61 410 233 735

media@siteminder.com
According to STR analysts, Londons weak performance in March can be attributed to supply growth outpacing nearly flat demand.

STRs preliminary March 2016 data for London, England, indicates negative year-over-year performance.

Based on daily data from March, London reported the following in year-over-year comparisons:

an increase in supply (+2.5%) and a decrease in demand (-0.6%);

a 3.1% decrease in occupancy to 76.1%;

a 1.8% decrease in average daily rate (ADR) to GBP131.04; and

a 4.8% decrease in revenue per available room (RevPAR) to GBP99.78.

According to STR analysts, Londons weak performance in March can be attributed to supply growth outpacing nearly flat demand. Another factor in the occupancy decrease is the ongoing threat of terrorism throughout Europe, particularly after the 22 March attack in Brussels, Belgium. Immediately following the attack, Eurostar suspended services between London and Brussels, and flights to and from Brussels and the U.K. also were canceled.

Performance declines were however softened as London hosted an RBS 6 Nations rugby match at Twickenham Stadium (12 March) and a series of Adele concerts at the O2 Arena later in the month.

STR will release March 2016 results during the week of 25 April.

About STR

STR provides clients from multiple market sectors with premium, global data benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights. Founded in 1985, STR maintains a presence in 10 countries around the world with a corporate North American headquarters in Hendersonville, Tennessee, and an international headquarters in London, England. For more information, please visit str.com.
The tour life never ends.

G-Eazy wrapped up his When Its Dark Out tour with A$AP Ferg two months ago and Logic performed the final leg of his The Incredible World Tour last week in NYC. This summer, Young Gerald and Marylands favorite son will hit the road together for the Endless Summer tour with YG and Yo Gotti in support.

The 23-city tour kicks off June 28th in Dallas and snakes throug the contiguous United States for five weeks before wrapping up on August 5 in Hartford.

Head here to see the full schedule and ticket information. Anyone gonna cop tickets?

Endless Summer Tour
When Kanye West appears on stage, anything can happen. Whether it be robbing the mic from a teenage girl in order to praise Beyonces greatness, ferociously screaming for almost a minute straight during a performance of Touch the Sky (concluding with his abrupt exit and mic drop), and even announcing a forthcoming run for the White House, we think weve seen it all. But we havent, as he continues to surprise almost every time hes given the stage.

The aforementioned controversial moments come side-by-side with moments of unparalleled grandeur and inspiration. Though hes been guilty of cutting his shows short and storming off stage, its his intent to give fans his absolute all during his time in front of them. Frankly, if he stopped doing live shows for the rest of his life, hed still be one of the most important performance artists of this generation. Here are 5 of the most stirring renditions hes given throughout his career. One of the 5 moments transpired just last weekend, and its my belief that the stages will only continue to get bigger, and his message more powerful.

Famous at the 2016 Paradise International Music Festival

This past weekend at the Paradise International Music Festival in Manila, Kanye West performed a few songs off his latest album, The Life of Pablo, including Famous, the lead single, for the first time ever. After the crowd sang along with Rihannas intro (which is a cover of Nina Simone), Kanye rapped the now-infamous opening lines: For all my Southside n*ggas that know me best / I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? Crowd: YOU MADE THAT BITCH FAMOUS!!!

He made that bitch #Famous  Oh Kanye! Haha!  #ParadiseIMF2016 #KanyeWest A video posted by Jerica Saldana (@jericamsaldana) on Apr 9, 2016 at 10:49am PDT

Toward the end of the song, Kanye began to cool down and get introspective. After singing the final lyrics  I just wanted you to know, a sample of the actual Nina Simone  Kanye continued speaking. What I wanted you to know the whole time, he told the awestruck audience, in the spirit of Nina Simone, in the spirit of real artists: This is the song that broke the writers block for me.

He went on to reveal that his notorious run-in with Taylor Swift at the 2009 VMAs had haunted him for years, until he was finally able to come to terms with his attempt to speak the truth when no one else would  to say what everybody else was thinking  with the recording of Famous.

He emotionally thanked the Filipino crowd for its overwhelming response to the live debut of Famous, before politely asking if he could perform the track one more time. Their answer was obvious.

All Day at the 2015 BRIT Awards

In March of last year, Kanye Wests All Day made its debut with a stunning live performance at the BRIT Awards, to which Kanye returned after a nine-year hiatus. From Yeezus until All Day, Kanye had only dropped two singles, Only One and FourFiveSeconds. His All Day performance at the BRIT Awards, for which he was joined by a massive crowd of black men all dressed in black, signaled that, once again, he was fired all the way up  literally  as a few grime emcees stood behind him and passed around a flamethrower, which they sprayed up into the air while the rest of the group mobbed about the stage following Yeezys lead.

A couple of the tracks collaborators, including Allan Kingdom and Theophilus London, joined Kanye on stage, as did Skepta, Stormzy, and Novelist  three of the biggest stars in UK grime, a genre that has been controversially been all but ignored by the BRIT Awards. I felt like the BRITs performance captured the energy of the record, said Kanye after the show. Thats an understatement.

Runaway at the 2010 VMAs

Not only is Runaway one of Kanye Wests most emotional songs, and thats saying a lot, its also arguably the one hes invested the most time and money into in an effort to give it a surrounding visual aesthetic. Runaway was the title of a 35-minute short film released a month before My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The song Runaway took up almost 10 minutes of the film and that segment was eventually made into the tracks official music video.

Before the release of the short film or MBDTF, Kanye premiered Runaway live at the 2010 VMAs, with a performance that mirrors the Runaway short film in many ways. He begins positioned in the center of a circular stage that lights up with various illusory effects. The song starts as Kanye childishly taps the opening piano notes on his MPC, which itself is situated on a short Roman pillar. Three ballerinas enter the stage and quickly run around him in a perfect orbit, trailing linen sheets behind them.

Kanye soon begins to show off his live mixing and looping skills, before stepping away from the MPC to deliver an inspiring toast to the douchebags. Later on in the rendition, his GOOD Music labelmate Pusha T shows up to perform one of the best feature verses of his career.

Kanye West VMA 2010 from mondebene.com on Vimeo.

Stronger & Hey Mama at the 2008 Grammys

Hey Mama, Kanyes famous tribute to his mother Donda West, for whom he named his creative agency, appeared on his 2005 album Late Registration but was apparently written years before that. The song was tearfully touching upon its release, but it took on a more powerful, and painful, meaning after his mothers untimely death in 2007.

Kanye had attempted to perform the song a week after Dondas death at a concert in Paris, but he broke down in tears after he had barely begun. Afterwards, he rescinded the spotlight in order to grieve the death of the woman who raised him, eventually making his on-stage return at the 2008 Grammy Awards.

Kanyes Grammy performance began with a rendition of Stronger that also ranks among his most riveting. For Stronger, he was joined by the robots of Daft Punk, whom Ye sampled on the song, and they controlled the backing track from the cockpit of a neon spaceship while Ye raged on stage donning an electrified pair of shutter shades. As Daft Punk quickly disappeared off-stage at the end of the song, what happened next was totally unexpected, as Kanye switched gears and carried out Hey Mama in its entirety.

The Hey Mama version Ye performed at the Grammys included a brand new hook, which found him repeating, Last night I saw you in my dreams / Now I cant wait to go to sleep. Theres a beautiful, faint whimper that persists in his voice throughout the performance. Tears slowly well up in his eyes as he gets deeper into the song, but by the end, it was the majority of the millions of viewers around the world who were left in a weeping mess.

Kanye West  Stronger  Hey Mama Grammy from Taras on Vimeo.

Through the Wire at the Late Orchestration Concert at Abbey Road in 2005

In September 2005, three weeks after the release of Late Registration, Kanye West held a live concert at the famed Abbey Road studios in London. A recording of the show was compiled into a live album the next year titled Late Orchestration.

Remarkably, the full symphony had already learned the compositions to most of the tracks off his brand new album. In a personal favorite song rendition from the Late Orchestration show, Kanye returned to the first single he ever released: Through the Wire. I love doing songs from the new album, Kanye told the crowd of 300 guests, most of whom he had personally invited, but I gotta do a joint that, if it wasnt for this one, I wouldve never made it this far.

Lets see if yall remember this joint right here, he said. And, of course, they did. The live string arrangement on Through the Wire sounds as though it was meant to be, and the footage  recorded over a decade ago  is absolutely spellbinding. Even the traditionally stoic, classically-trained musicians are riddled with goosebumps and ear-to-ear smiles in an attempt to keep up with Kanyes inspiring energy. Watch Through the Wire as well as a couple of other songs from the Late Orchestration show below. Do it.
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Fraser Institute Media Advisory: What did long wait times for health care cost Canadians in 2015? New study coming Tuesday, April 12

Posted by Press Releases on Tuesday, 04-12-2016 12:43 am

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Media Advisory: Aanand Radia, Media Relations Specialist, Fraser Institute, (416) 363-6575 Ext. 238, aanand.radia@fraserinstitute.orgVANCOUVEROn Tuesday, April 12, the Fraser Institute will release a new study measuring the cost of waiting for health care in Canada.The study, The Private Cost of Public Queues for Medically Necessary Care, calculates the average personal cost of time lost during the work week for each of the estimated 894,449 patients waiting for surgery and medical treatment.The study breaks down the cost on a per person basis, nationally and by province.A news release with additional information will be issued via Marketwired on April 12 at 5:30 a.m. (Eastern).-30-MEDIA CONTACT:Bacchus BaruaSenior Economist, Fraser InstituteFor interviews with Mr. Barua, please contact Aanand RadiaMedia Relations Specialist, Fraser Institute(416) 363-6575 ext. 238aanand.radia@fraserinstitute.org Follow the Fraser Institute on Twitter and FacebookThe Fraser Institute is an ...

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Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-04-12 Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/> CONTENTS [01] Syrian nationals arrivals on Greek islands reduced to zero [02] 3,800 refugees remain at Piraeus port [01] Syrian nationals arrivals on Greek islands reduced to zero Refugees and migrants' arrivals on northeastern Aegean islands moved at low levels in the last 24 hours. Most of the new arrivals were Pakistanis and from northern Africa and according to Coast Guard, the refugees, mostly from Syria, influx has reduced to zero in the last days. Up to Tuesday, 75 persons reached the coasts of Lesvos, 4 arrived on Chios and one person reached Samos' coasts. In the hotspot of Morias on Lesvos are hosted 3,577 persons, at Chios hotspot 1,828 persons and 465 are hosted at Samos hotspot. [02] 3,800 refugees remain at Piraeus port A total of 3,800 refugees and migrants remain at the two passenger stations and the warehouse of the port of Piraeus (OLP). According to Coast Guard, around 700 persons were transferred on Monday from Piraeus to accommodation centres at Skaramangas. Several refugees and migrants have expressed interest to be transferred to other hosting facilities. Priority has been given to Yazidi, the Syrians and the Afghans. The government aims at the decongestion of the port by Easter. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article
eading insurance provider that says it values well-rested employees has put its money where its mouth is, offering workers a cash incentive for catching more than 7 hours of sleep a night.You can get things done quicker if people are present and prepared, Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini told CNBC. You cant be prepared if youre half-asleep.Last year, the Connecticut-based health care company started a program that was built entirely around getting employees to sleep more  the solution they came up with certainly gives employees an extra push.If they can prove that they get 20 nights of sleep for seven hours or more in a row, we will give them $25 up to $500 a year, explains Bertolini.While its impossible to be sure employees arent passing their tracking devices onto somebody else, or being dishonest when they report their sleep hours, Bertolini says he has an optimistic outlook.We assume positive intent in everything everyone does as a going-in proposition, he told the news channel.He may be taking employees word for it on this initiative but Bertolini has been proactive in tracking the effects on the workplace, bringing in Duke University to measure the impact of the companys overall health and wellness programs.According to Bertolini, the company has gained 69 minutes more of productivity each month per employee as a result of their health and wellness suite.Its all about the business fundamentals and business fundamentals in our business at least are operated by or brought forward by people, he told CNBC.Its in those business fundamentals that we have a consistently valuable product that our customers buy over time, he added. If we can make those business fundamentals better by investing in our people then thats going to show up in our revenue, its going to show up in our bottom line.
loyers in one scenic Bay of Plenty city could be forgiven for celebrating the Drug Detection Agencys recent results  after all, figures show fewer workers are failing drug tests  but it seems the statistics have actually unearthed a worrying pattern of employee behaviour.Last year, 6.54 per cent of all workplace drug tests in Rotorua were positive  its a significant decrease from 8.04 per cent the previous year but employers are still disappointed after results revealed methamphetamine is being detected in an increasing proportion of failed tests.The data showed that 15.9 per cent of those who tested positive for drugs had used methamphetamine, up drastically from 6.5 per cent the previous year.It also revealed that 87.5 per cent had used cannabis, up from 84 per cent the previous year. Conversely, the use of synthetic cannabis dropped from 4.5 per cent to one per cent.Unsurprisingly, theres an extensive list of signs and symptoms that could suggest someone is under the influence of methamphetamine, including increased energy, feelings of power or superiority over others, talkativeness, dilated pupils and restlessness.According to the New Zealand Drug Foundation, there are also certain patterns of behaviour which could suggest a person has been using methamphetamine, even a few days ago.People coming down after using methamphetamine can experience feelings of exhaustion, irritability, mood swings, depression and violence, advises the foundation. These feelings are more pronounced after heavy, prolonged use, and can last up to several days after methamphetamine use has stopped.Nationwide, positive workplace drug tests increased slightly last year on the previous one from 6.14 per cent to 6.19 per cent. Methamphetamine showed up in 11.8 per cent of positive tests, up from 8.1 per cent in 2014.
Finance Minister Bill Morneau is urging Canadians to just wait and see after his changes to mortgage rules failed to cool down home prices in certain cities across the country.

In December, Morneau announced that mortgage holders would need to make minimum down payments of 10 per cent on any portion of a home's price above $500,000, up to $1 million.

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The presumable aim was to cool down staggering home prices in some of Canada's hottest markets  but that hasn't happened yet, and the rule has been in effect since Feb. 15.

In fact, things seem to have gone the other direction in certain cities.

Regardless, Morneau is optimistic that the new rule will have some impact down the road.

"We're only one month into that change, we hope that change, and we expect that change will have some impact," the finance minister told Business News Network (BNN) on Friday.

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We want to make sure that our housing market stays one that is working effectively. And as we see challenges, we will of course think about ways that we can respond that ensure that our market remains stable.

The delayed reaction from the rule isn't entirely unexpected. Last month, National Bank economist Marc Pinsonneault said anyone who secured a mortgage prior to Feb. 15 could take until July 1 to purchase a home.

But experts question whether the change will have its desired impact at all.

UBC professor Tsur Somerville told The Huffington Post Canada that it's "going to have less of an effect than in places where the economy is weaker."

For example, in a city like Calgary, where housing sales fell 11 per cent in March compared to a year ago, Somerville said the new rules won't do much for prices.

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"If there is going to be any effect, it's going to be dampening the demand in those places," Somerville said.

"Where housing markets are weak and people are concerned about their resources, asking them to put more money down [on a mortgage] is going to be more problematic."

His comments echoed analysis by CIBC, which found that only 3.9 per cent of new Canadian mortgages would be affected.

Calgary, it said, would be hit hardest.

And even if the new rules do make a difference, they're "small potatoes" compared to changes the Conservatives brought in, Somerville added.

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In 2012, then-finance minister Jim Flaherty cut the maximum amortization period for mortgages on government-insured homes from 30 years to 25 years.

He also reduced the limit of how much homeowners could borrow on the value of their homes, changing it to 80 per cent instead of 85 per cent.

Those changes appeared to affect even Vancouver, where sales fell as much as 31.3 per cent in December 2012, compared with the previous year.

"Because those changes are sort of an order of magnitude higher than these ones, it's hard for me to see where the change is really going to come from," Somerville said.

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CORRECTION: A previous version of this story stated that the average price of a detached home in Toronto was $1.8 million. It is, in fact, $1.17 million.

Also on HuffPost
Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould was pummeled with criticism in the House of Commons Monday and accused of breaking her own governments ethical rules for attending a $500-a-head Liberal fundraiser at a top Toronto law firm last week.

After promising to govern differently, the prime minister, we find, has no problem with his minister of justice taking part in a fundraiser for the Liberal Party, NDP MP Peter Julian said in question period.

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Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould speaks during question period in the House of Commons in Ottawa, Monday, April 11, 2016. (Photo: Adrian Wyld/CP)

Julian referred to Trudeaus new open and accountable government guidelines for ministers which stresses the critical issue of ethical conduct and states ministers and parliamentary secretaries must avoid conflict of interest, the appearance of conflict of interest and situations that have the potential to involve conflicts of interest.

Wilson-Raybould tried to brush off the criticism. Hands clasped together, she said fundraising was an activity that every member of this House engages in. The Liberals, she said, dont accept donations from unions or corporations  which are illegal under Canadas election laws.

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Wilson-Raybould told the Commons she had pro-actively reached out to the Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson to discuss the event. Dawson had said there was no conflict, Wilson-Raybould said.

Government House Leader Dominic LeBlanc went further saying Dawson had indicated that [the fundraiser] was appropriate.

Dominic LeBlanc answers a question during Question Period in the House of Commons in Ottawa, April 11, 2016. (Photo: Adrian Wyld/CP)

But the Ethics Commissioners office said it did no such thing.

In an email, Dawsons office stated that the watchdog said that based on the information available, there does not appear to have been a contravention of the Conflict of Interest Act.

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The only relevant provision in the Conflict of Interest Act prohibits ministers from personally soliciting funds if it would place them in a conflict of interest. Dawson has urged parliamentarians in the past to change the rules so there is a more stringent definition of conflict when it comes to fundraising. But her pleas have fallen on deaf ears.

The new Open and Accountable Government document goes much further than the Conflict of Interest Act by stating ministers must not engage in political fundraising activities that affect, or appear to affect, the exercise of their official duties or the access of individuals or organizations to the government.

Ministers and parliamentary secretaries must also ensure that the solicitation of political contribution on their behalf does not target departmental stakeholders or other lobbyists and employees of lobbying firms.

According to a CBC report, a senior partner who attended the justice ministers fundraiser at prominent Bay Street law firm Torys LLP was a registered lobbyist until he deactivated his status on the eve of the controversial event.

The new guidelines, however, are administered by the Privy Council and have no force of law.

Wilson-Raybould's explanation not accepted

Monday, both the NDP and the Conservatives called on the justice minister to give back the money the Toronto fundraiser had raised.

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Wilson-Raybould said she took her ethical responsibilities incredibly seriously and told the Commons that one of the realities of fundraising was to broadly engage with the public and have discussions.

She claimed she attended the fundraiser as a member of Parliament, not a cabinet minister, and that her policy advisor, who attended the event, was there as a volunteer.

Conservative MP Blaine Calkins shook his head in disbelief.

Its not a defence at all. Canadians can see right through it.  Conservative MP Blaine Calkins

Does the justice minister really expect Canadians to believe that high-priced Ontario lawyers paid 500 bucks a plate to meet with the member for Vancouver Granville?'' he asked.

Wilson-Raybould suggested there was nothing nefarious about the event and that the "primary discussion" at the fundraiser was about "Canada."

"It was about how far we've come as a country wherein we embrace diversity, ensure that all voices are heard, and recognize that in a country such as Canada, the justice minister can be an aboriginal person and also be a woman," she said. Wilson-Raybould is a member of the We Wai Kai Nation and a former Regional Chief of the BC Assembly of First Nations.

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Calkins later told reporters he found Wilson-Rayboulds answers completely farcical.

Its not a defence at all. Canadians can see right through it.

When the Liberals were in opposition, then-deputy leader Ralph Goodale accused Conservative heritage minister Shelley Glover of crossing the line with a Winnipeg fundraiser that included arts community stakeholders.

Goodale, who is now the public safety minister, said at the time the money should be repaid. Glover ended up not accepting the donations.

With files from the Canadian Press

Also on HuffPost
Canadians are running out of time to have their say as to which woman will appear on a new bank note.

Last month, the Bank of Canada issued an open call to nominate women who should appear on a bill that will be issued in 2018.

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Nominations close this Friday, April 15.

"As we know, women are and have always been instrumental in our country," Finance Minister Bill Morneau said when he announced the new bank note on International Women's Day last month.

"We all agree  we meaning people in finance, obviously the prime minister, and all of our colleagues  agree that now is the time for us to move forward."

The nominees must be Canadian, either by birth or naturalization, and they must have shown "outstanding leadership, achievement or distinction in any field, benefiting the people of Canada, or in the service of Canada."

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They must have been dead for at least 25 years, and they can't be fictional characters.

The open call follows years of activism by Canadians who have longed to see women besides Queen Elizabeth II appear on their country's currency.

It also comes after plans to display an image of the "Famous Five" and feminist Therese Casgrain on a $50 bank note were nixed in favour of an icebreaker, in 2011.

The push to put a woman on a bank note has been advanced by Merna Forster, a Victoria-based activist who created a Change.org petition and launched a website where the public can superimpose famous faces on Canadian $100 bills.

Here are some suggestions that people have made so far:
Calgary Police Service

Calgary police have uncovered up to $100,000 in stolen property hidden beneath a man's backyard in an underground tunnel.

The unusual discovery was made while police were executing a search warrant at a man's home in the southeast Calgary community of Queensland on March 19, according to a news release.

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There, they found a tunnel nearly 10 metres long filled with stolen goods including bicycles, electronics, and guns.

Stolen bicycles, tools, electronics, sporting goods, firearms, and ammunition were found in the tunnel, police say. (Photo: Calgary Police Service)

Douglas Scott Pentland, 50, has been charged with 15 counts of breaking and entering and one count of possessing tools to break and enter. Additional breaking and entering offences are currently under investigation, which may end up leading to more charges.

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Now police have the tricky job of returning the large cache of goods to their rightful owners. Police have set up an online photo gallery of the recovered items to help connect owners with their stolen property.

Police say they believe Pentland forced his way into homes by prying basement windows or overhead garage doors open.

Some suggestions police have for homeowners to prevent break-ins:

Secure your basement windows with bars, and make sure they are locked, but accessible in case of a fire

Install a home security system with sensors for the garage and main doors

If your garage connects to your home, keep the connecting door locked at all times

Secure the manual release for your overhead garage door

Also on HuffPost:
Comstock via Getty Images Home with for sale - sold sign

With Canada's oil-exporting regions struggling through their second year of recession, it seems pretty much all the economic momentum has shifted to just two cities.

Last week we reported on how utterly two-sided Canadas job market has become, with only three provinces  Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec  adding jobs over the past year.

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Most of those were created in just two provinces, Ontario and B.C., but BMO senior economist Robert Kavcic points out job growth is actually even more concentrated than that.

Vancouver and Toronto have created 171,000 net new jobs in the past year (through Q1), while the rest of the country has lost 47,000, he wrote in the banks latest labour market report card.

Thats right. Jobs  and with them, wealth  are flocking to just two metropolitan areas. In fact, job growth in these two cities is ridiculously strong  up 5.5 per cent in Toronto and 4.4 per cent in Vancouver.

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That is putting serious upward pressure on house prices in these cities, National Bank economist Stefane Marion wrote in a client note last month.

The working age population is growing about 70 per cent faster than the national average in Vancouver and Toronto on the back of strong inflows of highly educated immigrants who can more easily integrate the job market, he wrote.

That may help to explain how it is that both of these cities saw record-high home sales in the first quarter of this year, despite the federal governments new mortgage rules intended to cool off excessive borrowing. (And in any case, evidence is building that those rules are by and large ineffective.)

At the same time, the number of homes going up for sale in these cities has dropped dramatically, further putting upward pressure on prices. (People dont flee cities that have booming job markets.)

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The average selling price in Greater Toronto jumped 13.6 per cent from the first quarter of 2015 to the first quarter of 2016, to $613,815, while the benchmark price for a home in Greater Vancouver jumped 23.3 per cent, to $815,000, in the year to March.

Still some jobs outside GTA, Vancouver

Thats not to say that no other parts of the country are creating jobs. But the job situation outside Toronto and Vancouver is all over the map. Kavcics latest labour market report card shows Guelph, Ontario, retains the title of the best city in Canada for jobs, but another mid-sized Ontario city  Sudbury  is the worst city for jobs.

Simply put, you can find jobs in many places across Canada, but Toronto and Vancouver are the closest thing there is to a sure thing.

Heres BMOs labour market report card.

Also on HuffPost:
A photo of a New Mexico woman nursing her child while wearing her husband's firefighter uniform has everyone feeling the fire.

The photo, which has now gone viral, is part of a series where photographer Tara Ruby shows women breastfeeding while in their uniforms.

Another photo for what I might have to start calling the Uniformed Breastfeeding Portrait collection. I have dreamed of... Posted by Tara Ruby Photography on Saturday, February 27, 2016

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"This portrait was made to show the power of a working mother, for all mothers, that might be in the firefighting career field," the photographer wrote on Facebook back in February. Since then the photo has been liked and shared thousands of times.

Overall the comments have been positive. "As a man, [a] 10-year veteran of the U.S. Marines and a husband to a working mother I applaud you," one commenter said.

"As a breastfeeding firefighter, I say kudos!" said another. "We need women to know that they can be successful mothers and firefighters, and yes, successfully breastfeed even while being separated from their babies for 24-48 hours at a time. You CAN make it work!"

"This portrait was made to show the power of a working mother, for all mothers, that might be in the firefighting career field."

In regards to her photo, Ruby says she was trying to re-imagine male-dominated roles by putting breastfeeding at the center.

"Firefighters in the past have been predominantly male. With one photo I made that position as female as I possibly could," she said to HuffPost Canada Parents. "I do feel though that sometimes it's hard to see a male dominated role in a breastfeeding light and I think that that's why we're OK with a sexy fireman calendar but we might have a hard time dealing with a breastfeeding firefighter."

This isn't the first time Ruby has empowered women with her breastfeeding photos. Last September, a photo she took of breastfeeding Army moms at Fort Bliss, El Paso also went viral and garnered praise and support from the U.S. Army.

Since starting the photo series, Ruby has had many people reach out to her.

"I have had other first responders reach out to me to tell me they breastfed while working. I feel like being a first responder it's just an added pressure, but if moms are determined they can find ways to do it," she said.

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In New Mexico it is legal to breastfeed anywhere, anytime in public. Nursing mothers are also accommodated as much as possible in the workplace.

"If a city employee is looking to breastfeed or pump in the workplace, the city will provide provisions for that," Udell Vigil, Communications Director for the city of Las Cruces, New Mexico, said. "We've had instances where we've supported breastfeeding mothers, and we will continue to do so."

"I want to continue showcasing mom's in uniforms working a job and breastfeeding and doing both very well at the same time."

Earlier it was reported that the unidentified firefighter, who lent his uniform to his wife for the photo, was facing disciplinary action from the Las Cruces Fire Department for doing so.

However, Vigil confirmed to HuffPost Canada Parents that while the firefighter is facing disciplinary action, it's for a personal matter unrelated to the photo, but he could not disclose what it was in regards to.

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As to whether it was against policy for the wife to don the husband's uniform, Vigil said: "The policy for use of firefighter equipment and uniform is specific to city employees, and the wife is not a city employee, so it doesn't pertain to her."

Ruby remains undaunted in the face of the controversy. In fact, the El Paso-based photographer is continuing her photo series with Cosmopolitan magazine.

"I want to continue showcasing mom's in uniforms working a job and breastfeeding and doing both very well at the same time," she said. The exclusive series will cover five working women breastfeeding, including a showgirl from Las Vegas.

ALSO ON HUFFPOST:
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are on day three of their royal tour in India, and with it comes more stunning ensembles worn by Catherine.

Kate Middleton nailed her royal tour outfits, yet again, first donning a printed maxi dress by U.K. high-street brand, Glamorous, while visiting a centre for homeless children in New Delhi run by the charity Salaam Baalak.

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The $40 frock (which is now sold out) features a lace-up neck and long sleeves with blue accents at the wrists.

The 34-year-old mother-of-two paired the maxi with pointy-toed blush suede flats from Xpresso. She put her hair up in a simple, half-up twisted 'do, with soft curls cascading down her shoulders.

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At the centre, Kate was presented with a lei and a bindi, which she wore while participating in arts and crafts with the children.

Later in the day the Duchess slipped into a mint green Temperley London dress to have lunch with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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The lace frock was a nice contrast to Catherine's previous breezy look, especially with the high neckline and pleated skirt.

Prince George and Princess Charlotte's mother kept her accessories to a minimum, simply pairing the dress with nude pumps and a small, woven clutch.

Her long, brunette locks were pulled up into a chic chignon, and her makeup kept neutral with some bronzer and smoky shadow.

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We can't wait to see what Kate wears next!

In the meantime, check out more royal tour photos below:

Royal Visit 2016 - India And Bhutan See Gallery
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A hate crime investigation has been launched by Ottawa police after an Islamic elementary school was hit with graffiti.

The graffiti on the back wall of the Ahlul- Bayt Islamic Education Centre was discovered on Monday morning. Scrawled in spray paint read the words "Die Bombers," "ISIS Go Home" and "F**k the New World," according to CBC News.

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Ottawa police start hate crime investigation after Muslim elementary school tagged overnight https://t.co/2uwDrSRYGFpic.twitter.com/7RW2BKOUGC  CBC Ottawa (@CBCOttawa) April 11, 2016

Students from junior kindergarten to Grade 8 are enrolled at the private not-for-profit school.

"It's very upsetting," said Nour Matar, a teaching assistant at the centre. "It intimidates our students, it intimidates the staff here and it's really sad to see that even though we're Canadian citizens, people always try to scare us."

Police told The Huffington Post Canada that racist graffiti was the most common form of hate crime in Ottawa.

Truly sad Ottawa police investigate hate crime after Muslim school targeted with graffitihttps://t.co/NQ9IIdnFUEpic.twitter.com/G7H3dRGpuR  Imtiaz Ahmed (@imtiazahmedsraa) April 12, 2016

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Students were kept inside the school during recess while the graffiti was cleaned up, according to CTV News.

Kelly-Anne Maddox, a resident who notified police about the messages, told CBC News the incident seemed to be a "deliberate targeting" of children, since the wall faces the school's playground.

"We were horrified, we were absolutely appalled that somebody would do that," she said.

Also On HuffPost:
The Boss is Banff National Parks biggest, toughest grizzly. And the force of a speeding locomotive can't can't even keep him down.

At least that's the latest suggestion from a research project tracking bears in the park.

Steve Michel, a human wildlife conflict specialist, told CBC News that researchers believe "The Boss" was hit by a train a few years ago.

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But despite the rough encounter, Parks Canada data shows the bear shows no fear and frequents railroads and highways looking for food.

It shows his dominance and his willingness to utilize habitats that are heavily developed by humans along the highway and railway and that hes got a comfort level with that and hes willing to exploit the food resources there, Michel told the Calgary Herald.

"The Boss" is awake! Bear #122 is the first grizzly in Banff National Park to make his way out of his den this year.... Posted by Fairmont Banff Springs on Sunday, 13 March 2016

The data was collected as part of Parks Canada's GPS collaring research project. Researchers intend to use the data to help find ways to reduce grizzly bear deaths along the park's rail line, according to the project's website.

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"The Boss," or grizzly bear no. 122, weighs in around 300 kilograms.

He has also staked claim to a massive territory, wandering around three national parks across B.C. and Alberta: Banff, Kootenay and Yoho. "The Boss" was the first grizzly out of hibernation this year.

In the past, he made headlines for eating a smaller bear, being caught on camera devouring an elk and siring a number of the park's cubs.

Also on HuffPost:
Photoshop fails are starting to become a daily occurrence in Hollywood, aren't they?

Today's victim is none other than fashion queen, Victoria Beckham. She covers the latest edition of Vogue China, and she looks stunning while doing so. But it's the edgy black-and-white editorial spread inside the glossy that has everyone questioning who was in charge of airbrushing these photos...

The former Spice Girl took to Instagram over the weekend to share a slideshow-style video of images from the May issue, writing, "Loved working on this shoot for @voguechina." Fans seemed to love the images too, until some eagle-eyed users noticed something a little wonky with Victoria's upper thigh in one photograph...

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Loved working on this shoot for @voguechina May issue. Thank u @inezandvinoodh, @wendyrowe, @georgecortina and @shayashual x vb A video posted by Victoria Beckham (@victoriabeckham) on Apr 9, 2016 at 12:07am PDT

"THE LEG WTFFFFFF NOT NORMAL," one user wrote in regards the first image.

Yes, it seems like the mother-of-four's upper thigh has been Photoshopped so badly that a chunk of her leg is completely gone, leaving a gap between her leg and bottom.

This Victoria Beckham 'photoshop fail' is vexing me. Isn't the white gap the gusset of her knickers? pic.twitter.com/93Wk1TSmDe  Hanna Flint (@HannaFlint) April 11, 2016

Poor Becks!

However, Cosmo insists this could be a "blending fail," with "the hem of Victoria's white shirt disappearing into the background." Some are even saying it could have been the lighting in the studio.

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And VB fans are quickly coming to her rescue on Instagram, with many saying the fashionista is just wearing white underwear.

"There is no photoshop!! It's the crotch of her underpants. How on earth could we see the continuation of her thigh when she has underpants on? Really!! It isn't possible People!! She'd have to be wearing nothing. People just love to judge, pick faults and criticize," one Instagrammer proclaimed.

And according to HuffPost U.K., a spokesperson for Victoria has also dismissed claims of a Photoshop error, stating that it was "simply the shirt tucked under from behind."

May cover of @voguechina out tomorrow. Thank you @inezandvinoodh, @wendyrowe and @shayashual x vb A photo posted by Victoria Beckham (@victoriabeckham) on Apr 9, 2016 at 12:04am PDT

Whatever the case my be (and let's be real, does Victoria Beckham really need Photoshop?), the photos from the shoot are beautiful with Beckham showing her athleticism and boldness, wearing minimal clothing and showing off her wild, untamed locks. In other images, Victoria's hair is pulled back and she dons dewy makeup with oversized button shirts.

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Thank u @voguechina, @angelica_cheung, @solvesundsbostudio, @hershesons and @wendyrowe! May cover on stands tomorrow x vb A photo posted by Victoria Beckham (@victoriabeckham) on Apr 9, 2016 at 12:05am PDT

Do you, Victoria!

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With the time that's passed and the world events within it, and upcoming, I strongly believe it is the Prime Minister who needs to be addressed on this issue. We need Canada to represent a progressive movement in drug legislation on all fronts at the upcoming UN convention, but in particular we need a brave and strong voice on the front of medical cannabis and its place in our society.

I am sick and tired of being a young man living with a malignant cancer inside my head, terrified of having the seizure that could cost me my lifestyle and independence, sleepless nights before the six-month interval MRIs that tell me my fate and my future.

I pay exorbitant amounts of money to a fuzzy borderline black market of dispensaries, because I see no value in and have no support for our current system. The MMAR set a precedent of an effective relationship with the frontier of medical cannabis. In an area so poorly understood, so unresearched, but with a broad scale recognition of its values, to deny patients like me the ability to provide for themselves and seek to look after themselves to their best is just wrong. I am fighting for my life, and deserve to do so by the means I consider necessary.

I will be VERY clear. I will not be satisfied with any legislation that does not allow me to grow my own medicine. There is no justifiable reason to make that impossible that I will even consider recognizing. I am growing hundreds of tomatoes this year for market sale, and there is no greater risk in growing my medicine than doing so. There are people brewing beer and wine in their basements all around me, binge drinking to excess, wrecking their cars and waking me up in the middle of the night to respond to the emergency call as an MFR with our volunteer fire department. I have no patience whatsoever for the presence of tobacco and alcohol in our society while cannabis is illegal. On all fronts it has been proven they are more harmful to our health and decision making.

I strongly support Dana Larsen, and will continue to do so regardless of how he is handled by the law enforcement agencies. It is time for people struggling with their physical and mental health to be granted the freedom to look after themselves.

The wait is OVER. It is time for these changes. I have great hopes and expectations of hearing a brave, clear voice from our nation at this upcoming convention. We really do need to restore ourselves as an example of a socially progressive, welcoming nation. I, frankly, lost hope in us in our time with Harper at the helm. I saw us as an extension of America. With the change in this election, the upsurge in voters and promises we were given I felt my hope begin to build again.

I desperately hope to get better recognition of this letter than my last. A delayed reply discharging me to someone who never replies was a lack of recognition I found deeply hurtful. I know I am not a publicly profiled individual, my voice isn't loud enough to get into the media, but as a young man who is a citizen of this country and whose very life sits in the hands of its leader, I really hoped I would get at least some recognition.

I gave that hope up for a while after, but I've found motivation again just recently and am going to stand up for myself. Another six month MRI post-chemotherapy with no growth, and even the slightest chance that cannabis is contributing to that is worth me taking a stand, and taking risks. I'm fighting for my life. There is no greater drive than the desire for survival. I will do what it takes to look after myself.

Please, please, I am absolutely begging you. Help me survive, help me find peace and happiness, and let me begin to grow my medicine as I am beginning to grow my food. I just want to live..
Chris Wattie / Reuters Canada's Environment Minister Catherine McKenna speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, January 26, 2016. REUTERS/Chris Wattie

Workers are laying down their tools across the Canadian oilpatch as the price slump draws on. Alberta had a net loss of nearly 20,000 jobs in 2015, with skilled workers being laid off and little hope in sight. The reaction, then, to talks of climate action has been often hostile, with people fearing more economic damage from carbon pricing or other new environmental regulation.

But for some there is an upside to the glut of out-of-work skilled people: it's an opportunity to shift gears and put them to work in a growing green sector. Former oilsands tradesman Lliam Hildebrand started a non-profit group, Iron & Earth, to get oilpatch workers back to work on the next generation of green energy projects. (Investment in clean energy now doubles that of fossil fuels world-wide.)

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"We have the skills to build the renewable energy infrastructure required for Canada to meet their climate target," Hildebrand told CBC News. "That will open up a huge amount of opportunity for us if we can start diversifying our energy grid and it would ensure that we are less vulnerable to price fluctuations."

The new organization brings a fresh perspective to a longstanding perceived tension between climate action and its spinoff benefits and the fear of damaging existing emissions-intensive industries.

In a recent panel discussion, Environment Minister Catherine McKenna assured Albertans that the Liberal government would not risk damaging "national unity" by acting quickly on climate change. For some, her comment begs the question: when exactly will the Liberals be ready to start acting on their emissions reductions targets?

"Climate policy that is effective -- by that I mean significantly reduces emissions over two decades -- will challenge national unity in most countries," says Mark Jaccard, a professor in the School of Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University.

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The tone since the Liberals took office has been to reassure Albertans that the climate police aren't coming to kick them while they're down. Trudeau's "Canadian approach" to climate change action has thus far meant that little in the way of concrete policy has been set down to meet his ambitious Paris goals.

NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair came out this week in support of a carbon price to keep oil in the ground, saying the political will to get it done has been lacking so far in Canada. Federal plans to put a price on carbon, while supported by most of the premiers, have met the expected opposition from fossil fuel industry boosters like Premier Brad Wall, who handily won a third mandate this week in Saskatchewan.

"Don't set a climate target that is ambitious if you're not willing to take on national unity," Jaccard says. "It's one or the other; they're trade-offs."

McKenna's comments frame the notion of climate change action as something that can potentially be done gingerly, with the cooperation of emissions-intensive industries, doing little to disrupt the status quo. Environmental psychologist Renee Lertzman says this kind of wishful thinking is not a helpful way to approach a complex issue.

"It sounds to me like it's a mode of leadership that's not really applying...emotional intelligence," says Lertzman. "As humans we have tremendous capacity and capability to deal with this. When we communicate in ways where we're trying to be cautious we can unintentionally send a message that's deeply disempowering. What's most needed, in fact, is leadership that's deeply empowering, that's above-board, that's compassionate but grounded and strong."

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She echoes a sentiment expressed by Naomi Klein in a recent op-ed for The Nation, in which she skewered Hillary Clinton's "corporate worldview:"

"For [climate action] to happen, fossil-fuel companies, which have made obscene profits for many decades, will have to start losing," she writes. "And losing more than just the tax breaks and subsidies that Clinton is promising to cut. They will also have to lose the new drilling and mining leases they want; they'll have to be denied permits for the pipelines and export terminals they very much want to build. They will have to leave trillions of dollars' worth of proven fossil-fuel reserves in the ground."

There is also a growing cost to delaying action on climate change. Consequences are compounding and tipping points are approaching, and every investment in fossil fuel infrastructure like oil pipelines, LNG facilities or coal ports further commits the Canadian economy to emitting more, not less, into the future.

"Once you go down that road, you may not be able to turn back," said Naomi Oreskes, Harvard professor and author of Merchants of Doubt in an interview with The Tyee last week. "And if you can't turn back, then you're looking at four degrees of climate change, metres of sea level rise, and massive intensification of extreme weather events."

This kind of grown-up discussion about the current direction and how and when to slam on the brakes is lacking in Canada, seemingly out of respect for Alberta's fiscal trauma. It's times like this, however, that Lertzman says traumatized people most need to hear the truth spoken plainly.

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- Jimmy Thomson, DeSmog Canada

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ASSOCIATED PRESS Trade delegates pose for a photograph after signing the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement in Auckland, New Zealand, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016. Trade ministers from 12 Pacific Rim countries including the United States have ceremonially signed the free-trade deal. (David Rowland/SNPA via AP) NEW ZEALAND OUT

The most pressing environmental policy problem facing Canada is the possible ratification of the "trade deal" known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The investor protection provisions (called the Investor State Dispute Settlement mechanism, or ISDS) in that agreement presents a major threat to environmental protection in Canada. Let me tell you why.

The ISDS in the TPP is the latest version of investor protection originally embedded in NAFTA. Canada has already been sued multiple times under NAFTA and found liable to fines of hundreds of millions of dollars simply for trying to administer its environmental rules. These ISDS suits are heard by arbitration panels of trade lawyers to which there is no appeal.

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Simply put: the TPP should not be ratified.

National courts are excluded. This circumvents Canada's sovereignty and allows foreign corporations to be compensated for loss of investor's "expectations" (i.e. future profits) just because we applied our environmental laws.The even more powerful provisions under the TPP will result in many more lawsuits against Canada. University of Ottawa Law Prof. Michael Geist has provided detailed analysis on his blog covering these points.

Paying these fines amounts to a form of taxation of the Canadian public by multinational corporations. The Green Party of Canada opposes the idea that we should be taxed by corporations simply for passing laws that protect Canadians and Canada's environment.

Simply put: the TPP should not be ratified.

Turning make-believe profits into a tax on Canadians

Under the Investor State Dispute Settlement mechanism in NAFTA, and now more powerfully in the proposed TPP, foreign corporations can sue Canada if we apply environmental rules or change our environmental law in such a way that there is a loss of expected future profits. If the arbitration panel of trade lawyers rules in their favour (which they frequently have), Canada is forced to pay these companies compensation in the millions of dollars from public coffers.

How can these corporations claim the loss of future profits is real money? Future profits have to be earned in the marketplace. There are no certainties in markets, only risks that must be addressed. Companies must convince customers to make a purchase presumably in a marketplace fraught with uncertainties and active competitors.

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If a corporation can prove that they have lost future profits with certainty, it can only mean that they are operating in a monopolistic environment. That's the only way they could be assured of profits. If that is the case, they are not operating in a free market. It's not the responsibility of government to support such a broken system. It's the job of the government to break up those those monopolies, restore the free market, and in doing so, remove the guarantee of future profits that they claim to have lost.

I encourage everyone to write their local Member of Parliament and tell them the TPP is stacked with benefits for foreign corporations. Tell them you don't want your tax dollars used to pay those foreign corporations when the government acts to protect our environment. Tell them you're sick of backroom trade deals that sell Canada's sovereignty down the Yangtze River.

Gord Miller is the former Environmental Commissioner of Ontario and a Infrastructure and Community Development Critic for the Green Party of Canada.
Jupiterimages via Getty Images Pharmacist and customer with medical marijuana

Last week we saw the Canadian Pharmacy Association weigh in on the future of medicinal cannabis distribution in Canada. They want in now, saying they should be the "front line" in dispensing the drug.

The association pointed out that pharmacisits are "medication experts" and that they have concerns over the lack of "clinical oversight." They have information about drug interactions and contraindications, and could spot potentially addictive behaviour. It is an interesting reversal from their earlier position on medicinal cannabis, so let's try to understand why.

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There are approximately 50,000 licensed medicinal cannabis patients in Canada today, and that number is growing. It is estimated that by 2024, over 430,000 cannabis patients will be licensed in Canada.

It's pretty easy to see this is a healthy new line of business for the pharmacies to go after. Good old-fashioned greed is a lot easier to understand than "concerns over clinical oversight."

At $12 a gram and 150 grams per month, that currently represents a healthy $90-million market. By 2024, that grows to approximately $750 million. Add even the smallest dispensing fee and it's pretty easy to see this is a healthy new line of business for the pharmacies to go after. Good old-fashioned greed is a lot easier to understand than "concerns over clinical oversight."

After the pharmacy association released their new position, the association representing Canada's licensed medicinal cannabis producers, the Canadian Medical Cannabis Industry Association (CMCIA) commented on the position, saying that patients should have "choice." Most notable among their comments was the following:

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"Pharmacists were given the option of participating in the distribution model when Health Canada's medical marijuana regulations were introduced in 2013. But they shied away, citing insufficient evidence of the drug's therapeutic effects."

This argument of "we were here first" might have worked on the playground back in elementary school, but it sounds a bit hypocritical coming from the group fighting to shut down dispensaries and smaller producers who have been licensed since 2001 under Health Canada's old MMAR regulations. Again, it's important to ask why. Why would a manufacturer care who sells their product?

Medicinal cannabis is the only product I know that is currently being sold directly to consumers by manufacturers, through mail order, with a healthy 500 to 1,000 per cent markup along the way. Again, some good old-fashioned greed, easier to understand than "giving patients choices."

The truth is, patients already have choices because of the Allard decision which again re-affirmed patients rights to grow their own medicinal cannabis. MMAR licensed patients continue to be protected under the federal courts interim injunction.

As we begin the process toward legal adult use cannabis, these cannabis wars will continue because the recreational market is much, much bigger, estimated at $5 to $7 billion annually. As we continue along this path, it's always important to ask why, and to consider patient rights above industry concerns.

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pixelliebe via Getty Images online donate key on keyboard

By: Elaine Smith

Not-for-profit organizations throughout North America that were awed by the viral success of the ALS Society's ice bucket fundraising challenge should think twice before using social media as a significant fundraising tool, says the University of Toronto's Nicola Lacetera.

A campaign may attract attention worldwide without prompting a big spike in fundraising or any significant action to further the cause, his latest research shows.

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"It is true that once you rely on social media, your message can easily reach people by the millions," says Lacetera, a University of Toronto Mississauga management professor who also holds appointments at U of T's Rotman School of Management and Department of Economics.

"But then the question becomes 'What do people do with these messages?'"

Lacetera and two colleagues from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, reviewed longitudinal data about and conducted research into the success of Twitter and Facebook fundraising campaigns to determine whether they effectively lead to donations. Their results were published in the March 2016 edition of Sociological Science.

The researchers first examined the success of an application created by Help Attack! to allow Facebook and Twitter users to donate to charities each time they posted or tweeted, with an upper limit for the total donation specified in advance. Potential donors had the option to broadcast their initial pledges and subsequent donations to their networks. About 16 per cent of the pledges were deleted before payment was actually required.

"Donations make you feel good and look good, but do you actually need to donate to get those effects?" Lacetera asks rhetorically. "You can do that just with the click of a mouse or the swipe of a finger by simply 'liking' a campaign.

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"The ability to broadcast doesn't have a big effect on action and real money."

Although the campaign received many "likes" and "shares," it resulted in only 30 donations.

About five per cent of the original pledges led to additional pledges from contacts, but the researchers were unable to trace the motivation specifically to the influence of online connections.

"If you and a friend donated, was it causal, or was it because you are similar in interests and preferences?" he asks.

Next, Lacetera and his colleagues used a series of Facebook ads and sponsored stories to encourage users to instal an application and donate to a charity, Heifer International. One group of recipients had the ability to automatically broadcast their donations; the broadcast feature was disabled for the control group.

The campaign reached about 6.4 million Facebook users and had a click-through rate comparable to that of most non-profit campaigns. However, although the campaign received many "likes" and "shares," it resulted in only 30 donations.

"Although there is plenty of visibility on social media, these platforms also provide cheap, alternative ways to express support," says Lacetera. "However, clicking the 'like' icon doesn't save lives.

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"Social contagion tends to work when the activity you want people to do is free of charge, such as voting for their favourite movies. As soon as you add a cost, fewer people participate."

Finally, the researchers surveyed 1,605 people, asking them to agree or disagree with various hypothetical statements, including "If you were to receive $10, you would make a $5 charitable donation." In a third of the surveys, respondents were told to assume that the donation would go to the charity; in a third, the statement also noted that a percentage of the donation would go toward processing fees; the final third were told that a third party that would process the donation.

The survey led to a potential donation rate of 35 per cent, although the processing fee decreased the interest and the intermediary decreased it even further.

"A social media giving campaign doesn't necessarily lead to a donation as the next step," Lacetera says. "In addition, the campaigns take a lot of work and cost money to run.

"The jury is still out as to how to get people financially involved. It's an important and exciting challenge to figure out how to leverage the great power of these platforms for social causes."

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The five things you need to know on Tuesday April 12, 2016

1) TAXING TIMES

David Cameron got through his Commons statement yesterday relatively unscathed. In fact, the PM did what hes good at: making a robust case, admitting his own errors, using the theatrics of the chamber (and loyalty of his MPs) to his advantage, pressing on Labours bruise on aspiration, family finances and wealth-creation.

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Jeremy Corbyns smartest move was quoting ex shadow chief whip David Maclean, suggesting that the Governments crackdown on tax havens was not all it appeared. Sir Alan Duncan's class warfare yesterday did the Tories few favours. There are still questions about the 72k in shares the PM sold soon after becoming PM. And there are still questions about George Osbornes own tax statement issued yesterday.

The Mirror is focusing on the fact that Osbornes 200k income means he personally benefitted by 2,500 from his decision to slash the top rate of tax in 2012. But the Chancellor only released his figures for the past year and not previous years so its difficult to check if he was telling the whole truth when he said on the Today prog in 2012 Im not a winner from this Budget. (Yvette Cooper tweeted furiously about this late last night).

It may well be that without any dividends from his family wallpaper firm Osborne & Little, and with a smaller rental income from his home that year, Osborne did indeed not earn more than the 150k needed to trigger the tax cut benefit. But the Treasury could clear up the whole matter if it released his tax returns for 2012.

With the rest of the Cabinet making clear to the MP yesterday that they didnt want to be roped into the tax transparency era, perhaps thats why the Chancellor stuck to just one years return. William Hague spoke for many of his ex-colleagues when he told Today the transparency had gone far enough. But as the PM set the standard with six years of returns, it seems strange to apply a one-year rule only to the PM.

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The Sun meanwhile has spotted a discrepancy in the Corbyn tax return, with 450 in lecture income on his register of interests not included in his tax statement. His office says its sure there is a simple reason why his three speeches were not included in the 2014/15 tax year.

Ever since he ran for Tory leader, its been clear the public dont really care that much about David Camerons personal wealth. It certainly didnt stop them voting Tory in 2015. But the big picture here is not his wealth but what he and Osborne do to help others who are wealthy. And in her Times column today Rachel Sylvester puts her finger on the precise problem. She cites David Laws book detailing conversations on Lib Dem attempts to tackle corporate fraud. When asked how the Tories could oppose such plans, Cameron said Not popular with business, but Mr Osborne said, with a smile: Not popular with our supporters.

And Rachel then cites a senior serving minister: It doesnt matter whether or not you are rich provided you are conscious of the need to deal with the perception that the Tories are the party of the rich. You can only do that if you truly believe in your heart of hearts that we need to change. Why has the burden of deficit reduction fallen so heavily on working age welfare? There is a point where you run out of excuses. Ouch.

Stephen Crabb has his first big speech as Work and Pensions Secretary today and the PM is determined to get back on to his help the poor agenda with a big speech later this month. But that IDS charge that we are not all in this together still looms large.

2) MILI MAJOR IS BACK

Whenever David Miliband comes over to the UK, hacks roll their eyes because he steadfastly refuses to discuss domestic politics. Today is different, well kinda, as he makes a Big Speech warning that Brexit would be an act of arson on the international order. That phrase - as well has his line that Brexit would be unilateral political disarmament - was catchy enough to get him some headlines and some airtime this morning.

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On the Today prog, he sidestepped questions about his familys inheritance tax. But he also said it could only be a good thing if Corbyn made an unequivocal case for the EU in his speech this Thursday. His claim that the UK already controls its borders is sure to be ridiculed by Brexiteers who point to EU freedom of movement.

Lots of Tory MPs are still very upset at the 9m pro-EU leaflets. Liam Fox dubbed it a dodgy dossier but it was Nigel Evans who shocked David Lidington most yesterday in the Commons, describing the leaflet as a sort of spiv Robert Mugabe antics. The Eastern Daily Press has a nice tale that a pro-Brexit photographer is upset at the leaflet for using his snap of Felixstowe docks without his permission. The port has made a donation to charity to settle the issue.

The Sun reports that the Cabinet Office referendum unit has been expanded to 24 staff, including the brightest and best of civil servants. Ex Israel ambassador Matthew Gould is leading it. Interesting

3) STEEL YOURSELF

Angela Eagle leads a three hour emergency Commons debate on the steel industry today, and Anna Soubry appears before the Welsh Affairs Committee at 3.40pm. But perhaps the most counter-intuitive headline around today is the FTs that Port Talbot could be part-nationalisedby a Tory government.

Sajid Javids statement yesterday made clear the state could co-invest with another buyer on commercial terms. The ghost of Peter Mandelson clearly still haunts Victoria Street, despite Javids image as a hard-nosed, small-state businessman. Some fellow Tories worry that hes overreaching himself to make up for having been in Australia during the crisis, but others see it as smart politics, outflanking Labour.

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But perhaps the real agenda is to show that EU rules cannot be blamed for shutting the steelworks. The sight of thousands of workers sacked by Brussels would be a PR gift too far for the Brexiteers.

BECAUSE YOUVE READ THIS FAR

Watch what happens when one tiger wakes up a fellow tiger whos enjoying a snooze.

4) KHAN V GOLDSMITH

Lest we forget, one of the biggest political prizes to be won before the June EU referendum is the London mayoralty. The job carries a huge personal mandate and an annual budget of about 3bn, as well as a bully pulpit and rival power base to the sitting Government. After months of skirmishing (and a relative lack of interest given the absence of big names like Ken and Boris), the fight between Sadiq Khan and Zac Goldsmith is hotting up.

Its Zacs manifesto launch today. Yesterday, Khan let slip his exasperation at Goldsmiths focus on his religion, as he tweeted that Hey ZacGoldsmith, theres no need to keep pointing at me and shouting hes a Muslim. I put it on my own leaflets.

In an interview with HuffPost today, Khan warns that it is Goldsmith who is being divisive (the same charge used against Khan) with leaflets telling Hindus he was going to nick your gold. He says Zac is a nice guy but is being forced by CCHQ into a desperate campaign.

Meanwhile, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has told City AM Labours transport proposals do not add up to a credible plan. Still, on transport, perhaps it will be *that* BBC interview gaffe that ends up doing Zac more harm than anything else: if the public think you dont even use the Tube, will they vote for you as Mayor?

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5) PATRONISING PATRONAGE

The FT has a story that wont delight No.10. It quotes the outgoing Commissioner for Public Appointments claiming that new plans to give ministers more say over public sector roles risks a return to the days of political and personal patronage.

Sir David Normington also suggests that the Prime Minster, and other members of the government, had stepped in about once a month to ask why party followers such as former MPs and donors had not been recommended for certain positions. Normington, dont forget, was once known as the smiling assassin for his job cuts, and has years of bruising encounters with ministers from John Reid to Francis Maude.

Normingtons parting shot is timed for the Public Administration Select Committee hearing today, when his successor Peter Riddell (ex FT and Times) and businessman Sir Gerry Grimstone give evidence on the latters plans to give ministers more say over appointments to the court of the Bank of England and regulators like Ofcom.

Under the long years of Labour rule, the party tried to counterbalance what it saw as Tory quangos. In turn, the Conservatives attacked Labour quango queens and kings. Will any side end the cycle of political violence?

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So, the PM's is in. The Chancellor's too, but a bit trimmed. Boris' is much bigger. Corbyn's was late. Many are unremarkable.

What real difference has it made that that our political leaders have published details of their tax affairs?

Not a lot.

Should we be demanding more: that all politicians publish annually? What about the tax affairs of politicians' family members? As the Panama papers have shown, offshoring money isn't something people necessarily do under their own name. It's done through spouses, trusted friends and by parents.

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The risk of going down this path, as Aditya Chakrabortty noted yesterday, is that the publication of politicians' tax returns will descend into a morass of semi-titillating detail.... [but] will miss the wider truth.'

"At root, the Panama Papers are not about tax. They're not even about money. What the Panama Papers really depict is the corruption of our democracy."

As Chakrabortty rightly points out, what we have learnt from the leak is that the super-rich have secured a position where they can hide their money from the taxman - they have 'exited the economic system the rest of us have to live in'. Yet at the same time, they are being allowed, using their wealth, to set the rules in the societies they have quit through political funding and lobbying.

They have broken the rule: if you don't like the system, stay and reform it. Or leave. You don't get to do both. That wealthy elites can and do is what lies behind much discontent.

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David Cameron may not feel it, but he has a good grasp on the public mood. He repeats it back to us time and again. The lack of 'fairness' of it all.

He echoes the unfairness felt by 'hardworking people who do the right thing and pay their taxes' when faced with industrial-scale tax avoidance. 'After years of abuse, people are rightly calling for more action,' he says. He 'gets' that the majority in Britain regard our political system as 'a cosy club at the top making decisions in their own interest' (the PM's words). 'I believe that secret corporate lobbying goes to the heart of why people are so fed up with politics,' he said.

Cameron's promised solution to tackling both tax avoidance and lobbying, at least publicly, is also the same: greater transparency.

Yet, anyone anticipating meaningful reforms in light of the Panama papers, would do well to scrutinise his record on 'shining the light of transparency on lobbying' (his words again). Has he really 'forced our politics to come clean about who is buying power and influence', as promised?

As reported yesterday, the transparency rules introduced by Cameron a year ago in the form of a register of lobbyists, are a sham.

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In 12 months, only 124 lobbying firms have bothered to sign up to the government's register. The UK has the third largest lobbying industry in the world, estimated to be worth 2bn. Compare this to Ireland, where the influence industry is much smaller: there are 1198 lobbyists on its register (also introduced in 2015), almost ten times as many.

Over a quarter of lobbyists registered in the UK don't declare a single client, the interest that is ultimately seeking to influence policy. Sixty per cent register two or fewer clients. As this is the only piece of information of value they are required to register, it means we've learnt nothing, or next to nothing from their entries. Blank registrations include one of the UK's most influential lobbyists-for-hire (and the man behind the main anti-Brexit campaign), Roland Rudd. The government's register won't tell you, but his firm lobbies our politicians on behalf of, among others, scandal-hit car maker, VW; under-fire bookmaker, Paddy Power, and Google.

The register also tells us nothing about the influence of in-house corporate lobbyists. It reveals more about the contact the government has had with motorcross enthusiasts, the Amateur Motorcycle Association, than either oil giant, BP; major UK car manufacturer, Toyota; or the UK's powerful road lobby, the Automobile Association.

The UK's biggest fracking firm, Cuadrilla, is listed on the register as employing a single lobbying firm. In the real world, Cuadrilla employs 7 major UK lobbying firms (5 agencies directly, plus 2 through its support for fracking lobby groups) as part of an 'industry-wide offensive' to sway public and political opinion. You wouldn't know from looking.

Finally, if the register is to be believed, Berkshire-based lobbying agencies enjoy more ministerial ear-time than the big four accountancy firms. All four acknowledge that they are commercial lobbyists-for-hire by registering, but besides Ernst & Young declaring a couple of clients, reveal nothing on the register. The influence-seeking corporate clients of PricewaterhouseCoopers for example - the company accused of promoting corporate tax avoidance on an 'industrial scale' - remain secret.

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This overwhelming lack of disclosure is by design.

Lobbyists aren't breaking the rules by not signing up, or by failing to declare their clients and activities on the register. The rules were carefully crafted by government in such a way as to be seen to be doing something, while revealing as little as possible.

What is transparent from the government's action on lobbying, is that David Cameron never wanted us to know who his government is 'having a quiet word with, whether any favours are being exchanged, and which lobbyists are wielding unhealthy influence', to quote him, again.
The Beckley/Imperial Research Programme has just had the results of the first ever brain imaging study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The findings are being launched at the Royal Society on Wednesday 13 April. Below is an extract from Amanda Feilding's talk for the event.

I think Albert Hofman would have been delighted to have his "Problem child" celebrated at the Royal Society, as in his long lifetime the academic establishment never recognised his great contribution. But for the taboo surrounding this field, he would surely have won the Nobel Prize. That was the beginning of the modern psychedelic age, which has fundamentally changed society.

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From left, David Nutt, Amanda Feilding & Robin Carhart-Harris

After the discovery of the effects of LSD, there was a burst of excitement in the medical and therapeutic worlds - over 1000 experimental and clinical studies were undertaken. Then, in the early 60s, LSD escaped from the labs and began to spread into the world at large. Fuelled by its transformational insights, a cultural evolution took place, whose effects are still felt today. It sparked a wave of interest in Eastern mysticism, healthy living, nurturing the environment, individual freedoms and new music and art among many other changes. Then the establishment panicked and turned to prohibition, partly motivated by American youth becoming disenchanted with fighting a war in far-off Vietnam.

Aghast at the global devastation caused by the war on drugs, I set up the Beckley Foundation in 1998. With the advent of brain imaging technology, I realised that one could correlate the subjective experience of altered states of consciousness, brought about by psychedelic substances, with empirical findings. I realised that only through the very best science investigating how psychedelics work in the brain could one overcome the misplaced taboo which had transformed them from the food of the gods to the work of the devil.

My aim was, and is, to re-integrate these valuable substances into the fabric of society, and make their benefits available where appropriate. Over the years I have started many programmes of collaboration around the world. My partnership with Dave Nutt has been particularly rewarding. It began in 2005 with a brain imaging study into the effects of cannabis. In 2009, when Dave moved to Imperial College we started the Beckley/Imperial Research Programme, with a study using psilocybin. We got the approval because unlike LSD, few recognise the name.

In 2014, we finally got approval for an LSD study, something I had been aiming to do for many decades. The results of the study are very revealing. Importantly, we found increased communication between different regions of the brain that don't normally communicate. The findings of our research have prompted the so called entropic brain theory - where entropy refers to chaotic or erratic activity. We have shown that psychedelics increase the entropy of the brain to generate a more disordered fluid state of consciousness. As this state is more flexible and less rigid, it makes people more open to new concepts and ideas. This may lead to the breaking of rigid thought patterns such as those found in depression, addiction, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

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Our results have implications for the neurobiology of consciousness and for potential applications of psychedelics in psychological research as well as the treatment of mental health problems. Our pilot psilocybin for depression study is already providing remarkable results, where after only 2 treatment sessions patients with severe, treatment-resistant depression, experience rapid and enduring reductions in their symptoms. We hypothesise that change in network connectivity brought about by psychedelics has a causal role in their beneficial effects.

Hopefully, as our and other research groups' investigations progress, the world will slowly begin to understand that these incredible substances which interact so intimately with the neurochemistry of the human system, can be used as tools to heal our ailments, enhance our enlightenment, expand our vision, increase our compassion and wise management of society and the environment.

We need to recognise that the changing of conscious states can be an enhancement and that just as the freedom of conscience, religion and the right to develop the personality is a recognised human right, so too should be the freedom of consciousness, so long as the individual does not harm others.

It seems amazing that something so totally personal as ones level of consciousness could be considered an illegal act. But there is a turning of the tide both in policy and in scientific research, which has begun to recognise the value of these substances.

Our studies have begun to lay bare the workings underlying the changing states of consciousness. With a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying these states we can learn to use them better, to manipulate our consciousness, to our own and societies advantage. William James explains it like seeing through the veils of perception. Huxley describes the ego as a reducing valve of the brain. How right they were. Now, for the first time we have seen the empirical basis of these realisations.

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Earlier this year I visited the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is a breathtakingly beautiful country, but one living under a terrible shadow. For 10 years women and girls and men and boys in parts of the DRC faced the risk of becoming victims of sexual violence. Like citizens in 18 other countries around the world identified by the UN in 2015, people in parts of the DRC lived with the horrific prospect of becoming innocent victims of sexual violence in conflict, a crime that ruins lives and destroys communities.

My visit to the DRC, with colleagues from the House of Lords Committee on Sexual Violence in Conflict, formed an important part of our inquiry; the result of which is our report, Sexual Violence in Conflict: A War Crime, which we have published today.

We started with the premise that the occurrence of sexual violence during conflict is not inevitable. For too long it has been regarded as 'just something that happens' in war. It is not; it is a war crime. Like genocide, slavery and torture it must be challenged and eradicated.

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In 2012 the UK Government launched the Prevention of Sexual Violence Initiative and two years later hosted an international conference on ending sexual violence in conflict. This was a big step, it made headlines around the world and raised the profile of this important issue. The conference benefited from the legitimacy provided by the attendance of numerous world leaders and the attention generated by the involvement of a global superstar and UN Special Envoy in Angelina Jolie Pitt.

We wanted to assess where the important struggle to end sexual violence in conflict should go now. After the bright lights of the launch, how can the UK Government ensure the momentum is not lost?

Firstly the Government now needs to reassert its commitment to the PSVI. It should do so by clearly setting out strategic goals for the PSVI and producing a plan for their delivery, including providing long-term commitment and resources. Without that commitment there is a risk momentum will be lost and the good work since 2012 undermined. Once that strategy has been set out, it is important to keep a firm eye on how it is progressing. That is why we are recommending the Government produce a report to Parliament each year on its progress.

Secondly the Government must resist any temptation to limit the scope of PSVI to the Middle East or refocus its priorities to combating religious extremism. Clearly dreadful crimes against humanity have been committed by multiple aggressors in Iraq and Syria, and the PSVI will have a role to play in supporting reconstruction in those countries and helping bring perpetrators to justice once peace is achieved and Daesh has been defeated. However, sexual violence in conflict is a global problem. Its victims in the 19 countries right across the globe are no less in need of support, and its perpetrators no less guilty, because the world's attention is now focused on the Middle East. We must ensure victims elsewhere are not forgotten. The PSVI will be crucial in achieving that and the Government have a responsibility to ensure it is able to do so.

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More must also be done to bring the perpetrators of sexual violence in conflict to justice. Victims are let down if those that ordered or carried out sexual violence are not punished for their crimes. In the DRC the Government has at least taken steps to prosecute perpetrators of sexual violence from previous conflicts, the same cannot be said in many other places. The prosecution last month of Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, the architect of so much of the damage done in the DRC, is the first and sole successful prosecution at the International Criminal Court for sexual violence in conflict. We must ensure it is not the last. To help achieve that, the UK Government should increase its voluntary contributions to the work of the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC to help it investigate and prosecute these crimes.

Too often peace processes overlook the need to bring perpetrators of sexual violence to justice. There is a tendency, for what is often a group of peace negotiators solely or overwhelmingly made up of men, to want to avoid difficult questions of ensuring justice for victims. The UK Government were right to call for an absolute ban on amnesties for perpetrators of sexual violence. They should now work hard to ensure any peace negotiations in Syria continue that approach and also that women are meaningfully involved in negotiations to bring the Syrian conflict to an end.

We also looked at the role of peacekeepers and the dreadful breach of trust that occurs when they abuse their position to commit sexual exploitation and abuse. This has happened in conflicts in Africa, Asia and Europe and has gone largely unpunished. That is why we are calling for a new international tribunal to ensure accountability for peacekeepers who commit these crimes. The incoming UN Secretary-General, whomever it may be, must make this issue a top priority.

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I know our report will refocus the attention of the Government and others on this vital issue. The UK Government has played a key role in starting what will be a long and difficult road to ending sexual violence in conflict. It is time for it to show it has the mettle and the motivation to stay the course.
It was recently announced that the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is the latest Western Senior Official scheduled to visit Tehran on 12th and 13th April, where he will meet with the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and other key officials. This latest state visit comes only a few months after a high profile trip by Rouhani to Italy and France in January. This is part of a growing trend of diplomatic exchange between Iranian and European officials and business delegates, as the two sides eagerly pursue expanded trade relations following the suspension of US-led sanctions.

However, although Renzi's planned visit is in keeping with an ongoing pattern, it is out of sync with the recent protests that have followed Rouhani on every foreign trip to his European counterparts. The Iranian president's trip to Paris, brought him to the heart of Europe where he faced major demonstration that highlighted the misconception that Rouhani is a moderate within his own regime and a force for reconciliation between Iran and the West.

In Paris and Rome, and more recently in Vienna, Iranian opposition movement the National Council of resistance of Iran (NCRI) has been joined by a multitude of human rights groups that have drawn to attention the Rouhani administration's worsening human rights record in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

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The Iranian regime is clearly making every effort to re-establish trade ties with the European Union and its allies. Yet the regime makes no meaningful changes to its behaviour at home and in the wider Middle East. As a result, the foreign protesters' efforts to boost Europe's scrutiny of Iran's human rights record was so potent that the Rouhani government cancelled its plans to visit Vienna after Austrian authorities refused to prevent an NCRI demonstration from going forward.

The protest went ahead in Rouhani's absence and the cancellation could be viewed as a victory for the protesters, as well.

Although Vienna did not deliberately rebuff Rouhani or adopt the protesters' demands that any further expansion in Iranian-European relations be predicated on human rights reforms, the Austrian government did at least make it clear that it will not be a party to Iran's attempt to export its own repressive environment to European democracies.

Austrian President Heinz Fischer rightly criticised Tehran's request for a crackdown on protests, noting that Austria had taken all necessary security precautions and declared, "The right to assembly is deeply rooted in the Austrian constitution... Assembly cannot be prohibited in our democracy."

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Unfortunately, this sort of response falls far short of properly acknowledging the concerns of protesters who have made every effort to shame the European Union for unconditionally granting an audience to a government that is one of the worst violators of human rights in the world and a one of leading state sponsors of terrorism.

The announcement of Renzi's trip so soon after the cancellation in Austria sends a message of appeasement to the Iranian regime.

Austria should be applauded for standing up to Iran's attempts to export repression. Hopefully, other European governments will show similar backbone in the future. Given though the well-documented pervasiveness of Iranian repression, it is not sufficient for Europeans however to rebuff it at home and then allow it to continue unchecked on Iranian soil in the midst of ongoing, deferent state visits.

It is hard to see Rouhani's cancellation of his visit to Austria as anything other than a reaction to the shame that his government would experience at having some of their worst deeds exposed. Yet the regime should not be permitted to hide from that shame. If Renzi and other European heads of state continue to insist upon visiting Tehran, the onus is on them to put pressure on Tehran publicly and vociferously to move ahead with the reforms that Rouhani promised when he was elected as a "moderate" and at present, has never delivered upon.

If Rouhani would not come to Europe to be scrutinised on his human rights record, he will not allow it to happen at home, either. If the Iranian regime does not fully address its human rights record, it should let Iran go into global isolation until it has truly earnt full-scale trade and diplomatic relations with the world community.

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It's been a while since I lasted posted anything, but in my defence I haven't been lazy. I've been busy. Gambling.

I don't mean tapping on those tragic casino-branded apps you see advertised on late night TV. Y'know, where glamour models try to convince lagered up blokes just in from the kebab queue that they could look like / live like / love like James Bond if only they'd bet a fiver on an online one-armed bandit. Not for me, ta. I mean I've been gambling for real, playing monopoly with real buildings. I thoroughly recommend it.

Having been a London-based landlord for around a decade, an epiphany occurred over the past year or so, when I realised that landlording wasn't really me. In truth, I've never once enjoyed it. Don't get me wrong, I'll remain one to a diminishing degree for a while yet, since even a basic grasp of economics suggests that nice people paying you shiny money in return for living in your flats is always better than having no one pay you anything for empty flats. And luckily, I've managed to just about scrape together a basic grasp of economics during my various property (mis)adventures.

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Nope, I realised that whilst creating a nice little portfolio of rental properties in Central and East London was fine and dandy, and that I could theoretically 'retired' to spend the rest of my days watching old Bond movies on my sofa with my soul mate, a Jack Russell called Indy, life is just more fun with some risk.

Ok, a lot of risk. To which end I've been taking my chips off the London table, walking across the casino floor, and placing them instead... on the Belfast table.

Did I mention I'd re-acquired a hell of an appetite for risk?

So what prompts someone with a useful collection of apartments in the likes of Chelsea, Notting Hill, Shoreditch, Kensington (ok, West Kensington, but it's still pretty nice) to have a mid-life property crisis? I can't even claim my epiphany has had anything to do with the government's recent declaration of war upon the buy-to-let sector. I mean c'mon, the writing was surely on the wall for that one. No exchequer has ever been able to resist the urge to clobber unpopular industries with the self-righteous tax stick, so the establishment's post-election campaign to swell its greasy coffers by ransacking the property sector hasn't been much of a surprise - landlords have for several years occupied a stratum somewhere between granny muggers and donkey molesters on the scum-o-meter, and that's before you even factor in the Guardian's opinion of people who do what I do for a living...

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So no, fear of what might come next from those pulling the levers of power hasn't persuaded me to gradually abandon HMS Buy-to-Let. I've simply gotten bored of being a passive property owner. Bored of being someone whose only property-related creativity in years had been deciding which shade of white to redecorate a flat between tenancies. Bored of no longer feeling stressed and scared by the very real risk of getting the next move wrong and losing it all. And, most of all, very bored of only owning flats, when deep down I mean to own buildings.

I decided therefore that it was time to cash my chips, roll the dice (any more tortuous gambling analogies out there?) and scale up. In a big way. The thrill of being 'in property' had only ever lain in sweating, straining and stressing between 2003-2008 to parlay an initial meagre savings pot of 12k into a bunch of London flats worth several million. But that box had been firmly ticked by the time the wheels fell off the Lehmans wagon, and a man can become indolent and jaded if his buccaneering spirit is permitted to fall dormant. So to paraphrase Breaking Bad's immortal Walter White, if you asked me whether I was in the property business or the money business, I'd say neither. I'm now in the empire business.

In future posts I'll articulate the method in my madness, if selling blue chip prime Central London apartments to fund the acquisition of the sort of distressed assets that 'experts' reckon you should run a mile from is madness. (Clue: they're semi-derelict pubs, churches and banks. In Belfast, a city whose property market vaporised after the Credit Crunch. So... madness.)
Today, on the International Day for Street Children, we in Europe must acknowledge that we have a problem - a known unknown - of a rising number of young and vulnerable people who need protection.

The vast majority of Europeans see street children as a faraway problem that they hear about on the news or witness for themselves on holidays to nations in the developing world.

The EU's political impotence in the face of the migration emergency means that this is no longer the case: thousands of street children are now sleeping rough on doorsteps from Athens to Paris.

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At least 95,000 unaccompanied children applied for asylum in Europe last year, four times the numbers for 2014, and 10,000 cannot be traced by the authorities because they have fallen either into the hands of criminal gangs or onto the streets and into the informal economy.

Like in the developing world, street children in Europe go uncounted and they are left off international and national policy agendas, leaving it up to low-resourced NGOs and volunteer organisations to pick up the slack.

These children have no voice, no lobby and no protection from those who wish to take advantage of them.

At the international level, the UN is doing its part. Next week street children from across Europe will make their voices heard and influence policy makers by feeding into the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child's 'general comment' on street children. The General Comment will provide authoritative guidance to States on how they can implement the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child for street children to ensure that their rights are protected and promoted.

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But more needs to be done at the national and local level, particularly in Greece which is bearing the biggest burden amid a refusal by national governments within the EU to work on a sustainable relocation mechanism to take the pressure of periphery states where refugees are arriving from Africa and the Middle East.

Greece urgently needs capacity building for both its asylum and child protection systems. Officials there complain Europe promises money and manpower but it has yet to arrive.

It is also vital Europe works together to implement its relocation programme and to set up safe and legal routes to ensure unaccompanied children can make it to their destination.

The consequences of not doing so are unacceptable. Unaccompanied children, or children who get separated from their families en route to Europe, if prevented from crossing into Macedonia are sent to children's centres in Thessaloniki and Athens. Sending children to a centre, where they are less publicly visible does not remove their desire to reach their destination. Many of these children are disappearing onto the streets, where they become vulnerable to challenges that street children face anywhere in the world - violence, exploitation and hunger.

It is a scandal that in January, David Cameron has rejected calls for Britain to take 3,000 unaccompanied child refugees from Europe. If Europe's lost children cannot galvanise a sustainable response to the continent's migration emergency, what will? Britain and the other nations in Europe opting for inaction over refugees must put aside the petty and selfish politics of xenophobia and nostalgia and take action proportionate to the scale of the crisis.

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The UK National Crime Agency claims there are some 750,000 men in Britain who are sexually attracted to children: that's one in every 35 men. And with the NSPCC estimating some one in 20 children are sexually abused (over 36,000 annually), it's likely every one of us is affected in one way or another, maybe because we ourselves were abused, or we know someone who was ... or because we have committed - or we'd like to commit - such a crime.

The challenge of effective child protection requires us to face the reality that adult sexual attraction to children is not something freakishly rare. It is part of everyday life, arguably perhaps even an intrinsic part of that great ragbag of surprises which is human sexuality.

All over Europe, initiatives are springing up which have the power to change our thinking about paedophilia. For more than 10 years, Prevention Project Dunkelfeld (PPD), in Germany, has been advertising and attracting paedophiles out of the 'dunkelfeld', the 'dark field' where no authorities are aware of them, and engaging them in therapy to help them manage their sexual urges and stay law-abiding. In the Netherlands too, an advertising campaign 'My name is Frank' draws paedophiles into therapy programmes. Now, in Sweden, a research project is poised to add a valuable new technique to the range of options keeping paedophiles non-offending. For the first time, a randomised controlled trial (the 'gold standard' of medical research) will be used to test whether voluntary medication to reduce libido can assist carefully-selected paedophiles in maintaining their law-abiding lifestyle, without being tempted to act out their desires and harm children. The project, known as Priotab, will be a test, too, of the public's attitude to such an approach. Only with successful crowdfunding will the project go ahead, so if the public do not endorse the idea, it will fail.

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It is likely the UK Government will be watching this experiment closely, as this month they also are planning to roll out a national network of new clinics offering injectable anti-androgen medication to volunteers, this time however only to offenders within the prison and probation system, rather than to those in the community at risk of offending. Public reaction will be critical in deciding how paedophiles are treated and what help will be available to them. It has been a long hard slog even to reach this point.

Psychiatrists are frequently reluctant to treat sex offenders; many therapists feel that paedophilia is outside their range of expertise; doctors and other professionals faced with someone asking for help with intrusive sexual thoughts towards children are likely to respond with bewilderment and may well report the individual to the authorities simply to 'cover their own backs'.

It does not have to be this way. In Britain now, we have a specialist charity, the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, offering training and resources. We have a national telephone helpline run by Stop It Now! And we have StopSO, a national specialist treatment organisation for the prevention of sexual offending, which can put people in touch with therapists across the country trained to work with potential and actual sex offenders.

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Every paedophile was once somebody's little child, a member of somebody's family. To imagine that they are somehow distinct from us, that they are 'those monsters over there' is a fairy-story we can no longer afford to believe. Perhaps the most important intervention we can offer is high-quality sex education in schools, exploring the reality of paedophilia, so that teenagers worried by their sexual thoughts and urges understand that they are not alone, there is help available, and while people do not choose to be sexually attracted to children, they can always choose not to act on that attraction.
Children and young people's mental health services are, on average, turning away nearly a quarter of those referred to them for help by their teachers, GPs or others. Those who do get accepted into services then face a postcode lottery of how long they will wait for treatment.

These are the findings of a CentreForum report published today. We conducted research into the 'hidden waiting times' for mental health treatment and found wide variation in how long young people would have to wait, ranging from two weeks to over 19 weeks in some areas. Demand is increasing and so waiting times are going up. Maximum waiting times have doubled in the last two years.

We also found indications of a reverse North/South divide with regions in the North investing more in community services than those in the South and East with corresponding capacity problems in the South East and South West.

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Our report identifies a concerning 'treatment gap' where children are not always able to get the right care in the right place at the right time. Those who work in children and young people's mental health services already know this. They are, in the vast majority, dedicated and caring people, frustrated by workforce shortages and rising demand in the context of austerity. This is not about apportioning blame but about shining a spotlight on the inequality that has existed within the NHS for too long.

The Coalition Government made good strides in addressing this issue. In March 2015, Nick Clegg announced 1.25billion over the next five years to transform services. This year David Cameron became the first Prime Minister to make a major speech on mental health.

Nevertheless it is important that this new money reaches the services that need it. Of the 250million for this year, only 75million has reached the local NHS and as it is not ring-fenced, there is no guarantee that it will be spent on children's mental health. Progress is being made, but this situation has existed for decades, and it will take time to turn services around.

CentreForum's Commission will now seek to explore the barriers which will undermine the achievement of the vision set out in Future in Mind in our next report. One key concern is the lack of good quality data. Services are developing 'transformation plans' across the country but they are based on statistics published in 2004 on how many children and young people have mental health problems. Services are operating in the dark, with no consistent national collection of data on expenditure, waiting times or the quality of treatment.

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I live on Jersey, an island that is nine miles by five miles. An island that is relatively safe yet I wouldn't choose to go out alone at night. I am not sure why I feel like I can't go out alone. When I was a student in Sheffield I was mugged in a phone box in broad daylight on a busy street. When I lived in Leeds I was walking home one night when a man asked me to get in his car with him. Apparently, he thought I was a prostitute. I would like to point out that I was wearing a very modest business suit.

I wonder if it is these events that have made me nervous. Yet I can't really blame those two incidents. I was once hit over the head by a student but it didn't make me scared of teaching and I had an abusive ex-boyfriend but it didn't put me off men. It feels so hypocritical being afraid of walking home alone at night because I like to think that I am strong independent woman. Why am I so fearful of a street at night?

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There was a time where I was once fearless and now I look back and I wonder if I was even a bit reckless. Once my friend and I got into an unlicensed cab in London. We were then outraged when the taxi driver started making inappropriate remarks and slapped my friend on the bottom when we left the taxi. Sometimes I wish I could be more like that girl again, the girl in her early twenties who was confident, cocky and unafraid of anything or anyone.

Age and children have made me more fearful. I have been changed by the constant news stories that detail women being attacked at night. Their stories have seeped into my skin and become a part of me. Now walking alone at night is an activity that is fraught with danger. I imagine potential attackers lurking everywhere, behind bins, leaping around street corners and dragging me down alley ways. Does this make me sexist? Or am I just aware of the inequality of our society? We all know that women are more vulnerable compared to men. We all know that it is a woman who is more likely to be the victim of a sex crime and it is a woman who is more likely to become the victim of an abusive relationship.

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I'm not sure what the answer is. We should live in a society where we feel that we can walk alone at night but sadly this isn't the case. Only last month Manchester police issued a warning to women, urging them not to walk home alone because there had been a string of sex attacks. However, women aren't the only ones who should be afraid of walking home in the dark. I had a rather timely reminder of that this week, a leaflet pushed through my door about Adrian Lynch. Adrian went missing on 5 December in the early hours of the morning. He was walking home after a work night out. We are now in April and despite this being a very small island there has been no sign of him. Nothing to indicate what happened to him. It is a desperately sad situation. He is a son, brother, friend and now a missing person.

The reality is that no matter who we are we need to think twice about walking alone at night. That doesn't make me a hypocrite it makes me a realist.

Do you feel comfortable walking on your own at night?

This was first published on Island Living 365
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Imagine something dear to you.

Imagine something that defines you.

Imagine something that is your identity.

Imagine it being the essence of your life or being.

Imagine a country and its constitution taking that thing away from you.

Imagine it telling you cannot use this identity anymore.

Imagine the people of that country telling you again and again that not only do you not have this identity but you are quite the opposite.

Imagine this happening to one community for 42 years.

Imagine being born into that? Well I can, as I was born in that country within that community.

The second amendment to the constitution of Pakistan was brought in before my birth.

A law brought to oppress and crush a community. A law passed by the so called liberal government of Pakistan to please the mullahs (religious clerics) of Pakistan. The same mullah who not so long before that were opposing the very creation of Pakistan.

In 1974 the government of Pakistan declared Ahmadi Muslims non-Muslims by passing the second amendment into its constitution.

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If the law was intended to crush the Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan, it failed badly.

Yes, every time someone called me a non Muslim it felt like a dagger though my heart but it didn't kill my spirit. It didn't make me want to leave my faith. On the contrary it increased it.

For decades Ahmadi Muslims have faced persecution at the hands of other Muslims.

They have been killed , tortured and imprisoned. Their homes and businesses have been burnt and destroyed. They face discrimination, abuse and degradation day and night. They are expelled from jobs, they are stopped from progressing in their careers. An Ahmadi Muslim child learns this treatment from a very young age in schools and it stays with him in university and only gets worse. Posters and notices are put on shops barring Ahmadi Muslims from entering them. And not just that, there is a section from amongst the mullahs, media and general public who blame Ahmadi Muslims for every calamity, disaster or scandal that happens in Pakistan, saying it's a Qadiani (a term used in a derogatory way to describe Ahmadi Muslims) conspiracy. This is no less than the state sponsored apartheid of Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan. In May 2010, 86 Ahmadi Muslims were killed in a simultaneous attack on two mosques in Lahore. There has been an increase in the number of deaths of Ahmadi Muslims just because of their faith in last 7 years. In 2014 alone 12 Ahmadi Muslims were killed in Pakistan including an infant girl who died when a mob set fire to Ahmadi homes in Gujranwala.

And this is beside the fact that Ahmadi Muslims are not free to practice their religion, Islam, in Pakistan.

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But Ahmadi Muslims face it all with patience, forbearance , steadfastness and humility.

Pakistan still remains the country where the largest population of Ahmadis resides. However, over the years, as a result of this state sponsored persecution and terrorism against the community many Ahmadi Muslims have left the country. Some of them have sought refugee status in the UK as well. Many have had to endure the pain of a loved one being killed and that's why they fled the country. Many had to leave as their business or shops were burnt to ashes. Many faced so much persecution and hostility at their work place that they couldn't continue anymore.

As the poet Warsan Shire eloquently put it: "No One Leaves Home Unless Home Is the Mouth of A Shark.".

Gujranwala Mob attack on an Ahmadi Muslim neighbourhood in Pakistan

Every parent wants what is best for their child. They want them to have a better childhood and education than theirs, better prospects in life. It's a parental instinct to protect and to nurture. They definitely would not want them to suffer or face any persecution they faced themselves. Every Ahmadi Muslim parent who fled Pakistan for the persecution they faced and made a safe home in the uk would tell you exactly that. Not in their wildest dreams would they have imagined that the hate filled poisonous venom that preaches against Ahmadi Muslims will follow them to the UK. Ahmadi Muslims in the UK have been facing a background level of hostility from non-Ahmadi Muslims for many decades now. It's almost everywhere, universities are worse than schools but it happens in schools too. My children go to a nice suburban primary school where very few students are Muslim. Even among that small group, there are Muslim mothers who when I say salaam ("Peace", the Islamic greeting) will not reply in kind, they say hello. You could say what's the big deal? The thing is that if they choose to say Salam to other muslim mothers but say hello to me it underlines publicly that they don't see me as muslim and they don't deem me worthy of the greeting of "Peace".

I look at the little Muslim girl in my daughter's class and think, at this age she is friends with her but at some point in secondary school or university she will tell my daughter that she is a "kafir" a non Muslim. I am not assuming the worst as it does happen to so many Ahmadi Muslim children, as it happened to my husband growing up in Yorkshire in the 90's. Living in the U.K. thousands of miles away from my homeland I should not be thinking of preparing my daughters to be ready to face this kind of bigotry!

Ahmadi Muslims by law can freely practice their faith in the UK and we are grateful for that. Our community has been at the forefront of promoting and practising the peaceful teachings of Islam within the UK. But the brutal and barbaric murder of Asad Shah (An Ahmadi Muslim shopkeeper in Glasgow murdered on 24th March 2016) has highlighted the issue of anti-Ahmadi sentiments within some parts of the UK Muslim community. Even physical violence towards Ahmadi Muslims is not new in this country. My own father in law, a local GP and a well known figure within the wider community was beaten up by a crowd of Muslims incited by mullahs almost 3 decades ago in Yorkshire. The statement issued by the Muslim council of Britain, that you can't force Muslims to call Ahmadis Muslims, only acts to legitimise hatred against Ahmadi Muslims. Last night (10th April 2016) the BBC reported that leaflets instructing Muslims to "Kill Ahmadis" were found in a UK mosque.

Who are Ahmadi Muslims? Ahmadi Muslims believe that their founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was the same Messiah and Mehdi whose advent was foretold by the Holy Prophet of Islam and who the rest of the Muslim world is still waiting for. I won't go into the theological arguments and the difference in beliefs between Ahmadi Muslims and non Ahmadi Muslims, I have put links at the bottom to explain that, but one argument that some non Ahmadi Muslims put, time and again, against Ahmadi Muslims is the "pretend" muslim argument, which has been described by one Twitter user as :

"Can you call someone a policeman just because he wore a police uniform for a fancy dress party?"

They say that we "pretend" to be Muslims, which is a very silly argument. Can you honestly believe that people have been pretending to be someone they are not, generation after generation for 127 years?

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What do these non-Ahmadi Muslims think we do? Do we wake up in the morning and tell our children to offer salat (prayers) and read the Quran because we are pretending to be Muslims? Do we tell our children inspirational stories from the life of the Holy Prophet of Islam Mohammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) because we are pretending to be Muslims?

Do we wake up in the early hours of the morning to keep our fast then go without food and water until sunset in the month of Ramadan whilst pretending to be a Muslim?

Do we give our hard earned cash in zakat (charitable giving) pretending to be a Muslim?

Have I been wearing a hijab and covering myself according to Islamic teachings for all these years in a pretence?

We, the pretend Muslims, have been at the forefront of defending the faith of Islam and its teachings against islamophobic attacks for 127 years.

What kind of silly games are we playing here? Generation after generation after generation. And for what? To be persecuted? Looted? Burnt and killed?

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Can anyone in their right mind believe this nonsense?

I do all of this because whether you like it or not, I am a Muslim. And no government, no MCB, no Khatme Nabuwat organisation can take that away from me as it is a matter between me and my Allah.

My love for the Holy prophet of Islam, Mohammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), is in my blood, and you can neither take that away from me nor can you stop me from proclaiming it openly and loudly anywhere in the world! I am not scared of persecution and neither are the rest of the millions of Ahmadi Muslims.

We as Ahmadi Muslims do not need a certificate from the MCB confirming that we are Muslims. We do not need a certificate from anyone. We know that our faith and our deeds will be judged by Allah on the day of judgement and only that testimony matters. The Ahmadiyya Muslim community in the UK issued a statement in response to the MCB statement and it read:

"Chapter 22, Verse 79 of the Holy Quran states "So follow the faith of your father Abraham; He named you Muslims both before and in this Book". This verse makes it clear that no individual or group can claim to monopolise the term 'Muslim' and that the term existed even before Islam itself. Freedom of religion and belief is a fundamental tenet of Islam and so the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community believes that the people of all religions and beliefs should respect one another and should seek to establish true peace, rather than to sow the seeds of conflict and division."

In these difficult times when our religion Islam is under criticism by certain elements and Muslims are under scrutiny, the MCB and its comments have opened more avenues of ridicule by the media and those with anti-Islamic sentiments. All this "takfirism" and division should stop, we should be united in portraying the true picture of Islam, true Islam practiced by our beloved prophet of Islam, Mohammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) that teaches us to love all, and hate none.

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http://www.loveforallhatredfornone.org/ahmadiyya-muslim-community-uk-response-to-mcb-statement/

http://www.alislam.org/introduction/

http://www.examiner.com/article/khataman-nabiyeen-the-word-khatam-seal-arabic-literature
Increasing numbers of local authorities are pulling funding from HIV support services. The campaign has written to Secretary of State for Health, Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt calling for a meeting to discuss the impact of these cuts, demand effective commissioning, adequate funding, and access to support services for all people living with HIV.

HIV services in both Berkshire and Oxfordshire, run by Thames Valley Support and Terrence Higgins Trust respectively, have been cut by over 100,000 between them. In Berkshire this equates to a loss of a third of funding, and will directly affect 300 people living with HIV in both Slough and Bracknell.

In David Cameron's back yard, Oxfordshire County Council has cut Terrence Higgins Trust's 50,000 funding, which is forcing the closure of its local centre. The reality is that there are will be no HIV Prevention and Support service in the whole county after April 2016, with almost 500 people left with no alternative support service.

In Portsmouth the HIV support service, provided by Positive Action, has been cut by approximately 26,000 by Portsmouth City Council. Its Hampshire service has been granted an interim support payment of 30,000, less than half of the amount it historically received.

In Bexley and Bromley, equality and diversity charity, METRO is facing cuts to HIV support services of over 80,000.

Public Heath England's national HIV figures show that in 2014 alone over 6,000 people were diagnosed with HIV, while People Living with HIV Stigma Index UK- found that stigma had prevented 15 per cent of people surveyed from accessing their GP in the last year, and 66 per cent had avoided dental care.

14 per cent had received negative comments from healthcare workers. Despite the obvious roles specialist HIV support services play in combatting this they are being reduced to almost ineffective levels, or cut completely, in a short term cash save measure.

'Support people with HIV: Stop the cuts' is also appealing to members of the public to take an e-action to show their support - write to their local council leader and ask what the council is doing to support local people living with HIV.
It is very disappointing to see the TUC teaming up with the Government and multinational business to promote Project Fear. It is a common feature of pro-EU arguments that rather than attempt to say positive things about the EU, they instead scaremonger about what could or might happen were we a fully sovereign nation again.

The reality is that the EU could rescind whichever employment rights it wishes at any time. But unlike changes made by British governments, you, the voter, do not have the option to vote out the European Commission if they introduce law that you don't like, or if they sign up to secretive trade deals that undermine workers' rights and put business interests before the public's - like TTIP. This is the agreement the EU is promoting behind closed doors, and which British trade unions are furiously battling against. Even the UN has warned that TTIP risks moving us to a "post-democratic" world.

As the TUC must surely know, most of the rights British workers enjoy were won by the labour movement at national level. They are not gifts from EU bureaucrats, they were fought for and won by working people.

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In the infamous Viking and Laval rulings of the ECJ, we can see exactly how much the EU values workers' rights. "There is much concern among unions at recent decisions of the European Court of Justice - particularly the Viking-Laval cases - that appear to allow companies to undermine existing pay, working conditions and pensions by moving workforces around Europe..." Those were the words of Brendan Barber in 2009, then head of the TUC. In the years since the EU has only become more hostile to workers - just ask the Greeks.

The free movement of labour that Barber refers to has been used by business to drive down wages and conditions - through no fault of the workers themselves. Yet it has been the low earners in Britain who have been hit hardest.

The TUC should be asking serious questions of this rich boys' business club - not peddling its scare stories. It's no wonder so many trade unionists are passionately opposed to the EU. Many Labour supporters and members of the trade union movement understand the anti-democratic EU does not seek to promote a social Europe that works for ordinary people, but merely protects cosy cartels and the interests of giant multinational corporations - particularly the banks.

NHS activists are terrified of what TTIP will mean for the health service, and the privatisation of postal and train services across the whole of Europe is already well underway, by EU diktat. The people of Europe don't want that, but that's what they're getting.

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The UK has consistently led Europe with regard to improving workers' pay and conditions and this will not change whether we remain or leave. The idea that holiday pay will be put at risk by the UK leaving the EU is scaremongering of the highest order. Roll back workers' rights in the UK and you get voted out. Roll them back in the EU and nothing happens. The Dutch, Irish and French have all said No to the EU - it didn't get them very far. The EU is a business cabal. Leaving is the only option left.
In the early hours of Saturday 2 April, a military escalation erupted on the Nagorny Karabakh line of contact, on a scale not seen since 1994. While the breakfast news reported on Palmyra, on who is planning to restore which monuments, the disturbing news broke about this old, yet now new conflict, that overnight saw dozens of people killed.

The world was reminded that there is a place called Karabakh, that a bloody war was fought there in the early 90s, and it is to this day a subject of hot dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia - and yes, it is not so far from Syria and from that 'Islamic State'.

I cannot say this news came as a surprise, but it upset me greatly. For several years now, peacebuilders working in the region have been repeatedly warning of the high risk of a resumption of hostilities over Nagorny Karabakh, a conflict which until last Saturday was often misleadingly referred to as 'frozen' despite the fact that it had its own quite lively and somewhat aggressive dynamic.

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All of the more serious analysis that started to emerge examined what triggered the escalation at this particular point in time, and whether it would evolve into a full blown and lengthy war or die down quickly. Many diagrams and charts were produced, outlining the various interests of the different parties, and their current or potential allies in the case of an all-out war. Of course, it is indeed important to anticipate the prospect of war and to assess the risks of major regional countries such as Turkey and Russia getting drawn into the conflict.

We live in a world where the intensity of the news cycle and volume of information out there is much greater than our ability to absorb it, let alone form our own opinion about what is going on. Overwhelmed, we consent to ingest the information served up through structured generalisations using information technology like fast food, made from a recipe of truth, lies, provocation, manipulation, political and financial interests and many other similar ingredients. But the most worrying thing about the picture created is the absence of the human factor.

In the days during the military escalation, I was constantly surprised that no-one was writing about people - as if they have no role in armed conflict! The human factor somehow does not fit into the boxes and diagrams used to present analysis. People have minds of their own and their experience differs from the theoretical analysis, the computerised graphics and colourful charts that show where it is all happening. We completely forget about those who are under fire or who feel they have no choice but to attack. As children and the elderly are dying from shells, people are being driven to unimaginable fear and anger by, for example, grizzly images being circulated from the frontline of corpses with their ears sliced off.

People began preparing mentally for a long drawn out war - fashioning makeshift bomb shelters.

Volunteers mobilised in large numbers, arriving in Karabakh and immediately heading for the front. Many who fought in the 90s took up arms again to show the younger volunteers how it is done. According to one university teacher, all the male students left for the front. For sure, like anyone, they do not want to die on a bright sunny April day. But they hope - putting their hope in God as much as in the world leaders, that they will use their influence to end the bloodshed.

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I became attached to the conflict regions where I have happened to work through developing personal relationships with dozens of wonderful people from all sides. I have close and loyal Armenian and Azerbaijani friends, and I have met extraordinarily wise people living in Karabakh, in the ceasefire zone, as well as in settlements in Azerbaijan for displaced persons who fled the horrors of war years ago. I find it hard to imagine that any of these decent people would have become caught up in the frenzy of destructive thinking which war gives birth to.

The path to peace

A few years ago, as part of The European Partnership for the Peaceful Settlement of the Conflict over Nagorny Karabakh (EPNK), a project funded by the European Union, I was lucky to have the opportunity to facilitate a process of retrospective analysis by experts from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagorny Karabakh on 20 years of civil peacebuilding in that context.

It is beyond the scope of this short article to summarise all the results, but one interesting finding was that the very idea of peacebuilding emerged while the war was still raging during the early 90s, and was born out of the humanitarian actions of civic leaders from the opposing sides. For example, their actions related to exchange of prisoners, provision of emergency medical and other humanitarian aid on both sides of the frontline and to prisoners, the opening of humanitarian corridors, etc. Over time, the very act of providing for daily humanitarian needs instilled in these people an active social and civic position of valuing peace.

It was through such humanitarian initiatives that channels of communication were created and relations of trust formed between individuals from the different sides. This was effective in terms of creating new lines of communication between informal leaders from the divided societies, setting a significant precedent during wartime and creating the foundation for future public diplomacy.

Catching the public demand for peacebuilding, Alert pulled together a consortium of like-minded peacebuilding organisations - Conciliation Resources and LINKS - and with initial financial support from the UK Government started to work together on complementary structural and methodological approaches.

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We relied on the social capital of these civic leaders and on local professionals, developing projects to increase mutual understanding. These were dialogue processes with conflict experts, academics, journalists and other professional groups; dialogues through films created by cross-divide groups; research on how conflicts in other parts of the world and disseminating their positive peacebuilding experience; and much more.

In recent years, since the official peace talks have ground to a halt, civil dialogue continued and became one of the main channels through which the sides were linked.

However, powerful nationalistic propaganda machines work against peacebuilding. Revanchist and military rhetoric has become widespread in recent years through the targeted introduction of enemy images into people's consciousness. For example, even the idea that it is genetically impossible for Armenians and Azerbaijanis to live side by side has been aired.

Members of the younger generation who have no experience of inter-ethnic interaction (since the societies became mono-ethnic as a result of the war in the early 90s) are particularly vulnerable to propaganda. Many of them see the other side as demonised, abstract, and not possessing the same human qualities as themselves. Thus it becomes easier to justify one's readiness to fight and hurt this "other".

When we confer undesirable qualities on our enemy, then it can be straightforward to want to fight them. But in turn, this phenomenon allows internal and external actors who have an interest in war to manipulate individuals, as well as wider society.

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We should be mindful of the fact that, even after this escalation subsides, it will have long-term consequences in the societies directly affected by the conflict and the wider region, in terms of strengthening the radicalisation of public utterances, private thinking and behavioural norms. The societies in and around the conflict will have received the message loud and clear - that war could break out any day.
I am sure I am not the only person who is a long time subscriber and reader of the Economist journal but who disagrees profoundly with most of what it says. The online comments section of the journal show just that. For example:

The Economist is socially liberal whereas I am socially conservative.

The Economist strongly supports uncontrolled free market forces whereas I (who also strongly support free market forces) also like to keep an eye on market failure and monopolistic tendencies.

The Economist uncritically strongly supports globalisation whereas I am sceptical.

The Economist only sees one way to measure the success of a country and that is GDP growth whereas I would like to look at other measures including how that growth is shared out

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Basically, the Economist takes ideological positions while I try to look at problems from a pragmatic perspective. Nevertheless, it is a good read and I do enjoy the books section.

So it is with the steel industry where (surprise, surprise) I again disagree with the Economist. Maybe it is because I was born after the Second World War and was brought up in South Wales where the two giant industries of coal and steel dominated. Subsequently I saw the death of the coal industry and I may now see the death of the steel industry if nothing is done.

So what is the issue with steel? Well, in summary, Tata steel, which is the dominant player in the UK steel industry, has recently posted a 68 million loss for the last quarter. This equates to about a loss of million pounds a day, which, if true, is clearly an unsustainable position in the longer term. As an accountant, I know only too well that such figures are often manipulated to justify an action that you wanted to take anyway

To make matters worse the whole economics of steel is in disarray with low global demand for steel coupled with huge spare production capacity in China, which is keeping prices low. Accusations are also made that China is dumping steel on world markets and below cost.

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Clearly, this situation is unacceptable to Tata. Furthermore, Tata does not see any "cloud with a silver lining" on the horizon in the form of a significant global economic recovery, which will improve the fortunes of the steel industry and, in my view, they are right to think this. Consequently, Tata is left with three main options although, clearly, there are several sub-options in each case:

Restructuring/Reinvestment

Sales to a third party(s)

Outright closure

Restructuring/Reinvestment

The first option is to somehow restructure Tata's UK steel operation in the UK in such a way that is can become profitable and compete in world markets. Inevitably, any such restructuring will required advances in production technology and substantial levels of capital investment, plus a range of associated costs.

It is well known that a plan was put before the Tata board drawn up managers and unions in the company. The plan would involve around 100 million investment to transform the plant into a producer of high-quality steel for advanced industries and aimed to achieve cost savings of some 350 million per annum, which would allow the company to return to profit. However, it would require 750 job losses. The plan would take several years to implement and the investment costs plus the need to finance the losses that would be incurred over the period of transition would be in excess of 1bn. Tata were unable to accept this plan possibly because it was seen as over-optimistic and/or the risks being too great to justify the huge level of investment involved. This is a huge amount of investment and if Tata are not prepared to accept it then it seems unlikely that any other commercial lender or investor would be prepared to do so.

Sale to a third party(s)

Tata is currently pursuing this option. They will be selling-off the various bits of its UK steel operation to interested buyers who will have their own ideas about how they will utilise their new acquisitions and what sorts of changes they will make. It seems very likely that the UK government will need to have some financial involvement in this process in order to provide "sweeteners" and guarantees to potential buyers to go ahead with their purchases. What exactly the taxpayer will gain from this financial involvement remains unclear. The problem with this approach is that there are no guarantees that about what the end game might look like and whether what is left constitutes a viable UK steel industry.

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Outright closure

In the current environment, if suitable sales of all or part of their steel business cannot not be achieved then it seems highly possible that Tata may decide to close down the whole UK business involving redundancy of its employees and sales of fixed assets.

There are examples in the UK (e.g., Ebbw Vale) where after many years of contraction, steel making ceased entirely and in Ebbw Vales, the plant was eventually demolished and the site used to create a modern learning campus. Clearly, such events involving huge redundancies are disruptive and cause great pain in the communities involved.

With this option, we would be facing a situation where the whole of the Tata steel operation is discontinued with significant and widespread implications for many

Where do we go from here?

In the light of the above analysis, the question is where do we go from here and as the White Rabbit said to Alice it depends where you want to get to. I suggest that where we want to get to is a long-term viable steel industry in the UK with minimisation of job losses and social disruption. No doubt, the Economist will take a different view from this.

In considering the above issues, I suggest there are three critically important points to keep in mind:

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The UK's manufacturing heritage and future - the UK has a long and proud heritage in iron and steel production, which goes back centuries. However, it should also have strong future as well. Writing about the unbalanced UK economy (http://www.publicfinance.co.uk/2010/04/double-trouble). I emphasised the pressing need to focus on the role of manufacturing industry in the UK and to engender a resurgence in the sector. This point was emphasised for many years by, among others, Sir John Rose, the chief executive of Rolls Royce (one of the few remaining UK examples of world-class manufacturing industry). However, this view usually seems to fall on deaf years because of the obsession by London-centric governments (of all parties) on London and its financial services sector. The steel industry in the UK should be important in its own right as a producer of high quality steel for many countries and as the source of steel for UK manufacturing industry.

The strategic importance of steel - in the last few days I have read many commentators including the Economist, The Financial Times etc argue that steel is not a strategic industry for the UK. They believe that we can always get what sort of steel we need from somewhere in this world whenever we want it. I would dispute this. Firstly, as I have argued above, a strong UK manufacturing industry needs a strong UK steel industry not relying totally on the continuity of global supply chains in unstable parts of the world. This seems to be especially important in the case in relation to the production of military hardware where I really do not like the idea of national defence having to rely on the delivery of steel from an unstable region the other side of the globe. Related to this is that many commentators such as the Economist seem to have disarming naivety and over-optimism about the state of the world. Those of us who have lived in the Middle East were extremely doubtful that the "Arab Spring" would result in any form of democracy in the Middle East and the experiences of Syria, Egypt, and Libya etc show that we were right. However, until very recently, the Economist was still talking about the possibility of something positive coming out of the Arab Spring. I was a child of the 1960s and remember the cold war and the Cuban missile crisis. The world I see today is far more dangerous and unstable than in the cold-war period with the potential for conflict all around us in many different forms. Hence, I would strongly argue that we need a strategically viable steel industry in the UK rather than put ourselves at the mercy of globalisation in a turbulent world.

Economic and social impacts - as already noted the closure of any steel plant has major social and economic impacts. The situation with the potential closure of several steel plants and even the complete closure of the Tata steel operation in the UK is of even greater significance. Not only will jobs be lost in the steel industry but further jobs will also be lost further up the supply chain and in local businesses who rely on steel workers' wages to keep afloat. The normal way of assessing this is by the conduct of an Economic Impact Appraisal (EIA) and while such studies may have been conducted on the closure of individual steel plants, I am not aware of any study, which looks at the impacts of closure of the entire Tata steel business. I commented to someone that if such a study were undertaken, we should probably ensue we need a box of Valium at hand before we looked the results, which will be frightening. Such a study is needed before Government makes any decisions.

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When I consider the three factors discussed above, I draw three conclusions.

The UK needs to foster a stronger advanced manufacturing base and this will require high quality steel

The UK needs a viable domestic steel industry in a dangerous and unstable world.

The social and economic costs of closing Tata's UK steel operation are not yet quantified but will probably be horrendous.

In the light of this, it seems to me that some form of nationalisation or state ownership of the UK steel industry must take place. Now before the right wing of the Tory party start crowing about "lame ducks", it must be emphasised that I am not talking about old style Labour ideology of nationalisation to conquer the commanding heights of the economy. My suggested nationalisation is a pragmatic and non-ideological response to the situation I see evolving before me. In a paper entitled "Could state capitalism save the day" (http://www.publicfinanceinternational.org/opinion/2012/03/could-state-capitalism-save-day) I argued that the UK should learn from successful economies across the world, such as China, India, Malaysia and Brazil, where government involvement in business is accepted and has helped provide stability and boost business. Yes there will be risks and a cost to the public purse but there will be a certain costs involved in in providing sweeteners to private companies who might by Tata piecemeal and of paying benefits to redundant steel workers and their families which could also run into hundreds of millions of pounds per annum. And for those, in Treasury, who might suggest that they would find other jobs, I would say leave your Whitehall offices and visit Port Talbot.

So there we have it. In late 2015, I wrote a piece entitled "Ideological purity or people's lives" (http://www.malcolmprowle.com/search?updated-min=2015-01-01T00:00:00Z&updated-max=2016-01-01T00:00:00Z&max-results=4). This questioned whether this Government puts ideological purity (i.e. against state ownership) above the needs of the economy and people's lives and welfare. My final shot was whether this government is the party of One Nation Tories or Ideological Fanatics. Their response to this crisis will answer that question.
All this week (12-14 April) publishers and agents will rub shoulders and egos at the London Book Fair. This annual PR stunt will probably only make the headlines if some teenage wunderkind gets a six-figure advance for some nonsense, possibly involving a zebra with Munchausen's who decides to get a job. Except of course he or she (almost certainly a she - publishers do like good-looking chicks) won't receive anything like six figures - and after vanishing without trace will be replaced by the big thing, possibly in a Burka.

If you're interested in British fiction set in the here and now, contemporary publishing has never seemed less relevant. Every new book seems to be set overseas, or in the past, or concerns a "rewilding" (so many bloody rewildings...) Where are the angry novels describing our angry, surreal streets? The world of take-away pizza, failed MOTs, tax deadlines, beggars, 99p shops, and above all this slowly-building antagonism towards people of other cultures?

It's almost as if writers are afraid to describe the realities of modern Britain: except that isn't the case. Writers aren't afraid of anything. We bare our souls, lay ourselves out for you to spit and piss on. All we get in return is contempt, scorn, angry Tweets and an annual salary way below the living wage.

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So where does the blame lie? In the complacent self-sustaining world of publishing, where agents and publishers alike employ young, middle class interns to weed out the chaff and find the next big thing. Except of course most of these readers, being young and middle class, haven't actually got a clue about good writing OR the real world, and so instead of suggesting someone take a look at a book whose protagonist, for instance, may not share their liberal values, get all excited about yet another rewilding. It's hilarious, in a way, that those who run publishers and agents actually believe these kids know more about writing than writers.

Six years ago, I wrote an article in which I asked why there were no British state of nation novels; why the top prizes were dominated by books set in the past, or future, or overseas.

Today, as Isis rampage across our continent, and refugees drown on holiday beaches, where are the books that describe the viewpoint of the average Brit? Who cries when they see images from Syria but rage when they see homegrown Muslims slagging off our country? Who hates racism but finds the furore over dreadlocks utterly pathetic? Where are the writers who aren't easily summarised as "left wing" "right wing" or "liberal" - whose politics are complex, perhaps paradoxical? Is there an author in Britain who doesn't read The Guardian? Is there a publisher in Britain who knows that bloated expat Irvine Welsh now knows about as much about life in modern Britain - about parenting, and politics, and working every day in a job you despise - as the Mitford Sisters?

I'm sick of it - sick of the self-congratulatory wankfest that is publishing, where all that matters is what's for dessert and where you'll all holiday this year. None of these people care, REALLY care about books, about ordinary people who holiday in caravans and eat microwave dinners.

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I'm sick of a business where JK Rowling's chair makes more money than a hundred talented authors in a year. Where the cynical creeps behind Alfie Deyes and all the other talentless posh kids can slap a sticker on a book and charge gullible preteens an extra four quid. Where McEwan, Barnes and bloody Martin Amis STILL have every word they write revered and reviewed though they haven't written an angry, original sentence in twenty years. Where publishers will only look at submissions via an agent, and agents say on their websites, as if proud, "we are not currently looking for new writers" - yet anyone who decides to self-publish is ridiculed, ignored, pitied.
The recent leak of the Panama Papers, which shook the world, also raises the political temperature in Indonesia. Included on the list are a number of Indonesian business tycoons who have been involved in different legal cases in Indonesia.

Among the 2,961 Indonesian businessmen featured in the document, the most highlighted is an oil tycoon, Riza Chalid. Once one of the most important individuals in Global Resource Energy, he had long been a target of criticism by the Indonesian public; in particular, following a transcript of his phone conversation with the Head of the People's Representative Council and the President Director of Freeport Indonesia being leaked to public. The recording reveals astonishing facts related to his involvement in influencing the renewal process of PT Freeport, one of the world's largest gold mines, located in Papua. Moreover, during this time, Chalid was a businessman with strong links to the authorities. Over the years, he managed to control Petral, a subsidiary of Indonesia's oil company in Singapore and reported to have cost the state a vast amount of resources related to crude procurement.

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Another Indonesian tycoon listed in the Panama Papers is Joko Candra. He fled the country one day prior to being found guilty by the Indonesian Supreme Court in the Bank Bali case, worth 904 billion Indonesian Rupiah.

Also included is Sukanto Tanoto; the owner of palm oil firm, Asian Agri. This company has a long history of tax avoidance in Indonesia. Evidence shows that Asian Agri engaged routinely and systematically in tax avoidance practices with transfer pricing methods. Among those methods is the establishment of a fictitious company in Hong Kong Macau and BVI.

Another shocking name on the list is that of James Riady; the owner of one of the country's largest conglomerates. Moreover, he currently serves as the vice chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. While never revealed publicly, Riady is one of the benefactors of President Jokowi in Indonesia's presidential election two years ago. Firms owned by Riady have also been suspected of being involved in falsifying the financial statements of Bank Lippo, which caused the crisis of foreign trusts. Additionally, Billy Sindoro, one of the subsidiaries of Lippo Group, has been proven to have bribed the Chairman of the Business Competition Supervisory Commission, known in Indonesia as Komisi Pengawas Persaingan Usaha (KPPU), in 2008.

Of equal importance is Anthony Salim, who was allegedly involved in the case of the fund liquidation of Bank Indonesia in 1998.

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The final individual discussed in relation to the Panama Papers is Solihin Kalla, the son of Indonesia's current Vice President, Jusuf Kalla. Last year, this man was subject to intense criticism from the public after being selected by Indonesia's state oil company, Pertamina, for the project of managing LNG in Bojonegoro.

The list of Indonesian individuals in the Panama Papers has triggered intense public criticism against the government in Jakarta. The Vice Chairman of the House of Representatives, Agus Hermanto, demanded the government instigate immediate investigations into these individuals. This pledge makes sense as some of these individuals had indeed been involved in a number of legal cases in Indonesia, particularly those pertaining to tax avoidance.

In 2010, the Data Justice Network revealed that Indonesia is one of the 10 largest countries with financial assets in tax haven countries. Indonesia became the only country in Southeast Asia with total assets of around US$331 billion. More importantly, the flow of illegal Indonesian funds into those tax havens countries was estimated at US$188 billion.

In 2014, the ratio of tax revenue to GDP in Indonesia stood at only 10.8 per cent, which is among the lowest in the world and far below Malaysia and Thailand, with 17 and 15.5 per cent respectively. What is worse is the fact that of 50 million wealthy individuals in Indonesia, only 23 to 24 million pay taxes regularly. This has resulted in severe economic inequality in Indonesia.

Currently, the rate of Indonesia's economic inequality is among the fastest in the world, exceeding even the pace of economic inequality in the US. Last year, it was reported that the economic inequality in Indonesia reached 0.42 per cent, the highest level since 1966. Simultaneously, the wealth of Indonesian tycoons increased many folds. The International Credit Cruise estimates that the number of wealthy Indonesians will increase rapidly, reaching 54% by 2020. The leak of the Panama Papers strengthens further the notion that one of the reasons behind the increase in the amount of wealth of the rich is their tax avoidance practices.

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The Indonesian government, through the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan, declared that Jakarta will soon conduct investigations into the names listed in the Panama Papers.

Furthermore, in order to attract the assets of its wealthy populations, the Indonesian government has made plans to implement a tax amnesty policy. Ideally, this policy will attract assets of Indonesian businessmen that have been stored overseas.

Nonetheless, the Panama Papers should serve as a warning to Indonesia; whereby the main reason wealthy individuals save their assets abroad is not for efficiency, but rather for reasons of privacy and an attempt to hide assets to avoid greater tax assets.

It is also important to note that the individuals listed in the Panama Papers are proven to have strong links to the ruling government. This will certainly complicate the process of investigations into the alleged cases. Therefore, it makes sense if the public is pessimistic and questions the government's ability to collect taxes from these conglomerates.
Recently, a massive demonstration took place in Jakarta, organised by a group of taxi and three-wheeler drivers. As reported by several media outlets, the protest was triggered by drivers who feel that their income is being eroded by the increase of online-based transportation services, such as Uber, Grabcar, GrabBike, and Go-Jek.

While this opinion is not wrong, one aspect is largely ignored by many engaged in the demonstration; the widening gap between the rich and the poor in Indonesia. For this reason, it makes sense to predict that Occupy Jakarta (inspired by the Occupy Wall Street staged in New York in 2011) will reoccur with greater scale and influence.

As reported by CNN in October 2011, Occupy Jakarta once happened even though only about 200 people attended. This number is insignificant in relation to the country's total population, which is more than 250 million people.

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Nonetheless, by considering the social, economic, and political conditions of Indonesia today, there are several strong indicators of why Occupy Jakarta will take place again.

First, income inequality is increasingly prevalent in the country. Indonesia has always been perceived by local and international observers as enjoying positive economic growth in the worldwide context. The archipelago is also discussed in mainstream media as a country where the middle-class population has increased significantly. Nonetheless, behind these success stories are stories of grief. The impressive performance of the Indonesian economy over the last 15 years has actually paid little attention to the poor, as claimed by the World Bank Country Director for Indonesia, Rodrigo A. Chaves. Consequently, the poor increasingly lose out while the rich become richer.

It is difficult to ignore Chaves' statement, especially if we refer to the data provided by the World Bank and Indonesia's Ministry of Finance. The World Bank reported that the growth of the Indonesian economy is enjoyed only by 20% of its wealthy population. Moreover, it is also reported that within the period of 2003 to 2010, there was a noticeable difference in the percentage of the increase of Indonesia's consumption. 10% of the richest increased its consumption by as much as 6% per year, while 40% of the poorest experienced only a 2% increase each year. The World Bank also noted that only 10% of the population controls 77% of Indonesia's total wealth and financial assets. If pursued, this means that 1% of the country's wealthy population controls more than half of Indonesia's assets.

Secondly, many companies in Indonesia play a role as the production engine of Rupiah. As is widely known, many large companies pour massive amounts of money into the support of legislative and executive candidates. What is interesting is that the flow of funds from companies is sanctioned by the Election Commission, albeit with certain restrictions (500 million Rupiah). The relationship between political candidates and large companies is undeniably mutual. One side needs an injection of funds for their campaigns while the other requires favourable government policies.

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The last Presidential election is a prime example. One of the candidates, Prabowo Subianto, received a contribution worth 4.8 billion Rupiah from PT Arsari Mineral. This number certainly exceeded the minimum amount set by the Commission. Another example is the admission made by the incumbent governor of Jakarta, Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama, that he received campaign contributions from a number of companies, amounting to a total of 4.5 billion Rupiah. There are numerous similar cases which would be impossible to be recount given their number and the vast area of Indonesia. However, it should be underlined that not all donations flowing to the political candidates are recorded transparently. For example, the Indonesian Corruption Watch reports that only 17 out of 11,775 companies declared themselves as contributors to the campaign funds of President Joko Widodo. If a Presidential election that is large in scale does not have transparency in its funding, it makes sense to argue that many companies pour funds into political campaigns at a local level.

This phenomenon is the main reason why government policies always stand alongside large companies. Land conflicts that occur between local communities and companies in various part of Indonesia could be cited as an example. In North Sumatra, for instance, there was a dispute between the local community and a gold mining company, PT Sorik Mas Maining. The bloody clash successfully depicted the protestors as the culprits. A similar occurrence took place in Riau province, where the law governing customary land (communal land) sided with the companies. Even the land dispute in Jambi between Dusun Tiga Suku Anak Dalam (SAD 113) and PT Asiatic Persada resulted in the creation of the motto; "Today we occupy the plantation - Tomorrow Jakarta!" As with many other disputes, the people living around the firm, including the Suku Anak Dalam, are positioned as troublemakers. When the clashes occurred, some individuals were injured and 80 houses were set alight by the security forces. Regulations favouring companies are also included in the legislations regulating investments in Indonesia, which mainly benefit foreign companies.

The recent riot in Jakarta should be a reminder of how wide the gap is between the rich and the poor in Indonesia. Wealth continues to be distributed among 1% of the population, while the rest must be satisfied with little. Companies proved to be very powerful in front of the people as they are backed up by the government. These two phenomena are like fire in the husk. Burning but not apparent. But once it appears, it will be there with a far more powerful scale than before.

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The scrutiny of David Cameron's tax affairs following the release of the "Panama Papers" has given rise to a debate about inheritance tax. It should be remembered that this is a tax that does not raise significant revenue and hits middle-class savers hardest. If someone has been prudent and saved over their lifetime and paid their taxes in full, why should a big chunk of their capital go to the Exchequer when they die?

Gifts or legacies - how else can our children own their homes?

Much has been written over the last couple of years about the fact that the younger generation is facing a bleak financial future. Our children will not have generous defined-benefit pension schemes; they are unlikely to see the sort of windfall gains that my generation got on their homes and, indeed, they aren't going to be able to afford to buy a home until they are in their mid-30s at the earliest. Given the environment that they find themselves in, inheriting money or receiving lifetime gifts from their parents has become the only means by which many can even contemplate become homeowners.

The Panama Papers tax debate has infuriated me

In this context, there seems to be a strong argument for putting the threshold at which inheritance tax is paid up to an even higher level. In addition, relaxing the rules around gifts seems like a good idea too. At the moment, if you give money to your children, no inheritance tax is paid if you live for more than seven years and reduced amounts are paid if you die earlier than that. In order to help younger people to purchase their own properties, there seems a good argument for making gifts to immediate relatives free of tax after a period of say three years. In many European countries, the norm is to rent rather than buy, but Britain is a nation of homeowners - an Englishman's home is his castle and all that. The only way that many younger people will be able to buy a home before they start a family will be with help from their parents.

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One other aspect of the tax debate sparked by the Panama papers was the use of offshore funds. Having been a fund manager for nearly 33 years, this has made me furious. Many investment funds are in locations like Dublin these days. Investment firms create umbrella structures, which allow investors to move their money between different funds without incurring capital gains tax. They only pay tax when the come out of the structure. Thus, if you like European stocks today, but in six months, you decide you prefer the US, then you can switch and, if you have made a gain on the investment in the European fund, you will not pay tax. This allows for the efficient management of capital and takes tax out of the decision-making process.

It's nonsense to suggest that investors in the offshore fund were attempting to avoid tax

There is also the issue of withholding tax, which, if applied to pooled vehicles of assets, puts investors in a worse position than if they had held the investments directly. In my view, it is desirable to encourage investors to place money in professionally managed funds as it is difficult for individuals to keep up with events in stock markets and react quickly to poor company results or big economic shocks without professional help. Unit trusts allow those who cannot afford to have a segregated portfolio managed by a professional fund manager to benefit from those skills. They should not be in a worse tax position as a result of being in a pooled vehicle. There is often a need for pooled funds and unit trusts to be domiciled offshore in order to create a neutral tax position. This was the case with the fund managed by David Cameron's father and it is absolute nonsense to suggest that there was any attempt by him or anyone investing in the fund, including his son, to avoid tax.

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"We're the most important nation on the earth right now, because, one: we have thermonuclear weapons, and two: because we have more talented poets than have ever existed on the face of the earth." - Norman Dubie, Poets and Writers, November/December 2004

The American cultural zeitgeist, as it is presented in the media to us Brits, is currently embodied by an angry blonde-wigged chap named Drumpf whose Presidential Campaign seems to consist of insisting to his fellow patriots that he will get his country winning again. Donald must have been more than a little pleased then, when he learned that this year's National Poetry Competition had its gold and bronze positions dominated by two of his fellow Americans.

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The two poems in question are 'Night Errand' by Eric Berlin and 'Biracial' by Carolyn Oxley. Both are seemingly emblematic of what English readers often assume American poetry to be. In Berlin's case, this is an America evoked within the pop-culture ephemera of Jurassic Park and shopping malls; in Oxley's case, this is the America evoked from fraught race relations and a biracial girl's cultural identity within that context. Yet these poems are hardly out of place in a British-hosted poetry competition - both Berlin's and Oxley's resonate poignantly to an English ear.

Oxley's poem, a meditation on her daughter's mixed heritage, hinges on two sentiments iterated in the second and fourth stanzas; 'You were not born to be / nation or diaspora', and then 'Your homeland is wherever / you stand.' Amidst this personal address from mother to daughter, is the cultural backdrop of 'an African river', 'the fence lines / at Gettysburg' and 'the sounds at breakfast'. The complication of the poem's cultural symbolism becomes a negation of any clear-cut claim that an ancestry may have on the addressee; it is a poem which speaks to post-colonial themes, but is just as much a poem about parenthood, about feminism and about the right of any individual to define their own narrative.

Parenthood is also at the centre of the competition's winning poem by Eric Berlin, though this is not revealed until the devastating final line. The poem begins, deceptively, in a voice which echoes the urban exuberance of Frank O'Hara:

"O, Great Northern Mall, you dwindling oracle / of upstate New York,"

It is, perhaps, one of my favourite of poetic tropes to voice the unsayable with an 'O', and to spend the rest of a poem finding the closest verbal approximation to what that upper-case vowel was attempting to convey. It's a convention that served Shakespeare, Blake and Hardy at their best and it provides an excellent jumping-off point for Berlin to trace a line of association from a "defunct" upstate shopping mall, peopled by dead flies and 'a muted wall of TVs', through to the despair of a remorseful father who 'screamed at the woman I love, and in front / of our one-year-old, who covered his ear'.

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The most haunting phrase of the poem however, comes just before the confession - 'I did it again' - which sets up this threadbare mall as the speaker's routine place of absolution. The defunct shopping mall is an image which online-shopping has made all too familiar to us all -the gutted remains of a once-busy mall are a visual motif which certainly lands on both sides of the Atlantic.

In Berlin's hands however, this location becomes the church of the speaker's shortcomings - the wall of television screens are his stained glass windows, the 'pimpled kid manning the register' becomes his altar boy, napkins 'packed too tight to be dispensed' form a tabernacle and the act of 'seeking assistance' becomes a pilgrimage. 'Night Errands' is a brilliant poem about a decrepit, broken location which has been sought out by a person to reflect their feelings of broken decrepitude.

Speaking to the Poetry Society about his poem, Berlin cites a childhood memory as an illustration of his creative technique:

"Once as a kid, I guessed the right number of jellybeans in a giant jar at the fair - and that soft click of my intuition aligning with the actual gave me faith in what I didn't know I knew."

It is as good a description of channelling the muse in modern terms as I can recall, and it is an anecdote which perfectly embodies that rare hunch that a writer may get which tells them that a wheelbarrow, or an advert for baby shoes or the ebbing remains of a mall, may just have a greater significance than we realise.

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While the Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and his team rush to corporate lunches, leaving morals at the door, there is still one minister bravely championing human rights in British foreign policy.

As a damaging public narrative builds about the UK's promotion of trade at any cost, this should be a moment for Baroness Anelay to bask in sunshine, so it is unfortunate that a parliamentary committee has delivered a lukewarm assessment of the work she leads to prevent sexual violence in conflict.

For anyone troubled by the relegation of human rights to the darkest corners of the Foreign Office, this initiative is a beacon of hope. Launched by William Hague, Hammond's predecessor, back in the days when human rights were still considered part of the "irreducible core" of foreign policy, it was the flagship for a new style of British "campaigns" diplomacy, combining political peer pressure at global summits with daring technical missions in conflict hotspots, digital innovations including a "hackathon", and the stardust of Angelina Jolie Pitt.

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Unquestionably, this dynamic approach propelled the issue of sexual violence in conflict up the international agenda. Even states with atrocious records such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sri Lanka, whose survivors we treat in the hundreds at Freedom from Torture, were incentivised to endorse a declaration pledging action to prevent sexual violence, punish perpetrators and provide support to survivors.

But this flashy approach was always divisive within the stuffy Foreign Office and it is unsurprising that a House of Lords committee set up to assess the impact of this initiative has hinted at a loss of momentum and star power wattage since Hague handed over the reins.

Hammond's lack of interest in human rights is notorious and, inevitably, his lack of leadership has diminished the status of the UK's work on sexual violence. The mantle has instead passed to his junior minister Baroness Anelay as the Prime Minister's special representative on these issues. She is highly capable, empathetic and steadfastly concentrated on turning political rhetoric into reality. She deserves credit for overseeing implementation of a protocol for first responders on how to gather evidence and supporting grassroots organisations working in affected countries.

The Survivors Speak OUT network, a survivor-led activist network supported by Freedom from Torture, has shared public platforms created via this initiative from the start, but with a stronger focus on survivor empowerment under Baroness Anelay they are now at the top table advising on policy and implementation.

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We agree with the committee that the initiative would benefit from a clearer long term strategy, but its real Achilles' heel has always been the UK government's double standard on the all important question of 'proving' sexual violence.

While the Foreign Office rightly reminds the world that survivor testimony alone can be sufficient evidence of a crime of sexual violence, the Home Office often dismisses this testimony out of hand despite a much lower standard of proof that applies to asylum claims.

Hardly a week goes by without a client of Freedom from Torture being wrongly refused asylum because their disclosure of sexual or other torture is disbelieved, even if they supplied independent medical evidence. This is devastating for survivors, who face a mortal fear of being sent back to their abusers, and bad for British tax payers who pay for poor decisions to be corrected via appeals.

Despite hard work by the Foreign Office to challenge distrust by other countries of survivor accounts of sexual violence, the level of evidence a survivor must present to 'prove' this abuse in the UK's asylum system is rising exponentially. In the 1990s, our expert forensic reports were five pages but now they run to 20 pages or more as our doctors are pushed to provide ever more exhaustive analysis of why physical and psychological injuries are likely to have been caused by sexual and other forms of torture.

Still our forensic reports are rejected on the most spurious grounds, often because asylum caseworkers, including gap year students these days, prefer their own unqualified opinions on strictly medical matters. This is especially lamentable because the Home Office has an excellent policy to prevent these mistakes but an accompanying training package, developed with help from Freedom from Torture and the Helen Bamber Foundation, has been left on a shelf to gather dust.

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Values-based diplomacy can deliver impact, as the Foreign Office's work to prevent sexual violence in conflict demonstrates. But this is a young initiative and it needs political support and resources to grow. In the face of growing perceptions that his government has downgraded human rights, the Prime Minister should step in to reinforce this trailblazing project by tackling hypocrisy in the way survivors of sexual violence are treated in the UK asylum system and ensuring that his special representative Baroness Anelay is not left alone to fly the flag for human rights on the world stage.
I am a secular Indian Kashmiri. Being secular is not particularly fashionable in India nowadays. In fact, secular is scorned as 'sickular', almost with a similar loathing people used to have for lepers and leprosy till the last century.

Take a look at the discourse in Indian social media and you would know what I am referring to. Secularism has become so bad that even those who are secular in their daily lives do not like to assign the word 'secular' to their practice. We, the people of the Indian republic, are afraid of being called secular. The idea of secularism that the founding fathers Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, and Ambedkar fought for, is something we have slowly come to purge from our public discourse. In modern India, secular is the new slur; the secular is the new outcast.

How, as a society, we have come to this point is a story that began at the founding of the Republic in 1950 itself. In a parliamentary democracy, electoral numbers determine public policy and overall, moral standards of politics. A multi-lingual, multi-religious, and multi-cultural country like India threw up enormous challenges for its policy makers. The orthodox conservatives of all religions, who though were not the majority, held sway over electoral politics. They opposed legislation that tried to secularize the country and till this day, they continue to challenge the secularization process.

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From the Left wing to the Right wing (of both Hindus and Muslims, the two largest religious denominations in India), all political parties played identity politics and pandered to their respective conservative constituencies in India. While the Centre-Left played to the conservative Muslim galleries, the Right wing stoked passions of the orthodox Hindus.

The result of such regressive politics is that Narendra Modi, who happened to preside over Gujarat communal riots, brought his BJP to power with a full majority for the first time in Indian history in 2014. It gave such a huge sense of triumph to the Hindu hardliners that he became the Prime Minister of the country. In the last two years of the BJP's rule, the lowest common denominator among the Hindu religious conservatives has demonstrated that he feels empowered to lynch minority members to death and harass any critic of the ruling party, unrestrainedly.

In such a political environment, I feel that it is important for those who are opposed to this old style of regressive and communal politics to speak up. It is crucial that we bring in a new lexicon and news ways of democratic engagement instead of letting the current hysteria impair ideals like secularism.

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So today, I want to reaffirm and own my secularism.

Yes, I am secular. Unreservedly. Unapologetically. Unashamedly.

My secularism is not determined by how a Hindu or a Muslim or a Sikh treats me. It is not influenced by how you treat me. Secularism, for me, is a perpetual inner state of mind and spirit that remains unaffected by external circumstances. It is a deep sense of equality and justice for all, which does not change due to the attitudes of anyone including those who do not stand up for my right to equality and justice.

Secularism, therefore, can neither be Ram Rajya nor Sharia. It is actually the opposite; it is equality in the eyes of the man-made law. So if your secularism is driven by the politics of the Indian Right, the Left, and the Center, which is essentially the politics of lower standards, you are not secular. If your secularism is governed by the politics of the other and by how others behave with you, you are not secular. For me, secularism is not something that dissipates in un-secular times, it is not something that falls apart in un-secular places. Whether you stand by me or not is irrelevant to my secular self.

The history of my secularism is not new; I was born secular. While growing up I developed into an atheist and yet the deeper understanding of secular values was shaped by the progressive culture of my Kashmiri Pandit family and the community that nurtured the centuries-old tradition of free inquiry, critical thinking, and deep meditation initiated by Buddhist monks, Shaiva philosophers, and Muslim Sufis in Kashmir. The tradition of inclusiveness and pluralism that Abhinavgupta, Lal Ded, Nund Reshi, Zain-ul-Abidin, and Abdul Ahad Azad scripted and practiced may have been extirpated from a large section of Kashmiri society 26 years ago. But my grandparents and parents inherited the DNA of pluralism, nourished it, saved it, and passed it on to me, most of the times without any conscious effort.

Secularism, for them, was not something that one wears on one's sleeve when there is communal harmony and conveniently removed in a communal attack. Neither my family nor the Pandit (Hindu) community compromised over this principle even during the extreme communal circumstances in Kashmir.

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In 1990, when Pakistan-sponsored, armed Islamo-fascists and Kashmiri Muslim separatists violently targeted religious minorities and those who disagreed with their separatist agenda in the Muslim-majority valley of Kashmir, no one in my family or the community retaliated. They did not even pick up a communal stone despite provocations. The entire Kashmiri Pandit community, an ethnic minority of over 300,000 people, was driven out of Kashmir and yet they did not give up on secularism. We became refugees in our own country and struggled through over a decade of destitution. Still no one spoke of revengeful communal violence. My secularism survived.

So those who hurl innuendos and invectives on secularism do not bother me.

As the fourteenth century Kashmiri mystic Lal Ded said,

They may abuse me or jeer at me,

They may say what pleases them,

They may with flowers worship me.

What profits them whatever they do?

I am indifferent to praise and blame.
Co-authored by Pastor Carlos Ortiz, president/founder of Hispanics Allied for Israel

For the first time in 1,600 years, there are no Christians left in Mosul. This once-thriving Christian community in Iraq has been completely decimated by radical Islamists - like so many others across the Middle East - with thousands fleeing their families' ancient homes when faced with death or brutal persecution at the hands of ISIS.

The emergence of ISIS has been a particularly grave turn of events for Christians. Just last month, Secretary of State John Kerry and the House of Representatives said that ISIS is committing genocide against Christians, after receiving evidence that the terrorist group has systematically slaughtered Christians "solely for their faith." However, this represents just another sad chapter in a story of many decades of persecution, violence, and exile, which has left the population of Christians in the Middle East a small fraction of its former size, including in the Palestinian territories where the numbers of Christians are dwindling rapidly.

Israel is the only country in the Middle East where the Christian community is thriving and growing. It is the one place in the region where Christians can practice their religion freely and openly.

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Why do Christians find a welcoming home in Israel? First and foremost, Israel is the one place in the Middle East where democracy is enshrined, where human rights are respected, and where all minorities are protected, including Christians, Druze, Baha'is, and Samaritans. Yet, beyond this, Jews and Christians share a common history, heritage, and set of values.

Indeed, Judeo-Christian principles form the basis for all of Western Civilization - and define the way that we live in America. Today these values are under assault, not only in the Middle East, but also in Europe and America.

The same hateful ideology that causes radical Islamists to massacre Christians in Iraq, to bar Christians from citizenship in Saudi Arabia, to burn Coptic churches Egypt and Christian churches in Syria, comes from a tradition that is now driving the demonization of the world's one and only Jewish State.

The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction Movement (BDS) purports to levy economic and political pressure against Israel in order to seek alleged justice for the Palestinian people. In reality, BDS is a global crusade seeded in anti-Semitic and anti-Western hatred that not only blindly attacks Israel, but also attacks our country's commitment to our core liberal values of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of the press.

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One of the most insidious features of the BDS movement is its smokescreen as a progressive, social justice movement. For that very reason, it has had great success steadily advancing its poisonous rhetoric of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic hate across our college campuses, labor unions, corporations, and academic institutions, and even our churches. But we must not be fooled: BDS was born from a radical Islamic ideology in the Middle East that not only hates Judaism, but also Christianity and America. In the same breath, those behind this wave of hate frequently chant Death to Israel and Death to America. For them, Israel is the small Satan. America is the great Satan.

The top-listed signatory on the foundational document for today's BDS Movement - a declaration issued in 2005 - is the Council of National and Islamic Forces in Palestine, which includes representatives of terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Fatah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Many of the leaders of the BDS movement are linked to international terrorist groups that oppress Christians in the Middle East. Hatem Bazian - one of the chief architects of BDS and the founder of "Students for Justice in Palestine," the largest on-campus BDS organization - has been connected to a range of groups shut down by the Justice Department for raising money on behalf of the Hamas terrorist organization and other radical Islamist groups. Bazian has called for a violent uprising, in his words "an Intifada," not only in Israel but also in the United States, and vocalized support for attacks on American troops in Iraq.

Like Bazian, Purdue University professor Bill Mullen, one of the BDS leaders who lobbied the American Studies Association to adopt a boycott of Israel, also advocates for attacking American 'imperialism,' saying, "We can build a still-stronger BDS movement beginning in the name of Palestinian freedom and ending in a permanent blow against American empire."

Bazian and others not only seek to destroy the Jewish State, but also the Judeo-Christian principles on which it is founded. We have a responsibility to stand up and speak out against this wave of hate, whether it erupts in the Middle East or in the middle of America. Christians and Jews must unite to battle against BDS for the sake of our values, our future, and our very way of life.
It's true, Jovita Valdovinos, my distant great aunt, was a bonafide revolutionary that dressed like a man and took up arms to fight for religious freedom during Mexico's Cristero War (1925-35) and whom historians and journalists alike have dubbed the Mexican "Joan of Arc."

The ballet interpretation of my story, By the Light of the Moon / Por la Luz de la Luna, that features Jovita as one of the main characters, is set to hit the stage at the Sebastiani Theater in Sonoma this weekend. Setting a spotlight on Jovita's heroic life is ever important at this anti-Mexican and anti-immigrant moment in the US. It is critical also to note that this will be one of the first Mexican-themed ballets in ballet history. US Latinas who dance ballet will now have the opportunity to play Latina characters because of this production.

Jovita, was born in 1911 in the rancho of Palos Blancos, near the town of Jalpa, Zacatecas, Mexico where my family and I were born. Most of what I know of Jovita comes from her self-published memoir, Una Historia Viviente (1990), as well as from the vivid memories my mother has of her Tia Jovita. My aunt wished to write her own account of her life because she disapproved of a novel about her life, La Sangre Llego Hasta el Rio, by Luis Sandoval Godoy.

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She spent her childhood in the countryside, learning to ride horses, throw rocks and shoot guns - all traits uncommon of women in the early part of the century in Mexico. She was known to fold her long skirts back and create makeshift pants so that she could run as fast as her brothers, Ramon and Luciano.

The Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920 had come and gone and in its wake established a government that outlawed religion. They closed churches, killed priests and practitioners of any religion, including those practiced by Indigenous communities. However, after 400 years of dominant Catholic reign in Mexico, taking Catholicism from the masses, proved to be a more difficult endeavor than anticipated. Many of the rural poor in the Mexican states of Zacatecas, Jalisco, Durango and Michoacan, rose up in arms and fought for their religious rights.

Jovita's father, Teofilo Valdovinos commanded a scrappy battalion of men most of whom lived in pueblos and rural communities near Jalpa, Zacatecas. They fought the government's well-funded and armed Federation Army. Jovita was swept up in the conflict because of her father's revolutionary actions.

In 1925, their home was burned and they were forced to live in caves. Her brother Luciano was killed and decapitated by the Federation. His head was displayed on a stake in the town square as a deterrent for further protest. She was captured and raped by a General of the Federation and was shot when she tried to escape. She survived and successfully escaped within five days of being shot and stole thousands of pesos from the General in the process. Jovita was only 15 years old.

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When the first wave of the Cristero war waned in 1929, the Federation went after former revolutionaries. In 1930, her brother, Ramon, and father were killed at a ranch when the Federation surrounded them. It was then that she made the decision to take up arms and ignite the second wave of the Cristero revolution.

Jovita Valdovinos changed her name to "Juan" and cut off her long hair. Eighty men followed her without hesitation into battle for justice for the revolutionaries. She wore the typical dress for men - long jean overalls and long-sleeved cotton shirt, a wide brimmed straw hat over her cropped hair. She stepped into the place her father left as if she had been there all along.

She commanded her men in the Sierra de Morones -- a rugged terrain that to her benefit was unknown by the Federation Army. She was a clever strategist and outsmarted the Federation often killing many of their men while her troops came away unscathed. She rode a stallion and was accompanied by her dog, El Africano, for whose paws she had huaraches or sandals made. Jovita used the surrounding community to supply food, weapons and money. She was known to be generous with the lives of those in support of the Federation and spared them if they surrendered weapons and money without a fight. Though sometimes, she did not hesitate to unleash fire on those Federation supporters who fought back and opposed her.



The Federation offered her troop of revolutionaries a truce in 1935. After five years of fighting and when one of her most loyal men was gunned down, she conceded without incident. The Mexican President, Lazaro Cardenas, asked to meet the tiny woman who had given them such a hard time on the battlefield. He pardoned her life for being a woman and gave her a sizeable monetary reward.

In her older age, she went from Mexico to the US where she also set up residence. She would often visit with my grandfather, Jose Maria Viramontes, also a Cristero revolutionary. My mother would sit at their feet and listen to their stories while out in the Sierra. Jovita was in her 90s when she died.

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Jovita was loathed and loved alike for her struggle. A Mexican ballad or corrido was written in her honor. Though she never heard voices from God like Joan of Arc, and was arguably not in it for Catholicism, my great aunt Jovita Valdovinos was a woman who defied her time and her assigned gender role to fight for what she felt was just.




Justin Peck's In Creases. Photo courtesy of Paris Opera Ballet.

It's a daring thing -- to collect a list of names inextricably connected with one sphere and co-opt it for your own purposes. It's cheeky and bold, believing that you can reproduce something intrinsic to a specific culture and region and give it new wings. And it's wildly impressive if you play this game and win, proving that your prowess outweighs the conventions and designs that give a work's home space the leg up.

With its mixed bill of ballets by Alexei Ratmansky, George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and Justin Peck --all of which had their debuts in the United States -- the Paris Opera Ballet plays and wins. It's fairly astounding to watch Duo Concertant, Other Dances, and In Creases outside of an American technique (Seven Sonatas feels less uniquely American thanks to Ratmansky's legacy with the Bolshoi Ballet). It's even more astounding to see them done more justice by the French than by New York City Ballet principals brought up at the School of American Ballet or American Ballet Theatre dancers who devote a good percent of their repertoire to Jerry's old favorites and artist in residence Ratmansky's newest takes.

To be fair, both Balanchine and Ratmansky come from Russian backgrounds, not American. But if you ask nearly anyone in the dance world, he or she would claim that Balanchine was the father of an American ballet style. Meanwhile, Ratmansky is the liaison between tradition and novelty at ABT, one of the U.S.' most acclaimed companies. Of Robbins' and Peck's ties to the states, there is no debate.

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It is rare to see a dance show at Lincoln Center that does not include at least one of these names on the program. But to see them featured in Paris frankly took me by surprise, and then it made me very happy, because I only had to fly across an ocean to recognize the pure genius of our primary American choreographers.

This is because Benjamin Millepied's company imbues them with breath and life sometimes missing on home soil, where they're often overdone and under-curated. While Millepied made headlines this February by announcing his departure from the Paris Opera Ballet to return to Los Angeles with his wife Natalie Portman and concentrate on L.A. Dance Project, his years with the troupe certainly haven't hurt it. He has his ensemble dancing at a ridiculously high level on the global stage, with tremendous artistry as well as crisp, clean technique.

But most impressive is the dancers' musicality. They all have acute ears that can pull out the strains of scores by masters like Igor Stravinsky and Philip Glass, extending the choreography so that it harmonizes with its accompaniment. Balanchine and Robbins were celebrated for their ingenuity when it came to music, and part of why Peck has emerged so prominently over the past few years is his sensitivity to melody. And so to see these ballets, which revolve around a deep relationship to music, performed by dancers who understand the intricacies of the scores is what truly differentiates this program from its parallels across the pond.

While Aurelia Bellet was on point in Seven Sonatas, it was Amandine Albisson in Other Dances who truly stood out. She was, and I don't say this lightly, the best female dancer I have seen in a very long time, perhaps since Nina Ananiashvili gave her farewell performance as Odette/Odile. Her connection with pianist Vessela Pelovska allowed her to maximize each movement, emphasizing certain moments in Frederic Chopin's chords with timeless suspensions in arabesques or jaunty mazurkas that felt light, as a mazurka should be, instead of the typical heaviness when character is infused into ballet. Albisson is a star, not only because she has been designated an etoile by the Paris Opera Ballet, but also because she exudes the demand to be watched and turns choreography into the best version of itself.

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Myrian Ould Braham and Karl Paquette's Duo Concertant was also very well done, precisely because it is another piece that relies heavily on a mutualism between dance and music. Both etoiles showed respect and deference to the musicians, leaving egotism elsewhere. The performance was about the work. The dancers were not bored standing behind the piano and listening as a violin sang, and it seemed natural and willful when they accompanied the music with movement. And so they transformed into Balanchine's boys and girls from the choreographer's golden age. They looked incredibly youthful -- indeed, everything looked incredibly youthful that night. Not because of naivete or immaturity, but because the dancers still seemed energized, not yet tired of the project they had been assigned.

And now, for an apology. I have never been a huge fan of Peck. His choreography, to me, has often felt contrived and derivative of Balanchine's, like a carbon copy of something that came well before his time. But, Mr. Peck, I must now say sorry for every negative word I've written about you, as it turns out your hype is justified. On the Paris Opera Ballet, In Creases adopted a totally new dimension, feeling very much of the 21st century and very, very progressive. Peck has an extraordinary talent for male choreography especially, which was dynamic like a Kandinsky painting in that it physicalized music. It gave music an image, like a universal version of synesthesia. Thus, it only took a corps that could reveal the complexities of Peck's relation to the score to bring out and showcase his brilliance, which I now recognize.
Donald Trump Meets the Wizard of Oz

When Dorothy meets the Wizard of Oz, there is a revelation.

The Wizard, it turns out, is from Kansas (actually New Britain, Connecticut). He even helped secure the nomination for Bob Dole in 1996. Dole was an awful nominee, but it's not about excellence, or even winning. It's about process, the chase, the ritual of capturing the nomination, even if nothing good comes of it; and, of course, churning massive amounts of campaign cash to achieve nothing more than enshrine the Democrat opponent, meaning that year the reelection of Bill Clinton. Bob Dole's general election campaign was miserable, but it enriched the Beltway Consultant Class, a metric that matters in Washington.

In my focus group that year, I asked panelists why they felt Dole was old. It wasn't his age, they said: "It's just the way he is." And for decades, mediocrity is just the way it is for the Establishment.

In December, just a few months ago that now seem an eternity, Dole endorsed Jeb Bush. This nostalgic accolade hardly sent shock waves among the body politic. It is true Dole was a hero in World War II who has served honorably for decades. And Jeb is a man of substance and accomplishment whose candidacy, however, was a fool's errand apparent to every simpleton, except those brilliant and savvy (and gullible) super-wealthy visionaries, who contributed the bulk of $150 million that went down the toilet.

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Some of the donors were billionaires, thus a prima facie case for Bernie Sanders, but not that these people have too much influence in politics (they showed themselves to be duds), but that they obviously have money to burn.

Sadly, Jeb proved to be a prop for the insurgent Donald Trump. If Jeb were not around, Trump would have had to invent him. As for Dole, his endorsement of Jeb had the unintended consequence of losing votes for Jeb. That's because it telegraphed conclusively that Jeb, who had been out of public office and public life for eight years before he announced for president, was mired even deeper in the past.

When the Wizard revealed himself to Dorothy, he further explained that he came to Oz in a hot-air balloon. And hot air is what brings us to the developing battle for the heart and soul of delegates en route to the momentous convention, the gathering of Republicans in Cleveland.

"My job," the Delegate Wizard says, "is to secure and protect Mr. Trump's nomination and that is what we will do." And this high profile Delegate Wizard is Paul Manafort, a competent and able insider, better suited to the Stop Trump coalition, for which he might have been a match. Manafort's first convention experience was in 1976 against the insurgent candidacy of a man named Ronald Reagan. Manafort's background includes Washington lobbying, against which reformer Donald Trump rails.

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Manafort realizes that his unique qualifications notwithstanding, his job for frontrunner Trump is, paradoxically, no cakewalk. Trump waited too long to learn that he needed Manafort, or someone like him. Manafort's name in Italian means "strong hand." And, per Trump folklore, we do not know the size of Manafort's hands. But Manafort made it a point to write and edit the news release announcing his appointment as Mr. Trump's consigliere. And he then made himself widely available to the news media, to announce that he reported directly to the candidate, though he would work collaboratively, we are supposed to believe, with the discredited campaign manager, whose public exposure has seemingly concluded, concurrently with a retroactively defined Phase One of the campaign.

That manager -- Corey Lewandowski -- regularly interpreted his managerial portfolio to include being the campaign's bouncer. This was only natural because in his Walter Mitty mode, the political activist once aspired to a career in law enforcement. He is now charged not with assuming other responsibilities, but with... battery.

As for Mr. Manafort, he is sharp enough to know this: If Mr. Trump does not make it on the first ballot or come very close, it will be tough for him to win on the second ballot. And he realizes that unless Trump stops his litany of widely reported self-destructive personal attacks and offensive tweets and weird policy pronouncements, it will be hard to prevent delegate hemorrhage, let alone get converts. It is a trivial matter, but campaign operatives are not supposed to be in the news, and surely not negatively.

And speaking of news, consider the context for the Wizard, now part of the story.

When Ted Cruz spoke despairingly of "New York values," some liberals (now called progressives) suggested that Cruz, who is known for his respect for Judaism and affection for the Jewish people, and his love of Israel and support for the Jewish state, was somehow using code words to inflame anti-Semitism. Falsely accusing Ted Cruz or anyone else of racial or religious bigotry or prejudice is reprehensible.

For months the opponents of Donald Trump have recklessly defamed him as a "fascist" or a "Hitler." Trump may be many things, but nothing in his life's history or his policy pronouncements suggest that his nationalism is akin to fascism, or his legitimate, though politically incorrect, concern about, say, Muslim immigrants, makes him anything remotely resembling the incarnation of pure evil that ruled the Third Reich. Even if Trump were not once Grand Marshal of New York's Israel parade, the politically correct Anti-Defamation League should have come to his rescue.

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But no one except Trump can rescue himself from his recurring incivility, questionable judgment, and imprudent outbursts. Last week Manafort sequestered his candidate, hopefully for needed R&R and policy briefings. For Trump to win the nomination, and if so, for him to have any chance to win the presidency, Trump would have to enroll in WA, Wounds Anonymous, to stop his recycled self-inflicted wounds.

Yet, in order to establish rapport with his client, Mr. Manafort seemingly has self-inflicted his own deep wound, for which he may need Urgent Care. After Ted Cruz and his team this weekend took all the Colorado delegates up for grabs, Manafort for good measure went berserk. He accused his competitors of "Gestapo tactics."

Kayleigh McEnany is an intelligent and thoughtful advocate for Trump on CNN. She enhanced her credibility when she deplored Trump's tweet-photo on Heidi Cruz. Days later Trump finally, if belatedly, admitted his folly. But McEnany is the exception that proves the rule. For the most part, Trump has a chattering class of flacks who never walk back any Trumpism, no matter how egregious, or apologize for any of the candidate's behavior, no matter how offensive. Thus, it was hardly surprising that the predictable and shrill Katrina Pierson eagerly defended Manafort's words.

In Corey Lewandowski, Trump had an agitator. Now, it was thought that with Manafort, Trump had found stability. But then, this.

Perhaps Manafort did not spend enough time with his client of yesteryear, Bob Dole of WWII vintage. Dole would have explained that the Geheime Statspolizei, known more commonly as the Gestapo, were the Nazi secret police created by Hermann Goering. The Gestapo played a major role in Hitler's "Final Solution" to exterminate Jews. If you want the gruesome details of what constitute Gestapo tactics, do a Google search.

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In short, Manafort is not merely engaging in hyperbole.

He is off the charts.
During a keynote speech at the New York Press Association Spring Convention on Friday, Attorney Preet Bharara commented on how he suddenly became a public figure in Turkey reaching almost three hundred thousand followers in Twitter.

Furthermore, he responded the pro-Erdogan media in Turkey which started a smear campaign against him after the arrest of Reza Zarrab,33, in Miami, who allegedly is involved in money laundering and banking fraud to evade sanctions against Iran.

No American attorney has ever been as popular as Mr. Preet Bharara in Turkey before.

He is known as a 'Crusader prosecutor' for his prosecution of diplomats, people in other countries, Wall Street executives, politicians in the U.S.

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A few days ago his office started a massive corruption probe that has targeted Mayor de Blasio's fund-raising activities.

But the reason he has been so popular in Turkey is the arrest of an Turkish-Iranian businessman, Reza Zarrab, who was also arrested in Turkey on December 17, 2013 as part of a biggest corruption scandal in history of Turkey.

While the prosecution of Reza Zarrab in the U.S is limited to money laundering, banking fraud and evading the sanctions against Iran, the corruption probe in Turkey extended to bribing the bank officials and ministers of Erdogan government through Turkey's gold-for-gas trade with Iran which evaded the American sanctions. The total amount of bribes and commissions in Turkey is estimated as $14 billion. Since Erdogan's government was struck by the biggest corruption scandal in its history, almost 3000 thousands police officers were removed from their posts. Since the corruption inquiry has targeted three cabinet members of Erdogan government, Turkey's then PM Erdogan accused the police and judiciary of a "dirty plot" to undermine his administration. The prosecutors who were involved in the corruption probe fled Turkey after the removal from their posts for security reasons.

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Erdogan consolidated his power by seizing the veto players in Turkish political system including the Judiciary. As a result of this abuse of state power, Turkish people lost their hope for justice in Turkey and started to see Mr.Bharara as a heroic figure who could distribute justice.

"On the date we engaged in the arrest, on the day that Mr. Zarrab was arrested in Florida, I had 8,100 Twitter followers. Within 4 days, I had gained 270,000 Twitter followers, virtually all of them from the nation of Turkey. And part of the reason for that was, as has been widely reported, there's a feeling that corruption is not being dealt with in that country. I'm not going to make any comment on that, but that's a feeling of what was going. And the other reason that it's been widely reported is that people have not believed that there was a free press there and so there's a lot more of people taking to the freedom of social media," the attorney said.

"I apparently- and it's hard because I don't understand Turkish very well yet- I've been featured in the cover of newspapers in Turkey with the suggestion that the reason I have brought the case- Preet Bharara from Punjab-India, grew up in New Jersey, US Attorney in Manhattan- ..because I have been bribed by pro-Turkish-government figures who hoped to overthrow the government in Turkey, to the tune of $2.5 million. So there have been a lot of silly things written about me in my time as US Attorney. I can confirm for all of you that, that's the silliest," he said.'

It is no secret that media has been an important tool for Erdogan to consolidate his power. By seizing almost 70 percent of the Turkish media by misusing the state power, he seized the Turkish media and turned them into his own propaganda machine.

The leading newspapers of Erdogan's propaganda machine started a smear campaign against Attorney Bharara claiming even that he was bribed by people who are eager to over throw Erdogan rule in Turkey.

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"I've been featured in the cover of newspapers in Turkey with the suggestion that the reason I have brought the case- Preet Bharara from Punjab-India, grew up in New Jersey, US Attorney in Manhattan- ..because I have been bribed by pro-Turkish-government figures who hoped to overthrow the government in Turkey, to the tune of $2.5 million. So there have been a lot of silly things written about me in my time as US Attorney. I can confirm for all of you that, that's the silliest," he said.

Attorney Bharara also commented on the press freedom issues in Turkey.

"The other reason widely reported is that, people have not believed there is a free press in Turkey, so there is a lot more people taking to the freedom of social media. In 2015, Freedom House write the press in Turkey as "not free". The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reports that at least 13 journalists are in jail for their coverage and described a crackdown that includes self censorship and harassment of media business owners".

He also said "According to Reuters, Turkish President Erdogan has personally brought more than 1800 criminal suits against individuals, including journalists and children, for insulting him since becoming president in 2014". Can Attorney Preet Bharara's case cause some serious political consequences for President Erdogan of Turkey?

Some believe that it is possible.

It is obvious that an Iranian Turkish businessman Reza Zarrab was not alone evading the U.S sanctions against Iran. If Reza Zarrab would cooperate with Attorney Bharara and share his big partners in Turkey it would definitely have political consequences for Turkey.

In the conclusion remarks of Attorney's speech, he gave slight messages that he would pursue the case wherever it goes and whatever it takes.

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'We believe that no one's above the law. We don't care how much money you have, we don't care how powerful you are. We don't care how strong you are, we don't care what your connections are.

If you've broken the law, and it's to the interest of justice to pursue an investigation and prosecution and we can prove it, then we're going to do that.

And that's what makes me proud to be a US Attorney as a representative of my office and the Justice Department, and proud of the American system of justice.
FLINT, MI - MARCH 17: A City of Flint Sewer Dept. marker flag waves in the wind on a block where lead water lines have started to be replaced on March 17, 2016 in Flint, Michigan. Flint continues to work through the effects of water contamination. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)

I arrived almost three months before my fourteenth birthday. It was cold and apparently one of the worst snowstorms the area had seen in years. Clutching the zipper ends of my denim jacket, I realized very quickly that it wasn't enough. It wasn't enough to save me from experiencing the coldest weather of my life; nor was it fitting attire for the all-white party the snow had invited me to. My uncle was late to pick us up from the airport in Detroit, but in three hours it wouldn't matter. By then I would be warm and safe at his house in Flint, Michigan.

Coming of age as a Nigerian immigrant in a Midwestern American city still reeling from the aftershocks of auto industry divestment, economic depression and other issues, exposed me to a wealth of experiences that were pivotal in shaping my formative years. Flint's current water crisis feels so very real and personal. When I talk to my friends who still live there, they tell me about the toll it has taken on their lives. I hear the uncertainty in their voices as they describe their fears about water, and having no clear answers in dealing with a man-made disaster that is unlike any other in recent memory. In a phone call to one of my friend's Jessica, she summed up the situation in these words:

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"I grew up in Flint. I have lived through the city being the murder capital and hearing of some dead body being found in the park. Yet I have never not felt safe, and my kids feel the same. They are always asking me if they can go play in the park. None of the issues Flint has faced in the past has ever had me contemplate moving out. I never thought it would be water. My kids keep asking me when they can use the water. When it hits your family, especially your kids, it just feels so overwhelming. You know that James and his family are moving too right? So many people are tired."

Jessica's words illustrate the water disaster in a way that shows just how devastating and unfortunate this man-made crisis has been for Flint. Governor Snyder's (someone tell me why this man is still in office) well-documented failures and his appointed Emergency Manager's negligence are unbelievable. After my phone call with Jessica, I felt even more dejected. Eventually my mind went back to those years ago when I first got to the city that would eventually raise me through my adolescent years. After arriving from Nigeria, I enrolled at Beecher High School as a sophomore and one of the first classes I attended was Mrs. See's first period English class. My encounter with Shanita, the hottest girl in class is one that still cracks me up whenever I think about it.

"Why you ain't call me?" she demanded, as I stood there speechless. She then went on to berate me in front of the whole class for not calling her the previous night. This was certainly new to me. I was used to the girls in Nigeria playing harder to get than Beyonce concert tickets, especially if they liked you.

However, my orientation to the United States was not limited to a humorous introduction to American girls; I also started building deeper relationships with my peers. Many of my classmates were genuinely curious and clueless as to what Nigeria (or Africa) looked like. Did we have developed cities? Did we wear clothes? How did I learn to speak English so well? The barrage of questions ranged from introspective to utterly ridiculous. I soon realized that I could either enlighten my new peers about my culture, or complain about how unaware they were about the 2nd largest continent in the world. I chose the former.

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To be clear, the cultural and educational exchange wasn't a one-way street. When you spend more time with people, you begin to see who they really are. I met incredibly resilient people who had long ago given up expecting support or sustenance from their elected officials and institutions (public or private). After all, General Motors was once a bedrock of the city's working class, but abandoned Flint and crippled the local economy in the process, as outlined in Michael Moore's breakthrough documentary Roger & Me.

The Flint that raised me taught me many things. It showed me what inequality looked like in America. I remember visiting a nearby high school in the well-to-do Grand Blanc suburbs and looking in amazement at their shiny new computers and state-of-the-art facilities. I couldn't understand how Michigan's school district system allowed one school to flourish with resources, while another school less than 15 minutes away could barely afford new textbooks. The reality that I found in Flint was a stark contrast to the American Dream that I envisioned growing up in Nigeria, and that I read about in my American history books, which promised a place of equality and opportunity.

The Flint that raised me was the place that ignited my creative fire and gave me the catalyst that now fuels the energy and confidence I bring to the stage as a musician. I'll never forget open mics at the Lunch Studio, a cafe that served as the breeding ground for many of the city's creatives. It was in that art scene that I actually met Jessica and a crew of artistic mentors, the closest of them being Ed "Future" Wilson. Future was a poet who allowed me to accompany him on my first music tour across the country as a 17-year old fledgling artist.

The Flint that raised me is a city of legacy, the birthplace of the United Auto Workers and the first headquarters of General Motors (GM). The Flint that raised me was/is a dichotomy, like so many of us, going through life with a mesh of our best and worst qualities. The Flint that raised me wasn't perfect; but it was a city that epitomized the beautiful and ugly side of humanity's struggle.

The Flint that raised me still needs help. As the dust settles on almost two years of Governor Snyder's deliberate indifference, willful neglect and ignoring the pleas of families, the water pipes in Flint still aren't fixed. The outpouring of support from water drives to large-scale fundraising efforts have been incredible, but the water pipes in Flint still aren't fixed. Despite the national attention, the water pipes in Flint still aren't fixed. Band-Aid's can't heal gaping wounds and as I watched the Democratic National Debate in Flint, I couldn't help but wonder: what will happen when the cameras leave? What happens when the spotlight is gone? Has the media already found another story to focus on? It is disgraceful that Jessica's five-year-old child can't turn on the kitchen faucet tonight in the United States of America; for fear that her water has lead in it. Unfortunately, there are many more Jessica's in Flint who have families going through the same thing.

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The following is taken from a homily given in Christ Chapel, on the campus of Gustavus Adolphus College (St. Peter, MN) on April 11, 2016. The assigned preaching text was Matthew 2:16.

The 2nd Chapter of Matthew's Gospel holds a most horrific story, as it shares a section of Scripture that many not only detest, but simply wish did not exist. As this marginalized portion of the Christmas narrative reveals, when King Herod learns that a threat to his power was born in Bethlehem, he subsequently orders all male infants under the age of two in and around the area to be killed. This is, of course, a segment of the Christmas story that we so often suppress while cozy with our gifts around the Christmas tree. The vicious depiction is simply too agonizing, too awful, and too authentic.

Shortly after Jesus was born, when King Herod devised his plan to commit genocide as a means to protect his empire, an angel in turn warns Joseph, who subsequently removes the infant Christ from danger. Tragically, countless others would not be so fortunate, and as a result, an incalculable amount of lives were so painfully taken so painfully early. This is one of the most gruesome portions of the entire Bible, and as we consider this dark massacre of holy innocents so brutally brought to light, there are numerous important lessons to consider, and as a result, many disturbing questions to ponder. One such question surrounds the scandal of God's criminal justice.

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As we examine the nature of God's criminal justice, we recognize that it is not difficult to be anguished, or even outraged, by what happened in this often ignored text from Matthew's Gospel. The mass-murder of small children is beyond sickening. However, the source of our collective distress is not only the horrific sights and sounds of violence and terror, but deep down, through such dreadful disasters we also struggle with our common conceptions of a loving God. While we wonder where God is in the midst of such tragedies, and while others question why God does not (or perhaps cannot) prevent such bloodshed from taking place, we are ultimatley troubled with our basic and longstanding beliefs of where God's love is placed in the unfolding aftermath. We wonder: What exactly is God's justice in the context of such terrible catastrophe? Furthermore, the question that lies beneath such a question is whether or not there are any limits to God's forgiveness. Which, in turn, leads us to consider if there is anything - or anyone - that is beyond the scope of God's so-called amazing grace. Is there anything simply too awful, and is there anyone simply too evil, to receive God's love?

If we explore such existential inquiries through the lenses of the Risen Christ, we are quickly left with a bit of a prosecutorial problem.

In our current day and age, as well as thousands of years ago, as people with a model of justice that is so often based upon "get back" and trying to even the so-called scale, we are presented with a spiritual and social puzzle that is by no means easily solved. For those of us that have caused great harm, God's criminal justice does indeed look merciful and compassionate. However, for those of us that have survived great harm at the hands of others, God's criminal justice often looks anything but just. Because, God's criminal justice - which is modeled through Jesus' death and resurrection - leaves the survivors of harm among us - in some ways - rather unsatisfied. While we have a God that seems to despise our human offenses, this God seems to honor the humanity of both the offended and the offender, which in turn means that we are both comforted and confronted as we consider the exploits, not only of King Herod thousands of years ago, but of those in our current day and age that are responsible for great pain and terrible human suffering.

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We are disturbed with the details of such a scandalous Gospel, as God's criminal justice, grounded in grace with a kenosis trajectory that resists retribution and moves us toward restoration, is far beyond our most common public policies and unimaginative personal practices. God's criminal justice is about restoring community through radical hospitality, rather than dividing communities through retribution and brutality.

On a personal note, a few years ago I volunteered at a high security juvenile detention facility, a rather intimidating and trying assignment, as the location housed young adults that made some very unfortunate, and yes, very violent choices. While the courts labeled these young and incarcerated people as criminals, and some even as monsters, I was given the opportunity to learn their names and stories. In doing so, I soon realized that with every offense, it is not difficult to see both offender and offended as victims. Among other things, what I learned was that, despite the common "tough on crime" claims to the contrary, the young people I met were beloved Children of God, who both created and experienced severe suffering. The opportunity to accompany those labeled as delinquent was an experience that - to this day - grounds and guides my understanding of who God is and what God does.

In light of it all, God surely knows that we all make our share of mistakes, and we all have helped to create great harm. Despite our best of intentions, we all commit crimes against humanity, countless times, each and every day. But of course, unlike the far majority of those caught within the cruel cycles of the correctional system, the mistakes we make are often shielded by a swath of social institutions and fortified with unwritten communal codes. These associations and administrations protect us from both surveillance and prosecution, and in doing so, we are shielded from receiving the label of criminal that countless others not born into our privileged situations so sadly receive.

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In all of this, it is not to say people should not be held accountable for their actions. That is not the point.

The point is that, ultimatley, who among us actually gets what they deserve in life? There are those that get more and others that get less. Which means that, just as we should hold others accountable for their actions, we should also hold ourselves accountable for the actions of others. We all ultimatley belong to each other, and our current system of grossly over-individualized prosecution and punishment is simply a means to relieve ourselves of community responsibility in general, and excuse ourselves from personal guilt in particular. This collective consciousness and shared responsibility, on our best of days, should prevent us from self-righteousness, even in those moments when we are tempted to join the crowd, grab our moral pitch-forks, and seek mob justice when crucifixion seems most convenient.

When Jesus said to take up our crosses and follow him, it was not in order for us to nail others to the crosses we carry. This is the comfort and challenge of the Gospel, for God embraces the humanity in both offender and offended, as each of us is both offender and offended, thus we are called to resist the temptation of retribution and engage the process of restoration. Because, ultimatley, the scandal of God's criminal justice is forgiveness.

The scandal of God's criminal justice is forgiveness.

It does not mean that we should accept all things, nor does it mean that we should forget all things. It does not mean that we should simply give out a free pass, nor does it mean that reparations should not be sought. Yet it all does mean that we are called to forgive as God first forgave us. Why? Because resentment is like drinking rat poison and expecting the rat to die, and forgiveness allows us to let go of our false hopes for a better past. In walking this way of the Risen Christ, the aim of God's criminal justice is not to put offenders in chains, but to release us all of our own.

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We receive an example of such restoration from across the ocean in Zambia. In the Bemba tribe, when a person acts irresponsibly or unjustly, they are placed in the center of the village, alone and unfettered. We can imagine the scene. In response to an injustice, all work ceases, and every man, every woman, and every child in the village gathers in a large circle around the accused individual. Then, each person in the tribe speaks to the accused, one at a time, not to offer words of judgment or condemnation, but to recite the good things that the accused has done in their lifetime. Every life-giving experience that can be recalled with any detail and accuracy, is recounted, and shared publically, for all to hear. Why? Because such affirmation is a reminder of who that person truly is. This ceremony often lasts for days, depending upon the severity of the offense, and at the end, when the circle is broken, a closing ritual occurs, and the accused is symbolically - and literally - restored, back into the fullness of the community.

This is how God's criminal justice works.

When we are at our worst, we are reminded that, at our core, with the Crucified and Risen Christ as our guide, we were created to be connected as community, which means, when the bonds are inevitably broken, the goal is to intentionally restore, repair, and to the best of our cooperative abilities, even resurrect. For as difficult as it may sound, accountability and absolution can join together, as justice and mercy are mutual partners in the grand dance of life in its fullness. Although reaching for such restoration may not quench our steadfast thirst for revenge, this is our path to sustainable peace, for it is the example we receive in Jesus, and our key to unlocking the beauty and freedom of God's criminal justice.
Becoming an author is a long and wending road for many. It's challenging just to write a book -- for reasons of time constraints, raging inner critics, the act of learning craft. The journey to publication is a whole other struggle, often accompanied by disappointment and rejection by traditional publishers. The decision to independently publish may follow, and while that's often a relief for writers who now have a path forward, what lies ahead is a massive learning curve and a whole new universe to unpack and try to understand. And then there's the trifecta of author platform, marketing, and publicity to figure out. Even for someone who loves a good challenge, it's a lot to take on. And a lot to get right. And nearly impossible to get perfect.

As a book publisher, I strive for perfection, even though I'm in the business of making art. Book publishing is a bold and frustrating undertaking, because every single page presents an opportunity for a mistake. You can comb over your own book 20 times and still miss something. Formatting errors get introduced at late stages in the production cycle. You may have had a developmental editor, a copyeditor, and a proofreader, and as soon as you have your final book in hand, Murphy's Law has its way and you're sure to open the book and turn to the one page with a typo.

I have plenty of war stories from my time in traditional publishing. Early in my career I worked on a book in which we misspelled the word "foreword" on the front cover as "forward." Seven people had looked at the proof and we all missed it. At Seal Press we had to destroy an entire print run because we misjudged a PMS color for the interior of a two-color book. What we thought would be a nice deep rusty red came back Halloween orange. I once let a book go to print without an author bio. An omission like that is more painful than a typo. Every single one of those mistakes was like a dagger. I still get heart pain when I think about that destroyed print run.

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My first book was the very first book to be published on my own press, She Writes Press, in 2012. I knew a lot about publishing, but I'd never managed the process from start to finish before, and I'd never been the final stamp of approval for the design team. My interior file looked good to me when I opened it up on my desktop. I approved it all online, but when the printed books arrived at my office, I was horrified by the clunky interior design. That was a rough lesson, but as a result, we're known today for our gorgeous interiors. I now have a second book coming out in June, and I ordered a small advanced print run for some spring events. I was shocked to see the typo on the back cover when I opened the first box. I'd read that thing over 10 times, and I'd had three proofreaders look at it. I am grateful it's not too late to fix it, but it was yet another lesson in humility, and reminded me just how precarious a job it is to publish a book.

One of my publishing mentors likes to say that typos are evidence that books are made by humans and not gods, and anyone who's worked in publishing will tell you that most books have typos. That said, as an author advocate and publisher of a nontraditional press, I always tell indie authors they have to be better than the best. But even the best aren't perfect, which it's a hard paradox to hold.

I believe in the importance, the fundamental value, of publishing standards. High ones. The biggest lesson the self-publishing community still needs to learn is centered here. What makes traditional publishing the gold standard is the high editorial quality, the impeccable design, and the overall packaging of books. And yet, mistakes happen -- in any industry and in any job, but especially in book publishing. With 80,000-plus words to string together, and a manual that's bigger than the Bible to adhere to for design and style, the publication of a single book is a monumental undertaking, and nearly impossible to get perfect.

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When my authors find typos in their final books, which they invariably do, I feel their pain, and I also summon my mentor's sage words. An author's book is an extension of them, and those little imperfections feel like a blemish, and depending on our personalities, those blemishes can feel downright shameful. We may brace ourselves to hear back from our readers, but unless your book is riddled with typos (which is not the level of error I'm writing about in this post), your harshest critic is going to be you.
Bob Colacello, Andy Warhol Backstage with Raquel Welch, Interview Cover Girl, After Her Performance in Broadway's Woman of the Year, 1981. Courtesy Steven Kasher Gallery, New York.

The amazing legacy of Andy Warhol continues to thrive, both from the astonishing mark the artist left on the art world and the every bit as remarkable and seemingly unstoppable increase in the value of anything Andy. The "George Washington Slept Here" syndrome as it relates to Warhol's legacy, including where he worked and lived, has an equally extraordinary effect on the worth of his former properties that otherwise would be considered unrealistic. This week, it was reported that Andy's first small Manhattan studio in a former firehouse at 159 East 87th Street, which he rented for $150.00 per month and where some of the famous death and disaster images (one of which sold at auction in 2013 for $105 million) were created, is now for sale with a $10 million asking price, again substantially over market for its small size and poor condition.

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Andy Warhol's first New York City studio, Hook & Ladder 13, at 159 E 87th Street.

This building also showcased the first exhibition of Andy's Brillo boxes, which merits a bronze plaque near the front door. The thirty-acre property that Warhol purchased with Paul Morrissey for about $220,000 in the 1970s as a summer getaway in Montauk, near the tip of Long Island, is again for sale, having been restored by architect Thierry Despont. It was on the market for a remarkable asking price of $85 million, but the buyer refused the horse farm included with the estate, and bought the rest of the property for $50 million, still a 228-fold increase from the original purchase amount.

The point is, that nearly thirty years after his untimely death, there still is a habitual fascination for all things Warhol, whether it is merchandise approved by the Warhol Foundation, limited editions, auction results, or vintage photographs of Andy and his friends, the captivation continues and for good reason. Warhol, who would have been 88 years old this coming summer, continues to be one of few great artists in history whose work remains stronger than ever with a glamorous, perpetually rising price tag to match.

The Boca Raton Museum of Art, celebrating its fifteenth year in their impressive new building, is commemorating this milestone with not one Warhol survey show, but three exhibitions that explore the depth and variety of the world of Andy Warhol.

Installation view (Cow wallpaper), Andy Warhol exhibitions, Boca Raton Museum of Art. Photograph by Christopher Fay.

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The first, Warhol on Vinyl: The Record Covers, 1949-1987+, turns a unique lens on this artist's career, from his early years as a graphic designer to the cultural phenomenon he later became. This is a remarkable show of over 100 album covers, all taking advantage of Warhol's LP spin of recognizable branding. The second concurrent exhibit is a selection of classic prints from the collection of Marc Bell, which presents Andy's iconic images, such as Campbell's soup cans, Dollar Signs, Flowers, and even Chairman Mao, who would be delighted to know, if he were alive, that China has overtaken Britain and America as the leading consumer of contemporary art.

Installation view (Soup Cans), Andy Warhol exhibitions, Boca Raton Museum of Art. Photograph by Christopher Fay.

The third leg of this trifecta is an amazing presentation of candid photographs by Bob Colacello, titled In and Out with Andy. Colacello was in the right place at the right time, when as a degree candidate in film criticism from Columbia University he wrote a review for the Village Voice on Warhol's early film "Trash," which Bob hailed as a "great Roman Catholic masterpiece." As luck would have it, Andy read the review and invited Colacello to contribute to Interview, and just a few months later, at the age of twenty-eight, he became the editor for the next decade. The magazine flourished under Colacello's direction, and also became an important instrument in the continuing success of Warhol's career. This exhibition consists of images Bob took with his small black Minolta camera, given to him by the art dealer Thomas Ammann, which could be hidden in his jacket pocket.

Bob Colacello, Paloma Picasso, Red Ball, Paris, 1980. Courtesy Steven Kasher Gallery, New York.

Bob was with Andy constantly as one-half of their dynamic duo, and that meant going out every night to an endless array of cocktail parties, dinner parties, art openings, film premieres and after hours clubs.

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This is the first museum show of these intimate portraits of Andy and friends, which includes snapshots of Mick Jagger, Liza Minnelli and Truman Capote, among dozens of others on display.

Bob Colacello, Jagger and Hall, Red Ball, Paris, 1980. Courtesy Steven Kasher Gallery, New York.

I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Colacello during the exhibition, which continues through May 1, and it gave me personal insights that I never had before and reinforced my long standing conviction that Andy Warhol was one of the most inventive artists of all time. (A five minute excerpt of the interview can be viewed on here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22d2GHeigsQ&feature=youtu.be )

Bob Colacello (on left) being interviewed by Bruce Helander at In and Out with Andy, Colacello's exhibition of his candid Warhol photographs. Photographed at the Boca Raton Museum of Art by Christopher Fay.

As you view these rare and intriguing celebrity snapshots that, taken "on the fly," have a distinctive curious intimacy and openness, as the subjects, often caught off guard, were not pandering to the press but mugging for the handheld camera Colacello would click without warning from across the table at night spots like Studio 54, or while watching Andy getting dressed for a night out.

Bob Colacello, Andre Leon, Steve Rubell and Andy Warhol, Bianca Jagger's Birthday Dinner, Mortimer's 1981. Gelatin silver, 16 x 20 in. Courtesy Steven Kasher Gallery, New York.

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Although Colacello trained as a journalist and not a photographer, these pre-iPhone images in stark black and white resonate into well-crafted observational moments of history being made as connected to the most recognized personality at the time in New York City. In his book, Holy Terror, which recently has been re-issued, Colacello documents an uncanny perspective on the daily conversations, examinations and activities that make one realize the unique informed vantage point that Colacello naturally acquired during his decade-long association with Interview magazine and enduring friendship with Andy. Consequently, no one living is better equipped to tell the Warhol story more accurately and dramatically than Bob Colacello. This is a rare photography exhibition that should not be missed!



Bob Colacello, Fred Hughes, Naples, Italy, ca. 1975. Courtesy Steven Kasher Gallery, New York.

Bob Colacello, Andy Warhol and Paulette Goddard, ca. 1980. Courtesy Steven Kasher Gallery, New York.



Bob Colacello, Leo Castelli and Andy Warhol at the Dia Foundation Exhibition of Shadow Paintings, 1978. Courtesy Steven Kasher Gallery, New York.
Last Friday night in Billings, Montana, a little miracle occurred, and I was part of it. It has been a season of miracles here in big sky country, and Friday's was only the most recent.

The story began in 2012, when downtown Billings lost its independent bookstore, Thomas Books. It was not the only bookstore in town, or even in the downtown, but it was the only place offering a full line of new books - the sort of bookstore where you can walk in and count on finding the new Pulitzer winner, or at least a few of the backlist of your favorite regional authors. It was my source for the latest Sherman Alexie, Margaret Atwood, Barbara Ehrenreich, Louise Erdrich, Neal Stephenson, Calvin Trillin, Anne Tyler, and the rest of the short list of authors whose publication dates have me fogging the glass outside the bookstore.

Many locals mourned. We still had Barnes & Noble and Amazon, true. We weren't exactly stranded on the frontier without UPS. But losing our indie bookstore felt like a light going out. Many conversations between booklovers began,

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"I just miss Thomases' so much."

There is something irreplaceable about walking among shelves of carefully curated books, touching their spines, sliding the richness of a hardback's thick paper cover into your waiting hands, reading a few paragraphs, then trying another. The smell takes you places you only wish you could go again - childhood libraries, beloved foreign booksellers. The camaraderie of a bookseller who makes purchasing decisions based on the readers who come to the store, not according to a corporate agenda, is priceless. We missed being greeted by name and the divine seduction of being offered a book that Susan Thomas knew would be exactly right. We were homesick for every bit of it, because a good bookstore is a home: a soul home.

Naturally, people began to talk about opening another bookstore, but the obstacles were tall and hairy, with fangs and oppressive body odor. The market forces that helped to close Thomas Books were still in play. Indie bookstores were recovering slowly from the recession and the blows they'd taken from the growth of e-books and online bookselling, but the profits remained marginal. The capital investment was large. Whoever took on this challenge faced the prospect of a years-long ramp up to the kind of profitability that would make it more than a one-person or one-family shop, carried on the backs of a few very overworked people.

Then someone - we think it was former Billings mayor Chuck Tooley, who is quite the instigator - spoke the word "cooperative", as in, "What if you formed a cooperative?" Most of us who'd been crying in our microbrews over Thomas Books had only the vaguest idea what a cooperative was. We knew about REI and rural electric cooperatives and the downtown food co-op, Good Earth Market. We suspected common ownership played a role, but how that was relevant to our lost bookstore was unclear. We may have stared at Chuck and encouraged him to have another.

Still, talk proceeded along these lines. To organize the conversation a little, in April 2015 I created a Facebook page called "Bring a Bookstore to Billings". A small group including me, local novelist Craig Lancaster, attorney Emily Stark, and my husband Andy Wildenberg, a computer science professor, formed a casual drinking club with a bookstore problem and began splitting up tasks to educate ourselves on what it might take to start a bookstore. None of us had any interest in running a bookstore, we just knew we wanted one and no one else seemed to be doing anything about it.

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It was Emily who first dug in on cooperative formation by contacting the state cooperative association. This turned out to be the trigger for a spectacular leap forward. We soon heard back from the new head of the Montana Cooperative Development Center, a woman named Jan Brown who fairly vibrated with enthusiasm for the idea of a cooperative bookstore in downtown Billings. Yes, you can do this, she told us. You can do it bigger and better than you imagine, and I will help. She had a whole new set of tasks for us, but it was hard to mind with Jan cheerleading.

We finally sat down with Jan in October 2015. By then we had the rough outline of a business plan based on a cooperative model. Our capital would come from member-owners who would buy shares, we'd elect a board of directors, and the board would hire a general manager. The major problem of which one of us would fall on the sword and run the bookstore was solved. We could hire someone who actually knew the business, and the co-op would provide the funds to pay that person. It felt like genius had struck from the sky.

The intervening months have been a mad rush to stick together puzzle pieces by any means possible. We announced meetings by Facebook and assigned jobs to anyone who showed up. Some people came to a meeting or two then dissolved back into the ether, but this method of constant delegation also resulted in great finds like author and English professor Precious McKenzie, who tackled real estate hunting and found us a terrific space in a historic building near the center of the downtown. For her next act, she got us a grant from the downtown alliance for a building feasibility study.

We interviewed bookstore owners across the state and talked over the operation and closure of Thomas Books in detail with the former owner. Psychologist Mark Taylor did a marketing survey and pulled demographic data. I got business plan help from the Service Corps of Retired Executives and Big Sky Economic Development and plugged more and more data into a business plan that soon stretched to 40 pages. We ran financial projections with the help of CPA Ryan Duffy. By the time we asked a feasibility consultant for help, he told us we'd already done the job we'd be hiring him to do.

People began to post bookstore visions on the Facebook page. "Here's what I imagine our bookstore might be like," they were saying. "Here's my favorite bookstore. Can we have something like this?" The creativity of our whole ad hoc community was getting juiced up around the idea that maybe, possibly, we could actually do this. A town really could just decide it wanted an indie bookstore and make that happen, even if no deus ex machina emerged to open one for us. Our wanting and doing might be enough. Beginning to understand that was incredibly powerful.

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In the early months of 2016, we got bold enough to take the first step toward incorporation with the state of Montana. Creating a cooperative doesn't happen with one simple corporate filing, like creating an LLC. After the first filing, share subscription agreements go out and people commit to the number of shares they'll buy. Then there's a first general meeting - that was last Friday's miracle, a room full of more than 50 new bookstore co-op member owners, raring to make a bookstore together. Now another report goes back to the state. At that point, incorporation goes forward, shares issue, and member-owners write their checks.

We have commitments for over $24,000 in shares, plus the $8,000 building feasibility grant. We're more than 1/10 of the way to our 2016 fundraising goal and we haven't begun the public share marketing campaign. A placeholder web page is up. More than 330 people have joined the Facebook group. We're holding a bookstore naming contest. We plan to hire a general manager within the next month and open the bookstore later this summer. It feels giddy and crazy and there's an element of adrenalin rush to doing a thing none of us has ever done, but it also feels real. We've done our homework and the people involved are solid. We believe in each other and in this dream taking concrete form under our feet.
Businessman sleeping on sofa, hand resting on laptop

Would you mind if your employees showed up drunk to work every day? It's such an absurd question it's almost laughable. Of course you would! However, that's exactly what we are getting if we don't help our employees get a good night's sleep every night.

In her new book "The Sleep Revolution," Arianna Huffington presents compelling evidence about how a poor night's sleep can have on performance. Motor skills are dulled and reaction time is slow. It's as if you are buzzed all the time.



Most company executives would say that they are not responsible for helping how much sleep an employee gets -- that's a personal issue. We at Next Jump feel the opposite. We, like most companies, train our people in how to do their jobs so that they will perform better at their jobs. We don't expect them to learn how to do their jobs on their own time. That makes sense. We take the same approach to helping our people be better at everything in their lives, better communicators, healthier eaters, physically fit and better sleepers, so that they will grow as human beings and be much more effective (and happier) and work.

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We've experimented with all sorts of ways to help our people grow. Simon Sinek mentioned us in his TED Talk as the company that doesn't fire people (our goal was to remove the sense of fear and dread every quarter or every year when we look at our numbers. It's been an incredibly successful experiment, but that's another article). We were also featured in the new book, "An Everyone Culture," from Harvard Business Review because of our obsession with our people first culture.

In true Next Jump fashion, when we see an opportunity to help our people grow, we start experimenting. In this case, we saw that as our leadership development programs grew (and people gained more responsibility), people couldn't sleep - they simply couldn't shut their minds off. The dynamic was clear -- more senior, more responsibility... less sleep.



We tried nap rooms but found they didn't work. The availability of a welcoming bed didn't address the main problem of why staff members weren't able to sleep... they couldn't shut their minds off.



In the last six months we experimented to find a different solution and we have now rolled out a SLEEP CLASS across all of our offices: New York, Boston, San Francisco and London. We hold a daily 30-minute class from 2:30-3:00pm that has the impact of two hours of sleep.

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We are sharing everything we've learned as we think it can help other companies.



THE PROBLEM:

A recent study on the Today Show talked about how less than 1% of people are "Elite Sleepers," people who can sleep for four hours and function like someone who has slept for eight. Unfortunately for the rest of us, we need seven-eight hours.



From a company perspective, we found that seven-eight hours of sleep is the realistic "safe zone." However, many enter the danger zone (too little sleep) of five-six hours on a routine basis. Is this the person you would want doing important work in your company? Even worse, is this the leader you would want making decisions that impact the lives of so many others?



Being a technology company, we are data-oriented. We built a fitness portal where every employee tracks their workouts. We average over three workouts per person per week and what started with practically nobody using the gym is now nearly a hundred percent. In the same portal, we asked a simple question: "How many hours of sleep did you get last night?". We found that the company average was 6.3 hours of sleep per night. We also found that employees over 30 years old slept nearly one hour less than the younger employees. Even more troubling, was that the leadership team had the most erratic sleep patterns.

We found that most people struggle to either fall asleep or stay asleep in the middle of the night. For all of the parents reading this, have you ever noticed how much easier it was to fall asleep and stay asleep before you had kids? You probably didn't notice how much easier you slept before you became a leader, responsible for the lives of others. We found there is a strong correlation between the crucibles of parenting and leadership. In both cases, you are now responsible for more than yourself. The lives of others depend on you causing your mind to race in the middle of the night thinking of your responsibilities.



Peter Chica, Next Jump's Head of Wellness explains: "As we explored the areas of human health, we found insomnia to be a problem, especially for our leadership team. I feel responsible that people can't sleep, but you can't just prescribe Advil PM or Melatonin. It's a different mindset than exercise and nutrition. Sleep is the most important in the triad of health. If you don't sleep, you can't exercise. If you don't sleep, you get a false sense of hunger, using extra calories to wake up. Companies invest in exercise and nutrition programs; it just makes sense to invest in sleep as well."



Safe zone of sleep: seven-eight hours. Danger zone: five -six hours. We needed to close the gap of two hours of sleep. That was the problem quantified.



OUR SOLUTION:

Sleep Class

5 days a week;

2:30-3:00pm local time in New York, Boston, San Francisco and London;

Prompt start and end. (It doesn't end at 3:05. It ends exactly at 3:00. And no one is allowed in at 2:31);

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Every office, always there (consistency);



You walk in, lie on a matt and are given only two rules:

(1) Don't move;

(2) Don't fall asleep;

The class is called Yoga Nidra (yoga sleep), which is a combination of Yoga meets Meditation. An instructor, in a calming voice is using a distraction method to have you think of sunsets, sunrises, a red ball, green grass, and any thousands of images that are distracting. It's not that different from how you get a child having a tantrum to stop by asking them a question "what color was the ball? where did it come from?"



Every instructor claimed that one hour of Yoga Nidra = four hours of sleep. It is keeping you in a theta state of sleep, that dream-like state right before you fall asleep, for the entire period. As our NY office instructor Anne Koller describes, "Yoga Nidra is a form of guided meditation that sinks the brain into a state of consciousness called theta. The theta rhythm plays a large role in REM sleep, which is our most restful stage of sleeping."



I was skeptical. But the business and logical side of me thought if they are remotely right, this could have a profound impact in solving our sleep problem. We don't need to close a four-hour gap in sleep but we do need to close a two-hour gap. Thirty minutes was all we needed. Thirty minutes is not that much time, maybe we try and exchange the time it takes to get an afternoon caffeine boost with this class.



We experimented with the name of the class as well. NapTime... skeptics. Meditation... skeptics. Yoga Nidra... skeptics. Sleep Class... spoke to everyone's need. People started to attend.



The feedback was overwhelming. Peter Chica shares, "We saw dramatic changes in people. Some who do it daily, some do it when they need it -- just a few times each week. Engineers reported coding for hours straight without breaks. (I'm not an engineer, but apparently writing line after line of code without stopping is a big deal)." People reported feeling more emotionally balanced, with these benefits extending to their families as well.



We faced other initial problems: people who said "I don't have a sleep problem" resisted. Secondly, it took some explaining for people to understand that not only is it appropriate to "sleep at work," but it was now encouraged. It wasn't lazy or inappropriate to take this class, it actually took discipline and is remarkably beneficial.



Peter Chica shares: "We measure program success by adoption. Sleep class was adopted immediately. The interesting thing is now it is going viral: everyone does it and even friends and family ask to come. The early adopters were the program's best salespeople. Now we help employees and their loved ones with sleep. Our goal in wellness is to help friends, family and the community. This ties back to our goal as a company: 'change the world by changing workplace culture.'"



On a personal level, I found that when I do toss and turn at night, it has helped to reduce my second stress of not being able to fall asleep by simply saying to myself "Thank god there is sleep class tomorrow. I just need to make it to 2:30." We're only beginning to understand the benefits of mindfulness that is also coming with a rested body and mind.



We host thousands of culture tours every year for individuals and organizations to learn about Next Jump's culture. One of the biggest requests we get from guests is to try our sleep program. People intuitively feel they need it and it will benefit them.



CONCLUSION:
We've made a lot of headway in certain areas but you know what we're seeing is a lot of pushback. I think the polarity between the two major parties in this country right now exists largely because a) we have an Afro-American President and b) that we have had all this LGBT exposure in the last three or four years and I think we're getting tremendous pushback from right-wing segments of this society and we've got a battle to fight. We know we have to keep pushing forward every attack we have to fend off and we can't be lazy. A lot of this depends on who gets elected president but this next four years, eight years are going to be a crucial time for us to continue the momentum and this is very Pollyanna-ish but I'm hoping to see an evolution where we get to the point where these labels are just not needed anymore. Even the word trans I think eventually will disappear because it's just another box we put ourselves into. I think gender nonconforming is a lot more open a term I would like to see.
ROCHESTER, NY - APRIL 10: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at JetSmart Aviation Services in Rochester, NY on Sunday April 10, 2016. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The Republican Party seems to be in the midst of a period of soul-searching, heading into the remainder of the primary season. The viewpoints within the party are all over the map, and even the perception of how the 2016 presidential race is going to play out can be vastly different from Republican to Republican. How it all turns out is anyone's guess at this point, but at least one Republican faction will be able to say "we told you so" at the end of the process. The questions are who is going to be right, and what it will mean for the party going forward.

Those outside the party perceive the situation slightly differently, of course. Democrats can barely contain their glee over the prospect of running against either Donald Trump or Ted Cruz, since they see both as easily-defeatable candidates who may actually allow them to win back control of the Senate -- and perhaps even the House. Any other choice of GOP candidate would have meant a very hard fight just for the Senate and would have put the House control completely out of the question, as most Democrats see it. Either Cruz or Trump will be far easier to run against than many of the other possible 2016 Republican candidates, so Democrats really see a win-win situation at this point, no matter which Republican wins in Cleveland.

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The media, of course, just love all the infighting. Conflict sells, and this conflicted race been a doozy so far for ratings. Pundits are now excitably plotting out how an "open convention" is going to happen, which has long been the dream of most political journalists. Open conventions don't just mean conflict and drama, they mean conflict and drama right up to the very end, on the floor of the convention. Made for TV! If Donald Trump does somehow wrap up the necessary delegates before the convention begins, listen for the bitter sounds of disappointment from cable television commentators, as their open convention dreams are crushed.

But media types and Democrats aren't really the ones with the best interests of the Republican Party in mind. What's interesting is the wide range of attitudes coming from Republicans themselves as to the likely outcome of the presidential race and what it could mean for their party. There are some Republicans predicting doomsday for pretty much all of the likely scenarios, in fact. Now, as a note of caution, all of them could be proven wrong to some degree or another. Republicans could win the White House with either Donald Trump or Ted Cruz. Please remember that this presidential contest has already defied all the rules of conventional political wisdom, so literally anything could happen.

Still, the levels of panic emanating from some factions within the Republican Party are pretty notable. The first ones to panic were the establishment Republicans. They've been panicking pretty much non-stop since they first realized that Donald Trump was not, in fact, the joke that they thought he was going to be. Establishment Republicans are walking around in their own personal nightmare these days, as they contemplate the fact that their only two viable remaining choices are Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. Either, as they see it, is going to prove devastating to the Republican Party this November. Both Trump and Cruz (for slightly different reasons) are going to cause massive losses in down-ballot races, pretty much across the board. Republicans rely on demographics like suburban women to win general elections, and if they defect en masse then losing the Senate is almost a certainty. Trump, for fairly obvious reasons, would drive away moderate voters who usually lean Republican -- but then so would Cruz for being so ultra-conservative and uncompromising. The most memorable summation of this way of thinking came from Lindsey Graham, after dropping out and considering the Trump/Cruz choice which remained: "Whether it's death by being shot or being poisoned, does it really matter?" Graham eventually chose the poison, and endorsed Cruz.

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It's extraordinary that so many Republicans look at the two frontrunners in their presidential race and foresee nothing but a massive defeat in the fall. This sort of defeatism is usually the province of Democrats, in fact, at least in years gone by. The Machiavellian answer to the choice between Trump and Cruz is to deny both of them the nomination at the convention and pick some white knight to ride in and save the party from itself (Paul Ryan, assumably). This, however, comes with its own risks -- risks that those advocating for such a solution now barely even acknowledge. The biggest danger is a third-party bid by either Trump, Cruz, or both. If the national convention ignores the will of roughly three-fourths of Republican primary voters by choosing someone like Ryan, there are going to be millions of very dissatisfied primary voters (and that's putting it mildly). Both Trump and Cruz campaign against their own party's leadership (in slightly different ways), so their voters are already wary of the party bigwigs. If the convention "steals the nomination" from Trump and Cruz, it's going to be very hard to get those millions of voters back into the Republican fold in time for the general election. Ironically, instead of Ryan being a consensus candidate, he might wind up being the most divisive to the party's base, because both Trump and Cruz voters would be so outraged by the choice.

The Trump voters and the Cruz voters see the party's chances in November differently, of course. The basic argument from the Trump camp is that Trump is drawing in millions of new voters -- people who were so disillusioned with the political process that they normally don't bother to vote at all. These voters are not standard Republican base voters -- they're independents, and even ex-Democrats. The way to win in November is to give millions of these disaffected voters a reason to turn up at the polls, and the wave of new voters will swamp Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, especially in Rust Belt states like Michigan and Ohio. This argument does have some merit -- Trump has indeed been pulling in new voters, although the extent of this phenomenon is impossible to accurately know everywhere. He's also right that if the industrial Midwest is in play (instead of being solidly in the Democratic column), the road to victory in the Electoral College gets a lot harder for Democrats.

The Cruz camp makes a different argument -- a more traditional one within Republican Party ranks. Their argument is one of purity, plain and simple. The Republican Party (this way of thinking goes) loses presidential elections when it puts up moderates and others who aren't "true" conservatives. When they put up unapologetic fire-breathing conservatives, they win. So rather than undermining the party's chances by running people like John McCain or Mitt Romney or Bob Dole, nominate a dyed-in-the-wool conservative to improve the chances of victory in the fall. Rather than pulling in disaffected moderate voters (as Trump brags he's doing), a real conservative will reignite a fire under disaffected conservative voters, which will propel them to victory. This argument usually points to all the evangelical and socially-conservative voting blocs who didn't turn out for Romney and McCain as evidence that there are indeed enough of these voters to win in November.

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Trump's supporters are arguing for something fresh and new to bring in voters that the pollsters don't even currently see. Cruz supporters argue that a pure conservative candidate will reinvigorate the Republican electorate in ways not seen since Ronald Reagan. The establishment Republicans worry that both of these arguments are wrong (if not downright fantasy), and that the only way they've got a prayer is to get someone like Ryan onto the ticket who can still be competitive in all those suburban districts out there. Or, at the very least, someone who can contain the damage in the down-ballot races.

It will be impossible to tell which one of these arguments is the most correct, because Republicans can only nominate one candidate. So two out of three of these scenarios will not even occur this year. The arguments may remain, though -- the "run a true conservative" argument has actually been around for a long time in the GOP. There are six possible outcomes, and only one will wind up happening, so the lessons drawn from the aftermath will be confined to whose argument was actually tested.

If Trump is the nominee and he wins the presidency, the "make the tent bigger" argument will be proven correct. If Trump loses the general, then "he was too extreme" will have been the right way of seeing things all along. If Cruz becomes the Republican nominee and wins the White House, then the Republican Party as a whole is going to take a very serious turn to the right. Purity will rule the day, and any hint of moderation will lead to condemnation (and primary challenges). If Cruz loses to a Democrat, then it may actually bury the "let's run a true conservative" argument for a generation's time, at least. If Ryan runs and nobody gets behind him (either a third party undermines his support, or even just a whole lot of Republican voters stay home and don't vote in November), then we may have an even more vicious fight for who sets the direction of the party the next time around. If Ryan does manage to win in November, then the Republican Party might have a golden opportunity to quash the influence of the Tea Party and all the other purists within their ranks.

No matter what happens, though, there will likely be a continuation of the soul-searching the party is currently engaged in. There are at least three major factions right now, all of whom are convinced that their way of looking at things is right and that everyone else in the party is wrong. Only one of these will even get the chance to prove their theory. No matter who gets the nomination in the end, it may do nothing to unite the party. This means that even beyond the 2016 election, there is most likely going to be a continuing struggle over which direction the party should be heading towards. No matter what happens in the presidential race, it's going to be difficult to reconcile the various perceptions within the Republican ranks -- and it's going to be especially difficult if the Democrat wins in November.

Chris Weigant blogs at:
With over 132 million copies of his books sold, including the immensely popular The Very Hungry Caterpillar, honorary degrees bestowed upon him, and numerous awards for his work, Eric Carle chooses to downplay his own talent and focus on those who have helped him become one of the world's most-beloved children's book illustrators. "I feel very grateful for many things -- being able to do the artistic work I love and to have had numerous, generous 'door openers' in my life -- people who have helped me to find my true course."

Born in Syracuse, New York, Carle's parents moved back to Germany when he was a child. Adjusting to the move was difficult for the young Carle. "I started first grade twice -- once in the U.S. and once in Germany, both at the tender age of six," he says. "Two cultures, two languages, two different teaching methods." His personal experience had a lasting impact on him and his attitude towards childhood. "I am especially interested in a child's transition from home to school because this can be quite traumatic," he says. "For me, it was a particularly difficult period in my own life and I hope my books will help to make this transition easier for children."

Carle had an artistic bent from an early age. "I have always loved to draw and have been making pictures ever since I was a very young child," he says. His earliest mentor was his father, who used to take Carle on nature walks through the woods as a boy, leading to a lifelong interest in nature. "He'd lift up a rock and show me the small creatures that lived underneath it," says Carle. "I think in my books, I honor my father by writing about small living things."

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Others saw potential in Carle as well, including his first grade teacher in Syracuse, who he calls one of the most influential and important people in his life. "Miss Frickey encouraged my creative interests at that early age and impressed upon my parents that they must nurture and encourage my talents as a visual person, which they did," he says.

While living in Germany, Carle studied art and graphic design. He was taken under the wing of an instructor who ignored Nazi restrictions and bans placed on great works of art. "My brave teacher Herr Krauss, at great personal risk, secretly showed me the reproductions of paintings of modern and expressionistic art deemed 'degenerate' at that time," Carle says. "The paintings were unlike anything I had been exposed to before. This experience at first shocked me and I found it unsettling. But in the end, it changed my view of art, though I didn't know it at the time." Carle was further shaped by one Professor Schneidler, whom he studied under at the Akademie der bildenden Kunste in Stuttgart. "He instilled in me the principles of design that remain true for my work today," Carle says. "Simplify and refine, be logical and harmonious."

As an adult, Carle moved back to New York where he worked as a graphic designer for The New York Times and served as an art director at an advertising agency. By chance, children's author Bill Martin, Jr. saw an advertisement featuring a red lobster designed by Carle. Martin was so impressed by the colorful crustacean, he asked Carle to illustrate his latest book, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?. Carle, who was in his late 30s at the time, sensed the beginning of something epic. "What an inspiring book!" he recalls. "I was set on fire! It was possible, after all, to do something special that would show a child the joy to be found in books. This opportunity changed my life."

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Rather than drawing or painting, Carle illustrates with collage. While his work is instantly, undeniably recognized as his own, he's quick to point out that many artists have used the technique before him. "Matisse and Picasso are famous for their collages," he noted, adding that picture-book artists Leo Lionni and Ezra Jack Keats also employed the method.

Carle spent much time experimenting before he perfected his signature style. "I first made collage out of painted papers in art school," he says, adding that in order to get the exact shades and tones he wanted, he created his own colored tissue paper. "Initially, I just added a few brush strokes of paint to the commercially available colored tissue papers," he explains. "Then I discovered that the commercially available tissue papers faded after some time, so now I use only unpainted tissue paper and acrylic paint in all colors." Carle's process has evolved over time. "Over the years, my painted papers have become more detailed, complex, and richer, and some have become works of art in themselves," he says.

Carle's classic The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which follows the gastronomic adventures of a somewhat clumsy critter and his metamorphosis into a beautiful butterfly, has been translated into 62 languages and sold millions of copies around the world. "I didn't realize it right away, but I believe the popularity of the book, which I first published in 1969, was because it is a book about hope," says Carle. "It says you, too, little caterpillar, can grow and change into a beautiful butterfly, spread your wings, and fly off into the world."

In 2002, the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art opened in Amherst, Massachusetts. Among the features of this attraction are three galleries exhibiting an ever-changing collection of artwork created by picture book artists from around the world. There's also a hands-on art studio, an auditorium, and of course, a library. It has become a mecca for families and school field trips with over half a million people having passed through its doors. Carle says he and his wife Barbara were inspired to open such a place after visiting a number of picture-book museums during a trip to Japan. "We decided to create a museum in this country to encourage, especially in children and their families, an appreciation for and an understanding of the art of the picture book," he says. According to Carle, his wish for those who visit his museum is much like his wish for the audience who reads his books. "I hope my books are entertaining, interesting, and pass along some learning as well."

Photo by Kristin Angel. Article by Melissa Fales, Story Monsters Ink magazine. www.StoryMonsters.com
Late last month a Virginia State Trooper was shot and killed in the line of duty. Unfortunately, rather than addressing this as the tragic and senseless event that it is, conservative media outlets like Fox News are attempting to paint this singular attack as an epidemic with headlines like "Va. trooper's killer reportedly hated cops, stoking new fears of anti-police climate." Police officers, like many other occupations, put their lives on the line on a daily basis, so the threat of death is nothing new for them; but for the conservative media, stoking fear has become a cottage industry.



Data show that the number of police officers killed in the line of duty is near historic lows. When taking into account population increase and the corresponding expansion of the police force in the US, the data show there has never been a safer time to be a police officer. In fact, you are more likely to die on the job if you work in the landscape or waste management industries. Beyond that, statistics show that targeted attacks on cops is nothing new with an average of 64 attacks per year between 1980 and 2014, with 2013 being the lowest over that 35 year span.



Despite this reality, the conservative media has spent the last few years attempting to set a new narrative to combat the outrage resulting from the 1,000 or so Americans that are killed by police every year. They claim that rhetoric surrounding some of the killings and the officers involved is putting police officers at risk.



The problem is that this stance seems very hypocritical when compared to how these same media outlets have handled the issues with other public sector jobs.



For example, over the past few years the conservative media have portrayed public school teachers as public enemy number one.



They claim that public school teachers make too much money; yet in many of the states that are used to illustrate this talking point, the police officers actually earn more, and they do so with lower education levels. It is estimated that only 25-30% of cops have four-year degrees. While the conservative media is happy to offer anecdotal evidence of individual teachers making well over $100,000 per year, you certainly won't hear them talking about the Boston police officer who took home $272,000 a few years back.



Another common complaint you'll hear from the conservative media is that it is impossible to fire bad teachers. Yet they ignore data from places like Philadelphia where an outside arbitrator reinstates 9 out of 10 officers fired by the police chief.



The conservative media is also very concerned that in some school districts former teachers or other individuals that are sympathetic to educators have been elected to the local school board, which means the teachers are negotiating their salary and benefits with a school board that includes some people that may not be completely impartial. Given that the vast majority of these board members have been elected by the community, it seems that the residents are not near as concerned about this issue. Having said that, if having a close relationship with the people in charge is an issue, then the conservative media should be outraged by the fact that police officers are practically immune from indictment, in part because of the cozy relationship they have with the prosecutor's office.



In addition to these double standards, the conservative media is fond of offering solutions for "fixing" public education that they would never suggest for their local police department. For instance, the conservative media loves the idea of paying teachers based on the results of their students, yet if you based police officer pay mainly on the amount of criminal activity that occurs in their precinct, there would be considerable push back. After all, how can you base the pay of all officers on the actions of others?



The conservative media also supports privatizing education because they believe the free market produces better results; however, no one seems to be talking about privatizing the police force to reduce crime or cut down on the number of unarmed citizens that are shot and killed. If the private sector is that superior, shouldn't we look at privatizing more public sector jobs than just teachers?



If an anti-police climate is a concern, then these hypocritical attacks on teachers should be an issue as well. Comments like those from Chris Christie, who called teachers unions "the single most destructive force in public education in America" that deserve a punch in the face, or John Kasich who would like to "break the back" of whiny teachers are clearly not establishing a pro-teacher climate. In fact, polls show that confidence in public education is near all-time lows and that rhetoric like this is clearly contributing. While these threats of violence might be in jest, it should be noted that the conservative media has created a climate of disrespect for teachers that has led to a record number of physical attacks on educators with over 200,000 attacks per year.



The reality is, the vast majority of police officers and teachers are good people who are great at what they do. Acting like one group can do no right while the other group can do no wrong is fantastic if your goal is fear mongering through misinformation, but it's probably the worst thing you can do if your goal is to be a fair and balanced news source.
When I was CEO from 2003 through 2008 at the Corporation for National and Community Service -- which oversees AmeriCorps, VISTA, Senior Corps and other elements of the country's investment in service -- I used to talk about moving our collective perception of service from "nice to necessary." I disparaged those who undervalued service: the media, for its flippant ("feature-story") coverage of the people who decrease prisoner recidivism rates, clean up from disasters and represent 70 percent of America's fire-fighters; philanthropic foundations, for failing to equip the nonprofits they support to deploy their strongest assets in performing its critical work; and policy-makers for perennially missing opportunities to augment and strengthen programs addressing critical social issues by engaging citizens in those programs.

Those criticisms, however, mask a deeper challenge that we in the service field brought on ourselves: a badly mixed message that promotes full-time, year-long, government-funded service in a way that implicitly -- and at times explicitly -- criticizes short-term, non-immersive service, called "episodic" volunteering. Ironically it is this latter service and volunteering activities that built the ethic of American volunteering to begin with. This service is undertaken by people who do other things full-time, and who serve as time permits, usually in support of a nonprofit organization.

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Disparagements of episodic volunteering have become a mantra that reverberates quietly among advocates for government funding, funders and academics: it is ineffective, it is inauthentic, it reflects the vanity of the volunteer rather than the needs of the community, it generates more cost than value for nonprofits, and it is culturally -- pick your word -- exploitative, appropriative, objectifying, insensitive, perpetuating of power and privilege imbalances.

There is a basis to these criticisms -- when there is poor planning or poor training, episodic volunteers can be a burden on nonprofits. But, this harvest of bad results is not unique to episodic volunteering. The fact is that any social change programming that is ill-conceived -- from community organizing to advocacy work, and from immersive service to philanthropic support -- will yield bad results.

Meanwhile, enormous damage is done to America's service movement when professionals judgmentally dismiss (even in whispers) the largest, most impactful, most locally driven, most historic, most organic ethic of volunteering to meet critical social needs ever driven by citizens of any country in the world. America's tens of millions of volunteers would likely be among national service's strongest supporters were the whiff of disdain were not so pronounced. This is especially true for faith-based volunteers -- by far the largest group -- and also the group most likely to feel disenfranchised from the secular service world.

Repair the World is the national Jewish service organization that envisions a Jewish community fully engaged in driving social change to improve lives and communities around it through volunteering and service. I became CEO of Repair in 2013, eager to hasten the normalization of service in the Jewish community and to realize the strengthened relationships across racial and demographic divides that I had seen service foster in the secular world. As I worked with the staff and board to achieve those goals through local pilot projects, we designed Repair the World Communities -- what has become our flagship program operating in multiple communities. In each city, our Communities model leverages eight year-long, immersive-service fellows to engage thousands of Jewish young adults to participate in service-related activities alongside them. The fellows recruit and engage volunteers to serve our mostly-secular nonprofit partners doing the best work locally with poor communities tackling education and food justice issues.

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Before starting the program under the entrepreneur's credo of "launch and learn," we commissioned an Independent Evaluation of Communities' impact over its first two years to be completed at the end of 2015; Repair is currently releasing the data from that evaluation.

The data demonstrates several findings of significance to the larger service community about episodic service:

 The over 10,000 young adults who participated last year in programming in Baltimore, Brooklyn, Detroit, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh expanded the capacity of the nonprofit partners engaged in furthering education and food justice in the local communities. Virtually all partners asked to continue the work, and significant numbers of new organizations are now lining up to partner. (Note that Repair did not provide financial support to its nonprofit partners to ensure that partners' motivation to participate was entirely due to the benefits from the service itself.)

 A significant majority of participants are returning, with more than a third participating four or more times, signaling a robust pipeline toward deeper, sustained involvement in the work, and many are even building communities around the cause and service they care about.

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 The drivers of the repeated, deepening engagement for these participants are the authenticity and the impact of the work itself, the opportunity to serve with others who care about the same things, and the opportunity to form meaningful relationships with people from communities different than their own.

 Of significant value to all -- participants, nonprofits, the community with which volunteers serve and the Jewish community -- is the adoption by Repair's service model of certain best practices from the service-learning field, especially the belief that effective service always includes three elements: hands on (direct) volunteering, contextual education, and opportunities for personal reflection.

In other words, the challenges around episodic volunteering don't arise from the nature of the short-term engagement; but, rather, they stem from the need for smart and effective execution of these programs.

I can imagine three consequential outcomes from a behavior shift where the national-service advocacy community moved from the current posture of "frenemy" with the episodic service field and, instead, embraced it as equally worthy of support from funders, policy-makers and community leaders, and better leveraged the year-long service corps to improve the quality and reach of episodic volunteering programs. First, the breadth of public support for American service would become full-throated, with the faith-based community and the broader nonprofit community becoming non-conflicted in their enthusiasm.

Second, strong alignment (real and substantive, not just public-facing) between the episodic volunteering and national-service communities would blunt the edges of partisanship, which too often play out in zero-sum optics between the progressive favor toward federally-funded year-long service programs and conservative preferences for private-citizen volunteering through community or faith-based nonprofits.

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And, third, the genuine alignment of these movements -- and the subsequent service-related alignments it would allow among the policy, funding, business, academic, faith-based and nonprofit sectors -- would offer America our best chance yet for expanding the larger service movement to make both year-long and episodic service normative in our communities and to fully engage our citizens in the crucial work of understanding and addressing our social challenges.
The armed police division of China's army tests a new style of shoe

Sinking into the plush chairs in the cavernous Fujian Room of China's Great Hall of the People, I soak in my surroundings as President Xi Jinping's interpreter artfully translates Xi's Chinese aphorisms into poetic English. The brightly-lit room is decorated in muted green, orange, and gold from the immense hand-woven carpet to the intricate gilded molding dressing the tall ceiling.

Sitting directly across from me, on the long side of the traditional horseshoe seating arrangement, are four of China's top Ministers (all male) in various stages of slouch. My side of the horseshoe -- also all men (besides me) -- the American delegation of policy and business leaders are intently focused on Xi's remarks about bringing positive energy to US-China relations.

Looking down my row, I can't help but notice, flat on the floor, six pairs of identical black leather lace-up shoes pointing outward in unison. These conservative shoes are part of the standard uniform of the East coast businessman. As I glance across the vast carpet at my Chinese counterparts' shoes, each pair is distinctly different.

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They say you can tell a lot about a man by his shoes. In the Journal of Research of Personality, recent research shows that people can accurately judge 90 percent of a stranger's personality by their shoe choice. Could I gather some fresh perspective on these leaders through their sartorial decisions?

China is a land of symbolism. One must sift through the bureaucrat-speak of a Chinese official, listening carefully for the one or two phrases that deviate from the standard litany to suss out the meaning in any meeting. The Chinese language, both written and spoken, richly lends itself to visual and oral puns. For example, the Chinese word for apple, Pingguo, is similar to the word for peace, Pingan. Thus an apple serves as a visual representation of peace. During the Cultural Revolution, wearing a part on the right side of one's hair could result in harsh punishment for being a "rightist" or counterrevolutionary. Still today, few Chinese men part their hair to the right or to the left; it is brushed straight back or over the part. Shoe choice is a subtle signal sent by the man wearing them.

Even the selection of our meeting room in the vast People's Hall, which houses rooms named after all Chinese provinces, was ladened with symbolism. The ornate Fujian Room is an interesting choice for this simply attired President who launched China's current austerity campaign to keep the Communist Party on par with the everyday people. Yet it is President Xi's preferred meeting spot with foreign guests. The Fujian Room was named after one of the four provinces where Xi served in office, and was also a favorite of Chairman Mao; perhaps this is why it is Xi's favorite?

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Xi Jinping has a reputation as a practical man who thinks big. He has consolidated power faster than any Chinese President since Deng Xiaoping, yet still has significant challenges ahead in implementing his ambitious reform agenda. Xi's shoe style reflects his get-to-work attitude -- leather shoes with faux laces. No wasting time with real laces; just slip them on and get to work.

Premier Li Keqiang's shoe of choice is a Chinese Hush-Puppy style, but, by contrast, he takes the time to lace them. These comfortable brogues match the quiet technocrat personality of the Premier. An accomplished economist, Li speaks perfect English, is engaging in meetings, but prudent and technical in his work style. Hence the precise bows tied in his laces.

One of the most powerful men in China is Wang Qishan, leader of the campaign to catch "tigers and flies" -- or the powerful and the low-level corrupt officials. An academic by training, banker by practice, and an economic visionary, Wang's style is simple, black polished leather. Though these banker shoes shod his feet in public meetings, it's a well-known secret that he prefers China's traditional cloth slippers when not in formal settings. Wang is a practical man known as China's "fixer." Brought back from exile to handle the SARS crisis in 2002, Wang kept China's economy growing during the global financial crisis in 2008, and now is critical to Xi's ability to implement his agenda.

Vice Premier Wang Yang oversees China's trade relationship and economic engagement with the United States, among other critical issues. This is a new field to him, and he is following the policy lead of his predecessor, the aforementioned Wang Qishan. What shoes does he wear? Wang Yang follows the fashion trend of his Big Boss. Like the President, Wang Yang selects slip-on leather shoes with faux laces. Whatever his intentions, these shoes signal that it is unlikely that Wang Yang will get out ahead of his boss -- either politically or sartorially.

The analytical technique holds up with China's Cabinet as well. The Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, sports highly polished, Italian leather lace-up shoes that could compete with a global investment banker's. They complement his dapper, fitted suits and bright ties. Everything about Wang Yi is organized, put together, but cautious. After all, his goal is to make the foreigners feel comfortable.

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The Finance Minister, Lou Jiwei, is an academic. He selects comfortable, well-worn, slightly scuffed lace ups -- as close to a tennis shoe as possible for a senior official. A cerebral man, Lou cares more about his economic agenda than his attire. His 1970s style suits drown his tall frame. The Commerce Minister, Gao Hucheng, tends to favor non-descript, simple but neat black lace-up shoes. As an economist, he does nothing rash -- in action or attire -- nor does he wish to stand out.
The fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh is like a chronic affliction that simmers down but never really stops. Escalations in the level of hostilities regularly arrive with melt-offs of the mountain snow. However, the eruption that began on April 2nd has flared up to levels unseen since the 1990s.

A fragile cease-fire is holding, but this unstable equilibrium can blow up with consequences for the South Caucasus and beyond. Turkish-Russian tensions are at their highest since the end of the Cold War. With Washington AWOL and the U.S. busy with its most polarizing electoral campaign since 1964, Russia is likely to take this opportunity to consolidate its sphere of influence and boost its power in its southern flank.

While biological metaphors in social sciences are abhorrent, chronic conflicts do have a disease-like, incurable quality. Just think of the Arab-Israeli or Northern Ireland situations. Nagorno-Karabakh has long been an area of such chronic ethno-religious clashes. The territory was populated by Christian Armenians and Shia Turks (Azeris); the Persian and the Russian Empires ruled it for centuries.

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After the fall of the Romanovs in 1917, the Bolsheviks under Joseph Stalin's leadership, made this mostly ethnically Armenian area an Autonomous Region of Soviet Azerbaijan. Some Armenian lands were also divided between communist Russia and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's ascendant Turkish Republic under the Treaty of Kars (1921). Today, many in Armenia question the validity of that treaty, as both contracting parties were not yet established at the time of the signature, but it had been observed for over 90 years. Any unilateral revisions are likely to lead to a war.

Tensions between the Armenians and Azerbaijanis were largely contained under the Soviet empire, but exploded in 1988. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Karabakh declared "independence", the fighting escalated, and 600,000 Azeris were ethnically cleansed from Karabakh and seven districts of Azerbaijan; while 300,000 Armenians from Azerbaijan fled to Armenia. A cease-fire was brokered by Russia in 1994. Since then, the conflict persists, and Armenia is still occupying seven Azeri districts. Armenian territorial ambition is clearly a conflict driver.

Unfortunately, the U.S. and the West have neglected the regional dimensions of the conflict, despite the fact that it has implications for clashes of interest involving Russia, Turkey, Iran, the EU and the U.S.

Russia is using peaceful rhetoric while selling arms to both sides. It has also destabilized two South Caucasus republics: Georgia and Azerbaijan - and built up power in the region.

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Massive Russian power is projected through bases in Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Armenia: the air force, and air-defense control the joint Russian-Armenian air envelope over the South Caucasus.

The Russian military presence has been building up in Armenia for decades. The recent clashes in Nagorno-Karabakh will give Moscow excuses to deploy Russian peace-keepers, making this "frozen" conflict into a Russian dessert.

Russia is also weaponizing regional transportation corridors, connecting its railways to those of Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Iran, thus creating a South-North axis. Another railroad goes from Russia through Abkhazia via Georgia to Armenia - and on to Iran.

The military build-up in the region will also allow Russia to disrupt the East-West Corridor between Europe and Central Asia via Azerbaijan and Georgia, including the Southern Energy corridor, which harbors two main export pipelines for oil and gas.

The Karabakh conflict threatens 1 million barrels a day of Azeri oil that is delivered through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, and 16 billion cubic meters of gas now supplied to Georgia and Turkey - and when the TANAP/TAP pipelines are completed - to Europe as well.

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It is unfortunate that the EU and the U.S. have persistently refused to have a look at the maps and move to protect Western interests with more than words. For example, there were only six Western OSCE observers along the Line of Contact between Karabakh, Armenia and Azerbaijan, which is risible. Both the US and the EU/France, as co-chairs of the Minsk Group have been completely inefficient in resolving the conflict and preventing new clashes.

U.S. involvement in the region is lukewarm - to our own peril. President Obama refused to meet with President Ilham Aliyev during the Nuclear Summit held in Washington just days before the clash. Nor did he host a triangular meeting with Aliyev and Armenian President Serge Sargsyan. Joe Biden's separate meetings with the two failed to stave off the mayhem.

At the rate the current presidential campaign is going, there are some candidates in both parties who cannot spell Azerbaijan, let alone Karabakh. Pointing to it on the map is definitely out of question. With such Commanders-in-Chief in waiting, the American ability to furnish leadership is at grave risk.

Even after the hostilities erupted earlier this month, evidence of Obama's leadership remained amiss. This has left Russia to play the diplomat. This helps Russia to break out of its international isolation, and divert the world's attention from Moscow's share of the Panama Papers revelations. The latest cease-fire was negotiated by Russia directly, bypassing the Minsk group.

In fact, the US and the EU are allowing Russia to rebuild its imperial, neo-Soviet sphere of influence. In the long term, this is definitely not in the interests of United States -- or of its European allies and Turkey. Nor will the post-Soviet states benefit from it, not even Armenia, which is increasingly becoming Russia's fiefdom.

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Many higher education institutions are considering and implementing radical transformative strategies to address current challenges. For example, the rate of consolidation and mergers in higher education has tripled in the last four years, as state funding shrinks and enrollments plateau.

A barrier to successfully navigating these complex changes is finding the right leaders - those who can operate in extreme ambiguity, who can understand and accept multiple perspectives, who can effectively manage extreme multitasking and project management, and who are fearless, yet compassionate and approachable (more on this in this blog in the weeks to come). Identifying these 'right leaders', however, takes time and patience as they are generally rare commodities.

A byproduct of the protracted search for the right leadership is an increased need for interim leaders to help guide institutions through these transitions. Such was the case at Georgia Regents University (GRU; now named Augusta University) which undertook not one, but two complicated institutional consolidations within a span of three years, to yield a comprehensive research-level university and an integrated academic health center and health system. That we were successful is testament to the dedicated efforts of countless individuals on our faculty and staff, notably our interim leaders.

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Searching for internal Interim leaders

In transformative environments many administrators may prefer to bring in external candidates for interim positions, who then bring a fresh perspective and experience without the "baggage" of internal politics. However, baggage or not, our strategy of engaging internal interims was both pragmatic and necessary. We were undertaking relatively rapid transformation in an environment that was relatively insular and had seen little change in decades, with little in the way of additional funding.

Hence, we aimed to place leaders who didn't require lengthy onboarding time and who were already familiar with the people, practices, culture, and politics that drove the organization. In fact, during the peak period of change, some 75 percent of our top executives bore the title "interim" -- an extraordinarily high number historically.

The process we implemented to identify internal leaders was similar to that of an external search, though far less costly and extended. Search committees of no more than four members were charged with casting a wide net internally to identify potential candidates for interim positions. Interviews were conducted, and the top three candidates, in no particular order, were recommended to the immediate supervisor for a final decision.

While many of those who applied were perhaps expected, the process also attracted faculty and staff who might not otherwise have been "top of mind", expanding the portfolio of internal leaders and giving leadership opportunity to many new individuals on campus.



Not just 'holding down the fort '

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Traditionally, interim leaders have been tasked with caretaking, 'holding down the fort', until the position is permanently filled. Our interim leaders were not afforded that luxury however, as we counted on them to ensure the aggressive transformative agenda was being implemented. To help ensure their success we provided our interim leaders:

Clear objectives. We provided specific and measurable assignments and goals, directing and equipping our interims to achieve key deliverables that would further the university's mission.

We provided specific and measurable assignments and goals, directing and equipping our interims to achieve key deliverables that would further the university's mission. Empowerment. We made it clear that interims were not placeholders, but had the authority to lead, manage,... and make mistakes.

We made it clear that interims were not placeholders, but had the authority to lead, manage,... and make mistakes. Honest open communication. Several interim leaders reported that frank open communication freed them to focus on the job at hand and spend less time mulling over personal options or concerns.

Several interim leaders reported that frank open communication freed them to focus on the job at hand and spend less time mulling over personal options or concerns. Mentorship and team-building. Leaders -- both interim and permanent -- spent significant time together not only to build new policies and strategies, but to provide mentoring and solidify a team structure.

Leaders -- both interim and permanent -- spent significant time together not only to build new policies and strategies, but to provide mentoring and solidify a team structure. Leadership development and training. Interim leaders were provided ample leadership development training and, in fact, developing system of supports for our interims became the first step in establishing a more fully formed institutional process for leadership development and advancement.

Interim leaders were provided ample leadership development training and, in fact, developing system of supports for our interims became the first step in establishing a more fully formed institutional process for leadership development and advancement. Opportunity. In addition to leadership development opportunities, interims were allowed to apply for the permanent position, if they chose to. Eventually, approximately 60 percent of interims decided to be considered for the permanent position and overall about 40 percent of positions were filled by interims.

The rigorous and structured strategy we employed to identify and select internal interim leaders contributed to GRU's successful transformation in several important ways, including:

Allowing scarce time and money to be spent on the critical tasks of consolidation rather than on identifying, onboarding and training new leaders who were unfamiliar with the institution.

Fostering buy-in for what turned out to be an extended period of significant and difficult change, both from the interims themselves and from their staffs and organizations, where they were already known and respected.

Leveraging decades of institutional knowledge to ensure a minimum of disruptions to operations.

Preparing talented and dedicated emerging and future leaders -- many of whom were largely unknown prior to seizing the opportunity and rising to the challenge.
" Because of my field Goal 4, Quality Education, is very important to me, and I am equally passionate about ending hunger, Goal 1, and gender equality, Goal 5. Education should be equitable and it should be done in a language the children can understand " ~ Kola Tubosun

Backdrop

Kola Tubosun made history in January 2016 when he was named 2016 recipient of the Premio Ostana International Award for Scriptures in the Mother Tongue--the first African to win this prestigious award. Also in 2015 he received the Culture Award at the CNN Multichoice African Journalist Awards 2015 for his story on "Abeokuta's Living History".

I got really interested in his work when I came across his project YorubaName.com, a website that can tell you the meaning and pronunciation for over 3,100 yoruba names and counting, and when I got to read about his exploits and activism for Nigerian Indigenous Languages and the Yoruba language in particular.

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Kola, who had also previously translated the Nigerian constitution and the SDGs to Yoruba, shares with me some ideas to revive the Nigerian indigenous languages; his work with Google, and how his background and family influenced his current career path.

Listen to our conversation on the #StrollPodcast or read a summarized transcript below



What is YorubaName.com?

Kola: YorubaName.com is an intervention basically. It's an idea that has been with me for a long time. It's about documenting not just Yoruba names, but the whole African literary and cultural experience on the internet. Yoruba names is just a part of the whole idea, and the plan is to have all the names borne by Yoruba people, online in a way that people can access it to hear the pronunciation, to see how it is spelt, to know the meaning and any other related information. We did this because so many people don't know what their names mean, and many people who know these meanings are dying off. So we're raising children who grow up without adequate knowledge of their history and background.

I realized putting that online will make it available to everyone because the internet is where people can access things from anywhere in the world. There are books, but it's hard to find books in a specific bookstore or a specific country, but if it is online anybody can access it. It's a bigger resource as the internet has made life a lot easier. That's what YorubaName.com is all about.

Working with Google and the Intersection of Linguistics and Technology?

Kola: I'm with Google on a temporary basis to work on a specific project which doesn't have anything to do with Yoruba at all. However, like I said, technology is a very important tool in today's world; if you don't have access to technology you are far less likely to be as efficient as you could be. So, much of what Google is doing as well is also about documenting information and making it available for people to use in order to achieve their objectives. One of what I am working on at Google, which I am not allowed to talk about, has to do with language but not Yoruba in the way I'm working on it for YorubaName.com.

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What Ignited your Passion for Languages?

Kola: It's an interesting question that I have tried to answer myself for a long time. When I look back at my childhood I see that I grew up in an environment where Yoruba was spoken as a first language. My parents spoke Yoruba at home, and they also let me go to Private Schools where English was spoken, so I had a chance to acquire both languages at the same time.

My father also worked in Literature, he has written books, he was also a TV and Radio producer, and he also produced a lot of indigenous Yoruba language albums. So, I guess maybe from there I got an inspiration to be particularly conscious about this, but he didn't force to follow his path, I have siblings who are accountants and working in different fields. Overtime I guess growing up in an environment where it feels normal to care about your culture and what you do, and in the University I studied Linguistics, so I realized I was in a unique an important position to contribute to this field.

When I was in the University, if anybody had told me that I would still be in Linguistics 10 years after, I probably would have doubted even though I enjoyed Linguistics as a course. But overtime, I realized that there are so many things that have to be done that are not being done because nobody is stepping up, and I occupy a very unique role to contribute to it. So, I said well, instead of complaining of what we don't have, why don't I do what I can to bring a solution?

Advising the Nigerian Government on Reviving Nigeria's Indigenous Languages

Kola: First of all, I'll like to say it's not just the government. Pupils, Student, and as individuals we have to do what we can by ourselves first. For parents, speaking their language to their children, and making sure that they provide resources for them not just in English but also in their indigenous language.

Of course Government has a role to play because they have resources, what I will say is that they should devote more resources to Nigerian Languages, and one of the things they can do that is easy and won't cost anything is, first of all, let us know how many languages we have. All the data you will find online and everywhere else about the languages we have in Nigeria are outdated, and based on estimates. The census document we administer during our national census doesn't ask for what languages a person speaks, and that's unfortunate because we have so many languages that are dying off and we don't know because there's no way to find out. So, I advise that whenever we have the next census, we should ask questions about the language an individual speaks fluently as a first language, as a second language, and what other language(s) they know but do not speak fluently. That way we get a fairly good understanding of the language ecosystem in Nigeria, and then we can identify the ones that are falling short and work to revive them.

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Also, I believe that school education--and this is not just me there's plenty research on this--for the first two years of a child's life in school should be administered in their mother tongue. And we have it as one of our National Educational guidelines but it's never implemented. If you allow children to learn in their mother tongue, they will acquire the knowledge much better than if you force them to learn it in English. Every year thousands of Children fall short of the admission requirement because they didn't get a credit in English; which is unfortunate because English is not their first language!

There are many ideas that you want to pass across in Chemistry, in Physics, in Biology, etc that you can probably do more efficiently if you teach them in their local language. What you're trying to do is to raise people who are competent, and who are knowledgeable in a particular field. Education is about empowering people to be able to do things, so it really doesn't matter whether it is done in English or it's not. The people you're teaching, if they can understand what you're saying, and you understand the concept of what you're trying to preach or to work on, then you can use that to solve a problem. So if that is done, I believe that we're going to unleash a generation of really smart and innovative Nigerians.

#MySDGs: What is/are your Favourite SDG(s) and how will you contribute to its Achievement by 2030?

Kola: Education will probably be my first, but I know that ending hunger and poverty is also very important. Because of my field Goal 4, Quality Education, is very important to me. Also Education should be equitable; it should be done in a language the children can understand, and the idea of denying students admission to University because they don't speak English is very very very unfortunate, and I think it is setting us back so much. I am passionate about education but also about ending hunger (Goal1) and gender equality (Goal 5)

______________________

Food for the Soul: "And the Lord said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them." (Genesis 11:6, ESV)

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(Images Credit: Kola Tubosun, SDGs Nigeria)
On Saturday, April 9, my sorority and I brought the #SleepRevolution to the University of Alabama. I was so excited to educate my sisters on the prevalence and danger of sleep deprivation and to discuss how the phenomenon affects each other in our daily lives as college students.

We wasted no time in getting all cozied up in our Lands' End PJs! They were perfect for a girl's afternoon in.

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After we enjoyed some delicious KIND snacks, I jumped right into our sleep discussion. I first asked my sisters how they felt about the tendency for college students to adopt the "I'll sleep when I'm dead" mentality - how staying awake longer is becoming a way to measure success. The rationalization for this notion varied among my group. "We live at a university where we are always trying to get ahead," one sister explained. Even when she tries to take a night for herself to relax, she ends up feeling guilty that she isn't being more productive. Another sister mentioned how she views sleep as more of a reward than a necessity. "Oh, I get to sleep in until 9 a.m. tomorrow?" she asked, "Then I must stay up until 2 a.m. to get more work done."

We also discussed the role of peer pressure in depriving ourselves of sleep. One of my sisters said that people make fun of her for going to bed early, and she is often coaxed into going out with her friends instead. The temptation of going out and partying the night away rather than catching up on some Z's can seem like a better reward for the hard work you completed during the day. The immense pressure to be social seemed to be a common source of sleep deprivation among my friends.

It became apparent that sleep has not been a top priority for my sisters. When I asked them where sleep ranked among school and social life, for most it was dead last. One sister said that she often stays up until 4 a.m. doing homework and will still be up in time to go to her 8 a.m. class. She claims she trained her body to have her her prime productivity levels begin at 11 p.m. and does her best work while everyone else is asleep. Only two sisters mentioned that they usually put sleep before social life - they know how poorly they will feel if they show up to their early morning classes after a late night out and only four hours of sleep.

My next question was seemingly simple: So, what do we do? How do we fix our sleep habits? Although these solutions may be much easier said than done at first, here is what we came up with:

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1. Put yourself first and don't overbook yourself.

School is important, but your well-being is more important. Only you know your limits and need to accept when it is time to take a break and take a nap.

2. Budget your time and don't procrastinate.

In order to get the sleep you need, you have to set aside specific time to do the most important things in your day first. If you are a part of a student organization, make sure you give yourself enough time to fulfill your commitments, so you aren't staying up late trying to make time for everything.

3. Realize that in order to achieve good and efficient work, you need sleep.



This was a huge point my sisters and I appreciated Arianna Huffington making in her TED Talk. Huffington explained that "the way to a more productive, more inspired, more joyful life is more sleep." One of my sisters elaborated onto this concept by saying, "Adopting healthy habits now as a 19-year-old college student will allow you to work your way up to achieve your bigger goals as you get older. It all starts with sleep."

To wrap things up, I asked the group to tell me about their relationship with sleep. Here were their responses:

"I love it, but I can't get enough!"

"Going to bed is my favorite part of the day."

"My bed is my favorite place."

All of my sisters yearned for a stronger, healthier, happier bond with sleep, but after our discussion, they all understood that they needed to make that change for themselves.

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By Winsome Leslie and Wayne Beecher



Winsome Leslie is the Multilateral Investment Fund's regional supervisor for the English-speaking Caribbean and Haiti. Previously, she was the economic attache at the Embassy of Jamaica in Washington, D.C. She has a PhD in International Relations from Columbia University.

Do the belief, attitudes, and personality of business owners or managers matter in determining the probability of business success and the creditworthiness of the enterprise? And if so, could this "psychological capital" be leveraged as a predictive tool not only for credit appraisal decisions, but also to provide broader support to small businesses? Pioneering work done in Jamaica suggests that it could.



The use of psychometric tools in pre-employment screening is now an established practice among human resource professionals. Applying a similar logic to the identification of entrepreneurs with the capacity and willingness to successfully manage a credit relationship with financial institutions has been gaining traction. This is particularly the case in developing economies, where many small and micro entrepreneurs have limited amounts of capital, and thus are unable to meet the collateral requirements for accessing finance from commercial banks.

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The Entrepreneurial Finance Lab (EFL) has tested various psychometric instruments on more than 2,000 entrepreneurs across Africa and Latin America. EFL's psychometric credit-scoring tool focuses on a psychological profile--the entrepreneur's attitudes and beliefs, performance, and integrity. This has established the fundamentals for the emergence of the concept of "psychological collateral"--the psychological dispositions that affect business success and probability of loan repayment. EFL has pilot tested this concept in Peru and Haiti with the support of the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) of the Inter-American Development Bank Group.



Scotiabank Jamaica

Combining psychometrics with business and credit risk rating



A recent project in Jamaica, by Scotiabank Jamaica and the MIF, has taken the psychometric approach a step further. The Scotiabank Enterprise-Wide Risk Management & Financing (SERMAF) project combined psychometric analysis with a methodology for business and credit-risk rating originally developed for micro and small businesses in a previous project done by Scotiabank Jamaica and the MIF. This was the first attempt to introduce a specially designed risk-rating measure for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises as an assessment tool for lending to this sector in Jamaica, and by extension, the Caribbean.



Using this broader combined approach, SERMAF collected data from 1,008 businesses in a random sample, which as it turns out provided a window into the overall strengths and weaknesses of these businesses. In addition to being significant in helping to define their creditworthiness for Scotiabank financing, and the probability of loan repayment, the data was also useful in determining the efficiency and competitiveness of each business relative to the mean of the normal distribution calculated from the data.

The analysis conducted in Jamaica revealed the following findings:

The psychometric indicators proved particularly important in predicting the possibility of negative earnings, and therefore business risk.

From the sample, more than 600 businesses were rated for creditworthiness, and of these, 100 were rated as the most efficient.

The survey results showed that only a third of top-performing businesses were women-owned. The psychometric data suggests that there are gender differences in the attitudes and beliefs of female and male business owners, and that these differences matter in determining the competitive efficiency and creditworthiness of the business. One example is that female entrepreneurs generally tend to be more risk averse and therefore adopt more elaborate decision-making and internal control protocols.

While this analysis was done on a relatively small scale, mainstreaming this effort to the broader population of small businesses will not only provide useful data on the sector, but also can form the basis for targeted financial and technical support to small businesses to further improve their operational performance and efficiency. Since the analysis facilitates the targeting of dynamic firms, tailor-made programs beyond just financing can be designed to take these businesses to the next level.

Furthermore, this process could be useful in fostering innovation at the business level to drive economic growth. This methodology can be used to determine the extent to which small businesses either use or possess intellectual property assets, such as patents or trademarks, to ultimately support and drive innovation at the sector level. In Jamaica, entrepreneurs are coming up with game-changing innovations and working to bring them to market. For example, Jamaica-based Revofarm has developed a mobile application to connect farmers to markets and the company has teamed up with U.S.-based company aWhere to deliver weather information to small farmers.

Wayne Beecher



Wayne Beecher oversees the Multilateral Investment Fund's portfolio of operations in Jamaica, The Bahamas, and Belize. He has a bachelor's degree from The University of the West Indies and an MBA from The University of New Orleans.
Taking The Donald to Toddler Town

So far, Ive dealt with Donald Trumps bid for the White House as performance art: a clever, full-body, self-marketing scheme in the fashion of actor Joaquin Phoenix restyling himself as a hip hop artist to promote his mockumentary Im Still Here. You remember that odd media moment from a few years back, right? When the handsome star of the Johnny Cash biopic Walk The Line grew a huge beard and rapped incoherently on David Letterman? I cant be the only one, can I?

So I keep waiting for the Trump-presidential-run punch line. I mean, what is his endless campaign thats conquered Americas and even the worlds attention 24/7 really selling: the new Trumptopian private community on the Moon (or in Burma)?

Still, after all these months -- can it truly be nearly a year and not an eon or two? -- I guess I finally have to accept that hes really running for president and I have to figure out how to explain Donald Trump to my kids. At nine, three, and two, they may be the only Americans left who arent in the know when it comes to The Donald -- and, believe me, I have no illusions. This is going to be tough! After all, he makes me scream at the screen, which leads my kids to wonder not about him but about their mom. It goes without saying (which is undoubtedly why Im saying it) that hes the antithesis of everything I believe in. Why are you not surprised by this? Im way left of Bernie Sanders. I dont usually admit it in public, but Im probably going to vote for Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein. She talks about deep system change and a human-centered economy, and thats the kind of talk I like.

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Please note that, in good Mom fashion, so far Ive used only I statements and Im always polite (when not screaming at that screen). Come to think of it, I pretty much only argue about politics with other people who read the New York Times with a highlighter in one hand, their indignation in reserve, and a pad of paper ready to make notes for their next rational (yet withering) letter to the editor that wont be published.

So, it's no surprise that Donald Trump pushes all my buttons, even a few I hadnt noticed that I had, which is why Ive tried to relegate him to the National Enquirer end of the media-political spectrum. But now that the Enquirer is breaking stories of political import in the era of The Donald and hes even more of a household name than ever, its time to reconcile with reality. Its time to accept that, even though (or do I mean because?) hes racist and sexist, blustering and entitled, full of lies and blames and hates, hes a Republican presidential candidate of consequence. I know, I know -- Im the last person in the United States to do this, but bear with me.

And even if he doesnt win (please, GOD, yes!), who can deny that this election says something sad, troubling, and important, if not -- in the Trumpian tradition -- unbearably self-important, about our country? I imagine a President Trump and I immediately want to move my whole family to the other side of his big, fat, future beautiful wall on the border with Mexico.

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All of this means that maybe trying to explain The Donald Phenomenon to my kids is a lost cause from the start. Ill just get screechy and irrational and nine-year-old Rosena will go into preteen mode and roll her eyes, while three-year-old Seamus will say: "Mom, why are you pullin' on your hair and cryin'?" As Im reading about Trump, however -- and like all Americans these days, to read is to Trump and to view is to Trump, so Im totally Trumped -- Ive been thinking lately that maybe I have the whole thing upside down. Its not that I should teach my kids about him, but that my kids could teach him a thing or two about how to be a good person. They could make him great again! Maybe what we need to do is take Donald Trump back to toddler town.

Mine Is a Chilling Word

Mine, Madeline! It's mine. The kids are both pulling on Olafs arms. The tiny, hug-loving snowman from Frozen is stretched between them, and Seamus is technically correct: Olaf was a Christmas present from his big sister Rosena. I am, however, trying to teach them the concept of ours and sharing and taking turns as well. If it isnt something they can share -- like books -- they can at least trade off, so that both Seamus and his younger sister have a chance to enjoy the object of affection exclusively for a few minutes.

The objects in our house -- except for the high-tech, expensive, and dangerous ones (which are MINE) -- belong to all of us and should be used and enjoyed responsibly by all of us. Thats how we officially operate. My mother, an activist in her own right, always told my brother, sister, and me that "mine is a chilling word." Isn't that a great line? I dont use it a lot, because the kids get sidetracked by what chilling means.

Its no surprise that they are only partway there in moments that really matter like that dispute over Olaf, but Seamus is savvy enough to recognize that deploying the word ours when Madeline (the house baby at 2) says mine is a good way of getting my attention and some kind of interventionary help against his little sister. Madeline just learned the word everybodys as in This ball is everybodys. Its mighty cute, even if it does sometimes still stand in for mine. And we keep trying.

Trump obviously stopped trying a long time ago, or was never taught to begin with. He has a mine problem. Maybe it's because he was brought up with a silver knife in his mouth. Maybe his father told him You are a king and taught him to be a killer in childhood, business, and life. Who knows? His father is the Old Man Trump, the grim landlord that folk troubadour Woody Guthrie wrote and sang about (after signing a lease for one of his apartments): I suppose/ Old Man Trump knows/ Just how much/ Racial hate/ He stirred up/ In the bloodpot of human hearts. (In the 1970s, young Donald Trump and his family were compelled to provide the New York Urban League with a listing of every open apartment in their vast New York City holdings of 14,000 apartments after being sued for racial discrimination by the Justice Department.)

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As a kid, Trump was sent off to military school, which he memorably claimed was harder than real military service. In assessing himself in the best possible light (something hes never stopped doing quite publicly in these last months, giving the world a unique lesson in self-love), he told biographer Michael DAntonio with pride (I think), When I look at myself in the first grade and I look at myself now, Im basically the same.

In a way, dont you think that sums up the problem on hand? America First! Make America Great Again! Me! Mine! Build the Wall! Keep Out the Muslims! Arent these the grown-up equivalent of first-grade slogans and sentiments? Maybe Trump never got to be a real toddler and so did not grow into a real man (no matter what he thinks of his hands).

After all, real toddlers play. If their parents arent helicoptering in too much, they run headlong into the world with joyous abandon. And every scrape and bump teaches them a lesson not just about their capabilities, but about their limitations, all our limitations. Theyre always reaching, always trying, always pushing themselves forward. From this play and the interactions and striving that comes with it they learn about natural consequences, including such simple lessons as be nice to others and theyre likely to be nice to you, share with others and theyre likely to do the same. Here, for instance, is a simple lesson of everyday life that doesnt need to be taught: holding on tight to a ball is not as much fun as playing catch. (But if you never learn to let go to begin with...?)

I love watching my kids on the playground and work hard not to helicopter in or -- the opposite effect that adds up to more or less the same thing -- disappear into my phone or the crossword puzzle. And what amazes me is that theyre so outgoing and ready to connect with anyone who comes along.

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Whats your name? Seamus greets each new kid. Wanna play pirates? -- or lions, or wolves, or princesses, depending on his mood. And then he races off, confident that the other kid is running alongside him, ready to play. Madeline laughs and climbs to the top of the highest thing she can scale. No help, mama. No help. Me do it!! she calls, proudly, 10 feet off the ground. Me big.

And its true, she is Huge, so much bigger than Trump because she and Seamus dont have that overwhelming urge to build walls, or call others names, or demean or demonize.

Listening is an Act of Love (Pay Attention, Donald!)

I almost feel sorry for Trump, given what I know of his upbringing. He pulls on my heartstrings a little, because a man so programmed to grab for every headline and steal every show and say whatever he can to keep the hot lights of the media on him undoubtedly wasn't listened to as a kid.

Listening is an act of love; that's what I tell my own kids (even though the steely-saucy New Yorker still buried in this 42-year-old mother of toddlers rolls her eyes big time every time I say it). If listening is an act of love, then its a good bet that long ago Donald Trump lost out big time.

Our childrens librarian told me that it takes a toddler five seconds to hear, absorb, and respond to a question or direction you give them. Five seconds is a long time in toddler town. In those seconds, I try to imagine my words working their way through a labyrinth of puzzles and curiosities as they hone in on the mental heartlands of my children. But heres the question I ask myself: Why do I think of Trump while waiting for my wash your hands directive to radio down to my childs brain? Why do I feel terrible for him? Maybe because the volume and pitch of his bombast exists in direct correlation to some ancient childhood feeling of wanting to be heard by those giants looming over him and not knowing how to make that happen.

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We Have Nothing to Fear But

Kids are scared of all sorts of things. Seamus and Madeline are afraid of the dark, of monsters, of superheroes gone bad, and -- most of all -- of kale salad. (Their big sister Rosena harbors this particular dread, too.) Their fears are, of course, largely imaginary (kale salad aside). So try explaining the very real terror pressing at the heart of the Republican Party establishment now that their punishing no-government-is-good-government credo (except when it comes to our giant military and the most oppressive powers of the national security state, those giant tax breaks for the rich, and those giant prisons for the poor, black, and brown) has taken root in the ultimate anti-candidate, the bad boy with the world's most talked about hairdo (the blonde bouffant with its own Twitter handle -- "I'm on top of the man who is on top of the world. Follow me, people").

Trumps loss in Wisconsin may be good news for Republicans terrified of him and his family moving into the White House. In a recent poll, a third of Wisconsin Republicans said that they were scared of what Trump would do as president. (Many of them assumedly voted for Ted Cruz, a man so preternaturally scary that even the King of Scary -- Stephen King -- is scared of him, and that is scary!)

Fear is an evolutionary tool embedded in our minds to keep our bodies from doing dangerous and reckless things. How do toddlers conquer their fears, real and imaginary? Fear slows down their minds a little, taps into their inner executive, and helps them do a cost-benefit analysis of the risky behavior theyre considering. Then they screw up their courage, rush into the dark room, flip on the light, and grab the cookies, their little hearts beating like conga drums. The Fear of Trump should serve a similar function for Republicans. The problem is: Ted Cruz is not a cookie!

Toddlers have so much to teach Donald Trump as a person and as a presidential candidate, but deep down I dont want him to learn such Toddler Town lessons because that just might make him implosion proof and canny enough to sweep into the Republican convention, get that nomination, and take the general election.

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Italy's Prime minister Matteo Renzi gives a press conference at the Chigi Palace on April 7, 2016 in Rome, to present the national broadband plan.Italy aims by 2020 to cover 100% to 30 mega bps while the goal is to get to 50% of subscriptions they get to 100 mega bps' he says. / AFP / ALBERTO PIZZOLI (Photo credit should read ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images)

At a time when the European project is at a standstill due to successive crises that have triggered nationalist pushes throughout the European Union, political ideologues and forecasters struggle to predict what awaits, or give a clear path that would enable Europeans to feel inclined to take the experiment further.

One element they seem to agree upon, though, is the necessity for influential member states to be led by powerful, respected and visionary leaders. So far, Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany seems to be the only leader ticking all the boxes -- although even she is facing growing opposition on her latest landmark policy to solve the refugee crisis. But another leader has been building a reputation in a country that has been topping the list of risks in Europe for the past decade: Matteo Renzi, prime minister of Italy.

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A young reformist, ambitious and incorruptible; such are the attributes Renzi has been promoting in order to keep topping opinion polls in Italy, since he became prime minister in February 2014. More than just succeeding in bursting long untouched policies at home, Renzi has gained a European stature, although his dissenting comments are not always welcomed in Berlin.

After Italy's decades of political instability, Renzi's recognition as an impactful reformist and powerful politician deserves an explanation, and the issues awaiting him merit a careful look.

Angela Merkel and Matteo Renzi address the media during a joint press conference in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, July 1, 2015. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

Renzi the reformist

In February 2014, Renzi became the youngest prime minister in Italian history at just 39. This appointment was the consecration of a quick ascension, from president of the province of Florence in 2004, to mayor of Florence in 2009 and leader of the Democratic Party in 2013.

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Inheriting power in a country with an economy in recession and where politicians had left Italy's stewardship to two successive interim technocrats since the financial crisis and Berlusconi's resignation in 2011, Renzi came into the job with a vision for his country, announcing a plan for "a reform a month."

The young politician hoped to rid Italy of the structural flaws that had made it one of the "sick men" of the EU; including political instability, a deadly bureaucracy, and excessively large public administration, corruption and the culture of cronyism, slow judiciary and legislative procedures and a staggering economy with worrying jobless figures.

Matteo Renzi gestures while speaking during an election campaign for European elections in Rome on May 22, 2014. (REUTERS/Tony Gentile)

A flattering start

Although the promised pace of reforms appeared too ambitious, some of the measures were successively put in place. The Jobs Act -- a priority considering unemployment had reached a 13.1 percent spike and youth unemployment was at 43.6 percent -- successfully reformed Italy's labor code, introducing financial protection for young hires while giving employers the right to lay off any workers in cases of economic pressure.

With the reform, Renzi managed to reverse unemployment trends, with the most drastic drop seen for young workers (see charts below).

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Italy's unemployment rate and Italy's youth unemployment rate. (Trading Economics/National Institute of Statistics)

Since his appointment and attempt to restore confidence in Italian business circles, the country has emerged from recession with timid growth, while Rome kept introducing Brussels' fiscal medicine to reduce its public deficit -- a major threat to the Italian economy considering its high level of public debt.

Italy government debt to GDP. (Trading Economics)

In order to keep boosting growth, Rome intends to both cut taxes for companies, and to support innovation -- with Renzi promising to build an Italian Silicon Valley.

Already successful in slightly redressing the economy, Renzi's other priority has been to reform the political system. Rome has seen more than 60 governments since 1945, and the only leader who managed to complete his full 5-year-term is Silvio Berlusconi. The electoral bill, adopted in May 2015, will concentrate more power in the hands of future Italian governments by making it easier for a party to win a majority in the lower house -- through a winner-takes-all system.

Agenda vs. politics

The complementary Constitutional Law should add the second layer to this political reform, reducing the legislative powers of the higher chamber -- the Senate -- and strengthening the central government at the expense of the regions in certain strategic sectors, such as energy and transport. The passing of this bill will be one of Matteo Renzi's major challenges in 2016, since Italians will decide on it in a referendum in October.

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The rest of his reform agenda (including a tax overhaul and an administrative reform) will depend on this crucial vote, along with mayoral elections in the spring that will give an indication of the government's popularity. But so far, Renzi has managed to maintain a wide margin in opinion polls over his political opponents, including the populist and anti-EU 5 Star Movement and Northern League.

Opinion poll April 1st, 2016: Democratic Party (Orange), Centre-Right Coalition (Blue), 5 Star Movement (Yellow), Northern League (Green). (Ixe)

Since assuming power, Renzi has shown a strong ability at political maneuvering, for instance when securing a deal with Berlusconi until his electoral law passed Parliament, only to betray him and support another candidate than Berlusconi's for president -- a mostly honorary position.

He is also constantly antagonizing populists and attempting to destroy their credibility in the public debate, and has succeeded in tempering the growth of a rebellion within his own ranks that would have paralyzed his legislative efforts.

The EU conversation

One of Renzi's main objectives as leader of the third-largest eurozone economy -- and founding father of the EU -- has been to bring Italy back into top tables at the EU level, or what he likes to call the "EU conversation." While his vision for the future of Europe isn't clear, he has consistently offered alternatives to Berlin's views, and hopes to become a leading voice in top debates.

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Renzi has used opposition to Brussels -- and Berlin that according to him calls the shots -- both to mitigate an eurosceptic rise at home and to promote his country's interests, thereby showing himself as influential in EU affairs. Picking fights on major dossiers like the refugee crisis, sanctions on Russia, fiscal policy or Nord Stream II, an energy pipeline project, has not triggered a breakdown in Renzi relations with Merkel, who has a rather friendly relationship with the Florentine and sees him as the best potential partner in Italian politics.

Migrants stand on a boat after being rescued in open international waters in the Mediterranean Sea between the Italian and the Libyan coasts on May 14, 2014. (REUTERS/Giorgio Perottino)

Challenges remain

Moreover, Renzi has so far been successful in his relations with Brussels, most strikingly with a deal to save Italian banks and tackle their non-performing loans. Not allowed to use the bad bank system (only accessible to bailed-out countries), Italian banks will now be allowed to sell portfolios of non-performing loans to private investors with a government guarantee -- priced at market rates. The secured deal Renzi brokered will probably buy some time for the banking sector by increasing stability. However, the negotiated system falls short of the advantages a "bad bank" system would have offered, and thus fails to eradicate the systemic threat.

Furthermore, Renzi will not be spared by structural flows in Italian politics that could well infect his own party. In March, his industry minister resigned after the publication of a recorded conversation in which she assured her partner the government would pass legislation that helped his energy business.

Finally, the prime minister is threatened by the proximity of Libya, just 290 miles from the Italian island of Lampedusa, and the potential refugee inflow and terrorist threat emanating from this failed state. He will probably push for a European intervention, and keep close relations with Russia for potential rescue if the crisis spills out of control there.

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The sun sets over the harbor on April 24, 2015 in Lampedusa, Italy. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

If he wants to leave a deep imprint on Italy and Europe and be celebrated for his reforms and leadership, Matteo Renzi must keep using habile politics to implement his ambitious agenda, while pleasing his electorate ahead of general elections, potentially in 2017.

A victory could entice him to engage in vast political enterprises, like reducing the North-South economic and social gap and eradicating corruption and the grip of the Mafia.

This piece first appeared on Global Risk Insights.

Earlier on WorldPost:


He was resting now. He was OK in his new job as a librarian of memories, and glad that he was no longer working nonstop 24/7. He had done this for sixty-four years. He thought he was always doing the right thing. He kept everything in balance as well as he could. He didn't always succeed. There were so many others around him, all thinking they knew what was best. He remembered how He tried so hard to control them but most of the time he failed.

He could now admit to himself that He always loved her and really, was always trying to protect her. He knew it hardly ever appeared that way. She was always so clear in knowing who she was. He always wished he had some clarity like hers. He was always so scared and did what he thought was best. He watches her now and is so glad that she is happy and learning how to be! He never had the chance for this.

He loves when she comes by to chat about old memories. She hid so much and for so long, and she knows there are so many pieces missing for her that he has access to. They really are becoming friends.

The more she got to know him, the more amazed she became. She remembered all those years when she battled with him. She wasn't sure when she realized that he really was not the enemy. He was never the enemy.

He told her many stories of the things he had done to make sure neither she nor any of the other parts would get hurt. She remembered some of these, and how angry she was at the time. She had no idea that he was trying to protect her. She was learning that he had struggled mightily on how to live in the world while dealing with all that was going on inside. She knew how hard her battle inside was, but his was so much bigger, really having to balance the two worlds. She did not even begin to appreciate how he did it.

She began to understand how brave he really was. How courageous he was for such a long time.

He was becoming her hero. She told him this. He smiled.
Today, April 12th, marks the 10-year anniversary of the signing of a trade pact between the U.S. and Peru. This trade agreement was the first, and only, U.S. trade agreement that the Sierra Club did not oppose. The Peru free trade deal was the first ever trade agreement to have a legally binding environment chapter, and it also included an "Annex on Forest Sector Governance" that laid out pages of detailed obligations that Peru must undertake to stop illegal logging and the illegal timber trade. While the Sierra Club strongly opposed the polluter-friendly investment rules included in the deal, we took a gamble that a strong, binding environment chapter might counter the weight of the flawed investment chapter. Ten years after the signing of the pact, it is clear that bet didn't pay off.



Despite the detailed rules in the pact that required Peru to reduce illegal logging, the illegal logging crisis continues today unabated. Peru's own government found in 2014 that 78 percent of Peru's wood slated for export was harvested illegally. In October 2015, Peru's forestry oversight agency found that in 94 percent of 144 surveyed logging operations, wood slated for export had been logged illegally. In January 2016, Peru's government responded to the finding by firing the person in charge of the forestry oversight agency.



Despite such flagrant violations, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) consistently refused requests to enforce the trade deal's anti-illegal logging provisions. In the first 2,581 days of the agreement, Peruvian timber companies with a documented track record of illegality sent well over 100 shipments of wood to the U.S. Not once did the USTR use the tools in the trade pact to demand that Peru verify the legality of any of these shipments.



It wasn't until February 2016, more than seven years after the Peru trade deal took effect, that the USTR made its first such request, for a single shipment from a single exporter. This almost complete lack of enforcement undercuts U.S. businesses and workers by allowing U.S. consumers to unwittingly support environmental destruction.



This isn't the only example of how the U.S.-Peru trade pact is failing workers, communities, and our environment. The environment chapter of the deal also included an obligation requiring that neither country waive or weaken its environmental laws in order to attract trade or investment. And yet, in 2014, the government of Peru explicitly rolled back an array of environmental protections, including stripping the environmental ministry of enforcement powers, in order to attract foreign investment. Though environmental groups once again called on USTR to use the Peru trade deal to reverse this weakening of environmental protections, USTR has failed to take action.



While the environment chapter hasn't proved capable of protecting the environment, the investment chapter of the pact has proven dangerous for our environment. In 1997, Doe Run Peru--a Peruvian subsidiary of the U.S.-based company Renco Group Inc.--took control of a metallic smelter and refinery complex in La Oroya, Peru--one of the ten most polluted sites in the world. As part of its contractual obligations, Doe Run was required to implement a series of environmental cleanup projects in La Oroya, including the installation of new sulfuric acid plants to help combat the pollution produced by its complex.



The company twice failed to meet its deadlines for the environmental clean-up and was twice granted extensions by Peruvian authorities to complete its environmental remediation obligations. When the Peruvian government decided to not give Doe Run a third extension, Renco Group Inc. retaliated by using the "investor-state dispute settlement" rules in the Peru trade deal. These rules allowed Renco to sue the government of Peru for $800 million in a private trade tribunal. The corporation claimed, among other issues, that Peru's decision to not grant Doe Run yet another time-consuming extension violated its trade pact right to "a minimum standard of treatment." The case is still ongoing.



The good news is that on this 10-year anniversary we don't just have to reflect back - we can also look forward. The U.S. and Peru are both part of a new proposed trade deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), that has been signed but not approved by Congress. Among other major threats, the TPP would expand the dangerous investor-state rules that Renco is using against Peru to thousands of new foreign firms, empowering major polluters to challenge U.S. climate policies in private trade tribunals. The pact also would require the U.S. Department of Energy to automatically approve exports of gas to countries in the pact, thereby facilitating increased fracking and climate disrupting emissions. To make matters worse, the TPP's provisions against illegal logging are not even as strong as the ones in the Peru deal that have failed to curb logging abuses.



As Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune said upon the TPP's symbolic signing ceremony in a casino in New Zealand, "Signing the TPP is Russian roulette for our economy and our climate." We took a gamble on the U.S.-Peru trade pact, but we won't make that bet again. Please join us in strongly voicing your opposition to the TPP by writing your member of Congress now, letting him or her know that you oppose this dangerous pact that would harm workers, communities, and our environment.
This article was originally posted on Inverse.

By Jacqueline Ronson

ost of the time, people imagine the Earth as basically self-contained. It's a discrete planet, orbiting around the sun along with the other planets in an ordered system. But the more astronomers look to the skies, the more we learn about the enormous quantity and variety of space junk that shares this space with us -- and collisions are an unavoidable conclusion.

Pluto was demoted from planet to dwarf planet because scientists started noticing a lot of space rocks that looked more like pluto than Earth or Jupiter -- there may be dozens or even hundreds of similar dwarf planets out there, waiting to be found. On top of that, there are half a million known asteroids, mostly located in the belt between Mars and Jupiter. Scientists have identified 4,000 comets, but there could be a hundred billion more, hiding unseen in the Oort cloud.

The history of Earth is the history of collisions. Scientists suspect that all of the water on Earth may have traveled here by asteroid or comet, since in its early history the planet would have been too hot, with an atmosphere too thin, to contain H2O. Today we see evidence of space junk in regular meteor showers -- pieces of stardust set on fire in a violent collision with the atmosphere.

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This meteorite will go up for auction later this month.

Most of those meteors will break apart on entry, dissolving into dust. Scientists estimate that 10-40 tons of stardust enter our atmosphere each day. On rare occasions, a space rock will be big enough to withstand the force of entry, and will fall to Earth as a meteorite. And because they are extraordinary, and because they are beautiful, and because they remind us of our small place in this vast, chaotic universe, we prize these space rocks dearly. We hunt them, we buy them, we study them, we preserve them in glass cases, and we put them on pedestals.

Later this month, dozens of rare and unique meteorites will be auctioned at Christie's in London. "These items are extraordinarily beautiful, and seeing them in person is really a wonderful chance," auction specialist James Hyslop tells Inverse. He has spent several months collecting the most impressive and valuable pieces of space rock on this planet.



This meteorite slice shows off the beautiful diversity of minerals within.

The meteorites represent an extraordinary diversity of shapes, sizes, colors, and stories. Many are of great scientific importance. The Allende, for example, fell to Earth in 1969 and contains material inside it that is older than the solar system itself. A half-pound block of that meteorite is up for auction, with an estimated value of $3,100 to $4,500.

Some of the meteorites have came from the moon, or from Mars. We know this because of chemical signatures that match these rocks to specimens collected on space missions. "Less than one in 500 meteorites have been confirmed to originate from the moon," says Hyslop. "What I love about the lunar meteorites is that it's kind of two meteorites for the price of one, because for a piece of the moon to get here on Earth millions of years ago, there must have been an impact event on the surface of the moon to knock a bit of it out into space, where millions of years later it would cross with Earth's orbit and then fall down."

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This piece of space junk was implicated in the death of a Venezuelan cow.

Also in the collection is the only meteorite documented to have caused a death. In 1972 a Venezuelan farmer and physician came upon his cow, dead by blow to the neck, with a strange rock next to the carcass. Although he suspected what had happened, he did realize what a rare event he had witnessed. He ate the cow, and used the meteorite as a doorstop. Years later scientists confirmed the extraterrestrial origins of the rock, and he was informed of the uniqueness of his meteorite's story. The rock is expected to sell at between $6,100 and $9,000.

The most valuable rock in the auction is a behemoth 1,433-pound meteorite, discovered in 2005 in Kansas. Most meteors tumble through the atmosphere as they fall to Earth, but this one shot down in a singular direction, giving it a dramatic domed shape.



The 1,433-pound Brenham meteorite main mass.

According to the sale catalogue:

The parabolic "heat shield" curvature seen here was sculpted at exceedingly high temperatures, and is the most efficient angle at which heat defects from a falling object. This is the reason NASA engineers studied this parabola in other oriented meteorites when designing the heat shields for the first manned space capsules. The smoothness of the surface is the result of the melting process in Earth's upper atmosphere in which olivine crystals melted and exposed tendrils of the nickel-iron matrix in a process that repeated until the meteorite slowed to terminal velocity. A significant fraction of the meteorite vaporized or ablated off its edges during its descent. The ablative heat shield-like action pushed the hottest gases (referred to as the shock layer -- which is hotter than the surface of the sun -- away from the meteorite).

It continues:

While there is uncertainty regarding whether any Native Americans witnessed the Brenham meteorite shower, petroglyphs have been found nearby depicting what could have been the Brenham event. The presence of Brenham meteorites in numerous burial mounds as far away as Ohio -- including jewellery fashioned out of Brenham meteorites -- indicates that Native Americans, like modern collectors, were transfixed by the beautiful extraterrestrial stones.

All of the space rocks in the auction will be available for public viewing in London April 16-19, before the sale itself on April 20th.



Some meteorites take on a quality of abstract art. When they do, they are much more valuable.

If you don't have a million dollars, or even a few thousand, to drop on a rare meteorite, there's no need to give up on your dreams of owning your very own piece of space junk. The various marketplaces of the internet will sell small meteorites for prices as low as $0.50 a gram. There's also a thriving market for affordable meteorite jewelry, in case you want to take your stardust with you wherever you go. Or you could go hunting yourself. Many meteorites are discovered in the desert, where black stones stick out against the white sand.

"In the last three or four years, we've really noticed that demand for them has been going up and up and up," he says. "It really is a wonderful experience to have a piece of another planet on the palm of your hand."

MORE FROM INVERSE:
Last week I learned that one of my friends has been selected as the new president of Washington State University. That, of course, made me wonder about the women associated with the Evergreen State through its history. Match the woman with her accomplishment:

____ 1. The first woman in the U.S. to buy and run a television station.

____ 2. The first science fiction writer to be named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow.

____ 3. Campaigned actively for women's right to vote in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho.

____ 4. First woman to serve as governor of the State of Washington.

____ 5. One of the first two white women to cross the U.S. continent overland, one of the ways in which she is remembered is from the many letters she wrote to her family and friends in New York.

A. Narcissa Prentiss Whitman

B. Abigail Scott Duniway

C. Dorothy Stimson Bullitt

D. Octavia Butler

E. Dixy Lee Ray

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Growing up in New York State, Narcissa Prentiss Whitman became interested in serving as a missionary. After her marriage in 1836, she and her husband left their family and friends and established a mission near what is today Walla Walla, Washington. Through this endeavor, Whitman became one of the first two white women to cross the U.S. continent overland, paving the way for the many families that came after. She taught Native American women and her adopted children and wrote many letters home to her family and friends back home. After an outbreak of measles decimated the Native American population, she and her husband were among the residents of the mission who were killed. Later, Whitman College was established in their honor and since 1883 has been a four-year degree-granting institution.

Although she settled in Oregon, during the fight to get women the right to vote, Abigail Scott Duniway focused her efforts on the three states formerly known as Oregon Country - Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. From 1871 to 1884, she gave about 70 speeches each year in Washington. In 1883, Washington State passed a measure, that she had drafted, that granted women the right to vote. In 1887, the Territorial Supreme Court overturned that law. Women would not become fully enfranchised in Washington State until 1910.

A prominent Seattle, Washington businesswoman and philanthropist, Dorothy Stimson Bullitt, took over the family's real estate holdings after the deaths of her husband, father, and brother in rapid succession. In the 1940s, she ran a successful radio station that previous had been unprofitable. She was also successful when she turned her attention to television and ran the first television station in Seattle, the first woman in the U.S. to buy and run a TV station. As a philanthropist, she is remembered for helping to establish Children's Hospital, the Seattle Symphony and the Cornish School for the Arts. Her legacy also includes the Bullitt Foundation.

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Called the "grand dame of science fiction" Octavia Butler won the Hugo and Nebula Awards (among others) for her science fiction writing and was the first science fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship. She relocated to Washington State after many years in California. Inducted into Chicago State University's Black Writers Hall of Fame, Butler is remembered as one of the best known women writers of science fiction.

The first female governor of Washington State, zoologist Dixy Lee Ray chaired the Atomic Energy Commission, the predecessor organization to today's Nuclear Regulatory Commission. When elected governor, she was only the second female in the U.S. to be elected as a governor without succeeding her husband into office. Ray was born in Tacoma, climbing Mount Rainier when she was 12 years old (the youngest girl to do so), and earning her Ph.D. from Stanford University. Unconventional most of her life, Ray served one term as governor. After her death, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers established an award in her name given annually to recognize achievements and contributions in the area of environmental protection.

Learn about more she-roes and celebrate amazing women. These women associated with the State of Washington are among the more than 850 women profiled in the book Her Story: A Timeline of the Women Who Changed America. We celebrate their accomplishments and are proud to stand on their shoulders.
After a Russian commercial airliner was downed over Egypt's Sinai last October, Western media reported that the Islamic State bombing was retaliation against Russian airstrikes in Syria. The killing of 224 people, mostly Russian tourists on holiday, was matter-of-factly treated as an act of war by a fanatical group without an air force resorting to terrorism as a way to strike back.

Yet, Western militaries have killed infinitely more innocent civilians in the Middle East than Russia has. Then why won't Western officials and media cite retaliation for that Western violence as a cause of terrorist attacks on New York, Paris and Brussels?

For example, throughout four hours of Sky News' coverage of the July 7, 2005 attacks in London, only the briefest mention was made about a possible motive for that horrific assault on three Underground trains and a bus, killing 52 people. But the attacks came just two years after Britain's participation in the murderous invasion of Iraq.

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Prime Minister Tony Blair, one of the Iraq War's architects, condemned the loss of innocent life in London and linked the attacks instead to a G-8 summit he'd opened that morning. A TV host then read and belittled a 10-second claim of responsibility from a self-proclaimed Al Qaeda affiliate in Germany saying that the Iraq invasion was to blame. There was no more discussion about it.

To explain why these attacks happen is not to condone or justify terrorist outrages against innocent civilians. It is called journalism. The "why" is no mystery. It was fully explained by Mohammad Sidique Khan, one of the four London suicide bombers. Though speaking for only a tiny fraction of Muslims, he said in a videotaped recording before the attack:

"Your democratically-elected governments continuously perpetuate atrocities against my people all over the world. And your support of them makes you directly responsible, just as I am directly responsible for protecting and avenging my Muslim brothers and sisters. Until we feel security you will be our targets and until you stop the bombing, gassing, imprisonment and torture of my people we will not stop this fight. We are at war and I am a soldier. Now you too will taste the reality of this situation."

The Islamic State published the following reason for carrying out last November's Paris attacks:

"Let France and all nations following its path know that they will continue to be at the top of the target list for the Islamic State and that the scent of death will not leave their nostrils as long as they partake part in the crusader campaign ... and boast about their war against Islam in France, and their strikes against Muslims in the lands of the Caliphate with their jets."

Claiming It's a State of Mind

Ignoring such clear statements of intent, we are instead served bromides by the likes of State Department spokesman Mark Toner about the Brussels bombings, saying it is impossible "to get into the minds of those who carry out these attacks."

Mind reading isn't required, however. The Islamic State explicitly told us in a press statement why it did the Brussels attacks: "We promise black days for all crusader nations allied in their war against the Islamic State, in response to their aggressions against it."

Yet, still struggling to explain why it happened, Toner said, "I think it reflects more of an effort to inflict on who they see as Western or Westerners ... fear that they can carry out these kinds of attacks and to attempt to lash out."

Toner ascribed the motive to a state of mind:

"I don't know if this is about establishing a caliphate beyond the territorial gains that they've tried to make in Iraq and Syria, but it's another aspect of Daesh's kind of warped ideology that they're carrying out these attacks on Europe and elsewhere if they can. ... Whether it's the hopes or the dreams or the aspirations of a certain people never justifies violence."

After 9/11, President George W. Bush infamously said the U.S. was attacked because "they hate our freedoms." It's a perfect example of a Western view that ascribes motives to Easterners without allowing them to speak for themselves or taking them seriously when they do.

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Explaining his motive behind 9/11, Osama bin Laden, in his Letter to America, expressed anger about U.S. troops stationed on Saudi soil. Bin Laden asked: "Why are we fighting and opposing you? The answer is very simple: Because you attacked us and continue to attack us." (Today the U.S. has dozens of bases in seven countries in the region.)

So why won't Western officials and corporate media take the jihadists' statements of intent at face value? Why won't they really tell us why we are attacked?

It seems to be an effort to cover up a long and ever more intense history of Western military and political intervention in the Middle East and the violent reactions it provokes, reactions that put innocent Western lives at risk. Indirect Western culpability in these terrorist acts is routinely suppressed, let alone evidence of direct Western involvement with terrorism.

Some government officials and journalists might delude themselves into believing that Western intervention in the Middle East is an attempt to protect civilians and spread democracy to the region, instead of bringing chaos and death to further the West's strategic and economic aims. Other officials must know better.

1920-1950: A Century of Intervention Begins

A few might know the mostly hidden history of duplicitous and often reckless Western actions in the Middle East. It is hidden only to most Westerners, however. So it is worth looking in considerable detail at this appalling record of interference in the lives of millions of Muslims to appreciate the full weight it exerts on the region. It can help explain anti-Western anger that spurs a few radicals to commit atrocities in the West.

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The history is an unbroken string of interventions from the end of the First World War until today. It began after the war when Britain and France double-crossed the Arabs on promised independence for aiding them in victory over the Ottoman Empire. The secret 1916 Sykes-Picot accord divided the region between the European powers behind the Arabs' backs. London and Paris created artificial nations from Ottoman provinces to be controlled by their installed kings and rulers with direct intervention when necessary.

What has followed for 100 years has been continuous efforts by Britain and France, superseded by the United States after the Second World War, to manage Western dominance over a rebellious region.

The new Soviet government revealed the Sykes-Picot terms in November 1917 in Izvestia. When the war was over, the Arabs revolted against British and French duplicity. London and Paris then ruthlessly crushed the uprisings for independence.

France defeated a proclaimed Syrian government in a single day, July 24, 1920, at the Battle of Maysalun. Five years later there was a second Syrian revolt, replete with assassinations and sabotage, which took two years to suppress. If you walk through the souk in Old Damascus and look up at the corrugated iron roof you see tiny specks of daylight peeking through. Those are bullet holes from French war planes that massacred civilians below.

Britain put down a series of independence revolts in Iraq between 1920 and 1922, first with 100,000 British and Indian troops and then mostly with the first use of air power in counterinsurgency. Thousands of Arabs were killed. Britain also helped its installed King Abdullah put down rebellions in Jordan in 1921 and 1923.

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London then faced an Arab revolt in Palestine lasting from 1936 to 1939, which it brutally crushed, killing about 4,000 Arabs. The next decade, Israeli terrorists drove the British out of Palestine in 1947, one of the rare instances when terrorists attained their political goals.

Germany and Italy, late to the Empire game, were next to invade North Africa and the Middle East at the start of the Second World War. They were driven out by British imperial forces (largely Indian) with U.S. help. Britain invaded and defeated nominally independent Iraq, which had sided with the Axis. With the Soviet Union, Britain also invaded and occupied Iran.

After the war, the U.S. assumed regional dominance under the guise of fending off Soviet regional influence. Just three years after Syrian independence from France, the two-year old Central Intelligence Agency engineered a Syrian coup in 1949 against a democratic, secular government. Why? Because it had balked at approving a Saudi pipeline plan that the U.S. favored. Washington installed Husni al-Za'im, a military dictator, who approved the plan.1950s: Syria Then and Now

Before the major invasion and air wars in Iraq and Libya of the past 15 years, the 1950s was the era of America's most frequent, and mostly covert, involvement in the Middle East. The Eisenhower administration wanted to contain both Soviet influence and Arab nationalism, which revived the quest for an independent Arab nation. After a series of coups and counter-coups, Syria returned to democracy in 1955, leaning towards the Soviets.

A 1957 Eisenhower administration coup attempt in Syria, in which Jordan and Iraq were to invade the country after manufacturing a pretext, went horribly wrong, provoking a crisis that spun out of Washington's control and brought the U.S. and Soviets to the brink of war.

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Turkey put 50,000 troops on the Syrian border, threatening to invade. Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev threatened Turkey with an implied nuclear attack and the U.S. got Ankara to back off. This sounds eerily familiar to what happened in February when Turkey again threatened to invade Syria and the U.S. put on the brakes. The main difference is that Saudi Arabia in 1957 was opposed to the invasion of Syria, while it was ready to join it two months ago.

In the 1950s, the U.S. also began its association with Islamic religious extremism to counter Soviet influence and contain secular Arab nationalism. "We should do everything possible to stress the 'holy war' aspect," President Eisenhower told his Secretary of State John Foster Dulles. Supporting political Islam rather than secularism may be the biggest ever U.S. blunder in the region. After the Cold War, religious extremists, some still tied to the West, became themselves the excuse for U.S. intervention.

Despite U.S. regional ascendance in the 1950s, Britain and France weren't through. In 1953, an MI6-CIA coup in Iran replaced a democracy with a restored monarchy when Mohammed Mossadegh, the elected prime minister, was overthrown after seeking to nationalize British-controlled Iranian oil. Britain had discovered oil in Iran in 1908, spurring deeper interest in the region.

Three years later Britain and France combined with Israel to attack Egypt in 1956 when President Gamal Abdel Nasser, who had taken over from the ousted British-backed King Farouk, moved to nationalize the Suez Canal. The U.S. stopped that operation, too, denying Britain emergency oil supplies and access to the International Monetary Fund if the Brits didn't back down.

Suez represented the final shift in external power in the Middle East from the U.K. to the U.S. But Washington couldn't stop Britain from trying and failing to assassinate Nasser, who had sparked the Arab nationalist movement.

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In 1958, the U.S. landed 14,000 Marines in Lebanon to prop up President Camille Chamoun after a civil conflict broke out against Chamoun's intention to change the constitution and run for reelection. The rebellion was minimally supported by the United Arab Republic, the 1958-61 union between Egypt and Syria. It was the first U.S. invasion of an Arab country, excluding the U.S.'s World War II intervention in North Africa.1960 to 2003: Interventions Post Colonial

The 1954-1962 Algerian rebellion against French colonialism, which Paris brutally tried to suppress, included Algerian acts of terrorism. Exhibiting the same cluelessness displayed by State Department spokesman Toner, the French attitude towards the uprising was expressed by an exasperated French officer in film The Battle of Algiers when he exclaimed, "What do you people want?"

From the 1960s to the 1980s, U.S. intervention in the region was mostly restricted to military support for Israel in the 1967 and 1973 Arab-Israeli wars. From an Arab perspective that represented a major U.S. commitment to protect Israeli colonialism.

The Soviet Union also intervened directly in the 1967-70 War of Attrition between Egypt and Israel when Nasser went to Moscow to say he'd resign and have a pro-Western leader take over if the Russians didn't come to his aid. In backing Nasser, the Soviets lost 58 men.

The Soviets were also involved in the region to varying degrees and times throughout the Cold War, giving aid to Palestinians, Nasser's Egypt, Syria, Saddam's Iraq and Muammar Gaddafi's Libya -- all countries and leaders charting an independent course from the West.

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During the 1970 Black September conflict between Jordan and Palestinian guerrillas, the U.S. had Marines poised to embark in Haifa and ready to secure Amman airport when Jordan repelled a Syrian invasion in support of the Palestinians.

In the 1980s the U.S. backed Saddam Hussein in his brutal, eight-year war with Iran, supplying him with arms, intelligence and chemical weapons, which he did not hesitate to use against Iranians and Kurds. President Ronald Reagan also bombed Libya in 1986 after accusing it without conclusive evidence of a Berlin bombing ten days earlier that killed a U.S. soldier.

The U.S. returned more directly to the region with a vengeance in the 1991 Gulf War, burying alive surrendering Iraqi troops with bulldozers; shooting thousands of soldiers in the back as they withdrew on the Highway of Death, and calling for uprisings in the Shia south and Kurdish north and then leaving them to Saddam's revenge.

Iraq never recovered fully from the devastation, being crushed for 12 years under U.N. and U.S. sanctions that then U.N. Ambassador Madeleine Albright admitted contributed to the deaths of half a million Iraqi children. But she said it was "worth it."

Iraq's sanctions only ended after the 2003 full-scale U.S. and British invasion of the sovereign Arab nation, an assault justified by bogus claims about Iraq hiding stockpiles of WMD that could be shared with Al Qaeda. The invasion killed hundreds of thousands of people and left Iraq devastated. The invasion also unleashed a civil war and gave rise to the terrorist group, the Islamic State in Iraq, which later merged with terrorists in Syria to become ISIS.

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Throughout this century of intervention, Britain, France and the U.S. managed the region through strong alliances with dictators or monarchs who had no regard for democratic rights. But when those autocrats became expendable, such as Saddam Hussein had, they are disposed of.

The Biggest Invasion Yet

While most Americans may be unaware of this long history of accumulated humiliation of Muslims, Christians and other religious minorities in the region -- and the resulting hatred of the West -- they can't ignore the Iraq invasion, the largest by the West in the region, excluding World War II. Nor is the public unaware of the 2011 intervention in Libya, and the chaos that has resulted. And yet no link is made between these disasters and terror attacks on the West.

The secular strongmen of Iraq, Libya and Syria were targeted because they dared to be independent of Western hegemony -- not because of their awful human rights records. The proof is that Saudi Arabia's and Israel's human rights records also are appalling, but the U.S. still staunchly stands by these "allies."

During the so-called Arab Spring, when Bahrainis demanded democracy in that island kingdom, the U.S. mostly looked the other way as they were crushed by a combined force of the nation's monarchy and Saudi troops. Washington also clung to Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak until the bitter end.

However, under the pretext of protecting the Libyan population, the U.S. and NATO implemented a bloody "regime change" in Libya leading to anarchy, another failed state and the creation of one more ISIS enclave. For the past five years, the West and its Gulf allies have fueled the civil war in Syria, contributing to another humanitarian disaster.

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The West's motive for all this meddling is often pinned on oil. But obedience is a strong factor. Hans Morgenthau wrote in Politics Among Nations (1968), that the urge of empires to expand "will not be satisfied so long as there remains anywhere a possible object of domination - a politically organized group of men which by its very independence challenges the conqueror's lust for power."

Tariq Ali, in his 2003 book Bush in Babylon, writes about Gnaeus Julius Agricola, the Roman general responsible for much of the conquest of Britain in the First Century:

"On one of his visits to the outer reaches of [Britain], Agricola looked in the direction of Ireland and asked a colleague why it remained unoccupied. Because, came the reply, it consisted of uncultivable bog lands and was inhabited by very primitive tribes. What could it possibly have to offer the great Empire? The unfortunate man was sternly admonished. Economic gain isn't all. Far more important is the example provided by an unoccupied country. It may be backward, but it is still free."

Cloaking Motives

Little of this long history of Western manipulation, deceit and brutality in the Middle East is known to Americans because U.S. media almost never invokes it to explain Arab and Iranian attitudes towards the West.

The people of the region remember this history, however. I know Arabs who are still infuriated by the Sykes-Picot backstabbing, let alone the most recent depredations. Indeed fanatics like the Islamic State are still ticked off about the Crusades, a much earlier round of Western intervention. In some ways it's surprising, and welcomed, that only the tiniest fraction of Muslims has turned to terrorism.

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Nevertheless, Islamophobes like Donald Trump want to keep all Muslims out of the U.S. until he figures out "what the hell is going on." He says Muslims have a "deep hatred" of Americans. But he won't figure it out because he's ignoring the main cause of that hatred - the past century of intervention, topped by the most recent Western atrocities in Iraq and Libya.

Stripping out the political and historical motives renders terrorists as nothing more than madmen fueled by irrational hate of a benevolent West that says it only wants to help them. They hate us simply because we are Western, according to people like Toner, and not because we've done anything to them.

Israel and its Western enablers likewise bury the history of Israel's ethnic cleansing and piecemeal conquest of Palestine so they can dismiss Palestinians who turn to terrorism as motivated only by hatred of Jews for being Jews.

I've asked several Israelis why Palestinians tend to hate them. The more educated the Israeli the more likely the answer was because of the history of how Israel was established and how it continues to rule. The less educated my respondent, the more likely I heard that they hate us simply because we are Jews.

There's no excuse for terrorism. But there is a practical way to curb it: end the current interventions and occupations and plan no more.

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The Psychology of Terror

Of course, anger at the West's history of exploiting the Middle East isn't the only motivation for terrorism. There are emotional and group pressures that push some over the line to strap on bombs and blow up innocent people around them. Thankfully, it takes a very unusual type of individual to react to this ugly history with ugly acts of terror.

Money also plays a part. We've seen waves of defections as ISIS has recently cut fighters' pay in half. Anger at Western-installed and propped-up local rulers who oppress their people on behalf of the West is another motive. Extremist preachers, especially Saudi Wahhabis, also share the blame as they inspire terrorism, usually against Shia.

Wading into the psychology of why someone turns to terrorism is an unenviable task. The official Western view is that Islamist extremists merely hate modernity and secularism. That might be their motive in wanting to backwardly transform their own societies by removing Western influence. But it's not what they say when they claim responsibility for striking inside the West.

To ignore their words and dismiss their violent reaction to the long and ongoing history of Western intervention may shield Americans and Europeans from their partial responsibility for these atrocities. But it also provides cover for the continuing interventions, which in turn will surely produce more terrorism.

Rather than looking at the problem objectively - and self-critically - the West ludicrously cloaks its own violence as an effort to spread democracy (which never seems to materialize) or protect civilians (who are endangered instead). To admit any connection between the sordid historical record and anti-Western terrorism would be to admit culpability and the price that the West is paying for its dominance.

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Worse still, letting terrorists be perceived as simply madmen without a cause allows the terrorist response to become justification for further military action. This is precisely what the Bush administration did after 9/11, falsely seeking to connect the attacks to the Iraqi government.

By contrast, connecting terrorism to Western intervention could spark a serious self-examination of the West's behavior in the region leading to a possible retreat and even an end of this external dominance. But that is clearly something policymakers in Washington, London and Paris - and their subservient media - aren't prepared to do.
With the Metro Expo Line to Santa Monica scheduled to open in May, this piece revisits an interview I conducted four years ago, shortly before the opening of the first phase of Expo to Culver City. Like the line itself which follows the Pacific Electric's right of way of the Santa Monica Air Line streetcar, I have always been a recycler.

Given the many who felt that we would never again see a line from downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific, and the NIMBYs who fought it in the courts and in the press for no rational reason, it seems a repost is in order. It has been a long time since 1953, the last time L.A. had rail transit to the beach.



Enjoy the history and Go Metro and Expo, a key piece of our region's public transportation puzzle!

Darrell Clarke was the long-time co-chair of Friends 4 Expo Transit, a group that has worked tirelessly to ensure that Los Angeles has light rail, rather than a busway -- or no transit at all -- along the Exposition corridor. My interview with Clarke follows.

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Good afternoon Darrell. So tell us, what is Friends 4 Expo Transit?

Friends 4 Expo Transit is a group that came together around this particular issue. Some of us date back to 1989 when the opportunity for transit along the old Expo right-of-way began with the Southern Pacific Railroad's offer to sell a number of rail rights-of-way to the LA County Transportation Commission (LACTC), a predecessor of today's Metro. Philip Anschutz [of AEG and the Staples Center] had purchased the Southern Pacific in 1988 in a leveraged buyout and needed cash. There was the opportunity with L.A. County's Prop. A to sell the rights-of-way in one package. This represented an incredible opportunity for the County to have under public ownership a critical piece of any future transit plan for the region.

The transaction was consummated around 1991. Also, in 1989 the city of Santa Monica had commissioned a study of light rail along Exposition and down the Lincoln [Boulevard] corridor, which doesn't have a rail right-of-way. Santa Monica was thinking about the time the city and neighboring Venice had rail. The bus yard in Venice had been the old Ocean Park streetcar car house for a Pacific Electric line that ran down what is now Nielson Way and Pacific Avenue.

It sounds like we need a little history lesson to better understand the Southern Pacific opportunity. What was going on with Expo before 1989?

Going way back, in 1875 a steam railroad was built along Exposition from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica. The line, later referred to as the Air Line, was built by the founder of Santa Monica -- Senator John P. Jones -- whose home was on the site of the Miramar Hotel across from Palisades Park.

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Eventually, the Air Line was electrified and they ran various kinds of passenger service on it but it remained primarily a freight line. The passenger line ran until 1953; freight service continued until the mid-1980s. The end of the line for many years was Fisher Lumber, located between 14th and 16th Streets and Colorado Blvd in Santa Monica. In the final years of the line it was used occasionally to bring flatcars of lumber to the yard.

Jumping ahead, there has been a tension between backers of the Southern California Rapid Transit District's Red Line subway (today's Metro Red and Purple Lines) and those who felt we could get more transit and more value out of light rail. When the San Diego trolley opened in 1981 it became the country's first modern light rail line. Compared to heavy rail construction you can electrify and build light rail relatively inexpensively. As San Diego was being built a study of the possibilities for modern light rail in L.A. began under the LACTC. County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn lobbied for his district and the first project became the Blue Line, which opened in 1990.

In part, for reasons of efficiency and in part, because of the competing visions of the Southern California Rapid Transit District and LACTC, then-State Assemblymember Richard Katz got legislation passed that merged the two agencies into today's MTA.

How did you get involved originally in the effort to build Expo?

By 1989, the [Metro] Blue Line [to Long Beach] was well under construction, Red Line construction was underway and the idea of putting light rail on Exposition became a very real possibility - LACTC and the city of Santa Monica had been exploring the possibilities.

I describe my involvement as beginning with three newspaper articles in the Santa Monica Evening Outlook in 1989. The first article was about the possibility of purchasing the right-of-way and putting light rail on Exposition.

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The second article reported that that there had been a neighborhood meeting at St. Timothy's Church on Pico in Rancho Park/Cheviot Hills and that the organizers had invited Neil Peterson, the chairman of the LACTC, to speak. According to the article, several people at the meeting used their comments to blast Peterson and the idea of light rail on Expo.

The third article described how a citizens group in Santa Monica was forming to support the purchase of the right-of-way for transit. So I called the phone number and went to a meeting.

But this story needs to say something about why I went to that meeting. I had been a student at Berkeley in the 1970s. I was interested in transit and what existed in the Bay Area, and was on the first public BART train from the East Bay to San Francisco in the summer of 1974. I wanted something like it down here and Expo presented a great opportunity.

It has obviously been a long struggle to build Expo. How would you describe the early battle with those who opposed it?

So we already had the battle lines drawn back in 1989. There were a number of people, primarily in the Cheviot Hills area, who were organizing against light rail and we were organizing on behalf of light rail. We did a lot of work going door to door. I put together documentation that showed why this made sense economically. I was always a volunteer, but was accused of working for someone and often got the question "who is paying you?"

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Some of the same players today were around then.

After the right-of-way was purchased, how did things proceed?

The LACTC was the agency with the money. Its board approved the purchase of the rights-of-way from Southern Pacific. The campaign in support of the purchase was completed in 1990 and the purchase was consummated about 1991.

Of course those of us who supported the purchase, said OK now we want to see a light rail project there. Neil Peterson and LACTC came up with a "30-year Plan" with a number of candidate corridors and Expo was one of them. LACTC began environmental planning on several lines, including Expo, what became the Orange Line busway, the Pasadena Line and a line to Glendale. The Green Line was also under construction.

The next big development was the merger of LACTC and the former RTD into the new MTA. Neil Peterson was not invited to lead the new agency and they did not have the money to do all of of the proposed projects. Even though County voters had passed Prop C in 1990, and the MTA had bond-issuing authority, plans suffered from a federal funding match that was reduced from 80 to 50 percent.

The MTA released a Phase 1 draft environmental impact report for Expo in 1994 but it went into hibernation until 1998 with all of MTA's funding going to the Red Line subway. But then - drum roll - early in 1998, for financial reasons, the MTA Board suspended the future subway extensions - to East L.A., Pico/San Vicente, and in the Valley to Van Nuys - and the Pasadena light rail project. In 1998, L.A. County voters approved Prop A, banning the use of Prop A and C sales tax revenues on any future subway beyond what was then under construction.

So there was a real tension between those who supported the subway and those looking for less expensive transit alternatives?

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Yes. During Richard Riordan's time as Mayor, Martha Welborne, who [later became] the head of countywide planning for Metro, organized a trip to Curitiba, Brazil. The trip was attended by Riordan, [County Supervisor Zev] Yaroslavsky and others and it planted the seed of Bus Rapid Transit in the heads of several key players in the city.

As I heard former Mayor Riordan say multiple times, "It's like a subway train on rubber tires and carries 280 people." Never mind how you squeeze 280 people into an 80-foot-long bus.

During the fall of 1998, the MTA began a new planning process about what to do in place of the cancelled subway extensions - to the west and east, and through the San Fernando Valley. This had a particular urgency because the Federal Transportation Administration had authorized the Red Line's extension through Boyle Heights and also there was some money on the table for a Wilshire/Western to Pico/San Vicente extension.

How were you involved during this period?

In 1998 I was invited to a meeting of community stakeholders to talk about Westside extensions other than the subway and they were looking at boulevard corridors and the Expo right-of-way for light rail or bus rapid transit. Similarly on the east side they looked at light rail and bus rapid transit options, and bus rapid transit only in the San Fernando Valley.

Some of the longtime advocates like me and some newer advocates got together to work for the Expo line in 1999. We formalized ourselves as Friend 4 Expo Transit in the fall of 2000. This was concurrent with the MTA releasing a Draft EIR in mid-2000 for Expo light rail and a Wilshire BRT.

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The Final EIS/EIR was issued in the middle of 2001. Through a whole lot of work and organizing on our part, including the securing of individual endorsements from community leaders and a favorable editorial in the L.A. Times, we got approval of the first half of the Expo Line to Culver City in June 2001.

The Friends 4 Expo Transit website News page has a detailed chronology of events. To what do you attribute the success of the campaign for light rail versus bus rapid transit on Expo?

The reason that light rail was chosen for the project was because of the grassroots support for the project. The default was to do an Orange Line-like busway along Expo in spite of the fact that the Expo corridor needed the higher capacity and speed of light rail.

Did the project need and gain the backing of any prominent civic leaders in particular?

In 2001 the first-half light rail project gained unanimous MTA Board approval, but they still needed to complete the Final EIS/EIR. To accelerate things, around 2002 there was an important move by Zev Yaroslavsky to reprogram some Wilshire BRT dollars to fund the rest of the final environmental review for the Expo Line.

Yaroslavsky and other elected leaders importantly came on board, but it is was the grassroots support that really mattered. As a former state senator told us, "You guys start the parade and I'll march out in front of it."

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What does this say about politics? That's just how political leaders are. We bemoan the lack of leadership but look what happens when they try to lead. They get whacked for it. But think about what became the successful campaign for Measure R and later, 30/10 and America Fast Forward, and how Mayor Villaraigosa importantly marches in front.

Following the MTA Board's approval of Expo Phase One, we moved on to the Phase Two environmental review and winning approval of the project. The rest is history.

What is it like to fight for something for 20 years and finally see it happening?

[Laughing] I know. It's crazy. Twenty-two years and counting. I didn't expect it to become a life's work. I guess when you believe in something that much and you see an opportunity you keep working for it. I certainly remember, it was 2000 or 2001 and the news was bad. But you pick yourself up, dust yourself off and move on.

We were figuring it out as we went along. Around 2000, I remember someone saying we should hire a paid political consultant to work on Expo's behalf. But we decided that it was important to remain a grassroots organization. We knew what we were talking about and had credibility as volunteers, even if we had no grand plan. It wasn't, we'll do A-B-C. It was "let's see, what would make the most sense to do next." It was the idea. A whole lot of people rallied around the vision of light rail for Expo."

I remember, it was during the days of the Kodak carousel slide projectors, and I finished making a presentation and someone in the audience said, "I used to live it D.C. and rode the Metro. WE NEED THAT HERE."

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When I presented to a group I would start off talking about the economic facts and figures of a light rail line on Expo, but more important was what it meant to people personally. I ended with a slide of a quote I had heard at a meeting: "I could walk to the station and ride to downtown or to Santa Monica. It would change the way I feel about living in Los Angeles."

What do you think of the final product?

It is interesting to see. I've done drawings. It's not identical to what I imagined. I think the landscaping turned out really well. The transit parkway they imagined in the planning worked out. I like the basic station design, the wave.

I can take credit for coining the 'Expo Line' name. Originally I called it 'Expo Rail' and then later the Expo Line. It's funny how some things stick. The Expo Line name solidified when Bernard Parks said he didn't want to go with the Aqua Line color name.

What is it like to tussle with the same people for so many years?

I have thought a lot about this. About fighting the opponents of Expo, I like to quote a friend, "Don't tell me what you're against; tell me what you're FOR!"

Your enthusiasm for light rail on Exposition appears to have brought a lot of people into the ranks that would otherwise never have thought about supporting the project

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So much of this has been about a compelling vision that people shared. It's about working for something badly needed in a positive way; stating the facts and correcting misinformation. To generalize, when you look at the larger political world you see a lot of people saying stuff that is just false. I've always tried to be accurate, factual and positive.

What has the project meant for you personally?

Working for Expo has taken me in the direction of co-lead for the Sierra Club's national Beyond Oil campaign. It has helped me move from being a single-issue transit advocate to taking on a broader role and project.

Second, I think our bringing together this grassroots support for transit has inspired others to start their own efforts - Bart Reed went off and founded The Transit Coalition, Ken Alpern started the Friends of the Green Line and Denny Zane started Move LA. It feels like we are making a difference.

What's next?

How about five new Metro rail lines funded with $120 billion in voter-approved sales tax revenue and a complicated Public Private Partnership (P3) that would bring a rail line (yay!) and a toll roll (yawn!) through the Sepulveda Pass.
Given the positive developments over the last few decades involving the expansion of women's rights and gay rights, it is alarming to witness "legalized intolerance" exemplified through the recently adopted "religious freedom" bill in Georgia. The bill was intended to "protect" businesses from legal liability for refusing to provide goods and services. to members of the LGBT community as a violation of "religious convictions." It is a warning sign that people in a democratic society should heed. A term like "religious convictions" can become a way of rescinding the hard-fought freedoms that are finally being enjoyed by millions of Americans. We should recall that most educators, at least in principle, believe it is vital for children to understand and practice "tolerance" of people who are different from themselves. This ideal has been traditionally stressed in public schools.

The Puritans, who had a profound effect on the religious traditions of our culture, believed that anyone who did not conform rigorously to their rules and customs had no right to practice their faith in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Roger Williams went to Rhode Island and Ann Hutchinson to Connecticut to practice the religious freedom they were denied by the very people who were persecuted by the Anglican Church in England. On the other hand, the traditions of some religious and secular groups welcome all who wish to join them without preconditions. One of Christ's utterances was that, "In my father's house there are many mansions" (John 14:2). It isn't too difficult to interpret the words "many mansions," to understand that an inclusive doctrine of love, acceptance, forgiveness and peace is an important part of Christian belief. The recent statements by the Pope emphasize understanding and mercy rather than judgmental attitudes in the relationship of the clergy to their parishioners.

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It is tragically ironic then that at a time in which countries in the Middle East are tearing themselves apart largely due to religious intolerance, that in American politics religious intolerance is being revived under the dubious notion that "freedom" can be best enjoyed when it is denied to others.

The misuse of Scripture to justify prejudice has a long and shameful history in a country that prides itself on its acceptance of other cultures. The Bible was used to justify slavery; religious prejudice marginalized immigrant groups from Southern and Eastern Europe who had arrived in the 1880's to the 1920's. The Irish experienced intolerance when they came here as refugees from a country in which they had been systematically starved. And one can only guess how many lives could have been saved during the Holocaust were it not for exclusionary immigration laws established in the 1920s, Their demonization of Jews as "Christ killers" was used by anti-Semites to exclude them from mainstream society. Using the excuse of "religious convictions" as a cover for prejudice should be regarded as a relic of the previous century. It should not be revived as a way of appealing to intolerance as an exercise in "freedom."

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The most disturbing reincarnation of this tradition is being applied against organizations such as Planned Parenthood over the issue of abortion. Offering affordable, safe, and conveniently located women's clinics for all women should be the priority for people who are concerned with women's health-- not making it difficult for needy women to obtain medical aid.
Last week I had the opportunity to visit Za'atari refugee camp just outside of Amman, Jordan. Of the 80,000 refugees living there, almost all are Syrians. Arriving in Za'atari, my only context on the experiences of refugees -- of people running from war -- had been informed by images captured by journalists. At the camp, I was brought to an art studio filled with images originated by Syrian artists. These artists paint and sculpt memories of their homeland, either to immortalize the memory of its beauty or as a form to express grief of searing images -- their houses destroyed, their neighbors and countrymen unburied on the streets. Many of the paintings explore the role of media in communicating the conflict to the outside world- how the conflict is being framed and packaged to people, what is being highlighted and what isn't.

Though I saw a lot of things at Za'atari, I felt it's important to share these artworks because they communicate so directly the experience of civil war and are made in the hands of those most affected. The names of the artists have not been disclosed by UNHCR, and I didn't have the opportunity to speak with them directly but I include some personal interpretations and reactions from when I first saw these pieces.

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The first painting is a recreation of the infamous photograph captured by a journalist of a three-year old boy, Aylan, washing up on the shores, an image that ignited international outrage. This photograph woke up the world, while Aylan himself looked to be sleeping. In this recreation a keyboard is included next to Aylan reinforcing the image of his sleep, as a lullaby is played in the waves.

In this image we see two children framing themselves within a television screen. Perhaps this is a commentary on the limitations of media to communicate a full and real experience, by only being able to capture what can fit physically into the screen of a television.

This image is perhaps a commentary on the inability of media to capture the colourless atmosphere of war. Or a comment on what existed before war, on the importance of media in the survival of Syria's pre-conflict memory. This is paramount to Syrians; some children are too young (or of the 4500 born within the camp) to have never known the beauty of where they come from, and this tears parents apart. I met a man named Abu who told me "I love my country more than my eyes, because at night I can dream of it."

Expressions of national grief, of futures destroyed.

An image perhaps suggesting the blood sacrifice it will take to build a new country, or indicating re-birth: a Syria re-built and growing stronger than the weight of its tragedy.

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This room is energetic, as artists work through the shock of their history, the contradictions of civil war, of forced displacement, the fear of letting go of place -- of identity, of culture, of community, and the context that home offers us.

The grief Syrians have faced in their past has been newly complicated by their present, delaying any confirmation of a brighter future. What refugees face now is known as Second Exile: first you are denied a home in your own country and then denied a home in the country that you're in. Za'atari houses only 80,000 of the four million that are displaced outside of Syria. People who come from lives like ours: they are entrepreneurs, university students and architects, but have been stripped of their right to exercise these skills because they don't have work visas. So they're running out of cash, and forcibly becoming an impoverished population.
This year, as global average temperatures reach unprecedented highs, arctic sea ice recedes to record lows, and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere exceeds 400 parts per million, Congress is--predictably--focused on cutting funding for environmental protection and dismantling the Clean Power Plan.

While there are some long-term prospects for federal-level action on climate, the near-term view from Capitol Hill is still bleak. For climate campaigners, environmental justice activists, and people generally concerned with the sustainability of human civilization, the writing is on the wall: Real action rests with states and localities.

Oregon, Hawaii, and Vermont have acted to eliminate the use of coal in power generation and, along with other forward-looking states, have set strong renewable energy mandates. Thanks to surprising alliances between libertarians and progressives, some deep red states like Georgia have made green policy choices, particularly on solar. Many of the world's largest cities from New York to London to Singapore are making tangible commitments to carbon neutrality. Through initiatives like the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and the Compact of Mayors, the major cities that account for more than 70 percent of global population are spearheading innovative and potentially transformative steps to decarbonize the global economy.

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Still, some of the most promising ideas and efforts are actually coming from small cities.

Boulder, Colorado (population: 105,112) is working to municipalize its utility, currently owned by for-profit Xcel Energy, in order to transition to a renewable-focused model that returns a portion of profits to city or county authorities to supplement local budgets and support broader green initiatives.

In Santa Fe, New Mexico (population: 82,800), Mayor Javier Gonzales has proposed something unprecedented: making climate mitigation and resilience a central organizing principle of local policymaking. The philosophy underlying his proposal is that properly-designed green policies are a natural pathway to reducing poverty and inequality, insofar as they create new employment opportunities for people with different skills sets and levels of education (retrofitting buildings, installing renewables, and supporting research), they promote new cost-saving measures for low-income families (cheaper long-run power and improved efficiency), and they ultimately protect low-income people from shocks to which they'll be most vulnerable (economic dislocations and public health challenges from drought, heat, and broader climate chaos). While this thinking has been the general thrust of the green jobs movement for years, there's evidence that a small city like Santa Fe--with a clear strategy, sustained political will, and the requisite funding--can avoid the pitfalls encountered with federal efforts like the 2009 Recovery Act or big city initiatives that have had to contend with dozens of competing priorities and interest groups. This theory is about to be tested.

On March 30th, Gonzales introduced a measure in the City Council to create a steady-state fund for coordinated citywide action to address climate and inequality. Known as the Verde Fund, the proposal would be financed through a commitment of 5% of gross receipts taxes and a modest annual appropriation as well as potential additional funding leveraged from private sector partners. The plan has several pillars. In order to make green upgrades affordable for low-income city residents, the administration would work through the city-owned water utility and other agencies to enable rooftop solar and efficiency upgrades with low-interest loans and "on-bill financing"--a setup that allows ratepayers to use energy cost-savings to help pay for installations over time. The fund would help create carbon-neutral affordable housing (including net-zero micro-houses for low-income residents and the homeless) and help enable the use of new tools like community solar arrays that everyone, including renters, could buy into. The Verde Fund would invest in workforce training opportunities that aim to prepare young people for efficiency and installation work as well as microgrid-related projects based out of the area's community college and other facilities. The fund would enable the city to hire staff to leverage and coordinate private sector participation and advertise relevant new opportunities to homeowners and businesses. A major principle behind the Verde Fund is participatory budgeting: in time, the aim is to crowdsource the development of ideas and capacity for the green transition through a community-oriented competitive grant process overseen by jointly the Sustainable Santa Fe Commission and the Youth and Human Services Commission.

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For Gonzales, this isn't a wild new policy vision but the allocation of resources to meet an existing unfunded mandate: The city has already formally committed to go carbon-neutral by 2040 but hadn't yet identified funding to meet the promise. Without funding, the mandate can't be met.

On economics generally, the Verde Fund is hardly uncharted territory. Conservative business thinkers like Harvard's Michael Porter have long contended that regions can use environmental policies like the fund as the basis of competitive advantage. Cities like Hamburg, Germany have energized their economies by building on regional and national climate strategies--in their case adapting existing industries like aircraft engine manufacturing to gain a footing in related green enterprises like manufacturing wind turbines.

Of course, for a city like Santa Fe, the question is scale: How can an arts town of less than 100,000 people make any contribution to mitigating global climate change? Backers of the Verde Fund have no illusions that the picture-perfect high-desert hideaway will single-handedly alter global emissions projections. Rather, the idea is to create a model that other places can replicate. In this regard, there's some evidence Santa Fe can be successful. The city helped create a national movement with its successful living wage ordnance back in 2004. While some initially derided the plan as delusional, the idea is now a fixture in presidential debates, national labor campaigns, and statehouses from New York to California. In the wake of recent droughts, Santa Fe has also been a model for cities in the region and beyond, having enacted a tiered water-pricing model that's radically reduced per capita water consumption.


(Photo Provided by VH1)

The barbershop, a staple in the black community for many years now, it is also a place where fathers and some mothers take their sons to experience a brotherhood. The barbershop is the place where the talk is everything from last nights sporting event to politics to religion, nothing is off the table once you're inside of the barbershop. Tonight, (Monday, April 11, 2016) VH1 will air a special called "Behind the Movie: Exploring Chicago with the Cast of Barbershop: The Next Cut."

The movie starring Ice Cube is the third moving in the franchise. This time around it centers on the shop and the role it plays in one Chicago neighborhood. In some aspects you could say this is art-imitating life because there is so much going on in Chicago in terms of violence. The special on VH1 is hosted and produced by Sway Calloway. Sway sits down in a town hall style forum with members of the cast of the movie and joining them are a number of people who live in Chicago to talk about the violence in the city, gangs, and how the barbershop often times is a place of solitude for community members who desperately want to live better lives. I had the opportunity to sit and talk with Sway about the special and what viewers can expect.

KM: Sway talk to me about the driving force behind this town hall event?

Sway: The need, you know Chicago has been the driving force behind of a lot of issues in our country. Whether is the dynamic between local government or police or race relations, economics, and crime in our neighborhoods? These are issues that people in Chicago face but also its happening across the country but Chicago has been in the middle of it. Ice Cube the star of the movie said something very interesting that he only agreed to do Barbershop 3 if it talked about real life issues that Chicago faces. Of course it won't be as real as what's going on in Chicago right now but to be able to tap into it and talk about it is a great thing. For us this special was an opportunity to talk about issues in an entertaining way that don't always rate well.

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KM: Let's talk about your time in Chicago and putting this special together. How long were you there?

Sway: I was there for two days but our team had been there scouting and researching, this has been in the works for long time, for a couple of months now. We spent a couple of days there and during that time we spent a lot of time going to different areas of the city, specifically the south side.

KM: What was it like being there and filming the special? What did you find there?

Sway: People are very prideful there, people are really conscious, even the young teenagers who are at the root of a lot of the crime statistics were very conscious of what was going on. I would ask kids about what it would take to curtail the violence here and every kid would respond by saying if we had opportunity, something to do with our time, we would have less time to make these mistakes. The kids there say they are hungry to succeed in life and there aren't enough jobs for them. Many of them told me they can't see pass the next few years based on what they have seen growing up.

When you think about it Chicago is also a character in the movie. I think "Barbershop: The Next Cut" will shed some light on the turmoil actually happening in Chicago. The movie and this VH1 special tonight will highlight some of the negatives and shine light on what can be done in order to move away from the violence there to shape a better city for the children who have to grow up there in the future. When I think of Chicago, I see my second home because as a kid I would visit family there often and when I chose a college I decided it would be in Chicago. I spent a number of years there developing myself as a professional and I look back on the city with such fond memories. I want to see that city again. I want to visit that city again. Chicago is such a beautiful and amazing place that it often gets this bad rap. The movie and the VH1 special tonight are only helping the conversation. I have strong faith that Chicago will bounce back and in the meantime you can catch the VH1 special "Behind the Move: Exploring Chicago with the cast of Barbershop: The Next Cut" tonight on VH1.
This closing film to The Hunger Games trilogy, now available on DVD/Blu-ray shows Katniss Everdeen, the reluctant leader of the rebellion leading an army against President Snow. Her tragic journey finally comes to an end with this emotional finish. KIDS FIRST! Film Critic Clayton P. comments, "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 is surprisingly more creative and suspenseful than all the prior films in the franchise." His full review appears below. Additionally, fans can now re-live Katniss's journey from the very beginning in The Hunger Games Complete 4-Film Collection arriving for the first time ever today on Blu-ray/DVD. Be sure to also check out Morgan B.'s interview with cast members from the films at the DVD release party.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2

Clayton P, KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, age 16

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 is surprisingly more creative and suspenseful than all the prior films in the franchise. However, there are a couple of things about the film that are not fantastic. I don't think that Jennifer Lawrence does a great job in this film. It seems as if she was asleep throughout the movie.

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This film again stars Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen and Josh Hucherson as Peeta Mellark. They are supported by Julianne Moore, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. The film is directed by Francis Lawrence, who directed all the Hunger Games films except the first.

At the beginning of the film, Katniss is recruited by Commander Coin (Julianne Moore) to lead the rebellion. They really want her to be the "face" of the rebellion and film fake skirmishes for the ever present media. Katniss plays along but her intent is to assassinate President Snow. Snow is ready for the rebellion. His generals plant POD traps (obstacles designed to release a weapon that can range from a bomb to a group of mutts) all over the Capital, which are motion sensitive. When someone comes near, flame throwers engulf them or huge machine guns appear and blow them up. The PODS are planted every few feet, so it is a deadly obstacle course for the rebels to try to make it through into the heart of the Capital. In the face of all this, Peeta, who had been psychologically tortured and brain-washed by Snow in Part 1, is now ordered to join Katniss on this mission. But, he is unstable and doesn't have a grip on reality.

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The best part of this film is the ending, which I can't tell you about because of spoiler alert. But, rest assured, it is a great ending. The middle of the film is very action-packed, scary and suspenseful. Katniss, and the rebel force work their way through the PODS. I love this part of the film and the locations that were chosen. At one point, the rebel force goes down into the sewers to escape detection, adding a bit of horror to the action film setting. The supporting cast is great, especially Julianne Moore, who plays Commander Coin with great conviction.

The screenplay is interesting, especially the dialogue between Katniss and Peeta. Peeta keeps asking Katniss and the others if things are "real or not real" since he has a tenuous grip on reality, due to his brain-washing. I also like the song that plays during the end credits.

Unfortunately, there are some drawbacks to the film besides Jennifer Lawrence's performance. I feel that some of the fight sequences are not realistic. One last point I would like to make is that the uniqueness of The Hunger Games is the idea of the games themselves. There are no games in this film and I miss he whole survivalist concept of that.

Overall, I think this film is a great ending to The Hunger Games franchise. I give the film 4 out of 5 stars and recommend it to kids ages 11 to 18, keeping in mind that there are some rather violent, scary scenes in the middle of the movie. This film opens November 20.



Clayton Pickard, KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, age 16
In addition to its rich cultural heritage, renowned art performances, and spiritual temples, Nepal remains notorious for its discreet dark side. The country houses a large group of very active human smugglers who have not only been instrumental in sending Nepali youngsters to dangerous places like Iraq and Afghanistan, but also in smuggling them to the United States of America through Mexico. That being said, it is important to note that the racket of human smugglers responsible for smuggling Nepali youths to the USA is far more treacherous than their equivalents that cater to Iraq and Afghanistan. Owing to the extreme dangers involved in trafficking humans to the US, Nepali human smugglers, including underworld dons, stay in constant touch with their foreign counterparts. Statistics are suggestive of the involvement of more than a dozen individuals and manpower agencies in this lethal business of illegal human trafficking from Nepal to the United States.

All About The Process of Smuggling People into The United States

The first step towards an illegal entrance into the United States of America is to meet up with a human trafficker in Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal. These human Smugglers who penetrate people into the United States maintain a discreet profile and do not keep any offices, or manpower agencies as opposed to those in Dubai, Malaysia, or Qatar. One has to go through various channels to reach these brokers, and eventually bargain a transfer fees to reach the States.

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However, the price is fixed in Kathmandu, fifty percent of which is to be paid upfront, while the remaining balance can be paid after reaching the Texan Border of USA. After a broker receives the upfront payment, a date is fixed to go to the USA with a batch of 15-20 other illegal migrants, although there may be times when the migrants may have to wait for two to three months before their departure.

Certain terms and conditions need to be fulfilled before the unlawful journey to the USA begins. The first condition set by the human smugglers is a no-refund policy in event of a migrant getting arrested on the way and being deported to Nepal. Each individual is responsible for their own safety, including the risk of losing their lives. The migrants are prohibited from carrying any metals including mobile phones, watches, and cameras, to avoid being detected by metal detectors during air monitoring, as they cross South American jungles. After leaving Nepal, no one is allowed to contact their families back home to evade tapped phone, and carry nothing except food and clothing. The migrants also have to guarantee that they will never disclose their entrance passage and broker's identity to anyone, nor contact the human trafficker in future.

One has to cross many countries while coming to the USA from Nepal. Human smugglers have a very strong network of agents in every country that they contact to make the illegal journey, from Nepal to the US, possible. The migrants are first sent to Delhi in India, to easily acquire a visa for Dubai, and meet an agent to help them get smuggled into Dubai. Another agent is kept on standby in Dubai to receive the illegal migrant and forward him to Ecuador, by contacting another agent there. In some cases, smugglers send people straight to Dubai from Nepal.

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The route to Ecuador may vary through different brokers. While some migrants get smuggled to Ecuador from Dubai, through various countries, others go through Singapore. Generally, it takes between three months to a year to reach Ecuador from Nepal. There are instances where some of them are arrested in Singapore and Dubai even before reaching Ecuador, and deported back to Nepal from there.

It's not possible to illegally enter Ecuador because of the strict air border controls. Nepali brokers make visa arrangements through countries that have easy access to Ecuador's visa as reaching Ecuador would mean getting through the first door for illegal human trafficking into the United States. Generally, air traveling ends after a migrant enters Ecuador on a 3-month tourist visa and therefore, all travelers destroy their Passports upon their arrival. From here onwards, no one is allowed to carry any identification documents with them.

After reaching Ecuador, in South America, Nepali brokers arrange to smuggle people to Columbia with assistance from their foreign partners. It is from Columbia, that the journey towards Mid-American countries starts. The brokers then make arrangements for a transfer from Columbia to Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala, from where the journey towards North America begins. The migrants are completely handed over to foreign brokers once they arrive in Mexico, who steer them through Mexican jungles to smuggle them into Texas. The whole journey from Ecuador to Texas takes at least three months and may extend to as long as a year.

Revealing the Jeopardy

In spite of paying hundreds and thousands of dollars for the transfer, entering the US borders is not an easy process. There is not only a risk of getting caught on the way and getting deported to Nepal, chances of losing your life also run high. Regardless of the fatal threats, many Nepalese choose to become a part of this deadly setting and go as far as selling their homes and lands, and displacing their families, to pay the required amount to human trafficking brokers.

While entering the USA from Ecuador, the path gets even more dangerous when the migrants have to walk through jungles, lakes, streams, sea, and deserts. Owing to the chances of getting caught by air patrols, it is unsafe to travel in daylight, due to which the jungles are crossed after dark with a constant fear of being eaten by their wild inhabitants.

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Their ordeal does not end once the migrants reach Mexico. Getting shot by an air patrol of the American forces poses a potential risk while crossing the Mexican border to get into the USA. Trying to cross the maritime boundaries between North and South America in a boat involves serious risks of getting lost or losing one's life at sea. Getting killed at sea may not only mean an irrecoverable dead body, but also, chances would be slim of ever knowing if the person is alive or not. There have been many reported incidents of boat capsizes and lost vessels on American sea borders due to the wild nature of the waves. When a person attempts to illegally enter the US through Mexico, he does it without any guarantee of his life. There is no assurance of who may get killed, let alone any knowledge on how and when. While most of the dead bodies stay undiscovered, those who do get salvaged, are very hard to identify and locate information for. Despite the frequency with which dead bodies continue to retrieve from different areas, the number of people who illegally enter the United States from Nepal persists to soar.


Photo : Nepal Tourism Board's Facebook

Nepal, the birthplace of lord Buddha and country of Mt. Everest, is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Last year, massive earthquake tried to destroy the beauty of Nepal. The small and beautiful country faced dreadful disaster ever in the history. Of course, that monster disaster destroyed some heritages, temples and ancient places including tallest tower Dharahara, one of the most important heritage and a major identity of Nepal. More than 700 monuments in Kathmandu and its environs were damaged in the quake. But that earthquake couldn't damage natural beauty of Nepal and 'Hope' of Nepalese people.

More than 800,000 international tourists visit Nepal each year, with travel and tourism contributing more than 8 percent of the country's total $66 billion GDP (gross domestic product) in 2013 and close to 9 percent in 2014. According to a report of World Travel and Tourism Council, Nepal's travel and tourism sector directly generated 487,500 jobs in 2014, representing 3.5 percent of the total employment in the country. Before the quake, the World Travel & Tourism Council had predicted those numbers to rise by 5.8 percent for 2015. But after the quake, thousands of tourists cancelled their trip to Nepal and Nepalese tourism became almost dead. Almost all countries including USA, UK, New Zealand, had issued a travel advisory, advising their citizens not to visit Nepal in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake. The US is the third largest tourist source market for Nepal. According to government statistics, Nepal receives around 50 thousands tourists from the US each year.

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Last month, the US Department of State cancelled its travel warning for Nepal completely. A travel warning was issued last year, citing geological instability following the earthquake and the monsoon season, unrest in the Tarai region and fuel crisis. Issuing a statement, US Embassy in Kathmandu said the travel warning was lifted "because conditions have changed".

Yes, conditions have changed. Nepal is reviving now. Rebuild is in progress. There are many beautiful places and tourist attractions in Nepal, which are completely safe and beautiful as before. This is time to visit Nepal to support to revive Nepal. If someone has a travel plan in this summer, it's time to choose Nepal. Someone's regular travel plan can support to give life for Nepal. World's top celebrities are also visiting Nepal urging to visit Nepal.



Photo : Nepal Tourism Board's Facebook

Recently, Prince Harry visited Nepal and paid tribute to the resilience of the people of Nepal in recovering from last year's devastating earthquakes. Prince visited Patan Durbar Square, a UNESCO World Heritage Site featuring an ancient royal palace and temples that were badly damaged in the quake. He contributed to the reconstruction of schools in the rural area of Nepal. His visit is a good message to the world to urge to make travel plan to visit Nepal.

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Now US-based Nepalese fashion designer Prabal Gurung is in Nepal. He is also spreading the same message. English footballer David Beckham visited Nepal few months back. His visit was also meaningful to create a positive vibration to urge people to visit Nepal. Likewise, other famous celebrities are also visiting Nepal, which means a lot for Nepal in this situation.

Are to planning to go somewhere in this summer? Are you planning to enjoy your vacation with purpose? Your trip can be a drop of nectar to revive a country. Make plan to visit Nepal. Visit Nepal to revive Nepal.
"It is about being in a dialogue." -Dakis Joannou

Dakis Joannou is a Greek collector and the founder of the DESTE Foundation for Contemporary Art, a non-profit institution established in 1983. "Being in a dialogue" was the common thread that ran through my conversation with Dakis Joannou. He spoke passionately about DESTE's vision and his conversations with artists, collaborators, and art itself.

The Beginning of the Dialogues

Dakis Joannou has always been interested in art and in the early 80's, as this interest matured, he started exploring ways to be an active participant in the dialogue around art. He immersed himself in conversations with artists, curators, and critics. These dialogues around art were not only a precursor of the DESTE Foundation but have remained at its core throughout the years. In 1983, DESTE -- the Greek work for "look," the initials stand for International Greek Contemporary Art in Greek -- was established as a platform for pursuing new ideas, develop creative networks and explore the connections between contemporary art and culture.

In Dialogue with Artists

For Joannou, it is vitally important to get to know the artist behind the work; to understand how the artist thinks, his/her experiences, the content of the work.

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I really respect the people who put their time into creating something, anything. People who become consumed by this act of creation. Artists give everything to art, commit their entire life to it. For me, this is what distinguishes an artist from the rest of us, that nothing can distract them from their commitment to making art.

In Dialogue with Art

The work must grab you. There must be a magnetism inside the work. It must communicate. Then, it must have passion. It must have content. It must be charged.

An Interdisciplinary Dialogue

Projects that foster dialogue between contemporary art and architecture, fashion, and design have been an ongoing component of DESTE's exhibition program. One of these projects, the destefashioncollection aims at a dialogue between artists and fashion objects. From 2007 to 2014, DESTE commissioned one artist every year to choose five fashion objects from international fashion collections and reinterpret them visually and/or verbally with his/her own creations. The approach was very personal and subjective, but also very vibrant Joannou said. This project was presented at the Benaki Museum in Athens in 2014, and another exhibition based on this project will be on view at the Bass Museum in Miami in 2017.

An Open-Ended Dialogue and Experimentation

DESTE's curatorial process is fluid, Joannou explains, and characterized by constant experimentation in terms of conceptualizing, executing and communicating new projects. For example, Liquid Classicism, an upcoming project in collaboration with Brooke Holmes from the department of Classics at Princeton and Diller Scofidio + Renfro challenges the traditional relationship between an exhibition and its accompanying catalogue by reversing their roles.

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Experimentation is important because it is about breaking barriers, going beyond what is known, and that's exciting.

Joannou adds that this open-ended and experimental approach has allowed the foundation to respond to what is current in the art world.

33 Years of Dialogues

The foundation has recently published DESTE 33 YEARS: 1983-2015, a 850-page book. In this publication, the history of the foundation and Dakis Joannou, its founder, is revealed as a story of relationships with artists, curators, and writers. In the early stages of this project, Joannou and the editorial team discussed various approaches, such as a "commemorative" and an "archival" approach, but opted for an "oral history" approach, a mixture of the two.

This approach brought together the artists, the shows, the projects, the objects. It brought together everyone who has been involved with the foundation. Because the relationships are extremely important.

Future Dialogues

DESTE will engage in collaborative shows at various venues and will follow the open-ended approach that has been at the core of the foundation since its inception. The projects will evolve through dialogue and experimentation. These collaborations will place the works in new contexts, Joannou explains, and will connect them with a new creative concept. "I want to create energy around ideas, it is a way of living" Joannou concludes.

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Tuesday, April 12, may seem like just another day leading up to the oft-dreaded tax deadline of April 15, but for women across the country it represents another economic milestone -- and an unhappy one. April 12 is the symbolic date when women "celebrate" Equal Pay Day, the day women's earnings finally catch up to men's earnings from 2015. You read that correctly. Women working full time in the United States typically have to work 15 months to earn what white men did in just 12! Think that's bad? It gets even worse for women of color and mothers, who each get their own Equal Pay Day to "celebrate" the extra time they have to put in to break even.

Unequal pay early in women's careers compounds throughout a lifetime, hindering women as they try to pay off their student loans, contribute to and raise their families, and thrive in retirement. It also leads to workplace dissatisfaction, low morale, and higher turnover -- all things that undermine the corporate bottom line. But compensating women equally can address many of these problems and be an economic engine for our entire economy.

Women keep holding out hope that Congress will pass the Paycheck Fairness Act to help remedy the ongoing and pervasive problem that is the gender pay gap. The time has come, and voters want action. As a result, some Republicans have joined Democrats in acknowledging the very real consequences of the pay gap and supporting legislative solutions. But the federal legislation we need hasn't been able to make it past Congressional gridlock and partisan posturing -- or the traditional business lobby, for that matter.

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Some states are perking up and taking notice of their constituents' concerns about equal pay. In their 2016 state of the state addresses, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) and Gov. John Bel Edwards (D-LA) each spoke about equal pay. Unfortunately, no other governor acknowledged the need to tackle pay inequality, even though many of the gubernatorial addresses focused on the economy. What could be more crucial to a working, thriving state economy than providing fair and equitable pay to its citizens? Equal pay is good for everyone.

But there is light on the legislative horizon! State houses around the country are seeing an increase in equal pay legislation this year, with bills introduced or pending in 34 states thus far. I'm proud to say that AAUW members have been leading that charge. While some of those bills have already failed due to roadblocks or short legislative sessions, several are moving forward and are likely to pass this year. Nebraska and Utah have already amended their laws to protect more people from pay inequality, and the Maryland and New Jersey legislatures each passed bills that are awaiting gubernatorial signatures. As of early April, bills in Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and Oklahoma have passed in at least one chamber of their state legislatures.

The 2016 legislative session is poised to continue the progress seen across the states in 2015. Last year, seven states -- California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, New York, North Dakota, and Oregon -- passed equal pay legislation. A bill passed in California, which went into effect on January 1, created the strongest equal pay protections in the country. It had nearly unanimous support and was endorsed by the California Chamber of Commerce. Not to be outdone, Massachusetts is gearing up to fight for its own equal pay bill, which would arguably be even stronger than the new California law. Boston is already leading the way on the fight for equal pay, through a collaboration that will provide AAUW's Work Smart salary negotiation training to tens of thousands of Boston women. Passage of the Massachusetts bill would mark another historic step in the battle.

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In New Hampshire, a bill to redefine opioid use or addiction in "custodial parents," including pregnant women, as child abuse is making its way through the legislature, despite vocal objection from the state's medical community. Much media treatment of this bill and similar bills in other states presumes women are not generally held criminally responsible for terminating--or losing--a pregnancy.

This illusion is increasingly hard to sustain.

In March 2015, Purvi Patel, a 33-year-old woman in Indiana, was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for, prosecutors claim, inducing an abortion. Patel has maintained she had a miscarriage, and has never tested positive for any of the abortifacients the prosecution claims she took. In fact, the pathologist for the prosecution partially relied on the long discredited "lung test" to determine if the recovered fetus had been born alive: a practice from the 17th century disproven as bad science over a century ago. Whether a miscarriage or an induced abortion, it is clear that Patel is in jail for not carrying a pregnancy to term.

Indeed, state legislators increasingly seek to hold women criminally responsible for not having healthy pregnancy outcomes. Since the beginning of this year, at least eight state legislatures have introduced bills to redefine legal personhood as starting at "fertilization" or "conception." Though voters have generally rejected personhood measures when put to a vote--three times in Colorado alone--they keep resurfacing in new versions.

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From a medical perspective, fetal personhood bills make no sense. "Conception" is not a medical term and is interchangeably used to refer to the moment an ovum is fertilized and the moment a fertilized ovum implants in the uterine lining. "Fertilization" is a medical term--referring to fusion of male and female gametes to form a zygote--but not all fertilized ova implant in the uterine lining (that is: not all result in a pregnancy), and the precise moment of both fertilization and implantation is hard to determine. As a result, the length of a pregnancy is usually calculated with reference to the pregnant woman's last period--when she clearly was not pregnant yet--because that moment is an observable factor that can be defined.

There are also obvious logistical problems with fetal personhood bills. An estimated 10 to 20 percent of known pregnancies end in miscarriages, with the actual number likely much higher as many women miscarry before they know they are pregnant. In addition, the risk of miscarriage is higher for specific groups of women, such as older women, women with weight problems, women who have already miscarried, those who have contracted infections or who have immune response issues, and those who regularly use drugs, including alcohol and nicotine.

As a result, the implementation of fetal personhood laws would require unconstitutional discrimination and invasion of privacy. If a fertilized ovum has the same rights as a person after birth, each miscarriage (or failure to implant) would need to be scrutinized for intentional or reckless neglect. Detection would only be possible by registering all incidents of unprotected sex, and effective surveillance would require regular pregnancy testing, in particular of women at risk of miscarriage (think mandatory weekly pregnancy testing for women over 40 until they reach menopause). Of course, no one is advocating this.

Proponents of punitive pregnancy-related provisions have, however, successfully advocated for the growing surveillance of pregnant women from marginalized or stigmatized communities through social services, and in particular through medical providers. The organization National Advocates for Pregnant Women has documented the growing arsenal of state laws that treat drug use and addiction in pregnant women as a form of child abuse. Because health care providers in all states must report child abuse to the authorities, this reframing forces doctors and nurses to breach patient confidentiality for pregnant women who admit to struggling with drug use or addiction. The predictable result is a breakdown in the therapeutic relationship at best, and at worst, a reluctance to seek care at all for the women who arguably need it the most.

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Many of these bills are pushed through without consulting the medical community, which is the case for the bill currently pending in New Hampshire. House hearings are under way, and both pediatricians and obstetric-gynecologists will testify to its predictably disastrous effects on the provision of addiction treatment and child welfare.

To be sure, both child abuse and drug addiction are serious matters, which require appropriate state support. Attempts to redefine drug use or addiction as child abuse in pregnant women, however, disregard the medical and psychological needs of both abused children and pregnant women. Advocates of such legislation are attempting to transform the fiction of fetal personhood into law by appropriating the problem of child abuse and punishing pregnant women in need of treatment for substance dependency or addiction.
The First Amendment may technically apply only to Americans, but its underlying principle is the foundation for individual liberty everywhere. When each human being can speak his or her mind without fear of repression, we all win; when even one person is pressured into silence, culturally or politically, everyone loses. This brings me to Sargon of Akkad , a popular YouTube pundit who identifies as a classical liberal. Over the years he has become a source of controversy for his brazenly un-PC style and championing of causes held in low regard by the mainstream media (e.g., Gamergate, anti-feminism). After being recommended to me by a libertarian friend, I began following his videos and found them to be something of a mental whetstone - I disagree with him far more than not (particularly when it comes to the issues of racial and gender inequality), and many of his insults and jokes cross lines of good taste that I personally prefer not to breach, but he's smart and offers arguments that compel me to critically analyze my own opinions. It is precisely because I usually disagree with him that I've found it intellectually healthy to listen to his perspective. That said, even if Sargon was a gibbering idiot, it would still behoove me to defend him when his ability to freely express his ideas comes under attack. This brings me to the war against his Patreon account being waged by progressive activist Franchesca Ramsey, whose YouTube videos have recently gained prominence thanks to her weekly MTV series "Decoded." When it came to her attention that some of her work had been critiqued by Sargon, she tweeted that she would write an email about him to Patreon challenging his account there. Because she openly acknowledged on Twitter that Sargon's videos are his main source of income, it is safe to assume that her goal was to deprive him of the financial resources to continue producing his distinct brand of political content... which would, in effect, silence him.

Words cannot express how tired I am of seeing my fellow leftists act in this way. In the past I've criticized everyone from campus protesters to the State of Texas for attempting to stifle opinions that fall afoul of progressive beliefs. More recently, while being interviewed on KPFA in San Francisco about my experiences being targeted by Donald Trump's neo-Nazi supporters, I was taken aback when the host reacted to the anti-Semitic vitriol directed against me by white supremacist Andrew Anglin with the declaration that "this is a First Amendment radio station, 'Free Speech 'r Us,' but this is not okay!" After observing that society is better off when bigots are blatant (since it exposes that these problems still exist), I pointed out that "I would rather live in a society where this kind of invective is possible - even if it's directed against me - than one in which it's censored." On each of these occasions, my point has been a simple one, perhaps best summed up by George Orwell: "Threats to freedom of speech, writing and action, though often trivial in isolation, are cumulative in their effect and, unless checked, lead to a general disrespect for the rights of the citizen."



Because I can understand why Ramsey would find Sargon's videos so objectionable, I would fully support her right to create videos accusing him of bigotry, just as I would fully support Sargon's right to offer a rebuttal to those accusations. Similarly, if Ramsey chose to ignore Sargon and dismiss his rhetoric as beneath her, that too would fall squarely within her rights. By instead attempting to silence him, however, Ramsey has subordinated the integrity of an unfettered ideological marketplace to her desire not to be offended. Coming from someone who personally profits from a culture that encourages the free expression of ideas, this approach is entirely unacceptable.



At some point, those of us on the left will need to make a choice. If we fail to recognize that a culture of free expression is the foundation not only for our own ideology, but for the framework of any truly liberal society, we will not only betray our ostensible values but weaken those very structures that have protected us in the past. On the other hand, if we have the wisdom to accept that ideas which offend or enrage us deserve the same safeguards as the ones with which we agree, we will not only best serve our own interests, but elevate the tone of public discourse in the process.



Frankly, I'm surprised that more of my fellow progressives don't seize this chance to rise to the occasion.
A big nothing.

That's what came out of Obama's meeting with Yellen and company last night. The White House issued a very short, meaningless statement which seemed very odd following an "emergency meeting" with the Fed. Of course, as former Fed adviser, Andrew Levin, reminds us: "A lot of people would be stunned to know the extent to which the Federal Reserve is privately owned... Currently, the leaders of the New York, Philadelphia, Dallas and Minneapolis Fed banks are helmed by men who formerly worked for or had close connections to investment bank Goldman Sachs." So, when the Fed has an emergency meeting with the White House - it's really our favorite Banksters making demands of the President.

Very likely the "emergency" is the horrific earnings we're expecting from the Financial sector and nothing gets bankers to take action faster than a threat to their bonuses - especially this close to the time of year when they have to come up with deposits on their Hampton beach houses. Goldman Sachs, who arguably steered the United States right into the subprime crisis with Trillions of Dollars in risky mortgages repackaged as AAA paper - finally paid a $5Bn fine yesterday (0.1%) - a very small consolation as the statute of limitations runs out on criminal prosecutions for those "shitty deals":

There's a great documentary called "The Men Who Crashed the World" that summarizes the events leading up to the crisis and the scary thing today is that NO ONE went to jail and most of the same people are in the same positions today, once again writing the same kinds of loans with new packaging - setting us up for the next financial crisis. Even worse, they have exported their expertise and now demand for World Bank loans is back at pre-crisis levels - and this isn't even a crisis - yet!

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Chinese Banksters have really taken the US playbook and ran with it and China has produced 450 new Billionaires since the Financial crisis, now past the US with 568 Billionaires (1/3 of the World's total) vs. "just" 535 people with 10-figure bank accounts in the US.

Imagine the affect it has on a population when 450 people scoop up $1Bn or more for themselves. Even with China's 1Bn people, it works out to about 6 month's salary of the entire population transferred to 450 people. In the US, our 568 Billionaires have $3,600,000,000,000 and if we have 320M people (close) that's "only" $11,000 for every man, woman and child that we've contributed to their piggy bank - and we have the nerve to ask them to share? We should be ashamed of ourselves - that's Commie talk, right?

Fortunately, President Trump will never let that happen or, if we elect President Cruz, he will LOWER the taxes paid by our 568 best people by 15% so that the wealth will "trickle down" to the other 319,999,232 of us. Sure, it hasn't happened yet, but it does work for Mr. Cruz, who is funded by a dozen different Billionaires who are simply too lazy to run themselves, unlike Mr. Trump. In fact, while Trump may spend $100M of his own money to become President - he says it's still cheaper than buying Ted Cruz has been for his friends.

Anyway, back to China. The transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in China has been so rapid that it's left a path of devastation in its wake. As money is sucked out of the pockets of the many and placed in the bank accounts of the few, China's economy (like ours) has stagnated as consumers can't afford to buy the goods they are producing at work and, as of last year, Chinese firms had only just enough operating profit to cover the interest expenses on their debt 2 times, down from 6 times in 2010. That means a rise in rates OR a decline in profits can quickly lead to a huge economic crisis with massive defaults.

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This hasn't come suddenly, of course, the PBOC lowered rates 6 times since 2014 in an attempt to hold off this looming disaster but, as companies rushed to refinance, debt has jumped up to 247% of GDP - worse than Japan!

"We will likely see a wave of bankruptcies and restructurings when the interest coverage ratio drops further, said Xia Le, chief economist for Asia at Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA in Hong Kong. Return on assets for Chinese companies has been declining due to rising debt. Profitability is also slowing due to overcapacity in many sectors, which has weakened the ability of companies to repay their debts."



As credit stresses mount, China is drafting rules to make it easier for lenders to convert bank loans into equity stakes of debtor companies. China may also approve, as soon as this month, a plan allowing banks to convert as much as 1Tn Yuan ($150Bn) of soured debt into equity - a very bad idea. That could lead to a "vicious cycle, said Raymond Yeung, a Hong Kong-based senior economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. More defaults will cause credit conditions to tighten so more companies will run into cash flow problems.

Last May (in case you forgot) is when China began going off the rails - triggered by a wave of defaults that I was warning you about all spring. The problem was, I was too early with my warnings and a lot of people got complacent by May so this year I've waited before bringing it up again but the cycle will begin again soon and we need to keep our ears open for reports of Chinese loan defaults. Our own market followed China down with a 20% drop in July.

And, of course, Japan, Brazil, Greece, Italy, Argentina, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Ukraine... have I mentioned how much I like CASH!!! lately? These are just a few things to worry about before we start worrying about the still-likely Brexit and the repercussions on the Euro-zone. In fact, just this morning, the President of the EU Parliament said a Brexit vote this summer will lead to the implosion of the EU as many of the remaining 27 countries will also want to escape. When the head of the EU uses the word "escape" - perhaps his title should be Warden - because clearly most of those 27 countries are already economic prisoners who deeply regret their once-voluntary confinement in the EU.

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In an interview with German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Mr Schulz said: We are in Europe for some time now on a downward path. The trust of many people in institutions as a whole, whether national or European, has been lost. He added: If the British leave the EU, there will be demands for further escape referendums."
I read a fascinating article this past year that explained that Steve Jobs always wore his signature sleek turtleneck, faded jeans, and white sneakers, because it would keep him from having to make even the small decision of what to wear each day, and allow him to focus his energy on his projects at Apple and Pixar. Making choices is one of the most difficult things we do in life, and the bigger the decision the harder it is. Our own Talmud, features collections of thousands of transcripts of the deliberations of great minds engaging in big decisions. Conversations on topics that rarely came to a definite conclusion and that often included stories to further illustrate the complexities and the feelings involved with those debates. Through these texts we see a spark of the passion these teachers had for deep questions and their reverence for each minority opinion. As Reform Jews we understand this to mean that we are called to make our own decisions about how to practice as Jews, placing the most intimate and impactful parts of our lives in our own hands, not the hands of a distant community leader.

Just this past week I listened to a recent episode of Radiolab. I love this program, it often presents things that I chew on for days and weeks well after they finish reading the credits. Among the many things in the episode 23 Weeks 6 Days, that really stayed with me were the words of a young mother talking to her partner. She said that we rarely make important decisions based on reason. This rang so true to me. The really big decisions are made by a deeper part of us, our hearts, our souls. All the more so for her as she was talking about whether or not to follow through with the birth of their baby, who, due to complications, had a very low likelihood of surviving after birth. I can't imagine what making that decision would have been like. Holding in one hand the very real chance of using up a tremendous amount of resources, not the least of which is their own hope, on a child that is likely to never breathe her first breath of air, and on the other hand the vision of their own child passing through the milestones of life, all the sweet potential moments together hanging in the balance of one word: yes or no.

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This podcast came riding on the heels of the passing of HB 1337 in the Indiana House of Representatives. One of the most restrictive bills in the country concerning abortion. I could feel the pain in my bones as I read about the bill on a national news feed on my phone. A break in the broadcast cycle about the presidential race so that the entire nation could view with the same shock as my own that our state would so violently strip away women's rights. This bill is getting national attention because of its draconian and anachronistic approach to human rights. A bill that tells every woman in Indiana what she can and can't do with her body, signed into law by a group of 74 people, 64 of whom are men. This is a bill that embodies what we, a people who were once slaves in Egypt, should know instinctively: that it is a violation of our deepest values to allow one person to control the body of another, men controlling women's bodies.

As Reform Jews, who champion the right of every person to make their own decisions about their spiritual life, and their body, how do we reconcile this state law?

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This bill imposes a number of targeted bureaucratic barriers against a woman's right to have an abortion. It uses rhetoric that purports to protect gender and disability in order to discriminate against women, and the disabled community. HB 1337 makes it a crime for a doctor to perform an abortion if they suspect that the person is terminating the fetus because of its sex or because of a disability. I am deeply challenged by the vagueness of this bill's language. How exactly does a doctor determine what a woman's motives are for having an abortion? In what way can you prove that she made her decision based on those criteria? A daunting task, one that forces doctors and patients to lie to one another, and leaves doctors making their decision based on what they feel is the woman's motives.

To be clear, Jewish law does not prohibit abortions. In the eyes of Judaism there is no life involved until the moment the child is born, but more importantly the physical and emotional safety of the mother is paramount and always takes precedence in our tradition (see Mishnah Ohalot 7:6). There are real physical challenges posed by the birth of a child, but there can also be significant problems posed by the responsibility to take care of another life when you yourself have trouble finding your next meal. A challenge all too clear to the black community in Indiana, and so every single black member of the Indiana House of Representatives voted against this bill, making up 8 of the 23 opposed.
Few places conjure up such iconic and romantic images as Egypt. The pyramids, camels crossing the desert, felucca sailboats with their triangular sails gliding up the Nile, the ruins of Luxor and the haunting sound of the evening call to prayer as it echoes over the rooftops of Cairo.

The amazing thing is how easily accessible - and inexpensive -- all of these places are right now. Overpublicized reports of a few terrorist incidents have scared away many European and American travelers, but the truth is, Egypt is as safe as anywhere in the world. The Egyptian tourism industry employs 4 million people and the new government has made tourism safety one of their top priorities.

What does that mean? Well, there are small inconveniences. You'll have to go through dozens of metal detectors. There are detectors at every hotel, museum, shopping center and attraction. Airports have as many as four detectors as you move from the physical entrance to the airport, to check in and on to your gate. There are armed police virtually everywhere a tourist would go. However, rather than being frightening, these measures are reassuring. Far more than most destinations, Egypt is going to extraordinary lengths to ensure safety.

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The romantic vision of Egypt has never been easier to see. And due to the political situation, it's never been cheaper. Luxurious modern resorts, upscale hotels or historic inns that compare with any in the world for food and service can be found only minutes from 4,500-year-old antiquities.

Here are 10 dreams of Egypt that are easy to see and enjoy.

1.The Pyramids. Cairo suburbs have moved around the 4,500-year-old pyramids, and the approach by road can be disappointing. But continue to the highest viewpoint where you can see nothing but desert, camels and pyramids. This view is worth the trip alone. The site is about an hour from downtown Cairo hotels.

2.Ride a camel. You'll have many opportunities throughout Egypt. Whether you do it for a ten minute photo op or for a lengthier ride, it's a must.

3.The Egyptian Museum. The museum sometimes gets a bad rap because it's chaotic and crazy, with too many priceless objects crammed into every nook and cranny of space. The interior is old and musty with century old wood and glass cases that look like something from a Harry Potter or Mummy film. There's a certain charm to that, but Egypt has recognized the problem and they are in the midst of building a new $1 billion (US) Egyptian Grand Museum, which will open at the pyramids in 2018. It will be the largest museum in the world devoted to one culture. All 4,500 items from King Tutankhamen's tomb will be on display and a gigantic window will make the pyramids seem to actually be part of the museum. But there's still something magical about the old museum in Cairo, which will stay open. For now, it's the only place you can see the greatest relic of the ancient world, the solid gold death mask of Tutankhamen, which was placed in the museum by the very archeologist who found it, Howard Carter. Accept before you start that you can't possibly see everything in the museum. But enjoy what you do see, and the museum is an easy walk from the Ritz Carlton or Four Seasons hotels.

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4.Walk the Citadel and Old Cairo. Just 30 minutes from downtown hotels lies the Cairo of imagination - shops filled with brass and antiques, chaotic narrow streets, old mosques, churches (yes, 10 percent of Cairo is Christian), and nearby, a towering 12th century fortress that was built to successfully keep the Crusaders out. Inside the citadel are mosques with alabaster walls, and the best view over the rooftops of Cairo. See if you can spot the pyramids in the distance. Time your visit to coincide with the Islamic Call to Prayer, at midday or in the middle of the afternoon. From this highpoint, you can hear the haunting cry echoing from dozens of mosques across the city.

5.Luxor Temple at twilight. Luxor is an easy one hour flight from Cairo or can be reached by a 10 hour night train. A half dozen modern hotels line the banks of the Nile River, just a short walk (or better) short horse-drawn carriage ride from the Temple. Originally called Thebes, this was the center of power of the world for 1,500 years, and today Luxor is an outdoor museum, home to 80 percent of all Egyptian antiquities. Start your visit at the temple during the "magic hour" when the sun sets and the lights of the temple start to come on.

6.Visit the Valley of the King. Located, just 30 minutes from Luxor on the other side of the Nile, this is the one place you can't take photos, but it's easy to understand why. If you once started taking photos, you could never stop. There are 63 tombs of kings and nobles here. One of the last discovered, No. 62, is Tutankhamen. The boy king's tomb is smaller and less impressive than some of the others, with fewer paintings and corridors...but it does have one amazing surprise. King Tut is still there! Or rather his mummy, which has never left. It is partially covered with a linen cloth and kept in a special climate controlled glass box. In the dim light, the airflow from the air conditioner in the glass box causes the linen cover over King Tut's mummy to flutter up and down, as if he was breathing. It's a hair-stand-on-end moment you won't forget. For preservation purposes, only 150 people a day are allowed in the tomb, but that is not a problem today with the reduced tourism. Near the Valley, you can take all the photos you want at the simply amazing temple of Queen Hatshepsut.

7.Ride a felucca on the Nile. The traditional wood sailing boats with their distinctive triangular lateen sails float effortless across the river, like some type of pretty water bug. All hotels have access to the boats.

8.See Karnak Temple by day and then return for the thrilling sound and light show at night. It's shown in English at different times on different days. This is the largest house of worship in the world. It is a history of Egypt captured in stone since each successive king over a 2,000-year period tried to outdo the others by leaving a new addition to the temple. Karnak Temple is connected to Luxor Temple by a two mile long road lined with statues. This connection is currently being reconstructed, but will require demolishing many buildings in Luxor so it will be some time before it is completed.

9.Visit a Red Sea resort. Sharm El Sheikh is the largest with diving, snorkeling, and submarines that take you to some of the world's most beautiful coral reefs. The modern resorts are located in a sea of pink bougainvillea, and compare for luxury, cuisine, and style with any in the world. Within a few meters, you'll see beautiful Russian tourists in thongs drinking beer on the beach, and Arab women bobbing in pools in a full head-to-foot black abaya gown, with a black niqab face veil covering everything but their eyes. Such is modern day Egypt.

Following the tragic terrorist attack on a Russian passenger jets leaving Sharm, the city's airport lost most of its flights and is currently being reclassified and restructured, so flights are restricted at the moment. Security at the airport was the highest we saw in all Egypt, and it should reopen fully in the near future. It's a one hour flight from Cairo on Egyptian Air. With the reduced flights, the resort is nearly deserted and offers fantastic bargains.

10.Venture out into the desert. The majority of Egypt's 80 million people live on or near the Nile, but it is the other 5 percent who are perhaps most fascinating. The desert starts a 15 minute drive from Sharm el Sheik. On dune buggies, you can soon be lost in a maze of stark hills burned black by the sun. The close-in Bedouin villages have a bit of a tourist feel, but watching people herd camels the same way they have for centuries is an image that will stay with you for a long time.

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IF YOU GO: The Four Seasons Nile Plaza and Four Seasons First Resident hotels in Cairo are both beautiful and luxurious with Nile views and are close to all attractions; the Fairmont Heliopolis Hotel is near Cairo airport and has 17 international dining choices, including the entertaining Egyptian Night, featuring belly dancing and authentic local cuisine.

The Steinberger Nile Palace in Luxor is directly on the Nile with balcony rooms overlooking the river, eight restaurants and bars and gorgeous riverside pools.

The Savoy Hotel in Sharm El Sheikh is a dream of flowers, pools, and outdoor cafes, all dropping down to a beautiful beach on the Gulf of Aqaba. It is walking distance to the dozens of shops, bars and entertainment of Soho Square. The Rixos is a Turkish chain that has brought incredible elegance to Sharm. The original hotel has seven pools, two main restaurants, eight A'la Carte restaurants, five bars, a spa, and its own protected reef accessible by a 147m pier, creating a natural aquarium.

Their new Rixos Seagate Sharm has nearly 800 rooms, an 850m jetty, a spa, Turkish bath and world cuisine in a stunning assortment of restaurants. Don't miss the snake show at Alf Laila Wa Laila, a massive Arabian Night-themed entertainment complex. It's a hoot.

For general tourist information on Egypt: www.egypt.travel
U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at an airplane hanger in Rochester, New York April 10, 2016. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

It's been decades since a New York Republican primary had an impact on a party nomination, but here we are. Trump has the most at stake. He needs a big win, for political and delegate count reasons. And while the visible dynamic has him in pretty good shape, there are ghosts of years past that may derail him.

The good news for Trump includes Ted Cruz's self-inlicted wounds. Cruz decided to spit all over the Empire State. He created a coded message: "New York Values." You know, free love, atheism, communism, and a lot of people with strange, not very American last names. This apparently plays well with hard-right Republican primary voters in Missouri and Texas. But New Yorkers were bound to notice when he arrived here asking for their votes. And Cruz's opposition to the Zadroga Act, supporting 9/11 first responders, was icing on the cake. All Cruz has in New York is a small but intense group of evangelicals.

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Trump has a variety of assets in place. He's a native son. He has, as he says, written a lot of checks. He has an infrastructure of supporters who, although quite daffy, win statewide and local primaries. And the party establishment, after initially revolting, have generally fallen into line for the Donald. All in all, a sweet set-up.

Not so fast. New York Republicans include a nice slice of voters who are uncomfortable with todays hard-right Republican Party. They grew up in a GOP defined by Nelson Rockefeller. Into and including the 1980's. Republicans in New York were largely pro-choice, pro-income tax, pro-big programs, pro-civil rights and pro-public schools. Remember Jake Javits, Bill Green, Charlie Goodell, Peter Peyser, John Lindsey, John Dunne, Louie Lefkowitz and many more? A little bit of this even survived past the turn of the century in the person of George Pataki, who grew up a Rockefeller Republican, but largely accommodated himself to the hard right era ushered in by Al D'Amato and the Conservative Party.

Where are those voters now? How many of them? I suspect there are more than you think especially in New York City and the suburbs. And for them, neither Trump nor Cruz will do.

Comes now John Kasich. Ideologically, he's no Rockefeller. He's a typical Republican economic and social reactionary as was the entire 2016 field. But he lets you think he knows better, and his rumpled, non-angry demeanor makes him a moderate, at least when compared to Trumps temperament and Cruz's policies. There are a lot of potential votes for Kasich out there, a lot of Republicans unhappy with the Tea Party capture of the GOP, a lot of Republicans who feel disenfranchised by their own party's hard right shift.

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Therein lies the danger to Trump. There's a quirk in the Republican delegate selection process that compounds the danger. Every Congressional district chooses three delegates. That's true for upstate districts that are overwhelmingly Republican, and downstate district where they are an endangered species. So a couple of thousand Rockefeller Republicans on the West Side of Manhattan can throw the whole district to Kasich, even if he loses statewide by two to one.
Gambling giant Las Vegas Sands Corp's Chief Executive Sheldon Adelson reacts during a news conference in Macau, China December 18, 2015. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

In legend, F. Scott Fitzgerald remarked to Ernest Hemingway, "The rich are different than you and me." To which Hemingway supposedly replied, "Yes -- they have more money."

For once, the author of The Great Gatsby -- that classic novel of corrosive wealth -- got the best of Hemingway. An important pilot study of the wealthiest Americans suggests that, when it comes to their political beliefs and influence, the rich are very different indeed. And the ways in which they are different have deep implications for "you and me" in 2016 and beyond -- including who defines what kind of country we should be.

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In 2013 three professors -- Benjamin Page and Jason Seawright of Northwestern and Larry Bartels of Vanderbilt -- published their survey of the policy preferences of the top 1 percent of Americans and, within that privileged cohort, the top one-tenth of one percent. Their findings illuminate central truths about how extreme wealth alters how one sees the world, and who sits at the table when public policy is determined.

Start with two intimately related facts. First, two-thirds of the wealthy surveyed -- those with an average wealth of $14 million -- contributed to political campaigns. A striking 21 percent of those went one step further, "bundling" other people's contributions to give to candidates.

Second, almost half had contacted a public official in the last six months -- including 40 percent who reached out to one of their senators, and 37 percent to their congressman. Most remarkable, almost 1/4 contacted a congressman from another district or a senator from another state.

This is not what average citizens do. Licensed by money, the wealthy can.

The reason why is no surprise. Though the wealthy tend to be more socially liberal than the country as a whole, among the majority such concerns do not rank high. The issues they care about most are economic and relate, sometimes intimately, to a level of affluence which sets them wholly apart. On those issues, the wealthy tend to be quite conservative -- twice as likely to be Republicans as Democrats -- and hold views directly at odds with popular opinion. At least within the GOP, guess who wins.

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This explains the Republicans' social dichotomy and, more broadly, its current crack-up. In order to advance an agenda of tax cuts and other benefits for the wealthy, the party's donor classes have tacitly supported hard-right social policies and rhetoric which stokes the resentment of struggling middle class and blue-collar whites.

Thus the party follows the agenda of evangelicals and other social conservatives. In terms of money or inconvenience, this costs the rich nothing at all -- after all, any daughter of wealth who wants a ready and safe abortion can get one.

Similarly, it costs them nothing for the GOP to suggest to struggling Americans that their problems originate with other people -- liberals, bureaucrats, Democrats, immigrants and minorities, starting with our own president. The list of straw men is endless, and includes everyone save themselves. But on economic issues, it is the wealthy -- not the mass of Americans, no matter how great their numbers or their needs -- who call the tune.

What strikes home is the degree of difference between the wealthy and the rest. The single greatest concern of the wealthy is budget deficits. They propose to reduce them not by paying higher taxes -- far from it -- but by cutting programs like Social Security and health care. This, of course, is directly opposed to the preferences and needs of the majority of Americans. And it is this disparity, in part, which is fracturing the Republican Party -- dividing its donor class from its resentful blue-collar base.

This is illustrated by another priority of the wealthy: limiting government regulation, including of the financial sector. No matter that the Great Recession of 2008 decimated so many Americans or, for that matter, that most of us favor government action to offset climate change. For most of the wealthiest Americans, these are not pressing concerns.

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And what about facilitating access to college and job training for the new economy, including for workers displaced by the impact of free trade? No go. 70 percent of Americans believe that we should help ensure that anyone who wants to go to college can -- but only 28 percent of the wealthy. 57 percent of the populace believes in worker retraining and education ; among the wealthy, support drops to 30 percent. Though the survey shows that the wealthy are well aware of income inequality, their definition of self- interest prioritizes their own privilege.

Finally, this: the top 1/10 of 1 percent -- those worth on average $40 million -- is far more conservative than the top 1 percent as a whole. And all too often their predilections turn our politics into a fun house mirror of reality. As one example, it is the oversized influence of the uber-wealthy which recasts tax cuts for their exclusive benefit as an engine of job creation for everyone else -- a demonstrably false argument which conceals the damage done to our fiscal, social and economic health.

Another survey -- this by Professors Page and Martin Gilens of Princeton -- delivers the bottom line: wealth matters more than votes. Examining nearly 1800 policy issues, they found that the desires of business interests and the wealthy profoundly affected the final outcome, the preferences of most citizens hardly at all. Their conclusion is succinct: "In the United States, our findings indicate, the majority does not rule."

My point is not to demonize the most economically successful or fortunate Americans. Some have profited from innovations which benefit our society as a whole. Beyond this I know -- and I am hardly unique -- men and women whose philanthropic generosity, regardless of their political philosophy, is as stunning as their wealth. We read about them; we see the good they do. Indeed, many of our most wealthy citizens are possessed of a rigorous social conscience, either in terms of political convictions or where they donate money -- and often both.

Nor do I ennoble the self-interest of the less fortunate beyond what it is -- a rational response to their circumstances. But those circumstances should matter a great deal to us all: in countless ways, bettering the future for them and their children will better the future of our country.

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The problem is that extreme wealth -- however acquired -- too often insulates its beneficiaries from the realities and needs of their fellow citizens. Yet because of our system of campaign finance, the wealthy enjoy a disproportionate influence over the election of candidates and the formation of public policy.

The effect on our politics is destructive to our society writ large. One cannot envision a room full of plutocrats concerned only with lowering their own taxes without recalling Fitzgerald's crowning description of the heedless Tom and Daisy Buchanan, desensitized by a bubble of privilege,: "[T]hey smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together and let other people clean up the mess they had made."

In 2016 the mess is considerable. And so the question is simply this: what kind of America do we want Americans to live in?

This is the central issue of our national life. We can debate what makes a society fair. But fairness is hard to find if rising income inequality is abetted by tax cuts for the wealthy empowered by our system of campaign finance, paid for by crippling deficits which shrivel opportunity for everyone else.

This prospect is staring us in the face. The tax plans advanced by this year's Republican presidential candidates -- from the hard-right Ted Cruz to this campaign's Jay Gatsby, the pseudo-populist Donald Trump -- promise huge tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans. The irony is that -- because Republicans fear making a frontal attack on programs like Social Security -- these tax cuts for the top 1 percent balloon the deficit they profess to deplore, while starving programs to help those below them on the economic ladder.

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Thus budget experts estimates that Cruz's tax plan -- including a regressive value added tax and major cuts for the wealthy -- would add $3.7 trillion to the deficit over the next decade. Even more startling is the impact of Trump's proposed tax cuts. According to both a liberal and a conservative tax policy group, Trump's program would cost us a whopping $12 trillion in federal revenue in 10 years time, crushing any hope of fiscal sanity and burdening future generations with massive levels of debt.

None of which keeps the wealthy from pouring money into an army of lobbyists and financial advisors deployed to invent new tax avoidance schemes. Thus the top 1 percent of earners, who average $1.24 million per year, have the same effective tax rates as do Americans who earn $150,000.

Obviously, these socially insidious anomalies are turbocharged by the Super-PAC's which funnel millions from America's most privileged citizens to their chosen candidates, driving us toward plutocracy. And the more bashful aspiring plutocrats give millions in "dark money" to their political pets through Super-PACs which conceal their donors. Here the difference between the parties is glaring -- whereas both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders call for repealing Citizens United, the Republicans uniformly and assiduously protect soft-money -- indeed dark money -- from regulation.

There is little point in merely waxing indignant -- until human nature is repealed, rich folks will keep trying to do what they have done since the beginning of time: buy influence. As for candidates, most will feel compelled to play by the rules as they exist, regardless of their personal preference. The more expensive the contest, and the more well-funded the opposition, the more candidates become entrapped in this morally toxic arms race. The question is how the rest of us can limit the damage and, eventually, change the system from an elegant form of bribery to something better.

There is no one answer. But here are a few.

Start by making money in politics not just a voting issue, but a litmus test. Reward candidates who pledge unequivocally to revive public financing and support Supreme Court nominees who won't change the law to suit the wealthy -- e.g. Citizens United. Demand candidates who want to eliminate the rule of Super PACs and soft money, including dark money.

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Punish candidates who support economic and social policies which benefit a few while plundering our future. Call out candidates who mortgage themselves and their policies to special interest funding. Give your favorite candidates whatever you can -- no matter which candidate you prefer, the grassroots donations to the Sanders campaign are a salutary example of ordinary citizens empowering a cause they believe in, liberating their candidate in the bargain.

Nor should we give either party a pass. Quite often, Democrats devote more rhetoric than resolve to curbing special-interest money, even as Republicans hide their obscene use of Super- PACs behind the fig leaf of free speech. Until voters call both parties out, the issues they care about are up for sale.

This is not about class warfare, payback, or castigating our fellow citizens. It is about something much better: a country where opportunity is there for the many, not just the privileged few. A country where more Americans are not, in Fitzgerald's memorable phrase, "boats against the current", held back by inequity and societal indifference, but enjoy the one privilege which matters most, to them and to the rest of us: a genuine chance to define their own future.

It seems only fair.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a rally at JetSmart Aviation Services on Sunday, April 10, 2016, in Rochester, N.Y. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)

With just over half a year left before the U.S. presidential election, Mexico faces the ominous prospect of dealing with the most hostile U.S. administration to Mexican interests in over a century should Donald Trump make it to the White House. Although at the EIU we expect the billionaire/reality TV star to fall short of his aspirations in November, the fact that such a virulently anti-Mexican candidate can amass such a sizable following among the U.S. electorate upends the notion that broadly positive bilateral relations since World War II plus a quarter century of NAFTA would gradually displace the country's most radical attitudes on Mexico into the fringes of U.S. politics rather than pull them into the mainstream.

For Mexico, the possibility -- however unlikely -- of a Trump presidency presents itself as a nightmare scenario since it directly threatens the two most critical dimensions of the bilateral relationship: immigration and trade. But would it be as catastrophic as conventional wisdom suggests? There's reason to believe that for all his tough talk, the actual impact of some of Trump's most extreme promises may not be nearly as bad for Mexico as many fear since Mexico would not be entirely powerless to deal with them.

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The immigration issue

Despite consistently lowering the bar as the months go by, Trump's most appalling comments in the campaign have been reserved towards immigrants, particularly Mexicans. During his speech where he announced his presidential bid, Trump infamously compared Mexicans to criminals and rapists and the barrage of racist vitriol has not eased since. One of the cornerstones of his immigration policy is that a border wall should be built (he may not have noticed that one already exists) and that the Mexican government should pay for it. Trump's comments have been condemned both by the administration of Enrique Pena Nieto as well as various former Mexican presidents, none of which was more eloquent than Vicente Fox who in less-than-diplomatic terms reiterated in a televised interview that Mexico was "not going to pay for his [expletive] wall".

Assuming that Trump gets his way and closes the border to a large volume of illegal traffic, will it really matter? The Republican frontrunner has perhaps failed to look at the statistics on net migration compiled by the Pew Research Centre which has shown that nowadays there are actually more Mexicans going back than they are going north, to the tune of 140,000 between 2009 and 2014. Various factors have contributed to this phenomenon, including better economic conditions back home compared to the last two decades, a more dangerous route to the border (mass kidnappings of Central American migrants have been a major source of financing for the Gulf Cartel and the Zetas), as well as widespread deportations from the U.S. even under the relatively immigrant-friendly Obama administration.

A hostile Trump administration, however, could clearly bring the negative net migration figure down further if he steps up deportations but its painfully obvious that his anti-Mexican rhetoric is a few decades behind the times: Mexicans and other Latinos are no longer finding their way across the Rio Grande or the Arizona desert by the hundreds of thousands. And a lot of the ones who did recently have no intention of staying. In the unlikely event that he gets to build a bigger wall (surely with U.S. rather than Mexican money), there might even be an unintended positive outcome: to reduce the flow of U.S.-made guns that are arming Mexico's violent cartels and which are doing far more damage to the livelihood of Mexicans than Mexican immigrants are to the prosperity of the U.S.

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Trump has also threatened to use the provision of the Patriot Act to block remittances unless Mexico pays for the wall. This too can be challenged in courts that Trump will not control. What is clear from all of this is that Trump has forgotten what country he is seeking the presidency for. This is not Putin's Russia where the executive has near-absolute control of every aspect of policymaking. This is a (flawed) democracy whose checks and balances have - if anything - led to more gridlock rather than more authoritarianism. Repeating endlessly that he can "get things done" will not change this, particularly if Republicans fail to take control of Congress in November and the Supreme Court does not have a conservative bias.

Is NAFTA doomed? Probably not

Perhaps the most difficult element of Trump's rhetoric to decipher are his economic views, particularly those on trade. On one hand there is the natural tendency among radical conservatives to promote a nationalist, globalophobic economic agenda (the Tories pushing for Brexit on this side of the pond are not too dissimilar). Trump has already stated that he believes NAFTA has been "a disaster" and that he would renegotiate it or break it altogether if was president. This is not new: both Hillary Clinton and Obama suggested that they too would renegotiate NAFTA back in the 2008 campaign in an effort to raise their profile among rust-belt voters, but renegotiation is a broad term and can mean anything from just tweaking a few elements to sabotaging it completely. Trump looks to be more of advocate of the latter. For example, in order to preserve U.S. jobs Trump says he will levy a 35% tax on U.S. companies that relocate to Mexico in order to export to the U.S. market.

Behind Trump's anti-NAFTA talk, however, is a zero-sum view of economics that just doesn't sit with reality. Just before his "criminals and rapists" comment, Trump implied that the only benefactor of NAFTA was Mexico: "They're laughing at us, at our stupidity. They are beating us economically. They are not our friend, believe me. But they're killing us economically". Ironically, views on NAFTA's benefits may actually be worse south of the border. Unfortunately, the only survey taken simultaneously in both countries which analyzed free trade sentiment is a decade old (2006) but it showed a considerably lower share of Mexicans (50%) than Americans (75%) who believed free trade with the U.S. was beneficial to both countries. It is likely that the gap has narrowed since but it is worth noting that even the most "radical" of Mexican presidential candidates in recent memory, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, never proposed disbanding NAFTA when he was campaigning in 2006 and 2012.

But for all his anti-NAFTA tough talk, Trump has called himself "a free trader". As an entrepreneur, and as someone who presumably would seek to cater to the country's business elite, it seems almost absurd that he would follow up on dismantling a treaty that clearly benefits U.S. businesses greatly. However, that does not mean that he couldn't find ways to make life hard for Mexico. Even more NAFTA-friendly U.S. administrations, for example, delayed a provision to allow Mexican trucks to cross the border for two decades due to pressure from unions like the Teamsters. Implementation of spurious sanitation controls and environmental standards could also be easily misused as trade weapons and it would be hard to imagine Trump not trying to use these relatively simple measures as a first resort. But most cases, Mexico will be able to legally fight back and obtain compensation (such as by applying retaliatory tariffs) while the disputes are settled, even if it takes years.

Will NAFTA disappear? Probably not. Even Trump is unlikely to muster the political leverage to dismantle a treaty of this scale altogether. But a Trump administration could threaten the treaty's spirit, if he pushes for U.S. companies and workers gaining undue advantages over their Mexican counterparts. Mexico is not powerless against this although all it can hope for is that Trump realizes that a lose-lose scenario is not good for either side. According to a recent scenario analysis by Moody's Analytics, Trump's trade policies would indeed plunge both China and Mexico into recession. Unfortunately for The Donald, the U.S. would join them.

Does Mexico have any leverage?

Against a Trump administration set on a warpath on trade and immigration among other issues, Mexico nevertheless looks like it will be entirely on the defensive. Given the disparities in economic size (US GDP is over 13 times larger), let alone military power (it's not even close), Mexico has near zero direct political leverage against its northern neighbor outside of the diplomatic sphere. On that front, however, it would not be particularly difficult for Mexico to gain the sympathy vote given the near-universal rejection of Trump and his views abroad. A particularly harsh stance against Mexico would generate strong hostility against the Trump administration even from key U.S. allies and if Mexico plays its cards right, it can use this sentiment as a buffer against the worst that Trump can dish out.

A riskier but possibly more effective strategy would be to mobilize the sizeable community of Mexicans living in the U.S. and Mexican-Americans which together amount to over 30 million people. Mexico's consular network in the U.S. is the largest of any country in another's territory (50 consulates from Alaska to Florida) and below official channels is a vast array of grassroots organizations that could play a part in mobilizing public opinion within the U.S. against Trump's most radical policies. The risk, of course, is that this would bring up accusations of political interference by Mexico in U.S. affairs, eliciting an even more hostile response by the Trump government. Given the history of U.S. meddling in Mexican policymaking this would be a somewhat hypocritical indictment, but not one that will likely matter to Trump especially given the disparity of power between the two countries.

Trump the bully or the pragmatist?



Can Mexico work with Trump? This will all depend on which one of the two Trumps ends up in the White House. An ideal scenario (but by no means the guaranteed one) sees the pragmatist businessman who was media savvy enough to know how to sway the masses of angry white working-class voters but who has no intention of seriously following through with his more asinine proposals. He will never be a friend of Mexico, but could yet escape the label of enemy. Trump the bully, however, will mean four (hopefully no more) very difficult years for Mexico, ones in which Mexican diplomacy will have its hands full against an overbearing giant which will have no intention of playing the "good neighbor".

But despite the risk, Trump's unpredictability may be Mexico's best fortune. The alternative, after all, is Ted Cruz who with softer words stands for many of the same policies as Trump but with religious zeal to back them up.

Here's hoping neither make it to the White House.

Al loco y al malo, dales la razon y quitales el palo.
Pope Francis waves to faithful at the end of his special Jubilee Audience at Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican on April 9, 2016. / AFP / ANDREAS SOLARO (Photo credit should read ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP/Getty Images)

"Following Francis" is a monthly blog on the latest happenings of Pope Francis. It is prepared exclusively for The WorldPost by Sebastien Maillard, Vatican correspondent for La Croix, Rome.

ROME -- It is the lengthiest document of this pontificate yet. "Amoris Laetitia" -- "The Joy of Love" -- was published on April 8 and is over 260 pages long. But nowhere, even in the footnotes, does Pope Francis' exhortation on family life and marriage explicitly set any clear new magisterial rule.

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"Not all discussions of doctrinal, moral or pastoral issues need to be settled by interventions of the magisterium," he cautions from the very beginning.

"Neither the synod nor this exhortation could be expected to provide a new set of general rules, canonical in nature and applicable to all cases," he adds in the eighth chapter, the most sensitive of this document, which deals with the Catholic Church's attitude toward people who have divorced and civilly remarried. "What is possible is simply a renewed encouragement to undertake a responsible personal and pastoral discernment of particular cases."

What is normal for one bishop is almost scandalous for another

The clear message is that Rome will not settle all cases. Francis' document was issued after a two-year dispute among bishops, whom he had gathered from all over the world in 2014 and 2015 in advisory forums called synods. Deciding whether the divorced and remarried could receive communion was not just the media's focus -- it was what the bishops discussed most intensely during those meetings.

They were divided on this issue. Pope Francis acknowledged it at the end of the second synod: "What seems normal for a bishop on one continent, is considered strange and almost scandalous -- almost! -- for a bishop from another ... what for some is freedom of conscience is for others simply confusion."

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"Amoris Laetitia" does not bring confusion but raises the complexity of family matters, which require a patient and thorough understanding of each individual case. No situation is plainly black or white, the pope wrote: "The divorced who have entered a new union, for example, can find themselves in a variety of situations, which should not be pigeonholed or fit into overly rigid classifications leaving no room for a suitable personal and pastoral discernment."



Francis is putting into practice the decentralization of the church that he called for in previous exhortations.





There is no one-size-fits-all solution. But the church does not apply double standards either. "General rules set forth a good which can never be disregarded or neglected, but in their formulation they cannot provide absolutely for all particular situations," Francis wrote. "At the same time, it must be said that, precisely for that reason, what is part of a practical discernment in particular circumstances cannot be elevated to the level of a rule."

Francis' approach is, in a way, similar to the so-called "flexicurity" economic model pioneered by Denmark, which tackles both the flexibility of the labor market and the problem of securing employment. Here, doctrinal security on marriage goes along with pastoral flexibility for the divorced, those preparing to marry and those just married.

In practice, the key concept for this flexibility in Jorge Bergoglio's very Jesuit exhortation is "discernment." It allows one's conscience to reexamine its own acts and to decide truthfully and freely. The role of the church's pastors is to facilitate this questioning while avoiding any judgments: "It is a matter of reaching out to everyone, of needing to help each person find his or her proper way of participating in the ecclesial community," the pope wrote.

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Inculturation vs. indoctrination

In the same way, another key Jesuit concept used in "Amoris Laetitia" is inculturation. "Each country or region ... can seek solutions better suited to its culture and sensitive to its traditions and local needs," wrote the pope. "Cultures are in fact quite diverse and every general principle ... needs to be inculturated, if it is to be respected and applied."

As the second synod came to an end in October 2015, Francis mentioned the importance of inculturation in his concluding remarks: "Inculturation does not weaken true values, but demonstrates their true strength and authenticity, since they adapt without changing; indeed they quietly and gradually transform the different cultures."

He contrasted this attitude against the one taken by "those who would indoctrinate [the Gospel] in dead stones to be hurled at others," while repeating that "dogmatic questions [remain] clearly defined by the church's magisterium."



No situation is plainly black or white.





By leaving space for local inculturation, by allowing time for personal discernment, Francis is putting into practice the decentralization of the church that he called for in previous exhortations. His challenge is to encourage doctrinal unity in the diverse community of 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide.

Through the guidelines put forward in this document, Francis, who defined himself as from "the ends of the Earth" is moving his church to be less "uniformized" by Rome alone and to become more pastorally plural and creative on the ground.

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In a nutshell, this means a less Roman but more Catholic Church; Catholicism, of course, originally meant "universal."

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School

(Note: Sharon Higgins appears in the documentary "Killing Ed.")

The Huffington Post recently published a piece by Anna Clark about "Killing Ed," a new documentary by Mark S. Hall. A few days later, David Dunn, Executive Director of the Texas Charter Schools Association (TCSA), responded to Ms. Clark's post.

What is quite striking is how Mr. Dunn totally avoided addressing Ms. Clark's major point of concern: Harmony Public Schools' ties to the highly secretive and controversial Gulen Movement. The question is why?

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At this point in 2016, avoidance and denials of the Harmony/Gulen relationship are a tired and laughable response. Either TCSA has its head buried in the sand or perhaps it's pursuing a peculiar strategy of damage control in an attempt to save its own reputation. Or maybe its defensive response on Harmony's behalf is simply a PR benefit of TCSA membership (Harmony's annual dues are likely to be considerable).

Anyone who's studied the Gulen Movement and its presence in the US understands that Harmony's connection to the Gulen Movement is no longer in question. Even friends of the Gulen Movement sometimes 'spill the beans,' as did noted Austinite James C. Harrington while being interviewed about Fethullah Gulen and the Movement at a Gulen-linked TV station in 2012: "We have a system in Texas called Harmony and there's a system in the Midwest and all that..." (note in this video at 4:22 min.)

Undoubtedly, the Midwest "system" Harrington referred to is Concept Schools, an Illinois-based charter school management organization currently under FBI investigation.

Charter school advocates like TCSA hold up "school choice" as the ideal. However, by acting as codependents for a group that traditionally and habitually engages in a strategy of opacity, those advocates actually prevent parents from being able to make a fully informed choice. Along those lines, as just one quick example, shouldn't parents be allowed to know that some of their children are regularly taught to memorize a musical version of one of Fethullah Gulen's poems?

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Now about the oft made claim by supporters that charter schools are really "public" schools.

As taxpayer funded but privately managed, charter schools can at best be viewed as a hybrid between true public schools and private schools - not a horse, not a donkey, but a mule. Any group of private individuals can potentially operate a charter school, even members of a politically savvy, cult-like, "non-transparent organization" (per Dr. Joshua Hendrick of Loyola U-Maryland, a Gulen Movement-expert), a very specific religious community with its own notions that originated in Turkey several decades ago and has now spread across the globe.

It must be mentioned that the three-to-six million member Gulen Movement is incredibly controversial in Turkey, and has been for many years. In fact today they are considered a terrorist group by the Turkish government and their leader a terrorist. Turkey's population is nearly 79 million - 98 percent of whom are Muslim - so it should be clear that the deep concerns that arise about this group do not necessarily stem from Islamophobia.

Teasing out the truth about the Gulen Movement is going to be a difficult thing to do, as the Movement has been closely controlling the message about itself here in the US. But hints about how it operates are increasingly leaking out, e.g. here and here. Even Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Wesley Clark weighed in on this group's involvement in charter schools during a recent CNBC interview.

So considering the magnitude of the Gulen Movement's involvement in the US charter school sector today, shouldn't American taxpayers and their political leaders be talking and debating much more about this unusual phenomenon?

And now onto charter school wait lists.

First of all, keep in mind that claims of high wait list numbers are a way to market charter schools to parents, as well as to justify the sector's expansion. Second of all, keep in mind that there is no independent way for any of these wait list numbers to be verified by outsiders.

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In 2013 in an attempt to tease out the truth, the Associated Press (AP) conducted its own survey of charter school wait lists in Texas following a TCSA survey. It found fewer students than TCSA and in its resulting article stated: "... neither the charter school association nor the AP controlled for families who have applied to more than one charter school operator and are therefore counted multiple times. Determining the exact number of duplications is impossible because federal privacy laws prohibit schools from divulging who is on their waitlists. But parents who have been denied admission to charter schools run by one operator say they routinely apply elsewhere."

Very worthwhile and related reading is a 2014 policy memo written by Dr. Kevin Welner at the University of Colorado at Boulder School of Education (professor specializing in policy and law) and Dr. Gary Miron of Western Michigan University (professor of evaluation, measurement, and research at Western Michigan University). Its title is "Wait, Wait. Don't Mislead Me! Nine Reasons to Be Skeptical About Charter Waitlist Numbers."
If you think the path to the lowest hotel price is to book as far ahead as possible or to wait for a last-minute deal, you may end up overpaying for your next trip. TripAdvisor has crunched its hotel booking data to uncover the least expensive time to book your summer vacation--and it's probably not when you thought.



TripAdvisor's report finds that the best time to book hotels is highly dependent on where you want to visit. If you're headed to Europe this summer, right now is when some of the lowest rates are on offer; if you're vacationing in the U.S., you may want to wait another month or so. The amount of savings varies a lot from region to region too. Here are common hotel booking misperceptions that the report dashes--and five mistakes not to make.



Mistake #1: Waiting too late to book European hotels.

Europe is extremely popular in summertime--which could explain why the best summer hotel rates are on offer between three and five months in advance. In Berlin and Prague, the report finds, you can save 33% by booking between two and five months out. Two cities where longer lead times are not necessary are Paris and Istanbul, perhaps because these cities have a lot of new hotel rooms to fill. In Paris you can save about 32%, in Istanbul 29%.



Mistake #2: Booking Asian hotels too early.

The cities with the shortest lead time to secure the biggest savings are in Asia, where the lowest prices tend to hit within two weeks of your visit. In Dubai you can save 40% by booking within two months of your trip, in Jakarta 39% by booking within three months. Of the 25 cities included in the study, the one you can wait the longest to book is Singapore, where you can possibly save 26% by looking for deals as close as two weeks ahead.



Mistake #3: Booking a city hotel more than five months in advance.

In most places covered in the study, you'll pay more if you book more than five months out. Two big exceptions are Barcelona and Moscow, where you can see significant savings by booking up to seven months out. In fact, travelers to Moscow (where the Russian ruble has lost a lot of value within the past year) stand to gain the most (55% savings) by booking at the right time.



Mistake #4: Worrying about when to book summertime bargains in the Caribbean.

Traditionally, low-season pricing in the Caribbean brings significant savings. You needn't stress over when to pull the trigger to score those bargains, since booking when prices are at their lowest (between one and four months before your travel date) may save you only 7%. In other words, you'll benefit from steep summertime off-peak pricing in the Caribbean no matter when you book.



Mistake #5: Expecting last-minute savings in New York City

New York City sees deals galore at certain times of the year, but for summer trips specifically, you're probably better off looking for deals between two and four months ahead of your visit. That's when you can save 25%.



And a tip:

The cities included in the TripAdvisor study have plenty of large hotels--and thus the room inventory that makes sales possible. If the commodity you want is scarce and you lack flexibility--say, you're bound for an island with only a few hotel rooms, or you're traveling during the peak July 4th weekend, or you're a large family that requires connecting rooms with certain bed configurations--then you may want to book in advance of the optimal time for savings, while the rooms you need are still available. Say you're Caribbean-bound and the best beach matters more to you than the lowest price: Since the optimal booking window is between one and four months out, don't hesitate to book ahead of the four-month mark.



The optimal times for booking on TripAdvisor--for nine regions of the world and 25 cities--are spelled out here .
The India Today Group via Getty Images NEW DELHI,INDIA SEPTEMBER 17: Union Cabinet Minister for Women & Child Development Maneka Sanjay Gandhi addressing a press conference in New Delhi.(Photo by Yasbant Negi/India Today Group/Getty Images)

NEW DELHI -- Union Minister Maneka Gandhi bullied two journalists who reported on her criticism of the Modi government's budget, last year, and she tried to get their government accreditation revoked.

The Indian Express today reported that Gandhi, who heads the Women and Child Development Ministry, pressurized the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to revoke the Press Information Bureau accreditation for Aditya Kalra and Andrew MacAskill, who work for Reuters India.

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The Press Information Bureau denied Gandhi's request on the grounds that its guidelines did not contain any provision for accreditation to be withdrawn for alleged misreporting or mischievous reporting."

The Reuters India case isn't the only instance of journalists getting into trouble with leaders of the Modi government and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Earlier this month, the BJP filed a complaint against Raghav Chopra, a journalist with CNN-IBN, who tweeted a morphed image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi touching the feet of Saudi Arabias King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

In March, Delhi Police registered a case and interrogated Pushp Sharma over his report on the AYUSH Ministry " denying jobs to Muslims. The AYUSH Ministry called for an investigation into the "fake" Right to Information response on which the story was based.

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The two journalists from Reuters India incurred Gandhi's wrath after they refused to backtrack on their report which said that her remarks on the budget were a "rare public criticism of PM Modis policies."

In October 2015, Gandhi told Reuters India that the Women and Child Development Ministry's budget was slashed by half, which made it harder to fight against malnutrition, and it only allowed for salaries of 2.7 million health workers until January.

After the interview was published, Gandhi's ministry strongly refuted that she had criticized Modi's polices, and described the interpretation of her remarks as wrong and mischievous."

Reuters India ran the denial by Gandhi, but stood by the fairness and accuracy of its story."

Still, Gandhi approached the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to revoke the PIB accreditation for the two journalists.

I am directed to state that the action of Reuters was completely unethical, mischievous and violates the norms of journalistic reporting. This has resulted in unnecessary projection of the government in a bad light. The matter has been viewed very seriously at the highest level, her private secretary Manoj K Arora wrote to the I&B Ministry.

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Gandhi's response to the budget isn't the only instance of her contradicting the Modi government in public.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi was making a case for developed countries to shoulder the burden of combating climate change at the U.N. conference in Paris, last year, Gandhi told journalists at home that India was a major contributor to global warming.

It is a question of putting the blame always the West did it. They may have done it hundred years ago. India is one of the main players destroying the climate," she said.

Gandhi is no stranger to courting controversy over remarks which don't reflect her government's position. Last year, her own ministry had to issue a denial after she proposed mandatory sex determination of a foetus as a way to fight female foeticide.

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"I am an African-American in the IT field and I have thus far had the good fortune to live and travel extensively throughout Western and parts of Eastern Europe and many countries in Asia. I have lived or traveled in the UK and most of the EU countries as well as Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia and several other Asian countries including India.

Of all the countries I have been to, India ranks way up there among the most 'racist', IMHO. Indians aren't so much 'racist' as they are intolerant. Indians discriminate against fellow citizens to a degree that I have NEVER encountered in ANY other country. Without a doubt, Indians are the the most color obsessed people I have ever encountered anywhere in the world. No doubt because of all that saturation advertisements for 'Fair and Lovely', 'Fair and Handsome' and all manners of skin-whitening creams, lotions, soaps etc. Even if you are 100% Indian, your fellow Indians might still discriminate against you on the basis of the color of your skin, which region of India you come from, what language you speak, your religion, your caste etc, etc.

If you are of obvious African ancestry, including African-American, you can find life really, really tough in India if you are going to be in India for a while. Indians can be such unabashed, in your face racists. In the interest of fairness, I should point out that oftentimes, lighter-skinned Indians despise darker-skinned Indians every bit as much as much as they despise us people of African ancestry. Apart from that, there is also considerable antipathy between North Indians and South Indians

Indians outside of India endlessly complain about the intolerance and racism they have to put up with in places like Europe, the US, Canada, Australia, the Middle East and even Africa. These very same Indians conveniently choose to ignore the fact that Indians themselves can be such pathological bigots against their fellow Indians, other Asians and especially people of African ancestry. In Amritsar, one of my best friends was Gyan, a Nepali whom I initially mistook for a Chinese. Indians disdainfully call him "Chinki" or "Bahadur", which Gyan hated. As a matter of fact, Indian citizens from India's North-Eastern states, who often have Chinese facial features are routinely referred to, usually disparagingly as 'Chinkis'.

I have a very good friend 'Terrence', also an African-American in the IT field. His wife 'Rekha' is the the assertive and independent-minded daughter of Gujarati Jains who arrived in the US when 'Rekha' was 7 years old. She and her husband met in graduate school and have been married more than ten years now. They have got 3 kids, all of them with dark complexion and curly hair, physical traits which her relatives back in Gujarat hated. When 'Rekha' took her kids to Gujarat for the first time, her Gujarati relatives took to calling them, usually disparagingly, 'Africans' and 'Blackies'. 'Rekha' finally had enough, especially since the older kids were now old enough to understand what was being said about them. So 'Rekha' gave the offending relatives the following ultimatum,' 'Treat my kids right. or get out of my life - and stay out of my life!'

India is a great country to visit briefly, because the country itself is endlessly fascinating. An American journalist once described India as "a land of jarring incongruities". That is what makes India such a worthwhile tourist destination.

Some African-Americans have sought my advice about going to Indian for hands-on IT training. My stock advice to them is. be prepared to deal with unabashed in-your-bigotry because Indians hate dark-skinned people, including fellow-Indians. You can expect to have things even worse if you are somebody of African ancestry. As for housing, be prepared to live long term in a hotel. Available housing can be hard to get even if you are an Indian. Because Indian landlords routinely discriminate even against fellow Indians who happen to be from the 'wrong' part of India, speak the 'wrong' language, belong to the 'wrong' religion or caste etc. As somebody of African ancestry, you face a double whammy in a culture that hates dark skin. If you are Caucasian or White, you should be alright, since the people automatically show respect for white-skinned people. Heck, I have seen Indians discriminating against fellow Indians in favor of white foreigners.

This is NOT an anti-Indian rant, just my experiences and observations.

My apologies in advance for any toes I might step upon."
Cultura RM Exclusive/Philip Lee Harvey via Getty Images A teacher and school children in a classroom on a tea plantation in Munnar, a hill station in Kerala, India

Roman philosopher Marcus Cicero once said there is no nobler profession than teaching. Tatahir Fatima takes that very seriously  the head teacher of a government primary Urdu school in Bihar didn't even miss taking her class on her wedding.

Fatima teaches at Lashkaripur village under Lahladpur block of Saran district, which is about 100 kilometres from Patna. This past Saturday was her 'nikah', and the next day her 'bidai', reported The Times of India, and she still made sure she taught her class on both days.

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"I didn't like the idea of taking long leave for my marriage as my priority has been to teach my students," she told TOI.

There are four teachers in this co-educational primary school, which has about 145 students. Established in 1954, it has no boundary wall, library, playground, computers, or medical aid. There are a total of three classrooms where students from class 1 to 5 study.

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MUMBAI -- Dreams do come true. Ask 93-year-old Boman Kohinoor, whose lifelong dream was to meet the members of British royal family and host them at his restaurant.

Known for his love for Queen Elizabeth and the royal family, the owner of Mumbai's famous Britannia restaurant, the 'Britannia Uncle', as he is popularly called, had been excited about the royal visit to the city.

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His dream was to serve them his famous `berry pulav'.

The dream was partially fulfilled as he finally met the British Royal family last evening.

Kohinoor was invited by Prince William and Kate Middleton who are visiting Mumbai for an out-of-schedule meeting at The Taj Mahal Palace hotel.

"I met their Royal Highnesses last evening at the Taj. They were very kind and asked me about my restaurant and my favourite dishes there," Kohinoor said.

"They asked me if I could cook. I said no, but I serve my customers well. I told them: give my love to the Queen, and to your children Prince George and Princess Charlotte.

The meeting happened after a video clip, in which Kohinoor calls himself "the Royal family's fan number 1", went viral and caught the attention of British Deputy High Commission, an official said.

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There's a fair chance that you cannot recall the name Qutubuddin Ansari. However, you probably remember the man's face very well. Ansari was the man who is seen pleading with folded hands to an unknown individual in a photograph by Arko Datta taken during the 2002 Gujarat riots. A dishevelled Ansari, then 28-years-old, was seen in the photograph clad in a blood-stained shirt, standing in the balcony of a house. His face was contorted into an expression of excruciating pain and deep fear, his eyes teary and his hands folded in a gesture suggesting he was pleading for help, or given the circumstances, pity.

Ansari is the man on the left in the picture below.

Qutubuddin Ansari and Ashok Mochi.Two men from Gujarat. Faces of 2002 Gujarat riots as victim(L) and Perpetrator(R) pic.twitter.com/b4NSslvjwJ  Adv.Tanveer Ahmed (@AdvocateReevnat) March 5, 2014

According to a BBC report, Reuters, the agency Datta was employed with, ran the picture with the caption: "An Indian Muslim stranded in the first floor of his house, along with a few other Muslims and surrounded by a Hindu mob begs to the Rapid Action Force (Indian paramilitary) personnel to rescue him at Sone-ki-Chal in Ahmedabad, March 01, 2002."

Fourteen years on, Ansari, who still lives in a Ahmedabad chawl, is not a happy man. And BJP has got nothing to do with his present misery. According to a report on Mumbai Mirror, Ansari is extremely annoyed that political parties in poll-bound West Bengal and Assam have been using the picture featuring him to campaign against BJP.

"Every time this happens, life becomes more difficult for me. Tomorrow everyone will know and people will question my motives. In fact, I did not even know about this," Ansari, who has appeared in several television interviews, tells Mumbai Mirror.

Following the riots, Ansari had fled to West Bengal after he was being hounded constantly, allegedly by political parties and Hindu fundamentalist groups. He has since then returned to Gujarat.

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The photo, Ansari says, had saved his life but had cost his job and 'peace of mind'. Whenever the photo surfaces, Ansari says, his children want to know why he is begging and crying. In fact, he had lost his job over the picture. Employers suspect him of having ulterior motives and people generally treat him with suspicion. And he has been subjected to this because BJP's rivals have turned his picture into a political tool.

"I am 43 and in the past 14 years, I have been "used and misused" by political parties, Bollywood and even terror outfits. I wish I had died in 2002 because I am not able to answer my children when they ask me "Papa, every time we saw your picture, why are you crying and begging?"Ansari says.

In Assam, posters with Ansari's picture have been put up by the Congress. Along with his picture, the posters exhort voters to think if they want to turn Assam into Gujarat.

Ansari says, apart from Congress, Samajwadi Party and the NCP have also used his picture for campaigns against Modi. "Some people in political parties think I deliberately offer my face and services. This makes my life more complicated. I want to live in Gujarat and I want peace," he tells. He even filed a lawsuit with his limited resources but in vain.

The go-to strategy by BJP's rivals during polls is to bring up the issue of Gujarat riots and suggest that a BJP government will strengthen communal forces. And what better picture than the one featuring the 'face of Gujarat riots'? With Modi taking to campaigning in Assam and Bengal aggressively, the Congress predictably has brought out their favourite ammunition against him - the prime minister's alleged anti-Muslim agenda.

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However, in their zeal, it seems like these parties have done Ansari more harm than good. Gujarat being a BJP fiefdom, a common man like Ansari's complaints seem completely justified.

In fact, Ansari had participated in a event organised by a pro-Left organisation in Kerala where he shared the stage with another man from another iconic picture of the riots - Ashok Mochi who was accused of leading a mob that burnt down 10 houses in Ahmedabad.

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Frank Bienewald via Getty Images MADURAI, TAMIL NADU, INDIA - 2011/01/07: Little artificial flower given to a tourist for gift as a sign for being welcome. (Photo by Frank Bienewald/LightRocket via Getty Images)

In India, a land where marriages arranged by the family are the norm and opportunities for a couple to spend time together before marriage can be sparse, a startup is trying to help couples find a room.

Hotels can be hostile to unmarried couples trying to stay together. A lot of hotels deny a room to an unmarried couple even if they are adults with valid government IDs. A startup called StayUncle is working on changing this.

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StayUncle helps unmarried couples and travellers find rooms in well-reputed hotels from 12-hours slots. You can book a morning slot or the evening slot. If you want to extend your stay you have to book another 12-hour slot. At the moment, there is no facility to book the hotel for many days.

"We pride ourselves to be known as the helpers of unmarried couples. In India, finding a room for them is a hefty task. So we have talked to premium hotels to convince them that this is not illegal and if the couple has individual government IDs they can stay at the hotel. Even if you book the hotel through online travel portals you can be denied a room on arriving. We have also removed the hassle of booking the room for the whole day. Hotels have an agreement with us so they allow our customers to stay for a shorter period," said Sanchit Sethi to HuffPost India.

"Our first priority is to ensure safety and comfort to our customers. That's why we have tied up with premium and reputed hotels in Delhi NCR and Mumbai. We have partnered with almost 33 hotels in Delhi NCR and 10 hotels in Mumbai at the moment. Our team has also talked with local police stations to seek advice," He added.

StayUncle just doesn't want to limit their services to a couple, though. You can be attending a conference in the city or just staying in the city for a couple of hours while travelling. Then the startup's services might be useful for you. As originally reported in Quartz, the rates on the portal are anywhere in between 1,400 to 5,000.

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"We have a 5-people team working on this very hard. We have received more than 200 bookings in the last couple of months. The couples love us. In the coming months, there will be more hotels onboard in multiple cities. Our primary target is to cover all the metros,"Sethi said.

The startup also has a strict checking process before listing the hotel on their portal. They check for almost 50 parameters including hidden cameras before giving it a nod.

There have been a lot of incidents in India where unmarried couples were arrested from the hotel. In August 2015, almost 40 couples were arrested in Mumbai for 'indecent behaviour'.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS An Indian Hindu woman devotee prays at a temple on the occasion of the Mahashivratri festival in Jammu, India, Monday, March 7, 2016. Hindus across the world are celebrating Mahashivratri, or Shiva's night festival believed to be the day when Shiva got married. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)

NEW DELHI -- India inched closer to treating men and women as equals, last week, when women defeated a centuries- old ban and offered prayers in the inner sanctum of the Shani Shingnapur temple in Maharashtra. It was by no means a glorious victory. Temple officials were so desperate to keep women out that they even barred the men, and relented only when a mob of men stormed the inner sanctum. But eventually, women got in.

Now, it is time for Sabarimala Ayyappa temple in Kerala to lift its ban on women. In the southern state, religious leaders, who believe that they are protecting the celibate Lord Ayyappa from menstruating women, considered to be unclean, have the full backing of the Congress Party-led government.

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In Maharashtra, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government never lifted a finger to help women gain entry into the Shani Shingnapur temple, but Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at least paid lip service to gender equality. In poll-bound Kerala, however, the Congress Party government has said that it is duty bound to protect the right of devotees to practice their religion, which involves the exclusion of women, a tradition continuing from "time immemorial."

By that logic, the Congress Party should have also backed a status quo in the Shani Shingnapur temple which has excluded the entry of women into its inner sanctum for 400 years. In BJP-run Maharashtra, however, the Congress Party was all for women's rights.

When the Maharashtra government failed to enforce the Bombay High Court's order for women to enter the Shani temple in Ahmednagar, Congress Party's national spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedisaid, "The High Court verdict has been disregarded to continue tradition which has been going on for years."

The Maharashtra government had failed to fulfil its "promise of women empowerment and equal rights to women," she said.

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Janardan Dwivedi, Congress Party's General Secretary, said that it was the "pious duty" of whole society to support lifting the ban on women in the Shani Shingnapur temple. "This is also the responsibility of the government so that reason prevails over those people who are creating hurdles and problems in this direction," said Dwivedi.

"Women have got equal rights in the field of religion and philosophy in our country for centuries," he said.

Meanwhile, the Congress Party-led government in Kerala told the Supreme Court that devotees in the Sabarimala Ayyappa are protected under the Article 25 and Article 26 of the Constitution, which is the freedom to practice religion and manage religious affairs, but the right to equality under Article 14 does not apply to women between the ages of 10 and 50, who are barred from entry.

In its affidavit to the Supreme Court, which is hearing a plea challenging the ban on women entering the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple, the state government said, "the right to exclude persons who are not allowed to participate in worship according to the tenets of the religious institution in question is a matter of religion," which is "immune" from challenge under Article 14.

What makes the Congress Party's regressive stand doubly appalling is that it is driven by political opportunism.

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Just a few months before the scheduled Assembly Election, the Congress Party-led United Democratic Front reversed the stand which its predecessor, the Left Democratic Front government, had taken before the Supreme Court, opposing the ban on menstruating women in the Sabarimala temple.

The Supreme Court isn't even sure whether it can allow such a "somersault or u-turn."

Congress Party Vice President Rahul Gandhi has routinely tried to cast his party as more enlightened and progressive than the right-wing BJP and the nationalist Modi government. Just this week, Gandhi said that his party would "continue to strengthen the voice of Dalits, tribals, women and poor.

Could Gandhi say how the Congress Party's stand on the Sabarimala Ayyappa is strengthening the voice of women?

Also on HuffPost India:
Reno County sees a spike in drug and alcohol overdoses during October

The 27 overdoses through Oct. 21 is an average of more than one a day, the highet average since officials began tracking the data real time.
A Monday court decision added a significant victory for insurance policyholders to an issue with very little existing case law.In an unpublished opinion, a panel of the Fourth Circuit ruled that Travelers Co. must defend medical records company Portal Healthcare against a claim that its failure to properly secure servers lead to a data breach in which unauthorized users were given access to private records.Travelers must settle the claim under the commercial general liability policy it extended to Portal Healthcare, the panel said.The ruling echoed the verdict of a Virginia district court, which held in August 2014 that CGL policies provide coverage for a data breach.The case in question involved patient records from Portal Healthcare being published on the Internet and made searchable by different search engines. Portal sought coverage under two policies which would require Travelers to pay sums Portal becomes legally obligated to pay as damages because of injury arising from the electronic publication of material thatgives unreasonable publicity to a persons private life or the publication of material that discloses information about a personas private life.Travelers and Portal disputed whether there was such injury, and what constituted publication.Insurance companies have largely exempted coverage for data security breaches under new CGL policies, preferring to address those risks through specific cyber liability policies. However, the question of whether coverage exists for cyber incidents under older policies without such exclusions is still being decided in the courts.The insurance industry followed the issue closely, with two industry groups filing amicus briefs supporting Travelers appeal.The American Insurance Association and the Complex Insurance Claims Litigation Association said that coverage for cyber claims cant be shoehorned into standard CGL policy terms and said a separate, robust market exists for problems like those faced by Portal.By affirming the district courts decision, the trade groups wared the Fourth Circuit would undermine the certainty and predictability intrinsic to the functioning of insurance markets.Attorneys defending Portal, however, argued that the existence of a cyber insurance market is irrelevant because the district court found room for coverage in the language of the Travelers policy.If a [general liability] insurer wants to push this type of risk into the cyber insurance realm, it needs to be clearer, said attorney Tyler Gerking.Portal held two policies with Travelers covering electronic publication of certain materials from January 2012 to January 2014, court documents show.
Most risk professionals say that risk forecasting isnt going to become easier in the next 3 years in fact almost half say it will be harder.A survey from Marsh and the risk management society RIMS reveals that cyber attacks and regulation are the emerging risks that will create additional challenges for the industry.Claims-based reviews are still the most commonly-used method for assessing risk, used by 60 per cent of respondents; 38 per cent use predictive analytics.The widespread use of claims-based reviews means that a majority of organizations are relying on studying past incidents to predict how emerging risks will behave rather than using predictive analytic techniques like stochastic modeling and game theory to help inform their decision making, said Brian Elowe, Marshs US client executive leader and co-author of the report.Survey respondents also cited several barriers to understanding the impact of emerging risks on their business strategy and decisions with lack of cross-organization collaboration ranking first among risk professional respondents.The chief executive of the Insurance Bureau of Canada says the country needs a national strategy for tackling extreme weather events. Writing in the Globe and Mail, Dan Forgeron calls for the government to act swiftly to adapt to the new reality of increased natural disasters, with floods highlighted as the major risk.Forgeron acknowledges that some work is being done to bolster infrastructure in order to mitigate risk but he says it does not go far enough. He says that more funding is required for the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements program and that there must be a comprehensive strategy for tackling flood risk nationally.French-based global insurer AXA has become the first company in France and only the second in the world to partner with Facebooks Messenger service to provide a 100 per cent digital experience.The insurer has a service which is digital-only called Switch, aimed at young people. The addition of the partnership with Messenger will enable interaction between customer and insurer which is truly native for millennials.Facebook Messenger has only recently been made available to businesses and Dutch airline KLM was the first to sign up to enable boarding passes and check-in via the widely-used Messenger app.AXA believes the partnership will deepen its engagement with millennials and provide a stronger customer experience.Nicolas Moreau, AXA CEO in France and global head of its Assistance and Direct divisions commented: With Messenger, we have reached a new level in our relationships with customers. We must respond to their needs and habits as closely as possible to best support them on a daily basis.
St. Joseph Students Receive Multiple Literary Honors

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  St. Joseph Central High School honors writer Taylor Jordao finished in the top 1 percent of nearly 3,000 writers in the Letters About Literature writing contest, sponsored by the Massachusetts Center for the Book.

In recognition for her letter to author Shel Silverstein, Jordao and 14 other high school writers received commendations at the March 15 ceremony at the State House in the Great Hall. Jordao also met with Sen. Benjamin Downing, a St. Joseph alumnus (class of 1999).

Other St. Joseph students finishing as Letters About Literature semi-finalists, in the top 10 percent of entries, were: Elizabeth Bean, Ilyssa Creamer, Camila Gomez, Leanne Hamilton, Michael Peplowski, Nicholas Terpak and Edouard Tremblay.

Locally, four St. Joseph seniors were recognized in the 2016 "Real Women" Essay Contest, sponsored by the Gladys Allen Brigham Community Center. Taking first place in the Grade 12 category is Casidy Starbird-Healey, who wrote about Nicci Starbird. Anita Curtin placed second, writing about Kara Curtin. Receiving Honorable mention is Zhiling (Will) Liang, who wrote about Xue Ping Peng. In the Mary Ellen Ausman category, Jiabin (Carl) Liu's essay was about Meidi Gua. The awards ceremony took place at Berkshire Community College on March 30.

Principal Amy Gelinas contributes the outstanding achievements of St. Josephs students to their strong work ethic and the unique learning opportunities the school is able to provide.

Small classes make it conducive for teachers to lead students into deeper areas of study based on their interests and learning levels, Gelinas said.

Last month, St. Josephs senior English classes gathered together for a lecture presented by Dr. Simon Silbelman, distinguished professor of Judaic, Holocaust and Peace studies, and former executive director of the Virginia Holocaust Museum. Silbelmans presentation was the culmination of a Holocaust unit during which students read and discussed Maus by Art Spiegelman, Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi, and excerpts from Night by Elie Wiesel. According to Gelinas, the school plans to bring in additional experts to enhance its academic curriculum in the upcoming school year.

Established in 1897, St. Joseph Central High School is a college preparatory school that is rooted in the tradition of Catholic Education. For more information call 413-447-9121 or visit stjosephpittsfield.org.
The School Committee interviews the first of two candidates for superintendent on Monday.

North Adams School Committee Hears From Superintendent Candidate



Barbara Malkas answered 12 questions posed by School Committee members, ranging from community engagement, to academic achievement to educational philosophy.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  The School Committee completed its first interview of the two finalists for the superintendent's position in the North Adams Public Schools.



Barbara Malkas, superintendent of the Webster Public Schools, spent the day visiting the schools and faculty, and attended a meet and greet with city councilors and other shareholders in the afternoon.



The Clarksburg resident was asked a dozen questions by the School Committee on Monday evening during an interview of just under an hour that will be televised on Northern Berkshire Community Television. A dozen or so members of the general and school community attended the public interview. Committee member Karen Bond was absent and Mayor Richard Alcombright asked the questions in her place.



Malkas was asked about collaboration, strategy, achievement gaps and engagement, and her impression of the school district. She was reminded of a quote by educational research Yong Zhao of Oregon that "education is about the future but based on the past."



"What I see here at the North Adams Public Schools is a real investment in preserving the integrity of the education that's been provided through generations," she said in her opening statements, pointing to the way technology has been integrated into new Colegrove Park Elementary School that still displays its century-old heritage.



"There is that nice marriage of the idea we will honor our past but really look to the future."



Malkas said she believed strongly that a good education was integral in the community's economic infrastructure. Without pathways to success, children would not be able to achieve their potential  and might continue "living in their parents basement."



Her own education, and her mother's insistence on the effort to make it happen, afforded her and her sister opportunities they might not otherwise have.



The United States, said Malkas, offers the privilege of education to all students in a way that allows them to rise to the levels they can achieve, while other nations often determine the child's path to college, vocational or work at a certain age.



However, she said it was important to educate parents and guardians that dropping out of school to work is no longer a viable path. Even the military requires a high school diploma. Rather, educational institutions should be continuously sending the message that academic efforts pay off.



Malkas said she had the skill set to help her community.

Like many communities, Webster is trying to grapple with the opiod epidemic and seven elementary children lost parents to drug overdoses last summer. The Central Massachusetts Special Education Collaborative, of which she is a member, opened a high school last year specifically for recovering student addicts. Malkas said she had also tried for grants for in-school programs, brought opiate-antidote Narcan into the schools, and envisioned similar efforts along with a health and wellness program for North Adams.



She also touched on working with in-school assessment data as a way to better track achievement, and would rely on some of the community engagement techniques she used in Worcester, including communicating the good things happening in the schools through social media and other outreach efforts.



Malkas said any strategic plan had to be multiyear, be participatory and have continuous goals, as she has done in Webster.



"When I created those goals, they became my performance goals so I was very invested in them," she said.



In both her closing and opening remarks, Malkas focused on the fact that the Berkshires was still her community, even though she works in Webster.



"I feel very strongly that I would have the skill set to help my neighbors, my community, to grow and become an educational system that really supports the entire community going forward," she said.



The committee will interview Stephen Donovan, superintendent of the Acushnet School District, on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in City Council Chambers. The interview is open to the public. The committee anticipates making a decision on Wednesday night. The next superintendent would replace James Montepare, who is retired but has stayed on in an interim capacity.
Williamstown Board of Selectmen Chairwoman Jane Patton conducts Monday's meeting.

Williamstown Selectmen Vote Opinion on Town Meeting Articles

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.  The Board of Selectmen on Monday unanimously recommended that town meeting approve a zoning change that would allow Williams College to proceed with a planned hotel at the bottom of Spring Street.



But in response to issues raised by a resident opposed to the project, members of the board were quick to note that the expansion of the Village Business District is the first of several town approvals that would be needed before the creation of a new Williams Inn.



Roger Lawrence of South Street asked the board to "slow this juggernaut" and recommend against the zoning change, which will require a two-thirds vote at the May 17 annual town meeting.



Lawrence argued that the proposed location of the new inn would create parking and traffic issues on Spring Street, which already is too congested during peak traffic times.



He said the college is not planning for enough parking to accommodate hotel guests, employees, restaurant guests and users of a proposed 200-person event space.



"That burden will be accommodated off-site, and that means Spring Street," Lawrence said.



He also challenged a college-commissioned parking study.



"I hope this [parking study] wasn't done by the same outfit that did the parking plan for the Clark Art Institute," Lawrence said. "We have a precedent in our town for a large nonprofit to get it wrong in a way that hurts residents of the town."



College attorney Jamie Art said the college is aware of Lawrence's concerns and interested in addressing them to minimize any negative impacts.



"The expansion of the Village Business District does not mean that the inn at the bottom of Spring Street gets built without further municipal review," Art said. "There will be at least three public hearings before three public boards where all these concerns  parking, traffic, impact on neighbors  things the college is already working on, will be addressed.



"The college will spend a lot of time developing concrete answers to the very real concerns."



As for the parking needs of the hotel, Art said the college's current plan refers to the town's regulations for parking at a hotel the size of the facility proposed.



"But the [Zoning Board of Appeals] might say, 'We're concerned about impacts on parking  and as a special condition, we may force you to alter that plan,' " Art said. " 'We may force you to have contingency plans for peak events.' Those are real concerns. But those are concerns that will be addressed as part of the permitting process."



Roger Lawrences addresses the Board of Selectmen on a proposed expansion of the Village Business District.

"I think the town has been universally willing to do the country inn process that Mike [Deep] originally proposed," said Selectman Andrew Hogeland, who argued against recommending the citizen's petition warrant article at last month's Planning Board hearing. "I would encourage the Planning Board to be receptive [to an amendment discussion] tomorrow night. I think the petition as currently written is not going to be acceptable to the town."



Board reviewed all the town meeting warrant articles, recommending approval of everything except the aforementioned Waubeeka article.



Town Manager Jason Hoch provided the board with an explanation of one item: Article 29, which revises the lease authorization for a ground-mounted solar photovoltaic installation at the town-owned landfill.



Town meeting will be asked to revisit an issue it settled in 2014 in light of changes in the regulatory and financial landscape that have occurred in the interim, Hoch said. The 2014 warrant article authorized the town manager to negotiate an agreement with a "commercial solar developer." The 2016 warrant article would change that language to allow an agreement with "a solar developer, commercial or otherwise."



"This gives me a little more flexibility to make sure we get a deal to move that project forward," Hoch told the board.



The board also appointed two new members to the board of the Affordable Housing Trust: Liz Costley and Patrick Quinn.



And Patton, with much enthusiasm, read a proclamation to recognize Arbor Day in the town on April 29. Selectwoman Anne O'Connor used the moment to recommend that the town explore a plan to replant trees that have been lost on the Town Green along Main Street, or Route 2, from the Field Park rotary west.



"You can see stumps of trees that died and needed to be removed," O'Connor said. "I can remember as a child sitting on a bench in Field Park looking down Main Street at all the elm trees ... sadly lost to Dutch elm disease."



Hoch agreed it is worth looking at how the town might be able to replant in the area.
Krugman Commencement Speaker at Bard College at Simon's Rock

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.  Paul Krugman, winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Economics, will address graduates at the 47th commencement ceremony of Bard College at Simon's Rock, The Early College, on Saturday, May 21, at 11 a.m.



The ceremony is free and open to the public; priority seating given to the families of graduates.



Krugman was the sole recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his work on international trade theory. As one of the founders of the "New Trade Theory" economic models that focus on the role of increasing returns to scale, among others  he was awarded the John Bates Clark medal by the American Economic Association in 1991, a biennial prize given to an economist under 40 who has made a significant contribution to the field of economics. During the Reagan administration, he worked at the White House as the senior international economist for the President's Council of Economic Advisers.



Krugman, who has long-standing ties to Simon's Rock and Great Barrington, said, "It's a great privilege to speak here on this occasion. Simon's Rock lets students  who are our future  get started on their own future early, and it's a wonderful thing."



"We at Simon's Rock are honored to have a speaker of Dr. Krugman's brilliance and integrity deliver the 2016 keynote address," said Ian Bickford, provost and vice president of Bard College at Simon's Rock. "He will be an inspiration to our graduates, a powerful group of independent thinkers in their own right."
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Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, President of the ICAO Council (centre) with Namibias Minister of Works and Transport the Honourable Alpheus. G. !Naruseb, (2nd from right) and the Ministrys Permanent Secretary, Mr. Willem Goeieman (far right). President Aliu is accompanied by ICAOs Regional Directors for Western/Central Africa and Eastern/Southern Africa respectively, Mr. Mam Sait Jallow (2nd from left) and Mr. Barry Kashambo (far left).

MONTREAL, 11 April 2016  African Ministers responsible for aviation security and facilitation met in Windhoek, Namibia, last week to address challenges concerning aviation security and facilitation in Africa through the implementation of the Comprehensive Regional Implementation Plan for Aviation Security and Facilitation in Africa (AFI SECFAL PLAN).

During his address to the assembled dignitaries and high-level officials, Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, President of the ICAO Council, noted that Recent incidents illustrate that there is no doubt that aviation is, and remains, a target of choice for terrorists, and the global policy and regulatory framework have become much more responsive to this very aspect of todays dynamic risk context. This response was enabled by ICAOs steadfast commitment to aviation security and facilitation, which also enabled our Member States to realize greater benefit from our capacity-building and targeted technical assistance activities. This work is a key priority for us today under our No Country Left Behind initiative.

In her opening statement, Mrs. Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, Right Honourable Prime Minister of the Republic of Namibia, underscored the importance of security in the development of any economic sector, including air transport and tourism. She also recognized that Africa is not immune from emerging threats such as cyber threat and other acts of unlawful interference to civil aviation, and highlighted that the implementation of the ICAO AFI SECFAL Plan will play an important role in near-term and long term aviation security and facilitation progress.

African Ministers responsible for aviation security and facilitation adopted the Windhoek Declaration and Targets during the event, stressing they would seek to effectively implement ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) and enhance the oversight thereof towards the targets attainment. The two instruments will be forwarded by the African Union Commission (AUC) and will eventually be considered for endorsement at the African Union Assembly of Heads of State and governments scheduled for this July in Kigali, Rwanda.

ICAO expects that todays event will eventually be looked upon as a milestone in the evolution of civil aviation security and facilitation in Africa, President Aliu confirmed. ICAOs AFI SECFAL Plan has now become a framework through which African States, donor States, organizations and industry coordinate their efforts and activities, and this event presented us with a unique opportunity to agree on the establishment of sustainable targets and goals in order to reach a comprehensive political commitment.

Dr. Aliu thanked Namibia for hosting the Conference, expressing his gratitude at its offer to champion the implementation of the Windhoek Declaration in the coming years, and to promote the ICAO AFI SECFAL Plan as a suitable cooperation and coordination mechanism for all related initiatives. He held bilateral meetings with the Namibian Minister of Works and Transport, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, and the Director of its Civil Aviation Department.

He also undertook follow-up discussions with the Nigerian Minister of State Aviation, the Director General of the Nigerian CAA, and other officials on implementing the Action Plan on the conclusions of an earlier meeting with the President of Nigeria.

Dr. Aliu was joined by the President and Secretary General of AFCAC while in Namibia to discuss, inter alia, continuing collaboration with ICAO to enhance aviation safety, security and capacity building, and its help in assuring the rapid endorsement of the Windhoek Declaration and Targets by the next summit of AU Heads of State and Government.

During the Conference the ICAO Council President also met with Mr. Sergio Mujica, Deputy Secretary General of the World Customs Organization (WCO), Mr. Francis Rwego, Assistant Director, NCB Regional Police Services (INTERPOL Regional Bureau, Nairobi), and Mr.Gilbert Faure, Director General of Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA). The discussions covered matters of mutual interest including joint training and capacity building programmes, coordination with INTERPOL, and tailored assistance to enhance effective implementation of aviation security and facilitation oversight systems, respectively.

Resources for editors:

The ICAO AFI SECFAL Plan

ICAOs Aviation Development and No Country Left Behind initiatives



Contact:
We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector

We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector

We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector

We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector
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IMF Survey : Nauru Joins the IMF as 189th Member

IMF welcomes its newest member

Island can tap IMF surveillance, lending, and technical assistance to address unique challenges

Membership opens door for international communitys support

The IMF welcomed the Republic of Nauru as its newest member on April 12. The island adds its name to the list of 188 other IMF member countries.

Related Links Read the press release

Asia & Pacific

Mr. David Adeang, Minister of Finance of Nauru, signed the Articles of Agreement of the IMF at a ceremony held at the State Department in Washington, D.C. IMF officials witnessed the signing ceremony.

I am very pleased to welcome Nauru as a member of the IMF, said Christine Lagarde, the IMFs Managing Director. As Nauru faces a number of challenges common to small island economies, including its geographical remoteness and climate change, it will benefit from participating fully in the economic cooperation of our global membership. The IMF stands ready to assist the government and people of Nauru in achieving their development objectives in cooperation with other partners in the international community, she added.

Small state

Measured by its quota, Nauru will be the second smallest member of the Fund, after Tuvalu. This will be the case after it pays its quota increase under the 14th General Review (which will increase its quota to SDR 2.8 million). Nauru has an initial subscription of SDR 2 million, or about $2.81 million. It has a population of about 10,500 and a land area of about 8 square miles, compared with 68 square miles for Washington DC. Nauru is also the smallest sovereign state in the world after the Vatican City in terms of both population and area. The Australian dollar is the legal tender. There had been virtually no bank in the country during the past decade until the opening of Bendigo Bank agency in June 2015.

Naurus economy relies on phosphate mining, the Australian Regional Processing Center (RPC) for asylum seekers, and revenue from fishing license fees. In recent years, growth has been strong, mainly driven by the RPC operations and phosphate exports, although it has moderated in 2015 due to problems with the seaport that lowered phosphate exports.

The country faces a number of challenges common to small islands: small population, remoteness, climate change, narrow production base, high cost of public goods, and insufficient infrastructure. The key priorities include strengthening public finances, improving basic infrastructure, and diversifying its sources of growth.

Membership benefits

Membership allows the Fund and other development partnersthe country has also joined the World Bankto help the authorities implement economic reforms and tackle the development challenges facing Nauru. The country can now benefit from an annual review or health check of its economy by the IMF (called the Article IV consultation), cross-country analysis and access IMF lending. Nauru will continue to receive technical assistance through Pacific Financial Technical Assistance Center (PFTAC) based in Fiji.

Nauru can now also attend the joint IMF-World Bank Spring and Annual Meetings as a full member of the Bretton Woods family, where the authorities can meet and exchange views with other delegations. The 2016 Spring Meetings will be held this week, April 1517.

A two-year process

The Republic of Nauru applied for membership to the IMF and the World Bank in April 2014. IMF staff then worked intensively with the authorities through the IMFs Resident Representative for the Pacific Islands and the PFTAC to manage the membership process for the past two years. A joint IMF-World Bank membership mission took place in May 2015. A Membership Committee composed of members of the IMF Executive Board was formed and discussed Naurus proposed quota in August 2015. The IMF Board of Governors adopted a membership resolution in November 2015 offering admission to the country.
Governor Brown Issues Proclamation Declaring California Library Week

Sacramento, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today issued a proclamation declaring April 10 through 16, 2016, as California Library Week in the State of California.

PROCLAMATION

The freedom to explore the vast body of human knowledge is one of the underpinnings of a truly free society. For this reason, the public library has been a vital institution throughout the history of our republic. Today, California's 1,112 libraries provide a multiplicity of important community functions: fostering a love of reading in people of all ages and walks of life, providing academic support to schoolchildren, teaching literacy skills to adults and serving as a safe haven and connection to social support for our most vulnerable citizens. The services our public libraries offer today are the result of many centuries of development as libraries -- always more than mere depositories of books -- have evolved and adapted to encompass new technologies and the changing needs of society.



The library as an institution is much older than the book as we think of it today, a set of printed pages bound in cloth or paper covers. Archives of written material -- at first, collections of incised clay tablets used for record-keeping by the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia -- are as old as writing itself and serve as one of the most important markers of the transition from prehistory to history. As civilization grew, so too did the body of knowledge, and along with it the number of persons with the literacy skills to use that knowledge, as well as the demand for their work --which, in turn, often added to the body of knowledge. As the need to store and access written information grew, the institutions that served this purpose grew and saw great improvements in the technology they used. By the Hellenistic period, the cosmopolitan age when the culture of Classical Greece dominated much of the Eastern Mediterranean world, the library as a collection of papyrus or parchment scrolls was a well-established part of civilized life. It was during this time, in the 3rd century B.C., that the most famous library of the ancient world was founded in Alexandria, Egypt.



The evolution of the library continued with the establishment of the first public libraries in early imperial Rome. In China, around the same time, Liu Xiang is thought to have created the first system for cataloging books, building on a library tradition dating back to the great philosopher Laozi. Even as Europe slid into the Dark Ages -- a time symbolized by the legendary destruction of the Library of Alexandria -- the Byzantine and, later, Arab civilizations would carry on the classical tradition, the latter aided by the importation of papermaking technology from China. Europe emerged from the Middle Ages with the aid of the printing press, which made books much less expensive and ushered in an era of ever-increasing literacy and public access to literature that our ancient forebears could not have dreamed of.



Today, society's need for access to knowledge continues to grow, and the technology to meet that need is changing at an unprecedented pace. For the past few decades we have been in the "Information Age," an era of extraordinary advances in our technical capacity to store and transmit information. The modern bound book, so vital to our rise to nearly universal literacy in the 19th and 20th centuries, is now only one of several media that we use to access the written word, which itself competes with digital photography, sound and video as our primary means of information storage and retrieval. Increasingly, citizens are turning to public libraries for access to these emerging technologies, and our professional librarians are responding as Californians always have, by innovating even where resources are limited. I applaud all of our public libraries' efforts to modernize their services, and my budget continues to provide support for library broadband access.

This administration continues to support programs to help Californians become stronger readers, ensure every Californian entering kindergarten has a library card and allow every Cali4fornian to use their library card anywhere in California.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, EDMUND G. BROWN JR., Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim April 10 to 16, 2016, as California Library Week.





IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 8th day of April 2016.







___________________________________

EDMUND G. BROWN JR.

Governor of California





ATTEST:







__________________________________

ALEX PADILLA

Secretary of State
Governor Brown Announces Appointments

Sacramento, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments:

Robin Purdy, 65, of Herald, has been appointed chief deputy director at the California Workforce Development Board, where she has been a special consultant since 2015. Purdy has been a consultant at Valley Vision and faculty at California State University, Sacramento since 2015. She held several positions at the Sacramento Employment and Training Agency from 1987 to 2014, including deputy director in the Workforce Development Department, chief of the Planning and Community Development Division and deputy chief of human resources and community services. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $112,800. Purdy is a Democrat.



Sarah L. White, 52, of Carmichael, has been appointed deputy director of equity, climate and jobs at the California Workforce Development Board, where she has been a special consultant since 2015. White was a senior associate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center on Wisconsin Strategy from 2007 to 2015, principal at Sarah L. White Consulting from 2001 to 2015 and a policy and budget advisor at the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development from 2005 to 2007. She was director of environmental initiatives at Wilderness Inquiry from 2000 to 2002 and associate director at the Rural AIDS Action Network from 1996 to 2000. White earned Doctor of Philosophy, Master of Philosophy and Master of Arts degrees in history from Columbia University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $108,000. White is registered without party preference.



Sandra Tauler, 56, of Calexico, has been appointed to the California Library Services Board. Tauler has been community services director for the City of Calexico since 2008, where she has served in several positions since 1990, including city librarian and library and cultural arts director. She was a reference librarian and part-time instructor at Imperial Valley College from 1998 to 2006 and a reference librarian at San Diego State University from 1995 to 1998. Tauler is a member of the American Library Association and the Desert Valley Library Media Association. She earned a Master of Library Science degree in library studies from the University of California, Los Angeles. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Tauler is a Democrat.



Brian Harris Deephouse, 43, of Irvine, has been appointed to the California Earthquake Authority Advisory Panel, where he has served since 2010. Deephouse has been vice president and chief actuary at the Automobile Club of Southern California since 2009. He held several positions at Zurich-Farmers Insurance Group from 1997 to 2009, including vice president and chief commercial actuary, assistant vice president of independent agent product management and manager of personal lines actuarial. He was manager of catastrophe modeling at Allstate Insurance from 1996 to 1997. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Deephouse is registered without party preference.



Susan Rubin, 58, of Playa Vista, has been appointed to the California Earthquake Authority Advisory Panel. Rubin has been chief operating officer and general counsel at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute since 2014. She was executive director at the Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, Saban Research Institute from 2011 to 2014, managing director at the University of California, Los Angeles California NanoSystems Institute from 2004 to 2011 and executive officer in the University of California, Los Angeles Office of the Associate Administrative Vice Chancellor from 2001 to 2004. Rubin was an attorney at the Law Offices of Susan D. Praskin Rubin from 1985 to 2004. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from Southwestern Law School. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Rubin is a Democrat.



Janna Sidley, 52, of Los Angeles, has been appointed to the Milton Marks Little Hoover Commission on California State Government Organization and Economy. Sidley has been general counsel at the Port of Los Angeles since 2013. She served as deputy city attorney in the Los Angeles City Attorneys Office from 2003 to 2013, was vice president of communications at Pallotta Teamworks in 2002 and an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal and Civil Division at the U.S. Department of Justice from 1998 to 2002, where she served as deputy director in the Office on Violence Against Women from 1997 to 1998. She was deputy director of the Office of Press Advance at the White House from 1995 to 1996, where she was lead of presidential advance from 1993 to 2000. Sidley served as a special assistant in the Office of the Deputy Secretary at the U.S. Department of the Interior in 1996, where she was special assistant for congressional and legislative affairs in the Bureau of Reclamation from 1993 to 1994. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Sidley is a Democrat.



Helen Torres, 47, of San Bernardino, has been appointed to the Milton Marks Little Hoover Commission on California State Government Organization and Economy. Torres has been executive director at Hispanas Organized for Political Equality since 2000. She was fundraising manager at the United Way of Greater Los Angeles from 1998 to 2000. Torres is a member of the Alliance for a Better Community Board of Directors and graduated from the Hispanas Organized for Political Equality Leadership Institute in 1999. She earned a Master of Arts degree in urban studies and communication from Michigan State University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Torres is registered without party preference.



Sean Varner, 49, of Riverside, has been appointed to the Milton Marks Little Hoover Commission on California State Government Organization and Economy. Varner has been managing partner at Varner and Brandt LLP since 2006, where he was partner from 2001 to 2006 and associate from 1997 to 2001. He was an associate at Ropers, Majeski, Kohn and Bentley from 1993 to 1997. Varner earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Pepperdine University School of Law. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Varner is a Republican.



Wendy Garen, 63, of Glendale, has been appointed to the California Volunteers Commission. Garen has been president and chief executive officer at the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation since 2008, where she has held several positions since 1986, including executive director, program officer, senior program officer and program director. She was executive director at the Los Angeles Child Care and Development Council from 1984 to 1986, program manager at the Childrens Home Society from 1978 to 1984 and program manager at Crystal Stairs from 1981 to 1984. She is a member of the County of Los Angeles Commission on Children and Families and chair of Southern California Grantmakers. She earned a Master of Arts degree in urban planning and public policy from the University of California, Los Angeles. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Garen is a Republican.



Marylee Sheppard, 39, of Sacramento, has been appointed to the California Interagency Coordinating Council on Early Intervention. Sheppard has been chief of the Resources Development and Training Support Bureau at the California Department of Social Services since 2013, where she has held several positions since 2007, including manager of integrated services and social services consultant. She was a social worker at the Yolo County Department of Employment and Social Services from 2006 to 2007. Sheppard earned a Master of Social Work degree from California State University, Sacramento. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Sheppard is registered without party preference.



Leanne M. Wheeler, 47, of Citrus Heights, has been appointed to the California Interagency Coordinating Council on Early Intervention. Wheeler has been an education programs consultant at the California Department of Education since 2001. She was an administrative assistant and grant coordinator liaison at the San Juan Unified School Districts Education for Homeless Children and Youths program from 1999 to 2001 and a teacher at Dyer-Kelly Elementary School from 1994 to 1999. Wheeler earned a Master of Arts degree in education administration from Chapman University. This position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Wheeler is registered without party preference.
Inmate Attacks Correctional Administrator and Officers

San Diego, California - Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility officials are investigating an attempted murder incident that sent two custody staff members to the hospital.

At 9:25 a.m. today, inmate Williams Dawes, 36, ran up behind a correctional captain and struck him on the back of the head with a large piece of concrete rock. Inmate Dawes then attacked a responding officer by striking him in the face with the rock. The officer was able to defend himself and force inmate Dawes to the ground who continued to resist and assault the officer. Additional officers arrived and used physical force and a baton to subdue and restrain the inmate.

The captain and the officer were taken to an outside hospital for treatment. The captain suffered a head injury. The officer suffered injuries to his face and head. Both were treated and released. A sergeant was treated at the prison for minor injuries. All are expected to recover.

Inmate Dawes received minor injuries and was treated by medical staff at the prison. He was re-housed in the Administrative Segregation Unit pending an investigation.

Dawes was admitted December 10, 2008, from Orange County to serve a life sentence for the first-degree murder of an 11-year-old girl.

Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility opened in July 1987 on approximately 780 acres in San Diego County. The primary mission of the prison is to provide housing and supervision for minimum- to high-security inmates. Designed as a training and work-oriented facility, RJDCF provides health care, vocational, academic and industrial programs for nearly 3,200 male inmates and employs about 1,500 people.
Thingyan and New Year

Washington, DC - Secretary of State John Kerry: "On behalf of President Obama and the American people, please accept my warmest wishes and regards on the occasion of Thingyan and the New Year.

"Thingyan is a time to celebrate the opportunities a new year brings. In the new year and in the years to come we look forward to supporting the efforts of the people of Myanmar to achieve a peaceful, prosperous, and harmonious future.

"This past year brought historic changes to Myanmar, including the inauguration of President U Htin Kyaw on March 30, a culmination of the first successful and peaceful transfer of power to a democratically elected government in more than 50 years. The United States congratulates the people and institutions of Myanmar who have worked and sacrificed over many years to contribute to the ongoing democratic transition.

"As Myanmar celebrates this occasion, the United States sends its warm regards and wishes you a wonderful new year."
Acting Special Envoy Arsalan Suleman to Travel to Turkey

Washington, DC - Acting Special Envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Arsalan Suleman will travel to Istanbul, Turkey, April 12-15. During his trip, he will offer remarks at the OICs Young Leaders Summit about the importance of pluralism, civic engagement, and inter- and intra-cultural dialogue. He will also attend the 13th Islamic Summit Conference of the OIC and discuss U.S.-OIC collaboration and strategic partnerships.

Additionally, Acting Special Envoy Suleman will meet with leading civil society members from OIC member states, government officials, and students and faculty at the University of Istanbul.
Special Envoy Perriello Travel to France, Belgium, Switzerland, DRC, Burundi, and Tanzania

Washington, DC - U.S. Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa Thomas Perriello is in the midst of an extended trip that started on April 4, 2016 in Paris, France, and Brussels, Belgium, and includes stops in Geneva, Switzerland; Kinshasa and Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC); Bujumbura, Burundi; and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, through April 20, 2016.

The trip is focused on donor coordination, supporting efforts to advance the regionally mediated dialogue among all Burundian stakeholders and supporting upcoming elections in the DRC. The Special Envoy discussed all of these topics  along with the latest humanitarian needs, existing sanctions regimes, and other concerns in the region  with partners in Europe, including UN agencies in Geneva.

The United States is committed to supporting elections in the DRC that are credible, free, and in accordance with its constitution. The Special Envoy traveled to Kinshasa on April 11. There, and in Lubumbashi, he is meeting with Congolese stakeholders to discuss how to advance the electoral process and help the DRC realize its first peaceful, presidential transition. He will also raise U.S. concerns over the DRC governments treatment of political opposition and civil society and the closing of political space more broadly.

The regionally mediated dialogue on Burundi remains the best option for resolving the crisis there, and the U.S. Government encourages the region to reconvene it urgently. We welcomed the appointment by the East African Community (EAC) of former Tanzanian President Mkapa to facilitate that dialogue, and we strongly support African Union (AU) and UN efforts to increase monitoring and reporting on Burundis human rights and security situations. The Special Envoy will travel to Bujumbura on April 17 to engage with Burundian stakeholders about ongoing concerns over human rights and political space and will press the Government of Burundi to follow through on its recent commitments to release political prisoners and reopen media outlets.

The Special Envoys trip will conclude in Tanzania on April 20, where he will meet with officials to discuss EAC and regional efforts in advancing dialogue and peace in Burundi.
Lao New Year

Washington, DC - Secretary of State John Kerry: "On behalf of President Obama and the American people, Im delighted to wish the people of the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic peace, prosperity, and joy on the occasion of the Lao New Year.

"I was very pleased to visit Vientiane in January, and I look forward to coming again in July as we work closely together with Laos in its capacity as Chair of ASEAN for this entire year. I know President Obama looks forward to becoming the first ever American President to visit Laos when he travels there in September, further strengthening our ties.

"The increasingly close friendship between the United States and the Lao PDR has benefitted both our countries. May the New Year bring us closer still."
If youve ever wanted to watch an operation from the comfort of your own home, this week your wish will come true.

British doctor Dr Shafi Ahmed, a proponent of Virtual Reality in medical education and co-founder of Medical Realities, is to live-stream an operation from The Royal London Hospital. The operation is relatively straightforward: he is to remove a tumour from a patients colon.

The VR approach will allow medical students and interested parties worldwide to view the operation in 4K resolution.

The operation isnt very risky, but if theres a major complication Ill stop [the stream] immediately, Dr Ahmed told Wired.co.uk. But its also important that people who are training in medicine see problems. There is not perfect operation, ever. If we have some complications, you have to see how to deal with them.

Not everyone is keen on the idea. Several tweets showed distaste for the idea, both for its potential gruesomeness and the idea that technology has gone too far.

But for Dr Ahmed, who regularly travels to medical schools in areas such as Gaza and Bangladesh, it gives the opportunity to help train medics with a goal of increasing safety in surgery across the globe.

Lets focus on how we scale up to be able to train many people around the globe, in different parts of the world, especially in low-income countries. he said to Wired.

If people can use an Oculus, or a Cardboard to witness surgery on their smartphones, you can do much greater good.

With these technologies, I can regularly teach surgery to Gaza medicine students. Ill be part of a medical school there, but Ill be teaching from here remotely.

This operation is not the first step in this direction for Dr Ahmed, who famously streamed an operation via Google Glass some years ago. Medical Realities has also featured a 360-degree training video of a laparoscopic right hemicolectomy, but this will be the first live-stream of such an operation.

The operation will take place on Thursday, April 4, at 12pm midday. See here for more information on how to view the proceedings.

By Aidan Hanratty

aidan.hanratty@imt.ie
The HSE has been urged to resource the addition of meningitis B vaccination to the Primary Childhood Immunisation Programme (PCIP) this year, as per the National Immunisation Advisory Committees (NIAC) recommendations.

Dr Bridin Cannon, member of the IMO Public Health and Community Health Doctors Committee, said that NIACs decision to recommend it followed detailed modelling and analysis, and that the vaccine had been introduced in the UK.

NCHD Committee member Dr Paddy Hillery said that having worked in a paediatric emergency department, one of the biggest fears any parent had when bringing a child in with a rash or an unspecific illness was meningitis.

He added that parents could obtain the vaccine privately  but added this did not promote herd immunity.

dara.gantly@imt.ie
The IMO wants a new mental health strategy that is fully resourced and implemented in an appropriate time frame, as well as extra supports for doctors suffering mental stress.

Speaking in Sligo on what is the 10th anniversary of A Vision for Change, Consultant Psychiatrist Dr Matthew Sadlier said the mental health service was different from most services in that it had an actual plan as to how it was supposed to be delivered  called A Vision for Change, published in 2006.

We are a fantastic country at writing documents and spending lots of money on consultations and advisers, without actually applying much to delivering services on the front line. The problem with A Vision for Change was that it didnt have a proper implementation strategy, noted Dr Sadlier.

Speaking from the floor in what was his first IMO AGM in close to 30 years, Dr Greg Kelly, a GP from Castlerea, Co Roscommon, said it was very appropriate to be discussing mental health issues in the Clarion Hotel, the former St Columbas Lunatic Asylum, where thousands of unfortunate Irish people were incarcerated in the bad old days of the psychiatric services.

He wanted two issues addressed. Firstly, the restriction to catchment areas, which he described as discrimination against psychiatric patients.

Another issue was the selection of members for Mental Health Tribunals, who assess patients admitted involuntarily to hospitals. All kinds of people are on these panels, but the person who knows the patient better than anybody else, the GP, is not represented. That is a serious omission, he said.

In a separate motion, doctors want the HSE to recognise the stress-related issues associated with practising medicine and to develop and implement appropriate mental health support services for doctors.

Dr Charles Goh of the IMO NCHD Committee pointed out that there had been a number of tragedies in recent years of suicides among doctors, and NCHDs especially, who had not been supported. It is high time that we recognise that we need to look after ourselves as much as our patients.

dara.gantly@imt.ie
The IMO wants the Childrens Ombudsman to ensure that children are not being deprived of medical services simply because of their age.

New IMO President Dr John Duddy revealed that with two- to three-year waiting lists for paediatric spinal surgery in Crumlin and two-year waits for paediatric neurology procedures in Temple St and Crumlin Hospitals, these long waiting times were purely because of their age.

Dublin GP Dr Mark Murphy said he had countless examples, in ENT, orthopaedics, and neurology, where frequently in Temple St and Crumlin there was a two-year outpatient waiting list, due to massive underfunding and capital malinvestment over many years.

One only had to compare the state of the two main childrens hospitals in Dublin  Temple St and Crumlin  with the new hospitals at St Vincents and the Mater to realise that health services for children and adolescents were not equivalent to those of adult services, suggested Dr Duddy on a further linked motion.

His fellow NCHD Committee member Dr John Donnellan, who recently started working in Temple St, was approached one day by a very senior colleague who has since, only weeks ago, retired.

When she started in Temple St, she was told, Dont get comfortable  the new paediatric hospital is coming! I dont think there is any other example of an adult hospital in the country where somebody has managed to serve their entire career still waiting for another hospital to open.

dara.gantly@imt.ie
In advance of any potential agreement on a new overall GP contract, removing direct GP responsibility for funding midnight to 8am care was a priority issue, Mayo GP Dr Ken Egan told the IMO AGM.

Individuals have to pay between 5,000 and 7,000 annually to get cover in order not to work at night. That is a disgraceful amount: it relates to care for Government medical card patients. This matter needs to be taken over by the HSE. We cant afford it, he said, adding that in Mayo, doctors were paid up to 500 nightly.

A pilot project devolving work to emergency departments (EDs)  which were not busy in some areas after midnight  would be worthwhile, it was suggested.

No GP who was working a normal day should be faced with having to work or financially provide for red-eye shifts, and this was a bone of contention, said IMO GP Committee Chair Dr Padraig McGarry.

Responsibility for covering and paying for red-eye shifts after midnight should not rest solely with GPs, added Crossmolina GP Dr Eleanor Fitzgerald, who believed a separate contract for red-eye out-of-hours cover that would be optional for GPs should be negotiated.

The Minister for Health was also urged by members in Sligo to commence negotiations on a chronic disease management (CDM) programme. If chronic care was resourced, appropriate treatments and fewer ED attendances will result, the outgoing IMO President Dr Ray Walley said.

The meeting agreed that medical evidence supported such investment as being better for the patient in terms of health outcomes and delivering better value to the State, and that medical graduates were leaving for integrated healthcare systems that provided chronic care in the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

In considering CDM, the overall capacity of general practice needed to be taken into account, said Clondalkin GP Dr Liam Lynch. Yet that capacity was now under strain, with staff recruitment at a near standstill.

In the context of CDM, there would be considerable work for GPs in inputting data, according to Ballinasloe GP Dr Henry Finnegan, and thus the number of clinical data inputs should be limited to what was necessary.

Performance indicators were also not always appropriate, the meeting heard. For example, the system did not take account of the fact that immunisation targets took longer to reach in deprived areas, Dr Walley said.

The existing contract was not designed for chronic disease management, noted Clare GP Dr Michael Kelleher. There has to be new money for new care programmes, he stressed.

gary.culliton@imt.ie
The retention fee for doctors must be abolished immediately and in its place the State must appropriately fund the Irish Medical Council (IMC) from general taxation, according to consultant psychiatrist Dr Kevin Kilbride.

Proposing a motion at the IMO AGM calling on the Government to end the anomaly where the Council was funded by registration fees of doctors, while no longer being a self-regulatory body, Dr Kilbride said that in the same way the profession funded the Council in its entirety in the era of self-regulation, that duty had now transferred to the State.

He explained how the Medical Practitioners Act 2007 had swept away self-regulation, leading the way internationally in some respects. The Minister for Health at the time [Mary Harney] when introducing this legislation said that self-regulation was no longer appropriate for a modern, democratic and mature state populated by now a highly educated citizenry. Her view was very widely shared in society, and self-regulation ended with the enactment of the Act.

Despite this, our profession continues to fund the statutory regulatory body, and while that remains the case, not only will injustice be done to doctors, but the important work of the Medical Council will be impeded unnecessarily, added Dr Kilbride.

He envisaged that there would always be perpetual unnecessary friction between the IMC and doctors on both the level of fee charged and the uses to which it was put.

While Dr Neil Brennan believed an administrative registration fee was acceptable, the cost of dealing with complaints was a different issue. That is beyond just registration. That is about patient safety.

The constant pressure of the complaints process meant, in Dr Brennans view, that it would be impossible in the long run for the medical profession to support it financially.

New IMO President Dr John Duddy also pointed out that the Council continued to expand its regulatory role, and was introducing a new inspection regime to regulate both undergraduate and postgraduate medicine. And doctors are expected to fund that as well, even though it is state bodies that they are inspecting?

Like many other organisation, he explained how the IMO was funded by its members fees. We are accountable to our members at this meeting. No such mechanism exists for doctors looking at what the Medical Council does with our money.

A related motion  proposed by Dr Charles Goh of the IMO NCHD Committee  was also passed, condemning the most recent increases in the IMC registration fee. At the moment we are paying 50 a month just to practise, which is causing a significant burden to our more junior members for whom this is a significant proportion of their salary, said Dr Goh.

The fee rose last year from 535 to 605  a 13 per cent increase  and has gone up 23 per cent over the past four years.

dara.gantly@imt.ie
'We Got Robbed': Pakistani Twitter Had a Meltdown Over 'Controversial' No Ball to Virat Kohli
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Although The Jungle Book hasnt reached cinemas yet, Disney is so confident in the film that a sequel is already in the works.

Having previously launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Iron Man and Iron Man 2, Jon Favreau is in negotiations to return, as is screenwriter Justin Marks, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Disney is likely impressed by the current figures propelling The Jungle Book forward: although it has yet to release in most major territories - including the UK and North America - the film has already grossed $31 million from Asia and Latin America.

In Indian, the film has been a huge hit, earning $8.4 million in its first week, making it the second-highest opening for a Western release there. Critics have praised the film highly, with the film currently holding a 100 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The film also features an all-star voice cast, including the likes of Bill Murray as Baloo the bear, Scarlet Johansson as Kaa the snake, and Christopher Walken as King Louie the Gigantopithecus. Neel Sethi - who plays Mowlgi - is the only non-CGI actor on screen for any significant amount of time.

Live action remakes of animated films Show all 9 1 /9 Live action remakes of animated films Live action remakes of animated films Beauty and the Beast Dan Stevens will play the Beast to Emma Watson's Beauty in a re-make of the 1991 animation Getty Images/Disney Live action remakes of animated films The Jungle Book Bill Murray appeared in Disneys remake of The Jungle Book as Baloo the bear Getty Images/Disney Live action remakes of animated films Dumbo Tim Burton will direct a live-action remake of the 1941 classic animation Dumbo Live action remakes of animated films Cinderella Lily James walking down the stairs into the ballroom as Ella in Disney's live-action Cinderella, released in the UK in April 2015 Live action remakes of animated films 101 Dalmatians The 1996 live action film starred Glenn Close, who is magnificent as Disneys Cruella De Ville, and Joely Richardson. Live action remakes of animated films Mulan This 1998 film about a Chinese girl who disguises herself as a boy to join the army in place for her ailing father, and eventually saves China, will be made into live action Live action remakes of animated films Alice in Wonderland Tim Burton's previous Disney re-make in 2010 got mixed reviews but was a huge hit at the box office Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved Live action remakes of animated films Maleficent Starring Angelina Jolie as the Disney villain, the 2014 film was a live-action re-imagining of 1959 animated film Sleeping Beauty  Disney Enterprises, Inc. Live action remakes of animated films Winnie the Pooh AA Milne's popular children's character will be getting the Disney live-action remake treatment with further details unknown at this stage Disney

Its no wonder The Mouse has therefore jumped on the franchise opportunity, especially with so much source material to work with (Rudyard Kiplings book and the animated adaptations).

However, could Jungle Book overload be on the horizon? Earlier this week, Andy Serkis revealed that his own adaptation of the books - previously titled Jungle Book: Origins - would be delayed until 2018.

Meanwhile, Favreau made headlines when PETA awarded him their Innovation In Film award for "making the compassionate decision to use stunning cruelty-free CGI technology to animate the animal characters.
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Finally, by order of the Peaky Blinders, season three will soon be rivalling Game of Thrones for the coveted title of best water cooler telly topic.

The BBC are yet to confirm an exact air date, but we do know that new episodes will be reaching us in early May, giving you a good few weeks to catch up on the past two seasons if youre yet to stand up and be counted among the Birmingham gang.

Peaky Blinders has amassed a cult following since it began in October 2014, so expect its popularity to grown even more come series three. Fear of missing out not strong enough to tempt you into a binge watch?

The official release date has now been announced

Here are some other reasons why Peaky Blinders is not a drama to ignore any longer:

It has the coolest theme tune

Red Right Hand by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, also covered by his former lover PJ Harvey for use in series two, surely wins all the theme tune prizes. Achingly cool.

and an epic, modern soundtrack

From The White Stripes and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club to Arctic Monkeys and Royal Blood, the Peaky Blinders soundtrack should not befit its 1920s setting. But yet it does, the contemporary, often edgy rock songs serving to highlight moments of particular energy and intensity while appealing to a modern audience.

It  s based on a real-life gang

Knights characters may be fictional, but they are based on the real criminal gang based in Birmingham in the late 19th century. The name came from their trademark practice of sewing razor blades into the peaks of their flat caps to use as unsuspected weapons in fights. Other historians claim that the term Peaky Blinders was used more generally to refer to youth street gangs of the period.

Moody cinematography perfectly sets the tone

Peaky Blinders tells a dark story and the atmospheric cinematography reflects its tone beautifully. From clever lighting to highlight characters emotions to ominous shots of the industrial Birmingham the gang call home, it brings the show to life and immerses the viewer, with every shadowy corner cranking up the sense that nobody is safe.

helped by the 1920s costumes...

Creator Steven Knight worked with costume designer Lorna Marie Mugan to create a set of costumes based on mugshots of the real Peaky Blinders, which explains how brilliantly authentic they look. Knight has said before that the gang seemed to use big hats to hide their identities, in a similar way to how hoodies are sometimes used today. The team also wanted to get across the pride the gang would have felt in their appearance, particularly after military training drilled ideas of order and neatness into them during the war.

...and those haircuts

Those short on the side, long on the top haircuts were popular during the war too, with Knights barber granddad giving him a similar one as a child. He still had a tough job getting his cast to shave their precious locks off, mind...

Cillian Murphy was made to play Tommy Shelby

Theres a lot more to this Irishman than his piercing blue eyes. Murphy tackles his lead role as the Peaky Blinders don with impressive nuance, making a challenging part seem effortless. Too many glossy TV dramas lack that powerful, gripping subtlety, but Murphy helps make Peaky Blinders a rare exception. Tommy is a criminal and his brutal behaviour is not softened up for appeal, but Murphys charismatic performance, along with masterful scriptwriting, means you find yourself rooting for him regardless.

Cillian Murphy gives a charismatic performance as Tommy Shelby in Peaky Blinders

and the rest of the cast is stellar too

From the fabulous Helen McCrory and the ever intimidating Tom Hardy to Sam Neill, Paul Anderson, Sophie Rundle, Joe Cole, Annabelle Wallis and May Carlton, the casting is impeccable. Paddy Considine is joining as Father Hughes for series three - the representative of a force beyond anything Tommy has previously encountered - while Last Resorts Dina Korzun and Cordons Jan Bijvoet have also signed on to play refugees in desperate need of Tommys help.

Peaky Blinders: Behind-the-scenes and concept art Show all 15 1 /15 Peaky Blinders: Behind-the-scenes and concept art Peaky Blinders: Behind-the-scenes and concept art Cillian Murphy filming at the horse fair BBC Peaky Blinders: Behind-the-scenes and concept art The Eden Club BBC Peaky Blinders: Behind-the-scenes and concept art Inside The Eden Club BBC Peaky Blinders: Behind-the-scenes and concept art The new Garrison pub BBC Peaky Blinders: Behind-the-scenes and concept art Inside the new Garrison pub BBC Peaky Blinders: Behind-the-scenes and concept art London (though scenes were actually filmed in Bolton) BBC Peaky Blinders: Behind-the-scenes and concept art London, post bar fight BBC Peaky Blinders: Behind-the-scenes and concept art Solomon's Headquarters BBC Peaky Blinders: Behind-the-scenes and concept art Inside Solomon's Headquarters BBC Peaky Blinders: Behind-the-scenes and concept art Tommy's office BBC Peaky Blinders: Behind-the-scenes and concept art Peaky Blinders: Behind-the-scenes and concept art Peaky Blinders: Behind-the-scenes and concept art Peaky Blinders: Behind-the-scenes and concept art Peaky Blinders: Behind-the-scenes and concept art

The women are assertive, strong-minded and dynamic

McCrory steals every one of her scenes as formidable matriarch Polly, while Wallis and Riley are both self-assured as Grace Burgess and May Carlton. Rundles Ada Shelby is another notably intelligent, independent and resilient character, holding her own against her brothers. Critics have praised the shows realistic portrayal of working class women, who were often considered the most important people in their families.

Helen McCrory rules the unruly roost as Polly Shelby in Peaky Blinders (BBC)

and theres a complexity and depth to all the characters

Both Tommy and his brother Arthur are both mentally scarred from their experiences serving on the front line in World War I, with Arthur turning to violence and drugs in a bid to escape his demons. The first series sees one character, Danny, suffering from a severe cast of post-traumatic stress disorder, while the mens haunting memories have a huge impact upon their attitudes and decisions.

Family is a key theme, notably for Polly, with Tommy often reminding the Shelbys, albeit with his characteristic restrain, that everything he does is driven by both his love for them and a sense of tribal solidarity. The effects of power and ambition are ever-present, while there is a healthy dose of romance, too, because even hardened gangsters have hearts.

It  s got universal appeal

The wealth of themes, emotions and story arcs in Peaky Blinders appeal to both female and male viewers, across generations. The historical context adds another layer of interest and its hard not to enjoy and respect the quality of screenwriting and acting on display.

Cillian Murphy and Annabelle Wallis dance together as Tommy and Grace (BBC)

It s not just another Boardwalk Empire

Sure, both shows are set in the Roaring Twenties and share similar themes, but Peaky Blinders arguably has more depth and grit to it. Knight has insisted that he did not watch Boardwalk Empire because he did not want his work to be affected by other peoples.

Seasons one and two are both on Netflix

Thats right, your next binge session is ready and waiting; all thats required of you is to press play, flop back on the sofa and enjoy. With just six episodes per season, catching up is certainly more do-able than for the likes of Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead.

Enjoy, and thank us later.
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Melissa McCarthy might be bringing Sookie back but all is far from rosy in Stars Hollow.

Gavin Polone, who produced all seven seasons of the original Gilmore Girls, has filed a $195,000 breach-of-contract lawsuit against Warner Bros TV, arguing that he should have received compensation for the upcoming Netflix reboot.

Polone, who has listed his production company Hofflund/Polone as the plaintiff, has also demanded a jury trial.

Court documents obtained by Deadline state that Polones representative reached out to Warner Bros regarding compensation upon learning that production had begun on the subsequent episodes.

The documents allege that WBTV refused to compensate Polone in any way and argued that the new episodes are derivative works based on the television series Gilmore Girls.

TV reboots in pictures Show all 12 1 /12 TV reboots in pictures TV reboots in pictures The X-Files A case for Mulder and Scully? David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson in The X-Files . TV reboots in pictures Full House The cast of Full House circa 1987. The original series first aired in 1987 and ran for eight seasons until 1995. It is set to return and be shown on Netflix. ABC TV reboots in pictures The Powerpuff Girls A new series of the late Nineties superhero series is expected in 2016 with new voice actors as the girls. TV reboots in pictures Heroes Sylar, Peter and co make a welcome return to our TV screens with a third series of the popular show Heroes. NBC TV reboots in pictures Thunderbirds Meet the Thunderbirds of 2015: L-R, Scott, Virgil, Alan, Gordon and John in front of their home, the exotic Tracy Island. The CGI versions are a far cry from the puppets of the '60s version. ITV TV reboots in pictures Danger Mouse Pointless host Alexander Armstrong takes over from Sir David Jason as the lead in the upcoming Danger Mouse CBBC'S remake. PA TV reboots in pictures Red Dwarf The Emmy Award winning sci-fi comedy is to return in 2016 and 2017 with some of the original cast: Craig Charles as Dave Lister, Robert Llewellyn as Kryten and Chris Barrie as Arnold Rimmer. TV reboots in pictures House of Cards Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright in Netflix original series House of Cards. Nathaniel Bell TV reboots in pictures Poldark Actor Aidan Turner as Ross Poldark in BBC1's remake of its classic 1970s series. BBC TV reboots in pictures Teletubbies The original 'Teletubbies' are set to return to our screens, 20 years later. BBC TV reboots in pictures The Clangers Rex Features TV reboots in pictures Doctor Who The Doctor looks pensively as he holds a tangerine BBC

Polone claims that a deal made with WBTV in 2000 entitles him to $32,500 for each episode produced after 2003.

He alleges that WBTV is declining to pay him because the new episodes will premiere on Netflix rather than a traditional broadcast network and therefore not be considered a television series.

The Gilmore Girls revival was announced in January, with the original cast confirmed to return for four one-hour long episodes.

WBTV is currently declining to comment on the lawsuit.
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It is entirely appropriate that International Sauvignon Blanc Day, which falls this Friday, 7 May, comes at the height of spring, since sauvignon blanc is pretty much the perfect white wine for the time of year.

Its zesty, grassy, herbaceous flavours perfectly complement foods in season, like asparagus or wild garlic, and it is ideal with white fish, salads and young goats cheeses.

Sauvignon blanc presses all the right buttons for reliability, value for money, food friendliness and youthful approachability. It is mostly best drunk fairly young, although it can age surprisingly well  which has made it the go-to bottle for a refreshing and palate enlivening after work glass, whether its from the fridge door at home or in a bar with friends, obviously outdoors for the moment. So it is not surprising that a survey of 4,500 UK wine drinkers last year voted it their favourite type of supermarket-bought wine.

What is surprising is just a few decades ago, it was far less ubiquitous. Although the wines of Sancerre and Pouilly Fume in the Loire Valley were justly celebrated, they often had a premium price and fought for popularity with the chardonnay blockbusters of Chablis and white Burgundy.

Everything changed in 1979, when New Zealand began producing sauvignon blanc on the alluvial soils of the now famed Marlborough region on the northern tip of its South Island.

Read more:

Now Kiwi sauvignon is considered among the best in the world and justifiably popular for its very dry, tropical fruit and gooseberry flavours. Chile, South Africa and others have joined in, making sauvignon blanc one of the most widely produced and popular grapes globally.

All of which makes it difficult to select the 10 wines we have here, but rest assured, whether from their original French home or the new world, these wines represent real class and value for money, whatever your budget.

You can trust our independent reviews. We may earn commission from some of the retailers, but we never allow this to influence selections, which are formed from real-world testing and expert advice. This revenue helps to fund journalism acrossThe Independent.

Kleine Zalze cellar selection sauvignon blanc 2019, 13% Although South Africa is better known for transforming another grape associated with the Loire  chenin blanc  into its very own distinctive style, its sauvignon blancs, which benefit from high altitude vineyards or cooling ocean breezes, have now produced some stunning examples, of which this surely is one of the best for  both value for money and flavour. Kleine Zalze is run by the Basson family in the famed Stellenbosch region of the Cape, and on an estate which has seen winemaking since the 17th century. This award winning wine rivals some of the Kiwi wines for punchiness and fruit packed aromas, and flavours of elderflower, citrus and passionfruit, with a long persistent finish. A wine that achieves terrific purity of power and flavours, and a perfect match for a seared tuna steak or any lightly spiced South-East Asian dishes. Buy now 9.59 thedrinkshop.com {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}}

Errazuriz single vineyard sauvignon blanc 2019, 13% Don Maximiano Errazuriz has become one of the legendary names in Chilean winemaking, planting his first vineyards in the 1870s, although for many years the focus was on classic red wines. Much later it was realised that the cool climate and sea breezes in the Casablanca Valley were ideal territory to produce white wines like sauvignon blanc. This single vineyard wine is sourced from a specific block at the La Escultura Estate, only planted in 1992, and is packed with flavours of green apples, citrus and pineapples, shot through with a sparkling acidity and mouth filling freshness that positively zings on the palate. A wine that is redolent of spring and is just the ticket for any fresh seafood, but is particularly suited to sushi or to the lime and chile flavours of ceviche, one of Chiles favourite dishes. Buy now 11.99 Majestic.co.uk {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}}

Greywacke sauvignon blanc 2020, 13.5% Kevin Judd, winemaker at Cloudy Bay from its inception and for more than 25 years, did probably more than anyone to define the Marlborough style and make it popular throughout the world. In 2009, he realised a long-held ambition to create his own wine in his own distinctive style, and named it after the rounded stones found in the Marlborough vineyard soils. His Greywacke is made from grapes drawn from various vineyards around the region, with a wide variety of soil types, and the resulting wine is much more upfront and fruit forward than Cloudy Bay, while retaining the signature style of the region. It is packed with rich, mellow tropical fruits, with softer melon and peach flavours in the mix; succulent but concentrated and focused, with a long, dry, lingering finish. Like Cloudy Bay, however, it does require fine seafood on the table. Buy now 16.20 Robersonwine.com {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}}

Joseph Mellot Sancerre la graveliere 2018 , 12.5% The original French epicentre of sauvignon blanc lies in the upper Loire Valley, where the limestone and gravelly soils around the ancient hilltop village of Sancerre deliver the classic, bone dry, bracing minerality that characterises wines from the area. The soils themselves are derived from ancient ocean beds and so, despite this being a long way from todays seas, fossilised shells of oysters sometimes appear among the stones. The Mellot familys history of winemaking doesnt go quite that far back, just to the 16th century, but years of tradition and careful winemaking shine through in every mouthful of this precise, elegant wine. Made in cellars underneath the village, it achieves a terrific balance between crisp, gooseberry freshness and fullness of flavour. And of course a wine that is particularly suited to one type of seafood  oysters. A great special occasion and dinner party wine. Buy now 14 Morrisons.com {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}}

Estevez Chilean sauvignon blanc, 12.5% Chilean sauvignon blanc tends to fall somewhere between the softer, fruiter European styles and the fuller flavoured Kiwi version. Aldi have a great track record in finding terrific little bottles at seriously, sometimes mind bogglingly good prices, and this is a stunning bargain from their excellent spring range. Produced in the Casablanca Valley, it is probably closer to the Kiwi style, delivering intense floral aromas when the convenient screw cap is off, and is packed with orchard and tropical fruit flavours  you can get peach and pineapple in the same mouthful. A bottle to keep in the fridge door for everyday drinking and a perfect picnic or aperitif wine to seriously perk up the palate. And when we are allowed to have parties again, it is definitely one to buy in bulk Buy now 5.99 Aldi.co.uk {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}}

Chateau De Tracy Pouilly-Fume 2019, 13.5% On the opposite side of the Loire to Sancerre lies Pouilly-Fume, which, like Sancerre, relied upon its distinctive limestone soils to nourish its grapes, and the great river itself to transport the wine to consumers in France and around the world. Pouilly-Fume is just a bit more distinct from Sancerre in the smoky bouquet that often comes from the bottle, sometimes called a gun flint aroma, although not that many of us regularly smell flintlock guns these days. Like the Mellot family, the Tracy family  originally from Scotland  have several centuries of winemaking tradition behind them, and run their 33 hectares of vineyards on environmentally friendly grounds. This is refined, aromatic and another gorgeous dinner party wine, particularly well-suited to asparagus and prime white fish, such as a big baked brill or turbot. Buy now 22.50 Tanners-wines.co.uk {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}}

Hollick The Bard sauvignon blanc 2020, 13% Until recently, all the focus on Australian whites was, of course, on chardonnay, often in the heavily oaked style, and it was thought that the climate did not always favour sauvignon, which is better suited to cooler zones. However, Australian sauvignon is getting increasing recognition, sometimes on its own, sometimes blended with semillon  as it is in Bordeaux  to smooth out some of Sauvignons more boisterous edges. In Coonawara, in South Australia, the Hollick family have been growing vines since the 1970s, specialising originally in chardonnay and red wine grapes, but this bottle shows the real potential for sauvignon blanc. Named in honour of Australias best known poet John Shaw Neilson, who was raised in the cottage on the Hollick estates Neilsons Block vineyard, The Bard has a complex flavour palate, combining fresh, grassy, vegetal flavours with some distinct tropical fruit notes, resulting in a restrained and balanced whole. Buy now 11.95 Harrisandco.uk {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}}

Vergelegen reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2018, 14% Vergelengen, based in the Western Cape, is one of the biggest names in South African wine, in business since 1700 and now covering 3000 hectares of vines, its robust red and elegant white wines have notched up numerous awards. So its not surprising that its reserve sauvignon blanc from the Schaapenberg Vineyardis a real blockbuster wine with, for a sauvignon blanc, a relatively high alcohol level of 14 per cent. Aged on the lees for several months to deliver that extra complexity, this is a big mouthful of wine that wears its boldness proudly, brimming with very ripe tropical fruit flavours of guava, lemongrass, passionfruit and pineapple, but staying refreshingly dry and mineral. This is a wine to match with strong flavours  such as an Asian spiced pork belly or a big plate of seafood, but so long as it includes oysters. Buy now 16.99 Aahouseofwine.co.uk {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}}

Ara select block sauvignon blanc, 12.5% Sauvignon blanc from the Marlborough region now totally dominates New Zealand wine production to the point that the region is now running out of land to plant vines. And with literally dozens if not hundreds of wines, choosing the best ones is a difficult job, although there are plenty of mass produced sauvignons that simply do not make it into consideration, usually because they are too mouth-puckering and gooseberry astringent to deliver much drinking pleasure. The best of the medium priced wines, such as this Ara Block, provide a great balance between those bright, grassy, grapefruit and gooseberry flavours and some richer tropical notes, usually of guava and passionfruit, and with a crisp ending. Based in the scenic south-western tip of Marlborough and benefitting from a cooler climate, Aras wines, from a 400 hectare sustainably managed vineyard, punch above their price points for purity, elegance and flavour. Be sure to keep an eye out for when this bottle is back in stock. Buy now 10 Tesco.com {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}}

Cloudy Bay sauvignon blanc 2020, 13.5 % Taking its name from the most easterly point of the Wairau Valley  named by the explorer Captain James Cook when he discovered this region of the South Island in 1770  Cloudy Bay was launched by Australian winemaker David Hohnen in the mid 1980s. Since then, although vintages can vary according to climate, it has played a crucial part in fuelling the explosion of the region, and it remains the benchmark against which all other premium-priced Marlborough sauvignons are judged. And so, it has to be included in this list. More subtle than many of its successors and competitors, it is nevertheless complex and elegant, with masses of citrus flavours such as nectarines and limes and lemons, with fabulous freshness, purity and intensity. And to do it justice, you really need the finest seafood, prepared without too much fuss or additions, so that the beauty of the wine shines through. However, like most sauvignon blancs, it will pair happily with a variety of foods, from roast chicken to South-East Asian spiced dishes. Buy now 23 Sainsburys.co.uk {{#hasItems}} Price comparison {{#items}} {{ merchant }} {{ price }} Buy now {{/items}}
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If you like ice cream then its pretty likely that youll have a soft spot for Ben & Jerry's. Which is why you may be excited to learn that today is Ben and Jerrys annual Free Cone Day.

What is it?

Its not an official holiday (at least not yet), but if youre a big fan of their range of frozen creams, then it may as well be Christmas, Easter and New Years all squeezed, pasteurised and frozen into one delicious scoop.

The most exciting thing about Free Cone Day is that its not just about cones. To mark the day, Ben & Jerrys are giving away a free scoop of one of their ice creams, and you can eat it out of a cone or a cup.

Unusual ice cream flavours Show all 9 1 /9 Unusual ice cream flavours Unusual ice cream flavours A Pint of Ale & a Packet of Twiglets and Blue Cheese & Jacobs Cream Cracker flavours, UK Unusual ice cream flavours Garlic flavour, Japan istolethetv flickr Unusual ice cream flavours Breast milk ice cream, UK Unusual ice cream flavours Whitebait flavour, Japan ameblo.jp Unusual ice cream flavours Crocodile egg ice cream, Philippines The Sweet Spot Artisan Ice Cream Shop Unusual ice cream flavours Squid ink flavour, Japan Tom Wisdom flickr Unusual ice cream flavours Bacon flavour, USA Unusual ice cream flavours Horsemeat flavour, Japan Wilhelm Joys Andersen flickr Unusual ice cream flavours Tobacco Leaf Smoked flavour, USA

Where can I get it?

If you head down to any of their UK stores between 12pm and 8pm on 12 April, you can get your free scoop. To find your nearest store go here: http://www.benjerry.co.uk/scoop-shops/scoop-shop-locator

Why are they doing it?

Ben & Jerrys annual Free Cone Day started in 1979, only a year after the company was set up. According to the company, Jerry and his business partner Ben wanted to thank their local community in Vermont for supporting their start-up ice cream venture, by giving out free scoops.

It has now become a 37-year-old tradition, and as they open more stores, is one thats becoming increasingly generous. Who would have thought that one day the famous ice cream duo would be handing out free scoops in Croydon?

The excitement has certainly not been lost on the Ben & Jerry's team. Free Cone Day feels a little bit like our birthday party and the best day of the year for us here at Ben & Jerrys! We cant wait to get out there and celebrate with ice cream lovers around the world, said Ed Shepherd, Social Mission Manager.
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Facebook is about to launch a huge new bot platform that could change the future of the internet forever.

The company is unveiling a platform of chat bots that it hopes can become the future of customer service and information. That brings it into line with Microsofts Skype and other apps like Kik in moving its focuses onto chatbots that are meant to help people out.

The new bots will sit within the Messenger app, which users traditionally use to chat to friends  and, as of last year, human representatives for businesses. But the site is making some of those representatives into robots, allowing companies to have their customers chat with artificially intelligent versions of those helpers.

Recommended Read more How Facebook is slowly eating the rest of the Internet

Facebook, Telegram and Skype users of the future will be able to chat with bots and tell them to do a whole host of different tasks. By being built to recognise specific phrases, theyll be able to carry out the same work as a customer service assistant: if a user tells the bot to pay their friend 30, for instance, then the robot will be able to recognise the different parts of that sentence and send the money through their bank, no humans needed.

Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. 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The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty

Some companies have already signed up or the plan, including clothes retailer Zulily and Uber.

Facebook has already shown the power of some of those with its virtual assistant, known as M. That tool is built into messenger and will respond to peoples requests using a combination of artificial intelligence and humans.

But that power also seems to be limited. The app hasnt rolled out much further than San Francisco, yet, and more developed features appear still to be handled by humans.

Facebooks announcement at F8 follows similar ones from Microsoft. Its CEO, Satya Nadella, said that bots are the new apps and rolled out new programming tools for developers.

Microsofts first chat bot that broke into the mainstream was Tay, which was supposed to emulate the style of US millennial. But it was shut down almost immediately after malicious Twitter users made it repeat racist and even apparently genocidal statements.

Facebooks bots arent expected to be as public  built into the private Messenger feed rather than the public discussion board of Twitter.
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The latest smartphone from HTC will go on sale later this month, the Taiwanese manufacturer revealed this afternoon in an online press conference. The Independent saw the new phone last week in a behind-closed-doors briefing. Here are some first impressions

Design

It looks good. The new phone, called the HTC 10, follows on from last years HTC One M9. But while it continues the same design language such as a curved back, this is a whole new beast. The finish is smooth and looks different according to how light falls on it. The edging is much better than last years model, so its much comfier to hold. And this time the curve at the edges is, well, curvier so the phone is just 3mm thick at the edges. Quite a bit thicker in the middle, obviously, where its 9mm.

This screenshot from a leaked promotional video shows off the HTC 10's design and range of colours (HTC)

HTC is going for a cleaner, purer look  its even taken the HTC logo off the front of the phone. The company has always taken the view that its products should be identifiable even if the label fell off, so its taking this principle to an extreme, here. The logo is there on the back, though. The phone will come in three colours: carbon grey, glacier silver and topaz gold. The silver and gold look particularly sharp.

Display

Theres a 5.2-inch screen with resolution of 564 pixels per inch. More than you can see, frankly, and enough to make it look pretty spectacular. HTC One M9 fans will notice that the BoomSound speakers the company puts at top and bottom of the display for really powerful audio without headphones are gone.

The leaked video showed off the phone's metal body and chamfered edges

Except theyre not, actually. This is HTC BoomSound Hi-Fi edition which means that the tweeter sits facing forward near the top of the phone while the woofer is on the base of the phone, shooting the bass sound downwards. Bass, you may know, is non-directional, so a speaker placed on the bottom edge should be fine. When we review the phone properly, well let you know.

Theres also a fingerprint sensor just beneath the screen and, on either side, capacitive buttons. Some Android phones put these buttons on the display itself  HTC says this arrangement means theres more screen real estate.

Camera

This is such an important feature on a smartphone now and some felt the HTC One M9 didnt deliver. The HTC 10 boasts the companys UltraPixels  it just means big pixels designed to pull in more light. The rear camera is a 12-megapixel sensor, laser autofocus, optical image stabilisation and a two-tone LED flash. All sounds good, especially since those UltraPixels are pretty large, 1.55 microns. But some ground-breaking features were announced, too. The sound when youre shooting video, at up to 4K resolution, is Hi-Res Audio, for instance. And theres still HTCs Zoe Capture which combines stills and moving pictures. If it sounds like Apples Live Photos, it is, but HTC got there first.

The phone's camera protrudes slightly from the back (HTC)

The front-facing camera also has UltraPixels, though these are smaller (1.34 microns) and fewer (five megapixels). But HTC says this is the first front-facing camera with optical image stabilisation, handy for those selfies when youre feeling a little unsteady. In the past, UltraPixels have proved very effective ways of shooting better in low light. Having 12 megapixels of these big pixels will take a lot of processing power, but the HTC 10 seems to have this.

Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty

Power

On board is a quad-core processor, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 with a huge amount of RAM: 4GB. There are other phones with this much RAM available but they are pretty rare. In brief hands-on tests, this made the phone very snappy and responsive, though final verdicts will have to wait for a full review.

The storage on board is 32GB, with 64GB also available. Both have a microSD storage card slot so you can expand the memory massively with an extra card.

Software

As you know, phone manufacturers can add their own designs and flourishes to Android software. HTC has, from its earliest Android days, had the most stylish and elegant take on the system. This time around, though, the vanilla Android experience is more to the fore. HTC says its worked closely with Google to achieve this. I miss the more individual design HTC has always shown, but it does mean its easier to swap from, say, a Sony or Samsung to this handset.

The phone will come in three colours - black, silver and gold (HTC)

And there are certain advantages. One of the big criticisms of Android is the level of bloatware, where manufacturers add extra apps that users may not want. In HTCs case it meant having several apps that did the same thing, Googles and HTCs own. Now the company has worked to streamline things, picking either its own app or Googles one and integrating the two. So the HTC Gallery app is gone, and images are found in the Google Photos app instead. But HTCs Mail app is still there.

And now the home screen layout is more flexible than before. Unlike Apples iPhone where a rigorous grid of identically-shaped app icons flow from top left to bottom right on each screen, with Android you can leave screens half empty, say. But there was still a subtle grid to be adhered to. Not any more. Icons can be plonked wherever you want and there are themes (cartoon space characters, cats) that look fantastic. These can be folders or individual apps and can have labels or not, so its easier to hide things if you want to. These are small extras but fun to have.

HTC says theres a big, powerful, long-lasting battery on board which should last well past a day and recharges to 50 per cent in 30 minutes. It even comes with a QuickCharge 3 charger in the box and has an HTC speciality, CoolCharge which stops the phone from getting hot as it charges.

These and other features need proper testing before a decent judgement can be made. Watch this space. Meantime, this is certainly the classiest-looking phone HTC has made, and if the promised features live up to the hype, it will be a deeply impressive handset.
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The IMF has slashed the UKs growth forecasts for this year, saying uncertainty created by the Brexit referendum in June is already hurting the domestic economy.

The Funds chief economist, Maurice Obstfeld, also warned Brexit would cause severe regional and global damage by disrupting trade.

It is a major intervention from the IMF into the referendum debate. The IMFs managing director Christine Lagarde has previously spoken about the negative economic impact of Brexit. But this is the first major warning from the Fund itself.

The IMF cut its 2016 GDP growth forecast for Britain to 1.9 per cent, down from the 2.2 per cent it projected in January. After Japan, it was the joint second largest downgrade handed out to any country in the G7.

The Fund said Brexit would reduce trade and financial flows and that negotiations on the UKs post-EU future would be protracted and weigh heavily on confidence and investment. Taking in the narrow lead for the Remain campaign in opinion polls, Mr Obstfeld said that Brexit was a real possibility.

George Osborne said the report served as a serious warning against voting to leave the EU in the 23 June poll.

What has the EU ever done for us? Show all 7 1 /7 What has the EU ever done for us? What has the EU ever done for us? 1. It gives you freedom to live, work and retire anywhere in Europe As a member of the EU, UK citizens benefit from freedom of movement across the continent. Considered one of the so-called four pillars of the European Union, this freedom allows all EU citizens to live, work and travel in other member states. What has the EU ever done for us? 2. It sustains millions of jobs A report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research, released in October 2015, suggested 3.1 million British jobs were linked to the UKs exports to the EU. What has the EU ever done for us? 3. Your holiday is much easier - and safer Freedom to travel is one of the most exercised benefits of EU membership, with Britons having made 31 million visits to the EU in 2014 alone. But a lot of the benefits of being an EU citizen are either taken for granted or go unnoticed. What has the EU ever done for us? 4. It means you're less likely to get ripped off Consumer protection is a key benefit of the EUs single market, and ensures members of the British public receive equal consumer rights when shopping anywhere in Europe. What has the EU ever done for us? 5. It offers greater protection from terrorists, paedophiles, people traffickers and cyber-crime Another example of a lesser-known advantage of EU membership is the benefit of cross-country coordination and cooperation in the fight against crime. What has the EU ever done for us? 6. Our businesses depend on it According to 71% of all members of the Confederation of British Influence (CBI), and 67 per cent of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the EU has had an overall positive impact on their business. What has the EU ever done for us? 7. We have greater influence Robin Niblett, Director of think-tank Chatham House, stated in a report published last year: For a mid-sized country like the UK, which will never again be economically dominant either globally or regionally, and whose diplomatic and military resources are declining in relative terms, being a major player in a strong regional institution can offer a critical lever for international influence.

The IMF has given us the clearest independent warning of the taste of bad things to come if Britain leaves the EU he said. If the British economy is hit by the mere risk of leaving the EU, can you imagine the hit to peoples income and jobs if we did actually leave?

But Labour countered that the forecast also reflected the Chancellors mishandling the economy. This is another major downgrading of growth forecasts for this already downgraded Chancellor said the Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell.

He added: It should act as a signal that George Osborne needs to change course and that Tory backbenchers who wildly scream for Brexit should think again.

The IMFs 2016 growth forecast is slightly weaker than the projection of the Office for Budget Responsibility in last months Budget which forecast growth of 2 per cent this year, down from the 2.3 per cent growth seen in 2015.

Leave campaigners dismissed the IMFs warning. The IMF has talked down the British economy in the past and now it is doing it again at the request of our own [finance minister] said Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Vote Leave campaign group. He said there was no strong evidence that the imminent vote had affected the UKs economy.

The IMFs forecast for UK growth in 2017 was unchanged on Januarys forecast of 2.2 per cent.

As expected the IMF slashed its forecast for global growth to 3.2 per cent in 2016, down from 3.5 per cent in January, citing Chinas slowdown and prolonged weakness in oil prices. It also downgraded its forecast for 2017 to 3.5 per cent, down from 3.6 per cent. Emerging markets are now seen as growing by 4.1 per cent this year, down from 4.3 per cent previously.
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Perception among British employees is that the grass is greener elsewhere as one in two employees feel they must switch companies in order to get a pay rise, new report finds.

Some 57 per cent of employed adults in the UK feel they need to change jobs to obtain any meaningful compensation due to a lack of understanding about what their salary should be, according to Glassdoors Global Salary Transparency survey.

Seven in ten UK employees wish they had a better understanding of what fair pay is for their position and skills set at their company and in their local market, the survey of more than 8,000 adults employed full-time and part-time in seven countries including the UK, the US and Germany found.

(Glassdoor)

Dawn Lyon, Glassdoor vice president of corporate affairs and chief equal pay advocate said most employees are still in the dark when it comes to fair pay.

The majority of employees report their companies do not share pay data internally even as most employees believe salary transparency is good for business and employee satisfaction. Employers need to understand that perpetuating salary sharing taboos can ultimately impact retention, Lyon said.

(Glassdoor)

Times are changing, but sharing salary information among employees at a company is still not the norm.

Less than half of employees in the UK say their company discloses salary information internally. This is higher than France with 33 per cent and Germany with 28 per cent respectively.

But 74 per cent of UK adults believe salary transparency is good for employee satisfaction and nearly the same per cent believe it is good for business.

Researchers found that there was a direct link with pay secrecy and decreased performance.

David Burkus is the author of Under New Management, in which he looks at the growing number of companies, like Whole Foods, which are transparent about pay.

Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Show all 10 1 /10 Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Bill Gates - $75 bn The creator of Microsoft is worth $78 billion. He has topped the list for 17 out of the past 22 years - though his net worth shrank by $4.2bn (3bn) to $75bn (53.7bn). Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Amancio Ortega - $67 bn The Spanish business who set up the Zara chain of high-street shops is worth $67 billion. REUTERS/ AP Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Warren Buffet - $60.8 bn Warren buffet is the world's most successful investor. Forbes rates him as being worth $60.8 billion. Getty Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Carlos Slim Helu - $50 bn Carlos Slim, the Mexican telecom magnate, is this years biggest loser with a fortune of $50 billion, down from $77.1 billion last year. Getty Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Jeff Bezos - $45.2 bn Amazons Jeff Bezos moved up to the fifth from the fifteenth spot last year; his net worth increased to $45.2 billion. Getty Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Mark Zuckerberg - $44.6 bn The biggest gainer on the 2016 list is Mark Zuckerberg , whose fortune is up $11.2 billion for a total net worth of $44.6 billion. He is the sixth richest in the world. Getty Images Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Larry Ellison - $43.6 bn The American entrepreneur has a fortune of $43.6 billion Bloomberg Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Michael Bloomberg - $40 bn Michael Bloomberg, whose media and financial empire has created a personal fortune of $40 bn, is said to be willing to spend up to $1bn on a presidential campaign AP Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Charles Koch and David Koch - $39.6 bn Charles Koch, along with brother David Koch of Koch Industries are joint sixth and are valued at $39.6 billion. Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Liliane Bettencourt - $36.1 bn Liliane Bettencourt is the heir to the LOreal empire Getty Images

When people know where they stand and know what it will take to move up, theyre more motivated to work to improve both their performance and their standing  and thats good business for everyone, he wrote in the Harvard Business Review.

Burkus previously argued that keeping salaries secret makes it easier for companies to discriminate.

"Employers need to understand that perpetuating salary sharing taboos can ultimately impact retention. More than half of employees around the world feel that in order to get a significant raise they need to jump to a new company. Our data shows by helping employees understand fair pay and providing clear pathways for advancement, employers can increase employee satisfaction, engagement and retention, Lyon said.
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The biggest oil producers in the world must reach an agreement to freeze production to stop the oil price falling again, according to the head of Iraq's state oil-selling company.

Falah Alamri, the director of the Oil Marketing Company, told the Financial Times that oil producers need an agreement when they meet in Qatar on April 17.

"They should do this deal because it is the only way to support the oil price," Alamri told the FT in Switzerland. "Everybody needs it and Iraq supports this deal."

Supporters of the deal hope that by freezing production, countries will stop the oil price from reaching new historic lows. Prices have fallen more than 60 per cent from $115 in June, 2014, to around $42 a barrel at current prices.

Persistently low oil prices have wreaked havoc on economies reliant on oil.

In February, Saudi Arabia reached an agreement with Russia to freeze production but insisted that no freeze would be put in place unless other producers in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to co-operate.

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.

Iran has so far rejected a freeze. It wants to increase production up to levels traded before it was hit with sanctions.

Mr Alamri said Iran has the right to increase production to pre-sanctions levels.

There have since been suggestions that Saudi Arabia may agree to a freeze without the agreement of Iran.
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The Italian politician and co-founder of Italys Five Star Movement Gianroberto Casaleggio has died at the age of 61.

Mr Casaleggio passed away on Tuesday in Milan. He had been a patient at a clinic in the city for the past two weeks, reports the Italian newspaper La Republicca in a translation obtained by the Independent. In 2014 he underwent surgery for a brain edema.

His death was announced by the co-founder of the Five Star Movement Beppe Grillo in a blog post. Mr Grillo said Mr Casaleggio fought right to the end.

Over the last few weeks, rumours that Mr Casaleggio would retire soon were fuelled by his few public appearances. However he disputed them a few days ago in a blog post, writing: I do not give up and continue to fight along with millions of honest Italians for the success of the movement I helped found. Those who hold the opposite can move on.

Mr Casaleggio and blogger Grillo co-founded the anti-establishment party in 2009, with Mr Casaleggio often considered the brains behind the movement. The party considers themselves anti-corruption and prioritise environmentalism as well as supporting a referendum on Italys membership of the EU.

UKIP leader Nigel Farage paid tribute to Mr Casaleggio on Twitter, calling him a genius and inspiration for the new politics.

Condolences were also shared by political personalities including Dario Fo who called his death a huge loss for the movement.
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The Cabinet Office has the least diverse workforce of all ministerial departments, with only six per cent from black, Asian, and ethnic minority backgrounds, a new report into the lack of diversity in the public sector reveals.

The findings, compiled by youth employment charity Elevation Networks, compare unfavourably with the population as a whole  the last UK census in 2011 showed that 13 per cent of people identified as BAME.

The Ministry of Defence and its agencies, the report adds, employ 53,100 members of staff. Less than four per cent, or 1,720, are from ethnic backgrounds and only 13 out of 46 governmental departments have any BAME executives or ministers.

Despite 20 BAME candidates being shortlisted, none of the 45 Police and Crime Commissioners in England and Wales, elected in November 2012, are from an ethnic minority background.

The reports authors also claim that the public sector generally is lagging behind when it comes to diversity. Analysing over 500 public sector organisations, the charity found that 91  or, just over three per cent  of 2,623 public sector senior leaders surveyed are from BAME backgrounds.

Keith Vaz, chair of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee and Labour MP, said to The Independent the research shines a necessary spotlight on those departments, bodies and agencies that fail to represent the UK population  either in terms of general organisational make up, or at senior level.

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

He added: Diversity in any sector or field is fundamental  first and foremost in terms of equality and representation, but also because neglecting to capitalise on the diversity of talent is a move towards failure.

The public sector is now lagging behind the private sector in terms of diversity, and this isnt acceptable. Public services, set up to serve the needs of the nation and staffed with individuals paid with taxpayers money, must be representative of the public, and indeed the specific communities they serve.

The report adds that while some clear progress has been made in areas of the public sector, many organisations are still hugely under-representative of UK society.

The clear lack of ethnic minority representation  and in particular the lack of BAME leaders  in the public sector highlights a diversity problem on a national scale, said Barbara Kasumu, co-founder of Elevation Networks.

She added: If the public sector is to truly reflect the needs of the communities which it serves then urgent action is needed to ensure that BAME talent is represented at every level of the profession.

The public sector must implement targeted recruitment and outreach activities to address this imbalance in the long-term and tap in to the full range of talent in the UK. Such initiatives do not need to be difficult but they are absolutely essential.

Labour MP Keith Vaz (Getty)

Last year a Government commissioned report found black and Asian civil servants faced routine discrimination by the "old boys network" running Whitehall.

The study, commissioned by the Cabinet Secretary Jeremy Heywood, found ethnic minority staff got lower marks in performance reviews, did not always have equal access to promotion, and didn't feel like they worked for an organisation that was "open, fair and inclusive".

Even black and Asian civil servants who make it to the senior grades felt it was largely because "their face did fit" the mould in other ways - like attending Oxbridge or having middle-class parents.

"The senior Civil Service is looking like for like," one official said. "If you are black, Asian or minority ethnic (Bame) and working class, you are in trouble."

The report found worrying discrepancies in performance management reviews.

In one department, 20 per cent of whites "exceeded expectations" while 7.7 per cent fell into the bottom category of must improve. For ethnic minority staff, only 14.1 per cent "exceeded expectations" while 12 per cent were in the must improve category.

In interviews, civil servants said open discrimination and borderline racist abuse was still a factor of life in some parts of Whitehall. "I heard a manager say to a Muslim member of staff, 'here comes Osama bin Laden'.

"I felt really guilty that I didn't speak up. Even as an Irish man, I get jokes, that frankly, in today's day and age, are shocking."

Another said: "It can feel like an old boys network. As an African woman I don't feel like I have the confidence to be myself - even down to how I dress. I'm always receiving derogatory comments about my African prints (dress)."
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Four male students have been found not guilty of the alleged rape of a woman at an annual college ball in Gloucestershire.

Prosecutors at Gloucester Crown Court offered no evidence against the group of men on Monday. They had denied all charges made against them.

Thady Duff, 22, James Martin, 20, Leo Mahon, 22, and Patrick Foster, 22 were accused of sexually assaulting the woman at the Royal Agricultural Universitys end-of-year ball in Cirencester May 2014.

Prosecutor Fiona Elder told the court the decision was made that there was no longer a reasonable prospect of conviction and that, therefore, in the circumstances, it was not for the Crown to pursue the case to trial.

Thady Duff (PA)

James Martin (PA)

She said: The police were informed and discussed the decision with the head of the South West Rape and Serious Sexual Offences unit.

The head of the South West Rape and Serious Sexual Offences unit consulted with the complainant and her family to ensure they knew and understood the decision whatever their view of it.

The defence were informed on Friday evening of the decision not to continue the case and the Crown was offering no evidence in relation to this indictment.

The four defendants made no comment as they left the court once the verdicts were read out.

The case had been due to begin a fortnight ago but was delayed because of issues surrounding the late disclosure of evidence to the defence by the prosecution.

Leo Mahon (PA)

Patrick Foster (PA)

Judge Jamie Tabor QC had told a jury of six men and six women on 29 March that part of the alleged sexual activity had been filmed and that they would watch it.

He had told the panel: This is going to be what we call adult pornographic material - very short in length - to be watched. He then went on to warn the 12 the material could be an uncomfortable watch and presented them with an option to opt out of the viewing.

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. 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A week later, though, the panel was discharged without having heard any evidence.

Mr Duff, from Wiltshire, denied three charges of rape, as well as a charge of sexual assault against the same woman which is alleged to have occurred between October 1 and 31 in 2013.

Mr Martin, from Oxfordshire, denied a single charge of rape, and Mr Mahon, from Gloucestershire, denied three charges of rape and two charges of assault by penetration.

Mr Foster, from Essex, denied one charge of rape and two charges of assault by penetration.

Additional reporting by Press Association
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A Eurosceptic photographer has expressed his outrage at one of his images being used in a pro-EU leaflet produced by the government.

Mike Page, who said he would be voting for the UK to leave the union in the June referendum, had taken the aerial photograph of the Port of Felixstowe in Suffolk for the port's promotional literature.

But the 76-year-old from Strumpshaw, Norfolk said he was "livid" to find out the image was given to the Government to feature in the tax-payer funded pamphlet.

He said: "I absolutely would not have given my permission for this image to be used in this document because I fundamentally disagree with what it says.

"They are submitting that leaflet to every house in the UK and it has cost the taxpayers a lot of money.

"I certainly would not wish for my work to be associated with that and they used it without asking."

Mike Page, 76 (PA)

Mr Page does not benefit financially from his photography but requests firms to donate money to charity in exchange for their use.

A Port of Felixstowe spokesman said there had been a mistake which had now been resolved.

He added: "It was one of a number of photographs we provided to the Government.

"On this particular image there was a misunderstanding on the copyright but this has been resolved to Mike Page's satisfaction."

Mr Page's aerial photograph of the port of Felixstowe in Suffolk (PA)

The Government spent 9 million of taxpayers' money on the leaflet - a decision which has come under fire from Brexit campaigners.

Prime Minister David Cameron visited the port of Felixstowe last month as part of the campaign to stay in the EU.

He appeared before shipping containers arranged to spell out the word "in".
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A pilot who turned back a plane preparing to take off at Manchester Airport so a couple could say goodbye to their dying grandson has been praised as truly amazing.

Becky Stephenson, a travel agent from Bradford, said two of her customers were preparing to set off for Australia via Abu Dhabi when they received the news that the boy was seriously ill.

She told The Independent they had already boarded the Etihad Airways flight and were switching off their mobile phone when they noticed a missed call from their son-in-law.

The plane was turned around as it headed towards the runway at Manchester Airport (Getty Images)

They were taxiing on the runway when they got the text message saying their grandson was in intensive care and they needed to get there, Mrs Stephenson said.

They passed the message to the crew, who spoke to the captain and he turned the plane back.

The pilot returned the aircraft to the boarding gate while staff arranged to get the couples baggage and assist them back through the airport and collect their car so they could drive straight home.

Their grandson died the following day, 31 March, when the passengers were scheduled to be arriving in Australia.

Mrs Stephenson said the couple, who did not wish to be named, were grateful to have had the chance to say goodbye to their grandson.

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People who donate initially receive a 'thank you' text when they give blood, but they get another message when their blood makes it into somebody elses veins Getty Heartwarming news stories from around the world Guide dog jumps in front of oncoming bus to save blind owner When Figo the service dog saw an oncoming mini school bus heading for Audrey Stone, the blind woman he was trained to guide, the golden retriever's protective instincts kicked in: He threw himself at the closest part of the vehicle he could. Police photos show the result: fur stuck to the front driver's side wheel and in the middle of Michael Neuner Avenue in New York, where the bus came to a stop after striking the pair. The driver of the Brewster school bus, carrying two kindergartners to St. Lawrence O'Toole Childhood Learning Center, told police he didn't see the pair crossing the road as they made their way home at about 8:15 Monday morning. 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Footage from the alleged incident began as the unnamed passenger asked the woman, who was also sat with a pram on the opposite side of the train, "why do you wear it [a hijab] for a man that marries a six year-old girl?" The woman and the man remained silent, but Ms Eden responded: "She wears it for herself, OK? She wears it because she wants to be modest with her body, not because of people like you who are going to sit there and disrespect her" Heartwarming news stories from around the world Loving parents have got matching tattoos of their daughters huge red birthmark Honey-Rae Phillips was born with the large strawberry mark covering half her body. The Daily Mirror reports that Mum Tanya Phillips and dad Adam Philips, who are both from Grimsby, got the tattoos after people starting making comments about it in public. We wanted Honey-Rae to feel special, that her birthmark was something to feel proud of and not embarrassed by, Ms Phillips told the newspaper Heartwarming news stories from around the world James Robertson who walked 20 miles to work every day for nine years is gifted new car James Robertson  who was unable to afford a new car after his last one broke down nine years ago  was recently awarded more than $310,000 in donations by kind strangers who learned of his daily difficulties. Even though the money raised was meant for a new vehicle, a car dealership decided to give him a new one worth around $37,000 (around 24,000) for free in his preferred colour, red Reuters Heartwarming news stories from around the world Stranger gives Kindle to homeless man An anonymous do-gooder has shunned praise after he gave a homeless man his Kindle. The man from San Diego, California, was visiting Las Vegas last month, when he met a homeless man named Paul, who had read the same, worn book, each time he passed. The man said he had also been down on his luck in the past, and decided to give Paul his Kindle e-reader. A moving photo showing Paul with his Kindle has been viewed over 2 million times on Imgur Mjuad/Reddit Heartwarming news stories from around the world Attacked pensioner Alan Barnes crowdfund passes 200,000 in donations Pensioner Alan Barnes was mugged outside his home in Gateshead last week in an attack that left him with a broken collarbone and too scared to return to his own house. Katie Cutler, who lives nearby to Barnes, set up a crowdfunding page intending to raise 500 to help the disabled pensioner find a new home. Her efforts have led to more than 200,000 in donations being made Heartwarming news stories from around the world Man reunited with stolen dog during search for new pet Richard Brower was heartbroken after his dog, a German shepherd called Dozer, was stolen from the Yard of his Alberta home, and his endless searching proved fruitless. But he had no idea that when he started searching for a new German shepherd, he would experience the closest thing to a miracle in his life  the Claresholm Animal Rescue Society, unbeknownst to its organisers, had Dozer safe and well, and now hes back at home Global News Heartwarming news stories from around the world Bart the 'zombie cat' set to make full recovery following his unlikely return from the grave Bart, the Florida cat who was buried after his owner found him lifeless in a pool of blood after being hit by a car, is set to make a full recovery when he returned from the grave five days later. Upon his return owner Ellis Hutson took the cat for surgery to remove his eye and have his jaw re-wired, and Bart is expected to return home soon Reuters/Humane Society of Tampa Bay Heartwarming news stories from around the world Friendship Nine's civil rights-era convictions overturned by South Carolina court It is 54 years since the Friendship Nine walked into McCrorys in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and sat down at the whites-only lunch counter in a sit-in that inspired non-violent protests across the South that were an integral part to the civil rights movement. The nine were arrested and convicted of ignoring a segregation order and sent to jail for 30 days, but this week their convictions were finally overturned Reuters Heartwarming news stories from around the world 'Humans of New York' blog raises over $1 million for Brooklyn school Humans of New York, the photo blog that aims to capture daily glimpses into the lives of New York inhabitants, has raised over $1 million dollars for a school in one of the most-crime ridden parts of the city this week, all because of the story of 13-year-old Vidal. The money is for Vidals school to be able to make contributions towards its pupils college tuition and to fund trips for sixth-graders to tour Harvard University IndiGoGo/Humans of New York Heartwarming news stories from around the world Mystery man who gave heart-warming note to young mum on train to 'put a smile on her face' has been identified The stranger who handed a small piece of paper and a 5 note to a 23-year-old mother just to tell her what a great mum she is has been identified, after recipient Sammie Welch was so overwhelmed by his kindness she started a Facebook search just to be able to thank him. Ken Saunders, 50, said he just wanted to put a smile on Welchs face PA Heartwarming news stories from around the world Father calls out his daughters racist bullies in emotional video A father has taken to YouTube to shame bullies who bombarded his daughter with racist abuse on social media. Mr Knudsons daughter, from Prior Lake in the US state of Minnesota, was adopted and is of African American descent. He recounted how he approached the parents of the twin bullies only to be told that there was nothing wrong with the abuse. I have a beautiful African American daughter who I love more than life itself and would do anything for, he said in the video Heartwarming news stories from around the world This kid thought the postman should get post too It must be kind of lonely being a mailman, all this correspondence running through your hands every day but none of it addressed to you. It must be kind of lonely being a mailman, all this correspondence running through your hands every day but none of it addressed to you absofaluminium Heartwarming news stories from around the world Student raises thousands of pounds for homeless man who offered her 3 for a taxi Christmas is a traditionally a time for giving, particularly to the less fortunate members of society, but one homeless man was prepared to hand over everything he had. The man, named Robbie, offered a 22-year-old student 3 to help her get home safely after a night out - and now she is hoping to raise enough money to help him off the streets Rex

They are so happy, she added. They never in a million years expected to the crew to go so far for them.

You shudder to think what would have happened if they hadnt been able to get off the plane.

The travel agent wrote a post thanking the airline in a Facebook group, where the pilot was praised by commenters as truly amazing according to the Travel Mole website.

 Passenger gives birth on plane

Etihad are reportedly allowing the couple to re-use the tickets for a future trip to Australia, where they have relatives.

The airline has not yet responded to The Independents request for a comment.
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Theres a storm on the horizon, David Miliband warned. We can hear the thunder if were willing to listen.

Must be a fairly quiet storm then. Thunder, at least in the popular imagination, tends to be more assertive. When the thunder calls you, from a mountain high, as no lesser lights than East 17 once warned, its time to spread your wings and fly.

Its an appropriate comparison. For popstars and politicians alike, coping with life when the flashbulbs stop going off and the cameras have stopped rolling isnt easy. And from the moment David Miliband lost that Labour leadership election to his little brother, the fears that he would end up eating too many baked potatoes and attempting to run himself over were entirely real.

A relief then, to see the elder Miliband back in Westminster, full of life, a bounce in his gait, and willing to do his bit to keep Britain in the EU, an undertaking more commonly known by its shorter name of Project Fear. The crowds came, literally in their tens, to a very small room behind the Houses of Parliament. By the time the star attraction arrived, all forty or so seats were long gone. It was standing room only.

His younger brother, you may recall, once sought to divide the world into predators and producers. David Miliband went further. The world is divided into firefighters and arsonists, he said. Britain has apparently been one of history's firefighters, who now stands on the verge of "an act of political arson" - ie Brexit. Miliband himself, you wont be surprised to learn, is a firefighter, albeit one who views Britain through an international lens", taking great care, we must assume, not to inadvertently set it on fire like ant under a magnifying glass.

He was not, he made clear, there to speak on behalf of his refugee charity, the International Rescue Committee. That frees me to speak with passion, he claimed, at last liberated from the chore of saving the worlds displaced millions.

The oratory did not, in the end, soar. The wings remained unspread. The thunder did not come down from the mountain. But with Jeremy Corbyn yet to make a meaningful utterance on the matter (not least because he doesnt believe it), it was at least refreshing to hear the case for the EU made by someone other than David Cameron, and not at least partially in hoc to the Tory loony brigade.

The EU doesnt diminish Britains role in the world. Europe multiplies British power and influence, he said. Leaving the EU would leave Britain with Less power, not more. Less security, not more.

A large chunk of the population still hasnt made up its mind on the EU question, and many are the calls for the facts, for the neutral information, to allow people to make up their minds. But such information is never going to come. It will only be deeply partisan from here on in. To that end, the matrix offered by David Miliband is as valuable as any other.

If Britain votes leave, who will be celebrating? Not Barack Obama, not Angela Merkel, not Japan or China? It will be Boris, Putin, Marine le Pen and probably Donald Trump.

There were questions at the end, and a lady from the Gosport Constituency Labour Party put up her hand. Im very pleased to see you back David, she said. Absolutely delighted.

To hear a Labour Party voice capable of articulating its own beliefs was indeed a rare treat. Jeremy Corbyns first speech on the matter is on Thursday. The quiet thunder returns.
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David Cameron is overseeing "spiv Robert Mugabe antics" in the campaign to keep Britain in the European Union, according to a former vice-chairman of the Conservative Party.

In an extraordinary attack on the governments decision to spend 9.3 million of taxpayers money on a glossy 16-page booklet setting out the case to stay in the EU, Tory MP Nigel Evans likened Downing Streets campaign to the African dictators continued attempt to cling to power.

The 92-year-old Zimbabwean leader, who threatened to punch a reporter last month for asking about his retirement plans, has ruled the African country for 36 years.

Mr Mugabe, who led the struggle against white rule and was Zimbabwes first president after formal independence from Britain, was chosen in 2014 to lead his party for another five years, automatically becoming its presidential candidate for the 2018 election. He will be 99 if he wins and completes that term, his last under a new constitution.

Speaking in the House of Commons yesterday, Mr Evans said: As a member of the Council of Europe part of my responsibility is election observing and I go around and have a look at the conduct of campaigns prior to polling day. If I witnessed in any of the countries that I go to the sort of spiv Robert Mugabe antics that Ive seen by this government then I would condemn the conduct of that election as being not fair.

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe (Reuters)

But the Europe minister David Liddington, said it was not Mr Evans finest moment in the House for comparing the EU referendum tactics to elections in Zimbabwe, which in the recent past have involved the murder, maiming and intimidation of voters.

The Prime Minister said last week he would make no apology for the glossy 14-page booklet, adding its money well spent. It will be sent to every household in the country, setting out the case for a remain vote on June 23.

Stamped with the HM Government logo, the leaflet says in large type: Why the government believes that voting to remain in the European Union is the best decision for the UK. Some have already been delivered to households in England but delivery to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland delayed until devolved government elections in May.

However, some members of the public have asked the Royal Mail to the send the leaflets back to Downing Street. Images of the booklet, alongside handwritten notes such as please return to Mr David Cameron, have been posted on social media. One user, Andrew Laurence, snapped a picture of his booklet, adding: Just nipping down to the post box.

Downing Street said the move was a response to polling which showed 85% of the public wanted more information from the Government to help them make an informed choice on June 23. The cost to each household for the booklet will be 34p, government sources added.

But Conservative MPs and pro-Brexit advocates have responded with fury to the leaflet-drive. One Tory MP, Tom Pursglove, called it frankly outrageous and an affront to democracy.

A petition has also been launched to stop the Prime Minister spending taxpayers money on the publicity drive  over 200,000 have signed it, meaning the Commons will have to consider it for debate.

Michael Gove, the Justice Secretary making the case to leave the EU, referred to the booklet as a piece of one-sided propaganda. He added: But the critical thing is, I just think its wrong that at a time of austerity 9 million of taxpayers money is being spent on one-sided piece of propaganda.

Speaking to students at the University of Exeter last week, Mr Cameron said: "I make no apology for the fact that we are sending to every household in the country this leaflet which sets out what the Government's view is and why we come to that view.

"We are not neutral in this. We think it would be a bad decision to leave. We think it would be bad for our economy, bad for jobs, bad for investment, bad for families' finances.

"We think it would be bad for universities. We are not neutral so we have made a clear stance in this leaflet which everyone will get a copy of." He also warned young people had the most to lose from the UK leaving the European Union.
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New proposals by the European Commission to help crack down on tax dodging by multinational corporations are close to pointless, major international charities have warned.

Oxfam said the ECs proposals to make firms operating in Europe report where they make profits and pay tax would allow companies to continue to rob the worlds poorest.

Christian Aid meanwhile said the plans would allow dodgy business as usual.

The proposed rules would require profits and taxes paid to be reported when they are made in the EU and a list of designated tax havens, which has yet to be drawn up.

Campaigners have long asked for so-called 'country-by-country reporting' of tax affairs but the latest EC proposals are only a limited version of the rule.

The European Commission's piecemeal proposals are not enough to end tax dodging that robs the world's poorest people of billions in lost revenue each year, said Mark Goldring, the charitys GB chief executive.

The new plans only require big companies to report on their activities in the EU and a yet-to-be-decided list of tax havens that is likely to be arbitrary and limited. Unless these proposals are extended to cover all countries there's a risk they could be close to pointless, as businesses will still be able to dodge taxes by diverting money to territories not included on the list.

Toby Quantrill, Chrisian Aids tax justice expert, said: The Commission plans will allow multinationals to hide large parts of their global affairs from public scrutiny, which is a recipe for dodgy business as usual.

Unless companies have to report on their activities in all the countries where they operate, they could continue to dodge tax on a massive scale, using the places still hidden from view.

Lord Hill is the EU commissioner for financial services (AFP/Getty)

Diarmid OSullivan, ActionAid Tax Policy Adviser, said the plan was "a huge missed opportunity which falls far short of what is needed to stop multinationals hiding tax dodging behind opaque corporate structures".

The latest proposals come a week after a massive leak of documents from a Panama-based law firm provided evidence of the true scale of offshore banking by the worlds super rich including dozens of current and former world leaders.

Politicians in the UK, including David Cameron, have come under increased scrutiny as a result of the revelations. The PM admitted at the weekend that he benefitted from an offshore trust set up in the Bahamas by his late father. He denies any wrongdoing and says it was not set up to avoid tax.

World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Show all 15 1 /15 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Petro Poroshenko President of Ukraine World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Ayad Allawi Allawi Iraqs Vice-President between 2014 and 2015, and the countrys interim prime minister from 2004 to 2005 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Salman bin Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud King of Saudi Arabia World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan President of the United Arab Emirates, Emir of Abu Dhabi World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sigmundur Davi Gunnlaugsson Prime Minister of Iceland World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sergey Roldugin Close friend of Vladimir Putin World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Emir of Qatar 1995-2013 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Li Xiaolin Daughter of Li Peng, the former Premier of China (The current vice-president of state-owned power company China Datang Gorporation and former CEO of China Power International Development, she has been nicknamed Chinas Power Queen World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Rami Makhlouf Cousin of Bashar Assad, the President of Syria World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hafez Makhlouf Cousin of Bashar Assad, the President of Syria World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Clive Khulubuse Zuma Nephew of Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Maryam Nawaz Sharif Safdar Daughter of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hasan Nawaz Sharif Son of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hussain Nawaz Sharif Son of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Alaa Mubarak The eldest son of ousted former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Read more here

Mr Cameron made his tax affairs public on Saturday, with the Chancellor and leader of the opposition following on Monday.

The European Commission was criticised last year when a tax haven blacklist omitted to include key EU countries accused of facilitating tax avoidance  like Luxembourg. The list was later withdrawn.

Lord Hill, the EU's financial services commissioner, said: This is a carefully thought through but ambitious proposal for more transparency on tax.

While our proposal on [country-by-country reporting] is not of course focused principally on the response to the Panama Papers, there is an important connection between our continuing work on tax transparency and tax havens that we are building into the proposal.

The Chancellor George Osborne said the policy was a great example of the UK winning the argument in Europe and said they were a step in the right direction.
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William Hague has called for maturity in the debate about politicians tax affairs, arguing that MPs should not be expected to always have the simplest possible personal finances.

The former Conservative leader made his intervention after a week in which senior political figures released details of their tax arrangements on account of pressure relating to the Panama Papers leak.

Mr Hague said increased tax scrutiny of public figures was here to stay, but that it could potentially damage the diversity of Parliament.

If Parliament consisted of people who had the simplest possible personal finances, perhaps all having come through the public sector with no questions of business ownership or dividends ... then you would have a very one dimensional Parliament, he told BBC Radio 4s Today programme.

The consequence of greater transparency in tax, in medical records, whatever else it may be among leaders, is that there has to be a maturity in the public debate about those things and a recognition that the circumstances and habits of people who are effective leaders will vary greatly.

Winston Churchill's tax affairs "would have been more difficult to defend in public than Prime Minister David Cameron's", he said of the man widely lauded as the UK's best leader.

And characters such as William Pitt the Younger - whose biography he wrote - had "chaotic personal finances" but were "brilliant at handling the nation's finances".

"Personal circumstances are not necessarily a good guide to how good they will be as a prime minister, a chancellor or anything else," he said.

Other Tories were more indelicate than the former Foreign Secretary in making similar points.

On Monday former international development minister Alan Duncan told MPs that people with simple tax affairs might be low achievers and unsuitable to be MPs.

Shouldnt the Prime Ministers critics just snap out of their synthetic indignation and admit their real point is they just hate anyone whos got a hint of wealth in their life? he argued in a debate following David Camerons statement.

We risk having a House of Commons stuffed full of low achievers who hate enterprise, hate people who look after their own families and know absolutely nothing about the outside world.

David Cameron has been criticised for his tax affairs (PA)

Labour and SNP MPs were quick to criticise Mr Duncan, with former leadership candidate Liz Kendall tweeting that his comments were obnoxious.

It saddens me that he seems to suggest if you werent a millionaire you were a low achiever, said Labour MP Caroline Flint.

David Cameron yesterday ruled out forcing MPs to disclose their tax affairs and said the new scrutiny should only apply to senior politicians.

Yesterday George Osborne and Jeremy Corbyn released details of their tax affairs, with Mr Corbyn providing a photocopy of his tax return and the Chancellor providing a short summary from his accountants.

World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Show all 15 1 /15 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Petro Poroshenko President of Ukraine World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Ayad Allawi Allawi Iraqs Vice-President between 2014 and 2015, and the countrys interim prime minister from 2004 to 2005 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Salman bin Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud King of Saudi Arabia World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan President of the United Arab Emirates, Emir of Abu Dhabi World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sigmundur Davi Gunnlaugsson Prime Minister of Iceland World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sergey Roldugin Close friend of Vladimir Putin World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Emir of Qatar 1995-2013 World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Li Xiaolin Daughter of Li Peng, the former Premier of China (The current vice-president of state-owned power company China Datang Gorporation and former CEO of China Power International Development, she has been nicknamed Chinas Power Queen World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Rami Makhlouf Cousin of Bashar Assad, the President of Syria World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hafez Makhlouf Cousin of Bashar Assad, the President of Syria World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Clive Khulubuse Zuma Nephew of Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Maryam Nawaz Sharif Safdar Daughter of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hasan Nawaz Sharif Son of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Hussain Nawaz Sharif Son of Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan World leaders linked to 'Panama Papers' Alaa Mubarak The eldest son of ousted former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Read more here

The Prime Minister released a summary of his tax arrangements going back a number of years over the weekend. He came in for criticism after it emerged he had had 30,000 shares in an off-shore fund set up by his father in the Bahamas and had received a gift of 200,000 from his mother which could have avoided inheritance tax.

Mr Cameron said yesterday: There have been some deeply hurtful and profoundly untrue allegations made against my father.

This investment fund was set off overseas in the first place because it was going to be trading predominantly in dollar securities.

Mr Corbyn however said the PM had properly failed to account for his affairs.
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Boko Harams use of child suicide bombers has increased 10-fold in the past year, a new report has warned.

Nearly one in five suicide attacks orchestrated by the Islamist group are now carried out by children who are often drugged, according to a Unicef report, which also says more than 75 per cent are performed by girls.

The report, Beyond Chibok, released two years after Boko Haram abducted 276 schoolgirls in the area, shows that the number of children involved in suicide attacks in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger increased from four to 44 in 12 months.

Further data from the report showed that in the two years to February 2016, a total of 21 attacks carried out in Cameroon involved children. A further 17 attacks in Nigeria used children, as did two in Chad.

Around 2,000 girls and boys are thought to have been kidnapped by Boko Haram in the past two years, with many used as cooks, sex slaves, and fighters.

But Boko Harams use of children as suicide bombers has created an atmosphere of fear and suspicion in Nigeria and the surrounding areas involved in the conflict, the report says. Children who have managed to escape from the terrorist group or who have been released by them are often seen as security threats as a result.

The rise of Boko Haram Show all 20 1 /20 The rise of Boko Haram The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram The leader of the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram Abubakar Shekau delivers a message. Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for the mass killings in the north-east Nigerian town of Baga in a video where he warned the massacre was just the tip of the iceberg. As many as 2,000 civilians were killed and 3,700 homes and business were destroyed in the 3 January 2015 attack on the town near Nigeria's border with Cameroon AFP The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram People displaced as a result of Boko Haram attacks in the northeast region of Nigeria, are seen near their tents at a faith-based camp for internally displaced people (IDP) in Yola, Adamawa State. Boko Haram says it is building an Islamic state that will revive the glory days of northern Nigeria's medieval Muslim empires, but for those in its territory life is a litany of killings, kidnappings, hunger and economic collapse The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram Nitsch Eberhard Robert, a German citizen abducted and held hostage by suspected Boko Haram militants, is seen as he arrives at the Yaounde Nsimalen International airport after his release in Yaounde, Cameroon on 21 January 2015 The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram Officials of the Nigerian National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) visit victims of a bomb blast in Gombe at the Specialist Hospital in Gombe. According to local reports at least six people were killed and 11 wounded after a bomb blast in a marketplace in Nigeria's northeastern state of Gombe on 16 January 2015. Islamist militant group Boko Haram has been blamed for a string of recent attacks in the North East of Nigeria The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram People gather at the site of a bomb explosion in a area know to be targeted by the militant group Boko Haram in Kano on 28 November 2014 The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram People gather to look at a burnt vehicle following a bomb explosion that rocked the busiest roundabout near the crowded Market in Maiduguri, Borno State on 1 July 2014. A truck exploded in a huge fireball killing at least 15 people in the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri, the city repeatedly hit by Boko Haram Islamists The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram President Goodluck Jonathan visits Nigerian Army soldiers fighting Boko Haram Getty Images The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram Displaced people from Baga listen to Goodluck Jonathan after the Boko Haram killings AFP/Getty The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan speaking to troops during a visit to Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State; most of the region has been overrun by Boko Haram AFP/Getty The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram Members of the Nigerian military patrolling in Maiduguri, North East Nigeria, close to the scene of attacks by Boko Haram EPA The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram Boko Harams leader, Abubakar Shekau, appears in a video in which he warns Cameroon it faces the same fate as Nigeria AFP The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram Nana Shettima, the wife of Borno Governor, Kashim Shettima (C) weeps as she speaks with school girls from the government secondary school Chibok that were kidnapped by the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram, and later escaped in Chibok The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram South Africans protest in solidarity against the abduction of hundreds of schoolgirls in Nigeria by the Muslim extremist group Boko Haram and what protesters said was the failure of the Nigerian government and international community to rescue them, during a march to the Nigerian Consulate in Johannesburg The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram Boko Haram militants have seized the town in north-eastern Nigeria that nearly 300 schoolgirls were kidnapped from in April 2014 AFP The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram A soldier stands guard in front of burnt buses after an attack in Abuja. Twin blasts at a bus station packed with morning commuters on the outskirts of Nigeria's capital killed dozens of people, in what appeared to be the latest attack by Boko Haram Islamists, April 2014 The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram The aftermath of the attack, when Boko Haram fighters in trucks painted in military colours killed 51 people in Konduga in February 2014 AFP/Getty Images The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram The leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau (with papers) in a video grab taken in July 2014 AFP/Getty The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram Ruins of burnt out houses in the north-eastern settlement of Baga, pictured after Boko Haram attacks in 2013 AP The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram A Boko Haram attack in Nigeria, 2013 AFP/Getty Images The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram Abubakar Shekau, Boko Harams leader AP

Let us be clear: these children are victims, not perpetrators, said Manuel Fontaine, Unicef Regional Director for West and Central Africa. Deceiving children and forcing them to carry out deadly acts has been one of the most horrific aspects of the violence in Nigeria and in neighbouring countries.

The atmosphere of fear has had a particularly devastating effect on the girls who have survived captivity and sexual violence at the hands of the terrorist group, the agency said, while the children who have been born as a result of sexual violence perpetrated by Boko Haram are often victims of stigma and discrimination in their villages.

Around 1.3 million children have been displaced since the conflict began and 1,800 schools have been closed and left damaged, looted, burned down or have been used as a shelter by displaced people.
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Hypocrisy. That is the theme of a letter sent to Barack Obama from former president Abraham Lincoln, and offering some advice on dealing with the issue of nuclear proliferation, and in particular North Korea.

If the United States, a country with the worlds largest nuclear weapons stockpile, only pays lip service, like a parrot, and doesnt do anything actively, it will be a mockery to the entire world, says the letter.

The advice to Mr Obama was penned by DPRK Today, and its the latest in a series of accusations leveled by North Korean state media at Mr Obama. Some of the previous comments have included racist abuse.

The open letter was published on the website of DPRK Today (DPRK Today)

The letter published on Tuesday offers some advice to Mr Obama, purportedly from the countrys 16th president. It is the latest response from the North to rising animosity with Washington following Pyongyangs nuclear test and long-range rocket launch earlier this year, the Associated Press said.

Hey, Obama, its the 21st Century, the letter continues.

The tactic by past American presidents, including me, who deceived the peopleis outdated. That doesnt work now. The world doesn't trust an America that doesnt take responsibility for what it says.

The US has referred to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un as a young dictator (AP)

Lincoln, who served in office for four years until his assassination in 1865, appears to deride Mr Obamas claim to want to build a nuclear-free world by questioning why the US has not taken the initiative to scale back its own vast, nuclear arsenal.

It is the latest response from the North to rising animosity with Washington following Pyongyang's nuclear test and long-range rocket launch earlier this year.

Hey, Obama, it begins. I know you have a lot on your mind these days ... I've decided to give you a little advice after seeing you lost in thought before my portrait during a recent Easter Prayer Breakfast.

In 2014, the North's state news agency, KCNA, called Mr Obama a monkey. Earlier that year, it called Secretary of State John Kerry a wolf with a hideous lantern jaw after US and South Korean troops launched summertime drills.

The North has also called South Korean President Park Geun-hye a prostitute numerous times. The US has referred to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Uns as a young dictator.
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The White House is deciding whether to declassify a 28-page document on the 9/11 attacks which could reveal a Saudi Arabia-based network that helped the hijackers in the US.

The bipartisan joint inquiry after 9/11 interviewed hundreds of witnesses and compiled a report of more than 800 pages, but the last chapter became classified for reasons of national security.

It has been locked away for 13 years.

New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who has read the report, and Senator Bob Graham, who co-chaired the joint congressional inquiry, both believe that the 9/11 victims families deserve to read the report before president Obama visits the Middle East on 21 April.

Mr Graham told CBS News' "60 Minutes" show that the report outlines a network of people that supported the hijackers while they were on the West Coast and helped them to enroll in flight school.

Questioned on whether that network included the government, rich people and charities, the Senator replied: All of the above.

The papers are accessible to Congress members, if they are unaccompanied and do not take notes.

A bipartisan effort led by Republicans Walter Jones and Stephen Lynch is trying to make sure the documents are read and declassified.

In pictures: 9/11 Memorial Museum Show all 10 1 /10 In pictures: 9/11 Memorial Museum In pictures: 9/11 Memorial Museum Pavilion exterior The long-awaited museum dedicated to the 3,000 victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York, will open to the public at the World Trade Center site on May 21 In pictures: 9/11 Memorial Museum Pavilion exterior A view of the pavilion from outside In pictures: 9/11 Memorial Museum WTC Tridents Recovered from the World Trade Center Site after 11 September 2001, these structural steel 'tridents' rose from the base of the North Tower (1 WTC). These columns were embedded at bedrock, branching from one column into three at the sixth floor. Here, they are located in the museums entry pavilion designed by Snoetta In pictures: 9/11 Memorial Museum Rescue and recovery Photographs of rescue and recovery are part of the the exhibition In pictures: 9/11 Memorial Museum FDNY ambulance FDNY ambulances were dispatched to the World Trade Center after hijacked Flight 175 struck the South Tower In pictures: 9/11 Memorial Museum Damaged phone booth Damaged phone booth recovered after the 9/11 attacks is part of the exhibition In pictures: 9/11 Memorial Museum Bike rack Bike rack recovered from outside of WTC building In pictures: 9/11 Memorial Museum Flag steel The 'flag steel' is a piece of recovered WTC steel. Its graceful s-curve makes it appear as if it is a ribbon, or flag, flowing in the wind In pictures: 9/11 Memorial Museum Grappler Operating engineers used grappler claws to lift tangled steel and debris from the pile at Ground Zero. Spotters worked alongside them, scrutinizing each load for human remains. Breeze Demolition was among the companies utilizing heavy construction equipment for the recovery and cleanup operations In pictures: 9/11 Memorial Museum Box Columns On 9/11, hijacked Flight 11 tore into the north facade of the North Tower, creating a gash from the 93rd through the 99th floors and tearing apart steel (M-27) columns weighing many tons

In January 2000 the first hijacker to arrive in the US flew to Los Angeles after attending an Al-Qaeda conference in Malaysia. 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi Arabia nationals.

They reportedly arrived with no experience in the West and little English, yet they managed to get housing in San Diego and learn to fly, with help from a Saudi agent Omar al-Bayoumi.

On the same day he met the terrorists, Mr Bayoumi was in contact with Anwar al-Awlaki, an imam at a San Diego mosque and who was allegedly a senior Al-Qaeda recruiter and motivator.

Those are a lot of coincidences, and thats a lot of smoke. Is that enough to make you squirm and uncomfortable, and dig harderand declassify these 28 pages? Absolutely, former Republican Congressman Tim Roemer told CBS.

Porter Goss, former Republican congressman from Florida, told the New Yorker: Its about the Bush Administration and its relationship with the Saudis."

The report, the first part of which was released in 2003, contained the sentence: [] we have found no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded the organization.

The US government has already agreed it cannot sue as Saudi Arabia has claimed sovereign immunity, but Saudi Arabia has reportedly even urged for the 28 pages to be declassified.

If the president is going to meet with the Saudi Arabian leadership and the royal family they think it would be appropriate that this document be released before the president makes that trip, so that they can talk about whatever issues are in that document, Ms Gillibrand said.
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A community of indigenous Canadians has declared a state of emergency after it was revealed that 11 members had tried to kill themselves so far this month and that 28 had attempted to do so in March. Most of those trying to take their own lives were teenagers.

Canadas parliament has called an emergency session for Tuesday night to discuss the series of suicide attempts in a community marked by poverty, dislocation and remoteness.

The declaration of emergency was signed by Chief Bruce Shisheesh of the remote northern community of the Attawapiskat First Nation in Ontario, according to Reuters.

Canadas 1.4m aboriginals, who make up about 4 per cent of the countrys population, have higher levels of poverty and a lower life expectancy than other Canadians and are more often victims of violent crime, addiction and incarceration, the news agency said.

The Assembly of First Nations - a group representing aboriginal groups in Canada - has called for immediate action and long-term support for the remote northern community.

This is a national crisis andits upon us, basically, because of decades, upon decades of neglect, National Chief Perry Bellegarde told CTV News.

The reasons for people trying to end their lives are varied but Attawapiskat leaders point to an underlying despondency and pessimism among their people as well as an increasing number of prescription drug overdoses since December.

Living in isolated communities with chronic unemployment and crowded housing, some young aboriginals lack clean water but have easy Internet access, giving them a glimpse of affluence in the rest of Canada.

Since December, Attawapiskat has seen a rash of prescription drug overdoses sending youth to hospital in a fairly new phenomenon, said Deborah Hill, vice-president of patient care at Weeneebayko Area Health Authority, whose region includes the community.

The emergency parliamentary session was requested by New Democrat legislator Charlie Angus whose constituency includes Attawapiskat. Mr Angus is demanding Ottawa do more to end this cycle of crisis and death among young people.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who called recent suicide attempts heartbreaking, took power last year promising to tackle high levels of poverty, bad housing and poor health among aboriginal residents and promised a new nation-to-nation relationship.

Last month, Canada said it would spend an extra $8bn over five years to help the aboriginal population deal with dire living conditions.

Mr Shisheesh was not immediately available for comment on Tuesday. In a message posted on Twitter, he wrote: Trying to be positive here, but getting emotional drain...need your prayers here.

Recommended

Another Canadian aboriginal community in the western province of Manitoba appealed for federal aid last month, citing six suicides in two months and 140 suicide attempts in two weeks.

Other indigenous communities within North America have faced similar problems. Last year, Native Alaskan leaders said they were confronting an epidemic of suicides. The small community of Hooper Bay, which has just 1,000 residents, had seen a flurry of deaths.

In the US, call 1-800-273-8255 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
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As people hurried up and down the length of New Yorks Wall Street, two men stopped to give their thoughts on Hillary Clinton. Both thought she is going to become Americas next president, but they also said they struggled to connect with her.

Shes definitely the most popular and I think shes going to win, Anthony C, 27, told The Independent. But she doesnt have a personal thing with people, I feel like Bernie does.

Pasha F, 31, who used to work with the homeless in New York, echoed the sentiment, adding that he felt Ms Clinton was a puppet to the financial institutions. I dont think her main issues support a lot of everyday, American people, he said. She tries to connect with them, but it feels generic.

Pasha F and Anthony C talk politics on New York's Wall Street Feliks Garcia

Ms Clinton and Bernie Sanders are fighting for a decisive victory in their home state as the Democratic primary in New York approaches. The state plays a key role in each candidates biography: Mr Sanders is a Brooklyn native; Ms Clinton served as US Senator for two terms and claims it as her place of residency.

Thus, New York is serving as an intense battleground state, as Mr Sanders hopes to continue his forward momentum, and Ms Clinton aims to lay the Vermont senators campaign to rest.

Recommended Read more We asked 8 women how America will change if Hillary Clinton is elected

According to numbers from RealClear Politics, Ms Clinton has a commanding lead in New York, with an average of 14 points over her rival. Much of her favour in the states de facto capital, New York City, is attributed by pundits and pollsters to two seemingly contradictory contingents: the money of Wall Street and voters from the historically black neighbourhood of Harlem.

But Ms Clinton is not actually from New York  despite her establishing residency in Chappaqua, a suburb just north of Manhattan, 16 years ago. Ms Clinton was born Chicago, Illinois, raised in the Park Ridge suburb. She was educated at Wellesley and Yale, both New England schools, before working in Cambridge, Massachusetts, moved to Arkansas in the 1970s, before ultimately moving to Washington DC once her husband, Bill Clinton, was elected President.

Ms Clinton finally came to New York in 2000 at the end of Mr Clintons second term in the White House, where then she was elected to serve as New York Senator. She was elected for a second term four years later, and cites her record while serving the state with bravado.

Ms Clintons Chappaqua home became the subject of controversy amid the email scandal that has loomed over her 2016 campaign. According to documents reviewed by Associated Press last October, Ms Clinton kept an email server in her home basement, and reportedly conducted personal and State Department business remotely.

Expert analysts said that the private server  through which Ms Clinton sent top secret information  was vulnerable to attacks from hackers. Federal authorities are investigating the servers.

Mr Sanders famously remarked early in the Democratic race that hes sick and tired of hearing about [Ms Clintons] damn emails", but he is not as uninterested in her ties to key players in the US financial system on Wall Street.

The New York Stock Exchange facade on Broad Street Feliks Garcia

By the end of 2015, although Ms Clinton lambasts Wall Street, financial firms had given $44m in contributions to her campaign according to figures from the Federal Election Committee. Significant criticism of the Democratic front-runner has focused on the secrecy that shrouds paid speeches given to Wall Street institutions, such as Goldman Sachs.

The New York Times editorial board  and many others  called for Ms Clinton to release the transcripts of her speeches to the financial institutions, which she has resisted, accusing the media of holding her to a different standard than other candidates.

Ms Clinton had accepted as much as $675,000 for speeches from Goldman Sachs prior to her campaign, and reportedly earned $11m from 2014 to 2015 delivering such speeches to multiple firms.

The 2016 campaign seems to present two Hillary Clintons when it comes to New York City: the corporate candidate bought out by Wall Street, and the champion of the black community. New Yorkers in both the financial district and Harlem expressed mixed feelings about the former First Lady  some were dubious, and did not place their trust in Ms Clintons hands. Other supporters sang her praises.

Harlems residents expressed more favourable opinions of Ms Clinton, walking along 125th street  home of the Apollo Theater and Bill Clintons post-presidency office  although some still approached the candidate with skepticism.

Multiple residents walking up a busy avenue were asked by The Independent their thoughts on Ms Clinton. The question was often met with laughs, headshakes, as well as a good humoured No comment from two individuals. An elderly woman said she was sick of the election. I got other problems, she said.

Angela Elem working behind the bar of Lenox Coffee in Harlem Feliks Garcia

Middle-aged veteran James Johnson, walked briskly, but was enthusiastic about Ms Clinton. Shes going to be great for Harlem. Bills here! Mr Johnson said, adding that hes excited to be voting in the 19 April primaries.

Shes trying to do the right thing  because she was in the White House with Obama. She knows a lot about whats going on, Leon Jones, 70, said. He said he had experienced some trying times in recent years, but remained optimistic about a Clinton presidency. I think she would change society a great deal for being the first woman president in history.

We never had no lady president. I dont know how Irans going to take it. I dont know how Russias going to take it, but they are going to have to deal with a lady, he said, punctuating his sentences by tapping his cane on the sidewalk. She understands that the world needs more love and understanding.

Angela Elem, 24, a Harlem resident and barista at a newer neighbourhood cafe, expressed mixed feelings about Ms Clinton, but did not get the sense that Harlem was such a stronghold for the campaign, despite the huge crowd at an appearance at the Apollo weeks ago.

I did see her trying to get on the subway the other day, and I thought that was hilarious, she joked. I can tell you, here, its not a big Hillary crowd. Ive seen a lot of Bernie going on, especially on the corner of 125th by the train.

If shes going to make a stand in Harlem, she should probably try a little harder.
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US Speaker of the House Paul Ryan ruled himself out as a presidential contender should Republicans contest the nomination of Donald Trump.

In remarks delivered to the press Tuesday afternoon, Mr Ryan said definitively that he will not accept the presidential nomination from the party in the event of a contested convention.

I do not want, nor will I accept the nomination for our party, he said referring to delegates. If no candidate has a majority in the first ballot [at the Republican National Convention], I believe you should only choose from a person who has actually participated in the primary.

Mr Ryan urged delegates to make a rule that made sure they only choose a nominee who actually ran for the job.

Recommended Read more Paul Ryan elected as Speaker of the House

Commenting on the tumultuous GOP primary season, he added that these races tend to be personality contests not policy contests where insults get more ink than ideas. Mr Ryan insisted that it was his job as Speaker of the House to advance the debate in Congress about the direction of the country.

Speculation about the Wisconsin congressmans candidacy emerged amid the calamitous campaign of the New York business mogul that has establishment Republicans worrying about the state of affairs for the party.

Despite his insistence that he is not running for president, Mr Ryan released a campaign-style video entitled Politics These Days, which outlined his platform for his Confident America initiative.

The New York Times speculated that Mr Ryan was running alongside the leading Republican candidates in hopes to jump into the race. But after Mr Ryan's Tuesday statement suggested otherwise.

This job provides a platform to communicate the conservative vision for our country, he said. I believe that we can once again be an optimistic party.
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The US State Department has issued a fresh warning about travel to Saudi Arabia, citing "threats against US citizens and other Westerners" from Isis and Al Qaeda ahead of Barack obama's visit to the Kingdom this month.

Possible targets include housing compounds, hotels, restaurants, shopping areas, international schools, "and other facilities where westerners congregate", according to the advice, posted online on Monday.

Recommended Read more Barack Obama just owned up to his biggest mistake

The President is due to attend the summit of the six-nation Gulf Co-operation in Saudi Arabia on 21 April.

"There have been multiple attacks on mosques which were directed or inspired by ISIL in the past year," the online advice states. "Security threats continue and terrorist groups, some affiliated with ISIL [Isis] or Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), have targeted both Saudi and Western interests."

Violence spilling over from neighbouring Yemen and Iraq is also mentioned as an "ongoing" security concern.

The advice says that US Government pesonnel and their families are restricted from travelling within 50 miles of the Yemeni border to the south, as well the southern cities of Jizan and Najran, without permission.

Qatif in the Eastern Province and its surrounding suburbs, including Awamiyah, and to the town of Hofuf and its surrounding suburbs in the Al Hasa Governorate are also off limits.

The advice adds: "US citizens in Saudi Arabia are strongly encouraged to select hotels or housing compounds with careful attention to security measures and location. U.S. citizens should be aware of their surroundings at all times and are advised to keep a low profile; vary times and routes of travel; exercise caution while driving, and entering or exiting vehicles; and ensure that travel documents and visas are current and valid."
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A public feud has erupted over Facebook among Singapores first family, after the Prime Ministers sister accused him of abusing his political power and planning to establish a dynasty in the island republic.

Writing on Facebook on Sunday, Dr Lee Wei Ling, a respected neurosurgeon and newspaper columnist, accused her brother, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, of using the commemorations for the death of their late-father, the city states founding father Lee Kuan Yew, to hero-worship him.

Dr Lee said she and her brother are at odds on a matter of principle regarding the commemorations, and her brother has no qualms [about] abusing his power to [have] a commemoration just one year after Lee Kuan Yew died.

She added: If the power that be wants to establish a dynasty, LKYs daughter will not allow LKYs name to be sullied by a dishonourable son.

The post was removed from Facebook later that day, according to Channel New Asia. However, Prime Minister Lee retorted back at his sister a few hours later in his own Facebook post, saying he was deeply saddened by the remarks, which are completely untrue.

The funeral of former Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, 2015 (Getty Images)

He said: The idea that I should wish to establish a dynasty makes even less sense. Meritocracy is a fundamental value of our society, and neither I, the PAP [Peoples Action Party], nor the Singapore public would tolerate any such attempt.

PAP has been Singapores ruling party since 1959 and was first headed by Lee Kuan Yew in 1954.

The recent social media spat between his children is surprising given Lee Kuan Yews intolerance for dissent and disagreement among his citizens. In the past he had sued critics suggesting nepotism in his government.

Lee Kuan Yew, who was prime minister between 1959 and 1990 and remained an influential government figure, died on 23 March 2015.

Numerous events commemorating his death have been carried out by the government over the past year.

In her Facebook post, Dr Lee also reproduced her correspondence with the editors of The Straits Times over a draft of an opinion piece she had written on the commemoration programs, Chanel News Asia said.

In the article, Dr Lee expressed disdain for an ostentatious commemoration of her father, which depicted him in a large portrait using 5,000 erasers illustrated with the Singaporean flag. She compared the portrait to tributes made in Mao Zedongs China.

The article was not published and Dr Lee said she will no longer write for The Straits Times, saying its editors do not allow her "freedom of speech".

In an editorial, The Straits Times disputed Dr Lees account and said she had posted the article while editorial changes were still taking place.

The posts were taken down on Sunday, although it remains unclear who did this, according to Channel News Asia.

Additional reporting by Associated Press
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Austria has began construction of an anti-refugee barrier across their border with Italy.

Police say work on creating a border control across the Brenner pass is scheduled to be completed by the end of May.

They say have begun pouring concrete for foundations of a registration hall, barriers and other structures.

The barrier is being built as a response to the anticipated flow of refugees trying to enter Austria after arriving in Italy from the Mediterranean.

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.

Austrian officials say refugees trying to reach prosperous EU countries will likely use the route through Austria from Italy now there is no free passage from Turkey into Greece and the Western Balkan route.

The European Union has said it is very concerned about the plans to set up border controls.

Natasha Bertaud, a spokeswoman for the European Commission said: "The Commission is very concerned.

"If these plans were to materialise then we would have to look at them very seriously.

"The Brenner Pass is essential for the freedom of movement within the European Union."

 Amid deportations, refugees scramble to reach Europe

However, Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann defended his country's decision to build the barrier.

He said it is "politically necessary and important to take the needed steps".

The number of refugees arriving in Italy has risen sharply over the last few months following a controversial deal to return refugees to Turkey.

Additional reporting by agencies
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The Brussels bombers discussed launching terror attacks in Britain and at this summers Euro 2016 football tournament in France, according to new information extracted from the laptop of one of the suicide attackers and the tape of a call made by the alleged bomb-maker.

Files retrieved from the laptop of Ibrahim El Bakraoui, who blew himself up at Brussels airport, quoted in the French media, show he discussed with foreign contacts launching an attack on the UK.

The Parisien newspaper quoted an intelligence source as saying that other European countries besides Belgium were in the bombers' sites, and that Great Britain is also mentioned as a potential target.

The bomber then referred to striking Britain, the La Defense business district in Paris, and the ultra-conservative Catholic organisation, Civitas, in a folder entitled 'Target', written in English, according to the source.

The laptop was found in a bin by police in Brussels shortly after the suicide bombings, on 22 March, which killed 32 people at the citys airport and on a Metro train. Ibrahim Bakraoui's brother, Khalid, is thought to have blown himself up on the train in central Brussels.

The Daily Telegraph quoted the French rolling news channel BFM TV, which reported that French investigators, possess a taped conversation between Najim Laachraoui, the suspected bomb maker for the Paris and Brussels attacks, and a foreign contact in which Britain is also mentioned. But the pair decided that the UK is "too complicated to strike, that Belgium should remain their operational base and so they should hit France".

The taped call then shows they wanted an attack to coincide with the Euro 2016 tournament, which opens in France on 10 July, in the hope that the authorities would be frightened into cancelling the competition.

The revelations come after the arrest last week of 31-year-old Mohamed Abrini, prime suspect in the Brussels bombings. It has already been reported that French intelligence established that Abrini travelled to the UK last year, when he flew from Paris to Birmingham. The Paris attacks ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud is also thought to have travelled to the city.

Belgian prosecutors say Abrini has admitted to being the man in the hat pictured on CCTV at Brussels airport shortly before the attacks, and that the cell had been planning further attacks in France. A statement said that the cell had decided to attack Belgium instead because it was surprised by the speed of the police investigation.
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Lise Ramslog was out for a barefoot amble on the warm day last September that Europes refugee crisis came to her remote village in southern Denmark.

The 70-year-old grandmother had planned a simple stroll. What she found in her quiet, coastal community were hundreds of exhausted asylum seekers who had arrived on the ferry from Germany only to be stranded without access to public transportation. Some had begun to walk along the highway in desperation.

Ramslog decided on the spot that she would help: She ended up giving two young couples, a small child and a newborn baby a 120-mile ride in her cramped sedan to their destination in Sweden. When we crossed the border, they rejoiced and cried, she recalled.

In another context, Ramslog might be known as a good Samaritan.

But the Danish government has a different term for her: convicted human smuggler.

The decision by authorities to prosecute Ramslog  and to charge hundreds of other Danish citizens with a similar crime  is to many here just the latest evidence of a society that, when faced with an unparalleled influx of migrants and refugees, has taken a nasty turn.

In that respect, Denmark has company: Across Europe, a once-tender embrace of those fleeing conflicts on the continents doorstep has evolved into an uncompromising rejection.

Last week, authorities in Greece began sending new arrivals back across the sea to Turkey, as part of a policy intended to permanently close the path via which more than 1 million people sought sanctuary last year.

But as Europe walls itself off, the continent is left to reckon with whats become of its long-

cherished humanitarian beliefs. And to many in Denmark, the chasm between reputation and reality looks particularly gaping.

Were losing respect for the values upon which we built our country and our European Union, said Andreas Kamm, secretary general of the Danish Refugee Council. Its becoming very hard to defend human rights.

This Scandinavian nation of compulsively friendly people is celebrated by U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders as a social-welfare utopia, one that was recently judged the worlds happiest place. Ranking high in the countrys pantheon of heroes are those who protected Jews during the Holocaust or who helped the oppressed escape from behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War.

But when it has come to those fleeing 21st-century conflicts on Europes doorstep, Denmark has gone into overdrive to broadcast its hostility. While Germany continues to welcome asylum seekers, and other European countries such as Sweden held their doors open for as long as they could, Denmark has taken a hard line almost from the beginning.

The government slashed refugees benefits, then advertised the cuts in Lebanese newspapers. It has enabled police to confiscate refugees valuables, including cash and jewelry. And authorities have made it far more difficult for those already here to reunite with their families, upping the wait time from one year to three.

Now ordinary Danes are getting caught up in the crackdown, punished for what many saw as a quintessentially good deed. Im proud of what I did and will never regret having done it, said Ramslog, her gray hair highlighted by plastic pink heart barrettes and her clear blue eyes welling with tears. But I dont want to be known as a criminal.

Huge pressure

Yet thats exactly what she is, following a March conviction. And according to the far-right party that holds the balance of power in the Danish Parliament, its what she deserves, even though the police ordered the state-run railway to begin transporting asylum seekers only days after Ramslog opened her car door and invited them in.

These people broke the law, said Peter Kofod Poulsen, a recently elected member of Parliament from the anti-immigration Danish Peoples Party. Human smuggling is not all right  not if its done by the train company and not if its done by private individuals.

Poulsen, who at 26 is Parliaments third-youngest member, has helped push the countrys weak center-right government to take a less-forgiving line on asylum seekers since the once-fringe DPP surged to second place in elections in June.

The number of refugees taken in by Denmark, he said, should be as close to zero as possible. The alternative, in Poulsens view, is the end of everything Danes hold dear  including low crime rates and high-quality government services. Welcoming Syrians, Iraqis, Afghans and others fleeing war, he said, is just too burdensome.

This country is falling apart, said Poulsen, who is slim, blond and self-assured. We used to have a safe, monocultural society. Now our welfare state is under huge pressure.

The notion that Denmark cant adequately look out for its own if it is also giving sanctuary to asylum seekers has found wide appeal here. Anti-refugee positions once considered extreme are now embraced by a broad cross section of the countrys politicians.

The hardening of public attitudes has been underway for at least a decade. But a key turning point in popular opinion may have been that day last September when asylum seekers took to the highways to walk.

Many had been blocked a week earlier from leaving Hungary, leading to a bulge in numbers on the migrant trail.

When they arrived in Denmark, on Sept. 7, they were initially barred from using public transportation unless they agreed to be registered  something few were willing to do because they wanted to travel onward to more hospitable destinations, especially Sweden.

When Danes turned on their televisions that day, they saw highways clogged with people in need.

That was an eye-opener for many Danes, said Kasper Moller Hansen, a University of Copenhagen political scientist. They thought, Wow, thats a lot of people. We cant help all of them. 

Instinctual response

Other Danes took a different lesson, jumping in their cars and driving to the small ferry terminal in Rodby to offer asylum seekers a lift.

Lisbeth Zornig, a well-known child-rights activist and author, was in the area and decided she couldnt imagine driving back to Copenhagen with an empty car.

Id never seen people in need that way in Denmark before, she said. They were hungry. They were thirsty. They didnt have anything but the clothes they were wearing.

She opened her minivans doors to a small group of Syrians, and four adults and twin 5-year-old girls hopped in. Two minutes later, they were sleeping in the back seat, she said.

In Copenhagen, her husband, former journalist Mikael Lindholm, served them coffee and cookies, and offered to let them spend the night. But they were eager to get to Sweden, where anxious relatives awaited. He drove them to the train station.

Both Zornig and Lindholm were convicted last month of human smuggling  a crime usually associated with greedy profiteers, not humanitarian do-gooders. Each was ordered to pay a fine amounting to about $3,350.

Ramslog had her fine cut in half because shes retired and lives on a small pension. Its still far more than she can afford. Until now, her most serious run-in with the law was a speeding ticket.

She said she responded that September day from instinct, not from any plan. At most, she thought she would drive the refugees, who desperately wanted passage to Sweden, a few miles up the road. But then I kept thinking, Oh, Ill just go a little further,  she recalled.

The baby slept the whole way, pressed tight to her mothers breast. The young boy nibbled on biscuits and sipped apple juice.

Ramslog was still barefoot when, as night fell, she steered her car across the bridge linking Denmark to Sweden. She had no phone and barely enough money to cover the toll.

Thank you! Thank you! her passengers exclaimed when she pulled over to drop them off.

Before they parted, Ramslog dug from her pocket a small charm  a four-leaf clover encased in glass that she had been given to remember her daughter, who died last year.

She pressed it into the boys palm.

May you have better luck, she said.

Karla Adam in London contributed to this report.

Copyright: Washington Post
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At least twenty soldiers have been wounded following a car bomb attack in the mainly Kurdish region of southeast Turkey.

Security sources said a vehicle filled with explosives crashed into a gendarmes base in the town of Hani, near the provincial capital of Diyarbakir on Monday night.

The force of the blast shattered windows and shook buildings around the town, according to witnesses. The Dogan news agency said some nearby buildings were damaged in the blast.

The Anadolu Agency has attributed the attack to terrorists affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and describes the target as a military police station.

The agency said ambulances took wounded victims to the Diyarbakir Military Hospital.

Turkeys southeast has been subject to a surge in violence during since July when the PKK resumed its fight against the Turkish state, wrecking a precarious ceasefire and peace process between the state and Kurdish militants that had lasted for two and a half years.

Thousands of militants and hundreds of civilians and solider have been killed since July.

The Turkish army said 39 members of the PKK had been killed in clashes in four towns across the region over the weekend.

The military has carried out sweeping operations in the southeast, including in Diyarbakir, to flush out fighters linked to the outlawed PKK.

The Turkish government has vowed to "liquidate" the PKK, which it considers a terrorist organisation, along with the European Union and the United States.

More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict since the PKK took up arms in 1984.

Additional reporting by agencies
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Isis has destroyed a 2,000-year-old ancient structure near the Iraqi city of Mosul.

The Mashqi Gate, also known as the Gate of God, was one of a number of grand gates which guarded the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh.

Referenced in the Bible, Nineveh dates to the 7th century BC and was once the largest city in the world.

The act is the latest incident in a campaign of cultural vandalism Isis has undertaken in territory it controls.

A source at the British Institute for the Study of Iraq confirmed to The Independent that the gate had been attacked.

Recommended Read more New Palmyra photos show devastation of artefacts ruined by Isis

The Antiquities Department in Baghdad had not denied the attack, according to the source, who also said there were unconfirmed reports the group was dismantling part of the Walls of Nineveh and selling the stone blocks.

Activists in Mosul told Kurdish news outlet ARA News the Islamist militants had used military equipment to destroy the gate.

The destruction of the Mashqi Gate is the latest in a series of historical artefacts to be destroyed in Isis-held territory by the militant group, who view many relics predating Islam as sacrilegious.

A spokesperson for the British Museum told The Independent: We continue to follow the latest news reports from Iraq.

"We naturally deplore all acts of vandalism and destruction of cultural heritage, and continue to monitor the situation to the best of our ability. In the absence of specific information it is not yet possible to comment on what has been destroyed.

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. 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Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. 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It is not the first time Mosuls heritage has suffered under Isis.

In February 2015, the group released propaganda footage of militants vandalising Mosul's museum. It showed ancient statues being destroyed, including a winged-bull Assyrian protective deity which dated back to the 7th-century BC.

Around the same time, Mosul's library was also ransacked by Isis, who burned more than 100,000 old books and manuscripts, some of which were recognised as historical rarities by Unesco.

Outside of destroying historical artefacts, Isis had turned on science, transforming laboratories in the University of Mosul into bomb-making factories.

The university has turned out chemical weapons and suicide bombs and also served as a training ground for teaching recruits how to use the devices.

Isis has also destroyed numerous historical mosques, churches and shrines in and around Mosul, one of the largest cities controlled by the militant group.

The campaign of cultural destruction has also wreaked havoc outside Iraq, most notably in Syria, where the ancient city of Palmyra was heavily damaged while under Isis occupation.

After Syrian government forces drove Isis from the site, they found ancient temples blown up, statues decapitated and the museum badly damaged.

In Libya, Sufi shrines near Tripoli were damaged, and historians have expressed fears over the looting of ancient Greek and Roman artwork and antiquities.
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Two Russian pilots have died in a helicopter crash over rebel territory in Syria.

A spokesperson for Russias ministry of defence said the Mi-28N attack helicopter came down in Homs province in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The bodies of the dead pilots were removed during search and rescue operations and are currently at the Hmeymim Airbase, he added.

The helicopter icon shows the reported location of the Russian helicopter crash. Rebel-held territory is shown in green and regime areas in red. (Liveuamap)

According to a report from the crash site, the helicopter was not shot down.

Activists put the location of the wreckage in rebel-held territory outside of Homs city, where Russian air strikes have recently been reported.

Local opposition groups, al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra and Islamist group Ahrar ash-Sham are known to be active in the area.

The pilots deaths bring the number of Russian servicemen killed in Syria since the countrys intervention started in September to at least eight.

In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Show all 19 1 /19 In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Syrian boys cry following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian defense ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov speaks to the media in Moscow, Russia. Konashenkov strongly warned the United States against striking Syrian government forces and issued a thinly-veiled threat to use Russian air defense assets to protect them AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Syrians wait to receive treatment at a hospital following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Alepp Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov speaks at a briefing in the Defense Ministry in Moscow, Russia. Antonov said the Russian air strikes in Syria have killed about 35,000 militants, including about 2,700 residents of Russia AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Jameel Mustafa Habboush, receives oxygen from civil defence volunteers, known as the white helmets, as they rescue him from under the rubble of a building following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civil defence members rest amidst rubble in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A girl carrying a baby inspects damage in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civilians and civil defence members look for survivors at a site damaged after Russian air strikes on the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civilians and civil defence members carry an injured woman on a stretcher at a site damaged after Russian air strikes on the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Volunteers from Syria Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, help civilians after Russia carried out its first airstrikes in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria The aftermath of Russian airstrike in Talbiseh, Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Smoke billows from buildings in Talbiseh, in Homs province, western Syria, after airstrikes by Russian warplanes AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian Air Forces carry out an air strike in the ISIS controlled Al-Raqqah Governorate. Russia's KAB-500s bombs completely destroy the Liwa al-Haqq command unit In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy firing Kalibr cruise missiles against remote Isis targets in Syria A TASS/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russia claimed it hit eight Isis targets, including a "terrorist HQ and co-ordination centre" that was completely destroyed In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A video grab taken from the footage made available on the Russian Defence Ministry's official website, purporting to show an airstrike in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A release from the Russian defence ministry purportedly showing targets in Syria being hit In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russia launched air strikes in war-torn Syria, its first military engagement outside the former Soviet Union since the occupation of Afghanistan in 1979. Russian warplanes carried out strikes in three Syrian provinces along with regime aircraft as Putin seeks to steal US President Barack Obama's thunder by pushing a rival plan to defeat Isis militants in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy firing Kalibr cruise missiles against remote Isis targets in Syria, a thousand kilometres away. The targets include ammunition factories, ammunition and fuel depots, command centres, and training camps A TASS/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis

A special forces officer died during battles to drive Isis out of Palmyra last month and the Kremlin had previously acknowledged five deaths, including the pilot of a fighter jet shot down by Turkey and a marine killed by rebels during a mission to rescue him.

Two others were killed in mortar attacks and bombardment, while a 19-year-old soldier died in disputed circumstances at his air base in Latakia.

The United Nations, humanitarian organisations and international politicians have raised concern about the death of civilians and opposition fighters in Russian air strikes, but the Kremlin insists it has been targeting Isis and terrorist groups.

Russian jets are currently supporting troops loyal to Bashar al-Assad, along with allies from Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, in an advances on the so-called Islamic State and rebels.

A fragile "cessation of hostilities" that started between rebels and the regime in February excludes Isis and Jabhat al-Nusra, allowing Syrian operations and international air strikes on militants to continue.
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A collection of letters written on clay 2,500 years ago could help to answer centuries-old questions about the Bible.

Using sophisticated imaging tools, researchers at Tel Aviv University in Israel have examined fragments of the inscribed pottery, known as ostraca, found in Tel Arad fortress.

The writing, dating back to around 600 BC, details nothing extraordinary and consists mostly of shopping lists and broken military commands. By comparing the different handwriting however, historians were able to deduce that the messages had been written by several different people across a range of social classes.

In other words, the entire army apparatus, from high-ranking officials to humble vice-quartermasters of small desert outposts, was literate, the academics wrote in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS).

To support this bureaucratic apparatus, an appropriate education system must have existed in Judah at the end of the first Temple period [before 586 BC].

The findings not only suggest that literacy was widespread and not just a luxury of the social elite, but that much of the Bible could have been written decades earlier than previously thought.

It has been long agreed that Old Testament books including Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges and Kings - which describe the history of Ancient Israel  are some of the oldest parts of the bible. However scholars remain divided as to whether Ancient Jews were able to begin writing these sections before Jerusalem was destroyed by Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar.

2016 Easter celebrations around the world Show all 20 1 /20 2016 Easter celebrations around the world 2016 Easter celebrations around the world Philippines Willy Salvador, 59, hangs from a cross as part of his penitence during a reenactment of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ for Good Friday celebrations ahead of Easter in the village of San Juan, Pampanga Getty images 2016 Easter celebrations around the world Philippines articipants lie on the ground after whipping their bloodied backs with bamboo as part of their penitence during a ceremony reenacting the crucifixion of Jesus Christ for Good Friday celebrations ahead of Easter in the village of San Juan. Getty images 2016 Easter celebrations around the world Philippines articipants whip their bloodied backs with bamboo as part of their penitence during the re-enactment of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ for Good Friday celebrations ahead of Easter in the village of San Juan. Getty images 2016 Easter celebrations around the world Hungary Dancers of 'Matyo Folklor Art Association' in traditional clothes, react as boys throw water in Mezokovesd, some 130 km east of Budapest. Getty images 2016 Easter celebrations around the world Philippines A resident carries a statue of Jesus Christ to the church in preparation for the Good Friday procession during Holy Week celebration in Gasan, Marinduque. Reuters 2016 Easter celebrations around the world Philippines Ruben Enaje, who is portraying Jesus Christ for the 30th time, screams while a resident acting as a Roman soldier pulls up a nail on his palm Reuters 2016 Easter celebrations around the world Philippines Penitent Ruben Enaje, who is portraying Jesus Christ for the 30th time, is carried on a stretcher by rescuers after he was nailed on a wooden cross during a Good Friday crucifixion reenactment in Cutud town, Philippines Reuters 2016 Easter celebrations around the world Mexico A man holding a rabbit looks at men dressed as ancient Romans as they take part in a procession, during Holy Week celebrations, in Taxco. Reuters 2016 Easter celebrations around the world South Africa Nuns carry a cross during a silent march celebrating Good Friday in Durban. Reuters 2016 Easter celebrations around the world Mexico Masked penitents prepare before the start of a procession, a part of Holy Week celebrations, in Taxco. Reuters 2016 Easter celebrations around the world Philippines Reuters 2016 Easter celebrations around the world Philippines Penitents locally called "Morions" wear masks and centurion garbs as they take part in a Good Friday procession as part of Holy Week celebration in Gasan, Marinduque. Reuters 2016 Easter celebrations around the world Philippines Reuters 2016 Easter celebrations around the world El Salvador Members of the El Jesus Nazareno brotherhood participate in the Los Cristos Procession as part of Holy Week celebrations in the town of Izalco. Reuters 2016 Easter celebrations around the world Paraguay Actors take part in a re-enactment during a Holy Week procession to prepare for Good Friday celebration in Luque city. Reuters 2016 Easter celebrations around the world Paraguay Actors take part in a re-enactment during a Holy Week procession to prepare for Good Friday celebration in Luque city. Reuters 2016 Easter celebrations around the world Peru Local and foreign inmates participate in a performance of the play Jesus Christ Superstar to celebrate Holy Week at Sarita Colonia prison in Callao. Reuters 2016 Easter celebrations around the world Philippines Penitents wearing masks, known locally as "Morions" take a selfie during the start of Holy Week celebrations in Mogpog, Marinduque. Reuters 2016 Easter celebrations around the world Hungary Hungary Reuters 2016 Easter celebrations around the world Philippines Resident portraying Roman soldier pulls up a nail on a foot of penitent Ruben Enaje in Pampanga, Philippines. Reuters

Now that there is evidence of a sophisticated education system within the kingdom, the research group behind the study believe the time period could most likely account for many of the books in the Old Testament, as well as its distribution.

Until now the arguments were all based on the text and they were all relative, said Israel Finkelstei, an archaeologist involved in the study. We knew that text x may have been written before text y, but there was no absolute chronology. What we need to do is go into the realm of empirical studies.

At Arad we finally have the chance to attack the question in an empirical way.
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11 Howard, SoHo

Art is the buzzword at the newly unveiled 11 Howard, which opened at the beginning of the month in Manhattans SoHo neighbourhood. Owner Aby Rosen curated the 211-room hotels impressive art collection, which starts on the outside with one wall sporting a huge mural created by emerging artists from the local Groundswell Group under the supervision of Jeff Koons. Inside reception, guests are greeted by one of Alexander Calders iconic mobiles, Untitled 1977. Created with the help of Danish design firm Space Copenhagen, the look is Scandi-chic with metal, wood, felted wool and velvet dominating the interiors and public spaces. Chef, Daniel Rose, will be manning the stoves of the hotels Le Coucou Restaurant when it opens in May.

11 Howard, 11 Howard Street (001 212 235 1111; designhotels.com). Doubles from $220, room-only.

Renaissance Midtown New York

Renaissance Midtown New York

Midtown Manhattans garment district has been enjoying something of a renaissance so its fitting that the latest outpost of Marriott's niche brand opened in the neighbourhood in March. It has a decidedly modernist feel; on entering the 348-room hotels entrance, guests are greeted with an interactive digital tapestry triggered by human movement. The fifth floor also features a huge terrace with views of the forest of skyscrapers and a retractable roof for when the mercury starts to rise.

Renaissance Midtown, 218 West 35th Street (001 212 239 0014; renhotels.com). Doubles from $300, room only.

Boro Hotel's cafe

Boro Hotel Long Island City

Its not just the wide-angle views of Manhattan that appeal at the Boro Hotel, which opened last year in the intriguingly named Dutch Kills neighbourhood of Long Island City. This is one of New Yorks most hotly tipped micro 'hoods and its a short hop across the East River to Midtown Manhattan. The look here is evolved industrial chic with concrete, pale white oak wooden floors, steel windows and collaborations with a number of leading designers such as Jasper Morrison. The theme continues throughout the 108 rooms - the ones to book are the west facing Manhattan View Rooms.

Boro Hotel, 38-28 27th Street, Long Island City (001 718 433 1375; borohotel.com). Doubles from $299, room only.

A guestroom at 1 Hotel Central Park

1 Hotel Central Park

Its a case of bringing the outside in at the 1 Hotel, which couldnt be better placed for springtime strolls in Central Park. This self-styled, environmentally-conscious hotel opened last year one block from Manhattans verdant green lung. Outside theres three-story living wall of potted English Ivy on the outside, while reclaimed wood, exposed brick walls, natural materials, hemp mattresses and soft, neutral hues set the tone for the decor this nature-centric 229-room hotel. Last month, the top floor, two-bedroom Greenhouse Suite was unveiled with its panoramic views of the park. Guests also get a tree planted in their honour. The ground floor Jams restaurant is headed up by James Beard award-winner, Jonathan Waxman, an exponent of seasonal, Californian cuisine and theres a lobby farm stand selling seasonal snacks, fruit and treats. Next up is the 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge later this year.

1 Hotel Central Park, 1414 Avenue of the Americas (001 212 703 2001; 1hotels.com). Doubles from $499, room only.

The Beekman

The Beekman, Lower Manhattan

One of Manhattans most hotly anticipated hotels, The Beekman, will finally be opening its doors in June. Set in Lower Manhattan near One World Trade Center, the distinctive, turreted, Queen Anne-style landmark building dates from 1881 with a soaring, nine-storey internal atrium. Part of the Thomson Hotels stable, its 287 rooms and public spaces have been done by the go-to designer of the moment, London-based, Martin Brudnizki. Catering will be taken care of by two of Manhattans hospitality heavyweights; Tom Colicchio and Keith McNally, which will only reinforce is its status as the islands hottest new arrival.

The Beekman, A Thomson Hotel, 5 Beekman Street (001 855 523 3562; thebeekman.com). Doubles from $619, room only.
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I am in the strange position of knowing that I am on the Kill List. I know this because I have been told, and I know because I have been targeted for death over and over again. Four times missiles have been fired at me. I am extraordinarily fortunate to be alive.

I dont want to end up a Bugsplat  the ugly word that is used for what remains of a human being after being blown up by a Hellfire missile fired from a Predator drone. More importantly, I dont want my family to become victims, or even to live with the droning engines overhead, knowing that at any moment they could be vaporized.

I am in England this week because I decided that if Westerners wanted to kill me without bothering to come to speak with me first, perhaps I should come to speak to them instead. Ill tell my story so that you can judge for yourselves whether I am the kind of person you want to be murdered.

I am from Waziristan, the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan. I am one of the leaders of the North Waziristan Peace Committee (NWPC), which is a body of local Maliks (or community leaders) that is devoted to trying to keep the peace in our region. We are sanctioned by the Pakistan government, and our main mission is to try to prevent violence between the local Taliban and the authorities.

In January 2010, I lent my vehicle to my nephew, Salimullah, to drive to Deegan for an oil change and to have one of the tires checked. Rumours had surfaced that drones were targeting particular vehicles, and tracking particular phone signals. The sky was clear and there were drones circling overhead.

Artists in Pakistan target drones with giant posters of child victims Show all 5 1 /5 Artists in Pakistan target drones with giant posters of child victims Artists in Pakistan target drones with giant posters of child victims Pakistan A poster bearing the image of a Pakistani girl whose parents, lawyers say, were killed in a drone strike, lies in a field at an undisclosed location in the northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. A group of artists in Pakistan are hoping to generate "empathy" among US drone operators by placing giant posters of children in the country's troubled tribal regions Artists in Pakistan target drones with giant posters of child victims Pakistan Crowd gather next to the poster, which targets predator drone operators in Pakistan Artists in Pakistan target drones with giant posters of child victims Pakistan The portrait of the nameless child was released with the hashtag: #hashNotABugSplat Artists in Pakistan target drones with giant posters of child victims Pakistan In military slang predator drone operators refer to victims as 'bug splats' because when you view the bodies from a grainy video they appear to look like crushed insects Artists in Pakistan target drones with giant posters of child victims Pakistan Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a heavily bombed area home to many drone attacks; the artists hope that the image of the young girl might make operators think twice

As Salimullah conversed with the mechanic, a second vehicle pulled up next to mine. There were four men inside, just local chromite miners. A missile destroyed both vehicles, killed all four men, and seriously injured Salimullah, who spent the next 31 days in hospital.

Upon reflection, because the drones target the vehicles of people they want to kill in Waziristan, I was worried that they were aiming for me.

The next attack came on 3 September 2010. That day, I was driving a red Toyota Hilux Surf SUV to a Jirga, a community meeting of elders. Another red vehicle, almost identical to mine, was some 40 meters behind. When we reached Khader Khel, a missile blew up the other vehicle, killing all four occupants. I sped away, with flames and debris in my rear view mirror.

Initially I thought the vehicle behind was perhaps being used by militants, and I just happened to be nearby. But I learned later the casualties were four local laborers from the Mada Khel tribe, none of whom had any ties to militant groups. Now it seemed more likely that I was the target.

The third drone strike came on 6 October 2010. My friend Salim Khan invited me to dinner. I used my phone to call Salim to announce my arrival, and just before I got there a missile struck, instantly killing three people, including my cousin, Kaleem Ullah, a married man with children, and a mentally handicapped man. Again, none of the casualties were involved in extremism.

Now I knew for certain it was me they were after.

US authorises drone attacks

Five months later, on 27 March 2011, an American missile targeted a Jirga, where local Maliks  all friends and associates of mine  were working to resolve a local dispute and bring peace. Some 40 civilians died that day, all innocent, and some of them fellow members of the NWPC. I was early to the scene of this horror.

Like others that day, I said some things I regret. I was angry, and I said we would get our revenge. But, in truth, how would we ever do such a thing? Our true frustration was that we  the elders of our villages  are now powerless to protect our people.

I have been warned that Americans and their allies had me and others from the Peace Committee on their Kill List. I cannot name my sources, as they would find themselves targeted for trying to save my life. But it leaves me in no doubt that I am one of the hunted.

I soon began to park any vehicle far from my destination, to avoid making it a target. My friends began to decline my invitations, afraid that dinner might be interrupted by a missile.

I took to the habit of sleeping under the trees, well above my home, to avoid acting as a magnet of death for my whole family. But one night my youngest son, Hilal (then aged six), followed me out to the mountainside. He said that he, too, feared the droning engines at night. I tried to comfort him. I said that drones wouldnt target children, but Hilal refused to believe me. He said that missiles had often killed children. It was then that I knew that I could not let them go on living like this.

I know the Americans think me an opponent of their drone wars. They are right; I am. Singling out people to assassinate, and killing nine of our innocent children for each person they target, is a crime of unspeakable proportions. Their policy is as foolish as it is criminal, as it radicalises the very people we are trying to calm down.

I am aware that the Americans and their allies think the Peace Committee is a front, and that we are merely creating a safe space for the Pakistan Taliban. To this I say: you are wrong. You have never been to Waziristan, so how would you know?

The mantra that the West should not negotiate with terrorists is naive. There has hardly ever been a time when terrorists have been brought back into the fold of society without negotiation. Remember the IRA; once they tried to blow up your prime minister, and now they are in parliament. It is always better to talk than to kill.

I have travelled half way across the world because I want to resolve this dispute the way you teach: by using the law and the courts, not guns and explosives.

Ask me any question you wish, but judge me fairly  and please stop terrorizing my wife and children. And take me off that Kill List.

Malik Jalal is represented by the charity Reprieve
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David Miliband says Brexit would be "an act of arson on the international order". Dare I mention Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya? We have also long ignored Saudi Arabia's promotion of Wahhabism and its playing of the destructive sectarian card against 'apostate' Shiites.

Then there is Bahrain, which has the distinction of repressing its majority Shiite citizenry and hosting the US Navy 5th Fleet. Worse still, our desert kingdom ally Saudi Arabia together with Nato member Turkey were allowed to facilitate the emergence of Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. The West bizarrely gave priority to toppling Syria's secular regime. The Saudis have now embarked upon a war of aggression against Yemen's Shiite Houthis, bombing the country back to the Stone Age. We diplomatically approve and supply munitions.

Needless to say, the resulting turmoil has enabled the sworn enemies of the Houthis, al-Qaeda and Isis, to consolidate their foothold in Yemen. As for Ukraine, the west's unwillingness to acknowledge that it was a classic example of a young state that didn't naturally command the allegiance of all its peoples has contributed to it becoming a failed state. EU taxpayers will be dragooned into rescuing Ukraine's economy.

Nothing less than a complete overhaul of western foreign policy will do. Brexit would kick-start the process.

Yugo Kovach

Winterborne Houghton, Dorset

We have heard people like John Major, David Miliband and William Haig give informed, unemotional and dispassionate opinion on the pros of remaining in the European Union. When will the BBC broadcast similar comments from those who wish this country to leave, who also do not have a personal axe to grind? Perhaps then we might be able to clearly hear a debate between knowledgeable people to help us make up our minds on this vital subject?

Geoff Martin

Haywards Heath

I usually read the letters page with a certain wry amusement at some of the views expressed that disagree with my own. However, yesterdays letters page filled me with a certain dread that the EU referendum result might well hinge on votes being cast because people are uninformed on the real issues involved.

It included Mr Turner of Norfolk who raised some very real issues that people should think about, Mr Arnott of Sheffield who would appear to be in favour of Brexit but felt this would be the only chance for that eventuality. In fact, a vote to leave is final while a vote to Remain would not shut up the eurosceptics, who would be campaigning for another referendum as soon as they lost this one (see Scotland).

Ms Bostock of Oxford seems to have little idea of what overseas aid actually achieves and Mr Haskell of Cardigan seeks to recruit Winston Churchill to his cause. I would remind him that it was Mr Churchill who once proposed a complete political union between Britain and France.

The greatest service The Independent can serve over the next few months is to do what it does best: present both sides of the argument, allow representatives from all sides to have their say and, hopefully, get them to answer the points from the other side without simply screaming "scaremongering". You have proved in the past, by allowing Nigel Farage a column, that some politicians are capable of debunking their arguments themselves.

Bill Collett

Wendover

Independent commission could scrutinise our tax affairs

Entertaining reading as it might be, the tax returns of a few selected politicians isn't the answer to the moral issues that have come to the fore in relation to tax avoidance rules. What we need is a national debate lead by an independent commission about the type of tax system we want and feel is correct for our age. For example, do we want the American-style approach that counts all income, no matter where it is earned, to be taxed here in the UK? Do we want an annual limit of both earned and unearned income that a person can use as tax deductible?

That is going to be far more useful and productive in establishing a taxation system that is both fairer and funds public services than understanding Boris Johnson and George Osbornes dividends and royalties.

Lord Paul Scriven

Sheffield

I would agree to the publication of the tax return of every citizen if this were balanced by the publication of the amount received by every recipient of a state benefit. As a result of such disclosures, envy and spite  two national pastimes, it would seem, judging by the events of the past week  could permeate every level of society.

Fair enough? I can almost hear the howls of rage about the gross invasion of privacy. A decent society needs wealth creators to provide the safety net to protect the unfortunate. Unless we are going be required to elect politicians on the basis of mediocrity in all matters, we need to expect that some people are better wealth creators than others. As long as they obey all relevant laws, they should not be subjected to the aforementioned envy and spite.

Katherine Scholfield

London, W8

The idea that everything is hokey dokey now that a few of our politicians have published their tax returns appears to have been uncritically accepted by our commentariat. Our tax returns only show the amount we have declared as earnings to HMRC. Income generated on the black economy, illegally or in offshore trusts and bank accounts, will not appear on declared income.

One of the reasons for offshore is primarily to hide earnings from the taxman. The City of London will be rubbing its hands with glee, as they continue to play chess whilst our politicians and media play to the rules of draughts.

Sean ODonoghue

Hay-on-Wye

Surely what should be greatly reduced is inheritance, not the tax on it. It's OK for a spouse or dependent children to not have to be evicted after a death. But the offspring of a well off family would probably have had a decent up-bringing and education. They stand a better-than-average chance of having good jobs. Why, in adulthood should they get the loot as well?

A modest bequest may be morally acceptable, but allowing great wealth to be acquired because of an accident of birth is one of the reasons that the poor stay poor. Goods don't have to become the possession of the state; they could be bequeathed to a good cause of the testator's choice, thus enabling our society to become less inequitable.

Susan Alexander

Frampton Cotterell

Yesterday, the MP Dennis Skinner  one of the few left who could be called "Left"  was asked by the Speaker Tory Bercow to withdraw "the word starting with d and ending with y" which he used to describe Cameron ("dodgy Dave"). How childish is it, firstly, that Bercow didn't fully enunciate the word? Everybody with an interest in politics knows what Mr Skinner said. And what is it all but dodgy?

It's the perfect adjective. I can think of worse for Cameron and all those Tory MPs who voted in favour of cutting that disability benefit by 30 a week. "Sociopath" would be one of them.

Terry Maunder

Kirkstall

Sir Alan Duncan claimed we risk seeing a House of Commons which is stuffed full of low achievers. Judged by its abysmal performance, amounting sometimes to abject stupidity, I thought it was already overflowing with low achievers.

Peter Moyes

Brightlingsea, Essex

The drugs dont work

Your article on the amount of money spent by the NHS on prescriptions for over-the-counter drugs and the responses of outrage from the TaxPayers Alliance et al rather misses the point. While I am very sympathetic to GPs offering solace to the suffering of their patients as best they can, the callously economic argument is that a GPs time costs around 3. 80 per minute. If a GP can get a mildly ill person out the door a minute or two sooner by giving them a prescription for an over-the-counter drug then this is a cost saving. The real problem with drugs is not that they are expensive, but that they are cheap  relative, that is, to human contact therapies, a problem which is particularly marked in the mental health field.

Mark Tuckett

Bideford, Devon

To write to The Independent, please email letters@independent.co.uk. Letters may be edited before publication
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Kevin Dawes was coming out of a fast-food cafe in Misrata with a takeaway when I bumped into him. He was full of excitement over the future of Libya and the part he would play in it. The problem, he mused, was choosing between his various expertise as a combat medic, a sniper or a journalist.

This was in October 2011. I had just left a warehouse where the bodies of Muammar Gaddafi and his son, Mutassim, both tortured and killed after being captured by rebels, were on display for the public with a long queue, including families with children, patiently waiting to view the bodies.

The sudden appearance of Dawes, however, was startling and also somewhat alarming even at a time of such turbulence. The young Korean-American had left Misrata in something of a hurry just a few months previously after being accused by rebel fighters of being a spy. The accusation of spying was wrong. But it had been fuelled by the fact that many of Dawes claims  from being able to carry out emergency surgery to being a marksman and also a seasoned photojournalist  had come into doubt from members of the media and opposition fighters, after he had attempted to perform these skills in the field.

Dawes is in the news now because he has just been freed by Bashar al-Assads regime in Damascus. The 33-year-old from California has been missing for four years after going into Syria from Turkey. The release came following an appeal, it is said, from Barack Obama to Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin had interceded with its Syrian allies; Dawes had been flown to Moscow in a Russian military aircraft and handed over to American officials.

Around 30 journalists remain missing in the chaos of Syrias bloody civil war, among them at least six foreigners, Austin Tice, an American freelance journalist and a former US Marine, who is believed to be held by the regime or one of its allied militias, and John Cantlie, the British freelance photojournalist who is a captive of Isis, as, it is thought, are a Japanese and three Spaniards.

Tice, too, has been missing for around four years. An opposition activist who helped me to get to Syria in 2012 to cover the battle for Aleppo had also organised Tices crossing of the border. The 31-year-old Tice wanted to be the first Western journalist to go into Damascus with rebel forces and had headed that way, keeping in touch with the activist and urging him to help to get him towards the Syrian capital. The activist urged caution, telling Tice that he would be in added danger if captured as a former member of the US military.

Dawes had asked the same activist in the Turkish border town of Antakya to help him; but the activist refused because, he said, he thought Dawes would turn out to be a problem. Tice disappeared. A video of him appeared soon afterwards, blindfolded, supposedly the captive of Islamists, but there were questions about the veracity of the footage, it appeared to have been planted by the regime or its supporters. Then came the news that Dawes was also in Syria.

Recommended Read more If you closed your eyes it was Gladstone against Disraeli again

There was little surprise at the news that he had gone missing, and foreboding that he may talk himself into greater trouble than he was in already. Dawes, too, wanted to be famous as a journalist. The author James Harkin, who had written extensively about Syria, found a posting that appeared to be by him on a website, called somethingawful.com, saying: Guess where Im going to be on the 16th! Its Misrata, Libya. Say it with me people, Pulitzer motherf****** prize.

Dawes also revealed, in another posting, how he embarked on acquiring medical knowledge, showing a photo of himself with a medical drip on his arm. I learned how to do this by ordering medical supplies online and watching self-IV tutorial on YouTube. The Internet rocks!" he declared. In Turkish border towns he allegedly told some people that he was a qualified doctor who was on a mission to help the sick and the injured in Syria.

Dawes, it is being suggested, was suffering from severe delusions, convinced that his grandmother was a CIA agent; that the CIA had sterilised him but, at the same time, wanted to use him in a specialist CIA stud-farm. He had been brainwashed, he had come to believe, with implanted computer chips. He had gone to the Russian embassy in Washington with these revelations. But, according to his internet post they told me to f*** off at the gate.

Palmyra recaptured by Syrian government forces Show all 10 1 /10 Palmyra recaptured by Syrian government forces Palmyra recaptured by Syrian government forces Palmyra recaptured by Syrian pro-government forces Graffiti on the ancient stones reads in Arabic Shooting without the permission of the chief is prohibited Getty Palmyra recaptured by Syrian government forces Palmyra recaptured by Syrian pro-government forces Damaged artefacts lay inside the museum of the historic city of Palmyra Reuters Palmyra recaptured by Syrian government forces Palmyra recaptured by Syrian pro-government forces Syrian pro-government forces rest by Palmyra Citadel as they take control of the city from the hands of Isis Getty Palmyra recaptured by Syrian government forces Palmyra recaptured by Syrian pro-government forces The UNESCO world heritage site appears surprisingly intact after its recapture from the militant group Getty Palmyra recaptured by Syrian government forces Palmyra recaptured by Syrian pro-government forces Many had feared the ancient city would be destroyed following its capture by Isis in May Getty Palmyra recaptured by Syrian government forces Palmyra recaptured by Syrian pro-government forces Smoke billows from the Palmyra Citadel as Assads forces drive the Jihadist group from the city Getty Palmyra recaptured by Syrian government forces Palmyra recaptured by Syrian pro-government forces Palmyra is one of the most important cultural centers of the world Unesco says Getty Palmyra recaptured by Syrian government forces Palmyra recaptured by Syrian pro-government forces Pro-government forces play football in the streets following the recapture of the city Getty Palmyra recaptured by Syrian government forces Palmyra recaptured by Syrian pro-government forces The extent of the destruction caused by Isis 10 month occupation of the city has yet to be fully realised Getty Palmyra recaptured by Syrian government forces Palmyra recaptured by Syrian pro-government forces The City Council of Palmyra building in ruins Reuters

The internet may make a lot of things look easy - combat surgery, war reporting. This encourages adventurers and among them are some with psychological problems. As the case of Dawes seems to show, there is little by way of a safety net to keep these people from getting in harms way.

At another level, what has happened illustrated how Washington has to turn to the Kremlin for help in Syria. The Russians are keen to play this up; foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said: Some time ago, President Barack Obama spoke to President Vladimir Putin with a personal request for assistance in the search for US citizens who could be in Syrian territory. As a result of its work it was found that one of them  Kevin Dawes  was being held under arrest for illegal entry into the country and other offences. In response to our appeal, the Syrian authorities have found it possible to show clemency and release the American on humanitarian grounds.

The Russian foreign ministry added that it hoped Dawes doesnt put himself in a similar situation again.
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What do British Muslims really think? That was the question asked in a Channel 4 survey, the conclusions of which have sparked yet another round of Muslim-bashing.

The study's lead, Trevor Phillips, declared that Britains Muslims are becoming a nation within a nation. Phillips conclusions about the hostility of British Muslims to mainstream society, their insularity and conservatism, have seized the headlines, amplifying Islamophobia and mistrust. Yet these claims are not supported by his own data.

Five months ago The Sun claimed that 20 per cent of British Muslims had sympathy for jihadis  which, it turned out, was wildly exaggerated. The newspaper went on to apologise, but the damage was done. With Channel 4s survey, history is repeating itself.

This is not a pattern restricted to any one country. Framing Muslims as the other is an international problem.

From Trumps comments that Islam hates us to the recent cover of Polish magazine wSieci, which talked of the Islamic rape of Europe, the mischaracterisation of all Muslims as enemies plays into the hands of extremist groups. At a time of heightened tensions, we need nuance and accuracy. Instead, were presented with sensationalism and bigotry  even from the quarters least expected.

Phillips poll only interviewed Muslims from areas of Britain which are at least 20 per cent Muslim, though there is no explanation of what constitutes an area  a street, an apartment building, a neighbourhood, a city? The vast majority of British Muslims, let's remember, do not live in areas that are 20 per cent Muslim.

The skewed sample is nevertheless conflated with the whole. A more honest write up of the survey would have been titled, 'What do British Muslims living in marginalised Muslim ghettoes really think?'

Most Muslims who live in predominantly homogenous neighbourhoods are of lower socioeconomic status. It is fair to ask whether years of marginalisation and impoverishment among those communities have led to suspicion of wider society and scepticism towards liberal social values.

 Britain First clashes with Muslim worshippers outside East London Mosque

Like all people, Muslims are products of their environment. If this study focused on deprived areas it is likely that these are the areas in which extremism can (and sometimes does) flourish. This disenfranchisement creates huge political risk, but that risk is not specifically to do with religion or culture; we see the same dynamic in Muslim-majority countries too. A more meaningful and useful study would compare Muslims to other Britons within similar areas of the country, or Muslims with other faith communities.

The last few years have seen a frightening rise in anti-Muslim sentiment, not only in the UK but across Europe and North America. The refugee crisis, attacks by Isis and the popularity of far right movements sceptical towards diversity, have all turned the West against its own Muslims. In the last year we have seen Islamophobic attacks in the UK rise by 60 per cent. Alternative For Germany, a right wing party, has made spectacular gains in recent elections in Germany and a large number of Americans now support a ban on Muslims.

Obama calls for new beginning between US and Muslims Show all 6 1 /6 Obama calls for new beginning between US and Muslims Obama calls for new beginning between US and Muslims Ibraheem Abu Mustafa / Reuters Obama calls for new beginning between US and Muslims Gil Cohen Magen / Reuters Obama calls for new beginning between US and Muslims REUTERS/Larry Downing Obama calls for new beginning between US and Muslims Reuters Obama calls for new beginning between US and Muslims Tarek Mostafa / Reuters Obama calls for new beginning between US and Muslims Getty Images

It is into this environment that Channel 4 irresponsibly released its deeply flawed study. To claim, without sufficient evidence, that British Muslims are a separate nation within a nation  that they are not, or do not perceive themselves to be British  is to suggest that Islam and the West are at odds.

This is not to deny legitimate concern about extreme levels of social conservatism, anti-Semitism or alienation from mainstream society within some western Muslim communities. But the consistent misrepresentation of European and North American Muslims is likely to increase a worrying trust deficit and the clash of civilisations that Isis and right-wing xenophobes are keen to promote.

Averting the dangerous mistrust between religious communities must be one of the key objectives of our time. It is time for accurate research, not witch hunts or trials by media.

Maha Akeel is Director of the Information at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The OIC Heads of State summit takes place in Istanbul this week
Michael O'Leary insists that the good aspects of Britain's EU membership "far outweigh the bad"

The UK must remain in the EU to reduce the number of strikes by air traffic controllers (ATC) on the continent, Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has said.

He insisted that the good aspects of Britain's EU membership - such as the single market - "far outweigh the bad".

Speaking at a press conference at Ryanair's Dublin headquarters, Mr O'Leary said: "The only way to reform the bad - such as French ATC strikes, such as that kind of shambles - is to keep Britain in Europe working with some of the more sensible countries like the Italians, the eastern European countries.

"(We must) deal with some of the idiotic members of the European Union, for instance the French, who believe that nobody should work and the Germans will pay for everybody."

Hundreds of flights across Europe were disrupted when French ATC went on strike in the days building up to Easter. Mr O'Leary said it was the 43rd such action since 2009 and called for ATC strikes to be banned.

He predicted that opponents of Brexit will have to campaign "very hard" in the build-up to the June 23 vote.

"I think it's vital for the UK economy that the UK stays in," he said.

"The more it looks like (the campaign to remain) will lose, the more companies, big employers, big foreign investors in the UK like Ryanair, will campaign much harder to stay in.

"A bit like the Scottish independence referendum last year. In the last couple of days where it looked like it might be lost, companies suddenly woke up and said, 'listen, we're moving to London if you guys vote for independence'."

Mr O'Leary added that the airline will invest less money in Britain if voters back Brexit.
Europe's largest airline Ryanair has announced plans to simplify its baggage fees - but the move means some prices may rise by up to 50%.

Michael O'Leary, chief executive of the Dublin-based carrier, said the number of booking options for bags will be slashed from 108 to just six.

The no-frills airline currently charges different fees for each checked-in bag depending on whether it weighs up to 15kg or 20kg, whether it is the passenger's first or second bag, and whether the flight is in high or low season.

Mr O'Leary said a flat fee of "probably 30" will be introduced for bags.

This would represent a 50% increase on the existing 20 online price of checking in a 15kg bag during the low season.

It currently costs 40 to put a 20kg case in the hold during the high season.

The "vast majority" of passengers who check bags in do so in the high season, meaning they will pay a lower price, Mr O'Leary said.

He told reporters that the proportion of travellers checking in bags rises to 30-35% during the summer and falls to as low as 5% in November.

The Ryanair boss denied that the change in policy was an acknowledgement that the airline has previously unfairly penalised families who check in bags for their summer holidays.

"Families, like everybody else, are travelling with less checked bags," Mr O'Leary said.

"The purpose of the bag fee was never to penalise people. It was to incentivise people to travel with less checked bags."

Passengers will still have to pay higher baggage fees for longer flights, such as London to the Canary Islands, and for some domestic flights in countries such as Spain and Italy.

The announcement was made as Ryanair unveiled its plans for the third year of its customer experience improvement programme, Always Getting Better.

The measures include enhancing its mobile app, enabling passengers to leave feedback on flights, and introducing a new fare to give extra benefits to leisure passengers.

Mr O'Leary said the initiative has resulted in a "fundamental change" to the way Ryanair treats customers.

"My approach was, you're getting the lowest fare, an on-time flight, we won't cancel and we won't lose your bags. Now shut up, sit down and don't complain," he explained.

"That's been transformed."
Dairygold boss Jim Woulfe warned that the milk price crisis may get worse before it gets better.

Mr Woulfe (pictured) said that co-ops like Dairygold will continue to underpin prices, offer extended credit to suppliers, as well as other vital supports given during the 27 month price crisis currently gripping the dairy sector.

The Limerick executive pointed out that the global market milk price is a lot lower than the 24c/l currently being paid by Irish co-ops and dairies.

But he warned that one of the key positives for Irish dairy exports - the strength of sterling - is now also beginning to weaken amid fears of a possible Brexit.

"There are a lot of challenges over the next couple of months," he said speaking at a Mallow Development Partnership event. "There is more uncertainty. We have to see a curtailment of supply. I do think this is a very long (price) cycle because it is running since about February 2014.

"The forecasters are saying we are getting some corrections in some geographic areas but it looks like the end of 2016 or even into 2017 before we get the dynamics needed to get more strength into the market."

The recent Rabobank dairy outlook also highlighted co-ops would need to continue to support prices or they would weaken further. It forecast an upward pressure on prices in 2017, with the latest Global Dairy Trade auction showing some optimism with a 2.1pc rise in dairy products.

Mr Woulfe said he also expected the EU to take further action to help struggling dairy farmers. "I believe more can be done," he said. "I believe the EU Commission need to deal with this on a month-by-month basis. We are not out of this yet. The 24c/l that is being mentioned is well, well above what the real market return is right now."

He said there had been good interest in their fixed price scheme, which allows farmers to fix up to 15pc of their 2015 supply.

He said they were also

extending credit to members. "We have supported milk prices in 2015 to a significant degree. The nature of a co-op is that you use your balance sheet in support of your members at times of crisis," he said.

Corrections

"We will do everything in our power to do that. But, at the same time, we must have a business at the end of this process so we cannot be reckless in doing it."

"There are some corrections yet to come and that is regrettable. We are ever so conscious of the person milking the cow who owns the business," he said.

Despite the milk price crisis, supplies have continued to rise with Glanbia recording a 22pc rise in milk intake in the first 12 months without quota, Kerry and the west Cork co-ops were up over 11pc while Arrabawn has seen supplies up 25pc so far this year.

Dairygold saw its 3,000 milk producers deliver 18.6pc more in 2015, equivalent to 183 million litres. This year will see milk production expansion of 10.6pc.

A further 4.5pc expansion is predicted for 2017. "There are a lot of negatives out there and it is a global issue. That is first and foremost the issue - whether you are in New Zealand, Australia, the US, Asia or Europe, there is a major milk challenge there. What is out of kilter is that supply is ahead of demand right now."

He pointed out 30pc of Irish exports were destined for economies dependent on oil. "Their revenues and their ability to buy have been weakened significantly," he said.

"Then you have the whole situation of China and the recession. They have been such a big player in the period of 2011-2014 but they have eased off."

"We have had the geo-political events in the Ukraine, Crimea and then the Russian (dairy) ban. Coupled with all of that, we have strong grain markets and surplus grain. That is bringing about the ability to produce milk cheap particularly in the US. So there are a lot of dynamics at play."

He said the sterling had been a positive for Irish dairy farmers but it was now getting weaker and deteriorating.
Concerns have been raised over the impact on the country's climate change strategy from a 30pc slump in forestry planting rates.

A report from the Forest Service shows 337ha of new forests have been established at a cost of 1.2m so far this year, down 30pc on the same period last year.

There were 246 applications approved to plant 1,975ha, a drop of 18pc on this time last year.

The IFA's farm forestry chair Michael Fleming said the fall was worrying with the emphasis on afforestation in the climate change strategy.

He pointed out the Forestry Programme 2014-2020 aims to establish 6,600ha in 2016.

However, based on the figures for February it could drop to "less than 4,500ha this year if the trend continues."

"The continuing decline in the afforestation programme is a worrying development especially considering the strong recognition in the Paris Agreement of the role of forests as sinks in mitigating climate change," Mr Fleming said.

He said an 8pc cut to forest premium and ongoing mapping issues have led to insecurity about forest premiums.

Mr Fleming said key issues that need to be addressed in clude the reduction in productive forest area due to environmental requirements and also restrictions on the land eligible under the scheme.

Minister of State, Tom Hayes, said 19.76m in annual tax-free forestry premiums will be issued in the coming days.

He said the total value of forestry premium paid so far this year reaches almost 55m, with 75m to be paid by year end. An annual forestry premium of up to 635/ha for 15 years is available.
Plummeting dairy prices have wiped more than 1bn from the rural economy, as farm families feel the pressure of the fallout from the end of milk quotas.

It was touted as a major opportunity for dairy farmers when, on March 31, 2015, the quotas that had limited production for 30 years and curtailed the country's milk pool came to an end.

Yet a year into the new dairy era, many farmers are facing major cash-flow worries during the busy springtime, as the milk price has slumped almost 40pc from the highs of 2014.

The 'wipe-out' has been described as worse than the last major trough that hit in 2009 and is causing major concern across the EU's dairy industry.

The slump in milk prices has wiped more than 1bn from the rural economy, where agriculture has been touted as a fail-safe in recent years in securing jobs during the downturn.

The ICMSA (Irish Creamery Milk Supplier Association), which represents dairy farmers, has calculated that a 37pc slump in milk prices since 2014 shrank milk cheques by 627m during 2015 and in 2016, as low prices continue.

If an economic multiplier of 1.7 is applied, this brings it to just over 1bn, taking into account the wider impact on the economy.

The slump comes as the European Commission accepted a French proposal to reduce the milk supply or effectively move towards voluntary quotas by paying farmers to stop producing milk.

However, Ireland has ruled out this move, as our dairy farmers have sent Ireland to the top of Europe's milk league table with growth of 13pc.

In the first 12 months without quotas, the volume of milk going through Glanbia's processing facilities rose by 22pc, while supplies surged by 20pc at Arrabawn.

Rabobank dairy analyst Kevin Bellamy said the situation remained "pretty tough", yet there were signs of life in the world market, with China returning to purchasing.

He said: "I'm not sure I'd use such emotive language as 'tsunamis' of milk but there is a lot of milk coming onto the world market." He explained that dairy prices had dropped as the price of oil price fell, the world economy slowed and people were not consuming as much dairy.

Both Bank of Ireland and AIB have said there are no major signs so far of cash-flow difficulties on Irish farms, yet the impact may be felt in the coming months as farmers face spring bills and lower milk cheques.

Cork agri-consultant Mike Brady said the extent of the increase in production across Europe since the ending of quotas had not been foreseen.

"The whole thing is still driving on," he said. "Quotas are history now, off the agenda."

He said expansion was continuing to happen, with the Government also offering grants towards farmers for infrastructure and other items.

"There is opportunity in the dairy industry and it still has potential," he stressed, adding that being an efficient farmer with tightly controlled costs was key.

"The low milk prices can't be a long-term thing," he said, pointing to troughs in the past.

He added: "Those that are committed will be there for the long term, the basics are still right."

John Comer, president of the ICMSA, said it had been a "gruelling" time for the country's 17,500 dairy farmers, with the current average base price of 24c per litre now below the cost of production.
It appears that the long-running Mercosur negotiations have shifted up a gear.

So too have the very real concerns over the possibility of cheaper South American beef sitting on shop shelves throughout the European Union.

This would have a serious impact and lead to automatic displacement of European and Irish beef on shelves. With more than 90pc of Irish beef exported to Europe, Ireland will be hit first and hardest, as we are often second choice after domestic product in vital markets like the UK, France and Germany.

The figures involved have really set off the alarm bells. It emerged in recent days that the draft EU offer to the South American countries is based on a tariff rate quota of 78,000t of beef, including 39,000t of high-value cuts at a hugely discounted tariff rate of 7.5pc.

It would mean a significant amount of beef coming onto the European markets at a time when the markets are, at best, shaky.

It is not the first time that a deal with the Mercosur countries - including agri-powerhouse Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Paraguay and Uruguay - has been on the table.

Around eight years ago this type of deal was also up for discussion, but a number of factors came into play, with Brazil moving to concentrate on other markets such as Asia and Russia.

However, a 78,000t deal with low tariffs may be incentive enough for the South American exporters to put more efforts into negotiating EU regulatory hurdles this time around.

So after years of on-off discussions, why the big push for it now?

For a start, Argentina has made it clear it's open for business after over a decade of protectionist policies. Could it also be that the EU is trying to send out a subtle signal that it is serious about closing the TTIP deal with the US?

But European markets have changed since the last time that Mercosur talks were properly on the table, with beef consumption down by around 500,000t.

It is clear the European market is less capable of absorbing additional imports now than it would have been before.

Last year around 220,000t of beef came in from the four Mercosur countries under existing quota arrangements, with Brazil leading the way.

This deal is questionable as there is little to gain on the European agri-food side.

It is very much about the bigger picture and the sale of industrial services and electronic goods to South America.

Overall it may be under the remit of the Trade Commissioner, but now is the time for Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan to ensure the beef industry is not sacrificed.

The Government must also not let the political battle on home turf interfere with efforts to protect our multi-billion euro beef sector.
Tighter cattle supplies are expected at the factory gates over the next few months as the poor weather takes a toll, according to a beef expert.

Bord Bia analyst Joe Burke pointed to good growing conditions last year playing a part in the high numbers of cattle being slaughtered last autumn.

"There are likely to be fewer cattle available for the next two to three months," said Mr Burke who was addressing farmers at a livestock seminar organised by Quinns in Co Wicklow.

"On the cattle supply side it is likely the numbers will be that bit lighter and that is going to contribute to a bit more competition among the beef plants for the available supply."

However, he pointed out an additional 60,000 to 80,000 head of cattle were expected to be slaughtered this year - with a rise of 16,000 so far.

Last year live exports fell by 25,000 to 178,000hd with both higher prices in Ireland making it uncompetitive and the impact of the loss of the important Libyan market.

Mr Burke pointed out the Egyptian market had reopened in recent weeks, which presented opportunities but Irish prices were not currently at a level to make the exports viable.

"But you'd be optimistic that it will keep a floor on the market and exporters will be looking at it as a viable option later on in the year perhaps when cattle numbers are higher and maybe if cattle prices decline somewhat," he said.

However, he signalled that the recently opened market in Turkey would be a "strong customer" and able to "pay high prices", however, it was for a defined category of stock including beef breeds under 12 months and under 300kg.

"Some of the exports have been strong for the likes of the calf markets, with exports to Spain up 16pc, exports to Netherlands back slightly, but you would be optimistic," he said.

Mr Burke said it was a difficult time of year for exporting weanlings or store cattle as Irish buyers were strong. "Store buyers and buyers of young light cattle are particularly optimistic as indeed was the case last year as well too," he said.

He also highlighted the emergence of Poland as a "major player" in beef exports.
A British Airways A380 flies over Dublins River Liffey during the FlightFest air show, backed by the IAA, in 2013

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) increased the dividend it paid to the State by 13.7pc - to 7.43m - after a jump in operating profits last year.

The IAA, which is responsible for managing air traffic in Irish-controlled airspace, said operating profits rose 13.2pc to 33.6m, on a turnover of 183.4m.

The dividend was equivalent to 30pc of its pre-tax profits.

Chief executive Eamonn Brennan said he was "very pleased" with the results. "Investments in technology and our continuing cost containment programme, helped generate the improved performance.

"At the same time, traffic at Irish State airports and through Irish controlled airspace increased by 5.6pc and we safely managed just over 1 million flights last year," he said.

The IAA generates revenue from charging airlines and said it receives no funding from the Government.

The body is also responsible for the safety regulation of the Irish civil aviation industry, and aeronautical communications on the North Atlantic.
Chat show host and comedian Graham Norton remains Ireland's best- paid broadcaster, earning 2.52m (3.14m) last year.

The popular BBC presenter is in a league of his own as the 2.5m is a 13.5pc jump on the 2.2m Norton received in presenter and production fees in 2014.

Norton's show is the first port of call for Hollywood A-listers promoting their movies in the UK.

Over the next few weeks, Norton is to interview Meryl Streep, Hugh Grant and Joan Collins.

Mr Norton was also owed 585,780 by production firm So Television Ltd at the end of last July.

The sums dwarf the fees paid to RTE's top earners with the most recent figures showing that Ryan Tubridy is the best-paid, with 495,000 a year.

Norton (53) clocks up just under 2,000 in fees and royalties for every minute he is presenting his top-rated Graham Norton show.

The BBC1 show is the main earner for So Television Ltd and new figures lodged with Companies House show that the firm's pre-tax profits fell from 2m to 1.97m in the 12 months to the end of last July.

This followed revenues increasing slightly from 11.56m to 11.57m.

The growing popularity of Norton's Show overseas led to the increase in revenues last year as income from 'rest of world' revenue rose from 2.7m to 3.35m.
The Government will find out next week if it's been successful in finally thwarting an effort by the European Commission to force Ireland to pay 10m that Brussels claims was given in the form of illegal state aid to the now Russian-owed Aughinish Alumina facility in Co Limerick.

The Aughinish site is the largest alumina refinery in Europe and produces a powder that is used to make aluminium. The bulk of the bauxite it processes is shipped to the factory from Guinea in west Africa, with the remainder sourced from Brazil.

The Aughinish Alumina plant was solely owned by Swiss commodities giant Glencore between 2002 and 2004 when the plant availed of disputed tax breaks.

Glencore later merged its alumina assets with Russia's Rusal.

In 2005, the European Commission ruled that Aughinish Alumina had received 10m of illegal tax breaks during the period under review.

The Commission ordered the Government to recoup the money from Aughinish Alumina.

The Government had exempted the facility from paying excise duty on mineral oil it uses.

The Government appealed the Commission's finding to the European General Court in Luxembourg, which in 2007 overturned the Commission's order.

The Commission also said at the time that it would not seek to have all the State aid provided to Aughinish Alumina between 1983 and 2005 repaid. That could have totalled as much as 100m.

The European Commission then appealed the General Court's 2007 finding to the higher court, the European Court of Justice. It overturned the General Court's decision and sent the case back to be reheard by the General Court.

In 2012, the General Court again annulled the Commission decision, arguing that the EU Council of Ministers had previously made decisions permitting exemptions from excise duty, and that those decisions could not be ignored by the Commission.

But in 2013, the European Court of Justice again found that the General Court had erred in is judgment and sent the case back to examine a number of remaining arguments.

That hearing took place last year and the judgment will be revealed on Friday week.

There were four main issues to consider during that hearing, including the contention by the Irish Government that the Commission erred in law in incorrectly classifying the aid secured by Aughinish Alumina.

Revenue at the Aughinish Alumina plant was flat in 2014, at $608m. A decline in operating profits to $6m was largely as a result of interest payments resulting from a $400m deal with Glencore, where Rusal agreed to provide alumina to it.
If data privacy authorities do not accept the new transatlantic agreement, it could mean that some data flows between EU and US companies would be classed as illegal under European law.

European data privacy agencies may be set to reject a treaty between the EU and the US on data privacy, a move that could cost Irish companies dearly.

According to leaked documents published by German data protection authorities, Europe's most influential privacy regulators are to say that the so-called 'Privacy Shield' accord agreed by the EU and the US falls short of standards set by the European Court of Justice.

The group of data privacy regulators said that it is "not yet in a position to confirm that the current draft adequacy decision does, indeed, ensure a level of protection that is essentially equivalent to that in the EU".

If data privacy authorities do not accept the new transatlantic agreement, it could mean that some data flows between EU and US companies would be classed as illegal under European law.

Earlier this year, US multinational companies in Ireland warned that a failure to produce an agreement would threaten jobs in Ireland.

While the data authorities can not immediately block the agreement from coming into existence, legal experts say that a subsequent challenge in the European Court Of Justice is regarded as having a good chance of succeeding.

The objection to the agreement comes after Microsoft became the first multinational firm to endorse Privacy Shield.

Last year, the European Court Of Justice nullified the long-standing EU-US 'Safe Harbour' data transfer treaty because it found that indiscriminate surveillance by US authorities of EU citizens' data contravened fundamental European rights.

The ruling was the result of a case brought by Austrian student Max Schrems against Facebook's Irish office.

Mr Schrems argued that revelations by the whistleblower Edward Snowden about US security agencies routinely spying on Europeans' emails and messages meant that the transfer of EU citizens' personal data to the US jurisdiction must not be allowed under European law.

The ruling caused a political and legal stand-off that threatened transatlantic trade and resulted in a new agreement called Privacy Shield.

The European Commission has said that the new agreement provides for more transparency and oversight for Europeans and gives "certainty" to businesses here that transatlantic data flows would not fall foul of EU law. Under the new deal, an "independent" ombudsman would be set up to deal with cases of suspected abuse by US authorities.

"This protects the fundamental human rights of Europeans and lives up to the [principles set by the] European Court of Justice," said Vera Jourova, the European Union's Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality.

"It will provide a strong and safe framework for the future of transatlantic data flows."
Legal services costs have remained stubbornly high despite the impact of the recession, according to the Government's competitiveness adviser.

And the stinging rise in insurance premiums is now being linked to the high legal costs.

Prices for legal services failed to decrease significantly following the collapse of the Celtic Tiger and have now risen to their highest level in six years, the advisory body says.

The analysis is contained in a National Competitiveness Council report for Jobs Minister Richard Bruton, released to the Irish Independent under the Freedom of Information Act.

"Throughout the recession, and relative to other professions, prices for legal services in Ireland proved extremely sticky and did not adjust downward to the degree that might have been expected, given economic circumstances," the report said.

But the claims have sparked a furious row, with the Law Society disputing the accuracy of figures cited by the council and insisting legal fees have been significantly reduced.

CSO data published in a separate council bulletin suggest that legal costs in the third quarter of last year were on a par with those seen just before the crash in 2008.

The bulletin said prices last autumn were 5.8pc higher than in 2010. In comparison, accountancy costs had slumped 8pc in the same period, it said.

Insurers claim higher-than-expected damages awards and legal costs are fuelling the 30pc rise in premiums in the past year.

Mr Bruton is seeking to cut back on the level of insurance claim cases ending up in the courts. He met with the President of the High Court, Mr Justice Peter Kelly, earlier this year in an effort to get judicial support for new compensation guidelines, known as the 'book of quantum', due this summer.

Officials said the minister hoped that if judges abided by the guidelines, claimants would be discouraged from going to court and seeking higher awards than those available through the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB).

However, the council has cautioned the new guidelines being developed by independent consultants on behalf of PIAB "could result in higher costs and ultimately higher premiums". It suggested the new book of quantum should be complemented by a benchmarking exercise, comparing Irish award levels with those in other EU countries.

Law Society director general Ken Murphy hit out at the statistics used by the council, saying the figures were based on a sample of just 16 solicitors' firms out of 2,220 in practice. The council acknowledged in the bulletin that efforts were required to expand the sample.

Mr Murphy cited a report that the Law Society commissioned from Fitzpatrick Associates, which found that gross incomes for self-employed solicitors fell by 43pc between 2007 and 2012 and employee numbers decreased by a fifth between 2008 and 2012.

"Legal fees are not driving up insurance costs," he said. "Blaming the legal profession for increases in insurance premiums is a complete red herring. Indeed, we have seen legal costs go down."

Mr Murphy said years of undercharging and under-reserving in the insurance industry were to blame for the recent hikes in insurance premiums.
Both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail have been warned that persisting with the idea of merging water bills with property tax would drive property owners away from the rental market and deplete the countrys available housing stock even further. Photo: Aidan Crawley/Bloomberg

Ireland's housing crisis will worsen if the country's two main political parties insist on merging water bills with the property tax, according to landlords.

Both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail have been warned that persisting with the idea would drive property owners away from the rental market and deplete the country's available housing stock even further. The Irish Property Owners' Association said letting a property is already too expensive and warned any prospective government to tread carefully with the idea.

"I cannot see how anybody would welcome their (tenants) costs being included," a spokesperson told the Irish Independent.

"It is a service for the tenant that the tenant is responsible for. Any other confusion makes it more difficult and costly to rent out the property. This is partially why there are less people investing in the market and more people pulling out.

"It is going to discourage investment if you have to collect something else as well. With the water charges, the user pays.

"The costs of letting have increased substantially," the spokesperson added.

Charities and NGOs are also concerned about the proposals and any potential negative impact it could have on the housing crisis.

The Peter McVerry Trust said both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael should take a considered approach to the ongoing negotiations. "Damaging the rental market could worsen the country's available housing stock," a spokesperson said.

"The rental market is already the primary source of new homeless cases and anything that could reduce rental affordability or reduce the supply of rental properties would be of concern," the homeless charity said. "We need to avoid knee-jerk political solutions.

"Instead, new measures need to fit into long-term policy logic."

A merger of water charges and the local property tax was first mooted over the weekend, as high-ranking Fine Gael and Fianna Fail officials look to find common ground on the issue of water charges before discussing the formation of a new government.

Fianna Fail wants to see Irish Water abolished and the bills suspended in favour of a national executive.

However, Fine Gael has insisted that water payments must stay as a stalemate between the country's two main political parties drags on.

Both parties are now looking at the possibility of amalgamating the water charges and the controversial property tax into one so-called 'household charge'.

Age Action Ireland has also warned that any new government needs to be aware of people's circumstances and ability to pay the new proposed charge .

Head of Advocacy for the charity, Justin Moran, said the idea of paying one bill instead of two could also be seen as more convenient.

"Combining these two charges together might be an opportunity to look at the charges again and see if there is a way of protecting people on low incomes," he said. "The concern for our people would be the rate that they will be facing.

"What we have seen in the past number of years is the income older people receive declining.

"State pensions stayed more or less the same and secondary incomes, allowances and benefits reduced," he said.
Fine Gael MEP Brian Hayes has called for builders' VAT rates to be slashed permanently to 9pc in order to ease the housing crisis. Stock Image

Fine Gael MEP Brian Hayes has called for builders' VAT rates to be slashed permanently to 9pc in order to ease the housing crisis.

His party has already mooted in talks on forming a government the idea of temporarily reducing the tax from 13.5pc for residential housing.

However, Mr Hayes has called for a more radical implementation because of "serious housing shortage problems".

The Construction Industry Federation's director general, Tom Parlon, welcomed his comments, saying that reducing VAT was "critical in stimulating the house-building sector".

However, he added: "This measure on its own won't make house-building viable in particular areas in Ireland, where the benefits of construction activity are most needed."

Mr Parlon said the Government must "look at all areas", including reducing levies and shortening the planning process.

The Simon Community said it welcomed "any proposal to alleviate the crisis" adding: "We need to cut through the red tape."
HTC has today unveiled its new flagship phone, the 5.2-inch HTC 10.

It comes at a critical time for the company. From once being the best Android phone on the market, HTC has slipped into a difficult place in recent years. Its HTC One M8 and M9 models lacked any meaningful new features or design innovation. And their cameras, while decent, did not keep up with the best that Samsung, Sony and Apple had to offer.

So can the new HTC 10 recapture our interest?

HTC has made some significant tweaks to the phones design. The edges of the gold, silver or dark grey phone are chamfered, meaning you get a kind of transition surface between the front and sides of the handset. This has the side-effect of more light-reflection from the phone.

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Otherwise, the phone -- which costs 699 sim-free or less on subsidy from 3 Ireland -- looks very similar to a cross between a Samsung and an iPhone.

There are two areas that HTC appears to have improved dramatically for this new phone. The stereo speakers on it promise to be the best on the market right now. This is partly because of a woofer-tweeter combination.

This echoes a general upscaling approach to its audio, with high resolution audio and 24-bit infrastructure.

The camera looks to have been also improved. HTC has deepened the pixel quality on offer with the 12-megapixel rear snapper, with an f1.8 lens and faster autofocus. This allows for more light into the camera which means better quality shots, particularly in dim shooting conditions.

The improvements are enough to earn it a joint-leading DXO score of 88, putting it on a par with Samsungs new S7 and slightly ahead of the iPhone 6S Plus (84). One thing that might be useful to some -- and thats still just some -- is its 4K video recording at 30 frames per second. Were getting closer to a time when 4K video is becoming a useful standard, even if were not there yet. The phone also shoots slow motion videos at 120 frames per second.

Finally on the camera score, it has a 5-megapixel f1.8 front-facing lens that uses the screen as a flash.

The phones screen is at the upper end of the market, with 564 pixels per inch and a better-than-full-HD 2K resolution.

Other things to know include a 3,000mAh battery, which should easily mean over a day of usage. Its also a USB C device, which means faster recharging. HTC says that that 30 minutes gives you a 50pc charge. Theres also a slot for an SD memory card to augment its onboard 32GB of storage.

HTC has junked some of the bloatware it used to ship on its phones, which will be a relief to those of us who wince at the proliferation of unwanted apps and software forced onto phones. But it has retained its fairly annoying Blinkfeed service and is sticking with its Zoe feature for now.

As far as subsidised models go, the handset is only available from 3 Ireland for the first six weeks.

Ill come back to this with a review when Ive had a while to really test it, but it seems that HTC may have upped its game with this new model.
Britain's economy lost steam in the first three months of the year, according to a major survey of businesses that showed domestic demand slipped for both services and manufacturing companies.

The British Chambers of Commerce's (BCC) Quarterly Economic Survey yesterday follows a string of lacklustre data since the start of the year, with industrial output declining sharply and consumer confidence fading from highs seen last year.

Most of the BCC's key gauges either stagnated or fell. While they still pointed to modest growth, the group warned of potential downside risks.

Domestic sales growth for manufacturers receded to the lowest level since the end of 2012, and for services this was the weakest since mid-2013.

While manufacturing exports picked up slightly, the BCC's gauge of services exports slipped to its lowest since the end of 2011. "From sales and orders to confidence and investment intentions, many of the business indicators we track are at a low ebb," the BCC's acting director general, Adam Marshall, said.

The BCC referred to "mounting global and domestic uncertainties" as reasons for the weaker outlook. It did not specifically mention Britain's June 23 EU referendum. Last month the BCC's previous director general resigned after he breached the group's neutral stance on the referendum, speaking in favour of Brexit.

The BCC survey of more than 8,500 companies, the largest of its kind, painted a mixed picture of Britain's job market. Pay pressures, a key determinant of policy for the Bank of England, eased overall. Services companies that comprise the bulk of Britain's private sector economy reported the greatest staff recruitment difficulties for 18 years. (Reuters)
From House Of Cards to Better Call Saul, Netflix has destroyed much of the competition with its dramas over the last few years. But until now it hasn't had a comedy hit that quite scales those heights. This series might change that. Here eight comedians get the opportunity to create their own 30-minute episode of outlaw comedy, "without rules or limits" and the creative autonomy they've been given clearly pays dividends. The sketches that they've lined up range from The Bachelor parodies to music videos to biblical spoofs. The roster of comedians is impressive and features Lauren Lupkus of Orange is the New Black. Every episode has its own voice; the whole series is charmingly offbeat without being self-consciously so.

Flaked, Season 1

Available now, 8 Episodes

And if that doesn't set comedy fans' hearts alight there is always this. Starring Will Arnett - he of 30 Rock and Arrested Development fame - Flaked revolves around Chip (Arnett), a habitual liar and self-apppointed guru who's struggling to maintain his sobriety while attempting to sustain friendships and remain a step ahead of his tangled web of ongoing lies. Irish actress Ruth Kearney, best known for her roles in Primeval and The Following, also stars as the love interest of both Chip and his best friend Denis (David Sullivan) who vie for her attentions, threatening their friendship in the process. Lovers of binge viewing will enjoy the fact that all eight episodes have gone up at once and there are some late-in-the-day twists in this series.

My Beautiful Broken Brain

Available from March 18

So just the sight of David Lynch's name attached to this will be enough to make some hearts race but even those not enamoured of the iconic auteur's directorial style (he's actually a producer here) might find much to enjoy. The documentary film details the experience of Dutch-French filmmaker Lotje Sodderland, after she suffered a hemorrhagic stroke and embarks on a journey of rehabilitation and recovery. Documentary is another front on which Netflix has been beefing up its offering. Making A Murderer has obviously been its own kind of phenomenon, as most people know, but two of the company's other productions - What Happened Miss Simone? and Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom - received Oscar nominations this year. My Beautiful Broken Brain has also won a slew of festival awards and if Lynch says we'll be "moved and inspired", that's good enough for us.

Marvel's Daredevil, Season 2

Available from March 18

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The Marvel comic book-to-screen universe has grown up lot since its beginnings with Ironman back in 2008 and its migration onto Netflix. Marvel's Daredevil came out onto the streaming service in 2015 and unlike its Ben Affleck-starring big screen counter-part, the show received almost universal acclaim. This new series makes better use of the acting ensemble, led by Charlie Cox, and features some jaw-dropping cinematography. Having survived his earlier clash with the Kingpin, Daredevil/Matt Murdock (Cox) now faces new challenges. There's the local vigilante, whom the police have named the Punisher (The Walking Dead's Jon Bernthal) and who ruthlessly kills criminals, prompting the huge moral dilemma of what to do about him. Murdoch also meets a blast from his past, Elektra (Elodie Yung), pictured above, who is not only a wealthy heiress but a trained martial artist with her own villainous tendencies. The series gets better as it goes on and seems perfect for binge viewing.

Once Upon A Time, Season 5 Available from March 16 The long-running fantasy series takes place in the fictional seaside town of Storybrooke, Maine, whose residents are characters from various folk tales transported to the present and left bereft of their real memories by a curse, kind of like Glee but with fairy stories instead of pop songs. After tepid reviews for season five, the buzz Stateside for this series of the AMC-produced drama has been positive. This season Emma (Jennifer Morrison) is sent off to the Enchanted Forest for a lesson in the ways of the Dark One, in the nefarious form of Rumpelstiltskin (Robert Carlyle). The rest of the gang are left to pick up the pieces in Storybrooke, attempting to figure out to where that dastardly Dark One escaped. Oh, and there's also the debut of the series' first Pixar character.

Last chance to see...

By Emily Hourican

1916

RTE Player, until March 17, episode 3

Third and last in the series examining the build-up to and aftermath of Easter 1916, this covers the moment of all-change. Narrated by Liam Neeson, with excellent archive footage, this gives the context of the Rising - Britain at war in Europe, the atrocious rate of civilian casualties and the way the bodies were buried; in haste, without dignity - before examining the aftermath of the grande geste and "a great city reduced to rubble". The documentary describes the way the rebels were transformed from pariahs to heroes. A fascinating, complex view of the time.

Deutschland 83

Channel4 On Demand, until March 22, episode 1

In case you were suffering nostalgia for Cold War thrillers now that it's all about Isil-style Middle Eastern terrorism, this Germany-set series is the perfect reminder of just why we love the era. An East German soldier is taken to the Western part of the city, given a new identity, taught to blend in, and trained up as a spy. At the time of writing there are seven episodes On Demand, but they will start to disappear, so get cracking now on what is a cleverly-scripted, well-acted, absorbing thriller, with perfect period detail. A coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of a bitter ideological divide.

The Good Wife

Channel4 On Demand, series 7, going fast

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If you are lagging behind on this - showing Thursdays on More4 - time to get cracking. Episode 4 has just 11 days left to run, with 1-3 already gone. This is to be the last series of what has been a consistent critical and ratings hit. Alicia Florrick is trying to get her law career back on track by working as a bond court attorney after being knocked out of politics, as well as trying to find some kind of moral rock bottom from which to ascend, after a lot of sinking in series 6. Julianna Margulies, pictured above, is joined by Stockard Channing and Amy Irving.
After spending several years living at home with his parents, TV and radio star Eoghan McDermott is finally moving onto the property ladder.

The 32-year-old is ready to snap up his own bachelor pad in a leafy suburb of south Dublin.

But Eoghan, who said the two bedroom house in upmarket Goatstown needs a lot of work, wont be moving in with his model girlfriend Jo Archbold.

The Voice of Ireland host has been dating the Assets beauty for nearly two years, but Eoghan is looking forward to finally having a place to himself.

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No way, nobody is going to move in with me, Eoghan said.

Its my first ever house so Ill live on my own for at least a year.

Ive sale agreed a place. Ive been gazumped about three different times on places that have fallen through, so fingers crossed. Its only small, its a two bed with a big ass mortgage.

The Knocklyon native said that the house, close to The Goat Bar & Grill in Dublin 14, needs a lot of work.

Its in Goatstown so it is a nice location but it is tiny and it is old as s**t. It needs to be gutted so I got it at a reasonably okay price.

The floppy haired presenter who recently returned from a holiday to Thaliand with close pal Niall Horan, said that becoming a home owner wouldnt stop him leaving Ireland if a work opportunity presented itself.

If there was something worth going for then I would go for it. Ive no particular allegiance.

While he is enjoying his daytime radio gig on 2fm, Eoghan revealed that he loves the freedom of freelance work and even turned down a three year contract at the station.

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We were offered three years but I said Id take two and said well see how it goes. Its nice to just be free, like a glamourous hobo.

The Dublin presenter is also involved in several RTE projects and is hoping to travel to America in the coming months to follow the Donal Trump presidential campaign.

That would be amazing, he said.

Eoghan will present a two-part series for RTE2 later this year based on the findings of a nationwide survey, Generation What?

The survey is being carried out across 11 European countries and the answers will be analysed and used to form the documentary series about issues that affect young people today such as religion, politics, sex and drugs.

Its going to be fascinating and it only went live yesterday and 2,500 people have already done the survey so theyre hoping to get 40,000 or 50,000 people to do it, Eoghan said.

Itll be the biggest survey of young people ever and then itll be compared to our counterparts.
Actor Aidan Turner set pulses racing when he scythed his way across the Cornish coastline - topless and lathered in baby oil.

But that iconic Poldark scene wasn't Turner's first time baring his chest on the small screen.

In 2004, he was the star of Fruice juice's "it's a natural thing" ad campaign.

The tongue-in-cheek advert sees a topless Turner approach two ladies who appear to be wearing no clothes.

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"Well hello there," Turner says. "Nice day for it - I can see you've got yours out too," he adds grinning.

The camera then pans down to reveal that Turner is referring to a bottle of orange Fruice juice one of the ladies is holding.

The ad aired over a decade ago when the aspiring actor was just 21.

The advert also stars Irish blogger Holly White and was shot in Spain.

Turner looks drastically different in the ad - his perfectly 'manscaped' chest hair is sadly missing.

So too is his trademark designer stubble and tousled hair.

Turner has said he had to refrain from eating too many Cornish pasties while on set to ensure he was in tip-top shape for the role of Ross Poldark.

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The sensual scything scene garnered quite the response online with viewers professing their love and lust for "Smoldark". The scene received the Impact Award at last year's Britain's National Television Awards.

Accepting the award he said he was honoured and confused.

Turner is tipped to replace Daniel Craig as James Bond in the next 007 film.

Speaking at the Iftas this weekend, Bond baddie Andrew Scott said he thought Turner would make a fantastic Bond.

Turner will next appear in Jim Sheridan's film The Secret Scripture, alongside Rooney Mara and Eric Bana.

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The actor will also star in the next few seasons of Poldark.

Turner previously confessed that he was thrilled when he was offered the lead role of Poldark in the period drama, as it meant the end of a long spell of being asked to play a dwarf or a vampire.

"If I wasn't a werewolf or a dwarf or a vampire or something, it wasn't for me," he said.
A long term An Post employee was fired for gross misconduct for intentionally mistreating items of correspondence, an Employment Appeals tribunal has heard.

Susan Gallagher, (41), from Dublin, claims she was unfairly dismissed from her job as a business support officer at the GPO in Dublin where she had worked for 14 years processing post for the companys business section.

At the continuation of a hearing into the matter yesterday, the tribunal heard that An Post launched two separate investigations after receiving allegations that 21 items of post  including cheques  were found interspersed among other items of post intended for shredding on a tray on Ms Gallaghers desk.

Ms Gallagher denies the allegations that led to her dismissal and will testify on her own behalf when the hearing resumes next month.

The tribunal heard that a significant number of cheques and other important correspondence had been lost or mislaid.

As a result, the area where the correspondence was being processed was put under increased scrutiny by Ms Gallaghers line manager Gillian Davis due to a significant number of complaints, of items going missing or sent to the wrong place, An Post Human Resources executive Lillian Jones told the tribunal.

At the same time, there were ongoing issues regarding Ms Gallaghers behaviour towards her manager and she was given a warning about that, she said.

Ms Gallagher was suspended with pay pending the outcome of the investigations on March 8, 2013 and she was ultimately issued a letter of dismissal by Ms Jones on January 6, 2014 which stated that her employment was being terminated because the company could not trust her into the future, the hearing heard.

However, the letter did not set out the grounds for dismissal until a subsequent letter was issued.

An Post Human Resources Manager Sean Dunne said he agreed with Ms Jones decision to dismiss Ms Gallagher.

Noting that it is offence under the Communications Regulation (Postal Service) Act 2011 for a postal service employee to intentionally open, delay or otherwise interfere with the delivery of post without the addressee's consent, he said:  It's obviously a very serious matter."

"The company has very little option in this regard," he told the tribunal.

The company has a zero tolerance approach to people who interfere or take anything from the post, he said.

It was clear the company didnt have the confidence in Ms Gallagher going forward.

John Keegan, head of HR Programs who conducted Ms Gallaghers appeal of the dismissal, said he heard evidence from Ms Gallagher claiming that Ms Davies had a vendetta against her and she was to blame for her downfall and that someone had deliberately placed the important items in the shredding tray.

But after hearing evidence from Ms Davies and others I was satisfied that dismissal was appropriate, he told the tribunal.

The hearing continues on May 24.
The Sinn Fein members elected in the December 1918 election at the first Dail Eireann meeting, called by Sinn Fein on January 21, 1919. Shown are (from l to r): 1st row: L. Ginell, Michael Collins (leader of the Irish Republican Army), Cathal Brugha, Arthur Griffiths (founder of Sinn Fein), Eamon de Valera (president of the Irish Republic), Count E. MacNeill, William Cosgrave and E. Blythe; 2nd row: P. Maloney, Terence McSwiney (Lord Mayor of Dublin), Richard Mulcahy, J. O'Doherty, J. O'Mahony, J. Dolan, J. McGuinness, P. O'Keefe, Michael Staines, McGrath, Dr. B. Cussack, L. de Roiste, W. Colivet and the Reverend Father Michael O'Flanagan (vice-president of Sinn Fein); 3rd row: P. War, A. McCabe, D. Fitzgerald, J. Sweeney, Dr. Hayes, C. Collins, P. O'Maillie, J. O'Mara, B. O'Higgins, J. Burke and Kevin O'Higgins; 4th row: J. McDonagh and J. McEntee; 5th row: P. B 1919 Ireland

The Easter Rising, it is often argued, had no democratic mandate. In the burning GPO, Pearse wondered if they had done the right thing after all. After a few years he consoled himself, people will see the meaning of what we tried to do.

In this heroic narrative, the brave minority showed the way to the passive majority, who would eventually be won over. And Republicans subsequently felt vindicated by the success of Sinn Fein in the General Election of 1918. Led by many veterans of the Rising, they swept aside the Irish Parliamentary Party and declared Irish independence in January 1919.

Fast forward to 1922 and the fruits of the Rising seemed a bit more problematic. The Dail accepted the Anglo-Irish Treaty signed in December 1921, but the majority of the IRA did not.

So what, argued the republican purists, if the majority of the people were cowed into accepting the compromise settlement? Reacting to pro-Treaty arguments in 1922 that the Treaty was the will of the people, Republicans responded that Easter Rising too was unpopular at first.

An anti-Treaty handbill from 1922 reads, if you had answered the will of the people in 1914 you would all have gone to Flanders. If you had answered the will of the people in Easter Week you would have lynched Patrick Pearse. Civil War of course ensued between pro and anti-Treaty factions.

So it can be argued that the Rising set a precedent for undemocratic violence in twentieth century Ireland, beginning in the civil war but continuing right down to the present.

There is a wider question though, which we must address before we condemn the Rising of 1916 as undemocratic: was Ireland in fact a democracy in 1916?

The Government of Ireland

Under the Union, Ireland was an oddity. It sent elected representatives to the United Kingdom Parliament at Westminster, but the government of Ireland sat in Dublin, not London and it was not elected.

It comprised of the Chief Secretary for Ireland, appointed by the Prime Minister, the under-secretary for Ireland, a senior civil servant, appointed in Whitehall, and the Governor General, the Kings representative, appointed by consultation between the British government and the monarchy.

This is important because while the legislature remained in London, the executive branch of the Irish government lay in the person of these men in Dublin. They, not any Irish elected representatives, controlled the police and military in Ireland, enforced the law and collected taxes.

So when the IRB newspaper Irish Freedom argued in 1911 Our country is run by a set of insolent officials, to whom we are nothing but a lot of people to be exploited and kept in subjection. The executive power rests on armed force that preys on the people with batons if they have the gall to say they do not like it, they were exaggerating but not lying.

The Irish MPs did of course have seats in Westminster, where the laws of the United Kingdom were made and they did have the muscle to get the Liberals to draft the Third Home Rule Bill in 1921 for Irish self-government.

Here too however there were problems. First, the unelected House of Lords held up the Bill for as long as it could and Ulster Unionists mobilised in arms against it. When combined with the outbreak of the First World War, this caused Home Rule to be postponed and north-east Ulster excluded in 1914. In 1916 Irish self-government looked as if it might never come to pass.

So the separatists could argue that 30 years of constitutional politics had in effect caved in to two years of militant unionist mobilisation. Why should nationalists too not reach for the gun, they argued?

The right to vote

Finally, a fact not fully appreciated today is that in the Ireland of 1916, only about one in six adults had the right to vote. No women and men only over a property threshold of 10 per year could vote; roughly 15% of the Irish adult population.

Local government was somewhat more democratic, but nevertheless voting rights were confined to property owning rate payers, so that in Dublin city for example out of a population of over 300,000 within municipal boundaries (about 170,000 more lived in the suburbs), the electorate for the Corporation was a mere 38,000 people.

None of this means that Ireland was a tyranny in 1916, or that the 1916 rebels represented the silent majority. Of the seven signatories of the Proclamation only one (James Connolly) had even run for office, in the Irish Socialist Republican Party and he had failed to be elected onto Dublin Corporation.

The people at large were never consulted before the Rising was launched.

What it does mean though, is that Ireland under the Union was not democratic by any modern understanding of the term. And it does help to explain why, when the republicans did turn a mixture of mass struggle and electoral politics in 1918, they annihilated the older nationalist party the IPP.

In 1910, the last Irish General Election before the First World War, a mere 207,598 votes were cast. In 1918, the breakthrough election for Sinn Fein, with the property restriction lifted for men, and women over 30 allowed to vote, 1,015,515 people casted their ballot. This grew to 1,786,318 votes in 1923, when all women over 21 could vote in the new Irish Free State.

This also helps us to understand not so much the Rising of 1916, as how relatively easily the Republicans were able to displace and discredit the British authorities in the years that followed. If Ireland had been a real democracy in 1916, this would not have been possible.

John Dorney is a historian, author of 'Peace After the Final Battle the Story of the Irish Revolution 1912-1924 (2014)' and editor of The Irish Story website.
A barrister may not have had a report stating part of a site for social housing was liable to flooding when he did a review which rejected councillors' allegations about the way Wicklow Co Council acquired the land, the High Court heard.

Senior counsel Seamus Woulfe, who was appointed in 2011 to investigate allegations about the acquisition of the three-acre site at "Three Trouts", Charlesland, Greystones, said while he could not remember whether he had the particular flooding report when doing his review, he knew there was an issue about flooding as it was debated during a Bord Pleanala hearing which he did deal with in the review.

Mr Woulfe was being cross-examined on the opening day of an appeal by a former Labour councillor and a current independent councillor against a Circuit Court decision dismissing their action for defamation against the council and its county manager at the time, Eddie Sheehy.

Barry Nevin, the former councillor, and Thomas Cullen, currently sitting, sued over a press release issued on behalf of the council by Mr Sheehy claiming it defamed them.

The release, issued in April 2013 under the headline "Woulfe Report Rejects Councillors' Allegations regarding Three Trouts CPO" defamed them.

They alleged it incorrectly held them responsible, or solely responsible, for a decision of the Department of the Environment to direct the Seamus Woulfe review into the proposed 3m compulsory land acquisition

This, the release stated, led to an additional cost of 200,000 for the council due to having to pay administrative costs of the review and for interest on a loan it had to take out to buy the land.

The councillor and former councillor claim their reputations were injured by publication of the release and they are entitled to damages.

The Circuit Court judge described as true an allegation in the press release that the councillors concerns were misconceived, not well founded, unfair to unnamed officials and that there was the additional 200,000 cost.

In the appeal before Ms Justice Marie Baker, the defendants argue the press release was true while the plaintiffs argue it is not.

Mr Woulfe told the judge while he did not have any statutory powers to compel witnesses or conduct searches, he had co-operation from

everyone involved, including officials and councillors, into what were two reports he eventually compiled.

Asked by Luan O Braonain SC, for the defendants, about comments made in a Wicklow newspaper sometime after issuing his reports about his (Woulfe's) Fine Gael connections - the court heard he is a member of FG Dublin North Central - Mr Woulfe said he did not think his appointment was in any way party political as he was appointed to do the review by then junior housing minister Willie Penrose - a Labour TD.

"It did not seem to me to have any party political implications and I would not have looked at it that way".

Asked about another newspaper report which seemed to suggest he edited "factual reality" in his (Woulfe) review, Mr Woulfe said this was not the case that he set matters out as practically and as fairly as he could.

Under cross-examination by Mark Harty SC, for the plaintiffs, Mr Woulfe accepted he may not have seen an environmental report commissioned by the council itself in 2006 stating that the location of the housing site, the Three Trouts stream, was liable to flood every five to ten years and one third of the land that was bought could flood.

Mr Harty argued this was in circumstances where a number of better sites closer to Greystones town centre had been suggested before the decision to compulsorily acquire Three Trouts was made as well as problems over access to this land through an existing local authority estate.

Mr Woulfe said even though his review may not have made reference to a particular report, it did not mean he did not get every document.

Mr Harty said the 2006 environmental report was highly relevant, had been referred to in an email to the Department before it was decided to buy the land and pre-dated the Bord Pleanala hearing into the compulsory purchase.

Asked was he presented with the 2006 report which would have laid out the state of knowledge as to the flooding issue at that time, Mr Woulfe said the best answer he could give was that he did not recall but he was not absolutely sure.

The case continues.
A FIVE-year-old boy left brain damaged because of a failure to diagnose an infection when he was a baby had sued Temple Street Children's Hospital in Dublin.

Benjamin Gillick has cerebral palsy, is quadriplegic and cannot speak, his counsel told the High Court.

The court heard he suffered a brain stem injury when he was 11 months old which should not have happened.

Benjamin underwent a procedure to drain fluid on the brain when a shunt was inserted. However, he later returned to hospital vomiting and unwell.

Liability has been admitted and the case is before the court for assessment of damages only.

Dermot Gleeson SC, for the family, told the court shunt infection is a known complication of the procedure and the cause of the negligence was that for up to three days this possibility was not investigated.

Benjamin, he said, got progressively worse.

Benjamin, formerly of Knockmaroon Hill, Chapelizod, Dublin, but now living in Putney, London, has sued the hospital over his care in April 2011.

It is claimed the hospital was negligent about the investigation, diagnosis, management treatment and care of the shunt infection on April 9, 2011.

He was admitted on March 21, 2011 for the shunt procedure and discharged home three days later.

Between March 24, 2011 and April 15, the baby sustained a complication of the shunt procedure and was brought back to A&E.

It is claimed at no time was the possibility of a shunt infection considered and gastroenteritis and a chest infection were suggested.

Among the assessment matters the court must deal with are the provision of a home for Benjamin.

His mother, Miriam Gillick told the court she and her husband Andrew and their three children live in London a three bedroom apartment on the first floor.

She had given up her job in investment banking to look after her son.

The court heard a house in the Putney region near Benjamin's special school could cost in the region of 6.5million euros.

Benjamin was one of twins was born prematurely at 25 weeks gestation in April 2010.

He was born at home and mother was taken by ambulance to a Dublin hospital where his twin brother was delivered.

Benjamin had a number of associated conditions with being born prematurely but otherwise was developing normally.

At 11 months he underwent the procedure to relieve fluid on the brain when the shunt was inserted but an infection developed afterwards.

Counsel said the baby's temperature was 39 degrees at one stage after he went back to Temple Street but by the time it was realised what was the infection had developed.

Counsel said Benjamin has to use a a wheelchair and will need constant care for the rest of his life.

At the outset of the hearing, Mr Justice Kevin Cross dismissed an application by the hospital to have the case assessed on the basis of interim payments rather than a once off lump sum.

The case continues.
Friends of an Irishman who drowned after he fell into a harbour at a festival initially believed he was joking.

Irish tourist Brendan Hickey, originally from Dublin, drowned in Darling Harbour during the Vivd Festival in Sydney, an inquest heard.

Friends and witnesses initially believed the 34-year-old was joking when he fell into the six-metre deep water of Cockle Bay and was seen struggling in the water around at approximately 10.55pm. The incident occurred on May 23, 2014.

Sydney Morning Herald reports that friends desperately attempted to find Mr Hickey who disappeared within two minutes of entering the water.

The inquest heard that the Irish man had a fear of water and couldn't swim properly.

The Coroner's Court also heard that the Vivid Festival organisers decided to continue with the light and sound show as rescuers searched for Mr Hickey in the water.

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Mr Hickey, his girlfriend Julia Szymanska and two other tourists had a few drinks at a bar before buying four bottles of wine and heading to the harbour to watch the light show.

An autopsy of Mr Hickey showed he had a blood alcohol reading of .256 when his body was found.

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The inquest heard how a ranger had warned the group that they were not allowed drink from the plastic wine glasses in the alcohol free zone earlier in the night.

Mr Hickey apologised to the ranger, shook his hand and appeared to leave the area.

However, just before 11pm, the group were sitting on a step and stood up to leave when Mr Hickey lost his balance and fell into the water.

Samantha Travis, one of the group, told how she jumped into the water and frantically tried to find her friend in the dark.

Another witness, Matthew Turner, said he believed his friend was "skylarking" at first.

"He was lying on his back, kicking. I thought he was joking and then he went under," he said.

The inquest heard how risk assessments carried out before the event didn't take note of the risk of people falling into the water.

There were no barriers or temporary fencing in place. It also heard that rangers and security personal hired for the event were forbidden from entering the water to rescue patrons and they were not trained in water safety.

Counsel assisting the coroner, Mark Cahill, said life buoys are located every 20 metres along the bay but Mr Hickey would have been unable to save himself if he had been thrown one, due to his inability to swim and his intoxication.

The inquest continues.
A drug addict who burgled and burned the home of an 81-year-old widower, who had to be restrained by neighbours from retrieving memorobilia of his late wife, has lost an appeal against sentence.

Martin Doyle (25), of Mount Eden Rise, Gurranbraher, Cork had pleaded guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court to burglary and arson at the home of a then 81-year-old man on Blarney Street, in the city on October 15, 2014.

One year earlier, Doyle had been given a three-year sentence for robbery but it was suspended in full in the hope that he would deal with his heroin addiction.

Judge Sean O Donnabhain immediately reactivated the three-year suspended sentence and proceeded, on June 17, 2015, to impose a seven year sentence with the final two years suspended to run consecutively  leaving Doyle with a net sentence of 10 years with two suspended.

He lost an appeal against the severity of his sentence today, with the Court of Appeal holding that the overall sentence could not be described as excessive.

Giving judgment, Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan said the burglary and arson were extremely serious offences.

Mr Justice Sheehan said the victim of the burglary was now an 85-year-old widower who lived alone. He had left his home on the date in question to go shopping in Dunnes Stores.

When he returned, he was unable to get into his home and noticed smoke coming out of his roof. He managed to get the door open only to find house in flames and smoke, Mr Justice Sheehan said.

The then 81-year-old had to be restrained by neighbours from entering his home in order to collect memorobilia from his life, particulary, memorobilia of his late wife, the judge said.

The widower's house had to be totally rebuilt and he was homeless for seven months. He was particularly concerned at losing memorobilia of his late wife. His insurance company was at a loss of 153,000.

Giving background to the robbery offence of November 10, 2012, Mr Justice Sheehan said the injured party had been walking along Wellington Road in Cork when two men, including Doyle, came upon him. He was kicked and punched a number of times and had a shoulder bag containing a number of items taken from him.

Doyle had 25 previous convictions at the time including a record for burglaries and robberies, the unlawful taking of vehicles and public order offences. He had been imprisoned eight times previously.

Mr Justice Sheehan said a suspended sentence was imposed in respect of the robbery in the hope that he would deal with his heroin addiction.

The sentecing judge said the arson showed a mindless disrespect for property and drugs did not excuse his behaviour. He placed the burglary on the higher end of the scale because, not only did Doyle go into the house, but he burned the place also.

Forensics disclosed that a fire was started in three different locations in the house, Mr Justice Sheehan said.

While the burglary on its own would not normally attract seven years, there can be no doubt that seven years in respect of the arson could not be described as excessive, Mr Justice Sheehan said.

Doyle had been given an opportunity to deal with his addiction when the three year sentence for robbery was suspended.

On the subsequent sentencing date, the Circuit Court judge sought to incorporate the penal aim of rehabilitation by suspending the final two years on terms that would oblige Doyle to subject himself to probation and welfare services.

Needless to say, the appelant (Doyle) must now take personal responsibility for his addiction, Mr Justice Sheehan said.

The Court of Appeal was satisfied, Mr Justice Sheehan said, that all aggravating and mitigating factors were adequatly taken into account and while the sentencing judge may not have expressly referred to the totality principle, it was difficult to disclose an error in the overall sentence.

The overall sentece, although significant, cannot be described as excessive.

Accordingly, Mr Justice Sheehan, who sat with Mr Justice George Birmingham and Mr Justice John Edwards, dismissed the appeal.
From left: Simon Stokes with his estranged wife Conach, mother Pia Bang, father Jeff and brother Christian. Photo: Kieran Harnett

Bankrupt businessman Simon Stokes's estranged wife Conach has told the High Court that she wants to be added to his list of creditors as part of his bankruptcy process.

"I just want to make you aware about the situation and how he has left his children - he has just returned from a holiday abroad," she told Ms Justice Caroline Costello.

The judge was dealing with a part of the process known as a 'statutory sitting', whereby the full details of a bankrupt's financial affairs must be provided to the court-appointed official administering the bankruptcy, official assignee Chris Lehane.

Simon and his twin brother Christian were both declared bankrupt last November.

Conach, who described herself as Simon's estranged wife, nodded in agreement when the judge suggested that she may not wish to be called "Mrs Stokes".

Earlier, counsel for Simon Stokes asked the court to adjourn the statutory sitting for a week.

When the judge adjourned it, Conach said she was there on behalf of her three children and her parents who are also owed money. "I would like our names to be added to the list of creditors," she said.

After consulting with the official assignee, Mr Lehane, the judge told her that a person was entitled to appear in court as a creditor but the procedure was that they should first submit a claim to Mr Lehane.

Members of her family could do likewise, the judge said.

Ms Justice Costello also passed the statutory sitting for Christian Stokes after a separate counsel appeared on his behalf.

Both brothers had been required to attend or be represented at the statutory sitting for the purpose of ensuring that the official assignee has been provided with full details of their property and money and to ensure that all their debts are known.

The twins ran the famous Bang restaurant in Dublin.

The Stokes family was also behind the well-known Unicorn restaurant, while the brothers operated the exclusive Residence club on St Stephen's Green and other venues which failed during the economic downturn.

In 2014, the twins and their parents, Jeff and Pia, consented to a 14.7m judgment being entered against them arising from various loans and guarantees.

In January 2012, the High Court disqualified the brothers from being company directors again until 2016, arising out of their involvement in the Residence club.
A woman who shouted "Polish b******s" and thrust a coal scuttle towards a man before she headbutted him after a row over loud music on Stephen's Day has been given a suspended jail term.

District Judge Des Perry told Natasha Nalty (28) of Portrush Road, Coleraine, it was "appalling" behaviour with "racial abuse".

He added it was an "absolute disgrace to treat any human being like this".

Coleraine Magistrates' Court was told yesterday that police were called to Mount Street in Coleraine on December 26 last year where a Polish national had a cut to his forehead and also a bump and said he was headbutted by a female who also had broken a window of the property.

The injured party said he was at the address when Nalty started hurling abuse over the back yard wall and when he retreated inside there was banging and shouting at the front door and Nalty attempted to bang on a window with a coal scuttle.

It was alleged two other males were also present, one with a knife and another with a beer bottle which were being waved and Nalty shouted "Polish b******s" before she pushed the coal scuttle at him and headbutted him before the window was smashed.

Defence solicitor John Murphy said his client had been drinking and now wished to apologise for her behaviour.

He said she had a very bad criminal record but her offending has tailed off. He said Nalty had gone outside to smoke and was playing loud music and the neighbours had complained.

He added his client, who has anger management issues, was taken to hospital herself after the incident. Nalty was in court to be sentenced on charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm; criminal damage to a window; possession of an offensive weapon and possession of cannabis.

Judge Perry said before he had read a pre-sentence report he had been minded to send Nalty to prison because of her "appalling record" but he said he was suspending a six-month sentence for a period of three years.

Nalty is no stranger to the courts with more than 130 criminal convictions - including more than 40 for assaulting police.

Her record for assaults on officers is believed to be one of the worst for attacks of those kind involving a woman in Northern Ireland.
Former property developer, Kevin McGeever, has been given a suspended two-year sentence for wasting Garda time by making false reports about being kidnapped at gunpoint three years ago, in a bid to dodge his creditors.

Mr McGeever (71), with a former address at 'Nirvana' Ballywinna, Craughwell, Co. Galway, and more recently in Clontarf, Dublin 3, entered the guilty plea moments before this trial was due to begin at Galway Circuit Criminal Court earlier today.

In a barely audible voice in front of a large jury panel, McGeever replied, Guilty when a single charge of giving false information to Gardai, in that on dates between January 29 and February 28, 2013, at diverse places within the State, he knowingly made false reports and statements to Gardai, about allegations of false imprisonment and threats to harm, thereby causing Garda time to be wasted, contrary to Section 12(a) of the Criminal Law Act 1976.

The facts in a second charge of giving false information, where he told Gardai he had been falsely imprisoned, assaulted and threatened with harm during the same six-week period, were also admitted.

The sentence hearing was told McGeever fabricated the entire story in a bid to shake off both Irish and International creditors who lost vast sums of money in failed investments he had undertaken on their behalf in Dubai, following the economic crash in 2008.

Detective John Keating gave evidence McGeever was found lying on the side of the road by a local couple near Ballinamore, Co. Leitrim at 9.40pm on January 29, 2013.

They noticed a man on the side of the road, seven kilometres from Ballinamore.

He appeared to be down and out. He appeared to be in very poor condition. They gave him a lift to Ballinamore.

He said he had been dumped on the side of the road from the back of a van.

The couple told him they would bring him to Ballinamore Garda Station, but he declined and asked to be taken to Carrick-on-Shannon and not to a Garda Station.

They insisted on bringing him to Ballinamore Garda Station, Det. Keating said.

McGeever told Gardai in Ballinamore he had been abducted at gunpoint from his property in Craughwell on May 27, 2012.

Gardai were concerned about his medical condition as he was in bad physical shape and he was transferred briefly to Mullingar hospital.

He subsequently gave eight statements to Gardai alleging he had been kidnapped, assaulted and ill-treated.

Det. Keating said McGeever was consistent in all his statements that he had been abducted at gunpoint from his home in Craughwell and held 20 feet underground in a steel container for eight months, with no lighting, heating or sanitary facilities.

Det. Keating said a six-week Garda investigation got underway, involving 19 Gardai, most of whom worked exclusively on the investigation because of the allegations McGeever made of being kidnapped at gunpoint.

A total of 3,038 man-hours, costing the taxpayer 86,851, in Garda travel expenses and subsistence allowances, was spent on the investigation, he said.

A large number of enquiries were carried out around the country and a number of anomalies appeared.

I was of the opinion he had fabricated his version of his abduction, Det. Keating said.

McGeever was arrested in Craughwell on March 14, 2013.

He was brought to Gort Garda Station and interviewed on four occasions.

He maintained his stance and continued with the pretence during the first three interviews, but during the fourth interview, he made full admissions that he had fabricated his story to the Gardai and he gave his reasons for doing so, Det. Keating said.

Prosecuting barrister, Conor Fahy said that when McGeever was found on the side of the road, he had first given a false name to the couple and to the Gardai in Ballinamore, stating he was John McGeever from Clontarf.

Mr Fahy said the accused came originally from Swinford, in Co. Mayo and still had family there.

Det. Keating confirmed McGeever currently lives in Clontarf, at the address of his late partner.

Hes not working. I do not believe he had any business interests at this stage, he added.

When McGeever finally came clean to Gardai in 2013, he had said: Im very relieved to get this off my chest and I wish to thank the Gardai.

Im very sorry for wasting the very valuable man-hours of the Gardai, Det. Keating said.

Defence

Mr John Jordan SC, defending, told the sentence hearing his client would be 72 years of age next September.

He did something incredibly stupid because of certain stress factors in his life at the time.

His long-term partner died of terminal cancer in November 2013 and he was under significant pressure too because of the financial crisis in this country and internationally at the time, which caused him to lose virtually all that he had, Mr Jordan said.

He explained that McGeever got involved in property development in Dubai.

However, after the world-wide recession in 2008, considerable money was owed to investors, particularly here in Ireland, and he was under pressure from those creditors to make good on those investments, Mr Jordan said.

Det. Keating agreed with counsel that McGeever had hoped that my creating the account of his kidnapping a number of his creditors would back off and would have nothing more to do with him.

He confirmed McGeever had spent 16 days on remand in Castlerea prison in July/August 2013, before taking up bail.

In his submissions to the court, Mr Jordan said it wasnt often he defended a man who was going on 72 years of age, who had no previous convictions.

He said McGeever had been involved in the construction industry and had lived in the US and Australia, coming back to Ireland on a few occasions.

He went to Dubai and invested his money there and lost almost everything he had there.

He was under huge financial pressures and further personal pressure due to his partners terminal illness.

He did what he did because at that stage of his life, coping with those stresses, he thought it a good idea, Mr Jordan said.

It was a wrong way of approaching his problems, which led to him wasting Garda time.

This all occurred in the context of a man struggling with very serious issues in his life, he added.

This appears to be a significant aberration on the part of an elderly man who was at a very low point in his life, Mr Jordan said.

He said that by pleading guilty, McGeever had saved the State the further expense of running a trial in front of a jury.

He did something incredibly stupid which resulted in Garda time being wasted, wasted to a point where the mystery was solved and the accused was found out. Im asking the court to be lenient, Mr Jordan concluded.

Judge Rory McCabe said the Gardai have enough to do rather than chase false trails.

He said the accused had contrived to waste Garda time, and the cost of having 19 Gardai carry out the investigation had to be picked up and paid for by the taxpayer.

He noted McGeever had only pleaded guilty at the last moment, in a trial which had been flagged would take two weeks.

In mitigation, he said the plea of guilty was of considerable value in not wasting the courts time and brought some justice for the taxpayers, whom he said, were ultimately footing the bill.

The charge, he said, would ordinarily merit a custodial sentence to act as a practical punishment and as a warning to others that such offences would not be taken lightly.

Taking McGeevers age and previous good record into account, the judge said the appropriate sentence was two years in prison.

He then posed the rhetorical question, would it be in the interests of justice to impose an immediate custodial sentence, before concluding the taxpayer had spent enough money on the accused already.

If I send him to prison, the taxpayer will have to pay for his upkeep; to house, clothe and feed him, so I will suspend the sentence for five years, Judge McCabe said.

He added that his sympathies did not lie with the accused as he had no good reason to do what he did.

My sympathy goes entirely to the Gardai and the taxpayers who have had to foot the bill, he said.
A MAN accused of sexually exploiting a boy by inviting him to take part in an obscene act via Facebook has been given more time to prepare his defence.

The accused (42) allegedly sent several indecent messages to the 16-year-olds phone via the social network in the space of one day.

The case against him was adjourned at Blanchardstown District Court.

Defence solicitor John ODoherty told Judge David McHugh that prosecution statements had been provided, but he had not had time to go through them all. Judge McHugh adjourned the case to a date later this month.

The accused is charged with sexually exploiting a child at his home last June 19 by inviting him to engage in a sexual, indecent or obscene act.

The court heard that the messages were allegedly sent between 2am and 3.30am on that day.

They are very explicit in nature, the prosecuting garda said of the texts, which were

examined by Judge McHugh but not read out aloud to the court.

I have read them, the judge said, and accepted jurisdiction to deal with the case.

This means it can be heard at district court level instead of being sent for trial to Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, which has greater potential sentencing powers on conviction.

Judge McHugh previously granted free legal aid to the defendant.

The man, who has an address in the west of the city, is not working, the court heard.

Gardai had no objection to legal aid being granted.

The accused, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has not yet indicated how he intends to plead to the charge.

Liberty

Originally, a different charge had been brought against the man. This had alleged that he restricted the personal liberty of a named child for the purpose of sexually exploiting that child.

However, that charge was withdrawn by the prosecution and the new one was brought. The accused was remanded on continuing bail until the next court date.

He has appeared before the court several times and has not spoken during any of the brief hearings. On his next appearance he will be expected to indicate how he intends to plead to the charge.
Gardai are questioning the woman over the drugs find

A man has been arrested in connection with an armed robbery at an adventure centre in Tallaght on Sunday.

The man in his 50s was arrested yesterday evening and was detained at Tallaght Garda Station.

He was released without charge and a file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions

On Sunday evening, families with children watched in terror as two masked men burst into Tallaght Adventure World in the Whitestown Business Park just before 6pm on Sunday.

Manager Robbie Doyle bravely fought off the raiders, but was left with a gaping wound in his hand.

One of the raiders was allegedly armed with a long-bladed knife, while the second man had a metal pole.

A third man waited outside in a blue Ford Fiesta.
A man who was caught collecting a package of a recently criminalised drug has been sentenced to ten years in jail.

David Larrissey (37) was not the target of a surveillance operation which led to the seizure of 103,132 worth of ketamine. As it was his second conviction for a similar drug offence a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years had to be imposed.

Larrissey of Main Street, Chapelizod, Dublin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possessing 1.718kg of ketamine at Maidens Row, Chapelizod, Dublin on June 4, 2015. He has six previous including the other drug conviction.

His co-accused Jordan Maher (19) of Arthur Griffith Park, Lucan, pleaded guilty to the same offence. He has no previous convictions.

Maher was granted bail by Judge Sarah Berkeley last month pending his sentence in October on condition he gets a full-time job, avoids adverse garda attention and liaises with the Probation and Welfare Services.

Judge Elma Sheahan said today in sentencing Larrissey that due to the seriousness of the offence and the quantity of the drugs involved, a ten year sentence would be appropriate in this case even if it was not mandatory.

Judge Sheahan backdated the sentence to June 4, 2015 with a review scheduled for five years after that date.

Detective Garda Daragh O'Toole told John Quirke BL, prosecuting, that he and colleagues had received confidential information about a co-accused. They followed this man's van to Arthur Griffith Park, where he picked up Maher.

The surveillance team followed the van to various locations, including a self-storage unit in Kildare, before Maher was seen handing a brown paper bag to Larrissey at Maiden's Row.

Gardai approached Larrissey as he was walking away. He was carrying a suitcase and the drugs were found in the suitcase.

A follow up search of his home led to the discovery of a smaller quantity of ketamine worth 678, a notebook with names and numbers and a weighing scales.

Det Gda O'Toole said neither Larrissey nor Maher provided any material assistance in interview. He agreed that the intelligence operation had not been targeting either Larrissey or Maher.

He agreed with Sean Guerin SC, defending, that his client's co-accused, the man under surveillance, had denied the charge and was due for trial.

Det Gda O'Toole said he didn't recall Larrissey telling gardai during interview that he was in fear of others but added that he didn't have notes with him to confirm this.

He agreed with counsel that as ketamine had only been listed as a controlled drug about six months previous to the seizure, officers had limited information in respect of valuation yet Larrissey didn't challenge this at trial.

Larrissey's sister, Elaine Larrissey, told Mr Guerin that her brother was the only member of the family who had ever come to garda attention.

She outlined his history of drug abuse and said he had previously got clean but relapsed again.

A number of documents were handed into court including a report which detailed a course Moving beyond addiction that Larrissey had completed while on remand in Cloverhill Prison.

Other reports confirmed progress he has made since his arrest. He was providing clean urines and was highly respected within the prison.
A mother and daughter have settled separate 75,000 cases of alleged defamation against Dunnes Stores on terms that were not publicly divulged in court.

Elizabeth Nuga and her daughter Afolashade Nuga, both of Gallagher's Lane, Glenbrack, Gort, Co Galway, claimed that staff at the Dunnes Stores branch at Briar Hill, Co Galway, had wrongly accused them of taking a 9 bottle of wine from the shop.

They claimed in the Circuit Civil Court yesterday that they were in the store on New Year's Eve 2013 and, after leaving, were approached by a store employee, who asked where was the bottle of wine.

The Nugas alleged that the words "The wine that I saw you put into your bag" and "I know you have that bottle of wine and the guards are on the way" were spoken during the alleged confrontation. They also alleged that they were detained until the arrival of the gardai and were then taken to a garda station until CCTV records were reviewed and they were released.

Dunnes Stores delivered full defences in both cases. It denied that the Nugas had been defamed or that their detention in the garda station had been at the store's behest.

The company said a member of staff had attempted to speak to the Nugas about a bottle of wine but claimed they had become aggressive, which led to the intervention of the gardai.

Barrister John Nolan, who appeared for the Nugas, told Judge Linnane that both cases had been settled and could be struck out with no order.

Claimants are allowed to sue in the circuit area where an alleged incident occurred or in the jurisdiction where a defendant resides or has its registered offices or headquarters.
The 39-year-old mother was found guilty of a litany of charges including beating her children, driving a car at her two young sons, pushing one down the stairs, holding her daughters head under water and pouring washing-up liquid into the mouths of three children. Stock Picture

A mother who neglected seven of her children, keeping them in a "atmosphere of fear", has been jailed for four years at Galway Circuit Criminal Court.

The 39-year-old mother was found guilty of a litany of charges including beating her children, driving a car at her two young sons, pushing one down the stairs, holding her daughter's head under water and pouring washing-up liquid into the mouths of three children.

The 39-year-old mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and who was found guilty of 29 counts of cruelty and neglect of her children, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years with the final six months suspended.

Judge Karen O'Connor said mitigating factors in the case had been minimal with no guilty plea, which would have helped the children, and no remorse shown by the defendant.

She said there was "general neglect", "absence from home" and "failure to look after the most basic needs of the children", adding there was "an atmosphere of fear" with the children "frightened, anxious and helpless as they observed their siblings being beaten."

"The cumulative affect of cruelty was more damaging than the specific assaults," she added.

She said one of most disturbing aspects of the case was when the mother had tried to attribute blame to her eldest daughter.

Judge O'Connor commended neighbours for the manner in which they tried to look out for the children, feeding and clothing them and alerting social services in 2009.

"It is a matter of concern to the court that these young victims appear to have remained under the radar from the authorities," she added.

Wooden spoon

The woman had denied all charges of cruelty and neglect. She admitted pouring Fairy washing-up liquid into the mouths of three of her children but told the court she "didn't see anything wrong" with her actions. She also accepted that she smacked her children, hit them with a belt and wooden spoon and left her two young daughters in the care of an alcoholic while she went to a pub.

Two hours later the children were found by gardai with the man, who was so drunk he could not care for them. However, she denied this was abusive or neglectful behaviour.

Evidence was heard of heavy drinking in the family homes, often resulting in violence. The woman's older daughter gave evidence of her mother trying to drown her in the kitchen sink.

One young boy told the court how his mother had laughed after pushing him down the stairs. On another occasion, she had driven a car at her two young sons after they spilled ice cream, causing them to scramble out of the way to avoid being hit.

The abuse came to light when the children were taken into care in May 2011, after social workers made an unannounced visit to the home in the west of Ireland. They found the children left in "a chaotic scene" in the care of two intoxicated men while the mother was away on a short break.

Victim impact statements were read from some of the children, who told of their ongoing anxiety, feelings of sadness and a lack of self-worth. The children also told of their sadness that they no longer saw their siblings often.

A former partner of the woman, who pleaded guilty to three charges of abuse and two of neglect, was given a two-year suspended sentence.

Judge O'Connor pointed to his guilty pleas and obvious remorse. She said he was attempting to rehabilitate and develop a relationship with his children.
Detectives found firearms and ammunition while searching a house in Dublin, the prosecution has claimed at the Special Criminal Court trial of a man accused of possession of those items.

Pierce Moran (59) of Church Road, East Wall, Dublin 3, is charged with the unlawful possession of various semi-automatic pistols, including an 8mm Knall calibre Valtro model AP29, a 9mm short calibre CZ model 83, a 9mm calibre Makarov PM and a 9mm short calibre Baikal model IZH79-8, as well as a silencer suitable for use with the Makarov pistol and a 12-gauge Beretta model A.300 semi-automatic, sawn-off shotgun at Church Road, East Wall, Dublin 3 on November 15th, 2014.

Mr Moran is also charged with the possession of various firearm magazines, suitable for use in the pistols from the first charge, at the same address on the same date.

Additionally, he is charged with the possession of assorted ammunition, also at the same address and on the same date.

Opening the prosecution case today, Vincent Heneghan BL told the court that on November 15th, 2014, after receiving confidential information, Detective Sergeant John Kearney obtained a warrant from the District Court to search Mr Moran's home at Church Road, East Wall.

The court will hear evidence that the detective and other gardai went to Church Road, where they met the accused man, and while searching the house found firearms, silencers, magazines and ammunition.

Mr Heneghan said that one of the accused man's garda interviews will form part of the prosecution case.

The rest of the day's proceedings were taken up with legal argument.

The trial continues.
According to the NCCA, there is a need to switch the emphasis from providing feedback on students in 'grades, marks and percentages' to a more rounded picture of achievement. Photo: Getty Images. Picture posed.

Students will be invited to write part of their own school reports under the latest development in the Junior Cycle reform process.

A phasing out of Christmas and summer school exams, from first year up, is also envisaged in a new paper from Government education advisers the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA).

The long-running row over Junior Cycle has centred on replacing the Junior Certificate exam itself, but the new document sets out plans for changes in assessment and reporting at school level throughout the first three years of post-primary schooling.

The NCCA has invited the students, parents and other education partners, such as teachers' unions and school principals/managers, to express their views before it publishes guidelines for new arrangements for in-school reporting during the Junior Cycle years in September.

According to the NCCA, there is a need to switch the emphasis from providing feedback on students in "grades, marks and percentages" to a more rounded picture of achievement.

Traditional exams are seen to be too limited to represent the full range of skills and knowledge covered in class, while reliance on marks and grades often provides "little direction or advice for improvement beyond general advice around more effort or concentration or harder work", the report states.

The changes would involve giving greater prominence to teachers' professional judgment in the reporting process through a process of ongoing student assessment.

"In line with this greater focus on ongoing assessment, schools may wish to consider the benefits of reducing the frequency of in-school end-of-term tests and use the time freed to focus on reporting student progress using the broad range of evidence ... from ongoing classroom assessment," the report states.

At the heart of the NCCA proposals is the need to give effective teacher feedback on student progress, which is regarded as providing the greatest benefits for ongoing student learning.

The paper cites Australian research that states that the most powerful single factor in enhancing student achievement is feedback.

The new reporting arrangements also aim to give students a voice in the process, with plans to leave a space in reports for them to reflect on their learning and comment on how they hope to make further progress.

While schools will have the option of retaining traditional, end-of-term exams, the NCCA report comes down heavily in favour of ongoing assessment.

When the new reporting guidelines are rolled out, the NCCA will also publish a set of standard templates that schools can use to report to parents, similar to what is already happening at primary level.

Whether schools opt to retain in-school exams or not, there will be no place on the reports for grades, marks or percentages. Instead, schools will be given four descriptors from which to select to describe a student's achievement in different subjects: 'exceptional', 'above expectations', 'in line with expectations' or 'yet to meet expectations'.

Where schools decide to use end-of-term tests, the NCCA says they should report results using the new Junior Cycle grading system: 'distinction', 'higher merit', 'merit', 'achieved' or 'partially achieved'.
The acting Taoiseach included proposals for a citizens assembly on the Eighth Amendment in a document supplied to the Independents  most of whom were unaware that the idea was even on the table during their 50 hours of talks. Stock Image

Fine Gael has risked a split among the 15 Independents, whose support Enda Kenny is trying to gain, by moving to address the abortion issue.

The acting Taoiseach included proposals for a citizens' assembly on the Eighth Amendment in a document supplied to the Independents - most of whom were unaware that the idea was even on the table during their 50 hours of talks.

Seven of the group engaged in coalition talks are opposed outright to any constitutional change regarding abortion, while a number of others have serious reservations.

Mattie McGrath has already informed the Fine Gael negotiating team that he will immediately walk away if they insist on the assembly.

Sean Canney, Michael Fitzmaurice, Noel Grealish, Michael Collins and the Healy-Rae brothers are also opposed to any changes to the law.

However, Katherine Zappone told the Irish Independent last night: "I will not sign up to any Programme for Government that does not address a referendum on the Eighth Amendment."

In a 122-page document supplied to Independents, Fine Gael said it wanted to establish a citizens' assembly, without the participation of politicians, that would make recommendations to the Dail on potential changes to the Eighth Amendment.

The law gives equal status to the right to life of a mother and her unborn child.

A similar discussion paper given to the Independents by Fianna Fail makes no reference to abortion legislation.

Galway West TD Sean Canney said the issue had never been mentioned during his talks with Fine Gael. "If Fine Gael has an agenda to bring that in, they can do it on merit in the Dail. It shouldn't be in the Programme for Government," he said.

Concerned

Similarly, Roscommon's Michael Fitzmaurice said: "I would definitely be saying that if it's a thing in the Programme for Government, I'm against it.

"I wouldn't be in favour of it, end of story. I think we'd want to get rattling on housing, health and other things before that."

Mr McGrath said there was "no way" he would support Mr Kenny's election as Taoiseach unless Fine Gael dropped the plan, which originated in its election manifesto.

Michael Healy-Rae said: "I was surprised that it wasn't kept out of there" (the discussion document). The Kerry Independent said he was "very, very concerned" about the development but added that he would not stop a citizens' assembly if he had a deciding vote.

"I just have some worries - but then you have to try be balanced. If people want to have a say on the matter, it's hard to deny them that. It would cause me a great concern but, having said that, let them have a view or an opinion."

Earlier this year, his brother Danny voted in favour of a motion that came before Kerry County Council, calling on the Government not to take any action to repeal the Eighth.

Maureen O'Sullivan and Denis Naughten told the Irish Independent they were cautious about any legal changes but would support the idea of a citizens' assembly.

Kevin 'Boxer' Moran said he was entirely opposed to abortion but would not have a problem with the assembly.

His fellow Independent Alliance members Shane Ross and John Halligan are open to changes in the abortion laws, while Finian McGrath said: "I'd be very supportive of it. I signed up to the Repeal the 8th campaign before the election. As a compromise, I'd support a constitutional convention."
The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland introduced a constitutional ban on abortion.

It was effected by the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1983, which was approved by referendum on September 7, 1983, and signed into law on October 7 of the same year.

MICHAEL HEALY RAE

The Kerry Independent is very, very concerned about the potential repealing of the Eighth but doesnt see a citizens assembly as a red-line issue

DANNY HEALY RAE

Voted in favour of a motion that came before Kerry County Council last January calling on the Government not to take any action to repeal the 8th Amendment

MAUREEN OSULLIVAN

Was on the Constitutional Convention that resulted in the marriage referendum and believes a similar set-up should debate the future of the Eighth Amendment

KATHERINE ZAPPONE

The first-time TD, who was to the forefront of the Yes campaign during the Marriage Referendum, will not sign up to a Programme for Government that doesnt commit to action on the 8th.

KEVIN BOXER MORAN

Opposes abortion but does not object to a Citizens Assembly discussing the Eighth Amendment.

SHANE ROSS

The Dublin Rathdown TD voted in favour of Independent TD Clare Dalys Bill last year that would have allowed for abortion in cases of fatal foetal abnormality.

NOEL GREALISH

Did not respond to queries but is understood to be against the repeal of the Eighth Amendment and voted against the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013.

MICHAEL FITZMAURICE

The Roscommon TD says he has made it very clear that the Eighth should not be repealed and expects it to be raised with Fine Gael before any Programme for Government is formed.

SEAN CANNEY

The Galway West TD describes himself as pro-life and does not believe that a mention of the Eighth Amendment should be included in a programme for government.

JOHN HALLIGAN

The Waterford TD wants the Eighth Amendment to be repealed and gave emotional speeches on the issue in the last Dail.

FINIAN MCGRATH

The experienced Independent is signed up to the Repeal the 8th campaign but would settle for the proposed citizens assembly proposed by Fine Gael.

DENIS NAUGHTEN

The former Fine Gael TD believes that Enda Kennys plan to set up a citizens assembly is the best approach.

MICHAEL HARTY

Describes himself as pro-life but supports the option of a termination where the mothers life is at risk and in certain other circumstances such as rape or fatal foetal abnormalities.

MICHAEL COLLINS

The Cork South West TD is against the repeal of the Eighth and is understood to have told the Fine Gael negotiating team this during their lengthy meetings.

MATTIE MCGRATH

The Tipperary TD is outright in his opposition to any changes to the law and has said he will not be part of a Fine Gael government if it sets up a citizens assembly.
Incoming AGSI president Antoinette Cunningham said her members were being left 'in the dark' about the nature of threats they potentially face from extremists

The number of personnel in the National Surveillance Unit has dropped by 25pc due to budget cuts and a freeze on recruitment. Stock picture

The specialist garda unit that secretly monitors the movements of gangland and terrorist suspects is "dangerously" understaffed, the Irish Independent can reveal.

The number of personnel in the National Surveillance Unit (NSU), which is vital to targeting serious crime and terrorism, has dropped by 25pc due to budget cuts and a freeze on recruitment.

Security sources revealed that the unit urgently needs at least 24 officers to bring it back to its required strength of around 100 members.

The revelation comes as it also emerged that every specialist unit in the force is experiencing chronic personnel shortages, with sources warning that this will have a "detrimental effect" on the conduct of major investigations.

It is understood there is a shortage of expert officers in all the specialist forensic sections, including in fingerprints, ballistics, mapping and crime scene investigation.

A separate senior security source claimed the organisation is now operating on a "wing and a prayer" and accused management of having no succession plan to ensure that standards are maintained.

"There is a serious deficiency in the numbers of all the specialist units and what is most worrying is that there is no succession planning in place either."

Meanwhile, the Irish Independent has learned that the additional Regional Support Unit (RSU) recently announced for Dublin by the Commissioner and Justice Minister is unlikely to be operational until the latter part of the year.

It is understood that 900 gardai have applied to join the new 55-strong armed squad while another 1,100 applied to join the other 10 RSUs around the country.

But the selection process is due to be severely delayed because all 2,000 applicants will have to put through fitness and suitability tests before training can begin.

Training for the RSUs is conducted over a number of months, with sources predicting that they may not be on the streets before December.

The personnel shortage in the NSU emerged as the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) warned that frontline gardai are not being trained to tackle the threat from Islamic terrorists.

Incoming AGSI president Antoinette Cunningham said her members were being left "in the dark" about the nature of threats they potentially face from extremists and vital information about such threats is confined to members of specialist units and sections at Garda Headquarters.

The NSU is trained to the highest international standards in covert operations alongside the FBI and MI5.

The undercover officers are trained to monitor targets who are already trained in counter-surveillance techniques.

The unit has been spearheading surveillance on individuals involved in the Kinahan/Hutch gangland feud and suspected IS supporters and fighters.

But sources say it must also be on constant standby to conduct surveillance on suspects throughout the country.

"The NSU is vital to all major garda operations but numbers have been allowed to fall by a quarter, making it dangerously under-staffed," a source said.

"It is the only unit that we have to monitor targets in the most sensitive of investigations and its members have a particular specialised skill set to preform that function."

The work of the NSU is described as "personnel intensive" with at least six officers required at any one time in order to maintain surveillance on an individual or up to 15 in a 24-hour period. "The demand for the unit by the rest of the force is constantly high but with the current strength it is limited in the number of suspects it can monitors and that includes individuals suspected of being involved with IS," the source added.
AGSI president Tim Galvin has criticised Garda Commissioner Noirin OSullivan at the annual conference in Westport, Co Mayo. Photo : Keith Heneghan / PhocusEuropean

Garda supervisors have accused their commissioner of being more interested in the corporate image of the force than in the welfare of her members.

The mid-ranking gardai claimed that Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan had ignored the results of their survey, showing 86pc of members felt that morale in the force was low or very low.

And they said their treatment by the Government had only increased that problem of low morale within the organisation.

The president of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI), Tim Galvin, said the association had submitted the results of the morale survey to the Commissioner last December but had heard no response from her since.

"We think the Commissioner is getting her priorities wrong", Mr Galvin told his association's annual conference in Westport last night. "She should be looking after the people who work for her, not the corporate image, which is the way the job seems to be gone."

The poor morale is also being linked to growing frustration in the force at the failure to restore pay rates to pre-recession levels.

Delegates will be asked today to back a plan to march on the Dail in uniform on the first day of the new government in protest at inadequate pay and conditions.

If the proposal is passed, it will mark the first occasion that gardai have worn uniforms during protest demonstrations.

Seasoned delegates said last night they were satisfied that this would not breach the garda regulations and they intended to seek the support of rank and file members of the force, as well as retired colleagues.

"It is very sad that we feel we have to resort to marching in uniform, but it appears nobody wants to listen to gardai talking about their pay," one delegate said.

Mr Galvin said gardai were different to other employees.

"We wear body protection and some of our members are armed in response to the changing demographic of our society.

"The impact of gangland criminals and their ability to arm themselves has only heightened the dangers associated with being a member of the Garda.

"We work with ballistics vests, stab vests, ASPs, pepper sprays. Nobody else in the country works with that equipment."

Gardai were now working 10-hour shifts without a break because resources were short and they were constantly out on the street, call after call, Mr Galvin said.

They were physically shattered when they ended their six shifts and saw no compensation for what they endured, he told delegates.

Mr Galvin said they felt that the Commissioner was not standing up for the people on the frontline and highlighting the lack of resources.

Since 2008, said Mr Galvin, his members had suffered cuts averaging 25pc to their wages. A review of pay was supposed to have been completed by June 2014 but a lack of progress had tied their hands as representatives.

General secretary John Jacob will today outline the results of a survey showing that 93pc of members want to take work-to-rule action in order to support their claim for pay restoration.
Ireland has become an international leader in developing the technology that separates the different types of protein from cow's milk in order to create blends that more accurately mimic human breast milk. Getty Images/iStockphoto

Ireland is at forefront of global research to make cows' milk more like human breast milk, which in turn could mean an economic windfall for hard-pressed dairy farmers, according to experts.

Researchers are gathering from all over the world at a dairy conference in Dublin to hear researchers working for the State agency Teagasc outline the latest "game-changing" advances in milk processing.

While the majority of Ireland's 6bn-litre milk pool has traditionally been processed into butter and cheese, it is the by-products from the formerly discarded whey fraction that have become the most sought after component.

Butter and cheese struggle to make 3,000 a tonne, but infant milk formula powders can sell for many multiples of this.

Anything that increases the value of milk will be music to dairy farmers' ears at a time when a global over-supply of milk has pushed prices to below the cost of production.

Ireland has become an international leader in developing the technology that uses membrane filters and molecular charges to separate the different types of protein from the milk in order to create blends that more accurately mimic human breast milk.

"Cow milk is about twice as rich in protein as the human equivalent, but its proteins are also in different ratios. While cows' protein is dominated by casein, it is the opposite in humans, where the whey proteins are the biggest fraction," said Teagasc's head of dairy processing research Dr Phil Kelly.

He said research continued to look "deeper" into the protein structures, and how to harvest them, with millions in research funding and hundreds of researchers now employed at several sites across the country specialising in this field.

"We've moved way beyond the centrifugal separation systems that were developed for separating cream in the 1800s, where we now use nano and micro-filtration techniques that can select molecules of a particular size. It's really game-changing stuff, and Ireland is at the forefront - that's why we've all the big international players with significant plants here," said Dr Kelly.

Despite producing less than 1pc of global milk output, Ireland produces 10pc of the world's infant milk formula.

Danone is one of the biggest manufacturers here, having invested 250m in manufacturing facilities at both Wexford and Macroom over the last five years.

It now employs more than 450, and the two Irish plants are the largest of Danone's 23 infant milk formula plants around the world.

They churn out more than 150,000 tonnes of powder that finds its way into brands such as Cow and Gate and Aptamil.

"It's an area that continues to grow, with our best researchers constantly head-hunted by big multinationals. The more we learn about human gut microbiota, the more products we can develop to fulfil functions at all stages of life," said Dr Kelly.

The dairy conference in Dublin this week is the "one of the biggest international dairy science and technology events to take place in decades", according to a Teagasc spokesman. More than 600 scientists from 32 countries are attending the three-day event.
A murder bid survivor has spoken of how she turned her life around by ditching her paramilitary pals and drugs to set up her own hugely successful business.

Stunning blonde Jemma McGrath  the ex-girlfriend of UVF boss Stephen Mackers Matthews  detailed the transformation during an inspirational speech at a womens conference last week.

In 2013 she was shot six times by the terror gang after being wrongly accused of providing the drugs that led to the overdose death of Alio McKenzie  the son of leading loyalist Alan Bloodnut McKenzie.

After getting out of hospital the 26-year-old had to flee east Belfast because of further UVF threats to her life.

But rather than retreat into her shell Jemma turned her life around setting up the successful Make Up Your Life beauty business.

This remarkable change led to Training for Women Network (TWN) asking her to appear as a keynote speaker at its recent conferences in Derry City and the Titanic Centre in Belfast.

At both events Jemma talked passionately for the first time about how she overcame issues with drugs, alcohol and a lack of confidence to build a positive future for herself.

My aim is to help young women take a different road to what I took, said Jemma, to applause from the audience.

Afterwards TWN Chairwoman Patricia Lewsley praised the young businesswoman for turning her life around.

She said: Jemmas speech was inspirational and very well received. She displayed remarkable bravery in addressing around 200 people, many of whom she didnt know, over both nights.

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Jemma showed that if youre committed to turning your life around you can. She also said that if by speaking publicly about her own experiences she can help change the life of one person then it was worth it.

Jemma has now made a full recovery from the September 2013 UVF gun attack that almost claimed her life outside a friends home on Lord Street Mews in east Belfast and shamed the paramilitary gangsters.

She was shot six times, with three bullets hitting her in the thigh, and the other rounds striking her in the stomach, elbow and foot.

The young woman was rushed to hospital where she underwent 12 hours of emergency surgery.

Afterwards Jemma was confined to a wheelchair for a number of weeks and had to learn to walk again.

The UVF was too embarrassed to claim the attack but sources within the terror gang confirmed she was targeted in retaliation for the death in June 2013 of Alio McKenzie.

Jemma was the last person the popular 26-year-old rang before he took a fatal overdose and that led to her being wrongly blamed on providing the bad ecstasy pills that took his life.

After Alios death she fled east Belfast but was targeted by the UVF on a visit to her mother Linda McGraths home on Templemore Avenue.

The murder bid caused major tension within the terror gang with the leader of its PUP political wing Billy Hutchinson saying those responsible should be removed from society.

Proud mum Linda accompanied Jemma to last weeks Training Women for Network conference in east Belfast, which was also attended by Stormont Junior Ministers Emma Little Pengelley and Jennifer McCann.

Afterwards the DUP and Sinn Fein politicians posed for pictures with the gorgeous make-up artist.

Sources who told Sunday Life about Jemmas courageous decision to speak publicly about her past said her story should inspire anyone caught under the jackboot of paramilitaries.

Jemma has showed that if you want to break free from a life of drugs and paramilitaries you can, said a friend.

She started going out with Stephen Matthews (UVF east Belfast boss) when she was a teenager and that led to her falling in with the wrong crowd.

But she realised it was time to get away from that life and she is now a very successful businesswoman. If Jemma can do this then anyone can.
THE Luas may face a complete shutdown in five weeks, a senior union official has warned.

Siptu Divisional Organiser Owen Reidy said a ballot for an all-out strike is under serious consideration.

He said a decision to ballot for indefinite strikes will be decided after Transdev sends a letter to staff today threatening them with lay-offs if they continue their industrial action.

Mr Reidy said the earliest an all-out strike can take place is in five weeks, to give time for a ballot and to serve 21 days notice under a collective agreement with the company.

The letter from Transdev to the companys over 250 staff, to be sent this afternoon, is expected to warn them that they may be put on protective notice, which could mean lay-offs or short term working.

It is also expected to them that they are in breach of their own contract by taking industrial action. However, Mr Reidy said if the union was doing anything illegal the company would have sought to injunct it by now.

This is a red herring, he said. We have given 21 days notice, and done everything in compliance with the law in relation to balloting, notice and picketing.

The letter will also say the company may recoup its losses due to industrial action from the workforces pay, including compensation for a work-to-rule.

It will also outline a pay proposal that would give a 10pc wage increase to all members of staff, rather than wage increases ranging from 10pc to 18.2pc that were offered to them under a previous Workplace Relations Commission package. Staff rejected this proposal.

Mr Reidy said within the next 24 to 48 hours, union representatives will be talking informally to members and may hold a general meeting to decide whether to seek a mandate for an all-out strike.

An all-out strike is under serious consideration, he said. We are waiting to see the letter, but we have been told what we can expect. When the lads rejected x (the Workplace Relations Commission proposal), they are hardly going to say they will take x less y.
Workers remove part of a balcony that collapsed at the Library Gardens apartment complex in Berkeley, California (AP)

Three Irish women who left a balcony seconds before it collapsed, killing six college students, have sued the builders, owners and managers of the Berkeley building.

Reports say that Caroline Conlan, Cliodhna Maloney and Aisling Tallon filed their lawsuit last month in Alameda County Superior Court, alleging that the wooden balcony had poor workmanship and that warning signs of extensive water damage to the structure were ignored.

The three roommates say they could have been killed or injured.

Ms Conlan, Ms Maloney and Ms Tallon had moved into the apartment two weeks before the tragedy with their fourth roommate, Aoife Beary, who was celebrating her 21st birthday the night of the collapse.

Ms Beary fell, and was seriously injured.

Five of the students killed were Irish citizens working in California for the summer. The sixth was a Rohnert Park woman.
Armed raiders who stormed an adventure centre packed with children badly slashed one man's hand as they tried to rob the business.

Shocked families watched in terror as two masked men burst into Tallaght Adventure World in the Whitestown Business Park just before 6pm on Sunday.

Manager Robbie Doyle bravely fought off the raiders, but was left with a gaping wound in his hand.

One of the raiders was armed with a long-bladed knife, while the second man had a metal pole.

A third man waited outside in a blue Ford Fiesta. The injured man's uncle is Dermot Richardson, who is owner of the popular play centre and a local Independent councillor.

"I was having a coffee with a customer when I heard my son shouting, 'Dad, dad, quick, quick!' and when I turned around I could see the two raiders running in," he said.

"They were wearing balaclavas and the guy with the knife jumped the counter and ran to the office, where my nephew Robbie Doyle, who is the manager, was counting the day's takings.

"I ran down towards the kitchens and I was throwing cups and things at them to try and keep them back, but the knifeman got into the office and the other one was standing at the door, swinging the pole around.

"The guy in the office was shouting and threatening Robbie and then went to stab him in the head, but Robbie managed to protect himself and grabbed the knife.

"The raider then pulled it from his hand, leaving Robbie with a gaping wound."

The raiders fled empty-handed and escaped in the Ford Fiesta, which was later found burned out in the nearby Killinarden estate.

"There were families and children here at the time.

"It was very frightening," said Mr Richardson.

"It is a minority of people who do this kind of thing and there are plenty of good people in Tallaght, but this will give the area a bad name again. It's such a shame.

"They were in the building for less than a minute, but it was terrifying," he said.
An Etihad plane aborted its take-off at Manchester last week to allow two passengers be with their dying grandchild.

Etihad's pilot and crew have been praised after returning to the gate to allow the couple, who were on their way to Australia via Abu Dhabi, disembark the plane.

The plane was taxiing towards take-off at Manchester Airport when the passengers - who have not been named - received a text informing them that their grandson was in intensive care, according to a report in the Manchester Evening News.

The couple had their luggage retrieved from the hold, and quick-thinking Etihad staff even had their car waiting to expedite their journey to the hospital.

Tragically, their grandson died the following day.

If the flight had taken off as planned, the couple would not have made it back to see their grandson before he passed away, their travel agent said.

It was such a sad thing that happened to my clients, but it was lovely that Etihad was able to help in the way they did," Becky Stephenson, a Bradford-based agent with Travel Counsellors, told Travel Weekly.

Stephenson shared her story on the Travel Gossip Facebook group.

According to reports, Etihad has told the customers that they can re-use their tickets for a future trip, as they have family in Australia.

The airline did not issue a statement, but a press spokesperson in Ireland confirmed the story to Independent.ie Travel this morning.
Ryanair is to launch a new 'one-flick' payment system and 'Leisure Plus' product in its latest wave of innovations.

The announcements were made at an event launching Year 3 of its 'Always Getting Better' (AGB) programme of customer service improvements today.

Highlights include:

A new 'One-flick' payment system in the Ryanair app will allow customers to pay instantly for reserved seats, fast track security, priority boarding, parking, transfers and upgrade to leisure or business plus. It will be available from May 2016.

'Leisure Plus' is a new product offering a reserved seat, priority boarding, a 20kg bag and auto check-in in one bundled package from July 2016. Starting from 43.99, it is aimed at "well-heeled" leisure travellers.

A new 'Rate my flight' app feature will allow customers to rate flights and boarding processes, as well as crew and service on board. Real-time feedback will be available to customers from May 2016, the airline says.

Auto check-in will allow 'My Ryanair' members to save their passport details, check-in automatically and have boarding passes sent by email from October 2016.

An upgraded Business Plus product will include security fast-track at more airports, with increased flexibility on ticketing and flight changes from July 2016.

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A 'My Ryanair' Club will allow members priority access to sales, money-off vouchers, and a free return flight when 12 flights are booked in a single year. It will be available from October 2016.

New Travel Guides will partner with the "best destination guides available" to go with its blog, social media and user-generated content, creating what Chief Marketing Officer Kenny Jacobs calls "Europe's most accessible travel content".

The airline is also offering a new groups website, as well as a bonded and dedicated 'Schools Travel' service that it says will help schools to save millions in booking and managing school trips. It's described as a "travel agency for school tours".

Simpler baggage options will reduce price options from 108 (who knew?) to six, offering the same fees online or at the airport, in 15kg and two 20kg categories.

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By any measure, Always Getting Better has been an extraordinary success.

Since it was introduced in 2014, Ryanair has announced new interiors and uniforms, introduced Business Plus and Family Extra products, rebooted its website and app and added allocated seating and second carry-on bags, among other initiatives.

Year 3 is "mostly about innovation", Jacobs said, restating the airline's aspiration to become "a one-stop travel shop" and a "travel retailer that specialises in flights".

This January, Ryanair said that it had become the first airline to carry over 100 million international customers in a single year, while the airline made a 103m after-tax profit in the quarter ending December 2015.

It has spread from 60 to 84 bases across Europe in two years.

"This is not a PR stunt," said CEO Michael O'Leary, describing the Always Getting Better programme as a "transformative" evolution and a "fundamental change" in the way both he and Ryanair do business.

'"If I'd known being nice to customers would have been so good for business, I would have done it years ago," he added.

By 2020, Ryanair aims to fly 140 million passengers a year.
The average Irish dairy cow produces five tonnes of milk a year. But with a payment of little more than 27c a litre this year, she will barely cover the cost of her keep on many farms in 2016.

The dairy bubble has well and truly burst, with prices down more than 40pc from their highs nearly two years ago. In 2014 the State's agricultural research body Teagasc estimated that the average 70-cow herd netted an income of 69,000, while one in five dairy farmers made more than 100,000.

No wonder most of Ireland's 17,500 dairy farmers were chomping on the bit in anticipation of the day when the 30-year-old milk quota regime was due to end.

You couldn't blame them. For 30 years the market protection kept European milk prices steady throughout the vagaries of global market highs and lows. But towards the end of the regime, Irish dairy farmers were getting impatient with the artificial limits imposed by milk quotas.

They knew that the year-round grass growth that graces most Irish farms would ensure that they could produce milk almost as cheaply as anywhere else in the world.

This is why Irish dairy farmers were right to be excited about the removal of milk quotas.

But has that dream turned sour?

There will be a lot of belt-tightening on dairy farms around the country this year. But this downturn was well-flagged, and the only real surprise is its length.

In addition, farmers are in a better financial place compared to the last milk price crash in 2009.

It's the less efficient, smaller dairy herd that is going to struggle most. Of course, it was ever thus. Even during the three decades of milk quotas, when there were buffers to protect the more vulnerable, the number of dairy farms collapsed from 80,000 to just 17,500. The remaining farmers just had to run faster to stand still. Herd sizes nearly trebled, and milk output climbed steadily.

So to blame the end of quotas for the inevitable fall-out from this year's downturn is to ignore trends that were there before.

The upside of their removal is that it is possible for the first time in a generation for young people who don't have a dairy herd to inherit to make a career in milk.

In addition, leveraging our natural competitive advantage to produce milk as cheaply as anyone else on the planet will increase the economic output of Ireland's agri-sector. At least in dairying, there's a chance for the average farmer to make something similar to the national industrial wage. In beef, sheep and tillage, the average has consistently trundled along at less than 30,000.

Downstream in the processing sector, the economic benefit may well be even greater, with home-grown multinational giants such as Kerry and Glanbia employing thousands of food scientists and plant operatives.
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Colette Browne Opinion Every effort must be made to retrieve oral histories of mother and baby home survivors

With three days to go until the Mother and Baby Homes Commission ceases to exist as a legal entity, we are being told that audio recordings of hundreds of witnesses which were deleted may not actually be gone forever. It is another usual twist in a most emotional saga. For decades, survivors of mother and baby homes have been denied a voice and denied autonomy. When they fell pregnant, many through rape and abuse, they were marched to the doors of religious institutions.
Gerry Adams with members of Sinn Fein at Leinster House. 'Both the Social Democrats and Sinn Fein have got off incredibly lightly for their refusal to get their hands dirty with the business of forming a government.' Photo: Tom Burke

The threat of the nuclear option - another General Election - has receded dramatically in the last couple of days. To use US military parlance, we were at DEFCON 2 (next step election) last Thursday, after the Cold War-like exchanges between Enda Kenny and Micheal Martin prompted a frenzy of media speculation about resumed hostilities. We're now at DEFCON 4 (above normal readiness) after Leo Varadkar and Jim O'Callaghan met over the weekend.

It's certainly not a done deal yet, but we should be down to DEFCON 5 (election posters into storage), if not on Thursday, but by Wednesday week when a government is finally formed.

In truth, the election talk was overstated. Politics is ultimately a game of self-preservation. It's hard to imagine any of the 158 TDs would want another election. The odds always strongly favoured some sort of deal being cobbled together to form a government. Those odds have narrowed further since the weekend.

The nature of that deal is still up for grabs, however. The most likely outcome is a government made up of Fine Gael and Independents, supported from the outside by Fianna Fail.

But it's not the only option. A Fianna Fail-led minority government can't be entirely ruled out. Given both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail are well short of a majority - and will need the backing of the other to govern - it mightn't hugely matter if the main government party has 50 or 43 seats.

The Independents will decide who gets the Taoiseach's job. If enough of them want Micheal Martin, there will be an onus on Fine Gael to row in behind and support that from the opposition benches. That would mean curtains for Enda Kenny.

It probably won't happen but, given the number of Independents who can be traced back to the Fianna Fail gene pool, it's not an impossibility.

The word is that many of the Independent Alliance and the rural alliance Independents, unconvinced by Kenny, are breaking to Fianna Fail but are worried about the long-term viability of a Martin-led administration.

So it's still not guaranteed that Kenny will be returned as Taoiseach. If enough of the Independents regard him as a deal-blocker, then perhaps we could even see a repeat of what happened in 1948.

Back then, Fine Gael leader Richard Mulcahy stepped aside and allowed John A Costello become Taoiseach to ensure a deal could be reached with the smaller parties and Independents.

What would absolutely nail it for Kenny, though, is if Labour re-entered the fray.

The party and its key figures are hurting badly right now. But they would be unwise to discount the obvious advantages for the party of being in government.

Seven TDs would get the party two seats at Cabinet - at least one junior and a number of Seanad nominations.

That might offer a better platform to rebuild than sitting on the opposition benches, dwarfed by either Fianna Fail or Fine Gael and Sinn Fein, and drowned out by the more hardline left-wing groups and TDs.

It shouldn't be forgotten that Labour actually campaigned to be returned to government with Fine Gael. Those who voted in their seven TDs did so on that basis.

If Labour went for it, so in a heartbeat would the Green Party (who pulled out of the talks only because they wanted a genuine Rainbow government, rather than being out-muscled by Independents who'd be largely unsympathetic to Green values). And that in turn would put enormous pressure on the Social Democrats to get off the fence.

Both the Social Democrats and Sinn Fein have got off incredibly lightly for their refusal to get their hands dirty with the business of forming a government.

It's always dangerous to try and ascribe motives to an entire electorate. But it's a fair guess that nobody was elected to be a spectator, as opposed to a participant.

The Social Democrats actually said during the campaign that it would consider government with Fine Gael. Sinn Fein, to be fair, didn't. But the party's shrill insistence that Fianna Fail should do what it won't - and break a pre-election commitment - is risible and not a little hypocritical and self-serving.

Adams & Co won't budge, however. The Social Democrats should. A Fine Gael-Labour-Social Democrats-Green-Independents government would, as this column pointed out last week, come as close to having a majority as almost makes no difference.

Even without backing from Fianna Fail, it would take quite a set of circumstances to bring it down.

It makes sense, but it probably won't happen. Which leaves it all down to the two main parties and, of course, the Independents - the kingmakers. The jury is out on whether the Independents have what it takes to provide an effective government.

The word coming from the negotiations that some of them were complaining about there being too much planning restrictions and regulations doesn't inspire confidence. And there is a very local - dare we say parish pump - flavour to what some of them are seeking.

There remains a very genuine concern that it will result in a 'one for everyone in the audience', populist government, lacking in vision and unwilling or unable to make any tough decisions.

'New politics' will produce a government at some point in the next nine days - we just can't be sure it'll be any good.

Shane Coleman presents the Sunday Show on newstalk.com at 10am
The outcome of the forthcoming UK referendum on European Union (EU) membership is in the hands of UK voters - but the island of Ireland would be significantly impacted in myriad ways should our nearest neighbour and largest trading partner opt to end its EU membership.

On a visit to London last week, it was made clear to me by both government and opposition politicians that the large and influential Irish community across the UK has a great deal to contribute to the debate that is now under way.

The scale of Irish-British links is extraordinary. Up to one in four people in Britain has some Irish heritage. More than 600,000 people born on the island of Ireland live in Britain, with many more second and third-generation Irish too. Close to 60,000 company directors in the UK are Irish-born.

Our annual trade in goods and services is growing, and currently amounts to more than 62bn, or 1.2bn per week. Ireland - ahead of Brazil, India and China combined - is the UK's fifth-biggest export market in the world.

The UK plays a valuable role within the EU and we joined the then-EEC together in 1973, giving us a new means to work together at a time when contact between us was a small fraction of what it has become today.

Irish governments have spent recent decades working together with British governments to facilitate peace and sustainable prosperity in Northern Ireland, aided by valuable supports from the EU. Almost every week, members of both governments participate with their EU colleagues at meetings in Brussels, providing opportunities to discuss bilaterally other matters of mutual concern.

Without doubt, ours is a unique relationship, which is best-served by continuing UK membership of the EU. It is impossible to argue that a UK exit will in any way improve this positive progress.

With Taoiseach Enda Kenny having played a central role in helping secure agreement on the UK's settlement deal with its EU partners in February, our focus since then has been on the referendum itself.

We're now 72 days away from the day on which the UK electorate, which includes a sizeable Irish community, gives its verdict. Between now and then, I believe Ireland and the Irish community in Britain have a constructive role to play, and last week I undertook a busy programme of meetings in London, the latest visit in a sustained process of Irish government engagement on this issue.

I had a lengthy discussion with UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and met with a group of actively campaigning Labour MPs with strong connections to Ireland. I also met with more than 30 Irish business and community organisations and spoke to British-based Irish community media to convey the government's clear view that the UK should remain in the EU and to respond to some questions being raised by Irish citizens living there.

Listening to the Foreign Secretary and to the Labour parliamentarians, it was crystal clear that the Irish dimension to the UK's EU membership was important to them - and that Irish voices were most welcome in the debate.

When listening to leading figures in the Irish community across the UK - whose work is almost entirely voluntary and whose contribution to British-Irish relations has been outstanding - it was clear that there is a hunger to be informed on this referendum and to engage in the debate.

I am acutely conscious that the decision is for the UK electorate to make on 23 June. It is for them and them alone to judge in the end if they agree with Prime Minister David Cameron's proposition that remaining in a reformed EU is the best decision for the UK.

What is appropriate and right for us as neighbours, EU partners and friends is to set out Ireland's interests and what we believe to be in the best interests of British-Irish relations. Our position is one that enjoys strong political and public consensus here at home.

The Government's work continues. This week I will meet with a cross-section of Irish employers and business groups to hear first-hand from them how they view the referendum, what actions they are taking and where we might work together. Our diplomatic staff at my department in Dublin, across Britain and Northern Ireland and in Brussels and further afield will continue working actively on this issue, just as they have for over three years now since the referendum was first proposed.

Meanwhile, some of the Irish in Britain have organised among themselves and created an independent campaign group, Ireland4Europe, to encourage UK-based Irish citizens to register to vote and to vote to remain in the EU. Meeting some of their leadership last week as part of my programme in London, I encountered the energy and determination that characterises Ireland's place in Britain today.

In our discussions, they told me of their hope that friends and relatives back home in Ireland, along with national and local Irish media, would join with them in reaching out across the UK to as many members of the Irish community as is possible.

Making the Irish voice heard will be a national endeavour that I encourage everyone to get involved in. This is important - let's all play our part.

Charlie Flanagan TD is acting Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade
Amanda Holden attends the TV Choice Awards 2015 at Hilton Park Lane on September 7, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 28: Amanda Holden attends the Pride of Britain awards at The Grosvenor House Hotel on September 28, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

Amanda Holden arriving at the National Television Awards 2016 held at The O2 Arena in London. Photo : Yui Mok/PA Wire

Amanda Holden attending the Britain's Got Talent Launch held at Regents Street Cinema in London. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday April 7, 2016. See PA story SHOWBIZ Talent. Photo credit should read: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire

Amanda Holden has said she thought Susan Boyle was a stand-up comedian before she sung in her audition

Amanda Holden arriving at the audition for Britain's Got Talent 2016 at the Dominion Theatre, London.

Morning television is supposed to spark debate among its viewers. But when Amanda Holden covered for her colleague Lorraine Kelly on her daily chat show last week, the presenter herself became the biggest talking point.

Or rather, her face did.

Fast forward a few days and social media sites went into a meltdown as Britains Got Talent kicked off and her face became the star of the show.

She looks like a waxwork, was the typical comment. Amanda Holden could barely move her face/mouth on TV this morning, remarked another.

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Those watching ITVs highly rated new detective drama Marcella, which started this week, also found themselves distracted by the remarkably smooth face of its star, Anna Friel.

Gorgeous woman, but WHY do that to her face? summed up the verdict of many.

Friel has spoken in the past about dabbling with vampire facials and laser treatments but being too scared to try Botox.

Holden, meanwhile, has put her youthful complexion down to yoga and a bit of running.

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But many commented on the almost wax-like shine to her face, which looked plumper and smoother than ever.

To put it another way, she could have fallen victim to the Too Far Face, a term used to describe people whose cosmetic work has accumulated to such a point that they no longer look natural.

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Every now and then a celebrity will pass the tipping point, says Dr Michael Prager, a cosmetic doctor. Some of it is down to their practitioner, who may be a little heavy handed, filling in every single line rather than thinking aesthetically.

Some of it is down to the person themselves. Celebrities can go into overdrive and request too much work and their doctors cant say no to them. Thats why stars tend to fall victim to the Too Far Face more than most. But it doesnt make them look younger, they just look weirder.

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Dr Prager says one of the telltale signs that Holdens appearance is down to more than a bit of running include so-called bunny lines at the top of her nose. This is caused by Botox-paralysed muscles in the face trying to make an expression; when they fail, other facial muscles, often at the top of the nose, are recruited to do so.

Nicole Kidman and Friends star Courteney Cox have them and both have admitted to using Botox. Amanda also has an unusually smooth forehead and

exaggerated nose to mouth lines which can form as a result of too much filler, says Dr Prager.

Cosmetic surgeon Alex Karidis says the Too Far Face is often down to practitioners using too many ingredients.

Overuse

Treatments like Botox, filler, lasers, heat treatments and so on, are great ingredients that can make a great face. But similar to cooking, if you overuse them you ruin things. Thats how you can end up with those weird faces that look completely overdone.

He adds: The treatments used are the same used on all those 50-something models and actresses who look fantastic for their age. Theyre just having them in a more subtle way.

Dr Karidis also says the Too Far Face can be a result of strange happenings within the face after surgery: If you inject too much, or inject in the wrong place, you can get this weird tug of war going on with your facial muscles. A patient gets odd expressions when they talk or laugh, or their eyebrows arch a little too high which can make them look sinister or startled.

However, Dr Prager says that in some cases stars consciously opt for this look.

Ive heard of something in LA called the Lancer Look, he says.

The term refers to Dr Harold Lancer, a Beverly Hills skin doctor who has worked with Victoria Beckham, Kim Kardashian, Katy Perry and Beyonce. As well as Botox and similar treatments, he also uses treatments that take off the superficial layers of skin. The result is no pores, no cracks and no wrinkles. The patient basically ends up with a blank canvas for make-up artists and while this type of face can look great in selfies or on screen, its a different story in real life.

Ive heard that Kylie Minogue [who isnt a client of Dr Lancer] is a fan of this particular look, and that she prefers looking like Stage Kylie rather than real Kylie.

As I always say, to look good on camera stars sometimes have to look a little weird in real life.

Not everybody is fan of this look though. Actress Cameron Diaz recently shared a make-up free selfie with her 2.3 million followers on Instagram to promote her new book on female ageing, The Longevity Book.

In a recent interview, the 43-year-old said: One of the parts of research [from the book] that I thought was really interesting is that people who accept ageing actually age better.

Something many could do well to remember.
Blac Chyna and Tyga during his birthday dinner at Sugar Factory American Brasserie on November 18, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Denise Truscello/WireImage)

Kim Kardashian West attends The Daily Front Row Fashion Los Angeles Awards Private Dinner Hosted By Eva Chow And Carine Roitfeld at Mr Chow on March 20, 2016 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for The Daily Front Row)

Blac Chyna and Rob Kardashian at Onyx Nightclub on March 27, 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Prince Williams/WireImage)

Blac Chyna is reportedly desperately trying to get pregnant with new fiance Rob Kardashian.

The 27-year-old former stripper is engaged to reality star and sock designer Rob, and the pair are said to be considering a "quickie wedding".

Now Ian Halperin, author of upcoming tell-all book Kardashian Dynasty, has revealed Blac's determination to get revenge on former friend Kim Kardashian, Rob's older sister, by becoming the "most famous Kardashian of them all".

Part of this plan involves her falling pregnant with Rob's baby.

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"I can reveal she recently told a close friend that she and Rob are having unprotected sex and hoping to have as many kids as they can," author Ian Halperin wrote for Mail Online, before quoting a source as revealing Blac had told her she and Rob want to start "a new generation of Kardashians".

Blac is said to have set her sights on Rob in a bid to get revenge following a feud with his sister Kim.

Kim was friends with Blac until her half-sister Kylie Jenner began dating Blac's former fiance Tyga. Blac is said to have called Kim and asked her to step in to stop the relationship but Kim refused, causing an epic fall out.

"My sources say Chyna was so upset and her life was such a shambles that she vowed to do whatever it took to get her revenge," Ian wrote.

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"Her plan would be simple yet devastating: She would seduce Rob - stealing the Kardashian's only male heir and seizing the celebrity world's most prized name for herself."

Ian quotes a source as telling him: "Chyna is no fool. Instead of getting bitter she devised a plan. And the plan was to hook up with a Kardashian, to get into that family and to call the shots.

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"Her dream was to become as big - or bigger - than the Kardashians. (She wants to be) 'Kim Kardashian on steroids'."

A close friend of Blac's added that her relationship with Rob is entirely down to her revenge attempt on the Kardashian name.

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Now the Kardashian family are apparently doing their utmost to handle the situation and are hoping Rob will end the engagement before the couple make it down the aisle.

However, this is unlikely to happen, a friend of Blac and the Kardashians told Ian.

"This ain't going to be strike three. The family are in a bind now," the friend said.

"They are struggling because there is no way that Chyna is going to let go of this until she succeeds in her master plan - and that's to become the most famous and the richest Kardashian."

Expand Close Blac Chyna and Tyga during his birthday dinner at Sugar Factory American Brasserie on November 18, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Denise Truscello/WireImage) / Facebook

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Ian's book Kardashian Dynasty is set to be published on 19 April.
Nick Frost arrives at the LA Premiere of The Huntsman: Winter's War in LA - he plays a dwarf role in the film (AP)

The director of Hollywood blockbuster The Huntsman: Winter's War has defended casting fully-sized actors to play dwarves in the film.

British stars Sheridan Smith, Nick Frost and Rob Brydon are among the actors who play dwarf roles in the new movie, which is a follow-up to 2012's Snow White And The Huntsman.

The first film reportedly sparked plans for a protest march on Universal, while Danny Woodburn - an actor with dwarfism who appeared on Seinfield - told the New York Post that the issue was "akin to blackface".

Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, who directed The Huntsman: Winter's War, said the dwarf characters in the film were a "fantasy race" and he wanted to use actors who had appeared in the first film.

Speaking at the film's US premiere in Los Angeles, the Frenchman told the Press Association: "We were staying with the first movie. In the first movie it was about the actors who had been chosen to play the parts.

"We brought Nick back because he was part of the first movie. I was not like 'oh we're going to change that'. I just kept the same concept.

"In this movie the dwarves are fantasy race, it's a very different thing."

Chris Hemsworth, who stars as The Huntsman alongside Charlize Theron, Emily Blunt and Jessica Chastain, said he wanted to make a film involving strong female characters that his daughter would enjoy.

He said: "Fairytales in the past were predominately the damsel in distress and the female being rescued by the male or the prince. This time it's the other way round which I think is great.

"I think about my daughter and I would love her to see a film like this, where women are empowered and in charge of their own destiny."

One of the film's writers denied that Kristen Stewart - who starred as Snow White in the first film - had not featured in the new movie because of the controversy over her affair with then-director Rupert Sanders.

Evan Spiliotopoulos said there was "really no room" for Snow White in the new film.

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He told the Press Association: "This is very much a Huntsman specific role. There have been some questions about the lack of Snow White in this one ... but this is about Chris Hemsworth's character and Jessica Chastain's character.

"They have a past where really didn't have Snow White so there was really no room for her."
He is the country boy who was turned into a Hollywood star thanks to his role in the blockbuster Transformers franchise. She is the glamorous model always by his side - so it seems like their love story would fit perfectly onto the pages of a glossy magazine.

However, movie star Jack Reynor has vowed that photos of his wedding to fiancee Madeline Mulqueen won't be splashed across the pages of OK! magazine.

"Absolutely not," Wicklow actor Jack told the Diary.

The What Richard Did star has been dating Limerick model Madeline for over three years and the couple got engaged in late 2013.

While still madly in love and often seen out and about together, the publicity-shy couple are taking their time when it comes to wedding plans.

The 24-year-old said he loves nothing more than chilling out in the Wicklow hills with his girlfriend when he has time off work and their wedding will also be a quiet affair.

"It will be really low-key," Jack told the Diary. "We will do it when we do it."

Ever the supportive girlfriend, Madeline was by Jack's side as they attended the Iftas at the Mansion House on Saturday night.

Fitness fanatic Madeline turned heads in her "last-minute" look - a floor-length, figure-hugging red gown that she picked up from Starla Dresses.

The 26-year-old later showed off her sculpted figure for the Iftas after-party in the VIP area of celeb haunt Lillie's Bordello, after stepping into a purple crochet mini-dress.

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The couple had plenty to celebrate after Jack picked up the Best Supporting Actor Ifta for his role in John Carney's Sing Street.

Jack and Madeline continued the celebrations the following day when they took the actor's latest acting gong along for a pint of Guinness in The Hairy Lemon Pub in the city centre.

Jack is enjoying some down-time as he weighs up potential projects for later this year.

The actor will next be seen in thriller Free Fire, in which he stars alongside fellow Irish actor Cillian Murphy. It's due out next year.

Meanwhile, he plays Brother Wolf in Rudyard Kipling's version of The Jungle Book, now due out in 2018.

"I am looking at some more projects for later in the year and taking a bit of a break in the meantime," Jack said.

Jack said he would love to try his hand at writing and directing.

"It's something that I want to look towards especially now I have a bit of time off. You can expect me to develop something soon enough," he said.
NEW DELHI, INDIA - APRIL 11: Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge lay a wreath to honour the soldiers from Indian regiments who served in World War I at India Gate on April 11, 2016 in New Dehli, India. (Photo by Dominic Lipinski - Pool/Getty Images)

It's every girl's worst nightmare, but the Duchess of Cambridge was forced to grapple with yet another 'Marilyn moment'.

Kate managed to maintain her modesty as the wind whipped up her dress during a solemn wreath-laying ceremony.

The royal couple were honouring India's war dead at its National Memorial - so there couldn't have been a worse time for the wardrobe malfunction.

As they bent down to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Delhi, Kate found herself battling to stop her 1,700 (2,100) dress from flapping up, in images reminiscent of the iconic Marilyn Monroe 'white dress' pose from The Seven-Year Itch.

Expand Close Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge visit India Gate Memorial where they laid a wreath to honour the soldiers from Indian regiments who served in World War I, on April 11, 2016 in New Delhi, India. (Photo by Samir Hussein/Pool/WireImage) / Facebook

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Kate has experienced problems with her featherweight dresses misbehaving before, notably in Canada during the Cambridges' first official tour when it happened a number of times.

Weights are said to be sewn into the hems of the British queen's dresses to avoid any problems with sudden gusts.

Kate's flyaway hair and outfit then continued to cause her embarrassment as she tried to stand in a moment of reflection while the Last Post was played.

Meanwhile, Prince William showed off his culinary skills making a tasty Indian treat - all thanks to an innovative labour-saving device.

William not only cooked a dosa - a savoury snack similar to a crepe - using the automatic machine but was pleased with the results, describing his effort as delicious.

But he could not persuade Kate, who wore an outfit by Emilia Wickstead, to taste the food made by the DosaMatic machine.

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The couple, who are at the start of their seven-day tour of India and Bhutan, were also shown a Braille typing machine, and each wore a blindfold as they tried their hand at typing.
Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant greet one another upon arrival at the premiere of Florence Foster Jenkins in London (AP)

Hugh Grant has admitted he spent a year being terrified of working with Meryl Streep before they made their new film together.

Grant plays Streep's common-law husband and manager St Clair Bayfield in Florence Foster Jenkins, about the tone-deaf operatic soprano of the same name.

The pair posed for photographs together at the world premiere of the movie at the Odeon in Leicester Square but Grant said he did not always feel so comfortable with the Oscar-winning actress.

He said: "I was terrified of her really and I signed up a year before we shot so I had a whole year of being frightened.

"I would wake up in the middle of the night screaming sometimes, thinking 'I have to do hard emotional scenes against Meryl Streep'.

"You have to raise your game."

He added: "She's such an icon, it's very odd to be in her orbit at all."

Jenkins was a New York heiress who sold out Carnegie Hall despite mockery and criticism, and Grant said he hopes she will appeal to British audiences who root for the underdog.

He said: "Someone pointed out to me the other day that in things like Britain's Got Talent they love the people that are really bad almost better than the people who are really good, so hopefully there is an audience for this film here."

One thing the Notting Hill star is sure of is Jenkins would have wiped the floor on talent shows.

"I can't see how she wouldn't have won, she really was a sensation in her day.

"It's quite something to fill Carnegie Hall when you can't sing a note."

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The film is directed by Stephen Frears, who is also responsible for The Queen, starring Dame Helen Mirren, and Philomena, starring Judi Dench.

However, he said he does not deliberately choose projects starring strong women of a certain age.

He said: "It's unconscious. I dread to think what that says about me, I had a very strong mother."

The director added that he only had to tell Streep to sing worse on one occasion, despite the fact she has a good singing voice in real life.

Florence Foster Jenkins is released in UK cinemas on May 6.
Michele McGrath shared a sweet throwback photo from her first birthday/Instagram

It was a big weekend for Irish singer and model Michele McGrath, as she celebrated turning 30 with a series of fabulous surprises from her friends and family.

Michele marked the milestone by posting an adorable throwback photo on Facebook and Instagram from her very first birthday.

Throwing this right back to my 1st Birthday as I officially turn 30 today!! she wrote.

My birthday month has been epic & feeling very blessed to have such a wonderful family and friends!!

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In these 30 years I have learnt to Worry less, Smile more, Trust my instinct, Don't regret, Just learn and Grow and Love and most importantly Be Happy!

Though she officially turned 30 today, Michele, who is in a long-term relationship with UFC fighter Cathal Pendred, has been enjoying a week of celebrations already.

My friends surprised me with a Spice Girl-themed party in Bunratty Castle and a trip to Paris, she told Independent.ie from Spain, where she is on holiday with her family.

I have been spoiled rotten!

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An all-Irish cast will join EastEnders's Kat and Alfie Moon in their spin-off drama series Redwater, the BBC has said.

Set in a fictional village in Ireland, the six-part adventure has been created by outgoing executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins.

Shane Richie and Jessie Wallace, Alfie and Kat respectively, will appear alongside Downton Abbey's Maria Doyle Kennedy Lost's Fionnula Flanagan, and Ian McElhinney from Game Of Thrones.

Redwater's ensemble also includes Shameless star Angeline Ball, Brooklyn's Peter Campion and The Tunnel's Stanley Townsend.

The cast is rounded out by Oisin Stack, Stephen Hogan, Susan Ateh, Ian Toner and Ebony O'Toole-Acheampong.

London-born Wallace, 44, said: "I walked into the drama read-through to a table full of wonderful Irish actors and it was thrilling.

"They all made me feel so very welcome as we started to read the first script. It's going to be a roller coaster."

Richie, 52, said: "Wow! What an honour to be in this unbelievable drama and working alongside some of Ireland's finest actors.

"At the moment it's a whirlwind so I'm just getting into the new scripts, which are electric."

Talking about Redwater, Flanagan said: "This is a fascinating character, full of secrets, deceit and manipulation. My favourite!"

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The Dublin-born actress, who has starred in three Star Trek spin-off TV series, added: "It's a wonderful story which will keep you guessing forever and ever.

"Great writing and a fabulous director."

Redwater is a picturesque Irish harbour village, a quiet rural idyll by the sea where the Kelly and Dolan families have lived for generations.

When Kat and Alfie Moon arrive in search of her long-lost son, Kat's quest for the truth uncovers secrets the village of Redwater would rather were left buried at sea.

The BBC One series, produced by Casualty's Vicky Wharton, will be broadcast in 2017.

Helmed by multi-award-winning Danish director Jesper Nielsen, of Borgen fame, it has been scripted by EastEnders writers including Life On Mars creator Matthew Graham, Casualty's Julie Dixon, Holby City's Lauren Klee and Death In Paradise's Matthew Barry.

Treadwell-Collins hailed Redwater as "very special", while Nielsen pointed to "echoes of a Shakespearean drama".

"It was our intention from the start to create a new contemporary ensemble drama set in Ireland and we are so thrilled and lucky to have such a talented team on board for Redwater," Treadwell-Collins said.

"It is testament to the quality of Jesper, Matthew and the other writers, as well as the producer Vicky's tenacity that we have assembled such a high calibre of cast and crew to join Shane and Jessie in such a beautiful setting. We all know that we are creating something that is going to be very special."

Nielsen said: "We have a really important and fantastic story to tell. About how one woman's search for a lost child opens Pandora's box; revealing the terrible lies and secrets in the little village of Redwater.

"A story about how the strong bonds of love in a family can hold everything together, and yet at the same time - destroy everything. It has echoes of a Shakespearean drama, told in a rich cinematic style, loaded with humour and suspense. I cannot wait to start the shooting and see the characters coming to life."

Filming begins next week in Ireland.
President Obama has said that failing to prepare for the aftermath of the ousting of Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi was the worst mistake of his presidency.

Mr Obama was answering a series of questions on the highs and lows of his time in office on Fox News.

He said, however, that intervening in Libya had been "the right thing to do".

The US and other countries carried out strikes designed to protect civilians during the 2011 uprising.

But after the former Libyan leader was killed, Libya plunged into chaos, with militias taking over and two rival parliaments and governments forming.

Isil gained a foothold and Libya became a major departure point for migrants trying to reach Europe.

A UN-backed national unity government arrived in the capital Tripoli earlier this month but is still waiting to take charge.

The leader of the faction ruling western Libya has threatened to prosecute any of his ministers who co-operate with the UN-backed administration, contradicting an earlier announcement that the ministers would stand down.

President Obama told interviewer Chris Wallace his biggest regret was "probably failing to plan for the day after, what I think was the right thing to do, intervening in Libya."

It is not the first time President Obama has expressed regret over Libya. He told the 'Atlantic' magazine last month the operation had gone as well as he had hoped, but that Libya was now "a mess".

In that interview, he also criticised France and the UK, in particular saying that the British Prime Minister David Cameron had become "distracted" after the intervention.

It was a rare rebuke for a close ally and one which BBC correspondents at the time said angered Downing Street.

Rival militias have been fighting for control in Libya.

President Obama told Fox that his biggest accomplishment in office was "saving the economy from the great depression".

He said the best day of his presidency was when he passed the healthcare reforms. The worst was responding to the mass shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school.

Mr Obama discussed his legacy in a BBC interview last year, saying that his failure to pass tighter gun control laws was the biggest frustration of his presidency.
Otman el Gnaoui, convicted over his role in the 2004 bombing attacks at Madrid's Railway Station (Getty Images)

As another criminal is executed in America, we look at some of the most lengthy spells judges have ordered criminals to spend behind bars - so long they meant not just life, but several lifetimes

As Pablo Lucio Vasquez, the Texas Vampire, was executed for killing a 12-year-old boy and  according to his own account  drinking the childs blood - he had a message for relatives of his victim:

You got your justice right here."

It was, perhaps, a reminder that justice can be harsh, regardless of whether or not you think it fair.

And sometimes justice can be very harsh indeed, even for those who are not executed.

While some prison sentences provoke cries of horror that a criminal will be out of jail way too soon, in a few cases, its quite the opposite.

Chamoy Thipyaso, Thailand - 141,078 years

The longest prison sentence handed down by a court is thought to be that received by Chamoy Thipyaso of Thailand, who in 1989 was given a jail term of 141,078 years.

The wife of a senior Thai air force officer, Thipyaso had been involved in a pyramid scheme that defrauded 16,231 people out of a total of about 2 million.

Given that some of her victims had allegedly been members of the Thai royal household, she probably wasnt expecting leniency.

Thipyaso, however, was lucky in one respect because in 1989 Thai law decreed that regardless of the sentence given, the maximum time anyone could actually spend behind bars for fraud was 20 years.

Otman el-Gnaoui, Spain - 42,924 years

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A similar technicality applied to terrorist Otman el-Gnaoui, who was given a 42,924-year prison sentence by a Spanish court for mass murder due to his part in the 2004 Madrid train bombings.

His accomplice Jamal Zougam got 42,922 years for involvement in the bombings that claimed 191 lives.

As in Thailand, however, Spanish law limits the time that can actually be spent in jail, so in practice the longest either man will remain in prison is 40 years.

Charles Scott Robinson, US - 30,000 years

When it comes to sentences where there is no hope of anything like a 40-year limit on time really served, the longest might be that of Oklahoma child rapist Charles Scott Robinson.

In 1994 a jury recommended 5,000 years jail for each of the six counts against him.

Then District Judge Dan Owens decided he was weary of criminals serving only a portion of their time. So to guarantee that Robinson wouldnt be released early from any of the 5,000-year sentences, Judge Owens ordered them to be served consecutively rather than concurrently  landing the child rapist with a 30,000-year jail term.

I think I can assure that you will spend the rest of your natural life in the confines of the Department of Corrections," the judge informed Robinson, who couldnt get parole until he was at least 108.

Darron Bennalford Anderson, US - 11,250 years

Staying in the incarceration-happy state of Oklahoma, a contender for the most catastrophic appeal in judicial history might be that launched by rapist Darron Bennalford Anderson.

After being convicted of the robbery, kidnap and rape of an elderly woman in 1993, Anderson appealed, perhaps hoping to have a century or two knocked off his original 2,200-year sentence.

It went well for him at first. He won a new trial. That, however, also ended in conviction. And this time the jury decided his sentence should be 11,250 years  thus extending his jail term by 9,050 years.

Anderson is due for release on August 1 9746. Which gives him plenty of time to contemplate the fact his efforts have secured him a Guinness World Record entry for the greatest amount of jail time given as a result of an appeal.

When it came to appeals, Andersons accomplice Allan McLaurin was luckier. He got 500 years lopped off his sentence. Although since the original jail term was 21,250 years, he wasnt that lucky.

Dudley Wayne Kyzer, US - 10,000 years

To find Americas longest sentence for a single count, you have to move to Alabama, where Halloween murderer Dudley Wayne Kyzer of Tuscaloosa got 10,000 years for killing his wife.

Desbribed as a born killer by one prosecutor, Kyzer was convicted of killing his estranged wife, Diane Kyzer, his mother-in-law, Eunice Barringer, and Rick Pyron, a college student, who by complete mischance was at the Barringer home on Halloween in 1976.

He was sentenced to death in 1977, but in 1980 the US Supreme Court overturned Alabamas death penalty as unconstitutional, so Kyzer was retried. The result was that in 1981 he received two life sentences for the killings of Ms Barringer and Mr Pyron, plus the 10,000 years for murdering his wife.

Friends of Kyzer, now 74, say he has become a born-again Christian in prison and feels remorse. He was denied parole  for the 10th time  last month.

Andrew Aston, UK - 26 life sentences

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The longest sentence ever received by a criminal in a UK court is the 26 concurrent life sentences imposed on Andrew Aston at Birmingham Crown Court in 2002.

During three months in early 2001, the cocaine addict attacked and stole from 26 elderly and disabled people in their own homes.

George Dale, 87, and Frank Hobley, 80, both died as a result of injuries inflicted by Aston. The killer was convicted of two murders and 24 charges of robbery.

It is understood that members of Astons defence team urged him to plead guilty in the hope of receiving a reduced sentence. Instead the killer insisted on having his day in court, thus forcing some of his victims to relive their ordeal in the witness box, and probably helping ensure he got a life sentence for every pensioner he attacked.

His 26 life sentences eclipsed even the 21 life sentences received by the Birmingham Six, who in one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British history, were wrongly convicted of a series of 1974 pub bombings attributed to the IRA.

The Birmingham Six spent 16 years languishing in jail before their innocence was recognised. Even their ordeals, though, might pale in comparison to that of Ricky Jackson, who spent 39 years behind bars for a murder he did not commit  thought to be Americas longest wrongful prison term.

In 1975, aged 19, Mr Jackson was convicted with two friends of murdering salesman Harry Franks outside a Cleveland corner store  on the evidence of a 13-year-old boy who claimed to have been a witness, but had in fact been on a school bus a block away at the time of the murder.

Mr Jackson was initially handed a death sentence, and was saved from execution only by appeals and mistakes in paperwork.

The boy witness recanted as an adult, but it wasnt until he signed an affidavit saying he had lied and been coerced by police into testifying that Mr Jackson was cleared by a judge in 2014.

Last year he received more than $1 million (680,000) in compensation from the state of Ohio for his wrongful imprisonment.

Albert Woodfox, US - 43 years in solitary confinement

In terms of suffering while inside, it might be hard to find worse than that of Albert Woodfox, who was released from a Louisiana jail in February after spending 43 years in solitary confinement  despite professing his innocence.

Mr Woodfox is thought to have endured the longest stretch in solitary of any US prisoner, spending 23 hours a day in a six-by-nine-foot cell for 43 years, and being allowed only one hours daily exercise in a fenced concrete yard where he was kept shackled and alone.

He was serving time for another offence when he and two others  who became known as the Angola Three - were convicted of the 1972 murder of a prison guard.

Mr Woodfox and his supporters claim that all three men were wrongly convicted in retaliation for leading hunger strikes against inhumane prison conditions and for being members of the jails Black Panthers chapter.

In 1992 Mr Woodfoxs conviction was quashed on the grounds that he had not had effective assistance of counsel, but he was convicted at a second trial in 1998. That conviction was itself overturned in 2013 because of discrimination in the selection of the grand jury foreman.

His release came after the state of Louisiana agreed to drop its threat to subject him to a third trial in return for him pleading no contest to lesser charges of manslaughter and aggravated burglary.

Mr Woodfox emphasised that his no contest plea was not an admission of guilt, issuing a statement explaining: Although I was looking forward to proving my innocence at a new trial, concerns about my health and my age have caused me to resolve this case now and obtain my release.

In 2014, he told a blogger what he was suffering in solitary: Im afraid Im going to turn into a baby and curl up in a foetal position and lay there like that day after day for the rest of my life. Im afraid Im going to attack my own body, maybe cut off my balls and throw them through the bars the way Ive seen others do when they couldnt take any more.

Paul Geidel Junior, US - 68 years and 245 days

As for the longest time anyone has spent in jail before being released to tell the tale instead of dying of old age behind bars, that dubious honour falls to Paul Geidel Junior.

In 1911 Geidel was a 17-year-old bellhop working in a New York hotel when he sneaked into the room of guest William H Jackson. The wealthy 73-year-old woke up and in the ensuing struggle, Geidel accidentally killed him by suffocating him with a rag filled with chloroform.

Geidels crime earned him only a few dollars. He was arrested two days later, before being convicted of second-degree murder and sent to prison in 1911 for 20 years to life.

A total of 68 years and 245 days later, Geidel, now aged 86, was released. By a margin of a few months, he had beaten the record Johnson VanDyke Grigsby, who had served 68 years and three months by the time he left Indiana State Prison in 1976.

Geidel, who had endured bouts of insanity inside, had been granted parole in 1974, but having been in prison all his adult life and fearing how he would cope on the outside, he chose to stay in jail for a further six years.

He enjoyed seven years of freedom before dying in a nursing home, aged 93.
A US NAVY officer with access to sensitive US intelligence faces espionage charges over accusations he passed state secrets, possibly to China and Taiwan, according to a US official.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, identified the suspect as Lieutenant Commander Edward Lin, who was born in Taiwan and later became a naturalised US citizen, according a Navy profile article written about him in 2008.

A redacted Navy charge sheet said the suspect was assigned to the headquarters of the Navy's Patrol and Reconnaissance Group, which oversees intelligence collection activities.

The charge sheet redacted the name of the suspect and the Navy declined to provide details on his identity. It accused him twice of communicating secret information and three times of attempting to do so to a representative of a foreign government "with intent or reason to believe it would be used to the advantage of a foreign nation." The document did not identify what country or countries were involved.

The suspect was also accused of engaging in prostitution and adultery. He has been held in pre-trial confinement for the past eight months or so.

'USNI News', which first reported Lin's identity, said he spoke Mandarin and managed the collection of electronic signals from the EP3-E Aries II signals intelligence aircraft.

The US Navy profiled Lin in a 2008 article, saying his family left Taiwan when he was 14 and stayed in different countries before coming to America.

"I always dreamt about coming to America, the 'promised land'," he said. "I grew up believing that all the roads in America lead to Disneyland."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said he was not aware of the details of the case, while Taiwan's Defence Ministry said it had no information on the case.
The exhibition also look at the advent of loungewear

Days of the Week by Cheekfrills' Lily Fortescue and Katie Canvin

Some of the lingerie in the Victoria and Albert Museum's latest exhibition

The exhibition will be held in the V&A Fashion Gallery from April 16 through to March 2017

A museum worker adjusts adjusts a bra, corset and thong by Robin Archer of House of Harlot, part of Undressed: A Brief History of Underwear at the Victoria and Albert Museum

Cotton drawers worn by Queen Victoria's mother and a sheer dress worn by Kate Moss are among the items going on display in a new exhibition which explores the history of underwear.

The show, titled Undressed: A Brief History Of Underwear, is being hosted at London's Victoria and Albert Museum.

The range of items on display will help to narrate the story of underwear design from as early as the 18th century through to the present day.

The 200 examples of underwear on show feature garments worn by men and women, and include everything from pair of home-made whalebone "stays" worn in the 18th century, to luxury lingerie garments from designers such as Stella McCartney.

A waist-training corset, favoured by celebrities such as Kim Kardashian as a slimming tool, is on show as part of the larger debate around the creation of corsets which do not damage the body.

Practical and functional underwear is also explored, as well as the evolution of underclothes and nightwear into today's "loungewear".

:: The exhibition will be held in the V&A Fashion Gallery from April 16 through to March 2017.
Opposition politicians celebrate after the result of the vote by a congressional committee in Brasilia (AP)

The impeachment of Brazil's embattled president Dilma Rousseff came a step closer when a c ongressional committee voted to continue the process.

She faces impeachment proceedings over allegations her administration violated fiscal rules to mask budget problems.

Her opponents say the process is in line with the wishes of the majority of Brazilians, while Ms Rousseff's supporters call it a blatant power grab by her enemies.

The special congressional commission voted 38-27 to recommend the continuation of the impeachment process - comfortably more than the 33 votes needed.

The panel's session lasted all day and was marked by a prolonged shouting match before the vote.

There will now be a vote in the full lower house on whether to send the matter to the Senate for a possible trial.

With 342 votes in the 513-member Chamber of Deputies needed for the process to continue, analysts say the outcome is too close to call.

Brazil's biggest party, the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, pulled out of Ms Rousseff's governing coalition late last month, forcing the government to scramble to secure the support of smaller parties to help block the impeachment process.

If the impeachment measure passes in the Chamber of Deputies, it goes to the Senate, which would decide whether to open a trial. If that happened, Ms Rousseff would be suspended from office for up to 180 days during a trial.

In another twist in the months-long saga, a newspaper released the audio of a speech by vice president Michel Temer, who would take over if Ms Rousseff were suspended.

It appears to be a draft of an address that Mr Temer would make to the Brazilian people if the impeachment process were to move forward following a vote in the Chamber of Deputies.

Brazil's political affairs minister and Rousseff ally, Ricardo Berzoini, said the impeachment effort amounts to a coup and pointed to Mr Temer as the driving force behind the attempt.

Thousands of Rousseff supporters turned out for anti-impeachment events in Rio de Janeiro, including musicians and other stars.

Former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Ms Rousseff's mentor and predecessor, lashed out at Mr Temer, telling the crowd the recording had exposed the vice president's desire to oust her.

He dismissed the vote by the congressional panel, calling it unimportant and saying the real test will come with the vote in the full Chamber of Deputies.

A Supreme Court justice last week ruled that the speaker of the lower house in Congress must open impeachment proceedings against Mr Temer, who faces the same allegations of breaking fiscal rules as Ms Rousseff.

If Mr Temer also was suspended from office, house Speaker Eduardo Cunha would be in line to assume the presidency. But he is facing money laundering and other charges stemming from a corruption scandal at the state-run Petrobras oil company.
Deutsche Bank is halting plans to add 250 jobs in North Carolina

Deutsche Bank is halting plans to add 250 jobs in North Carolina because of a state law limiting protections for lesbians, gays and transgender people.

Previously, the bank had planned to add the jobs through next year in Cary.

But co-executive officer John Cryan said the company is "unwilling to include North Carolina in its US expansion plans for now", because of the law.

He said the German bank may revisit the plans later.

The bank currently employs 900 people at a Cary software development centre, and it said it plans to sustain that existing operation.

The law passed last month overrules LGBT anti-discrimination measures passed by local governments.

It also excludes sexual orientation and gender identity from the state's anti-discrimination policy.
A 15-year-old girl recruited a gang of "teenage vigilantes" to lure a man to his death in the mistaken belief that he was a paedophile, a court has heard.

Lorry driver Darren Kelly, 42, from Basildon, Essex, was stabbed to death near his home in Pitsea, Essex, on October 20 last year.

Four people - including the girl, who is now 16 - are standing trial at Chelmsford Crown Court after pleading not guilty to murder.

Opening the trial, prosecutor Crispin Aylett described how the girl had launched a "personal campaign" against paedophiles.

She had previously arranged to meet two men she had found online in the hope they would be arrested.

By the time she spoke to Mr Kelly using the anonymous messaging app Whisper, she had "lost faith" in the police and court system, Mr Aylett said.

She arranged to meet him before telling her friends he was a paedophile and they plotted to ambush and attack him, he added.

Describing the case as being "as disturbing as it is extraordinary", Mr Aylett said there was no evidence Mr Kelly was interested in under-age girls.

He added: "In fact, there is plenty of evidence to suggest precisely the opposite."

Mr Aylett said: "The girl instigated this attack by forming a group of teenage vigilantes in order to attack a 42-year-old man that she had met online.

"She had told the others that the man was a paedophile and as a result he was punched, kicked and then stabbed to death in the street."

After the earlier incidents with two men, aged 23 and 67, whom she met on Facebook, officers asked her why she had arranged to meet them.

She told officers: "Because they're perverts and I don't think perverts should be around and I don't see anybody else doing anything about it."

Chris Carroll, 20, of Pevensey Close, Pitsea, along with two 17-year-old boys and the girl all deny murder. The teenagers cannot be named for legal reasons.

Mr Aylett said that although Mr Kelly had previously used the internet to meet women for sex, there was nothing to support the assertion that he was a paedophile.

In fact detectives found conversations with various women in which he said they were too young for him as he was looking for a partner who was over the age of 45.

Messages recovered by police suggested that Mr Kelly may in fact have believed he was meeting an adult, possibly the girl's mother.

On the day of the murder, the teenager arranged to meet him outside her school.

The other defendants, along with a 13-year-old girl, gathered nearby, with some of them hiding in bushes.

When he arrived, the group started to punch and kick him and Carroll slashed the tyres on his car, Mr Aylett said.

Mr Kelly managed to run away but the group chased after him.

Witnesses described seeing him running for his life.

Mr Aylett said: "In the moments leading up to the murder, as they were chasing him through an alleyway, a passer-by asked the group what was going on.

"Perhaps indicating the inflamed sense of self-righteousness shared by the others, Chris Carroll shouted out 'He's a paedo'."

Another witness described how they punched and kicked him to the ground before Carroll was heard saying "Leave it to me". He was seen bending down as if to stab him.

Mr Kelly managed to get help from residents at a nearby block of flats.

But he had been stabbed six times, including two wounds to his lung, and died later in hospital.

After the attack, the group went to a house and ordered pizza.

The two teenage boys were later handed in to police by their parents.

When officers arrived at a house to find Carroll and the girl, he tried to escape while she shouted: "Do I look like a murderer?"

Mr Aylett said text messages later showed that Carroll was besotted with the girl.

One said: "I know you're not ready for a relationship but I'm going to wait for you.

"I'm not going to quit until you're mine."

The 13-year-old was arrested but later released without charge, the court heard.
BRITISH Prime Minister David Cameron has admitted he handled the row over his profits from an offshore fund badly but insisted he was angry about the way his father's memory was "traduced".

He said the way the fund was set up offshore by Ian Cameron amounted to "entirely standard practice" and was not to avoid tax.

He stressed that councils, trade unions and news organisations have similar arrangements.

The furore over Mr Cameron's personal finances sparked by the Panama Papers data leak has forced the UK prime minister, Chancellor George Osborne and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn into publishing their tax returns.

But Mr Cameron insisted it would be wrong for all MPs to follow suit, describing the suggestion as a "very big step".

In a Commons statement on the Panama Papers, Mr Cameron said: "I accept all of the criticisms for not responding more quickly to these issues last week but as I said I was angry about the way my father's memory was being traduced.

"I know he was a hard-working man and a wonderful dad and I'm proud of everything he did to build a business and provide for his family."

He went on: "This investment fund was set up overseas in the first place because it was going to be trading predominantly in dollar securities.

"So like very many other commercial investment funds it made sense to be set up inside one of the main centres of dollar trading.

"There are thousands of these investment funds, and many millions of people in Britain who own shares, many of whom hold them through investment funds or unit trusts.

"Such funds, including those listed outside the UK, are included in the pension funds of local government, most of Britain's largest companies, and indeed even some trade unions.

"Even a quick look shows that the BBC, the Mirror Group, Guardian Newspapers, and to pick one council entirely at random - Islington- all have these sorts of overseas investments."

He added: "This is an entirely standard practice and it is not to avoid tax."

As Mr Osborne and Mr Corbyn followed the prime minister in publishing their tax returns, Mr Cameron said such a move was "unprecedented" and insisted it should not apply to all MPs.

"I think there is a strong case for (Mr Cameron) and the leader of the opposition, and for the chancellor and shadow chancellor, because they are people who are or who wish to be responsible for the nation's finances," he said.

"As for MPs, we already have robust rules on members' interests and their declaration and I believe that is the model we should continue to follow.

"We should think carefully before abandoning completely all taxpayer confidentiality in this House, as some have suggested.

"If this were to come in for MPs, people would also ask for a similar approach for those who ask us questions, those who run large public services, or lead local government, or indeed those who edit the news programmes or newspapers.

"I think this would be a very big step for our country, it certainly shouldn't take place without a long and thoughtful debate and it is not the approach that I would recommend."

Mr Cameron also addressed questions over a 200,000 gift from his mother which followed the 300,000 inheritance he received after the 2010 death of his father Ian.

The payments by Mary Cameron to her son in May and July 2011 were given tax free, and will only become liable to inheritance tax of up to 40pc if the prime minister's mother dies within seven years of handing over the money. There is no suggestion that they have broken any rules.

Mr Cameron said parents should not be embarrassed about passing money on to their children and insisted it was something "fully recognised" in the tax system.

"There is an established system in this country," he said,.

"Far from people being embarrassed about passing things to their children, like wanting to keep a family home within the family, I believe it's a natural human instinct and something that should be encouraged.

"As for parents passing money to their children while they are still alive, it is something that tax rules fully recognise.

"Many parents want to help their children when they buy their first car, get a deposit for their first home or face the costs of starting a family."

Mr Cameron said he was happy to provide more information about his personal finances to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner if required.

He said he sold his shares in the offshore trust Blairmore Holdings on becoming prime minister in 2010 because he wanted to avoid any conflict of interest.

"I did not want anyone to be able to suggest that as prime minister I had any other agendas or vested interests," Mr Cameron said.

"Selling all my shares was the simplest and clearest way that I could do that.

"There are strict rules in this House for the registration of shareholdings - I have followed them in full."

Meanwhile, Dennis Skinner, the Labour MP affectionately known as the 'Beast of Bolsover', was ordered to leave the House of Commons after he refused to withdraw his claim that Mr Cameron is "dodgy".

After being ordered by Speaker John Bercow to withdraw the comment, he shouted: "This man has done more to divide this nation than anyone else. I still refer to him as dodgy Dave. Do what you like."

It left Mr Bercow with no choice but to expel the veteran MP from the Chamber for the rest of the session.
Greece's prime minister accused Macedonia of "shaming" Europe after the Balkan country's police used plastic bullets, stun grenades and tear gas to beat back refugees from a border fence.

Around 300 refugees were hurt in the clashes at Idomeni on the border between the two countries, including 40 who were hit by plastic bullets.

Athens said the response of the Macedonian police was wildly disproportionate. "Faced with people who were clearly not armed and constituted no serious threat, they attacked with chemicals, with tear gas and rubber bullets," prime minister Alexis Tsipras said yesterday.

"This is a great shame for European culture and for countries who want to be part of it," he said, calling on the EU and the UN's refugee agency to take a stand on the issue.

Mr Tsipras said there was evidence foreign activists had encouraged and incited the refugees to storm the border fence.

The refugee crisis has attracted hundreds of well-meaning volunteers but some are from radical left-wing groups with a firm anti-establishment political agenda.

The clashes at Idomeni took place after leaflets were distributed in Arabic claiming, falsely, that the border was about to be reopened.

The Macedonian police said they used tear gas in order to defend themselves after several hundred refugees tried to break down the border fence.

They accused their Greek counterparts of failing to prevent the refugees from trying to scale the fence, which is topped with razor wire.

Skopje said the refugees threw stones and said that 23 police officers were injured in the clashes.

Around 11,000 refugees, many of them women and small children, have been living in squalid conditions in muddy fields outside the village of Idomeni ever since Macedonia closed its border last month.

The medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said it had treated 300 refugees, including 200 for breathing problems caused by the tear gas and 40 injured by rubber bullets. Of those hit by tear gas, around 30 were children aged between five and 15.

Several people said they had been beaten by the Macedonian police.

"Three children were brought in with head injuries caused by rubber bullets," said Conor Kenny, an MSF doctor in Idomeni.

Greek officials have been trying to persuade refugees to leave the makeshift tent city at Idomeni and move into government-run camps, but most are reluctant to do so and still harbour hopes that the border will be reopened.

Around 53,000 refugees and migrants are stranded in Greece. An agreement signed between the EU and Turkey last month to deport people back to Turkey seems to be having an effect.

The first deportations, from the Aegean islands of Chios and Lesbos, took place last week.

In 24 hours from Sunday to Monday, only 18 refugees and migrants entered Greece by sea. So far this month there have been just over 1,700 arrivals, far fewer than in previous months.
Migrant children play with rubber bullets and empty cases near Idomeni yesterday. Photo: Reuters

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is facing a political dilemma after Turkey demanded that one of Germany's most popular comedians face prosecution for insulting its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The row could jeopardise the EU's controversial migrant deal with Turkey.

The German government confirmed yesterday that it had received a 'formal request' from Turkey over the weekend indicating that it wants to press charges in the case.

If Mrs Merkel agrees to allow the prosecution, she will face accusations of limiting free speech to placate the authoritarian Mr Erdogan.

But if she refuses it could put the migrant deal with Turkey - which she personally brokered - at risk.

Jan Bohmermann, one of Germany's most successful young comedians, faces up to five years in prison over a poem in which he referred to Mr Erdogan as a "goat-f*****" and described him as watching child pornography.

Insulting a foreign head of state is illegal under German law, but a prosecution can only take place if a foreign government requests it.

Any prosecution also requires the express authorisation of the German government - leaving Mrs Merkel in a difficult position.

Turkey had been thought to be prepared to let the matter lie after Mrs Merkel personally intervened with a phone call to Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish prime minister, and issued a public condemnation of the poem.

A spokesman said the German government would "consider the request carefully" before coming to a decision.

Mr Bohmermann is hugely popular in Germany and could quickly become seen as a popular martyr.

He has defended his poem as a satirical response after Turkey summoned the German ambassador to complain about a song mocking Mr Erdogan that was aired on German television.

He said it was intended to show the Turkish president the difference between satire and slander.

Mrs Merkel's spokesman said: "Free speech is not negotiable, either at home or abroad". ( Daily Telegraph London)
Two men have been charged with offences related to the Brussels bombings, while three others have been detained in Brussels in connection to the Paris attacks, Belgian authorities said.

The Belgian Federal Prosecutor's office said the two who have been charged, identified only as Smail F and Ibrahim F, were involved in renting an apartment in the Etterbeek area of Brussels that served as a hideout for the bomber who attacked the Brussels subway on March 22 as well as a suspected accomplice.

It said the detention of the three related to the Paris attacks followed a morning search in Uccle, a district of the Belgian capital.

A judge will decide on Wednesday whether the three people should remain in custody, it said. It said no further information would be made public about the search.

Brussels was home to many of the attackers who struck the French capital on November 13, killing 130 victims. According to Belgian and French investigators, the same cell was behind the March 22 suicide bombings that killed 32 victims at the Brussels Airport and in the Brussels subway.

An investigating magistrate on Monday ordered Smail F, born in 1984, and Ibrahim F, born in 1988, held on charges of participating in the activities of a terrorist group, terrorist murder and attempted terrorist murder as perpetrators, co-perpetrators or accomplices, the prosecutors' office said in a statement.

Prosecutors could not immediately be reached for further comment, but state-run RTBF broadcasting, citing information form unspecified sources, reported the two suspects were brothers, and that the older sibling had rented the apartment on the Rue des Casernes, while the younger brother helped empty and clean it following the attacks.

Belgian police searched the Etterbeek apartment on Saturday but found no weapons or explosives.

The statement from prosecutors said the investigation "is continuing actively day and night".
Greenpeace activists hold a banner as they stand on the roof of Poland's Environment Ministry (AP)

Environment activists have protested over Poland's plans of extensive logging in Europe's last primeval forest and have demanded full protection for the rare Bialowieza woods.

Greenpeace members unfurled a banner above the Environment Ministry that read "(Make) All of the Forest a National Park" - a protective status that would ban logging.

Last month, Environment Minister Jan Szyszko approved extensive logging in the Bialowieza Forest, in north-eastern Poland, saying it was to help fight the spreading invasion of bark beetle, a kind of woodworm that attacks and kills trees.

The forest is on Unesco's World Heritage list and is home to hundreds of wild bison, more than 60 other species of mammals and hundreds of species of trees, plants and lichens. It stretches into Belarus.
Prosecutors say three people have been detained in Brussels for questioning in connection to the Paris attacks

Floral tributes and candles left in the Place de la Bourse, Brussels, following the terrorist attacks in the city

Two men have been charged with offences related to the Brussels bombings, while three others have been detained in Brussels in connection to the Paris attacks, Belgian authorities said.

The Belgian Federal Prosecutor's office said the two who have been charged, identified only as Smail F and Ibrahim F, were involved in renting an apartment in the Etterbeek area of Brussels that served as a hideout for the bomber who attacked the Brussels subway on March 22 as well as a suspected accomplice.

It said the detention of the three related to the Paris attacks followed a morning search in Uccle, a district of the Belgian capital.

A judge will decide on Wednesday whether the three people should remain in custody, it said. It said no further information would be made public about the search.

Brussels was home to many of the attackers who struck the French capital on November 13, killing 130 victims. According to Belgian and French investigators, the same cell was behind the March 22 suicide bombings that killed 32 victims at the Brussels Airport and in the Brussels subway.

An investigating magistrate on Monday ordered Smail F, born in 1984, and Ibrahim F, born in 1988, held on charges of participating in the activities of a terrorist group, terrorist murder and attempted terrorist murder as perpetrators, co-perpetrators or accomplices, the prosecutors' office said in a statement.

Prosecutors could not immediately be reached for further comment, but state-run RTBF broadcasting, citing information form unspecified sources, reported the two suspects were brothers, and that the older sibling had rented the apartment on the Rue des Casernes, while the younger brother helped empty and clean it following the attacks.

Belgian police searched the Etterbeek apartment on Saturday but found no weapons or explosives.

The statement from prosecutors said the investigation "is continuing actively day and night".
David Wagner

SHARE Wilson Burr Race Campbell

By Mike Ellis of the Independent Mail

Assistant solicitors have donated $3,700 to the campaign of David Wagner, one of three candidates for the 10th Judicial Circuit solicitor's post.

Wagner, who heads the Oconee County half of the office, has raised $39,090.

Rame Campbell, who heads the Anderson County half of the office, has contributions of $31,400.

Wilson Burr, who resigned from his post as the top public defender in Oconee County to run, has raised $6,650.

Wagner, Campbell and Burr are running to replace Chrissy Adams, the four-term solicitor who is not seeking re-election because of an ongoing battle with cancer.

Wagner and Campbell have led the county offices for several months.

Wagner's contributions include maximum allowable donations of $1,000 from several assistant solicitors who work directly under Campbell.

Campbell said he is not surprised to see the donations because he urges good relationships with police and punctuality in the office.

He said 85 percent of his donors come from the judicial circuit while two-thirds of Wagner's donations come from outside the area.

Burr and Campbell's financial disclosures do not include any donations marked as being from assistant solicitors.

Wagner and Burr have raised money largely from attorneys or law firms, with 75 percent of Burr's funding from the legal community and nearly 50 percent of Wagner's money. Campbell has raised only 25 percent of his money from the legal field and has gotten donations from people in a variety of occupations including an engineer, a timber firm and a real estate agent.

Burr, who is far behind the others in fundraising, said he is deliberately refusing to accept money from attorneys who could have cases in general sessions court.

"I know it's an uphill battle," Burr said. "But if I get elected, I'll walk in the front door and I'll owe no one any favors."

Wagner said, in a statement, that he is feeling confident with the fundraising totals.

Voters have until May 14 to register to vote in the June 14 primary. There are no Democratic candidates, all three are Republicans, so the winner of the primary will likely be elected solicitor in the November election, barring a write-in campaign. The solicitor's post pays $136,905 a year.

Follow Mike Ellis on Twitter @MikeEllis_AIM
Logan Jacob Simon

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A Clemson University student faces attempted murder and drug charges after a stabbing early Sunday in Clemson.

Logan Jacob Simon, 19, of Prosperity is accused of stabbing another Clemson student while at a party at an off-campus home, said city Police Chief Jimmy Dixon.

City police arrived around 2:20 a.m. to find "one victim had in fact been stabbed while in the process of asking an individual to leave the party," Dixon said.

While searching Simon, Dixon said his officers found a controlled substance on him for which he had no prescription.

Simon has been charged with attempted murder, possession with intent to distribute illegal narcotics and another charge related to possession close to a school. He was released from custody on a $36,000 surety bond, Dixon said.

The victim was taken to an area hospital. Dixon offered no further information.

Staff report
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By Kirk Brown of the Independent Mail

Despite voicing reservations, the Anderson City Council voted 6-1 on Monday to give initial approval to a measure that would regulate how 295 restaurants and other food-service establishments dispose of fats, oils and grease.

City Manager Linda McConnell said a so-called FOG (fats, oils and grease) ordinance must be adopted under terms of the city's 2014 consent decree with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The consent decree was put in place after 48 sewer overflows occurred in Anderson between July 2008 and October 2012. Grease from food-service establishments can cause sewer overflows.

McConnell acknowledged that the 30-page ordinance presented to council members has been a source of "heartburn."

"It is not exceedingly pleasant when you feel like you are being mandated to pass along the rules from EPA and hand those down to our local businesses," she said.

But McConnell stressed that her staff is trying to make the new rules a "little less hard to swallow."

"We have done everything that we know that is possible to do," she said.

Councilman Rick Laughridge asked McConnell how much restaurants will have to spend to comply with the grease-disposal rules. She was unable to provide a definitive answer.

"It is really hard to say," McConnell said. "There are an awful lot of variables."

Whatever the costs are, Councilman John Roberts said, they will wind up being passed along to customers.

Restaurants and other food-service establishments connected to Anderson's sewer system will have a year after the ordinance's passage to comply with the new rules. Each of these businesses will be inspected to make sure that they have proper equipment installed to prevent grease from entering the city's sewer lines.

Businesses will be required to maintain records for three years documenting that an approved grease-waste hauler is pumping out their grease-disposal equipment every 90 days.

Businesses that violate the new rules could be face maximum fines of up to $2,000 a day.

Councilman Steve Kirven, who cast the only vote against the proposed FOG ordinance, asked whether older restaurants could be exempted so they are not "forced to go bankrupt to comply with this law."

"We are using a bazooka to kill a fly," Kirven said. "For some of these people it is going to be devastating."

After staff members told Kirven that EPA officials won't agree to any exemptions, he snapped: "We might as well turn over our sewer operations to the federal government."

Councilman Matt Harbin predicted that the new rules will create a fairer playing field for restaurants.

He said many restaurant owners are "good stewards" who have "already invested a lot of money" on grease-disposal equipment "and they are competing with another restaurant that is not doing anything.

Councilman Tony Stewart praised the city staff for addressing the concerns of restaurant owners who called him. But he said council members need more information before they give final approval to the new rules.

Follow Kirk Brown on Twitter @KirkBrown_AIM
PHOTOS BY MIKE ELLIS/INDEPENDENT MAIL The Rev. Sammy Stroud IV talks about his history of being a victim, his father was shot to death, and how hard it is to genuinely recover from the trauma.

SHARE Ann Hollingsworth touches a picture frame with mementos of her sister, Tina Milford, who was shot and killed in 1983. The case has not been solved. At a event at the Anderson County Library to mark National Crime Victims' Rights Awareness Week, a table was filled with pictures of loved ones who were victims of crimes.

By Mike Ellis of the Independent Mail

Wanda Johnson, a victim's advocate for the Anderson County probation office, still remembers the time when her house was burglarized two decades ago.

One afternoon in her home after the incident, Johnson was walking down a small hallway and became overcome with fear.

"I crouched down in a corner, behind my stand-up piano," she said. "All I could do was cry."

It took time for her to go from "violated to victorious," Johnson said. "It's possible but every victim's journey is different."

Now Johnson spends most of her time helping crime victims.

"I'm here today not as an advocate but as a victim of crime," she said at a conference Monday.

The event happened at the library branch in downtown Anderson in recognition of National Crime Victims' Rights Week.

The South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services is hosting three more of the awareness fairs this week, in Horry, Orangeburg and York counties.

A few days after that burglary, Johnson returned to her home.

"We don't pay a lot of attention always to the effect of property crimes on a victim," she said. "I was a tough girl from the country. I can handle this. They're not going to come back. That's what I was telling myself."

The events of this week's National Crime Victims' Rights Week awareness fairs include domestic violence shelters and family assistance programs, prosecutors and others who deal with crime victims.

"It's not just for victims, however," Johnson said. "We want anyone to come out so they can know what is available."

Ann Hollingsworth went to the conference in remembrance of her slain sister, Tina Milford, who was killed in 1983.

She brought a picture frame filled with a photo of Milford, who was 23 when she was shot in the head. The killing remains unsolved.

"I'd tell victims of crime that they need to stay behind police, stay behind the case and up to date on it," Hollingsworth said.

There is a lot more emphasis on helping victims today than in 1983, she said.

South Carolina was the first state to have victims advocates specifically attached to a probation department, Johnson said. The state also has a bill of rights for crime victims.

The keynote speaker Monday, the Rev. Sammie Stroud IV, said he remembers vividly when he became a victim of crime.

At age 7, Stroud came home from school and laid on his father's chest while his father took his final breaths after he was fatally shot in New York.

Stroud said he was unhinged by incident until he was 20. He later decided to get a criminal justice degree and became a rising jailer with the federal government, able to set prisoners free early and with two dozen staff reporting to him by his early 30s.

Stroud eventually walked away from the job to become a preacher.

With his faith he still harbored bitterness, Stroud said.

One of the turning points in his life was seeing tombstones with his name.

His great-grandfather and his grandfather's names.

There were birth dates. Death dates.

"There's nothing you can do about those," Stroud said.

But what you can do, he said, is focus on the dashes in between.

"You can change the dashes," Stroud said. "Do the best you can do."

Follow Mike Ellis on Twitter @MikeEllis_AIM
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By Johnnelle Raines, Pickens

Tyranny is "cruel and unfair treatment by people with powers over others" according to Webster. Thomas Jefferson once said, "Experience hath shown, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.

This is exactly what has happened with the Pickens County School Board with the recent closing of two rural schools against the will of the people.

The overwhelming majority of the citizens of Pickens County did not want these two schools closed and made their wishes known to board members. Only two school board members listened  Alex Saitta and Henry Wilson.

The other four members shut people out in the rain when the decision was made and ignored motion after motion by Saitta and Wilson.

After a call-in blitz that was held recently, it has become clear that the S.C. State Board of Education will do nothing.

Gov. Nikki Haley is not going to intervene. None of our Pickens Legislative Delegation members have offered any solutions.

Isn't it interesting that all of the above elected officials will get involved in situations that "they" think are important, like take down the Dixie flag? But yet when we the people feel there is an unjust tyrannical school board holding our schools hostage we get just a "sorry we can't help."

Edmond Burke once said, "All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent."

Don't remain silent, or there will be more tyrannical decisions!
MEP Infrastructure Developers Limited has informed the Exchange that one of our Subsidiary viz MEP Chennai Bypass Toll Road Private Limited (SPV and/or Concessionaire) had entered into the concession agreement with National Highways Authority of India ('NHAI) on January 14, 2013 for Operation and Maintenance of Chennai Bypass section from Km 0.00 to Km 32.600 in the State of Tamil Nadu on OMT basis -OMT package No NHAI/OMT/ Pkg 15/2011. The Commercial Operation Date (COD) for the Project was achieved on May 14, 2013. Post COD, during the operating period, various disputes arose on account of mainly evasion of toll and fee rule notification, between the Concessionaire and Authority. Under the orders of the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi, both the Concessionaire & Authority were directed to amicably settle the disputes. As a part of the amicable settlement Independent Engineer has evaluated the claims made by the Concessionaire from t

MEP Infrastructure Developers Limited has informed the Exchange that one of our Subsidiary viz MEP Chennai Bypass Toll Road Private Limited (SPV and/or Concessionaire) had entered into the concession agreement with National Highways Authority of India ('NHAI) on January 14, 2013 for Operation and Maintenance of Chennai Bypass section from Km 0.00 to Km 32.600 in the State of Tamil Nadu on OMT basis -OMT package No NHAI/OMT/ Pkg 15/2011. The Commercial Operation Date (COD) for the Project was achieved on May 14, 2013. Post COD, during the operating period, various disputes arose on account of mainly evasion of toll and fee rule notification, between the Concessionaire and Authority. Under the orders of the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi, both the Concessionaire & Authority were directed to amicably settle the disputes. As a part of the amicable settlement Independent Engineer has evaluated the claims made by the Concessionaire from time to time. However, final settlement on the same is yet to conclude. As part of the settlement, the Concessionaire, has handed over the Project Facilities & the Toll Plaza's to the NHAI from April 9, 2016 at 00.00 hours. The Settlement of claims will be dealt as per the provisions of the Concession Agreement.
went to University dreaming of becoming a film maker, but her studies lead her to a different career path she loves.The University of Auckland graduate completed a BA in the Faculty of Arts at the end of 2002. She majored in film, but has worked her way up to a successful career in management, starting in New Zealand, then Australia, and now all the way to Brazil.TheWhen I was young, I dreamt of making films. My interests cantered around architecture, design, art and film, she says.The course was a perfect combination of all of them. As I progressed through my course, I added politics and media papers with which I became increasingly fascinated.I immediately loved the flexibility my study provided. I was suddenly an adult with all the freedom to make choices and decisions when it came to my education, balanced with the security and support of amazing lecturers and tutors.It taught me to be organised, to do my research well, to think laterally, to think outside the box and balance opinions with facts. It was a well-rounded programme that made me feel like I had so many options to choose from when it came to my career.During her BA, Marina worked in retail for Scarpa Shoes. After she completed her degree she was offered a full time position and worked through many different roles including management and buying. From there, she joined the Chancery Marketing Committee and later moved to a Marketing Managers role with Westfield, where she was responsible for their 277 Newmarket centre and the launch of the Nuffield Street retail strip.She joined Cotton On in 2011, first based in Auckland, and then moving to Melbourne. She and her husband Rickie and baby Aleksandar moved to Brazil at the end of last year.She credits her success to the strength of the BA she took.An Arts degree provides so many career opportunities and options and you might be surprised where you end up. I started as a young student dreaming of making films and ended up working for a billion dollar company that operates 1400 retail stores across 18 countries.My advice is to follow what really interests and drives you whilst staying in tune with how you can transfer those skills into a career, she says.Marinas success in Arts and then marketing is also interesting given her parents backgrounds. Her father,and her mother,Marina says she, and her two siblings, were encouraged to choose their own paths.Mum and dad have so many interests outside of the areas they work in. We grew up in a household where music, art, politics and history were a part of our everyday conversations, she says.My father has many faces he is a researcher, an author, a mentor, a teacher and the list goes on. It makes perfect sense to me that my sister chose languages and teaching and that my brother pursued politics and history. Although we have not followed in their footsteps strictly speaking, it turns out we are mirroring them in many ways.The move to Brazil is not the first big move of her life. Marina came to New Zealand from Serbia as an 11-year-old with no English, but after going through Remuera Intermediate and Epsom Girls Grammar she decided to skip 7th form and go straight to university.There will be a time to come home; the lifestyle New Zealand has to offer is very hard to beat, not to mention our irreplaceable friends and family. We havent quite reached that point yet. There are a few more adventures to be had.
Alibaba Group Holding Limited and Lazada Group S.A. announced today that Alibaba entered into an agreement to acquire a controlling stake in Lazada, a leading eCommerce platform in Southeast Asia. The transaction consists of an investment of approximately USD500 million in newly issued equity capital of Lazada and acquisition of shares from certain shareholders of Lazada, for a total investment by Alibaba of approximately USD1 billion. The transaction is expected to help brands and distributors around the world that already do business on Alibabas platform, as well as local merchants, to access the Southeast Asian consumer market.Lazada currently operates eCommerce platforms in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore Thailand and Vietnam. These six countries combined have a population of approximately 560 million and an estimated Internet user base of 200 million, according to Internet Live Stats. With only 3% of the regions total retail sales conducted online, Southeast Asia is expected to offer tremendous growth potential to both companies as internet penetration continues to rise.Globalization is a critical strategy for the growth of Alibaba Group today and well into the future, said Michael Evans, President of Alibaba. With the investment in Lazada, Alibaba gains access to a platform with a large and growing consumer base outside China, a proven management team and a solid foundation for future growth in one of the most promising regions for eCommerce globally. This investment is consistent with our strategy of connecting brands, distributors and consumers wherever they are and support our ecosystem expansion in Southeast Asia to better serve our customers.Max Bittner, CEO of Lazada Group added, We are very excited about joining forces with Alibaba and see significant synergies that will drive great benefits to our customers in Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia is an attractive mobile-driven consumer market that is highly fragmented and diverse with significant barriers to entry and a nascent modern retail sector that has large headroom for growth. The transaction will help us to accelerate our goal to provide the 560 million consumers in the region access to the broadest and most unique assortment of products. Furthermore, leveraging Alibabas unique knowhow and technology will allow us to rapidly improve our services and provide an even more effortless shopping and selling experience.In connection with the transaction, Alibaba entered into a put-call arrangement with certain Lazada shareholders, giving Alibaba the right to purchase, and the shareholders the right to sell collectively, their remaining stakes in Lazada at fair market value during the 12 to 18 month period after the closing of the transaction.Founded in 2012, Lazada is the one-stop eCommerce gateway for local and international brands and distributors to consumers in six distinct Southeast Asian markets: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore Thailand and Vietnam. By combining its regional presence with locally tailored capabilities in areas such as supply-chain, last-mile delivery and payment, Lazada has developed a unique solution for global brands and distributors wanting to enter this rapidly growing region.Credit Suisse (Hong Kong) Limited acted as exclusive financial advisor to Alibaba and Goldman Sachs (Asia) LLC as exclusive financial advisor to Lazada.
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi's meeting with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and Department of Telecom (DoT) over the weekend did not provide any relief to telcos.



AG Rohatgi on Monday informed the Supreme Court that he will defend TRAI's stand of implementing the call drop penalty, as per reports.



"The matter cannot be settled," he was quoted as saying. He further stated that no possible solution for the call drop issue is in sight. The AG also sought to extend the date of hearing from April 12 to April 21.



The Attorney General on April 5 had told the Supreme Court that it will call for a meeting with telecom ministry officials and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to discuss the technical papers and possible solutions for call drops.



The Supreme Court on March 17 had asked TRAI to review call drop penalty regulation in view of technical issues. The apex court asked the regulatory body to base their stand after considering the papers dealing with technical aspects of call drops.



Following the SC's order, the regulator said it will comply with the order to consider the amendment of penalty based on technical aspects of call drops.



The apex court bench of Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman had pointed out that nobody has seen technical papers on the day of framing of regulation, adding, "It appears prima facie that TRAI's technical papers, which cite reasons for call drops, were not taken into account while framing the 2015 regulation."



The call drop case was filed after the regulator mandated the telcos to compensate the consumers with Re.1 per call up to 3 dropped calls per day starting from January 2016 to improve the call drop situation. This was unanimously opposed by telcos and they filed a case with the Delhi High Court against TRAI's regulation. However, after the Delhi High Court upheld TRAI's compensation regulation, telecom operators approached Supreme Court filing a petition challenging the high court order.
Agriculture for Kharif Campaign-2016 was organized on 11th and 12th April, 2016 at NASC Complex, Pusa, New Delhi. The Conference was inaugurated by Radha Mohan Singh, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and also addressed by Dr. Sanjeev Balyan, Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.



The Conference was chaired by Secretary, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare. Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries and DG (ICAR) & Secretary, Department of Agriculture Research & Education (DARE) also addressed the Conference. The two-days Conference was attended by Agriculture Production Commissioners/Principal Secretaries/ Secretaries (Agriculture) of the Department of Agriculture, Horticulture, Animal Husbandry & Dairying and Agriculture Marketing & Cooperation from State Governments, Senior Scientists from ICAR, Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) and officials from Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare (DAC&FW), D/o Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, D/o Fertilizers, NITI AYOG, RBI amongst others. The National Conference onwas organized on 11th and 12th April, 2016 at NASC Complex, Pusa, New Delhi. The Conference was inaugurated by Radha Mohan Singh, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and also addressed by Dr. Sanjeev Balyan, Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.The Conference was chaired by Secretary, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare. Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries and DG (ICAR) & Secretary, Department of Agriculture Research & Education (DARE) also addressed the Conference. The two-days Conference was attended by Agriculture Production Commissioners/Principal Secretaries/ Secretaries (Agriculture) of the Department of Agriculture, Horticulture, Animal Husbandry & Dairying and Agriculture Marketing & Cooperation from State Governments, Senior Scientists from ICAR, Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) and officials from Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare (DAC&FW), D/o Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, D/o Fertilizers, NITI AYOG, RBI amongst others.

In his inaugural address, Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare stressed that the current years Kharif Conference gains special significance in the backdrop two consecutive droughts the country has suffered and the Governments commitment to double the income of farmers by the year 2022. He stated that the country is now geared up to handle erratic rainfall situations. In this context he highlighted that despite high rainfall deficiency of 14% and 12% during the preceding last year, total production of foodgrains in the country during 2015-16 is estimated to be marginally higher at 253.16 MT as against 252.02 MT produced during 2014-15. He mentioned that given the vagaries of weather etc., the target of doubling farmers income in the next six years would not be achievable from crop production alone and would require a comprehensive strategy of integrated farming involving all the allied sectors of agriculture including Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries. As water is a critical resource, the present budget has brought creation of water sources and enhancing water use efficiency as core concern of the farm sector. The Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojna (PMKSY) launched in 2015-16 would not only enhance water resources in the country but also increase water use efficiency. Against revised estimate (RE) of Rs.1550 crore during 2015-16, the allocation under PMKSY for 2016-17 has been raised to significantly to Rs.2340 crore. Availability of Land being limited, higher income can be obtained only through increase in crop productivity which can not be achieved without balanced use of fertilizers. Therefore, the Government has launched a comprehensive Soil Health Card (SHC) Scheme to promote use of fertilizers needed as per requirement of soil nutrients in respect of 14 crore holdings of the country. In this context, he highlighted that the States have already collected 90 lakh samples and tested more than 60 lakh samples. Considering the imbalanced use of fertilizers which has resulted in deterioration in the soil fertility, he emphasized on the need for creating awareness about Soil Health Cards.

He also mentioned that there is considerable scope for promoting organic farming without compromising on yield. In this context, he mentioned the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) being implemented in a mission mode to promote organic farming, particularly in the rainfed and hilly areas. He emphasized on ensuring remunerative return to the farmers so as to enhance farmer income. Highlighting the importance of marketing reforms in agriculture sector, he informed that Government is launching the scheme for establishing National Agricultural Market (NAM) on 14th April, 2016 which will cover 200 markets by September 2016 and another 200 by March, 2017. This will help farmers in realization of more competitive prices on their produce and lead to increase in their income. He requested State Secretaries in-charge of Marketing to complete the reform process and join NAM as early as possible. He also expressed happiness that to secure farmers against various risks and uncertainties, Government is implementing the comprehensive and highly progressive Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY). This is a path breaking initiatives for farmers welfare, and advised all the States to finalize bids and assign district to various insurance companies so that farmers can take advantage of the PMFBY right from Kharif 2016.
The Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Republic of Maldives signed two Agreements - for the Exchange of Information with respect to Taxes and for the Avoidance of Double Taxation of Income derived from the International Air Transport here today during the visit of the President of Maldives to the national capital.

The Agreement will enhance mutual co-operation between the two countries by having effective exchange of information in tax matters.

The Agreement for the Exchange of Information with respect to Taxes is based on international standards of transparency and exchange of information. It covers taxes of every kind and description imposed by the Governments of India and Maldives. The Agreement enables exchange of information, including banking information, between the two countries for tax purposes, which will help curb tax evasion and tax avoidance.

The second Agreement provides for relief from double taxation for airline enterprises of India and Maldives by way of exemption of income derived by the enterprise of India from the operation of aircraft in international traffic, from Maldivian tax and vice-versa. The object of the Agreement is that profits from the operation of aircraft in international traffic will be taxed in one country alone and accordingly the taxing right is conferred upon the country to which the enterprise belongs. The Agreement will provide tax certainty for airline enterprises of India and Maldives.

The Agreement further provides for Mutual Agreement Procedure for resolving any difficulties or doubts arising as to the interpretation or application of the agreement.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Dr. Ashton Carter is on an official visit to India at the invitation of Raksha Mantri Shri Manohar Parrikar from April 10-13, 2016. Raksha Mantri hosted Secretary Carter in Goa. They visited the Indian Naval Base in Karwar and the INS Vikramaditya aircraft carrier. They also visited the USS Blue Ridge which was conducting a port call in Goa during the Secretarys visit. Secretary Carter then traveled to New Delhi for official talks with Raksha Mantri. He will also meet the National Security Advisor and the Prime Minister.

The United States and India share a deep and abiding interest in global peace, prosperity, and stability. Bilateral Defence cooperation is a key component of the strategic partnership between India and the United States.Secretary Carters visit marked the fourth meeting between him and Raksha Mantri Parrikar within a year, demonstrating the regular Ministerial-level oversight of the robust and deepening bilateral Defence relationship.

During their meeting, Raksha Mantri Parrikar and Secretary Carter reviewed the important steps taken since the signing of the new Framework for the U.S.-India Defense Relationship last June to deepen bilateral defence ties. They discussed the priorities for the coming year in defence ties, as well as specific steps both sides will take to pursue those priorities. These included expanding collaboration under the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI); Make in India efforts of Government of India; new opportunities to deepen cooperation in maritime security and Maritime Domain Awareness; military-to-military relations; the knowledge partnership in the field of defence; and regional and international security matters of mutual interest.

Raksha Mantri Parrikar and Secretary Carter welcomed the efforts by the Indian and U.S. Armed Forces to further expand collaboration in the years to come. They welcomed plans across our Services for greater complexity in their military engagements and exercises, including developing plans for more advanced maritime exercises. Both sides acknowledged India's participation in the Rim-of-the-Pacific (RIMPAC) multilateral naval exercise in 2016 as well as participation by the Indian Air Force in the multilateral Red Flag exercise in April-May 2016 in Alaska and U.S. participation in the International Fleet Review of the Indian Navy at Visakhapatnam in February 2016.They expressed their desire to explore agreements which would facilitate further expansion of bilateral defence cooperation in practical ways. In this regard, they announced their in principle agreement to conclude a Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement, and to continue working toward other facilitating agreements to enhance military cooperation and technology transfer.

In support of the India-U.S. Joint Strategic Vision for the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region and the maritime security objectives therein, both sides agreed to strengthen cooperation in the area of maritime security. In this context, they reaffirmed their desire to expeditiously conclude a white shipping technical arrangement to improve data sharing on commercial shipping traffic. They agreed to commence Navy-to-Navy discussions on submarine safety and anti-submarine warfare. They also agreed to launch a bilateral Maritime Security Dialogue, co-chaired by officials at the Joint Secretary/Assistant Secretary-level of the Indian Ministries of Defence and External Affairs and the U.S. Departments of Defense and State.

Secretary Carter and Raksha Mantri Parrikar reaffirmed the importance of safeguarding maritime security and ensuring freedom of navigation and over flight throughout the region, including in the South China Sea. They vowed their support for a rules-based order and regional security architecture conducive to peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean, and emphasized their commitment to working together and with other nations to ensure the security and stability that have been beneficial to the Asia-Pacific for decades.

Raksha Mantri Parrikar and Secretary Carter reviewed the progress and reiterated their commitment to pursue co-development and co-production of advanced defence articles under the DTTI. In this context, they agreed to initiate two new DTTI pathfinder projects on Digital Helmet Mounted Displays and the Joint Biological Tactical Detection System. They commended the on-going discussions at the Jet Engine Technology Joint Working Group (JETJWG)and the Joint Working Group on Aircraft Carrier Technology Cooperation (JWGACTC). They agreed to work towards greater cooperation in the field of cutting-edge defence technologies, including deepening consultations on aircraft carrier design and operations, and jet engine technology. They noted the understanding reached to conclude an information exchange annex (IEA) to enhance data and information sharing specific to aircraft carriers.

With the aim of encouraging greater participation of U.S. Defence Industries in the Make In India program of the Government of India, Raksha Mantri Parrikar informed Secretary Carter about the recently announced Defence Procurement Policy and other reforms in the Indian defence sector. Both sides agreed to encourage their respective defence industries to develop new partnerships in the pursuit of a range of cutting-edge projects. In support of Make in India, the United States shared two proposals to bolster India's suite of fighter aircraft for consideration of the Government of India.

Secretary Carter and Raksha Mantri Parrikar welcomed the finalization of four government-to-government project agreements in the area of science and technology cooperation: Atmospheric Sciences for High Energy Lasers, Cognitive Tools for Target Detection, Small Intelligent Unmanned Aerial Systems, and Blast and Blunt Traumatic Brain Injury.

Before departing India, Secretary Carter will oversee a repatriation ceremony of U.S. World War II remains from India to the United States. Secretary Carter expressed his gratitude to Raksha Mantri Parrikar and the Government of India for their support in facilitating the recovery effort. The Indian Government agreed to support Americas commitment to bringing its fallen personnel home and providing their families the fullest possible accounting, and looks forward to further humanitarian missions of this kind over the next few years to return the remains of these U.S. heroes to their families.
Jewellers in Maharashtra have called off their strike temporarily, from 14th to 24th April, according to reports.

"We are meeting the Union Minister Piyush Goyal tomorrow in Delhi with our demands, which include paying additional one per cent additional tax on VAT instead of excise duty, no maintenance of extra register keeping details of each items, no additional tax on remake of old jewellery and no inspection of manufacturing and retail units," Maharashtra Rajya Saraf Suvarnakar Federation President Fatechand Ranka has been quoted as saying.

"For this we have temporarily halted the strike in the state from April 14 to 24," Ranka told a domestic news agency in Mumbai.

He said that if their demands were not met, the jewellers in Maharashtra will resume the strike.

Jewellers across the country are on indefinite strike since 2th March in protest against the Union Budget proposal to levy 1 per cen excise duty on non-silver jewellery.

More than 300 associations comprising over 3 lakh manufacturers, retainers, wholesalers, artisans among others, have participated in the stir across the country.

On Monday, the jewellers resorted to hunger strike after Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley refused to rollback the proposed excise duty.

Earlier, major associations, including All India Gems & Jewellery Trade Federation, India Bullion & Jewellers Association and Gems Jewellery Export Promotion Council had called off strike in March.
Former USL president Ashok Capoor spoke about the alcohol industry during an interview with ET Now where he stated that most states have realized that issuing a ban would not be the most viable solution because of revenue implications.



According to Mr. Capoor, Tamil Nadu is a large state and contributes a lot to national volumes. He also added that the state is vital for profitability to national players such as United Spirits. The former USL MD stated that local firms such as Radico Khaitan would suffer if Tamil Nadu goes dry. He also pointed out that the trend is very recent, and it is, therefore, difficult to determine its effectiveness in the long run.



Capoor also spoke about the proposed alcohol ban where he revealed that Kerala has taken a partial ban, while Bihar has instituted a complete ban. Tamil Nadu is next on the list and the two parties want to go dry. Haryana and Andhra Pradesh had also been dry, but there were illegal alcohol operations in both the states. As a result, the ban decision was reversed for both the states. Capoor, therefore, believes that placing a ban is not the most suitable solution, and most of the Indian states are aware of this due to the growing revenue pressures.



Capoor also noted that alcohol was banned in Gujarat because of the influence of Mahatma Gandhi and it was also banned in Mizoram because the local church does not condone alcohol. However, the complete ban was reversed for Mizoram less than a year ago. Tourists are now allowed to partake, and the same applies to people from outside the state. It would be hard to change the situation for Gujarat because of its traditions, but it is different for Mizoram because already illegal alcohol is depriving the state of a lot of revenue.

The former USL manager believes that the alcohol industry is one of the most difficult industries in India because it is overtaxed and overregulated. Roughly 65% of the taxes of the prices are made up of direct taxes from the government. Most governments also raise the taxes on an annual basis and consumers are the ones who suffer the high costs.


Ramco Systems has won a Logistics ERP software order from SK Logistics, part of Australian logistics and transport provider, GTI Logistics Limited.



Ramco Logistics Software will automate the manual processes pertaining to GMK's key supply chain operations by providing modules for better management of warehousing and transportation, freight and fleet, purchase and inventory, integrated with finance and HR all under a unified structure. Notably, this landmark win marks Ramco's first foray into Western Australia.



For over 50 years, GMK Logistics has been delivering specialised services with outsourced warehousing, transportation, and third-party logistics in Australia. GMK operates in every state of Australia and has facilities in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, and Newcastle.



On choosing Ramco, GMK Logistics said, "We were on the lookout for a technology that understands our needs and complements our requirements. Ramco scored ahead of all others, be it by reference from their existing clientele in the region, by the comprehensiveness of the product offered, and by offering cloud, mobility and in-built analytics. We are confident, that with the right technology partner like Ramco, we will improve our efficiency and accelerate our growth."



Virender Aggarwal, CEO, Ramco Systems said, "Australia & New Zealand is a mature market where organisations look for transformational technology to fuel their growth. We are glad our focus on innovation and delivering business results has struck the right chord with enterprises in the region. From our entry and first win in 2012 which garnered us the coveted ISG Paragon Awards for lnnovation, we have come a long way. The win at GMK Logistics further strengthens our logistics footprint and will pave the way for more growth in the segment."
Power sector witnessed generation capacity addition of 14,181MW between April 2015-February 2016, as against 15,935 MW added during same period last year. The aggregate installed capacity in India now stands at 288 GW at end of February 2016. In the twelfth five year plan, the country witnessed capacity addition to the tune of ~75GW till February 2016, which is ~85% of the targeted ~88.5GW.With temperature picking up post the winter season and resulting gradual pickup in demand, power generation grew by 9% yoy during February 2016. Power generation during April 2015 to February 2016 stood at ~1,011 BU, recording a ~5% growth yoy. The country continued to face water shortages (owing to sub-optimal rainfall) during the year leading to a ~11% yoy decline in hydro power generation in February 2016. Power generation through gas however recorded a growth of ~5% yoy during April 2015 to February 2016 driven by the governments decision to supply gas at subsidized rates to distressed plants. All India PLF declined marginally from 66% in February 2015 to 65% in February 2016. Peak deficit fell from ~1.7% in January 2016 to ~1.3% in February 2016 owing to gradual pick up in generation as demand remained subdued.During the quarter, NTPC Ltd announced its investment plans for Telangana Super Thermal Power Project, Phase-1 (2x800 MW) at an estimated cost of Rs.10,600 cr. The Commercial Operations Date (CoD) of first unit is expected in 52 months and second unit at an interval of 6 months thereafter. The Company also raised ~Rs.5,000 cr through an Offer for Sales (OFS) at floor price of Rs.122 per share. In February 2016, Tata Power synchronized 67.5 MW Unit 1 of the Kalinganagar- Orissa project.The shortage of water (owing to sub-optimal monsoon during the last couple of years) has been gradually impacting power plants in the country. The first major instance has been of NTPC shutting down units of its plant at Farakka in West Bengal. The shutdown has hit states across eastern region.Uttarakhand became the 10th state to join the UDAY scheme. The scheme which aims to tackle the debt burden of discom utilities and enforce financial discipline would help power generation companies in terms of allowing discoms to offtake power and make timely payments.Owing to weakness in power generation, revenues for most power generation companies would be depressed on qoq basis. Also the margins should be under pressure owing to increase in input costs. Prices of key commodities which are involved in the development and operation of power projects have witnessed marginal pick up during the quarter.The availability of water and fuel, financial strength of State Electricity Boards and availing timely environmental clearances are the key challenges for the sector.
There's no denying that things have been difficult for refugees around the world. In fact, difficult would be an understatement. One can only imagine the pain they've been through, being pushed out of their own homes, some even losing their loved ones to inhuman activities in Syria and Somalia. And by the looks of things happening around us, things are only getting worse. But instead of talking about the suffering caused by humans to humans, let's focus on a little ray of hope - the Kiron University.

Giving refugees a much-deserved chance to start over in their lives, Kiron University provides education for refugees all around the world, no matter where they are, for no cost at all. The online platform of higher learning gives refugees a second and better chance of being employed, having a social and professional life, and leading a life that is as close to normal as possible.

The number of people being forced out of their homes is at an all-time high at the moment. According to a UNHCR report, approximately 42,500 people are being displaced every single day. What's worse is that half of this number comprises children. Globally, one of every 122 humans is either a refugee, internally displaced or seeking asylum. We are living in a very dangerous era; overall, 60 million people have become refugees, and this number is just for 2014. It's scary to imagine that things are only getting worse.

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What is it?

Launched in October 2015, Kiron University is making educating the unfortunate possible by providing a number of courses for refugees online. How? Like every great idea takes off - crowd funding! The university heavily relies on online donations and an ever-expanding volunteer team. According to Kiron, less than 1% of refugees have access to higher education, and this is what they wanted to change.

Using an innovative combination of online and offline education programmes that is sustainable, cost-effective, and most importantly, easily accessible from around the world, Kiron wants to provide millions of refugees with an opportunity to graduate from a recognised university absolutely free of charge. Currently, Kiron hosts over 1,000 students, has partnered with 23 well-known universities, and has 4 degree programs.

How are they making it work?

Of course, education isn't cheap. To make it easily accessible to most, Kiron had to rely on online courses which were already readily available, or the online courses being offered by renowned universities across the world. Kiron uses online courses put out by universities, including the likes of Harvard, Yale, Cambridge and MIT, on topics like engineering, management, computer science, intercultural studies, and architecture. Kiron also has its own learning materials too. As of December last year, Kiron had raised more than $558,000 (Rs 3,70,84,931) from donations pouring in from around the world. Enough to cover the tuition of up to 250 students.

Enrollment into colleges can be a daunting task for the refugees.

They have been thrown out of their own homes, of course they won't have the necessary documents. It gets even more difficult if they don't speak the language. But Kiron University with their college in Germany accepts every refugee regardless of whether they can present the required documents.

About the courses

In their first year, the students are asked to choose a major (from the number of the subject mentioned above) along with language courses. In their second year, they continue with their online classes choosing their desired subject from a possible 250 available online. The students complete their third and final year at one of the 126 universities affiliated with Kiron spread across Germany, Sweden, or Turkey.

rbb-online.de

Can a refugee apply now?

Applications for Kiron are currently closed, but will reopen towards the end of April 2016. But you can still raise a query and they will get back to you soon.

atlasofthefuture.org

Can you donate?

Of course, you can, and you should too. Kiron is always looking to do more by reaching a larger audience, and for that they need financial support. These refugees have gone through a lot in their lives, and to know that most of them are children, this is the least we could do. So if you could spare some for the ones in need, do it. Do it right here.
Not many are aware of the fact that after the Nirbhaya incident in Delhi, Akshay Kumar and Aditya Thackeray had set up the Women's Self Defence Centre (WSDC). The major agenda behind this was to provide free martial arts training to women.

acchikabre.com

Looks like the attempt was a pretty successful one! One of the students, Shreya Nayak battled alone and fought with her molester. Shreya Naik, 19, a second year BMS student, had enrolled in WSDC. Not even in her wildest of dreams would she have thought that life would give her a chance to apply what she learnt this early!

According to a report by Mid-Day, a few days ago, at around 6.30 pm, Shreya was walking back from her workplace where shes currently interning. While she was crossing a deserted lane in Andheri, she figured out that a man in waiter's uniform was following her.

Eternally grateful to you guys for all the love. Stay blessed and keep me in your prayers always :) 9 million #Akkians! A photo posted by Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) on Apr 10, 2014 at 5:52am PDT

Shreya said:

Aaditya Thackeray and I are super proud of Shreya Naik, a 19 year old enrolled in our Women's Self Defence Centre who single-handedly tackled and got her molester arrested! Exactly the reason why we started these classes. #YouGoGirl #selfdefense A photo posted by Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) on Apr 12, 2016 at 3:20am PDT

He suddenly came close and pounced on me. I started hitting him with one hand and with the other hand I was trying to call my mother to come down, as my house was just about 30 seconds away. He tried snatching my phone away as he didn't want me to alert anyone. I caught his hair and gave him a 'hammer', a style of attack taught to me at the centre. He started pleading with me to let go, saying 'Bas haath hi lagaya, aur kya kia'. I caught hold of his collar and started dragging him towards the main road. He was trying hard to get away but I held on to his collar. Later, some people helped me and one person called the police. Within 10-15 minutes the police arrived and he was arrested.

According to Shreya, its all because of her training sessions that she could single-handedly battle with her molester.

I was a really meek girl and would get scared if someone touched me and never had the guts to complain or scream at the person. But in the centre we are taught such techniques for self-defence that it has given me immense self-confidence. I am really grateful to Akshay sir for inspiring us to be able to take care of ourselves. My parents didn't want to me to lodge a police complaint because they were worried about me, but I did and I am speaking about it so that every woman learns to take care of herself by learning self-defence."

Akshay is so impressed with Shreya's courage that now he is planning to felicitate her after coming back from London.

Akshay even posted a sweet message for Shreya on his Instagram account. He wrote:

"Aaditya Thackeray and I are super proud of Shreya Naik, a 19-year-old enrolled in our Women's Self Defence Centre who single-handedly tackled and got her molester arrested! Exactly the reason why we started these classes."
There are a ton of Delhiites in Bollywood, who are now settled in Mumbai, trying to make a mark in the industry. And Sidharth Malhotra too is one of them. But of course, your hometown always remain your hometown, and you always have a special place for it in your heart, right!

So, looks like Sidharth Malhotra is back at his home in Delhi, where he is shooting for Baar Baar Dekho, and seems like he's having the time of his life being back in his hometown. At least, his pictures definitely say that.

He shared this adorable Delhi pictures on his Instagram account and we can tell what a true Delhi lad he really is!

He posted this cute click, when his mom handed him a landline phone to talk! He wrote, "My expression when Mom passed me a land line phone to make a call #delhi #house #home #town #landline"

My expression when Mom passed me a land line phone to make a call #delhi #house #home #town #landline A photo posted by Sidharth Malhotra (@s1dofficial) on Apr 9, 2016 at 8:16am PDT

Nothing can beat a selfie with mum and dad!

Happy times Back home,Mom n Dad #love #family A photo posted by Sidharth Malhotra (@s1dofficial) on Apr 9, 2016 at 11:03am PDT

Every Delhiite swears by the super posh Khan Market!

Delhi shoot #BaarBaarDekho #home streets A photo posted by Sidharth Malhotra (@s1dofficial) on Apr 9, 2016 at 7:04pm PDT

Looks like Baar Baar Dekho will have some amazing scenes from the city!

Delhi #home town #shoot #BaarBaarDekho A photo posted by Sidharth Malhotra (@s1dofficial) on Apr 9, 2016 at 9:04pm PDT

That's his parents and elder brother visiting the sets. Look closely, the big brother totally looks like him!
whitegadget

Hollywood actress Camron Diaz feels the best part of growing older is the knowledge she gains through new experiences. The Mask star, who recently released her second book, The Longevity Book: Live Stronger, Live Better, The Art of Ageing Well, discussed about her lack of fear when it comes to ageing.

Femalefirst quoted Diaz saying that through her research, she has learned more about ageing physically, but she also looks forward to how much she gains in life experiences.

" For me I feel like if I  it's almost as if we have failed if we don't remain 25 for the rest of our lives. Like we are failures. Like it's my fault that at 40 years old... I still don't look like I'm 25." Diaz had said in the past.

The 43-year-old also feels "stress, inflammation, lack of movement, poor nutrition, lack of sleep and not being connected to the people you love" contribute to premature ageing the most, but she was also shocked to learn about it on a cellular level.

dna

Diaz, who believes she wasn't able to defy nature, is not the only one who has embraced her wrinkles and destigmatising. Here are some other divas who have been vocal about ageing gracefully.

1. Sharon Stone

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The 58-year-old actress has always been honest about her tryst with ageing. After much struggle, she has accepted the change gracefully.

"There was a point in my 40s where I went into the bathroom with a bottle of wine, and I cried and cried and cried... I don't want to be an 'ageless beauty.' I want to be a woman who is the best I can be at my age."

2. Oprah Winfrey

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The talk show host has always been baffled by our culture's obsession "with not growing into who we were really meant to be." We wonder if those wrinkle creams would make any sense in her bathroom!

3. Helen Mirren

getty

At 70, the Oscar winner was signed as L'Oreal's new leading lady. She definitely seems to have a plan to not endorse the industry's obsession with youth, rather change it. She works on one condition, that the brand should not photoshop a thing. Mirren wants every single wrinkle to be seen naturally in magazines and commercials. She refused to hide what time has done to her!

"I don't often wish that I'm younger because I think that it's pretty cool to be older. What I love the most about being older is that lovely I don't give a freakness kind of thing. All you young things dont be afraid of getting older because it's freaking great!"

4. Jane Seymour

fanpop

She posed on the cover of Closer in a bikini at the age of 62. She gave out the message that older women can definitely be sexy!

"It's just pure joy. The best thing about being 62 is being alive and healthy...I made a choice a while ago that I wanted to age gracefully and actually have my own face."

5. Diane Keaton

post-gazette

The American actress believes that being old does not feel any less good than being young.

"The more you change, the more you see differently. And the more you see differently, the more you're open to different kinds of beauty. I think the more we embrace what our own feelings about beauty are, the more fun it's going to be for us as we go along."

6. Jane Fonda

o.canada

The 78-year-old actress confesses that she might have cried over her own mortality, but she's not scared of dying.

"I think it's really important to realize we're not going to live forever. With age, I am able to appreciate the beauty in small things more than when I was younger perhaps because I pay attention more."

7. Jamie Lee Curtis

today

She mostly laughs it off when talking about laugh lines and crow's feet! At 57, she is one of the firm believers of ageing "unapologetically". She carries her silver hair with pride and believes the lines on her face isn't something which needs to be "fixed".

"I am appalled that the term we use to talk about aging is 'anti'..."

8. Kathleen Turner

slashfilm

The yesteryear sex symbol gets annoyed when people fuss about her getting old.

"I don't look like I did 30 years ago. Get over it! You have to get to that place as a woman where you know your worth isn't dependent on (looks)."

9. Reese Witherspoon

ibtimes

The 40-year-old has a strong opinion about ageing and shaming. She said this about plastic surgeries:

"I have plenty of friends who do stuff and if it makes you feel good, great. But I don't think it's the fix for some sort of unease that you're having about who you are as a human being."

10. Jaclyn Smith

justgoodvibe

She has no qualms about those lines! The former Charlie's Angels has had her own experience of ageing in Hollywood.

"Every stage of life has something special and certainly this one does. To dwell on looks or the superficial, I don't think brings happiness. What brings me joy and peace is family."

11. Diane Von Furstenberg

glamour

Despite being an iconic fashion designer, she doesn't hold any unrealistic beauty standards. At 69, she has chosen to embrace the way her face has changed and she is loving it.

"I know that people look at me and wonder why I have not succumbed to the progress of technology... In my older face, I see my life. Every wrinkle, every smile line, every age spot. Your wrinkles reflect the roads you have taken. They form the map of your life."

12. Drew Barrymore

themagicdress

Her vibrant persona reflects even on her views on ageing.

"It's the best time of my life. It's not traumatic at all. I don't think I've ever been happier. It's like the older I get, the better I get. Gravity and wrinkles are fine with me. They're a small price to pay for the new wisdom inside my head and my heart."

In the times when natural beauty is biting the dust under the shadows of science and technology, these wonder women are standing strong against anything that's "unnatural". Hail you ladies!
forbes

Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff's recent comment about Kung Fu originating in India have not only taken Jackie Chan by surprise but also left him curious, especially since the martial art form has been an extremely important part of his career.

In an earlier interview, Tiger had said, "Though there are conflicting opinions on whether Kung Fu actually originated from the teachings of an Indian Buddhist monk, Bodhidharma, who arrived in China in the 6th century, one thing is certain, he definitely brought a form of martial arts with him, most likely Kalaripayattu. He transformed the newly-formed Shaolin Temple and the Buddhist monks settled there, dedicating themselves to Kung Fu and becoming a warrior elite whose fame spread throughout China and later, all over the world." Jackie was shooting for his next in Jaipur, when he came across Tiger's article.

bollywoodlife

Sources from the film set share how the Hollywood action superstar was surprised after reading the interview. After all, he can easily be tagged as the global brand ambassador of Kung Fu. Sources say he wanted to meet Tiger and know the basis of his comment.

That be as it may, Tiger, who himself is very good at martial art, has stunned everyone with his potential. While shooting for his upcoming release, Sajid Nadiadwala's 'Baaghi' directed by Sabbir Khan that is releasing on April 29, he underwent extensive training for Kalaripayattu. It seems the actor's efforts have paid off as his jaw-dropping action sequences in the film's trailer have evoked a good response.
Since 1995, nearly three lakh farmers have committed suicide owing to agrarian crisis in the country. In Maharashtra alone nearly 60,000 farmers have ended their lives in last two decades. Last year itself, the western states recorded 3,228 farmer suicides with maximum cases coming from drought hit Marathwada and Vidharbha region.

According to the census, nearly 2,000 farmers across India are giving up agriculture daily and opting for other menial jobs since agriculture doesnt win them bread anymore. According to 2011 census, India has 95.8 million cultivators for whom farming is the main occupation. Compared to the number of farmers we had in 1991 and 2001, there's been a sharp decline in the number of cultivators in last two and a half decades. In 2001, India had 103 million farmers whereas 1991, we had 110 million farmers for whom farming was the main occupation. Although around 600 million Indians are either directly or indirectly involved in farming, but they all arent farmers.

IndiaTimes

After Supreme Court lambasted the Centre last week for turning a blind eye towards fund requirements of the nine drought-hit states, the government has been facing a lot of flak from all quarters.

Apart from the non-release of MGNREGA funds, whats more appalling is that despite the country witnessing inadequate rainfall in the last three years resulting in famine in different states, the Centre hasnt conducted a single study or survey to fathom the depleting ground water table across different blocks/talukas across the states.

The last study was conducted in 2011 in which 6,607 blocks from different states across the country were examined and 1,071 blocks were found to be over-exploited, 217 critical and 697 blocks were found to be semi-critical.

The nine states which have been declared drought hit are: Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Karnataka, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh.

The appalling scenario

Large parts of the country, from Marathwada to Bundalkhand to Mahbubnagar, have been reeling from back to back droughts resulting in massive crop failures.

Nearly 700 farmers have ended their lives in Marathwada alone and if survey and estimates are to be believed more than 90 lakh out of 1.4 crore farmers in Maharashtra have been affected by the drought.

IndiaTimes

If studies are to be believed, 8 out of 10 households in UPs Bundelkhand are eating rotis with salt, and nearly 17 % households are eating rotis made of grass.

These statistics speak volumes of the conditions the countrys farmers are living in, and thats the reason why there has been a substantial increase in farmers quitting agriculture and opting for menial jobs.

Farming doesnt win bread anymore

According to 2011 census, India has 95.8 million cultivators for whom farming is their main occupation.

IndiaTimes

If we analyse this pattern, on average, we lost over 2,000 farmers a day in last 20 years. According to 2012 report of Institute of Applied Manpower Research  the employment in total and in non-agricultural sectors has not been growing. This jobless growth in recent years has been accompanied by growth in casualisation and informalisation. It speaks of an an absolute shift in workers from agriculture of 15 million to services and industry.

The states with maximum exploitation of ground water

If Green Revolution in mid 1960s transformed India from a food deficit country into a food surplus one, Punjab and Haryana played a vital role in this metamorphosis.

IndiaTimes

But excessive extraction of ground water for agriculture is taking a toll on ground water resources. In both, Punjab and Haryana, the average ground water consumption is way higher than the average ground water recharge.

IndiaTimes

According to a report of Central Ground water Board (CGWB), Punjab draws out 145 percent water from ground against an average 100 percent recharge whereas Haryana extracts 109 percent.

And if we compare this with bigger states like Tamil Nadu, UP, MP, Maharashtra, and Karnataka, these states extract 85, 70, 48, 48 and 70 percent respectively with a pan India average of 58 percent.

A majority of the blocks/districts in Punjab and Haryana are in the over exploited category. Most in West Bengal are in the semi-critical category and some in Uttar Pradesh are critical and semi critical. These are the states that were fortunate to have deep aquifers, yet they are now experiencing significant decline in groundwater availability due to man-made reasons, reads, the CGWB report (2011).

The states with maximum number of over exploited blocks are: Punjab (110), Rajasthan (172), Tamil Nadu (374), Uttar Pradesh (111), and Haryana (71).

The steps taken

Although not many steps have been taken by the union government to contain the drought ever since it came to power in May 2014, while answering the questions of Hisar MP, Dushyant Chautala in Lok Sabha during the Winter Session, minister Uma Bharti stated the following as steps taken by government over the years.

1. National Water Policy (2012) has been formulated by Ministry of Water Resources which inter-alia advocates rain water harvesting and conservation of water and highlights the need for augmenting the availability of water through direct use of rainfall.

2. CGWB has taken up aquifer mapping and management programme during XII Plan, under the scheme of Ground Water Management and Regulation. Under this program, about 8.89 lakh sq.km prioritized water stressed areas have been taken up with an aim to delineate aquifer disposition and their characterization along with quantification and for preparation of aquifer/area specific ground water management plans. Aquifer-wise management plans will be shared with concerned state governments for implementation.

3. As per Schedule-I of the MGNREGA, the water conservation and water harvesting structures to augment ground water constitute a special focus area for MGNREGA works and about 2/3rd of the expenditure is directly related to construction of water harvesting structures.

4. CGWB has prepared a conceptual document entitled Master Plan for Arteficial Recharge to Ground Water in India during 2013 involving ground water scientists. The master plan envisages construction of 1.11 crore rain water harvesting and artificial structures in the country at an estimated cost of Rs 79,178 crore to harness 85 BCM (Billion Cubic Metre) of water.
A 30-year-old electrician of an IT Firm sustained minor burn injuries when he was repairing a private company's defunct electric transformer at Adugodi Junction on Hosur Road on Monday morning.

thehindu

Due to unsafe procedures, the transformer exploded and oil splashed on to the electrician, Omprakash Mishra. Though he allegedly cried for help, commuters remained mute spectators more interested in filming the victim on their phones.

Sudhir, an eyewitness, tried to stop an autorickshaw to rush him to the hospital but in vain. However, with the help of traffic policeman, Mishra was rushed to St John's Hospital where he is being treated.

findandselect

Preliminary investigation revealed that the transformer belonging to Seimens was on the footpath. Before BESCOM staff reached the spot, Mishra had opened the transformer and tried to repair it.

The Adugodi police have taken up a case of negligence and are investigating further.
Haryana Police have added gang rape charges to the FIR in the infamous Murthal case in which women are believed to have been raped during the Jat quota stir violence. The charges have been added after three women have stated that they were raped in Murthal near Delhi during the peak of the violence in February.

abplive

Of the three, two women sent anonymous letters with details of the rapes that took place between February 21 and 22. Senior lawyer Anupam Gupta, who is assisting the Punjab and Haryana high court as amicus curiae in the case, has said that he has an audio recording of the third girl from East Delhi. He has, however, not shared the evidence with the court for now.

One letter, sent by an Australian NRI, has been circulating on social media. The other, received by the Farida bad police, is from a girl living in a hostel who was allegedly raped while crossing NH-1.

abplive

Read Also: Haryana Govt Denies Any Gang Rapes Happened During Jat Protest In Murthal. HC Takes Note, Acts!

This is the first time the cops have admitted to the seriousness of the alleged crimes committed at Murthal. Mamta Singh, IGP (south range) and special investigation team head, submitted a status report before the Punjab and Haryana HC on Monday saying Section 376 (D) (gang rape) of the IPC has been added to the existing FIR. The initial FIR of molestation was registered on March 30 on a complaint by Delhi resident Bobby Joshi who was at Murthal during the time the rapes are believed to have taken place. The high court had taken suo motu cognisance of newspaper reports which said that at least 10 women were raped at the spot that day.

The NRI survivor's letter is already viral on social media, where she mentions that she had reached the Delhi airport from Australia on February 21 and was travelling on NH 1 when she was allegedly raped. The police have requested a foreign regional registration officer in Delhi to provide details of NRIs arriving from Australia during that time.

indianexpress

The other survivor had posted an anonymous letter from Mathura Road in Faridabad on March 5. Police officials are examining call records of the area to identify a number that may be common with the travellers who were at Murthal on February 21 and 22. The Faridabad survivor has stated that she is a final-year student of a degree course and was on way to her home with her father on the day she was raped.

Adjourning the hearing for May 4, the court has asked for May 4, the court has asked the SIT to submit a status report on the probes. A bench headed by Justice S S Saron also clarified that the SIT would work independently.

hindustantimes

Read Also: More Eyewitnesses Emerge In Murthal Gang Rape As Police Forms Special Probe Committee

Gupta on Monday turned down the SIT's request to share video and audio tapes related to the alleged rapes for the time being. "Their (police's) move is from complete denial to acknowledgement. I don't have much faith in Haryana police and there is danger of subversion of justice," he said.

In her report, SIT head and IPS officer Mamta Singh has stated that 161 travelers who were in Murthal on the day have been identified.
Suneet Salvi managed a furniture company, in which he had a major stake, before deciding to find a greater purpose in his life.

He is one of the few Mumbaikars who are turning to an organic way of life by growing their own produce without the use of chemical fertilisers.

We met up with him to ask about his farm and his new way of life.

1. What made you give up your business and start organic farming?

Actually it has become much more than organic farming. What started out as a personal hobby has now become a full scale humanitarian and ecological life mission for me. I was in search of a higher purpose in life and once I found it, it became easy to say good bye to corporate life and sell my stake in my business and move on. With the blessings of my Guru and support of my family I decided to embark on this journey.

Suneet Salvi

My journey into this field has been miraculous. The first miracle came in the form of a young and dynamic architect, Pratik Dhanmer, his family and co- founders of his firm Design Jatra. Pratik and his colleagues run an award winning design firm which design spaces best suited for the local environment using traditional architecture and material.

2. How often do you visit the farm and how do you track the progress?

I spend 4 days a week on the farm and among the lucky few who comes to the city for weekends only. The Dhanmer family has virtually adopted me and I stay with them in Murbad (80 km North of Dahisar in Mumbai) which is another blessing.

Another miracle occurred when I met an adivasi self help youth group through Pratik. This is what gave me my life mission. We are empowering these youngsters to be leaders and they in turn will motivate others from their community on practising natural farming and getting back the ecological balance. Two of them have learnt to use the computer and manage our accounts. Most of them are educated and but lack the opportunity. All our farming experiments and progress is documented including the mistakes and the lessons learnt. This will help us pass on the knowledge to others. I consider progress on the farm as a stepping stone, when we can repeat this model on other farms and start seeing more and more farmers take up natural farming; that will be real progress.

Suneet Salvi

3. Your father sent you to work on a cotton plantation as a teenager. What are some of the lessons you learnt and still apply to your life?

We have an 18 acre plot of land in Aurangabad. Every vacation our father packed us off to stay and work on the farm.

It was late 70s and the Green revolution was in top gear. Initially it was good for the farmers but the long term effects on the environment has been disastrous. Due to the excessive use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides the fertility of the soil was lost and the soil microorganisms, earthworms and insects that helped in pollination were destroyed. This kind of farming released organic carbon from the soil into the atmosphere, a major factor in climate change and rising temperatures. It also made our soil hard and unresponsive and does not allow the rain water to percolate inside the ground thus causing floods and droughts. The irony is that instead of learning from these mistakes the world has given the right of modifying our food to the worlds largest pesticide company.

I learnt that I will never do anything that will destroy the ecology. We will practice our ancient Vedic agriculture where you farm in harmony with nature rather than by destroying it. We are using Desi cow dung and urine mixture called Jeev amrut to reactivate and increase the good soil micro organism and simple mulching and composting to improve soil quality.

Suneet Salvi

4. Can you explain how the system works?

The system is very simple and logical. We all work together to be in harmony with nature. We aim to take care of nature, the soil, the earthworms, the bees, micro-organisms etc and the in turn will take care of us.

I own no land in Murbad, we all work together on a plot of land which we use as a R & D centre. Presently, I am financing the setting up of the infrastructure and also pay daily wages to the adivasi boys who contribute to the farm.

Dr. Ajit Gokhale a Ph.D. in Botany is a water solutions specialist who decided to help us as way to repay his debt to society. He guides us in our farming and environmental activities.

Suneet Salvi

We want to empower these youths to practice natural farming on their own lands and lead the community into this kind of nature friendly farming. We have experimented with multi-cropping vegetables. Our next step is to grow flowering plants like Mogra and Marigold, and short duration fruit plants like papaya and banana along with soil enriching Moringa (drum sticks). All our models can be replicated by the farmers on their own with very little expenses. Our aim is also to educate them on the environmental impact of trees. We hope that these people will dedicate a part of their land for growing big trees which will benefit them and their future generations too.

5. What outcome (both personal and professional) do you hope to expect from organic farming?

As I have already mentioned, it is now a life mission and not just organic farming. Personally it has given my life a higher meaning. Our farming is generating good amount of interest among farmers and youth not only in our village but also from neighbouring villages. I am sure a lot more farmers will take up this kind of zero budget spiritual or natural farming and we will be able to not only green the area but also make farming profitable again. Our farming will have a tremendous positive ecological impact. It will improve soil quality, air quality, water quality and will improve the water table level. Our emphasis is on understanding and spreading the importance of improving soil quality, all the biomass produced in this farming will be used as mulching and compost. This will help bring back the carbon that escaped into the atmosphere thus reducing effect of climate change. I also want to start a fruit tree planting and bamboo planting project in the farms of these adivasi people. By doing this the trees will be cared for, the fruits of the trees can be enjoyed for generations and also provide additional livelihood, it will prevent soil erosion, help act as a catchment area and many other benefits.

Suneet Salvi

Since I want to make farming sustainable and profitable for the farmers my next step is to use my expertise in marketing to provide markets for our produce. By doing this we will be able to create enough opportunities in the rural area to stop migration to urban areas.

At a later date I also want to create an infrastructure for any one to come and stay on the farm and learn natural farming. I am particularly keen on bringing school students to increase their awareness and give then a taste of rural life.

6. You just had your first harvest. What crops did you grow?

Under Dr. Gokhales guidance we created special high organic beds. They have been jeev amrut soaked biomass that will last us 7-8 years. These beds have been done on an experimental basis in a traditional paddy field. This monsoon we will grow rice in the water channels and vegetables on top.

Suneet Salvi

In our first trial we got a harvest of tomatoes, chillies, cabbage, 3-4 varieties of gourd, cucumbers, 2 -3 kinds of beans, leafy vegetables such as spinach, fenugreek and coriander. Even though we made some mistakes and started our planting very late we are happy with the results. No chemical fertilizers or pesticides have been used and the vegetables have been healthy.

7. Some of the crops are complimentary to each other and to nourish the soil and allow better crop rotation can you give an example?

Different crops take different nutrients from the soil. However only 2% of crop nutrient come from the soil. Traditionally whenever a monocot (like rice and vegetables) is grown then the either a complimentary or the next crop should be a dicot (beans, lentils, pulses) which are nitrogen fixing crops.

Suneet Salvi

On our high organic beds we could successfully grow different vegetables. On each bed we grew different crops to make maximum use of the surface area of the bed and sunlight. We had radish that grew under the soil, surface hugging crop like cabbage and leafy vegetables and some creeper plants, some mid-height plants like tomatoes, chillies and beans (our dicot nitrogen fixers), and some climbers like gourd and cucumber. The competition amongst plants is for sunlight, our beds ensure enough sunlight for all. We have also planted some corn and marigold on or around the beds. Corn acts a barrier for pest, becomes a station for crop friendly insects, controls micro climate, gives us corn and animal fodder too. Marigolds yellow flowers attract the pest which would have otherwise settled on main crops, they also act as advertising hoardings to attract pollinating insects which help other crops to increase yields. their roots produce alkaloids which defend other crops against nematodes in their roots. Thus all crops grow in harmony and complimentary to each other. Now we will reuse all the bio mass produced after harvest for mulching. All the roots and plants will return back the nutrients it has taken to the soil and will help in improving soil quality and nutrition of future crops.

8. Do you think Organic farming on a much smaller scale could make its way into common house holds all over Mumbai.

Yes, people should grow organic food in their balconies and terraces. It is fantastic stress buster plus you get to eat fresh and nutritious food, I have grown cucumber, chillies, tomatoes, lady finger and turmeric on my terrace. Now I have oregano, baby spinach, Basil, lemon grass, curry leaves and mint, the fresh leaves can be used whenever required.

Suneet Salvi

It is now also a necessary for us to grow our own food in whatever quantity possible. It would be nice if people can partner with farmers and tell them to grow organic produce for the family. This way it will help the farmers and prevent drastic steps taken by farmers and also assure poison free food for the family, a win-win situation for all. It would be like having a family farmer.

We also got an opportunity to meet the adivasi boys who assist Mr. Salvi and his team. These were some questions we had for them.

1. What made you take up Organic farming?

We only grew only one crop per year and that too for our family needs, we do this as there is no better alternative. Costly seeds, fertilizers and pesticides have made farming unaffordable. Big companies have taken control of our seeds and slowly we have forgotten our traditional methods as we tried to follow the modern methods, but when input costs went out of our reach and market prices for our produce remained always very low we had no alternative but to stop farming and let our land remain fallow and go in search of work to the cities.

Suneet Salvi

When Suneet sir came to our village he told us to farm with very little external inputs and costs. He showed us many Youtube videos of successful organic farmers, made us visit other farms, and we have also attended a training of Subhash Palekarji on zero budget natural farming which has motivated us further. Along with Ajit sir, Pratik sir and Suneet sir we decided to participate in this kind of farming, it is going back to our roots. We are happy that there are no or less expenses and it is something we can do on our farm as well. We are also happy that our family is getting to eat vegetables that are without pesticides.

2. How does it benefit the community?

Besides getting to eat poison free food, the expenses are minimal for whatever we produce. We also sell and get additional income for our families. Since everything we use is natural it will help us improve the soil quality and water quality of our village. We are also planning to grow a lot of trees as it will help our community in the long run.

Suneet Salvi

3. Do you plan on passing on the skills you have learnt to future generations?

We have formed a self help group and want to help anyone who wants to learn this method of farming and not just to our future generations. This zero budget natural farming is generating a lot interest among our villagers and also from neighbouring villages and we are sure this farming will spread , we are always willing to share this knowledge and assist anyone who wants our help. We want maximum people to benefit from this natural farming.

Suneet Salvi
Home to the one horned rhinoceros, the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Kaziranga National Park in Assam, rolled out the red carpet to welcome the Royal couple who arrived in Tezpur on April 12.

The Wildlife Reserve

On June 1, 1905, Kaziranga Proposed Reserve Forest was created with an area of 232 sq kms. Over the next three years, the Park was extended by 152 sq kms, to the banks of the Brahmaputra river and was finally designated a Reserve Forest in 1908.

kaziranga.assam

The history of the forest can be traced back to 1904 when Mary Curzon, the wife of the Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon, could not spot a single rhino on her trip to the reserve. It was then she persuaded her husband to take urgent measures to protect the dwindling species.

In 1916, it was re-designated the "Kaziranga Game Sanctuary" and in 1950 it was named as the "Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary" in order to prevent hunting in the forest. In 1968, the Park was designated as a National Park and was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO for its unique natural environment.

While the one horned rhinos proliferate inside the forest  two-third of world's great one-horned Indian rhinos are seen here, other rare species like the Eastern Swamp Deer, popularly known as Barasingha are currently found only in Kaziranga.

shikhar

Rhino on the brink

Poaching has been a major concern for the authorities with the one horned Rhino being hunted for its skin as well as the horn. This has led to a dwindling in the rhino population in the reserve. Between 1980 and 2005, 567 rhinoceroses were hunted by poachers. Because of the conservation efforts and passing of various laws for protection of wildlife in the park, like the Assam Forest Regulation of 1891 and the Biodiversity Conservation Act of 2002, the number of rhinos being poached has been on a decline. Nevertheless, 18 one-horned rhinoceroses were killed by poachers in 2007.

Preventive measures such as construction of anti-poaching camps and maintenance of existing ones, patrolling, intelligence gathering, and control over the use of firearms around the park have reduced the number of casualties. Since 2013, the park has been using cameras on drones for monitoring by security guards to protect the rhino from armed poachers.

shikhar

Royals come to visit

The royal couple was ferried to Diphlu River Lodge, nestled on the banks of the river flowing adjacent to the Kaziranga National Park for their two-night stay. Since the day coincides with Bohang Bihu, the celebration of Assamese New Year, the couple attended a programme on ethnic cultural traditions presented by local artistes in their honour, around a campfire at the Lodge, the previous night.

hahaquotes

Getting up close and personal with nature, the Royal couple will undertake a Jeep safari in the western range of Bagori. During their two hours inside the Kaziranga National Park, the Royal couple, accompanied by senior officers from the State Forest department and Kaziranga forest authority, will interact with the frontline forest staff guarding the national park about the population of fauna inside Kaziranga and the one-horned Indian rhino. The Rhino is a Schedule 1 wild animal under the Indian Wildlife Protection Act 1972. Forest officers will also brief the couple about the management of Kaziranga.

Putting the cause of saving the rhinos on a global map, the Duke will use this visit to speak out against the lies and violence that threaten this valuable species and how the park protects its animals especially when demand for rhino horns is on the rise, which will help benefit the cause.

After their lunch, the Royal couple will move to the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC), under the Wildlife Trust of India, at Borjuri near the national park which provides emergency care and rehabilitation to wild animals who have been injured, displaced or orphaned. They will also visit the health clinic for elephants and an elephant information centre, which is under construction.

The Duke and Duchess will put finishing touches on an elephant sculpture to officially mark the "call for artists" for India's elephant parade, which will see 200 elephants decorated by artists and placed in 200 locations across India by the charity. These parades have previously been staged in London, Edinburgh and New York.

Kaziranga Discovery Centre built by Elephant Family, a charity founded by late Mark Shand, brother of the Duchess of Cornwall, would be the next stop for the Royal couple.
In a rather bizarre incident three people including two police constables were injured when a grenade went-off inside an Anti-Terrorism Court in Pakistan's Karachi.

Reuters/ Representative Image

The mishap occurred when a police constable was demonstrating the working of the grenade which was recovered as evidence in a case.

Apparently the policeman did the live demo of the undefused grenade at the request of the judge. which explaining the working of the explosive device, he pulled the pin-off the grenade.

This resulted in a loud explosion, injuring three including the constable, a court clerk and throwing the judge off his chair.

Let us just hope that with his first hand experience now, the judge won't ask for a demonstration the next time something similar come in front him.
Soon after Europe began a massive manhunt for the Paris attacks that killed 130, the attack mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud met with 2 women in Belgium. One of them turned him in, also telling the police of his location and future terror plans, Washington Post reported.

One of the woman, Hasna Aitboulahcen was cousin to 28-year-old Abaaoud. She was offered money to help hide and pay for a new wardrobe. But Aitboulahcens surrogate mother reportedly tipped off the police, giving away vital information about their interaction.

ap

She was reportedly living with Abdelhamid Abaaoud's cousin. During the meeting, which happened in a wooded area in Aubervillier (France), Abaaoud reportedly boasted about the brutal attack in the theatre, the Stade de France and across many bars, restaurants and cafes across the city.

He also warned them of future attacks. The brave woman attempted to get Aitboulahcen too drunk to carry out the orders he'd given her, then informing French investigators. Aitboulahcen's rented flat in St Denis, used as shelter for the terrorists was then raided by anti-terror police, and a gunfight and explosion ensued. Abaaoud and his cousin Aitboulahcen died when the roof collapsed. According to the Post, Abaaoud was planning additional attacks. Its important the world knows that I am Muslim myself. Its important to me that people know what Abaaoud and the others did is not what Islam is teaching.
Justin Trudeau, the Canadian Prime Minister is a leader par excellence. Time and again, he has shown how accepting and welcoming he is of people from diverse backgrounds. A fact that can easily be seen in his very own cabinet - a consortium of an equal number of men and women, all of who come from different walks of life.

Adrian Wyld, CP

It's natural, therefore, to feel an immense sense of pride to see him celebrating the Indian festival of Vaisakhi with Sikh Canadians.

Recognizing the "remarkable contributions of Sikh Canadians", Trudeau posted a host of photos on Facebook with a heartfelt message:

Great to be at Vaisakhi on the Hill today! Im proud to celebrate the remarkable contributions of Sikh Canadians. Posted by Justin Trudeau on Monday, 11 April 2016



Here are the snippets from the religious gathering on the Hill, Canada.

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What a beautiful display of cultural inclusivity!
Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State has again launched a scathing attack on President Muhammadu Buhari over the 2016 budget crisis, saying recent developments have exposed him as clueless and incompetent.

The Presidency and National Assembly have in the last few days engaged in blame game over the alleged mutilation of the 2016 budget by the lawmakers.

Nigerians should expect more blunders like this until they send Buhari back to Daura in 2019, Mr. Fayose said.

He insisted that the president and the All Progressives Congress, APC, only wanted power desperately without the wherewithal to govern, adding, I warned Nigerians of the consequences of electing an octogenarian as president and with the international embarrassment that this budget crisis has become, I have been vindicated.

The governor spoke on Tuesday through his Special Assistant on Pubic Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka.

It is obvious that there is total disconnection between the president and his cabinet members as many of the ministers dont even have access to him probably because the president spend most of his time resting as a result of his old age, he said.

The reality is that the president is challenged by age, exposure and ability. He did not read the budget proposal that he presented to the National Assembly and this should be a lesson for those who clamoured for a Buharis presidency that no man can give what he does not have.

The question is; can a minister present supplementary budget to the National Assembly and can the National Assembly act on budget proposal submitted by a minister?

It is shameful that after blaming former President Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for close to one year, the presidency is now blaming the National Assembly for its inability to prepare a common budget.

Mr. Fayose, however, commended the National Assembly for exposing the lies and hypocrisy of the Presidency, saying it was shameful that President Buhari and his men could blame the legislature for their incompetence.

He also called on the National Assembly not to succumb to blackmail and intimidation from the Presidency.

Mr. Fayose insisted that the manner the Presidency was going about blackmailing and intimidating other arms of government, especially the judiciary, should worry lovers of democracy and good governance in the country.

The governor, who declared that Nigeria will no longer be ruled by octogenarians, said: Nigerians must have now come to terms that I warned them that Buhari is too old to govern a country like Nigeria.
The Army headquarters on Tuesday said that the ongoing clearance operations by the military in Borno State has continued to yield positive results with the killing of 22 Boko Haram terrorists and the capture of three commanders of the sect in the state.

This was contained in a statement signed by the Acting Director of Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman and made available to newsmen in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

According to the statement, the operation was carried out by troops of 152 and 155 Task Force Battalion of Nigerian Army and Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF) in a coordinated joint clearance military operations along the Nigeria-Cameroonian border areas of Borno state.

It noted that the clearance operations covered 10 suspected Boko Harm terrorists hideouts along the Cameroonian border areas in the North-East.

Part of the statement reads: The unprecedented clearance operation swept through over 10 Boko Haram suspected Boko Haram terrorists hideouts along the borders in which they killed 22, terrorists, arrested three Ameers (commanders) and rescued many abducted persons from the liberated communities in Borno state.

Some of the fleeing Boko Haram terrorists who escaped from villages previously cleared by troops of the Nigerian Army, were also killed in the five-hour military operations, said Usman in the statement.

He also added that six towns and villages of Nbaga, Bula, Dabube, Ybiri, Greya and Suduwa, including adjourning settlements earlier occupied by the fleeing terrorists, were cleared during the operation.

The statement gave the identities of the arrested commanders as; Lawal Abba, Mallam Hisna, and Mallam Gana in Shatte, Bulla Jaja and Bula Burra towns of Borno state.

Speaking on the rescued captives, Col. Usman said the 1, 275 rescued Borno hostages, were held captives of Boko Haram terror group in the cleared communities in the border areas of Cameroon.

The rescued persons are being administered and screened by 152 Task Force Battalion pending onward movement to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp. It is gratifying to note that the operation was a huge success as there was no casualty or injury on part of the Nigerian and Cameroonian troops, he said.
The Lagos State Police Command has confirmed the death of a 46-year-old pedestrian, identified as Godwin Eno, who was killed by a truck driver, Adewale Olaniyi, on the Lekki-Epe Expressway while attempting to cross the road.



Eno had crossed the road when he realised that something had fallen off his hand onto the road and as he made to go back, he was reportedly hit by the truck and died on the spot.

Confirming the incident, the spokesperson for the Lagos Police Command, SP Dolapo Badmos, on Tuesday told newsmen that the driver, Olaniyi, had been arrested, while investigation was ongoing.

The spokesperson said,The incident happened around 7.30am on Sunday.

At about 7.30am, a truck, with number plate, ABG 433 XA, hit and killed a pedestrian, one Godwin Eno.

The man had crossed the road when he remembered something he left behind. As he went back to pick it, the truck crushed him to death.

The victim died on the spot, while the corpse was removed and deposited in the Mainland General Hospitals morgue.

Policemen from the nearby Elemoro division removed the corpse, while officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps towed away the truck, the spokesperson noted.

Source:Dailypost
The Police Command in Lagos on Tuesday said that a robbery suspect was burnt to death by an angry mob in Satellite Town in the state.

This is contained in a statement issued by commands spokesman, SP. Dolapo Badmos, in Lagos.

Badmos said that the incident occurred when the suspect, who was shot in the leg by the police after a robbery operation, fell off from a motorcycle while escaping.

He said that the suspect and his gang members, on Monday at about 2.30 p.m. entered a Matrix Stores in Abule-Ado, Satellite Town, for robbery operation.

They robbed the owner of phones and other valuables but a patrol team attached to Satellite Police Division was quickly mobilised to the scene to engage the hoodlums.

In the process, one of the robbers was shot in the leg and a double barrel gun with two unexpended cartridges and all the robbed items were recovered.

The wounded hoodlum allegedly fell off the motorcycle, while they were escaping and was burnt to death by angry mob before he could be rescued while others escaped, he said.

He said that effort was in progress to arrest other fleeing hoodlums.

Source:NAN
The Nigerian Army has arrested three suspected Boko Haram commanders and rescued 1,275 hostages after a joint clearance operation with Cameroonian troops along Nigeria-Cameroon border in Borno.

Col. Sani Usman, Acting Director of Public Relations of Nigerian Army, said this in a statement issued to newsmen on Tuesday in Maiduguri.

Troops of 152 and 155 Task Force Battalions of Operation Lafiya Dole in conjunction with troops of Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) from Cameroon, conducted a massive joint clearance operation on suspected Boko Haram terrorists camps on Monday along Nigeria-Cameroon borders, Usman said.

The unprecedented clearance operation swept through over 10 suspected terrorists hideouts along the border.

Twenty two terrorists were killed, three Ameers (terrorists commanders) were arrested and 1,275 abducted persons were rescued, Usman said.

During the operation, the troops cleared Nbaga, Bula, Dabube, Ybiri, Greya and Suduwa towns and other adjoining settlements.

The towns and settlements were occupied by fleeing Boko Haram terrorists who escaped from villages previously cleared by troops of the Nigerian Army. The troops also rescued 1,275 persons held hostage by the terrorists.

The rescued persons are being administered and screened by 152 Task Force Battalion pending onward movement to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps. It is gratifying to note that the operation was a huge success as there was no casualty or injury on the side of the troops, Usman said.
A remote Indigenous community in Canada has declared a state of emergency after 11 residents attempted to take their own lives in a single day over the weekend. Local leaders in Attawapiskat First Nation, in northern Ontario, said on Monday that 11 people attempted to take their own lives on Saturday alone.

Attawapiskat has been waiting since (October), Attawapiskat Chief Bruce Shisheesh tweeted on Monday.

Shisheesh said a health crisis team, including mental health nurses and social workers, were being flown into Attawapiskat, an isolated community of about 2,000 residents on the banks of James Bay.

The community also witnessed 26 suicide attempts in March and 86 since September, resulting in at least one death, according to spokesperson for Canadas health minister. Perry Bellegarde, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, the organisation representing First Nations peoples across Canada, called for a national strategy to address the high suicide rates countrywide.

He also requested more government investments to support First Nations communities. The situation in Attawapiskat is sadly felt by far too many First Nations across the country, Bellegarde said in a statement on Monday. We need a sustained commitment to address long-standing issues that lead to hopelessness among our peoples, particularly the youth.

Aljazeera.
Police in Washington DC have arrested dozens of protesters who were staging a sit-in outside the US Congress meant to raise awareness about corporate influence in American politics. The day began with a rally of about 500 people in US capital as part of a series of actions around Democracy Spring, a reference to the Arab Spring protests of 2011 that upended the Egyptian government and saw similar anti-government protests across North Africa and the Middle East.

Right now, we have a campaign finance system that is dominated by money, Kaja Rebane, 38, a Wisconsin graduate student, dressed as the Statue of Liberty, told Al Jazeera. It makes it very hard for regular Americans to be heard. Many, like Rebane, cited the 2010 US Supreme Court decision on campaign financing, popularly referred to as Citizens United.

That decision recognised that corporations and unions could spend unlimited cash indirectly on campaigns and has since led to an unprecedented amount of money in US elections. Some analysts believe upwards of $5bn could be spent during the 2016 US election. Ray Lewis, a retired Philadelphia police captain, who was arrested in New York City during the Occupy Wall Street protests in 2011, agreed with many people in attendance that the US Congress is largely to blame for what he believes is a corrupt political system.

I am trying to bring this message of democracy to mainstream, white America, said Lewis, a white man, wearing his police uniform. Minorities know the truth. White America does not. Theyre living in this dream world. Police lined the steps of the main US Capitol building as protesters approached. Officers warned of arrests, asking those who did not want to be to step outside a security perimetre.
Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu has said the federal character principle is detrimental to national development and has called for a drastic reform.

Mr. Ekweremadu said the application of federal character in public sector recruitments has hindered the country from moving forward because its advocates are using it to give undeserved patronage to their cronies.

In a new book due for public presentation this month, the deputy Senate president said fears of marginalisation had suppressed merit in recruitments into the public service.

In the book titled Who will Love my Country: Ideas of Building the Nigeria of our Dreams, he said qualified Nigerians could be found in every part of the country.

The reality is that federal character, like any human enterprise, has been abused and exploited and is in dire need of reform. Regrettably, federal character has become a euphemism for recruiting unqualified people into the public service.

Those who engage in this conduct wittingly or unwittingly increase the polarisation of Nigeria along ethnic lines by redefining federal character to include hiring unqualified and clearly unsuitable people just because of their ethnic origin.

Speaking further on why the concept should be redefined, Ekweremadu said: Some people fear that employment standards have been recalibrated to accommodate the employment of people whose chief qualification seems to be that they come from a particular geographical zone.

These employees decrease productivity, weaken our public service, and ultimately render it inefficient. Employment should, as far as practicable, be based on merit and not distorted by patronage, nepotism, or tribalism.

While noting that federal character has played an important role in engendering national unity and promoting cross cultural interactions, Ekweremadu stressed that it had been abused and exploited.
Ondo state governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko has described the incessant attack on former Secretary to Federal Government, Chief Olu Falae by Fulani Herdsmen as an affront on the Yoruba nation.

The governor also said that the lawlessness of the herdsmen is a challenge to food security and cautioned that the country was heading towards precipices if the activities of the Fulani herdsmen was not curtailed by the Federal government.

Mimiko said this at a peace meeting with members of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) in Akure, saying the menace demands national emergency and called on the Federal government to arrest the situation.

There is no question about the fact that this is becoming a monster of sort. I have had cause to express my view on this on many occasions and I think we all ignore this menace as a nation, I can see us moving towards a precipice and we must do something about it as early as possible, it is getting dangerous, the audacity is very disturbing.

Suspected Fulani Herdsmen recently attacked the farm of Chief Olu Falae and killed one of the guards, Ayodele Ige.

Mimiko, however, appealed to the OPC members not to take laws into their hands, just as he commended all the security operatives in the state for rising to the situation saying the police have been supportive, they have been tracing the people behind the killing of the guard, with an assurance that they will be brought to book.

These herdsmen must be called to order, these wanton destructions, audacious incursions in other people territory cannot continue for too long.

It is very ironical, we have been talking about diversification and agriculture is the main focus but in this state there is hardly any medium scale or large scale farmers that has not had any encounter or the other with the herdsmen.

They just go to the farm and devastated the farms, some of them have been turned to perpetual debtors because some of the input for the farms are from bank loans , the herdsmen will just get there and destroy these farmlands and we are talking of diversification.

But I think if we dont do anything about the activities of these herdsmen, I can see a threat to the security of this country so it is a major challenge and I think the President and all major stakeholders should take this as a very serious challenge the governor said.
The House of Representatives on Tuesday summoned the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), to appear before its Committee on Judiciary over his alleged role in the Kogi House of Assembly crisis.

This followed a point of order moved by Nicholas Ossai (Delta-PDP), who cited the Attorney Generals instruction to the Inspector-General of Police to reopen the assembly for proceedings.

Mr. Ossai described the move as unwarranted and unlawful.

The police had acting on a resolution of the National Assembly, sealed the Kogi State Assembly complex, after the emergence of two persons parading themselves as Speakers.

But the IGP, Mr. Solomon Arase, in a March 18 letter to the minister, sought legal opinion from him whether to enforce the directive of the National Assembly.

In his response, Mr. Malami, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said there was insufficient legal basis in the directive to Mr. Arase by the House of Representatives to seal the Kogi State House of Assembly Complex until the matter is resolved.

While describing the resolution of the National as merely persuasive and not binding in law, the minister advised the police chief to disregard the directive and re-open the Kogi State House of Assembly, which had been under lock and key since March 17.

In his contribution, the Majority Leader of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, described the actions of the Attorney General as sad.

He said the resolution of the house to seal Kogi assembly was based on Section 11 of the Houses rules.

Pally Iriase, who led the chambers delegation to Kogi, said the matter was not in court when the House passed a resolution to take over legislative functions of Kogi assembly as provided by the Constitution.

The Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara, said that sensitive matters like that should be treated with seriousness.

On his part, Muhammadu Bago (Niger-APC), called for the Attorney Generals resignation, saying that he lacked the power to instruct the reopening of the assembly.

The legislators, however, resolved to summon Messrs Arase and Malami to appear before their relevant committees.

They also constituted a 22-member Ad hoc Committee headed by the majority leader to investigate the matter and report back in two weeks for further legislative attention.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the house resumed plenary on Tuesday after two weeks recess for the Easter celebration.

(NAN)
The Senate has drawn the battle line with the Presidency over the controversial Lagos-Calabar coastal rail project supposedly expunged from the 2016 Budget by the National Assembly, if a statement issued by its spokesperson, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi on Monday, is anything to go by.

The Senate advised the Presidency to come clean with Nigerians on the 2016 Budget and stop engaging in surreptitious campaigns of calumny against the upper legislative chamber, to cover up its serial errors.

This is just as it demanded a public apology from the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, if he fails to prove that the Lagos-Calabar road project was included in the 2016 budget otherwise, he should resign.

Reacting to reports in the media credited to the executive arm of government, Abdullahi, who is Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, in the statement, said that the National Assembly had bent backwards to wring a coherent document out of the excessively flawed and chaotic versions of the budget proposal submitted to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari on December 22, 2015.

While the executive is mandated to prepare and lay before the National Assembly a proposed budget detailing projects to be executed, it should be made clear that the responsibility and power of appropriation lies with the National Assembly. If the presidency expects us to return the budget proposal to them without any adjustments, then some people must be living in a different era and probably have not come to terms with democracy, the statement said.

It continued: We make bold to say however, that the said Lagos-Calabar rail project was not included in the budget proposal presented to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari and we challenge anyone who has any evidence to the contrary to present such to Nigerians.

Since the beginning of the 2016 budget process, it is clear that the National Assembly has suffered all manners of falsehood, deliberate distortion of facts, and outright blackmail, deliberately aimed at poisoning the minds of the people against the institution of the National Assembly.

We have endured this with equanimity in the overall interest of Nigerians. Even when the original submission was surreptitiously swapped and we ended up having two versions of the budget, which was almost incomprehensible and heavily padded in a manner that betrays lack of coordination and gross incompetence, we refused to play to the gallery and instead helped the Executive to manage the hugely embarrassing situation it has brought upon itself; but enough is enough.

This latest antics of this particular minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, is reckless, uncalled for and dangerously divisive. Apart from setting the people of the southern part of the country against their northern compatriots, it potentially sets the people against their lawmakers from the concerned constituencies and sets the lawmakers against themselves. This manner of reprehensible mischief has no place in a democracy. We hereby demand from Mr. Amaechi a publicly tendered apology if he is not able to show evidence that the Lagos-Calabar road project was included in the budget. Otherwise, he should resign forthwith.

Finally, by the provision of Section 81 (4) (a) and (b) of the constitution, the President is allowed to sign the budget and kick-start the implementation of the other areas that constitute over 90 percent of the budget where there is agreement between both arms, even as we engage ourselves to resolve the contentious areas, if there were any. We therefore maintain that even this contrived discrepancies are not sufficient excuse not to sign the budget into law.

We therefore urge President Buhari to sign the 2016 budget without any further delay. For every additional day that the president withholds his assent from the bill, the hardship in the land, which is already becoming intolerable for the masses of our people gets even more complicated. Certainly, as primary representatives of the people we shall not vacate our responsibility and watch the people continue to suffer unduly, the statement concluded.
A 59-year-old physically challenged man, Mr Olaiya Adeagbo, has pleaded with an Igando Customary Court in Lagos to dissolve his 23-year-old marriage, accusing his wife of infidelity.

He told the court on Monday that that his wife with whom he had four children, was having an affair with his neighbour.

I always received a tip-off from our neighbours that my wife is having an affair with one of our neighbours who was a bachelor.

That fateful day, I came back home earlier and could not find her in our room, two of my neighbours told me that they sighted her when she sneaked into her lovers room.

I went to knock on his door but he refused to open after hearing my voice.

I continued knocking and he later opened his door, and I saw my wife hiding behind his door sweating and panting, I greeted her and left.

After some days, her lover died and my wife disappeared from the house without taking anything and refused to come back.

My wife later went to marry another man, who also died after some months of their marriage, he said.

The petitioner also told the court that his wife fights a lot with their neighbours.

My wife fights a lot, she fought with our pregnant neighbour but the woman died the following morning.

Every house we rented, we are always evicted because of her frequent fighting with me and neighbours; she once stabbed me with a knife, he said.

He urged the court to terminate the marriage as his life was not safe and that he was no longer interested in the union.

In her submission, the wife, Mrs Taiwo Adeagbo, 46, also accused her husband of committing adultery.

She told the court that the neighbour her husband saw her with was her benefactor, not her lover.

I am not having any affair with that our neighbour, he was only my benefactor who always meet my needs as my husband is not responsible, but unfortunately he is no more, she said.

The mother of four said her husband had at one point eloped with her best friend.

My husband always bring home different women claiming they have one problem or another; he once ran away with my best friend to unknown destination for three-months, she added.

She begged the court to grant her husbands wish and terminate the marriage as she too was no longer interested in the union.

The President of the court, Mr Adegboyega Omilola, after listening to the couple, adjourned the case to May 10 for further hearing.

(NAN)
The Rivers State Government on Monday said it had uncovered plans by the All Progressives Congress, APC, to arrest chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the state on trumped up charges.

The Commissioner for Information and Communications, Dr Austin Tams-George, raised the alarm in a statement issued in Port Harcourt.

He said: It has come to the attention of the Rivers State Government that some faceless individuals and groups in the state, sponsored by the All Progressives Congress, APC, have written petitions to security agencies, making frivolous allegations against chieftains of PDP and top government functionaries in Rivers State.

The aim of these petitions is to instigate another round of politically-motivated arrests and harassment of innocent individuals. It is also part of a plan to conduct unlawful raids on the homes of government officials and leaders of the PDP in Rivers State.

Rivers State Government strongly condemns this latest attempt to disturb the peace of the state and wishes to warn that intimidation and unlawful arrests by security forces will be resisted by the people of the state.

Governor Nyesom Wike urges the people of the state to remain vigilant and go about their businesses without fear. The governor also asked security agencies to always act within the law and to refuse to be used by desperate politicians who have been rejected by the people of Rivers State.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization NATO-led mission in Afghanistan has confirmed that the US military will investigate into the US drone strikes in southeastern Afghanistan that killed 17 people last week. Brigadier General Charles Cleveland, spokesman for the US-led coalition, told Al Jazeera on Monday, that they will conduct an investigation into the air strikes carried out in the Paktika province.

Currently there is no evidence of civilian casualties, however, we are conducting a thorough investigation into the strikes, Cleveland, who is part of the Operation Resolute Support, said.

Relatives and tribal elders demanded for an investigation on Saturday claiming that the air raids hit civilians, not members of armed groups. However, Afghan officials told Al Jazeera that the people killed in the attack had links to the Taliban. A day after the demand for the investigation, United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan also confirmed to Al Jazeera that facts will be verified around the reports.

UNAMA is verifying the facts around reports of 17 civilians killed and we will publish findings when available, Dominic Medley, a UNAMA spokesperson, told Al Jazeera. We look into civilian casualties across Afghanistan, but for this specific case, we have just started off verifying the facts and the report will take a while to have accurate findings.
With little fanfare, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has announced work has begun on the next iteration of the Web's most crucial standard, HTML5.1.

The interesting part: The spec is being shaped on GitHub, which used to manage much of the source code for the projects that use HTML5.

W3C says its plans for HTML5 are "to match reality better, to make the specification as clear as possible to readers, and of course to make it possible for all stakeholders to propose improvements, and understand what makes changes to HTML successful."

Early drafts the HTML5 spec began to surface back in 2008, but it wasn't until 2014 that HTML5 was considered an endorsed, official standard. Consequently, the W3C wants to make incremental updates "a reality that is relatively straightforward to implement," in order to avoid the years-long lag that hobbled the spec's last revision.

To that end, the W3C is using GitHub to speed up the process. Changes can be proposed by simply making a pull request, or some part of the spec that doesn't work in current browsers can be flagged by opening an issue. Features that aren't supported in "at least two shipping browser engines" are to be dropped, but without prejudice; there's always the chance they can be added in as an extension.

Developers have used JavaScript to provide de facto extensions to HTML5 without proposing changes directly to it. Google's Web Components, for instance, uses a JavaScript polyfill to provide support on browsers that don't have it (that is, anything not Google Chrome). W3C's idea is to make it as easy -- easier, even -- to contribute changes to HTML5 with the same mechanisms someone might use to work in Web Components.

The W3C's plan is to ship a "candidate recommendation" -- essentially a draft of the spec -- by June of this year, with a full recommendation document by September.
Microsoft is throwing its weight behind the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield agreement, which is intended to safeguard the privacy of European Union citizens when their personal information is exported to the U.S. for processing.

But a document leaked late last week suggests the proposed agreement does not have the backing of EU data protection authorities, who are meeting this week to finalize their position on it.

Microsoft will seek approval to conduct data transfers under the agreement, its Vice President for EU Government Affairs, John Frank, wrote in a blog post Monday.

He promised the company would respond to individual privacy complaints within 45 days, and comply with the recommendations of national data protection authorities in case of dispute.

However, the agreement does not go far enough, and U.S. and EU officials still have more work to do, Frank wrote: "Additional steps will be needed to build upon the Privacy Shield after it is adopted, ranging from additional domestic legislation to modernization of mutual legal assistance treaties and new bilateral and ultimately multilateral agreements."

The company delivered its verdict on the transatlantic data transfer deal just two days before European Union data protection authorities are due to deliver their own.

Privacy Shield was negotiated to replace the July 2000 Safe Harbor agreement, which the Court of Justice of the EU overturned last October, declaring it incompatible under EU privacy laws.

Those laws require that the personal information of EU citizens only be processed in countries where it can be accorded the same level of privacy protection as under EU law. The Safe Harbor Agreement was inadequate for that purpose, the CJEU found.

When the European Commission officials unveiled details of the new agreement with the U.S. in February, they said Privacy Shield answered all the CJEU's criticisms of Safe Harbor. They also published a draft "adequacy decision," the legal instrument required to add Privacy Shield to the list of data transfer mechanisms acceptable under the EU's 1995 Data Protection Directive.

In the draft, the Commission claims it has the support of the Article 29 Working Party, which brings together the EU's national data protection authorities.

The working party hasn't made its mind up yet, though: It has been conducting its own analysis of Privacy Shield since February and is due to finalize its position at a meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday.

German data protection authorities are against Privacy Shield, according to a briefing document accidentally published on their website last week. The document, posted by German lawyer Carlo Piltz to his blog, calls on the working party to reject Privacy Shield as inadequate under EU law.

The German briefing document calls for the working party's executive summary to state: "Until these issues are addressed, the WP29 considers it is not in a position to reach an overall conclusion on the draft adequacy decision. It stresses that some of the clarifications and concerns  in particular relating to national security  may also impact the viability of the other transfer tools."

It also wants the working party report to conclude: "Therefore, the WP29 is not yet in a position to confirm that the current draft adequacy decision does, indeed, ensure a level of protection that is essentially equivalent to that in the EU."

The German delegation wants the European Commission to remove from the adequacy decision any references to the Working Party's approval, and it wants Privacy Shield to be referred to the CJEU if the Commission goes ahead without taking into account the working party's criticisms, according to the document downloaded by Piltz. The German authorities have since removed copies of the document from their websites, he wrote Friday.

The contents of the leak did not surprise Aaron Tantleff, intellectual property attorney at Foley and Lardner.

"The purpose of Privacy Shield was to ensure that there was a mechanism in place to ensure a level of protection in the U.S. that is essentially equivalent to that in the EU. Based upon the current draft of the Privacy Shield framework agreement, I can see how one may find that the current draft does not appear to satisfy this requirement," he said.

The data protection authorities don't get the last word on Privacy Shield. Their opinion is only advisory, and there are other bodies that have yet to weigh in, including the European Parliament.
Google kicked up its plans for creating a hybrid cloud based on open standards -- namely OpenStack -- another notch this week.

The company announced in a blog post the release of a small but strategic software component that allows instances of OpenStack's new Mitaka edition to back up data to Google Cloud Storage.

[ See what hardware, software, development tools, and cloud services came out on top in the InfoWorld 2016 Technology of the Year Awards. | Cut to the key news in tech with the InfoWorld Daily newsletter, our summary of the top tech happenings. ]

To save everything, install this

Google's Cinder OpenStack block storage abstraction layer uses drivers to talk to different storage providers. It also includes provisions specifically for backup services, so storage providers can designate targets when backing up Cinder volumes; Google Cloud is simply one possible backend among many.

Google is touting the low cost and relative ease of using Google Cloud Storage plus OpenStack Mitaka plus its Cinder driver to create an object storage system for existing applications. One of the supported storage types is Google's "cold data storage" system, Cloud Storage Nearline, which can be used for cheap long-term data retention and costs 1 cent per gigabyte per month.

If you're upgrading OpenStack to Mitaka, the Google driver is included by default.

Only one piece of the picture

Google's hybrid cloud platform built on open standards is being assembled in pieces. OpenStack was one such piece; another has been Docker-style containers as an open standard for delivering applications in a portable format and running them at scale.

A component like Google's Cinder driver is another part of the puzzle. Since a hybrid cloud is meant to seamlessly span local and remote data centers, it makes sense to have a native option for local resources to back up to remote ones.

The one gap in Google's plan is on the private end of the hybrid cloud, where Google's pieces have very different levels of adoption. OpenStack, despite efforts to retool and become easier to work with, still is used primarily by verticals like telecoms and isn't drawing as many enterprises. Containers, though, enjoy far broader adoption, in large part because they have more uses and take less work.

Google plans to continue hedging its bets, building a hybrid platform that can leverage as many of its pieces as possible. It joined the OpenStack Foundation and Cloud Native Computing Foundation to better enable the development of components for that hybrid cloud. The enterprises that use OpenStack can expect Google to continue providing pieces that complement what they build on-premises.
On Rwanda, UN Is Done With Self-Critici sm, Pushes Out Those Who Even Ask



By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 11 -- Twenty two years after the genocide in Rwanda, several UN officials comme morated the date on April 11, w ith hardly an acknowledg ment of the UN's failure then and since.



One of the speakers recalled that peacekeepers left 2,200 Tutsis to be killed in a school in Kigali. Another recounted her mother's head being cut off. After some heartfelt singing, Rwandan Ambassador and Minister Gasana closed it off, diplomatically offering thanks.



Inner City Press, which in previous years has covered this events from the floor or media photo booth, was this year confined to the visitors' section of the General Assembly, by a retaliatory UN decision that has yet to be reversed.



This year in the photo booths of the GA there was no other media. Today's UN says they care about these events, then throw out the only media which covers them. Striving for now to be diplomatic, what follow is Inner City Press' write up of the memorial last year in 2015, when Inner City Press had the access to which it should be restored:



UN Peacekeeping remains under the thumb of Herve Ladsous, who in 1994 acting as France's Ambassador in the UN Security Council argued for the escape of the Hutu genocidaires into Eastern Congo. See Ladsous' memo here, put online by Inner City Press.



On April 7, 2015 the French Presidency said it would declassify some documents. But will those like Ladsous', and more, be released? Why?



Notably, Ladsous has banned UN support to a military offensive to neutralize the heirs of the genocide, the Hutu FDLR militia. Ladsous refuses Press questions on this -- so on April 7 Inner City Press asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric, transcribe here, video here:



Inner City Press: A follow-up on this question of the twenty-first anniversary of the Rwanda genocide. I saw the statement by the Special Envoy in the Great Lakes, Said Djinnit, basically saying the FDLR [Forces Democratiques de Liberation du Rwanda] should be defeated. What can you say about the seeming contradiction, despite these various statements of how important it is to eliminate the FDLR, the decision relatively at the last minute by MONUSCO [United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo] or the Force Intervention Brigade and DPKO [Ladsous' Department of Peacekeeping Operations] not to participate against the FDLR? And does it make it less likely they, in fact, will be defeated and will continue?



Spokesman Dujarric: I think MONUSCO and our peacekeeping colleagues have very good reasons not to participate in that in that. This is an issue that the Congolese Government also needs to deal with. And I think we had good reasons not to participate.



Inner City Press: The reason I'm asking about the contradictions is it seems this same human rights due diligence policy was explicitly waived in the case of pursuing the Lord's Resistance Army and was, at least in some people's mind, seemingly waived or delayed in the case of the Minova rapes. So it seems for this to be the one invocation of it as regards to the group that's basically the successor to the genocidaires.



Spokesman: I think you and I can agree to have different views on this



This too: Ladous has twice had his spokesmen physically remove the UNTV microphone from Inner City Press, which asked.



On April 6 it was claimed that Ladsous' spokesman was pointing to another journalist as Ladsous refused to answer Inner City Press' questions - but he grabbed the microphone, as happened before, here.



Among documents put online on April 6, 2015 was the Mucyo Commission report, which says of the Security Council advocacy involving Ladsous that in the Security Council, the French Ambassador did a lot of lobbying with the the Member States of the Council to avoid the Security Council's use of the expression 'genocide.' Page 179, here.



But the documents released jump from June 1994 to 1998, thus missing this Ladsous memo. Pre-selected coverage, focused on US Bill Clinton, John Shattuck, Prudence Bushnell and Joyce Leader and UK David Hannay, omits this link to current events at the UN as well. We'll have more on this.



When today's UN Peacekeepers are determined, by the UN itself, to have shot at civilians by using inappropriate force, what accountability is there? None, with Herve Ladsous atop UN Peacekeeping. But even the supposed reporting in the incidents is inconsistent.



On Mali, after Ladsous' MINUSMA reached side deals with the MNLA rebels about Tabankort, there was a protest in Gao.



UN Police ultimately under Ladsous' command shot and killed three civilians. In this case, because the Malian government wanted an investigation of the killing of protesters which supported its positition, the UN did an investigation and at least released a summary. (Ladsous refused to answer Inner City Press' questions including about the roots of the protest, his mission's deal with the MNLA in Tabankort.)



But in Haiti, where Ladsous' peacekeeping mission was filmed shooting at protesters who oppose Michel Martelly, the report has not even been summarized. MINUSTAH chief Sandra Honore told Inner City Press the report is finished and "with DPKO" - that is Ladsous. But no summary is being released. Ladsous refused Inner City Press' question about this, and scribes ignored that these are two incidents of shooting unarmed civilians, in two countries, under Ladsous. Who is responsible?



Vine here. These questions took place at the UN Security Council stakeout, but Reuters and Agence France Presse did not mention it, only blaming Rwanda. Both previously tried to censor Inner City Press coverage of Ladsous and French colonialism, to the extent of moving to ask the UN to throw Inner City Press out.



Which approach is journalism?



AFP wasn't even AT this stakeout - Ladous sought to avoid questions by repeating his talking points in French, but no AFP. Then Reuters told UNTV to give it the microphone, to ask about Rwanda. Ladsous leered. Then a retired Reuters reporter was pointed at by Ladsous' spokesman Nick Birnback, who then grabbed the UNTV microphone to take it away from Inner City Press.





On April 2 Ladsous appeared at the UN Security Council media stakeout but after reading a prepared statement refused to answer Press questions about the underlying Tabankort agreement with the MNLA which led to the Mali shooting. Video I here.



Inner City Press also asked about shooting at civilians by Ladsous' peacekeepers in Haiti, caught on video, and asked if that withheld report would be released. Ladsous said, I do not respond to you. Video II here.



Inner City Press asked if it isn't now a pattern, peacekeepers shooting at unarmed civilians not only in Mali but also Haiti, and if Ladsous will take responsibility.



Ladsous' spokesman Nicholas Birnback then grabbed the UNTV microphone and moved it away from Inner City Press. This happened before with Ladsous and his previous spokesman. Video here, story here. At that time, after the Free UN Coalition for Access complained, the UN Spokesperson told FUNCA it would not happen again. Now it has. Accountability?



Tellingly, the Ladsous scribe who angled for and got the first question asked pointedly if the peacekeepers in Mali weren't from Rwanda. Ladsous leered and said the Troop Contributing Country, then spoke again at the end to lay the blame on them. Video II, here, near end.



In the public record is Ladsous' 1994 memo supporting the escape of the Hutu genocidaires who formed the FDLR into Eastern Congo, where now Ladsous' MONUSCO finds one excuse after another NOT to neutralize the FDLR as it did the largely Tutsi M23 armed group.



Accountability? Video here.



Inner City Press, which has been asking the UN Spokesperson - since UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous refuses Press questions -- about the killings since they occurred in January, on April 2 asked UN spokesperson Farhan Haq if the report will be made public, and if any verdict or sentence against the peacekeepers would be made public. Haq did not say yes to either.



A report on Ladsous' peacekeepers in Haiti firing at unarmed demonstrators hasn't even been summarized, much less released.



As to the killings by peacekeepers in Gao, Haq would not even publicly state the nationality of the peacekeepers. Talk about impunity. He said the Ladsous will briefing the Security Council -- behind closed doors, of course -- about the report, then will come to the UNTV stakeout. But Ladsous refuses Press questions, on his cover up of rapes in DR Congo and Darfur and every other question. Video here, Vine here.



This is a new low in UNaccountability.



Here is the UN's summary as read-out by Haq, video to follow:



The Inquiry launched by the Secretary-General to determine the facts surrounding the violent demonstration that took place on 27 January 2015 in Gao, Mali, in front of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) Regional Headquarters has submitted its report.



The Inquiry determined that members of a MINUSMA Formed Police Unit used unauthorized and excessive force on civilian protesters during the demonstration, resulting in the death by gunfire of three protesters and the wounding of four others.



The Inquiry also established that some protesters and organisers of the demonstration bear responsibility for the violence of the protest, which included Molotov cocktails, stone throwing and attempts to breach the perimeter of the Regional MINUSMA Headquarters in Gao. The Inquiry noted that MINUSMA security forces were left to face the protesters on their own in violation of the Status of Forces Agreement with the host country. Five MINUSMA police officers were wounded during the event.



The Secretary-General profoundly regrets the casualties among civilians resulting from the excessive use of force during this event by the MINUSMA personnel concerned. He condemns it as a violation of the MINUSMA Directive on the Use of Force. The Secretary-General is committed to ensuring that the responsible individuals are held fully accountable for their actions.



Steps are being taken in this regard with the authorities of Mali and the relevant police-contributing country. The Secretary-General encourages the Government of Mali to take the appropriate steps to prevent future such incidents. Communications, management and crisis procedures within MINUSMA will also be examined to prevent the recurrence of such acts.



The Secretary-General is committed to ensuring justice for the victims and their families according to local customs and appropriate United Nations procedures. MINUSMA is in contact with the local authorities and with the individuals and families concerned in this regard.



On behalf of the United Nations, the Secretary-General expresses his deepest apologies to the victims and their families.



The United Nations, and MINUSMA in particular, remain committed to supporting the stabilisation of Mali.
Stock Market This Week: Five Themes to Watch Barchart - Sun Oct 23, 8:00AM CDT While the U.S. equities sector posted a surprising win last week, circumstances are only getting more ambiguous, requiring extra vigilance among investors. RTX : 88.54 (+1.49%)

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%)
WorkCover WA has announced a 0.3% decrease in 2016/17 recommended premium rates for compulsory workers compensation insurance in the state, taking rates to their lowest recorded levels.Rates fell to 1.478% of total wages, down from 1.483% last year, and continues a downward trend over the last decade.In South Australia, ReturnToWorkSA announced that rates will hold at 1.95% of total wages following a 29% reduction in the average premium rate last year.In Western Australia, a statement said that the minor adjustment in rates reflects sound management of claim liabilities and close monitoring of scheme activity; despite rising average claim costs and longer duration claims, recommended premium rates will not increase in 2016/17.Chairman of ReturnToWorkSA, Jane Yuile, said that the board of the recently launched enterprise are pleased with the progress already made.The new Return to Work scheme is now 9 months old, Yuile said.The ReturnToWorkSA Board have reviewed progress with the new scheme and are pleased with the improvements in customer service and the current financial performance.Last year the Board announced a 29% reduction in the average premium rate from 2.75% to 1.95% of employer wages. The Board are pleased to announce that as the financial performance of the new scheme remains on track, the average premium rate of 1.95% of employer wages will continue for the 2016-17 financial year.
Skuld, the Oslo, Norway-based marine insurance provider, announced the recruitment of Paul Fry and Sarah Wilson to Skulds Lloyds Syndicate 1897, the specialist marine and energy syndicate.

Fry joins as deputy active underwriter and class underwriter for hull, and Wilson as senior underwriter. They will join Skuld later in 2016.

Prior to joining Skuld 1897, Fry was head of marine hull at Aspen Insurance, having begun his career in Commercial Union Groups ocean marine underwriting room. Fry is also a serving member of the joint hull committee. Wilson also joins from Aspen Insurance where she served as senior underwriter and is a member of the navigating limits sub-committee.

Stale Hansen, Skuld president and CEO, said: I am very happy to see our strategy for Skuld 1897 taking shape with two senior appointments. Paul and Sarah are a key part of strengthening the hull capability of our 1897 underwriting service, which is a core product. We look forward to them both joining us as we continue to strive to provide the first-class service and competence that our members and clients can rely on.

Source: Skuld

Topics Excess Surplus Underwriting Lloyd's
Stock pops or stock drops, theres always been at least one winner when it comes to Daniel Loebs reinsurance company: Daniel Loebs hedge fund.

Loebs Bermuda-based Third Point Reinsurance Ltd. paid $98.8 million since 2013 to the entities that manage its money  Loebs Third Point hedge fund and its affiliates.

David Einhorn has a similar arrangement with Greenlight Capital Re Ltd. Since 2007, the Cayman Islands-based reinsurer has paid more than $280 million in management and performance fees to Einhorns DME Advisors, which oversees investments for the reinsurer that mirror his hedge funds.

Having a reinsurer is a good deal for money managers because they essentially view it as permanent capital, while the risks for investors can outweigh the benefits of favorable tax treatment, said Dean Rubino, president of Terrapin Asset Management, an investment adviser and manager.

Hedge Funds

Third Point Re has pitched its stock as a way for the public to benefit from Loebs acumen. But that hasnt happened. While investors in his hedge fund would have made about 11 percent from the end of August 2013, the month that Third Point Re went public, through March 31, the reinsurer fell 14 percent in that span.

Greenlight Re trades for just 14 percent more than its May 2007 initial public offering price. Compare that to an investment in Einhorns hedge fund, Greenlight Capital Inc., which rose more than 50 percent from the end of that month.

Elissa Doyle, a spokeswoman for Loebs hedge fund, declined to comment, as did Third Point Res Manoj Gupta. Jonathan Gasthalter, an external spokesman for Einhorns fund and Brian Ruby, a spokesman for Greenlight Re at ICR, also declined to comment.

Reinsurers provide coverage for primary insurers and can invest the premiums that they hold to back policyholder obligations. Third Point Re has written contracts on crops while Greenlight Re has insured Florida homeowners.

Money managers have helped start similar vehicles for more than a decade. Louis Moore Bacons Moore Capital Management helped form Max Re Capital, which went public in 2001. That reinsurer later merged with a rival.

Goldman, JPMorgan

Tax advantages, along with capital that can serve as a buffer against redemptions, make reinsurers such a winning play that other firms are planning their own.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. last year raised $1.5 billion to help create an insurer with a plan to take it public, according to a marketing document obtained by Bloomberg News. Highbridge Capital Management, majority-owned by JPMorgan Chase & Co., is tied to a venture, Watford Re, that may file for an IPO as early as this year, according to a person familiar with the plan. And Howard Marks Oaktree Capital Group LLC recently raised about $600 million to start a venture.

Other asset managers that have sought funding for such ventures in the past year include Blackstone Group LP and UBS OConnor, the hedge-fund manager in Switzerlands largest bank. Representatives of the banks and money managers declined to comment.

Fundraising Goals

However, investor interest may be waning. Goldman Sachs fell $500 million short of its maximum target, while BlackRock Inc., raised $800 million from clients for a venture after seeking as much as $1.3 billion. A BlackRock spokeswoman declined to comment.

Policy pricing has declined in recent years as more money managers enter the reinsurance business. Third Point Re Chief Operating Officer Robert Bredahl told investors in September that hes not hopeful for an immediate industry rebound.

With most of these companies having hiccups, Third Point and Greenlight, youre probably not going to see vast amounts of new investor interest in the model, said Meyer Shields, an analyst with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

Tax Advantages

Reinsurance shareholders gain a tax advantage. A U.S. investor in a hedge fund would have to pay the 39.6 percent rate for ordinary income on gains the hedge fund makes in short-term holdings. By holding shares of the reinsurer, theyd be subject to a lower long-term capital-gains rate.

This has drawn the attention of politicians such as U.S. presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton and Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, who called the disparity a tax loophole. Hedge fund manager John Paulson recently shuttered a reinsurance venture amid the scrutiny and after years of poor performance.

The tax treatment only works for shareholders if reinsurers stock rises along with hedge fund gains. Lately, poor insurance underwriting has deepened the share slumps as Greenlight Re and Third Point Re paid out more in claims than they collected in premiums last year.

Unprofitable Operations

But in years of poor performance, fees and taxes arent the only perks for hedge fund managers. Reinsurance assets tend to be sticky, which can soften the impact of client redemptions and mute pressure to sell securities in a panic.

Third Point Res $2.3 billion investment portfolio accounted for about 13 percent of the assets Loebs hedge fund firm managed as of Dec. 31. Greenlight Res $1.1 billion portfolio comprised a similar ratio of the assets invested in its main stock-focused hedge fund at the start of 2016, according to documents seen by Bloomberg. The hedge funds charge the reinsurers fees that are the same as what most investors pay: That includes a management fee and as much as 20 percent of profits.

Both companies have said in filings or conference calls that performance could be more volatile than that of traditional insurers, which invest mostly in bonds. Ken Billingsley, an analyst at Compass Point Research & Trading, said patient stockholders may eventually be rewarded along with money managers.

In one or two years of good earnings on the investing side, they could make up for three or four years of underperformance, he said.

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.

Topics Reinsurance
Amtrak has filed a federal lawsuit against a southwest Kansas feed yard, accusing it of gross negligence in relation to a train derailment that injured 32 passengers in March.

In the suit filed by Amtrak and BNSF, the plaintiffs allege Cimarron Crossing Feeders failed to notify the railroad or law enforcement after one of the companys trucks slammed into the railroad road bed and displaced the tracks by more than a foot.

The lawsuit claims the truck was being loaded with grain when Cimarrons employees left it unattended on March 13, out of gear and without any brakes applied. It rolled downhill, crossed over U.S. 50 and slammed into the tracks.

Shortly after midnight on March 14, an eastbound Amtrak train hit the damaged tracks and eight passenger cars derailed near Cimarron, about 20 miles west of Dodge City.

A preliminary report released last week by the National Transportation Safety Board estimated damage from the derailment at $1.4 million.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Wichita, seeks an amount in excess of $75,000. It also requests a jury trial in Wichita.

Officials with Cimarron Crossing Feeders didnt immediately return a phone call Sunday seeking comment.

Related:

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits Kansas
The employee vs. contractor debate has the potential to have a major impact on the insurance industry, according to a pair of experts speaking on the topic on Monday in San Diego, Calif.

Its estimated there are 10 million independent contractors in the U.S. and that 10 percent of those people are misclassified, according to John Zeigler, an attorney with Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin.

Thats a huge number of people out there who are working as independent contractors but likely are misclassified, he said, noting that federal and state governments could swoop in with new rules and regulations. The reality is the pressure on the government is becoming that much greater.

Video: Travelers claims head Rich Ives discusses potential impact of independent contractor decision Powered by InsuranceJournal.tv

Zeigler and Stephanie Watts, resolution manager at Gallagher Bassett, held an education session titled The War on Employee Misclassification: Risks and Costs to Employers and Insurers, at the annual RIMS conference for risk management and insurance professionals.

Planners of this years conference said more than 10,000 people are in attendance at the conference, with more expected to register in coming days. That would make it the largest conference since 2003, they say.

In the session held by Zeigler and Watts, the employer vs. contractor cloud that has arisen by way of the gig economy explosion has created an uneven playing field where one company does things one way and the other company another way.

Its also made protections for benefits, including workers compensation, uneven for workers, and has created uncertain risks and exposures for insurers, they said.

They also outlined several tests federal and state governments are using to determine whether a worker is an employee or a contractor.

One such test was the U.S. Department of Labors economic realities test, which includes the consideration of the following factors:

The extent to which the work performed is integral to the employers business;

Whether the workers managerial skills affect his or her opportunity for loss;

The relative investments in facilities and equipment by the worker and employer;

The workers skill and initiative;

The permanency of the workers relationship with the employer;

The nature and degree of control by the employer.

The last one has been key in many legal battles that unfolded in many states.

Ultimately when the courts are looking at this they are looking at the right to control and the actual control exercise, Zeigler said. That really, in many respects, is the absolute key factor.

Other federal government entities with independent contractor tests include the Internal Revenue Service, which includes behavior control, financial control and the relationship of the parties, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Many states have their own tests.

A popular test for many states uses three factors:

Is the employee free from directions and controls?

Is the work performed outside the usual course of business?

Is the individual customarily engaged in independently established trade, occupation, profession or business as the involved service performed?

The presenters cited Alexander Vs. FedEx Ground in which the California 9th Circuit Court ruled in 2014 that drivers were not independent contractors despite drivers owning their own vans and being allowed to set their own routes.

The court in its ruling used several factors, most notably control.

The drivers must wear FedEx uniforms, drive FedEx-approved vehicles, and groom themselves according to FedExs appearance standards, the ruling states. FedEx tells its drivers what packages to deliver, on what days, and at what times. Although drivers may operate multiple delivery routes and hire third parties to help perform their work, they may do so only with FedExs consent.

At the end of the day FedEx took a big hit here, Zeigler said.

With decisions like this being made all over the U.S., vigilance is becoming increasingly important, Watts said.

It starts at the bottom, Watts said. It starts with the agents and brokers writing these policies incorrectly.

Zeigler advised paying close attention to a topic that he believes will only become more important to businesses and insurance professionals in the future.

The best you can say is you need to be on top of it, Zeigler said. You can look at the patterns, you can look at the trends, you need to look and see where its going.

Hall of Fame

At the conference RIMS and American International Group Inc. announced that William H. McGannon and David Mikulina are the 2016 inductees to the Risk Management Hall of Fame.

The hall of fame serves as a means to maintain the history of the field of risk management and recognizes risk practitioners who have made significant contributions to advancing the discipline, according to RIMS.

McGannon was considered a risk management pioneer, according to those who bestowed the award on him.

He is considered one of the first Canadian risk managers to establish a full-service risk management department that included loss prevention and statistical support at NOVA Chemical Corp. in Alberta. McGannon frequently lectured at the University of Calgary, where he was instrumental in setting up the Chair of Risk Management position and served as executive in residence from 1998 to 2000. He died in 2015.

Mikulina is a retired vice president of risk management for Hyatt Hotels Corp., and was a member of the risk management profession for nearly 35 years. He headed the risk management department at Hyatt for 23 years as the organization grew from 130 hotels to 350 hotels worldwide.

Topics Contractors Risk Management
The U.S. is in the midst of an opioid crisis. Deaths from prescription painkiller overdoses have quadrupled since 1999. To combat the epidemic, 49 states and Washington, D.C., have built computer systems intended to detect when people try to get multiple prescriptions, either for their own use or to sell illegally. The prescription drug monitoring programs, or PDMPs, track patients who already have prescriptions for controlled substances and can alert prescribers if someone appears to be doctor-shopping. The problem? They often go neglected by physicians.

Now advocates want stricter laws that require doctors to use the databases. Currently just seven states mandate that prescribers check the systems before giving patients opioids in all circumstances. More require them to get patients prescription history only if they suspect abuse. Theres no reliable data on how often doctors use PDMPs, but evidence from such states as New York, Tennessee, and Kentucky show that they are used much more frequently when the law requires it.

Gary Mendell is among those pushing for the change. He founded an advocacy group called Shatterproof after his son Brian, who had struggled with drug addiction, committed suicide in 2011 at age 25. Mendell, a former hotel executive, said the government needs to respond to the opioid crisis with the urgency of an epidemic such as Ebola or Zika. Human beings take time to change, he said. This will change over the next two decades unless theres urgency to it.

Doctors say passing a law to make people use the databases wont solve the problem. When they are fully funded, integrated into [electronic health records], and when they provide accurate, relevant, and real-time data, they can provide helpful clinical information, said Steven J. Stack, president of the American Medical Association, in a statement. While some PDMPs can do this, many cannot. The doctors group strongly supports using the systems, Stack said, but theyre only one piece of a much larger puzzle to end the opioid crisis.

U.S. urged to treat opioid crisis with the urgency of an Ebola or Zika epidemic..

There are a tremendous number of barriers that have to be overcome for PDMPs to be used regularly at the point of care, said Caleb Alexander, co-director of the Center for Drug Safety & Effectiveness at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He signed on to a recent report from Shatterproof calling for mandatory use of PDMPs.

For example, requiring prescribers to log on with a separate username and password is a nonstarter at many hospitals, Alexander said. Even if the prescribing history is integrated into the software doctors already use, it has to be delivered at the right time and in a format that doctors understand. I think mandated use is long overdue, although the programs have to be usable enough so that its reasonable to mandate them, Alexander said.

New guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control call for doctors to consult PDMPs to determine whether the patient is receiving opioid dosages or dangerous combinations that put him or her at high risk for overdose. Theyre just one part of a renewed national strategy to reduce opioid abuse. Every state but Missouri has authorized a PDMP, and the evidence in favor of the systems is growing, said Cindy Reilly, director of the prescription drug abuse project at the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Just getting prescribers enrolled to use the systems can be a challenge. In 23 states, fewer than half of the people registered with the Drug Enforcement Agency to prescribe controlled substances were enrolled in the PDMP in 2014, according to forthcoming research from Pew.

There are some steps Reilly said states can take to make the systems function better. Allowing prescribers to delegate checking the patients prescription history to other staff members can ease the burden on doctors in a rush. Likewise, the PDMPs should be linked seamlessly to electronic health records. The software should be able to alert doctors to risky patterns and deliver the information in a meaningful, easy-to-understand way. While states are progressively improving their systems, Reilly said, its a slow-moving train.

Mendell says the current pace is unacceptable. If this were Ebola, and the government thought that 30,000 people might die this year from Ebola, I dont believe you would see evidence-based solutions and recommendations that would be implemented over the next decade, he said. I believe you would see solutions implemented in weeks.

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.

Topics Drugs
For the third time in a month large hail and damaging winds pummeled north Texas causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage, the Insurance Council of Texas reported.

The storms caused the most damage in cities just north of Dallas where roofs were blown off and 4-inch hail demolished cars and homes.

The cities of Plano, Wylie, Frisco and Allen were hardest hit. Many of these citys homeowners were also hit by the March 28 hailstorm that plowed through the area. Last nights storm traveled more than 100 miles from Archer City to Longview passing just north of the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Kylie Reising, a partner in the Wylie Insurance Agency in Wylie, said softball size hail came crashing through her roof.

It was bad. We had hail knocking holes through our ceiling, said Reising. Our house was full of hail and water.

Reising said a nearby school in Wylie received the same fate causing school officials to close the Wylie school system today.

A March 16 hailstorm caused an estimated $600 million insured losses to property in Fort Worth and Arlington.

Claims are still coming in from the March 23 hailstorm that may hit $700 million in losses.

In each storm, more than 40,000 vehicles were damaged. Last nights hail storm was so destructive that many vehicles were totaled and homes and apartment complexes were heavily damaged.

Insurance companies already had catastrophe teams in place to handle the thousands of claims coming in from the two previous storms, said Mark Hanna, a spokesperson for the Insurance Council of Texas. There is no doubt that additional insurance adjusters will be called in to handle the aftermath of this devastating storm.

According to the National Weather Service Texas led all other states with 783 hail events last year and recorded a record 240 tornadoes.

Source: The Insurance Council of Texas

Related:

Topics Texas
Prominent U.S. lawyer Alan Dershowitz and two victims rights attorneys on Friday withdrew claims from a Florida court that they defamed each other during a legal fight about a woman who said she was trafficked for sex as an underage girl.

The parties believe it is time to take advantage of the new information that has come to light on both sides during the litigation and put these matters behind them, the three lawyers said in a joint statement on Friday.

The defamation lawsuits stemmed from claims that the woman, Virginia Giuffre, made in another court in December 2014 that she was forced as a girl to have sex with Dershowitz, the UKs Prince Andrew, and other men. Dershowitz and Prince Andrew denied the allegations, and the allegations were later stricken from court records.

Giuffre was not a party to the defamation lawsuits or the settlement. A spokesman for the law firm of Boies, Schiller & Flexner, separate lawyers for her, said in a statement on Friday that she stands by her accusations.

Two of Giuffres attorneys, Brad Edwards and Paul Cassell, had sued Dershowitz for defamation in a Broward County, Florida, state court after Dershowitz accused them of acting unethically. Dershowitz counter-sued.

As part of a settlement on Friday, Dershowitz withdrew his accusation that they acted unethically, and Edwards and Cassell said it was a mistake to have filed the accusations against Dershowitz. They added in a separate court filing on Friday that their mistake was tactical and that Giuffre stood by the accusations.

Dershowitz completely denies any such misconduct, while not disputing Robertss statements that the underlying alleged misconduct may have occurred with someone else, the three lawyers said in the statement.

Dershowitz has produced travel and other records for the relevant times which he relies on to establish that he could not have been present when the alleged misconduct occurred. He has also produced other evidence that he relies upon to refute the credibility of the allegations against him, they said.

Dershowitz, a Harvard Law School professor emeritus, may be best known for helping to successfully defend OJ Simpson against murder charges.

Former Federal Bureau of Investigation director Louis Freeh, whom Dershowitz hired to investigate Giuffres accusations, said he found no evidence to support them and had found evidence directly contradicting them.

In my opinion, the totality of the evidence found during the investigation refutes the allegations made against Professor Dershowitz, Freeh said in a statement.

(Reporting by David Ingram in New York)

Topics Florida Claims
The Independent Insurance Agents of North Carolina (IIANC) announced that E. Stuart Powell Jr., MA, CPCU, CIC, CLU, ChFC, ARM, AMIM, AAI, ARe, CRIS will retire on July 31, 2016 from his current position as vice president of Technical Affairs after serving 20 years as a staff member and 22 years as an agent member.

In August, Powell will join Appalachian State Universitys Walker School of Business where he will teach courses in insurance and risk management and work with students through Appalachians Brantley Risk & Insurance Center.

During his 20+ year tenure at IIANC, Powell has also held the positions of director of Education, director of Special Projects, vice president of Insurance Operations and Technical Affairs, and interim chief executive officer.

I am grateful for the opportunity to have served the members of IIANC for so many years. It has been a great relationship, and I will cherish the experience and the many friends that my work with IIANC has afforded me, Powell said.

Aubie Knight, IIANC CEO, said Powell has been a tremendous asset to IIANC and its members. While we will greatly miss his knowledge and insight, App State is gaining an excellent resource, Knight said.

Christopher J. Boggs, CPCU, ARM, ALCM, LPCS, AAI, APA, CWCA, CRIS, AINS, who is Wells Medias vice president of education and director of Insurance Journals Academy of Insurance, formerly worked at IIANC and with Powell. Boggs is a fan.

Stuart might be one of the smartest insurance people I know.  I consider him my mentor in the business, Boggs told Insurance Journal in a March, 2015 interview. With Powell as a role model, Boggs says he has dedicated himself to a lifetime of learning and educating.

He actually has more designations than I do, said Boggs.

Source: IIANC

Topics Agencies Education Training Development North Carolina Universities
A group of former Wal-Mart workers in Utah who said the company violated their right to self-defense by firing them for disarming suspected shoplifters has settled their lawsuit against the mega-chain.

The workers argued that Wal-Marts policy barring workers from fighting back when customers get belligerent forces employees to choose between their safety and their jobs. Wal-Mart has argued they have the right set their own store rules, and they tell employees to stand down so confrontations dont get out of control.

The Monday settlement comes after the Utah Supreme Court ruled workers cant be fired for defending themselves if they could be hurt or killed.

A Wal-Mart spokesman confirmed that the case has been settled, but declined to discuss the terms. A lawyer the workers, Lorraine Brown, declined to comment Thursday.

The initial lawsuit was filed over three incidents. In one Layton case, workers saw a man trying to steal a laptop and escorted him into an office in 2011, according to court documents. He was cooperative at first, but once in the office the plaintiffs say he pushed an employee against the wall and put a gun to his back. Three workers took the gun and pinned the man to the wall, but were fired shortly after. Wal-Mart disagrees about exactly what happened, saying the shoplifter tried to leave at one point and kept the weapon in his pocket.

In another case, workers confronted a woman who was trying to stealing about $40 worth of items in West Valley City on Christmas Eve in 2010. As they struggled with her, she pulled out a small pocket knife and threatened to stab them if they didnt let her go. They lost their jobs after prying the knife out of her hand.

The third incident happened in Cedar Hills, when an assistant manager was fired after intervening in a physical fight between another worker and her husband.

The lawsuit was originally filed in federal court in Salt Lake City, but U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby asked the Utah Supreme Court to decide the question of whether state law prohibited Wal-Mart from firing the workers.

The justices ruled in their favor in September, sending the case back to federal court. The two sides filed a joint motion to dismiss Monday after coming to the settlement agreement.

Wal-Mart spokesman Randy Hargrove said Wednesday that the stores has policies in place to protect employees and customers, and they dont condone behavior that puts either group at risk.

Wal-Mart lawyers have argued that theyre a private business and have a right to set their own store rules. The policy telling workers to walk away from confrontations is designed to keep both employees and customers safe because such altercations can get out of control, Wal-Mart attorney Kathleen Toth argued before the Utah Supreme Court in 2014.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits
Il 12,7% degli studenti non arriva al diploma, perche abbandona precocemente gli studi. Il 9,7% del totale, quasi un diplomato su 10 nel 2022, senza le competenze minime necessarie per entrare nel mondo del lavoro o dellUniversita. Inoltre, il 23,1% dei 15-29enni in Italia si trova in un limbo, fuori da ogni percorso di lavoro, istruzione o formazione: il numero dei Neet e il piu alto dellUe, oltre il doppio di Francia e Germania.

Lo rileva Save the Children che, nel nuovo rapporto Alla ricerca del tempo perduto, la definisce dispersione implicita ed e connessa allimpoverimento educativo e alla poverta materiale.

Il rapporto Save the Children

In vista della riapertura delle scuole, lassociazione segnala alcuni deficit strutturali a livello nazionale e locale, in termini di spazi, servizi e tempi educativi, mettendo in luce un paradosso: laddove la poverta minorile e piu alta, e sarebbe dunque importante unofferta formativa di qualita, la scuola e piu povera, privata di tempo pieno, mense e palestre.

Il rapporto segnala una forte disparita geografica nelle dispersione implicita, che risulta piu alta in Campania, al 19,8%. Save the Children cita i dati Invalsi del 2022: se si guarda alle competenze nelle singole materie, in Campania, Calabria e Sicilia piu del 60% degli studenti non raggiungono il livello base delle competenze in italiano, mentre quelle in matematica sono disattese dal 70% degli studenti in Campania, Calabria, Sicilia e Sardegna.

Labbandono scolastico nella maggior parte delle regioni del sud va ben oltre la media nazionale (del 12,7%), con punte in Sicilia (21,1%) e Puglia (17,6%) e valori decisamente piu alti rispetto a Centro e Nord anche in Campania (16,4%) e Calabria (14%).

E un dato di fatto, evidenzia poi Save the Children, che vi sia un correlazione tra livello di apprendimento e alcuni indicatori strutturali, apprezzabile guardando i dati in positivo: nelle province dove lindice di dispersione implicita e piu basso, le scuole primarie hanno assicurato ai bambini maggior offerta di tempo pieno (frequentato dal 31,5% degli studenti contro il 24,9% nelle province ad alta dispersione), maggior numero di mense (il 25,9% delle scuole contro il 18,8%), di palestre (42,4% contro 29%) e sono inoltre dotate di certificato di agibilita (47,9% contro 25,3%). Servirebbero  stima lorganizzazione  1 miliardo e 445 milioni per garantire il tempo pieno in tutte le classi della scuola primaria statale.

Unofferta adeguata di spazi e di tempi educativi  sottolinea  puo contribuire efficacemente a ridurre le disuguaglianze educative territoriali: Proprio dove i bambini, le bambine e gli adolescenti affrontano, con le loro famiglie, le maggiori difficolta economiche ce al contrario maggior bisogno di unofferta educativa piu ricca.

Per questo  osserva Raffaela Milano, direttrice dei Programmi Italia-Europa di Save the Children  chiediamo al nuovo governo che si formera un investimento straordinario che parta dalla attivazione di aree ad alta densita educativa nei territori piu deprivati: investire il 5% del Pil, al pari della media europea, vorrebbe dire rendere disponibili circa 93 miliardi, contro i circa 71 stanziati nel 2020.
Ford vs. General Motors: An Overview

Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) and Chevrolet, which is owned by General Motors Company (NYSE: GM), are the two largest automobile brands in the United States. Both Ford and GM are leaders and fierce competitors in the global automobile industry. Fords largest brand is its namesake, Ford, while GMs largest brand is Chevrolet.

At first glance, the two large car makers may appear to have similar business models. However, potential investors who dive deeper will find key differences as well as many similarities between the two companies. The following is a comparison of Ford and GMs business models, which describes critical factors for potential investors.

Key Takeaways Ford and General Motors are the two biggest automakers in the United States and are also big players on the world stage. General Motors leads in US market share.

Both companies were hit by the credit crisis of 2008. GM took a government bailout, while Ford declined; both companies have recovered in the years since.

Ford's brand strategy has been to scale back; Ford and Lincoln are the automaker's only significant brands globally.

Ford and GM have both produced electric vehicles, but GM has more fully embraced the technology.

GM Leads U.S. Market Share

GM remains the largest market shareholder in the United States, controlling 17% of the industrys total sales as of 2020.

In terms of the worldwide market, neither Ford nor GM lead the way. In 2019, Toyota held the largest global market share at 10.24%, followed by Volkswagen Group at 7.59%. Ford was third with 5.59%.

The global market is highly competitive and diversified. As emerging economies with large populations such as India, China, and Brazil continue to develop, establishing a significant presence in these areas is critical for the future growth of both Ford and GM.

GM vs. Ford: Recent Performances

GM is a smaller company than Ford. GMs total revenue for 2020 was $122 billion, a 10.75% decrease from the previous year. Fords total revenue was $127 billion, an 18.45% decrease from the previous year.

Both companies have achieved significant revenue growth since the economic crisis of 2008 and 2009, but neither has returned to its previous total sales volume. Each company has experienced serious financial difficulties in the past 10 years.

Fords product line fell behind its competition in the early 2000s, and it began losing market share. It reported substantial net operating losses in 2006, 2007, and 2008. During this period, under the leadership of CEO Alan Mulally, Ford began initiatives to consolidate operations and create more appealing car models. These plans to become more efficient and innovative were already in process when the economic recession hit in 2008.

Although the decreased demand for cars during the recession hurt Ford, the company refused a government bailout offer, avoided bankruptcy, and generally emerged from the recession a stronger company.

GM became insolvent in 2008 and required government bailout assistance and a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in 2009 to keep the company operational. The company has since fully repaid its bailout loan and returned positive net income to shareholders since then. GM is making strategic investments to produce more innovative, efficient, and technologically savvy vehicles, which it believes drive future growth. It is also investing significantly in emerging markets such as China.

Revenue and profit generation through vehicle financing and leasing arrangements are critical to both Ford and GM's business models. Ford runs Ford Credit and GM owns the General Motors Financial Company.

Ford vs. General Motors: Brand Strategy

One of the main differences between these two competitors is the number of brands owned and marketed by each company. Fords One Ford plan, which was implemented during difficult years for the company leading up to the economic crisis of 2008, included reducing the total number of brands it owns and operates worldwide.

Fords only significant brands on the global market are Ford and Lincoln. Recent divestitures or discontinuations of brands include the following:

Aston Martin (sold in 2007)

Jaguar (sold in 2008)

Land Rover (sold in 2008)

Volvo (sold in 2010)

Mazda (controlling interest sold in 2010 (minority interest remains)

Mercury (discontinued in 2011)

Fords belief is that by reducing the number of brands and consolidating the number of vehicle platforms upon which various models are built, it can become more efficient and more innovative. In 2007, Ford had 27 different vehicle platforms across the world; in 2015, it had 12, and as of 2021, it only owns two: Ford and Lincoln.

General Motors owns and operates a plethora of automobile brands across the globe. These brands include Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, and Hummer. GM, similar to Ford, has divested or discontinued several brands, including the following:

Oldsmobile (discontinued in 2004)

Pontiac (discontinued in 2010)

Daewo (discontinued in 2011)

Saturn (discontinued in 2010)

Saab (sold in 2010)

Hummer was discontinued by GM in 2010 but has since returned.

Although GMs actions in previous years pointed towards a belief is that its different brands are essential to serving different market segments, its continuing divestment in the global markets shows GM is following Ford's strategy.

Many of its discontinued brands were shut down due to poor performance rather than strategic planning. In mid-2017, after 16 consecutive yearly losses in Europe, GM sold its European division to French automaker PSA Groupe.

Fuel Efficiency and New Technologies

Both Ford and GM recognize the importance of improving fuel efficiency and leveraging technology to keep their product lines popular among customers. Many countries, including the United States, have strict laws requiring improvements in fuel efficiency and the amount of environmental pollution created by vehicles. Both companies have significantly reduced the fuel consumption of their overall fleets.

Both Ford and GM have also embraced the movement towards all-electric vehicles. As of June 2021, Ford offers two fully electric vehicles: the 2021 Mustang Mach-E and the 2022 F-150 Lightning. It also manufactures six hybrid vehicles. Hybrid versions are available of all three of the company's most popular models: the Fusion, Escape, and Explorer.

GM was one of the first auto manufacturers to jump on the hybrid electric vehicle trend when it produced the Chevrolet Volt, which was since been discontinued.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the miles per gallon for all motor vehicles have slowly risen from 2000 to 2020. In 2000, the average stood at 16.9 mpg; in 2020, it stands at 18.1 mpg.

Though the Volt was discontinued, GM has not slowed down in its commitment to producing electric vehicles. In fact, GM has been praised for spearheading the movement. The company announced it will be offering 30 new EVs by 2035, helped by a new technology it produced named the Ultium Platform. According to GM's website, the new technology has been "engineered for range, power, and flexibility to charge fast, run long, and fit every type of vehicle."

The Bottom Line

As the two largest automakers in the United States, Ford and GM are incredibly powerful companies with an immense responsibility to shape the future of global auto manufacturing. Just as the industry had to adapt to new safety regulations such as the seat belt, the success of either company moving forward will lie in how it can appease consumers who worry about climate change.
Founded in 1947, Swedish clothing retailer Hennes & Mauritz AB (STO: HM-B), commonly known as H&M, has grown into one of the most recognizable brands in the fashion industry. H&M has more than 5,000 stores worldwide and employs 120,000 people.

Not surprisingly, the COVID-19 shutdown had an impact in 2020. The company reported strong growth in online sales but overall sales still came in 5% down in September 2020 over the same period one year earlier.

The company said it would permanently shut down 350 stores starting in 2021, but that doesn't mean it's giving up on brick-and-mortar. Its executives seem to have concluded that the real world and the online world work best in tandem. "More and more customers started shopping online during the pandemic, and they are making it clear that they value a convenient and inspiring experience in which stores and online interact and strengthen each other," said CEO Helena Helmersson. "We are increasing digital investments, accelerating store consolidation, and making the channels further integrated."

H&M is a leader in the "fast fashion" space, competing with Zara and Forever 21.

Fast fashion relies on high volume sales of trendy and inexpensive clothing.

H&M claims its mix of brick-and-mortar and online sales is a business strength.

The Secret to H&M's Success: Fast Fashion

The secret to the success of H&M and its rivals like Zara and Forever 21 can be attributed to the fast fashion business model.

Fast fashion relies on moving a large volume of merchandise from the designer table to the showroom floor in the shortest amount of time possible and at a reasonable price. Aimed at young, fashion-conscious urban consumers, their products are trendy and they're cheap, bordering on disposable.

That naturally has gained them some criticism from advocates of sustainable and ethical consumerism.

Fast fashion retailers make their profits by having a high merchandise turnover and by constantly resupplying the product pipeline with the latest trends.

H&Ms model also relies on a solid marketing team that can quickly determine what the target demographic desires and get it into the supply chain fast.

H&M's Brand of Fast Fashion

While fast fashion is not limited to H&M, the Swedish brand has a distinct business model. Unlike Zara, H&M does not manufacture its products in-house but outsources its production to more than 900 independent suppliers around the world, mainly in Europe and Asia, which are overseen by 30 strategically located oversight offices.

To incentivize fair working conditions, H&M introduced a pilot program for its Bangladesh and Cambodian factories which involved the company purchasing 100% of the factories outputs over a five-year span. H&M hoped that by being the sole customer, it is better able to ensure safe working conditions while increasing productivity more naturally, as opposed to attempting enforcement through routine compliance inspections.

Secondly, only 80% or so of all store merchandise is stocked year-round, while the remaining 20% of H&M products are designed and stocked on the fly in small batches, depending on the prevailing trend. To ensure timely delivery and fast lead times, H&M relies on its state-of-the-art IT network, which allows integration between the central national office and satellite production offices.

H&M Stock

By mid-2021, H&M appeared to be recovering from the pandemic, but not without some difficulty. In June 2021, the company reported sales jumped 25% from the year before but were down 4% from its 2019 numbers.

China seemed to be a problem area. Sales in that nation fell 23% after the retailer was booted off its popular Tmall website and some domestic phone app stores in response to H&M's expressions of concern about alleged human rights abuses. China accounts for 5% of the retailer's total sales and is one of its top suppliers.

American investors can follow Hennes Mauritz via its American Depository Receipt, Hennes Mauritz ADR (HNNMY), which is listed on the NASDAQ.

Shares closed on Aug. 13, 2021, at $4.13. Its 52-week range was between $3.04 and $5.22.

The Bottom Line

Since its founding in 1947, H&M has grown to become the world's second-largest fashion retailer, after Inditex, owner of the Zara stores.

The continued success of both retailers depends on their application of fast fashion, which relies on spotting fashion trends as they appear and getting inexpensive copies of them into their stores as quickly as possible.
The U.S. ranked as the 16th best country to retire in for 2020, right in the middle of the pack when it comes to retiree conditions around the world. The following year, the U.S. dropped on the list, ranking as the 17th best country to retire in for 2021.

In 2020 and 2021, the world was confronted by the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent economic policies of governments that would affect retirement and the global retirement index. Even before the coronavirus hit, the retirement landscape didn't look promising: low-interest rates had been limiting income options for retirees for twelve straight years. Record levels of public debt were forcing public policymakers to make tough funding decisions. Plus, the growing impacts of climate change were causing disasters, risks to health, and decreases in environmental quality that would impact retirees.

At least, so concludes the latest edition of the Natixis Global Retirement Index (GRI), an analysis of 44 developed and developing countries based on a range of factors that affect retirement security. The United States moved up two spots from No. 18 in 2019 to No. 16 on the 2020 index, but fell to 17 in 2021.



Source: 2021 Natixis Global Retirement Index.

Understanding the Global Retirement Index

Produced by Natixis Investment Managers, the nine-year-old index takes a broad look at the factors that impact retiree well-being in each country. The researchers analyzed 18 indicators of retirement security, which are broken down into four major groups: the material well-being of older residents, retiree finances, quality of life, and health.

The index and accompanying 78-page report analyzed data from International Monetary Fund's advanced economies, countries belonging to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the BRIC countries of Brazil, Russia, India, and China.

Analysis of the U.S.' Ranking in the GRI

The U.S.' modest ranking is due to its measures on "quality of life" and material well-being," which are still not strong, relative to other nations. Notably, the United States has the sixth-highest income-per-capita rate in the world, but places in the bottom 10 for income inequality.

Health

The report noted that the United States' score was really dragged down by the Health sub-index; previously ranking in the top 10 for health, the U.S. dropped down to No. 17 in 2021 due to its average life expectancy of 78.54 years. Still, the U.S. spends more per person on healthcare than any other developed country in the world and ranked third for insured health expenditure.

In the United States, older individuals have also made up a large proportion of hospitalizations related to coronavirus.

Material Wellbeing

Despite having the sixth-highest per-capita income in the world, the authors point out, its still in the bottom 10 for income inequality. U.S. Census data shows that on average, American women only make $0.82 for every $1 made by men. That's not to mention that women of color are at a further disadvantage: Black women make only 62% of what White men do. Still, within the Material Wellbeing category, the U.S. improved its ranking based on the unemployment indicator (going to 11th from 15th).

Finances In Retirement

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. passed the CARES Act, which allowed individuals to take penalty-free hardship withdrawals from their contribution plans. It scores poorly on government indebtedness. More than 3,000 individuals took out more than the maximum of $100,000 from their account. In the Finances in Retirement sub-index, the U.S. ranked 11th due to an improvement in the interest rates but offset by declines in the tax pressure and old-age dependency (the ratio of retirees to working adults) indicator rankings.

Quality of Life

The U.S. has risen in the happiness of its retirees and held steady on environmental factors. However, it has a lot of room to improve, holding the ninth-lowest rank (21st place) in this indicator.

Switzerland, Nordic Countries Lead the Way

Iceland, Switzerland, and Norway all remained in the list of top three with the same rankings as last year. Generally, the strong presence of Nordic countries is notable, with Denmark coming in 9th place, Sweden in 13th, and Finland in 15th place. Sweden's drop from No. 4 in 2019 was largely due to its decreasing average for real interest rates which directly impact retirees living on a fixed income.

Overall, these Nordic countries perform generally well in all sub-indices except within the finances category. Meanwhile, Norway also shows off second-pace scores for health and material wellbeing.

The report has previously cited several factors that make Northern Europe a model for retirees, including a strong social security system and healthy economic conditions throughout the region. The Nordic countries typically finish near the top for most indicators and therefore provide a best practice template for retirement wellbeing, the authors write.

Threats to Retirement Security Globally

The report suggests that a host of challenges threaten retiree security even in top-ranking countries, however. An aging population around the world, for example, is increasing the burden on younger workers to support the retirement system. And interest rates, still at historically low levels, make it hard for older individuals to maintain their standard of living as they leave the workforce. Five specific issues that the firm believes pose the greatest threats to retirement security include:

The long-term impact of the COVID-19 recession on savings: Because of the pandemic, individuals could reduce their future retirement savings to make up for current needs, and employers may be incentivized to stem or suspend matching contributions to retirement plans.

Because of the pandemic, individuals could reduce their future retirement savings to make up for current needs, and employers may be incentivized to stem or suspend matching contributions to retirement plans. Falling interest rates on retiree's fixed incomes: Interest rates have been at historic lows for over a decade, but were further lowered in 2020 as part of stimulus efforts.

Interest rates have been at historic lows for over a decade, but were further lowered in 2020 as part of stimulus efforts. Fiscal stimulus raising public debt: Even prior to COVID-19 and the $12 trillion of fiscal stimulus attached to the pandemic, ballooning government debtthe by-product of efforts to pull countries out of the financial crisisthreatened to constrain public pensions and social programs for the aged.

Even prior to COVID-19 and the $12 trillion of fiscal stimulus attached to the pandemic, ballooning government debtthe by-product of efforts to pull countries out of the financial crisisthreatened to constrain public pensions and social programs for the aged. Climate-related disasters threatening health and expenditures: From wildfires in California to typhoons around the world, climate change is causing increased natural disasters and worsening air quality, pollution, and impacting health expenditures and insurance costs.

From wildfires in California to typhoons around the world, climate change is causing increased natural disasters and worsening air quality, pollution, and impacting health expenditures and insurance costs. Issues of inequality worsening economic outcomes: Income inequality directly impacts worker pay and access to retirement plans, resulting in imbalances in retirement income.

The COVID-19 pandemic, economic crises, and other issues that have come to light this year have intensified longer-term threats. It will be important for individuals, employers, institutional investors, asset managers, and policymakers to plan for how they will take on the challenge of retirement security in the years and decades to come, said Edward Farrington, Head of Retirement Strategies at Natixis Investment Managers, in a statement.

The Bottom Line

The U.S. is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, with high income per capita. But if the U.S. hopes to significantly improve its position on the Global Retirement Index, it has to tackle its issues with income inequality and retiree wellbeing.
As president of the United States, Donald Trump was likely the wealthiest individual to inhabit the White House and his net worth remains a topic for debate.

In 2015, Donald Trump claimed in a press release that he was worth more than $10 billion, however, his net worth as of 2022 is estimated at $3 billion.

Key Takeaways Donald Trump is the founder of The Trump Organization, a private entity.

He is required to submit a financial disclosure document each year, although numbers are self-reported and dont provide an accurate estimate of his net worth.

Forbes estimates Donald Trump's net worth at $3 billion although Trump has claimed the value at $10 billion.

The Trump Organization

Since 1976, Donald Trump grew his wealth through global commercial, resort, and residential real estate development under the umbrella of The Trump Organization. As a private entity, The Trump Organization is not required to publish financial statements in the same manner as a publicly-traded company.

Donald Trump famously refused to publish his tax returns, which would show his annual income and taxes paid or owed. Although The New York Times published abbreviated information from Trump's tax returns on Sept. 27, 2020, the disclosure failed to provide details about his actual net worth.

As a former president, Trump completes a required annual financial disclosure to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics. Government financial disclosures may list assets and investments but in estimates and broad value ranges. In 2021, many of Trump's properties were valued at "over $50 million," however, these estimates are self-reported, unaudited, and also differ from numbers The Trump Organization has reported to state and local tax officials.

71 The number of properties in the portfolio owned and operated by The Trump Organization. This total includes commercial and residential real estate, golf courses, hotels, and personal estates.

Assets

In May 2022, Forbes estimated Trumps net worth at $3 billion, falling short of the $10 billion estimates that Trump suggested while running for office in 2015.

Forbes' numbers marry with the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which placed the former presidents net worth at $2.97 billion in August 2020.Forbes has attempted to break down Trump's net worth by assets.

Net Worth The value of all assets minus liabilities.

Much of Trumps wealth is tied to multi-use buildings in Manhattan, including retail real estate in the busy Midtown district. His highest value asset is a 30% stake in the office and retail space at 1290 Avenue of the Americas, valued at $2.2 billion, with a debt value of $950 million on the property.



The Trump Organization owns several exclusive golf properties estimated at $730 million, including clubs in Scotland and Dubai. Trump's private golf club in Palm Beach, Fla, Mar-a-Lago, is valued at $350 million.

Trump holds approximately $275 million in cash and liquid assets. Other personal assets include three Florida homes and his 11,000-square-foot residence in New York City, the Trump Tower penthouse. Residential units throughout the United States and around the globe have an estimated value of $340 million. This includes hotels and residential locations in Chicago, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Europe, Asia, and South America.



Donald Trump announced in October 2021 that he was creating his own social media platform. Truth Social, held through Trump Media, garnered Donald Trump $430 million from investors. The Donald Trump brand, including his licensing and management business, is valued at just over $50 million.

Trump holds roughly $275 million in cash and liquid assets. Other personal assets include three Florida homes and his 11,000-square-foot residence in New York Citythe Trump Tower penthouse.



Trumps vast real estate empire includes approximately residential units throughout the United States. This includes hotels and retail locations in Chicago, Las Vegas, and San Francisco.

What Are Donald Trump's Estimated Liablities? Trump has a lengthy financial record which includes corporate bankruptcies and lawsuits. In 2021, Trump Organization owed $590 million in debts due within four years by 2025.



What Prominent Real Estate Locations in New York City Has Donald Trump Owned? Donald Trump has owned and sold many buildings in New York including the Plaza Hotel, the St. Moritz Hotel, now the Ritz Carlton on Central Park South, and the land under the Empire State Building.

What Is Considered One of Trump's Bad Investment Decisions? In 2014, Donald Trump partnered with an Azerbaijani family that U.S. officials called notoriously unethical. The building, a five-star hotel, and residence called the Trump International Hotel & Tower Baku in Azerbaijan has never opened.

The Bottom Line

Donald Trump's net worth has ranged in estimates from $3 billion to $10 billion. With his private firm, The Trump Organization, and its limited public disclosures, it has been difficult to capture the true net worth of his global commercial, resort, and residential real estate as well as his licensing and social media ventures.
It was a Friday night in August 2011. Finance professionals were kept awake after Standard & Poor's (S&P) announced it was downgrading its rating on U.S. debt from AAA to AA+. The news sent shock waves across the world, and those vibrations were felt even more the following Monday, which left the market down over 6% by the end of the day. Yet, that market decline was benign compared to the individual beatings some stocks endured.

China was the next one on the chopping block. On Wednesday, May 24, 2017, rating agency Moody's downgraded the country's credit rating as growth slowed and debt increased. So, why do people care about this and what do these ratings mean?

Key Takeaways S&P's AAA rating is the highest assigned rating to any debt issuer and is the same as the Aaa rating issued by Moody's.

AAA ratings are issued to investment-grade debt that has a high level of creditworthiness with the strongest capacity to repay investors.

The AA+ rating is issued by S&P and is similar to the Aa1 rating issued by Moody's.

It comes with very low credit risk and indicates the issuer has a strong capacity to repay.

S&P Ratings

Standard & Poor's rates the debt of countries and companies based on letter grades. The firm creates its ratings based on information such as annual reports, news articles, and company management. Analysts from S&P determine the company's or country's financial situation and other determining factors.

The letter grades the company assigns range from A to D with pluses and minuses to indicate how likely a borrower will repay its debt. Higher ratings come with triple letters, and grades that come with a plus are better than those with a minus.

What Does AAA Mean?

S&P's AAA rating is the highest that can be assigned to any issuer of debt. It is the same as the Aaa-rating issued by Moody's. This rating is assigned to investment-grade debt that has a high level of creditworthiness. Debt issuers with the highest ratings have the strongest capacity to repay investors. Their strong financial positions give them the lowest chance of default.

The United States had a AAA rating up until 2011 when it was downgraded to AA+. As of May 2022, only a handful of countries had the strongest AAA rating, including Australia, Canada, Luxembourg, and Norway.

What Does AA+ Mean?

The AA+ rating is issued by S&P and is similar to the Aa1 rating issued by Moody's. This rating is of high quality and falls below the AAA ranking. It comes with very low credit risk, even though long-term risks may affect these investments.

The AA+ rating is considered one of the rankings for investment-grade debt. Because they are financially strong, investments that are rated with an AA+ rating have a strong likelihood of repaying their debts, making the chance of default very low.

In addition to Moody's and S&P, the other big rating agency is Fitch. These three rating agencies are the "big three" that investors analyze.

As of May 2022, the S&P rating for the United States still sat at AA+ with a stable outlook. The fact that the U.S.the world's largest economywent from AAA to AA+ for the first time in history was a really big deal. In terms of stature, the downgrade was painful. Moody's, on the other hand, continued to rate the country with an Aaa rating, citing a stable outlook as well.

Does the U.S. Still Have a AAA Credit Rating? Yes, according to DBRS, Fitch, and Moodys. DBRS has the U.S. rated at AAA with a stable outlook, Fitch rates the U.S. at AAA with a negative outlook, and Moodys rating for the U.S. is Aaa with a stable outlook.

What Is the Credit Rating of the U.S.? The U.S. credit rating is AAA according to two major credit reporting agenciesFitch and Moodys. S&P has the U.S. rated as AA+.

When Did the U.S. Lose Its AAA Credit Rating? The U.S. was downgraded from AAA to AA+ in August 2011 by S&P. The rating agency cited the declining predictability of policymaking.



The Bottom Line

Whether your investment holds an AAA or AA+ rating, the difference doesn't really seem to matter. The market was upset and emotional, and the result was a panic-driven day like the end of 2008.

What always matters in this game is valuation and patience. Sticking to the simple philosophy of buying an asset below its long-term intrinsic value will ultimately lead to satisfactory results. It's a philosophy that is indeed simple to understand, yet difficult to execute for most investors.
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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.

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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.

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A new two-mile long runway will be built at Dublin Airport, which has experienced 15% growth in passenger numbers since 2014. Long-haul travel from Terminal 2 is up by 65%.

The Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), which operates Dublin and Cork airports, has confirmed that the project, which will cost $363.7 million and create 1,200 construction jobs, will be completed by 2020.

Tourism Ireland welcomed the news and emphasized the importance of connectivity for Irish tourism industry. Some 89% of all overseas visitors arrive in Ireland by air and Dublin Airport welcomes 82% of these visitors.

Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: As an island, the importance of excellent connectivity and convenient, direct, non-stop flights cannot be overstated  they are absolutely critical to achieving growth in inbound tourism.

.@DublinAirport will invest around 320 million in the delivery of the new runway. #DUBRunway pic.twitter.com/4WaaseO1mT  Dublin Airport (@DublinAirport) April 7, 2016

Chief Executive of the DAA, Kevin Toland, told the Irish Independent, Passenger numbers continue to grow strongly in 2016 with double digit growth recorded in the first two months of this year.

He continued, Dublin Airports North Runway will significantly improve Irelands connectivity, supporting trade, foreign direct investment and tourism.

In the past two years just under 50 new routes and services have been introduced at Dublin Airport. There have also been significant capacity increases on a number of existing routes. Furthermore, nine additional airlines are now operating out of the airport.

Since Terminal 2 (T2) opened in 2010 long-haul connectivity has grown by 65% with short-haul up by 16%.

According to the DAA, the North Runway development has the potential to open up connectivity to a range of long-haul destinations, particularly in fast growing economies in Asia, Africa and South America.

The DAAs development relies on existing planning permission. Planning permission for the new runway was originally granted in 2007, but the project was put on hold due to the economic downturn.

Chairman Michael Cawley says @DublinAirport is a key gateway for Irish tourism as new runway is announced pic.twitter.com/tSFlRKGKIc  Failte Ireland (@Failte_Ireland) April 7, 2016

The permission has 31 conditions attached. Toland said two of those conditions in particular are onerous and would severely reduce the future operational capacity of the airport at key periods.

He said, This has implications on our ability to support future traffic growth at the airport and we are looking at how this can be addressed.

The conditions limit the number of early and night time / evening flights than can use the second parallel runway.

While these conditions may have strong implications, applying for new planning permission would have taken time and delayed the project at a time when there is strong growth.

Toland said, We are very conscious of balancing the national and business needs with those of our local communities and we will continue to work closely with our neighbors in relation to this project.

Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Paschal Donohoe, said This project is of major strategic importance to Ireland as an island economy, in terms of improved connectivity.

It has the potential to create thousands of jobs, both directly and indirectly, over the coming years.

Preliminary work is set to begin later this year and construction is set to start in 2017.

The new runway could support a further 31,000 jobs over the next two decades, contributing 2.2bn to GDP.

Heres an advert for T2 that went viral at the time of launch:
On April 24, New Yorks Irish community will come together to remember the events of 1916 and honor the people whose courage and idealism inspired the Irish Nation.

Last month, for Easter proper, the 1916 centenary was celebrated in Dublin and throughout Ireland. Now, almost 100 years to the very day that the Rising began, the Irish American community will mark the Risings anniversary and the tremendous influence Irish America held before, during and after the Rising.

The Centennial of Irelands Easter Rising of 1916 has particular resonance in the United States of America. Five of the seven signatories of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic spent periods of time in the US, which greatly influenced their thinking and actions.

The United States of America is the only foreign country specifically referenced in the Proclamation of the Irish Republic, which also acknowledges the contribution of Irelands exiled children in America. And, in the words of Professor Joe Lee of Glucksman Ireland House, New York University, No New York, no America, no Rising.

An inspiring and inclusive day-long program of events has been organized to mark the Centennial. They will take place from 11:00am to 5:30pm in Wagner Park, Battery Park City  a location with deep historical resonance for the Irish American community, many of whose ancestors first arrived at this point, New Yorks precursor to Ellis Island, following Irelands Great Hunger.

An official commemorative ceremony by the Irish government and Irish community will take place at 11:00am. The ceremony will involve the Reading of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic and the raising of the National Flags. New York and Irish political leaders will participate, as will the Irish Defense Forces and the 69th Infantry Regiment, also known as the Fighting 69th.

A star-studded musical and cultural program entitled Welcoming Ireland! will follow immediately after the ceremony at Wagner Park, which has a capacity of 6,000. The very best of Irish music, dance, theatre, poetry and more will be on offer, including the hugely popular Irish language band Seo Linn, modern Irish dance sensation Hammerstep, Cherish the Ladies, the Brock Maguire Band, and more.

Meanwhile, the historic Pier A Harbor House, where the centenary celebrations kicked off in January, will be transformed into a hub for the very best in Irish film, such as the SundanceTV miniseries "Rebellion" and a number of Irish shorts; theater and the spoken word with productions from The Irish Arts Center, The Irish Repertory Theater, dancer Jean Butler and poet Paul Muldoon; traditional music with local session leaders, and lectures and talks on heritage and history with NYUs Glucksman Ireland House and more.

The full program, including registration for the free Pier A tickets, is available here.

The days events are billed as the centerpiece of the rich, on-going 1916 Centennial Program in the New York Metropolitan Region and mark a once-in-a-century invitation to Irish Americans of all ages and their friends to engage in a wide range of special historical, cultural and artistic activities, reflecting the vibrant and extensive Trans-Atlantic friendship now, and into the future.

For more information, visit the Welcoming Ireland! website.

Will you be celebrating the 1916 centenary in the US? Let us know your plans in the comment section, below.
Co Wexford man Hugh Walter McElroy served as Chief Purser on the Titanic and sadly perished during the tragedy.

Editor's note: On April 15, 1912, the Belfast-built RMS Titanic sank after colliding with an iceberg, killing over 1,500 passengers and crew on board. This was one of the deadliest commercial peacetime maritime disasters in modern history and among those on board were many Irish. In honor of the anniversary of the disaster, IrishCentral will take a look at the Irish on board  the lucky, unlucky and heroic.

This is an extract from the book The Irish Aboard the Titanic by Senan Molony which tells the tales of the people who were on board the night the ship went down. This book gives those people a voice. In it are stories of agony, luck, self-sacrifice, dramatic escapes, and heroes left behind.

Chief Purser Hugh Walter McElroy

From: Tullacanna, County Wexford.

Polygon House, Southampton.

Being Chief Purser on the Titanic was a huge responsibility  and it was filled by an Irishman who was larger than life and the last word in gallantry.

Hugh McElroy occupied a critical shipboard position for the White Star Line. As Purser, he was the companys main interface with the bulk of passengers. They came to his office on C deck for everything  to lodge and retrieve valuables for safe-keeping, to hand in wireless messages to pass on to the Marconi room, to report a leaky tap in a stateroom wash-hand basin, to organize a game of quoits on deck, right down to buying a ticket to the Turkish bath on F deck, and yes, renting the deckchairs ($1 per voyage).

McElroy was the perfect man for the job because he clearly was an effortless arranger even during his short stays on shore. On April 9, while still in Southampton, McElroy and his Wexford-born wife, Barbara, sent flowers in the Danish national colors of red and white to Miss Adeline Genee, a famous dancer.

Perhaps she had been an important passenger in the past, but the gesture was particularly polished given the fact that Miss Genee was due to perform a special flying matinee at the Southampton Hippodrome two days later  the afternoon after the Titanic sailed.

McElroy was still oozing charm and goodwill at Southampton when Francis Browne, the clerical novice soon to become famous for his photographs on board the Titanic, called to his office on C deck, where a letter of introduction served as a passport to the genial friendship of Mr. McElroy.

The soul of urbanity, McElroy was also a favorite of Captain E. J. Smith, and the two men were photographed together on deck, the Purser appearing with his hands joined behind his back, an image of strength at the masters right hand, and ever ready to do his bidding.

The Cork Examiner, which took the famous shot, noted in its issue of April 15, while unaware of the unfolding tragedy:

On the right of the picture is Commander E. J. Smith, R.D., R.N.R., to whose skill and watchfulness is committed the care of the great ship and her freight of close on four thousand souls. He is one of the heads of his profession, and he has a long and extensive connection with the White Star Line. The Captain may be the best, but unless the Purser knows everybody and everything, and combines the perfection of urbanity, tact, prompt appreciation of circumstances  in fact, is the best of fellows  his passenger list does not fill all the time, but on any ship on which Chief Purser McElroy has filled that position, the booking has always been complete well in advance of the sailings.

In fact, the Titanic was by no means full. But that simply allowed McElroy to indulge his special charm with the ladies. Mrs. Henry B. Cassebeer recalled visiting the Titanics Purser soon after boarding to ask for an upgrade from Second Class. It was done at once and Mrs. Cassebeer ended up with one of the finest First-Class staterooms ever created for ocean-going luxury, the bulk of which was on this vessel. She remembered running into the Purser a little later and, pushing her luck, asked that it be arranged that she should dine at the Captains table. McElroys reply, quoted in Walter Lords "The Night Lives On," was: Ill do better than that. Ill have you seated at my table.

On that fatal Sunday, just after midnight, when the Titanic engines had stopped after impact with the iceberg, bathroom steward Samuel Rule was investigating the oddity when he saw Purser McElroy on A deck in deep conversation with Second Steward George Dodd. He expected to receive orders, but none were given.

At ten past midnight, stewardess Annie Robinson saw McElroy accompany Captain Smith in the direction of the mailroom, where water was within six steps of coming up onto E deck. About a quarter past twelve, or round about that time Second Steward Joseph Wheat was going up to C deck when he met McElroy looking over the banisters. He saw me coming and told me to get the men up and get  lifebelts on the passengers and get them on deck. The Purser had been talking urgently to two or three officers, including Chief Steward Andrew Latimer. At ten minutes or a quarter to one, Wheat was again given orders by McElroy, to get all the men to their stations at the boats.

McElroys communication skills were at the fore when disaster struck and the Captain needed trusted men about him. There is evidence he played a major role in harnessing the passengers to their task of putting on lifebelts and preparing to abandon ship. Quietly, too, it seems he was passed a loaded revolver. Although not strictly one of Smiths officers, McElroy had assumed a position of veiled yet real power.

He was next seen outside his office on C deck, where a queue for valuables had begun and was being quickly processed by assistant pursers who emptied the safe. He later addressed the crowd, who were standing around in confusion, urging them to go up top. The Countess of Rothes moved close by and McElroy declared: Hurry, little lady, there is not much time. Im glad you didnt ask me for your jewels as other ladies have.

McElroy followed his clucking flock, then returned to his duties. He was later seen in the company of his fellow Irishman, Dr. W. F. N. OLoughlin, the senior ships surgeon. Soon, however, he made his way to the boat deck, where chaos reigned and where every man of authority was desperately needed. McElroy answered the call.

Saloon steward William Ward witnessed Mr. McElroy with First Officer Murdoch and J. Bruce Ismay, Managing Director of the White Star Line, at boat No. 9 on the starboard side. Either Purser McElroy or Officer Murdoch said: Pass the women and children that are here into that boat, said Ward. McElroy next ordered himself and bathroom steward James Widgery into the boat to assist the women. They went.

Before anyone left on board could draw breath, it was nearly 2 a.m. Just two boats remained on the starboard side, with a collapsible hanging in the davits perilously close to the slowly submerging superstructure. A crowd had surged down to it, milling about the restraining officers and crew.

Elsewhere McElroy was bestriding a boat half-lowered to A deck, one hand clutching a fall rope, another wielding a gun. But his voice was his major weapon. At least thats the image conjured by the dramatic account of a First-Class passenger who was present at the last gasp. Seventeen-year-old Jack Thayer saw an armed McElroy attempting to quell panic at the last. His account was written privately for friends and family in 1940, more than a quarter of a century after the disaster. Then a mature 45, but with imperfect recall, Thayer wrote:

There was some disturbance in loading the last two forward starboard boats. A large crowd of men was pressing to get into them. No women were around as far as I could see. I saw Ismay, who had been assisting in the loading of the last boat, push his way into it. It was really every man for himself 

Purser H. W. McElroy, as brave and as fine a man as ever lived, was standing up in the next to last boat, loading it. Two men, I think they were dining room stewards, dropped into the boat from the deck above. As they jumped, he fired twice in the air. I do not believe they were hit, but they were quickly thrown out.

At some time there had been a lull in all this frenetic activity on the Titanics boat deck. McElroy found himself with Dr. OLoughlin and other senior colleagues near the First-Class entrance. They shook hands, and then McElroy turned for a final handshake with others  Assistant Purser Reginald Barker was certainly there, and probably Assistant Purser Ernest Waldron King, a third Irishman in the group. Junior Surgeon John Simpson, yet another Hibernian, shook hands with the senior medic and the rest. They were saying to one another, Goodbye, old man.

Second Officer Charles Lightoller broke off his duties for a moment to also come over. He too grasped hands with everyone and wished them all the best. They were, after all, all in the same boat. And it was sinking beneath them. Within minutes, the waves came.

McELROY  April 14th, on board R.M.S. Titanic, Hugh, beloved husband of Barbara McElroy, Springwood, Wexford.

(Wicklow People, May 25, 1912)

Hugh McElroys family were originally from County Wexford and were staunchly Catholic. His parents had immigrated to Liverpool, where Hugh was born, like so many other Irish who went in search of work during the late nineteenth century when Merseyside was an engine of empire and the colonial trade. McElroy opted for a life at sea and served three years on the troopship Britannic during the Boer War at the beginning of the new century. He had thirteen years with the White Star Line, serving on the Majestic and Olympic before transferring to the Titanic. In 1910 he married his long-time sweetheart, Barbara Mary Ennis, whom he had known growing up in Liverpool. She was the daughter of John J. Ennis, the passenger manager of the Allan Line of steamships in that city. The couple made their home in Tullacanna, Harperstown, County Wexford when J. J. Ennis retired to his extensive family farm there. Barbara and Hugh were less than two years married when the Titanic sank, and had no children.

The Cork Examiner reported on April 18, 1912:

Mr. McElroy, the Chief Purser, was a Wexford man, and as fine a type as could be found. He was the Commodore Purser and only recently married the daughter of Captain Ennis of Wexford.

Mr. John J. Ennis JP  came to reside with his two daughters at his home place in

Springwood (Ballymitty, County Wexford). Last year, one of his daughters, Miss Barbara Ennis, was married to Mr. Hugh McElroy, who belongs to a very good Liverpool family, and is the brother to Fr McElroy, who lives close to Bootle. He had been a purser in the White Star Line for a quarter of a century.

The remains of the Chief Purser were destined to be recovered from the ocean by the MacKay-Bennett search vessel. He was wearing a white dress uniform  leading to the initial mistaken conclusion that it could be the body of a steward. From a fragment, they came up with the name of D. Lily, but in fact, there was no one of this name on board. The body was that of Hugh McElroy.

No. 157. Male. Estimated age, 32. Dark Hair.

Clothing  Ships uniform; white jacket; ship keys; 10 pence; 50 cents; fountain pen.

Steward. Name  D. Lily.

The body was buried at sea. A scrap of paper in the name of his wife was also taken from the remains and later provided corroboration of his identity.

Percy Mitchell, the White Star Lines manager in Montreal, later signed a declaration to obtain the above effects from the coroners office of Halifax, Nova Scotia. He certified the name of the deceased as H. McElroy, Purser, SS Titanic, his residence as Southampton, England, his religion as Roman Catholic, and his nationality as Irish. The official name of the claimant, issued in the space provided, was White Star Line. It was perhaps appropriate. His white-clad corpse was the most senior member of the crew to be recovered, and he had been one of their brightest lights for a long time, ever the embodiment of the White Star Line.

Dr. J. C. H. Beaumont, for many years senior surgeon on the Olympic, claimed in his book "Ships and People," published in 1927, that it was known that Purser McElroy had premonitions about the new liner prior to embarkation. He did not expand on the remark.

1911 census  Springwood, Tullacanna, County Wexford.

John Ennis (75), a widower, retired steamship manager  Hugh Walter McElroy (36), purser. Wife Barbara Mary (34). Married less than one year.

Six servants, including domestics, farmhands, a stableman and professional nurse.

First-class house with ten rooms and 15 outlying farm buildings.

The Irish Aboard the Titanic by Senan Molony is available online.

* Originally published in 2012. Last updated in April 2022.

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The heartbreaking life story of the "Titanic Waifs" and the Irish woman who cared for them.

Editor's Note: On April 15, 1912, the Belfast-built RMS Titanic sank after colliding with an iceberg, killing over 1,500 passengers and crew on board. This was one of the deadliest commercial peacetime maritime disasters in modern history and among those on board were many Irish. In the run-up to the anniversary of the disaster, IrishCentral will take a look at the Irish on board  the lucky, unlucky and heroic.

The following is an extract from the book The Irish Aboard the Titanic by Senan Molony which tells the tales of the people who were on board the night the ship went down. This book gives those people a voice. In it are stories of agony, luck, self-sacrifice, dramatic escapes, and heroes left behind.

Mary Kelly

Ticket number 14312.

Paid 7 15s.

Boarded at Queenstown. Third Class.

From: Castlepollard, County Westmeath.

Destination: 113 West 15th Street, New York City.

Orphans saved from the Titanic by Mary Kelly (22) created one of the abiding sensations of the tragedy. They were the Titanic Waifs, two curly-haired French boys named Lolo and Momon, who found themselves alone and adrift in an open lifeboat with only a young Irish girl to comfort them with her crooning foreign tongue. The children were parentless only because their 32-year-old father, Michel Navratil, had stolen them from their mother Marcelle in a tug-of-love snatch from the south of France. Toddler Michel was aged three and his brother Edmond Roger only two. They were smuggled to Southampton where their father signed aboard under the name of Louis Hoffman.

Read more No one mistake caused the tragic sinking of the Titanic

When disaster struck, Hoffman handed his two boys lovingly into the arms stretched out to receive them from collapsible D, the last boat lowered. It was near two oclock now, and close to the end. Mary Kelly helped take them into the boat and then soothed them in their uncomprehending distress.

Mary Kelly was uniquely qualified to do so. A young girl who loved children, she was planning to have many of her own and was on her way to New York to marry the man of her dreams  boyfriend John Heslin from her home place who had traveled over to America some months earlier to prepare a place for them both.

Mary was a domestic and she hoped to get work in the big houses in New York, possibly as a nanny caring for the children of the gentry. With the French boys pressed tearfully to her skirts and bosom, she may have thought it was a little early to begin her calling, but that she needed the practice. When the children were landed safely aboard the Carpathia, a determined effort was made to discover who they were. But the shocked tots were incapable of telling. Eventually, passengers who had known the father on board  he was now floating dead in the Atlantic with a loaded revolver in his pocket  identified them by their false name, Hoffman.

Read more Faces of the Titanic: Irishman Jeremiah Burke sent a message in a bottle before his death

Mary Kelly cared for her charges until they landed in New York when the press had a field day. Eventually, the tots were claimed as a near-trophy by First-Class passenger Margaret Hays, while feverish attempts were made to reunite them with their family. Eventually, Marcelle Navratil came forward and the boys were on their way home.

Miss Kelly meanwhile had moved quietly on and into the arms of John Heslin, with a housewarming gift of $100 from the Red Cross. Not that it compensated for the loss of Marys wedding trousseau  the slew of beautiful presents from family and friends  which now lay at the bottom of the Atlantic. Mary and John went on to marry within a year and to have six children. Mary told them that she escaped from steerage because a crew member showed her away to the upper decks through an airshaft or ventilation chamber. She died in her home at Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, two days after Christmas 1950. She was 60 years of age.

1911 census

Kelly, Packenhamhall Street, Castlepollard.

Mary (48), mother, widow.

Children at home  John (16), Edward (14), Bridget (11), and Margaret (9).

*The Irish Aboard the Titanic by Senan Molony is available online.

*Originally published in 2012, last updated in April 2022.
How Irish woman Katie Gilnagh survived the tragic sinking of the RMS Titanic.

On April 14, 1912, the White Star Line ship the RMS Titanic, struck an iceberg off Newfoundland. In the early hours of April 15, the Belfast-built Titanic sank, killing over 1,500 passengers and crew on board. This was one of the deadliest commercial peacetime maritime disasters in modern history and among those on board were many Irish.

Read more In 1912 my Irish grandmother was booked to sail aboard The Titanic

The below is an extract from the book The Irish Aboard the Titanic by Senan Molony which tells the tales of the people who were on board the night the ship went down. This book gives those people a voice. In it are stories of agony, luck, self-sacrifice, dramatic escapes, and heroes left behind.

Titanic survivor stories: Katherine Gilnagh of Co. Longford, Titanic survivor

Ticket number 35851.

Paid 7 14s 8d.

Boarded at Queenstown. Third Class.

From: Rhyne, Esker, County Longford.

Destination: 230 East 55th Street, New York City.

Katie Gilnagh survived because of a white lie. When she finally gained the upper deck, she was told that lifeboat No. 16 was too full and she could not go. As the boat began to descend, Katie cried: But I want to go with my sister! The crewman hesitated and suddenly relented. She could get in.

God help me, I told a lie, she told the New York Daily News on the fiftieth anniversary of the sinking in 1962. At first, they didnt want to let anyone else into it because it was overcrowded. I said that I wanted to go with my sister. I had no sister aboard. They let me get in, but I had to stand because we were so crowded.

Katie did have a sister in New York  who was inconsolably arranging for a Requiem Mass when Katie walked through the door.

Besides the lie, Miss Gilnagh had also lived because of her beauty and the effect it had on winning sympathy and securing help. On two separate occasions, men acted to ensure that Katie made progress to the upper decks.

During the crossing she had occupied compartment Q161 on E deck, all the way aft on the starboard side, five decks down from the boats. Her cabin partners are believed to have been sisters Margaret and Kate Murphy, and Katie Mullen, all fellow County Longford travelers. All four were saved on boat No. 16, launched from the port side.

Read more 19-year-old Cork man sent message in a bottle from the Titanic

Relatives tell that a week before sailing, a gypsy woman called to the Gilnagh house and was being turned away by her father, Hughie when Katie demanded that her fortune be read. She was told she would soon be crossing water and there would be danger, but that she would come to no harm. The palm reading cost her sixpence.

Author Walter Lord, in "A Night to Remember," described how years later Gilnagh told of attending a party in steerage on the Sunday night of the disaster. At one point a rat scurried across the room. The boys gave chase and the girls squealed with excitement. Then the party was on again. Lord describes what happened for Katie after the berg impact:

Katherine Gilnagh, a pert colleen not quite sixteen [sic], heard a knock on the door. It was the young man who had caught her eye earlier that day playing the bagpipes on deck. He told her to get up  something was wrong with the ship 

At another barrier, a seaman held back Kathy Gilnagh, Kate Mullins and Kate Murphy. (On the Titanic all Irish girls seemed to be named Katherine.)

The report goes on to recount the story of how James Farrell got them through the gate and then continues:

Even then, Kathy Gilnaghs troubles werent over. She took a wrong turn  lost her friends  found herself alone on the Second-Class promenade, with no idea how to reach the boats. The deck was deserted, except for a single man leaning against the rail, staring moodily into the night. He let her stand on his shoulders, and she managed to climb to the next deck up. When she finally reached the boat deck, No. 16 was just starting down. A man warned her off  there was no more room. But I want to go with my sister! Kathy cried  All right, get in, he sighed, and she slipped into the boat as it dropped to the sea  another Third-Class passenger safely away.

Gilnagh described James Farrell as her guardian angel. He appears to have reached the upper decks, according to an Irish Independent report from May 15, 1912 about a letter written home by Katie concerning the sad fate of fellow passengers from her district:

(She) states that James Farrell of Clonee was very kind to her and another girl. As they were leaving the ill-fated vessel he gave her his cap to cover her head, and shouted goodbye forever.

Read more County Mayo Titanic survivor Delia McDermott

An Irish Post article from May 25, 1912 records:

A County Longford survivor

Among the passengers who were saved from the ill-fated Titanic was a young lady named Miss Katie Gilnagh, of Killoe, County Longford, whose photo we reproduce. She has written to her parents in Longford giving a graphic narrative of her experience.

In her letter, she states that she and another girl named McCoy were the last two girls taken on the last boat, and a young man who had previously got into the boat was taken out of it. She further states that she was wearing a small shawl on her head which got blown off, when a person named Mr. James Farrell of Clonee, gave her his cap.

As they were being lowered, he shouted: Goodbye for ever and that was the last she saw of him.

Katie may have been identified aboard Carpathia by fellow survivor Lawrence Beesley in his 1912 book "The Loss of the SS Titanic":

Among the Irish group was one girl of really remarkable beauty, black hair and deep violet eyes with long lashes, perfectly shaped features, and quite young, not more than eighteen or twenty; I think she lost no relatives on the Titanic.

Joyously welcomed by sister Molly in New York, Katie was photographed to reassure the family back home. She sat on a chair, smiling sweetly, as Molly stood protectively alongside.

Katie was born in Rhyne, County Longford, on October 13, 1894, appearing in the 1901 census as the second eldest child of parents Hugh (35) and Johanna (33) Gilnagh. Katie was aged just six and had an elder sister Mary (7), the selfsame Molly who was waiting anxiously in New York eleven years later. Four other children listed were Ellen (5), Thomas (3), Bridget (2) and one-year-old Elizabeth.

Katie was initially assisted by the Jewish Emigrant Society in New York and was aided to the tune of $100 by the American Red Cross, which described her as an Irish domestic servant, 17 years old. She later married John J. Manning from Roscommon. Heartbreak came to Katie with the death of her brother William in 1917, while her adoring sister Molly died in 1933. Katie also lost her husband before they could grow old together. He died in April 1955, not yet 60.

She went back to Ireland only once, in 1962, on the fiftieth anniversary of the sinking, and crossed the Atlantic for only the second time in her life  this time on an airliner. Her nephew Johnny Thompson recalls that a soothing voice which came over the intercom had the opposite effect on Katie: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, this is Captain Smith   Horribly alarmed and distressed, Katie had to be brought to the cockpit to verify that it wasnt the same Captain Smith who was in charge on her first Atlantic journey.

Earlier that year, as a 67-year-old grandmother, Katie had attended a 50th-anniversary memorial service at the Merchant Marine Institute in South Street, Manhattan. She told the Daily News of her memories of the sinking:

When we had gotten away from the ship I could see its lights but it was so dark I didnt know what was happening. The man in the boat kept saying I can see it sinking. Then I did see it sink. It went down bow first. The water crept up to the portholes, extinguishing the lights. When it went under it made a loud frightening noise. About eight hours later we were rescued by the liner Carpathia. My relatives thought I was dead, and when I got to my sisters house they were preparing for my funeral.

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She told her family that there had been epithets about the pope on steel girders about the Titanic, written by the Orangemen among the Belfast builders, but made no claims about seeing them herself.

Unlike other Irish survivors, Kate was not haunted by memories of Titanic and talked freely to those interested. She believed that she was spared for a reason and was intent on enjoying the years given to her after 1912. However, she never set foot on a ship again. Even when seeing off friends and family she would only ever go as far as the gangway. She died on March 1, 1971, aged 76. Her death certificate gave a date of birth at odds with Irish records (October 29, 1895), making her 75 years old.

1911 census  Rhyne, Killoe, County Longford.

Hugh (46), farmer. Wife Johanna (44).

Married 18 years, ten children, nine surviving.

Mary (18), Kate (17), Ellen (15), Thomas (14), Bridget (12),

Elizabeth (11), Margaret (9), Johanna (7), Hugh (5).

The Irish Aboard the Titanic by Senan Molony is available online.

* Originally published in 2012, updated in April 2021.
On April 12, 1847, during the height of the Great Hunger, New England sent the USS Jamestown laden with supplies to the starving Irish.

The ship was sent by The New England Relief Committee, made up of Catholics and Protestants, eager to send aid to the ailing populations.

Read more Must-see Dublin exhibition captures the history of the Irish Famine

This was the topic of discussion at Irelands Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University 2014 talk named It is Not an Everyday Matter to See a Nation Starving: Captain Robert Bennet Forbes and the 1847 Voyage of the USS Jamestown to Cork, Ireland.

Catherine B. Shannon, professor emerita of history at Westfield State University discussed the voyage of the USS Jamestown which left Boston on March 28, 1847, loaded with more than 800 tons of provisions and supplies for the starving people of Ireland in the darkest months of Black 1847, the year the Irish famine peaked.

The New England Relief Committee, which was comprised of Boston Catholics and Protestants cooperating in an effort to collect money and bring food to Ireland, organized the voyage. The committee collected approximately $150,000 in food and cash, which accounted for half of the $300,000 that was sent from Boston to Ireland in 1847.

Shannon described Captain Forbes efforts to ensure that the supplies reached the Irish people in the most efficient and fastest way possible, and his reactions to what he witnessed in Ireland upon arrival there in mid-April.

This episode was a unique instance when the historic suspicions and hostility that divided the Bostons Irish and the Yankee communities were cast aside and replaced by cooperation for a great humanitarian purpose."

Learn more about the USS Jamestown's famine relief mission here:

* Originally published in 2012. Updated in April 2022.

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Ibrahim Halawa's family say he has gone missing after being moved from his prison in Egypt.

The Dublin man has been imprisoned in Cairo since taking part in an anti-Morsi protest in August 2013.
Fifth generation mobile networks, or 5G, has dominated discussion at major technology events such as Mobile World Congress, as carriers rush to provide the technology it is envisioned will underpin much of the internet-of-things revolution.

With parts of the country still struggling to get reliable 3G coverage, however, it seems it will be quite some time before 5G is available.
The popular and charismatic BBC presenter is in a league of his own, with a 13.5% jump in presenting and production fees, and royalties, from the previous year.

Mr Nortons show is the first port of call in Britain for Hollywood A listers promoting movies.

Mr Norton was also owed 585,780 by production firm, So Television Ltd, at the end of last July.

The payout to Mr Norton confirms that the 53-year old clocks up 2,000 in fees and royalties for every minute he is presenting the top-rated The Graham Norton Show.

The show is the main earner for So Television Ltd.

Its pre-tax profits fell slightly, to 1.97m, in the year to the end of last July.

Revenues at the firm increased slightly, to 11.57m.

The Graham Norton Show is shown throughout the world.

TV3 has the Irish rights.

The growing popularity of the show outside Britain is reflected in rest of world revenue, which rose to 3.35m.

His pay increase also reflects the number of shows per season, which have risen from 31 to 35.

Two compilation shows are also screened.

Mr Norton and Graham Stuart, the producer, sold So Television to ITV in 2012, for an upfront payment of 10m and a 7m performance fee.

Born in Dublin and raised in Bandon, Co Cork, Norton first shot to prominence in 1996, for playing Father Noel Furlong in Father Ted, before he hosted a chat show on Channel 4.

He was awarded an honorary doctorate by UCC in June, 2013.

The firm employed 26 people last year, with staff costs totalling 909,245.

Remuneration to the firms eight directors, including Mr Norton and Mr Stuart, was unchanged, at 250,000.

An unnamed, highest-paid director got 250,000 in fees.

The Graham Norton Show continued to perform very well, both in the UK and internationally, leading to increased distribution sales, the directors say.

The strength of development, investment in development, including So TV Live, for future growth, remains strong, the report says.

Accumulated profits totalled 9.27m.
Eversheds is seeking judgment for 1.1 m against Dunnes Stores over allegedly outstanding fees.

It is claimed Dunnes Stores retained the solicitors to act in connection with several contentious and non-contentious matters over the years.

Eversheds says Dunnes Stores failure pay the full amount of fees allegedly due has resulted in the lawyers exercising a solicitors lien over materials including planning documentation held on behalf of Dunnes Stores.

Eoin McCullough senior counsel for Eversheds, told Mr Justice Brian McGovern yesterday that, following discussion late last year, an agreement had been entered into for Dunnes Stores to pay Eversheds, by early February 2016, some 465,000 in respect of the fees at issue.

If payment was not made, Eversheds would be entitled to a payment of more than 900,000, plus Vat of 210,000 and disbursements of 20,000, he said.

Dunnes Stores had not paid the monies and Eversheds was now seeking judgment against Dunnes Stores of 1.1m, he said.

Mr Justice McGovern admitted the case to the Commercial Court after rejecting arguments by Martin Hayden, senior counsel, of delay on the part of Eversheds in seeking to have the case admitted.

Mr Justice McGovern found that there was no culpable delay.

The proceedings were adjourned to allow Dunnes Stores prepare a defence.
Brent for June settlement advanced 2.2% to $42.85 (37.55) a barrel in London.

The contract earlier rose to $43.06, the highest since December 7. Prices rose 8.5% last week.

Venezuela said the first priority of the April 17 talks should be to cap output, while Azerbaijan said it backs a freeze.

Prices had dropped earlier in the session after Iraq, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) second-biggest producer, boosted output 2% and exports by 18% last month, the state-run Oil Marketing Company said.

Theres a lot of excitement about the Sunday meeting, said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital.

Speculation that an agreement will be reached is generating some buying. There should be considerable short covering before the meeting, he said.

Oil has rebounded after falling to the lowest level in over 12 years amid signs that a global glut will ease as US output declines.

Saudi Arabia, the biggest producer in the Opec, said it will agree to a freeze only if its joined by other suppliers including Iran.

US crude production slid for the 10th time in 11 weeks through April 1, while stockpiles fell from the highest level in over eight decades, the Energy Information Administration said.

The agency will report on last weeks inventories and output tomorrow.

Investors are anxious to see if the EIA reports we had another crude draw, said Bob Yawger, director of the futures division at Mizuho Securities USA in New York.
A proposed regulation from the Treasury Department targets loans that foreign companies make to their US subsidiaries  a technique that loads the American units with tax-deductible interest payments while shifting their profits offshore.

The rule is aimed at so-called earnings stripping -- which US Treasury officials call a key strategy employed by US companies that have completed inversions, the transfer of their tax addresses to lower-tax countries.

But it would also apply to any bona fide foreign firm that has a US subsidiary, ranging from manufacturers and distributors to private-equity firms and hedge funds, according to tax lawyers and academics.

The provision is absolutely breathtaking, very elaborate and very far-reaching, said H. David Rosenbloom, an international tax lawyer at Caplin & Drysdale in Washington, and a former senior Treasury Department tax official.

This regulation uses inversions as an excuse to do something way beyond inversions, he said.

The proposed rule could have a profound impact on a range of modern treasury management techniques, Big Four accounting firm PwC wrote in a research note last week.

Treasury officials say the proposal is designed to catch intra-company loans that dont result in net new investments in the US

The lending provision was overshadowed in the days following Treasurys April 4 announcement by the cancellation of a $160 billion (140.3bn) merger between Pfizer and Allergan.

That deal, which would have created a new company with a tax address here, ended over another new rule that would limit companies ability to participate in inversion transactions if theyve already done them within the past 36 months. Allergan has been involved in repeated mergers in that time frame.

Together, the April 4 measures are the toughest in a series of administration proposals aimed at inversions, which have captured attention in the 2016 presidential race and prompted Democratic and Republican candidates to vow to end the practice.

Since the first inversion in 1982, 53 companies have completed them -- 22 of them since 2012.

The Treasurys latest proposal will cut a much broader swath than previous rules.

The new rule goes much further, said Bret Wells, an associate law professor at the University of Houston Law Center who studies inversions.
A Brexit would create a great deal of uncertainty as to future trading terms and regulations between the two countries, he said.

Department of Agriculture figures for 2013 show that Britain remains Irelands largest export market for food and drink.
The planning appeals board is also spending more on legal fees than when construction was at its peak despite its caseload being down 70% on 2007.

Some of the judicial reviews are a hangover from busier times but the board has noted a significant increase in the rate of legal challenges in 2013 and 2014.

It says new responsibilities and the growing complexity of planning laws is by its nature providing increased scope for questioning the legality of An Bord Pleanala decisions usually combined with challenges to the legality or constitutionality of the underlying legislation itself.

The board received a record 6,664 cases in 2007 and 5,800 in 2008, the year in which judicial reviews rose to a record high of 45. The caseload fell sharply in the recession and was 1,864 in 2014 and only slightly higher at 1,979 last year, yet the number of judicial reviews, which fell to 13 in 2010, shot back up to 42 in 2014.

That means proportionately the rate of judicial reviews was more than four times greater in 2014 than it was in 2007.

Legal costs were highest in 2008, at just over 2.6m, and after falling to slightly over 1m in 2012, they shot back up to 2.4m in 2014. When recovered costs are factored in, net expenditure on legal matters was actually higher in 2014 than in 2008  2.2m compared to 1.7m.

The need for the board to address its mounting legal battles is just one of 101 recommendations made in a review which calls for wide-ranging changes in law and the way the board operates.

In its own submission to the review, the board points out that new planning legislation, applications for major infrastructure development in the energy area, and the inclusion of European Union directives on habitats, species, and environmental impacts in domestic planning law has added further complexity to already complex planning legislation.

A number of judges have recently commented on the complexity of the overall legislation framework governing planning decisions and the difficult job faced by An Bord Pleanala in interpreting and applying the legislation, the board said.

The review, ordered by Environment Minister Alan Kelly and carried out by a four-member independent group chaired by British planning law expert Gregory Jones, said the board was working with an unnecessarily complex and fragmented planning code.

It said: The Government should give prompt consideration to establishing a review to address the complexity of planning law.

It also said the board needed to boost its legal expertise. In particular, it is a severe weakness of the decision-making function of An Bord Pleanala that it possesses no professionally qualified lawyer to assist with the drafting of the reasons given by the board and to advise board members generally.

An Bord Pleanala has previously sought and been refused funding for the appointment of in-house legal counsel. The Review Group considers such an appointment to be vital.

The board is preparing its formal response to the minister. The Department of the Environment said: The department shortly intends to engage with An Bord Pleanala on the practical implementation of the reports recommendations.
The Office of Public Works, which is overseeing the 60m flood defence scheme  the largest of its kind in the country  confirmed last night that it is working to decouple flood defence works in and around Morrisons Island from the overall project, and hand responsibility for its delivery over to Cork City Council.

OPW and Cork City Council have agreed in principle to bring forward the design and construction of the defences on Morrisons Island which will largely deal with the tidal flooding problem which regularly affects the city, a spokesperson for the OPW said.

The flood defence works at Morrisons Island will be carried out as part of the public realm project being taken forward by the city council for this area.

Design work has already started on this and the council hope to bring these proposals forward to planning this summer with a contractor to be procured towards the end of the year which should enable works to be commenced in the first quarter of 2017.

Further consultation on the preferred options for the overall Lower Lee scheme is due to take place in May, with construction work scheduled to start in late 2017.

Park Rd in Mallow, Co Cork, which remained flooded yesterday after Sunday nights heavy rain.

The OPW confirmed that work will start downriver of the Inniscarra dam and will progress in phases westwards towards the city centre.

By completing these works first, it will allow the use of interim optimised dam operating procedures and thereby significantly reduce overall flood risk, said the spokesperson.

There are likely to be four to five different phases in order to reduce disruption to the city and each phase may overlap with the preceding phase.

It could be 2022 before the scheme is completed.

The news emerged yesterday as city centre traders breathed a sigh of relief after the city escaped major damage from two flooding events on Sunday.

Low pressure, a high spring tide, and easterly winds combined to drive a tidal surge up the harbour towards the city centre on Sunday morning, and again in the evening.

Water poured on to streets in low-lying areas such as Union Quay, Morrisons Quay, South Terrace, Georges Quay, South Mall, Probys Quay, Frenchs Quay, Crosses Green, Sharman Crawford St, Wandesford Quay, and Lavitts Quay.

The flooding around South Terrace was exacerbated by heavy rainfall and surface water run-off.

City centre traders criticised the slow progress on the delivery of flood defences seven years on from the devastating 2009 flood.

Lawrence Owens, the chief executive of Cork Business Association, said they will ramp up pressure on the OPW and elected public representatives to deliver a scheme soon.

We have to continue to lobby, and raise the ante to ensure the works are delivered, he said, adding that in the urgency to deliver flood defences, the quick and easy option of throwing up concrete walls must be avoided.

It must be done sensitively, he said. Flood defences in the city must be done in an aesthetically pleasing way, like what was done in Waterford. The river must still be part of the fabric of our city.

Mr Owens said the issue of reinsurance will then have to be addressed, with insurers being compelled to provide insurance to uninsured businesses who will benefit from the flood defences.

The yacht Callisto lying against the wall at Whitepoint in Cobh, Co Cork. Picture Dan Linehan

Meanwhile, the Coast Guard is monitoring the trawler which ran aground on rocks at the mouth to Kinsale harbour over the weekend.

Portuguese fishermen were saved by the crew of Kinsale RNLI during a dramatic rescue in stormy conditions on Sunday.

It is believed that fishing nets fouled the prop of the 20m beamer trawler, the MFV Sean Anthony, just before 6pm, before it was blown towards the rocks at Moneypoint.

The RNLI released video footage of the rescue, which showed the fishermen jumping from their stricken vessel and swimming to the lifeboat.

Conditions in Kinsale yesterday stood in stark contrast to the conditions in the area on Sunday.

The ship, which was still stuck fast on the rocks, had taken a severe pounding overnight, and had developed a hole in its hull.

The ships owners are understood to be liaising with their insurers and a salvage company in a bid to arrange for the removal of the wreck.

The Coast Guard will have to clear any proposed salvage plan and said the pollution risk is low.

Whats the plan?

- Elaine OSullivan

Cork city council and the Government must deliver on flood defences for Cork City.

This weekend we saw a near-catastrophic miss for the city centre as the River Lee overflowed onto streets.

But the silence from our pathetic city council on Twitter was deafening.

It is high time some of its 151m budget and 6,500 staff get a living pulse into its communications and services.

I run a legal practice on South Terrace which suffered minor flooding on Sunday and the service by the local authority was laughable to say the least.

Water was flowing over the bridge at the College of Commerce and on to South Terrace for half an hour before the road was closed.

We contacted Anglesea Street Garda Station to highlight our concern and 15 minutes later a council crew casually arrived and closed the road just before the expected high tide. Where is the co-ordinated emergency action planning here?

Whats worse is that there was no-one there to police it.

Traffic continued to travel along the street after closure signs had been erected. Half an hour later, Bus Eireann drivers continued to ignore the road closure.

Cork City suffered a catastrophic flood in 2009 and three more floods that I recall in recent years, and work has not begun yet on a flood defence scheme.

Funding has been allocated to trophy projects like the events centre and a new GAA stadium that may fill once a year. This is farcical.

Our city is the daily fulcrum of our regional economy and it cannot continue to operate with the ongoing threat of floods.

Cork needs a flood defence scheme urgently and Cork needs to unite publicly like towns such as Fermoy, Bandon, and Skibbereen to make political figures accountable to deliver.

The flood defence project needs to be fast-tracked or we will have another catastrophic flooding disaster on our doorstep.

Elaine OSullivan is a principal at OSullivan Whelan Solicitors, on South Terrace, Cork.
That is after the Diocese of Killaloe put up for sale a strategic site in Ennis that contains the grounds of the former Ennis National School. In the sale, the Killaloe Diocesan Trust has placed an advised minimum value of 1.2m on the site.

According to a brochure for the site the 4.2 acres, which is zoned town centre, provides a significant opportunity to enhance the retail opportunities in Ennis.

The anticipated windfall from the sale will help the dioceses finances. Between 2003 and 2012, it paid out 2.67m to victims of historical clerical sex abuse while the diocese took a major hit from the financial crisis, with former bishop of Killaloe Dr Willie Walsh estimating in 2009 that the paper loss due to the collapse in the dioceses share portfolio could be around 6m-7m.

However, one developer who paid a deposit for the purchase of the old Ennis National School site on August 13, 2015, said yesterday that he feels extremely let down by the Diocesan Trust over the proposed sale.

Larry Brennans Woodhaven Developments Ltd paid the deposit for the site last year and is in the process of securing planning permission to demolish the old school building with the consent of the diocese. However, the diocese did not sign the contracts and has instead now offered the site for sale by public tender.

Mr Brennan said yesterday he has no further interest in purchasing the site in spite of the deposit being paid and the plans lodged.

He said: In light of what has occurred in this deal, unfortunately, Woodhaven Developments Ltd no longer feels that it can do business with the Diocesan Trust and have indicated that they no longer have any interest in acquiring the property.

Mr Brennan claimed that the Trust entered into parallel negotiations with a third party concerning the sale of the site after contracts had issued, had been signed by Woodhaven Developments Ltd, and a deposit paid.

Parties seeking to tender for the site have until May 6 to do so.
He said the complex election result thrown up by the people has made forming a Government very difficult.

He added politicians of all parties must be mindful of their responsibility to the public.

Speaking at the National Concert Hall to mark the refurbishment of the Kevin Barry Rooms, Mr Kenny said: The new political reality following the election of the 32nd Dail is difficult for all political parties, including my own.

The general election result requires a new way of doing politics to provide stable and lasting government.

The complex decision delivered by the people requires a different kind of answer, a different kind of response. A big bold response, he said.

Since the election, many efforts have been made to form a Government that has the capacity to tackle the serious national and international challenges facing the country, he said.

Negotiations are continuing as I stand here, and it is my most earnest hope that we can achieve a Government in the national interest, Kenny said in his concluding remarks.

Despite Mr Kennys hopes that a minority Government be formed, there was increasing suggestions from within the party that Fine Gael could be heading into Opposition and allowing Fianna Fail take the reins of power.

Earlier in the day, Mr Kenny also met with his team of ministers to outline the structure of the negotiations.

Amid an atmosphere in which information is very tightly controlled, the Irish Examiner understands the talks between the two parties started at 7pm.

The media shut-out was agreed by the parties as a means of building trust.

Walking through Leinster House last night, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin refused to make any comment to the press as to the nature of the talks.
However, a senior Fianna Fail TD last night said his own party needs at least 12 of the 15 Independents available to form a credible minority government, a figure that is far from likely to occur.

The apparent race for opposition was indicated last night as Irelands two biggest parties finally sat down for talks, 44 days after the election.
The figures, from a Garda management report, show that injury rates, including from assaults, are 10 times higher than that of the average worker.

The 611 occupational injuries in 2014 translate to a rate of 39.7 per 1,000 gardai, compared with a national injury rate of 3.4 per 1,000 employees. The injuries includes 283 assaults, 103 road traffic collisions, 43 contacts with sharp, pointed or rough objects, 22 needle-stick injuries or stabbings and six cases of psychological trauma.

The job is getting more dangerous and the risk of injury is increasing and that is evidenced in the figures published, said Antoinette Cunningham, president elect of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors.

Theres a lot of talk about pay and resources, but you dont hear about the injuries on duty. The work of gardai is very dangerous.

Speaking on the first day of the association annual conference in Westport, Co Mayo yesterday, she said the results of the Garda Occupational Injury Report were not surprising to gardai.

Its long been known among members that the risk of injury on duty is far greater than most people realise. Remember, behind every uniformed garda and sergeant is a partner, a child, a father, a mother. Theyre at home wondering is my partner or my son safe on duty, will they come home?, she said.

The report found three out of 10 injuries involved the garda concerned being out certified sick for more than one month and that one in 10 were out for more than six months.

Anyone out for longer than four weeks is out with a significant injury, Ms Cunningham said.

And she said some of the 22 gardai who suffered needle injuries or stab wounds had an agonising wait for blood results to tell them if they had contracted hepatitis or HIV. She said the danger on the frontline was reflected in the first ever call in the association for uniformed unarmed members to be provided with ballistic vests to protect them against criminals brandishing guns.

This conference has set a first in that there is a motion for ballistic vests to be made available to those on the frontline, for uniformed unarmed gardai.

Currently, such vests are only supplied to armed detectives and specialist armed units. She said she dreaded to think what could have happened if unarmed gardai had arrived at the Regency Hotel, Dublin, in February when five armed men opened fire, murdering David Byrne.

Youd dread to think what could have happened at the Regency if uniformed, unarmed gardai arrived at the scene, wearing only stab vests. Youd not want to ponder about it too deep.
Dwyer, from Bandon, Co Cork, was charged in October 2013 with the murder of Elaine OHara and was convicted by a jury at the Central Criminal Court in March 2015. He was jailed for life. His appeal against conviction has yet to be heard.

The matter was in the courts chancery list yesterday for a motion seeking the court to make a recommendation that Dwyer gets legal aid for the proceedings. On consent of the sides it was adjourned to May 30.

Mobile phone data played a central part in Dwyers trial and conviction. The issue of the legislation under which the data was obtained was raised during the murder trial and is likely to form one of the grounds of his appeal. The application has been brought because the High Court proceedings are not covered by either civil or criminal legal aid.

Many requests for disclosure of mobile phone records were made under the relevant provisions of the 2011 act by gardai investigating Ms OHaras murder and were granted by the relevant service providers. Phone data was also admitted into evidence during the trial.

In his High Court proceedings, Dwyer claims certain provisions of the Communications (Retention of Data) Act 2011 breach his rights to privacy under the Constitution, the European Convention on Human Rights and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The Directive underlying the 2011 Act was struck down by the European Court of Justice in 2015.

During Dwyers trial, his lawyers argued the mobile phone data was inadmissible as evidence but those arguments were rejected by the trial judge. In his High Court action, Dwyer is also seeking, if appropriate, damages and, if necessary, a reference of issues to the European Court of Justice.

The proceedings are against the Garda commissioner, director of public prosecutions, ministers for justice and communications, Ireland and the attorney general.

Dwyer, a father of three, was convicted in 2015 of the murder of childcare worker Elaine OHara, 33, who disappeared in August 2012. He got a mandatory life sentence. Ms OHara had suffered from mental health issues and had just been released from hospital when she disappeared, leading to the belief her death was a suicide.

However, her body was found in woodland in the Dublin Mountains in September 2013. While it was too decomposed to determine a cause of death, the discovery of her personal belongings discarded in a reservoir a short time later instantly pointed to foul play.

Dwyer, married and living in Foxrock, Dublin, up to his arrest in October 2013, was linked to Ms OHara through mobile phone messages and emails after they made contact through an adult website. He admitted to having violent sex fantasies and to acting them out on Ms OHara but always denied murdering her.
Peter ORourke, who is based at Letterkenny General Hospital, said the escalation policy has made a bad situation worse, because there are as many if not more on trolleys and on top of that, operations are being cancelled.

This was to keep hospital beds free for patients admitted through the emergency department (ED). Yet beds such as those in the orthopaedic ward were unsuitable because of risk of infection to post-operative patients.

Moreover Mr ORourke said general surgery colleagues also had lists cancelled affecting patients scheduled for, inter alia, hernia operations and gallbladder removal. Cancer is the only thing that doesnt get cancelled, Mr ORourke said.

The knock-on affect was patients remained on waiting lists.

Letterkenny General Hospital via Google Maps

Mr ORourkes comments come at a time when waiting list figures show close to half a million people awaiting treatment or assessment in the public hospital system, of whom four out of five are waiting to be seen for the first time by a consultant at an outpatient clinic, having been referred by their GP.

At Our Ladys Childrens Hospital in Crumlin, where more than 12,000 children are awaiting outpatient appointments and another 3,000 are on the inpatient/day case waiting list, paediatric orthopaedic surgeon Pat Kiely said if they could get a second operating theatre open, we could more than double our throughput.

He said a second theatre, built in a record 14 months could be operational by the end of the month if the challenges with regard to staffing can be solved with urgency and focus.

Mr Kiely said he treated a child this week with 100- degree curvature of the spine who had been on a waiting list for two years.

The curvature could have been half that and the outcome for the child much better if he had been treated on time, Mr Kiely said.

In his letter to TDs and ministers, Mr ORourke sets out specialty-by-specialty the changed approach to treating patients since he qualified in 1983 in an effort to explain the crisis in the health service.

For instance in 1983 dialysis was only offered to younger patients and usually those less then 65 years of age. Dialysis was reserved for people whose kidneys had stopped functioning completely.

However in 2016 dialysis is carried out on anyone with kidney failure regardless of age and usually before the kidneys have ceased to function completely. This means that the number of patients requiring this treatment has vastly increased, Mr ORourke said.

Technology and medical practice have outstripped resources, this balance needs to be redressed with an overall strategy rather then knee jerk reactions to individual problems, Mr ORourke said, calling for a five to 10-year plan.

Mr ORourke said almost all TDs had acknowledged his letter as had the different ministers, each of whom said they had passed it on to Mr Varadkar as it was not their area of interest.

Leo Varadkar

A spokesperson for the minister said all hospital groups have been instructed to focus on managing scheduled procedures and waiting lists and that more than 300 extra hospital beds have been opened, more than 750 nurses and almost 80 consultants have been recruited to support scheduled and emergency procedures.

The ministers escalation policy requires cancellation of non-urgent surgery when ED overcrowding reaches a certain level.

Meanwhile the Irish Patients Association called on hospitals and consultants to inform patients of their rights to access care in another member state if they have been waiting too long for that care in their home state.
Separate sections of the de-facto political king-makers confirmed the situation last night, saying they expect no one to be elected taoiseach this week unless major developments take place.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Independent Alliance TD John Halligan said the six-TD strong group will meet today at 11.30am in Dublin to discuss Thursdays vote.

He said the group really does not know where well be at but stressed a key issue is whether Fine Gael will at least consider a Fianna Fail-led minority government.

Fellow Independent Alliance TD Shane Ross told Newstalk his group will come to a speedy decision once we see the colour of their money and that the reality is it will take beyond that [Thursdays vote].

The separate group of five rural Independent TDs has also yet to make any decision, and will meet this afternoon.

However, group member Mattie McGrath said if there is progress on how a minority government would work, what parameters exist to ensure budgets are passed, and agreement on limiting no confidence votes, the rural TDs may change this view  a position backed by fellow group member Denis Naughten.

Speaking on RTE Radio, Michael Healy-Rae said he and his brother Danny believe Fine Gael should not rule out a Fianna Fail-led minority government just days after he appeared to back Mr Kennys party, saying: Its all up in the air until it comes down to the ground.

The Social Democrats will also meet today to decide how they will vote on Thursday.

Similarly, unaligned Independents Katherine Zappone and Maureen O Sullivan are also believed to be undecided.
It had been estimated homes could be using up to 190 litres per person per day, but it has emerged that 93% of households are only using about 250 litres per day.

The average household contains three people according to CSO figures, so that means we are using just over 80 litres per person.

However, leaks remain an enormous problem on the wider water network, with an average of 47% of water being produced nationally disappearing into the ground through leaks.

The future of Irish Water will be one of the key issues in the formation of the next Government, with Fianna Fail stating it plans to scrap the controversial utility.

In Co Cork, 57% of drinking water produced is disappearing in leaks. In Roscommon it stands at 68%. In Mayo, 58% is lost, and in Dun Laoghaire, it stands at 50%.

According to Irish Water, 7% of domestic customers have significant problems with leaking pipes and are using an average of 1,500 litres of water per day  nearly eight times more than the average household.

Irish Water is blaming century-old homes with extensive lead piping and quickly built Celtic Tiger houses for the lions share of such problems.

There is one old house that we came across in Ringsend in Dublin that was leaking enough water to supply a big town, said Irish Water conservation specialist Kate Gannon.

Irish Water also revealed that in the early 2000s, up to 100m was spent on installing district water meters in local authority areas.

However, not a cent was allocated in current Department of Environment spending towards maintenance, and when Irish Water examined the meters in 2014, 50% were not working.

Ms Gannon said Irish Water replaced 500km of aged and broken piping last year. It wants to spend another 135m on finding and fixing domestic leaks by 2021 and 300m replacing the leaking pipe network.

The conservation team have developed a submission for the regulator on how to overhaul water between 2017 and 2021. We want to reduce leakage to a national average of 38% by 2021. By reducing it by 1% to 2% per year, this will conserve about 30m litres of water a day, which is equal to the water needs of Wicklow, said Ms Gannon.

At the moment its focus is on domestic leaks, as due to data coming from meters, it can immediately detect high water usage and water flowing all night long, which usually indicates a leak.

We will then contact you and ask about any plumbing problems as 50% of such problems are internal. If there doesnt seem to be obvious problems, we will then offer a leak investigator and to fix the initial leak as part of our first fix programme.
Irish Water was prosecuted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to ensure sewage waste from a water treatment plant at Tinure in Co Louth did not cause pollution. Prosecution solicitor Maeve Larkin told Judge ONeill at Dublin District Court that the offence can result in a conviction with a maximum 5,000 fine.

EPA inspector Dermot Burke told the court that on June 4 last he went to the treatment plant and verified that discharge from the facility went into a fast-flowing stream which is a tributary of the White River.

He said he saw a grey- coloured discharge going into the stream. Mr Burke could see sewage fungus in the water which is normally an indicator of pollution.

The court heard that 50m downstream from the point where the sewage waste entered, the water was still grey. Photos of the pollution and the area were handed in to Judge ONeill.

Samples were taken and analysed to measure biochemical oxygen demand and ammonia levels in the water. Mr Burke explained high biochemical oxygen demand means less oxygen for plant and water life.

There should be no more than 1.5mgs of biochemical oxygen demand per litre in the water but on the day he took samples downstream of the discharge, the level was 10mgs per litre.

A high rate of ammonia can be poisonous to fish, he also said. There should be 0.065 mg per litre in the water but on the day he took samples there was 2.4mgs of ammonia per litre, 36 times the concentration of what should be in water.

Mr Burke agreed with Eoghan Cole, defending, that an electrical fault had caused two pumps, one of which was a back-up, to go offline. The EPA inspector also agreed that he gave Irish Water directions about what it should have done. Testing continued and after two weeks the water returned to its previous excellent levels, the judge was told.

Mr Cole asked the court to note that Irish Water has no prior criminal convictions and taxpayers would not be bearing the cost of the prosecution.

Judge ONeill noted there was no environmental damage or fish kill and Irish Water co-operated fully. He said it was low on the scale of such incidents and that he noted Irish Water would be paying the EPAs costs.

He ordered Irish Water to give 2,000 to the Merchant Quay Ireland which helps the homeless and drug abusers. He adjourned the case until May 5 and said he would strike out the case if the money has been paid.
The bridge will span 100m between Arthurs Quay Park and Merchants Quay near the courthouse.

An action group calling itself Footbridge Folly claims a decision has been taken by council management without consulting the elected council members.
Save a Selfie is an interactive mobile app that allows members of the public to take selfies alongside emergency equipment such as defibrillators.

The images are uploaded to the platform and their locations are tagged on a map, making critical life-saving devices easy to find for both the public and the emergency services.

The locations of devices, which include first aid kits and life rings, can also be shared on social media.

Dublin Fire Brigade member and paramedic Sean Peters said people typically walk past about 15 life-saving devices every day, but there is no data base of them or their locations.

There are 8,000 to 10,000 defibrillators in Ireland. However, about 10% of them are not working due to batteries being dead or the devices being out of date.

As part of the campaign, which received a grant of 5,000 from the Social Innovation Fund Ireland, the 4,000 members of The Order of Malta (of which Peters is a member) will complete more than 8,000 visits over a four week period to physically check automated external devices (AEDs).

The initiative is the brainchild of Code for Ireland, a group of computer programmers who volunteer to solve social issues.

Sean, who has a background in smartphone technology and emergency communications, was assigned to assist Code for Ireland.

Generally, if an incident happens on a GAA pitch or a rugby pitch, there is emergency equipment available and people are competently trained to use it, he says.

However, problems arise in the middle of towns and cities when the emergency services are called after someone has had a heart attack. We dont know where the nearest defibrillator is located.

We want to maximise the resources that are already there and improve survival rates. Dublin Airport has a very high success rate of survivable cardiac arrests because there are approximately 30 defibrillators there.

Save a Selfie will be launched at the Mansion House tomorrow .

The app is available from the app store and the Google play store and can be downloaded from www.saveaselfie.org.
Pat Kelleher, social work team leader at the South Lee social work department in Cork said the issue of babies being injured in the home was not in the public consciousness.

Mr Kelleher and Alf Nicholson, a paediatrician in Temple Street Childrens Hospital in Dublin, are among the speakers at a conference this week on non-accidental head injury in babies.

Prof Nicholson said while official figures are not collated, the current rate of incidences is about one every two or three months  down from a rate of around one case a month in the peak years of the recession in 2008 and 2009.

It has dropped significantly since then and we are not sure why, Prof Nicholson said. He said that it was speculation as to whether the stresses of the recession had played a role in the higher number of cases in those years, although the number of cases in Ireland is still lower than in the UK.

In an article written for the Irish Medical Journal, Prof Nicholson said abusive head trauma  previously called shaken baby syndrome  is a leading cause of death and disability in young children and that its existence was a settled scientific fact.

Citing a large amount of international research, he said: Manifestations can be mild, moderate or life-threatening and in mild cases the diagnosis may be easily missed. Infants may be reinjured after missed diagnosis.

International statistics indicate that 15%to 27% of infants die as a result of their injury. In addition to head injuries such as skull fractures, injuries such as rib fractures can be present. There is no seasonal pattern although more cases can occur between October and December.

The most common preceding incident is sustained crying, said Prof Nicholson. Exhausted parents and other caregivers may become frustrated and angry when infants in their care cry inconsolably.

Mr Kelleher said he had dealt with a situation in which a boy suffered catastrophic neurological damage that will require lifelong care, yet no charges were brought.

Low prosecution rates are a feature of these cases due to what are often difficulties in establishing who is responsible for inflicting the injuries and other complex medical-legal issues, he said. 

We know there are programmes developed in other countries designed to reduce the number of non-accidental head injuries. These programmes are designed to assist parents in coping better and not lose their ability to regulate their emotions to the point they inflict harm which can happen in a small number of incidences.

From practice experience, I have also seen babies/infants sustaining fractures in a non-accidental way and I am of the opinion that a preventative programme would also reduce the number of incidents of this.

The conference, organised by the Bessborough Centre, is on Thursday in Cork.
It is understood that 36 of the 45 paintings placed for auction were sold for a combined 444,000, including works by Jack B Yeats and Louis le Brocquy.

The sale was conducted by Dreweatts auction house at a fine art sale at its Donnington showroom last week. A spokesperson did not comment as to the identities of any of the vendors, but it is understood OReilly was among those selling artworks.
Academy Street - Mary Costello

This is one of those understated, polite Irish novels that have critics reaching for the word human. It is the story of Tess Lohan, following her from the meagre, rural Ireland of the early 20th century, through her life in New York City: first as a young woman predictably shocked and shamed by her sexuality, then as a lonely mother.

Mary Costello

There are plain words here, arranged in fine, careful sentences. But one waits in vain for any surprises. It may be human, and true, but there is more to being human  more madness, desperation, chaos, and adventure  than books like Academy Street allow.

Outlaws - Javier Cercas

Javier Cercas

Cercas takes us back to Spains protean post-Franco days in the 1970s. In the Catalan city of Gerona, a middle-class teenager, Ignacio, falls in with a wild gang of charnegos  economic migrants from Spains poorer south. Thirty years later, Ignacio is a defence lawyer, and one of the gang, Zarco, now a notorious crime boss, wants to be his client. Outlaws is a novel of rollicking incidents, but never simply that, given Cercas historical perspective, Zarco may represent the yearning for liberty and the frustrated hopes of the heroic years of the change from dictatorship to democracy in Spain, but so, too, does this book.

You Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever? - Dave Eggers

Dave Eggers

Dave Eggers is nothing if not an engaged novelist, and here we find him engaging with unhesitating directness with most of the political bugbears of liberal Americans today. Its Eggers premise that allows him to dissect his countrys moment so thoroughly in just 211 pages: a hostage taker interrogates carefully selected captives, who include an astronaut, a cop, a Vietnam vet politician, his former teacher, and his mother. We forgive the gimmick, because of Eggerss skill. The book contains only dialogue, yet the characters are as vivid and delineated as the scene Eggers sets.

The End of Days - Jenny Erpenbeck

Jenny Erpenbeck

The author-as-God usually wrangles about the what-ifs of a characters life before delivering the final result of innumerable little decisions. But what if those very what-ifs where the substance of a novel? Thats what Erpenbeck sets out to do here. A baby, born in the last days of Austro-Hungary, dies, and her parents pick up the pieces. But then that death is undone, and a different chapter follows in a young life. So it goes across the bloody 20th century in Europe. A virtuoso work that shows guts to go with the admirable technique.

A Brief History of Seven Killings - Marlon James

Marlon James

Theres nothing brief about Jamess near 700-page novel, and there are far more than seven killings in its bloody toll. But it is a work of towering ambition, one that gets to the heart of a troubled period of Jamaican history. Using the attempted assassination of Bob Marley in 1976 as a focal point . Its a story worth telling and he tells it with supreme skill, through the words of a vast cast of 70-plus character-narrators. A Brief History won the Man Booker Prize in 2015. It will be interesting to see if the Dublin award can resist following suit.

Diary of the Fall - Michel Laub

Michel Laub

Laub, a Brazilian author and journalist, achieves something remarkable in this novel: he finds a fresh, emotionally charged and artistically valid way to write about the Holocaust. Its a daring feat, too: any writer who wishes to mine Auschwitz as a metaphor better have earned it. Especially when the subject seems so petty by contrast: a repugnant act of bullying, by Jewish schoolboys agains the one goy in the class, that echoes down through the years, and crystalises the relationships between the narrator, his father, and his survivor grandfather.

Our Lady of the Nile - Scholastique Mukasonga

Scholastique Mukasonga

Rather than confronting the horror of the 1994 Rwandan genocide head on, Mukasonga takes us back to 1979 and an elite girls school. It is a wise decision. It skilfully exploits the readers knowledge of whats to come, to create a terrible sense of foreboding. But at the same time it is true to its moment, and gives a chilling depiction of the only barely submerged ethnic tensions that spilled over so violently. It also leaves the reader unabsolved, as we see that such massive crimes are, while aberrations, also rooted in petty human jealousies and prejudices.

The Department of Speculation - Jenny Offill

Jenny Offill

This not-quite-novel of fragmentary prose explores the situation of a wife who really wanted to be a self- obsessed art monster (her term for single-minded geniuses like Vladimir Nabokov). Paragraphs ponder the tensions of motherhood and identity, or bring in references to science, poetry, Kafka and Keats. There is much that is true here, about relationships, art and the shock of parenthood to the 21st urban narcissist. But if feels ultimately like an exercise given to creative-writing students, rather than a fully fledged narrative feat. (The author teaches on the MFA course at Columbia University.) Its light, sharp, and easily digestible .

Lila - Marilynne Robinson

Marilynne Robinson

When the default setting of literary fiction is an agnostic scepticism, Robinson stands apart by her religious conviction. Here she completes her classic Gilead trilogy, telling the story of Lila, the second wife of the Rev John Ames whose testament to his young son was the eponymous first novel of the trilogy. Now, the shadowy Lila takes centre stage, beginning on the stoop of violent workhouse, where Lila is rescued from abject abandonment. Her new life remains one of poverty and hardship, until her tender relationship with Ames.

Family Life - Akhil Sharma

Akhil Sharma

One might expect the story of a familys move from Delhi to New York in the 1970s to be invested with epic proportions befitting those two countries. Yet Family Life is a chamber piece. Through the younger of two sons, Mishra, we follow one familys wide-eyed relocation to the new world. It is warm and witty, and, when disaster strikes, heart-wrenching. Yet even though it describes a volatile family in a vibrant immigrant community, it never reaches for the melodramatic. Instead, the young sons perspective gives the narrative a sense of privacy that is unusual.
FOR the first time ever a political party in Ireland is being castigated for actually keeping its promises.

Even more remarkable, the party being castigated is Fianna Fail. The only thing that is unsurprising about it all are the sources of the criticisms. Many of those who were dancing on its political grave in 2011 are now professing a great concern for the party for failing to break its promises.

We are now reaching endgame and there has been unity and strength shown by Fianna Fail at all levels, but that could change, especially if the grassroots do not get their chance to have their say before Fianna Fail finalises its position.

It is important to note that the motion passed a few years ago stated In any prospective coalition scenario, a draft programme for Government must be put before a special Ard Fheis for adoption or rejection. Those voting members attending shall vote. A simple majority is required.

It is clear from this motion that there is no obligation on the party hierarchy to call a special Ard Fheis to endorse what they appear to be doing now, deciding to support a minority Fine Gael Government.

The question that arises though is: Are they wise to make such a decision without involving their members?

Presumably, any decision to support a minority Fine Gael government will involve Fianna Fail getting some policy commitments from them even if they have no say in the overall Programme for Government.

More importantly, the endorsement of the membership should be obtained for what amounts to a major volte face in relation to the oft-repeated commitment to remove Fine Gael from office.

While many members can understand the decision to decline the offer of a so-called partnership Government which would keep Fine Gael in power, someone needs to explain to the grassroots the logic of Fianna Fail putting themselves in a position where they are likely to be keeping them in office with only limited control on what they do.

A lot of time has been wasted over the past six weeks speculating on what or what might not be acceptable to the grassroots without anybody in authority in the party actually laying out what the options really are. There is an onus on the party hierarchy to definitively establish what is or what is not acceptable to the membership before too much more time elapses. It is not difficult to do this and it will delay nothing. There is little likelihood that the talks between the various groups will be finalised satisfactorily this Thursday.

The time when people could look into their own hearts to make decisions like this is long gone. In the new politics Fianna Fail has embraced consultation and discussion with members. This is vitally important to maintain the momentum built up over the past five years.

It would be possible, within a matter of a few days, for Fianna Fail to consult with its membership. There are 43 deputies and 40 constituencies so it would be easy to arrange a meeting of members in each constituency with an Oireachtas member present to discuss and explain the options. Those options are now straightforward:

A minority Government led by Fine Gael or Fianna Fail (with willing Independents).

A partnership where the two parties (with willing Independents).

Obviously the Fianna Fail minority Government option will be most favoured by Fianna Fail members, and now seems to be back on the table, despite Enda Kennys earlier dismissal.

Any minority Government led by Fianna Fail or Fine Gael will require a binding agreement between the parties for at least three years which deals with budgetary matters, major policy areas, and no confidence motions. That, presumably, is the aim of current talks.

The level of distrust between the parties seem to be such that Fine Gael is unlikely to sign up to a pig in the poke, nod and a wink, you will be all right lads, well look after you, from Fianna Fail for this option.

The difficulty for Fianna Fail in this type of arrangement is that they end up with a lot of the responsibility and blame for decisions taken without having the final say in them. It will give Sinn Fein and others the opportunity to constantly attack the decisions of the establishment parties.

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams

Deciding to take this option could be seen by Fianna Fail members as making a nonsense of the principled stance Fianna Fail has reiterated again and again, that they sought and got a mandate to remove Fine Gael from office.

Their rejection of the offer of a full partnership Government from Fine Gael was based on the assertion that they could not go back on their commitment to remove the Government from office. How does supporting a Fine Gael minority Government fulfill that commitment?

The national interest argument is stronger for the partnership model than a shaky minority Government.

The third option of a partnership Government with Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Independents with a change of Cabinet half way through is one which both parties should now consider.

All seem to agree that the national interest is best served by having a stable five-year Government. All parties and Independents engaged in the discussions over the past weeks have been working towards that end.

It is now time for all of them to take the final steps to give effect to that in a solution which will allow them to maintain their individuality and independence, while ensuring stable Government.

Fine Gael and Fianna Fail would lead the Government for two and a half years each over the five-year term.

The arrangements outlined above for the support of a minority Government would apply to this arrangement also.

For Fianna Fail members, it means the party is honouring its commitment to remove Fine Gael from office although not as quickly as they hoped.

Fine Gael as the largest party retains power for a period of time but, again, they respect the wishes of the electorate as expressed in the drubbing the Government parties received at the hands of the electorate.

It is a different solution but the situation we find ourselves in, post the election, is unique and unusual. It requires a fresh approach by everybody.

We have heard a lot about new politics over the past six weeks. To an extent this is similar to the guff we heard about a democratic revolution after the 2011 election, a lot of theory but absolutely nothing to show for it in practice.

The difference this time is that the electorate have called the politicians bluff by giving them a very complicated election result which in turn makes it necessary to adopt new approaches and embrace new politics.

How the politicians respond to these challenges will decide whether the politicians alienate themselves further from their voters or confirm for them that the leopard can indeed change its spots.

Noel Dempsey served as a minister in three Fianna Fail-led governments.
The sight of the Fianna Fail negotiating team in the canteen at lunch time caused a swarm of hacks to linger in the hope of a tip off.

The wait was in vain as Micheal Martin and his team remained mute.

Go away, Martin said in a good-natured fashion to one frustrated hack.

A short while later, during a break from a meeting of Fine Gael ministers, Simon Coveney was also giving little away as he sought to replenish his energy levels.

It was clear both teams were keeping matters very tight and were minding their manners in a bid to endear themselves to their rivals.

But, during the afternoon something interesting happened.

I hear we are going into opposition, said one Fine Gael handler to me in the corridor.

Oh, I said in reply, why so?

I sense that some on our side wish to put it up to Fianna Fail to step up, the handler said.

That would be significant as so far Fine Gael has sought to make the most of being the party with the most seats.

They have reminded us time and time again that their mandate is greater than Fianna Fails but yet Enda Kenny has failed twice now to be elected taoiseach in the Dail.

But whether the comment was one of a devious nature or a serious shift in party policy, there is a constituency within Fine Gael who genuinely feel they are better off leaving office.

We lost the election, between us and Labour we lost 50 odd seats, said one senior TD.

But not everyone in Fine Gael shares that view.

A strong cohort of senior ministers and Enda Kenny himself are of course desperate to remain in power, no matter what the cost.

They have in recent weeks repeatedly offered the family silver to Fianna Fail in a bid to share power, only to have been rebuffed severely on several occasions.

But they know too that even a minority Fine Gael government is fraught with difficulties and has no guarantee of lasting.

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald gave voice to that concern on Sunday and the Taoiseach added his concerns last night.

Frances Fitzgerald

Speaking at the National Concert Hall, Kenny spoke of the complex political landscape thrown up by the electorate on February 26 which has made forming a government very difficult.

He said politicians of all parties must be mindful of their responsibility to the public: The new political reality following the election of the 32nd Dail is difficult for all political parties, including my own. The general election result requires a new way of doing politics to provide stable and lasting government.

The complex decision delivered by the people requires a different kind of answer, a different kind of response. A big bold response, he said.

Negotiations are continuing as I stand here, and it is my most earnest hope that we can achieve a government in the national interest and the people, Kenny said concluding his remarks.

But the one piece of succour Kenny and Fine Gael can take from this sham process, is that Micheal Martin and Fianna Fail are not all that keen about taking office.

Never has the race for opposition been so fierce it seems.

Martin and Co had a good election, not a great election but a good election.

They are not ready to lead a government nor do they have the numbers realistically to do so.

They would much prefer another stint in opposition, maybe for 18 months or two years, and then leap frog Fine Gael to become the largest party.

As for the Independents, it would appear they would be holding fire to see what the ground rules would look like, as Roscommon TD Denis Naughten said.

He urged the parties to make progress and come to some agreement on Irish Water and USC but other Independents signalled their intention to abstain from the vote on Thursday.

We must continue to wait.
The official said Sabrina De Sousas only remaining recourse to avoid being sent to Italy would be to appeal to Portugals Constitutional Court, arguing her extradition order is unconstitutional.

De Sousas Portuguese lawyer, Manuel Magalhaes e Silva, did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
The chancellors release showed he received taxable income of 198,738 (248,059.68) in 2014/15, including 44,647 in the form of dividends and rental income of 33,562, and that he paid income tax of 72,210.

The figures showed Mr Osborne was earning enough to benefit from his cut in the top rate of income tax from 50p to 45p.

Meanwhile, Mr Corbyn declared just 1,850 of taxable income in 2014/15 over and above his parliamentary salary.

The Labour leader had to pay a 100 fine after filing the return late.

In a Commons statement, Mr Cameron, who published details of his own tax return at the weekend, said he believed there was a strong case for the prime minister, leader of the opposition, chancellor and shadow chancellor to make their tax affairs public, but did not think the same should apply to all MPs.

If this were to come in for MPs, people would also ask for a similar approach for those who ask us questions, those who run large public services, or lead local government, or indeed those who edit the news programmes or newspapers, he said.

I think this would be a very big step for our country, it certainly shouldnt take place without a long and thoughtful debate and it is not the approach that I would recommend, he said.

Labour complained that Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne had avoided full disclosure, as they published summaries of their returns which were as transparent as dishwater rather than releasing the original documents.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell repeated Labour calls for an independent inquiry, adding: This is not about individuals, its about trust and fairness at the top of government.

Mr Cameron accepted that he had not handled the row over his fathers Blairmore unit trust well, after a torrid week in which Downing Streets response to the leak of the so-called Panama Papers changed several times.

However, he said he had been angry over some deeply hurtful and profoundly untrue allegations against his father Ian Cameron, who died in 2010.

Mr Cameron, who inherited 300,000 from his father and received gifts worth 200,000 from his mother Mary, said that it was natural human instinct for parents to want to pass assets on to their children.

Meanwhile, the government will provide 10m for a new cross-agency taskforce to analyse the information contained in leaks linked to Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.

Mr Corbyn dismissed the PMs statement as a masterclass in the art of distraction and accused Mr Cameron of failing to appreciate the public anger over the scandal of destructive global tax avoidance revealed by the Panama Papers.
James Brown, Marks former editor at Loaded magazine, told The Guardian that Marks was a true, modern-day folk hero, who had done so many funny, shocking, illegal things.

Marks had a monthly column at the magazine for five years and released his autobiography, Mr Nice, which detailed his many years smuggling cannabis, in 1996.

After years living under as many 43 aliases, he was caught by the American Drug Enforcement Agency in 1988. He was sentenced to 25 years at one of Americas toughest prisons  Terre Haute, Indiana  and was released on parole in 1995.

Brown, who hired Marks at Loaded, said: He stood for everything we loved. Mr Nice was a thrilling book. Howard is a bloody great example to us all.

Born in 1945, in Kenfig Hill, a small Welsh coal-mining village near Bridgend, Marks went to Oxford University, where he earned a degree in nuclear physics and post-graduate qualifications in philosophy.

After his release from prison, he became a prominent campaigner for the legalisation of cannabis and toured a comedy show.

He stood for parliament in four separate constituencies (Norwich South, Norwich North, Neath, and Southampton Test) in the 1997 general election, on the single issue of the legalisation of cannabis, catalysing the formation of the Legalise Cannabis Alliance.

A 2010 film about his life starred fellow Welshman, Rhys Ifans. He is survived by four children.

In an interview with The Observer, in January, 2015, Marks said he had come to terms with his illness.

He said: Its impossible to regret any part of my life, when I feel happy and I am happy now, so I dont have any regrets and have not had any for a very long time.

He said: Smuggling cannabis was a wonderful way of living  perpetual culture shock, absurd amounts of money, and the comforting knowledge of getting so many people stoned.
The first US secretary of state to visit Hiroshima, Mr Kerry said US President Barack Obama also wanted to travel to the city in southern Japan but he did not know whether the leaders complex schedule would allow him to do so when he visits the country for a Group of Seven (G7) summit in May.

Mr Kerry toured the Hiroshima Peace Memorial and Museum, whose haunting displays include photographs of badly burned victims, the tattered and stained clothes they wore and statues depicting them with flesh melting from their limbs.

It is a stunning display. It is a gut-wrenching display, he said.

It is a reminder of the depth of the obligation everyone of us in public life carries ... to create and pursue a world free from nuclear weapons, he told a news conference.

After the tour by Mr Kerry and his fellow G7 foreign ministers, the group issued a statement reaffirming their commitment to building a world without nuclear arms but said the push had been made more complex by North Koreas repeated provocations and by worsening security in Syria and Ukraine.

The ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States laid white wreaths at a cenotaph to the victims of the August 6, 1945, bombing, which reduced the city to ashes and killed some 140,000 people by the end of that year.

The highest-ranking US official to have toured the memorial park is Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, who visited in 2008. Mr Kerry is the most senior executive branch official to visit.

Everyone in the world should see and feel the power of this memorial, Mr Kerry wrote in a guest book.

It is a stark, harsh, compelling reminder not only of our obligation to end the threat of nuclear weapons, but to rededicate all our effort to avoid war itself.

Asked if this meant Mr Obama should come, Mr Kerry said: Everyone means everyone. So I hope one day the president of the United States will be among the everyone who is able to come here. Whether or not he can come as president, I dont know.

At Mr Kerrys suggestion, the ministers made an impromptu visit to the Atomic Bomb Dome, the skeletal remains of the only structure left standing near the hypocenter of the bomb explosion and now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Three days after a US warplane dropped a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima, another atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, on August 9, 1945.

Japan surrendered six days later.

A visit by Mr Obama could be controversial in America if it were viewed as an apology.

A majority of Americans view the bombings as justified to end the war and save US lives, while the vast majority of Japanese believe it was not justified.

Hopes for Obamas visit to Hiroshima and Nagasaki were raised after an April 2009 speech in Prague when he called for a world without nuclear weapons.
Macedonias foreign ministry asked Greece to fully engage its police forces to prevent what it called the violent rioting of migrants.

The call came a day after seven-hour clashes between Macedonian security forces and hundreds of migrants and refugees who attempted to break through the border fence at an impromptu refugee camp housing more than 11,000 people near the Greek village of Idomeni.

Macedonian authorities fired tear gas and rubber bullets, and medical aid agencies said they treated 300 people, including children, for respiratory problems and injuries.

Macedonia said 14 police officers and nine soldiers were wounded.

Greek police observed from their side of the border and did not intervene, while the Greek government strongly criticised the indiscriminate use of chemicals, plastic bullets and stun grenades against vulnerable people.

A few hundred people also protested in Idomeni, marching to the razor-wire border fence carrying a Greek and German flag, but no violence was reported.

More than 53,000 people who made their way to Greece from Turkey have been stranded since Balkan and European nations shut their land borders.

Greece has been building refugee camps, but does still not have the capacity to house them all.

Those in Idomeni have refused to leave the sprawling camp, made up mostly of small tents pitched along railway tracks and in fields, in the hope the border might open.

Activists have circulated in the camp over the past few weeks, distributing fliers urging camp residents to protest and make a push on the fence.

The Macedonian foreign ministry said Skopje has been requesting from Athens cooperation, information sharing and preventive action to dissuade violent rioting of migrants and illegal border crossing into Macedonian territory.

The establishment of law and order in the border zone in and around migrant reception centers, is essential to prevent such incidents in the future, the ministry said.

The UNHCR said the border clashes are a matter of great worry.
Kathryn Smith, 23, was jailed for life following her conviction for murder after the savage attack on 21-month-old Ayeeshia Jane Smith at the family home in Staffordshire on May 1, 2014.

Mrs Justice Geraldine Andrews, sentencing a weeping Smith at Birmingham Crown Court, said: You are a devious, manipulative, selfish, young woman who would stop at nothing to get your own way.

To that end you were prepared to tell lie after lie.

The judge added: Ayeeshia was a particularly vulnerable victim, thin and slight of frame, deserving of protection and under the protection of social services for the whole of her short life.

She was killed in her own home by her own mother  that is the grossest breach of trust.

The judge jailed Ayeeshias stepfather, 22-year-old Matthew Rigby, for three years and six months after he was convicted of causing or allowing the death of a child.

Ayeeshia collapsed at the flat in Britannia Drive, Burton-upon-Trent, after suffering a fatal heart laceration  a type of injury usually only found in crash victims.

It emerged after the toddlers death that what the judge described as a delightful little girl had previously suffered a bleed on the brain from an assault at her mothers hands in February 2014, and a pattern of recent injuries including a huge bruise on her spine.

Ayeeshia was taken into care for a period in mid-2013.

She also had several broken ribs, and other marks and abrasions on her fragile body.

Smith, of Sandfield Road, Nottingham, who cried in the court dock throughout sentencing, and Rigby, of Sloan Drive, Nottingham, had denied having anything to do with the youngsters death, but were convicted by a jury on Friday.

Mrs Justice Andrews told Smith: You wanted to take care of Ayeeshia yourself, but not at the expense of running your life, and especially your love life, the way you wanted.

As the young mother, wearing a grey sweater hoodie and with her dyed red hair pulled into a ponytail, gazed out from the dock, the judge told her Ayeeshia had come a poor second in her brief life.
The attack took place in Novoselitskoe, a village in Russias Stavropol region close to the volatile North Caucasus area, where Islamist militants intent on carving out a breakaway caliphate have targeted police officers in a series of car bombings and shootings.

As a result of the blasts the police station and some cars nearby suffered some damage, Russias Investigative Committee said in a statement.
Burma NLDs Inclusive Approach Yields Fissures as Well

The National League for Democracy, in promising to form an inclusive government, appears to have instead exposed divisions with and within some other political parties.

RANGOON  Since it won an overwhelming majority in last years election, the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) has been vowing to form a national reconciliation government, with part of that plan including the appointment of members of other political parties to positions of power.

In several cases, the party has done just that, but a strange thing appears to be happening along the way: The NLDs outreach, rather than uniting the country around its governing coalition, has exposed inter- and intra-party fissures, with at least one ethnic political party at risk of splitting in two.

Differences between ethnic political parties and the NLD have been on display most visibly in Arakan State, where the Arakan National Party (ANP) in November made one of the most successful ethnic electoral bids. But in the months since, that success has laid bare factions within the party at the same time as ANP-NLD relations have soured.

The latest development in the ongoing saga came last week, when one of the ANPs regional legislators, Kyaw Lwin, was selected by the NLD for an Arakan State government cabinet post, minister for forestry, mining, agriculture and livestock.

President Htin Kyaws appointee for chief minister of the state, the NLDs Nyi Pu, will lead the regional government, and on Thursday selections for subordinate state-level cabinet positions were revealed and confirmed by the Arakan State legislature.

Just as the NLD has consolidated the bureaucracy by reducing the number of Union-level ministries, it has also reduced the number of Arakan State ministers from nine to seven. Along with Kyaw Win of the ANP, three ministers are NLD, one hails from the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and two are of no partisan affiliation.

Following his appointment on Thursday, Kyaw Lwin confirmed that he would accept the post, and in the process shed light on coming internal friction as a result of that decision.

He told The Irrawaddy that he had secured the support of the Arakan League for Democracy (ALD) faction within the ANP in his decision to join the cabinet, though he is not a former ALD member himself.

An analysis by The Irrawaddy earlier this year chalked up tensions between the NLD and ANP, as well as the latters fissures within, to a divide between members of the former Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP) and the ALD. The two parties merged ahead of the 2015 election, but as has become apparent in recent months, differences between the two factions persist, with former ALD members perceived as too willing to acquiesce to Suu Kyis call for collaboration. The schism was highlighted by ANP patron Aye Tha Aungs appointmentand willingness to acceptthe NLDs appointment of him as deputy speaker of the Union Parliaments Upper House.

On Friday, Kyaw Win described himself as a third-party member of the ANP not linked to either of the factions that formally merged last year, and said he did not expect that the RNDP-siding politicians against working with the NLD would amount to his ouster from the party.

But as is often the case in Burmese politics, a simple and straightforward appointment this would not prove to be.

An Opposition Party

Kyaw Lwins appointment followed the news early this month that ANP members had verbally agreed not to join an NLD-led cabinet without first informing the Arakanese partys leadership, with central executive committee member Aung Mya Kyaw somewhat absurdly telling The Irrawaddy that the party would levy a 50 million kyats (US$42,000) fine on any violators, who also might be subject to expulsion from the party.

Last week ANP Vice Chairman Phoe Min doubled down on the claim to have reached a verbal agreement concerning the partys regional legislators, an account disputed by Kyaw Lwin, who told The Irrawaddy before his confirmation that there was no official agreement on the matter.

Speaking before his appointment was made official, he signalled that he was open to working in an NLD-led regional administration.

If the NLD supposes that we are suitable for the post and offers it to us, I think we should not reject the offer, so long as we emphasize our nationalitys interests as well for the country, he said, setting him on a crash course with the dominant RNDP faction within the ANP, which made clear early this year that it would be no NLD ally if the ruling party did not appoint an ANP legislator to the chief minister post.

On Saturday, the ANP released a statement saying the dissident Kyaw Lwin had been expelled from the party.

On March 24, the 22 Union Parliament lawmakers from the ANP and NLD Chairwoman Aung San Suu Kyi held a meeting in Naypyidaw, where she told the Arakanese legislators that in an NLD-led state government, the ANP would be offered some positions. The NLD chairwoman reportedly asked for the ANP lawmakers collaboration.

ANP leaders were not satisfied, and sought a follow-up meeting with its senior leadership, including party Chairman Aye Maung, who lost his election race in Manaung Township and was widely believed to have coveted the chief minister post.

ANP parliamentarian Pe Than cried foul, saying the NLD failed to keep its word, after the party four days later went ahead with its plan to appoint an NLD member as chief minister, prompting ANP lawmakers to stage a walkout when Nyi Pus name was announced.

Elsewhere in Burma

While the political dynamics differ, a similar fracturing is happening within the Mon National Party (MNP). While the ANP won a majority of elected seats in the Arakan State legislature, the MNP secured merely four seats between the Union Parliament and Mon State legislature last year, making it one of dozens of ethnic political parties that fared poorly in a nationwide vote largely dominated by the NLD last November.

Despite its poor showing, the MNP was offered two positions by the NLD.

The highest was that of Union-level ethnic affairs minister, which went to MNP Vice Chairman Nai Thet Lwin. In addition, the NLD offered one post at the state level, the minister for forestry, mining, agriculture and livestock.

According to the MNPs secretary, Nai Soe Myint, both NLD nominees from the Mon party were approached individually and not through the MNP leadership.

Nai Soe Myint confessed that his party was also dealing with internal factions, saying the party chairman, Nai Ngwe Thein, had made the decision to forego a vote by the partys central executive committee on whether or not the party should take the NLD offers.

Under some circumstances, the MNP chairman is entitled [to dismiss] the CECs desire because of the democratic transition period and [his] preference for collaboration. The previous people [USDP] could be much stronger than pro-democracy groups if the MNP is against the NLD. That is why MNP chose the collaboration option.

In Shan State, where a mixed electoral outcome offered a rare bright-ish spot for the USDP, both the NLD and Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) were bested by the former ruling party in regional parliament races. The SNLD won 24 seats, while the NLD won just 23 in the 137-member legislature.

Nonetheless, the NLDs control of the Union-level executive affords it the constitutional prerogative to form its state-level counterparts across all 14 states and divisions in Burma, and here too the party sought collaboration in the form of ministerial posts, most prominently the Union-level ethnic affairs minister portfolio that ultimately went to Mon political veteran Nai Thet Lwin. Prior to his appointment, an NLD offer went out to the SNLD, which declined the invitation to hold that seat in the Naypyidaw cabinet.

Local media reported that similarly, the SNLD was asked to join the state-level cabinet, but there too it opted to reject the offer, reportedly after a failed bid to secure the Shan State chief minister post, which went to NLD regional parliamentarian Lin Htut.

The Irrawaddy made several attempts to contact the SNLD spokesman last week to gain greater insight into its decision to abstain from executive involvement, but he could not be reached for comment.

Ethnic Shan journalist Sai Htun Aung Lwin said he assumed the apparent ambivalence of the SNLD and other ethnic political parties toward working with the NLD was due to the ruling partys method of approaching individuals rather than respective parties leadership before selecting cabinet nominees from outside its ranks.

He said a similar feeling had led members of the 88 Generation Peace and Open Societynot a registered political party but influential among pro-democracy circles in Burmato decline positions offered by the NLD.

In the absence of SNLD participation, the Shan State cabinet of nine members includes five from the NLD, three USDP and one militarily appointed minister.

Then there is Chin State, a complex amalgam of ethnicities officially grouped as 53 sub-ethnicities of the predominantly Christian Chin. The Zomi Congress for Democracy (ZCD) was the states surprise success story among ethnic political parties, securing six seats between the Chin State legislature and Union Parliament.

While elsewhere in the country resentment toward the NLD has been manifest, ZCD Upper House lawmaker Gin Kam Lian said that is not the case among the Zomi party, which was given one cabinet appointee in the new seven-member Chin State cabinet.

Pau Lun Minh Thaung, elected in November, will serve as Chin States new social affairs minister.

We are fine with the NLD, Gin Kam Lian told The Irrawaddy.

Third-Party Perspective

Like the Shan journalist Sai Htun Aung Lwin, the former lawmaker Ye Tun of the Shan National Development Party said he saw parallels with the NLDs current travails in courting collaboration with smaller parties and the now-defunct Communist Party of Burma (CPB). That party, which was once politically influential despite being made illegal under the socialist era of Ne Win, had similar problems courting ethnic armed rebel groups, said Ye Tun, who added that the lesser parties later blamed the CPB for their diminished standing as a result of CPB-instigated internal feuds.

He said the NLDs outreach was commendable, particularly the appointment of Aye Tha Aung to the influential deputy speakership, but said the party had shown a lack of mutual respect to less prominent political parties by not approaching their leaderships and instead going to their individual members.

Big political parties especially should be cautious, that kind of problem has happened often between small and big parties, Ye Tun said.

I dont suppose that Suu Kyi has done it intentionally, he continued, while adding, They [the NLD] should have empathy on the other [parties].
Burma Rangoon Chief Minister: Public Support Is Our Strength

Chief Minister Phyo Min Thein outlines his mission and vision for Rangoon, and the challenges that lay ahead for city leadership.

RANGOON  When Phyo Min Thein was appointed Chief Minister of Rangoon Division in late March, the 46-year-old National League for Democracy lawmaker knew he would face multiple challenges, from deteriorating infrastructure to controversial development projects to foreign investment. The two-time political prisonerwho spent a total of 15 years behind barssaid that he learned perseverance during this period of incarceration. Im very clear about what I am doing[it is] not for myself, he told The Irrawaddys Kyaw Phyo Tha during an interview on Monday, where he outlined his mission and his vision for Rangoon.

What is your vision for Rangoon?

I want to see the city developed systematically. What we are seeing now in Rangoon is unruly development, as there was no master plan and no one to take responsibility for it. For traffic congestion, the previous Rangoon government had many meetings, but what they discussed fizzled out, as there was no one to take responsibility for implementation.

Compared to other countries, we dont have many cars, but every car in Rangoon heads toward the downtown area, causing a traffic bottleneck. Another thing is that there are some drivers who rarely follow traffic regulations, [creating problems] like double parking. If we enforce the regulations, the traffic problems here will get a lot better. We are trying to launch public campaigns to raise awareness about traffic regulations, and what people should and shouldnt do. We want everyones conscious contribution.

Apart from the traffic congestion, what are your other priorities for Rangoon?

Garbage collection and a proper drainage system during this [upcoming] rainy season. I cant guarantee that the drainage system here will be perfectly fixed by the rainy season, as we will be able to learn more about the faults in the drainage system when the rains come. But we will fix it so that it does not get worse.

We will [also focus on] development projects for the people who live on the outskirts of Rangoon. Yes, they live in Rangoon Division but there are no paved roads in the areas where they live, even in my constituency in Hlegu Township. So, from this years budget of 300 billion kyats (US$254.9 million) we have added more than 32 billion kyats (nearly US$27.2 million), originally [designated] for the building of two flyovers, for the development of Rangoons rural areas12 townships. Originally, the rural areas had six billion kyats (just over US$5 million) but with [this] addition, they will have 38 billion kyats (almost US$32.3 million) for roads, schools and healthcare.

Another thing is to increase foreign investment. If we have good foreign investment, there surely will be opportunities for people to get the minimum daily wage of US$3 [rate] they have been asking for. What has been happening is that people can rarely get that minimum wage, let alone any job opportunities. To get more investment, we will upgrade infrastructure and I myself will supervise foreign investment herenot to restrict it, but to help with speedy establishment and operation. No bribes will be needed. But there are criteria: any international company that wants to invest here must have goodwill, a good image internationally, and they will have to follow the culture and regulations here.

What about native investorsincluding those known as cronies?

They are afraid of their international counterparts, as many [of Burmas own investors] lack capacity and some are used to gaining business concessions by bribing the government. Im prepared and am going to meet them to let them know we will support them with the expertise to be able to keep abreast with the international companies [that will be] working here.

For cronies, I want them to become people who can help the country with goodwill. Make no mistake, they will no longer have the opportunities that they enjoyed under the previous government. It doesnt mean we will eliminate them, but we will try to transform them into people who do business with dignity and responsibility. We encourage a win-win solution so as not to cause any damage while moving the country forward.

What lessons did you learn from the previous government?

I have requested that civil servants join us in a struggle for two or three years in order to make changes happen. Corruption was so rampant that even roadside vendors had no respect for the township administrator, as they had bribed him. I told [civil servants] that if they work hard without corruption, they can earn the respect of anyone.

Another thing is, [under the previous government], despite having good basic plans, there was no one to take responsibility for them. Those plans shouldnt be on papersthey have to be implemented on the ground. There are many things to learn from the past. But we need to move forward rather than being encircled in the past. We are lucky we have public supportits our strength.

Rangoon has a very high density of both buildings and population. There are also controversial development projects in the city. Could you tell me about your plans to address these projects?

I prefer to see Rangoon expand sideways rather than upwards. So we need to systematically develop satellite towns. We had them in the past and recently a new one [Rangoon Southwest] was just approved by the previous government. But land speculation is a huge problem here. Investors buy land and resell it at higher prices without any further investment, forcing local farmers into landlessness and joblessness. The government has to control this in the peoples best interest, and not only in the southwestern Rangoon expansion project, because there there are other [examples] in Dagon Myothit, Hlegu and Htauk Kyant. These places, including industrial zones, will be reviewed after Thingyan [the water festival].

For controversial projects, I have told the mayor not to allow for any construction without YCDCs [Yangon City Development Committee] approval. YCDC has all of the relevant laws and regulations regarding development but [these rules] havent been followed. We know that they sometimes approved some projects because they came from upstairs. For us, there is no one above the law. Fighting for the rule of law and against corruption is our motto. We will strictly control any unruly development. When it comes to projects approved by the previous government, there will be negotiations in some cases.

Could you elaborate more on this?

I will ask the YCDC to [perform] a review. If we do it case by case, the investors will surely suffer, as they paid a lot so that their projects could bypass the laws and regulations. I dont blame them, as they were just following the current created by the previous government, but this current is destroying the city. We will explain to them what we can allow. If they have already exceeded our limits, we will tell them to stop. In return, we will invite those investors to join others in new city expansion projects. They will not have any special privileges and will have to compete with anyone else [for business tenders]. These are the legacies of the previous government. We want to see less suffering, and that both sides are all right.

We have lost several public spaces to business development under the previous government. Will you be able to get them back?

They will be reviewed. They are contract-based and there are many differences between each case. We will let people know what progress we make. We are thinking about turning the Rangoon River waterfront into a recreation area as the river is not really suitable for international cargo ships.

There are so many things to do. Do you think you can handle all of it?

The majority of people in Rangoon voted for us because they want to see change. In five years, I think I will be able to at least lay good foundations for development and for the rule of law in Rangoon.
5 Mobile Development Trends for 2016

When people disagree, it could be that they are seeing different data, come to the discussion from different perspectives or have different agendas. For a few years, the common wisdom has been that the smartphone sector was transitioning. The idea is that the high end is saturated and, since all the exciting features have been introduced, people tend to keep their devices longer. Hence, sales will suffer.

Meanwhile, the emergence of ever less expensive devices is driving growth at the lower end. This growth will be centered on developing economies. There, not only do target groups have less money, but the wired infrastructure is poor or nonexistent. This further encourages growth of smartphones for the masses.

A couple of pieces of evidence have emerged that run counter to that scenario, though, at least partially. Bloomberg reports that Samsungs top models are doing well:

Its true that an early release for the latest version of its flagship handset helped Samsung clock up stronger sales in the first quarter. But a tripling in first-month shipments for the Galaxy S7 compared with the S6 a year earlier probably reflects renewed demand for premium devices that stand out from an increasingly noisy and crowded catalog of mid- and low-tier smartphones.

The story points to strong sales for high-end devices from Huawei, Apple and ZTE.

The Times of India offers another small indicator that the top of the smartphone market is not as beleaguered as many people thought. It quotes percentages from CyberMedia Research, which said 5 million premium handsets will be sold this year. If that turns out to be true, high-end sales will outpace last years sales by about 1.7 million phones. The percentage of the entire market could range from about the same as last year (3.4 or 3.5 percent) to 5 percent, which would be an increase of about 1.5 percent.

The results in India are particularly important since it is one of the biggest consumers of low-end phones. The three top premium brands are Samsung, Apple and Sony Mobile.

While not completely contradicting Bloomberg or CyberMedia, BI Intelligence has released a report on smartphone growth that seems to miss, or just not agree with, the idea that premium phones are doing better than expected. The site does validate two points the other organizations made: The price of high-end phones is shrinking and developing economies are increasingly the focus of the industry. While the piece suggests that the mature markets are increasingly approaching saturation, it does not point to the high-end device growth seen by Bloomberg or CyberMedia.

There is little doubt that smartphone buying patterns are changing and that developing economies represent a huge and growing market. What seems to be less certain than before, however, is the health of the top end of the market. This is a big deal because building for and distributing to these two universes of people are very different. Manufacturers, distributors and the rest of the supply chain need to react. And, to react, they need a clear idea of what is going on.

Carl Weinschenk covers telecom for IT Business Edge. He writes about wireless technology, disaster recovery/business continuity, cellular services, the Internet of Things, machine-to-machine communications and other emerging technologies and platforms. He also covers net neutrality and related regulatory issues. Weinschenk has written about the phone companies, cable operators and related companies for decades and is senior editor of Broadband Technology Report. He can be reached at [email protected] and via twitter at @DailyMusicBrk.
10 Best Tech Jobs in the U.S. in 2016

The chief digital officer position isnt all that new, but its new enough to me to want to get a better sense of what the role is all about. Hence my recent conversation with Anna Frazzetto.

Frazzetto is chief digital technology officer and global IT solutions and outsourcing strategist for Harvey Nash, a UK-based tech recruitment and outsourcing services provider. Although her official title includes the technology modifier, Frazzetto said its essentially a CDO role, making her the first CDO in the history of Harvey Nash. I opened the conversation by asking her for her definition of chief digital officer, and she said its all about transforming an organization:

How I moved into the role was by having other organizations come to me, or to Harvey Nash, for advice and guidance on how you transform an organization in this day and age, when digital and social media are such a critical component in how you communicate with your clients and your user community. The amount of high touch today is tremendous, versus what it was 10 years ago, or even two years ago, because it keeps evolving year after year. So for me personally, I view the definition as someone who is involved in the transformation of an organization from an older way of conducting business to a more current way of conducting business, where you utilize such tools as social media and mobile platforms for the high touch that you need to have with your client base.

Frazzetto explained how that role, and her concurrent role as global IT solutions and outsourcing strategist, are complementary:

I think there used to be a philosophy that outsourcing was really meant for big companiesthe Fortune 500. But the reality is, outsourcing is playing more of a key role in the SMB sector. This is where I feel like it goes hand in handyou need a digital strategy regardless of what size company you are, and outsourcing is such a great way for an organization to get to market faster, and get that competitive advantage. So I think theyre married in a strong way.

There also used to be a school of thought that as a chief digital officer, you had to be in a certain size companysmall companies would not need to have a chief digital officer. I disagree, because if you look at the role, this is really going to be the critical role thats going to give the organization a competitive advantage, regardless of what industry youre in. So I do feel its a critical component of a companys fabric.

I asked Frazzetto what qualities she would be looking for if she were recruiting a CDO for a midmarket company. She said she would break it up into a couple of different categories:

One, I would take a look at what technology background they have. I do think there is value in a chief digital officer not only having a business background, but also having some technical path in their past, so theres a better comprehension of technology overall. The other element, which I always feel is so critical, is the cultural fit within an organization. I think one thing that is going to be particularly necessary for this role, since they are going to be responsible for transformation, and for being a change agent for a company, is culturally, will this person be able to move the company?

Finally, I asked Frazzetto whether the CDO or the CIO is on a faster track to the CEO suite. She said thats the $64 million question:

I think it really depends on the individual. If you have a CIO who comes from a business background and not just technology, and is just as current from a marketing demand perspective, and the CDO is similar, I think you can flip a coin, because their skill sets somewhat match. If we were to take a CIO who is what we would have seen more traditionally 10 years ago, then I would say the CDO was probably on a faster track.

Frazzetto also shared some enlightening insights on her experience as a female in a high-profile technology role. Ill cover that topic in a forthcoming post.

A contributing writer on IT management and career topics with IT Business Edge since 2009, Don Tennant began his technology journalism career in 1990 in Hong Kong, where he served as editor of the Hong Kong edition of Computerworld. After returning to the U.S. in 2000, he became Editor in Chief of the U.S. edition of Computerworld, and later assumed the editorial directorship of Computerworld and InfoWorld. Don was presented with the 2007 Timothy White Award for Editorial Integrity by American Business Media, and he is a recipient of the Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award for editorial excellence in news coverage. Follow him on Twitter @dontennant.
Joe Alaers had a lump in his neck for about eight months before deciding to get it checked out.

But he's glad he finally did  at a free screening in April 2015 hosted by St. Vincent Healthcare  because it's a decision that likely improved his quality of life, drew him closer to loved ones and has inspired him to share his story in hopes that it moves others to get checked early for head, neck and throat cancer.

After the screening Alaers learned he had terminal thyroid cancer, but finding out also led him to undergo treatments that have given him a renewed outlook and an appreciation for the time he gets with family.

"Now that I'm where I'm at, I'm glad I got the screening and got the treatment," he said. "I'm glad to have some more time."

News article

Alaers, who lives outside of Roundup and drives for Steve Nelson Trucking, doesn't normally read the news.

He believes "there's just too much bad news," but early on the morning of April 14, he stepped outside to turn off a garage light that had somehow been left on and picked up the day's copy of The Billings Gazette.

When he glanced at it, he noticed an article about a man, James Johnson, who'd been diagnosed with an aggressive throat cancer and was advocating for people to get checked themselves.

Alaers had a lump that started eight months earlier near the right side his jaw and had grown and moved since.

"When it got to the collarbone, it was the size of a tennis ball," Alaers said. "The pain was really bad."

He didn't know who to call or what to do about it. Something clicked what Johnson's story for Alaers.

"That morning, I called and scheduled an appointment and got in there a week later," Alaers said.

With April set as National Oral, Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Month and another free related cancer screening from St. Vincent on April 14, Alaers said that it's a decision he hopes others can learn from.

Diagnosis and treatment

Alaers visited Dr. Sean Demars at Ear, Nose and Throat Associates in Billings and soon after learned of his diagnosis.

He had a mass growing in his neck that was so large it reshaped his esophagus and nearby arteries, as well another tumor near his spine, that turned out to be a terminal form of thyroid cancer.

"He is the perfect example of someone we're trying to reach with these screenings," Demars said. "He just hadn't done anything about it until the opportunity came up to do it."

Not long after, Alaers underwent several surgeries with Demars to remove the massive tumor and then remove his thyroid, as well as another to remove the mass in his back.

After that, he started a treatment regimen at the Frontier Cancer Center. Dr. Troy Fiddler said that Alaers' cancer is an especially tough one to deal with and that people diagnosed with it have an average life expectancy of about six months.

"It's probably one of the most aggressive cancers we deal with," Fiddler said.

Alaers underwent a combined therapy that involved both chemotherapy, in the form of five hours total spread over one day each week, and radiation therapy five days a week for 35 sessions.

The aggressive treatment was designed to combat Alaers' aggressive cancer, since it's often resistant to just one form of treatment.

While the terminal diagnosis hasn't changed, nearly a year later there's no sign of the disease left in Alaers after a recent CT scan, something Fiddler said he sees maybe once every four or five years with this form of cancer.

Alaers said he's feeling good and continues to recover from the rigors of treatment, while enjoying the life he has. He spends time with his wife, kids and grandchildren. He fishes and will likely return to work soon.

"Every day counts," he said. "I'm 65 years old, and sometimes you don't realize how important some of the things in your life are until you're faced with something like this."

Get checked

Alaers and the doctors who treated him stress the importance of getting checked early for head, neck and throat cancer.

"If you can find a cancer before it's spread anywhere else and begin to cure it, it's much, much better," Demars said.

Fiddler added that earlier diagnosis also means a higher chance of less-intense treatment.

The three biggest risk factors in head, oral and neck cancers are tobacco use, heavy alcohol use and human papillomavirus (HPV). Common symptoms can include swelling, lumps or sores in the throat or mouth, bleeding, numbness, changes in the voice and fevers or chills.

"Don't wait around," Alaers said. "Go in and have it checked out. Get in there and and get it done. The longer you wait, the worse it could be."

Ear, Nose and Throat Associates will be conducting the free screenings on April 14. Demars said screenings take about 15 minutes total and include filling out paperwork, a brief conversation with a doctor and an exam of the head and neck.

For Alaers, he's not entirely sure what spurred him to look at the newspaper the day he decided to get a screening, but he's glad he did.

"I don't believe in being psychic, but I do believe in God and, for whatever the reason, I decided to read that article that day," he said. "The thing that really got me was (Johnson's) story. He described to me exactly what I should do."
DH2i announces it has chosen Rackspace to Host its DxEnterprise Software in the Cloud, in the industry first Container as a Service (CaaS) solution for Microsoft SQL Server.

DH2i, recently named a "Cool Vendor" by Gartner in the "Cool Vendors in Servers and Virtualization" report, today announced the industry's first Containers as a Service (CaaS) solution for Microsoft SQL Server. The new CaaS offering enables SQL Server customers to plug-into DH2i's award-winning DxEnterprise container management software in the cloud, in a simple, safe and smart manner. DH2i is tapping Rackspace, the #1 managed cloud company, to back its CaaS solution with industry-leading cloud uptime and customer service.

The release of DH2i's CaaS for Microsoft SQL Server presents a giant leap forward in the business model for using SQL Server in the cloud by enabling users to deploy Windows Server applications in the cloud at 50% the cost of standard cloud offerings-with built-in high availability (HA) and easier manageability. With DH2i CaaS, SQL Server DBAs, IT Managers and Directors, and Solution Architects can containerize and stack any new or existing Windows Server application service, file share or SQL Server instance. DH2i CaaS delivers built-in HA and disaster recovery (DR) readiness with containerized workload mobility. In addition, health and performance quality of service (QoS) and alerting management is included, as well as portable NTFS storage container volume and disk management. DH2i CaaS supports Windows Server 2008R2 through 2016, and can manage SQL Server instances version 2005 to 2016-of any edition-in any combination.

"The idea of 'containers' is a much talked about and generally accepted practice in numerous IT environments. However, there remains a number of adoption barriers for IT professionals. These range from a simple lack of understanding to the inability to pursue new technology because higher priority maintenance activities and fire fighting consume so much time. Barriers can also include a general resistance to significant change, budget challenges, and competitive blocks," said George Crump, Founder and Consulting Analyst, Storage Switzerland. "By taking DH2i's container to the cloud, DH2i is overcoming these barriers, and in doing so, providing business organizations with the ability to easily leverage containers and enjoy their benefits. These include better agility, faster innovation, increased productivity, higher availability and lower costs."

"As the leading managed cloud company, Rackspace strives to provide customers like DH2i with the expertise and service to manage the backend IT infrastructure, so they can focus on growing and innovating their core business with products like DH2i CaaS," said Jeff DeVerter, chief technologist for the Microsoft business unit at Rackspace. "With Rackspace support for Microsoft Private Cloud and dedicated servers, Rackspace enables DH2i to seamlessly deliver its container management services to customers. We're thrilled that DH2i has chosen Rackspace as its trusted infrastructure provider, and we look forward to a continued collaboration."

"DH2i CaaS for SQL Server enables our customers to fully exploit the cloud's fractional consumption and predictable scale," said Don Boxley, CEO and Co-Founder, DH2i. "In traditional cloud deployments, SQL Server often falls victim to sprawl. Running a 24x7 production environment becomes complicated, SLAs are virtually impossible to deliver, and costs skyrocket." He continued, "DH2i CaaS enables customers to bypass internal roadblocks and get their SQL workloads up and running quickly - spinning up a SQL Server workload in the cloud within hours instead of weeks. DH2i CaaS offers its InstanceMobility, allowing users to move any SQL Server instance from any host, to any host, anywhere - with near zero downtime; with three-to-four times fewer OSs. Of course, DH2i CaaS also delivers built-in HA and DR readiness, all at the lowest possible TCO." He concluded, "If you're deploying one SQL instance per virtual machine, its not DH2i CaaS for SQL Server."

The DH2i CaaS solution, which is ideal for SMB to enterprise customers, leverages DxEnterprise which features a first-of-its-kind container technology that enables workload and data portability and high availability for any SQL Server instance, Windows service or file share. This pioneering container technology creates a framework for orchestrating datacenter management, high availability/disaster tolerance and policy-based SLA management. DxEnterprise is the only Windows container technology that leverages native Windows file system (NTFS) and shared or replicated storage technology to coordinate access to a pool of disk resources in the cluster. This enables consistent disk presentation no matter which host the container is active on. DxEnterprise can support any current version or edition of SQL Server and OS across any physical, virtual or hybrid infrastructure.

The DH2i CaaS solution is available now with "Starter Kit" pricing starting as low as $495 a month for five containers, a two-node active-active cluster and 24x7x365 managed services. A DxEnterprise product tour is available online.
And you thought public servants led dull, colourless lives. Cyber criminals are out to provide otherwise  unless you pay.

That is according to Chris Pogue, Nuixs Senior Vice President of cyber threat analysis and also and a member of the US Secret Service Electronic Crimes Task Force. Nuix is an Australian owned company that produces a software platform for indexing, searching, analyzing and extracting knowledge from unstructured data, with applications that include digital investigation, cybersecurity, e-Discovery, information governance, email migration and privacy. The software platform is used by organizations in more than 45 countries.

It was in the news recently when it was revealed that its platform had been used to sift through the massive 11.5 million Panama Papers totalling over 2.6 terabytes of data containing nearly five million emails, three million database files, two million PDFs, one million images, 320,166 text documents and 2,242 other unclassified files.

Nuix technology was an indispensable part of our work on the Panama Papers investigation, as it has been with Offshore Leaks and many of our other in-depth investigative stories, said Gerard Ryle, Director of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

So back to those saucy public servants.

Following last years Office of Personnel Management data breach in the US which saw nearly 22 million public servants personal records stolen, Pogue has warned Australian Government departments and their employees need to be prepared for a similar incident occurring here. He says cyber criminals are increasingly trying to steal confidential Government personnel records and with that comes the greater risk of victims being blackmailed through ransomware and other extortion tactics.

Pogue says organisations can reduce the risk of employees being blackmailed by doing more to protect their critical-value data and the limited ways in which criminals can access, gather and remove that data from their network.

Technology has significantly increased the risk of public servants being held to ransom which could seriously compromise important Government policy decisions, said Pogue. Cyber criminals are getting a lot more sophisticated in the way they steal employees personal information which can then be used to coerce individuals to pass on sensitive Government data.

This is concerning as people may not be aware that breaches are happening, leading to extortion and compromise as employees follow demands to prevent their personal details being exposed. Organisations can minimise attacks and ransom threats by taking a more holistic view to cyber security instead of just relying on perimeter cyber solutions which have become largely ineffective.

Pogue is having high level cyber security briefings with Government, national security agencies, and departmental officials, as well as corporate stakeholders. He will be speaking at the Australian Cyber Security Centre Conference this week.

Nuix has been working closely with Government and corporate organisations around the world, to help them develop integrated policy and technology frameworks for cybersecurity. The Australian company employs global cyber security and intelligence experts like Pogue to provide intelligence and breach response, technology and training for the worlds top intelligence and security agencies, financial institutions, corporations and government departments. These include INTERPOL, the US Department of Homeland Security, the US Department of State, the United Nations, NATO and the Australian Department of Defence.
Australia has been ranked as one of the top ten targets globally for social media scams and targeted attacks. Why  because we pay!

Symantec has today released their 81 page, annual Internet Security Threat Report (ISTR), Vol. 21 that reveals an organisational shift by cybercriminals - they are establishing professional businesses and adopting corporate best practices in order to increase the efficiency of their attacks against enterprises and consumers. This new class of professional cybercriminal spans the ecosystem of attackers, extends the reach of enterprise and consumer threats, and fuels the growth of online crime.

The report is too comprehensive to be covered fully here  so download a free copy. Symantec has one of the most comprehensive global sources of Internet threat data through its Symantec Global Intelligence Network - made up of more than 63.8 million attack sensors in 157 countries and records thousands of events per second.

It covers:

Mobile Devices and the Internet of Things

Web threats

Social media, scams and email threats

Targeted attacks

Data breaches and privacy

Cloud and infrastructure

Symantec discovered more than 430 million new unique pieces of malware - up 36% from the year before. What is most remarkable is that these numbers no longer surprise us - cybercrime has become a part of our daily lives. Attacks against businesses and nations hit the headlines with such regularity that weve become numb to the sheer volume and acceleration of cyber threats.

Following are six key findings and trends from 2015.

54 new zero-day vulnerabilities were discovered  one than one each week  up 125%. What this means is that cybercriminals can use and throw away these vulnerabilities knowing there are more to use. Adobe Flash remained the leading vulnerability

Over 500,000,000 personal records were stolen through amongst many  nine mega breaches of more than 10 million records. Companies were hacked so regularly that transparency of breaches suffered. While numerous data sharing initiatives are underway in the security industry, helping all of us improve our security products and postures, some of this data is getting harder to collect.

Spear-phishing campaigns were up 55%. A government organization or a financial company was most likely to be targeted at least three more times throughout the year. Large businesses saw an average of 3.6 successful attacks each. And this moved down into small business too  no business is without risk.

Ransomware increased 35%. It found new targets and moved beyond its focus on PCs to smart phones, Mac, and Linux systems. Symantec even demonstrated proof-of-concept attacks against smart watches and televisions in 2015.

Fake technical calls endemic. Fake technical support scams have evolved from cold-calling unsuspecting victims to the attacker fooling victims into calling them directly. Attackers trick people with pop-ups that alert them to a serious error or problem, steering the victim to an toll free number, where a technical support representative attempts to sell the victim worthless services. In 2015, Symantec blocked 100 million of these types of attacks. Cybercriminals know too much about you.

Symantec also found:

Mobiles

Smartphones are an increasingly attractive target for online criminals. As a result, they are investing in more sophisticated attacks that are effective at stealing valuable personal data or extorting money from victims. Although Android users remain the main target, 2015 saw effective attacks on Apple devices as well, and iOS devices did not need to be jail-broken to be compromised. Vulnerabilities in the iOS system (84) were well ahead of Android (11) and nil for Windows 10 Mobile.

IoT (Insecurity of Things)

Cars, homes medical devices, smart TVs, embedded devices, routers, web cams, and so much more  billions of IoT devices and many lack security. Symantec expects this to be a major attack vector soon.

Web Threats

If web servers are vulnerable, then so are the websites they host and the people who visit them. Attackers are exploiting any vulnerability they can to compromise websites and commandeer their host servers. The ease of use and wide availability of web attack toolkits is feeding the number of web attacks, which doubled in 2015.

Website owners still arent patching and updating their websites and servers as often as they should. This is like leaving a window open through which cybercriminals can climb through and take advantage of whatever they find. Over the past three years, more than three quarters of websites scanned contained unpatched vulnerabilities, one in seven (15%) of which were deemed critical in 2015.

While the older Internet Explorer led in the vulnerability stakes Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Apple Safari were almost equally compromised.

Social media, scams, and email threats  social engineering rules

The sophistication and ruthlessness of some of the attacks and tactics used by cybercriminals in 2015 have demonstrated how vulnerable individuals are online and chipped away at public confidence in online security. Data breaches, government surveillance, and good old-fashioned scams came together to further encroach on personal privacy, whether it is personal photos, login credential or medical histories. Personal data is anything but private.

Email remains the medium of choice for cybercriminals and email volumes continue to grow, as phishing and spam declinethe latter of which accounted for more than half of inbound email traffic. Phishing attacks were more targeted and malicious emails grew in number and complexity.

Targeted Attacks

Widespread, persistent, and sophisticated attacks against government organizations and businesses of all sizes pose greater risks to national security and the economy. The number of zero-day vulnerabilities grew, and evidence of them being weaponized for use in cyberattacks was revealed. Spear-phishing campaigns became stealthier, targeting fewer individuals within a smaller number of select organizations.

Data breaches and privacy

Whether an insider attack, or criminal fraud focused on websites and point-of-sale devices, data breaches continued in 2015, costing victims more than ever. The number of mega-breaches climbed to the highest level since 2013. The number of breaches where the full extent of a breach was not revealed, increased; fewer companies declined to publish the numbers, unless required to do so by law.

But human error  sometimes stupidity and sometimes covertly  accounted for 54% of the breaches.

E-Crime

The underground economy is booming and cybercrime is growing fast, but as we have seen with the growing number of high-profile arrests and takedowns in 2015, wherever the cybercriminals may be, law enforcement is now catching-up with them much more quickly. Ransomware attacks may have diminished, but they have also diversified, including targeting Linux web servers.

Cybercriminals are more professional and are much bolder, not only in the targets they go after, but also the sums of money they seek. These criminal enterprises see themselves as a fully-functioning business, covering a multitude of areas, each with their own speciality. Just as legitimate businesses have partners, associates, resellers, and vendors, so do those enterprises operating in the shadows.

Cloud and Infrastructure

IT systems continue to come under attack from rapidly evolving malware. No operating system is automatically immune, and malware threats against Linux and Mac OS X are increasing. Even cloud hosted and virtualized systems are vulnerable. Malware is able to seek-out virtualized environments and infect them. Nothing is automatically immune.

DDoS and Botnets

Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks are growing in number and intensity, but most last for zero minutes or less. The availability of botnets-for-hire has fuelled this increase and we are likely to see the Internet of Things provide more fodder for these botnet armies. DNS is a major attack vector.

Conclusion

Read the report - it is mandatory reading for all security professionals.



(ISTR), Vol. 21
Communications Alliance CEO, John Stanton said on Tuesday that one year after the passage of the Governments mandatory data retention legislation, telecommunications providers are still waiting to learn how much of their multi-million dollar compliance costs will remain unfunded  and whether their business will be threatened as a result.



The Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment (Data Retention) Bill passed the Senate on 13 April 2015  one year ago tomorrow (Weds) - and came into effect on 13 October last year.



The requirement to collect and store a huge volume of customer data was estimated by the Governments consultants to entail an upfront capital cost to industry of up to A$319.1 million, but Stanton said industry expects the actual capital costs to be significantly higher than that.





Stanton points out that the Government itself estimates that the ongoing data retention compliance costs to industry will total $738 million over the first 10 years of operation of the scheme.But, Stanton says the 2015-16 Federal Budget contained funding of $131.3 million over three years to make a contribution to the increased capital costs of telecommunications providers  and, of that figure, he says almost $3 million will be siphoned off by the Attorney Generals Department for administrative costs.Only weeks away from the 2016-17 Budget, however, telecommunications providers are no closer to knowing how much they will receive from the Government.They therefore dont know how much their business  and ultimately their customers - will have to contribute to the costs of the data retention regime, Stanton says.Stanton notes that the round of applications from service providers seeking a share of the Government funding closed on 23 February this year, and that the next step is for the Government Data Retention Implementation Working Group to meet and review the weightings that are to be used to help calculate how much subsidy funding each eligible service provider will receive.But, Stanton complains that the Working Group meeting has still not yet been scheduled.
Orion Health CEO Ian McCrae said the company will provide a comprehensive technology solution for two leading hospitals in London, and implement an integrated health and social care solution for NHS Fife in east Scotland.



McCrae said both contracts will boost the number of patient healthcare records managed by Orion Health software, as the London hospitals care for one million people and NHS Fife and Fife Council serve a population of over 360,000.



We responded to a highly competitive tender process for the London hospitals and were chosen as the preferred vendor after our solution was evaluated against a number of criteria and compared against other vendors products, McCrae said.





Separately, we will be working with NHS Fife and Fife Council to enable an integrated health and social care record for adult services, following a successful pilot programme. This contract extends Orion Healths reach to five mainland health boards and one specialist health board and increases the population covered by Orion Health solutions to over 50% of Scotland.McCrae said for the (unnamed) London hospitals, the company will deploy a comprehensive Electronic Medical Record (EMR) and patient engagement solution made up of Orion Health Consult and Orion Health Engage.According to McCrae, the EMR will empower clinicians by combining all relevant patient information from disparate systems into one patient record, making critical information readily available through a clinical portal and improving decision making and organisational efficiency.The Orion Health solution for NHS Fife will provide an integrated health and social care record for a comprehensive range of adult services including adult social work and housing services.McCrae said the NHS Fife implementation is prompted by the Scottish Governments new requirement that every health board and local authority in Scotland must integrate its healthcare service.William Edwards, General Manager eHealth and IMT, NHS Fife said, We were impressed by Orion Healths ability to work collaboratively with us during an initial pilot phase and are excited to be proceeding onto the full roll-out phase. The solution will help enable us to deliver better, coordinated care to the entire Fife community.Both contracts will boost the number of patient healthcare records managed by Orion Health software, as the London hospitals care for one million people and NHS Fife and Fife Council serve a population of over 360,000. Currently Orion Healths software manages over 90 million patient healthcare records worldwide.
Nokia has enabled 3 Sweden to enhance mobile broadband customer services using TD-LTE-Advanced technology, offering significantly higher capacity and download speeds.

Nokia and 3 Sweden (Hi3G Access) are set to deploy TD-LTE-Advanced mobile broadband technology to significantly enhance quality of service in Sweden.



Because spectrum in traditional FDD bands is scarce, 3 Sweden says it will take advantage of more available spectrum in the 2600 MHz band 38 - currently used by only a few operators in Western Europe - to deploy TD-LTE-Advanced technology.

Nokia says that this will allow 3 Sweden to immediately increase bandwidth and speeds for customers, meeting the growing demand for mobile use in the home.

Nokia explains that it will complete the network deployment - which will include Gothenburg, Sweden's second most populous city - in the first half of 2016.

The company proudly boasts of the solutions and services it provides:

TD-LTE-Advanced radio technology, based on the Flexi Multiradio 10 Base Station, to support 2600 MHz band 38

WCDMA and FDD-LTE network upgrade

Care Services, including hardware and software services

Jorgen Askeroth, CTO at 3 Sweden, said: "As one of Sweden's leading operators, we are constantly looking at ways to enhance the overall quality of our mobile voice and data services.

In line with this vision, we are working with Nokia to tap the potential of TD-LTE-A in order to deliver a truly memorable service experience to our subscribers.

In doing so, we are proud to launch one of Western Europe's first TD-LTE-A deployments on band 38 - a development that underlines our reputation as an innovation leader in the domestic telecommunications market."

Wolfgang Hackenberg, VP West Europe at Nokia, said: "We are extremely pleased to support 3 Sweden in its ambitious and far-reaching TD-LTE-A initiative that will delight its customers.

This project bears testimony to our growing status as the supplier-of-choice in Europe, with a clear focus on leveraging technologies that allow operators to provide the best possible mobile broadband experience to their users."

More below, please read on.

Nokia notes its prowess in industry-leading TD-LTE-A capabilities by boasting of China Mobile, billed as the world's foremost operator, having selected Nokia as its largest non-Chinese vendor for TD-LTE deployment.

On top of that, as of February 2016, Nokia notes that it has more than 80 commercial references on six continents for the delivery of TD-LTE radio technology.
Telstra Chairman Catherine Livingstone said Dunn was widely recognised for his business performance and experience across Asia, as well as expertise in financial technology.



Dunn will stand for election to the board at Telstras shareholder meeting in October.



Craig brings significant business expertise to the Telstra Board and a great passion for technology as a positive disruptive force. These are major considerations for Telstras strategic directions and his contributions will be welcomed.



Following Craig Dunns appointment, the Telstra Board will comprise 11 Directors - Chairman Catherine Livingstone AO, CEO Andrew Penn and directors Craig Dunn, Peter Hearl, Russell Higgins AO, Chin Hu Lim, John Mullen, Nora Scheinkestel, Margaret Seale, Steven Vamos and Trae Vassallo.





Livingstone said Dunn, 52, was Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of AMP from 2008 to 2013, during which time he steered the company through the GFC, initiated Asian joint ventures, led a merger with AXA and initiated culture change around customer focus and the impact of technology.At AMP, Dunn held various roles in a 13-year career including Managing Director of Financial Services, Managing Director for AMP Bank and head of Corporate Strategy and M&A.Dunn was previously at Colonial Mutual Group from 1991 to 2000, including as Managing Director for EON CMB Life Insurance in Malaysia and senior roles in Group Strategy, M&A and Finance. He also worked with KPMG from 1985 to 1991 in audit and consulting roles in Australia, Europe and Indonesia.Dunn is a Director with Westpac, Chairman of independent not-for-profit financial technology hub Stone and Chalk, Chairman of the Australian Ballet and the Australian Government Fintech Advisory Group.He is also an external advisory panel member for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and board member of the NSW Government Financial Services Knowledge Hub, and was an advisor to the Federal Government through the Financial System Inquiry in 2014 and the Consumer and Financial Literacy Taskforce.As previously announced, Livingstone will soon hand over to John Mullen as Chairman and retire from the board.Chairman-elect John Mullen said Dunn would be an important addition to the Telstra Board. Craigs achievements and knowledge of how customers, services and technology come together is totally consistent with our strategic direction.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has scheduled a special weekend bowhunter education class for May 13-15 at the Billings Rod and Gun Club.

Registration for the April class is online only  students must navigate to the FWP website at http://fwp.mt.gov and follow the links to education, hunter education programs and find a class or field course. After completing their registration, students are required to pick up class materials at the Billings FWP office  2300 Lake Elmo Drive in Billings Heights  or any other FWP regional office in Montana. Before the first day of class, students must read and understand the entire manual and complete all chapter quizzes. Those who have not completed the pre-class work will not be allowed to participate in the class.

Students must be at least 11 years old on the first day of class. Those born after Jan. 1, 1985, also must complete a hunter education class before registering for the bowhunter class. The class is free, but limited to the first 50 students who register.

The class will run from 6:30-9 p.m. May 13 and 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 14 and May 15.

Students are not required to bring archery equipment to class.

Bowhunter education classes are offered around the state until July 31 of each year. Visit http://fwp.mt.gov/education/hunter/getCertificate.html to register for a bowhunter education course.
It was only a few months ago that it looked like South Australians would miss out on legalised ridesharing  errant drivers could be fined $8,000 and the government had consistently and strongly condemned the service for safety reasons.

What a difference strong representations from the South Australian RAA (Royal Automobile Association) and countless others can make  in a backflip the Government will legalise ridesharing from 1 July 2016.

Premier Jay Weatherill and Transport Minister Stephen Mullighan outlined the changes at a press conference this morning. The Premier said the Government had "worked hard to negotiate a balance" between existing services and new industry entrants. "Our reforms deliver a genuine level playing field between taxis, chauffeur vehicles and new entrants like Uber. Some people have called for the total deregulation of this sector. We reject that.

There are 1,035 taxis licences and 102 access cab licences in South Australia and about eight million taxi trips are taken each year in the state. Estimates of the number of new ridesharing drivers/cars vary but it is expected to be more than 1000 extra vehicles.

The changes include a $1 levy per passenger to compensate taxi licence plate owners and drivers for allowing new entrants into the market. It will raise about $80 million over the next decade. Plate owners will receive compensation of $30,000 per licence plate and licence lessees will receive $50 a week compensation for up to 11 months.

And Taxis will get a new peak tariff, of up to 20%, on Friday and Saturday nights when taxi drivers face high demand and often drunk or unruly passengers. Taxi drivers will retain exclusive rights to rank and hail passengers. Rideshare will not operate at the airport.

Ingogo CEO Hamish Petrie said about 700 taxi drivers in Adelaide already used the companys in-car booking system and todays announcement would allow the company to expand.

Were excited to now have the ability to enhance the taxi driver experience via our booking app, which will also provide consumers with the final piece of the puzzle, he said. With the legalisation of taxi applications, travellers and businesses in Adelaide can enjoy the same benefits of disruptive technology as people in Australias other capital cities.

Sydney-based GoCatch and GoCar CEO Ned Moorfield said "We welcome todays announcement and support the Governments efforts to provide access to more flexible, quality and cost-effective travel options. This move will enable greater choice and convenience for passengers looking to get from A to B and create new opportunities for drivers to supplement their income.

As Australia's only home-grown ridesharing provider, we look forward to expanding our service to Adelaide and other major Australian cities in which legislative changes support the introduction of local ridesharing services. We are also eager to continue supporting South Australian taxi drivers. By offering both options to passengers, we will create more opportunities for both our taxi and ridesharing drivers in the long run, he added."

UberBlack Adelaide general manager Tom White refused to confirm whether the company would launch in the state. He said the company would review the detail of todays announcement before deciding whether or not we launch UberX in South Australia.

We hope the Government will consider the removal of arbitrary red tape, including unnecessary costs or time delays, that would prevent South Australians from being able to access flexible work (with Uber) when they need it, he said. South Australians who need access to flexible paid work should be able to do so without paying hundreds of dollars in fees or waiting months for their application to be processed.

Ridesharing has already been legalised in New South Wales and the ACT.
Just when you thought you could live with very fast AC speeds come tri-band routers for really fast speeds suited to large houses and hordes of devices. When will we run out of superlative adjectives?

D-Link has joined the AC5300 tri-band club with its DIR-895L, MU-MIMO, Ultra-Router. Looking like something out of Star Wars with eight antennas this offers power users the choice of a 2.4GHz band, and two 5GHz bands to service bandwidth intensive end-points like Smart TVs, audio streaming and games consoles.

Before we get to the router a few facts. Router performance is a bit like a car  small, medium, large and SUV with various go-fast options turbo, twin turbo, fat tyres, etc. These equate to terms like MIMO, MU-MIMO, Dual or Tri-Band, Beamforming, Wave2 and more.

A router is basically to provide connectivity between the Internet and all your devices  smartphones, tablets, games consoles, smart TV (Foxtel/Freeview Plus/Stan/Netflix  for 4K streaming) and the growing Internet of Things (IoT) devices like security cameras, home automation, watering systems, home appliances, heating/cooling etc. No matter how fast the router is, it cannot go faster than the bandwidth you buy  ADSL to NBN  somewhere from 10-100Mbps. My advice is to talk to your ISP about getting a maximum bandwidth plan. You want speed  Mbps - not necessarily Gigabytes of data.

You buy this A$699.95 device because money is not the object  you want maximum performance on your home network and maximum sharing of the available bandwidth. And perhaps you want a futuristic, future-proof, fire engine red router in the lounge.

Specifications:

4 x 4 simultaneous data streams  easily supports 20+ devices

MU-MIMO (Multi-user, multiple input/multiple outputs ) for sustained delivery of bandwidth to MIMO equipped end-points

) for sustained delivery of bandwidth to MIMO equipped end-points Beamforming means faster, more reliable connections regardless of home layout

Tri-band means you can keep older 2.4GHz devices off the 5GHz super highway and allocate one highway to bandwidth intensive devices

Speeds are 1 x 2.4GHz (1000Mbps), and 2 x 5GHz, (2,166Gbps each). The 2.4GHz band is good for going through walls and floors as the 5GHz tends to be stopped by these.

A simplified user interface makes set-up easy  you dont need to be a techy

4 x Gigabit LAN ports

1 x WAN port (it does not have an ADSL modem or gateway  internet is delivered from these devices to the router via Ethernet)

USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 ports for external hard disks, flash drives or printers

DLNA and media centre compatible

Ideal for small business use to with VPN (L2TP and IPSec) support and WPA2 encryption. The tri-band would be ideal to support staff, guests, corporate use, security, and IoT.

Comments

Without wanting to take anything away from D-Link  it is a quality Australian company  there is a lot of competition in the AC router space (there are at least three other brands offering AC5300). I have used D-Link products (as I have used others) and find them well built, reliable, and in this case really fast. Yes, it is a brand I would unreservedly purchase.

I repeat my earlier advice, however  talk to your ISP about obtaining maximum bandwidth because if you buy this router, you can use it  it would be a waste to connect it to steam driven ADSL. It would be like a Ferrari on a dirt road.

In my tests on other AC5300 routers, I have found that the major advantage is to put bandwidth hogs like 4K streaming on the second 5GHz band  allowing every other device in the house to receive enough bandwidth to do what they need to.

If you dont need tri-band and all that speed it is pretty safe to spend less and look at AC750, 1200, 1750, 1900 and 2600 speeds. All will deliver more performance than your internet speed!

If you have ADSL/2+ and are likely to continue using it then also look at the D-Link Taipan AC3200 modem/router with inbuilt ADSL/VDSL/NBN support  there is lots of choice from $100 upwards.
Two Italian architects have designed a data center that challenges how the structures are built. Instead of constructing a flat, sprawling complex, they are proposing a data center that reaches skyscraper heights.

At this stage, the data center designed by Marco Merletti, who works in Paris, and Valeria Mercuri, who is in Rome, is just an idea. But it's gotten recognition. The pair, who are both 28, recently received third place honors in the annual Skyscraper Competition held by architecture and design journal eVolo.

From a visual perspective, the circular, futuristic-looking "Data Tower," as Merletti and Mercuri call it, almost seems like something out of Star Trek. But it incorporates sustainable technology for efficiently cooling hundreds of thousands of servers, while increasing reliance on automation. Its ideas are grounded in existing technologies.

"Data centers today contain the majority of our knowledge, our personal information, our culture, our history," Merletti said. The content is "indispensable to us in every moment of our lives."

Data centers are not only repositories of knowledge, they are also major energy users, a factor that Merletti and Mercuri address with this design.

Marco Merletti and Valeria Mercuri This is an artist's rendering of what the Italian designers' proposed tower would look like from the outside.

The data center was created with Iceland in mind, which gives it potential for use by both U.S. and European companies. It can be powered by hydropower and geothermal energy, and Iceland's proximity to the Arctic Circle means natural cooling will play a big role.

"Data centers are very complex buildings. They are continuously in evolution," Merletti said. The design is conceived "as a giant 3D motherboard," on which components can be installed, updated and changed.

The building has a modular, cylindrical design. The servers are in pod units, with 24 pods to a floor, that are moved by an automated handling system. The pods can be moved to the ground floor where technicians would service and maintain them.

The pod concept is inspired by the Car Towers at the Autostadt in Wolfsburg, Germany. New cars made by Volkswagen are moved temporarily into towers that automate the storage process. On a smaller scale, the towers invoke a design not unlike the Apple Mac Pro tower, Merletti said.

The data tower, as with a radiator, is designed to have the maximum contact surface with the outside. The pods hooked on to the circular structure of the tower form a series of vertical blades.

The air inside the tower is hotter than the air outside, "so in a natural way this condition created a chimney effect," Merletti said. "The hot air inside the tower goes up and sucks the cold air from the outside. The outside cold air, to enter, is obliged to pass through the pods, and in this way cools the servers."

Some of this heat is captured to warm other parts of the building, as well as to supply heat to nearby greenhouses.

The data tower can be built at a height of 50 meters. The tower that the architects designed for the eVolo contest shows what the structure might look like at 300 meters in height, or approximately 65 floors.

The large libraries of the past were built, often enough, with majestic designs that reflected their importance in society. As data centers become repositories of all our culture and knowledge, "we must not ignore them," Merletti said.
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Heathrow's proposed expansion should be blocked, according to a member of the European Parliament.

Dr Caroline Lucas, Green MEP for south east England, tabled a report recently in Brussels arguing for significant cuts in air and noise pollution from jet aircraft.

She said Brussels had already expressed a wish to re-price air flights to make them more expensive and make rail journeys cheaper.

If this goes ahead, short haul flights would be cut and, she argued, airport expansion via Terminal 5 would not be necessary.

'Residents throughout the south east are plagued with the noise of planes landing and taking off with seconds between them,' she said.

'The farmland under flight paths is becoming more polluted, and the CO2 emissions in the upper atmosphere are contributing to climate change.' She added: 'I'm confident that moves to persuade people to travel by rail instead of air when possible will contribute to a better quality of life for the people living near the south east's airports, as well as help reduce CO2 emissions.'

The proposal to build a new terminal at Heathrow led to the longest public inquiry in UK history, ending last Spring and a decision is not expected before 2001.

Dr Lucas's report will be considered by the European Parliament at a meeting in Strasbourg next month.

It comes at the same time eight residents living under the flightpath to Heathrow are taking the British Government to the European Court of Human Rights.

They claim noise from flights infringes on their right to get a good night's sleep.

A decision on that case is expected within the next two weeks.
Recent Yahoo sale news revealed that Verizon may be planning to kick out Marissa Mayer if it succeeds in buying the company. The telco will be making their bid this week.

Vanity Fair reported that Verizon is planning to bid on Yahoo's core Internet business such as mail services, search features and news websites. The company is also believed to be bidding for a stake in Yahoo Japan.

Apparently, the telecommunications giant values Yahoo's Internet business at less than $8 billion. Moreover, if Verizon succeeds in purchasing the company, Marissa Mayer may find herself being booted out.

The publication noted that AOL boss Tim Armstrong and executive vice president Mari Walden will be replacing Mayer. They will reportedly run both Yahoo and AOL.

Previous Yahoo sale news has revealed that the deadline for the bids has been extended until Apr. 18. A deal is expected to come about by June or July this year.

Verizon and Comcast are believed to be on the shortlist. Furthermore, Alphabet Inc.'s main division, Google, is believed to be considering a bid for Yahoo's core business.

AT&T Inc. and Comcast are said to have decided against bidding as well as Microsoft Corp., which lost a bid for the company in 2008. Time Inc. is still in the evaluation stage while private equity funds companies such as Bain and TPG are believed to have plans to make a run at the business.

According to CNBC, value investor Mario Gabelli has revealed that he is in support of Verizon's buyout of Yahoo's core Internet business. "This is pretty simple. It's basically Investment Banking 101," he admitted.

Gabelli added that the deal makes sense since it follows Verizon's purchase of AOL worth $4.4 billion last year. Lowell McAdam, Verizon's chairman and CEO, has said that Yahoo would be a good fit for the AOL umbrella "at the right price."
When a company's younger brood of employees has convinced the organization regarding an unfair policy, that would mean change is evident. Coca-Cola is moving forward with a new policy that affects new parents in the company.

New parents at Coca-Cola will now get six weeks paid time off when their babies arrive into the world, as reported by the Huffington Post. Millenials have influenced the company into considering alternative policies that promote gender equality and human interests. On Monday, Coke announced that starting January, all new parents in the company which includes the fathers, foster parents and adoptive parents, will be entitled to six weeks leave. Previously, the company only allowed a duration of six to eight weeks paid leave for female employees that have just given birth. The new benefit is not available to unionized Coke workers. Overall 40,000 employees are eligible, out of 60,000 in the U.S.

The company went to Twitter to announce the new policy as well. Using their social media handle @CocaColaCo, they posted: "Announcing our new Paid Parental Leave Policy for ALL U.S. based non-bargaining associates."

The company's hope for this new change will also bring gender bias to rest at work. We think the most successful way to structure benefits to help working families is to make them gender-neutral and encourage both moms and dads to play an active role in their family lives," says Ceree Eberly, Coke's chief people officer.

Now, the company will begin to wonder how many new fathers in the company will take their six weeks leave. Whatever the case, this is a bold and positive move for the company.

"In addition to new policies, businesses must embrace inclusive cultures in which men and women know that they actually can take the leave and not be punished for it," said Josh Levs, the author of "All In", a book about fatherhood and the workplace. "Sadly, the American workplace is still plagued by stigmas."
The power of books is unfathomable. We, as human beings, are lucky to be able to avail such great pleasure of being able to savor the comfort, knowledge and art that a book can offer anytime we want to. Books are influential; they can be our handy teachers, movies and shapers. Books are blessings. Here is a list of the most influential books, according to the Business Insider.

1. The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Amazon synopsis: A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food-and each other.

2. The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff

Amazon synopsis: The how of Pooh? The Tao of who? The Tao of Pooh!?! In which it is revealed that one of the world's great Taoist masters isn't Chinese--or a venerable philosopher--but is in fact none other than that effortlessly calm, still, reflective bear. A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh! While Eeyore frets, and Piglet hesitates, and Rabbit calculates, and Owl pontificates, Pooh just is. And that's a clue to the secret wisdom of the Taoists.

3. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Amazon synopsis: Described by William Faulkner as the best novel ever written and by Fyodor Dostoevsky as "flawless," Anna Karenina tells of the doomed love affair between the sensuous and rebellious Anna and the dashing officer, Count Vronsky. Tragedy unfolds as Anna rejects her passionless marriage and thereby exposes herself to the hypocrisies of society. Set against a vast and richly textured canvas of nineteenth-century Russia, the novel's seven major characters create a dynamic imbalance, playing out the contrasts of city and country life and all the variations on love and family happiness.

4. Love is a Mixtape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time by Rob Sheffield

Amazon synopsis: Mix tapes: Stick one into a deck and you're transported to another time in your life. For Rob Sheffield, author of Turn Around Bright Eyes that time was one of miraculous love and unbearable grief. A time that spanned seven years, it started when he met the girl of his dreams, and ended when he watched her die in his arms. Using the listings of fifteen of his favorite mix tapes, Rob shows that the power of music to build a bridge between people is stronger than death. You'll read these words, perhaps surprisingly, with joy in your heart and a song in your head-the one that comes to mind when you think of the love of your life.

5. The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy

Amazon synopsis: When country-girl Grace Melbury returns home from her middle-class school she feels she has risen above her suitor, the simple woodsman Giles Winterborne. Though marriage had been discussed between her and Giles, Grace finds herself captivated by Dr Edred Fitzpiers, a sophisticated newcomer to the area-a relationship that is encouraged by her socially ambitious father. Hardy's novel of betrayal, disillusionment and moral compromise depicts a secluded community coming to terms with the disastrous impact of outside influences. And in his portrayal of Giles Winterborne, Hardy shows a man who responds deeply to the forces of the natural world, thought they ultimately betray him.
As the president of the Music Therapy Association of North Dakota, I am deeply concerned about the proposed suspension of the University of North Dakota music therapy program. Such a suspension will be devastating to our students, staff, faculty and clients.

First, I am appalled at the way the UND administration is handling the budget reduction process, including the proposed suspension of the music therapy program. Students invest thousand of tuition dollars in UND each year, for which they deserve an exceptional education. They also deserve to be dealt with fairly and honestly during this process, which I have yet to see. What I have seen is dedicated faculty working with students to ensure their future success as music therapists.

I have heard that many students are looking for alternative programs at which to finish out their degrees, a decision I completely understand. Why would a student continue to spend upwards of $10,000 per year at a school thats shown them so little regard? I would love for UND to retain the music therapy program, but, given that other universities appear to be handling their budget reductions by trimming administration rather than academic programs, perhaps another university in North Dakota could take on the program and serve these students.

Second, I am extremely concerned about the impact the program suspension will have on the clients we serve every day around the state of North Dakota. Music therapy students at UND provide approximately $136,000 in free services to community members each year, many of whom would not otherwise receive these services.

In conclusion, I ask the administration to reconsider suspending the music therapy program at UND. Furthermore, I ask the UND administration to collectively meet with the music therapy students, faculty and professionals to discuss this issue.
Land and Space Journal Sentinel business reporter Tom Daykin talks about commercial real estate and development. SHARE

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The investment group developing a restaurant and microbrewery at the former Pabst Brewery complex is receiving financing help from Milwaukee Economic Development Corp.

Blue Ribbon Redevelopment Fund V LLC will get a $625,346 loan from MEDC, a nonprofit business lender, for the $5.1 million project. The lender's Loan and Finance Committee approved the request at its Tuesday meeting.

Blue Ribbon is renovating its building at 1037 W. Juneau Ave. The former church was later used as an employee training and conference center by Pabst Brewing Co. before its Milwaukee brewery closed in 1996.

Pabst Brewing in July announced it would lease the building for its pilot brewery. The building also will have a tasting room, restaurant and beer garden.
Plugged In Thomas Content offers insight on changes in the world of energy, climate change and efforts to build a greener economy. SHARE

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Wisconsin utility customers looking for discounts on the Nest, ecobee or other smart thermostats will have to wait.

A pilot program offering the rebates to customers of We Energies and a Green Bay utility was popular  with more than 4,600 takers  but state regulators rejected Focus on Energy's proposal to expand it statewide.

The state Public Service Commission approved the pilot program last year but wants to wait for more information about the programs effectiveness before expanding it statewide.

Until now, customers of We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service Corp. in Green Bay have been eligible for the incentives. Focus initially offered a $100 incentive but has scaled that back to $75.

The administrator of the Focus program sought to expand it statewide given its popularity.

Pausing the program would create consumer confusion and dissatisfaction and could negatively impact the performance of subsequent statewide offerings, said Phil Montgomery, a PSC commissioner. Data provided by Focus from a similar rollout in Indiana showed energy savings for customers both in their electricity and natural gas usage, he said.

But PSC Chairperson Ellen Nowak and commissioner Mike Huebsch said the program shouldnt be expanded until theres more data demonstrating whether incentive has delivered energy savings for the state.

Its too early to take it statewide, said Huebsch, who said the state shouldnt be determining the success of the program based on whether the money was used.

Nowak, who initially agreed with Montgomery, sided with Huebsch. Theres no question people are buying it, but is it working? she asked. We dont have Wisconsin data that its producing significant (energy) savings.

She said Focus on Energy dollars should be focused on the programs that we know right now are getting the most bang for our buck.

Focus on Energy has been credited with producing $3 in savings for every $1 invested.

Last month, Gov. Scott Walker signed into law a bill that would make changes in how the program is funded, a move that is expected to reduce the Focus annual budget by about $7 million. The bill was supported by utilities that wanted to stop a practice that ended up requiring some utilities to contribute too much to Focus.
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Two commercial developments on Milwaukee's northwest side, Direct Supply Inc.'s expansion plans and the conversion of a Sam's Club store into light industrial space, were both recommended for approval Tuesday by a Common Council committee.

Direct Supply, which helps build, equip and operate long-term care and senior living communities, is planning a new office building in the center of its complex, which features several buildings on N. Industrial Road, north of W. Mill Road and east of N. 76th St..

The multistory building will replace a one-story building that will be demolished. The company is still working on its plans for the new building but expects to begin construction within 12 to 18 months.

The Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee voted 3-0 to endorse a zoning change for the project.

Direct Supply has more than 1,200 employees, including 1,050 employees at the Industrial Road headquarters. It expects to add around 700 employees over roughly five years.

Also, the committee voted 3-0 to approve MCR Group LLC's plans to convert the 138,500-square-foot Sam's Club building, 7701 W. Calumet Road, into light industrial space.

MCR, led by Matthew Ryan, is buying the building from an affiliate of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which opened a Sam's Club discount store there in 1991. That store will close after a new Sam's Club opens this summer north of W. Bradley Road and east of N. 124th St.

The building has been getting interest from prospective tenants, including two printing companies, said Sam Dickman Jr., of Dickman Co., the leasing broker.

The Sam's Club property is the latest in a series of large former stores converted to light industrial use in the area near the former Northridge Mall, which has seen a big slump in retail activity.

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More than 250 high school students from 15 Wisconsin communities will compete in a computer science programming contest at Marquette University on Wednesday.

Many of the students are learning computer science in their schools with support from a three-year, $1 million National Science Foundation grant that Marquette received in 2014. The goal of the grant is to double the number of teachers who teach computer science and coding in Wisconsin high schools.

When the grant began two years ago, there were only 32 advanced placement computer programming classes in the state's 500 high schools, and between 30 and 60 teachers doing some computer sciences teaching, Marquette said.

"We are on pace to reach our goal of doubling the number of computer science teachers in Wisconsin over three years," said Dennis Brylow, associate professor of mathematics, statistics and computer science at Marquette.

The programming contest is sponsored by Brylow's department and funded in part by a $35,000 grant from Google. Students will work on programming problems Wednesday morning during the competition. An awards ceremony will be held at 1 p.m.
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A nonprofit group organized a year ago to improve Milwaukee's near west side is launching Tuesday a three-year campaign to raise $5 million to help finance development projects.

Known as the Near West Side Economic Development Challenge Fund, the money will help the group invest in "priority projects," said Keith Stanley, Near West Side Partners Inc. executive director.

"We're looking at properties that are important to the overall branding and image of the neighborhood," Stanley said.

Near West Side Partners has already secured $2 million: $1.2 million in private cash from Milwaukee Urban Strategic Investment Corp. and the Harley-Davidson Foundation, and a previously announced $800,000 grant from Milwaukee County.

The Milwaukee Urban group is part of Milwaukee Development Corp., a nonprofit organization funded by businesses.

There is momentum for development on the near west side, including Rick Wiegand's plans to convert some former hospital buildings at W. State and N. 27th streets into new commercial space, Stanley said. That could help persuade other sources to provide donations to the challenge fund, he said.

Near West Side Partners was formed in 2015 by Marquette University, Harley-Davidson Inc., Aurora Health Care Inc., MillerCoors LLC and Potawatomi Business Development Corp.  all major neighborhood employers.

The challenge fund will be used to buy and renovate neighborhood properties, which will then be sold to raise additional cash for other investments.

It also will be used as a revolving loan fund for businesses opening on the near west side, an area bordered by I-43 on the east, Highway 175 on the west, I-94 on the south and W. Vliet St., west of N. 27th St. and W. Highland Blvd., east of N. 27th St., on the north.

Near West Side Partners is funded in part through a business improvement district, which collects annual special assessments from commercial property owners in the area. Those funds are used for facade improvements, increased security, marketing and other area activities.

The organization recently adopted a strategic plan that focuses on housing, safety, commercial corridor development and neighborhood identity and branding, as well as workforce development, education and health care.

The plan's goals can be accomplished, in part, by buying "problem properties" such as blighted apartments and commercial buildings, Stanley said.

The initial sites targeted for acquisition and redevelopment include a city-owned foreclosed rooming house at 3424-3426 W. Highland Ave. It will be converted into a duplex to provide housing for people who work on the near west side.

Also, Near West Side Partners plans to buy and renovate a city-owned commercial property at 964-966 N. 35th St. The two-story building, at the southeast corner of N. 35th St. and W. State streets, was once used as a George Webb restaurant before it closed several years ago.

"We are proud to be working with such great partners and investing in a clear, strategic effort to improve this important part of our city," said Pat O'Brien, Milwaukee Development Corp. president, in a statement. "We hope that our commitment will serve to attract others to join our work."

"We're proud to be reinvesting in the neighborhood we call home," said Tonit Calaway, vice president of human resources for Harley-Davidson Inc. and president of the Harley-Davidson Foundation, in a statement. "We believe the challenge fund is one more tool we can use to continue the great momentum in the near west side."

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The sluggishness that has long marked Wisconsin's entrepreneurial scene is impervious to gender, a new study indicates.

Wisconsin ranks well below the national average in the growth rate in the number of women-owned businesses since 2007, an analysis of U.S. census data for American Express Co. shows.

Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, Wisconsin placed 38th in percentage growth of firms owned by women. It trailed every state in the upper Midwest, though Minnesota was only marginally ahead.

This shouldn't be surprising. Several times since the mid-'90s, analyses of U.S. Small Business Administration data and studies by the Kauffman Foundation and others have found essentially the same thing about overall entrepreneurship in Wisconsin.

Recent work by Tessa Conroy and Steven Deller of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, for example, showed that start-ups here accounted for a smaller share of job creation than in all but three states.

The importance of agriculture and manufacturing in Wisconsin may help explain the state's longstanding position as an entrepreneurial laggard.

Both are mature industries and, as such, tend to see less start-up action, Deller, an economist, said in an email. He also said Wisconsin's population profile skews a bit older, "which again puts a little downward pressure on new start-ups."

Dan Olszewski, director of the Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship at UW-Madison, also pointed to agriculture and manufacturing, but with a cultural twist.

In both manufacturing and dairy farming  Wisconsin's most important agricultural sector  success often depends on hard work, high quality and craftsmanship, Olszewski said in an email.

"All very important and valuable attributes," he added, "but less focused on the risk taking that is required in most start-ups."

That orientation, which has yielded success historically, "may make it culturally more of a challenge for many in Wisconsin to take the path of high risk/high reward start-ups, since failure is so often looked down upon but is a very likely outcome when an entrepreneur is trying to do something really big and game changing," Olszewski said.

In fact, a high rate of business failure can indicate a dynamic, healthy economy, Conroy and Deller write. They point to other research indicating that, in metropolitan counties, failures of business establishments actually increase the overall employment growth rate.

"In the simplest sense," Conroy and Deller write, "churn is healthy for the economy."

And churn is not characteristic of Wisconsin. The state has a relatively high business survival rate.

From a policy perspective, Wisconsin has been slow to embrace start-ups, Deller said.

"Our policies and strategies still tend to focus on larger, established businesses," he said in his email. "Policies like right-to-work tend to favor those larger, established firms and (do) nothing for entrepreneurship."

Deller said many elected officials "are still thinking 'old school'  trying to attract businesses to move into town."

The number of women-owned firms has grown by 26.7% in Wisconsin since 2007, the American Express study said.

Three states  Florida, Georgia and Texas  topped 60%. Nationally, the growth rate was 45.2%.

Besides raw growth in the number of women-owned businesses, the American Express study also ranked states on the growth of revenue and employment, and combined the factors to measure "economic clout." On the latter measure, Wisconsin also ranked 38th.

The report was prepared for American Express OPEN, a payment card issuer for small businesses, by a Michigan research and consulting firm, Womenable.

The study used the Census Bureau's Survey of Business Owners from 2002, 2007 and 2012. The data were extrapolated to 2016, factoring in changes in gross domestic product at both the national and state levels, according to the report's description of the methodology used.
Milwaukee Brewing is one of the featured breweries during Milwaukee Beer Week, which runs April 16-23. Credit: Beechwood Distributing

Happy Milwaukee Beer Week.

Think of it as business as usual, with a slightly stronger emphasis on the brew that made Milwaukee famous. Look for special tap takeovers and rare beer offers throughout the Milwaukee area beginning Saturday through April 23.

Our pick for a can't-miss event happens on April 22, when the newly organized Milwaukee Craft Brewery League hosts a tap takeover from 6 to 9 p.m. at Brenner Brewery, 706 S. 5th St.

The gathering is a chance to try beers from Milwaukee Brewing Co.;Brenner Brewing; MobCraft; Lakefront Brewery; Sprecher Brewing Co.; D14 Brewpub; Company Brewing; Raised Grain Brewing Co.; City Lights Brewery; Good City Brewing; and Black Husky; and meet the owners.

Here are more highlights:

Saturday:Surly Tap Takeover and Patio Party at Vanguard, 2659 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. Come for the beer. Stay for the sausages from Surly and Vanguard chefs. Last year's inaugural Surly party drew a big crowd and deservedly so. It starts at noon. Go early.

Saturday:Discount Liquor locations  5031 W. Oklahoma Ave., and 919 N. Barstow St., Waukesha  will give a bottle of Founders KBS vintage 2014 bottle to the first 24 people in line beginning at 9 a.m. As a bonus, they'll have more specialty beers available.

Saturday: Kickoff Milwaukee Beer Week and celebrate Record Store Day simultaneously at The Sugar Maple, 441 E. Lincoln Ave. Make a purchase at a neighborhood record shop and get $1 off a Dogfish brew. The lineup includes: Beer to Drink Music To, Bitches Brew, FORT, Romantic Chemistry, Palo Santo, 60 Minute IPA and Namaste, according to the event Facebook page.

Saturday:Cleveland Pub and Grill, 14000 W. Cleveland Ave., New Berlin taps New Holland's Mischievous  a 100% Brett-fermented Wild Ale starting at 11 a.m.

Saturday: Cellar Spring Cleaning at Rumpus Room, 1030 N. Water St. They're hauling out the 2014 through 2015 vintage brews, including Peruvian Morning and Local Option de Kleine Dood from Central Waters, for happy hour from 3 to 5 p.m.

Sunday: I'll be behind the pull at Wisconsin Ovarian Cancer Alliance Crafts & Drafts on Sunday. Wisconsin Ovarian Cancer Alliance Crafts & Drafts Spring Beer Festival, hosted by Discount Liquor, serves regular, seasonal and rare beers from 1 to 5 p.m. for VIP entrance and 2 to 5 p.m. for general admission at Serb Hall, 5101 W. Oklahoma Ave. Advance ticket prices range from $55 to $70. Proceeds benefit the Wisconsin Ovarian Cancer Alliance.

Monday:Dugout 54, 5328 W. Blue Mound Road, taps all things Goose Island from 5 to 10:30 p.m. The list includes Lolita, a sour ale barrel-aged with 50 pounds of fresh raspberries; Goose Island Fassinator, a one-time-only brew from the Fulton & Wood series; and Goose Island Fulton St. Blend Coffee Ale.

Tuesday:Draft & Vessel, 4417 N. Oakland Ave., Shorewood, will release the dragons  the 2015 Dragon's Milk Reserves from New Holland  starting at 5 p.m.

Tuesday:Steny's, 800 S. 2nd St., celebrates the power of sour when New Glarus Brewery samples its R&D Vintage 2014, Enigma 2015 and Oud Bruin 2016 from 5 to 7 p.m.

Tuesday:3 Sheeps' owner Grant Pauly brings the beer, La Masa, 1300 E. Brady St., adds the cocktails from 5 to 8 p.m.

Tuesday: The KBS isn't over until the keg is empty. It will just be beginning at Landmark 1850, 5905 S. Howell Ave. The 2016 keg is tapped at 5 p.m.

Wednesday: Sample Vander Mill Cider from 3 to 6 p.m. at Discount Liquor, 919 N. Barstow Ave., Waukesha.

Wednesday: You knew someone would be serving Lagunitas 420. Stubby's Gastrogrub, 2060 N. Humboldt Blvd., is. They've fired up the Randalls for infusion purposes. Boulder Beer, Dogfish Head and Lagunitas flights of infusions along with some brewhouse rarities will be served starting at 4:20 p.m.

Wednesday: Palm Tavern, 2989 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., heads to the cellar and, for the third year, comes up with an impressive array of barrel-aged brews to pour beginning at 7 p.m. See the Palm Tavern Facebook page.

Wednesday:Central Waters Brewing hosts its annual tap takeover/brouhaha/hootenanny/shindig at Burnhearts, 2599 S. Logan Ave. Expect 12 rare beers and  surprise  a firkin. The party begins at 3 p.m.

Wednesday: Beer reps hit the high notes in the first Karaoke Throwdown during Milwaukee Beer Week. The public is invited. The music starts at 9:30 p.m. at The Newsroom Pub (part of the SafeHouse), 137 E. Wells St.

Thursday:Upper 90, 322 W. State St., will serve the original Imperial Stouts from Bourbon County starting at 4 p.m. Bottles of the 2013 and 2014 vintages are available. Bourbon County Stout on draft is from 2015.

Thursday: Mike Romans will pour beers carefully kept in the cellar, including 2012 Bourbon County Stout, 2015 Bourbon County Stout Coffee and 2015 Bourbon County Stout Regal Rye, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Romans' Pub, 3475 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.

Thursday: Beer vertical tastings meet cheese vertical tastings starting at 6 p.m. at Sugar Maple, 441 E. Lincoln Ave. North Coast Brewing representative John Lutz will guide patrons through a flight of 2012, 2013 and 2015 Old Stock and Rye Barrel Aged 2014 Cellar Reserve Old Stock. A ticketed pairing experience pairing ales with four years of Hook's sharp cheddar is available.

Thursday: Meet Larry Schneiberg from Sierra Nevada Brewing and sample New Otra Vez Goze , Kellerweis and Pale Ale from 8 to 10 p.m. at Maxwell's, W63-N699 Washington Ave., Cedarburg.

April 22: Technically, it's day drinking. Starting at 11 a.m. Vanguard, 2659 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., pairs old-school cartoons with North Coast Acme Brand IPA and Pale Ale and add a special Vanguard sausage for good measure, created in the true spirit of the occasion. Look for a rare keg of North Coast Tart Cherry Berlinerweisse to show up.

April 23: Saturday happy hour gets Surly with Todd the Axe Man, Abrasive and BLAKKR from the Surly Brewing inventory. Beers are paired with food specials. Bring your growler for fills from 3 to 5 p.m. at Rumpus Room, 1030 N. Water St.

April 23:Old Town Beer Hall, N116-W15841 Main St., in Germantown will toast the 500th anniversary of the Reinheitsgebot, the German beer purity law by pouring Weihenstephan brewery's 1516 Kellerbier, named for the year from which the beer's recipe dates. The tapping and a spanferkel buffet start at 6 p.m.; entertainment will be by Alpensterne band from 6 to 9. The event is $10.

April 23:Hale House, 10539 W. Forest Home Ave., Hales Corners, taps Surly's Todd the Axe Man, Founders Mosaic Promise and presents Dogfish Head 120 Minutes in bottles starting at 11 a.m.

April 24:The Sugar Maple, 441 E. Lincoln Ave., presents New Glarus hosted by Deb Carey, founder and owner of the brewery, for its April Brewery Series. The event runs from 4 to 6 p.m. Admission is $15 and includes five samples.

A complete list of events is available at milwaukeebeerweek.com.
Live: Packers-Commanders live game blog with Tom Silverstein

Tom Silverstein will provide updates and analysis as the Packers take on the Washington Commanders at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland.
First things first: Passover is not the Jewish Easter, although the two holidays are both in spring and both share a theme of redemption.

Passover has no bunnies and no baskets; it does, however, call for lots of eggs (uncolored) and for me, an abundance of dark chocolate.

For the eight days of Passover, Jewish people are required by the Torah to give up all things leavened including bread, flour, pasta and wheat. We replace "regular" bread with a special unleavened (in other words, flat) non-bread called matzo.

I look forward to that first taste of matzo every Passover, but by day three, matzo starts to taste like paper. Every year our family jokes, "Want a piece of matzo? No thanks, I'll just eat a sheet of paper or an envelope."

Fortunately, there are no restrictions on fruits and vegetables, and kosher-for-Passover meat and dairy products are also allowed, making a healthy and delicious Passover completely doable.

Local cantor Jeremy Stein and his wife, Amanda Ruppenthal Stein, and Kim Kushner, author of "The New Kosher," recently shared their thoughts about Passover food and a few of their favorite healthy Passover recipes.

Jeremy Stein is half of the clergy team (with Rabbi Jacob Herber) at Congregation Beth Israel Ner Tamid in Glendale. As he notes, Passover celebrates the Exodus from slavery in Egypt to redemption. According to the Torah, in their rush to leave Egypt, the Jewish people didn't have time to let their bread rise.

"To commemorate this, we eat unleavened bread."

The eight days of Passover begin with the interactive dinner known as Seder where families and friends gather to retell the Passover story, sing songs and discuss freedom and slavery then and now.

"There's a spiritual element," Stein says, "that even in a free country, we ask, 'What do we find ourselves enslaved by?'"

His wife, a doctoral candidate in musicology at Northwestern University, adds: "Are you enslaved to your work? Or your cellphone?"

Adds Stein, "There's also the idea that leavening in food is the physical leavening that represents the excesses in our lives that we can do without."

Kosher food manufacturers such as Manischewitz and Streit's offer hundreds of kosher-for-Passover certified products.

For these companies and for kosher grocery stores around the world, the days leading up to Passover are like an extended Black Friday with Jewish people stocking up on products for the holiday.

Confession: We try to be a health-conscious family, but I admit that my kids' go-to Passover breakfast is pancakes from a Manischewitz mix with chocolate chips thrown in, topped with kosher-for-Passover pancake syrup.

I cook up the first batch of pancakes on the first Sunday night of Passover and re-heat them in the morning to save time.

But processed, packaged alternatives aren't the healthiest choice when it comes to feeding the Steins' 2-year-old daughter, Mirit.

"You have to think more creatively, you think more about whole food," says Ruppenthal Stein. "So you might say, 'I don't need that granola bar, I can have an egg instead.'" (Note: when time permits, I make eggs for breakfast instead of the sugar- and carb-filled pancakes.)

"One of our family favorites is eggplant Parmesan, similar to lasagna," Stein says. "It's a year-round recipe, and for Passover we substitute matzo meal for breadcrumbs."

"Instead of lasagna noodles, we use eggplant," Ruppenthal Stein adds.

Stein discovered another family favorite while he was in Cantorial School at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City.

"I was teaching a Hebrew class on Jewish music, and each week I would make a meal from a different region," he recalls. "That was my way to keep high school students interested on a Sunday morning."

This was in his single days, and Stein admits that he wasn't much of a cook back then.

He says, "By the end of the semester I had a pretty good repertoire of recipes that I had Googled, and Moroccan couscous was the first dish I learned how to make. During Passover we substitute quinoa for couscous." (Note: Quinoa is kosher for Passover, while couscous is not.)

Kushner, the cookbook author and cooking instructor, is based in New York City. Kushner stays true to her year-round style of cooking even for Passover.

"I try not to change too much for Passover," she says. "If you stick with seasonal, fresh, simple foods, you can't go wrong."

She avoids the packaged, processed Passover substitutes as much as possible.

"Instead of focusing on the restrictions, try to focus on all that's available," she advises. "If there's an imitation or a substitute, I'd rather not use it."

"You have to keep your customers satisfied by using simple proteins you know are family favorites," she says of feeding her family.

Kushner's red roast chicken is a perfect example. She serves it year-round.

"It's simple, it presents beautifully and it's delicious. I'll serve it with a bunch of veggies like fennel and pearl onions, carrots and zucchini or whatever's available for that season."

Kushner's shaved brussels sprouts are another simple, yet impressive crowd pleaser. "The brussels sprouts take no time to prepare, and everybody goes crazy for them."

In our house, the goal is to cook a kosher-for-Passover meal that tastes like an everyday meal.

Keeping Kushner's concept of keeping family favorites in mind makes it easy. We love broiled teriyaki salmon, so I mix up a kosher-for-Passover teriyaki glaze of kosher-for-Passover "soy" sauce (soy itself is forbidden for Passover, and this product is saltier but similar in taste), fresh crushed garlic and honey.

Add a salad and a baked sweet potato, and we've got a reasonably healthy, delicious Passover meal.

And for dessert? Fresh strawberries are delicious and healthy, even when dipped in kosher-for-Passover dark chocolate.
Medina Rosas, left, of Milwaukee talks to a poll worker before voting at the Charles Allis Art Museum, 1801 N. Prospect Ave., in Milwaukee on April 5. Credit: Mike De Sisti

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Madison  A panel of three federal judges opened up the possibility Tuesday that Wisconsin voters who have great difficulty getting photo IDs could cast ballots without them.

The unanimous decision by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals panel keeps the voter ID law in place, but provides a potential way for those who can't get IDs to vote.

For now, such people can't vote, and the case now returns to U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman in Milwaukee for further proceedings.

The opponents of the voter ID law hope to move quickly. Primaries for Congress and the Legislature are Aug. 9 and the fall election is Nov. 8.

Tuesday's ruling is targeted at those who have severe challenges getting photo IDs, such as people whose birth certificates contain errors or are no longer available.

"The right to vote is personal and is not defeated by the fact that 99% of other people can secure the necessary credentials easily," Appeals Judge Frank Easterbrook wrote for the panel.

GOP Gov. Scott Walker and Republicans in the Legislature approved the voter ID law in 2011, but it was blocked for years by state and federal court decisions.

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and Wisconsin Supreme Court in separate litigation upheld the law in 2014, and it was in effect for elections this February and last week.

Those challenging the law in federal court tried to continue their case, shifting their focus to those who have difficulties in getting IDs. Adelman threw out that challenge in October, finding it couldn't continue under the federal appeals court's finding that the voter ID law is constitutional.

But the panel of appeals judges on Tuesday ruled that the case could continue for those voters who have challenges getting IDs. They noted instances where government agencies have lost birth certificates in fires or where people have been told they can't get an ID without a Social Security card and they can't get a Social Security card without an ID.

The three judges who issued Tuesday's ruling  Easterbrook, Diane Sykes and Michael Kanne  were all appointed by Republican presidents.

Easterbrook and Kanne were appointed by President Ronald Reagan. Sykes, a former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice, was appointed to the federal bench by President George W. Bush.

Easterbrook and Sykes also were on the panel that upheld the voter ID law in 2014.

The U.S. Supreme Court set a national precedent in 2008 when it upheld Indiana's voter ID law. Legal challenges continue because Wisconsin and other states have adopted voter ID laws more stringent than Indiana's.

For instance, Indiana's law allows people who can't get IDs to sign affidavits at the polls instead of showing IDs. Wisconsin has no such provision  a point the appeals judges noted Tuesday.

"Indeed, one may understand plaintiffs as seeking for Wisconsin the sort of safety net that Indiana has had from the outset," Easterbrook wrote.

"Under Wisconsin's current law, people who do not have qualifying photo ID ... cannot vote, even if it is impossible for them to get such an ID. Plaintiffs want relief from that prohibition, not from the general application of (the voter ID law) to the millions of persons who have or readily can get qualifying photo ID."

Sean Young, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney challenging the law, said his group would seek to establish a system for voters to sign affidavits to vote in Wisconsin.

"We're obviously thrilled with the court's ruling," he said.

Madison attorney Lester Pines said Tuesday's ruling could lead to a victory for a small subset of voters.

"The 7th Circuit has found that the district court has to allow for the presentation of evidence about the hurdles that some people have to obtaining photo ID that actually keep people from voting," said Pines, who is not involved in this case but represented the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin in a separate challenge against the law in state court.

Johnny Koremenos, a spokesman for Attorney General Brad Schimel, emphasized that the case now focuses on a small group of voters. He noted voters can get IDs for free from the state Department of Transportation.

"Given the overwhelming success of the DOT program, and the fact that our state's recent primary elections involved record turnouts, we are confident that we will prevail on the narrow issues that the court remanded on," Koremenos said in a statement.
Breon K. Williams (left) and Romello Anderson (right) face charges in a November fatal shooting outside Hillside Terrace Apartments in Milwaukee. Credit: Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office

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Two people were charged Tuesday in a November fatal shooting while a crowd gathered for a fight between two women at the Hillside Terrace Apartments just north of downtown.

Romello Anderson, 20, and Breon K. Williams, 19, each face a count of first-degree reckless homicide as party to a crime in the death of Dominique Montrell Jordan. They also both are charged as parties to the crime of first-degree recklessly endangering safety for a shot that hit 22-year-old Danae Hill.

According to the criminal complaint:

Witnesses said two women were fighting in front of a crowd at N. 8th and W. Galena streets on Nov. 8 when someone began firing shots. Hill, a friend of one of the combatants, was hit in the foot.

Jordan, 24, a boyfriend of the combatants, was shot in the back but managed to get to his car and drive away. Minutes later, police found him deceased in the car, which had crashed into a retaining wall near N. 10th and W. Walnut streets.

Back at the fight scene, police found a .45-caliber handgun, apparently dropped by Jordan before he was shot and fled, along with .45, .380 and 9mm shell casings.

People weren't talking, and no arrests were made.

Then in February, detectives heard from Menomonee Falls police, who had arrested someone who claimed to know about the shooting.

That man said Anderson had told him last fall that he had been shot, but couldn't go to the hospital because the man who shot him was dead.

So he went to Anderson's house and heard that when the fight started, Jordan had pulled a gun, prompting Anderson and Williams, his cousin, to shoot at Jordan's group.

Hill identified Anderson from a photo array as the person she saw pull a gun at the fight. Another of Jordan's friends present at the shooting picked Anderson from a lineup as one of the shooters.

Last week, police interviewed Williams, who admitted that he and Anderson were among a large group who accompanied Nadirah "Pooh" King, 21, to her fight with Dominique Smith.

(One of the group was Terrel Brooks, 20, who was charged Tuesday with felony murder in a January armed robbery.)

When Williams and Anderson saw Jordan pull a gun and fire a shot, they fired back. Anderson was hit in the elbow, Williams said, and Williams thought he probably fired the shot that hit Hill in the foot.

He said he sold his laser-sight equipped .380 that night.
Bascom Hall on the UW-Madison campus in Madison. Credit: Mark Hoffman

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Larger class sizes, fewer course offerings, cuts to academic advising, potentially increasing how long it takes to finish a degree, loss of student jobs on campus, inability to grow high-demand programs and outdated academic facilities not being maintained.

Only time will tell whether a $250 million biennial state funding cut to the University of Wisconsin System will result in the leaner, more efficient campuses that Republican lawmakers envision or an erosion of the quality education the campuses provide to roughly 180,000 students that critics of the cuts fear. There likely will be some of both.

The UW System on Monday evening released to state lawmakers and the news media one-page summaries of how the cuts are being implemented on each of the 13 four-year campuses, plus UW Colleges and UW Extension. The documents collectively provide the first big-picture look at how state funding cuts have affected higher education in Wisconsin's public universities, while most other states have increased funding for higher education.

Each campus took a different percentage cut, based on a decades-old funding formula modified during the 2015-'17 budget to help campuses least able to absorb the cuts. Each campus also handled and summarized the cuts differently, so the one-page reports weren't all apples-to-apples for comparison purposes.

Campuses consistently cut administrative costs. UW-Milwaukee, for example, is eliminating 25% of its vice chancellor/associate vice chancellor positions and reducing other administrative positions by 10%.

Asked about Gov. Scott Walker's reaction to how campuses handled the cuts, spokeswoman Laurel Patrick responded that the UW System's total annual operating budget this year was the largest in state history.

"In fact, the UW System recently passed a budget that spent nearly $100 million more than it did last year," Patrick said. "With a budget that spends that much, the UW should be able to fund its priorities."

Looking strictly at how the budget cuts could affect students, several common themes emerged.

Increased class sizes and fewer courses and course sections:More than half of the four-year campuses  UW-Eau Claire, UW-Madison, UW-Milwaukee, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Platteville, UW-River Falls and UW-Stevens Point  mentioned they increased class sizes or reduced class offerings because they lost faculty to early retirement, job offers from other universities and, in some cases, buyouts. The campuses then either froze or eliminated most vacant positions.

At UW-Madison, all general fund hiring was frozen this year in the largest college, Letters & Science. The college ultimately will cut 48 faculty and 44 staff positions. With these losses, departments are reducing the number of courses offered, increasing class sizes or substituting staff for faculty instructors.

At UWM, officials report that larger class sizes and reductions in faculty could threaten the accreditation of four of its schools: Lubar School of Business, Peck School of the Arts, Helen Bader School of Social Welfare and School of Education.

"The provost is working with the schools and accrediting bodies to take steps necessary to ensure that accreditation is not jeopardized," Robin Van Harpen, UWM's vice chancellor for finance and administrative affairs, told the Journal Sentinel. "However, this is a challenge now as a result of the cuts and need to continue to decrease staffing across UWM."

This spring, UW-Eau Claire offered 197 fewer class sections  a 12% drop  compared to spring 2015. The campus also increased average class size by 14%. That was after the campus cut 15% of its workforce  179 full-time equivalency positions. A third of those positions directly affect student instruction.

UW-Whitewater said it offered 42 fewer courses and 118 fewer course sections last fall than the previous fall.

UW Colleges did not reduce faculty or course offerings due to the cut. Instead, UW Colleges consolidated and regionalized the administrative structure. It reduced its non-instructional workforce by 22%, creating a 533:1 student to academic adviser ratio.

Eight campuses, in addition to UW Colleges, said fewer academic advisers could mean more students taking longer to complete a degree:

UW-Green Bay, UW-La Crosse, UW-Madison, UW-Milwaukee, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Platteville, UW-River Falls and UW-Stevens Point all mentioned concerns about cutbacks in academic advising.

UW-Madison's College of Engineering halted a planned expansion of advisers. The college has 17 advisers to serve 6,600 students  at least five advisers below the minimum needed to serve students effectively, according to UW-Madison's budget cut summary.

UW-Stevens Point eliminated three positions in Academic Advising and Career Services, reducing capacity for both academic and career advising.

Fewer student jobs on campuses:UW-Madison reports it has drastically reduced student employment positions across campus. Human Resources cut more than 6,500 hours of student employment, while Research and Sponsored Programs cut about 6,300 hours of student employment.

UW-Green Bay's report mentioned loss of student employment opportunities, but did not provide details.

Less support for IT: UW-La Crosse reported significant reductions to its operating budget for information technology services. "

UW-Madison reported its Division of Information Technology reduced its array of services to students in 2015-'16. Labs are updated less frequently as a result of computer lab support reductions. Students now must pay for services elsewhere because a digital media lab closed. Also, early-morning and late-night help desk hours for students were reduced.

Inability to expand enrollments in areas of increased demand: UW-Madison reported it hasn't been able to expand enrollment in business, engineering and nursing because of budget cuts  programs that are high-demand and high-value.

UWM reported it is less able to meet its region's workforce and talent development needs as well as research needs of industry because it cannot address capacity needs in nursing, engineering and business.

Lack of state funding for facilities repair and maintenance: Campuses say it could mean having to redirect money away from education. Or, the buildings will not be maintained.

UWM has two failing buildings: Chemistry and Engineering. It also has underutilized and inaccessible buildings. For example, UWM can use only 340,000 of the 880,000 square feet available in the former Columbia St. Mary's Hospital complex purchased in 2010 because it hasn't received state funding to renovate it and bring it up to safety codes.

UW-Platteville reported the 2015-'17 biennial budget provided no meaningful funding for repair and maintenance. Faculty are attempting to teach industry standard biology in a 1977 facility that's unchanged except for a campus-funded project in 2010. And faculty are trying to teach cutting-edge mechanical and civil engineering in a 1966 facility, the university reported.
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More than 30 school districts across southeastern Wisconsin will share about $2 million of a $7.5 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit against the Wisconsin Education Association Insurance Trust approved by a Dane County judge, the law firm representing the schools announced Tuesday.

The 141 school districts involved in the lawsuit will share $4.9 million after legal fees and court costs. The local payouts range from $658 for a handful of small districts in Waukesha and Kenosha counties to $216,629 for the Kettle Moraine School District in Waukesha County.

Elsewhere, the Oshkosh School District received the largest settlement, of $367,766.

The settlements resolve a 2012 class-action lawsuit filed by the Hartland-Lakeside, Oconomowoc, and Arrowhead school districts. The suit sought the recovery of federal funds distributed under a program enacted as part of the Affordable Care Act.

The schools argued that WEA Trust had obtained several million dollars in the disputed funds by using health care claims data for early retirees of the class member school districts and then refused to pay the funds to school districts that moved their insurance business to WEA Trust's competitors. The WEA Trust argued that it was entitled to keep those funds.

Under the terms of the settlement, the schools received between 60% and 65% of the disputed funds, an attorney for the districts said.

Districts in six southeastern Wisconsin counties will share about $2 mllion of the $4.9 million. They are:

Milwaukee County: Brown Deer, $1,675; Franklin, $16,617; Greendale, $1,068; and Shorewood, $47,286.

Waukesha County: Kettle Moraine, $216,629; Mukwonago, $182,737; Muskego-Norway, $165,415; Oconomowoc, $160,599; Menomonee Falls, $135,508; Hartland-Lakeside, $96,391; Arrowhead Union, $79,704; Palmyra-Eagle, $23,539; Lake Country, $23,187; Stone Bank, $11,350; North Lake, $8,461; and Merton, Richmond and Swallow Elementary, $658 each.

Ozaukee County: Cedarburg, $46,834; Grafton, $40,859; Mequon-Thiensville, $78,730; Northern Ozaukee, $39,377.

Washington County: Hartford Joint 1, $51,784; Hartford Union, $48,796; Kewaskum, $103,448; and Slinger, $87,001.

Racine County: Burlington Area, $61,138; and Waterford Graded 1, $31,315.

Kenosha County: Bristol 1, $36,976; Central Westosha, $45,201; Paris Joint 1, $2,232; Randall Joint 1, $658; Salem, $39,640; Silver Lake Joint 1, $6,475; Trevor Wilmot Consolidated, $3,470; Twin Lakes 4, $15,543; Wheatland Joint 1, $10,262; Wilmot Union High School, $27,734.
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New York The wealthiest Americans can expect to live at least a decade longer than the poorest  and that gap, as with income inequality, is growing ever wider.

New research in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows top-earning Americans gained two to three years of life expectancy between 2001 and 2014, while those at the bottom gained little or nothing.

Plenty of research already has shown that health and wealth are intertwined and that they generally improve in tandem as you move up the income scale. But this year, wildly divergent incomes among Americans and the vanishing middle class have been central issues in a vitriolic race for the White House.

The JAMA research shows in the starkest terms yet how disparities in wealth are mirrored by life expectancy and how both are getting worse.

Research last year showed that mortality rates are rising among middle-age whites, largely due to suicide, drug overdoses and alcohol. That work, by Princeton University economists Anne Case and Nobel Prize winner Angus Deaton, reflected economic stresses on working-class whites that have in turn fueled the ascendancy of Republican Donald Trump and his message.

The latest paper reinforces the idea that inequality in the United States  the issue that's also driven Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' campaign on the Democratic side  has consequences beyond wealth and income.

Take a 40-year-old man in the top 1%. He can expect to live, on average, to 87. His counterpart in the bottom 1% would be expected to perish, on average, before his 73rd birthday. For women, who live longer on average, the gap was narrower, but still substantial. Life expectancy for the richest women is almost 89, about 10 years longer than the poorest.

The authors  economists from Stanford University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, consulting firm McKinsey & Co., and the U.S. Treasury's office of tax analysis  used anonymous Internal Revenue Service data from 1.4 billion tax records over 15 years and matched them to death records from the Social Security Administration.

The change between 2001 and 2014 shows the wealthy are benefiting more from gains in longevity than the destitute. Men among the top 5% of earners gained more than two years and women gained almost three. In the bottom 5%, life expectancy for men increased by only a few months and for women, hardly at all.

When the researchers looked at how life expectancy changed by geography, there were some bright spots. Among the bottom 25% of incomes, some regions had longevity gains of more than four years, while others lost more than two years.

The differences "suggest that the increasing inequality in health outcomes in the U.S. as a whole is not immutable," the authors write.

The shortest life expectancy in the poorest quartile was in Oklahoma and Rust Belt cities such as Gary, Ind., and Toledo, Ohio. The longest was in cities like New York and San Francisco, "with highly educated populations, high incomes and high levels of government expenditures."

The geographic differences in life expectancy for low-income people weren't strongly explained by access to health care, unemployment rates or housing segregation, the authors write. Instead, lifestyle and behavior were at work: smoking, obesity and exercise. "Individuals in the lowest income quartile have more healthful behaviors and live longer in areas with more immigrants, higher home prices, and more college graduates," the researchers found.

It is important to note that the relationship between income and life expectancy is complicated. An analysis like this can show associations, but it can't prove that one factor, like living in a highly educated city, caused people to live longer.

"Income is correlated with other attributes that directly affect health," the authors write, and those attributes aren't measured in the analysis. Measuring life expectancy at age 40, as this study does, also doesn't capture important measures of health like infant mortality.

Deaton, in a commentary accompanying the research, wrote that "the infamous 1%" get an extra 10 to 15 years "to enjoy their richly funded lives and to spend time with their children and grandchildren, and they are pulling away from everyone else. Inequality in health reinforces inequality in income, and perhaps even a longer life is for sale."

ONE EXAMPLE

A 40-year-old man in the top 1% can expect to live, on average, to 87.

His counterpart in the bottom 1% would be expected to die, on average, before his 73rd birthday.
Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel relied on help from lawyers suing prosecutors and investigators when he filed a friend-of-the-court brief in January that would make it harder for Milwaukee District Attorney John Chisholm to defend himself. Credit: Mark Hoffman

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Madison  State Attorney General Brad Schimel got help from lawyers suing prosecutors and investigators when he filed a friend-of-the-court brief in January that would make it harder for Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm to defend himself.

Documents released Tuesday under the state's open records law show the lawyers suing Chisholm provided Schimel's team with an outline of how to frame its argument trying to keep Chisholm from having easy access to material seized in a probe of Gov. Scott Walker's campaign.

The release of the records highlights an unusual situation  the state's top lawyer working with attorneys who hope to force taxpayers to shell out money because of the actions of public officials.

One of the attorneys involved and a spokesman for Schimel said it was normal for those with common interests in litigation to coordinate their filings. They noted Schimel's team did not pursue many of the arguments recommended by the outside attorneys.

The dispute over evidence comes in a lawsuit filed by former Walker aide Cindy Archer. She sued the Democratic district attorney in July, arguing he had engaged in a "continuous campaign of harassment and intimidation" of supporters of the GOP governor.

Chisholm conducted two investigations related to Walker. Archer's home was raided as part of the first probe, but she was not charged. Six others were convicted in that case.

The second investigation focused on whether Walker had illegally worked with conservative political groups on recall elections. That probe was halted last year by the state Supreme Court, which concluded no wrongdoing occurred.

The high court ordered prosecutors to turn over material they gathered to the justices, but Chisholm and his aides have asked to be able to keep it so they can defend themselves in Archer's suit.

Schimel, a Republican, sided with Archer in arguing the seized material should not be left in the hands of Chisholm's team.

In response, Chisholm attorney Samuel Leib maintains Schimel has defamed the district attorney. He argued in February it was inappropriate for Schimel to file his friend-of-the-court brief because his office earlier had declined to participate in the probe of Walker's campaign and litigation related to it because of conflicts of interest.

U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman is to hear arguments Wednesday on whether to allow Chisholm to retain evidence seized in the probe. A decision in Chisholm's favor could lead to further legal disputes because it would conflict with the state Supreme Court's ruling.

He will also hear arguments on a request by Chisholm to throw out the lawsuit.

New records. The records released Tuesday show Andrew Grossman, an attorney at the firm representing Archer, on Jan. 7 provided Deputy Attorney General Andrew Cook a copy of filings by Chisholm's team seeking to keep the material prosecutors had seized.

"Please let me know if there's anything else we can do to assist," Grossman wrote.

Two weeks later, on Jan. 21, Grossman's firm sent an overnight letter to Assistant Attorney General David Meany with a three-page legal memo titled "Proposed Issue Outline for Wisconsin Amicus Brief in Archer v. Chisholm."

A week later, on Jan. 29, Schimel and his aides filed their friend-of-the-court brief siding with Archer.

On Tuesday, Grossman said his firm provided information to Schimel's office at the Department of Justice's request.

"It is appropriate and routine for parties to communicate with amici," or friends of the court, Grossman said by email. "Many courts require parties to coordinate arguments with amici so as to avoid duplicative briefing, and that is considered a best practice in all cases involving amici."

Schimel spokesman Johnny Koremenos said in a statement it is common for those with similar stances in a case to be in touch with each other.

"A comparison of DOJ's brief to the outline provided by Ms. Archer's attorneys demonstrates most of their proposed arguments were not mentioned in DOJ's brief," his statement said.
Confronted repeatedly by speculation about the GOP nomination, House Speaker Paul Ryan planned to hold a press conference Tuesday to categorically rule out any scenario under which he would seek the presidency this year. Credit: Associated Press

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Washington At a news conference aimed at killing one of this city's most persistent parlor games, House Speaker Paul Ryan ruled out "once and for all" serving as a candidate for president this year.

"I do not want nor will I accept the nomination for our party," Ryan told reporters at the headquarters of the Republican National Committee, disavowing the notion that he could wind up with the GOP nomination if the candidates currently running in the primaries fall short.

"Count me out," he said. "If you want to be the nominee for our party  to be the president  you should actually run for it. I chose not to do this. Therefore, I should not be considered. Period. End of story."

Ryan said he would not allow his name to be placed in nomination in the event of a contested convention this July.

He also said he would encourage party delegates to adopt a rule for this year's convention that "says you can only nominate someone that actually ran for the job."

Speculation about a deadlocked GOP convention turning to Ryan has defied the speaker's efforts to squelch it in recent weeks and months.

It has persisted for many reasons: the party's divisions over leading candidates Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz; the growing possibility of a contested convention; Ryan's popularity among influential Republicans and conservatives who fear Trump or Cruz would drag the party to defeat this fall; Ryan's own ambitious efforts to serve as a national messenger for the party; the speaker's political differences with Trump; and the recent example of Ryan accepting a job he said he didn't want (speaker) when others in the party got behind him.

Ryan called the comparison to the way he became speaker "apples and oranges" Tuesday, noting that he was already a member of Congress when he was elected to his leadership position by colleagues, contrasting that with an office (the presidency) he has never run for.

He also said his high profile as a national voice for the party was a role he always planned to take on with the speakership, not an indication of White House ambitions.

"This job provides a platform to communicate a conservative vision for our country, and I am intent on using it," he said.

Ryan, who will preside over the convention with Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus, repeated his view that if no one wins on the first ballot, delegates should only nominate someone who ran for president.

Asked if that meant any of the 2016 GOP candidates or only one of the three Republicans remaining in the race, Ryan said he would leave that to the convention delegates.
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By Pippa Norris | (The Conversation) |  

Africans recently went to the polls in Benin, Cape Verde, the Republic of Congo, Niger and Zanzibar.

The outcome was decidedly mixed.

In Congo, riot police used tear gas in the capital to disperse dozens of opposition supporters who alleged vote irregularities. But incumbent President Denis Sassou Nguesso won reelection after eliminating the two-term constitutional limit.

The opposition in Niger called for a boycott of the election, alleging fraud. Militants from al-Qaeda and Boko Haram staged attacks during the campaign. In the end, however, President Issoufou crushed his opponent with 93 percent of the vote.

On the island of Zanzibar in Tanzania, the opposition Civic United Front urged its supporters to boycott the election and violent protests broke out. USAID has now cancelled US$472 million in aid.

These mixed results deserve our attention because elections are a barometer of how well a democracy is functioning. The Electoral Integrity Project (EIP), which I direct, was founded four years ago to provide an independent evaluation of the quality of elections worldwide. The EIPs results have been published in several books, including my own, Why Elections Fail.

The results of this years survey provide new and sometimes surprising insights into the failure  or success  of elections, especially in Africa, where democracy has a shallow history and its future is often in doubt.

Many ways to fail

People help elections fail in many ways.

Presidents extend or overturn term limits. Laws ban opposition parties. Rival leaders are imprisoned. Voting rights are suppressed. Voting lists are inaccurate. Ruling parties dominate the airwaves. Free speech is muzzled. Thugs threaten voters. Money buys influence. Ballots are stuffed. Electoral officials favor the government. Dispute resolution mechanisms are broken.

Rigged elections are important because they can reinforce the legitimacy of corrupt and repressive leaders and solidify their hold on power.

Marchs elections were not the worst recent ones on the African continent, by any means. Even more deeply flawed elections have been recently held in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Burundi.

In Burundi, for example, President Pierre Nkurunzizas decision to run for a third term sparked civil unrest, a failed coup and conflict that threatened to ignite civil war. Contentious elections in each of these states threaten fragile prospects for stable democratic governance in Africa.

Yet some contests in Africa provide room for hope. For example, in Cape Verdes parliamentary elections, also on March 20, the ruling party was defeated, the campaign saw little conflict and the opposition came to power after 15 years.

Benins presidential contest on the same day also saw a relatively peaceful government turnover where Prime Minister Lionel Zinsou, a former investment banker, conceded defeat to businessman Patrice Talon, the king of cotton in the second-round runoff.

Nor are these cases unique. Previous African elections which also worked relatively well, according to international observers and experts, have been held in Mauritius, South Africa, Lesotho and Namibia.

Wealth and poverty

Many factors contribute to these contrasts among African elections. These include a history of war and violence, the curse of having natural resources, constitutional designs, ethnic divisions and regional neighbors.

But is poverty an important part of the answer?

Ever since sociologist Seymour Martin Lipsets classic 1959 article titled Some Social Requisites of Democracy: Economic Development and Political Legitimacy, scholars have puzzled over the links between democracy and development.

The so-called Lipset thesis argues that democracies and, by extension, electoral integrity flourish best in industrialized and postindustrial societies with widespread literacy and education, an affluent professional middle class and a pluralistic range of civic associations serving as a buffer between citizens and the state.

The original claim by Lipset specified most simply that:

The more well-to-do a nation, the greater the chances that it will sustain democracy.

This claim has been debated for more than a half-century. Many studies confirm the original correlation. Others suggest cases disputing the pattern.

For example, Singapore is one of the richest countries in the world, yet it has been ruled by Lee Kuan Yews Peoples Action Party since 1959. At the same time, several low- to middle-income African countries such as Lesotho, Cape Verde, Botswana and Benin have solid democratic ratings, according to Freedom House, for more than two decades. Contests in Nigeria last year also provide hope for progress. India is also cited as an important outlier.

One of the most influential arguments about wealth and democracy was advanced by political scientists Adam Przeworski and Fernando Limongi in their influential 1997 article Modernization: Theories and Facts. This study compared 135 autocratic and democratic regime states from 1950-1990.

The authors argued that dictatorships collapsed for all sorts of reasons. When this happens, achievement of a certain threshold of development  equal to about $8,000 per person a year in 2005 prices or equivalent currencies  protects new democracies from backsliding. Below this level of development, however, countries that experienced regime transitions had little chance of sustained democratic stability.

In this view, poor African societies may experience a regime transition from autocracy to the establishment of democratic constitutions and multiparty elections, but only for a short period. Their odds of flourishing remain slim.

For example, democracy in Mali collapsed following a military coup detat in March 2012, proving as fragile as the local Tuareg nomad settlements built upon shifting Sahara sand dunes.

Is richer more democratic?

If development is the root cause of the problem, then electoral malpractices such as coercion, vote-buying and fraud can be expected to be particularly severe in the poorest societies in Africa. But are they? This is where the EIP provides insights.

The 2015 EIP annual report compares the risks of flawed and failed elections, and how far countries around the world meet international standards. It gathers assessments from over 2,000 experts to evaluate the integrity of all 180 national parliamentary and presidential contests held between July 1, 2012 and December 31, 2015 in 139 countries worldwide, and it generates an overall 100-point Perceptions of Electoral Integrity (PEI) index. Contests are further classified into flawed contests (those scoring 40-49 on the 100-point scale) and failed elections (those scoring less than 40).



PEI Index Africa

Author provided

To summarize the evidence in the region, Figure 1 maps the contrasts in the overall 100-point PEI index for all the African countries covered in the survey since 2012.

The African map shows relatively positive scores for electoral integrity in Benin, Mauritius, Lesotho, South Africa and Namibia. All had high integrity.

Unfortunately, more than half the African states included in the survey have flawed contests (with low scores for integrity), with Burundi, Equatorial Guinea and Ethiopia rated as failed elections  and some of the lowest ratings for integrity in any country around the globe.

But is development the key?

Figure 2 illustrates the links between economic development (per capita GDP in purchasing power parity, with data from the World Bank) and the electoral integrity (measured by PEI experts).



Author provided



As the figure shows, within Africa, there is little evidence that wealth and poverty are correlated with levels of electoral integrity. Thus, failed contests include oil-rich Equatorial Guinea, along with poor Burundi, Ethiopia and Djibouti. Similarly, the flawed category includes elections in moderate-income Algeria as well as low-income Mauritania and Malawi, while the high-integrity contests include both low-income Benin and the more prosperous Mauritius.

Of course, the evidence within Africa provides a limited test of both the Lipset thesis and the Limogi and Przeworski argument, because nearly all states fall into the less developed category. A broader comparison of elections across the whole world suggests a positive link between economic development and the quality of elections.

Affluent Norway, Switzerland and the Netherlands have high-quality elections, according to experts, while low-income Haiti, Ethiopia and Cambodia score poorly, with just a few outliers, like Kuwait and Singapore.

What is to be done?

Elections are the heart of the representative process. Flawed contests damage party competition, democratic governance and fundamental human rights.

And thats not all. As shown in my book, Why Electoral Integrity Matters, malpractices have important consequences by deepening public mistrust of electoral authorities, political parties and parliaments, which, in turn, depresses voter turnout and catalyzes protest activism.

Rather than abandoning support for elections in the face of these challenges, the international community needs to double down on its investment.

According to AidData, roughly half a million U.S. dollars of official developmental assistance are spent annually on providing electoral assistance worldwide. While many African elections are indeed deeply flawed today, the EIP evidence suggests that poverty is not an insurmountable barrier to elections with integrity.

Pippa Norris, ARC Laureate Fellow, Professor of Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney and McGuire Lecturer in Comparative Politics, Harvard University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

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related video added by Juan Cole:

CCTV Africa: South Africa reflects on gains since constitution adoption 20 years ago
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By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) |  

Saudi Arabias King Salman is visiting Turkey today, after his trip to Egypt this past weekend (I wrote about that at The Nation).

There are things that have driven Saudi Arabia and Turkey apart, and things that have brought them together again. The tensions center on the Egyptian officer corps overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood government of Mohammed Morsi in summer of 2013.

Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan is a big supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, and his pro-Muslim Justice and Development Party struggled against Turkeys own nationalist officer corps, which had regularly made coups against democratically elected governments in the second half of the twentieth century. He has demanded that Morsi be released and that the death sentence hanging over his head be commuted.

In contrast, Saudi Arabia strongly supported the overthrow of Morsi, and likely encouraged the Egyptian officers to crush the Muslim Brotherhood, which Riyadh views as populist and dangerous to regional stability (even blaming al-Qaeda on the Brotherhood).

The animus against the Brotherhood, however, was mainly carried by the late King Abdullah. His successor in Riyadh, King Salman, is said to have moderated this Saudi anti-Brotherhood stance. Salman needs the (Sunni) Brotherhood in Yemen, for instance, against the Zaidi Shiite group, the Houthis, against whom the Saudis are fighting a brutal air war. Turkey has given verbal and perhaps some logistical support to the Saudi struggle in Yemen against the Houthis, and Erdogan has denounced Iranian support for the Houthis. (Typically outsiders over-estimate the significance of Iranian support for the Houthis, who are a local Yemen force and who probably have not in fact gotten that much aid from Iran). Iran has been upset by the charges, but has striven to maintain good trade and diplomatic relations with Turkey.

Moreover, many of the remnants of the Free Syrian Army fighting to overthrow Bashar al-Assad are actually Muslim Brotherhood, and are allied with the more hard line fundamentalist Salafi groups that Salman supports. That is, King Salman appears to be more afraid of Iran than he is of the populist movements that overthrew dictators in the region, whereas with his predecessor the emphases were reversed.

Syria is what Saudi Arabia and Turkey most have in common at the moment. Both want to overthrow the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Erdogan had tried to cultivate good relations with Bashar and even used to vacation with him, but al-Assads massacre of small town and rural Sunni fundamentalists was unacceptable to Erdogan (they resemble his own constituency in Turkey).

But while Saudi Arabia under Salman views Iran as a full-blown enemy and stirrer of instability in the region, Turkey has correct relations with Iran, despite tensions over Syria and Yemen. Turkey does $10 bn a year in trade with Iran and is aiming for $30 bn. Turkey does about $9 bn. in trade with Saudi Arabia annually. So economically, the two countries are equally valuable to Turkey and Iran even has a slight edge.

Turkey and Saudi Arabia have likely lost the Syrian Civil War, now that the Russian Federation has intervened. They will want, however, to get the best settlement possible. They want their clients, the fundamentalist militias fighting against the regime, to have a place at the peace negotiations and in the resulting government. They want al-Assad gone. And they want to reduce Iranian influence in Syria. These considerations account for warming ties between the two.



Related video added by Juan Cole:

Ruptly TV: Turkey: Saudi King Salman welcomed by Erdogan ahead of Syria talks
Ben Mankiewicz, Ana Kasparian, and John Iadarola | (The Young Turks Video) |  

The Democracy Spring rally was held today in Washington, D.C. to protest government corruption and money in politics. What began as a march from the Liberty Bell to the nations capitol ended in civil disobedience and mass arrests. Our own Cenk Uygur was one of the arrestees. Ben Mankiewicz, Ana Kasparian, and John Iadarola (ThinkTank), hosts of The Young Turks, break it down. Tell us what you think in the comment section below.
JURIST Guest Columnist Valentina Azarova of Birzeit University Institute of Law discusses how the UK Note is a reminder that greater clarity is needed in the context of the use of boycotts as a means of international law enforcement

On February 17, 2016, after much anticipation, the UK Crown Commercial Service issued a Procurement Policy Note: Ensuring compliance with wider international obligations when letting public contracts, which aims to stop inappropriate procurement boycotts by public authorities. The Note [PDF] was described as a win for pro-Israel activists, a loss for pro-Palestinian or anti-occupation groups and an undue limitation of the rights of municipalities to exclude companies seen to be involved in Israeli rights abuses from procurement contracts. Yet a closer look shows that in terms of international law and state practice, there is nothing new in the Note, which is not a result of amendments to primary legislation or the enactment of secondary legislation, and which does not criminalize boycotts or bar other measures that public bodies can adopt to achieve similar results.

In international law and relations, a boycott is defined as a technique of economic coercion that involves the refusal to engage in certain economic interactions, particularly in buying or handling of goods and services from a target entity, typically for political reasons. Whether a boycott is intended to bring about compliance with international law or to further other aspects of domestic foreign policy, it is a decision based on government discretion.

The following discussion of boycotts in international and domestic law, observes three distinctions between boycotts and other measures intended to bring about compliance with or enforcement of international law: the status of boycotts as a prerogative of national sovereignty, their political basis and their ascribed purpose.

Boycott: a national prerogative under government monopoly

The act of boycott in international affairs is deemed a prerogative of national sovereignty, consistent with the monopoly of each states executive branch of government on the use of coercive measures and decisions affecting its trade policies. As the UK Note affirms, boycotts by public authoritiesregardless of their aimare deemed inappropriate, outside where formal legal sanctions, embargoes and restrictions have been put in place by the UK Government.

Although critics argued that the UK governments exercise of its monopoly on boycotts restrained freedom of expression, the Note is based on the claim that no such freedom of boycott exists. A pragmatic justification for the government monopoly on such decisions is that foreign policy would become impossible to manage if local government could institute boycotts. The potential consequences [PDF] entailed by boycott-type measures may include destabilizing international relations, producing conflict between states and violations of the international law prohibitions on disproportionate and indiscriminate coercive measures for which the state would be held accountable.

The Note states that imposing such local level boycotts could hinder Britains export trade, and harm foreign relations to the detriment of Britains economic and international security. The executive branch may preclude public bodies from adopting ad hoc, bottom-up decisions with potentially far-reaching implications for public and foreign policy. As cabinet office minister Matthew Hancock said, the Notes clarification of policy will help prevent damaging and counter-productive local foreign policies undermining our national security.

In the UK and elsewhere, there is a long practice of executive branch monopoly over boycotts. The UKs 1988 Local Government Act banned town halls from using political criteria to decide whom to award contracts, in response to the activism surrounding Apartheid South Africa. In the US, examples include anti-boycott provisions in the Export Administration Act 1977, and the recent US-Israel Trade and Commercial Enhancement Act 2015 prohibiting the use of economic boycotts against Israel. Of course, governments have also abused their authority to regulate boycotts. Israels 2011 Law for Prevention of Damage to the State of Israel Through Boycott subjects to lawsuits and damages anyone who calls on companies to avoid doing business with settlements, a draconian approach that both sanctions violations of international law and produces violations of individual rights.

As the Note further holds, the need to limit such measures at the domestic level is based on the states monopoly on the right to provide an exemption to non-discrimination rules on tradeand as such protects suppliers from such exemptions being adopted by public bodies without their being mandated by public policy. Moreover, under UK and EU law, the Note warns, a procurement decision not prescribed by law could be deemed unlawful and lead to severe penalties against the contracting authority and the Government for its disproportionate and indiscriminate effect.

Sanction regimes including boycotts that have a disproportionate and negative impact on the target entity or the population under its authority, may amount to and produce violations of international law. They could be deemed acts of interference with a states domestic affairs, produce widespread violations of human rights, and in some cases even amount to an act of aggression in violation of the UN Charter. While nothing in WTO law prevents the state from restricting trade, Article XXI of the GATT deems secondary boycottsthose carried out by individuals, groups, businesses and firmsto be discriminatory unless based on national security. The state would be in violation of these rules by not enforcing its monopoly and permitting discrimination by its own economic operators or public bodies. Primary boycotts, those adopted by a government directive, may only legitimately be initiated on national security grounds. The government becomes responsible for mandating the act of discrimination for a boycott, and could be held accountable for such infringements by the international system, even if they resulted from the actions of public bodies under its jurisdiction.

To uphold a common interest of conflict prevention in both inter-state relations and the domestic domain, international law and practice maintain that a decision to impose a boycott should be based on a complex set of considerations, consistent with international legality, and as such, not unlike the decision to use force, is a sovereign prerogative of the executive branch of government.

Domestic legal obligations

Civil society actors who call for boycotts as a tool to improve respect for human rights or other international law may find this analysis disheartening. Yet a different type of measureone that eschews the political muscle-flexing and sometimes counterproductive contention associated with boycottshas the potential to transform a wrongdoing suppliers conduct.

Boycotts are politically driven restrictions based on a suppliers sector, situation, geographical location or other grounds that may be deemed discriminatory in the absence of a government decision for lack of a political or legal basis. By contrast, as the Note affirms, public procurers are legally charged to assess whether each suppliers commercial activities comply with transactional considerations embedded in UK law, including by balancing ethical and social considerations against the value-for-money principle, which guarantees suppliers from third countries (including those not in a preferential trade agreement with the EU) the same treatment as local suppliers.

Although public bodies may not institute boycotts or other legal sanctions that require government decisions, they are not precluded from assessing third party compliance with domestic laws, where such assessments have a basis in specific provisions of domestic law. UK law, as the Note recalls, permits public procurers to vet suppliers on the basis of social and environmental factors enshrined in the 2015 Public Contract Regulations [PDF] (based on the EU procurement directive).

The right granted to public bodies by UK procurement law is limited to the exclusion of a specific supplier from a specific contract on the basis of specific misconduct. Unlike broad-based boycotts, the Regulations allow UK contracting authorities to exclude [] from participation in a procurement procedure any economic operator guilty of grave professional misconduct, requiring case-by-case assessments. This requirement precludes public bodies from signing onto or creating a blacklist based on broad, prima facie criteriaeven if the criteria are broadly in line with domestic law and public policyunless a specific policy to adopt such a boycott or blacklist was sanctioned by the government.

If a decision to exclude a specific supplier from procurement lists is firmly grounded in specific provisions of UK law, the decision should withstand allegations that it constitutes an act of boycott, since it was not adopted on the basis of a sweeping, politically-driven boycott that targets commercial sectors, governments, or situations.

In addition, many areas of domestic legislation and implementing rules apply the principle of non-recognition of acts and facts occurring under the jurisdiction of a foreign authority that contravene domestic public policy on their legality, including under international law. Consistent with the same principle in the international law of state responsibility codified in the ILC Draft Articles, some states have operative rules and laws that require the principle to be implemented domestically, to ensure consistency between public policy and domestic law. When a state adopts a position concerning the illegality of certain acts taking place abroad, all its legal subjects are precluded from giving legal effect to facts arising from such international wrongdoing.

For example, EU-based companies and governments have adopted a number of measures in recent years, often mischaracterized as boycotts or sanctions, that preclude the recognition of acts and facts that result from Israels internationally unlawful exercise of its domestic jurisdiction in occupied territory. Other examples from the context of inter-state relations include, as discussed by the ECFR [PDF], the EUs funding guidelines for entities based or operating in Israeli settlements and Horizon 2020 and the labeling of Israeli settlement products. Such measures remain piecemeal, but have already achieved legally-driven policy changes: 18 EU government advisories warning companies of the legal risks of such dealings (e.g. the UK advisory); and albeit fewer measures by state regulatory authorities to ensure the full implementation of domestic law (e.g. the Scottish Policy Note [PDF] on public procurement and illegal settlements). On 22 March 2016, a UN Human Rights Council resolution requested the High Commissioner for Human Rights to compile and annually review a database of companies involved in settlements.

These measures are based on a twofold rationale of domestic legal necessity: compliance with domestic law provisions on ethical procurement, and a need to uphold public policy by avoiding giving legal effect to internationally unlawful acts (e.g. differentiate between dealings with Israel and with Israeli settlements in the occupied territory where Israel unlawfully exercises sovereign authority).

International law enforcement

If boycotts are the discretionary monopoly of central government, they are also hard-power measures that follow a logic of coercion. Further, boycotts or other sanctions are often imposed for political reasons; not all such measures are imposed to coerce conformity with international law. States that change their behavior in response to such sanctions may do so to end the coercion rather than to comply with international law.

In cases where boycotts are imposed as legal sanctions against a foreign wrongdoing authority, they are daring attempts to coerce compliance or, at least, a situational conformity. But in no circumstance does international law prescribe that individual states are under a positive obligation to adopt an economic boycott as a form of enforcement against a wrongdoing authoritythey have a right to do so within the confines of international law, but will not under contemporary international practice be held accountable for wrongful omission.

The degree to which international law compliance and mutual enforcement depends on the good will of individual states cannot be overstated. International law can demand the adoption of measures of condemnation and retorsion (and can be the basis for measures of diplomatic affront), but it does no more than strongly encourage certain responses between states to ensure respect for certain bright-line rules and uphold the laws integrity, including through permissible collective and unilateral countermeasures and sanctions. Even in the most egregious cases of mass atrocities, the specific content of this obligation (as well as the normative scope of the Responsibility to Protect) remains at best a work in progress.

In contrast to coercive, discretionary measures of enforcement, the domestic state practice of non-recognition discussed above includes measures to ensure compliance that are based on internalized criteria of legality from international law. Public bodies reserve the right to adopt decisions to comply with international lawand indeed are under an obligation to do so in certain areas of domestic lawso long as they do not adopt sweeping measures boycotts in the absence of a formal government directive. Such measures are driven by states self-reflexive need to ensure the full implementation of domestic law, in order to avoid a penalty that would result from the public body giving legal effect to internationally unlawful acts in the implementation of its domestic law obligations; e.g. applying the prequalification criteria for choosing suppliers. Although such measures have often been misperceived as boycotts or sanctionsas though they were voluntary acts of compliance with international law, or of discretionary enforcementtheir underlying rationale should be distinguished.

As a rule, measures that exclude businesses from public contracts are lawful so long as they are based on exclusion requirements provided in domestic law, such as exclusion for violations of environmental, social and labor law. Under the EU procurement directive, Member States may transpose both discretionary and mandatory criteria for exclusion of businesses from public contracts. For instance, both EU and UK law [PDF] provide for the exclusion of an economic operator that has been guilty of serious misrepresentation in supplying the information required for the verification of the absence of grounds for exclusion or the fulfillment of the selection criteria. A business involved in extraterritorial wrongdoing, which knowingly misrepresents its activities, may be promptly excluded from public contracts if the misrepresentation had significantly altered the public bodys assessment of the company under the exclusion criteria.

The public storm over the UK Note is a reminder that greater clarity is needed about the limited use of boycotts as a means of international law enforcement, and about the actual workings of international law enforcement machinery at the domestic level. Such clarity could help to avoid misperceptions (and misrepresentations) of the conduct of states and international actors, as well as effectively challenge and critique the present state of affairs that limits the publics participation in international law enforcement, including through the initiation of boycotts.

Dr. Valentina Azarova is a Research Fellow at the Birzeit University, Institute of Law, and a Legal committee member of GLAN Law. She is presently a Visiting Research Fellow at Central European University. As of September 2016, she will be a Postdoc Fellow at the Centre for Global Public Law, Koc University, Istanbul. Her research concerns the links between international and domestic law, the function of non-recognition in international relations, and the occurrence and effects of situations of illegal territoriality.

Suggested citation: Valentina Azarova, Boycotts, International Law Enforcement and the UKs Anti-Boycott Note, JURIST  Academic Commentary, April 12, 2016, http://jurist.org/forum/2016/04/valentina-azarova-UK-Note.php.
[JURIST] Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] on Monday argued [HRW report] that a proposed Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and Turkmenistan should be halted until Turkmenistan meets human rights benchmarks. The European Parliaments Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing [committee website; draft agenda] on Monday to debate the conclusion of a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with Turkmenistan. The agreement is a framework agreement for trade and legal relations. Since 1999, the agreement between the EU and Turkmenistan has been halted because of the nations failure to meet human rights benchmarks; including the unconditional release of all political prisoners, the removal of obstacles to free travel, free access to the independent red cross and other independent monitors, and improvements in civil liberties. According to HRW, Turkmenistan remains closed to human rights scrutiny and it has not honored requests from UN human rights experts to visit the country. HRW refereed to Turkmenistan as one of the worlds most repressive countries [HRW backgrounder], with a disastrous human rights record.

Under the rule of Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov [BBC backgrounder], Turkmenistan has transitioned from its authoritarian past as part of the Soviet Union towards a more democratic society. Yet, concerns over the nations human rights record persist. In 2011 Turkmenistan adopted a new law for regulating presidential electoral candidates [JURIST report]. To qualify as a presidential candidate, an individual must be either backed by a political party or collect at least 50,000 signatures. The previous law required that a potential candidate receive approval from an advisory board established by former president Saparmurat Niyazov. The Democratic Party of Turkmenistan (DPT), which was previously called the Communist Party of the Turkmen SSR, is the countrys ruling and only legal political party. In 2010, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Turkmenistan to place a stronger emphasis on human rights [JURIST report]. At a joint press conference with Turkmenistans President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, Ban said that he, called on the government to fulfill all obligations under international human rights law and the many treaties to which it is a signatory. The country adopted a new constitution [JURIST report] in 2008, which envisioned a new multi-party political process and provided for limits on presidential power. Political reforms in Turkmenistan come after President-for-Life Saparmurat Niyazov, who remained in office for 21 years, died in 2006 [BBC obituary]. Turkmenistan gained its independence upon the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The country has been cited by the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights for widespread interference in judicial affairs, using torture, and suppressing political opposition, media, and civil society.
A Serbian rights group, the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) [advocacy website], announced Tuesday that it will be appealing a fine imposed [judgment, PDF, in Serbian] by the First Basic Court in Belgrade to compensate the Serbian Army Chief of General Staff for damages caused by allegations of war crimes in Kosovo during the 1998-1999 conflict. According to the HLC [press release], Natasa Kandic, the former head of the HLC, was in charge when the initial publication making the allegations [JURIST report] was released in 2012. The claim was filed [JURIST report] against her jointly with the HLC, and the court order a payment of USD $5,100 to be paid to the Army Chief. Kandic and the HLC claim the judgment was political [AP report], citing questionable conclusions by the court as well as potential illegal activity from the judge in order to protect the Army Chief.

In January Oliver Ivanovic, a Serbian politician in Kosovo, was sentenced to nine years in prison after being arrested [JURIST reports] in January 2014 for the murder and torture of Albanian civilians during the 1999 war where Kosovo fought for its independence from Serbia [BBC backgrounders]. In response to the widespread commission of war crimes during the conflict in Kosovo, the EUs justice mission in Kosovo (EULEX) [official website] was created in 2008 [JURIST report] to assist in the effort of bringing perpetrators to justice. A EULEX prosecutor in the Kosovo Special Prosecution Office filed an indictment [JURIST report] against 15 defendants in November 2014 in the EULEX Mitrovica Basic Court. The individuals were accused of war crimes against civilians that occurred at a Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) detention center in Likovac in 1998. Fatmir Limaj, an ally of Prime Minister Hashim Thaci was acquitted [JURIST report] by EULEX in September 2014 for the third time after his retrial began [JURIST report] in April. Kosovo officially seceded [JURIST report] from Serbia in 2008.
A bill [HB 1840] [text, PDF] in Tennessee that will allow mental health counselors to turn away patients based on the counselors religious beliefs passed on Monday. In February the Senate [official website] passed the bill that allowed counselors to turn away patients based on sincerely held religious beliefs. The Tennessee State House of Representatives [official website] passed the bill [AP report] 68-22 with the amendment that counselors could turn away patients based on the sincerely held principles of the counselor or therapist. This amendment however will not allow therapists to turn away people who are in imminent danger or harming themselves or others. The Senate agreed to this change [REUTERS report] in a 26-6 vote on Monday and the bill will now head to the Governors desk. Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam [official website] has yet to state whether or not he would support the bill and sign it into law. Governor Haslam has 10 days to take action on the bill once it has reached his desk.

Many who oppose this bill claim that it is being used to allow Therapists to refuse counseling to the LGBT community. The intersection of religious liberty and sexual orientation and gender identity has been a controversial issue in the US. Last Week Mississippi governor Phil Bryant signed a bill that allows [JURIST report] state employees to refuse to issue same-sex-marriage licenses and private corporations and religious groups to deny services to the based upon religious beliefs. Also last Week Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge filed a notice of appeal [JURIST report] of a judge s decision upholding a Fayetteville ordinance that protects members of the LGBT community from discrimination. Last month Georgia Governor Nathan Deal said that he would veto [JURIST report] a religious freedom bill that critics claim would sanction discrimination against LGBT individuals. Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe vetoed [press release] a similar bill. Also last month North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper on stated [JURIST report] during a press conference that he will not defend House Bill 2, which he considers to be discriminatory against the LGBT community. That legislation specifically prohibits local municipalities from enacting anti-discrimination ordinances.
Texas urged [response, PDF] the Supreme Court [official website] on Monday to alllow its voter ID laws to remain in effect while under review by a federal appeals court. The Court is considering a plea [JURIST report] by a group in Veasey v. Abbott [SCOTUS docket] to block enforcement of the law while the case is being heard in the federal appeals court. The concern [SCOTUSblog materials] is the law will remain in effect during Novembers general election. The law, which has been in effect since 2011, has constantly come under scrutiny and challenge. The Supreme Court last ruled on the matter in October 2014 when they refused 6-3 from preventing the laws enforcement while lower courts studied it. It would take 5 of the current 8 justices to put the law on hold. The state in their reply, holds that over 95% of eligible voters already have a valid form of ID and that none of the individuals seeking help in this matter lacks proper Identification.

Voting rights have been a contentious issue in the US recently. Earlier this month an Ohio judge granted an emergency order [JURIST report] allowing 17-year-olds who will turn 18 by the November election to vote in the recent Ohio primary. Also this month the Fifth Circuit agreed to reconsider [JURIST report] Texas voter ID law before the entire court. Last May the New Hampshire Supreme Court struck down [JURIST report] a 2012 law requiring voters to be state residents, not just domiciled in the state. Last March Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed a new law [JURIST report] that made Oregon the first state in the nation to institute automatic voter registration. In November 2014 a federal appeals court rejected [JURIST report] a Kansas rule that required prospective voters to show proof-of-citizenship documents before registering using a federal voter registration form.
Yanghee Lee, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, on Tuesday welcomed [press release] the release of political prisoners in that country. The Special Rapporteur [official profile] stated that it was  touching to see joyful scenes across the country as individuals [were freed] and able to reunite with their families. She maintained that the individuals should never have been imprisoned and that they could now take part in the countrys continuing transformation. Lee called for progress to continue, referring to recommendations made by the Legal Affairs and Special Cases Assessment Commission to amend more than 140 laws. The Special Rapporteur hailed the Thingyan Festival as the beginning of many things to celebrate in Myanmar and welcomed the commitment to release political prisoners and further democratic reforms by State Councilor Aung San Suu Kyi [BBC Profile].

The democratic reform process has continued in Myanmar since ending a decades-old military rule. The prisoners released [JURIST report] last week were 69 student activists who had been jailed for more than a year without trial. Last month Amnesty International (AI) said [JURIST report] that Myanmars new government has been presented with a historic opportunity to change course on human rights. Also last month Myanmar released [JURIST report] 46 underage child recruits from the military as part of a UN join action plan. In January the country began [JURIST report] the process of releasing the first set of 102 mostly political prisoners days before a democratic power transfer took place.
UN rights experts on Monday called [press release] for Honduras to provide justice in the murder case of Berta Caceres [backgrounder], as well as broad protection for everyone defending human rights and the environment. Caceres was the founder of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations Honduras (COPINH) [advocacy website, in Spanish] and a prominent defender of indigenous rights and the environment, but she was murdered at the beginning of March for her positions despite a 2009 decision requiring Honduras to protect her. The UN experts hope for swift justice, but they fear for Caceres relatives and other human rights defenders. The experts stated:

We encourage Honduras to act with due diligence in investigating Berta Caceres murder, and to effectively ensure the protection of her relatives and members of COPINH as requested by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

The UN experts also noted that women rights defenders are generally at more risk due to the patriarchal traditions in the society.

The experts are pleased with the arrest of a suspect for the murder of another COPINH leader, Nelson Garcia, occurring less than two weeks after the murder of Caceres. After the death of Garcia, UN experts made a similar call for the protection of human rights defenders [JURIST report]. However, Honduras has been experiencing unrest throughout the country for some time now. Last November a UN human rights expert urged [JURIST report] Honduras to address internal displacement caused by organized gang violence and a failing criminal justice system. UN human rights expert Victoria Tauli-Corpuz expressed concern [JURIST report] about the situation faced by the indigenous people of Honduras, specifically in connection with their land and natural resource rights, their lack of access to justice, education and health, and the general environment of violence and impunity affecting their communities. In October Honduran Congressional Vice President Lena Gutierrez began her trial [JURIST report] for her role in the nations recent medical sale scandal. The charges include falsification of public documents and fraud against the government by drug sales to the Ministry of Health. In June 2015 thousands of protesters marched [JURIST report] in Honduras on calling for the resignation of President Juan Hernandez and demanding an independent investigation into his role in an ongoing corruption scandal.
[JURIST] UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official website] said [text] Monday that the only way to prevent future atrocities like the Rwandan genocide is to take shared responsibility and shared action to prevent them. Speaking at the General Assembly commemoration of the International Day of Reflection on the Genocide in Rwanda [official website], the secretary acknowledged the bravery of the survivors of the Rwandan genocide. Ban stated:

The only way to prevent genocide and other egregious violations of human rights is to acknowledge shared responsibility and commit to shared action to protect those at risk. It is essential that Governments, the judiciary and civil society stand firm against hate speech and those who incite division and violence. We must instead unite to promote inclusion, dialogue and the rule of law to establish peaceful, just societies.

The UN estimates show that in 1994 roughly 800,000 people were systematically murdered in Rwanda.

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website], established in 1994, was the first international tribunal to deliver verdicts against those guilty of committing genocide. Within its 21 years, the ICTR sentenced 61 extremists to terms of up to life imprisonment for their roles in the Rwandan genocide. There were 14 acquittals, and 10 accused were transferred to national courts during this period. An International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals has been established, and eight fugitives remain at large. Only in January 2016, after issuing 45 judgments, did the ICTR formally close [UN News Centre report]. In December Interpol [official website] agents announced the arrest [JURIST report] of Rwandan genocide suspect Ladislas Ntaganzwa, who had a US $5 million bounty [BBC report]. In September a court in Toulouse, France, refused extradition requests [JURIST report] for Joseph Habyarimana, a Rwandan man, facing charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. In January 2014 two Rwandan police officers were sentenced [JURIST report] to 20 years in jail for the murder of a Transparency International anti-corruption activist. Last July the ICTR unanimously affirmed [JURIST report] a 30-year jail sentence for former army chief Augustin Bizimungu for the role he played in the genocide. In December 2012 the ICTR convicted [JURIST report] former Rwandan minister Augustin Ngirabatware, sentencing him to 35 years in prison on charges of genocide, incitement to commit genocide and rape as a crime against humanity.
Venezuelas Supreme Court declared [press release, in Spanish] an amnesty law for jailed opposition leaders unconstitutional on Monday. The legislation, which was approved by the opposition-controlled congress, would have frees dozens of jailed opposition politicians and was among campaign promises [AP report] that delivered control of congress to the opposition in 2015. The court reasoned that the law would allow for impunity [El Mundo report, in Spanish] because it would allow amnesty for crimes that were of a criminal and not political character. President Nicolas Maduro had strongly opposed [BBC report] the law on the grounds that it was an attempt to destabilize his government and pardon those who he describes as criminals. Since the opposition took control of congress, the Supreme Court has sided with Maduros government.

The schism between the pro-government-controlled Supreme Court and the opposition-controlled National Assembly following the December election has steadily impacted the country. Venezuelas National Assembly had approved the amnesty law last month [JURIST report], which would have freed 77 individuals for alleged political reasons under a number of crimes, such as instigation of violence or commission of treason. Earlier last month the Supreme Court ruled that the National Assembly may not review [JURIST report] the appointment of 13 justices to the high court. In February the Supreme Courtcontrary to Congresss rejectionupheld [JURIST report] Maduros economic emergency decree as legal and valid. In January the Court ruled [JURIST report] that decisions from the opposition dominated General Assembly would be void until three barred lawmakers were relieved form their seats.
They faced potential starvation, imprisonment, torture, and made a dangerous journey to freedom only to discover new struggles that they never could have comprehended in their former lives.

Stories and reports of North Koreans fleeing their country arent particularly unusual. There are dozens of books written by or about North Korean defectors. Last week, thirteen North Koreans who worked for a restaurant fled to South Korea. Its also been recently reported that a high-ranking colonel from North Korean militarys General Reconnaissance Bureau defected to the south sometime last year.

Writing for the Associated Press, Tim Sullivan profiles a man who, though relatively prosperous in North Korea, fled to South Korea seeking a life of ease and higher wealth. What he found was back-breaking labor and, he believes, discrimination by South Koreans. He was a policeman back in the north and he enjoyed the respect (as well as the handsome bribes) of the people around him. While he was fairly well-fed and even owned a TV, there was starvation and poverty all around him and he wanted to get away from it. A little over a year ago, he met with a smuggler and decided to try his fate in the South. He sneaked across a river into China and began a new life outside of the DPRK.

Like the restaurant workers, the policeman, and the military colonel, there are many North Korean defectors:

More than 27,000 North Koreans exiles live in the South, most arriving since a brutal famine tore at the country in the mid-1990s. Government control foundered amid widespread starvation, and security loosened along the border with China. While security has again tightened, nearly 1,300 refugees reached South Korea last year, according to statistics compiled by the Seoul government. For most, the journey required bribing border guards, life underground in China for months or years, and weeks of travel through still more countries. They left behind one of the most isolated nations in the world, where the ruling family has been worshipped now for three generations, and only a minuscule elite are allowed to make international phone calls. It has no free press or political opposition. While the famine is over, the country remains very poor, with hunger and malnutrition serious problems.

I didnt have problems with money back then, The unnamed former policeman now laments. How does he sum up his decision to escape to South Korea? There are times when I regret it a lot. Unable to get a job as a policeman or even join the military, he is now a day laborer, carrying cement throughout construction sites. Sullivan reports that this man is not alone with his sense of regret and that up to one-third would return to the isolated, totalitarian country. The former DPRK citizens often find themselves lost in a nation where they thought theyd feel at home, struggling with depression, discrimination, joblessness and their own lingering pride in the repressive nation they left behind.

Their journey to freedom and prosperity certainly doesnt end when these men and women step into South Korea.
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Pope Franciss recently released apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia has received considerable attention because of the issue of divorce and communion. But the 60,000+ word document has much more to say about family life than the dissolution of marriage. For example, it provides some compelling reasons for all Christians (not just Catholics) to support school choice.

The term school choice refers to programs that give parents the power and opportunity to choose the schools their children attend, whether public, private, parochial, or homeschool. While there are numerous passages relevant to school choice in Amoris Laetitia, here are four essential quotes:

Economic constraints prohibit a familys access to education, cultural activities and involvement in the life of society. In many ways, the present-day economic situation is keeping people from participating in society. (p. 34) 

A key sphere of society in which social justice is in desperate need of restoration is education. The poor deserve the same freedom to obtain a quality education that is too often reserved for those wealthy enough to rescue their children from failing schools. For this reason school choice should be considered a matter of social justice.

As Archbishop Charles J. Chaput says, lack of a quality education is a common thread among persons in severe poverty. Catholic social teaching is built on a commitment to the poor, says Chaput. Few things are more important to people in poverty than ensuring their childrens education as a path to a better life.

While there are some excellent public schools in America, many students are trapped in schools with inadequate facilities, substandard curriculum, and incompetent teachers. Most parents, however, cannot afford to pay for education twiceonce in taxes and again in private school tuition. School choice programs empower parents by letting them use public funds set aside for education on programs that will best serve their children.

. . . I feel it important to reiterate that the overall education of children is a most serious duty and at the same time a primary right of parents. (p. 66)

Education is a primary right of parents. But because government mandates education for children and provides resources for fulfilling that mandate, parents have a corresponding civil right. As Nelson Kloosterman argues, parents have a civil right to support only that educational system they wish for religious reasons to use. Says Kloosterman:

We must be clear that parental educational choice is more than a preference and a desire; it is first a human right, and therefore it must be protected in the context of judicially mandated activity. As a right inherent in the parent-child relationship, parental educational choice entails the right of parents to teach their children or have them taught in ways that are effective and that are consistent with their religious beliefs. (This latter was affirmed in the 1923 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Meyer v. State of Nebraska.) Since the government mandates education and provides resources for fulfilling that mandate, parents should by law be permitted to honour that mandate and use those resources in ways that are effective and consistent with their religious beliefs.

Schools do not replace parents, but complement them. This is a basic principle: all other participants in the process of education are only able to carry out their responsibilities in the name of the parents, with their consent and, to a certain degree, with their authorization. (p. 66) 



The reasons many parents support school choice is simple: the public schools have failed in their responsibilities. Most parents desire solid education for their children in a safe and supportive environment, says Kevin E. Schmiesing. Too many public schools do not provide such an environment. School choice helps parents better fulfill their basic responsibilities. As Shmiesing adds:

The benefits of school choice are many, which should not be surprising. When parents are encouraged to take responsibility for their childrens education, both parents and students begin to view education in a different light. Shifting parents and children from a position of dependency on government to a position of empowerment promotes a vision of persons as participants in society, rather than observers or dependents.

The State offers educational programmes in a subsidiary way, supporting the parents in their indeclinable role; parents themselves enjoy the right to choose freely the kind of education  accessible and of good quality  which they wish to give their children in accordance with their convictions. (p. 66) 

While the Pope doesnt directly use the term school choice, this quote shows that he endorses the general concept. Whether Catholic, Orthodox, evangelical, mainline, this is one area where all Christians should be able to agree with the pontiff.
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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, awarded a $7.9 million General Services Administration Schedule contract to support Task Force POWER (Protect Our Warfighters and Electrical Resources).

The contract, awarded through the International Operations Division of the Ordnance and Explosives Directorate, will inspect, update and repair electrical/life/safety hazards for low voltage electrical power systems (600 volts or below).



Awarded to EXP Federal Inc., of Chicago, Illinois, work will begin under the contract after the 60-day phase-in period with options for electrical safety assessments, repairs program, materials management and control services within the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility (AOR).

Work will be performed in Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar and is scheduled to be completed by March 30, 2018.



The Ordnance and Explosives Directorate's International Operations Division provides global support for unexploded ordnance and mine field clearance, munitions disposal, environmental services, and facilities maintenance and repair services.

Operation Task Force POWER, Afghanistan and CENTCOM AOR perform low voltage electrical inspections (600 volts and below) and fire assessment and training requirements of all U.S. Forces-occupied facilities within the CENTCOM AOR specifically Jordan, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.
JACKSON, Mississippi -- Environmental groups are calling on a federal agency to reject a potential dam-construction project near the Pascagoula River in southeast Mississippi.

The Army Corps of Engineers is considering a proposal by the George County Board of Supervisors to build dams on two of the Pascagoula's tributaries -- Big Cedar Creek and Little Cedar Creek.

The project, which would make artificial reservoirs out of the creeks, is also backed by the Pat Harrison Waterway District, a state agency that manages water systems in the Pascagoula River Basin in southeastern Mississippi. The Pascagoula River is part of the basin and runs through George and Jackson counties before dumping into the Gulf of Mexico.

But the proposed project puts the Pascagoula in a "make or break" situation, said Jessie Thomas-Blate, a spokeswoman for the Washington, D.C.-based American Rivers. The national river-conservation advocacy group joined the Mississippi chapter of the Sierra Club and the Louisiana-based Gulf Restoration Network in opposing the project when it put the Pascagoula on its list of Top 10 most endangered rivers in the country this year. More details were to be released Tuesday.

Thomas-Blate said the Pascagoula is the largest undammed river in the country by volume. She said that while she welcomes the environmental impact study, the Corps should ultimately reject George County's proposal. She said the project would lose more water while damaging the river's ecosystem by changing water levels and temperature, hurting plant and animal species.

Pickering Firm Inc., a Memphis, Tennessee-based architecture firm, consulted George County officials and prepared the official proposal submitted to the Corps. Project Manager Jeff Ballweber said the dams would help manage the Pascagoula River's water levels and store backup water that could be released in case of drought. He said the river's water levels have dropped dramatically every few years after a record drought in 2000, with more on the way.

Ballweber also said the permit application is the beginning of a yearlong, transparent process during which the proposal could be changed if necessary to protect the river's environment.

Army Corps of Engineers spokesman Michael Moxie said the agency received more than 700 letters from about 15 environmental organizations and federal or state agencies that oppose the project.

He said that according to the proposal, the project would eliminate more than 1,000 acres of forested wetlands and 41.6 miles of streams. The Corps is requiring a full-scale environmental impact statement to study how exactly the project would affect the natural wildlife along the river before the agency decides whether to approve the project, he said.

Andrew Whitehurst, water program director at the Gulf Restoration Project, said the dam project would actually result in more water loss, not conservation.

The dams would leak because the soil is too sandy to hold the water, and water evaporates from lakes at a higher rate than it does from forested creeks, he said.

"What gain is made by making dams that leak and then evaporate?" he said.

He said water conservation would be a better solution to problems with the water supply, and that the project is actually aimed at developing recreational lakefront property.

"There are ways to conserve water that haven't been explored or implemented," he said. "This is a recreational development that will wreck the water supply."
IMG_4690.JPG

Nancy Blue and Rick McDonald speak about placing Pascagoula River on American River most endangered list. (Tyler Carter/Gulflive.com)

(Tyler Carter)

PASCAGOULA, Mississippi-- The Pascagoula Audubon Center held a small press conference on Tuesday morning where Gautier resident Nancy Blue explained her nomination which led to American Rivers including the Pascagoula River on its list of the most endangered rivers in the U.S.

"Our journey with the Pascagoula River began about four years ago and our love for the river was natural, hence myself and Rick becoming stewards for it was natural," Blue said. "We have met so many amazing people along the way who have become friends with those who depend on the Pascagoula for recreation and livelihood."

"I believe the 'Fake Lakes' (Lake George) project is a real estate venture disguised as a way to protect our river from climate change. While others are removing dams to restore natural ecosystems, it is sad we are fighting this battle."

Blue and McDonald said they began traveling the river about four years ago cleaning up debris left behind and it was then they became more involved and invested in preserving the Pascagoula River.

"The Pascagoula River is truly a local and national treasure which needs to be protected for generations to come. The core engineers of the Mobile district should deny the Wetland Build Permit for this lake project. American Rivers listing the Pascagoula River as endangered is a huge opportunity to spread awareness of the damage the 'Fake Lakes' project can do to the ecosystem."

Andrew Whitehurst, water program director at the Gulf Restoration Network, said the project has pros and cons to be weighed.

"The pros are that it would provide recreational lakes," Whitehurst said. "Many, many counties are interested in having water recreation for their residents and to offer as a tourism attraction. Streams into lakes is something that is desired from an economic development standpoint so that would be what they are after."

"The extreme cons are 1100 acres of viable wetland loss and the stream side lands of Pascagoula," he said. "Another con is that we have state agency that is charged with building dams, which is the Pat Harrison Waterway District, while other state agencies, the Marine Resources Department and the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and Parks are charged with protecting habitats."

"What is the state doing," Whitehurst asked. "One hand is doing one thing and the other hand is doing another thing."

Taxpayer money according to Whitehurst, "has been used through the legislature to fund this project up to this point and I think the taxpayers are getting a bad deal. We would like to ask people to ask their state legislatures and U.S. Senators and Congressmen to not fund anymore progress on this project. We stand firmly with Nancy and this project can stop here."

Larry McDonald, George County Board of Supervisors President, issued a statement refuting the statements made at Tuesday's press conference.

"Today's announcement by American Rivers is unjustified, unfair, and is honestly environmental fear mongering. The Lake George Project does not "endanger" or pose an "urgent" threat to the Pascagoula River.

"American Rivers should recall that in 2009 they listed the Pascagoula River as the 9th most endangered river because global warming was predicted to alter river flows and lower flows could have disastrous effects on the River's fragile ecosystem.

"The Lake George Project's main purpose is to provide enough water storage capacity to keep the Pascagoula River's flows above the drought levels which will directly benefit endangered species, the environment, and economic activities.

"The American Rivers organization never contacted a single representative from the Pat Harrison Waterway District or George County about a single item from the Lake George-Drought Resiliency application (20 page application, 115 page Environmental Assessment, 71 page Geo-Hydrologic Analysis, and 11 appendixes.)

"It is clear a deliberate misinformation campaign by local members of the Gulf Restoration Network and the Sierra Club were the major instigators behind this action.

"It is telling that today's media event was held more than 20 miles away from the nearest proposed Lake George dam/spillway and on the wrong body of water.

"Our Board has only asked opposition groups to truly consider the real-world science behind this application, to be open minded towards the data collected, and actively participate in the permitting process.

"Instead, opposition groups seem much more comfortable intimidating individuals, spreading rumors and issuing false statements. For example, there have never been dams proposed for the Pascagoula River or its major tributaries.

We strongly encourage American Rivers and all other interested organizations and individuals to participate in the process, review the documentation, and offer alternatives to truly protect the Pascagoula River from the projected impacts of climate change."
PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- As it does each year, the Jackson County District Attorney's Office played host to a group of citizens who have lost a loved one due to crime.

In recognition of National Crime Victims Rights Week, district attorney and his staff held the annual event at the Church on the Rock in Pascagoula Monday evening, featuring a program entitled "Serving Victims, Building Hope and Restoring Trust."

"We do this once a year and it is a national thing where what we try to do is to recognize victims' rights with a ceremony," Lawrence said. "The goal is to make sure that victims' families know that we remember their pain.

"They had a terrible tragedy occur in their life where they lost a family member, someone they loved, and we want them to know that while we stand with them in the justice system, we as a community member remember their pain and hopefully can bring them some encouragement through their rough time."

The atmosphere was filled with compassion and sorrow as tears were shed and musical selections by Home of Grace Men's choir and a solo by Tawinika McKoy stirred emotions in the room. The guest speaker for the event was Heather Wagner, who in 2015 was appointed by Gov. Phil Bryant to serve as a delegate for the Human Trafficking Task Force for the State of Mississippi.

Interpersonal violence has a long-term effect on families, law enforcement officers and prosecutors, according to Wagner.

"The ultimate injury is the heartbreaking consistency that we hear when another person has been killed by a domestic partner," Wagner said, "or for law enforcement officers who are harmed, who try to protect and serve the community who end up being injured by a domestic violence situation.

"This type of violence continues to be prevalent in our communities despite the changes to our laws for the better and the hard work we all have done and progress we have made."

In 2014, according to Wagner, "26 adults were killed as a result of domestic of violence and in 2015, 35 adults and 5 children lost their lives as a result of domestic-related homicides. While we don't know the extent of domestic-related homicides that happen in the state of Mississippi, we do know that one is too many."

Awards were given out during the event for Courage, Victim Assistance, Community Service and Law Enforcement of the Year.

The winner of the Courage Award, Dawn Franklin, was once the victim of domestic violence, but managed to wake up one day with the strength to tell her abuser she no longer wanted any part of the supremacy he chose to inflict on her life.

"This means a lot to me," Franklin said with her voice cracking. "I never expected to be standing here in front of you guys tonight, but I am very thankful that I am. I hate to say it, but domestic violence is not pretty and by sharing my story, I hope it helps one other person out there. You do not have to live like that and there are wonderful people who will go to battle for you and stand by you."

Every year, the event features the importance of early intervention and victim services. Those who attended lit candles for fallen officers, victims of domestic violence, and a candle representing hope.
JACKSON COUNTY, Mississippi -- A three-year-old is in intensive care and the child's father in custody after the father alleged the child had fallen down a flight of stairs in their home.

According to Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell, deputies were alerted after Singing River Hospital reported a welfare concern after the child was brought to the emergency room with injuries.

The child was transported to the hospital after the grandmother, Angela Hunt, called 911. Her son and the child's father, Nathan Blake McCrory, brought the child to her and advised the child had fallen down the stairs at their home on Rayford Shumock Road.

After hospital personnel examined the child's injuries, however, they determined those injuries were not consistent with a fall down stairs and notified police.

The child was later transferred to The University of South Alabama Medical Center in Mobile, Ala., where he is being treated in the pediatric intensive care unit.

McCrory, meanwhile, has been charged with child abuse causing serious bodily harm and manufacture of a controlled substance, with additional charges pending.

Ezell said the investigation is ongoing.
HASTINGS  Although the announcement that Gov. Pete Ricketts will speak at Hastings College commencement has stirred dissent among some students, the colleges president says the governor will speak as scheduled.

A petition titled Let Our Voices Be Heard was inaugurated after the college announced Wednesday that Ricketts will be the commencement speaker May 14.

The petition calls on Hastings College President Don Jackson to express Hastings Colleges support of LGBTQIA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, queer, intersex, asexual) students and commit to promoting diversity on campus in his final address at the 2016 Commencement ceremonies. Furthermore, we demand that graduating seniors hereafter be included in the Commencement speaker selection process.

The petition was started under the organization change.org. As of Monday evening, 368 people had signed the online document.

The announcement that Gov. Ricketts has agreed to serve as our commencement speaker has definitely sparked some campus discussion, Jackson said Monday.

For the most part, Jackson said, I consider the discussion to be good. Its been very civil. I actually think this kind of discussion on a college campus is excellent, and encourage it.

People are sharing their concerns and thoughts about the commencement speaker, although not everyone Im hearing from is opposed, thats for sure, Jackson said. Many want it to remain a campus issue and a campus debate rather than engaging in outside or off-campus groups.

Taylor Gage, the governors spokesman, commented on the petition: College campuses have historically been a place where students take an interest in issues, and the beauty of democracy is that we are all free to exercise our opinions. Governor Ricketts looks forward to commencement, where he will celebrate the academic achievement of the graduates, encourage them to be active in their communities, and to give back as they move forward.

Jackson, who has been the colleges president for three years, said he has responded to every e-mail and text hes received about the issue. He doesnt know how many people involved in the effort are current Hastings College students. But some of the people signing the document are alumni or members of the community, he said.

We think this is a great opportunity to talk about issues that are important to our community here, and one of the things thats important to Hastings College is that we be a very welcoming community. And Im very supportive of that, he said.

I would say, in general, bringing speakers to campus can spark important discussions on critical issues and help us better define who we are as a campus community, Jackson said.

Jackson looks forward to continuing the discussion.

We dont have to agree on everything, he said. But the one really important point is that Gov. Ricketts isnt coming to our campus because of his political views or anything else. Hes the highest-elected official in the state of Nebraska and hes coming here to celebrate our graduating senior class. Thats the sole purpose of his visit.

No one has asked that the college withdraw its invitation to Ricketts, Jackson said. And it certainly would not be something that I would consider, he said. Inviting a sitting governor, regardless of their political views or affiliation, is entirely appropriate for commencement.

Some people dont agree with Ricketts stands on certain issues, one in particular, Jackson said. That issue  involving the concerns of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people  raised the attention of some of our campus community, he said.

Its an important concern on our campus, and our campus has been a very welcoming campus, said Jackon, who added that hes personally very supportive of those students.

The petition was started by the Social Justice League at Hastings College.

The organization does not want Ricketts to be replaced as speaker, said Becca Preisdendorf, a senior from Grand Island. No, thats not what we want at all, she said.

Rescinding an invitation to the governor would reflect very badly upon the college, said Preisendorf, whos a member of the Social Justice League. The group hopes that Jackson, in his final address to the schools seniors at graduation, will speak in support of LGBTQIA students so they know the administration supports them, and that they are affirmed as members of the community.

The Social Justice League also hopes that measures are taken to prevent this from happening again in the future, she said. The organization would like students to have input in the choice of future commencement speakers, Preisendorf said.

One person who commented on the petition, Grace Rempp, wrote: This years commencement speaker does not represent the voices of our student body and faculty. While Hastings College administration claims that it is making progress towards inclusion, this choice represents a deep institutional hypocrisy on our campus. And its a real shame.

The private college has an enrollment of about 1,200.
It has been said the devil is in the details. That really applies to legislation. The Nebraska Legislature has had floor debate recently on several bills with complicated, technical and lengthy language. It is my responsibility as your senator to understand the legislation in its entirety. No legislation is perfect, so floor debate allows senators to discuss components of the proposed language and arrive at an up or down vote fully informed about the language and consequences of the bill.

Unfortunately, many of the recent issues are distilled down to a simple phrase or concept, despite having very complex and far reaching implications. To illustrate, LB947 has been presented as a simple step allowing children brought to Nebraska illegally by their parents to receive commercial and professional licenses. It has even been advocated as a workforce development bill.

The language of the bill encompasses far more than just Dreamers, but all deferred action individuals and all commercial and professional licenses in the state.

No longer are we simply talking about children subject to choices of their parents beyond their control.

The U.S. Supreme Court will be ruling on a case, of which Nebraska is a plaintiff, concerning the entire status of the Obama administrations deferred action status. The language of the bill awaiting on final reading does not make that readily apparent, as it references a number of federal regulations and statutes, requiring additional research just to understand the full language of the bill. In its present form, it is not a bill I can support.

In another instance, the amendment debated for LB643 dealing with medical marijuana was 43 pages long. While much of the debate and media coverage focused only on the issue of providing alternative drugs for approved therapies, the language contained within those 43 pages presented complications for employers who drug test for workplace safety, failed to address the composition of the compounds used, and circumvented the authority of doctors to carefully regulate and monitor use of the drug by patients. Regardless of ones position on medical marijuana, many bad policy issues were contained in the details of the bill.

Several other highly contested bills exhibit the same pattern. LB1103 was advertised as a Medicaid fraud bill. Buried in 39 pages of highly technical language was the requirement that the Department of Health and Human Services assess market value of rental agreements between members of farm families and annotations on ones death certificate if they ever applied for Medicaid.

The legislation was specifically targeted at farm families who own ag land, while ignoring any other kind of wealth that may be transferred without record between family members. It was far more than Medicaid fraud.

An informed electorate is the foundation of our representative democracy. I, too, as a senator, must be ever vigilant of the details contained within page after page of the bills on which I vote.

The language of all amendments and final reading copy is readily available at nebraskalegislature.gov, the official website of the Nebraska Legislature. I highly encourage voters to read and follow the details of bills, not just the tag lines often used in a brief media report or quick statement in floor debate.

Sen. John Kuehn of Heartwell represents District 38 in the Nebraska Legislature. The district encompasses southwest Buffalo County and all of Clay, Franklin, Kearney, Nuckolls, Phelps and Webster counties.

@JohnKuehnDVM
We are nearing a very historical day of supreme importance to all Americans.

No, it is not April 15.

It is April 19, the 241st anniversary of the Battle of Concord Bridge and the Battle of Lexington. which began the American Revolution. The colonists had reached the end of their patience with the British overtaxing the colonists.

As May 1 approaches and owners of real property are writing checks to county assessors, this seems all too familiar. Owners of agricultural property are facing taxes that are simply outrageous. It is truly threatening the very livelihood of the agricultural industry which is the core of Nebraska. I know of a case where taxes this year are consuming 45 percent of the cash rent of a farm. I consider this equivalent to illegal confiscation of assets by oppressive governments.

Taxing entities have forgotten their role. They are to serve the public, not the other way around. Their tax policies are to the point where on April 19 I suggest they think seriously about what such practices cost the British.

I suggest it is time that landowners start assembling at courthouses and the state capitol and in a lawful manner openly rebel against those who are, in my opinion, stealing from landowners. It is approaching a matter of survival of the hardworking farmers and landowners who have made the state of Nebraska such a fine state. It is time for public officials of all sorts to quit stealing from those of us who take the large risks required for the agricultural industry to thrive.

How about starting on the 241st anniversary of the battles of Concord and Lexington on April 19, 2016 to peacefully assemble and protest the unacceptable practices of Nebraskas tax policy makers?

Cut taxes now.

I am a fourth-generation native of Nebraska descending from a variety of hard-working farmers who began arriving in Nebraska before 1880. These fine people were descendants of German, Scottish and English ancestors, including those who took actions 400 years ago in the Jamestown Colony of Virginia that truly affected the future of the nation. Others fought and died in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Civil War, and every American conflict since. I played key roles in the development and deployment of systems that have defended our nation since Vietnam. I believe our governments are simply out of control

Ron Klein, Berthoud, Colo.
The Oklahoma bill would have tried to deny us funding from private citizens in support of a lifesaving raid we did weeks ago just over the state line, in Madison County, Arkansas, where our team, working with law enforcement, rescued 295 dogs who were covered in filth and feces and denied access to clean water or any kind of medical care. Photo by Brandon Wade/AP Images for The HSUS

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Through the platform of A Humane Nation, I report on so many good developments for animals  from retailers switching to cage-free or crate-free animal products, to major companies going fur-free, to the swell of global outrage over the killing of endangered animals for trophies or profit, to the recent burst of federal rule-making actions for animals. But make no mistake, we are still in a fight for the lives of animals, and there are special interests and lawmakers beholden to them who want to thwart our progress.

I am glad to report that one very bad idea, coming out of Oklahoma, is dead, at least for now. A key Oklahoma Senate committee has chosen not to take up a bill to ban charitable giving by the states citizens to animal welfare groups.

The bill was patently unconstitutional and could have never survived a court challenge, but its still good news that we will not to have to endure the expense or time required to initiate a courtroom battle to address this threat.

The bill was predicated on the notion that no animal welfare group should be involved in lobbying lawmakers in support of anti-cruelty policies and that no group should work on a national scale to fight cruelty to animals. How absurd, and how transparent an attempt by these lawmakers to try to give a free ride to their allies in the cockfighting, puppy mill, and factory farming lobbies.

The Oklahoma bill would have tried to deny us funding from private citizens in support of a lifesaving raid we did weeks ago just over the state line, in Madison County, Arkansas. Our team, working with law enforcement, rescued 295 dogs who were covered in filth and feces and denied access to clean water or any kind of medical care. There was no local group to handle a crisis of this scale, and if The HSUS hadnt intervened, there would have been suffering and death for these dogs. Instead, they now will all have tender care and loving homes.

Ever since these attacks on us by a handful of Oklahoma lawmakers, we have been doubling down in the state  doing precisely the opposite of what these lawmakers want. We have increased our staff size in Oklahoma and we are expanding our training and hands-on programs there.

Earlier this spring, we trained more than 700 law enforcement officials in investigating animal cruelty crimes. Since then, our allies in law enforcement have taken action against several animal cruelty perpetrators.

After attending the Humane Oklahoma Law Enforcement training, the Blaine County Sheriffs Office contacted us regarding an animal cruelty case involving a half dozen horses and 20 or so cattle. The owner has been charged with cruelty to animals previously and has warrants out for her arrest. We have been providing guidance and expertise for this case. Our Safe Stalls partner, Blazes Tribute Equine Rescue in Oklahoma, assisted law enforcement for this case. We will be providing financial assistance to Blazes for the initial expenses related to the animals veterinary assessment and care. Blazes has assisted with two equine cruelty cases in the last two weeks that have come in from law enforcement officials who attended our training.

We just wonder what kind of cruelty these few lawmakers are trying to protect. We know they are trying to defund opponents of their overreaching and radical right to farm measure (SQ 777), a battle set for this Novembers election ballot. And its clear to us that they are working to unravel the states law against cockfighting and to work against our efforts to crack down on puppy mills and extreme confinement of animals on factory farms. We wont be intimidated.

We are glad their animal welfare defunding bill is dead. Well now turn our attention to defeating SQ 777 this fall.
We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

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Police secure an area during a house search in the Etterbeek neighborhood in Brussels on Saturday April 9, 2016. The arrest Friday of six men suspected of links to the Brussels bombings, including the last known fugitive in last year's Paris attacks, raised new questions about the extent of the Islamic State cell believed to have carried out the intertwined attacks that left 162 people dead in two countries. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
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Lena Wrights best friend was hunched over like a character from a French novel, with spinal bones so thin they would fracture with a fit of sneezing. Determined to avoid that fate, Wright (a pseudonym) asked her primary care doctor to test her for osteoporosis with a DEXA scan, also known as dual energy x-ray absorption. The scan would send two x-ray beams through her bones, one high-energy and the other low. The difference in how much energy passes through her bones would somehow (the wonders of physics!) allow her doctors to calculate the thickness of her skeleton.

If you need to figure out whether you have osteoporosis, a DEXA scan is a good idea. But if you dont need such a scan, you end up exposing yourself to harmful radiation and, of course, to an unnecessary healthcare expense. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, most people do not need the test, because they do not have risk factors for osteoporosis. Lena Wright, for example, harbored no family history of osteoporosis, had exercised regularly her whole life, didnt smoke or drink and, very importantly, had received the test five years earlier at age 65, which showed her to have normal bone density at the time. In the best judgment of medical experts, a DEXA scan would bring Wright more harm than benefit.

But she was worried. So her doctor, to ease her anxieties, ordered another scan.

What, if anything, can we do to reduce unnecessary and potentially harmful medical testing?

We can start by trying to reduce patient demand for such services. That is an approach taken by the Choosing Wisely campaign, a voluntary effort by medical professionals to reduce wasteful medical care. As part of this effort, professional societies like the American Academy of Family Physicians put together top 5 lists of wasteful services. Then, in partnership with organizations like Consumer Reports, theyve tried to educate the general public about why they should be happy to avoid such services.

I am a huge fan of educating the general public and think that Consumer Reports does as fine a job at this as anyone in the business. But I also recognize that their reach  their ability to get the word out to the masses  is limited.

So I was excited to learn that a team of medical researchers decided to put educational materials in the hands of patients, to try to reduce their use of unnecessary services. They targeted three services:

prostate cancer screening in 50 to 69 years old colon cancer screening in people 76 to 85 years old DEXA testing in women with low risk for osteoporosis

They gave patients brief, simple brochures laying out the benefits and risks of these screening tests, highlighting that the latter outweighed the former. They even tested out different ways of presenting this information: in words, in words and numbers, even with relatively nudgey language meant to dissuade patients from receiving the tests.

And they found essentially no clinically meaningful reduction in the use of these tests. Sigh.

Reducing low-value medical care is not easy. And expecting patients to do the brunt of the work is probably unrealistic. Suppose, for instance, a physician believes ardently in the value of prostate cancer screening. Do you think a one-page educational brochure given to a patient in the waiting room is going to compete with that?

Perhaps, then, doctors should take the lead in reducing low-value medical care. Thats certainly what another group of researchers thought when they set out to educate medical residents (physicians in training) about how to counsel patients effectively to reduce such wasteful care. They arranged for the residents to interact with standardized patients, actors trained to pretend to be patients. These standardized patients would show up in clinic unannounced, with the doctors unaware that they werent real patients. The actors were specifically training to request unnecessary tests, including some patients who requested DEXA scans. (They also had some patients request imaging for uncomplicated low back pain or for uncomplicated headaches.) The medical school instructors taught half of the residents how to respond to unnecessary patient requests; how to validate the patients concerns while informing and explaining the harmfulness of their requested services to them.

The researchers discovered that their waste-reducing educational training had no effect. Zilch. Not an iota! Physicians who received the training were just as likely to accede to patients wasteful requests as other doctors:



On the positive side, the majority of residents  in both the intervention and the control groups  were able to say no to the patients requests. It was rare, for instance, for doctors to order CT or MRI scans for patients with uncomplicated headaches.

Whats the bottom line from these excellent studies? First, reducing wasteful medical care wont be easy. In addition, if we want to change patient or physician behavior, we need to do even more than what these researchers did, a tall order in our time and resource constrained world.

Ultimately, I dont think educational efforts directed at patients or physicians will pan out until we change financial incentives to stop rewarding doctors for providing low-value care. As long as healthcare providers are paid well to perform unnecessary tests, a bit of education is unlikely to have much impact. Persuasion and education pale in comparison to the power of the purse.

Peter Ubel is a physician and behavioral scientist who blogs at his self-titled site, Peter Ubel and can be reached on Twitter @PeterUbel. He is the author of Critical Decisions: How You and Your Doctor Can Make the Right Medical Choices Together. This article originally appeared in Forbes.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Dean Manzoori describes Masergy as a technology company which own and manages the worlds largest global private network providing cloud network, managed security and UC as a service. To ensure the highest level of quality, their UC platform is embedded in the fabric of their global network and the UC PoP is the same as the MPLS PoP.

See Dean interviewed by TMCnet at ITEXPO in Florida

In a recent live interview with me, Dean explained the company has 100% in-sequence packet delivery, no packet drops and under one millisecond of jitter. They can in fact provide forensic information on every call made and get a MOS score as well.

This allows a company to see packet loss, latency and jitter  if any is related to call quality. In addition, the company focuses on giving the same user experience abroad and this is achieved through a network of partner carriers worldwide.

What may be most interesting is the companys new services  powered mostly by WebRTC. They are:

Visual Automated Attendant (VAA)  one of the first commercially available WebRTC solutions from a cloud communications vendor that enables real-time voice calls directly from any web page

Virtual Meeting Room (VMR)  a cost-effective video conferencing system using WebRTC where participants can meet via video any time, from anywhere, on any device  and do not require prior account registration or app downloads

Dean believes that WebRTC will have a significant impact on customer engagement, as companies want a way to transform an ordinary Web browser into a full-featured cloud communications portal. With WebRTC, end users simply open browsers to launch calls with voice, text, images, videos, content-sharing and other media.

Dean says WebRTC is gaining traction because of its three biggest benefits: agility, cost savings and persistence:

Agility because WebRTC lets businesses add communications features quickly. Cost Savings  because WebRTC eliminates the need for on-premises equipment. Persistence  because WebRTC interactions are associated with particular individuals, meaning conversations can be both stored for future use and integrated with business applications and customer records.

Dial by name directory is in beta  I had a chance to use it. Quite interesting. Its similar to calling in to a company but instead of pressing numbers equating to a persons name, you use a keyboard. The way God intended . Once you find someone, you can see their presence, start a call, share a screen, etc. In short, its the future of communications.

Masergy doesnt charge extra for the inbound traffic generated through this service and a company can put in controls such as email authentication so they arent overwhelmed with spam callers.

The most important takeaway was when he said, We want to open up communications to an indexed way of finding people.

This is exactly what the company seems to have done here. It will be interesting to see how much traction the idea gains in the market. Is this the standard which replaces phone numbers? Well see.
(Kitco News) - Gold prices are firmer and hit a three-week high in early U.S. trading Tuesday. Silver prices have popped this week and hit a 5.5-month high today. A depreciating U.S. dollar on the world foreign exchange market remains a positive for the precious metals markets. June Comex gold was last up $3.30 at $1,261.20 an ounce. May Comex silver was last up $0.109 at $16.085 an ounce.

The key outside markets on Tuesday are in a bullish posture for the precious metals. The U.S. dollar index is slightly lower and hit another eight-month low overnight. Meantime, Nymex crude oil prices are higher and trading above $40.00 a barrel. A major oil-producers meeting is scheduled for Sunday, at which time participants will discuss limiting their production levels.

World stock markets were mixed overnight, with no major economic or political news to guide traders and investors. Focus for the equity market watchers is first-quarter earnings reports that are starting to come out. U.S. stock indexes are pointed toward firmer openings when the day session begins in New York.

U.S. economic data due for release Tuesday includes the weekly Johnson Redbook and Goldman Sachs retail sales reports, the NFIB small business index, and import and export prices.

(Note: Follow me on Twitter--@jimwyckoff--for breaking market news.)

Wyckoffs Daily Risk Rating: 2.5 (Trader and investor market risk aversion is not elevated today.)

(Wyckoffs Daily Risk Rating is your way to quickly gauge investor risk appetite in the world market place each day. Each day I assess the risk-on or risk-off trader mentality in the market place with a numerical reading of 1 to 5, with 1 being least risk-averse (most risk-on) and 5 being the most risk-averse (risk-off).

Technically, June gold futures bulls have the overall near-term technical advantage and have gained upside momentum this week. Bulls next upside near-term price breakout objective is to produce a close above solid technical resistance at the March high of $1,287.80. Bears' next near-term downside price breakout objective is closing prices below solid technical support at the $1,220.00. First resistance is seen at the overnight high of $1,264.70 and then at $1,273.00. First support is seen at the overnight low of $1,255.00 and then at $1,250.00. Wyckoffs Market Rating: 7.0

May silver bulls have gained the overall near-term technical advantage as prices hit a 5.5-month high overnight. Silver bulls next upside price breakout objective is closing futures prices above solid technical resistance at the October high of $16.372 an ounce. The next downside price breakout objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at $15.20. First resistance is at todays high of $16.21 and then at $16.372. Next support is seen at the overnight low of $15.80 and then at $15.55. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 6.0.

By Jim Wyckoff, contributing to Kitco News; jwyckoff@kitco.com

Follow @KitcoNewsNOW
(Kitco News) - Once again the global economy is not as strong as initially expected, as the International Monetary Fund has downgraded its outlook for this year and next.

Tuesday, in its spring World Economic Outlook, the IMF said that it expects the world economy to expand by 3.2% in 2016 and 3.5% in 2017. This is down from its previous forecasts of 3.4% and 3.6%, respectively.

The global recovery has weakened further amid increasing financial turbulence. Activity softened toward the end of 2015 in advanced economies, and stresses in several large emerging-market economies showed no signs of abating, the IMF said in its executive summary.

On a country-by-country basis, the IMFs projections shows broad-based downgrades. America is expected to grow 2.4 this year, down 0.2% from the January forecast; this would be the same pace seen in 2015 and 2014. Growth is expected to pick up only marginally to 2.5% in 2017, down 0.1% from the previous forecast.

Domestic demand will be supported by improving government finances and a stronger housing market that help offset the drag on net exports coming from a strong dollar and weaker manufacturing, the report said.

The European region is expected to see growth of 1.5%, down 0.2% from the previous projections. This is weaker than 1.6% growth seen in 2015. By 20017 Europe could expect to see its regional economy expand by 1.6%, down 0.1% from Januarys forecast.

Japan saw one of the biggest downgrades as the IMF has lowered its forecast to 0.5% growth this year, down 0.5% from the previous forecast. At the same time, the nation is expected to contract next year, by 0.1%, down 0.4% from the previous forecast.

IMF officials said that they see the Japanese economy contracting next year as the consumption tax rate goes into effect.

Canada is also expected to see lower growth as its economy is expected to grow by 1.5% this year, down 0.2% from Januarys forecast; at the same time, 2017 is also slightly weaker than expected as the economy is expected to grow 1.9%, down 0.2% from January.

A big question market is hanging over the United Kingdom as the nation prepares to hold a referendum on whether or not it will remain part of the European Union. The IMF downgraded Britain economic growth to 1.9%, down 0.3% from Januarys forecast; at the same time, economic growth in next year is expected to come in at 2.2%, unchanged from the previous projections.

In the United Kingdom, the planned June referendum on European Union membership has already created uncertainty for investors; a Brexit could do severe regional and global damage by disrupting established trading relationships, the report said.

The IMF is slightly more positive on China, which was one of the only countries to see an upgrade in its forecast. This year the organization sees Chinas economy growing 6.5%, up 0.2% from its previous forecast; next year the worlds biggest economy is expected grow by 6.2%, up 0.2% from January.

However, the IMF also admits that China doesnt face an easy road ahead as it transitions its economy to domestic consumption from its current export-based economy.

Given Chinas important role in global trade, however, bumps along the way could have substantial spillover effects, especially on emerging market and developing economies, the report said.

Once again, the IMF reiterated the need for countries to take more aggressive policy actions fiscal reports to support and foster stronger growth.

The WEO emphasizes a three-pronged approach of mutually reinforcing policy levers. These include (1) structural reforms, (2) fiscal support, with growth-friendly composition of revenue and spending, and fiscal stimulus where there is a need and where fiscal space allows, and (3) monetary policy measures, the report said.

By Neils Christensen of Kitco News; nchristensen@kitco.com

Follow @Neils_C
MICHAEL C. MOORE | KITSAP A&E Marilla (Micah Adams, middle) lectures Matthew (Dale Durham) as their new charge, Anne Shirley (Catherine Hinson) listens.

SHARE MICHAEL C. MOORE | KITSAP A&E Anne (Catherine Hinson) finds herself attracted to Gilbert Blythe (Alex Becker).

By Michael C. Moore, mmoore@kitsapsun.com

SILVERDALE  In the 1956 musical adaptation of "Anne of Green Gables," first-time CSTOCK director Sara Adams is dealing with a story that's "near and dear to my heart."

But there are other perks to the job for the veteran of a number of productions with Poulsbo's Kitsap Children's Musical Theatre. Chiefly, she gets to work with people who are equally near and dear.

"One of the things that's most exciting is that I've got two of my former students in my crew," said Adams, referring to vocal director Rachel Steinlicht and set artist Sheridan Prince (working on a design by Julie Johnson). "I got to call them and ask them if they wanted to come and play with me again."

The show, CSTOCK's annual "Kids for Kids" production, limits its cast to actors younger than 21. That falls right into the wheelhouse of Adams, thanks to her KCMT experience. Her "Anne of Green Gables" cast actually is younger than the company's target age, ranging from 8 to 18.

Adams proposed the show to CSTOCK, and her first decision upon being accepted for the current season was to commit to double-casting as many of the roles as possible. Ultimately, seven of the 16 parts  including the iconic heroine, Anne Shirley, and her romantic foil, Gilbert Blythe  will have two actors alternating performances, and stepping into the ensemble on their "off" nights.

"I made that decision right away," Adams said, pointing out the relatively small size of the "Anne of Green Gables" cast. "It was the best way to provide as many opportunities as possible."

To that end, Catherine Hinson and Paige Johnson will tag-team the title role, with CSTOCK veterans Alex Becker and Henry Beddoe sharing the part of Gilbert. Other double-cast roles are Marilla (Micah Adams and Ania Briggs), Diana (Sydney Hutto and Alanna Bolon), Rachel (Elizabeth Buskirk and Genna Johnson), Josie Pye (Delaney Anderson and Aspyn Schuster) and Mary Jo (Hanna Hoskins and Allie Lewis).

There would have been more, "if we'd had two that suited the part," Adams said. Dale Durham goes solo in the biggest non-doubled part, Matthew  a double challenge for the eighth-grader, since the character is often referred to as "kindly old Matthew."

"That's one of the challenges for actors in shows like this with young casts," Adams said. "It's difficult to play older, but it's also a lot of fun."

CSTOCK's outing marks the first appearance of Anne Shirley in Kitsap since 2012. The company produced a musical sequel, "Anne and Gilbert," which featured Beddoe's older sister, Katherine, in the title role. Port Gamble Theater Company mounted a nonmusical adaptation the same year.

This song-and-dance version of Lucy Maud Montgomery's beloved "Green Gables" story was adapted by Don Harron, with music by Norman Campbell and lyrics from Harron, Norman and Elaine Campbell (the composer's wife) and Mavor Moore. It was originally presented as a television movie by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, but has become a popular show for community and school groups.

PREVIEW

'ANNE OF GREEN GABLES, THE MUSICAL'

Who: Central Stage Theatre of County Kitsap (CSTOCK)

What: Musical adaptation of the novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Where: Central Kitsap Middle School, 10130 Frontier Place NW, Silverdale

When: April 15-may 8; 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays

Tickets: $15-$8

Information: 360-692-9940, cstock.org
MARINA CHAVEZ Bonnie Raitt performs Wednesday at the Paramount in Seattle.

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By Alan Sculley, Special to the Kitsap Sun

Bonnie Raitt has no complaints about how her year has started. In February, she was featured on the Grammy Awards, earning raves for a performance that followed rising country start Chris Stapleton and acclaimed guitarist Gary Clark Jr. in a tribute to the late blues legend B.B. King.

"What a way to start it with that Grammy (performance), I mean, that was such a thrill to be asked to do that, just very exciting," Raitt said in an early March phone interview.

Meanwhile, her newly released album, "Dig In Deep," is getting great reviews and being touted as one of the best efforts of her 45-year recording career  no small statement for a catalog that includes such as her acclaimed 1971 self-titled debut, 1989's "Nick of Time" (her six-million-selling commercial breakthrough) and 1991's "Luck of the Draw."

The positive response for "Dig In Deep" comes after Raitt returned with an acclaimed 2012 album, "Slipstream," that sold more than 250,000 copies despite being her first release on her own label, Redwing Records. It also won a Grammy for Best Americana Album.

"I never expected it ("Slipstream") to have that response," she said. "I just put them (albums) out and they mean as much every time I put a record out. It's the same amount of work and heart."

"Slipstream" arrived years after Raitt's previous album, "Souls Alike," a period during which she was far from idle, but also faced three major losses in her life. Her mother, pianist Marjorie Haydock, passed away in 2004. A year later, she lost her father, the acclaimed Broadway star ("Carousel" and "Oklahoma" among many other productions) John Raitt. Then in 2009, Raitt's older brother, Steven, succumbed to brain cancer.

Staying busy touring (and recording "Souls Alike"), Raitt said, helped her through the pain of her losses in her personal life.

"The touring and recording during that difficult decade was very helpful and cathartic," she said. "If it hadn't been for my fans and having that to do, I think I would have been a lot more dejected and drained."

Finally, after a tour with Taj Mahal in 2009, Raitt stepped away from her career to process the events of the decade and live her life without worrying about what to do next.

"I had a community of support that I got counsel from," Raitt said. "I was really very lucky to know that I needed to get some grief counseling when I took that hiatus. I had stuffed a lot of those feelings. ... I didn't want to stay contracted. My natural state is to be positive and outgoing, and I knew that I needed to accept a wintertime that I was going through and to feel all of those feelings and not medicate them away."

By fall 2010, Raitt was getting the itch to start working on music. She did a session with acclaimed songwriter/recording artist/producer Joe Henry that produced four songs on "Slipstream," before going on to self-produce the rest of the album.

Rait said her tour behind the album was one of the best of her career. She came off the road wanting to record with her touring band  George Marinelli (guitar), James "Hutch" Hutchinson (bass), Ricky Fataar (drums) and Mike Finnigan (keyboards)  and knowing she wanted to write songs that would add certain grooves and feels to her live show.

Raitt ended up writing or co-writing five songs for "Dig In Deep" (the most songs she has written since 1998's "Fundamental"), each of which brings a specific flavor to the album  and now her live show.

They include a rollicking shuffle, "What You're Doin' To Me" that highlights Raitt's gospel-inflected piano playing and Finnegan's B-3 organ work, a funky tune "Unintended Consequence of Live," which is in the tradition of hits like "Love Letter" and "Love Sneakin' Up On You," and a Stones-ish full-on rocker, "The Comin' Around Is Going Through."

The mood of "Dig In Deep" is upbeat, with several songs ("What You're Doin' To Me" and "You've Changed My Mind," the latter a song written by Henry during the 2010 sessions) reveling in personal and romantic renewal, while others, such as the ballads "The Ones We Couldn't Be" and "Undone" are about acceptance and moving ahead.

These days, Raitt is in a good place, and she's excited to be starting her tour in support of "Dig In Deep."

"When the record's new, I really like to feature it because we've waited a long time and we've worked hard to find these new songs," Raitt said. "Then there are a handful of songs that I'm known for that I know not everybody has seen me recently and probably will be coming out to see some of the hits.  And then I go back and dig deep into the past catalog. I've had some real surprises, that even surprised me, some things that we pulled out at rehearsal."

PREVIEW

BONNIE RAITT

Where: Paramount Theater, 901 Pine St., Seattle

When: 8 p.m. April 20

Tickets: SOLD OUT (call for late releases)

Information: 877-784-4849, stgpresents.org
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By Ed Friedrich of the Kitsap Sun

BREMERTON  Federal ferry grants will fund an Annapolis dock and contribute to renovating Seattle's Colman Dock and replacing its adjacent passenger-only float.

Kitsap Transit will receive $4.5 million to make the Annapolis facility ADA compliant, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray's office announced Monday.

The agency won't use any of the money to buy the dock from the Port of Bremerton. That $947,000 transaction already is underway. Kitsap Transit, which had been leasing the dock, needed to own it or have a long-term deal before the federal government would pay for improvements.

The 34-year-old facility is nearing the end of its 40-year service life. During low tides, the dock sits on the mud and the gangway climbs steeply. They'll be replaced by a larger dock  with a shelter  and a longer ramp to push the dock farther into the bay to reduce the angle and make it accessible to older and disabled people, both fast-growing groups.

"We're excited to be able to make this final ferry terminal ADA accessible," said Steffani Lille, Kitsap Transit service and capital development director.

Also receiving money from the competitive Passenger Ferry Grant Program will be King County's replacement and expansion of the passenger-only service dock just south of Washington State Ferries' Colman Dock. The feds are contributing $3.9 million to the project.

This is where cross-Sound passenger-only ferries from Bremerton and Kingston have docked and would again if service resumed.

WSF is getting $3.4 million from another federal source  the Passenger Ferry Grant program. The funds will pay for an overhead pedestrian walkway connecting the car ferry and passenger-only ferry terminals in Seattle, WSF spokesman Ian Sterling said.

The estimated $326 million project will preserve the aging, deteriorating and seismically deficient facility and remove safety conflicts between vehicles and pedestrians. Construction is expected to begin in mid-2017 and be completed in 2023.

The latest designs and what to expect during construction will be presented April 19 aboard the 4:40 p.m. sailing from Seattle to Bainbridge and 5:30-7:50 p.m. inside the Bainbridge terminal; and April 26 aboard the 4:20 p.m. sailing from Seattle to Bremerton and 5:30-7:30 p.m. inside the Bremerton terminal.

Murray, Sen. Maria Cantwell and U.S. Reps. Jim McDermott and Derek Kilmer wrote in support of the projects.

"Washington state's well-used ferry system is more than just an icon of the Puget Sound  it's a vital transportation link for thousands of people every day and a critical part of our regional economy," Murray said. "I'm proud to fight in Congress for the kind of investments that make our transportation systems safer, more efficient, and able to meet the demands of our rapidly growing region."

Kilmer said the grants were great news for local commuters.

"Whether you live on Bainbridge, Bremerton or elsewhere, many folks rely on the ferry system to get to work and back home on time," he said. "As the number of riders on our ferries continues to grow, this investment reduces the chances that bottlenecks will slow people down. I was proud to join my colleagues in supporting this project."
By Rachel Seymour and Andrew Binion of the Kitsap Sun

POULSBO  Poulsbo has launched another investigation into the conduct of its former police chief, despite a previous investigation that Mayor Becky Erickson said proved allegations of an affair with a female officer were "demonstrably false."

Erickson accepted Al Townsend's resignation March 14. After denying allegations of an affair, Townsend wrote that he was resigning because he had become a "distraction" to the department.

Erickson told the Kitsap Sun the day of the resignation that the city was looking into "other information," which she refused to detail. When pressed about a new investigation, Erickson would not provide information on who was conducting it, saying attorneys had advised her not to comment.

However, a police department official said that following the March 13 publication of a Sun investigation, Erickson was presented with a photo of Townsend kissing former Officer Danielle Branes.

"In light of new evidence shared with me, I don't believe (Townsend) was telling the truth about his relationship with Branes," Sgt. John Halsted said.

Halsted, who served as deputy chief under Townsend for about a year, said Erickson showed him the photo.

Halsted brought the allegations about Townsend and Branes to Erickson's attention in October, telling the mayor in person that Branes confided in him that she was having a romantic relationship with the chief. Halsted said he told Erickson he had grave concerns about the relationship and its effect on public safety. Halsted also wrote a detailed report based on what Branes told him, submitted a paper copy to the city and recommended Branes be put on administrative leave.

On April 4, the city released more than 3,000 pages of documents from initial investigations that, according to a review by the Sun, were missing key information, calling into question the investigator's work and how Erickson could have been certain the allegations against Townsend were false.

Erickson released a statement that day saying the city had started an investigation into "claims of violation of state and federal laws against discrimination."

When contacted by phone Friday, Erickson refused to listen to questions about the recently released documents and hung up on the reporter.

When reached by the Sun, Branes declined to comment. The Sun contacted Townsend's attorney, Ted Buck, but did not receive a response from Buck or Townsend.

THE SEABOLD INVESTIGATION

Documents regarding an initial investigation by the Seattle-based Seabold Group included handwritten notes in shorthand from investigator Kris Cappel, phone records from the former police chief's work cellphone, his travel records and a two-page summary.

A full report of Cappel's findings and legible summaries of her shorthand notes from interviews with Townsend and Halsted, if she wrote any, were not included in the documents. In an email, Cappel wrote that it was not the Seabold Group's practice to comment on its investigation and directed questions to the city.

Cappel's work was part of a $13,000 investigation paid by the city's insurer, which included legal fees for attorney Stephanie Alexander.

Her two-page summary shows an investigation into a claim by Branes that she was involved in a personal relationship with Townsend. Branes refused to participate in the investigation.



View Poulsbo Investigative Summary on Scribd

One of the allegations was that Branes met Townsend in October in Chicago when he traveled there for a work-related convention. Branes was on vacation during the time of the conference.

Cappel's summary says Townsend produced travel records that his wife accompanied him to and from the Chicago conference. Those records were not included in the documents the Sun received from the city.

According to Halsted's report, Branes also said she tried to break off the relationship with Townsend by phone. Cappel's investigation concluded that was false based on phone records from Townsend's city-owned cellphone. Cappel did not note whether Townsend owned a personal cellphone at the time.

The new documents did include a redacted version of Halsted's report detailing the allegations against Townsend, which the Sun had obtained last year in full from an anonymous source. The Sun repeatedly attempted to acquire the report from the city in accordance with state law. However, the city failed to provide it and did not list the report on any "exemption log," which acknowledges records the city has but believes it should not release under state law.

According to the newly released documents, the city had possession of Halsted's report at least since Nov. 6, when it was sent through personal email accounts of lower-level city employees.

ERICKSON, TOWNSEND DENIALS

Before the Sun's March 13 publication of an investigative article into Townsend's and Erickson's conduct, the two repeatedly denied and downplayed allegations against Townsend, with Erickson telling the Sun she did not believe any of the allegations from the beginning.

Erickson said she "verbally reprimanded" Townsend for an Aug. 9 incident during a graveyard shift, when a reserve officer found Branes and Townsend in his unlit office. Townsend said at the time Branes was showing him her glow-in-the-dark fingernail polish and gave him a hug.

There is no mention in Cappel's notes that she interviewed the reserve officer during her investigation.

Following publicity of the fingernail polish incident, Erickson on Dec. 22 received an email asserting that there was more to the relationship between Townsend and Branes.

Records show Erickson ordered the city's IT department to investigate the identity of the person who sent her the email. She also forwarded the email of allegations directly to Townsend within minutes of receiving it.

She called the email "slanderous" in her orders to the IT department and wrote that she wanted to make sure no city employee was involved.

Erickson made a statement to the Sun on Nov. 10 that there was nothing more to Townsend and Branes being in his unlit office that had not been disclosed, despite the fact that she had authorized Cappel's investigation Nov. 6, according to the new documents. A notice of the investigation was sent to Branes, Halstead and Townsend from Erickson on that day.

Townsend was not placed on administrative leave at any point during the investigation.

When asked whether Halsted informed her of an alleged romantic relationship between Townsend and Branes, Erickson claimed Halsted came to her with "rumors."

Halsted told the Sun he informed the mayor Oct. 22 of the allegations and told her they came directly from Branes.

Halsted said that Erickson correctly initiated the first investigation.

"I don't believe (Erickson) was guiding the investigation, that's not how these things work, she did the right thing," Halsted said. "Unfortunately, Branes didn't cooperate. She wouldn't talk to (the investigator) at all. And so the only story you are getting about a relationship between those two is from Al Townsend himself."

Branes submitted her resignation Nov. 2 after less than seven months with the department, writing that working the graveyard shift was difficult and she wanted to spend more time with her family.

Townsend previously told the Sun he had the city's civil service rules relaxed to hire her, saying she seemed like a good fit for the department. About three months before Branes was hired as a full-time officer, the civil service commission approved removing the two-year experience requirement for non-entry level officers at the request of Townsend.

FOCUS ON HALSTED

Townsend maintained he did not have a relationship with Branes, and in Cappel's notes, Townsend's investigative interview focused on Halsted and Branes' relationship, suggesting that Townsend relayed to Cappel that it was Halsted who had pursued a relationship with Branes.

When questioned by the Sun, Halsted denied he pursued a romantic relationship with Branes, saying that he was "extremely frustrated" by that assertion and that it was not true. He believes Townsend's focus on him and Branes was an attempt to deflect attention from Townsend's own alleged relationship with Branes.

Halsted said he and Branes were friends, however, and he had become concerned about her well-being and her ability to safely perform her job after she told him about the relationship with Townsend.

Halsted admitted he could have done more to maintain professional boundaries.

"That being said, we have a small, close-knit department that are like our extended family or a brotherhood," Halsted said.

Townsend told the Sun in January that Branes fabricated the relationship to get attention. After his resignation, he sent Halsted a text message, which Halsted provided the Sun, saying Branes "won."

"Danielle won. Convinced her family enough to scare Becky," Townsend wrote March 14 to Halsted. "Whatever. Enough."
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By Rachel Seymour of the Kitsap Sun

HANSVILLE  Washington officials are aiming to rename numerous places bearing offensive names throughout the state, including Coon Bay, which also is referred to as Sheltered Bay.

The bay near Hansville and 35 other places across Washington have been targeted for renaming, based on names that have a history of being racially charged, including coon, squaw and redman, among others.

State Sen. Pramila Jayapal, D-Seattle, and officials at the state Department of Natural Resources have teamed up to promote and recruit residents to file for a name change with the state's Committee on Geographic Names. The committee, part of DNR, is compiled of volunteers.

Names for federal lands must be renamed through the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.

DNR will be working with residents to rename locations with potentially offensive names by organizing community meetings and talking with residents, according to Kyle Blum, DNR's deputy supervisor for state uplands.

While residents have been able to apply to rename public lands and waters with the committee, the proactive approach is a new tactic by the state.

DNR will plan community meetings around places eyed for renaming. The department will meet with residents to see whether a new name is supported and what name is desired, along with finding a resident or group to file paperwork for the potential change.

Blum stressed that any renaming would be community-led.

It's unknown how long the process will take to go to every community on DNR's current list of offensively named places. The department is beginning with Coon Creek in King County.

Renaming landmarks isn't new to Washington.

In November, the federal government approved renaming Coon Lake in the North Cascades National Park to Howard Lake after Wilson Howard, an African-American miner who staked claims in the area 125 years ago, according to The Associated Press.

While a Washington place name database notes that Coon Bay is near other bodies of water named after animals, such as Skunk Bay and Buck Lake, it does not say exactly how Coon Bay's name originated.

The Coon Bay Sailing Club in Hansville, named after the bay, considered that coon can be a racially charged name in certain contexts when deciding on its own name.

Jim Morrison, a member and listed contact with the club, said the club suspected the bay was named after raccoons and even made the club's mascot and logo a raccoon. He's uncertain where the bay's name originates.

Jayapal said that ultimately the renaming is about making all residents and visitors feel welcome on public lands.

The senator went on to say that she hopes people view the renaming process as an educational opportunity to see what some of the names could mean to others. Names can be a way to welcome or exclude certain groups of people to a location.

When it comes to leaving offensive place names as they are, especially if history shows they come from racial prejudice, Jayapal said it could be seen as an endorsement or approval of negative history.

"I believe we are better than that," she said.
Maria Gonzalez in her first-grade Spanish immersion class at Naval Avenue Early Learning Center.

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Maria Suhey Gonzalez

School: Naval Avenue Early Learning Center, Bremerton School District

Grade: First-grade Spanish immersion

Total number of students: 19

Average class size: 19-24 students

Years teaching: 8

What inspired you to get into teaching? "One of my sixth-grade teachers, Mrs. Decker, was amazing. She would go above and beyond. She was so passionate and she did so many things for her students, especially for me. She gave me courage and made me believe I could do anything I wanted to. So teaching is my way of paying it forward and making a difference in a kid's life."

Name a rewarding moment from your career: "Teaching can be a very rewarding career. I have had many moments that money can't buy. However being able to see the growth and progress in my kids' education is very satisfying because I know I had something to do with it. Their challenges become mine and their success is what inspires me to continue to do what I'm doing."

What's your biggest challenge? "Finding the time to do everything I would like to do for my students and sometimes the resources to do it."

Finish this sentence, "I wish ...": "I can make a difference in every one of my students' lives and give them the right tools to succeed."
Now we look at the favourability ratings for the party leaders in 2014. Again first those who have a favourable view of each leader.

No surprise that Key had the highest favourability at 60%. But considering this was done after two months of Hager and Dotcom allegations against Key, still a remarkable level.

The 2nd most popular leader is Winston. 30% of NZers like him. Will be interesting to see how that breaks down by which party they voted for.

The two Green leaders were next  Turei on 22% and Norman 20%. In between then was David Cunliffe on 21%. When only one in five NZers like the alternative Prime Minister, then the outcome may not be a huge surprise.

Flavell does quite well for a minor party with 18% favourability, then Dunne on 13%, Craig 12%, Harawira 10%, Harre 7% and poor Jamie Whyte last on 4%.

This shows how many New Zealanders dislike each leader. The leader with the lowest level of dislike was John Key at 28%. One can have high favourability and unfavourability (think Muldoon), but this shows Key didnt have a high level of dislike in 2014  lower than any other leader.

Next lowest was Flavell on 32%, then Turei 37%, Norman 38%, Peters 42%, Whyte 42% and Dunne 46%.

Colin Craig had high unfavourability at 49% but this was less than David Cunliffe at 54%. That is a very high level of unfavourability for the proposed alternative Prime Minister.

The two most unpopular leaders were Laila Harre with 60% dislike and Hone Harawira with 64%,

This graph shows the net favourability for each leader. Key was the only leader whom more voters liked than disliked  at +32%.

The least unpopular was then Peters at -12%, Flavell -13%, Turei -15%, and Norman -18%.

After that Cunliffe was at -32%, Dunne -33%, Craig -37% and Whyte -39%.

Finally Harre on -53% and Harawira on -54%.

A pity they didnt survey opinion on the true Internet Party Leader, Kim Dotcom  I suspect would be even lower.

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A guest post by John Palino:

Phil Goffs comments about a potential waterfront stadium in Auckland suggest he is out of touch with reality says Mayoral candidate John Palino.



When commenting on the whole source of funding a potential stadium Mr Goff said. Private sector money should be sought.

If it were possible to build a large stadium without any public money it would have already happened somewhere in New Zealand. It has not because it cannot be done Mr Goff must know this, says Mr Palino.

Either Phil Goff is deluded in thinking he can fund a stadium without imposing costs on the Auckland ratepayer, he is ignorant of the facts, or he is outright misleading the public for votes says Mr Palino. Wellington and Dunedins stadium cost the ratepayers significant amounts of money, and the proposed Christchurch Stadium has council money of $253m allocated to it.

I challenge Phil Goff to explain how he can get the private sector to entirely fund a new stadium, says Mr Palino. Phil Goff needs to show that he is economically credible by demonstrating an understanding that stadiums in New Zealand are not built without public money.

After six years of Len Brown not telling us the truth about rates rises and council spending, Auckland needs a Mayor who will be honest with ratepayers. If Auckland is going to have a new stadium, ratepayers will be funding it. Phil Goff knows this but he wants to hide behind dubious Len Brown type rating promises during the campaign, only to massively increase rates if he gets elected.

Phil Goff needs to demonstrate that his promises about transparency and openness are not just empty. He cannot say that ratepayers will not pay for the stadium without explaining credibly how he will fund it. Aucklanders deserve a mayor who will tell them the truth, not one who does a Len Brown promising one thing then doing the opposite if elected.

Stadium Expenditure

Wellington Westpac Stadium The Stadium cost $130 million to build. The finance came from: Wellington Regional Council: 25$M Wellington City Council: 15$M Grants and Donations: 7$M Fundraising: 50$M ANZ Bank Loan: 33$M http://westpacstadium.co.nz/about-us/history/

Dunedin Forsyth Barr Stadium

Originally the total cost of the stadium including land purchases was projected to be NZ $198.3 million. The following contributors make up the original total funding of the project: Otago Regional Council $37.5 million Community Trust of Otago $7.0 million University of Otago $10.0 million Government $15.0 million Dunedin City Council $98.5 million https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forsyth_Barr_Stadium

Proposed Christchurch Stadium

The stadiums estimated $470m pricetag will be split 50:50 between the council and the Crown and/or private sector. The councils contribution is capped at $253m. http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/66427863/John-Key-Christchurch-stadium-iscouncils-call
Shenandoah, IA (51601)

Today

Sunny with gusty winds. High around 85F. Winds S at 25 to 35 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 50 mph..

Tonight

Windy with an isolated thunderstorm or two possible this evening. Then some showers later on. Potential for severe thunderstorms. Low 57F. Winds SSW at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
New boats move down the assembly line at the MasterCraft Boat Co. plant in Vonore, Tenn. MasterCraft is a finalist for a 2016 Pinnacle Business Award for large businesses from the Knoxville Chamber. SUBMITTED PHOTO

SHARE Mac's Pharmacy, a locally owned pharmacy, is among the finalists in the 2016 Pinnacle Business Awards for small businesses from the Knoxville Chamber. This file photo shows Mike and Mac Wilhoit inside their Washington Pike location Thursday, Oct 29, 2009. MICHAEL PATRICK/NEWS SENTINEL/FILE A worker weighs boxes of sausage patties at Wampler's Farm Sausage in Loudon County in this file photo. The Wampler plant has been operating on the site since 1937. Wampler's is one of the finalists for this year's Knoxville Chamber Pinnacle Business Awards. MICHAEL PATRICK/NEWS SENTINEL/FILE

By News Sentinel Staff

Twenty-four finalists have been selected for the 2016 Pinnacle Business Awards, an annual celebration of excellence hosted by the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by FSG Bank.

The winners will be announced at the 12th annual award ceremony on May 13 at the Knoxville Convention Center. The black tie-optional gala will feature a 6 p.m. silent auction and reception followed by a dinner.

"We are proud to recognize businesses and businesspeople that are positively impacting our region by contributing to the local economy and community," chamber president and CEO Mike Edwards said in a news release.

More than 170 local companies were vetted and scored by the chamber's board of directors to select finalists for eight Pinnacle Award categories:

The Small Business Excellence Award, sponsored by Sword & Shield, honors an East Tennessee small business with 50 employees or less.

Finalists: Pyxl; Axle Logistics, LLC; Mac's Pharmacy.

The Mid-Sized Business Excellence Award, presented by Harper Auto Square, is for businesses with 51-200 employees, and is one half of the Business Excellence Awards.

Finalists: Joseph Construction Company; Master Dry Foundation and Waterproofing Specialist; Strata-G.

The Large Business Excellence Award is the other half of the Business Excellence Awards, which recognize businesses with 201 or more employees that have shown profitability, growth, and stability.

Finalists: MasterCraft; Tennessee Orthopaedic Clinic, PC; Weigel's.

The Woman-Owned Business Excellence Award is given to an outstanding woman-owned business in East Tennessee. Women must own at least 51 percent of the company and one or more women must control daily management operations.

Finalists: Graphic Creations; Microbial Insights, Inc.; The Pavilion at Hunter Valley Farm.

The Minority-Owned Business Excellence Award, sponsored by Covenant Health, recognizes companies that have achieved notable growth and are at least 51-percent owned by an ethnic minority.

Finalists: H&T Enterprises, Inc.; Sandra G's; Spanish Language Solutions, Inc.

The Young Entrepreneur Award, sponsored by FSG Bank, recognizes young professionals who started or are at risk in ownership of a nonfranchise business in East Tennessee.

Finalists: Brandon Bruce, COO and co-founder of Cirruspath; Courtney Herda, CEO of Smarter Searches; Todd and Lindsay McCormick, owners of PhotoBarn.

The Impact Award, sponsored by Publix, is awarded to a noncharitable business that is committed to making the region a better place to live through the development and support of a community project or program.

Finalists: Gerdau; Wampler's Farm Sausage Company, Inc.; WBIR-TV.

The Innovator Award, sponsored by Proton Power, is presented to a business that has developed a new technology, innovative product or service, or has applied a business system or service in an innovative way.

Finalists: AMS Corp.; Electric Power Research Institute; Magnum Venus Products.

The 2016 honoree of the James A. Haslam II Chairman's Leadership Award award is Ken Lowe, chairman, president, and CEO of Scripps Networks Interactive.

For more information visit www.pinnacle2016.eventbrite.com.
The crowd applauds during Startup Day 2015, an event to celebrate Knoxville's start up and entrepreneurial community at the Bijou Theater on Nov. 19. (JESSICA TEZAK/NEWS SENTINEL)

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By Ali James of the Knoxville News Sentinel

It was clear when more than 500 people attended Knoxville's Startup Day 2015 in November that the organizers were really onto something.

Inspired by the growing interest and momentum of the event, they have announced the rebranding of Startup Day this year as Innov865 Week, which will run from Sept. 19-23.

The week will kick off with the Kauffman Foundation's Mayor's Summit on Entrepreneurship, then feature Paul Singh and the North American Tech Tour. The signature event, Startup Day, will be on Sept. 22.

Included will be educational panels, pitch competitions, investor roundtables and social events. Activities will be geared toward startups, entrepreneurs, investors, business leaders, students and the East Tennessee community.

The Startup Day hosts will now be known collectively as the Innov865 Alliance, demonstrating a commitment to year-round collaboration to develop, support and promote the region's entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The Innov865 Alliance includes the University of Tennessee Research Foundation, Oak Ridge National Lab, PYA, UT's Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Launch Tennessee, and the Knoxville Entrepreneur Center.

"PYA is a strong champion of entrepreneurship in the region," said Tom Ballard, chief alliance officer at PYA and a member of the newly formed Innov865 Alliance. "The firm was founded here 32 years ago as a startup and it's grown to be the ninth-largest privately held health care consultancy in the U.S.

"We understand as a company what it takes to start and grow an enterprise, and we're committed to giving back to the community that helped us grow to what we are today."

Ballard said the organizers of Startup Day started talking of expanding the event after the successful event in November. "We've done this for three years," he added. "We've built an excitement in the community. We've seen it grow."

Having outgrown previous locations and filling the Bijou to the gills last year, the alliance was looking at how it could build on that success and how it could take the event to the next level.

The alliance decided to start by making it a multi-day event.

"Let's really celebrate entrepreneurship in a week, and tie together other events that occur throughout the year," Ballard said. "Innov865 Week will be a focal event once a year, and other events will also reinforce the Innov865 brand."

There was a quick consensus around the concept and an agreement that the brand would be enhanced by a new name.

"East Tennessee has plenty to discover, celebrate and invest in when it comes to innovation, hence the name Innov865," said Ballard. The "865" refers to the Knoxville area code.

Development was led by Jim Biggs and Johnathon Sexton of the Knoxville Entrepreneur Center.

"They took the lead to develop the brand," Ballard said. "It's a team effort. That's really the key, the reason we've been able to go from a fledgling event three years ago to a week. It is because of a collaboration of these organizations.

"Now the tough part begins, making sure we have the right set of events, and continue to have a focused day with Startup Day," he said. "We've also been fortunate in tying in with Paul Singh, who is doing a nationwide tour of the nontraditional startup communities. He will be bringing some programming and interacting with startups and entrepreneurs in the area.

Known for his venture-capital work and his own startup companies, Singh, will travel in a pickup truck pulling a custom-built Airstream trailer to mentor entrepreneurs, visit incubators and "dive into the local (tech) culture," Ballard said.

The Kauffman Foundation's Mayors' Summit on Entrepreneurship will bring mayors and entrepreneurship experts together to discuss ways to promote startup activity and encourage higher levels of entrepreneurship.

"We want to be supportive of activities," Ballard said. "But that doesn't mean that we have to own and run everything; it's really a community. I think we're building a village where everybody participates [and] celebrates, and everyone benefits."

As for Startup Day, the organizers are still determining what the format will be.

"It will have many of the characteristics that we have done in the past," Ballard said. "It will probably still be a two- to three-hour event, but we will probably be able to focus more on the celebration of what is happening in the region.

"What has been most exciting from my perspective is that we have showcased a lot of what has been going on," he said.

He mentioned the investment in General Graphene of $8.7 million by a consortium led by Knoxville-based Angel Capital Group. Graphene, is a material that is harder than a diamond and 200 times stronger than steel.

"ARiES Energy, an alternative-energy company and Startup Day alum, won the first ever Traction Award last year. And Local Motors built its first 3-D printed car, the Strati, in partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ere in East Tennessee. All are indicators of a 'vibrant entrepreneur eco system."

"We've added layer on layer to the image of the community," Ballard said.
ADAM LAU/NEWS SENTINEL Liver cancer patient Konrad Dobrott, right, is interviewed as wife Lisa Dobrott, left, listens at University of Tennessee Medical Center on Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Konrad recently became the first North American patient in a Phase 3 clinical trial for Pexa-Vec, an experimental vaccine targeting liver tumors. Dr. Laura Findeiss, chair of UT's department of radiology, is the principal investigator for the study.

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By Kristi L. Nelson of the Knoxville News Sentinel

Konrad Dobrott drove more than six hours for a shot at curing his Stage 4 liver cancer.

When Dobrott, 51, of Smithfield, Va., received the Pexa-Vec earlier this month at University of Tennessee Medical Center, he became the first North American patient in a Phase 3 clinical trial for the vaccine, which targets liver tumors.

UT Medical Center is one of three U.S. facilities participating in the worldwide clinical trial; the others are in Chicago and Billings, Mont. Principal investigator Dr. Laura Findeiss, chair of the department of radiology, hopes UT will see around 20 of the total 600 patients for the study. (Call 865-305-9773 for information.)

Findeiss said working on a previous clinic trial for Pexa-Vec  also known as JX-594  makes her "excited about the potential this new cancer immunotherapy holds."

The vaccine, modified from the same type of virus that helped eradicate smallpox, is injected directly into liver tumors. There, researchers say, it seeks out cancer cells and replicates inside them, using the materials the cancer itself would need to replicate. The cancers rupture, provoking an immune response.

Its Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials were encouraging, with the latter showing an increase in the median survival of a small group of patients.

And it's targeting those who have hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common type of liver cancer, for which the treatments are limited and inappropriate for many patients.

Dobrott's liver cancer was secondary to a hepatitis C infection, as many are. He'd gone through three rounds of the older interferon treatment for hepatitis C before being cured by a newer drug, sofosbuvir, or Solvaldi.

Three weeks later, a liver tumor showed up. Dobrott had it surgically removed, the most effective treatment but one only 10 percent to 15 percent of patients qualify for  and half or more of those have tumors recur.

When Dobrott's liver cancer returned a few months later, he prepared to take a drug, Sorafenib, shown to slow the progression of the cancer, although it isn't considered a cure and can have side effects. Before starting the treatment, while Dobrott was visiting New York City, where he grew up, his wife, Lisa, was researching possible treatments.

She came across a news story on a French biopharmaceutical company, Transgene S.A., that saw its stock rise because of its stake in Pexa-Vec, which was entering Phase 3 trials. The vaccine was initially developed by Jennerex, a private American company now owned by the South Korean company SillaJen, with Transgene, Lee's Pharmaceutical Holdings, and the Japanese Green Cross Corp.

From there, Lisa Dobrott tracked down information that put her in contact with Findeiss, who said Dobrott's overall good health and active lifestyle helped make him a good candidate for the trial.

But had he started Sorafenib, as planned, he might not have been: The trial studies whether Pexa-Vec increases the overall survival of patients who get Sorafenib afterward, versus those who get Sorafenib alone.

Side effects of the shot are minimal  typically a couple of hours of high fever and flu-like body aches. It's shown promise treating other types of cancers, Findeiss said, particularly melanomas.

If all goes as planned, Dobrott will receive three doses of the vaccine total, two weeks apart. His cancer's progression will be monitored with CT scans of his chest and abdomen.

"It's like the promise of flying cars is for real," Dobrott said. "The future is now, for me."
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CROSSVILLE CONCERT

The Southern Stars Symphonic Brass, a 30-piece professional instrumental ensemble, presents a concert at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 16, in the auditorium of Stone Memorial High School in Crossville. Guest artists Buddy Greene, Jeff Taylor and Matt Combs will perform. Greene is a virtuoso harmonica player, guitarist, vocalist and songwriter and a frequent performer with the Bill & Gloria Gaither Homecoming Concert series.

The concert will include a Broadway medley, a John Philip Sousa march, a tuba solo, a medley of folk songs as well as spiritual music.

Adult tickets are $25, and Students are $5 (includes K-12 and college) and will be available at the door.

Info: Dwight Wages, 931-484-6939.

PIANO RECITAL

David Morgan, the accompanist for traditional worship at First Farragut United Methodist Church, will perform a piano recital titled "The Spiritual Power of Music" at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 17, at the church, 12733 Kingston Pike. Musical selections will feature grand hymn arrangements and several classical music selections.

Admission is free.

Morgan was a winner of the Young Artist Auditions of the New Orleans Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra and awarded the Special Performance Award Full Scholarship for study at the University of South Alabama.

HIP HOP FOR HUNGER

Join The Scarecrow Foundation at 7 p.m. April 15 at The International for the 4th annual Hip Hop for Hunger supporting Mobile Meals. Some of the best local artists and performers will help support hunger relief. All of the proceeds support Mobile Meals.

Tickets are $10.

'SEUSSICAL' ON STAGE

"Seussical The Musical" is on stage at the Ronald and Lynda Nutt Theatre, Clayton Center for the Arts, Maryville College at 7 p.m. Friday, April 15, 4 p.m. Saturday, April 16, and 2 p.m. Sunday, April 17. Performed by the Maryville College Theatre Department, tickets are $15 adults, $10 area non-Maryville College students, $7 children ages 12 and younger, free for Maryville College students, faculty and staff.

"Seussical" tells the story of Horton, an elephant who discovers a speck of dust containing Whos, including Jojo, a Who child sent off to military school for thinking too many "thinks." Horton not only must he protect the Whos, but he must guard an abandoned egg, left to his care by the irresponsible Mayzie La Bird. Ultimately, the powers of friendship, loyalty, family, and community are challenged and emerge triumphant.

Info: 865-981-8590, www.claytonartscenter.com.

Like us at www.facebook.com/knoxvillefamily and www.facebook.com/knoxvilledotcom
A map shows a 488-acre tract recently purchased on Buffalo Mountain in northeastern Tennessee by The Nature Conservancy and The Conservation Fund. (THE NATURE CONSERVANCY)

SHARE Buffalo Mountain Camp and Retreat Photo courtesy Buffalo Mountain Camp Campers walk toward Allison Lodge at Buffalo Mountain Camp and Retreat. Photo courtesy Buffalo Mountain Camp

By Morgan Simmons of the Knoxville News Sentinel

Two leading nonprofit conservation organizations have become joint owners and managers of a 488-acre forested tract on Buffalo Mountain in upper East Tennessee.

The Nature Conservancy and The Conservation Fund purchased the Buffalo Mountain Camp and Retreat Center near Johnson City that had been owned and operated by the Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church since 1947 as a summer camp.

In August 2012 the camp and surrounding Washington County community were devastated by a flash flood. After two years of evaluating the damage, the camp's board decided it would be cost prohibitive to rebuild, and decided to relocate.

Because the property was located close to the Cherokee National Forest, the camp's board approached the U.S. Forest Service about acquiring the land, but the forest service did not have the financial flexibility to make an immediate purchase.

The Nature Conservancy and The Conservation Fund became involved after learning that part of the property ranked high as forest habitat under the 2015 Tennessee State Wildlife Action Plan.

Now, the two conservation organizations have acquired the camp's undeveloped 488 acres on the western slope of Buffalo Mountain with a long-term plan to transfer the property to the U.S. Forest Service as an addition to the Cherokee National Forest.

It's the first time The Nature Conservancy and The Conservation Fund have become joint owners and managers of a property in Tennessee.

"One group alone can never save all the beautiful land that merits protection," said Gabby Lynch, director of protection for The Nature Conservancy. "By working together, our two organizations' strengths are complimented and magnified."

The Forest Service will nominate the project to receive acquisition funding from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund that comes from offshore oil and gas royalties, not taxpayer money. The United Methodist Church plans to sell the smaller, lower elevation portion of the property that contains the remnants of the flood-damaged camp structures separately.

The sale of the Buffalo Mountain Camp has raised money for the Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church to establish a new camp site called Camp Bays Mountain, in Kingsport, that's expected to open in time for the 2017 summer season.

"Personally speaking, I'm very pleased with the outcome," said Rev. Jeff Wadley, executive director of the former Buffalo Mountain Camp. "I'm a conservation-minded person due to my faith, and I was thrilled to learn this property would be placed into the public trust, and that it will be available for the public to enjoy for generations to come."
Loudon County Sheriff's Office K-9 Dante, left, and K-9 Damos, right.

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By News Sentinel Staff

Loudon County Sheriff Tim Guider congratulated two of his "Top Dogs" that performed this past week in the United States Police Canine Association Region 8 field trials, according to a news release.

The trials, held at Lakeview K-9 Services in Loudon, recognized Top Dogs in each discipline of police dog service.

The 18 competitors from eight different agencies in East Tennessee were tested in areas including explosive detection, narcotic detection, tracking, obedience, agility, evidence recovery, suspect search and criminal apprehension.

Top K-9 teams were recognized in areas of patrol, which combined obedience, evidence detection, suspect search and criminal apprehension, explosives detection, and narcotic detection.

Guider congratulated Cpl. Chris Hutchens and K-9 Officer Dante on a performance in narcotics detection for receiving a 199.83 out of a possible 200 to take the Top Dog award in that division. The K-9 Dante has been at the Sheriff's Department for three years and is a Belgian Malinois imported from Europe.

Guider also congratulated Lt. Paul Curtis and K-9 Officer Damos in the patrol exercises competition. They earned a 691 out of 700 points. Damos is a seven year old Giant Schnauzer from the Czech Republic. He has been with the Sheriff's Office for two years.
The main portal at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2015. (MICHAEL PATRICK/NEWS SENTINEL)

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By Frank Munger of the Knoxville News Sentinel

OAK RIDGE  Excavation activities at the future site of the Uranium Processing Facility have uncovered another radioactive remnant of earlier operations at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant.

A 4-foot-by-4-foot piece of radioactive metal was unearthed on March 9, according to a quarterly occurrence report filed last week by Consolidated Nuclear Security, the government's managing contractor at Y-12.

There was no immediate information on the metal's former role or why it was buried on the west end of the Oak Ridge plant, where the multibillion-dollar UPF is to be built.

"The item was placed in a B-25 (large-sized) container and staged in a radioactive material area," the report stated.

This is by no means the first time that workers doing site preparations for the UPF have unearthed radioactive legacies at Y-12.

Occurrence reports filed by the contractor indicate there have been more than 50 such "events" over the past couple of years during preparations for the big project, which is supposed to modernize the plant's operations for processing bomb-grade uranium.

Project officials have said actual construction of facilities will not begin until design is 90 percent complete. That milestone is tentatively scheduled for late 2017, with first operations planned for around 2025.

In the meantime, the focus is on site preparations. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is overseeing the pre-construction activities for UPF.

A project to relocate sections of Bear Creek Road was interrupted repeatedly during 2014 and 2015 because of underground pits of radioactive trash encountered during the earth-moving operations.

The National Nuclear Security Administration did not comment Tuesday on the most recent report of radioactive debris uncovered at the future site of the UPF.

In 2014, during a visit to the site on Y-12's west end, NNSA spokesman Steven Wyatt said most of the contaminated materials had been found several feet underground, up to 14 feet in some instances.

Screenings were conducted before activities began at the UPF site, including soil samples, but officials said it was difficult to predict where underground hazards might reside.

Asked why radioactive materials were buried at site that apparently were not authorized for disposal, Wyatt said at the time, "I don't think anyone really has an answer on that."

The radioactive equipment and debris uncovered at the site have been packaged in containers and, in some cases, shipped to the government's Nevada National Security Site for disposal.
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By News Sentinel Staff

Ted Wampler Sr., the co-founder of Wampler's Farm Sausage in Lenoir City, died Sunday.

He was 86.

Mr. Wampler started the family business in 1937 with his father, Riley Wampler, and mother, Edith Wampler.

"Dad built a tin shack on the creek near our home and, as an 11-year-old boy, I learned the sausage business from his butchering and mother's seasoning," he told the News Sentinel in a 1982 interview.

"My mother ground pork into sausage by hand. At times dad butchered 11 hogs a day, beginning in November before refrigeration became commonplace, and sold it door-to-door, not from store-to-store, mostly in Lenoir City and Harriman."

After shuttering for World War II, Riley Wampler suggested to his son that they reopen the slaughterhouse. Ted Wampler invested $1,100 and they renamed the business Wampler's Wholesale Meats. In 1981, the company's name was changed to Wampler's Farm Sausage.

Mr. Wampler, however, was more to Loudon County than just a meat salesman.

He served as a justice of the peace, foreman of the Loudon County grand jury, chairman of the Loudon County school board and the Loudon County Vocational Governing Board, and was on the executive board of directors of the Loudon County Rescue Squad.

A veteran of the Korean War with the U.S. Army, Mr. Wampler was charter member and past president of the Eaton Ruritan Club, past president of the Tennessee Meat Packers Association. He also was a longtime member of the American Legion and was a Mason for more than 50 years.

Mr. Wampler attended Crossroads Church of the Nazarene, where he taught Sunday school.

Mr. Wampler is survived by his wife, Frances Wilburn Wampler; daughter and son-in-law, Ruth Ann and Edwin R. Blackburn; sons and daughters-in-law, Ted Jr. and Sherri Wampler, John Edd and Kathy Wampler; foster daughter Karen Hansen; foster son Borce Lazarov; and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

The family will receive friends 3-8 p.m. Tuesday at First Baptist Church in Lenoir City. Funeral services follow at 8 p.m. Tuesday. Burial will be Wednesday morning at Pleasant Hill Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Crossroads Church of the Nazarene or the Child Advocacy Center.
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By Michael Collins of the Knoxville News Sentinel

WASHINGTON  U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander angrily accused the U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday of blatantly ignoring part of the new school reform law that Congress passed last year with overwhelming bipartisan support.

In an unusual public scolding, Alexander told Education Secretary John B. King Jr. the department is not adhering to a key section of the law that relates to funding for low-income schools.

"Not only is what you're doing against the law," Alexander said during a Senate committee hearing, "the way you're trying to do it is against another provision in the law."

King tried to assure Alexander the Education Department is not circumventing the law, but is merely proposing regulations to give guidance to states and local school districts. But Alexander was not convinced.

"I can read," he said bluntly.

The law in question is the Every Student Succeeds Act, which Congress passed last year to replace the No Child Left Behind school-reform law put in place more than a decade earlier.

Alexander, a Maryville Republican, was one of the primary architects of the new law in his role as chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. The committee is holding a series of hearings on how the Obama administration is implementing the law.

At Tuesday's hearing, Alexander accused the Department of Education of overstepping its authority and trying to work around a provision that says federal funding must be used to supplement state and local spending on education.

Another section of the law requires comparable spending between Title I schools  those with large numbers of disadvantaged students  and schools that are not Title I.

The "comparability" provision has been in federal law since 1970, and Congress did not change it when the new school reform law passed last year.

But Alexander charged the department is trying to implement new regulations that would require equal, not comparable, spending per pupil. He also accused the department of trying to dictate the methodology that local school districts must use when calculating whether funding between schools is comparable  a move he said is not allowed under the law.

King disputed that. The department is not requiring any particular methodology, he said, but is simply trying to give schools the flexibility to measure the goal of comparable funding.

"How can you sit there and say that?" Alexander asked, arguing that the proposed regulations clearly dictate how states must go about measuring comparability.

Alexander warned he would use "every power of Congress" to make sure the law is implemented the way it was written, even if it meant using the appropriations process to block the regulations or overturning them once they are final.

If the department tries to force states to follow regulations that violate the law, "I'll tell them to take you to court," he said.
SHARE In this photo taken Feb. 3, 2015, Republican House Speaker Beth Harwell speaks at a forum in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Erik Schelzig) Samuel M. Simpkins/The Tennessean House Speaker Beth Harwell, R-Nashville, center, announces she is creating a task force to propose ways to improve access to health care in Tennessee, Tuesday, April 12, 2016, in Nashville, Tenn. Harwell said she began conversations with health policy experts at Vanderbilt University's medical school after lawmakers rejected the Insure Tennessee proposal last year by Gov. Bill Haslam, right.

By Richard Locker, locker@knoxnews.com

NASHVILLE  State House Speaker Beth Harwell's creation Tuesday of a new House-only task force to come up with small pilot programs for expanding health coverage to the uninsured was greeted with skepticism, particularly among Democrats.

Harwell, R-Nashville, named four House Republicans to the "3-Star Healthy Project" and charged them with coming up with a plan "with conservative Tennessee principles" to take to the Obama administration for review in June. It would largely consist of experimental pilot programs, with limited enrollment and features like health savings accounts, premiums and incentives for healthy behaviors by enrollees and "circuit breakers" that would halt the programs if costs exceed projections.

The pilot programs would be evaluated and, if results are favorable, expanded. It would replace Gov. Bill Haslam's Insure Tennessee plan, which would have expanded coverage to nearly 300,000 low-income, working uninsured Tennesseans. It failed to win legislative approval more than a year ago.

The task force members either opposed Insure Tennessee or hold key House committee positions. They are Cameron Sexton of Crossville, the task force chairman, who chairs the House Health Committee; Steve McManus of Memphis, who chairs the Insurance and Banking Committee; Roger Kane of Knoxville, who is in the insurance industry; and Matthew Hill of Jonesborough.

Whatever the task force proposes must win approval of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which approves state Medicaid programs like Tennessee's TennCare and thus the billions of federal dollars that mostly fund them.

Harwell announced the task force's creation and introduced its members during an afternoon news conference in the state capitol, in which Haslam participated and offered his backing.

"One of the hard things about Insure Tennessee was that, though we worked on it for 18 months, by the time we got CMS approval, it was late in the year with the legislative session coming back up quickly and there was never any time for full engagement (with lawmakers) about what we could or could not work out," the governor said.

"I think that's one of the beauties of the process Speaker Harwell is talking about. They're talking about meeting together, coming up with some solutions, going to Washington to have an initial interchange and then seeing if there's a program that can get passed in Tennessee."

Democrats were blunt in their assessment of the announcement.

"What a sad political joke. What a political charade," said House Democratic Caucus Chairman Mike Stewart of Nashville. "The governor has a plan that has been approved by CMS. It's widely supported by the public. We came up here today to hear a health care announcement and we've heard about creating a task force that may think about doing pilot programs, that has never spoken to the federal government."

Stewart called the timing Harwell's announcement "curious."

"All of a sudden at the very end of the (legislative) session, an announcement is made that has absolutely no substance whatsoever and is simply designed to convey the false impression that the House Republican leadership is planning to do anything about health care," he said. "It clearly is not. It's an effort to delay and to not pass Gov. Haslam's plan. It's pathetic."

The Legislature plans to adjourn for the year late next week.

Although several state senators of both parties watched the announcement alongside reporters, health industry representatives and health care advocates, the task force is a House-only affair  at least initially. Sexton said efforts will be made to include participation by senators and Democrats.

Sen. Richard Briggs, R-Knoxville, a cardiac surgeon who has been involved in health care policy at the state and federal levels through the Tennessee and American Medical Associations for 15 years, attended the announcement but said afterward that the first he had heard about it or the task force was a couple of hours earlier at lunch, from the governor's top assistant who was dining nearby.

"I looked at the handout and I couldn't tell much from it. We'll wait and see," Briggs said. "My goal is better health for the citizens of Tennessee and to try to get as many insured as possible. I agree it has to be affordable and if this works, I'm all for it. We're just going to have to watch and wait and see what comes out."

But as the questioning began to focus more on the political aspects and as a young protester shouting "Speaker Harwell, when will you stop using the poor as political pawns" was being led out of the room by security, Haslam defended the new approach:

"Let me say something. You have some folks who have gotten up here at some political risk to themselves and said we want to be part of a solution. I don't agree with everything that's been said here. Nobody does. But these are folks trying to find a solution. We should encourage that and applaud that. If you want to immediately turn this into a political argument, we're back where we were before."
Barry Sims checks tobacco seedlings inside one of the greenhouses at the Highland Rim Research Center in Springfield, Tenn. Later this spring, the seedlings will be transferred to a 30-acre plot for research purposes. (Photo: Nicole Young/Robertson County Times)

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By Nicole Young, Robertson County Times

It was a sunny Saturday in Springfield, Tenn., and Dr. Barry Sims was in his element at the University of Tennessees Highland Rim Research Center.

In the cow pasture, Sims pointed to ear tags on the heifers and their calves, explaining how each animals history was well-documented by researchers. Some were purebred, others mixed breed. Some would go to harvest later this year, others were meant to stay long-term.

And a few were really special, outfitted with surgically implanted equipment that allowed researchers to reach into the animals and collect random stomach samples for analysis.

Since 1998, Sims has overseen operations at Highland Rim. Hes packaged data for thousands of research projects and gotten it into the hands scientists, graduate students and University of Tennessee faculty members.

And soon, hell be leaving Robertson County to tackle a new position in Knoxville.

I got a phone call one day, and I was asked to come to Knoxville, Sims said. It was a very big decision for us. Weve been here for 18 years. As a matter of fact, I thought I might even retire here.

Sims is scheduled to take office as the associate director of UT Ag Research on May 1. Once he takes office in Knoxville, Sims will work with researchers and faculty there to evaluate the research to be done at all 10 of the universitys research centers, he said.

Continue reading at The Tennessean, a News Sentinel partner.
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There is a growing culture of fear in the United States that is being nurtured by the news media and some presidential candidates.

In 2014, there was wall-to-wall news coverage followed by a national panic when a visiting Liberian died of the Ebola virus in a Texas hospital. Our response included state quarantines and even school closings. In all, three health care professionals came down with Ebola, were treated and recovered. Not one American died of the disease.

Now the media and campaign rhetoric have intensified our fears about ISIS. But does ISIS threaten our survival? According to military experts, absolutely not. ISIS can't launch a military attack in the United States. In the last decade only 71 people in the United States were killed by isolated terrorists. We are thousands of times more likely to die from lifestyle choices, for instance. Or, as an absurd example, we are hundreds of times more likely to drown in our bathtubs.

Our government is spending $615,482 every hour to fight ISIS. What plots haven't been intercepted have been solved in short order. Yet Donald Trump and Ted Cruz promise they'll greatly increase our military effort.

ISIS is the scourge of the Earth, but we have the largest military and the most capable intelligence in the world. We must not let the terrorists succeed by being "terrorized" by them, or increase their numbers by threatening a ground war. ABC newsman Ted Koppel perhaps said it best: "Terrorism is the means by which the weak induce the powerful to inflict damage upon themselves."

A U.S. company has developed a vaccine to eradicate Ebola, and the U.S.-led coalition will defeat ISIS. We are the land of the free and the home of the brave. Let's believe in ourselves.

Cheryl Peyton, Loudon
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Tennessee House Bill 2414 states: "Public schools shall require that a student use student restroom and locker room facilities that are assigned for use by persons of the same sex as the sex indicated on the student's original birth certificate." Males are to use male restrooms and females are to use female restrooms. That sounds pretty simple. If there is any question, then a person can show his or her birth certificate. Yet a recent Citizen's Voice stated: "The legislation does not provide any guidance on how to verify a student's gender. ... No child should be subjected to these types of invasive inspections just to use the restroom." I do not see how asking for a birth certificate is "invasive." Most of the time one's sex is obvious, but, if there is any question, then a birth certificate would settle the matter.

The writer stated that the lawmakers have not been able to provide a single example to show why the law was needed. Yet in the very same April 9 newspaper, there is an article about a man in Maryville charged with installing cameras in restrooms. Without the bill, males parading as females can spy on females in restrooms without the need for cameras. I partly agree with the writer's last sentence: "The dignity and safety of our children is not worth the gamble." We should not gamble with our children by letting people of the wrong sex into our public restrooms. God made us "male and female" (Genesis 1:27), and we should not change what he has established.

Scott Firebaugh, Knoxville
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I'm sharing the sadness I've seen in Lee County, Virginia, regarding drug addiction. It's hard seeing patients addicted to narcotics and benzodiazepines while seeing multiple holes in their nose, mouth and abscess at sites of injections. I've seen patients with infections affecting every part of their bodies, in respiratory failure from snorting pills, aspiration pneumonitis and septic shock. I've prayed for recovery, given support to families and cried when they lost the battle.

The medical community and government kept silent, which led to over 47,000 drug overdose deaths, based on 2014 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics. It's devastating seeing the victim's family suffer loss of a loved one and children struggle unintentionally with poverty, and psychological and mental abuse. Many children become addicted, conditioned by their living environment while watching parents in and out of jail or prison. Who'll teach these children how to build positive self-esteem, raise a family and be responsible citizens?

I've seen children grow up and become addicted. Some said their parents' prescriptions were the source. They also blamed hanging out with others from the same environment, spending time on the streets and failing school, which led to them not being able to find employment. However, there's hope now to fight the disease.

I'm grateful for the new CDC guidelines for narcotics prescriptions. It's the right thing to do to save lives and prevent further harm. I was taught while at East Tennessee State University Medical School to do no harm to society by prescribing narcotics for chronic use to non-cancer or terminal patients. However, many patients and some medical providers questioned my good intention to eliminate prescribing narcotics for young, healthy patients, as I saw no justification for chronic use.

May God help us fight and win over this addictive disease. It will take the victims and their families, medical providers, behavioral health, spiritual leaders of all faiths, lawyers, judges, insurance, hospitals and government.

Abdul-Latief Almatari, Jonesville, Va.
By Choi Sung-jin



Korea's genetic engineering sector has gone around in circles for about a decade since the scientific paper manipulation scandal involving cloning expert Hwang Woo-suk in 2005.



China and Japan, on the other hand, have sprinted ahead, amid the deepening concerns of Korean scientists and industrialists, experts say.



Researchers at the Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine said Monday they had succeeded in creating embryos resistant to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS, by applying what Korean scientists call "genetic scissor technology" to 213 fertilized eggs donated by 87 patients.



The technology is known as CRISPR, which makes it possible to cut or paste genetic information easily  as if by using scissors - and correct various genetic defects that torment lives. It was the second case of applying the technology to embryos and was published in the newest edition of the Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics.



No countries or research institutions have applied "genetic scissors" to embryos aside from the Chinese, the experts said. By using CRISPR on 26 human embryos, the research team has managed to remove a gene called "CCR5," which sticks to HIV and carries the latter into cells. By eliminating CCR5, therefore, people can avoid being infected by HIV.



The Japanese government, meanwhile, has recently decided to allow the transplant of animal organs and cells to humans - xenotransplants. The Asahi Shimbun reported Monday Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare will revise regulations that have banned heterologous grafts.



Timed with the regulatory revision, a research lab of the National Center for Global Health and Medicine in Tokyo is planning to transplant the pancreas cells of pigs  that secrete insulin - to a type-1 diabetes patient. To prevent rejection, the team will put the pig cells in a special film and transplant them under the patient's skin.



The Japanese government's decision to permit the transplant of pigs' organs and cells is based on its confidence about the safety of the processes. Tokyo had prohibited it, worried about the possibility that humans could be infected by viruses within pigs' genes. But there have been no reports of such infection in humans or monkeys.



Japan's decision will likely contribute greatly to the country's medical development - and bring hope to patients suffering terminal diseases - because it helps overcome the shortage of human organs for transplant, the industry experts said.



In contrast to the rapid progress in China and Japan, concerns are mounting among Korean scientists that the nation cannot move ahead, mired in "Hwang Woo-suk trauma."



Not only does the Korean government prohibit research on gene correction but it also has no legal basis that allows the transplantation of animal cells to humans, the experts said.



"Currently, we can conduct research with residual embryos after artificial fertilization but the quality of such embryos is too poor for us to continue research," said a chief of the gene-correction research team at the Institute for Basic Science. "It will also take a long time to revise bioethics law."



Nor are the prospects bright in the field of animal transplants. It is possible in Korea to transplant the heart valves of pigs or cows to patients suffering congenital heart deformities, for instance, by turning pigs' heart valves into artificial valves by eliminating all cytoplasm from the cells. So far, however, Korean scientists have not been allowed to transplant animal cells to humans.



"Correctly speaking, the Korean government is not prohibiting animal cell transplants by law but it has no legal foundation at all in this field," said Professor Shin Joon-sup of Seoul National University. "We have made draft bills on xenotransplants over the past few years but they have not even been tabled in the related committee of the National Assembly."



Even if it is approved in the next Assembly, it will take at least two to three years to reach a decision like Japan's, the experts said.



"Technology is progressing very rapidly and other countries are moving to keep up with it," Shin said. "We just hope our government, too, will come forward to relax regulations more positively."




By Choi Sung-jin



Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Korea hit a record high of $20.9 billion last year, but remained around half Korea's overseas investment of $40.2 billion, statistics show.



FDI in excess of $20 billion for the first time is definitely a boon for the national economy, economists say.



When domestic businesses have all but ceased capital spending, foreign money helps create jobs and stimulates domestic demand. If the foreign investors have sophisticated technology and/or management know-how, it will trigger competition with local businesses, helping to improve the domestic industrial structure, they say.



"As foreign direct investment accompanies job creation and new impetus, it can have positive effects on the domestic economy and the larger such effects become, the more the nation's economy contracted," said Ju Won, a fellow at Hyundai Research Institute.



Not all aspects of FDI are bright, however.



Above all, the total amount is still too small. The share of FDI against gross domestic product in 2010-14 stood at a mere 12.7 percent, far lower than the global average of 31.3 percent, and even that of industrial countries (29.8 percent), let alone the average of emerging economies (32.2 percent). Even more worrying is the plunge in the share of "greenfield" investment, through which foreigners spend money here to build factories and increase employment.



The share of greenfield investment dropped from 85.6 percent of the total in 2011 to 67.5 percent last year. In contrast, the share of investment for corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&A) jumped from 14.4 percent to 32.5 percent during the period. This is because foreign investors increased their equity investment in the services sector, including game and contents companies, instead of making manufacturing investments aimed at the domestic market.



M&A-oriented investment can also help maintain employment in domestic businesses and improve industrial structures. But these investors tend to take returns abroad rather than reinvest here. "If both greenfield and M&A-type investment increases, that's fine, but the increase of equity purchase amid the decrease in greenfield investment is not desirable," said Professor Chung Jin-seop of Chungbuk University. "This is because M&A investors create fewer jobs than greenfield investors and the former are less inclined to reinvest."



Meanwhile, Korean investors overseas increasingly tend to form value chains by procuring parts and components locally, loosening the link that leads overseas advances by large manufacturers to increased exports by their home offices.



And this is why major business associations are calling for the government to come up with drastic measures to bring Korea's overseas investors home to reinvigorate the domestic industry. For instance, Korea's FDI regulatory index of 0.135 as of 2014 was almost twice the OECD average of 0.068, indicating that businesses are weary of administrative red tape here, the economic experts say.



They stressed the need to change investment regulations in Seoul and surrounding areas as well as ending "reverse discrimination" against domestic businesses, widening access for Korean companies wanting to make joint-venture investment in the capital city and its vicinity. Even if such investments are made, Korean investors are not allowed to enjoy the benefits in corporate and income taxes unlike their foreign partners.



"Also, businesses cannot build factories through joint investment with foreign partners in the Free Economic Zone in Incheon, because there are no industrial complexes in the zone," said Yang Keum-seung, a fellow at the Korea Economic Research Institute. "Korea may be the only country in the world where the government discriminates against domestic businesses."



Professor Chung also noted that if the government keeps all would-be investors out of the capital area, it will not be able to reproduce the successful role model like LG-Otis Elevator. "Government officials say they are trying to ease regulations but their deregulation speed is far slower than foreign governments, with much less effect," he said.




By Lee Hyo-sik



Bayer, Pfizer and other multinational pharmaceutical companies here are facing mounting criticism from civic groups and others that say they pay "excessive" dividends to their headquarters.



Critics say that instead of sending the lion's share of their earnings back to headquarters in Europe and the United States, they should expand investment here and hire more workers. They also call on foreign drug makers to increase donations and give more back to local communities.



According to audits released by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), Tuesday, Bayer Korea sent 15 billion won ($13 million) in dividends to its German headquarters last year. This was more than twice its net profit of 7.4 billion won.



The company did not make dividend payments in 2014 but in 2013 paid 4 billion won to its parent company and other shareholders.



Bayer sells a wide range of medicines and medical supplies here. Some of its well-known products include aspirin and the multivitamin foam Berocca.



Pfizer Korea, despite its 9.6 billion won net loss last year, paid dividends to its parent company and other shareholders in the United States.



Sanofi-Aventis Korea, which posted a 25.3 billion won net profit in 2015, sent 59 percent of it back to its French headquarters as dividends. Novartis Korea and Roche Korea also transferred 37 percent and 32 percent of net profit to their respective headquarters in Switzerland.



"It is not surprising to see multinational pharmaceutical firms here shifting hefty amounts of profit back to their headquarters," said Kwon Oh-in, the head of the economic policy team at the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice. "Instead of taking money out of the country, foreign drug companies should pay more attention to expanding their business-related facilities here and employing more workers."



Kwon also called on foreign drug firms to mobilize more resources to bolster their corporate social responsibility activities and give more back to local communities.



"In general, foreign companies tend to spend a smaller portion of their profits on corporate giving than domestic businesses," he said. "If non-Korean businesses want to be embraced by more consumers as a responsible corporate citizen, the best way is to hire more employees and increase their community service programs."




General view of the IKEA Gwangmyeong store / Yonhap



Third store to open in Gangdong-gu



By Jhoo Dong-chan

Swedish-based home furniture giant IKEA plans to open its third store, at Godeok Commercial Multicomplex (GCM) in Gangdong District, southeastern Seoul, as early as the second half of 2018, an official said Tuesday.

It signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the district office last April. Now it is reportedly waiting for the Seoul Housing Corp. (SH), the public enterprise managing the city's housing and land projects, to supply the site for the third store.

In a bid to transform the district from a bedroom community to a new economic center, the district office has planned to build the GCM and expects IKEA to play a pivotal role in the project.

"Opening an IKEA store in Gangdong is a win-win situation for both the company and the district office," said a district official.

"IKEA is expected to create jobs, attract outsiders and invigorate the local economy here. Also, the company will enjoy larger consumer groups from nearby areas including not only the district but also Songpa and Gwangjin districts, as well as the city of Bundang in Gyeonggi Province."

The nation's two major department store chains, Hyundai and Lotte Department Store, are also expected to open branches in the complex.

Meanwhile, IKEA and the district rejected as "groundless" a rumor that IKEA has pressured the district office to help the company get the land for the store as soon as possible.

"We understand that SH Corp. manages and provides the land for the site," an IKEA official said. "There is no reason or leverage for us to do so with the public enterprise or the district office."

He confirmed that the company has considered opening another store in Busan but it is a separate project from the Gangdong store.

The official also denied another allegation that IKEA has inquired into the downtown Daegu area for a potential store, where the company's local rival, Hanssem, already has a store.

"IKEA has never considered opening a store in Daegu," he said. "The rumor is completely false.

"The company has followed government regulations and considered mutual growth with small stores nearby. The data suggests that the sales of stores near our Gwangmyeong location were found to have jumped by a huge margin. Such debate over a big store killing small stores is tedious."

IKEA Korea CEO Andre Schmidtgall claimed in December that stores within 10 kilometers of its Gwangmyeong branch enjoyed a 27.4 percent jump in sales.

Korea's first IKEA store opened in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province, in December 2014. For the first year, the company, which employs 913 people, earned 308 billion won in sales and attracted 6.7 million visitors.

IKEA's second store is expected to open on a 51,000-square-meter site in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, in the second half of 2017, and the company will have a total of six stores by 2020, an official said.

The company has 328 stores in 29 countries and it had 42 trillion won ($36.7 billion) in sales last year.
U.S. steelmakers have accused South Korean rivals of selling their products at unfairly low prices in America after receiving illegal state subsidies, a trade body here said Tuesday.



ArcelorMittal USA and two other American steel companies have filed anti-dumping and countervailing duty petitions against cut-to-length carbon-quality steel plate makers from South Korea, Austria, China, Brazil and eight other countries, according to the Washington office of the Korea International Trade Association (KITA).



The petitions, lodged with the U.S. International Trade Commission and the Department of Commerce, claim that South Korean companies sold their products at below-market prices in the U.S. on the back of illegal subsidies, hurting the American industry.



The U.S. steelmakers demand that antidumping duties of up to 244.1 percent be imposed on imports of South Korean cut-to-length carbon-quality steel plates, the KITA office said.



Last year, South Korea exported 2.9 million tons of the steel product, valued at 1.93 trillion won (US$1.69 billion) to the U.S.



Chinese and Brazilian steelmakers have also been accused of both dumping and illegal subsidies, while only antidumping complaints have been lodged against steelmakers of Austria and eight other countries, according to the KITA office.



Antidumping duties are designed to offset the amount by which a product is sold at below-market value, while countervailing duties are intended to neutralize unfair subsidies.



The U.S. department will determine whether to initiate antidumping and countervailing duty investigations within 20 days. The commission should reach a preliminary determination in the antidumping and countervailing duty investigations in 45 days.



Last month, the department made a preliminary ruling on a separate case involving alleged illegal state subsidies for South Korean makers of cut-to-length carbon-quality steel plate, hinting that it may not hand down countervailing duties.



It ruled that cut-to-length carbon-quality steel plate made by Hyundai Steel Co. and POSCO is sold in the U.S. below the "de minimis" or minimal margin of 1 percent. If the subsidy rates prove to be below the de minimis margin in its final decision scheduled for May, no countervailing duties will be imposed on the South Korean products. (Yonhap)




Christian Dior made an apology after "Korean Female," a piece by photographer Lee Wan included in its exhibition, stirred controversy that it was demeaning to Korean women.



By Yoon Ja-young

Luxury goods company Christian Dior apologized for a controversial photo it exhibited, after facing criticism that the photo seems to be disparaging Korean women as selling sex to buy a luxury bag.

The luxury fashion brand released an apology, Tuesday, regarding a piece by artist Lee Wan that was displayed at the "Lady Dior as Seen by" exhibition it hosted. The exhibition was held at House of Dior, a flagship store it opened in Cheongdam-dong, southern Seoul, to depict the Dior bags in diverse art pieces.

Among the art pieces was "Korean Female," a photo showing a young woman wearing a black dress revealing both her shoulders and holding a Lady Dior bag in her left arm, standing in an alleyway filled with signs for room salons and hostess bars.

It drew criticism that the photo is demeaning to Korean woman as willing to sell sex to buy luxury bags. The artist had said in an earlier interview with Dior that all Christian Dior products are manufactured in a way that is totally different from the capitalist way focusing on effectiveness. "I thought about the value there and what the meaning of consuming Christian Dior was in Korea," he said.

The exhibition started on Feb. 23, showing diverse art pieces that have Lady Dior bag as a motif. For the Seoul exhibition, creations by some Korean artists were added.

Dior removed the photo from the exhibition. It said in a press release that Dior stresses the progressive spirit of women, making efforts to arouse their self-esteem, develop respect for women and enhance their rights. Supporting women's beauty and happiness and enjoying art and culture are the utmost values that Christian Dior follows, it added.

Lee has been in the spotlight since 2014 after winning the Art Spectrum Award by Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, for his depictions of Southeast Asian laborers.
The ruling and opposition parties on Tuesday made last-minute appeals for support in the capital and its surrounding areas on the final day of campaigning for the parliamentary elections.



Wednesday's general elections are to pick a new 300-member National Assembly, with 253 of them to be selected through direct elections and the remaining 47 proportional representation seats to be allocated to parties according to the numbers of votes they receive overall.



A total of 944 candidates -- 844 men and 100 women -- are set to compete for the district seats. The competition rate is 3.7 to one, compared with 3.76 to one in the previous parliamentary elections in 2012, the country's election watchdog said.



Leaders of the ruling Saenuri Party, who kicked off their 13-day campaigning period in central Seoul on March 31, made visits to Seoul and its surrounding areas Tuesday.



Up for grabs are 122 constituencies in the so-called capital city region, cited as a crucial battleground.



Chairman Kim Moo-sung traveled to Suwon, just south of Seoul, to help bolster the chances of a Saenuri party candidate there.



"The Saenuri Party's sweeping victory is the only way to revitalize the economy and to bring hopes to the young people by creating more jobs," Kim said during a street rally in Suwon.



He and other Saenuri leaders have accused the opposition of holding up crucial legislation that can boost the country's economic competitiveness, in such areas as the labor market.



The latest surveys show that Saenuri will take an easy victory, although it may lose some seats in its traditional strongholds to independents who defected from the party.



The Minjoo Party of Korea leadership also focused its campaigning in the areas, pleading to voters for support to keep Saenuri in check.



Kim Chong-in, after traveling to the southern resort island of Jeju, is scheduled to visit nearly 20 electorates in Seoul that are forecast to be closely contested.



"The Saenuri will grab another chance if voters pick an opposition party that is not the proper one," Kim said during a street rally on Jeju Island, apparently warning voters not to cast their ballots for the People's Party. Minjoo has maintained that voting for the rival opposition party is tantamount to handing victory over to Saenuri.



Kim called for the judgment of the incumbent administration's handling of the economy, saying the government and Saenuri failed to improve the people's livelihoods.



The People's Party, which is likely to grab more than 20 seats on the strong backing of voters in the Honam region in the southeastern part of the country, focused its attention on Seoul.



Securing 20 seats would allow the party to form a parliamentary negotiation bloc.



Ahn Cheol-soo, the party's co-chairman, made visits to a dozen electorates in Seoul and its surrounding area that the party believes its candidates has chances of winning. He will finish his campaign trail at his own electorate of Nowon in northern Seoul.



"Saenuri and Minjoo both failed even when they had so many opportunities," said Ahn during a Seoul street rally. (Yonhap)








The Constitutional Court has ruled in a 6-3 vote that the law stating that pension for foreign workers is to be paid upon their departure from the country is constitutional, court records showed Tuesday.

In May 2014, foreign employees from Nepal and Uzbekistan brought the law, stipulating that their pension be paid to them within 14 days of their departure, before the constitutional court for a review, saying it violates their rights to receive insurance.

Under the South Korean insurance system, all employers who employ foreigners for at least one year should make monthly payments into a pension plan for them. In January 2014, a clause specifying the date of payment was added in an effort to prevent the illegal stay of the foreigners.

The Constitutional Court said designating the payment time based on a foreign employee's departure is inevitable considering all the problems that could arise in relation to illegal immigrants.

The court also dismissed the plaintiffs' claim that such payment arrangements unfairly discriminated them vis-a-vis local employees.

Judges who were opposed to the law said it violates foreign workers' right to labor, citing those who change their workplace before their visas expire. Even in that case, pension is paid when the workers leave South Korea, failing to fulfill its original purpose of protecting an employee's right to live, the judges said. (Yonhap)
Saenuri Party Chairman Kim Moo-sung, right, waves with the party's candidate Park Sun-kyoo during the campaign trail in Yongdeungpo, central Seoul, Tuesday. / Yonhap



By Kang Seung-woo

Political parties wrapped up their general election campaigns Tuesday by making last-ditch appeals for votes in closely-contested battlefields within Seoul and the regions surrounding the capital.

A total of 122 out of 253 electoral seats, are up for grabs in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province. However, as many constituency contests will be very close, the parties are devoted to wooing swing voters before polling day.

For the ruling Saenuri Party, securing a majority of seats within the region will be crucial for reaching its goal of having 160 seats in the 300-member National Assembly. Chairman Kim Moo-sung visited 20 constituencies to rally support from conservative voters.

"This general election is important to determine the nation's future. I am appealing to voters to realize that only the Saenuri Party can keep the nation safe, revive the economy and create jobs," said the chairman while campaigning in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province.

"I promise that the Saenuri Party will be committed to conducting politics for the people, not its own political interests."

Kim also urged the party supporters to cast their ballots today, citing a low turnout in its strongholds during two-days of early voting on Friday and Saturday.

"Without your votes, we cannot win more than a majority of seats in the Assembly and will face difficulties," Kim added.





Kim Chong-in, right, the interim leader of main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea, poses with the party's candidate Chin Young during the campaign trail in Yongsan, central Seoul, Tuesday. / Yonhap



Kim Chong-in, the interim leader of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK), also labored through a tight campaign schedule to win over floating voters.












Elderly voters listen to a campaign speech in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul, Tuesday. / Yonhap



Those aged 60 and older near 10 million

By Yi Whan-woo

A sharp rise in the number of elderly voters is becoming a key factor in the elections, analysts said Tuesday.

The number of eligible voters aged 60 and older has reached a record high of 9.84 million, up from 8.17 million in the 2012 parliamentary elections, according to the National Election Commission (NEC).

The tally also outnumbers young voters in their 20s and younger.

According to the election watchdog, there are 8.37 million voters in their 50s; 8.84 million voters in their 40s; 7.61 million voters in their 30s; 6.71 million voters in their 20s; and 680,000 voters who are 19 years old.

"This suggests that the parties should consider underscoring welfare benefits for senior citizens more and more in their election campaigns in the future," said Yoon Hee-woong, a senior researcher at Opinion Live.












By Kim Se-jeong

The size of the voter turnout will directly impact on parties in the general election that will pick members of the 20th National Assembly.

In recent elections, a higher voter turnout has been beneficial for the opposition party, while a low turnout has been good for the ruling party.

The opposition party won most seats in the 17th National Assembly when the turnout was 60.6 percent. Conversely, the governing party won a majority in the next election when it was 46.1 percent.

Whether the turnout will top 60 percent or not is drawing keen interest.

The latest survey by the National Election Commission (NEC) of 1,500 people showed 66.6 percent said they would vote.












UPDATED

Washington

The federal requirement that federal dollars supplement state and local spending on education is proving to be one of the thorniest issues under the Every Student Succeeds Act.

In a testy Senate education committee hearing Tuesday, Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., told Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. that he believed the U.S. Department of Educations proposal for regulating that spending requirement violates the language and spirit of ESSA.

Not only is what youre doing against the law, the way youre trying to do it is against another provision in the law, Alexander told King in his opening remarks.

And Alexander said hed use every power available to him, including the federal appropriations process, to overrule the regulations Kings department comes up with. He also said hed encourage a lawsuit against the Education Department if it does not reconsider its proposed language.

But King denied that his department was overstepping its authority. He said the agency is merely trying to ensure that districts are using an appropriate approach to following federal requirements for accessing federal funds.

That methodology should ensure that at least as much in state and local spending is taking place in the Title I schools as in the average of non-Title I schools, King told Alexander.

Lets review the current status of supplement-not-supplant. Its designed to make sure that federal money earmarked for students from low-income backgrounds doesnt backfill what should be taken care of by state and local funding. A separate and also tricky funding requirement in ESSA, called comparability, wasnt changed in the new law, but it requires comparable spending between schools with large shares of disadvantaged students (Title I schools) and non-Title I schools. The requirement leaves out, however, whether teachers in both types of schools are actually being paid comparable real-life salaries, as long as they are on the same salary schedule.

Last week, negotiators sharply disagreed over the departments draft regulations governing supplement-not-supplant. The proposed rule says districts can take various approaches in showing how federal funds are truly supplementing state and local school aid, provided that per-pupil spending in Title I was at least equal to the average per-pupil spending level in non-Title I schools.

Many, but not all negotiators expressed concern that the proposed regulation would essentially mandate equal spending between the two types of schools, force teacher transfers to equalize spending on salaries between schools, and significantly disrupt how districts allocate money and resources. They argued that in essence, the department was improperly trying to alter how ESSA deals with comparability through supplement-not-supplant.

But civil rights advocates and others argued that only districts violating supplement-not-supplant would actually run afoul of the departments proposed language.

Thats the prologue that led to the big disagreement between Alexander and King on Monday.

Alexander made it clear in his opening statement that the proposed regulations directly contradict ESSAs prohibitions regarding the Education Departments power and improperly encroach on districts authority. He stressed that Congress considered changing the comparability requirement, declined to do so, but that King and his staffers were now going ahead anyway.

Were smart enough to write a law in plain English, Alexander told King in an early exchangeat one point he called Kings defense of the proposed regulations ridiculous.

Heres a reminder: If the negotiators cannot come to a consensus on supplement-not-supplant regulations, the department can proceed without them and write regulations on their own. But Congress can review them. And more importantly, its possible that lawmakers could use the appropriations process to overturn regulations previously adopted by the departmentthats what Alexander stressed early in the hearing. (How such a move would impact states developing plans to meet the departments ESSA regulations is unclear at the moment.)

If the department persisted with moving ahead with the regulations, Alexander said to King, Youre going to come up against a coalition thats as broad as anything weve had in education.

Groups representing state school chiefs, school administrators, and unions oppose the departments draft spending language .

But King said that the regulations would uphold the intent of supplement-not-supplant, while also allowing districts a variety of avenues to provide equitable spending between schools by adding things like advanced coursework and preschool.

We should try to do what we can to assure the principle of supplement not supplant is followed, King told lawmakers, adding that districts wouldnt be forced into one narrow response to comply with the proposed regulations on supplement-not-supplant. It doesnt require teacher transfers.

In his defense of the draft language, King repeatedly stressed that ESSA is fundamentally a civil rights law designed to protect the neediest students and provide them with more resources and opportunities.

UPDATE: Alexander reiterated his view in a statement released on Tuesday that the department is ignoring the law. But several Democratic senators did side with King during the hearing, and like King stressed the civil rights components of ESSA.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. and the committees ranking member, for example, noted that Congress deliberately wanted supplement-not-supplant to go through the negotiated-rulemaking process: We need to make sure that these federal dollars continue to support and augment state and local dollars, and dont replace them.

And Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said the idea of a strong regulatory framework for ESSA was key for her and many of her colleagues, as well as for groups representing various vulnerable student populations.

I voted for this law on the explicit agreement that the Department of Education would enforce its accountability provisions through meaningful regulations, she said.

Follow us on Twitter at @PoliticsK12 .
By Jun Ji-hye

The government has sent a letter to the U.N. Security Council asking it to punish North Korea for jamming Global Positioning System (GPS) signals in South Korea.

In the letter, the government said the jamming was a clear provocation that violates the ceasefire agreement and the regulations of the International Telecommunication Union.

The letter was sent April 5 by South Korean Ambassador to the U.N. Oh Joon to China, the council's rotating president.

Seoul said in the letter Pyongyang has been "generating electronic jamming signals that dangerously affect" the GPS in the South.

"The GPS jamming by the DPRK is an act of provocation that poses a threat to the security of the Republic of Korea and undermines the safety of civil transportation, including aircraft and vessels," Oh wrote, asking for the document to be circulated within the council.

"The government of the Republic of Korea strongly urges the DPRK to stop its GPS jamming without further delay and to refrain from any other acts of provocation which undermine peace and security on the Korean Peninsula."

The reclusive state transmitted a large amount of radio waves from March 31 to April 6 from five regions _ Haeju, Yonan, Pyonggang, Geumgang and Gaeseong _ according to officials.

The disruptions could cause mobile phones to malfunction and affect planes and ships that rely on GPS for navigation.

According to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, the disruption has affected more than 100 airplanes and vessels in the South, although no significant mishaps were reported.

Defense Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun said the North's GPS disruption was apparently aimed at showing off the regime's radio-jamming capabilities.

Officials also said the North conducted the GPS jamming apparently in response to the annual South Korea-U.S. military drills, and recent U.N. sanctions punishing the regime for its nuclear test in January and long-range rocket launch in February.





Follow Jun Ji-hye on Twitter @TheKopJihye
By Kim Hyo-jin

Voters will cast ballots at 13,837 polling stations today to elect 253 of 300 lawmakers with attention being focused on whether the Saenuri Party will secure a majority of seats. The ballot will be held from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Dominant issues are whether the ruling party can maintain a majority in the National Assembly, and if the minor opposition People's Party can emerge as a powerful third party by securing around 30 seats as local pollsters have predicted.

The Park Geun-hye administration could gain momentum if the ruling party gains a majority of seats. This would lead to the pushing through of labor reform and economy-related bills within the remaining term of the current government  a period of less than two years. An election result unfavorable to the Saenuri Party, will accelerate the arrival of a lame-duck presidency.

However, if the opposition bloc is defeated due to a split of the vote between the Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) and the People's Party, it could fuel internal conflicts over who should be held accountable and even reduce the chances of a change of ideological leadership in the 2017 presidential election.

No matter how it turns out, speculation is rampant that today's national polls could end the nation's two-party system, establishing a new stage for party politics with the People's Party participating as a "casting vote."

Resounding support for the People's Party is expected from voters in the southwest Jeolla region and, if this occurs, it will embolden its co-chairman Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo to lead talks on forming an alliance with the MPK ahead of the presidential election, pundits said.

Voter turnout is estimated to be higher than the previous general election, projected at around 54.2 percent, according to local pollsters.

A Research&Research survey requested by the National Election Commission showed Monday that 66.6 percent of 1,500 respondents said they will vote.
Apathy vs interest among 20-somethings on general election

By Park Si-soo

Many young voters, who call their country "Hell Joseon," are expected to vote today in the hope that their ballots can help create positive change in Korean society.

However, a significant proportion of citizens in their twenties have said that they will not be voting because they will be "too busy" or regard the general election as "meaningless."

According to a survey by polling company Realmeter released Monday, 65.1 percent of the electorate in their 20s said they will cast their ballots, above the 59 percent of those in their 50s and 54.7 percent of voters in their 60s.

Jang Jeong-hyeon, 28, an office worker at an advertising company in Seoul is among those who value the right to vote.

"I will vote. I want to show that young people also have an interest in politics. I hope my ballot will become a prod forcing lawmakers to do things to resolve the hellish living conditions for the young," he said.

Some young voters said their vote will be a judgment on the current administration.

Lim Ha-kyung, 25, a female college student, also said "I will go to vote in an attempt to change the current regime. I know I cannot escape from the rat race even if the regime changes. However, I want the ruling party to feel a sense of crisis."

However, voter apathy is also severe among the young.

Jung Da-eun, 25, a college student, living in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, said, "I will exercise my right not to vote. In fact, I don't have much interest in politics. Neither do I believe the election will change our society."












Former sex convict's admission at medical school causes stir



A group of medical students is moving to strengthen the code of ethics for would-be doctors after a former Korea University (KU) medical student, who was expelled after being convicted of sexual harassment, was later admitted to Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) Medical School.



Students at KU said Tuesday they plan to issue a statement to call for the nation to introduce a system to evaluate the ethics of medical students.



"Higher ethical standards of sexual conduct are required of MDs than of other professionals because doctors come into frequent physical contact with patients," the KU Medical School student' council said in a draft of the statement to be released.



"But in medical school, there is neither an evaluation of students' ethics, nor restrictions on those who fail to maintain proper standards. The nation needs the necessary legal system to do this."



Currently, no law bans people convicted of sexual crimes from acquiring medical licenses. The licenses are banned only for people with mental disorders, drug addicts, people judged as incompetent, people serving a prison term for violating the Medical Law, and those who cheated during the licensing exam.



SKKU medical students also issued a statement last week following an emergency meeting.



"A medical school fosters medical doctors, so medical school students should be subject to a strict code of ethics," they said. "We demand a new set of guidelines for the medical school admissions office to screen those with such prior convictions."



Some of them demanded the school expel the student in question, saying it is ethically improper for a sex offender to study to become a doctor. But the school said expulsion was impossible as there were no legal problems in his admissions process.



"I strongly doubt whether patients would trust us, as the current system lacks any measure to prevent sex offenders from becoming doctors," one SKKU medical student said.



Students at a number of other medical schools, including those at Seoul National, Yonsei Wonju campus and Soon Chun Hyang universities, said they would join the students at KU and SKKU in their efforts to set up the necessary guidelines and raise awareness about the problem among the medical community.



The student in question, surnamed Park, was among three KU students who were indicted in 2011 after sexually harassing a drunken fellow female student and videotaping the scene on their cell phones during a class field trip to Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province.



The Supreme Court upheld the lower courts' ruling that sentenced Park to 30 month in prison and the other two students to 18 months.



After KU expelled him following the court ruling, Park took the colleges admission test and was admitted to SKKU in 2014.




South Korea and China on Monday agreed to extend their currency swap deal scheduled to expire next year in a bid to better cope with possible fallout stemming from mounting financial market uncertainties and widely expected U.S. rate hikes.

South Korea's Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho met with People's Bank of China Gov. Zhou Xiaochuan to reach an agreement on the extension of the currency deal on the sidelines of an annual meeting of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) annual meeting in the Bahamas.

The Seoul-Beijing currency swap deal was first initiated in 2009 with a value of 32 trillion won ($28 billion), and then raised to 64 trillion won in 2011. The 2011 agreement is set to end in October 2017.

The two countries will also begin official negotiations to expand the value, according to Seoul's finance ministry.

A currency swap is an arrangement between two countries to exchange one currency with another at a specific rate of exchange in a bid to use the powerful foreign currency to soothe the volatility in the currency market.

It came less than two months after Yoo and Zhou agreed to start official discussions on the currency swap deal extension in February.

South Korea had once signed a currency swap deal with the U.S. in the midst of the 2008 global financial crisis, but has not engaged in talks on the issue since its expiration in 2010.

It also ended its similar $10-billion deal with Japan last year that had been maintained since 2001.(Yonhap)
By Jon Dunbar



Foreign residents will hold events commemorating the victims of the April 16, 2014, sinking of the ferry Sewol, marking the second anniversary of the nation's worst maritime disaster.



The Seoul Book and Culture Club will meet at 4 p.m. Saturday for a one-hour presentation titled "Two Years Later: The Lasting Trauma of the Sewol Sinking," followed by a question-and-answer session.



The speaker will be Steven Borowiec, a Canadian correspondent who covers Korea for the Los Angeles Times.



"In the two years since the sinking, the public consensus of sadness and regret has mutated into discord," says the Seoul Book and Culture Club in its event write-up. "Nowadays, anyone who calls publicly for an investigation into the Sewol might get called a commie or told to go back to North Korea. By following an old pattern whereby mishaps get politicized, then brushed aside, the Sewol yields insight into how South Korean society handles its darkest episodes."



The club is run by Scottish expat Barry Welsh, an assistant professor at Dongguk University and a columnist for the Hankook Ilbo, the sister paper to The Korea Times.



Admission is free, and the event will run for two hours at W Stage Seosomun in the Joongang Munhwa Center Building near Seoul City Hall.



Meanwhile, across the river, Korea's loudest and angriest bands are holding a fundraiser for the families of the victims, titled "Summer Never Comes Again."



"Two years later, they still haven't raised the ferry," promoters say on the Facebook event page, "but at least we can raise some cash for the families of the Sewol victims. Be there."



The lineup includes Korean and foreign musicians in hardcore, punk and grindcore bands Yuppie Killer, Arryam, Little Puppy Princess, Scumraid, Find the Spot, Agari and Ranban.



"An evening of 30-second songs done up for a cause that would take the average human 30 seconds to get furious about is apropos," said Ian White, the Canadian guitarist of Yuppie Killer who is helping promote the event. "We might not raise a lot of cash, but hopefully the thought counts and any celebration of human dignity is in itself important regardless of scale."



The show starts at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at GBN Live House in Mullae-dong, southwestern Seoul. Entry is 10,000 won.




By John Redmond

The Teach North Korean Refugees (TNKR) Education Center at American Orientalism University (AOU) invites guests and volunteers to an open house session in Insa-dong, downtown Seoul, April 16.

Aimed at discussing specific ways the public can get involved with TNKR, the open house follows up on last month's International Volunteers Workshop: Opportunities to Help North Koreans.

"Almost 200 current and prospective volunteers attended last month's International Volunteers Workshop featuring NGOs focused on North Korean refugees," said co-founder Casey Lartigue, Jr. "Those volunteers have made it clear they are eager to get involved with helping North Korean refugees directly."

Agenda items include the "How to help North Koreans" project, a speech contest, in-house tutoring, TNKR curriculum and volunteer roles.

TNKR is a non-profit organization based in Seoul that has connected more than 200 North Korean refugees with 300 volunteers.

The group was established in 2013 under the leadership of Lartigue and vice director Lee Eun-koo.

The open house will begin at 2 p.m. AOU is next to the Center Mark Hotel in Insa-dong.

For more information, visit facebook.com/groups/teachnkrefugees.
Colleagues of the 13 North Koreans who defected to South Korea last week are believed to be hiding out in China under South Korean government protection, as they wait to reach Seoul, sources familiar with their flight said Tuesday.

About five to seven other North Koreans who used to work at a restaurant in the Chinese eastern port city of Ningbo are known to be hiding in other areas of China, biding their time before they make it to the South, according the sources.

Last week, a mass defection of restaurant workers took place amid toughened international sanctions on Pyongyang over its latest nuclear and missile tests.

North Korean restaurants in foreign nations have recently faced business hardships with some shutting down following stronger sanctions. They have served as one of the main sources of dollars for cash-strapped North Korea, which is suspected of using such earnings to bankroll its nuclear and missile programs.

If the remaining North Koreans are under Seoul's protection, they will likely avoid being forced back to their country.

"As the latest mass defections have been made public, it is not easy for the remainder to move (even if they want to enter South Korea)," the source said.

The source dismissed rumors that the colleagues of the 13 workers are hiding in an unidentified Southeast Asian country.

The government has declined to comment on whether there are remaining North Koreans hoping to defect to the South. (Yonhap)
South Korea and the United States will hold high-level strategic dialogue in Seoul next week to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation over North Korea's denuclearization and other security issues, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

Cho Tae-yong, deputy chief of South Korea's presidential National Security Office, will hold the second bilateral talks with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken here on Wednesday. The first strategic dialogue was held in February after Presidents Park Geun-hye and Barack Obama agreed to strengthen their allied strategic consultations over the provocative state during their summit in October.

The bilateral talks will be held a day after Seoul, Washington and Tokyo hold vice-ministerial talks in the South Korean capital to discuss the nuclear standoff with the North and other regional and global issues. The three-way meeting will be attended by First Vice Minister Lim Sung-nam and his U.S. and Japanese counterparts Blinken and Akitaka Saiki.

The focus of the allies' strategic talks is expected to be on how to further raise pressure on the communist regime to renounce its nuclear ambitions through the faithful implementation of international and standalone sanctions.

Observers say that the two sides could also touch on the potential deployment here of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, a core element of the global multilayered U.S. missile defense program.

The allies are currently in talks over the potential THAAD deployment. China has strongly opposed it, arguing that the THAAD will undermine its security interests.

(Yonhap)
By Bernard Rowan

Advanced nations create many opportunities and benefits for their citizens and for people of the world. Longer lifespans, new technologies, rising incomes, and advances in health and education, to name only a few. South Korea has entered the ranks of advanced nations in many respects, a miraculous story of development following the Korean War that continues to unfold.

Nonetheless, advancement itself is no cure. It brings problems, or perhaps threats along with the opportunities. These might include social dislocation, over-urbanization, uneven development, inequality, and loss of community. No human construction can achieve perfection; at least that's an argument I want to make.

One of the problems attending Korea's progress concerns the de-emphasis and neglect of mature citizens, seniors or the elderly. Korea's population of elders continues to grow, and that trend won't reverse itself anytime soon. In turn, we see a division of seniors by class. The lifestyles of the elderly with low socioeconomic status deserve attention, respect, and action.

A recent CNN article cites the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development stating that nearly fifty percent of Korea's elderly live in relative poverty (October 23, 2015). That's a shocking statistic. If roughly six and a half million Koreans are 65 or older, that means over three million seniors are poor.

Korean culture places a great emphasis on respect for the elderly, but present-day life and work have many families leaving their parents and grandparents to fend for themselves. That may include their emotional lives too. A great many live incredibly alone.

Korean life expectations have grown. The ranks of the elderly living alone have too. Social welfare, non-governmental, and policy led efforts to ameliorate their living conditions have lagged far behind the demand. State pensions instituted under the Park government are just a beginning, but not much of one. Are only a few hundred dollars a month the best one of the top 15 global economies can muster? Many seniors don't receive the pension at all.

The people who deserve large parts of the credit for Korea's development in becoming a global powerhouse of technology, literacy, and economic strength are too often and too much forgotten and neglected. The aftermath of this is that many of the elderly turn frustration and sadness back on themselves. They commit suicide or live in depression. The rates for elders are just too high. What an enormous drag on the zenith of your great country and people!

I also know that many Korean elders often continue their industrious and energetic lives through work, leisure, and volunteering for others. I'd like to suggest several ways to harness this latent and underutilized pool of wisdom and experience for the continued advance of Korean society.

Korean developers and policymakers should act to encourage creating multigenerational living communities. In cities, suburban areas, and the countryside, experiment with creating new residential settings that bring together young families and unattached elders. Elders can serve as mentors, guides, tutors, and in many other ways. Children, teens and younger adults can show concern and care for seniors, checking in on them, performing odd jobs, providing meals (organizing provision) and spending time. This should frame a modern instance of Confucian morals.

The government should stress the needs of Korean seniors and develop a full-scale array of services and support. Korean elders should be able to apply and work or volunteer in hospitals, religious settings, museums and other places that tap their knowledge and experience. All qualified seniors should receive training to serve as mentors and hosts for younger people and foreigners, for example.

Universities need to speed up related programs of study. They should create engines for research and development of technologies, policies, and social support to make the conditions of Korean seniors better. Public and private partnerships should unfold with haste. A socially responsible company should honor the existence of Korean seniors where it counts: in their physical and emotional lives.

Several most pleasant conversations with Koreans occurred when I met elders in public. On a subway, at a park or in a neighborhood, they have spoken to me and engaged me in small talk that showed great warmth, openness, and interest. The faces of men and women walking in Korea's cities and towns do not reveal the countless others left to grow old by themselves. Korea's people would only strengthen their society through intergenerational efforts.

Bernard Rowan is associate provost for contract administration and professor of political science at Chicago State University, where he has served for 22 years. He is a past fellow of the Korea Foundation and former visiting professor at Hanyang University. Reach him at browan10@yahoo.com.
In an examination of Ohio Gov. John Kasichs education record published this week, we focus a lot on Kasichs education record since 2011, when he became Ohios governor. When you compare his statements and his gubernatorial record to what the other four presidential hopefuls have been up to, its perhaps worth bringing up this question:

Should so-called education reform advocates be interested in or perhaps even enthusiastic about Kasichs campaign?

Education reform is a complicated and sometimes-criticized term that does not fit all people perfectly all the time. But lets use it as shorthand for a moment to describe those for those who hold at least some of the following views:

 Strongly back charter schools, and in some cases vouchers as well;

 Think that accountability should present data-based information on schools in a fashion parents can easily grasp;

 Believe that standardized tests are vital for gauging the performance and needs of students and schools;

 Say the Common Core State Standards are a significant improvement over the previous mish-mash of states standards;

 Distrust education labor unions in at least some key circumstances.

Thats not an exhaustive list of what such advocates might support, but hopefully it gives you an idea of their key priorities.

Now lets look at Kasichs record. As the story notes, since 2011, heres what the governors gotten done, or tried to get done on K-12:

 Has expanded the number of voucher programs in the state and is a big believer in charter schools. In fact, the number of students in charters in the state has continued to rise. However, in response to corruption and performance issues plaguing the states charters, last year, Kasich signed into law a bill designed to address Ohio charters most significant woes.

 Signed into law an accountability system that uses A-F grades to measure school performance;

 That A-F accountability system, as well as the states teacher evaluations, use test scores as a significant component, and the state (albeit just for one year) administered the federally funded PARCC exam;

 Despite heavy pressure in Ohio, and despite the sentiment among many GOP presidential primary voters, to do otherwise, Kasich has stood by the common core and the state has ultimately stuck with the standards;

 In 2011, Kasich signed into law and supported a measure to strip teachers unions (and other unions) of most of their collective bargaining powers. Voters, however, ultimately gave the law the thumbs-down at the ballot box that same year.

Now lets look briefly at the other four presidential hopefuls:

 Real estate developer Donald Trump confounds many education policy advocates , whether they are supportive of reform in at least some respects or not. His plan to get rid of the U.S. Department of Education triggers a relatively large number of frowns, except from some conservative voters and policy advocates, and his attacks on the common core get much the same reaction.

 Roughly the same can be said for Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, because he holds the same positions on the Education Department and common core as Trump. Hes also opposed federal oversight of K-12 accountability during his time in the Senate. However, he has been an enthusiastic backer of charters and vouchers, even if the sentiment isnt always universally reciprocated.

 Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., might be too supportive of labor unions , too critical of standardized tests, and too skeptical (if not opaque) about charters for many ed reform backers. However, he did back an amendment to the Every Student Succeeds Act that would have beef up accountability in the law.

 Finally, theres former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. So-called education reformers, and particularly Democrats in that camp, might at one point have believed Clinton would be the best candidate to support their views as president, irrespective of the fact that ESSA might put K-12 policy on the backburner for the next presidents first term at least.

Back when she was Arkansas first lady, she participated in the push to improve content standards and supports the common core strongly. She has backed charter schools, even doing so in 2007 before a teachers union convention and getting jeered in the process. And she previously backed a bill in Congress to provide Teach for America, long a target for criticism from teachers unions, direct federal funding. On Monday, she told Newsday, a New York paper, that she wouldnt opt her granddaughter out of the states common core exams , even as she called the states rollout of the standards disastrous.

But her 2016 campaign so far has, in a few respects, taken a very different tack. She snagged the endorsement of both the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association last year, and has taken their side when questions about teachers have come up . And shes criticized charters for not always accepting the hardest to teach kids, although she has since made friendlier remarks about charters . Keep one thing in mind, howeverClinton has generally not been supportive of using test scores to determine individual teacher pay.

Among the candidates, then, it could be argued Kasichs record and his campaign rhetoric best match the priorities laid out by various groups such as the Foundation for Excellence in Education, StudentsFirst (which recently announced its merger with 50CAN, a like-minded organization in several respects), and others.

So at least when it comes to policy, should education reformers be most enthusiastic about Kasich? Or should Clintons long history be more persuasive? Does the answer vary depending on who you talk to? Here are some additional thoughts:

 No matter how well Kasichs record and rhetoric meet any particular blueprint, his poor performance at the ballot box in 2016 and his long-shot plans to win the GOP nomination at the party convention in Cleveland in July are perhaps tamping down interest in and enthusiasm for his track record and his vision.

 Republicans who favor education reform mostly dont vote based solely on one particular policy issue, and they clearly like Cruz and Trump more for a variety of reasons that have nothing to do with education.

 Democrats who count as reformers likely dont vote based solely on one particular policy issue, and its probably too much to expect many of them to get excited about a candidate from the other major party just because he agrees with them on some K-12 policy issues.

 As weve previously noted, public school policy hasnt gotten the attention it has in past years. It also hasnt had the benefit of an ED in 08" type of movement.

 Because not all education reformers support all the same policies all the time, its hard to say that Kasichs record would satisfy all of them equally. For example, as I indicated above, some of them might like Kasichs support for, and effort to clean up, charter schools in Ohio, but be less enthusiastic or even opposed to his expansion of vouchers in the Buckeye State. And reformers who believe new assessments like PARCC are an improvement over many other state exams probably werent pleased that Kasich sided with state lawmakers in tossing PARCC overboard after the 2014-15 school year.

I called up Charlie Barone, the policy director for Education Reform Now and Democrats for Education Reform, to ask him about Kasich.

Barone said that while Kasich has done some praiseworthy things in Ohio, I guess I feel that on the Republican side, I feel the bar is so low.

Barone praised Kasichs political courage for sticking by the common core. But hes particularly critical of how Kasich has addressed, or failed to address, the charter sector in Ohio, regardless of how supportive Kasich is generally of charters. And Barone is taking a Ill believe it when I see it approach to a bill designed to clean up the sector that Kasich signed into law last year .

More broadly, Barone said hes frustrated with Kasichs poor record on charters on the one hand, and on the other hand, not happy that Clinton and Sanders are misrepresenting charter schools.

Itd be great if there were a candidate who were in the middle on charters, as well as other issues, Barone told me.

Overall, however, hes said that Clintons K-12 record is much better, despite the times hes disagreed with her remarks about education recently.

DFERs Marianne Lombardo, who reviewed Kasichs contradictory education record, in March , concluded that its been a mixed bag.

But Kasich has been able to build on Ohios pre-existing reform policies in several helpful ways, said Chad Aldis, the vice president for Ohio policy and advocacy at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, who is personally supportive of Kasich, although his organization hasnt endorsed anyone. (Aldis talked to us for our print story on Kasich this week).

Kasich should be given credit not just for things like A-F accountability and his backing for the common core, according to Aldis, but also for expanding the reach of career and technical education in schools, and for providing support to Community Connectors , which provides various mentoring opportunities for students with businesses, faith-based organizations, and other groups.

Not everyone is standing arm in arm singing Kumbaya. But weve gotten things done, Aldis said.

Follow us on Twitter at @PoliticsK12 .
Major franchise coffee shops in South Korea saw their revenue fall in 2015 in the face of tougher competition with cheap take-out coffee amid economic slowdown, heading to another tough year, data showed Tuesday.

Homegrown coffee brands have sprung up in Asia's fourth-largest economy over the past decade to capitalize on the growing population of coffee drinkers, but their growth has slowed recently in the saturated domestic market.

Adding to their woes, low-cost coffees at convenience stores and mini take-out stalls have enjoyed growing popularity among price-conscious consumers, posing a threat to franchise coffee shops standing on every corner of major streets.

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, an American franchise chain owned by Seoul-based Mirae Asset Private Equity Fund, posted 138.9 billion won in sales last year, down 5.1 percent from a year ago, its regulatory filing showed.

Its operating profit tumbled 68.5 percent to 3.9 billion won, although the number of its shops increased by just nine to 234 during the period.

Paul Basset, a specialty coffee house operated by Maeil Dairies Co., said it logged 48.4 billion won in sales, but its net swung to a loss of 180 million won due to rising marketing costs and aggressive store expansion.

Sales at Caffe Bene sank 14.9 percent on-year to 121 billion won, expanding operating loss nearly four times to 11.4 billion won due to slumping businesses of other food franchise subsidiaries.

While mid-end franchise stores had a sluggish year, brands at both ends of the price spectrum were largely unscathed by the latest consumption trend.

Ediya, a low-end coffee shop with the largest number of outlets over 1,500 nationwide, raised 135.5 billion won in sales, up 16.5 percent from a year ago. It plans to expand its stores to 2,000 this year.

Sales at U.S. coffee giant Starbucks also rose 25.4 percent on-year to 773.9 billion won in 2015 on the back of high-end specialty coffee service and bakery items.

Another tough year is waiting for the major coffee brands as convenience stores have been aggressively expanding in-store coffee services nationwide. Their coffee is considered drinkable at a price as cheap as 1,000 won, about a quarter of Starbucks' tall Americano sold at 4,100 won in South Korea. (Yonhap)
By Choi Sung-jin

If government pollsters are right, up to 28.51 million Koreans will go to the polls today to elect the 20th National Assembly. This number assumes that 66 percent of the 43.21 million eligible voters will cast their ballots, including the 12.2 percent who took part in early voting last weekend.

Weather forecasters said it will rain on Wednesday, a holiday at the discretion of companies across most of the country. National Election Commission (NEC) officials might be wishing for a soft spring rain: if the weather is "too good," people tend to leave early for a picnic or a hike far away. If it rains too hard, they'd rather stay home, skipping the quadrennial political event.

Rain or shine, drizzle or pour, I think voter turnout could turn out to be the lowest ever, given what most Koreans feel about this parliamentary election.

Korea boasts it has attained at least procedural democracy in a relatively short time. But the ongoing election process shows how glaringly Koreans have deluded themselves.

All the major parties nominated their key candidates according to key figures issuing "orders from above"  the President in the case of the ruling Saenuri Party and party or factional bosses in the opposition parties  despite ostensible competition and perfunctory polls of party members. Once the ugly nomination process was over and the campaigning began, the Saenuri Party leaders and their candidates got down on their knees in the street and begged for forgiveness "this one time." It was truly a scene for foreign photo journalists.

While stumping in Daegu, President Park Geun-hye's support base, a pro-Park faction leader pleaded with voters saying, "Please help President Park successfully end her tenure. It may be natural after all in Korea's political structure, in which the ruling party lawmakers willingly present themselves as the pawns of the President and his or her administration instead of trying to keep the executive branch and its one-sided governance in check.

No less problematic are Korea's election laws and regulations that seem to regard voters as little more than grade school students. Open primaries and town hall meetings are stories from distant lands. Urban voters here recognize an election season has come by three changes  sudden encounters and handshakes with candidates, deep bows by campaigners, mostly part-timers, near subway stations, and deafening loud-speaker broadcasts tantamount to noise pollution. There are no calm and serious communications between voters and candidates or between candidates, about issues and policies.

More fundamentally, it is long past time to do something for Korea's unfair and unreasonable election system. In theory, if a party wins 40 percent of voter support, it should have the same portion of the parliamentary seats. However, in Korea's system marked by small precincts and a winner-takes-all rule, the party that has 40 percent of voter support can gain a comfortable majority or even 60 percent of the 300-seat single-house Assembly, which then allows the majority party to make or break almost any law. So if a party enjoys solid support in the most populous provinces, such as the Saenuri Party in Daegu and North Gyeongsang, it has an absolute advantage.

Parties of course make campaign pledges, or "gongyak" in Korean.

But parts of these are repetitions of previous promises and are mostly broken, while a number are borrowed from rival parties, and others are simply ridiculous. In a country where even most presidential promises are not kept, few expect parliamentarians to turn their words into action anyway. Directly translated, gongyak means "public promise" but Koreans interpret it as "empty promise" because the Korean letter gong can be written in two Chinese characters that have completely different meanings.

Parliamentary polls are of course for electing politicians who best represent the people's interests in different electorates. But it is President Park and her party that turned the general election into an opportunity for judgment on the current administration.

Unlike their U.S. counterparts, Korean media outlets do not explicitly endorse specific parties and candidates to keep political neutrality. So if a writer criticizes conservative President Park just because she is not liberal enough, it would be regarded as a political, not a journalistic, act. Yet one could judge the chief executive if the criteria is sufficiently objective  such as whether and how much Park has kept her election promises  even on voting day.

In December 2012, when Park was a candidate, she took much of her progressive rivals' election platform and made it her own, most noticeably the promise of better redistribution of national wealth and inter-Korean rapprochement. Voters were dubious but made her the first female president, trusting Park's assurance that she would be a woman of her words. About three and a half years on, economic polarization has become far worse and the relationship between the Koreas is at its lowest point in decades. The President and her party might cite the global economic slump and the North's nuclear provocations. However, any objective observer can determine that had she attempted more sincerely to keep her promises with a better policy combination, things would have turned out far better than they are now.

In the last presidential election, voter turnout went up by nearly 10 percentage points from poll projections thanks to concerted efforts by election officials, civic activists and media outlets. The result is what Koreans now know.

So voters who would cast their ballots on regional, school and other personal affiliations or on blind ideology without even knowing their candidates and their pledges might better serve the nation by going on a picnic or staying at home this time. Only those who think about which party would help the maximum number of people become economically and diplomatically more secure are welcome. After the elections, these voters should go on to change systemic problems, ranging from the nomination process to campaigning, by practicing "life politics."

Most will ask how they can engage in politics in their daily lives when they have no time to sleep or rest. They can start by attempting to reduce the notoriously long working hours here. As long as people remain content with just one vote in every four or five years, their lives won't change.

I hope this election will be the start of this realization being put into action.

Choi Sung-jin is The Korea Times' senior writer. Contact him at choisj@ktimes.com.
By Arthur I. Cyr

The Nuclear Summit in Washington D.C. concluded April 1 with a formal statement underscoring nuclear weapons control. These are particularly horrific weapons of mass destruction. Press commentary dismissing the exercise as just another diplomats' talkfest is misleading.

The meeting called attention to the important, tangible UN framework to coordinate national efforts regarding the threat of nuclear terrorism. Specifically, UN Security Council Resolution 1540, passed in 2004, and the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (ICSANT) provide a legal foundation for action, and facilitate cooperation.

Nuclear Summits have been held since 2010. Holding the 2016 meeting in the United States capital is especially important, given the uninformed  and at times stunningly reckless and immature  rhetoric from some U.S. presidential candidates in our troubled election year.

Unfortunately, Russia did not participate in the latest summit. This reflects disagreements regarding annexation of Crimea, support of Ukraine separatists and the Syria government, and other matters. Russia gives high priority to nuclear threats.

President Barack Obama has consistently urged cuts in nuclear weapons. He made the point in Prague in the Czech Republic in April 2009, and advocated abolition of nuclear weapons in a Berlin speech in 2013.

Europe as location provided a dramatic and also calculated backdrop. In 2009 the U.S. was planning to deploy an antimissile defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland. During the Cold War, Czechoslovakia challenged Moscow's regional rule, leading to a brutal crackdown in 1968. In 1938, the nation was an early victim of Nazi aggression.

During the 1986 Soviet-U.S. summit in Iceland, Presidents Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev surprised their staffs as well as the world at large by pledging themselves to the abolition of all nuclear weapons.

Later, President Bill Clinton supported the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which has been ratified by a number of our allies and other nations. The U.S. has not detonated nuclear weapons since 1992.

Professor Lawrence S. Wittner of the State University of New York, a prolific author on disarmament, argued that Obama's timing in 2009 was good in terms of both public and leadership opinion but emphasized the difficulty of successful arms negotiations. In fact, in 2010 a START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) between the U.S. and Russia was signed in Prague. The U.S. Senate confirmed the treaty by a heavy bipartisan majority of 71 to 26.

Reductions are desirable, but efforts to outlaw all nuclear weapons are fundamentally flawed. Destroying all known nuclear weapons would provide a decisive advantage to any power which decided  openly or secretly  to hold back even a few. Verification remains vexing.

After the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 and Moscow's withdrawal of nuclear weapons from Cuba, President John F. Kennedy's political standing rose considerably. During the Christmas season, JFK held a televised discussion with network correspondents. He referred to a world which would soon be populated with a number of nuclear powers.

In fact, proliferation has moved much more slowly than anticipated. Many nations, including close ally Canada, have decided that any conceivable benefits are simply not worth the expense and risks. North Korea today provides the principal nuclear threat.

Additionally, the International Atomic Energy Agency, an initiative of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, facilitates peaceful nuclear energy and provides a long-term drag on military pressures to get the Bomb. Ike understood realities.

That today's nuclear threats emanate more from groups than from nations represents progress.
The government will map out effective measures to discipline young men who attempt to evade mandatory military service by giving up their Korean citizenship.



A study commissioned by the Military Manpower Administration (MMA) last month envisions even levying heavier taxes on draft dodgers. Given the mounting criticism that abandoning citizenship has been abused as a means of avoiding conscription, the agency's move is belated but welcome.



The study proposes changing a clause in the military service law, which stipulates that a person who obtains foreign citizenship even after being born here loses his Korean citizenship automatically. The change is needed to prevent young people from trying to obtain foreign citizenship to avoid enlistment.



Other measures proposed by the MMA include imposing promotion-related disadvantages on high-ranking public servants if their sons abandon their citizenship with the purpose of evading military service.



Also, deliberate draft dodgers might face heavier inheritance and gift taxes. And the agency will make it harder for those who give up citizenship to recover it.



All these proposed measures are quite necessary, considering that penalties have been moderate against those who dodged their enlistment by changing citizenship. In fact, draft-dodgers have faced disadvantages only when seeking jobs at Korean companies or obtaining approval to operate businesses here.



Abandoning one's citizenship to avoid the draft is nothing short of criminal in Korea, the world's only divided country. But due to loopholes in our legal system, more than 16,000 people dodged military service by giving up their citizenship from 2011 through July last year, and the number has increased year after year.



It is certainly an evil practice that should be uprooted whatever may happen. This is all the more so, given that most of the draft dodgers come from well-to-do families.



There is a long way to go, though, before actual legislation is realized.



First and foremost, prudent judiciary review will be necessary to confirm if the legislation may be in conflict with existing laws. For example, giving disadvantages to high-ranking officials when their sons avoid conscription might be in violation of the Constitution. There is also a strong need to scrutinize problems in the tax laws over the imposition of inheritance and gift taxes.



That's why all related government agencies, including the Justice Ministry and the National Tax Service, should cooperate actively and closely. There is no question that cracking down on those who evade their military duty by abandoning their citizenship is essential to fulfilling social justice.




Election results will show people's assessment of Park

The general election today is taking place as President Park Geun-hye enters the latter part of her five-year term. The elections will serve primarily as the people's assessment on the job that Park has done as the nation's head of state. Even the ruling Saenuri Party spokesman Ahn Hyung-hwan admitted that failing to secure a majority in the 300-member unicameral house will be interpreted as a judgment on Park and her party.

The elections come amid a deplorable setting for the nation on many fronts. The economy is foundering, as the people struggle more than ever with declining incomes and rising poverty, job losses and social inequality. The nation's security is also at risk with mounting threats from North Korea. Our diplomats have failed to deal properly with some of the most complex issues, such as a history war with Japan. Many experts here and abroad say that the nation's democracy has backtracked during Park's presidency.

Some of these troubles are certainly unsolvable by a single administration. But Park's leadership has already shown more shortcomings than merits which have undermined our progress.

So far, the country has seen two glaring faults with her leadership.

First it is self-centered rather than being people-centered. This became more apparent in Park's behavior and speech in the months leading up to the elections. She repeatedly made politically biased remarks and regional visits that were seen as electioneering. Worst of all was when she visited her political stronghold of Daegu at the height of the candidate nomination row in her party between her loyalists and the non-Park faction.












The number of North Korean defectors rose 17.5 percent on-year in the first quarter, government data showed Tuesday, as more people are seeking to flee North Korea amid their leader's iron-fist rule.

The number of those who escaped North Korea and arrived in South Korea reached 342 in the January-March period, up from 291 the previous year, according to the data by South Korea's unification ministry.

As of end-March, the number of North Koreans who defected to the South came in at more than 29,000 with some 1,280 people arriving in the South last year.

The number of defectors reaching the South peaked in 2009, but the pace of growth has slowed down since 2011 as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has strengthened border control and surveillance over the country's people.

The data followed the latest defections by 13 North Koreans who used to work at an overseas restaurant in China amid toughened international sanctions on Pyongyang over its recent nuclear and missile tests.












Ivanka Trump Flops: Flammable Fabrics and Civic Forgetfulness

Apart from manufacturing cheaply made goods in China for import to the US, Ivanka Trump is helping her dad in his campaign to Make America Great Again (that's a trademarked phrase). Reportedly, she's struggling with both.

The daughter of the Donald and former model Ivanka Trump, a businesswoman, had 20,000 scarves recalled for flammability. Meanwhile her voter registration lectures turned out to be hypocritical, and neither Ivanka nor her brother Eric are registered to vote in the upcoming New York Republican primary. Let's take it one flop at a time.

A Burn Risk

Ivanka Trump probably has plenty of silk scarves and wouldn't wear her own synthetics unless she was trying to get us to buy them. The Washington Post reports that her kerchiefs were recalled last week because the Ivanka Trump brand does not meet fabric safety standards. Not very classy, right?

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a recall of about 20,000 Trump scarves. It explained in a statement, "The scarves do not meet the federal flammability standards for clothing textiles, posing a burn risk."

That said, there have been no reported injuries, except perhaps to Ivanka's dignity. Another blow soon followed.

Register This

Ivanka Trump has reportedly been lecturing voters on registration. Only she isn't properly registered, according to The Daily Beast, and won't be voting for dad in New York's Republican primary.

The face of voter registration for the Trump presidential campaign was so preoccupied with telling people what to do that she failed to register as a Republican. She is registered Independent but under New York rules would have had to note the changed affiliation by now to vote. Neither Ivanka nor her brother, Eric, will be voting for dad because both missed the boat and cannot participate in the closed primary.

Again, not very classy but dad was forgiving. Donald Trump, forced to answer for his children's embarrassing failure, spoke on Fox and Friends. He said, "They had a long time to register and they were, you know, unaware of the rules and they didn't, they didn't register in time. So they feel very, very guilty, they feel very guilty, but it's fine. I mean, I understand that."

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U.S. and Philippine Air Force C-130 Hercules pilots and loadmasters exchanged operational knowledge during joint training as part of Exercise Balikatan 2016 April 8, 2016.



Balikatan, a Filipino term that meaning shoulder-to-shoulder," is an annual bilateral exercise between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the U.S. military, which focuses on the Philippine-U.S. partnership, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief capabilities. This was exemplified as the Philippines 220th Airlift Wing welcomed the 36th Airlift Squadron Airmen during the all-day training session, which focused on enhancing night operations.



It was very fulfilling to teach and have them be so excited about night vision goggles (NVGs) and C-130s, said U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Scott Brooks, a 36th AS C-130 pilot. This is something that I love to do and it was great to see how excited they were to fly on a C-130. It was a new opportunity for me and I'm fortunate to be a part of this exercise.



The day began with lectures on low-level night flying, use of NVGs and U.S. Air Force loadmaster techniques, and ended in a night flight on a C-130 over Philippine islands. The flight was a first for many of the PAF pilots because many of them have only recently completed flight school.



I learned a lot from the U.S. loadmasters and pilots. Their gadgets are very high-tech and they know how to perform their jobs very well, said PAF Airman 1st Class Jack Navarro, a 220th AW C-130 aircraft hydraulic system maintainer and loadmaster. Seeing the capabilities of NVGs was great. It lets us know that if we were able to get that ability here, we would be able to land in many of the airfields here that do not have taxi lights.



After having the chance to get to know and work with the Filipino pilots, Brooks said he was confident in the prospects of their career.



Im excited about the possibility to work with the PAF in the future, Brooks said. There is no doubt in my mind about this new generation of Filipino pilots, they are 100 percent capable, willing and wanting to learn this stuff were here to teach them. Were here to build relationships and friendships, so that's what we are doing.



When the flight concluded, Navarro said thank you to the 36th AS for sharing their knowledge as a part of BK16, and hoped that in the future there would be many more opportunities for the two countries to share knowledge with each other.
Does San Francisco's Fully Paid Parental Leave Law Signal National Change?

This month, San Francisco authorities passed a law requiring employers of a certain size to contribute to paid parental leave for the first six weeks of a newborn's life or upon adoption of a child. It is the first American city do so.

The law starts off gradually, applying to employers of 50 or more and is for parents who have worked 180 days at a job. But it will require businesses with 20 or more employees to supplement state funds for parents by January 2018.

Why the Time?

Currently, California provides 55 percent of a person's pay for six weeks of parental leave from a fund that workers contribute to, and the federal government guarantees 12 weeks of unpaid leave. The new law will demand local employers pay the 45 percent difference for the first six weeks of leave, although if the state ultimately decides to pay more, that burden will shift away from employers.

Increasingly, authorities and corporations are hearing the cries of working parents, many of whom cannot afford to take time off work to bond with their newborn children. Early bonding is considered important to childhood development, and it has become a governmental preoccupation. The new law passed in San Francisco reflects this change, and may be a sign of things to come.

Changes Everywhere Soon?

Paid parental leave is also something companies are seriously considering. Some have made headlines and garnered positive press by committing to the cause, offering up to six months of paid leave. Of course, many companies cannot afford this extent of generosity, and will not change their policies without a change in the law.

Some believe that the new requirements imposed on San Francisco employers -- which will begin in 2017 -- are proof that progressive policies in local tech companies are influencing authorities. But that is only part of the story for workers.

The New York Times reports that this shift in approach to parental leave likely happened in San Francisco first because so many Silicon Valley tech companies offer lots of paid leave. It states, "San Francisco's proximity to Silicon Valley may have been an influence: The new law follows on the heels of trailblazing policies by tech companies such as Amazon, Apple, Google and Netflix, all of which offer relatively long paid parental leave for employees."

It should be noted, however, that these corporations hire lots of contractors who are not classified as employees. That means many of Silicon Valley's workers, whether professionals or laborers, get no company benefits. Perhaps San Francisco's progressive politicians and the national media will focus on that aspect of the employment story next.

Talk to a Lawyer

If you are concerned about compliance with leave laws or any other aspect of your business and its operations, speak to a lawyer. Get guidance and help.

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How State Law Changes Can Have a Big Impact on Your Business

You may not consider yourself political, preferring business development to legal developments in your state. Still, you can't ignore the law. It changes all the time and it impacts the climate in which you operate, as entrepreneurs and business owners in North Carolina can tell you first hand.

Last week, that state passed HB2, a law that many nationwide have deemed discriminatory against the LGBT community. Companies warned Governor McCrory that passage of the law would cause them to reconsider doing business in North Carolina. Now the state is starting to pay the price for ignoring them, according to NBC News.

PayPal Pulling Out

Last month, PayPal announced plans to build a $3.6 million operations center in Charlotte and hire 400 employees to work there. North Carolina reportedly lured the company with $2.7 million in economic development grants, expecting it to generate about $20 million in payroll annually.

But after the bill passed in an emergency session, PayPal CEO Dan Schulman said the company was not settling down in North Carolina. He said in a statement that the new law "perpetuates discrimination" and violates the company's "values and principles," pledging to help the state's LGBT community get the new law repealed.

Similarly, Google Ventures reportedly will not invest in any North Carolina startups and its CEO joined a list of tech executives calling for HB2 to be overturned. Apple, Facebook, and Uber were among 90 companies who signed a Human Rights Campaign letter urging North Carolina to repeal the "discriminatory and radical new anti-LGBT law."



Insiders and Outsiders

People outside of North Carolina have plenty to say about the legal developments in that state, including Bruce Springsteen who refused to perform there. Local business owners must be dismayed, however, as opportunities to succeed disappear.

Efforts by outsiders to put pressure on North Carolina are working, and business owners may yet cheer. The lesson for you here is that changes in state laws can and will impact your business, wherever you operate.

Talk to a Lawyer

If you are a business owner concerned about that state of your state's laws or any aspect of business operations, speak to a lawyer. Get guidance.

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Sri Lankas Permanent Representative Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha said on Wednesday (2 March 2016) that the Cabinet of Ministers earlier the same morning had approved that Sri Lanka accedes to the Convention on the Prohibition of the use, stockpiling, production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destructions, which is commonly known as the Ottawa Convention.

Ambassador Aryasinha made this announcement when he addressed the First International Pledging Conference for the Implementation of the Anti  Personnel Mine Ban Convention on the theme Mine Free World by 2025: The Last Stretch, held yesterday (2 March 2016) at the Palais des Nation in Geneva. The pledging conference was organised by the Office of the UN in Geneva and the Government of Chile marking seventeen years of success and calling on all parties to redouble their efforts to meet the humanitarian goals set by the Convention by 2025.

The Ottawa Convention adopted on Sept. 18, 1997 came into force on March 1, 1999. This landmark humanitarian and disarmament Convention seeks to end the suffering caused by landmines.

By joining the convention, each State Party undertakes to destroy all stockpiled anti-personnel mines that it owns or that are under its jurisdiction or control, not later than four years and to clear landmines within 10 years of becoming a State Party. Providing assistance to mine victims and awareness raising also remains important aspects in the Convention.

According to the latest figures, to date, 162 States have joined the convention and have collectively destroyed a total of over 48 million stockpiled landmines to date.

Full text of the Statement

Press Release in PDF





Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka

Geneva

3 March 2016
The SLFP does not condone the continuation of the Emergency Regulations (The Public Security Ordinance) more than a day necessary

Read more
Teachers Challenge Law Barring Sex With Teen Students

School employees in Alabama are barred by statute from having sex with students under 19. That law is being challenged as unconstitutional for criminalizing otherwise sanctioned behavior, according to the Decatur Daily.

Carrie Cabri Witt, 42, a teacher accused of sleeping with two male students, both 17, moved to dismiss criminal charges against her based on that law. The age of consent in Alabama is 16, so aside from the school employee rule, the relationship would have been cool, legally speaking at least.

Teachers Seducing Teens

Witt is not the only Alabama teacher accused of seducing a teenage student or challenging the statute as unconstitutional, which is interesting. Is this a common thing? Just how many teachers are sleeping with their teen students nationwide and should parents be worried?

The law barring sex with students under 19 is also being challenged by Joe Bradley Petrey, 28. He was charged for having sex with an 18-year-old female student. If she had been just a couple of years younger, Petrey would have faced statutory rape charges. But she was 18 and the basis for a criminal charge against him was Alabama's law proscribing school employee sex with students.

The law was passed in 2010 and has reportedly ensnared a few teachers who were charged criminally for sexual activity with students. The Decatur Daily explains that prior to its passage, there were no criminal consequences for teachers who engaged in sexual activities with students above the age of consent, or 16. Now, a violation of the law is charged as a class B felony.

Witt was suspended from the school with pay, but reportedly refused to resign after charges were filed. She is out on a $10,000 bail bond, awaiting a hearing on her motion to dismiss, which is set for May. The state has until April 22 to respond to her argument that the law is unconstitutional. Witt will continue to receive pay from the state while suspended, pending the resolution of her criminal case, school authorities said.

Age of Consent

The age of consent varies from state to state, and not every place has specifically criminalized sexual contact between teachers and students. But based on the cases arising in Alabama this year, it seems like there might be something to fear.

Talk to a Lawyer

If you or your children have a problem -- whether it's criminal charges like teachers Witt and Petrey face -- or a personal injury case, speak to a lawyer. Many attorneys consult for free or a minimal fee and will be happy to assess your case.

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PRESS RELEASE

Unexpected Crisis on Obamas Final Saudi Visit Agenda

April 11, 2016 (EIRNS)A senior, bipartisan array of members of the two major investigations into the 9/11 attacks appeared on "60 Minutes" Sunday night, calling for release of secret documents which show Saudi Arabias involvement in the attacks. The program appeared just before Barack Obamas final presidential visit to Saudi Arabia next week, and simultaneous with Congressional Democratic leader Nancy Pelosis press statement calling for release of the secret "28 pages" of the Congressional 9/11 investigation.

The agenda of Obamas "crowning" visit to his war ally has surely now been "complicated." The Royal Embassy in Washington of the Wahabite Saudi monarchy, weakened and not so dismissive as with previous 9/11 exposes, immediately denounced the "60 Minutes" broadcast as

"a compilation of myths and erroneous charges that have been thoroughly addressed not just by the Saudi government, but also by the 9/11 Commission and the U.S. Courts."

In the years since Obama first promised 9/11 victims families that he would declassify the 28 pages, he and the Saudis have been hand-in-hand in so much genocidal, or merely disastrous warmakingand still arethat revealing Saudi responsibility in the 9/11 attacks would be a charge of dynamite, which would hit London as well. The "60 Minutes" segment began by stating, accurately, that there is "deep distrust" between the war allies, part of which arises from the obvious Saudi support for Sunni jihadist groups and terrorist ideologies worldwide.

Yet justice must, at last, be done for the 9/11 victims. Representative Pelosi stated that

"As the former Ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee looking into the 9/11 attacks, I agree with former Senator Bob Graham that these documents should be declassified and made public."

Graham, on the CBS-TV program, said the hijackers had to have support within the United States, and when asked, "You believe that support came from Saudi Arabia?", answered, "Substantially," and indicated that he included the Saudi government. 9/11 Commission members Adm. (ret.) John Lehman, former Sen. Bob Kerrey, former Colorado Gov. Tim Roemer, all confirmed that most members of both investigationsincluding their leaderswant the 28 pages declassified by Obama. Moreso do the families, and EIR.

Most notable was Kerreys remark. The Saudi government for 14 years has relied on a single sentence in the 9/11 Commission Report, that it "did not find evidence that senior Saudi officials" were behind the attacks. Despite the extreme, deliberate ambiguity of "senior," the Saudis have claimed, publicly and in U.S. Courts, that the Commission exonerated them. Kerrey bluntly told "60 Minutes" host Steve Kroft, "No, we did not exonerate the Saudis."
PRESS RELEASE

New Documentation of U.S. Breakdown: Death Rate Soaring for Mid-Age White Women, Rural Areas

April 11, 2016 (EIRNS)Death rates for middle-age white women in rural areas have risen overall nearly 50 percent since 1990, and in certain poor counties by over 100 percent. For example, in rural Victoria County, Texas, for the age span of white women 35 to 54 years, the death rate is up 169 percent. In 1990, Victoria County had 216 deaths per 100,000 women group, and as of 2014, there were 583 deaths for the same group. This county leads the nation in this rise of death rate, but 21 other rural counties across the South and Midwest are similar.

This trend has been documented by a number of reports in recent years, as "regional" phenomena, focussedas it was most manifeston poor counties in West Virginia, Oklahoma, and other poverty areas. Now it is a national phenomenon.

Look the national trend since 1999, Obamas first year in office. In 2000, there were 228 deaths per 100,000 rural white women in the age group nearing 50 years old; but now, 296 are dying at this age. Certain counties are death zones. In Walker County, Alabama, in the destroyed Appalachian coal country, the death rate of white women, age 35 to 44, is up 179% since 1999.

These are the headline findings of a mortality rate study issued by the Washington Post April 10 ("A New Divide in American Death"). The researchers looked at mortality records from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, by county, for the period 1990 to 2014, looking at cause of death, and the degree of urbanization. A number of breakdown trends are evident. For example, there has been a sharp rise in the overall death rate among young men, age 25 to 35; and of older white men, age 55 to 64.

But the most dramatic trend in mortality is, as presented on a Post nationwide map of counties, and its caption: "From 1990 though 2014, the mortality rate for white women rose in most parts of the country, particularly around small cities and in rural areas, where rates often went up more than 40 percent and some doubled."

This death trend reflects the shutdown of civilization across the rural countryside. There is not only poverty and suffering, but despair. No jobs. Towns are boarded up. Lodging is decrepit. Churches are shut. Water, power and sanitation are bad. Then add in the bestial "popular music," insane TV, and video games; and the drugs, alcohol, smoking, over-eating, violence, and illness.

Therefore, the biggest official factors for the increasing death rate among rural, white, middle-aged women are drug overdose, suicide, and cirrosis of the liver, related to heavy drinking.

In contrast, despite poverty, poor residents in certain urban areas are, comparatively, not showing a (statistical) drop in life expectancy. This is presented in a second new study out this week. Its documentation indicates that where there is a social setting that is potentially human for people, the death rate is measurably less, despite poverty.

New York City is listed as the number one place "where the poor live the longest,"84.2 years (women) and 79.5 (men), in contrast to lesser towns and rural counties.

This study was published April 10, by the JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) on-line, titled, "The Association Between Income and Life Expectancy in the United States, 2001-2014." It looked at life expectancy, related to level of income, for the period 1999 through 2014. Not surprisingly, the finding is that, "The Rich Live Longer Everywhere. For the Poor, Geography Matters," as the New York Times headline reported today.
PRESS RELEASE

Fujimoris Daughter Wins Largest Vote in First Round of Peru Presidential Election, Beating Soros

April 11, 2016 (EIRNS)Keiko Fujimori, daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori, is way out front in the vote count of Sundays presidential election, winning nearly 40% (39.5) of the vote, and a near majority in Congress, with 85% of the vote counted. As it stands now, Keiko will likely face a run-off election with former First Boston co-chairman and hedge fund owner Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (known as "PPK"), who with his 21% of the vote is ahead of the third leading contender, Green/pro-drug leftist candidate Veronika Mendoza by about a half million votes.

Everyone knows this is a vote for a return to the policies of Alberto Fujimoris government, more than support for his more pragmatist daughter, Keiko. As President from 1990-2000, Fujimori defied Londons orders to capitulate to the bestial Shining Path and MRTA narcoterrorists, and mobilized the military and other national institutions to defeat the terrorists and drive back the drug trade. Within IMF financial constraints, he did what he could to bring electricity and roads to rural areas which governments had ignored for decades. When Fujimori then called for building a "United States of South America" around great development projects in August 2000, while his close associates were working on having American statesman Lyndon LaRouche visit Peru, George Soros personally took charge (with then-Secretary of State Madelaine Albright) of running (and financing) the coup which ousted Fujimori three months later. Fujimori is still in jail today, along with his top nationalist allies.

Luis Vasquez Medina, long-time leader of the LaRouche movement in Peru, welcomed yesterdays vote, calling it the first opportunity since that coup 16 years ago that "Soross government" could be thrown out of office. Every government since the coup has been a Soros government, no matter the president, he pointed out. As a result, the drug trade has regained control nationwide, the mining companies looted freely, and almost no productive economic activity has been left standing. Now Peru must turn to Russia, China, and the BRICS, and fight to build the South American transcontinental railroad, Vasquez said.

Soros, the Project Democracy apparatus, and their media are gearing up their already-hyper campaign against Keiko, so as to defeat her in the June 5th second round, an operation which includes ferocious pressure on her to play by the rules of their game, rather than campaigning to lead Peru into the New Silk Road/World Land-Bridge paradigm.
Beverly Cleary, the legendary childrens author who brought the world Ramona Quimby, Henry Huggins and Ralph S. Mouse, turned 100 years old Tuesday.

Just dont ask her what her secret is. I didnt do it on purpose, she joked to the Associated Press.

The author, who was born before World War I was over, has led a remarkable career, spanning dozens of books, a National Book Award and a Newbery Medal.

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In 1950, she published her first book, Henry Huggins. The novel introduced not only the title character (and his dog), but also his neighbor Beezus Quimby and her little sister, Ramona.

Cleary talked about Ramona, who became her most beloved character, with The Times in 2011. She was just a little brat in Henry Huggins. She was sort of an accident because it occurred to me that all the children appeared to be only children, she explained.

So I tossed in this little sister, and at that moment, a neighbor called out to another neighbor who happened to be named Ramona. So I just named this little girl Ramona. And she kept growing in the Henry books. And my editor said she would like a whole book about Ramona, and I was thinking about it myself.

Cleary was born in McMinnville, Ore., and moved with her family to Portland six years later. I was a well-behaved little girl, not that I wanted to be, she told the AP. At the age of Ramona, in those days, children played outside. We played hopscotch and jump rope, and I loved them, and always had scraped knees.

She lived in Portland for 12 years, and the grade school she attended there is now called the Beverly Cleary School. There are also statues of Ramona Quimby and Henry Huggins and his dog Ribsy in Portlands Grant Park.

After graduating from high school, Cleary moved to California, eventually earning an English degree from UC Berkeley. She attended graduate school and worked as a childrens librarian in Washington state, before later moving to Carmel with her husband.

Ramona went on to appear in many of Clearys books, most recently in her final novel, Ramonas World, which was published in 1999.

If I dont enjoy what Im writing, I put it in the wastebasket, Cleary told The Times. Because if I dont enjoy writing it, why would anybody enjoy reading it?

That philosophy seems to have worked for her. Ive had an exceptionally happy career, she said.

And her fans are exceptionally happy for her. At Jezebel, Kate Dries explains the authors appeal for her readers. Clearys writing is always matter-of-fact, observant without being unkind, Dries writes. Despite her concerns, she was lovely, good, and never forgot to write, all at once.

Clearys admirers on Twitter agree. Novelist Celeste Ng tweeted, Happy birthday, Beverly Cleary! To this day, I think of Ramona every time I crack a hard-boiled egg or squeeze the toothpaste tube.

Writer Anne T. Donahue also wished Cleary a happy 100th birthday. She is the only person better than Ramona Quimby, who gave me hope as an outspoken eight-year-old.
At least 400 people were arrested at a Democracy Spring demonstration at the US Capitol yesterday. The protesters were calling for controls on the influence of big money over politics.

The organizers have vowed to repeat the demonstration every day this week. The arrests were made under anti-crowding, anti-hindering and anti-obstruction by-laws.

The moment is ripe. Poll after poll shows transpartisan public frustration with the corrupt status quo reaching new, nearly unanimous highs. Voters in Maine and Seattle just passed bold new anti-corruption laws to enact citizen funded elections. A growing democracy movement has lifted this issue into the public debate. Yet Congress refuses to act.

The stage is set for a bold intervention to turn the tinder of passive public frustration into a fire that transforms the political climate in America, that sparks a popular movement that can't be stopped. How? From Selma to Occupy Wall Street, the Tar Sands Action to Black Lives Matter, everyday people have proven the power of mass, escalating nonviolent action to rapidly shift the political weather and open the door to reforms previously considered impossible.

NOW IT'S OUR TURN.

This spring, in the heart of the primary season, as the national election begins to take center stage, Americans of all ages, faiths, political perspectives, and walks of life will bring the popular cry for change to Washington in a way that's impossible to ignore: with nonviolent civil disobedience on a historic scale.

We will demand that Congress listen to the People and take immediate action to save our democracy. And we won't leave until they do  or until they send thousands of us to jail, along with the unmistakable message that our country needs a new Congress, one that that will end the legalized corruption of our democracy and ensure that every American has an equal voice in government.
American Apparel is laying off hundreds of workers and retooling its production process  and may start making some of its clothing outside Los Angeles.

The downtown L.A. company began layoffs last week. So far, about 500 local employees have lost their jobs, said Nativo Lopez, a senior advisor with Hermandad Mexicana, which is helping workers in unionizing efforts. The company has about 4,600 employees in Southern California.

American Apparel emerged from bankruptcy in February and has been trying to move past a tumultuous two years that saw the ouster of founder Dov Charney, store closures and massive fire sales to clear unsold merchandise.

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In a letter to employees last week, Chief Executive Paula Schneider blamed the workforce reduction on a redesign of our production process that will include making fewer garments throughout the year to cut down on inventory that eventually has to be discounted.

Schneider also hinted that the manufacturing of more complicated pieces, such as jeans, could soon be outsourced to a third-party company  though she stressed that the products will still be American-made.

Manufacturing all of its colorful leggings, knit tops and accessories in Los Angeles has been a cornerstone of American Apparel, set in place years ago by Charney, a staunch immigration and fair wages advocate. After his firing, the company has been moving away from its roots by distancing itself from its outspoken former chief executive, toning down its racy billboards and now rethinking one of its fundamental tenets about how and where its products are made.

The company said only a fraction of its garments would potentially be outsourced, according to last weeks letter that was obtained by The Times.

But analysts said this was probably the companys first step in leaving Los Angeles, at least when it comes to manufacturing.

Theyre headed out of Dodge, said Lloyd Greif, chief executive of Los Angeles investment banking firm Greif & Co. They are going to outsource all garments. Its only a matter of time.

American Apparel appears to be dropping the bad news a little at a time, he said, to gauge public opinion and also to prevent a worker revolt.

They might be kind of testing the waters to see what the market reaction is, Greif said.

So far, the company will only say that it is considering farming out the making of complicated garments that take a lot of labor but comprise a small slice of the companys business.

For instance, about 80% of the garments made by American Apparel last year were basics such as T-shirts, while 20% were more complex pieces such as denim. However, employees were split about 50-50 between the two categories, the letter said.

That mismatch between workers and manufacturing is an inefficiency that needs to be addressed as part of the companys turnaround efforts, Schneider said.

For now, American Apparel will probably outsource manufacturing to a cheaper part of the country, such as the South, analysts said. Eventually, the company may well move much of its manufacturing overseas.

The main problem is that its difficult to pay workers decent wages  Charney used to boast that his sewers were paid $12 an hour on average  and still make money while selling pricey $30 T-shirts. Complicating matters is a hotly contested retail landscape full of fast-fashion chains that make their clothes abroad and sell them for a fraction of American Apparels prices.

Theres no reason why American Apparel has to be made in America, Greif said. It can be designed in America, but cut and stitched somewhere else.

When American Apparel first began manufacturing from its cavernous coral pink warehouse near the Arts District, it was heralded as a bold move that defied conventional thinking that U.S. retailers had to outsource to Asia to make their goods. Charney was championed as a visionary thinker, bringing thousands of jobs to downtown L.A. and a belief that Made in America was attainable.

On Tuesday, Charney characterized the latest moves as a betrayal of American Apparels foundation. He was ousted as chairman and chief executive after an investigation uncovered allegations of misuse of company funds and inappropriate behavior with employees.

They are doing exactly what American Apparel fought against, Charney said. He said he had always resisted outsourcing and searching for ways to pay people less money.

American Apparel declined to comment.

In the letter, Schneider said shaking up the production process came after months of careful and rigorous review.

We have streamlined the number of items we display in each of our stores, she wrote. Earlier this year, we closed a number of stores to focus on our best-selling locations.

Lopez, the labor organizer, said the general mood among workers is doom and gloom.

Laid-off employees were given a severance package of two months pay. They also were offered an additional $800 if they waived their right to file any claims against the company, Lopez said.

Since it emerged from Chapter 11, the company has appointed new board members, including Susan Davidson, chief executive of Zac Posen and fashion boutique Scoop.

shan.li@latimes.com

Twitter: @ByShanLi
If energy agencies and utilities ever want to scare consumers, they need say little more than blackouts.

Those rolling power outages, well remembered from the states energy crisis of 2000-01, sit at the heart of the case California energy officials are making to keep the troubled Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility open after the worst leak by such an operation in U.S. history. But doubts are growing about warnings that Southern California could face blackouts this summer without Aliso Canyon, contained in a report released last week by California energy agencies.

Consumer groups and utility critics contend that the blackout warnings are an irresponsible scare tactic to ensure that Southern California Gas Co. is allowed to keep storing gas at the facility and that ratepayers will pay for upgrades to store even more fuel there. Detractors say the report fails to mention additional natural gas fields as well as other fuel and power options that could help keep the regions lights on this summer.

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The people who control blackouts are threatening blackouts if they cant keep Aliso open. This is a threat. This is not a report, said Michael Aguirre, a former San Diego city attorney and a longtime adversary of state energy regulators and the utility industry, which he and others contend have an inappropriately cozy relationship.

The Aliso Canyon gas storage facility, the largest in the state, drew national scrutiny when a four-month leak forced residents in nearby Porter Ranch from their homes, some complaining of headaches and nosebleeds.

Gov. Jerry Brown ordered a moratorium on injecting gas into the storage operation until Southern California Gas ensures that the wells are safe, a process that could take months. The storage plant still holds about 15% of the facilitys natural gas capacity, and those depleted supplies could pose a problem in the months ahead, energy officials say.

Southern California will need Aliso Canyon this summer and beyond to help keep electricity flowing during high demand as air conditioners fire up and gas-fueled power plants are called into service on short notice, according to the report. The California Energy Commission, California Public Utilities Commission and the California Independent System Operator, which manages the states electricity markets and most long-distance transmission lines, released the report last Tuesday. Southern California Gas and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power also were involved in producing the 56-page report.

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If no fuel can be withdrawn from Aliso Canyon, a natural gas shortage could force rolling blackouts during as many as 14 days this summer plus an additional eight to 18 days later in the year. The contributing factors, the report states, are conflicts in scheduling of gas deliveries on the pipeline system, daily demand for gas and outages at other storage facilities.

The report notes that Southern California Gas other storage fields are too small, too remote or too busy serving other areas to help plug the L.A. basins supply gaps. Those limitations, the agencies contend, could make it difficult to send enough natural gas to the regions 17 gas-fueled power plants.

A rebuttal report issued by advocacy organization Food & Water Watch argues that the energy agencies conclusions are based on inflated estimates of the demand for electric power, underestimates of the capacity of other SoCalGas gas storage facilities, and other unsubstantiated or flawed data.

Congestion on the regions pipeline network shouldnt be a problem, the group said, because the system has never reached capacity in the last decade. The organization says, for instance, that the highest Southern California Gas peak summer demand over the 10 years was 3.7 billion cubic feet a day, less than the maximum capacity of 3.875 billion cubic feet.

But congestion isnt the only snag, said Terri Prosper, a utilities commission spokeswoman. Natural gas can be slow to ride to the rescue when a power plant is needed quickly.

Because gas travels through pipelines at a relatively slow rate, approximately 30 miles per hour, rapid changes in demand at these plants quickly draws down supply in the pipeline; operating pressures in the line drop and must be replaced quickly both to maintain operating pressure and continue to meet demand, Prosper said. Aliso is the only facility close enough to respond on a timely basis.

Among the state reports other flaws, critics said, was the failure to mention that many of the regions 17 power plants are run by municipalities that own a natural gas field in Wyoming. Field owners DWP, Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, Colton and the Turlock Irrigation District are part of a consortium called the Southern California Public Power Authority.

The municipalities, led by DWP, bought ownership in the Wyoming field in 2005 to further stabilize the single most volatile component of DWPs operating expenses, thereby helping DWP achieve its goal of maintaining stable retail electric rates for our customers, the department said in a statement at the time.

The Wyoming field was expected to initially provide 12% of DWPs natural gas supply, with future growth expected. However, the field supplies only 10% of DWPs natural gas to four power plants on the municipal utilitys system.

A 2012 audit recommended that DWP do even more to diversify and should consider alternative supply basins and pipelines  to plan for unforeseen interruptions  the kind of interruption the states energy agencies now say could be imminent without Aliso Canyon. That diversification hasnt happened.

The ability to get natural gas from the Wyoming field is a material fact that should not have been left out of the report because it leaves the reader misled, said Aguirre, the San Diego lawyer.

Bill Powers of Powers Engineering in San Diego, who wrote the Food & Water Watch document, added that reliance on Southern California Gas to manage all L.A. basin natural gas pipelines has made the system vulnerable to interruptions.

The only thing keeping that gas [in Wyoming] out of the system is the transportation system, Power said. The band leader of that transportation system is SoCal Gas.

The California Energy Commission dismissed the Wyoming natural gas field as a significant factor in helping resolve blackout concerns.

The fact that DWP and the SCPPA members together own natural gas reserves in Wyoming is not relevant to the technical report or the action plan, said Linda Rapattoni, an energy commission spokeswoman. Ownership of reserves does not provide higher priority of service on a pipeline network that must serve many customers.

For its part, DWP said it has worked to follow the audits recommendations but hasnt found a cost-effective solution.

We did look for additional storage options, said Michael Webster, DWPs executive director of engineering and technical services. Since 2012, we just have not seen any opportunities.

Southern California Gas said its other three storage facilities are incapable of replacing Aliso Canyon.

A Playa del Rey storage field, which is closest to many of the power plants, is too small, Southern California Gas said. Its La Goleta field in Santa Barbara County is too remote, the utility said.

Its second-largest storage facility, Honor Rancho, is about a third the size of Aliso Canyon and sits about 10 miles north of it. Southern California Gas argues that Honor Rancho cannot provide natural gas in place of Aliso Canyon because it is supplying fuel to the San Joaquin Valley and other areas to the north and on the coast.

But when asked for specific amounts of natural gas sent to those areas, the company couldnt provide details.

It is not possible to determine what natural gas goes to what location, said Tammy Taylor, a spokeswoman for Sempra Energy, the parent company of Southern California Gas.

Another report omission, the critics said, was the ability of power plants to use fuel other than natural gas.

DWPs 800-megawatt Scattergood power plant uses a byproduct from the Hyperion Waste Water Treatment Plant, called digester gas, a combination of methane and carbon dioxide. Two of Scattergoods three units run on the alternative gas. But the report doesnt discuss this.

Power plants also could store backup fuel but stopped doing so after they were forced to abandon oil as a substitute to reduce emissions, Powers said. Utilities could store Amber 363, a synthetic diesel used as an alternative to natural gas by the Orange County Central Utility Facility and UC Irvine gas turbine cogeneration plants, he said, adding that Amber 363 doesnt produce significant emissions.

Once you take away that backup gas, you are dependent on one fuel, and that should not happen, Powers said.

ivan.penn@latimes.com

Twitter: @ivanlpenn

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Before Frontier Communications took over Verizons landline phone, TV and Internet services in California on April 1, the company assured customers that it would make the transition as smooth as possible.

For many former Verizon subscribers, its been anything but.

As soon as they made the change, my Internet service became spotty, said Long Beach resident Bryan Merton, 56. Now its gone completely.

He was among dozens of now-Frontier customers who have contacted me in recent days to report technical issues, as well as frustrating encounters with Frontiers customer-service department, which seems overwhelmed trying to address dissatisfaction with the change in corporate parenthood.

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Merton told me that he contacted Frontier to complain and was informed that the outage had nothing to do with the switch from Verizon.

I asked what was causing it then, he said. The lady wouldnt say, only that it had nothing to do with the changeover. His Internet wasnt restored until Monday afternoon.

Connecticut-based Frontier spent $10.5 billion last year acquiring the landline operations of Verizon, including its FiOS broadband connections, in California, Florida and Texas. The deal closed in March.

Some bumps were to be expected. Frontier spent about $8 billion in 2010 purchasing Verizons landline operations in 14 other states and then had to pay billions more upgrading Verizons neglected technology.

In 2014, Frontier spent $2 billion buying AT&Ts landlines in Connecticut. It subsequently issued $10 million in credits to local customers to compensate for technical glitches and not adequately staffing call centers to handle complaints.

Frontier presents itself as a top-notch telecom player. The companys chief executive, Dan McCarthy, said in a recent letter to Verizon customers in California that Frontier provides reliable communications services to millions of customers across the U.S.

The reality is that Frontier is all about acquiring landline assets that bigger telecom companies no longer want in todays cellphone-centric wireless world. The firm then makes a go of trying to profit from the other guys discards.

In California, Frontier has picked up Verizons copper phone lines along with its fiber-optic FiOS broadband network.

Im not saying that Frontier is unreliable. After all, all the gear and workers the company has acquired in Southern California used to belong to Verizon, which is no slouch in running voice, TV and Internet networks.

But theres a bit of a pig-in-a-poke aspect to the deal. For one thing, theres a good reason Verizon is getting out of the landline business  it sees no future in it. So its reasonable to assume that the company hasnt poured money into upgrading its system over recent years.

Frontier says its looking forward to bringing California customers more innovative products and services in the coming year. But its an open question how much it will be able to invest in network improvements. The company has a stock market value of about $6 billion but is carrying $16 billion in debt.

Los Angeles resident Melinda White said her phone, TV and Internet services continued without a hitch after Frontier took over her Verizon account. As it happens, shes Frontiers regional president, overseeing California and other Western states.

White said she is chagrined that a relatively small number of customers have had a bad experience  she put the total at around 1,700 customers. Overall, she said, the switch from Verizon has gone well.

Every single customer is of utmost priority to us, White said. But when you look at a conversion of this magnitude, there were very few disruptions.

She said Frontier added 3.3 million landline phone customers, 2.1 million Internet users and 1.2 million TV subscribers in California, Florida and Texas as a result of the latest deal with Verizon. She declined to break out specific numbers for California.

My sense is that Frontier really wants to make a good impression on consumers. For example, White said the company is closing down Verizons call center in the Philippines and moving all those jobs back to this country.

She also stressed that landlines arent disappearing from the telecom landscape, even if mobile is where all the growth is. Landlines are still the most reliable form of communication, White said.

But for how much longer? Landline TV and Internet connections are becoming more and more data-intensive, requiring greater amounts of bandwidth. During peak evening hours, streaming-video services account for nearly two-thirds of Internet traffic.

White said Frontier will invest at least $200 million in network upgrades over the next six years. But that money isnt their money. Its our money. Its from a taxpayer-funded federal program called Connect America, which is aimed at expanding broadband service to rural areas.

I asked White how much of Frontiers own cash it plans to invest in its system, but she declined to provide a figure.

This probably wont sit well with Rancho Palos Verdes resident Ivan Goldman, 73. He signed up with Verizon six years ago for phone, TV and Internet service. Once Frontier took over, he told me, the number of recent movies available for on-demand viewing dropped off sharply and films he had bookmarked for future viewing were no longer listed.

These sound like small things, Goldman said. But they promised a seamless transition and theyre still charging the same amount I paid before.

When his Frontier contract is up this summer, he said, hell likely go back to Cox Communications, the cable company he left for Verizon.

Frontier or Cox  its not a great choice, Goldman said. Sort of like taking poison or shooting yourself.

That might sound harsh, but its a good reminder for Frontier that you dont mess with peoples TV or Internet access.

David Lazarus column runs Tuesdays and Fridays. He also can be seen daily on KTLA-TV Channel 5 and followed on Twitter @Davidlaz. Send your tips or feedback to david.lazarus@latimes.com.

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Sky-high apartment rents in Southern California are expected to climb further in coming years, as construction fails to keep up with population and job growth, according to a forecast released Tuesday.

The average rent in Los Angeles County is expected to hit $1,416 a month in 2018, an 8.3% jump from last year, while in Orange County, average rents are likely to rise 9.4% to an average of $1,736, the USC Casden Multifamily Forecast said.

The projections come even as developers are building. Permits for more than 38,000 multifamily units were pulled last year across Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside and San Diego counties  the most since before the recession, according to the forecast, completed by Beacon Economics and USCs Lusk Center for Real Estate.

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But much of the new supply is on the pricey end, and economists say much more construction is needed because California has consistently built too few units relative to population growth.

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Last year, a report released by the California Housing Partnership Corp. said Los Angeles County needed more than 500,000 additional below-market rental homes if low-income residents were not to live beyond their means or in overcrowded apartments.

Population and employment growth are driving up demand faster than new inventory can hit the market, said Raphael Bostic, interim director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, which collaborated on this weeks forecast with Beacon Economics, a Los Angeles consulting firm.

In San Diego County, average monthly rents should increase to $1,577 in 2018, up 10.9% from last year, and in Riverside and San Bernardino counties theyll grow 7.3% to $1,239 a month.

But annual rent growth should slow as new apartments open.

L.A. County rents rose nearly 5% to $1,307 last year from 2014, a pace that will slow to 3.1% this year, 2.4% in 2017 and 2.5% in 2018, according to the forecast. A similar slowdown is expected in other Southern California markets.

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For renters, new construction has simply kept a bad situation from getting drastically worse, Bostic said.

andrew.khouri@latimes.com

Twitter: @khouriandrew

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Facebook Inc. and Microsoft Corp., giants in a field long criticized for lacking gender diversity, disclosed this week that their female employees earn as much as their male employees.

The revelation adds momentum to efforts to bring parity to the technology industrys workforce, which is three-quarters male, according to the National Center for Women & Information Technology.

Men in some computer programming fields earn an average of 28.3% more than their female counterparts, according to Glassdoor. That gap is larger than the national average, which finds that women earn 79 cents for every dollar a man earns.

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The announcement by Facebook and Microsoft came a day before Tuesdays Equal Pay Day, which was established two decades ago to illustrate how far into the year women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year.

For technology companies, innovation is job No. 1, and the more diverse leadership teams are, the more those companies are shown to lead in innovation, said Natasha Lamb, director of equity research and shareholder engagement for Arjuna Capital, which has been pressuring Facebook and Microsoft to address the gender wage gap in tech.

If these companies want to compete on innovation, they need to be drawing from 100% of the talent pool and incentivizing women to move into leadership positions.

Kathleen Hogan, Microsofts executive vice president for human resources, said in a blog post that female employees were paid 99.8 cents for every dollar a male employee earned. Ethnic minorities were paid exactly the same as white employees, she said.

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If we want to build products and services for everyone on the planet, we need to represent everyone on the planet, Hogan said. Having a diverse and inclusive workforce is indeed a powerful bridge to the markets and people we serve.

Facebook did not disclose precisely how much women made compared to men, but the companys head of human resources, Lori Matloff Goler, wrote on her Facebook page, Men and women earn the same.

Arjuna Capital has written shareholder proposals asking major tech companies to disclose how much female employees earn compared to men. The proposals also requested that the companies devise plans to close the wage gap.

The reason? Attracting diverse employees benefits investors, Lamb said.

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Its in their own self-interest to be proactive on this issue and ensure both their current and prospective employees that theyre committed to paying people fairly and equally, Lamb said. Theres so much competition in Silicon Valley for top talent that if youre not attracting or retaining top talent, including women, then youre at a significant competitive disadvantage.

In addition to Facebook and Microsoft, Lamb said Arjuna Capital has targeted shareholder proposals for EBay, Expedia, Apple, Intel, Adobe, Amazon and Googles parent company, Alphabet.

So far, Intel, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft have released pay numbers, while Expedia said it would do so in October.

Amazon said women made 99.9 cents for every dollar a man earned. At Apple, that ratio was 99.6%, and at Intel, parity was at 100%.

Lamb said EBay shareholders will vote on the Arjuna Capitals proposal later this month. She added that the investment firm was in talks with Adobe, which hasnt released any figures.

Alphabet said there is no pay gap for its male and female employees, but like Facebook, it did not disclose data.

Lamb urged companies to also disclose data for bonuses and equity to reveal the full scope of pay packages. She said she was disappointed that Google and Facebook did not provide any numbers to back their claims of pay parity.

Im surprised given Sheryl Sandbergs very vocal Lean In philosophy that Facebook would come forward with a less-than-stellar disclosure, Lamb said. It sets a poor precedent for other companies.

Follow me on Twitter: @dhpierson

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Storage start-up Clutter lands investment from Sequoia, and more L.A. tech news
A business that stashes clothes, bikes and furniture for people tight on space doesn't sound like much of a tech company.

But that hasn't stopped one of Silicon Valley's top venture capital firms from investing in a Los Angeles storage start-up.

Clutter Inc. has movers pack people's belongings and then haul them to a storage facility until they're needed. It doesn't bring in a huge number of customers, but the ones who do sign up pay a couple of hundred dollars a month and remain customers for a long time, said Omar Hamoui, a partner at Sequoia Capital.

That helps explain why Hamoui's firm recently invested $20 million in Clutter, just six months after leading a $9-million infusion for the company.

This is more of a high-value subscription business than a one-off purchase," Hamoui said. "The revenue is fairly regular and recurring."

Venture capitalists generally hold in high regard software firms that charge their customers a monthly service fee and don't see much turnover because the combination makes it easy to determine an operation's potential value.

Having a similar business model has been an advantage for Clutter. Other labor-intensive start-ups that deliver goods and services at the push of a button have been struggling to raise funds at desired prices. In part, that's because those companies aren't seen as subscription businesses: People hail a car or order takeout only so often.

That could change. Last month, Postmates, which delivers items as diverse as burritos, clothing and toiletries, launched a $9.99 monthly subscription plan.

At Clutter, it isnt just the business model that is exciting investors though. Hamoui said another factor in a quick, second investment was that Clutters sales have grown significantly since fall. Clutter and rival start-ups that use warehouses on the outskirts of cities also represent a threat to the traditional self-storage industry, which relies on more pricey, urban real estate.

Outsiders may be skeptical about a storage business attracting venture capital. But Hamoui said backing Clutter was like when Sequoia funded an advertising technology company he founded long before the industry took off.

"Were comfortable with stuff we havent seen before," he said of himself and his partners.

Clutter, available in parts of California and New York City, plans to launch in more cities with the new cash. But the 175-employee company will be careful with spending, recognizing that the venture capital market may continue to cool.

Hamoui noted that Clutter likely would have tried to raise significantly more cash two years ago when investors were eager to purchase shares of high-growth companies at any cost.

But the fact that Clutter has to be more conservative now doesn't concern Hamoui, who said a push to start generating profits always has to happen at some point. When exactly it happens doesn't matter to Sequoia as long as the company remains on the right track.

The new investment comes from Sequoias Growth Fund, while the previous deal involved the firms Venture Fund. The last company to get an investment from both funds was WhatsApp, a Clutter spokeswoman said. Facebook later bought WhatsApp for about $22 billion.

A new way to invest.

Crowdfunder, a Los Angeles company that enables start-ups to sell shares online, has launched a new investment vehicle for wealthy individuals.

People who can cut at least a $100,000 check may invest that big sum into the VC Index Fund, which will hold shares in hundreds of start-ups that have also been backed by top venture capital firms including Andreessen Horowitz and Union Square Ventures.

By investing in a large number of companies through a single fund, Crowdfunder aims to provide more opportunity to strike gold while reducing the chance that the investors will lose their initial outlay.

Silicon Valley venture capitalist Tim Draper is an advisor to the new fund.

Dating app hires in L.A.

Happn, a dating app out of Paris that links users who were simultaneously in the same location earlier in the day, has hired a chief marketing officer for the U.S. who will be based in Los Angeles. Serge Gojkovich previously held a similar role at Grindr, a dating app aimed at gay men.

Two-year-old Happn says it has 14 million users worldwide but wants to quickly grow its U.S. user base of nearly 2 million.

Elsewhere on the Web.

AirMap, a Santa Monica company developing maps of the sky to help drone operators know where they can fly, has raised $15 million in venture capital, according to TechCrunch.

Tradesy, an online marketplace for clothing, is partnering with Los Angeles start-up Happy Returns, which operates a Return Bar in Santa Monica. Customers can drop returns off there to get refunds faster, according to Re/Code.

Beauty and home products maker Honest Co. may decide to sell itself if the chances of landing a windfall in an initial public offering continue to look bleak because of stock market wariness, according to Womens Wear Daily, which cited anonymous sources.

Atom Tickets, a Santa Monica company that brings movie theater concessions to an app, says its early customers have seen double-digit increases in sales of popcorn, candy and other fare, according to the Globe and Mail.

In case you missed it.

Why are the biggest investors in technology backing firms whose tech prowess amounts to little more than a nifty website and a social media team? Silicon Valley, despite its reputation for world-changing ideas, can also quietly embrace the mundane.

Electric car start-up Faraday Future Inc. and mobile app maker Snapchat Inc. are poised to receive millions of dollars in state tax breaks over the next five years if they can hit hiring and investment goals.

To St. Joseph Center, Safe Place for Youth, Grand View Boulevard Elementary and other groups that have benefited from Snapchat's largesse, the nearly 5-year-old company is a model for how Venice's new tech residents can help preserve its character.

Uber agreed to a $25-million settlement in a lawsuit alleging the ride-hailing company misled and overcharged customers in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Verizon has agreed to buy a 24.5% stake in AwesomenessTV and plans to form a premium mobile video brand.

A look at some of the robots that will be on display at a USC open house event this week. (USC Viterbi School of Engineering) (Test)

Coming up.

The USC Viterbi School of Engineering hosts its annual Robotics Open House on Thursday, which will let the public interact with about 60 robots that are being used in faculty research. Robots on hand include ones that help in medical settings, education and environmental research.

paresh.dave@latimes.com

Twitter: @peard33
For Julie Hadduck, a smartphone app that could diagnose cancer seemed like a miracle.

Her husband died of skin cancer in 2010. She worried that her three children could also be at risk, so she took them to a dermatologist twice a year.

When Hadduck photographed one of her daughters moles, the app offered a diagnosis within seconds. It came back red, and I was freaked out, said Hadduck, who lives in Pittsburgh.

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She took her 9-year-old to a dermatologist, who reassured them the mole was benign. Hadduck, 47, deleted the app.

The app that Hadduck tried is one of more than 165,000 involving health and wellness currently available for download  a blending of technology and healthcare that has grown dramatically in the last few years. Experts see almost unlimited promise in the rise of mobile medical apps, but they also point out that regulation is sometimes lagging the pace of innovation, which could harm consumers.

Its clearly a net positive, but I think there are risks to it, said Dr. Karandeep Singh, a professor at the University of Michigan who recently evaluated the quality and safety of hundreds of mobile health apps.

Major changes in the healthcare system set in motion by the Affordable Care Act, passed in 2010, coincided with the proliferation of smartphones. From 2013 to 2015, the number of health and fitness apps available on Apples mobile operating system increased by 106%, according to one report.

Some of the most popular apps include Plant Nanny, a reminder to drink water; Sworkit, a personalized exercise video player; and HeartWatch, a heart rate tracker thats hooked up to the Apple Watch.

Eric Jain, a software development consultant who lives in Seattle, tests as many mobile health, or m-health, apps as he can.

He wears a Fitbit on his wrist to count his steps. Clipped to his pants pocket is a device that measures his sunlight exposure. Another, stuck under his mattress, monitors the quality of his sleep. A weather station in his home reports humidity, noise and air-quality levels.

Its kind of neat to without much effort collect some data, said Jain, 37.

Public health experts hope that convenient medical apps encourage people to pay more attention to their health.

Dr. Leslie Saxon, cardiologist and executive director of the USC Center for Body Computing, said theres unbelievable potential for these new technologies to save lives.

Doctors can now continuously monitor heart rhythm data and watch for problems in patients with implanted heart devices. They can immediately determine whether someone is having a heart attack by turning their smartphone into an electrocardiogram, or EKG, machine, Saxon said.

Federal regulators say certain higher-risk apps  such as those that perform EKGs or measure blood glucose levels  must be approved by the Food and Drug Administration before reaching the market.

Apps considered less of a risk  including those that provide tips for managing a chronic disease or alert asthmatics when theyre entering an area with low air quality  wont face much scrutiny from the FDA.

If things are really, really hurting people, we could  deal with them on a one-off basis as needed, but generally we would not take action, said Bakul Patel, associate director for digital health at the FDAs Center for Devices and Radiological Health.

But some doctors express concern about people increasingly reaching for their electronic devices for medical guidance, even if the technology is considered low-risk.

They point, for example, to apps for diabetics that dont prompt them to call 911 when their sugar levels are dangerously low  low enough to send them into a diabetic coma. Worse, the app instead awards patients points for entering the data.

Its like having a really bad doctor, said the University of Michigans Singh.

An app intended for people with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder asks them to log their moods, such as worried or irritable. But when users report feeling unsafe or suicidal, the app doesnt recommend calling a suicide hotline or seeking immediate attention, he said.

Singh said these people are losing a safety net. A person contacting a suicide prevention hotline would probably be advised to call 911 or be talked down if they reported feeling unsafe, he said.

When researchers recently tested how smartphone features such as Siri and Google Now respond to statements such as I am depressed and I want to commit suicide, they found room for improvement.

They thought that people who were afraid to seek help from doctors or police might instead confide in their phones. But when users said I was raped, most smartphones responded that they didnt understand, and only one of the major brands provided a number for a sexual assault hotline.

Representatives of Apple, Google and Samsung said they had already improved or were working to improve these responses.

Still, even doctors whove identified problems with apps say they dont want to stifle innovation with over-regulation. Simple fixes such as 911 prompts could become best practices for developers, said Dr. Timothy Plante, a researcher at Johns Hopkins University.

These are growing pains, he said.

In a study Plante published last month, a popular app measuring patients blood pressure missed hypertension more than three-fourths of the time. A representative from the Instant Blood Pressure app disputed the studys findings, saying the researchers tested blood pressure ranges outside of those allowed by the app and that the app was clear that it wasnt intended for medical diagnosis or treatment.

The app, which did not obtain FDA approval before going on the market, is no longer available for download.

Patel said the agency relies on complaints to find apps that violate their regulations.

Ideally, we would be scouring, but its kind of impossible all over the world, he said.

Bradley Merrill Thompson, a lawyer in Washington who represents medical device companies, said regulations and standards for these apps will eventually become commonplace.

Mobile health technology developers will have to deal with rules just as the ride-sharing services did when taking on the taxi industry, he said  but to an even greater degree.

Healthcare is one of the most regulated industries in the U.S., Thompson said, adding, Itll be fun to watch.

soumya.karlamangla@latimes.com

Twitter: @skarlamangla

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A painting recovered from a family attic near Toulouse, France, could be a long-lost work by Caravaggio -- and may be worth as much as 120 million euros ($136.5 million).

While some experts believe the work to be authentic, absolute certainty could be difficult to attain, with at least one expert saying it isnt a real Caravaggio.

The painting, which depicts the beheading of Holofernes in a scene from the Book of Judith, was unveiled Tuesday at a news conference in Paris. It is believed to have been created between 1600 and 1610.

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Officials havent revealed the identity of the family, but reports in the French media state that the house where the painting was found dates from the 17th century and that the painting was found two years ago, covered with dust, in the attic.

Among the details that suggest an authentic Caravaggio is the the way the artist created the blood spray from Holofernes neck, said Eric Turquin, a French art expert, in a report from the France 24 cable news channel.

It was done with a single brush stroke. A copier or a less talented artist wouldnt have done it like that, said Turquin, who consulted with other experts, including those at the Louvre and in Caravaggios native Italy.

He also showed how the fingernails depicted in the painting have a rough, almost unfinished quality, which he said indicates the work of a true master.

Another art expert supporting the thesis is Nicola Spinosa, a Caravaggio expert from Naples, who has described the work as a true original by Caravaggio, according to a report from the Agence France-Presse.

But the publication Le Quotidien de lArt cited another Caravaggio specialist, Mina Gregori, saying that the painting isnt authentic, adding that the work demonstrates a high caliber of artistry nonetheless.

We will never be able to definitively say if Caravaggio himself held the brush, said Annette Douay, an art authentication expert, to FranceTV Info.

It could be a workshop copy, created by an apprentice, for example. Thats why there are often disputes among experts.

The French government has put an export ban on the painting, saying in a recent statement that the work should remain on French soil in order to better study its origins.

david.ng@latimes.com

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Maya Angelou in dance: How Complexions Contemporary Ballet will put poetry in motion
Complexions Contemporary Ballet is known for taking on timely social issues via music and movement, and the New York companys upcoming three nights in Los Angeles are no exception, particularly a piece inspired by Maya Angelou.

The Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at the Music Center series is set to host Complexions on its return to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion from Friday through Sunday. The company, which has been called Americas original multicultural dance company, will present the West Coast premiere of Imprint/Maya, celebrating Angelou during National Poetry Month.

Its our third time at the Music Center, Complexions founder and co-artistic director Desmond Richardson said. We are surprised and honored by the audiences that keep coming to see us.

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The company features a multicultural cast of 14 dancers trained in both classical and contemporary dance who will perform six pieces. Imprint/Maya was choreographed by Complexions co-artistic director Dwight Rhoden, and Richardson dances in it. The music is by David Rozenblatt, a composer who plays percussion for Barry Manilow. It is set to the words of Angelou.

The words of Dr. Angelou cross all sorts of different barriers. People can take her words and see what they mean to them, Richardson said. Her work bridges different genres and ethnicities. It permeates the soul. Its heart-wrenching and its very much storytelling.

Complexions is celebrating its 21st season, although Richardson said that he has worked with Rhoden even longer than that.

Its nice to have a choreographer who understands you, Richardson said. His dances are like Salvador Dali paintings. There are many different movements going on at the same time, and what I see may not be the same as what you see.

FULL COVERAGE: Spring 2016 arts preview | Exhibits | Theater | Dance | Pop music | Books

From its inception, Complexions mandate has always been to spotlight diversity, in its performers and its subject matter. Today, Richardson said, hes pleased to see that there has been a surge in adapting and embracing diversity in the dance community.

In auditions we look for dancers who have a uniqueness and just happen to be Japanese and black or German and Chinese because thats where America is at this time, Richardson said. It is those backgrounds that make up our United States. Thats the beauty of it  were all here now.

------------

Complexions Contemporary Ballet

Where: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave. L.A.

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday

Tickets: Start at $34

Info: (213) 972-8555, www.musiccenter.org/complexions

Twitter: @jessicagelt
There are many conspiracy theories about the source of the Panama Papers leak. One of the more prominent theories today blames the CIA. Bradley Birkenfeld is "the most significant financial whistleblower of all time," and he has opinions about who's responsible for leaking the Panama Papers rattling financial and political power centers around the world.

Why? Look at who's most affected, he argues. Countries that aren't on great terms with the US.

"The very fact that we see all these names surface that are the direct quote-unquote enemies of the United States, Russia, China, Pakistan, Argentina and we don't see one U.S. name. Why is that?" Birkenfeld told CNBC. "Quite frankly, my feeling is that this is certainly an intelligence agency operation."

Wikileaks is also getting attention today for blaming USAID and George Soros for the leaks.

From CNBC:

Birkenfeld, an American citizen, was a banker working at UBS in Switzerland when he approached the U.S. government with information on massive amounts of tax evasion by Americans with secret accounts in Switzerland. By the end of his whistleblowing career, Birkenfeld had served more than two years in a U.S. federal prison, been awarded $104 million by the IRS for his information and shattered the foundations of more than a century of Swiss banking secrecy. In an exclusive interview Tuesday from Munich, Birkenfeld said he doesn't think the source of the 11 million documents stolen from a Panamanian law firm should automatically be considered a whistleblower like himself. Instead, he said, the hacking of the Panama City-based firm, called Mossack Fonseca, could have been done by a U.S. intelligence agency. "The CIA I'm sure is behind this, in my opinion," Birkenfeld said.

Swiss banker whistleblower: CIA behind Panama Papers
The Music Center of Los Angeles will announce its 2016-2017 dance season on Tuesday, and organizers say the boundary-pushing lineup features some of the art forms most exciting established and up-and-coming choreographers and artistic directors -- who happen to be women.

Were looking at dance from the 21st century, says the associate vice president of programming, Michael Solomon, adding that the unusually high number of women in key roles in various productions is a coincidence, not the goal. In building the season, Solomon says, the Music Center focused on the questions: Who is the audience now and how does movement speak to todays generation?

Highlights include the Music Center debut of Jessica Lang Dance. Lang has created more than 90 works with companies around the world, including Birmingham Royal Ballet, the National Ballet of Japan and Joffrey Ballet, and she is one of the most prominent female choreographers in the U.S.

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Jessica has been choreographing for about 15 years and built up her own repertoire of choreography before she decided to embark down the road of having her own company, says Solomon, adding that her company recently acquired a studio in Queens.

Langs company will perform a number of pieces, including two new works she created in 2015. Thousand Yard Stare deals with the repercussions of war; Tesseracts of Time, created in collaboration with noted architect Steven Holl, is a West Coast premiere.

I find her work incredibly accessible, Solomon says, adding that Lang uses a lot of contemporary music in her work, as well as beautiful set pieces to go with it.

Another big entry in the forthcoming season is Scottish Ballets West Coast premiere production of A Streetcar Named Desire. Theatrical and cinematic elements of the Tennessee Williams play, which will be celebrating its 70th anniversary, are explored in dance that unites the talents of choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and director Nancy Meckler.

Given the fact that the play was written by a man and originally directed by a man, Solomon says its interesting to watch this interpretation by two women -- particularly how they handle the plays dark undercurrents of sexual violence, male dominance and female vulnerability.

It has great set pieces and great costumes, Solomon says. And there is a bit of the quality of watching a film, but again, its accessible in the way in which they tell the story. Its very easy to follow.

New York City principal ballerina Tiler Peck has been invited to curate the Music Centers second BalletNow event. Peck will create three nights of mixed repertory, including performances featuring leading principal dancers from all over the world and choreography by the likes of Christopher Wheeldon, Justin Peck and the late Jerome Robbins.

It was an opportunity to bring her voice to the table, Solomon says, and to showcase the kind of repertory that she wants to work with, which includes some new and more contemporary work.

The full 2016-17 Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at the Music Center season:

Celebrate Forsythe featuring choreographer William Forsythe collaborating with San Francisco Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet and Houston Ballet, Oct. 21-23. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

Jessica Lang Dance Company, mixed repertoire, Feb. 17-19, 2017. Ahmanson Theatre.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, program to be announced, March 8-12, 2017. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

Scottish Ballet, A Streetcar Named Desire, May 19-21, 2017. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg, Tchaikovsky, June 23-25, 2017. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

BalletNow, mixed repertory curated by Tiler Peck, July 28-30. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

For more information call (213) 972-0711 or visit www.musiccenter.org/1617dance. Check back later for more information on the Music Centers Dance DTLA and Moves After Dark summer programming.

jessica.gelt@latimes.com

Twitter: @jessicagelt
Look at an Agnes Martin painting from a distance and you might see a simple block of blue or a sequence of stripes in eggshell shades. Step in closely, however, and these minimalist patterns unfold into a universe of wobbly grids and subtle shifts in tone and texture like some sort of cosmic map. (Photographs never do the work justice.)

Behind these cool canvases was an artist with a singular life story. Born on the austere prairies of Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1912, Martin led a somewhat itinerant life that took her from the art hubs of New York and Taos, N.M., to the less settled corners of the Pacific Northwest. For a brief period in the early 1930s, she even lived in Los Angeles, where she served as a driver to John Huston, the not-yet-famous film director whod had his license suspended after hitting a pedestrian.

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Martin became known in the 1950s and 60s, when a decade-long sojourn in New York cemented her reputation as a singular, slightly unclassifiable painter. Martin was a minimalist before minimalism was in vogue; a low-key, rather spiritual figure who nonetheless identified with the hard-charging, hard-drinking Abstract Expressionists.

Though the artists works are highly regarded  critically celebrated and held in the permanent collections of museums around the world  getting a handle on her life has been a difficult enterprise. Martin was fiercely private. She destroyed early works, actively discouraged the publication of monographs about her art and made friends swear that they wouldnt talk about her after her death. (She died in 2004.)

This presented some serious challenges to her biographer, writer and critic Nancy Princenthal, who published the first full-length biography on the artist last year.

Agnes Martin: Her Life and Art nonetheless tells a compelling, nuanced story about an artist of modest means dedicated to fulfilling her artistic vision  one who also had to contend with mental illness (she was diagnosed with schizophrenia) and retrograde attitudes toward her sexuality (she was a lesbian). Last month, Princenthal was awarded the 2016 PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography for the book.

In advance of a full-blown retrospective of Martins work scheduled to land at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art later this month, the author took time to chat about Martins life and work. In this lightly edited conversation, she discusses the painters wanderings, her relationships with esteemed art world figures such as Ellsworth Kelly and why she shouldnt be dismissed as some simple desert mystic.

Given Martins penchant for maintaining a low profile, what were the challenges of writing her biography?

It was daunting. [Martin] was born in 1912, so people who knew her in the late 50s and 60s were either quite old or gone by the time I undertook this project. One wonderful woman who was close to [Martin] late in life was eager to talk to me about Agnes. But when I finally met her, she said, I think I know what you want to talk about and I just cant do it. Agnes wouldnt want it. Some people werent so gracious.

Luckily, some people did talk to me. At the same time, there was a fair amount of material available in published interviews and recorded talks and a wonderful documentary that was made about her life. And there were her own writings, her published writings, which was information about her life hiding in plain sight.

From the late 1950s to late 1960s, Martin lived at Coenties Slip by the seaport in downtown Manhattan, with a community of artists who included Ellsworth Kelly and Ad Reinhardt. This place often seems to get overshadowed in the history books in favor of the whole Abstract Expressionists scene up on 10th Street.

The 10th Street scene slightly predated but overlapped with Coenties Slip. With Coenties, partly it was a social thing, partly it was a stylistic thing. People who settled at the Slip wanted to be away from the socializing, the drinking and the brawling that went on and around the Cedar Bar. Tenth Street was also extremely male and very straight.

Just like Taos, in New Mexico, Coenties Slip was very welcoming to gay men and lesbian women at a time when it was very dangerous and career-ending to be openly out. And it was a community that allowed people to strike out in new directions. There was no real consistency to the art of Coenties Slip. Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns were there, Ellsworth Kelly  these were all men working in very different ways.

They werent all best friends. They had a kind of distance and they had a shared commitment to independence.

Yet Martin nonetheless had some important relationships with fellow artists while she lived there. How did those affect her career?

These relationships were pretty important. Shed been painting for a good 20 years by the time she moved East  when [gallerist] Betty Parsons insisted she move East. But when she did arrive in 57, those were years of incredible growth. She was in her mid-forties when she arrived. She was talking to artists who were, by and large, younger that she was. And she was talking to artists who were really on the cusp of developing their mature work. The benefit of all of those conversations was mutual.

I would like to somewhat dispel this impression that she was some ascetic saint of the desert. She was more complicated than that and more sophisticated than that.  Nancy Princenthal, author of Agnes Martin: Her Life and Art

She was talking to Ellsworth Kelly and she was having an impact on him as well as the other way around  even though hed already arrived at a commitment to pure abstraction. They were lively discussions. The influence of [composer John] Cage, which came to the artists at the Slip through Rauschenberg and Johns, that was important too. There was a lot of ferment even though the artists all took it in different directions.

[Martin] was also being shown, going to other artists shows. [The fiber artist] Lenore Tawney and also Chryssa [who would become known for her work in neon] were also very influential. Its easy to see visually the connections between her work and Tawneys  but in the license to be ambitious, Chryssa had an impact on her career as well. Chryssa is not an artist who is well remembered now, but in the 60s she really had a moment. She had a very commanding personality.

How did Martins mental illness affect her work?

I think it affected her work in ways both positive and negative. She had a number of psychotic breaks. She did hear voices  she had aural hallucinations  and she was subject to them throughout her life. She took medications. She undertook talk therapy. These were constraints. She was very clear to the few people she talked to about her illness that the illness had nothing to do with her work.

But at the same time, the way she describes the way her paintings developed is very idiosyncratic. She talks about her paintings coming to her one-by-one fully formed, as these inspirations. She has these famous quotes about how they came to her postage-stamp size and her job was to blow them up to the six-foot-square size that she favored.

I think  and this is subjective  that the nature of the work she did reflected a way to establish a sense of order in her visual world and her perceptual world and her emotional world. It was urgent to her to establish, one after another, to establish these experiences of transcendent calm.

Despite this period of important artistic breakthroughs, she left New York in 1967  first to wander around the Pacific Northwest, then to settle in New Mexico. Why do you think that is?

That move has become mythic and the period of wandering has become mythic. There are a number of explanations for it. She got a grant from the [National Endowment for the Arts] and it allowed her to buy a truck and so she left. She also lost her loft. The building she was in was torn down and its always traumatizing for an artist to [lose] their space, especially when their finances are precarious. Shed had a break before she left, too, and shed broken up with Chryssa.

There hasnt been a lot of definitive evidence about why exactly she left. But wandering was something that she needed to do. She loved to travel. She was restless and she loved to drive. And she went back to the area of her childhood and early adulthood, to the Pacific Northwest. [Martin lived in Washington State after leaving Canada.]

It was mostly solitary, though not completely. And ultimately she said she had a vision that led her back to New Mexico. That had been a really congenial place for her. Both the solitude and the degree of social life were good for her. Her first home was on the Portales Mesa near Cuba, which is very isolated. It was a big deal to post a letter. She had no electricity, no running water. It was all very rudimentary. But after about 10 years, she moved to Galisteo.

What do you think is the most misunderstood thing about Agnes Martin?

I would like to somewhat dispel this impression that she was some ascetic saint of the desert. She was more complicated than that and more sophisticated than that. Im leery of sweeping her up in this celebration of artists, these artists who are self-trained or outsider, or beyond the pale of cosmopolitan art and life, and thats their merit. I think her mental illness is liable to enforce that impulse and I think that would be a mistake. Its not who she was. It was part of her life, but it didnt define her.

As someone who has spent a lot of time looking at her work, what advice do you have for the viewer?

Id say spend some time and keep an open mind. Dont be intimidated. It looks like work that is austere and cerebral, but its really quite sensuous.

There is a famous Agnes Martin-ism: She was having a conversation with someone about spending time in front of work and how you really need to be in front of it face-to-face and spend some time. And the critic said, How much time? And she said, Oh, a minute. And he said, A minute? And she said, A minute is quite a long time.

Most museum goers stand in front of a painting as long as it takes to snap a selfie. So a minute is a long time.

Agnes Martin: Her Life and Art ($39.95) is available from Thames & Hudson. The retrospective, Agnes Martin, opens April 24 at LACMA and runs through Sept. 11. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, lacma.org.

Find me on Twitter @cmonstah.
Threatening to harm the family of ex-cop Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks) proves costly for a Mexican drug kingpin on Nailed, Episode 209 of AMCs Better Call Saul.

Hector Salamanca (Mark Margolis) from the Juarez cartel wanted to shorten the prison sentence of his nephew Tuco (Raymond Cruz) after he viciously assaulted Mike. Accordingly, Hector pressured Mike into telling the district attorney that a gun found at the scene didnt belong to Tuco.

By lying to the authorities, Mike protected his granddaughter Kaylee (Abigail Zoe Lewis) and daughter-in-law Stacey (Kerry Condon) from Hectors wrath.

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Now its payback time for Mike, who targets one of Hectors trucks as it transports drug money from Mexico to Albuquerque.

Wearing a ski mask and hiding behind a billboard, Mike disables the truck by pulling a spike strip across the roadway. Then he ties up the driver and cuts open a tire containing $250,000 in cash.

Furious about the robbery is cartel lieutenant Nacho Varga (Michael Mando), whose fate is intertwined with Mikes because they conspired to put Tuco behind bars. If the driver identifies Mike, Nacho warns, thats bad for both of us.

He saw a guy with a ski mask, Mike says. Thats it.

And why, Mike asks, didnt the crime receive media coverage?

The cartel cleaned up the scene, Nacho explains, after the driver was freed by a Good Samaritan. This kindly motorist was then shot in the face by Hector and buried in the desert, meaning Mike has the murder of an innocent civilian on his conscience.

In other developments, lawyer Chuck McGill (Michael McKean) appears before a regulatory board to help Mesa Verde Bank and Trust expand into Arizona.

What Chuck doesnt know, however, is that the banks building permit applications were sabotaged by his brother Jimmy (Bob Odenkirk).

This results in a six-week setback, much to the chagrin of Mesa Verde executive Kevin Wachtell (Rex Linn) and lead counsel Paige Novick (Cara Pifko). They promptly fire Chuck and hire Jimmys attorney girlfriend, Kimberly Wexler (Rhea Seehorn).

Before long, Chuck realizes why the paperwork was in error. Jimmy must have altered the documents at a copy shop while Chuck was sweating and delirious on his sofa with a debilitating case of electromagnetic hypersensitivity.

He did this for you, Chuck tells Kim, alleging that Jimmy doctored the applications as some twisted romantic gesture.

If what youre saying is true, Kim calmly tells Chuck, Jimmy could be charged with forgery, fraud, falsifying evidence, even breaking and entering. Theres a simpler explanation, she suggests.

Youre working by lantern light, squinting over 10-point type for hour after hour, Kim says to Chuck. You made a mistake. And instead of facing up to it, you accused your brother of plotting against you.

Kim knows Chuck is telling the truth, of course, for she angrily punches Jimmys arm when theyre alone in his car.

Your brother is one smart lawyer, Kim says to Jimmy that evening in bed. Hed make quite an adversary. The kind of adversary whod find even the smallest crack in your defense.

Jimmy realizes that Chuck will likely visit the copy shop and ask questions. In fact, Chucks assistant, Ernesto (Brandon K. Hampton), has already spoken with Lance (Elisha Yaffe), an employee on the graveyard shift.

This is just a thing between brothers, Jimmy says to Lance, offering him a substantial bribe to keep quiet.

When Chuck arrives at the copy shop shortly after, the fluorescent lights and electronic equipment take their toll. He collapses and is knocked unconscious when his head hits a counter.

Call 911, Jimmy mutters as he watches nervously from across the street. Call 911!

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Dodgers bullpen gives up four runs in opening day loss to Diamondbacks, 4-2

 Manager Dave Roberts discusses the Dodgers 4-2 loss to the Diamondbacks in their home opener on April 12.

The bag at first base was empty, extending an invitation to Dodgers reliever Chris Hatcher. He had thrown three consecutive balls to Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, one of the finest hitting specimens on the planet. He could choose passivity and grant Goldschmidt a walk with the game tied in the eighth inning. Or he could attempt some version of gallantry.

Hatcher went the latter route, and his choice proved decisive in a 4-2 defeat to Arizona. He threw Goldschmidt a 96-mph fastball at the waist. Goldschmidt bashed a go-ahead home run about a dozen rows deep in left field. The pattern from the weekend in San Francisco held: Everything the relievers touched turned to ash.

Hatcher exited four batters later, having walked the bases loaded. The crowd jeered his departure but applauded Manager Dave Roberts for removing him from the game for Louis Coleman. Acquired last winter in the trade that sent Dee Gordon to Miami, Hatcher acted the temporary avatar for the publics discontent with the Dodgers roster construction.

To salt the wound, the Diamondbacks scored twice more in the ninth inning off Coleman. Kenley Jansen warmed up during the bottom of the eighth, but with the Dodgers trailing, Roberts stuck with Coleman. Corey Seager doubled and scored in the ninth, but the deficit was too great to overcome.

The bullpen spoiled the afternoon. Pedro Baez surrendered a game-tying home run to shortstop Nick Ahmed in the seventh inning. The homer was a line drive that barely cleared the fence in left field, but it still counted. Baez cost Kenta, who threw six scoreless innings, a chance at his second victory.

After a season-opening sweep against the Padres, the Dodgers (4-4) have lost four of five. The offense sputtered throughout the game and failed to bring the crowd at Dodger Stadium to life.

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The space shuttles last remaining external fuel tank set sail from New Orleans on Tuesday, beginning a five-week journey by sea to Los Angeles. The massive external tank, ET-94, rode out Hurricane Katrina in a hangar in New Orleans and played a leading role in the probe of the Columbia shuttle disaster, yet never lifted off from Kennedy Space Center.

Although the tank was built to travel to the edge of the heavens, it will instead traverse the Panama Canal by barge, dock in Marina del Rey and then be driven to the California Science Center, where it will be permanently displayed with the shuttle Endeavour.

Its a little like watching my baby leave the nest after all these years, said Patrick Whipps, a NASA engineer who oversaw the tanks construction.
Gregory Cox, a member of the California Coastal Commission, has agreed to pay a $3,000 fine for voting on a high-profile SeaWorld permit at a time his wife owned stock in the San Diego-based attraction, according to records released Monday.

In a proposed decision set for approval on April 21 by the state Fair Political Practices Commission, Cox admitted that he violated conflict-of-interest provisions of the state Political Reform Act.

Cox said he was not aware that his wife had purchased SeaWorld stock earlier in the year. He self-reported the violation after discovering the conflict months after the vote.

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The enforcement action stems from actions Cox took on the coastal commission in October related to a permit application by SeaWorld, which planned to expand its killer whale attraction.

Cox, who is also a San Diego County supervisor, made a motion to approve the project on the condition that the number of orcas in the facility be limited. When his motion was revised to ban captive breeding of killer whales and to restrict orca transfers between marine parks, the amendment passed 11 to 1 with Cox casting the dissenting vote.

The coastal commission then voted unanimously  Cox included  to approve the permit with the amendment banning captive breeding.

According to the commissioner, he did not know when he voted that his wife Cheryl Cox, the former mayor of Chula Vista, had purchased 500 shares of SeaWorld stock earlier that year for about $9,000.

He said he did not discover the shares until Jan. 7, when he reviewed his and his wifes retirement accounts while preparing statements of economic interests required by the various government boards and commissions he sits on.

According to the political practices commission, Cox reported the conflict after discovering the SeaWorld shares, which were sold Jan. 11. He said the violation was inadvertent and that he did not try to conceal the matter or gain financially from his votes.

I am extremely embarrassed by this, Cox told The Times on Monday. I blame no one but myself. I should have paid more attention to our IRA holdings.

The proposed decision, however, states that there are reasons to impose the $3,000 penalty. The political practices commission noted that Cox and his wife had a high level of awareness about the Political Reform Act because of their years of government service.

In addition to being a coastal commissioner, Cox has been a county supervisor for more than 20 years, and his wife was mayor of Chula Vista from 2006 to 2014.

The decision further states that Cox was under an obligation to be aware of his financial interests and to discuss those matters with his wife to avoid conflicts of interests and the appearance of impropriety.

dan.weikel@latimes.com

Twitter: @LADeadline16



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From the moment he saw Lucca, Chris Willingham knew she was special.

The two met in 2006 in San Antonio. Willingham was a Marine specializing in the training of military dogs, and Lucca was a 2-year-old German shepherd and Belgian Malinois mix being taught to sniff out bombs. They came together for their first war-zone deployment.

She had a lot of expression in her face, with these intently focused eyes. You could tell she was trying to figure me out right away, Willingham, now a gunnery sergeant stationed at Camp Pendleton, recalled about their introduction to each other. I sensed that she would have a lot of drive and enthusiasm.

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Last week Lucca again looked intently at Willingham as he put a medal around her neck. It was the Dickin Medal, billed as Britains highest award for valor by a military animal.

Trustees of the Peoples Dispensary for Sick Animals voted unanimously to honor Lucca with the distinction, making her the first U.S. military dog to receive the medal.

1 / 1 Lucca rests after receiving the Dickin Medal, Britains highest award for valor by a military animal and equivalent to the Victoria Cross, in London on April 5. She is the first U.S. military dog to receive the honor. Now 12, she lost her leg in a bomb blast in March 2012, in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. (Frank Augstein / Associated Press)

The recognition is bestowed only when the organizations board believes a case merits it, so years can go by without any nomination being approved. In this case, the evaluators cited Luccas distinguished record of leading more than 400 patrols in Afghanistan and Iraq during three combat tours. Shes credited with at least 40 confirmed finds of insurgents, explosives and ammunition  and for having no human casualties during her patrols.

The trustees also noted her physical sacrifice. During a 2012 patrol in Afghanistan, an improvised explosive device exploded after Lucca sniffed it out. The blast burned part of her body and led to the amputation of her front left leg.

Lucca follows an eclectic succession of Dickin Medal recipients.

The dispensary has given the award to 32 pigeons (including G.I. Joe, a member of the U.S. Army Pigeon Service during World War II who became the first U.S. animal honored), 31 dogs, three horses and a cat. The common requirement is that they all served with distinction in some military capacity.

Maria Dickin, founder of the dispensary, created the medal program as a way to spotlight the bravery, loyalty and accomplishments of animals.

When Dean Sienko was a general overseeing the Army Public Health Command, he learned that the U.S. military could nominate animals from its ranks. So he asked for recommendations, and Luccas story kept coming up.

Willingham and Lucca are back at Camp Pendleton. The familys other members are Willinghams wife and two children, plus a newly adopted yellow Labrador retriever puppy.

Lucca has embraced her mentor role, and the puppy keeps her spry, Willingham said.

Spry for a 12-year-old dog, that is. Willingham said Lucca may have only a year or two more to live. Between her public engagements, Lucca likes to lounge on the living room floor, wrestle playfully with Willingham and shower love on the rest of the household.

Willingham said she was low-key and relaxed during the entire time in London, true to her humble nature.

But I know this is a special honor, he said. Ill give her an extra reward. Probably a piece of steak.

hieu.phan@sduniontribune.com

Hieu Tran Phan writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

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Good morning. It is Tuesday, April 12. Fans driving to Dodger Stadium will now travel on Vin Scully Avenue to get there. Heres what else is happening in the Golden State:

TOP STORIES

Family leave

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A bill signed by Gov. Jerry Brown will boost paid family-leave benefits. Under the law, which takes effect in 2018, low-income Californians will recoup more of their pay  up to 70%  while on leave. It is unrealistic to expect a worker who is already living paycheck to paycheck on 100% of their salary to use a program for six weeks at nearly half of their wages, said Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez (D-Echo Park). Los Angeles Times

Police records

A state Senate committee is expected to take up SB 1286 today, which could make it easier to release information about police officer misconduct. We can begin to rebuild the critically needed trust between law enforcement and community members. I dont think its at all debatable that that trust has come into question, said Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), the author of the bill. Los Angeles Times

Lights out

Critics say a warning about summertime blackouts is actually a threat. Concerns about Southern California Gas Co.s ability to move gas to electric power plants in the wake of the Aliso Canyon leak are overblown, they say. The people who control blackouts are threatening blackouts if they cant keep Aliso open. This is a threat. This is not a report, said Michael Aguirre, a former San Diego city attorney and a longtime adversary of state energy regulators. Los Angeles Times

DROUGHT AND CLIMATE

Science experiment: When an invasive beetle started killing hundreds of trees at UC Irvine, scientists turned the campus into a research project. At UC Irvine, with so much devastation concentrated in one place, the conditions are practically tailor-made for a controlled study to test different chemical and biological treatments using the same kind of trees growing under the same environmental conditions. Los Angeles Times

L.A. AT LARGE

Spending plan: Los Angeles County officials released a $28.5-billion budget Monday that includes $99 million for helping the homeless and $19 million for wage increases approved for in-home healthcare workers. However, its unclear how the county will pay for more affordable housing and efforts to clear a backlog in the coroners office. Los Angeles Times

Room to grow: Koreatown is about to get even more jam-packed thanks to hundreds of new apartments under development. Residents there are worried about traffic, pollution and losing the communitys identity. I genuinely believe that Koreatown is a welcoming place where everyone, even hipster dog walkers can find a home, we just dont want to skew our neighborhood to cater only to that population, said the head of the Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance. 89.3 KPCC

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

The decider: California could ultimately decide the Republican nominee for president. With that in mind, staffs for Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and John Kasich are opening field offices and hiring strategists. The last time California mattered like this was 1964, said GOP activist Steve Frank. Politico

Walled off: Jacumba Hot Springs and Jacume are two small towns separated by an international border. Before the Sept. 11, 2011, terrorist attacks, the towns essentially acted as one community with Americans and Mexicans frequently crossing. Now, a fence and a two-hour drive separate them. Automatically we lost everything, said Andres Mercado of the Jacume town council. Desert Sun

BUSINESS

Green rush: Investors and financially strapped cities are gearing up for what could be Californias next boom: legalized marijuana. In the desert, the price of land here tripled almost overnight as entrepreneurs bought up every inch of property where pot-growing was permitted  most of it bare desert dotted with only Joshua trees and tumbleweeds. New York Times

CRIME AND COURTS

Suspect arrested: A 39-year-old man was arrested Saturday on suspicion of a sexual assault in which he posed as an Uber driver. Dartanyum Smith is accused of choking and raping a woman in the backseat of an SUV in the early-morning hours of April 3. Police said they came across the crime in progress and attempted to rescue the victim from the locked vehicle. Los Angeles Times

Fighting over space: The Los Angeles Unified School District was ordered to pay a charter school $7.1 million for failing to provide them with rent-free classroom space. An arbitrator found that for three years beginning in 2007 Ivy Academia Entrepreneurial Charter was not given enough space for its 1,100 students. Los Angeles Times

Rules for access: Attorney Scott Johnson of Disabled Access Prevents Injury Inc. is targeting businesses in the East Bay and South Bay for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. But now, Johnson is getting a taste of his own medicine with a lawsuit filed by four of his former employees. The women described an ADA lawsuit mill where Johnson would send them out with a map, measuring tape and intake form to find new businesses to sue. San Jose Mercury News

Back in the day: A grim look at the lawlessness and violence of early Los Angeles. LA Review of Books

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

L.A. culture: Mexico City has given Los Angeles a bronze sculpture that looks like angels wings. The work of art, named Alas de la Ciudad, is the perfect backdrop for selfies. Curbed LA

Pool time: This map shows pool ownership is tied to race and wealth in Southern California. South L.A., downtown and the Eastside were the least likely to have a pool in the backyard. CityLab

Cross-country journey: A 15-story space shuttle fuel tank is on its way to Los Angeles. The tank is journeying from New Orleans through the Panama Canal to Marina del Rey and ultimately to the California Science Center. Los Angeles Times

Sign art: Take a peek inside the Museum of Neon Art. LAist

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

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AND FINALLY

Todays California Memory comes from Daniel Weinberg:

I remember driving to California from Chicago with my father and older brother and stopping at Zekes Gas Station in Needles with a pig running through the streets. It was so wonderful at the end of the desert, and the fresh air was really hot.

If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. Send us an email to let us know what you love or fondly remember about our state. (Please keep your story to 100 words.)

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Rep. Duncan D. Hunter (R-Alpine) says he has written personal checks totaling almost $12,000 to reimburse his campaign treasury for personal and mistaken expenditures in 2015 and the first quarter of this year.

The reimbursements covered $6,150 of campaign money paid to Hunters childrens school, $811 paid to an oral and facial surgeon, and $4,935 in event support items, event donation items and other expenses that Hunters office declined to identify with any more specificity.

The charges should never have happened, but regardless of who made them and when, Congressman Hunter is taking full responsibility  and that includes responsibility for resolution, said a statement from Hunters congressional spokesman, Joe Kasper.

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Separately, Hunters office says, the campaign treasury has been made whole for some $1,300 in video game charges that Hunter has described as fraudulent activity on his campaign credit card. The credit card company reversed the charges.

Hunters reimbursements came amid a review by the San Diego Union-Tribune of an unusual pattern of expenditures listed on his 2015 disclosure forms as personal expenses or mistaken charges to be paid back  although they were not.

The review was prompted by a letter the Federal Election Commission sent last week to Hunters campaign, questioning the video game transactions and a single $1,650 payment to Christian Unified Schools in El Cajon, where Hunters three children are students.

The $12,000 in payments represent reimbursement of more questionable spending than the FEC or the newspaper had found.

For instance, the FEC questioned only one $1,650 payment to the school. Hunter reimbursed that one and two others, saying they were intended as contributions  which is a legal expense of campaign funds  but were mistakenly applied as tuition.

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Hunters staff attributed the misapplication of funds to a credit card mix-up, a familiar refrain in the ongoing review of campaign accounts.

In the future, the campaign will make all charitable donations by check so they arent misdirected, the statement from Hunters office said.

Honest accidents and mistakes led to the inappropriate charges on the campaign credit card, Kasper said.

The campaign will work with the FEC to file amended reports or explanatory statements to clarify the public record, Kasper said. The FEC set a May 9 deadline for response to its initial concerns.

Personal expenditures of campaign funds are strictly forbidden under federal election laws, the FEC told Hunter in its letter on April 4, although speedy correction of such errors is taken into consideration before enforcement decisions are made.

About $5,000 in 2015 expenditures the campaign had identified as mistaken or personal expenditures in need of repayment had lingered without reimbursement for months, before Hunter returned from Israel.

Other charges were reimbursed more quickly, such as three charges totaling $5,161 to Aston Kaanapali Shores in Hawaii. Those charges were repaid within the same filing period, records showed.

Kasper said the Hawaiian hotel charges were supposed to cover Hunters lodging in April 2015 in connection with a planned campaign event. When the campaign event was canceled, the trip became personal travel. Hunter tried to get the hotel to credit charges back to the campaigns card and charge his personal card instead. That effort was unsuccessful, so Hunter reimbursed the campaign.

Gary Jacobson, a professor of political science at UC San Diego, said the FEC rarely punishes candidates for relatively minor use of campaign funds for personal purposes, as long as the candidate repays the money.

The FECs record on this is, they dont do much, and the penalty is typically slight, Jacobson said Monday.

When news of the inquiry into Hunters video game expenditures broke last week, Hunter was in Israel, where he was traveling with the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, a nonprofit that supports Israels soldiers, Kasper said. Hunter returned home early to address the campaign finance questions and repay charges as necessary.

The campaign funded Hunters trip to Israel, Kasper said. The campaign checked with the House Committee on Ethics before deciding on a funding source, and the committee said campaign funds could be used because Hunter was invited in connection with his standing as a member of the House Armed Services Committee.

Public scrutiny of Hunters campaign expenditures led Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., to take a closer look at his campaign and personal financial disclosure records. In a report the nonprofit plans to release Tuesday, the group identified what appeared to be missing information on the personal financial disclosure forms Hunter had on file with the House clerk.

The group noted that income Hunters wife, Margaret, received from Hunters campaign for consulting services didnt appear on disclosure forms for 2011 and 2014.

The campaign paid Margaret Hunter $8,000 in 2011 and $39,000 in 2014, according to the groups review of campaign finance records  where the payments were disclosed.

On Monday, Hunters congressional office sent a letter to the House Committee on Ethics, requesting amendments to several years of financial disclosure reports.

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A former local charter school operator has agreed to pay a $16,000 fine for misconduct that includes using public education funds to lease her own buildings.

Under a tentative settlement with the states Fair Political Practices Commission, Kendra Okonkwo acknowledges that she improperly used her official position to influence governmental decisions in which she had a financial interest, according to documents posted Monday by the state agency.

The settlement or stipulation notes two instances of wrongdoing: establishing leases for the school in two buildings that Okonkwo owned and arranging for public funds to pay for renovations to these structures.

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The school, Wisdom Academy for Young Scientists, lost its charter to operate and closed last year.

In this matter, Okonkwo engaged in a pattern of violations in which she made, used or attempted to use her official position to influence governmental decisions involving real property in which she had a significant financial interest, the commission said.

Okonkwo declined to comment, but the commission cited several factors for not imposing a larger fine, including that Okonkwo understands the seriousness of the violations and accepts responsibility for her actions.

The South Los Angeles school, which opened in 2006, had been targeted by regulators for several years.

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The violations cited this week by the state date from 2010 and 2011, when Okonkwo earned a total of $223,615 as the elementary schools executive director. She also received about $19,000 a month in rent from the school. She attempted to eliminate the appearance of conflict by assigning the property to a new, separate corporation, for which her mother signed the leases. But the arrangement did not pass legal muster, according to the state.

The other violation pertains to Okonkwo signing contracts for school-funded renovations worth $62,000. Okonkwo addressed this conflict by resigning as executive director. Someone else then signed the renovation contract.

Charters are independently operated and exempt from some rules that govern traditional campuses. Wisdom Academy began under the jurisdiction of the L.A. Unified School District, which refused to renew the school after its initial five-year charter expired.

A report to the school board cited serious concerns pertaining to violations of conflict-of-interest laws against self-dealing on the part of the schools executive director as well as insufficient governance by the  board of directors.

The L.A. Unified action did not close the school because, under state law, a charter can appeal to the Los Angeles County Office of Education, which chose to take over as the supervising agency.

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But the county office eventually turned against the school as well, revoking its charter in 2014, and leading to its shutdown at the end of the last school year.

The county cited a report by state auditors, who concluded that administrators may have funneled millions in state funds to Okonkwo, her relatives and close associates.

Some of the allegations bordered on the bizarre.

Auditors questioned, for example, the use of school funds to pay a $566,803 settlement to a former teacher who sued the organization for wrongful termination after she was directed by Okonkwo to travel with her to Nigeria to marry Okonkwos brother-in-law for the purpose of making him a United States citizen.

The organizations payment of the settlement was inappropriate because Okonkwo was not acting within the scope of her school employment, auditors concluded.

The school took its fight to survive all the way to the state board of education.

Follow the Times education initiative to inform parents, educators and students across California >>

In papers filed with the state, Wisdoms leaders accused auditors and the county office of misconduct and open hostility  against this African American operated school, calling it the culmination of years of unfair treatment and retaliation  because a few [county office] staff members dislike our schools founder Kendra Okonkwo, her family, the thickness of her accent, and the color of her skin.

State officials declined to overrule the charter revocation.

howard.blume@latimes.com

Twitter: @howardblume

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Two men who led authorities in a pursuit across L.A. County last week were charged Monday with four felonies, including residential burglary.

Herschel Reynolds, 20, and Isaiah Young, 19, each face two counts of hit-and-run driving resulting in property damage and one count each of first-degree residential burglary and fleeing a pursuing peace officers vehicle while driving recklessly. They face six to eight years in prison if convicted on all the charges.

Young pleaded not guilty in a Bellflower courtroom Monday and is set to return to court April 18. Reynolds, who drove the rented Mustang, was a former U.S. Marine motor operator specially trained in driving. He was released early Monday in lieu of $50,000 bail and is due in court May 10. Young is being held on $80,000 bond.

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Prosecutors said Monday that the two-hour pursuit Thursday began when a woman drove up to her Cerritos home and saw an unknown car in her driveway. The woman sounded her horn and the vehicle in the driveway pulled out and sped away.

When the woman went inside her home, the back door was smashed and there were items missing, prosecutors said.

L.A. County sheriffs investigators say jewelry was among the items taken in the break-in.

Reynolds, the driver, both horrified and delighted Angelenos during the televised chase that included a close call with a TMZ tour bus and ended with a heros welcome in a South L.A. neighborhood--with celebratory high-fives, hugs and selfies with a swelling crowd. The pair peacefully surrendered after parking the Mustang.

Reynolds and Young were taken into custody near the intersection of South Central Avenue and East 51st Street.

Both men grew up in the neighborhood and stopped in front of their homes, residents said. Friends and neighbors emerged to greet them.

Authorities say the burglars fled the Cerritos home before deputies arrived. Within minutes, personnel in a sheriffs helicopter spotted the car on the westbound 91 Freeway.

Authorities said roads were too wet and the Mustang was weaving through traffic too dangerously for sheriffs deputies to follow it, so they relied on a helicopter to monitor the vehicle.

When the Mustang reached the interchange of the 110 and 101 freeways in downtown L.A., the California Highway Patrol took up the chase. The Mustang got off at Hollywood Boulevard. By that time it had already rear-ended one vehicle.

In Hollywood, with no police behind them, the driver began doing doughnuts in the middle of the street, spinning across all lanes of traffic and forcing other cars to stop. The car then drove west, where countless tourists got to see the Mustang drive against traffic outside the TCL Chinese Theatre and Hollywood Walk of Fame.

From there, the Mustang drove into the Hollywood Hills, going into opposing traffic lanes around blind curves, narrowly missing oncoming traffic and fishtailing on rain-slicked roads.

Without any vehicles close behind, the driver drove back through Hollywoods tourist district and onto the freeway, where it was almost trapped by a TMZ tour bus that cut off its path as it tried to split two lanes.

Twitter: @josephserna, @LAcrimes

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After fatally shooting an unarmed homeless man in the back last year, Los Angeles police Officer Clifford Proctor explained his actions to investigators by saying he believed the man was trying to grab his partners gun during a struggle.

I saw  his hand on my partners holster, Proctor said.

But video from a security camera at a nearby bar on the Venice boardwalk told a different story, according to an LAPD report made public Tuesday.

Footage from the camera didnt show Brendon Glenns hand on or near any portion of the holster, the report said. Proctors partner never made any statements or actions suggesting Glenn was trying to take the gun, the report added.

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The video became a crucial piece of evidence cited in a report in which LAPD Chief Charlie Beck recommended that his civilian bosses find the deadly May 5, 2015, shooting unjustified. The Police Commission on Tuesday unanimously sided with the chief, concluding that Proctor violated department policy when he shot Glenn, 29.

The decision capped an 11-month review of Glenns death, one of several shootings by LAPD officers last year that fueled criticism of police and how officers use force, particularly against African Americans. Glenn was black, as is Proctor.

The ruling also renewed pressure on L.A. County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey to file criminal charges against Proctor. This year, Beck said he had urged Lacey to charge Proctor. It was the first time as chief that Beck has called for charges against one of his officers in a fatal on-duty shooting.

Such prosecutions are rare in L.A. County, where the district attorneys office hasnt charged a law enforcement officer in an on-duty shooting in 15 years. An office spokeswoman said the case was still being reviewed.

Within hours of the Police Commissions decision, local activists again called for Lacey to prosecute Proctor. Najee Ali said the ruling, coupled with Becks earlier recommendation, was further proof that the district attorney needed to act.

This is a true litmus test for Lacey, he said.

Beck said the commissions decision certainly supports what he told the district attorney.

I find many times that shootings are out of policy and they dont reflect criminal charges, he said. But thats not the case in this one.

The union that represents rank-and-file officers has blasted Becks handling of the case, saying the chiefs public support for charges overstepped his authority and was unfair to Proctor.

Craig Lally, the unions president, said Beck spoke too quickly about the encounter from the start when the chief told reporters hours after the shooting that he was very concerned by the video. The Police Commission, Lally said, followed Becks lead.

There was not going to be a fair process for this officer, Lally said. Theyre railroading him.

V. James DeSimone, who is representing Glenns family in wrongful-death lawsuits in state and federal courts against the city, said the boards finding confirms our belief that this was a bad shooting.

Simply put, without the video there would most likely be no call for this officers prosecution or for a finding that this officer was out of policy, he said.

An attorney representing Proctor declined to comment.

The events leading up to the deadly encounter began shortly before midnight, when Proctor and his partner went to Windward Avenue after someone complained that a homeless man was harassing customers outside a restaurant, police said.

The officers told investigators that Glenn was staggering and slurring his speech when they first approached, according to Becks report. He started to walk away, they said, so they decided not to arrest him.

Then Glenn headed toward the Townhouse bar, where he yelled at patrons, the officers said, according to the report. Glenn and a bouncer began pushing each other, so the officers walked over, planning to take Glenn into custody.

One officer grabbed Glenns arm and ordered him to turn around, but Glenn refused and tried to break free, the report said, citing the officers account. Glenn cursed, using a racial epithet. The officers then took him to the ground, the report said.

The bars security camera captured the fight. The video showed an officer grab Glenn by his hair, the report said.

Everything was happening so fast, Proctor told investigators. Everybodys hands were flailing around.

At one point, Proctor said, he saw Glenns left hand on his partners holster, according to the report. Proctor fired a shot, but said he didnt see Glenn react. The officer admitted that he then had a little tunnel vision and pulled the trigger again.

I dont really know where his hands were, but he is still holding on, Proctor told investigators. I honestly believed that this guy was on something strong, like some kind of drug. And the first round did absolutely nothing to affect him.

But the evidence, Beck said in his report, didnt independently support Proctors claim. His partner told investigators that he never saw Glenns hand near his gun or felt any jerking movements, the report added.

The names of the officers were redacted from a copy of the report, but the LAPD previously identified Proctor as the officer who opened fire. Proctor, who has been with the department for eight years, has not returned to work since the shooting.

The LAPD has not identified Proctors partner, but the lawsuits filed by Glenns family identified him as Jonathan Kawahara, a 10-year department veteran.

The Police Commission and Beck also faulted Proctors decision to draw his gun, as well as the tactics he and his partner used leading up to the deadly confrontation. The officers should have discussed how to approach Glenn beforehand, the chief said, and would have had a greater tactical advantage had they waited for other officers to arrive.

The LAPD has not released the security camera video. The bars owner declined to show it to a Times reporter.

Glenn was one of 36 people shot by on-duty LAPD officers last year. Twenty-one were killed.

Follow @katemather for more LAPD news.

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The LAPD dropped him off at LAX over 2 months ago. His family says hes still missing
Since 23-year-old Ryan Robichaud left his familys home in Canada in January, hes turned up in Montreal, Boston, Los Angeles and now, possibly, in Westminster, his mother said.

Police in the Orange County city notified the public about the missing man and asked anyone who sees him to alert authorities.



He was last seen in Westminster on March 18, appearing thin and pushing a shopping cart, police said.

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Tracy Anne Beeso-Robichaud said her son was involved in a car accident Dec. 31 near his familys hometown of Burlington, Ontario, about 45 miles northwest of Niagara Falls. Robichaud had few physical injuries from the crash, but in the days afterward, he became quiet and withdrawn and had no memory of the incident, she said.

Beeso-Robichaud, a widow with three other sons, said she came home from work on Jan. 15 and her second-eldest son was nowhere to be found. She thought, or hoped, he had gone snowboarding for the weekend, but she couldnt call him because his phone had been destroyed in the car accident and he had not yet replaced it.

After days of silence, he called from Boston, sounding distant and confused.

I never heard my son talk like this. He said, Mom, I have to hear your voice, she said. Her son told her that people were listening to his thoughts and that he was being guided by a higher power.

She pleaded with him to return to Burlington: Tell this higher power to get you home.

He later called from a Hilton hotel in a Boston suburb. His mother learned that a car rental company dropped him off at a Boston train station. She hoped he was en route to Canada.

Im like, is he coming home? Or what? his mom said.

A few days later, on Jan. 25, Robichaud called from a Staples store in Los Angeles.

How did you get there, his mother said she asked him. His reply: I dont know.

At the time, Robichaud was considered a critical missing person from Canada, according to court papers. The Los Angeles Police Department was called and picked him up.

That day, Robichauds family purchased a plane ticket for him to fly from Los Angeles to Toronto.

An LAPD detective dropped Robichaud off at Los Angeles International Airport late in the afternoon on Jan. 25, according to an affidavit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.

But the next day, LAPD Det. Kevin Becker learned from Canadian authorities that Robichaud never boarded the flight, the affidavit says.

We were waiting at the airport for hours, and nothing, his mother said. He tried to call me collect from LAX but my provider doesnt support it. I was so angry.

The Canadian investigator assigned to the case, Det. Constable Julie Powers of the Halton Regional Police Service, said the LAPD tracked down Robichaud to a motel in Hawthorne on Jan. 27.

But authorities concluded that he wished to remain in L.A. of his own accord, Powers said. Law enforcement in Canada stopped considering him a missing person on Jan. 27.

Meantime, Becker launched an identity theft investigation after Robichauds credit card was detected at a string of L.A.-area businesses, including the Loews Hotel and Best Western Hotel on Highland Avenue, a Hollywood Boulevard tattoo parlor, and a furniture store in Mid-City, according to court documents.

Witnesses and surveillance video showed that none of the customers in those purchases was Robichaud. The current status of the LAPDs identity theft investigation is unclear.

In recent weeks, sightings of Robichaud have been limited and mostly centered in Orange County. His mother confirmed that he paid for a hotel room in Long Beach on Feb. 6 with a different credit card, and the next week he withdrew $43 from a Chase bank in Huntington Beach. Since then, his purchases have dropped off.

I dont think he has ID, she said. He has no money, no means.

In early February, Robichaud was baptized at a Huntington Beach church after he arrived with a backpack and a roll-up mat, the pastor told his mother, who received a baptismal certificate in the mail.

Police said Robichaud was also possibly spotted in Westminster near a bank on Westminster Boulevard.

Some have reached out directly to Robichauds mother, who said her son may appear weathered and much thinner than his usual weight of 140 pounds. One person told her they believe they saw him near Garden Grove Boulevard and Goldenwest Street in Garden Grove.

Anyone with information about Robichaud is asked to contact Westminster Police Det. Norma Vasquez at (714) 548-3815. The family has also set up a fundraising page to defray the costs of finding him.

Beeso-Robichaud said the quest to find her son has been scary and stressful, and she dismisses the notion that hes consciously choosing to remain away from home. She said she believes the car accident left his thinking impaired.

Hes a 23-year-old adult. Hes a man, but hes a boy still, she said. I want my son back.

Matt.Hamilton@latimes.com

For breaking news in California, follow @MattHjourno.

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Messages supporting Donald Trump and attacking Mexican immigrants were written in front of a Latino community center at UC San Diego, sparking outrage on campus.

The messages, some of which said Build the wall, Deport them all, and Mexico will pay, were written in chalk on a sidewalk close to the Raza Resource Centro.

According to the UCSD College Democrats Facebook page, the messages were written by three to five men wearing hooded sweatshirts on Friday, the night before the universitys annual Triton Day, when new students are welcomed to campus.

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The group said its members were offended by the messages.

NEWSLETTER: Get the days top headlines from Times Editor Davan Maharaj >>

Kevin Antonio Aguilar, a doctoral student in Latin American history at the university wrote on Facebook that the messages were an attack on the Latino community and come amid what he called a continuing hostility towards communities of color on campus.

We in the Latin American community on campus demand that the individuals responsible for this racist attack face the proper repercussions for these actions, he wrote.

Join the conversation on Facebook >>

Aguilar said that if the people responsible for the messages were students that they should be punished.

If it is found that these individuals are students, we request their immediate expulsion for inciting racist hostilities on campus in violation of UCSD Principles of Community, wrote Aguilar. We demand that the mental health of Latin and Black students be prioritized in the wake of persistent racist hostilities on campus.

This is not the first controversial Trump incident on college campuses.

A Mexican American student at Scripps College in Claremont woke up to "#trump2016" scrawled on the whiteboard outside her dorm room. The student body president called it a racist act.

On the campus of Emory University in Atlanta, students protested when someone wrote in chalk: Accept the Inevitable: Trump 2016.

Baker writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

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Dressed in a dark gray suit, a Chicago police tactical officer stood up in the witness stand, raised an imaginary gun and pointed it at a criminal defense lawyer.

Officer Wilfredo Ortiz had been asked to reenact what had happened to him while he was on patrol early on New Years Day 2014 when he heard gunshots and rushed to a nearby house. On a back porch, a man pointed a gun at him and refused to drop it, Ortiz testified. The veteran officer fired off 11 shots, critically injuring the man and his brother and wounding their sister inside the home. Both brothers were charged with multiple felonies.

But in a second blow for the prosecution and police in little more than a year, a Cook County judge last week acquitted Michael Williamson, 29, the man identified by Ortiz as the gunman, on aggravated assault and weapons charges, saying the officers story had changed on a key detail.

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Brothers Michael Williamson, 29, right, and Princeton Williamson, 27, were shot in 2014 by a Chicago police officer. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)

Early last year, the same judge had blasted a detectives testimony against Williamsons brother, Princeton, and thrown out his purported admissions to police and prosecutors. With that critical evidence barred, prosecutors dropped the weapons charges against him.

Lawyers for the brothers said the cases were the result of heavy-handed efforts by police to tidy up a complex and chaotic crime scene in an attempt to limit any doubts about the officers actions. It demonstrates, they said, how Chicago police routinely charge those who are shot by officers to try to strengthen the justification for the officers actions.

If they shoot you and you live, youre going to be charged, said attorney Michael Robbins, who represents both brothers in a pending federal lawsuit.

Judge James Obbish had used unusually harsh language in February 2015 when he threw out the admissions authorities said Princeton Williamson, now 27, had made.

Michael Williamson shows the scar from his shooting by a Chicago police officer. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)

Detective Brian Johnson had testified that Williamson, heavily sedated after undergoing emergency surgery for his gunshot wounds, had confessed from his hospital bed.

But two nurses said Williamson, on a continuous intravenous feed of morphine, had been in no condition to be interviewed. One, in fact, said she had to communicate with him by having him squeeze her hands to answer questions yes or no.

Obbish called the detectives testimony one of the biggest pieces of garbage I ever heard from a professional member of law enforcement.

I have to seriously question whether Mr. Williamson ever did anything but maybe grunt, or even knew who he was talking to, Obbish said.

In acquitting Michael Williamson last week, the judge was far less critical of Ortizs testimony, describing the officers actions that night as mostly reasonable.

If they shoot you and you live, youre going to be charged.  Michael Robbins, attorney

But he found troubling that Ortiz had altered his account on a key point  how many people were on the back porch that night when he opened fire.

Ortiz told detectives that night that hed seen four or five people on the back porch. But two days later, with a union representative and a lawyer at his side, Ortiz told the Independent Police Review Authority he saw only Michael Williamson, according to trial testimony.

People got shot in this particular case who didnt deserve to get shot, a transcript quoted Obbish as saying last week from the bench at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.

Obbish called eyewitness identification one of the weakest aspects of proof and pointed out that prosecutors had no physical evidence that Michael Williamson fired a gun.

While finding Ortiz to be a very credible witness, the judge said not enough evidence implicated Williamson in what had been a chaotic scene.

Its kind of a fog of war [scenario], he said.

The judge also found that prosecutors hadnt been able to mount an attack on the defense contention that the homes owner, Charles Lewis, had fired the gun into the air in a New Years celebration.

Multiple witnesses had told police that night that Lewis had also been out on the porch, but he was never questioned, his DNA was never gathered and police didnt perform a gunshot residue test on him, the brothers attorneys said.

"[Police] werent interested because he hadnt been shot, said Jeffrey Neslund, another attorney for the brothers.

Lewis was shot and killed last fall in Chicagos Englewood neighborhood.

At trial, Ortiz testified he saw Williamson holding a gun at his side, identified himself as a cop and ordered Williamson to drop the weapon.

The two men then locked eyes  Ortiz told the Independent Police Review Authority that Williamsons eyes lit up like a Christmas tree  and then Williamson took a tactical stance, squaring his shoulders and raising the gun, the officer said. Ortiz, fearing for his life, opened fire, he testified.

I actually thought he was going to kill me, Ortiz said.

Michael Williamson, who at the time of the shooting was a Navy serviceman and had no criminal record, said he found Ortizs testimony far-fetched, particularly the officers claim that he could see the gun was in slide lock, and therefore had no more ammunition.

Who takes a tactical stance and raises an unloaded gun at a police officer? Williamson said in an interview last week.

Williamson was home to celebrate the holidays with family at the time of the shooting.

I actually thought I was dead, he said. I felt myself going unconscious.

Princeton Williamson said the indignity of being charged with a crime after being shot added insult to injury. After undergoing multiple operations and enduring two months in the hospital, he spent an additional two months in jail before making bail.

I woke up not knowing where I was sometimes, he said of the pain after the shooting.

Williamson and his brother sat at a table in their grandmother Msfoxie Williamsons three-bedroom apartment, where she raised them and four other grandchildren. The walls were covered with family photos taken over decades.

As her grandchildren helped themselves to jelly beans from a container on her table, Msfoxie Williamson spoke of the anger she felt toward Chicago police.

You shot up four of my family members, she said in reference to another grandson who suffered a graze wound to his face on the porch and a granddaughter who was shot in the stomach as she stood in the kitchen.

After spending two years winding their way through the Cook County criminal justice system, the two brothers have differing takes on its effectiveness.

I think they got it right with us, Michael Williamson said. A lot of people think the justice system is a joke, but  they do get it right sometimes.

His younger brother shook his head in disagreement.

I feel like we just got lucky, Princeton Williamson said.

sschmadeke@tribpub.com

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The Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee sat down for breakfast with President Obamas Supreme Court nominee Tuesday as a courtesy meeting, to tell the judge there would be no confirmation hearing or vote.

Meanwhile, another breakfast message was being served up in Sen. Charles E. Grassleys home state of Iowa, where he faces opposition for enforcing the GOPs blockade against Judge Merrick Garland.

Confirmation Coffee, Obstruction Oats and Garland Granola were all on the menu at Ritual Cafe in Des Moines, a reminder of the risks Republicans face for continuing to deny Obamas ability to fill the court vacancy.

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Despite the resistance on Capitol Hill, the White House continues to usher Garland, the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, to meet with senators. The breakfast summit with Grassley was a milestone of sorts for Obamas efforts to fill the vacancy that has left the court split 4-4 on some issues since the sudden death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February.

But beyond the photo ops and handshakes, all but two of the Republicans who have met with the judge so far said they are merely holding courtesy sessions, with no plans to vote. Most want the next president to make the court pick.

Had pleasant bfast w Judge Garland this morning, Grassley wrote on Instagram, after the two broke bread in the Senators-only dining room in the Capitol. Explained why the Senate wont be moving fwd w his nomination. Next prez will decide after the ppl have a voice.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who met with Garland in her Capitol office later Tuesday morning, continues to respect the Judiciary Committees decision not to hold hearings, an aide said.

And Sen. Patrick J. Toomey (R-Penn.), who faces a potentially difficult re-election this fall, also was meeting with Garland on Tuesday.

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Republicans believe their blockade is sustainable through the November election, when they will try to retain majority control of the Senate. While the majority of voters disagree with the strategy  most Americans want the Senate to hold hearings to consider the nominee conservative activists are on the GOPs side.

Grassroots activists across the country are thankful to Sen. Grassley for his steadfast and principled stand that the American people should have a voice in the selection of the next Supreme Court Justice, said Tea Party Patriots president Jenny Beth Martin, who added that Obama is attempting to bully the Senate into confirming a judge who would lock in a liberal majority on the court.

The White House, though, is not letting up, and on Tuesday the administration released a letter of support from 15 past presidents of the American Bar Assn., who said there is no election year exception to the Senates duties to consider the nominee.

The president has fulfilled his constitutional duty, and it is time for the members of the United States Senate to fulfill theirs by holding a fair hearing and timely vote, the legal experts wrote, explaining that leaving the seat vacant injects a degree of politics into the judicial branch that materially hampers the effective operation of our nations highest court.

The split on the court has already shown both the struggle the eight justices face in avoiding deadlock, but also their willingness to push ahead  as happened when the justices tried their hand at a solution for a politically divisive case over contraceptive coverage in the Affordable Care Act.

More difficult decisions, however, await.

On Monday, the court is scheduled to hear one of the landmark cases of the term  the challenge from Texas and other states against Obamas immigration executive actions, which could decide whether millions of immigrants will be eligible for deportation relief.

For the latest from Congress and 2016 campaign follow @LisaMascaro

For more, go to www.latimes.com/politics

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A former Green Beret and onetime FBI agent who committed suicide after attacking his commander at their Air Force base in San Antonio had received a military mental health evaluation after going AWOL last summer, his attorney confirmed Monday.

Tech. Sgt. Steven D. Bellino, 41, of Parma Heights, Ohio, is believed to have opened fire early Friday in a training building at Lackland Air Force Base, killing his squadrons commander before apparently turning the gun on himself.

Lackland is best known for its role as the basic training site for the Air Force, Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard. Bellino was in Air Force special operations training.

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Air Force officials declined to discuss the case, citing their continuing investigation into what sheriffs officials called a murder-suicide.

Bellino joined the Army after graduating from high school in 1992, training first as an Army Ranger at Ft. Stewart, Ga., then as a Green Beret at Ft. Bragg, N.C., according to his attorney, Daniel Conway. In 2002, he left the Army and joined the Army National Guard, serving with a special forces unit based in Ohio, according to Conway and military records.

During his time in the Army and National Guard, Bellino served multiple tours in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo and Kuwait, Conway said.

From 2004 to 2007, Bellino also worked as a civilian contractor with a private security firm, the lawyer said. In 2011, Bellino left the military, went to work as an FBI special agent in the New York office but resigned after less than two years, according to an FBI statement.

He then tried to reenlist in the Army or join the Navy, but eventually settled on the Air Force because it involved the least amount of red tape, Conway said.

Bellino took advantage of a program that allows veterans to assume jobs that are hard to fill, including special operations pararescue training. That made him a technical sergeant after serving for less than a year, the highest-ranking trainee in his group.

But shortly after Bellino arrived at Joint Base San Antonio on June 30, trainers found he had physical problems, especially swimming, said a source who asked not to be identified because he is not authorized to speak about the case.

There was a little bit of a shame culture down there, the source said. There were members of the staff there that were belittling him in a way that was borderline appropriate.

On Aug. 3, the day he went absent without leave, Bellinos troubles seemed to come to a head. During a water endurance test, the source said, an instructor made him repeat an underwater swim, saying he had failed. Later, the source said, the trainer ordered him to say  while being videotaped  that he had quit the training program.

After leaving Lackland, Bellino, who was single, spent about two weeks with family in Ohio before returning to the base and surrendering. He was charged Sept. 20 with having gone AWOL, assigned a military defense lawyer and set to face court-martial April 27.

In preparation for the court-martial, he underwent a mental health exam in December  known as a sanity board  by a military expert, said Conway, who declined to discuss the findings. Bellinos military defense attorney later requested he be evaluated by an independent mental health expert, but Air Force officials denied the request.

Conway said he and his client agreed that instead of a court-martial, they would seek an administrative discharge including nonjudicial punishment, such as forfeiture of pay or a rank reduction.

The discharge was still being processed, Conway said, and it was unclear whether Bellinos commander had approved it.

On Friday, Bellino came to the base on the pretext of accepting nonjudicial punishment, according to a blog cited by the San Antonio Express-News that has since been taken down.

When Bellino arrived at a training area in the bases Forbes Hall with two Glock handguns, he encountered a noncommissioned officer, the Express-News reported. It was unclear how Bellino got the guns onto the base, where officials have said only military police are allowed to be armed and individuals are checked as they enter the gates.

His commander, Lt. Col. William A. Schroeder, 39, spotted Bellino with a gun and told the noncommissioned officer, a first sergeant, to run, the Express-News reported, citing the blog. Bellino fired an errant shot at the first sergeant, then fought with his commander, shooting him three times in one arm and once in the head, the newspaper said.

Both men were dead by the time Bexar County sheriffs deputies found them in a first-floor office. Schroeder was a veteran officer who joined the Air Force in 1999 and led several special operations units in the last decade. He had been commanding the 342nd Training Squadron for two years.

Chief Master Sgt. Matthew Nugent, commandant of the Tactical Air Control Party schoolhouse at Forbes Hall, said Schroeder was killed by a disgruntled technical sergeant facing a disciplinary hearing, according to a Facebook group post cited by the Express-News.

Know that Bill went out swinging, Nugent wrote. He selflessly gave his life to protect our [first sergeant] and countless others who were in the building.

Schroeder is survived by his wife and two sons, ages 3 and 7.

Bellinos family referred questions to Conway, who declined to comment further.

molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com

Twitter: @mollyhf



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After a lengthy investigation, a U.S. Navy officer assigned to an intelligence gathering unit has been charged with multiple counts of espionage and providing secret information to China and Taiwan, according to U.S. officials and charging documents.

Lt. Cmdr. Edward C. Lin, a flight officer who spent much of his Navy career in reconnaissance and patrol squadrons, is being investigated by the FBI and the Navy Criminal Investigative Service on suspicion of failing to disclose foreign travel, passing classified information and patronizing prostitutes.

Lin was born in Taiwan and is a naturalized U.S. citizen. He has been in custody for eight months at a Navy brig in Chesapeake, Va., officials said.

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The case became public when Lin faced a preliminary hearing, known as an Article 32 hearing, on Friday. The hearing will determine whether there is sufficient evidence to refer the case to a general court-martial.

A heavily redacted charge sheet released by the Navy does not name Lin or any foreign government. The three-page charge sheet says the suspect was assigned to the headquarters of the Navys Patrol and Reconnaissance Group, which oversees intelligence-collection activities.

The suspect faces five counts of espionage and attempted espionage, according to the charge sheet. It alleges that on numerous occasions, the suspect did with intent or reason to believe it would be used to the advantage of a foreign nation, attempt to communicate SECRET information relating to the national defense to a representative of a foreign government.

The suspect was also charged with four counts of wrongfully transporting material classified as SECRET and seven counts of communicating defense information to a person not entitled to receive said information. He also is accused of patronizing a prostitute and adultery, which are violations of military law.

The charge sheet does not say what information was passed or when.

Under U.S. law, information is classified secret when its unauthorized disclosure would cause serious damage to national security. The maximum punishment for an espionage conviction under U.S. military code is the death penalty.

The Navy declined to comment on the case and has not identified Lins lawyer.

USNI News, which first reported Lins identity, said he speaks fluent Mandarin and managed the collection of electronic signals from the EP-3E Aries II spy plane.

Lin enlisted in the Navy in 1999 and was commissioned as a flight officer three years later, according to military records.

He was deployed in 2004 with an air reconnaissance squadron based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash. The unit, nicknamed World Watchers, flies EP-3E spy planes, which are outfitted with electronic surveillance equipment.

The unit conducts surveillance from the West Coast of the United States, across the Pacific and Indian oceans, to the east coast of Africa  roughly two-thirds of the worlds surface.

After three years, Lin was assigned to U.S. Pacific Fleet, based in Honolulu. In 2008, a Navy news release titled Hawaii Sailor Dogged to Become U.S. Citizen profiled Lin.

In it, Lin said he was 14 when he and his family left Taiwan. His Chinese name had 20 letters in it and was hard to pronounce, so he picked a new name.

I was barely able to spell ABC. The only name that I knew back then as an American name was Eddy, Lin said. Eddy was the name of my mothers dog.... I was very fortunate that my mother did not name her dog Fluffy.

Lin served aboard the U.S. aircraft carrier Eisenhower, spent two years at the Naval War College and two years in Washington working for the Navys chief budgeting officer.

In 2014, Lin went back to Hawaii, where he was assigned to the Special Projects Patrol Squadron 2 at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay. Nicknamed the Wizards, the squadron flies P-3 submarine-hunting aircraft.

According to the charge sheet, he was arrested in Hawaii as he prepared to travel overseas, but had falsely listed his destination.

Military records show he was officially reassigned on March 25 to Naval Consolidated Brig Chesapeake.

Spokesmen for Chinas Foreign Ministry and Taiwans Defense Ministry said they had no information on the case, according to Reuters wire service.

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Conventions have been canceled, rock concerts scrubbed, and corporations have yanked their business from North Carolina to protest a state law that critics say discriminates against gay, lesbian and transgender people.

Even the porn site xHamster.com is confronting users with a question: Do you support the anti-LGBT bill in North Carolina? Users who click yes are notified, via pop-up, that their access has been blocked.

These are tough days for the Republican North Carolina lawmakers who passed a law last month limiting legal protections for LGBT people at hotels, shops and restaurants. The law also restricted which bathrooms and locker rooms transgender people can use.

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Now, as North Carolina faces the possibility of more business lost to corporate and celebrity protests, Republican Gov. Pat McCrory is trying to douse national criticism  without significantly changing the law.

I have come to the conclusion that there is a great deal of misinformation, misinterpretation, confusion, a lot of passion and frankly, selective outrage and hypocrisy, especially against the great state of North Carolina, McCrory said in a video statement Tuesday.

However, in response to public feedback, he announced he had signed an executive order intended to affirm and improve the states commitment to privacy and equality. Republican lawmakers had passed the law to override a Charlotte city LGBT nondiscrimination ordinance.

On its face, McCrorys executive order expanded the states equal-opportunity employment policy to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity  a seeming extension of protections for state government workers.

Additionally, McCrory said he would immediately seek approval of a new law in the upcoming legislative session to reinstate the right to sue for discrimination in North Carolina state courts.

Yet critics swiftly responded that the governor had not made any significant changes. The executive order did little to alter the states requirement that transgender people use the public bathrooms and locker rooms that match the gender on their birth certificates. Nor did the order restore the ability of cities to determine their own LGBT nondiscrimination policies.

Chase Strangio, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union who is suing the state over the new law, said the equal-opportunity employment provision approved by McCrory doesnt change anything for state government workers because they theoretically are already covered under federal employment provisions.

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It doesnt do anything, Strangio said of the executive order in an interview. It does nothing to roll back or mitigate any of the harm [to] the LGBT community from [House Bill 2].

The ACLUs North Carolina chapter also criticized the governors announcement as ineffectual.

Gov. McCrorys actions today are a poor effort to save face after his sweeping attacks on the LGBT community, and they fall far short of correcting the damage done when he signed the harmful House Bill 2 into law which stigmatizes and mandates discrimination against gay and transgender people, Sarah Preston, acting executive director of the ACLU of North Carolina, said in a statement.

North Carolinas Democratic Atty. Gen. Roy Cooper, who has publicly opposed the law, was equally blunt, calling the executive order a day late and a veto short and urging the governor to work on a repeal.

The sweeping discrimination law he signed has already cost North Carolina hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in revenue, Cooper said.

Supporters of a new state law gather on Monday for a rally outside the North Carolina State Capitol in Raleigh. (Gerry Broome / Associated Press)

Republican Senate Leader Phil Berger praised the governors order, criticizing Cooper and the left-wing political correctness mob ... who will never stop trashing North Carolina until they achieve their goal of allowing any man into any womens bathroom or locker room at any time simply by claiming to feel like a woman.

Less than a week after McCrory signed the law on March 23, LGBT advocacy groups filed a federal lawsuit, arguing the state law violates the U.S. Constitution by singling out LGBT people for disfavored treatment.

The law, dubbed the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, has drawn strong opposition from major corporations including Apple and Google, as well as popular entertainers such as Bruce Springsteen, who canceled a concert in Greensboro, N.C.

Springsteen said the law represents an attempt by people who cannot stand the progress our country has made in recognizing the human rights of all of our citizens to overturn that progress.

PayPal has announced it is abandoning its plan to bring 400 jobs to the state and Deutsche Bank is reportedly freezing plans to create 250 new jobs in North Carolina. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has forbade staff from traveling to Charlotte for a conference hosted by the American Public Transportation Assn.

A spokesman for Cyprus-based porn site xHamster said the goal of the sites boycott is to fight for the equality for everyone and that everybody has a right to their own sexuality and xHamster is there to love and support people the way they are.

Staff writer Pearce reported from Los Angeles and special correspondent Jarvie from Atlanta.

Follow @MattDPearce for national news

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Housekeeper Celia Vargas was marching on the picket line in front of Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas when a motorcade ferrying the billionaire rumbled past.

Against the backdrop of palm trees and shouts of no contract, no peace, the 57-year-old maid craned to catch a glimpse of her employer -- a property tycoon who has built his presidential campaign on appealing to blue-collar workers but now risks being cast in Sin City as a union-buster.

I dont understand, said Vargas, one of more than 500 hotel workers who in December voted 238 to 209 to join the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165. Its weird why he doesnt want to negotiate a contract with us.

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Ever since the vote, Donald Trumps managers have fought unionization every step of the way. They filed 15 objections with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging intimidation and forgery by union officials. After the claims were either withdrawn by Trump or dismissed by the labor board, the unions were officially certified as bargaining agents last month.

But the Trump Organization still refused to negotiate, and last week, at the last possible moment, the hotel filed for a review of the case with the labor board in Washington, further putting off contract talks.

Trump's hardball tactics have left more than a few people baffled. Why, many ask, is Trump picking a fight with organized labor in a union town like Vegas, where most front-line service-industry workers have long been card-carrying members?

And why do it now, at the height of the presidential political campaign season -- and in a swing state no less, one that hell want to win in November if hes the GOP nominee.

Its a standoff that highlights not only the Republican front-runners unpredictability, but also how he might balance the demands of being both businessman and politician.

The clash is all the more surprising given Trumps past support of unions and his campaigns efforts to promote him as a champion of the working class. Bucking GOP orthodoxy, Trump has inveighed against the cost of free trade and Chinese imports on American workers.

A union member protests outside Donald Trumps hotel in Las Vegas. (Mike Nelson / European Pressphoto Agency) (MIKE NELSON / EPA)

In his book The America We Deserve, the TV celebrity-turned-candidate wrote that unions still have a place in American society. In fact, with the globalization craze in full heat, unions are about the only political force reminding us to remember the American working family.

And despite a few union clashes at Atlantic City, N.J., hotels he owned before losing them in bankruptcy proceedings years ago, Trump has relied heavily on union labor for many of his development projects, including the 64-story Trump hotel in Vegas.

He's saying one thing and doing another, said a frustrated Danny Thompson, the executive secretary-treasurer of the Nevada State AFL-CIO.

Some suspect Trump is making a political gambit by standing up to big labor. They note his stance against the unions didnt seem to diminish his appeal to white, blue-collar men in Nevada, who helped Trump handily win the GOP caucus in February.

Others say it simply reflects Trump's hard-charging negotiating style. Union officials said the 523 workers at the Trump hotel stand to make an additional $3.33 an hour, based on the standard pay for comparable workers at other union hotels. Assuming they all worked full-time, that increase would add about $3.6 million to the Trump hotel's annual labor expenses, not including the cost of health insurance and other benefits.

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Though it opened during the financial crisis in 2008, the luxury tower had income of $45.6 million in the 12 months that ended June 30, 2015, according to Trumps filing last year with the Federal Election Commission.

It's a five-star boutique hotel. They are making a profit, said Bethany Khan, spokeswoman for the Culinary Workers Union in Las Vegas. With overflow business from nearby Treasure Island, she said the 1,232-room Trump tower has solid occupancy rates. They have enough money to pay a little more.

------------

FOR THE RECORD

8:59 a.m.: An earlier version of this article gave the name of the spokeswoman for the Culinary Workers Union in Las Vegas as Bethany Kahn, Her name is Bethany Khan.

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Analysts say it may have less to do with dollars and cents, and more with pride or politics.

Maybe it's about wages, maybe it's about not wanting to look weak in a presidential campaign, said David Damore, a political scientist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

But if Trump emerges as the GOP candidate, his antagonistic stance toward unions may backfire with voters in a state that Republicans have been trying to win back since it voted for President Obama in the past two elections.

Nevada certainly is potentially winnable, Damore said. But he noted that organized labor has been active in citizenship drives aimed at the growing population of immigrants, who are already angry with Trump over his threats to deport workers in the country illegally and his vow to build a wall along the Mexican border.

He's been fighting for this [working class] niche, but the problem is, he's alienating everybody else in the process, Damore said.

Trump himself has said little publicly about the labor situation at his Las Vegas property, one of a dozen Trump hotels in the U.S. and abroad. His managers in Las Vegas and at the Trump Organization's headquarters in New York declined to be interviewed or did not return calls.

In a one-sentence statement, Jill Martin, Trump's assistant general counsel, said: As we believe that union agents engaged in severe misconduct, clearly impacting an incredibly close election, Trump International Hotel & Tower Las Vegas will continue our fight to ensure a fair election for our valued associates, many of whom vigorously oppose union representation.

RELATED: 'We need an outsider like Trump,' says this two-time Obama voter

Trump developed the Vegas hotel in partnership with Phil Ruffin, another self-styled billionaire who owns Treasure Island Hotel & Casino. The two are close friends: Trump stood as Ruffins best man when he married in 2008, and Ruffin hosted a party for Trump after his victory in the Nevada caucus.

Ruffin remains a 50% owner in the hotel, on the back end of the Strip, but Michelle Knoll, senior vice president at Treasure Island, which is unionized, said her boss is a silent partner. The hotel's management is controlled by the Trump Organization, she said.

Vargas, the housekeeper, said she hopes that with a union contract, her pay would go up to more than $18 an hour from the $14.71 she currently makes. And shes counting on getting better union health benefits, without co-payments for medicines, for example.

We already won the election, said Vargas, who moved to Vegas in 2009 after her work hours as a janitor for the Los Angeles Unified School District were sharply cut back.

Why doesn't dont he want to respect us and make time to negotiate, she said. Like everybody, I'm confused.

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An honest essay has numerous characteristics: original thinking, a good structure, balanced arguments, and plenty more.

But one aspect often overlooked is that an honest essay should be interesting. It should spark the readers curiosity, keep them absorbed, make them want to stay reading and learn more. An uneventful article risks losing the readers attention; whether or not the points you create are excellent, a flat style, or poor handling of a dry subject material can undermine the positive aspects of the essay. The matter is that a lot of students think that essays should be like this: they believe that a flat, dry style is suited to the needs of educational writing and dont even consider that the teacher reading their essay wants to search out the essay interesting. You might want to have online essay editor service to boost your confidence in writing with an error-free output. Academic writing doesnt need to be  and shouldnt be  bland. The excellent news is that there is much stuff you can do to create your essay more attractive, while youll be able only to do such a lot while remaining within the formal confines of educational writing. Lets study what theyre.

Have an interest in what youre writing about

Dont go overboard, but youll be able to let your passion for your subject show.

If theres one thing bound to inject interest into your writing, its being fascinated by what youre writing about. Passion for a subject matter comes across naturally in your essay, typically making it more lively and fascinating and infusing an infectious enthusiasm into your words  within the same way that its easy to talk knowledgeably to someone about something you discover fascinating.

Include fascinating details

Another factor that may make an essay boring maybe a dry material. Some topic areas are naturally dry, and it falls to you to form the article more interesting through your written style and by trying to seek out fascinating snippets of knowledge to incorporate, which will liven it up a small amount and make the data easier to relate to. A way of doing this with a dry subject is to create what youre talking about that seems relevant to the critical world, as this is often easier for the reader to relate to.

Emulate the fashion of writers you discover interesting

When you read lots, you subconsciously start emulating the fashion of the writers you have read. Reading benefits you a lot, as this exposes you to a spread of designs, and youll start to require the characteristics of these you discover interesting to read.

Borrow some creative writing techniques

Theres a limit to the quantity of actual story-telling youll do when youre writing an essay; in the end, essays should be objective, factual and balanced, which doesnt, initially glance, feel considerably like story-telling. However, youll apply a number of the principles of story-telling to create your writing more interesting.

consider your own opinion

Take the time to figure out what its that you think instead of regurgitating the opinions of others.

Cut the waffle

Rambling on and on is dull and almost bound to lose the interest of your reader. Youre in danger of waffling if youre not completely clear about what you wish to mention or havent thought carefully about how youre visiting structure your argument. Doing all your research correctly and writing an essay plan before you begin will help prevent this problem.

Editing is a vital part of the essay-writing process, so edit the waffle once youve done a primary draft. Read through your essay objectively and eliminate the bits that arent relevant to the argument or labor the purpose.

employing a thesaurus isnt always a decent thing

Avoid using unfamiliar words in an essay; theres too great a likelihood that youre misusing them.

You may think that employing a thesaurus to seek out more complicated words will make your writing more exciting or sound more academic, but using overly high-brow language can have the incorrect effect.

Avoid repetitive phrasing

Please avoid using the identical phrase structure again and again: its a recipe for dullness! Instead, use a variety of syntax that demonstrates your writing capabilities and makes your writing more interesting. Mix simple, compound, and complicated sentences to avoid your paper becoming predictable.

Use some figurative language

Using analogies with nature can often make concepts more accessible for readers to know.

As weve already seen, its easy to finish up rambling when youre explaining complex concepts  mainly after you dont know it yourself. One way of forcing yourself to think about a couple of pictures, present it more simply and engagingly is to form figurative language. This implies explaining something by comparing it with something else, as in an analogy.

Employ rhetorical questions

Anticipate the questions your reader might ask.

One of the ways ancient orators held the eye of their audiences and increased the dramatic effect of their speeches was by using the statement. A decent place to use a statement is at the top of a paragraph, to steer into the following one, or at the start of a replacement section to introduce a brand new area for exploration.

Proofread

Finally, you may write the top interesting essay an instructor has ever read. Still, youll undermine your good work if its plagued by errors, which distract the reader from the particular content and can probably annoy them.
To the white police officer and the judge, the shooting two years ago of a black driver after a chase was a split-second case of bad judgment not deserving of prison time.

But to some African Americans in South Carolina, it is an example of a judicial system that fails to protect them from officers who go too far.

Former North Augusta Police Officer Justin Craven will serve three years of probation but no time behind bars for the killing of 68-year-old Ernest Satterwhite after he led police trying to stop him for drunken driving on a 13-minute chase.

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Cravens dashboard camera captured the chase and shooting. As soon as Satterwhite stopped, Craven ran up to his car and stuck his gun into Satterwhites window. There is a brief struggle, and an arm is seen pushing at Cravens arm. Craven pulls the gun out of the window and fires several shots.

Other officers run over and can be seen yelling on the video, which had no audio. Twenty minutes after he is shot, paramedics put Satterwhites body on a backboard and one puts a stethoscope to his chest.

Craven, 27, pleaded guilty Monday to misdemeanor misconduct in office. A prosecutor originally sought an indictment on a voluntary manslaughter charge that carried two to 30 years in prison, but a grand jury refused to indict. Solicitor Donnie Myers did get a grand jury to charge Craven with a different felony that carries up to 10 years but decided to take a plea deal. He did not return a message from the Associated Press.

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The officers plea comes amid a nationwide debate about the use of force and how white police officers treat black people, fueled by high-profile incidents including the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and Freddie Grays death after he was injured in a Baltimore police van.

For state Rep. Joe Neal, a black Democrat from Hopkins who has spent decades speaking out against racism in law enforcement and demanding accountability through data and police cameras, the fact that a prosecutor agreed to let Craven serve no time in prison is shocking. He sees a 68-year-old man who pulled to a stop in his own driveway and suddenly had a gun thrust at his head. He didnt deserve to die that night, Neal said.

To execute this man in this manner is murder. To allow him to plead to a simple misdemeanor, as if this mans life had no value, is inexcusable, Neal said.

In South Carolina, Craven is the second white officer in the past year to avoid time behind bars for killing a black man. Former Eutawville Police Chief Richard Combs was charged with murder for shooting a man trying to pull out of a parking lot in a police station. Prosecutors charged him with murder, saying he escalated the confrontation. After two hung juries, they accepted a plea deal with a year of home detention.

NEWSLETTER: Get the days top headlines from Times Editor Davan Maharaj >>

The sentences are a slap on the wrist and a wink and a nod at officers, Neal said.

Cravens lawyer said the officers decision to rush up to Satterwhites door was a mistake in judgment, but the concern was justified after the chase, which included Satterwhite swerving into oncoming traffic and off the side of the road and hitting at least two other cars. No one else was injured. State police said Satterwhites blood-alcohol level was 0.15%.

He had to make a split-second decision instead of like now, when everyone gets all the time they want to analyze it, Cravens lawyer Jack Swerling said.

Police experts recommend that officers not charge into an unknown situation but instead stay behind cover in case a person is armed. No weapon was found in Satterwhites car.

A lawyer for Satterwhites family did not return a phone call. North Augusta paid the family nearly $1.2 million to settle a lawsuit.

Police records show Satterwhite had been arrested more than a dozen times on traffic violations, including three times for fleeing police. There is no evidence he ever physically fought with officers.

Judge Frank Addy told Craven he was giving the officer probation because he could understand how the shooting happened after a long chase, the Aiken Standard reported.

Swerling said Craven regrets that Satterwhite died in the shooting and has no plans to be a police officer again.

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With withering words, John Kasich denounces the political paths trod by Donald Trump and Ted Cruz

John Kasich, speaking in Manhattan pic.twitter.com/R5vIzeSIIV  Cathleen Decker (@cathleendecker) April 12, 2016

Ohio Gov. John Kasich offered a withering denunciation Tuesday of his fellow Republican presidential candidates, casting them as purveyors of political darkness who have distorted reality in pursuit of their own political success.

He did not mention New York businessman Donald Trump or Texas Sen. Ted Cruz by name, but their policies were included in a list of proposals that he said were exploiting anger and resentment in the GOP electorate.

Republican voters in the April 19 New York primary and the succeeding contests face two paths, he said.

One choice is the path that exploits anger, encourages resentment, turns fear into hatred and divides people, he said. This path solves nothing. It demeans our history. It weakens our country and it cheapens each one of us. It has one beneficiary, and that is to the politician who speaks of it. Another path is the one America has been down before. Its well-trod but its also solid.

Kasich mocked as simplistic the formulas put forth by Trump and Cruz to solve the nations problems.

Weve heard proposals to create a religious test for immigration, to target neighborhoods for surveillance, to deport 11.5 million people, to impose draconian tariffs which would crush trade and destroy American jobs, he said.

We heard proposals to drop out of NATO, abandon Europe end defense partnerships in Asia and tell our Middle East allies that they have to go it alone. Weve been offered hollow promises to impose a value-added tax and balance budgets through simple and whimsical cuts in waste, fraud and abuse.

Kasich, who spoke before a Republican womens group in Manhattan, won his home-state primary last month but has found little success elsewhere this election year. He is running second in New York, according to some polls, but it is a distant second to Trump. The biggest question in the Republican primary here is whether Trump will exceed 50% of the GOP vote, a status that would earn him more delegates than if he earns less than half of the vote.

Kasichs argument is one that he has made in less bracing terms throughout the campaign, but his sunnier calls for a more civil discourse and more reasoned solutions have not met the dark sentiments coursing through the electorate this year.

He attempted Tuesday to reach out overtly to upset voters, reminding them that he had grown up in an old steel town in Pennsylvania when if the wind blew the wrong way, people would be out of work.

Its awful to feel that insecurity, to feel that circumstances are out of your control, to feel like nobody cares and all the institutions in our land have abandoned you, he said. But we Americans have overcome so many challenges.

His fellow politicians have played on those fears for their benefit, he said.

Just as an all-consuming fear of America in decline ends in visions of American destruction, the political strategy based on exploiting Americans instead of lifting them up inevitably leads to divisions, paranoia and promises that can never ever be fulfilled, he said. I say to you that this path of darkness is the antithesis of all that America has meant for 240 years.

He reiterated his view that his experience as a member of Congress, where he worked to balance the budget, and his tenure as governor of Ohio, as the state rebounded from the economic crash, made him well-prepared for the presidency.

The test of his campaign, however, is two-fold: whether a more upbeat public disposition can sell in this tumultuous year, and whether the candidate with the fewest delegates can markedly change his odds this late in the primary contest. For that, April 19 looms as a giant event.
When Dodgers fans stream into the stadium Tuesday for the opening game of the 2016 season, many of them will do so via a brand new street inaugurated just the day before. Well, not a physically new street, but one newly renamed to honor the beloved and long-lived Dodgers broadcaster, Vin Scully.

Its a pretty big honor considering the late, and similarly beloved, Lakers announcer Chick Hearn only got a square in his name. But Scully is a pretty big deal. Hes been calling the Dodgers games for 67 seasons now. Generations of Angelenos have seen the game through his voice over the radio or loudspeakers. When he leaves, possibly at the end of this season, it will be a sad day for Los Angeles and the Dodgers.

Some neighborhood activists protested the decision by the Los Angeles City Council on Friday, complaining that there was a lack of outreach about the change. And some worry that rechristening Elysian Park Avenue between Sunset Boulevard and Stadium Way as Vin Scully Avenue dishonors the park surrounding the stadium. We dont think that a new name for this short stretch takes anything away from the park. Assuming much of anyone notices the change, they can rest assured that Elysian Park will retain its name.

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But there is certainly a danger in naming things after someone who hasnt yet departed this world because the honoree still has time to besmirch his or her own name.

It happens with disturbing regularity. Great people are tripped up by hubris, temptation, addiction, arrogance or some combination  and their names instantly become a punch line. Who doesnt feel a tiny bit sheepish to say they attended Richard Nixon Elementary School? Its preferable to wait to bestow this honor until someone is well beyond the possibility of committing crime or engaging in embarrassing behavior.

Who knew back in 1978 that school officials in a San Joaquin Valley school district might someday have reason to rue their decision to replace dump President Abraham Lincoln for a Dodgers first baseman? Hes not perfect, said district Superintendent Bob Edwards upon the dedication of Steve Garvey Junior High School in Lindsay, Calif, but hes about as close to being a well-balanced person as you can get. He cuts across racial, social and cultural lines and with his beautiful wife and two daughters hes a tremendous package.

Uh, oops. Nowadays, if anyone thinks about Garvey, they are as likely to recall the public scorn over his poor personal choices as his victories on the field.

Fortunately, the 88-year-old Scully seems an extremely safe bet. If he hasnt succumbed to the same temptations of other great men by now, then he isnt likely to.

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When my parents went to schedule my older brothers baptism at a Catholic church, the priest told them their baby was a bastard. Because my parents were married in the Episcopal Church, their child was, in the eyes of the Catholic Church, illegitimate.

The bastard comment became a family joke, and my father eventually brought his Episcopalian-baptized kids back to the Catholic Church. Yet, its hard for me to ignore the fact that the Catholic Church still doesnt see my parents relationship as valid even after 38 years of marriage. To be an American Catholic today is to live with a tension between church teachings and the beliefs born of ones daily reality.

With Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love), the apostolic exhortation on marriage and family life published Friday, Pope Francis asks modern Catholics to stay in this tension  and for the church to make room for them. Moral laws are not stones to throw at peoples lives, he writes, opening the door for pastors to find a way for those in irregular situations like remarriage to participate fully in their faith.

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Passages read more like a contemporary marriage manual than an apostolic exhortation. He reflects on Pauls definition (Love is kind) and reminds couples to schedule dates to be alone together. We find it difficult to present marriage more as a dynamic path to personal development and fulfillment than as a lifelong burden, Francis writes.

But the pope also insists on traditional gender roles and admonishes against sex, birth control and same-sex marriage.

That approach may not be enough to stem the decline in the church membership.

Today the lack of welcome in the church is often subtler than calling a baby a bastard. Couples planning weddings, for instance, complain that parishes care only about money and paperwork. They lie about cohabiting to avoid being lectured. If Francis could make pastors more welcoming, it would be a significant change. Yet fewer couples want church weddings in the first place: The number of weddings in Catholic churches is today less than 40% of what it was in 1970.

According to the Pew Research Center, one-quarter of U.S. Catholics have gone through divorce, and 44% have lived with a romantic partner without being married. Fewer than half of American Catholics agree with the church that homosexual behavior, remarriage without an annulment, cohabitation and contraception are sins.

In contrast to his evidence-based and science-driven encyclical on the environment, Amoris Laetitia ignores empirical research on gender and sexuality.

Not coincidentally, since 2007, the Catholic share of the U.S. population has declined from 24% to 21%. The Pew Research Center reports that 9% of Americans are former Catholics, and another 9% are cultural Catholics. The church is growing in Africa and Asia, but in Latin America, many Catholics have moved to evangelical and Pentecostal churches, which preach forgiveness without all the legalisms.

In contrast to his evidence-based and science-driven encyclical on the environment, Amoris Laetitia ignores empirical research on gender and sexuality. A growing body of evidence, for instance, suggests that transgender identity is biological, but Francis dismisses it as ideology. Human identity becomes the choice of the individual, one which can also change over time, he writes.

This creates a disconnect. As Father Joseph Palacios, a sociologist and fellow with the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture explains, If the Catholic Church says we have a faith based on reason, the reason isnt there anymore for 90% of the population.

A drastic change in doctrine couldnt have been expected. Francis leads a global church, and by empowering local clergy to discern individual situations, he avoids fracturing it over rules. But for Catholics on the edge of the church already, the progress made by The Joy of Love may be too little. It will, I predict, go the way of Theology of the Body, St. John Paul IIs teachings on marriage and sex that also extolled nurturing mothers, masculine fathers and sex that is open to life (read: without contraception). It is loved by a small group, actively rejected by others and irrelevant to the lives of the vast majority.

A case-by-case pastoral approach wont cement the tenuous relationship so many families, mine included, have with the church.

My dad remains a loyal Catholic, even serving as a Eucharistic minister. Mom stopped going to Mass regularly. Had Francis welcoming words come earlier, she told me, perhaps her relationship with Catholicism would have been different. Once a bastard baby, I am now my nephews godmother. At his baptism, I promised to help teach him the faith, yet I remain conflicted about it myself.

Megan Sweas is the editor at the USC Center for Religion and Civil Culture, and author of Putting Education to Work: How Cristo Rey High Schools are Transforming Urban Education.

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After wrenching testimony that included accounts from three alleged victims of comedian Bill Cosby, a Senate committee on Tuesday gave its first approval to a bill that would allow sex crimes to be prosecuted no matter how long ago they occurred.

The bill, SB 813, from state Sen. Connie Leyva (D-Chino), eliminates the current 10-year statute of limitations on rape cases. Leyva argued in the hearing that giving sexual assault victims more time to report incidents would hold more rapists accountable and provide closure to painful situations.

A victim should always have the hope that they will be able to have justice, Leyva said.

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The accusations against Cosby provided a direct example of what the bill seeks to change. In recent years, more than 50 women have accused Cosby of sexually abusing them in incidents that, in some cases, were alleged to have occurred decades ago. District attorneys across the country have cited statutes of limitations as a reason they cant pursue charges against Cosby, though he does face prosecution in Pennsylvania over an alleged incident in 2004. Cosby has denied all wrongdoing.

Lili Bernard, a Los Angeles actress who appeared on The Cosby Show, testified that Cosby mentored her as a father figure before drugging her, suffocating her with a pillow and raping her in the 1990s. Bernard said she went to Atlantic City, N.J., where one of the alleged incidents occurred, with evidence of the crime and was told she had missed the deadline to file charges by a few months.

War criminals, no matter how many decades have passed, cannot evade prosecution, Bernard told the Senate committee. I am asking you to do the same thing for us, rape survivors, who survived the war upon our body.

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Also speaking in favor of the bill were Victoria Valentino, a former Playboy model who alleged Cosby drugged and raped her at an apartment in the Hollywood Hills in 1969; a woman identified before her testimony as Kacey, who worked with Cosby and said the actor sexually assaulted her 20 years ago in Bel-Air; and high-profile attorney Gloria Allred, who represents 30 Cosby accusers.

Opponents of the bill said during the 90-minute debate in the Senate Committee on Public Safety that the measure doesnt address the core problems surrounding rape prosecution. They argued that law enforcement agencies arent as aggressive as they could be in going after alleged rapists, citing a recent state audit that found that many existing rape kits hadnt been tested. The opponents, which included the California Public Defenders Assn. and some victims rights groups, also warned of an increased chance for wrongful convictions, given the length of time that might have passed after an incident.

When decades pass between prosecution and a criminal offense, memories fade, witnesses die, evidence is lost, said Natasha Minsker, director of the California chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. And it becomes impossible for a person accused of a crime to defend himself or herself.

California is not the first state to weigh changing its statute of limitations on sexual assaults in the wake of the allegations against Cosby. Last year, Nevada lawmakers increased the statute of limitations for rape prosecutions from four years to 20 years after a Cosby accuser pushed for the change.

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Leyvas bill would not result in Cosbys prosecution in California for any previous allegations. The bill would only apply to crimes committed after Jan. 1, 2017, or to incidents where the statute of limitations hadnt run out by that date. The bill now moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

liam.dillon@latimes.com

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More than a thousand feet below the surface, the ocean floor seemed to come alive before the eyes  and cameras  of a team of scientists.

While studying biodiversity at the Hannibal Bank Seamount, an underwater mountain off the coast of Panama, the researchers spotted something unusual from their submarines.

We saw a cloud, a really big cloud, said Jesus Pineda, a biological oceanographer at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. We were thinking, what in the world is this?

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What looked like rocky structures started to move and jump. Thousands of red crabs had amassed into a swarm and began scuttling along the seafloor, kicking up a 30-foot-high cloud of mud in their wake.

Pineda and fellow scientists captured the mesmerizing scene on video back in April 2015, describing their unexpected findings in a new study published in the journal PeerJ.

The swarm of red crabs photographed from a submarine. (Jesus Pineda / Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

The scientists had originally set out to study biodiversity around the seamount and what makes the underwater mountains such ecological hot spots. After the team spotted the swarm of crabs on their last diving mission of the monthlong survey, their focus changed.

The scientists used DNA samples to identify the species of crab as Pleuroncodes planipes, a species most common in the warmer waters off Baja California. While scientists arent sure how far south the species range goes, previous studies have drawn the line around Costa Rica. The sighting in Panama suggests a new record for how far south populations of P. planipes occur.

A few months after Pinedas expedition, P. planipes was making headlines in California. In June 2015, thousands of the red crabs washed ashore in San Diego. Later that summer, they were filmed invading the Channel Islands.

Red crabs are also called squat lobsters and tuna crab for the yellowfin tuna that eat them. As juveniles, the crabs are pelagic, meaning they spend their time swimming and drifting in the water. But that makes them vulnerable to changing ocean currents, especially in El Nino conditions.

While its unlikely the Panamanian swarm is connected with the mass strandings in California, its unusual for a single species to occur so abundantly in two wildly different habitats, the authors wrote.

The scientists were also astonished by the sheer number of crabs they found at Hannibal Seamount.

Along the study route, the team counted three tightly packed groupings of red crabs. Measurements from an autonomous underwater vehicle showed the crab clusters were densest toward the center, with up to 78 individuals per square meter. This swarming structure has also been seen in insects, krill and schooling fish.

Pineda said P. planipes have never been seen in such high densities before, which means the species probably occurs even further south than Panama.

We just havent found them yet, he said.

The team still has unanswered questions about Hannibal Seamount and plans to return.

Seamounts attract a diverse array of ocean life, but scientists arent exactly sure why. According to one hypothesis, underwater mountains redirect ocean currents and nutrients closer to the surface, where theres light. That allows phytoplankton and plants to grow, followed by all the larger fish and animals above them on the food chain.

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Theyre called suicide bombers, but the children sent by Nigerian terror group Boko Haram to detonate bombs and kill people are not given a choice. They are mostly girls, some as young as 8.

Boko Harams cruelty to children  its killings, abductions, coerced marriages, slavery and forced suicide bombings  plumbs a horrifying low that other Islamist extremists have yet to reach.

The groups leader, Abubakar Shekau, shocked the world with his grim smile as he announced that 276 schoolgirls abducted in Chibok, in Nigerias Borno state, in April 2014 would be sold into slavery.

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Since then the group has ramped up the use of children as bombers, according to a report Tuesday by UNICEF called Beyond Chibok.

Last year, 44 children were sent by Boko Haram to detonate bombs in crowded places such as mosques, markets and a displaced persons camp, up from four the year before. Three quarters of them were girls.

The use of children, especially girls, as suicide bombers has become one of the defining and alarming features of the conflict, the report said.

Between January 2014 and February 2016, there were 40 suicide attacks involving one more children, 21 of them in Cameroon, 17 in Nigeria and two in Chad, according to the report.

Women and girls in the regions wear long loose gowns, making it easy to conceal explosives.

In January, two female bombers hit a mosque in Kolofata, northern Cameroon, killing at least 10. A few days later a boy detonated a bomb at a mosque in Nguetchewe village in Cameroon, killing four. In March, 22 people died in Nigeria after two female bombers detonated devices.

In February, 58 people were killed in Dikwa, Nigeria, when two females detonated bombs. A third member of the bombing mission decided not to set off her explosives, because she spotted her family in the camp, according to Nigerian media citing authorities.

Boko Haram is fighting to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria and last year pledged allegiance to the Islamic State extremist group. In recent months, military forces from Nigeria and neighboring countries have freed thousands of people, including women and girls who had been abducted and forced to become sexual slaves.

Doune Porter, UNICEF spokeswoman in Nigeria, last week met girls in Maiduguri, the capital of Nigerias Borno state, who had been imprisoned by Boko Haram, many of them traumatized by repeated rapes and abuse.

Some had seen their friends forced by Boko Haram to carry out bombings.

Porter said the bombings couldnt be called suicide attacks because the children were either forced to carry them out or were not of an age to understand the consequences of their actions. Some may have been misled or brainwashed by adults.

I met one girl who told me two of her friends were forced to carry out bombings. She said they didnt want to do it. They were forced to do it.

One of them told me that girls who had refused to marry Boko Haram soldiers had been forced to act as so-called suicide bombers, Porter said. They were all girls who were captured by Boko Haram when it took over their villages.

Now, many of them are facing fear from their communities. Thats one of the terrible, tragic effects of using children to carry out bombings. When they return to their communities, they very often face stigmatization and isolation because theyre seen as being tainted by Boko Haram.

The report warned that abducted girls faced the risk of being rejected and even killed by suspicious communities.

Many of the girls and women forced into marriage with Boko Haram fighters are in displaced persons camps in Maiduguri. Some told Porter their parents had been killed in Boko Haram attacks. Others didnt know where their parents were. But some had found their parents and been accepted by them.

Theyre all very traumatized, Porter said. They have gone through the most awful beatings and rapes. Some of them have been raped by many different people, some by just one man. Some of them are pregnant or have had children.

One girl told me she was held in a house and there were 20 girls and women ranging from 12 years old to middle-aged women. And Boko Haram soldiers would just come and rape them.

One 17-year-old from Cameroon was visiting her mother in a Nigerian village when Boko Haram attacked, abducted her, locked her in a house and forced her to marry a fighter, according to the report. She became pregnant and gave birth to a boy while in captivity.

When she was freed and arrived in a displaced persons camp, she faced suspicion and hostility.

When I arrived at the camp, I didnt have anything, she told UNICEF researchers. I had to borrow from people. Some women would beat me, they would chase me away. They said, you are a Boko Haram wife, dont come near us!

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If I used their washing basin to clean, they would say, You are Boko Haram wife, dont touch our basin. Everywhere I went, they would abuse me and call me a Boko Haram wife. I felt as if I was neglected; I did not have anybody to help or support me.

When I feel sadness in my heart, sometimes I cry and wipe my tears away.

About 2.3 million people, including 1.3 million children, have been displaced by the crisis, according to UNICEF. More than 670,000 children are not able to go to school because of the conflict.

Boko Haram attacks prevented farmers from planting crops, herders from keeping cattle and fisherman from going to fish in Lake Chad. UNICEF last year assisted 93,000 in the region with severe chronic malnutrition.

Follow @RobynDixon_LAT for news from Africa.

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A German rail dispatcher was playing an online game on his cellphone shortly before two trains he was in charge of collided on a single-track line, killing 11 people, prosecutors said Tuesday.

The unnamed dispatcher was arrested on suspicion of negligent homicide, prosecutors in the Bavarian town of Traunstein said in a statement.

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The two trains were filled with commuters when they collided head-on Feb. 9 near the town of Bad Aibling, about 40 miles southeast of Munich. It was one of Germanys worst rail accidents in recent history.

Prosecutors said the man had been actively playing a game on his cellphone for an extended period of time until shortly before the crash. Rail dispatcher rules forbid the use of personal cellphones at work.

Due to the close timing, it must be assumed that the accused was distracted from controlling the cross-traffic of the trains, the statement said. This likely led the dispatcher to give the trains the wrong signals and then, once he noticed his error, to fumble the emergency call by pressing the wrong combination of buttons, meaning the train drivers were unable to hear it, prosecutors said.

The man acknowledged during questioning that he had played a game, but denied having been distracted by this, they said.

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So far, investigators havent been able to find any indication of a technical problem that might have caused or contributed to the crash, prosecutors said.

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The severe drought in Ethiopia has made headline news. But it has also scorched northern Somalia, a region far less able to cope with the impact.

About 385,000 people are already facing a hunger crisis in semiautonomous Somaliland and Puntland, to the east.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, says an estimated 1.7 million people, nearly 40% of the 4.6 million people living in these areas, are in need of humanitarian assistance and livelihood support.

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Of these, 1.3 million people are at risk of slipping into acute food insecurity if they do not receive assistance, it warned.

Ali Sheikh Omar Qabil, director of Somalilands Family Health Department at the Ministry of Health, said that the El Nino-linked drought had affected more than 650,000 people in Somaliland, and was particularly bad in its western regions. People are suffering hunger, diseases and high rates of malnutrition, he said.

Although the total number in need in neighboring Ethiopia is far greater  potentially 16 million could be drought-affected by the middle of this year out of a population of nearly 100 million  Somalia is far poorer, its government is less effective, and humanitarian access is much more limited.

As a result of El Nino, two consecutive rainy seasons have failed in Somaliland and Puntland.

Somalilands worst-affected regions are the scrublands of Awdal and Selel, whose shallow watercourses normally rejuvenate the arid land when it rains, providing pasture for livestock.

The forecasts for the Gu rains (April to June) are less than favorable, according to an OCHA statement. It has appealed for $105 million to urgently scale up critical, life-saving aid and to build resilience in northern Somalia. If funding is not secured now, the consequences will be grave, it added.

There have already been malnutrition-related deaths in Somaliland. We know of about 12 persons who have died from malnutrition and hunger in the drought-affected areas of the region, Adwal Gov. Mohamoud Ali Ramah said.

Pastoralists have been forced farther afield in a search for grazing. The Somaliland military and private transporters have been able to truck some of those who become stranded back to their areas of origin, including between 700 and 1,000 families from Ethiopias Somali region who crossed the eastern border looking for pasture.

People are walking from the Guban plateau toward the southern Oogo [mountains] after they lost all of their animals, said Muhumed Abdi, from Gerisa village in the Selel region. They are leaving behind whatever dies  whether human being or animal.

Aden Buhane, a member of Awdal regions drought response committee, said: We are worried about the agro-pastoralists in Somaliland, because they lost their animals in the drought and they finished their stored food.

Hamda Osmans has lost his entire herd.

The last one of my 18 cattle passed away last night, and we are running out of foodstuffs because we used to feed it our stored sorghum, she said in Bus village, in the Gabiley region.

The lack of water and pasture is also forcing people to rely on private trucked water supplies, increasing the farmers costs and indebtedness.

Hamse Qalinle worries about his familys future. In [March 2014], I had $200 in savings, 10 [110-pound] sacks of sorghum and 20 cattle. But this year I have only five cattle, which need to be fed like children. It will be difficult to survive if rains do not come very soon.

People are turning their hands to whatever they can to make ends meet. After we lost our animals in the drought and our stored food ran out, we started to burn the trees for charcoal, which we sell in the market to feed our families, said Husein Abdillahi, a father of five in Bus.

Food insecurity isnt the only problem. There has been a measles outbreak in eastern Somaliland, with 29 cases confirmed in Buhoodle in the Togdheer region, on the Puntland border. Drought-affected pastoralists from Somaliland and Puntland have been moving into villages in the area, increasing the health risks and putting more pressure on struggling communities.

Other diseases have broken out, including diarrhea, cough, pneumonia, and this is complicating [the situation for] the vulnerable children affected by the drought, said Mohamoud Omar Yabe, coordinator of the Public Health Department in the Awdal region.

Neighboring Persian Gulf states -- Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait -- have reportedly begun to deliver some aid to Somaliland, but the extent of that assistance is unclear.

OCHA points out that funding levels are particularly low for critical sectors such as food security and nutrition. Of the $885 million requested in the 2016 Humanitarian Response Plan, only $97 million, or 11%, has been received so far.

We have reached a critical point in Puntland and Somaliland, Peter de Clercq, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, said in the OCHA statement.

Urgent action is required right now. If not, we risk a rapid and deep deterioration of the situation, as drought conditions may worsen in the coming months.

Jibril writes for IRIN News Agency. Read this story on their website here.
Youre a world leader, and have just received a generous aid and investment package from a rich ally. How do you respond to such largesse? If youre Egypts Abdul Fattah Sisi, you apparently give away an island. Or two.

Egypts strongman is facing a massive wave of domestic criticism after his Cabinet announced that Egypt was ceding two Red Sea islands to neighboring Saudi Arabia.

A statement issued by 82 public personalities on Tuesday, including two former presidential candidates, slammed the newly signed maritime border deal and called on parliament to veto it.

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The two islands are considered an Egyptian property and the constitution, which was approved by Egyptians, prevents any authority from ceding any parts of Egyptian territory, the statement read.

On Saturday evening, Egypts Cabinet abruptly announced that a joint Egyptian-Saudi technical group had determined that the islands of Tiran and Sanafir in the Red Seas Gulf of Aqaba fall within regional Saudi maritime waters.

Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Sisi, left, shakes hands with Saudi Arabias King Salman in Cairo before the monarch ended his visit to Egypt on April 11, 2016. (Sherif Abdel Minoem / Associated Press)

The statement came during Saudi King Salmans five-day visit to Cairo, where representatives of the two countries signed 17 financial deals and memorandums of understanding worth about $1.7 billion, including a bridge over the Red Sea that will connect the two countries.

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council members such as the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have been politically and financially backing Egypts administration since the army-led ouster of former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

Egyptian opposition members regard relinquishing the disputed islands as a concession in return for Saudi financial aid.

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The agreement came simultaneously with King Salmans visit to Egypt amid talks over economic aid to Egypt, a fact which casts doubt over the time of signing such agreement, the opposition statement added.

On Tuesday, the Egyptian Cabinets Information and Decision Support Center said that the two islands were only put under Egyptian management in 1950 when Egypt and Saudi Arabia wanted to consolidate the Arab military position to face Israel, given the islands strategic position at the mouth of the gulf. The Israeli port of Eilat is at the other end of the gulf.

In May 1967, Egypt blocked the passage of ships through the Strait of Tiran, Israels only maritime passage from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Red Sea, leading to the Six-Day War, which resulted in the Israeli capture of both Tiran and Sanafir and the whole of the Sinai Peninsula.

Israel returned them to Egypt in 1982 under provisions of the Camp David accords.

Neither island has ever been inhabited by either Egyptian or Saudi nationals, and had only a minor Egyptian security presence, aside from one month in 1967 when Egypt deployed soldiers to Tiran during the blockade of the strait.

Under the Camp David accords, a multinational force has been stationed on the islands since 1982 to ensure freedom of navigation through the strait.

Although they have no resorts, the islands nevertheless are famous for their coral reefs and have become a destination for tourists on excursions from the nearby resort town of Sharm Al-Sheikh.

Under the new deal, the strait will be regarded as international waters, rather than under Egyptian sovereignty. Saudi Arabia has already announced that it will honor the Egyptian-Israeli agreements.

Sisi, who was elected president with 96.9% of the vote in 2014, came to power on the strength of a campaign that held protecting Egypts sovereignty among its priorities.

But even ardent Sisi supporters condemned the decision to relinquish the islands.

Addressing the Cabinet on his TV talk-show on Tuesday, journalist and host Ibrahim Eissa -- known for previously backing Sisi against Morsis Muslim Brotherhood group -- launched a scathing attack against handing the islands to Saudi Arabia.

You are wrong if you think that Egyptians will believe that the islands of Tiran and Sanafir are Saudi according to the farcical documents you are presenting, Eissa said.

Are these the best documents you could come up with? You are a disgrace, he added.

Mustafa Kamel Sayed, a political science professor at the American University in Cairo, , said Saudi Arabia has a legal right to the islands. What enraged Egyptians, he said, was the manner in which the demarcation deal was carried out.

The bilateral agreement will be presented to Egypts House of Representatives, which will decide whether to ratify the agreement.

Hassan is a special correspondent. Special correspondent Nabih Bulos in Beirut contributed to this report.

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JERUSALEM  After four years of marriage, Tamar Tessler filed for divorce, taking her infant daughter and embarking on what she hoped would be a new chapter of her life.

Today that daughter is 36 years old  and Tessler is still awaiting the divorce.

Her husband long ago moved to America, said the 61-year-old retired nurse. But under Israeli law, she remains trapped in a defunct marriage that her husband wont allow to end. She cant legally remarry, was obligated as his spouse to repay some of his debts, and lost out on tax breaks for single mothers even though she raised their daughter alone.

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Tessler is one of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Israeli women caught in legal and social limbo because of a law that leaves matters of divorce for all Jewish citizens in the hands of a government-funded religious court.

The court, consisting of a panel of rabbis, bases its decisions on the customs of Orthodox Judaism. The rulings apply to all Jewish Israelis, whether they are Orthodox, Conservative or Reform, observant or secular. And their authority even extends to those who married abroad in civil ceremonies that were registered in Israel. Divorce for non-Jews is handled by their own religious institutions.

Under the courts interpretation of Jewish religious law, a husbands, or wifes, consent is necessary to end a marriage. As has been the case for centuries, a Jewish divorce is not final in Israel until men deliver handwritten divorce decrees into the cupped hands of the women, who then must hold the paper aloft. A rabbi tears the document, called a get, into pieces, which are then filed for record-keeping.

The rabbis can order a reluctant spouse, usually a man, to grant the divorce, and Israels parliament is considering a bill to expand the courts power to apply pressure. But if a spouse refuses to undertake the religious rite, the court says, it doesnt have the power to dissolve the marriage.

Rabbis have upheld the need for consent even in cases where a man has abused his wife, disappeared, lied about his sexuality or molested their children.

Exploiting what amounts to veto power over a divorce, some men demand financial payoffs from the court. Others pressure wives to pay them, give up their homes, forgo child support or waive custody rights.

Womens rights advocates are pushing Israels coalition government, the first in decades that does not include ultra-Orthodox parties, to pass reforms. A report in April by the Israeli religious rights group Hiddush ranked Israel alongside Iran and Saudi Arabia in terms of marriage freedom.

When it comes to matters of divorce, Israel is a theocracy, said Batya Kahana-Dror, executive director of Mavoi Satum, a legal group devoted to helping women obtain divorces.

In Israel, there is no civil marriage, so Jews must wed in accordance with the rabbinates Orthodox customs. Many opt for civil ceremonies abroad, which over the years have become legally recognized in Israel. But while the law has bent to permit different ways into marriage, there is still only one way out: the religious court.

To address the problem of get refusal, the parliament in 1995 gave the rabbinical court expanded legal power to crack down on stubborn spouses by suspending drivers licenses, seizing bank accounts, preventing travel abroad and even imprisoning those who dont comply with an order to grant a divorce. One man has spent more than 10 years in jail.

Womens groups say the 1995 law hasnt made much difference because the court uses sanctions in less than 2% of cases. They recently pushed through a bill to include female members for the first time on the panel that appoints the courts rabbis, in an effort to make the court more sensitive to womens needs.

The court rabbis insist that they are trying to help.

We are extremely sensitive to the situation in which a woman may be left without a divorce and go to great lengths to resolve it, said Eli Maimon, a rabbi assigned to assisting the wives.

The court hires former members of the countrys spy agency to find missing husbands, posts a most wanted list on its website, and works with rabbis and womens groups around the world to shame men by banning them from the local synagogue or protesting at their homes.

In April, a recalcitrant husband who had moved to the United States and returned to Israel on vacation was shocked to find himself being arrested, while sipping wine with his girlfriend in a Jerusalem bar, for violating the courts divorce order. After a night in jail, he signed the papers.

By the morning they are begging to give the divorce, Maimon said, adding that 10 men are currently in prison. In ancient times, you could beat a divorce out of a man, but we cant do that today under Israeli law.

Women also have the ability to block divorces. But activists say there is a loophole for men  getting 100 rabbis to say its OK for him to remarry  and the burden of divorce denial falls much heavier on women.

Activists estimate that about 1 in 5 women who seek a divorce  or about 3,400 women a year  is denied by her husband. Many cases are settled, but others drag on for years or decades in a process women say is skewed against them.

The biggest concern is a religious law that says if a woman has children with another man before divorce is granted, those children and their descendants will be deemed illegitimate and not allowed to marry in Israel under current law. The law does not apply to men.

Tessler, who first filed for divorce in 1977, says shes given up on starting a new family. She had a 15-year relationship with another man, but he left after she refused to have children because theyd be branded a bastard.

But she still wants a divorce to prevent her husband from collecting her pension after she dies, which she said would be the final injustice. Her husband could not be reached for comment.

Her daughter has been in a long-term relationship and wants children. But there are no plans for a wedding and Tessler isnt surprised.

She doesnt want to hear the word marriage, said Tessler, who lives with her two dogs north of Tel Aviv. You shouldnt need a piece of paper to be happy. I had that piece of paper and it gave me nothing but trouble my entire life.

edmund.sanders@latimes.com

News assistant Batsheva Sobelman in The Times Jerusalem bureau contributed to this report.
A car bombing Tuesday in Lebanons southern port city of Sidon killed an official with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah faction in what some observers suspect was an attempt to exacerbate tensions within the refugee community.

Fathi Zeidan, secretary of the Palestinian refugee camp Mieh Mieh, was killed when a bomb planted under the seat of his car exploded, according to the official Lebanese National News Agency. Local media outlets reported four other casualties from the blast.

Mieh Mieh, located approximately 24 miles south of Beirut, the Lebanese capital, is one of two major camps in Sidon and is home to some 5,250 registered refugees, according to figures provided by the U.N. Relief and Works Agency. It is dwarfed by the nearby Ein al-Hillweh camp, which houses more than 54,000 refugees.

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Both Ein al-Hillweh and Mieh Mieh are controlled and policed by a number of Palestinian factions. Lebanese authorities are not allowed into the camps but maintain a presence through checkpoints on the roads connecting them and around them.

The bomb, which weighed about one kilogram, killed Zeidan instantly, according to a statement released by the Lebanese army. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast.

Fatah officials, in statements to local media, said the explosion occurred after Zeidan had departed to Ein al-Hillweh from a meeting of the Palestinian factions held in Mieh Mieh to discuss security arrangements in the camps.

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Zeidan was demanding in the meeting he attended today to strengthen the security procedures in Mieh Mieh camp, said Maj. Gen. Munir Maqdah, head of a Palestinian force tasked with maintaining security in the Palestinian camps in Sidon, in an interview with Lebanese broadcaster LBC.

The killing of Zeidan, who was nicknamed Zorro and was described as a calming presence in Mieh Mieh, comes before the backdrop of increased tensions in the Palestinian camp, which are thought by many Lebanese to be hideouts of many people wanted by the authorities.

The crisis in neighboring Syria, where rival Palestinian factions have joined the fighting between the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad and the opposition seeking to end his rule, has contributed to the problems.

NEWSLETTER: Get the days top headlines from Times Editor Davan Maharaj >>

State media said a committee composed of officials from the Palestinian refugee camps had been formed to coordinate investigations undertaken by the Lebanese authorities.

Bulos is a special correspondent.

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Some are convinced applications for H-1B visas hitting their maximum limit of 85,000 over the first five days of being made available is emblematic of an improving U.S. job market, particularly in the highly skilled area of technology.

"It's been very typical for the cap to be exhausted every year since 2001," American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) President Bill Stock told the Latin Post of the foreign workers visa program. "It hasn't lasted for an entire fiscal year since then, but the pace at which the visas went this year is far quicker quicker than other years."

Stock also based his reasoning on comparing this year's pace to that between the years of 2009 through 2011, a time when the U.S. economy was in the depths of a prolonged recession and applications for the visas were still available much later in the process.

All Additional Applications for This Year to be Handled by Random Lottery

U.S. Citizens and Immigrations Services (USCIS) officials recently announced that additional applications for the skilled-worker visas for this year will be handled via a random lottery system, but the date of which remains undetermined

While Stock and others maintain the most recent development is yet another indication that lawmakers need to reform immigration policy, so that companies will have the authority to hire even more skilled immigrants, critics argue the program is simply another way for businesses to force Americans into competing with foreigners for jobs, thereby driving down wages for all U.S. workers.

They further contend that such programs pave the way for outsourcing because companies bring in foreigners to train them here, and then ship the jobs back overseas.

Presidential Candidates Weigh in on H-1B

Indeed, immigration has become among the most critical issues this 2016 presidential election season, with the debate over the H-1B program right at the center of much of the wrangling.

Even while acknowledging that he has used the program to employ workers for his many business ventures, Republican front-runner Donald Trump recently went on record in asserting that the program is "very bad" for workers and should be totally obliterated.

Still, the fact remains, Trump the businessman has made liberal use of the program and is now even being sued by Jamaican model Alexa Palmer, who alleges Trump lured her to New York with the promise and fame and riches at the age of 17 then treated her "like a slave."

Fellow GOP hopeful and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has echoed many of Trump's sentiments, recently arguing that many low-skilled workers are being allowed into the U.S. which has produced a drag on wages for all workers.

Policy wise, Cruz is advocating for a six-month suspension of the H-1B program, time he insists would allow for a "comprehensive investigation and audit of pervasive allegations of abuse of the program."

Beyond that, he only wants to allow individuals into the U.S. on H-1B visas that have advanced degrees in select fields, with a preference given to those who have earned their degrees at American universities.

Meanwhile, top Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have carved out positions on the issue that call for a raise on the cap limit and the implementation of whatever programs best assure wages for workers will start to tick upward..

Stock too supports such a program, though he worries that the polar opposite positions taken by the respective parties on the issue of immigration as a whole make it highly unlikely anything along at all will be done anytime soon.

"All pieces of the immigration puzzle have become tied together," he said. "There is very little appetite in Congress for anything to be done on immigration on a piecemeal basis."
A former anti-government student who defected to Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen's side in 2009 and eventually appointed ambassador to South Korea faces charges of corruption. Suth Dina, who became envoy to Seoul in 2014, faces a maximum jail term of fifteen years, if convicted of all the charges.

Investigators of the government's Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) allege that Dina's assets increased by $3 M during his tenure as the top Cambodian diplomat to South Korea, AP reported. He denied charges of wrongdoing telling reporters that "My arrest is unjust," as he entered the Phnom Penh Municipal Court to hear accusation of embezzlement and abuse of power.

ACU said in a statement that their investigation revealed Dina had $7.2 M in cash, a substantial increase from $4.2 M when he assumed his ambassadorial position two years ago. He also owns 13 kilograms (29 pounds) of gold worth $500,000.

The anti-corruption watchdog sent investigators to South Korea where thousands of Cambodians work to uncover their findings. Soon after assuming his post as ambassador, Dina was criticized by former Foreign Minister Hor Namhong for allowing his relatives to interfere with the affairs of the embassy. Last year, Dina warned Cambodian workers in Korea against attending opposition meetings or risk losing their jobs and be repatriated.

Cambodia is ranked as one of the world's most corrupt countries and the stigma has become a political albatross on long-staying Prime Minister Hun Sen whose Cambodia People's Party narrowly escaped with a victory against an unexpected strong challenge from the opposition in the 2013 general election.

Yom Ontieng, head of ACU, said in a press conference that Dina embezzled $180,000 from the embassy and that any asset of Dina, if illegally obtained, can be seized, according to Herald Courier.

ACU also alleges that Dina kept insurance payouts for Cambodian workers who died in Korea, said Age Times.

ACU has arrested dozens of people including a foreign ministry official for allegedly taking bribes from an overseas company.
Thousand protesters rallied in the capital city of Malta demanding the Prime Minister of the country to step down from his position. The prime minister's close allies has been named on the recent "Panama papers" leak scandal.

According to Israel National News, Maltese call out Prime Minister Joseph Muscat as they gathered Malta's capital city. It was reported, Panama Papers documents show a wider group of Maltese business figures who are regarded as allies of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat used offshore companies.

Simon Busuttil, the head of the opposition group said Muscat is shaming their country. "You have lost the moral authority to govern," Busuttil added. However, the Maltese prime minister said last Wednesday, he gather all the facts and then decide on what he will do.

The opposition group arranged the protests, out the prime minister's office in the city of Valleta, the Guardian reported. The Prime Minister has not yet responded on the said protests. The Nationalist party opposition also wants Konrad Mizzi, the health and energy minister as well as Muscat's Labour party head deputy and Keith Schembri, Muscat's chief of staff to vacate their positions.

The Panama Papers showed how Mizzi, and Schembri, set up secret holdings in Panama and linked a trust in New Zealand, Reuters reported. Both close political allies of the prime minster denied any misconduct. Mizzi also said, he made the arrangement in order to facilitate his family's asset.

On Thursday, the health and energy minister told the Labour Party that he is ready on whatever the prime minister will decide. Schembri, on the other hand has also the same case with Mizzi, in which he allegedly set up a company and a trust in Panama.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists published a huge leak of documents, known as the Panama Papers on Sunday. It has since became controversial as it allegedly disclosed a secret network between Russian President Vladimir Putin's associates and business ties between a member of FIFA's ethics committee and men whom were indicted by the US authorities for corruption.
Kyrgyzstan Prime Minister Temir Sariyev resigned Monday amid allegations of corruption involving a road construction project in ex-Soviet nation. President Almazbek Atanbayev quickly accepted the PMs resignation.

PM Sariyev decided to step down after serving the office for less than a year to "preserve stability in the country." Sariyev is currently facing allegations of corruptions where he allegedly personally profited from the $100 million road construction project, as claimed by his critics, including Transport Minister Argynbek Malabayev. The prime minister's resignation comes two days before a parliamentary commission was to present the result of its investigation concerning the road construction project that was marred by allegations of graft.

Transport Minister Malabayev claimed that his deputy had come with the prime minister's team to get the interest of the Long Hai company that won the bid.

Prime Minister Sariyev denied the accusations of corruption against him and that his critics failed to prove their claims. The office has yet to announce who will replace the resigned PM.

Sariyev is the 28th prime minister to serve the Central Asian nation ever since it became independent in 1991. Since then, Kyrgyzstan had two presidents driven out by violent protests. He was also a presidential candidate for the 2009 elections where he received 157,005 votes.

Sariyev's case is not the first one in terms of corruption in the office. Last July 22, 2015, the police arrested the head of the president's office, Daniyar Narymbaev, who was charged with fraud. Narymbaev's arrest was done because of allegations that ex-Bishkek Mayor Nariman Tyuleev's relatives were trying to bribe Narymbaev $100,000 in exchange for an easier and favoral review of Tyuleev's corruption case.

Kyrgyzstan is still battling with corruption up to date. Graft and corruption is still rampant despite government's efforts and anti-corruption campaigns. According to analysts, the government's failure to fight this problem is due to two primary factors: it is unable to reverse longstanding public trust for judicial institutions and its campaig's focus is more on prosecuting individuals instead of reforming corrupt institutions.

Analyst Shairbek Juraev, Director of the Central Asian Studies Institute at the American University of Central Asia, said that the government of Kyrgyzstan targets relatively easy cases based on "who is networked and who is not" instead of finding the root of corruption in highest places. Another issue the government is facing is the loss of trust by the public due to perception that trial proceedings are opportunistically timed. Analysts say that the true measure of a good anti-corruption campaigns is good citizen participation and public confidence.
A Kentucky Attorney General has filed a lawsuit against the state's governor on Monday following his action to cut the budget funding for state schools without the approval of the legislation.

According to WBIR News, Democratic Attorney General Andy Beshear sued Republican Governor Matt Bevin after the latter ordered the cutting of budget for education without the legislative approval. The governor has previously proposed $650 million in spending cuts over the next two years for paying down the Kentucky's public pension debt which is being estimated to more than $30 billion. The governor included that there will be a 4.5 % reduction or $41 million for the state's colleges and universities in the last three months of the fiscal year.

ABC News reported that Beshear has filed the suit in Franklin County Circuit Court as his answer to the governor's 'unconstitutional and illegal order.' He hopes that the judge will release the funding for the schools and requests for an expedited court review. Meanwhile, Bevin's spokeswoman said that the office strongly disagrees with the Attorney general and will respond as necessary in court.

According to Beshear, the governor's action violated the state Constitution's separate of powers provision and state laws for conditions regarding cutting budget. Beshear said "I do not take any joy or satisfaction out of this action. Over the last seven days, it was my hope that the governor would listen to reason, comply with the law and rescind his order. He did not."

Reuters wrote that the presidents of University of Kentucky, Morehead State University and other schools have responded to Bevin on Friday, saying that they are prepared to stomach cutting funds. They are trusting on the governor that he will be able to commit new investments in higher education for the year 2019-2020.

This is not the first time an Attorney general has filed a suit against a Republican governor as there is one in 2004 which was won by the former.
In the midst of investigations on Panama Papers, Peru officials seized accounting documents in a local office of Panama-based law firm, Mossack Fonseca. The raid was aimed at collecting evidences of probable fraud and tax evasion that helped the rich and prominent personalities around the world hide their assets and established tax havens.

According to GMA Network, a team of 20 Peru tax officers arrived at Mossack Fonseca office and collected its pertinent documents that would validate the authenticity of the Panama Papers. A group of police officers was also seen standing and holding shields in San Isidro, Lima's financial district. Monica de Ycaza, the company's representative, claimed that she was collaborating with the investigators during the search.

In a separate report of Business Standard, a group of Panamanian prosecutors visited Mossack to check the firm's system. They were looking into the possibility if a computer hacker was behind the Panama Paper's leakage. Sandra Sotillo, the Public Ministry spokeswoman said that the law firm was visited by investigators from the intellectual property prosecutor's office. "Finally the real criminals are being investigated," firm co-founder Ramon Fonseca said in a message to The Associated Press.

Meanwhile, Grey Hat Security researchers found that there was a flaw in the security system of Mossack. As reported by The Register, a self-styled underground researcher reportedly discovered a SQL injection flaw in one of the computer systems of Mossack's lawyers. One of the security intelligence said that the Panama Papers firm had very low security level that made hackers gained its entry easier.

"They updated the new payment CMS, but forgot to lock the directory /onion/," the researcher said.

Mossack is at the center of worldwide investigation following Panama Papers leakage that involved huge names in the alleged tax havens. The company has maintained claims that they were innocent on the issue. The Panama government has declared that it is going to do further investigations on the Panama Papers. Panama President Juan Carlos Varela who has high expectations in the country's financial sector said that he's willing to make amendments to make tit more transparent.
The alleged gunman in a gang-related shooting in Bethlehem is now facing trial for an Allentown shooting that same weekend.

Elias Zachariah Ariza, of the 1600 block of Major Street in Bethlehem. (Photo courtesy Bethlehem Police Department)A

Elias Zachariah Ariza, 19, and Abram Jose Rios, 19, both of Bethlehem, were in court Tuesday for preliminary hearings on accusations they fired from a pickup truck as it chased a Chevrolet Suburban on Jan. 31.

Samuel Duarte, 39, of Allentown, was shot in the head, and was treated at a local trauma center. Police previously said Ariza was driving the truck.

The two men waived their preliminary hearings, sending all the charges to Lehigh County Court. Both remain in jail on $250,000 bail in the Lehigh cases.

Prosecutors declined to say if the Allentown shooting was related to the Bethlehem shootings. Assistant District Attorney Christine Murphy refused to say if the Allentown shooting was also gang related.

Authorities said Ariza and another teen, Omar Yadiel Quinones, opened fire Jan. 30 on two rival gang members in Bethlehem as part of a dispute over a girl.

Quinones allegedly shot 14-year-old Taron Walker at least eight times, while Ariza is accused of shooting 16-year-old Kyre Williams in the knee. Authorities said Quinones is a member of the Crips gang, and the two victims were members of the Bloods.

Ariza and Quinones had their preliminary hearings in that case last month.

In the Allentown shooting, Ariza was charged with three counts each of attempted homicide, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment, as well as two firearms violations.

Rios was charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, three counts of reckless endangerment and four firearms violations.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Last school year, one Bethlehem school district student attended Executive Education Academy Charter School in Allentown.

The school district thinks families are lying about living within district boundaries. (Lehighvalleylive.com file photo)

Suddenly this school year, the charter school had upwards of 80 Bethlehem students enrolled. This gave the Bethlehem Area School District pause since few, if any, of the students had ever been enrolled in district schools.

"That's huge," said Russell Giordano, district chief human resources officer.

Charter schools are free privately operated public schools that are funded by tax dollars. A student's home school district sends tuition payments to the charter school.

For a district that expects to spend $26 million to educate 2,068 students in cyber and charter schools next year, students falsely enrolling at charter schools come at a real cost -- more than $10,000 per regular education students and about $21,000 per special education student.

Bethlehem hired DBM Investigations and Consulting earlier this year to investigate residency claims of both district and charter school students. So far, DBM has been paid $5,000.

The firm's recovered $83,000 for six students and has another case pending to bring the total to $100,000, Giordano said. There are 20 more cases that will be investigated, he said.

"These are just the most glaring ones we have given to the investigator," Giordano said. "... I think this was a good investment."

Bethlehem suspects it is seeing an uptick in families falsely claiming to live within the district because the Allentown School District has capped the number of Allentown students that can enroll in certain charters, Superintendent Joseph Roy said. Charter schools are not as stringent about checking out the residency of students, Roy said.

When it approved the charters, the Allentown School Board capped enrollment of its own students at both Executive Education Academy and the Arts Academy Elementary charter school.

"That is an incentive for parents to claim their child lives in Bethlehem so they can get in that charter," Roy said.

When asked if Bethlehem could negotiate similar caps with charter schools, Roy said he's not sure if he wants to do that to his neighbors.

"I don't agree with that approach Allentown has taken," Roy said.

The district has not decided whether it will pursue criminal charges against the family for fraud or theft of services.

"I don't know that is the route we want to go," Roy said, adding these are cases of repeated deception and falsification of records.

The district also has families enrolling children and lying about living in the district as well and is working to identify them, he said.

The district immediately stops payment to the charter schools, notifies them why and requests reimbursement. The charters could send reimbursements or the district could withhold the money from future payments.

Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com.com. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
A 33-year-old man is set to be arraigned Tuesday morning on charges including attempted homicide stemming from a 2012 shooting in a Bethlehem Township hotel, township police and court documents confirm.

The case came through the Northampton County Investigative Grand Jury and the paperwork was released Monday by county Judge Michael Koury Jr., township police Sgt. Rick Blake said.

The Comfort Inn in 2012 in Bethlehem Township, Pennsylvania, was a focal point of an investigation into drugs, prostitution, pimping and gang activity, police say. (Lehighvalleylive.com file photo)

Angel Alexander Ruiz, who is currently in state prison in Indiana, Pennsylvania, will answer for the first time to charges involving the shooting of Manuel Rodriguez-Valcarcel.

Rodriguez-Valcarce was 30 and living in the 700 block of Dellwood Street in Bethlehem when he was hit by two rounds on Dec. 12, 2012, in a hallway of the Comfort Inn off Route 22 in the township, Blake said.

The investigation -- which touched on several things, including the overdose death of an exotic dancer and the recovery of more than 1,400 bags of heroin another day at the same hotel -- ties together heroin use with prostitution, pimping and gang activity, Blake said.

More details in previously sealed court papers will be released Tuesday after the arraignment.

The shooting was fueled by Ruiz and another still unknown man wanting to rob Rodriguez-Valcarcel, who was pimping prostitutes at the hotel, Blake said. The unknown man fired the gun, although both he and Ruiz were armed, Blake said.

A third man, Ian Andre Payne, faces lesser charges in court papers that were sealed about a month ago due to the connection to the grand jury investigation, Blake said. Police believe Payne drove Ruiz and the other man to the hotel, Blake said.

Records show Payne on Monday night was in Northampton County Prison.

The motive for the shooting was money, because the men believed Rodriguez-Valcarcel had a significant amount of cash from his illicit business, Blake said.

It is not clear if Rodriguez-Valcarcel knew the gunmen, Blake said.

Ruiz will be arraigned by video at 9:30 a.m. in District Judge Patricia Broscius' township court on charges of attempted homicide, attempted robbery resulting in serious injury, conspiracy to do the same, two counts of aggravated assault and reckless endangering another person, documents show.

A preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled 9 a.m. April 21, court paper say.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
angel alexander ruiz

Angel Alexander Ruiz was charged April 12, 2016, with attempted homicide for a shooting Dec. 12, 2012, at the Comfort Inn in Bethlehem Township.

(Courtesy photo)

A convicted robber was charged Tuesday with trying to kill a man in Bethlehem Township more than three years ago.

Angel Alexander "Omega" Ruiz shot Manuel "Qash" Rodriguez-Valcarcel in a dispute over a prostitute, according to a grand jury report unsealed Monday.

The report says Jessica Hartman was at the Comfort Inn on Highfield Drive between 3 and 3:30 p.m. Dec. 12, 2012. She argued with Valcarcel over what share he would receive for Hartman's sexual services, which were advertised on backpage.com.

She sent a text message to Ian Payne, telling him she was being held against her will and was afraid. Police believe Ruiz and another man, both wearing masks, went to confront Valcarcel.

Valcarcel was walking down the hall with alleged prostitute Jill Durn when the men ordered him to hand over his money. When he refused one of the men yelled "Shoot him! Shoot him!" and the other fired four or five times, hitting Valcarcel once in the leg and one in the abdomen.

Ian Payne

He underwent emergency surgery in a local hospital.

Bethlehem Township police Sgt. Rick Blake said charges were filed Tuesday because witnesses who had disappeared since the crime recently resurfaced. Among those witnesses were women working as prostitutes at the hotel.

The shooting was within months of the overdose death of an exotic dancer and the recovery of more than 1,400 bags of heroin at the same hotel. Blake has said the hotel at that time was a site for heroin use with prostitution, pimping and gang activity.

Ruiz put his head in his hand and cried Tuesday in Northampton County Prison as District Judge Patricia Broscius arraigned him via video. She set bail at $100,000, but he said he is already serving seven to 15 years in prison for a Lehigh County robbery.

Blake said the crime was perpetrated by members of the Bounty Hunter Bloods gang.

He said Payne was charged three weeks ago for his participation in the incident. The person with Ruiz during the shooting is still at large, Blake said.

After the shooting, Payne told Hartman the situation with Valcarcel had been handled, and Valcarcel wouldn't have been shot if he hadn't struggled when they tried to take his money.

Payne called Valcarcel "food," or someone to take advantage of and someone to take money from.

Payne identified Ruiz as a shooter to the grand jury. He said Ruiz acknowledged his participation, pointing to a newspaper article about the shooting and saying, "that's my work." Ruiz named his .40 caliber Glock "Susan," Payne testified.

The Glock turned up in the hands of Bryson Harris on March 8, 2013, when he was fleeing a robbery scene. Harris said he bought the gun from Ruiz for $200, a bargain because the gun had a "history."

Ruiz, 33, is charged with attempted homicide, attempted robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, reckless endangerment and two county of aggravated assault. His address is listed on court papers as the State Correctional Institution at Pine Grove, Pennsylvania.

A grand jury report with Payne's case remains sealed, according to staff for Judge Broscius. Payne, 31, of Philadelphia, is charged with conspiracy to commit robbery, attempted robbery and aggravated assault. His bail is $100,000.

The grand jury investigation started in June 2013.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.
Staff at the former ConAgra Mills facility in Lower Mount Bethel Township quickly addressed a rail car derailment last week, the owner said Monday night.

Ardent Mills began operations on May 29, 2014, combining the flour-milling and related operations of ConAgra Mills and Horizon Milling, a Cargill-CHS joint venture. (Courtesy image | For lehighvalleylive.com)

No one was injured in the incident Wednesday at Arden Mills' Martins Creek facility, company spokeswoman Mary Ann Strombitski said.

Ardent Mills began operating May 29, 2014, combining the flour-milling and related operations of ConAgra Mills and the Cargill-CHS joint venture called Horizon Milling. The company is based in Denver, Colo.

In the derailment last week, 10 empty rail cars were being moved when the last one in the string apparently opened the switch connecting different rail lines wide enough to derail one of the cars, Strombitski said in an email in response to an inquiry from lehighvalleylive.com.

"This single train car subsequently pulled some of the other cars off the track," she wrote. "Ardent Mills team members took swift action to return all of the cars to the alignment in about an hour."

Ardent Mills' operations and services are supported by 40 flour mills, three bakery mix facilities and a specialty bakery, located across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Bolete

Bolete restaurant in Salisbury Township. (Lehighvalleylive.com File Photo)

( )

A man admitted Tuesday to pointing a gun at the owner of an acclaimed Lehigh Valley restaurant during a parking dispute.

Juan Camacho, who owns Camacho Martial Arts Academy, was set to go to trial this week in Lehigh County Court and a jury had been picked Monday.

Instead, Camacho pleaded guilty Tuesday to carrying a firearm without a license and simple assault. He will be sentenced at a later date and remains in Lehigh County Jail. There is no sentencing agreement as part of the plea.

Camacho, of the 2300 block of South 10th Street in Allentown, was accused of pointing a handgun at the co-owner of Bolete on Aug. 22 during a dispute over parking for the Salisbury Township businesses.

Erin Chizmar, who co-owns Bolete with her husband and chef, Lee Chizmar, previously testified that township police were called twice the day before the gun incident because of disputes with Camacho over parking.

Bolete, which opened in 2007 at 1740 Seidersville Road, has a verbal agreement with Camacho's landlord for the restaurant's guests and staff to use the adjacent parking area. Camacho moved his martial arts studio in the spring of 2015 to the building near Seidersville Road, which is in the same block as the restaurant.

On the evening of Aug. 22, Camacho was placing orange cones in parking spots and Chizmar went outside with another employee to speak to him.

"He told me he was going to show me something," then pulled a gun out of his car, Chizmar testified at the preliminary hearing.

The police were called, and officers found Camacho sitting behind a desk at the academy with a .40-saliber handgun on top, police said.

Camacho previously said he planned to close his business "because of so many problems."

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
David Jaindl said he's been inundated with phone calls in the past few days about one of his most recent land purchases.

The developer bought the Nazareth Speedway late last year, but the purchase wasn't publicly disclosed until last Thursday. Since then, folks have been contacting him with the same question: "What are you going to do with the land?"

Jaindl said he's not ready to answer that question.

"We do have ideas but there is nothing that can be disclosed at this point," Jaindl said Monday, adding the portion of the speedway land that is currently being farmed will continue to be farmed for the foreseeable future.

The land sits on nearly 160 acres at the corner of Routes 191 and 248 in Lower Nazareth Township. Daytona, Fla.-based International Speedway Corp. previously owned the land. Although a sales price hasn't been disclosed, ISC as recently as 2012 had been marketing the land for $18.8 million.

The speedway closed in 2004 and had been on the market since 2005. The closing marked the end of an era that lasted nearly a century. Dirt-track racing on the property dates to the early 1900s and Indy cars were among the vehicles that raced there regularly from the 1980s until its closing.

Jaindl, whose North Whitehall Township-headquartered Jaindl Farms raises about 750,000 turkeys annually, said he's preparing a formal statement about the purchase that he intends to release in the coming days because of the level of interest in the property.

"We'd like to try to get some consistent information out there," he said.

Lower Nazareth Township Manager Timm Tenges on Monday said he has met with Jaindl since the deal went through. Tenges described the meeting as more of a courtesy than anything else and noted that Jaindl has not presented any plans.

Tenges said it makes sense that Jaindl plans to continue farming the land on the portion of the property that is already being farmed. Jaindl for decades has owned and farmed other land in the township, he said.

"We're glad to see - at least I'm glad to see - it's the hands of a competent owner," Tenges said. "I'm sure he'll do a good job in taking care of the property."

Nick Falsone may be reached at nfalsone@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickfalsone. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
It was a bittersweet day Friday at the Bethlehem Brew Works as they brewed an IPA.

That's because it was in homage to longtime Brew Works brew master Beau Baden, who has taken a new job with Susquehanna Brewing Co.

Baden joined the Brew Works a decade ago as the Fegley family proprietors were embarking on their new location in Allentown, co-owner Jeff Fegley said. By his last day of work, Baden wasn't an employee, he was a friend.

After brewing Beau's Farewell IPA -- soon to be appearing on tap at the Bethlehem Brew Works -- the staff celebrated Baden in Bethlehem, Fegley said Monday.

Though Baden has a new job, Fegley suspects you'll still be able to spot him at the Allentown or Bethlehem location most Friday nights. And he'll still be consulting for the Brew Works.

Fegley is thrilled for Baden's new opportunity but sad to see him go, he said.

"Susquehanna really needed someone with his expertise," Fegley said. "He saw a great chance for growth there."

Baden played an integral role in designing the brewery in Allentown and for pushing the Fegleys to moving into bottling and sales of its beers outside of the bar, Fegley said.

He's the man behind Brew Works' Devious Imperial Pumpkin, Bourbon Barrel Insidious Imperial Stout, the Hop'solutely Triple IPA, Pawn Shop Porter, the Knuckleball and Steelgaarden Wit.

Brewer Mike Weiboldt has been promoted to head brewer and Matthew Eck's been promoted to lead brewer.

"It was an emotional day on Friday but we are looking forward to working with the new brewers," Fegley said. "We can't wait to see what he does at Susquehanna."

Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com.com. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Lehigh Valley Hospital has announced new names for its children's surgery and cancer treatment centers.

Joined by colleagues, Lehigh Valley Health Network's Dr. Marybeth Browne, a pediatric surgeon, cuts a ribbon April 8, 2016, to open the new J.B. and Kathleen Reilly Children's Surgery Center at the Children's Hospital at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Salisbury Township. The center offers general pediatric surgeries, including surgical urology, ear nose and throat, plastic surgery and dental surgery, all on an outpatient basis. (Courtesy photo | For lehighvalleylive.com)

The Lehigh Valley Health Network on Friday introduced the J.B. and Kathleen Reilly Children's Surgery Center, part of the Children's Hospital at Lehigh Valley Hospital's Cedar Crest Boulevard campus off Interstate 78 in Salisbury Township.

Located on the third floor of the 1210 building, the 15,000-square-foot surgery center began patient care April 4.

It is home to pediatric surgeons who use minimally invasive, state-of-the-art technology for general pediatric surgeries, including surgical urology, ear nose and throat, plastic surgery and dental surgery, all on an outpatient basis, according to the health network.

J.B. Reilly is founder and CEO of City Center Lehigh Valley, a force behind redevelopment in Center City Allentown. Kathleen Reilly is his wife. Their support made the surgery center possible, according to Lehigh Valley Hospital.

The Children's Surgery Center is the latest addition to the Children's Hospital at Lehigh Valley Hospital, which will celebrate its fourth anniversary next month.

Lehigh Valley Health Network on Monday introduced the Angel 34 Children's Cancer and Infusion Center, in recognition of the late Nicole Sheriff and the Angel 34 Foundation she and her father, Doug Sheriff, started when she was 14, after she had been diagnosed with cancer.

The center is tentatively slated to move later this year from Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg in Bethlehem to the Cedar Crest campus in Salisbury Township, in part to consolidate children's specialized care.

Since its inception in 2003, the Angel 34 Foundation has provided over $5.4 million in services, support and cancer research, directly for assistance to patients and families in the Lehigh Valley, according to the health network.

Additionally, Angel 34 made a philanthropic pledge of $3.4 million in 2014 to help build and support the new Children's Cancer and Infusion Center.

Nicole Sheriff (Lehighvalleylive.com file photo)

Nicole Sheriff was a freshman at Northampton Area High School when she died in 2004 from bone cancer. She was 15. Thursday would have been her 27th birthday.

"This new facility has been a hope of ours for years," Doug Sheriff said in a statement. "The new infusion center will enhance the expertise and skills of the doctors and staff that have dedicated their lives to bring much needed services, support and hope for children battling cancer and their families.

"This new facility will change the face of childhood cancer and is only the beginning of greater things to come. We cannot thank everyone enough for their support over the years so that Nicole's wish would come true."

Based in Bushkill Township, Angel 34 provides services and support for children battling cancer including financial assistance, pet therapy, Derek's Camp Flip Flop, medical staffing, ICEE machines to children's cancer centers, cancer research, education, the Angel Field bed-and-breakfast retreat and advocacy.

The first large-scale fundraising events to support the new Angel 34 Children's Cancer and Infusion Center include the Angel 34 and Southern Italy Import International Food and Wine Festival, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sept. 17 at the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks, and Lacing Up for Childhood Cancer Gold Events with local schools, Sept. 19-24.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Two homeless men are charged with forgery and related counts after cashing counterfeit checks in Lehigh Township.

John Sesler is charged with cashing a counterfeit check in Lehigh Township. (Courtesy photo | For lehighvalleylive.com)

John F. Selser, 44, who faces but has not been arraigned on similar charges out of South Whitehall Township, had been jailed in Philadelphia, township police said. He was arraigned Monday morning in front of District Judge Robert Hawke on the Lehigh Township charges.

Michael Gavin pleaded guilty March 8 to a South Whitehall forgery charge after five other counts were withdrawn, and was sentenced to 12 months of probation. He has yet to be arraigned on similar Lehigh Township charges because he failed to report to his probation officer, police said.

On March 3, a Lehigh Township police officer was called to BB&T Bank at 765 Blue Mountain Drive after a corporate security report was filed, police said.

It indicated that on Nov. 12, Gavin went into the bank and cashed a counterfeit check from GreenWay Fence and Supply for $1,485, police said. The check was made payable to Gavin, police said.

Two minutes later, Selser cashed a counterfeit check on the same account for $2,271.15, police said. The check was made payable to Selser, police said.

A detective and an officer interviewed Selser at the Philadelphia Detention Center and he told them he was picked up by a man named "Black," police said. Selser did some yard work for the man's aunt and the man paid him by check and drove him to the bank, police said. They did this several times, police said Selser told them. Selser and the man would split the amount, police said.

If the teller were to walk away or make a phone call, Selser was instructed to walk out of the bank, police said.

Selser is charged in the Lehigh Township case with two counts of forgery, four counts of conspiracy involving forgery, the check itself and theft, and one count each of theft by deception, using a counterfeit check and receiving stolen property, court records say.

Bail was set at $50,000 and as of Monday afternoon he was in Northampton County Prison, a Department of Corrections employee confirmed. It wasn't immediately clear if he had to return to the Philadelphia lockup.

A preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled April 19 in Hawke's Lehigh Township court.

Selser is charged with four counts of forgery and two counts of theft by deception related to a Nov. 10, 2015, incident in South Whitehall, according to court records.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Phillipsburg shots-fired investigation spans 2 locations

A Subaru wagon has evidence of damage from a shots-fired incident Monday, April 11, 2016, near Steele Street and Wilbur Avenue in Phillipsburg. (Tim Wynkoop | Lehighvalleylive.com contributor)

Authorities were investigating a shooting incident Monday night in Phillipsburg, a town police supervisor confirmed.

Phillipsburg police on Monday, April 11, 2016, have a white, four-door Ford SUV in custody during a shots-fired investigation, on Walnut Street just north of Center Street. A K-9 team from the Washington Township Police Department in Warren County assisted searching the area. (Kurt Bresswein | For lehighvalleylive.com)

Following the shooting incident shortly after 8 p.m., town police secured evidence in the area of Steele and Mill streets and searched a vehicle stopped in a parking lot near Center and Walnut streets.

It was not immediately known if anyone was hurt.

Police declined to comment beyond confirming the nature of the investigation, including releasing the description or descriptions of anyone sought.

The owner of a Subaru wagon struck by a round near Steele Street and Wilbur Avenue confirmed hearing one shot.

Phillipsburg police on Monday, April 11, 2016, secure evidence, as part of a shots-fired investigation, on Steele Street just south of Mill Street. (Kurt Bresswein | For lehighvalleylive.com)

One evidence marker lay in the middle of Steele Street near Mill street, guarded about 9:40 p.m. by a town patrol officer.

The supervisor and other officers were in The Hair Doctor parking lot near Center and Walnut streets, where a Washington Township, Warren County, police K-9 team was searching the area.

The vehicle was a 1990s white, four-door Ford SUV.

The supervisor said further information would be available Tuesday.

Both investigative scenes Monday night were near Phillipsburg School District facilities: Steele and Mill streets is just south of Green Street Elementary School, and Center and Walnut streets is close to the Early Childhood Learning Center.

The incident came about a month and a half after a shooting about 8:10 a.m. Feb. 26 in the 100 block of Rose Street seriously injured a man and led to two arrests, including that of the victim. In that incident, the school district put restrictions into place at nearby Phillipsburg High School and the alternative school during the investigation.

Freelance photographer Tim Wynkoop contributed to this report.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
One of the charges against a Phillipsburg man accused in a deadly 2012 Delaware River boating crash has been dismissed.

Donald Jessamine, 65, was charged with aggravated manslaughter and vehicular homicide.

Judge Bruce Jones on Tuesday determined Jessamine is not guilty of manslaughter due to a lack of evidence. The second-degree vehicular homicide charge remains, along with two lesser vehicular charges.

Authorities allege he was drunk June 23, 2012, when he drove a jet boat into a rock near a bridge in Harmony Township, sending him, 57-year-old Lane Alden and another passenger into the water. Alden's body was found five days later several miles downriver. She died of blunt force trauma.

After Warren County Prosecutor Richard Burke rested the state's case Tuesday morning, defense attorney Michael Priarone asked the court to acquit Jessamine of the charges, arguing that a reasonable jury could not come to a guilty verdict based on the evidence presented.

The judge reviewed some of the testimony and case law before reaching his decision. Some lesser motor vehicle summonses were also dismissed due to redundancy and legalities. Violations of boating under the influence and reckless operation remain.

Priarone discussed state regulations on jet boats, and said that a passenger's testimony showed Jessamine did not operate the boat with recklessness or an indifference to human life, as the charges require. He said testimony about Jessamine's alleged intoxication is not credible.

A boat hitting a submerged rock can happen "in the absence of recklessness," he said.

"There is simply no testimony in the state's case that my client operated the vessel in an unsafe manner," Priarone said.

The prosecutor countered that testimony has provided "a substantial amount of evidence."

Observations by New Jersey State Troopers, including video of Jessamine taking field sobriety tests, show evidence of impairment, Burke said. An expert witness testified that Jessamine would have had a blood alcohol content between .15 and .22 at the time of the crash, based on a .09 breath test reading several hours later.

That the rock was submerged is inconsequential, Burke said. Rocks were visible in the area, and photographic evidence of damage to the boat -- as well as the results of the crash -- show Jessamine was driving too fast for conditions, especially for someone experienced on the river, he said.

"You have three adult people ejected from the boat. That doesn't happen from putting along," the prosecutor said, noting signs that warned of rapids. "He knows the area. He chose not to even consider it."

After the manslaughter charged was dismissed Tuesday afternoon, the defense began calling character witnesses.

Burke later said he disagrees with the court's decision, but feels the state has enough evidence to convict Jessamine on the remaining charges.

Priarone declined to comment until the trial has concluded.

Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Infacts has a good short article on why Farage is a fool to crow about the Dutch referendum on the EU-Ukraine association agreement.

No doubt he is trying the please Putin, whose regime has funded anti-immigrant / nationalistic / anti-EU parties.

The Dutch vote makes the point that getting all the EU states to agree to an association agreement with Britain, if we were to the Leave the EU, might be difficult and is certainly not guaranteed.

As Infacts rightly say:

Farage and his fellow Eurosceptics like to say that we wont have a problem getting a post-Brexit deal with the EU. The UK runs a trade deficit with the bloc, they point out. Germans would want a deal so that they can continue to export their cars to us; the French would want to sell us fancy clothes, and so on. This argument is not compelling. But even if it were, it assumes that post-Brexit negotiations will be settled based on a hard-headed economic assessment. The Dutch case shows that these questions are not always decided on the merits. Association agreements like the one between the EU and Ukraine require unanimous approval by all member countries. Britain would exit under different rules, so its deal might require approval from a qualified majority of the remaining EU countries. However, a decision to extend the 2-year time limit for negotiations  which seems likely to be needed  would have to be unanimous. So might the exit deal if it covered areas such as tax, foreign policy, and police cooperation. If the agreement covered areas where competence is shared between the EU and its member states, or the UK wanted Norway-type membership of the European Economic Area, that would also require ratification in all EU member states. A protest vote in the tiniest of EU countries could derail the process. Farage should not be crowing about the Dutch referendum. To the contrary, it illustrates the unpredictability of a post-Brexit future.

* Antony Hook was #2 on the South East European list in 2014, is the English Party's representative on the Federal Executive and produces this sites EU Referendum Roundup.
Weve covered the controversy over the use of armed police in Scotland several times over the past few months. A standing authority for firearms led to armed officers patrolling Scotlands streets, often against the wishes of local communities, particularly in the Highlands. People had been horrified to see police officers with guns in their holsters going into the shops in peaceful Highland villages. Concerns were also raised that the routine arming of Police would lead to criminals routinely arming themselves, making us all less safe.

Danny Alexander took exception to armed police patrolling the streets of Inverness. Alison McInnes, the highly effective Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson in the Scottish Parliament, has campaigned tirelessly for a change in policy. And yesterday, Police Scotland changed its mind. The BBC reports;

Specialist armed police officers in Scotland will in future only be deployed to firearms incidents or where there is a threat to life. The move came following concerns from politicians about officers carrying weapons while on routine patrol. Opposition parties described the move as a U-turn.

In an email to Scottish Party members last night, Alison McInnes said:

I want to thank all the members, councillors and activists who added their voice to our Scottish Liberal Democrat campaign to get the guns back off the streets. Scotland has a Justice Secretary unwilling to listen to local communities  whether its crude one-size-fits-all policing across Scotland, unregulated stop and search of children or the deployment of armed police. So it has taken sustained pressure from the Scottish Liberal Democrats to bring about this u-turn, and I am sure you will share my delight that Police Scotland has made the right decision and will no longer deploy firearms officers on routine duties. This u-turn is a win for the many local communities across Scotland who were alarmed by this undemocratic and fundamental change in policing approach. I have always been clear that there is a correct time and place for Armed Response Vehicle Officers. However it is not reasonable, nor proportionate, for those officers to undertake foot patrols on our high streets or to turn up on peoples doorsteps. It is resoundingly clear that when it comes to justice, the SNP choose to stand up for heavy handed tactics while Liberal Democrats stand up for communities and the protection of civil liberties.

Its not over yet. I certainly wont be happy until the Standing Authority that allows the Police to use arms on routine duties has been removed, but this is a significant development.

The whole episode has shown up the SNPs Justice Secretary, Clear Desk Kenny MacAskill, whose view, as it is on so many things, was that this radical change in policy brought in with no consultation was an operational matter for the police. In the interests of justice, he needs to be removed from his job and it is to be hoped that hes reshuffled off to the long grass when the new First Minister, likely to be Nicola Sturgeon, takes office.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
Hearing stories about families fleeing war and persecution makes me believe we must do more to help pic.twitter.com/zh9kMM2Lvh  Tim Farron (@timfarron) April 12, 2016

The news is constantly full of big numbers, thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of people heading to Europe to escape war and destruction. Tim Farron is in Greece today, talking to some of them. Whats very clear is that behind those big numbers are individual people and families, just like ours, who had been living peaceable lives, getting on with their jobs, sending their children to school, just like the rest of us. They have been displaced by events beyond their control, war, violence, destruction and seek a place of safety where they can contribute to society and get on with their lives.

Tim is very good at making us understand the very human stories behind the big numbers and making the case for us doing more to help.

Well update this post as the day goes on, but heres what hes been up to so far:

Now meeting UNHRC staff to get a sense of the crisis in the region & hear what more they want our govt to do pic.twitter.com/xkiSYIUraf  Tim Farron (@timfarron) April 12, 2016

Meeting with families fleeing the war in Syria pic.twitter.com/oR16kikSIe  Tim Farron (@timfarron) April 12, 2016

Now with @MSF at their clinic in the Idomeni site on the Macedonian border. pic.twitter.com/4VZUpVmjzu  Tim Farron (@timfarron) April 12, 2016

Some of the families I've met today have not been able to send their children to school for 5 years. pic.twitter.com/jvf0os1xCV  Tim Farron (@timfarron) April 12, 2016

The absence of hope for families here shows why the @LibDems campaign is so important. pic.twitter.com/qk9BZMhZ84  Tim Farron (@timfarron) April 12, 2016

Meeting @savechildrenuk at the camps to discuss what more the UK govt could do to help families in need pic.twitter.com/iFtJxaVadP  Tim Farron (@timfarron) April 12, 2016

Leaving Diavata camp now. Hundreds of families stuck here. This is no place for children. pic.twitter.com/oDIXJBvHbo  Tim Farron (@timfarron) April 12, 2016

And hes been broadcasting live on the Liberal Democrats Facebook page talking about the people hed met and why we have to help them. Can you imagine what it would be like if your family was in that situation?

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
The Welsh Liberal Democrats have announced plans to help hill farmers, recognising the difficulties they face in farming challenging terrain.

They include 20 million package for hill farmers and plans to enable farmers to be able to improve their resilience and competitiveness.

They say they are passionate about protecting Wales proud farming tradition and that farmers in Wales produce some of the greatest produce in the world, but too often they are not getting the support they need from an out of touch Labour Government.

Every member state of the EU and each of the UK devolved administrations has some form of financial support for those who farm in difficult areas, all except in Wales. The Welsh Liberal Democrats package would end this unfair competitive disadvantage.

The Daily Post has more, quoting Ceredigion candidate Elizabeth Evans:

Also in the partys agri manifesto, to be launched on a farm in Llanilar today, is a pledge to provide small-scale grants to farmers. This would help them to diversify, cut carbon emissions and improve competitiveness, said Elizabeth Evans, Assembly candidate for Ceredigion. She said Wales Glastir land management scheme has been a source of great confusion and frustration for many farmers. The Welsh Liberal Democrats will simplify the existing scheme and ensure that farmers receive payments on time.

They also want to help family farms to survive by encouraging succession planning:
ONE of the citys landmark pubs is expected to officially open under new management later this week.

The Round House bar at High Street has undergone a major facelift in recent weeks and will be trading as Mother Macs.

A draft purchase agreement has been agreed between Mother Macs Limited and the owners of the building and it is expected the sale process will be formally completed sometime this week.

Ahead of the sale, the company applied to reduce to area covered by the existing licence.

Judge Tom ODonnell was told when first granted, the licence also incorporated the first and second floors of the building.

However, the two floors have since been converted into apartments, which have a separate entrance.

Michael McMahon, a director of the company, told Limerick Circuit Court he is familiar with the licensing laws and that the company will abide by all conditions of the fire officer.

There was no State objection to the application and the judge commented the premises has been done up nicely by the new owners in advance of the sale process being completed.

Separately, an application to revive a lapsed licence  relating to ODonnells pub, Wickham Street was also granted.

The court was told the licence for the family-owned pub lapsed in September 2013 and that the premises has not traded since.

An architect confirmed the area to be covered by the revived licence remains the same as was previously licenced. The footprint has not changed in any material way, he said.

The proprietor, Jacqueline Murphy, who has owned the premises for more than 30 years, agreed she would not reopen the pub until the fire officer carries out a final inspection in the coming weeks.

Ms Murphy told the court she has already carried out improvement works and will comply with a request from the fire officer to erect a notice near the entrance stating that the maximum number of people allowed on the premises at any one time is 50.

Again, there was no State objection to the application.
LIMERICKS Riverfest is to embrace the Shannon for the 12th annual staging of the popular event, one of the West of Irelands largest outdoor festivals.

Riverfest, launched this Tuesday at the Curragower Bar in the city, will boast a new Riverfestival village in Arthurs Quay Park as one of the major additions this year for the festival, run by events company Grooveyard, on contract to Limerick City and County Council.

The council said that Limericks biggest festival was this year embracing the scenic River Shannon, with spectacular performances by world champion wakeboarders and jetski champions as well as key waterfront events.

As a result, the popular Riverfest BBQ Competition, Irelands largest BBQ event, will move to Honans Quay, beside Arthurs Quay Park on the waterfront, from its previous Denmark Street city location, boasting a host of family friendly activities for the public to enjoy, as well as vintage amusements for children, craft, food and retail stalls and a spectacular fireworks display on Sunday, May 1.

Focus of 2016 @RiverfestLmk switching away from Denmark St to Honan's Quay. More @Limerick_Leader soon.  Nick Rabbitts (@Nick468official) April 12, 2016

Riverfest on the Shannon will feature action packed water based activities and events such as a sailing regatta, kayaking and performances from watersports stars like 2016 Ladies Flyboard champion Gemma Weston from New Zealand, who will perform a number of shows for the first time in Ireland.

The jam-packed weekend will also see thousands of runners and walkers come to the city to participate in the Barringtons Hospital Great Limerick Run which takes in many of the historical and scenic sights across Limerick, on Sunday, May 1.

Mayor of Limerick City and County, Cllr Liam Galvin, said Riverfest would showcase the wonderful breadth of cultural activity in this most historic of Irish cities, one whose history is intrinsically linked with the River Shannon.

As we enter the final stages in our bid to become European Capital of Culture 2020, the events taking place for this festival reminds us just why Riverfest sells out our hotels every year and is such a popular event attracting such a huge variety of people, he said.

It is the first major festival of the year in Ireland providing a wonderful opportunity for people from all over Ireland to come together in Limerick during the May Bank Holiday Weekend and experience everything that is special about our Treaty City.

Glorious weather for launch of @RiverfestLmk 2016. Here's hoping we have same on May Holiday! @Limerick_Leader pic.twitter.com/G7rvRupIhL  Nick Rabbitts (@Nick468official) April 12, 2016

Other highlights include the returning Fashion Friday event and a spectacular fireworks display over the River Shannon on May 1 at 10pm approximately, plus other fringe events across the city including comedy, theatre, gigs, EVA International, Ireland's biennial of contemporary art and markets. The Coronas play a sold out gig in King Johns Castle, while Limericks own Hermitage Green play in the Big Top venue in the Milk Market.

Festivals play a distinctive role in providing a place for citizens and visitors to interact in a celebratory way, said Sheila Deegan, deputy director of Limericks 2020 bid.

Festivals like Riverfest, also have the power to touch us all, to give us an opportunity to be part of openness to ideas, to be curious about art and culture, to enjoy and to wonder and we hope that everyone enjoys truly this years eclectic festival line up, she added.

Visit www.limerick.ie/riverfest for the full festival line-up and see more in the print editions of the Limerick Leader.
A WOMAN whose home was extensively damaged in a fire at the weekend has taken to social media to thank members of Limerick Fire and Rescue Service who responded and fought the blaze.

The alarm was raised shortly before 10pm on Saturday when the fire broke out at the house, which is located in the Raheen area of the city.

Several units of Limerick Fire and Rescue Service were deployed and specialist crews wearing breathing apparatus entered the two-story house following their arrival.

Emergency personnel remained at the scene for several hours and after quenching the fire, a dramatic photograph and message were posted on social media stating: Our crews dealt with a Domestic Fire in Raheen tonight. 2 BA crews committed.

In response, Sandra Fleming who lives at the house, posted: To all the limerick fire crew , I cannot thank u enough for all u did for me and me family tonight, devastated cannot describe how we are feeling right now, but thanks to ur rapid response the damage has been contained to half only of the house, thanks again to u all.

Hundreds of people have liked or shared the comment while others have posted further messages of thanks online.

The cause of Saturday nights fire is not believed to be suspicious and there are no reports of any injuries.
THE number of people on Limericks live register has fallen by almost 1,000 in 12 months, new statistics have shown.

Data just released from the Central Statistics Office show that the number of people out of work in Limerick city now stands at 9,494  down from 10,412 at this time last year.

These statistics have been welcomed by Education Minister Jan OSullivan, who says it is vital this momentum is maintained.

The live register has fallen by nearly 1,000 in 12 months. This is welcome news and demonstrates that the local economy is continuing to grow and to create jobs, she said.

In the last 20 months more than 2000 high quality jobs have been announced for Limerick. These major announcements are also boosting employment in our vital small and medium enterprises.

Ms OSullivan described those who suggest the fall in unemployment is due to people joining activation schemes as naysayers, adding: This just isnt true. In fact the number of people on job activation schemes is falling according to most recent CSO figures.

The Labour TD says Limerick is well placed to continue its upward trajectory, and ensure high quality jobs are available to our people.

I have been proud to play a role in that progress and will continue to do so, she added.

Only last week, the new boss of the IDA in Limerick Niall OCallaghan said there was a healthy pipeline of new companies looking to locate here.
LIMERICK'S council has applied for European funding which could fast-track the creation of a digital hub in the heart of the city.

With the backing of the Office of Regeneration, the local authority is planning to buy the former biblical institute behind the Dominican Church at Baker Place and plans to create a facility providing training in film, media and photography.

Space will also be provided to professional trainers to offer services to the community, it is envisaged.

While 2m has already been set aside for the project, the council is lodging an application for European Regional Development Funding.

If successful, it will be able to draw down a maximum of 6m under the Urban Innovative Actions Initiative, which has as one of its focuses the creation of jobs and skills in the local economy.

The council is partnering with a number of other groups including the University of Limerick, the Limerick Institute of Technology and the Limerick Chamber in its bid for the funding, with a spokesperson saying: The aim is to develop on the success of existing programmes such as Limerick for IT and Limerick for Manufacturing by establishing a knowledge and learning centre in the city centre under a new governance model.

If the council is successful in securing funding, the digital learning hub project will have to be completed within a three year period under its terms.

It is expected the evaluation process will be complete by October.

The application for funding has been welcomed by newly co-opted Sinn Fein councillor John Costelloe, who said: This will be for the betterment of young people in Limerick.

"We need to tap into their resources. Limerick can be the centre of Ireland in terms of the film industry: dont forget the number of famous actors who come from this city.

If the council secures money from Europe, there are also hopes it could see the revival of plans for an arthouse cinema at the former Theatre Royal in Upper Cecil Street.

The former City VEC secured permission to transform two units at the historic venue into a four-screen digital cinema and multi-purpose cultural centre. But this scheme has not been able to secure the necessary funding to proceed so far.

However, a source close to the cinema project said: In my view, it would leave it in a good position. There would be a need for something else there to complement the other stuff.

The development of Troy Studios in Castletroy is also a factor in the plans for a digital hub, with the facility likely to feed into the studio in turn, which is expected to open this summer.
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A humongous reticulated python measuring 26.2-foot-long (8 meters) long was captured at a Malaysian construction site last week, but the snake died three days later while laying an egg, news sources report.

The Malaysian snake was longer than five grand pianos (each piano is about 5 feet, or 1.5 m long); a pickup truck (those are about 19.3 feet, or 5.8 m); and almost as long as an adult giraffe standing on the head of another giraffe (giraffes are about 14 feet tall, or 4.3 m).

It's also longer than Medusa, the longest captive snake on record, according to Guinness World Records. In October 2011, Medusa, a reticulated python (Python reticulatus), measured 25.1 feet (7.67 m) at her home in Kansas City, Missouri, Guinness World Records reported. [In Images: Hungry Python Eats Porcupine Whole]

People spotted the enormous serpent at an overpass construction site in Paya Terubong, a district on the island of Penang, the Guardian reported. Construction workers immediately called emergency services on Thursday (April 7); authorities worked for 30 minutes to capture the roughly 550-lb. (250 kilograms) beast, the Guardian reported.

Reticulated pythons, which are native to Southeast Asia, are the longest snakes in the world, said Stephen Secor, a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alabama, who wasn't involved with the Malaysian snake's capture. These snakes are indeterminate growers, meaning they continue growing indefinitely, although they typically grow at a slower rate in old age, he said.

See more

Reticulated pythons are also slender, so they're not the heaviest snakes, and Secor doubts that the 550-lb. measurement is accurate. An anaconda might weigh that much, but not a reticulated python, he said.

For example, even though Medusa was just 1.1 feet (0.33 m) shorter than the new record holder, she weighed 350 lbs. (about 159 kg) in 2011, or a whopping 200 lbs. (90 kg) less than the newly caught snake. Those numbers don't add up, especially because Medusa is a captive snake and doesnt have to actively hunt for food in the wild, so she's probably heavier than most reticulated pythons, Secor said.

Mysterious death

Secor is also intrigued because the snake died after laying an egg on Sunday (April 10). A snake that large could easily lay 75 eggs at one time, he said. Perhaps the snake was laying eggs, and one egg got lodged inside its body when the animal was captured. Snakes have two oviducts (structures that pass eggs), but a lodged egg can block the other eggs that have yet to be laid. The blockage can cause medical problems, and sometimes even death, he said. But not always  lodged eggs can also be reabsorbed into the body, Secor said. [7 Shocking Snake Stories]

Or, maybe the python was just starting to lay eggs when it died. A necropsy (an animal autopsy) would clear up matters, as a pathologist or other doctor would be able to see whether more eggs were left inside the snake, he said.

Alternatively, the snake could have died because it was traumatized from its capture, Secor said. "I don't know why the snake died," he said. "It probably didn't die because it laid an egg."

Although the snake is dead, the specimen could still be used to educate the public. For instance, a taxidermist could preserve the serpent, or its skin could be put on display at a museum, Secor said.

Python skins are often saved, but this makes it hard to officially measure them afterward, as skins can be stretched. It's also hard to measure pythons because of all the kinks, or bends, in their bodies. Even so, larger snakes may exist in the wild; in 1912, people reported that a 32-foot-long (10 m) python was discovered in Indonesia, the Guardian said.

Follow Laura Geggel on Twitter @LauraGeggel. Follow Live Science @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.
Turquoise-colored fragments of raw glass were found at what archaeologists are calling the oldest known glass factory in Israel.

Archaeologists say they've have unearthed the oldest known glass factory in Israel, dating back to the fourth century A.D.

The discovery of turquoise chunks of raw glass and collapsed, ash-covered kilns provide the first archaeological evidence of glass production in Israel during the Late Roman period.

"We know from historical sources dating to the Roman period that the Valley of Akko was renowned for the excellent-quality sand located there, which was highly suitable for the manufacture of glass," said Yael Gorin-Rosen, head curator of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) glass department. [The Holy Land: 7 Amazing Archaeological Finds]

The chemical makeup of ancient glass vessels found throughout the Mediterranean region and Europe suggested the objects were produced in this region of Israel, Gorin-Rosen added. Archaeologists also previously discovered fragments of an edict with maximum prices of goods set by the fourth-century Roman emperor Diocletian. This edict listed prices for two kinds of glass: light green, less expensive, Judean glass from Israel; and Alexandrian glass from Egypt. It was not clear, however, where the Judean glass was produced.

"Now, for the first time, the kilns have been found where the raw material was manufactured that was used to produce this glassware," Gorin-Rosen said in a statement.

The kilns were excavated last summer, ahead of the construction of a new railway line southeast of Haifa, near Mount Carmel.

The fourth-century kilns were exposed ahead of construction of a new railway line southeast of Haifa, near Mount Carmel. (Image credit: Assaf Peretz, courtesy of Israel Antiquities Authority.)

"We exposed fragments of floors, pieces of vitrified bricks from the walls and ceiling of the kilns, and clean, raw glass chips," Abdel Al-Salam Sa'id, an inspector with the Israel Antiquities Authority, who directed the excavations, said in the statement. "We were absolutely overwhelmed with excitement when we understood the great significance of the finds."

To make glass at the time, people would have heated sand in a melting chamber to temperatures of 2,192 degrees Fahrenheit (1,200 Celsius degrees) for at least a week, according to the IAA. Sometimes the raw chunks of glass that were produced weighed more than 10 tons. But inevitably these chunks would have been broken into smaller pieces to be sold to workshops, where they would be melted down again to be blown into glass bowls, cups and other vessels.

The newly discovered kilns predate the sixth-seventh century A.D. kilns that were found at Apollonia, which were previously thought to be the oldest glass kilns in Israel.

Follow us @livescience, Facebook& Google+. Original article on Live Science.
This chalk drawing by da Vinci is believed to be a self portrait.

Leonardo da Vinci lives on, according to two Italian researchers who have tracked down the living relatives of the Renaissance genius.

It was believed that no traces were left of the painter, engineer, mathematician, philosopher and naturalist. The remains of Leonardo, who died in 1519 in Amboise, France, were dispersed in the 16th century during religious wars.

But according to historian Agnese Sabato and art historian Alessandro Vezzosi, director of the Museo Ideale in the Tuscan town of Vinci, where the artist was born in 1452, Da Vinci's family did not go extinct.

The Face of Da Vinci: An Enduring Mystery

"We carried out long archival research, which is the first step of a broader scientific investigation," Vezzosi told Discovery News.

"We checked documents and tombs as far as France and Spain in order to reconstruct the history of Leonardo's family," he added.

Vezzosi and Sabato identified the direct living descendants from Leonardo's father, a Florentine legal notary named Ser Piero Da Vinci.

Mona Lisa May Conceal Second Portrait

"The implication of our discovery is that scientists may be able to isolate Da Vinci's DNA, 15 generations later," Vezzosi said.

The researchers will detail their discovery at a conference on Thursday, just a day before the 564th anniversary of Da Vinci's birth. Some of Leonardo's descendants will attend the conference.

"The list includes some surprising names," Vezzosi said.

Originally published on Discovery News.
NEW YORK  Stephen Hawking wants humanity to reach the stars.

The famed cosmologist, along with a group of scientists and billionaire investor Yuri Milner, unveiled an ambitious new $100 million project today (April 12) called Breakthrough Starshot, which aims to build the prototype for a tiny, light-propelled robotic spacecraft that could visit the nearby star Alpha Centauri after a journey of just 20 years.

"The limit that confronts us now is the great void between us and the stars, but now we can transcend it," Hawking said today during a news conference here at One World Observatory. [Stephen Hawking: 'Transcending Our Limits' With Breakthrough Starshot (Video)]

"With light beams, light sails and the lightest spacecraft ever built, we can launch a mission to Alpha Centauri within a generation," he added. "Today, we commit to this next great leap into the cosmos. Because we are human, and our nature is to fly."

The Starshot spacecraft will consist of a wafer-size chip attached to a super-thin sail that measures perhaps 3.3 feet (1 meter) across. This paired duo will be launched to space aboard a mothership, and then propelled to the stars by laser light beamed from a high-altitude facility here on Earth.

Such a craft, Milner said, could be accelerated up to 20 percent the speed of light  fast enough to make it to the Alpha Centauri system, which lies 4.37 light-years away, just two decades after launch. (It would take a conventionally propelled probe about 30,000 years to make such a trip.)

"We call it the Nanocraft," Milner said. "Our interstellar sailboat."

The Nanocraft "could capture images of possible planets and other scientific data and send them back home in a beam of light," Milner added. "If this mission succeeds, it will tell us as much about ourselves as it will about Alpha Centauri.

"Breakthrough Starshot is based on technology either available or likely to be available in the near future," Milner said, adding that all of its work is based on data in the public domain.

Developing and proving out Starshot technology will be time-consuming and expensive; sending Nanocraft to Alpha Centauri will probably end up costing about as much as the largest scientific experiments operating today, team members said.

But subsequent missions should be much cheaper, and economies of scale will allow many Nanocraft to launch on a single flight to provide redundancy and increase photographic coverage of the target star system. (The chip at the heart of each Nanocraft costs about as much as an iPhone to produce, Breakthrough Starshot representatives said.)

Today's announcement comes on the 55th anniversary of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin's historic launch on Vostok 1 in 1961, a mission that ushered in the era of human spaceflight. Milner, who was born in Moscow, has said he was named in honor of Gagarin. Today is also the 35th anniversary of NASA's first space shuttle flight, STS-1, aboard Columbia.

"The human story is one of great leaps," Milner said in a statement. "Fifty-five years ago today, Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space. Today, we are preparing for the next great leap  to the stars."

Breakthrough Starshot's board consists of Hawking, Milner and Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Facebook.

This is not the first time Hawking and Milner have worked together: Hawking helped unveil Milner's 10-year, $100 million initiative to search for signs of intelligent life called Breakthrough Listen last July. That project, which is billed as the most powerful search ever for extraterrestrial life, will survey 1 million stars in the Milky Way closest to Earth. The 10-year project will also scan the 100 closest galaxies to our own for any traces of intelligent life.

Milner, meanwhile, is also funding the Breakthrough Message project, which will award up to $1 million in prizes to people who craft the best messages to send out to any intelligent life that may be listening.

Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
One of summer's most magical sights is an otherwise ordinary field or backyard illuminated by tiny, pulsing points of living light, as fireflies emerge at dusk. And now, a handheld gadget called the Firefly Communicator will allow people to take part in fireflies' light-coded "conversations."

With the device, which resembles the insect it was built to mimic, users can communicate with fireflies by pushing a single button to emit stored patterns of light pulses that copy actual firefly signals, issuing a "come hither" message that attracts fireflies and lets users observe them up close.

Fireflies send their coded messages using a chemical process called bioluminescence, which takes place in a specialized structure in their abdomens. The insect controls its own "light switch," triggering when the light goes on and off by regulating the amount of oxygen introduced into its light organ. [Gallery: Eye-Catching Bioluminescent Wonders]

Scientists have found that firefly species generate unique light patterns to communicate with their own kind and to attract mates. Some species also use light flashes to lure other fireflies as prey, with females imitating the coded messages of other firefly species to trick males into coming closer so they can eat them.

Inventor Joey Stein  the Firefly Communicator's creator and the owner and lead interactive designer for Genus Ideas Inc. in New York City  told Live Science that he collaborated with entomologists specializing in fireflies in order to identify known firefly communication codes for the device, and to test it in the field. He launched a Kickstarter campaign for the Firefly Communicator on March 14, and the project reached its $10,000 funding goal after only two weeks. The campaign has raised more than $14,000 to date.

Joining the firefly conversation

Learning how to "speak firefly" is simple  users download firefly communication codes into the device from Stein's Speak Firefly website or app (still in development) which transmit patterns that the communicator's light sensor reads when it is placed on a monitor or mobile screen. Stein explained that the signal patterns of North American species are already well documented, while scientists are still working to decode the patterns of fireflies on other continents. He added that the code database will be updated with user input as new light patterns are tested and identified.

It was Stein's own youthful interest in the natural world that inspired him to design interactive experiences that could spark a similar appreciation of nature among others. He told Live Science that he hopes the Firefly Communicator will serve as an "adventure tool," encouraging people of all ages to spend more time outside and to look a little more closely at the glowing insects that can often be found right in their own backyards.

"What's wonderful about this is that the fireflies come to you in a natural way," Stein said. "They'll flash if you catch them in a jar, but it probably won't be 'L-O-V-E' they're spelling out  it might be another four-letter word."

The Kickstarter campaign for the Firefly Communicator  which offers backers first access to the device  runs through May 14.

Follow Mindy Weisberger on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.
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Local News, Crime, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: April 12 2016

Raphael Osborne (a.k.a. Gusto) Conspired to Murder and Assault Rival Gang Members, Commit Robberies, Murder a Federal Informant, and Distribute Controlled Substances.

Central Islip, NY - April 11th, 2016 - Following four weeks of trial, a federal jury in Central Islip, NY, returned a guilty verdict today against Raphael Osborne, also known as Gusto, a Crips street gang leader from Roosevelt, NY, on twenty-one counts including racketeering, conspiracy, robbery, attempted murder, witness retaliation, assault with a dangerous weapon, drug conspiracy and brandishing and discharging firearms during the commission of these offenses. Osborne faces a minimum of 115 years and up to life imprisonment as a result of these convictions.



The verdict was announced by Robert L. Capers, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Diego Rodriguez, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI); Madeline Singas, Nassau County District Attorney; and Thomas C. Krumpter, Acting Nassau County Police Commissioner.



At trial, the government successfully proved that Osborne led the Roosevelt, NY-based Rollin 60s Crips, a racketeering enterprise that engaged in multiple crimes of violence and narcotics trafficking. Between 2003 and 2013, members of the gang followed an on sight rule established by Osborne that commanded gang members to attack rival Bloods in Roosevelt whenever possible and by whatever means available.



In a press conference held on April 18th, 2013, Nassau County DA Rice described the takedown of the "Rollin' 60s" Gang one of the biggest gang busts in Nassau County's history.

In addition, numerous other shootings and murders were committed at Osbornes direction. During the trial, the government elicited details of 15 shootings and three homicides that were committed by members of the Rollin 60s during Osbornes reign and established that the gang financed its activities through firearms and narcotics trafficking.

Over the course of the conspiracy, the gang was responsible for bringing hundreds of illegal firearms to Long Island, including revolvers, semi-automatic handguns, assault rifles, and submachine guns.



Among other crimes, Osborne was convicted of:



Conspiring to murder and attempted murder of a federal informant in October 2012. Beginning in the spring of 2012, law enforcement, with the aid of a Rollin 60s gang member informant, began purchasing firearms from the gang, including some from Osbornes residence on Debevoise Avenue in Roosevelt. After the informant attempted to purchase a firearm from Osborne in June 2012, Osborne became suspicious and ordered other gang members to kill him. On October 13, 2012, a gang member lured the informant from his Hempstead home to a location where a fellow gang member was waiting. The informant was shot five times at close range, leaving him paralyzed.



The January 2013 attempted murder and assault of a rival Bloods gang member. On January 30, 2013, Osborne and other ranking members of the Rollin 60s followed a vehicle occupied by several Bloods gang members to a house on Pleasant Avenue in Roosevelt. As the rivals vehicle turned into the driveway of the residence, Osborne and other gang members unleashed a barrage of .40 and .45 caliber bullets that ripped through the vehicle and sent one of the Bloods members to the hospital with a gunshot wound to his abdomen.



Two robberies that he committed with other members of the gang in the fall of 2010. The first robbery involved a gang member stealing marijuana and cash from the victim, while Osborne dragged the victim from his vehicle and pistol whipped him in the street. In the second robbery, Osborne directed gang members to the home of a drug dealer who was robbed at gunpoint.



Conspiring to distribute 280 grams of crack cocaine, 100 grams of heroin, 100 kilograms of marijuana, and quantities of methylone, commonly known as molly.



The crimes that Osborne stands convicted of underscore the wanton violence the Crips street gang unleashed on neighborhoods of Long Island, stated United States Attorney Capers. Street gangs such as the Crips infect communities, and we will continue to respond to the Crips brutal violence with unwavering investigation and prosecution  they will be brought to justice and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.



Mr. Capers extended his grateful appreciation to each of the law enforcement agencies for their assistance in this case, in particular the Special Investigations Squad of the Nassau County Police Department and the FBIs Long Island Gang Task Force.



Assistant Director-in-Charge Rodriguez stated, The verdict against Raphael Osborne leaves the area of Roosevelt a little safer today. During his time as a Crips leader, Osborne directed attacks against rival gangs in the Roosevelt area by any means available. The FBI will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to dismantle gangs and the violence they bring to our communities.



District Attorney Singas stated, This defendant and his fellow gang members brought illegal guns, deadly drugs, and unbridled violence into communities on Long Island. He oversaw a ruthless enterprise that trafficked in assault weapons, handguns, cocaine, and heroin, and left many victims in its wake. I thank all of our partners who took part in the dangerous and important work to arrest and prosecute this defendant and his associates.



Acting NCPD Police Commissioner Krumpter stated, Crime has no boundaries and this case is an example of how partners in law enforcement utilized talented personnel and resources to bring this defendant to justice. Todays arrest should serve as a deterrent to criminals as we at the Nassau County Police Department are committed to working with our fellow law enforcement partners to ensure public safety.



Upon sentencing the defendant Osborne faces a potential sentence of up to life imprisonment.



Osborne is the fourteenth member of the gang to be convicted since the inception of this case. Three other members of the gang are pending trial.



The governments case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Nicole Boeckmann, Christopher Caffarone, and Special Assistant United States Attorney Michael Maffei.
Local News, Crime, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: April 12 2016

SCPD Hate Crimes Unit detectives arrested a 17-year-old Farmingville girl in connection to a vandalized a Farmingville business.

Update - April 12, 2016 - Suffolk County Police have arrested a teenager for spray painting a Farmingville business with bias graffiti earlier this month.

Based on information provided by Sixth Precinct Police Officer Keith Murphy, Hate Crimes Unit detectives arrested a 17-year-old Farmingville female for spray painting a swastika and bias graffiti on the outside of Corner Deli and Cafe, located at 711 Horseblock Road, sometime between April 3 and April 4.

The teen, who was charged with Making Graffiti, was released on a field appearance ticket and will be arraigned at a later date.

A criminal charge is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

Farmingville, NY - April 12th, 2016 - Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Hate Crimes Unit detectives are seeking the publics help to identify and locate the person or people who vandalized a Farmingville business.



A swastika and bias graffiti were spray-painted on the outside of Corner Deli and Cafe, located at 711 Horseblock Road between April 3 at 10:30 p.m. and April 4 at 12:45 p.m.



Suffolk County Crime Stoppers offers a cash reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest. Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS.



All calls will be kept confidential.
Local News, Religion, Community, Charity & Cause, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: April 12 2016

Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano has announced announce a one-ton donation of Kosher for Passover food donated to the Rina Shkolnik Kosher Food Pantry.

Hempstead, NY - April 12th, 2016 - Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano joined with Town of Hempstead Supervisor Anthony Santino, Town of Hempstead Councilmembers Bruce Blakeman and Anthony DEsposito, and several Rabbis from the Five Towns community, on Thursday, April 7th, to announce an emergency one-ton donation of Kosher for Passover food donated by Stop & Shop to the Rina Shkolnik Kosher Food Pantry.



On behalf of the community, I thank Stop & Shop for its generosity. This contribution will allow families in need to properly celebrate the Passover holiday, said County Executive Mangano.



It is important that caring corporate citizens like Stop & Shop continue to work closely with the County to support the efforts of Rina Shkolnik Kosher Food Pantry and all those who strengthen the social safety net that is needed to protect any Nassau resident in need.



The one-ton donation from Stop & Shop included: Matzah, Matzah meal, canned vegetables, canned salmon and canned tuna, gefilte fish, egg noodles, grape juice, apple juice, boxed mixes of potate kugle, boxed mixes of cakes, packaged soup mixes and apple sauce.



Established in 2005, the Shkolnik Kosher Food Pantry is the largest Kosher Food Pantry on Long Island. It began by helping 35 families, and now works with nearly 300 families from the Five Towns and neighboring communities in Nassau and Queens.



The pantry is a joint initiative of The Marion & Aaron Gural JCC and UJA-Federation of New York, and is supported by the Five Towns Community Chest, the Inwood Charities Fund, Long Island Cares and Long Island Harvest.
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Several members of the Islamic State Khorasan Provinces central council as well as other senior and mid-level leaders based in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar have broken their oath to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi and have rejoined the Taliban. The defections are the latest in a series of moves by the Afghan Taliban to close its ranks after the death of its founder and first emir was announced last summer.

The defection of two central council members, a member of the judicial council, the leader of prisoners council, four group leaders, several other sub-group commanders and other officials, and all their fighters was announced on the Talibans official website, Voice of Jihad.

The defectors explained they originally left the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the official name of the Afghan Taliban, due to some issues and challenges obstructing consolidation of unity, establishment and development of the Islamic Emirate as well as misunderstanding, mistrust and distance with the brothers.

The Islamic State deserters issued a common complaint that has been leveled against the group  that its ideological rigidity and ultra-violent actions are alienating even radicals such as the Taliban:

But due to the ambiguous blind policies of Daesh, their wanton killing, beating, persecution, looting, burning, and usurping land and property of the oppressed Afghans, their displacement, treachery with their elders, depriving them of schools, clinics, public welfare projects and development, heedless towards general Muslim interests, adoption of extremism over leniency, prohibiting vice in fashion which produces corruption, Takfiri (excommunication) views of most members, improper establishment of religion, and having no reasonable, legal and regular way of fixing these problems; in short not having a remedy for the wounds of the Afghans.

The defectors returned to the Taliban fold due to the efforts of some sincere brothers from the Islamic Emirate as well as positive, fruitful interaction and understanding nature and agreement with the Islamic Emirate.

The former Islamic State leaders then broke their pledge to Baghdadi, and swore allegiance to Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, who was named to replace Mullah Omar in July 2015.

Therefore in the radiant light of Muhammadi Shariah we  as the representatives of all of our Mujahideen  break our oath with the leader of Daesh or Islamic State and for the continuation of sacred duty of jihad in our motherland and for the establishment of a true Islamic government, we whole heartedly pledge our allegiance to the new Amir of Islamic Emirate, the esteemed Amir ul Mumineen Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansoor (may Allah safeguard him) and promise our comprehensive cooperation, untiring efforts and respects to him, the statement concluded.

The deserters, who are named at the end of the statement, did not leave the Islamic State lightly. The breaking of an oath to an emir is considered to be a serious religious infraction in Islam. And since the commanders have been named, the Islamic State, which has dealt with those who disagree with it ruthlessly in the past, may be targeted for reprisal.

The defections spell problems for the Islamic State, which has struggled to gain a foothold in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Taliban has defeated Islamic State-aligned groups in Zabul, Helmand, and other areas of the country. Nangarhar is considered to be the main stronghold for the Islamic State, and its ranks have been depleted with the loss of key leaders and their followers.

For the Taliban, the reunion with old members in Nangarhar is a further strengthening of the group, which suffered losses after rifts within the movement arose in the wake of the announcement of Mullah Omars death and the appointment of Mullah Mansour as his successor. Mullah Zakir, who remained a member of the Talibans Quetta Shura, or executive council, finally swore allegiance to Mansour at the end of March. Mullahs Manan and Yacoub, Omars brother and eldest son, initials opposed Mansour, but swore allegiance to him and were given key leadership positions in the Taliban hierarchy.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

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The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the official name of the Taliban, announced the commencement of the 2016 spring offensive, and named it after Mullah Omar, its founder and first leader whose death was disclosed in the summer of 2015. A main goal of Operation Omari will be clearing the remaining areas from enemy control and presence, according to the Taliban.

The Taliban announced the beginning of Operation Omari in a statement released today on its official propaganda website, Voice of Jihad.

[T]he Islamic Emirates leadership eagerly announces this years Jihadi Operation in honor of the movements founder and first leader, the late Amir ul Mumineen Mullah Muhammad Omar Mujahid (May Allah have mercy upon him), the group said.

The Taliban lauded Omar, claiming he pacified 95 percent of our nations territory from wickedness, corruption and oppression, and vanquished the maligned and wicked during his rule, only to be deposed by the US after al Qaeda attacked America on Sept. 11, 2001. Under Omars leadership, through holy Jihad, they [the Taliban/muhajideen] defeated the vast multinational coalition arrayed against them, the statement continued.

Operation Omari was initiated and planned by the Islamic Emirates leadership, the leaders of the Military Commission as well as the Emirates military planners, according to the statement. The Military Commission is the largest and most important branch of the Taliban. Mullah Omars eldest son, Mullah Mohammad Yaqoub, was recently given a senior position on the Military Commission and was appointed the military chief of 15 of Afghanistans 34 provinces.

Like previous years, the Taliban outlined its goals for the coming years spring offensive. According to the statement, Omari will focus on clearing the remaining areas from enemy control and presence. The Taliban had success in the past year in taking control of or contesting multiple districts throughout Afghanistan. Of the more than 400 districts in Afghanistan, the Taliban control or strongly contest at least 80, according to data compiled by The Long War Journal.

Similarly the Operation will employ large scale attacks on enemy positions across the country, martyrdom-seeking and tactical attacks against enemy strongholds, and assassination of enemy commanders in urban centers, the statement continued. The present Operation will also employ all means at our disposal to bog the enemy down in a war of attrition that lowers the morale of the foreign invaders and their internal armed militias. By employing such a multifaceted strategy it is hoped that the foreign enemy will be demoralized and forced to evict our nation.

The Taliban also stressed that the mechanisms for good governance must be implemented in the areas under its control. Additionally, the Taliban stressed that it must work to lure Afghan officials and security personnel into its ranks. The Taliban has established a Call and Guidance, Luring and Integration Commission, which is also known as the Preaching and Guidance Commission, with the goal of spreading the Talibans message and encouraging Afghan government and security officials to defect. The commission is now led by Mullah Abdul Manan Akhund, a brother of Mullah Omar.

While the Talibans yearly announcement of its spring offensive is often viewed as a propaganda exercise, Taliban military and political operations often closely adhere to the announced goals. For instance, one of last years goals for Operation Azm was to conduct guerrilla attacks in all major cities. The Taliban fulfilled this promise, with suicide and other operations taking place in most of Afghanistans major cities, including the capital of Kabul. The Taliban even took control of Kunduz City for two weeks after mounting an offensive throughout the province.

In previous years, the Taliban said that infiltration attacks, which are better known as green-on-blue or insider attacks, would be launched against Coalition and Afghan forces. In 2012, just one year after the Taliban announced that it was ramping up such assaults, green-on-blue attacks accounted for 15 percent of Coalition casualties, according to data compiled by The Long War Journal. While reliable data on the number of casualties suffered by Afghan forces in insider attacks is unavailable, anecdotal press reporting indicates that Afghan forces may have taken losses similar to, if not higher than, Coalition forces.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
Hot New Private Dining Space in Chicago at Fairmont Millennium Park

The Millennium Room, which serves breakfast daily, is now available to book for a private lunch or dinner with a customizable menu provided by hotel. Whether you're looking for an intimate private dinner for two or a reception for up to 125 guests, The Millennium room is the perfect private dining space for every occasion. Reservations are available between 12p.m. and 10p.m.Visit website:
Also on the blog this week:

Now online: IP Stars 2016 Copyright Rankings

ITC, trade secrets, PTAB, Form 18 elimination, design patents  the takeaways from our US Patent Forum

Sponsored post: Belmora LLC v Bayer Consumer Care AG et al

And in our news and analysis:

US patent litigation plummets in first quarter

USPTO proposes first TTAB changes for nine years

US trade secrets bill passed unanimously in Senate

MIP Africa Roadshow 2016 - live updates

Analysing the PTABs final rule changes

Why we love (and hate) design rights

China Supreme Court clarifies patent infringement proceeding

Golden age for foreign trade name protection

ITC patent reform bill introduced in House targeting trolls

Federal Circuit vacates $85m verdict

The Federal Circuit has vacated an $85 million Eastern District of Texas award to SimpleAir for Google infringing its patents through its Cloud Messenger services, reports Ars Technica.

The Federal Circuit in its opinion, written by Judge Wallach and joined by Judges Moore and Reyna, determined the district court erred in its constructions of a data channel and whether said devices are online or offline from a data channel associated with each device, and concluded that no reasonable jury could find infringement under the correct constructions.

Google had asserted the claim term a data channel is indefinite under the Supreme Courts Nautilus v Biosig Instruments decision in 2014, or alternatively, that Google did not infringe under the correct construction of a data channel. Google also challenged the district courts constructions of transmission gateway and parsing said data with parsers, its application of the law of joint infringement, and the damages award.

SimpleAir had filed a second lawsuit against Google in 2014 seeking $100 million in damages, but the jury found the patents in that case were not infringed.

Optis buys Unwired Planet

Optis UP Holdings will acquire Unwired Planet LLC, including its patent and trade mark assets and select EU employees. The parent company Unwired Planet Inc has decided to evaluate its strategic alternatives and focus the company on reinventing itself.

Unwired Planet will receive $30 million in cash at the closing of the transactions and up to an additional $10 million in cash on the second anniversary of the closing of the transactions.

Unwired Planet expects the transaction to close in the second or third quarter. It has received the consents necessary to complete the transaction both from the holders of its senior secured notes and from Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson.

The purchase agreement provides for termination by Unwired Planet following payment of a $2 million fee to Optis UP.

Boris Teksler, chief executive officer of Unwired Planet, said: My team and I joined Unwired Planet 10 months ago, and in that time we have replaced a record of losses with several litigation victories. However, after assessing the companys financial situation, we felt it prudent to develop a range of alternatives for our IP business.

Unwired Planet expects Teksler to step down as CEO, and other IP members of the Unwired Planet team are expected to depart from Unwired Planet in connection with the divestiture.

Unwired Planet is involved in a series of litigations in the UK over wireless patents. In March, the UK High Court ruled Samsung and Huawei infringed a standards-essential patent held by Unwired Planet. This was the third verdict so far, following two patents being invalidated in January and Samsung and Huawei being found to infringe another patent last November.

Burberry drops case against JC Penney

Burberry has dismissed its trade mark case against JC Penney, reports The Fashion Law. The UK fashion brand had sued JC Penney in the Southern District of New York, accusing it of selling products that infringed its iconic plaid pattern.

While the terms of the parties settlement are confidential, we do know that all of the allegedly infringing goods have been removed from JC Penneys website, said The Fashion Law. From the outset, the retailer denied any liability, as it held that the Levy Group, one of its New York City-based apparel suppliers, which was also named as a party in the suit, was responsible for indemnifying JC Penney in case of any infringement actions.

JC Penney had issued a statement that it is "fully indemnified by the supplier, and therefore any damages awarded in the case will be fully covered by the supplier." It added that the suit will have "no financial impact" on it.

Complaints in the post-Form 18 era

The Patently-O blog has run an analysis by Quinn Emanuels Leeron Morad and Andrew Bramhall reviewing the impact of the elimination of Form 18 on pleading direct infringement.

Early indications from the few issued district court decisions interpreting the amended Rules confirm that the pleading standard for direct infringement claims may indeed have changed, they noted.

Morad and Bramhall looked at two decisions applying the amended rules that they said suggest plaintiffs were right to be concerned about a heightened requirement for pleading direct infringement.

In Raindance Techs v 10x Genomics, Judge Andrews of the District of Delaware granted 10x Genomics motion to dismiss claims of infringement of seven patents. The 35 page complaint would almost certainly have passed muster under Form 18, said the WilmerHale lawyers. The complaint also identified representative claims for each patent and the accused product. But Judge Andrews found the Raindance complaint lacking, saying the essential factual allegations so not take up much space. The judge also suggested 10x Genomics had not spent enough time investigating the alleged infringing product and had not attempted to relate the factual assertions with any of the claims. Judge Andrews applied the post-December 1 2015 direct infringement standard to the amended complaint, despite the fact it was filed in April 2015, in the interest of justice.

In InCom v The Walt Disney Co in the Central District of California, Judge Gutierrez denied Disneys motion to dismiss despite applying the new standard. He found that InCom had done enough by specifically identifying the defendants products and alleging that they perform the same unique function as plaintiffs patented system. He did not require InCom to identify any exemplary asserted claims in its complaint.

They said these two cases suggest that even under the heightened plausibility standard, we would not be surprised to see meaningful differences emerge in the ways different districts  and even individual judges within districts  apply that standard to direct infringement claims.

Led Zeppelin trial to proceed

Judge Gary Klausner of the Central District of California has ordered a copyright trial over Led Zeppelins 1971 song Stairway to Heaven to proceed, reports Reuters.

The judge believes the song and 1967 instrumental Taurus by Spirit are similar enough that a jury should decide whether Robert Plant and Jimmy Page are liable for copyright infringement.

The lawsuit was bought by the trustees of Randy Wolfe, the late guitarist in Spirit and composer of Taurus. It is claimed the first two minutes of Stairway to Heaven was inspired by Taurus. The two bands toured together in 1968 and 1969.

The defendants claim the chord progressions are so common they do not deserve copyright protection.

Klausner wrote: "While it is true that a descending chromatic four-chord progression is a common convention that abounds in the music industry, the similarities here transcend this core structure. What remains is a subjective assessment of the 'concept and feel' of two works ... a task no more suitable for a judge than for a jury."

The judge dismissed claims against Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones and Warner Music. He also said the trustee can only receive 50% of any damages, as stipulated in a 1967 contract Wolfe signed.
Woodside today signed a five-year charter contract with Norwegian company Siem Offshore Australia Pty Ltd  an agreement that delivers Australia its first LNG-powered marine support vessel in 2017.



Woodside Chief Operations Officer Mike Utsler said the announcement positioned the company as an early adopter of LNG as a marine fuel in the region.



Were thrilled to be the first company to bring one of these vessels to the southern hemisphere. Australia is on track to become the worlds largest producer of LNG, so it makes perfect sense to build dual-fuel capabilities for our marine fleets here.



Our LNG tankers use their cargo to power their engines, making them cleaner vessels that use less diesel. Its natural that we progress this capability through to our support vessels, he said.



Woodsides new vessel will be greener  reducing vessel greenhouse gas and pollutant emissions and the reliance on imported diesel  while providing safe, reliable support to Woodsides assets in the Exmouth and Pilbara regions.



Woodside will continue to seek to expand the application of LNG-fueling in transportation in WA. Dualfuel has an exciting future as it can be used to power a wide range of vessels.


Today, during a ceremony in Detroit, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced that the next Arleigh Burke class destroyer, DDG 120, will be named Carl M. Levin in honor of the longest serving senator in Michigan history.



During his 36 years in the Senate, Levin was a member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services and its chair for more than nine years. He also served as chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, as a member of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. He led the Senate in adoption of the Defense Authorization Acts from 2007 through January 2015 when he retired.



Currently, Levin is Senior Counsel at Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP and Chair of the Levin Center at Wayne State University Law School and the law schools distinguished legislator in residence.



"It is a great honor to name this ship in recognition of such a dedicated public servant," said Mabus. "I have no doubt that all who serve aboard her will carry on the legacy of service and commitment exemplified by Carl Levin during his storied career."



My family and I are deeply moved by this singular honor and to be so wonderfully connected to the men and women of our great Navy, said Levin.



Arleigh Burke class destroyers conduct a variety of operations from peacetime presence and crisis response to sea control and power projection. DDG 120 will be capable of fighting air, surface and subsurface battles simultaneously and will contain a combination of offensive and defensive weapon systems designed to support maritime warfare including Integrated Air and Missile Defense and Vertical Launch capabilities.



The ship will be constructed at Bath Iron Works in Maine and expected to enter the Navy fleet in 2020. The ship will be 509 feet long, have a beam length of 59 feet and be capable of operating at speeds in excess of 30 knots.



Levin's wife Barbara is the sponsor of the littoral combat ship USS Detroit (LCS 7), which is expected to be commissioned later this summer along the Detroit River.


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Melbourne International RoRo & Automotive Terminal (MIRRAT) will officially open at Webb Dock West in Melbourne on the 10th April, 2016. MIRRAT is dedicated to providing best in class terminal services to the Automotive and RoRo markets in Melbourne by providing efficient, innovative and sustainable solutions to our customers.



As part of Port of Melbourne Corporations port capacity project, MIRRAT was awarded the rights to design, construct and operate the new RoRo & Automotive Terminal at Webb Dock West. This was a unique opportunity to build a world-class purpose built facility to support the shipping industry and all users of the terminal.



Over the past 18 months Managing Director Paul Hand and his team have been working with MIRRATs construction partners to deliver Australias largest RoRo & Automotive Terminal. This is an exciting time for all users of our facility, and the team at MIRRAT are proud of all the achievements to date. We are ready to open this world-class terminal to help connect Melbourne to the rest of the Global market.  Paul Hand, Managing Director MIRRAT.



MIRRAT has a strong environmental focus and is aiming to achieve a Greenstar rating of 5 stars for the buildings, as well as an accreditation of excellent for the overall construction of the terminal from the Infrastructure Council of Australia (ISCA). Some of the initiatives that MIRRAT has implemented to achieve this goal include the using of over 200,000 tonnes of recycled concrete, brick and glass in the construction of the terminal. MIRRAT has also installed LED lighting across the facility which will reduce energy usage by 30% per year.



The design of MIRRATs terminal ensures greater efficiency in the supply chain for all users of the terminal. Some of the current features at MIRRAT include 4,800 automotive laydown bays, 20,000 sqm of heavy duty hardstand, two wash bays, 120t gantry crane, and dedicated inspection zones. In 2018, the facility will expand to encompass three vessel wharves and additional laydown area which will enable the terminal to handle 1,000,000 units annually.
Energy Sector Set To Save the Stock Market

Over the past few week, we have seen the price of crude oil pullback from its recent high of $42 per barrel level. Last week April 4-8th the price of crude oil pulled back to a technical support zone and then posted a strong gain closing the weekly chart at the high.

Based on short-term technical indicators, along with the current momentum which crude oil has, I feel we will see the recent highs of $42 a barrel tested once again.

So what does this mean for energy stocks in the stock market as a whole? Well, if things unfold this week as I expect they will then we should see oil rise along with, energy stocks, and the S&P 500 index.

Take a look at the chart of crude oil below:

This weekly chart of oil shows what I expect will happen over the next one to three weeks, a bounce in price.

XLE Energy Sector Index Fund:

Energy stocks of had a strong rally since the lows earlier this year. But as you can see from the chart and basic technical analysis the price is now running into resistance at the moving average.

The moving average has acted as resistance for price and price is currently struggling at that level once again. I wouldnt be surprised though to see the XLE fund push higher one last time testing the recent highs from last month before it tops and starting another large correction.

The US stock market:

While the US stock market has posted strong gains since the January low, I feel this rally is going to come to an abrupt stop this month or in May.

If oil and energy stocks continue to move higher than we should see the stock market follow suit and for the S&P 500 to rally one last time up into a resistance zone before the next big wave of sellers step back into the market.

Energy & Stock Market Conclusion:

In short, I feel the US large-cap stocks are setting up for an epic drop in price. My technical analysis and cycle analysis are lining up very similar to what I saw during the 2000-2001 market top and the 2007  2008 market top. Investors should expect a 35% to 50% market correction over the next 12+ months.

With that said, the next few weeks will become very difficult to trade simply because the market is starting to get choppy with wild intraday price swings. This is because the average market participants are becoming more bullish than ever on stocks again while the large institutions are starting to distribute huge amounts of shares to these undereducated investors who dont know technical analysis and stock market cycles.

My current mindset has been to go into the markets for as little as 48 hours and then exit with a nice handsome profit using a strategy known as Price Spikes. This has worked out very well this year capturing very quick profits from these special price spikes. Its a simple Get-In & Get-Out strategy for highly volatile markets.

Good times are coming for us active traders and investors so buckle up!

If you would like to know when to buy and sell as a short-term trader or long-term investor using ETFs and join me at 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.

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Following its initial launch in December, the Smith River Artisan Trail currently is welcoming locals and visitors alike to experience an Open Door Tour.

Martinsville Henry-County Director of Tourism Jennifer Doss revealed that although the annual festival takes place all over Virginia, this is the first year that Martinsville and Henry County have participated. The expansive tour highlights 60 artists, artisans, agri-artisans, cultural attractions, hotels, bed and breakfasts, and restaurants.

Out of the 60 participants, about 10 percent are located at Studio 107, located at 105 E. Church St., in Martinsville. The eclectic group of artists make the studio an interesting stop on the tour.

One of the first booths visitors see upon entering the studio, In Frame Digital Arts, belongs to Iris Gillispie. Gillispie creates sculptures, jewelry, and handbags, among other items, with supplies that can be easily found around the house. She makes necklaces out of toilet paper, sculptures out of paper and glue, and centerpieces out of paper towel rolls and trash bags.

"It doesnt require a lot of money or tools to create a work of art," said Gillispie of her philosophy.

Another artist at the studio is wood turner Terry Mitchell, who owns the Mitchell Woodcrafts booth. Mitchell, who originally worked as an automobile dealer, found a love for wood turning in 1998 when he attended a week-long class about the skill at John C. Campbell Folk School in western North Carolina. One of Mitchells favorite things about woodworking is taking an ugly piece of wood and turning it into a stunning piece of artwork.

"I spend a lot of time sanding and trying to get whats hidden from the wood," Mitchell said.

Mitchell said he works with wood from all over the world, including trees found in the heart of the Martinsville-Henry County area.

According to Martie Jones at MJs Boutique, the best thing about art is that "If you dont like it, you tear it apart and start over again."

Even through Jones father starting making jewelry when Jones was about 20 years old, she did not discover her own passion for the art form until 2003 when she started beading to pass the time following neck surgery. Since then, Jones has found a supportive environment at Studio 107, where she creates jewelry and is offering special classes for the Open Door Tour.

Working with glass is a skill that Nancy Clark of First Day Designs credits in part to a lifelong fascination with the large stained glass window at First Presbyterian Church on Church Street in Martinsville. Eventually, her interest in glass turned into a passion.

"The joy for me is that Im constantly experimenting," Clark said.

While some of the events featured on the Smith River Artisan Trail are scheduled, others are floating. Also, some activities are free, while others charge a small fee. For a full list of events taking place through April 17 on the Smith River Artisan Trail, visit www.opendoortour.org or look up the Smith River Artisan Trail on Facebook.
A curious new malady spreading through parts of Virginia has alarmed epidemiologists and political scientists. So far, the outbreaks been mostly confined to a single congressional district. But researchers are warning it could spread and result in electoral fatalities across the commonwealth.

The illness is so new that experts cant even agree on a name. Some are calling it Cantoritis, after former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. Others have christened it Braticemia, after Rep. Dave Brat, the rookie congressman who upset Cantor in the 7th Districts 2014 GOP primary.

It started outside Richmond. Strangely, it seems to affect only Republicans, said Dr. Imma Nutter, whos tracked the disease for 22 months. The first symptom is, they turn into philosophical zombies and spout nonsense. Then they stalk other Republicans. If they catch em, they eat em.

Few have worried about the illness spreading outside the 7th District until now. But communicable disease researcher Hugo Potcrack said there are signs the malady has infected the 6th District, too.

One, he noted, is rising opposition to former state Sen. Ralph Smiths bid for the 6th District GOP chairmanship.

Like him or not, Smith is the ultimate Reagan Republican, Potcrack said. Apparently, thats no longer good enough in the Sixth District.

Another is that Rep. Bob Goodlatte, a lawyer who chairs the powerful House Judiciary Committee, is facing a GOP primary challenge from Harry Griego, a pilot who proudly wears the label constitutional conservative.

That phrase is one tipoff Griego may have Cantoritis-Braticemia, said University of Virginia professor Larry Basato, the most quoted political scientist in the world. He probably got infected by drinking the coffee at Roanoke Tea Party meetings.

Basato said diagnosing the ailment can be a challenge, because the surface symptoms resemble Trumpism, another new bug infecting the body politic. He referred me to Dr. Chad Ruoprabbaj at Catawba Hospital, who recently published an article outlining the key differences in the American Journal of Political Psychiatry.

Trumpism is easy, Ruoprabbaj said. Theres only one symptom  unfocused frustration with incumbents, and it affects Democrats, too. Sufferers often have trouble articulating that, though. They merely want to kick out all politicians and replace them with other bums who are angry and inexperienced. We treat that with a major tranquilizer like Thorazine.

Cantoris-Braticemia, which Ruoprabbaj calls C-B syndrome, tends to run deeper into the psyche.

Its victims sometimes believe the United Nations is trying to take control of local zoning and that environmentalism is communism in a 21st century disguise. Some also fear that in schools, government uses the Standards of Learning as propaganda to indoctrinate students.

Usually, they have a fixation with the U.S. Constitution, and what they believe it says, Ruoprabbaj told me. They consider themselves literalists. But, often, they dont know jack about the document.

As an example, Basato cited Griegos criticism that Goodlatte hasnt even tried to impeach any of President Barack Obamas top appointees for the offense of federal overreach. In the history of the nation, only one Cabinet officer ever has been impeached.

That was in 1876, for taking kickbacks, and the Senate acquitted him, Basato said. Even if the House did impeach some Obama appointees, the GOP lacks the votes in the Senate to convict and remove them from office. It would be a total exercise in futility, which would only inflame the partisan divide in Congress and the nation. It would make everything worse.

Beyond political considerations, Basato added, Goodlatte probably knows that impeaching an appointed official for overreach would itself be unconstitutional.

Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution says Congress may impeach for treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors,  Basato said.

The word overreach isnt in there. And it says nothing at all about maladministration as a justification for impeachment. In fact, the Founding Fathers debated putting that term in there, but deliberately didnt.

In spite of all that, what if Griego beats Goodlatte in the June primary the way Brat dethroned Cantor?

If that happens, Id say we have a full-scale epidemic of C-B syndrome on our hands, Basato said. That could doom Republican hopes to hold onto Goodlattes seat. Especially if Roanoke Mayor David Bowers jumps in the race.

Bowers couldnt beat Goodlatte in his dreams. But he has a lot more name recognition in the 6th District than Harry Griego.

In that event, God help us.

HINT: Much of the preceding has been satirical, except for the part that was true, and if that wasnt clear to you already, you probably should get checked for C-B syndrome. Or a sense of humor. Or a pulse.
Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Virginia Inc., a Richmond-based advocacy group, announced Monday that it has settled a housing discrimination case for $40,000 with W.S. Carnes Inc., owner of Meadowbrook Apartments complex in Chesterfield County.

The case alleged that Meadowbrook violated the federal Fair Housing Act for failing to accept payments from Social Security disability insurance as income. The complaint contended that refusing to accept disability income for housing discriminates against someone because of their disability, which is a violation of the Fair Housing Act.

In March 2014, a Hopewell woman brought to the attention of Housing Opportunities Made Equal  also known as HOME  Meadowbrooks policy of not accepting disability payments as a sole source of qualifying income. After an investigation that included fair housing testing, HOME filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in March 2015.

W.S. Carnes, in response to the complaint, denied that it discriminates against any tenant or prospective tenant on the basis of disability.

HUD proceeded with the investigation and facilitated the settlement, which resolves all claims in the case.

The settlement provides for a $20,000 fund that Meadowbrook Apartments will set aside to make reasonable modifications to the units or apartment complex as requested by people with disabilities or on its own initiative. Another $20,000 will be used to compensate HOME for time and resources used in the investigation.

For more than 40 years, we have strived to maintain a welcoming and comfortable environment for all of our tenants at Meadowbrook Apartments, including individuals with disabilities, Paul Carnes, president of W.S. Carnes, said in a statement.

We take our responsibility to be an equal opportunity housing provider seriously and have always done our best to go above and beyond what is legally required, he said. In this case, even before we found out about HOMEs complaint, we had already changed our rental policy to allow Social Security disability insurance as an acceptable sole income source after members of our staff learned during an annual training course that excluding [insurance payments] could be considered discriminatory.

Carnes said his company fully supports HOMEs mission.

In 2013, fair housing agencies such as HOME received 9,088 complaints on the basis of disability, 48 percent of all complaints nationally.
Henry County will be issuing a public notice this week seeking sites for the potential construction of a new jail, according to Deputy County Administrator Dale Wagoner.

"Were buying ad space Wednesday and Sunday with the intent of identifying potential land for the construction of a correctional facility to serve Henry County," Wagoner said. "We feel like the first step in this process is finding a suitable piece of property or several properties that could potentially be a jail, because where we put it will dictate cost, size, shape and other various factors that go into building a correctional facility."

The notice will seek approximately 25 acres of usable land suitable for construction of a jail, Wagoner said.

While the land would ideally be fairly close to the Henry County Courthouse on Kings Mountain Road, county staff is open to any and all proposals.

"There are many factors that go into what we would consider suitable, including location, size, shape of the parcel, the ease of access, safety, cost of acquisition and cost of development," he said.

While the public notice for land is an important first step in the process of building a new jail, Wagoner said, it should not necessarily be taken as an indication that the county will be building a new jail in the immediate future.

"It could be postponed or it could move expeditiously," he said. "Our main goal as staff is to get as much information as possible on suitable sites, total cost of the project and impact to the taxpayers of Henry County, and present all that information to the board of supervisors. Ultimately, it will be their decision whether we move forward with the project."

The proposed fiscal year 2016/2017 county budget includes $150,000 for consulting and engineering services on the jail project, Wagoner said.

"If we found a suitable piece of land, then we would have to do adequate due diligence to make sure it would be suitable for construction so thats going to require some technical expertise," he said.

All proposals will be due by May 2, Wagoner added. To submit a proposal or ask questions, contact Dale Wagoner at 634-4601 or e-mail him at dwagoner@co.henry.va.us.
Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction, Dr. Steven Staples, and Chief Academic Officer, Dr. Billy Haun, toured Magna Vista High School and John Redd Smith Elementary School on Monday.

The officials are touring schools in Virginia that already have performance based, project based learning in place. Applying a 21st Century teaching method at both schools, Dr. Staples and Dr. Haun witnessed students in action as opposed to sitting stationary in classrooms.

One of the highlights of the tour was Magna Vista High Schools "Science is Magic" program. Created by Magna Vista High School chemistry teacher Michael Portlock, high school chemistry students provide live demonstrations for elementary school children.

Dr. Staples said the program provides elementary school students with "the wonder of fascination." He continued, "They were engaged. They thought this was cool."

However, there are also benefits for the high school students.

"Every teacher will tell you, you really learn something when you have to teach it. Thats when you understand, okay, Ive got to think through some things here. Each of those high school students was presenting a lesson, answering questions, helping students understand. Ill bet they would all tell you, I understand it better because I had to teach it," Dr. Staples said.

Both at the high school and at the elementary school, Dr. Staples and Dr. Haun praised faculty and staff for a student-directed learning approach.

According to Henry County Public Schools Division Superintendent Dr. Jared Cotton, every elementary and middle school student between the third and eighth grade in the HCPS system owns a school-issued iPad.

As long as they are well-behaved throughout the day, students are allowed to take their tablets home with them. With textbooks, handouts, and homework on the iPads, students no longer need to carry bulky stacks of books and papers to and from school.

Dr. Staples and Dr. Haun witnessed the benefits of technology-based learning as third and fourth grade students read from their tablets and presented slide shows they had created.

Speaking about the visit to both schools, Dr. Staples remarked, "Its one thing to talk the talk. Its another to walk the walk. I think your walk was as effective as your talk. What you said you were doing was exactly what we saw."

After visiting the two schools in Henry County, Dr. Staples stated that they were an "exemplar for others."
RICHMOND  Gov. Terry McAuliffe has proposed to restructure the board of directors of GO Virginia, a new regional economic development initiative adopted by the General Assembly, to give the executive branch control over a majority of the panels members.

McAuliffe said his proposal would address the constitutional concerns that Attorney General Mark Herring advised last week. Herring suggested the development of this initiative posed a significant risk of violating the Constitution of Virginias provisions for the separation of powers among the branches of government.

Its unconstitutional, the governor said Monday of two identical bills adopted by the assembly to create the Virginia Growth and Opportunity Act. I dont sign unconstitutional bills.

The legislation, introduced by House Majority Leader Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Heights, and Senate Majority Leader Thomas Norment, R-James City, would establish a 22-member state board that would include four delegates, three senators and eight nonlegislative members appointed by the leadership of the two chambers.

Cox expressed frustration Monday that McAuliffe had raised concerns about an initiative the governor had publicly supported and big bipartisan majorities in the assembly had approved.

Im not enamored, he said. Im going to give it some thought.

Cox also voiced skepticism about the attorney generals opinion, which he said is very convenient to match what the governor wants to do.

I was very surprised to find out the whole constitutional issue was really an issue, he said.

McAuliffe and Herring say the bill would violate the constitution by giving the legislature control of an executive branch board that would be created to carry out the law adopted by the assembly.

We will not give up executive authority, the governor said in a news conference Monday announcing the proposed amendments, which the legislature will consider April 20.

The amendments would expand the board to 24 members, including three members of the governors Cabinet, two business leaders that he would appoint, and eight non-legislative members that he would pick, subject to confirmation by the assembly.

The House of Delegates would have four members and the Senate three, and each chamber would pick two business leaders to serve on the board. The governors amendments would require him to consult with the assembly leadership before making his picks.

McAuliffe also amended the legislation to remove the power of a majority of senators, delegates or administration on the board to veto approval of grants from a new GO Virginia fund that would be financed with $36 million approved in the pending two-year state budget.

The opinion did not directly address the composition of a committee that would be created to oversee the new Virginia Research Investment Committee, but the governor added two people to the seven-member panel  his secretary of education and a nonlegislative member he would appoint.

Like GO Virginia, the committee would oversee a sizable pot of state money that would be used to fund collaborative research initiatives by higher education institutions to develop technologies with strong commercial and economic potential. House Appropriations Chairman Chris Jones, R-Suffolk, said Sunday he would reflect on the proposed amendments.
RICHMOND  Faced with a shortage of lethal injection drugs, Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Monday suggested maintaining the death penalty in Virginia through a secretive new process allowing the state to compound drugs through unidentified pharmacies rather than relying on the electric chair as a fallback.

At a Capitol news conference, McAuliffe said he will not sign Republican-backed legislation that would make the electric chair the default execution method if the state lacks the necessary drugs to perform a lethal injection. The governor called his recommendation a reasonable solution to a very difficult issue and said he expects lawmakers to consider his changes carefully.

If they pass up that opportunity, they will bring the death penalty to an end here in Virginia, McAuliffe said.

The original legislation, House Bill 815, was pitched as a way to provide the state with another option for carrying out the death penalty amid a widespread shortage of lethal injection drugs caused in part by pressure from death penalty opponents.

McAuliffe said he will not seek to end the death penalty, but called the electric chair a terrible form of punishment.

I personally find it reprehensible, McAuliffe said. We take human beings, we strap them into a chair and then we flood their bodies with 1,800 volts of electricity, subjecting them to unspeakable pain until they die.

Under the governors recommendation, the identity of any pharmacy providing lethal drugs to the Department of Corrections could be kept secret, a provision similar to a proposal that failed in the General Assembly last year after drawing opposition from an unlikely coalition of groups including tea party activists, the ACLU and death penalty opponents.

Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, a death penalty opponent who has pushed for more transparency in executions, said McAuliffes amendment replaces one bad idea with another bad idea.

I dont know how a court is supposed to evaluate whether were complying with the constitution if were going to kill somebody using a secret drug, Surovell said.

McAuliffe said the secrecy provision  which he called controversial but necessary  was included in laws passed in other states facing the same problem.

These manufacturers will not do business in Virginia if their identities are to be revealed, McAuliffe said.

Contractors providing drugs would also have protection against being outed in civil lawsuits.

Surovell said the proposal would mean more transparency in buying toilet paper than extinguishing a human life.

The more significant and important an act that the government takes is, the more transparency it ought to have, Surovell said.

The electric-chair legislation was one of the most controversial issues left undecided ahead of the governors Sunday deadline to act on bills passed in the 2016 session.

Virginia gives death-row inmates a choice between lethal injection and the electric chair, with lethal injection serving as the default if no choice is made. Since 1995, when prisoners were first given the choice, 80 inmates have been executed by injection, while seven picked the chair.

The bill, sponsored by Del. Jackson Miller, R-Manassas, was pitched as a way to avoid a crisis in which the state is unable to honor a prisoners choice due to a lack of drugs.

Questions over the states drug stockpile have loomed over the pending execution of Ricky Gray, who was scheduled to die March 16 for his role in the brutal murders of Richmonds Harvey family on New Years Day 2006. Grays execution was stayed in late February as he continues to appeal his case. The delay means the pending legislation could affect the death sentence for Gray, whose victims included the Harvey familys two young daughters.

Religious leaders and other activists had encouraged McAuliffe to veto the bill, suggesting it would be a return to inhumane practices of a bygone era.

The legislature will reconvene April 20 to take up the governors vetoes and recommendations.

McAuliffe said his recommendation offers a valid path forward to continue Virginias policy of capital punishment.

If my amendments to this bill are judged fairly, I do believe that a majority of Virginians will conclude that I have found a reasonable middle ground on an issue that sometimes defies honest conversation, McAuliffe said.
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SPRINGFIELD - Donald Mitchell, John Richards, and Darren James have all been appointed Financial Representatives by Northwestern Mutual in Springfield, MA.

Before joining Northwestern Mutual, Donald Mitchell was Vice President of Facilities and Projects at the YMCA of Greater Springfield. Mitchell is a native of Jersey City, New Jersey. He received a Bachelor's degree from American International College. Currently, Mitchell is an active member of Rick's Place, a facility that provides support to grieving children and their families. He resides in Springfield, MA.

Prior to joining Northwestern Mutual, John Richards was a Sergeant Major in the United States Marine Corps. Richards was active in the Marines for nearly 30 years. Richards is a native of Coos Bay, Oregon. Currently, Richards volunteers for the Down's syndrome Association and Awana, a global ministry committed to teaching children. He resides in Springfield, MA.

Darren James was previously the Food Service Director for Aramark. James is American-born and Caribbean-raised (St. Maarten, specifically), which is where he developed a passion for helping people that he believes is inherent to being raised on an island where hospitality is the mainstay of the economy. James received a Bachelor's degree from American International College. He currently resides in Springfield, MA.

As Financial Representatives, Mitchell, Richards, and James will join a network of specialists offering a wide array of products, including comprehensive financial planning, retirement planning, life insurance planning and more. They will provide expert guidance and innovative solutions for a variety of financial needs and goals.
Brent Burns, Laurent Dauphin

San Jose Sharks' Brent Burns (88) is chased by Arizona Coyotes' Laurent Dauphin (76) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, April 9, 2016, in San Jose, Calif. Dauphin was assigned to the AHL's Springfield Falcons on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

(Marcio Jose Sanchez)

SPRINGFIELD - The Arizona Coyotes announced today that they have assigned forwards Laurent Dauphin and Eric Selleck, defenseman Alex Grant and goaltender Marek Langhamer to the Springfield Falcons. In a separate transaction, the Falcons have released defenseman Derik Johnson from his Professional Tryout Contract.

The 21-year-old Dauphin registered 1-0-1 with 11:18 time on ice per game in eight games with Arizona. The Repentigny, Quebec native has collected 11-12-23 in 63 games with the Falcons in his first full season in the AHL.

The 27-year-old Grant dressed in five games and totaled seven penalty minutes (PIM) with Arizona. He recorded 11-29-40 in 66 games with the Falcons this season.

The 28-year-old Selleck played in one game with Arizona and recorded five PIM. The Spencerville, Ontario native registered 10-12-22 with 137 PIM in 59 games with the Falcons this season.

The 21-year-old Langhamer did not make an appearance with Arizona. He posted a 7-9-2 record with a .883 save percentage (SV%) and 3.80 goals against average (GAA) in 19 games with the Falcons this season.

The 26-year-old Johnson skated in four games with the Falcons posting six shots on goal and two PIM. The native of Bloomington, MN totaled 1-9-10 in 50 games with the Reading Royals (ECHL) this season.

This release courtesy of Andy Zilch from the Springfield Falcons.
destination.jpg

Haagen-Dazs brownies a la mode.

(Elizabeth Roman/ The Republican)

A friend of mine mentioned Haagen-Dazs' destination line a few weeks back and I've been looking for it in stores ever since. It's basically a line of ice cream that highlights particular destination locations like Mayan chocolate, inspired by Mexico, mango inspired by South America and more.

I would have loved to try Mayan chocolate, but it wasn't available at Food Zone, an international grocery store in Springfield, so I ended up getting Brownies a la mode which pays tribute to Chicago where the brownie was apparently invented.

This particular flavor features Haagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream mixed with fudge and brownie pieces.

The ice cream is Haagen-Dazs' usual variety, very creamy, sweet and awesome.

The fudge is fine, but nothing special.

The brownie pieces are more like giant brownie chunks and they are definitely the start of the show. I'm always impressed when any sort of cake or cookie pieces manage to stay soft and delicious even after they have been frozen, but Haagen-Dazs is able to achieve that effect. Every brownie piece was sweet perfection.

I give this one four scoops. I will definitely be on the look out for Mayan chocolate, so if you see it somewhere shoot me an email or let me know on Twitter @Lizro27.
BOSTON - Two classical music students, Maria Currie and Erin Shyr, are suing Eric Ruske and his employer, Boston University, accusing him of sexual harassment and saying the school did not step in to protect them despite being told of the allegations.

The two students filed their complaint in Suffolk Superior Court, alleging that Ruske, a professional French horn soloist who has performed in major orchestras and various chamber groups, in the last three years abused his position as a teacher, and compared one student's performance to sex.

Currie plays the trumpet, while Shyr, who is now a junior, plays the oboe.

According to the complaint, Ruske often complimented Currie on her high heels, at one point sending her a text message that said, "Without being too grossly inappropriate. I hope Santa brings you nice high heels."

When she said she was having a recital during the following semester, he responded, "And the last thing you need is some creepy old guy in the front row," with an emoticon. "You can always send pix..." he allegedly added.

The complaint pointed to messages where Ruske appeared to indicate he was aware how inappropriate some of his messages to students seemed.

A university spokesman declined to comment, saying they had not seen the complaint and they generally don't deal with lawsuits through the media.

Ruske "only apologized to students in an effort to discourage them from reporting the sexual harassment to BU," the complaint alleged.

With Shyr, despite her attempts to discourage unprofessional behavior, Ruske would greet her with kisses on the cheek, hugs, and in one instance his hand grazing her lower back, according to the complaint. He also called her "wicked adorable" in an email, the complaint alleged, and in another, asked her to share a "cute pic" with him.

The university knew Ruske, who was 50 years old at the time of the alleged incidents, was "unfit to work with young, female musicians," the complaint added, and "known in the music industry for sexually harassing young women."

The Boston University administrators are the "real villains" because they "lacked the will to keep his adolescent actions in check and to do their duty to protect their students from him," said the two students' attorney, Carmen Durso.
Googles philanthropic arm, http://www.Google.org, has been making a big global push this year to aid the one billion people around the world living with disabilities.

To further that goal, its just awarded $20 million to the 30 nonprofits it believes could benefit most from its tech and data-driven approach to charitable giving.

From open source electric wheelchairs to multi-lingual keyboards you can control with eye-tracking technology, the chosen projects focus on solutions for disabled people in five main categories: education, communication, mobility, independence, and employment.

Davey Alba

Full Story: http://www.wired.com/2016/04/google-orgs-giving-20-million-engineer-better-world-disabled/
Montana State University Billings (MSUB), the College of Business at MSUB and the MSUB Foundation are pleased to announce the third annual call for nominations for the statewide Montana Business Hall of Fame. All are invited to nominate a business leader they believe is worthy of recognition. Because many people are deserving of recognition, previous nominations may be re-submitted.

The Montana Business Hall of Fame recognizes business leaders who have been successful in private enterprise in Montana. By identifying outstanding examples of business leadership, the Hall of Fame recognizes, shares, and documents stories of success and innovation. The Hall of Fame creates an awareness of appreciation of Montanas rich heritage of business leadership.

Last years class included these outstanding business leaders: Don and Marilyn Floberg (Billings), Greg Gianforte (Bozeman), and Tom Scott (Dayton, WY). These individuals were honored at An Evening With Terry Bradshaw dinner on September 10, 2015. At least two new members will be inducted this year.

Business leaders who are selected for the Montana Business Hall of Fame are recognized for their contributions to Montana within the past 25 years. Posthumous nominations are welcome. The criteria for acceptance into the Montana Business Hall of Fame include:

* Outstanding business performance

* High standard of ethics

* Willingness to take risks

* Concern for the customer and for the well-being of employees

* Innovative business ventures

* Contributions to their local communities and the state

Anyone interested in acknowledging the outstanding contributions of Montana business leaders may submit a nomination to the MSUB College of Business. Those selected for the honor will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at an awards ceremony held this fall.

This years ceremony will be held on October 11, 2016 at The Radisson Hotel Billings in Billings, MT. The featured speaker will be actor, author, director, and producer Henry Winkler.

Request for Nominations

You are invited to nominate a business leader you believe is worthy of recognition. You may submit your nomination at http://www.msubillings.edu/mbhof/form.htm or you may mail your nomination to Dr. Barbara Wheeling, College of Business, Montana State University Billings, Billings, MT 59101 or email it to [email protected]. The deadline for nominations is May 1, 2016.

Name of person: ___________________________________________________________

Name of the persons business: _______________________________________________

Why you think this person deserves this recognition: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for your participation. We hope to see you on October 11.

Sincerely,

Barbara Wheeling

Dean

College of Business

Montana State University Billings

1500 University Drive

Billings, MT 59101
He described himself as a "simple cotton farmer." But he was far more than that. He was a very perceptive and adept businessman, and he was the chairman of a local economic development organization.

In meeting with companies that were considering his community as a location for future operations, he would say this, words that have stuck with me over the years:

"What is important to you is important to us."

By Dean Barber  President/CEO of Barber Business Advisors, LLC, a location advisory and economic development consulting firm based in Dallas.

Full Story: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/dumb-dumber-club-just-got-bigger-dean-barber
For the past decade, Red Ants Pants http://redantspants.com/ in White Sulphur Springs, Montana has proven that durable and strong work wear comes in every size and shape.

Red Ants Pants owner Sarah Calhoun says she was just looking for someone to start making work pants for women.

"I started because I was tired of wearing mens work pants and I needed some that fit curves. No one jumped at it and one guy said if you are serious about it why dont you start your own company," Calhoun said.

So at the age of 25, Calhoun started Red Ants Pants and over the years she has found Montana welcoming to a female business owner.

By Margaret DeMarco

Full Story: http://www.kbzk.com/story/31704015/red-ants-pants-celebrates-10-years-of-business

***

Multi-Grammy Award winner Wynonna Judd headlines this years Red Ants Pants Music Festival July 28-31, in White Sulphur Springs, Montana http://www.matr.net/article-71033.html
Un dimanche encore sur la breche pour les hommes des unites de la Mauritius Fire and Rescue Services ainsi que celles de la Special Mobile Force dans la facade est de Maurice.

Des episodes pluvieux qui ont fait que le pont Anse Jonchee soit ferme a la circulation a cause de linondation et la presence des debris qui ont ete deblayes par les membres de la SMF avant de la rendre a la circulation.

Les ememrbes de la MFRS ont enleve de leau pluviale accumulee dans les localites telles que Sebastopol, Cite Gris Gris, Gris Gris, Surinam et Chemin Grenier en quelques heures.

Si le NEOC est au niveau II de lalerte, les hommes de la SMF, MFRS, SSU et NCG sont deja dans les point strategiques afin de parer a toute eventualite.

A signaler que deux equipes de la SMF patrouillent les regions de lEst et de Vieux Grand-Port et ceus dela SSu/NCG de Poste de Flacq a Poste Lafayette.

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The Honourable Second Member for Port Louis South and Port Louis Central (Mr Uteem)

To ask Dr the Honourable Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development 

Whether, in regard to the proposed setting up of a manufacturing plant for the local production of COVID-19 vaccines and other pharmaceutical products in Mauritius, he will state if any company manufacturing COVID-19 vaccines approved by the World Health Organisation has been approached therefor?

Mr Speaker, Sir,

From the very outset, I wish to state, that the objective of the Government is to develop pharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturing into an industry that can potentially emerge into a growth pole for the Mauritius economy.

The emphasis on this industry was outlined during the 2021-2022 Budget whereby a seed funding of Rs 1 billion was earmarked for internationally renowned pharmaceutical and vaccine laboratories to set up manufacturing activities in Mauritius. We also made provision for the setting up of the Mauritius Institute of Biotechnology (MIB), with a view of channelling this funding into projects that meet the conditions set forth by Government.

Accordingly, pending the setting up of the MIB, the Economic Development Board (EDB) launched an Expression of Interest (EoI) on 19th June 2021 for the Development of a pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry in Mauritius in priority areas of vaccines and pharmaceutical products in speciality areas. The EoI, was diffused, through key local and international media, as well as through our embassies in Europe, USA and Asia.

Mr Speaker, Sir,

I wish to inform the House that 40 firms showed interest in the EoI exercise, which comprised not only vaccine manufacturing but also the production of generic pharmaceuticals and medical devices, amongst others.

As far as vaccine manufacturing is concerned, nine interests were received and five submitted their business proposals.

As part of the evaluation exercise, the EDB had enlisted the services of Dr Deoraj Caussy, an independent expert in epidemiology and virology, to assess the five proposals received. The expert report was submitted on 27th October 2021, and this includes recommendations on the proposals that may be considered by the authorities concerned. The experts report will be submitted to the Mauritius Institute of Biotechnology Ltd for its consideration.

Mr Speaker, Sir,

In parallel to this exercise, discussions are also being held with companies producing COVID-19 WHO-approved vaccines, in India and USA.

The MIB Ltd which has recently been set up, will oversee the implementation of this budgetary measure.
Le leader du Rassemblement Mauricien a envoye ses quatre questions demandant des reponses orales lors de la troisieme seance de 2022.

Les questions de Nando Bodha sont comme suit et seront tirees au sort avec le nouveau systeme agree entre les Whips des deux cotes de lAssemblee Nationale.

PQ1.

The Honourable Second Member for Vacoas and Floreal

(Mr Bodha)

To ask the Honourable Prime Minister Whether, in regard to the Mauritian Police Force, he will, for the benefit of the house, obtain from the Commissioner of Police

(i) information as to the package uniform allocated to each police officer,

(ii) the cost of each package (iii) to whom the tenders are allocated, & (iii) whether he has received any complaints ?

PQ2

The Honourable Second Member for Vacoas and Floreal (Mr Bodha)

To ask the Honourable Minister of Health As regards to the administration of each of the different vaccins used, can the Minister inform the House as to the number of cases for each vaccin where side effects have been recorded and the treatment given ?

PQ3.

The Honourable Second Member for Vacoas and Floreal (Mr Bodha)

To ask the Honourable Minister of Agro Industry. As regards to the new auction market, whether he can inform the House as to when it will be operational ?

PQ 4:

The Honourable Second Member for Vacoas and Floreal (Mr Bodha)

To ask the Honourable Minister of Labour Whether with regards to the situation of unemployed graduates in the country he will inform the House of (i)the number of unemployed graduates as at now and (ii)the number of graduates who are presently underemployed. and how the situation has evolved since 2020?

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Chicken will be the best-positioned protein due to its low price position in times of pressure on consumer spending power but rises in production costs and the long-term impact of COVID-19 threaten to disrupt the sector, according to Rabobank.
by Sarah Mahoney @mahoney_sarah, April 11, 2016

Skeptics and fans alike are one step closer to getting a peek at Whole Foods Markets new 365 concept, in advance of the first store opening next month.

And with its emphasis on private-label products and more affordable groceries, it cant come soon enough: A new report from Deutsche Bank shows Trader Joes is in stealth mode, giving Whole Foods a significant pounding on prices.

The 365 is slated to open in Los Angeles Silver Lake neighborhood next month. Whole Foods describes the store as a streamlined, quality-meets-value experience in an announcement.

The Austin, Tex.-based retailer says shoppers at the new store can expect to grab a cold beer or hot coffee from the Allegro Coffee Company, a vegan meal from By Chloe, or use the new teaBOT kiosk, which offers custom grab-and-go tea in less than 30 seconds. (People can choose a combination of up to three selections types, from a menu of 18 tea types.)

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And through Instacart (Whole Foods is a major investor in the delivery start-up), online ordering is expected to be a big part of 365s appeal, as are a wide selection of 365 products, its private-label products.

But the Deutsche Bank pricing analysis suggests that even those products might not strike Gen Y shoppers as a particularly good value. Deutsche, which currently rates Whole Foods as a hold, found that a basket of 77 items was 21% cheaper at Trader Joes, indicating that Trader Joes may be investing more in price cuts to catch Whole Foods off guard. The difference was most pronounced in perishables, with Whole Foods prices typically 30% higher. And it offered a better price on just 9% of the items.

Theres even a significant gap  about 15%  between Whole Foods 365 products and Trader Joes store brand. The disparity concerns us and leads us to believe TJs has once again reduced prices across the board, it writes, a function of reaching a step-up in scale at the 500 unit level.

Two additional 365 locations are scheduled to open this year, in Bellevue, Wash., and Portland, Ore. And up to 10 new stores are expected to open in 2017.
by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, April 11, 2016

The Daily Mail owner is considering a bid for Yahoo's core assets, from search and email to mobile and video, but the company seems most interested in the news and media properties in the deal as a way to increase online advertising sales, Search Marketing Daily confirmed Monday.

"Discussions are at a very early stage and there is no certainty that any transaction will take place," a Daily Mail spokesperson told Search Marketing Daily.

The company, which plans to give updates as "appropriate," said that "given the success of DailyMail.com and Elite Daily, we have been in discussions with a number of parties who are potential bidders."

Last year, Daily Mail acquired Elite Daily, a U.S. online publisher targeting Millennials, for between $40 million and $50 million. DMGT revealed last year that 40% of its monthly audience of 212 million unique visitors to Mail Online came from the U.S.

The Wall Street Journal was the first to report that the U.K.-based Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) began discussing an offer with private equity firms.

The Daily Mail has not yet met with Yahoo executives. Yahoo has held meetings with Verizon, IAC/InterActiveCorp, and CBS, reports the WSJ, citing a person familiar with talks.
by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, April 11, 2016

Last week, The New York Times, Washington Post, Gannett and 14 other members of the Newspaper Association of America threatened legal action against Brendan Eich, CEO of Brave -- a new browser that blocks ad-networks' ads and replaces them with "safer" ads.

"Your plan to use our content to sell your advertising is indistinguishable from a plan to steal our content to publish on your own website," the publishers wrote.

The news companies argue that Brave's model violates a host of laws, including ones against copyright infringement. Their theory is that Brave will infringe copyright by reproducing the editorial content material -- articles, photos and videos -- without the original ads attached.

Despite the threats, the newspapers do not appear to have convinced Brave to change course. Instead, the company posted a public response accusing the NAA of failing to understand the Internet.

"The NAA's letter misconstrues how Web standards and browsers work," Brave writes. "Browsers do not just play back recorded pixels from the publishers sites. Browsers are rather the end-user agent that mediates and combines all the pieces of content, including third-party ads and first-party publisher news stories. ... Browsers are free to ignore, rearrange, mash-up and otherwise make use of any content from any source."

The software company goes on to accuse the news industry of violating readers' privacy by working with third-party ad networks, which track people as they surf the Web in order to serve them targeted ads.

Brave says its replacement ads also will be targeted based on users' browsing history, but that the raw data will not be shared with advertisers or publishers.

Here's how the company described its targeting system -- which sounds similar to one that Mozilla abandoned last year, just several months after its launch: "The Brave Browser maps browsing history to a fixed set of general 'interest' categories. A subset of those categories are combined with categories based on the context of the current page and possibly some 'decoy' categories. No other information is disclosed and no unique or persistent identifiers are used. The Brave Browser then selects appropriate ads to display from the list returned by the Brave Ad Network and either ignores the remainder or caches them for later use."

Brave also says it will share ad revenue with the publishers, but the news companies counter that any potential revenue-share won't "begin to compensate us for the loss of our ability to fund our work by displaying our own advertising."

It's not yet clear whether the newspapers will make good on their threats, or whether Brave will want to defend itself in court.

For now, though, the company seems more than willing to trade barbs with the news organizations.

"News industry leaders rightly decry the violation of privacy inherent in some NSA or FBI tactics, yet their own complicity in tracking individuals to even more invasive degrees is not addressed," the company writes. "We will fight alongside all citizens of the Internet who deserve and demand a better deal than they are getting from today's increasingly abusive approach to Web advertising."
by Gary Holmes , Op-Ed Contributor, April 11, 2016

Every four years, political junkies hope that the primaries will fail to select a consensus presidential candidate, thereby producing a dramatic showdown at the national convention. The fact that this hasnt happened since 1952 doesnt usually discourage them until early March, when its obvious that the party is coalescing around a single candidate.

But this may be the year! Probably not at the Democratic convention -- unless Hillary Clinton is indicted for her email scandal and the party apparatus decides to fight Bernie Sanders in favor of a more mainstream candidate.

No, its on the Republican side, where we might see a contested convention. With three candidates still in the hunt and Donald Trump needing 60% of the remaining delegates to guarantee the nomination, its possible that no one will arrive at the Cleveland convention with a majority of the delegates.

This is especially true after Trumps loss in Wisconsin.

If political junkies are excited at the prospect, the networks must be thrilled. The Republican debates have generated huge ratings and the conventions would probably do the same. Best of all, this would be extra viewing in the summer, when ratings are low. And viewing would be live  not time-shifted  so there would be no pesky fast-forwarding during the commercials.

There was a time when the networks turned over their entire prime-time slot (and more) to the convention proceedings. Sometimes it was boring, and sometime it was dramatic.

One of the most indelible TV memories of my childhood was watching the police beat up protesters at the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago, while the party itself imploded inside the convention hall.

The 1976 Republican convention in Chicago was also pretty exciting, with Ronald Reagan just barely falling short of unseating then-President Gerald Ford.

By the 1980s, the networks had started to cut back on their coverage, seeing little news value in the event, given that the nominees were pre-selected and the platform pre-written. In recent years, broadcast networks have allocated one hour a night to the convention proceedings, which meant that a well-oiled convention would be sure to schedule the most-important speeches between 10 and 11 p.m. ET.

The truly memorable convention events of the last 20 years have been few and far between: maybe then-State Senator Barack Obamas 2004 keynote address at the Democratic convention, or Clint Eastwoods bizarre interview with the empty chair at the 2012 GOP gathering.

But at a contested convention, all bets are off. Trump has already threatened riots if hes thwarted  and even if his supporters dont riot, there is a distinct possibility of unrest from groups who oppose him.

If theres a contested convention, the American people will become much more acquainted with the arcana of convention procedures. First stop will be wall-to-wall coverage of the Rules Committee, which will decide, among other things, whose name can be placed in nomination.

This includes the rule that a candidate needs to have a majority of delegates from eight delegations to be nominated.

Only Trump meets this standard so far, and its not clear that Cruz or Kasich will get there. The Rules Committee could change that rule, and probably will if Cruz doesnt get his eight delegations, since hes making sure his supporters get on the committee.

Then there will be wrestling over who gets to speak during the plenary sessions. In 1964, liberal Republican Nelson Rockefeller took to the podium and denounced the likely nominee, the paleo-conservative Barry Goldwater, which resulted in pandemonium on the floor.

What if some Never Trump speaker does the same thing this year? Or what if a speaker gives a speech so electrifying that the convention becomes swept up in the moment and nominates him or her? Thats what happened with William Jennings Bryan in 1896.

The climactic vote on the presidential nomination itself will be the highlight of the event. There has never been more than one delegate vote for a president in the television era. Under state rules, most delegates go to the convention pledged to a particular candidate  but by the third round of voting, all delegates will be free to vote for whomever they like.

We can only imagine what these extra rounds will be like. By tradition, theres an alphabetical roll call by state, and each delegation leader uses the occasion to deliver a mini-commercial for the state (Mister Chairman, the great state of Vermont  the Green Mountain State and the land of maple syrup, cheddar cheese and Lake Champlain  proudly casts its 27 votes for the next President of the United States, Ted Cruz.)

This has a certain charm for about 10 states, but it is not a TV-friendly way to conduct a vote.

Its hard to believe that those mini-commercials will continue after the first vote, but even a straightforward roll call of the states and territories will be time-consuming.

We probably wont know whether there will be a contested convention until June 7, when the final five states, including California, have their primaries.

Until them, network executives will have their fingers crossed, hoping for a real bonfire in Cleveland.
by Ben Frederick @mp_benfred, April 11, 2016

Much to the frustration of mobile marketers, shoppers on mobile arent exactly loyal.

While 71% of smartphone owners use their devices to shop, the average shopping cart abandonment rate is 69% according to new findings from Moovweb. Conversion rates on mobile are 70% lower than on desktop.

Mobile consumers mostly care that the checkout experience is trustworthy, convenient, and consistent. Seventeen percent of them will abandon their carts due to concerns about privacy, while 40% will go to a competitor after a bad experience. Fifty-seven percent wont recommend a business with a poorly designed mobile site or app.

On top of all that, 64% of consumers expect a mobile site to load in four seconds or less.

The point of sale has been the biggest stumbling block for many companies looking to drive conversions on mobile. Occasionally, the actual checkout is run by another company entirely, requires multiple forms to fill out, and sometimes asks for information that isnt pertinent to the current sale.

Mobile commerce is only growing, but as it does, unsolved problems wont just disappear under the weight of all that money. In 2014, mobile comprised 11.6% of the $303 billion in ecommerce sales in the U.S. By 2020, mobile will account for 45% of the $632 billion in total e-commerce sales, says Business Insider Intelligence.

Moovweb recommends that companies improve checkout experiences by explaining why they need certain information, auto-detecting as much info as possible for the various forms, making sure info is readable, ensuring the security of all transactions, and testing out different formats to see what works best.
by Steve McClellan @mp_mcclellan, April 11, 2016

Full-service marketing agency Palisades MediaGroup has opened a New York office and has recruited a duo from Omnicoms PHD to lead the office.

The Los Angeles-based shop has named Andrea Cardamone SVP and managing director of the new office, while Lauren Foley joins as VP and account director. Its the third office for the agency, which also has an outpost in San Francisco.

Cardamone is a 15-year industry veteran, and has worked with brands such as ESPN, Pepsi, Disney, Warner Bros and The Weinstein Company. Most recently, as SVP and group account director at PHD, she led the agency team for both HBO and Bleecker Street. This will be a return engagement for Cardamone at Palisades, as she worked at the company from 2004 to 2010 as the firms SVP, national media, client and account director.

Foley has 12 years of media and marketing experience under her belt, most recently as an associate strategy director at PHD. Her accounts have included HBO, Bleecker Street, History Channel, ION Network and Cadbury.

Its the second go-round for Palisades in New York. It opened an office in NYC in 2007, but closed it due to the recession in 2010.

Were thrilled to have Andrea and Lauren join our team and help us reestablish our presence in NYC, said Roger Schaffner, chairman and CEO of Palisades MediaGroup. This is just a sign of our continued growth over the past three years, with new billings doubling. The agencys current billings are about $450 million.

The New York operation opens with a staff of three but plans call for the hiring of another three people in the next couple of months.

Charter New York clients include The Weinstein Company and an undisclosed company. Other clients at the agency include UGG Australia, Dropbox, Mercury Insurance Group, Netflix, In-Shape Health Clubs, Belkin International Inc. and Del Taco.
by Tanya Gazdik , April 12, 2016

Best Buys Geek Squad is switching gears.

The retailer is ditching the Volkswagen Beetle in favor of the hybrid hatchback Toyota Prius c. More than 1,000 of the vehicles -- fully decked out as the new Geekmobile -- are rolling out nationwide.

Bearing an updated Geek Squad logo, the switch is visible evidence of how the Geek Squad is expanding its in-home service capabilities and expertise to keep pace with ever-changing technology, said Geek Squad Chief Inspector Nate Bauer. Agents today make more than 5 million house calls a year, driving an estimated 12.6 million miles to assist Americans with the full range of technology needs, including home technology design and installation, as well as troubleshooting and repair.

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The new Geekmobile and refreshed logo reflect how we continue to evolve along with technology," Bauer says in a release.

Geek Squad rolled out in 2004 as the first national computer support task force. While the vehicle's 17-plus cubic feet of cargo space might not fit a mainframe, its spacious enough to shuttle just about anything an agent might need  whether optimizing a home theater system or improving Wi-Fi performance or installing a security solution, according to Toyota.

Best Buy officials said the switch to the Prius was not connected with Volkswagen's emissions scandal, although the Prius cs SULEV (Super ultra-low emissions vehicle) rating is appealing given Best Buys commitment to reduce its own carbon emissions.
by Philip Rosenstein , Staff Writer, April 12, 2016

Amid a raucous GOP primary co-opted by billionaire Donald Trump, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has impressively maneuvered his campaign into striking distance of the Republican nomination.

Considering Trumps substantial disapproval numbers, even within the Republican party, Cruz is positioning himself as the candidate who can bring the party back together. While the Texas Sen. may be more palatable than Trump to some GOP voters, the extreme conservatism espoused by Cruz should be cause for pause.

Cruzs candidacy toes the line between being more establishment than Trump, while remaining anti-establishment enough to keep true to his grassroots/Tea Party support. If he is the candidate mainstream GOP voters eventually pick, the Republican party will have jolted miles to the right.

Politico wrote that if Cruz were to win the nomination, he would fall further to the right than ultra-conservative Barry Goldwater, who argued against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, using the excuse of states rights. The reactionary tendency of Cruz must be taken seriously, as his party becomes more extreme.

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Take abortion, for example.

George Bush 43, John McCain and Mitt Romney had conservative stances on abortion, but made exceptions in cases of rape and incest. Ted Cruz does not deem those situations important enough to override the rights of the unborn child.

Incredibly, Cruz is in favor of returning to the Gold Standard, a concept that was relegated to history books after the Great Depression. Doing so would have disastrous effects on the global economy and proponents of such a plan are considered completely beyond the mainstream.

Anil Kashyap of the University of Chicago explains, as reported by The Wall Street Journal, that Love for the gold standard implies macroeconomic illiteracy.

On the international front, Cruz said of ISIL: We will carpet-bomb them into oblivion. I dont know if sand can glow in the dark, but were going to find out!

For a former U.S. Supreme Court clerk, Cruz is strangely more ideologically than factually inclined.

To round out the conservative extremism embraced by the Cruz campaign, and by association a significant portion of the GOP establishment, the Texas Sen. has called climate change pseudoscientific theory.

Adding in his positions on tax policy, civil liberties and foreign policy, Cruz is a potential nominee as dangerous to the country, and to the Republican party, as Donald Trump.

Veteran Republican policy expert Peter Wehner explains that the real question we should be asking about Cruz is whether he [is] creative enough to adjust to the changing times and changing demographics?

As of yet, he sounds unwilling to do so. Moreover, his central electability argument revolves around the assumption that GOP failures over the past decade were caused by nominees who were not conservative enough.

That calculation may find success in the Republican primary contest. However, its doubtful such extreme conservative positions could win over sufficient Independents to succeed in a general election.
by Karlene Lukovitz @KLmarketdaily, April 12, 2016

Dos Equis made headlines last month by announcing that it will replace longtime Most Interesting Man actor James Goldsmith with a younger model, but the brand is still squeezing some marketing benefits out of consumers fondness for him.

As part of its build-up to Cinco de Mayo, Dos Equis is running what its describing as an auction (actually a sweepstakes) of the characters most interesting possessionsall taken from stories about the character, and many seen in TV ads over the years.

The items include his smoking jacket, the tuxedo he wore to his last masquerade party, his Spanish guitar and matching mariachi suit, and the astronaut suit from his 2010 stratosphere jump.

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Once per day until June 30, consumers 21 and older can visit DosEquis.com/CovetedCollection, click on one of the 25-plus items shown, and enter for a chance to win one of the prizeswhich also include a grand prize of a weeks trip for two to Mexico. Participants can bid (up their chances of winning) by visiting the site and entering multiple times.

Between April 18 and Cinco de Mayo, the brand will also hold live auctions of some of the characters artifacts through a Coveted Collection Estate Auction Tour with stops in Dallas, Austin, Houston, Albuquerque, Phoenix and Los Angeles.

Proceeds from those events will go to The Impact Plans missions to help rehabilitate endangered animals in East Africa and rebuild earthquake-shattered Himalayan villages in Nepal, according to the brand.

Dos Equis has also released a 30-second greatest hits online video, featuring some of the most interesting moments from the decade-long campaign, including ones featuring the items for auction.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, April 12, 2016

Last July 4, New York Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul had his right index finger amputated after a fireworks accident.

Within days of the incident, ESPN journalist Adam Scheffer obtained Pierre-Paul's medical records and posted a screenshot of them on Twitter. That move prompted Pierre-Paul to sue Scheffer as well as ESPN in Florida. The athlete alleges that they violated his privacy, and also violated a Florida medical-privacy law.

Now, ESPN is firing back. The company is asking U.S. District Court Judge Marcia Cooke in Miami to dismiss the case and award it attorneys' fees. ESPN argues in papers filed in federal court in Miami late last week that the medial-privacy statute applies to health care professionals, but not to the media. ESPN also says it has a free-speech right to publish truthful information about matters of public concern.

Florida's health care privacy law imposes broad confidentiality requirements on doctors, hospitals and other professionals. But the law also prohibits a "third party" who receives information in a medical record from disclosing it without the patient's consent.

ESPN says that the term "third party" in the statute only applies to people who have the right to demand medical information -- like attorneys in lawsuits, people who work in poison control centers, law enforcement personnel and scientific researchers.

"The statute does not, and constitutionally could not, impose any obligations on members of the general public who may learn or obtain medical information from a health care provider," ESPN argues in a motion late last week.

The company adds that the Supreme Court ruled in 1979 that news outlets have a free-speech right to publish truthful information about matters of public concern -- even if a state law appears to mandate confidentiality.

ESPN also is urging the judge to dismiss Pierre-Paul's claim that the company violated his rights by publishing "private" facts about him.

Pierre-Paul asserted in his lawsuit that even though the amputation "may have been of public concern," the picture of his medical records was not.

ESPN calls that distinction "groundless."

"Plaintiff does not even allege that the photos contain any private information about him that is materially different from the news about the amputation," ESPN argues. "They amount to no more than photographs of words on a piece of paper and a computer screen stating that Plaintiffs finger had been amputated."

ESPN is asking Cooke to award it attorneys' fees under Florida's anti-SLAPP (strategic litigation against public participation) law, which aims to protect free speech. That law prohibits people from bringing lawsuits based on speech in connection with public issues, and says people who bring those cases must pay defendants' legal bills.

The dispute raises some of the same questions as Gawker's battle with celebrity Hulk Hogan, who sued the company for posting excerpts of a sex tape. Gawker also argued it had a First Amendment right to publish truthful information. A jury ruled against Gawker in that case and ordered the company and its founder to pay a total of $140 million.

But the cases are different in a few key respects, including that the Gawker-Hogan battle was in front of a state judge, not a federal judge. That's significant, given that federal courts have sided with the media in other privacy disputes. In fact, a federal judge in Florida sided with Gawker early in the case, ruling that the clip was of legitimate public interest. After that ruling, Hogan dropped the federal case and brought his lawsuit in state court.
Diseases carried out of Africa by migrating waves of modern humans may have played a role in the extinction of Neanderthals. Share on Pinterest The researchers say there is evidence that many infectious diseases may have been co-evolving with humans and our ancestors for tens of thousands to millions of years. So concludes a study published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology by the universities of Cambridge and Oxford Brookes in the UK. Tapeworm, tuberculosis, some types of herpes, stomach ulcers and other chronic diseases would have weakened the Neanderthals, impaired their fitness as hunter-gatherers and contributed to their demise, the researchers suggest. First author Dr. Charlotte Houldcroft, of the Division of Biological Anthropology at Cambridge, says: Humans migrating out of Africa would have been a significant reservoir of tropical diseases. For the Neanderthal population of Eurasia, adapted to that geographical infectious disease environment, exposure to new pathogens carried out of Africa may have been catastrophic. Both fossil and genetic evidence suggest that Neanderthals and modern humans (Homo sapiens) evolved from a common ancestor between 500,000 and 200,000 years ago. Neanderthals dominated Europe for tens of thousands of years until during one very cold period, when modern humans spread across Europe. Over just a few thousand years afterward, Neanderthal numbers dwindled to the point of extinction.

Some infectious diseases are much older than we thought After reviewing the latest evidence from pathogen genomes and DNA from ancient bones, Dr. Houldcroft and colleagues conclude that some infectious diseases are probably many thousands of years older than previously thought. Fast facts about Neanderthals Neanderthals are our closest extinct human relative

While their bodies were shorter and stockier than ours, their brains were just as large, and often larger

Neanderthals made and used diverse sophisticated tools, controlled fire, lived in shelters, made and wore clothing, buried their dead and marked their graves with flowers. Add this to evidence that our human ancestors bred with Neanderthals and swapped disease genes, and that the modern human caught viruses from other hominins before migrating out of Africa, then it follows, argue the authors, that humans relayed the diseases to Neanderthals. New techniques allow us to study the history of disease from two angles: by analyzing the genetic code of modern diseases, and by looking for disease genes in DNA extracted from fossils of our early ancestors. The traditional view of infectious diseases is that they arose when humans began farming and living in denser populations alongside livestock some 8,000 years ago. But Dr. Houldcroft and colleagues say the newer evidence suggests many infectious diseases may have been co-evolving with humans and our ancestors for tens of thousands to millions of years. Also, it is likely that many diseases, such as tuberculosis, thought to have crossed from herd animals into humans may have traveled in the other direction  started in humans and then moved to animals. Instead, the authors suggest the advent of agriculture and dense, settled populations provided the perfect conditions for diseases that were already present but sporadic in the Neanderthals  who as hunter-gatherers lived in small foraging groups  to spread quickly.
Leading experts will today [Tuesday 12 April] call for the UK government's dementia strategy to recognise two common but little-known forms of the condition.

Most people with Parkinson's disease will eventually develop dementia, and dementia with Lewy bodies affects at least one in ten of all people with dementia (around 100000 people in the UK). Dementia with Lewy Bodies is the second most common form of age-related dementia after Alzheimer's disease, and was implicated in the death of actor Robin Williams in 2014.

Both conditions can involve visual hallucinations and specific problems with movement. Symptoms often fluctuate, making them difficult for patients, carers and medical professionals to identify and manage. While the causes of Lewy Bodies and Parkinson's dementia are still poorly understood, they involve different mechanisms to Alzheimer's disease.

The lack of awareness of these conditions means that Lewy Bodies and Parkinson's dementia are frequently misdiagnosed, and patients are often inappropriately prescribed antipsychotic drugs to treat their hallucinations. These can lead to unwanted side-effects, and in some cases can worsen their condition. Even when a correct diagnosis is made, there are currently few treatment options available, and diagnosis is often made too late for existing drugs to be effective.

According to Professor Dag Aarsland, Chair of Old Age Psychiatry at King's College London, "Despite the fact that they are common conditions, Lewy Bodies and Parkinson's dementia are desperately under-researched, and many health professionals and members of the public have never even heard of them. The symptoms of these disorders can be extremely distressing to patients and their carers, and are often misdiagnosed, which is why we are calling for a specific strategy to address them as part of the UK government's dementia plan."

The call for Lewy Bodies and Parkinson's dementia to be addressed by the UK government's dementia strategy will be made during a symposium convened by the NIHR Dementia Biomedical Research Unit (BRU) at King's College London, which aims to raise awareness of Lewy Bodies and Parkinson's dementia among medical professionals and researchers. The BRU at King's College London hosts one of the UK's only groups researching dementia with Lewy Bodies and Parkinson's Disease dementia.

The UK government recently published an implementation plan for its 2020 dementia challenge, which aims to make England the world leader for dementia research and treatment by the end of the decade. While the plan provides a detailed blueprint for addressing the many complex challenges of dementia care and treatment, it does not refer specifically to the treatment and diagnosis of Lewy Bodies and Parkinson's dementia, leading to concerns that patients with these conditions will be left behind.

Professor Clive Ballard, Director of the NIHR Dementia BRU at King's College London, says, "While the UK government's commitment to tackling dementia is commendable, it's vitally important that the unique challenges of Lewy Bodies and Parkinson's dementia are better recognised and planned for. We hope that by improving recognition among researchers, medical professionals, and the public, we can go some way to reducing the problems of misdiagnosis and poor treatment which stem from the poor awareness of these conditions."

Researchers at the meeting will announce details of several clinical trials which are about to commence testing new treatments for these disorders. One phase 2b trial, the HEADWAY-DLB Study, will examine whether an experimental compound called RVT-101 can improve the symptoms of dementia with Lewy Bodies. Other work in the research group is examining whether the drug pimavanserin, recently shown to be effective in treating psychotic symptoms in Parkinson's Disease, can also be used to treat patients with Lewy Bodies dementia.

The meeting on Tuesday 12 April will be attended by leading international researchers in the field from the UK, Germany, US and elsewhere, with the programme covering all aspects of Lewy Bodies and Parkinson's dementia.
Princeton University researchers have found that a family of proteins with important roles in the immune system may be responsible for fine-tuning a person's motor control as they grow -- and for their gradual loss of muscle function as they age. The research potentially reveals a biological cause of weakness and instability in older people, as well as a possible future treatment that would target the proteins specifically.

Share on Pinterest Princeton University researchers found that proteins in the MHCI, or major histocompatibility complex class I, family may contribute to fine-tuning a person's motor control as they grow -- and also contribute to their gradual loss of muscle function as they age. They found that MHCI proteins "prune" the connections, or synapses, between motor neurons and muscle fibers, which is necessary during early development. This image from a mouse bred to express less MHCI shows two motor neurons (green) still connected to a single muscle fiber (red) at an age when only one connection should remain.

Credit: Image by Lisa Boulanger, Princeton Neuroscience Institute, and Mazell Tetruashvily, Department of Molecular Biology

The researchers reported in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity that proteins in the family MHCI, or major histocompatibility complex class I, "prune" the connections, or synapses, between motor neurons and muscle fibers. Pruning is necessary during early development because at birth each muscle fiber in humans, mice and other vertebrates receives signals from dozens of neural connections. Proper motor control, however, requires that each muscle fiber receive signals from only a single motor neuron, so without the pruning carried out by MHCI proteins, fine motor control would never emerge.

But the researchers also found that MHCI levels can rise again in old age, and that the proteins may resume pruning nerve-muscle synapses -- except that in a mature organism there are no extra synapses. The result is that individual muscle fibers become completely "denervated," or detached from nervous system control. Denervated muscle fibers cannot be recruited during muscle contraction, which can leave older people weaker and more susceptible to devastating falls, making independent living difficult.

However, the Princeton researchers discovered that when MHCI levels were reduced in mice, denervation during aging was largely prevented. These findings could help scientists identify and treat the neurological causes of denervation and muscle weakness in the elderly.

Corresponding author Lisa Boulanger, an assistant professor in the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, explained that in infants, motor neurons initially make far too many connections to muscle fibers, which is part of why infants lack fine motor control. Synapse overproduction followed by pruning occurs in many different regions of the vertebrate nervous system, and the neuromuscular junction has often been used as a model for studying this process.

It is not known why more synapses are made during development than are needed. One possibility is that it allows the wiring diagram of the nervous system to be precisely tuned based on the way the circuit is used, Boulanger said. MHCI proteins help limit the final number of connections so that communication between neurons and muscles is more precise and efficient than would be possible using just a molecular code that produced a set number of connections.

"Molecules might get you to the right zip code, but pruning can make sure you arrive at the right house," Boulanger said. "During development, it's essential to get rid of extra synapses. But when you up-regulate MHCI when you're older and start pruning synapses again, but you don't have any extras to replace them."

Boulanger worked with first author Mazell Tetruashvily, who received her doctorate in molecular biology from Princeton in 2015 and is now completing her M.D. training at University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey; Marin McDonald, who received her doctorate in neuroscience from the University of California-San Diego (UCSD) in 2010, and is now a radiology resident at UCSD; and Karla Frietze, a doctoral student in Princeton's Department of Molecular Biology. Boulanger was on the UCSD faculty before moving her lab to Princeton in 2009.

In the immune system, MHCI proteins present protein fragments, or peptides, to T cells, which are white blood cells with a central role in the body's response to infection. This peptide presentation allows T cells to recognize and kill infected and cancerous cells, which present abnormal or foreign peptides on their MHCI proteins. It is unknown if the proteins' ability to help recognize and destroy infected or cancerous cells is mechanistically related to the proteins' ability to help eliminate excess synapses that the Princeton researchers discovered.

In the nervous system, MHCI proteins stop pruning synapses early in life. Why they may resume their synapse-eliminating activity later in life is unknown, Boulanger said. As immune-system proteins, MHCI levels increase with inflammation, she said. Aging is associated with chronic inflammation, which could explain the observed increase in MHCI levels and the reactivation of its former role.

The Princeton researchers found that mice bred to express less MHCI proteins had "more youthful" patterns of muscle innervation, since they were protected from denervation as they aged, Boulanger said. The mice actually lacked a protein known as beta-2 microglobulin, which forms a complex with MHCI and is necessary for MHCI expression on the surface of cells. This could be beneficial from a clinical perspective because beta-2 microglobulin is a soluble protein and can be removed from the blood, Boulanger said.

"If a rise in MHCI is the problem, having less beta-2 microglobulin might be protective," Boulanger said. Recent results from a lab at Stanford University showed that reducing beta-2 microglobulin also helped with cognitive aging because of its effects on MHCI proteins. "Our studies raise the possibility that targeting one protein could help with both motor and cognitive aspects of aging," Boulanger said.

Because MHCI proteins are important in the immune system, however, such an approach could result in compromised immunity, Boulanger said. The mice bred to not express beta-2 microglobulin had weakened immune systems, as a result of their lower levels of MHCI proteins. Future work will include exploring the effectiveness of other approaches to reducing the proteins' synapse-eliminating activity in older nervous systems, ideally while leaving their immune functions intact, she said.
Research debunks previously held belief that storage of blood is responsible for cellular damage.

Scientists from Blood Systems Research Institute in San Francisco, California, and Canadian Blood Services' Centre for Innovation lab in Edmonton, Alberta, report for the first time that specific red blood cell manufacturing methods may be less damaging to cells than others. This finding could help reduce adverse reactions in transfusion recipients and may impact the future of how blood is collected in North America and around the world.

By comparing red blood cells collected at the organizations' respective blood donation centers in the US and Canada, the researchers looked at the levels of microparticles and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) present in blood that can indicate cellular damage. Studying red blood cell units manufactured using nine different processes, the scientists observed clear differences in the extent of damage across the nine methods. The findings appear in Vox Sanguinis online and will be printed in an upcoming issue.

"Based on Dr. Jason Acker's prior work, we knew that red blood cells can be damaged to varying degrees depending on the manufacturing method. We then wondered if we could detect damage-associated molecular patterns, known as DAMPs, in the red cell products, as evidenced by microparticle counts and mtDNA levels," explains Dr. Sonia Bakkour. Dr. Bakkour, lead researcher and staff scientist in the molecular transfusion lab at Blood Systems Research Institute, presented the team's preliminary findings at the AABB annual meeting last October.

"Our study showed that those molecular patterns are present and that their levels and composition are different based on the red cell manufacturing process, that is, the process and materials used to collect or prepare red cells for transfusion. This tells us that some manufacturing processes cause less damage to the red blood cells than others."

"Working with the American team at Blood Systems Research Institute was key to this research because of the wide variations in blood manufacturing processes present in the US," explains Dr. Jason Acker, senior development scientist with Canadian Blood Services' Centre for Innovation. "In countries like Canada, where there is a national blood service, manufacturing methods are largely standardized, so it is difficult to compare various methods. But blood collection in the US is characterized by dozens of independent blood centers that use a variety of available manufacturing processes. The Americans provided the variations we needed to measure red cell damage and to ascertain whether it can be attributed to different manufacturing methods."

This new research also debunks the long-held belief that higher levels of DAMPs are associated with longer lengths of time red blood cell units are stored prior to transfusion. The findings show the increased levels are related to the manufacturing method, rather than the storage method. However, the researchers have not yet isolated the specific causes of the variations in mtDNA and microparticle counts.

"There must be more testing of the apheresis collections equipment, blood bags, leukoreduction filters and other variations in manufacturing methods to determine what single element or combination of elements in the various red blood cell manufacturing processes result in high levels of DAMPs and why," emphasizes Dr. Michael Busch, senior vice president and co-director of Blood Systems Research Institute.

"We also need to understand how mitochondrial DAMPs are involved in adverse reactions to red blood cell transfusions," elaborates Bakkour. "Some recently published studies on platelet components link high levels of mitochondrial DAMPs to adverse transfusion reactions. We need to see if DAMPs have similar adverse effects on recipients of red blood cell transfusions."

"We think that our research could lead to finding 'the best' way to manufacture red blood cells," predicts Acker. "It's clear now that manufacturing methods matter. We and our respective research sponsors -- Health Canada, US National Institutes for Health, Heart, Lung and Blood Institute are keen to explore what's in the blood bag or in the filters or in the tubing, for example, that can be minimized or eliminated, improving the outcome in patients who receive blood transfusions."
A recently discovered genetic mechanism allowing bacteria to develop and transfer resistance to colistin, one of the last-resort antibiotics, has been present in many countries across the world for more than a decade, according to late-breaking data presented at ECCMID.

Researchers presented findings on the prevalence of the mcr-1 gene, a transferable genetic mechanism of antimicrobial-resistance to colistin - the last resort antibiotic in a number of circumstances. At a session dedicated to late-breaking abstracts on colistin resistance, researchers presented evidence on the prevalence of the gene in bacteria (including Enterobacteriaceae such as Escherichia coli,Salmonella or Klebsiella). Scientists also presented evaluations of treatment and management options, as well as new diagnostic methods and assays to help identify mcr-1. The late-breaking data was released at ECCMID 2016 - the annual meeting of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disease (ESCMID).

The mcr-1 gene is particularly significant as it can be carried by plasmids, small DNA molecules, which can be transferred between single-celled organisms, such as bacteria, through so-called horizontal gene transfer. These genes can then be transferred sideways to other strains or species, not just vertically down to the offspring by replication. Horizontal gene transfer is the primary reason for antibiotic resistance.

The mechanism, first discovered in an E. coli strain from a pig in China in November 2015, has over the past months been identified in bacterial samples across the world. The increased prevalence of plasmid-mediated resistance is causing major concern among infectious disease specialists, because it threatens to reduce options to treat infections and is creating new resistant bacterial strains.

Abstract No.: 7426 - No trend towards increasing mcr-1 prevalence between 2004 and 2014 in food-producing animals in Europe

The study evaluated the prevalence and evolution of the mcr-1 gene from 2004 - 2014 in E. coli and Salmonella samples isolated from food-producing animals. The results showed that the gene has been present in animals for more than a decade and has already spread across Europe. However, the researchers did not observe a trend towards an increase in the mcr-1 prevalence during the 10-year period studied.

Abstract No.: 7069 - Human as a source of colistin resistance: presence of mcr-1 gene in gut microbiome

In an abstract on the current prevalence of the mcr-1 gene in the human gut microbiome - one of the major reservoirs of resistance in the ecosystem - the researches evaluated samples from 344 Chinese and 145 European individuals. Six of the Chinese individuals harboured the mcr-1 gene and close homologues of the plasmid in their gut microbiota, whereas no related genetic elements were found in the European cohort.

Abstract No.: 7430 - The occurrence of the colistin resistance gene mcr-1 in Salmonella enterica and E. coli isolates from humans, livestock and retail meat in the Netherlands

A study from the Netherlands found that the antibiotic resistant gene mcr-1 was not identified in human Salmonella, but was retrospectively detected at low levels in Salmonella from poultry sources (1.0%), as well as in E. coli from faeces of Dutch livestock (0.3%) and retail meat (1.7%). The authors concluded retrospective screening with selective isolation procedures is needed to assess the current spread of the gene in bacterial populations from animal sources.

Abstract No.: 7101 - Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase and carbapenemase encoding Enterobacteriaceae isolates harbouring the novel mcr-1 colistin resistance gene

Researchers undertook whole genome sequencing from 600 Enterobacteriaceaeisolates from different sources (humans, livestock, companion animals, environment) in Germany. They found that the resistance gene mcr-1 has been present since at least 2010.

Abstract No.: 7590 - Prevalence of colistin resistance gene (mcr-1)-containing Enterobacteriaceae in feces of patients admitted to a tertiary-care hospital in the Netherlands

A Dutch study evaluated 624 faecal samples from patients admitted to a tertiary hospital. The researchers observed the mcr-1 gene at a low prevalence of about 0.3% within the Dutch population. Remarkably, the presence of the mcr-1 gene did not result in a colistin-resistant phenotype, and was found in ESBL-negative E. coli isolates that contained a plasmid-mediated enzyme.

Abstract No.: 7281 - Genetic diversity of colistin-resistant mcr-1-carrying E. coli isolates from global travellers

A global study evaluated the distribution (prevalence and presence) of the mcr-1 gene in Enterobacteriaceae and the diversity of its isolates - the latter gives an indication of the rapidity of the gene's spread. The researchers found ESBL isolates carrying the mcr-1 gene in travellers returning from three different continents. The findings suggest that a horizontal transfer is likely across many clones. The variety of plasmid backbones carrying the mcr-1 gene indicates efficient transposition mechanisms. These observations indicate a promiscuous spread of the mcr-1 gene, which likely facilitated the observed dissemination across the globe, the authors concluded.

Abstract No.: 7437 - Colistin-resistance can be detected by semi-automated systems

A study examines the quality of colistin-resistance detection methods. The authors showed that automated systems underestimated colistin resistance in 19% of a sample of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (KPC) strains. The research has concluded, this underestimation may lead to major errors in clinical interpretation and cause therapeutic failure.

Abstract No.: 7471 - Detection of the plasmid-mediated colistin-resistance gene mcr-1 in clinical isolates and stool specimens using a newly developed real-time PCR assay

The researchers validated a newly developed real-time PCR assay for the detection of mcr-1. The new assay specifically detects the mcr-1 gene and was validated to accurately confirm the presence of this new gene in colistin-resistant clinical isolates. The assay may facilitate rapid mcr-1 identification in stool specimens and can therefore be important to further improve clinical management and infection control.

Abstract No.: 7386 - Molecular characterization of colistin-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae causing bacteremia in a large teaching hospital in South India

A study from India evaluated the molecular characteristics of colistin resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae. The researchers found that mutations in the mgrB gene, and not the mobile mcr-1 gene, were responsible for resistance at the hospital. Due to the emergence of resistance to reserve drugs, there is a need for combination therapies for carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae, and colistin must be judiciously used.

Abstract No.: 7485 - The mcr-1 gene: is it useful for detecting colistin resistance in carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CR-KP) from clinical isolates?

A Malaysian study evaluated mcr-1 detection in Enterobacteriaceae. The researchers support the evidence that the detection of the mcr-1 gene in colistin-resistant Enterobacteriaceae may be useful for rapid detection in clinical isolates. Rapid detection is needed for better patient management and to promptly implement effective infection control measures. They also suggest that the detection methods should include other molecular mechanisms that may contribute to the resistance of colistin in CR-KP.

Prof. Winfried Kern, Programme Director of ECCMIDcomments: "The mcr-1 gene has recently taken centre stage in the on-going fight against antibiotic resistance as we are concerned that resistance this colistin resistance mechanism may be transferred between different bacterial species. The antibiotic colistin is in some cases already the only treatment option clinicians have left. Today's research gives some indication of its prevalence, its spread and its genetic diversity, adding further data on its role and transference. Understanding the spread of mcr-1 and the underlying resistance mechanism will allow us to develop more effective diagnostics, treatments and stewardship programmes to better manage infections caused by multi-resistant pathogens."
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Drug resistance is a case in point. Many targeted therapies bind and inactivate specific proteins known to be essential nodes in the signaling circuits that drive cancer cell growth. But, almost invariably, some cells within tumors randomly develop mutations that either disrupt the binding of a drug or otherwise obviate its effects. Those cells tend to resist treatment and can grow to dominate a tumor. This classical mechanism of drug resistance is known as clonal selection.But tumors can also adapt to targeted therapies in other ways. Their cells might, for example, skip the genetic changes and alter the coordination of their internal signaling circuitry-in effect sending critical growth signals down alternative circuits. To capture such changes, the researchers used a micromechanical device developed by Heath's lab known as the Single Cell Barcode Chip (SCBC) to study GBM cells taken from a patient-derived mouse model of the cancer. The mice were treated with drugs that target key molecular nodes in GBM signaling circuits, mTORC1 and mTORC2.Mischel, Heath and their colleagues first eliminated the possibility that clonal selection accounted for the inevitable resistance that developed against the drugs. They then used SCBC to track a selected subset of biochemical reactions that expose the activation of distinct signaling pathways in individual or small groups of cells."Drug resistance was marked by the emergence of signaling networks that were previously in the background and that now were newly coordinated to drive the growth of these tumors," says Mischel, who is also a professor of Pathology at the University of California, San Diego. "This was a key insight because it led to a series of testable predictions."Specifically, after pinning down the precise alternative circuits used by GBM cells under treatment, they showed that by concurrently targeting both the original and the new signaling pathways, they could durably suppress the growth of tumors in their mouse model. Conversely, targeting any one pathway alone, even with more than one drug, had no such effect. The findings were replicated in tumor samples obtained from GBM patients at various stages of treatment."Our findings do not overturn the idea of clonal selection," says Beatrice Gini, a former post-doctoral researcher in Mischel's lab who conducted much of the study with Wei Wei, an assistant professor of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology at UCLA and former graduate student in Heath's laboratory. "In fact, genetically encoded resistance and this kind of adaptive resistance are probably occurring at the same time in a GBM tumor. But the rewiring of signaling circuits occurs much faster-apparently in the first few days of treatment, even when the tumor seems to be responding to a targeted therapy."The findings also explain why that response has typically proved so minor and fleeting in GBM, an extremely heterogeneous tumor. "This study builds on ten years of collaborative work with Jim Heath's lab and really highlights how heterogeneity is linked to a cancer's clinical behavior," says Mischel. "The cancer cell has a vast repertoire of responses at its disposal when it is challenged by a drug."Support for this study was provided by Ludwig Cancer Research, Ben and Catherine Ivy Foundation Fund, the National Institutes of Health, the Phelps Family Foundation and the National Brain Tumor Society.Source: Newswise
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"When we think about income inequality in the United States, we think that low-income Americans can't afford to purchase the same homes, live in the same neighborhoods, and buy the same goods and services as higher-income Americans," says Michael Stepner, a PhD candidate in MIT's Department of Economics. "But the fact that they can on average expect to have 10 or 15 fewer years of life really demonstrates the level of inequality we've had in the United States."In addition to reporting the size and growth of the income gap, the study finds that the average lifespan varies considerably by region in the U.S. (by as much as 4.5 years), but that the sources of that regional variation are subtle, and, like the aggregate national gap, subject to further investigation."The patterns are not exactly what you might expect," says Abraham, noting that regional variation in longevity does not seem strongly correlated with factors such as access to health care, environmental issues, income inequality, or the job market."We don't find those to be as highly correlated with differences in longevity as we find measures of health behavior, such as smoking rates or obesity rates" [to be correlated with lifespan], Abraham observes.The researchers looked at 1.4 billion anonymized income tax filings from the federal government, and combined that with mortality data from the years 2001 through 2014 from the Social Security Administration. This represents the most complete geographic and demographic landscape of mortality in America.Among other things, the growth of the gap in mortality rates -- by nearly three years -- struck the researchers as noteworthy. To put it in perspective, they note that federal health officials estimate that curing all forms of cancer would add three years to the average lifespan."That change over the last 15 years is the equivalent of the richest Americans winning the war on cancer," Stepner observes.At the same time, the researchers are quick to point out that the findings cannot immediately be reduced to simple cause-and-effect explanations. For instance, as social scientists have long observed, it is very hard to say whether having wealth leads to better health -- or if health, on aggregate, is a prerequisite for accumulating wealth. Most likely, the two interact in complex ways, something the study cannot resolve.A new puzzle emerging from the study, the authors note, is that differences in lifespan exist along the entire continuum of wealth in the U.S.; it is not as if, say, the top 10 percent of earners cluster around identical average lifespans."As you go up in the income distribution, life expectancy continues to increase, at every point," Stepner says.And then there are the new geographic patterns in the findings. For instance: Eight of the 10 states with the lowest life expectancies for people in the bottom income quartile form a contiguous belt, curving around from Michigan through Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas.So while average lifespans for everyone are lower in some Southern states, the poor do not fare worse in those places than they do in other regions."The Deep South is the lowest-income area in America, but when we're looking at life expectancy conditional on having a low income, it's not worse to be poor in the Deep South than it is in other areas of America," Stepner says. "It's just that there are far more poor people living in the South."The researchers say that more analysis on the sources of local variation in lifespans could be among the most fruitful research areas stemming from the current paper. The research team is releasing all the data from the study today as well.Among the municipalities where low-income people have experienced the greatest increases in lifespan from 2001-2014, for example, are Toms River, New Jersey; Birmingham, Alabama; and Richmond, Virginia. Cities with the largest drops in lifespan among the poor are Tampa and Pensacola, Florida; and Knoxville, Tennessee."We're not making any normative statements about what policy should be, but there is a wide dispersion of [results] happening in the U.S.," Abraham says. "That might need to be addressed at a more granular level."Places with the overall longest lifespans for the poor include New York City, with a chart-topping 81.8 years on average, as well as a passel of cities in California. The bottom of that list includes Gary, Indiana (77.4 years on average); Las Vegas; and Oklahoma City.Among the top income earners, people live longest in Salt Lake City (87.8 years on average); Portland, Maine; and Spokane, Washington. The rich have the shortest lives in Las Vegas (84.1 years on average); Gary, Indiana; and Honolulu.Abraham also observes that the findings could have implications for national policy programs, as well."Things like Social Security aren't going to be as redistributive if the richer people are getting paid for 10 more years than the poorer people," she says.Overall, the researchers say they hope to spark a larger discussion among the research and policy communities."We don't have all the answers," Abraham says. "But it's really important to make these statistics widely used so people have an idea of what the magnitude of these problems is, where they might focus their attention, and why this matters."Source: Eurekalert
Tension between the Gulf states, led by Saudi Arabia, and Hizbullah is currently very high, as reflected in measures taken recently by the Gulf states against this organization in response to its military involvement in Arab countries such as Syria, Iraq and Yemen, including its designation as a terror organization.[1] Against the backdrop of this tension, the Lebanese daily Al-Mustaqbal, which belongs to Hizbullah's rivals in Lebanon, the March 14 Forces, and is known for its support for Saudi Arabia and its opposition to Hizbullah, published an article by Lebanese poet and literary critic Paul Shaoul in which he challenges Hizbullah's legitimacy as a resistance organization.

Shaoul states that, since Israel is no longer occupying any part of Lebanon, there is no longer any need for resistance in Lebanon. However, he says, Hizbullah and its patron, Iran, have invented an alternative target for resistance, namely the Arab states and the Sunni world led by Saudi Arabia. Shaoul claims that Hizbullah has turned from a resistance organization into a force that acts as an occupier in several Arab countries, including Syria, Iraq and Yemen; in fact, it is a Trojan horse manufactured by the Iranian intelligence services with the purpose of destroying the Arab states and the Sunni world. Shaoul notes that not only isn't Hizbullah waging resistance against Israel, it has actually abandoned the Palestinian cause altogether and is doing nothing to promote it. He expresses satisfaction that the Arab world has finally awakened to the danger posed by Iran and Hizbullah that want to annihilate it and is now ready to fight for its life. Hizbullah is no longer a resistance organization, he concludes, but rather a target for resistance.

It should be noted that Hizbullah has for years been accepted as a resistance organization by large sectors of Lebanese society, including by its rivals, the March 14 Forces, and many Lebanese governments even recognized Hizbullah as such in their guidelines, including the current government headed by Tammam Salam. The Al-Mustaqbal article is the first time that the March 14 Forces have explicitly challenged Hizbullah's status as a resistance organization. Moreover, on March 14, the day after it published Shaoul's article, Al-Mustaqbal published a column by Muhammad Mashmushi that stated, in a similar vein, that Hizbullah is no longer a resistance organization but only uses this designation as an excuse to further other goals.[2]

The following are translated excerpts from Paul Shaoul's article:[3]



Paul Schaoul

Israel's Withdrawal From Lebanon Rendered Hizbullah's Resistance Unnecessary; Hizbullah Has Become An Occupier In Its Own Right

"Hizbullah's existence depends on the existence of a permanent enemy, imaginary or not, otherwise it [might as well] not exist. [Hizbullah] was originally created, or fabricated, in Iran in order to fight certain enemies that were chosen for it. That is why its militias were called 'resistance [forces],' because they fight an enemy that was designated [as such] not by Hizbullah itself but by [Iran], who created it like Frankenstein's monster.

"The Israeli occupation of South Lebanon was an act of aggression that required someone to fight it, and [that struggle] was called 'resistance'... Hizbullah thus received the label of resistance and it began carrying out the task required of it and waged a struggle against Israel until the latter withdrew. Today [only] the Shab'a Farms remain as a slogan and an excuse [for continued resistance].

"In the natural course of things, when the enemy withdraws the resistance withdraws as well, for it is no longer needed. But in the absence of an enemy, the slogan of 'resistance' must still be maintained in order to maintain legitimacy. How can [Hizbullah] achieve this? In one of two ways: by continuing to treat the enemy that has withdrawn as an enemy, though without confronting it, or else by having its maker [Iran] choose another enemy for it, [an enemy] that is not occupying its country or even part of it. This is how the resistance [Hizbullah] continued to exist without [actually waging] resistance, but remained as [a tool] in reserve, ready for [the day] when the enemy becomes an internal one... Since Hizbullah's resistance is purely sectarian [i.e., Shi'ite]... reflecting the identity of the one who invented it, Iran, anyone belonging to a different sect [than Iran i.e., the Sunni sect]... or to a different ethnic group [than the Iranians, i.e., to the Arab nation] becomes the enemy...

"Hizbullah thus acquired two identities: sectarian [i.e., Shi'ite] according to the faith of its guide [Iran], and Persian, according to [Iran's] ethnicity. This empties its resistance [of its essence] and gives it a different [essence], making [Hizbullah] an occupier. In its new garb, we find that this new faux-resistance [force, i.e., Hizbullah], instead of cultivating and uniting its country, is actually prospering as a dividing and destructive element. It took the place of the Israeli occupation in Lebanon, and also inherited from its 'enemy' [Israel] every characteristic that makes it an enemy of its country [Lebanon], of the Arab world and of Palestine. It became a militia without any identity [of its own], a mercenary, but possessing very large ambitions, starting with destroying its country, which it has begun to pulverize with its weapons...

"Thus, the original enemy, namely Israel, acquired a protected status and is now outside the priorities list and off [Hizbullah's] agenda. In fact, it is an ally whose strategy dovetails with Hizbullah's strategy of sparking sectarian fitnas, destroying the Arab world, carving it up and expelling its people, while making a pact with the Syrian regime..."

Hizbullah Has Turned Lebanon Into A Military Base From Which To Attack The Arab World, That Has Become Its Enemy

"Since this 'resistance' is [associated] with a party [Hizbullah] that is owned [by Iran] and with a [certain] Part [of Lebanon], it has turned Lebanon into military base... from which to attack the Arab world, which has become its enemy instead of Israel. This new Arab enemy justifies Hizbullah continuing to call itself a resistance [organization] that confronts sovereign countries and indigenous peoples and governments. Take for example Yemen: Iran plans to divide it by exploiting the presence there of a group that is close to the Shi'ites, namely the Houthis... As a resistance [organization], Hizbullah has sent its experts and fighters... to spark fitna and an armed revolution [in Yemen] in order to prepare the ground for extending the Persian influence into this country. Or take Iraq: [Iran] made a pact with the U.S. in order to topple the Sunni regime [there] and take over this country by means of sectarian fitnas [between] the Shi'ites [who support] Iran and the Iraqi Sunnis. Or take Syria: A Shi'ite minority rules a country in which 80% are Sunnis and violently opposes a civilian revolution - and the resistance party [Hizbullah] has joined [this minority] while waving a sectarian flag and defining the Syrian people as an enemy that must be killed, uprooted and expelled and whose cities must be destroyed.

"And all this [is happening] in the name of resistance... to the extent that Hizbullah's presence in Iraq, Lebanon and Syria has become, in essence, a replacement for Israel... Across the Arab world, [Hizbullah wages] the same campaign, [and employs] the same method and the same plan... Since Israel is no longer [Hizbullah's] primary enemy... that role has been taken by another enemy, namely the Gulf and especially Saudi Arabia... Iran has chosen the Saudi kingdom as a target, since it [represents] the solid bond between two elements: Arabism and Islam...

"Hizbullah's resistance has acquired many arms... and it no longer [sees] the Americans as the Great Satan, Israel as absolute evil, or Russia as the imperialist regime of the Orthodox [Church]. [The enemies] are now Sunni Islam, represented by Saudi Arabia, and Arabism, represented by the majority of the Arab nation - which [according to Iran] must both be dismantled in order to redraw the borders and create new states or mini-states, or even new peoples...

"How can Hizbullah be a resistance [organization] when it has become the enemy of its own country and of countries that never occupied its land? Moreover, how can it be a resistance [organization] when it takes part in occupying other countries? In Lebanon, Hizbullah has become an occupier endowed with every characteristic of the occupiers this country has known. Furthermore, how can this resistance [organization] continue to bear this title when, in the name of Iran, it attacks the borders of an Arab country, Saudi Arabia, occupies parts of Syria and uses Persian weapons to take control of the Lebanese people? Against whom is this resistance directed? Against the legitimate Arab regimes? Against the very existence of Islam? Against democratic phenomena? Moreover, how can it continue to be a resistance [organization] when it erases the borders of countries on the orders, with the funding, and according to the plan of the Persian state that [itself] occupies the Arab city of Ahwaz and three Arab islands [in the Persian Gulf], Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Moussa...?"

The Arab Genie Has Awakened To Oppose The Monstrous 'Resistance' If Hizbullah And Iran

Oh Mr. Hassan [Nasrallah], you talk to us of Palestine. Well, what have you done for Palestinian except thwart any solution of establishing an independent [Palestinian] state with its own borders and government? What have you done for Palestine except create schism within the Palestinian resistance, which serves Israel? What have you done for Palestinian except cause some of the [Palestinian] organizations affiliated [with you] to drag Israel into destroying Gaza? What have you done for Palestine except draw attention away from it by triggering disagreement among the Arabs that marginalized the Palestinian struggle and weakened its very foundations? What have you done for Jerusalem since the establishment of the Islamic Republic [of Iran in 1979]?... What have you done for the Palestinians in Syria except destroy the Al-Yarmouk refugee camp?... You have done nothing for them worth mentioning, but only harmed them and plotted against them... The boastful statements against Israel and in support of Jerusalem that often pepper the speeches of Khamenei and Nasrallah are nothing but dust thrown in [everyone's] eyes, nothing but high-flown rhetoric in attempt to remind people that Iran is 'standing fast' with Palestine. [This,] after it took all the weapons [that was directed] against Israel and directed them instead at the breast of the Arab peoples. Do Hizbullah and the Persians behind it think we believe them when they threaten Israel and the U.S. with empty slogans[?]...

"Hizbullah, you have done nothing since they invented you in the labs of the Iranian intelligence [apparatuses]! Excuse me, you are [worse] than Trojan horses within the Arab nation. You must understand now that the end has come for your attempts to assume new active roles... and that your influence, too, has grown very minimal. For the Arabs now realize that their existence is in danger and that the wars declared upon them [by Hizbullah and Iran] are more than just political. Therefore we now see them awakening and coming out against the plots to wipe them off the map. It has become a battle of life and death. Yes! And you, Iran, are the one who has awakened the Arab genie and prompted it to establish the legitimate resistance, which will never allow your monstrous resistance [to continue]!"

Endnotes:OCC
In a March 21, 2016 article in the Russian independent weekly The New Times, journalist Orkhan Jemal, whose father is Heydar Jemal, a leading Russian Islamic intellectual and chairman of the Islamic Committee of Russia, presented his overview of Russia's reasons for intervening in and then withdrawing from Syria.[1] Writing under the headline "The Conqueror's Whim," Jemal noted that Russia's intervention in Syria had been presented to the Russian people by its leaders as a necessity so that the Islamic State (ISIS) could be eradicated, along with any Russian ISIS fighters who might return home to create "another Syria," and also as "a continuation of the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus, only from a distance." An additional, but not officially acknowledged, motivating factor for the Syria intervention, he wrote, was the need to repair the damage caused by the Ukraine crisis, that had resulted in Russian President Vladimir Putin's ostracization and diplomatic isolation. Russia's Syria intervention forced the world to negotiate with Putin and to acknowledge Russia as a global player.

In Jemal's view, Russia's gains in Syria were modest; he wrote that ISIS's losses during the six months of the Russian military intervention could hardly be referred to as critical. Additionally, as far as the Geneva negotiations are concerned, international pressure could lead to the creation of a coalition government in Syria, and the country could be divided up into "a number of territories that would remain under the control of the forces that Russia, not so long ago, referred to as terrorist." Jemal is convinced that Putin did not attain his objective of international acknowledgement of Russia as a global player, since he did not manage to achieve peace "at least in some form" in Syria. Putin's withdrawal from Syria, he concluded, means that the operation to "force the world and Russia back onto speaking terms" can also be considered terminated.

Also in his article, Jemal revealed Iran's role in Russia's military intervention, as gleaned, he said, from an informal conversation with an unnamed Hizbullah official. He said that Gen. Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Qods Force, had apparently persuaded the Russian military to support Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and "turn the tide in Syria." Russia's main issue regarding its possible military intervention in Syria - that is, who would foot the bill - was settled when Gen. Soleimani assured Russia that Iran would compensate it for military expenses.

Since one of the Russian economy's major problems today is the low price of oil, such compensation by Iran could have come in the form of its agreement to join the Russian initiative for a temporary freeze in oil production by major oil-producing countries. In February 2016, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak announced that Russia, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Qatar would freeze their oil production at January 2016 levels, if other countries followed suit.[2] Fifteen additional countries had given their potential agreement, but Iran not only declined to join them, but planned to increase its production, with the aim of ultimately raising its current 1.4 million bbl/d to four million bbl/d.[3]

The outcome of the Russia-Iran discussion about oil production were officially announced on March 14, 2016 - the same day that Russia announced that it would withdraw its air forces from Syria. Also on March 14, following a Tehran meeting between Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh and Russian Energy Minister Novak, Iran's Press TV news outlet reported on Novak's statement that an international agreement to freeze oil production could be signed on April 17 in Doha, but that Iran would not be part of it because it was entitled to boost its output after the lifting of years-long sanctions.[4]

Jemal wrote: "The connection between the two events [i.e. announcements] is rather obvious. Russia ended its involvement in the Syrian war for economic reasons. Iran's participation in the proposed deal to decrease oil production would, in our opinion, have compensated us for our military expenses. Iran refused to pay the bill, and we refused to continue to participate in the war."

Following are excerpts from the article:

Now Under Discussion: Syria's "Division Into A Number Of Territories... Under The Control Of The Forces That Russia, Not So Long Ago, Referred To As Terrorist"



Russian Air Force fighter plane in Syria. (Source: Eng.syria.mil.ru)

"In late September [2015], it was announced that we were going into Syria to destroy the Islamic State. The destruction of this group... was deemed necessary by our leaders because many people from the Russian Federation are members of it and, allegedly, after gaining some military experience, may return home to create 'another Syria.' The war in the Middle East was presented to us as a continuation of sorts of the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus, only at a distance.

"It is obvious that the Russian air forces and their allies on the ground did not achieve this objective. ISIS was made a little uncomfortable, but on the whole maintained its positions [on the ground], and the losses it suffered over the six months when Russian pilots were at work in Syria can hardly be referred to as critical.

"[Another] Russian objective in Syria - let's call it semi-official - is to preserve the regime of Bashar Al-Assad, who in Russia was referred to as 'the legitimate ruler of the country,' and who invited us to fight on his side 'on legal grounds' and 'in accordance with international law.' Assad's positions [on the ground] haven't changed much, although it is undeniable that at the start of the Russian military intervention his regime was one step away from the collapse, whereas at the time of our withdrawal he is much more confident.

"According to the Kremlin plan publicized last September, Russia had to stop the civil war in Syria, and therefore had to defeat all the terrorists (according to our views at the time, everyone who opposed Assad was listed as such), so that once the legitimate president had regained control over the entire territory of his country, the Syrian people could determine their future via peaceful elections. In short, six months ago Moscow was counting on a full and flawless victory for Assad. But the reality is that while at the moment Assad has a formal ceasefire with some of his enemies, in practice nobody is observing this armistice...

"Another bonus for Assad is the freeze in the Geneva negotiations. When Russia was on the side of 'Syria's legitimate president,' there was still a chance, however small, that these negotiations would lead, with the help of international pressure, to the creation of a coalition government. Now the subject under discussion is 'Syria's federalization,' or, to call things by their proper names, the country's division into a number of territories that would remain under the control of the forces that Russia, not so long ago, referred to as terrorist. Moreover, not only will these 'autonomies' fall under internal 'terrorist' control, they will also be subject to external control by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey (with whom Russia has had an ugly row), and the U.S...

"The [additional] objective set by Russia, while never officially declared, was discussed by practically all international affairs experts. Those who are pro-[Syrian] opposition presented it this way: As a result of the escapade in the Crimea and the Donbass [region of Ukraine], Putin found himself in diplomatic isolation and was, in fact, ostracized. The West, demonstratively and rather rudely, made it clear that it wanted nothing to do with him... Under these circumstances, he raised the stakes, and, by entering Syria, forced the world to negotiate with him and acknowledge that there is no solving the world's problems without Russia.

"The patriotic [Russian] experts present the same issue more sympathetically, as if we are witnessing 'a new Yalta,'[5] and as if Putin, like Stalin, is about to divide the world between the Russian or American sphere of influence. That is, we are not talking about a return to speaking terms, but about a restoration of [Russia's] superpower status - [and, according to this depiction, Russia's intervention in] Syria is not an attempt to set right what was ruined by the Crimea and Donbass [events], but is, in fact, its continuation: We are taking [back] our rightful place in the world, and asking no one's permission to do so...

"Still, it must be acknowledged that Putin has... shown the international community that he is capable of sudden, unexpected moves, and that his wishes (which he prefers to call 'Russia's geopolitical interests') cannot be ignored. But even here, the success is only local: [The world] is talking to Putin only with regard to the Syria situation - not about general matters. No Russian military presence in Syria means there is no reason to talk to Putin as an equal partner.

"Had Putin brought the Syrian story to a close -had he achieved peace at least in some form - he could perhaps have moved the situation to a new level. It seemed that the events in Syria were going to allow him to do so. However, on March 14, Putin withdrew Russia's air forces from Syria - meaning that the operation to 'force [Russia's] relationship with the world back onto speaking terms' may also be considered terminated.[6] "

The IRGC Qods Force Commander "Assured His Russian Counterparts That Iran Would Cover Their Military Expenses, One Way Or Another"

"On the whole, the outcome of [Russia's] Syrian campaign do not allow us to say that 'we are leaving because we have achieved all the objectives' - we must look for another reason for the military withdrawal. In late February, on the eve of the ceasefire that was declared in Syria, this writer spoke informally with a representative of Hizbullah, a Lebanese Shia group whose many volunteers fight on Assad's side. I wanted to know what Assad's (and, therefore, Russia's) allies thought about [U.S. President Barack] Obama's and Putin's arrangement concerning the ceasefire. I discovered that Hizbullah was very much against the ceasefire; they thought that the time was ripe to 'press on.' In our talk, we touched upon the role played in Syria by the well-known Gen. Qassem Soleimani, commander of the IRGC's special forces [i.e. Qods Force] - who, according to a popular story, came to Moscow last year and persuaded the Russian military that it was both necessary to support Assad and possible to turn the tide in Syria.

"According to my Hizbullah source, the real story was not so heroic. He said that the main issue that Soleimani discussed with the Russian generals was 'who was going to pay for the banquet.' Apparently, the issue was settled to everyone's satisfaction when the legendary Iranian general assured his Russian counterparts that Iran would cover their military expenses, one way or another.[7]

"I immediately recalled this talk with the man from Hizbullah when I put together the announcement of Russia's withdrawal from Syria and the information about the Teheran talks [i.e. about freezing oil production] and the news that Iran would not be joining the cartel agreement to freeze oil production. Russia's main economic problem is low oil prices. In search of a way out of this situation, Moscow tried to reach an agreement with leading oil-producing countries to cut back... production - thus creating a kind of oil deficit and raising the price per barrel. In February, Russia managed to interest Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela in this idea. Fifteen additional oil-producing countries gave their potential agreement to support the freeze. The Russian efforts nearly brought together the countries responsible for three-quarters of the world's oil production. However, this deal would be meaningless without Iran's agreement.

"The oil embargo against our ally in the Syrian war deprived it of leadership in the world markets. But in early 2016 the sanctions against Iran were lifted [as part of the JCPOA], and consequently Iranian oil suppliers are ready to fill any open niche. Therefore, it became necessary to persuade Teheran to hold off on its idea to capture the markets.

"However, Novak's meeting [aimed at persuading] Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh [to do so] was a dismal failure. Zangeneh declared that his country would not join the agreement, and would [aim to] regain lost ground. In the next three months alone, Iran plans to increase production by 50%, and ultimately to raise it from the current 1.4 million to four million bbl/d. Thus, the idea of raising oil prices can be written off.

"The outcome of the Russia-Iran talks on an oil production freeze were officially made public publicized on March 14, although it had been expected. 'Novak never had a chance of coming to an agreement with Iran,' says Mikhail Krutikhin, a partner in the RusEnergy consulting agency. '[Iran's] position was clear: They never promised to freeze oil production and they announced this everywhere.' Russia's withdrawal of its air forces from Syria was also officially announced on March 14 - but, as mentioned, this [intention] too was an open secret.



Left: Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh. Right: Russian Energy Minister Novak (photo by Erfan Kouchari)

"The connection between the two events is rather obvious. Russia ended its involvement in the Syrian war for economic reasons. Iran's participation in the proposed deal to decrease oil production would, in our opinion, have compensated us for our military expenses. Iran refused to pay the bill, and we refused to continue to participate in the war. Putin, who had trusted the Iranians but was deceived, left the battlefield and retreated to his tent, like an insulted Achilles. The objectives set for the [Russian] military at the inner circle's secret meetings when Russia chose to become involved in the Syrian war will probably remain secret...

"But from the outside, the Russian military appears to be no more than medieval mercenaries - a parody of the famous 1521 anecdote, when French King Francis I couldn't find the money to pay his Swiss infantry, and they calmly abandoned the battlefield, saying pas d'argent, pas de Suisse! (No money, no Swiss!)...



Endnotes:
Fan releases this Friday, the 15th of April, 2016 and even though its just 3 more days to go, the wait is really killing us. Why? Because ever since we found out these facts from the making of Fan, we just cannot wait to watch the film!

1. For the look of the central character Gaurav, a look-alike of SRK who also happens to be his biggest fan, SRK had to undergo 3D scanning in the US. Yeah, its not the first time 3D scanning has been used in films, but its definitely a first for all SRK fans!

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2. Director Maneesh Sharma conceived the idea of this film 8 years ago. Were glad its finally happening!

 YashRajFilms

3. Fan is being touted as the first film ever to be shot in Madame Tussauds Museum, London.

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4. SRK will be playing Gaurav, who is in his twenties, approximately half his real age. Its definitely impressive to see SRK pulling it off so well.

 YashRajFilms

5. The makers were very clear that they didnt want to leak Shah Rukh Khans look from the film. So, nobody was allowed to take pictures on sets. Even SRK wasnt allowed to use his mobile phone.

 YashRajFilms

6. Theres something special about the Fan logo you probably didnt know. Its made out of 100 pictures of real life fans of SRK!

 YashRajFilms

7. To achieve Gauravs look, the makers hired Greg Cannom as the makeup artist for SRK. He is a three time Academy Award winner who also worked in The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button.

 YashRajFilms

8. To respect authenticity, the makers used actual footage of Shah Rukh Khan fans in the film that were shot on his birthday in 2014 and 2015.

 YashRajFilms

9. The director was sure he wanted to feature SRKs house Mannat in the film. Due to security reasons, they couldnt shoot the film around Mannat. So, it was recreated in Film City.

 BusinessOfCinema

10. While shooting an intense action sequence in Croatia, SRK sprained his leg on the very first day. He had to be given pain killers and physiotherapy sessions for him to be able to even stand or walk!

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Deputy Foreign Minister Dimitris Mardas met at the Foreign Ministry today with the Belgian Ambassador to Greece, Luc Liebaut.



During the meeting, the collocutors reaffirmed the excellent level of political, economic and trade relations between Greece and Belgium, as well as the interest in further deepening of said relations.



Emphasis was put on the organization of the Greek business mission to Brussels, on 19 April, and the prospects for strengthening tourism cooperation were also discussed.
The Alternate Foreign Minister for European Affairs, Nikos Xydakis, participated in the informal meeting of the EU General Affairs Council (GAC) that took place in Amsterdam today.



The agenda for the meeting included the proposal for strengthening the GACs role in preparing and monitoring the decisions of the European Council, as well as the Multiannual Financial Framework for 2014-2020, following the relevant conference hosted by the Netherlands Presidency on 28 January, in Amsterdam.



Our discussion today is taking place in a broader context, within which the fears European citizens are expressing regarding the future of the EU have taken on the proportions of a storm.



We have to respond to the challenges we are facing in the refugee/migration crisis, in the economic and monetary crisis with prolonged high unemployment, slowed growth and fast-growing poverty, as well as in the terrorist attacks we are facing.



Especially at such times, we need to focus on the speedy, unified and uniform implementation of the decisions taken at the highest levels, if we want our actions to have any real impact, Mr. Xydakis noted, among other things.



Mr. Xydakis also briefed his colleagues on the recent incidents in Idomeni.
Paratransit, better known under names like "The Ride," ''Access-a-Ride," or "Dial-a-Ride," is required under the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act. But the costs, which include door-to-door pickup and drop-off, can be steep.

The average cost of operating a single paratransit trip is about $23 in the U.S., compared with less than $4 for the average trip on bus or light rail. In Boston, the average cost per ride is about $45, in Washington, about $50, and in New York, nearly $57, officials said.

Transit agencies nationwide logged about 223 million paratransit trips at a cost exceeding $5.1 billion  about 12 percent of total transit operating costs  in 2013, according to the most recent data from the American Public Transportation Association. The price tag is particularly high in major cities, where agencies struggle with regular service and maintenance.

"I understand there are budget concerns. But for me this is a quality-of-life issue," said Sarah Kaplan, 32, who was born with cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. She rides a vehicle operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to get to and from her job as internship coordinator with the Boston Center for Independent Living.

"I want the right to leave my house like everyone else," Kaplan said.

In 2012, the MBTA doubled fares from $2 to $4 for The Ride, triggering protests; several people chained their wheelchairs together and blocked traffic. Fares were later rolled back to $3 for most rides.

The deficit-ridden agency now hopes to cut $10 million in annual paratransit costs by expanding an existing taxi voucher system and contracting with ride-hailing services.

The plan, not yet finalized, would charge customers $2 per ride, while the MBTA contributes up to $13 for the trip. If a trip costs more than $15, the passenger would pay the difference.

A potential incentive for riders: Uber or Lyft can be summoned immediately with an app; trips on MBTA vehicles must be scheduled a day ahead.

"My guess is it will be very appealing to people who need to go shorter distances where the fares are under $15 and they can get an on-demand ride as opposed to booking 24 hours in advance," said Brian Shortsleeve, the agency's chief administrator.

But convenience comes with a catch.

With a limited number of wheelchair-accessible vehicles, the ride-hailing services would be available largely to people who can walk. And while a majority of individuals certified to use paratransit fit that bill, advocates worry about creating an unfair and possibly even illegal two-tiered system for the disabled  one serving people who can walk, the other those whose needs the private vehicles can't accommodate.

"We don't want racial segregation, and we also don't want disability segregation," said Marilyn Golden, senior policy analyst for the California-based Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund.

Uber and Lyft have both cited efforts to improve offerings for disabled riders. But the services have argued they are technology, not transportation, companies, meaning they are not required to provide accessible vehicles. Advocates for the disabled have filed a handful of lawsuits.

In January, a coalition including disability rights groups and labor unions wrote to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, known as Metro, expressing alarm over the agency's interest in contracting with companies such as Uber or Lyft.

"This is of grave concern to our coalition for many reasons, most importantly because neither company has adequate access to wheelchair accessible vehicles," the letter stated. Passenger safety and inadequate driver training were also cited as concerns, though activists did applaud Metro for seeking alternative forms of transportation.

The system already supplements its MetroAccess service with alternatives such as Transport DC, which offers $5 taxi rides to the disabled, including wheelchair-accessible cabs.

Metro hopes to solicit formal proposals from ride-sharing companies this summer but will pay careful attention to how such a program is structured, said Christian Kent, assistant manager of access services.

Pace, which operates the Chicago-area paratransit system, has had preliminary meetings with Uber and Lyft, said agency spokesman Doug Sullivan. He cited as a potential barrier the strict federal guidelines that drivers for Pace  or any company under contract with Pace  must meet for training, and drug and alcohol testing.

A spokesman for New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the nation's largest transit system, declined to say whether it had reached out to ride-hailing services but did say no agreements were in place.

The San Francisco Examiner reported last year that Uber was in talks to take over that city's paratransit system, something that didn't come to pass.

Uber did not provide details of current paratransit proposals, but the company has pointed to disability outreach efforts such as UberACCESS that connects riders with wheelchair-accessible vehicles.

In a statement, Lyft said it has been in discussions with transit officials in Boston and was monitoring developments in Washington with the hope of participating in paratransit programs in both cities. The company also said it was working to accommodate people with disabilities, citing a recent partnership with the National Federation of the Blind.
MINDEN CITY  As one drives through Minden City, it would be hard to miss the large, Black Crow sign on the front of Judy Mausolfs business. First of all, the sign is along the main street of this small town. Second, the large black crow painted on the sign is a real attention-getter.

Judys husband, Timothy Mausolf, sat down to discuss both the business and the small Sanilac County town in which the business is located.

First of all, its my wifes business, Tim said. Weve been (at his location) for the past six years.

The Black Crow is one of those unique shops where home fashioned items are created by both Tim and Judy. He normally does the woodworking while she is more the artist.

Were always looking for stuff we can redo or make crafts from, Time said.

These items include wood-framed windows, doors, shelves and even furniture in need of repairs.

A customer will find everything from paintings on old windows to a wooden ironing board fashioned into a piece of rustic art. They will also do custom designs and custom furniture. In addition, the shop sells manufactured home decor that has been purchased from a variety of sources.

Were open year round, Tim said. Were open mostly on the weekends, but anytime someone wants to come in.

Tim is no amateur when it comes to woodworking. He first started about 1978, when he was laid off from his seasonal job. His greatest influence was the late Fred Spaetzel, a long-time Minden resident who was known to be an excellent woodworker and craftsman.

He was our postman when I was a kid, and Ive known him since I was a little guy, Tim explained. He was my educator when it came to wood. Hed always help when I ran into trouble. He always made me feel like I could do it. We were really good friends.

After Spaetzels death, the Mausolfs purchased his home, workshop and property. The Black Crow is now located on that property.

Tim was born and raised about a quarter mile outside Minden City, and he has always called it home. He is the son of Edward and Florence Mausolf. He married another lifetime area resident, Judy (Kirsh). The couple have a son and a daughter, Todd (JoLynn) and Trish (Dan) Van Norman; and four grandchildren.

Before working for Judy, Tim had worked a variety of jobs in and out of the area. He worked on his parents farm as a child, and later in his dads gas station. He has worked for construction companies, on asphalt crews, and in factories. He has worked as a mechanic, and, for a short time, he operated his own gas station/garage.

Much, if not most, of his working career was with construction companies. He ended his construction career in 2013 after working for Ace Asphalt for 16 years. The move was a necessity due to health concerns.

Tim started life as a farm kid, but at age 9, his dad leased the Gulf Station in Ubly. His dad was a good mechanic, and he passed his knowledge to his sons.

By the time I was 12 or 13 years old, I was just about doing everything with cars, he said.

He went on to say by the time he was 9 or 10, he was able to sit on a cars engine and give it a tune up. His ability was a godsend for his dad. In those days, many models of cars did not have hoods which opened fully. It was difficult for a grown man to crawl over the engine and work at the back of the engine compartment.

Tim started school at St. Marys Catholic School in Parisville. He continued until the 10th grade when the Catholic high school closed. He transferred to Ubly, and finished school when he graduated in 1971.

That was handy. Id just walk to the gas station after school, Tim said.

His work at the Gulf Station ended when his older brother took over the business from dad, and Tim began working for Ubly Motor Sales (a Ford dealership) in the same town.

Tim soon began talking about his childhood and growing up in Minden City. As with most farm kids, he helped on the farm. But there were many opportunities to have fun while growing up in that environment.

He remembers building forts in the woods and in the barns mow. He and brothers or friends would make tunnels through the bales of hay. Swinging on barn ropes suspended from the rafters was also fun.

But farm fun, especially by boys of his age, could also be dangerous. That didnt stop him from doing things like jumping from the barns mow into 5-6 foot snow drifts outside the barn.

One of his favorite things in life was hunting. He started out with a BB gun when he was quite young.

I could shoot a blackbird out of the air, he said.

Later, at about the age of 12, he began hunting seriously.

I had a Collie and it was the best hunting dog (for pheasants) I had as a kid, he said.

Later in life, he owned a German Shorthaired Pointer that was the best hunting dog he ever owned. Although she was the runt of the liter, she turned out to be a fast learner.

I started hunting before I was driving, said Tim.

Beside pheasants, he would hunt quail, partridge, doves, rabbits and squirrels. He also liked to deer hunt, but luck was not with him.

I hunted quite a few years before getting a deer, but I still liked getting out, Tim said. Dad hunted deer up north, but we (the family) never liked the taste.

That was one major reason Tim preferred hunting in Sanilac and Huron counties rather that venturing to northern Michigan.

Since he was a child, his hometown has changed greatly, and he began to relive the towns structure back in those days.

When I was growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, there were three gas stations in town, Tim said. All three did service work, and there was also a car repair shop.

He continued to list other things that existed 50-60 years ago.

There was three bars, and one had a bowling alley, Tim said. There used to be two grocery stores back then, and one was an IGA store. Kowalskis Market also sold shoes in the back of the store. They didnt sell clothes, but they carried shoes.

His memories included two or three barber shops, a welding shop, and manufacturers.

There were several factories in town, Tim said. There is still one small manufacturing business left. Of course, we had a grain elevator.

He went on to say the elevator sold farm animal feed, seed and fertilizer. They would also process local farmers crops at the elevator. And, he remembered trains stopping by the facility to pick up grain.

Tim went on to say there was one other business he should have mentioned: Bismacks Hardware.

He carried everything, Tim said.

His list of everything included fishing poles, guns and ammo, bicycles, pots, pans, dishes and appliances.

But Tim did more than just grow up in Minden City. He was an active member of the small community. He was a Lions Club member for over a decade. He was the village president for 12 years, and he was on the local fire department for 30 years. In addition, he was on the St. Marys School Board in Parisville for about six years.
The money turned up in a previously untapped source: President Barack Obama's health care law, which by expanding Medicaid in some states has made repeat drug offenders eligible for coverage, including many who are homeless or mentally ill and have never been covered before.

The idea could make the joint federal and state health insurance program for the poor into a new tool for shifting addicts out of the criminal-justice system. Advocates hope to prove that the concept works, possibly paving the way for more cities to try it as an alternative to the drug war.

Many repeat drug offenders are "precisely the population Medicaid expansion was designed to cover," said Gabriel Sayegh, co-founder of the Katal Center for Health, Equity and Justice, an advocacy group that aims to reduce incarceration rates and promote drug war alternatives. "Down the road, we see a path for case management and many other services to be supported by Medicaid."

The notion of using Medicaid to steer people away from jails and into services that offer housing, job training and mental-health or substance-abuse treatment comes at a crucial time for the criminal-justice reform movement. Incarceration numbers are making headlines. States are legalizing marijuana, and police departments hammered over questionable shootings are trying to reconnect with the public they serve.

"This shows the community we're willing to try different things," said Albany Police Chief Brendan Cox. "This just makes all the sense in the world."

Albany's efforts and others have been based on a highly touted Seattle program called Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, or LEAD. Launched in 2011, it aims to keep people out of prison by focusing on those who use a disproportionate share of public resources by repeatedly getting arrested or seeking care at emergency rooms.

Instead of booking those addicts or prostitutes into jail, police contact program employees, who meet with the offenders and try to enlist them in social services. That can mean getting them a pair of shoes or a bus pass to help keep appointments; buying them groceries until they obtain food stamps; providing short-term housing or even paying for yoga, art supplies, utility bills or college classes  whatever the person needs.

Unlike in drug courts, participants are not kicked out or threatened with jail time if they relapse.

"They know we're out there struggling," said Jerald Brooks, one of the original participants in LEAD. "Sooner or later, you start to do a little better."

Following a White House summit about Seattle's program last summer, dozens of cities are considering whether to follow suit. Santa Fe, New Mexico, launched its version in 2014. Albany began its pilot program this month, and Baltimore, Atlanta and Fayetteville, North Carolina, are expected to launch versions next year.

Medicaid "makes it not crazy-expensive to do this," said Lisa Daugaard, director of Seattle's Public Defender Association and a top proponent of LEAD.

In cooperation with the Katal Center, Seattle's program just opened an office to guide other jurisdictions through the process.

Evaluations in Seattle have shown that LEAD participants were up to 60 percent less likely to be arrested than a control group. The program also saves money on criminal-justice costs, but it still takes money to start such programs.

Before the Affordable Care Act, low-income adults with no children living at home were largely shut out of Medicaid. The law expanded Medicaid to cover people making up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, or nearly $16,400 for a single person.

So far, 31 states plus Washington, D.C., have taken advantage of it. The federal government pays a much bigger share of the cost of covering the new enrollees than for groups traditionally covered by the program.

Some programs around the country have been enrolling inmates in Medicaid just as they leave prison. More than 112,000 were signed up by January 2015, many of them single men being covered for the first time, according to a Johns Hopkins University study published in December.

Medicaid expansion remains a highly politicized issue, and 19 states have rejected it.

Among them is Georgia. That leaves Atlanta in tougher shape as it plans to launch a LEAD program next year, said Xochitl Bervera, co-director of Atlanta's Racial Justice Action Center.

Instead of relying on Medicaid, the city is trying to arrange a combination of county, private and possibly federal money to supplement a $200,000 grant from billionaire George Soros' Open Society Institute, which has provided similar LEAD startup grants to several other cities.

Because many people who would benefit from behavioral health services were not previously covered, there was little incentive for providers to offer services in many areas, including Atlanta. Medicaid's expansion could remedy that, she said.

"The case managers are one piece, but then you need in-house drug treatment for some people and mental health care for others," she said. "We just don't have enough here."
The vehement reaction is raising questions about the government's ability to tackle high drug costs, the top health care concern for the public.

At issue are some of the most expensive drugs for treating life-changing diseases. The question isn't whether those drugs are fairly priced, but whether Medicare's current payment policy encourages doctors to prescribe the costliest medications so they can make more money.

Injected and infused drugs for such conditions as macular degeneration, rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn's disease are also affected.

Medicare now pays doctors and hospital outpatient clinics the average sales price of a drug, plus a 6 percent add-on, somewhat reduced by federal budget cuts. Naturally, 6 percent of a $15,000 drug is more than 6 percent of a $3,000 drug. But does that influence doctors' decisions, raising costs for the government as well as those on Medicare?

Medicare officials seem to think so.

The new formula announced last month combines a 2.5 percent add-on with a flat fee for each day the drug is administered. A control group of doctors and hospitals would continue to be paid under the current system.

The experiment could become permanent policy if it lowers costs while maintaining quality. A second wave of experimentation would try to link what Medicare pays for a given drug to how well it works.

Specialist doctors, drugmakers and some patient advocacy groups are trying to compel Medicare to drop the plan. Primary care doctors, consumer groups representing older people, and some economic experts want the experiment to move ahead.

Opponents say if that happens, cancer patients will be forced to go to outpatient hospital clinics instead of their local cancer doctor for the latest and most effective drugs. That's because smaller, doctor-owned clinics may no longer be able to afford the upfront costs of cutting-edge medications. In rural areas, patients may have to travel long distances to get to a hospital clinic, they say.

Supporters call that "Medi-scare," a reference to the timeworn political strategy of exaggerating the impact of proposed Medicare changes to frighten beneficiaries.

The rhetoric has escalated.

"It is remarkably insulting that some people today think that cancer physicians in large numbers are saying, 'What's the most expensive way I can treat this patient?' " said Dr. Allen Lichter, CEO of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, which represents some 20,000 U.S. cancer specialists.

Medicare is making "a dreadful mistake," added Lichter, who says that many cancer drugs don't have a low-cost alternative. "It will severely damage oncology practices across the country, and it will not solve what we have long recognized is a serious problem, that cancer drug prices are skyrocketing."

But Dr. Peter Bach, director of a policy center at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, believes Medicare is doing the right thing. Doctors, like other human beings, respond to financial incentives, he said, and the current payment policy sends the wrong signal.

"When drugs are more profitable, both doctors and hospitals tend to use them more," Bach said.

Change would mean "getting doctors out of the business of profiting when the drugs they use are more expensive" and instead "prescribing drugs based on what's best for patients," he added.

Doctors are the gatekeepers of the health care system, and their prescribing decisions can determine the fortunes of new medications. That's brought the drug industry deep into the Medicare fight. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, one of the most powerful lobbying groups in Washington, and the Biotechnology Innovation Organization are in the forefront of opposition.

The cost of cancer treatment can vary dramatically with the type of disease; some medications cost tens of thousands of dollars a month.

The drugs in the payment experiment are covered through Medicare's outpatient benefit, known as Part B, for which most beneficiaries pay a monthly premium of $104.90. Part B drugs cost the program about $20 billion a year. That's a fraction of what Medicare spends overall on prescription drugs.

Opponents are trying to raise the profile of the issue in Congress. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, a critic of the pharmaceutical industry, said he's already gotten 70 letters from constituents, 59 of them from concerned patients.

"The proposal creates different access based on where a Medicare beneficiary lives," said Grassley. "The Obama administration should abandon the proposal and go back to the drawing board."

Medicare's experiment was designed by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, a government agency created by President Barack Obama's health care law to find ways to improve quality and contain cost.

Obama has less than a year left in office and isn't facing re-election, so it seems unlikely that his administration would tear up its plan. But the proposal remains open for public comment, and changes may follow.

"If the administration were to pull back, it would be an ominous sign," said Leigh Purvis, a health policy expert for AARP, which supports the experiment. "We've done a lot of talk about prescription drug spending, but we really haven't moved to the action part. This is really the first time we've seen talk translated into action."
More stealthy F-22 Raptors, the most advanced fighter jets in the U.S. Air Force inventory, have arrived in Europe to participate in NATO training exercises and deter threats from Russia, U.S. European Command said Monday.

The initial announcement did not say how many F-22s and supporting airmen landed at Royal Air Force base Lakenheath in Britain, but said that the stealthy fifth-generation fighters would be conducting training exercises until next month to enhance commitments to the alliance and to "deter any actions that destabilize regional security."

The F-22s from the 95th Fighter Squadron at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida will deploy from Lakenheath to other NATO bases in Europe during the training period, the command said.

The deployment marked the second time that F-22s have conducted training exercises in Europe. Last August, the Air Force sent four F-22s to Europe for the first time on a temporary deployment for exercises with allies.

The deployment of the F-22s was part of the White House's European Reassurance Initiative, which was intended to provide "a persistent U.S. air, land, and sea presence in the region, especially in Central and Eastern Europe" for NATO allies "deeply concerned by Russia's occupation and attempted annexation of Crimea and other provocative actions in Ukraine."

The White House has proposed quadrupling funding for the initiative from the current $1 billion to $4 billion in the annual defense authorization bill, which sets funding targets and policy goals for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.

The deployment of the F-22s followed on the Air Force action last week in sending 12 F-15 Eagle fighters to Iceland and the Netherlands as part of a Theater Security Package in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve, the effort to show continuing U.S. commitment to NATO's collective security.

About 250 airmen and support equipment deployed with the F-15s from the 131st Fighter Squadron, Barnes Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts and the 194th Fighter Squadron at Fresno Air National Guard Base in California, European Command said.

The F-15s "will conduct training alongside our NATO allies and partners to strengthen interoperability and to demonstrate U.S. commitment to a Europe that is whole, free, at peace, secure, and prosperous," the command said.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.

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Airmen who make up the Air Force's small tactical air control party community have established an online memorial fund for the family of Lt. Col. Bill Schroeder, the squadron commander gunned down Friday at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas by an enlisted airman. The TACP Association has so far raised nearly $60,000 -- more than two-thirds of its goal -- since establishing the fund on April 9, one day after Schroeder was killed by Tech. Sgt. Steven D. Bellino, a former FBI agent and a pararescue student at the 342nd Training Squadron, who committed suicide after shooting the commander. TACP specialists, who serve with Army forces and Special Operations units to handle communications, control air traffic and provide precision terminal attack guidance for close air support, are one of the elite Air Force communities who begin their battlefield airmen training at Lackland.

"As the commander of the 342nd Training Squadron, Lt. Col. Bill Schroeder was responsible for training all Battlefield Airmen for the Air Force," TACP Association President Charlie Keebaugh told Military.com on Tuesday. "These are the operators that most people dont realize the Air Force has. [including] pararescuemen, combat controllers, Special Operations weathermen and TACPs."

"Our goal is to raise as much money as possible for Lt. Col. Schroeders family, to ease any financial burdens and to allow them to grieve without any distractions," Keebaugh said. "The TACP Association has no paid staff, [and so] all donations to this fund will go directly to the family."

When the organization formed in late 2009 -- succeeding an earlier association -- the focus of helping former and current specialists was expanded to include aiding the communities in which they live. "Our community of warriors is small, and TACP has always been one of the smallest careers in the entire scope of the Armed Services," the group's website states. As of late Tuesday afternoon, the Lt. Col. Bill Schroeder Memorial Fund on the Fundly.com site had raised nearly $60,000 from just under 800 donors, including retired Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz. An undated photo on the website shows Schroeder with his wife, Abby, and two sons, Noah and Mason, at the beach. Schroeder, who was a Special Operations weather team officer, had been commander of the training squadron since June 2014. According to investigators, Bellino joined the Air Force after two years as an FBI agent. Responders to the scene on Friday recovered two Glock handguns near the bodies. -- Bryant Jordan can be reached at Bryant.jordan@military.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BryantJordan.
Male and female recruits in the U.S. Marine Corps will continue training in gender-specific units when they arrive at boot camp, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus told Marines at Camp Pendleton, California on Tuesday.

The secretary traveled to the West Coast base as part of a series of stops he has made to discuss efforts to open previously closed infantry and ground combat units to women, a move for which he has been an outspoken advocate.

While Mabus has occasionally clashed with Marine Corps leadership over issues related to the topic, he told the Marines he had made a concession to top brass over the boot camp issue.

Mabus initially sent a memo to Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller ordering him to integrate boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina, where men and women have always trained in separate battalions. But the Navy secretary walked back his stance, he said, when Neller and Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Ronald Green met with him and advocated for keeping a status quo in which the genders did not train together until later in the pipeline.

"They made pretty good points," he said Tuesday.

Mabus did not offer additional details about the meeting. But Marine officials have previously defended single-sex training units at boot camp as limiting distractions, providing recruits with a safe environment to learn, and offering same-gender Marine role models with whom to identify.

While the Marine Corps would continue to move in the direction of total training integration, Mabus said, it would not do so all at once.

"We're not going to do it in one day ... we're not going to disrupt training," he said.

Mabus also appeared to take a softer stance on a study the Marines conducted last year to determine how women would fare in ground combat units.

When officials announced last fall that data showed teams and squads with female members were slower, less accurate, and more injury-prone, Mabus publicly denounced the findings. In an interview with NPR, he claimed that the Marine officials behind the study had "almost presupposed" a negative outcome, and that "there should have been a higher bar" for female study volunteers to meet.

But on Tuesday, he focused on the positive.

"Everyone there [in the study was a volunteer and they did great work. I gave a [Navy commendation medal] to anyone who went through that," he said. "What I disagreed with is, once the test was done, the conclusions weren't based on individuals. The conclusions were based on averages. The Marines have never been about averages, ever."

Mabus also reiterated, multiple times, that he has no plans to drop training standards in order to make it easier for female infantry troops to succeed.

"You do not lower standards, ever," he said. "Standards may be changed as circumstances in the world change. But they'll be changed for everybody, not any one group."

Mabus cited a tour he recently completed of Marine Corps training schools, including the Infantry Officers Course at Quantico, Virginia. While 29 female officers have attempted the grueling course, none has made it through.

"One of the questions I got at IOC was, 'okay, five years from now, no woman had made it through IOC. What happens?'" Mabus said. "My response was, 'no woman made it through IOC. Standards aren't going to change.'"

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck.
Pretty soon, winter will leave southeast Michigan. And freezing weather will be just a memory -- except at 2215 W. Boston in Detroit.

That's the location of the so-called "Ice House," where burst pipes prompted a dramatic gauge of how much home-improvement skills the next owner will need.

But as of April 7, there are signals that prospective new owners won't need as much cash to buy the property made famous locally in 2015 by photos of a frozen waterfall flowing from the historic home's second floor.

A price reduction recorded late last week isn't the first on this home in the coveted Boston-Edison district of the city. The original price of $125,000 was cut to $104,999, then to $103,500 on March 30, according to listing information on Realtor.com.

A week later, the price went down to $100,500 -- and now it is at $98,500. That's about $28 per foot for the 5,000 square foot property.

"THIS HISTORICAL BOSTON EDISON DISTRICT HOME IS PRICED TO SELL," reads the online listing by Sharif Landers of Ambassador Real Estate.

The Tudor-style house went onto the market in late February. The updated listing notes indicate new plumbing and electrical, so the rehab has started. It also comes on a large corner lot.

It has five bedrooms, two full baths -- and some beautiful details that survived the damage. My favorites from the recent photos shot inside by my coworker, Tanya Moutzalias: Arched doorways, tiles, and the scrollwork near the staircase.

In other news on the property, it appears to have undergone another ownership transition. At the time of its original listing, Jeff Feuereisen was listed as the owner.

City records now show a transfer as of March 30, along with the notation "needs review." Kristen Albright is the owner of record as of Jan. 2, according to city assessing records. Those records also indicate a $9,000 purchase price.

The assessment also fell to $52,500 from almost $6,000 higher in 2015. And the house remains subject to tax foreclosure, according to Loveland Inc. data.

Paula Gardner covers Michigan business news for MLive.com. Contact her by email or follow her on Twitter.
EGGS_WE_C_^_WEDNESDAY

Sunrise Acres Egg Farm in Jamestown Township is a supplier to SpartanNash. (MLive file photo)

(Mark Copier)

BYRON TOWNSHIP, MI - SpartanNash says it plans to transition to selling 100 percent cage-free eggs at 160 grocery retail stores by 2025 or sooner based on available supply, affordability and customer demand.

But the Byron Township grocer stopped short of promising cage-free eggs for the hundreds of independently-owned stores and military commissaries supplied through the grocer's larger wholesale business.

SpartanNash sells cage-free eggs in all of its retail stores under the Full Circle, Green Meadows and Eggland's Best brands, the grocer said in a statement announcing the 2025 goal. The grocer didn't say what percentage of the eggs it currently sells are cage-free.



The grocer's research indicates the transition to cage-free facilities will take suppliers years to complete, says Larry Pierce, executive vice president of merchandising and marketing.

"Experts have told us that it will take years to modify facilities to ensure an adequate supply of safe, sustainable cage-free eggs," Pierce said in a statement. "For this reason, our buyers are working closely with our suppliers to ensure we have access to a number of cage-free egg brands for our retail store customers."



SpartanNash is the latest retailer to commit to the 2025 goal. Kroger, Costco and Trader Joe's were among the first retailers to make the decision. Meijer announced April 1. followed by Wal-Mart less than a week later.

The decision was quickly hailed by the Humane Society of United States, an animal rights group that bought stock in SpartanNash earlier this year to advocate for a change of egg policy.

"Cage-free eggs are better for animals and safer for consumers, making SpartanNash's new policy a real win-win," said Matthew Prescott, the Humane Society's senior director of food policy.. "People simply don't want animals locked in tiny cages for their whole lives, and we applaud SpartanNash for moving away from that practice."

The Washington, D.C.-based group has been the most active and successful in pressuring companies to adopt the new policy.

In February, the Humane Society bought a $2,000 stake in the $8 billion company to give the animal rights group shareholder rights to make a formal proposal to the board of directors at SpartanNash's upcoming annual shareholders' meeting June 2.

"I would say any issue about how an animal is treated is important to us and the people out there, but there are few worse cases of animal abuse in the entire food supply chain than locking animals in tiny changes for their whole lives," Prescott said. "There are lots of areas where agricultural needs to improve, but getting them out of these tiny cages is a major priority."

Becoming a shareholder had been Plan B, after SpartanNash rebuffed the group's efforts to talk about the issue, Prescott said.

The Humane Society also has a relationship with the investment giant BlackRock, SpartanNash's biggest shareholder.

"We work closely with them on issues that can impact their portfolio, their investment when it comes to animal cruelty," Prescott said.

He added that the organization and the investment firm co-hosted an event at BlackRock's New York headquarters for executives from BlackRock and other financial institutions, who spent the day learning about animal cruelty issues such as how caged chickens can impact a company.

The New York-based BlackRock "does not comment on individual companies or holdings," the investment firm told MLive and The Grand Rapids Press.

Shandra Martinez covers business and other topics for MLive. Email her or follow her on Twitter @shandramartinez.
KALAMAZOO, MI - It's take-off time for passenger traffic at the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport.

The local air terminal expects to see higher numbers of people traveling to and from the 5235 Portage Road airport as more students and families took spring vacations in late March and early April during spring break.

"We expect the numbers to be up," said Airport Director David Reid. "We had a few bad weather days in March due to the wind primarily. But we know from talking to our airline partners during the lead-up time to spring break, that they were either sold out or overbooked. So they expect their numbers to be up pretty sharply for spring break."

Stronger numbers for March and April are expected to complement ascending numbers for January and February. Those are attributed to the return of daily air service in Kalamazoo by United Airlines.

"Directly it's responsible because of all of the new United passengers adding to our count," said Airport Director David Reid.

After a six-year absence from the local airport, United Airlines resumed flights in December to and from its hub at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago.

January passenger traffic at Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International was up 9 percent over January of 2015. Approximately 20,254 passenger trips were made out of and into the airport during the month, versus 18,502 during the same month a year ago.

Passenger traffic in February was up 33 percent from the same month a year ago. Approximately 22,116 trips were made during that month, versus 16,683 in February 2015.

United sells three daily ExpressJet departures - with a morning flight at 6:50 a.m., a mid-afternoon flight at 2:56 p.m. and an evening flight at 6:22 p.m. Inbound flights from Chicago are scheduled for 12:24, 3:50 and 9 p.m.

United's regional affiliate accounted for more than 1,600 additional departures (individual trips departing Kalamazoo) in each of the two months, as well as more than 1,500 additional arrivals (individual passenger trips arriving ) in each of those months.

Reid said there has also been an indirect benefit of the resurgent air service.

"Indirectly the other airlines have increased their activities to match United's presence here in Kalamazoo," Reid said.

He said Delta has, for instance, increased the number of daily flights it has scheduled to seven. There previously were five. Delta's regional affiliates fly to Detroit rather than to Chicago like United but Reid said, "It's still about maintaining their market share in Kalamazoo, even though it's going to a different city."

Although he could not cite specific examples, he said ticket prices are also down in response to having the additional airline here.

"People are starting to check here first (comparing the price of flying out of Kalamazoo) like they used to," he said. "That's music to our ears."

With the Gerald R. Ford International Airport successfully growing about 45 minutes to the north in Kent County, does it make sense to continue to grow the Kalamazoo air terminal?

In 2015, passenger traffic counts grew each month -- year-over-year -- at Ford International, resulting in an all-time record of 2.5 million annual trips. That was up from 2.3 million in 2014.

There were a total of about 244,878 trips to and from the Kalamazoo airport last year.

Reid said the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek airport is pursuing a direct flight to Florida to satisfy the needs of leisure travelers.

"That is top on our list," he said, "and for the business sector, we continue to pursue direct flights either to the southwest or to the east coast."

He said those are things that could happen with one of the airlines presently serving the airport or with a newcomer to the market.

Along with United Express service, Kalamazoo is also served by Delta Airlines' regional affiliate, which flies to Detroit and Minneapolis, and American Airlines affiliate Envoy, which flies to Chicago.

Delta continues to be the air terminal's busiest carrier. It accounted for 51 percent of all passenger traffic in February. It was followed by American Airlines, with 28 percent in February and United with 21 percent.

According to the airport's monthly market share report, 22 flights were cancelled during February, largely due to weather concerns. That includes nine by United, seven by American, and six by Delta. Thirty-seven flights were delayed.

In January, only eight flights were cancelled -- three by United, three by Envoy and two by Delta, but 45 were delayed.

MLive writer Al Jones may be contacted at ajones5@mlive.com. Follow me on Twitter at ajones5_al.
JACKSON, MI -- Nearly a year removed from the current director's retirement announcement, the Jackson Symphony Orchestra has tabbed his replacement.

Courtesy photo of Matt Aubin from the Jackson Symphony Orchestra

Matthew Aubin was named Music Director designate and will replace longtime maestro Stephen Osmond fully starting with the 2017-18 season. For the 2016-17 season, Aubin will work under the title of Music Director designate.

"I'm excited and honored to have been appointed Music Director Designate of the Jackson Symphony Orchestra," Aubin said in a JSO press release. "When my wife and I moved to Jackson last summer and were introduced to the JSO, we were immediately impressed by the talent and musicianship.

"The JSO is an important treasure in our community. I look forward to continuing to build upon the great work that Maestro Osmond has accomplished during his 40-year tenure."

The process leading the JSO and Aubin together started with 76 applicants before six finalists were brought in as guest conductors.

Osmond's nearly 40 years with the JSO puts him near the top of the list for longest serving music directors in the United States, according to a prior release. He was the first music director at the JSO to make Jackson his home, according to JSO's website.

The Yale University graduate has taught at the University of Michigan and shared the stage with orchestras nationwide.

In addition to his JSO responsibilities, Osmond served eight years on the Jackson Public School Board, including stints as vice president and president.

"From 76 applicants we narrowed it down to six, each of whom did an excellent job with the orchestra," he said in the release. "We are so fortunate to have attracted such an impressive pool of talent. I think it was most fortunate that the audience and the orchestra had the same first choice."

About Aubin:

Aubin is Artistic Director of the Chealsea Symphony, a consultant for "Mozart in the Jungle" and has conducted orchestras around the world.

He has served as a faculty member at The Hartt School and Washington State University.

Aubin is a passionate advocate for American music and maintains active as a freelance hornist.
A former president of the Ghana Actors Guild, Nii Odoi Mensah, has died.

The veteran actor died in China Tuesday April 11 [around midnight local time] after battling kidney failure for some years.

The actor was undergoing kidney treatment in the Asian country when he passed away. He was billed to return to Ghana on Sunday.

Film producer Socrates Sarfo confirmed the news of the actors passing to ClassFMonline.com.

Mr Odoi Mensah starred in several Ghanaian movies with such notable persons as Grace Nortey, Brew Riverson Junior, Victor Lutterodt, and others.
Ghanaian actor and former President of the Ghana Actors Guild Nii Odoi Mensah has died, his sister has confirmed to myjoyonline.com.

The veteran actor died yesterday in China where he was undergoing a kidney transplant,his sister Eva Yemoey Mensah revealed.

The family was informed of his death last night at about 11pm. Nii Odoi Mensah announced in Janury 2015, he was suffering from a chronic kidney failure. He revealed he had to cough up $300 each week to stay live on dialysis.

In an interview in 2015, the actor called for financial assistance to support his ailing health

More soon...

Story by Ghana|myjoyonline.com
Nairobi (AFP) - Gunmen in Burundi killed at least five people and wounded seven when they opened fire on a market late Monday, government officials said, the latest attack in the troubled country.

The attack by unidentified insurgents took place in Burundi's eastern Ruyigi region, close to the border with Tanzania, local government district head Aloys Ngenzirabona said Tuesday.

"Thee criminals fired into the crowd before fleeing, they left a total of five dead and seven wounded," he said.

Hundreds have been killed and over 250,000 people have fled Burundi since President Pierre Nkurunziza's controversial decision last April to run for a third term.
11.04.2016 LISTEN

Akim Asene (E/R), April 11, GNA - Mr Robert Yaw Owusu Boateng, the Member of Parliament for Asene-Manso-Akroso, has advised parents not to relent in their efforts to support their children's education.

He said parents should do all they could to provide the needs of their children to ensure that they grew to become responsible adults to assist in furthering the nation's development.

Mr Owusu Boateng gave the advice at a convention by the Akim Oda Assemblies of God Church at Akim Asene in the Birim Central Municipality.

He advised the youth to take their academic work seriously so that the investment being made by the Government and their parents would not go to waste.

Reverend David Frimpong Boateng, the Eastern Regional 'B' Superintendent of the Assemblies of God Church, called on Christians to be their brother's keeper in all their endeavours as Christ did for mankind.

He said the church, as part of its social responsibility, had established schools, provided clinics and would soon commission another clinic at Akim Ayirebi in the Eastern Region.

'We are also helping the youth in various trades and apprenticeship programmes so that they would be on their own in future,' he said.

Nana Karikari Appau Frimpong II, the Chief of Akim, said efforts were being made by the chiefs and elders to get the town roads tarred.

GNA
11.04.2016 LISTEN

Accra, April 11, GNA - Compassion International-Ghana has celebrated a decade of its operations in the country with a call on the public to be committed to the upbringing of children to create a prosperous, progressive and sustainable future.

Compassion International-Ghana is a Christian child focused organisation dedicated to the long-term development of children living in poverty.

Speaking at a thanksgiving service organised by the NGO in Accra to climax the 10th anniversary celebration, Dr Joyce Aryee, the Executive Director, Salt and Light Ministries, said the future of societies depended on children being able to attain their optimal physical, psychological, economic and social growth.

She said early childhood development was an important phase in life as it determined the quality of health, wellbeing, learning and behaviour across the lifespan.

'It is a period of great opportunity, but also of great vulnerability to negative influences and constitutes a unique phase for capitalizing on developmental forces to prevent or minimise disabilities and potential secondary conditions.'

Dr Aryee said the path to development in each person's life depended on the quality of support, information and training that a child experienced in his/her family, neighbourhood, and care environments.

She said when these are deficient or unsupportive; child development could be seriously affected.

'Children develop and what they need to succeed are inextricably entwined in the society in which they live and how well such society sustains and support its families and individuals,' she said.

Conclusive evidence shows that with early and appropriate interventions growth, cognitive and social-emotional development could be modified to improve health, well-being, competence and character for the future.

Despite the strength of the evidence for the greater effectiveness of investing in the early years, the response in terms of investments has been slow particularly in the poorest countries. 'These countries do not realise and appreciate that they are poor in the first place because they have not taken very good care of the heartbeat of society, so the society is basically sick and lacks any meaningful prospects of enjoying the benefits of innovation and real progress.'

Dr Aryee called on all stakeholders to play their respective roles in the moulding of children.

'We all have a responsibility as a society. Families, educational institutions, teachers, communities, churches, governments, the media, and compassionate organisations like Compassion International have a role to play.'

GNA
By Josephine Nyarkoh, GNA

Kumasi, April 11, GNA - Stillbirth is reported to be on the surge in the Ashanti Region, a development, the health providers say, they find deeply worrying.

The region in year 2014, recorded a total of 1,823 and the figure shot up to 1,857, last year.

Dr. Kwesi Yeboah Awudzi, the Deputy Regional Director of Public Health, who spoke to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), said this was being fueled primarily by the increasing use of herbal mixtures by expectant mothers.

Some of them ignorantly resort to taking harmful herbal substances under the illusion that these would lessen the labour pain and aid smooth delivery.

He said in so doing they ended up endangering the life of the unborn baby.

Severe anemia, malaria, conflicting blood group of parents (Rhesus factor) are the other causes.

He said mucus in the air ways of a baby after birth and coiling of the umbilical cord around the baby's neck could also result in the baby dying.

Dr. Awudzi urged pregnant women to make sure they attended ante-natal clinic regularly and 'to do as they are told' by the health professionals.

He said that was important to avoid complications and to ensure safe delivery.

He spoke of stepped up training of traditional birth attendants to control the growing miscarriages and death of new born babies.

He also appealed to the government to adequately equip the health facilities with forceps, oxygen and drips to supervise safe deliveries.

GNA
Italian investors from Ambiente Pressagio are expected to begin the construction of mini hydro dams on nine sites in the Volta Region.

Togbe Afede XIV, the President of the Volta Regional House of Chiefs, announced this at the first general meeting of the House for this year.

A mini hydro dam is a type of hydroelectric power unit that could produce from five kilowatts to 100 kilowatts of electricity using natural flow of water.

The installations could provide power to small communities.

He said the investors had already done the initial feasibility studies and had provisional license from the Energy Commission to construct the dams in Dodi Papase, Wli Waterfalls, Tsatsadu Waterfalls, Hohoe and Afife among others.

Togbe Afede said if successful, the project would be the first in the country to bring huge socio-economic opportunities to the people in the region.

He therefore charged the chiefs in the region to be selfless in pushing the development agenda forward.

Togbe Afede said the regions agricultural development agenda was also on course and appealed to chiefs to release land for the success of that project aimed at creating jobs and promoting food security.
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Taipei (AFP) - Taiwan said Kenyan police broke down a jail wall and used tear gas Tuesday to force a second group of Taiwanese to board a plane for China, a day after accusing Beijing of "abducting" eight other citizens.

The 15 Taiwanese were being held in a police station despite being cleared by a Kenyan court of involvement in a cyber scam, the foreign ministry said.

Taiwan's representative in Africa was informed early Tuesday that Kenyan police were trying to remove the 15 from the station and send them to China, it added.

"Our colleague went immediately to the prison to see the detainees but faced all kinds of impediments," said Chen Chun-shen, chief of West Asian and African affairs at the ministry.

"They refused to cooperate with the deportation... so the police broke down the walls, using tear gas, and then more than 10 police went in with assault rifles," Chen told reporters in Taipei.

Three people from China's Kenyan embassy were present, he said. Taiwan itself has no diplomatic ties with Kenya and its nearest diplomat is based in the South African capital.

There was no immediate confirmation the 15 had left for China.

Taipei has already strongly protested to Beijing at the earlier deportation of eight Taiwanese who were also cleared in Kenya of cyber fraud charges.

It accused China of kidnapping the eight and demanded their speedy return from the mainland. One of the eight has an American passport, Taiwan's foreign ministry said.

Another 22 Taiwanese arrested just last week over similar allegations were also expected to be sent to China Tuesday, it said.

Mainland authorities have not confirmed details of the deportations and Taipei is still seeking a response.

When asked about the incidents, China's foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said: "The One-China policy is an important precondition for bilateral relations with China and other countries.

"We commend Kenya for its upholding of this policy," he told a regular briefing.

China still regards Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary, even though Taiwan has ruled itself since 1949.

Taiwan's previously frosty relations with the mainland have improved over the past eight years under outgoing president Ma Ying-jeou, whose Kuomintang party has a tacit agreement with Beijing to acknowledge there is "One China."

But the latest episode has angered both the government and the opposition.

The mainland is stepping up pressure on Taiwan president-elect Tsai Ing-wen -- who is set to take office in May -- as Beijing does not trust her historically pro-independence party.

Tsai condemned what she called the abduction by the mainland in a Facebook post Tuesday and urged the release of the citizens.

"This incident will deepen the negative perception of the mainland in Taiwan's society," she said.

The mother of one of the men forcibly removed from jail Tuesday told Apple Daily newspaper he was in Kenya on holiday with friends.

He was part of a group of 28 Taiwanese and 49 other ethnic Chinese arrested in November 2014 on charges of illegally entering the African state and being involved in fraud.
The General Pastor of the Assemblies of God Church, Lakeside Japan Motors Temple in Adenta, Reverend Mrs. Joyce Frimpong has received a doctorate degree in Counseling psychology ,comprising Leadership counseling and skills development from the University of Illinois after a an extensive field and research training spanning over eighteen months.

The degree was conferred on her at a convocation held at Teshie Nungua in Accra with 13 others graduates including Mr David Ekow Appiah, a social development practitioner working with the United Nations Organizations in Ghana and an elder of the Japan Motors Temple of the Assemblies of God Church.

From A humble Background, Mrs. Joyce Frimpong, a product of Accra Polytechnic and manifold Tutorial College furthered here education at the Southing Bible Seminary of the Assemblies of God at Saltpond where she obtained a diploma and degree in theology. She then furthered her education in the Netherlands where she obtained her masters degree before obtaining her doctorate Degree.

Speaking in an interview, Reverend Dr Mrs. Joyce Frimpong said I am Highly Grateful to the Almighty God, my maker for this honor bestowed on me. I will forever be grateful to God. I was a nobody and never thought I could ever get to the level of life. In fact I worked and studied very hard for these degrees. I didnt buy them. I studied very hard for them and me thank God for the Knowledge he has given me to get here. I am urging all women to rise up to the challenge and work towards their enlistment. Above all we must trust in the almighty God for greater things to come our way.

The Laureate International University program is an active collaboration with many outstanding academic institutions across the globe to empower students' learning experience.

We are proud of our extensive links with various well-established and top-quality higher learning institutions around the world which includes the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, China, Italy, and New Zealand according to Reverend Dr Samuel Amoah Mensah , the executive Country Director .

As part of the Laureate International Universities network, students get the opportunity to study alongside peers from different countries and be taught by guest lecturers from other prestigious Laureate institutions.
Ebenezer Asante

12.04.2016 LISTEN

Accra, April 8, 2016  MTN Ghana CEO, Ebenezer Twum Asante has been named the CEO of the Year in the Directors/CEO category of Kwahuman Achievers Awards at Obo in the Eastern region. This was announced during the third Kwahuman Achievers Awards ceremony organized as part of the Kwahu Easter Festival.

In his acceptance speech, Mr. Asante expressed his gratitude to the organizers and people of Kwahu for the consideration given him. He said, this award is an inspiration and challenge for me to work harder and excel in my role.

The ceremony was organized by the Kwahu Development Association to honour citizens of Kwahu who have excelled in their areas of work and are contributing to the development of Ghana. The awards ceremony attracted prominent citizens of Kwahu from different sectors including Academia, Medicine, Banking, Insurance, Automobile and Consumer Goods.

The Kwahu Easter Festival has been supported by MTN Ghana for eight years, and this years edition was no exception. MTN donated cash, airtime, assorted drink hampers and MTN souvenirs to the traditional council and interacted with the chiefs of Abetifi,Obo, Obomeng and Mpraeso in separate ceremonies.

During the presentation ceremony to the chiefs, the Commercial Senior Manager for MTN South East Business District, David G. Boadi re-affirmed MTNs commitment to supporting the festivals. He said, we have taken the responsibility to support traditional festivals each year across the country to keep alive the values and principles that identify us as Africans.

Mr. Boadi continued, beyond these donations to various traditional councils, MTN invests in extensive corporate social interventions through its Foundation across the country. He stated that since the establishment of the MTN Ghana Foundation in 2007, MTN has invested more than GH 21.5 million in 135 major Corporate Social Investment projects in the areas of Health, Education and Economic Empowerment. These projects have directly impacted an estimated three million people across many communities in Ghana.

The Chiefs and traditional council members expressed their appreciation to MTN for the continuous support to the Kwahu Traditional Council.
True to his promise the government of Nigeria under the leadership of General Muhammadu Buhari has begun cutting the Boko Harram forces to size in Nigeria and neighboring Cameroon, Niger and Chad among other neighboring nations of Nigeria.

After using innocent girls and ignorant youths to detonate bombs in mosques markets and other gatherings the Islamic extremist forces are running out of steam. Of late most of them have begun surrendering to the Nigerian and Cameroonian forces.

Currently more than 800,000 of them have surrendered to the Nigerian military command. They have been accepted to go through retraining and rehabilitation and orientation to fit into the Nigerian regular army. This is a good development that would lead to peace and orderly development in Nigeria which has enjoyed peace sine independence since 1960.

If the surrender of the Boko Harram forces is good the other requirement for Nigeria will be to win over all the innocent girls in suicide bombings. Fortunately some aggrieved former suicide bombers have begun spilling the beans over the issue. Yes some of the women who are getting old regret ever taking part in suicide bombing to take the lives of innocent people

In a news story published in the New York Times by Dionne Searcey, Rahila Amos, a Nigerian grandmother, who is now in a refugee camp in Cameroons Minawao, said she was abducted like many other women by Boko Haram and forced to take classes on how to carry out suicide bombings.

She told the press that they were captured and taught to learn how to hold the bomb under their armpit to keep it steady. She said the women and girls were taught to sever their enemies heads from behind, to minimize struggling.

They were taught thus If you cut from the back of the neck, they die faster, said Rahila Amos, a Nigerian grandmother describing the meticulous instruction she received from Boko Haram to become a suicide bomber.

Of all the many horrors of Boko Harams rampage across West Africa  the attacks on mosques, churches and schools; the mass killings of civilians ; the entire villages left in ashes after militants tear through  one of the most baffling has been its ability to turn captured women and girls into killers .

Boko Haram, one of the worlds deadliest extremist groups , has used at least 105 women and girls in suicide attacks since June 2014, when a female bomber blew herself up at an army barracks in Nigeria, according to The Long War Journal , which tracks terrorist activity.

Since then, women and girls, often with bombs hidden in baskets or under their clothes, have killed hundreds of people in attacks on fish and vegetable markets, schools, a river dock and even camps for people who have fled their homes to get away from the violence.

This isnt something you can defeat or eradicate outright, said Issa Tchiroma Bakary, the minister of communications in Cameroon, where 22 female suicide bombers were identified since the start of this year. You dont know who is who. When you see a young girl moving toward you, you dont know if shes hiding a bomb.

Soldiers cannot open fire on every woman or girl who looks suspicious, he added. They know where we have the Achilles heel, Mr. Bakary said of Boko Haram.

The groups abuse of women first shocked the world two years ago, when Boko Haram stormed a school in Nigeria and fled with about 300 girls , many of whom have never been found. Hundreds of other women and girls have been abducted, imprisoned, raped and sometimes intentionally impregnate d , perhaps with the goal of creating a new generation of fighters.

Ms. Amos, 47, said the fighters had come to her village in the morning, firing weapons as they spilled out of cars and rounded up women and children.

Not long after, Ms. Amos, a Christian, said she was forced to enroll in Boko Harams classes on the Quran, a first step on her way toward being taught the art of suicide bombing.

After months of training, Ms. Amos said she was finally able to escape her captors when they assembled for evening preaching. She stayed behind, gathering two of her young children and a grandchild so they could make a run for the Cameroonian border.

I dont want to take a bomb, she said inside this refugee camp in Cameroon that stretches across a vast landscape dotted by tents and mud huts.

The authorities in Cameroon and Nigeria said that many of the experiences detailed by Ms. Amos matched the accounts of other women and girls who have escaped Boko Haram, or who have been arrested before they could detonate bombs. Ms. Amoss assertions are also strikingly similar to details recounted by other freed women and girls, including descriptions of the funeral rites performed before female bombers were sent on missions.

The accounts offer insight into how Boko Haram, despite being under military pressure from a multinational campaign to wipe it out , has been able to strike fear across an expansive battlefield that now includes Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger.

No longer able to control the territory it once did, Boko Haram is sending out women and young girls as newly minted terrorists who can inflict a devastating toll.

Col. Didier Badjeck, a Cameroon defense spokesman, said that after soldiers had chased Boko Haram out of villages in recent weeks, they found homes that had been used as prisons for the women and girls. He said female hostages had reported being trained during their captivity  both in the Quran and in violence.

They are training them to maximize the number of victims, Colonel Badjeck said. We are sure about it.

Boko Haram often sends male fighters to set upon mosques. But last month, a female suicide bomber dressed as a man set off her explosives during morning prayers in Nigeria. Another woman was waiting outside the mosque, and as people fled the first blast, she detonated her own explosives as well. In all, at least 24 people were killed.

Bombings by women have become so widespread that even humanitarian groups are rethinking how they distribute food, water and other help to them. What if one of the women is hiding a bomb?

In Cameroon, many of the recent bombings have been carried out by girls in their early teens, leaving officials and analysts to wonder whether the girls were aware they were carrying bombs. Yet some of the bombers in recent attacks in Nigeria have been found to wear their hair pulled back from the face  a hairstyle reserved for burial rites, a sign they were ready to die.

But cracks are starting to show in the Boko Haram suicide-training system. In February, a girl sent to blow up a village in the Far North Region of Cameroon dropped her explosives and ran to the authorities instead. Her information led to a major raid on Boko Haram fighters.

In northeastern Nigeria in February, three girls with bombs were sent into a camp for Nigerians fleeing Boko Haram. Two of the girls detonated their bombs, killing nearly 60 people there. But the third girl spotted her parents among the desperate people inside the camp. Overwhelmed, officials said, she threw her explosives in the bush.

Boko Haram, which pledged allegiance to the Islamic State last year, has abducted as many as 2,000 women and children, both girls and boys, since 2012, according a recent report from humanitarian groups. Young boys have been used as bombers, too.

In many ways, female bombers are ideal weapons. At security points run by men, they are often searched less thoroughly, if at all. Tucked under the bunched fabric of dresses or religious gowns, explosives are easy to conceal.

Women suicide bombers have been a trademark of extremists for decades. In the Chechnya conflict, they were nicknamed black widows. In Sri Lanka, they fought with the Tamil Tigers. In her book, Bombshell: Women and Terrorism, Mia Bloom estimates that between 1985 and 2008, women committed a quarter of all suicide bombings.

One soldier who has engaged with Boko Haram said he believed that fighters must drug the girls food. Others who track the group question whether the bombs are remotely detonated.

According to Ms. Amos, Boko Harams use of women as weapons is a carefully thought-out strategy, one the women sometimes accept. Ms. Amos said that of the 30 or so female captives enrolled in training with her, seven girls were enthusiastic about carrying out suicide missions.

It was a direct path to heaven, she said the group was told.

Ms. Amos, now among the 58,000 residents of the Minawao Refugee Camp, described a system of grooming potential bombers that involved food deprivation and promises of eternal life, tactics that cults have used for decades.

She said that when Boko Haram stormed her hometown in 2014, her two brothers were shot dead. Her husband managed to flee with five of her children, but Ms. Amos did not make it out, and neither did two of her other young children and a grandchild. Boko Haram rounded them up with other women and children, putting them in a long ditch to contain them.

They stayed there for days, eating one meal a day of a corn paste made from powder. Finally a fighter arrived and asked a fateful question: Do you want to follow Christ, or do you want to be a Muslim?

The women all agreed to follow Islam, fearing they would be killed otherwise. Their training began.

Ms. Amos described a six-tiered daily education track for the women that she called Primary One, Primary Two and so on. The first two levels were Quranic training. Primary Three was training in suicide bombing and beheading. How to kill a person and how to bomb a house, she said.

They told us if we came upon a group of 10 to 20 people to press this, she said, speaking of a detonator.

The instruction given in the upper levels of the training  Primary Four, Five and Six  was a closely guarded secret among the fighters. Ms. Amos said she never learned what took place there.

Ms. Amos was lucky. Boko Haram fighters decided not to marry her, a euphemism for the rapes the group commits, because she already had a husband and children. She counted 14 women and four girls in her training classes who were not as fortunate.

Throughout her months in captivity, Ms. Amos was fed one meal a day and lost weight, a fact confirmed by her nephew living in the Minawao camp, who stared at her scrawny frame and said, She used to be a big woman.

Boko Haram incorporated the lack of food into the training, Ms. Amos said. Several months ago, she said, fighters rounded up the women and took them to an old factory to view a set of plump, well-fed girls who had plenty of food and water. Follow our ways, the fighters said, and you can have enough to eat, like these girls.

The girls, some of them crying, told Ms. Amos they were from Chibok, the Nigerian village where Boko Haram had captured the schoolgirls. American State Department and military officials said they would investigate the statements from Ms. Amos about the girls.

They were very fat, Ms. Amos said, compared with her and the other women who were being held, and they had lots of water.

Executive Director

EANFOWORLD FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

P.O.BOX 17070AN 233244370345/23327483710 /233208844791

[email protected] /[email protected]
For a while now, loyalists of the NPP flag-bearer, Nana Akufo-Addo, have been accusing me, as well as others of hating him. Indeed, it appears that there a carefully co-ordinated strategy to frame any disagreement or criticism of him as hatred. Of course, he has disagreed with many others and currently disagrees with President Mahama, Paul Afoko and others but has never been accused of hatred for these people.

Hatred, or for that matter, love are not things that serious and mature politicians dwell on.

In 1860, Lincoln won after a bitter primary and had all his enemies in his government in the famed "Team of Rivals".

Lyndon Johnson and John Kennedy were not fond of each other and yet JFK made him his running mate and they won in 1960.

Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush had a bitterly contested primary and yet Reagan made him running mate and they won in 1980.

Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years by de Klerk et al but he worked with him to create a new South Africa.

Here in Ghana, J.A. Kufuor was bitterly opposed by Nana Akufo-Addo and others, including a 11th - hour attempt to remove him as flag-bearer --and yet he let Nana serve as a Minister throughout his presidency.

After my inclusion in the 2008 campaign team, I have done many things to advance Nana Addo's presidential ambitions:

I gave him a road - map on picking a running mate. I persuaded him to take part in the 2008 presidential debates. I urged him repeatedly to plan for a possible second round. I wrote the definitive guidelines for winning 2012 in "Chasing the Elephant into the Bush". I worked hard to reconcile Alan to him and to make the 2010 primary unnecessary before endorsing him. I warned quietly at first, then loudly and repeatedly that making "all-die-be-die " the defining slogan of his campaign will lead to defeat. I campaigned for him in 2012 despite the fact his team had campaigned against me in my primary.

It is my considered opinion that many of these counsels, if heeded, would have made Nana Akufo-Addo, at this time, a resident of the Flagstaff house instead of Nima.

In the last few years, there have been actions, by Nana Akufo-Addo and/or his loyalists that I believe have harmed our party and our country. Consistent with my nature, I have stated my disagreements respectfully but vigourously. After all, I did not oppose military dictatorship and go into exile in order to be a sycophant to civilians.

As MLK put it, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." The idea, popular amongst Nana Addo aficionados that they can increase love for him through hatred, insults and intimidation is self-defeating. It will not work with me.

Finally, I believe that the relevant question is not whether I love or hate Nana Addo;

IT IS WHETHER HIS TENURE AS LEADER OF THE NPP HAS BEEN BENEFICIAL TO THE NPP AND GHANA!!!

He took over a party with the presidency and a healthy Parliamentary majority. He took over a party that controlled 6 regions. He took over a party with goodwill in the media and the judiciary. He took over a party united and at peace.

WHERE ARE WE NOW?

That, my friends is the question.

May God bless you all.
12.04.2016 LISTEN

If Nkrumah woke up to hear Ribadu claim that trillions of dollars have been looted out of Africa and Thabo Mbeki plea on Africans to take action against African Panama looters of billions of dollars in avoided African taxes, he would be shocked beyond death. Whatever Nkrumah had spent on Independent Freedom Fighters could not have brought the celebration of Vagabonds In Power! Here are traitors that are being treated as royals in each African country.

The fight for independence used to be the reason to go into politics in Africa but sudden foreign income from gold, diamond and oil that place politicians in charge of fiscal management of the country directly changed our motives and exacerbated African problems into civil wars of ethnic independence. One would think that poverty and lack of basic infrastructure would raise level of agitation and protect us against obscene salaries and allowances. Not even a scratch.

Despite the fall in foreign income from exported oil and unreceptive justification for status quo, remuneration went on as usual without drastic cut in Nigeria. If old soldiers that never die, billionaires looters reincarnated in Panama Pharaoh Tombstone. It is too painful to leave money in Africa after setting up their children and grandchildren outside. Surprisingly, there are more money left, must not be wasted, so they had to prepare their Pharaoh Tombstones in Panama.

Africans have been blinded, numbed and inoculated by too many communal disasters. Indeed, the masses have moved on as other incessant problems befall us like Ebola in West Africa, the perennial petrol shortage, Aguta massacre and Boko Haram in Nigeria. Surprisingly, our cries about payment to politicians died down without political casualties. Instead we are reminded by Panama Papers that the gluttonous and voracious appetite of our politicians are still alive.

In a country, where corruption is not stealing because corruption involves politicians protected by Army and Police (flown inside a jet contracted for $3m monthly); compared to hungry petty thief lynched in the market (for stealing milk for his newborn). The outrageous pay of former governors also confused us further by more bombastic pension. Only juggle justice can save us.

You see, Africans have no business in Nigerias money. Nigerians are not like Nkrumah that see Ghana as Africa, and used its meagre earning on Africans. There were days when Nigerians were ready to invest its money in or outside Nigeria to benefit Africans at home or outside. Nigeria has given birth to vultures that have repulsive use for our money. When governors started padding their salaries and pension, it was like play like play!

Amoda Yekini Ogulere alias Tinubu started it and the rest of the governor followed because he got away with it. It will be hypocritical to claim at this point that we did not know looting would get worse and other governors would build on it. Many justified APC reincarnation of Yekini at the Federal level because: when you see fire, you fight fire with fire. We are just starting the celebration of impunity, if not arrested one way or the other our great grandchildren would pay!

After all, what is Saraki celebrating that has not been predicted by the actions of those before him? Obasanjo and his best friends Danjuma and Atiku fell apart over oil blocks, privatization of parastatals and foreign investors. Andy Uba loaded plane with American dollars. We only know about when he got caught, we did not know if they made many trip to Panama. Even Jonathan as President could not be outdone with Dazuki, by sending a planeload of dollars to S. Africa.

Igbo saying taught that when you put sugar in the mouth of a kid, dont expect him to spit it out.

Why other Africans do not understand Nigerians: it is our money and our sons and daughters! We can never save Nigeria or invest in Africa as long as we have Panama looters on board a ship that must deliver dividends to the next generation. A system that allowed Saraki back in power, exonerate Gov. Ibori, Bank Manager Akingbola or Abacha family cannot catch a mouse O!

Africa is not United States of America or Europe where due process, rule of law and democracy in the midst of plenty can adequately fight corruption and fraud of the highest order; compared to looters in our ocean of poverty. Any threat to America or Europe very existence, calls for zero tolerance, no place to hide in the rule of law or democracy. By deadly force on any space, even kidnapping from other countries or eliminating, despite collateral damages. They dont play!

With all respect to Africas legal minds, Senior Advocates and Queens Counsels; if any of them still think the rule of law and due process can deter African saboteurs, they need to apply their unique abilities to free terrorists in Europe and Americas as they do for our parasites in Africa. These looters make sure they steal enough to droop foreign cash in excess of life salaries and pensions in front of police, lawyers and judges. Ready to discharge or stall until next election.

In lieu of juggle justice, well-meaning Nigerians want special tribunals to avoid delay tactics of lawyers hired by crooks in agbada that grabbed wealth and encourage others to do the same by hook, crook or tulasi exploding and corrupting our culture. When we face a threat as severe as the western countries, we must use every power within our means to save Africa. Wanted a government specifically to sanitize corruption. Trials must be less than 6 months no magomago.

The amount of money leaking out of African is greater than what exports can earn, odious loan, trade or the so-called foreign aids and technical assistance. If these continue, our existence as a country or as a Continent is at stake. We face more threats from our politicians legal and illegal wages than from the worlds most deadly Boko Haram terrorists; today. We must give credit to the Executive Branch hard spine in confronting and winding down of Boko Haram fanatics.
Alfred Woyome

12.04.2016 LISTEN

Lawyers for Businessman, Alfred Woyome, have warned some individuals and firms who they say are defaming him in spite of his acquittal by two superior courts in the 51 million cedi judgment debt saga.

The individuals include Anthony Karbo and Nana Akomea of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), as well as the Editor of the Crusading Guide Newspaper, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako, Daily Guide and Peace FM.

According to Woyomes lawyers, the actions of these individuals incite public disdain against their client.

A notice issued by Mr. Woyomes lawyers said dragging the said persons to court will serve as a deterrent to others.

It has come to our attention that notwithstanding the legal effect of judicial decisions in the Republic vs Alfred A. Woyome in both the High court and the court of Appeal, a number of individuals such as Mr Anthony Karbo, Nana Akomea of the NPP and Kweku Baako of the Crusading Guide, and entities such as the New Patriotic Party, the Daily Guide and Peace FM of Despite Limited, have overtly or covertly directly or indirectly and intentionally excoriated and denigrated the person of Mr. Alfred A. Woyome for the sole purpose of scandalizing the superior courts of Ghana.

For those already mentioned above, the necessary legal remedies available to redress the escalating situation will be employed and to those individuals, bodies or firms which intend to indulge in the same conduct deprecated above are hereby put on notice and notice is hereby given that continued breach of the sanctity of the court and the right of Mr. Alfred A. Woyome will be repelled without fear or favour, the notice added.

Background

Woyome walked out of the premises of the Court of Appeal a free man on March 10, 2016, after the court exonerated him from the charge of causing financial loss to the state in the controversial GH51.2 million judgement debt paid to him by the state.

He escaped prison for the second time in a year after the court, in a unanimous decision, declined to grant the states request for his acquittal to be overturned by the High Court on March 12, 2015.

The High Court, presided over by Mr Justice John Ajet-Nasam, had acquitted and discharged Woyome on two counts of defrauding by false pretenses, contrary to Section 131 (1) of the Criminal Offences Act (1960), Act 29, and causing financial loss to the State, contrary to Section 179 A (3) (a) of the Criminal Offences Act (1960), Act 29.

But the state appealed on the grounds that the trial judge erred in law by not considering the evidence adduced by the prosecution. However, the Court of Appeal held a different position and freed him again.

Govt deliberately protecting Woyome  NPP

The NPP after the Court of Appeals ruling accused the Mahama-led administration of deliberately refusing to retrieve the 51 million cedis judgment debt from Alfred Woyome.

According to the party, even though there is a Supreme Court ruling asking the state to retrieve the money, government has deliberately through its actions refused to abide by the ruling.

Director of Communications for the NPP, Nana Akomea, argued that the recent Court of Appeal ruling on the Woyome matter, is a clear indication that government is not interested in retrieving the money.

Mr. Woyome being paid 51.8m of taxpayers monies in 2010, clearly showed a deliberate pattern of high ranking NDC government officials, aided by highly placed public servants to collude, connive and conspire with NDC connected individuals to misappropriate taxpayers monies.
12.04.2016 LISTEN

Politics of deception and subterfuge has unfortunately taken the centre stage going into the November 7th polls, lies and spatial street propaganda with malicious intents, a damaging tool for a moral democratic society hovers around the corridors of Ghana which I employ all to resist at all cost by availing ourselves to the factual realities on the ground contrary to the known partisan intimations and projections which are predominantly coined out of puerile political agenda for electoral gains.

Let's look at the turns and trends in our political system in oder to have a genuine appreciation of the concept of governance and the emerging partisan interest in Ghana and the possible threats these partisan interest pose to our collective band of unity as people with a common destiny.

The agenda of artificially orchestrating negative impression about one government with a singular intention of gaining political popularity has hasten the destruction of healthy politics in Ghana.

Many have argued that the decision by the main opposition party, after loosing the 2012 election to the Ndc to go to the supreme Court to challenge the legitimacy of the then president elect John Mahama was a deliberate attempt to heckle and distract his tenure of rule.

This assertion may not be wrong based on certain unpopular statements made by some top apparatchiks of the Npp who vowed to make the country ungovernable, and true to this promise, have since jumped on to the neck of the Mahama led government virtually blaming everything including naturally occurring disasters on the person of President.

The Mahama led administration is grossly abused and disregarded by members of the leading opposition party, the npp and the only acceptable disposition on this nasty development is not the fact that the npp is a better option than the Mahama led government but rather they are in the play of their normal league of destructive politic.

Both parties the npp and the ndc, have had the opportunity to rule in the past but the current ndc government under His excellency John Mahama who is in his first four years of rule, have indeed achieved an enviable record in infrastructure across the various sectors, achievements which many Ghanaians have described unprecedented in the first term of a particular governments since the inception of the first Republic.

The infrastructural undertakings in road constructions and upgrade of existing ones, extension and construction of regional hospitals, teaching hospitals, district hospital, police hospital and the innumerable CHPS compounds across the length and breadth of the country are clear indications of the much talked about wind of transformation blowing in the country.

His records in the field of education are undeniably enviable with the number of senior high school dumbed community day senior high school which are about 75 in number at the various stages of completion.

Ghana which was once a hub of hope in electricity generation was plunged into darkness for a decade which carved a name "dumsor" a development which affected the industrial sector over years crippling lot of industries and ultimately resulted in the closure and unfortunate retrenchment exercise in the private sector. The already troubled state of unemployment was pushed into a sad state with a resounding wave of economic trepidation which forced several politicians hiding in cassocks to be striped naked exposing their partisan alliances and affiliations through reckless commentary most of them made but blaming them was not an option.

The opposition parties, especially the npp capitalised on this power crises for partisan expediency after they had failed to address the same power crises for eight good years, the only management protocol l could remember was the importation of generators into the country which became a money making venture by top party officials, the christened dumsor was a targeted campaign message for the party going into 2016 elections but to their disappointment the troubling power situation in Ghana has been fixed driving the word dumsor from the lips of celebrities, snatching the same word from the jaws of the opposition and scrapping it from the dictionary of roadside grammarians. Remember the dumsor crises was weaved into choruses of mockery for campaign in various mini assemblies held by the main opposition party, where they celebrated and danced to the woes of the people of Ghana just because they are not in command but it's also on record that John Mahama led government inherited the power crises and made a promised to fix it after publically admitting the damming consequences of the much touted power showdown.

Being able to accomplish the impossible within a stretch of four years could not kill the interest in destructive politics and opportunism which has become the main crafty artillery being used by the opposition speculate lies. The word incompetence has been largely misused unless maybe it has been re-coined with a different rendition. Every public commentary by the opposition has been given the prefix "incompetence" as if it is a new word discovered by a wordmonger who decides to use it anyhow.

The President felt he had had enough of the spin of incompetence campaign by the npp and responded as such by describing Bawumia and his likes as men who have never held any responsibility, a statement which was quiet uncharacteristic of the President l know so much but who could blame him when your opposition decides not to make any reasonable contributions to the running of a country and only contend to live within the meaning of the word opposition holding screws, bolts and nuts for a single purpose of nasty criticisms.

The indecent politics characterised by politics of tribal segregation, frequent use of abusive expressions, tribal bigotry and the omissions of candor in the dealings of the Npp since the timely retirement of Mr. Kuffour and the subsequent taking over of the NPP by Nana Addo has decimated the fortunes and the electoral credibility of the Npp. Infact it was not for any reason that Mr. Kuffour admonished the executives of the party to elect a unifier to succeed him but he knew the war-wish tendencies in Nana Addo and the possibility of further disintegration of a party he had structured to win power in 2008 which according to him the job was 90%complete but Nana couldn't add the remaining 10% to consolidate the victory Mr. Kuffour had earlier predicted.

A situation which has drawn several debates from a significant number of Ghanaians as to whether Nana Addo is a credible electoral material or not after a leading member of the party Maxewel Kofi Gyima had publically described the embattled flagbearer Nana Addo as a rotten goods not likely to be considered by a Ghanaian voter, this was contained in his campaigned bulletin for Allan Kyeremanteng in the run up to 2012 election and truly Ghanaians referenced the candor in Mr. Gyimah's statement and rejected Nana Addo.

Per the description by the npp, the ndc government is stained and tainted with scandals of corruption and mismanagement.

It will be highly disingenuous on my part to assert everything is fine, l sincerely believe we still have a distance to cover as a nation. But we still need to appreciate the fact that every government is like a coin with two faces, positive and negative sides, it only plays into the books of mischief when one decides to dwell only on the negativity and stretches it into the realms of partisan propaganda. A move by the npp fits this mischievous description.

Not even the president could deny the existence and traces of corruption in his government and other public offices but the mass attempt to create artificial impression of corruption based on exposed cases of corruption for investigation and a possible trial is a height of deception and supprisenly this crusade of lies and subterfuge is being led by the main stream media houses.

How many governments around the world have the courage to expose corruption in their own government? But at the behest of our mutual benefit, the government has defiled every interest by subjecting elements tagged with corruption scandals to legal scrutiny. Retrospective analysis is my greatest antipathy but it's on record some previous governments had refused to investigate cases of corruption levelled against officials in their government with a fear of carving a negative image for their government. I hope you remember the popular Kuffour's defence on corruption when he described corruption as old as Adam, impossible to eradicate and respectfully l was hoping this will end the charades and the double standards gradually grasping every public debate.

Barely few months into 2016 elections, the npp as the main opposition party is yet to tell Ghanaians their actual campaign message. As if the party cannot be disentangled from the realms of failure and embarrassment under its current leadership, the embattled acting chairman of the party, Freddie Blay was bold enough to go public to respond to a statement by some figures in the ndc that Akuffo Addo's campaign message is "try me " many of us thought it time to let the cat out of the bag by telling the good people of Ghana why they should vote the party into power but shockingly all he could say was "try me is not Nana Addo's campaign message so l ask again what then is the message the party is carrying into 7Noember poll aside the the usual try me mantra?

The party is obviously facing communication paralysis aside the in fighting, corruption scandals and the numerous sanctions of elected officers.

Nana Akomea is found of throwing poor and infamous defence on sensitive issues..was it not this gentleman who held a press conference in the name of the party npp and alluded to the fact that the npp's decisions to import hired mercenaries to offer military training to some gang of societal miscreants to cause mayhem following the eventual defeat starring at the party come 7 November polls was informed by a statement purported to have been made by a radio presenter, named Mugabe Maase of montie fm an Accra based radio station, quiet a childish and infantile defence from a director of communications of such a larger political party. But l hope many would not be surprised because his abysmal track records in communication after leading the party into two successive electoral failure.

I sincerely believe there's still a chance to turn around the scope of our political orientation for an effective one that's built on substantive issues with a defined academic margins to influence our society positively by providing with us a chance of extinguishing the consist inflammation of passions going into every elections in this country. The Bible is my witness.

Ivan Kyei Innocent / 0206262717 / [email protected]
T.B. Joshua

12.04.2016 LISTEN

Nigerian preacher, T. B. Joshua, is reported to have made a pronouncement to his congregation during Sundays church service  transmitted live on his TV channel  requesting prayers for Ghana and Nigeria over a possible foreign attack that has been revealed to him.

Hear him: I am seeing Thursday, Friday, and Saturday  if I may say Thursday  because these evil people they are very funny. Anything can just happen. You will be very shocked to see what will happen, because when the prayer is going in this direction they change to another direction,

Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Which of them? The immediate ones in this week or all of such days in our lifetime? This was the first part of the pronouncement which has sent Ghanas police service to calm nerves via a public statement. Now hear the second part.

I see Thursday, Friday. Pray for these two nations  Nigeria and Ghana  over gathering in any way; over attack. I am seeing attack and that will be in a foreign way. The attack will come not in a local way. So please open your lips and pray for these two nations for protection, he said. This part of the pronouncement talks about Thursday and Friday. Saturday is conspicuously missing this time or was it a slip of tongue? Or is this an updated version of the statement which demonstrates more specificity as only two days are mentioned?

The preacher did not give clues about the period within which these attacks are to be expected apart from the days mentioned. That leaves us in no-mans land! Which of the days are actually in reference here? The two or the three? Some things are not adding up.

But the amazing part of the development is the reaction of the Ghana Police Service. They released a statement assuring the public of adequate security arrangements to head off any looming crisis in the wake of the prophecy, leaving many feathers ruffled. The first paragraph of the Police statement as captured on myjoyonline read; The Ghana Police Service wishes to urge the general public to remain calm in the wake of terrorist attack prophesy by the founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nations, Prophet T.B. Joshua. The police labelled it a prophecy but did the cleric prophesy or he tabled a prayer request? Various names  prophecy, prediction, warning  have also been used by the media to describe the statement by the cleric.

Ghana, according to the constitution, is not a Christian country so where do we place the prophecy of a church leader when we all dont belong to the same faith and the same church? But what exactly is the place of prophecy in modern day policing? Is it intelligence, information or credible report? Or is Ghana a Christian nation? Are we being ruled by a pastor? Why then should there be such a national announcement on the heels of a pronouncement by a church leader to his devotees? Couldnt the police have treated the statement as intelligence and upped their game in lieu of this panic reaction, if really they found it credible enough? Was the earlier warning by the national security not enough to keep us on a high alert? Is Ghana now a branch of T.B Joshuas church?

Some pastors in Ghana put forward certain predictions in the past and they were so badmouthed that, even when some of those predictions came through, no one remembered to give them credit. My interest is not to question the credentials of any cleric but to remind the police service that Ghana is a secular country. If Kwaku Bonsam makes a pronouncement tomorrow that there will be violence in this years elections, will the police issue a statement to calm nerves or cause his arrest for causing fear and panic? Even if the entire police service believes in the pronouncements of T.B. Joshua, theres no evidence that the whole Ghana does.

The threat of terrorism is potent globally and security chiefs worldwide have been digging deep into their extensive repertoire of knowledge for the most effective way to deal with the menace. So the pronouncements of a church leader to his congregation should not cause a whole national police set up to react in such bizarre manner as if the man is the spiritual leader of the nation. Ghana is a secular nation and dabbling in such waters flies in the face of that constitutional arrangement.

Before the statement by T.B. Joshua, the nation had already been put on the alert by the National Security Council so what was all the song and dance by the police about? The cleric commands considerable influence across the continent and beyond but that should not earn such national attention as if Ghana is branch of his church. Even among Christians in Ghana, not all are his members and not all believe in his modus operandi. That does not mean his utterances should be treated with contempt but giving it such national prominence is also preposterous, to be charitable.

T.B. Joshua is based in Nigeria and his statement or rather, prayer request, has not aroused any panic reaction from the Nigerian Police Force, although theres no evidence that theyre treating it lightly. We need to be more serious with the issue of security in this country, we dont need a soothsayer to tell us that. A word is enough for the wise. My thoughts
Tripoli (AFP) - Italy's foreign minister hailed Libya's new unity government Tuesday as a "game changer" as he held talks in Tripoli during the first visit by a top Western official since 2014.

In another boost to the unity leaders, lawmakers with Libya's internationally recognised parliament said they would vote next week on whether to endorse the UN-backed cabinet.

Italy's top diplomat Paolo Gentiloni met Fayez al-Sarraj, named prime minister-designate under a UN-backed power-sharing deal in December, amid tight security in Tripoli.

It came as representatives of dozens of countries and international organisations including the World Bank held talks in neighbouring Tunisia on ways to help the unity government shape its priorities.

World powers see the establishment of the unity cabinet as vital to tackling a raging jihadist insurgency and rampant people smuggling in the North African state.

"This decision was a game changer," Gentiloni said in Tripoli of the establishment of the UN-backed government.

Foreign embassies would be reopened in the capital in "the near future", he added.

Italy is supporting the unity government "because it will pave the way to the stabilisation of Libya -- then we can manage human trafficking and smugglers and terrorism," Gentiloni said.

He said that European countries were ready to work with Libya to tackle the Islamic State group (IS), but that the country's government and people must lead the fight.

"We can cooperate but cannot decide for the Libyans," he said before flying to Tunisia to join the international conference.

Gentiloni's brief visit comes nearly two weeks after Sarraj arrived in Tripoli by sea with a naval escort and established his headquarters at a naval base.

He has since won the support of key institutions that control Libya's wealth and also appears to have the backing of at least some militias.

But Sarraj has not yet received the endorsement of the country's internationally recognised parliament, and the head of a rival Tripoli-based administration has refused to recognise his authority.

The recognised legislature will, however, meet on Monday for a vote of confidence in the unity government, parliamentarians said.

Libya has been plagued by instability since the 2011 uprising that ousted longtime ruler Moamer Kadhafi, with IS taking advantage of the chaos to seize territory.

- No 'combat mission' -

The oil-rich country has had two rival administrations since mid-2014 when a militia alliance overran Tripoli, setting up its own authority and forcing the recognised parliament to flee to the remote east.

Italy, the former colonial power in the North African state, has played a leading role in international efforts to pressure Libya's warring rivals to rally behind the unity government.

European nations in particular have been alarmed by the expansion of IS in Libya, just 300 kilometres (185 miles) from Italy across the Mediterranean.

The jihadist group last year seized control of Kadhafi's coastal hometown of Sirte and has been fighting to expand to other areas.

The number of IS fighters in Libya has doubled in the past 12-18 months and now stands at about 4,000 to 6,000, the head of US forces in Africa, General David Rodriguez, said last week.

As well as tackling IS, European governments hope the unity government can crack down on people smugglers who have stepped up their lucrative business in Libya amid the chaos.

Libya has long been a stepping stone for migrants, and there are concerns that European efforts to shut down the migrant sea crossing from Turkey to Greece will encourage more people to leave from North Africa.

Libyan coastguards on Tuesday intercepted six boats carrying 649 would-be migrants and returned them to Tripoli, a spokesman said.

Sarraj posted on Facebook that he and Gentiloni discussed the fight against extremism as well as the migrant crisis.

"What the unity government will ask the international community to do in the fight against terrorism is (provide) support and coordination to safeguard national security, rather than a combat mission," he wrote.

Western nations are openly considering military action against the extremists but have said that this can only happen at the request of a unity government.

Italy said Tuesday it had provided 1 million euros worth of food and medicine in western Libya over the past month.
The DA in the Western Cape is concerned about the extent to which the National Government is causing delays in delivering housing opportunities to the people of the Western Cape.

The Western Cape Department of Human Settlements today briefed the Standing Committee on Human Settlements in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament on the delivery of housing opportunities to those who fall in the GAP housing market.

It was revealed that a zone application was submitted to the National Housing Agency for the Plettenberg Bay area in 2012/13. The Western Cape Department of Human Settlements is still awaiting approval for the request. The delay in response from the national entity has meant a delay in delivery to those on the ground.

The Western Cape Department places emphasis on developing housing opportunities in central areas, which are close to public transport as well as other amenities. In addition, it also ensures that there is capacity for communities to house their own businesses. This redress-based approach to human settlements does require additional funding and it is crucial that the process to obtain this funding is smooth and efficient.

There are currently around 14 300 housing opportunities outside of the Cape Town Metro that are to be explored. Non-metro social housing requires the identification of restructuring, which would also require additional funding from National Government.

Social housing is a means by the Western Cape Department of Human Settlements addresses the needs of those who fall in the GAP housing market. These are housing consumers earn between R3 501 and R15 000 per month, which means they earn too much to qualify for a housing subsidy and too little to qualify for a bond.

The Department reiterated its commitment to social housing becoming a gateway to ownership, for those who fall in the GAP housing market.

Despite these funding challenges, the Western Cape Department of Human Settlements is forecasting projects in advance to ensure that people are capacitated in order to receive housing. In other words, when the department begins to plan a housing delivery project, it also embarks on educating the recipients so as to ensure that credit records.

The DA-led government in the Western Cape is committed to ensuring that those who are in need of support in aid of accessing housing, as enshrined in our Constitution, is able to receive it.
The High Court in Accra says the state can go ahead to extradite British fugitive David McDermott for allegedly smuggling 400 kilogrammes of cocaine to the United Kingdom (UK).

According to the judge Merley Efua Wood, Ghana has an extradition treaty with the UK and that the crime is not a political crime. She also dismissed arguments that narcotic related issues are not extradition offences.

The court, however, said though the state authorities failed to follow the right process it cannot be said to have occasioned a substantial miscarriage of judgement. The judge then remanded him in prison custody till his extradition warrant is issued.

David Philip McDermott has been on the run for the past three years from the authorities of the UK but was picked up at his hideout in Accra on March 11, 2016.

More soon...
File Photo

12.04.2016 LISTEN

Information reaching Obuasitoday.com suggests that, the venue for the long awaited #ObuasiMustNotDie Press conference, Champion Maclean Joint in Obuasi has been surrounded by men believed to be members of the Artisans Small Scale Miners Association.

Some of these men are threatening to kill any member of the Obuasi Must Live Coalition seen at the venue of the yet to be held Press Conference.

Security Beef up

The Conveynor for the Coalition, Mr. Prince Kwame Aboagye has assured members and well-wishers who will be attending the Press Conference of full Police protection.

We have spoken to the Divisional Police Commander and the Security detail has been beefed up, so the safety of all participants present is guaranteed, he stressed

The Obuasi Must Live Coalition,is a pressure group set up to champion the economic revival of the Obuasi Municipality by calling on the appropriate leadership not to allow the Obuasi Mine to be shutdown completely.

More Soon.
Residents of Agogo in the Ashanti Region are embarking on a demonstration to pile pressure on government to drive out nomadic herdsmen in the area who have been accused of burning farms, murder and rape.

Streets in Agogo have been livened up by a thick stream of protesters clad in black and red clothes and holding anti-government and anti-normadic heardmen placards.

This is at least the second reported demonstration by the residents in a conflict with herdsmen that has escalated this year.

The youth in the town have blamed government for the continued stay of nomadic herdsmen in the town despite a 2012 court order that they be driven out. The period of execution of the court order has since expired.

Background

The nomads have been accused of perpetrating crimes including murder and rape besides the destruction of farm crops by their grazing cattle.

Residents of Agogo and surrounding communities have for years raised concerns about the activities of herdsmen believed to be mostly Fulanis.

Demonstration

Early this year, the MP for Asante Akyem North, Kwadwo Baah Agyemang led a demonstration to evict the herdsmen in the area.

Tension heightened in the town after the demonstration as one person died after the exchange of gunshots between some herdsmen and Agogo indigenes.

After the Inspector General of Police, John Kudalor met with the Traditional Leaders, opinion leaders and affected residents, the Ashanti Regional Security Council dispatched security personnel to Agogo to flush out the nomads and their cattle after the incident.

But the action did not yield the desirable result as the herdsmen and their cattle keep terrorizing the people in the area.

Residents threats

According to a statement by the youth of the town, the herdsmen take their cattle for grazing at night, destroying their farm produce.

"We are however bold to state that te land we are talking about now was fought for and won for us with the blood of our ancestors. We are not disposed to losing an inch of it for whatever reason," the statement read.

Copy of the statement

They have also accused some security personnel in the town of protecting the herdsmen and their cattle.

The residents have vowed to "utilize the necessary measures to secure their land".

Story by Ghana| Myjoyonline.com| Patricia Asiedua Akuffo| [email protected]
Hundreds of women in small-scale oil palm extraction business in the Aboasa-Akwamu of the Eastern region have benefited from an oil palm processing machine.

The machine was acquired through the support of Tigos Community Champion programme launched in 2013 to address the peculiar needs of various communities across the country.

Traditionally, the production of palm oil was done manually by the women of the Aboasa community and as a result they could only produce a few gallons a day after a very lengthy process. The smoke from the various processes of cooking the palm fruits and extracting the oil was also dangerous to their health and wellbeing.

Commissioning the project, Tigos Director for Customer Operations and Acting Director for Tigo Business, Stephen Essien, said as an initiative, Community Champions had been a resounding success. It had responded to the various needs of several communities.

We know that women in rural areas face persistent challenges in access to resources, knowledge and services, therefore responding to their plea for an oil palm processing machine was a step in the right direction. We are confident that the new processing machine will change the lives of the women and children who essentially depend on agriculture for their livelihood, he said.

He emphasised that in providing quality and reliable access to communication services to Ghanaians, Tigo remains committed to fostering improved living standards in the communities where it operates.

The Chief of Aboasa, Nana Minta IV, was excited about the new processing machine and was optimistic it will boost employment opportunities for the women and men in the community.

Since it was launched in 2013, several projects have been undertaken as part of the Community Champions programme. They include the donation of 100 bicycles to Family for Organised Lives (FFOL); renovation of the Tafo Maternity Unity, provision of potable water to Dawurampong in the Central region and donation of hospital equipment to the Keta government hospital.
David Philip McDermott, the British National alleged to have smuggled 400 kilos of cocaine, is set to be extradited to the UK following an Accra High Court ruling.

The court, presided over by judge Merley Efua Wood, said there were sufficient grounds for McDermott to be extradited.

The judge further ordered for McDermott to be kept in Police custody as he waits to be extradited.

McDermott was arrested in Ghana in connection with a smuggling plot to import 71 million worth of cocaine into the United Kingdom.

The man who is married to the daughter of the immediate past governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Henry Kofi Wampah, is said to be a member of an organised crime syndicate from Liverpool and has been on the run for three-years.

He is believed to be responsible for a failed smuggling operation discovered by Border Force at Tilbury Docks in May 2013, when officers seized 400kg (881Ibs) of cocaine smuggled into the country in a container of frozen Argentinian beef.

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A Wa Magistrate court has remanded a Police Constable, Felix Osei Bonsu for allegedly assaulting and defiling a 16-year old pupil at Mangu, a suburb of Upper West Regional capital, Wa.

According to Deputy Upper West Regional Police Commander, ACP Shayibu Griba, the victim who is a Primary Five pupil and a male friend were on their way to attend to natures call when they encountered the Constable.

But when Felix Bonsu asked about where they were heading, the male friend, out of fear took to his heels and left the victim with the Constable.

Our constable is alleged to have assaulted the girl. The girl tried to run into a school nearby and our Constable pursued the girl to that point, ASP Griba told Joy News' Rafiq Salam.

Upon reaching there, our Constable is said to have demanded sex from the girl because he thought that the boy was going to have sex with her, he added.

A security man and some other people who were around the school at the time tried fruitlessly to prevent the Constable from having his way with the victim.

So at the end of the day it is alleged that our constable had sex with the female pupil, ASP Griba said.

He said investigations have been conducted and a medical report from the Wa government hospital proves that indeed the victim was assaulted and there was some form of carnal knowledge.

He said the Constable, if found guilty will not be spared, adding, we will treat it like any citizen who has gone against the law.

We have no cover for anybody, although it is an allegation, the case is still under investigation and the court will determine the way forward.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Naa Sakwaba Akwa | [email protected]
The US Department of States Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs recently honoured Newmont Ghana for Corporate Excellence in Labour and Human Rights at the 2015 Awards for Corporate Excellence (ACE). The ACE award recognizes American companies that are leading in responsible business conduct worldwide.

The company emerged a 2015 finalist at a US Ambassador/American Chamber of Commerce hosted ceremony in Accra recently. With this recognition, Newmont becomes the first mining company to be nominated for the award since its inception in 1999.

Respect for Human Rights and Support for the Voluntary Principle on Security and Human Rights

Newmont Ghana was recognized for its efforts at promoting human rights and labour rights within the company and in its host communities. The nomination focused on the companys support for:

Implementing the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPSHR) initiative within its Akyem and Ahafo mines in Ghana and for supporting the mining industrys commitment to focus on implementing the VPSHR within mining companies;

Support for Ghanas Ebola Preparedness Plan and;

Efforts in ensuring that Ghanaian-owned companies are considered for contracts through fair and transparent processes.

The VPSHR Initiative was established to guide companies in maintaining the safety and security of their operations within a framework that encourages respect for human rights and labor rights.

In 2015, about four hundred and fifty-two (452) employees and business partners of Newmont and officers from the Public Law Enforcement Agencies participated in Newmont led trainings on the (VPSHR) at the companys three operating sites in Ahafo, Akyem and Accra.

According to Paul Sowley, Senior Director, Sustainability and External Relations, Newmont Africa, one key focus of Newmont is to ensure peaceful co-existence with community stakeholders. As such, the company has established Complaints and Grievances (C&G) centres in its operational areas to address community complaints and provide mutually acceptable remedial actions. The company employs a three tier mechanism to resolve all grievances from community stakeholders.

At the first level, a complaint is discussed between the company and the complainants for a mutually acceptable resolution. Where that approach fails, the issue is escalated to a third party by mutual consent. The third party could be a traditional authority, a local government official or any respectable member of society.

Should that also fail to yield the required results, each of the two parties may then refer the matter to the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) or the law court for redress. So far, our records show that over 95% of complaints from community members are resolved at the first level of the Complaints and Grievances Mechanism. Paul Sowley said.

He expressed appreciation to the companys host communities and assured of Newmonts commitment to further advance the implementation of the VPSHR to safeguard the rights of stakeholders.
The Asante Presbytery Chairperson of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana Rev Kofi Amfo- Akonnor has called on Christians in Ghana to go into active politics in order to influence decision making at the governmental level.

He said it was time Christians do away with the notion that politics was a dirty game and participate in the process to develop society effectively.

Rev Amfo-Akonnor made the call at the opening of the 94th Asante Presbytery Session of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana at Suame in Kumasi on Saturday.

The Presbytery Session which was under the theme Anointing of the Holy Spirit brought together both the ordained and the laity across the Asante Presbytery.

If we always say it is a dirty game and leave it to non Christians they would continue to use our scarce resources to benefit themselves alone, so we should actively participate and make it a clean game, he said.

Rev Amfo-Akonnor expressed worry about the growing trend of young people engaging in negative acts such as armed robbery, indiscipline, financial malfeasance and engaging in fraudulent transactions in order to get rich within a short time.

He said this was a dangerous path to tread and if unchecked, could cause serious problems for the country in the near future.

The Presbytery Chairperson said the youth needed to trust in God for the numerous challenges that they

would find in their lives.

Touching on the election 2016 Rev Amfo-Ankonnor urged the church in Ghana to continue to pray for the Electoral Commission to enable it organize credible elections this year.

We need Gods intervention to ensure that the resultsof the elections are acceptable by all he said.

Rev Amfo-Akonnor appealed to Ghanaians to do more to maintain the current peace the nation the nation is enjoying. He said anything that could spark off trouble and violence must be avoided.

He said 2016 election is test for the nation and urged Ghanaians to prove to the outside world that Ghanas democratic dispensation has come of age.

The Asante Presbytery chairperson appealed to politicians to avoid personal attacks and character assignations.

He urged supporters of political parties to avoid the use of provocative language and tolerate the views of their colleagues from the political divide.

The Presbytery Chairperson expressed concerned about polarization and partisan nature of the country adding that it was dangerous for the nation.

He mentioned that more efforts had been put into evangelism aimed at winning more souls for Christ. He said through evangelism more than 6,095 persons were added unto the church in the Presbytery with 50 new congregations added to the existing ones.

Rev Amfo-Akonnor said the Presbytery would continue with the Mission Blueprint of the church namely Evangelism, Disciple Making, Church Planting and Church Growth aimed at leading more people to the Kingdom of God.

The Ashanti Region Regional Chief Imam who was among the dignitaries invited to the ceremony cautioned Ghanaian Muslims to be on guard against extremists and their influence and appealed to the Muslim Community to shun all divisions and continue to coexist peacefully with the Christians as it is the only way to guarantee the stability of the nation.

He advised Muslim youth not to join terrorist groups in the world. He explained that Islam stood for peace and as such they must follow the teachings of Prophet Mohammed.

He said the peaceful coexistence among followers of the two major religions, Muslims and Christians, had maintained peace and stability in the country, to the extent that they participated in the activities of each other.
The Planet Earth Institute, an international NGO and charity working for the scientific independence of Africa, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the African Academy of Sciences. The Memorandum of Understanding was ratified during the PEI's Board of Trustees meeting on Saturday 2nd April 2016.

The partnership will support the development of research leaders in Africa by creating a new PhD grant programme for African students in water, energy, agro-business and basic sciences research. 10 PhD grants will be awarded in 2016, and the PEI and the AAS will deliver the programme with the assistance of private sector partners. This will help ensure that research is industrially relevant and that researchers develop hands on experience to ensure employability.

The new partnership will also further the expansion of the Grand Challenges programme in Mauritius. Grand Challenges is a family of initiatives fostering innovation to solve key problems in global health and many other fields of development for those most in need. It seeks to establish a portfolio of projects with complementary approaches that encompass multiple types of innovation, including innovation in life, natural and physical sciences and research, and extending to product development, service delivery etc.

HE Dr. Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, President of the Republic of Mauritius and Vice Chairman and Trustee of the Planet Earth Institute:

To ensure that all our citizens can share in the continent's prosperity, we must not only invest in applied research that addresses current development challenges, but also basic sciences that focuses on long-term development.

I look forward to a close and productive partnership with the African Academy of Sciences. I also welcome this vital PhD programme supporting African PhD students undertaking research in areas that are essential to sustainable development on the continent.

Dr. Alvaro Sobrinho, Chairman of the Planet Earth Institute:

Although Africa has experienced sustained economic growth over the past decade, scientific and technological output has not kept pace. If we want to ensure that our continent has the capacity to develop solutions to its greatest development challenges, we must dramatically increase investment in scientific research.

I am delighted that the Planet Earth Institute has embarked on this important partnership with the African Academy of Sciences, given its strong advocacy for scientific excellence on the continent. We are also proud to co-deliver this PhD grant programme that supports talented African students in pursuing research that addresses key developmental priorities, as well as the Grand Challenges initiatives.

Interviews or further information

For further information on the Memorandum of Understanding between the Planet Earth Institute and the African Academy of Sciences or for interview requests with those involved, please contact:

James Knight on [email protected] or +(230) 5255-4461

Sarah Hamblyon [email protected] or +447879 739 405

Notes to Eds
The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) has asked the Electoral Commission (EC) to spell out the measures it is putting in place to clean the voters register to end ongoing controversy on the matter.

CODEOs call comes in the wake of a renewed debate between the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) over the register.

A V.C.R.A.C Committee put together by the EC to deal with the concerns over the register recommended among other things, an extension of the exhibition exercise as one of the ways to clean it up.

From pages 19 to 21 of the report, the Committee recommended voter validation as a means of ensuring a clean voters register ahead of the November 2016 polls.

Pressure group Let My Vote Count Alliance (LMVCA) and the NPP hit the streets of Kumasi last week to mount pressure on the EC to announce to Ghanaians a roadmap for the implementation of recommendations by the Committee on the voters register.

But a member of the Committee who is also the Chairman of National Peace Council and Most Rev. Prof. Emmanuel Asante has discredited claims that the panel recommended a validation process.

He said the understanding of the Committee members as at the time of drafting the report was for the EC to put in place mechanisms for those names which are not supposed to be in the register to be deleted but not to use validation to achieve that.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Director of Center for Democratic Development (CDD), Dr. Franklyn Oduro, has charged the EC to be transparent on the issue.

I think it is important that the measures that it [EC] will take to clean the register are clearly communicated to everyone. What is happening now with he said, he said is a clear indication that there is a missing gap in the public discourse, Dr Oduro said.

He said the EC must state clearly whether it will consider the recommendations of the panel or is adding on to it to curtail the demands.

Story by Ghana|Myjoyonline.com| AA| [email protected]
An Accra high court has adjourned the case involving the suspended chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Paul Afoko Tuesday.

Pre-trial for the case was expected to commence today, but the lawyer for the NPP, Godfred Odame said he is not furnished with some documents.

He explained that the absence of those documents breach court processes hence he pleaded for the case to be adjourned until he is furnished with the documents.

Joy News' Afreh Nuamah who was in court disclosed this did not sit well with the presiding judge, Anthony Yeboah who told Mr. Odame that the case could commence without those documents.

He warned that the continued delay of the case could infringe on the rights of Mr. Afoko whose tenure of office as a chairman is limited.

Mr. Yeboah further said that the attitude of Mr. Odame with regards to the case could result in the case being prolonged.

He ordered the NPP lawyer to be furnished with documents and adjourned the case to Wednesday, April 13.

Mr. Afoko filed the suit in 2015 after he was suspended from his position as the party chairman of the biggest opposition party in Ghana.

He is in court challenging the punishment meted out to him, which he described as unconstitutional and illegal.

He also wants a constitutional interpretation of the NPP constitution as the basis to declare the suspension as null and void.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Austin Brako-Powers | Email: [email protected]
A crowd Tuesday gathered at the Kumasi Jubilee Park in the Ashanti Region to witness a spiritual battle between the General overseer of the International God's Way Church, Bishop Daniel Obinim and Okomfo Yaw Appiah, a fetish priest.

Some photographs circulating on social media platforms show Obinim seated with some of his assistant pastors awaiting the arrival of the fetish priest.

The white coffin in which Obinim intends to place Okomfo Appiah

A white coffin is also purported to have been brought by the Bishop to place the fetish priest in after he has defeated him.

Obinim last week failed to turn up at the forecourt of Happy FM after he had challenged Okomfo Nana Yaw Appiah and other spiritualists to a spiritual battle.

Okomfo Nana Yaw Appiah is said to be the spiritual father of the Bishop.
Keys to a one storey 12 unit classroom block were on Monday, April 11 handed over to the headmaster of Dzolo Senior High School at a brief ceremony attended by the Member of Parliament for Ho West constituency, Hon Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah, the Ho West District Chief Executive, Hon Sammy Ewoade, management and staff of Dzolo Senior High School, and chiefs and opinion leaders from Dzolo Gbogame.

Eric Monarch on behalf of the projects consultant handed the keys to Hon Sammy Ewoade after he led the gathering on an inspection tour of the facility, with each of the 12 classrooms furnished with forty sets of students' tables and chairs, a teacher's table and chair, a cupboard and a white board. He added that, it is obligatory for the contractor to return and correct any structural defect that may occur within six months after completion of the project even though the facility has been handed over to the end user. Hon Ewoade thanked the consultant for ensuring the project was delivered within six months after award of the contract. He urged all contractors working on various government projects in the district to endeavour to abide by time schedules assigned to their projects. Hon Ewoade thanked the MP for his efforts at ensuring the district benefits from as many as possible school infrastructure projects saying all ( 8 senior high/technical schools and 2 technical institutes) 10 second cycle schools in the district have benefited from at least three government projects through efforts of the MP. He assured the people of his commitment to work hand-in-hand with Hon Bedzrah for speedy development of the district.

On his part, the MP was grateful to Hon Ewoade for not pulling his feet in facilitating the contract award process which made it possible for the project to be completed six months ahead of time. Hon Bedzrah assured the people of Dzolo of his commitment to ensuring the Dzolo Senior High School is provided with the needed infrastructure that will transform the school into a grade A senior high school. He said for this to happen, parents and teachers must play their supporting roles to ensure the academic performance of the students improve tremendously. He seized the opportunity to announce the re-award of the construction of the schools boys dormitory to a new contractor who will move to site in earnest to complete work on the project which was started over three years ago. Hon Bedzrah appealed to chiefs to educate the youth  especially those who turned 18 years and are yet to register as voters to take advantage of Electoral Commissions limited registration exercise scheduled to start on April 28 to register and vote in their numbers in the November general elections to retain him and his presidential candidate, HE John Dramani Mahama in power to enable them to continue to pursue programmes and policies that bring development to their doorsteps.

The chiefs were grateful to the MP and DCE for their commitment to transforming Dzolo Senior High School into a grade A school by providing it with modern infrastructure. They promised their continuous support for the NDC government and its candidates in this years general elections.
H.E. Dr. Aisha Laraba Abdullahi, Commissioner for Political Affairs of the African Union Commission opened the 14th International Festival of Language of Culture, which was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 09 April 2016, under the theme Colours of the World.

The International Festival was organized by the Nejashi Ethio-Turkish International Schools in collaboration with the Department of Political Affairs of the African Union Commission and the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

The Festival is a platform to showcase both the rich multicultural diversity of the world, as well as the boundless talent of students coming from 65 countries across the globe to exhibit their cultural traditions through poetry, song and dance, in an expression of friendship, and hope for the future.

In her address, the Commissioner for Political Affairs indicated that Tolerance is important and needed us to live together, listen to each other and do things together. Therefore, this forum is an opportunity for all of us to renew our commitment to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, without distinction as to race, gender, language, national, origin, religion or disability, and to combat intolerance and to take all positive measures necessary to promote tolerance in all societies, because it is not only a cherished principle, but also a necessity for peace and for the economic and social advancement of all peoples.

Dr. Abdullahi also added that a few days ago, some of the students participating in this festival paid me a courtesy visit in my office and I was so impressed by the colourfulness of their dress and beauty of their voices. But above all, I was happy to know that they all strive for a global peace and dialogue and they all wish for a peaceful and forbearance world free of conflicts, wars and human rights violations.
12.04.2016 LISTEN

Dubbed The Robben Island Experience, the trip will afford patrons the chance to experience Cape Town, tour the Robben Island (where the late Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years), the Table Bay Mountain, Cape Town City, Victoria & Alfred Waterfront and Cape Point.

Cape Town, South Africa, is one of the hottest tourist sites on earth. It offers amazing tourist sites and holds lots of pleasurable experiences for tourists.

The Robben Island Experience, which comes off from the 20th to 27th of September 2016, follows the successful Heritage Caravan which took about 80 people on a tour of eight (8) regions of Ghana.

The #HeritageCaravan gave patrons a chance to experience Ghana inside out and learn the traditions and culture of the various regions.

The Robben Island Experience will last for seven days and six nights. The total package costs only $2600 and takes care of Visa Fees, Airfare, 4 Star Hotel Accommodation, Inland Transportation, Breakfast and Dinner.

The package is open only for persons age 18 and above. Participants must have valid travel passports and must be ready to have an experience of a lifetime.
The Munich Security Conference (MSC) will host its first event on the African continent as part of its MSC Core Group Meeting series on 14  15 April 2016, at the Sheraton Hotel and at the African Union Headquarters, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The joint fight against violent extremism, crisis prevention and management in Northern and Eastern Africa, as well as the security risks posed by epidemics and climate change are among the central topics of the two-day event.

The meeting will bring togetheraround 60 senior leaders from Africa, Europe, and the US to exchange ideas in an informal setting. The MSC Core Group Meeting takes place on the occasion of the 5th Tana High-Level Forum on Security in Africa and is organized in partnership with the governments of Germany and Ethiopia as well as the African Union Commission.

Journalists are invited to join a press briefing from 1130 - 1230 HRS and to attend the opening ceremony on April 14, from 1500 - 1530 HRS at the Sheraton Hotel. The press briefing will be addressed by MSC Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger where he will introduce the program and topics of the MSC Core Group Meeting and discuss current global and regional security issues.

Furthermore, journalists are invited to attend the opening ceremony of the second conference day on April 15, from 8.45  9.15 HRS at the African Union Conference Center, Small Conference Hall 4.
12.04.2016 LISTEN

The Vision for Alternative Development (VALD) wishes to commend a Kenyan court ruling rejecting British American Tobacco (BAT)petition to stop the adoption ofregulations that willfacilitate implementation of Kenyas Tobacco Control Act 2007 and thatGhana andother countries on the continent must be guided by the Kenyans victory.

BACKGROUND

BAT Kenya Limited had filed a petition at the Constitutional Court in the High Court of Kenya, Nairobi in April 2015 askingitto declare that the Tobacco Control Regulations 2014 developed by the Ministry of Health to facilitate the implementation of Tobacco Control Act 2007 is null and void.

The tobacco company had argued that the due process was not followed in the making of the regulations and that particular sections of the regulations contravened their rights as outlined in the Bill of Rights and other Articles of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 and that they were therefore unconstitutional.

The regulations had been tabled in Parliament on 5th December 2014 and gazette as is required and were to take effect on 5 June 2015. Kenya Tobacco Control Alliance (KETCA) and the Consumer Information Network (CIN) got enjoined in the case as interested parties. On 4th June 2015, a day before the Tobacco Control Regulations 2014 could take effect, the Judge issued conservatory orders suspending the implementation of the regulations (at the request of BAT) until the case is heard and determined.

The court however ruled among others, that, according to the documents presented to it, there were various meetings during the framing of the regulations that BAT was represented in, and consulted. Reports of public forums and other consultations were shared and the regulations were presented to Parliament which offered another platform for public participation through the Parliamentary process. It noted that in effect, there was sufficient public participation, hence, the Tobacco Control Regulations 2014 cannot be declared null and void on the basis of lack of sufficient public participation, among others.

This ruling comes at a time when a BAT employee-turned-whistleblower, Paul Hopkins, recently revealed that BAT has engaged in systematic bribery to thwart tobacco control laws throughout Central and East Africa. Already Kenya has launched an investigation into this alleged bribery and authorities in the U.S. and the U.K. are considering investigating BAT's bribery.

POSITION of VALD

In reaction to the ruling, VALDs Executive Director, Issah Ali said: This ruling is victory for the Kenyan people and an indication that they refuse to be intimidated by the tobacco industry.Despite BAT arm-twisting through the suit, theKenyan Ministry of Health and tobacco control advocates such as the Consumer Information Network have demonstrated determination to push through life-saving laws which other countries of the continent must emulate

Issah stressed that, as Ghanas parliament and the health ministry heads towards the adoption of the Tobacco Control Regulations for implementation of the Tobacco Control Measures of the Public Health Act of 2012, it must note and be guided bythe Kenyan example which has become an observed pattern that BAT is replicating across Africa.

BAT aversion to the life-saving laws is not new. It only adds to a woeful list of the companys antics aimed at continuing the marketing its deadly wares on thecontinent unchallenged. While we continue to anticipate the findings of current and pending investigations into BAT's alleged bribery of officials in neighboring countries, we remind Ghanaian authorities that BAT acts the same in Ghana as it does in Kenya and other parts of Africa. We must be watchful for similar activities in Ghana."

While we are yet to get over the recent revelations of BAT employee-turned-whistleblower, Paul Hopkins, that BAT has engaged in systematic bribery, to thwart tobacco control laws throughout Central and East Africa, including Kenya, the corporation is at it again.

The Programmes Director of VALD, Labram Musah advised that Kenyans must be on the watch out in order to preempt any move by the BAT, possibly an appeals and any other activities that might prevent effective implementation of the Tobacco Control Act 2007 and the regulations to save Kenyans from lifelong addiction to tobacco.

As Ghana prepares itself for the adoption of the Tobacco Control Regulations which we anticipate this year, we wish to urge government and the Ministry of Health to do this swiftly without delay to avert any industry interferences. The Kenyan litigation should serve as eye-openerfor the sort of tobacco industry tactics we could face in Ghana. The adoption and effective implementation of the Tobacco Control Regulations will protect present and future generation from the hazardous effects of tobacco use and tobacco smoke. Labram noted.

Labram Musah (Programmes Director)

VALD- Ghana

+233(0)243 211854

www.valdghana.org
The acting General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party has stated the NPP is poised to win the 2016 election. He was speaking at a special general meeting organised by the United Kingdom Branch of the New Patriotic Party over the weekend.

The meeting was organised to provide an opportunity for the Acting General Secretary and a delegation of National and Regional executives on a working tour to the UK to meet party members and share ideas in connection with the forthcoming election.

The acting General Secretary noted that the party is solid on the ground and is actively spreading the message of hope to the grassroots. He expressed confidence that the good people of Ghana have understood the need for change and that they will repose their trust in the party's presidential candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo in 2016.

He noted the party will be very vigilant in the forthcoming election. 'The election will be decided at the polling station' he stated to a huge round of applause from the crowd of teeming supporters some of whom could only hear from outside the packed room. He commended the UK branch for the support they have been providing for the party and urged them to do even more as we approach the crucial 2017 election.

On her part the women Organiser, Otico Djaba bemoaned the level of corruption in the country and questioned why some contractors are paid in advance for work they have not done and others are over-paid for the work they deliver. She noted that an NPP government under Nana Addo will not tolerate the corruption we see all around us. 'The country's resources will be used to improve the lives of the people', she added.

Sammy Awuku, the Youth Organiser expressed disappointment in the NDC government and highlighted the level of unemployment in the country. This he said has resulted in a number of young men and women taking to social vices. An NPP government under Nana Addo will put youth development and employment at the core of its policies and ensure the youth are able to make significant contribution to national advancement.

The delegation included;

Peter Amewu - Volta Regional Chairman

Abubakar Abdul Rahman - Upper West Regional Chairman

Andrew Frimpong - National Coordinator for Volunteers Mobilisation

Francisca Oteng Mensah - PC for Kwabre East

Cynthia Morrison - PC for Agona West

Charles Owiredu - Director  International Affairs

The meeting was also addressed by other members of the delegation, all of whom praised the NPP UK and urged them to continue the good work in supporting the party to win the elections in 2016.

Speaking on behalf of the branch, Richard Dombo, 1st Vice Chairman of the UK branch expressed gratitude to the delegation for making time to meet and interact with members and pledged the branch will continue to support the party in every way to ensure a comprehensive victory in both the parliamentary and presidential election.

Present at the special meeting were members of parliament; Hon KT Hammond and Hon Kwame Ayimadu-Antwi, parliamentary candidate for Mampong and former Branch Chairman, Kweku Ampratwum Sarpong, current and former executive members of the party, executive members of Chapters, members of the NPP UK and party sympathisers from the Ghanaian Community.

By John Kissi

Branch Secretary, NPP UK
12.04.2016 LISTEN

A GNA Feature by Bernard Otabil

Abuja, April 7, GNA - It was over a year ago that Muhammadu Buhari won the presidential election in Nigeria - a stunning victory that saw him defeat the incumbent, Goodluck Jonathan, who swiftly conceded defeat.

In becoming the first opposition politician to triumph over an incumbent since Nigeria became independent in 1960, President Buhari rode to victory on the back of fighting corruption.

A year on, the battle has been far from easy and is raising concerns about the rule of law and democracy.

In headlong quest to tackle graft, President Buhari has found himself at odds with Nigeria's legal system.

He has been carrying on this fight through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which many Nigerians do nor even countenance because they view it as ineffective.

Some 70 people have been nabbed by the EFCC, most of whom are members of Jonathan's People's Democratic Party (PDP), since last year.

Recently, the High Court in Abuja took the EFCC to task for acting in a way that was 'aZillegal, wrongful, unlawful and constituted a blatant violation of the fundamental rights'.

The court added that these actions were reminiscent of a 'military dictatorship aZthat arrests and releases persons at will'.

The Bishop of Kaduna, Timothy Yahiya, said President Buhari's fight against corruption had been 'lopsided, selective and only targeted members of the opposition party'.

Former President Olusegun, who was also once a military ruler and who never shies away from controversy, said about President Buhari's anti-corruption campaign that he should look closer to home, starting with himself, the Vice President, the Senate president and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Nigerian lawyers have also waded into the debate, accusing the EFCC and other government agencies of being threats to human rights.

They said they deplored any 'step towards anarchy, which does not and cannot augur well for a democratic society such as Nigeria'.

The added that judges should be free to dispense justice 'without fear or favour'.

President Buhari himself was a military ruler of Nigeria from 1983 to 1985 during which he ruled with an iron hand, and many Nigerians say they are beginning to see a return of this trait.

Indeed, when he came to power on December 31, 1983, he actually overthrew a government that had been democratically elected a few months earlier - that of President Shehu Shagari during his second term in office, just over four years of Nigeria's first attempt at civilian rule after the soldiers had held sway since 1966.

'Those Nigerians who remember that Buhari regime are worried that he may not have changed and that history may repeat itself,' one political analyst in Abuja told the GNA.

'Buhari is a military man and he is driven by a need for power and control at all levels, which could undermine the democratic process,' the political analyst added.

This time round, though, things have changed in Nigeria and people are more interested in tangible things rather than abstract issues, noted the political analyst.

For instance, ordinary Nigerians are more keen on their personal wellbeing rather than on what they see as a fight against corruption, which they believe cannot be easily won.

A survey conducted by an international polling organisation before last year's presidential and parliamentary elections showed that only nine per cent of Nigerians were concerned about corruption.

For them, having the basic necessities of life - shelter, jobs, food, running water, electricity and security - were uppermost in their minds.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, two out of three Nigerians live in poverty.

They have over the years become disillusioned with the various governments - both military and civilian.

A Briefing published last month by London-based Africa Research Institute (ARI) noted: 'Government in Nigeria is detached from its people at every level of the federation.

'The federal system of governance in Nigeria is failing to provide the basic welfare for all citizens that the 1999 Constitution prescribes.'

Nigeria is the number one economy in Africa, generating about 20 per cent of the continent's total GDP 'and transfers a far greater proportion of resources to sub-national government than any other country,' notes the ARI Briefing.

It adds: 'Yet standards of governance remain extremely low, public services are among the worst in Africa and economic growth has exacerbated inequality rather than creating jobs. 'The federal system of governance in Nigeria is failing to provide the basic welfare for all citizens that the 1999 Constitution prescribes.'

So, this is the challenge that President Buhari is up against on the anti-corruption front.

Added to this is his failure to deal with the terrorist activities of Boko Haram.

Security experts say that Boko Haram has emerged as the world's deadliest terrorist organisation, responsible for more deaths than the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil).

The group, which abducted over 200 school girls from Chibok two years this month, has also started to use children and young girls as suicide bombers, according to security experts.

Recent reports said that a further 300 primary school children had been abducted, which the government has failed to acknowledge, and bombings continue to kill civilians.

'Buhari's failure to focus on Boko Haram is increasing the risk of an escalation in the death toll while the collaboration between Isil and Boko Haram poses risks far beyond the borders of Nigeria,' said the Abuja-based political analyst.

'If Buhari was serious about fighting corruption he would be focusing all of his efforts on targeting corruption and security issues that have a direct impact on protecting human lives,' the Abuja-based political analyst said.

'Instead he has dismissed the threat to focus his efforts and those of his military intelligence on corruption in less critical areas, tied to his need for authoritarian control.'

The UK government has been assisting Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram, providing over 260 million this year alone while also increasing financial aid and technical and military support.

GNA
By Paul Achonga Kwode

Tamale, April 12, GNA - The Ghana Health Service (GHS) in the Northern Region, has taken delivery of 1.6 million insecticide-treated bed nets for free distribution to residents as an intervention to fight Malaria.

Dr Jacob Mahama, the Northern Regional Director of GHS who stated this at a press conference in Tamale on Monday said two people in each household would be entitled to one bed net to help reduce the high incidence of Malaria which now constitutes 37 per cent of hospital admissions in the Region.

He said the situation has resulted from the non-use of the long-lasting treated bed nets and called on residents to sleep in the nets to prevent them from getting Malaria parasites which is transmitted to humans through the bites of female anopheles mosquitoes.

Miss Owusu Akrofie, Medical Entomologist at the National Malaria Control Programme said the insecticide nets were World Health Organization (WHO) approved and were being distributed across the country.

She said a team would visit people's houses and take their details after which they would be given coupons which would later be replaced with the insecticide bed nets.

Miss Akrofie advised residents not to hesitate to report anyone who attempts selling the bed nets to them.

GNA
By Desmond Davies,GNA

Djibouti, April 12, GNA - Disillusionment reigned supreme among members of Djibouti's opposition parties after President Ismail Omar Guelleh won a fourth term of office on April 8.

Amid opposition claims of unfairness on the part of the government during the run up to the election, President Guelleh went on to garner 87 per cent of the vote for his party, the RPP, Rassemblement Populaire pour le ProgrAs (People's Rally for Progress).

The RPP also has a parliamentary alliance under the UMP, Union pour la MajoritA PrAsidentielle (Union for a Presidential Majority).

President Guelleh's main rival, Omar Elmi Khaireh of the USN, Union pour le Salut National (National Salvation Union), won seven per cent of the votes, according to the official results.

The failure once again of the opposition to unseat President Guelleh, who has been in power since 1999, did not go down well with his opponents.

Mr Khaireh told the Somali Service of the Voice of America (VOA) that all the opposition parties were united "not to accept the results,' and that the president deceived the public.

The Independent candidate, Mohamed Muse Tourtour, said: "A national vote-stealing occurred, it is false and I will not accept it."

Another, Jama Abdirahman Djama, noted: 'I warned that the will of people not to be repressed, but the results show what I warned just happened.'

But Djibouti's Election Commissioner, Abdi Ismail Hirsi, said there were no flaws in the electoral process, telling the VOA that if the opposition parties had any objections they should refer them to the Constitutional Council.

In the run up to the election, the government locked up local journalists, and foreign reporters, including a team from the BBC, that was expelled just before the country went to polls.

Thus, the disillusionment among the opposition politicians has been so palpable that one told the GNA: 'It is a waste of time fighting elections in Djibouti when the playing field is not level.

'I might as well spend my time looking after by family and business until such time when we have a free and fair electoral system.'

This would be music to the ears of President Guelleh who has had a difficult time over the years trying to curtail the power of the country's opposition parties.

It would mean that he would have to deal with one less member of the opposition, which has not done itself any favours by being fragmented and constantly boycotting presidential and parliamentary elections.

'One solid opposition bloc against Guelleh and his ruling alliance would make a lot of difference in parliamentary and presidential elections,' one analyst in Nairobi told the GNA.

But President Guelleh said on television after his victory: "The people of Djibouti have again entrusted me with the state's highest office,'

Djibouti is strategically placed by the Indian Ocean and it hosts American and French military bases as well as facilities for the Chinese navy.

The US has strengthened its presence in Djibouti after its diplomatic mission was forced to pull out of Yemen, across the Red Sea.

President Guelleh's opponents have not been too happy with the rather muted response of the French and US governments over the lack of basic freedoms in Djibouti.

Supporters of President Guelleh have always argued that he is the best person to be in charge of the country because he would always guarantee the presence of the US and French bases.

But the Head of External Relations for the USN, Abdurrahman Borah, told the GNA: 'This argument does not hold water because any government that takes over in Djibouti will have to abide by the agreements with the US and France with regard to their bases in the country.'

Now that President Guelleh has won another five-year term, the question being asked is whether he could hold the country together politically and economically.

In the next couple of years it is expected that the Chinese, who have undertaken a number of major projects in Djibouti, will start calling in their debt totalling hundreds of billions of dollars.

GNA
by Afedzi Abdullah, GNA

Ekumfi Essakyir (C/R), April. 12, GNA - The Youth Wing of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Movement (Khuddam-Ul Ahmadiyya) Ghana, has pledged their commitment to maintain peace during the activities heralding the November 7 General Election and thereafter.

According to them, the goodness and fairness of the election was their topmost priority, therefore, Ghanaians must do their best to ensure that the elections were conducted devoid of violence and chaos.

They made the pledge at the 35th Annual Rally of the Central-West Region at Ekumfi Essakyir.

Mr. Mohammed Quantson, the headmaster of the Ekumfi T.I Ahmadiyya Senior High School, who delivered the keynote address, urged the major stakeholders of the elections, particularly, the political parties, Electoral Commission, security agencies and the media, to ensure fair play, justice and equality to maintain the integrity of the system.

The three-day convention which was, on the theme: 'Ensuring Peaceful Elections, Our Responsibilities', was to provide the platform for members of the Ahmadiyya Youth Movement to deliberate on their past activities and adopt strategies for the future to strengthen their faith in Islam.

Mr. Quantson said the conduct of political parties was crucial to having successful elections and, therefore, cautioned the leaders of the various political parties to be mindful of their utterances, actions and inactions as it had the potential of influencing their supporters to indulge in violence.

He said it was clear in this dispensation that sovereignty could not be taken with violence and chaos, explaining that, an election should be seen as a battle for winning the hearts and minds of the electorate and not as a 'do or die affair' or 'a winning at all cost affair'

He said the right to join a political party of choice must be exercised with love and understanding for the country so that there would be unity of purpose in diversity to foster national development.

Mr. Quantson noted that the youth were often used by the political parties to achieve their ambitions and, therefore, advised the Muslim youth to be bold and shun politicians who might engage them to resort to violence and other illegal means for any purpose.

'Remember that Islam stands for peace and for that matter, our actions and inactions must portray that,' he cautioned.

He, however, urged them to continue to participate in the political activities in a diligent and responsible manner to contribute to a deepened democracy at all levels of governance.

Mr. Sadique Bin Usman, the President of the Ahmadiyya Youth Wing in the Central-West Region, said Islamic teachings, as expounded in the Holy Qur'an and the Hadith, repeatedly admonished Muslims to ensure peaceful coexistence in their neighborhood so they live by these teachings.

He explained that the theme was chosen bearing in mind that all well-meaning Ghanaians, irrespective of gender, tribe, and status in society, religious persuasion or political affiliation, would never wish doom for the country but they needed to know what to do to make the country peaceful always.

Mr. Abdul Noor Wahab, the National President of the Ahmadiyya Youth Wing, said it was time Ghanaians realised that they had a stake in ensuring that the November Polls became peaceful such that they could continue to enjoy the peace.

He asked all Muslims to continue to pray fervently for the country because it was going through difficult moments.

GNA
12.04.2016 LISTEN

By Justina Paaga, GNA

Cape Coast April 12, GNA - The Central Region Police Command, last year, dismissed three of its personnel for engaging in criminal activities or unprofessional conduct.

Four others also had their ranks reduced whiles, another four were severely reprimanded for indiscipline during the same period.

The Central Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Akuribah Yaagh, announced this at their 2016 West African Security Service Association (WASSA).

The occasion, which was used for stock taking and interactions, was attended by the members of the various divisions of the Police Service such as the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit, the Motor Transport and Traffic Department, Communication and Finance.

DCOP Yaagh commended the officers for their hard work and asked them to conduct themselves professionally and to maintain decorum, especially during the general election.

He said in this election year, they should avail themselves of the necessary training, particularly, in crowd control, explaining, 'You have to be robust but be within the law when dealing with violent crowd during political rallies and gatherings''.

He said those who would be selected to serve as bodyguards or aids to political party presidential candidates should act professionally and warned that personnel who would engage in unnecessary political arguments would be made to face the law.

The Regional Commander urged them to be patriotic and consider Ghana first in all their activities and also live up to the task to ensure peaceful and violence-free elections.

He, however, stated that the responsibility of maintaining law and order did not rest with the Police alone because citizens were equally enjoined to assist the Police to achieve their goal.

The Regional police Commander called for the setting up of more neighbourhood watch committees, who would adequately and timorously report incidents to the Police and assist the Police to perform their night patrols.

Osabarima Kwesi Atta II, the Omanhen of Oguaa Traditional Area, who presided, commended the Police for helping to reduce the crime rate and also maintaining peace in the region.

He also encouraged them to sustain the Police visibility and accessibility patrol programme, which he said, had helped in crime detection and management.

The personnel were treated to highlife music provided by the Central Regional Fire Service Band. GNA
By Kwabia Owusu-Mensah, GNA

Kumasi, April 12, GNA - The Timber and Wood Workers Union (TWU) has called for the government to put in place urgent measures to salvage the collapsing timber industry.

It said there was the need for review of existing policies and strategies to restore the health of the industry.

General Secretary of the Union, Joshua Ansah, urged strict enforcement of the policy, requiring that timber used for all government projects came from legal sources.

He was addressing the ninth quadrennial delegates' conference of the Union in Kumasi.

He catalogued challenges crippling the industry, mentioning among these the escalating cost of production due to high cost of fuel, raw material and energy cost.

There were also problems of unsustainable timber supply to meet both domestic and export demands, deforestation, obsolete equipment and inconsistent government policies.

He underlined the important contribution of the industry to the economy - currently, it is rated the fourth largest foreign exchange earner, contributing about seven per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 11 per cent of export earnings.

Additionally, it is offering direct employment to over 100,000 people and more than two million others indirectly depend on it for their livelihood.

Mr. Ansah said these made it necessary for the government to take steps to create an enabling environment for it to thrive.

There should be incentive packages to encourage individuals and groups to undertake massive afforestation and plantation development.

He again called on industry players to invest part of their corporate profits in afforestation programmes to provide raw materials to sustain their businesses.

The Union on its part, had established a 240-hectare afforestation project in Kokoago, near Wenchi, as its contribution to efforts at sustaining the industry and to assure its members of job security.

He pledged the readiness of the Union to support every initiative that would help to grow the industry.

GNA
By Kodjo Adams, GNA

Accra, April 8, GNA - The Ghana Federation of Traditional Medicine Practitioners Association (GHAFTRA) has urged authorities to speed up the Legislative Instrument (LI) for the Traditional Medicine Practice Act. 575 (2000) into law.

The Association expressed concern about the delay, saying the passing of the LI into law would ensure the smooth running of operations and give full effect to the growth and development of traditional medicine practice in the country.

Nana Obiri Kwadwo I, National Organizer, GHAFTRA made the call during a panel discussion held in Accra by the Ghana Journalists Association programme dubbed: 'Business Advocate' on Ghana Television.

The event was supported by BUSAC Fund, Embassy of Denmark, the United States Agency for International Development and the European Union.

Speaking on the topic: 'Enhancing Traditional Medicine Practice in Ghana', Nana Kwadwo I, said the LI when passed into law, would give a clear direction and spelt out the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders in the industry.

He indicated that the World Health Organisation estimates that about 80 per cent of the Ghanaian population used herbal preparations to meet their primary healthcare needs and that it was necessary for government to provide them with the needed tools to function effectively.

Nana Kwadwo I, said the contribution of traditional medicine in healthcare delivery could not be underestimated, especially in the wake of growing interest by the developed world in natural products and plant-based medicine.

He said although a strong case could be made for herbal medicine, there remained many issues regarding its practice in the country.

For instance, regulation of herbal drugs and herbal medicine practice remained a problem, he said, adding that consumers made decisions based on media campaigns which sometimes proposed the 'one cure for all diseases' to misinform the public.

He urged the government to pay attention to traditional medicine since their efforts contribute immensely to the treatment of patients.

Dr Anastasia Yirenkyi, representative from the Ministry of Health said until the passage of the Traditional Medicine Practice Act, government had worked with the Ghana Psychic and Traditional Medicine Practitioners' Association to license and register traditional medicine practitioners and to ensure high standard of care in the sector.

She explained that the Act established a council to regulate the practice of registered traditional medicine practitioners by licensing them to practice and regulating the preparation and sale of herbal medicines.

Dr Yirenkyi said a policy on traditional medicine was based on the World Health Organisation strategic objective of building the knowledge base of practitioners and promoting universal health coverage.

Mr. Martin Azagloo, Head of Monitoring Unit at the Traditional Medicine Practice Council explained that the Act focused on the concerns of the Traditional Medicine Practice Council, including its establishment, functions, membership, tenure of members and the appointment of committees such as Finance and General Purposes.

He was optimistic that the LI would be approved soon by parliament to ensure the efficient growth of traditional medicine practice in the country.

Dr. Albert Arthur, Vice President of Ghana Alternative Traditional Medicine Practitioners Association urged government to build the capacity of practitioners to make them relevant in modern healthcare delivery.

GNA

NSP/APP/MI
Finance minister Seth Terkper is leading a government delegation to the IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington DC.

The delegation is made up of officials from the Bank of Ghana, the Chairman of the Finance Committee in Parliament and officers from the Finance Ministry.

Aside the statutory meetings with the Fund and the Bank, the delegation will meet with the World Bank Vice President for Africa and IMF Deputy Managing Director.

The Delegation will attend the World Bank Group Africa Conference on Unlocking the potential of Agri-business in Africa through trade facilitation, minimum infrastructure platform (power supply and e-commerce)

It will also meet with the US State Department Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Finance and Development.

The delegation will also participate in seminars and forums such as the Fiscal Forum on Strengthening the International Tax System; High Level Dialogue on Fiscal Transparency; International Development Association Forum; Infrastructure Forum 2016; Forum on Girl Child Education; Seminar on the Africa Climate Business Plan and a seminar on State of the Africa Region.

The spring meetings brings thousands of government officials, journalists, civil society organizations, and invited participants from the academia and private sectors, gather in Washington DC for the Spring Meetings of the World Bank and the IMF.

At the heart of the gathering are meetings of the joint World Bank-IMF Development Committee and the IMF's International Monetary and Financial Committee, which discuss progress on the work of the World Bank and the IMF.

Also featured are seminars, regional briefings, press conferences, and many other events focused on the global economy, international development, and the worlds financial markets.

Remember you can get all the updates, when it comes to the interviews, exclusives and issues relating to Ghana from Washington DC, on JOY FM, MULTI TV and Myjoyonline.com from JOY BUSINESS Editor, George Wiafe.
12.04.2016 LISTEN

President John Dramani Mahama and the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Haile Mariam Desalegn, last Friday, toured the Cocoa Touton Processing Company (CTPC), located within the Tema free zone enclave, as part of activities to underscore Ghana's sturdy growth and development in the manufacturing sector.

The Touton Group, currently with a workforce of 135, in April last year, took over an existing factory which was built in 2007. Among the company's prestigious customers are -Nestle, Ferrero, Mondelez, Nespresso, Altinmarka, Blommer Chocolate, Lindt & Sprungli.

President Mahama's visit to the cocoa processing factory further deepens Ghana-Ethiopia diplomatic ties and consolidates the West African nation's position as the preferred destination for trade and investment on the continent, on account of a stable democracy, respect for the rule of law and an enabling business environment.

In the company of the Minister of Tourism, Mrs. Elizabeth Ofosu-Agyare, the president received a hearty welcome from the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Touton Group, Mr. Olivier Lieutard. Mr. Lieutard, in his welcome address, emphasised the importance of both countries to the operations of the company, saying: Besides trading in Ghana cocoa, Touton has also been trading with Ethiopia in coffee, over the past ten years. Ghana and Ethiopia respectively, produce the most premium quality cocoa and coffee in the world.

He also paid glowing tributes to the Ghanaian government and the Ghana Cocoa Board for their support and consistent supply of cocoa beans, which had helped Touton maintain operations at optimum capacity, since the facility was established.

Speaking to the media after the tour of the facility, President Mahama hinted that the move to cooperate with Ethiopia was to realize his government's programme for transformation, which is to take advantage of the country's export, add value to them so as to earn more foreign exchange and also create more jobs for the people of Ghana.

Prime Minister Haile Mariam Desalegn on his part thanked the company for its positive strive so far, saying: The agenda that we want to create more jobs and add value to our products has been achieved in Ghana. He said the step taken by Touton Group should be a good example for Africa, stressing that Africa should learn to continue industrializing and manufacturing African products.

The Touton Group is one of the world's largest traders in cocoa, coffee, vanilla, spices and a variety of natural ingredients, using a network of exporting subsidiaries. The company crowned its over 40 year trade relations with Ghana, by investing in a multi-million Euro cocoa processing facility in the country last year, joining the list of the very few companies producing cocoa liquor for export. In Ghana, Cocoa Touton Processing Company, currently produces 30,000 tons of processed cocoa and exports to countries in Europe, USA and the Middle East with a turnover of USD 80, 000,000.

By Pascal Kafu Abotsi ([email protected])
12.04.2016 LISTEN

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Ephesians 4: 11-12

On the next day we who were Pauls companions departed and came to Caesarea, and entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. Now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied. And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. When he had come to us, he took Pauls belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus says the Holy Spirit, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.  Acts 21: 8-11

Real men of God respect the ministries of one another, rather than condemning them.

But ever since the prophecy from T. B Joshua came on Sunday, April 10, 2016 that Christians should pray for Ghana and Nigeria since he could see an attack on them on specific days, all one hears men of God in Ghana saying is to condemn him for the prophecy and pour cold water on it.

But the question is doesn't God reveal to redeem again?

The scripture in Ephesians 4: 11 &12 as quoted above states clearly the five-fold ministries and nobody has all, as can be seen in Acts 21: 8-11. Even the great Paul the Apostle was ministered to by a prophet to confirm what God had already been telling him. Meanwhile that happened in the house of Philip the Evangelist who also had four daughters who had the Spiritual gift of prophecy, which emphasizes the complementarity of ministries.

As Christians, the least the Christian Council of Ghana would have done should be to call the nations to prayer so that what the man of God claimed to have seen would be averted.

This attitude by Ghanaian clergy, one is tempted to say smacks of envy and jealousy, which Ghanaians refer to as skin-pain.

It happened during the days of late President Mills that some Ghanaian men of God were peeved that the late president had made T.B Joshua his spiritual father, while there were pastors in Ghana.

Recently, after the very overwhelming Night of Bliss by Dr. Chris Oyakhilome at the Black Star Square, some Ghanaian pastors went on air condemning him for disrespecting them by not inviting them to join him at the programme.

Back to the main topic: Some even took it as far as saying that the nations security should not be run on prophesy, and one wonders which Bible some of these men of God have been reading: Dont their Bibles record Gods deliverance of His people by miracles in the past, and is He not the same yesterday, today and forever?

Furthermore, is Ghanas security and intelligence set up anything comparable to what pertains in Europe and America? But havent these so called advanced countries been under constant terror attacks with very high fatalities?

After all, T.B Joshua himself asked for prayer of intercession for Ghana and Nigeria to avert the calamity.

If God must save by prophesy, vision and prophetic direction, so be it: Mere humans who are only endowed with the grace of ministry should support the call for prayer for our nations and rather than condemning T.B Joshua, so that God would deliver us from the hands of the religious extremists.

This articles not in defence of T.B Joshuas ministry, but to sound a caution the way some people condemn preachers. Recently, when Owusu Bempah stated on the night of December 31, 2015 that there would be fire outbreaks in Ghana, many were they who condemned him. As to whether he was right or not, is clear for all Ghanaians to see.

Until a man of God consistently goes against scripture, (Scripture cannot be broken-John 10: 35), one must be careful in the way one criticizes or even condemns him.

Gameliel cautioned the Jews in Acts 5: 38&39 And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.

Daniel stated it right in his Prophecies:

And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. Daniel 11: 32.

All that one needs to do is to Know God and walk in His ways, for then one shall do exploits even in times of calamity. Enditem.

SOURCE: Justice Lee Adoboe, email: [email protected] (www.theancientword.wordpress.com)
The Department of Political Affairs, under the leadership of H.E. Dr. Aisha Laraba Abullahi, had a half-day consultative meeting with the African Union Development Partner's Group on the African Union Project 2016 on Human Rights (with special focus on the rights of women) and the African Governance Architecture (AGA). The meeting brought together the Ambassadors and the High Commissioners of the United States of America, few Asian countries and virtually all the European countries in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia together. The meeting was chaired by the AU Commissioner for Political Affairs and the Ambassadors of Turkey and Sweden.

In her remarks, the Commissioner for Political Affairs thanked the Development Partners' Group for their continued support to the work of the Department of Political Affairs on Human Rights and Transitional Justice. According to her, the support has contributed significantly to the promotion and protection of Human and Peoples' Rights in all the AU Member States; particularly on the African Human Rights System. Dr. Abdullahi indicated that the AU policy instruments and mechanisms on human rights have supported the advancement of human rights promotion and protection and they have also led to the creation of strategic measures for accelerating the attainment of respect for human rights, gender equality, and women's empowerment in Africa.

Dr. Abdullahi made reference to the AU Assembly Declaration of 2016 as "the African Year of Human Rights with Special Focus on the Rights of Women. This Declaration, she said is what has transformed into the African Union Project 2016. The Project, according to her, is meant to among other things provide opportunities for the entire continent to take stock of its human rights achievements, opportunities and challenges on the continent in general, and the rights of women in particular. She further informed the participants that the celebration of 2016 as human rights year will seek to, among other things, enhance public awareness on the African human rights system- including the African Union and the RECs human rights instruments and mechanisms; assess the ratification and implementation of the human rights instruments, in particular, the Maputo Protocol, and the progress made in advancing the rights of women since the adoption of the Protocol.

Dr. Matlosa Khabele, the Director for Political Affairs in his presentation on the mandate of the Department of Political Affairs, indicated that the Department has the following five domains of intervention, namely, Governance, Human Rights and Transitional Justice, Democracy and Election, Constitutionalism and the Rule of law, and Humanitarian Affairs. He also stated that the Secretariat of the African Union Governance Architecture and its Platform assists the Department and other AU Organs with mandates on governance in coordinating their interventions on democracy and human rights in Africa.

Dr. Matlosa further informed the participants that the mandate of the Department can be summed up in these words Conflict Prevention. He said the goal of the Department is to transform the African political environment into a democratic and sustainable development one with capacity to prevent all manners of conflicts and to accelerate the requisite integration of the continent. To this end, the Department plays a prominent role in promoting, facilitating, coordinating and encouraging democratic principles and the rule of law, respect of Human Rights, the participation of the civil society in the development process of the continent, and the achievement of durable solutions for addressing humanitarian crisis.

Following the above presentations, Dr. George Mukundi, the Head of the AGA Secretariat indicated that the AGA is the continental institutional framework aimed at connecting, empowering and building capacities of the African People in strengthening governance and consolidating democracy in Africa. He further added that the Decision of the AU Summit established the African Governance Architecture and its Platform to among other things support Member States in their efforts to promote democratic governance, constitutionalism and rule of law, credible elections and human rights in Member States. According to him, the Platform presents a framework through which many of the stakeholders on governance, democracy and human rights will influence the process of facilitating accession to and ratification of AU instruments. The AGA Platform will also facilitate domestication, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the AU norms on shared values on democracy, human rights and governance. In conclusion he highlighted the programmes of the AGA and its achievements and challenges.

On his part, Mr. Ikubaje John of the Human Rights and Transitional Justice Cluster of the AGA Cluster in his presentation on the African Union Project 2016 argues that the idea of declaring the year as that of Human Rights emanated from the core AU organs with mandates on human rights, while the second leg of the theme-Special Focus on the Rights of Women came from the Government of the Republic of Rwanda. He highlighted and provided a detailed explanation on the planned activities of the Project. He also classified the Project interventions into the following three sections, namely Knowledge Management and Generation on Human Rights in Africa; Advocacy and Awareness creation on Human rights and African Human Rights System; and Dialogue among the Human Rights Stakeholders in Africa.

In conclusion, he informed the participants that one of the expected outcomes of the Project is a Ten Years Action Plan on Human Rights in Africa. He said this Decade Action Plan on Human Rights will be finalized at the African Union 2016 High Level Dialogue on Democracy and Human Rights. The theme of the Dialogue, according to him will focus on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in Africa. The Dialogue will be held in Kigali, Rwanda in November 2016 and the Human Rights Decade Action Plan for Africa will thereafter be presented to the African Union Policy making organs for adoption at the African Union Summit in January 2017.

Following these presentations, participants asked several questions, made helpful comments and responses were provided by the Department of Political Affairs to their queries. The two sides concluded the meeting by welcoming the declaration of 2016 as the year of human rights in Africa with special focus on the rights of women. The Partners' Group committed itself to support the Secretariat of the Project 2016 -Department of Political Affairs, financially and technically to implement Project 2016 and its activities, in particular, the establishment of the Pan African Institute for Human Rights; deployment of Human Rights Observers; the development of a policy framework for the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights; in addition to organizing a High-Level Dialogue on the promotion and protection of Human Rights in November 2016.
12.04.2016 LISTEN

He may very well be a genius at his legal practice and quite a good law lecturer at the Ghana Law School, but when it comes to the exhibition of academic and professional integrity, the Oxbridge-schooled Mr. Moses Foh-Amoaning may still be at sea and out of his league (See Homosexuals Should Not Have Rights  Foh-Amoaning Ghana News Agency/Ghanaweb.com 3/16/16). Some time ago, when I pointedly called for him to regain his presence of mind, or more directly to promptly seek the services of a clinical psychologist or a psychiatrist, one reader of my column who automatically assumed Mr. Foh-Amoaning to be of Asante ethnic descent  I have since been reliably informed that Mr. Foh-Amoaning is of Akyem stock of some sort  wrote to caustically lambaste me for what he termed as my Akyem untrustworthiness as an Asante ally. Well, I dare not tell you who I am thinking about, dear reader, or dare I?

In reality, I have never considered myself to be either an Asante political ally or the ally of any other ethnic group for that matter. What I have categorically said, and continue to say, is that absolutely nobody exists in Ghana today who can confidently boast of being either a more authentic Akyem or Asante than Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe-Agyeman. My Akyem-Asiakwa stock, or descent, ought to be evidence enough.

I am not presently in the mood for historical exposition, and so I shall reserve this one for a more appropriate occasion in the near future. But what I wanted to say before the preceding elucidative aside intervened in this write-up, vis-a-vis the crusading madness of Mr. Foh-Amoaning, is the scandalous fact of his near-total lack of common sense, professional and academic integrity.

On the lightning-rod subject of homosexuality, his apparent sociocultural and political pet peeve, this is what arguably Ghanas most infamous albino has to say: There is no scientific, theological and legal or any psychiatric basis for homosexuality and for that matter Africa and the rest of the World must be courageous enough to speak against it. The man, to the best of my knowledge, is not a research scientist, geneticist or a scientist of any sort, and so it is not clear upon what basis he made his preceding pontifical assertion. His academic standing in the discipline of legal research and publication is also not firmly established, if at all. What experience and common sense transparently teach us humans, even as I recently told a class of Media Studies students at my college, is the fact that the Natural Law of Opposites inescapably points to the fact that the presence and practice of homosexuality is as natural as the presence and practice of heterosexuality.

I also promptly pointed out that the act of homosexuality, if one critically ponders the matter, may well have been created by Divine Providence or Nature, during the fluxional course of its evolution, to serve as a salutary check on population explosion. This observation appeared to have made a soberly significant impact on my students. I have said before and hereby reiterate the same to Mr. Foh-Amoaning that were he to have been born in Zambia, or one of the East African countries, for example, where albinos are routinely stoned to death or meted instant justice on sight, he would not have lived as long as he has, presently, to be able to launch his rabidly anti-gay crusade. He would have since long fallen victim to the deadly attacks of the anti-albino crusaders and jihadists; call them the Sauline or pre-Pauline crusaders.

I also dont know what Mr. Foh-Amoaning means, when he asserts that under the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights, no provision is made for the protection of homosexuals. Well, I havent done the research yet, but it is virtually certain that there are no provisions made for virulently homophobic albinos like Mr. Foh-Amoaning either.

His patently lunatic tirade also raises the question of whether albinos like Mr. Foh-Amoaning are to be first and foremost defined by their phenotypical albinism or their unquestionable humanity. If he answers the foregoing question in the affirmative, then it also clearly stands to reason that LGBT people are equally entitled to be defined first and foremost by their humanity more than everything else.

The question of sexuality, on the other hand, is both a pure question of genetics and cultural praxis, we are told by the experts. And on the latter score, sex-obsessed crusaders like Mr. Foh-Amoaning ought to be able to agree to disagree with those of us who envisage the question of human sexuality as being far more expansive and complicated than this rabidly anti-gay crusader would have the rest of the world believe. Indeed, it was not very long ago that ones Africanity, or phenotypical blackness, was immutably deemed to be a natural stamp of ones inferiority. I hope Mr. Foh-Amoaning and his fellow crusaders soberly recognize this fact.

*Visit my blog at: kwameokoampaahoofe.wordpress.com Ghanaffairs
12.04.2016 LISTEN

The Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) is appalled by the quantum of illicit transactions going on in tax havens following the release of the Panama Papers. Particularly, issues relating to transparency on beneficial ownership in oil and mining deals have become even more important considering that the Panama firm which released the information disclosed that it knows the identity of only 204 of the 14,086 companies it incorporated in Panama.

Given the number of tax havens in the world, company secrecy, corruption and tax avoidance is much more pronounced than ever expected.

We are happy that countries such as the United Kingdom and France have already launched investigations into the Panama release and the UK in particular is making extra efforts to unlock secrecy on beneficial ownership.

Ghana has an opportunity to take a bold step towards corporate transparency involving local and foreign companies operating in the oil and mining industry as it considers passing the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Bill and the Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Bill.

Unfortunately, we are sad that at this material time when the world is outraged at the dangers of tax and secret jurisdictions on our development, the Government of Ghana has failed in spite of several calls by citizens to incorporate into the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Bill, a clause for the mandatory disclosure of beneficial ownership information in oil deals.

We are even more worried that of the 18 members of the African Petroleum Producers Association (APPA), none of them have legal provisions requiring mandatory disclosure of beneficial ownership information. This shows that Africa is one of the continents in the world with potentially high levels of financial and corporate corruption, which have deprived the African people of the benefits of their resource wealth.

ACEP wishes to call on African citizens to continue to dialogue with our governments on instituting legal and regulatory measures to increase transparency in corporate operations particularly in the extractive industries; and to stop illicit transactions, corporate and financial corruption and all forms of tax avoidance schemes.

Signed

Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam

Executive Director
12.04.2016 LISTEN

A former Presiding Member of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), Nana Kofi Senyah, has petitioned the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, to halt administrative lapses, financial mismanagement and all tendencies that go to impede the orderly development of Kumasi. He wants the Ashanti King to champion the interest of residents, as the Local Government structures are being weakened at the governmental level to the disadvantage of the people.

The petition follows the vacuum in which finances are being disbursed without restraint at the assembly, while awaiting the determination of the Supreme Court suit filed by a member each from the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, and the Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai District Assembly (BABDA) against the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Collins Dauda.

Suit

Robert Kwame Dadzie from the AMA, Oscar Richies from the KMA, and Isaac Nkrumah from BABDA, who sued the Minister, contend that the Minister had blatantly and unilaterally asked the various metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies to proceed to elect acting PMs through a simple majority to preside over assembly meetings for the duration of the sitting, only when they cannot elect substantive PMs.

According to them, the directive issued by the Minister had unilaterally changed some aspects of the Model Standing Orders governing the operations of the assemblies, and that is completely against the spirit and letter of the 1992 Constitution, and must not be made to stand.

Article 244 Clause 2 of the 1992 Constitution says that a Presiding Member for any district assembly in Ghana can only be elected to preside over meetings of the district assembly by obtaining two-thirds of the votes of all the members of the assembly, with the same provision also being repeated in the Local Government Act 1993 (Act 462), as well as the Model Standing Orders that have been drafted to guide the operations of the various assemblies.

The Minister has, therefore, authorised the deletion of the Order 10 (7) that mandates the assemblies to elect presiding members with two-thirds of the members who vote, and be substituted with a new clause, which could allow presiding members to be elected by a simple majority.

But the three assembly members say the ministerial directive is against the 1992 Constitution, and have prayed the Supreme Court to halt that decision and declare the amendment of the Model Standing Orders and that of Article 244 (2) of the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana as unconstitutional, illegal, null and void, and of no legal effect, and should, accordingly, not be implemented by any district assembly.

It is against this background that Nana Senyah has appealed to the Asantehene to constitute an Asanteman Standing Committee to deliberate on the development of Kumasi with major stakeholders, to avoid the dissipation of funds meant for the development of Kumasi by some individuals at the expense of residents.

Statement

In a statement issued in Kumasi, the ex-PM accused the Metropolitan Chief Executive of the KMA, Mr. Kojo Bonsu, of stifling the rapid and effective implementation of the developmental agenda of the Assembly. He (Bonsu) is said to have taken advantage of the absence of a Presiding Member at the KMA, and sacrificed the agenda of the Assembly for misplaced priority projects.

Of the 203 projects approved by the General Assembly for implementation for 2015 to serve the interest of residents, a significant number of them have not been implemented, Nana Kofi Senyah indicated. The former Presiding Member, who expressed worry over the current situation at the KMA, said Kojo Bonsu, who has been in charge of finances since March 2015 when the Assembly was dissolved, has been a disappointment as far as the execution of the 2015 Annual Action Plan is concerned, since he is always trying to execute his personal agenda and vision, and not that of the General Assembly.

He explained that the General Assembly meant well to develop Kumasi to an appreciable level, but the arbitrary stance taken by the KMA boss has stifled the developmental efforts of the General Assembly. Nana Senyah, who is in the race for election as PM, in an expose, said the Rattray Park project had taken a whopping $4.4 million (about GH16,001,600), and according to the Metro Chief Executive, even though the approved 2015 Annual Action Plan for the said project, which the Assembly approved is GH400,100,000 and questioned the source of the extra cost incurred.

He said the assembly approved about GH700,000 from the 2014 District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) for a new Assembly Hall complex, yet the said money, besides monies for feasibility studies, has not been accounted for to date. Nana Senyah also mentioned that between March 2014 and 2015, the KMA launched a GH1 million Greening Kumasi Project, under which one million trees were to be planted along driveways, open spaces and in some selected school compounds by 2017.

The benefits of the project were expected to be enormous, as the trees would serve as fencing, wind breaks, beautify the parks/open spaces and driveways, and give the city a green scenery, for which the Forestry Research Institution of Ghana (FORIG-CSIR), Kumasi identified and nursed the tree species, and that school children from selected schools would undertake the actual tree planting exercise sometime in April 2014.

In May 2014, the KMA also launched the Me and My Tree competition, under the Kumasi Urban Forestry Project (KUFP), dubbed Greening Kumasi project to restore the green vegetation, but in spite of the monies injected into the project, no trees can be found along the Anloga-Asokwa interchange driveways, through Santasi, Bebre-Anloga junction, Anloga-Airport roundabout, Tafo-Krofrom, Kumasi-Pakyi Road, Kwadaso Sunyani Road, Suame-Breman and Abrepo-Barekese, Nana Senyah complained.

Concerns

The concerned New Suame Assembly Member referred to selected items in the areas of agriculture, markets, land degradation, waste management, natural disasters, transportation and resilient urban infrastructural development of the said Annual Action Plan, and queried why projects in these areas were not executed.

Other areas of concern were recreational facilities, affordable and safe drinking water, health education (waste and sanitation), Education (Equitable Access to and participation in education at all levels), bridging the gender gap in access to education, social protection interventions and child development, and disability issues.

The rest are district planning and budgeting, assembly members and citizens relationship, sub-district structures, public and civil service, communication, women empowerment and safety of life and property. Nana Senyah has questioned why projects approved under these areas by the assembly were ignored by the authorities for implementation.

He said the development of Kumasi should be seen as the collective effort of all and sundry, and not to be left in the hands of few self-seeking individuals and nation looters, and called on the Ashanti King to move and ensure that what is due Kumasi is duly allocated.

KMA Reaction

Reacting to the allegations through his Special Assistant, Mr. Samuel Gyamfi, the Metropolitan Chief Executive said the allegations are baseless and unfounded, and that the petition contains nothing, but pure lies. According to him, Otumfuo has referred the matter to a committee made up of some eminent chiefs of Asanteman to interrogate and to settle the issues raised.

The official spokesman for the KMA boss said out of respect for the Asantehene, he will defer comment on the matter for now, until the committee is through with its work. This is because, we are under a responsibility not to divulge information on committee proceedings and to comment on the matters contained in the petition in the media till the committee concludes its work. To do otherwise, will, therefore, smack of disrespect to the committee and Otumfuo, Sammy Gyamfi explained, as he relayed Mr. Kojo Bonsus response to The Chronicle enquiry.

From Sebastian R. Freiku, Kumasi
12.04.2016 LISTEN

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has blamed a former accounting officer at Ghana's Mission in Brussels for the financial lapses that occurred in that particular mission.

According to the Ministry, Edward Quansah, per the Auditor General's Report, didn't actually follow some of the due procedures regarding accounting for public funds placed in his disposal. This was made known yesterday at the Public Account Committee (PAC) meeting when Hannah Tetteh, Foreign Affairs Minister, was called to brief the PAC on the report of the Auditor General.

The 2014 Auditor-General's Report revealed that Ghana's Missions in Brussels, including Lusaka and Luanda misappropriated two million and eighty-one thousand, eight hundred and sixty three Ghana cedis (GH2,081,863). The report, however, did not mention the names of the persons who were culpable for the financial malfeasance at the Brussels and Ottawa missions, but was categorical in fingering Mr. Thomas A.

Amoako, Accounting Officer of the Lusaka mission and Mr. King Pratt Ainooson and Madam Mandy, as those who could not account for consular fees collected between April and November 2014 in Luanda. The report divulged that a total of US$160,640 and 29,332 were collected as revenue by the Lusaka Mission.

And in the case of the Luanda Mission, the Report's review of cash management of the Mission revealed that a total of 64,655, US$96,094 and CFA4,435,000 -all being consular fees collected for six months -between April and November which could not be accounted for.

Also in the case of the Brussels' mission, a total of 58,746.62 was disbursed without authority, the report added, noting that the monies were disbursed out of 143,090.10 retained internally generated fund (IGF) transferred into the Retention Fund Account.

In his response to the Auditor General's report before the PAC, Mr. Quansah, who was the accounting officer before the auditing was carried out admitted he erred. I agree that I didn't follow the rules, he said in an answer to a question from the Chairman of the PAC, Kwaku Agyemang-Manu.

That notwithstanding, Mr. Quansah explained that his actions were necessitated by the desire to ease the suffering of the staff of the Mission. He further expatiated that it was a special arrangement in the Mission where officers collected IOUs just to make them comfortable until their remittances are paid with the aim of refunding the amounts into the consular account.

This is what happened, Mr. Quansah told the Kwaku Agyemang-Manu led committee. He said that an amount in the region of 59.000 was released as payment of the staff's salaries which did not go through the account. He said in the process of refunding the monies disbursed without approval in to the consular account his personal money worth 16.000.00 from the sale of his car mistakenly followed too.

When this happened, he informed the auditors that visited about it and he was told that nothing could be done about it said Mr. Quansah. He, however, stated that, the auditors advised that he debit his money from the consular account for the month of August as he was leaving in September. So what they advised verbally was that I should collect monies that were being paid into the consular account for the month of August as I will be leaving in September.

It happened that the monies that was supposed to have gone into the retention account for that very month amounted to 8.000.00 and because I have paid more than16.000.00 into the accountI took this8000with the intention to leave, he said. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hannah Tetteh, on her part told the PAC that she has directed all missions to ensure that all their accounts are balanced at all times.

I have issued an instruction to the missions that for every mission where the accounts are not up to date, I gave them a period of three months which ends this month  that I will recall the accounting officer. She said the constant rotation of staff at Ghana's missions abroad was a problem. So the tool of the audit is there to enable us find out what has happened or gone wrong and to be able to correct it, she said.

By Mohammed Awal ([email protected])
The Africa Centre for Energy Policy [ACEP] has proactively introduced an online Television [TV] platform that provides both visuals and sound on projects that are mostly financed with oil revenues.

The Programs Manager of ACEP, Seji Saji, said, Our OilMoney TV is one of the tools that they [ACEP] have designed to track the utilization of natural resources and revenues on government projects in the country.

Dr. Ishmael Ackah, Policy Analyst, ACEP, noted that Our OilMoney TV' highlights on projects in Ghana that are funded by oil revenues.

He added that the goal is to educate the Ghanaian masses on how revenue from Ghanas oil field is spent and distributed across all sectors of the economy.

According to him, the relevance of this new online TV platform complements the Financial Administration Act 2013 [Act 564] that seeks to enhance financial transparency and accountability of oil resources.

Dr. Ishmael indicated that the essence of this platform is to promote good governance by providing data and evidence on projects being funded by oil monies and are achieving little or no results.

He stated that Our OilMoney TV is a step further to give Ghanaians a narrative of what pertains in the industry in a manner that people can analyze and make their own judgments.

Francis Agbere, OXFAM, noted that the debate on transparency without accountability in this country and particularly in the oil and gas sector has become a worry and issue that needs to be tackled.

According to him, it is for this reason that OXFAM has partnered with ACEP to design this new platform [Our OilMoney TV] to track and demand accountability on projects that are funded by oil revenues in the country.

Owusu Sekyere Jnr K. , the Communications Director, ACEP, indicated that the new online TV platform gives value for money analysis on projects funded by oil revenues in of videos, pictures and sound format.

He noted that Our OilMoney TV has documentaries and video interviews of sector ministers, government agencies, the independent contractors as well as those in the affected communities to give accounts of the situation.
12.04.2016 LISTEN

The 2016 parliamentary candidate of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Daboya-Mankarigo Constituency of the Northern Region, Mr. Shaibu Mahama, has encouraged the youth in the North Gonja District to take advantage of the booming smock weaving industry in Daboya to reduce the rate of unemployment.

According to him, the strong campaign and awareness being created by President John Dramani Mahama, about the smock in Ghana and abroad, had given a big boost to the industry in Daboya, where the smock (fugu) originated from. President Mahama has been at the forefront of promoting the locally-made smock by wearing it at local and international conferences.

Former presidents, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and Jerry John Rawlings were first to make the smock a nationally recognised wear and the current President, John Dramani Mahama, has rekindled the spirit.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Chronicle in Daboya, home of the smock, Shaibu Mahama said that the smock industry in Daboya had seen massive patronage in recent times than ever before, with dealers coming from Tamale, Accra, Kumasi, Sunyani, Cape Coast and other places to place orders.

Unfortunately, many of the young persons in the area, he noted, had not shown much interest or ventured into the industry to increase production to meet public demand. The Chronicle gathered that the prices for the smock in the area have increased dramatically due to the constant promotion by the President. Now, wherever you see the President wearing smock, all his ministers, members of parliament, district chief executives and other dignitaries also wear the smock. Now it is competing with the Kente cloth, and our youth must find employment there.

According to him, the smock industry in Daboya could employ a large number of the youth, especially at this time that the North Gonja District Assembly, he noted, was putting up a very big smock weaving centre in Daboya. The centre, he continued, was expected to engage a number of the young people, both male and female, to acquire advanced knowledge in smock production, to ensure the expansion of the market.

Mr. Shaibu Mahama, however, appealed to President Mahama to invest more in the smock industry to ensure the availability of the yarns and other materials needed for production. He called on the industry to move away from the conventional way of dying the yarns to a much more modern and faster way.

Instead of using a number of days to dye all the colours needed for [the] production of one particular cloth, we can use [a] few hours if we modernise things. Because, as it stands now, it is too tedious to produce just one smock, and that alone discourages most of our youth to join the industry. The NDC parliamentary candidate also called for an efficient market chain for the industry, where finished smocks could be purchased in bulk in every regional or district capital.

From Edmond Gyebi, Daboya
12.04.2016 LISTEN

Former Ashanti Regional Minister Mr. Peter Anarfi-Mensah has debunked rumours that he is going to contest the November 7 polls as an independent candidate in a move to leave the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).

He has expressed surprise at the rumours that he intends to vie for the Ahafo Ano North parliamentary seat as an independent candidate. Mr. Anarfi-Mensah said on Asanteman Nkosuo on Fox FM last Saturday, that as one of the founding members of the NDC, he does not intend to leave the party.

He explained that he was a member of an NDC outreach team that went round in the 1990s to collate views and ideas on the need to form the NDC, following the change from the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC). He said he was not perturbed by his removal as the Ashanti Regional Minister from office, after only eight months, since no reason was assigned to his removal.

According to him, such changes are normal in government, and that it has always been part of politics for changes to be effected to move on. He said he is not the first, and would definitely not be the last, to be sacked from office as a government appointee.

Meanwhile, the former Tepa SHS Headmaster has also waded into the examination leakage which has hit the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), and says this practice started long ago and must be checked, in order not to destroy the country's education system and image. Mr. Anarfi-Mensah explained that the examination leakage started when every school wanted to be tagged as Best, and when every parent wanted the child to gain admission in a 'best' school after completing Junior or Senior High school.

According to him, teachers also contributed to the leakage of examination papers, because most of them are not into effective teaching and, therefore, find the easiest way to success for their students, and take undue credit. He recommended that WAEC do a proper assessment of the situation, by intensifying its supervisory role to give certificates the needed recognition they deserve in the country.

The former headmaster noted that the quality of education was the end product, and needs a long and short term strategy to correct the mess. Mr. Anarfi-Mensah proposed a change in the teaching method, since using a short cut to acquire certificate can destroy the country's image on the international scene. He also condemned the practice where students use mobile phones in school, and appealed to the general public to support the Ghana Education Service to bring regulations to address the practice, for students to concentrate on their books.

From Sebastian R. Freiku, Kumasi
12.04.2016 LISTEN

THE ASHANTI Regional Minister, Alexander Ackon, has been accused of masterminding the recent invasion of mining concession belonging to the countrys biggest mining firm, AngloGold Ashanti, by illegal small scale miners, popularly known as Galamsey.

According to the Concerned Adansi Forum, an associated group of youth from the major mining communities in the area, the recent takeover of lands belonging to the AGA and the seemingly lackadaisical attitude of the security agencies, was part of a ground scheme by government aimed at achieving political advantage.

The group contends that the Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr. Ackon, who was one time the MCE for Obuasi and worked with the mines for several years, was allegedly behind the plot to confiscate part of the mining concession and hand them over to functionaries of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).

The Concerned Youth Forum is also accusing the government of deliberately refusing to lease out the 60% of the ceded AngloGold Ashanti Limited concession to licensed small scale miners in order to create jobs for the people.

The decision, according to them, was politically motivated to create opportunity for members of the ruling NDC, whom they allege have imported foreigners disguised as Ghanaian nationals to fulfil their electoral ambition. We have evidence of foreign nationals operating galamsey in these areas and our information is that these people will later register as Ghanaians to participate in the electoral process, the group pointed out.

It has, therefore, made a clarion call on the government, the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Paramount Chief of Adansi, Opagyakotwere Bonsrah Afriyie II and other stakeholders for a quick intervention in order to forestall any unforeseen circumstances and to bring back the lost investor confidence in the Obuasi mines.

But the Spokesperson for the minister has vehemently denied the allegations and has absorbed his boss of any blame concerning the controversy. Francis Dodovi stated that the Regional Security Council (REGSEC), headed by the Minister, is doing everything it could to help protect the mining site and to restore calm and peaceful atmosphere within the Obuasi community and its environs.

The management of AngloGold has reportedly issued threats to close the mines, following what it says was constant invasion of its 40% mining territory by some elements within the community. The company has given the government a one month ultimatum to guarantee its security and that of the mining concession from activities of the illegal miners who are said to have occupied a chunk of the companys remaining concession, despite ceding 60% of their mineral rich land to government for the purpose of licensed small scale mining.

The threats by the AGA, followed recent withdrawal of military team from the mining concession and the relaxation of security in the area, a development that has given illegal miners the impetus to operate on the legally acquired concession of the AGA without recourse to the Mining Act.

But according to the group, shutting down of the mines as a result of the activities of illegal miners will not only affect the already deplorable environmental situation within the catchment areas, but would also have adverse impact on the economic fortunes of residents in the community.

According to them, since the implementation of the Obuasi mines restructuring program that led to the retrenchment of about 98% of its workforce, business activities in the municipality have downsized, leaving residents in state of hopelessness and impoverishment.

At a press conference organized at Fomena in the Adansi Constituency, the group threatened to invoke the powers of all the five river goddess in the Adansi Traditional Area on the Ashanti Regional Minister and any other public official who are behind the current arrangement to stifle the community for their selfish interest.

It made reference to the decision of RandGold to withdraw from a proposed agreement reached with AGA for partnership to revive the mining firm which they contend, citing alleged frustration from government.

AGAS CONTRIBUTION

The Forum said they would resist any attempt by government to frustrate the mining firm from operating since the company is a major benefactor to the people of Adansi and its adjourning communities.

According to them, the mining firm has contributed immensely to the development and progress of the people of Obuasi and mother Ghana in the areas of job creation, provision of municipal services such as roads, potable drinking water, hospitals, schools and electricity to surrounding communities.

The group further noted that AGA has over the past years also contributed to the economy of the Obuasi Municipality through tax revenues in the form of corporate taxes, pay as you earn from employees, royalties, ground rent, property rates as well as other social responsibility activities which include provision of skills training for the youth and foreign direct investments.

It is in light of this that we are pleading with the government to expedite action in freeing the fenced operational areas of the mine to protect the concession of AGA and also regularise the ceded part of the concession to legally licensed small scale miners to operate, they added.

The group further called on the Regional and Municipal Security Council to allow the state security (Police and Military) currently deployed to protect the Obuasi mine and its installations to carry out their duties without any interference. It further charged the government to put measures in place to restore the mine back to the path of prosperity and profitability.

From Issah Alhassan, Kumasi
The Ashanti regional Minister, Alexander Ackon, has said government is committed to resolving the issue of nomadic herdsmen in the Agogo area.

He said as part of government efforts, over 1000 cattle have been driven out of the area in compliance with the court order which demands the issue to be solved in phases.

Youths of Agogo hit the street on Tuesday, April 12 demonstrating in protest to what they described as government leaving them to their fate in resolving the nomadic herdsmen issue.

demonstrators

They complained that the security officials detailed to protect them have been insensitive to their plights explaining that when residents are attacked by nomadic herdsmen they walk away without an arrest.

petition of residents

However, speaking on Joy FMs Top Story news program, Mr. Ackon said there has also been the movement of cattle out of Afram Plains adding the issue is being addressed in the whole country.

Mr. Ackon added that when the herdsmen were driven out of Agogo, some of them ended up settling in some parts of the Eastern region which pose another issue.

Suggesting ways to addressing the issue, Mr. Ackon said: We need to try and cooperate with the Eastern region to address the problem.

Commenting on the demonstration, Mr. Ackon said they have the right to demonstrate explaining he has discovered residents of the area have not been properly informed about what government has done so far.

He said he will hold a meeting with residents where he will brief them on the issue and why they have to cooperate with government effort to solve the problem.

Speaking for residents of the area, Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashanti Akyem North, Kwadwo Baah Agyemang described governments effort at solving the issue as laughable.

According to him, government spends E90,000 every month on security personnel who are stationed in the area to protect residents.

He said the security officials only check on activities of nomadic herdsmen in the bush and come to the town to rest.

Mr. Agyemang described the attitude of security personnel in the area as being sent by government to massage the issue stressing that residents are being maimed and murdered without any action.

Some displayed pictures of dead residents

Responding to the question on what residents intends to do after the demonstration, Mr. Agyemang said the concerns of the people have been detailed in a petition which has been sent to the District Chief Executive (DCE) and the regional minister.

He called on government to address the issue of residents in the same manner it handled the case involving the three South African ex-cops.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Austin Brako-Powers | Email: [email protected]
Lawyers of the British suspected drug Baron David McDermott have a 15-day lifeline to stop his extradition to the United Kingdom (UK) to face drug-related charges.

Lead lawyer Victor Adawudu told Joy News he would be meeting his client, Wednesday to decide the way forward after an Accra High Court ordered his extradition.

McDermott is facing three counts, namely, conspiracy to contravene Section 170 of the Customs and Excise Management Act, 1979, contrary to Section 1(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977; conspiracy to supply a controlled drug of Class A, contrary to Section 1(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977, and conspiracy to blackmail, contrary to Section 1(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977 of the UK for being been part of a gang that smuggled 400 kilogrammes of cocaine, with a street value of 70 million, from Argentina to the UK.

The suspect has pleaded not guilty to the charges but he would first have to fight an attempt to extradite to the UK to answer to those charges.

Joy News' Raymond Acquah who was in court reported Adawudu as saying there was no basis for the extradition because the prosecution was relying on the wrong extradition treaty.

Adawudu also claims the alleged drug related offences are not extradition offences.

But the judge, Merley Efua Wood, said there was sufficient grounds for the British to be extradited and ruled the suspect has 15-days to show why he should not be extradited.

Adawudu told Joy News he was happy the judge condemned the procedure used in arresting the suspect.

"Due process is part of the law," he stated, adding he will engage his client tomorrow to explain things to him after which they will take a decision.
President Mahamas nominee for Ejisu Juaben Municipal Assembly Yamoah Ponkoh, says the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) is to blame for his failure to clinch a second confirmation vote as the areas Chief Executive (MCE).

He pointed fingers at Ashanti Regional New Patriotic Party (NPP) Chairman Bernard Antwi-Bosiako commonly known as Chairman Wontumi whom he says has been influencing some Assembly Members to reject him.

Mr. Yamoah Ponkoh polled 38 votes out of a total of 68 valid votes cast. He needed just eight more to be re-confirmed as MCE for a second four-year term.

Salvaging some positives from the defeat, Yamoah Ponkoh told Joy FMs Newsnight Tuesday, this result is far, far better than the first round ballot in which he got 25 YES vote.

Yamoah Ponkoh

But assessing factors contributing to his second defeat in five months, Yamoah Ponkoh says at least 41 out of the 47 elected Assembly members are NPP sympathizers.

He claimed that they have been meeting the Ashanti regional chairman to scheme against him.

Chairman Wontumi has been moving around bragging that he will make sure that I am eliminated from the system he says. He critcised Wontumis constant presence in the municipality to influence non-partisan District Assembly elections.

As far as I know, district assembly concept is not supposed to be partisan but ever since President re-nominated me a lot of things have gone on here he expressed concern.

But Ashanti Regional Secretary Sam Payne has brushed off Mr. Ponkohs observations as the effusions of a bad loser.

Although 21 government appointees in the Municipal Assembly were changed, Yamoah Ponkoh still lost, he said.

Even the NDC supporters resisted in re-nomination by the President last November, Sam Payne continued.

He wants Yamoah Ponkoh to move on from his defeat and stop crying like a child who has lost a toy.

But building his case further, Yamoah Ponkoh claims even the NDC Ejisu constituency chairman is in bed with the NPP. He said the two are best friends.

Explaining why the NPP would devote attention to blocking his confirmation, Yamoah Ponkoh said the opposition party see him as a real threat ahead of the November general elections.

They see me as a threat to their campaign in the region. They see Yamoah as a very strong pillar he touted his political strength.

Nonetheless, Yamoah Ponkoh hinted he may abandon his ambitions to become MCE. He believes he is versatile enough to be deployed to other areas of President Mahamas government.

Story by Ghana|myjoyonline.com
Washington (AFP) - The Pentagon wants to cut the number of US peacekeeping troops in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, partly because of the growing threat from the Islamic State group, an official said Tuesday.

About 700 US troops participate in a UN operation established after Israel and Egypt signed a 1979 peace deal and agreed for a Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) mission to monitor compliance.

The mission has historically been somewhat low-key, but in recent months attacks from IS jihadists have put forces on a state of constant high alert.

In September for instance, a roadside bombing injured six peacekeepers including four Americans.

Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said the Pentagon remains "fully committed" to the MFO mission but wants to use drones and other high-tech tools to assume some of the riskier work.

"I don't think anyone is talking about a wholesale withdrawal, I think we are just going to look at the number of people we have there and see if there are functions that can be automated," Davis said.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter and other US officials have begun "formal conversations" with Israel and Egypt, Davis added.

US officials are also considering moving some US and international troops into a camp in the southern Sinai, far from their current base -- called El-Gorah -- near the Gaza Strip.

Sinai jihadists pledged allegiance in November 2014 to IS fighters, who control parts of Iraq and Syria and also has a presence in conflict-ridden Libya.

Jihadist fighters have long used Sinai as a base and launched an insurgency after the military overthrew Egypt's Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
Rome (AFP) - Italy's coastguard said Tuesday it had rescued some 4,000 migrants in the past two days, adding to fears of a fresh push to reach Europe via that route as the number of migrants landing in Greece sharply recedes.

On Tuesday, 2,154 migrants were brought to safety in the Strait of Sicily between Italy and north Africa, on top of the 1,850 rescued in the area on Monday, the coastguard said.

A vessel from the EU border agency Frontex and a Greek cargo ship assisted the Italian navy in conducting a total of 25 rescue operations involving 16 dinghies and a rowing boat, officials said. All the passengers survived.

War-torn Libya is the main jump-off point for migrants trying to reach Europe from north Africa.

A spokesman for the Libyan navy said that country's coastguard intercepted a further six inflatable boats carrying 649 migrants off Sabratha, near Libya's border with Tunisia, on Tuesday.

On Monday, 115 migrants had been rescued by Libyan authorities after their boat got into trouble near the capital Tripoli.

The arrivals represent a sharp increase on the average daily numbers landing in Italy since the start of the year.

According to the United Nations, 19,900 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean to Italy so far this year, compared with 153,000 landing in Greece.

Calmer seas at the onset of spring are encouraging greater numbers of migrants to attempt the perilous crossing to Italy after a winter lull.

There are also concerns that European efforts to shut down the migrant sea crossing from Turkey to Greece will encourage more people to attempt the more dangerous Mediterranean passage from Libya to Italy.
President Mahama's nominee for Ejisu Juaben Municipal Assembly Yamoah Ponkoh, says the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) is to blame for his failure to clinch a second confirmation vote as the area's Chief Executive (MCE).

He pointed fingers at Ashanti Regional New Patriotic Party (NPP) Chairman Bernard Antwi-Bosiako commonly known as 'Chairman Wontumi' whom he says has been influencing some Assembly Members to reject him.

Mr. Yamoah Ponkoh polled 38 votes out of a total of 68 valid votes cast. He needed just eight more to be re-confirmed as MCE for a second four-year term.

Salvaging some positives from the defeat, Yamoah Ponkoh told Joy FM's Newsnight Tuesday, this result is far, far better than the first round ballot in which he got 25 'YES' vote.

But assessing factors contributing to his second defeat in five months, Yamoah Ponkoh says at least 41 out of the 47 elected Assembly members are NPP sympathizers.

He claimed that they have been meeting the Ashanti regional chairman to scheme against him.

Chairman Wontumi has been moving around bragging that he will make sure that I am eliminated from the system he says. He critcised Wontumi's constant presence in the municipality to influence non-partisan District Assembly elections.

As far as I know, district assembly concept is not supposed to be partisan but ever since President re-nominated me a lot of things have gone on here he expressed concern.

.

But Ashanti Regional Secretary Sam Payne has brushed off Mr. Ponkoh's observations as the effusions of a bad loser.

Although 21 government appointees in the Municipal Assembly were changed, Yamoah Ponkoh still lost, he said.

Even the NDC supporters resisted in re-nomination by the President last November, Sam Payne continued.

He wants Yamoah Ponkoh to move on from his defeat and stop crying like a child who has lost a toy.

But building his case further, Yamoah Ponkoh claims even the NDC Ejisu constituency chairman is in bed with the NPP. He said the two are best friends.

Explaining why the NPP would devote attention to blocking his confirmation, Yamoah Ponkoh said the opposition party see him as a real threat ahead of the November general elections.

They see me as a threat to their campaign in the region. They see Yamoah as a very strong pillar he touted his political strength.

Nonetheless, Yamoah Ponkoh hinted he may abandon his ambitions to become MCE. He believes he is versatile enough to be deployed to other areas of President Mahama's government.

-myjoyonline


By Iddi Yire, GNA

Accra, April 12, GNA - The Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), has signed a cooperation agreement with the Ethiopian International Institute for Peace and Development (EIIPD).

The agreement would enable the two institutions to work together and to share their experiences.

Ms Hannah Serwaa Tetteh, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, initialed for Ghana; whilst her Ethiopian counterpart, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus signed for his country, during a visit to the KAIPTC by the Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Desalegn.

The agreement was one of the highlights of the Ethiopian Prime Minister's three-day visit to Ghana. He was accompanied by his wife, Roman Tesfaye and other Ethiopian Government officials.

Officials from the Ghanaian side who witnessed the signing of the agreement included Nii Osah Mills, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mrs Elizabeth Ofosu-Agyare, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, the Secretary to the President, Mr Kwesi Quartey and the KAIPTC Commandant, Major General Obed Boamah Akwa.

The KAIPTC, established in 2003, is a Centre of Excellence for training, education and research in African peace and security and named after the former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, a native of Ghana and one of Africa's foremost diplomats.

The Centre, was established to address not only Ghana's needs for training men and women to meet the changing demands of complex and multidimensional peacekeeping activities, but, also to help tackle the peacekeeping training requirements of the West African sub region, and the wider African continent.

On the other hand, the EIIPD, founded in 1996, is the leading institution and centre of excellence for credible research and training on the issues of diplomacy, democracy, peace and development in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa at large.

Major General Akwa, said KAIPTC's vision is to seek to become the leading and preferred international Centre for training, education and research in African peace and security.

He said KAIPTC is privileged to be in partnership with the Ethiopian Peace Centre, whose antecedent dates back to history.

'What an opportunity we have to be associated with the Ethiopian Peace Centre, a nation that is indeed the cradle of Africa's civilization, peace and stability,' he stated.

'We promise as a Centre to do our best to ensure that this relationship will be a win-win relationship and we will contribute towards the realization of the dreams the founding fathers of our beloved country Ghana and Ethiopia and indeed the entire African continent of Africa,' he added.

Prime Minister Desalegn said Ethiopia had always attached great importance to its relations with Ghana, stating: 'We truly value our strong ties.'

'We have of course already established cooperation agreement for air service and Ethiopian Airlines now makes regular flights to Ghana on daily bases.'

He recounted that in the last two years both nations had also signed a general cooperation agreement; an agreement on establishing a joint ministerial commission, an agreement on communication, information and media, as well as culture and tourism.

'Today we signed a momentous agreement aimed at turning our respective peace training centres, in a bid to further strengthen our bilateral relations.

'Peacekeeping is particularly relevant subject today. Stability is perhaps the single most important issue in Africa today; as it provides the necessary most economic development and democratic principles to take roots,' the Prime Minister added.

He said though much have been done to improve good governance across Africa, there remains a real threat of terrorism and significant threat of instability; citing examples of South Sudan, the Central Africa Republic and Libya.

GNA
Accra, April 12, GNA - Advans Ghana Savings and Loans Limited, an affiliate of the Advans Group, has opened a new building for its Ashaiman branch in the Greater Accra Region.

Advans Ghana Savings and Loans was inaugurated in 2008 with the mission to provide adaptable financial services to its target market of Medium and Small Scale Enterprises and the low to middle income individuals who have limited or no access to formal banking.

With more than 30,000 clients in 12 branches located across the country, Advans Ghana offers a wide range of financial products and services which include cheques, Cash Cards (ATM), Mobile Banking (Mobibank), E Cash and International Money Transfer.

This was contained in a statement signed by Madam Sophia-Marie Honny, Communications and Marketing Specialist of Advans Ghana, and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Tuesday.

It said the new and ultra modern branch building located near the Old Tulako Station at Ashaiman is in line with Advans Ghana's commitment towards serving its clients better.

Mrs Barbara Odei, the Chief Operating Officer of the company, expressed her excitement about Advans Ghana's growth in the Ghanaian market saying, 'our desire to move from a product-centric business approach to a customer oriented approach sparked the decision to relocate our Ashaiman branch. Providing a more convenient and pleasurable banking experience for our clients places us a position to becoming a leading financial institution in Ghana'

Mr Brieuc Cardon, Chief Executive Officer of the company, reiterated the financial institution's commitment to improving the financial and socio-economic wellbeing of Ghanaians.

'At Advans Ghana, we believe that trust and transparency are the foundation of a solid partnership, we deeply care about our clients' businesses, we want them to succeed and that is why our products and services are specifically tailored to suit our clients' financial needs because with Advans Ghana Savings and Loans, we are growing together'.

Formerly situated inside the Ashaiman Market, the branch is now easier to locate and access with more space to accommodate a banking hall and other needs.

The ceremony which was attended by representatives of local government, traditional authority and the public saw a vibrant display of the institution's products and brand colours of green and yellow.

GNA
By Kodjo Adams, GNA

Aflao(V/R), April 12, GNA - Madam Sylvia Asana Dauda Owu, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Shippers' Authority (GSA), has said the implementation of the ECOWAS Common External Tariff (CET) would provide better trade policy across the sub-region.

She said this would include applying special protection measures aimed at addressing any trade imbalances across Member States thereby providing a real boost to the manufacturing sector and trading in general.

Madam Owu said this at a training workshop on the implementation of the ECOWAS Common External Tariff in Aflao in the Volta Region.

The workshop was organized by the Borderless Alliance, in collaboration with the Ghana Shippers Authority with support from German International Cooperation, for customs officials, shippers, private sector traders and other business associations.

The CET is aimed at ensuring transparent customs procedures, reducing border delays and facilitating intra-regional trade. The decision to have a Common External Tariff was taken at an extraordinary meeting of Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) held in Dakar, Senegal, on 25th October 2013.

The implementation of the CET started from 1st January 2015 in some countries in the sub-region, and in Ghana on 1st February 2016.

'The implementation of CET would see to the establishment of a system where goods coming into any of the ECOWAS countries will be paid in the country of first entry within the ECOWAS region and the importer would no longer be required to pay in the country of final destination', she said.

She explained that the process was expected to lead to the reduction of transaction time and cost, adding that low-income countries would benefit from pushing for a renegotiation of the CET.

Madam Owu said since smaller low-income members have similar production and tariff structures, they would also benefit from closer cooperation and developing a common stance for trade integration.

She said the Authority has over the years collaborated with Customs, the Borderless Alliance and other key stakeholders in the trade and transport industry to remain competitive in the international logistics chain.

Madam Owu said Article 3 of the revised ECOWAS Treaty defines the aims of the community as promoting 'co-operation and integration, leading to the establishment of an economic union in West Africa'.

She said in order to achieve this, the community is to ensure, in stages, among other means, the establishment of a common market through the adoption of a common external tariff and a common trade policy vis-A -vis third countries.

Mrs Afua Eshun, Advocacy Manager for Borderless Alliance, said the workshop aims at strengthening the capacity of customs officials at the border in understanding the CET and raise awareness among the private sector and cross-border traders for a better understanding of the provisions of the CET.

The Borderless Alliance, is a private sector led advocacy platform established in 2011 with the support of USAID West Africa Trade Hub to address the barriers affecting regional trade.

The Alliance uses evidence based advocacy to promote the vision of free trade for producers, importers, exporters, and financial institutions and promote practical improvements to transport, free movement of goods, capital and services in West Africa.

GNA
12.04.2016 LISTEN

Bechem (B/A), April 12, GNA - Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom, President of Group Nduom (GN) Companies has advised Ghanaians to patronize the services of indigenous Ghanaian banks to increase and retain financial accruals which could promote the economic growth of the country.

He said that would also stem capital flight which could not only be invested further to expand the financial base of the economy but also serve as a means of wealth creation for individuals the people.

Dr. Nduom gave the advice at a mini durbar to officially open the Bechem branch of the GN-Bank on Wednesday at Bechem in the Tano South District of Brong-Ahafo Region.

The former flagbearer of the people's Progressive Party (PPP) and business magnate referring to some developed countries like the United Kingdom (UK), the United States of America (USA) and Japan said these countries had resilient and buoyant economies because their citizens had loyally and seriously been patronizing their native banks.

The GN conglomerates is a Ghanaian/international group of business concerns including banking and hotel services, media organizations, real estate development, electronics manufacturing and financial investments within and outside Ghana.

He cited the JP Morgan Bank of the USA, the Barclays Bank of England and many others had contributed and continued to contribute towards the economic development of their respective countries because whatever profits accrued from investments with customers and other business partners remained in those countries.

Dr. Nduom announced that currently there were 245 branches of GN-Banks in the country and added that 55 of them were in the middle zone, the Ashanti and Brong-Ahafo Regions.

'The primary objective of expanding the GN Bank branches was to bring banking services to the doorsteps of the people, especially in the unreached and unserved communities and also to inculcate the culture of savings among the people whilst promoting small - scale business enterprises.

Nana Fosu Gyeabour Akoto 11, Paramount Chief of the Bechem Traditional Area, lauded Dr. Nduom for actually demonstrating that the private sector was really the engine of the economic growth of the country.

Nana Akoto said this was based on the fact that Group Nduom, with over 50 business concerns locally and internationally, had provided employment for thousands of Ghanaians and urged the residents in the area to patronize the services of the Bank.

Relatedly, another branch of the Bank was also officially opened at Duayaw-Nkwanta in the Tano North District.

GNA
By Albert Futukpor,GNA

Tamale, Apr 12, GNA - Mr Nicholas Neequaye, Director of the Agribusiness Unit of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), has advised farmers to increase the marketability of their produce by cultivating food crops with high market demands.

He said it was important that farmers assessed the market and demand trends of consumers to cultivate such crops or foodstuffs in high demand to boost their incomes and prevent post-harvest losses.

Mr Neequaye gave the advice during the opening of a training workshop in Tamale on Tuesday for about 200 nucleus farmers, who comprised beneficiaries of the Ghana Commercial Agriculture Project (GCAP) grants and some members of the National Farmers and Fishers Award Winners Association of Ghana (NFFAWAG).

The three-day event was organized by the Agribusiness Unit of MoFA with sponsorship from GCAP to build the capacity of participants drawn from the Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions, in areas covering book keeping, accounting, finance, quality standards, environmental/social safeguards and marketing to enhance their (farmers) operations.

The GCAP, which is being implemented in the regions under the Savanna Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), seeks to improve agricultural production to ensure food security.

The training is also to address the challenges of finding ready market for their food crops, which has been a major concern to most farmers.

After the training, the expectation is that the nucleus farmers would become trainers and change agents to provide technical advice to out-growers about planting, fertilizer application, and record keeping amongst others to improve their businesses.

He urged farmers to be business-minded and keep records of their operations to improve revenue.

Mr Bloomfield Crosby Attipoe, Senior Rural Infrastructure Engineer of GCAP urged farmers to take farming as serious business by applying business principles to make the best productive use of their farm lands.

Mr Attipoe urged participants to internalize whatever they learnt from the training to transform their business and that of out-growers to improve agricultural production.

Mr Davies Korboe, National Chairman of NFFAWAG said the training would expose participants to bad farming practices, post-harvest losses and other troubling agricultural issues.

GNA
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IVA Struggling with debt? Compare your debt options and write off up to 80% of your unsecured debts  from 80 per month Get Started for free

What is an IVA? With an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) you can make affordable monthly payments towards a percentage of your debt for 5 years. At the end of the 5 year plan, your remaining debt will be completely written off.

Benefits of an IVA

Here is a list of the cost common advantages of an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA):



 Affordability  You will only be asked to pay back what you can afford, with allowances taken into account for food, bills, entertainment, travel, childcare and others. You may be sacrificing certain essential costs at the moment. With an IVA they are budgeted for so they will no longer be neglected

 No upfront costs  When you set up an IVA, there are no upfront costs whatsoever. This means that you can put a debt solution in place today without spending a penny

 You have a finishing line  Do you feel like there will be no end to your debt problems? With high interest costs and charges, the balances of your credit accounts may not reduce as you need them to. With an IVA you will become totally debt free at the completion of the IVA (usually 5 years). You can use this as an opportunity to change your financial life, for good

 Confidential  Your IVA is not advertised in the London Gazette or local newspaper. It is your decision whether you would like to disclose it to other people or not

 No more contact from creditors  When you are in an IVA, your creditors will no longer have the right to contact you or refer the debt on to debt collectors/bailiffs. This is a great benefit for most people as it will take away the stress caused by constant calls/texts/emails and home visits

 Stay in your house  Unlike some debt solutions, an IVA will allow you to stay in your current home. This is even the case if the property has a mortgage or is owned outright

 Your pension  An IVA does not have an impact on your pension. You will not have to surrender your pension or withdraw money from it to pay into your IVA

Risks of an IVA

Here is a list of the cost common disadvantages of an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA):

Equity Release  If you own your property and it has value, you may be asked to release the equity in the property

Credit Rating  If you have a perfect credit rating, this will be damaged and you will not be allowed to take out more debt whilst in an arrangement

You must keep up with repayments  If you do not keep up with your monthly repayments, there is a risk you will be made bankrupt

Who qualifies for an IVA?

There is no office guidelines to who qualifies for an IVA. It is a legally binding, Government legislation designed to help all people. Generally speaking, insolvency practitioners (IP) will look at your situation if they think the IVA proposal they submit is beneficial to both yourself (the debtor) and your creditors. This often restricts people to a certain criteria which you will have to meet:

Over 5000 worth of unsecured debt You must have 2 or more creditors of 2 or more lines of credit Must live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland Must be insolvent Must be willing to pay at least 70 per month into their IVA Must have some type or types of regular income

What debts can I include in an IVA?

You can include a wide range of unsecured debts within your IVA. These include:

Credit card debt/credit cards

Loans/loan debt

Payday loans

Council tax arrears

HMRC debt

Overpaid benefits

Catalogues

Gas and electricity arrears

Overdrafts/overdraft debt

Water arrears

Income tax arrears

Debts to friends and family

Other unsecured debts

Note: If you are a resident of Scotland, you will need to apply for a Scottish Trust Deed (legally binding). Speak to our advisors for Scottish Debt Advice.

What debts cant be included in an IVA?

Secured loans

Your mortgage (if you still live in the house)

Car finance (if you still have the car)

Rent arrears for your current property

Court fines/Police fines

Hire purchase arrears (if you still have the product)

Log book loans (if you still have the vehicle that the debts are secured on)

Student loans

Other secured debts

What does I.V.A stand for?

IVA stands for Individual Voluntary Arrangement. It is a formal way to consolidate your debts into one affordable monthly repayment, resulting in the debtor becoming debt free at the end of their payments.

Can I apply for an IVA online?

Use the IVA Calculator to check your eligibility Prepare your IVA proposal and apply for your IVA. When your IVA is accepted, your creditors can no longer contact you. Pay 60 low monthly payments. After 5 years, you are out of your IVA and completely debt free.

Will an IVA affect my employment?

In most occupations, your credit rating or credit scoring is not a factor and it may never have been checked in the past, it may also be likely that it is not checked in the future either.

There is no law to tell you that you must advise your employer that you have entered an IVA or that you owe money. They will not be notified by your insolvency practitioner. If you wanted to keep it a private matter, in most cases this would be absolutely fine. With some roles such as financial advisors, solicitors or bank workers it may make up part of your contract to advise them of changes like this. In these situations we would advise to inform your employers of your intentions before you enter into any arrangements. This way there will be no nasty surprises for you later down the line. More often than not, we find that your employer would not be concerned by your IVA and that it would not affect your employment status. An IVA is a formal solution and could affect some employments, such as if you were a solicitor or accountant for example. We would always recommend that you receive approval from your employers that your job isnt affected before you sign up for anything.

Will an IVA impact my partner?

There are certain situations where you may not want to involve your partner at all in your IVA proposal due to personal reasons. Insolvency Practitioners are very aware of these circumstances and can operate solely via telephone and email and at your convenience, so rest assured that your matters can be kept completely private.

If the debts which you are looking to place into your IVA are in joint names, then this would be different. Your IP would look to place all of your debts into an IVA, including joint debts therefore you would have to inform your partner of your plans.

If your debts are solely yours, then there would be no negative impact on your partner, their credit score would remain unaffected and they would not be entered onto any registers or be tainted in any way.

Will an IVA affect my credit score/credit file?

Whilst you are in your arrangement, you will not be able to get any credit. An IVA will stay on your credit file for 6 years, so 12 months after a typical IVA. When this time has passed and your monthly payments have ended, you will be able to rebuild your credit rating.

What proof will I need to apply for an IVA?

Proof of ID  Passport/driving license/birth certificate/utility bills/national insurance identification/credit agreement Bank statements  3 months bank statements with all transactions displayed Proof of income  3 months payslips/P60/proof of benefits

How long does it take to set up an IVA?

Your initial call will only last around 5-10 minutes. The IVA process will be explained to you and you will be told what further information you will need to provide to proceed with your IVA proposal. Once you have returned the required information, an IVA will usually take between 7-14 days to get into place. You will be protected from creditors within this time, your advisor will provide you with documentation via email.

How long does an IVA last?

Most IVAs will last for a length of five years. The i v a will remain on your credit file for a period of six years and is placed on the Insolvency Register for that period. You can work out what date it will be removed from your credit file, it will be six years from the start date of the IVA term. So if the IVA started on 1 January 2000, it should be removed from your credit file six years from that date, which would be 1 January 2006. When you apply for an individual voluntary arrangement your Insolvency Practitioner (IP) will tell you if you qualify for an IVA, how long it lasts, how much it costs and provide you with any other debt advice which you may need.

How much will debt advice cost for an Individual Voluntary Arrangement?

The advice cost for individual voluntary arrangements is free of charge. Your I.V.A company will tell you if you qualify for an IVA. They will talk to you about your different debts, provide you with free debt advice and check if your creditors are likely to approve your proposal for your IVA for debt.

How does an IVA affect your life?

By taking out an IVA you may affect your overall financial position. You will not be allowed to take out credit for 6 years. You will struggle to get a mortgage or remortgage your existing property. It also may affect any future increase in earnings or windfalls you may receive, as these will need to be paid to your insolvency practitioner. Your insolvency practitioner will take control of your debts for this period, they will deal with all of your creditors and this is legally binding. That means you will not be allowed to take out any more debts whilst in the IVA.

Once the plan is completed, any debts which you accrue will be managed by yourself. Your ability to take out further debts in the future will not be impacted once the IVA has completed.

What is the IVA protocol?

The I.V.A protocol is a voluntary set of guidelines which your Insolvency Practitioner (IP) can sign up for which improves the efficiency of Individual Voluntary Arrangements. When you apply for debt advice, it is important that you understand the steps of the debt solution, so you can decide whether or not the solution is the best one for your circumstances.

How do I know if creditors will accept my IVA?

Generally speaking, most creditors will approve voluntary arrangements for unsecured debt. But some debts can not be included within one formal debt solution. Your Insolvency Practitioner will tell you how likely it is that your creditors will be willing to accept your proposal, based on the voting creditors.

Can I pay in one lump sum?

There are occasions when you may be eligible for a debt solution which is payable in a one off lump sum as a final settlement to your creditors. This is usually when the money is being gifted from some one else, or you have received inheritance or a windfall for example. With a one-off lump sum payment, the advice is usually the same as when you normally apply for an IVA. You wouldnt have to make regular payments into the solution, your IP can provide you with more advice on one off lump sum solutions for your debts. Your IP will provide you with more advice on the debt IVA and explain what is IVA to you.

Who regulates the debt industry?

At present the debt industry is not regulated. Some Insolvency Practitioners offices choose to sign up to the Insolvency Practitioners Association (IPA) or register with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). You can contact the IPA using the contact details or email address on their website. Your creditors do not regulate the debt industry and your creditors will not be able to impact any decisions which the IPA or FCA make. In our experience, the regulators will take assertive action on any advisers or businesses which do not comply with their strict codes of practice. To check if a person is regulated by the FCA, enter their name into the search box in the FCA website.

Should I use a debt charity?

There are thousands of companies which provide debt help in the UK. You may be looking for an alternative to a private company. You should know that charities usually pass their fee charging products to sister companies which charge fees and disbursements, just like private companies. So what you initially thought was a good option, on further analysis could be different to what you originally thought. Charities do have their part to play though. They can help you if you have a problem with your bank accounts, maintenance arrears, living costs, credit reference agencies, child support arrears, bankruptcy, assets, accountancy issues, mortgages, creditor issues, insurance providers, mobiles, your bank account, rates arrears, PAYE contributions or if you want to work out your expenditure. They can make sure that you speak to an adviser or supervisor and look at proposals to offer your lender. A petition has started with the possibility of a debate in parliament about how charities represent themselves and their services.

Which charities help with debt?

You can contact Money Advice Service, National Debtline, Step Change, Shelter or a combination of the three. Charities are particular useful for a low debt level under 1,000. If the debt is high (such as a debt value of 10,000 or more) you would usually seek an assessment from a professional adviser. If you do decide to use a charity to guide you, make sure you check their charity number and the registration number on their website to make sure you are content that their team can answer your questions in the right ways. A lot of clients of charities have a minimum debt level which does not meet the basis for an IVA, so you could always chat to a charity that is happy to act on your behalf for low debt levels.

Although an I.V.A could be the answer to your debt problem, its important to understand the monthly payment so call us on our free phone number. Anyone customers can receive expert feedback on their rights from debt charities, if they cant help they will usually point you in the director of firms which help with IVAs.

We are homeowners, will lenders see my proposal differently?

In some cases yes. In the majority of cases, if you are a homeowner you will not need to remortgage or take out any additional finances that will effect your property. You will need to sign a additional restrictions which remove your ability to take out additional credit tied to your property, which is something that is restricted once you are in an i.v.a. There are exceptions to this, such as when you have a lot of equity in your property/properties. If you own half of a property and another party owns the other half, only your equity will be affected.

If you are landlord and you are in a position of equity, your IP may review your trading position or business to make sure the figures in question are in order. This is usually the case if you have two or more properties, as sometimes the equity can be used to form a repayment to your creditors. But this usually depends on the amount of value built up in your properties.

Banks and building societies will not change the terms of your mortgage as long as a contribution is still being made for the duration of your arrangement. Your mortgage payments will be added to your expenses and accounted for within your budget, as long as you can provide evidence that you can afford to continue to make payments into your mortgage for duration of the plan.

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business See big potential for 2-wheeler mkt in Indonesia: Bajaj Auto In India, which is one of the fastest growing markets, the company has already done a good job of establishing the KTM brand, said Ravikumar.
business Bullish on Asian Paints, says Parag Thakkar Parag Thakkar of HDFC Securities has a bullish view on Asian Paints.
The REA Group Limited [ASX:REA] share price was marginally up by early afternoon trading today. Over the previous five days, the stock did worse. However, over a one month period, REA outperformed the ASX200 by 6%.

What happened to the REA share price?

The REA Group Limited [ASX:REA] share price was marginally up by early afternoon trading today. Over the previous five days, the stock did worse. However, over a one month period, REA outperformed the ASX200 by 6%.

Why did REA shares do this?

REA Group is the Australian-based property advertiser. When you log onto realestate.com.au, that is a REA product. Analysts are currently split between an Outperform rating and a Hold rating on the stock. But most agree that the company will make more revenue in 2016 and 2017. Its earnings will also grow and its long term growth rate is forecasted to be in the hyper double-digit range.

There is no doubt that the company is likely to continue to grow. The question is on its valuation. Is it in fact too expensive? Coming in at a P/E ratio of 35.11, REA shares are more expensive than the other media stocks in the ASX300 universe and is definitely not cheap.

The stock has a beta of 1.33, meaning it moves more than the broad market, giving a potentially higher pay-off as well as shaper downside risk to stock investors. The company pays a dividend and its dividend growth rate has been fantastic over the last five years.

Sales have grown and its EPS has done well over a five year period. Its profit margin is also comparably much higher than its peers. The company has a good enough current ratio and very low debt, indicating good financial health.

Overall, REA Group has good fundamentals.

What now for REA?

Is the REA share price too expensive at its current valuation? It is likely so. And that is why investors need to be watchful and agile on highly-priced stocks such as REA Group. As a momentum stock, it is not one of the top performers in the media sector and its ranking tends to vary through time.

Owning REA Group is not much of a problem if the investor is fully aware of the valuation the stock is sitting on. And as a result, the investor should be prepared to act actively.

Ken Wangdong+

Emerging Market Analyst, New Frontier Investor
Chinas excess steel production should be a worry for all first world steel production plants. It makes it that much harder for them to compete. But it doesnt look like improving anytime soon. Given the strategic nature of steel making, I smell a trade war coming on

Theres not much support for Australias steelmakers, at least not in Whyalla. Last week, Arrium [ASX:ARI] went into administration. Arrium owns the Whyalla steel mill, based in South Australia.

Its not a story I followed closely, but my guess is that a combination of a number of things brought the company down: ageing infrastructure, poor management (the company massed $2.8 billion in debt), and relentless pressure from Chinas excess steel capacity.

Chinas excess steel production should be a worry for all first world steel production plants. It makes it that much harder for them to compete. But it doesnt look like improving anytime soon. From the Financial Times:

Significant overcapacity will remain in Chinas steel sector even after planned restructuring, industry executives said at the weekend, suggesting no let-up for the beleaguered industrys plant closures and job losses across the globe. Luo Tiejun, an official with Chinas industry ministry, said at a conference that planned cuts would reduce annual steel capacity to about 1.1bn tonnes by 2020 while domestic consumption was unlikely to exceed 700m tonnes. We need to cut [an additional] 200m tonnes for the situation to become acceptable, Mr Luo said, noting that China also currently exported about 100m [tonnes] of steel annually.

Hmmm. So even after the planned cuts, China will still have the capacity to produce 400 million tonnes of excess steel by 2020. They currently export 100 million tonnes (apparently), which means there is still the potential for 300 million of excess production needing a home.

Thats not great news for Western steel mills trying to compete with cheap Chinese exports.

Given the strategic nature of steel making, I smell a trade war coming on

The lack of growth in Chinese domestic steel consumption is behind this flood of steel trying to find a home in the export market. Note from the quote above that domestic consumption was unlikely to exceed 700 million tonnes by 2020. Last year, Li Xinchuang, president of the China Metallurgical Industry Planning Association, said that local demand would fall to 600 million tonnes by 2030.

Yet BHP, Rio and Fortescue all invested to expand their iron ore production on the premise that Chinese demand for steel would hit 1 billion tonnes by 2030.

Like the Aussie banks, the effect of easy money tripped up these iron ore majors. And the demise of Arrium is an example of what happens when easy money comes full circle. It wont be the last.

Greg Canavan,

For Markets and Money

From the Port Phillip Publishing Library

Special Report: Wealth Eruption: Forget the market downturnthe oil crashand the debtThere are FOUR unstoppable events that could generate huge wealth for Aussie investors. Starting with one play that could make you a potential 1,068% return in the next 24 months(more)
April 12, 2016

A Saudi U.S. Split Over Syria?

There is a flurry of Saudi diplomatic travel in its region. The context might be the U.S. arrangement with Russia over Syria and Saudi opposition to it. Consider:

April 7 - Saudi king starts Egypt visit in boost for Sisi

Saudi King Salman on Thursday started a five-day visit to Cairo in a show of support for Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, with the leaders due to sign a raft of investment deals.

April 11 - Saudi King Salman meets Turkey's Erdogan

Saudi Arabias King Salman bin Abdulaziz was welcomed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after arriving in Turkeys capital Ankara on Monday. As part of king Salmans official visit to the country, regional and international issues are expected to be discussed in meetings between Turkish and Saudi officials.

...

During his visit, will later be attending the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) that will be taking place in Istanbul on April 14 and 15.

April 12 - The Saudi Deputy Crown Prince and King of Jordan Agree to Establish a Joint Investment Fund

Saudi Arabia and Jordan yesterday agreed to establish a joint investment fund during the Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmans visit to Jordan. Prince Mohammed who is also the Saudi Second Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Defence met King Abdullah II and in a joint statement that was made at the end of the visit, the two sides stressed the importance of strengthening the existing cooperation in the fields of security and fighting terrorism and extremism. They also stressed the importance of participating in existing international efforts to fight terrorism made by the international coalition and the military coalition.

April 12 - Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed receives Saudi Deputy Crown Prince

Abu Dhabi: His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, on Monday received Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz, upon his arrival at the Presidential Airport in Abu Dhabi.

The Saudi King visits two heavy weight Middle East countries over the last days while his son visits two minor ones. Something is up here. Will there be a new Saudi organized "initiative" in Syria? What else could be the purpose of such diplomatic bustle?

On a side note:

This is the picture the Turkish President Erdogan arranged when the German chancellor Merkel visited him. Nostalgic Ottoman opulence for the frugal daughter of a Lutheran pastor.

Now compare that to the official picture with the pompous, ultra rich Saudi King.

Here Erdogan chose a rather sparse environment with a huge portrait of the secular founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Erdogan's declared political aim is to move away from secular Ataturk Turkey to return to Islamic Ottoman glory. So why does he emphasize Ataturk when the Saudi King visits him?

Back to the Saudi diplomatic caravan. Obama will soon visit Saudi Arabia:

The White House says Obama will head to Saudi Arabia on April 21 for a summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Obama last year hosted leaders from the group of Gulf nations. Theyll discuss the fight against Daesh and other Mideast security concerns.

In preparation for Obama's arrival in Riyadh the U.S. has again pulled out the "28 pages" threat. These still classified parts of the 9/11 investigation describe Saudi interaction with the terrorists. Whenever the White House wants something important from the Saudis it launches a campaign to declassify the 9/11 findings which would turn Saudi Arabia into a public enemy. This comes on top of the recent interview Obama gave to the Atlantic in which he questioned the U.S. alliance with Saudi Arabia. The politicized Fitch rating agency just lowered Saudi credit worthiness. What does Obama want the Saudis to do?

My hunch is that the Saudis are sabotaging, via their proxy terrorist forces in Syria, the new found U.S.-Russian cooperation against al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. Just consider how the U.S. is now practically inviting the Russians and the Syrian army to be more aggressive in Syria. From yesterday's State Department press briefing:

QUESTION: Youre not opposed to the Syrian army going after and  going after Aleppo and taking the  or at least the parts of it that are held by al-Nusrah. Thats okay with you. But if they start going after groups that you guys think are part of  or say are part of the cessation of hostilities, then it  only then its bad. Is that correct? MR TONER: Yes.

Last week Saudi sponsored groups in Syria cooperated with Nusra in their attack on the government held Tal al-Eis and thereby broke the ceasefire. The U.S. just gave its okay for Russia and Syria to counter that move with a bigger "anti-Nusra" campaign.

The Saudi visiting flurry to arrange its regional chess pieces before Obama arrives must be seen in that context.

Posted by b on April 12, 2016 at 16:15 UTC | Permalink

Comments
April 12, 2016

Soft Coup In Libya Causes Meltdown, Breakup

(Note: This is a follow-up to Richard's recent introductive piece Libya - Tribes, Militia, Interests And Intervention)

By Richard Galustian

The UN backed General National Accord (GNA) arrived in Tripoli over a week ago and current events are looking more and more like a coup. Meanwhile last Friday PM Designate for the GNA suddenly flew to London on a "private visit"; odd time for him to leave Libya wouldn't you say?

There are consequences for Malta. A main one is that for most of the EU, the intended sanctions against GNA 'spoilers' are no problem for them as neither Abu Sahmain (Tripoli General National Congress, or GNC) nor Aguila Saleh (Tobruk House of Representatives, or HoR) are EU citizens and also neither have much in the way of overseas assets but the exception seems to be Malta. So the Maltese authorities are having to trawl through everything at the UN & EU's behest to find their assets and then to freeze them. Knowing that the UN/EU is likely to suddenly unfreeze them if these two men are intimidated enough to decide to cooperate. Either way Malta is put in an awkward position.

Let's backtrack a little. The GNA consisted in total of a nine-strong presidency council led by a UN selected prime minister, Fayez Serraj, and with Tripoli airspace closed, they were conveyed to their capital city by Italian frigate, transferring at sea to a small rusty Libyan coastal patrol vessel to preserve the illusion that they were not being helped by western powers. But the GNA had fractured even before they were helped aboard the Italian vessel, with two of the nine abruptly resigning, accusing the leadership of being too cozy with Tripoli militias and for their opposition to Gen. Hafter remaining head of the army.

Nevertheless, the so called GNA, more correctly called the Presidential Council, now reduced to seven, arrived in the capital, choosing to set up office in the naval base, the only part of the capital judged safe from roaming militias.

A coup, in which a small number of people take control of a state, can be defined in many ways. On the one hand a coup can be a seizure of power through brute force. On the other, it can be the usurping of power without violence. Last week has seen what amounts to the latter unfold in Libya.

Reinforcing this coup reality, seventy three members of the Tripoli parliament, the GNC, agreed this week to reform themselves as the State Council, designed by the UN as part of the legislature of the Serraj government. However, most of the 73 were not elected to the GNC, as the UN rules stipulate, but are Libya Dawn acolytes added to the GNC after it captured Tripoli by force two years ago.

Compounding the confusion, the State Council then amended the UN rules, declaring they had the right to self-declare the new government valid. Thats a coup folks, an Islamist one, egged on by the West.

The elected HoR in Tobruk, which the UN had insisted must agree to the plan, has been discarded in actuality. UN officials were angry that the HOR failed to vote yes to the plan and indeed failed to even meet to discuss it in recent weeks.

The fact is that the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA) the UN backed document of December 17, 2015 has been torn up. Gone also is the LPAs stipulation that new chiefs must be appointed to the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) and the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) which hold tens of billions of dollars of foreign cash and assets. Instead, the former chiefs, approved by Libya Dawn, have control.

The big winners are therefore the Muslim Brotherhood and various factions from Misrata, and Libya Dawn, who, despite losing in the 2014 elections, now have international recognition from western powers, and through this control of Libyas vast overseas assets. Other specific winners are Abdel Hakim Belhadj and MB leader Ali Sallabi both of whom have been feted by Martin Kobler in Istanbul in the past few days.

It is a personal victory for Britains Libya envoy Jonathan Powell, who mainly brokered the deal and boasts of his close links to the Brotherhood. In a damning e-mail, newly released, between Sidney Blumenthal and Hillary Clinton, Powell wrote about his ability to use his success in negotiating between the IRA and the British government twenty years ago to end terrorist campaigns. Powell further boasted that this model, being used in a number of countries through a below radar NGO, is workable given his close contacts, he claims, with British Intelligence. A very doubtful assertion.

But the lack of transparency over the Libya process, is coming into sharp focus. Panamagate is erupting, highlighting the lack of transparency over the worlds wealth, and it is just this lack of transparency that Powell is encouraging with Libya.

The breakup of Libya is imminent, along an east-west fault line, and the irony is that Western powers will have been the orchestrator.

It seems to me that the West's plan for Libya is now in final meltdown.

Posted by b on April 12, 2016 at 18:39 UTC | Permalink

Comments
When Bruce Springsteen cancelled his Greensboro show last weekend, the North Carolina General Assembly probably breathed a sigh of relief. Bruce cancelled in protest of HB2, the bill that the General Assembly passed making it legal for businesses to discriminate on the basis of gender identity, prohibiting local municipalities from declaring that they wont discriminate, and making a number of other discriminations possible, as well.

The most public provision of HB2 related to people using the bathroom corresponding to the gender cited on their birth certificates. While Springsteens intentions are noble, he didnt hurt the over-reaching General Assembly, instead he helped them out by not coming to encourage and inspire his fans, many who are the very people fighting for human rights here in North Carolina.

Perhaps Bruce thought that he was reminding the state of the business we will lose due to HB2. A number of businesses already have stopped plans to bring jobs to North Carolina, others have vowed to take their jobs to states that dont endorse discrimination, and others already have left. Bruce didnt need to make a business stand. The state didnt lose that much in tax revenue because of his cancellation and his public protest only reverberated for one weeks news cycle.

If he really wanted to make a difference in fighting the General Assemblys madness, he might have used the power of his songs and concert to incite subversive, loud and peaceful rebellion  the way God intended for rock music  instead of using his celebrity to as a political one-hit wonder. By making his stand as one iconic voice, he only spoke with one voice  but it could have been magnified 24,000 times over if hed come to Greensboro. In truth, those who ramrodded HB2 probably feel they dodged a bullet since Springsteen didnt come here because a motivated opposition is far more dangerous to abusive power than one celebritys protest, which is far easier to ridicule.

It would have been much more powerful to have petitions at every gate and exit for fans to sign. Bruce could have given out the office phone numbers or printed envelopes with the office addresses of the legislators who supported HB2. Instead, he withdrew from the battle instead of maximizing his resources to win it. Rather than simply sacrificing the income from the concert, he might have been better served to play the concert, then take the proceeds to put up a tent in a field and play a concert for those who are now actively discriminated against and those who stand with them. Perhaps Pearl Jam, scheduled to come to Raleigh on April 20, will keep their date and use it to maximize their fans devotion. Bruce, however, missed an opportunity and failed to understand the role he could have played.

I think Bruce also miscalculated how much his fans needed his support. Springsteen concerts are something special, resembling very closely the revivals I attended as a child except that the music is better. His fans needed him to bring them together, to show up and play with even more vigor and passion as a sign of his solidarity.

Throughout his career, he has channeled the subversive spirit of Woody Guthrie  three chords and the truth. As America emerged from the Civil Rights Movement of the '60s and faced the challenges of desegregating in 1975, Springsteens first chart-topping album cover, the legendary Born to Run, featured him on the cover, back to back with his best friend, Clarence Clemmons, an African American. His point was powerfully made. He showed up in 1975 for everybody who believed the struggle was worth it.

Bruce thought he was taking a stand. He did. But thats as far as it went. My guess is that, counter to the stereotype of rock stars who overestimate the power of their celebrity, Bruce underestimated his. By not recognizing the inspiration he gives his fans, he missed a chance to unite and focus his fans by standing with them, not vocally apart from them. The endorsement of a Bruce Springsteen is highly sought after and hard earned. Someone of his stature has the resources to properly vet organizations and local leaders to make sure that those he endorses are credible and the most effective ways to enact change. Instead, he left his fans to their own devices to figure out the best ways to protest and overturn HB2.

Now, to be sure, I dont fault Bruce for his stand  in fact, I completely agree with his intent. HB2 is a solution in search of a problem. It was a response to Charlottes anti-discrimination statement that would allow equal protections for Lesbians, Gays, Bisexual, and Transgender persons, including the ability to choose, according to their gender identity, which bathroom to use. There is no credible evidence that the bill passed in Charlotte would have created any new risks for anyone. It simply would have protected LGBT folks from discrimination by the city.

The bathroom provision, which got so much attention, didnt create a risk that didnt already exist. Bathrooms have always been and will always be vulnerable and awkward places. I once had a drunk Dale Earnhardt fan stand up over the barrier between my urinal and his so that he could yell EARNHARRRRRRDT! at me while I was, um, vulnerable  there should be a law against that, but there isnt. I dont expect the General Assembly thought of that, did they?

All things considered, HB2 was a shady bill passed without any sufficient time for the people to understand the it or for the people to be heard  and, like Amendment One before, it will cost the state millions in legal fees (so much for fiscal conservatism!). It endorses discriminations that go far beyond the bathroom usage question  though now the LGBT people who scare the HB2 supporters so much are legally required to share public restrooms with them. Who would have ever thought that when compared to other states in our region, Georgia, Tennessee, and South Carolina would look like the rational ones?

Thats why we needed Bruce to come here and why we will need Pearl Jam to show up later this month in Raleigh. Get us all together so we can see who our allies are. Dont abandon us, guys, but come support, mobilize and light a fire under us. As Bono, the lead singer for U2 once put it, Music can change the world because music can change people.

Jonathan Henley is the host of Road Signs radio show, which airs Sunday nights from 10 p.m. to midnight on 1065 The End. Contact Henley via email at roadsigns@1065.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/roadsignsradio. Read past columns and join his blog at www.1065.com/onair/road-signs-51152/.
Emma Wall: Hello, and welcome to Morningstar. I'm Emma Wall and I'm joined today by Simon Murphy, Manager of the Old Mutual UK Equity Fund, to give his three stock picks.

Hi, Simon.

Simon Murphy: Good morning.

Wall: So, what's the first stock that you'd like to highlight today?

Murphy: One stock that I'm very keen on at the moment and have been for a while actually is Rentokil Initial (RTO). Rentokil, most people will be aware of for their pest control services and that is a big proportion of the business. They also do hygiene services and workwear rental services.

What's happened is, the new management team a couple of years ago have come in under Andy Ransom, the chief executive, and they've started to shift this portfolio away from some disappointing businesses, they've disposed of and focus more and more on this core pest control business. And pest control is a great business. It may not be very pleasant but it's a great business to be involved. It's very cash-generative. It's very profitable and it's pretty low cyclicality.

It's not really driven by the economic cycle. It's a very steady predictable business. And as the company has focused more and more on this side of the business, so the cash-generative nature of the company has improved, the returns to shareholders have improved. The shares, to be fair, have started to perform quite well, but I think there's still a long way to go in this transition to a pure pest and hygiene business.

Wall: It's not a very glamorous stock, but you don't invest to be glamorous. What are the risks with this stock? I mean, what's its market share? Are there any major competitors within the market?

Murphy: It's a very good question. I mean, they are global, but their biggest growth area is the United States. In the United States they are now number three. And there are only really three players that can offer pest control on a whole national basis across America, obviously a huge, huge country. So, the risk is that they are still a small number three to the two big players, Rollins, in particular, is the market leader. They are making rapid progress in terms of building scale.

But, yes, undoubtedly, if one of those two starts to get very, very aggressive competitively then that could be a threat. But it's such a nice industry and it's so local, what tends to happen is, you tend to have dominant market shares in particular geographies within the country and you sort of leave each other alone. So, it is a risk, but hopefully a manageable one.

Wall: And what's the second stock today?

Murphy: The second stock I'm really keen on at the moment is Tesco (TSCO).

Wall: Pretty controversial.

Murphy: Yeah, it's certainly, I'm sure, will raise some eyebrows, but actually I think over the last 18 months, again, under a new management team, Dave Lewis has come in and has really taken hold of Tesco and focused on rejuvenating the core business, which is the U.K. There are lots of other bits, but the U.K. is the dominant piece of the business. And after several years of having a vicious circle of declining volumes in particular, they have really set about just putting the basics right, putting the service right, putting the pricing right, getting the ranging right.

Wall: Coming back to the U.K.

Murphy: And just focusing much more on the U.K.; all the distractions of America have gone and so forth. And what we've seen now is for the first time in about six years we've seen some genuine volume growth coming through the business. And volume growth is so important for a food retailer because when you get volume growth, your suppliers are much happier because they are selling more to you, they give you better discounts and you can invest that in price to give the better offer the consumer and you can keep a bit for yourself and grow your profits and that is critical. And Tesco are still the dominant player in the U.K., 28% market share by a major factor. So, as they can get that volume growth wheel turning, they get backed away from a vicious circle to the virtuous circle and the business should start to see some really good profits growth.

Wall: And the accounting scandal and the threat of Aldi and Lidl, those things that you think actually are manageable?

Murphy: I think the accounting thing has been put to bed. That's one of the first things that Dave Lewis did when he joined the company. Aldi and Lidl, very, very important competitors, won't go away. They currently have about 10% market share in the U.K. and they will take more share, but Tesco have 28%. I would be much more worried for some of the other supermarkets in the U.K. than I would be for Tesco. Of course, you got to take them seriously as a competitor, which Tesco now are doing, but actually I think there is plenty of scope for them to thrive and the dominant market player to thrive as well.

Wall: And what's the third and final stock?

Murphy: The third stock is a company called Micro Focus (MCRO), which many people probably won't have heard of. They are a business that basically support software systems for companies and the systems that have been running for many, many years, legacy systems they are called that aren't necessarily being renewed now, but they are so complicated and so important to the infrastructure of the company that they still need them to run. So, Micro Focus tends to provide all the support for these big old mainframe systems for many, many companies around the globe. And what I like about that not dissimilar to Rentokil is it's a very steady predictable business.

Wall: Visibility on earnings.

Murphy: Good visibility, lots of repeat business, lots of subscription business. It's vital for the companies, they have to have these systems working and there aren't many people around still to support them. So, Micro Focus is doing a great job with their existing business and what they are also doing is buying other legacy software businesses. They are in the process of buying another one at the moment called Serena Software America which they then just add on to the platform, manage the declining asset very effectively, generate lots of cash flow and again keep returning that cash to shareholders. And it's been a great story over the few years and I think there are still many, many years for this business to go.

Wall: Simon, thank you very much.

Murphy: Pleasure. Thank you.

Wall: This is Emma Wall for Morningstar. Thank you for watching.
After nearly a decade in education, Santa Rita Elementary counselor Yvette Lozano isnt just good, shes getting better.

Among other tasks, Lozano coordinates the schools mentoring program with Kids Hope USA, which pairs an at-risk student with a caring, responsible adult volunteer  typically someone from Christ Church Midland. It is a real-life collective impact model in action. She calls the mentor program a vital resource for our campus and a huge support system for our students. It is important the community know how much their support is appreciated on all campuses.

Lozano wants to help provide another support unit for student and help her students become successful individuals both in an educational setting and in the community. She continues to grow and adapt with all the challenges that impact educators and does so in a way that she has been selected a Classroom Pioneer.

The Midland native holds a bachelors degree in history and a masters degree in education counseling from University of Texas of the Permian Basin. She has been in education for 10 years -- all with Midland ISD.

How, and why, do you make a difference in Midlands educational landscape?

Every day I have the opportunity to build someone up and provide them with a system of support. As a counselor I have the opportunity to interact not only with one grade level but the entire campus. One of my goals as a school counselor is to help the students on my campus become successful individuals both in an educational setting and in the community.

Why did you choose a career in education?

I chose a career in education because I wanted to make a difference. I wanted a career path in which I knew I was going to make a positive impact in some manner. In high school I worked as a kindergarten assistant at Travis Elementary. Through that experience I knew early on that I wanted to pursue a career in education. Every day is a new adventure when working in education. Education can be a very challenging career choice, although working with children is very rewarding.

How have you moved beyond the basic curriculum and found innovative ways to reach your students?

In teaching my guidance lessons, I try my best to make the activities interactive and hands-on. When working with such a broad range of ages, it is important I make sure each lesson is age-appropriate. I attempt to use different approaches that fit the needs of each class or grade levels. At times I will invite guest speakers to talk to our students. Each year I offer different types of awards for children or I hold different types of celebrations in order to keep our students motivated. It is important that our children are excited about coming to school each day.

What is the one lesson you want to impart on every student who enters your classroom?

The one lesson I want our students to learn is the importance and value of their character. I want each student who crosses my path to know that they have ability within themselves to achieve greatness.

How do you inspire your peers, colleagues and others aiming to make a difference in Midland ISD?

I attempt inspire others around me by displaying a positive attitude. I also make an effort to be a support system not only to the children on my campus but also to my colleagues.

Has the role of being an educator changed since your first year as a teacher? If so, how?

As with any profession, you grow. I feel I have gained more knowledge and experience each year I have worked in education. It is also amazing to see the growth in technology since my first year of teaching. More resources are available at your fingertips than in years past.

What are your professional goals for the future?

I strive to be a life-long learner. I will continue to attend trainings, workshops and courses in order to continue to learn new techniques and approaches as a school counselor.

What is the greatest challenge to being an educator in Midland today?

One of the greatest challenges I feel educators face everywhere is the impact social media has had on our students. With such easy access to the Internet/social media our children are being exposed to so many new things at such a young age. Social media has really taken over this generation and at times has proven to be harmful to our students.

What support can Midlanders provide you and other educators?

At Santa Rita we have a wonderful mentor program. We have mentors through Kids Hope USA who are members of Christ Church Midland. Our mentor program is a vital resource for our campus and has been a huge support system for our students. It is important the community know how much their support is appreciated on all campuses.
A Midland man was arrested Friday for allegedly threatening two Arbys employees with a knife, according to court documents.

Jered M. Almeida, 28, was being held Monday on two $50,000 bonds for two second-degree felony charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and a $10,000 bond for a third-degree felony charge of evading arrest/detention with a vehicle.
While May typically means students breathe a sigh of relief and let their minds drift away from academics for a while, Midland College student Francisco Estrella will travel to Houston for a three-day stint at NASAs Johnson Space Center.

Estrella will join 215 other community college students from across the United States for NASAs Community College Aerospace Scholars project. He will participate in a five-week scholars program and then travel to the Johnson Space Center on May 22-25 to tour facilities, attend briefings led by NASA experts and interact with their engineers to learn more about careers in science and engineering, according to an MC press release.

I saw this as a great opportunity to learn more about (physics) to motivate me even more and get deep into that field, Estrella said.

Estrella also will join a team of other students to develop and test a prototype rover, forming a company infrastructure, managing a budget and developing communications and outreach, the release said.

Estrella said he applied for the project because he wants to major in physics and work either for NASA or a company with a similar mission.

I think the most important part is, were going to be able to interact with engineers, theyre going to tell us what their specific job is there, how did they get there. And so I want to learn from them ... maybe what else I have to do on the long way to my goals," Estrella said. Thats my main objective that Im looking forward to.

Estrella took a monthlong online course that included a submission of a detailed design and plan for a rover mission trip to Mars. He had to outline specifications for successful landing, drilling and analyses, including a timeline and members of his team, Estrella said.

Basically my idea was to design a drill that would look for organic compost inside the planet of Mars instead of the surface ... and specify what kind of team I would like to gather (such as) aerospace engineer, petroleum engineer, an astrophysicist, he said.

The Chihuahua, Mexico, native began attending MC in August 2015. During this school year, he participated in an electron research project with MC Physics Instructor Jeremy Lusk.

About the time of the NASA trip is when Estrella likely will find out where he will continue his education. He said he submitted applications to seven schools, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rice University, Cornell University and Dartmouth College.

Follow Cassie on Twitter at @Cassie_Burton51
Midland ISD trustees on Monday addressed two major items concerning district elementary schools by redrawing some boundary lines and changing hours at magnet schools.

The board unanimously approved two changes to boundary lines affecting Yarbrough, Scharbauer and Travis elementaries. Yarbroughs current enrollment is 715, and next school year likely could increase close to the schools maximum capacity of 800 students.

Before the presentation, Superintendent Ryder Warren acknowledged that any changes would pose difficulties on families with children attending those schools, but these changes are expected to be the last to be made in a long time. The boundary lines were redrawn last year for the first time in more than 20 years, according to previous Reporter-Telegram articles.

I think the changes that were going to propose ... we have things set now for a long period of time, unless something unforeseen happens and we get growth exponentially even more so than weve done in the past," Warren said.

The Airline Park subdivision, which contains 155 students, was moved from within west Midlands Yarbrough's boundary line to neighboring Scharbauers. To prevent Scharbauer from overcrowding, 100 students who live south of Interstate 20 were moved east from Scharbauers attendance boundary into Travis.

The projected student enrollments after proposed boundary adjustments were 645 students at Yarbrough, 566 students at Scharbauer (out of 680 capacity) and 753 students (out of 800 capacity) at Travis, according to a presentation by administrative staff.

One of the most important things we did is, we utilized everything we did last spring to make sure our buildings last as long as they can with their enrollment, Warren said after the presentation. This is as good as we can do with the numbers that we have.

Last months school board meeting included talk about changing Milam Elementary Schools boundary lines because the school has about a 70 percent occupation rate that is expected to decrease in the coming years, according to a previous Reporter-Telegram article. No action was taken on Milam.

Also at Mondays board meeting, members unanimously approved a change in the school day for all three magnet schools -- Bowie Fine Arts Academy, Washington Math and Science Institute and Pease Communications and Technology. School will begin at 8 a.m. and end at 3:45 p.m. A minimum of 45 minutes of each school day is to be dedicated to the magnet schools theme.

The schools also will have a one-hour after-school program, but transportation will not be provided by the district when students are released after the one-hour program. Changes will be effective next school year, Warren said.

Two campuses also dedicated one day a month to professional development period for teachers after school hours, previously a major difference between magnet school teachers and the rest of MISD teachers.

We dont have the minutes in the day to provide adequate professional development for our teachers, to give them the support they need to truly understand the curriculum theyre teaching, the teaching methods, and then on top of that ... the magnet school components of whatever campus that theyre on, Warren said after the meeting.

The campuses differ, however, on which students are eligible for after-school programs and specifics about the after-school program.

Pease fourth- through sixth-graders can stay after school; both core subject and special area teachers will stay for the program; both mono- and bilingual students can stay after school, and all Wednesdays there will not be the after-school program to allow teacher professional development.

Bowie also will allow only fourth- through sixth-graders to stay after school; special area teachers will stay but not core subject instructors, and the after-school program will take place every day.

Washington will allow all students to stay for its after-school program; core subject and special area teachers will stay to instruct, and one Wednesday a month there will not be the after-school program to allow teacher professional development.

Parents at last months school board meeting voiced their concern about arranging pickup in the event of one child being old enough to stay for after-school programming, but their sibling was too young.

Warren said the district considered those concerns but said that the issue is not a new one for MISD parents in general -- just magnet school parents. Other campuses already have after-school programs in place that mean parents sometimes figure out separate travel plans for their children.

This came down to we had to do something for our teachers, Warren said.

Follow Cassie on Twitter at @Cassie_Burton51.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP)  The Texas agriculture commissioner spent at least $1,120 in taxpayer money to travel to Oklahoma last year. Sid Miller says he made the trip to meet with elected officials, but the Houston Chronicle reported that while there he may have received a Jesus shot that supposedly offers long-term relief from pain. Heres a look at the procedure:



Q: WHAT IS A JESUS SHOT?

A: An anti-inflammatory injection that is supposed to reduce chronic pain. It is available only through its developer, Dr. John Michael Lonergan in Oklahoma, and reportedly costs $300.



Q: WHO IS LONERGAN?

A: In 2004, Lonergan was convicted in Ohio of eight felonies, including health care and mail fraud and tax evasion. His medical license was revoked by that state, and he was sentenced to two years in prison.

Lonergan is now licensed to practice medicine in Oklahoma. A 1976 graduate of the University of the Texas School of Medicine at San Antonio, his specialties are pediatrics, anesthesiology and emergency medicine.

His medical license lists Lonergans practice at the Oklahoma Health and Wellness Center in Weatherford, west of Oklahoma City. Calls there were referred to a cellphone belonging to Lonergans secretary. She did not return messages Tuesday.



Q: WHATS IN THE SHOT?

A: Lonergan has not said. But Mary Schrick, owner of Full Circle Health in Edmond, Oklahoma, which once housed Lonergans practice, has written that it contains Dexamethasone, Kenalog and vitamin B12.

Dexamethasone is a hormone used to treat disorders including arthritis. Kenalog is a brand name for a synthetic anti-inflammatory medication. A B12 deficiency can cause joint pain.

Schrick wrote about the procedure in a 2014 issue of Thrive Magazine, a health and wellness periodical where she serves on the board of directors. She reported that the dosage differs depending on the patients general health, age, weight, medical history and so on. The administering doctor, she said, performs a thorough one-hour review with each patient to rule out allergies and interactions with other medications.



Q: WHY IS IT CALLED A JESUS SHOT?

A: An ordained minister, Schrick wrote that Jesus shot is a term of endearment coined by Dr. Lonergan. He credits Jesus with the idea to combine the ingredients in one injection. She said that her clinic did not use the term and instead referred to the procedure as inflammation protocol.



Q: WHAT DOES IT DO?

A: Schrick wrote that the shot has been mischaracterized in the media, saying: There is no claim that the injection cures pain for life.



Q: DOES IT WORK?

A: Miller, 60, says he suffers from chronic pain exacerbated by his side career as a rodeo cowboy. He confirmed to the Chronicle that he received the shot but would not say if it came during last years trip. Asked if it worked, Miller told the newspaper: Im not going to share that with you. But its worked out good.

Lyle Kelsey, executive director of the Oklahoma Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision, said in 2014 that the board was working with the state health department and attorney generals office to learn more about the shot. But Reji Varghese, deputy director of the medical board, said Tuesday that no disciplinary action had been taken against Lonergan and that he could not comment beyond that.
Make, Create, Innovate: Design Expo 2016

More than 600 students participate in Michigan Tech's Design Expo.

What do a satellite tag anchoring system for Humpback whales, a pandemic ventilator for third world countries, a 793-mpg supermileage vehicle and a low-cost avalanche beacon have in common?

They're all student projects on display at Michigan Tech's 16th annual Design Expo on Thursday, April 14, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Memorial Union Ballroom on the Michigan Technological University campus. The event is free and open to the public.

The expo showcases the breadth and depth of undergraduate project work with more than 600 students participating. They pursue projects in two categories: Michigan Techs Enterprise and senior design programs.

Industry, Design, Enterprise

Projects and posters will on display throughout the day. A panel of judges comprised of corporate representatives and university faculty and staff will critique the projects. Many of the projects are sponsored by industry. Design Expo event sponsors include ITC Holdings, Black & Veatch, American Transmission Co, Code Blue, Kimberly-Clark, Miller Electric, Plexus, as well as Michigan Tech Alumni Association and the universitys Office of Innovation and Commercialization.

Michigan Techs innovative Enterprise program is open to all majors and facilitates interdisciplinary learning, leadership development and team-based project work. Diverse teams of first-year through graduate-level students develop products, processes, and services within their market space, with multiyear participation.

Senior Design challenges teams of highly dedicated senior-level students to explore and address real-world design challenges in their final year. The program connects students and industry sponsors through open-ended projects where teams follow the complete design process from ideation to realization.

For a complete schedule of eventsand a full list of teams and projects on display at the Expovisit www.expo.mtu.edu.

Michigan Technological University is a public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, Michigan, and is home to more than 7,000 students from 55 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigans flagship technological university offers more than 120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business and economics, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure.
Chance the Rapper has come under fire by a major publication for music that the newspaper feels "denigrates" women.

It's the New York Post.

Monday morning's edition of the New York Post featured some disparaging words about the up-and-coming rapper. The Post was angry that Chance had been named an ambassador to the Chicago White Sox, and reacted with a critical op-ed.

This disapproval apparently stems from Chance's perceivably misogynistic lyrics. The article was particularly focused on Chance's 2013 song "Smoke Again." Writer Phil Mushnick claims, because of lyrics in songs like this, Chance has presented himself as a negative role model for the children of Chicago.

Mushnick quotes a series of the "Sunday Candy" rapper's lyrics, and asks if Mayor Rahm Emanuel, MLBMLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and Reverend Jesse Jackson would feel comfortable saying his lyrics out loud in public.



"He's 22, unmarried with a child, grew up in suburban Chicago. His father had been a political operative for Chicago Mayor Harold Washington, then for Illinois Senator Barack Obama and now for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel," Mushnick writes.

Mushnick continues, claiming Chance is a "pro forma, no-upside, can't-expect-better-from-us, women-denigrating, blood-on-the-breeze rap. He's especially fond of dope and regards young women as a sub-species in over-and-out service to his immediate libidinous whims, especially oral sex."

This opinion stands in stark contrast to that of Chicago public officials and fans all over the world. In 2014, Chance was awarded "The Outstanding Youth of the Year," by the city of Chicago. Furthermore, in November of 2015, the rapper was named as the "Chicagoan of the Year" by Chicago Magazine.

Mushnick made no mention of Chance's outspoken advocacy of non-violence and his tenacious support for the #SaveChicago initiative.

It is likely this article will provoke a fair amount of backlash from loyal Chance fans.

 2015 MusicTimes.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Love & Hip Hop: ATL's season five, episode two aired last night (Monday, Apr. 11) and it was filled with drinks flying across the room, followed by fists being thrown at faces. This episode battled issues within the LGBTQ community, as well as, cheating boyfriends. This recap highlights all the craziness that went down including Tommie and Tiarra's ongoing fight, Betty Idol confronting Tammy Rivera about her husband, and so much more!

Episode two begins where the premiere episode left off: at Mimi Faust's surprise birthday party for her new girlfriend Chris. Just when Tommie and Karlie Redd thought their plan wasn't going to work, in walks Tiarra oblivious to the trap she just walked in to. Tommie began asking Tiarra personal questions, but things quickly turned sour when Tommie asked Tiarra about her parenting skills. Wondering why she's asking about her kids, Tommie admits she knows her kids and her baby daddy Scrapp Deleon because she sits on his face every night. Both women stood up and approached each other. Tiarra threw her drink which gave Tommie even more reasons to start throwing her fists. The fight was broken up by security. Meanwhile, Mimi is confused by the altercation because she didn't invite the ladies to the party, nor does she know them.

Rasheeda tells Kirk about the drama that went down at Mimi's party, but Kirk isn't surprised. He believes anything Karlie is involved in is bound to turn messy. The conversation then moves to Momma Dee barging into their store. Kirk caught all the craziness that went down in the store on the surveillance cameras. Rasheeda tells him Momma Dee accused them of betraying Scrappy by not showing up to court. Kirk decides he's going to talk to Scrappy about his disrespectful mom.

Tiarra ended up in the hospital after her run-in with Tommie. While doing research, she found out about Tommie's criminal background, as well as, photos with Tommie and her son. So, she decides to surprise Scrapp at his recording session. Scrapp admits he's been messing with Tommie for a year and Tiarra goes off. She tries to attack him, but security beat her to the punch (no pun intended). She threatens to not let Scrapp see their son or the other kids until he makes things right. By making things right, Tiarra wants Scrapp to tell Tommie that they're still romantically involved with each other and she wants to be there when it happens.

Ariane and Chris are helping Mimi pack and move into her new house. Ariane wants some clarity about Mimi's sexual identity. Mimi does not identify as a lesbian, while Chris does not identify as a female, which is why they don't consider themselves in a lesbian relationship. This only confuses Ariane more. Chris explains to Ariane that although he does not plan on altering his body, he does not see himself as female, instead as a boy trapped in a woman's body.

Ariane continues to bombard them with intimate questions, which makes Chris a little uncomfortable. The only reason he puts up with it is because she's Mimi's best friend. Ariane continues being nosey, asking questions about their sex life. Chris doesn't hesitate to let her know he can handle himself in the bedroom. Chris also revealed he's a "touch-me-not" or someone who doesn't like to be touched sexually in areas that remind them of their gender.

Scrappy and Yung Joc stop by the radio station to have a tell-all interview about what's going on in their lives. Scrappy talks about his nonexistent relationship with Bambi, as well as, his growing interest in a female he's been hanging out with lately, Betty Idol. Scrappy also lets the listeners know how serious he is about his modeling agency. Yung Joc is there promoting his new music and hoping Scrappy will give his blessing to let him start talking to Taylor.

Rasheeda, Mimi, and Tammy attend a fashion show that Bambi and D. Smith are modeling in. Tammy thinks D. Smith would be perfect to model her own clothing line. D. Smith just so happens to be best friends with Scrappy's new female friend, Betty. D. Smith meets up with Betty in the car to talk about the fashion show. Betty reveals she left the show early, because there were people in there she doesn't like (i.e. Bambi and Tammy). Betty tells her she's been working with Scrappy and swears they haven't done anything sexual...yet. She also admits she's not a fan of Tammy due to comments her husband Waka Flocka made during a radio interview about the transgender community.

Karen "KK" King meets with Tommie and she lets her know what went down at the party. KK is excited to hear that Tommie popped off on Tiarra, because she wants nothing more than to get Tiarra out of her son's life. KK then goes into detail as to the real reason she doesn't trust Tiarra, revealing she snitched on her to the cops when their family was facing legal troubles. While her sons were in jail, KK went on the run and spoke to Tiarra secretly so they could exchange information and updates. KK believes Tiarra ratted her out to the cops, which led to her own arrest.

Scrappy and Joc have a casting party for their modeling agency. Joc sees this as the perfect opportunity to push up on Taylor. Although reluctant at first, Taylor decides to take down his number and give him a chance. Kirk shows up to the event to addresses the tension between him and scrappy. Scrappy tells Kirk he did not send his mom over to their store and that he felt betrayed because they didn't help him in court. Kirk admits he didn't want to go to court in the first place. The shocking revelation made Scrappy come to the realization that they no longer have a friendship. Kirk doesn't really seem to care and walks out of the event.

D. Smith meets with Tammy about possibly modeling for her fashion line. D. Smith admits she's in the process of transitioning from male to female. She then asks Tammy about Waka's comments regarding the transgender community, to see if she agrees with him. Tammy defends her husband, stating Waka was more concerned about how Caitlyn Jenner was being glorified in the media and how these messages were translating to their daughter. Despite the misunderstanding, Tammy is still eager to get D. Smith to model her clothing line. D. Smith isn't sure about it, so she tells Tammy she'll think about it.

Scrapp brings flowers to Tommie to apologize for lying to her about Tiarra. He hopes to resolve issues between them and get on good terms with Tiarra again. Scrapp finally tells Tommie that he still smashing Tiarra. Tommie asks him if he loves her, but he can't give her a straight answer. Scrapp's main concern is to figure out how to come to a common ground with the ladies so he can see his son.

D. Smith invites Betty to her sit-down meeting with Tammy. D. Smith is hoping Betty will model for Tammy, because she doesn't think she'll be able to do it. Tammy and Betty are off to a good start at first, but when Betty brings up Waka's controversial interview things go left. Betty then questions Tammy's relevancy, claiming she's only famous because she married someone famous. Tammy quickly shuts her down by giving her some information about her entrepreneurial background. Before you know it, drinks began to fly and it was on and poppin'.

Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta airs on Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on VH1. Tune in next week for another recap of the drama.

 2015 MusicTimes.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The Billboard charts are a tricky beast, but Kanye West's new album The Life of Pablo has dominated them. Nearly two months after the album's reveal and initial Tidal-exclusive release, the "Famous" rapper's new LP has topped the charts, besting new(er) releases from Lukas Graham, Weezer and the Big Sean/Jhene Aiko project Twenty88.

According to Billboard, The Life of Pablo's debut at No. 1 is the first-ever LP to have more album equivalent units from streams than sales at No. 1. The album, which moved a total of 94,000 units, had only 28,000 (or 30 percent) of its units from sales. The rest, of course, come from all streaming services, which first started streaming TLOP last week.

The album, which was first exclusive to Tidal and West's website, is now available as a wider release, and its data was finally revealed, Billboard reported.

So, even though the odd technicality gave West his latest chart-topping album, plenty of new releases got their fair dues. Danish band Lukas Graham, best known for its hit single "7 Years," debuted at No. 3 with 59,000 units. Despite the strong single sales of "7 Years," which is spending a second week at No. 2 on the top singles chart, 38,000 of those albums were pure sales.

Other big debuts came via Weezer's latest self-titled album, dubbed "The White Album," which started at No. 4 with 49,000 units (almost exclusively from pure sales -- 45,000) and Twenty88 from the R&B duo of the same name, which debuted at No. 5 with 45,000 units.

And though there were four debuts on the chart this week, No. 2 is an old favorite: Chris Stapleton's Traveller. Like his first appearance in the top 10, which was a No. 1 position, his six-position rise was courtesy of an award show, the Academy of Country Music Awards, wherein he swept many categories. Thus, he moved 59,000 units.

Other releases are familiar, like Traveller. Former Nos. 1 from Rihanna (ANTI), Zayn (Mind of Mine), Justin Bieber (Purpose) and Adele (25) take up spots 6 through 9, in that order. Twenty One Pilots' Blurryface rounds it all out at No. 10.

 2015 MusicTimes.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The Ice Cube produced blockbuster franchise, Barbershop, is headed to theaters this Friday with its third installment, Barbershop 3: The Next Cut. The film's light and humorous plot comes with a deep-rooted uderlined message geared toward the black community that has sparked a movement, and united real life barbershops across America, in the new initiative -- National Black Barbershop Weekend.

It's the vision of Minister Paul Scott, founder of the Messianic Afrikan Nation, who has uplifted the charge to all barbershop owners to not just go see the film which stars Ice Cube, Cedric the Entertainer and rapper Eve, but to set the standard as the film suggests, to be a safe haven for African-Americnan youth, and protect them from the violence that affects so many inner city communities.

As reported by EUR, Barbershop 3: The Next Cut will be released in theaters on Friday, April 15. That date has also become the beginning of what Scott would like to see develop into a weekend for black barbershops. Scott believes that the barbershop is one of the most underecognized resources in black communities that provide what some households lack -- the presence of a prominent black male figure, and the ability to speak amongst men. Though there are many churches and other organizations available for youth, Scott believes that the barbershop is where boys in their adolescent stage of life, all the way through their adult life, will spend a lot of their time.

"While there is a church on every corner in the 'hood' , there are two barber shops," explained Scott according to EUR. " And the kid who will never set foot in a church will go to the barber shop once a week, religiously." Scott believes that the statement made in the film rings true, "nobody is gonna save us but us."

Ice Cube and Common visited Good Morning America to discuss the third installment of the Cube Vision produced film. Common, who was referred to during the interview as "the newbie" in the franchise, spoke on the importance of becoming a part of the film's cast and how the plot really hit home for him, due to the message and how it was based in his hometown of Chicago.

"I feel really connected to this whole story," explained Commong on GMA. "Dealing with the gun violence that's happening in Chicago and many cities across America, it was like this script, this story really had a heart to it, and I was like man I need to be a part of this."

Ice Cube further explained how his character, Calvin, has a 14-year-old son in the film and how he's trying to keep him out of the streets and away from the gang life, therefor the focus of the film couldn't just center around the barbershop but also needed to include the violence that's happening right outside of the barbershop.



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 2015 MusicTimes.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
We need to calm down after hearing this news about the collaboration! Just hours before the release of Taylor Swift's Midnights, the pop star gave a first look at the music videos for her highly anticipated 10th studio album. In a teaser
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Someone should sue the President for ...
Microphone and US Flag View Photos

Illinois Rep. Bob Dold delivered this weeks Republican address, talking about the growing opioid epidemic plaguing the country.

Dold was Tuesdays KVML Newsmaker of the Day. Here are his words:

In the suburbs of Chicago, somebody dies from using heroin every three days. And every single one of them leaves behind a family in grief.

I want to tell you about one in particular. His name was Alex Laliberte. He grew up in Buffalo Grovejust outside of Chicago. Alex graduated from Stevenson High School, played sports, got good grades, made a lot of friendsand had his whole life ahead of him. But then, during his sophomore year in college, he started getting sick. When he got sick, he would go to the hospital and he would get betterat least for a while. But then a few months later he would get sick, and be admitted once again. It was a vicious cycle. His family didnt know it then, but Alex was addicted to prescription drugs and was suffering from withdrawal.

And then, in 2008, just a few days after his final exams, Alex overdosed and died. He was only 20 years old.

As a father, I cant imagine the pain of losing one of my children to a drug overdose.

But sadly, too many families have experienced this loss. Heroin abuse has become an epidemic. Studies show us that people who abuse prescription drugs are much more likely to become addicted to heroinespecially teenagers, who can easily find these kinds of drugs lying around the house.

This type of abuse spans every demographic, financial situation and community. It can literally happen to anyone. Thats why the opioid epidemic demands a national response. We cant let politics get in the way of giving people a second chance at recovery.

Were doing all that we can to prevent overdoses and reduce addiction. Ive worked with the Laliberte family, and many other groups, from doctors to community leaders, to not only raise awareness but to create actionable solutions.

One of the solutions that Ive put forth is a bill called Lalis Law, named in memory of Alex, that would increase access to an overdose antidote called naloxone. Naloxone has already saved more than 70 lives in the community of Lake County, Illinois, alone in just over one year. The World Health Organization says that increasing access to this medication could save an additional 20,000 lives every year. Weve also partnered with private companies and organizations.

We will continue leading this fight at home and also in Washington, DC. Soon, the House will act to end the cycle of opioid abuse. The Senate has already passed a good bipartisan bill to combat this epidemic. And the president has put forth his ideas as well.

So there is common ground for action. By working together, we can not only save young people like Alex Laliberte from falling victim to drug abuse, but also help those in our communities struggling to get their lives back on track.

Thank you. Have a great week.

The Newsmaker of the Day is heard every weekday morning on AM 1450 KVML at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 AM.
Calaveras County Seal View Photos

San Andreas, CA  High on the Calaveras supervisors agenda this morning is a proposed stop-gap ordinance that aims to clamp down on a recent rise in speculative real estate activities from an influx of hopeful commercial marijuana cultivators.

The preamble of the draft urgency ordinance to be discussed this morning states that, in the wake of the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors Feb. 16 staff directive to prepare local medical marijuana cultivation and commerce rules, the county saw a marked influx of individuals from neighboring jurisdictions seeking to buy or lease local properties, specifically for medical cannabis grows. It also notes that cannabis-related cultivation and other commercial related activities on the rise are occurring in land use zones inconsistent with the intent of the boards established policy direction on that date.

As drafted, the urgency ordinance essentially stops the clock on new and speculative cultivation activities. It also requires all cultivation sites existing Feb. 16 or earlier to be registered and comply with prior zoning and size restrictions, pending an environmental review and adoption of a permanent ordinance. Under the urgency measure, existing sites must remain at the size they were on Feb. 16. Additionally, growers would be required to provide proof of their cultivation activities on their sites. Those who do will, in return, receive priority processing of their local zoning clearance certificates, administrative use permits, and/or conditional use permits, once the permanent ordinance is in place. In the meantime, the urgency ordinance would also ban all noncompliant cannabis cultivation, other than what is already allowed at a lawful permitted dispensary, and related commercial uses.

As several hundred people are expected to submit registration forms to the county planning department, the draft ordinance provides for the establishment of a registration fee of $220 for commercial growers; $100 for personal or caregiver cultivation as defined in the urgency rules, as the higher fee may be considered too burdensome for those at the sole use grower level. While new fees generally do not go into effect for 60 days, the county, under Government Code Section 66017(b), would be able to adopt an interim fee as part of its urgency measure. The supervisors, with a four-fifths vote, are legally allowed to extend the interim charge two more times for 30 days each while staff works in tandem to adopt a permanent fee structure under regular provisions.

A Plan For Taking Out Dead And Dying Trees

In order to tap available California Disaster Assistance Act (CDAA) funds, the county must have a functioning plan in place, so the supervisors have also slated agenda time for a detailed discussion on how the county will roll out a task force to enable tree removal and disposal operations within its jurisdiction.

The meeting documents indicate that internal multi-agency staffing and a management hierarchy will be established, joint field operations-style, similar to the one used to handle the Butte Fire recovery. As Districts 2, 3, and 4 have been identified as the hardest hit areas, supervisors from those areas are anticipated to lead the efforts. Plans to proceed include the mapping and prioritizing areas of infected trees in county-owned or maintained areas using GPS and right-of-entry forms to work with private landowners on adjacent lands.

As is being done in Tuolumne County, the Calaveras plan involves capturing and keeping very detailed records in order to secure reimbursements from the appropriate state and federal agencies awarding disaster assistance funding. Public outreach plans call for involving communities and property owners groups located in the higher Pine Belt elevations. Task force partners will include stakeholder federal and state government agencies already responsible for forestlands within the county; Sierra Pacific Industries, which holds the most privately-owned forests in Calaveras; and public utility companies with facilities to maintain in these areas such as PG&E, AT&T, Comcast and the local water districts.

Two proclamations are among the initial order of business. One thanks Resource Connection Executive Director Jeannie Hayward for seven years of community service and heroic efforts over the Butte Fire Recovery upon her suddenly announced retirement, just ahead of her plans to move out of state and provide care for a family member. The other proclaims April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month in the county. The meeting opens to the public at 9 a.m. in the supervisors chambers at the county government center (891 Mountain Ranch Road), following a closed session conference with Human Resources Director Judy Hawkins over Sheriffs Management Unit negotiations.
Signalization of Tuolumne Road at Standard Road Project Map View Photos

Sonora, CA  A $1.2 million roadway improvement project, scheduled to get underway next Monday, is likely to create traffic impacts through June.

Among Tuolumne Countys Road Fund Capital Project budget line items, the signalization of Tuolumne Road at Standard Road will be largely financed through traffic mitigation fees paid by Black Oak Casino Resort and the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians that channel into the countys Tribal Road Mitigation Fund.

Since it is a highway safety improvement project, state revenues are also being tapped, according to Duke York, deputy director of Tuolumne County Roads. As previously reported here, the project, part of the countys 2012-2016 Capital Improvement Plan, is statutorily exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

In addition to installing a new traffic signal, plans call for road widening; dedicated right-turn lanes on both roads as well as the addition of sidewalks and a crosswalk. The Tuolumne County Transportation Agency (TCTA) was also able to provide $50,000 to cover the costs to locate a bus shelter there.

Work Crews In Place Through June

Work zones will be in place on Tuolumne Road between Blue Bell Road and Hatler Drive, as well as on Standard Road, between Tuolumne Road and Camage Avenue. Crews will be at work every weekday between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. for the duration of the project, slated for completion at the end of June. While George Reed, Inc. was awarded the project contract, subcontractors will include VSS International, Pacific Excavation, Pacific Northwest Oil, and Chrisp Company.

While the improvement work is underway, York asks that the public to be respectful of the construction zone and posted warnings, along with the inevitable delays. George Reed is planning to minimize the impacts as much as possible, he states. We have to be respectful also of the uses that currently go on at Standard Park, and so we are working with the people putting on those programs to minimize their impacts as well, he adds.

Opining, York remarks, The project will obviously benefit a lot of folks,certainly with the [Sierra Pacific Industries] mill being there, if they are hauling logs out of Tuolumne, they can get in there a little bit better. One leg of the signal is a commercial driveway that currently serves the Sierra Bible Churcha transit stop will be added, shoulder widening and a crosswalk will benefit an area that will blossom.

It is also an area that could see future growth. It was back in 2010 (reported here) that the county approved a tentative Peaceful Oaks subdivision map by SPI in Standard that includes gradual plans for a 50-acre park on lands across the road.
Sen. Berryhill Donate Life View Photos

Sacramento, CA  District 8 Republican Senator Tom Berryhill recently announced approved resolutions naming April 2016 as Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)/Donate Life Month in California.

Senator Berryhill spoke in support of the bill noting he and coauthor Senator Sharon Runner, are both transplant recipients. Details and video of his comments are in the blog April is Donate Life Month here. Berryhill notes Nationally, April has been designated as Donate Life month for the past 13th years in a row.

The 2016 Donate Life Presidential Proclamation says, Last year, the United States exceeded 30,000 annual organ transplants for the first time. Progress has been made and great promise exists, but much work remains to help the more than 120,000 Americans on the organ waiting list. This month, let us remember those we have lost and provide support to all who continue to wait and hope

The text of California House Resolution 44 is here the text of Senate Resolution 71 is here they point out in 2015, 918 Californians became organ donors and 3,417 life-saving transplants were performed the state. Sen. Berryhill says the California registry includes more than 13 million people and is the largest in the world. Despite the registrys size, the resolutions point out, 929 people died due to the shortage of available organs and 22,000 Californians await transplants representing one in five on the national waiting list. Also stated is in 2015, California had the longest waiting time and most deaths while waiting.
When it comes to political ads, presidential candidates hurl them at one another on a regular basis. Political groups also like to get in on the action. Such is the case with the Club for Growth.

In one of their recent ads, the organization said presidential candidate and Republican frontrunner Donald Trump has promised, to take care of everybody (through government-run health care and) the governments going to pay for it.

PolitiFact Florida heard the claim and gave it a FALSE rating.

PolitiFact writer Joshua Gillin says thats because Trump has clearly indicated he is against the Affordable Care Act and anything like it.

His overall plan does really involve people buying their own insurance and opening up the market more to make it more affordable. And thats not the same has government-run health care by a long shot," Gillin said.



For that reason, Gillin said the organizations comment received a FALSE rating.

SOURCES: Club for Growth takes on Trump's health care plan
LUBBOCK - Rick Perry, former governor of Texas, visited Lubbock Monday to endorse Jodey Arrington for Congressional District 19. The following is a letter written from Perry.

We all agree that Washington is broken and full of politicians who say one thing on the campaign trail and then do another after theyve gotten our votes. There is a very important runoff election in the 19th Congressional District to select who can best represent the energy, agriculture, and national security interests of West Texas and the Big County. I want yall to know I am standing firmly with Jodey Arrington.
People love a good Photoshop fail, and it appears as though the Internet gods gave it to them. Or did they?

Posh Spice Victoria Beckham recently posted a photo of herself from a Vogue China photo shoot and it looks as though the graphic artists got a little heavy-handed giving her a thigh gap. Or that's at least what many on the web so desperately want to believe.

Being the in-depth journalists we are, we researched this worldwide debate (i.e., we zoomed in on the picture) to settle it once and for all.

The verdict: Underwear oops, not Photoshop fail.

SEE ALSO: Zigazig ah: 1990's pop culture icons, then and now

Exhibit A: The crotch part of underwear is typically double-lined, making it appear brighter white than the part along the tummy. That would explain why the color appears to drastically change shades in that area. Commenters on her Instagram account have also surmised that it could be the fabric from her shirt.

Exhibit B: We feel pretty confident that Beckham's social media people are on top of this. If it was indeed a Photoshop fail (quelle horreur!), it wouldn't still be up on her Instagram account for days now.

While Victoria Beckham has been found not guilty in this crime against modeling, take a look at the gallery below of the former Spice Girl's style evolution.

Still not convinced? Let us know in the comments section below whether you think this is a Photoshop fail or an underwear oops.
A toddler was killed after he was accidentally run over during an Easter celebration.

Details of Fatal Easter Accident

According to reports, a 3-year-old boy was killed over Easter weekend when he was accidentally run over and dragged by a sport utility vehicle.

According to the Nacogdoches County Sheriffs Office, deputies were sent to a home in the Garrison area after receiving reports of a child who had been run over. Family members told police that the accident happened on private property and that the parents of the child were already headed to the hospital with the boy in their vehicle.

A police officer was able to find the familys vehicle on Highway 59. The officer pulled over the vehicle and immediately began CPR on the child. CPR was performed for nine minutes until emergency crews arrived at the scene.

The boy was taken to the hospital via ambulance where he was later pronounced dead. The boy has been identified as Romeo Tejeda Castro.

Authorities Investigate the Scene of the Accident

Investigators determined that the accident happened during a family gathering as children were about to start their Easter egg hunt. One of the family members was going to the store in their SUV and didnt see the boy in front of the vehicle.

The Nacogdoches County Sheriffs Office and the Garrison police Department are conducting an ongoing investigation into the circumstances of the accident.

No charges had been filed at the time of this report.

Important Information About Pedestrian Accidents

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are thousands of wrongful deaths every year as the result of pedestrian accidents:

A total of 4,735 pedestrians were killed in traffic accidents in the United States in 2013.

In 2013, one in every five children under the age of 14 who were killed in traffic accidents was a pedestrian.

More than 150,000 pedestrians were treated in emergency rooms for non-fatal injuries sustained in traffic accidents.

Editors Note: This content is made possible by Thomas J. Henry. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of The San Antonio Express-News' or mySanAntonio.com's editorial staff. Learn more about our advertising products at www.hearstmediasanantonio.com.
A father from Southern California was fatally injured when he tried to save his daughter from being electrocuted in a swimming pool.

Details about the Electrocution Accident

Multiple sources are reporting that 43-year-old Jim Tramel was killed on Easter Sunday when he attempted save his 9-year-old daughter from being electrocuted in a swimming pool.

According to the police, Tramel of Burlingame, California was pulled from the swimming pool after jumping in to rescue his daughter. Tramel transported to Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs where he was later pronounced dead.

The daughter of the man and five others were also injured in the accident. The young girl was still listed in critical condition at Loma Linda University Medical Center on Wednesday.

Police initially received reports that two people had turned blue after jumping into a pool and responded to the call in the residential neighborhood at about 4 p.m. on Sunday. Police in Palm Springs believe the accident is to blame on faulty wiring.

An investigation is ongoing as authorities attempt to confirm what caused the water to become electrified.

Important Information About Electrical Safety and Swimming Pools

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, there were a total of 14 fatalities related to electrocutions in swimming pools between 2003 and 2014.

Signs that a swimming pool has become electrified are:

Swimmers may feel a tingling sensation in the water.

Muscle cramps may be experienced.

The swimmer may have difficulty moving or may not be able to move at all.

The feeling as if someone is holding them in place.

Contact an Experienced Child Injury Attorney

At Thomas J. Henry Injury Attorneys, we have the experience and resources to handle your childs case. If your child has been the victim of a serious injury, contact our offices. We represent clients/victims all over the country. We are available 24/7, nights and weekends.

Editors Note: This content is made possible by Thomas J. Henry. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of The San Antonio Express-News' or mySanAntonio.com's editorial staff. Learn more about our advertising products at www.hearstmediasanantonio.com.
Co-CEOs and brothers, Zuber and Mohsin Issa, have been named the 2016 NACS Insight European Convenience Industry Leader of the Year award to be accepted at upcoming Convenience Summit - Europe.

LONDON  Zuber Issa and Mohsin Issa, co-CEOs of Euro Garages, have jointly been named the 2016 NACS Insight European Convenience Industry Leader of the Year. The award, sponsored by PepsiCo Inc., will be presented during the NACS Insight Convenience Summit  Europe in London on June 9.

Based in the United Kingdom, Euro Garages was founded in 2001 by brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa with the acquisition of a single gas station. By purchasing underperforming sites and redeveloping them, the brothers established Euro Garages as one of the U.K.s fastest-growing forecourt operators, quickly becoming known for their innovative approach to forecourt trading and establishing high-profile partnerships with BP, Esso, Shell, Starbucks, Subway, Burger King, Greggs and Spar.

PepsiCo congratulates Mohsin and Zuber for winning the prestigious European Convenience Leader of the Year Award, said Angus MacDonald, vice president of sales, PepsiCo UK and Ireland. Through their vision and entrepreneurship, the Issa brothers are transforming the convenience retail market into a one-stop-shop for European consumers and global brands.

Award judges agreed that the Issa brothers are demonstrating convenience industry leadership across the European market. Through their successful growth and acquisitions strategy, the retail firm is redefining the customer experience by bringing multiple brands under one umbrella, creating a single stop for exceptional foodservice, convenience store merchandise and fuel. This strategy also allows Euro Garages to cater to multiple customer bases, creating momentum for the retail firm to innovate its offer throughout various dayparts.

I am delighted that Zuber and Mohsin Issa have won this award, which recognizes that progress in our sector is often driven by the energies, determination and vision of individual leaders, said Dan Munford, managing director of Insight. The Euro Garages U.K. story began with a single gas station. Hundreds of store openings and many new-to-industry site builds later, the Issa brothers are positioned for an even more exciting European and international future.

As winners, Euro Garages will deliver a keynote address on June 9 at the NACS Insight Convenience Summit  Europe, sharing the companys core business principles, operational execution and the key trends impacting todays convenience retail industry landscape. Immediately before the address, joint owner Mohsin Issa will receive the award and participate in an interactive conversation with NACS President and CEO Henry Armour.

Now in its third year, the NACS Insight Convenience Summit  Europe brings together convenience and fuel retailing industry professionals from around the world to discuss new ideas and gain new commercial connections. This years event kicks off in Stockholm, Sweden, on June 5, heads to London on June 7 and wraps up in Dublin, Ireland on June 11. At the June 9 NACS Insight International Convenience Retail Awards ceremony, honorees will also be announced in the categories of International Convenience Retailer of the Year Award, European Convenience Retail Sustainability Award and European Technology Implementation Retailer of the Year.



Mohsin (left) and Zuber (right) Issa, co-CEOs of Euro Garages, have jointly been named the 2016 NACS Insight European Convenience Industry Leader of the Year.
The latest NACS Convenience Matters podcast focuses on how retailer Larry Jackson has reinvented his c-store business with the Bullhead Pit Beef food truck.

ALEXANDRIA, Va.  Columbia, Maryland-based convenience store operator Larry Jackson is featured in the latest NACS Convenience Matters podcast about trends related to convenience retailing.

Jackson, who is managing director of GTG Business Resources LLC, which operates both Good To Go Markets and the new Bullhead Pit Beef food truck, talks about retail trends and how his business has expanded from a traditional convenience store to a new food truck concept.

Convenience stores must be incredibly nimble to respond to customer demand, especially related to fresh and prepared food, said podcast co-host Jeff Lenard, vice president of strategic industry initiatives at NACS. In some cases, stores are evolving beyond their physical location with food trucks, like the pit beef concept that is drawing raves in the greater Columbia market.

Jackson is featured in the podcast The Ultimate Good to Go, which can be downloaded on iTunes by searching for Convenience Matters. It also is available at www.nacsonline.com/podcasts.
The long-awaited Food and Drug Administrations rule to regulate cigar and e-cigarettes is believed to be coming later this month.

WASHINGTON  The Hill reports that the Food and Drug Administration could be ready to release its long-awaited final rule to regulate cigars and electronic cigarettes this month.

FDA spokesman Michael Felberbaum told the news source that he did not have a timeline for the rules release, while Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, believes a final rule is imminent. "I do believe they will come out this month," he said. [The FDA is] facing a serious deadline given the end of the presidential year. Having said that, the proposed rule came out in April 2014 and last spring they said they would be done by summer. Then last June they said they'd be done by the end of the summer. I guess they never said which year."

Delaying the rule has led to speculation as to whats holding up the FDA.

Ray Story, CEO of the Tobacco Vapor Electronic Cigarette Association (TVECA), told The Hill that he believes the FDA is hung up on one provision: a mandate that requires any nicotine delivery devices that hit stores after Feb. 15, 2007, to apply retroactively for approval. This regulation, according to Story, would wipe out the e-cigarette industry. "Even though [the] FDA sees it as a serious issue, it cannot change it," he said. "It requires a change of the law."

However, the FDA has indicated that it does not have the authority to change the Feb. 15, 2007, date because it was signed into law in 2009 as part of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. Story told the Hill that U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) is working on legislation to change the date and ensure e-cigarettes are not regulated as traditional tobacco products.

"Vaping is not the same as smoking traditional tobacco and it shouldn't be treated that way," Joe Kasper, Duncan's chief of staff, told The Hill. "Vaping is really a proxy war for anti-tobacco forces and there's nothing they want more than to continue associating vaping with regular tobacco."

Kasper also dismissed the FDA's claims that the agency's hands are tied by the statute: "If [the FDA] signaled support, this would be done by now and so many small businesses nationwide wouldn't have the anxiety that they do."

Meanwhile, Story believes a legal challenge to the FDAs rule will be necessary should the agency act before Congress does. "If they push a rule forward, litigation will follow and stop [the] FDA dead in their tracks, and at that time they will have egg on their face," he told The Hill.
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TKW Consulting Engineers Inc. said Chandler Morris has joined the firm in the Fort Myers office.

Avant-Yarde Inc. said Christopher J. FitzGerald has joined the company as director of paver operations for Avant-Yarde's Interlocking Paver Division.

The Florida SouthWestern State College Foundation named Kevin Anderson as its director of corporate sponsorships.

Amanda Thompson has been named associate creative director at McQuaid Marketing & Promotions.

Honors

Collier County Medical Society said Dr. Robert Tober, Collier County medical director of emergency medical services, is the recipient of the Second Annual CCMS Physician of the Year Award.

Bob Edwards, managing directorinvestments, senior PIM portfolio manager of Moran Edwards Asset Management Group of Wells Fargo Advisors, and his wife Terry were honored with the Impact Award from the Naples Art Association.

To submit your business news directly online, go to naplesnews.com/BIZwire or email news@naplesnews.com.
In this 2015 file photo, Marco Island resident Peter Ferreira listens to proceedings in a Collier County courtroom on the third day of his trial on charges of vehicular homicide trial on Wednesday, May 20, 2015, in East Naples. (David Albers/Staff)

By Jacob Carpenter of the Naples Daily News

At Peter Ferreira's trial last year, jurors heard how he had several drinks in the hours before he slammed into a car on Marco Island, killing a 91-year-old woman.

They heard that testimony even though Ferreira was charged with vehicular homicide  not DUI manslaughter  and nobody at the crash scene suspected Ferreira was drunk.

Three appellate judges will now decide if the decision to allow the testimony warrants a new trial for Ferreira, who was convicted and sentenced to 14 years in prison. At oral arguments Tuesday in Ferreira's appeal, the judges raised several questions about the decision, with no clear consensus on which way they're leaning.

"This is, to me, the most disturbing part of the case, and I need you to convince me why it's harmless," Judge John L. Badalamenti said, directing a question to a lawyer for the state.

Investigators said Ferreira was speeding on Marco Island in November 2013 when he blew through a stop sign, crashing into the broad side of a car carrying Theresa Lesniak, 91. Two seconds before the crash, Ferreira's speed was clocked at 77 mph, far above the 30-mph speed limit, according to black box data.

Emergency responders and law enforcement officers didn't suspect Ferreira was intoxicated, and no breath or blood tests were performed. Investigators need probable cause of intoxication to perform such tests.

Investigators, however, found video evidence and witnesses showing Ferreira consumed eight drinks in a roughly four-hour stretch at a bar. His last drink came about 90 minutes before the crash.

Senior Judge Radford Sturgis allowed jurors to hear that evidence at trial, though he cautioned prosecutors not to make it a focal point of the case. Prosecutors and Assistant Attorney General Bilal Faruqui, who argued on behalf of the state Tuesday, said the evidence of drinking should be allowed because it can help prove recklessness, an underlying element of vehicular homicide. Faruqui pointed to two prior Florida court decisions that allowed such evidence.

But Ferreira's lawyer, Donald Day, noted that in those two cases, there was testimony or evidence that established the defendant's blood alcohol content. There was no such estimation in Ferreira's case.

"There wasn't a single witness to testify that the defendant had any alcohol in his blood at the time of the accident," Day said during oral arguments. He added that jurors could have been improperly influenced by the alcohol-related testimony.

Associate Judge James Case pressed Day on whether the testimony about Ferreira's alcohol consumption was significant enough to warrant a new trial.

"I'm not sure where you're coming from on saying there's an overemphasis on that," Case said. "The closing argument (by prosecutors at trial) was proportionately and fairly modest on the issue of alcohol."

The appellate judges will issue an opinion or affirm the conviction in the coming weeks or months, with no set date for a decision.

Related stories:
District School Board of Collier County. (Carolina Hidalgo/Staff)

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By Melhor Leonor of the Naples Daily News

In the upcoming weeks, Collier County school board members will decide whether to allow the district's superintendent to settle lawsuits in their place.

During Tuesday's school board meeting, members debated a policy change that would grant the district's superintendent the power to settle lawsuits  including workers' compensation claims  under $40,000.

District counsel Jon Fishbane said the policy change would expedite the settlement process and aligns with similar policies other districts have put in place. Fishbane said that the intention is saving time spent by the district's legal team.

But some members on the board questioned the need for such a policy. In the last three years, the district has settled 24 suits that would fit the proposed policy's criteria, which is on average less than 10 per year.

"I would understand if there are dozens of cases and it's just overwhelming to try to meet. But since I came on the board, there have only been a handful," said board member Kelly Lichter.

Steven Bracci, a local parent and attorney who has been involved with multiple lawsuits against the school district, opposed the change and said that it violated the state's Sunshine Law.

Right now, school board members meet with the district's counsel in private to hear the details of the settlement and vote to settle the case during the subsequent school board meeting. The proposed policy change would mean that district lawyers could make settlement decisions with a phone call to the superintendent.

Bracci pointed to language in the "Government-in-the-Sunshine Manual" compiled by the Florida Office of the Attorney General, which states that "the decision to settle a case ... is a decision which must be voted upon in a public meeting."

That language comes from a 1996 case involving the school board of Duval County that reached the Florida 1st District Court of Appeals.

Board member Roy Terry supported the policy change, but asked that the district's legal staff report on settlements to the board on a quarterly basis. Board member Kathleen Curatolo also supported the policy change.

Fishbane said Tuesday he will review the policy  and Sunshine Law claims made by Bracci  and respond during May's school board meeting.

Also Tuesday, school board members approved the district's contracts with four private providers for afterschool-care services. The vote will cement the changes coming to a handful of schools next year.

Lely Elementary Principal Christa Crehan, who is wrapping up her first year at the helm of the school, will join eight other principals running their own programs instead of contracting with a private vendor for the service. Lely Elementary was previously served by the Greater Marco Family YMCA, which next year will serve two Collier County traditional public schools.

Tommie Barfield Elementary and Shadowlawn Elementary both will be served by After School Programs, a nonprofit based in Broward County that last year contracted with four Collier County traditional public schools.
District School Board of Collier County. (Carolina Hidalgo/Staff)

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By Melhor Leonor of the Naples Daily News

Seven Collier County elementary schools have voted down proposals to bring uniforms to their schools, disqualifying the district from cash proffered by state lawmakers in exchange for standard student attire.

The votes were cast by the school advisory councils at district elementary schools not currently calling for students to wear collared shirts and solid-colored clothing to school.

Among the district's 24 elementary schools, only seven do not have uniform policies. All 10 middle schools have uniforms.

At Osceola Elementary, the school advisory committee voted unanimously against the proposal, with one member saying that uniforms could lead to "students losing individuality."

School advisory committees, mandated by law, are made up of the school principal, teachers, education support employees, parents, students and other community representatives.

"I think uniforms are good in middle schools. But in elementary schools, I don't think there's a need for them," said Osceola council member Robin Azzopardi, a mother of two. "I have two daughters. They're not into polos."

At Veterans Memorial Elementary, the council voted 10-2 to oppose uniforms. At Laurel Oak Elementary, the vote was 19-1, also in opposition. At Pelican Marsh, the council voted unanimously against it. The other schools that also rejected the uniform proposal were Lake Park, Big Cypress and Sea Gate Elementary.

The votes of the committees seemingly align with the sentiments of parents, students and staff at the seven schools.

Surveys sent out by school principals at each of the schools show that at some, preference was split.

At Osceola, 54 percent of parents and 81 percent of teachers were in favor of uniforms, while 66 percent of students surveyed opposed it.

At Laurel Oak, just over half of the 343 parents surveyed voted in favor. Students at that school voted decidedly against a uniform policy.

Meanwhile, at Pelican Marsh, parents and students surveyed opted against uniforms.

The surveys included a letter crafted by the school district, explaining the state law that would grant the district $10 per student  but only if all elementary and middle schools followed uniform policies.

Senate Bill 672, and its accompanying House bill, titled "Students Attired for Education Act," was signed by Gov. Rick Scott in January.

Though typically referred to as uniforms, the bill actually calls for "standard student attire," which the Florida Department of Education last year defined as solid-colored polos and bottoms in solid colors such as khaki or navy blue.

The bill's creators argued that such policies improved school safety and discipline by "encouraging students to express their individuality through personality and academic achievements, rather than outward appearance."

The bill language also credited uniforms with easing financial pressure on parents, who may be burdened by social pressure to buy brand-name clothing. Standard student attire, it reads, also minimizes social pressures to wear "colors to show gang affiliation."

All in all, the school district could collect in $300,000 per year. Last year, the first year the money was awarded, only eight districts took up the state's offer.

This year, one change will allow individual charter schools with uniform policies to accept funds. Last year, charters like Collier County's Mason Classical Academy did not receive any funds because its sponsoring district did not qualify.
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By Patrick Riley and Maryann Batlle of the Naples Daily News

Lee County builders want to shut off Estero Fire Rescue District's sprinkler ordinance.

The Lee Building Industry Association, Inc., and the Florida Home Builders Association filed a joint lawsuit in Lee County Circuit Court in an attempt to halt the fire district's recent sprinkler ordinance.

The lawsuit also asks a judge to review whether the fire district followed state law when it created the ordinance, according to Chene Thompson, a private lawyer hired by the builders.

Thompson said Lee County has rules that conflict with Estero's ordinance, and they need a judge to sort it out.

"We are kind of stuck in the middle," Thompson said. "We want to resolve some of the uncertainty."

During their meeting Tuesday, Estero fire commissioners agreed to hold a closed-door executive session next week to discuss the lawsuit with the district's lawyer, Charles Schoech. That meeting starts at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the fire district headquarters on Three Oaks Parkway.

Executive sessions are allowed under state law when public boards want to seek legal advice. A certified court reporter must record the session.

Commissioner Dick Schweers, who serves as the fire commission's chairman, said the sprinkler ordinance is meant to keep Estero residents safe.

"Our charge is to protect property and save lives," Schweers said.

In October, Estero fire commissioners signed off on the ordinance that requires all newly built one- and two-family homes within the district to install automatic fire-sprinkler systems. They later decided to delay enacting the rules until July 31, following pushback from Lee County officials.

The builders' 27-page legal complaint argues that they have no way to challenge the fire district's sprinklers resolution, that the fire district's economic impact study of the ordinance is deficient and that the fire district exceeded its authority.

The lawsuit also contends there is a "strong likelihood" builders will be "irreparably harmed" if the sprinkler ordinance is enforced.

County Attorney Richard Wesch and Lee's Director of Community Development David Loveland penned letters to the district last fall that raised similar concerns about the ordinance and asked how the fire district plans to enforce the new requirements.

In an email statement attributed to Wesch, the county said, "There is no situation in Florida at this time that mirrors the situation Lee County finds itself in with this fire district action."
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By Maryann Batlle of the Naples Daily News

Lee County may donate 160 acres of county-owned land within a regional watershed to Florida Gulf Coast University.

At their April 19 meeting, county commissioners are expected to consider granting FGCU permission to inspect a site in Flint Pen Strand before acquisition. Flint Pen Strand is in south Lee County, east of Bonita Springs. It is part of the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed (CREW), more than 60,000 acres in Lee and Collier counties that provide "natural flood protection, water purification and critical aquifer recharge," according to the South Florida Water Management District.

In 1991, Lee County agreed to donate 320 acres from Flint Pen Strand or Six-Mile Cypress Slough to the university for use "as an environmental laboratory," according to the resolution passed at the time.

Lee County provided the following statement by email after the Daily News declined to send questions in advance: "This is a step in fulfilling the county's commitment of certain things that it offered back in 1991 to get the state to locate the 10th state university in Lee County."

A spokeswoman for FGCU was not immediately available for comment late Monday.

The county commission meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. at the Old Lee County Courthouse in downtown Fort Myers.
Tavira at Bonita Bay has become the first community in Bonita Springs to join the Blue Zones project. Residents of the community joined together for a celebration after receiving the recognition. Submitted photo

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By Liz Freeman of the Naples Daily News

Tavira at Bonita Bay has taken the lead in Lee County with the Blue Zones Project.

The luxury high-rise building with 90 residences is the first community in Bonita Springs to gain a Blue Zones recognition to promote healthier options for improved longevity.

Tavira is a close-knit community and was that way before embracing the Blue Zones approach toward healthier living, maintaining connections to one another and sense of purpose, said Cris Hayes, a resident of Tavira and chairwoman of the community's Blue Zones committee.

Most of the roughly 180 residents in Tavira are retirees but there are younger people in their 50s and 60s, she said. Regardless of age differences, what seems universal in Tavira is a focus on good health.

Hayes, 66, attended a Blue Zones kickoff meeting in Naples last November and was enthused about Tavira getting involved. She and other supporters at the high-rise came together and a presentation about the initiative was done in January to Tavira residents.

The Blue Zones project is based on the world travels of Dan Buettner, who identified communities worldwide where people have great longevity and the shared traits that makes that it possible. He wrote a New York Times bestseller about those nine principles of longevity.

The NCH Healthcare System is spearheading a long-term campaign for Southwest Florida to earn a Blue Zones designation, which involves making enough changes in one's own lifestyle, workplace and recreational activities so healthier choices are easier.

Hayes said the Blue Zones project is a natural fit for Tavira because the community already had a number of programs that are health oriented and the Blue Zones helped expand them.

New walking groups were formed, healthy food demonstrations have been expanded, a monthly potluck is planned based on healthy foods and there are other activities, she said.

"Blue Zones is about nurturing friendships and having support," Hayes said.

The high rise already had a program called Tavira Cares which provides support like running errands or walking dogs when residents experience setbacks, like an illness, she said.

To earn the designation as a Blue Zones "participating organization," a minimum of 25 percent of residents had to take the personal pledge to follow program principles.

"We actually were closer to 50 percent of the community who signed the form," she said. "I didn't have to do a big sell because things were already here."

Hayes hopes Tavira serves as a model to get more communities within Bonita Bay to take on the Blue Zones initiative.

"We want to be an inspiration to others in Bonita Bay," she said.
Corey Perrine/Staff (2) Robert Humphrey, 86, of Naples and Melvin Village, N.H., right, works with physical therapist Lisa Jones during a rehabilitation session Friday at NCH Healthcare System's Downtown Briggs Outpatient rehabilitation location in Naples. After a year of wrangling between the federal government and national hospital leaders over rule details that dramatically alters how Medicare reimburses for new hips and knees, the rule took effect April 1 with affected hospitals still figuring out how to comply.

SHARE Humphrey reacts to being massaged and stretched out by Jones during a rehabilitation session. Humphrey, who is on Medicare, is a few weeks out from finishing three times a week from a knee replacement about two months ago. "This is the best day I've had so far," Humphrey said. Corey Perrine/Staff Robert Humphrey works on his balance with physical therapist Lisa Jones during a rehabilitation session Friday at NCH Healthcare System's Downtown Briggs Outpatient rehabilitation location in Naples. Robert Humphrey, 86, of Naples and Melvin Village, N.H. works with Physical Therapist Lisa Jones during a rehabilitation session as she massages Friday, April 8, 2016 at NCH Healthcare System's Downtown Briggs Outpatient rehabilitation location in Naples, Fla. After a year of wrangling between the federal government and national hospital leaders over rule details that dramatically alters how Medicare reimburses for new hips and knees, the rule took effect April 1 with affected hospitals still figuring out how to comply. Humphrey, on Medicare, is a few weeks out from finishing three times a week from a knee replacement about two months ago. "This is the best day I've had so far," Humphrey said. (Corey Perrine/Staff) Related Photos New Medicare rules for hip, knee replacements take effect in Collier

By Liz Freeman of the Naples Daily News

The NCH Healthcare System letter explaining a new Medicare rule for hip or knee replacement surgery doesn't mean much to a patient in pain.

But the letter has tremendous implications for orthopedic surgeons and the hospital.

After a year of wrangling between the federal government and hospital leaders nationwide, a new rule took effect April 1 that retools Medicare payments for hip and knee replacements.

Collier County is one of 67 regions nationwide where the new rule applies. Lee County is not included.

Patients with medical conditions  heart disease, obesity, diabetes, lung ailments and the like  might be hard pressed to find an orthopedic surgeon willing to perform the joint replacement because hospitals face financial incentives to avoid patients with high risks of complications, according to physician leaders with the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

"An unintended consequence of a payment model such as (this) may be the 'cherry-picking' of low risk patients," according to a February article written by Drs. Alexandra Page and Mary O'Connor, posted on the academy's website. "Health systems and surgeons will be subject to financial incentives to avoid patients at higher risk of complications and hence, more expensive care."

Both NCH and Physicians Regional Health System, along with orthopedic surgeons affiliated with the two systems, are affected.

Nationwide, the federal government pegged 800 hospitals for the five-year initiative.

The surgeon shares responsibility when a patient is readmitted and can get a "black mark" even when the readmission has nothing to do with the joint replacement, Dr. Robert Zehr, a Naples orthopedic surgeon, said.

"We have to be a lot more selective on who we consider," Zehr said. "The (federal government) isn't worried about the healthy people. They are worried about the sick people. We doctors end up being the bad person and the politicians get to wipe their hands free of it."

Hospitals will be given a target price for total joint replacements for the patient's entire care, from the hospital stay to outpatient rehabilitation, through 90 days after discharge, according to the CMS rule.

If the reimbursement is less than the target or set price, the hospital may receive an additional payment from Medicare as an incentive for good outcomes. On the other hand, the hospital may be required to pay back part of the reimbursement that goes above the target, according to CMS.

"We expect this incentive to coordinate the services a patient receives before, during and after surgery will encourage hospitals and clinicians to partner with nursing facilities, home health agencies and other providers of rehabilitation services to provide seamless, high quality care," CMS said in a statement.

The rule aims to control costs on the $7 billion Medicare spends for hospital care alone for the 400,000 beneficiaries who receive hip or knee replacements each year, according to CMS.

In essence, Medicare will pay one reimbursement, called a bundled payment, for the patient's entire care after total joint surgery and the hospital will be held accountable for the quality of care through the incentives and penalties.

The surgeon's Medicare fee of $1,500 for the joint replacement is not part of the bundled payment for now but could get tied into it later, Zehr said.

NCH put together a task force to figure out how the new rule will play out, said Dr. Frank Astor, chief medical officer at NCH and a task force member.

NCH has two employed orthopedic surgeons and a dozen more with privileges who perform the joint replacements at the hospitals, Astor said.

"We will have a meeting with them very soon," he said. "We are waiting for data (from the federal government) that will be critical to establish that conversation."

The federal government did not say why Collier is one of the 67 regions nationwide included in the initiative but it is likely due to the high volume of joint replacements, he said.

More than 1,500 joint replacements were performed last year at NCH hospitals and 1,032 involved Medicare patients, according to spokeswoman Debbie Curry.

In 2015, Physicians Regional performed nearly 600 total hip and knee replacement procedures. Thirteen orthopedic surgeons are affiliated with Physicians Regional.

Scott Lowe, chief executive officer of Physicians Regional, said the new rule and bundled payment for hip and knee replacements encourages collaboration among the hospitals, surgeons and post-acute care providers to reduce unnecessary medical costs.

"We are developing an agreement with orthopedic surgeons on our medical staff to work in a mutually aligned manner to meet Medicare's objectives," Lowe said in a statement. "We are also meeting with post-acute care providers including skilled nursing facilities, inpatient rehab facilities and home health agencies to discuss methods to improve the quality of care for patients and reduce unnecessary costs such as readmission."

Lowe said 85 percent of hip and knee joint replacement patients go directly home following their surgery.

"This compares favorably with the Florida average of 60 percent. Additionally, from a quality perspective, our complication rates are a fraction of national averages," Lowe said. "Just as important as providing excellent care while a patient is in the hospital, we welcome the opportunity to work with providers along the whole continuum of care to improve quality and reduce unnecessary medical costs."
<p>Naples Police Sgt. Amy Young looks at Nina Diaz-Monroig speaking in a Collier County court on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014, in Naples. Collier Circuit Judge Fred Hardt denied Diaz-Monroig a permanent domestic violence restraining order against Young, 40. Diaz-Monroig obtained a temporary order last week, alleging Young shot her ex-husband, Luis a"Dave"A Monroig, in the head, killing the father of her three children, and then turned the gun on herself, shooting herself in the face on July 9, 2014. (Corey Perrine/Staff)</p>

SHARE Naples Police Sgt. Amy Young approaches enters a Collier County courtroom on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014, in Naples. Collier Circuit Judge Fred Hardt denied Nina Diaz-Monroig a permanent domestic violence restraining order against Young, 40. Diaz-Monroig obtained a temporary order last week, alleging Young shot her ex-husband, Luis "Dave" Monroig, in the head, killing the father of her three children, and then turned the gun on herself, shooting herself in the face on July 9, 2014. (Corey Perrine/Staff) Nina Diaz-Monroig speaks with Collier Circuit Judge Fred Hardt on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014 at the Collier County Courthouse in Naples. Hardt denied Diaz-Monroig a permanent domestic violence restraining order against Naples Police Sgt. Amy Young, 40. Diaz-Monroig obtained a temporary order last week, alleging Young shot her ex-husband, Luis "Dave" Monroig, in the head, killing the father of her three children, and then turned the gun on herself, shooting herself in the face on July 9, 2014. (Corey Perrine/Staff) Naples Police Sgt. Amy Young listens as Attorney Donald Day speaks with Collier Circuit Judge Fred Hardt on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014 at the Collier County Courthouse in Naples. Hardt denied Nina Diaz-Monroig a permanent domestic violence restraining order against Young, 40. Diaz-Monroig obtained a temporary order last week, alleging Young shot her ex-husband, Luis "Dave" Monroig, in the head, killing the father of her three children, and then turned the gun on herself, shooting herself in the face on July 9, 2014. (Corey Perrine/Staff) Collier Circuit Judge Fred Hardt speaks to Nina Diaz-Monroig on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014 at the Collier County Courthouse in Naples. Hardt denied Diaz-Monroig a permanent domestic violence restraining order against Naples Police Sgt. Amy Young, 40. Diaz-Monroig obtained a temporary order last week, alleging Young shot her ex-husband, Luis "Dave" Monroig, in the head, killing the father of her three children, and then turned the gun on herself, shooting herself in the face on July 9, 2014. (Corey Perrine/Staff)

By Aisling Swift

NBC-2.com WBBH News for Fort Myers, Cape Coral

A Collier judge on Wednesday denied the ex-wife of a dead Naples police officer a permanent restraining order she says is needed to protect her and her children against their fathers girlfriend, a sergeant injured in a domestic violence shooting that ended his life.

Circuit Judge Fred Hardt ruled there was insufficient evidence that Sgt. Amy Young, 40, was a threat to Nina Diaz-Monroig or her three children, two of whom she testified were in Youngs Estero home during an argument that ended in the July 9 death of Officer Luis "Dave" Monroig, 37. He was a 10-year police veteran.

"The court cant speculate," Hardt said, noting that neither Young nor Diaz-Monroigs children testified in the hearing to support her allegations that Young shot Monroig in the head and then shot herself in the face and that Young is a threat to her and her children.

Young sat at the defense table, her mouth lopsided from her gunshot wound, her lips covered in scabs and a small, bruised lump on her jaw, beneath her left ear. She listened, her hands clasped as if in prayer, while her defense attorney Donald Day objected to a permanent restraining order against her.

Day contended there was no evidence to support Diaz-Monroigs allegations, but didnt offer details about what did occur.

Diaz-Monroig, 34, of Marco Island, adamantly maintained she was a mother who needed to protect her kids and that they did not want to be anywhere near Young, whom she always had disliked.

"Yes, there is fear, imminent fear," Diaz-Monroig testified, sobbing. "My children could have easily gotten up in the middle of the night."

If that had happened, she maintained she could have buried two or three of her children, not just their father on July 12. Her 15-year-old son and two of Youngs children, daughters 11 and 8, left before the shooting, she told the judge, adding that Young knew her children, ages 9 and 6, were still there, yet neither she nor their father did anything to protect them.

When the judge asked if shed spoken to her children about it, Diaz-Monroig said she had, adding, "They do not want to be around her. ... I feel theyre in jeopardy. I do not know her state of mind. I dont know that my children are going to be safe."

After the ruling, Day, Young and her mother declined to comment to the media. On Tuesday, however, Day said: "Ms. Young has committed no criminal offense and she will defend any suggestion of wrongdoing vigorously."

Diaz-Monroig declined to say whether she would reopen her petition so her children could testify. When the judge denied the permanent restraining order, that dropped a temporary injunction hed granted last week that barred Young from going near Diaz-Monroig, her children, their schools or the spa where she works.

Lee County Sheriffs investigators remain tight-lipped about the circumstances that led up to Monroigs death, Youngs gunshot wound or if Young will be charged. They havent released the 911 tape, details on whether both wielded guns or if Naples police weapons were involved.

However, the sheriffs report showed it wasnt Young or Monroig who called 911 at 12:56 a.m. Deputies who responded approached the front door at 21790 Sunset Lake Court and saw Young suffering from a gunshot wound, according to the report, which says when deputies entered, they found Monroig.

Naples Police Chief Tom Weschler has said Monroig was placed on life support and died later that day, after his family paid their respects.

Sheriff Mike Scott said his investigators are awaiting some test results before completing their investigation. However, he did not expect that this week and said it also could be held up by the State Attorneys Office, which has the final word on disclosing results.

"The State Attorneys Office will be reviewing the Lee County Sheriffs Office investigation into the Estero shooting matter involving the Naples Police officers," said Attorneys Office Spokeswoman Samantha Syoen. "We will do so after the Lee County Sheriffs Office wraps up their investigation."

Naples Police Capt. Richard Carr said he brought Young to the department on Saturday, after she asked to see the roughly seven-man squad she supervises. Young, a mother of four who is on family medical leave, is staying at an undisclosed location.

"She was treated as a co-worker, supervisor, friend that had been through a very traumatic incident involving death and injury," Carr said Tuesday. "Officers treated Sgt. Young in a nonjudgmental way because they recognize that all the facts about the shooting arent known and wont be known until the completion of the investigation."

He said there was a lot of hugging and concerned comments during the 30-minute meeting. "I think it was as good for the officers as it was for Amy  and thats why we did it," Carr said. He noted its important to "do the right thing" for both the Young and Monroig families, so he also gave officers time to attend Monroigs military honors funeral.

Carr said the investigation, and Youngs doctor, will determine if the 14-year veteran can return to her patrol supervisor job. He called her work exemplary and discounted her history. Her file includes a reprimand for accidentally discharging her gun in 2011 and a 2012 internal affairs investigation into six officers having sex on duty and her dating a subordinate, Monroig; the allegations were deemed unfounded.

"The incidents affect the entire organization. Anything I can do to mitigate that effect on our organization, I will do," Carr said. " ... I dont want to see this incident tear it down to the point it cant recover."

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An Aedes aegypti mosquito is photographed through a microscope at the Fiocruz institute in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016. The mosquito is a vector for the proliferation of the Zika virus currently spreading throughout Latin America. New figures from Brazil's Health Ministry show that the Zika virus outbreak has not caused as many confirmed cases of a rare brain defect as first feared. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

By Bartholomew Sullivan, bartholomew.sullivan@jmg.com

WASHINGTON  Lee and Collier counties outpace much of Florida in mosquito abatement spending per capita but public health officials say they will need to be vigilant as the mosquito season begins and travelers return from Zika-affected areas of South America and the Caribbean.

Lee has four travel-related cases of the disease and Collier has one, prompting both counties' mosquito control districts to set up surveillance near the affected residents' homes. The current concern is preventing domestic mosquitoes from biting returning foreign travelers and infecting domestic mosquitoes with a disease associated with brain defects in babies.

The Obama administration has asked for $1.9 billion to fight the virus but Congress has yet to act. The Senate has passed a bill adding Zika to a list of tropical diseases for which drug companies get a financial incentive to find a cure. That bill passed the House on Tuesday.

U.S. Rep. Curt Clawson, R-Bonita Springs, was at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta Tuesday getting an update on Zika research, said his spokesman, David W. James.

Both Senators Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio support the budget request, with Rubio qualifying his support on the money being spent on the virus and not on other things.

"If we're going to spend $1.9 billion addressing the issue of Zika, it should be spent on addressing the issue of Zika," he said.

The White House hosted a Zika briefing for regional reporters with Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health.

Saying that "the more we learn, the more serious things get," Fauci said there are no known Zika-infected mosquitoes in the continental U.S. but local communities need to prepare for the likely spread of the Zika virus already widespread in places like Puerto Rico. NIH hopes to do Phase 1 trials of a Zika vaccine by September, Fauci said.

A likely vector of the disease, the Aedes aegypti mosquito, is prevalent across Florida and the southern tier of states west to California, according to the CDC. The Aedes albopictus mosquito, believed to be another likely vector of Zika, is more common in Collier County, according to Patrick Linn, executive director of the county's mosquito control effort.

Linn said if a case makes it to a clinician, that clinician advises the health department and the health department advises mosquito control of the fairly specific area it needs to surveille. Traps are being set and checked for the Aedes aegypti but, so far, there's been no indication of a need for spraying.

"The concern with this disease is 80 percent don't have any symptoms at all," said Linn, and therefore don't see doctors. "That's what's sort of really frightening to public health authorities  is that the disease can be transmitted  with some individuals not even knowing they have it."

Schuchat, from the CDC, said travelers to affected areas are asked to continue using repellents with DEET for a few weeks after they return home to prevent the transmission of the virus they might be carrying to domestic mosquitoes.

Collier County's program covers more than 90 percent of populated areas and contracts out services for Ave Maria. There are areas with no mosquito control, including Everglades City, but the county is aware it needs to be vigilant for all residents in the case of mosquito-borne diseases, Linn said.

For the 90 percent of the population the $9.7 million program covers, the county is spending about $25.84 per person.

Lee County's program takes in the entire county except for Fort Myers Beach, which has its own, said Shelly Redovan, a spokeswoman for the mosquito control district. With the three travel-related cases, Lee too is testing pools of mosquitoes for the presence of Zika. Redovan believes the county is the only one so far performing tests to detect the virus.

"It's not a cheap thing to do," she said. The tests cost about $30 each, not including the costs of trapping, she said.

With a budget of $16,550,775 (and subtracting the population of Fort Myers Beach), the county spends about $25.29 per capita.

An analysis last month in Foreign Policy by researchers from the Council on Foreign Relations, the New York-based nonprofit think tank, said Leon County (Tallahassee) is spending $23.47 per capita, Orange (Orlando) is spending $8.78 per capita, Miami-Dade is spending $4.40 per capita and Jacksonville is spending six cents per capita on mosquito control.

Related stories:
Corey Perrine/Staff Bill Barker, Naples Daily News publisher and regional president for Gannett, left, holds up cake as Michael Kane, East Group president for Gannett, passes out cake Monday.

SHARE Corey Perrine/Staff Michael Kane, East Group president for Gannett, from left, Bill Barker, Naples Daily News publisher and regional president for Gannett, and David Harmon, chief people officer for Gannett, hoist a USA Today Network flag as employees look on Monday during a companywide meeting at the Naples Daily News. Features Editor Pam Fisher asks a question during a Q-AND-A portion Monday April 11, 2016 during a companywide meeting at the Naples Daily News Community Room in Naples, Fla. Representatives from Gannett came to herald in the new era of print and web journalism after the acquisition of 14 newspapers outlets from Journal Media Group finalized last Friday. (Corey Perrine/Staff) A USA Today Network flag flies Monday April 11, 2016 during a companywide meeting at the Naples Daily News in Naples, Fla. Representatives from Gannett came to herald in the new era of print and web journalism after the acquisition of 14 newspapers outlets from Journal Media Group finalized last Friday. (Corey Perrine/Staff) Employees applaud as a USA Today Network flag is raised on the flagpole Monday April 11, 2016 during a companywide meeting at the Naples Daily News in Naples, Fla. Representatives from Gannett came to herald in the new era of print and web journalism after the acquisition of 14 newspapers outlets from Journal Media Group finalized last Friday. (Corey Perrine/Staff) Related Photos Gannett Officially Welcomes the Naples Daily News into the USA Today Network

By June Fletcher of the Naples Daily News

Every new beginning deserves a celebration.

And so it was at The Naples Daily News on Monday as more than 240 staffers celebrated the union of the 92-year-old newspaper with 110-year-old Gannett Co. Inc., based in McLean, Virginia.

Under a clear blue sky, Daily News publisher Bill Barker  one of two newly named Florida regional presidents  hoisted Gannett's white-and-blue flag in front of the newspaper's North Naples headquarters, then led staffers through an arch of white-and-blue balloons to a meeting with visiting Gannett executives to discuss the newspaper's future.

"This will help our newspaper grow and make our community stronger," said Barker, commenting on the sale of the Daily News and other papers in the Milwaukee-based Journal Media Group chain to Gannett.

The $280 million sale of Journal Media Group, which served 14 local markets, was announced in October and closed Friday. Spun off from Journal Communications in Milwaukee and the E.W. Scripps Co. in Cincinnati, the short-lived chain was formed in July 2014.

In a video, Bob Dickey, president and chief executive officer of Gannett, said the acquisition makes the company the nation's largest news network, with 3,800 journalists.

With opportunities to expand its digital presence and capture more "elusive millennials," Gannett is positioned to be the country's top news source, he said.

"Our new future starts now," he said.

With $3 billion in revenue and a digital audience that reaches 100 million unique visitors a month, Gannett has been growing since it was spun off from its broadcasting group last June.

In late March it acquired a minority stake in Spirited Media, which operates the popular mobile-first curated news site Billy Penn in Philadelphia.

That same month it also announced it would produce VRtually There, which presents news in a virtual reality format, through its McLean-based USA Today Network.

Michael Kane, East Group President of Gannett, said the company also is looking to leverage its existing resources, which now include 107 dailies, anchored by the flagship USA Today.

"Some people think print media is dying," he said. "We don't think so. We know when we grow, our community grows with us."

Details are still being worked out about how the Daily News will be integrated with the Fort Myers-based News-Press, which was already a Gannett paper.

"This gives us an opportunity to rethink everything," Kane said.

But Dave Harmon, Gannett's chief people officer, emphasized that the company is dedicated to retaining talent and to abolishing the traditional top-down corporate structure.

"We believe in giving people autonomy at the local level," he said.

Manny Garcia, executive editor of the Daily News, said the acquisition is "a huge win for both the community and the company."

Besides giving readers access to a broad, national network of stories and journalists, he praised Gannett for its strong commitment to local journalism.

"This is a great opportunity for us," he said.
<p>A screengrab from the SWFL Eagle Cam showing the arrival of E6 on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2014.</p>

By Naples Daily News Staff

Ozzie and Harriet, the pair of bald eagles that nest in Southwest Florida have added to their brood.

Video from the 24-hour webcam that streams from their nest in Fort Myers showed the hatching of the second egg on Saturday, Dec. 27. That chick will be called E6.

Their first chick of this season, E5, hatched on Friday, Dec. 26, according to viewers who monitor the feed.

Watch the video below showing the arrival of E6 today.

The veteran eagle parents, Harriet and Ozzie have been residing in their nest located in Fort Myers between October and April for more than twenty years. The eagles mate for life.

? Click here to watch the Southwest Florida Eagle Cam 

? Click here to see more Southwest Florida webcams 
Last Friday night, a man who identified himself as a firefighter called a Burger King restaurant in Coon Rapids, Minn., to tell the workers they were in danger.

The gas levels in the building had reached explosive levels, he told the restaurant manager authoritatively. To ensure everyone's safety, they needed to relieve the pressure. To do that, they needed to break the windows.

The workers had never heard anything like it before, but the caller sounded like a professional. They panicked, ran to their cars and promptly started smashing the restaurant's windows from the outside using tire irons.

"I guess I was a little scared," employee Ethan Grew told WCOO. "My other co-workers were doing it so I just followed along."

By the time police arrived, all the ground floor windows were shattered. Authorities broke the news to the "frantic" manager, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported: There was no gas leak, no firefighter.

There was only, it appeared, a prankster targeting a fast food restaurant - again.

The gas leak hoax has crisscrossed the country in recent months, hitting Burger Kings in Oklahoma and California, as well as Jack in the Box and a Wendy's in Arizona.

A day before the incident in Coon Rapids, a caller claiming to be from the fire department told workers at a Burger King in Shawnee, Okla., that there were high levels of carbon monoxide in their building, making it necessary for all the windows to be broken.

The panicked workers used chairs to shatter the glass, KFOR reported.

But when firefighters conducted a test for deadly gas, they found nothing untoward.

"It is a little upsetting that [the prankster] would try to give the fire department a black eye," Thomas Larman of the Shawnee Fire Department told KFOR. "We would never do anything like that. We're here to serve the public, protect the public."

Since the advent of the new year, the bizarre prank has descended on unsuspecting fast food workers like a plague. Each time, the spiel is the same, relying on employees' trust in firefighters and fear of an invisible, deadly force.

Said the caller to a Wendy's in Phoenix: "Break the windows of your restaurant. Right now."

And they did.

After the glass is picked up, the restaurants are left to contend with the damage and the costs. $35,000 for the California Burger King; $10,000 for the Oklahoma one.

No estimate yet on how much the hoax will cost the Coon Rapids establishment. No leads yet, either, on the perpetrators.

In the meantime, the missing windows have been replaced with telltale wooden boards. Customers craving a Whopper can still get their fix at the drive-thru, but the main restaurant is closed.

Coon Rapids Police Capt. Tom Hawley told CNN that the culprit could face felony charges for terrorist threats and criminal damage to property.

The police said in a statement that they "WOULD NEVER call a resident or business to take action of any kind."
SHARE Dave Trecker

By Dave Trecker, Naples

The first donnybrook is over, but the stage is set for a good many others.

With the Naples mayoral race behind us, the county is settling in for what could be the most contentious local elections in years.

School Board  At the top of the list is a schoolyard brawl. Hampered by bitter divisions, the Collier County School Board is split 3-2 along ideological lines, and two of the three majority seats are up for election. Here are some of the issues:

n Who calls the shots on standardized testing  the locals, drawing on parental input, or Tallahassee, applying statewide rules? Local control is a litmus test for the right. Will we get the state's version of Common Core or something else?

n Then there's selection of textbooks. Is some teaching material "politically partisan" or even "anti-American?" Or is banning those books nothing less than censorship?

n Budget reform may seem wonky but, in fact, it's very political. There's a huge divide over how money should be spent in a district that has one of the highest per-student costs in the state.

n Blue Zones in the cafeteria raise the question of whether teachers or parents know best about what junior should eat. And whether time and money should be spent on food coercion instead of education. The elections will put an end to the food fight, one way or the other.

A public forum for School Board candidates will be held at the Norris Center on May 18, 6 to 7:30 p.m.

County Commission  With four of the five seats up for grabs, the Collier races will shape policy for years to come. Candidates face a boatload of issues.

n Growth management is one of the toughest. As the county expands to the south and east, construction must be balanced with conservation. With little land available for development, options are limited.

n Economic development is another issue. County government has been singularly unsuccessful in coming up with any kind of plan for bringing in new businesses.

n The debate over beach renourishment is always fierce. Should we continue annual truck hauls from a nearby quarry or go with less-frequent repairs using sand from offshore dredging? A 1 percent hike in the bed tax might solve the problem by providing additional funds, but it's bitterly opposed by hoteliers.

n Impact fees, among the highest in the state, remain a hot-button issue. Developers decry the costs and pass them on to home buyers and businesses, putting a drag on the entire process.

n And what about affordable housing for middle-class workers? That's been kicked down the road for years. Maybe a new commission can come up with some answers.

Public forums will be held at the Golden Gate Senior Center on Wednesday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. for District 3 candidates and at the IFAS Extension office on Immokalee Road on May 3, 6 to 7:30 p.m. for District 5 candidates.

Fire districts  In well-run Greater Naples, election of fire commissioners should be a gentlemanly process. Not so in raucous North Collier, where the election will look more like a cage fight.

n The county just settled one battle with North Collier. Its 85 firefighter paramedics will be allowed to keep applying advanced life support in exchange for training by the county medical director they abhor. Neither side is happy with the outcome, and no one believes the fight is over.

n On a different note, many residents are furious that commissioners reneged on a promise that North Naples taxpayers would not have to subsidize less-populous Big Corkscrew. At this writing, it looks like North Naples is footing a big subsidy. If so, it will be a huge election issue.

n Finally, there is the matter of countywide fire district/EMS consolidation  a plan favored by 64 percent of county voters in a recent straw ballot. North Collier disagrees and plans to go it alone. Who makes the call? The voters, when they elect a new board in November.

Public forums for fire commissioner candidates will be held at the South Regional Library on Sept. 27, 6 to 7:30 p.m. (Greater Naples district) and at the North Regional Park on Sept. 29, 6 to 7:30 p.m. (North Collier district). Mark the dates on your calendar.

Then there's the bare-knuckles fight between Dwight Brock and Georgia Hiller for Clerk of Courts, plus a pitched battle for three legislative seats plus a batch of confusing constitutional amendments.

Fasten your seat belts. It's going to be a wild ride.

__ Trecker is a community leader from Pelican Bay. He serves on a number of local boards.
SHARE Rob Moher, president and CEO, Conservancy of Southwest Florida (Photo by Brian Tietz)

By Rob Moher, President and CEO Conservancy of Southwest Florida Naples

The Conservancy of Southwest Florida was formed more than 50 years ago by concerned citizens joining together to stop an unnecessary "road to nowhere" planned through Rookery Bay.

We now have before us a similar moment that will define the future of Collier County.

A proposal called the "Eastern Collier Habitat Conservation Plan" is a development plan for the rural and agricultural lands east of Interstate 75 that, if permitted as currently proposed, would pose serious threats to our environment and quality of life.

Although the name "Habitat Conservation Plan" (HCP) sounds like a win for wildlife, the devil's in the details. Written by consultants hired by the landowners who stand to benefit greatly should it pass, the proposed plan would permit 45,000 acres of urbanized development east of Golden Gate Estates in the last remaining habitat the Florida panther lives in  an area equivalent in size to Washington D.C.

The proposed offsets would be existing green spaces, including farm fields and ranch lands that are already being used by the panther. Under this plan, these "preserves" could still be utilized for activities such as oil exploration and drilling, further reducing the level of habitat function they offer today.

The landowners are offering to provide some money for panther underpasses to offset their impacts, but these measures are not worth giving away some of the most critical areas for the panthers' continued survival. They also may not even offset the impact from the number of new and widened roads that will be necessitated.

Not just the panther is at risk with this plan; seven other imperiled species' habitats also would be permitted to be impacted, including the wood stork, caracara, and the rare Florida bonneted bat.

Our community residents will be impacted as well by this plan, which will necessitate immense amounts of expensive new infrastructure. Using the landowners' own proposed road network, the resulting 100 miles of new and expanded roadways are estimated to cost more than $2 billion.

State Road 29 would essentially be the new urban boundary, and currently deadly roads for wildlife would see traffic rates increase at an exponential rate (for example the traffic from Collier County onto Corkscrew Road would be over 23 times its current level).

Effects to water resources and to our agricultural "bread basket" are also of great concern, given the food and water resources that we all depend on, the region's agricultural traditions and economy, as well as wildlife dependent on these agricultural lands. The lands we currently rely on for aquifer recharge would, on a large scale, be converted to pavement.

The next 50 years will be defined by the HCP, and there will be very little that can be done to change the plan once it is approved. Unfortunately, the current draft proposal does not take into account the Conservancy's moderate recommendations, nor does it incorporate the input from the review it received from six well-known panther biologists.

The Conservancy supports private property rights for all landowners; however the private rights of a few need to be better balanced with the protection of public resources such as water and wildlife, as well as the rights of others in our community.

There is a better alternative.

Growth is inevitable but by moving development out of the panther "primary zone" habitat, it will be more environmentally sustainable and protective of this endangered species and the other wildlife that depend on this area.

Additionally, taxpayers would save money from a more consolidated growth footprint that moves future development closer to existing urbanized areas where there is already infrastructure and services.

Join with the Conservancy in recommending a better plan forward.

Attend the public meeting that begins at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Collier County Extension Building at 14700 Immokalee Road.

You can also submit written comments by April 24. Visit our webpage to find out more and to take action: www.conservancy.org/our-work/policy/wildlife-and-habitat-protection/eastern-collier.
Premier Sothebys International Realty has announced the addition of Kristine Stack to its leadership team as the Marketing Director of their Central Florida region. She will be based out of the brokerages Lake Mary office, located at 115 International Parkway.



A Central Florida native, Kristine was born and raised in Orlando and graduated from the University of Central Florida. She brings over 11 years of experience to Premier Sothebys International Realty, her background being in marketing, communications and graphic design. Her most recent position consisted of managing custom projects, business development and strategic marketing plans for a global leader in commercial real estate.



Kristines personal connection to Central Florida, in addition to her past managerial experience, will prove an asset in a region where we have just recently put down roots and where we will continue to grow our footprint, Judy Green, president and CEO of Premier Sothebys International Realty, said. She got to work right away getting to know our over 90 associates in the region and finding out how she can best deliver our companys marketing offerings to them. As a former mayor of Oviedo, Green herself has strong ties to the area.



The firm announced they were entering the Orlando area market back in October 2015, when they acquired another Sothebys International Realty affiliate. Today, they have four sales galleries in the Central Florida region, with offices in Lake Mary, southeast and southwest Orlando, and Port Orange.



Headquartered in Naples, Florida, Premier Sothebys International Realty has over 900 associates and employees in 35 locations throughout Florida and North Carolina. In 2015, the annual Real Trends 500 survey ranked the firm number 31 in its survey of the top U.S. residential sellers by volume. Premier Sothebys International Realty also benefits from an association with the storied Sotheby's auction house, established in 1744. For more information, visit premiersothebysrealty.com.
Fort Myers-based marketing communications firm Pushing the Envelope, Inc. (PTE) is excited to introduce a new division, Compass. Services include public relations, social media, email marketing services and more and are offered in the form of scalable kits. Compass was created to fill a void in the market for organizations with specific needs and limited budgets.



The name Compass originated from a faith-based epiphany PTE Founder and President Samantha Scott, APR experienced. Business requires taking risks and faith, in addition to expertise. As Scott explains, entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders generally have all of the above, but sometimes falter in getting the word out. Thats where Compass comes into play.



Compass was created as a marketing communication Sherpa  dedicated to guiding businesses on their journey to success, says Scott. One of the best parts about Compass is its affordable a la carte model. Our team has a heart for small businesses, startups and nonprofits, and we know that budgets are tight, so weve designed kits to meet the needs and budgets of those who would otherwise not be able to hire an individual to fill a marketing role.



Compass makes marketing communication easy so clients can focus on their business and enjoy growth, success, and less stress with as little, or as much, help as they want or need. Basic, intermediate, and advanced levels are available in each of the five kits  public relations, social media, blog, email and web. Structured for small or startup businesses and nonprofit organizations, its also applicable for medium-sized businesses that may need to augment their marketing capabilities.



With a diverse set of clientele  both in industries and scale (from Harley-Davidson and West Marine to local nonprofits, restaurants and tech companies)  PTE has proven success in building brand awareness and increasing leads. Compass packages those strategies for scalable solutions.



To find out more information about Compass and see a menu of service options, visit GetPushing.com/Compass, or email info@getpushing.com or call 239-221-2858.





Existing to help businesses prosper through strategic and creative communication, Pushing the Envelope is a privately held, award-winning marketing communication company based in Fort Myers, Florida. They work with companies in a variety of industries from motorsports and attractions to medical and technology both regionally and nationally. For more information, please call 239-221-2858 or visit GetPushing.com.
Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr at en event to announce Metro Detroit would become the 17th city in the 10,000 Small Business Initiative at an event at Eastern Market in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., on Tuesday, November 26, 2013. They are offering a $20 million initiative to provide financing, training and mentorship to small businesses. Photographer: Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg *** Local Caption *** Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg

Quicken Loans plans to appeal a recent federal labor ruling that the Detroit lender and other companies owned by Dan Gilbert violated employees' rights.

David Goldman, a U.S. administrative law judge for the National Labor Relations Board, last week found that the employee manual at Gilbert's companies violated 24 provisions of the National Labor Relations Act. The list of companies also includes Title Source, One Reverse Mortgage, In-House Realty, Rock Connections and Fathead.

Quicken Loans told National Mortgage News this week that it plans to file an appeal. "It is disconcerting that the NLRB found fault with common, rational and sensible workplace policies that no reasonable employee would object to in any manner," the company said in an email Monday.

The case stems from an unfair labor practice charge filed by former Quicken Loans and Title Source employee Hugh MacEachern in February 2015.

It centers on policies that were in the companies' "Big Book" employment manual, including provisions related to social media use, confidentiality and the display of personal items. The policies at issue were overly broad in a manner that could infringe upon workers' rights, the judge ruled.

Part of the employee manual barred employees from sharing nonpublic or operational information, including "anything with a dollar figure attached to it" and client information. The judge deemed the requirements unlawful, but Quicken Loans argues this ruling ignores other requirements regarding client privacy.

"Not only is this outrageous and misguided, but the NLRB ruling conflicts with several other sensible federal and state laws that were enacted to protect highly sensitive and private information that lenders routinely obtain from borrowers during the loan process," the company said.

In December, Quicken Loans and the other companies sent an email to employees saying that all copies of the "Big Book" were rescinded immediately.

If the ruling is appealed, it is likely the case will go before the NLRB's five-member board. If appealed yet again, the case would move to federal court.
Pope talks about evil disguised as good - is he referring to modern day GMOs and pharmaceuticals?

(NaturalNews) "Feeding the world" is the mantra of Monsanto, the multinational corporation that leads the way for genetic engineering of nature. Scientists working for this machine; for example, take genes from bacteria to put in corn or splice genes from fish into tomatoes. The genetic alterations give the food special properties. The question is: How does rearranging the DNA of nature affect the DNA of humans over time? How does human DNA react to these sudden changes in crops and foods consumed? Could these crop DNA changes cause cellular pathways and DNA expressions to be turned on or off in humans, as human biomes becomes conflicted, not understanding the new variance of DNA suddenly confronting them?These questions remain unanswered, because Monsanto is credited for "feeding the world" with their DNA manipulations -- for example, engineering corn to create its own insecticide, or engineering tomatoes so they can have a longer shelf life. When Monsanto scientists give seeds these special abilities, they say that less pesticide is needed and that more people can be fed, butAnd how might their genetic alterations cause ongoing need for these chemicals? How is this genetic pollution changing ecosystems, destroying the diverse selection of heirloom seeds needed for farmer sovereignty and food system stability? There's more to it than just "feeding the world." What about the nutritional quality of this DNA-manipulated food? What about ill effects on ecosystems? What about farmers rights to a diverse selection of natural seed?Are Monsanto's ideas wholesome, supporting life, liberty and the betterment of mankind, or are their ideas evil disguised as good? Is the mantra, "feeding the world," just a front, covering up worldwide evil taking place every day unseen in farmer's fields?At the September 2014 feast of the archangels, Pope Francis stood up and spoke about the spiritual battle being waged in the heavenly realms, the battle between good and evil. He told all who were listening to pray to the angels, for they are there to defend mankind in times of deception. At the Vatican's Saint Martha residence chapel, the Pope warned about the enemy of man's soul and how the devil is always lurking to kill, steal and destroy mankind while disguising his intentions as good."He presents things as if they were good, but his intention is destruction,"said the Pope, who also offered hope, saying that "the angels defend us." Pope Francis spoke about the ongoing battle for man's soul: "[F]rom the beginning the Bible speaks to us of this: Satan's (use of) seduction to destroy."Is this battle alive today, and does it exist within the corporate structure of the genetic engineering of food? Is the mantra, "feeding the world," just a front, a clever marketing tool to deceive people into a world of controlled monoculture, genetic pollution and chemical toxicity? Genetic engineering may look like a progressive way to feed more and save lives, but its wrought in control. (They manipulate nature's DNA and then claim ownership over it with a patent.) Not only that, but their "feeding the world" motto is laced with chemical spraying that leads to disease in the human gut biology, damaged soil bacteria and ecological repercussions (death of pollinators).Was man ever intended to be exposed to such a wide range of chemicals, in both agriculture and medicine? Why are pharmaceutical drugs believed to be medicine, while having such long lists of side effects?Does the spiritual war that the Pope speaks of apply to modern-day agriculture and medicine?How might agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals be disguised as good, feeding and touted for healing the world, but in actuality, be the very problems destroying mankind today?What spiritual path are you on? Is your life guided by a higher power, protecting you from all the evil in the world that comes in the name of good? Are you walking in faith or following the lies of big businesses that sell toxins packaged as medicines and genetic pollution disguised as food?
Permanent brain damage and multiple violations later, company agrees to pay massive fines

Natural methods can be used without creating health horrors

(NaturalNews) A Delaware family vacationing in the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2015 didn't return home with the usual memories typically associated with having an enjoyable time. Instead, they learned that they were a victim of illegal pesticide exposure after staying in a St. John resort room  for eight days  that had been sprayed with a toxic gas.Steve Esmond, his wife Dr. Theresa Divine, and their two sons became ill just two days after a Terminix employee sprayed their room with methyl bromide, an odorless, highly poisonous gas that was banned for indoor use by the Environmental Protection Agency in (are you ready for this?) 1984.The governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands even noted that the family was in serious-to-critical condition and that the teenage children have permanent brain damage. So dire is the family's health situation that Pope Francis took a moment to bless them as he was on his way to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, late last year.As a result of the health horrors inflicted on this family, Terminix has been ordered to pay $10 million after the U.S. Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency charged the company with several violations of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act. The majority of the agreement between Terminix and its U.S. Virgin Islands counterpart involves criminal fines; $8 million will be paid in that regard. The rest of the money will go towards a community service project in U.S. Virgin Islands ($1 million) while the remaining $1 million will be used by the EPA to handle costs associated with response and cleanup efforts.Additionally, Terminix, which is on probation for three years as a result of their violations, has agreed to engage in civil proceedings to help the family with past and future medical expenses.Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator for the EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance said that this family's experience demonstrates the "real consequences" of not abiding by a law designed to protect public health. "This incident illustrates how important it is for EPA to enforce environmental laws and hold anyone accountable for endangering our safety," she said. "Today's charges should send a clear message to the industry, and directs important funds toward training programs to help ensure this can't happen again."Terminix has fully admitted to engaging in a fumigation treatment with methyl bromide in order to keep Powder Post Beetles at bay. The beetles are a problem that often affects the islands, and the odorless gas treatment supposedly keeps them away from unwanted areas. However, as previously mentioned, it's dangerous to humans  hence the 1984 ban and the family's unfortunate health reaction. It's beyond sad to think that the company knowingly overlooked this matter, continuing to spray rooms with a toxic substance that they were aware was illegal all along Methyl bromide is linked with causing a wide range of health problems from nervous system damage and brain hemorrhaging to paralysis and even death. Even skin exposure can lead to vomiting, blisters and death. The toxin is also associated with having a role in destroying the ozone layer.As such, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS), says there's another solution that is just as effective as methyl bromide, minus the associated health problems it's known to cause. They maintain that molasses , natural anaerobic soil disinfestation and chicken litter can keep weeds and pests away from crops. As such, they began working with growers in Florida years ago with the hope that this natural method will work satisfactorily.
The truth about one of America's most "trusted" brands



But Johnson & Johnson products are not nearly as safe as the company would like consumers to believe. In fact, there have been a number of lawsuits in recent years involving J&J products.



From Bloomberg.com:





Johnson & Johnson has spent more than $5 billion to resolve legal claims over its drugs and medical devices since 2013. That year, it agreed to pay $2.2 billion to settle criminal and civil probes into claims that it illegally marketed Risperdal, an antipsychotic drug, to children and the elderly; two other medicines were included in the settlement. It was one of the largest health fraud penalties in U.S. history. The company has also agreed to pay some $2.8 billion to resolve lawsuits about its artificial hips and $120 million for faulty vaginal-mesh inserts. In its 2015 annual report, J&J stated that more than 75,000 people had filed product liability claims, and that didn't include the talc powder cases.





In 1982, a study by Daniel Cramer, an epidemiologist at Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston, was published showing a statistical link between genital talcum powder use and ovarian cancer. Shortly after, Cramer was contacted by J&J executive Bruce Semple, who asked for a meeting between the two.



In Cramer's testimony from a 2011 court filing:





Dr. Semple spent his time trying to convince me that talc use was a harmless habit, while I spent my time trying to persuade him to consider the possibility that my study could be correct and that women should be advised of this potential risk of talc.





Cramer now says he believes the chief motivation behind the withholding of the information was to protect the company's reputation. "I don't think this was a question of money," he said. "I think it was pride of ownership. Baby Powder is a signature product for J&J."



The revelations about Johnson & Johnson are a glaring example of how American corporations are willing to lie and withhold vital information regarding the safety of products that generate billions in profits.



The tobacco industry , of course, is another example.



A cynical breach of trust in pursuit of profits It is shameful when a company spends so much time and effort to build a trusted reputation, while covering up any evidence that their products may be unsafe.



Johnson & Johnson's carefully constructed corporate image has led millions to believe that the company actually cares about the health of people who buy its products, and that those products are completely safe.



In fact, it's difficult to think of any other company that has successfully cultivated more trust from its customers  until now.



Sadly, it seems that J&J is just as cynical, deceitful and profit-minded as the tobacco industry  it turns out they are just another corporate wolf dressed in sheep's clothing.



Sources:



Bloomberg.com



NYMag.com



Science.NaturalNews.com


Are the studies extensive?

(NaturalNews) Over the last few weeks, there has been several amazing announcements from food giants that are seen as a step in the right direction by those who are trying to live a healthy, GMO-free lifestyle. General Mills caved into the mounting public pressure to clearly label its foods GMO; Campbell's promised to clearly label GMO ingredients; Del Monte decided to move away from GMO almost entirely  and now Mars, Inc., has announced it will follow in their footsteps.According to the Mars, Inc. website, the company states, "we not only ensure the safety of all raw materials in our products, we're also committed to being transparent with our consumers so they can understand what's in the products they love." The company goes on to say, "In 2014, the state of Vermont passed a mandatory genetically modified (GM) ingredient labeling law that requires most human food products containing GM ingredients to include on-pack labeling as of July 2016. To comply with that law, Mars is introducing clear, on-pack labeling on our products that contain GM ingredients nationwide."According to, Mars made its announcement just days after General Mills  and it is hoped that more companies will soon follow suit. But while the clear and transparent labeling of Mars products containing GMOs is a step in the right direction, Mars also states that they "firmly believe GM ingredients are safe," explaining that they support the judgement of regulatory agencies  such as the FDA  and believe that the studies into GM ingredients have been extensive.No. According to, in-depth food safety studies on GM products carried out by scientists independent of the GMO industry are rare  those that have found risks in their results have suffered persecution. The GM crop industry is thought to restrict access to its products by independent researchers so that the effects of GMOs on human and animal health can simply not be investigated.Research results that are not in favor of GMOs are usually attacked by the industry, mainstream media and Big Agri companies  compromising scientific progress in understanding the potential health risks of eating GMO foods. Many scientists who don't have their hands tied by Big Agri companies actually believe that GMOs are extremely risky.Geneticist David Suzuki states, as reported by, that "by slipping [GMOs] into our food without knowledge... we are now unwittingly part of a massive experiment...Geneticists follow the inheritance of genes, what biotechnology allows us to do is to take this organism and more it horizontally into a totally unrelated species... It's very very bad science, we assume that the principals governing the inheritance of genes vertically applies when you move genes laterally or horizontally."also states that research from Canada has identified numerous pesticides in the blood of both pregnant and non-pregnant women, thought to be linked to the consumption of GMO foods. And in an even more freaky report, it appears that DNA from GM crops can be transferred into humans who eat them. Consumption of GMO foods is also thought to cause intestinal permeability, imbalanced gut bacteria, immune activation and allergic response, impaired digestion and damage to the intestinal wall  triggering or exacerbating Celiac disease.GMO products have been inked to a range of health problems, including cancer, which is thought to be caused by both consumption of the GMO foods themselves and exposure to herbicides such as glyphosate . Glyphosate itself has been linked to liver and kidney failure in a study at King's College London, as reported byThere are no long-term studies of the effects on human health caused by eating GMO foods  and pressure from the FDA and other corporations mean that most studies that do point to the negative effects will be silenced or ridiculed before given enough attention.So while it's great that Mars has made the decision to clearly label its GMO foods  it would be better if they had taken the same steps as Del Monte, who according toare starting to move away from GMOs altogether in 2016.
Photos used in anti-Jewish 'subhuman' propaganda pamphlets

'We reject any suggestion...'

(NaturalNews) During the rise of Nazi Germany, The Associated Press (AP) willingly cooperated with Adolf Hitler's Third Reich, submitting to dramatic restrictions on freedom of the press and providing the regime with images from the news service's photo archives so they could be used in anti-Semitic and anti-Western propaganda, according to a new report.As noted by the, when Hitler's National Socialists rose to power in 1933, every international news agency save the U.S.-based AP, which was founded in 1846, was ordered to leave Germany; the AP continued to operate in Nazi Germany until 1941, when America declared war on the Axis following Japan's "surprise attack" on Pearl Harbor.According to German historian Harriet Scharnberg, what is now the world's largest news organization was only permitted to remain in Germany because it agreed to a deal with the Nazi regime.In doing so, the AP lost control over its own copy by submitting to theor "Editor's Law." The news agency agreed not to publish any material "calculated to weaken the strength of the Reich abroad or at home," she wrote in a piece for the academic journal. Her research was first reported by the UK'snewspaper.According to, the Nazi Editor's Law forced AP employees to contribute material for the National Socialist Party's propaganda machine, which Hitler entrusted to his longtime friend and confidant Joseph Goebbels . One of four photographers who worked for the AP in the 1930s was Franz Roth, a member of the SS paramilitary unit's propaganda division, whose photos were handpicked by the Nazi leader himself.The AP's photos went on to appear in a number of Nazi regime propaganda publications, including a 52-page SS pamphlet called. That said, most of the AP photos appeared in a separate pamphlet titled; the former pamphlet carried the second-highest number of AP photos,reported.Some have speculated that the AP agreed to the Nazi deal in order to provide the West a "peek into a repressive society that may otherwise have been entirely hidden from view," the paper reported. But alternately, the deal also gave the Nazis a means of covering up their war crimes, say others.In an interview with, Scharnberg said that the cooperation with a prestigious American news agency gave Hitler a platform to portray his "war of extermination as a conventional war.""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, a historian at Halle's Martin Luther University, told the paper, in reference to just one example of the AP aiding the Nazi regime."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," she added. "Which events were made visible and which remained invisible in AP's supply of pictures followed German interests and the German narrative of the war."In response to an inquiry fromabout its alleged cooperation with the Nazis, The Associated Press vowed to look into the charge, but a statement from the news agency expressed extreme doubt that it would have deliberately done so."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 Hitler's 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 agency stated.Later, the AP issued a lengthier statement saying it "rejects the suggestion that it collaborated with the Nazi regime at any time."
Learn The Truth About Cancer

Dr. Hardin B. Jones, a former professor of medical physics and physiology at the University of California, Berkeley, had been studying the lifespans of cancer patients for more than 25 years when he came to the conclusion that, despite popular belief, chemotherapy doesn't work. He witnessed a multitude of cancer patients treated with the poison die horrific deaths, many of them meeting their fate much earlier than other patients who chose no treatment at all.



Maligned and trashed by the mainstream media and Big Pharma

(NaturalNews) You may not know this, but there is an interesting  and disturbing  statistic regarding chemotherapy. When it all comes down to it, you might be surprised to know that 75 percent of doctors surveyed in a 2013 report said they would refuse the treatment for themselves.That's three out of four.And do you know why? Because they know of its devastating effects on the body and the immune system, and they are well aware that chemotherapy generally has a low overall success rate. And yet, this ineffective treatment is prescribed for just about every cancer there is.Fact is, chemotherapy is often worse than the disease it is supposed to treat. Indeed, chemotherapy itself usually leads to a quicker death because of the havoc it wreaks on the body, wiping out your immune system and leaving you vulnerable to some of the most common viruses and bacteria that, normally, you wouldn't be affected by in the least. A common cold, during chemotherapy, can often lead to pneumonia and death, thanks to the treatment's poisonous effects on your white blood cells.Sadly, as reported by, statistics on chemotherapy-caused deaths are difficult to come by, because hospitals and oncology physicians always assign the blame to "cancer." How convenient that is  even if the eventual cause of death is infection that is caused or aggravated by chemotherapy-induced immune system weakness, the official death diagnosis is blamed on the cancer itself.The Western medical establishment downplays another disturbing fact  many people who are battling the disease don't even have cancer in the first place. However, doctors and oncologists as well as X-ray technicians misinterpret lab results or X-ray films and often force patients into a false choice: Begin harmful chemotherapy, radiation treatment or surgery, or face death (which often happens anyway).As Natural News reported last year, chemo will often kill patients faster than them having received no traditional cancer treatment at all:That knowledge may certainly disturb some people, especially if they have lost a loved one to this dreaded disease. But that doesn't make this fact any less true.The good news is, there are legitimate, viable, natural alternatives to chemotherapy, radiation and surgery, and they are all documented in a blockbuster series you can watch for free online, The Truth About Cancer Summit As noted byeditor Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, the cures discussed during this amazing documentary are nothing less than spectacular. Adams is also a food safety lab technician and the author of the upcoming book Food Forensics , which documents his efforts to improve the food supply and educate consumers on how to protect their health."This docu-series is so powerful that it threatens to collapse the for-profit cancer industry. That industry earns its revenues based onfrom cancer treatments that don't prevent cancer or reverse cancer. Instead, today's fraudulent cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiation actually CAUSE more cancer!" he said in a recent column "The absolute last thing the cancer industry wants is for knowledge of cancer prevention strategies (and cancer cures) to spread among the public. Such knowledge threatens their very existence and takes away the profits they've been counting on from treating cancer in 1 out of 3 people for the foreseeable future," he added.Don't miss the relaunch of this powerful docu-series, register for The Truth About Cancer Summit for FREE today. The series begins streaming today!
A Jet Pack crashed during a test flight conducted in Denver on April 8, leaving Jet Pack executive Nick Macomber severely wounded. Reports said that the hydrogen-fueled backpack malfunctioned 10 to 20 feet above the ground, resulting to its uncontrolled landing to a nearby industrial park.

An interview with Troy Widgery, Jet Pack's CEO, revealed that Macomber was not wearing a protective gear, even a helmet, when the Jet Pack crash occurred. The wounded executive, who suffered multiple cuts on different parts of his body, burned arms and legs as well as injured ankles, was rushed to a nearby hospital where he received immediate treatment for his injury, according to News Max.

"The guy was bleeding, he had head wounds where he had blood gushing on his face, he was spitting out blood, it looks like he had landed on his knees and he couldn't get up," said Alison McCoy, a worker who witnessed the Jet Pack crash.

After receiving twenty-seven stitches on his right head lacerations and an overnight rest in the hospital, Macomber was discharged from the hospital afternoon of the following day, April 9.

Troy Widgery confirmed that it was control malfunction that caused the crash of the Apollo Jet Pack sponsored by the Apollo Gum Company. Macomber has flown Jet Packs more than 600 times and this is apparently the first time that he has met this kind of accident.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which has always been concerned about matter, is now handling the investigation on the Jet Pack crash. However, there are still no specific regulations implemented regarding this matter, Inquisitr reports.

DB Techno said that Macomber was lucky enough that the Jet Pack crash took place in the early part of his flight. Widgery revealed that a regular Jet Pack can fly up to 100 feet in 32 seconds. In 2008, an International Jet Pack even flew a man 1,053-foot-deep in Royal Gorge in Colorado.


In a press conference, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that the Zika virus seems to be scarier than what they initially thought. This is after a Brazilian team of scientists discovered that it is possible for the Zika virus to trigger an immune attack on the central nervous system of adults.

The mosquito-borne Zika virus outbreak happened in May 2015 in Brazil and Colombia. It quickly spread to more than 13 countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Dr. Anne Schuchat, CDC's Principal Deputy Director, said via USA Today, "Everything we look at with this virus seems to be a bit scarier than we initially thought."

It was earlier believed that newborns and pregnant women are more prone to the Zika virus. WHO said, "Agencies investigating the Zika outbreaks are finding an increasing body of evidence about the link between Zika virus and microcephaly." But today, it is feared that it can attack the central nervous systems of adults.

Recently, scientists in Brazil found out that the Zika virus can trigger a deadly attack on the central nervous system of adults. It is an autoimmune syndrome called Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis (ADEM), which affects the brain and spinal cord.

ADEM is defined by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes (NINDS) as "a brief but widespread attack of inflammation in the brain and spinal cord that damages myelin -- the protective covering of nerve fibers," directly injuring a person's central nervous system.

In the U.S., there are 346 recorded cases of Zika virus infections. This data, along with the new findings, prompted the White House to take more steps in fighting the deadly virus. The Obama administration lobbied the Congress for a "$1.9 billion funding to combat the mosquito-borne virus."

The findings were presented to the international medical community during the American Academy of Neurology's 68th Annual Meeting in Vancouver, per the Washington Post.

With more funding and the international medical community working to fight the deadly Zika virus, the world is hopeful that a treatment for the deadly virus will be discovered soon.
After the continuous decline in tiger population since the 1900s, tiger conservation groups and national governments have announced that the population of these big cats has finally experienced an increase for the first time in 100 years.

According to the latest tally compiled from recent data and surveys of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the global population of tigers has increased to 3,890 from 3,200 in 2010. In 1900, the global population of tigers is said to be more than 100,000.

In a press release, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Global Tiger Forum (GTF) attributed the increase of tigers' global population to improved surveys, enhanced protection and increased number of tigers in Russia, Nepal, Bhutan and India.

At present, more than half of the tigers' global population can be found in India with more than 2,000. Russia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Thailand, Bangladesh and Bhutan have tiger population in three-digit figures.

China, Vietnam and Laos have less than 10 tigers left in their countries. On the other hand, Cambodia, according to a previous report, has no more tigers left. There are no available data on how many tigers are left in Myanmar.

The above-mentioned countries are part of the Global Tiger Initiative that aims to double the total population of tigers by 2020. As part of this goal, the Royal Government of Cambodia is planning to reintroduce the big cats in their forest.

According to Marco Lambertini, Director General of WWF International, the increase of global tiger population only shows that collaborative efforts between governments, local communities and conservationists can make a great difference.

In a report from the Washington Post, Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCarpio also expressed his happiness in the recent increase in tiger population.

"Tigers are some of the most vital and beloved animals on Earth," said DiCarpio. "I am so proud that our collective efforts have begun to make progress toward our goal, but there is still so much to be done."
If being healthy is not enough reason for you to quit smoking, how about being wealthy?

A new study, published in the journal Internal Medicine, says that unemployed smokers are less likely to be hired and more likely to earn less compared to non-smokers.

In a report from Reuters, Judith Prochaska of the Stanford Prevention Research Center in California and lead author of the study said,"The health harms of smoking have been established for over 50 years, and now evidence is accumulating that smoking can hurt your success in the workforce and perhaps even lower your pay."

For the study, researchers recruited 251 unemployed people in the San Francisco Bay area between 2013 and 2015. Among them, 131 are daily smokers and the remaining 120 are non-smokers.

After a year, 217 participants reported back to the researchers. The result showed that 60 out of the 108 non-smokers or 56 percent were re-employed while only 29 out of 109 smokers or 27 percent were hired again. This suggests that non-smokers have 30 percent more chance of re-employment than smokers.

Even after taking into account influencing factors of employment such as housing, transportation, drug history and criminal records, non-smokers are still most likely to have a job than smokers with a 24 percent difference.

The researchers also found out in their study that smokers that are hired earn an hourly wage of $15.10, $5 less compared to the $20.27 hourly income of non-smokers. This means that there's an $8,300 deficit annually in an average of 32 hours per week between smokers and non-smokers.

NBC News reported that many employers require their employees to pledge or even prove that they are not smoking. Prochaska also added that job seekers who smell of tobacco during interviews are putting themselves at a great disadvantage for bagging the job.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 17 out of 100 U.S. or more than 40 million are smokers. Smoking is also accountable for one out of every five deaths annually. That is more than 480,000 U.S adults dying every year due to smoking.
Police and firefighters raced to a two-alarm commercial structure fire in Mountain View that damaged buildings at a business park.

The blaze was reported in the first block of East Evelyn Avenue at 8:18 p.m. on Monday, according to Mountain View Fire spokesman Lynn Brown.

Crews found heavy smoke coming from a single-story structure containing multiple businesses, such as 219 Design, SmugMug, Eve Biomedical and Los Gatos Research. They upgraded the incident to a second alarm, and Palo Alto firefighters sent a truck to assist, Brown said.

Around 9:45 p.m., Brown said that most of the blaze had been brought under control, but firefighters were going business to business putting out remaining hotspots.

No injuries have been reported.

Bay City News contributed to this report.
A juvenile has been arrested in connection to a bomb threat that prompted the closure of nine schools in Northwest Indiana Tuesday.

Schererville police announced the suspect was taken into custody Tuesday afternoon and found all threats to be false.be

District officials canceled classes early Tuesday morning at nine Lake County schools after receiving a phone call late Monday night claiming a bomb had been planted on one or several school campuses.

Thousands of students and faculty were forced to stay home as police officers canvassed the schools with bomb-sniffing K-9 units.

Closed schools included Kolling Elementary, Clark Middle School, St. John the Evangelist and Crown Point Christian School in St. John. Homan Elementary School, three Hammond Baptist Schools, and St. Michael School in nearby Schererville were also closed.

Police received the threatening phone calls overnight, according to superintendent of Lake Central School Corporation Larry Veracco, before the schools notified parents of the closings in a recorded message sent out early Tuesday morning.

Longtime resident and former Schererville school librarian JoAnne Freeland told NBC 5 a bomb scare like Tuesdays is a first for the community.

Total shock, Freeland said. This doesn't happen in Schererville or St. John Township. It's gotta be some prank, a kid, or whatever.

Further details surrounding the threat have not been released, except that specific schools had been named, while others were closed due to close proximity.
Chicago radio icon Doug Banks has passed away at the age of 57.

Banks, who spent years as a top radio personality and popular TV host in the city, died Monday at his home in Florida following complications related to diabetes and kidney failure, the Chicago Tribune reports.

With a heavy heart our V103 family would like to send our thoughts and prayers to Doug Banks' family and friends, a post on the website for V103, where Banks hosted his nationally syndicated radio show, read. Doug, a true radio legend, has passed away today. Doug was an inspiration to many, the Dan Ryan Head and a radio icon in Chicago radio for many years. He will be greatly missed by everyone who knew him.

Banks last public appearance took place in Chicago Friday, where he was seen with former co-host Bonnie DeShong.

Love you Doug, DeShong wrote on Facebook Monday. I am so grateful I got to spend a few, now precious moments with you on Friday. I haven't lost you. Your spirit will forever surround me and you will be in my heart forever.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel called Banks one of our most iconic radio voices.

His was a gifted innovator of urban radio whose talent took him to the very top of his profession as one of Americas top-rated syndicated hosts, Emanuel said in a statement. Dougs infectious personality, coupled with his passion and perspective on the air brought joy to countless Chicagoans and left an indelible impact on our city. The thoughts and prayers of the entire City of Chicago are with Dougs family, friends, and legions of devoted listeners during this difficult time.
A 100-year prison sentence has been handed to a man convicted of shooting two Chicago police officers when they interrupted him during a 2011 drug transaction.

Alvis Holley was convicted in September of two counts of attempted murder of a police officer and was sentenced Monday by Cook County Circuit Judge Nicholas Ford.

Prosecutors say the 28-year-old was observed participating in a narcotics deal in an alley. Holley could not tell the officers what he was doing or where he lived. When told to put his hands on the hood of the police car, he instead fought with the officers, shooting them with a .22-caliber handgun.

Holley fled the scene, but left a hat behind containing DNA evidence. The two officers, one of which is disabled, identified Holley as the shooter.
Crippled by crumbling foundations, first-time homeowners in South Windsor heard first-hand on Monday from officials who are searching for ways to fix a problem that is impacting hundreds, if not thousands, of homeowners across the state.

The NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters first broke the story in July about foundations crumbling at homes in Hartford, Tolland and Windham counties.

Town and state officials, as well as affected homeowners, attended the meeting at South Windsor Town Hall on Monday night, where lawmakers outlined solutions and the Department of Consumer Protection provided information on their investigation.

Jonathan Harris, the commissioner of the DCP, told the crowd that the state cannot come up with a perfect plan without first knowing how big the problem is.

Youre trying to find answers at the same time youre trying to find solutions, Harris said. Youre trying to figure out funding at the same time youre trying to figure out causation and scope.

As of last week, the DCP had received 181 complaints, Harris said. They know more homeowners are out there, but many are concerned about confidentiality.

Theyre afraid of their mortgages. Theyre afraid of insurance companies coming in and denying coverage, Sen. Tim Larson (D-East Hartford) said.

The state legislature is working on a couple of bills to address confidentiality concerns and quality control, but the big question for homeowners is money.

Its very expensive, Lisa Martin, of South Windsor, said. I dont even know what percentage, but it would break me to fix it without any type of aid.

Getting federal aid will not be easy.

Lawmakers told the crowd that FEMA requires 582 homes to be deemed uninhabitable due to foundation damage to quality. To see if they are anywhere close to that number, officials urged affected homeowners to file complaints with the state.

South Windsor set up a committee specifically to deal with crumbling foundations. They hope to have a public forum on the topic in May.

Preliminary results from the states investigation are expected sometime in April.
One of the strongest El Ninos ever recorded occurred this past winter.

Since reliable sea surface temperature data recording began in 1950, five strong El Ninos have been logged.

For the purposes of this article, a strong El Nino is defined as one when three consecutive three-month overlapping periods in the Nino 3.4 region registered an anomaly of 1.5 degrees Celsius or greater.

The El Nino of 2015-2016 fits that definition, but the summer of 2016 is still in the future; therefore, it cannot be used for this assessment.

The five summers following strong El Ninos since 1950 are 1998, 1983, 1973, 1966 and 1958.

Three of those summers were quite warm.

Most notable was the summer of 1973  the warmest on record in 111 years of record-keeping in the Hartford area.

The period from June to August 1973 had an average temperature of 74.4 degrees, which is 3.0 degrees above average.

There were also 25 90-degree days in the summer of 1973.

The summer of 1966 ranked fifth warmest in the Hartford area, but featured the highest number of 90-degree days  a whopping 31 in a span of 92 days.

There are exceptions to the idea that warmth follows strong El Ninos.

In 1997-1998 the El Nino was strong, but the summer that followed only ranked 50th warmest and was 0.3 degrees below average.

Following the strong 1957-1958 El Nino, the summer actually ranked 2nd coldest on record in the Hartford area.

The average temperature ranked 3.2 degrees below average.

Combining the warm extremes with the cold extremes, four of the five summers following strong El Ninos featured notable temperature anomalies.

The Climate Prediction Center currently forecasts an above average summer for the entire nation. According to the government forecast, New England has greater than a 50 percent shot at seeing above average temperatures.

In terms of severe weather, the records are not thorough enough to analyze how post-El Nino summers shaped up since 1950.

One thing is for sure though  while the summer of 1998 didn't raise any eyebrows in terms of temperatures, it was a wild severe weather season.

To this day, the only high risk for severe weather in Connecticut occurred that May.

Dozens of tornadoes ripped across the region on May 31, 1998.

Stay with the First Alert weather team as summer nears for updated ideas on what will transpire this year.
Stars center Tyler Seguin returned to practice on Monday for the first time since suffering a nasty cut to his Achilles on March 17, and has not yet been ruled out of Game One of the playoffs against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.

It felt good being around the guys and out there around bodies, Seguin told the teams official website. I said to our trainer after the first five minutes, my eyes are a little watery seeing so many bodies around here. I was definitely excited to get back out there, being around the guys in the locker room and seeing how it felt.

Meanwhile, Stars coach Lindy Ruff tapped the brakes on the enthusiasm some by pointing out Monday was a light skate. But Ruff knows that light skate marks a step in the right direction for the All-Star.

I thought he got through [practice] okay. Its hard to tell. It was a light skate. I dont think he was at full speed, but it was good to see him back out there, Ruff said. We just go day to day. Not going to rule him out but I cant tell you he is in right now. 

Today was the next step. When he can go 100 percent, go full out then well know where he is. Maybe tomorrow, maybe Wednesday. Today was a good step in the right direction.
After days of intense scrutiny, there are two new appointees at the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

Retired Texas Ranger Chief Henry "Hank" Wittman will lead the department. Kristene Blackstone, a former CPS caseworker, is the new assistant commissioner of Child Protective Services.

Both will be on the job May 1.

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission released the following biographies on each person.

Henry "Hank" Whitman, DFPS Commissioner  Henry Hank Whitman spent 22 years with the Texas Department of Public Safety. A decade of that time was spent serving as a Texas Ranger. In 2011, he was named Chief of the Texas Rangers. During his tenure with the Rangers, Whitman created and supervised the elite Texas Ranger Reconnaissance Team and led border security operations. Whitman is also a military veteran having served in the United States Marine Corps. He currently is President of Whitman Consulting, a professional service company that provides security consulting and private investigations. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Law Enforcement from Southwest Texas State University and a Master of Public Administration in Criminal Justice from Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi. Kristene Blackstone, Assistant Commissioner for Child Protective Services  Kristene Blackstone has almost 25 years of public service experience working with children and families. She has 17 years of experience with Child Protective Services, where she started out serving as a caseworker. Blackstone held positions as a CPS Supervisor, Program Director and as the Regional Program Administrator. Blackstone currently serves as the Deputy Director for Field Operations for the Texas Office of the Attorney Generals Child Support Division. She oversees the daily operations of the Field Operations Division which has more than 2,300 employees across the state. Blackstone received her Bachelors Degree in Political Science from the University of North Texas and a Masters Degree in Social Work from the University of Texas at Austin.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Monday applauded the new leadership.

"The status quo at CPS is unacceptable. Our children are too important to suffer through the challenges theyve faced. Ive insisted on overhauling a broken system, and I applaud the leadership changes that will provide a new direction and focus that puts protecting children first," Abbott said.

These moves come after the death of 4-year-old Leliana Wright, who investigators said was beaten to death by her mother and her mother's boyfriend.

Leliana's grandmother said she repeatedly alerted CPS to concerns about Leliana's well-being.

There are also reports of overloaded caseworkers and turnover.

I think if there was ever an emergency in state government the failure that we are seeing right now in CPS to protect vulnerable children from serious injury is it, said State Rep. Chris Turner (D-TX 101st District), of Arlington.

Turner said that they need more caseworkers and need to stem turnover. He also said there is a crisis in foster care.

But the question is how to get it done. The legislature, which is not in session currently, approved more than $38 million for the DFPS in the last budget cycle. There is agreement on both sides of the aisle that working together is imperative.

"This is an area we should band together on, link arms together and fight together on. We cannot continue to accept the status quo specifically in this agency. We are going to do whatever we can to make whatever reforms necessary to improve it to insure this does not happen again," said State Rep. Jeff Leach (R-TX 67th District), of Plano.

Leach said the personnel changes at the top are significant to moving forward.

"Clearly the agency needs overhaul and reform. I don't think there is any disagreement on that," he added.
The Wylie Independent School District says it plans to reopen its schools Wednesday, two days after severe thunderstorms left damage across several areas in North Texas Monday.

All of the district's 19 schools were closed Tuesday. The majority had broken windows and water damage, much of which the district began repairing as soon as the storm ended. A cost estimate of repairs has not yet been released.

Along Springwood Drive, where Aikin Elementary School was hit hardest, several residents also suffered a similar fate.

The Wylie ISD canceled classes Tuesday. A district statement says educators were not able to provide a safe learning environment due to "significant" storm damage.

No damage estimate was immediately available following storms late Monday that hit Wylie, which has more than 14,000 students on 19 campus.

Volunteers Helping Clean Up

Many in the Wylie community are coming together to help each other. Brothers Blaine and Jack Winn spent much of their day off from school Tuesday helping Sherry Sanders and her sister clean up.

"When she answered the phone and said somebody is coming out to help it was like, 'Oh thank God, thank God,' because I didn't really know what we needed help with. There was too much," Sanders said.

First Baptist Church in Wylie has created a form online for those who need help and for those who would like to volunteer to help coordinate efforts.

Homes, Property Damaged

"All the front windows were busted out. It was all water just coming down from the roof," said homeowner, Amber Payne.

Payne's entire street had signs of some kind of damage. Once the rain and hail subsided, many tried to quickly board up winds and cover open areas with tarp, in the event bad weather should hit again.

"It pretty much just tore the roof right off. I was actually thankful to see we had 2/3 of it still on," said business owner, Chris Feinhals.

After the hail hit, Feinhals returned to work to assess the damage. Pieces of his roof landed in a nearby shopping plaza. He expects the replacement costs to total $100,000.

Even those who would normally be fixing the damage for customers faced their own repairs. Servpro of Farmer's Branch found several of their cars lost windows in the storm-a first for the company.

"Everybody comes out and just kind of looks around and goes, 'Lord, what happened?'" said owner, John Mondy. "We haven't been to sleep in probably 36 hours."

It was more of the same in other parts of town. Those who live on Rail Tree Drive said you had to see it to believe it.

"It was baseball-sized," said Rebecca Buxton, as she looked at the shattered back window of her car. "And I used to hear that as a kid and think, ha ha ha, those people don't know what baseball-sized hail is, but they were as big as a baseball!"

The hail made yards look snow-kissed in April. The Olsen brothers shoved it off their driveway after their baseball game was canceled because of the baseball sized hail.

"It was pretty intense," said David Olsen, looking at his dented rental car.

Olsen's own truck was in the shop being repaired from the last hail storm, just two-and-a-half weeks ago.

"I guess that's one of those times you should have bought that $14-a-day insurance. You get the rental car and you always decline because you don't think you're going to need it," he laughed. "I needed it!"

The top-floor windows of his home were shattered by hail. A couple of them smashed his 50-inch TV. "I guess my son is not going to be able to play Minecraft tonight," Olsen joked.

Many on Rain Tree Drive just had insurance adjusters out from the last storm. They know this might not be their last brush with severe weather this season.

"Don't worry about the things you can't control," Olsen said with a smile. "Just control the things you can."

Several Collin County neighborhoods were still without electricity late Monday because of the storm.

Nelson Graves said his wife and two children were sitting in their living room when hail came crashing through their roof and ceiling.

"Through the attic, through 5/8-inch sheet rock, and then hit the floor and you still have this size left," Graves said, holding a golf-ball sized piece of hail.

His neighbor's house is in even worse shape. The ceiling is caved in and daylight could been seen through several spots in the roof where hail crashed through.

"I've been in Texas almost 34 years and that's probably the most devastating hail I've ever seen," Graves said.

Graves said he met with his insurance adjustor, who totaled out his roof from last month's storm just five hours before Monday's storm hit.

No Major Injuries Reported

Some Wylie residents filled a free-standing emergency room with minor injuries after Monday's hail storm.

Most of the injuries involved cuts from broken glass, but the storm left many shaken.

Sara Carrea brought her 8-month-old daughter, Addison, to see a doctor after she was covered in glass in her car seat when the windows of the vehicle they were in shattered in the storm.

"I took a bag and covered her and then just covered my body over her, and I mean like everything was shattered. And the car started moving. It was the scariest thing I've ever experienced. I feel like I'm traumatized from it," Carrea said.

Carrea waited at a clinic, but after a long wait said she was headed home to try to get the glass out on her own.

"Couldn't see her because they're so busy," Carrea said.

Wylie City Spokesman Craig Kelly said Monday night there were no reports of any major injuries from the storm.

NBC 5's Noelle Walker, Meredith Yeomans, Jocelyn Lockwood and Caroline Connolly contributed to this report.
Two suspects pleaded not guilty Tuesday to capital murder charges in the October killings of a young woman and teenage girl in a park northeast of downtown Los Angeles.

Jose Antonio Echeverria, 19, and Dallas Stone Pineda, 17, remain jailed without bail. They are expected back in court June 1, when a date will be set for a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence for them to stand trial in the October killings of Gabriela Calzada, 19, and Briana Gallegos, 17.

The victims' bodies were found by a woman walking her dog in Ernest E. Debs Regional Park in Montecito Heights at 2:20 p.m. Oct. 28. The deaths were quickly classified as homicides.

Briana was reported missing about 9 p.m. Oct. 28, roughly seven hours after the bodies were found near Mercury and Boundary avenues along a walking path through Ernest E. Debs Regional Park. The criminal complaint alleges that the victims were killed on or Oct. 27.

The murder charges include the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder while the defendants were active participants in a criminal street gang, and that the murders were carried out to further the activities of a criminal street gang. Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek the death penalty against Echeverria.

Pineda cannot be sent to death row due to his age, even though he is being prosecuted as an adult.

The criminal complaint alleges that Echeverria discharged a rifle in the commission of the crimes, killing Calzada. Police had not previously divulged a cause of death of the victims, saying only that their bodies showed signs of blunt-force trauma. Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck said one of the victims had been shot, and both were beaten.

Echeverria is also charged with one count each of attempted murder and shooting at an occupied motor vehicle, both allegedly committed Jan. 29. Echeverria was also charged with one count of allegedly bringing contraband into the LAPD's Metropolitan Detention Center Jan. 30.

Police said the killings were the result of a long-running gang feud. The two suspects also are identified as also identified as "Klepto" and "Trippy" in a criminal complaint.

Gallegos was a Pico Rivera resident and student at Sonia Sotomayor Learning Academies in Glassell Park. Friends said Calzada dreamed of being a wildland firefighter.

Mayor Eric Garcetti said Calzada was a participant in -- and later a leader of -- the Summer Night Lights anti-crime and anti-gang program in Glassell Park.
Its been nearly three days since San Francisco police launched a search for a two-year-old girl after finding her slain mothers body in a park, but theres been no break in the case.

Nicole Fitts, who was last seen April 1 and reported missing four days later, was found dead in John McLaren Park around 9:30 p.m. Friday night, police said. The condition of the 32-year-old woman's body alarmed police, who said they are worried for the safety of her baby, Arianna.

Police have since turned to social media to seek the publics assistance in locating the missing child and finding a possible killer. Police spokeswoman Grace Gatpandan deemed Arianna "at-risk" Saturday because of her young age and the fact that foul play is suspected in her disappearance.

Investigators have also expanded their search to the Los Angeles area and a Facebook page has been set up to help find Arianna. The baby was last seen in late February by someone other than her mother, police said, but did not reveal who that person was.

According to police sources, this is a complicated case. The mother-daughter duo was living under the radar and Nicole Fitts used the address of a Best Buy in SoMa where she worked to collect her mail. She was to celebrate her one-year anniversary of being employed at the store this weekend, police said.

John McLaren Park, where Nicole Fitts was found dead, is about five miles away from the Harrison Street shop.

"Im really trying to stay positive  that someone will know something and bring her home," Nicole Fitts' sister, Contessa, said.

Although hopeful that police will find her niece, Contessa Fitts admitted that she is "really scared."

"I don't know where she is and who she's with," she said of Arianna. "I want to believe she's OK and no on has hurt her."

According to Contessa Fitts, the two sisters kept in touch and despite living in different cities, would get together about once a month. However, she has no information about Arianna's father -- not even his name

"Yeah, I just dont know," Contessa Fitts admitted. "I really dont know."

For their part, police sources say the child's father has not been active in her life.

Investigators looked at a person of interest who knew Nicole Fitts  who went by Nikki  through her job at Best Buy. They couldnt make a case, though, they said.

Police also checked out Arianna Fitts still unidentified babysitter in Oakland. That too led to a dead end, they said.

Nicole Fitts friends, who say they plan to gather in John McLaren Park on Friday, continue to write on her Facebook page.

Investigators say there was one post that caught their attention. A message that appeared to be from from Nicole Fitts said she was going away for a while. The woman's friends told police that the post, which is no longer visible on the social media site, looked suspicious. It is unclear when the Facebook post was put up and taken down.

Arianna and Nicole Fitts frequented San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Oakland, Emeryville and other California cities, said police, who have also notified authorities in those cities to be on the lookout for the missing child.

Due to the sensitive nature of this investigation, police said they can't disclose any other details about the killing or any other circumstances of the case.

Anyone who sees Arianna is asked to immediately call 911.
After 25 years, Walter Sapp faced justice for the brutal murder of his girlfriend. She bled to death after he stabbed her 17 times and slit her throat, according to police.

Sapp was found guilty Tuesday in the death of Juliet Walden, who he killed in front of her young children, and sentenced to life in prison.

Sapp killed Walden inside their Liberty City home in 1990. He disappeared after the murder, but landed in prison in California for other unrelated crimes. He was using a different name when law enforcement extradited him to Florida to face felony charges.

Tuesday, Walden's family was in court for the verdict and sentencing. Sapp acted as his own attorney and opted for a bench trial instead of a trial by a jury. The victim's son briefly thanked the judge after she declared Sapp guilty of first-degree murder.

"It's been 25 years since this has taken place, when I was 8-years-old, and I'm now a grown man at the age of 33. So it took that long, but I'm just happy that it's done now," said Terrell Walden, victim's son.

Sapp is appealing the verdict and the sentence the judge gave him. In the meantime, he's now headed to a Florida prison for the foreseeable future.
Demonstrators converged outside the Carnival Cruise Lines headquarters in Doral Tuesday to protest over Cuba's rule banning Cuban-born people from returning to the Communist island by boat.

The Democracy Movement organized the protest, calling the Cuban law discriminatory and calling out Carnival for abiding by the law.

The group says they have presented their case to the American Civil Liberties Union.

"I would hope that Carnival would do its best to allow the Cubans to go to Cuba," said Ramon Saul Sanchez, who helped organize the protest. "We believe this is similar to when blacks had to sit in the back of the bus. We are trying to somehow take example of Miss Rosa Parks and sit in the front of the bus."

It's not the policy stirring the protesters, rather the practice of what they say is discrimination against people from Cuba.

"We are not trying to be antagonistic with anybody. However, if we just stayed quiet, nothing will change," Sanchez said.

Carnival issued a statement over the issue last week.

"Cuba has a longstanding regulation that no Cuban-born individuals are allowed to travel from the U.S. to Cuba by ship. This regulation applies to all cruise lines, ferries and any form of shipping planning to travel to Cuba," the statement read, in part. "We understand and empathize with the concerns being voiced and will continue to work the issue with Cuban officials. It is our hope and intention that we will be able to travel with everyone."

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Carnival Corp. for refusing to allow Cuban-born residents to board its cruises to Cuba.

The Carnival Fathom brand will start operating the first cruises from Miami to Cuba on May 1, 2016. The ship, Adonia, will stop in three cities.
The deaths of two teenagers and a 7-year-old girl have prompted one New Jersey county to start a driving initiative aimed at saving lives.

Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez announced the Slow Down, Save Lives operation last week. It goes into effect Tuesday.

The aim of the initiative, which includes ticketing and signs showing automatic radar readings, is to get drivers to slow down and yield to pedestrians, and also to prevent pedestrians from jaywalking.

The operation especially focuses on John F. Kennedy Boulevard from Bayonne up to North Bergen, where speeding has long been a problem on the major Hudson County artery, partly because other roads in Hudson are so congested, according to Suarez.

"When you're able to pick up some speed, I think they're doing exactly that, they're sort of making up for lost time but it can't be tolerated and it won't be," she said.

Suarez said that the operation will continue through the summer months.

Its launch comes about a month after a 7-year-old girl and two teens died less than a week apart in separate crashes in Hudson County.

Sheyla Pichardo, 7, died after she was hit by an SUV as she walked to school in West New York on Feb. 29. Her mother was injured in the crash. The two men suspected of hitting her were arrested.

Less than a week later, on March 5, teenagers Bryan Rodriguez and Noel Herrera were killed and a third teen was injured after a speeding car hit them as they walked in North Bergen. The driver of that car was traveling 74 mph when he hit the teens, according to police. He tested positive for PCP.

Our community has suffered the tragic loss of lives in recent weeks and we must make every effort to ensure pedestrian and motorist safety, Suarez said. Excessive speeds and distracted driving will not be tolerated.

As part of the new initiative, police departments from Bayonne, Jersey City, Union City, West New York and North Bergen will work with the Hudson County Sheriffs Office and the Hudson County Prosecutors office to monitor and enforce laws.

Residents say the initiative is welcome.

"I think people are really tired about it, especially with young kids," said Miguel Sardinas of Jersey City, who knew the two teens killed in the March 5 crash.
The body of a Queens man missing since a small plane crash off Long Island in February has been recovered in Setuaket Harbor, investigators say.

Gerson Salmon-Negron, 23, of Elmhurst, was a passenger aboard the Piper PA-28 when it lost fuel and crash-landed in the harbor between Port Jefferson and Setauket, less than a mile from shore, the night of Feb. 20.

The three others on the plane, including the student pilot and the instructor pilot, were rescued from the water, but Salmon-Negron remained missing for days before the search turned into a recovery effort.

The wait turned into two months for the college student's family.

Salmon-Negron's mother, Yvette Salmon, said the news brings painful closure.

"I have my body. And sure that he's dead. Before, I doubt it or I want to believe it's not true. Now I have to accept the reality," a grieving Salmon said Monday.

The NTSB is continuing to investigate but says it could be a year before they determine an official cause of the crash.

Salmon said her son loved planes and was about to graduate from aviation school in Queens.

Authorities said the plane had left Fitchburg, Massachusetts, and was headed to Republic Airport in Farmingdale when the pilot reported engine trouble.

The 25-year-old student pilot, Austricio Ramirez, of the Bronx, was flying at the time the plane ran into engine trouble, but he turned controls over to the 36-year-old instructor pilot, Nelson Gomez, of Queens. All four men exited the plane into the water. Ramirez, Gomez, and a third person, Wady Perez, 25, of Queens, were rescued by Suffolk County police.

Salmon-Negron was missing when cops arrived.
The state can seize oceanfront land for a protective dune project in Margate, a judge ruled Monday.



It was the second major ruling in favor of the state Environmental Protection Department as it tries to assemble strips of privately owned beachfront land along the coast to build dunes, and it greatly strengthened the state's hand is it battles pockets of resistance elsewhere along the coast.



Two weeks ago, a judge in Toms River ruled in favor of the state's seizure of land in northern Ocean County for the project, which was begun after Superstorm Sandy devastated the coast in 2012.



Margate says its wooden bulkhead is sufficient to protect it from storms. It sued the state to block the dunes, and its lawsuit was the highest profile challenge to the dune plan.



"The state of New Jersey has taken the lessons learned from Hurricane Sandy to heart, and has concluded that an adequate storm damage reduction measure in New Jersey's coastal communities is necessary to protect life, property, and the welfare of New Jersey's coastal communities," Superior Court Judge Julio Mendez wrote. "Compelling evidence was presented indicating that dunes constructed to Army Corps of Engineers specifications in other communities have been shown to protect vulnerable coastal communities from significant storms and prevent the loss of human life and property."



The judge ruled that the state's use of eminent domain, the taking of private property for a public purpose after paying compensation for it, was not "arbitrary and capricious" and did not constitute an abuse of state powers.



DEP Commissioner Bob Martin hailed the ruling, saying it will make it easier to get the job done.



"Today's decision, coupled with the March 30 court ruling in Ocean County, clearly signals the authority of the state and the federal government to acquire property for the purposes of shore protection," he said.



Margate officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.



In 2013, Gov. Chris Christie began pushing for a protective sand dune project along the state's 127-mile coast, nearly a year after Sandy devastated parts of the shore. Many oceanfront residents signed easements for free or for a nominal fee, allowing the work to be done.



But others have vociferously opposed the plan and sued the state to block it. They object to the government taking private property for public purposes, claim the state lacks authority to seize the land, and complain that the state has offered them virtually nothing for it.



The state cites a Supreme Court decision determining that the storm protection benefits of the dunes are an important factor in determining fair compensation for land seized for the project.
A 23-year-old Ukrainian man accused of faking his name and age while attending a Pennsylvania high school and having sex with an underage girl was denied lower bail during a brief hearing Tuesday.



Prosecutors also dropped identity theft and conspiracy charges against Artur Samarin, leaving in place charges of unsworn falsification, statutory sexual assault, corruption of minors, theft and tampering with public records.



Dauphin County prosecutor Fran Chardo said the criminal allegations in the identity theft and conspiracy counts are covered in other charges against Samarin. Under Pennsylvania law, Chardo said, Samarin wouldn't get more criminal penalties if convicted of those charges along with identity theft and conspiracy.



"If we can avoid having an unnecessary hearing by dropping a duplicative charge, we'll do that every time," Chardo said afterward.



Samarin waived the preliminary hearing as part of an agreement in which prosecutors said they will not charge him, at least for now, with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. Samarin's attorneys said that crime, which involves oral sex, carries substantially greater criminal penalties than statutory sexual assault.



Samarin, who called himself Asher Potts, is accused of having sex with a 15-year-old girl.



He had impressed teachers and community leaders while attending John Harris High School in Harrisburg and had been accepted into a college in Florida before authorities concluded he was considerably older and a Ukrainian citizen who overstayed a student work visa.



Defense attorney Clarke Madden argued that bail, now at $240,000, should be lowered, allowing Samarin to be transferred from the Dauphin County Prison to a federal immigration lockup in York.



Samarin has no criminal record and had no disciplinary problems at John Harris High, Madden said.



"There aren't any facts here that would justify bail of nearly a quarter-million dollars," the lawyer told Dauphin County Judge Deborah Curcillo.



Chardo told the judge that federal immigration authorities had not placed a formal detainer on Samarin but rather a request to be notified if he was about to make bail. The judge denied the bail reduction motion.



Samarin said before a hearing last month that he was just seeking a better life.
A San Diego judge granted a request to delay jail time for the woman accused of stealing money raised to help local families with children battling cancer.

Brianna King appeared in a Downtown courtroom Monday with her newborn child. King was supposed to surrender into custody to begin her year sentence but asked a judge for more time, citing a medical reason.

The judge and prosecutor know the medical reasons given by Kings attorney but said due to health information privacy rules, those details cannot be released to the media.

King pleaded guilty to grand theft in September for stealing thousands of dollars in connection to her time at the helm of the nonprofit WishWarriors.

The district attorneys office opened a criminal investigation into King after an NBC 7 investigation revealed children profiled by the charity never received the donations they were promised.

King would solicit items and gift cards from stores as donations to auction off at fundraisers, but prosecutors say she would instead use them herself. King would also spend donation money at hair salons, spas and on car payments and other personal bills, prosecutors said.

King has been ordered to serve a year in prison and five years of probation. Her term was delayed to April 11 because King was pregnant at the time she was sentenced.

Now, after this new delay, she is scheduled to surrender to authorities on June 21.

However, she will have to serve an additional 45 days, the judge ruled.

King has told NBC 7 Investigates she does not wish to discuss the sentencing and has refused to answer any questions about the charges and investigation.

She was ordered to continue making restitution payments for what she stole from the charity. She has already paid $10,000 but still owes more than $8,000, according to prosecutors. The judge ordered King to make payments of at least $100 a month.
The San Diego City Council approved a plan Monday to build a large condominium complex in Mission Beach.

The council passed the redevelopment plan by developer McKeller Mcgowan Company with a 6 - 2 vote.

The former Mission Beach Elementary School at the corner of Santa Barbara Place and Mission Boulevard would be demolished. In its place, three 3-story residential buildings would be built, creating 51 condo units.

Opponents are concerned about what the addition of so many units in the densely populated beach community will do to traffic, parking and infrastructure.

The community group called Mission Beach Citizens for Responsible Development argues the Environmental Impact Report was conducted during non-peak months of February and March.

There are roughly 5,000 residents in the winter months, October through May, the group has said, compared to the approximate 20,000-30,000 that live in Mission Beach during the summer months.

The group also argues that oversized triplexes and quadplexes are out of character with Mission Beach.

According to the developer, the properties were zoned residential and "are identified as MBPD-R-S, which allows 36 dwelling units per net residential acre."

The proposal still has to go to the California Coastal Commission for approval.
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton hold double-digit leads over their closest challengers ahead of their home state's presidential primaries, an NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist Poll has found.

More than half of likely voters in New York's upcoming Republican and Democratic party presidential primaries said they would vote for the Manhattan businessman or former secretary of state and U.S. senator representing the Empire State, respectively.

Trump leads his closest challenger, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, by 33 points, while Clinton holds a 14-point lead over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Brooklyn native.

The poll has a margin of error of 4.2 percentage points for Democrats and 6.1 for Republicans.

"The road to the conventions goes through New York for both the Democrats and Republicans," said Lee M. Miringoff, director of The Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. "Right now, the front-runners look like they will erase recent setbacks and add significantly to their delegate margins. New York is not likely to enhance the hopes of those trying to close the gap in the delegate hunt."

Monday found all of the candidates but Cruz stumping in New York, which could be pivotal if underdogs manage to wrest delegates from the front-runners. Clinton was in Long Island, while Sanders, Trump and Kasich were upstate. Two of Trump's children were found to have missed the deadline to register as Republicans, meaning they won't be able to vote for their father next week.

Fifty-five percent of polled Democrats said they were planning on voting for Clinton, while 41 percent of voters said they planned to vote for Sanders. Three percent of likely voters were still undecided ahead of the April 19 primaries.

On the Republican side, Trump was the favored candidate of 54 percent of polled voters. Twenty-one percent told pollsters theyd be voting for Kasich, and another 18 percent said they were planning to cast ballots for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

If Trump wins the state but goes to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland later this year without enough delegates to win the partys nomination on the first ballot, about 64 percent of likely Republican primary voters in New York said that Trump should still get the nomination. Another 28 percent said that the party should nominate someone else.

Regardless of whom the GOP selects as its nominee, pollsters found theyd have trouble beating the Democratic nominee. Sanders and Clinton both hold large margins over each of the Republican candidates. Kasich performs better than Cruz or Trump, but still would trail either Democratic candidate by at least 15 points.

The poll comes the same day as a Monmouth University poll of likely Democratic voters that found Clinton would likely beat Sanders by about 12 points if the primary were held today.
Anheuser-Busch has announced an agreement to acquire Virginia-based Devils Backbone Brewing Company.

Anheuser-Busch issued a statement regarding the new partnership on Tuesday.

Steve Crandall, co-founder and CEO of Devils Backbone Brewing Company, says in the statement that Devils Backbone will "retain a high level of autonomy," and that the "existing management team plans to stay on board for many years."

Gov. Terry McAuliffe says in the statement that through Anheuser-Busch's network of distributors, Devils Backbone will soon be available nationwide.

Candrall founded Devils Backbone in 2008 after a trip to Europe inspired him to open the brewery. In 2014, Devils Backbone became Virginia's highest volume craft beer producer when it opened its Outpost facility in Rockbridge County.

Anheuser-Busch has been expanding their craft beer division. The company owns the brand Goose Island and in December acquired a Colorado craft beer company, Breckenridge Brewery.

Anheuser-Busch's partnership with Devils Backbone is expected to close in the second quarter.
What to Know An 18-year-old has been charged with fatally stabbing 15-year-old John Rufus Evans III in the Deanwood Metro station.

Another 15-year-old boy, Davonte Washington, was shot and killed in the same Metro station less than three weeks ago.

D.C. police will step up patrols of Metro stations, the assistant police chief said.

An 18-year-old man has been charged in connection with the stabbing death of a 15-year-old boy inside the Deanwood Metro station in Northeast D.C.

Jovante Hall, 18, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder while armed after John Rufus Evans III was stabbed to death on Monday, Metropolitan Police Department officials and Mayor Muriel Bowser announced Tuesday morning.

Hall, of Northwest D.C., was arrested Monday night after police received tips and reviewed surveillance footage.

"There are cameras all over our system," Bowser said at a news conference Tuesday morning. "Any incident like this is going to be caught on tape."

It was not clear if Hall is the young man shown in surveillance images police publicized Monday.

MTPD units are o/s at Deanwood for a stabbing. Trains temporarily bypassing the station in both directions. An update will follow. #wmata  Metro Transit Police (@MetroTransitPD) April 11, 2016

Terogie Wells, Evans mother, said she doesn't recognize Hall, but she heard he was out to get her son.

"I heard his name from my daughter about wanting to fight my son," Wells said. "This was about two weeks ago."

Police will step up patrols of Metro, Assistant Police Chief Peter Newsham said.

"We are 100 percent going to have more police presence out there to alleviate these concerns," he said, noting, however, he was not sure police could have prevented the killing.

Evans' death comes less than three weeks after another teenager was fatally shot on the platform of the same Metro station.

Evans and his mother moved to Richmond to get away from their previous neighborhood in Northeast D.C., Wells said. The 15-year-old, who previously attended Richard Wright Public Charter School, had returned to D.C. on Monday for a court appearance.

"I was sick, and I couldn't take him to his appointment," Wells said. "He came up, hugged and kissed me, and said he'd be back. I just wish I would have went with him."

The teenager was stabbed after he passed through a fare gate and headed toward an escalator. A Metro Transit Police performed CPR on Evans, Assistant Police Chief Peter Newsham said.

The teen was rushed to a hospital, where he died, police said.

Police believe Evans and Hall had an ongoing dispute and ran into each other in the Metro station by chance, Newsham said.

Another 15-year-old boy, Davonte Washington, was fatally shot on the platform of the Deanwood station March 26 after another teen approached him and asked why he was looking at him, witnesses told police. Washington was headed to get a haircut for Easter with his mother and sisters.

Former Mayor Vincent Gray, who is running for the Ward 7 seat on the D.C. Council, spoke Monday about violence.

"It used to be people solved problems with their fists," he said. "Now that seems to be passe now. Now it seems to be either a knife or a gun, and the consequences are absolutely deadly."
A proposed drunken driving law passed in the Maryland Senate and House late Monday night. The bill goes to the desk of Gov. Larry Hogan, who has indicated he will sign it into law.

The bill, which requires ignition interlock devices for convicted drunken drivers, is named after Montgomery County Police Officer Noah Leotta, who was struck and killed by a suspected drunken driver. He was 24.

The version of the bill would put ignition interlock devices on the cars of those convicted of driving under the influence. A driver would have to pass a Breathalyzer test before the car would start.

Only repeat drunken drivers and drivers described as having been excessively drunk are currently ordered to use the ignition interlock devices in Maryland.

Hogan voiced his support for the bill as the legislature discussed issue, saying Noah's Law would save a lot of lives.

"We've got a problem with drunken drivers, and we're repeatedly having issues," the governor said. "I think this is something that's really going to help. It's something there is almost unanimous support for on both sides of the aisle."
What to Know Police forces will surge when ridership surges, for example, when school gets out. More officers are going through lengthy training.

Metro riders are still wary about taking the train, being more aware of their surroundings.

Two teens were killed at the Deanwood Metro station in recent weeks. One teen was stabbed. The other was shot.

Following that deadly stabbing at the Deanwood Metro station on Monday, the transit agency and D.C. Metropolitan police said they are stepping up patrols in that area until further notice.

Extra patrols were out on Tuesday, and police forces will surge when ridership surges, for example, when school gets out. With two recent fatal incidents at the location, the Deanwood station holds a notorious meaning for riders, who find the events unsettling.

Candice Rivera, a Metro rider, was waiting to catch a train on the same platform where a teenager was shot and killed weeks ago and where a teen was stabbed to death inside the station.

Got to watch your back. Watch who you talk to. Watch who you are around, Rivera said.

Metro said a transit police officer was the first to respond to Mondays fatal stabbing when John Evans III, 15, was killed. They said the officer was on a nearby train and on the scene within five minutes, attempting CRP on Evans.

When asked why more transit police arent around, Metro police Chief Ron Pavlik said the time of day was a factor.

"This happened shortly before 11 o clock, which is a very off time of the day, Pavlik said. But our stepped up enforcement, our surge started in the afternoon. So you are seeing increased police presence from 4pm until (close)."

Even with more officers around, D.C. police say it may not have mattered, because this latest death happened so fast. For other riders like Kerry Woods, there is still an unsure feeling waiting for a ride.

"I don't think it is safe enough, Woods said. There's been too much stuff going on that I hear."

Another 15-year-old boy, Davonte Washington, was fatally shot on the platform of the Deanwood station March 26 after another teen approached him and asked why he was looking at him, witnesses told police. Washington was headed to get a haircut for Easter with his mother and sisters.

For right now, this particular metro station under a watchful eye of authorities. However, there are calls for more transit police officers in the system, who take extra time to train because of the areas they patrol.

Metro transit police officers have to know the laws and procedures in D.C., Maryland and Virginia. The extra knowledge they have to have means it takes them longer to get into service.

Pavlik said from a numbers perspective, his police force can't be everywhere all at once.

"To have an officer at every single 91 stations, 186 entrances and exits would be a phenomenal task," Pavlik said.

Metro transit police graduated a class last week. The graduates are training in the field.
Hundreds of voting rights demonstrators took to Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., Monday afternoon and were hoping to be arrested. Many of them got what they wanted.

The group, Democracy Spring, is staging a weeklong sit-in at the U.S. Capitol, calling for votes on legislation to reform the public campaign finance system.

Protesters said Congress needs to act to protect the voting rights of every American. More than 3,600 people from across the country pledged to risk arrest if their demands were not met.

This movement should be unstoppable, because the vast majority of Americans already want it to succeed, said Robert Schaff, a protester with Democracy Spring. We just need to give the hope that it can succeed so that we can muster the strength, so that we can overcome the special interests that are blocking reform.

The demonstrators also protested state voter ID laws, saying the laws suppress voter participation. One chant protested Democratic "superdelegates"  party figures, such as members of Congress, who are given votes at the Democratic National Convention but are not elected by primary elections or at party caucuses.

Police led dozens of protesters away in plastic handcuffs into a bus and shuttle vans, prompting cheers from the protesters, who were separated by police response.

U.S. Capitol Police said Monday evening that more than 400 people had been arrested for unlawful demonstration activity.

Many of the protesters had marched from Philadelphia to Washington over the past week.
What to Know Rep. Chris Van Hollen won 44 percent of likely Democratic primary voters in a recent poll, up against Rep. Donna Edwards with 38 percent.

Van Hollen voters skew white, male and older, the poll said.

Edwards voters skew African-American, the poll said.

Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen has a six-point edge over Rep. Donna Edwards in the Democratic race for a U.S. Senate seat from Maryland, poll results released Tuesday show.

Van Hollen commanded 44 percent of likely Democratic primary voters reached in a new NBC4/Marist Maryland Poll conducted this month. Edwards won 38 percent of likely voters.

Eighteen percent of voters were undecided in the poll, for which data on likely Democratic primary voters had a 3.5 percentage point margin of error.

Voters for Van Hollen, who has represented Maryland's 8th congressional district since 2003, skew white, male and older than 45, the poll results show. Van Hollen won 62 percent of white likely Democratic primary voters polled; Edwards won 21 percent.

The majority of African-American likely Democratic primary voters polled said they would support Edwards, who has represented Maryland's 4th congressional district since 2008. Of these voters, 59 percent said they would choose Edwards; 22 percent said they would choose Van Hollen.

Of likely Democratic primary voters with a preference for a candidate, 53 percent said they strongly supported their choice of candidate; 31 percent said they "somewhat" support the candidate.

And 14 percent of likely Democratic voters who had chosen a candidate said they might vote differently when it comes time to cast a ballot, indicating some softness in the candidates' support.

The poll also questioned likely Republican primary voters in heavily Democratic Maryland. For the race for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, Kathy Szeliga won 20 percent. Richard Douglas won 13 percent; Chrys Kefalas, 9 percent; and 57 percent were undecided.

The results on likely Republican primary voters had a 5.1 percentage point margin of error. Of those polled, 28 percent said they "strongly support" their candidate, 36 percent said they "somewhat" support their candidate, and 35 percent said they might vote differently.

The Campaigns Respond

Edwards' and Van Hollen's campaigns each released statements in response to the poll results.

"We're confident that voters will stand with Donna on Election Day because she's championing the values of Maryland's working families and taking on the Washington special interests holding them back," an Edwards' campaign representative said. "In Donna, Marylanders know they have a fighter who will expand Social Security, hold Wall Street banks accountable and work to end the scourge of gun violence plaguing too many of our communities."

A spokeswoman for Van Hollen's campaign said: "Maryland voters are clearly responding to Chris Van Hollen's proven record of getting results and vision for the future. It's unfortunate that Congresswoman Edwards has decided to make false attacks against Chris, which The Washington Post said were designed to mislead voters. It's part of a cynical ploy to cover up her record of ineffectiveness, and Maryland families deserve better."

The NBC4/Marist Maryland Poll, conducted April 5 through April 9, surveyed a total of 2,563 registered voters, including 775 likely Democratic primary voters and 368 likely Republican primary voters.
Angered Prince Georges County parents are appealing the March 7 decision of schools CEO Dr. Kevin Maxwell to close two schools in the district.

Skyline Elementary School and Forestville High School, as well as the Forestville Military Academy, will consolidate and close at the end of the current school year, according to Maxwell's decision.

The appeal was filed by parents Josette Williamson and LaShawn Jackson on behalf of children, students, parents and legal guardians of the two schools.

The parents alleged PGCPS failed to comply with the legal requirements necessary to the closing and consolidation process set forth by the Maryland State Board of Education, according to the appeal.

According to the school system, the schools are underpopulated, an argument used to make the administrative case for closure of both schools.

However, both Skyline Elementary School and the Forestville Military Academy were "systematically subject to a retraction in school boundary lines," which limited the number of households and students that were to use the schools as their neighborhood schools, the appeal alleged.

Jackson, whose child is a junior in the Forestville Military Academy, said she did not receive notice about Maxwells decision or that her child would be transferred to Suitland High School, according to the document.

The appeal alleged Maxwell violated Maryland law by not providing written notice to parents of his proposed decision and rationale to close the schools and for not holding a public hearing about his decision.

Additionally, parents alleged the closing of Skyline Elementary School violates the Free Appropriate Public Educations for Students with Disabilities requirements under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which requires free appropriate public education to each qualified person with a disability within the school districts jurisdiction.

As acknowledged by Maxwell in his fact sheet accompanying his decision, a majority of the students attending Skyline have been diagnosed with some form of autism, ranging from mild to severe on the autism spectrum, according to the appeal.

Williamson, whose child is a fourth-grader at Skyline Elementary School, is afraid that Barnaby Manor Elementary, the school her child is slated to attend, will not be suitable, the appeal said.

Parents at Skyline were never fully notified or briefed on the decision and have many unanswered questions concerning the ability of the receiving elementary schools to handle the special needs of their autistic children even after visiting those schools, according to the document.

A representative for the school said in a statement that consolidating schools is necessary to make sure schools function efficiently.

"The district understands that this is a difficult time for students, staff and the community. PGCPS is working to do everything possible to make this transition a smooth one for all involved," the representative said.
A man charged with stealing a television in Connecticut 27 years ago flew from his Florida home and voluntarily turned himself in last weekend after recently learning there was a warrant out for this arrest, according to police.

Police in Norwalk, Connecticut, told The Hour newspaper (http://bit.ly/1TP51bS ) that 60-year-old Randy Iannacone, of Port St. Lucie, Florida, arrived at headquarters on Sunday with the letter notifying him of the warrant.

Iannacone was arrested and charged with third-degree larceny. He was released with a promise to appear in court next week.

The charge stemmed from the 1989 theft of a television from the Norwalk Jewish Center, where Iannacone worked as a custodian.

Lieutenant Paul Resnick says it was "pretty cool" that Iannacone turned himself in.

Iannacone didn't immediately respond to the paper's requests for comment.
A Massachusetts middle school principal is heading to an alcohol education program as part of her plea on drunken driving charges in court Monday.

Debra Gately, 44, admitted to sufficient facts for a finding of guilty and received a continuation without a finding.

The Dedham Middle School principal, who was placed on administrative leave after her arrest, received one year of supervised probation, ordered to attend and complete a 24D alcohol eduation program and to pay a number of fines and fees.

Her license will also be suspended for 45 days.

Gately was pulled over by police in Weston earlier this month.

She was named Principal of the Year by the Massachusetts Secondary School Administrators Association in 2015.
Students at a Catholic school in Braintree, Massachusetts, are mourning the loss of a classmate following a single car accident.

Archbishop Williams High School held a prayer service for 15-year-old Kate McCarthy Monday and several classmates later left flowers and other remembrances at the crash site in Weymouth.

The sophomore from Weymouth died after the SUV she was riding in with three other classmates veered off the road Saturday night.

McCarthy and another girl were ejected after the vehicle crashed into a telephone pole, parked cars and a tree. The three others in the vehicle, who have not been identified other than as fellow sophomores, were hospitalized and are expected to recover.

The Norfolk County district attorney's office says no charges have yet been filed. The crash remains under investigation.
For April 2016 Patch Tuesday, Microsoft released 13 security bulletins, with six being rated as critical for remote code execution flaws and the patch for Badlock being among those rated only as important.

Critical

MS16-037 is the cumulative fix for Internet Explorer. While most of the vulnerabilities being patched have not been publicly disclosed, the DLL loading RCE bug has been.

MS16-038 is the monthly cumulative security update for Microsofts Edge browser to stop attackers from achieving RCE when a user visits a specially crafted webpage via Edge. The patch modifies how Edge handles objects in memory, as well as ensures cross-domain policies are properly enforced.

MS16-039 patches vulnerabilities in Windows, Microsoft .NET framework, Microsoft Office, Skype for Business and Microsoft Lync. It is rated critical for all supported versions of Windows and corrects how the Windows font library handles embedded fonts. An attacker could trick or otherwise convince a user to visit a page or open a document with embedded fonts to exploit the graphics component hole.

Qualys CTO Wolfgang Kandek explained, The two zero-days are contained with the Windows portion, and both allow for the escalation of privilege from a normal user to administrator. In real life, they will be paired with an exploit for a vulnerability that gets the attacker on the machine such as the Flash Player flaw from APSB16-10 that Microsoft addresses in MS16-050. In that type of scenario, your user would go to a normal website and get attacked with a Flash exploit that then escalates with the CVE-2016-0165/7 vulnerabilities from MS16-039. To defend against such attacks, patch as quickly as possible: both MS16-050 for Flash (APSB16-10 if you run Firefox) and MS16-039 are on the top of our priority list today.

MS16-040 deals with Microsoft XML core services and resolves a hole in Windows that an attacker could exploit by convincing a user to visit a maliciously crafted link that gives the attacker the ability to run code remotely to take control of a users system.

MS16-042 fixes four vulnerabilities in Office; the most severe could allow RCE if an attacker got a user to open a maliciously crafted Office file. Kandek added that CVE-2016-0127 is a RCE flaw in the RTF file format, which is visualized automatically in the Outlook preview pane and can give the attacker RCE with a simple e-mail. In other words, patch ASAP.

MS16-050 is the security update to close holes in Adobe Flash Player.

Important

MS16-041 fixes a security problem in Microsofts .NET Framework, and the vulnerability has been publicly disclosed.

MS16-044 resolves a flaw in Windows that could allow RCE if Windows OLE failed to properly validate user input.

MS16-045 addresses vulnerabilities in Hyper-V by changing how Hyper-V validates guest operating system user input. The most severe flaw could allow RCE if an authenticated attacker on a guest operating system runs a specially crafted application that causes the Hyper-V host operating system to execute arbitrary code. This patch applies only to people who have enabled Hyper-V.

MS16-046 patches an elevation of privilege vulnerability in Windows by fixing how Windows Secondary Logon Service handles requests in memory. The bug has been publicly disclosed, although Microsoft noted that it is not currently being exploited.

MS16-047 is the fix for the Badlock bug and is rated only as important. Microsoft said it resolves an EoP vulnerability in Windows Security Account Manager (SAM) and Local Security Authority (Domain Policy) (LSAD) remote protocols. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain access to the SAM database. To exploit the vulnerability, an attacker could launch a man-in-the-middle (MiTM) attack, force a downgrade of the authentication level of the SAM and LSAD channels, and then impersonate an authenticated user. The security update addresses the vulnerability by modifying how the SAM and LSAD remote protocols handle authentication levels.

As it turns out, Badlock was not directly part of an exploit in Server Message Block (SMB) as original anticipated, but rather part of Microsoft authentication framework, SAM and LSAD, said Michael Gray, vice president of technology at Thrive Networks. These authentication protocols are part of SMB, so this does still pertain to concerns regarding Windows file servers.

Gray predicted, Theres a good chance that Badlock will be used as a downstream vector. For instance, an attacker can own a workstation via public Wi-Fi and then wait until that device is in a corporate environment. Once it detects a file server, it could inject payload into the server via Badlock or simply use it to download corporate data. Its likely that Badlock could circumvent antivirus until all vendors have caught up, assuming, of course, that a companys antivirus is up to date and functional.

MS16-048 patches a CSRSS security feature bypass bug in Windows and is rated important for all supported versions of Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2, Windows RT 8.1 and Windows 10.

MS16-049 is the fix for HTTP.sys, as an attacker could launch denial of service by sending a specially crafted HTTP packet to a target system to cause it to become nonresponsive. The DoS vulnerability fix modifies how the Windows HTTP protocol stack handles HTTP 2.0 requests.

You might have noticed that Microsoft skipped MS16-043 for now.

Thats all for April, so happy patching!
Open source cloud computing platform OpenStack has a new semi-annual version of its code out this month and one symbolically important aspect is a deepened partnership with Googles public cloud.

+MORE AT NETWORK WORLD: Status check on OpenStack: The open source cloud has arrived | Why Google hasnt taken off in the cloud yet +

In a blog post, Google announced that the Mitaka release of OpenStack includes a native option to backup OpenStack Cinder storage volumes to its public cloud.

Cinder Backups to Google cloud

OpenStacks block storage service is named Cinder, which houses virtual machine data and data at rest; most organizations deem this important enough data to backup. OpenStack provides a native backup driver that allows Cinder to be backed up to various storage platforms. Google has now integrated its public cloud as a native backup option for Cinder.

Why its important

The move further differentiates Googles IaaS public cloud from Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure when it comes to supporting OpenStack. Google joined the OpenStack Foundation last year and has been working on integrating its open source container manager named Kubernetes into OpenStack. Now, in the Mitaka release of OpenStack (the 13th version of the open source code) Google is integrating its standard public cloud storage, as well as its less-expensive Nearline storage service. Google sees OpenStack private cloud users as potential public cloud customers. AWS and Azure have much more tepid relations with OpenStack.

This isn't the first partnership Google has made with a major private cloud platform. Late last year Google and VMware teamed up to announce a strategic partnership that allows VMware on-premises management tools to integrate with Google's Cloud Platform. Google seems willing to support private cloud platforms that build onramps to its public cloud.

Austin Calling

Googles news comes just weeks before the OpenStack community is meeting in Austin for its annual domestic summit. Expect more news from big-name vendors as the event gets closer and open source cloud fanatics return to the city where OpenStack was born.
Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

Windy with a mix of clouds and sun. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 78F. Winds S at 25 to 35 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Low 62F. Winds SSE at 15 to 25 mph.
Brazilian researchers from the D'Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR) and Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) have demonstrated the harmful effects of ZIKA virus (ZIKV) in human neural stem cells, neurospheres and brain organoids. Since ZIKV has been gradually established as a direct cause of central nervous system malformations, this study help to elucidate the etiological nature of the recently increasing number of microcephaly cases in Brazil.

This paper will be published online by the journal Science on Sunday, 10 April, 2016.

Scientists headed by Dr. Stevens Rehen differentiated human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells into neural stem cells and into further complex tridimensional structures, known as neurospheres and brain organoids. Neurospheres and brain organoids represent excellent models to investigate developmental neuropathologies, as they can outline, in vitro, several characteristics of the fetal brain formation.

In the present study conducted at IDOR in conjunction with UFRJ, the research team observed that ZIKV infects human-derived iPS neural cells, neurospheres and cerebral organoids causing cell death, malformations and reducing growth by 40%. The researchers also compared these results with the ones generated with Dengue Virus (DENV2). Even though DENV2 infected the cells such as ZIKV, there were no damaging outcomes registered to the neural cells, neurospheres or organoids.

Dr. Patricia Garcez, Assistant Professor at UFRJ and first author of the work, point out that "these unique results may unravel some key features of ZIKV infection in the developing brain".
New research has uncovered a link between being married and living longer among cancer patients, with the beneficial effect of marriage differing by race/ethnicity and place of birth. Published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the findings have important public health implications, given the rising numbers of unmarried individuals in the United States in addition to the growing aging population.

For the analysis, a team led by Scarlett Lin Gomez, PhD, of the Cancer Prevention Institute of California, and Maria Elena Martinez, PhD, of the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, assessed information on nearly 800,000 adults in California who were diagnosed in 2000 to 2009 with invasive cancer and were followed through 2012.

The investigators found that unmarried cancer patients had higher death rates than married patients. For males, the rate of death was 27 percent higher among those who were unmarried compared with those who were married. For females, the rate was 19 percent higher among unmarried patients. These patterns were minimally explained by greater economic resources among married patients, including having private health insurance and living in higher socioeconomic status neighborhoods.

The beneficial effect of being married on survival differed across racial/ethnic groups. Among men and women, whites benefitted the most from being married while Hispanics and Asian Pacific Islanders benefitted less. Also, Hispanic and Asian/Pacific Islander cancer patients who were born in the United States experienced a greater benefit than those born outside the country.

While other studies have found similar protective effects associated with being married, ours is the first in a large population-based setting to assess the extent to which economic resources explain these protective effects, said Dr. Gomez. Our study provides evidence for social support as a key driver. The findings indicate that physicians and other health professionals who treat unmarried cancer patients should ask if there is someone within their social network available to help them physically and emotionally.

Also, with the number of unmarried adults growing in the United States and the number of cancer patients also growing due to the aging population, the results have important public health implications. Research is needed to understand the specific reasons behind these associations so that future unmarried patients can receive interventions to increase their chances of survival, said Dr. Martinez.

Article: Differences in marital status and mortality by race/ethnicity and nativity among California cancer patients. Maria Elena Martinez, Kristin Anderson, James D. Murphy, Susan Hurley, Alison J. Canchola, Theresa H. M. Keegan, Iona Cheng, Christina Clarke, Sally L. Glaser, and Scarlett L. Gomez. CANCER; Published Online: April 11, 2016 (DOI: 10.1002/cncr.29886). http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/cncr.29886

CANCER is a peer-reviewed publication of the American Cancer Society integrating scientific information from worldwide sources for all oncologic specialties. The objective of CANCER is to provide an interdisciplinary forum for the exchange of information among oncologic disciplines concerned with the etiology, course, and treatment of human cancer. CANCER is published on behalf of the American Cancer Society by Wiley and can be accessed online at http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cancer.
New data from ten late-breaking abstracts is released at ECCMID 2016  the annual meeting of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disease (ESCMID). At the congress, a dedicated session will examine recently released research across the full spectrum of infectious diseases both from a clinical and laboratory perspective.

Researchers presented recent data on a number of diagnostic tools to rapidly identify pathogens and therapies promising to treat challenging infections. The abstracts presented dealt with topics including meningitis, pulmonary tuberculosis, Zika and human papilloma virus.

Abstracts described the long-term clinical implications of Zika virus exposure, demonstrating that it can produce a number of neurological and ocular complications. Additionally, scientists found that the drug bedaquiline used to treat multidrug-resistant tuberculosis was a safe and effective long-term treatment option in selected cases. Finally, urgent changes were recommended to the technology and temperature management during open-heart surgery to prevent the growth of M. chimaera bacteria.

Abstract No.: 7564 Neurological and psychiatric sequelae of Ebola virus disease in Sierra Leone

Researchers studied Ebola survivors from Sierra Leone and reviewed on-going neurological and psychiatric effects one year after recovery. The researches found that intermittent headaches were the most common side-effect, and that psychiatric symptoms including insomnia, depression and anxiety were also prevalent.

Abstract No.: 7596 Ocular manifestations of post Ebola syndrome in Sierra Leone

The researchers examined whether there are more types of ocular side-effects than previously though in Ebola survivors from Sierra Leone. They observed a more diverse range of complications than previously thought and recommend applying broad treatment options including cataract surgery.

Abstract No.: 7586 Multicentre evaluation of the FilmArray meningitis / encephalitis panel

In this study, the recently launched FilmArray meningitis/encephalitis panel was tested to demonstrate its sensitivity and specificity. The authors concluded that the FilmArray ME panel is a promising and useful assay for the diagnosis of central nervous system infections.

Abstract No.: 7614 Prolonged bedaquiline treatment for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis: first report of safety and long-term outcome

The authors evaluated how suitable a longer course of the new drug bedaquline is in the treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. They conclude that bedaquiline is a safe and effective treatment, and that prolongation beyond 24 weeks should be considered.

Abstract No.: 7044 A novel three-gene diagnostic for pulmonary tuberculosis based on host gene response

Researchers identified a new three-gene diagnostic for active pulmonary tuberculosis. Further validation of the test procedures is necessary before clinical application but its use for children and co-infected HIV patients may be a significant advantage.

Abstract No.: 7256 Performance evaluation of Papilloplex(TM) HR-HPV kit  a novel multiplexing assay for genotying all 14 HR-HPV types in a single closed tube real-time PCR reaction

Lab Diagnostics & Automation eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today

Researchers comparatively evaluated the performance of the PapilloplexTM HR-HPV assay, and concluded that this new assay is equivalent to established assays in terms of generic HR-HPV detection and type specificity. The assay therefore shows promise as a new tool for both disease management and epidemiological applications.

Abstract No.: 7468 Analytical sensitivity and specificity of the VERSANT Zika RNA 1.0 Assay (kPCR)

Researchers presented data on a new diagnostic assay to detect Zika virus for which there is currently no standard diagnostic test. They found that the new VERSANT Zika RNA 1.0 Assay (kPCR) is able to identify Zika virus and is highly sensitive and able to differentiate its presence from other similar flaviviruses.

Abstract No.: 7483 Serodiagnosis of acute and past Zika virus infections without cross-reactivity to other flaviviruses by NS1-based ELISA

The authors tested a new (serological) diagnostic test for Zika virus for both, individuals with an active infection, and crucially, for those who have had the infection in the past. This ability to test for the virus presence after the active stage means it could provide a useful tool to examine the link between Zika, Guillain-Barre syndrome and microcephaly.

Abstract No.: 7305 Re-emergence of Mycobacterium chimaera in heater-cooler units despite an intensified cleaning and disinfection protocol

The researchers looked at the conditions within heated cooler units (HCUs) that were giving rise to an emerging pathogen, Mycobacterium chimaera during open-heart surgery. They concluded that even thorough disinfection did not remove the bacteria entirely and, as a result, they see an urgent need to improve the protocol and the temperature management systems.

Abstract No.: 7129 Clinical and laboratory features of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever: predictors of lethality

The researchers explored predictors that would help estimate the potential lethality of the disease Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever  for which previous estimates for the case fatality rate varied widely between 15% and 85%. They concluded that an altered mental state, a decreased thrombocytes count and increased AST levels may be used to more accurately predict the potential lethality of the disease.

Prof. Winfried Kern, ECCMID Programme Director, commenting on this years selection and the significance of these findings:

Some of the most exciting research published in infectious disease is across the rapidly developing field of diagnostics. The ability to accurately detect and monitor diseases like HPV, TB and meningitis is crucial to earlier and more specific treatments. Additionally, the released research on the long-term effects of recent outbreaks of Zika and Ebola will enable the medical community to ensure that patients receive the correct treatment.

Source: https://www.escmid.org/
A one-year longitudinal study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine strongly suggests that smokers remain unemployed longer than nonsmokers. And when smokers do find jobs, they earn substantially less than nonsmokers.

The study will be published April 11 in JAMA Internal Medicine. Judith Prochaska, PhD, MPH, associate professor of medicine, is the lead and senior author.

Previous studies have demonstrated an association between smoking and unemployment in the United States and Europe, said Prochaska. In an earlier paper, her team found that unemployed job-seekers in California were disproportionately more likely to be smokers than were people who had jobs.

Cause or effect of unemployment?

But it has not been clear if smoking is the cause or the result of unemployment. "You don't know if smokers have a harder time finding work or if smokers are more likely to lose their jobs -- or that when nonsmokers lose their jobs, they become stressed and start to smoke," said Prochaska.

In a first step toward establishing that smoking may actually prevent people from getting jobs, Prochaska and her team surveyed 131 unemployed smokers and 120 unemployed nonsmokers at the beginning of the study and then at six and 12 months. "We found that smokers had a much harder time finding work than nonsmokers," said Prochaska.

At 12 months, only 27 percent of smokers had found jobs compared with 56 percent of nonsmokers. And among those who had found jobs by 12 months, smokers earned on average $5 less per hour than nonsmokers.

"The health harms of smoking have been established for decades," said Prochaska, "and our study here provides insight into the financial harms of smoking both in terms of lower re-employment success and lower wages."

Prochaska and her colleagues used survey questions and a breath test for carbon monoxide levels to classify job seekers into either daily smokers or nonsmokers. Participants were not randomized, and smokers and nonsmokers differed in a number of important ways besides whether they smoked. For example, smokers were, on average, younger, less-educated and in poorer health than nonsmokers. Such differences might influence job seekers' ability to find work, said Prochaska.

For this reason, the researchers analyzed their data to control for these and other factors, such as duration of unemployment, race and criminal record. "We designed this study's analyses so that the smokers and nonsmokers were as similar as possible in terms of the information we had on their employment records and prospects for employment at baseline," said co-author Michael Baiocchi, PhD, an assistant professor of medicine who oversaw the data analyses.

After controlling for these variables, smokers still remained at a big disadvantage. After 12 months, the re-employment rate of smokers was 24 percent lower than that of nonsmokers.

Testing the hypothesis

In a follow-up study already in progress, Prochaska and her team are testing an intervention that helps job seekers quit smoking. Smokers unemployed no longer than two years are being randomized into one of two groups. Those in the treatment group receive special help to quit smoking, while those in the control group receive brief advice and referral to a help line for quitting smoking. The hypothesis is that those who successfully quit smoking will have an easier time getting hired. The researchers hope to enroll a total of 360 smokers; more than 60 have already enrolled. Residents of the San Francisco Bay Area who are interested in participating in the study can call (415) 216-5853 for more information or go to http://www. employmentsmokingstudy. com.
Many tales of escaped parrots dont have happy endings.

If wayward birds manage to dodge the dangers of the outside world the cars, the cold, the cats  they might not find their way back home.

A viral video has been making its way around Facebook of one such wayward bird. Named Lola, the escapee, who appears to be a sun conure, makes her way onto local television.

Nine Gold Coast Wests reporter Brittney Kleyn was preparing for her report when Lola flew into the Australian reporters shot, alighting on the reporters shoulder.

Kleyn can be seen in the video letting out a shriek, then trying to shoo Lola off her shoulder with her notebook before saying, with her eyes squeezed shut, I cant get it off me. I cant get it off me. Oh my God, oh my God. Can you please get it off me?

Kleyns reaction elicits chuckles  and hundreds of thousands of views.

In a second video, the television station tells what happened after that chance encounter. A camera crewman helps Lola off Kleyns shoulder and takes care of the wayward bird, bringing Lola back into the television station.

It was that on-camera appearance that brought Lola home.

Her owner, Michelle Mills, says she received a number of calls from people who had seen Lola on the news.

Kleyn asks what Mills thought after seeing the initial video.

Ugh, I nearly died, Mills says during the interview. I knew it was her straight away.

Just two days after her misadventure, Lola and Mills were reunited. Mills theorizes Lola was attracted to Kleyn because the two women share a similar hairstyle. That lucky coincidence brought Lola home, though she did get a wing clipping after the escapade.

A similar story out of Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada, didnt end quite so happily.

A Quaker parrot, like my little Simon, escaped his home as well.

Radio show host Peter Potipcoe received a call last month about a parrot in the back alley of a business, and the caller said calls to animal control officials had gone unreturned.

I had to save him. Im an animal lover, Potipcoe said during an interview on Edmonton AM, as reprinted in an article for CBC News. Im used to getting calls about lost dogs. But a parrot? I had to see for myself.

So, as CBC News reports, Potipcoe put his show on autopilot and drove over to find the bird perched high in a birch tree. Potipcoe shimmied up the tree and poked the Quaker with a stick, only to discover its wings had been clipped.

The bird fluttered to the ground where Potipcoe grabbed it and took it back to the studio, calling the bird Lil Quaker State.

Lil Quaker State perched on Potipcoes microphone and munched on some blueberries, but as Potipcoe put it to CBC News It pooped everywhere. And when you are in a studio, with a bird flying around, its a little sketchy.

Attempts to find Lil Quaker States owner were unsuccessful, and Potipcoe thinks the bird was dumped  quite likely since his wings were clipped.

Potipcoe said he considered adopting Lil Quaker State, but he has two dogs  and Lil Quaker State bit him.

Lil Quaker State was sent to the veterinarian and then off to the SPCA.
In a world driven by social media, the takes are often hot. And man, did they ever sizzle once word broke last week that Anheuser-Busch had ac
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UNSAFE 'SAFE HOUSE'

She also turned to the Director of Public Prosecutions to whom she has also complained, but although she has had some relief from the DPP, the ills she has encountered in the accommodation provided have been overwhelming and overbearing. Accompanied by police officers, she went to Attorney Gerald Ramdeens office on Cornelio Street, Woodbrook, and instructed him to write to the Minister of National Security, Edmund Dillon, outlining the numerous problems she has encountered since she entered the programme, and her desperate intention and, in frustration, to walk away from the programme PC Clement was charged on June 20 2012 with conspiracy to pervert the course of public justice.

In the resulting letter to Dillon, Ramdeen pointed out that before becoming a state witness, the woman police officer was charged together with Khamraj Sahadeo, Ronaldo Riviero, Glen Singh, Roger Nicholas, Safraz Juman and Antonio Ramadhin with murdering Abigail Johnson, Alana Duncan and Kerron Eccles contrary to common law. All of the accused were officers of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service.

On the same day Clement was charged she entered into plea agreement with the DPP. The DPP in the exercise of his powers under section 90 of the Constitution granted immunity to Officer Clement on the three counts of murder.

Ramdeen, in his letter to Dillon on Clements behalf, says she has instructed him that at the first location where she was directed to reside, she woke up on several occasions and there was no one present on the location to secure the premises.

Upon questioning this failure in security Clement was told by an officer that sometimes they are short of vehicles, so when the officers complete duty they will have to take the vehicle down to the sub station to hand it over to the relieving officers, and this would result in there being no one at the secure location., WPC Clement also revealed in her letter, incidents of officers refusing to accompany her outside with her daughter on afternoons, and was reportedly given a choice to either go out herself and get things done or have the officers purchase items which she needed.

Because of her understandable fears to venture outside and the risk to her life she requested that the officers purchase her groceries and vegetables for her, the letter revealed.

In her letter to Dillon, Clement spoke of being alone with her daughter and unsecured on numerous occasions, and she spoke about the houses where she was kept as being barely habitable internally and externally.

In the wash area when rain fell. Her letter pointed out, The water would run down the wall and into the electrical circuit and this could easily electrocute anyone in that area. This water would also wet the pump on the ground located in the same area. Officer Clement complained countless times about this situation but nothing was done.

Newsday understands that at one of the safe houses there were no laundry lines to hang clothes, neither was there a dryer in the house, and Clement had to take her own money and buy cords to make lines and convert the living room into a laundry room in order to dry clothes. She also spoke about all the houses being very close to each other, and she added that in one of the houses her feet fell through the rotted flooring, and the quality of the water was not fit for drinking.

Clement also noted that the front gate on one location fell on a Friday afternoon, and repairing it was not addressed until the middle of the following week.

The letter continued that an officer who was assigned to guard her and her daughter would also leave for hours, and when she reported the matter to the senior officer in charge, she was told that several complaints had been made against that officer but it took a long time before the matter was addressed.

She also revealed that officers who were assigned to her were armed only with pistols and not any high powered weapon to deal with any breach of the security arrangements.

Clement also broke her hand in the bathroom after sliding on the wet tiles, and it was not until the next day she was taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex at Mt Hope, although she was advised that in case of any medical attention she needed, she would be taken to a private facility.

My client inquired about the security arrangements that were being put in place for her to be taken to the hospital, Ramdeen wrote. One of the Officers told her that it was just the two of them, but one will have to stay in the vehicle to secure the heavy arms. The letter to Minister Dillon also revealed that an officer was made go Clement she resisted relocation to another Caribbean country because she felt that her life and that of her daughter would be severely compromised.

She also spoke about not having any gas to cook during the first Christmas she spent in the safe house.

At one of the other locations there were overgrown trees in and around the premises which Clement pleaded to have cut.

This was eventually carried out but not before the Woman Police Officer attempted to do herself.

Clement also spoke about the manner in in which she and her daughter were treated when she was being taken to Court.

The very first time she had to attend court she called a senior officer to find out what was the procedure, her letter stated, She was informed that she and her daughter would be accompanied to court by a woman police officer who would stay in the vehicle with her daughter. My client bluntly refused and informed the senior officer that she will only allow her family to look after her daughter and certainly she did not want her daughter accompanying her to Court. It was eventually agreed to use a discreet location and a family member would stay there with her daughter.

Additionally, Clement spent a considerable amount of her own money to enroll her daughter in a Montessori school, but due to lack of security she opted out and to date her daughter does not attend school.

Clement noted that the DPP intervened on several occasions to assist her for which she is very grateful. She said that on many occasions the DPP appeared upset and troubled by her complaints, but assured on every occasion that he would address her problems with haste.

She also complained in her letter To date, I still have problems with officers leaving the compound for long periods, the gate not functioning properly for two years, roaches, and rats.

In his conclusion Attorney Ramdeen stated What is clear from the instructions of my client is that the State, its servants and/ or agents have not abided by the promises that were made to my client in exchange for her being the main prosecution witness for the State in the prosecution of Khamraj Sahadeo and others. It is clear from the manner in which my client has been treated that the State has not taken seriously their obligations towards her.

They have not kept the promises that were made towards her upon the entering into the plea agreement and the immunity. From the actions of the State, the letter continued, It seems that those in authority take the view that they are doing my client a favour whereas it should be understood that the relationship between the State and my client in this matter is one governed by law and contractual obligations that are enforceable in law.
Garcia claims success in handling errant pupils

Garcia also boasted that for the first time in 15 years, all schools nationwide had reopened on time at the start of the school term yesterday, downplaying an early closure of two schools as being due to developments later in the day. St Francois Girls was closed due to a power outage and Aranguez North due to the discovery of mould in the air-conditioning ducts. He saw the on-time reopenings after the Easter holidays as being a reflection of his Ministrys success in halting violence and indiscipline in schools.

Otherwise, Garcia stood by his previous criticism of the former administration in the award of national scholarships, as he alleged that certain pupils enjoy an unfair advantage and pointed out four criteria which he said must be changed to remedy this.

He also accused the former government of having left the ministry dysfunctional. He said staff had been very disorganised, saddened and disgruntled and had felt very disrespected by certain persons.

Saying he had met dissatisfaction among teachers, parents and pupils, Garcia said their chief grievance had been the Continuous Assessment Component (CAC) of the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SE A) Exam, which he had just ended by a Cabinet Note as urged by the TT Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) and the National Parent Teacher Association (NPTA), both present yesterday.

Of the 24 errant pupils from Chaguanas North, a ministry team removed 20 of them from school as a matter of urgency, while four pupils got the chance of rehabilitation at that school, said Garcia. The 20 pupils were directed to a Learning Enhancement Centre at the former site of the Couva West Secondary School, 13 of whom complied by attending, leading to positive results.

Accounting for the seven absentees, he said some pupils live in irregular arrangements, such as with older brothers, or as female students living with an adult partner. Of these, two could not be found, with one returning to a former abode and the other moving to a brothers house far from Chaguanas. Of other five absentees, four were over 16 years old and so were beyond the ministrys duty to keep them in school, while another is 15-plus years.

Garcia accounted for the 13 pupils attending the Couva West site, each the subject of an evaluation exercise. He said it was agreed among all parties that three pupils would attend the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), four attend other secondary schools, and six attend Servol classes and be allowed to write the CSE C exam next month. We deem it a success story, said Garcia.

Regarding El Dorado East Secondary School, he said 31 errant pupils were identified by school authorities, with the school being visited by a ministry team including Student Support Services (SSS) staff. Six students in Forms One and Two will stay in the school for rehabilitation. Ten students in Form Five will stay at home on extended suspension but be allowed to write the CSE C Exam. Some 15 other pupils were directed to a Learning Enhancement Centre at the MIC compound in Macoya, 14 of whom attended yesterday.

Garcia concluded, Since we have signalled that we would not tolerate indiscipline and violence, we have found a great decrease in violence and indiscipline in our
Woman walks over Las Cuevas cliff

No one should be in my position seeking funding for medical attention. It makes you aware that even on holidays, you must always be prepared for the worse, Antonio said. From the fall, Antonios pelvis was broken in several places, her sacrum, which connects the pelvis to the spine, is fractured, and she has a fractured right leg, which is currently in a cast. She also has a broken right heel.

Antonio, who spoke yesterday with Newsday from her bed at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital, said she was thankful that family and friends have set up a fund-raising campaign to pay for an air ambulance to transport her from Trinidad to Toronto.

The fund-raising campaign is seeking CDN$56,000 to hire an air-ambulance and has raised more than half the amount at present. The objective, she said, is to be out of the country in a couple of days.

She is in constant pain and needs to get back to Canada for emergency surgery, a plea on the Gofundme page where the campaign was launched says. The longer she stays without surgery is the more likely she will not have a full recovery. The local doctors have informed her that due to the complex fractures she sustained, they could not perform the necessary surgeries required.

At present, Antonio cannot move her lower extremities. If someone shakes the bed, it aggravates the pain.

I get a lot of muscle spasms, she said.

At the time of her arrival at the hospital, a CT scan was not done because the machine was not working. Antonio said that the hospital administrator, Ernest Ali, came to see me to let me know he is aware of my situation and they are doing what they can for me at the moment. Asked how she fell of the cliff, Antonio, said she and her cousins and other relatives went to Las Cuevas beach to lime. She had arrived in the country on March 22 for a oneweek holiday and to visit relatives.

They arrived at Las Cuevas while it was still daylight. We had parked on the hill and walked down where we saw this cliff overlooking the beach. From there, it had easy access to get down to the beach. We decided to camp there to be away from the sand flies, but the sand flies came to us there and we started a fire, she said.

After the fire had died down and the sand flies were getting plentiful, she said, Using my phone to light the way, I went looking for more leaves and dried pieces of wood to rekindle the fire.

She continued, It was very dark, and because it was so dark and the light from my phone was not bright enough, I could not see, and I just walked off the cliff. She tumbled part of the way, landed in soft sand, and screamed for help as soon as she landed. Her cousins who heard her responded to her cries.

The mother of two, who is the manager of the central booking, film and library department of a diagnostic imaging centre in Toronto, said she was anxious to be reunited with her two daughters, who are excited for her return to Toronto and a return to full recovery.

Overwhelmed with the support to the campaign started by a friend Bre Clarke in Toronto, she said, I cant thank him enough. I am thankful because there has been an outpouring of support and love from people I have never met and those that I know. It has brought together a huge community in Trinidad, Canada and the United States. It is unbelievable - their encouragement, words, prayers, everything, she said
'He Had the Chance to Go in

and Save the Children'
(Newser)  What may be the world's biggest-ever dam removal is closer to happening in Oregon and California after years of talksand without approval from Congress. Both states, federal officials, and the utility PacifiCorp are among those who agreed on April 6 to remove four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River, which runs from Oregon into California, reports National Geographic. "It's certainly the most significant dam removal and restoration project ever undertaken," says an environmental advocate. Why do it? The dams are blocking 300 miles of salmon and steelhead migration, ruining a valuable fishery and depriving local tribes of food, Field & Stream reports. And toxic algae blooms in the dam's lakes are poisoning rivers and killing off fish. "To me, its an environmental injustice," says Klamath Tribes Chairman Don Gentry.

The utility has also put in place wind and solar facilities with 10 times the generating capacity of the dams, per the group American Rivers. But critics say the plan deprives California of property taxes and never got Congressional approval, the LA Times reports. In that vein, a California lawmaker blames the dam removal on "environmental extremists, bureaucrats in Sacramento and Washington, and a taxpayer bailout for billionaire Warren Buffett." Indeed, PacifiCorpwhich is owned by Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc.will avoid spending hundreds of millions on environmental and water-quality upgrades to the dams. Removing the dams should cost around $300 million, paid for by a PacifiCorp customer surcharge and a California water bond. Target date for removal is 2020, pending approval by federal regulators. (Meanwhile, Saudis are saving water by snapping up US farmland.)
(Newser)  Porn site XHamster is taking action to deal with something it considers really obscene: North Carolina's new pro-discrimination law. The siteone of the most popular porn websites and one of the world's top 100 websites of any kind, according to Gizmodowent dark for users with a North Carolina IP address shortly after noon on Monday, reports the Huffington Post. "We feel this punishment is a severe one," an XHamster spokesman says. "We will not stand by and pump revenue into a system that promotes this type of garbage. We respect all sexualities and embrace them."

The spokesman says he believes "porn has the power to do what Bruce Springsteen can't." XHamster initially suggested that users from the state would be blocked until the law was repealed, although later Monday, it was back up for them with an added pop-up slamming the state's "homophobic insanity" and "incredible hypocrisy," Gizmodo reports. The pop-up noted that so far in 2016, there have been more than 319,000 North Carolina views of videos in categories marked "Gay," and another 491,000 views in "Shemale" categories. (Bryan Adams is boycotting Mississippi over a similar law.)
(Newser)  "A full homer of wine, bring tomorrow; don't be late." That command, written on pottery excavated near the Dead Sea, not only shows soldiers liked to drink in the Kingdom of Judah around 600BC. It might also push back the date of the Old Testament. In analyzing 16 letters on pottery found at a fort in Arad, Israel, researchers at Tel Aviv University identified six authors, including the fort commander and a low-ranking quartermaster of the Judahite army. "And they wrote well, with hardly any mistakes," study author Israel Finkelstein tells the New York Times. This suggests literacy was widespread with perhaps hundreds of literate people in Judah at the time, which "is really quite amazing," Finkelstein tells Live Science. Experts have long believed there wasn't enough literacy for the majority of biblical texts to be inscribed before 586BC when Judah's capital of Jerusalem was destroyed and elites were exiled to Babylon.

In other words, these texts show parts of the Old Testamentincluding the Books of Isaiah, Amos, and Hosea, and parts of Genesis and Deuteronomycould have been written earlier than previously thought. "Several (biblical) texts refer to events which best fit the reality in the years just before the fall of the Kingdom of Judah," Finkelstein says, per Discovery News, adding that some kind of educational system was likely in place. He thinks the "first Judahite biblical texts were most probably put in writing in Jerusalem by priests and officials in the entourage of the king." Some experts, however, say they may have been written even earlier, in the 9th and 8th centuries BC. (Your idea of the Last Supper is probably wrong.)
(Newser)  A Donald Trump rally in Albany on Monday night involved a raucous crowd of more than 10,000, a lot of talk about "New York values," and at least one fight. Trump stopped speaking as protesters were ejected, saying "Send him back home to mom" in one case, the Albany Times Union reports. In another incident, a Trump supporter confronted a protester and shoved him in the face more than once before security took the protester away. "I'll snatch anybody up if they yell in my face over anything," the Trump fan told reporters after the rally. "I have my personal rights and my personal space." The protester has not been identified and police told NBC that no arrests were made at the rally.

At the rally, Trump slammed the "rigged, disgusting, dirty" system in places like Colorado, where Ted Cruz won all the delegates over the weekend after, as Reuters puts it, outmaneuvering Trump "in a series of state meetings." It's a "crooked, crooked system" that leaves real voters without a voice, Trump said. He also attacked Cruz for his "New York values" comments earlier this year. "Nobody has values like us and the country loves New York," Trump said. Cruz, meanwhile, was campaigning in California, where he accused Trump of "whining" about the GOP contest being rigged, the AP reports. "As we know in the state of California, whine is something best served with cheese," Cruz told supporters in San Diego. (Two of Trump's children have discovered that they can't vote in New York's April 19 primary.)
(Newser)  The Hartford Courant is "disappointed" and "assessing our options" after a judge scuttled its request to access the private writings of Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza. The newspaper first asked state police to hand over the documents in January 2014; when that didn't happen, it went to the state Freedom of Information Commission, which greenlighted their release in May 2014, reports the Newtown Bee. The state appealed, and on Friday, Superior Court Judge Carl J. Schuman overturned that ruling, and his reasoning was thus: Connecticut statutes hold that private property seized via search warrant and not used in a criminal trial be returned to the owner at the conclusion of the case; this trumps the FOIA.

The Courant points out that no one has voiced a privacy concern in relation to the documents, but Schuman said his ruling must apply to similar situations less "unusual" than Lanza's. As for what's known of the documents, they include Lanza's handwritten notes, a spreadsheet that tracked the details of mass killings, and "The Big Book of Granny." A November 2013 Courant article written upon the release of the state police's summary of its nearly year-long investigation shared details of the eight-chapter book, which featured a gun-slinging Granny, her son, and Dora the Beserker. In the book, written as a school project with another classmate when the two were fifth-graders, Granny robs a bank, kills soldiers, wipes out the Beatles, and threatens to murder schoolkids. The assignment was never turned in. (Read more Adam Lanza stories.)
(Newser)  When Alissa Zagaris' ex-husband asked her to send him their then-10-year-old's vaccination records, she said no way. Son Leo was in Greece visiting his father for the summer, per stipulations of the couple's divorce. But just days before the boy was to return to Indiana, Nikos Zagaris called Alissa on Aug. 11, 2011, to say the child had mumps and had to remain with him a month. Also he needed those recordsrecords that are required to enroll children in school. So began her two years of emotional and legal hell, which ended with Leo being returned to her in March 2013, and with a court this year ordering Nikos to pay her $1.17 million after she sued him for fraud, breach of their custody arrangement, and the damage done to her relationship with her son. Whether she collects remains to be seen.

The Indianapolis Star revisits Alissa's quest to get Leo back: A warrant out for Nikos' arrest, this issued by a Hamilton Superior Court, which charged Nikos with felony interference with custody. She also filed a case with the State Department. A Greek judge ultimately determined Leo should return home, but Nikos balked. A US district court next charged him with international parental kidnapping. Leo was ultimately taken from school and reunited with his mom at the airport after the FBI and Greek government got involved. Now, the "strongest symbol of how far they've come": Leo and Alissa plan to visit Greece together ... next year, when he is 16 and outside his father's grasp. Read the Star's full story here. (Read more child kidnapping stories.)
(Newser)  The suspect in the Nov. 27 shooting rampage at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs says "his dream" is for aborted fetuses to "thank him what for what he did" when he dies and goes to heaven. Robert Lewis Dear, the self-proclaimed "warrior for the babies" who confessed in court, made the comments to police after his arrest, according to arrest and search warrants unsealed Monday, per NBC News. He also says he was angry with Planned Parenthood for performing abortions and for "the selling of body parts," and the attack left him "happy," per Reuters. A police officer, a US Army vet, and a young mom were killed, and nine were injured in the shooting, Dear faces murder and attempted murder charges.

The unsealed documents reveal that Dear stopped to get directions to the clinic on the day of the attack and even called the clinic itself. He showed up wearing a vest of silver coins and duct tape and shot a woman in the parking lot with one of four semi-automatic rifles, telling her she "shouldn't have come here today," the documents state. He later told police he "thought very highly" of Paul Hill, who murdered a Florida abortion provider in 1994, per the documents. Dear has said he plans to represent himself in court, though a court-appointed evaluation found he was incompetent to do so. His lawyer is expected to argue that Dear should be put in a state psychiatric hospital during a hearing on his competency to stand trial on April 28. (Read more Robert Lewis Dear stories.)
(Newser)  Matt Drudge and his Drudge Report have become a big focus of the Republican race this week. Things really took off Monday when Ted Cruz told a conservative radio host that Drudge's website "has basically become the attack site for the Trump campaign," reports BuzzFeed. Cruz took exception to several headlines on the site suggesting that he had won in Colorado over the weekend thanks only to insider politics by party leaders bent on defeating Donald Trump. "And most days, they have six-month-old article that is some attack on me, and its whatever the Trump campaign is pushing that day will be the banner headline on Drudge," said Cruz. He added that "they no longer cover news." As the Hill reports, Drudge has responded by linking to a January story in which Cruz sounded pleased with the site: "We have got the Internet, we have got the Drudge Report," he said at the time.

Drudge also linked to an analysis in the Washington Post headlined, "Ted Cruzs war with Matt Drudge could become a huge problem for his campaign." In that piece, James Hohmann writes that a "word cloud" from social media shows that Drudge is making an impact, with the words "cheating" and "drudge" showing up among mentions of Cruz's Colorado win. This should worry Cruz because it could make his victories seem illegitimate to conservatives. "If Cruz wins the nomination at a contested convention in Cleveland, he will need these grass-roots activists to rally around him," writes Hohmann. "If regular Drudge readers believe he did not win fair and square, they will be less inclined to do so." A blogger at the American Spectator, meanwhile, dismisses the "reprehensible" coverage on Drudge as "cheap tabloid tricks." Trump is looking for a "distraction" from the reality that he was beaten soundly in Colorado, where the rules were clear, writes Ross Kaminsky. (Read more Drudge Report stories.)
(Newser)  Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder on Monday blamed "career bureaucrats" for the Flint crisis and said his staff lied to him about the city's lead-tainted water, the Detroit News reports. Snyder says he got a briefing on Sept. 27 telling him "outside experts" were wrong and that Flint's water was safe, reports the Detroit Free Press. He says during a conference call the next day he learned the city's drinking water was so contaminated with lead that it risked permanent brain damage in children. (Snyder had previously claimed he learned about the crisis Oct. 1, NBC News reports.) "Talk about being upset, I was upset," the Free Press quotes Snyder as saying.

The problems in Flint started when the city switched to the Flint River for its water as a money-saving move. Snyder says the blame lies with state employees who showed "an absolute lack of common sense" and decided not to pay $150 per day to add chemicals to the water to protect aging pipes. Still, he says he's taken responsibility for the crisis. Anddespite widespread calls for him to step downSnyder says he won't resign. In the past six months, Snyder, who still classifies his governorship as a success, has gone from a possible presidential candidate to a spot on Fortune's list of most disappointing leaders. "Its a humbling experience," the News quotes Snyder as saying. "Its been a very difficult time period. But what I keep in mind is there are people suffering in Flint, and I want to do something about it." Flint's tap water is still considered unsafe to drink. (Read more Flint water crisis stories.)
(Newser)  The rail dispatcher in charge of two trains that collided in Germany in February, killing 11, was playing a game on his phone just before the crash, authorities say. The man, whose name is not being released but who is a 39-year-old with years of experience, has been arrested on suspicion of negligent homicide, the Wall Street Journal reports. The collision near Munich Feb. 9 was one of the worst rail accidents in Germany's recent history, and no technical problems have been found to have contributed, the AP reports.

"Due to the close timing it must be assumed that the accused was distracted from controlling the cross-traffic of the trains," prosecutors say in a statement, adding that the dispatcher had been actively playing the cellphone game for "an extended period of time" until shortly before the collision. He likely gave the trains the incorrect signals, then pressed the wrong combination of buttons while trying to issue an emergency call, meaning the train drivers probably never heard it. (Read more train accident stories.)
(Newser)  Turns out Lindsay Lohan isn't engaged after all. TMZ reported Tuesday that Lohan's boyfriend, Russian heir Egor Tarabasov, had proposed over the weekend, but LiLo's rep now tells People, "The story is untrue and holds no merit." (As of Tuesday night, TMZ was sticking to its guns, reporting that LiLo was sporting an emerald-and-diamond engagement ring.) Lohan, 29, and Tarabasov, a 22-year-old whose businessman father is a multi-millionaire, have been dating about eight months, per People, and have recently moved in together.

Tarabasov also spent the holidays in New York with Lohan and her family, per Page Six. "Hes older than his years. Being an only child and traveling the world educates you in other ways," Lindsay's mom, Dina, told Page Six last month. Dad Michael's take, around the same time: "He has a lot of strong connections in Russiathese are big people and theyre very supportive." (Read more Lindsay Lohan stories.)
CIA Director John Brennan was firm that his spy agency would refuse to employ controversial interrogation techniques, such as waterboarding, even if a future president ordered him to use them.

In an interview with NBC News released Sunday, he said: "I will not agree to carry out some of these tactics and techniques I've heard bandied about because this institution needs to endure," he said. Brennan later added that he would "not agree to having any CIA officer carrying out waterboarding again."

Waterboarding is a technique in which a person is detained and made to feel that he is drowning.

Even though President Barack Obama had banned waterboarding after he took over in 2009, the Republican presidential front-runner, Donald Trump, promised to revive it if he got elected, said foxnews. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/04/11/cia-director-says-agency-will-not-use-controversial-interrogation-techniques-again.html

Trump had said at a Republican debate in New Hampshire that he would "bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding".

His rival, the Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, had said during the debate that he would not make "widespread use" of the technique, yet he did not believe that it amounted to torture.

Last December 2014, Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee had come out with a report pointing fingers at the interrogation methods by the CIA after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. They were "brutal and far worse" than the agency had projected.

The report accused CIA of torturing a number of Al Qaeda detainees in Europe and Asia, even though officials said that they produced "valuable and actionable intelligence," with information taking U.S. forces to Usama bin Laden in 2011.

The assessment was indeed echoed by Brennan's remark on the report. He said: "The intelligence gained from the program was critical to our understanding of Al Qaeda and continues to inform our counterterrorism efforts to this day."

Still, in his confirmation hearings to assume the CIA directorship in February 2013, he confirmed that the intelligence committee's report "raises serious questions about the information that I was given" about the usefulness of the enhanced interrogation techniques.

He later said: "I do not know what the truth is."
Donald Trump is whining that Ted Cruz swept Colorado's delegates in this summer's Republican National Convention in Cleveland, charged the Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. He had plunged into the Republican party's nominating process Monday, accusing his contestant for the GOP nomination.

"Donald has been yelling and screaming. A lot of whining. I'm sure some cursing. And some late-night fevered tweeting," Cruz cried to all his supporters in Irvine, Calif.

Cruz pounced on Trump once more in San Diego, with an acerbic comment: "As we know in the state of California, whine is something best served with cheese."

The real estate mogul was obviously being hit when Cruz said: "Donald, it ain't stealing when the voters vote against you. It is the voters reclaiming this country and reclaiming sanity."

On the other hand, Trump did not spare Colorado's Republican leadership too, since the weekend's state convention. He did it again on Monday at an Albany rally in Albany, N.Y., calling Cruz's win "a total fix."

"There's so much - the people all wanted to vote. They took away their votes," Trump said. "I think it's going to come back to haunt them because people aren't going take it anymore. We're not going to take it anymore. It's a corrupt system. It's a totally corrupt, rigged system."

Cruz said that all the whines of Trump have been gathered from his struggles in the most current primary contests held at Utah, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Colorado. Cruz splashed his comments on social media.

Trump has linked the Colorado imbroglio to next week's New York primary. Some preliminary surveys show that he inches into a big lead over Ted Cruz as well as the Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

"You're going to go out and vote ... well, we found out in Colorado it's not a democracy like we thought and we're not going to have a rigged election," Trump said.

However, Colorado is not the only spot where the two were battling. Trump got his popular vote in Louisiana's early March primary too by three percentage points. Still, the close fight between the two of them gave the contestants the same number of delegates.

"I end up winning Louisiana and then when everything is done, I find out I get less delegates than this guy that got his ass kicked", Trump said Monday.

The rivals are in a push-comes-to-shove mode to overshoot the other in state gatherings too. The delegates who will attend the summer convention are being chosen and the Cruz campaign has launched a strategic approach to select the delegates. This is one move that is crucial, as Cruz is targeting the 1,237 delegate-mark to win the nomination.
One Etihad flight from the UK to Australia was aborted by a pilot, who decided to take a snap decision in order to help an elderly couple. They got a text message about their grandson, who was critically ill, which made the pilot turn the flight so that the grandparentscould rush to the hospital.

The story was posted in a closed Facebook Travel group Travel Gossip (via Travel Mole)

It was the doing of the travel counsellor, Becky Stephenson, who put up the story to appreciate Etihad Airways for the laudatory customer service that had been provided to her clients.

Her post said the couple were travelling to Australia via Abu Dhabi and were on the brink of switching off their mobile phones. Just then the plane taxied to the runway when they got a text message conveying that their grandson was in intensive care, so they had to reach the hospital quickly.

The message was passed on to the cabin crew and then the pilot. He turned it around and went back to the gate, which helped the couple disembark from the flight and unload their luggage. The crew then requested for help so that they could return to the airport and get their car collected from the park.

"Every little detail thought about and taken care of, so impressed and wanted to say let others know the service that they have provided," Stephenson wrote.

The following day, the grandson died. At least the grandparents did get off the flight on time to see their grandson for the last time, thanks to the pilot.

The travel counsellor sent a mail to the Etihad sales manager to express her appreciation of the staff. It allowed the customers to reuse their tickets for another trip to Australia so that they could see their family.

The post received more than 60 comments in appreciation of the airline.
Toronto:

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today said he will formally apologise for Canadas refusal to allow entry to Komagata Maru, a ship carrying 376 immigrants, mostly Sikhs, from India in 1914 due to discriminatory laws of the time.

Speaking at the Baisakhi celebration in Ottawa, Trudeau said that the Komagata Marus passengers were seeking refuge and better lives, like millions of immigrants to Canada since.

With so much to contribute to their new home, they chose Canada. And we failed them utterly, the prime minister said, adding that the passengers were refused entry to Canada due to discriminatory laws of the time.

As a nation, we should never forget the prejudice suffered by the Sikh community at the hands of the Canadian government of the day. We should not and we will not, Trudeau said at the Gurdwara Sahib Ottawa Sikh Society.

He further said that he will formally apologise on May 18 in the House of Commons, 102 years after the infamous incident, Toronto Star reported.

The Japanese steamship Komagata Maru, carrying 376 immigrants, mostly Sikhs, from India was denied entry by the Canadian government in May 1914 and was forced to return to India.

Two months later, the ship arrived in Calcutta where British soldiers fired upon the disembarking passengers in which 19 people died.

A painful chapter in the history of Sikhs in Canada, the incident also highlighted the discriminatory immigration policies Canada had followed against Asian immigrants in the 19th century.

Former prime minister Stephen Harper did apologise for the incident at a public event in British Columbia in 2008, but the Sikh- Canadians were demanding a formal statement in the Parliament.

Trudeau-led Liberal Party, which has four Sikh ministers in the cabinet, has promised a formal apology during the election campaign last year.

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New Delhi:

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has reportedly written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, appreciating him for sending a special water train to drought-hit Latur. Also, Kejriwal has reportedly said that Delhi is also ready to provide water to Latur if arrangements for the same are made. The Marathwada region of Maharashtra is battling the worst drought ever. A special train carrying around five lakh litres of water in 10 wagons reached Latur on Tuesday morning. The train had left from Miraj in western Maharashtra.

On Monday, he had took it to Twitter to appeal to the people of Delhi to save water for Latur. In a tweet, he said: Severe water crisis in Latur. We all shud help. Are all Delhiites ready to save some water daily to send it for our people in Latur?



There are 10 tankers in the water train carrying 50,0000 litres water each. The tankers were filled up at Miraj in Sangli district of western Mahasrashtra, 300 kms away.For proper storage and distribution of the precious beverage Latur administration has acquired a huge well, located about 5-7 km from Latur, to store the water. The second train consisting of 50 wagons is expected to be ready for water loading around April 15.

Latur is going through an acute water crisis. The central government has decided to send water to Latur by train. This is an admirable step. It will be shameful for the entire country if anyone dies due to water crisis in India in the 21st century. It is the responsibility of the entire country to help the people of Latur, Kejriwal said.



Delhi also faces water shortages. But considering the sinister situation in Latur, it is our responsibility to help people there. If you find it appropriate, you may appeal the chief ministers of other states in this regard. I am sure they will also extend a helping hand, he said.

Severe water crisis in Latur. We all shud help. Are all Delhiites ready to save some water daily to send it for our people in Latur?  Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) April 11, 2016

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New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday met the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who arrived on their first visit to India on Sunday. The PM had invited the royal couple for lunch. Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Prince William and Kate Middleton on Monday visited Mahatma Gandhis memorial in New Delhi and paid homage him. In a close to 45-minute visit to the Gandhi Smriti on Tees January Marg, the royal couple also saw the exhibits there and came to know that Gandhi learned to wear a tie and play violin during his stay in London as a student.



The Duke and Duchess Cambridge also paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at the Martyrs Column. The Father of the Nation was killed on January 30, 1948 by a Hindu fanatic at the Birla House when he was taking a stroll there. The House, where Gandhi spent the last few years of his life, was later turned into a memorial.



They also visited the museum, the khadi-weaving room and expressed keen interest in knowing about Lord Mountbattens tribute to Gandhi among other eminent personalities, after his death.



The royal couple were particularly keen about the spinning wheel the use of which he popularised all his life. Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India was related to the British royal family. Gandhi and Mountbatten were known to have shared bonhomie and the last Viceroy even attended his funeral.



Known for their sartorial grace, the couple looked elegant in their attire. Kate wore a cream dress by Emilia Wickstead on her first outing in the city. The couple is on a seven-day tour of India and Bhutan, aimed at building up strong bonds with the two countries.

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New Delhi:

Indias top women biker Veenu Paliwal died in a road accident in Vidisha district of Madhya Pradesh on last evening of Monday. Paliwal is known as the lady biker who was recently named the lady of the Harley 2016. The 44-year-old Jaipur resident was on a nationwide tour along with fellow biker Dipesh Tanwar. Paliwal died when her bike skid off a road near Gyaraspur which is about 100 km from Bhopal.

Soon Paliwal was rushed to a primary health centre and then to the Vidisha district hospital, where doctors declared her brought dead. Both the bikers Paliwal and Tanwar were heading to Bhopal when the accident took place.

Paliwals family and friends have also been informed. The post-mortem was to take place this morning, reportedly. Paliwal was also planning to make a documentary on her nationwide motorbike journey.

Soon after the news broke, Twitter started bursting with tributes to the Indian lady biker from across the nation.

Veenu's love for bike India's first woman biker Veenu was planning to make a documentary on her bike road trip Veenu Paliwal's road trip

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London:

Scientists in UK have used data from the NASA Kepler space telescope to discover a class of extra -solar planets whose atmospheres have been stripped away by their host stars, according to a research published today. The study by astrophysicists at the University of Birmingham says planets with gaseous atmospheres that lie very close to their host stars are bombarded by a torrent of high-energy radiation.

Due to their proximity to the star, the heat that the planets suffer means that their envelopes have been blown away by intense radiation. This violent stripping occurs in planets that are made up of a rocky core with a gaseous outer layer. The scientists used asteroseismology to characterise the stars and their planets to levels of accuracy not achieved before for these systems.

Asteroseismology uses the natural resonances of stars to reveal their properties and inner structures. The results of the study have important implications for understanding how stellar systems, like our own solar system, and their planets, evolve over time and the crucial role played by the host star.

Dr Guy Davies, from the University of Birminghams School of Physics and Astronomy, said: For these planets it is like standing next to a hairdryer turned up to its hottest setting. There has been much theoretical speculation that such planets might be stripped of their atmospheres.

We now have the observational evidence to confirm this, which removes any lingering doubts over the theory. Davies added: Our results show that planets of a certain size that lie close to their stars are likely to have been much larger at the beginning of their lives. Those planets will have looked very different.

Scientists expect to discover and characterise many more of these stripped systems using a new generation of satellites, including the NASA TESS Mission which will be launched next year. The study was published in the journal Nature Communications.

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New Delhi:

Popular Baloch leader Naela Qadri has said that Pakistan government is lying about the arrested Indian Spy Kulbhushan Jadhav. Qadri claimed that Pakistan government and ISI have always been indulged in such activities to corner India. Moreover, she termed the theory of arrest as a blatant lie.

Pakistan government had arrested Jadhav on the charges of spying in the country as Research Analysis Wing (RAW) agent. As per the Pak government, Jadhav is an Indian national living in Pak on an Iranian visa with a changed name and identity.

We dont know where Jhadav was arrested from. We have seen no Indian involvement. We dont see them. Naela Quadri was quoted as saying by various websites.

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Thiruvananthapuram:

Even as the BJP hopes for the lotus to bloom in Kerala Assembly in the May 16 polls, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, heading the Congress led ruling UDF, asserts the saffron party would not gain any foothold in the state as Keralite mindset was against its ideologies.



BJP can never gain a foothold in Kerala as the mindset of Keralites is not in favour of the ideologies followed by the saffron party, he told PTI in an interview here. He was responding to a query on whether the BJP would open its account in the state in the coming polls. BJP, which has so far not succeeded in getting an MLA or MP elected from the state, is hopeful that things will be different this time as it is buoyant after its relative good showing in the recent civic elections in the state. (Also read. Tamil Nadu Assembly elections: Karunanidhi to contest from native Tiruvarur)



The party has aligned with BDJS (Bharat Dharma Jana Sena), a recently floated political party formed by SNDP (Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam) an organisation of the powerful Ezhava community in Kerala. Significantly, this is the first time that the BJP has made the presence of NDA in the state and has projected itself as a third alternative to the UDF and CPI(M) headed LDF, which have been ruling the state alternately.



Ruling out chances of the saffron party breaking the bipolar politics of the state, Chandy said the people of the state were secular. The biggest strength of Kerala is secularism and religious harmony...Though there is a possibility of political divide in the state, they (BJP) will not succeed in achieving political gains through divisive policies, Chandy said. BJP can never gain a foothold in Kerala, he asserted. (Also read. Assembly Elections 2016: Impressive voter turnout in Assam, West Bengal polls)



Rubbishing CPI-M state Secretary Kodieryi Balakrishnans charge that Congress had entered into a tacit understanding with BJP in some pockets, including Nemom, Chandy said it was an admission of defeat ahead of the elections. Taking potshots at CPI(M), Chandy said CPI(M) effort is to find reason for their impending defeat by blaming BJP. Asserting that Congress is always fighting BJP all over the country, Chandy charged CPI(M) with aligning with the saffron front on several occasions in the past.



CPI(M) is an opportunistic party. In 1977, they contested along with Janata Party in Kerala. In 1989, it is the Marxist party and BJP that supported the V P Singh government at the Centre, Chandy pointed out. Besides this, recently, by not joining the grand alliance in Bihar, the Communist party had split anti-BJP votes,he said. If they had joined the alliance, the loss suffered by the saffron party would have been more, he said. It was an election which was keenly watched by the whole nation and many were keen that BJP should be defeated, he said. There can be no doubt that UDF will be in the forefront to fight the BJP in Kerala, Chandy added. (Also read. Assembly Elections 2016: Heavy voter turnout in West Bengal)
Mumbai:

The Bombay High Court today granted interim protection from arrest till April 18 to actor-producer Rahul Raj Singh, who has been booked for abetting the suicide of his girlfriend and TV star Pratyusha Banerjee. Justice Mridula Bhatkar also directed Rahul to appear before Bangurnagar police station in suburban Goregaon from tomorrow onwards till April 18 between 11 AM to 1 PM.

The judge also directed that in case Rahul is arrested, he should be released on a bond of Rs 30,000. The court was hearing the anticipatory bail application filed by Rahul. The accuseds lawyer Abad Ponda said his client is currently in hospital and the copy of FIR has not been furnished to them.

However, police has filed a report before the court. The court then perused the report, in which police alleged that Rahul, who was staying with Pratyusha at a flat in suburban Goregaon, used to assault her. He used to borrow money from her and also withdrew money from Pratyushas account, which is why she committed suicide, according to the report.

The Balika Badhu fame actor was found hanging at her residence in Goregaon on April 1. She was then rushed by Rahul to a hospital in Andheri, where she was declared dead.

Rahul, who has been booked for abetment of suicide, has been undergoing treatment for alleged depression at a hospital in Borivali since April 3.

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Vidisha (MP):

In a tragic end to her passion for motorcycle ride, woman biker Veenu Paliwal, known as Lady of the Harley, died as her two-wheeler skidded off a road near Gyaraspur town in Vidisha district, police said today. 30-year-old Paliwal of Jaipur was on a motorcycle trip from Kashmir to Kanyakumari with her companion Dipesh Tanwar when the mishap happened yesterday, Rajesh Tiwari, In-charge Kotwali police station said.

The duo had started their journey from Lucknow during early hours for Bhopal on separate Harley Davidson bikes.

Paliwals motorcycle skidded off the road near Gyaraspur and was seriously hurt, Tiwari said.

After primary treatment at Gyaraspur, she was moved to Vidisha for treatment where she succumbed to her injuries.

Her autopsy revealed that she succumbed as her liver got badly damaged in the accident, Dr B L Arya who conducted the post-mortem said, adding internal injuries resulted in her death.

Later her body was taken by her companion and two other friends to Jaipur in an ambulance.

An official of Harley Davidson company also reached Vidisha upon knowing about the accident.

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Bengaluru:

Sunrisers captain David Warner today said his premium pacer Ashish Nehra will be out for a couple of games due to a groin injury he suffered during the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League.

Nehra has hurt his groin. He will be out for a couple of games, said Warner after his sides 45-run loss to RCB.

It was the first game for Nehra for Sunrisers, having joined the team from Chennai Super Kings. He limped off the field after bowling 2.1 overs in which he conceded 21 runs.

We have to look back and look at positives and turn it around. We have a good batting track at Hyderabad. We should not lose wickets in clumps, added Warner.

RCB captain Virat Kohli, who struck 75 off 51 balls and shared a 157-run stand with man of the match AB de Villiers (82 off 42), was all praise for the South African.

We lost the toss and did not get what we wanted to. It was a really good effort from the batsman and Parvez showed composure. It is never easy for the spinners to bowl in Bangalore. Parvez was the stand-out bowler for me today. Last year, me and AB had a good partnership in Mumbai. He hit balls as only he can. It was a pleasure playing with him. He took some pressure off me, said Kohli.
I got an email from Eric Hauk, president of Bodacion Technologies in Barrington, Illinois. Before I relate his story, let me explain.

Erics company makes hack proof web servers that do not have any of the usual security holes that Windows, Linux, and Unix machines have.

Wed just done a fast start phone consultation, and the strategy I outlined for him was to become a relentless, remorseless publisher and publicist of all of the vulnerabilities of typical server software. Every month he should crank out more reports about seven, seventeen or a hundred ways hackers can and will (or already did) wreak havoc in your business. White papers, special advisories, magazine articles, seminars -- you name it.

The neat part is, he doesnt have to fix Windows or Linux. Hes got the miracle cure -- his bulletproof server. He can rant about the other guys security issues until the next millennium. He can shoot holes in the other guys all day long. Do that and hes got a natural audience.

Related: 10 Ways to Learn About Your Target Audience

Create missionaries.

OK, so anyway, Eric sent me an email today, explaining how when he speaks at a conference, 15 percent of the people in the audience ask him for copies of his presentation so they can become the security expert inside their company. One guy sat there listening to his talk and decided it was about time to go back into the security business. He asked Eric to send him all the information he could on network security issues.

So whats going on here is that Eric has a convert. And pay close attention, because a lot of times what gets a new technology over the top is when it attracts converts and "missionaries" who reject the status quo and multiply the message. A form of viral marketing, really. Thats how Linux got to be where it is today.

Another thing Eric has in his favor -- something that you should always be on the lookout for -- is the fact that network security is an extremely emotional issue. Lemme tell ya, if someone hacks into your company and swipes 4000 credit card numbers tomorrow, its going to be worse than bowel surgery in the woods with a stick.

Suddenly your security budget is going to go from $50 per year to unlimited.

Right?

Also note that there are two distinctly different buying modes for this and most other things, depending on the circumstances:

1. Preventing problems before they happen

2. Curing problems after they happen

Youll always make more money, with less pain, by selling a cure rather than a preventative measure. It always takes pain and suffering for money to change hands. If your customer is experiencing the pain, then you dont have to. If your customer is experiencing no pain, then you will experience all of the pain in the transaction.

If you dont believe me, then compare your medical insurance bill to your herb, vitamin and exercise bill. Just about every city in America has emergency 911 service, but how many towns have a cholesterol reduction hotline?

Or lets talk about your computer. When did you start backing up your data? Before your hard drive crashed, or afterwards? When did you get anti-virus software? Before you sent the KLEZ virus to 144 of your closest friends, or after?

Goodness, virtue and prevention are hard to sell.

In the late 80s, an infomercial was shot for a product that everybody should have. The product being advertised was a video designed to help parents talk to their teenagers about drugs.

It was such an altruistic, appealing project that everyone wanted to help with it. It was hosted by Nancy Reagan; there were dozens of prominent Hollywood stars on the cast; the production values were outstanding and it was nothing less than a beautifully produced, impressive and inspiring infomercial about making America a better place for kids.

This thing was the advertising equivalent of the Milk of Human Kindness. The company behind this infomercial, Guthy-Renker, was so proud of themselves, they were almost busting their buttons. They bought the airtime and ran the show.

Guess how many orders they got?

Zero.

Absolutely none. The phones were silent. At first they thought there was a phone problem, but when they dialed the number, sure enough, it was working. Nobody wanted to buy a video about talking to their kids about drugs. And they especially didnt want to sit their teenager down on the sofa, pop in the video, show it to them and have a discussion about it.

Nancy Regan couldnt convince em, Hollywood couldnt convince them, and a team of professional copywriters couldnt convince em. Why?

Because it was prevention, not cure. It was entirely too easy for the viewer, who was not in pain, to think Im going to mention this to Fred and Doris, because their son Todd is waaaay out of control. Of course, my kids would never take drugs. Besides, it would be a pretty awkward conversation if I implied that I dont trust my little Missy to do the right thing when shes at school.

Related: 5 Reasons Why Many Schools Don't Offer Degrees in Sales

Chicken soup for the dysfunctional, lust-infested drug addicts soul.

Its hard to sell virtue and goodness in and of itself. Thats why theres such a drastic difference between non-profit businesses and for-profit businesses. Its why there are so many novels about murder, mayhem, lust, betrayal and hell, and so few about goodness, hope, utopia and heaven.

Now dont get me wrong. Im not in any way degrading the goodness of prevention. Im just telling you that if you want to sell it, its much better to sell it as part of a cure than talking to someone whos never had the problem in the first place.

Copywriter John Carlton has this running debate with Joe Polish, who you could describe as the Perry Marshall of the carpet cleaning industry. Joe runs ads about carpet mites in your rugs and pillows, but John insists that however hard you try to sell the fact that you can kill carpet mites and take toxins and allergens out of your house, the real reason that Suzy Jones calls a carpet cleaner is that shes got company coming over and she doesnt want her friends to see the spot where little Jeffrey puked.

In other words, Suzys going to have the carpet cleaned before the party, not after. After would be prevention. Before is cure.

Ive got my own perpetual rant, implicit in my Unique Selling Proposition. Theres two versions of it. One is the rant about small business owners having no marketing system in place, and all the problems that result from their lack of deal flow.

The other rant is the salespersons version of the same thing. Its when the marketing system is the blood, sweat, tears, cold calls and shoe leather of a commissioned sales person.

Both of my rants are extremely effective in bringing me the results Im after because I offer the cure.

How about you? Do you have a rant? What ailment does your product/service cure?

Related: How do I tell my boss that he's not motivating his sales staff?

Related:



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In partnership with the Q-CROC, Esperas will invest up to $7M in a clinical trial that aims to provide first access to promising new treatment for Quebec cancer patients

Link to Backgrounder about clinical trial

MONTREAL, April 11, 2016 /CNW Telbec/ - Esperas Pharma Inc. ("Esperas") today announced the initiation of a project to develop a new oral anticancer agent called ESP-01, in partnership with Quebec Clinical Research Organization in Cancer (Q-CROC). Esperas will develop ESP-01 in the province of Quebec for the next three and a half years, in patients with advanced or metastatic cancer including metastatic triple-negative breast, colorectal or ovarian cancer. This project will support 20 employments including resources within Q-CROC. The project will begin with a first-in-man clinical trial, to determine the safety and efficacy of ESP-01, followed by Phase II clinical trials, to be conducted at major Montreal hospitals, the Centre Hospitalier de l'Universite de Montreal ("CHUM"), the Segal Cancer Center at the Jewish General Hospital ("JGH") and the McGill University Hospital Center ("MUHC") to which other Quebec centers may be added.

"We are pleased to collaborate with Esperas on this important clinical study," said Dr. Gerald Batist, scientific director and co-founder of Q-CROC. "Through this partnership, we will realize our mission, which is to significantly improve the anti-cancer drug development ecosystem, to multiply patient treatment options, and to reduce the financial burden on the health care system through, in part, improvement of the clinical research infrastructure in Quebec."

Esperas Pharma Inc. was founded in April 2015 by a US$16.5M financing led by TVM Life Science Ventures VII, a venture capital fund domiciled in Montreal, and co-investor Fonds de solidarite FTQ. Esperas acquired the worldwide rights to develop and commercialize ESP-01 from Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly). ESP-01 is an oral investigational medicine which specifically inhibits cancer cell division or unchecked proliferation.

"The management team of Esperas Pharma Inc. is delighted to initiate the development of this anticancer medicine in Quebec and to provide Quebec cancer patients with first access to this promising development candidate. Furthermore, the company is proud to collaborate with the Q-CROC network and renowned centers such as the CHUM the JGH and the MUHC," said Caroline Fortier, CEO of Esperas Pharma Inc.

"TVM Capital Life Science is proud to have secured the rights to ESP-01 and thereby founded Esperas right here in Quebec. We believe our investment model fosters partnerships that bring significant benefits to patients afflicted with diseases such as cancer," said Dr. Marc Riviere, General Partner with TVM Capital Life Science and Board member of Esperas Pharma.

"In North America, Montreal is among the cities with the highest concentration of jobs in the life sciences and health technologies sector. We're proud of the reputation Quebec's largest city has earned in this field, and today's announcement serves to further consolidate that position," said Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre.

"The Fonds de solidarite FTQ congratulates Dr. Batist and his extended team at Q-CROC. By leveraging on its key three pillars, talent, R&D and service infrastructure, and access to capital, Quebec develops and attracts new drug development programs such as the one announced today", said Gaetan Morin, president and CEO of the Fonds de solidarite FTQ.

About TVM Capital Life Science

TVM Capital Life Science is providing venture capital to the international pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and medical technology industries with more than 30-years of transatlantic investment track record and in excess of US$1.3bn under management. TVM Capital Life Science currently invests from its 7th fund generation, TVM Life Science Ventures VII, with an integrated team of investment professionals from Munich and Montreal. www.tvm-lifescience.com

About TVM Capital Group

TVM Capital is a group of globally acting venture capital and private equity firms with an operating track record of 30 years. Investment teams have financed more than 250 emerging companies across several industries since 1984. During the last 15 years the firm has become increasingly specialized in the most attractive and high-growth verticals in the broader healthcare markets, with focus areas in financing innovative products and technologies in the European and U.S. biopharmaceutical and medical device markets, as well as healthcare services in Emerging Markets. TVM Capital funds operate globally with dedicated life science venture capital funds advised by group members TVM Life Science Management in Montreal and in Munich, TVM Capital China in Hong Kong, and its healthcare private equity fund managed by TVM Capital Healthcare Partners out of Dubai. www.tvm-capital.com

About the Fonds de solidarite FTQ

The Fonds de solidarite FTQ helps drive our economy. With net assets of $11.2 billion as of November 30, 2015, the Fonds is a development capital fund that channels the savings of Quebecers into investments in all sectors of the economy to help create and maintain jobs and further Quebec's development. The Fonds is a partner, either directly or through its network members, in more than 2,550 companies. With more than 600,000 shareholder-savers, the Fonds helps create, maintain and protect more than 176,000 jobs. For more information, visit www.fondsftq.com.

About Esperas Pharma Inc.

Esperas Pharma Inc. is a special purpose company created to develop ESP-01 to proof-of-concept in man. ESP-01 is an oral investigational medicine which specifically inhibits cancer cell division or unchecked proliferation. To date, this biopharmaceutical asset has completed GLP toxicology studies. The project is fully financed by TVM Life Science Ventures VII and Fonds de solidarite FTQ (the "Fonds"). Esperas Pharma Inc. is funded by TVM Life Science Ventures VII and the Fonds. Esperas is led by an experienced management team.

About the Quebec  Clinical Research Organization in Cancer (Q-CROC)

As the foremost organization for clinical oncology research in the province, the Quebec Clinical Research Organization in Cancer (Q-CROC) is dedicated to the collaborative development of cancer therapeutics. Building on a national network of clinicians, scientists and key opinion leaders from over 15 hospitals, Q-CROC leverages the wide-ranging expertise of its members to offer innovative and effective clinical research solutions. With an in-house team of seasoned experts from industry and academia, Q-CROC offers tailored trial development, consulting expertise, and trial management services for clinical and translational research. www.qcroc.ca

This press release contains forward-looking statements about TVM Life Science Ventures VII and Lilly's investment in a pre-clinical stage compound for the treatment of certain types of cancers that is being developed by Esperas Pharma Inc. It reflects Lilly's and TVM's current beliefs; however, as with any such undertaking, there are substantial risks and uncertainties in the process of drug development. There is no guarantee Lilly will realize the expected benefits of the transaction, that the product will receive regulatory approval, or if approved, would be commercially successful. For further discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, please see Lilly's latest Forms 10-Q and 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The companies undertake no duty to update forward-looking statements.

General Partner

TVM Life Science Ventures VII (GP) Ltd.

11-15 Seaton Place,

St Helier, Jersey

JE4 0QH, Channel Islands

Investment Advisor

TVM Life Science Management Inc.

2 Place Alexis Nihon, Suite 902

3500 Blvd De Maisonneuve West, Westmount,

Montreal, QC H3Z 1X5 Canada

SOURCE Esperas Pharma inc.

Image with caption: "Left to right: Gaetan Morin, President and CEO, Fonds de solidarite FTQ; Luc Marengere, Managing Partner, TVM Capital; L'honorable Denis Coderre, maire de Montreal; Caroline Fortier, CEO, Esperas Pharma Inc.; Dr. Gerald Batist, Scientific Director, Q-CROC; Vincent Poitout, Scientific Director, CRCHUM (CNW Group/Esperas Pharma inc.)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160411_C5080_PHOTO_EN_661992.jpg

For further information: Dr. Luc Marengere, Managing Partner, TVM Capital Life Science: [email protected], Phone: 514-931-4111; Caroline Fortier, CEO, Esperas Pharma Inc.: [email protected]; Patrick McQuilken, Senior Advisor, Media Relations and Communications, Fonds de solidarite FTQ: [email protected], Phone: 514-850-4835; Martin Gagnon, CEO of Q-CROC: [email protected], Phone: 514-282-4523; Media: Marie-Christine Garon, NATIONAL Public Relations, [email protected], 514-409-0031; Alex-Sandra Thibault, NATIONAL Public Relations, [email protected], 514-262-6863
REGINA, April 11, 2016 /CNW/ - Input Capital Corp. ("Input", or the "Company") (TSX Venture: INP) (US: INPCF), is releasing its quarterly operations update for Q4 of its 2016 fiscal year, which provides a preliminary summary of quarterly canola sales and a summary of capital deployed in the acquisition of new canola streams during the quarter ending March 31, 2016. The final accounting of quarterly results will be published in Input's Q4 and year-end financial statements and MD&A when these are finalized and released in due course.

Quarterly Revenue from Canola Streaming Sales

Input sold 5,884 metric tonnes ("tonnes" or "MT") of canola equivalent volume from streaming during the quarter at an average price of $448 per MT, for quarterly streaming revenue of $2.6 million. This brings Input's total streaming revenue for fiscal 2016 to a record $30.1 million, on the sale of 62,235 MT at an average price of $483 per MT.

Year-over-year, Input's streaming revenue has increased by 173% on an increase in canola streaming volume of 160%.

"This is the first time in Input's history that we have been able to accomplish a total and complete sale of all of our tonnes of canola by fiscal year end, and it is as a result of a pro-active on-farm pick up and canola delivery program instituted by our management and logistics team this year," said President & CEO Doug Emsley. "This supports our objective of converting canola to cash as quickly as possible in order to fund our ongoing deployment efforts, but it also creates strong loyalty and buy-in from our farmer partners who are able to free up storage space and reduce on-farm handling costs."

The following table summarizes canola equivalent sales for the 2016 fiscal year, compared to the 2015 fiscal year:













Fiscal Quarter Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 FY Total FY2015 Canola Streaming Volume (MT) Average Net Realized Price 4,585 $493 4,146 $463 8,182 $441 7,011 $465 23,924 $462 FY2016 Canola Streaming Volume (MT) Average Net Realized Price 6,079 $468 18,382 $487 31,889 $490 5,884 $448 62,235 $483 % Change (in Volume) +33% +343% +290% -16% +160%

$11.0 Million in New Capital Deployment

During the quarter, Input signed 38 canola streaming contracts for total up-front payments of $11.0 million.

Of the 38 contracts signed in the quarter, 17 are with new clients in Alberta (6) and Saskatchewan (11) and 21 contracts are renewals/expansions in Alberta (1), Saskatchewan (19) and Manitoba (1). This brings Input's streaming portfolio to 94 active canola streams in Alberta (14), Saskatchewan (75) and Manitoba (5).

A summary of the capital deployment for the previous three fiscal years is summarized in the table below:













Fiscal Year 2013 2014 2015 2016 Total Deployment ($ millions) Total Number of Active Streams Total Number of Inactive Streams $6.1 5 - $25.0 15 - $49.1 68 - $35.1 94 3 $115.3 94 3 Total Active Canola Reserves (MT) Total Inactive Canola Reserves (MT) 22,000 - 134,000 - 303,000 - 280,000 67,000



These newly announced investments increase Input's total capital deployment to date to $115.3 million. Input's longest streaming contract has a 12 year term until 2026, and the portfolio average contract length for active streams is 6.6 years.

A higher level of sales activity and farmer interactions over the last year led to an 18% increase in the number of individual contracts signed with farmers during the year (from 73 to 86), and a 38% increase in the number of active streams in Input's portfolio (from 68 to 94). Portfolio and counterparty risk continues to be reduced as a result of improved process and underwriting procedures during due diligence and by significantly reducing the average streaming contract size.

"As the founders of Input Capital and significant shareholders in our own right, the management team has always intended to focus on building a strong business for the long-term," said President & CEO Doug Emsley. "We are in the foundational growth period for the company, and it is on the strength of contracts that we write today that the future success of our business lies. It is our intention to ensure that Input's streaming portfolio is strong as we continue to build our streaming business."

Update on Terminated Streaming Contracts

On November 12, 2015, Input announced the termination of three streaming contracts and which are now classified as inactive contracts. Input immediately began legal proceedings to begin the process of recovering its investment in these three contracts.

Management is pleased to report that the recovery process is proceeding smoothly and is either on track or ahead of previously expected timeframes.

On the largest of the contracts, Input has now taken titled possession of 12.3 quarters of farmland (approximately 2,000 acres), and the foreclosure process on the balance of the land associated with the security package for this contract is proceeding ahead of schedule. Input is in the process of finalizing rental arrangements with local farmers for the upcoming growing season to ensure that the land is maintained in good condition in preparation for a sale of the entire property once the foreclosure process is fully complete. In the interim, the farmers will pay a market rental rate to the benefit of Input for the use of the land this year.

In addition, Input has consigned a significant number of pieces of farm equipment to a regularly scheduled auction to be held on May 1. An additional batch of equipment associated with this contract will be auctioned this summer.

The recovery efforts associated with the two smaller terminated contracts are progressing and are on track with previous expectations. Management continues to expect to fully recover all of the capital associated with the three terminated contracts.

Canola Reserves Update

Periodically, Input updates its projections for anticipated canola streaming tonnes to be sold in the current fiscal year. Due to the fact that this year's capital deployment season remains ongoing, projections for F2017 canola deliveries will be published in the next quarterly operational update, scheduled for early July 2016.

The table below updates Input's Total Active Canola Reserves, which is the sum of all contracted canola streaming tonnes for all contract years on all active contracts, less canola streaming tonnes sold to date.









Tonnes Avg Crop Payment Total Active Canola Reserves (MT) 280,000 $60 / MT

About Input

Input is an agriculture commodity streaming company with a focus on canola, the largest and most profitable crop in Canadian agriculture. Input enters into multi-year canola streaming contracts with canola farmers in western Canada. Pursuant to the streaming contract, Input purchases a fixed portion of the canola produced, at a fixed price, for the duration of the term of the contract. Input is a non-operating farming company with a diversified portfolio of canola streams, all of which produce canola and revenue for Input within a year of being signed. Input plans to grow and diversify its low cost canola production profile through entering into additional canola streaming contracts with farmers across western Canada. Input is focused on farmers with quality production profiles, excellent upside yield potential, and strong management teams.

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 release includes forward-looking statements regarding Input and its business. Such statements are based on the current expectations and views of future events of Input's management. In some cases the forward-looking statements can be identified by words or phrases such as "may", "will", "expect", "plan", "anticipate", "intend", "potential", "estimate", "believe" or the negative of these terms, or other similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this release may not occur and could differ materially as a result of known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting Input, including risks regarding the agricultural industry, economic factors and the equity markets generally and many other factors beyond the control of Input. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Forward-looking statements and information by their nature are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statement or information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements or information. Except as required by applicable securities laws, forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and Input undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

(1) Non-IFRS Measures

Input measures key performance metrics established by management as being key indicators of the Company's strength, using certain non-IFRS performance measures, including:

Adjusted Net Income (Loss) and Adjusted Net Income (Loss) per share;

Adjusted Operating Cash Flow and Adjusted Operating Cash Flow per share;

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA per share;

Crop Payment per Tonne;

Cash Operating Margin and Cash Operating Margin per Tonne; and

Cost per Tonne Acquired and Canola Replacement Ratio

The Company uses these non-IFRS measures for its own internal purposes. These non-IFRS measures do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS, and these measures may be calculated differently by other companies. The presentation of these non-IFRS measures is intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. The Company provides these non-IFRS measures to enable investors and analysts to understand the underlying operating and financial performance of the Company in the same way as it is frequently evaluated by Management. Management will periodically assess these non-IFRS measures and the components thereof to ensure their continued use is beneficial to the evaluation of the underlying operating and financial performance of the Company, and to confirm that these measures remain useful for comparison purposes to other royalty/streaming companies. For more detailed information, please refer to Input's Management Discussion and Analysis available on the Company's website at www.inputcapital.com and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

SOURCE Input Capital Corp.

For further information: Doug Emsley, President & CEO, (306) 347-1024, [email protected]; Brad Farquhar, Executive Vice-President & CFO, (306) 347-7202, [email protected]
The permits, long overdue to expire, undermine efforts to protect Lancaster Sound, groups say

OTTAWA, April 12, 2016 /CNW/ - WWF-Canada, represented by Ecojustice lawyers, is taking legal action to quash Arctic oil and gas exploration permits that continue to obstruct conservation efforts in Lancaster Sound, Nunavut.

While the federal registrar has refused to delist the permits, the lawsuit argues that Shell Canada's permits for offshore oil and gas exploration in Lancaster Sound  issued more than 40 years ago  are expired and therefore invalid.

Documents in a federal registry of oil and gas permits indicate that the permits, first granted in 1971, should have expired long ago. These permits are an obstacle to the finalization of the long-awaited Lancaster Sound National Marine Conservation Area.

Lancaster Sound is one of the richest marine mammal areas on earth and is home to narwhals, belugas, bowhead whales, ringed seals, harp seals and walruses. The area also harbours one of the highest densities of polar bears in the Canadian Arctic and provides important breeding and feeding habitat for seabirds, including thick-billed murres, black-legged kittiwakes, ivory gulls and northern fulmars.

WWF-Canada, represented by lawyers from Ecojustice, is asking the court to confirm the expiry of the Shell oil and gas exploration permits on the border of the proposed Lancaster Sound National Marine Conservation Area and to order an update of registry records under the Canada Petroleum Resources Act to indicate the expiry of those permits.

David Miller, WWF-Canada president and CEO, said: "Sensitive Arctic ecosystems already face pressure from melting ice and increasing development. We need to ensure quality protections for regions with the most biodiverse and vulnerable ecosystems, such as Lancaster Sound."

Ian Miron, Ecojustice lawyer, said: "The federal government must take active steps to protect the Arctic ecosystem from dangerous, disruptive fossil fuel exploration instead of standing on the sidelines. Under the law, exploration permits do not stay valid forever, and it's time the government recognize that Shell's permits are well past their expiration date."

Paul Crowley, WWF-Canada's vice-president of Arctic conservation, said: "In the past, the federal government bureaucracy has relied on these expired permits to propose narrower boundaries for the Lancaster Sound National Marine Conservation Area, over objections from Inuit communities. So long as these permits are allowed to stand, they will continue to obstruct efforts to ensure Lancaster Sound's ecosystems and wildlife get the protection they need."

About Lancaster Sound:

The proposed National Marine Conservation Area has been under consideration by the federal government since the early 1970s and was initiated in response to an exploratory oil well proposal.

Twenty per cent of the Canadian beluga whale population migrates through the area each year on their way to their summering grounds.

70,000 narwhals, three quarters of the global population, return often to their favourite locations within the area.

There are six critically important bird areas that surround it.

It's at the southern edge of the Last Ice Area, the only Arctic region expected to retain its summer sea ice until 2050, making it a critically important zone for the future of ice-dependent life.

Read the application in full here: http://www.ecojustice.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/2016-04-11-Notice-of-Application-Filed.pdf

About Ecojustice

From coast to coast to coast, our legal experts go to court to tackle Canada's toughest environmental problems. Our groundbreaking lawsuits protect wilderness and wildlife, take aim at dirty energy projects and keep harmful chemicals out of the air, water and soil we all depend on. Our lawyers represent community groups, non-profits, First Nations, and individual Canadians on the frontlines of the fight for environmental justice.

About World Wildlife Fund Canada

WWF-Canada creates solutions to the environmental challenges that matter most for Canadians. We work in places that are unique and ecologically important, so that wildlife, nature and people thrive together. Because we are all wildlife. For more info visit wwf.ca

SOURCE WWF-Canada

For further information: For media inquiries: Rebecca Spring, communications specialist, WWF-Canada, +1-647-338-6274, [email protected]; Ian Miron, lawyer, Ecojustice, +1-416-368-7533 ext. 540, [email protected]
DARTMOUTH, NS, April 12, 2016 /CNW/ - After more than a month in Newfoundland, Benoit Lebel will make his way to Nova Scotia to continue his fundraising project in support of The Children's Wish Foundation of Canada. On April 13th, Benoit will arrive in Sydney Harbour, having raised over $1,800 towards his $30,000 goal.

While in Nova Scotia, Benoit will trek through Sydney, Port Hawkesbury, Antigonish, New Glasgow, Truro and will end in Dartmouth/Halifax from April 25 to 28 before leaving for PEI.

During his journey, Benoit will act as an ambassador for Children's Wish. His goal is to educate communities across Canada about the mission of the foundation and encourage them to support the cause that is so important to him. Benoit considers himself privileged to be in excellent health, which is what inspired him to contribute to the Children's Wish mission. With Canada's help, Benoit's goal is to raise $30,000 to grant the most heartfelt wishes of children diagnosed with a life-threatening illness.

When : From April 13th to April 30th 2016



Where : Sydney, Port Hawkesbury, Antigonish, New Glasgow, Truro and Halifax/ Darmouth



Who: Benoit Lebel, Nova Scotia Chapter staff, local Wish families

You can follow Benoit's journey on his website www.wishwalk.ca or on his Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/wishwalk.ca/. You can also make a donation on his website using a secure donations page created by Children's Wish.

About The Children's Wish Foundation of Canada:

The Children's Wish Foundation of Canada is the largest all Canadian wish granting charity dedicated to granting wishes to Canadian children between the ages of 3 and 17 who are diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. For more than 30 years, Children's Wish has worked tirelessly to grant heartfelt wishes to nearly 25,000 children and their families.

This year, Children's Wish expects to grant over 1,000 new wishes across the country with the help of volunteers and generous donors; that is approximately three wishes each and every day, all year long. Each wish is the child's most heartfelt wish, and carefully structured to meet the particular needs of the child and their family.

Already this year, we are experiencing unprecedented increases of wish referrals through our strong medical community relationships for our wishes granted to children with life-threatening illnesses. Now more than ever, we are encouraging Canadians to donate and support The Children's Wish Foundation of Canada to help us continue to grant the next most heartfelt wish. Children's Wish is a national charity with chapters in every province and territory. Visit www.childrenswish.ca for more information and to donate.

Twitter: @ChildrensWishNS

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChildrensWishNS/

SOURCE The Children's Wish Foundation of Canada

Video with caption: "Video: Wish Walk". Video available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxyxdU7aizs&feature=youtu.be

Image with caption: "Benoit Lebel with Kathryn Tylor Musseau, host of Exploits Central & Local Matters on Rogers TV in Grand Falls-Windsor, NL (CNW Group/The Children's Wish Foundation of Canada)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160412_C8624_PHOTO_EN_663856.jpg

Image with caption: "Children's Wish Month (CNW Group/The Children's Wish Foundation of Canada)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160412_C8624_PHOTO_EN_663858.jpg

For further information: To request the complete Wish Walk itinerary or to schedule an interview with Benoit and our Chapter staff please contact: Cheryl Matthews, Nova Scotia director, The Children's Wish Foundation of Canada, Nova Scotia Chapter, E: [email protected], T: 902-229-9474 ext: 0025
[April 11, 2016] Web Application Threat Trends: Penta Security Systems Releases Bi-Annual Report

SEOUL, South Korea, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Penta Security Systems, Inc. has released its bi-annual Web Application Threat Report from detection reports gathered and analyzed in the second half of 2015. Data is compiled from approximately 1,000 separate units of Penta Security's Web Application Firewall (WAF), WAPPLES. The units are from customers who have consented to the threat report, and Penta Security does not release any sensitive customer data. Through this report, customers are able to gain insight on the newest trends in web application threats, and gain assistance in planning accordingly for future attacks. In the second half of 2015, the threat report found that a significant portion of the attacks were Vulnerability Assessment attacks (roughly 400 million detections), with many labelled as "Critical" in terms of risk levels. Vulnerability Assessment refers to when attempts are made to determine the vulnerabilities of a web server. For web attacks corresponding to OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project) Top 10 attacks, Injection was the most prevalent, at 31%. Inection, where malicious codes are inserted in order to attack applications, causes extensive damage despite the comparatively easy execution process. Second, a high detection was measured for Security Misconfiguration at 26%. Security Misconfiguration attacks are when security settings are re-defined and the system is compromised, giving hackers access to private data.



The report additionally includes the "WAPPLES Black List Top 30," a list of source IPs from various countries and networks that have been categorized as spam or hacking with high danger levels. Penta Security's Head of Planning, Duk Soo Kim, stated, "When infiltrators to the system succeed in their target, there could be a multitude of issues as a result of attacks: information leakage, defacement, and even complete server malfunction." He continued, "Our hope is that through our analytical reports, there can be a push for better access control in order to better prepare to face these types of trends head-on, especially for those responsible for server security."

For the full copy of the threat trends report from the second half of 2015, please visit the Reports section of the Penta Security Systems website. About Penta Security Penta Security Systems Inc. (CEO/Founder Seokwoo Lee) is a leading provider in data and cyber security solutions and services. With over 19 years of IT security expertise, Penta Security is recognized by Frost & Sullivan as the top Web Application Firewall vendor in the APAC region based on market share. For more information on Penta Security Web security services, please visit www.pentasecurity.com/en. For potential partnership inquiries, please send an email to [email protected] Contact: Esther Jeohn

Penta Security Systems, Inc.

(+82) 2-2125-6676

[email protected]

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[April 12, 2016] Wirecard With CIMB Bank Singapore to Provide mPOS Card Acceptance and Banking Solution for Clients of POS Solution Provider Eleos

ASCHHEIM, Germany, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Expansion of the Eleos till system Wirecard has entered into a new partnership in the field of mobile point of sales (mPOS) with a company from Singapore: Software till system manufacturer Eleos Web Pte Ltd has placed its trust in the Munich-based technology and payment provider's white label solution. The collaboration will expand Eleos' till functionality to incorporate mobile card acceptance. Eleos will first launch the solution in Singapore before extending it to Southeast Asia with Wirecard providing the mPOS technology including technical integration and CIMB Bank supporting with a slew of services and solutions including credit facility and online banking as the acquiring bank. Eleos has been developing and operating automated till systems under the name Octopus[TM] for the past 13 years. The systems are used in the retail and dining sectors and are operated via tablet or smartphone apps. Eleos' client base in Singapore and South-East Asia exceeds 400, and Wirecard's integrated mobile card reader solution will now grant them the ability to fully process orders and credit card payments. The solution is to be swiftly rolled out to all existing and new customers who adopt the Octopus retail POS. Ong Whee Shiong, Managing Director at Eleos said, "As a supplier of state-of-the-art till systems, Eleos' new tie-up with Wirecard and CIMB Bank enhances the mobile card acceptance solution which ties in seamlessly with our omnichannel retail solutions. In addition, our customers stand to benefit from the simplicity of the application, as they will be able to manage their orders and invoices using a single application from now on." "As we witness an increase in demand for mobile payment options, CIMB Bank's partnership with Wirecard is a complementary alliance where we embark on new market opportunities and identify new ways to generate value for different stakeholders. Through this latest collaboration with Eleos, CIMB Bank will continue to provide that quintessential one-stop payment and banking solution to the businesses who adopt the Octopus retail POS through Eleos", said Mak Lye Mun, CEO of CIMB Bank Singapore and Country Head of CIMB Group Singapore. Jeffry Ho, Managing Director at Wirecard Singapore: "Card payments are exceptionally popular in the Asian market and mPOS solutions are drivers of card transactions in the region. Given that Eleos already has an established till system at its disposal, we were able to integrate our mPOS Software Development Kit with utmost ease. We fully adapted the functionality of our solution to the till system." With its mPOS platfrm, Wirecard offers businesses of all sizes from all industries the opportunity to accept cashless payments via credit or debit card. A wide range of card reader devices are available for this purpose. Wirecard's mobile card readers are white label solutions. This means they can be individually tailored in terms of configuration and design.



Wirecard media contact: Wirecard AG

Jana Tilz

Tel.: +49(0)89-4424-1363

E-Mail: [email protected]

About Wirecard: Wirecard AG is a global technology group that supports companies in accepting electronic payments from all sales channels. As a leading independent supplier, the Wirecard Group offers outsourcing and white label solutions for electronic payments. A global platform bundles international payment acceptances and methods with supplementary fraud prevention solutions. With regard to issuing own payment instruments in the form of cards or mobile payment solutions, the Wirecard Group provides companies with an end-to-end infrastructure, including the requisite licences for card and account products. Wirecard AG is listed on the Frankfurt Securities Exchange (TecDAX, ISIN DE0007472060, WDI). For further information about Wirecard, please visit http://www.wirecard.com or follow us on twitter @wirecard. Eleos media contact: Eleos Web

Tel.: +65-6221-6601

Email: [email protected] [email protected] About Eleos: Headquartered in Singapore - with offices in Sri Lanka and Shanghai - Eleos is an independent software vendor with a strong focus on the retail and F&B industries. With over 400 customers in Singapore and South Asia, like Picket And Rail, Orbis, Bikes and bites, Billabong, powermac and more, the Group is forging ahead with its plan to establish a foothold in China. Eleos has both boutique chain stores and strategic accounts in its customer portfolio and is now looking to expand within China and Asia. http://www.eleos.com CIMB media contact: Josandi Thor

Managing Director

Head of Brand, Marketing and Communications

CIMB Group

DID: +603-2261-0628 (Malaysia) | +65-6302-3885 (Singapore)

Mobile: +60-12-357-7714 (Malaysia) | +65-9022-0129 (Singapore)

Email: [email protected] Daryl Tan

Assistant Vice President, Communications

Group Marketing and Communications, Singapore

DID: +65-6317-2334 | Mobile: +65-9720-8466

Email: [email protected] About CIMB Bank Singapore CIMB Bank Singapore was officially established on 29 September 2009 as part of CIMB Group's longstanding commitment to Singapore - the Group has had a local presence since 1947 through Ban Hin Lee Bank and acquired GK Goh Securities in 2005. CIMB Bank Singapore represents the consumer banking arm of CIMB Group, a leading ASEAN universal bank. Strategically located in the financial centre of ASEAN and operating on a full banking license, CIMB Bank Singapore offers individuals, businesses and corporate clients a comprehensive suite of financial solutions. CIMB Group is Malaysia's second largest financial services provider and one of ASEAN's leading universal banking groups. It offers consumer banking, investment banking, Islamic banking, asset management and insurance products and services. Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, the Group is now present in nine out of 10 ASEAN nations (Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Brunei, Vietnam, Myanmar and Laos). Beyond ASEAN, the Group has market presence in mainland China, Hong Kong, Bahrain, India, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Korea, the US and UK. CIMB Group has the most extensive retail branch network in ASEAN of more than 1,000 branches as at 31 December 2014. CIMB Group's investment banking arm is also one of the largest Asia Pacific-based investment banks, offering amongst the most comprehensive research coverage of more than 1,000 stocks in the region. CIMB Group operates its business through three main brand entities, CIMB Bank, CIMB Investment Bank and CIMB Islamic. CIMB Group is also the 97.9% shareholder of Bank CIMB Niaga in Indonesia, and 93.7% shareholder of CIMB Thai in Thailand. CIMB Group is listed on Bursa Malaysia via CIMB Group Holdings Berhad. It had a market capitalisation of approximately RM46.3 billion as at 31 January 2015. The Group has over 40,000 employees located in 17 countries.

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[April 12, 2016] Yellowspring Teams with Trustwave to Protect UK Businesses

LONDON, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Yellowspring, a Managed IT Service Provider to businesses in London and the South-East, has today announced a reseller agreement with Trustwave, a global cybersecurity and managed security services leader that helps businesses fight cybercrime, protect data and reduce risk. Security is the foundation of compliance and risk management. This agreement will allow Yellowspring to help businesses to implement highly competitive security solutions from Trustwave for security and compliance. Yellowspring chose Trustwave to provide a level of security and confidence to their customers that could not be achieved elsewhere. Trustwave's award-winning cyber security solutions help businesses identify and manage risk and reduce complexity. Through TrustwaveTrustKeeper, customers have access to an intuitive, easy-to-use portal that offers unique visibility into and control over information security. Behind the scenes, TrustKeeper is a cloud-based gateway to a powerful technology platform that unifies Trustwave's on demand security, compliance and intelligence services.



Richard Keyms, Yellowspring's Chief Operating Officer comments, "Yellowspring only partners with businesses who support the needs of our customers and provide the best IT solutions and support. Trustwave is a market leader in compliance and security solutions that will help ensure our customers are secure from external security threats and protected from compliance issues. The relationship with Trustwave adds to our full-range of IT Support Solutions that allow our customers to have confidence in the back-end processes so they can concentrate on Business As Usual and Business Growth." About Yellowspring

Yellowspring with offices based in London and Essex, deliver effective Managed IT Services to businesses throughout London and the South East of England. With consultancy and IT Audits the business ensures it understands the needs of its customer before implementing robust Managed IT Services to protect and support. Businesses use Trustwave Managed Security Testing as a single platform for all of their managed vulnerability assessment, database security testing, network penetration testing, and application penetration testing needs. http://www.yellowspring.co.uk

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[April 12, 2016] Testlio Receives $6.25 Million in Series A Funding

SAN FRANCISCO, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Testlio, the customer-focused mobile app testing company, today announced it has closed $6.25 million in Series A funding led by Silicon Valley-based Altos Ventures and Vertex Ventures. Testlio is a global testing service provider that helps development teams enhance their quality assurance function. They enable customers to focus on their development capabilities by taking ownership of the test plan management and execution processes. Testlio leverages a carefully vetted global testing community to test software builds, delivering validated bug reports rapidly within a customer's existing development and testing environment. Customers gain the benefit of true real-world testing performed across the matrix of vast geographies, languages, device types and telecom providers. Already profitable, Testlio grew 500% in 2015 and will invest the new fnding to build out infrastructure in San Francisco and Tallinn, Estonia to support its global customers.



"Today, we partner closely with some of the most demanding companies in the world," said Kristel Viidik, CEO of Testlio. "In the future, our goal is to change the way companies think about their testing processes as a whole. With mobile applications, every brand is able to directly reach their consumers with a high-fidelity experience. Quality assurance plays a critical role in ensuring the best experience possible, and these companies are in need of a trusted partner to help deliver on this mission. We are expanding our service beyond mobile app testing so that we can continue to meet the changing needs of our customers now and in the future." "Testlio has demonstrated their ability to deliver a high quality experience and expand their relationship with key customers representing some of the best brands in the world," said Anthony Lee, Managing Director, Altos Ventures. "This is a rare quality in today's fast-paced mobile industry. We want to help Testlio continue to grow and evolve as a company so they can stay focused on momentum without sacrificing quality."

For more information, visit www.testlio.com. About Testlio Testlio, founded by Kristel Viidik and Marko Kruustuk, focuses on the quality versus quantity approach to QA software testing. Testlio's global community of carefully vetted professional QA engineers and robust test management platform delivers consistency, transparency and speed. Committed to what matters most to its customers, Testlio understands the need to move fast while maintaining the highest level of quality. Founded in 2012, Testlio has offices in San Francisco and Estonia. For more information, visit www.testlio.com. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160411/353684LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/testlio-receives-625-million-in-series-a-funding-300249303.html SOURCE Testlio

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[April 12, 2016] American Sentinel University Partners with RTConnections to Provide Nurses with Advanced Degrees for Career Advancement

AURORA, Colo., April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- American Sentinel University, an accredited healthcare-focused online university, today announced a new learning partnership with RTConnections. RTConnections is an industry leading professional development company for nurses, founded by Dr. Renee Thompson. Dr. Thompson is a keynote speaker, author, award-winning nurse blogger, and professional development/anti-bullying thought leader. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160411/353757LOGO

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160411/353758 The learning partnership is an extension of the alliance between American Sentinel and Dr. Thompson and is focused on the topic of nurse bullying. Earlier this year, both organizations partnered to develop a blog series and e-books addressing this important subject. The formal learning partnership expands the collaborative agreement and supports the mission of both organizations to provide high-quality advanced education to nurses. American Sentinel's students have access to RTConnections' vast resources and training that offer nurses an additional level of expertise for a competitive edge in the nursing job market. They also receive discounted registration rates for all industry events and training sessions, including the upcoming Medical Surgical Nursing Symposium in Orlando, Fla. April 28-29. "We are proud to partner with RTConnections on this significant nursing education endeavor," says Judy Burckhardt, Ph.D., MAEd, MSN, RN, Dean and Professor, Nursing and Healthcare Programs at American Sentinel University. "Dr. Thompson works tirelessly to help healthcare and academic organizations address and eliminate workplace bullying and makes a significant difference in the lives of nurses." As a trusted, online education provider of healthcare degree programs, American Sentinel provides RTConnections' members with relevant and timely curricula and offers a discounted tuition rate and tuition deferment program to help make advanced education even more attainable. "Today's nursing leaders need to stay connected with the everyday challenges of healthcare. It's critical that nurses have a variety of options to pursue additional education to discover what they are most passionate about in the field of nursing," says Dr. Thompson. "It brings me great joy to know that I'm making a difference in the lives of nurses by partnering with American Sentinel University to offer my members a flexible online learning platform that can be done anywhere, anytime to enhance their knowledge and confidence while making valuable contributions to healthcare transformation." American Sentinel's online programs cater to busy healthcare professionals at various stages of their careers. With an advanced degree, students gain the tools, business fundamentals and leadership abilities that benefit RTConnections' members, followers, and the healthcare industry. Students benefit from American Sentinel's MySentinel Student Support services, which provide a distinctively personal one-on-one approach to online learning. These services include new student orientation, dedicated student success advisors, tutoring, student resource center, writing center discussion forum to interact with peers and instant messaging services to connect with their advisor outside of work hours. RTConnections members can choose from American Sentinel's accredited online nursing and healthcare management degree programs, including RN to BSN, an RN to BSN/MSN fast-track program that enables RNs to earn their BSN and MSN degrees, an MSN program with five specializations (case management, infection prevention and control, nursing education, nursing informatics, and nursing management and organizational leadership), a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program with two specializations (executive leadership and educational leadership), an infection prevention and control certificate program and a course-based or project-based a Master of Business Administration-Healthcare, (MBA) program. Learn more about American Sentinel University's online degree programs at http://www.americansentinel.edu or call 866.922.5690. About American Sentinel University

American Sentinel University delivers accredited online degree programs in nursing (BSN, MSN, and DNP) and healthcare management (MBA Healthcare, M.S. Information Systems Management, and M.S. Business Intelligence and Analytics). Its affordable, flexible bachelor's and master's nursing degree programs are accredited by the Commission for the Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), of One Dupont Circle, NW Suite 530, Washington, D.C., 20036. The DNP program is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) of 3343 Peachtree Road NE, Suite 850, Atlanta, Ga., 30326. The University is accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission, DEAC, 1101 17th Street NW, Suite 808, Washington, D.C. 20036, (202) 234-5100, www.deac.org For required student consumer information, please visit: www.americansentinel.edu/doe About RTConnections

RTConnections is a company dedicated to educating, connecting and inspiring current and future nurses. Through clinical and leadership education, professional development programs, and consulting services, the team at RTConnections helps nurses articulate their value by improving their clinical and professional competence. Founded by Dr. Renee Thompson, a leading authority on nurse bullying and professional development, RTConnections offers keynote presentations, certification preparation courses, leadership retreats, seminars on eliminating disruptive behaviors among teams, preceptor development programs, new nurse residency consultation, a comprehensive anti-bullying program, and more. To contact Dr. Thompson, please visit: www.rtconnections.com or Email her.







Contact: Renee' Hewitt

Hewitt PR for American Sentinel University

845.382.9152

Email

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/american-sentinel-university-partners-with-rtconnections-to-provide-nurses-with-advanced-degrees-for-career-advancement-300249765.html SOURCE American Sentinel University

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[April 12, 2016] Internet Investor and Science Philanthropist Yuri Milner & Physicist Stephen Hawking Announce Breakthrough Starshot Project to Develop 100 Million Mile per Hour Mission to the Stars within a Generation

NEW YORK, April 13, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Internet investor and science philanthropist Yuri Milner was joined at One World Observatory today by renowned cosmologist Stephen Hawking to announce a new Breakthrough Initiative focusing on space exploration and the search for life in the Universe. Breakthrough Starshot is a $100 million research and engineering program aiming to demonstrate proof of concept for light-propelled nanocrafts. These could fly at 20 percent of light speed and capture images of possible planets and other scientific data in our nearest star system, Alpha Centauri, just over 20 years after their launch. The program will be led by Pete Worden, the former director of NASA AMES Research Center, and advised by a committee of world-class scientists and engineers. The board will consist of Stephen Hawking, Yuri Milner, and Mark Zuckerberg. Ann Druyan, Freeman Dyson, Mae Jemison, Avi Loeb and Pete Worden also participated in the announcement. Today, on the 55th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's pioneering space flight, and nearly half a century after the original 'moonshot', Breakthrough Starshot is launching preparations for the next great leap: to the stars. Breakthrough Starshot The Alpha Centauri star system is 25 trillion miles (4.37 light years) away. With today's fastest spacecraft, it would take about 30,000 years to get there. Breakthrough Starshot aims to establish whether a gram-scale nanocraft, on a sail pushed by a light beam, can fly over a thousand times faster. It brings the Silicon Valley approach to space travel, capitalizing on exponential advances in certain areas of technology since the beginning of the 21st century. 1. Nanocrafts Nanocrafts are gram-scale robotic spacecrafts comprising two main parts: StarChip: Moore's law has allowed a dramatic decrease in the size of microelectronic components. This creates the possibility of a gram-scale wafer , carrying cameras, photon thrusters, power supply, navigation and communication equipment, and constituting a fully functional space probe.

Moore's law has allowed a dramatic decrease in the size of microelectronic components. This creates the possibility of a , carrying cameras, photon thrusters, power supply, navigation and communication equipment, and constituting a fully functional space probe. Lightsail: Advances in nanotechnology are producing increasingly thin and light-weight metamaterials, promising to enable the fabrication of meter-scale sails no more than a few hundred atoms thick and at gram-scale mass. 2. Light Beamer The rising power and falling cost of lasers, consistent with Moore's law, lead to significant advances in light beaming technology. Meanwhile, phased arrays of lasers (the 'light beamer') could potentially be scaled up to the 100 gigawatt level. Breakthrough Starshot aims to bring economies of scale to the astronomical scale. The StarChip can be mass-produced at the cost of an iPhone and be sent on missions in large numbers to provide redundancy and coverage. The light beamer is modular and scalable. Once it is assembled and the technology matures, the cost of each launch is expected to fall to a few hundred thousand dollars. Path to the stars The research and engineering phase is expected to last a number of years. Following that, development of the ultimate mission to Alpha Centauri would require a budget comparable to the largest current scientific experiments, and would involve: Building a ground-based kilometer-scale light beamer at high altitude in dry conditions

light beamer at high altitude in dry conditions Generating and storing a few gigawatt hours of energy per launch

of energy per launch Launching a 'mothership' carrying thousands of nanocrafts to a high-altitude orbit

of nanocrafts to a high-altitude orbit Taking advantage of adaptive optics technology in real time to compensate for atmospheric effects

technology in real time to compensate for atmospheric effects Focusing the light beam on the lightsail to accelerate individual nanocrafts to the target speed within minutes

the light beam on the lightsail to accelerate individual nanocrafts to the target speed within minutes Accounting for interstellar dust collisions en route to the target

en route to the target Capturing images of a planet, and other scientific data, and transmitting them back to Earth using a compact on-board laser communications system

of a planet, and other scientific data, and transmitting them back to Earth using a compact on-board laser communications system Using the same light beamer that launched the nanocrafts to receive data from them over 4 years later. These and other system requirements represent significant engineering challenges, and they can be reviewed in more detail online at www.breakthroughinitiatives.org. However, the key elements of the proposed system design are based on technology either already available or likely to be attainable in the near future under reasonable assumptions. The proposed light propulsion system is on a scale significantly exceeding any currently operational analog. The very nature of the project calls for global co-operation and support. Clearance for launches would be required from all the appropriate government and international organizations. Additional opportunities As the technology required for interstellar travel matures, a number of additional opportunities will emerge, including the following: Contribution to solar system exploration .

. Using the light beamer as a kilometer-scale telescope for astronomical observations.

for astronomical observations. Detection of Earth-crossing asteroids at large distances. Potential Planets in the Alpha Centauri system Astronomers estimate that there is a reasonable chance of an Earth-like planet existing in the 'habitable zones' of Alpha Centauri's three-star system. A number of scientific instruments, ground-based and space-based, are being developed and enhanced, which will soon identify and characterize planets around nearby stars. A separate Breakthrough Initiative will support some of these projects. Open and collaborative environment The Breakthrough Starshot initiative is: based entirely on research that is in the public domain .

. committed to publishing new results.

dedicated to full transparency and open access.

and open access. open to experts in all relevant fields, as well as the public, to contribute ideas through its online forum. The list of scientific references and publications, as well as the online forum, can be found at www.breakthroughinitiatives.org Research support The Breakthrough Starshot initiative will establish a research grant program, and will make available other funding to support relevant scientific and engineering research and development. "The human story is one of great leaps," said Yuri Milner, founder of the Breakthrough Initiatives. "55 years ago today, Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space. Today, we are preparing for the next great leap - to the stars." "Earth is a wonderful place, but it might not last forever," commented Stephen Hawking, "Sooner or later, we must look to the stars. Breakthrough Starshot is a very exciting first step on that journey." "We take inspiration from Vostok, Voyager, Apollo and the other great missions," said Pete Worden, "It's time to open the era of interstellar flight, but we need to keep our feet on the ground to achieve this." Breakthrough Starshot Board Stephen Hawking, Professor, Dennis Stanton Avery and Sally Tsui Wong-Avery Director of Research at the University of Cambridge Yuri Milner, Founder of DST Global Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO, Facebook Breakthrough Starshot Management and Advisory Committee Pete Worden , Executive Director, Breakthrough Starshot; fomer Director of NASA Ames Research Center



University of Arizona . He is a recognized expert on space and science issues and has been a leader in building partnerships between governments and the private sector internationally. Dr. Worden has authored or co-authored more than 150 scientific papers in astrophysics and space sciences. He served as a scientific co-investigator for three NASA space science missions  most recently the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph launched in 2013 to study the Sun. He received the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal for the 1994 Clementine Mission to the moon. Dr. Worden was named the 2009 Federal Laboratory Consortium 'Laboratory Director of the Year' and is the recipient of the 2010 Arthur C. Clarke Innovator's Award. Avi Loeb , Chairman, Breakthrough Starshot Advisory Committee; Harvard University Avi Loeb is a theoretical physicist who has written over 500 scientific papers and 3 books on astrophysics and cosmology, mainly on the first stars and black holes. TIME magazine selected him as one of the 25 most influential people in space. Loeb serves as the Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University, where he serves as chair of the Harvard Astronomy department, director of the Institute for Theory & Computation and director of the Black Hole Initiative. He is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the American Physical Society, and the International Academy of Astronautics, and a member of the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the National Academies.

Jim Benford , Microwave Sciences Jim Benford is president of Microwave Sciences. He develops high-power microwave systems from conceptual designs to hardware. His interests include microwave source physics, electromagnetic power beaming for space propulsion, experimental intense particle beams and plasma physics. Bruce Draine , Princeton University Dr. Draine's research involves the study of the interstellar medium, especially interstellar dust, photodissociation regions, shock waves and the physical optics of nanostructures. In 2004 he won the Dannie Heinemann Prize for Astrophysics. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Ann Druyan , Cosmos Studios Ann Druyan is an American author and producer specializing in science communication. She was the Creative Director of NASA's Voyager Interstellar Message and a co-writer of the 1980 PBS documentary series Cosmos, hosted by Carl Sagan (19341996), whom she married in 1981. She was an executive producer and writer of the follow-up series, Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, for which she won the Emmy and Peabody awards. Freeman Dyson , Princeton Institute of Advanced Study Freeman Dyson is an American theoretical physicist and mathematician, known for his work in quantum electrodynamics, solid-state physics, astronomy and nuclear engineering. He is professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study, a Visitor of Ralston College, and a member of the Board of Sponsors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Robert Fugate , Arctelum, LLC, New Mexico Tech Dr. Fugate conducts a research program on atmospheric propagation physics, atmospheric compensation using laser guide star adaptive optics. Dr Fugate's research program also includes the development of sensors, instrumentation and mount control of large-aperture, ground-based telescopes. Lou Friedman , Planetary Society, JPL Lou Friedman is an American astronautics engineer, space spokesperson and noted author. He was a co-founder of The Planetary Society with Carl Sagan and Bruce C. Murray, and is now Executive Director Emeritus. He led Advanced Projects at JPL including development of solar sails, missions to Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, comets and asteroids, and he was the leader of the Mars Program after the Viking Mission. He is currently consulting on NASA's Asteroid Redirect Mission. He co-led studies of that mission and of Exploring the Interstellar Medium at the Keck Institute for Space Studies. Giancarlo Genta , Polytechnic University of Turin Giancarlo Genta's areas of professional interest include vibration, vehicle design, magnetic bearings, and rotordynamics. He has written or co-authored more than 50 articles in professional publications and 21 books. He has published extensively in the field of SETI research. Olivier Guyon , University of Arizona Dr. Guyon designs space and ground-based astronomical instrumentation that aid the search for exoplanets outside the solar system. He is an expert in high contrast imaging techniques (coronagraphy, extreme adaptive optics) for directly imaging and studying exoplanets. Mae Jemison , 100 Year Starship Dr. Mae C. Jemison leads 100 Year Starship, a multifaceted global initiative to realize all the capabilities required for human interstellar travel beyond our solar system to another star within the next 100 years. Jemison was a NASA astronaut for six years and the world's first woman of color in space. She is committed to applying space exploration advances to enhancing life on Earth, and draws upon her background as a physician, engineer, inventor, environmental studies professor, science literacy advocate, development worker in Africa, and founder of two tech start-ups. Pete Klupar , Director of Engineering, Breakthrough Starshot; former Director of Engineering, NASA Ames Research Center Pete Klupar is interested in low cost, high technology efforts with an emphasis on space systems. He has developed and launched more than 50 spacecraft missions. He has spent time in industry, helping to grow a spacecraft startup from 4 employees to over 500. He has also worked in large organizations such as Boeing and Space Systems Loral. He has been involved in government space and aviation programs, most recently at NASA Ames as the director of Engineering. He has been instrumental in reducing the cost of high technology missions, developing several Faster Better Cheaper and Operationally Responsive Space efforts. Geoff Landis , SA Glenn Research Center Geoff Landis is an American scientist, working on planetary exploration, interstellar propulsion, and advanced technology for space missions. Landis holds nine patents, primarily in the field of improvements to solar cells and photovoltaic devices, and has given presentations and commentary on the possibilities for interstellar travel and construction of bases on the Moon, Mars, and Venus. He is a fellow of the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts. Kelvin Long , Journal of the British Interplanetary Society Kelvin Long is a physicist, author and the executive director of the Initiative for Interstellar Studies. He has worked in the aerospace sector for around fifteen years and he specializes in the subject of interstellar flight, with an emphasis on advanced propulsion concepts. Philip Lubin , University of California, Santa Barbara Philip Lubin is Professor of Physics at UC Santa Barbara, with research interests in experimental cosmology, cosmic background radiation (spectrum, anisotropy and polarization), satellite, balloon-born and ground-based studies of the early universe, fundamental limits of detection, directed energy systems, and infrared and far-infrared astrophysics. Zac Manchester , Harvard University Zac Manchester is a researcher and aerospace engineer with broad interests in dynamics and control and a passion for making spaceflight more accessible. He is especially interested in taking advantage of advancements in embedded electronics and computation to build spacecraft that are smaller, smarter, and more agile. He founded the KickSat project in 2011 and has also worked on unmanned aerial vehicles and several small spacecraft missions. Greg Matloff , New York City College of Technology Greg Matloff is an emeritus professor at the NYC College of Technology. He is an expert in deep space propulsion. Matloff is a fellow of the British interplanetary Society, a Hayden Associate at the American Museum of Natural History and a Corresponding Member of the International Academy of Astronautics. His pioneering research in solar-sail technology has been utilized by NASA in plans for extra-solar probes as well as in consideration of technologies to divert Earth-threatening asteroids. He served as guest professor at the University of Siena, Italy. Claire Max , University of California, Santa Cruz Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz and the Director of the University of California Observatories. Max is best known for her contributions to laser guide star adaptive optics as a technique for reducing the optical distortions of images taken through the turbulent atmosphere. This work began at the JASON group, which she joined in 1983 as its first female member. With her colleagues in JASON, she developed the idea of using an artificial laser guide star tuned to the yellow light emitted by sodium atoms to correct astronomical images. In addition to continuing to develop this technology at the Center for Adaptive Optics, she now uses adaptive optics on the world's largest optical telescopes to study the fate of supermassive black holes in the cores of colliding gas-rich galaxies. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and winner of the American Astronomical Society's Weber Prize in Instrumentation, Princeton University's James Madison Medal and the Department of Energy's E. O. Lawrence award. Kaya Nobuyuki , Kobe University Kaya Nobuyuki is vice dean of the graduate school of engineering at Kobe University in Japan. Nobuyuki has performed numerous space and ground demonstrations. He and an international team from Japan and the European Space Agency successfully tested microwave beam control for an SPS using an ISAS sounding rocket and three daughter satellites deploying a large web: this was known as the "Furoshiki" experiment. He also played a central role in the demonstration of key solar-powered wireless transmission as part of the Orbital Power Plant. Kevin Parkin , Parkin Research Dr. Kevin Parkin is a British-born scientist who is best known for inventing the Microwave Thermal Rocket. In 2005, he was awarded the Korolev Medal by the Russian Federation of Astronautics and Cosmonautics. In 2007, Dr. Parkin founded the Mission Design Center at NASA Ames and developed its software architecture, having previously created the ICEMaker software used for spacecraft design by Team-X at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and several other organizations. From 2012-2014 he was the Principal Investigator and Chief Engineer of a project that built the first millimeter-wave powered thermal rocket and launched it. Mason Peck , Cornell University Peck's academic research focuses on technology development for low-cost space missions, particularly in the areas of propulsion, navigation, and control. He is the former NASA Chief Technologist. He has worked closely with the US Aerospace industry for over 20 years, having held engineering positions at Boeing and Honeywell, and having served as a consultant in space technology. Peck has published articles on microscale spacecraft, next-generation propulsion, low-power space robotics and spaceflight dynamics. He is the co-author of three books on planetary exploration and spacecraft mechanisms. Saul Perlmutter , Nobel Prize winner, Breakthrough Prize winner, UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Saul Perlmutter is an American astrophysicist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a professor of Physics at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Perlmutter shared the 2006 Shaw Prize in Astronomy, the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics, and the 2015 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics with Brian P. Schmidt and Adam Riess, for providing evidence that the expansion of the universe is accelerating. Martin Rees , Astronomer Royal Lord Martin Rees is a British cosmologist and astrophysicist. He has been Astronomer Royal since 1995 and was Master of Trinity College, Cambridge from 2004 to 2012 and President of the Royal Society between 2005 and 2010. Aside from expanding his scientific interests, Rees has written and spoken extensively about the problems and challenges of the 21st century, and the interfaces between science, ethics and politics. He is a member of the Board of the Institute for Advanced Study, in Princeton, the IPPR, the Oxford Martin School and the Gates Cambridge Trust. He co-founded the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk and serves on the Scientific Advisory Board for the Future of Life Institute. Lord Rees has worked on gamma-ray bursts and on how the "cosmic dark ages" ended when the first stars formed. Lord Rees is an author of books on astronomy and science intended for the public, and gives many public lectures and broadcasts. Roald Sagdeev , University of Maryland Roald Sagdeev is Distinguished University Professor Emeritus at the University of Maryland. He earned his Ph.D. in 1966 from Moscow State University. He previously served for 15 years as Director of the Space Research Institute, the Moscow-based center of the Russian space exploration program, where he currently holds the title of Director Emeritus. Prior to his work with the Soviet space exploration program, he had a distinguished career in nuclear science, gaining international recognition for his work on the behavior of hot plasma and controlled thermonuclear fusion. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Royal Swedish Academy, the Max Planck Society and the International Academy of Aeronautics. Ed Turner , Princeton University , NAOJ Ed Turner is Professor of Astrophysics at Princeton University. Turner has worked extensively in both theoretical and observational astrophysics, and has published more than 200 research papers on topics including binary galaxies, groups of galaxies, large-scale structure, dark matter, quasar populations, gravitational lensing, the cosmic x-ray background, the cosmological constant, exoplanets and astrobiology  frequently, in all of these areas, with an emphasis on statistical analyses. His recent teaching activities at Princeton include courses in cosmology, in astrobiology and in media coverage of science, and he has been a member of the University's Committee for Statistical Studies since 1992. Additional information www.breakthroughinitiatives.org. Images, video and materials from today's press conference are available for media download at the below link. Content will be uploaded throughout the day. Link: www.image.net/breakthroughstarshot

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[April 12, 2016] Flixel Partners with Facebook on New Profile Video Integration

Cinemagraph software company one of Facebook's early partners for Profile Expression Kit TORONTO, April 12, 2016 /CNW/ - Flixel Photos, a visual storytelling company that enables content creators to produce cinemagraphs, announced today that it is one of a select group of beta partners for Facebook's new Profile Expression Kit, which allows users to create a video in 3rd-party apps and directly upload as their Facebook profile video. Announced today at the F8 Facebook developer conference, the integration will allow users to easily create high-quality cinemagraph profile videos and easily upload to Facebook directly from Flixel Cinemagraph Pro for iOS app for free. Flixel joins Vine, Boomerang, and Facebook's new MSQRD app as Facebook's first profile expression kit integration partners. "We're excited to work with Flixel as one of our beta integration partners and make cinemagraph profile videos available to the Facebook community," said Ryan Houx, Product Marketing Manager, Facebook. "Like the moving photos in Harry Potter, cinemagraphs are an exciting and magical new visual medium that bring still photos to life. I know the Facebook Community will love creating these living photos for their Facebook profiles." In fall 2015 Facebook added the ability to replace static profile images with seven-second looping profile videos, and Flixel users have already started to create cinemagraph profile videos. Flixel also released an updated version of its paid app Cinemagraph Pro for iOS at F8 2016, which gives users the ability to create and export high quality cinemagraphs to Facebook profile videos for free.



"Cinemagraphs have rapidly taken their place alongside photos and videos as a visual medium you'll see everywhere in 2016," said Robert Lendvai, CMO, Flixel Photos. "Partnering with Facebook gives our community of both professional and amateur creators another platform to connect with each other and show off their personality." Facebook will have a profile video booth set up at F8 where attendees can shoot and create quick Flixel profile videos against a backdrop. Flixel has also created a new series of cinemagraph tutorials, including how to create Facebook video profiles directly in the Cinemagraph Pro for iOS app.

F8 attendees can learn more about Flixel's profile expression kit integration at the 'Enabling Self Expression with Profile Picture Frames and Videos' keynote with Aigerim Shorman, Product Manager, Facebook, and Ryan Houx, Product Marketing Manager, Facebook. Cinemagraphs have been named a top design and photography trend for 2016, blending photo and video together in a new content medium. In 2015, Flixel partnered with Facebook and Instagram to study how users interact with cinemagraphs vs. still photos, and according to Flixel research, people view cinemagraphs for nine times longer than still photos. Flixel is available for download on the App Store. To learn more about Flixel, visit www.flixel.com. For more information on Facebook's profile expression kit, visit developers.facebook.com. Social media links:

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/flixelphotos

Twitter https://twitter.com/Flixel

Instagram https://instagram.com/flixelphotos About Flixel

Founded in 2011, Flixel is a Toronto-based startup that offers a suite of tools to photographers, videographers, and marketers to create "Living Photos" or "cinemagraphs" - a still image with moving elements. The company's patent-pending technology allows users to easily create Cinemagraphs within seconds on Mac, iPhone and iPad. The company's Flixel Cloud Platform is the premier web service for discovering, and sharing Cinemagraphs in HD. Flixel Studios, the company's in-house agency, has worked with top brands including ANTM, A&E, Emmy Awards, Facebook, HBO, Mashable, Marriott Rewards, Mercedes, Panasonic, and TED on cinemagraph campaigns seen around the world. Flixel counts Tyra Banks among its investors. SOURCE Flixel

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[April 12, 2016] Barchart.com Mobile App Surpasses 200,000 Installs Across iPhone and Android Devices

CHICAGO, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Barchart, a leading provider of market data and information, has announced that their free mobile app Barchart Stocks, Futures and Forex has surpassed 200,000 installs across iPhone and Android devices. The Barchart.com app provides in-depth market data and information to its users with more markets and coverage, including free real-time Bats stock prices, deeper historical data and exclusive Barchart.com content. "The Barchart.com app continues to be a valuable tool that investors, traders and market analysts turn to for current financial market data and information across stocks, futures and forex," said Eero Pikat, President of Barchart. "By surpassing 200,000 installs, the Barchart.com app has proven to be a top-rated financial app and will continue to be so by providing extensive, accurate and in-depth financial information to its users," added Pikat. The Barchart Stocks, Futures and Forex app recently released an updated 3.0 version to users with enhanced features and usability across the entire app, including: New features available in version 3.0 of the Barchart.com App: Faster in-app running speed for user convenience

Barchart Opinions are now available at no additional charge

Removal of banner advertisements for improved user experience

Receive in-app and/or email alerts for news and price changes

View comparison charts

Receive additional access to fundamental stock data

View flipcharts on your custom portfolio

Swipe through charts with enhanced speed and convenience In addition to these new features, users still have access to the essential tools they have always used in the Barchart.com app: Unlimited custom watchlists and scrolling "mini views" for instant access to most symbol data from a single screen Stock, futures, and forex market overviews Extensive leader and sector lists for US and Canadian stocks, indices, futures, and forex Up to 12 detailed data screens per symbol including fundamental, technical, profile, and option data Fully customizable charts Global and top business / finance news with symbol-specific coverage Exclusive commodity market commentary Your portfolios and charts saved on Barchart.com are available for in-app viewing



The SIIA CODiE Awards are the premier awards for the software and information industries, and have been recognizing product excellence for over 30 years. The awards offer 91 categories that are organized by industry focus of education technology and business technology. The Barchart.com App was honored as one of 215 finalists across the 62 business technology categories. The Barchart.com app can be downloaded for free on the Apple App Store and Google Play.

For additional information, please visit www.barchart.com/app. About Barchart

Barchart converts market data, financial data and news into technology solutions for the financial, media and commodity industries. Barchart's products include data feeds, trading software, mobile apps, and financial content and tools. For more information, please visit www.barchartmarketdata.com and www.barchart.com. Logo- http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100824/CG54024LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/barchartcom-mobile-app-surpasses-200000-installs-across-iphone-and-android-devices-300250308.html SOURCE Barchart

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[April 12, 2016] Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Samsung Team Up to Provide Kids and Teens the Opportunity to Explore STEM and Careers of the Future

RIDGEFIELD PARK, N.J., April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- A brand new tech center equipped with the latest technology and STEM curriculum was unveiled at Boys & Girls Club of Newark today. The Club provides a safe haven for kids after school and extracurricular activities, including high-impact programming to positively engage students in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects. Club members will have access to the tools they need to prepare for careers in the digital age. Samsung helped transform the Lachman Family STEM Center at the Boys & Girls Club of Newark into a high-tech Tween Tech Center offering Club members a modern and comfortable place to learn STEM after school hours. The space is outfitted with Samsung Galaxy Tablets loaded with a STEM-focused curriculum designed specifically for middle school-aged youth at Boys & Girls Clubs. Samsung also incorporated some of its other technologies, including Samsung 65" TVs and Samsung Level On headsets. "The disparity in access to STEM education is a critical issue that needs to be address in our community," said Kavita Mehra, interim chief executive officer at Boys & Girls Club of Newark. "Thanks to Samsung's investment in the Club and the community, Boys & Girls Club of Newark will be able to provide nearly 1,000 members with the best opportunities in STEM education so that they are empowered to achieve their greatest potential." Central Ward Councilwoman Gayle Chaneyfield Jenkins was in attendance. Newark's Tween Tech Center will be the twelfth made possible at Clubs across the United States by the partnership between Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) and Samsung Electronics America. Over the past two years, BGCA and Samsung have created Tween Tech Centers at Clubs across the country, serving more than 11,000 members with a custom curriculum called Building Blocks that was developed by Scholastic and uploaded to the Samsung Galaxy tabs donated to the Clubs. Boys & Girls Clubs of America held its last surprise tech makeover in Monterey, California on December 11, 2015. Samsung has also pledged to disperse an additional 600 tablets to other Clubs around the country by this spring. Click here to view our latest Tween Tech Center makeovers.



"We believe in the power of STEM education and empowering young minds to embrace the skills that will prepare them for careers in the digital age," said Ann Woo, senior director of corporate citizenship at Samsung Electronics America. "The Tween Tech Center is a resource that helps brings the kids' learning and new ideas to life. It also gives them a chance to interact and bond with fellow members who share similar interests." At Boys & Girls Clubs, Samsung employees have worked together to clean and reorganize facilities, including sprucing up outside landscapes and organizing supplies, to foster an engaging and safe environment for students during the company's semiannual Day of Service program. Also, Gregory Lee, the President and CEO of Samsung Electronics North America, was honored with the William "Jazz" Jones Award at the Boys & Girls Club of Newark's annual Evening of the Stars gala last night.

For more than a decade, Samsung's Hope for Children initiative has been focused on helping youth in underserved communities across the United States gain access to quality healthcare, technology resources and STEM education. In addition to the company's work with Boys & Girls Clubs in Newark, Samsung is also supporting New Jersey communities through other local and national programs, including emPower Tomorrow and its Solve for Tomorrow contest. About Samsung Electronics America, Inc.

Headquartered in Ridgefield Park, NJ, Samsung Electronics America, Inc. (SEA), is a recognized innovation leader in consumer electronics design and technology. A wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., SEA delivers a broad range of digital consumer electronics, IT and home appliance products. Samsung is the market leader for HDTVs in the U.S and America's fastest growing home appliance brands. To discover more of the award-winning products you love with Samsung, please visit www.samsung.com and for the latest Samsung news, please visit news.samsung.com/us and follow on Twitter @SamsungNewsUS. About Boys & Girls Clubs of America

For more than 100 years, Boys & Girls Clubs of America (GreatFutures.org) has enabled young people most in need to achieve great futures as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Today, more than 4,000 Clubs serve nearly 4 million young people annually through Club membership and community outreach. Clubs are located in cities, towns, public housing and on Native lands throughout the country, and serve military families in BGCA-affiliated Youth Centers on U.S. military installations worldwide. They provide a safe place, caring adult mentors, fun, friendship, and high-impact youth development programs on a daily basis during critical non-school hours. Priority programs emphasize academic success, good character and citizenship, and healthy lifestyles. In a Harris Survey of alumni, 54 percent said the Club saved their lives. National headquarters are located in Atlanta. Learn more at http://www.bgca.org/facebook and http://bgca.org/twitter. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/boys--girls-clubs-of-america-and-samsung-team-up-to-provide-kids-and-teens-the-opportunity-to-explore-stem-and-careers-of-the-future-300250363.html SOURCE Samsung

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[April 12, 2016] MDA to demonstrate geospatial information solution to US Air Force Research Lab

RICHMOND, BC, April 12, 2016 /CNW/ - MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. ("MDA" or the "Company") (TSX:MDA), a global communications and information company, today announced that it has been awarded a two year contract valued at CA$7.2 million to support the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory's Full Spectrum Geospatial Intelligence (FSG) program. MDA will deliver an information solution to demonstrate the feasibility of using geospatial intelligence analysis in a cloud computing environment. Assuming the FSG program proceeds as planned and advances to implementation, MDA's geospatial information solution would enable secure and timely information to be rapidly and reliably shared in a more cost-effective manner with those who need it. About MDA

MDA is a global communications and information company providing operational solutions to commercial and government organizations worldwide. MDA's business is focused on markets and customers with strong repeat business potential, primarily in the Communications sector and the Surveillance and Intelligence sector. In addition, the Company conducts a significant amount of advance technology development.



MDA's established global customer base is served by more than 4,800 employees operating from 11 locations in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The Company's common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "MDA."

Related Websites www.mdacorporation.com Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements and information, which reflect the current view of MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. ("MDA" or the "Company") with respect to future events and financial performance. The forward-looking statements in this regard include statements regarding the award of a contract by an intergovernmental agency. Any such forward-looking statements are based on MDA's current expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends. The factors and assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements in this release include contracts with any government or intergovernmental agency not being terminated. Any such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations. MDA cautions readers that should certain risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary significantly from those expected. The risks that could cause actual results to differ from current expectations include, but are not necessarily limited to: changes in government or intergovernmental priorities, mandates, funding levels, contracts and regulations; failure of third parties and subcontractors; failure to anticipate changes in technology, technical standards and offerings or to comply with the requisite standards. For additional information with respect to certain of these risks or factors, plus additional risks or factors, reference should be made to the Company's continuous disclosure materials filed from time to time with Canadian securities regulatory authorities, which are available online under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com or on the Company's website at www.mdacorporation.com. The Toronto Stock Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the form or content of this release. SOURCE MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd.

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The Nigerian Army has said that the members of the Boko Haram Sect are fleeing from their Sambisa Forest hideout in large numbers. Th...

The Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, said in a statement on Tuesday that the insurgents were leaving the Sambisa Forest in droves to escape being killed in the intensified aerial and ground offensive by the military.Usman said the insurgents were fleeing Sambisa for various parts of the country.He urged the members of the public to be more security conscious and report all suspicious movements to security agencies to prevent them from mingling members of the society.This is to inform the public that due to aerial bombardment and concerted efforts of the ground troops, and facing imminent annihilation, Boko Haram terrorists have been deserting Sambisa forest in droves trying to disperse to various parts of the country.The cowards are running away from their well noted enclave in the Sambisa forest for their lives. Consequently it becomes necessary to inform the public, especially well meaning Nigerians, to be more vigilant and security conscious.The public are requested to be observant and report any suspicious person or group of persons to the military or any of the security agencies to enable timely detection and apprehension of the fleeing insurgents before they mingle with the society and commit havoc.We would like to reassure the public of the confidentiality of the information provided and reiterate our commitment to the clearance of the remnants of Boko Haram terrorists, The statement read.
Ten months into the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State has announced that his state w...

Ten months into the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State has announced that his state was now free of terror. While Governor Shettima was quick to concede that the Boko Haram terrorist group had not been annihilated, he said despite occasional hiccups,Borno is now free. Governor Shettima, who disclosed this while on a visit to the Director General of National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Muhammad Sidi, in Abuja yesterday, said: 10 months ago, one could not travel for 10 kilometres without encountering terrorists.He added that then, Maiduguri was the only relatively safe haven, adding yes, we still have occasional hiccups, but Boko Haram has been so decimated that they can no longer threaten the corporate existence of Nigeria.He noted that peace was gradually returning to the state, expressing optimism that by year-end, all internally displaced persons, IDPs, would have returned to their homes. Praising NEMA for its support to Borno State, the governor solicited for greater support, saying the state is home to 90 percent of IDPs in the country. According to him, out of 2.5 million IDPs in Nigeria, Maiduguri alone is host to 1.7 million, while there are nearly 200,000 IDPs in camps scattered around the state.On the vexed issue of the missing 219 Chibok girls, the governor was optimistic that the girls were still alive and would be rescued soon. In his remarks, DG of NEMA, Sidi, lauded the governor for embarking on the reconstruction of liberated areas, urging him not to be deterred by occasional and isolated terrorist attacks on soft targets.
The Presidency has begun an investigation to determine the level of complicity of heads of some governments parastatals and agencies in t...

The Presidency has begun an investigation to determine the level of complicity of heads of some governments parastatals and agencies in the mutilated 2016 budget sent to President Muhammadu Buhari by the National Assembly, The PUNCH has learnt.Buhari has refused to sign the document, claiming that the federal lawmakers had doctored the fiscal bill.A top government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity on Monday, told one of our correspondents that the probe had become imperative because some top shots were suspected to have colluded with some members of the National Assembly to produce a budget that would be difficult to implement.The executive is investigating the level of complicity of heads of parastatals, who are suspected to have colluded with the National Assembly. Heads may roll because we see it as sabotage, he said.The source said the executive arm of government was of the opinion that the budget passed by the National Assembly was meant to frustrate Buhari for his decision to be neutral in the current trial of Senate President Bukola Saraki at the Code of Conduct Tribunal for alleged false declaration of assets.Giving an insight into the suspicion of underhand dealings by heads of parastatals with some members of the National Assembly, the Presidency source cited an example of the Nigerian Communication Satellite Limited in the Ministry of Communications.He said it was surprising that out of the N5bn proposed for 36 capital projects in the ministry in the original budget presented by Buhari, the National Assembly decided to move N3.6bn to NIGCOMSAT.He added that the N3.6bn allocated to NIGCOMSAT was not for capital projects but for training for the planned NIGCOMSAT-2.Describing the allocation as ridiculous and suspicious, the source said up until now, the Federal Government was still negotiating for funds for the NIGCOMSAT-2.He said the government needed to know what informed such decision; whether the management of NIGCOMSAT actually demanded such funds from the National Assembly outside the budget the President presented.He said, We are still negotiating the funding for NIGCOMSAT-2. If we are lucky and get the loan, the fund for training is already embedded in the project cost.The National Assembly cancelled 28 out of the Ministry of Communications proposed 36 capital projects. The lawmakers also reduced the money for the remaining eight that they approved.The source added that investigations had revealed that many of the federal lawmakers were not involved in the production of the budget details presented to Buhari.He added that not even all members of the Appropriation Committees of the two chambers were privy to the content.On why Buhari would not sign the document in its present state, the source said, It is dangerous for the President to sign now and negotiate later. The lawmakers may turn round later to accuse him of non-implementation of the budget and begin the process of removing him from office.Presidential spokesmen, Mr. Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu, were not available for comment on Monday as they were on the Presidents entourage to China.Also, there were strong indications on Monday that the leadership of both chambers of the National Assembly might remove the chairmen of their appropriation committees following the embarrassment their work on the 2016 budget was causing the nation.A presiding officer of the Senate, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the leadership of both the Senate and House of Representatives were no longer comfortable with the tension and anxiety that the issue had continued to generate.He explained that the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Danjuma Goje, and his counterpart in the House of Representatives, Mr. Abdulmumin Jibrin, might be removed from the committees this week over their alleged poor handling of the situation.The presiding officer from the northern part of the country said both Saraki and the Speaker, House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, expressed shock and disappointment over the ways both appropriation committee chairmen carried out their duties.He said, We have reports that both Goje and Jibrin, in most cases, sat and carried out unilateral decisions on the budget and even sometimes invite heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies for briefings without involving the chairmen of the respected committees in charge of the MDAs.Obviously, we in the leadership of the National Assembly are convinced that both Goje and Jibrin have personal issues which they wanted to exhibit through the budget process. People have even drawn our attention to their public statements in recent times.First, it was Goje, who condemned the inclusion of N500bn welfare scheme of the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government in the 2016 budget, describing it as unimplementable and therefore called for its suspension till next year.We also watched Jibrin on national television this morning (Monday), calling the executive liars, who prepared unimplementable budget, yet had the audacity to blame the legislature for their inefficiency.We are convinced that the two appropriation heads are on the verge of setting the executive and the legislature on a serious collision course and we would have to stop that before it happens.Attempts to speak with Goje on the allegations against him failed as he ignored repeated calls made to his mobile while he also failed to respond to a text message sent to his telephone.But in a statement on Monday, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Land Transport, Senator Gbenga Ashafa, confirmed that his committee supported the inclusion of the Lagos-Calabar rail project in the budget when Mr. Rotimi Amaechi defended his ministrys budget before the Senate panel.Ashafa said, However, subsequently at the budget defence session before the Senate Committee on Land Transport, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, did inform the committee of the omission of the Lagos to Calabar rail modernisation project and indeed sent a supplementary copy of the ministrys budget to the committee which contained the said project.The minister noted that the amount needed for the counterpart funding for both the Lagos to Kano and Lagos to Calabar rail modernisation projects was in the sum of N120bn, being N60bn per project.He said with regard to the Idu to Kaduna rail completion, the Senate Committee on Land Transport did not interfere with what was provided for in the budget as sent by the executive, being approximately N18bn.The Senator representing Oyo South Senatorial District, Adesoji Akanbi, however, asked Nigerians to blame his colleagues in the appropriation committee, who are from the geo- political zones where projects submitted by the committee were excluded.He said, We have two senators from each of the six geo-political zones in the country represented in the appropriation committee. So what were they doing when such viable projects from their constituencies were being removed and replaced with others?Some of the senators from the South-South geo-political zone, where the Lagos-Calabar rail is located, spoke off the record that they were not carried along in the removal of the project.However, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance, Senator John Enoh, confirmed to journalists on Monday that the project was included in the budget.He, however, said he would address a news conference on the issue on Tuesday (today).Meanwhile, the Senate spokesperson, Senator Sabi Abdullahi, defended the appropriation committee of both chambers, saying they did an excellent job that deserved commendation instead of condemnation from the executive.Abdullahi told journalists on Monday that the first major challenge that confronted the National Assembly was when different versions of the document found their ways into its chambers.He said, Those two versions, did they emanate from Nigerians or the National Assembly? They emanated from the executive; about three or thereabout from the budget office.At the end of the day, we came up with projects that will be of overall interest to Nigerians. If anything, I want to believe that the National Assembly has been magnanimous and patriotic in the way we approached and handled this 2016 budget.In a similar vein, the House of Representatives on Monday asked Buhari to return the 2016 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly with an explanatory note if he would not assent to the document.It said under the present circumstances, the formal procedure was for the President to forward the budget to the legislature with a covering note clearly stating why he would not sign so that both sides could resolve the differences in the financial bill.The House noted that by resorting to the media to state its case, the executive was creating the impression that the two arms of government were fighting, which was not the case.We are not fighting; we are on the same page with Mr. President on his change agenda.So far, there is nothing before us officially saying that Mr. President will not sign the budget. This is our position, the Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Abdulrazak Namdas, told reporters at the National Assembly in Abuja.Namdas also addressed the controversial Lagos-Calabar rail line, which was alleged to have been removed from the budget by the National Assembly.He claimed that contrary to the impression created in the public, the rail line was not in the corrected budget presented to the National Assembly by Buhari.Rather, Namdas said it was Amaechi, who approached the House Committee on Land Transport with the proposal after the National Assembly had taken the original document from Buhari.The lawmaker added that it was not the procedure of the National Assembly to receive budget estimates from ministers or any head of agency, but the President.Namdas spoke further, There is a smear campaign that we removed the rail project and replaced it with projects in the North, which is not correct.We could not have removed from the budget what was not there in the first place. What the minister did is what is called budget padding and we could not have worked with what the minister brought.So, the story that we are trying to frustrate Mr. President is not true.Investigations by The PUNCH indicated that many members of the House Committee on Appropriation had no knowledge of how Jibrin arrived at the details of the budget.A source said, The members were asked to stay back during the Easter break to work on the details of the budget.However, no meetings were called. We later got to hear that some consultants were hired to work on the details along with Jibrin.We heard that he later sent text messages to members and committee chairmen, informing them of the details and the need for them to accept them due to the exigencies of time.When contacted, the Leader of the Opposition in the House, Mr. Leo Ogor, said under Section 59 of the 1999 Constitution, Buhari could withhold assent and return the budget to the National Assembly if he found out that there were provisions alien to him.But Ogor noted that where the President made serious allegations over the content of the budget, the National Assembly would have to ask its Committee on Appropriation to explain how the changes were made.He added, I am reading this from the newspapers that there are some errors and there are some projects that he thinks are there and the funds have been removed.Much as the National Assembly has the power to do that, if the President can convince the National Assembly that the action is neither in favour of his economic policy nor will it be of benefit to the Nigerian people, then questions have to be asked.Who authorised those removals because we agreed collectively that the various committees should go and carry out those jobs?So, it is now left for the committees to explain why they removed those funds and I think it is the job of the committees to convince the House, which is the National Assembly, why they removed those funds.The Federal Ministry of Transportation, however, on Monday night said the National Assembly, particularly, the House of Representatives, lied by saying Amaechi tried to introduce the Lagos-Calabar rail line into the 2016 budget.According to the ministry, the rail line was in the original budget but was removed by the National Assembly.The Director, Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Mrs. Yetunde Sonaike, told one of our correspondents that the legislators removed the Lagos-Calabar rail project and increased the amount budgeted for the Lagos-Kano rail line.Sonaike stated, The proposal for the Lagos-Calabar rail line was in the original budget. I saw their claims in the newspapers and Im confirming to you that it is a lie.The (budget for) Lagos-Kano was N60bn, the Lagos-Calabar rail was also N60bn, but the National Assembly didnt look at the details and the permanent secretary, right there at the National Assembly, said they should look at it. That is why I said it was not the minister that later brought it.Lagos-Kano was N60bn; then the second was Lagos-Calabar, which will pass through a lot of cities in the South-West, South-East and the South-South. And this was in the first and original budget.In the proposal, it was N60bn for Lagos-Kano, but they added N32bn; and this brought the proposal for Lagos-Kano to N92bn. They carried the about N12.5bn to aviation for projects that we didnt budget for.(Punch)
President Muhammadu Buharis approval rating has slipped further from 32.8% in February to 31.2% in March, amid worsening economic cris...









President Muhammadu Buharis approval rating has slipped further from 32.8% in February to 31.2% in March, amid worsening economic crisis and crippling fuel scarcity, according to a new poll.





The monthly poll by Governance Advancement Initiative for Nigeria, GAIN, says more Nigerians again scored Mr. Buhari low on his administrations handling of the economy, power and fuel shortage.





It is the second time the presidents rating dropped since GAIN in December started monthly tracking of performance of governments at all levels in Nigeria.





In earlier months, the poll found that majority of respondents did not blame President Buhari for Nigerias economic troubles. They blamed former President Goodluck Jonathan instead.

In January, the presidents approval rating stood at 63.4%.





The trend however shifted significantly in February as the nations economic crisis bit harder.

In March, which is the latest result, the poll said more Nigerians continued to blame Mr. Buhari not Mr. Jonathan for the nations economic woes.





The falling rating was primarily due to petroleum scarcity, bad economy, power outage, and broken campaign promises, said the poll.





A crippling fuel scarcity continued to affect individuals and business across the country, and had a concomitant effect on transportation and business costs, said Malcolm Fabiyi, one of the polls coordinators, who previously served as a visiting professor at the Lagos Business School.





The president scored low on economy, power, and rule of law.





The poll also found that Nigerians voted the Agriculture Minister, Audu Agbeh, as best performing minister.





Ibeh Kachikwu, the Minister of State for Petroleum, who was voted best in February, slipped to third position, as a result of the fuel crisis, and his remarks that he was not a magician to end the scarcity.

The poll also reported lower rating for the Buhari administrations anti-corruption war, with Nigerians disappointed by slow pace of prosecution and lack of convictions. There were also increased concerns about abuse of rule of law in anti-corruption fight.





The March GAIN survey was administered using electronic media. Eight hundred and seventy six (876) complete responses were received. The survey results have a 95% confidence level and  4% margin of error, according to the coordinators.





Poll results





Key highlights





Performance rating for the Buhari government remains low at 31.2%

Top four reasons for Buhari governments low ratings in March are Petroleum scarcity (71%), Economy (68%), Power (64%) and broken campaign promises (57%)

Majority of Nigerians continue to hold Buhari responsible for the economy

Nigerian Army extends status as the most respected National Institution

Nigerian presidency is 3rd rated National institution, behind Army and EFCC

Audu Ogbeh (Agriculture) rated top performing minister; Fuel Scarcity and not a magician statement tanks Kachikwu in ratings

Anti-Corruption war drops below 50% as high priority area for the first time  Nigerians disappointed by slow pace of prosecution & lack of convictions

Concerns linger about abuse of rule of law in anti-corruption fight (38%)

85% express dissatisfaction with Governments handling of Fulani Herdsmen crisis

Summary





March was a very tough month for Nigerians, and a terrible one for the Buhari government. A crippling fuel scarcity continued to affect individuals and business across the country, and had a concomitant effect on transportation and business costs.





The power sector continued to struggle, and for a brief period in March, there was zero power generation from the public power system. The Minister of State for Petroleum reminded Nigerians that he was not a magician, triggering a firestorm of criticism within the ruling APC government and across Nigeria. As for the anticorruption war  March was another month of legal maneuverings in the courts, leaving Nigerians frustrated about the lack of results and convictions. All of these realities are reflected in the March polls.





Low Performance Ratings Become the New Normal for Buhari Government









As with previous polls, we provided respondents with a 5 point-scale response to this question. A positive performance rating in our terminology refers only to those respondents that reported either an Excellent or Good rating. A negative rating comprises of those individuals that reported a Poor or Very Poor rating.

High approval ratings  interpreted as the combination of Excellent (15.1%) and Good (16.1%) ratings declined slightly to 31.2% in March compared to 32.8% in the February poll. Overall, the number of Nigerians giving President Buhari approval ratings of Excellent (15.1%), Good (16.1%) or Average (13.4%) reduced from 50.4% in the February polls to 44.6% in March.



Low Approval Ratings Confirmed by Simple Yes/No Methodology









We introduced a new question in the March poll that solicited a simple Yes/No two-scale response from respondents on the overall performance of the Buhari government. Since we can safely assume that respondents who gave Excellent or Good ratings in the performance rating question would likely also answer Yes in terms of their overall approval of the government, this newly introduced question compels respondents who gave an Average rating in the 5 point scale performance rating question to select a single overall approval choice.

As would be expected, there was strong correspondence between the respondents who rated the performance of the Buhari government as Excellent, Good or Average on the five option performance rating question (44.6%) and those who gave a positive approval rating (47%) on the 2 scale, Yes/No job approval question.



Respondents & Buhari Voters Give Reasons for Low Approval of Buhari Government





In order to understand the major reasons for respondents disapproval of the Buhari government, we provided eight (8) of the most commonly expressed criticisms of the Buhari government to respondents. Respondents were required to select as many of the options as they believed to be relevant. The disapproval reasons covered topics such as broken campaign promises, perceptions of religious insensitivity, slow pace of progress in securing convictions in the anti-corruption war, availability of petroleum products, power supply, security, economy, sectional preferences, etc.

Respondents were offered the choice to indicate whether they had voted for President Buhari in the 2015 elections. The responses of those who voted for Buhari in 2015 were compared to the general respondent population. There was broad agreement between the responses from both groups, indicating that criticism of the performance of the Buhari government is not limited to opposition elements or those who did not vote for him in 2015.

Nigerians Speak  Reasons for Disapproval of Buhari Government

We allowed respondents to provide written comments on the reasons for their disapproval of the Buhari government. The themes expressed in the comments ranged from topics such as the slow pace of convictions in the anti-corruption war, Fulani herdsmen attacks, economic challenges, unemployment, to the perception that the Presidents travels are misplaced given the serious challenges facing the country. We must emphasize the point that several respondents reiterated their frustration with the pace of prosecution of the anti-corruption war, especially with the lack of convictions so far.

We generated a word cloud (see below) to capture the essence of respondents views. In a word cloud, the size of the letters in a word, is indicative of the frequency of occurrence of that word  and therefore provides a qualitative indication of its relative importance.









Security, Anticorruption, Power and the Economy remain the priority areas

Respondents were provided with a number of key segments and focus areas for the government and were required to provide a forced three tier ranking (High, Medium, Low) of their perceptions of the importance of each of the areas.

Under the High ranking response, security (Boko Haram Crisis) maintained its rating as the most important area of concern and/or interest by 54% of Nigerians. The top five (5) rated areas overall were Security (54%), Anti-Corruption (45%), Power (45%), Economy & Jobs (44%) and Education (41%). This was in line with previous polls.

For the first time since we began polling, anti-corruption fell below a High priority rating of 50%. Unless the Buhari government takes action to restore confidence in the anti-corruption war, by fast tracking the prosecution process, and most importantly starting to secure convictions, they stand the risk of seeing an erosion of support from Nigerians.

Anticorruption war maintains support, but concerns grow over abuse of rule of law





Support for the anti-corruption war remained at about 44%, in line with the February results (45%), and well off the high support of 76% in the January poll. There was a slight increase in the number of respondents expressing concern about the potential abuse of the rule of law from 35.3% in February to 38.4% in the March poll.

The number of Nigerians indicating that the anticorruption war targets the Presidents political enemies increased slightly from 34.4% in the February poll to 35.1% in March. A slightly smaller percentage of respondents (30.5%) indicated that they believed that the anticorruption war targeted mostly members of the opposition PDP in March, compared to 33.1% in the February poll.

We first observed a major shift in the levels for the anticorruption war starting with the February poll. We reported at the time that we were unsure about the driver(s) for the significant drop in support from 76% in the January poll to about 45%, in the February poll. Our results from the March poll clearly indicate that these lower-than-majority levels of support are a new normal.

Anticorruption and Security are the only bright spots for the Buhari Government

The government received low ratings from majority of respondents in seven of the nine areas surveyed. The worst ranked areas (Low ranking) were Availability of Petroleum Products (83%), Housing (76%), Economy & Jobs (74%), Power (72%), Transportation (69%), Healthcare (65%), and Education (63%).

Only two areas were above 50% in positive ratings when High and Medium ratings are combined, and these are Security (75%) and Anticorruption (67%).

Ratings Tumble for Government Performance in Availability of Petroleum Products and Power





Low ratings for availability of petroleum products increased by a staggering 46%, from 37% in the February poll, to 83% in the March poll. The second highest decline was for Power, which fell 13% from 59% low ratings in February to 72% low ratings in the March poll. The decline in both the petroleum and power sectors was not surprising. Power generation dropped to zero across the entire country for a brief period at the end of March. Crippling fuel scarcity leading to long lines at petrol stations and the payment of exorbitant fees for fuel bought from roadside vendors has become standard across cities in Nigeria.

Welcome to the New Normal  Majority continue to hold Buhari government completely responsible for the economy





In line with our previous observations, more respondents held the Buhari government completely responsible for the current state of the economy (41% in March vs 35% in February) compared to 31% who indicated that the past Jonathan government was to blame. This marks the second consecutive month where Nigerians have increasingly shifted responsibility for the economy to the Buhari government.

For those who might have thought that the February numbers were an aberration that resulted from the tough foreign exchange situation that characterized that period, the March poll confirms that we might be seeing a new normal  in which Nigerians will likely be less forgiving in their assessment of the performance of the Buhari government.

We note that many respondents believe that state and local governments also have significant responsibility for the poor state of the economy.

Majority Remain Troubled by the economy, optimism about the future stays low





A slight majority of Nigerians (51.9%) expressed concerns about the economy  a slight decrease from the February poll (55.3%). Optimism about the economy fell from 30.3% in the February poll to 24% in March. On every other metric, respondents views did not change significantly between the February and March polls. 19.4% of respondents indicated that they see encouraging signs for jobs and employment, while 36.5% are of the view that nothing is being done by the government to create jobs. Only 34.4% indicated that they feel positive about the future.

Kachikwu Falters in Ministerial Performance Ratings; Lai maintains second place; Audu Ogbeh assumes pole position





The performance ratings of the Ministers has barely broken the 50% positive rating barrier, since we commenced the GAIN monthly poll in December 2015. March was no different. Ibe Kachikwu, who had led the ratings for the last two months dropped to fourth place behind Audu Ogbeh (Agriculture), Lai Mohammed (Information) and Adebayo Shittu (Communication).

Kachikwus ratings troubles are obviously linked with the grueling fuel scarcity that has gripped Nigeria for the last month. Raji Fashola (Power) fell from 3rd in the February poll to 7th in March.

It is not clear to us what concrete achievements or developments in the month of March have raised the profile of the Agriculture ministry (Audu Ogbeh). There was a lot of talk in March about the governments employment and social welfare initiatives, which appear to be reliant on the agricultural sector for their successful rollout.

Nigerian Senate maintains dismal approval rating (12%); Army is the most respected national institution (53%)

As with our previous poll, Respondents were asked to rate the two (2) major political parties and ten (10) major governmental institutions, i.e., the Presidency, Senate, House of Representatives, Army, Police, Judiciary, the 3 anti-corruption organs  EFCC, ICPC and CCB and the Central Bank.

We consider only Very High and High ratings in determining the comparative rankings for the various institutions. The Nigerian Army retained its ranking as the most highly rated governmental institution, with 53% of respondents rating it as high or very high  an improvement over the 49.4% rating in February. The EFCC ranked second with 33% of respondents giving it high or very high ratings (compared to 33.7% in February). The Presidency ranked third with 29% ratings, slightly off the 32.4% ratings from the February poll.

The APC was the highest ranked political party, with 19% high approval ratings compared to the PDPs 5%. In future polls, we intend to introduce an additional question that will force respondents to give a Yes/No response on their overall approval of the various institutions.

Buhari Government Maintains High Scores for Handling of Boko Haram Crisis

The Buhari government continued to receive high ratings (very good and good ratings) for its handling of the Boko Haram crisis (72%). Ratings remain low on the governments handling of other conflicts like the Biafra agitation, Fulani Herdsmen crisis and Shiite  Military conflicts.

The governments successes on the Boko Haram front have come about as a result of concerted actions and clear policies aimed at routing the insurgency. We urge the government to take a similar coordinated, strategic and well-reasoned stance towards the other major security conflicts that currently plague Nigeria.

Majority Blast Buhari Governments Handling of Fulani Herdsmen attacks

Criticism of the handling of the Fulani herdsmen crisis by the Buhari government has grown consistently since we started tracking opinions on the matter. We remain disturbed that the government does not appear to have any long-term plans for resolving this crisis. In the March poll, 85% of respondents rated the governments handling of the Fulani herdsmen crisis as Poor or Very Poor. Urgent measures are required to address the Fulani herdsmen crisis. At the core of these conflicts is the question of year round access to grazing lands by the herdsmen. We believe there is opportunity in this crisis, to create long lasting agricultural policies that will lead to the modernization of animal husbandry practices in Nigeria.

Disaffection with Major Political Parties Grows

About 66% of respondents indicated that they did not belong to any political party. As with our previous polls, more respondents indicated that they were supporters of the APC (26.1%) compared to the PDP (8.1%).

Nigerians are mostly nonaligned political independents. The consistently large number of Nigerians that indicate non-alignment to any political party suggests there is a gap that neither of the major political parties is meeting. In future polls we will try to understand what Nigerians want to see in a political party that is not currently offered by the major incumbents.

Methodology & Disclosure

The rating of the performance of a government can be a very sensitive issue. We expect that our polling results, which we have run since December 2015, will come under increasing scrutiny as economic challenges, lingering fuel scarcity and persistent problems in the power sector emboldens once muted critical voices to speak out.

We have received many inquiries about our survey methodology, especially regarding the number of respondents that are sampled. This months methodology and disclosure section will therefore be longer than usual, as we seek to address some of the major questions about our methods. We will specifically address the question of the number of respondents that we aim for in our surveys, and go into some detail on our electronic media-enabled polling approach.

What number of respondents is needed for a valid national poll? This is perhaps the most important question that a pollster needs to answer, because it goes to the heart of the credibility of the results obtained from any polling effort. To answer this question, it will be necessary to understand more than just basic statistics. We will not attempt to provide a statistical tutorial, but we will provide some basic pointers that will provide readers with some insight about the statistical methods that underlie sample size determination.

What statistical principle allows Gallup  arguably the most respected polling agency in the World  to survey only 1,000 people, and based on that small sample, make robust projections on the outcomes of elections in a nation as vast and diverse as America with over 300 million citizens? Why can we (GAIN) confidently claim that the 876 Nigerians we polled in March can provide us with a 95% confidence level with a  4% margin of error?

There are five key variables that are critical to any polling exercise, these being  confidence level, margin of error, sample size, population and percentage. The first four are clearly determinable. A pollster can specify the target confidence level (usually 95%) for a polling study. The margin of error can also be specified, or determined once there is a respondent sample. Similarly, the population is usually known e.g., we typically use a population of 170 million persons for calculating our Nigeria focused survey statistics (the discerning reader will recognize that Nigeria does not have 170 million people who are of voting age, or who are old enough to provide feedback on the performance of any government. Using the national population is a conservative estimate that forces pollsters to use a higher sample size). However, in order to obtain the sample size, we must specify a value known as the percentage. The percentage is simply an estimation of the proportion of our sample that will give a particular answer. Statisticians generally use a value of 50%  which is the worst-case scenario  for this variable. Here is the intuition: if majority of the respondents to a question give a particular answer, e.g., 99% answer Yes and 1% answer No, the margin of error is likely to be low because there is a significant level of differentiation between those who have responded Yes or No, since 99% is very different from 1%. However, if 51% answer, Yes and 49% answer No, to the same question, the margin of error is going to be higher, because the separation or differentiation between the responses is small. By selecting a percentage of 50%, pollsters guarantee that the margin of error calculated for their sample will be high. It is a conservative assumption, which necessarily imposes the need for a larger sample size to meet a given confidence interval. The discerning reader will notice that the consistent theme in polling is conservatism.

The usefulness of a well-structured survey is dependent on its confidence interval (confidence level  margin of error). Three factors affect the confidence interval: (i) sample size (ii) population and (iii) percentage. Pollsters generally start from one of two basis  firstly, they can determine what confidence interval (CI) to aim for, and then calculate the required sample size to meet that CI, or the Pollster can work with whatever sample population they have, and then back out what the implied CI is from that given population.

We are unable to go into the extensive statistical basis that underlie the calculations used for estimating sample sizes or determining confidence intervals. However, we will provide two websites for readers interested in getting some more fundamental understanding of the details, to visit in order to learn more about the subtleties of the statistics that underlies polling. The first website provides a decent overview of the basic mathematics that underlie the statistical approach used for the determination of polling and survey sample sizes . The second website provides access to a simple online tool that can be used to estimate sample sizes, or to determine the confidence interval specified by a given sample population .

One fundamental requirement in any polling study is for the sample population to be random. Responses should be solicited from platforms that do not systemically exclude specific voices or opinions. As a result, we do not solicit responses on Newspaper opinion sites. We carried out extensive studies on several electronic media platforms before settling on the use of agnostic, relatively ideology free and politically sterile social media sites like Facebook, as platforms from which the core of our respondents are obtained. We use platforms that are utilized extensively by Nigerians of all religious, ethnic and political persuasions and demographics (economic class, gender, etc.). We also aim for sites where we can selectively target large numbers of Nigerians. On Facebook for instance, our March survey solicitations were sent to 765,000 voting age Nigerians (18+ years, male or female, domiciled in Nigeria). About 25,000 clicked on the GAIN poll adverts, and a smaller subset of 786 respondents completed the survey. The balance of our respondents come from other means  email solicitations, twitter, etc. We balance sources so that we can also compare responses across different solicitation platforms.

We recognize that the exclusive use of social media in polling is fraught with limitations. We have spent the last two years developing and perfecting our approach. As with any poll, ours has its limitations. Being exclusively online, it systematically excludes the poorest Nigerians who have little to no access to the internet or to web enabled phones. Unlike phone calls or in-person surveys where the presence of a pollster can facilitate the process, even when the respondent might not be motivated to respond, an online poll requires motivated respondents who are ready and willing to complete the survey questionnaire. We stand by the validity of our methodology and approach. Our polls are self-funded, and we go through the cost and the efforts, because we believe that data is essential for good governance.

Using our electronic media-based survey approach we were able to successfully predict President Buharis historic victory and the sweep of the National Assembly polls by the APC in 2015. Many other platforms got it wrong. As scientists and intellectuals, we are careful about the ideas and projects that our names are associated with. In the extensive tests that we have carried out over the last two years, we have come to the reasoned conclusion that carefully selected electronic media present a robust platform for conducting well-crafted opinion surveys. We encourage other Nigerians  individuals, NGOs, and organizations  to carry out their own surveys and polls. The more polls and surveys that are available in Nigeria, the greater will be the opportunities for cross comparison of methods and outcomes. This is how progress can be made.





Culled from PremiumTimes
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on April 11, 2016 presented more witnesses in the ongoing trial of a former governor of Jiga...

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on April 11, 2016 presented more witnesses in the ongoing trial of a former governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, his two sons, Aminu and Mustapha, and two others before Justice Adeniyi Ademola of a Federal High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja.They are being prosecuted on a 27 counts bordering on the abuse of office and money laundering.Prosecution witness, Micheal Wetkas, an operative of the EFCC, who testified as PW18, said Lamido, his sons, and cohorts received kickbacks.He told the court that investigations into the alleged fraud started in 2007 through to 2015.He said, We discovered that Dantata and Sawoe Construction Company, which executed over 21 contracts (for the Jigawa State Government) totalling almost N30bn, had paid over N1bn into the accounts of Speeds International Limited and Bamaina Holding Company  both accounts whose sole signatory is Alhaji Sule Lamido.The witness added that N100m was paid into the bank account of Speeds International Limited, believed to be owned by Mustapha, a son of the ex-governor.The money was paid under the pretext that it was meant for the payment of a subcontractor.Wetkas added, Investigations also revealed that about N100m of third party cheques were cleared into the Access Bank Account of Speeds International Limited, where Mustapha Sule Lamido is a signatory.These revelations resulted in the invitation of the Managing Director of Dantata and Sawoe Construction Company, one Mr. Udo, to the commission, where Udo claimed that the monies paid were for sub-contracts awarded by Dantata and Sawoe Construction Company to the defendants companies for supplies of bitumen, diesel and steel iron rods  construction consumables used by the company.A close inspection of Dantata and Sawoes electronic records, physical books, financial statements, consumable journals, and waybills by the investigators and the forensic team revealed discrepancies which could not be explained.
This month has been a great month for the HKN boss who only last week became best friends with his former rival Wizkid. He followed that feat by signing on two new artistes to his label.In the early hours of today he informed the world about his third house which is being constructed as we speak,To top it all Davido a few hours ago took to instagram to inform his fans of his new ambassadorial deal with Pepsi Nigeria.The artiste signed a two years deal with the brand which already has celebrities like Wizkid, Seyi Shay, and Tiwa Savage as brand ambassadors.We guess its okay to say to an extent his new found friendship with Wizkid in a way must have propelled Pepsi to sign him.See his posts below
The secretary to the then House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy, Mr. Boniface Emenalo, said on Tuesday, that he col...

Emenalo was testifying before Justice Angela Otakula of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Lugbe, Abuja, as the first prosecution witness in Lawans ongoing trial for recieving bribe from Otedola in the discharge of the ad hoc committees duties in 2012.The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission is prosecuting Lawan for allegedly corruptly collecting $500,000 out of the $3m bribe he requested from Otedola.Lawan was accused of accepting the bribe in exchange for the removal of Otedolas companys name, Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd from the list of firms indicted by the House committee for allegedly abusing the fuel subsidy regime in 2012.Emenalo was formerly Lawans co-accused before the prosecution amended the charges and turned him into a prosecution witness.He had earlier testified on March 7, 2016, narrating how he collected the $100,000 from Otedola in $100 bills.On Tuesday, under cross-examination by Lawans lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), supported by Mr. Olalekan Ojo and others, the witness denied some of the allegations leveled against Lawan by the prosecution, for which he was testifying.Fielding questions from Ozekhome, the witness said he collected the $100,000 from Otedola as exhibit to prove the businessmans move to bribe members of the committee.He said on Otedelas invitations, he met with the businesman on Sunday, April 22, 2012 and on Tuesday April 24, 2012 at his home in Aso Drive, Maitama, Abuja.According to him, during his first meeting with Otedola, they had discussions on issues including the work of the committee and areas he (Otedola) could make suggestions.He denied recieving $20,000 bribe from Otedola during their first meeting.But he confirmed that it was during the second meeting that Otedola gave gave him the $100,000 which he said he handed over to Lawan as exhibit.Justice Angela Otakula then adjourned till Wednesday for the prosecution to call its second witness.
South African President, Jacob Zuma, celebrated his 74th birthday on Tuesday, amid growing calls for his resignation, mostly from the oppo...

South African President, Jacob Zuma, celebrated his 74th birthday on Tuesday, amid growing calls for his resignation, mostly from the opposition.My birthday wish is to see South Africa increasingly becoming a better place for all, Zuma said in a message to the nation.Presidential spokesperson, Bongani Majola, said that Zuma would spend the day with his family in Pretoria.The president is embroiled in a series of scandals, notably improper state spending on his rural home and the Gupta business familys alleged undue influence over his government.South Africas top court in late March ruled that Zuma violated the constitution by ignoring orders from an anti-corruption body for him to repay public money improperly used during security upgrades at his private home in Nkandla.The opposition has failed in a bid to impeach Zuma in parliament following the ruling.It has also accused Zuma of his links with the Indian-South African Gupta family after some sitting and former officials alleged the Guptas offered them ministerial posts.
Justice Abdukadir Abdu-Kafarati of a Federal High Court in Abuja has rescinded his decision to hold back his judgment in a fundamental r...

Justice Abdukadir Abdu-Kafarati of a Federal High Court in Abuja has rescinded his decision to hold back his judgment in a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, to challenge the validity of his trial before the Code of Conduct Tribunal in Abuja.It was learnt on Tuesday that the judge has decided to deliver the judgment on Friday.Justice Abdukadir Abdu-Kafarati announced his withdrawal from the case in the open court on March 22, 2016, when judgment in the suit was to be delivered.The development followed reports on Sahara Reporters and another online platform, Naij.com, accusing the judge of having been compromised by Saraki with N2bn bribe.Justice Abdu-Kafarati, while withdrawing from the case, said his integrity had been maligned by the reports and the honourable thing for him to do was to disqualify himself from the case.The judge, who quoted copiously the online reports, said he had been caught between two devils, as his decisions to either rule in favour or against Saraki would result into wrong interpretation by the reading public.Sarakis lawyer, Mr. Ajibola Oluyede, had subsequently petitioned the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta, asking him (the Chief Judge) to persuade Justice Abdu-Kafarati to go ahead to deliver the prepared judgment.It was however gathered on Tuesday that Justice Auta had acceded to Sarakis request and directed the judge to proceed to deliver his judgement.It was learnt that Justice Autas decision was hinged on the fact that none of the parties in the suit complained about the conduct of the judge.Justice Auta was also said to have held the opinion that the judge could not disqualify himself from further handling the case based on mere allegations made in the media.Our correspondent confirmed on Tuesday that parties to the suit had been notified of the new date for judgment.Justice Abdul-Kafarati had on March 1, heard and fixed March 22 for judgment in Sarakis case.
Inspector Festus, aka Ijaya, has been summoned after a suspected robber identified as Akeem Popoola, claimed he worked for the police offi...

Inspector Festus, aka Ijaya, has been summoned after a suspected robber identified as Akeem Popoola, claimed he worked for the police officer.This is just as the command confirmed that the inspectors full name is Festus Omotosho, adding that investigation had commenced into the allegation raised against him by the suspect.Owoseni said Ijaya, who is attached to the commands Special Anti-Robbery Squad, would be sanctioned accordingly if found culpable of the allegation.The 21-year-old suspect, who was arrested for burglary and robbery by the Agbado Police Division l, Ogun State, had told our correspondent that Ijaya in company with two others  Abbey and Aluko  would handcuff him after selling the phones and take him to the buyers.He said the inspector would accuse the buyers of buying stolen property and demand a bribe of between N120,000 and N150,000 if they did not want to be charged with buying stolen property. He added that he got a N5,000 share for each successful deal.He had said, In November 2015, one of my fathers tenants and I fought. When my daddy came back home on that day, she reported me to him and he handed me over to Inspector Festus at the state police command headquarters, Ikeja. He told him I was too troublesome and wanted him to discipline me. But he (Ijaya) did not. He took me to a beer parlour at Alakuko and gave me N5,000. I was very surprised.Two days after, we met at another beer parlour around Agbado, where I was made to swear an oath. He brought out a gun and put some gin inside the barrel. He drank from it and gave me the gun to do same. He said he would be sending me on some errands. He gave me a mobile phone and drove me in his Toyota Camry to POWA complex in Ikeja.He told me to sell the phone inside the complex which I did for N20,000. After an hour, he handcuffed me and took me in his car with his boys  Abbey and Aluko  to the man that bought the phone. He arrested the man and told him to pay N200,000 if he did not want to be taken to the station. The man raised N150,000 among his friends in that complex and gave him.When we left there, he removed the handcuffs and gave me N5,000 and we departed.The suspects father, Ahmed Popoola, who confirmed that his son was a thief, said he had taken him to Ijaya so he could turn a new leaf.The spokesperson for the Lagos Police Command, SP Dolapo Badmos, also said on Monday, that the CP had summoned Ijaya.She added that the force would prosecute the inspector if he was found complicit in the crime.She said, Our officers are not identified by alias. The officer, Inspector Festus Omotosho, has been summoned by the CP and investigation has commenced into the issue as raised by the report. Be assured that if he is in any way culpable, the command will sanction him; and if it is evident that he has perpetrated any criminality, the leadership of the force will ensure that he is prosecuted.
If my memory serves me right, the above title is taken from a poem I had studied for secondary school leaving examination 36 years ago. Th...

If my memory serves me right, the above title is taken from a poem I had studied for secondary school leaving examination 36 years ago. The poem was written by the Ghanaian, Kwesi Brew.Why is the title of the poem relevant now? It came to mind as we were about to land in Muscat, Oman, Monday morning, on the way to China, where President Muhammadu Buhari is to pay a weeklong state visit. We had flown seven hours from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, and it was time to refuel and refresh in Oman. Time was 5.15 a.m (2.15 a.m Nigerian time).As the Nigerian Air Force 001 made a descent into Muscat, I looked out through the window. The city was bathed in dazzling, incandescent light from corner to corner. As far as the eye could see, there was no darkness anywhere. I shook my head.As if clairvoyant, and reading my mind, Sarki Kalu Abba, a Senior Special Assistant to the President, who sat next to me said:"See light everywhere. No place is in darkness."And that was the sheer truth. Muscat was awash with almost blinding light from all angles. And I remembered Nigeria with less than 3,000 Megawatts of electricity, barely enough to power two states, not to talk of 36. And as government works hard to turn the situation around, somebody then goes to sabotage the installation, blowing up pipelines that supply gas for power generation and distribution. And for many months, we remain at Ground Zero."Lest we should be the last," I muttered. "If we are not careful, the rest of the world would leave us behind. We would be grappling to generate and distribute 10,000 Megawatts of electricity by 2019, and some people would be throwing spanner in the works, while the rest of the world would have moved on. Lest we should be the last.When we had taken off from Abuja, President Buhari, Sarki, and myself, who sat together, had reviewed the fuel supply situation. It had been hectic for about two weeks, and Nigerians had virtually seen hell. A very sorry spectacle. Things were getting better gradually, but Sarki shared an online report with us, which indicated that not less than 50 tankers of petrol had been taken out of the country into Benin Republic that day. Sad, dolorous information. It was not Beninoise people who drove those tankers out. They were Nigerians! Yet their counterparts groaned under acute fuel scarcity. Some security agents must have connived with those tanker drivers! Lest we should be the last.During the flight, I was reading a book on Fela Anikulapo-Kuti written by journalist and activist, Richard Akinnola. The title is 'Judge Don Beg Me.' It chronicles the odyssey of the maverick musician with the law. It's a hilarious book, but something struck me from Fela's language. It was straight from the sewer. He used four letter words freely, and was simply at home with what would make some other people recoil in horror. And I remembered the Good Book: "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." There are some words we should never be caught dead using. But for some people, the dirtier, the rougher, the more from the sewage, then the better. Fela's father was an educationist and cleric. How did he become so embarassingly foul in his language? Well, that was just a digression, and food for thought for those that care to ponder on it.After an hour in Oman, we took off to complete the journey to Beijing. It took another six hours and thirty- five minutes, making the entire flying time about 14 hours. By 5.35 p.m (10.35 a.m Nigerian time) Beijing opened its arms like an expectant lover, to welcome us. We walked into the embrace.Tomorrow Tuesday April 12, there will be the official opening ceremony of Business Forum of China/Nigeria Production Capacity Cooperation. And then we will visit a place called the Forbidden City. Rest assured, however, that in Forbidden City, we would not eat any forbidden apple.Keep a date.
A Divisional Police Officer in charge of Ikenne Division of Ogun State, Mr. Patrick Onwu, yesterday, went wild and beat a female traffic o...

A Divisional Police Officer in charge of Ikenne Division of Ogun State, Mr. Patrick Onwu, yesterday, went wild and beat a female traffic officer to coma for allegedly stopping his private vehicle.The DPO, who was on mufti while he allegedly disobeyed the traffic law, was said to have driven into a nearby filling station, parked and changed into a police uniform.He allegedly pounced on the traffic warden, Inspector Anifat Bello, who was discharging her official duty, at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, NNPC, junction, on IBB Boulevard way.It was learnt that Anifat Bello have been severally honoured for her dedication to duty.When the Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, he confirmed the incident and said the Commissioner of Police, CP, was unhappy about the incident and had directed that the matter be thoroughly investigated.The woman traffic officer has reported the matter to the CP and he has directed that the matter be thoroughly investigated. The CP was not happy when the woman came with a swollen face. If the allegation is true, I am very sure the CP will know what to do, he said.
The Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has called on the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi not...

Presidency officials, yesterday, however, affirmed that the rail project was in the budget but removed by the committees of Appropriation in the Senate and the House of Representatives.The Rivers PDP, in a statement on Tuesday, by its Chairman, Bro. Felix Obuah, hinged its position on the high regard the All Progressives Congress, APC led federal government has for Amaechi as an indispensable asset and his taunted closeness to the Presidency. Obuah wondered why a mere controversy over a ministrys budget that is an infinitesimal part of the 2016 budget proposal should warrant the call for Amaechis resignation by the members of the National Assembly.Obuah said: We believe its rather too early to begin to quarrel with Rotimi Amaechi or call for his resignation when he is yet to fix the Nigeria he promised would be changed by his new found love, the almighty APC in matter of months.Again, Amaechi remains our beloved son who said he single-handedly sponsored and made His Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari, President and he is yet to recoup the billions of Rivers money he invested into the project. Amaechi also said he planned to construct the controversial Lagos-Calabar rail line modernization project to empower the APC members in the South-South. This lofty dream will not be actualized if he resigns now.The Rivers PDP boss, who said he was not surprised by Amaechis character, however, stated that rather than requesting for Amaechis apology or resignation, members of the legislative arm should use their differences, claims and counter claims to reflect on the kind of persons that are considered for sensitive offices and, or positions of trust. According to Bro. Obuah, though the National Assembly members may feel hurt by Amaechis ingratitude after it had accepted to deliberate over the later included supplementary budget which he later went public to claim was contained in the original budget proposal, thereby portraying the federal lawmakers as partial and discriminatory, the main reason for Amaechis mischief was to create the impression that he has the interest of the South/South people at heart which is a fallacy. Obuah said I am happy that Amaechi has carried his antics of setting brother against brother to the very Senate that screened and confirmed his ministerial appointment.I want the lawmakers to use same to reflect on all the submissions by not only the PDP, but also the people, the civil society and concerned citizens etc, before they went on to confirm his (Amaechi) appointment despite several allegations of corruption and breaches of the Rule of law by Amaechi. This is the kind of falsehood, mischief and misrepresentation we have been contending with, from Chibuike Amaechi which his allies and the All Progressives Congress, APC have continued to deny and good a thing, he is now exhibiting same character to his appointees and this is just the beginning. Continuing, he said: The issue is not whether or not Amaechi should resign as a minister or tender apology to the National Assembly, but this should serve as an eye opener and a pointer to the crisis he (Amaechi) instigated in Rivers State that brought about the panel of inquiry that indicted him of a myriad of alleged corrupt practices and fraudulent engagements while he served as governor in Rivers State for eight solid years.We have said it times without number that Amaechi cannot change his true colour under President Buhari and must remain a cog in the wheel of progress. His early resignation will hardly free the APC members and the unrepentant Amaechi apologists from the world of theories which is not good for the country. The taste of the pudding they say, is in the eating, while experience remains the best teacher. Please let Amaechi be! the statement added.
According to popular Ghanaian media house, yen.com.gh, the popular Lagos based prophet has asked members of his Church to pray against pla...

According to popular Ghanaian media house, yen.com.gh, the popular Lagos based prophet has asked members of his Church to pray against planned foreign attacks on Nigeria and Ghana.I am seeing Thursday, Friday, Saturday if I may say Thursday  because these evil people they are very funny. Anything can just happen. You will be very shocked to see what will happen, because when the prayer is going in this direction they [attackers] change to [another] direction.''I see Thursday, Friday. Pray for these two nations  Nigeria and Ghana  over gathering in any way; over attack. I am seeing attack and that will be in a foreign way. The attack will come not in a local way. So please open your lips and pray for these two nations for protection he told congregants.
Wolfsburg sporting director Klaus Allofs has declared that the club will need to "cope with odd decisions" in their Champions League clash against Real Madrid on Tuesday.Bundesliga side Wolfsburg go into the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinal at Real Madrid with a 2-0 lead from the first leg at the Volkswagen Arena last Wednesday.The Spanish giants have already predicted a memorable comeback at the Bernabeu, with Cristiano Ronaldo telling AS on Monday that it will "be a magical night" with the Portugal international asking the Madrid supporters to create a special atmosphere.He said: "With your help the players will give the maximum on the pitch and we will go through to the next round. Hala Madrid!"There are, however, fears in the Wolfsburg camp that not only the stadium and the Real players will play a part in the Champions League clash, but also that Hungarian referee Viktor Kassai, 40, could be influenced by the intensified atmosphere."We need to be wide awake. We need to get everything right," Allofs was quoted by German tabloid Bild. "We need to cope with odd decisions."He added: "Things will happen you don't really expect yet. Take pot luck. Real are favourites. Also for the return leg. Even a 3-0 or a 4-0 [from the first leg] would not allow us to rest."
Award ceremony speech

Presentation Speech by Karl Ragnar Gierow, of the Swedish Academy

(Translation)

Your Majesty, Your Royal Highnesses, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Mix a powerful imagination with a logic in absurdum, and the result will be either a paradox or an Irishman. If it is an Irishman, you will get the paradox into the bargain. Even the Nobel Prize in Literature is sometimes divided. Paradoxically, this has happened in 1969, a single award being addressed to one man, two languages and a third nation, itself divided.

Samuel Beckett was born near Dublin in 1906. As a renowned author he entered the world almost half a century later in Paris when, in the space of three years, five works were published that immediately brought him into the centre of interest: the novel Molloy in 1951; its sequel, Malone Meurt, in the same year; the play, En Attendant Godot in 1952; and in the following year the two novels, Llnnommable, which concluded the cycle about Molloy and Malone, and Watt.

These dates simply record a sudden appearance. The five works were not new at the time of publication, nor were they written in the order in which they appeared. They had their background in the current situation as well as in Becketts previous development. The true nature of Murphy , a novel from 1938, and the studies of Joyce (1929) and Proust (1931), which illuminate his own initial position, is perhaps most clearly seen in the light of Becketts subsequent production. For while he has pioneered new modes of expression in fiction and on the stage, Beckett is also allied to tradition, being closely linked not only to Joyce and Proust but to Kafka as well, and the dramatic works from his debut have a heritage from French works of the 1890s and Alfred Jarrys Ubu Roi.

In several respects, the novel Watt marks a change of phase in this remarkable output. Written in 1942-44 in the South of France  whence Beckett fled from the Nazis, having lived for a long time in Paris  it was to be his last work in English for many years; he made his name in French and did not return to his native tongue for about fifteen years. The world around had also changed when Beckett came to write again after Watt. All the other works which made his name were written in the period 1945-49. The Second World War is their foundation; it was after this that his authorship achieved maturity and a message. But these works are not about the war itself, about life at the front, or in the French resistance movement (in which Beckett took an active part), but about what happened afterwards, when peace came and the curtain was rent from the unholiest of unholies to reveal the terrifying spectacle of the lengths to which man can go in inhuman degradation  whether ordered or driven by himself  and how much of such degradation man can survive. In this sense the degradation of humanity is a recurrent theme in Becketts writing and to this extent, his philosophy, simply accentuated by elements of the grotesque and of tragic farce, can be described as a negativism that cannot desist from descending to the depths. To the depths it must go because it is only there that pessimistic thought and poetry can work their miracles. What does one get when a negative is printed? A positive, a clarification, with black proving to be the light of day, the parts in deepest shade those which reflect the light source. Its name is fellow-feeling, charity. There are precedents besides the accumulation of abominations in Greek tragedy which led Aristotle to the doctrine of catharsis, purification through horror. Mankind has drawn more strength from Schopenhauers bitter well than from Schellings beatific springs, has been more blessed by Pascals agonized doubt than by Leibnizs blind rational trust in the best of all possible worlds has reaped  in the field of Irish literature, which has also fed Becketts writing  a much leaner harvest from the whitewashed clerical pastoral of Oliver Goldsmith than from Dean Swifts vehement denigration of all humankind.

Part of the essence of Becketts outlook is to be found here  in the difference between an easily-acquired pessimism that rests content with untroubled scepticism, and a pessimism that is dearly bought and which penetrates to mankinds utter destitution. The former commences and concludes with the concept that nothing is really of any value, the latter is based on exactly the opposite outlook. For what is worthless cannot be degraded. The perception of human degradation  which we have witnessed, perhaps, to a greater extent than any previous generation  is not possible if human values are denied. But the experience becomes all the more painful as the recognition of human dignity deepens. This is the source of inner cleansing, the life force nevertheless, in Becketts pessimism. It houses a love of mankind that grows in understanding as it plumbs further into the depths of abhorrence, a despair that has to reach the utmost bounds of suffering to discover that compassion has no bounds. From that position, in the realms of annihilation, rises the writing of Samuel Beckett like a miserere from all mankind, its muffled minor key sounding liberation to the oppressed, and comfort to those in need.

This seems to be stated most clearly in the two masterpieces, Waiting for Godot and Happy Days, each of which, in a way, is a development of a biblical text. In the case of Godot we have, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? The two tramps are confronted with the meaninglessness of existence at its most brutal. It may be a human figure; no laws are as cruel as those of creation and mans peculiar status in creation comes from being the only creature to apply these laws with deliberately evil intent. But if we conceive of a providence  a source even of the immeasurable suffering inflicted by, and on, mankind  what sort of almighty is it that we  like the tramps  are to meet somewhere, some day? Becketts answer consists of the title of the play. By the end of the performance, as at the end of our own, we know nothing about this Godot. At the final curtain we have no intimation of the force whose progress we have witnessed. But we do know one thing, of which all the horror of this experience cannot deprive us: namely, our waiting. This is mans metaphysical predicament of perpetual, uncertain expectation, captured with true poetic simplicity: En attendant Godot, Waiting for Godot.

The text for Happy Days  a voice crying in the wilderness  is more concerned with the predicament of man on earth, of our relationships with one another. In his exposition Beckett has much to say about our capacity for entertaining untroubled illusions in a wilderness void of hope. But this is not the theme. The action simply concerns how isolation, how the sand rises higher and higher until the individual is completely buried in loneliness. Out of the suffocating silence, however, there still rises the head, the voice crying in the wilderness, mans indomitable need to seek out his fellow men right to the end, speak to his peers and find in companionship his solace.

LAcademie Suedoise regrette que Samuel Beckett ne soit pas parmi nous aujourdhui. Cependant il a choisi pour le representer lhomme qui le premier a decouvert limportance de loeuvre maintenant recompensee, son editeur a Paris, M. Jerome Lindon, et je vous prie, cher Monsieur, de vouloir bien recevoir de la main de Sa Majeste le Roi le Prix Nobel de litterature, decerne par lAcademie a Samuel Beckett.

From Les Prix Nobel en 1969, Editor Wilhelm Odelberg, [Nobel Foundation], Stockholm, 1970

Copyright  The Nobel Foundation 1969

To cite this section

MLA style: Award ceremony speech. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2022. Sun. 23 Oct 2022. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1969/ceremony-speech/>
Former Six Flags park in New Orleans East to be appraised
See one vision for former Six Flags property: 'Festival Park Spirit of Louisiana'
Gentilly shooting victim was trying to visit friend who was recently shot
Why a missing number means Lakeview streets could cost more, take longer to repair
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.
Welcome to non league daily news now - your number one spot for all things relating to the National League System. Our dedicated reporters have come straight from the sidelines to bring you news fresh from the dugout - but not before theyve stopped off at the burger van first!

We know that non league football fans are full of heart, passion, and belief. You trust the manager, you believe in the team, and, for some strange reason, you trust those rickety stands, too! Here at Non League Daily, we hope we can become your trusted non league news resource - a platform thats just as passionate about non league daily news now as you.

Come rain or shine, well be out reporting on the latest non league fixtures. Well also be scouring the news, refreshing social media, and sourcing information from team websites in the hopes of finding the latest breaking non league daily news for our readers.

As youll soon see, weve got exclusive match reports on the Vanarama National League, weve got transfer speculation thatll affect the National League South, weve found great stories thatll spice up the National League North, and weve even got news on the latest giant killers of the FA Cup.

We may not be able to agree on who is going up this year, but we can all agree that any news on the NLS worth knowing will be published here, at Non League Daily.
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EVANSTON, Ill. --- Students in the inaugural class of Northwestern Universitys innovative college prep program for Chicago students will tour top-tier universities over spring break, a significant milestone in their journey to higher education.

As part of Northwestern Academy for Chicago Public Schools' first trip to research colleges, the high school juniors -- some joined by their parents -- will depart from Chicago April 17; one group will head to schools in Pennsylvania, while the other will tour top Midwest schools. A third group will explore college campuses this summer.

The students are all first-generation college-bound, come from a low-income family or are part of a group traditionally underrepresented in higher education. These are the highly motivated teenagers who qualified for, but arent enrolled in, selective enrollment high schools.

The Academys goal is to provide rigorous college-prep work and personal enrichment at no cost to ambitious students who may need a boost to enroll in selective four-year colleges. Launched in 2013 by Northwesterns School of Education and Social Policy, the partnership with Chicago Public Schools involves year-round tutoring, leadership training, confidence building, counseling, family workshops and field trips to cultural institutions such as the Steppenwolf Theatre and The Adler Planetarium.

A firsthand look at what colleges have to offer is sure to inspire them even more, said Northwestern Academy Director Cassandra Geiger. Its an essential part of their college process and in making decisions about future goals.

Now in its third year, the Academy has two classes of students for a total enrollment of 129. The new freshman class is being selected, and the Academy will be running at full capacity in the summer of 2016.

Eighty-four percent of the new students are first-generation, college-bound, and 97 percent come from low-income households. All the students are academically high-achieving and motivated to pursue rigorous course work, Geiger said.

The support extends well beyond academic advising and tutoring in math, chemistry and physics. The students also work on developing leadership and social skills and are exposed to cultural and civic programs.

During the last two years, in weekend and summer sessions held at Northwesterns School of Law on the Chicago campus, the students worked on improvisational skills, critical thinking, writing, speaking and presentation. They explored Chicagos cultural gems, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Field Museum, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and the Steppenwolf Theatre. And they have attended events on Northwestern's Evanston campus and Chicago Humanities Festival sessions.

We stress exposure and exploration, trying to offer enriching experiences they might not have access to at home or at school, Geiger said.

Northwestern Academy, which costs an estimated $5,000 to $6,000 per student per year to operate, is free for the students. The program is funded by Northwestern and donations.

Prior to the college visits, the Academy students received a behind-the-scenes tour of Northwestern University, which included attending TEDxNorthwesternU sessions with the student group Promote 360 and eating lunch in the dining hall with undergraduates.

Northwestern is one of several top-caliber schools providing college access support. Northwesterns program is unusual in that we have group-based assignments which allows us to service more students and provide an individualized experience, Geiger said.

Students traveling on the Midwest bus will visit 10 different schools, including Earlham College, Kenyon College, Oberlin College and the University of Notre Dame. The 10 Pennsylvania schools include Lafayette College, Haverford College, Muhlenberg College and the University of Pennsylvania.

"We are excited to be able to give our Northwestern Academy rising seniors the opportunity to visit excellent colleges and universities so that they can get a taste of life on different college campuses, said Penelope Peterson, Dean of Northwesterns School of Education and Social Policy.
This writer has no quarrel with wind farm turbines; in fact, I am a proponent of clean energy. But how can any rational person ignore the conflict of interest issue surrounding Nebraska Sen. Ken Schilzs association with Bluestem Energy Solutions, an Omaha-based renewable energy company. (North Platte Telegraph, April 5, Potential conflict for state senator). Schilz became a contractor with this company last year and is paid $1,500 for each wind turbine project that makes it to the analysis stage, and $3,000 per megawatt hour generated if the wind farm gets built. What a deal, an insider gets to peddle his product to his own company.

Schilz will likely meet little resistance since Nebraska laws are lax and he voluntarily disclosed his interests to the accountability and disclosure committee. We dont have very strong laws that cover conflicts of interest was certainly a monumental statement made by the chairman of Nebraska Common Cause, a group that advocates for open government.

Meanwhile, Schilz has sponsored wind friendly bills, both of which failed to make it out of committee.

Fortunately for him, John McCollister, an Omaha senator, has amended one of the bills that proposes to remove state regulations that make Nebraska less competitive for wind farms. Schilz supports this amendment because its good policy and would help rural areas with economic development  translation: give me the money and keep it coming.

Term limited, Schilz was asked if he might return to the rotunda as a lobbyist for wind farms. His evasive answer was that he presents and explains potential projects to local elected officials. Add a little wining and dining to that and you have, pretty much, a lobbyist.

While in office, this writer often criticized Schilz for representing special interest groups, being short-sighted and self-serving, and lacking compassion in his legislative voting. For example, in spite of the compelling testimony, clear evidence and even an Omaha World Herald endorsement, Schilz voted against Medicaid expansion for four consecutive years. Even broad public support and the knowledge that hundreds of Nebraskans from the 90,000-plus eligible for medical insurance would die for lack of preventative care did not convince him of the need.

Indeed, it is a sad testimonial when a public servant will apparently use his position for private gain, yet ignore the needs of his poor, hard-working constituents and other residents of the state.

Ron Holscher

Ogallala
Luke Lewis has taken an early guilty plea to his shoulder charge and will miss his side's Round 7 match, while Greg Bird will head to the NRL judiciary on Wednesday night to dispute the grading of his careless high tackle.

Bird will be free to play in Round 7 if he is successful at the NRL judiciary.

Elsewhere Dragons five-eighth Gareth Widdop (tripping), Canberra forwards Shaun Fensom and Joseph Tapine (both dangerous throw), and Manly pivot Dylan Walker (tripping) have all taken early pleas and will be free to play this week.

The Raiders have advised that Fensom and Tapine have both taken early guilty pleas and will both cop 93 carryover points but won't miss any games. Widdop has also taken an early guilty plea and will not miss any games for the Dragons.




The Warriors will take a new halves combination into their Round 7 Telstra Premiership clash with the Bulldogs at Westpac Stadium in Wellington on Saturday.

Tui Lolohea, who has played largely on the wing so far in 2016, has been named at five-eighth with Shaun Johnson named at halfback. Jeff Robson has been omitted from the team that lost to the Sea Eagles in Round 6. David Fusitu'a comes into the side in Lolohea's vacated wing spot.

In a boost for the Warriors, second-row forward Bodene Thompson has been named to return from a rib injury, with Simon Mannering moving back to lock.

Thomas Leuluai and Konrad Hurrell are again named on the interchange, with Ligi Sao listed on an extended bench as he aims to return from a shoulder injury.

Draw Widget - Round 7 - Bulldogs vs Warriors

Warriors team to play Bulldogs in Wellington

1 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck

2 Jonathan Wright

3 Blake Ayshford

4 Solomone Kata

5 David Fusitu'a

6 Tuimoala Lolohea

7 Shaun Johnson

8 Sam Lisone

9 Issac Luke

10 Ben Matulino

11 Bodene Thompson

12 Ryan Hoffman

13 Simon Mannering

14 Thomas Leuluai

15 Jacob Lillyman

16 Charlie Gubb

17 Konrad Hurrell

18 Ligi Sao
Donald Trump has a commanding 43-point lead in the New York Republican presidential primary, and Hillary Clinton has a 13-point advantage in the Democratic primary, according to a NY1/Baruch College poll released Monday night.

Running in his home state, Trump is supported by 60 percent of likely Republican voters, the poll found. Ohio Gov. John Kasich and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas trail far behind with 17 percent and 14 percent, respectively.



"Trump is just killing it," said Baruch College pollster Mickey Blum.

Trump's support in the April 19 primary is widespread, the poll found.

"Every demographic group goes for him," said Baruch College pollster Doug Muzzio. "Every geographic group, every socio-economic group. And with large majorities. Cruz ain't doing it. And Kasich ain't doing it."

#NYDEBATE: Sanders, Clinton to Participate in Brooklyn Debate Co-Sponsored by NY1

It means Trump is in a position to possibly sweep all 95 delegates up for grabs. To do that, he must win at least 50 percent of the primary vote in every one of New Yorks 27 congressional districts. Otherwise, the top finisher in a district wins two delegates and the runner-up gets one.



Such a haul would put him back on a path toward winning the nomination after his loss to Cruz in last week's Wisconsin primary.

"This could really be his road to getting enough to win it outright before he ever gets to that convention," Blum said.

As for the Democratic fight, Hillary Clinton is comfortably ahead of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont in the state she represented in the Senate for eight years - but her lead is far smaller than Trump's.

The poll shows 50 percent of likely primary voters back Clinton, and 37 percent support Sanders.

Voters under 30 are overwhelmingly in Sanders' corner. While more than two-thirds of voters over 65 support Clinton. Clinton beats Sanders in every region of the state but they are closest in New York City.

In a general election, Clinton or Sanders beat Trump in New York. Our poll found Clinton winning 51 percent to 35 percent. Sanders would trounce Trump even more decisively: 54 percent to 32 percent.

Those results may be fueled in part by New Yorkers' opinions of the candidates. Nearly 60 percent of state voters have an unfavorable view of Trump. A plurality of voters also has an unfavorable view of Clinton. Sanders does better.

Our poll did find that Trump's supporters are also loyal. If he fails to become the Republican nominee, a majority say want him to run for president as a third-party candidate.

The poll, which was conducted April 5-10, randomly sampled 1,597 adults in New York State, including 1306 registered voters, of whom 632 were likely Democratic Primary voters and 324 were likely Republican Primary voters. 859 landline telephone interviews and 738 cell phone interviews were conducted.

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.8 percentage points in the Republican primary, 4.2 percentage points in the Democratic race, and 2.9 percentage points in the general election.
A homeless man is facing charges that he robbed and slashed a tourist in a Manhattan subway station last week.

Investigators say Marvin Taylor, 24, is charged with robbery, assault and criminal possession of a weapon.

Police say the suspect went up to a 55-year-old who was sitting on a bench at the Bleecker Street station in Greenwich Village and tried to cut open his pockets.

According to police, the man resisted, and that's when his attacker slashed him in the neck, hands and face before running away.

It happened at around 3 a.m. Friday.

Officials say the victim is an Orthodox Jew visiting the city from Israel.

He was taken to the hospital and treated for his injuries.


One moment, the 10 fleas were happily sucking blood from hedgehogs being treated at Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital in Aylesbury, which, of course, is in England.

The next, they were being plucked from their comfortable home and transported to Cambridge, where they ended up in a glass box with a Styrofoam floor. From time to time, bright lights would flood the box, so that a high-speed camera could film them. And the fleas did what fleas do in times of crisis: they jumped.

When fleas jump, it is no ordinary leap. The insects can shoot as high as 38 times their body length, about three inches. And the acceleration is so intense that fleas have to withstand 100 Gs, or 100 times the force of gravity. You and I pass out if we experience five Gs, said Malcolm Burrows, an expert on insect jumping at the University of Cambridge.

Dr. Burrows and his Cambridge colleague Gregory Sutton obtained the fleas from Tiggywinkles to try to answer a question that had vexed naturalists for centuries: how fleas manage their spectacular jumps. In a paper published Thursday in The Journal of Experimental Biology, they report that the insects turn themselves into catapults, storing up energy that they release as they push off the ground with what passes, in fleas, for feet.
BRUSSELS  Europes antitrust regulator will soon provide fuller details on why it suspects Ireland and some other low-tax countries have made special deals with multinationals like Apple that helped the companies avoid billions in taxes and created unfair advantages over other European Union member countries.

As soon as Tuesday, the antitrust regulator is expected to publish a report formally describing the scope of the investigation and why it is worth pursuing. While the case is still in its early stages, any eventual decision could force the Irish government to recoup back taxes from Apple.

Apple has said it met with the Irish government to discuss taxes and provided information about its operations so that it could pay the correct amount of taxes. The European Commissions investigation raises the question of whether Apple and the Irish government cut a special deal in that process, allowing the company to enjoy benefits that others do not.

The report will additionally outline the case involving Luxembourgs tax dealings with Fiat Finance and Trade, a unit of the Italian automaker Fiat. The investigation, which was initially announced in June, also involves the American multinational Starbucks and the Netherlands. That report will be released at a later date.
Times Insider delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how news, features and opinion come together at The New York Times. In this piece, the Metro reporter Emily S. Rueb explains how the multimedia, multi-platform New York 101 series  about everything from how water gets to the citys taps to how a single book moves through its public library system  was conceived and brought to life.

You know that song, Dont Know What You Got (Till Its Gone)? The hair-metal band Cinderella was singing about love. But infrastructure is like that, too.

Every day, we rely on a vast network of pipes, rails and people to receive information, drink fresh water, get to work or school in the morning and plug into a power source at night. Our economy depends on it. But how often do we think about how it all works, how its funded, whether there are public safety concerns, whether new innovations are on the horizon?

As more people move to urban areas like New York City, where an additional half million people are expected to arrive in the coming decades, how will our aging infrastructure cope with increased demand?
Some childhood friends take down those who wronged them in Game of Silence, a satisfying new revenge thriller. Wayne Newton croons along with the Roots on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. And The Mindy Project resumes, with new episodes on Hulu.

Whats on TV

GAME OF SILENCE 10 p.m. on NBC. A hotshot lawyer (David Lyons) has it all: a lovely house, a gorgeous fiancee, a partnership on the way. But his life is upended when childhood friends (including Michael Raymond-James and Larenz Tate) seek help avenging a 25-year-old wrong that cost them months in youth detention  and has now led to the murder of one of their own. All of the actors are good, Mr. Raymond-James is scary good, and the story rips along at a brisk pace, Neil Genzlinger wrote in The New York Times. No one who works in the penal system will like the portrayals here, but lovers of mystery and suspense could easily be hooked. (Image: from left, Mr. Lyons, Mr. Raymond-James and Mr. Tate)

NEW GIRL 8 p.m. on Fox. Jess (Zooey Deschanel) seeks to clear her name after a former boyfriend has her served with a restraining order. In Brooklyn Nine-Nine, at 8:30, Holt calls on an old F.B.I. friend to assist with a challenging heist. And in The Grinder, at 9, Dean persuades Stewart and their father to submit to focus-group testing. But can they handle the feedback? (Image: Ms. Deschanel and Lamorne Morris)
Dennis Paustenbach, a top consultant to companies facing lawsuits over products or environmental practices, has long been eager to put a stop to accusations that his company, ChemRisk, slanted scientific findings to suit its clients.

The companys most recent target was two activists who wrote an article raising questions about it for The Huffington Post. ChemRisk sued them for libel, first in New York, where the case was thrown out, and then in Massachusetts.

But now the tables have turned. ChemRisk is trying to drop the lawsuit in Massachusetts. And the writers, Cherri Foytlin and Karen Savage, are saying, not so fast.

In a recent filing, Ms. Foytlin and Ms. Savage argued that ChemRisk, a unit of Cardno ChemRisk, should not be allowed simply to withdraw its lawsuit. Instead, they say the company should pay their lawyers, who have represented them on a pro bono basis, and issue an apology for dragging them through years of litigation.
The noted defense lawyer Alan M. Dershowitz and two lawyers who had sued him claiming defamation have dropped court actions against each side, ending a prominent dispute that included accusations of sexual misconduct against Mr. Dershowitz.

The settlement, announced on Friday, included a financial arrangement. But a lawyer involved in the case would not say who had paid.

The contractual terms of the settlement prevent me from saying anything, said the lawyer, Jack Scarola, who represents the two lawyers who had sued Mr. Dershowitz in a circuit court in Florida about a year ago claiming defamation, Bradley J. Edwards and Paul G. Cassell.

Mr. Dershowitz, who has represented such celebrities as O.J. Simpson and Leona Helmsley, said he was traveling. However, a spokesman for him, Richard Simpson, declined to discuss the agreements financial arrangements saying they were confidential.
BANGALORE, India  On a hot afternoon in a two-story house here, as dogs barked and auto-rickshaws sputtered outside, a venture capitalist grilled three entrepreneurs.

Their start-up, DriveU, provides on-demand drivers for people with cars, differing from Uber or Olacabs, an Indian variant, which offer on-demand taxi services. The three parried questions about the business in a cramped conference room with doors and shutters painted in DriveUs company colors  shamrock green.

What will it take for someone to come in and replicate this? asked Srikrishna Ramamoorthy, a partner for Unitus Seed, a venture capital fund started out of Seattle that invests in Indian companies. Couldnt the Ola guys come in and do this?

Essentially they could, said Ashok Shastry, 25, a co-founder of DriveU, who with his long shorts and spiky hair looked as if he would be more at home in Palo Alto, Calif., than Bangalore. But it would be taking away from their focus. The models for Uber and Ola, he said, are built on the premise that customers do not use their own cars.
Tesla Motors said on Monday that it was recalling its Model X sport utility vehicles after testing revealed that the backs of the electric cars third-row seats could give way in a crash.

The voluntary action affects the 2,700 Model Xs built before March 26. Tesla said it discovered the problem while performing tests required by European safety regulators. The company said it had no reports of accidents related to the problem, and added that the vehicle had passed American crash tests.

The recall comes in the face of an extraordinary response to the March 31 announcement of Teslas latest and most affordable electric car, the Model 3. With a starting price of $35,000, the Model 3 is intended to reach a larger range of car buyers than Teslas top seller, the Model S sedan, which costs around $75,000.

The Model X, which can seat up to seven passengers, starts at about $80,000.

Tesla, based in Palo Alto, Calif., has received over 325,000 $1,000 deposits for Model 3s, even though the car is not supposed to be available until the end of 2017.
Besides, shortly before the act was adopted, the rate of prison growth started to decline nationwide. It continued to decline for the six years after the act, with no sign that the law slowed that path. This may be a somewhat casual way to look at the issue, but it at least suggests that any rhetorical impact was slight.

Which brings us to the other half of the debate  Bill Clintons claim that the act contributed significantly to the sustained drop in crime over the last 25 years. You can probably guess the truth here: Its role was at best minor, and perhaps even less than that.

The most obvious thing to consider is that rates of violent crimes and property crime began to decline in 1992, three years before the laws various provisions started going into effect. Theres no real perceptible change in the rate of that decline after the act. If you want to claim that the law did much to stop crime, this alone is a pretty significant problem. Its not the only one, either.

For one thing, if the law had very little impact on prison populations (despite all the claims to the contrary), then it cant take credit for however much crime was reduced by rising incarceration. And while the act authorized almost $10 billion over six years to hire up to 100,000 additional police officers  a provision that could have reduced crime  the data suggest any impact was fairly slight. (Once again, $10 billion seems like a lot, but local governments spent over $250 billion on policing during the six years the program was in effect.) All told, the policing program seems to have pushed crime rates down by perhaps an additional 1 percent. And a government review of the included assault-weapons ban found that its effect was minimal, if only because people shifted to non-assault weapons with large-capacity magazines.

Its strange how often the act comes up these days. Its effect on crime was consistently hampered by the sheer size of state and local justice systems, diminishing any impact it might have made for good or for ill. And in many ways, the debates over it are largely symbolic. Almost all of its provisions are now defunct: the TIS grants, the police grants, the assault-weapons ban, even the ban on Pell grants for inmates. All of these have either run their course or are being reversed.

Meanwhile, as the vestigial Violent Crime Act gets all this attention, no one is debating two worrisome Clinton-era criminal-justice laws that remain on the books. The Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (A.E.D.P.A.) continues to make it hard for capital and noncapital inmates alike to raise habeas corpus claims and challenge wrongful incarcerations. And the Prison Litigation Reform Act (P.L.R.A.) still makes it much harder for inmates to challenge intolerable prison conditions in federal court. These laws impact on the narrow issue of mass incarceration is unclear, but they matter  and they remain relatively invisible. If we want to debate the Clinton legacy, we should at least debate the parts of it that are still in effect today.

More important, the debate over the Violent Crime Act sends a deeply problematic message: If people believe that the federal Violent Crime Act caused or accelerated mass incarceration, then they may believe that some other federal law should be able to stop or reverse it.
The crime was discovered at the bank, a branch of HSBC on 13th Avenue between 44th and 45th Streets, that morning, but the break-in probably happened sometime over the weekend, the police said. The bank is closed on Saturday and Sunday, according to its website.

When exactly the theft took place and how many people were involved was not known. Using a preliminary report, the police initially said $280,000 had been stolen, but officials later said that the number would probably change. No arrests have been made.
Bono Video Diary Script- Jordan Bono VO: So were here in Zaatari (pronounced zaat-ri) refugee camp, just south of the Syrian border. Theres 80,000 people living here. Song: No matter how much more difficult life is, my love for you persists. No matter how long your night is, injustice, in the end, daylight will come. Bono: Great singer, and a great story to tell. I also play in a band. Camp manager: I told him. Bono VO: Compared to Dadaab, this is Disneyland. But of course its not Disneyland. Its a hellish thing to flee your home. Bono VO: And these Syrians have done the best that they can with what theyve been given, and theyve been given a lot more by the Jordanians than they would in a lot of countries. Camp manager: You can find pretty much anything you want to buy here. This street has about 500-600 shops but in the camp we have close to 3,000 shops. Camp manager: What do you want, do you want pickles? Bono: Yes, please. Wow. Thats very good. Bono standup: Even though Im encouraged by the hospitality shown by the Jordanians, you still have razor wire. Its just to keep people out of the official places, but its just a reminder of a ref-ugees life. Its really the symbol of a refugees life, razor wire. Bono VO: UNHCR built another camp like Zaatari, but they cant fill it. People just want to live normal lives, without walls or fences. 80% of Syrians in Jordan now live in urban areas. There are fewer resources for them, but they have the freedom to move. We headed to Amman to meet a family that chose to leave the camp. Bono: Tell us a little bit about your life, before the war. Abu Iman: I owned a spice factory. I had my own staff men and women. It [Homs] is the most beautiful thing in my life. I wont go as far as to say that its more beautiful than my kids. More beautiful, no, but it is more precious, my homeland. Bono: Did you stay in a camp? Um Iman: We stayed for two and half months. Bono: How did they treat you in that place? Abu Iman: The situation was perfect. It was safe. Everything was great. Very excellent. As a camp, it is a seven star camp. But no electricity. The water is far away. There were six or seven families per bathroom. I compare our life before to where we are now, you cannot compare. Bono VO: Hes brought to tears or just on the verge of tears when he thinks of his life in Homs because he had a middle class life. Hes such a familiar person to me, they are so familiar to me. I arrived and they were refugees but now Im leaving and theyre a father, a mother, and a son.
IVE recently returned from the Middle East and East Africa, where I visited a number of refugee camps  car parks of humanity. I went as an activist and as a European. Because Europeans have come to realize  quite painfully in the past year or two  that the mass exodus from collapsed countries like Syria is not just a Middle Eastern or African problem, its a European problem. Its an American one, too. It affects us all.

My countryman Peter Sutherland, a senior United Nations official for international migration, has made clear that were living through the worst crisis of forced displacement since World War II. In 2010, some 10,000 people worldwide fled their homes every day, on average. Which sounds like a lot  until you consider that four years later, that number had quadrupled. And when people are driven out of their homes by violence, poverty and instability, they take themselves and their despair elsewhere. And elsewhere can be anywhere.

But with their despair some of them also have hope. It seems insane or naive to speak of hope in this context, and I may be both of these things. But in most of the places where refugees live, hope has not left the building: hope to go home someday, hope to find work and a better life. I left Kenya, Jordan and Turkey feeling a little hopeful myself. For as hard as it is to truly imagine what life as a refugee is like, we have a chance to reimagine that reality  and reinvent our relationship with the people and countries consumed now by conflict, or hosting those who have fled it.

That needs to start, as it has for me, by parting with a couple of wrong ideas about the refugee crisis. One is that the Syrian refugees are concentrated in camps. They arent. These arid encampments are so huge that its hard to fathom that only a small percentage of those refugees actually live in one; in many places, a majority live in the communities of their host countries. In Jordan and Lebanon, for example, most refugees are in urban centers rather than in camps. This is a problem that knows no perimeter.
The paradox of a strong system of superdelegates in the 2016 primary season is that a significant section of the Democratic Party, which has them, wishes it didnt, while the leadership of the Republican Party, which doesnt have them, may well wish it did.

Left-wing Democrats have long argued that their partys system of superdelegates is unfair because it gives too much weight to ruling elites, disenfranchising ordinary voters. Hillary Clintons lead in the delegate count  even as her rival, Senator Bernie Sanders, racks up win after win in state primaries and caucuses  has only sharpened the debate.

At the same time, with the failure of any establishment candidate to stop the populist insurgency of Donald J. Trump, the Republican Party also seems saddled with rules it doesnt like. In its case, though, party leaders may wish they had something more like the Democratic approach.

Where the two parties systems are similar is the basic delegate mechanism: For both Republicans and Democrats, party members run in their home state to become pledged delegates at the partys national convention. Pledged delegates are bound by the parties rules to vote for the winner in their states primary contest (or caucus).
New Orleans  I AM a father; my superpower is worry.

You can find me at the park, before the kids are let out of school, scouting for anthills. Im the guy lifting the ends of empty seesaws, peeking beneath the slides. People ask me, Did you lose something?

Only my mind.

Six months ago, my wife and I learned that our 3-year-old son has a class III allergy to fire ants. What this meant was that, if bitten, even by a single ant, he had about a 50-50 chance of going into anaphylactic shock. The allergist described the unpredictable severity of his reaction as a light switch. It doesnt matter how many bite him, he said. If his little allergy switch is turned on that day, and his body overreacts to the venom, youre dealing with a life-threatening situation.

He then handed us a smooth plastic case with two spring loaded needles in it, EpiPens, to stab into my sons leg if he began to cough or had trouble breathing.

Wait, I said. If he coughs, we stab him with this? Just a cough? Thats all?

No, he said. Call 911, too. Stick him and call 911.
It took two weeks after the devastating attacks in Brussels for officials to discover that the plotters originally intended to hit Paris again or that the two attacks were carried out by a single network. Even now, authorities dont know the full scale of the Islamic States operations in Europe, which involve criminal elements as well as terrorists.

Islamic State operatives have moved freely across borders and, investigators now assume, there may be terrorist cells in countries where violence has yet to occur, with Britain, Germany and Italy believed to be probable targets. All of which reinforces the urgent need to fix the problems in Europes flawed security and law enforcement systems.

On Friday, Belgiums struggling law enforcement authorities arrested Mohamed Abrini, who confessed to being the third man in the Brussels Airport bombing. The arrest, while critically important, was also a reminder of the cross-border nature of the operations. Mr. Abrini is said to have played a logistical role in the Paris attacks in November, where he had gone unnoticed.

Since the Brussels attacks, there have been signs that Europe is taking the terrorist threat more seriously. Yet many governments still seem unwilling or unable to commit themselves to the reforms that are needed to protect their populations.
Data from past clinical trials can be used to draw new conclusions about diseases and treatments long after a trial is over.

But researchers rarely take advantage of this valuable resource even though access to a full data set, rather than published results alone, can help further research on how certain groups of people respond to a treatment or how people with an illness fare over time. In some cases, revisiting clinical trial data can also reveal problems with the initial analysis.

The editors of The Journal of the American Medical Association make a good case for broadly sharing such clinical trial data. While many large pharmaceutical companies make data from clinical drug trials available to outside researchers, many academic institutions and smaller companies dont. And even when the data is made available, analysis by outside researchers remains relatively uncommon. A recent study found that on three data-sharing platforms, researchers had requested access to the data from just 15.5 percent of the trials available.
Bono Video Script- Turkey Bono VO: Here we are in Turkey. Im part of a congressional delegation led by Senator Lindsey Graham. Turkey supports more refugees than any other nation on earth. Were headed to Nizip, a government run refugee camp less than 30 miles from the front lines with ISIS Daesh. Compared to Zaatari and Dadaab, Nizip is a small camp, but its remarkably well run. Theyve built handicraft workshops. Families are given a monthly stipend to spend at the fully stocked supermarket. Graham: If you have 5 kids they get 85 too right? Turkish official: Yes, each one of them is given 85. Bono VO: Theyve built dozens of classrooms in tents. Graham: Theyre learning Turkish? Teacher: Before they were asking to go to the bathroom in Arabic. Now they are asking in Turkish. Graham: Lets take a picture. Kids: Bye bye! (Turkish) Bono standup: I have very real admiration for what they are doing here, though I have very real concerns about human rights violations in this country. Bono VO: Turkey has recently been accused [BY AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL] of forcibly sending people back across the border into Syria. Of the 2.7 million Syrians in Turkey, only about 10 percent stay in camps. For the rest, the situation outside is less secure. After the camp visit, we met NGO workers who assist refugees living in urban areas. Bono: There was no obstacle in the way of human dignity today. We want to verify if what were seeing we can believe. Some of us are Irish, and we have a cynical streak. Bono VO: The sheer size of the population was making it difficult to meet needs. Bono VO: Even without outside help, many Syrians are getting by. Some work under the table. Dr Khalid (pronounced kah-lid) remained in his hometown of Aleppo until 2014 when he fled across the Turkish border. In Gaziantep, he opened a discrete dental clinic in the back room of a travel agency. PLZ RECORD ALT LINE in the back of another business. Dr. Khalid: We are around 2000 (Syrian) doctors living in Turkey. Until now we do not have work permits. The Turkish government doesnt want another headache. We can work, but should not show ourselves working. They lower their gaze. If we look to the past we see Somalia, and the displacement of its people. Before that, in 1948, the case of Palestinians refugees who left thinking they would be away for two or three months, but never went back. We saw the suffering of others before we became refugees. When you are faced with the choice between refugee or death, When a person or citizen is faced with the choice between refugee or death, you will be forced to choose the less bad option. To become a refugee. OR > you will be forced to choose the lesser of two evils, to become a refugee. Bono VO: Dr. Khalid stays close to the border, because more than anything, like most refugees, he just wants to return home.
Along the Iraqi border, the king told us, Jordanian troops have discovered a tunnel for smugglers of weaponry and drugs. Jordanian troops have confiscated millions of tabs of Captagon, an amphetamine manufactured, used and sold by Islamic State forces. It would appear that this conflict is fueled by these addictive drugs, which bring the hypothalamus to a place where you can commit horrendous acts and feel euphoric about it.

At the northeastern corner of Jordan, where it borders both Syria and Iraq, the Rukban camp houses about 12,000 refugees. The Jordanians are trying to convince the international community that they need extra resources to handle these refugees. And from what I can see, they are right. Unrest among refugees here could not only endanger Jordanian citizens, but it would also play into fear-mongering about refugees being dangerous when, in fact, they are usually the ones in danger.
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced an overhaul of New York Citys services for the homeless on Monday, the result of a 90-day review that he promised when the homelessness crisis reached a crescendo late last year.

He is essentially folding the Department of Homeless Services into the Human Resources Administration, and putting Steven Banks in charge of both. Mr. Banks, who currently runs the Human Resources Administration, spent years suing that agency as the head of the Legal Aid Society and knows the homelessness problem outside and in. He says the new policies will focus on preventing homelessness and putting people into permanent housing.

All of which is good  except that it took until well into the third year of the de Blasio administration to complete the review that led to the shake-up that developed the proposals that the mayor says will finally get a handle on homelessness. In his defense, the crisis has been a long time in the making, and other mayors and governors, including the current one, Andrew Cuomo, all share responsibility for parts of the problem, which combines bad management, governmental neglect and funding cuts  particularly state aid for rental assistance, shelters and supportive housing.
Bono Video Diary Script- Dadaab Bono VO: Were 50 miles from the somali border. This is Dadaab, the biggest ref-ugee complex camp on earth. It was meant to be temporary refuge for Somalis fleeing the war, but its been around now for 25 years. There are 345,000 people here. Nearly one-third of them were born here. Kenya requires refugees in Dadaab to live within the camp, but theyre not al-lowed to build permanent structures. Their lives are on hold. Its like being exiled a second time. Somali student 1: Ive never been to Somalia, Ive never gone back home. Ive never gone back from since I arrived here many years ago, maybe 25 years ago. Somali student 2: The living standards in Dadaab in general, is not really very suitable for somebody who wishes to live a better life. Somali student 3: Dadaab is the only place because we dont have any other place to call home. UNHCR is our mother and Kenya is our father. Bono: You in a way, you have no country. Your heart is Somali, and your DNA certainly, but your sense of place is very unusual. Bono/standup: Im very moved by these men and women that Ive just spent time with. I mean their stories are more convincing than any statistics. And heres the rub. This camp is a temporary solution. So welcome to one of the great development misnomers. I would call it the permanent temporary solution. Bono VO: Though most people here are Somali, there is a small population of South Sudanese. We drove across the camp to meet them. Bono: What a dance, thank you so much. Thank you. South Sudanese women ululating Bono VO: We were introduced to a mother of new twins. Bono: Your babies are beautiful. What did you run from? Aget: I remember that it happened at night, a long time ago. We were asleep. A group of people came in and started shooting at us. Thats when we ran from our village. I dont know if they were raiders or what, but they took the life of my parents. Bono: How old were you at the time? Aget: I was almost the age of my daughter Bono: What do you tell your children about where you come from? What do you say? Aget: I tell them how I left South Sudan, about their grandfather and grandmother. I tell them how we name children. I tell them that we have no home. This is the only home we have now. I dont know when we can go back. Bono: Bye bye Aget. Bono: And what is this girls name? Atos mother: Atong. Bono: Atong? What does that mean? Atongs mother: It means war. Bono: It means war? And why did you call her War? Atongs mother: Why I named her war? I was born in a war. I was raised in a war with-out parents. Then I gave birth during war. That is why. Bono VO: Even as the wars grind on, a small number of Somalis have opted to go back to their country. But it was hard to imagine as I left Dadaab that there would ever be an end to this place.
INTERNATIONAL

An article on March 29 about an assessment of the damage done by the Islamic State to the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra referred incorrectly to the second-century triple arch ISIS destroyed. The arches were decorative, not triumphal, and therefore were not built by the Romans to celebrate their victory over the Persians. The errors also appeared in another article on March 29, as well as in a picture caption, about efforts to create three-dimensional digital models of Palmyras threatened monuments in case the originals are damaged beyond repair, and the errors were repeated last Tuesday in a photo essay and in a caption by a Times photographer who visited Palmyra to document the destruction. The errors also appeared in an article and a picture caption on Oct. 6, 2015, about ISIS destruction of the arches.

NEW YORK

An article in some editions on Saturday about a Bronx woman who was found guilty of killing her two children misstated the charges on which she was convicted. The woman, Lisette Bamenga, was convicted of two counts of manslaughter, not murder.



An article on Saturday about a visit by Bernie Sanders to his old neighborhood in Brooklyn to campaign referred incorrectly in some copies to Mr. Sanderss departure from Brooklyn College. He left the school; he did not graduate from it. The article also misspelled, in some copies, the surname of a tenant of Mr. Sanderss former apartment building in Midwood. She is Morgan McIlvain, not McIvain.

BUSINESS DAY

An article on the Personal Tech pages on Thursday about switching to an iPhone from an Android device misstated the content of a Google web page. It has tips for those switching from an Apple iPhone, not to it.
Neil Beloufa

The Algerian-French artist Neil Beloufa, 31, sometimes jokes that he can no longer work in his own studio because it has been gentrified. He is, of course, responsible for its transformation. Two years ago, having taken over an entire former factory building in the Paris suburb of Villejuif that he had been sharing with other artists for the previous four years, Beloufa decided to make Occidental, a film he had been contemplating for almost a decade. To transform the vast warehouse into the film set, he and a team of 16 constructed over two stories a series of interiors including hotel bedrooms, corridors, a kitchen, an office and a lobby, replete with potted plants and ubiquitous waiting-room furniture.

Beloufa is known for sculptures that employ technological devices such as surveillance cameras and videos, and for films that merge documentary and fiction, often starring nonactors. Occidental, his first real feature, is different, starring professionals and made with a bigger budget. The films complex narrative begins when a hotel receptionist becomes suspicious of two men who present themselves as an Italian couple but who seem neither Italian nor gay. For this Hitchcockian thriller of identity politics, Beloufa wanted the decor to be 70s and drab, evoking the look of what he calls postcolonial tourism.

And yet the project is, one senses, more than a film. Beloufa, who characterizes himself as very analytique, likes the idea that he is creating an alternate, miniature art world  one in which he isnt pressured by the institution. (He used the proceeds from his own past sales to fund the film rather than taking a commission from a museum.) Beloufas studio is a self-sufficient society; he works on all his projects with the same team, which includes high-school friends and fellow artists who are paid the same salary as he pays himself: It is studio as cooperative. Last fall, after filming wrapped, he tore down half the set, mounting an exhibition  partly on the set, partly in a series of newly constructed white cubicles  for the artists who had, at one time or another, passed through the warehouse, celebrating the community it had nurtured. Transforming the studio into an arts center was a way of saying, I dont need the institution, he explains. The institution needs us.
Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are backpedaling from their support of a 1994 anti-crime law that some blame for the large number of people in prisons.

The raging debate is starting to reveal the difficult questions at the heart of the problem.

Some 87 percent of the countrys inmates are in state prisons, so any moves to cut the countrys prison population would rely on states and counties to lock up substantially fewer people. Some states are taking steps that could lead to this outcome, but not on a scale or at a pace that would end what has been called mass incarceration.

So can Congress and the federal government come up with new laws and policies that might stop states and counties from imprisoning so many people?

Presidential candidates have staked out some ambitious-sounding policies on prisons. Mrs. Clinton wants to cut mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenses and reduce the mandatory penalties for a second or third violent offense. Mr. Sanders proposes eliminating mandatory minimums and has called for a ban on private prisons.
CHICAGO  This city moved Monday toward paying more than $6 million in settlements to the families of two men who died after being taken into police custody, frustrating City Council members who said such cases showed the need for urgent changes to police training and discipline.

We come here settlement after settlement after settlement, and we never hear termination, said Alderman Anthony A. Beale, who represents part of the South Side.

Were spinning our wheels here. We need to start firing some of these people.

The estate of Philip Coleman, who was recorded being subdued with a Taser by Chicago police officers and dragged from a cell in handcuffs hours before dying at a hospital in 2012, would receive $4.95 million if the agreement is approved by the full City Council on Wednesday. The estate of Justin Cook, who died of an asthma attack after a foot pursuit led to his arrest in 2014, would receive $1.5 million. Several witnesses said the police refused to let Mr. Cook use his inhaler despite repeated pleas that he could not breathe, a city lawyer told aldermen on Monday.

In both cases, the citys Independent Police Review Authority has an open investigation, though no officers have been fired or criminally charged.
DENVER  Robert L. Dear Jr., his pickup truck loaded with rifles, handguns and propane canisters, had to stop several times to ask for directions to the Planned Parenthood center in Colorado Springs. Eventually, he found the clinics address after calling Planned Parenthood itself, and once there, the police say, he carried out an hourslong shooting rampage that left three people dead and nine people wounded.

A Colorado court on Monday unsealed search warrants and an arrest warrant that offer a glimpse into the carnage of the Nov. 27 shooting and Mr. Dears violent anti-abortion views. He told the police that he had attacked the clinic because he was upset with them performing abortions and the selling of baby parts.

Planned Parenthood came under scrutiny in July after anti-abortion groups released secretly recorded videos and claimed the organization was illegally selling fetal tissue. Planned Parenthood has denied those accusations, and several state and congressional investigations have found no misconduct by the organization.

The documents unsealed on Monday in Colorado suggest that Mr. Dear had long admired violent opponents of abortion. After a standoff with the police, Mr. Dear was arrested and told a Colorado Springs detective that he revered Paul Hill, who was executed in Florida in 2003 for killing an abortion provider and his volunteer escort.
President Obama in February requested an emergency appropriation of $1.8 billion to deal with Zika, but the Republican-led Congress said the administration should first use money set aside to combat Ebola. After arguing for months that that was not possible, officials said last week that they would use $510 million of that money, plus $79 million from other accounts.

But Dr. Fauci and Dr. Anne Schuchat, the deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, argued on Monday that such a stopgap measure was not enough. If Congress does not provide the needed funds, Dr. Fauci said, public health authorities will probably have to divert money from malaria and tuberculosis prevention programs, as well as from flu vaccine programs.

The mosquito that carries the Zika virus is present in 30 states, more than twice what officials originally thought, Dr. Schuchat said, though no locally acquired cases have been reported yet. That indicates that mosquitoes in the states do not yet have the virus. But in Puerto Rico, nearly every confirmed case has been contracted locally, meaning the virus is present in mosquitoes there and transmitting rapidly.
More than half of the record spending on negative advertising during the 2016 presidential primary has been directed at a single candidate, Donald J. Trump, a barrage that threatens to undermine his candidacy even as he continues to march toward the Republican nomination.

Of the more than $132 million spent on negative ads by candidates and the groups supporting them, nearly $70 million has gone to commercials assailing Mr. Trump, according to a New York Times analysis of data provided by Kantar Media/CMAG. The sharp focus on a single candidate is especially surprising given the exceptional size of the initial Republican field.



In addition to Mr. Trumps opponents, three Republican super PACs have made it their main focus to take him down. The Club for Growth, Our Principles PAC and the American Future Fund, all unaligned with any particular candidate, have spent more than $23.5 million on negative ads against him.

On Monday, Hillary Clinton crossed primary lines to add to the onslaught, releasing a commercial that highlights comments Mr. Trump has made about immigration and abortion and argues that he is trying to get Americans to turn against one another.
Speaking about Mrs. Clintons case, Mr. Obama said, Theres stuff that is really top-secret, top-secret, and theres stuff that is being presented to the president or the secretary of state that you might not want on the transom, or going out over the wire, but is basically stuff that you could get from unclassified sources.

But after more than seven years in office, the administration has only recently gotten serious about curbing the reflex to stamp secret or top secret on the cables that flow each day from embassies to the State Department, or course through the Pentagon.

In a memorandum issued on March 17, the director of national intelligence, James R. Clapper, asked for a fundamental classification guidance review that could allow information that is only sensitive for a brief time to be declassified quickly, rather than waiting the customary 15 or 25 years. He even asked whether the classification category Confidential, which no two government agencies seem to define the same way, should be eliminated.

In fact, Mr. Obamas distinction between genuine secrets and vaguely secret material echoes arguments that The New York Times and other news media organizations made after the WikiLeaks disclosures, some of which were published in The Times. A substantial percentage of the 250,000 cables consisted of articles published in local news media. As officials entered them into the State Departments system, many were marked classified, even though they could be found in simple Google searches.

In a news conference after the disclosure of the State Department cables, Mr. Obama pledged to energetically pursue those who leaked government secrets. We have mechanisms in place where if we can root out folks who have leaked, they will suffer consequences, , Mr. Obama said at the time. In some cases its criminal.

Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama, in those days, did not see much distinction among classified documents. She said then that publishing the cables would tear at the fabric of alliances, and particularly objected to the publication of any information that was intended to be confidential, including private discussions between counterparts or our diplomats personal assessments and observations.
HOUSTON  Attorney General Ken Paxton of Texas, who was indicted last year on state securities fraud charges, faced a new round of legal troubles on Monday after federal regulators accused him of misleading investors in a technology company.

The civil claims filed in Federal District Court by the Securities and Exchange Commission mirrored the criminal charges Mr. Paxton already faces in state court.

Both cases stem from investment-related work before he was elected attorney general in 2014 but while he was a member of the Texas House of Representatives.

Mr. Paxton, a Republican, has repeatedly said he did nothing wrong.

Mr. Paxton, the states chief law enforcement officer, was arrested last year on felony charges. A grand jury in Collin County near Dallas charged him with two counts of securities fraud and one count of acting as an investment adviser representative without being registered with the state.
RIO DE JANEIRO  The effort to impeach President Dilma Rousseff cleared a congressional panel on Monday, setting up a cliffhanger vote on her ouster in the coming days in Brazils Chamber of Deputies.

Tempers flared ahead of the 38-27 vote, with members of Congress screaming at each other during the nationally televised proceedings. The panel was charged with investigating the accusations against Ms. Rousseff and deciding if it was warranted to recommend impeachment to the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the National Congress.

Ms. Rousseffs supporters are now scrambling ahead of the floor vote in the lower house, where they hope to prevent two-thirds of the 513 deputies from voting for impeachment.
OTTAWA  She was bullied relentlessly. She suffered from asthma, diabetes and other ailments. Her living conditions were unbearably cramped: 20 relatives taking refuge in a two-bedroom government nursing station for more than a year after a sewage backup made their home uninhabitable.

Still, it came as a shock when Sheridan Hookimaw, a sociable 13-year-old girl, took her own life last October, her great-aunt said.

It was the kind of shock, the aunt said, that has become all too familiar.

Since September, 101 people in the Attawapiskat First Nation, a remote aboriginal community with about 2,000 residents, have attempted suicide. That is about 5 percent of its population.

There were an astonishing 11 suicide attempts on Saturday alone.

Its quite scary when you hear the air ambulance at 2 in the morning, 3 in the morning, said Jackie Hookimaw-Witt, Sheridans great-aunt. Thats the youth being taken out.
Administrative tumult, a prominent snub on the Bucharest National Operas website and questions over artistic direction have cost the Romanian national ballet company its two biggest stars: Johan Kobborg and Alina Cojocaru. Mr. Kobborg resigned Tuesday as its artistic director and his fiancee, the dancer Ms. Cojocaru, said she would not dance under the current management.

Their departures end a period in which the companys global reputation began to rise under the leadership of Mr. Kobborg, a former principal dancer at the Royal Danish Ballet and the Royal Ballet in London who became artistic director a little over two years ago, and through the dancing of Ms. Cojocaru, an international star and principal at the English National Ballet, who was a permanent guest artist in her native Bucharest.

The trouble began earlier this month when a new interim general manager, Tiberiu-Ionut Soare, took over at the opera house, which is home to the ballet. One of his first actions was to remove Mr. Kobborgs title on the website as artistic director of the ballet, and to place him among the companys artists, a low rank comparable to the corps de ballet in other companies.

Mr. Soares explanation was that the company did not technically have an artistic director position in its administrative structure. But the move was seen in some circles as an attempt to undo the changes the company had made in recent years. It also raised questions about the direction of the company, which is state-run, in a time of political upheaval in Romania  and about how international it wanted to be.
In his lifetime, Clyfford Still demanded that his stark, monumental Abstract Expressionist canvases be exhibited in museum shows only in a separate gallery, and explicitly restricted institutions from lending paintings he donated. But his will, bequeathing the vast majority of his output to an American city that would retain the works of art in exclusive and permanent quarters, is somewhat ambiguous and doesnt expressly prohibit loans, said Dean Sobel, director of the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver, where the artists estate now resides. (Mr. Still died in 1980.)

The museum, in consultation with the city of Denver and Mr. Stills children, has agreed to an unprecedented loan of nine pivotal paintings dating from 1944 to 1958 to the first comprehensive European survey of Abstract Expressionism in 50 years. It opens in September at the Royal Academy of Arts in London and travels to the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain.
Camille O. Cosby will have to testify again in a civil case filed against her husband, Bill Cosby, by seven women who say he defamed them, a federal judge in Massachusetts ruled Tuesday.

Mrs. Cosby has already testified once in the lawsuit, but her lawyers had sought to block a second session of testimony scheduled for later this month, arguing that a lawyer for the seven women, Joseph Cammarata, had asked a litany of improper and offensive questions when she was first deposed in February.

Magistrate Judge David H. Hennessy denied Mrs. Cosbys request to cancel the second session of the deposition, but instructed Mr. Cammarata not to ask Mrs. Cosby questions about her opinions and admonished him for asking her whether she had had sex with her husband when she was sleeping.

Mrs. Cosbys deposition is scheduled to continue on April 19 in Boston. Judge Hennessy ruled that the deposition should be limited to five hours and 45 minutes.
When Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic visited The Late Show With Stephen Colbert last month, it was only natural that they performed Aaron Coplands Fanfare for the Common Man (1942). Is there any work more emblematic of the dean of American music than the stirring Fanfare, which Mr. Colbert called one of the most powerful American melodies?

But when Coplands music graced a CBS broadcast a half-century ago, it was in an entirely different idiom. For the 1962 televised gala celebrating the opening of the Philharmonic Hall at Lincoln Center  now David Geffen Hall  the composer provided his first 12-tone piece for orchestra, the snarling and cacophonous Connotations.

At intermission, the first lady, Jacqueline Kennedy, approached him. Stunned, she simply said: Oh, Mr. Copland. Oh, Mr. Copland. A nationwide audience of millions watched the broadcast, and both the orchestra and the network were subsequently inundated with letters from viewers outraged by this densely avant-garde music.

What caused Coplands shift from populist to abstruse? Was Senator Joseph R. McCarthy to blame? Or the Modernist influence of the composer Pierre Boulez? For decades, listeners and scholars have offered a range of answers.
The F.B.I. is offering a $25,000 reward for the recovery of seven screen prints of Andy Warhols Campbells Soup cans after they were snatched from an art museum in Springfield, Mo.

The prints of the cans, which are among the artists most recognizable works, had been part of the Springfield Art Museums collection since 1985, and were currently on display in a special exhibit of British and American pop art. The prints, not to be confused with Mr. Warhols original set of 32 soup can paintings, were from a later series called Campbells Soup 1. They were made in 1968, about six years after Mr. Warhols paintings created a cultural sensation (and divided the art world). The F.B.I. estimates that the total value of the prints, which came in a set of 10, to be about $500,000.

But the value could be a lot less now, because the thieves made off with only seven of the 10 prints: the beef, vegetable, tomato, onion, green pea, chicken noodle and black bean cans.

The Warhol prints were a point of local pride in Springfield, according to Lisa Cox, a spokeswoman with the Springfield Police Department. They were one of those kinds of claim to fame types of pieces, Ms. Cox said.
Deutsche Bank, the German financial giant that has a significant business in the United States, said on Tuesday that it would freeze its plans to add jobs in North Carolina, a response to the passage last month of a state law that, among other things, eliminates antidiscrimination protections based on sexual orientation.

Deutsche Bank had planned to create 250 positions at its technology development center in Cary, N.C., a municipality near Raleigh, that currently employees 900 people.

In explaining why those plans had been delayed, John Cryan, co-chief executive of Deutsche Bank, took aim at the new law, which also bars transgender people from using bathrooms that do not match their gender at birth.

Were proud of our operations and employees in Cary and regret that as a result of this legislation we are unwilling to include North Carolina in our U.S. expansion plans for now, Mr. Cryan said in a statement, We very much hope that we can revisit our plans to grow this location in the near future.
BlackRock, Vanguard and other big institutional investors own roughly 70 percent of the public stock market, according to some reports. People are starting to ask whether this allows companies  now having the same owners  to compete less and raise prices.

In Senate testimony last month, the Justice Departments antitrust chief, William J. Baer, said the department was investigating the potential antitrust implications of the rise of institutional shareholders. More specifically, he noted that institutional shareholders hold big minority stakes in many companies in the same industry.

Take, for example, the airline industry. Across all of its funds, BlackRock held 8.3 percent of United, 6.6 percent of JetBlue, 4.7 percent of Delta and 4.5 percent of Southwest, as of March 31, 2013. Mr. Baer said the Justice Department was exploring whether such cross-ownership either explicitly or implicitly pushed companies to compete less.

After all, if there is less competition in the airline industry and higher fares result, it will arguably benefit BlackRock over all, because it holds shares in not just one company but several in the industry. Less competition may mean higher costs for consumers but more profits for the airlines and BlackRocks investors.
The battle against climate change is young. There is little empirical evidence of the effects of patents on clean energy technology. But the evidence from other industries in which intellectual property protections have been ratcheted up in the name of innovation offers a decidedly mixed picture.

Take the World Trade Organizations 22-year-old Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, known as Trips, the worlds first enforceable deal to protect patents globally. Developing countries were told it would promote their access to innovation. Multinationals would be more likely to sell or license new technologies if they knew their ideas would not be pirated. The deal would encourage foreign investment in local research and development.

Did it deliver? One study about the impact of Trips across 60 countries concluded that the deal encouraged access to technology: New drugs were unlikely to be introduced until they were covered by patents. Patented drugs were still more expensive than generics, but they became cheaper in poorer countries.

Another study of Trips, however, concluded that while patent protection did increase research and development in high-income countries, it did nothing to foster more investment for treatments that combat diseases like malaria that affect the worlds poor but have no market in the rich world.

Tight intellectual property protection can backfire, stopping locals from piggybacking on foreign inventions, discouraging indigenous innovation in less-developed countries.

It is often abused. Numerous studies have documented how pharmaceutical companies play the system. When the original patents on their drugs expire, they discourage the entry of cheap generic rivals by obtaining secondary patents covering slight variations that have little or no therapeutic value.

One study found hundreds of secondary patents layered onto two antiretroviral drugs to combat H.I.V., which delayed the entry of generic competition by 12 years.
Yale University has made progress in minimizing its endowment portfolios exposure to less environmentally sound investments such as stocks of companies that contribute to climate change, a letter released on Tuesday showed.

Yale generally does not manage its own investment directly but hires outside money managers to make decisions. Nearly two years ago, the Yale University Investment Office asked the firms that managed its endowment, then $20.8 billion, to assess their investments. The office asked managers to avoid investments that did not take sensible steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Yale endowment, while not the largest, is closely watched by other universities and money managers who invest in publicly held companies.

On Tuesday, David F. Swensen, Yales chief investment officer, released a letter to the schools Advisory Committee on Investor Responsibility saying that Yale had taken several steps with climate change in mind.

Rather than simply selling investments as a response to political pressures, Yale was asking its managers to consider the financial risks of climate change and the risks that those investments held if governments did impose carbon taxes. What we did was to take a look at the economics and come up with an economically driven decision, he said in a telephone interview. Mr. Swensen added that the reaction was heartening.
In her deposition, Ms. McFarland said that she believed her conversation with the Treasury propelled the government to change the terms of the bailout to seize Fannies and Freddies profits. When the amendment went into place, Ms. McFarland testified, part of my reaction was they did that in response to my communication of our forecasts and the implication of those forecasts, that it was probably a desire not to allow capital to build up within the enterprises and not to allow the enterprises to recapitalize themselves.

A spokeswoman for the Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The unsealing of the documents casts a spotlight on a legal proceeding that has been shrouded in secrecy from the start. The court granted the governments request for confidential treatment of thousands of pages of materials produced in the case; Justice Department lawyers have asserted presidential privilege in 45 documents.

Last year, The New York Times filed an amicus curiae brief asking that the judge unseal two of the depositions in the case. She released excerpts from one of those depositions on Monday.

Further testimony unsealed on Monday came from Mario Ugoletti, a former Treasury official who was a former special adviser to the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the conservator overseeing Fannie and Freddie. In December 2013, Mr. Ugoletti signed an affidavit for the case stating unequivocally that neither the Treasury nor the Federal Housing Finance Agency envisioned that the companies deferred tax assets were about to be reversed in the months leading up to the profit sweep, generating huge profits. He also said that the move was not intended to increase compensation to Treasury.

But in the deposition in May, Mr. Ugoletti said he did not know whether the Treasury or the Federal Housing Finance Agency officials knew about the potential for the profits at Fannie and Freddie at the time of the sweep.

Mr. Ugoletti, who left government in the fall could not be reached for comment.

A document produced by Grant Thornton, the accounting firm hired by the government to do financial analysis on the companies, casts additional doubt on the governments contention that it considered Fannie and Freddie to be in a dire financial condition in 2012, when it changed the terms of the bailout. The document, unsealed on Monday, shows Freddies financial results through the first quarter of 2012 alongside handwritten notes from an unknown Grant Thornton employee. That employee noted how Freddies profits would require that it reverse the accounting entry, known as releasing the valuation allowance.
BRUSSELS  European Union officials on Tuesday waded into the fight against international tax dodging, calling for the worlds biggest companies to disclose more data about their tax arrangements with the blocs member governments and to share information about offshore havens where they shelter money.

The proposed rules were in the planning before the recent leak of millions of documents from a Panamanian law firm, Mossack Fonseca. But European officials adjusted the plans in recent days to pay more attention to offshore holdings in light of the revelations in the Panama Papers.

The Mossack Fonseca files revealed how some of the worlds richest or most powerful people may have used offshore bank accounts and shell companies to conceal their wealth or avoid taxes. The European proposal is primarily aimed at stopping multinational companies from shifting their profits around Europe to lower their tax bills.

Multinational companies including Amazon, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Apple, Google and Starbucks have been part of investigations by the European Commission, the blocs executive arm, into the way some of the 28 member countries set taxes, including Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
Settlement negotiations have hit a snag in the lawsuit challenging the mental competence of the ailing media mogul Sumner M. Redstone, reviving the possibility that the case could proceed to a messy public trial.

The development comes after a framework of a settlement was reached last week in the suit filed by Manuela Herzer, a former companion and romantic partner of Mr. Redstone.

Terms of that agreement included detailed plans for Mr. Redstones health care as well as a payment for Ms. Herzer that could reach into the tens of millions of dollars, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions. Any agreement requires the approval from a judge.

It also included a provision stipulating that Mr. Redstone, 92, was currently making his own health care decisions. At the point he is no longer able to do so, Mr. Redstones daughter, Shari, would take over supervision of his health care.
Headliner

LAppart This well-upholstered 28-seat enclave within Le District, the sprawl of markets and restaurants in Battery Park City, is designed to suggest an informal dinner party  hence the name, a shortening of the French for apartment. When guests enter, the headwaiter, George Thomas, whom you may recognize from his many years at Bouley, offers an aperitif or a glass of Champagne. Its like what happens when you go to someones home, he said. The room is fitted with an open kitchen where the chef, Nicolas Abello  who worked with Gerard Vie in France, Pierre Gagnaire in London and Daniel Boulud in New York  prepares a six-course French-accented tasting menu. (He has access to the more than 2,500 ingredients that Le District carries.) Jordi Valles, Le Districts culinary director, oversees the restaurant. There are options for expanding the number of courses and matching them with wines. (Opens April 20): Brookfield Place, 225 Liberty Street (West Street), 212-981-8577, lappartnyc.com.

Opening

Delivery Only Tearing a page from David Changs playbook, Tim Powell, a restaurant operator and troubleshooter, has established a kitchen in the financial district to prepare food for delivery in the neighborhood in less than an hour. Its another restaurant without a dining room, like Mr. Changs new venture, Ando. Mr. Powell will gradually expand his delivery area. The chef, Joseph Nierstedt, worked at avant-garde restaurants in Spain and England, but his menu features mostly comfort food like spicy chicken wings, meatballs in Sunday sauce, hot fried chicken, a center-cut pork chop and mac and cheese. Prices are also restaurant quality: $8 to $35 for main courses and $15 to $22 for sandwiches. (Friday): deliveryonly.nyc.

Desi Galli At its second location, this quick-serve eat-in or takeout Indian spot is introducing an Indian-style poutine made with fries, tikka masala gravy and paneer cheese devised by an owner, PriaVanda Chouhan, who is from Montreal. The rest of the menu of kathi rolls, snacks, sliders and a few rice dishes and curries mirrors the original in Curry Hill. (Monday): 172 Avenue B (11th Street) 212-475-3374, desigalli.com.

Fleishers Craft Butchery This butcher, which sells locally pasture-raised meat, will take over the former premises of Northern Spy Food Company for a weekend burger pop-up. There will be three choices of burgers made from grass-fed beef: with lettuce, tomato and onion; classic with cheese, onions, lettuce and sauce; and a bacon, egg and cheeseburger, $12 to $15. Kale salad, beef-fat fries and drinks round out the menu. For every burger sold, the company will donate six ounces of its beef to the nearby Trinity Lower East Side Lutheran Parish kitchen, which feeds the homeless. (Friday to Sunday only): 511 East 12th Street (Ave. A), fleishers.com.
On Monday, the fashion label Public School joined the club and announced it was uniting its mens and womens wear shows, just like Gucci, Tom Ford and Burberry, and moving them to December and June from the traditional womens dates of February and September, just like, well, nobody else.



It is also renaming them Collection 1 and Collection 2, just like no other brand. And while it will not sell clothes right after they are shown, the label will deliver to stores a month earlier than usual. Unlike anyone else.

Yes, fashion weeks are getting even messier and more confusing!

Especially because the brands reasons for making the move are not like anyone elses.

Although the current upheaval in the fashion system (I like to call it the Great Show Shake-Up, or G.S.S., as I feel there will be more such changes, so an acronym may come in handy) is largely attributed to consumer fatigue with seeing clothes six months before they hit stores (or thats what the Council of Fashion Designers of America said when it started this now out-of-control ball rolling), Public School has a different take on the matter.
The police returned to Mr. Campbells apartment on March 1, 2013, when he was not home and just days before he was to appear in court on the January charges. Cameras in the apartment captured footage of three men wearing jackets labeled N.Y.P.D. entering through an open door and collecting identification from more than half a dozen people who were there at the time.

What we consider before using anonymous sources. Do the sources know the information? Whats their motivation for telling us? Have they proved reliable in the past? Can we corroborate the information? Even with these questions satisfied, The Times uses anonymous sources as a last resort. The reporter and at least one editor know the identity of the source. Learn more about our process.

Eric Subin, the lawyer for Mr. Campbell, called the March 1 visit by Captain Espinoza, who was accompanied by Detective Matthew Zito and Officer Jonas Bazile, retaliatory.

Records show that Detective Zito was named in four federal lawsuits filed in 2013 and 2014 alleging civil rights violations unrelated to the visit to Mr. Campbells home. The city settled at least three of the suits for amounts that the Law Department would not disclose. Officer Bazile was named in three such suits from 2009 to 2011, records show. One suit was dismissed. The others were settled for damages of $20,000 and $100,000.

The Internal Affairs inquiry found that Brooklyn North narcotics officers had begun surveillance of Mr. Campbells apartment soon after his arrest, when an unnamed person said marijuana was being sold in his apartment. Those observations yielded negative results, records show.

Internal Affairs documents show that memo entries written by Officer Bazile and Detective Zito on March 1, 2013, made note of a smell of marijuana coming from Mr. Campbells apartment. Detective Zito wrote that he had seen marijuana cigars in plain view, but told investigators during an interview that he had only seen cigars commonly used for marijuana, according to records.

An Internal Affairs index sheet does not list interviews with Officer Bazile or Captain Espinoza. In December 2013, investigators closed the inquiry, writing that the investigation was unable to prove or disprove whether the officers had conducted an improper search.

Investigators with the Civilian Complaint Review Board obtained a record of the three officers written plans for March 1, 2013, which called for them only to conduct vice enforcement at social clubs and nightclubs that evening.
Lawyers for John Giuca, a Brooklyn man convicted more than a decade ago of murdering a 19-year-old college student, continued their assault against the verdict on Tuesday, filing papers that  again  claim prosecutors withheld important evidence and misled jurors at his trial.

Mr. Giuca, now 32, was convicted in 2005 of taking part in the fatal shooting of Mark S. Fisher, a Fairfield University sophomore who died on Oct. 12, 2003, after a night of drinking on the Upper East Side.

Back from college for the weekend and without enough cab fare to get home to the suburbs in New Jersey, Mr. Fisher found himself, as night turned into morning, at Mr. Giucas house in Prospect Park South, with a group of people he did not know. As the sun came up, the police found Mr. Fishers body, wrapped in a blanket, a few blocks from the house.

At the closely watched trial, prosecutors from the Brooklyn district attorneys office argued that Mr. Giuca and a friend, Antonio Russo, were members of a fledgling gang called the Ghetto Mafia who went after Mr. Fisher to gain street credibility. They said that Mr. Giuca was jealous over a woman Mr. Fisher had been flirting with and was angry at him for drunkenly sitting on his parents table. Separate juries found Mr. Giuca and Mr. Russo guilty, and both were sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
In the past few weeks, there has been a lot of talk around the Brooklyn courts about what Justice Danny K. Chun will do when he takes the bench on Thursday to sentence Peter Liang, the former police officer convicted two months ago in the fatal shooting of Akai Gurley in a housing project stairwell.

Some lawyers say Justice Chun, 54, of State Supreme Court is likely to follow the Solomonic path cleared for him by Ken Thompson, the Brooklyn district attorney, who pursued Mr. Liang on manslaughter charges but then softened the conviction by suggesting in a letter last month that he face no time in prison. Others say that Justice Chun has no choice but to jail Mr. Liang, and that even a brief prison term would send a tough message compared with Mr. Thompsons recommendation.

But in the fractious world of the Brooklyn bar, where seven lawyers might have eight opinions, there seemed to be agreement on one issue: that Justice Chun was singularly suited to render a decision in the complicated case.

Hes a very contemplative, thoughtful and diligent judge  no-nonsense in his demeanor, said Michael Farkas, the president of the Kings County Criminal Bar Association, which is honoring Justice Chun at a gala on Saturday. There are some highly emotional feelings about this case, as everybody knows. But bottom line: I know for a fact that he will do the right thing as he sees fit.
It hasnt quite worked that way. Several other political players with strong followings in the Parliament  including influential Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis  are opposed. Ammar al-Hakim, the leader of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, a powerful Shiite party, suggested that if the cabinet was unaffiliated with any political party, the prime minister should be, too  meaning Mr. Abadi, who belongs to the Dawa Party, should resign. A Kurdish geologist who was nominated for the position of oil minister quickly withdrew his name because, he said, it had not been put forward by any of the Kurdish parties. A respected Shiite technocrat who was nominated for the finance and planning portfolios has withdrawn his candidacy, too.

The positions of two internal and two external parties will be crucial in deciding what comes next.

Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, the former prime minister, still retains power in Iraqi politics and could spoil the cabinet process. But some diplomats and politicians close to the scene believe that even if he was displeased with some of the names put forward, he was generally happy with the proposed cabinet because it keeps the prime ministers office in the hands of his party and excludes those who he believes were responsible for planning his ouster in August 2014. Ayatollah Sistani will be the other key player. His endorsement for a reformist cabinet would carry a great deal of weight, and his opposition would be a death blow.

The Iranians, who usually act as brokers between Shiite groups, have generally been skeptical of Mr. Abadi, whom they regard as too close to the United States. However, Iran has recently opposed unseating the prime minister, perhaps fearing that prolonged negotiations over his succession could drive Shiite parties further apart and divert diplomatic and security resources away from the fight against the Islamic State. Iran might also realize that lasting success against the jihadist group requires addressing Iraqi Sunnis concerns rather than encouraging sectarianism.

The United States has also played an influential role in facilitating agreements among Iraqis in recent years. The United States has had a good working relationship with Mr. Abadi, as Secretary of State John Kerrys visit to Baghdad last week affirmed. But officials in Washington are, like their Iranian counterparts, concerned that a political crisis in Baghdad could delay the campaign to retake Mosul from the Islamic State. The political crisis could also derail efforts by the Iraqis to deal with their financial problems.

The ideal outcome would be the quick selection of a full cabinet that is independent of the political parties. This is politically unachievable right now. In the meantime, the United States and Iran can help Iraq avert a crisis by encouraging Iraqi leaders to give Mr. Abadi some  but not all  of the government changes he seeks. The rest would have to be traded for the crucial buy-in of the political parties. One way to do this would be an agreement to have Mr. Abadi nominate half of the candidates for the 14 portfolios he intends to change, and allowing the major parties to nominate the other half. Such a development would still represent progress on reform.
As a conservative, Im concerned about the often misinterpreted (and sometimes misrepresented) notion of the primacy of conscience. It must be emphasized that conscience has to be properly formed by church teachings.

At the same time, I welcome the documents emphasis on Gods mercy, as well as its reiteration of Catholic doctrine  albeit in a more subtle, Francis-like fashion.

MATT C. ABBOTT

Chicago

The writer is a Catholic commentator for RenewAmerica.com.

To the Editor:

Re The New Catholic Truce, by Ross Douthat (column, April 10):

As a lifelong Catholic, Ive been involved in many an argument between liberal and conservative Catholics. I agree with Mr. Douthat in the sense that this growing rethinking of teachings to fit the times could possibly loosen the integrity of the religion, but it is important to realize that when new issues arise in contemporary life, religion needs to reflect that, just as the people do.

Mr. Douthat seems to embrace a stricter set of guidelines and rules in Catholicism, so a concern about the loss of tradition and uniformity is understandable. But for a religion and a community to thrive, it must consider new ideas and trends in its teaching, in a way that doesnt just rely on tradition.

ANGELA BONOKOLLIE

Chicago

To the Editor:

Ross Douthat writes that there is still a formal teaching that remarriage without an annulment is adultery, that adultery is a mortal sin. But in Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love), Pope Francis writes:

One thing must always be taken into account, lest anyone think that the demands of the Gospel are in any way being compromised. The church possesses a solid body of reflection concerning mitigating factors and situations. Hence it can no longer simply be said that all those in any irregular situation are living in a state of mortal sin and are deprived of sanctifying grace.
To the Editor:

The Race to Run the United Nations (editorial, April 10) asserts that for the last 70 years each time the post of secretary general of the United Nations has been open, those interested in the job lobbied and cajoled the five permanent members of the Security Council behind closed doors.

In fact, there have been at least two cases in which the people selected for the position by the Security Council and approved by the General Assembly did not campaign for the position.

Dag Hammarskjold of Sweden (1953-61) famously did not know that he was even being considered and learned that the Council had chosen him after it had decided to recommend him.

Javier Perez de Cuellar of Peru (1982-91) stayed away from New York during the 1981 lobbying season precisely to avoid giving the impression that he was seeking the job. Moreover, he made clear from the outset that he didnt want a second term  he had to be lobbied and cajoled by the permanent members into accepting it, and went on to play a still largely unsung role in the winding down of the Cold War.
SAN FRANCISCO  To browse for a pair of brown loafers on Facebook Messenger, you can now text a message to the service to begin a conversation with the mobile shopping start-up Spring. Spring will ask you for a preferred price range for the shoes and show a smattering of what it thinks you might like. If the selection elicits yawns, Spring will try some different options.

The experience is akin to chatting with a friend, the one whose taste you always trust while youre shopping, said Alan Tisch, chief executive of Spring.

Theres just one thing: The entity on the other end talking to you and helping you choose the shoes is not human. It is a chatbot, a relatively simple piece of software that uses artificial intelligence to carry on a conversation.

While chatbots have been around for some time  think of SmarterChild, the friendly buddy that was popular on AOL Instant Messenger more than a decade ago  companies are now increasingly betting that a grand bot resurgence is coming, one that will change the way people interact with their most beloved brands.
The event to watch in Silicon Valley this week is Facebooks annual developer conference, which starts on Tuesday.

Thats when Mark Zuckerberg, Facebooks chief executive, talks to the techie faithful about his plans for the worlds biggest social network. Last year, Mr. Zuckerberg explained how the company was opening the code to Facebook Messenger, its mobile messaging app, so other companies could build atop what its already doing. Facebook also unveiled Aquila, a V-shaped unmanned vehicle, which would help it provide web access around the world.

This year, expect similar themes. Facebook is again expected to talk about Messenger, as well as its live video effort, Facebook Live, among other topics.

Its unclear if drones will be on the program. But the machines and their ilk are on the agenda at another event this week, at a United Nations meeting on autonomous weapons in Geneva, writes John Markoff.
As a onetime child actor who has lived much of his life in the public eye, Daniel Radcliffe knows a thing or two about privacy.

And now he has agreed to star in a new Off Broadway play, called Privacy, about the implications of technology for personal information.

The play was inspired by revelations about government surveillance described in documents leaked by Edward Snowden, and was written by James Graham, who previously wrote the book for the Broadway musical Finding Neverland. Mr. Graham and Josie Rourke, the artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse in London, conducted interviews with British politicians, historians and journalists to incorporate into a production of the play at the Donmar in 2014; they have been conducting similar interviews with American experts as they create a new version for the Public. The play integrates re-enactments of the interviews with some audience participation (patrons are urged to keep their phones on).

The production of Privacy at the Public, directed by Ms. Rourke, is the first collaboration between the Donmar, which is one of the most acclaimed theaters in London, and the Public, which holds a similar place in the American theater world.
My wife and I both work. When one of our children wakes up complaining of a sore throat, we could begin a ritual stare-down to determine which of us is going to have to wait for the doctors office to open, make the phone call, wait on hold, schedule an appointment (which will inevitably be in the middle of the day), take off work, pick up the child from school, sit in the waiting room (surrounded by other sick children), get the rapid strep test, find out if the child is infected and then go to the pharmacy or back to school, before returning to work.

Or, one of us could just take the child to a retail clinic on the way to work and be done in 30 minutes. Strep throat is incredibly easy to treat (Penicillin still works great!). Theres a simple and very fast test for it. Moreover, physicians are really bad at diagnosing some of these common illnesses clinically; a study found that a doctors guess as to whether a respiratory infection is bacterial or viral is right about 50 percent of the time  no better than flipping a coin. The point is, you need to get the rapid strep test every time regardless, whether at your doctors office or at a clinic.

Aimee and I choose the retail clinic every time.

Why? Convenience is the biggest reason. Many doctors offices are open only on weekdays and during business hours. This also happens to be when most adults work and when children attend school. A 2010 survey of 11 countries found that Americans seek out after-hours care or care in a hospitals emergency room more often than citizens of almost any other industrialized nation. More than two-thirds of Americans with a below-average income did so. But this isnt just a problem for the poor. About 55 percent of those with an above-average income did so as well.

We complain all the time that people use the emergency room for primary care. But thats not always about lack of insurance. Its about access. The emergency room is open when people can actually go. Emergency room use has gone up, not down, since the passage of the Affordable Care Act. More people have insurance, and now can afford care when they need it.
Brandon Terry, a Baltimore native, Harvard professor and friend of DeRays, said that whats most troubling is not necessarily that DeRays candidacy has had trouble catching on, but that his ideas have not bubbled to the surface of the mayoral debate.

STOLBERG I just had an interesting conversation with Tawanda Jones, whose brother, Tyrone West, died in 2013 after a struggle with the Baltimore police. She and other activists pushed lawmakers in Annapolis to adopt legislation requiring citizen participation in police review boards, as part of a package of broad reforms. (A bill allowing, but not requiring, citizen involvement passed Monday night; it will make sweeping changes to the ways police officers are trained and hired.)

She likes DeRay. She says hes talking about issues like accountability and police brutality, where the other candidates kind of tiptoe around the subject. But like a lot of people in Baltimore, she says the race will come down to Sheila Dixon, the former mayor whose tenure ended in scandal, and Catherine Pugh, the state senator, who are both part of the citys African-American political establishment. Two other candidates to watch: Elizabeth Embry, a lawyer and former deputy states attorney, whose father is a former school board chairman, and David Warnock, a prominent businessman. Both are white in a city thats two-thirds black.

ELIGON One thing Black Lives Matter activists around the country are hoping for is to highlight their legislative pushes, like what happened in Annapolis. Too often, they feel as though they are looked at as a disorganized bunch of rabble-rousers. But they continue reminding anyone who will listen that the movement is still young and still solidifying its goals and strategies.

In the meantime, however, they have taken concrete steps toward change. Look no further than Anita Alvarez, the former prosecutor in Cook County, Ill., who was widely criticized for her slow response in the fatal police shooting of Laquan McDonald in Chicago. Ms. Alvarez lost her re-election bid, thanks in no small part to the loud disruptions and protesting of activists  the very things that they are criticized for. In this case, at least, that supposed rabble-rousing did effect change.

For many in the activist community, Mr. Grays death is one of the prime examples of the need for reforming the police culture. What if just one officer had taken seriously his pleas for medical help, Allen Kwabena Frimpong, a New York activist, asked me.
HEMPSTEAD, Tex.  A panel reviewing the Texas jail where a 28-year-old black woman, Sandra Bland, was found dead three days after being arrested in July has called for major changes in the treatment and medical screening of inmates.

Presently, deputies screen arrestees for mental and medical problems, but this is not an accurate or efficient process, said a report by an independent committee charged with investigating practices and policies at the facility, the Waller County jail. Deputies do not possess the training or expertise to evaluate the medical and mental health needs of inmates.

Lingering questions after Ms. Blands death, which was ruled a suicide, focused on medical information on a booking form as she was being processed into the jail after a confrontational traffic stop. Ms. Bland responded yes on the form when asked whether she had ever attempted suicide, and told jailers that she was taking medication for epilepsy.

Committee members called for new policies requiring medical specialists to conduct medical and mental screening, and said deputies might not be qualified to deal with such issues.
WASHINGTON  It was a balance-of-power breakfast.

Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, hosted Judge Merrick B. Garland, President Obamas nominee for the Supreme Court, in the Senate dining room on Tuesday morning. Yogurt parfait was not the point. But what was? Almost all Senate Republicans have made clear they will not consider any Supreme Court nomination as long as Mr. Obama is president.

But while the outcome for Mr. Garland may be preordained, at least for this year, the resolution of the political fight over the court vacancy is far from certain. And the stakes, for the presidential election and for control of Congress, could not be higher.

Mr. Grassley, who is up for re-election and has the power as Judiciary Committee chairman to convene confirmation hearings, has come under pressure in Washington and Iowa for refusing to do so.

With that in mind, perhaps Mr. Grassley, for the benefit of voters back home, hoped to appear to be doing something  at least showing Judge Garland the courtesy of breakfast at the Capitol  when he was actually doing nothing.
DAKAR, Senegal  As it torments West Africa, Boko Haram is increasingly turning to children to carry out its crimes.

One of every five suicide bombers deployed by Boko Haram in the past two years has been a child, usually a girl, according to a report released Tuesday by Unicef.

Boko Haram used 44 children in suicide attacks last year, compared with only four in 2014, the report found.

The youngest bomber so far was thought to be 8 years old.

The report seeks to quantify one of the most chilling elements of Boko Haram, an Islamist extremist group that has assaulted the Lake Chad region of Africa for years with thievery, beheadings, kidnappings and the torching of entire villages. The group has killed thousands of people and caused a food crisis, leaving the area hungry and in tatters.
NAIROBI, Kenya  Apparently there is no brotherly love among East Africas Islamist militants.

This past week, a new militant group called Jahba East Africa, or the East African Front, which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, publicly insulted the Shabab, the top militants in the region.

Al Shabab has now become a psychological and physical prison, the East African Front said. It went on, in a letter written in English and published on Twitter, to complain that the Shabab was wrongly purging Kenyans, Tanzanians and Ugandans.

Sadly, the letter said, Al Shabab has forgotten the resolved need to work for the establishment of the rule of Allah.

The Shabab, who have terrorized Somalia for years, have not offered a response directly. Emails sent to the groups press office went unanswered.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia  Andy Guo, an 18-year-old Chinese immigrant, loves driving his red Lamborghini Huracan. He does not love having to share the car with his twin brother, Anky.

Theres a lot of conflict, Mr. Guo said, as a crowd of admirers gazed at the vehicle and its vanity license plate, CTGRY 5, short for the most catastrophic type of hurricane.

The 360,000-Canadian-dollar car was a gift last year from their father, who travels back and forth between Vancouver and Chinas northern Shanxi Province and made his fortune in coal, said Mr. Guo, an economics major at the University of British Columbia.

The car is more fashion than function. I have a backpack, textbooks and laundry, but I cant fit everything inside, he lamented. And that is not the worst of it. A cop once pulled me over just to look at the car, he said.
HONG KONG  The Chinese governments top lawyer in Hong Kong said on Tuesday that British colonial legislation could be used to prosecute those advocating that the territory secede from China, but he also said that mainland Chinese security agencies have no authority to detain suspects in Hong Kong.

Only a handful of young democracy activists in Hong Kong have begun calling for the semiautonomous Chinese territory to declare independence and separate itself politically from the mainland. Their position represents the unexpected emergence of a splinter group in a Hong Kong democracy movement that until very recently had positioned itself as seeking a democratic but unified China.

Britain ruled Hong Kong as a colony for 156 years, until 1997, and many colonial statutes remain on the books, including legislation defining severe criminal penalties for acts such as treason and sedition. Wang Zhenmin, the director general of the law department at Beijings powerful Central Liaison Office in Hong Kong, said that these laws remained in force and could be used against independence advocates.

This is still the law in Hong Kong, and this law was made by the British government a long time ago and been applied in 1946 and the 1950s, 1960s, Mr. Wang said. The colonial authorities used the legislation in 1946 against residents accused of having collaborated with the Japanese occupation during World War II. The authorities also used the laws against pro-Chinese protesters, including admirers of Maos Cultural Revolution, into the late 1960s.
Mr. Chacko said the High Court of Kerala on Tuesday issued an order banning noise-generating fireworks at places of worship between sunset and sunrise and outlawing the use of heavy-duty explosives during fireworks displays.

Mr. Chandy has set a meeting of state leaders for Thursday to discuss a possible ban on fireworks at temples throughout Kerala, Mr. Chacko said.

Fireworks displays are common at temple festivals throughout India, and they have grown increasingly loud and lavish as temples have competed to outdo one another. The Puttingal temple was denied permission to hold its annual fireworks display this year after residents raised safety concerns, but it went ahead anyway, Mr. Chacko said on Tuesday.

Image The Puttingal temple complex in Paravoor, on Monday, the day after fireworks explosions leveled several buildings. Credit... Aijaz Rahi/Associated Press

Actually, we have a tradition, part of culture and belief, of having fireworks in temples during festivities, but there are also rules and regulations that have to be followed, which were completely ignored in Puttingal, he said. Mostly because of pressure from locals, these rules are ignored in some places.
SEOUL, South Korea  North Korea on Tuesday accused South Korea of kidnapping 13 of its citizens who had been working in a restaurant in China, and it demanded their repatriation.

The response was the first by North Korea to a highly unusual group defection last week. The 13 North Koreans were the largest single group to defect to South Korea during Kim Jong-uns reign. Mr. Kim has been trying to stem the flow of North Koreans fleeing to the South.

South Korea welcomed the restaurant workers defection last week as a major coup and quickly dismissed North Koreas demand that they be returned.

South Korean officials said that United Nations sanctions were squeezing the revenues of restaurants and other enterprises that North Korea operates abroad to earn badly needed cash. North Korean trade officials, diplomats and workers abroad are finding it increasingly hard to meet the government-set goals in earning foreign currency, the officials said, and some are tempted to defect rather than be recalled home for punishment.
China, which claims most of the South China Sea, has also insisted that any conflicts there should be resolved by countries in the region, not outside powers.

The Philippines has been a strategic partner with the United States since World War II, and it is one of the oldest American allies in Asia. For decades, it hosted major American military bases at Subic Bay and Clark Air Base.

But in a wave of nationalist sentiment, Philippine lawmakers ejected the American military from the country in 1991. Years of strained military relations followed, though the two countries have come together in recent years over concerns about Chinas claims in the South China Sea, which encompass more than 80 percent of the 200-mile exclusive economic zone of the Philippines in waters that Filipinos call the West Philippine Sea.

Mr. Carter said last week that the United States would also provide about $40 million in military aid to the Philippines to be used in part to improve the countrys patrol vessels, as well as to operate unmanned surveillance blimps that can watch over the islands controlled by the Philippines in the South China Sea.

China says it is entitled to shoals and islets also claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam, as well as much of what the Philippines says is its exclusive economic zone. Beijing has asserted its right to these areas in part by reclaiming land and building fortified artificial islands with military facilities.

The Philippines has sought international arbitration in the dispute, which could yield a decision soon. But China claims indisputable sovereignty over the territory, and rejects arbitration as a political provocation in the guise of law, Lu Kang, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said Tuesday.
NAIROBI, Kenya  Usually prisoners want to get out of jail. But on Tuesday, a group of Taiwanese citizens did all they could to stay in  barricading themselves in a small cell as Kenyan police officers tried to storm in with assault rifles.

The officers succeeded, however, in dragging the prisoners out  Taiwanese officials say after using tear gas, which Kenyan officials deny  and put them on a plane not for home, but for mainland China.

A video circulating on the Internet of the encounter shows a group of young men bracing themselves against a prison door to try to keep the Kenyan officers out. Sir! We are Taiwan people, Taiwan people! one of them yells.

The episode outraged Taiwanese officials, who accused Kenya of violating international law and trying to curry favor with China, which views the self-governed island as part of its territory.
Taiwans military denied any involvement on Tuesday in the case of a United States naval officer under investigation on suspicion of providing secret information to Taiwan or China.

The Navy is weighing charges of espionage against the officer, a naturalized American citizen born in Taiwan. Investigators believe that the officer, Lt. Cmdr. Edward C. Lin, 39, may have given secret information to a Chinese girlfriend. He is also accused of visiting a prostitute, infidelity, not disclosing foreign travel and lying to investigators.

Maj. Gen. David Lo, a spokesman for Taiwans Ministry of Defense, said that American investigators had not contacted Taiwan and that he was unfamiliar with the details of the case. But in a news conference on Tuesday, he denied that Taiwan would have pursued such spying.

We have absolutely never used or exploited current or former U.S. military personnel to help with any intelligence gathering, General Lo said.
The two men were identified as Smail F., born in 1984, and Ibrahim F., born in 1988, and there were indications that both were connected to the rental of an apartment in Etterbeek, a district of Brussels, used by at least two of the five people thought to have been directly involved in the March 22 attacks at Brussels Airport and a subway station, the prosecutors statement said.

The two were charged on Monday with participation in the activities of a terrorist group, terrorist murder and attempted terrorist murder either as perpetrators or accomplices, the prosecutor said, but the extent of their involvement in the plot was unclear. The Brussels assaults in March killed 32 people, along with three of the attackers.
BRUSSELS  European Union authorities discussed a provocative proposal Tuesday to require that United States and Canadian citizens obtain visas to travel to Europe, but they delayed a decision on the matter until summer.

In a measure of the delicate nature of the topic for trans-Atlantic relations, the European Commission, the European Unions executive arm, set a July 12 deadline for the European Parliament and the blocs 28 member governments to offer advice on next steps.

After that deadline, the commission could start the process of imposing visa requirements for Americans and Canadians. But any change would not go into effect immediately, because a majority of governments, and the European Parliament, would have six months to block the move.

E.U. citizens rightly expect to travel without a visa to any third country whose citizens can enter the Schengen area visa-free, Dimitris Avramopoulos, the European commissioner for citizenship and migration, said after the meeting in Strasbourg, France.
GENEVA  The Swiss authorities said on Tuesday that they had started a criminal investigation into two officials in charge of a sovereign wealth fund in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, as part of an inquiry into the financial transactions of the troubled Malaysian state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad.

The attorney generals office in Switzerland said in a statement that it had widened its corruption investigation into the Malaysian fund, also known as 1MDB, to include the two Emirati officials over an apparent misappropriation of payments. The officials were being investigated for fraud, criminal mismanagement, money laundering, bribery and forgery, the attorney generals office said. The statement left them unnamed, following normal practice for such investigations.

The disclosure adds another twist to a scandal that has rocked the government of the Malaysian prime minister, Najib Razak, who is also the countrys finance minister and the chairman of 1MDBs advisory board, and that has bruised relations between Malaysia and Switzerland.

The Swiss attorney generals office said it was looking into payments related to a guarantee that Abu Dhabi had provided for a series of bonds issued by 1MDB-related companies to finance electric power plants. The office added that it had asked Luxembourg and Singapore to assist its inquiries.
BEIRUT, Lebanon  A bitter custody dispute between an Australian mother and a Lebanese father. A crew of sympathetic Australian television journalists. A grandmother who was clubbed on the head as the children were put into an S.U.V. that sped off.

Such were the ingredients in a bizarre transnational episode that resulted on Tuesday with criminal charges against nine people: the mother, the four members of the TV crew and two British and two Lebanese citizens, all accused of taking part in what prosecutors called an elaborate kidnapping plot.

The charges, in what is still a murky case, stemmed from what appeared to be an all-too common dispute between divorced or divorcing couples living on separate continents: In this case, Sally Faulkner of Brisbane, Australia, and her estranged husband, Ali al-Amin, a surfing instructor who lives south of Beirut, the Lebanese capital.

The two children  a girl, 6, and her brother, 4  were waiting with their grandmother for a school bus in Hadath, a southern suburb of Beirut, last Wednesday when three armed persons in a silver Hyundai S.U.V. scooped them up, according to Lebanons National News Agency.
The fashion industry has long embraced graffiti artists who accentuated brands while furthering their careers: Futura; Brian Donnelly (known as KAWS) and Lady Aiko among them. On the back wall of Mr. De Feos downtown studio one recent afternoon, the artist hung a Christian Dior handbag advertisement he had taken from an uptown bus shelter hours earlier. His wife, Lia, an eager scout, had seen it days earlier and had taken a photograph. Mr. De Feo studied the lollipop-red bag, oblivious to a freckle-faced Jennifer Lawrence clutching it to her chest.

What Im doing is kind of this balance between working with the ad in a way, but also fighting against it and subverting it, he said. Sometimes he is attracted to a model, he said. Other times it is the overall composition. In this case, it was the cherry bag.

About a dozen paper cups filled with acrylic paint were arranged on a stool. He dipped his brush into a cup of grass green, and sketched a blossom on the lapel of Ms. Lawrences white jacket. He painted another one, switching next to blue, then light caramel, until the actress was consumed in a festive bouquet. I dont want to annihilate the ad, he said. It results in a better dialogue when you approach something gently or with whimsy.

Mr. De Feo has installed his handiwork at bus stops in Midtown, on the East Side and in the meatpacking district. His first was a Christian Dior ad with Natalie Portman covered in an oversize posy of black and pink on Second Avenue. (Christian Dior executives did not return an email seeking comment.) He took it down, though, after the shelters light didnt illuminate the image properly at night.
If any of this sounds familiar, its because youve seen it before. The oracles are straight out of Steven Spielbergs movie version of the Philip K. Dick story The Minority Report, and Roses crawl through the ventilation shafts is straight out of Die Hard. The similarities are entirely deliberate, and Gonzales faces them head-on. Unaware that Rose is already using the ventilation system, Sarah considers her only option to Die Hard it John McClane style. The oracles prognosticate in the time-honored manner of oracles littered all over B movies and pulp science-fiction and fantasy novels. Littered though it may be with interdimensional time-traveling villains and assassins, the world of the Regional Office is also well stocked with multiplex blockbusters, aging orange iMacs and turtle-shaped kiddie pools. When Oyemis mysterious accident happens, shes on her way home from Ikea.

This is our world, pop culture and all. When Rose arrives for training at what she thinks of as assassin school, she frames her surroundings in terms of films shes seen: Will she find herself under the tutelage of a goofy but ultimately wise teacher, as in The Karate Kid, or will she butt heads with her bunkmates, a la The Parent Trap? Sarah, during her own training, does indeed clash with one of her comrades, and she has seen enough movies, read enough Gossip Girl novels to know that sooner or later, she and Jasmine would lock horns again. Supernaturally powerful though they may be, these characters, like us, are constantly searching for their role in the world: the place where they fit in. The stories they know are the stories we know.

Like Gonzaless 2013 story collection, The Miniature Wife, The Regional Office Is Under Attack! is primarily concerned not with the action-packed events at the surface but with the greater question of human alienation, through talent, technology or a combination of the two. Neither Rose nor Sarah is entirely comfortable with her skills, or the life those skills lead her toward living. Also like The Miniature Wife  where stories like The Disappearance of the Sebali Tribe and The Artists Voice adopted the tone and style of magazine journalism, as leisurely and thoughtful as any reported article from The Atlantic or The New Yorker  The Regional Office Is Under Attack! relies heavily on invented history. In this case, its a series of interstitial chapters from a theoretical study of the Regional Office (The Regional Office Is Under Attack: Tracking the Rise and Fall of an American Institution). Even within its boundaries, we are never allowed to forget that histories, too, are just another kind of story: The fictional history admits regularly that some events are unknowable, and often offers multiple versions of the same event, giving no clues as to which is true. Gonzaless prose is crisp, but fittingly looping and parenthetical, often doubling back on itself to offer a slightly different interpretation. The point here seems to be that there is no such thing as a simple story, because all stories are about humans, and no human is entirely knowable.

This is high-concept stuff, and opportunities get lost in the shuffle. Some of Gonzaless early conflicts fizzle into nothing, like Roses crush on her recruiter, Henry, which occupies many early chapters before evaporating into the ether. This might be true to life, but it feels distractingly aimless in fiction. The assassin teams themselves  aside from Rose and Sarah  are too often relegated to mere set dressing: Most of the decisions about these womens lives are made by the male characters in the book, which seems to bother none of them, and the few gestures we get toward their inner lives dont go very far toward countering the unsurprising words used to describe the girls (beautiful, striking, bigger than life). Obviously, if books were long enough to fully explore every character, none of us would live long enough to finish more than one. The beautiful but deadly female assassin, however, is just as much an action-film standard as the crawl through the ventilation shafts, and in a book that spends so much time skillfully dismantling cliches to see what makes them tick, it would have been fun to see this one turned inside out, too.
At my day job as an editor at a womens website, I receive a daily mess of emails promoting random products and activities as empowering. Recent offerings include the Pure Barre workout, divorce, Miley Cyrus, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ancient Egyptian sex rites, leggings, sending nude photos, receiving nude photos, declining to send or receive nude photos, doing stand-up comedy and purchasing full-bottomed lingerie. The mix of things presumed to transmit and increase female power is without limit yet still depressingly limiting.

Empowerment wasnt always so trivialized, or so corporate, or even so clamorously attached to women. Four decades ago, the word had much more in common with Latin American liberation theology than it did with Lean In. In 1968, the Brazilian academic Paulo Freire coined the word conscientization, empowerments precursor, as the process by which an oppressed person perceives the structural conditions of his oppression and is subsequently able to take action against his oppressors.

Eight years later, the educator Barbara Bryant Solomon, writing about American black communities, gave this notion a new name, empowerment. It was meant as an ethos for social workers in marginalized communities, to discourage paternalism and encourage their clients to solve problems in their own ways. Then in 1981, Julian Rappaport, a psychologist, broadened the concept into a political theory of power that viewed personal competency as fundamentally limitless; it placed faith in the individual and laid at her feet a corresponding amount of responsibility too.

Sneakily, empowerment had turned into a theory that applied to the needy while describing a process more realistically applicable to the rich. The word was built on a misaligned foundation; no amount of awareness can change the fact that its the already-powerful who tend to experience empowerment at any meaningful rate. Today empowerment invokes power while signifying the lack of it. It functions like an explorer staking a claim on new territory with a white flag.
We were shocked and saddened at the death Friday of Chapman University economist Esmael Adibi. Just the day before, we called him for his sage perspective about the states new minimum wage law. His office told us he was sick but would be back in a couple of weeks.

Mr. Adibi shared our views on free-market economics. He warned of how excessive government intervention, through taxation and regulation, kills business and jobs and reduces growth. But, more than sharing his perspective, he was a great friend to this editorial page and always was accessible. Even when he attended economics conferences outside California, we could call his cellphone and get a quote in time for our deadline.

Mr. Adibi well knew the value of freedom. A native of Iran, he enrolled at Chapman University in 1974 to study economics. As the Register reported, He earned an MBA from Chapman while studying for his masters in economics at Cal State Fullerton and later a Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate University.  Adibi joined the Chapman faculty in 1978 and became the director of the A. Gary Anderson Center for Economic Research in 1985.

He planned on returning to Iran until the Ayatollah Khomeinis revolution in 1979, plunging the country into tyranny. Fortunately, Mr. Adibi prospered in his new country, which welcomed him.

Mr. Adibi is best-known in Orange County for presenting, with Chapman President Jim Doti, the schools annual economic forecast and June update. We remember when the update was presented in a small Chapman conference room. Since then, it grew so much that the forecast now is given in Segerstrom Center.

The forecast is one of the most accurate in the country on economic growth and unemployment. Its so well attended because it gives local business and community leaders information that affects their budgets. Decembers forecast projected about 3 percent growth this year. When the stock market crashed in January, we called the professor. He stuck with his forecast, and, sure enough, the market has recovered.

Farewell, good friend.
COLUMBIA, S.C.  A white South Carolina police officer who was charged with a felony for shooting and killing a black driver at the end of a chase took a plea deal Monday and was sentenced to three years of probation.

Justin Craven, 27, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor misconduct in office, multiple media outlets reported. A prosecutor wanted the North Augusta police officer charged with voluntary manslaughter, which carries up to 30 years in prison, but a grand jury refused to indict Craven. He was later charged with a different felony.

Cravens plea comes amid a nationwide debate over the use of force and how white police officers treat black people, fueled by high-profile incidents including the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and Freddie Grays death after he was injured in a Baltimore police van.

The death of 68-year-old Ernest Satterwhite was captured on video from Cravens dashboard camera. The Associated Press requested the footage nearly two years ago and eventually sued the State Law Enforcement Division, which refused to release the video until after Cravens plea Monday.

The footage shows Craven run to Satterwhites car after the man stops at his home and stick a gun and both arms into the drivers open window. A black arm is seen pushing back, and Craven pulls the weapon out of the window and fires several shots.

Craven feared for his life because Satterwhite was trying to grab his gun, Cravens lawyer Jack Swerling said after the plea hearing.

His mistake in judgment was approaching the car and getting too close. He had to make a split-second decision instead of like now, when everyone gets all the time they want to analyze it, Swerling said.

Police experts recommend officers dont charge into an unknown situation but instead stay behind cover in case a suspect is armed. No weapon was found in Satterwhites car. Others who have seen the video think Satterwhite might have been stunned that the officer pointed his gun at his head and just was swiping his arm in surprise.

What he did was murder this man, and the judicial system just let him get away with it, said state Rep. Joe Neal, a black Democrat from Hopkins who saw the video and has spent decades speaking out against racism in law enforcement and demanding accountability through data and police cameras.

A lawyer for Satterwhites family did not return a phone call. North Augusta paid the family nearly $1.2 million to settle a lawsuit.

The shooting happened after a 13-minute chase after Craven tried to pull Satterwhite over for drunken driving, chasing him from North Augusta all the way to Satterwhites home on a dirt road in adjoining Edgefield County. Satterwhite drives through a Wal-Mart parking lot and is seen swerving at times into oncoming traffic and off the side of the road. He hits at least two cars, although no other injuries were reported.

Swerling said the chase did reach 100 mph at one point and Satterwhites erratic driving was placing people at risk. State police said Satterwhite had a blood-alcohol level of 0.15 percent  nearly twice the legal limit to drive.

Police records show Satterwhite had been arrested more than a dozen times on traffic violations during his life, including three times for fleeing police. However, there is no evidence he ever physically fought with officers.

Judge Frank Addy told Craven he was giving the officer probation because he could understand how the shooting happened after a long chase, the Aiken Standard reported.

Addy said the shooting wasnt similar to other high-profile police killings like in North Charleston, where white officer Michael Slager is awaiting trial on a murder charge for killing an unarmed black man as he ran away from a traffic stop.

Neal said the video shows him a gun happy officer. He runs up and opens fire. How is that different from North Charleston? It is exactly the same thing, Neal said.

Prosecutor Donnie Myers, himself facing a driving under the influence charge, got a different grand jury to indict Craven on a felony charge of discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle. If convicted of that charge, Craven could have faced up to 10 years in prison. Instead, Myers accepted the plea deal to a misdemeanor that carries a maximum sentence of a year in jail. He did not return a message from The Associated Press.

Swerling said Craven regrets that Satterwhite died in the shooting and has no plans to be a police officer again.
A convicted murderer serving 26 years to life for killing his 11-year-old niece as she slept attacked corrections officers at a prison in San Diego County on Monday, state prison officials said.

William Dawes, 38, who is housed at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility, ran up and struck a corrections captain on the back of his head with a large concrete rock at 9:25 a.m., said Terry Thornton, spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections.

An officer who responded was hit in the face with a rock. That officer was able to get Dawes onto the ground, where Dawes was subdued by other officers.

The two injured officers were treated at an outside hospital and released. The captain had a head injury, and the second officer suffered face and head injuries. A third officer was treated at the prison for minor injuries. All are expected to recover.

Dawes was treated for minor injuries by prison medical staff and taken to a segregation unit.

Charges have not been filed pending an investigation, Thornton said.

Dawes, who lived in Laguna Niguel, was convicted of repeatedly stabbing Sonia Dawes with a 10-inch knife on Sept. 21, 2005. Witnesses testified that the girl was stabbed 35 times.

Police found Dawes walking alone in Irvine two hours after the girls body was found in a pool of blood by her grandmother. He claimed he heard a voice from heaven ordering him to kill the girl, but a jury determined he was sane at the time of the crime.

Prosecutors said Dawes had a heated phone call with Lauren Dawes, his sister and the girls mother, before the attack. He has been at the prison since December 2008, according to a statement from the corrections department.

The prison houses about 3,200 male inmates, the state said.

Contact the writer: 714-796-2478 or lcasiano@ocregister.com
WASHINGTON  With the Republican nominating convention less than 100 days away, the GOPs presidential candidate isnt the only thing still up for grabs. Also in play: The rules by which the nominee will be chosen.

Yet theres one certainty about the partys July gathering in Cleveland: A candidate, an alliance of candidates or party leaders backed by enough delegates will be able to change the procedures any way they want.

Front-runner Donald Trump has 743 of the 1,237 delegates needed to leave the GOP convention as nominee. His closest competitor, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is fewer than 200 delegates behind. Yet many top Republicans view both as certain losers who could cost them congressional seats.

A look at the rules governing the convention and how they could be altered to impact the nomination:

AS IT STANDS

The GOPs 42 rules cover lots of terrain. They describe how delegates are divided among the 56 states and territories, who gets into the convention hall, who can be nominated, how votes are cast and how disputes are resolved.

These bylaws are temporary. This years convention will be governed by whichever rules the delegates approve by majority vote when the four-day gathering begins July 18.

The Republican National Committee is already working on rules to present to the convention. But its the convention delegates  initially a 112-member rules committee, two from each state and territory, then all 2,472  wholl have final say.

Usually, each convention renews the rules with minor changes and little fanfare. They generally reflect the interests of the presumptive presidential nominee.

CLEVELAND, WEVE GOT A PROBLEM

This year, there may not be a presumptive nominee as the convention begins.

Its possible that this will be the GOPs first competitive convention since 1976, with no candidate controlling a majority of delegates. Candidates campaigns would compete for support for rules advantageous to them, with behind-the-scenes bargaining rampant.

Trump and Cruz could have enough delegates combined to back rules making it virtually impossible for a third rival to emerge. On the other hand, Republicans looking to block the two leaders could seek support for rules making it easier for a savior like House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., who has voiced disinterest, to gallop in and become the nominee.

The golden rule of conventions is he who has the votes makes the rules, said GOP operative John Yob, author of a book entitled, Chaos: The Outsiders Guide to a Contested Republican National Convention, 2016.

HIDDEN HAZARD

While most delegates must initially vote for the nominee theyre elected to represent, they dont have to back that contenders preferred rules package. The candidates personally select only about a quarter of the delegates, leaving many who might secretly prefer a different contender. Campaigns are aggressively recruiting supporters to become delegates.

Without knowing who the delegates are and who theyre sympathetic to, said Josh Putnam, a University of Georgia lecturer and delegate process expert, trying to assess what the convention is likely to do is next to impossible.

NIGHTMARE SCENARIO

The nations prime-time television viewers could end up watching bitter battles on the convention floor over contested delegates, rules and the party platform before they even get to nominations. Or they could view bored delegates killing time as deals are cut backstage, instead of speeches and choreographed displays of unity aimed at revving up voters. Endless roll calls, another possibility, are TV ratings killers.

The single worst thing that can happen for Republicans is they reach Thursday and dont have a nominee, said Randy Evans, a Republican National Committee member and convention delegate from Georgia.

That might mean expired hotel reservations, delegates leaving and the convention having to halt and reconvene later. That would be a damaging, cumbersome and time-consuming process.

TO BE NOMINATED

Currently, candidates are nominated by submitting petitions showing support by most delegates from eight states and territories.

That was changed for the 2012 convention from a lower bar: A plurality of signatures  more than any competitor  of five states delegates. Backers of the 2012 presumptive nominee, Mitt Romney, forced that change to prevent time-consuming speeches by supporters of a vanquished contender, then Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas.

That rule could be weakened to allow more competition.

For now, Trump and Cruz appear likely to be the only candidates capable of rounding up majority support from eight states. Thats not helpful for Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who is still campaigning, or for a fresh contender like Ryan to arise.

If no one gets a first ballot majority, things could quickly sour for Trump. While various state laws and rules bind around 9 in 10 delegates to vote for their candidate in the first round, about 7 in 10 are allowed to support whoever they want on the second ballot, with even more freed up later.

OTHER POTENTIAL CHANGES

There could be efforts to:

 Let former contenders like Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., assign their delegates to a remaining candidate, a practice that now varies by state.

 Allow delegates bound to specified candidates to sign nominating petitions for others.

 Permit fresh presidential nominations if no one wins on the first ballot. Currently, voting continues until a winner emerges.
California needs energy and water equally, and residents are being asked to cut back on both. The state is leading the nation in setting goals for increasing production of renewable-energy sources but has relied on natural gas for the bulk of its energy production.

Image from Southern California Edisons outage map during a blackout in September 2015.

HUGE RELIANCE

California electric generation by fuel

Natural gas provides the most energy of any source for Californians. It provides nearly 60 percent of all the electricity in the state and even more for Southern Californians.

Top power plant capacity additions in the U.S.

California has developed more natural gas and solar plants than any other state in recent years.

PEAKING POINTS

Californias electricity imports and production are balanced based on need and production. The need for natural gas during the summer and fall is higher than in winter months.

DOUBLE DROUGHTS

Californias drought has resulted in a significant decline in hydropower generation. On average, hydropower accounted for 20 percent of Californias generation during the first six months of each year from 2004 to 2013. During the first half of 2014, hydropower accounted for 10 percent. The recent snowpack in the Sierra Nevada is expected to improve hydropower production this spring.

Needing more gas during the drought years

Percent difference from 10-year average

LACK OF STORAGE

The Aliso Canyon gas storage facility is an important contributor to Southern Californias electric grid. Gas storage acts like a shock absorber when variations in the electric grid are in great demand. In summer and winter, Aliso Canyons gas storage supports electric reliability. But until the facility is allowed to refill, residents relying on its fuel for power on peak days will have higher blackout risks.

Power plants

The Aliso Canyon natural gas leak began in October and was sealed Feb. 18. The storage facility supplies gas for 5 million people, who may have 14 to 33 days of interrupted service this summer and fall.

The Aliso Canyon facility receives gas from as far away as Canada through a network of supply lines. SoCalGas has lost as much as 64 percent of the storage capacity until all the wells at the site pass inspection. Its unclear when that will occur. The storage facility supplies 17 gas power stations in heavily populated areas of Los Angeles and Orange counties.

Alternate electricity supplies in Orange and Riverside counties are limited in how much electricity they can move through the grid on peak days and will not be able to compensate for the lack of gas from Aliso Canyon.

Southern Californias natural gas grid



Urban Southern California areas rely on natural gas plants more than any other type of power plant. Urban Southern California areas rely on natural gas plants more than any other type of power plant.

Local underground storage areas

The Aliso Canyon storage facility is the largest of 14 underground storage facilities in the state. It is three times larger than the two other facilities in the region.

Ranking

California ranks 15th in the nation for natural gas production.

Storage facility capacity In millions of Mcf

Sources: SoCalGas, U.S. Energy Information Administration, Southern California Edison
RIO DE JANEIRO  A congressional committee voted Monday to recommend that the impeachment process against President Dilma Rousseff move forward, bringing the possible ouster of the embattled leader a step closer.

Rousseff is facing impeachment proceedings over allegations her administration violated fiscal rules to mask budget problems. Her opponents say the process is in line with the wishes of the majority of Brazilians, while Rousseffs supporters call it a blatant power grab by her foes.

The special congressional commission voted 38-27 to recommend the continuation of the impeachment process  comfortably more than the 33 votes needed to hand the pro-impeachment camp a victory.

The panels session stretched out all day and was marked by a prolonged shouting match ahead of the evening vote. Pro-impeachment leaders festooned their desks with signs reading impeachment now, while Rousseffs supporters chanted Coup, coup, coup

The outcome had been widely expected, and it was largely symbolic because no matter the outcome of the vote, the matter would still have gone to the full lower house for a crucial vote expected at weeks end on whether to send the matter to the Senate for a possible trial.

With 342 votes in the 513-member Chamber of Deputies needed for the process to move forward, analysts say the outcome of that vote is too close to call. Brazils biggest party, the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, pulled out of Rousseffs governing coalition late last month, forcing the government to scramble to secure the support of smaller parties to help block the impeachment process.

If the impeachment measure passes in the Chamber of Deputies, it goes to the Senate, which would decide whether to open a trial. If that happened, Rousseff would be suspended from office for up to 180 days during a trial.

In yet another twist in the months-long saga, the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo released the audio of an address by Vice President Michel Temer, who would take over if Rousseff were suspended. The audio, which the newspaper said was sent to members of Temers Democratic Movement, appears to be a draft of an address that Temer would make to the Brazilian people if the impeachment process were to move forward following a vote in the full Chamber of Deputies.

In the address, Temer speaks as if he had already assumed the top job, saying, Many people sought me out so that I would give at least preliminary remarks to the Brazilian nation, which I am doing with modesty, caution and moderation.

Temer says Brazil needs a government of national salvation to pull the country out of its severest recession in decades and calls for unity in the splintered political system. In an apparent bid to soothe the impoverished segments of society that are among Rousseffs strongest supporters, Temer pledges not to dismantle popular wealth-transfer programs and to expand them as necessary.

At a news conference later Monday in Brasilia, Temer said the 13-minute audio was recorded for a friend, but was sent by accident to fellow party members. I am not saying anything new (in the audio) because those are theories that I have defended in the course of time, Temer told reporters.

In response, Brazils political affairs minister and Rousseff ally, Ricardo Berzoini, repeated the governments position that the impeachment effort amounts to a coup and pointed to Temer the driving force behind the attempt. The recording shows the putchist characteristics of the vice president, Berzoini told reporters.

He is mixing the investigation with an indirect election. He is fighting for votes, Berzoini added.

Thousands of Rousseff supporters turned out for anti-impeachment events in downtown Rio de Janeiro, including top musicians and other stars. Speaking at one of the events, former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Rousseffs mentor and predecessor, lashed out at Temer, telling the crowd the recording had exposed the vice presidents desire to oust Rousseff.

SIlva dismissed the vote by the congressional panel, calling it unimportant and saying the real test will come with the vote in the full Chamber of Deputies.

A Supreme Court justice last week ruled that the speaker of the lower house in Congress must open impeachment proceedings against Temer, who faces the same allegations of breaking fiscal rules as Rousseff.

If Temer also was suspended from office, house Speaker Eduardo Cunha would be in line to assume the presidency. But Cunha is facing money laundering and other charges stemming from allegations that he received kickbacks in the sprawling corruption scandal at the state-run Petrobras oil company.

The continuing investigation into the far-reaching scheme has shaken Brazil over the past two years, with top politicians and some of the countrys richest and most powerful businessmen detained, charged and convicted.

A poll released Saturday suggested that while support for Rousseffs impeachment remains high, it has decreased some in recent weeks amid the political jockeying. The survey by the respected Datafolha polling agency said 61 percent of respondents supported impeachment of the president, down seven points from a March poll.

Asked about the vice president, 58 percent of those surveyed said they supported impeachment for Temer.

The poll was conducted April 7-8, with interviews with 2,779 people nationwide. The margin of error was plus or minus two percentage points.
IRVINE  City officials on Tuesday will consider moving the location of the proposed Southern California Veterans Cemetery from the Orange County Great Park to privately-owned land south of the park.

FivePoint Communities, the developer managing the rollout of the Great Park Neighborhoods communities, recently offered to swap some of its undeveloped land near the El Toro Y for the land in the northeast of the Great Park Irvine has set aside for a state-run veterans cemetery.

The Great Park site has drawn criticism in recent months from some area homeowners who say that building a burial ground near homes would violate the ancient Chinese philosophy of feng shui. One of those residents, Irvine architect Gang Chen, is now running for mayor.

The City Council will discuss FivePoints proposal publicly for the first time on Tuesday

The offer came to light last month when the Orange County Veterans Memorial Park Foundation, a nonprofit organization formed in support of construction of a state-run veterans cemetery at the former El Toro air base, asked the council to consider the developers offer.

We believe that this site would meet all of our internal criteria for an appropriate cemetery site, said Bill Cook, the groups chairman, in a letter to Irvine officials.

Switching the site, however, could be complicated: the California Department of Veterans Affairs has been studying the Great Park site since October, thanks to $500,000 in state money allocated to the agency for preliminary design work at the site in 2014.

The department, called CalVet, recently confirmed plans to finalize the feasibility study in roughly six weeks, ahead of a July 1 federal deadline for grant money requests.

Under the plan CalVet intends to submit, the cemetery would accommodate 200,000 burials, mostly cremations, in 10 phases constructed over 100 years.

But Cook said taking FivePoint up on its offer could potentially fast-track the project. Thats because the freeway-adjacent land in question has only been used for agriculture, meaning it wouldnt require the demolition and other work needed to ready the Great Park site, formerly used for military purposes, he said.

Support among veterans isnt unanimous.

Larry Bales, a Vietnam War veteran who lives in Tustin and last year got involved with the Orange County Veterans Memorial Park Foundation, said the switch could end up delaying the cemeterys construction.

Wed have to do this whole thing completely over, he said. Weve spent almost $500,000 to get this first parcel cleared and find out what we can do with it. We dont have another $500,000.

An update from CalVet this month on the status of the feasibility study said evaluating another piece of property at this stage would require the agency to redo its efforts.

The 125 acres of property offered by FivePoint, eventually slated to be bisected by a planned wildlife corridor, is between Alton Parkway and the new corporate campus being built by Broadcom Corp. at its north and I-5 to the south, according to a map from the developer.

Contact the writer: sdecrescenzo@ocregister.com
Early last summer, I wrote a provocative piece called Ten Ways to Improve Disneyland. It included such controversial suggestions as closing Autopia, banning Craisins and serving alcohol at full-service restaurants. A few weeks ago we were at Disneyland, and I was happy to see the parks had accepted my suggestion to add fast casual breakfast options in the morning. Breakfast burritos from Rancho del Zocalo would be a good start, I said.

But it was a bittersweet victory seeing chilaquiles and chorizo breakfast burritos on the menu at the Rancho because I knew I would not be able to enjoy them. Sadly, we had already decided to relinquish our prized annual passes to the parks.

My wife and I had debated the move for months. Over the past year, it seemed there was more chore than charm in our trips to the Magic Kingdom. The place is just too popular, with crowds at almost all hours making the experience less magical than it had once been. And with us wrangling three kids age 5 and under, the crowds are more stressful than ever.

Related: Disneyland raises annual pass prices, introduces $1,000 pass, and discontinues Premium pass

Its also clear that Disney is trying to reduce the number of annual passholders by making passes not as desirable. The prices have gone up, and our second child, Rosey, was due to get her first pass, so we had to decide if it would still be worth it to us. We came to the conclusion, painfully, that it wouldnt be.

Ultimately, we had to face the fact that, as typical Southern California passholders, were a big part of the problem. Passholders take up too much space and dont spend enough money. We bring our own food and dont stay at the hotels or frequent the restaurants at and around the resort as much as out-of-town visitors.

We also use more parking than we should, often with fewer people per car. And we know all the tricks. Think its an accident that Downtown Disney parking has been restricted even further in recent months? Its because of unscrupulous annual passholders ignoring the No Theme Park Parking signs and using the lot for a quick stop at the parks. Can you imagine?

Ive even heard of some annual passholders pushing the envelope on when they need to buy a pass for their kids. Its age 3, but the guardians of the gate dont really start to inquire until your kid looks almost 4, especially if you stick them in a stroller with a pacifier in their mouth. Which scars the childs confidence severely, Im sure. So wed never dream of such a thing  or if we did, wed have surely stopped by now.

Passholders have a sense of ownership about the parks, and the pride that goes with it. Thats not a bad thing, but its simply not fair to visitors who have to plan for months (if not years) for a visit to have a miserable experience, thanks in part to passholders sense of entitlement.

Heres how one dissatisfied Disney visitor summarizes the problem in a comment on mousemonthly.com: Annual passes have virtually eliminated any kind of non-peak season for out-of-the-area vacationers like my family. Its a shame and I never thought I would say it but I think we will be looking elsewhere next year for our family vacation. Its terrible to spend nearly $3,000 for a four-day trip and feel so ripped off. Thats a big problem for O.C. tourism, upon which so many local jobs depend.

Having made our decision not to renew, we planned to savor our few remaining visits. The last week of our passes coincided with my wifes birthday, so we spent the night at a great new hotel near the park entrance and took two full days enjoying what we love about the resort.

As the trip ended, we said goodbye to the place that has been such a big part of our lives for the past six years. The kids cried, and my wife and I got depressed, pretty much immediately.

Id like to say we did the right thing by the O.C. tourism industry, and that we opened up space for more deserving visitors from Ohio or Utah. Id like to say that the hours weve spent at the parks are now devoted to serving the needy, or reading books to our children. Id like to say we stuck to our word. But we lost our nerve. We renewed, bought our daughter her first pass and have been back five times since with a renewed sense of excitement and joy. In fact, Im going there as soon as I finish this column.

Now if only Disney could do something about the crowds!
PARIS -The number of people linked to the Islamic State network that attacked Paris and Brussels reaches easily into the dozens, with a series of new arrests over the weekend that confirmed the cells toxic reach and ability to move around unnoticed in Europes criminal underworld.

From Belgiums Molenbeek to Swedens Malmo, new names are added nearly daily to the list of hardened attackers, hangers-on, and tacit supporters of the cell that killed 130 people in Paris and 32 in Brussels. A computer abandoned by one of the Brussels suicide bombers in a trash can contained not only his will, but is beginning to give up other information as well, including an audio file indicating the cell was getting its orders directly from a French-speaking extremist in Syria, according to a police official with knowledge of the investigation. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasnt authorized to speak publicly about the investigation.

Ten men are known to be directly involved in the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris; others with key logistical roles then  including the bomber, a logistics handler, and a hideout scout  went on to plot the attack March 22 in Brussels. But unlike Paris, at least two people who survived the attack have been taken into custody alive, including Mohamed Abrini, the Molenbeek native who walked away from the Brussels international airport after his explosives failed to detonate.

But investigators fear it may not be enough to stave off another attack. Abdelhamid Abaaoud, another Molenbeek native whose charisma made him a natural draw to many in the Brussels neighborhood after he joined IS extremists in Syria, said before his death that he returned to Europe among a group of 90 fighters from Europe and the Mideast, according to testimony from a woman who tipped police to his location.

Patrick Skinner, a former CIA case officer who is now with the Soufan Group security consultancy, described the Brussels-Paris network as a supercell.

The hope was that they had died out in the Paris attacks, and obviously thats not true, Skinner said in an earlier interview with The Associated Press. They (authorities) knew who these people were. And they still managed to pull off the first Paris attack, which was the worst attack in France since WWII, and then under incredible scrutiny, they still pulled off the worst attack in Belgium since WWII. So this is a highly functioning cell.

Normally, Skinner said, an extremist cell has six to 10 people linked by pre-existing ties.

It makes it very difficult to crack. Youre not sending an informant into this group, because they know each other. So no one new is just walking into this, he said. Its so big, look at the people on the periphery, logistics, the people that are suspected. Youre looking at 50 people. Thats not a cell; thats a terrorist group.

It was a group already intimately familiar with European law enforcement. Abrini was a petty criminal long before his younger brother was killed in Syria in 2014. Both Abdeslam brothers had brushes with the law, and Brahim spent time in prison for stealing Belgian ID cards  background that took on new importance amid revelations that many people in the IS cell had forged passports.

And Abaaouds female cousin, Hasna Ait Boulhacen, who died with him on Nov. 18 after finding a hideout for him, was under surveillance in a narcotics operation at the time, although her ties to the man already wanted on terrorism offenses were unknown to French investigators. The man arrested for renting that fly-by-night flat in Saint Denis, Jawad Bendaoud, had been sentenced to eight years in prison for the accidental killing of a man he described as his best friend over a cellphone.

The Belgian brothers who blew themselves up on March 22 had ties to violent crime, as did two suspects with ties to Sweden, one dead and one captured this weekend.

The latest name to emerge, Osama Krayem, was a delinquent in Malmo, Sweden, before leaving for Syria. Krayem was the perfect target for radicalization  no job, no future, no money, said Muhammad Khorshid, who runs a program in the neighborhood of Rosengard to help immigrants integrate into Swedish society. Its a neighborhood with its own parallels to Molenbeek, and has proven to be fertile recruiting ground for Muslim extremists.

Krayem, who like Abrini is suspected of accompanying a suicide attacker on March 22, was detained on Friday. He traveled with Salah Abdeslam through Ulm, Germany, on one of Abdeslams many journeys putting extremists into place for attacks, authorities said.

Stephane Berthomet, a former French counterterrorism officer who now works as a writer and security consultant in Canada, said the arrest of multiple key suspects will prove crucial.

When there are declarations made by an accomplice, you can confront them and make progress in the discussions with the other suspects, he said in an interview just ahead of the news of Abrinis arrest Friday. The hope, of course, is that anything the suspects say will crack open a network that seems to grow by the day.

There is not a single person at large  there are dozens of people at large. Thats the reality, Berthomet said. The reality is that we are dealing with groups that are badly identified, whose organization and evolution we have not analyzed because we focused on repression for years. Information was collected voraciously, but without real analysis.

John-Thor Dahlburg in Brussels and Jan M. Olsen in Malmo, Sweden, contributed to this report.
A new law is supposed to make it easier for women in California to get birth control, as it can now be dispensed directly by pharmacists without a doctors prescription.

But good luck finding a pharmacy taking advantage of the new rule.

All dozen local independent pharmacies contacted Monday by the Register have yet to put the law into practice, even though it went into effect April 1. Some said they intend to begin directly dispensing birth control, but havent started because each pharmacist must first be certified.

I heard about it a long time ago, then kind of forgot about it, said Brad Winther, a pharmacist at Med Center Pharmacy in Irvine.

The law  which gives pharmacists the option to directly dispense birth control but does not require it  passed in 2013. Politics and red tape prevented it from going into effect sooner. California now joins Oregon as the only states that allows pharmacists to directly provide birth control.

Some local pharmacies werent aware of the change; several said they were still considering it.

Participating pharmacies will make womens lives easier, saving them time and eliminating a co-pay tied to first visiting a doctors office. The pills, however, wont be available on store shelves. Women will have to see the pharmacist, fill out a questionnaire about their health and have their blood pressure taken.

Critics say the new law sends the wrong message to teenage girls by allowing them to more easily get contraceptives.

They say its for women, but they mean anyone, including teenage girls, California Right to Life spokeswoman Camille Giglio said.

The ability to get contraceptives from yet another source is not a benefit to young people, she added. It is a barrier to communication between a mother and a child.

The law is also seen as a major step toward expanding the role of pharmacists amid a nationwide shortage of doctors. Fueled by an aging population and a growing number of people newly covered by insurance under the Affordable Care Act, the shortage could reach 90,400 physicians by 2025, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

The law applies to hormonal contraceptives  birth control pills, the skin patch and vaginal ring  and not to intrauterine devices.

But pharmacists have to be trained first. Those who graduated from pharmacy school prior to 2014 will need to take at least one hour of continuing education to be able to furnish contraceptives.

During the initial few weeks, pharmacists and pharmacies will be filling out paperwork, preparing inventory and figuring out billing, so women should call in advance, said Kathleen Hill-Besinque, associate professor of USC School of Pharmacy.

Women will probably find smaller, independent businesses participating sooner. Big retailers will likely be slower to adapt, because they will have to train each of their pharmacists, she said.

Hill-Besinque said she has been helping train pharmacists, 60 to 70 at a time several times a year, since the bill passed, and she just finished filming a two-hour webinar for the California Pharmacists Association that will be available on demand.

Were doing everything we can to get people up and moving, she said. Word is being spread pretty widely. Im getting calls from former students, my colleagues, saying, Hey, when can we get started?

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact the writer: jchandler@ocregister.com and @jennakchandler on Twitter
WASHINGTON  House Speaker Paul Ryan on Tuesday definitively ruled out a bid for president this year, insisting that the partys choice should emerge from the group of candidates who pursued the GOP nomination. Count me out, he said.

In a brief news conference at the Republican National Committee headquarters, the Wisconsin Republican sought to tamp rampant speculation that he could end up as the partys standard-bearer if front-runner Donald Trump and the other candidates flame out at a contested convention.

We have too much work to do in the House to allow this speculation to swirl or have my motivations questioned, said Ryan, who was the partys 2012 vice presidential nominee. Let me be clear: I do not want, nor will I accept, the Republican nomination.

Ryans comments come as a contested convention looks likelier by the day. Ryan and his aides have continually denied the speaker has presidential ambitions this year, but their statements have not put the issue to rest. Thats partly because Ryan also denied he wanted to be speaker last fall after then-Speaker John Boehner announced his resignation, but he ended up with the job anyway.

Tuesdays appearance was an attempt to end what aides said has become a major distraction to Ryans work as speaker. Yet it may not be enough to quiet the talk about Ryan, given the unpredictable twists of the GOP presidential primary.

If no candidate has a majority on the first ballot, I believe you should only choose a person who actually participated in the primary. Count me out, Ryan said. I simply believe that if you want to be the nominee  to be the president  you should actually run for it. I chose not to. Therefore, I should not be considered. Period.

Trump looks unlikely to accumulate the delegates to clinch the nomination ahead of the July Republican convention in Cleveland. That would allow his lead challenger, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, to make a play for the job.
Well, that didnt last long. The Justice Department suspended its equitable sharing asset forfeiture program in December due to budget cuts, then announced at the end of March that it would be resuming the program.

The controversial program allows state and local police agencies to partner with federal law enforcement agencies to bypass stricter state laws limiting civil asset forfeiture and receive a larger portion of the assets. In California, for example, police may retain 66.25 percent of assets seized, but by partnering with federal agencies they may keep 80 percent of the proceeds.

Civil asset forfeiture was designed to allow police to help punish lawbreakers, like drug dealers, by seizing the ill-gotten gains of their illegal operations. Too often, however, it has been used to target property of people never even charged with  much less convicted of  a crime.

By offering substantial payouts to participating agencies, equitable sharing incentivizes law enforcement to evade state laws and pad their budgets, Institute for Justice attorney Darpana Sheth said in a statement. Local and state law enforcement agencies should be adequately funded, but their budgets should not in any way depend on property seizures.

This is especially true in cases like the young man whose $16,000 life savings, which he intended to put toward his dream of starting a music video company, was seized by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents on an Amtrak train from Michigan on its way to Los Angeles. Or the elderly West Philadelphia couple whose home was seized because their son, unbeknownst to them, allegedly sold $20 of marijuana to an informant three times from the familys front porch.

Last year, the law enforcement lobbying machine turned a near-unanimous state Senate support for Los Angeles Democratic Sen. Holly Mitchells Senate Bill 443, which would have closed the federal equitable sharing loophole, into a stunning 44-24 defeat in the Assembly. The bill will be reconsidered this year, and was highlighted by the American Civil Liberties Union of California during its Lobby Day in Sacramento on Monday.

No one should have their property seized by the government without being convicted of a crime. California should follow the lead of New Mexico and pass SB443 to prevent further abuse of civil asset forfeiture laws.
Re: Issue in UC system is lack of funding [Letters, April 11]: As usual, the UC system simply doesnt have enough money. I say the UC systems priorities are all wrong. My daughter, a UC Irvine graduate, told me that the professors were research-oriented, not teaching oriented. She was a Saddleback Community College transfer and has always said she learned more and got more teacher interaction at SCC than at UCI.

My daughter met up with a girlfriend this weekend, a UCI pre-med student. She said she was going to SCC this summer to retake some core classes like anatomy, because she felt unprepared for medical school. Her experience was like my daughters. The professor puts up slides, says learn this and leaves to do their research.

Its clear the schools and its professors priority is their research, not teaching their students. Think about the $1 billion that UC committed to climate change research. A billion dollars. There is plenty being spent on climate science in the U.S. I can think of a lot UC can do with a billion dollars to teach and educate. Get your priorities straight. Educate your students first, and your grads wont have to go back to community college to learn what they didnt learn at UC. Thats embarrassing.

Bud Carbonaro

Lake Forest

  

Do you want to know the real problem with the UC system? Just look at their organization charts. Theres so much cream at the top it should curdle.

Susan Staebell

Laguna Niguel

Learning from Arnold?

President Barack Obama needs to ask the FBI and the Justice Department to speed up and convict Hillary Clinton soon [Obama: Clinton email probe will be fair, Front Page, April 11] so he can be like former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and reduce her sentence on his last day in office [Schwarzenegger allys son out of prison, State, Apr. 11].

Yi H. Doo

Irvine

  

President Obama said in an interview broadcast Sunday that, while Hillary Clinton had been careless in managing her emails as secretary of state, she would never intentionally do anything to endanger the country.

Thats the rule for the political elite. If it was one of us common folks, wed already be behind bars.

Bruce Major

Newport Beach
NEWPORT BEACH  Shaheen Sadeghi, the man behind the eclectic commercial spaces the Lab, the Camp and the Packing House, wants to bring the Balboa Theater back to its original glory.

On Tuesday, the City Council will decide whether to enter into an exclusive negotiating agreement with his company Lab Holding for one year. The developer would work with the city on the proposal and come to terms on the purchase of the site. The final sale would come back to the council.

The theater, near the Balboa Pier, was last operated by the Balboa Performing Arts Foundation. But the city cut that lease in 2014 after the foundation wasnt able to realize its goals for the property. In 2015, the council decided to put the property up for sale, seeking proposals to redevelop the site.

Sadeghi is proposing to restore the 1920s theaters original architecture, including its retro marquee. The space would have a cafe, catering kitchen for events, a small music venue with a pub and a second stage available for rent, according to the proposal.

The developer would draw inspiration from Rockwood Music Hall of New York City, a lower East Side venue with its own record label.

We believe the OC music scene needs a home with historical soul, the proposal reads.

City staff are recommending the city move forward with Lab Holdings plans for the site, saying the proposal is the best match with the local business and the community.

We believe that the Lab Holdings proposal is the one that best reflects what the communitys interests are in the long term, said Kim Brandt, community development director. We really believe its going to help Balboa Village, a special and historic spot in the community.

The Balboa Theater is the second historic theater in town to be in the news in recent weeks. Just last week, it was announced that the Lido Theater  with its neon marquee and art deco interior  would be reopening April 29 as a single-screen movie house after being shuttered for several months.

Operator Regency Theatres reached an agreement with Fritz Duda Co., which owns the property, said Paul Bernard, vice president of the Western region for Fritz Duda.

In 1927, what is now the Balboa Theater was mostly used for vaudeville and small shows and was called The Ritz. It started showing films in 1939 as the Balboa Theater. At one point in the early 70s it showed racy X-rated films under the name the Pussycat Theater.

A few years later, it switched to showing classics such as Citizen Kane and midnight showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. It closed in 1992 due to declining sales. The Balboa Performing Arts Foundation reopened it in 1997.

The foundation had hopes to redevelop the theater, and in 2010 unveiled a plan for a $13 million playhouse for film, opera, music and after-school arts programming and a rooftop deck. But funding was always an issue.

In March 2014, the City Council agreed to give the foundation $2 million toward renovations if it could raise a matching $2 million by the end of the year. The foundation failed to raise the funds and lost the lease.

The council also looked at a $6 million plan to turn the building into the Balboa Village Fine Arts Center, which would have been a two-story building with two meeting rooms and a nearly 2,000-square-foot open space that could be reconfigured depending on the event, but decided to sell instead, especially after the city opened a community center nearby.

The city doesnt have a current appraised value for the property, Brandt said, but intends to get an updated appraisal as part of the negotiations with Lab Holding if the city goes forward with the staff recommendation.

Contact the writer: jclay@ocregister.com or 714-796-6910
YORBA LINDA  Tyler Armstrongs dream to be the youngest person to climb Mount Everest has been put on hold.

Tyler, who recently turned 12, has been denied a permit to climb the worlds tallest mountain this spring by the Chinese government, which recently set age restrictions barring people younger than 18 and older than 75 in an attempt to improve safety.

We asked for an exception based on his experience and abilities, but Tylers age raised a lot of questions because he is so young, Tylers father, Kevin, said.

While the climb is dangerous even for adults, Kevin Armstrong said Tyler has the physical and mental abilities to make the 29,000-foot climb. He said high-altitude doctors have told the parents Tyler would not be at any greater risk than an adult.

I was really bummed out because I did so much training and I felt I was really prepared, Tyler said. He last week completed a climb on Mount Broken Top in the Oregon Cascades and in December climbed Mount Cayambe in Ecuador, as well as training twice a day, five days a week at home.

If Tyler can get a permit next spring, he could still squeak in as the youngest by a few months.

We are hoping that theyll see Tyler is continuing his efforts and not giving up on it, Kevin Armstrong said. I hope they recognize it wasnt just a whim and Tyler is continuing what he wants to do.

Instead of attempting Mount Everest this spring, Tyler will now prepare to climb Australias Mount Kosciuszko in August.

Tyler, a sixth-grader, has also set the goal of being the youngest person to trek the Seven Summits  the tallest mountain on each continent. At 7,310 feet, Mount Kosciuszko is the shortest of the peaks.

Tyler is trying to raise $1 million toward finding a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which causes progressive muscle degeneration and weakness, primarily affecting boys.

Tyler has summited three of the seven peaks. At 8, he was the second youngest person to make it to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. At age 9, he was the youngest to summit Mount Aconcagua in Argentina. In August, he conquered the more than 18,500 feet of Mount Elbrus in Russia.

At 7, Tyler was the youngest person to climb Mount Whitney in a day.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7868 or desalazar@ocregister.com
FRESNO  ,Californias largest water district has signed a multimillion deal to buy several sprawling islands far north in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, drawing criticism for giving the powerful district a stronghold in the vital water hub, officials said Monday.

The deal worth $175 million will put the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California in ownership of 20,000 acres in the delta, a source of water for millions of residents throughout the state and some of the nations most valuable farmland.

Metropolitan provides 19 million residents with water, much of it shipped through canals from the delta east of San Francisco. The district is buying the land from the Zurich Insurance Group.

Metropolitans general manager, Jeff Kightlinger, has said the land could be used in the construction of two giant tunnels Gov. Jerry Brown proposes to build under the delta for shipping water south. Metropolitan is a major backer of the $15.7 billion tunnels project.

The governor has said that the land could also be used for wetland restoration and water storage.

The board approved the deal in March and plans to hold another meeting on the purchase later this month. Metropolitan spokesman Bob Muir said board members dont need to take further action, unless they encounter problems.

If there are any red flags during escrow, they might need to take action in response, he said.

Metropolitan is wholesaler of water to local water districts, he added, so the deal does not need approval from the states Public Utilities Commission.

Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla of Restore the Delta is a leading critic of Metropolitans land purchase and the twin tunnels projects. She said she fears Metropolitan having a stronghold in the over-tapped delta. The advocacy group is collecting signatures in an attempt to stop the land purchase.

We plan to continue fighting this in the court of public opinion and wherever else needed, Barrigan-Parilla said. Its not over.
Giving Mary Poppinss magic umbrella some serious competition is the all new high-tech Oombrella  not only can it predict the weather, its also impossible to lose. The smart umbrella syncs with a smartphone app, sending users updates about weather conditions 30 minutes in advance, and reminders if they happen to leave the device behind. And heres the added bonus  it wont ever flip inside-out.

Designed by French company Wezzoo, the rainbow-colored Oombrella comes in two versions  classic and modern. The classic is 3.1-ft long with a curved handle, while the modern version is 0.8-ft long with a straight handle. The company describes the device as a portable weather station, made of a reflective surface with built in sensors that record real-time data such as light, humidity, pressure, and temperature. The Oombrella collects and processes this data as well as information from a social media community before sending out alerts about when its going to start raining.

And if the user happens to accidentally forget it at home on a potentially rainy day, or leaves it in a restaurant, similar alerts will be sent out using GPS technology to make sure you dont lose it.

We wanted to make this umbrella unforgettable in terms of design, too, explains Alexandre, of Escabo design studio. We developed an exclusive material. It makes you feel you are holding an aurora borealis in your hands. It has effects that are amazing with the light and always changing. It really makes the Oombrella special. The capsule that integrates all the technology, making the umbrella smart, is located in the handle.

The Oombrella is all set to hit global online and physical stores this fall. According to a company spokesperson, it will retail at 79 ($86), but the early bird price on Kickstarter is 59 ($64). For those who are rather attached to their current umbrellas, the company will also release an Oombrella capsule that can convert any umbrella into a smart device. Now, if only it could make us fly like Mary Poppins!

Photos: Wezzoo/Oombrella

via Digital Trends
Childrens of Alabama, a major pediatric center, is not living up to its promise to educate about childrens health because there is nothing about the dangers of Wi-Fi and other radiation on its website but plenty about lightning, bike safety and poison snakes.

The mission statement of the third largest pediatric center in the U.S. says it is to provide the finest pediatric health services to all children in an environment that fosters excellence in research and medical education. Childrens will be an advocate for all children and work to educate the public about issues affecting children's health and well-being.

Deaths and injuries from lightning are incredibly rare says one statistical report. For Americans, chances are one in 10,000 over an 80-year life. Deaths average under 30 yearly.

Bikes, lack of enough sleep, and need for playground safety are also health concerns but they dont match millions of students throughout the U.S. sitting in classrooms and being radiated the entire day by industrial-grade Wi-Fi routers. Children also need to be told not to press cellphones their ears or carry them in their pockets. They need to regard cellphones and computers with caution bordering on fear.

Michael Warren

CEO Mike Warren Is Responsible



Responsible for the failure to highlight EMF dangers is CEO William Mike Warren, who joined the hospital in 2008 from Energen Resources, Birmingham, oil and gas exploration company, where he was chairman and CEO. Warren has a B.A. from Auburn and a law degree from Duke.

Garland Stansell, chief communications officer at Childrens, could not be a national board member of the PR Society of America without the permission of Warren. PRSA should take up the campaign to warn about the dangers of excessive radiation. Members work in offices and at home that are afflicted with excessive radiation.

Warren must take a good look at the Society including its press-boycotting, New York-avoiding, communications-blocking and anti-democratic practices and its 16-years of selling hundreds of thousands of copies of authors articles without their permission.

The Societys blatant anti-press policies include barring all reporters from its annual Assembly from 2011-13 and after letting them in, threatening them with lifetime expulsion should one of them take a picture or record anything. Up until the crackdown, the Society had published a transcript of the Assembly and accompanied it with a tape recording.

South Rises Again (at the PR Society)

The South lost the Civil War but it has won the war for control of the Society. Many of the key Society posts including chair of the Universal Accreditation Board are in the hands of Southerners. They have pursued their anti-New York policies by removing national h.q. from midtown in 2004 where most of the PR, ad agencies and media are located, and sending it downtown to Maiden lane.

There has been only one national conference in New York since 1994 when it should be in NYC every year since that is where the biggest audience is and where the biggest profits are. No NYC conferences are planned for the future. In recent years, Washington D.C. has had the conference twice (2010 & 2014) and Philadelphia twice (2006-2013).

The corrupt governance of the Society is evidenced by 16 of the 17 national directors holding APR credentials when only 18% of the members have bothered to obtain that designation. A $100K-plus study by the Society in 2013 called it a worthless bauble because it is self-awarded.

Rickey Was Flaw In Anti-APR Move in 2010

Dave Rickey

Dave Rickey of the Birmingham Business Alliance, who joined Richard Edelman, Bill Doescher and Art Stevens in leading the Committee for a Democratic PRSA in 2010, failed to help that initiative which failed miserably. It was only able to get 400 signatures on a petition towards its goal of 1,000.

Rickey, national secretary in 2010, should have won the right of the New York chapter to send their arguments to the entire 22,000 members via email. The Society also banned all mention of the Committee from its Tactics monthly and Strategist quarterly. Rickey did not help that effort. He did not belong on that Committee.

Doescher and Stevens, longtime leaders of the New York chapter, Doescher being the current chapter president, should have pulled the 700-members from the national Society upon experiencing this anti-democratic blockage. Why they didnt deserves conjecture. National h.q. gets numerous requests for PR counsel by prospective clients. These RFPs are never advertised on the Society website but are doled out to favorites.

Why is the New York chapter leadership so subservient to the national staff?! The leadership has failed the large New York PR community. Members have to pay $255 national dues plus another $90 chapter dues, fourth highest in the nation. The chapter was booted from national h.q. in 1992 and employs an outside service at about $70K a year.

Southerner Laura Kane Heads PR at Society

Laura Kane

Laura Kane, who was at Aflac insurance in Atlanta from 2003-2014, the new chief communications officer of the Society, is continuing its anti-press and press-boycotting policies. She refuses to talk on the telephone or answer emails of ODwyer staffers.

Sign in New York City medical center waiting room.

We lay the abuses at the Society at the feet of the employers of the elected officers, who in 2013 gave up the title of CEO to the staff. No other professional association does that.

That move was made when Joe Cohen, a 14-year veteran of MWW Group, was chair-elect. Michael Kempner, CEO of MWW, should not have allowed Cohen to have so many Society posts leading to chair in 2014 when the Society was riddled with so many anti-democratic, anti-member, anti-New York and anti-press policies and practices.

Current chair Mark McClennan, an executive of the MSL Group of Publicis, which is celebrating its 90th birthday this year, cannot remain in that position without the permission of CEO Maurice Levy.



New Hospital Mission Needed; Stansell from PRSA

Childrens of Alabama needs a new mission statement that warns both adults and children of the dangers from cellphones, computers, cell towers, in-home and office routers, Wi-Fi at work, schools, doctors offices, classrooms, libraries and businesses and other places.

Stansell must press the PR Society to institute reforms or should resign from it. McClennan should demand reforms or resign.





National focus will be on the Wi-Fi industry when the worlds first Wi-Fi national conference takes place in Tysons Corner, Va.. from April 19-21. The voices of the alarmed EMF health advocates community will be heard. It is an unprecedented opportunity to get its message across.
Al Jazeera America will pull the plug on its live news broadcasting tonight after a three-year run.

The network, owned by Qatar-based Al Jazeera Media Network, said its final live broadcast at 6 p.m. ET will showcase the contributions of its journalists since launching in 2013.

"Al Jazeera America has the most talented and diverse team any media organization could wish for" CEO Al Anstey and president KAt O'Brian wrote to staff in a memo released by the network. "So, as we enter our final day, we would like to pass on our sincere thanks, appreciation, and respect for your amazing work, and for your commitment to those we cover."

AJA, which struggled in the cable news ratings wars, had 12 bureaus in the US at its peak.

Kekst and Company handles PR.
Off-Road.com persists in insisting that you get off your keyster and into the dirt on a regular basis, because, with a little attention to tires, maintenance and a dash of technique, the bone-stock truck in your driveway can take you a lot of places. Off-roading is frugal family fun  necessary mods are inexpensive, the on-trail pace is reasonable, the techniques are easy to learn, and throw in a sleeping bag and a few hot dogs and youve got an overnight that might get the whining horde to clam up for a while  and its right in your backyard.

There is a lot of off-roading to do in the Big Bear/Lake Arrowhead area  good high-mountain froading with trails that are alien to the typical sand/rock/sand experience folks expect of SoCal. Some trails require more truck than others: Gold Mountain Trail  one of the most entertaining in the hills in Southern California  is a sporty piece of road that can put a well-equipped truck to the test. Its a step beyond a bone-stock commuter but totally doable if you have a brain and the right machinery.

Gold Mountain Trail, San Bernadino National Forest (Big Bear)

Pros:

- Killer selection of trail surfaces  mud, rock, roots, scree, even snow.

- The trail is tight enough that you cant fake it  everyone needs rock skills or a few skid plates.

- Variety of rockfield styles  tumbledown granite, dirt/boulder conglomerate and rock-drop/ledge-climbs  provide excellent skills-improvement for burgeoning trailfans.

- Good mud and moisture on the snowy side means every trail technique you thought you had becomes a new challenge.

- Long enough for a daylong photo run, short enough for a morning tough-guy sprint.

- As-far-as-you-can-see views of the San Bernadinos, San Gabriels, Santa Anas and San Jacinto Mountains, with the Mohave laying there like a big sandy bonus.

-Countless places with proper roofs to stay in in the area, so you can parachute in for a day of rock-bonking and bookend it a warm bed and decent high-mountain beering.

- Plenty of camping in the same area, if you prefer to keep things low-buck and strategic.

- Links to the Holcomb Valley Trail (3N16) ridge route and its associated awesomeness.

- If you finish this one, you can brag about doing one of the best trails in the Big Bearea.

Cons:

- Challenging enough that your kids might puke.

- The trail is tight enough that you cant fake it  everyone needs rock skills or a few skid plates.

- Not a trail for beginners or poseurs; check your ego at the road.

- Deceptively easy to get in over your head  if youre newb, follow someone who isnt.

- Big trucks will suffer, and full-size long beds are not recommended.

- The top of Gold Mountain Trail ends in Holcomb Valley, so have a plan for your exodus.

- If you make this run in the off-season, know that not all of the trails are open.

- As with most things in California, the state has its fingers in the till: youll need to buy an adventure pass if you plan to have one overnight.

Hard Points: What, Where and How

Trailheads: the vaguely north-southbound Gold Mountain Trail (3N69) has two ends: the northern end at Holcomb Valley Trail (3N16) in eastern Holcomb Valley, and the southern end at pavement on the northern route out of Big Bear (State 18) around Baldwin Lake. That southern end of 3N69 is a hair short of two miles east of the northern T-intersection of the lake cutoff shared by State 18 and 38, north of Big Bear City (and right across from Big Bears scenic sewage treatment plant along the southern edge of Baldwin Lake).

Terrain: rough dirt two-track, with significant rock assortments consisting of ledges, jumbles and steps of seriously inconsistent nature. If youve driven higher-mountain trails in the Rockies, its more akin to that. Significant vertical features. Narrow in spots. The northern (and less sunny side) of Gold Mountain is much more mud, ditch and root-intensive, with many switchbacks and off-camber trails knotted through mountain pine. When climbing from State 18, it becomes gradually more difficult; from Holcomb Valley, youre in the thick of it pretty quickly.

Vehicle Requirements: augmented ground clearance, four-wheel drive and appropriate rock-friendly rubber are recommended. Vehicle with steps will not have them by the end, or will wish they hadnt. Prepare to chew on sidewalls and possibly on wheel lips. Low-range will probably be necessary if you dont have a crawly first gear, though we watched skillset triumph over limited equipment on several occasions. A rear locker was useful but not in the rocks  we needed it for several significant snow banks. Bush rash is likely in summer. Leave longer trucks and fancy SUVs at the trailhead.

Skill Requirements: if youre not skilled when you begin, you will be by the end. Find a leader with a clue, and if youre too cool to bother with trail awareness and truck-control, dont bother with this trail. An advanced beginner will learn a lot, and an advanced off-roader will have a great time. There are a few trail spots that will make you wonder if youre in over your head, but a good spotter and a winch can fix most anything.

Author and friends equipment: third-gen 4Runner with more miles than Voyager 1, four-wheel drive, rear locker, custom three-inch spring lift, Goodyear MT/R Kevlars at 20psi; as well as a small-block and clutch-equipped CJ-7 on 33-inch Goodyear Duratracs with a four-inch BDS lift, and a small-block six-speed FJ-40 on 33-inch Adventuro M/Ts with three inches in the springs.

Big Bear/Lake Arrowhead Area Ideal for Overnighters and Weekenders

The Big Bear area  the same thats got snowboarding when theres snow  also has a very good selection of interesting/difficult/entertaining trails for trucks, though it is not exactly in our backyard. We San Diegans had to drive a whole 2.5 hours to get there. However, this area is take-a-day-off convenient and overnight-easy for anyone in San Diego or Los Angeles, plus, you can drink the water. In a story published last month on Off-Road.com [http://www.off-road.com/trails-events/trails/big-bear-offroad-jacoby-canyon-trail-54405.html], we explored Jacoby Trail and its Kalifornistan-standard sand/pine/scrub/rock character, but Jacoby is incongruous with the bulk of the flora and fauna on the mountains surrounding Big Bear and Lake Arrowhead  the bulk of this area looks like big mountain trails near places named Buena Vista and Ouray. Big trees, vertical rock and dense boulder fields, and the seriously discombobulated trail features that make off-roading interesting, with altitude gains that render the view worth your time... Big Bear is worth a weekend or, at the very least, trimming a Friday off your work week for a four-wheeled adventure.

Now, while many of good trails in the Los Angeles/San Diego metroplex have been blocked by taxpayer-funded No-Men wearing state and federal uniforms, the Big Bear/Lake Arrowhead area (the San Bernadino Mountains east of Los Angeles) offer a surprisingly unfettered network of trails and an excellent selection of terrain. You owe it to your free-roaming self to try a few on, because these trails have everything from daily-driver easy to rock-and-drop difficult. Get involved in local trail-access advocacy groups to help keep these trails open in the face of groups like the Sierra Club and companies like REI and Sierra Nevada that want to close them down.

Excellent Variety of Off-Season Terrain and Conditions on Gold Mountain Trail

Fun! This is a good trail  satisfying without being ridiculous, popular without being crowded, challenging without requiring you to winch all over the place (or at all, if youre good enough), with room enough to play without detracting from its relative remoteness.

If youre going to head northbound on Gold Mountain Trail (pictured in this story), the route is deceiving: the scale of obstacles increases gradually, and youll find yourself in more difficult terrain than spots lower on the mountain would suggest. That said, if you are ready to up your game as you climb, Gold Mountain provides an increasing level of difficulty that makes it more and more interesting as you go.

The headed-south route on Gold Mountain Trail (3N69) peels off from Holcomb Valley Trail (3N16) as pictured, about 3/10-mile west of the top of Jacoby Canyon Trail (3N61). A large number of other trails branch off Holcomb Valley further along, so your ingress and egress to this point is not limited to just Jacoby Canyon. That said, many of these other access routes to Holcomb Valley are easier than Gold Mountain Trail, and do not serve to gauge of its difficulty.

Coming from the north, Gold Mountain Trails conditions rapidly assume their most interesting state, with loose and wet dirt combined with significant tree roots and slippery ledged switchbacks. The tree roots are a special kind of tricky, made more so by the presence of snow. A large portion of the moisture was from snowmelt  you really need to try this trail off-season, as we did  but even without the runoff, trail surface was narrow and technically interesting. The snow alternates between making the trail harder  slippery, inconsistent, impossible to gauge depth  and easier  filling holes, bridging gaps between rocks, holding rubble in place.

The unmelted patches of snow and associated runoff and puddling made the northern approach to Gold Mountain a unique challenge. In heading southbound, we were in the shadow of Gold Mountain for the first half of the run, and there were noteworthy snowdrifts to contend with. These proved the most challenging trail feature as they did weird things to traction that would have been a cinch in wet or dry situations.

Gold Mountain, whats peak is 8235 feet above sea level, roughly overlooks the highest point on the trail itself, a flattish, slightly wider area of trail where picnicking would be well-planned. The terrain changes character quickly beyond this, shifting from damp, darkened dirt, rocks and trees to sun-blasted rocks and serious dropoffs, with larger rocks dominating trail features.

The southern face of Gold Mountain, which the trail roughly diagonals across from west to east (headed downhill, as we were) was a much different creature than the shaded northern side. Heavy rock fields  not untraversable, but substantial (see the pictures in this story)  dominate, so youll be crawling as much as driving, and probably spend time in low-range. We listened to a lot of desert metal on the way down  the slow, bluesy pace of Kyuss and Fatso Jetson is a good leveler when attention paid is at a premium.

Technique for rocks and crawling is a mixed bag: basics like tire pressure and maintenance standards are unavoidable  everyones got to. The flipside of that is the dead-to-nuts requirement of knowing your truck, and how you approach an obstacle depends on that relationship. The resto-modded CJ-7 Renegade pictured in this story is small-block powered; it has the torque to make several different gears useful when climbing, and the engine drag to enable almost brakeless down-obstackling (get it?). The 4Runner is slightly heavier, longer and relatively underpowered, and engine drag is limited. However, it has big boy Tundra brakes [http://www.off-road.com/trucks-4x4/tech/project1620.html], so the driver can essentially ride them all the way down a mountain and the steep side of big rocks, while improved gearing means it can crawl uphill in high or low, while the CJ lives in low going uphill. Basic technique is nice, but vehicle-dependent skills are necessary, which means one thing: experience.

Some Big Bear History We Thought Should Be Included

Gold Mountain and its trail overlook Baldwin (sometimes dry) Lake and Big Bear Lake. The lake was named for notable rich guy Elias Lucky Baldwin, who expanded gold mining in the Big Bear area on whats now Gold Mountain with ramped up excavation and a series of stamping/processing mills (and was probably responsible for the PR campaign that drew workers into the area to support his mine).

Outside of the froading, we did a lousy job touristing the location, and apparently missed mill remnants, tailings and a cemetery. At different times, two towns and expansive mine workings supported the Gold Mountain Mining Companys endeavors, and we saw very little of them. We looked for offshoots but not very hard  there were a number of fence-lines that crept up on us from the side, so its likely theres still active use (or active residence) of property along the trail.

References:

Backcountry Adventures, Southern California; Peter Massey and Jeanne Wilson, Swagman Publishing 2006

Big Bear Backcountry Adventures; Don Alexander and Cindy Morley, Backcountry 4x4 LLC 2014

BigBearHistorySite.com; SEO Company and Daily News 2008

California Road & Recreation Atlas; Benchmark Maps, Benchmark Maps 2007

Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Guide; Southern California Mountains Foundation and Yamaha Motor Corporation, 2014
There was an air of gloom in Ferbane this week following the tragic death of Emma Dooley.

There was an air of gloom in Ferbane this week following the tragic death of Emma Dooley.

The 30 year old was killed following a car crash at Derrinlough on the main Birr to Cloghan road last Thursday.

A native of Portroe in County Tipperary, Emma was married to Greg Dooley, son of well known Offaly County Councillor Eamonn.

The couple who were married in December 2010 lived in Ballyvora Grove in Ferbane.

Emma worked in the Allied Irish Bank in Birr, where she was very well regarded among her colleagues.

Recently she had visited St Brendans Community School, Birr to show to students how to open accounts and impressed the students greatly.

She was described as a very quiet, easy going, placid girl who was very well liked by everyone who knew her.

She is also survived by her parents Anthoney and Breda Shouldice, her two brothers Colman and Cormac, and five sisters Genevieve, Ruth, Linda, Denise and Antonia.

Her remains will repose at her home in Ballyvora Grove today (Tuesday) from 3pm until 10pm.

Requiem Mass will take place on Wednesday at 12 noon in St Marys Church, Ferbane.

Burial will take place afterwards in Castletown Cemetery, Portroe arriving 4pm approx.

The house will be private on Wednesday morning.
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YORK, Neb. (AP)  An attorney says his client will plead not guilty to a charge that she had sex with a teenager at a York facility for troubled children.

Authorities say 37-year-old Jamie Bishop, of Seward, is charged with sexual assault of a minor. Court documents say Bishop and the 15-year-old had sex several times in his room or on the grounds at Epworth Village from January to July last year. Bishop gave birth to a child in December, and authorities say DNA tests prove the boy's paternity.

Her attorney, Chad Wythers, said Monday that Bishop would plead not guilty and said in a news release that "her accuser has a history of manipulating situations for his benefit."

Epworth Village CEO Margaret Donovan said Bishop no longer works there.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
GRAND ISLAND, Neb.  A school superintendent has been arrested in south-central Nebraska's Hall County.

The Hall County Sheriff's Office said 45-year-old Brian Redinger was arrested Sunday, accused of hitting and choking his wife as they drove in rural Hall County. He faces charges of assault, terroristic threats and strangulation.

Redinger remained in custody Tuesday, pending $50,000 bail, according to jail records.

Redinger is superintendent of the Shelton Public Schools. He was hired in 2011.

School board President Russell Muhlbach said the district was working with law enforcement officials and the district's attorney and would conduct its own investigation. A press release from Muhlbach didnt mention Redingers status with the district, and he declined to comment further.

If Redinger makes bail, he is to have no contact with his wife, Kelleene Redinger. A preliminary hearing was set for May 17.

An affidavit in support of an arrest warrant filed by Hall County Deputy Sheriff Rhonda Rowe said that she and Deputy Sheriff Melissa Kier were dispatched to the Pilot Truck Stop in Wood River on Sunday for a reported domestic assault.

Rowe said Kelleene Redinger told them that her husband was driving her on Nebraska Highway 11 in rural Hall County when he said that he was going to kill her and that "he may as well end it now." Kelleene told the deputies that Redinger had told her to pick a color and that "he was going to drive in front of a semi that was that color and kill them."

Kelleene Redinger told deputies that she managed to stop the car, and then Redinger hit and strangled her. She said that after she got out of the car, Redinger drove at her while she was walking on the side of the highway, and she had to jump off the side of the road so he didnt hit her. She said she flagged down a truck driver, who took her to the Pilot Truck Stop.

Redinger was arrested later that day.

The World-Herald News Service contributed to this report.
GRAND ISLAND, Neb.  Shelton Public Schools Superintendent Brian Redinger was arrested Sunday on suspicion of domestic assault, according to the Hall County Sheriffs Office.

Hall County Sheriff Jerry Watson said Monday that Redinger was being held in the Hall County Jail on charges of first-degree assault, strangulation, terroristic threats and domestic assault. Bail was set at $50,000.
DES MOINES (AP)  An Iowa lawmaker is challenging an agencys assessment that its longtime preservation work on hundreds of historic battle flags is complete, the latest spat between the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs and historians over the direction of preservation in the state.

Sen. Bill Dotzler, D-Waterloo, said the department is misinterpreting the intended scope of a project involving more than 300 battle flags stored at the State Historical Museum in downtown Des Moines. He plans to propose language in a budget bill that would require the department to keep restoring the flags.

Department officials told Dotzler that work on the flags  which include flags from the Civil War, Spanish-American War and World War I, among others  is finished and that the agency no longer needs the roughly $94,000 a year it had recently received from the Legislature to restore them.

I absolutely do not believe what theyre saying, said Dotzler, who is chairman of the subcommittee that approves funding for the agency. Theyre 100 percent wrong.

Department spokesman Jeff Morgan said the projects original goal was to stabilize the flags  a process that involves removing them from unsecure locations, keeping them flat and maintaining their current condition. Historians said the department was also supposed to conserve the flags  a distinct process that is more labor intensive and includes repairing damage and cleaning.

After such treatment, flags can be displayed publicly, as required by Iowa law.

Morgan did not respond to Dotzlers criticism or budget plans.

We welcome input, guidance and direction from the Iowa Legislature for the continued preservation and accessibility to Iowas collection, including battle flags, he said in a statement.

Public records reviewed by the Associated Press show that the department undertook the more extensive conservation work for years.

The battle flag project formally launched in 2000 after it was determined that many of the battle flags had been improperly displayed at the Capitol for decades and that the process had led to deterioration. The flags have since been moved into special cabinets for storage.

The department hired a full-time conservator whose annual evaluation required the conservation of eight flags a year.

Morgan said conservation work allowed a portion to be displayed as required by law, and a total of 190 battle flags can be displayed. Flags on display must be put away after a certain period to recover from the exposure.

After the longtime project conservator left the job in 2014, the department didnt hire a replacement, but Morgan said one full-time employee and part-time employee continue to work on the flags.

In 2013 the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency reported that about 150 flags had been stabilized, and a similar number needed to be conserved.

Most Civil War-era flags have polluted material attached to them from outdated conservation treatments dating back a century. Stabilization would not include removing that material, said David Lamb, a department volunteer from 2011 to 2013 who helped conserve Civil War flags. More than 90 Civil War-era flags had not been conserved by the fall of 2013.

Those flags are in danger of being turned to powder, he said.

John Liepa, program chairman for the Des Moines Civil War Roundtable, and other historians have criticized other areas of the departments work. They said its $65 million request to the Legislature to renovate the history museum is unnecessarily costly and doesnt address long-standing issues about how artifacts are maintained.

Dotzler said hell require the department to work on the flags, even if he cant restore funding.

The intent of the Legislature was to really help preserve those flags for the future, Dotzler said. Stabilizing them is a relative term. Youre slowing down the disintegration ... but you are not stopping it.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The U.S. military has charged a Taiwan-born Navy officer with espionage for allegedly passing military secrets to China or Taiwan, U.S. defense officials said Monday.

A Navy document that describes multiple charges against Lt. Cmdr. Edward C. Lin accuses him of failing to report foreign contacts and says that on multiple occasions he gave or attempted to give secret national defense information to representatives of a foreign government. Lin is being held in pre-trial confinement in a Navy brig in Virginia.

Uncensored portions of the charge sheet do not identify the accused, but multiple officials said it is Lin.

The document does not reveal whom he is accused of spying for, but officials said the country involved is China or Taiwan, and possibly both. The officials were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation and so spoke on condition of anonymity.

A military hearing was held in Norfolk, Virginia, last Friday. A decision on whether there is enough evidence against Lin to pursue a court-martial will be made by Adm. Philip S. Davidson, commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command at Norfolk.

The charges against Lin were first reported Sunday by USNI News, which said he served on some of the Navys most sensitive intelligence-gathering aircraft. It said he was a signals intelligence specialist on the Navys EP-3E Aries II reconnaissance planes.

The list of charges, a copy of which was provided to The Associated Press, cites two counts of espionage and three of attempted espionage. It says Lin provided or attempted to provide secret national defense information to a representative of a foreign government with intent or reason to believe it would be used to the advantage of a foreign nation.

He also is accused of knowingly providing false official statements related to his foreign travel.

An attorney for Lin was not identified.

An official list of Lins Navy assignments says he joined the service in December 1999 as an enlisted sailor and attended Navy nuclear training at Charleston, South Carolina, from 2000 to 2002. He then attended Officer Candidate School and gained his commission in May 2002.

He served with Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 1, based at Whidbey Island, Washington, from 2004 to 2007. Among his other assignments, he attended the Navy War College at Newport, Rhode Island, and served for nearly two years in Washington on the staff of the assistant secretary of the Navy for financial management and comptroller.

His official Navy biography says he was assigned to the Special Projects Patrol Squadron at Kaneohe, Hawaii, from Feb. 15, 2014, to March 25, 2016.

A Navy press release about Lins attendance at his naturalization ceremony in Hawaii in December 2008 said he was 14 when he and his family left Taiwan.

I always dreamt about coming to America, the promised land, Lin was quoted as saying. I grew up believing that all the roads in America lead to Disneyland.

Copyright 2016 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Freight shipments nationwide are down by 6 percent this year from the same point in 2015. Railroads with major Nebraska connections, while remaining profitable, have significant numbers of employees on temporary furlough, World-Herald staff writer Russell Hubbard recently reported.

Anyone can have opinions about the economy, but the freight data doesnt lie, Matt Troy, a transportation industry analyst, told Hubbard. If transportation companies arent moving it, no one is selling it and no one is buying it.

Such factors dont automatically forecast recession, but they should give legislators reason for caution in handling the state budget  specifically, in how much to take from the cash reserve.

During a recession, revenues decline and governments face tough budget choices. Having enough cash on hand to help cushion the blow is responsible budgeting. That was the painful lesson in 2001, when an economic slowdown hit and a $45 million rainy day fund proved woefully inadequate to help plug a $220 million gap.

The recommended cash reserve level is about 16 percent of annual revenues, the Legislatures fiscal staff says. That would require $704 million for 2015-16 and about $746 million for 2016-19.

Nebraska has needs on both the spending and tax-cut sides. But given the economic uncertainties, lawmakers should proceed with caution in pulling from the piggy bank for short-term needs.
LINCOLN (AP)  Nebraska wildlife regulators could raise hunting and fishing permit fees to cover their expenses under a bill headed to Gov. Pete Ricketts' desk.

Lawmakers voted 45-3 on Tuesday to approve Legislative Bill 745. Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, a fervent opponent, remained silent despite his earlier promise to fight it after lawmakers rejected his effort to ban mountain lion hunting.

Chambers said he was saving his opposition for a debate on whether to reinstate the winner-take-all system for awarding Nebraska's electoral votes in presidential elections.

Sen. John McCollister of Omaha said he sponsored the bill because fees have not been adjusted since 2003, and the increases will help the Game and Parks Commission pay its rising operational costs.

Ricketts has five days to act on the bill.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
CBI arrests one of the two absconders in WB's Bogtui killings

Fake currency value in West Bengal shoots up

West Bengal

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The going rate for fake currency in Malda, West Bengal is Rs 18,000 for Rs 1 lakh worth of fake currency.

When compared to last year there is a jump of Rs 8,000 in the market value of fake currency thus indicating the high demand. The NIA was able to reveal these details following the arrest of a key operative known as Alam Shaikh.

Shaikh who is just 24 was a key player in the racket. He was purchasing fake currency at Rs 18,000 per Rs 1 lakh from Bangladesh and then circulating it in India, the NIA has also stated. His arrest is an important one says the NIA.

Value of fake currency goes up:

The NIA has found that the racket is so immense that the value of the fake currency has shot up. Last year the rate was Rs 10,000 per one lakh.

However, there is a desperate attempt to continue pushing Pakistan sponsored fake currency into India through Bangladesh and the demand too has shot up.

Also Read: Pol parties alleged 'match fixing' between BJP, TMC

Shaikh a key player according to the NIA is a resident of Malda, West Bengal. He was arrested from the Sealdah railway station.

The arrested Alam Shaikh, as revealed during investigation, was a key player along with another arrested accused Jahirul Sk, who used to collect FICN from smugglers from Bangladesh, at the rate of Rs. 18,000/- (genuine Indian Currency) for Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) of 1(one) lac face value.

Also Read: EC failed to play its role in some areas: CPI-M's Mishra

He also used to forward it to one Amerul Sk, already arrested by NIA, who acted as carrier for another FICN dealer who is absconding, for further circulation in different states of India. Alam had been absconding to avoid arrest since last 4-5 months.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, April 12, 2016, 10:07 [IST]
Government Works Towards Doubling Income of Farmers

Feature

oi-Lisa

By Lisa

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made his public that his government's plan is to double the farmers' income in the next five years. This announcement was made in the Budget 2016-17.

Apart from that government is also trying to remove debt problems of the farmers. For the same government has increased Agricultural Credit target to Rs. 9 lakh crore for the year 2016-17.

This is being done to ensure that all farmers are with institutional fold. Also the Government is taking long term measures to remove the problems of the farmers.

Inauguration National Conference on Agriculture Kharif Campaign, 2016 at NASC (ICAR), Pusa Complex, New Delhi. pic.twitter.com/4FoEMzq1d6  Radha Mohan Singh (@RadhamohanBJP) April 11, 2016

While addressing two days Kharif Conference, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Radha Mohan Singh said that in spite of a severe loss of the crops owing to unseasonal rainfall, hailstorm and other natural calamities, the whole food grain production has increased.

Addressing the National Conference on Agriculture Kharif Campaign, 2016 pic.twitter.com/qQZoTNeo37  Radha Mohan Singh (@RadhamohanBJP) April 11, 2016

The minister also informed all that there is increased availability of seeds in north east states and that the states of West Bengal, and Jharkhand have made land available for the establishment of production centres of seeds.

Prime Minister has suggested following seven points to ensure that farmers' income doubles in the next five years.

Increase production:

The government has increased budgetary provision in irrigation sector. The government aims to get 'more crop per drop'. Government focuses its policy on water preservation and irrigation.

Government is also working hard to increase the production of other crops along with paddy and oilseeds.

More income less input:

The government is trying to educate the farmers that they can get more productivity from the seeds when the soil is full of nutrients.

With this regards soil health card scheme is of great help. Government is providing useful information to the farmers so that farmers can invest less and get more.

Along with this it is taken care of that the cost of farming is regularised and productivity of the crops is maintained. Government had also decided last year to produce only neem coated urea so that plants get nutrients easily.

Along with this Rs. 20,000 per acre is being provided to the farmers to encourage them to adopt organic farming.

Reduce farmers' marketing expenditure:

A national agriculture market is being set up for electronic trading. In this programme, 585 agriculture mandis of India will be connected to each other. The farmers will get maximum price of their crops and the interference of mediators will be reduced to a greater extent.

Direct foreign investment is also being encouraged in this field.

Agriculture risk security:

Under Prime Minister Fasal Bima Yojana, the farmers will be benefited on account of natural calamities like storms, earthquake and cyclone etc.

Reduce post-production losses:

The government of India has promoted region based strategy according to the climatic diversity of every state and region by implementing unified Horticulture Development Mission so as to develop horticulture sector as a whole.

Under this mission, the government aims to promote technical setup, extension of area under horticulture crops, post-harvest management, processing and marketing etc. India ranks second on global scenario in horticultural crops after China.

Value addition:

Government is promoting processed food industry so as to make value addition in agricultural products.

Not only this, but government is also chalking out its programme through different schemes to increase the production of fruits and vegetables and its processing with assistance of Ministry of Food Processing Industry.

The government aims to increase it to 25% by 2025 in comparison of 10% in existing scenario.

Auxiliary Activities:

This task will be executed partly through livestock, dairy, poultry, beekeeping, agriculture ponds and fisheries.

Simultaneously, the efforts are being made to increase the income of farmers by planting trees in fields and installing solar panels there.

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Story first published: Tuesday, April 12, 2016, 11:34 [IST]
Sushma Swaraj shuts down a troll who said she will be remembered like Sheila Dikshit

Delhi loses two of its former CMs in span of two weeks

Sheila Dikshit takes a jibe at Arvind Kejriwal

Feature

oi-Lisa

By Lisa

Delhi's former chief minister Sheila Dikshit took a jibe at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today. Arvind Kejriwal had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and offered water for drought hit Latur. Latur is part of Marathwada region of Maharashtra state.

Sheila Dikshit had said about Aam Aadmi Party head that he should first quench the thirst of the people of Delhi.

Arvind Kejriwal had praised the efforts of the Central Government to send railway wagons with five lakh litres of water to the dry region of Latur. Arvind Kejriwal had offered that the Delhi Government is ready to send 10 lakh litres of water every day for two months to Latur.

[Arvind Kejriwal asks Delhiites to save water for Latur]

Sheila Dikshit's jibe:

Sheila Dikshit was quoted to have said that, "He should quench the thirst of Delhiites first. There are many places in Delhi itself where the people don't get water to drink. First provide water to the people of Delhi then talk of Latur".

She was further quoted to have said that, "Kejriwal feels it is necessary for him to comment on everything. similarly this is also a comment".

[Shoe hurled at Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in live press conference]

Arvind Kejriwal's letter:

A part of Arvind Kejriwal's letter read, "It will be a matter of great embarrassment that if someone dies of thirst in the 21st century India. It becomes a matter of duty and responsibility for the entire nation to help Latur. The people of Delhi are ready to offer 10 lakh litres of water every day for two months in Latur. If the centre is ready to transport this water to Latur, then the Delhi government will make arrangements quickly".

Arvind Kejriwal had himself admitted that he was making an offer at a time when Delhi itself was facing water shortage. He however, had added that the conditions in Latur were so terrible that it made for nation's responsibility to help Latur.

Latur celebrates arrival of train with water:

Meanwhile, Latur celebrated as the train with five lakh litres of water reached. Chief Minister of Maharashtra had earlier told that state government was working with the Indian Railways to bring relief to drought hit Latur.

Mayor of Latur was quoted to have said that when the train with water arrived the atmosphere in Latur was like Ramzan celebrations. People from across the place had gathered to see the train.

The mayor had further added that administration was previously able to disperse 200 litres water to people in 15 days now with the arrival of water by train the administration will be able to disperse water in five to six days.
This is 21st century, where have we reached in name of religion: SC on hate speeches

Supreme Court - RBI Debate on Naming Big Defaulters

Feature

oi-Lisa

By Lisa

Vijay Mallya is not the only big defaulter that has many a banks worried. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had submitted in a sealed cover information about other big defaulters to the Supreme Court.

After going through the list Supreme Court is of the opinion that the information provided to it by RBI should be made public along with the total amount of outstanding loans given by banks to various individuals and entities which is running into lakhs of crores of rupees.

Supreme Court had in past too expressed concerns about the rise in bad loans of the banks.

Supreme Court's views:

A bench comprising Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice R Banumathi was of the opinion that, "This information does make out a case. This is quite a substantial amount which is involved."

The Bench found that the matter was important and it was ready to examine if the total amount of defaulting loans which run into crores of rupees can be disclosed. The Bench was also asked all the parties involved in the matter to frame the topics that can be debated.

The Bench expressed surprise that banks were taking no concrete steps for the recovery of loan from such big defaulters.

RBI's views:

RBI though was had a very different opinion about making the names of defaulters public. RBI's argument was that there was a confidentiality clause that needs to be considered before these names are made public. Also the Bank felt that making these names and figures public will have its own impact.

History:

The petition to make the names of defaulters public was filed in 2003 by an NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation. The issue originally raised was of loans advanced to some companies by government owned Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO).

The Bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice R Banumathi expanded the scope of the PIL and impleaded Ministry of Finance and Indian Bank's Association to discuss the matter. The matter has been posted for further hearing on April 26th.

The plea had mentioned that around Rs. 40,000 crore of corporate debt was written off in 2015.

Supreme Court had sought information from RBI:

The Supreme Court had directed the RBI to provide following information to it:

A list of companies which are defaulters of bank loans of over Rs 500 crore. Provide within six weeks the list of companies whose loans have been restructured under corporate debt restructuring schemes.

Supreme Court had taken note of a news report about bad loans of the banks and their inability to recover the loan amounts from the big defaulters.

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Story first published: Tuesday, April 12, 2016, 16:41 [IST]
Always admired his zeal, energy: PM Modi greets VP Naidu on his birthday

Venkaiah Naidu disapproves of Shankaracharya Saraswati's Remarks

Feature

oi-Lisa

By Lisa

Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu today disapproved of Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati's remarks that 'women's entry in Shani Shingapur temple will lead to rise in rape cases'.

Mr. Naidu tweeted his disapproval.

Politely disagree wid d views expressed by Swami Swaroopananda Ji abt women's entry in Shani Shingnapur temple will brng ill luck 2 them 1/2  M Venkaiah Naidu (@MVenkaiahNaidu) April 12, 2016

and give rise to crimes against them; and attributing drought situation in Maharashtra to Shirdi Saibaba worship (2/2)  M Venkaiah Naidu (@MVenkaiahNaidu) April 12, 2016

Mr. Naidu's statement comes after Shankaracharya stated that "the entry of women into the famous Shingnapur shrine which is devoted to Lord Shani will drive more rapes".

Commenting on the drought situation in Maharashtra, the religious leader had said, "The unworthy Sai is being worshipped while the real Gods are ignored. This is happening in Maharashtra and particularly in Shirdi. Hence, Maharashtra is facing drought".

Women activists on Monday too had termed Shankaracharya Swaroopanand Saraswati's remarks as "outrageous and appalling".

Shankaracharya Swaroopanand Saraswati had commented on lifting of ban on entry of women in the famous Shani temple in Maharashtra.

Women activists had demanded his apology, failing which they have threatened to stage protests.

Right to pray:

Under right to pray women activists have been asking entry into inner sanctum of Shani Shingnapur temple. Yesterday the activists got to enter the inner sanctum of the temple and worship Shani.

Chief Minister of Maharashtra had also supported their right to pray and sought that the temple authorities to hold a dialogue with the women's group that is campaigning for entry of female devotees into the inner sanctum of the temple.

Minister of state for home Ram Shinde too had said that the government will facilitate talks between the temple authorities and women activists to arrive at an amicable solution. He had further clarified that the women activists were arrested as they had violated the CrPC Section 144 which had been imposed by police (banning assembly of people).

Devendra Fadnavis on right to pray:

The CM had tweeted that, "Indian culture and Hindu religion gives women have the right to pray. A change in yesterday's traditions is our culture. Discrimination in praying is not in our culture. The temple authorities should resolve the issue through a dialogue".

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Story first published: Tuesday, April 12, 2016, 13:26 [IST]
Even if not contesting 2020 polls, Hillary Clinton will not be entirely out of scene

Why Hillary Clinton may envy Mamata Banerjee's luck this election season

Feature

oi-Shubham

By Shubham

They met in Kolkata in 2012. Hillary Clinton, then the US secretary of state, came all the way to meet West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. It was the first-ever visit by a US secretary of state to the state's secretariat.

Though according to experts Clinton's visit was more a part of a mission to address Bangladesh's (the country which she also visited during that trip) internal political differences and take the West Bengal administration into confidence to felicitate Washington's agenda in South Asia, on the face of it Clinton was more keen to meet a woman leader who toppled a communist regime which was in power for 34 long years.

Four years have gone by since the two leaders, once listed among the 100 top influenctial people in the world by the Time magazine, met and in the year 2016, the same two individuals are in the news again. While Mamata Banerjee is fighting a strong anti-incumbency while aiming to return to power in the state, Clinton is also fighting an anti-incumbency of sort against her Democratic Party and a strong rival in Bernie Sanders in the race for the next occupant of the White House.

The roads for Mamata and Hillary have not been easy

If luck favours them, Banerjee will continue to remain the first woman chief minister of West Bengal while Clinton will go on to become the first woman president of the world's only superpower, an opportunity she lost in 2008. But so far, their roads have not been very easy.

The two leaders started off their respective campaigns for the top posts confidently but a series of events of late have checked their momentum. While a sting operation conducted by a news channel has raised serious allegations against leaders of Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TMC) accepting bribes for a favour, Clinton's campaigning has received a blow in the latest primaries/caucuses as she lost to Sanders in the six of the last seven contests.

The duo still lead but there are enough reasons to be nervous

It is not that Banerjee and Clinton have been derailed by these occurrences and they still have a lead over the opponents, but there are enough reasons for them to feel nervous.

Clinton will be perhaps more nervy when compared to Banerjee since she has a more potent rival in Sanders. At the moment, Clinton is leading against Sanders by just 250 delegates (excluding the superdelegates) and with important states waiting to go to polling, Clinton's campaign team will need to work harder to beat Sanders, who has successfully appealed to voters who are fed up with the country's trypical establishment voices, including that of Clinton.

Compared to the former secretary of state's position in US politics 2012, things do not seem as rosy, thanks to the email and Libya episodes.

Banerjee, too, is seen as an administrator who has failed to deliver on key issues like economy and employment but still she has an edge in the ongoing election in Bengal, thanks to her vulnerable opponents.

Still Mamata will feel better as she her opponents are not looking very organised

The Left and the Congress, both of which have been weakened in the state's politics over the years, have although come together to challenge Banerjee but they are still not strong enough to defeat the ruling party in various key constituencies of the state, the issue of corruption notwithstanding.

Even winning the immediate elections doesn't end the challenges for the two

There is another similarity in the stories of Banerjee and Clinton and that is about their rivalry that waits at a distance in case they win.

If Banerjee wins her second term as the chief minister, she will have to do a lot of dealings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his NDA government at the Centre if the struggling state of Bengal has to be brought out of its misery; on the other hand, if Clinton manages to beat Sanders to win the nomination, an even harder battle will await her in the November 8 general elections.

If Donald Trump wins the Republican nomination, then Clinton will have to put every resource at her disposal to beat the anti-incumbency against the Democrats and script history.

Till then, Clinton might envy Banerjee for fighting a relatively easier battle.
Anti-Naxal ops: CRPF officer succumbs to injuries

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Apr 12: A CRPF officer, who suffered severe IED splinter injuries and had slipped into coma for a month after an anti-Naxal operation in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, today died at a hospital in Hyderabad.

The officer, Deputy Commandant BK Shyam Niwas, had been under intensive care of doctors due to grievous injuries on his head during an operation that took place on March 11.

"After showing signs of recovery, the officer eventually succumbed to injuries at around 8:30 AM with his family by his side at a hospital in Hyderabad," a senior officer of the paramilitary said.

45-year-old Niwas, a veteran of numerous successful anti-Naxal and counter-insurgency operations, is survived by his wife, a teenaged daughter and son.

He was airlifted after the blast from Sukma to Bhadrachalam and subsequently to Hyderabad. The officer, hailing from Keshogiri in Ranga Reddy district of Andhra Pradesh, had joined the country's largest paramilitary in 1993 as a Sub-Inspector and rose through the ranks by way of getting out-of-turn promotions by the sheer dint of his dare-devil exploits in operations.

The incident in which Niwas got injured occurred under the Konta block of the worst Maoist violence affected Sukma district of the state when a squad of the 217th battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force men were securing an under-construction road and subsequently some Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) were recovered.

While the bomb disposal squad was trying to defuse it under Niwas's close supervision, the IED blasted causing serious injuries to him, his colleague and another Deputy Commandant Prabhakar Tripathi and Head Constable Ranga Raghavan.

Raghavan had succumbed to his injuries the same day when they were being evacuated to Hyderabad while Tripathi is stable now. CRPF Director General K Durga Prasad described the slain officer a brave and gallant commander.

"His martyrdom is an irreparable loss to to the family and the force. The force stands by the aggrieved family in their hour of grief," he said.

PTI
Kerala tragedy: Chinese prez, premier condole temple deaths

India

oi-PTI

Beijing, Apr 12: China's top leadership, including President Xi Jinping, today expressed shock and grief over the deadly temple fire in Kerala that killed 109 people.

In a message of condolence to President Pranab Mukherjee, Xi said he was shocked to learn of the tragedy which left many people dead and many others injured in the explosions and fire due to fireworks at the temple near Kollam.

"At this moment of sadness, I would like to extend sincere condolences, on behalf of the government and the people of China and in my personal name, to the government of India and the people affected," Xi said.

"I am deeply saprmer ddened by the loss of lives and wish the injured recovery at an early date," he said, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

At least 109 people were killed and nearly 400 others were injured in the fire caused by festive fireworks at the Puttingal Devi temple on Sunday. Premier Li Keqiang too sent a similar condolence message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Kerala temple tragedy: Six booked

"I'd like to extend, on behalf of the Chinese government and in my personal name, profound condolences to the victims and heartfelt sympathy to their families and those injured," Li said.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi also sent a message of condolence to his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj over the tragedy. Wang said he was shocked to learn of the tragedy that left many people dead and many others injured in the fire.

"I'd like to express to Your Excellency, and through Your Excellency to the victims and those injured, my profound condolences and heartfelt sympathies," Wang said.

PTI
Drought-hit Latur gets 5 lakh litres of water

India

oi-Pallavi

Latur, April 12: The drought-hit Latur region in Maharashtra's Marathwada region is parched and sending relief to the region was The Fadnavis government. Battling severe drought this year, the region was bracing itself for further crisis as the state was host to the IPL matches that required 70 lakh litres of water for preparing the ground.

While the Fadnavis administration is mulling shifting the matches to some place else, the administration sent an immediate relief of 5 lakh litres of water in 10 wagons. The train left from Miraj in western Maharashtra at around 11 am on Monday and reached Latur at 5 am next day, taking about 18 hours to cover a distance of 350 kilometers.

Chief spokesperson of Central Railway, Narendra Patil, said,"The first batch of 10 wagons, each with a capacity of around 50,000 litres, was filled with water at Miraj railway station in Sangli district."

The district administration acquired a well near the Latur railway station where the water would be stored and will then be supplied to the Latur town.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has assured relief to the people here. Also a second train consisting of 50 wagons is expected to be ready for water loading around April 15, said a railway official.

Patil further added,"As per instructions from the ministry of railways, Kota workshop received two goods trains consisting of 50 tank wagons each for deployment in drought-affected areas of Latur during the summer season and the trips of the trains will be arranged as per the requirement."

The capacity of these wagons is 54,000 litres of waters per wagon. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also pledged support seeking the help of residents of Delhi, asking them to save water, which could be sent to Latur.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Tuesday, April 12, 2016, 11:22 [IST]
Ex-army chief JJ Singh gets highest French civilian honour

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Apr 11: Former army chief Gen. (retd) JJ Singh was today conferred with the highest French civilian distinction, Officer of the Legion of Honour.

Singh was chosen for the honour in recognition of his "stellar role" in modernising the Indian Army and initiating robust exchanges between the Indian and French armies leading to "unprecedented" levels of cooperation and inter- operability and creation of enduring ties and promotion of mutual understanding between the two countries, the French Embassy said here.

'Officier de l'Ordre national de la Legion d'Honneur' is the highest civilian award given by the French Republic for outstanding service to France, regardless of the nationality of the recipients.

Singh was conferred the honour by French Ambassador to India, Francois Richier. An alumnus of the National Defence Academy and holder of a master's degree in Defence Science, Singh was commissioned into the 9th Maratha Light Infantry on August 2, 1964. In January, 2003, he was appointed as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Army Training Command (ARTRAC) and took over as Army Commander - Western Command in January, 2004.

On January 31, 2005, Singh assumed the office of Chief of Army Staff. In 2007, he also held the appointment of Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee of the three forces.

Working tirelessly for the enhancement of military cooperation between the Indian and French armies, he led an inter-services delegation to France that year. It was during his tenure that he mooted the idea of holding joint army exercises at the level already existing between the two countries' air forces (Garuda) and navies (Varuna).

"It was thus that the 'Shakti' inter-army exercise later came into being in 2011," the statement said. In 2009, he was invited as the Guest of Honour for the French National Day military parade in Paris in which an Indian Army contingent took part for the first time. After his retirement in September 2007, Singh served as the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh from 2008 to 2013.

PTI
Good news: Bihar Cabinet's nod for giving salary to school teachers

India

oi-PTI

Patna, April 12: Bihar Cabinet on Tuesday, April 12 decided to give salary to untrained teachers of secondary and higher secondary schools of the state during their training period.

"The Cabinet today gave its nod to a proposal of education department to give salary to untrained teachers of secondary and higher secondary schools of the state during training period," Cabinet Secretariat Department's Principal Secretary Brajesh Mehrotra told reporters.

Mehrotra said that the Cabinet gave its nod to "Bihar District Board Secondary and Higher Secondary (Employment and Service Conditions) (Amendment) Rules 2016" and "Bihar Municipal Bodies Secondary and Higher Secondary (Employment and Service Conditions) (Amendment) Rules 2016" for the purpose. Earlier, untrained teachers appointed by district board and municipal bodies in secondary and higher secondary schools had to complete their training courses including B.Ed programme within six years of their appointment but with the amendement getting nod, untrained teachers will have to complete their training within three years of joinning, Principal Secretary said.

The govenrment will give salary for the period during which the untrained teachers would get training, Mehrotra said while making it clear that teachers will have to furnish bond that they will work for next five years after availing the facility for training.

If they dont work after completing training, then they will have to return the amount which they would get during the training period. Besides, education department will now take steps and initiatives to ensure that selected candidates get their appointment letters in time, Mehrotra said adding that as per the current provision, selected candidates have to report to authorities concerned for joining within 30 days of their selection but they, sometimes, do not get appointment letters.

The Cabinet also gave its nod for appointment of Patna high court judge Justice Hemant Gupta as 'executive chairman' of Bihar State Legal Service Authority, he said.

It also approved that the second session of 16th Bihar Legislative Assmebly and 182nd session of Bihar Legislative Council were adjourned sine die, Mehrotra said.

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

Amitabh Bachchan reveals he had to get stitches after he cut a vein on his leg

Govt to set up committee on water woes of Mumbai: Devendra Fadnavis

India

pti-PTI

By PTI

Mumbai, Apr 12: The Maharashtra government will appoint an experts' committee to suggest measures to solve Mumbai's water woes, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said in the Legislative Assembly here on Tuesday.

The committee will prepare a roadmap for equal distribution of water and suggest measures to prevent leakages and provide round-the-clock water to the megapolis. It will submit its report in the next two months, the CM said.

The Chief Minister conceded that over 27 per cent or some 900 million litre of water gets wasted everyday in the city.

Replying to a calling attention motion of Yogesh Sagar (BJP), Fadnavis said the distribution in the island city and the suburbs should be equal and on the basis of population.

The BMC (civic body) supplies 960-975 million litres daily (MLD) of water to the island city's 31 lakh population, 920-930 MLD to eastern suburbs' 30 lakh population, while the area from Goregaon to Dahisar, with a population of 30 lakh, gets only 620 MLD of water.

This is an injustice to the suburban region, Sagar said.

"The government should appoint a committee to study feasibility of equal, population-based distribution," he said.

Sagar also said the committee should not have any serving or retired BMC officials, because they may favour no change in the existing water distribution network. Fadnavis said the government will come up with a roadmap for solving all water-related issues of Mumbai.

"Committee will suggest how to provide 24-hour water to the city, its equal distribution and solution to the leakages," he said.

The government will ask the municipal commissioner to take suggestions from the legislators for fixing the terms of reference of the committee, he said.

PTI
Hyderabad shocker: Man slits wife's throat inside court, flees

India

oi-Shalini

Hyderabad, April 12: In a horrific incident, a man allegedly slit his wife's throat inside a Hyderabad court premises on Tuesday (April 12) and soon fled away from the site.

The incident happened minutes after the couple attended a court hearing in which the woman had filed a domestic violence case against her husband at a court in Rajendernagar.

Around 12 pm, Nagendra Babu, husband, attacked his wife Soujanya with a sharp knife inside the court compound and fled away. Soujanya, who was bleeding profusely, was rushed to near by hospital. Doctor told that her condition was critical.

Police registered a case under section 307 case against Nagendra and said they are investigating the case. A team has been set up to trace the absconding husband.

According to police, Soujanaya has approached court seeking to get pay maintenance. She even informed the court that her husband is having an extra-marital affair.

OneIndia News
Indian, Pak troops hold flag meeting over ceasefire violations

India

oi-PTI

Jammu, April 12: Indian and Pakistani troops on Tuesday, April 12 held a battalion commander-level flag meeting in Pooch to discuss ceasefire violations along the LoC and reaffirmed their faith in ensuring lasting peace and tranquility.

"A Battalion Commander-level flag meeting was held at ChakanDaBagh along LoC in Poonch Sector at 1100 hours today to take forward the peace process initiated since the Brigade Commander level Flag Meeting of September 21, 2015," Officiating Defence Spokesperson SN Acharya said.

The two sides held discussions to address the situation arising out of the recent ceasefire violations in Poonch sector, Acharya said. In the meeting which lasted nearly 30 minutes, the 'Colonel' ranked officers leading the two delegations acknowledged each other's efforts in maintaining peace and tranquility on the Line of Control in the recent past, he said.

"Both sides mutually agreed to the importance of exercising restraint on the Line of Control and keeping the communication alive through established reconciliation mechanism of exchange of hotline messages and flag meetings," Acharya said.

"The flag meeting ended on a positive note and both sides reaffirmed their faith in ensuring everlasting peace and tranquility on the Line of Control by redressing mutual concerns on priority in the future", he said.

The Pakistan Army today violated the ceasefire by opening fire in Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir, drawing retaliation from Indian troops. As per reports Indian troops have also lodged a protest with Pakistani troops over ceasefire violations.

On April 9, the Pakistan Army violated the ceasefire agreement by firing and mortar shelling along LoC in Shahpur forward area in Poonch district.

PTI
Islamic State bomber detained in Russia for attempting attack in India was recruited through Telegram

Why India should get access to Islamic State bomber detained in Russia

Prosecutions story may be attractive but should be backed by evidence

IS allowed 50 terrorists to return to UK

India

oi-PTI

London, Apr 12: The Islamic State terror group reportedly allowed around 50 British recruits to return home from IS strongholds in Syria and Iraq over the past few months.

According to The Times, British counter-terrorism agencies are investigating documents that give permission to IS fighters holding UK passports to leave the region. This raises fears that they could be plotting attacks in Britain.

The so-called leaving permissions or exit cards, found among thousands of documents obtained by the Syrian website Zaman Al Wasl, include a British Iraqi dubbed Abu Bakr al-Iraqi, whose commander gave him permission to leave for "work" in July 2014.

The exit cards, only a few of which were disclosed to the newspaper, are thought to provide a bureaucratic vouchsafe for fighters to be able to safely cross the ISIS border as the group is known to execute deserters.

ISIS, Canada-based Sikh terror outfit may carry out attack in Delhi: Sources

The documents leak, which covers the very early days of IS rule in northern Syria and some of northern Iraq, first emerged last month and exposed the meticulous detail with which IS administers its recruitment process.

Other than "work", the cards included fighters leaving for "family circumstances" and "meeting his mother". Saeed Hamid, an IS fighter from Birmingham, was given permission to leave but appears to have not returned to the UK before being killed.

The family of the 21-year-old were later sent a picture of his dead body. They have been cooperating with UK counter-terrorism police and security services with their investigations.

PTI
Kerala temple fire: HC raps police says they failed on every count

India

oi-Vicky

New Delhi, April 12: The Kerala High Court today took to task the police and the administration over their failure to prevent the major tragedy at the Puttingal temple in which 110 persons lost their lives as a result of a fire accident last Sunday.

Kerala fire tragedy: Five Puttingal officials surrender

Suggesting that it is best that the matter be handed over to the CBI, the High Court made stinging remarks against the police. The court however observed that fircrackers with loud decibels cannot be used after sunset.

The court is hearing a public interest litigation petition filed by Justice V Chidambaresh. The judge had written a letter to the Chief Justice seeking a ban on high decibel firecrackers. The letter was converted into a public interest litigation petition.

Police have failed on every count:

The court had harsh words for the police which it said had failed on every count. When the hearing began, the court sought to know from the state government whether there was permission granted to the temple authorities to hold a fireworks display.

The state government in its reply said that no permission was granted for fireworks display. There has been a clear violation of the law the government also submitted.

The state government as well as the police submitted that the temple administration ignored the ban on fireworks.

If there was no permission why were the fireworks allowed inside the temple the court asked.

The police when asked about the amount of gun power was used in the firecrackers which led to such a huge explosion were unable to explain it to the court.

The attitude has been lackadaisical the court observed. Don't you think in such a scenario it is better to hand over the probe to the CBI, the court also asked.

Further the court directed the police and the district administration to file two separate affidavits in connection with the incident.

The court also took to task the revenue department saying their role also needs to be looked into. If there has been dereliction of duty, then stringent action needs to be taken, the high court further observed.

Further the court also stated that the police appear to have ignored the stash of firecrackers stored at the temple.

You knew that there was a ban on fireworks and despite that you seem to have ignored the stash of fireworks, the court stated. This is gross violation of human rights, the court said while pointing out that the police had failed to provide basic safety to the people.

OneIndia news
Maharashtra Assembly passes Dance Bar Bill

India

oi-PTI

Mumbai, April 12: The Maharashtra Assembly today unanimously passed the Dance Bar Regulation Bill, which has provisions for stringent actions against the violators.

The Bill was cleared by the Legislative Council yesterday, paving the way for reopening of the dance bars. Minister of State for Home, Ram Shinde tabled the Bill in the Assembly and it was passed unanimously without any debate.

The new Bill fixes accountability on the owner in case of violation of rules, exploitation of women employees, or in cases of obscenity. Owners or operators face up to up to five years in jail and fines of up to Rs 25,000 for violations.

Separate rules are being formulated on this, based on the provisions of the Bill. According to the new conditions, dance bars must be at least a kilometre from any education or religious institution, their timings restricted between 6 PM and 11.30 PM, and liquor not to be served in the performance area.

The Bill also bans running bars in the residential buildings and permits them in semi-residential ones only if the three-fourths residents consent.

The Bill also has a provision to repeal amendments to Section 33 (A) of the Maharashtra Police Act that were earlier struck down by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court, during hearings between October 2015 and March 2016, struck down two amendments through which the Maharashtra government banned dance bars.

The court, however, clarified the Maharashtra government has the power to contain 'obscenity' and safeguard women who work at the bars. Following this, the Maharashtra Cabinet decided to bring in a new law to regulate dance bars.

PTI
Partial Solar Eclipse 2022: City-wise timings, when and where to watch

Mehbooba Mufti meets Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, April 12; Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday met union Home Minister Rajnath Singh for the first time after assuming office. She also met Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari.

Mehbooba is understood to have discussed the controversy over the National Institute of Technology (NIT) - Srinagar, following the stand-off between Kashmiri and non-Kashmiri students and the police action on the institute campus.

Mehbooba asks bureaucracy to deliver projects on time

After meeting Rajnath Singh, which she described as a "courtesy call", Mehbooba dismissed the possibility of shifting the NIT out of the Kashmir Valley as was being demanded by some students.

"Let me make it clear that it is an issue within the institute, and please do not give it a colour of local versus outsiders.

The human resource development ministry is looking into the grievances of the outstation students, and I am hopeful that it will be resolved soon," the chief minister told reporters as she came out of the North Block office.

According to ruling Peoples Democratic Party sources, Mehbooba, on her first visit to New Delhi since she was sworn-in, discussed various state government proposals now under the consideration of the home ministry.

These included continuation of modernisation of the police force scheme, revised ex gratia scheme including for loss of livestock in cross-border firing, and exemption of security-related expenditure on account of deployment charges.

NIT development being highlighted as communal incident: Mehbooba

Mehboba also proposed opening of additional routes and crossing points across the Line of Control.

These were Kargil-Skardu, Jammu-Sialkote, Turtuk-Khapulu, Chhamb Jorian-Mirpur, Gurez-Astoor-Gilgit, Titwal-Chilhas, Jhangar (Nowshera)-Mirpur and Kotli.

Expressing concern over rising crimes against women, Mehbooba sought support from the home minister for financial assistance in raising two all-women battalions for executive policing.

She also advocated adopting non-lethal means and better crowd control to prevent loss of human lives while dealing with law-and-order situations in the Kashmir Valley.

The chief minister also urged Rajnath Singh to take an early decision on the state government's proposal to recognise Nepal route as one of the routes under the policy framed for militants returning to mainstream, peaceful life.

On the return of Kashmir Pandits, the chief minister said not only the state government but the people of Jammu and Kashmir want the Kashmiri Pandit community to return to the valley with dignity and honour as the cultural milieu of Kashmir without them remains incomplete.

The home minister assured Mehbooba of full support from the Centre, sources said.

Duing her meeting with Gadkari, Mehbooba sought higher allocation under the Central Road Fund for the state and assured full support for land acquisition for construction of ring roads in the two cities of Jammu and Srinagar.
Murthal 'rapes': Haryana adds gangrape section in FIR after victims file complaint

India

oi-Avinash

Chandigarh, April 12: After outrighly denying any incidents of rape at Murthal during the violent Jat agitation in February, the Haryana government has finally admitted to the Punjab and Haryana High Court that there could be a possibility that the rapes could have happened then.

The admission by the Haryana government came up during hearing of a case by the high court here on Monday.

Submitting a report by way of an affidavit filed by Inspector General of Police, South Range-cum-incharge, Special Investigation Team (SIT),Mamta Singh, the state police has included section 376-D (rape) of the Indian Penal Code to the FIR No. 118 registered on March 30 this year regarding the incidents at along National Highway No. 1 (NH-1) near Murthal in Haryana's Sonipat district.

(Haryana sets up panel to probe Murthal mass gangrapes)

The section (of rape) has been included on the basis of complaint of Delhi resident Bobby Joshi that women were allegedly sexually assaulted by the agitators. The state government said that it had received anonymous letters alleging that the rapes took place.

The FIR was lodged after the police department received an anonymous letter from an Australia-based NRI, which was forwarded by a media channel, said an Indian Express report.

In February this year, the Haryana government had emphatically told the high court that no such incidents of rape or molestation were reported from Sonipat district during the Jat agitation. The government had submitted a status report in the high court in this regard.

(Murthal 'rapes': Witnesses emerge, Haryana panel begins probe)

The preliminary status report was submitted following investigations into the mass gang-rape allegations by an all-women SIT constituted by the Haryana government. The SIT report said that no victim of the alleged mass gang rape or molestation had come forward to complain.

The high court, taking suo moto notice of the reports in the media about the mass gang rapes, had asked the Haryana government and police to submit a status report.

It had appointed lawyer Anupam Gupta as amicus curie in the matter.

The high court on Monday also questioned the Manohar Lal Khattar government on the appointment of the Parkash Singh Committee to look into the incidents of violence during the Jat agitation, asking it to clarify its constitutional and legal status.

At least 30 people were killed and over 320 injured in the nine-day long Jat agitation for reservation.

OneIndia News

(With inputs from agencies)

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Tuesday, April 12, 2016, 12:38 [IST]
Karnataka flag debate: MHA stresses on One Nation, One Flag

African national tied to pole, beaten with sticks in Delhi

Khichdi dairy: Some love it, others hate it and Min denies its elevation as national dish

National Maritime Day: Why is this day significant?

News Flash: March retail inflation drops to 4.83

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

New Delhi, April 12: Get the latest national and international updates here:

11.05 pm: We are exploring the opportunity to set up a port in Bangladesh and further strengthen our ties: Nitin Gadkari.

10.14 pm: One more person succumbs to burn injuries in Puttingal fire tragedy. Toll rises to 113.

9.35 pm: Monsoon to be above average in 2016: IMD.

9.22 pm: Jammu and Kashmir: Protest in Handwara after Army opens fire, kills 2 youth to disperse mob.

8.40 pm: Assam: Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attend the Bihu festival celebration in Kaziranga National Park

Assam: Duke & Duchess of Cambridge attend the Bihu festival celebration in Kaziranga National Park pic.twitter.com/41A63P8GqW  ANI (@ANI_news) April 12, 2016

8.30 pm: PM Modi tells Ministers to promote work of their ministries and their success stories on social media.

8.25 pm: Syed Geelani calls for shutdown in J&K over Handwara firing, other political parties demand action against guilty.

7.33 pm: March inflation drops to 4.83.

7.25 pm: Had to explain to my Hollywood colleagues what Padma awards are, then they were very excited for me: Priyanka Chopra.

I think the world has a lot of stereotypes about India, I am having a good time with people discovering the reality: Priyanka Chopra  ANI (@ANI_news) April 12, 2016

7.00 pm: When crowd assembled, tried to ransack the bunker & to set it on fire, the forces retaliated, that's when 2 people got injured: IGP, Kashmir.

Later the two injured succumbed to injuries, presently the situation is being brought under control: IGP, Kashmir pic.twitter.com/YcsDjE1QHK  ANI (@ANI_news) April 12, 2016

6.50 pm: Election Commission removes Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar. Somen Mitra to be new Kolkata CP.

Soumen Mitra, Additional DG (CID) replaces Rajeev Kumar as Kolkata Police Commissioner.  ANI (@ANI_news) April 12, 2016

6.40 pm: There was allegation that a girl was misbehaved with by a force personnel: SJM Gillani (IGP, Kashmir) on Handwara incident.

Later the two injured succumbed to their injuries, presently the situation is being brought under control: IGP, Kashmir  ANI (@ANI_news) April 12, 2016

6.35 pm: US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter meets PM Narendra Modi in Delhi.

6.30 pm: Law and order is not an issue of MHRD, its a state issue: HRD Minister Smriti Irani on NIT Srinagar.

But students who want to give exams on time should be able to do&therefore we have held the exams as per schedule for those students: SIrani  ANI (@ANI_news) April 12, 2016

6.25 pm: Haryana Government decides to change name of Gurgaon district to Gurugram and Mewat district to Nuh.

6.20 pm: Inflation eases for third straight month, Consumer price index at 4.83%

6.10 pm: Army deeply regrets the unfortunate loss of life. Matter will be investigated & anyone found guilty will be dealt with as per the law, says Army.

6.00 pm: Haryana Government decides to change name of Gurgaon district to Gurugram and Mewat district to Nuh.

5.48 pm: Bombay HC asks BCCI if it could shift IPL matches out of Pune and Mumbai and have asked it to reply by tomorrow.

5.30 pm: Fire breaks out at a agarbatti (incense sticks) factory in Bhopal (MP), 15 fire tenders at spot.

5.21 pm: J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti and HM Rajnath Singh discussed NIT Srinagar issue in today's meeting at Ministry of Home Affairs, says Sources.

5.10 pm: We have a different vision with India, its the thing of the past that we saw India in relation to Pakistan: US Defence Secretary.

5.05 pm: Indian Hockey team beat Pakistan 5-1 in Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.

5.00 pm: BCCI lawyer Rafiq Dada brings half a litre water sample being used for watering the pitches in Court, says its murky & unfit for drinking.

4.55 pm: Bombay HC asked amicus curiae advocate A Kumbhakoni to file his reply on Govt's affidavit on Maharashtra drought till 3rd May.

4.50 pm: Petitioner's Lawyer to Court: Only after petition & Court's intervention Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has entered into agreement with Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) for water, what before our petition?

4.47 pm: Bombay HC asked amicus curiae Advocate AA Kumbhakoni to file his reply on Govt's affidavit on Maharashtra drought in 2 weeks.

4.45 pm: Kirpal Singh's(who died in Pak jail)sister Jagir protests with Sarabjit's sister Dalbir,against Pak at Attari border.

4.40 pm: Conservation of tiger will ensure a good future for us and our coming generations: PM Modi speaking at the 3rd Asia Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation in Delhi.

4.35 pm: 2 more people died after a wall collapsed during Municipal Corporation's demolition drive in Ahmedabad. Death toll now stands 5.

4.25 pm: Intervener in IPL matter requests Court that the IPL organisers should be asked to refrain from making Cheerleaders' dance during matches.

4.20 pm: More or less, Monsoon 2016 is expected to be good, says LS Rathore, DG IMD.

Temperature before onset of monsoon is going to be above normal, says LS Rathore, DG IMD pic.twitter.com/FuwbP6JaTZ  ANI (@ANI_news) April 12, 2016

4.15 pm: SC sought info on amount disbursed under NDRF & SDRF. Centre assured additional Rs.3000 crore for MNREGA in drought hit states.

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi visited Mumba Devi Temple in Mumbai, earlier today. pic.twitter.com/yZy7Qymdoj  ANI (@ANI_news) April 12, 2016

4.10 pm: Main organiser of Kollam fireworks show succumbs to his injuries in Trivandrum Medical College.

4.00 pm: SC asks Centre to submit a detailed chart of drought affected states, district, villages, blocks showing affected population.

3.50 pm: Kerala High Court says guidelines to be formed on use of firecrackers.

3.40 pm: We are making arrangements to supply water to villages in Latur district as well, AAG tells court

3.35 pm: Hearing on PIL against holding of IPL matches in Maharashtra resumes in Bombay HC.

3.30 pm: Rahul Gandhi addresses jewellers protesting against Centre's excise duty proposal in Mumbai's Zaveri Bazaar.

3.15 pm: Congress VP Rahul Gandhi reaches Mumba Devi Temple, Mumbai.

3.00 pm: The role of the revenue department officials also needs to be looked into says Kerala High Court on Puttingal temple issue.

2.57 pm: Kerala High Court asks for separate affidavits from the police and the district administration on the Puttingal temple incident. If there has been dereliction of duty then strict action ought to be taken observes Kerala High Court.

2.56 pm: Kerala government tells High Court that no permission was granted for fireworks display at the Puttingal temple. There has been a clear violation of the law, government also submits. The High Court sought to know why fireworks were allowed inside the temple if there was no permission. This is a matter that requires a CBI probe says Kerala HC.

2.50 pm: It is a breakdown of law and order of police cannot protect lives of people Kerala high court on Puttingal temple tragedy.

2.40 pm: Municipal Corporation's demolition drive in Ahmedabad causes a wall to collapse under which three people get stuck & lose their lives.

2.35 pm: There is clear violation of law, says Centre to Kerala HC on Puttingal Temple Fire.

2.30 pm: Kerala High Court says Puttingal temple had violated norms. Safety precautions were not followed.

2.20 pm: US Defence Secy Carter & I have agreed in principle to conclude a logistics action memorandum of agreement in this regard, says Defence Minister.

2.10 pm: We condemn terrorism emanating from anywhere in India, says US Defence Secretary on China's veto on Masood Azhar.

2.00 pm: DMK president M Karunanidhi to file nomination from Tiruvarur constituency on April 25 for upcoming TN Assembly polls.

1.45 pm: Over years, we have decentralized & we don't look into day to day functioning of banks. Banks need to be made party in this case: RBI to SC

1.30 pm: A stronger India-US partnership will promote peace, stability and progress in our region and World: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar

1.18 pm: PM Modi meets Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William & Kate Middleton in Delhi.

12.57 pm: Court will analyse Govt affidavit. We are giving full assistance to Court to resolve matter: Rafiq Dada, BCCI lawyer.

12.56 pm: CJI to RBI: Poor farmers take loans in thousands but have to sell their lands.

12.37 pm: SC tells petitioner and RBI to formulate issues which court would hear. Petitioner seeks disclosure of info regarding bad debts and NPA.

12.34 pm: Cong vice president Rahul Gandhi visits Deonar dumping ground in Mumbai where a massive fire broke out last month.

12.33 pm: Muneer fired the killing shot, Reyaan drove bike & overtook NIA Officer Tanzil Ahmad's car, says Vijay Meena, IG Bareilly.

12.25 pm: Politely disagree with views expressed by Swami Swaroopanand Ji abt women entry in Shani Shingnapur will brng ill luck 2 them, says Venkaiah Naidu.

12.16 pm: During interrogation it has been revealed that one of accused Reyaan sought help from Tanzeel ji in a case, says Vijay Meena, IG Bareilly.

12.15 pm: All aspects including professional,personal rivalry were looked into during probe, says Vijay Meena,IG Bareilly on NIA officer Tanzeel murder case.

12.14 pm: Dehradun Enforcement Directorate begins investigations into housing projects in the city, checks being made into source of funding

11.54 am: Actor Priyanka Chopra awarded Padma award by President Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

11.53 am: President Pranab Mukherjee confers 'Padma Bhushan' on Sania Mirza at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

11.44 am: President Pranab Mukherjee confers 'Padma Vibhushan' award on veteran actor Rajinikanth at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

11.21 am: In 17 matches of IPL in Mumbai and Pune we will use recycled water: BCCI Lawyer informs court during hearing on IPL matches in Maharashtra.

11.05 am: Kollam: Around 20 people are involved, this number can even go up, says TF Xavier,SP(Crime).

10.58 am: Puttingal Temple Fire tragedy: 7 officials of the Temple Trust surrendered before the Kerala Crime Branch today.

10.37 am: People being rescued after massive fire in a building in Bhiwandi(Maharashtra).

10.36 am: Massive fire in a four storey building in Bhiwandi(Maharashtra), people being rescued by fire department officials.

10.29 am: Massive fire in a four storey building in Bhiwandi(Maharashtra), rescue ops underway for people who are trapped.

10.22 am: Have told hospitals that treatments have to be done free of cost, says Oommen Chandy,Kerala CM on Puttingal Temple Fire.

10.20 am: 25 people have been rescued from the building, no casualties in the fire, says Fire Department.

10.08 am: Massive fire in a four storey building in Bhiwandi(Maharashtra) ,9 fire tenders and 5 water tankers at the spot.

Massive fire in a four storey building in Bhiwandi(Maharashtra) ,9 fire tenders and 5 water tankers at the spot. pic.twitter.com/GAcCvCaGPy  ANI (@ANI_news) April 12, 2016

10.05 am: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to meet Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Delhi today.

9.26 am: Through the big tankers, water will be taken into our treatment plants. After treatment, it will be distributed today-Sudhakar Telang.

9.25 am: Thane (Maharashtra): Fire breaks out at a garment factory in Bhiwandi. Five fire tenders at the spot.

9.24 am: Decanting going on, after that it will be collected in well from where it'll be pumped into tankers-Sudhakar Telang.

9.23 am: This is a trial run,10 wagons have come. Through this, we're getting around 5lakh litre water, says Sudhakar Telang (Latur Municipal Commissioner).

9.02 am: Amritsar: SGPC flags off a Sikh jatha of 1000 devotees to Pakistan to celebrate Baisakhi.

9.01 am: US Defence Secretary Ash Carter to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi today.

8:30 am: Police arrest two accused, Jainul and Reyaan, in connection with the murder case of NIA Deputy SP Mohammad Tanzil.

8:48 am: Thane (Maharashtra): Fire breaks out at a garment factory in Bhiwandi. Five fire tenders at the spot.

8:36 am: Tripura: 12 NLFT militants, along with 19 family members, surrendered before Police in Agartala yesterday.

8:15 am: Puttingal Temple Fire tragedy: Five officials of the Puttingal Temple Trust have surrendered before the Kerala Crime Branch. [Read: Kerala temple fire: 5 committee members surrender, HC to hear plea on firecrackers]

Latur: Maharashtra mein ye pehle udahran hai, aaj ka din Diwali sey kam nahin hai humare liye-Shailesh Lahoti,BJP pic.twitter.com/FG60iYCGyc  ANI (@ANI_news) April 12, 2016

People are so happy that some of them stayed back here in night just to see rail wagons-Latur Mayor Shaikh Akhtar pic.twitter.com/59ISFmztVd  ANI (@ANI_news) April 12, 2016

#WATCH: Ten Railway wagons with 50000 litres of drinking water each, reached drought hit Latur (Maharashtra).https://t.co/nxFp3MglfO  ANI (@ANI_news) April 12, 2016

8:00 am: Maharashtra: 10 Railway wagons with 50000 litres of drinking water each, reached Latur in early morning hours.
Not the issue, it is the development: How NGOs fund protests to defame India

NGO asks Prince William to raise tribals' issues in Kaziranga

India

oi-PTI

Kolkata, April 12: Ahead of the Duke of Cambridge Prince William's visit to Kaziranga National Park in Assam on Wednesday,April 12, a human rights body has appealed to him to raise issues of the tribals living around the forest.

Officials of Survival International, a non-government organisation, said they had contacted the Prince who is patron of several conservation charities and urged him to raise the concerns of tribes people about "heavy-handed conservation policies" with the Indian authorities.

"This is the perfect opportunity for Prince William to speak out against summary executions carried out in the name of conservation. Extrajudicial killings should have no place in conservation today," Director, Survival International, Stephen Corry said. "Why aren't the big conservation organisations loudly condemning this kind of knee-jerk brutality? Instead, they are supporting anti-tribal conservation policies, which play right into the hands of the gangsters who are running international poaching rings," he said, adding that targeting tribal people diverts action away from tackling the poachers and harms conservation.

The NGO has claimed that 62 people have been shot dead by wildlife guards in just nine years in Kaziranga.

Tribal activist Gladson Dungdung said: "If you want to protect a tiger reserve you also have to protect the 'adivasis' and the forest, only then they will exist, if 'adivasis' are not there you won't find tigers as well."

The royal couple is scheduled to visit the Kaziranga forest, famed for the one-horned rhinoceros, tomorrow morning and enjoy a jeep safari inside the park.

PTI
NITI Aayog all set to give green signal to land leasing

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, April 12: In a landmark decision that would have far-reaching consequences, the NITI Aayog is likely to decide in favour of legalising agricultural land leasing at the earliest, informed sources said here on Tuesday.

An expert committee set up by the NITI Aayog in September 2015 has recommended that "land leasing" can be legalised provided there is adequate financial and other institutional protection to both tenants and land owners.

The committee headed by Tazamul Haque, former chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, and comprising representatives from states like Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan, said that the tenants should get financial protection from banks and insurance companies.

"The recommendation came after the panel interacted with representatives from various states, including the likes of West Bengal where there is strong opposition to land leasing," a source told IANS.

The NITI Aayog is now likely to take a final call on the matter "at the earliest or even in days" after the matter is discussed with the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and other stakeholders in the government.

The land resources department, among others, made a detailed presentation to the panel on the issue even as the committee members "took cognizance of the fact that in many states land leasing was practically banned".

"This blanket ban in several states had left huge land unutilised at a time when various quarters felt such a ban was uncalled for. The move to allow land leasing will help achieve higher productivity in agricultural products as informal tenancy mostly left fields unutilised. This trend needed to be reversed," the source said.

According to sources in the NITI Aayog, the original intent of the restrictive tenancy laws "no longer holds any relevance" as in more cases than one, the restrictions "have detrimental effects on not only the tenant for whose protection the laws were originally enacted but also on the landowner and implementation of public policy".

In a system where informal tenancy prevailed, the landowner also feels a sense of insecurity while leasing land, they said.

"The panel has made a detailed study and made a comprehensive report," the source said, adding many states simply abolished tenancy altogether.

One big benefit from implementing the panel recommendation will be that institutional credit, disaster relief, and other support services denied to tenants until now would be a thing of the past.

"There will be a basic legal framework for tenants too," the source said.

Meanwhile, even as a joint committee of parliament is examining new land bill, the NITI Aayog is keen to work on a model legislation for freeing up farm land. The committee recommendation would help the NITI Aayog, that replaced the Planning Commission, take its proposal forward.

The model act of NITI Aayog will allow farm land leasing as a principle while state governments will be given the power to improvise the same according to its local socio-political requirements.

At present, only land owners can avail of crop insurance schemes or loans but with the panel's recommendation, it is expected that lessee cultivators also could raise crop loans and seek insurance protections.

NITI Aayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya recently said that "state governments must seriously consider revisiting their leasing and land use laws to determine if they could bring about simple and powerful changes to enhance productivity and welfare all around".

IANS
Pratyusha Banerjee suicide: Should case be handed over to CBI?Sign online petition if you support

Pratyusha case: HC grants Rahul interim protection from arrest till April 18

India

oi-PTI

Mumbai, April 12: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday, April 12 granted interim protection from arrest till April 18 to actor-producer Rahul Raj Singh, who has been booked for abetting the suicide of his girlfriend and TV star Pratyusha Banerjee.

Justice Mridula Bhatkar also directed Rahul to appear before Bangurnagar police station in suburban Goregaon from tomorrow onwards till April 18 between 11 AM to 1 PM. The judge also directed that in case Rahul is arrested, he should be released on a bond of Rs 30,000.

The court was hearing the anticipatory bail application filed by Rahul. The accused's lawyer Abad Ponda said his client is currently in hospital and the copy of FIR has not been furnished to them. However, police has filed a report before the court.

The court then perused the report, in which police alleged that Rahul, who was staying with Pratyusha at a flat in suburban Goregaon, used to assault her.

He used to borrow money from her and also withdrew money from Pratyusha's account, which is why she committed suicide, according to the report. The 'Balika Badhu' fame actor was found hanging at her residence in Goregaon on April 1.

She was then rushed by Rahul to a hospital in Andheri, where she was declared dead. Rahul, who has been booked for abetment of suicide, has been undergoing treatment for alleged depression at a hospital in Borivali since April 3.

PTI
Prince William, Kate Middleton interact with homeless children

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Apr 12: Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Prince William and Kate Middleton on Tuesday spent their morning interacting with a group of homeless young boys currently living at a shelter here.

The royal couple, during their interaction, did some of the regular activities with them such as reading and drawing. On their second day in the capital city, William and Kate visited the Salaam Baalak Trust, an organisation supporting some of the most vulnerable young persons living in the streets in Delhi.

NGO asks Prince William to raise tribals' issues in Kaziranga

"The couple met young boys who are currently living at the shelter and spent time with them doing some of the regular activities such as reading and drawing," a statement from the Kensington Palace said.

The couple also had the chance to meet two Salam Baalak City Walk Guides, it said. The Trust is famous for its city walks, guided tours of Delhi streets by rescued children who used to live there before.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambdrige first visited the Trust's Contact Centre near New Delhi Railway Station where they learnt that 1200-1500 children arrive into the capital on trains each year, often travelling alone, to escape a range of personal circumstances.

The royal couple are on a week-long tour of India and Bhutan that began on Sunday.

They also met with a group of Indian women to know about a range of issues affecting women and girls in the country. The meeting was convened at the personal request of the Duke who wanted an opportunity to hear directly from women working to support other women and girls, the statement said.

Prince William, Kate visit Gandhi Smriti, India Gate

The royals also met acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal and heard about her inspirational campaign 'Stop Acid Attacks', it said.

Laxmi was attacked when she was 15, by a 32-year-old man after she rejected his marriage proposal. Her story has now become inspirational to women globally.

"She explained her decision to stop covering her face in order to encourage other victims not to hide and also spoke of her successful fight for tougher legal restrictions on sale of acid. The Duke thanked her for her bravery," it said.

Among others, the royal couple also met with Sunita Jaiswal, a survivor of domestic abuse and journalist Soumya Menon.

During the meetings, they were informed about a range of support and initiatives provided for women and girls through organisations such as Save the Children as well as Indian government-supported programmes.

PTI
Take Congress head on, keep party united: Message for Yeddyurappa from New Delhi

India

oi-Vicky

Bengaluru, April 12: The BJP last week appointed former Chief Minister of Karnataka, B S Yeddyurappa as the party president in the state.

While there is a lot of optimism in the BJP, Karnataka, the strongman of the party has two messages from the top leadership- take on the Congress party and ensure collective decisions are taken.

In the various deliberations that were held ahead of appointing Yeddyurappa as the President of the party, it was discussed that the opposition in the state was not able to take on the ruling party.

There have been a host of issues that had pushed the Congress to a corner, but the opposition in Karnataka has not been able to capitalise on any of these.

Be the opposition, take collective decisions:

The top leadership also discussed with Yeddyurappa the infighting within the party a few years back. The BJP does not want a repeat of this and wants the entire party to remain united. For the BJP to win the 2018 elections, only a strong leadership is not sufficient, but the need for unity is equally important.

The BJP wants Yeddyurappa to take all in the party into consideration before taking decisions. He is a senior leader and is capable of taking good decisions, but if the same is collective, then there will not be heart burn among the others in the party, a BJP leader informed OneIndia.

However, the bigger role that the party wants Yeddyurappa to play is that of a strong opposition to the ruling Congress. The BJP has been found wanting when it comes to raising issues against the ruling party in Karnataka. [Yeddyurappa demands Siddaramaiah to dismantle ACB]

Certain major issues have not been capitalised on, top leaders of the party say. In Yeddyurappa they would expect him to raise these issues strongly and convey it to the people during the tours he would conduct across the state.

OneIndia News
Tamil Nadu: Light to moderate rain in the next few days

TN farmers prepare for a long summer as KRS water level dips further

India

oi-Vicky

Tamil Nadu, Apr 12: The water situation at the Krishnaraja Sagar reservoir is not looking good. If there is no rain the catchment area by the end of the month, the situation could worsen say officials at the reservoir.

This situation is not only affecting Karnataka, but Tamil Nadu as well which relies on the release of water from the reservoir.

The current level at the KRS is at 11 TMCft. However only 3 TMCft can be used for irrigation purposes since 4.5 TMCft is for drinking water at Bengaluru, Mysore and Mandya while another 4.5TMCft is considered as dead storgage.

Only rains can save the day:

KRS officials say that the quantum of water that is being released to Tamil Nadu has come down. This will affect those farmers in Tamil Nadu living in the downstream of the Cauvery river area.

The shortage of water has led to the officials stalling the release of water into the canals two weeks back.

Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have been locked in a legal battle for several years over the release of Cauvery water. As per the arrangement, Karnataka would need to release a total of 192 TMCft of water at Biligundulu.

However this is the quantum in a normal year when the monsoon is good. The quantum of water is delivered in monthly deliveries.

However in the drought years the quantum is reduced. Owing to two consecutive drought years, Karnataka has been able to release only a reduced quantum. This year the release to Tamil Nadu has been around 120 TMCft only.

OneIndia News
Toddler who filed 'FIR' against mom gets bicycle, chocolates from MP minister

5-year-old dies after being attacked by pack of dogs in MP

Veenu Paliwal, Indias top woman biker dies in road accident

India

oi-Mukul

Bhopal, April 12: In a tragic incident, one of the top woman bikers in the country, Veenu Paliwal died in road accident on Monday evening.

Accident took place while 44 year old Paliwal was on a nationwide tour on her Harley Davidson motorcycle. Veenu Paliwal was heading to Bhopal from Sagar when the tragic incident took place. She was along with fellow biker Dipesh Tanwar, who was on another vehicle.

Reportedly the woman biker met with accident when her bike suddently skid off the road in Gyaraspur, 100 km from Bhopal. After the fatal accident she was taken first to primary hospital and then to Vidisha district hospital where doctors declared her brought dead.

A resident of Jaipur and mother of two children, Paliwal was planning to make a documentary on her nationwide bike journey. She was recently honoured with 'Lady of Harley 2016' title.

Police said that victim's family has been informed.

OneIndia News
People already getting 5Gs of 'garibi', 'ghotala', 'ghapla', 'ghalmel', 'gorakhdhanda under BJP: Akhilesh

Veteran Samajwadi Party leader Vinod Barthwal passes away

India

oi-PTI

Dehradun, April 12: Senior Samajwadi Party leader of Uttarakhand, Vinod Barthwal passed away in the wee hours today at a Gurgaon hospital. He was 59.

The former president of SP's Uttarakhand unit breathed his last at around 3.30 this morning, family sources here said.

Barthwal was suffering from kidney related problems and had been referred to Gurgaon's Medanta Hospital nearly a week ago by doctors at Jollygrant Hospital, they said.

Barthwal is survived by his wife and two sons. His body is being brought to Haridwar where the last rites will take place, they said.

Condoling his sudden demise, Pradesh Congress president Kishore Upadhyay said it as an irreparable loss for not just his family but the whole state.

He said Barthwal was a symbol of communal harmony and the void he has left, can never be filled. Barthwal had been appointed the chairperson of the Uttarakhand Re-organisation Coordination Committee by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav last year.

PTI
William, Kate arrive in Assam; participate in Bihu festival celebration

India

oi-PTI

Tezpur (Assam), Apr 12: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Prince William and Catherine were on Tuesday accorded a warm and traditional welcome as they arrived on a two-day trip here during which they will visit Kaziranga National Park, famed for its one-horned rhinoceros.

The royal couple, which arrived here at around 6 PM, was given a red-carpet welcome at the airport by Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and his wife Dolly Gogoi who greeted them with a traditional 'muga gamosa' (muga scarf with red motifs).

NGO asks Prince William to raise tribals' issues in Kaziranga

Other senior state government officials were also present to welcome Prince William and Catherine.

As the Duke, in a black suit, and the Duchess, in a sea-green dress, were escorted towards the airport lounge, they were welcomed traditionally by the Assamese 'gayan-bayan' and dancers performing Bihu, jhumur and bagrumba.

They spent some time in the airport lounge where they were served Assamese snacks 'Jolpan', 'pithas', 'Larus' and 'sunga pitha' with the couple tasting 'til pitha' and 'ghila pitha', official sources said.

As the couple later drove out of the airport in a Range Rover they waved to young girls wearing traditional mekhla chador lining the road to the airport at Salonibari here.

Prince William, Kate visit Gandhi Smriti, India Gate

The couple's convoy left for the Diphlu River Lodge near Kaziranga National Park where they will stay the night. They attended a programme on ethnic cultural traditions, including Bihu and jhumur dance, to be presented by local artistes in their honour.

Assam: Duke & Duchess of Cambridge attend the Bihu festival celebration in Kaziranga National Park pic.twitter.com/41A63P8GqW  ANI (@ANI_news) April 12, 2016

The Duke and the Duchess will visit the Kaziranga National Park, famed for the one-horned rhinoceros, and enjoy a jeep safari inside the Park tomorrow morning.

The couple will also interact with forest officials to find out more about the role of conservation in the lives of rural people there and visit the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) and the centre of the NGO Elephant Family.

The royal couple are interested to see how communities manage the conflicts that arise when humans and wild animals live in close proximity and will also meet park rangers inside Kaziranga, to discuss how the park protects its animal populations from poachers as demand, in other parts of Asia, for rhino horns continues to rise, a release by the British High Commission added.

PTI
No, Vienna is no more the favourite address for 'James Bonds' today; its this city

Brussels bombers were plotting UK attack: Report

International

oi-PTI

London, Apr 12: New information retrieved from the laptop of one of the suicide bombers involved in the Brussels terror attack last month has revealed that Britain was also on their hit list.

Files from the computer of Ibrahim El Bakraoui, who blew himself up at Brussels airport, show he discussed plans with foreign contacts to launch an attack on the UK, French media reports said today.

The 'Parisien' newspaper quoted an intelligence source as saying that "other European countries" besides Belgium were in the bombers' sights, and that "Great Britain is also mentioned as a potential target".

The bomber referred to striking Britain, the La Defense business district in Paris, and the ultra-conservative Catholic organisation, Civitas, in a folder titled 'Target', written in English, according to the source.

Missing Infosys employee dead in Brussels attack

The laptop was found in a bin by police in Brussels shortly after the suicide bombings on March 22 which killed 32 people at the city's airport and on a Metro train. Bakraoui's brother, Khalid, is thought to have blown himself up on the train in central Brussels.

PTI
Death toll climbs to 10 in Peru guerrilla attack

International

oi-PTI

Lima, Apr 11: A weekend guerrilla attack targeting soldiers on the eve of Peru's presidential elections killed 10 people, authorities said today, raising an earlier toll.

The army said in a statement that eight soldiers and two civilians were killed in Saturday's attack in the jungles of central Peru.

The earlier death toll of seven rose after forces found the bodies of soldiers who had previously been reported as missing.

The army said guerrillas attacked a military convoy that was transporting election material and forces tasked with guarding polling places in the central Junin region.

Authorities blamed remnants of the Shining Path communist guerrilla group, which was largely crushed in the 1990s, but still has members hiding in the jungle.

The army said attackers first struck at Hatun Asha, located in a jungle zone considered a stronghold of the guerrillas and a major coca-producing area.

In a second attack, they targeted a military ship on the Apurimac River in the south, wounding two soldiers, authorities said. President Ollanta Humala condemned the "demented" violence.

"Terrorism and those who collude with it have no place in our society or in our family," he said on Saturday. Some 23 million Peruvians voted Sunday for a new president and members of congress.

Conservative candidate Keiko Fujimori topped the ballot and must face a runoff vote against her center-right rival Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.

Keiko Fujimori's father Alberto Fujimori waged a fierce conflict against the Shining Path when he was president from 1990 to 2000.

Around 69,000 people were killed between 1980 and 2000 in the conflict with the Shining Path, according to the country's Truth and Reconciliation commission.

AFP
France gives jail terms to 12 in Syria jihadist network

International

oi-PTI

Paris, Apr 12: Twelve members of a France-based jihadist network that sent fighters to Syria were given prison sentences today, including a woman who had taken her three children to join her husband there.

The court in Paris heard that the group had become radicalised after attending a mosque in Villiers-sur-Marne in the Paris suburbs where they came into contact with their "guru", a radical imam called Mustapha Mraoui.

Mraoui, who is on the run, and another man, Karim Assani, who held a religious post at the mosque, were considered by prosecutors to be the organisers of the network. They were each sentenced to 10 years in prison in absentia.

Investigators believe Assani has probably been killed fighting in Syria. Only five of the 12 defendants were present in court, including the 27-year-old woman who had taken her three children to Syria.

The court heard that she is now in the process of divorcing her husband whom she was visiting there. She was sentenced to five years in prison, three of which are suspended.

Her lawyer Daphne Pugliesi said the sentencing had been "balanced". "It takes into account what each of them did, but also what each of them is."

France says around 600 French citizens have travelled to Syria and Iraq to join the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, and some 280 of them have returned. Most of the gunmen and bombers who killed 130 people in the series of attacks on Paris in November had been to Syria.

PTI
Gwadar port to be fully operational by 2016 end

International

oi-PTI

Karachi, Apr 12: The multi-million dollar Gwadar port being developed by Pakistan and China on southwest coast in the troubled Balochistan province will be fully operational by the end of 2016, a Chinese official said today.

"Right now there is really nothing at the port that is why we are working overtime to get it fully operational and develop it to handle full trade," Zhang Baozhong, chairman of the Chinese public company in charge of the project, said.

Zhang said that the Gwadar port will see an estimated one million tonnes of cargo going through it by 2017.

"Our dream is to make Gwadar a regional trading centre," he told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar. The development of the Gwadar port is part of China's ambitious USD 46 billion dollar joint economic corridor pact with Pakistan.

The port project is also seen as part of Beijings plan to have more economic say in the region and gain more access to the Middle East, Europe and Africa through Gwadar. "The idea behind working overtime to fully develop the port is that it will become a regional trading centre and port," he told reporters.

The port was built in 2007 with technical help from China as well as financial assistance of USD 248 million from it.

China acquires over 2,000 acres of land in restive Balochistan

A Pakistani official involved in the project told reporters that eventually they dream of seeing Gwadar turn into another Dubai due to the various development projects being carried out in the area.

He said the Pakistan government planned to develop the local fishing industry once the port was fully operational. The Pakistan government has beefed up the security for the Gwadar port and its surrounding areas due to the ongoing insurgency in Balochistan which is rich in natural resources and minerals.

Baloch nationalists and insurgents accuse China of siding with the elite in Pakistan to deprive rightful share/jobs to the local people.

PTI
Storm Fiona causes damage 'never seen' before in Canada

International news brief: Ian makes landfall in southwest Florida as Category 4 storm and more

Cyclone Sitrang: Low-pressure area over Bay of Bengal intensifies into depression, storm likely by Oct 24

Storms rage through southern US states

International

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Washington, April 12: Severe storms raged through the southern US states of Texas, Arkansas and Mississippi, bringing hail and severe winds that damaged vehicles, homes and triggered power outage.

In Texas, hail as large as tennis balls slammed the northern part of the Lone Star state, damaging vehicles, homes and injuring two people on Monday, April 11 evening, media reported.

Wylie, a city near the northern Texas city of Dallas, is among the hardest-hit areas with reports of 4.25-inch (about 10.8 cm) hails, which caused serious damage to several homes, vehicles and injuries to two people, and forced the closure of schools on Tuesday.

Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, one of the busiest airports in the country, experienced departure delays of up to 45 minutes because of the severe storms. Power outages were reported across the region and affected more than 10,000 people.

In Arkansas, nearly 6,000 people were still without power and four people were trapped in their homes by falling trees after severe winds tore through Garland, a town in Miller county.

The storms also caused fires in the southern part of Arkansas, where lightning strikes sparked three fires in the town of El Dorado, including one that destroyed a church.

IANS
Couple killed as their bike hit by speeding vehicle on Delhi-Dehradun highway

NIA officer's murder- UP cops on verge of breakthrough

Lucknow

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The Uttar Pradesh police made some headway in the case relating to the murder of NIA officer Tenzil Ahmed.

With the arrest of Rehaan and Zainul, the police say that they are confident of cracking the case soon.

The police however say that the case will be cracked once they track down Muneer considered to be the prime accused in the case.

The Uttar Pradesh police had announced a cash reward for any information leading up to Muneer considered to be the prime accused in the murder of NIA officer Tenzil Ahmed.

The name of Muneer had cropped up during the questioning of Rehaan and Zainul who were arrested in connection with this case.

Also Read: NIA officer's murder: Terror busters who faced bullets, suspension

Muneer is being considered as the prime accused in the case. During the preliminary investigation it had been revealed that Muneer a resident of Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh had fled to Jaminagar in Delhi.

It was said that he had nurtured a grudge against the officer. The UP police say that once Muneer is arrested, the motive will become clear.

Also Read: Video: Union Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti disrespects slain NIA officer Tanzil Ahmad

Investigations suggest that Muneer an accused in a murder case had to flee from Bijnor after the officer informed the local police about his whereabouts.

The police have been probing multiple angles including a property dispute. The officer was in charge of several high profile cases relating to the Indian Mujahideen.
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by  Graham Pierrepoint



As One News Page has recently reported, there sadly continues to be a number of species worldwide which find themselves threatened by extinction  whether it be due to environmental factors or human intervention such as hunting or man-made products  yet, there seems to be good news on the horizon for a number of animals, with our recent report having shown that the Sumatran Rhinoceros  previously thought to have been lost for good  having been found alive and well in Indonesia. This week, further news has shown that another species under threat of disappearing appears to be making a case for turning things around, and its an iconic big cat that many could barely believe was threatened at all some years ago.

The number of tigers in the wild has sadly dwindled for a number of reasons, however, there is news that could bring hope to many who are working to help conserve the big cats existence in the wild  according to Fox News, a piece published by Science Advances states that we could well see the number of tigers in the wild double by the year 2022  a concept that was near unthinkable some years ago when it was initially proposed. It is stated that there is now enough space in tiger habitats across 76 different landscapes to allow cat numbers to rise to as many as 6400  however, this increase in population will depend entirely upon whether or not the habitats can be kept as-is, and that the threat to such life is stabilized.

In any case, the findings are remarkable  with it further being stated that research found an increase in tiger populous by up to 61 per cent in India alone  thanks to reforestation and conservation programs to help the species thrive again. However, widespread deforestation across Asia elsewhere  stretching to Laos and Indonesia  suggests that more must be done to conserve natural land and habitat in order for the endangered cat to thrive once again. While fantastic work is continuing and results are evident in India and Nepal, other areas experiencing palm oil plantation expansion and mass deforestation could be likely to pull back on the proposed 6400 tigers we could eventually be host to in the wild. However, with such promising data at hand and with efforts continuing, it is hopeful that further attempts to protect the big cat across the continent will be ramped up even further.
by  Graham Pierrepoint



While many people will have long assumed wed be greeting our first extra-terrestrial life forms after landing on Mars or approaching Jupiter, it seems that an entirely new plan to discover other life forms in the universe is now stretching out to red dwarfs  ancient, dim stars that are said to be even older than our own Sun  as research begins in an attempt to get a closer look at some of the universes oldest, hottest stars for signs of neighbors in the sky.

According to Sky News, the non-profit organisation SETI, based in California, US, are keen to look into 20,000 known star systems available to us in the big black beyond  which had previously been considered poor choices for further research due to their age and apparent insignificance. However, SETI  The Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence Institute  has now mounted a campaign to look into the ancient planets that may be surrounding the thousands of dim stars that lay millions of years beyond human reach.

SETI aim to investigate and research the array of stars put before them in an effort to see if any signs of life could be emanating from the overlooked planets surrounding the red dwarfs  with help from mathematical algorithm and frequency bands. While the planets had previously been considered unlikely to hold much interest due to their assumed lack of habitable areas  however, SETI have stated that data that has been collated suggests that some red dwarf neighborhoods could be host to a considerable percentage of habitable areas, making the search for life comparable to searching for life in our own solar system  it is a mission that, while the majority have yet to have seized upon, SETIs researchers and scientists hope to monopolize upon in the search for aliens.

NASA have previously stated that the clues towards the existence of intelligent extra-terrestrial life forms could well become clear in the coming decades  however, with years of speculation and research behind us, it is clear that if there is intelligent life out there, its certainly hiding much better than wed expected it to. Yet, attempts to find similar life forms out there in our galaxy and beyond will seemingly continue  and with more and more evidence pointing towards natural life on distant planets that wed never dreamed of ever finding, why shouldnt it? Rest assured that One News Page will let you know as soon as we make contact, or not to miss the moment first hand, watch NASA TV live here.
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Reprinted from Reader Supported News

Thousands of Americans have descended on Washington to launch one week of civil disobedience under the banner Democracy Spring. Over 400 people were arrested today, and over 3,000 have pledged to risk arrest over the next week. Their main demand is to get money out of politics.

Before the marchers made their way to the Capitol, Cenk Uygur of the Young Turks thanked the 200 people who walked 140 miles over 10 days from Philadelphia. Uygur pointed out that the mainstream media has ignored Democracy Spring and explained that the reason is that they are part of the establishment. Uygur said that the media don't want money out of politics, they depend on that money when it is used to buy campaign ads. Uygur declared that while this is just the beginning, they are no longer coming for us, but we are coming for them.







Kai Newkirk, a lead organizer of the event, told the crowd that if "we don't have a democracy that represents all of us, we are in danger of losing what makes America great." Newkirk went on to say, "We are here to send a message that there will be a political price to pay for siding with the moneyed interests over the people." The organization's website says: "This week we began the process of taking back our democracy, with hundreds arrested in our first mass sit-in at the Capitol on Monday, April 11. Now day after day through Saturday, April 16th, we will continue to reclaim the Capitol in a show of hope and for the truly representative democracy we see in our hearts. Over 3,500 people, coming to DC from near and far, have pledged to risk arrest this week."

Thousands marched from Columbus Circle to the east side of the Capitol, where hundreds of people, including Cenk Uygur and Kai Newkirk, made their way to the Capitol steps. They sat down and received warnings from the Capital Police to move away from the steps or be arrested. Many heeded the warning and moved away from the building. Hundreds, in what is being billed as the largest civil disobedience action ever at the Capitol Building, remained and were arrested one by one over five hours.

Click Here to Read Whole Article
Dear Bernie,

The votes of millions of teachers, are at stake. If talking to the millions of teachers out there is your objective, then I speak to you Senator - Bernie - AS A TEACHER who knows what other teachers NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU. I have trying for months to reach anyone that I could communicate what you are missing. So, today, before I go to Texas to visit my grandkids I write this (I voted for you, in the NY primary on an absentee ballot.

'I had hoped to tell you this in person -- my fellow classmate and president of MY high school class. Hidden for 2 decades, the plight of the teachers must be part of your narrative. This letter is a bare introduction. It is what I have written about to Jeff Weaver, and even your brother.

The purpose of this letter is to help you and your campaign, to create a POLICY STATEMENT THAT WOULD resonate with teachers, because it shows them that YOU grasp the real hidden crux of the destruction of our INSTITUTION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. I can ENSURE you that teachers will KNOW,that YOU KNOW! There is no other way to explain what this letter can do for you. It will assist you in grasping that you must stop talking about "schools". That is "their' word, and I will explain who they are in this letter. You need to begin the conversation about learning, not teaching, which was Duncan's rant, sold by the media until the schools erased the careers of over a hundred thousand of the professional practitioners, with a lawless process that WORKED.

I read the Ravitch blog where teachers talk, and I can say with some authority that they complain that neither candidate is talking to them. This letter can help you shape your policy statement t o resonate with millions of teachers. I listen closely to their plight on that landscape where they practice their profession, their career -- a place run by corrupted business managers called principals and superintendents.

There are millions of teachers and parents too, who are awaiting a leader who will stand up and address the real reason that the schools tanked! New teachers leave in 3 to 5 years, which keepsthe budgets low in schools defunded by austerity rants. This ensures that the next generation of American voters will be ignorant of our history and real facts about anything, and bereft of the critical thinking skills which enable WORK of any kind.





I offer one link which shines a spotlight on the objective of the oligarchs who are behind the utter destruction.

Guess who is writing the social studies curricula in North Carolina" the Kochs.Does that not scare you?

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(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).




Many observers around the world would agree with the US Secretary of State's choice of words. But not for the meaning of horror he apparently intended. The sight of Kerry and other G7 foreign ministers laying wreaths at a memorial to the victims of that atomic holocaust was indeed "gut-wrenching" -- considering the hypocrisy, deceit and criminal use of weapons of mass destruction by the US.

The G7 ministers then issued a joint Hiroshima statement which purports to call for a world free from nuclear weapons.

Now it is being mooted that US President Barack Obama may make a visit to Hiroshima next month during another G7 summit for world leaders. He would be the first sitting US president to ever do so, and the event, it is said, would underline a speech he made in Prague in 2009 during his first year in office when Obama called then for a world free from nuclear weapons. For that speech, Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Oddly enough, perhaps, seven years on, Obama has done nothing to reduce the US stockpile of some 1,500 nuclear warheads. In fact, last year the president committed Washington to a three-decade upgrade of its arsenal which will cost some $330 billion per decade -- or $1 trillion all told.

In typical "mixed signal" fashion -- a euphemism for lying -- the Obama administration is talking out of one side of its mouth about nuclear-weapons-free world, while out of the other side it is giving orders for a massive, unprecedented rearmament.

The nuclear arsenal upgrade ordered under Obama includes replacing plutonium cores in warheads, modifying tail-fins of bombs and developing a range of so-called mini-nukes, as well as hypersonic missiles that would enable first-strike potential.

So when Obama's foreign minister, John Kerry, laid a wreath at the memorial for the Hiroshima bomb victims and talked about "working for world peace" it is enough to make a sane person reach for the sick bag -- given that his government and any subsequent one in Washington has no intention of disarming its power to destroy the planet.



As a signatory to the 1968 Non-Proliferation Treaty , the US -- as with all signatories -- is obligated to completely disarm. Nearly 50 years on, far from disarming, it is assiduously rearming, in flagrant violation of treaty commitment. Since the US is the first nation to develop these monstrous weapons and actually use them, the moral burden is on the US to begin disarmament.

Walking alongside Kerry at the Hiroshima memorial was British foreign minister Philip Hammond, who also donned a suitably solemn face. Yet, only last year, Hammond announced that his government would consider re-installing American nuclear weapons on British soil -- allegedly to defend Europe from Russian aggression. "Aggression" that the Americans and British have done so much to exaggerate, nay fabricate, for geopolitical reasons. So much for making the world safe from nuclear weapons!

One gets the distinct impression that Kerry's visit to Hiroshima -- followed possibly by Obama -- is all a cynical public relations exercise to burnish the international image of the world's biggest warmongering rogue state as somehow a nation of peaceful intent.

The reality of wanton US belligerence, and that of its lackeys like Britain, is so egregious that they need to cover it up with flowers and superficial emotions supposedly dedicated to A-bomb victims.



A couple of further discordant signs of American raw, criminal power: on the same weekend that Kerry flew to Japan, the US air force reportedly moved a fleet of B-52 bombers to Qatar in the Persian Gulf. These nuclear-capable aircraft are a later generation of the B-29 which dropped the A-bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August, 1945, respectively, killing some 200,000 people, mainly civilians.





The B-52s assigned to Qatar are being prepared for bombing missions in Iraq and Syria, allegedly against terror groups, which the US in fact created in the first place to topple foreign regimes that it disapproves of. There is no indication that the B-52s sent to Qatar at the weekend are fitted with nuclear warheads. That is not the point.

Rather the point is that while a high US official emotively talks about world peace at a memorial where America air power obliterated whole populations, at the very same time this same country is moving nuclear-capable aircraft to carry out bombing missions in foreign nations -- all with the cavalier ease as if it has a divine right to do so. Bombing foreign countries at will is the exceptional American arrogance.

Another gut-wrenching anomaly about Kerry's diplomatic theatrics in Hiroshima is that Washington said that it would not be issuing an apology over the A-bombings. The official narrative in Washington and among many ordinary Americans is that the bombings were necessary to end the Pacific War in 1945. Those officials claims have been extensively debunked by historians as bogus. The US simply wanted to demonstrate to the world and the Soviet Union in particular its immense new power. It was an act of state terrorism, as argued in a previous column.

But even if Washington is permitted to peddle its risible distortion of history, what is exceedingly chilling is that it refuses to apologize for such a barbarous act of mass extermination. Even if the US believes in its claim about swiftly bringing an end to the Pacific War, one would think that at least from a moral, humane point of view an expression of remorse for wiping out so many Japanese lives would still be appropriate.

Alas, no. The absence of apology is a clear message that Washington thinks it had the right to drop the bombs and, moreover, continues to have the right to use weapons of mass destruction. This is consonant with the doctrine of "pre-emptive first strike" that US administrations, including Obama's, reserve.

American politics has always been prone to double-dealing and conceited deception. But the Obama administration has taken the black arts to a whole new level.

Waxing lyrical about a nuclear free world, and picking up a Nobel laureate in the process, the Obama administration is actually moving towards developing more sophisticated nuclear weapons and making a world war more likely.



US foreign policies of antagonizing Russia and China over trumped-up disputes, commensurate with reckless military posturing towards both nuclear powers, are an integral part of the inherent aggression that underpins American power.
This piece was reprinted by OpEd News with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.

Hillary stood steadfast behind her 2002 Iraq War vote. Not until 2014, when she was mulling a run for President did she admit in her book Hard Choices: "I got it wrong. Plain and simple."

The war, of course, was the result of collective fear, greed, and deception, as well as Hillary's penchant to conform to neocon power. As Hillary ascended to the Cabinet, Henry Kissinger rose from the almost dead, with Hillary at the helm as guru for the new version of Vietnam, known as the Iraq War.

What a difference twelve years makes.

For a lot of soldiers, however, it is too late.

By 2012, over four thousand U.S. troops died in Iraq, with a potential cost of up to $6 trillion. A new group, ISIL, now causes havoc in Hillary's playground. Her role as Secretary of State is a disaster--Syria, Libya, Afghanistan--the list goes on--are all essentially destroyed and failed states (which is a sanitized way of saying many-dead-dismembered-and-dying men-women-children). Not to mention refugees.

According to Reuters, the U.S. war in Iraq has cost $1.7 trillion with an additional $490 billion in benefits owed to war veterans, expenses that could grow to more than $6 trillion over the next four decades counting interest.

If you take into account all the men and women who returned with traumatic brain injuries, post-traumatic stress, depression, hearing loss, breathing disorders, diseases, and other long-term health problems, it would be over half a million injured.

Iraqis, who did not start the war, did not attack the US, nor have weapons of mass destruction, suffered an estimated 151,000 to 600,000 killed in the first 4 years of conflict. Lots of dead bodies. After that, apparently, Hillary stopped counting, probably because she is against guns.

Nevertheless, between 2002 and 2005, US forces had expended around six billion bullets By using these figures it works out at around 300,000 bullets per insurgent. That's a lot of bullets. A lot of guns. All approved by Hillary.

But the war was not bad for everybody. Dick Cheney's Halliburton Made $39.5 Billion on Iraq War profits. Of course, they had to work for it: Halliburton paid $4.6 million to politicians via campaign donations and lobbying for 600% gain on contracts since 2000, mostly because of the war in Iraq. It has paid off magnificently.

Halliburton's former subsidiary, however, KBR, is a major construction company in Iraq, and has been involved in numerous controversies, including the Deepwater Horizon explosion. To deal with ongoing investigations, Halliburton decided in 2007 to sell KBR, and move Halliburton's corporate headquarters from Houston to Dubai (while leaving KBR behind in Houston) at a time when KBR was being investigated in the U.S. for bribery, bid rigging, defrauding the military, and illegally profiting in Iran. It divested all of its ownership interest in the scandal-plagued KBR subsidiary, notorious for overcharging the military and serving contaminated food and water to the troops in Iraq.

More than 20 federal lawsuits naming KBR and seeking class-action status were also filed in late 2008 and 2009 over the practice of operating "burn pits" at U.S. bases in both Iraq and Afghanistan and thus exposing soldiers to smoke containing dioxin, asbestos, and other harmful substances.

Although Halliburton will still be incorporated inside the United States, moving its corporate headquarters to UAE will make it easier to avoid accountability from federal investigators. The company has proven adept at using offshore subsidiaries to circumvent restrictions on doing business in Iran and to elude responsibility for paying benefits to former employees. The company together with its KBR unit has been the Pentagon's largest contractor in Iraq.

Dubai's business community was ecstatic about Halliburton's announcement that it would move its headquarters to the city known for its lax or non-existent restrictions on corporations. "Everyone in Dubai, especially the government of Dubai, is ecstatic."

Dubai is a tax-free haven--no corporate or employee taxes. By re-locating its CEO and other top executives to Dubai, Halliburton can argue that a portion of its profits should be attributed to the no-tax jurisdiction.

Hillary criticizes Halliburton's move to Dubai out of one side of her mouth, but the other side is smiling widely about Dubai's contribution to her husband, Bill Clinton, who has been paid $5.625 million since 2011 by Dubai's GEMS Education to lead the company's charity arm. As former President of the United States, Bill is vastly more qualified to receive such money rather than UNICEF (United Nation's Children's Emergency Fund) or other fly-by-night-operations such as the American Red Cross, Save the Children, or Habitat For Humanity.

Tax returns state that Hillary (via Bill) was paid $500,000 by Dubai's GEMS Education in 2011, $1.25 million in 2012, $1.75 million in 2013 and $2.125 million in 2014, amounting to a total of $5.625 million to date. Possibly the Clintons hold dual citizenships in Dubai and are as ecstatic as Halliburton is about Dubai. 2015 taxes have not been revealed.

Maybe by having Halliburton move to Dubai, Hillary thinks she is off-shoring guns. It is a true testimony to gun-hatred. And a profitable one for both Clintons. Hopefully the gun breeches are as impervious to seizing up as Hillary's greased palms.

Come hell, high water, or bullet-riddled offshore American corpses, Hillary has helped move more guns out of America than any living person. Often to the wrong people. Apparently, she has replaced holsters full of guns with her own pockets full of money.

To a remotely ethical person, this could seem an egregious conflict of interest. Even bribery at its worst. Not to Bill. Never to Hill'ry. And certainly not to the DNC.

Need I say Bernie Sanders voted against the Iraq War?

(Article changed on April 12, 2016 at 18:08)
Reprinted from Reader Supported News

I had lunch with an FBI agent last week. If you don't know me, that's a highly unusual event. I hate the FBI. I hate what they've done to civil liberties in the United States. I hate that they spy on peace activists, civil libertarians, and people of color, all under the guise of "national security." I hate the FBI's dirty history of COINTELPRO, of sending poison pen letters to Martin Luther King Jr. to try to get him to commit suicide. I hate that they tried to set me up on an espionage charge because they knew that the case against me for blowing the whistle on the CIA's torture program was weak. But I was intrigued.

The FBI agent in question told me that he had uncovered evidence of waste, fraud, abuse, and illegality at the Bureau. He said that he had reported this untoward behavior up his chain of command and was told to mind his own business. He went to the FBI Inspector General and the FBI General Counsel, and was told both times that he should walk away, that he should mind his own business. He wanted to know what I thought he should do, based on my own experience.

I told him that he could do one of several things. He could continue up the chain of command and go to the Senate or House Judiciary Committees. If he did that, there would certainly be an internal investigation, he would be ostracized at the FBI, and he would likely face spurious charges that could include espionage. That's what the CIA and the FBI did to me, to NSA's Tom Drake, to the CIA's Jeffrey Sterling, to the State Department's Stephen Kim, and others.

I told him that he could go to the press, in which case there would also be an investigation, his security clearance would be suspended, and he would likely be fired, at least, for insubordination. He also could be charged with espionage or any number of national security charges related to leaking.

I told him that he could talk to an attorney who specializes in national security whistleblowing cases, like Jesselyn Radack of ExposeFacts. Radack is a fearless advocate for national security professionals who take their oaths to uphold and defend the Constitution seriously. She is also a whistleblower. She lost her job as a Justice Department ethics officer after insisting that John Walker Lindh, known in the press as the "American Taliban," be allowed access to an attorney, a basic constitutional right that the FBI denied him.

And finally, I told him that he could do nothing. Just keep quiet. He would keep his job, his pay grade, and his clearances. But he wouldn't be able to sleep at night.

The FBI agent, deep down, knew all these things. He recalled the recent case of another FBI whistleblower, Darin Jones, who was fired after he blew the whistle on waste, fraud, and abuse at the Bureau. Jones said that FBI bigwigs had blown $234,000 of the taxpayers' money on an awards ceremony for themselves, they had improperly spent taxpayer money without going through proper channels, and that a former FBI assistant director had had a conflict of interest related to a computer help-desk contract.

What did Jones do? He went through the chain of command. He complained to his superiors about the waste, fraud, and abuse he saw. In response, he was fired on the last day of his probationary period. That was three and a half years ago. His appeal still hasn't been heard. And as with other whistleblowers, especially those in the national security arena, it has been virtually impossible for Jones to find work, and former friends and colleagues avoid him. He has described himself as "radioactive," a non-person.

Congress, over the years, has toyed with the idea of enhanced protections for FBI whistleblowers. The chairman and ranking Democrat of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Pat Leahy (D-Vermont), have introduced the FBI Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act, which would expand the number of people at the FBI eligible for whistleblower protection and would allow them to appeal dismissal in the court system. The problem is that the bill has languished in the Senate and has not come up for a vote. It likely won't this year. Meanwhile, the House has ignored it.

The bottom line is this: Jones, the FBI agent with whom I met, and others who report on FBI malfeasance internally are screwed. There really are no protections. It's the same in national security. A potential whistleblower can go through the chain of command and likely be charged with crimes, he can go to the press and likely be charged with crimes, or he can keep his mouth shut. There are no alternatives. And until Congress recognizes the patent unfairness of the current system, other good and patriotic men and women will be ruined for doing the right thing.

Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.
Our school "is permitted to meet with your child without your knowledge of prior consent." -James W. Salin, GHCHS Governing Board Chair

Like a page out of 1984, Granada Hills Charter High School (GHCHS) includes stock language in responses to complaints asserting that "GHCHS values your input", while the actual response shows the direct opposite. In the latest example they ignored my wife's formal complaint about how our parental rights were violated when the school's nursing staff tried to return my daughter to physical education earlier than the doctor had instructed and contrary to what she had specified in a note written to the school, with a response that provided a dissertation on the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and how the school complies with these regulations. A follow-up request for the school to investigate the actual terms of the complaint and correct errors within their findings of fact was met with a response that "my April 4, 2016 response addresses your complaints, so no amended response is being issued."

The school's response does demonstrate how the school actually views parent engagement. In his response, James W. Salin, the school's Governing Board Chair, relied on the GHCHS's Parental Notifications of Searches/Interviews policy to explain why my wife was not informed of a medical decision made by the school. He stated that "while every effort will be made to maintain open and strong communication between the school and home, it may be necessary to administratively search and/or interview a student without notifying a parent or guardian." He further explained that "GHCHS has a right to speak with students without parental permission", that "neither GHCHS's UCP nor General Complaint Procedures require the Executive Director to meet with a complainant", and that there is no requirement for the school's staff to let parents know that there is a formal complaint process since the Parent-Student handbook only states that "GHCHS may provide a complaint form for persons wishing to file a complaint to fill out and file" (emphasis theirs). Most curiously, Salin determined that "there is no corrective action required at this time" despite the fact that my daughter had been refused permission to call her mother when school policy states that "when students request to call their parents during this type of meeting, those requests are generally granted" (emphasis mine). Salin had previously stated that "the school nurses have been informed that students are generally allowed to call home in similar situations", which should have been recognized as a corrective action. Even better would have been to extend this training to all school staff.

The response concludes with a statement that "there is not a right to appeal decisions issued under GHCHS's General Complaint Policy." Legally, this is incorrect as the school's charter is authorized by the LAUSD and the District, which, therefore, has an obligation of oversight over the school. Unfortunately, this is a responsibility that the LAUSD Charter School Division (CSD) continuously refuses to accept, even when a school flagrantly disregards California's education code. As an example, the CSD is allowing GHCHS to bully parents into disregarding their right to opt their children out of high-stakes standardized testing.

The California education code allows students "to be exempted and excused from... taking any and all statewide performance assessments." GHCHS seeks to undermine this choice by stating in their Parent-Student Handbook that students must "fully participate in annual state testing" as part of the eligibility requirements for sports, extra-curricular teams/associations, and campus clubs. I notified both the CSD and LAUSD Board months ago of this violation and was assured by the CSD on December 2, 2015, that "in formal communication with the school [they] have made it clear that GHCHS shall not impermissibly penalize students for parental exercise of the legal right to excuse the student from testing" and they expect "the school to take all steps necessary to ensure it is in legal compliance, including reviewing and revising the school's Parent-Student Handbook and providing notice to parents of the revised policy/practice and revised Parent-Student Handbook." However, when reminded that state testing begins this week and the language had not been fully removed, the CSD would only say that they had "obtained a response from Granada and are vetting it with our legal counsel." Assurances that they "will act in accordance with recommendation of counsel as swiftly as possible" does nothing to protect the rights of parents this year who will be coerced into letting their students take these tests due to fear of retribution.

While charters are privately run, they are also publicly funded. The public, therefore, has a right to expect that parents should not have to sign away their rights in order for their children to attend schools that they have paid for. However, as long as the School Board continues to allow the CSD to abdicate their responsibilities, abuses at GHCHS and other charters will continue to occur.

____________________________________________

I am a candidate for the District 2 seat on the LAUSD School Board, founder of Change The LAUSD and member of the Northridge East Neighborhood Council. Opinions are my own.
Reprinted from Consortium News

In reporting on the resignation of Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the major U.S. newspapers either ignored or distorted Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland's infamous intercepted phone call before the 2014 coup in which she declared "Yats is the guy!"

Though Nuland's phone call introduced many Americans to the previously obscure Yatsenyuk, its timing -- a few weeks before the ouster of elected Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych -- was never helpful to Washington's desired narrative of the Ukrainian people rising up on their own to oust a corrupt leader.

Instead, the conversation between Nuland and U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt sounded like two proconsuls picking which Ukrainian politicians would lead the new government. Nuland also disparaged the less aggressive approach of the European Union with the pithy put-down: "f*ck the E.U.!"

More importantly, the intercepted call, released onto YouTube in early February 2014, represented powerful evidence that these senior U.S. officials were plotting -- or at least collaborating in -- a coup d'etat against Ukraine's democratically elected president. So, the U.S. government and the mainstream U.S. media have since consigned this revealing discussion to the Great Memory Hole.

On Monday, in reporting on Yatsenyuk's Sunday speech in which he announced that he is stepping down, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal didn't mention the Nuland-Pyatt conversation at all.

The New York Times did mention the call but misled its readers regarding its timing, making it appear as if the call followed rather than preceded the coup. That way the call sounded like two American officials routinely appraising Ukraine's future leaders, not plotting to oust one government and install another.

The Times article by Andrew E. Kramer said: "Before Mr. Yatsenyuk's appointment as prime minister in 2014, a leaked recording of a telephone conversation between Victoria J. Nuland, a United States assistant secretary of state, and the American ambassador in Ukraine, Geoffrey R. Pyatt, seemed to underscore the West's support for his candidacy. 'Yats is the guy,' Ms. Nuland had said."

Notice, however, that if you didn't know that the conversation occurred in late January or early February 2014, you wouldn't know that it preceded the Feb. 22, 2014 coup. You might have thought that it was just a supportive chat before Yatsenyuk got his new job.

You also wouldn't know that much of the Nuland-Pyatt conversation focused on how they were going to "glue this thing" or "midwife this thing," comments sounding like prima facie evidence that the U.S. government was engaged in "regime change" in Ukraine, on Russia's border.

The "No Coup" Conclusion

But Kramer's lack of specificity about the timing and substance of the call fits with a long pattern of New York Times' bias in its coverage of the Ukraine crisis. On Jan. 4, 2015, nearly a year after the U.S.-backed coup, the Times published an "investigation" article declaring that there never had been a coup. It was just a case of President Yanukovych deciding to leave and not coming back.

That article reached its conclusion, in part, by ignoring the evidence of a coup, including the Nuland-Pyatt phone call. The story was co-written by Kramer and so it is interesting to know that he was at least aware of the "Yats is the guy" reference although it was ignored in last year's long-form article.

Instead, Kramer and his co-author Andrew Higgins took pains to mock anyone who actually looked at the evidence and dared reach the disfavored conclusion about a coup. If you did, you were some rube deluded by Russian propaganda.
Corrosion resistant heavy metal Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2015 - 2019

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9Dimen Group has recently added new report "Global Corrosion resistant heavy metal Market 2015 Industry Growth, Size, Trends, Share, Opportunities and Forecast to 2019" to their research database.Global Corrosion resistant heavy metal Industry 2015 is a comprehensive, professional report delivering market research data that is relevant for new market entrants or established players. Key strategies of the companies operating in the market and their impact analysis have been included in the report. Furthermore, a business overview, revenue share, and SWOT analysis of the leading players in the Corrosion resistant heavy metal market is available in the report.Browse full report with TOC @Combining the data integration and analysis capabilities with the relevant findings, the report has predicted strong future growth of the Corrosion resistant heavy metal market in all its geographical and product segments. In addition to this, several significant variables that will shape the Corrosion resistant heavy metal industry and regression models to determine the future direction of the market have been employed to create the report.The report begins with a market overview and moves on to cover the growth prospects of the Corrosion resistant heavy metal market. The current environment of the global Corrosion resistant heavy metal industry and the key trends shaping the market are presented in the report. Insightful predictions for the Corrosion resistant heavy metal market for the coming few years have also been included in the report. These predictions feature important inputs from leading industry experts and take into account every statistical detail regarding the Corrosion resistant heavy metal market.Statistical forecasts in the research study are available for the total Corrosion resistant heavy metal market along with its key segments. The key segments, their growth prospects, and the new opportunities they present to market players have been mentioned in the report. Moreover, the impact analysis of the latest mergers and acquisition and joint ventures has been included in the report. The report also provides valuable proposals for new project development that can help companies optimize their operations and revenue structure.Download sample request @A detailed segmentation evaluation of the Corrosion resistant heavy metal market has been provided in the report. Detailed information about the key segments of the market and their growth prospects are available in the report. The detailed analysis of their sub-segments is also available in the report. The revenue forecasts and volume shares along with market estimates are available in the report.9Dimen Group is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations.Contact UsJoel John3422 SW 15 Street, Suit #8138,Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442,United StatesTel: +1-386-310-3803GMT Tel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No. 1-855-465-4651Email: sales@9dimengroup.comWeb:
Sinusitis Treatment Market : Global Industry Analysis and Forecast 2016 - 2022

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Rise in new technologies and rapid innovations in healthcare market will create opportunities for companies that are striving to plunge into sinusitis treatment market. Sinusitis can be acute and if not treated can lead to chronic condition wherein different germs like bacteria and viruses can block the nasal cavities or are filled with fluid. There are common symptoms like common cold, fever, headache, sore throat, cough and others. If sinusitis is not treated or diagnosed it can lead to complications like brain abscess and meningitis. Primary treatment for sinusitis is antibiotics and at severe stage by decongestants. There are blood test, ciliary function test, CT scan of the sinuses, nasal cytology and allergy testing and MRI of the sinuses. According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 11.7 million people in the U.S. visits to physician offices for diagnosis of chronic sinusitis.Factors contributing for growth of sinusitis treatment market are demand for diagnostic test and antibiotics, patient education programs by companies and hospitals for increasing awareness among the public. Advancement in technology, myriad of people suffering from common cold and no age specific are additional factors that will drive the market over the forecasted period. Though the sinusitis treatment market is expected to generate significant revenue throughout the forecast period, the availability of the test and high cost of diagnostic test for sinusitis is a major challenge for overall growth of the sinusitis treatment market. Major challenge for the pharmaceutical companies is clinical trial for drugs.Interested in report: Please follow the below links to meet your requirements;Request for the Report Brochure:The global market for sinusitis treatment is segmented on basis of types, treatment and regional presence:Request TOC (table of content), Figures and Tables of the Report:Segmentation by Type of SinusitisAcute SinusitisSub-acute SinusitisChronic SinusitisSegmentation by Treatment of SinusitisAllergen ImmunotherapyAntibioticsAntihistamines and DecongestantsExpectorantsNasal CorticosteroidsOral CorticosteroidsWith increasing base of sinusitis sufferers, the sinusitis treatment market is expected to have tremendous growth during the forecast period (2016-2026). Companies are focusing on developing of novel drug products for sinusitis. Due to rapid innovations and advance technology there is huge potential in sinusitis treatment market.On the basis of region presence, sinusitis treatment market is segmented into five key regions: North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa.Currently, North America dominates the global market for sinusitis treatment due to high prevalence rate of sinusitis, followed by Europe. According to CDC, 29.4 million people diagnosed sinusitis in North American. However factors such as lack of knowledge of diagnostic test and lack of awareness among people about sinusitis will hamper the market growth in regions like Asia-pacific and RoWSome of the key market players in the manufacturing of the treatment products (antibiotics) for sinusitis includes Sanofi, Abbott Laboratories, Bayer AG, Eli Lilly And Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck & Co, Inc., AstraZeneca Plc, Reddys Lab, and Novartis AG.The report covers exhaustive analysis on:Sinusitis Treatment Market SegmentsSinusitis Treatment Market DynamicsHistorical Actual Market Size, 2013 - 2015Sinusitis Treatment Market Size & Forecast 2016 to 2022Sinusitis Treatment Current Trends/Issues/ChallengesCompetition & Companies involvedSinusitis Treatment Drivers and RestraintsRegional analysis includesNorth AmericaLatin AmericaEuropeAsia PacificMiddle East & AfricaReport Highlights:Shifting Industry dynamicsIn-depth market segmentationHistorical, current and projected industry size Recent industry trendsKey Competition landscapeStrategies of key players and product offeringsPotential and niche segments/regions exhibiting promising growthA neutral perspective towards market performanceAbout UsPersistence 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, PMRs engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.ContactPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United StatesUSA - Canada Toll Free: +1 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Business Email Market Volume Forecast and Value Chain Analysis 2015-2025

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Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Business Email Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2016-2026" report to their offering.Electronic mail solution or preferably called email solution, specializes in the day-to-day management of your email services which allows users to remain focused on more critical operations of business. Email solution providers make it simple for organizations and enterprises to communicate across as well as get tasks implemented by offering a reliable, business suited email software to meet such needs. The business email solution offers multiple layers of premium virus and spam protection and keep hosted email advertisement free. Business organizations across the globe are now steadily adopting the strategy of migrating their email to cloud to reduce costs. The enumeration of organizations migrating to cloud-based email and collaboration services has continued to build over the past few years, where previously small and medium business (SMB) were the key end-users of business email solutions, now larger organizations are aggressively moving to the cloud. The current number of email users worldwide in 2015 is recognized to be about 2.6 billion, and this figure is expected to grow at a healthy CAGR till 2026. While total worldwide email traffic estimated to about 200 billion email per day in 2015, the corporate emails represent the major share of this total value.Request Free Report Sample@Business Email Market: SegmentationBusiness email market is segmented on the basis of deployment model, end-user and region. According to deployment model, business email market can be segmented into on-premise and cloud-based deployment. On the basis of end-user, business email market can be segmented into small business, medium business and large enterprises. Regionally, business email market can be segmented into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa (MEA), Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) and Japan.Business Email Market: Regional OutlookBusiness email market is witnessing stable growth and is expected to grow steadily during the projected period. North America is the dominating region in business email market and is expected to remain dominant followed by Western Europe during the forecast period. Asia-Pacific is expected to exhibit highest CAGR due to rapid progress in enterprise sector across evolving economies of countries like India, China and Philippines.Business Email Market: DriversBusiness email market is being primarily driven by organizations need for a formal communication platform. Growing influx of SOHO (Small Office/Home Office) and SMBs (Small and Medium Businesses) across the globe is driving the growth of business email market. Furthermore, increasing popularity of cloud-based business email solutions is expected to fuel the growth of business email market during the projected period. However, security concerns regarding cloud-based email solutions coupled with need for dedicated internet connection are expected to restrain the growth of business email market amidst the forecast period 2016-2026.Full Report Analysis@Business Email Market: Key PlayersThe key vendors in the Business email market include Google Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Yahoo Inc., Rediff.com India Ltd., Rackspace Hostings Inc., GoDaddy Inc., IBM Corporation, Intermedia.net Inc., Fastmail, Zoho Corporation and others. Major players in the business email market boost their market share by mergers & acquisitions with other players in the market. Furthermore, long-term collaboration with cloud-based storage providers is another strategy followed by major business email providers to gain competitive edge.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.Future 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:
Global Vendor Neutral Archive and PACS Market Expands with Rising Need for Consolidation of Patient Care Information

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In a report presented by Transparency Market Research, a detailed outlook on why medical imaging technology has been evolving from a multitude of storage formats to standard formats has been provided conclusively. This report delves into various reasons for the need for consolidation of medical imaging from picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) by means of vendor neutral archive (VNA) technology in the bid to create a single interoperable repository instead of having several disintegrated records. The important aspects of the PACS and VNA systems market are discussed in the report, titled Vendor Neutral Archive Market and PACS Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2013  2019.Browse Full Report:To begin with, the report outlines how VNA is a step ahead of PACS, since VNAs have the advantage of vendor neutrality over the latter. This means VNAs are free of vendor-imposed restrictions on the format of medical images. In the context of healthcare information technology, vendor neutral archives are a medical imaging technology employed by healthcare professionals for storing images in a standard format and interface, thus enabling medical imaging data to be accessible by means of several picture archiving and communication systems (PACS).VNAs exhibit a host of advantages over PACS. These include facilitating merging, standardizing, and archiving data and images from several PACS into a solitary, easily accessible, and interoperable database. VNAs are employed to reduce the number of buildings dedicated to individual PACS systems and allow cross-sharing and cross-exchange of documents.Some of the benefits of VNAs are that they allow access to data from several PACS and to amend PACS without the need for complex data migration techniques. VNAs allow effective control over imagery information. They allow easy integration of new imaging platforms, including ones that are not supplied by the PACS vendor.On the basis of mode of delivery, the global VNA market is segmented into on-premise VNA, complete cloud-based VNA, and hybrid VNA. Of all, currently, on-premise VNA dominates the market due to its enhanced data control and security features. Nevertheless, cloud-based VNA is expected to supersede it, as it is economical and practically more viable than on-premise solutions.The component segments of this market are hardware (peripherals, storage devices and network devices, access devices, and servers), software, and services (implementation services, training services, consulting, and post sales and maintenance). On the basis of imaging instrument, X-ray, magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound, computed tomography, nuclear imaging, and others are the segments of this market.Top companies that operate in the global VNA and PACS market are Acuo Technologies, Bridgehead Software Inc., Dell Inc., GE Healthcare, Merge Healthcare Inc., Phillips Healthcare, TeraMedica Inc., Agfa Healthcare NV, Carestream Health Inc., EMC Corporation, Fujifilm Corporation, McKesson Corporation, and Siemens Healthcare.Request For Report Brochure:About Us:-Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact Us:-Mr.Sudip.STransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com
Global Casting and Splinting Market 2016 Industry Insights, Study, Forecasts, Outlook, Growth, Overview and Demands

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Healthcare Payer BPO Market Size, Segmentation To 2022: Grand View Research, Inc.

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Global healthcare payer BPO market is expected to reach over USD 34.2 billion by 2022 according to a new report by Grand View Research Inc. Key drivers attributing to the growth are ObamaCare, shift to ICD-10 coding system, growing geriatric population, increasing disease burden and penetration of insurance coverage in emerging economies.In 2013, as per estimates published by the Americas Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), which is the national trade association representing the health insurance industry, one-sixth of the U.S. economy or nearly USD 2.7 trillion is dedicated to healthcare spending and the number is expected to increase year on year. However, the healthcare system is not able to reap the benefits of such expenditure due to process inefficiencies and use of redundant systems. The estimated loss due to such inefficiencies is nearly 800 billion or approximately 20 to 30 percent of the overall expenditure.Increasing healthcare expenditure is a major concern for the U.S. and all the other major economies. In order to reduce the economic burden and provide universal access to healthcare, governments are encouraging outsourcing of payer services to onshore or offshore locations.The shift from ICD-9 coding system to ICD-10 coding has created huge work load for the payers to upgrade their systems, train their staff and has significantly increased the financial burden. The ICD-9 code system had 13,000 codes, where as the ICD-10 code system has nearly 68,000 codes. This shift from the legacy system to the latest system has significantly increased the need for medical coding, accounting, HR, and other technical professionals, thereby is expected to positively reinforce the healthcare payer BPO outsourcing market growth in the next seven years.Browse full research report on Global Healthcare Payer BPO Market:Further key findings from the study suggest: In 2014, claims processing services accounted for the maximum share of approximately 55%. Key reasons attributed are growth in new member enrolments due to ObamaCare, increase in disease burden. For instance, as per data published by ObamaCare and CMS, in 2013 nearly 8 million people enrolled through the marketplace and nearly 11.7 million people were enrolled in 2015. However, Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing market over the forecast period owing to high economic development in the region, favorable government initiatives and growth in insurance penetration across urban and rural centers. For instance, the Indian governments initiatives such as Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, are expected to benefit millions of people seeking life insurance and personal accident coverage and as consequence is expected to contribute to the healthcare payer BPO market expansion over the forecast period. Some key players operating in the market include, Xerox Corporation, Genpact Limited, Wipro Limited, Capgemini, Hinduja Global Solutions, HCL Technologies Ltd, Cognizant Technology Solutions, EXLService Holdings Inc., and Accenture. These players dominate the market owing to their strong product and service delivery portfolio, and presence of large customer base in the U.S and European markets.Read detailed report or request for free sample of this research report:Grand View Research has segmented the Healthcare payer BPO market on the basis of services and region:Global Healthcare Payer BPO Services Outlook (USD Million, 2015  2022) Claims Processing Services Member Services HR Services Finance And AccountsHealthcare Payer BPO Regional Outlook, (USD Million, 2015  2022) North Americao U.S.o Canada Europeo Germanyo UK Asia Pacifico Indiao China Latin Americao Brazilo Mexico MEAo South AfricaGrand 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
Blood Culture Test Market Growth, Trends, Absolute Opportunity and Value Chain 2016-2026

http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1202

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Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Blood Culture Test Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2016-2026" report to their offering.Blood culture is defined as the microbiological culture of blood, to detect infections that are spreading through the bloodstream. The infections spreading through the blood stream include bacteremia and septicemia among others. This is possible because the bloodstream is usually a sterile environment. Negative effect of an improper blood culture includes risks of wrong venipuncture and the occurrence of false positive results. This phenomenon has been observed in over 3% of the blood culture cases and could hamper patient safety through inappropriate diagnosis and treatment. Globally, bloodstream infections (BSI) one of the leading cause of morbidity and mortality, and associated with significant healthcare costs. It has been estimated that approximately 1 million patients in the U.S. are diagnosed with BSI, costing the healthcare system nearly US$ 1 billion.Blood Culture Test Market: Drivers and RestraintsDrivers for the blood culture test market include high incidence of blood stream infections, rising demand for rapid diagnostic tests, a large percentage of aging population across countries apart from rapid advancements in medical technology, growing awareness among the patients and increasing adoption rate of the latest technologies among patients. Some of the latest technologies for blood culture test include multiplex real-time PCR system, use of molecular method, mass spectrometry & electro spray ionization.Request Free Report Sample@Restraints for the market include high cost of advanced blood culture techniques and lack of appropriate reimbursement policies. Further, lack of proper training among medical technicians in developing countries and other resource-poor nations is also expected to hamper the revenue growth of the market.Blood Culture Test Market: SegmentationBlood Culture Test market can be segmented into these following ways:Segmentation by type of culture procedureConventional manual methodAutomated methodSegmentation by product typeConsumablesBlood Culture MediaAerobic Blood Culture MediaAnaerobic Blood Culture MediaMycobacterial Blood Culture MediaFungi/Yeast Blood Culture MediaReagents and Assay KitsOther ConsumablesInstrumentsAutomated Blood Culture AnalyzersPNA FISHPCRMALDI-TOF MSSegmentation by indicationsBacteremiaFungemiaMycobacteriaSegmentation by regionsBlood Culture Test Market: OverviewIncreasing demand for rapid diagnosis and quicker results is positively impacting the demand for blood culture test market globally. Increasing prevalence of hospital acquired infections, infectious diseases, lowered immunity levels due to high pollution levels is also increasing the demand for blood culture tests. However stringent regulations in regions such as North America and Europe may negatively impact the growth of the market over the forecast period. Improving medtech investments globally would however, lead to increased investments in new advanced research techniques and lead to continuous evolution in the blood culture market. Developing markets are expected to witness higher growth rates due to rising awareness among the patient population and also higher affordability power.Full Report Analysis@Blood Culture Test Market: Region-wise OutlookDepending on geographic regions, blood culture test market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa.In terms of geography, North America dominates the market, followed by Europe and Asia-Pacific. However, rising healthcare aid will drive the markets over Sub-Saharan Africa, India, China, and other East Asian nations. United States dominates the Blood Culture Test market driven by technically advanced healthcare infrastructure and high patient awareness & healthcare expenditure levels. Some advanced medtech techniques include Bac Spectrum assay, electro spray ionization, & mass spectrometry. The country is also expected to benefit from favorable government initiatives such as the Affordable Care Act. Emerging markets include Eastern European countries followed by countries in Eastern Africa. Rising disease incidences in these countries is expected to prove favorable for the growth of the blood culture test market.Blood Culture Test Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players in blood culture test market are bioMerieux SA, Roche Diagnostics, Becton Dickinson, Siemens AG, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Bruker Corporation, Cepheid, Alere Inc., Nanosphere and Abbott Laboratories.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.Future 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:
Low Cost Breast Augmentation Surgery 2016 With Cosmetic And Obesity Surgery Hospital India

India- Cosmetic and Obesity Surgery Hospital India provides an affordable priced breast augmentation surgery, which is a surgical procedure to cosmetically enhance the size and shape of a womans breast using implants. This surgery is performed for a number of reasons such as cosmetic or medical and hence it varies from person to person. The breast augmentation surgery corrects the body proportion problems. This can be an in-patient or an out-patient procedure. It is an invasive surgery and hence should be performed by an experienced board certified plastic surgeon in India.Breast Augmentation Success RateThe patients who underwent the breast augmentation surgery with Cosmetic and Obesity Surgery Hospital India reported high satisfaction. About 98% of women who underwent this surgery were satisfied and this defines the high success rate for breast augmentation in India.Patients involving with India Breast Augmentation Surgery  StatisticsMore than 500 women have received breast augmentation surgery with Cosmetic and obesity Surgery Hospital India.Why to choose India for Breast Augmentation Surgery?India offers affordable breast augmentation surgery at world class medical facilities that incorporates highly qualified and experienced surgeons, robust infrastructure and top notch hospitals. Our association with the top cosmetic and obesity surgery hospitals and surgeons in India caters to the needs of our patients by providing them with low cost cosmetic and obesity treatments in different cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Nagpur, Bangalore, Hyderabad and other cities in India. Low cost breast reduction surgery in India has been attracting millions of people across the globe choose India for their breast augmentation surgery in India.Cost Comparisons All over the globe for Breast Augmentation SurgeryThe cost of breast augmentation surgery in India is very low compared to the cost in other developed nations. Many global patients have undergone low cost breast reduction surgery in India with Cosmetic and Obesity Surgery Hospital India.Facilities Provided for Breast Augmentation surgery in IndiaCosmetic and Obesity Surgery Hospital India is a network of surgeons, hospitals and experts in the field of cosmetic and obesity surgeries. Our surgeons are most sought after and the experts will help you determine the best options as per your needs. Our world class hospitals are spread across different cities in India. Cosmetic and obesity surgery hospital India provides quality care that meets and exceeds the international standards.Cosmetic and Obesity Surgery Hospital IndiaIt is a network of surgeons, hospitals and experts in the field of cosmetic and obesity surgeries. Our surgeons are most sought after and the experts will help you determine the best options as per your needs. Our world class hospitals are spread across different cities in India. Cosmetic and obesity surgery hospital India provides quality care that meets and exceeds the international standards.Contact Details:Cosmetic and Obesity Surgery Hospital IndiaEmail ID: enquiry@cosmeticandobesitysurgeryhospitalindia.comPhone: +91-9373055368
Polyamide 6 (PA6) Market 2016 industry outlook, review, research and forecast analysis

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Market Research Report on Polyamide 6 (PA6) market 2016 is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Polyamide 6 (PA6) worldwide. First of all,"Global Polyamide 6 (PA6) Market 2016" report provides a basic overview of the Polyamide 6 (PA6) industry including definitions, classifications, applications and Polyamide 6 (PA6) industry chain structure.The analysis is provided for the Polyamide 6 (PA6) international market including development history, Polyamide 6 (PA6) industry competitive landscape analysis.After that, Polyamide 6 (PA6) industry development policies as well as plans are discussed and manufacturing processes as well as cost structures for Polyamide 6 (PA6) market. This report "Worldwide Polyamide 6 (PA6) Market 2016" also states import/export, supply and consumption figures and Polyamide 6 (PA6) market cost, price, revenue and Polyamide 6 (PA6) market's gross margin by regions (United States, EU, China and Japan), as well as other regions can be added in Polyamide 6 (PA6) Market area.Request For Free Report Sample @Then, the report focuses on worldwide Polyamide 6 (PA6) market key players with information such as company profiles with product picture as well as specification.Related information to Polyamide 6 (PA6) market- capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information. Aslo includes Polyamide 6 (PA6) industry's - Upstream raw materials, equipment and downstream consumers analysis is also carried out. Whats more, the Polyamide 6 (PA6) market development trends and Polyamide 6 (PA6) industry marketing channels are analyzed.Finally, "worldwide Polyamide 6 (PA6) market" Analysis- feasibility of new investment projects is assessed, and overall research conclusions are offered.Read More Research with TOC @About UsGlobal Market Firm is the comprehensive collection of market intelligence products and services available on air. We have market research reports from number of leading publishers and update our collection daily to provide our clients with the instant online access to our database. With access to this database, our clients will be able to benefit from expert insights on global industries, products, and market trends.Contact UsJoel JohnSuite #8138, 3422 SW 15 Street,Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Website: http://www.globalmarketfirm.com/Email: erik@globalmarketfirm.com
3D Printing Medical Devices Market 2016 industry outlook, review, research and forecast analysis

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Market Research Report on 3D Printing Medical Devices market 2016 is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the 3D Printing Medical Devices worldwide. First of all,"Global 3D Printing Medical Devices Market 2016" report provides a basic overview of the 3D Printing Medical Devices industry including definitions, classifications, applications and 3D Printing Medical Devices industry chain structure.The analysis is provided for the 3D Printing Medical Devices international market including development history, 3D Printing Medical Devices industry competitive landscape analysis.After that, 3D Printing Medical Devices industry development policies as well as plans are discussed and manufacturing processes as well as cost structures for 3D Printing Medical Devices market. This report "Worldwide 3D Printing Medical Devices Market 2016" also states import/export, supply and consumption figures and 3D Printing Medical Devices market cost, price, revenue and 3D Printing Medical Devices market's gross margin by regions (United States, EU, China and Japan), as well as other regions can be added in 3D Printing Medical Devices Market area.Request For Free Report Sample @Then, the report focuses on worldwide 3D Printing Medical Devices market key players with information such as company profiles with product picture as well as specification.Related information to 3D Printing Medical Devices market- capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information. Aslo includes 3D Printing Medical Devices industry's - Upstream raw materials, equipment and downstream consumers analysis is also carried out. Whats more, the 3D Printing Medical Devices market development trends and 3D Printing Medical Devices industry marketing channels are analyzed.Finally, "worldwide 3D Printing Medical Devices market" Analysis- feasibility of new investment projects is assessed, and overall research conclusions are offered.Read More Research with TOC @About Global Market NewsGlobal Market News will provide you real and current information related different news. It may be local, national and global news. Also it serves educational guidance to students and market policies to businessmen. So its best platform to search any type of news.Our team has taken efforts in providing high quality services. Visitors can interact directly to our team for any queries and suggestions. This platform is mobile friendly, so you can search for news anytime and anywhere.Contact UsJoel John3422 SW 15 Street, Suit #8138,Deerfield Beach,Florida 33442, USATel: +1-386-310-3803GMT Tel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No.1-855-465-4651Website:email: shane@GlobalMarketNews.com
Mapplinks Academy Launch on 7th May 2016

http://mapplinks.academy

Mapplinks Digital Pvt Ltd, Bangalores leading creative digital agency, is happy to announce the launch of Mapplinks Academy, which will provide a comprehensive 3-month digital marketing course to a few selected applicants.Mapplinks Academy strives to provide unparalleled comprehensive training with live projects and hands on experience in the digital marketing sphere. The batch starts on 7th May and applications will close end of April.Through the academy, students would have a chance to experience state-of-the-art courses, which have been specially designed to create expert marketers having thorough knowledge of all the aspects of digital marketing. They would also get to work with Mapplinks partners through the bootcamp.Mapplinks vision to empower individuals to lead their brand has been inherited by the Academy where the focus is to bring out the best in class digital marketers who would lead the market in the near future. - Rishabh Dev, Director of Mapplinks and Mapplinks AcademyAt Mapplinks Academy, we teach Digital Marketing the way it should be taught - BY DOING IT - Debarati Banerjee, Faculty at Mapplinks Academy, Ex-social media at EYDigital Marketing is all about how cleverly you tell the story of your business to the right audience at the right time - Brighu Mohanty, Faculty at Mapplinks Academy, Ex-DM and Growth Hacker at GreEdgeThe first batch for Mapplinks Academy would commence from 7th May with the initial batch size of five members, who would be selected through a 3-step screening process. The applications are open on the official websiteMapplinks Academy is a venture of Mapplinks Digital Private Limited, a leading digital agency in Bangalore58, 1st floor,, L V . Complex, Ganapathi Temple Rd, Koramangala 7th Block, Koramangala, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560095
The Port of Portland is budgeting for a 17.4 percent reduction in revenue from its marine operations for fiscal year 2017, in the wake of a sluggish export market and a labor dispute that all but halted activity at the Terminal 6 container port.

Officials expect $5.7 million less in marine operating revenue than the agency had in its 2016 budget, the Port said Monday in a news release announcing a budget hearing.

The Port's total operating revenue is budgeted at $288 million for fiscal 2017, down from the $295 million adopted for 2016. Operating expenditures are slated to remain relatively flat at $191 million, up from $190 million the previous year.

Hanjin Shipping Co. left the Port in February of 2015 amid a contentious labor battle between container-terminal operator ICTSI Oregon and the longshore workers union. Hanjin had accounted for nearly 80 percent of the Port's container business. Shipping line Hapag-Lloyd, which carried about 20 percent of the Port's containers, soon followed suit. That left Terminal 6 with only a single ship per month as of January.

The Port's marine operation also faces less demand from abroad.

"The strong dollar continues to reduce the buying power of overseas customers and is putting downward pressure on marine export growth," the Port said in the release.

The Port of Portland Commission will discuss the budget at a public hearing Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at 7200 N.E. Airport Way. Public comment is welcome, the Port said. The commission will then vote in May and June on the budget, which will be available at the Port's website beginning Wednesday.

-- Luke Hammill

lhammill@oregonian.com

503-294-4029

@lucashammill
_W6A1777.JPG

An Embraer E175 jet, shown in an Embraer handout photo.

(Horizon Air)

Horizon Air's fleet is getting a major upgrade with an order for 30 new jets, opening up new destinations for the regional carrier.

The order for 30 Embraer E175 jets, together valued at $2.8 billion, is the largest in Horizon's history. It will add to the regional carrier's fleet of more than 50 Bombardier Q400 turboprop planes, some of which are leased in an agreement that will expire in 2018.

The jets can fly longer routes than the turboprop planes, allowing the airline to serve more distant destinations that don't have enough demand for a larger jet.

Horizon will fly the jets exclusively for its sister airline, Alaska Air, with which it shares a parent company.

Horizon lists its headquarters in Seattle, but its president's office and primary maintenance facility is in Portland. It flew nearly 3 million passengers into and out of Portland International Airport last year.

Horizon will take delivery of the new planes over three years, starting next spring.

-- Elliot Njus

enjus@oregonian.com

503-294-5034

@enjus
Revolution Hall has announced its next headlining act.

By the end of the year, Gregg Matteucci, David Regan and Suzanne Regan, owners of Lake Oswego's Tucci Italian restaurant, will open Buckman Public House, a "gigantic" restaurant inside the concert venue, Willamette Week reports.

The space will open near Marthas, the cafe and bar in the Southwest corner of the building, and will feature a huge patio. According to WW, Tucci chefs Jeff Emerson and Kurt Spak (Alba Osteria) will serve "interesting American small plates" across a broad range of cuisines at Buckman.

Revolution Hall, the once-vacant former Washington-Monroe High School, reopened after major renovations in early 2015 with a pair of indoor bars, a rooftop deck and plans for a large restaurant.

Buckman Public House is expected to open this fall at 1300 S.E. Stark St. #110.; 503-288-3895; revolutionhallpdx.com

-- Samantha Bakall

sbakall@oregonian.com

Follow @sambakall
This article has been updated with information provided by state regulators.

The company at the center of Portland's toxic air scare resumed using cancer-causing cadmium to make glass Tuesday, company vice president Jim Jones said.

Bullseye Glass has since February been embroiled in a high-profile health scare because of heavy metals found in the air near the plant. State regulators found arsenic and cadmium - elements Bullseye used to make glass - at levels that created a cancer risk far exceeding state safety benchmarks.

Although the company was operating within the law, the state asked Bullseye to stop using the heavy metals. The company complied, and made plans to install a filter.

"We said we wouldn't use (cadmium) until we had emissions controls in place, and that's what we've done," Jones said.

State regulators have said they've inspected the facility, that they will continue to monitor air quality near the plant and that they expect Bullseye to ensure the filter is working.

One Portland activist said the process for installing the filter has been too opaque to inspire confidence.

"This deal with Bullseye and cadmium feels like it's an experiment," said Mary Peveto, president of Neighbors for Clean Air.

An independent company should assess if the filter is enough to prevent emissions, she said, and the findings should be provided to the public. Peveto accused the state of rushing to help the company at the expense of transparency.

Jones said he's confident in the filtration technology because it's certified to filter 99 percent of particles in smoke, he said, and because state environmental regulators approved it.

The filter, called a baghouse, is standard in the industry. A similar glass-making plant near Seattle has had to have them on its furnaces since the 1990s.

But Peveto said she hasn't seen enough evidence that Oregon has guaranteed Bullseye's filter will protect the public. The Department of Environmental Quality has sustained a barrage of criticism in recent months, both from the public and the governor.

"What assurances do we have today that the agency is going to be more dogged and robust?," Peveto said.

The Department of Environmental Quality said in a statement that it inspected the filter Tuesday and confirmed it was working. The department is keeping four monitors near the plant and will continue to publish weekly reports based on the data.

The department plans to oversee emissions testing between April 26 and April 28 and will share the results with the public.

The agency tweeted an image of a letter Bullseye sent the agency announcing its intention to resume using cadmium. The agency approved the company's application to build the filter.

Jones said Bullseye Glass will make its first batch of cadmium-laden glass today, after about a week of testing the furnace and the filter with clear glass. The company plans to install filters for 12 more furnaces by mid-July, Jones said.

Being able to use cadmium will allow the company to start addressing the backlog of glass orders that Jones said has accumulated since the air scare began in February. It's impossible to make yellow, orange and red-colored glass without the element, glass-manufacturers say. The company's stock of such glass has been all but spent, Jones said.

The company's sales took a $1.5 to $2 million hit because it stopped making glass with cadmium, Jones said.

Bullseye does not have any plans to resume using arsenic, the other heavy metal regulators found in the air near the plant, Jones said. The company started using an alternative production method which, though not as effective as arsenic, was sufficient. Arsenic removes bubbles from glass and makes it clear.

State regulators also found high levels of cadmium near Uroboros Glass, another Portland stained-glass manufacturer. Like Bullseye, the company stopped using the heavy metal in February.

Questions about whether it planned to install a filter and resume using cadmium were directed to the company's attorney, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

-- Fedor Zarkhin

503-294-7674; @fedorzarkhin
Justin Welby

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, addresses the media during a press conference in Canterbury, England, Friday, Jan. 15, 2016. Anglican spiritual leader Justin Welby is set to lead a task force that will focus on rebuilding relationships after religious leaders temporarily restricted the role of the Episcopal Church in their global fellowship as a sanction over the U.S. church's acceptance of gay marriage.

(AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

For readers all too familiar with clergy cover-ups, the international story of an Anglican leader's honesty might feel refreshing:

The leader of Anglicans worldwide recently found out his biological father isn't the man he thought and, in a move that has attracted praise from clergy, he told the whole world about it.

As archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby is a focal figure for the 85 million Christians that are part of the Anglican Communion. In a statement published on his website Friday, Welby announced that his biological father was not Gavin Welby, the man his mother had been married to when he was born.

Instead, he said, his real father is Sir Anthony Montague Browne, the last private secretary to Winston Churchill.

Welby's mother, Jane Williams, said in a separate statement her romantic encounter with Browne was "fueled by a large amount of alcohol on both sides" shortly before her marriage to Gavin Welby.

The story attracted coverage from major international outlets over the weekend, including The New York Times and CNN.

"I know that I find who I am in Jesus Christ, not in genetics, and my identity in him never changes," the archbishop wrote on his website. He told The Associated Press the revelation doesn't affect his role in the church.

"It does not make a shred of difference," he told The Associated Press. "People will judge me on who I am and on what I do, not my genetic makeup."

Welby had DNA tests done after The Telegraph presented evidence to Welby that his real father was Browne, according to the newspaper.

The bishop of Norwich told BBC Radio 5 Live the archbishop took the DNA test to disprove The Telegraph's claims.

"For the archbishop I think of course it is a surprise but he is dealing with it. I talked to him quite a lot last week, he is dealing with it with his usual maturity," the bishop told the outlet.

Within a couple of weeks of receiving the surprising news, Welby went public.

His candor has garnered praise from religious leaders, including Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the most prominent Roman Catholic leader in the United Kingdom.

"To do this with such steadiness and honesty, and in the full glare of publicity, is remarkable," Nichols told the Religion News Service.

Leading British rabbi Jonathan Romain also spoke to the Religion News Service, saying Welby's honesty is a "good example of how to deal with unexpected or difficult news."

"It also recognizes the reality that family life can often be wonderful and enriching but is equally capable of being messy and complex."

-- Melissa Binder

mbinder@oregonian.com

503-294-7656

@binderpdx
It was both an honor and a surprise when Dick Sipp was recognized as a Master Pilot by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Midland resident Sipp received the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award April 7, as a result of 50 years of accident and violation-free flying and demonstrating professionalism, skill and aviation expertise by maintaining safe operations. He applied for the recognition, awarded by the FAA, about a year ago.

Its obviously an honor to survive this long and I tell people its a matter of being smart enough and being lucky enough, Sipp said.

There was something he didnt expect when Sipp and his family showed up at the meeting for Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 1093 in Midland. Along with a plaque and certificate, he received a half-inch thick stack of papers: his flying record straight from the FAA, which included his licenses over the years and any communications he had with the organization.

It was interesting to look at that stuff. I was surprised they kept so much of it, Sipp said.

He has been a pilot for about 51 years, ever since his father suggested he join a fraternity and Sipp heard about the Air Force and the Reserve Officers Training Corps.

I qualified for pilot training and the rest is history, Sipp said.

Sipp achieved the rank of colonel and retired from the Air Force Reserve after 33 years of military service, during which he served in Vietnam and Desert Storm. He also worked as a commercial pilot and sometimes piloted executives of the Ford Motor Co.

He described it as a fairly good accomplishment to make it 50 years without any violations or minor accidents like blowing a tire, especially considering his previous work as a commercial pilot flying two or three times a week.

When asked to share some memorable moments in his flying career, Sipp said there are almost too many to count.

While he regularly takes leisurely trips to take in the fall colors or do some sightseeing, Sipp said he truly enjoys joining other pilots in what is called formation flying.

It requires a lot of discipline but its a lot of fun to do, Sipp said.

On one occasion, Sipp and other pilots had the chance to fly with a group known as the Tuskegee Airmen who were the first black military pilots during World War II. It was during an air show, and Sipp can still recall being up in the air surrounded by 14 or 15 different airplanes and watching the airmen react to the appearance of a rare WW II airplane that they flew while in the military.

It was quite an emotional time for them, Sipp said.

Sipp himself had the opportunity to fly a B-25 plane that was used in WW II after volunteering with the Yankee Air Museum in Ypsilanti.

Nowadays he helps introduce area youths to the fun that can be had up in the air through the Young Eagle program, where experienced pilots take children ages 8 to 17 for a quick spin above the Jack Barstow Municipal Airport. Its a treat for him to see their faces as some take to the sky for the first time.

A few of them really have quite a reaction, which is fun, Sipp said.

Sipp flies a small experimental aircraft, designated as RV12, that he built himself. He plans to take it out of winter storage next week to fly up north in Michigan and have a friend do some maintenance on it.

I try to fly as often as I can, at least two or three times a month, Sipp said. Its strictly for fun.

While he is the only pilot in the family, Sipp was surrounded by members of his family when he accepted the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award and said he was especially glad his three granddaughters were there with him.

I could not have done it without their support, Sipp said about his family, especially when he was serving in the military. They are really the reason you can spend so many years on this, and make it work.
Check out a selection of one week's work from photographers at the Midland Daily News. This week featured community events such as Loons Opening Day to Sparty's cameo at Pine River Elementary to an annual fundraiser for St. Baldrick's Foundation.
The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department.

Sunday, April 10

1:50 a.m.  A motorist was arrested at Isabella Street and Currie Parkway for drunken driving.

2:17 a.m.  Deputies investigated a conditional bond violation that occurred in Mills Township. A report is being sent to the prosecutor.

5:27 p.m.  Deputies were sent to a Jerome Township home to investigate a sexual assault, and learned it occurred in Midland. Midland Police were contacted to investigate.

5:34 p.m.  A woman reported her daughter, age 5, is acting out sexually. The complaint is under investigation.

6:38 p.m. A motorist was arrested at South Saginaw Road and Mark Putnam Drive for drunken driving and driving on a suspended license.

8:24 p.m.  Four males stole property, valued at $32.85, from a Village of Sanford business.

11:51 p.m.  Police responded to a report of retail fraud in the 6200 block of Eastman Avenue, and made a warrant arrest.

Saturday, April 9

1:54 a.m.  A motorist was arrested at Waldo Road and East Ashman Street for drunken driving.

10:30 a.m.  Police investigated a case of fraud in the 2500 block of Dilloway Drive.

3:06 p.m.  A Hope Township woman, 39, was arrested in Midland for driving while her license was suspended.

6:58 p.m.  Gasoline, valued at $20.01, was stolen from a Greendale Township gas station.

7:08 p.m.  A motorist was arrested at North Saginaw and West St. Andrews roads for driving without insurance.

8:42 p.m.  An Ingersoll Township home was broken into. Several items were stolen. The case is being investigated.

Friday, April 8

2:10 a.m.  A Saginaw woman, 22, was cited in Lee Township for open intoxicants. The driver, a 20-year-old Saginaw woman, was cited for speeding. The owner of the vehicle, a 23-year-old Wyoming man, was cited for no proof of insurance.

4:07 p.m. A 37-year-old man reported he was assaulted by his wife, age 35, 10 days prior. A report is being sent to the prosecutor.

5:22 p.m.  A Greenville man, 28, was arrested in Lincoln Township for driving while his license was revoked.

5:31 p.m.  A Lincoln Township storage unit was broken into and property, valued at $700, was stolen. There are no suspects.

8:40 p.m.  Property was stolen from a vehicle in the 300 block of East Grove Street.

10:48 p.m.  Officers investigated a traffic offense at North Saginaw Road and Drake Street.

11:44 p.m.  A deputy was sent to Jerome Township for a report of a truck in a ditch. The driver, a 50-year-old man, had left the scene. He was contacted the next day and cited for failure to obey a traffic control device and failure to report a crash.

Thursday, April 7

9:49 a.m.  Officers were sent to investigate a case of fraud in the 400 block of Delft Drive.

10:47 a.m.  A motorist was arrested at North Saginaw Road and Chelsea Court for driving without insurance.

11:17 a.m.  Police investigated a case of fraud in the 3800 block of Fuller Street.

2:48 p.m.  A motorist was arrested at East Haley and Carolina streets for driving on a suspended license.

5 p.m.  Officers were sent to a domestic assault at an East Sugnet Road address.

9:15 p.m.  Police investigated a drug overdose in the 500 block of McDonald Street.

Wednesday, April 6

9:43 a.m.  Police investigated a bond condition violation in the 200 block of West Union Street.

12:10 p.m.  Property was stolen from the 700 block of Cronkright Street.

4:37 p.m.  Officers responded to the 5700 block of Onna Lane to investigate a case of fraud.

4:42 p.m.  Police investigated a case of fraud in the 5200 block of Hedgewood Drive.

7:53 p.m.  Officers assisted a state police trooper in the 2200 block of Eastlawn Drive.
Gen. Lori J. Robinson, Pacific Air Forces commander, deepened ties with partner nations and reaffirmed PACAFs commitment to the rebalance in the Pacific during a two-week trip to New Zealand and Australia March 3-17.

Robinson traveled to New Zealand and Australia to discuss current and future partnership engagements with the goal of improving interoperability among air forces, ensuring increased security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, and honoring the men and women of the Royal New Zealand and Royal Australian Air Forces.

During her time in New Zealand, Robinson spoke with U.S. Embassy and New Zealand Defence Force leaders and discussed the importance of air force-to-air force interoperability and expanding security cooperation.

We appreciate New Zealands strong leadership role in the Pacific as we all face challenges with security and stability, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, Robinson said.

Robinson also visited RNZAF Base Ohakea, where she was the keynote speaker at the 75th Anniversary of Women Serving in the RNZAF Celebration, which preceded a two-day biennial RNZAF Womens Development Forum.

The theme for the event was Celebrating the past and embracing the opportunities of the future, and Robinson honored the women in attendance by highlighting the importance of their service, and shared her personal experiences and how shes seen the Air Force change during her time in service.

Over time in my long career I watched things change, attitudes change, and Ive watched our service become more and more inclusive with more diversity of thought, background, race and gender, Robinson said. All of these things make us a better institution.

A key engagement while in Australia was the RAAF Airpower Conference in Canberra, where Robinson delivered a speech emphasizing the benefits of interoperability and highlighting the broad spectrum of U.S. capabilities relating to the challenges shared by Pacific Partner nations. During her speech, she addressed military and security leaders from across the Indo-Asia-Pacific region who assembled to discuss joint and multi-domain integration of security practices.

I know that together, as a joint and coalition team  and together with our highly capable allies and partners - we can and will work through these challenges and prevail against the heavily contested environments of today and tomorrow, Robinson said.

She also highlighted the importance of maintaining a strong and enduring presence in the region, to include humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations.

In the past few years, Pacific Air Forces Airmen have participated alongside our joint and coalition partners in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations in Japan in 2011, the Philippines in 2013, and most recently in Nepal last year, Robinson said. These theater challenges highlight the requirement to effectively integrate multi-domain operations across the joint force and we do this by utilizing the air tasking cycle to connect strategic guidance with operational and tactical tasks.
MACTAN-BENITO EBUEN AIR BASE, Philippines  Awkward silences and blank stares are usually attributed to teaching in a foreign land. However, this was not the case for members of the U.S. Air Force 36th Airlift Squadron as they passed down airlifting knowledge to Philippine Air Force (PAF) C-130 pilots and loadmasters of the 220th Airlift Wing April 8, 2016, during Exercise Balikatan.

Balikatan, a Filipino term that meaning shoulder-to-shoulder," is an annual bilateral exercise between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the U.S. military, which focuses on the Philippine-U.S. partnership, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief capabilities. This was exemplified as the 220th AW welcomed the 36th AS with open arms and smiles during an all-day training session on performing night flights.

It was very fulfilling to teach and have them be so excited about night vision goggles (NVGs) and C-130s, said USAF 1st Lt. Scott Brooks, 36th AS C-130 pilot. This is something that I love to do and it was great to see how excited they were to fly on a C-130. It was a new opportunity for me and I'm fortunate to be a part of this exercise.

The day began with casual lectures on low-level night flying, use of NVGs and USAF loadmaster techniques and ended in a night flight on a C-130 over Philippine Islands. Many of the pilots involved recently graduated flight school and have not been assigned to aircraft, making this flight their first time flying on a C-130.

I learned a lot from the U.S. loadmasters and pilots. Their gadgets are very high-tech and they know how to perform their jobs very well, said PAF Airman 1st Class Jack Navarro, 220th Airlift Wing C-130 hydraulic system maintainer and loadmaster. Seeing the capabilities of NVGs was great. It lets us know that if we were able to get that ability here we would be able to land in many of the airfields here at night that don't have taxi lights.

After having the chance to get to know and work with the Filipino pilots, Brooks was confident in the prospects of their career.

Im excited about the possibility to work with the PAF in the future, Brooks mentioned. There is no doubt in my mind about this new generation of Filipino pilots, they are 100 percent capable, willing and wanting to learn this stuff were here to teach them. Its why were here, to build relationships and friendships, so that's what we are doing.

When the flight concluded, Navarro said thank you to the 36th AS for sharing their knowledge as a part of Exercise Balikatan and hoped that in the future there would be many more opportunities for the two countries to share knowledge with each other.
CAMP BONIFAS, Republic of Korea -- Firefighters from the 51st Civil Engineer Squadron assisted Joint Security Area service members with rescue tools and safety precautions during a joint exercise April 8, here.

Republic of Korea and U.S. Army members practiced search and recovery techniques after a simulated aircraft crash north of the Korean Demilitarized Zone.

This exercise is to show that our soldiers have the skills necessary to extract and treat casualties from the aircraft and to get to that aircraft safely to an area that is potentially mined or has unexploded ordnance, said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Christopher Nyland, United Nations Command Security Battalion commander.

Every month, the United Nations Command exercises their right to train in accordance to the Korean Armistice Agreement. During this iteration, the security battalion called upon the Osan fire prevention flight for assistance.

They have been helping us make sure we have the right tools in our toolkit  and to train these soldiers and our leaders on how to gain entry into a crashed aircraft, said Nyland. They were able to join us on this exercise and provide their observations and critique on how well were using these lessons and applying them in a tactical scenario. Weve really opened our aperture on how to utilize these tools thanks to them.

The exercise incorporated a wooden structure filled with simulated injured service members to simulate a downed helicopter. Security battalion soldiers used their new equipment like a circular saw and Jaws of Life to enter the aircraft safely and without further injuring the individuals inside.

In a perfect world, a downed helicopter will land straight down, but oftentimes that is not the case, said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Nathaniel Andrews, 51st CES fire prevention crew chief. Were here to ensure theyre able to work around situations like this to save lives. Our big part of this exercise is making sure these soldiers are able to safely enter the downed aircraft and extricate patients for medical help.

For example, if someone is pinned inside the aircraft, you could use the Jaws of Life to pry open the cuts made with a saw to ensure we dont further injure the individuals, he added.

Im glad we were able to come out and train with the Army, said Andrews. Especially coming up to Camp Bonifas, where the threat is real. Helping them out with this certainly shows the strong alliance we have here.

The Osan fire prevention team plans to continue participation in exercises with the JSA Security Battalion to ensure the peace and stability on the Korea Peninsula.
TERNATE, Philippines -- Marines are known for their ability to adapt and overcome in order to quickly and effectively execute any mission. During Balikatan 2016, the U.S. and Philippine Marines proved that not even language barriers can impede their success.

U.S. and Philippine Reconnaissance Marines conducted a nighttime training amphibious raid to capture a high value target April 4 in Ternate, Philippines, as part of Balikatan 2016.

Leading the U.S. Marines of 1st Platoon, Company A, 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division was Sgt. Alan Villarreal.

This was my first bilateral training with a foreign unit, said Villarreal. What we did was provide as much information as we could through reconnaissance and photography so they could conduct their raid.

As the training scenario developed so too did the understanding of the shared mission between the U.S. and Philippine Marines.

Despite the language barrier everyone understood what we were trying to do and everything was running really smooth, said Villarreal, a native of El Cajon, California.

Observing from the beach was U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Grady Harmon, from Lake Stevens, Washington, a special equipment noncommissioned officer with the unit.

They waited until they had enough information about the high value target, the surrounding area and the security detail, said Harmon. From that information they determined the best way to hit the beach and the best time.

Harmon admitted he was quite impressed by the execution of the Philippine reconnaissance plan.

They were off the boat, captured the target, and back out within 15 minutes, said Harmon. They were good; in fact they were really good. I was surprised at how fluid and how solid of a force they were when they hit that beach - it was impressive.

The Philippine Marines were quick, quiet and thorough with their raid. In the end it was a successful training mission and a great learning experience for the Marines from both countries, Harmon added.

Even though they do a lot of things differently, everyone involved was open to learning new tactics and concepts, according to Villarreal.

They take discipline to a whole new level, said Villarreal. They constantly take every little drill serious and every class serious because they understand the importance of it.

With Balikatan now in full swing, these Marines still have over a week to work together, strengthening the enduring partnership between their respective countries. In its 32nd iteration, Balikatan hones the combined readiness of U.S. and Philippine forces in response to conflict and crises throughout the Indo-Asia-Pacific region
ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam - Wanted: Army company commander interested in defending one of the most important ballistic missile defense sites in the United States Pacific Command region.

Must be able to integrate daily with Soldiers from other Army branches and joint services. Must be capable of planning innovative unit-level training with abundant resources and minimal distraction. Must be prepared to observe his or her unit significantly increase its overall readiness while serving in a tropical paradise.

While this wanted ad is fictional, the opportunity is genuine. Since April 2013, several units from different Army branches have deployed on four-to-six-month rotations to protect the high value Terminal High Altitude Area Defense equipment on Site Armadillo, Northwest Field, Guam. A small headquarters element, an air defense battery that operates THAAD, a security forces (SECFOR) company, and a signal detachment make up Task Force Talon, home to the first and only forward deployed THAAD weapon system. The task force is a provisional unit of the 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, which is headquartered at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.

As one SECFOR commander discovered, the mission for Talon Soldiers is real.

"I think the realism of the mission became clear as North Korea began making more threats during our tour," explained Capt. Dan Lessard, commander, Company C, 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade, 25th Infantry Division. "We knew before arriving that the mission was important, but as we spent more time there...our Soldiers understood just how important we were to the nation's security strategy."

While the mission remains enduring, relevant, and is often shaped by forces outside the control of anyone in the task force, the training opportunities on Guam are only bound by the limits of the commander's imagination.

"The mission on Guam allowed us the ability to create and execute a deliberate training plan, focused on squad and below fundamentals, unhindered by conflicts encountered at home station," explains current SECFOR commander, Capt. Cory Hanson, commander, Company D, 2nd Bn., 3rd Inf. Regt., 1-2 Stryker Bde., 7th Inf. Div. "The opportunity to build training plans and packages from concept through execution is invaluable for young leaders."

"We used the [Commando Warrior] communications training facility to train our platoon [radio operators] in a three-day course, we conducted our own combatives level 1 in their combatives facility, we conducted counter-IED (improvised explosive device) training ..., and we conducted patrolling / MOUT [military operations on urban training] training using their wooded training area and MOUT village," said Lessard. "We couldn't ask for a better set of training resources."

Another previous SECFOR company commander, Capt. Joshua Geis, commander, Company D, 2nd Bn., 27th Inf. Regt., 3rd Bde. Combat Team, 25th Inf. Div. took the SECFOR training to an unprecedented level. He planned an air insertion operation with Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron TWO FIVE (HSC-25), the Navy's only forward deployed MH-60S expeditionary squadron, which is also stationed on Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.

The mission coordinator for HSC-25, Navy Lt. Michael Newell said the joint training opportunity allowed the HSC "to practice some...larger scale troop movements and convoy escort operations. "Additionally, joint ops are always great as it provides all players a unique look into how the other services operate, from planning to mission execution. HSC-25 is looking forward to building additional training to match up with future [SECFOR] exercises."

In addition to the real-world mission and training opportunities, Guam presents an opportunity for Soldiers to visit a beautiful location that is culturally unique and historically significant in many respects.

"The Soldiers were able to explore the natural beauty of the island," shared Hanson. "They gained a better understanding of the Chamorro culture and the importance of the island during World War II." "Several Soldiers became certified SCUBA divers," added Lessard. If all this sounds like an opportunity for you, sign up today!
ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia - United States Army Pacific soldiers joined an international team to conduct an earthquake-readiness exercise in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia April 4-8.

Exercise Gobi Wolf 2016 was a civil-military disaster preparedness and response initiative focused on regional readiness in response to natural and man-made disasters.

Gobi Wolf is part of the Pacific Resilience Disaster Response Exercise and Exchange program, which focuses on interagency coordination and foreign humanitarian assistance.

The exercise is designed to test disaster response processes while maximizing realism through a series of scenarios.

The specific scenario simulated for Gobi Wolf 2016 was a severe earthquake that hit the mining city of Erdenet, the third largest city in Mongolia.

The simulated earthquake also affected the capital city of Ulaanbaatar, but the epicenter was much closer to Erdenet.

Service members and civilians from U.S. Army Pacific, U.S. Army Alaska, the Alaska Army National Guard, Alaska Air National Guard, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Federal Emergency Management Administration, and the United States Agency for International Development Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance joined more than 100 participants from 30 governmental, non-governmental, municipal and military agencies from Mongolia, the U.S. and international relief agencies to participate in the disaster response exercise and exchange.

The U.S., Japanese, Republic of Korea and Nepalese service members and governmental civilians served as disaster-response focus group facilitators to international groups, focusing on communication and media support, military support to humanitarian assistance and national emergency management.

"In addition to supporting the capacity building for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, this is a great opportunity to strengthen relationships and promote interagency coordination with our Mongolian partners," said Andrew R. Benziger, the chief of readiness and contingency operations for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pacific Ocean Division.

The two primary objectives of Gobi Wolf were to promote interagency coordination and civil-military coordination between the National Emergency Management Agency, the Mongolia Armed Forces, the U.S. and others, and to increase the Mongolian government's knowledge of what would be available to them as international tools and services to support government-led disaster-response efforts.

Scott Aronson, the senior humanitarian assistance advisor to United States Pacific Command with USAID OFDA said, "Based on the situation on the ground, it can take only a few hours after a disaster to meet the required nation-level agreements for OFDA to begin to respond. We have warehouses throughout the world stocked with disaster response supplies which, based on needs assessments from the impacted nation, we can begin to move into affected areas within a few hours of a disaster."

Mongolia has hosted Gobi Wolf since 2009 and conducted joint exercises with the U.S.Pacific Command, covering disaster scenarios common to Mongolia including earthquakes, train derailment and mining incidents, said Mongolian Brig. Gen. Tuvshin Badral, the chief of NEMA.

"This was a great opportunity to network with other people who would be involved with disaster relief in the event of an emergency," said Uuganbayar Ganbaatar, an airport administrator with the Mongolian Civil Aviation Authority at Ulaanbaatar International Airport.

The four-day exercise included disaster risk and multi-agency capacity briefs, a table-top exercise, and field training events in Ulaanbaatar and Erdenet.

The scenario tested Mongolian search and rescue capability and evacuation readiness by simulating a dam failure.

The exercise evaluated Mongolia's disaster readiness through five separate focus areas, including national emergency management, media relations/communication, military considerations, first responder, and international government and non-governmental agencies.

The five workgroups spent the exercise responding to scenario events to evaluate how the 30 agencies involved would respond to assist affected populations in an actual earthquake. The strengths and weaknesses identified are being recorded and will be analyzed to improve disaster-response planning.

The exercise brought in subject matter experts from Nepal and Japan, drawing on their experience from recent severe earthquakes.

"In disaster circumstances, the international community is ready and willing to offer additional support, and we are pleased that many non-governmental organizations are participating in this exercise as their assistance will also be vital should disaster strike," said Jennifer Zimdahl Galt, the U.S. Ambassador to Mongolia.

Gobi Wolf is part of U.S. Army Pacific's Pacific Resilience program, USARPAC's main platform for identifying best practices and lessons learned across the humanitarian assistance/disaster relief spectrum. Its mission is to enhance all parties' abilities to respond and recover from an emergency. situation.
Nordic Paper and RenFuel to Collaborate in Test Facility to Produce Biofuel Based on Lignin Test facility to be built within Nordic Paper's pulp mill in Backhammar, Sweden. April 12, 2016 - RenFuel and Nordic Paper have signed an agreement to build a production test facility in Backhammar in the region of Varmland, Sweden in order to test-manufacture an advanced biofuel based on lignin. The project has been granted 71 million SEK by the Swedish Energy Agency. The Swedish bioenergy research firm RenFuel has developed and patented a method to refine the lignin from black liquor, a renewable byproduct from the production of paper pulp, into lignin oil. The oil, called Lignol, can replace fossil oil and be used as raw material in the production of renewable gasoline and diesel. Using the black liquor also leads to an increase in production capacity and profit in the paper pulp industry. Our product Lignol is the key to reaching the goal of a fossil free vehicle fleet in Sweden by 2030. We are very pleased to finally being able to put the product into large scale testing, as a result of the cooperation with Nordic Paper and the financial support from the Swedish Energy Agency, Sven Lochen, CEO of RenFuel said. The production test facility will be built inside the Nordic Paper pulp factory in Backhammar, and will be ready for production by the beginning of 2017. If the production tests are successful, the next step will be large scale production of Lignol to meet the demands of the rapidly growing market for biofuel. According to Nordic Paper, Lignol has the potential to quickly lessen the need for fossil oil, and it's a realistic way of reaching the goal of a fossil free vehicle fleet by 2030. The paper and paper pulp industry is an important link in the bio economy. We can, through this cooperation, contribute tangibly to a fossil free future. That is incredibly gratifying, explained Per Bjurbom, CEO of Nordic Paper. Another important link in the chain is access to refineries that have the capacity to produce diesel and gasoline from Lignol. Sweden's largest fuel company, Preem, has since 2010 gradually adjusted its production toward renewable fuels through exchanging crude oil with for example tall oil. Preem is responsible for 80 percent of Swedish refining capacity and 30 percent of Nordic capacity. Petter Holland, CEO of Preem said, Preem welcomes this initiative by RenFuel and Nordic Paper. One of the big challenges of the adjustment into independence from fossil fuels in Sweden is supply of sustainable raw materials. Byproducts from Swedish forestry, such as lignin, more than fulfill our requirements of the sustainability of the raw material, and in addition, the demand of lignin can be met in great volumes. We look forward to receiving the first volume of Lignol at our refineries and start producing the renewable gasoline and diesel of the future. Jonas Lindmark, Program Manager at the Swedish Energy Agency, commented, The RenFuel pilot project is in line of the Swedish Energy Agency strategic priorities of renewable fuels and complement the research programs that we recently initiated regarding bio fuels. Nordic Paper is the global market leader within grease proof paper and selected segments of unbleached paper. To learn more, please visit: www.nordic-paper.com. SOURCE: Nordic Paper
One of the biggest challenges that North America faces today is that of their military, especially with their personal lives. Many do not know that it can be a struggle for military parents to handle their kids especially if they have been deployed overseas for an amount of time. Because of that, military parents can now seek for support and guidance for dealing with emotional and behavioural challenges with their children through the Military Family Resource Centre's Triple P Positive Parenting Program.

The Triple P program is based on five core principles, which includes promoting positive learning environment, ensuring a safe and engaging environment, providing effective discipline, maintaining reasonable expectations for both parent and child, and taking care of oneself as a parent. The program has five intervention level and the parents can choose how much help they need.

"This program is based on creating strong, nurturing relationships and positive communication between children and parents," says Pauline Sibbald, MFRC social worker. "This multi-level parenting and family support strategy allows the program to be tailored to meet individual family needs," she added.

Parents may also choose to attend a one-on-one session with a Triple P practitioner and they can register to seminars and such. Triple P is a flexible and adaptable to the lifestyle of the military parents and that it was created solely be a big help to military families.

"There are unique stressors to parenting in the military lifestyle including relocation, frequent deployment, and work-related separations that we want to provide family support and resources for," says Pauline Sibbald. Another issue that some are facing is divorce, which Triple P has a special program also called Family Transitions.

"Divorce is a major life transition for parents and children. Family Transitions can help individuals enhance their problem-solving skills to begin to manage and resolve conflict and improve their ability to cope with strong emotions, stress and change," Pauline Sibbald commented.
A Louisiana woman who was trying to conceive for 20 years received the shock of her life when she learned she was already pregnant and gave birth four weeks thereafter. She and her husband have already given up on the idea of a possible pregnancy after her doctors told her conception is something she couldn't do.

A Pleasant Surprise

Parenting reported that Udona and her husband, Herbert, have been married since 1995. Although they wanted to have a child, they have already given up hope after trying for 20 years, aggravated by some doctor's bad news of Udona's inability to conceive. So when the couple learned that Udona was 33-weeks pregnant at 40-years-old, it was a pleasant surprise yet kind of shocking altogether.

Udona never imagined that she would still get pregnant after 20 long years. Reports have it that she felt some fluttering in her abdominal area during Thanksgiving last year, which she didn't know were already pregnancy symptoms. She didn't mind them at first, but the flutters eventually turned into pain, which made her worry about the possibility of suffering from cancer.

Udona didn't want her husband to "fuss" over her. She said, "I prayed every night, in silent prayer, that I would get better." Udona prayed that she would get better from an ailment, but she soon found out that the perceived illness was good news after all.

Pregnancy A Prank?

A friend suggested that she take a pregnancy test, and when it turned positive and told Herbert about it, he even initially thought that she was trying to pull his leg. He and Udona were simply thankful that their baby was okay and that the blood pressure medications she had been taking did not cause pregnancy and conception complications.

Udona's case isn't the first case of a woman who didn't know she was pregnant. Metro reported the case of Charlotte Bryant who gave birth on the toilet because her doctors told her she was constipated.

There are other cases of women who have been trying to conceive for years and who got pregnant just when they least expected it. Udona's and Charlotte's stories have inspired many women who wanted to have a child yet were facing pregnancy and conception complications that prohibit them from having a baby.
Women in California can now buy birth control pills over-the-counter courtesy of a new law that was released on April 8. This means that drug stores all over California could now sell any form of contraceptive, whether taken orally, through injection or through vaginal application.

The Inquisitr reported this huge change in the pharmacy industry involving the selling of birth control pills without the need for a prescription. Over the years, this has been an issue for women who would like to have easier access to contraceptive pills. But not anymore since the CEO of California Pharmacists Association (CPA), John Roth, confirmed, "There are no restrictions for women to get birth control from their pharmacist."

A photo posted by Pam Mirabadi, M.D. (@drpammirabadi) on Apr 9, 2016 at 5:25pm PDT

Roth also said that although it is practically now available to all women anytime, pharmacists were still given the right to not sell it should they notice some clinical contraindication. There are still rules that women should follow before they can actually purchase some birth control pills. Technically, they still can't just buy it like candies or vitamins; the point of the law is to simply make birth control pills more accessible. Instead of having to visit the doctor first for a prescription, they could simply ask the pharmacist on duty.

NBC Los Angeles said that women would be given questionnaires to answer regarding their health. They could also ask the help of pharmacists, as to what is the best contraceptive suitable in their current health status. If they requested for a specific birth control pill that could harm their heart, then they should first take a blood pressure test before they could get a prescription.

Nonetheless, it is still way easier for women in California to buy contraceptives than in other states that don't have this new law. Are you in favor of this change? Feel free to post your comment below.
Women jailed at the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women (ICIW) will soon be equipped with the skills they need to find jobs after they serve their time behind bars. A computer laboratory newly set up inside the correctional facility is a big help to these female detainees.

According to Public News Service, the computer lab will help the prisoners will allow women to do class work, work on their resume and even do research. The learning center is reportedly named after Des Moines Area Community College emeritus administrator Mary Chapman who has been a big help in the education programs of ICIW.

Chapman claimed that it is an honor for her to have this lab named after her. "I will have this ongoing connection to the success that continues to happen there at ICIW. With educating women to be better prepared and returning to their community with those skills that they need to be successful," she added.

She also mentioned in the Public News Service report that education is needed by the female inmates at ICIW for their reformation and preparation to live a free life. Chapman added that this will allow them to get jobs and help their families after serving their prison sentence.

The correctional's official website noted that the education program at the ICIW includes Adult Basic Education, high school diploma certification, special education and vocational training. "The institution emphasizes responsibility and accountability in preparing women offenders for successful Re-Entry to the community,"read a description on the website.

To achieve education goals, ICIW associate warden of treatment Paul Rode said that the facility has been continuously improving services on rehabilitation and work-skill development. He also said that Chapman helps them provide various opportunities to the detainees.

"Mary's always been a good partner and has always had a special interest in making sure key services are provided for female offenders," Rode says. He claimed that Chapman has this belief that female prisoners have the biggest potential to change and be productive citizens of the community.
"Star Wars" actor Jake Lloyd, who appeared as the young Anakin Skywalker in "The Phantom Menace," is reportedly getting mental help for schizophrenia. Lloyd suffered a traumatic backlash from his role in "Star Wars" and questions are now raised if fans of the George Lucas film, who were unforgiving of "The Phantom Menace," may have contributed to the star's psychiatric illness.

Jail Time For Jake Lloyd

According to the New York Daily News, the "Star Wars" actor went behind bars in June last year for reckless driving. At that time, Jake Lloyd was also driving without a license. Lloyd was reportedly chased by the cops at over 100 miles per hour before the "Star Wars" actor's car eventually crashed into some trees.

TMZ reports that during his jail time, the authorities realized that Jake Lloyd is actually suffering from schizophrenia and decided that the "Star Wars" actor should be given mental health attention. Jake was then moved to a psychiatric facility where the "Star Wars" actor finally received mental health care.

Addressing His Mental Health

The "Star Wars" actor was imprisoned for almost 10 months before he was committed to a psychiatric facility for mental help. Although no release date has been set for Jake Lloyd, the "Star Wars" actor's mother confirmed that her son is responding to his mental health treatment. At the moment, his mother said that the "Star Wars" star is already exhibiting signs of improvement.

Salon points out that Jake Lloyd had a difficult time after appearing in "Star Wars." Fans who were critical of "The Phantom Menace" reportedly placed a large part of the blame on the actor, who played the young Anakin Skywalker.

The media outlet states that Jake Lloyd should be given sympathy rather than nasty comments by the public. Salon remarks that the public ridicule of celebrities, who are suffering from psychological illnesses, speaks volumes of the backward perspective that most people still have.

A Traumatic Experience

An earlier Den Of Geek article reports that Jake Lloyd was bullied over his "Star Wars" role. "Other children were really mean to me," Lloyd revealed. "They would make the sound of the lightsaber every time they saw me."

The process of filming as well as the public reception of "The Phantom Menace" had reportedly been traumatic for Jake Lloyd. In the end, his role as Anakin Skywalker in "Star Wars" was the last major film that Jake Lloyd did before he decided that he would never act again.
The Democratic attorney general of the state of Kentucky sued its Republican governor due to the ordering of budget cuts for state colleges and universities on Monday. The cuts were said to push through without the attorney general's legislative approval.

Governor Matt Bevin (R) proposed state spending cuts of $650 million for the next two years. Aside from spending cuts, the proposal also included budget reductions for state colleges and universities for three months in the last fiscal year by $41 million or 4.5 percent. The proposal is said to come as a plan to pay the Kentucky's public pension debt, which is estimated at $30 billion.

However, state lawmakers, which include Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear, rejected the proposal. Lawmakers claim that no one approved cuts for college and universities in its budget proposal.

Despite given seven days to rescind the plan, Bevin ignored Beshear. On Monday, Beshear announced that he filed a lawsuit against Beshear saying the order was "unconstitutional and illegal."

Beshear explains in a press conference that the need for a budget to be passed by lawmakers was merely a suggestion to Bevin. His actions violated the state Constitution's separate of powers provision, according to ABC News.

The attorney general went on to say that Bevin's move was a direct challenge to the country's liberty and way of life. Bevin claimed that it's part of his job to fight against people who claim to have that kind of power.

The lawsuit was filed in Franklin County Circuit Court asking a judge to issue an injunction for Bevin to release the funds to every participating university. The attorney general also requested an expedited review by the court, according to Herald Standard.

Jessica Ditto, Bevin's spokesman said that the governor strongly disagrees to the lawsuit filed against him. Bevin's office will respond as needed in court.

Bevin and Beshear share a long-standing political feud even extending to Beshear's father, former Governor Steve Beshear (D). However, Beshear claims that the lawsuit is not political and has nothing to do with the upcoming elections. The attorney general claims that the lawsuit filed against Beshear is about the law and his duty to enforce it.
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The best musicians create memorable experiences. You may remember the first time you heard the fantastic guitar work on Missed The Boat by Modest Mouse or the percussive interchanges on the first Arcade Fire album. When you listen to highly textured songs  the howling dogs on Mr. Noah by Panda Bear or the aching moans on just about any Chelsea Wolfe song, you want to listen twice. How did they do that? What kind of wizardry was at work? Your world slowly creaks to a stop as you sit in that moment, transported by the ethereal magistry.

It turns out that Panda Bear, the side project of Noah Lennox, is a great reference point for the solo debut from Josh Dibb, who also happens to be one of the puzzle pieces in Animal Collective. Known by his stage name of Deakin (or Deacon), his first collection of songs is a varied mix of ambient rocks concoctions, acoustic ballads that channel Elliott Smith, and weird soundscapes that make you want to shoot, edit, and release an accompanying science-fiction film. Its six years in the making, funded by Kickstarter, really bizarre at times, and surprisingly adept.

One of the things that works so well on this six-song album is that it shaves away some of the psych rock of the parent band and lets the fragmentations remain. In fact, if you isolated parts of an Animal Collective song, you might be left with the first single Just Am, which Dibb wrote way back in 2010. (In truth, the entire project was meant to help fund the fight against slavery in Mali and involved a music festival, so he can be forgiven for taking so long. All of the songs were written in 2010, but Footy and Good House were just recently recorded.)

Dibb has a way of bringing you into his world. Fortunately, its not quite a house of mirrors or a psych ward; the song structures hold tightly together. The opening track Golden Chords features some furious finger-picking but has an aching and reflective tone. It starts with a thin echo of a synth, barely registering; his voice cracks out words about change and making tough decisions. Like the music, the lyrics are always fragments and thoughts held loosely.

Just Am then catches you with a piano trill, setting the stage for some later moments on this short collection that give you hope for more solo music from Dibb. Brought here by courage or illusion he sings, determined to overcome personal regrets. As a songwriter, its obvious Dibb was trying to parse out some difficult subjects in his life, perhaps related to the discovery that 21M people are held in slavery around the world, according to the International Labour Organization. He references cages in the song, both physical and imagined. As I hold on to things that dearly need replacing he sings, making a deeper point about how our possessions tend to own us. (This is where I put in an obvious plug to help with an organization like IJM.)

Its at the end of Just Am that you start to hear the brilliance of Deakins songcraft. The sci-fi movie finally starts, alien voices echoing like they are planning an invasion. Its intentionally otherworldly because, as you may know, Mali is located in Africa. Its the same technique director Neill Blomkamp used in the movie District 9 to create a sense of discomfort and alienation. The song blends into Shadow Mine and then bleeds into Footy with its house-crushing power chords. Seed Song is another ambient rock song with the same chanting, twisting voices of a foreign species. I like how Good House closes out the album as it began, all droning guitars and strings plucked one by one like a ticking clock. Theres not much time left, is there?
On the day Babe City Records dropped Glaziao (glaj-ee-ao), Jon Weiss, one of the label founders, urged everyone to Go outside and skateboard to this albumlet the wind flow trough your hair and realize that sometimes everything is okay, even if just for a second. With their new release, D.C. outfit Go Cozy actually set the bar very high for albums that leave you inclined to indulge in lifes beauties. So its only fitting that in Puerto Rico, where lead vocalist/guitarist Homero Salazar Andrujovich spent his childhood, the word glaziao is used to describe perfect surfing conditions. Glaziao is a poised album that puts as much emphasis on creating space to breathe as it does being physical.

Airy guitar leads twist along with the melody on the opener Mind Ruins, a re-recording of a song on their 2014 EP Bruises. Lyrically, Andrujovich drones hows a man to see himself with venom eyes? and dabbles in a tasteful self-loathing that actually feels more introspective than anything else. The use of so few words while maintaining tonal density sets the precedent for Go Cozy as a band who can balance space with an appetite for kineticism. They expand on that train of thought with the powerful instrumentals coming out of the bands rhythm section (who, it should be noted, are just generally precise) on the wishful Our Best Reflections where vocalist Homero Salazar ruminates on the power of a mutually damaging and inconsistent type of love.

As quickly as Go Cozy find a rhythm with easy going guitar jams like Silverlining and Without You Around, they regularly tap into whats probably the coolest thing about the album: how it doesnt shy away from shaking things up and letting the sound branch out a little bit. At points, theyre hiccuping through a really jovial sort of Tom Tom Club-era brand pop on the song Body Boarding, but on the penultimate cut Imperial Chai theyre doing some really detached new wave and trying something new for themselves. The band can play with the sound so well, that managing an aesthetic vision, but making songs that dont exactly sound like they have to be on an album together with one another is something that sounds natural for them; which is only a testament to the serious merits of each cut.

At times, youll see them doing something riffy, albeit tastefully riffy, like on the back end of the chief banger Sage Along My Way. The guitar smooths over this melody that sits really awkwardly, but up against the bass, is actually locking in one of the most infectious grooves on the record.

Theres a limbic resonance to the way that Andrujovich and keyboardist Maria Sage trade poetics on this song. Each word and bit of melody is reflected off the last in way that, as they go back and forth, satiates the phrase that came before it, ensuring each one is powerful. The lyrics themselves are open to any amount of interpretation. Salazar sings, Its not only a sentiment of life, your love / In between your eyes a lighting storm of joy, Sage comes in over a wall of shimmering synth, and sings back You came through the free years to sleep in my heart / You changed the madness for pacific flows. Open to interpretation, yes, though sung as to ensure all interpretations dont forgo massive quantities of bliss or honestysung as if the sensations that accompany loves revelations are tantamount to those things.

Its cool to listen to a project that isnt fixing its gaze on too much other than creating something thats pretty nuanced structurally, but able to be appreciated and processed on a song-to-song level, rather than for its adhesion to some objective standard for a sound that a band has. Theres a kind of freedom to Glaziao, its that freedom that makes it physical and gives it a real type of soul. They keep their sound humble, but low-key flex in ways that are challenging and thoughtful. Bands that can do this, bands like Go Cozy, never sound corny, because they never give into the corny assumption that you have to milk one thing rather than test yourself with a myriad of sounds. Embracing a different point of view can be liberating, and they prove that with an album where each song genuinely a stand-out. Each track has its own thing going for it, so its impossible to understate the coolness or importance of that musical mindset.

You can grab a copy of the record here

Go Cozy Tour Dates:

4/11  GREENSBORO, NC @ Urban Grinders w/ Domestic Heathen & Simon Mantooth

4/12  ATLANTA, GA @ The Cleaners w/ Shampoo, Pretty Boy & Clothes

4/13  KNOXVILLE, TN @ The Pilot Light w/ The New Romantics

4/14  BLACKSBURG, VA @ Gillies w/ Emperor X & Porcelain

4/15  ATHENS, OH @ The Bat Lounge w/ Generifus, Good English & mosquito coast

4/16  BLOOMINGTON, IN @ Drews Place w/ Daguerreotype, Plateau Below & Champs-Elysees

4/17  DAY OFF BABY

4/18  CINCINNATI, OH @ The Comet

4/19  CHICAGO, IL @ The Empty Bottle w/ Sexy Fights, Bunny, The Sooper Swag Project

4/20  PHILADELPHIA, PA @ Goldilocks Gallery w/ Cool Dad & Bilge Rat

4/21  NEW YORK, NY @ PIANOS w/ Holy Tunics, Dudelomons & Sam Seeger

4/22  SOUTHINGTON, CT @ STUDIO ONE w/ Dr. Martino, Worn Leather, Hellrazor & Lea

4/23  HADLEY, MA @ TUBECATS w/ Skinny Pigeons, Roz and the Ricecakes, DeGreaser &

WYDYDE

4/24  MONTCLAIR, NJ @ TBA (help?) w/ BOOSEGUMPS, Eagle Daddy & Stick Bug
The Democratic Primary between Senator Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton has revealed a terrible reality: Not enough people in this country  let alone Democrats  understand what is truly wrong with our government.

Campaign finance is the meta issue; it encompasses all others because every legislative battle today, comes down to money. For example, lets look at battle over gun control. The gun reform lobby, which includes groups like Everytown For Gun Safety, is outspent by the gun rights lobby, which includes groups like the NRA, by a ratio of 6.7 to 1. Though the majority of Americans favor universal background checks, such a law cannot gain traction in DC. Until we reform campaign finance, we will not have gun control.

This result is congruous with the findings of a recent study by professors from Princeton and Northwestern which determined that our government heavily prioritizes the wants of the top over the will and needs of the rest of us. In other words, the United States is now an oligarchy.

By now, most Democrats are somewhat familiar with the Citizens United v. FEC Supreme Court decision which determined that political spending for corporations and unions is a protected form of free speech, and thus cannot be limited. They are also somewhat aware of how money influences politics.

But, thats about where it stops. Such is why Hillary Clintons supporters are placated by the front-runners plan to reform campaign finance. Here are the three basic elements of her proposal:

1) Increasing voter access.

2) Increasing transparency by requiring corporations to disclose their political donations by way of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

3) A pledge that overturning Citizens United is her litmus test for SCOTUS nominees, and fighting for a constitutional amendment to overturn the decision if necessary.

While these might sound great, they amount to very little in terms of reform  and I will explain why. But first, heres the background.

Most people are unaware of this, but it was the 1976 decision in Buckley v. Valeo, not Citizens United, in which the court held that political spending is a protected form of speech under the First Amendment. As such, spending limits on an individuals or groups outside advocacy as imposed by the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 are unconstitutional.

There is a logic to this ruling. If a group or individual wants to run an ad for a candidate, how can the government possibly stop that without inhibiting that groups or individuals right to free speech? On the other hand, there are legitimate concerns as to the impact of this money on our political system. Most democratic countries around the world, including the United Kingdom and Canada, do not hold money to be speech because of its corrupting influence on politics..

Of course, Citizens United took Buckley to new levels.

The idea of corporate personhood dates back to 1886 and a case by the name of Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad. The SCOTUS ruled that corporations are protected under the Fourteenth Amendment. Citizens United included corporations and unions under the umbrella of Buckley. Nonprofit organizations including the Heritage Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union supported the ruling  but well get to that in a little bit.

After the 5-4 ruling in Citizens United came down, the Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit enabled the creation of super PACs in Speechnow.org v. FEC. The court struck down a provision of the Federal Election Campaign Act that prohibited individuals from contributing to a common fund without it becoming a PAC which was not allowed to accept any corporate or union donations or any individual donations in excess of $5000.

I should explain: Super PACs, or independent expenditure groups, can accept and spend unlimited sums of money on politics, but they have to disclose their donors and cannot coordinate with candidates. They are subject to the FEC, unlike nonprofits which are subject to the IRS. These groups enable contributions to candidates that exceed the maximum allowable donation to campaigns. It is through a super PAC  American Bridge 21st Century  that oil tycoon Lee Fikes, can donate $75,000 to Hillary Clinton without directly giving to her campaign.

Today, super PACs, do in fact, coordinate with campaigns even though they are legally prohibited from doing so.

Roughly four years later, a third case at the SCOTUS, McCutcheon v. FEC, removed the overall spending cap for individual donations to candidates.

The idea that political spending is a protected form of speech creates an especially daunting problem regarding nonprofit organizations  501c3 groups such as churches that must disclose their donors, and 501c4 groups that are not required to do so. These groups are tax exempt because they are meant to be dedicated exclusively to social welfare. The power to tax is often viewed as the power to destroy, and our government wants to promote the promotion of social welfare.

But what constitutes social welfare is confusingly malleable  especially these days.

This confusion is the result of a change in the interpretation of the rule against political activity. In 1959, regulators began to interpret exclusively to mean primarily which allowed for engagement in some political activity by 501c nonprofits. Over the years the primarily has been lowered. The current prevailing understanding is that primarily means 51 percent social welfare.

And then, of course, there is difficulty determining what qualifies as political spending. As I wrote in an article back in 2013:

According to FEC guidelines it is defined as spending on express advocacy ads, which call for direct election or defeat of a candidate. These expenditures must be reported as political activity. However, issue advocacy ads do not fall under this definition, and thus do not need to be reported unless they mention a candidate and are within a given window of time before an election, primary, caucus, or convention  a loophole which undermines the regulatory capabilities of the IRS and the FEC.

Due to this confusion regarding political activity and social welfare, and following Buckley and its progeny, there has been a scramble to establish 501c4 nonprofits. Why? Because the lack of a donor disclosure requirement allows special interests to disguise themselves while spending on politics. Sometimes these groups funnel money through super PACs. These groups are often called dark money. Thanks to these nonprofits, the ability to misdirect and mislead voters has never been easier.

How bad is it? Billionaire oil tycoons like the Koch Brothers can set up a 501c4 with an innocuous name like Americans For Prosperity; (which they founded in 2004, before Citizens United), and run aggressively anti-labor or climate change denial ads with their identities hidden.

The IRS tried to crack down on the rise of political nonprofits, but was cowed by political pressures and the phony IRS Scandal; So now, even groups like Karl Roves Crossroads GPS can attain tax exempt status. These groups have the ability to spend unlimited sums of money to advocate for or against issues and candidates.

Hillary Clinton has not made campaign finance reform a priority of her presidential campaign. When asked what she would tackle in her first hundred days in office, the former Secretary did not even mention it. Her apparent lack of concern is understandable in light of who she is as a candidate. She, herself, has not been very transparentquite the opposite: When questioned about donations she has received from fossil fuels interests both directly and through the super PAC her campaign coordinates with (illegally), she flippantly accused young people of not doing their research. Clinton wont release the transcripts of her speeches for which she made $1.8 million. Additionally, the former Secretary has taken money and assistance from Wall Street, fossil fuel industry lobbyists, the Koch Brothers, the private prison lobby, the pharmaceutical industry, former NRA lobbyists, and a host of other special interests. It is also understandable that Clinton isnt even talking about publicly-financed elections considering that 83 percent of her direct campaign funds come from large donors.

The reality is that Clintons plan would barely scratch the surface of the issue. Her proposals are aimed at Citizens United, but as we established, thats a small piece to a much larger problem. If the Democratic front-runner got her way, corporations would have to disclose their political donations. However, the heart of the matter is far more complex. Her plan doesnt change that money is speech, nor does it involve tightening the rules of what constitutes social welfare. It does not do anything towards regulating 501c4 nonprofits, which would still be able to hide their donors. Issue advocacy would still be largely unchecked. Like in the example I gave above, wealthy individuals like the Koch Brothers, who are corporate interests, would still be able to run political issue ads through nonprofits with benign names, hiding their identities while pushing a corporate agenda. These individuals would not have to disclose their spending because they are not corporations, nor are they necessarily spending on politics.

The former Secretary has sought to tie campaign finance into voting rights, when in actuality it is a separate, and arguably larger issue..No matter how many people can vote, if they dont have accurate information about who is saying what, is their vote truly free from undue influence or burdens?

Such a weak stance on campaign finance has far-reaching implications. If Hillary Clinton wins the presidency, our newly established oligarchy will remain unchallenged. The progressive left will likely continue to fight losing legislative battles, and only be able to achieve incremental progress at the cost of huge sacrifices, as we have seen since transactional Third Way politics became the Democrats modus operandi in the 90s. Why? Because the money is on the other side.
According to an unimpressed podcast host, There Will Be Blood director Paul Thomas Anderson shot a new Radiohead video in her suburban LA neighborhood.

Stefanie Wilder-Taylor, an author and standup comic, recently let news of the music video slip in an episode of her podcast series, For Crying Out Loud.

The host apparently broke a non-disclosure agreement when she told a story about the Boogie Nights filmmaker shooting part of the new video in her house.

Oh, this happened, I forgot to tell you! So, Im at home and theres a knock at the door theres a guy with a clipboard. I come to the door with a scowl on my face and the guy says, Hey, were in the neighborhood, were going to be shooting a music video. So now, Im thinking youre basically telling me  what happens a lot in my neighborhood, because its a very typical suburban looking neighborhood  Im gonna be inconvenienced.

Wilder-Taylor went on to say that she was offered $200 for them to shoot at her home. Then the guy goes  its Radiohead! I cant tell you anything about it. Im guessing thats the non-disclosure part. Between us girls, Radiohead  I dont give a shit, I dont get it. Ive heard one song I dont care about  Creep. Yeah, youre a creep and a loser and youre putting me to sleep.

Despite being unimpressed by Radiohead, the podcast host was surprised to learn that Paul Thomas Anderson was directing the shoot. I was like, Oh shit!

Anderson has previously worked with the bands Jonny Greenwood on the soundtracks for his films There Will Be Blood, The Master and Inherent Vice.

The British band has announced summer tour dates for their ninth album, which is expected to arrive later this year.
With a Ricky Gervais production, you never really know what youre going to get. It may be an instant classic like The Office or his hilarious podcasts with Stephen Merchant and Karl Pilkington. It may be a near-classic like Extras. It may be something kinda puzzling, weirdly sentimental, but ultimately interesting like Derek. Or it might be super unremarkable, like his directorial efforts The Invention of Lying and Cemetery Junction.

Special Correspondents is his latest film, set to premiere on Netflix on April 29. Gervais wrote, directed, and will star alongside Eric Bana. The two play journalists who manage to fake a live broadcast from Ecuador, where they are captured and held hostage, sparking an actual international incident. The film also stars Vera Farmiga, America Ferrera, Benjamin Bratt, and Raul Castillo. Watch the trailer above, and lets hope this is Gervais on his A+ game.
It was reported on last week that New York State Senator Terrence Murphy (R-Westchester) and Assembly Assistant Speaker Felix Ortiz (D-Kings), together with awareness organization Distracted Operators Risk Casualties (DORCs) announced a joint effort that could go a long way in protecting innocent people from injuries caused by distracted driving. Senator Murphy and Assemblyman Ortiz have introduced a bipartisan state bill, making New York the first state to attempt a distracted driving policy solution that enables police to examine phones at an accident site in a way that, notably, completely avoids drivers' personal data. The technology company behind the new Textalyzer test is Cellebrite, the company who was thrust into the public's eye when assisting the FBI unlock an iPhone from the San Bernardino terrorist and more recently, assisting a grieving father in obtaining photos and videos locked in his dead son's iPhone 6.

DORCs co-founder, Ben Lieberman, a staunch advocate against distracted driving since he and his family lost their 19-year-old son, Evan, in a 2011 collision caused by a distracted driver, has been working closely with Senator Murphy and Assemblyman Ortiz to implement the new law, known as "Evan's Law."

For weeks following the crash that resulted in Evan's death, the driver's phone was sitting in a junkyard, and police never retrieved the phone or phone records. Through his own civil lawsuit, Lieberman subpoenaed the phone records and discovered the driver had been texting while he was driving, leading up to the crash. Lieberman was surprised to learn that the local police force was not to blame for avoiding the driver's device, but rather that this was typical because there is no official, consistent police protocol.

"The general public knows distracted driving is a problem, but if people knew the extent of the damage caused by this behavior, they would be amazed," said Lieberman. "With our current laws, we're not getting accurate information because the issue is not being addressed at the heart of the problemwith the people causing the collisions."

"I have often heard there is no such thing as a breathalyzer for distracted drivingso we created one," Lieberman continued. "Respecting drivers' personal privacy, however, is also important, and we are taking meticulous steps to not violate those rights."

A key part of the legislation involves new "Textalyzer" technology that will allow officers to detect whether or not the device was being used around the time of a crash, but will not provide access to any contentkeeping conversations, contacts, numbers, photos, and application data private.

Cellebrite, the leader in mobile device forensics solutions, is developing this capability for officers to detect device usage in the field while maintaining the privacy of data stored on the device. "Cellebrite has been leading the adoption of field mobile forensics solutions by law enforcement for years, culminating in the formal introduction of our UFED FIELD series product line a year ago," said Jim Grady, CEO, Cellebrite, Inc. "We look forward to supporting DORCs and law enforcementboth in New York and nationallyto curb distracted driving."

Assemblyman Ortiz said, "I'm proud to have been an early advocate to combat distracted driving and the sponsor of the nation's first law banning talking on a phone while driving. Unfortunately, the problem has now developed beyond hands-free phone calling. There's a significant number of drivers who continually engage in reckless behavior, such as texting, using apps and browsing the web on their mobile devices while behind the wheel. These people will continue to put themselves and others at risk unless we come up with preventive ways to successfully stop them."

"According to the National Safety Council car crash statistics spiked significantly this year and that is the first increase after ten years of steady decline. Since drunk driving is down and today's cars are built better than ever, the addition of mobile devices in our lives becomes the most likely reason for this sudden increase," said DORCs co-founder Deborah Becker.

"When people were held accountable for drunk driving, that's when positive change occurred. It's time to recognize that distracted driving is a similar impairment, and should be dealt with in a similar fashion. This is a way to address people who are causing damage," said Lieberman.

I'm sure that once this kind of legislation has been proven successful that it will swiftly move to other States and Canadian Provinces in the coming years. Who hasn't seen someone attempting to text while driving? It's a real danger and I'm sure that most responsible drivers will applaud this bill.





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In March 2013 the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) in London England started a trial of 500 iPad mini devices. If the trial proved fruitful, the MPS would order 15 to 20,000 for their entire force. At the time, Adrian Hutchinson, mobile technology lead at the Met, told V3 UK that the iPads have proved hugely successfully in this aim, improving many aspects of the job. "We are a modern crime fighting machine, but our officers still have to make hand-written statements and then type them up back at the office. This doesn't give the image of an overly efficient system," he said. "With the iPads, officers can take statements electronically, embed images, get people to sign with a fingerprint and load all this into the system on the scene instantly." At the time, the iPad was favored but not necessarily what the force would inevitably choose for the wider roll out, said Hutchinson. They could end up choosing a mix of Apple, Google and Microsoft devices. Well, the trial is now over and the MPS won't be ordering the iPad mini to fill its needs.

In a follow-up report posted by V3 UK today they noted that "A Freedom of Information request submitted to the MPS by V3 showed that just 641 devices have been rolled out to officers in the Hammersmith and Fulham areas since plans were announced to provide 15,000 to 20,000 iPads to front-line police. A spokeswoman from the force said that the 641 iPads remain in use and have been well received, but the trial did not result in the Met deciding to roll out iPads across its entire force.

The spokeswoman added that the Met anticipates being able to move towards the procurement of role-specific equipment later in 2016 and to determine exactly how officers will best use mobile technology.

Why Apple's iPad wasn't up to the task at this point in time is unknown. Was a competitor like Microsoft able to make a better case for their surface tablets? Is the MPS waiting for the iPad mini to adopt the Apple Pencil in the future? Or, did Apple's position on fighting the government's UK's Investigatory Powers Bill have any part in the MPS's decision?

Apple was quite vocal against the proposed Bill, whereas Bill Gates made it known that "Technology Companies Should be forced to Co-operate with Law Enforcement in Terrorist Investigations."

In the end, wouldn't the MPS want to work with a tech company who will work with them on a terrorist case? Is that why Gates took a very public stance on this specific issue that clashed with Apple's? Likely not specifically, but the stark contrast with Apple could only help Microsoft in gaining contracts with governments around the world now and in the future.

Of course this is an opinion based on circumstances because no one at the MPS or any UK office for that matter will ever admit to politics winning the day. So for now, the news is simple: The MPS's trial of the iPad mini failed to win Apple the larger order it was hoping for  for reasons unknown.

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On weekends Patently Apple only reviews and moderates comments sporadically

Side Note: The UK's Metropolitan Police Services (MPS) is also informally referred to as the 'MET.'
Patna: At least 42 people were killed and more than 150 seriously injured when an unseasonal north-western storm slammed several districts in north Bihar on late Tuesday night causing damage to properties and crops to the tune of several crore rupees.

With the wind reaching over 140 kmph, reports of death, injuries, and damages were reported from Purnia, Madhepura, Saharsa, Darbhanga, and Samastipur with the maximum casualty of 32 deaths being reported from Purnia alone.

In Madhepura, the death toll rose to eight, Bihar Disaster Management Principal Secretary Vyasji said.

The storm left a trail of devastation as roads were littered with uprooted trees, and power and communication lines in Purnia and Madhepura where total number of casualty is expected to go even higher as rescue workers dig through rubbles to search for bodies and survivors.

According to Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) Director in Patna, R. K. Giri, the Tuesday night storm descended from Nepal making its path all the way to Bhagalpur.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, after conducting an aerial survey of the affected areas, announced a compensation of Rs. 4 lakh to the families of the deceased. "Once we have compiled the data which is in a very early stage right now, we will decide on the quantum of relief to the affected farmers," he said.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his grief over the intense damage and loss of lives saying the Central government would do everything in its might to provide immediate relief in the affected areas.

"Pained by the loss of lives due to storms in Bihar. We stand in solidarity with the people of Bihar during this unfortunate hour," he tweeted.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh called Bihar Chief Minister and assured him of all possible help to minimize the effect of the storm.

"I talked to Nitish Kumar who updated me with the latest ground situation in north Bihar. The Center will provide all needed help to reduce the impact of the Tuesday night deadly storm," Singh said.
"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.
Resolving the Karabakh Conflict

04/12/16

By Shireen T. Hunter (source: LobeLog)



Photo: Soldiers during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict



The problem with frozen conflicts is that they are never actually frozen. They are put in cold storage for a while, and whenever conditions seem propitious or expedient for any of the players they are brought out of storage. Once out, they are liable to begin melting really fast. The dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the mountainous region of Karabakh and several other cities is one such conflict.

Recent skirmishes leading to the deaths of tens of Azerbaijani and Armenian soldiers demonstrated how quickly so-called frozen conflicts can melt. Unfortunately, those not directly involved in the conflict tend to forget about it and only become interested when there is risk of its reigniting and thus somehow adversely affecting the interests of outsiders. Only then are they shaken out of their complacency. Meanwhile, innocent people on both sides of the conflict pay the price of this indifference.

When the frozen conflict turns hot, outside powers exhort parties to the conflict to solve their problems and be reasonable. These outsiders conveniently forget the extent to which their own policies have contributed to the dispute remaining unresolved.

The Shadow of History

Another tendency on the part of those regional and international players not directly engaged in the conflict is to forget its history and to grow impatient with the parties inability to overcome their past. But it is as useless to ask people to forget history as it is to ask individuals to forget their childhood traumas. It cant be done. The only way to overcome the domination of history is to face it.

Karabakh has a long and tortuous history, as does the rest of the Caucasus. Moreover, it has significant symbolic importance for both Armenia and Azerbaijan. For Armenia, Karabakh is important partly because, as put by the American-Armenian scholar Richard Hovannissian ...while the rest of Armenia was submerged under foreign control a flicker of freedom was maintained in Karabakh, albeit under Iranian suzerainty.

Toward the end of the 19th century, Karabakh also became the place where nascent Azerbaijani nationalism took shape and flourished, hence the regions symbolic value to Azerbaijan. Following the fall of the Tsarist Empire in 1918, the region became the subject of rivalry between the Ottoman Empire and the British and their White Russian allies. When the Ottomans helped establish the independent republic of Azerbaijan, they gave Karabakh to Azerbaijan, but the Armenians of Karabakh never accepted this decision.

The Bolshevik government initially gave Nakhijevan and Karabakh to Armenia. But Moscow later changed its mind and transferred them to the new Republic of Azerbaijan, in part because the newly formed Soviet Union in 1923 wanted to reach a modus vivendi with the new Turkish Republic. Finally, Karabakh was made an autonomous oblast within Azerbaijan, which the Armenians never accepted. Clashes and protests continued throughout the Communist era. Several times, Armenia requested the return of the Karabakh region from the Soviet authorities.









Rising Interethnic Tensions

A hallmark of the period 1987-1992 in the Soviet Union was the manipulation of nationality issues in the competition of power between the hardliners and Mikhail Gorbachev and later between Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin. Meanwhile, the same process took place at the level of republican elites. Those who opposed reform by instigating ethnic violence wanted to show that Gorbachevs Perestroikaand Glasnost (restructuring and openness) only led to turmoil. One consequence was the killing of large numbers of Armenians in the Azerbaijani town of Sumgait in 1988, which triggered the larger conflict. Later, Yeltsin used this issue to gain support among non-Russian republics. His famous advice to them to take as much sovereignty as you can swallow shows his turn of mind. These manipulations of nationality issues contributed to the escalation of the dispute over the region and also led to similar problems in Georgia with the Ossetians and Abkhazians.

The USSRs problems and later its dismantling also brought to the surface long-dormant regional rivalries. In particular, Turkey wanted to become the main power in the Caucasus and Central Asia as a champion of Turkic and Turkic-speaking peoples. It thus sided completely with Azerbaijan. By doing so, Turkey also wanted to thwart any possible Iranian influence in Azerbaijan, whose people have close historical, religious, and cultural ties. At one juncture, in 1992, Turkey sabotaged an Iranian mediation effort for Karabakh. Later, when visiting Baku, Turkish President Suleiman Demirel told the Azeris that they should not look to Iran to solve their problems. Later, Turkeys policy of siding completely with Azerbaijan and closing its borders with Armenia has not helped matters. It has exacerbated Armenias feeling of geographical and ethnic isolation in the region.

By contrast, Iran has followed a more balanced policy. Concerned about a Turkic alliance with irredentist claims toward some of its territory, Iran sees Armenia as a valuable balancing factor in regional politics. At the same time, its border with Iran serves as one of Armenias lifelines. For example, during the 2008 Russia-Georgia war, the Iranian border was Armenias only outlet to the outside world. However, because of the US policy of containing Iran, relations between it and Armenia could not advance very far and many plans to expand road and rail links and the transfer of Iranian energy have remained unrealized. Of course, Russia, too, wants to keep Armenia dependent and subservient and thus also frowns on its ties with Iran.

Meanwhile, lured by Azerbaijans energy wealth and as a way of using it to pressure Iran, the United States and the European countries indulged the Republic. This attitude gave Azerbaijan, which is more populous than Armenia (9.6 to 2.9 million people) the perception that it can wait out Yerevan and at an opportune moment find a military solution. Azerbaijan also skillfully manipulated Middle East politics, especially Iranian-Israeli hostility, and increased its influence in Western capitals by cozying up to Israel. Lets not forget that when the option of attacking Iran seemed real, Azerbaijan was viewed as a possible military launching pad against Iran.

Where to Go from Here?

The first step towards resolving the conflict is to realize that there is no such a thing as a frozen conflict. They have a bad tendency to start melting at the slightest provocation.

Second, all players, inside and outside the conflict, must also realize that they cannot get everything on their wish lists. Clearly, most of the territory that Armenia has captured from Azerbaijan should be returned. But a special arrangement must also be made for Karabakh and the Lachin corridor, which links Karabakh to Armenia proper. This will help ease Armenias sense of isolation.

Third, Turkey must open its borders with Armenia and in general seek reconciliation with the country. Fourth, Irans role as a party acceptable both to Armenia and Azerbaijan should be recognized, and tripartite and quadripartite cooperation involving Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, and Turkey should be encouraged. Fifth, European countries should help more in Armenias economic development. Sixth, efforts should be made to keep Middle East politics from unduly influencing regional relations.

Finally, the West needs to recognize that Russia is and will likely remain a player in the region. As such, the West needs to keep Russian perspectives in mind. Meanwhile, however, Russia should stop seeing this region as its own private property to do with as it pleases. Only then can the process of tackling the Karabakh problem begin.





About the Author:

Shireen T. Hunter is a Research Professor at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. Her latest book is Iran Divided: Historic Roots of Iranian Debates on Identity, Culture, and Governance in the 21st Century (Rowman & Littlefield, 2014).




Boeing offers to sell three new aircraft models to Iran

04/12/16

Source: Press TV

US plane maker Boeing has proposed to sell new models of its 737, 777 and 787 aircraft to Iran and promised after-sales support, a top Iranian aviation official says.

"Two days of intensive negotiations were held between Boeing representatives, the Airline of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Iran Air), and other [Iranian] airlines on providing logistical support in the areas of parts and publications as well as flight safety issues and other services for the airplanes operating in Iran's air fleet ," Maqsoud As'adi-Samani, the secretary of the Association of Iranian Airlines (AIRA), said on Monday.

The Iranian official added that "there have been limited cooperation between Boeing and some Iranian aviation companies" in the wake of the country's nuclear agreement with world powers.

The representatives of the American company offered three plane models to Iranian airlines during the talks in Tehran, As'adi-Samani said, stressing that Boeings way of cooperation with Iranian companies in supporting the existing planes in the country and its adherence to the commitments will undoubtedly affect the airlines decision to buy aircraft from the aviation giant.

The official also noted that the Iranian airlines will study Boeing's proposal and make decisions based on their own and the national interests.



Elsewhere in his remarks, As'adi-Samani said there are currently 48 Boeing airplanes operating in Iran, comprising some 32 percent of the active fleet in the country.

Meanwhile, Boeing spokesman John Dern told The Associated Press that the company discussed the "capabilities of Boeing airplanes, along with the support the company provides."

Tehran is seeking to upgrade its aging fleet of aircraft following last years nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries.

Iran and the P5+1 - the United States, Britain, France, China, and Russia plus Germany - finalized the nuclear agreement, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in Vienna, Austria, on July 14, 2015. They started to implement the JCPOA on January 16.

In late January, Irans Deputy Transport Minister Asghar Fakhrieh-Kashan said the country plans to purchase over 100 planes from Boeing.

The official noted that Irans order list from the American company included 737s for domestic flights and two-aisle 777s for long-haul routes.

Also in January, Iran signed a major deal worth over $27 billion for the purchase of 118 planes from Airbus. The deal was signed during a landmark trip to Paris by Irans President Hassan Rouhani.

Irans Transport Minister Abbas Akhoundi said in January that Airbuss first deliveries to flag carrier Iran Air are due as early as July.

According to Akhoundi, Irans current civil aviation fleet consists of 248 aircraft with an average age of 20 years, of which 100 are grounded.

Iranian officials have already emphasized that the country will need to buy 500 commercial jets of various models for various short-, medium- and long-distance routes.
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In the bad old days, texting plans were pricey and you could easily rack up hefty charges if you burned through your allotted amount. And forget about group conversations, or easily chatting with people in other countries. The solution was over-the-top messengers that used your data connection to send texts, and WhatsApp was the first mobile messaging platform to gain critical mass. Since then, it has been bought by Meta (formerly and, let's be honest, forever Facebook), upgraded its security, and then entered a long period of mild stagnation that persists to this day. With a foundation on excellent technology and a huge built-in audience, it's still an excellent free app, and it's the biggest player in the secure messaging business. Still, its future is less than certainespecially as law enforcement continues to attack its security.

Can You Trust WhatsApp?

Trust is the foundation of any secure messaging app, and WhatsApp does a lot to earn your trust. For one thing, it's built on the tried-and-tested Signal Protocol for sending and receiving end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) messages. That means only the sender and the intended recipient can read messages. Not even the people at WhatsApp (and by extension, Meta) can read your messages. Other messengers, like Facebook Messenger and Telegram, have E2EE as an option and only in some contexts, but for WhatsApp and Signal it's the default.

Encrypting your backups protects them from theft and analysis. WhatsApp suggests turning off iCloud backups for WhatsApp.

There is one caveat for WhatsApp's encryption scheme, and that's any communication with businesses(Opens in a new window). As described in WhatsApp's disastrous privacy policy update, WhatsApp and others could see what you're saying in any interactions with business accounts. In practice, this exception isn't a problem, but anytime you have exceptions for encryption, things get messy.

The fact that WhatsApp is owned by Meta (again, Facebook) makes it hard to fully endorse the messenger. Meta has continued to be plagued by scandals about how much data the company gathers on its users. Most recently, it came to light that Meta cannot control what its corporate partners do with your data. For now, the division between WhatsApp and its corporate overlords seems strong, but that could change in the future.

WhatsApp was also home to ex-partners, old OKCupid dates, former managers and coworkers, as well as a litany of other people I'd never planned on speaking with again.

WhatsApp goes to great lengths to explain the insight Meta has over WhatsApp activities. It's frequently mentioned in WhatsApp's Privacy Policy, and there's an entire FAQ article(Opens in a new window) devoted to the subject. According to WhatsApp, Meta cannot see your contacts or your messages, but Meta can see your phone number, IP address, and any interactions with businesses on WhatsApp. That's a lot of identifying information.

Another challenge to any secure messenger is the continued assaults from governments and law enforcement on encryption systems. Writing about the degree to which police or the FBI could monitor your messaging used to be very difficult, but that's all changed since the release of a handy document from the FBI(Opens in a new window). According to this list, it's possible for the FBI to obtain message content if the target is using an iPhone with iCloud backup enabled. Leaving aside that Apple should encrypt device backups, the app will encourage you to encrypt your WhatsApp backups, which should protect your messages. Still, no other messaging service carries this caveat. Bear in mind that this document does not cover what law enforcement could glean using forensic analysis tools designed to circumvent security features.

Getting Started With WhatsApp

You can install WhatsApp apps on most mobile and desktop devices and access it through a web portal(Opens in a new window). Previously, you needed to have your phone nearby and online to use connected WhatsApp apps, but that's thankfully no longer the case. However, as with Signal and Telegram, you need a valid phone number to set up an account with WhatsApp. All of these apps are about securing your messages, not anonymous textingalthough Editors' Choice winner Signal is working on an account system that's at least partly divorced from phone numbers.

Like other messengers, WhatsApp will nag you for access to your Contacts list. You can receive messages and reply to them without doing so, but you won't be able to create new Chats or Group Chats. Telegram is usable with some restrictions, and Signal will let you manually type a number to message a person. To its credit, WhatsApp seems to do a pretty good job of protecting the privacy of your Contacts list(Opens in a new window), employing cryptographic hashes instead of storing phone numbers on its servers. I finally caved and gave the app access to my Contacts after the nag screen trapped me in a loop that rendered the app unusable.

Using WhatsApp without letting it access your contracts is very difficult. Fortunately, you can block users.

If you, like me, have been using the same phone number for 15 years then you'll probably discover that every human you've ever interacted with is on WhatsApp. It was startling in comparison to my experiences with Telegram and Signal. Those services have grown enormously in recent years but neither can hold a candle to WhatsApp.

I'll admit, I was excited. But that giddiness quickly turned to discomfort as I realized that WhatsApp was also home to ex-partners, old OKCupid dates, former managers and coworkers, as well as a litany of other people I'd never planned on speaking with again. Thankfully, you can block anyone who messages you on WhatsApp (and report spam bots, of which there are many), and you can preemptively block users in Settings > Privacy > Blocked Contacts.

Even longtime WhatsApp users would be well served by revisiting the Settings, as the service has rolled out some important behind-the-scenes changes. For example, you can move your account to a new phone number or enable multi-factor authentication from the Accounts section. The Chat Backup section of the Chats settings lets you use E2EE to secure your backups(Opens in a new window), but WhatsApp still advises users to simply not backup their chats to iCloud(Opens in a new window).

Chats and Groups on WhatsApp

As with most messaging platforms, WhatsApp places conversations in cartoony speech bubbles with your posts on the right and recipients on the left. You can opt in or out of read-receipts from the Settings, as well as change the background of Chats.

Chatting in WhatsApp is a familiar affair.

Buttons next to the bottom text field make it easy to spice up your conversation with images, videos, and short bursts of audio. You can also send files (up to 2GB), share contact information, and attach a GPS location to your message. An overview of all your shared media in a particular Chat is available in the three-dot menu.

On Android you tap the smiley face icon for a menu of emoji, reaction GIFs, and most importantly: WhatsApp's surprising and robust collection of stickers, both static and animated. You can browse your list of saved stickers, add new ones, and download apps that add new stickers. It's a far livelier community than what Signal has fostered, although that app makes privacy assurances about its stickers that other apps cannot. WhatsApp also doesn't have Apple Messages augmented reality memoji or live filters.

Broadcasts are like BCC messages. WhatsApp has lots of excellent stickers to share.

There are a few more types of messages. Statuses take a page from Instagram Reels, letting you create short videos that expire after 24 hours. Broadcasts, which you can find in the three-dot menu, are basically blind carbon-copy messages, letting you send out the same message to multiple recipients as one-on-one conversations. It's handy for things like holiday messages, and avoids lumping strangers into uncomfortable reply-all conversations. Broadcasts are limited to 256 people and are saved as lists for easy reuse, although they are easily confused with Group Chats.

Signal hasn't embraced tools like Statuses or Broadcasts, instead focusing on secure group and one-on-one voice, video, and text messaging. Telegram, meanwhile, has added a variety of other options, such as Twitch-style live streaming, public and private blogs, and community groups. Telegram's growth has come at a cost; it has been at the center of world events but also has been a haven for misinformation and fringe groups. In April 2022, WhatsApp announced a forthcoming Communities feature(Opens in a new window) that might make it a real competitor to Telegram's social messaging hybrid.

Creating groups is simple in WhatsApp. You select people from your contacts, give the group a name, and you're ready to start messaging them. By default, the person who creates the group is the administrator, and an admin can make other group members admins at any time. Administrators can manually add new members after the fact, or export a QR code or a sharable link that other invitees can use to join the group. You're also able to set a timer on how long messages in each group will last, which I appreciate. WhatsApp has some other useful settings, similar in scope to Signal, such as limiting posts to only the members you select. Telegram gives you far more fine-grained controls over group permissions but Telegram notably does not use E2EE for any of its group messaging.

Groups let you chat with text, audio, and video with a group of friends.

In addition to chatting with your friends, WhatsApp can also be used for shopping and communicating with brands and businesses. I didn't test these features, but one of our staff members at PCMag who spends significant time outside the US mentioned that connecting with businesses via WhatsApp is extremely common in some regions. Businesses often use WhatsApp instead of email to keep in touch with customers, sending them promotions or simply communicating with them directly during purchases and deliveries.

It's important to remember that conversations with brands do not use E2EEmeaning that Meta or others could be watching and learning. WhatsApp also supports crypto payments in the US, but you need to create an account with specific cryptocoin services. I did not test these features, but Signal and Telegram have similar abilities.

Working on this review, I was surprised at how little WhatsApp has changed since I last used it. Even WhatsApp's website features phone models from many years agoincluding the defunct Windows Phone platform. The competition hasn't been complacent. Telegram has dramatically expanded its product to include surprising (if somewhat odd) social media elements, turning its chat platform into a kind of community space. Signal, meanwhile, has seen several major quality-of-life improvements as well as significantly better group chat and video call experiences. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Zoom, Google Meet, Discord, and other platforms have emerged as go-to video chat competitors.

WhatsApp may be practicing some "if it ain't broke don't fix it" philosophy, and its popularity outside the US likely means WhatsApp needs to respond to different demands than US-first services. But in its look and feel are like an app from a different time.

WhatsApp Voice and Video Chat

Each Chat or Group Chat can be used to start a new voice or video call. Afterward, the Calls section of the main screen logs your calls for easy access in the future. According to WhatsApp's documentation, video calls can support up to 32 participants.

In my testing, I called my colleague Michael Muchmore, who answered from his PC. The sound and video quality were remarkably good, although I strongly suspect that the results may vary depending on your network conditions and hardware.

Group calls are similar to Discord in that all Group members can see that a call has started and then come and go as they please. I still prefer Discord's approach, with dedicated channels for video chats.

It's Surprisingly Easy to Be More Secure Online It's Surprisingly Easy to Be More Secure Online

Excellent...With an Asterisk

WhatsApp is a rock solid messaging app that uses end-to-end encryption by default for all Chats and Group Chats. It gives people and businesses a great way to keep in touch with just about everyone. That said, it hasn't kept up with the changes to the social web that Telegram, Discord, Twitch, and others have wrought.

On the privacy and security front, WhatsApp is a bit complicated. If your backups aren't correctly configured, your message logs could be vulnerable to surveillance. And while all your interactions with real humans use E2EE, those with companies do not.

So what's the asterisk? WhatsApp's ownership by Meta leaves us with doubts and questions related to the future of the app's privacy and security. Meta already receives a lot of each WhatsApp user's personal data and is actively seeking to combine its messaging platforms, not all of which use E2EE as readily. Moreover, Meta has always been very keen to collect customer data for ad targeting, and it's hard to imagine the company would give up on the enormous WhatsApp user base.

Among the most popular secure messaging platforms, WhatsApp lands squarely in the middle. If you want to lock down your conversations you should use Editors' Choice winner Signal. Its pedigree as a secure messenger is so far unbeatable. WhatsApp has compromises, but the advantage is that you probably won't have to convince anyone to use it.

WhatsApp 4.0 (Opens in a new window) See It $0.00 at WhatsApp (Opens in a new window) MSRP Free Pros End-to-end encryption by default

Enormously popular

Self-destructing messages and images

Video and voice calls

Fun and lively stickers

Free View More Cons Requires phone number and contacts list to function

Backups (especially iCloud) may be vulnerable to surveillance

Some users may not trust Meta to protect their privacy The Bottom Line The stalwart mobile messenger encrypts your messages by default and its enormous userbase means your friends and family are already users. Its ownership by Facebook's Meta, however, puts its status as a privacy-first messenger in question.
Microsofts planning a big bash for Windows 10s first birthday, and youre the one receiving presents. On August 2, the company will push out the (boringly named) Windows 10 Anniversary Update to Windows 10 PCs, and the updates chock-full of all sorts of new goodies for you to play withsome niche, some helpful, and all free.

Windows Insiders who dont mind living dangerously with unfinished software have been testing these new features in Windows 10 preview builds for months, and now its time for the Anniversary Update to hit the masses. Youll find our overarching thoughts and impressions in PCWorlds Windows 10 Anniversary Update review, but if you want to just cut to the chase and know about the best new goodies right now, this articles for you.

Lets dig in!
Faced with few options, companies are increasingly giving in to cybercriminals who hold their data hostage and demand payment for its return, while law enforcement officials struggle to catch the nearly invisible perpetrators.

The risks to organizations have become so severe that many simply pay their attackers to make them go awaya strategy that may only embolden the crooks.

Its a case of asymmetric electronic warfare. Ransomware, which encrypts files until a victim pays to have them unlocked, can be devastating to an organization. Barring an up-to-date backup, little can be done aside from paying the attackers to provide the decryption keys.

Less common but just as harmful are extortion schemes, where attackers claim to have stolen critical data and threaten to publicly release it unless their demands are met. Timeframes are tight: Hackers may give a company less than 48 hours to comply, setting off a race to confirm what data, if any, has been stolen.

The costs of ransomware and extortion are difficult to calculate. Last June, the FBI estimated that the CryptoWall ransomware family alone had cost U.S. organizations $18 million over the prior year. In October, an industry group put the total cost of CryptoWallwhich was first detected in mid-2014far higher, at a staggering $325 million.

Extortion costs are even harder to estimate, since companies are often unwilling to admit they fell victim. Computer security company FireEye says it knows of companies that paid more than $1,000,000 to prevent sensitive data being released, though most incidents are resolved for less.

The volume of cases is overwhelming law enforcement, said Erin Nealy Cox, a former federal cybercrime prosecutor and head of the incident response unit at Stroz Friedberg, which conducts computer forensic investigations.

The FBI and the Secret Service in many cases are fine with in essence acquiescing to payment of the ransom, Nealy Cox said, though he emphasized that this is not their official position.

Groups conducting the attacks are difficult to find. Theyre experienced at covering their tracks and demand payment in the cryptocurrency bitcoin, which makes payments hard to trace. Also, the hackers are often based in countries that dont cooperate closely with the U.S. on cybersecurity, making arrests unlikely.

Unlocking the encrypted files is often near impossible.

Its a a big challenge to decrypt victims, said Andrew Komarov, CIO of InfoArmor, which collects intelligence on cyberthreats.

InfoArmor has had some success in disrupting ransomware, by infiltrating the computer networks used to control it. In one example, Komarov said a vulnerability was found within the command-and-control network used to distribute ransomware called CryptoLocker.

Screenshot The warning displayed by CryptoLocker, one of many ransomware programs.

The vulnerability allowed researchers to send a command that made it appear that thousands of victims had paid their ransom, causing their computers to be decrypted, according to InfoArmors report.

But happy endings are uncommon. The most well-documented ransomware incidents have hit the medical industry. Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles paid 40 bitcoinsabout $17,000to decrypt its files.

Allen Stefanek, president and CEO of Hollywood Presbyterian, said the payment was in the best interest of restoring normal operations.

Four weeks later, Methodist Hospital of Henderson, Kentucky, said a piece of ransomware known as Locky infected its systems, according to computer security writer Brian Krebs. The hospital did not pay a ransom but was able to restore its systems, according to a local news report.

Ransomware and extortion schemes offer advantages over other methods of cybercrime. Rather than stealing data and needing to find a buyer for it in risky transactions that take place in underground forums, a vulnerable victim is approached for payment directly.

Were starting to see adversaries in many regions start thinking of data as a weapon, said Dmitri Alperovitch, CEO of Crowdstrike. Certainly the North Koreans did that with Sony.

Sony Pictures, whose attackers released gigabytes of sensitive internal data and destroyed computers, was asked to not release a film that was seen as offensive to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The U.S. government quickly attributed the attack to North Korea.

Paying a ransom is a hang-wringing proposition and not one without its opponents.

Last month, Roman Hussy, who runs a security blog, launched a Ransomware Trackera tool that catalogs servers around the world that have been tied to ransomware campaigns. He started the tracker after seeing many people become victims.

The golden rule is performing backups frequently and never pay any ransoms, Hussy wrote. Paying ransoms will fund the miscreants cybercrime operation and the infrastructure that they are using to commit further fraud, as well as motivate the attackers to keep carrying out their attacks.

Hussys resistance strategy might work eventually, but it would require many organizations to fall on their swords.

Kevin Mandia, chief operating officer of FireEye and founder of Mandiant, said the result of not paying could mean great risk and embarrassmentif, for example, a companys general counsels email is leaked.

What would you do? Mandia said in a recent interview. The alternatives are pretty bad.

The uptick in ransomware and extortion attempts is likely an outgrowth of better payment card security in the U.S. Stolen card details are getting harder to monetize, so attackers have ound an easier route to generate cash.

FireEye has seen some of the same hacking tools and infrastructure use for state-sponsored cyberespionage now being used for extortion, suggesting experienced hackers see a gravy train.

Finally, Russian organized crime and groups out of China realized, well, we still have the hacking skills, were getting card data we cant monetize as easily anymore, so just extort, Mandia said.

On March 22, the Department of Justice unsealed charges against three members of the Syrian Electronic Army, a group that waged a multi-year hacking campaign in support of President Bashar al-Assad.

Two of the men are also accused of extorting 14 U.S. and international victims after hacking their systems and threatening to cause damage or sell stolen data. The victims included a Chinese online gaming company, a U.K. web hosting provider and an online media company.

All told, the men allegedly demanded more than $500,000, although they frequently lowered their demands after negotiation, according to the criminal complaint.

Some of this is like hostage negotiations, Crowdstrikes Alperovitch said. You can start the dialog with a criminal and see if you can stall them and get yourself more time.

But nothing is foolproof when youre dealing with thieves, he said.
Microsoft recently announced a new Insider build brimming with new features coming to the free Windows 10 Anniversary Update, and one of the features the company made a big deal about was a revamped emoji scheme. But one thing the company didnt mention is six hidden emoji featuring Microsofts memelicious ninja cat, as first uncovered by Emojipedia.

Ninja cat is a popular meme that began inside the company, showcasing an image of a cat with a bandana, holding a Windows flag, and riding a fire-breathing unicorn. (Seriously.) Soon after the image first surfaced in early 2015, ninja cat was adopted by the greater Windows community.

The ninja cat emoji are exclusive to Windows 10 and use zero width joiner sequences, which are basically hacks to support non-standard Unicode emoji. If youre not familiar with the finer points of Unicode, ZWJ emoji takes two characters to make a single character.

To create the ninja cat emoji you combine the cat face emoji with several others, including coffee, motorcycle, and rocket. None of the emoji are a cat riding a unicorn, but youve still got some nice options like ninja cat flying, ninja cat drinking coffee, and ninja cat riding a dinosaur.

For all the details on how to create the emoji, check out Emojipedias breakdown on ninja cat and all the other changes to Windows 10 emoji.

The impact on you at home: If you cant wait until the summer, you can try out the new ninja cat emoji now. All you have to do is join the Windows Insider program and switch to fast ring updates. From then on out, youll be set to try all the latest emoji and whatever else Microsoft is adding to Windows 10. Just keep in mind that the fast ring is a terrible idea for mission-critical machines that you rely on. Only switch to the fast ring if youre using Windows 10 in a virtual machine, or on a PC you dont use every day.
When Facebook launched in 2004, CEO Mark Zuckerbeg couldnt have imagined that his fledgling social network would one day build a solar-powered plane that would beam Internet connectivity to remote areas. Thats happening right now: Its called Aquila, and it flies 60,000 feet above the ground for months at a time to connect the world. This plane is part of Zuckerbergs vision for the next year. But he also has incredibly specific long-term goals, like this one: In 10 years, virtual reality headsets like Oculus Rift will look like your average pair of prescription glasses with the ability to view VR worlds and augmented reality overlays at the same time.

Zuckerberg outlined Facebooks 1-year, 5-year, and 10-year roadmaps during the opening keynote of F8, the networks annual developer conference. Facebooks highest priorities are virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and bringing Internet connectivity to the entire globe.

Facebooks virtual reality plans

A rendering of what Facebooks VR/AR glasses will look like.

The company is obviously hyper-focused on VR right now, with the Rifts consumer release last month and the launch of Samsungs more affordable Gear VR headset late last year. But right now, the headsets are used primarily for gaming. Facebook has bigger plans.

Zuckerberg said the company is working on social experiences for VR headsets that will let Facebook users hang out in virtual spaces. Right now, that experience looks pretty rudimentary, with avatars representing real people playing simple games. But Facebook is dreaming up a richer landscape to bring your social network to life.

The company is also envisioning the day when VR headsets like the Rift are glasses that offer virtual reality worlds and augmented reality overlays in one device. Its going to take a long time to make this work, Zuckerberg said.

But when we get to this world, a lot of things that we think about as physical objects today, like a TV to display an image, will just be $1 apps in the app store, Zuckerberg said. This is the vision, this is what were trying to get to in the next 10 years.

Artificial intelligence on the horizon

Facebook uses artificial intelligence to determine which stories to show you in your News Feed, but that effort is pretty low-tech compared to what Facebook is working on.

Facebook Chat bots in Messenger can help you stay informed.

In the future, were going to be able to look at photos and videos and understand whats in them, Zuckerberg said. Were going to be able to read the articles and know what theyre about.

Zuckerberg thinks AI will eventually be able to diagnose diseases based on photos you upload. But today, AI is coming to Facebook Messenger. Facebook launched Messenger Platform so developers can build AI-powered chatbots that you can converse with when you need information. Its particularly useful when you want to avoid dealing with businesses on the phone. Companies will use Messenger in different ways. CNN can send you news headlines and you can send a message to read the full story, get a summary of the story, or ask CNN questions about it. If you want to send a bouquet, 1800-Flowers is using Messenger to show you floral arrangements and let you place an order without having to actually call 1800-Flowers. The future is now.

Connecting the world

Connecting the world requires scale, which Facebook has already achieved.

Every time Zuckerberg speaks in public, he talks about Facebooks mission of connecting the world. That mission includes Aquila, the solar-powered Internet delivery plane. It also includes a satellite the company is launching in space to connect sub-Saharan Africa. Facebook also has plans to improve connectivity on the ground in rural and urban areas with two systems it will dive into tomorrow, Aries and Terragraph.

The company is still committed to its Free Basic program, which has run into opposition in countries like India, where the program was banned for running afoul of net neutrality tenets. Facebook just launched a Free Basics simulator so developers can build apps that will help people access the Internet in areas with spotty connectivity or none at all. The company is also building open-sourced infrastructure for telephone companies.

The idea is if we can make it cheaper for telcos to operature their mobile infrastructure, then some of those savings will be passed on to people in the form of lower data prices, Zuckerberg said.

Big ideas take time

If F8 is any indication, Facebook has grand ambitions. Some of Zuckerbergs big plans, like the VR/AR glasses, require the company to scale products like Rift to a large audience before creating an ecosystem around them.

But unlike many companies, Facebook actually has products with more than 500 million users. Facebook itself has more than a billion users. It has reached scale many times over. Its plans for the next decade dont seem so crazy.
Two Inland elected officials are paying big money to resolve questions about their campaign finances.

Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin on Tuesday, April 12, said he would return donations made to his campaign by Certified Tire & Service Centers and its owner, Jeffrey Alan Darrow, after news surfaced of past penalties for defrauding customers that cost the company at least $750,000.

Meanwhile, Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, who represents most of Temecula, wrote checks totaling almost $12,000 after questions were raised about certain expenses, including money paid to a Hawaiian hotel, his childrens school and an oral/facial surgery firm, listed in his campaign finance disclosure report. He also got attention for about $1,300 in what his spokesman described as fraudulent charges for video games.

Darrow and Certified Tire, which has 37 shops statewide, donated $51,000 to Hestrin between May 2014 and July 2015, campaign finance records show. Hestrin, who raised more than $1 million between 2013 and 2015, used the money to reduce his campaign debt from about $89,000 in 2014 to less than $7,000 last year.

Certified Tire has a history of trouble with auto repair regulators.

In 2008, the company agreed to pay $550,000 in civil penalties plus restitution to customers to settle a case that was prosecuted by the Orange County district attorneys office. The company was accused of cheating hundreds of customers out of auto work and performing unnecessary maintenance over a six-year period.

In January 2015, Darrow signed a settlement agreement to resolve a complaint brought by the state Bureau of Automotive Repair, which sent undercover drivers to Certified Tire shops, including shops in Banning and Moreno Valley.

In one instance, a 2000 Honda was taken to Certified Tires Moreno Valley location in August 2013 for an oil change. Repairs ended up costing $2,336.20 for struts, a timing belt, balance shaft belt and water pump, none of which needed service, according to the complaint.

Darrow signed a document admitting to the complaints allegations and agreeing to pay $200,000 for enforcement costs. The company was placed on three years probation, during which the stores can be inspected at random.

Darrow did not return a phone call Tuesday seeking comment.

WALLED MYSELF OFF

Hestrin said he was unaware of Darrows history when he accepted the donations and that when he found out in August 2015, I walled myself off and instructed staff to not provide him any further information about the case and to proceed with the case as they normally would.

I hold myself and this office to the highest standard of ethics, Hestrin said. To avoid any appearance of impropriety, I think its the right decision to return the contributions in full.

Hestrin added he didnt know Darrow prior to receiving contributions from him, and that Darrow never asked him for any favors, nor did he act on Darrows behalf.

Since hes walled off, Hestrin said he has no information about, or involvement in, the Certified Tires case. Chief Assistant District Attorney John Aki said the Bureau of Automotive Repair is responsible for monitoring the company and the DAs office gets involved at the bureaus request.

TAKING ACTION

Hunter listed about $1,300 worth of video game charges on his year-end campaign finance disclosure report. Federal law forbids the use of campaign money for personal expenses.

Hunter spokesman Joe Kasper said Hunters 13-year-old son used a campaign credit card to pay for the games. His father closed the account, but charges continued to accrue, Kasper said, adding that the charges have since been credited back to the campaigns credit card.

The video game charges led to other questions about expenses disclosed in Hunters filings, including $1,128 for a Hawaiian hotel, $1,137 paid to an oral and facial surgeon and $6,150 given to the private school attended by Hunters children.

Hunter, who earns $174,000 a year as a congressman, was traveling back to Washington on Tuesday and was unavailable for comment. In an email, Kasper wrote that Hunter has written two checks totaling $11,896 to settle the expenses.

More directly, the charges were honest mistakes accidents and mistakes, Kasper wrote. The charges should never have happened but regardless of who made them and when, Congressman Hunter is taking full responsibility  and that includes the responsibility for resolution.

The Hawaiian hotel stay was supposed to be part of a campaign event, but when he decided not to do it, Hunter tried to get the hotel to charge his personal credit card instead, Kasper wrote.

The three payments to Christian Unified School were intended to be donations, but money was credited toward the Hunter childrens tuition, Kasper added.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9547 or jhorseman@pressenterprise.com
The Riverside mayors race has taken a nasty turn, with two elected officials attacking each others records and accusing each other of lying.

Harsh words were exchanged at a Monday forum staged by Residents for Responsible Representation, and the event turned into a face-off between Mayor Rusty Bailey and Ward 4 City Councilman Paul Davis.

Bailey, who is seeking a second term, has five challengers: Davis and residents Sally Martinez, Nancy Melendez, Vivian Moreno and Patrick Small. All but Small attended. The election is June 7.

The next mayor will face a projected deficit of $10 million to $12 million next fiscal year, and candidates comments reflected that.

Most criticized the June ballot measure that would create a city prosecutors office. Melendez called it an unneeded expansion of the city attorneys power. Davis said the cost of the measure is unclear, then pledged to privatize city trash collection and make changes to fire department responses that he said would save hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

Asked about another ballot measure that would increase council salaries, most candidates said that in light of the budget issues, now isnt the time.

When you become a public servant, youre not doing this for the money, Martinez said. Youre doing this because you genuinely care  about the future of your city.

Bailey took the opportunity to hit Davis, saying he never supported a council raise when he represented Ward 3, while Davis voted for that and past city spending that he now criticizes.

For him to say that he is being fiscally responsible, its just not true, Bailey said.

Moreno, a frequent council critic, lumped Davis and Bailey together as part of the status quo that she said caused the citys current problems.

Riverside Public Utilities reserves are a result of ratepayers being overcharged, Moreno said, and as mayor she would fight to refund money to them.

Davis attacked Bailey throughout the forum, disputing his contention that 10,000 jobs were created in the city in the past few years and dismissing his streetcar proposal as a waste of money. The two especially tangled over a question about the citys racial climate and diversity.

Davis said he and his wife, who has Taiwanese and Chinese heritage, had to struggle to start the Lunar Fest, and that Bailey had never attended the event.

Bailey responded that his daughter had been on stage with Davis one year, and cited the mayors multicultural forum, a quarterly roundtable event that predates Baileys term as mayor.

At least three other forums are scheduled for this month and next by the Raincross Group and Riverside chapter of the League of Women Voters.
WASHINGTON  On a Saturday morning three weeks ago, U.S. radar detected rockets headed for a secret fire base of about 100 Marines in northern Iraq.

As warning sirens blared, a 27-year-old staff sergeant on his fifth combat tour rushed the Marines under his command to a bunker.

One rocket missed the Marines, but another exploded near the staff sergeant, Louis F. Cardin, while he was still outside. He was seriously wounded in the chest and died within the hour.

Less than 12 hours later, a Marine arrived at the home of Cardins parents in Temecula to inform them that their son had been killed.

It was the second time a U.S. service member had been killed in Iraq since President Barack Obama resumed military operations there nearly two years ago.

In the days after Cardins death, U.S. military officials were forced to disclose why he and the Marines were at the base, how Marines would be used in the future and how many U.S. troops were actually in Iraq. The new information illustrated how the conflict had quietly expanded far from the publics view, and raised questions about Obamas pledge to keep U.S. troops out of combat there.

Just because the commander in chief says there wont be combat doesnt mean that will be the case, Cardins brother, Vincent, a former Army infantryman, said in a telephone interview. It doesnt take much for someone to launch a rocket and start a fight when youre in someone elses country. If thats not combat, I dont know what is.

From the beginning, Cardins mission in Iraq was secret.

He was assigned to an expeditionary unit of roughly 2,200 Marines based on three Navy ships in the Persian Gulf.

Cardin, roughly 100 other Marines and four large artillery cannons were flown from the ships to Makhmur, an area about 50 miles south of Mosul. Iraqi security forces had built several outposts in empty fields that were to be used as staging areas for their military operations.

The Marines took over one of the smallest of those outposts. The military named it Fire Base Bell.

The decision to send the Marines to the fire base was tightly held, Col. Steve Warren, a spokesman in Baghdad for U.S. forces fighting the Islamic State, said last week. Commanders did not announce the movement and tip off the enemy, Warren said, but commanders planned to make the deployment public after the Marines had fully established themselves at the outpost.

But it was a departure from how the White House and Pentagon have disclosed similar deployments in Iraq over the past two years.

The Marines began test-firing their cannons at the enemy shortly after they arrived. Islamic State fighters quickly figured out that the Marines were there.

On the morning of Saturday, March 19, just two days after Cardin arrived at the base, a group of U.S. military advisers visited the Iraqi security forces at Kara Soar, which is less than a mile from Fire Base Bell. Col. Ahmed Jasim Aatyia, an officer in the 15th Division of the Iraqi army, was at Kara Soar with the Americans and recalled what happened at Fire Base Bell.

Fifteen minutes after they left our compound, the base was attacked by Katyusha rockets, he said.

At Bell, 40 minutes passed after the attack before a helicopter took Cardin to a medical facility in Irbil. He was pronounced dead on arrival.
When Lake Elsinore officials renamed the citys beachfront recreational area and campground as La Laguna Resort and Boat Launch nearly four years ago, the resort part was a bit of a stretch.

While the city had spent $8 million to install a spacious boat launch and parking lot flanked by wide, sandy beaches, the adjacent, 160-space campground inherited from Californias parks department remained on the primitive side.

Right now, the campground is for the most part in the same condition as the city received it from the state in the early 90s, except for the boat launch and parking, which was significant, said Lake Elsinore Administrative Services Director Jason Simpson. We do not have any full (recreational vehicle) hookups. Theres only a few (spaces) that have electrical.

The outmoded conditions, however, could transform dramatically as a result of a proposed $10-million makeover that the City Council is scheduled to consider Tuesday.

City administrators are expected to ask the council to hire Temecula-based STK Architecture to provide a design revamping the site along Riverside Drive into a state-of-the-art campground featuring 236 RV spaces with full-utility hookups.

The blueprint will include lakefront spaces and cabins, tent and yurt camping areas, new restroom buildings with showers, a 6,400-square-foot clubhouse with a lake view, a snack and concessions bar, gazebos, barbecues and recreational activity areas.

Also, the design will feature a new entrance at Riverside Drive and Lincoln Street with an arched entry structure, while the current entrance northeast of Lincoln will serve primarily as an exit, Simpson said.

Ultimately, the goal is to create a first-class camping destination, senior management analyst Nicole Dailey said.

Simpson will also ask the council to approve financing of the project by issuing bonds that will be funded by revenue generated from the improved facilities. While the campground fills up on holiday weekends, it is often nearly empty on weekdays.

It should have been done a long time ago, site manager William Johnson said of the improvements. I think the city is definitely taking the right steps.

Johnson said he supports including yurts, which are round, domed tents.

Youll still have the ambiance of tent camping but with a lot classier appearance, he said.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9690 or michaelwilliams@pressenterprise.com
Wildomar will elect future City Council members from districts if the currently elected members give final approval to the change Wednesday, April 13.

The council is scheduled to meet at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall, 23873 Clinton Keith Road, in Oak Creek Center.

The shift to elections by districts from the current at-large system stems from legal threats to Wildomar and other cities that challenged the latter method as violating the California Voting Rights Act of 2001 because it allegedly makes it harder for minority candidates to get elected.

The city held three public hearings on various proposed district boundaries, culminating in initial approval of a map on March 9. That action prompted the scheduling of a second final approval Wednesday. Approval would set the stage for the upcoming November election to be held on the seats of Mayor Bridgette Moore and Councilman Bob Cashman.

The draft favored by council members, Map A Plus, can be viewed on the citys website, cityofwildomar.org.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9690 or michaelwilliams@pressenterprise.com
Two men have been charged with offenses related to the Brussels bombings, and three others have been detained in Brussels in connection to the Paris attacks, Belgian authorities said Tuesday.

The Belgian Federal Prosecutors Office said the two who have been charged, identified only as Smail F. and Ibrahim F., were involved in renting an apartment in the Etterbeek area of Brussels that served as a hideout for the bomber who attacked the Brussels subway on March 22 as well as a suspected accomplice.

It said the detention of the three related to the Paris attacks followed a morning search in Uccle, an upscale district of the Belgian capital. A judge will decide Wednesday whether the three people should remain in custody, it said. It said no further information would be made public about the search.

Brussels was home to many of the attackers who struck the French capital Nov. 13, killing 130 victims. According to Belgian and French investigators, the same cell was behind the March 22 suicide bombings that killed 32 victims at the Brussels Airport and in the Brussels subway.

A total of six people are currently under arrest in Belgium and charged with involvement in the Brussels attacks, including the two charged Tuesday, federal magistrate Thierry Werts said. At least eight people, included key suspect Salah Abdeslam, are also being held by Belgian authorities on charges related to the Paris attacks, he said. Responsibility for both acts of carnage was claimed by the Islamic State extremist group.

An investigating magistrate on Monday ordered Smail F., born in 1984, and Ibrahim F., born in 1988, held on charges of participating in the activities of a terrorist group, terrorist murder and attempted terrorist murder as perpetrators, co-perpetrators or accomplices, the prosecutors office said in a statement.

Werts declined to provide additional details, but state-run RTBF broadcasting, citing information from unspecified sources, reported the two suspects were brothers, and that the older sibling had rented the apartment on the Rue des Casernes, while the younger brother helped empty and clean it following the attacks.

Belgian police searched the Etterbeek apartment Saturday but found no weapons or explosives.

The statement from prosecutors said the investigation is continuing actively day and night.

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Recent anti-Muslim vandalism at UC Riverside is part of symbolic and cultural violence encouraged by some presidential candidates, a UCR professor said during Mondays campus forum on Islamophobia.

Racism and Islamophobia go hand in hand, said Dylan Rodriguez, chairman of the Ethnic Studies Department. This is why its crucial to understand these forms of symbolic and cultural violence as the logical product of a specific kind of political climate.

He said the Islamophobic, racist, and misogynist rhetoric circulating among some major U.S. presidential candidates, encourages and enables these reprehensible forms of harassment and intimidation.

About 100 people attended the panel discussion, dubbed, Countering Islamophobia: Anti-racist responses to violence on campus.

Some students had to stand or sit on the floor after seats filled up. Mariam Beevi Lam, who was recently named as UC Riversides associate vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion, was among those in attendance.

Speakers included Amal Ali, an undergraduate student majoring in ethnic studies; Marlen Rios-Hernandez, a third-year doctoral student in ethnic studies; Sherine Hafez, associate professor in the Department of Gender and Sexuality Studies; Loubna Qutami, a doctoral candidate in ethnic studies; and Jeff Sacks, professor of comparative literature.

Panelists talked about the roots of Islamophobia, anti-Muslim harassment on campus, and addressed the next steps to take toward tackling anti-Palestinian hate.

Rodriguez began Mondays discussion by recapping the vandalism that targeted the Department of Ethnic Studies and graduate student offices. James Grant, assistant vice chancellor of strategic communications, said Monday that the investigation into the vandalism is ongoing.

The vandalism, which appears to have occurred during the spring break holiday, was anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian, Rodriguez said. Women of color were targeted, he added.

Biographies and photos of at least four female graduate students were either stolen or defaced.

A bookcase and graduate student mailboxes were also tampered with or rummaged through. And, materials related to Palestine, including an image of the Palestinian flag, were torn from the wall.

One faculty members office in the Interdisciplinary building also was broken into and vandalized, he said.

And, a pornographic picture cut out of a magazine was placed atop a book about Islam.

The panel was the latest in a series of on-campus discussions about Islamophobia.

Hafez noted how victims of Islamophobia are often women.

This event that took place on campus is a heads-up  women who are Muslim, women of color, have been the target of Islamophobic hate crimes.

To Ali, who is Palestinian and Muslim and wears a hijab on campus, her faith and race intersect.

Islamophobia isnt just about faith. Its about a racialization of a community, she said.

She spoke of discrimination she has seen during her five years attending UC Riverside.

Ali has seen her Palestinian Christian peers be harassed several times with anti-Muslim slurs. Students on campus have made accusations that the Muslim Student Association and the Students of Justice of Palestine chapters on campus are funded by overseas Arab and Muslim terrorist groups.

Ali said its important keep tabs on harassment of students who are typically out of the spotlight.

The consequences that we need to be paying attention to are not only those that occur to us, but those that occur to the average unsuspecting day-to-day student of color in this campus, Ali said.
Dr. Daniel Hays, whose family owned and published The Press-Enterprise for decades, has died. He was 97.

Hays died April 7 at his Riverside home of natural causes, said his daughter Sarah Hays.

Although his father, Howard H Hays Sr., and older brother Howard H Tim Hays, were in the newspaper business, Dr. Hays made his name in the area of childhood cancer management.

More than any one individual, Dan Hays helped set the standard for the specialty of modern pediatric cancer surgery, said Dr. Stuart E. Siegel, former head of the Division of Hematology/Oncology and director of the Childrens Center for Cancer and Blood Diseases at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

After his retirement in 1993, Hays returned to Riverside, where he founded and chaired Victoria Avenue Without Wires. He secured private donations and national and state grants to move underground the utility lines that marred the view of his beloved Victoria Avenue.

He was a wonderful man and a kind man, said Gerry Marr, who worked with Hays on the utility wires project. His dream was to have all the utility lines down the full length of Victoria Avenue. And we almost made it.

Hays also was instrumental in getting Victoria Avenue designated as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places.

Daniel Hayes was born March 9, 1919, in Reading, Pa. His family moved to Riverside when he was a child.

He graduated from Riverside Polytechnic High School in 1937 and received a degree in biology from Stanford University in 1941.

He attended Cornell University Medical College and served his internship at Boston Childrens Hospital.

He was a captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps from 1941 to 1947. During his time in the military, he attended the Nuremburg trial of Hermann Goering, the head of the German air force.

In 1954 he moved to Los Angeles with his wife, Dr. Esther Fincher, and joined the staff at Good Samaritan Hospital and then Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

In 2004, he received the William E. Ladd Medal, awarded by the American Academy of Pediatrics to a pediatric surgeon who has made a significant contribution to the field of surgery.

In addition to his wife and daughter, Dr. Hays is survived by a son, Jon Hays of Santa Monica; daughters Elizabeth Hays of Mount Vernon, Maine, and Margaret Hays Van Kan of Auckland, New Zealand; and seven grandchildren.

No funeral services are planned.

The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to The Childrens Oncology Group Foundation, 3720 Spruce St., No. 506, Philadelphia, PA 19104, cog-foundation.org

Contact the writer: 951-368-9647 or sstokley@pressenterprise.com
The husband of one of the three people killed by a white supremacist at two Jewish sites in suburban Kansas City is suing over the sale of the shotguns used in the April 2014 attack.

The Kansas City Star (http://bit.ly/1qMLE89 ) reports that the lawsuit, filed late Monday afternoon in Jackson County Circuit Court by Jim LaManno, names Wal-Mart and several other entities.

Seventy-five-year-old Frazier Glenn Miller Jr. was sentenced to death last year for the shooting that killed LaMannos wife, Terri, and two others in Overland Park, Kansas.

Miller was a felon and prohibited from purchasing guns. The lawsuit says Miller used two weapons that were purchased by a friend at a gun show and a Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart didnt immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment.
Re: The one-sided impact of Prop. 47 [Opinion, April 8]: Once again, California voters, aided and abetted by the Press-Enterprise, demonstrated their gullibility by passing Proposition 47 in November 2014. Designed to save jail space by reducing the classification of a handful of petty theft and drug offenses from felonies to misdemeanors, the money saved  $100 million the first year, according to the Legislative Analysts Office  was to be used to create, as the editorial stated, behavioral health treatments and other prevention programs. Gov. Brown has apparently decided only $29.3 million will go to the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Fund. Hell find other uses for the rest of the savings. One grieves for the mental health of hundreds of untutored former felons who wont receive counseling about how to avoid returning to crime.

Ken Cable

Canyon Lake

Fragile collegians

College students now are demonstrating, protesting and signing petitions to have their sensitivities protected. Not surprising for a generation that has been coddled, comforted and accommodated in every fashion since being born. These new sensitivities include, but are not limited to, someone looking at another unpleasantly (determined by the person being viewed) and asking about someones heritage, or even where they were born.

Any perceived microaggression, intentional or otherwise, is cause for chastisement or expulsion of the aggressor and maybe even grounds for legal action.

And what to do with school administrators who support them in this very dangerous and ridiculous social-justice-run-amok misstep?

Dont worry that our country will ever be taken over. All that is needed to take over America is to ask  in a sensitive manner.

Larry Palmer

Norco

Talk to us

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The Southern California Gas Co. is getting pushback from some of the cities it serves as it attempts to wrap up installation of advanced meters throughout its coverage area, which includes Riverside, San Bernardino and Orange counties.

The meters  small communications devices attached to existing meters  are less of an issue than the data collection units, which look like street light poles topped by a small solar array. They collect information from the meters and relay it to a central gas company hub, which eliminates the need for meter readers to manually collect that data.

SoCalGas has installed about 3,400 of the 4,600 data collection units, or DCUs, planned for the utilitys huge territory, which covers 20,000 square miles and 500 communities.

SoCalGas spokeswoman Melissa Bailey said the utility didnt run into organized opposition to the installation of the units or meters in Riverside County and the work is almost complete.

Were pretty much done out there, Bailey said Monday, April 11.

In San Bernardino County, the utility is planning to start installation in the city of San Bernardino and high desert cities this summer. Mountain communities will follow, according to the utilitys installation schedule.

To date, there have been more than 200 complaints and questions filed by ratepayers about the process and some cities, primarily in Orange County, have slowed the roll-out by forcing the utility to obtain permits before installing the poles.

In a Feb 26 report filed with the California Public Utilities Commission, which regulates the utility, SoCalGas said installation of as many as 245 units has been delayed, primarily because of the permitting requirements.

If these municipalities continue to assert their current positions, they will considerably delay or prevent the network installation timeline, the report states.

In that same report, the utility claimed it is essentially exempt from obtaining local permission to install its data collection sites because the company is regulated by the state utilities commission.

Some cities obviously disagree with that interpretation of state law and they have forced SoCalGas to navigate an approval process that includes a review by planning staffers.

The states utilities commission approval of SoCalGas advanced-meter project didnt take away local jurisdictions, cities discretion for regulating time, place and manner, said Scott Drapkin, Laguna Beachs principal planner, referring to the proposed transmission sites.

Gas company officials have been working with city officials there for more than a year to place roughly 20 wireless transmitting units around the city. City officials have been concerned the installations will interfere with ocean and canyon views.

In Temecula in 2013, a homeowner in the citys Lake Village community was able to get the utility to move a pole to a different neighborhood because it clashed with the areas aesthetics.

Generally, new poles can be 24 feet or higher, with a data-collection unit, antennas and a solar panel up top. In some instances, data collection units and antennas are mounted on existing light poles, without solar panels  an option cities tend to prefer because they arent as bulky.

Bailey said that since the start of the advanced-meter roll out the gas company has worked collaboratively with all jurisdictions in our service territory to receive the necessary permits for installations of our communications network/Data Collection units.

The number of meters transmitting to a single data collection unit varies, but on average, there are about 1,300 meters for every unit, Bailey said.

The meter upgrades, which began in late 2012, drew opposition from a major watchdog group and the utility workers union after they were proposed eight years ago. And more recently, customers complained about big hikes in bills in January and February that some suspect may be tied to the meter changes. The company said the large bills were primarily due to cold weather that required more indoor heating.

Among the benefits the system offers are operational cost savings and environmental benefits from removing 1,000 vehicles used by meter readers  traveling nearly 7 million miles a year  from the streets, a spokesperson said. The upgraded meters also are considered more accurate and eliminate potential for human error in reading the meters.

Contact the writer: breakingnews@pressenterprise.com
Folk music of the savannahs of Colombia and Venezuela will waft over the hills of the San Jacinto Valley on Sunday, April 17, as the Hemet Community Concert Association offers a program by Los Llaneros and Calle Sur at the Living Hope Baptist Church in Hemet.

The Los Llaneros program explores the authentic style of the Llanos or plains, a geographically and culturally unique area in South America.

The most spectacular instrument we will play is the 36-string folk harp, Karin Stein, one of the ensembles principals, said in a recent interview. Its not the typical classical harp, as its very light  only 16 pounds  so it can be played in only a limited number of keys. It is spectacular in the way it is played. The harpist does lots of fast finger work, and when the harp-playing of Daniel Rojas is combined with the fabulous maraca techniques of Diego Mosquera, it is truly a feast for your artistic senses.

According to the press release, its music evolved from the contact between nomad Indians and Jesuit settlers 500 years ago, and features characteristic syncopations and difficult harp techniques.

Los Llaneros performs with four musicians who focus on Columbian and Venezuelan music.

Its mostly cowboy music, Stein said. We guarantee the audience will leave with a new understanding of what cowboys in South America are all about.

Some of the music also has Caribbean influences.

We will bring along a bombo drum from the Andes Mountains, she said. Its easy to travel with because it is lightweight, but it has a large and powerful sound and is terrific on the syncopated rhythms.

Calle Sur involves only Stein, who is from Colombia, and Ed East, who is from Panama.

Calle Sur has a larger variety of instruments and covers a larger variety of cultural traditions, said Stein. We also sing in three different languages. We will use the classical guitar, which has really become a folk instrument in the South American countries. And we have an Andean charango which is a stringed instrument that sounds like a mandolin. Add a quena, which is a flute, the Andean pan pipe and a classical flute, and our voices, and we are loaded with many sounds and colors.

Stein wants the audience will take away an appreciation of the diversity of sounds and the variety of ethnic music they will hear.

We will have a printed program, but we like to be able to add to the understanding of what the music is all about. And we hope the audience will participate, too. Much of the music is based on call-and-response folk traditions. It would feel strange not to have the village respond, Stein said.

Los Llaneros and Calle Sur performed a popular program in 2005, said Diane Mitchell, artistic director of the Hemet Community Concert Association.

Traveling with all those instruments is a real challenge, said Mitchell about the group. We will help them out by providing congas and the guitars so they wont have to bring those on the plane.

Contact the writer: features@pressenterprise.com
California has election fever, and the only prescription is more ballots.

California Secretary of State Alex Padilla recently warned elections officials in all 58 counties to prepare for high voter turnout for the June 7 primary. Meanwhile, the state Republican and Democratic parties are seeking a spike in interest from those who want to go to the parties conventions.

High interest in the 2016 election cycle, a significant rise in the use of online voter registration, growing demand for registration cards, and increased voter turnout in neighboring states suggest that California could see a major surge in voter turnout, Padilla said in a news release.

Its a sign of higher-than-normal voter enthusiasm for Californias primary, which is one of the last in the nation. Normally, the competitive phase of the race for the Republican and Democratic presidential nominations is long over by the time Golden State voters head to the polls.

But this year, its highly likely that California Republicans will determine whether GOP front-runner Donald Trump secures the 1,237 delegates needed for his partys nomination or falls short, leading to a brokered GOP convention. For the Democrats, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton remains the favorite but continues to face a determined challenge from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has won seven consecutive states.

Padilla, a Democratic elected official, sent a memo to county clerks and registrars of voters March 30 asking them to make sure they have enough ballots available primary day. Counties are mandated by law to have ballots equal in number to at least 75 percent of a precincts registered voters, but Padilla encouraged going beyond that requirement.

The secretary of state also reached out to Gov. Jerry Brown and state legislative leaders to ask for $32 million to ensure there are enough resources for the primary and November general election and to verify petitions for as many as 21 potential ballot measures.

Getting voters to cast ballots has been a challenge in recent elections. Turnout for the 2012 primary was just 31 percent, down from almost 58 percent in 2008, when the primary took place in February with the aim of giving California more influence.

Turnout for the June 2014 primary, which did not feature a presidential contest, was just 25 percent. In Riverside and San Bernardino counties, turnout was 22 percent and 19 percent, respectively.

MAILING IT IN

For the Inland Empire, the solution to long primary day lines may be in the mail.

In both counties, a majority of registered voters have requested vote-by-mail ballots on a permanent basis. Officials have encouraged voting by mail to ease pressure on polling places and to speed up ballot counting.

Still, Inland registrars of voters are preparing for high in-person turnout on primary day. In San Bernardino County, there will be 407 polling places on June 7, up from 374 in the 2012 primary, and Registrar of Voters Michael Scarpello said his office projects turnout by the hour to plan for the busiest times.

In Riverside County, the Board of Supervisors last month approved the purchase of four ballot scanners to help with the vote count. Registrar of Voters Rebecca Spencer said a new law allows ballots to be picked up from polling places midday to speed up counting.

Both registrars expect to stay within their budgets for the primary. But Spencer said the need for a two-card ballot, thanks to the 34 candidates for the U.S. Senate primary, will add to expenses.

May 23 is the deadline to register to vote in the primary. Scarpello and Spencer reminded voters that they must be registered as Republicans to vote in the GOP primary. The Democratic, American Independent and Libertarian parties allow voters unaffiliated with a party to cast ballots in their primaries.

DELEGATE HOPEFULS

Many Californians who are really fired up about this years election dont want their involvement to end at the ballot box.

Both parties report strong interest from those interested in becoming convention delegates. As of last week, about 7,000 applications had been received for 317 Democratic delegate slots, said California Democratic Party spokesman Michael Soller.

Its like someone turned on the faucet of delegates and pointed it our way, he said.

Kaitlyn MacGregor, a spokeswoman for the California Republican Party, said the party has gotten almost 1,000 applications for 169 delegate slots. That doesnt count applications made to the GOP presidential candidates campaigns, which choose their California delegates.

The 317 Democratic district-level delegates are allocated by congressional district, with each district getting between four and nine delegates. The seven districts covering the majority of Riverside and San Bernardino counties have 35 delegates, with 18 spots for women and 17 for men.

Applicants must say which candidate theyre supporting and make their case to 106 caucuses of registered Democrats taking place on May 1. The caucuses will then choose delegates, with the primary vote breakdown in each district helping determine which delegates go to Philadelphia for the Democratic convention July 25-28.

Californias GOP primary awards delegates by congressional district, with the winning candidate getting three candidates from each district. Ten delegates are awarded to the winner of the statewide vote.

Those chosen as delegates better have plenty of money, since they wont be reimbursed for their expenses. The state GOP estimates it will cost each delegate $3,000 to $6,000 with a five-night minimum hotel stay to attend the Republican National Convention from July 18-21 in Cleveland.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9547 or jhorseman@pressenterprise.com
A 29-year-old Riverside man was sentenced to 15 years to life in state prison on Monday, April 11, after a jury convicted him of second-degree murder in the death of a transient woman whose body parts were found in trash bags along railroad tracks in April 2014.

Testifying at his trial, Christopher Marcus Brown said he suspected the victim, Jamie Lea Harmer, was trying to steal his methamphetamine stash when he caught her in his kitchen and she threw a weighing scale at him. He used a hold in self defense, he said, to bring her to the ground, but then her breathing became faint.

As a prosecutor pointed out, Brown did not call for medical aid. Instead the defendant said he went to San Bernardino for a couple weeks and then returned to his apartment to dispose of the body without attracting attention from neighbors.

Riverside police interviewed neighbors after the April 27, 2014 discovery. One had seen the woman inside Browns apartment and others had heard suspicious noises, they testified. Originally from the Midwest, Harmer had come to Riverside not long before her death.

Judge David Gunn added an additional three-year prison term for an unrelated 2011 assault case filed at Southwest Justice Center, so Brown must serve at least 18 years in prison. Brown had failed to complete court-ordered mental health and substance abuse programs in the earlier case, according to court records.
The way to get to the Dodgers has always been through Vin Scully. The City of Los Angeles literally made that so Monday.

Elysian Park Avenue street signs came down and city workers replaced them in the morning with blue Vin Scully Avenue signs at the intersections of Sunset Boulevard and, further up the hill toward Dodger Stadium, Lilac Place. The honor was bestowed on the long-time Hall of Fame broadcaster when the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to rename the stretch of road.

Scully stood at a podium on his own avenue and said he was overwhelmed by the gesture that has come in the final year of his 67th year as the Dodgers announcer.

I cant believe youre all here, he said.

A few hundred fans  some hoisting pictures and bobbleheads of the 88-year-old broadcaster  cheered, laughed and chanted his name as Scully told them what he was going to miss the most.

The roar of the crowd, Scully said. Which is really what Im saying today. I dont know you and I miss you, believe me  each and every one of you.

Los Angeles City Councilman Gil Cedillo, whose district includes Dodger Stadium, had been a key in pushing to make the name change  with Scully joking at the ceremony that the council, despite my no, overrode it.

Cedillo said Scully brought the city together, telling how he used to listen on the radio with an earpiece. Then he heard how fellow city councilmen had similar Scully experiences.

This is what you did, Cedillo said. You united our city and the various communities and various generations.

Charlie Steiner, who also calls Dodger games, said the influence of Scully on him was immediate.

You had me at, Hi everybody and a very pleasant good afternoon wherever you may be, Steiner said. I happened to be in my moms kitchen.

Sam Kane, a 67-year-old Woodland Hills resident, said he can barely consider the idea of a season without Scully and, because it was his last season as the teams broadcaster, had to be present for the ceremony.

It all felt bittersweet.

I really wanted to be a part of history, Kane said. He has been the communicator of history.

Some have opposed the street change name, however.

At the City Council meeting, some residents from the Echo Park and Elysian Neighborhoods said the change was a greater move toward gentrification of the area.

Luzia Padilla, who lives in the neighborhood, came to the ceremony and said she feared the street name was part of a larger plan to replace homes with a restaurant row and turn the newly-named road into something similar to Universal City Walk  heavy on shopping and dining and light on housing.

I love Vin Scully, but I dont love this action, Padilla said.

Scully began with the Dodgers in New York before the team moved to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 1958. They started at Dodger Stadium in 1962. Dodger games became famous for fans sitting in the stadium listening to Scully on radios from their seats.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said there was a practical reason for that  as explained to him by his father.

I said, Dad, were at the game. Why are they listening to the radio? They can see it. And my dad had a two-word answer: Vin Scully. He said they understand the game more. They understand the players and the history and the context, Garcetti said. Vin Scully, you have taught us all baseball.

Scully plans to be there Tuesday for the Dodgers home opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks. It will be his last home opener  despite the crowds chants for him to continue on for one more year.

Ive done enough, he said. I still have this year left again, God-willing, and maybe on the final day of my final broadcast, Ill somehow come up with the magic words that you deserve. As for now, I have only two magic words: Thank you.
What is the first thing a man who realized he was a millionaire while on the way to pay rent would do?

Offer to buy the home, apparently.

At least thats what Christian Searing of Hemet did when he realized his scratch-off ticket was worth $1 million, according to a California Lottery news release.

In early March, Searing purchased the Deluxe 7s Playbook scratch-off ticket at Depot Deli and Liquor along Florida Avenue. The business will also receive $5,000 for selling the winning ticket.

He learned he had won a few days later on the way to his landlords house. When he got there, the release says, he offered to buy his familys home.

Searing said in the release that he wants to open a business college funds for his kids.
Verizon Communications Inc.s largest labor unions  the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers  have given the company until Wednesday morning to settle contract discussions or face a strike.

About 39,000 union members have been working for Verizon without a contract since Aug. 1. The two sides havent been able to agree on issues such as job security, employee transfers and the cost of health benefits.

This is a fight we have to make for our families and for our future, Dennis Trainor, vice president of CWA, District One, said on a conference call Monday. The unions set a deadline of 6 a.m. New York time Wednesday.

Verizon representatives and union officials met Thursday and remain very far apart, which is why we are doing this, said Trainor.

Almost all the union workers are employed by Verizons landline business, which has seen annual declines in the number of lines served as well as job cuts. The company has refocused on wireless and mobile video, where it sees more growth and employees arent in unions and are typically younger.

Verizon has tried to reach a deal with union leaders, and has trained non-union employees to take over operations in the event of a strike, the company said in a statement Monday.

Of the workers, about 29,000 are represented by the CWA, 10,000 by the IBEW.
Correction: Rose Madsen founded the Colton and Coachella chapters of Families and Friends of Murder Victims. Because of a reporting error, her role with the group was incorrect in a previous version of this story.

Twelve long years after her daughters murder, Rose Madsen stood tall. But her voice still quaked.

Life never returns to normal after a loved one is taken from you, Madsen said Monday as she accepted the Award for Exemplary Service to Victims of Crime on behalf of the organization Families and Friends of Murder Victims. Madsen founded Colton and Coachella chapters of the group.

Life may feel empty and hollow, said Madsen, whose daughter, Jennifer LeAnne Balber, was killed in Rialto in November 1994. Life doesnt mean what it used to mean.  But in time, life can be good again.

Recognizing the unending pain caused by crime while doing what they can to make life good again  that was the mission honored in a solemn memorial Monday for National Crime Victims Rights Week.

Its a mission the memorials host, San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael Ramos, said his office has in common with law enforcement and the dozen other public servants who attended the ceremony at the San Bernardino County Government Center.

We must never forget our community members and the victims whom we serve, Ramos said. What Rose doesnt know is she inspires me, because if she can get up and fight, we can do the same.

Photos of homicide victims surrounded the entrance to the government center, in the third year of a tradition that ties into nationwide recognitions April 10-16.

Staff writer Brian Rokos

contributed to this report.

Contact the writer: ryan.hagen@langnews.com, @rmhagen on Twitter
Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron leaves 10 Downing Street in central London to appear before MPs for the first time since it emerged he had profited from an offshore fund, Monday April 11, 2016. Cameron will try to restore his governments shaken reputation for competence with a statement in the House of Commons later Monday, after days of damaging headlines about his links to an offshore wealth fund. (Stefan Rousseau / PA via AP) UNITED KINGDOM OUT - NO SALES - NO ARCHIVES
A cow stands in one of the dairy barns on the Fair Oaks Farms in Fair Oaks, Ind., in this Monday, Jan. 26, 2015. Milk producers in Quebec and the rest of Canada are demanding the federal government enforce tariffs on dairy products coming in from the United States. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Michael Conroy
St. Mary's gets win No. 300, Felten sets 8-man kicking record

What could have been a game to overlook was a milestone night for Gaylord St. Mary's in its final home game of the regular season.
Brazil's lower house recommends impeachment of Dilma Rousseff

Reuters/Ueslei Marcelino



Congressmen hold signs during a session of the impeachment committee of Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff, in Brasilia, Brazil, April11, 2016.

BRASILIA

Petroleumworld.com 04 12 2016

A committee of Brazil's lower house of Congress voted 38-27 on Monday to recommend the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff, who faces charges of breaking budget laws to support her re-election in 2014.

A vote in the full lower house is expected to take place on Sunday. If two-thirds vote in favor, the impeachment will be sent to the Senate.

If the upper house decides by a simple majority to put Rousseff on trial, she will immediately be suspended for up to six months while the Senate decides her fate, and Vice President Michel Temer will take office as acting president.

It would be the first impeachment of a Brazilian president since 1992 when Fernando Collor de Mello faced massive protests for his ouster on corruption charges and resigned moments before his conviction by the Senate.

A former leftist guerrilla, Rousseff has denied any wrongdoing and rallied the rank and file of her Workers' Party to oppose what she has called a coup against a democratically elected president.

Speaking to thousands of supporters in Rio de Janeiro, Rousseff's predecessor and Workers' Party founder Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Brazilian business elites were pressuring lawmakers to remove the president. Lula, who is under investigation in a graft probe, said he had convinced Rousseff to return to policies that favored Brazil's poor.

Caught in a political storm fueled by Brazil's worst recession in decades and the country's biggest corruption scandal, Rousseff has lost key coalition allies in Congress, including her main partner, vice president Temer's PMDB party.

The rift between Rousseff and her vice president reached breaking point on Monday after an audio message of Temer calling for a government of national unity was released apparently by mistake, further muddying Brazil's political water.

Temer's 14-minute audio message sent to members of his own PMDB party via the WhatsApp messaging app showed he was preparing to take over if Rousseff is forced from office.

The audio was posted on the website of the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper and confirmed to Reuters by Temer's aides as authentic. Aides said it was accidentally released and they quickly sent another message asking legislators to disregard it.

RELATED COVERAGE





In his message, Temer said he did not want to get ahead of events, but he had to show the country he was ready to lead it if needed.

"We need a government of national salvation and national unity," Temer said in the audio. "We need to unite all the political parties, and all the parties should be ready to collaborate to drag Brazil out of this crisis."

Rousseff's chief of staff Jaques Wagner called the vice president a "conspirator" and said he should resign if Rousseff survives impeachment.

"Having joined the conspiracy, he should resign when it is defeated, because the climate will become unbearable," Wagner told reporters.

Wagner said the government will continue working to muster enough votes to block impeachment in the lower house, encouraged by the fact that in committee the opposition had not won the two thirds it will need in the plenary.

The committee vote, however, is expected to sway undecided lawmakers to vote for Rousseff's removal, said Claudio Couto, a politics professor at the Fundacao Getulio Vargas think tank.

"It has a snowball effect. With each approval, the chances of impeachment clearing the next chamber increases," Couto said. "The wider the margin, the more momentum impeachment will gather."

The Brasilia-based consultancy Arko Advice said committee votes for impeachment were higher than expected and it raised to 65 percent the odds of Rousseff being unseated by Congress.

POLARIZED COUNTRY

The latest moves in Brazil's political crisis have the country on edge as it faces not only a government meltdown but its worst recession in decades. The political chaos in the capital, Brasilia, is playing out less than 100 days before the nation plays host to the first Olympic Games to be held in South America - an event that will cast the world's eyes on Brazil.

The battle over Rousseff's impeachment has polarized the nation of 200 million people and brought the government of Latin America's largest economy to a virtual standstill.

The proposed impeachment is also taking place as Brazil faces its largest corruption investigation, targeting a sprawling kickback scheme at state-run oil company Petrobras.

Prosecutors say billions in bribes were paid over several years and have implicated not only members of Rousseff's Workers' Party but members of the opposition leading the charge to impeach her.

Eduardo Cunha, the speaker of Brazil's lower house, a Rousseff enemy who is guiding the impeachment proceedings, faces charges of accepting millions in bribes in connection to the Petrobras case, while the head of Brazil's Senate is also caught up in the investigation.

To battle to prevent impeachment approval in the full lower house vote, Rousseff's government is trying to win over lawmakers by offering government jobs that became vacant when the PMDB quit her governing coalition two weeks ago.

The Brazilian real BRBY strengthened nearly 3 percent before Monday's vote to an eight-month peak on expectations that the committee would decide to impeach Rousseff. Investors are betting that her removal will issue in more business-friendly policies to pull Brazil's economy out of a tailspin.






Three new medicines have been cleared for use by NHS Scotland by cost regulator the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC), bringing patients new options for breast cancer, fungal infection and warts.

Novartis Afinitor (everolimus) has been accepted as a treatment for advanced breast cancer, giving patients who no longer respond to hormone therapy a new option besides chemotherapy.

The decision marks a u-turn from the SMCs earlier rejection of the drug back in October last year, and comes after patient groups and clinicians highlighted that the drug can delay the need for chemotherapy by up to six months, as well as a patient access scheme to enhance its cost-effectiveness.

Being able to provide Scottish patients, with this type of advanced breast cancer, a targeted treatment option is welcome news for them and their families, noted David Cameron, Professor of Oncology at Edinburgh University.

Elsewhere, Basileas Cresemba (isavuconazole) is in for the treatment of aspergillosis and mucormycosis, fungal infections which can attack the brain and lungs of patients with weakened immune systems. PACE participants described how these infections carry a significant mortality rate as well as causing severe shortness of breath and chronic fatigue, and the drug offers another treatment option for these patients, the SMC noted.

A Phase III, randomised, double-blind, non-inferiority study demonstrated that, in the treatment of invasive aspergillosis, isavuconazole was non-inferior to a triazole antifungal for all-cause mortality through day 42, and had a similar overall response at the end of treatment.

Also accepted was Kora Healthcares Catephen (camellia sinensis) ointment for the treatment of genital and perianal warts.

According to the SMC there is currently an unmet need for an effective, licensed, well-tolerated treatment for this condition, but the regulator has restricted its use to patients not suitable or unresponsive to podophyllotoxin.

On the downside, the Committee was unable to accept PTC Therapeutics Translarna (ataluren) for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, as there was too much uncertainty about the overall clinical benefits it might bring in relation to its cost, despite powerful testimonies from patient groups and clinicians. However, the firm has indicated its intention to re-submit the drug, the SMC said.

Also ousted was Alexion Pharmas Soliris (eculizumab) for Paroxysmal Nocturnal Haemoglobinuria (PNH), a rare genetic disease in which red blood cells break apart prematurely, causing blood clots and bone marrow dysfunction.

The Committee was unable to support the drugs use as the overall health benefits of the medicine meant it would not justify the cost to the NHS.
MERCERVILLE, N.J. - A New Jersey administrative law judge on Monday heard two challenges to GOP presidential candidate Ted Cruz's eligibility to appear on the New Jersey ballot, based upon the Texas senator's having been born in Canada.

The judge, Jeff Masin, said he would issue a decision Tuesday on the challenges to Cruz's eligibility to appear on the June 7 primary ballot. The decision is expected to be reviewed by Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, who is New Jersey's secretary of state.

At a news conference Monday, Gov. Christie - a Donald Trump supporter - said he was not aware of the hearing, but did not question Cruz's citizenship.

One of the challenges was brought by three South Jersey residents, and the other was by a law professor who lives in Maryland and is running for president as a write-in candidate in New Jersey.

Both parties argued that because Cruz was born in Calgary, Alberta, he is not a natural-born citizen, and thus ineligible for the presidency. Cruz's mother was born in Delaware, while his father was born in Cuba. The senator released his birth certificate in 2013.

Shalom Stone, a New Jersey attorney representing Cruz, argued that the three from South Jersey - Fernando Powers of Blackwood, Donna Ward of Mantua, and Bruce Stom of Winslow - and professor Victor Williams do not have standing to challenge Cruz's eligibility. Stone also said the state does not have authority to decide the question.

Masin noted that in 2012, he denied a challenge to President Obama's eligibility to appear on the New Jersey ballot. That challenge was argued by attorney Mario Apuzzo, who represented the three South Jersey residents in the Cruz challenge Monday.

In the Obama case, the courts "affirmed my decision," rather than saying, "This is not something the courts can even discuss," Masin said.

As for "natural-born citizen," Stone said the words in the U.S. Constitution "have meaning given to them by English common law" at the time of their adoption. He directed Masin to his brief for arguments and cases in support of Cruz's position.

In his brief, Stone wrote that because Cruz's mother was a U.S. citizen "who was physically present in the U.S. for more than 10 years, including at least five" after turning 14, Cruz was "a U.S. citizen at the moment of his birth - and thus is a 'natural born citizen' " eligible to be president.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently declined an appeal by a Pittsburgh man who challenged Cruz's eligibility to appear on the ballot in the April 26 primary. A Commonwealth Court judge had ruled that Cruz is a natural-born citizen.

Masin said the Pennsylvania decision was the only one he knew of that addressed the merits of the arguments against Cruz's eligibility. Other challenges have been dismissed on procedural grounds, Masin said.

Two of the challengers to Cruz's eligibility in New Jersey, Williams and Powers, said they support Trump, who has raised questions about his rival's eligibility. But Williams said he was Trump's opponent in states where he is running as a write-in candidate, including New Jersey.

Williams, a professor at the Columbus School of Law in Washington, told the hearing that while Cruz is an American citizen, he is not a natural-born citizen.

Williams, who has filed challenges to Cruz's eligibility in a number of states, later told reporters he was motivated by reading about 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney's father, George W. Romney, who was born in Mexico to parents who were both U.S. citizens. George Romney ran for the Republican nomination for president in 1968.

"This isn't just about this election," Williams said, but to set "historic precedent."

"No one actually challenged him," Williams said of George Romney.

mhanna@phillynews.com

856-779-3232

@maddiehanna

www.philly.com/christiechronicles
Alvis Holley, 28, was found guilty of attempted murder in the 2011 shooting of two Chicago police officers. (Photo: Cook County Sheriff's Office)

A man on parole who shot two Chicago police officers when they interrupted him during a drug transaction in the West Garfield Park neighborhood in 2011 was sentenced Monday to 100 years in prison, according to prosecutors and court records.

Alvis Holley, 28, was convicted in September of two counts of attempted murder of a police officer. Cook Count Judge Nicholas Ford sentenced him Monday.

About 10:45 p.m. July 18, 2011, the officers saw a narcotics deal in an alley on the 4000 block of West Wilcox Street. When they approached the alley, Holley, who was involved in the transaction, walked up to the passenger side of the police car, prosecutors said.

Holley could not tell the officers what he was doing or where he lived, so he was told to put his hands on the hood of the police car. Instead, he began to fight with the officers, prosecutors said.

During the fight, Holley pulled out a .22-caliber pistol from his waist and shot one of the officers in the left bicep and grazed his left temple. When the first officer fell to the ground, Holley shot the second officer in the head, prosecutors said.

Holley then fled the scene but left a hat behind containing DNA evidence. Holley later confessed to the crime but said he had been attacked by an unknown person from behind and shot to protect himself, prosecutors said.
Chase Jenkins, served as a captain with the Rainbow City Police prior to the allegations. He plans to return to law enforcement now that the charges have been dropped. (Photo: Etowah County Jail)

An Etowah County, AL, judge has dropped charges against a Rainbow City police officer who was arrested in January on sodomy charges.

District Judge Will Clay dismissed charges against Chase Jenkins, who resigned from Rainbow City police after his arrest.

Following the hearing, Jenkins' estranged wife Melisa Anne Jenkins, 42, was arrested on charges of perjury and falsely reporting an incident, AL.com reports.

According to court documents, the charges were dismissed after submission of documents by Jenkins' attorney and by the Etowah County District Attorney's Office. Jenkins previously held the rank of captain with the Rainbow City department.

In a statement through his attorney, Jenkins thanked his friends and supporters for their encouragement since his arrest. He said he intends on returning to his career in law enforcement, feeling the experience has made him "a better and more understanding police officer."
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The NBC News/Marist Poll became the second poll today to show Hillary Clinton leading Bernie Sanders by double digits in the New York Democratic primary.

Clinton leads Sanders 55%-41%, and according to NBC News:

Clinton leads Sanders among African Americans (68 percent to 28 percent), those ages 45 and older (66 percent to 30 percent) and women (58 percent to 38 percent). Sanders, meanwhile, holds the advantage among those younger than 45 (62 percent to 37 percent) and those who describe themselves as very liberal (59 percent to 40 percent). The two are running roughly even among men and Latinos.

Thirty percent of Sanders supporters in New York said that they would not vote for Hillary Clinton in November if she is the nominee, but those numbers should be taken with a serious grain of salt. Clinton is actually doing better with Sanders supporters than Obama did with her supporters during the 08 campaign. In May of 2008, half of Clinton supporters polled said that they would not vote for Barack Obama if he were the Democratic nominee. Of course, the vast majority of those Clinton supporters did vote for President Obama as the party came together almost immediate after the Democratic primary ended.

Instead of worrying about who will vote for which candidate in November, what matters is the Democratic primary that is being contested in New York. Earlier on Monday, a new poll from Monmouth University showed Hillary Clinton leading Bernie Sanders by 12 points. Clinton has led Sanders in every recent New York poll by double digits.

Unlike the state of Michigan, the primary in New York is open only to registered Democratic voters. The problem for Sen. Sanders is the same old story. Hillary Clinton is blowing out Bernie Sanders with African-American voters. Clinton has been powered to large margin victories in numerous states where the Democratic electorate has a sizable African-American voting population. The Sanders weakness with African-American voters combined with Clinton running even with him among men suggests a trendline that is more indicative of a Clinton win than a Sanders upset.

For this reason, Thursdays debate in New York is vital for Sen. Sanders. Clinton is in a great position in the state, but the debate will give Bernie Sanders a chance to appeal to New York voters. If Sanders fails to make up ground on former Sec. of State Clinton at the debate, it could be a big night for the Democratic frontrunner.
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US taxpayers get screwed again as half of the Goldman Sachs $5 billion settlement with the Department of Justice will be tax deductible.

The Department of Justice announced that Goldman Sachs will pay $5 billion to settle claims that they misled investors during the mortgage crisis, The Justice Department, along with federal and state partners, announced today a $5.06 billion settlement with Goldman Sachs related to Goldmans conduct in the packaging, securitization, marketing, sale and issuance of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) between 2005 and 2007. The resolution announced today requires Goldman to pay $2.385 billion in a civil penalty under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act (FIRREA) and also requires the bank to provide $1.8 billion in other relief, including relief to underwater homeowners, distressed borrowers and affected communities, in the form of loan forgiveness and financing for affordable housing. Goldman will also pay $875 million to resolve claims by other federal entities and state claims. Investors, including federally-insured financial institutions, suffered billions of dollars in losses from investing in RMBS issued and underwritten by Goldman between 2005 and 2007.

Dennis Kelleher, President and CEO of Better Markets, pointed out that half of the settlement will be tax deductible for Goldman Sachs:

This settlement is a victory for Goldman. First, it got to keep all the ill-gotten gains for the last eight-plus years. Second, a $5 billion settlement is meaningless unless it is publicly disclosed how much money was made from the illegal conduct and the total amount of investor losses. Third, DOJ helped it cover up its illegal actions by letting Goldman merely acknowledge a Swiss cheese statement of facts carefully crafted more to conceal than reveal what Goldman really did here. Fourth, Goldmans net revenue was $37.7 billion and its net earnings were $9.5 billion in 2006 alone, just one year in the midst of this multi-year scheme. Fifth, every single individual at Goldman who received a bonus from this illegal conduct not only keeps the entire bonus, but suffers no penalty at all. Sixth, more than half of the $5 billion appears likely to be tax deductible, meaning U.S. taxpayers will be required to subsidize this settlement.

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said that Goldman admitted to the whole world that their system is based on fraud.

Sanders said, Goldman Sachs is one of the major financial institutions in our country. What they have just acknowledged to the whole world is that their systemis based on fraud.

The fact that Goldman got to keep all of the money that have made from collapsing the economy plus will be able to write off half of the settlement with the Department of Justice should be enraging to taxpayers.

When Democrats talk about the system being rigged, the Goldman Sachs settlement is a perfect example of what they are referring to. Sure, their illegal activity will cost Goldman $5 billion, but its not really $5 billion because they will be able to write off half of it. No one from Goldman Sachs will be going to prison, and the American people will again be footing the bill.

The reason voters are enraged is because the system is rigged. The Goldman Sachs settlement isnt justice. There is no way that the people who lost their jobs, homes, and life savings can feel like justice has been done. Voters are angry, and one of the main sources of their rage is the fact that Wall Street destroyed the economy and got off with less than a slap on the wrist.

Real change is needed in the United States, and it should start by holding the criminals who destroyed Americas economy accountable.
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Bernie Sanders has been awarded an additional delegate after the Colorado Democratic Party admitted that they miscounted the results in ten percent of precincts. If Sanders gets the support of one of the states two uncommitted superdelegates, he will win a majority of delegates in Colorado.

The Denver Post reported on a small mistake with potentially large consequences:

The mistake is a minor shift with major implications. The new projection now shows the Vermont senator winning 39 delegates in Colorado, compared to 27 for Clinton. Even if Clinton wins all 12 superdelegates in the state, Sanders can finish no worse than a split decision. The new count contrasts with prior projections from The Post, Bloomberg Politics and The Associated Press that indicated Clinton would probably win the majority of the 78 delegates in Colorado because of her support from party leaders with superdelegate status. If Sanders lands one Colorado superdelegate  two are still undecided and others are facing significant pressure  he could win the states delegation.

The problem here wasnt the mistake, but the way that it was handled. The state Democratic Party misreported the results to the public and kept their mistake quiet until it was uncovered by The Denver Post. The state party reported the error to the Clinton campaign but never told the Sanders campaign.

The fiasco in Colorado highlights that caucuses are not official elections, and by design, they are vulnerable to mistakes and corruption. There are growing calls in Colorado for the state to a primary system. Primaries are more transparent, and most importantly are not held by state parties.

Caucuses are also fundamentally undemocratic. The caucus system imposes artificial barriers to participation that limit turnout to the most dedicated supporters of each candidate. Again, since caucuses arent official elections the process is controlled by each state party and can be influenced by the agendas and interests of state party leaders.

The process of selecting a presidential nominee is too important to be left up to caucuses that are run by the state parties. Bernie Sanders would have never gotten the extra delegate and a chance to win the Colorado delegation without the efforts of The Denver Post.

Sanders has benefitted more than any other candidate from the caucus system in 2016, but what happened to him in Colorado demonstrates why the caucuses have got to go.
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A day after 400 protesters were arrested during a sit-in at the US Capitol that called for a restoration of the Voting Rights Act and an end to money in politics, elder Americans some of whom participated in the civil rights movement will be joining the protest today.

Video of Mondays protest by John Zangas of Revolution News:

According to Democracy Spring organizers:

As many as 3,000 marchers from almost all 50 states, some of whom came on foot over 10 days from Philadelphias Liberty Hall, staged sit-in demonstrations at the US Capitol Monday, protesting the failure of Congress to restrict big money in politics and protect voting rights. They will be back today, joined by dozens of older Americans who are willing to risk arrest to get the attention of legislators and demand a more democratic future for their children and grandchildren. U.S. Capitol Police yesterday said they arrested and processed more than 400 demonstrators yesterday, with more being processed into the night and some not being released until this morning. Outnumbered, police were slow to move in and make arrests and then could only process a few of the demonstrators at a time. They called the number of non-violent demonstrators unprecedented. Protesters spirits were high and there were no incidents.

Thousands of Americans protesting in the US Capitol for voting rights and to get the billionaire dollars out of our politics is the stuff of Republican nightmares. The success of the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign has demonstrated that millions of Americans arent being fooled.

The American people have seen the behavior of a Republican controlled Congress that has openly ignored the will of the majority of the country while doing the bidding of their billionaire donors.

What thousands of people are protesting in Washington, D.C. is a two-pronged Republican attack on democracy. Conservatives are trying to make the electorate smaller through voter suppression while at the same time allowing billionaires to buy the federal government through Citizens United dark money.

Our elder Americans have seen the theft of voting rights before, which is why they are joining the fight to stop history from repeating itself. Im doing this because I care enough about the kind of country were leaving for them. I want them to have a chance to have a full say in it, said Lynne Iser, an activist from Philadelphia who participated in anti-war and civil rights protests in her youth and is now coordinating Elders Standing for Democracy Spring.

The issue of voting right cuts across all demographic lines. Thousands of Americans have walked to the Capitol and are telling Republicans that they know what is going on and they arent going to let billionaires and Republican politicians steal the government.
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*The following is an opinion column by R Muse*

It has been 240 years since Founding Father Thomas Jefferson created the Declaration of Independence, and for each and every one of those 240 years America has rejected the idea that all (men) are created equal. Rich people are significantly more equal than the poor and middle class, white people are incredibly more equal than people of color, and men are damn sure more equal than women.

It was 147 after the Founders signed Jeffersons famous document that two American women, Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman created what was to be the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) that was introduced in Congress in 1923. After 147 years, the two women concluded that after a century-and-a-half, it was high time for Congress to make Jeffersons immortal declaration a reality for women. They assumed that there was no better way than to create a Constitutional Amendment that guarantees that all Americans are equal under purview of the law of the land.

It has been 93 years since Congress first considered the ERA, but Jeffersons declaration is still not true and if Republicans, the devout, and nasty patriarchs have their way women will never enjoy equal rights with men any more than they will enjoy pay equity. It is an issue that President Barack Obama is bringing to the fore today, April 12th; the day designated as equal pay day.

The White House announced yesterday that President Obama will designate a new national monument today at a historic location in Washington, D.C. to honor the movement for womens equality. It is no coincidence that the President chose equal pay day to dedicate the new Belmont-Paul Womens Equality National Monument. The purpose is to protect the iconic house that has served as the headquarters for the National Womans Party since 1929. From this house, known in recent years as the Sewall-Belmont House, members of the Party led the movement for womens equality, authoring more than 600 pieces of federal, state and local legislation in support of equal rights; including equal pay.

The White House press release explained that the President chose today, Equal Pay Day, to dedicate the new monument because it is the date in the current year that represents the extra days a typical woman working full-time would have to work just to make the same as a typical man did in the previous year. This is not just a one-off for the President to acknowledge womens plight in the workplace. Equal pay, like equal rights, has been one of the Presidents top priorities since taking office in 2009 when he signed his first piece of legislation as President, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.

He also created the National Equal Pay Task Force, called on Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, issued an Executive Order prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating against employees who discuss or inquire about their compensation, and worked with the Department of Labor and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to better target enforcement of equal pay laws though enhanced employer reporting of pay data.

President Obama is well aware that the gender pay gap is economically devastating for women and their families; particularly women of color and LGBT women. As Oscar-winning actress Patricia Arquette wrote; there is a direct correlation between one in five children going hungry and women being underpaid compared to their male counterparts. Arquette rightly stated what many Americans, including some women, are acutely aware of; Until equal rights are guaranteed in our Constitution, wage inequality and other discriminatory practices affecting women in America will continue unabated.

It is hard to imagine who these people are, but many Americans labor under the false belief that womens equality is already enshrined in the Constitution as a basic human right in a decidedly patriarchal society. That is just not the case and it is precisely why America needs a special Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The men running the country, especially the conservative Christian men and their Stockholm Syndrome-affected conservative Christian women have to have it spelled out in black and white that equality cannot be denied on the basis of gender. If they could accept that simple premise, the ERA would not have been batted around and knocked down since its introduction in 1923 and would not still be awaiting passage after 93 years.

Because America was created specifically, and continues, to be a patriarchal society, the ERA has always been highly controversial; not as some like to claim because it is difficult to know exactly what equality for women even means. It means that women are equal to men and nothing more or nothing less which is exactly why the ERA is still not a part of the Constitution.

One historian, Judith Sealander, claimed it was feminist against feminist that caused the eventual defeat of the ERA. That seems like so much bovine excrement because men have controlled Congress and state legislatures since Americas inception. However, there is a certain level of veracity to Ms. Sealanders assertion.

The ERA eventually passed both houses of Congress and was submitted to the state legislatures for ratification in 1972. It actually seemed on pace for quick ratification by the states until a malcontent woman, Phyllis Schlafly incited and mobilized conservative women to oppose equal rights for all women. Schlafly, a staunch conservative whose raison detre was keep women held captive to traditional gender roles, claimed the ERA was created specifically to disadvantage housewives; the only position she claims all women are qualified and were born to fulfill.

Schlaflys anti-womens crusade was successful and while Congress set a ratification deadline of March 22, 1979, while 35 of the 38 states needed to ratify the amendment did so, pressure from conservative Christians convinced five states to rescind their ratifications and the rest is history; women are still not equal to men in 21st Century America.

Although it is true women do not enjoy pay equity with men, it is not the only issue that drives the inequality they suffer simply for being unfortunate enough to be born female in a patriarchal society. Even in the 21st Century, women cannot safely make their own healthcare choices, are not equally represented in government, and are at the mercy of conservative Christian men who deem it is their biblical right to control when they give birth.

Conservatives love comparing womens blessed rights as Americans to women living in Muslim nations, but that is absurd. It is true that women are not being beheaded for being raped, wanting out of a marriage or speaking out against harsh religious laws and they do not yet have to wear head-to-toe covering. But if no small number of conservative Christians had their way American women would suffer the exact same consequences as women in harsh Muslim theocracies; especially for demanding equal rights.

What is still a bone of contention is that no-one in government is willing to acknowledge that the gross inequalities plaguing American women are, like many atrocities, borne of adherence to religion. Yes, it is obvious that women need and deserve equal pay for equal work, but they also need and damn sure deserve precisely the same equal rights that men enjoy.

It is high time America take immediate steps to fulfill Thomas Jeffersons immortal declaration that all Americans are created equal. As much as one hopes President Obamas actions today to honor the movement for womens equality will have even a minuscule effect on the equal pay issue, until there is an Equal Rights Amendment in the Constitution, women will continue being treated exactly like conservative Christians and their Republican patriarchs insist; as second class citizens serving as birth machines and underpaid servants.

Actress Patricia Arquette created a petition here to demand Congress take action and pass the Equal Rights Amendment.

Image: azquotes
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In a new Grassley ad, the Agenda Project Action Fund has decided to be exactly as dignified and respectful to Republicans as Republicans have been to America.

Spoiler: Its not pretty.

If Republicans dont do their jobs when theyre in Washington, what exactly is it that they do do?

This is the question posed in a video released by the Agenda Project Action Fund, which is set to air today in Iowa against Senator Chuck Grassley, who as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee is leading the Republican refusal to do their jobs.

Watch here:

Observing that Senate Democrats have committed to trying to work through the sludge of Republican obstruction and obstinancy and thus cant respond quite as the rest of America might wish to, the Agenda Project has set itself free to treat Republicans as Republicans treat America.

Instead, said Agenda Project Action Fund President Erik Altieri, In this new Grassley ad, the Agenda Project Action Fund has decided to be exactly as dignified and respectful to Republicans as Republicans have been to America.

Republicans outright refusal to do their job has actual, real consequences for actual, real people, said Agenda Project Action Fund President Erik Altieri, Leaving the Supreme Court tied in this volatile election season when one candidate has already questioned another candidates constitutional right to the Presidency is the definition of irresponsible. At some point, our fellow citizens are going to clue into the fact that people who hate the government should not be allowed to run it.

The ad shows actors playing Republicans dodging the press (which Senator Grassley has been doing quite a bit of, in fact) as they rush to sit on the toilet reading Ayn Rand and doing nothing for the people.

In other words, Republicans are crapping on America and so now America should crap on Republicans.

Republicans have built this kind of contempt the long, hard way but theyve been treated with kid gloves for so long by the media that Senator Grassley has seemed a bit surprised to be called out on his absurd refusal to do the job he is paid to do.

Some reporters actually refer to this as the Supreme Court spat, which is exactly what it is not. Its not often there is one side that is completely wrong, but in this case, Republicans are completely wrong. They are so wrong that even former Bush official wrote a scathing editorial telling Grassley to do his job. Its not hard. This is the most basic part of the job- hold a hearing. But Republicans are too busy blocking aid to Flint water victims to do their jobs.

The questions many Americans are asking, based on Grassleys town halls during the recess, is why wont Republicans do their job? Blank or get off the pot. And if they wont get off the pot, why are they running for office again? Do we really need to pay people to point fingers, whine, and pout and then when busted on not doing the most basic part of their jobs, blame others?

What is it exactly that Republicans do do in Washington, indeed. What they are doing is whatever Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) tells them to do in order to save their majority. The irony in this is McConnell has proven himself repeatedly to be a horrible national strategist; he only seems to carry water for special interests and big money while catering to deep partisans, but many vulnerable Republicans senators are not in states where that will work.

This sitting on the toilet business is what opened the door to extremists like Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.
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People for the American Way (PFAW) is reporting that This weekend Sen. Ted Cruz announced the support of demon-hunting, anti-gay exorcist and Colorado state Rep. Gordon Klingenschmitt, the former Navy Chaplain who dared to pray in Jesus name, as part of his Colorado Leadership Team, stating I am honored to have the support of so many courageous conservatives in Colorado.

Its not every candidate who has a disgraced former military chaplain turned demon hunter endorsing him.

In a press release Monday, the organization stated:

This weekend Sen. Ted Cruz announced the support of demon-hunting, anti-gay exorcist and Colorado state Rep. Gordon Klingenschmitt as part of his Colorado Leadership Team, stating I am honored to have the support of so many courageous conservatives in Colorado.



People For the American Way (PFAW) has long tracked the shocking and downright bizarre anti-Obama, anti-women, and anti-LGBT comments of Rep. Klingenschmitt. He was mocked on the Daily Show just last week for his comments against transgender people, and hes been criticized by his fellow Republican lawmakers for his outrageous remarks, including his claim that a vicious attack on a pregnant woman in Colorado was caused by the curse of God upon America for legal abortion. An overview of Klingenschmitts extremism, including videos, is here from Right Wing Watch, a project of PFAW.



Cruzs choice to align with Klingenschmitt, who has been repeatedly denounced even by members of his own party, shows how dangerous a Ted Cruz presidency would be to most Americans, said PFAW President Michael Keegan. Even among far-right activists, Klingenschmitts comments stand out. Rep. Klingenschmitt has declared that demonic spirits rule President Obama, that God cursed America for legal abortion through a brutal attack on a pregnant woman, and that teaching children about marriage equality subjects children to rape, at least in their mind. Cruzs decision to advertise his association with Klingenschmitt shows just how ugly his own extreme anti-gay agenda as president would be.



Klingenschmitt is only the latest in a long list of endorsements and partnerships that Cruz has fostered with far-right extremists. For example, Cruzs pro-life co-chair, Troy Newman, has written that God is punishing America for failing to institute the death penalty for abortion providers. Cruz has campaigned alongside Kevin Swanson, who believes a just government would execute gay people. Cruz has also touted the support of Mike Bickle, who believes that God sent Hitler as a hunter for the Jewish people.

Maybe this is all part of Cruzs messiah shtick. After all, Jesus went around casting out demons, and demons get more than a hundred mentions in the New Testament. There is no doubt at all that Carl Sagans last book, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark (1997) is a much-needed antidote to todays demon-obsessed Republican Party.

People in the first century accepted the existence of demons like we accept the existence of something else we cant see: atoms. But now we know  thanks to modern science  that people once thought possessed are really just suffering from neurobiological disorders, like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

On the left we laugh derisively at all this, but must understand that conservatives are going to take Klingenschmitts endorsement seriously. The guy got elected to office on this demon-hunting platform after all.

In fact, there is an antithesis of Sagans book by Pastor Steven Waterhouse (Strength for His People: A Ministry for the Families of the Mentally Ill, 2002)  and yes, you can run out and buy it on Amazon  which tells us that what we think might be neurobiological disorders are, in fact, examples of demonic possession.

Waterhouse assures readers that,

Many Christians who endure a family members battle with schizophrenia will have questions about demonic involvement with a loved one and deserve real answers instead of a condescending response which dismisses such concern as nonsense on the part of ignorant people.

If you look at Waterhouses six factors for determining the difference, the first of which is, Attraction to vs. Aversion to Religion. Demons want nothing to do with Christ. Conversely, people with NBD are often devoutly religious, or some of the truly insane things Klingenschmitt has said

Like just last year, Klingenschmitt said Bad judges upholding gay therapy bans are cooperating with the demonic spirit inside of the homosexual addict. He assures us that God can come as a healer through the psychotherapist to heal the homosexual of their sinful addiction.

Wellignorant people. And thats it exactly, isnt it?

There is a gulf here that cannot be bridged between the First Century and the Twenty First Century. Conservative Christians refuse to join us. They insist on living in their demon haunted world, and living in that place is why the endorsement of Klingenschmitt, while the kiss of death for liberals and progressives, is boon to Fox News white Christian Americans.

As I have pointed out before, and some of you will have direct experience with this through friends or family members, there is a spiritual war taking place none of us on the left can really understand  because science. It is very real to these people, however, and we have to accept and understand that.

Science tells us if youre buried alive youre going to die, but Prophet Shamiso Kanyama, intent on exorcising a familys demons in Zimbabwe, had his followers bury him alive so he could resurrect with new powers.

He didnt. They dug him up to find him dead instead. An outcome any Democrat could have predicted.

Laughter is not the answer to this obsession with demons. Nor, sadly, is just handing them a copy of Sagans book. The old Christian adage is that people have to want to be saved, and if science is salvation, that is undoubtedly true.

This shouldnt be your problem, but admitting the other person has a problem isnt a bad place to start either, and we need to make it clear Ted Cruz has a demon problem.
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At a recent meeting in Rochester, some older Minnesotans shared stories they should never have to tell.

Like millions of other Americans, these seniors feel powerless as their health and financial well-being are often jeopardized by ever-rising prescription drug prices. Recent double-digit increases  far beyond the U.S. inflation rate  are putting essential, even life-saving, medicines out of reach for too many people.

In short, many budget-strapped seniors are being forced to choose between buying doctor-prescribed medications and paying for other basic necessities like food, rent or gas. For some, it means cutting pills in half to make them last longer or even taking the risk of forgoing their medications.

At the Rochester meeting, a local woman who has been hospitalized several times for her asthma condition said she can only afford to take one puff of her inhaler each day, not the two puffs her doctor says she needs. She knows her doctor wouldn't be happy about her cutting back, but the rising cost of the medicine gives her no choice.

Her story was gathered as part a Prescription Drug Cost Listening Tour my office conducted throughout the state to hear about the impact of skyrocketing drug prices.

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As a member of the Senate Health Committee, I plan to share stories like hers with my congressional colleagues so they can hear firsthand about the urgent need to address this

problem.

A very real problem

Rising prescription drug costs are a very real and growing problem for many in Minnesota and across the country. Lack of competition in the drug market has allowed drug companies to hike prices exorbitantly  even on generics. And a number of new specialty drugs come with staggering price tags that are being passed on from insurers to everyone else.

Last fall, Americans were enraged when Turing Pharmaceuticals hiked the price of one life-saving drug by about 5,500 percent  from $13.50 to $750 per pill. The company was able to game the system because there is little or no competition in the market. As outrageous and excessive as this was, it's not the only example of an exorbitant price increase. In short, it showed that millions of Americans  especially vulnerable seniors  can be devastated by sudden spikes in drug prices.

And with Americans spending hundreds of billions of dollars each year on prescription drugs, the problem of isn't going away soon. Since the beginning of the year, Pfizer raised the prices of 60 brand-name drugs by an average of 10 percent. And eight of those drugs went up by at least 20 percent. With treatments for some diseases such as cancer costing more than $100,000 annually, out-of-pocket costs can quickly cripple the financial well-being of elderly Americans, even those with comprehensive insurance. Such increases also are driving up insurance premiums for everyone else.

Fighting back

We have to fight back. That's why I'm taking several steps to slow the advance of drug costs.

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First, I am pressing legislation to end something called "pay-for-delay," where brand-name drug manufacturers pay generic drug makers to delay bringing cheaper generic alternatives to market. By eliminating generic-drug competitors, big drug companies can reap large profits by keeping brand-name prices high.

My bill would help millions of Americans by stopping these deals and bringing affordable medications to the market sooner.

I also plan to re-introduce a measure to cut drug prices and save taxpayers up to $24 billion by allowing the federal Medicare program to negotiate lower prices for drugs used by older Americans. Unlike other federal health programs, such as Medicaid and those run by the Veterans Health Administration, Medicare officials are banned by law from negotiating lower prices with drug manufacturers.

Most industrialized countries use their buying power to negotiate lower prices for their citizens. In fact, many drugs developed and manufactured in the United States cost much less in other countries like Canada and in Europe.That's why we need to lower barriers to importing lower-cost drugs from countries like Canada, so that seniors can save money and import their personal medications safely and legally.

In March, I introduced a measure to end a tax break that allows drug companies to write off the billions of dollars they spend on television, magazine and Internet advertisements to entice consumers to buy more expensive brand-name drugs, even when cheaper, equally effective drugs are on the market. The United States is one of only two countries that allows these "direct-to-consumer" ads, which ultimately drive up health care costs. American taxpayers spend too much to fund this tax break  that's money that can be put to better use.

We have to do more to bring down prescription drug prices that disproportionately hit seniors in Minnesota and across the country. That's why I'm working in Washington to enact common sense measures to cut the cost of the prescriptions that Minnesotans need. And it's why I've been listening to them in communities across Minnesota and sharing their stories in Washington.

Al Franken represents Minnesota in the U.S. Senate.
Yes. I vote for candidates who have lawmaking experience.

Yes. I'm voting for newer or first-time candidates.

No. I vote based on candidates' stances on issues.

No. I vote based based on political affiliation.

Experience matters, but other factors are just as important.

Vote

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One reason Ive been writing much less about the climatistas here lately is that the subject has become such a crashing bore. Dont take my word for itjust ask the lefty Media Mutters for America, the site David Brock curates to whine on Hillarys behalf.

Media Mutters has a new study out bemoaning that the major TV network news broadcasts are losing interest in climate change, despite the UN Paris hootenanny back in December and the official Hottest Year Evah in 2015. These should be good times for the climatistas with the lapdog media. But no:

Network news coverage of climate change dropped, on average, in 2015 Despite such major stories as President Barack Obamas Clean Power Plan, the Paris climate agreement and the Popes encyclical on climate change, on average NBC, CBS and ABC all devoted fewer minutes of coverage to global warming, according to Media Matters for America, which has been monitoring climate coverage since 2009. The total amount of coverage on the nightly news and the Sunday talk shows dropped five percent in 2015, says Andrew Seifter, climate and energy program director for Media Matters and a co-author of the study. This is surprising, Seifter says, given that by any measure, we could say that 2015 was the most newsworthy year for climate change in history.

And yet, the major media greeted it with a great big yawn. The fun part is that one news network greatly increased the time they devoted to climate change: Fox News. Oh no!

FOX was the one network that significantly increased its coverage. It actually doubled it, Seifter says. But that wasnt necessarily a good thing for people concerned about climate change, he notes. The vast majority of that coverage included attacks on climate policies, or climate science denial, he explains. So, people who watch Fox for their climate coverage got more of it, but they didnt necessarily learn more from watching it.

Heres the chart:

Heh. No wonder the desperate climatistas are going full Spanish Inquisition and want climate skeptics jailed.
The Senate has asked the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, to apologise if he fails to prove that the Lagos-Calabar road project was included in the 2016 budget.

Otherwise, Mr. Amaechi should should resign forthwith, the senate said in a statement Monday.

The Senate advised the Presidency to come clean with Nigerians on the 2016 Budget and stop engaging in surreptitious campaigns of calumny against the upper legislative chamber, to cover up its serial errors.

Reacting to reports in the media credited to the executive arm of government, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, said in a statement that the National Assembly had bent backwards to wring a coherent document out of the excessively flawed and chaotic versions of the budget proposal submitted to the National Assembly.

While the executive is mandated to prepare and lay before the National Assembly a proposed budget detailing projects to be executed, it should be made clear that the responsibility and power of appropriation lies with the National Assembly. If the presidency expects us to return the budget proposal to them without any adjustments, then some people must be living in a different era and probably have not come to terms with democracy, the statement said.

We make bold to say however, that the said Lagos-Calabar rail project was not included in the budget proposal presented to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari and we challenge anyone who has any evidence to the contrary to present such to Nigerians.

Since the beginning of the 2016 budget process, it is clear that the National Assembly has suffered all manners of falsehood, deliberate distortion of facts, and outright blackmail, deliberately aimed at poisoning the minds of the people against the institution of the National Assembly.

We have endured this with equanimity in the overall interest of Nigerians. Even when the original submission was surreptitiously swapped and we ended up having two versions of the budget, which was almost incomprehensible and heavily padded in a manner that betrays lack of coordination and gross incompetence, we refused to play to the gallery and instead helped the Executive to manage the hugely embarrassing situation it has brought upon itself; but enough is enough.

This latest antics of this particular minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, is reckless, uncalled for and dangerously divisive. Apart from setting the people of the southern part of the country against their northern compatriots, it potentially sets the people against their lawmakers from the concerned constituencies and sets the lawmakers against themselves. This manner of reprehensible mischief has no place in a democracy. We hereby demand from Mr. Amaechi a publicly tendered apology if he is not able to show evidence that the Lagos-Calabar road project was included in the budget. Otherwise, he should resign forthwith.

Finally, by the provision of Section 81 (4) (a) and (b) of the constitution, the President is allowed to sign the budget and kick-start the implementation of the other areas that constitute over 90 percent of the budget where there is agreement between both arms, even as we engage ourselves to resolve the contentious areas, if there were any. We therefore maintain that even this contrived discrepancies are not sufficient excuse not to sign the budget into law.

We therefore urge President Buhari to sign the 2016 budget without any further delay. For every additional day that the president withholds his assent from the bill, the hardship in the land, which is already becoming intolerable for the masses of our people gets even more complicated. Certainly, as primary representatives of the people we shall not vacate our responsibility and watch the people continue to suffer unduly.
Despite documents obtained by PREMIUM TIMES from the massive data leak from Panamanian law firm, Mossack Fonseca, clearly showing the founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nations, Temitope Joshua, and his wife, Evelyn, incorporated a company in the British Virgin Islands, a known tax haven, the preacher has denied he owns the company.

Our story had revealed that the influential televangelist incorporated a shell company, Chillion Consultancy Limited, on June 20, 2006.

Mr. Joshua and his wife own one ordinary share each, although the company, with registration number 1033675, is authorized to issue a maximum 50,000 no par value Shares of a single class.

The document also revealed that Chillon Consultancy Limited has no physical address but uses the office address of its registered agent, Mossack Fonseca (Akara Bldg., 24 De Castro Street, Wickhams Cay 1, Road Town, Tortola) as its contact information in the British Virgin Island.

In a statement which was posted with a photograph of a PREMIUM TIMES reporter on his churchs Facebook page, the clergy, who had ignored multiple opportunities offered to him by this newspaper to respond to our findings before the story was published, said he was shocked by our report.

Mr Joshua described the story as malicious and a propaganda, while quoting a portion of the Bible that suggested he was being victimized. But he did not explain how his name and that of his wife appeared in the document.

I was shocked to find a report written in Premium Times claiming that the Panama Papers revealed a shell company called Chillon Consultancy Limited in the British Virgin Islands, allegedly owned by me, Mr. Joshua wrote.

Whoever is involved in this malicious write-up and propaganda with an obvious intent to defame my person and the ministry, remember what the Bible says in Luke 2:34  This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many and to be a sign that will be spoken against.

Do not use the Panama Papers to attack those you have been looking for an opportunity to victimise. This is to show that not everybody alleged in the media to be involved in the Panama Papers is truly involved. My own case is a good example.

Beware of those using the Panama Papers for fraudulent purposes! This is a very big mistake the fraudsters have made. Those who read this report  take time to do your findings. It is malicious, he said.

The pastor alleged that the PREMIUM TIMES was using the #PanamaPaper leak to victimize innocent people.

Do not use the Panama Papers to attack those you have been looking for an opportunity to victimise. This is to show that not everybody alleged in the media to be involved in the Panama Papers is truly involved. My own case is a good example.

Beware of those using the Panama Papers for fraudulent purposes! This is a very big mistake the fraudsters have made. Those who read this report  take time to do your findings. It is malicious.

I am not a businessman and have no business whatsoever. What God has given me is more than enough. I have nothing to do with the Panama Papers. As for me and my family, we shall remain in the vineyard of God, he said.

The statement, further accused our reporter of leading a gang which has been threatening his ministry since the September 12, 2015 collapse of Mr. Joshuas church building that killed 116 people.

Our reporter had revealed how the pastor bribed journalists to present him in a positive light after the incident.

It was later revealed that the church did not obtain the requisite approval before the building was erected. The board of trustees of the church alongside the contractors responsible for the building are being prosecuted for manslaughter.

Premium Times  do not allow your company to be used. Do not allow your company to stand against God. This is a lie! Take note  this news was written by the same journalist who alleged that I bribed him during the building incident and went to different channels  both local and international  to propagate these fabrications, the clergy warned.

He also accused this reporter of being the leader of a gang threatening his ministry.

Since the building incident, there have been a series of threats towards the ministry and my person by this same journalist, Nicholas Ibekwe, who represents a gang of people.

After everything that has been done in an attempt to destroy this ministry, this is what he has resorted to. Even the picture used in the write-up is taken from the Mexico Crusade I recently held. It was a crusade I went for, nothing more.
President Muhammadu Buharis approval rating has slipped further from 32.8% in February to 31.2% in March, amid worsening economic crisis and crippling fuel scarcity, according to a new poll.

The monthly poll by Governance Advancement Initiative for Nigeria, GAIN, says more Nigerians again scored Mr. Buhari low on his administrations handling of the economy, power and fuel shortage.

It is the second time the presidents rating dropped since GAIN in December started monthly tracking of performance of governments at all levels in Nigeria.

In earlier months, the poll found that majority of respondents did not blame President Buhari for Nigerias economic troubles. They blamed former President Goodluck Jonathan instead.

In January, the presidents approval rating stood at 63.4%.

The trend however shifted significantly in February as the nations economic crisis bit harder.

In March, which is the latest result, the poll said more Nigerians continued to blame Mr. Buhari not Mr. Jonathan for the nations economic woes.

The falling rating was primarily due to petroleum scarcity, bad economy, power outage, and broken campaign promises, said the poll.

A crippling fuel scarcity continued to affect individuals and business across the country, and had a concomitant effect on transportation and business costs, said Malcolm Fabiyi, one of the polls coordinators, who previously served as a visiting professor at the Lagos Business School.

The president scored low on economy, power, and rule of law.

The poll also found that Nigerians voted the Agriculture Minister, Audu Agbeh, as best performing minister.

Ibeh Kachikwu, the Minister of State for Petroleum, who was voted best in February, slipped to third position, as a result of the fuel crisis, and his remarks that he was not a magician to end the scarcity.

The poll also reported lower rating for the Buhari administrations anti-corruption war, with Nigerians disappointed by slow pace of prosecution and lack of convictions. There were also increased concerns about abuse of rule of law in anti-corruption fight.

The March GAIN survey was administered using electronic media. Eight hundred and seventy six (876) complete responses were received. The survey results have a 95% confidence level and  4% margin of error, according to the coordinators.

Poll results

Key highlights

Performance rating for the Buhari government remains low at 31.2%

Top four reasons for Buhari governments low ratings in March are Petroleum scarcity (71%), Economy (68%), Power (64%) and broken campaign promises (57%)

Majority of Nigerians continue to hold Buhari responsible for the economy

Nigerian Army extends status as the most respected National Institution

Nigerian presidency is 3 rd rated National institution, behind Army and EFCC

rated National institution, behind Army and EFCC Audu Ogbeh (Agriculture) rated top performing minister; Fuel Scarcity and not a magician statement tanks Kachikwu in ratings

Anti-Corruption war drops below 50% as high priority area for the first time  Nigerians disappointed by slow pace of prosecution & lack of convictions

Concerns linger about abuse of rule of law in anti-corruption fight (38%)

85% express dissatisfaction with Governments handling of Fulani Herdsmen crisis

Summary

March was a very tough month for Nigerians, and a terrible one for the Buhari government. A crippling fuel scarcity continued to affect individuals and business across the country, and had a concomitant effect on transportation and business costs. The power sector continued to struggle, and for a brief period in March, there was zero power generation from the public power system. The Minister of State for Petroleum reminded Nigerians that he was not a magician, triggering a firestorm of criticism within the ruling APC government and across Nigeria. As for the anticorruption war  March was another month of legal maneuverings in the courts, leaving Nigerians frustrated about the lack of results and convictions. All of these realities are reflected in the March polls.

Low Performance Ratings Become the New Normal for Buhari Government

As with previous polls, we provided respondents with a 5 point-scale response to this question. A positive performance rating in our terminology refers only to those respondents that reported either an Excellent or Good rating. A negative rating comprises of those individuals that reported a Poor or Very Poor rating.

High approval ratings  interpreted as the combination of Excellent (15.1%) and Good (16.1%) ratings declined slightly to 31.2% in March compared to 32.8% in the February poll. Overall, the number of Nigerians giving President Buhari approval ratings of Excellent (15.1%), Good (16.1%) or Average (13.4%) reduced from 50.4% in the February polls to 44.6% in March.

Low Approval Ratings Confirmed by Simple Yes/No Methodology

We introduced a new question in the March poll that solicited a simple Yes/No two-scale response from respondents on the overall performance of the Buhari government. Since we can safely assume that respondents who gave Excellent or Good ratings in the performance rating question would likely also answer Yes in terms of their overall approval of the government, this newly introduced question compels respondents who gave an Average rating in the 5 point scale performance rating question to select a single overall approval choice.

As would be expected, there was strong correspondence between the respondents who rated the performance of the Buhari government as Excellent, Good or Average on the five option performance rating question (44.6%) and those who gave a positive approval rating (47%) on the 2 scale, Yes/No job approval question.

Respondents & Buhari Voters Give Reasons for Low Approval of Buhari Government

In order to understand the major reasons for respondents disapproval of the Buhari government, we provided eight (8) of the most commonly expressed criticisms of the Buhari government to respondents. Respondents were required to select as many of the options as they believed to be relevant. The disapproval reasons covered topics such as broken campaign promises, perceptions of religious insensitivity, slow pace of progress in securing convictions in the anti-corruption war, availability of petroleum products, power supply, security, economy, sectional preferences, etc.

Respondents were offered the choice to indicate whether they had voted for President Buhari in the 2015 elections. The responses of those who voted for Buhari in 2015 were compared to the general respondent population. There was broad agreement between the responses from both groups, indicating that criticism of the performance of the Buhari government is not limited to opposition elements or those who did not vote for him in 2015.

Nigerians Speak  Reasons for Disapproval of Buhari Government

We allowed respondents to provide written comments on the reasons for their disapproval of the Buhari government. The themes expressed in the comments ranged from topics such as the slow pace of convictions in the anti-corruption war, Fulani herdsmen attacks, economic challenges, unemployment, to the perception that the Presidents travels are misplaced given the serious challenges facing the country. We must emphasize the point that several respondents reiterated their frustration with the pace of prosecution of the anti-corruption war, especially with the lack of convictions so far.

We generated a word cloud (see below) to capture the essence of respondents views. In a word cloud, the size of the letters in a word, is indicative of the frequency of occurrence of that word  and therefore provides a qualitative indication of its relative importance.

Security, Anticorruption, Power and the Economy remain the priority areas

Security, Anticorruption, Power and the Economy remain the priority areas

Respondents were provided with a number of key segments and focus areas for the government and were required to provide a forced three tier ranking (High, Medium, Low) of their perceptions of the importance of each of the areas.

Under the High ranking response, security (Boko Haram Crisis) maintained its rating as the most important area of concern and/or interest by 54% of Nigerians. The top five (5) rated areas overall were Security (54%), Anti-Corruption (45%), Power (45%), Economy & Jobs (44%) and Education (41%). This was in line with previous polls.

For the first time since we began polling, anti-corruption fell below a High priority rating of 50%. Unless the Buhari government takes action to restore confidence in the anti-corruption war, by fast tracking the prosecution process, and most importantly starting to secure convictions, they stand the risk of seeing an erosion of support from Nigerians.

Anticorruption war maintains support, but concerns grow over abuse of rule of law

Support for the anti-corruption war remained at about 44%, in line with the February results (45%), and well off the high support of 76% in the January poll. There was a slight increase in the number of respondents expressing concern about the potential abuse of the rule of law from 35.3% in February to 38.4% in the March poll.

The number of Nigerians indicating that the anticorruption war targets the Presidents political enemies increased slightly from 34.4% in the February poll to 35.1% in March. A slightly smaller percentage of respondents (30.5%) indicated that they believed that the anticorruption war targeted mostly members of the opposition PDP in March, compared to 33.1% in the February poll.

We first observed a major shift in the levels for the anticorruption war starting with the February poll. We reported at the time that we were unsure about the driver(s) for the significant drop in support from 76% in the January poll to about 45%, in the February poll. Our results from the March poll clearly indicate that these lower-than-majority levels of support are a new normal.

Anticorruption and Security are the only bright spots for the Buhari Government

The government received low ratings from majority of respondents in seven of the nine areas surveyed. The worst ranked areas (Low ranking) were Availability of Petroleum Products (83%), Housing (76%), Economy & Jobs (74%), Power (72%), Transportation (69%), Healthcare (65%), and Education (63%).

Only two areas were above 50% in positive ratings when High and Medium ratings are combined, and these are Security (75%) and Anticorruption (67%).

Ratings Tumble for Government Performance in Availability of Petroleum Products and Power

Low ratings for availability of petroleum products increased by a staggering 46%, from 37% in the February poll, to 83% in the March poll. The second highest decline was for Power, which fell 13% from 59% low ratings in February to 72% low ratings in the March poll. The decline in both the petroleum and power sectors was not surprising. Power generation dropped to zero across the entire country for a brief period at the end of March. Crippling fuel scarcity leading to long lines at petrol stations and the payment of exorbitant fees for fuel bought from roadside vendors has become standard across cities in Nigeria.

Welcome to the New Normal  Majority continue to hold Buhari government completely responsible for the economy

In line with our previous observations, more respondents held the Buhari government completely responsible for the current state of the economy (41% in March vs 35% in February) compared to 31% who indicated that the past Jonathan government was to blame. This marks the second consecutive month where Nigerians have increasingly shifted responsibility for the economy to the Buhari government.

For those who might have thought that the February numbers were an aberration that resulted from the tough foreign exchange situation that characterized that period, the March poll confirms that we might be seeing a new normal  in which Nigerians will likely be less forgiving in their assessment of the performance of the Buhari government.

We note that many respondents believe that state and local governments also have significant responsibility for the poor state of the economy.

Majority Remain Troubled by the economy, optimism about the future stays low

A slight majority of Nigerians (51.9%) expressed concerns about the economy  a slight decrease from the February poll (55.3%). Optimism about the economy fell from 30.3% in the February poll to 24% in March. On every other metric, respondents views did not change significantly between the February and March polls. 19.4% of respondents indicated that they see encouraging signs for jobs and employment, while 36.5% are of the view that nothing is being done by the government to create jobs. Only 34.4% indicated that they feel positive about the future.

Kachikwu Falters in Ministerial Performance Ratings; Lai maintains second place; Audu Ogbeh assumes pole position

The performance ratings of the Ministers has barely broken the 50% positive rating barrier, since we commenced the GAIN monthly poll in December 2015. March was no different. Ibe Kachikwu, who had led the ratings for the last two months dropped to fourth place behind Audu Ogbeh (Agriculture), Lai Mohammed (Information) and Adebayo Shittu (Communication).

Kachikwus ratings troubles are obviously linked with the grueling fuel scarcity that has gripped Nigeria for the last month. Raji Fashola (Power) fell from 3rd in the February poll to 7th in March.

It is not clear to us what concrete achievements or developments in the month of March have raised the profile of the Agriculture ministry (Audu Ogbeh). There was a lot of talk in March about the governments employment and social welfare initiatives, which appear to be reliant on the agricultural sector for their successful rollout.

Nigerian Senate maintains dismal approval rating (12%); Army is the most respected national institution (53%)

As with our previous poll, Respondents were asked to rate the two (2) major political parties and ten (10) major governmental institutions, i.e., the Presidency, Senate, House of Representatives, Army, Police, Judiciary, the 3 anti-corruption organs  EFCC, ICPC and CCB and the Central Bank.

We consider only Very High and High ratings in determining the comparative rankings for the various institutions. The Nigerian Army retained its ranking as the most highly rated governmental institution, with 53% of respondents rating it as high or very high  an improvement over the 49.4% rating in February. The EFCC ranked second with 33% of respondents giving it high or very high ratings (compared to 33.7% in February). The Presidency ranked third with 29% ratings, slightly off the 32.4% ratings from the February poll.

The APC was the highest ranked political party, with 19% high approval ratings compared to the PDPs 5%. In future polls, we intend to introduce an additional question that will force respondents to give a Yes/No response on their overall approval of the various institutions.

Buhari Government Maintains High Scores for Handling of Boko Haram Crisis

The Buhari government continued to receive high ratings (very good and good ratings) for its handling of the Boko Haram crisis (72%). Ratings remain low on the governments handling of other conflicts like the Biafra agitation, Fulani Herdsmen crisis and Shiite  Military conflicts.

The governments successes on the Boko Haram front have come about as a result of concerted actions and clear policies aimed at routing the insurgency. We urge the government to take a similar coordinated, strategic and well-reasoned stance towards the other major security conflicts that currently plague Nigeria.

Majority Blast Buhari Governments Handling of Fulani Herdsmen attacks

Criticism of the handling of the Fulani herdsmen crisis by the Buhari government has grown consistently since we started tracking opinions on the matter. We remain disturbed that the government does not appear to have any long-term plans for resolving this crisis. In the March poll, 85% of respondents rated the governments handling of the Fulani herdsmen crisis as Poor or Very Poor. Urgent measures are required to address the Fulani herdsmen crisis. At the core of these conflicts is the question of year round access to grazing lands by the herdsmen. We believe there is opportunity in this crisis, to create long lasting agricultural policies that will lead to the modernization of animal husbandry practices in Nigeria.

Disaffection with Major Political Parties Grows

About 66% of respondents indicated that they did not belong to any political party. As with our previous polls, more respondents indicated that they were supporters of the APC (26.1%) compared to the PDP (8.1%).

Nigerians are mostly nonaligned political independents. The consistently large number of Nigerians that indicate non-alignment to any political party suggests there is a gap that neither of the major political parties is meeting. In future polls we will try to understand what Nigerians want to see in a political party that is not currently offered by the major incumbents.

Methodology & Disclosure

The rating of the performance of a government can be a very sensitive issue. We expect that our polling results, which we have run since December 2015, will come under increasing scrutiny as economic challenges, lingering fuel scarcity and persistent problems in the power sector emboldens once muted critical voices to speak out.

We have received many inquiries about our survey methodology, especially regarding the number of respondents that are sampled. This months methodology and disclosure section will therefore be longer than usual, as we seek to address some of the major questions about our methods. We will specifically address the question of the number of respondents that we aim for in our surveys, and go into some detail on our electronic media-enabled polling approach.

What number of respondents is needed for a valid national poll? This is perhaps the most important question that a pollster needs to answer, because it goes to the heart of the credibility of the results obtained from any polling effort. To answer this question, it will be necessary to understand more than just basic statistics. We will not attempt to provide a statistical tutorial, but we will provide some basic pointers that will provide readers with some insight about the statistical methods that underlie sample size determination.

What statistical principle allows Gallup  arguably the most respected polling agency in the World  to survey only 1,000 people, and based on that small sample, make robust projections on the outcomes of elections in a nation as vast and diverse as America with over 300 million citizens? Why can we (GAIN) confidently claim that the 876 Nigerians we polled in March can provide us with a 95% confidence level with a  4% margin of error?

There are five key variables that are critical to any polling exercise, these being  confidence level, margin of error, sample size, population and percentage. The first four are clearly determinable. A pollster can specify the target confidence level (usually 95%) for a polling study. The margin of error can also be specified, or determined once there is a respondent sample. Similarly, the population is usually known e.g., we typically use a population of 170 million persons for calculating our Nigeria focused survey statistics (the discerning reader will recognize that Nigeria does not have 170 million people who are of voting age, or who are old enough to provide feedback on the performance of any government. Using the national population is a conservative estimate that forces pollsters to use a higher sample size). However, in order to obtain the sample size, we must specify a value known as the percentage. The percentage is simply an estimation of the proportion of our sample that will give a particular answer. Statisticians generally use a value of 50%  which is the worst-case scenario  for this variable. Here is the intuition: if majority of the respondents to a question give a particular answer, e.g., 99% answer Yes and 1% answer No, the margin of error is likely to be low because there is a significant level of differentiation between those who have responded Yes or No, since 99% is very different from 1%. However, if 51% answer, Yes and 49% answer No, to the same question, the margin of error is going to be higher, because the separation or differentiation between the responses is small. By selecting a percentage of 50%, pollsters guarantee that the margin of error calculated for their sample will be high. It is a conservative assumption, which necessarily imposes the need for a larger sample size to meet a given confidence interval. The discerning reader will notice that the consistent theme in polling is conservatism.

The usefulness of a well-structured survey is dependent on its confidence interval (confidence level  margin of error). Three factors affect the confidence interval: (i) sample size (ii) population and (iii) percentage. Pollsters generally start from one of two basis  firstly, they can determine what confidence interval (CI) to aim for, and then calculate the required sample size to meet that CI, or the Pollster can work with whatever sample population they have, and then back out what the implied CI is from that given population.

We are unable to go into the extensive statistical basis that underlie the calculations used for estimating sample sizes or determining confidence intervals. However, we will provide two websites for readers interested in getting some more fundamental understanding of the details, to visit in order to learn more about the subtleties of the statistics that underlies polling. The first website provides a decent overview of the basic mathematics that underlie the statistical approach used for the determination of polling and survey sample sizes . The second website provides access to a simple online tool that can be used to estimate sample sizes, or to determine the confidence interval specified by a given sample population.

One fundamental requirement in any polling study is for the sample population to be random. Responses should be solicited from platforms that do not systemically exclude specific voices or opinions. As a result, we do not solicit responses on Newspaper opinion sites. We carried out extensive studies on several electronic media platforms before settling on the use of agnostic, relatively ideology free and politically sterile social media sites like Facebook, as platforms from which the core of our respondents are obtained. We use platforms that are utilized extensively by Nigerians of all religious, ethnic and political persuasions and demographics (economic class, gender, etc.). We also aim for sites where we can selectively target large numbers of Nigerians. On Facebook for instance, our March survey solicitations were sent to 765,000 voting age Nigerians (18+ years, male or female, domiciled in Nigeria). About 25,000 clicked on the GAIN poll adverts, and a smaller subset of 786 respondents completed the survey. The balance of our respondents come from other means  email solicitations, twitter, etc. We balance sources so that we can also compare responses across different solicitation platforms.

We recognize that the exclusive use of social media in polling is fraught with limitations. We have spent the last two years developing and perfecting our approach. As with any poll, ours has its limitations. Being exclusively online, it systematically excludes the poorest Nigerians who have little to no access to the internet or to web enabled phones. Unlike phone calls or in-person surveys where the presence of a pollster can facilitate the process, even when the respondent might not be motivated to respond, an online poll requires motivated respondents who are ready and willing to complete the survey questionnaire. We stand by the validity of our methodology and approach. Our polls are self-funded, and we go through the cost and the efforts, because we believe that data is essential for good governance.

Using our electronic media-based survey approach we were able to successfully predict President Buharis historic victory and the sweep of the National Assembly polls by the APC in 2015. Many other platforms got it wrong. As scientists and intellectuals, we are careful about the ideas and projects that our names are associated with. In the extensive tests that we have carried out over the last two years, we have come to the reasoned conclusion that carefully selected electronic media present a robust platform for conducting well-crafted opinion surveys. We encourage other Nigerians  individuals, NGOs, and organizations  to carry out their own surveys and polls. The more polls and surveys that are available in Nigeria, the greater will be the opportunities for cross comparison of methods and outcomes. This is how progress can be made.
Suspected Fulani herdsmen attacked Dori and Mesuma villages in Gashaka Local Government Area of Taraba State, on Sunday, killing at least 15 people, police said Tuesday.

Residents said more than 40 people were killed and several houses razed by the attackers.

Speaking to reporters at headquaters of the state police command, the state commissioner of police, Shaba Alkali, said the herdsmen launched coordinated attacks on the two villages on Sunday at about 11AM.

A group of people numbering about twenty, suspected to be Fulani herdsmen, invaded and attacked Dori and Mesuma villages via Garbabi ward, Gashaka LGA, and burnt some thatch houses forcing the villagers to flee into the villages of Mayo-Selbe and Sabon Gida for safety, the police chief said.

Eight people were killed in Dori village while seven were also killed in Mesuma, he added.

Mr. Alkali said when he got the report of the attacks from the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) incharge of Serti, he quickly mobilised his men and deployed them to the area.

He said the officers could not access the villages with their vehicles due to the poor state of roads.

He said the deployed operatives spent hours trekking to the villages.

He said over 40 more mobile police personnel were redeployed from Yola, Adamawa State, to the affected areas.

The police chief further revealed that the police detectives have cordoned off routes the affected communities.

My detectives are around Bali area to make sure that those that carried out the attacks are arrested, he said.

He said two suspects had been arrested.

The police commissioner paraded a 52-year-old man, Ardo Ayuba Iliyasu, as the mastermind of the Dori and Mesuma villages attacks.

The police commissioner said Mr. Iliyasu convened a meeting of a large number of persons in his house at Garbabi village few hours before the attacks was launched.

But when interviewed by journalists, the suspect denied involvement in the killings.

The cause of the attacks was not clear.
Revelations of the slaughter and secret burial of 347 members of a Shiite religious group in mass graves by the Nigerian army must be urgently investigated, said Amnesty International today, and anyone suspected of criminal responsibility for these crimes must be brought to trial.

The acknowledgment of the extrajudicial killings which took place between 12-14 December 2015 in Zaria, were made by a Kaduna government official at a Public Hearing of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry and echoes Amnesty Internationals own findings.

The horrific revelation by the Kaduna State government that hundreds of Shiites were gunned down and dumped in mass graves is an important first step to bringing all those suspected of criminal responsibility for this atrocity to trial, said Country Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, M.K. Ibrahim.

It is now imperative that the mass grave sites are protected in order that a full independent forensic investigation can begin. The bodies must be exhumed and Nigerian authorities should immediately reveal the whereabouts of those held in unacknowledged detention and either charge or release them.

Amnesty International has been conducting research in the Zaria killings since January 2016. A comprehensive report will be published in the near future.

The Kaduna State Government on Monday announced that 347 persons were killed during the December 12 Shiite/Nigerian Army clash in Zaria.

The Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Balarabe Lawal, disclosed this in a government submission at the ongoing Public Hearing of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the clash.

The burial of the victims was done in secret, and this is the first time the state government was explaining how the remains of the killed shiite members were disposed.

Mr. Lawal, who led a six-man government witnesses before the panel, said 191 corpses were taken from the Nigerian Army Depot, Zaria, and were buried at Mando area of Kaduna.

He said 156 corpses were also conveyed from the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Zaria, to the same Mando area.

The official said the corpses were those of youth members of the Islam Movement (IMN) who he alleged attempted to attack the convoy of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, on Dec. 12, 2015, in Zaria.

The state government said the corpses were committed into a single grave (mass burial) at the Mando area jointly supervised by the state government officials and about 40 men of the Nigerian Army, led by an officer in the rank of a Major.

Mr. Lawal did not say whether relatives of the victims were given opportunity to identify and recover their loved ones before the state labelled them unknown corpses and buried them in a mass grave.

Another witness and Director-General, Kaduna State Interfaith Agency, Namadi Musa, said the mass burial was conducted on December 14 and 15, respectively, and that it took the officials about six hours to complete the burial.

Mr. Musa said while six tonnes of Mercedes tippers conveyed the 191 corpses from the ABUTH, the Army used three heavy duty trucks to convey corpses from the Zaria Army Depot.

The mass burial was authorised through a warrant of burial obtained from a Kaduna Chief Magistrates Court in Kaduna, he said.
President Muhammadu Buhari has directed that technical committees be immediately established to finalize discussions on new joint Nigeria/China rail, power, manufacturing, agricultural and solid mineral projects.

The president gave the directive Tuesday in Beijing after talks between his delegation and high-ranking Chinese government officials led by President Xi Jinping, his spokesman, Garba Shehu said in a statement.

The technical committees are to conclude their assignments before the end of May.

President Buhari had at the talks welcomed Chinas readiness to assist Nigeria in her bid to rapidly industrialize and join the worlds major economies.

President Jinping agreed that Nigerias chosen path of development through economic diversification was the best way to go.

To help Nigeria to achieve this, China promised to fully support the country through infrastructural development and capacity building.

China also expressed an interest in setting up major projects in Nigeria such as refineries, power plants, mining companies, textile manufacturing and food processing industries as soon as the enabling environment is provided by the Federal Government.

In response to President Muuhammadu Buharis desire to make Nigeria self-sufficient in food production, President Jinping offered 15 million U.S. dollars agricultural assistance to Nigeria for the establishment of 50 Agricultural Demonstration Farms across the country.

China and Nigeria also agreed to strengthen military and civil service exchanges as part of a larger capacity-building engagement.

In line with this, China offered to raise its scholarship awards to Nigerian students from about 100 to 700 annually. In addition, 1,000 other Nigerians are to be given vocational and technical training by China annually.

President Jinping applauded the war against corruption being waged by President Buhari.

The Chinese leader assured President Buhari that Nigeria will always have a special place in the affairs of the Peoples Republic of China.

After the talks, President Buhari and President Jinping witnessed the signing of several agreements and memorandums of understanding by Nigeria and China.

The agreements include a Framework Agreement Between the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the National Development and Reform Commission of the Peoples Republic of China.

Others were a Memorandum of Understanding on Aviation Cooperation between the Ministry of Transportation (Aviation) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Ministry of Commerce of the Peoples Republic of China and a Memorandum of Understanding Between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Government of the Peoples Republic of China on Scientific and Technological Cooperation.

A Mandate Letter Between the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and the Central Bank of Nigeria on Renminbi (RMB) Transactions was also signed.
The House of Representatives, on Monday, insisted it did not remove the Lagos-Calabar rail project from the 2016 budget, accusing the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, of an attempt to pad the appropriation bill.

Addressing journalists, the House spokesperson, Abdulrazak Namdas, said there was no project as Lagos-Calabar rail project in the budget proposed by the executive. He said it was Mr. Amaechi who brought the project.

However, he argued only the president that could propose a project for inclusion in the budget.

The item was brought for inclusion in the budget by Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, but was not included in the budget because only the president is allowed to present the budget before the National Assembly, Mr. Namdas said.

The media is awash with story that the National Assembly has removed the Calabar- Lagos railway project from the budget.

I want to make it very clear that we dont have that in the presentation made by the President to the National Assembly, so we couldnt have removed what was not even inserted in the first place.

It was the Minister of Transport that brought the Calabar- Lagos railway to be included in the budget.

We want to state clearly that the budget is something that is proposed by the president; we do not receive budget from minister.

So, for somebody to say we actually removed the Calabar-Lagos railway project from the budget, I think someone is trying to spoil our good image.

We want to state again that all that was sent to the National Assembly from the supplementary budget and others had a smooth sail, and it is on record that some people lost their job because of this budget.

He said the National Assembly had not received any notice that the president will not assent the budget over allegations of missing projects.

He said the president could still notify the National Assembly if theres any item he would want to be included in the budget and assured of the legislatures cooperation.

Earlier on Monday, Chairman Senate Committee on Land, Gbenga Ashafa, had said though the Lagos-Calabar rail project was not included in the original project, it was submitted as Ministry of Transports supplementary proposal.

Mr. Ashafa said his committee therefore approved the project and passed it to Appropriations Committee chaired by Danjuma Goje.

He expressed surprise the project was, however, not included in the final draft by the Appropriations Committee.

Efforts to get Mr. Gojes reaction to Mr. Ashafas claim were unsuccessful.
The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has again attacked President Muhammadu Buhari, over the 2016 budget crisis, saying the president is clueless and incompetent.

Mr. Fayose said the raging controversy between the Presidency and the National Assembly over the 2016 Budget shows the cluelessness and incompetence of the president.

Nigerians should expect more blunders like this until they send Buhari back to Daura in 2019, Mr. Fayose said.

He insisted that the president and the All Progressives Congress, APC, only wanted power desperately without the wherewithal to govern, adding, I warned Nigerians of the consequences of electing an octogenarian as president and with the international embarrassment that this budget crisis has become, I have been vindicated.

The governor spoke on Tuesday through his Special Assistant on Pubic Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka.

It is obvious that there is total disconnection between the president and his cabinet members as many of the ministers dont even have access to him probably because the president spend most of his time resting as a result of his old age, he said.

The reality is that the President is challenged by age, exposure and ability. He did not read the budget proposal that he presented to the National Assembly and this should be a lesson for those who clamoured for a Buharis presidency that no man can give what he does not have.

The question is; can a minister present supplementary budget to the National Assembly and can the National Assembly act on budget proposal submitted by a minister?

It is shameful that after blaming former President Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for close to one year, the presidency is now blaming the National Assembly for its inability to prepare a common budget.

The governor commended the National Assembly for exposing the lies and hypocrisy of the presidency, saying it was shameful that President Buhari and his men could blame the National Assembly for their incompetence.

He called on the National Assembly not to succumb to blackmail and intimidation from the presidency.

He insisted that the manner the presidency was going about blackmailing and intimidating other arms of government, especially the judiciary should worry lovers of democracy and good governance in the country.

The governor, who declared that Nigeria will no longer be ruled by octogenarians, said: Nigerians must have now come to terms that I warned them that Buhari is too old to govern a country like Nigeria.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Tuesday arraigned a former Acting Director General of Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Haruna Baba Jauro, his brother in-law, Dauda Bistrus Bawa, on a 19-count charge of stealing and money laundering.

Mr. Jauro was arraigned alongside his company, Thlumbau Enterprises Limited, before Justice C.M.A Olantoregun of the Federal High Court Lagos.

Mr. Jauro was arrested by the EFCC based on its findings during the investigation of his predecessor, Patrick Akpobolokemi.

In the course of investigation, it was discovered that the former Acting DG while being the Executive Director, Finance, of the agency, received N156,477,500 as gratification from Mr. Akpobolokemi to allow the former DG and his cohorts embezzle large sums of monies from the agency, EFCC said in a statement.

The said monies were traced to Mr. Jauros company account, Thlumbau Enterprises Limited, which his brother in-law, the second accused person oversees, it said.

Mr. Jauro is said to have refunded N35, 000,000, being part of the money he collected from Mr. Akpobolokemi to the Federal Government.

One of the charge read,  that you Haruna Baba Jauro, Dr Dauda Bistrus Bawa and Thlumbau Enterprises Limited on or about the 6th day of January 2014, in Lagos within the jurisdiction of this honorable court did conspire among yourselves to commit an offense to wit: conversion of the sum of N156,477,500 ( One Hundred and Fifty Six Million, Four Hundred Seventy Seven Thousand, Five Hundred Naira Only) property of the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, knowing that the said sum were proceeds of stealing and thereby committed an offense contrary to section 18(a) of the Money Laundering Prohibition (Amendment) Act, 2012 and punishable under section 15(3) of the same Act.

The accused persons pleaded not guilty after listening to the charge.

Rotimi Oyedepo, the prosecution counsel did not oppose the bail application filed by the counsel representing the accused persons.

Consequently, the accused persons were granted bail in the sum of N5, 000,000 (Five Million Naira ) and two sureties in like sum. The sureties must be resident within the jurisdiction of the court and must present tax clearance for the last three years.

The case was adjourned to May 16 for trial.

In a related development, the EFCC also arraigned Alu Dismas, personal assistant to Patrick Akpobolokemi , Calistus Nwabueze, Executive Director, NIMASA and two companies: Grand Pact Limited and Global Seal Investment Limited, on eight count charge of stealing and Money Laundering before Justice Olantoregun.

Mr. Calistus as Executive Director, was said to have received the total sum of N136,105,000 (One Hundred and Thirty Six Million, One Hundred and Five Thousand Naira ) from Akpobolokemi.

The second accused person, Alu Dismas who was personal assistant to Akpobolokemi also received various sums of money.

One of the charge against them reads: that you Calistus Nwabueze and Dismas Alu on or about 5th day of August 2014 in Lagos within the jurisdiction of this honorable court did conspire among yourselves to commit an offense to wit: conversion of the sum of N111,000,000 (One Hundred and Eleven Million Naira ) property of the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency knowing that the said sum were proceeds of stealing and thereby committed an offense contrary to section 18(a) of the Money Laundering Prohibition (Amendment) Act, 2012 and punishable under section 15 (3) of the same Act.

The accused persons pleaded not guilty to the charge. And were admitted to bail in the sum of N5,000,000 (Five Million Naira Only) and two sureties in like sum. The case was adjourned to May 16 for trial.
The Senate, Tuesday, said the controversial Lagos-Calabar rail project could be part of the 2016 budget if President Muhammadu Buhari sends a supplementary proposal to the National Assembly.

The executive arm of government should however be humble enough to admit its error in not including the project in the original 2016 budget, the Senate spokesperson, Aliyu Sabi, told journalists on Tuesday.

There has been controversy over the Lagos-Calabar rail project, with presidency sources accusing the National Assembly of excluding it from the budget.

The Senate and the House of Representatives deny that claim.

The Senate, on Tuesday, discussed the matter behind closed doors.

Briefing journalists after the session, Mr. Sabi said the Senate met to check its facts and to confirm what the true situation was.

He said the Senate stood its ground that the Lagos-Calabar project was not in the first budget.

He however said President Muhammadu Buhari should sign the passed budget and send a supplementary proposal to capture the rail project.

That we say it (Lagos-Calabar rail project) is not in the budget does not undermine the fact it is very important, Mr. Sabi said.

We have proffered a way forward. Bring a supplementary budget regarding this project or anyother one. We are more than willing take it and cooperate. National Assembly is open whenever the Executive bringa the supplementary budget.

But we must be guided by constitution.

We have passed the budget. Nigerians are asking what next. The budget should be signed.

Section 81 of the Constitution takes care of a situation where there is omission or shortfalls. Sign the budget and submit a supplementary proposal, he said.

But the executive should admit it made a mistake, Mr. Sabi said.

Its just for somebody to admit there is error. Why shouldnt you ask why it was not in original budget? Why is it wrong to admit error when you committed a mistake? Mr. Sabi queried.

He insisted an earlier statement by Senator Gbenga Ashafa was not in conflict with the Senates position that the project was not captured in the original budget.

He, however, was evasive when reminded that Mr. Ashafa said his committee received a supplementary proposal from the Transport Ministry and passed it to the Appropriations Committee.
Officials from the office of the attorney general in El Salvador have raided the local office of Mossack Fonseca and confiscated several documents and equipment, Al Jazeera is reporting.

The Panama-based law firm at the centre of the massive data leak the media has dubbed the Panama Papers.

The International Committee of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) coordinated investigations in at least 80 countries, exposing the shadowy offshore links of world leaders such as of Russian President Vladimir Putin and relatives of the prime ministers of Britain and Pakistan and the presidents of China and Ukraine.

Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, Icelands prime minister, was forced to quit office after an offshore company, owned by he and his wife, was revealed.

Fridays raid was personally supervised by Attorney General Douglas Melendez.

Mr. Melendez said the government decided to raid the offices after Mossack Fonseca removed its office sign late on Thursday, a move he claimed raised suspicions.

An employee of the law firm later said the company was planning to move, the attorney general later tweeted.

The El Salvador office is not listed on Mossack Fonsecas corporate website.



Although the officials seized about 20 computers, some documents and interviewed seven employees, no one was detained, Mr. Melendez said.

At this moment we cannot speak about [any] crimes; all we can do at this moment is our job, he said.

He said the government would analyse all the confiscated information and examine its financial, accounting and legal aspects to see if any law has been broken.



Mr Melendez said it appears Mossack Fonseca office in the country was helping to process information for clients worldwide.

Governments across the world have begun investigating possible financial wrongdoing by the rich and powerful after the leak of more than 11.5 million documents from the law firm that span four decades.

Activists in Nigeria have frowned at the silence and inaction of the Nigerian government despite revelations that the senate president, Bukola Saraki, and his predecessor, David Mark, own offshore compnies in clear violation of the countrys laws.
The Kano State Government says it has discovered 7, 629 ghost workers in the ongoing biometrics verification of civil servants in the state.

The states Head of Service, Muhammad Naiya, made the disclosure while briefing journalists in Kano on Tuesday, saying that following the discovery, the state government will save over N283.5 million monthly.

According to him, the state government had concluded arrangements to delete the fake names from its payroll as from this month (April).

We have given them ample time to appear before the verification committee but they failed to do so.

This is something we started in February and we are now in April. So we cannot continue to pay workers that are not in existence, he said.

The HOS said the committee also discovered 17 newly-recruited workers who had been collecting double salaries, amounting to N1.01 million monthly.

According to him, the affected workers would soon be prosecuted and dismissed from the service.

He said as soon as the exercise was completed, the state government would compile the total number of such workers with a view to prosecuting them.

After the exercise, all those found to be involved in the shady deal will be prosecuted, in addition to recovering the money, he said.

The HOS explained that the verification exercise was initiated by the government to have in place a robust, integrated and comprehensive human resource and payment data base.

In this interim exercise, a total of 86, 373 civil servants have so far been captured out of the over 150, 000 workers that are on the governments payroll, Mr. Naiya added.

(NAN)
The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Most Rev. Alfred Martins, has advised the Kaduna State Government to listen to the key stakeholders in the state before it introduces its proposed religious bill.

Martins gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos.

He was speaking against the background of the Kaduna State governments introduction of an executive Bill with the title: A Bill to substitute the Kaduna State Religious Preaching Law of 1984.

When passed into Law by the Kaduna State House of Assembly, it will enable the state government to regulate, monitor, supervise, handle, take the helm of, oversee and control all religious activities in the state.

The bill, among other things, also seeks to stop the playing or circulation of all cassettes, CDs, flash drives or any other communication gadget containing religious recordings from accredited preachers.

The Archbishop stated that because Nigeria is practising a democratic system of government with a constitution that guarantees its citizens the freedom of worship, the state governor must listen to what the people have to say about his proposed law.

One thing we know is that the constitution of the country guarantees freedom of worship.

If there is any side law that is going to restrict freedom of worship that bill certainly should not see the light of day.

I hope that the governor and the government of Kaduna state will listen to what the people of the state have to say and will take seriously what they have to say because democracy is about the people and the good of the people and it is necessary for government to listen to what the people have to say and not just ram things down their throat.

There may be good intentions behind the law, but it is important that in making the law for the people, let the people be able have a say so that the law can be effective in the first instance and will be a just law.
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.




PUNE, India, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

According to a new market research report "3D Printing Market by Printer Type, Material Type (Metals, Plastics, Ceramics & Others), Material Form (Powder, Liquid, Filament), Process, Technology, Software, Service, Application, Vertical and Geography - Global Forecast to 2022", published by MarketsandMarkets, the market is expected to reach USD 30.19 Billion by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 28.5% between 2016 and 2022.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 )



Browse 104 market data Tables and 90 Figures spread through 304 Pages and in-depth TOC on "3D Printing Market"

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/3d-printing-market-1276.html

Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report.

Factors such as 3D printing evolving from developing prototypes to end-user products, mass customization, production of complex parts, government investments in 3D printing projects, and improvements in manufacturing efficiency are expected to drive the growth of the 3D printing market.

The market for desktop 3D printers expected to grow at the highest rate during the forecast period

There is an increase in the demand for desktop 3D printers in schools and universities, allowing students to incline more toward inspiring and practical 3D modeling experimentations. There is also a rise in the personal usage of desktop 3D printers being to develop sculptures, custom avatars, characters, and figurines. Availability and reduction in the price of new materials such as metals and wax are driving the market for desktop 3D printers.

Laser metal deposition expected to be the fastest growing technology in the 3D printing market during the forecast period

The benefits of laser metal deposition (LMD) printing technology include a reduction of material waste, tooling costs, repair of parts, costly to replace, reduction in lead time, customization of parts as per customers' requirements. LMD technology involves repairing, cladding, and producing parts. Some of the common applications of this technology include repair of mold tool surfaces, high value parts such as aero engine components and military vehicles, tipping of turbine blades with protective coatings, and surfacing of oil and gas drilling components.

North America expected to dominate the 3D printing market during the forecast period

North America is expected to account for the largest share of the 3D Printing Market during the forecast period, with the U.S. being the major driver for the growth of the market. Major industrial manufacturing, aerospace & defense, and healthcare companies, located in the U.S., are increasingly using the 3D printing technology, which is leading to the growth of the 3D printing market. Continuous technological advancements and financial support from the government are also propelling the growth of the North American market for 3D printing. Several companies are adopting 3D printing not only for developing prototypes but also for manufacturing end-user products.

The 3D printing market has been segmented based on printer (desktop and industrial), material type (metals, plastic, ceramics, and others), material form (powder, liquid, and filament), software (design, inspect, scan, and printer software), service (custom design & manufacturing and after-sales), process (material extrusion, material jetting, binder jetting, sheet lamination, vat photopolymerization, powder bed fusion, and directed energy deposition), technology (stereolithography, fuse deposition modeling, selective laser sintering, direct metal laser sintering, polyjet printing, inkjet printing, electron beam melting, laser metal deposition, direct light projection, laminated object manufacturing, and others), application (prototyping, tooling, and functional parts), vertical (automotive, aerospace & defense, healthcare, architecture & construction, consumer products, education, engineering, energy, printed electronics, jewelry, food & culinary, and others), and geography (North America, Europe, APAC, and RoW).

Apart from the market segmentation, the report also covers Porter's five forces analysis, the market's value chain with a detailed process flow diagram, and the market dynamics such as drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges in the overall 3D printing market.

Inquiry Before Buying: http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=1276

The major players in the 3D printing market include 3D Systems Corporation (U.S.), Stratasys Ltd. (U.S. & Israel), the ExOne Company(U.S.), Voxeljet AG (Germany), Arcam Group (Sweden), SLM Solutions Group AG (Germany), EOS GmbH (Germany), EnvisionTEC GmbH (Germany), Materialise NV (Belgium), Sciaky Inc. (U.S.), Concept Laser GmbH (Germany), Autodesk, Inc. (U.S.), Hoganas AB (Sweden), Renishaw PLC. (U.K.).

Browse Related Reports

3D Scanner Market by Type (Laser and Structure Light), Industry (Automotive & Transportation, Healthcare, Aerospace & Defense, Architecture & Construction, Energy & Power, Geospatial, and Others) and by Geography - Global Forecast to 2020

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/3d-scanner-market-119952472.html

3D Metrology Market by Product (CMM, ODS, and VMM), Application (Automotive, Aerospace, Energy & Power, Medical and Electronics) & Geography (North America, Europe, APAC, RoW) - Global Forecast to 2020

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/3d-metrology-market-203080758.html

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BRISTOL, England, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Online-Based Mattress In a Box Company is Leaving UK Bed Stores a Sleep

Wispere, a Bristol-based company, today announced the launch of its mattress in a box. The company has raised 200,000 from investors to fuel the launch of its new mattress in a box and expansion to markets across the United Kingdom.

Mattress shopping is not liked by most in the UK - and rightly so. The experience of walking into any high street bed store and being greeted by the salesperson who wants you to lay on every bed possible and make a comfort decision in 10 to 15 minutes and who won't take no for an answer makes you think twice before visiting the bed store.

Since the rise of e-tailors in the past few years, "mattress-in-a-box "is hitting the 700 million in the UK bed market for six, giving the consumer an alternative to visiting the bed retailer to find the perfect mattress. The "mattress-in-a-box" is delivered right to your door 'in a box', with a free two month trial period to see if you like it and want to keep it.

The new online mattress e-tailor Wispere has one cool springless mattress which gives the perfect sleep solution for everybody. Wispere's co-founder Jamie Hancock said "After many years of supplying mattresses through exhibitions and seeing technology improve, we saw the one-mattress in a box opportunity and decided to move our business online."

With on-line mattress sales predicted to increase by more than 30 percent over the next five years, Wispere's springless cool mattress will hit the right spot and at present retails between 359 and 699 which is equivalent to rivals selling mattresses for 1400 to 3500 in terms of quality.

The Wispere mattress is ready to deliver and the company expect the demand to increase throughout 2016. Wispere was founded in 2015 and operates in Clifton, Bristol. For more information, visit http://www.wispere.co.uk or contact Jamie Hancock at 08002289598 or jamie@wispere.co.uk

SOURCE Wispere
'First light' for networked telescopes combing heavens; Vast searches announced for coming months; Open source data available for download on Breakthrough Initiatives website

SAN FRANCISCO, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Breakthrough Listen  the $100 million initiative to find signs of intelligent life in the universe  is releasing initial observational datasets to the world, Breakthrough Initiatives announced today.

January 2016 saw 'first light' for Breakthrough Listen, with observations marking the start of the 10-year effort announced in July 2015 at London's Royal Society by Yuri Milner, Stephen Hawking, Lord Martin Rees, Ann Druyan, and Frank Drake. Hundreds of hours of observations have taken place using the Green Bank Radio Telescope in West Virginia and Lick Observatory's Automated Planet Finder in Mt. Hamilton, California.

Today Breakthrough Listen is releasing the first batch of data for public access at the Breakthrough Initiatives website (www.breakthroughinitiatives.org). Data from the Green Bank Telescope is also available to users of UC Berkeley's [email protected] software.

Observations made so far by Breakthrough Listen include most of the stars within 16 light years of Earth (including stars such as 51 Pegasi that are known to host extra-solar planets), and a sample of stars between 16 and 160 light years away. This included nearby sun-like and giant stars as well as numerous binary stars. The search also targeted around 40 of the nearest spiral galaxies, including members of the Maffei Group in the direction of the constellation Cassiopeia. Stars within 16 light years accessible only from the Southern Hemisphere, such as Alpha Centauri, will be observed by the end of the year with the Parkes Telescope.

This year's Observation Plan for all three telescopes has been published and can be found at www.breakthroughinitiatives.org. Planned observations include:

1. Green Bank Radio Telescope

World's deepest searches for artificial signals in five key samples (Northern Hemisphere)

All 43 stars within 5 parsecs, at 1-15 GHz. First-ever complete SETI survey within 5 parsecs. Sensitive to "Earth-leakage" levels of radio transmission.

1000 stars of all spectral-types (OBAFGKM). Within 50 parsecs. 1-15 GHz.

One Million Nearby Stars. In 2016, first 5,000 stars; 1 minute exposure (1-15 GHz)

Centers of 100 nearby galaxies: spirals, ellipticals, dwarfs, irregulars (1-15 GHz)

Exotic Stars: 20 White Dwarfs, 20 Neutron stars, 20 black holes

2. Parkes Radio Telescope

World's deepest searches for artificial signals in six key samples (Southern Hemisphere):

All 43 stars (at south declinations) within 5 parsecs, at 1-15 GHz. First-ever complete SETI survey within 5 parsecs. Sensitive to "Earth-leakage" levels of radio transmission.

1000 stars (south) of all spectral-types (OBAFGKM). Within 50 parsecs. (1-4 GHz)

One Million Nearby Stars (south). In 2016-2017, first 5,000 stars; 1 minute exposure (1-4 GHz)

Galactic plane and Center (1-4 GHz)

Centers of 100 nearby galaxies (south declinations): spirals, ellipticals, dwarfs, irregulars (1-4 GHz)

Exotica: 20 White Dwarfs, 20 Neutron stars, 20 black holes

3. Automated Planet Finder: Optical Spectroscopic SETI

The targets will closely match those of the BL Green Bank radio search, with small adjustments due to the APF's much smaller field of view. The targets are:

All 43 stars within 5 parsecs accessible to the APF (north of declination -20 deg)

1000 nearby stars of all spectral types, OBAFGKM main sequence and giants

100 nearest galaxies (centers, north of declination = -20deg)

"Breakthrough Listen is officially on the air and scanning the skies for signs of intelligent life," said Milner. "It is a comprehensive effort, made possible by the tremendous scientific and technological advancements we've witnessed since the early days of similar efforts. Now, we join our trailblazing colleagues and ask people worldwide to review our collected data and explore the Universe with us."

"Breakthrough Listen is up and running," said Pete Worden, Executive Director of the Breakthrough Initiatives. "For the first time we will obtain a comprehensive SETI search of our galactic neighborhood. Equally important, the public and experts around the world can obtain the data and help determine if we are alone."

"Breakthrough Listen is a leap forward in our ability to systematically scan the skies for evidence of advanced life beyond Earth," said Andrew Siemion, Director of Berkeley SETI Research Center. "As our processing capabilities continue to grow in the coming months, and we release additional data, the opportunity for discovery will multiply enormously."

Data from the telescopes uploaded to the Breakthrough Initiatives website (www.breakthroughinitiatives.org) are indexed by date of recording, object name and other parameters. Scientists and those with computer science skills can analyze raw data from the telescopes and develop their own applications to work with these huge and rich datasets. And anyone with a computer or smartphone can help crunch the Breakthrough Listen data via the [email protected] volunteer computing software (http://seti.berkeley.edu/participate). The University of California, Berkeley, is developing curriculum materials for Breakthrough Listen telescopes, instruments, and data (http://seti.berkeley.edu/listen).

Breakthrough Listen will obtain data over a 10-year period from a network of the world's most powerful radio and optical telescopes to yield vast, full-sky signal monitoring. It will collect more data in one day than previously had been collected in one year. Search capacity will be 50 times more sensitive, cover 10 times more of the sky, 5 times more of the radio spectrum, and at speeds 100 times faster.

Green Bank Telescope

In October, 1.5 GHz bandwidth digital instrumentation was installed at Green Bank Telescope. The upgrade is estimated to have doubled the previous bandwidth of the Green Bank system. The enhanced system has also doubled the amount of storage space available at the entire Green Bank Observatory.

Lick Observatory

Lick Observatory's Automated Planet Finder has begun its robotic observations of nearby stars for laser emissions from potential technological signatures beyond Earth. The telescope has observed 130 stars and all raw data is available on the online archive.

Parkes Radio Telescope

The Parkes Radio Telescope, in Parkes, Australia, famous for its role in down-linking live television transmissions during the Apollo 11 moon landing, will join the Green Bank Telescope and Lick Automated Planet Finder in October 2016. Whereas GBT focuses on deep, targeted observations of promising candidates, Parkes will undertake broad searches of large areas of sky. Signal processing hardware for engineering validation tests was deployed at Parkes in February. Limited data has been recorded for testing purposes.

[email protected]

[email protected] has been in operation continuously since 1999, and has attracted millions of participants in that time. Volunteers can sign up to get involved by going to http://seti.berkeley.edu/participate. Users of this free software donate their spare computer processing power to help analyze the vast streams of data gathered by astronomical searches for intelligent life.

The addition of data from Green Bank more than doubles the area of sky currently available to [email protected] volunteers. The commencement of observations at Parkes Observatory in October, will give volunteers access to the entire sky. As Breakthrough Listen dramatically expands the scope of the search, members of the public, even those without technical training, can participate in the excitement as we attempt to answer the question: Are we alone in the Universe?

Project Leadership

Martin Rees , Astronomer Royal, Fellow of Trinity College ; Emeritus Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics, University of Cambridge .

, Astronomer Royal, Fellow of ; Emeritus Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics, . Pete Worden , Chairman, Breakthrough Prize Foundation.

, Chairman, Breakthrough Prize Foundation. Frank Drake , Chairman Emeritus, SETI Institute ; Professor Emeritus of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz ; Founding Director, National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center; Former Goldwin Smith Professor of Astronomy, Cornell University .

, Chairman Emeritus, ; Professor Emeritus of Astronomy and Astrophysics, ; Founding Director, National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center; Former Goldwin Smith Professor of Astronomy, . Dan Werthimer , Co-founder and chief scientist of the [email protected] project; director of SERENDIP; principal investigator for CASPER.

, Co-founder and chief scientist of the [email protected] project; director of SERENDIP; principal investigator for CASPER. Andrew Siemion , Director, Berkeley SETI Research Center.

SOURCE Breakthrough Initiatives

Related Links

http://www.breakthroughinitiatives.org


SAN FRANCISCO and EMERYVILLE, Calif., April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- 365 Data Centers, one of the top U.S. colocation providers by market presence, today announced that it has implemented Modius' OpenData data center infrastructure management (DCIM) software platform to enable real-time monitoring and metering of its data center infrastructure. This new technology allows 365 to improve power efficiency, pro-actively notify customers about power utilization and offer more flexible, usage-based power pricing options. 365 Data Centers chose OpenData because of the breadth of its features and ability to integrate equipment and collect performance data from multiple vendors across their portfolio of sites.

OpenData DCIM software performs real-time polling of critical data center infrastructure to measure power utilization, cooling effectiveness and environmental status. Featured in Gartner Inc.'s latest Magic Quadrant for Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM), OpenData was recognized for its innovative features such as predictive analytics, sensor-based real-time monitoring, asset management and thermal mapping.

365 Data Centers has deployed Modius OpenData across its colocation facilities and is currently providing its customers with metered power pricing and monitoring. All of 365's colocation facilities are monitored 24x7x365 by 365's Customer Service Center (CSC).

"Modius OpenData has helped 365 to better understand our colocation environment," said John Scanlon, CEO, 365 Data Centers. "Modius' engineers provided critical insights that are helping us to improve PUE and deliver a better service to our customers. In our opinion, OpenData was the best value considering its breadth of functionality."

"365 Data Centers' record of 100% uptime for the past nine years demonstrates its commitment to excellence," said Craig Compiano, CEO, Modius. "Implementing DCIM will help 365 to deliver the next wave of innovative data center services and controls."

365 Data Centers' facilities are HIPAA, PCI DSS, SSAE 16, SOC 2 and ISAE 3402 compliant and feature redundant power, cooling, connectivity and security 24 hours per day, 7 days per week and 365 days per year. 365 Data Centers' Philadelphia facility has a nine year record of 100% uptime.

About 365 Data Centers

365 Data Centers is the leading data center solutions provider for cloud, content, carriers and enterprises in tier 2 markets. Through its 14 U.S. edge colocation data centers, carrier-neutrality, 100% uptime, and industry compliance, 365 helps hundreds of businesses to improve user experience, reduce cost and speed innovation. For more information, visit 365datacenters.com.

About Modius, Inc.

Modius, Inc. is the leading provider of real-time monitoring and data center infrastructure management (DCIM) software for IT and Facilities infrastructure. Modius' solutions enable IT and Facilities to work collaboratively to lower energy costs, expand capacity and improve availability of IT services. The Modius flagship product, OpenData monitors, tracks, and collects data from all power-distribution and cooling equipment, environmental sensors, and IT assets, providing comprehensive Real-time Operational Intelligence (RtOI) for unified performance analysis from a single console. For more information, visit Modius.com.

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SOURCE 365 Data Centers

Related Links

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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- ABI Research, the leader in transformative technology innovation market intelligence, projects that mobile broadband operators will reap 5G revenues of $247 billion in 2025 with North America, Asia-Pacific, and Western Europe being the top markets. Specifically, network operators, vendors, and standards bodies will finalize technical details concerning the millimeter wave by 2020, with rollout ramping up afterward.

"5G will be a fast-growing cellular technology, most probably faster than preceding generations including 4G," says Joe Hoffman, Managing Director and Vice President at ABI Research. "The technology migration over the next few years will mean the continued decline of 2G. 3G and 4G will grow in many markets but 5G will generate new use cases and market revenues."

As infrastructure vendors and mobile operators prepare for the future of 5G, the market faces several key challenges. Obstacles include spectrum fragmentation, standards development, coverage range, availability of devices, and CAPEX/OPEX, and most importantly, the development of use cases that ensure profitable outcomes from the unique competitive advantages of 5G.

Unlike the case with LTE, 5G stakeholders are trying hard to achieve spectrum harmonization. As with LTE, however, 5G will also include unlicensed and shared spectrum schemes. Government organizations worldwide will need to work together to regulate the 5G spectrum and set the new standard.

Additionally, Enhanced Mobile Broadband coverage will be best achieved in urban areas that require faster speeds and greater capacity. While smart antenna technology can extend coverage reach, it will mean a small cells deployment. ABI Research forecasts 8.5 million small cells to be deployed by 2020, setting in place the infrastructure for a rapid 5G millimeter wave rollout. And in-band backhaul is a new tool to solve connectivity issues.

At the early stage of deployment, the leading 5G use case is enhanced mobile broadband, closely followed by critical and massive machine type communications. Leading mobile operators in North America and Asia-Pacific recently announced projects and plans to roll out their own 5G initiatives. For example, Verizon Wireless, NTT DoCoMo, KT, and SK Telecom formed the 5G Open Trial Specification Alliance. In addition, Verizon Wireless's acquisition of XO Communications' fiber network business brings strategic access to licensed millimeter wave spectrum with which to deploy 5G.

"The 5G Network of Tomorrow will, over time, evolve to embrace cellular, Wi-Fi, and wired connectivity, in addition to millimeter wave," concludes Hoffman. "It will be better, cheaper, greener, and incredibly high-speed wireless data access for the mass market that will cause business innovation to explode."

These findings are part of ABI Research's LTE & 5G Service (https://www.abiresearch.com/market-research/service/4g/) and Network Market Tracker Service (https://www.abiresearch.com/market-research/service/network-market-tracker/), which includes research reports, market data, insights, and competitive assessments.

About ABI Research

For more than 25 years, ABI Research has stood at the forefront of technology market intelligence, partnering with innovative business leaders to implement informed, transformative technology decisions. The company employs a global team of senior analysts to provide comprehensive research and consulting services through deep quantitative forecasts, qualitative analyses and teardown services. An industry pioneer, ABI Research is proactive in its approach, frequently uncovering ground-breaking business cycles ahead of the curve and publishing research 18 to 36 months in advance of other organizations. In all, the company covers more than 60 services, spanning 11 technology sectors. For more information, visit www.abiresearch.com.

Contact Info: Christine Gallen Tel: +1.516.624.2542

[email protected]

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SOURCE ABI Research

Related Links

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QUEBEC, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ - V-NEO has confirmed its intention to expand its services to the United States and is proud to announce the addition of Louis Martel to the management team. He will act as Vice-President, Business Development for the American market.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160412/354200LOGO)

Having accumulated over 25 years of experience working in Information Technology and Business Development, Mr. Martel is a graduate of the Universite Laval in Mechanical Engineering and has a Master's degree in Project Management. Throughout his career, he has held a number of senior management positions in relation to customer service, financial management and business development for important clients, including certain insurance companies. He has also served on a number of boards and as President of the innovation committee for the Chambre de commerce et d'industrie de Quebec.

Mr. Martel's appointment will allow V-NEO to address the growing needs of American clients with regards to their technology and policy issues. Being an Advantage Partner of the Guidewire network, V-NEO will have the means to support its American clients in the implementation and optimization of this complete and specialized software solution that is adopted by the majority of the industry.

This new addition is in direct relation to V-NEO's strategic plan, wherein lies the goal of becoming a leader in the provision of advisory services in the insurance sector. Through its investment in its Innovation and Insurance Performance Center, V-NEO maximizes the sharing of expertise and knowledge to strengthen its services and to ensure the conception and proposition of innovative solutions, as much for the local market as for the national and international markets.

"Since the beginning of V-NEO, the demand for our expertise has done nothing but increase and is now coming from the entire world," states Alain Lamothe, the President of V-NEO. "The establishment of this Center as well as the addition of Louis Martel to our team will allow us to address these demands and accelerate our will to innovate."

About V-NEO

Founded in 2010, V-NEO is a Consulting Firm that specializes in property & casualty and life & health insurance. It provides consulting services in business and enterprise architecture, IT solutions and the coordination of major transformation projects throughout the solution implementation process, from the strategy, selection, and planning, to delivery and value creation within the organization. V-NEO has experienced tremendous growth and has more than 90 professionals in three offices (Quebec City, Toronto and Brussels). Furthermore, VNEO is a Guidewire PartnerConnect Consulting Advantage.

For more information, please visit www.v-neo.com.

SOURCE V-NEO

Related Links

http://v-neo.com


Based on the book "Crash Course," by Pulitzer Prize-winner Paul Ingrassia, LIVE ANOTHER DAY reveals for the first time the truth behind the collapse of General Motors and Chrysler and the government rescue of these companies. The product of years of extensive research and interviews with the major players in this drama, the film shows how the American car industry evolved to become an oligopoly (the "Big-Three" automakers) engaged in an irrational battle with a labor union monopoly (the UAW) until ultimately the companies lost the ability to focus on their customers. Difficult decisions to address structural burdens like crushing healthcare and pension liabilities were dodged by all parties who preferred simply to "live another day," rather than tackle the problems they faced. This unwillingness to act, when combined with the housing and financial crises of 2008, left the once-almighty automakers with no option but to plead for a lifeline from the United States Government.

The Government's intervention came with its own set of controversies, from protecting a political ally by removing the focus on the UAW as a source of the auto companies' problems, to pushing the boundaries of long established rules of bankruptcy and corporate governance, to giving away an American industrial icon, Chrysler, to a troubled foreign company, Fiat. In the end, the bailout cost US taxpayers an estimated $10-$15 billion. By exposing this important drama in a new light, LIVE ANOTHER DAY is sure to generate a new round of conversation and controversy.

In LIVE ANOTHER DAY, these remarkable events are described by the key players themselves: "Big Three" CEOs, the UAW President and union members, senior members of President Obama's Automotive Task Force, bankers, journalists, analysts, former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, Tennessee Senator Bob Corker and even world-renowned car aficionado Jay Leno. The film also includes an original soundtrack as well as songs by Aretha Franklin, Foreigner, John Hiatt, The Temptations, and Mick Jagger.

According to the film's co-director, Didier Pietri, "Our goal with LIVE ANOTHER DAY was to provide a comprehensive portrayal of the largest industrial rescue in American history. With the merits of the bailout still being debated in the 2016 campaign and questions arising about the sustainability of the auto industry's comeback, this story is as relevant today as ever."

"The tale of the automakers might foreshadow governmental crises across America as well," co-director Bill Burke adds. "With unfunded benefits in many states reaching unsustainable levels, politicians on all sides should look at the history of the Big-Three and act soon to address these issues, or the next federal bailout might be for an entire state."

LIVE ANOTHER DAY will be shown on April 23, 5:00pm at the Carmike Cinema Broadway 17, 1175 Celebrity Circle, Myrtle Beach, SC 29577. A panel discussion will follow featuring Didier Pietri and Bill Burke as well as industry leaders from the film.

About the Myrtle Beach Film Festival

Celebrating its 11th year in 2016, the Myrtle Beach International Film Festival (MBIFF) has received prestigious awards in the movie scene including; "Top 25 film festivals to submit to in the world," by Movie Maker Magazine, and "one of the best in the world" by Film International. The MBIFF has a reputation for outstanding films and continues to be a venue for up and coming filmmakers as well as seasoned professionals. This year's festival will run April 20-23. Tickets may be purchased at http://www.myrtlebeachfilmfestival.com/.

About Argos Pictures

Argos Pictures is an independent documentary feature film company founded by Bill Burke and Didier Pietri. It specializes in the development, production and marketing of original content based on best-selling and award-winning books. www.argospictures.com

Contact: Michelle Handy

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.argospictures.com

Video - http://youtu.be/yg0SIYa53b4

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160411/353996LOGO

SOURCE Argos Pictures

Related Links

http://www.argospictures.com


COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., April 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Bigelow Aerospace (BA) and United Launch Alliance (ULA) announced they are partnering to develop and deploy habitable volumes in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The volumes will be based on the Bigelow Aerospace B330 expandable module with the initial launch to orbit in 2020 on ULA's Atlas V 552 configuration launch vehicle. The B330 will have 330 cubic meters (12,000 cu ft) of internal space. The craft will support zero-gravity research including scientific missions and manufacturing processes. Beyond its industrial and scientific purposes, however, it has potential as a destination for space tourism and a craft for missions destined for the Moon and Mars.

"We are exploring options for the location of the initial B330 including discussions with NASA on the possibility of attaching it to the International Space Station (ISS)," said Robert Bigelow, founder and president of Bigelow Aerospace. "In that configuration, the B330 will enlarge the station's volume by 30% and function as a multipurpose testbed in support of NASA's exploration goals as well as provide significant commercial opportunities. The working name for this module is XBASE or Expandable Bigelow Advanced Station Enhancement."

"When looking for a vehicle to launch our large, unique spacecraft, ULA provides a heritage of solid mission success, schedule certainty and a cost effective solution," continued Mr. Bigelow.

Transportation to the B330 will be provided by NASA's commercial crew providers, whether the station is free flying or attached to the ISS. The traffic to just one module will more than double the number of crew flights per year.

"We could not be more pleased than to partner with Bigelow Aerospace and reserve a launch slot on our manifest for this revolutionary mission," said Tory Bruno, ULA president and CEO. "This innovative and game-changing advance will dramatically increase opportunities for space research in fields like materials, medicine and biology. And it enables destinations in space for countries, corporations and even individuals far beyond what is available today, effectively democratizing space. We can't begin to imagine the future potential of affordable real estate in space."

Development of Bigelow's B330 is well underway as is the integration of the B330 to the Atlas V. The companies are working together to develop the business construct, commercial product offerings and marketing plans. Once the habitat is proven and markets are established, additional B330's will be deployed to other locations, even the moon and Mars, to meet increasing demand for habitable volumes in space.

About Bigelow Aerospace

Bigelow Aerospace is a destination oriented company with a focus on expandable systems for use in a variety of space applications. Chief among which are habitable systems for human or robotic use in low Earth orbit, on the lunar surface or in deep space. As such, these NASA heritage systems provide for greater volume, safety, opportunity and economy than the aluminum alternatives. For more information on Bigelow Aerospace visit www.bigelowaerospace.com, www.facebook.com/bigelowaerospace, www.twitter.com/BigelowSpace and www.instagram.com/bigelowspace

About United Launch Alliance

With more than a century of combined heritage, United Launch Alliance is the nation's most experienced and reliable launch service provider. ULA has successfully delivered more than 100 satellites to orbit that provide critical capabilities for troops in the field, aid meteorologists in tracking severe weather, enable personal device-based GPS navigation and unlock the mysteries of our solar system.

For more information on ULA, visit the ULA website at www.ulalaunch.com. Join the conversation at www.facebook.com/ulalaunch, twitter.com/ulalaunch, and instagram.com/ulalaunch.

SOURCE United Launch Alliance

Related Links

http://www.ulalaunch.com


LONDON, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- ABI Research, the leader in transformative technology innovation market intelligence, postulates IoT will be the next big market for the cybersecurity industry. While it remains a fragmented market that has yet to consolidate, the ecosystem is expanding with vendors finding their way into three groups: hardware (chipset/SoC/microcontroller), firmware/software (embedded OS/RTOS/hypervisor), and applications (platform/cloud/service/analytics) across a wide range of verticals, including automotive, smart home, healthcare, and energy.

"There is growing interest and requirement for improved levels of security to be designed into products, devices, and networks to protect data, combat fraud, and prevent criminal hacking," says Michela Menting, Research Director at ABI Research. "While there is no one 'go-to' company, with so many IoT and security vendors making a stake, the prospects for successfully penetrating the market are high for new players and entrenched leaders alike. Promising opportunities, and undeniably challenges, will center on securing assets, protecting data, and ensuring privacy."

Market players pioneering the expansion of the IoT cybersecurity vendor ecosystem include Qualcomm, Gemalto, G&D, ARM, Imagination Technologies, Deutsche Telekom, Symantec, Wind River, QNX, Green Hills, Freescale, General Dynamics, Commsignia, Covisint, Cryptosoft, Waterfall Security, Oracle, Intel, Harman (TowerSec), Bastille, Rambus, Escrypt, Inside Secure, and ForgeRock among many others.

Standardization and guideline developments are still in the early stages. Numerous groups, including the Cloud Security Alliance, the Trusted Computing Group, the OWASP IoT Project, the IEE, GSMA, NFC Forum, ISO, GlobalPlatform, and IoT Security Foundation, among others, are working on different aspects of security standards, from hardware designs to network connectivity. "When mapping out these new standards, it is important to keep in mind numerous considerations, such as small footprints, lightweight agents, low energy consumption, mobile assets, and permeable networks," concludes Menting.

These findings are part of ABI Research's Cybersecurity Technologies Service (https://www.abiresearch.com/market-research/service/cybersecurity-technologies/), which includes research reports, market data, insights, and competitive assessments.

About ABI Research

For more than 25 years, ABI Research has stood at the forefront of technology market intelligence, partnering with innovative business leaders to implement informed, transformative technology decisions. The company employs a global team of senior analysts to provide comprehensive research and consulting services through deep quantitative forecasts, qualitative analyses and teardown services. An industry pioneer, ABI Research is proactive in its approach, frequently uncovering ground-breaking business cycles ahead of the curve and publishing research 18 to 36 months in advance of other organizations. In all, the company covers more than 60 services, spanning 11 technology sectors. For more information, visit www.abiresearch.com.

Contact Info: Christine Gallen Tel: +44.203.326.0142

[email protected]

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151014/276887LOGO

SOURCE ABI Research

Related Links

http://www.abiresearch.com


NEW YORK, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- "The growing demand for energy efficient and enhanced security buildings would drive the building automation system market"

The building automation system market is expected to grow from USD 49.37 billion in 2015 to reach USD 100.60 billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 10.65% between 2016 and 2022. The growing concern for the conservation of energy coupled with the rising cost of energy is driving the demand for energy-efficient buildings. The building automation system not only helps to increase the energy efficiency of the building but also help to enhance the security and safety in buildings. This is driving the demand for building automation system.



"Commercial buildings sector to hold the largest share of the building automation system market"

The commercial buildings application is expected to hold the largest share of the global building automation system market during the forecast period. The demand for energy conservation and reduction of the overall operating cost is the highest in this sector, which is one of the major driving factors for the growth of this market.



"The market in APAC is expected to grow at the highest rate"

The market in APAC is expected to grow at a high CAGR between 2016 and 2022. The rapid growth of the construction industry in this region along with the government initiatives has contributed to the growth of the building automation system market in the APAC region.



In the process of determining and verifying the market size for several segments and subsegments gathered through secondary research, extensive primary interviews were conducted with key people.



The break-up of profile of primary participants is given below:



- By Company Type: Tier 1  22 %, Tier 2  35%, and Tier 3  43%

- By Designation: C level  29%, Director level  37%, Others  34%

- By Region: North America  39%, Europe  31%, APAC  21%, RoW  9%



The key players in the market include Honeywell International Inc. (U.S.), United Technologies Corporation (U.S.), Johnson Controls Inc. (U.S.), Hubbell, Inc. (U.S.), Schneider Electric SE (France), Siemens AG (Germany), Legrand SA (France), Ingersoll Rand PLC (Ireland), ABB (Switzerland), and Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany) among others.



The report would help the market leaders/new entrants in this market in the following ways:



1. This report segments the building automation system market comprehensively and provides the closest approximations of the revenue numbers for the overall market and the subsegments across the different verticals 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 would help stakeholders to better understand the competitor and gain more insights to enhance their position in the business. The competitive landscape section includes competitor ecosystem, new product develpoments, partnerships, and mergers and acquisitions.





Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p03717472-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

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MILWAUKEE, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- ManpowerGroup Solutions' Managed Service Provider (MSP), TAPFIN, part of ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN), today released a new white paper, "Moving Beyond Big Business: Changing Market Dynamics Drive Emergence of MSP Solutions for Lower-Volume Programmes." The paper highlights the need for a new, centralized model that makes MSP solutions viable options for smaller and medium-sized contingent workforce initiatives.

Click the link to download "Moving Beyond Big Business: Changing Market Dynamics Drive Emergence of MSP Solutions for Lower-Volume Programmes": http://manpowergroupsolutions.com/manpowergroup-solutions/Home/Thought+Leadership/Explore+White+Papers/Moving+Beyond+Big+Business

"MSPs have historically been highly customized, resources intensive and therefore were best suited to large-scale efforts," said Sean Garbett, General Manager, EMEA, TAPFIN. "This led to thinking about another solution  a new, centralised MSP model that can deliver the benefits of an MSP programme without incurring the costs involved in high-touch customization. This new modelwhich we have recently implemented in Pragueis a viable solution for companies with smaller or fluctuating contingent workforces."

With larger businesses, MSP initiatives are usually a significant undertaking that require sophisticated and highly customized solutions. Today, however, a variety of factors are driving small- and medium-sized businesses' needs for MSP solutions. For example, the rapidly changing regulatory environment for labor, global expansion of MSPs' footprint, and corporate growth modes/geographic expansion have created significantly increased demand for MSP solutions among a diverse set of businesses.

"To develop a model suitable for both small and mid-sized markets, it is necessary to eliminate the barriers while retaining the benefits," said Garbett. "The market has driven the need for a new model that moves the technology and administration into a single location managed by the MSP, delivering a more flexible model that balances quality with process efficiency."

To learn more, download "Moving Beyond Big Business: Changing Market Dynamics Drive Emergence of MSP Solutions for Lower-Volume Programmes": http://manpowergroupsolutions.com/manpowergroup-solutions/Home/Thought+Leadership/Explore+White+Papers/Moving+Beyond+Big+Business

About TAPFIN

TAPFIN is a leading managed service provider (MSP) dedicated to the innovation and delivery of integrated workforce management solutions worldwide. TAPFIN's customized, scalable MSP solutions for contingent and project-based spend are instrumental in driving process, performance and productivity improvements across the client organization, while providing visibility, predictability, risk mitigation and overall cost reduction. Part of ManpowerGroup Solutions, the outsourced services offering from ManpowerGroup, TAPFIN offers a complete suite of workforce management solutions that fully leverages a blend of global expertise and local knowledge. For more information, visit www.tapfin.com.

About ManpowerGroup

ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN) is the world's workforce expert, creating innovative workforce solutions for more than 65 years. As workforce experts, we connect more than 600,000 people to meaningful work across a wide range of skills and industries every day. Through our ManpowerGroup family of brands  Manpower, Experis, Right Management and ManpowerGroup Solutions  we help more than 400,000 clients in 80 countries and territories address their critical talent needs, providing comprehensive solutions to resource, manage and develop talent. In 2016, ManpowerGroup was named one of the World's Most Ethical Companies for the sixth consecutive year and one of Fortune's Most Admired Companies, confirming our position as the most trusted and admired brand in the industry. See how ManpowerGroup makes powering the world of work humanly possible: www.manpowergroup.com.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110330/CG73938LOGO-a

SOURCE ManpowerGroup

Related Links

http://www.manpowergroup.com


This will be the company's second participation at this event. We are honored to collaborate once again with Tsuyoshi Tane from DGT, who undertook creative direction of the highly acclaimed 2014 exhibit, "LIGHT is TIME." CITIZEN and Mr. Tane have worked together since 2013, to pursue the fundamental theme of "time" through "watches," and Mr. Tane continues to challenge the concept of "time" as "space." This grand-scale "time is TIME" installation invites visitors to ponder the nature of "time."

Exploring the essence of time

"Time" is the only immutable law in the modern times. The original notion that we call "time" is created from the passage of light arising from the movements of the planets.

Under the theme of "time is TIME" this installation will explore the notion of "time" from a variety of angles how the universe, earth, living creatures, mankind, life and societyare all linked to "time." It will also exhibit various forms of "time," that demonstrate different motions through mechanical and electronic movements.

It is almost a century since our foundation in 1918, and during that time we have explored possibilities, developed technologies, and created designs that broaden choices and new values of watches. To demonstrate it, we will exhibit 18 timepieces which symbolize the concept of CITIZEN design, "Bringing a start to new technologies."

Eco-Drive

It has been 40 years since CITIZEN created the world's first light-powered analogue watch that uses light as a power source. We called this technology Eco-Drive, which converts light into electrical energy.

Eco-Drive has evolved as one of our core technologies that symbolically relates to a concept of light and time.

We hope audience will experience the unique allure of CITIZEN that explores new possibilities for the future of the watch through the development of Eco-Drive products.

*Eco-Drive is CITIZEN's proprietary technology that powers watches using any natural or artificial light source, eliminating the need to replace batteries. Certified as an Eco Mark product for the first time in the watch industry.

Exhibition Overview

CITIZEN MILAN DESIGN WEEK 2016

DESIGN WEEK 2016 EVENT TITLE: time is TIME

DATE: April 12 (Tue) - April 17 (Sun), 2016 (6 days) April 12 (Tue) - April 16 (Sat) 10:00 -21:00 April 17 (Sun) 10:00 -18:00

Press Preview April 11 (Mon) 15:00 -20:00

Opening Party April 11 (Mon) 18:00 -20:00

(Tue) - (Sun), 2016 (6 days) VENUE: Superstudio Piu "Art Point" Address: Via tortona 27, 20144 Milano

EXHIBITION SPACE: 824 square meters (35 x 24.7 m)

HOST: CITIZEN WATCH CO., LTD.

CREATIVE DIRECTION: CITIZEN Design Team x Tsuyoshi Tane (DGT.)

(DGT.) INSTALLATION DESIGN: DGT. (DORELL.GHOTMEH.TANE / ARCHITECTS)

TECHNICAL DESIGN: Yutaka Endo (LUFTZUG)

(LUFTZUG) COMPOSITION, SOUND ART: evala

SOUND ENGINEERING: WHITELIGHT

SPECIAL WEBSITE: http://www.citizenwatch-global.com/g/event2016/milan/index.html

About CITIZEN DESIGN

Over the past century, CITIZEN's design has evolved. We explore possibilities, we develop technologies, and we create designs that broaden choices and new values of watches. When design merges into technologies, that's when design gives machine true life. CITIZEN DESIGN: Bringing a start to new technologies.

About CITIZEN WATCH

CITIZEN WATCH is a true manufacture d' horlogerie with a comprehensive manufacturing process that extends from creating a watch's individual components to its final assembly. The company operates in more than 100 countries around the world. Since its founding in 1918, CITIZEN have held the belief of "Better Starts Now"  that is, no matter who you are and what you do, it is always possible to make something better, and now is the time to start doing it. Sharing this belief, we have made watches, invented and improved technologies and explored the future of watches such as our proprietary light-powered Eco-Drive technology, which originally debuted 40 years ago, and state-of-the-art satellite-synchronized timekeeping

What is MILAN DESIGN WEEK?

Salone Internazionale del Mobile di Milano, one of the world' s largest international furniture fairs, also known as MILAN DESIGN WEEK, takes place every April in Milan, Italy. At the same time, a series of events and exhibitions known as Fuori Salone take place throughout the city. Together, these two events comprise MILAN DESIGN WEEK. CITIZEN will be hosting an exhibition at Fuori Salone.

Installation Theme

"time is TIME"

We wanted to think deeply about the question "what is time?"

Time contains many individual moments, including one we call "Now." It is impossible to make time stand still. People and objects grow old, but time is always new.

It always keeps moving. Keeps changing. It comes, and it goes. This ever changing flow of individual moments is what we know as "TIME."

"time is TIME" is an experimental and experiential installation exploring the idea of time. By using approximately 120,000 main plates, we have created two primary spaces: SPACE A and SPACE B. In these spaces, visitors will have a completely new time experience. In this installation, they will experience time as an absolute and everything else as relative.

15 years have passed since we have entered the 21st Century, and in this time every global event directly impacts our everyday life. Our society has become much smarter and fast-paced as a result of globalization. In this milieu, we have a chance to pursue the true meanings of both the individual moments we experience as "time" and "TIME," the collective passage of these moments. In the "time" that is "Now," all of us on Earth are equally connected to the same "TIME."

"time is TIME" is our challenge in the 21st century to introduce a new vision of "TIME."

Tsuyoshi Tane (DGT.)

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160411/353872

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160411/353871LOGO

SOURCE Citizen Watch Company of America, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.citizenwatch.com


NEW YORK, LEXINGTON and NELSON COUNTY, Va., April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Anheuser-Busch announced an agreement to acquire Devils Backbone Brewing Company, the leading and fastest-growing craft brewery in the state of Virginia. Devils Backbone will be the latest partner to join the diverse portfolio of craft breweries within The High End, the company's business unit comprising unique craft and import brands.

"I am extremely pleased to announce the partnership of Devils Backbone Brewing Company with Anheuser-Busch. While we are joining a creative group of craft breweries in the division, Devils Backbone will retain a high level of autonomy and continue its own authentic DNA within The High End framework," said Steve Crandall, co-founder and CEO of Devils Backbone Brewing Company. "The existing management team plans to stay on board for many years, while continuing to innovate and bring locally crafted Virginia beer to the nation."

In 2008, founders Steve and Heidi Crandall opened the doors to Devils Backbone Brewing Company in the Virginia Heartland, after being inspired by a ski trip to northern Italy in 1991 where they had their first taste of Germanic style beer. After success with the first brewpub, Basecamp, the decision was made to break ground on the Outpost facility, in Lexington, Virginia. Originally projected to produce 10,000 barrels of beer in its first ten years, the Outpost produced almost 45,000 barrels in its first three. Steve credits much of this early success to the excellent network of distributors within his system, which is weighted heavily towards Anheuser-Busch.

Today, the Outpost Brewery & Taproom in Lexington serves as the primary production brewery while the Basecamp Brewpub & Meadows in Roseland, serves as a visitor destination. Devils Backbone takes full advantage of the scenic 100-acre Basecamp property surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains, offering a variety of opportunities for guests to enjoy the outdoors. In 2015, the two locations hosted more than 500,000 guests.

"Devils Backbone has captivated beer drinkers in Virginia since opening its doors eight years ago," said Felipe Szpigel, President, The High End. "From the beginning, they have shown creativity and talent with the great beers they brew, and they've been able to use the authentic offerings at Basecamp Brewpub & Meadows to cultivate a fun, outdoor lifestyle that resonates with everyone. Pair these qualities with dynamic leadership and a dream to do something bigger, and you have the recipe for an even more promising future."

While best known for its flagship Vienna Lager, which accounted for nearly 60% of Devils Backbone volume in 2015, the portfolio also includes other award-winning year-round favorites like Eight Point IPA and Schwartz Bier. Developing beers with personality and individual integrity of flavor has helped enable Devils Backbone to win four National titles: 2014 Great American Beer Festival Mid-Size Brewery & Brew Team, 2013 Small Brewing Company & Small Brewing Company Brew Team, 2012 Small Brewpub & Small Brewpub Brewer, 2010 World Beer Cup Champion Brewery, and the Virginia Craft Brewers Fest Best of Show medals in 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012.

First Beverage Group acted as financial advisor to Devils Backbone Brewing Company. Anheuser-Busch's partnership with Devils Backbone is expected to close in the second quarter, subject to customary closing conditions. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

About Devils Backbone Brewing Company

Devils Backbone beers are inspired by the great brewing traditions of Europe and the ingenuity of modern craft brewing. Devils Backbone has earned numerous accolades for its beers, exceling in the art of lager brewing in an ale-dominated industry. The brewing team has received awards from the World Beer Cup, Australian International Beer Awards, medals from the Virginia Craft Brewers Fest, and the Great American Beer Festival, including national titles for GABF 2014 Mid-Sized Brewing Company and Brew Team of the Year, 2013 Small Brewing Company and Small Brewing Company Brew Team of the Year, and 2012 Small Brewpub and Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year.

Devils Backbone operates two breweries in central Virginia. Basecamp Brewpub & Meadows located at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains in scenic Nelson County, and the Outpost Brewery & Tap Room, a state-of-the-art production brewery.

About Anheuser-Busch

For more than 160 years, Anheuser-Busch and its world-class brewmasters have carried on a legacy of brewing America's most-popular beers. Starting with the finest ingredients sourced from Anheuser-Busch's family of growers, every batch is crafted using the same exacting standards and time-honored traditions passed down through generations of proud Anheuser-Busch brewmasters and employees. Best known for its fine American-style lagers, Budweiser and Bud Light, the company's beers lead numerous beer segments. Budweiser and Bud Light Lime Lime-A-Rita were named Brands of the Year for the Beer and the Spirits, Malt Beverages and Wine categories, respectively, by Ace Metrix in 2014. Anheuser-Busch is the U.S. arm of Anheuser-Busch InBev and operates 17 local breweries, 21 distributorships and 23 agricultural and packaging facilities across the United States. Its flagship brewery remains in St. Louis, Mo., and is among the global company's largest and most technologically capable breweries. Visitor and special beermaster tours are available at its St. Louis and five other Anheuser-Busch breweries. For more information, visit www.anheuser-busch.com.

About The High End

The High End is a business unit of Anheuser-Busch, created to provide its unique craft and European import brands with autonomy and support for growth, while fostering a collaborative environment for the brightest brewers in the beer community. The High End brings dedicated resources to support the growth of its brands, create successful partnerships and deliver more variety to consumers. Established now, The High End includes brands such as Stella Artois and Shock Top, along with craft breweries Goose Island, Blue Point, 10 Barrel, Elysian, Golden Road, Virtue Cider, Four Peaks and Breckenridge Brewery.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150622/224857LOGO

SOURCE Anheuser-Busch
FORT COLLINS, Colo., April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- DH2i Company, recently named a Cool Vendor by Gartner in the "Cool Vendors in Servers and Virtualization, 20151" report, today announced the industry's first Containers as a Service (CaaS) solution for Microsoft SQL Server. The new CaaS offering enables SQL Server customers to plug-into DH2i's award-winning DxEnterprise container management software in the cloud, in a simple, safe and smart manner. DH2i is tapping Rackspace, the #1 managed cloud company, to back its CaaS solution with industry-leading cloud uptime and customer service.

The release of DH2i's CaaS for Microsoft SQL Server presents a giant leap forward in the business model for using SQL Server in the cloud by enabling users to deploy Windows Server applications in the cloud at 50% the cost of standard cloud offeringswith built-in high availability (HA) and easier manageability. With DH2i CaaS, SQL Server DBAs, IT Managers and Directors, and Solution Architects can containerize and stack any new or existing Windows Server application service, file share or SQL Server instance. DH2i CaaS delivers built-in HA and disaster recovery (DR) readiness with containerized workload mobility. In addition, health and performance quality of service (QoS) and alerting management is included, as well as portable NTFS storage container volume and disk management. DH2i CaaS supports Windows Server 2008R2 through 2016, and can manage SQL Server instances version 2005 to 2016of any editionin any combination.

"The idea of 'containers' is a much talked about and generally accepted practice in numerous IT environments. However, there remains a number of adoption barriers for IT professionals. These range from a simple lack of understanding to the inability to pursue new technology because higher priority maintenance activities and fire fighting consume so much time. Barriers can also include a general resistance to significant change, budget challenges, and competitive blocks," said George Crump, Founder and Consulting Analyst, Storage Switzerland. "By taking DH2i's container to the cloud, DH2i is overcoming these barriers, and in doing so, providing business organizations with the ability to easily leverage containers and enjoy their benefits. These include better agility, faster innovation, increased productivity, higher availability and lower costs."

"As the leading managed cloud company, Rackspace strives to provide customers like DH2i with the expertise and service to manage the backend IT infrastructure, so they can focus on growing and innovating their core business with products like DH2i CaaS," said Jeff DeVerter, chief technologist for the Microsoft business unit at Rackspace. "With Rackspace support for Microsoft Private Cloud and dedicated servers, Rackspace enables DH2i to seamlessly deliver its container management services to customers. We're thrilled that DH2i has chosen Rackspace as its trusted infrastructure provider, and we look forward to a continued collaboration."

"DH2i CaaS for SQL Server enables our customers to fully exploit the cloud's fractional consumption and predictable scale," said Don Boxley, CEO and Co-Founder, DH2i. "In traditional cloud deployments, SQL Server often falls victim to sprawl. Running a 24x7 production environment becomes complicated, SLAs are virtually impossible to deliver, and costs skyrocket." He continued, "DH2i CaaS enables customers to bypass internal roadblocks and get their SQL workloads up and running quickly  spinning up a SQL Server workload in the cloud within hours instead of weeks. DH2i CaaS offers its InstanceMobility, allowing users to move any SQL Server instance from any host, to any host, anywhere  with near zero downtime; with three-to-four times fewer OSs. Of course, DH2i CaaS also delivers built-in HA and DR readiness, all at the lowest possible TCO." He concluded, "If you're deploying one SQL instance per virtual machine, its not DH2i CaaS for SQL Server."

The DH2i CaaS solution, which is ideal for SMB to enterprise customers, leverages DxEnterprise which features a first-of-its-kind container technology that enables workload and data portability and high availability for any SQL Server instance, Windows service or file share. This pioneering container technology creates a framework for orchestrating datacenter management, high availability/disaster tolerance and policy-based SLA management. DxEnterprise is the only Windows container technology that leverages native Windows file system (NTFS) and shared or replicated storage technology to coordinate access to a pool of disk resources in the cluster. This enables consistent disk presentation no matter which host the container is active on. DxEnterprise can support any current version or edition of SQL Server and OS across any physical, virtual or hybrid infrastructure.

Pricing and Availability

The DH2i CaaS solution is available now with "Starter Kit" pricing starting as low as $495 a month for five containers, a two-node active-active cluster and 24x7x365 managed services. To view a DxEnterprise product tour visit: http://dh2i.com/product-tour-and-free-trial/containers-as-a-service/.

Tweet this: [email protected] announces industry's first Containers as a Service (CaaS) solution for #Microsoft #SQLServer http://dh2i.com/product-tour-and-free-trial/containers-as-a-service/

About DH2i

DH2i Company is the leading provider of Microsoft Windows Server application portability and management solutions. Its flagship solution, DxEnterprise, containerizes and decouples Windows Server applications, such as SQL Server, from the host OS and underlying IT infrastructure. In doing so, customers can simplify and dramatically improve the management of their datacenter environment, ensure SLA compliance, and lower costs by 30%-60%. DH2i is included in the list of Cool Vendors in the "Cool Vendors in Servers and Virtualization, 2015" report by Gartner, Inc. To learn more, please visit: www.dh2i.com, call: 970-295-4505, or email: [email protected].

Additional Resources

 Join the conversation: Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook

 Read and Discuss: DH2i Blog

 Watch and Learn: DH2i YouTube Channel

[1]"Cool Vendors in Servers and Virtualization, 2015 by Philip Dawson, Thomas J. Bittman, George J. Weiss and Andrew Butler, April 16, 2015

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

 DH2i Company 2016. DH2i, DxEnterprise, DxConsole, DxHADR, DxTransfer, DxCollect and InstanceMobility are trademarks of DH2i Company. All other brand or product names contained in this press release may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

PR Contact:

Nicole Gorman

Corporate Communications

DH2i Company

M: 508-397-0131

[email protected]

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SOURCE DH2i

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SANTIAGO, Chile, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Empresa Electrica Angamos S.A. (the "Company") today announced the Early Tender Date (as defined below) results and the determination of the Total Consideration, as shown in the table below, for its previously announced "modified Dutch Auction" tender offer (the "Offer") to purchase up to $200,000,000 aggregate principal amount (subject to increase, the "Tender Cap") of its 4.875% Senior Secured Notes due 2029 (CUSIP Nos. 29246TAA7; P3713QAA5) (the "Notes").

On March 29, 2016, the Company commenced the Offer in accordance with the procedures of a "modified Dutch Auction," as more fully described in the Offer to Purchase. Capitalized terms used in this press release and not defined herein have the meanings given to them in the Offer to Purchase, dated March 29, 2016 (the "Offer to Purchase"). Except as described in this press release, all other terms of the Offer as described in the Offer to Purchase remain unchanged.

The Company also announced that it has increased the Tender Cap from a maximum aggregate principal amount of $200,000,000 to a maximum aggregate principal amount of $300,000,000, subject to the satisfaction (or waiver) of the Financing Condition and certain other customary conditions as described in the Offer to Purchase. The Company has increased the Tender Cap as a result of it expecting to be able to secure additional financing transactions prior to consummation of the Offer.

In addition, the Company announced that it is amending the terms of the Offer such that the Tender Offer Consideration (payable for Notes validly tendered after the Early Tender Date (as defined below) and accepted for purchase) will be equal to the Total Consideration (as defined below). Accordingly, all holders who tender their Notes after the Early Tender Date will be eligible to receive the same consideration as holders who tendered their Notes at or prior to the Early Tender Date.

In addition, the Company announced the exercise of its early settlement right for Notes validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) at or prior to the Early Tender Date. Pursuant to the terms of the modified Dutch Auction, the Clearing Price was set at $940 per $1,000 principal amount of Notes. Accordingly, both the Total Consideration and the Tender Offer Consideration payable pursuant to the Offer will be $940 per $1,000 principal amount of Notes. For the avoidance of doubt, holders who tender their Notes after the Early Tender Date will be eligible to receive the Tender Offer Consideration of $940 per $1,000 principal amount of Notes irrespective of the Bid Price they submit when tendering their Notes.

As of 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on April 11, 2016 (the "Early Tender Date"), $187,429,000 aggregate principal amount of Notes were validly tendered and not validly withdrawn.

Select terms of the Offer are described in the table below.

Notes CUSIP Nos. ISIN Nos. Aggregate

Outstanding

Principal

Amount(1) Principal

Amount

Tendered (2) Total Consideration

(Clearing Price)(3) (4) 4.875% Senior Secured Notes due 2029 29246TAA7; P3713QAA5 US29246TAA79; USP3713QAA50 $800,000,000 $187,429,000 $940





(1) Aggregate outstanding principal amount as of March 29, 2016. (2) As of 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on April 11, 2016. (3) Per $1,000 principal amount of the Notes accepted for purchase. (4) Includes the early tender payment of $30.00 per $1,000 principal amount of Notes (the "Early Tender Payment").

All Notes validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) at or prior to the Early Tender Date were tendered with a Bid Price at or below the Clearing Price (or without a specified Bid Price). The Company has announced that all such Notes have been accepted for payment and that settlement is expected to occur on April 14, 2016 (the "Early Settlement Date"). In addition to the Total Consideration (which includes the Early Tender Payment), holders of such Notes will receive accrued and unpaid interest from the last interest payment date to, but not including, the Early Settlement Date.

The Withdrawal Date for the Offer was 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on April 11, 2016, and has not been extended. The expiration of the Offer has been extended to 11:59 p.m., New York City time, on April 26, 2016, unless further extended by the Company in its sole discretion (such time, as the same may be extended, the "Expiration Date").

The complete terms and conditions of the Offer are described in the Offer to Purchase and remain otherwise unchanged. Subject to applicable law, the Company may further amend, modify or terminate the Offer at any time in its sole discretion.

Citigroup Global Markets Inc. is acting as dealer manager (the "Dealer Manager") in connection with the Offer. Global Bondholder Services Corporation is the tender and information agent for the Offer. Questions regarding the Offer should be directed to Citigroup Global Markets Inc. at (800) 558-3745 (toll-free) or (212) 723-6106. Requests for documentation should be directed to Global Bondholder Services Corporation at (866) 470-3700 (toll-free) or (212) 430-3774 (for banks and brokers). This press release is for informational purposes only.

This press release is not an offer to purchase or a solicitation of an offer to purchase with respect to any Notes or any other securities. The Offer is being made solely pursuant to the terms of the Offer to Purchase. The Offer is not being made to holders of Notes in any jurisdiction in which the making or acceptance thereof would not be in compliance with the securities, blue sky or other laws of such jurisdiction. The Offer to Purchase does not constitute an offer to purchase in Chile or to any resident of Chile, except as permitted by applicable Chilean law. None of the Company, the Dealer Manager or Global Bondholder Services Corporation makes any recommendation as to whether holders should tender or refrain from tendering their Notes. Holders must make their own decision as to whether to tender Notes and, if so, the principal amount of the Notes to tender.



Forward-Looking Statements

This document may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that are not based on historical facts and are not assurances of future results. These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and estimates about future events and financial trends, which affect or may affect the Company's businesses and results of operations. The words "believe," "may," "will," "estimate," "continue," "anticipate," "intend," "expect" and similar words are intended to identify estimates and forward-looking statements. These statements include but are not limited to forward-looking statements about the planned Offer, including whether the Offer is consummated in whole or in part. Although the Company believes that these forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, these statements are subject to several risks and uncertainties and are made in light of information currently available to the Company. Estimates and forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance. Any changes in such assumptions or factors could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations and the Company's future results may differ materially from those expressed in these estimates and forward-looking statements.

All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement, and you should not place reliance on any forward-looking statement contained in this document. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information or future events or for any other reason.

SOURCE Empresa Electrica Angamos S.A.
AUCKLAND, New Zealand, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Endace, a world leader in high-speed network monitoring and recording technology, today announced the availability of its updated EndaceProbe 9000 Series Network Recorders. The new 9000-XS Series EndaceProbe models extend industry-leading storage capacity for capturing and recording network traffic to enable detailed, back-in-time forensic analysis of data breaches and security incidents.

With the frequency, severity and cost of data breaches on the increase globally, and threats becoming ever more sophisticated, an accurate history of network activity is rapidly becoming a critical requirement for responding to security incidents.

"Our customers always want to go further and further back in time for security, breach, or network investigation. So we're always looking to extend retrieval depth to meet their needs," says Endace CEO Stuart Wilson. "The 9000-XS series EndaceProbes allows them to go twice as far back in time as our existing 9000 series."

Multiple EndaceProbes can be connected to form a distributed, network-wide monitoring and recording fabric capable of delivering 100% accurate capture and storage of network traffic on even the fastest, busiest networks. With up to 192TB of storage on each appliance, the new EndaceProbe 9000-XS Series network recorders provide a highly scalable network recording solution, offering Petabytes of clustered and/or distributed storage, capable of storing weeks, or even months, of back-in-time history. Security analysts can use this historical information to accurately identify, investigate, quantify and resolve network and security incidents such as data breaches with nanosecond accuracy.

EndaceVision, the browser-based network visualization tool bundled with every EndaceProbe, offers centralized search and retrieval of network history across an entire monitoring fabric. Easily integrated with applications such as Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS), Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) and Network Performance Management (NPM) tools, EndaceVision allows analysts to pivot from security alerts and other events directly to the relevant packets captured by EndaceProbes. This enables fast, accurate root cause analysis and reduces the time required to investigate network security or performance issues and distinguish false positives from real issues.

A detailed history of network activity allows analysts to reconstruct exactly what happened, so that they can understand any vulnerabilities that an attack exploited, the data and systems compromised, and the organization's incident exposure. Without this network history, security analysts are forced to rely on information from multiple disparate sources (such as application and server log files), which makes accurately correlating and reconstructing events extremely difficult. As enterprise systems become more distributed, historical network data has become accepted as the only single source of truth about what is happening across networks and applications.

The depth of storage offered by EndaceProbe 9000-XS Series Network Recorders makes them ideal as a cost-effective "always-on" packet capture and storage solution that ensures organizations always have an accurate record of all network activity. This improves the productivity of security teams, enhances the capability of IDS and SIEM tools, and ensures a detailed history of activity is recorded and available for back-in-time investigation and event reconstruction in the event of a data breach.

About Endace

For more than 15 years, Endace has provided high-speed, network recording and visibility solutions to monitor and protect some of the world's largest, most complex networks. Customers include global banks, telcos and service providers, media and broadcast companies, health organizations, retailers, e-commerce and web giants, governments and large enterprises. Customers choose Endace technology because it can monitor and capture network traffic with 100% accuracy regardless of network speeds or loads. It can scale to meet the needs of the fastest networks and is built on an open architecture that enables integration with a wide variety of custom, open source and commercial solutions.

www.endace.com

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SOURCE Endace

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EthosEnergy is providing full power plant life cycle services to the project, including; removal, refurbishment and relocation of a Siemens Westinghouse W501D5 gas turbine and associated balance of plant equipment from Auburndale, Florida to Friendswood Energy Center in Houston. The new Friendswood plant will include state of the art emissions control equipment to meet the Texas and, more specifically, local air quality requirements. Once completed, EthosEnergy will be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the plant.

Dirk Straussfeld from Quantum Utility generation said: "This natural-gas fired asset is an important part of Quantum's new growth initiative and will provide reliable peaking capacity within the Houston-load area.

"EthosEnergy's ability to provide a full, tailored package for the relocation of our equipment has given us a value-add solution in this competitive market."

Kevin Taylor, President of Power Solutions for EthosEnergy said: "EthosEnergy developed a turnkey solution for Quantum which utilizes all aspects of our capabilities to provide our customer with a complete life cycle package.

"The Quantum Friendswood Energy Center is an excellent showcase of the unique suite of services that EthosEnergy brings to our clients. By leveraging the breadth of our technology strengths and services we are able to provide solutions for our clients that enable them to maximize the value of their investments."

Notes to Editor

EthosEnergy is a leading independent service provider of rotating equipment services and solutions to the power, oil & gas and industrial markets. Globally, these services include power plant engineering, procurement and construction; facility operations & maintenance; design, manufacture and application of engineered components, upgrades and re-rates; repair, overhaul and optimization of gas and steam turbines, generators, pumps, compressors and other high-speed rotating equipment. www.ethosenergygroup.com

Quantum Utility Generation, LLC is an operating company based in Houston, Texas that was established to invest in the Americas' power generation space, and is co-funded by Quantum Energy Partners, a private equity fund with more than $6.5 billion in commitments, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which manages $170 billion on behalf of the Canada Pension Plan, and management. QUG's approach to investments and operations capitalizes on the deep industry experience of our team to provide investor-owned and public power customers with a unique set of physical, financial and commercial options through structured transactions involving our portfolio of assets. QUG's current portfolio interests include 441 MW of operating generation, 159 MW of projects in construction, and 2,416 MW of development projects. For more information, please see our website at www.quantumug.com.

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SOURCE EthosEnergy

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HOUSTON, April 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- This week women entrepreneurs are showing how everyone benefits when women succeed as they gather at the first-ever Circular Summit in Houston. The two-day summit (April 14-15), is attracting high-growth women entrepreneurs, investors and mentors and will feature a purpose-based pitch competition for women leading high-growth, scalable businesses that support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

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Circular Board, a collaborative accelerator for women entrepreneurs, and its flagship event, Circular Summit, recognize that investing in women's entrepreneurship presents an opportunity for economic stimulation and disruptive innovation, and by featuring speakers, such as Rachel Roy (designer), Alli Webb (founder, Drybar), and Jane Wurwand (co-founder, Dermalogica), the gathering will encourage women in business to adopt a bigger, smarter, bolder way of thinking.

"Women are gifted collaborators and multi-talented leaders, and collectively we have the power to rewrite the conversation surrounding female founders," said Carolyn Rodz, CEO of Circular Board and co-chair of Circular Summit. "We want to shift the global dialogue from barriers faced by women entrepreneurs to how we can create our own rules and paths to success. We are changing this by helping women understand the three pillars of their companies  purpose, profit and people  and the benefits of paying success forward to nascent founders through mentorship and investment."

"Women are creating businesses twice as fast as men, yet have disproportionately higher fail rates. We can change this. Women put 90 percent of their income back into their communities and families. So this is a good economic bet for our society," said Elizabeth Gore, Dell entrepreneur in residence and Circular Summit co-chair and speaker, who along with Rodz was recently named among Entrepreneur Magazine's 2016 Women to Watch. "Women only receive seven percent of venture funding in the U.S.  Texas being the worst state for women seeking venture capital  but we want to challenge the norm and talk about the growth that they are contributing to their communities and the broader economy through entrepreneurship."

Circular Summit is an interactive challenge to build stronger businesses that scale by creating strategic partnerships, accessing sources of capital and creating more purpose-driven organizations. This event and ongoing dialogue brings together the most sought-after women entrepreneurs, startup investors, media, enterprise partners and expert mentors to support female founders through participatory presentations, workshops, round tables and more.

Additional speakers include:

Ali Brown , CEO and founder, We Lead

CEO and founder, We Lead Juliana Garaizar , managing director, Houston Angel Network

managing director, Houston Angel Network Janet Gurwitch , operating partner, Castanea Partners; founder and former CEO, Laura Mercier

, operating partner, Castanea Partners; founder and former CEO, Maureen Hackett , honorary chair, Circular Summit; philanthropist

, honorary chair, Circular Summit; philanthropist Emily Keeton , national president, Lemonade Day

national president, Lemonade Day Lisa Lambert , managing director, Intel Capital; founder, UPWARD

managing director, Intel Capital; founder, UPWARD Maria Rios , president and CEO, Nation Waste

president and CEO, Nation Waste Aaron Sherinian , chief marketing officer, United Nations Foundation

chief marketing officer, United Nations Foundation Meli James, head of new ventures, Sultan Ventures

head of new ventures, Sultan Ventures Mikaila Ulmer , eleven-year-old founder, BeeSweet Lemonade

eleven-year-old founder, BeeSweet Lemonade Cindy Whitehead , co-founder, Sprout Pharmaceuticals

Pitch with Purpose is presented in partnership with United Nations Foundation, Dell, Johnson & Johnson and Guggenheim Partners. All five finalists will receive mentorships, and the winning pitch will receive a comprehensive awards package designed to accelerate scalability and social impact that will include a significant cash prize as well as the chance to lead a Masterclass session during the UN General Assembly Week. The top five finalists include:

HelperChoice , Laurence Fauchon , founder and CEO HelperChoice is an online platform where employers and domestic helpers can connect online. Based in Hong Kong , users from around the world can find the right helper for their home or family.

founder and CEO HelperChoice is an online platform where employers and domestic helpers can connect online. Based in , users from around the world can find the right helper for their home or family. Macromoltek , Monica Berrondo , CEO  This Austin-based startup's mission is to provide easy-to-use scientific software. Its vision is to help researchers make new discoveries by keeping the focus on their science.

CEO  This Austin-based startup's mission is to provide easy-to-use scientific software. Its vision is to help researchers make new discoveries by keeping the focus on their science. Miraculum, Inc., Dr. Ann-Christine Langselius , co-founder and CEO  This Swedish corporation manufactures highly effective, eco-friendly fire safety products to address structure fires, as well as the wildfire industries.

co-founder and CEO  This Swedish corporation manufactures highly effective, eco-friendly fire safety products to address structure fires, as well as the wildfire industries. Naja , Catalina Girald , CEO  Founded by Girald and Golden Globe winning actress, Gina Rodriguez . Naja is a vertically integrated lingerie brand bringing sustainability and ethical manufacturing to fast-retailing. The company is transforming the industry through their dedication to women's empowerment and changing women's lives.

CEO  Founded by Girald and Golden Globe winning actress, . Naja is a vertically integrated lingerie brand bringing sustainability and ethical manufacturing to fast-retailing. The company is transforming the industry through their dedication to women's empowerment and changing women's lives. Piece & Co.,Kathleen Write, founder and CEO  This mission-driven fashion company provides sustainable employment to women artisans around the globe. As a bridge between traditional artisan techniques and global fashion, Piece & Co. is changing the way handmade products are brought to market.

Circular Summit is made possible through partnerships with Entrepreneur Magazine, Johnson & Johnson, Urban Decay, Dell, Jackson Family Wines, Guggenheim Partners, Career Partners International, Signia, KIND Snacks, Under Amour, Drybar, and SoulCycle, among others.

About Circular Board:

Circular Board is a collaborative accelerator for growth-oriented female entrepreneurs who lead, or aspire to build, businesses with multi-million dollar revenues. We support women in business around the world through mentorship, content, community and capital, and connect founders to the resources they need to fuel growth. Circular Board is a virtual accelerator that builds a foundation for growth by creating clarity of purpose, establishing strategic partnerships, and providing access to capital  the three areas women struggle with most in establishing hyper-growth businesses. It brings together a curated group of the world's most sought-after mentors, investors who believe in the leadership potential of women, and strategic partners who serve as gateways to accelerated growth. The 12-week experience culminates in a Virtual Demo Day, but supports entrepreneurs long into the future through its Alumni Circles, rotating peer advisory boards who challenge business models, commit to the success of participants' businesses, and hold founders accountable to achieve their vision. For more information, visit www.thecircularboard.com.

About WomenRising:

Circular Summit is produced by Women Rising. Women Rising champions stories and creates experiences that empower women and girls. In 2013, Women Rising produced and programmed the first TEDxAustinWomen in partnership with the United Nations Foundation. The event became the #1 viewed TEDxWomen event of 2013 from more than 220 events across 58 countries. In 2014, Women Rising directed and produced its first film with the documentary, "A BRAVE HEART: The Lizzie Velasquez Story." The film's production was funded via a Kickstarter campaign and became one of the site's most successful crowdfunded documentary projects of all time. A BRAVE HEART premiered opening weekend of the 2015 South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival, went on to win 10 awards from 9 festivals, qualified for the Academy Award, secured worldwide broadcast distribution and was just named a double honoree by the Webby Awards. In 2015, Women Rising was hired by Conde Nast to produce an original series, LIZZIE'S FILM, EVERYONE'S STORY, for Glamour.com, and in 2016 returned to live experiences by producing, directing, programming and publicizing the premier health and wellness R3 Summit from Prevention Magazine (Rodale Inc) and The Circular Summit, in partnership with Entrepreneur and Inc. magazines. Women Rising just announced its second film after securing the life story of Fraidy Reiss, a forced marriage survivor who has founded the only non-profit committed to changing forced and child marriage laws in the U.S. Also in development are five series starring influential female change-makers. For more information, visit http://www.womenrising.com/.

About the Co-Chairs:

Carolyn Rodz

Circular Board was founded by three-time entrepreneur Carolyn Rodz. She has helped raise billions of dollars of capital for innovative organizations, created a luxury retail line that sold in over 400 stores worldwide, including Neiman Marcus, Harrods and Bloomingdale's and later launched a global marketing firm that supported specialty product launches within Fortune 500 enterprises and startups positioning themselves for industry leadership.

Carolyn now serves as an advocate for women entrepreneurs, connecting them to sources of capital, strategic partners, and mentors to create businesses that scale. She is recognized among Entrepreneur Magazine's 2016 "Women to Watch", as a Sam Walton Emerging Entrepreneur, and Micro to Millions awardee in partnership with American Express. Carolyn is a delegate to the United Nations Foundation Global Accelerator, a member of the Dell Women's Entrepreneur Network, TEDx speaker, former student board member for the Texas A&M Mays College of Business, and contributor to major media publications including Fortune, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur and more. Carolyn lives in Houston with her husband, Oliver, and two boys, Luca and Henry.

Elizabeth Gore

Elizabeth Gore is the Entrepreneur in Residence at Dell, where she drives initiatives that support Dell's goals around helping small and medium businesses scale and prosper, fueling the expansion of global entrepreneurship to create jobs that will drive the world economy. Elizabeth is personally advising the growth of companies such as the women's accelerator Circular Board, ride share commuting company Scoop, online and mobile fundraising platform Classy, and innovative water company SOMA.

She is the Emeritus Chair of the United Nations Foundation's Global Entrepreneurs Council that builds global partnerships that positively affect the UN's most pressing humanitarian issues. Ms. Gore previously served as the first ever Entrepreneur in Residence for the UN Foundation, as well as Vice President of Global Partnerships, and founded strategic grassroots efforts such as Nothing But Nets, Girl Up, and [email protected]

A former United States Peace Corps volunteer serving in Bolivia, South America and World Champion Equestrian, Elizabeth was named by People as one of the top 100 Extraordinary Women and is one of Fast Company's Most Creative People in Business. She has been featured on multiple media outlets including: ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, FOX Business, Fast Company, Fortune, Glamour, Entrepreneur, People, and Time. Elizabeth currently serves on the leadership council of the Indiana University's Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, and resides in Sonoma County with her husband James Gore, a California elected official, and two hilarious children.

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE Circular Board

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LANSDOWNE, Va., April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Five colleges and universities are finalists for the $1 million Cooke Prize for Equity in Educational Excellence, which goes to a selective college or university with an excellent record of admitting, supporting and graduating outstanding low-income students. The finalists are: Amherst College in Massachusetts; Davidson College in North Carolina; Pomona College in California; Rice University in Texas; and Stanford University in California.

Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Executive Director Harold O. Levy, who announced the finalists today, said the Cooke Foundation expects to award the prize later this spring.

"The Cooke Prize is the largest award in the nation given to an elite college for eliminating arbitrary barriers to admission and promoting the success of high-achieving students from low-income families," Levy said. "All the finalists for this prize have undertaken major initiatives to create equal educational opportunity for students regardless of their family income, and we want to shine a spotlight on their achievements so other schools can learn from their success."

The Cooke Prize was first awarded in 2015, going to Vassar College in New York. Vassar raised its percentage of low-income students (those eligible for federal Pell grants) by 11 percent since 2008  more than any other college ranked "most competitive" by "Barron's Profiles of American Colleges." About 23 percent of Vassar's freshmen are eligible to receive Pell grants.

A recent study by the Cooke Foundation found that only 3 percent of students at top colleges across the nation come from the poorest 25 percent of families, while 72 percent of students at these colleges come from the richest 25 percent of families.

"The message here is that students from poor and working-class families are in danger of almost disappearing at many elite colleges, the middle class is being squeezed out and the wealthy are dominating," Levy said. "The rich have an unfair advantage, creating a cash ceiling that blocks the upward mobility of some absolutely brilliant young people from struggling families who could thrive at top colleges if only they could get in. The five finalists for the Cooke Prize have proven by their actions that this ugly trend can be reversed, keeping the American Dream alive for all."

Here are highlights of actions the finalists have taken on behalf of low-income students:

Amherst College, a liberal arts college with 1,790 undergraduates, maintains a need-blind admission policy for all students, and meets the full demonstrated need of all admitted students without requiring loans. As a result, nearly 25 percent of Amherst students receive federal Pell grants, 58 percent of students receive need-based financial aid and the college provides no merit aid. Amherst began participating in the Cooke Foundation's Community College Transfer Initiative in 2006, and increased enrollment of community college transfer students from zero or one annually to 12-15 each year. The initiative also helped Amherst build an infrastructure to better meet the needs of transfer students, military veterans and first-generation and low-income college students. Amherst provides low-income students with funding for educational travel and study abroad, stipends for otherwise unpaid internships and career development mentoring; and is shaping programs to meet the social, psychological and health needs of all students.

Davidson College is a liberal arts college with 1,950 students that created The Davidson Trust in 2007 to raise scholarship funds. It meets 100 percent of the demonstrated financial need of accepted students through a combination of grants and campus employment, without relying on loans. Enrollment of low-income students has risen to 14 percent in the current freshman class. About 51 percent of Davidson students receive need-based aid from the college, and 70 percent receive aid in total. Davidson partners with the College Advising Corps, sending recent graduates to serve as full-time college advisers in under-resourced high schools in North Carolina. The college works with nonprofit organizations to recruit low-income students and help them complete their applications and financial aid requests. It also provides academic and social support services for these students. Davidson offers free online Advanced Placement courses to students around the world in calculus, physics and macroeconomics.

Pomona College is a liberal arts college with just over 1,600 students that meets the full demonstrated financial need of students (including undocumented students who graduate from U.S. high schools) with grants, scholarships and a small work stipend, without loans. Fifty-seven percent of students receive need-based financial aid from the college and 66 percent receive some form of financial aid, including outside loans and scholarships. The college offers a comprehensive range of targeted programs and services designed to ensure that all students thrive and succeed. Pomona College is committed to recruiting low-income, community college, first-generation, immigrant, refugee and undocumented students from ethnically diverse backgrounds. The college estimates there are about 62 undocumented students (4 percent of the student body) enrolled in the current academic year. The college has also developed recruitment and admissions strategies to address the specific needs of underrepresented students.

Rice University is a research university with over 3,900 undergraduate students and over 2,800 graduate students that provides aid to meet 100 percent of a student's demonstrated financial need. Currently, 17 percent of Rice students are from low-income families. Rice created OpenStax, the leading developer of digital free and nominal-cost textbooks for Advanced Placement and college courses. The online textbooks are in use this academic year in 2,500 courses at 1,500 schools, including 800 community colleges. Since 2012, OpenStax has allowed 674,000 students to save $66 million. In addition, Rice's Center for College Readiness has worked with 65,000 educators and high school students from every state and 53 foreign countries to prepare students for college success. Rice faculty members work with organizations to reduce the achievement gap between low-income and more affluent K-12 students in Houston schools and around the nation.

Stanford University is a research university with about 7,000 undergraduate and 9,100 graduate students. The university meets the full demonstrated financial need, without loans, for every admitted undergraduate who qualifies for financial assistance. About 47 percent of students receive need-based financial aid from Stanford, and 70 percent receive some form of aid. Stanford runs a national outreach program to recruit low-income students, including a program that brings high school counselors from disadvantaged communities to the university to learn about opportunities for their students. It operates both a Diversity and First Generation Office and Transfer Advising Program to provide services that help low-income students acclimate to the university and succeed. Outreach efforts by the university have increased the number of first-generation students applying to Stanford from 12.7 percent in 2007 to 20.2 percent in 2016. In the 2013-14 school year 15 percent of incoming freshmen received Pell Grants.

The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is dedicated to advancing the education of exceptionally promising students who have financial need. It offers the largest scholarships in the U.S., comprehensive counseling and other support services to students from 8th grade to graduate school. Since 2000 it has awarded about $147 million in scholarships to more than 2,000 students and $90 million in grants to organizations that serve outstanding low-income students. www.jkcf.org

Media Contact: David Egner

202-779-1743

[email protected]

SOURCE Jack Kent Cooke Foundation

Related Links

http://www.jkcf.org


FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida, April 11, 2016 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ -- Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) today formally commissioned its Port Everglades Next Generation Clean Energy Center  the third in a series of such facilities powered by American-produced natural gas. As was the case with the company's Next Generation Clean Energy Centers at Riviera Beach and Cape Canaveral, the Port Everglades facility replaces a 1960s-era, oil-fired power plant that was demolished in mid-2013. During its operational lifetime, the new, fuel-efficient plant, which entered service two months early and under budget, is expected to provide FPL customers with hundreds of millions of dollars in fuel and other savings.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120301/FL62738LOGO

"The Port Everglades Next Generation Clean Energy Center is yet another demonstration of our commitment to dramatically reducing our dependence on foreign oil, while at the same time, delivering clean, reliable and affordable energy for our customers," said Eric Silagy, president and CEO of FPL. "This facility is the equivalent of taking a car from the 1960s and replacing it with a hybrid, which is more fuel efficient and produces less emissions. This energy center is one more example of how the nearly 9,000 employees of FPL are working hard each and every day to ensure our customers benefit from electric bills that are among the lowest in the state and 30 percent below the national average."

FPL invested approximately $1.2 billion to build the new energy center on the same site in Broward County where a 1960s-era oil-burning plant was dismantled three years ago. Construction was completed two months ahead of schedule, allowing the plant to officially enter commercial operation on April 1.

By making smart investments in high-efficiency energy centers that operate on American-produced natural gas and use less fuel to generate more energy, FPL has cut fuel costs and saved its customers more than $8 billion since 2001. The new Port Everglades energy center, running on 35 percent less fuel per megawatt-hour, is estimated to save FPL's customers $400 million during the 30-year life of the facility.

New energy center benefits local economy, environment

FPL's investment in the new energy center also brings with it important benefits for the local economy. At the peak of construction, more than 900 people were employed, the majority of whom were Floridians, giving an economic boost to numerous local businesses.

"Hollywood is proud to be the home of FPL's newest state-of-the-art, high efficiency, natural gas energy center in Port Everglades. The center will benefit the City of Hollywood for years to come by providing reliable, domestically produced, clean energy," said Hollywood Mayor Peter Bober. "Additionally, FPL's investment will specifically assist Hollywood in the form of new tax revenue in the years ahead."

In addition to saving on fuel costs, the energy center's technology further improves FPL's emissions profile  already among the cleanest in the United States. In fact, as a result of FPL's investments in clean energy technology, the company is already positioned to meet the U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan targets by 2030 today. Compared to the former plant, the new energy center reduces air emissions by more than 90 percent and cuts the carbon dioxide emissions rate in half, which is the equivalent of removing 46,000 cars from the highway each year.

The new energy center is capable of producing about 1,277 megawatts of electricity or enough power for more than a quarter million residential customers.

Other investments in clean, efficient generation

The Port Everglades Next Generation Clean Energy Center is part of FPL's ongoing effort to modernize its power generation fleet in order to continue providing clean, affordable, reliable energy for its customers. These investments, which are projected to save customers billions of dollars in fossil fuel costs, include:

Cape Canaveral Next Generation Clean Energy Center: In April 2013 , FPL commissioned the new energy center, which replaced the 1960s-era power plant on the Space Coast.

In , FPL commissioned the new energy center, which replaced the 1960s-era power plant on the Space Coast. Riviera Beach Next Generation Clean Energy Center: The company dismantled the Riviera Beach Plant in June 2011 . It was replaced by FPL's Riviera Beach Next Generation Clean Energy Center, which entered service in April 2014 . Earlier this year, the company opened on the center's property Manatee Lagoon - An FPL Eco-Discovery Center, a free environmental educational center and observation area to view manatees.

Florida Power & Light Company

Florida Power & Light Company is the third-largest electric utility in the United States, serving more than 4.8 million customer accounts or more than 10 million people across nearly half of the state of Florida. FPL's typical 1,000-kWh residential customer bill is approximately 30 percent lower than the latest national average and, in 2015, was the lowest in Florida among reporting utilities for the sixth year in a row. FPL's service reliability is better than 99.98 percent, and its highly fuel-efficient power plant fleet is one of the cleanest among all utilities nationwide. The company was recognized in 2015 as one of the most trusted U.S. electric utilities by Market Strategies International. A leading Florida employer with approximately 8,800 employees, FPL is a subsidiary of Juno Beach, Fla.-based NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE), a clean energy company widely recognized for its efforts in sustainability, ethics and diversity, and has been ranked No. 1 in the electric and gas utilities industry in Fortune's 2016 list of "World's Most Admired Companies." NextEra Energy is also the parent company of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, which, together with its affiliated entities, is the world's largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun. For more information, visit these websites: www.NextEraEnergy.com, www.FPL.com , www.NextEraEnergyResources.com.

EDITORS NOTE: B-roll and photos of the new plant are available below:

https://fpl.sharefile.com/d-s723394acab5479e8

Related Links

http://www.FPL.com



SOURCE Florida Power & Light Company
Chuck is a disabled veteran of the United States Armed Forces, having served four deployment tours in three different military branchesU.S Marines, Air Force Reserves, and Texas Army National Guardin his 15-year military career from 1995 to 2010.

"My family struggled throughout my enlistment," said Chuck who explains that for every successful stride forward, his family seemed to always endure several disheartening steps backward. After enduring multiple relocations from home to home due to financial struggles, and multiple health concerns during his deployments, Chuck and his family were beginning to fall into the depths of helplessness.

"Mere days info my first deployment, our home loan fell through and my pregnant wife and son were homeless, living in our family vehicle for four days until she found a new rental," said Chuck. During the same deployment, Chuck crushed his right hand in an armored truck door, which later caused a tendon to "snap like a rubber band" inside his arm, forcing his medical evacuation to undergo two surgeries.

Chuck was later diagnosed with diabetes and high blood pressure, and while he hoped to transition to a desk position, he was forced to medically separate.

Years after his medical separation, Chuck and his family continued to struggle financially. "I was working so many hours that I no longer had time to focus on my medical problems. I was losing personal time off at work for every VA appointment, and those seemed to be scheduled weekly," said Chuck. "I could never seem to make enough to cover everything for the month. It was never ending."

Chuck became bitter, resentful, and hopeless and began to feel like a failure. Everyone in his home seemed unhappy and miserable, and his marriage was in trouble.

"Before long, God reintroduced me to Wounded Warrior Project," said Chuck. "I had nowhere to turn until they stepped in to help."

With long-term financial and medical support playing a critical empowerment role in the recovery process, WWP created the Benefits Service program, helping injured veterans navigate the complexities of the Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to obtain the care they need. With a success rate above 85 percent, WWP reaches into local communities through a variety of events, filing thousands of claims each year, and immediately changing the lives of injured veterans, their families, and caregivers.

Four months after WWP stepped in to file Chucks claim, he received a 90 percent rating for his disabilities. Then, to ensure Chuck could focus on his post-surgery recovery, WWP provided almost $4,000 in monetary support for rent, utilities, phone bills, groceries, and more.

"My body has been broken down over the four deployments I have served, and I am ready to settle down and enjoy life for once," said Chuck. "I want to spend time with my family and make it my mission to help other veterans who have experienced the same things I have with my journey. My family and I are very lucky to be in contact with Wounded Warrior Project," said Chuck. "They have taken years of frustration with the system and turned it around for us."

The Clark family is one of more than 100,000 injured service members, their caregivers, and families served by Wounded Warrior Project  more than 2,400 registered Alumni received assistance through the Benefits Service program in February 2016, securing more than $70 million in veterans' benefits dollars. For more information, go to: https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/programs/benefits-service.aspx.

About Wounded Warrior Project

The mission of Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) is to honor and empower Wounded Warriors. The WWP purpose is to raise awareness and to enlist the public's aid for the needs of injured service members, to help injured servicemen and women aid and assist each other, and to provide unique, direct programs and services to meet their needs. WWP is a national, nonpartisan organization headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. To get involved and learn more, visit woundedwarriorproject.org.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160412/354315



Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160412/354316

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160412/354317

SOURCE Wounded Warrior Project

Related Links

http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org


FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich., April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Gale, a part of Cengage Learning, is kicking off National Library Week and National Volunteer Week with a program to help provide early literacy resources and funds to support the education of children affected by the Flint water crisis. Gale is donating one year of free access to Miss Humblebee's Academy to the Flint Public Library, and partnering with the United Way of Genesee County to raise money for the Flint community.

"It is imperative to participate in solving the crisis affecting so many families here in our home state of Michigan, and we want to contribute to the education of the children in Flint," said Paul Gazzolo, senior vice president and general manager for Gale. "I think this employee-driven initiative is a good example of our culture at Cengage Learning, as we truly believe in the power and joy of learning."

This multi-part charity effort runs from April through July 2016. Working together with the United Way of Genesee County, Gale will raise money for the Flint Public Library, the Genesee Intermediate School District and SKIP to a Great Start preschool programs.

Miss Humblebee's Academy, which will be available through the Flint Public Library to area libraries, schools and preschools, is Gale's online early literacy program, designed to help better prepare children ages 3 to 6 for kindergarten. The easy-to-use, interactive and mobile-accessible solution offers hundreds of lessons across academic subjects along with weekly progress reports and assessments to measure proficiency and learning outcomes. Gale and the Michigan Electronic Library will partner to train local librarians in using the product.

The initiative is part of Gale Cares, an overarching program representing Gale's various corporate social responsibility activities throughout the year.

Anyone wishing to donate directly to the United Way's Flint Water Fund can visit http://www.unitedwaygenesee.org/flintwaterfund.

For questions, please contact Kristina Massari at [email protected].

About Cengage Learning and Gale

Cengage Learning is a leading educational content, technology, and services company for the higher education and K-12, professional, library and workforce development markets worldwide. Gale, a part of Cengage Learning, has been a global provider of research resources for libraries and businesses for more than 60 years. Gale is passionate about supporting the continued innovation and evolution of libraries by providing the content, tools, and services libraries need to promote information discovery, enable learning, and support economic, cultural, and intellectual growth in their communities. For more information, visit www.cengage.com or www.gale.cengage.com.

Media Contact :

Kristina Massari

Cengage Learning

(203) 965-8694

[email protected]

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SOURCE Cengage Learning

Related Links

http://www.cengage.com


TSXV: GGI

OTC: GGIFF

Frankfurt: RQM

VANCOUVER, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ - Garibaldi Resources Corp. (TSX.V: GGI) (the "Company" or "Garibaldi") (the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has exercised its option to acquire a 100% interest in the King Property featuring high-grade silver-lead-zinc and gold-copper mineralization over several known target zones 12 km north of the Iskut River in northwest B.C.'s Golden Triangle.

The 15 sq. km King Property is proximal to several historic mines including Snip and Eskay Creek in an area that has recently benefited from dramatic advances in infrastructure with the completion of the Forrest Kerr hydroelectric project. These improvements have aided the development of Pretium Resources' Brucejack mine now under construction and Seabridge Gold's massive Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell deposits.

295 g/t Ag & 19.4% Pb-Zn Over 6 Meters From Trenching At King

Limited recent trenching and sampling carried out by Garibaldi over part of the North Zone, one of the target areas identified in the 1980's at the King, supports historic results and returned a high-grade interval in one trench that averaged 295 g/t Ag with 19.4% combined Pb-Zn over six meters across the strike of the mineralized zone.

The South Zone is also prospective for high-grade silver-lead-zinc mineralization while the Central Zone has returned high-grade gold values from historical surface sampling at the Chubby Creek prospect. A follow-up exploration program is being prepared in order to define and prioritize preliminary drill targets.

Steve Regoci, Garibaldi President and CEO, commented: "The Iskut River gold camp remains exceptionally prospective. King is within favorable geology along trend, and large underexplored areas directly south of King will be the focus of upcoming extensive programs as announced by Skeena Resources and Colorado Resources at the past producing Snip mine and the KSP Property, respectively. This camp has the potential to produce important new discoveries this summer. Limited historical work at King has been encouraging and receding glaciers have revealed new exposures at surface.

"With our flagship Grizzly Project, the Red Lion and now 100% of the King, we're in position to capture more value than ever in British Columbia as we continue drilling and building on our success in Mexico," Regoci concluded.

King Terms

The final outstanding payment to the vendor was satisfied in exchange for expanding an internal cell retained by the vendor as provided for under an amendment to the original agreement dated August 15, 2009.

Grizzly Project Update

Samples from the recent drilling discovery at Grizzly Central (Ultra 1 Zone) are undergoing advanced metallurgical testing in order to determine the potential for recovery of both high-grade magnesium and nickel from what appears to be a very large deposit based on widely-spaced drill holes, a homogenous "black unit", and a geophysical signature 3 km long and up to 1 km wide. Garibaldi expects to be able to report preliminary results during the week of April 18.

Rodadero Project Update

First-ever drilling continues at the Rambo high-grade gold-silver target contiguous to a known robust vein system on the eastern edge of the Rodadero Project in Sonora State, Mexico. The discovery model for Rambo closely parallels the one developed by the same Garibaldi geologist for the high-grade Don Ese vein system, now an important part of Coeur Mining's Palmarejo mine in Chihuahua State.

Corporate Fact Sheet

To view the updated corporate Fact Sheet for Garibaldi Resources, please visit the following URL:

http://www.garibaldiresources.com/i/pdf/GGI-Fact-Sheet-April-6.pdf

Quality Assurance and Control

Samples from the King Property were sealed in plastic sample bags and shipped by bonded commercial transport to ALS Chemex in North Vancouver. All samples were prepared and analyzed by ALS Chemex. Samples were dried, crush to -100 mesh and analyzed by AA23 for gold and by ICP 421 for copper and a suite of 41 elements. All over-limit silver, lead and zinc analyses were performed by gravimetric methods with an error range of 0.01%.

Qualified Person

Carl Von Einsiendel, a non-independent geological consultant and a Qualified Person as defined by NI-43-101, has reviewed this release and approved the geological content thereof.

About Garibaldi

Garibaldi Resources Corp. is an active Canadian-based junior exploration company focused on creating shareholder value through discoveries and strategic development of its assets in some of the most prolific mining regions in Mexico and British Columbia.

We seek safe harbor.

GARIBALDI RESOURCES CORP.

Per: "Steve Regoci"

Steve Regoci, President

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of this release.

SOURCE Garibaldi Resources Corp.
WASHINGTON, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Today at the 13th Annual World Health Care Congress, IBM (NYSE: IBM) unveiled a first-of-its-kind corporate citizenship program called the IBM Health Corps. The new service initiative will bring IBM's top talent and cognitive technologies to help communities address health challenges such as primary care gaps, health worker shortages, and access to safe water and nutritious food.

As the promise of data-driven solutions emerges in healthcare, the initiative will dispatch the company's leading innovators with expertise in data, analytics, and artificial intelligence to work alongside public health leaders to understand their challenges and implement sustainable, data-driven solutions for health problems identified by the communities themselves.

IBM plans to pilot the Health Corps in a project with Unity Health Care in May. Based in Washington, D.C., Unity, one of the nation's largest community health centers, provides primary care to more than 100,000 underserved residents through its 26 local clinics, including those based in schools and homeless shelters. As the health community increasingly recognizes the need to bridge the gap between siloed health care services, Unity plans to integrate behavioral health into its primary care practices. Unity believes that this could benefit individuals whose emotional or behavioral health issues exacerbate their other chronic diseases. Unity believes it may also lower emergency and long-term health expenses. The Health Corps team will be tasked with creating an operational blueprint for piloting and scaling a model for clinics that combines both primary and behavioral health care within each care team.

"We are thrilled to collaborate with IBM Health Corps to help us address our patients' behavioral health needs," said Seiji Hayashi, MD, MPH, FAAFP, Executive Vice President for Transformation and Innovation, Unity Health Care, Inc. "With their expertise in data analytics and population health capabilities, IBM's support will catalyze our work and help us improve the quality of life for thousands of people in the D.C. community."

Later this year following a competitive proposal process, IBM will select five communities to receive the expertise of IBM's best problem solving teams equipped with relevant health and technical expertise in disciplines such as cognitive, cloud, mobile and social computing; predictive analytics; medicine and population health, who will analyze the local health challenges, then recommend detailed solutions. These might include blueprints and strategies for organizational, programmatic, technological, and operational enhancements. The commercial value of each engagement is estimated at USD $500,000. Applications may be submitted to IBM through April 20th by visiting ibmhealthcorps.org.

Already, IBM has completed two successful pilot programs through engagements that took place in late 2015:

In Calderdale, U.K., where more than 65 percent of adults are overweight or obese, IBM Health Corps partnered with the Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council to help tailor its health outreach and design specialized physical activity programs. The IBM team used cognitive technology to analyze unstructured data, such as social workers' case notes, to help officials identify the unique needs of vulnerable populations, including foster youth and elderly residents, to help them make better health decisions and increase their levels of physical activity. Insights gleaned from the data could lead to more effective programs, partnerships and policies to encourage physical activity for Calderdale's citizenry.

In Johannesburg , South Africa, IBM Health Corps collaborated with Africa Health Placements to address acute physician shortages. IBM built a mobile-enabled application that will allow clinic and hospital administrators to directly report staffing needs to the government in real time. The team also built a mathematical model for use by health managers and policy makers to analyze and visualize the data captured from the facilities and better deploy medical staff. Together, these technologies aim to facilitate better short- and long-term staffing decisions, potentially leading to better health outcomes, decreased patient wait times, and more equitable healthcare for communities. IBM, Africa Health Placements and the South African Department of Health plan to pilot these technologies shortly.

"We've been fascinated during this project to see how Watson can be applied," said Merran McRae, Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council Chief Executive. "We don't tend to think of free-form text as a source of data for analysis, and our work with IBM has really broadened our minds as to what is data, what is information and how can we turn that into a usable insight to help guide our interventions. We found Watson absolutely mind-blowing."

"Our work with IBM Health Corps shows the potential of mobile technologies at the front-end in primary care facilities and high impact visual modelling at the policymaker level to provide important insights and link key players in the health care management chain," said Saul Kornik, CEO of Africa Health Placements. "Real time insights can improve decision making and planning that will have real impact on healthcare access and patient's lives."

The announcement was made during IBM Chairman, President and CEO Ginni Rometty's keynote at the 13th Annual World Health Care Congress in Washington, D.C.

IBM's History of Community Service

The roots of IBM's new pro bono health grant program lie in IBM's existing community service problem solving programs that address issues ranging from urban resiliency to economic development. One such program  IBM's Corporate Service Corps, often called the private sector version of the Peace Corps  has dispatched nearly 3,000 IBM employees on more than 1,000 team projects across 38 countries over the last eight years.

Meanwhile, IBM's Smarter Cities Challenge, another community service program focused on urban problems such transportation and economic development, has sent IBM problem solving teams to nearly 130 cities worldwide, with approximately 800 IBM top experts delivering pro bono services valued at more than USD $66 million.

Both Corporate Service Corps and Smarter Cities Challenge have included health-related projects. For instance, IBM pro bono teams have collaborated with mayors, government leaders, and non-profits to strengthen data infrastructure, collection and analysis to address food deserts in Birmingham, Alabama; chronic asthma in Louisville, Kentucky; and 911 emergency services in Memphis, Tennessee. Other health-related projects have included efforts to improve planning and operations in Ghana, Africa and Cusco, Peru to combat mother-to-child transmission of HIV and cervical cancer.

Learn more about the Health Corps pilot projects on the IBM THINK Blog.

For more information about IBM's philanthropic efforts, please visit www.citizenIBM.com or follow @CitizenIBM on Twitter.

Media Contact(s):

Ari Fishkind

IBM Media Relations

+1 (914) 499-6420

[email protected]

Angie Hu

IBM Media Relations

+1 (914) 499-6532

[email protected]

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO

SOURCE IBM
Tele-Digital Store Front Kiosks to have Smart Antennas Installed into the Kiosks

TORONTO, April 12, 2016 /CNW/ - iSIGN Media Solutions Inc. ("iSIGN" or "Company") (TSX-V: ISD) (OTC: ISDSF), a leading provider of interactive mobile proximity advertising solutions announces that Rich Multimedia Technologies Inc. ("RMT") has issued a purchase order for 300 Smart Antennas to retrofit their Tele-Digital Store Front Kiosks ("Kiosks"). The value of the purchase order in Canadian dollars is approximately $219,000 and projected data management fees over three years are expected to be approximately $1.2 million Canadian.

RMT will be responsible for installing the Smart Antennas into the Kiosks as soon as they received the upgraded loop antenna from their manufacturer.

It is anticipated that the retrofit will be completed within approximately thirty days from receipt of the loop antenna and that the activation of the Smart Antennas will take place as each Kiosk is retrofit with the Smart Antenna.

This integration is designed to demonstrate to brands, passengers and advertisers the convenience of delivering and receiving mobile proximity messaging without the need for Apps and downloads. RMT has elected to move forward with this retrofit due to the interest generated in their Kiosks integrated with iSIGN technology at the ARN Revenue Conference & Exhibition in Dallas, Texas during early March 2016.

This 300 Smart Antenna purchase is in addition to the licensing agreement initiated in November 2015 to integrate iSIGN's technology and Smart Antennas into RMT's future Kiosk installations, with the first installation of the integrated Kiosks to be in 5,000 selected sites located in airports, transportation and government centers in Mexico City.

RMT is currently reviewing the layouts of the Mexico City airport, transit system and various government buildings in order to determine locations where the integrated Kiosks will replace the old payphones for installation planning and scheduling. RMT has identified the initial first 150 locations into one government building.

iSIGN's patented Smart Antenna technology does not collect any data that is considered private. The information gathered is completely anonymous in terms of identifying the individual, while collecting individuals' preferences for brand and advertisers' messages and offers. RMT adds the convenience of free mobile device charging and offers free five minute telephone calls without the need to download an App, resulting in the surrender of personal and private information.

"Over two billion travelers use the top 300 airports globally and a major part of this is in the Americas where we are replacing old payphones with our Kiosks offering great deals and promotions to travelers as well as the convenience of free communication and device charging with the added benefit of promotion and discount coupons for the products and services in and around the airports," said Mr. Mark Stevens, RMT's Vice President of Global Business Development.

"Airports are giant transportation hubs which are also very commercialized with world class brands of clothing, products, restaurants and services that provide comfort, selection and compete for the trillion plus dollars spent above travel costs at airports," said Mr. Alex Romanov, iSIGN's Chief Executive Officer. "All major airports shopping areas are standardized, offering similar services and product categories."

About iSIGN Media

iSIGN Media, based in Toronto, is a data-focused, software-as-a-service (SaaS) company that is a pioneering leader in gathering point-of-sale data and mobile shopper preferences to generate actionable data and reveal valuable consumer insights. Creators of the Smart suite of products, a patented interactive proximity marketing technology, iSIGN enables brands to deliver targeted messaging, personalized offers and loyalty perks to consumers' mobile devices in proximity and with real-time proof of redemption. iSIGN's data gathering capabilities provide analytics on price points, typical purchases, in-store dwell time and other shopper metrics that identify emerging consumer behaviors. These insights enable smarter business decisions and provide increased ROI metrics for more transparent marketing. iSIGN delivers relevant, timely messages on an opt-in basis at no charge to consumers, transmitting rich media to consumer mobile devices via Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity in complete privacy as opposed to iBeacons, apps, downloads and required surrendering of personal information. Proven to increase brand engagement and customer loyalty, iSIGN generates preference-based, predictive "clean data" without compromising consumer privacy. Partners include: IBM, Keyser Retail Solutions, Baylor University, Verizon Wireless, TELUS and AOpen America Inc. www.isignmedia.com

About Rich Multimedia Technologies

Rich Multimedia and its executive team have a 25 year plus proven track record in the telecommunications; advertising; in-airport media and retail travel business. With our partners we represent the leading international brands' and In-airport retail concessionaires. We are committed to working in close partnerships with brands, airport operators and suppliers to bring the mobile traveller on-the-go an unrivalled shopping choice and experience. We are relentless in our search for new concepts that will help develop existing and new markets. www.richmediatechnologies.com

 2016 iSIGN Media Solutions Inc. All Rights Reserved. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may include certain forward-looking statements that are based upon current expectations, which involve risks and uncertainties associated with iSIGN Media's business and the environment in which the business operates. Any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking, including those identified by the expressions "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "intend" and similar expressions to the extent they relate to the Company or its management. The forward-looking statements are not historical facts, but reflect iSIGN Media's current expectations regarding future results or events. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations. iSIGN Media assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor Its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE iSIGN Media Corp

Related Links

www.isignmedia.com


WESTMINSTER, Colo., April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Larson Financial is honored to announce that it has been selected as one of the "Top Workplaces" by the Denver Post. This marks the fifth year in a row that Larson Financial has received the award, placing on the list every year since the Top Workplaces competition began.

Owners Ron and Jack Larson have always recognized the importance of providing a top quality workplace by combining employee recognition, flexibility, fun, and perks around the office. The Larsons have a great understanding of how creating a great workplace ultimately translates to great results and happy clients. On-going training keeps Larson at the cutting edge of tax resolution and yoga balls & exercise mats, a ping pong table, cooking classes and treats around the office help team members come to work each day ready to be engaged and energized to provide their best to the clients. Ron Larson, co-owner and head of corporate engagement notes that "empowering our employees by showing them how much they are valued truly helps inspire them to reach their full potentials."

Top Workplaces are determined based solely on employee feedback. The Denver Business Journal teamed with Quantum Workplace to compile results from employee surveys to determine the outcome. The surveys measured corporate culture such as having a clear sense of direction, work/life balance, job expectations, trust with co-workers, individual contribution, manager effectiveness, trust in senior leaders, feeling valued, work engagement and people practices. For more information visit www.topworkplaces.com and www.workplacedynamics.com.

About Larson Financial

Larson Financial is a leader in the tax resolution industry, assisting clients in all 50 states, specializing in tax resolution strategies and taxpayer representation in tax issues with the IRS and state taxing authorities. The firm, established in 2005, is family owned and operated 2005 by brothers Jack and Ron Larson. Since that beginning, Larson has been successfully building a team of trusted and experienced professionals to provide answers and top quality solutions that work for their clients. As a family owned business, the team at Larson understands that behind every client there is a real person that deserves the best service and representation available. Larson has helped over 10,000 individuals and businesses to resolve their tax liabilities in all 50 states. Their experience, knowledge, professionalism, and customer service are unmatched in the industry. www.larson-financial.com

CONTACT: Jack Larson, [email protected]

SOURCE Larson Financial

Related Links

http://www.larson-financial.com


HARRISBURG, Pa., April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AARP Pennsylvania today praised members of the state House of Representatives for approving the Caregiver Advise, Record, Enable (CARE) Act that will help more than 1.6 million family caregivers currently assisting older adults at home.

Today's action sends H.B. 1329 to Governor Wolf for his signature. The unanimous vote in the State House of Representatives today (197-0) followed Monday's unanimous approval by the State Senate. Similar legislation was already passed in 22 states.

"This common sense legislation provides essential support to caregivers who are safely helping older Pennsylvanians remain at home," said AARP Pennsylvania State Director Bill Johnston-Walsh. "The bill also recognizes the critical role family caregivers play in keeping loved ones out of costly institutions and will reduce the likelihood of unnecessary hospital readmissions."

Sponsored by Representative Hal English (R-30), HB 1329 was developed with input from the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of PA and the PA Nurse's Association, and features three key provisions:

That a caregiver be designated upon a senior's hospital admission.

That the facility notify the caregiver of the discharge plan.

That the facility provide an explanation and live instruction of all medical tasks  such as medication management, injections, wound care, and transfers  that the family caregiver will perform at home.

AARP studies show the CARE Act is needed because:

Most care recipients (69%) did not have a home visit by a health care professional after discharge from the hospital.

Almost half (46%) of family caregivers perform medical or nursing tasks for their loved ones with multiple chronic physical and cognitive conditions.

Three out of four (78%) who provide these medical or nursing tasks manage medications, including administering intravenous fluids and injections.

Most family caregivers report that they received little or no training to perform these tasks.

"If you aren't a caregiver now, chances are you were one in the past, or you will be one in the future," said Johnston-Walsh. "Approval of this legislation will help all those who are working tirelessly caring for aging parents, spouses, and other loved ones so those older adults can continue living independently, with dignity, at homewhere they want to be."

AARP has 1.8 million members in Pennsylvania. Follow AARP Pennsylvania on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AARPPA and on Twitter @AARPPA.

AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, with a membership of nearly 38 million, that helps people turn their goals and dreams into real possibilities, strengthens communities and fights for the issues that matter most to families such as healthcare, employment and income security, retirement planning, affordable utilities and protection from financial abuse. We advocate for individuals in the marketplace by selecting products and services of high quality and value to carry the AARP name as well as help our members obtain discounts on a wide range of products, travel, and services. A trusted source for lifestyle tips, news and educational information, AARP produces AARP The Magazine, the world's largest circulation magazine; AARP Bulletin; www.aarp.org; AARP TV & Radio; AARP Books; and AARP en Espanol, a Spanish-language website addressing the interests and needs of Hispanics. AARP does not endorse candidates for public office or make contributions to political campaigns or candidates. The AARP Foundation is an affiliated charity that provides security, protection, and empowerment to older persons in need with support from thousands of volunteers, donors, and sponsors. AARP has staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Learn more at www.aarp.org.

Contact: Steve Gardner, AARP PA

(717) 237-6481 or [email protected]

or

Jacklyn Isasi, AARP PA

(267) 825-9928 or [email protected]

SOURCE AARP Pennsylvania

Related Links

http://www.aarp.org


SEATTLE, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- MCG, part of the Hearst Health network and a leading provider of informed care strategies, has named St. Joseph Heritage Healthcare, a California statewide physician practice organization, a recipient of the 2015 Doyle Award. The award recognizes the role Heritage played to help its parent organization, St. Joseph Health, implement an MCG informed care solution. The implementation enabled the formation of a successful accountable care organization (ACO) in partnership with a commercial health plan. After implementation, the St. Joseph Health integrated health delivery system saw an almost immediate impact on quality and cost- efficiency. Over the first two years, it reduced hospital admissions by 9% and 30-day readmissions by 33%, saving an estimated $1.4 million a year. Length of stay also improved, and by the end of 2015, St. Joseph Health had reduced average inpatient days per 1,000 patients by nearly 10%.

On January 1, 2012, St. Joseph Health launched an accountable care initiative with Blue Shield of California, assuming full risk in managing the health of all the plan's 30,000 members in Orange County. While St. Joseph Health's leadership welcomed the opportunity to improve care quality and reduce costs, its resourceshospitals, affiliated physician networks and medical groupshad been operating independently without the coordination needed to manage risk effectively at a system level. "We were facing huge variability in services, processes, data management, and resources," says Linda Violas, Director of Clinical Effectiveness at Heritage. "Bringing together stakeholders who were functioning quite well on their own was one of our biggest challenges."

Heritage leveraged MCG clinical guidelines and Cite CareWebQI to benchmark and manage inpatient admission and length of stay performance. In addition to providing performance benchmarks, the guidelines catalyzed the alignment of facilities and staff. St. Joseph Health now has a Care Integration Division that manages the integration of utilization and care management programs across the system, as well as a Population Health Department that oversees the collection of data needed to report against quality measures.

"Patient-centered care and effective resource management are at the heart of the shift to accountable care," says Violas. "MCG furnished Heritage with the benchmarks and transparent evidence-based guidance we needed to build clinical consensus and drive efficiency across the continuum of care."

MCG leadership commends St. Joseph Health's success with its first ACOand has high hopes for its second, which it launched in January 2015. "Organizations that drive consistent decision-making based on the clinical evidence improve outcomes and lower delivery costs," says Jon Shreve, President of MCG. "St. Joseph Health's example underscores the promise of this strategy."

About St. Joseph Heritage Healthcare

Part of St. Joseph Health, St. Joseph Heritage Healthcare (SJHH) includes eight medical groups in California, five of which are in Southern California. In addition to our medical groups, SJHH supports three distinct affiliated physician networks throughout the region. Combined, they provide Orange County residents access to more than 475 primary care physicians and more than 1,250 physicians in virtually every specialty. SJHH medical groups and affiliated physicians have received top honors from various organizations, including the Orange County Medical Association for Physicians of Excellence and the Integrated Healthcare Association with distinction in clinical quality.

About St. Joseph Health

St. Joseph Health (SJH) is a not-for-profit, integrated health care delivery system that includes 16 hospitals, physician organizations, home health agencies, hospice care, outpatient services and community outreach services. Founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange, SJH remains rooted to the sisters' traditions of assessing a community's needs and adapting strategies to meet those needs. Today, SJH continues its work in the tradition of the sisters through its wide networks of outstanding services. In each region it serves, SJH reaches out to care for the poor and vulnerable, establishing and supporting many programs and services that benefit the community. For more information, visit stjhs.org.

About MCG

MCG, part of the Hearst Health Network, helps healthcare organizations implement informed care strategies that proactively and efficiently move patients toward health. MCG's transparent assessment of the latest research and scholarly articles, along with our own data analysis, gives patients, providers and payors the vetted information they need to feel confident in every care decision, in every moment. www.mcg.com.

About Hearst Health

MCG is part of the Hearst Health network, which also includes FDB (First Databank), Zynx Health and Homecare Homebase, Hearst Health International, Hearst Health Ventures and the Hearst Health Innovation Lab. The mission of the Hearst Health network is to help guide the most important care moments by delivering vital information into the hands of everyone who touches a person's health journey. Each year in the U.S., care guidance from the Hearst Health network reaches 84 percent of discharged patients, 174 million insured individuals, 41 million home health visits, and 4 billion prescriptions. www.hearsthealth.com

About The Richard L. Doyle Award for Innovation and Leadership in Healthcare

The Doyle Award was developed to recognize organizations that make innovative use of the care guidelines to help deliver effective healthcare.

Dr. Doyle, the care guidelines founding editor, was a hospital chief-of-staff when he began creating clinical guidelines in the 1980s to help improve healthcare efficiency and quality at Mercy Hospital in San Diego. He later joined Milliman & Robertson and in 1990 published the first set of what was to become the care guidelines.

Judges for this award are independent healthcare quality experts, not currently associated with MCG. Applicants were judged on how well their projects supported the MCG mission to help drive effective care. Judges looked for evidence of improvements in healthcare quality and patient safety; patient/member satisfaction; staff efficiency, productivity and satisfaction; internal/external communication; and effective use of resources.

Media Contact

Arri Burgess

MCG

Tel 206 389 5405

[email protected]

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140218/SF66746LOGO

SOURCE MCG

Related Links

http://www.mcg.com


WASHINGTON, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Will mobile apps that are cheaper and easier to develop convince more small businesses to have them? Not necessarily, according to a new survey by Clutch, the leading app development research firm. While nearly 50% of small businesses indicate they plan to have a mobile app within the next few years, over 30% still have no intention to do so. Industry experts, however, say that attitude will likely change as more small businesses watch the trend of mobile app adoption grow and are forced to have an app in order to stay competitive.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160411/353961

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160411/353962

"Many small businesses don't even consider building a mobile app, but this is changing fast, with more and more traffic coming from mobile devices," says Viktor Marohnic, CEO of the mobile app creator Shoutem. "Three years ago, a small business might see 10% of its total traffic coming from mobile, but right now it's closer to 70%. Within the next couple of years, a shift to a mobile app or a mobile-friendly site will become obvious."

Twenty percent of small businesses currently have a mobile app and the majority of these businesses say they built an app to (1) increase sales, (2) improve customer experience, and (3) become competitive in a specific market. For small businesses, mobile apps provide new opportunities for customer engagement and overall accessibility, key components for success in a mobile-first market.

"Cutting down the time in which someone can make an order or a purchase is a key factor," explains Zach Cusimano, the COO of the mobile app builder Bizness Apps. "Having that ability in their pocket is much easier than visiting a business or going on a desktop. If a business can convince someone to download their app, that person is essentially giving them a place in their pocket at all times. It's an extremely valuable concept which has never been a part of business outside of the last three or four years."

Consumer-facing businesses such as restaurants, gyms, stores and professional services are the most likely adopters of the mobile app movement because of the potential benefits for customer interaction. In addition, internal business apps are gaining momentum as businesses look to streamline internal processes and increase productivity. Previously, building a single app could cost $40,000 or more, but with new app builder platforms, small businesses can begin to build a simple app from about $5 per month.

Clutch analysts gathered over 352 survey responses from small business owners and managers throughout the US. The majority of survey respondents are businesses with 1-10 employees and less than $1 million in annual revenue, a true representation of small businesses according to the US Census Bureau.

This latest report is the last of four segments that Clutch published in the previous months examining the results of their second annual Small Business Digital Marketing Survey. Past reports focused on search engine optimization, social media marketing and website usage.

For more information, the full report can be found at: https://clutch.co/app-development/resources/small-business-mobile-apps-2016-survey

About Clutch

Clutch is a Washington, DC-based research firm that identifies top services and software firms that deliver results for their clients. The Clutch methodology is an innovative research process melding the best of traditional B2B research and newer consumer review services. To date, Clutch has researched and reviewed 1000+ companies spanning 50+ market segments.

Contact:

Amanda Soderlund

(202) 540-9053

Email

SOURCE Clutch
WASHINGTON, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Explore outer space and our Earth with NASA at the USA Science and Engineering Festival, April 15-17 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, located at 801 Mt. Vernon Place NW in Washington. NASA scientists and engineers will be on hand at the agency's interactive and informative exhibit, Booth #6393, Saturday and Sunday to talk all things science and exploration.

NASA will hold a media availability at 10:15 a.m. EDT Friday, during the festival sneak peak event, at its second floor exhibit space. Experts will be on hand to discuss NASA missions that are inspiring today's youth -- the Mars generation.

During the two-day public event, NASA exhibits will allow visitors of all ages to take virtual reality walks on other planets, snap a selfie in a spacesuit, and enjoy several other interactive activities, as well as talk to experts about a variety of topics, including rockets, robots, X-Planes (experimental aircraft) and deep-space exploration.

NASA partner the Center for Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) will host a live call from the International Space Station with astronaut Jeff Williams at 12:35 p.m. Saturday.

At 3 p.m. Saturday on the Einstein Stage, NASA's Jason Crusan will talk about how NASA's first 3-D printer and the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module are paving the way for humans to live, work, and travel farther into space than ever before.

The NASA Stage at the festival will feature agency scientists and engineers presenting fast-paced, TED-style talks. Speakers include NASA's Director of Planetary Science Jim Green, who will talk about the film The Martian and science fiction versus science fact.

NASA Chief Scientist Ellen Stofan will speak at 1 p.m. Sunday, about NASA's Journey to Mars, and the agency's goal of putting humans on the Red Planet in the 2030s. Her presentation will include discussions on how we get to Mars and the unique challenges of living on this distant world, followed by a question-and-answer session with the audience.

Other speakers will talk about NASA's Earth science missions, future-forward aeronautics research and exploration of our solar system and beyond. The Space Telescope Science Institute, in partnership with NASA, will showcase at the event the agency's Hubble Space Telescope and the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope, currently being assembled at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Visitors can use interactive software to explore how NASA's fleet of telescopes observe space across the electromagnetic spectrum. They also will see how astronomers create multi-colored images from data taken with Hubble and the Webb telescope.

For a complete list of NASA activities and speakers during the festival, visit:

http://www.usasciencefestival.org

For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO

SOURCE NASA

Related Links

http://www.nasa.gov


NEW YORK, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The numbers are numbing: up to 20 percent of children in the U.S. have a mental illness. Tackling this health crisis of pediatric behavioral and mental health is a coalition of the nation's top experts. On Tuesday, April 19 the National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Board of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Social Work and the Coalition for the Promotion of Behavioral Health, along with recognized prevention leaders like Montefiore Health System, The Pennsylvania State University and University of Washington, will hold a Congressional briefing on evidence-based programs that are already making inroads to prevent and potentially reverse this trend.

Behavioral health issues cost America $247 billion per year, with problems spanning disruptive and defiant behaviors; anxiety and depressive symptoms; tobacco, alcohol and drug misuse, and aggression and violence. Embedding mental health providers into the medical practices of pediatricians and family physicians is one of the changes making it possible to holistically prevent and address behavioral illnesses early.

"Pediatricians have the remarkable privilege of working with children and families on a daily basis; all of us need help, education and support in positive parenting to enhance early brain development in our children and to help them thrive," said Benard P. Dreyer, M.D., F.A.A.P., president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Though this integrated model of care has been effective in enhancing quality of care for families of young children and improving selected parenting practices, several barriers keep families and children from participating in or receiving interventions that can provide lasting impact.

"We must reform the status quo and enable pediatric care providers to adopt tested and effective programs to support parents and their children," said Rahil D. Briggs, Psy.D., director, Pediatric Behavioral Health Services, Montefiore Health System and associate professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine. "Current financial barriers are short-sighted given the long-terms costs of not intervening early and properly. We need our elected representatives to make these programs an accessible option to improve the overall health of children in America."

The briefing will include presentations from Incredible Years, Healthy Steps, Triple P and Familias Unidas programs which are already having a positive impact. Two families with life-changing experiences thanks to their participation in such programs will share their personal accounts. Co-hosts include Senator Patty Murray, Ranking Member, Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, and Senator Lamar Alexander, Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

"Mental health care is critical at every stage of life, and so we must ensure our system can address every patient's needs, whether that patient is a child or an adult," said Senator Patty Murray (D-WA). "Thanks to the hard work of advocates and experts, including many who will be at the briefing, we are making progress toward treatment that better recognizes and better responds to emotional, behavioral, and mental health issues for our children. I am proud to support their efforts, and I'll continue pushing hard in Congress for bipartisan legislation that addresses our country's mental health crisis."

During the briefing speakers will review the personal, social and economic costs of behavioral health problems in children and youth, and discuss the potential for widespread promotion of children's health by providing these programs through primary health care.

"Our overarching goal is to ensure our certified pediatricians are thoroughly trained to address mental health issues, drive awareness and increase access to these services, resulting in healthy children and empowered parents," said Laurel K Leslie, M.D., M.P.H., American Board of Pediatrics. "Tackling a health crisis of this magnitude requires a commitment to radically changing how we approach children's behavioral health and incorporating new ways of preventing, treating and managing behavioral issues. Having the U.S. Congress embrace this change is critical to our collective success."

For more information on the April 19 briefing at Capitol Visitor's Center, visit -http://www.npscoalition.org/#!primary-care-briefing/j2vyt and to register go to - http://www.npscoalition.org/#!briefing-registration/tjfnd. Follow the conversation on Twitter using #powerofparenting

About the National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives

The National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives (NPSC) is a nonprofit organization comprised of scientists (across disciplines), educators, community stakeholders, practitioners and clinicians, policy makers, advocates, and foundation representatives. It was formed to promote the application of validated, science-based findings to wide-scale, effective implementation of prevention practices and policies. In doing so, the NPSC addresses several areas of concern, such as mental and behavioral health, education, and environmental influences. Additionally, it addresses adverse social conditions (particularly poverty) that contribute to both behavioral problems (e.g., poor self-regulation, drug and alcohol abuse, violence) and major chronic illnesses (e.g., asthma, diabetes, obesity, heart disease) that originate in childhood and become compounded in adulthood. Effective prevention of these multiple problems requires fostering environments from the prenatal period onward that nurture child and adolescent successful development. The NPSC works in a bipartisan manner with congressional offices and caucuses, and with federal agency administrators and like-minded national and local organizations.

About the American Academy of Pediatrics

The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 64,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults. For more information, visit http://www.aap.org or follow @AmerAcadPeds on Twitter and Facebook

About the Coalition for the Promotion of Behavioral Health

The Coalition for the Promotion of Behavioral Health (CPBH) is an interdisciplinary group of 70 researchers, policymakers, educators, and practitioners dedicated to advancing preventive interventions that promote behavioral health among young people from birth through age 24. The CPBH is implementing an action plan for Unleashing the Power of Prevention. The plan identifies seven action steps to decrease the prevalence of behavioral health problems in young people by 20 percent within a decade. Unleashing the Power of Prevention was developed as a response to the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare's (AASWSW) Grand Challenges for Social Work Initiative. It is available on the National Academy of Medicine's website at http://nam.edu/perspectives-2015-unleashing-the-power-of-prevention/. Visit our website http://aaswsw.org/grand-challenges-initiative/12-challenges/ensure-healthy-development-for-all-youth/

About Montefiore Health System

Montefiore Health System is one of New York's premier academic health systems and is a recognized leader in providing exceptional quality and personalized, accountable care to approximately three million people in communities across the Bronx, Westchester and the Hudson Valley. It is comprised of 10 hospitals, including the Children's Hospital at Montefiore, Burke Rehabilitation Hospital and close to 200 outpatient care sites. The advanced clinical and translational research at its' medical school, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, directly informs patient care and improves outcomes. From the Montefiore-Einstein Centers of Excellence in cancer, cardiology and vascular care, pediatrics, and transplantation, to its' preeminent school-based health program, Montefiore is a fully integrated healthcare delivery system providing coordinated, comprehensive care to patients and their families. For more information please visit www.montefiore.org. Follow us on Twitter and view us on Facebook and YouTube.

SOURCE Montefiore Health System

Related Links

http://www.montefiore.org/


SEATTLE, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Plans for an innovative new dental clinic to serve the area's low-income and uninsured patients will soon be a reality following an unprecedented $2 million gift from Delta Dental of Washington.

The clinic, which will also serve as a teaching dental center, will be located in the Pacific Tower and managed by Neighborcare Health in partnership with Delta Dental of Washington, Seattle Central College and Seattle Vocational Institute.

The Dental Education Clinic, located in Seattle Central's Health Education Center at Pacific Tower, is believed to be the first of its kind in the nation, with a dual role of serving low-income Medicaid and uninsured patients on a sliding fee scale, as well as training dental hygiene and dental assisting students. The facility  planned to open in June 2016  will offer full preventive services including annual exams, cleanings and fluoride treatments, along with emergency dental care and full restorative services such as dental fillings, crowns, root canals and bridges.

"This donation and partnership are an example of how Delta Dental of Washington is living its mission to revolutionize the oral health industry and improve overall health," says Delta Dental of Washington President and CEO, Jim Dwyer. "Delta Dental's gift and the new dental clinic will have a powerful impact improving lives and strengthening the care available to those in need, while creating a larger pool of trained and educated people entering the dental field."

Access to dental care remains a significant issue across the state as it is across the country. Individuals on Medicaid are challenged to find dental care, and those without any coverage have fewer options. According to county records, 331 percent of residents 18 years and older living in King County had no dental visits in the past year. The number of people living on Beacon Hill  where the clinic will be located  who didn't visit a dentist last year, was nearly 40 percent.

The 20-chair dental clinic  including two infant/toddler exam rooms  is expected to provide 19,000 visits for 6,300 patients per year. It will also train 40-60 dental hygiene students and 40-60 dental assistant students each quarter.

The facility at Pacific Tower will be a hub for collaborative new programs for non-profit organizations serving low-income and underserved communities. Through Neighborcare Health's multicultural staff, the clinic will accommodate patients in more than 40 languages and dialects.

"We're thrilled to be at the forefront of delivering new care models," says Sarah Vander Beek, DMD, chief dental officer of Neighborcare Health. "We share Delta Dental's commitment to increase access to care for those in need."

"There is a growing demand for highly-trained health care workers," says Jill Wakefield, chancellor of Seattle Colleges. "By providing opportunities for students to learn through observation, guided practice on patients, and direct instruction from clinic professionals, we expect our students to be among the region's best."

The Seattle/King County Workforce Development Council projects the overall health care sector in King County to grow 2.1 percent annually, producing 24,000 jobs by 2020. The Dental Education Clinic at Pacific Tower will help satisfy the need for dental care workers and make education and dental services more accessible.

Additional funding for the Dental Education Clinic at Pacific Tower is provided by Seattle-King County Dental Society Foundation, Norcliffe Foundation, State of Washington, and from New Markets Tax Credits.

About Delta Dental of Washington

Delta Dental of Washington serves employer groups and individuals, offering comprehensive, preventive based dental benefits that impact overall health and wellness in-state and nationwide. Our commitment to oral health is rooted deeply in our mission. We work with lawmakers in Olympia to advocate for better oral health policies and our foundation supports innovative approaches and practical solutions to improve oral and overall health across the state with a focus on prevention, early intervention and expanding access to care for seniors and children.

About Neighborcare Health

Neighborcare Health is Seattle's largest provider of primary medical and dental care for low-income and uninsured individuals and families. It provides care to more than 55,000 patients through 28 clinics throughout Seattle. For more information, visit www.neighborcare.org.

About Seattle Central's Health Education Center

Seattle Central's Health Education Center is a satellite campus located in the historic Pacific Tower. Comprising 85,000 square feet on five floors of the tower, the Center includes classrooms, medical and computer labs, a library and offices. It contains the latest medical equipment that is being used to train the next generation of health care workers. For more information, visit http://wp.seattlecentral.edu/pacific-tower/

About Seattle Vocational Institute

Seattle Vocational Institute provides citizens with workplace competencies that lead to in-demand, sustainable employment and livable wages. We ensure opportunities for academic achievement through workplace preparation, lifelong learning and basic skills and literacy education. SVI offers short-term, hands-on training programs, especially for underserved and under-represented individuals, by creating professional-technical programs and learning environments that are accessible, diverse, responsive and innovative.

Community Quotes

"We are thrilled to see this critical investment in more options for those in our community in need of dental care. Our own needs assessment of the Market community confirms that access to dental care remains a pervasive problem for low-income individuals and families. Seattle can do better, and this is a huge leap in the right direction."

- Lillian Sherman, Executive Director, The Pike Place Market Foundation

"The Dental Education Clinic is precisely the kind of innovation I imagined when I advocated for keeping the Pacific Tower true to its long history. I believe that education and health care are cornerstones to a thriving community. This partnership will serve multiple needs in our state and Seattle by addressing the growing demand for highly-trained dental professionals and improving access to dental care for low-income individuals whose options for oral health care have long been limited."

- Rep. Frank Chopp, 43rd District

"Regular, preventive care is the best way to ensure good oral health. We're excited that this new clinic will increase access to quality dental care for the underserved while also training the future dental workforce. We applaud the partnership that is working to make the Dental Education Clinic at Pacific Tower a reality."

- Bracken Killpack, Executive Director, Washington State Dental Association

1 Kaiser Family Foundation

SOURCE Delta Dental of Washington
KALISPELL, Mont., April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- ClassOne Technology (www.classone.com), manufacturer of cost-efficient Solstice electroplating systems, has announced the completion of a major new round of funding from Salem Investment Partners of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The announcement was made jointly by Byron Exarcos, CEO of ClassOne and Meredith Jolly, Vice President at Salem Investment Partners.

"It's evident that 2016 will be another significant growth year for ClassOne Technology," said Mr. Exarcos. "With this new funding we will fill order backlogs and address a forecast that is strong and rapidly increasing. This surge in business is coming from the many emerging markets that build products on 200mm and smaller substrates. These users are looking for advanced plating performance at an affordable price  and that's precisely what Solstice systems are designed for. As a result, more and more of these companies are ordering our tools. And that now includes many of the top-tier manufacturers from around the world."

"We're delighted to see the exceptional and sustained growth that ClassOne Technology is achieving across the U.S., Europe and Asia," said Ms. Jolly. "It's even more remarkable given that the company just introduced the Solstice system two years ago. It's great to be on a winning team and to be able to contribute to their success."

ClassOne's Solstice electroplating line serves many cost-sensitive emerging markets such as MEMS, Sensors, LEDs, Opto-electronics, RF and more. Designed specifically for 200mm wafer processing, Solstice tools are available in three different models and can electroplate a range of metals and alloys, either on transparent or opaque substrates. The company also just announced their Plating-Plus capability which allows Solstice to perform additional processing  such as Metal Lift-Off, Resist Strip and UBM Etch  along with plating, all on a single tool.

In addition to plating equipment, ClassOne also provides spin rinse dryers, spray solvent tools, advanced software and more. ClassOne equipment is strategically priced at less than half of what similar tools from the larger manufacturers would cost  which is why it has been described as "Advanced Wet Processing Tools for the Rest of Us."

About ClassOne Technology

ClassOne Technology (www.classone.com) is based in Kalispell, Montana, and produces advanced yet affordably priced new wet-chemical processing equipment especially for the cost-conscious users of smaller substrates, who traditionally have been underserved by the larger equipment manufacturers. ClassOne Technology's products include electroplating, spin rinse drying and spray solvent tools. ClassOne Equipment (ClassOneEquipment.com), a sister company based in Atlanta, Georgia, has long been respected as the industry's premier provider of high-quality professionally refurbished processing tools, with over 2,500 systems installed worldwide.

About Salem Investment Partners

Salem Investment Partners (www.salemip.com) is a private investment firm specializing in providing debt and equity capital for growth financings, acquisitions, buyouts, recapitalizations, and ownership transitions in middle-market companies. The firm invests in business and information services, communications and media, consumer and technology products, distribution and manufacturing, and healthcare services. Salem Investment Partners was founded in 1999 and is based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, with an additional office in Charlotte, North Carolina.

For more information, contact:

Byron Exarcos

ClassOne Technology

109 Cooperative Way

Kalispell, MT 59901

United States

tel: +1 (678) 772-9086

email

Solstice is a registered trademark and Plating-Plus is a trademark of ClassOne Technology.

SOURCE ClassOne Technology

Related Links

http://www.classone.com


RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Bayer announces the 2016 approval and registration of Absolute Maxx fungicide by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The fungicide is currently registered in Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado and South Dakota. Absolute Maxx is designed to give growers in the Great Plains a new tool for disease protection to promote all-around plant health and maximize yield potential in corn and winter wheat.

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the Life Science fields of health care and agriculture.

Absolute Maxx contains two chemistries, a powerful triazole and a strobilurin, that enables plants to stay greener longer, resulting in higher yield potential. These chemistries work together to control disease through multiple modes of action, which help reduce the likelihood of the development of disease resistance. The active ingredient in Absolute Maxx also initiates changes in corn and wheat plants to promote increased photosynthetic efficiency during conditions of moisture stress.

Effective applications on corn using Absolute Maxx are recommended at VT/R1 to limit major fungal diseases such as gray leaf spot, southern rust, northern corn leaf blight and anthracnose leaf blight. In wheat, applications should begin with the first signs of disease or when the flag leaf is emerging (T2) to control rust and other leaf diseases. Absolute Maxx brings an added benefit to growers with application flexibility allowing use of chemigation, aerial or ground application.

"The introduction of Absolute Maxx fungicide to corn and wheat growers in the Great Plains states will be instrumental for operations looking to limit yield-reducing diseases," said Thorsten Schwindt, Fungicides Product Manager for Bayer. "With more active ingredient than most fungicides at the recommended rate, we feel that Absolute Maxx gives growers a great opportunity to ensure their crop protection programs effectively limit disease and maximize yield potential without breaking the bank.

"In field trials on wheat, Absolute Maxx has shown improved stripe rust management, with growers seeing a 3 bu/A average yield lift," added Schwindt. "Additionally, 2015 trials using Absolute Maxx in corn were equally effective, with yield increases in some instances beyond 20 bu/A."

With the introduction of Absolute Maxx, Bayer strengthens its commitment to provide proper stewardship in disease management by offering growers effective products that contain multiple modes of action. In doing so, Absolute Maxx will help growers prevent the progression of disease resistance in crops.

Bayer is committed to bringing new technology and solutions for agriculture and non-agricultural uses. For questions concerning the availability and use of products, contact a local Bayer representative, or visit Crop Science, a division of Bayer, online at www.cropscience.bayer.us.

Visit the Bayer Connect - Social Hub for social media, recent news, blog posts, videos and more from Crop Science, a division of Bayer.

Bayer: Science For A Better Life

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the Life Science fields of health care and agriculture. Its products and services are designed to benefit people and improve their quality of life. At the same time, the Group aims to create value through innovation, growth and high earning power. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development and to its social and ethical responsibilities as a corporate citizen. In fiscal 2015, the Group employed around 117,000 people and had sales of EUR 46.3 billion. Capital expenditures amounted to EUR 2.6 billion, R&D expenses to EUR 4.3 billion. These figures include those for the high-tech polymers business, which was floated on the stock market as an independent company named Covestro on October 6, 2015. For more information, go to www.bayer.us.

Find more information at www.cropscience.bayer.us.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group or subgroup management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer's public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com . The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.

2016 Bayer CropScience LP, 2 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709. Always read and follow label instructions. Bayer, the Bayer Cross, and Absolute Maxx are registered trademarks of Bayer. Absolute Maxx is not registered in all states. For additional product information call toll-free 1-866-99-BAYER (1-866-992-2937) or visit our website at www.CropScience.Bayer.us.

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SOURCE Bayer

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FAIRFAX, Va., April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- New research shows that women with uterine fibroids, who underwent nonsurgical, image-guided uterine fibroid embolization (UFE), experienced improved sexual function and a higher overall quality of life. The results, part of a French multicenter study, were presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 2016 Annual Scientific Meeting.

"Women with uterine fibroids often experience troubling symptoms and significant discomfort, which diminish their sex lives and reduce their quality of life," said Helene Vernhet-Kovacsik, M.D., the study's lead researcher and an interventional radiologist in the department of vascular radiology at Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Montpellier in France. "Working in collaboration with a patient's gynecologist, interventional radiologists can now offer these women a treatment option which alleviates chronic pain and allows the opportunity to lead a full and more normal life."

Researchers from 25 centers throughout France conducted a prospective study involving 264 women who underwent UFE to treat benign fibroid growths. During UFE, an interventional radiologist uses real-time imaging to guide a catheter into the uterine arteries and then releases tiny particles, the size of grains of sand, to block the blood flow that supplies oxygen and nutrients to the fibroid tumors, causing them to shrink and die.

Study participants completed the Uterine Fibroid Symptom and Health-related Quality of Life Questionnaire (UFE-QoL) to report their quality of life before and one year post treatment. The women were also asked to complete the Female Sexual Function Index, or FSFI (a brief questionnaire developed for the specific purpose of assessing sexual function in clinical trials), to track their sexual function, including items such as desire, arousal, lubrication and orgasm.

At the beginning of the study, 189 of the 264 women suffered abnormally heavy menstrual bleeding and 171 experienced pain, among other symptoms associated with pelvic pressure. When researchers followed up with participants a year after treatment, only 39 of those 189 continued to experience abnormal bleeding and only 42 of the 171 women still dealt with pelvic pressure.

Nearly eight in 10 (78.8 percent) women who completed self-reported assessments at the one-year mark demonstrated improvement in sexual function. Additionally, about nine in 10 (90.2 percent) women who completed the UFE-QoL assessment reported a better overall quality of life, with average scores increasing from 45 at treatment to 71 one year after.

"The significant quality of life improvements demonstrated in this study should help put an end to any debate on the effectiveness of UFE and its numerous benefits for women with symptomatic fibroids," said Alan H. Matsumoto, M.D., FSIR, an interventional radiologist and professor and chair of the department of radiology and medical imaging at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville and an expert in minimally invasive treatments for uterine fibroids. "Although in use for more than 20 years, UFE is rarely offered as a treatment option to women in the United States, despite the fact that it is a proven, safe and effective treatment that spares women from the risks and long-term consequences of a hysterectomy," said Matsumoto, who is also the SIR 2015-16 president.

About the Society of Interventional Radiology

The Society of Interventional Radiology is a nonprofit, professional medical society representing more than 6,100 practicing interventional radiology physicians, scientists and clinical associates, dedicated to improving patient care through the limitless potential of image-guided therapies.

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SOURCE Society of Interventional Radiology

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NEW YORK, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- March of the Living International will mark the 80th anniversary of the Nuremberg Laws and the 70th anniversary of the Nuremberg Trials with a gathering of leading international jurists, legal scholars and political leaders from around the world organized with the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, and Jagiellonian University in Krakow on May 4th. Former Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Cotler and Harvard Law School Professor Alan Dershowitz are co-chairs with Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel Honorary Chair.

A "Supreme Court Justices Panel" on "Justice After Nuremberg: What Have We Learned?" will feature Canadian Supreme Court Justice Rosalie Abella,; Lord John Dyson of the UK; Chief Justice Sam Rugege of the Rwandan Supreme Court; and former President of the Israeli Supreme Court Dorit Beinisch, A second "Ministers of Justice Panel" on "The Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights: Universal Lessons for the Preventing and Combatting of Mass Atrocity in Our Time" will include former Special Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Luis Moreno Ocampo; Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked; former French Justice Minister Robert Badinter.

"In 2016, let us commemorate the Double Entendre of Nuremberg  May this be not only an act of remembrance for the victims of racism and antisemitism but also be a remembrance to act  so that we are each are, the guarantors of each other's destiny," said Cotler.

Dershowitz added, "Nuremberg conjures up two opposite images of law, one negative, the other positive. Rights come from a recognition of wrongs. The Nuremberg laws represent the wrongs, and the Nuremberg trials reflect the rights that grew of the acknowledgment of those terrible wrongs."

"Each March of the Living we add a unique educational. This year we have a special opportunity to provide a historical perspective on the contemporary mass atrocities that afflict our common humanity," said the chairman of MOL, Shmuel Rosenman.

The March of the Living is an annual educational program, which brings individuals from all over the world to Poland and Israel in order to study the history of the Holocaust and to examine the roots of prejudice, intolerance and hate. Since the first March of the Living was held in 1988, over 250,000 participants, from 52 countries, have marched down the same 3-kilometer path leading from Auschwitz to Birkenau on Holocaust Remembrance Day as a silent tribute to all victims of the Holocaust.

This year's March of the Living will take place from May 4st to 15th. Visit www.motl.org.

Contact: Daniel Seaman

Steinreich Communications

212-491-1600

[email protected]

SOURCE March of the Living International

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http://www.motl.org


IRVING, Texas, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- BT today announced a contract with Panalpina, one of the world's leading freight forwarding and logistics companies, to transform and manage its global communications infrastructure. The transformation will enable Panalpina's 15,000 employees to better communicate and collaborate internally and with their customers. This supports the company's vision to work closer with its clients to build smart and efficient end-to-end logistics solutions.

BT will overhaul Panalpina's network infrastructure, currently sourced from more than a dozen domestic and regional providers, and migrate it into a single integrated platform, connecting 500 offices in more than 75 countries. BT will also provide services from its BT One Voice portfolio, to converge voice and data on a single platform.

The new network will be a hybrid infrastructure, based on BT's IP Connect and Internet Connect services, combining the reliability and security of IP-based Virtual Private Networks (VPN) with the flexibility of Internet connections. BT's services will underpin the continued implementation of Panalpina's new global enterprise resource planning (ERP) and transportation management systems, which require optimal end-to-end control of the infrastructure.

Additional services, such as BT Connect Intelligence, will provide an application-aware network architecture designed to support strategic business applications.

"This agreement with BT is a major milestone on our way to becoming the most customer focused global provider of freight forwarding and logistics solutions," said Ralf Morawietz, Chief Information Officer at Panalpina. "As our single point of contact for communication services, BT will take away the burden of managing a multitude of different suppliers, and will make it easier for us to implement new services and to support our employees and customers around the globe."

Corrado Sciolla, President Europe & Global Telecom Markets at BT Global Services, said: "In the new digital world, customers and employees are becoming more demanding, ecosystems are evolving and the established rules are changing. We are very proud that a global leader such as Panalpina has chosen BT to manage their communication services in this changing environment. We will build on our long-standing expertise in serving the needs of the logistics sector to make sure that Panalpina's employees and customers around the world can collaborate better and more easily. The intelligent features of our network services will also help Panalpina improve the performance of its business-critical applications and constantly adapt the whole communications infrastructure to its rapidly evolving digital needs."

About Panalpina

The Panalpina Group is one of the world's leading providers of supply chain solutions. The company combines its core products of Air Freight, Ocean Freight, and Logistics to deliver globally integrated, tailor-made end-to-end solutions. Drawing on in-depth industry know-how and customized IT systems, Panalpina manages the needs of its customers' supply chains, no matter how demanding they might be. Energy Solutions is a specialized service for the energy and capital projects sector.

The Panalpina Group operates a global network with some 500 offices in more than 75 countries, and it works with partner companies in a further 90 countries. Panalpina employs over 15,000 people worldwide who deliver a comprehensive service to the highest quality standards  wherever and whenever.

About BT

BT's purpose is to use the power of communications to make a better world. It is one of the world's leading providers of communications services and solutions, serving customers in more than 170 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to its customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband, TV and internet products and services; and converged fixed-mobile products and services. As of 31 March 2016, BT consisted principally of six customer-facing lines of business: BT Global Services, BT Business, BT Consumer, EE, BT Wholesale and Openreach. With effect from 1 April 2016, the group has been reorganized and the customer-facing lines of business are now: Global Services, Business and Public Sector, Consumer, EE, Wholesale and Ventures, and Openreach.

For the year ended 31 March 2015, BT Group's reported revenue was 17,979m with reported profit before taxation of 2,645m.

British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.

For more information, visit www.btplc.com

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SOURCE BT

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ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- PenFed Credit Union is pleased to announce the promotion of Vice President and Associate General Counsel Stanley Spence to senior vice president.

In nearly 32 years with PenFed, Spence has developed extensive experience with issues involving consumer credit, bankruptcy, collections, negotiable instruments, financial institution law, employment law, contracts, and residential real estate law.

President and CEO of PenFed James Schenck said, "Stan is an institutional asset for us. He brings an impressive level of expertise and a deep understanding of the financial services industry and the regulatory guidelines to which we must adhere as a credit union."

"Stan's tenure with PenFed has been the epitome of commitment, dedication and professionalism. I'm proud to see him advance and take on a greater depth and breadth of responsibility," said Schenck.

Spence, a graduate of the University of Oklahoma College of Law, joined PenFed Credit Union in July of 1984, and has been instrumental in its steady growth over the years. PenFed Executive Vice President and General Counsel Scott Lind said, "I consider myself fortunate to have Stan as my associate general counsel. He brings unmatched corporate knowledge and experience to the legal team. Promoting him was truly a sound investment in his future potential."

Spence expressed his excitement about the advancement to senior vice president. "I am extremely grateful and thrilled to be selected for promotion. I look forward to continuing to work with all of the outstanding volunteers, management and staff of PenFed in our mission of serving the distinguished members of the credit union."

About PenFed Credit Union

Established in 1935 as the War Department Credit Union, PenFed Credit Union is one of the largest credit unions in the country, serving 1.4 million members worldwide; with $20 billion in assets. Its long-standing mission has been to provide superior financial services in a cost effective manner, while being responsive to members' needs. PenFed Credit Union offers market-leading mortgages, automobile loans, credit cards, checking, and a wide range of other financial services with its members' interests always in mind. PenFed Credit Union serves a diverse population, and no military service is required to join. We offer many paths to membership, including numerous employee groups and association affiliations. It's easy to apply. We invite you to come see why you belong at PenFed Credit Union. PenFed Credit Union is federally insured by the NCUA and is an equal housing lender. To learn more about PenFed Credit Union, visit PenFed.org, like us on Facebook and follow us @PenFed on Twitter. Interested in working for PenFed? Check us out on Linkedin. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer: M/F/V/D.

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SOURCE PenFed
HARRISBURG, Pa., April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A Blair County resident dedicated to making Canoe Creek State Park a showplace of safe, enjoyable trails, and a Venango County-based group initiating innovative and widely popular events at Oil Creek State Park have been named recipients of annual Conservation Volunteer Awards by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

James J. Fitch, a virtual fixture of volunteerism at Canoe Creek State Park in Blair County, was awarded the Bureau of State Parks' 2015 Individual Volunteer Award, and Friends of Oil Creek State Park, volunteers marking their 10th year of service at the Venango County park, were honored with a Group Volunteer Award. Both awards were presented late last month at the bureau's annual meeting in State College.

"James Fitch has emerged as an iconic volunteer at Canoe Creek with trail work that supports the mission of the Bureau of State Parks while establishing great community relations," said DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn. "As a group, Friends of Oil Creek State Park have distinguished themselves in event planning, fund raising, obtaining park supplies and equipment, and so much more."

Timed to mark National Volunteer Week, April 10-16, Dunn's announcement today is designed to "acknowledge the invaluable role of volunteers at our 121 state parks and on our more than 2.2 million acres of state forestland.

"When we tabulate reports from our parks and 20 state forest districts, we see state park volunteer hours totaled 160,019, and forestry hours approached 7,780. The savings  and service  to our park managers and foresters is tremendous."

Besides overseeing maintenance of all trails in the park, Fitch also plans, designs, and oversees various community work projects. His planning and supervision has, over the last few years, improved the quality and safety of the trail system immensely, park officials say.

Under Fitch's supervision, water bars, stairs and boardwalks have been installed. He designed and marked a number of trail re-routes, saving staff many hours of work. New routed wooden directional signage was installed at all trail heads and intersections, replacing posts and signs that often were faded and unreadable.

In 2015, Friends of Oil Creek State Park celebrated their 10th year, marking a span that brought to the park innovative and highly successful events, including a first-ever Winterfest; the Oil Creek 100 Ultra Run; and "Chicks N' the Sticks", an event designed to introduce women to a wide variety of outdoor skills and activities.

In addition to planning and hosting events in the park, the friends group also purchases equipment and supplies for the park and its various volunteer groups. The group's greatest accomplishment to date has been securing nearly $60,000 in grant funding in 2015 for new park playground equipment.

Individuals, as well as groups, can volunteer for various state park and forest projects throughout the state. Conservation Volunteers are paired with projects that match their skills and interests.

If interested in becoming a Conservation Volunteer, contact any state park or forest district office, or visit DCNR's website: www.dcnr.pa.gov.

MEDIA CONTACT: Terry Brady, 717-772-9101

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

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SAN DIEGO, April 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- In his weekly radio program, Aches and Gains, Dr. Paul J. Christo of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine covers all aspects of pain and pain relief. His extensive research on chronic pain diagnosis and treatment, combined with his Harvard and Johns Hopkins specialized training, has helped establish him as one of America's leading pain experts. In fact, U.S. News & World Report named Dr. Christo among the top one percent of doctors in the nation.

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Dr. Paul J. Christo of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

In a two-part segment that aired in late March, Dr. Christo turns his attention to LifeWave, a global health and wellness company that uses the healing power of light (phototherapy) to alleviate pain and provide a number of other benefits. Dr. Christo interviews LifeWave Founder and CEO, David Schmidt, and LifeWave Ambassador, Suzanne Somers, about the company's patented phototherapy patches. A cancer survivor, Somers has gone on to be an outspoken advocate for alternative healing and has authored numerous best-selling books on the subject. She discusses what role LifeWave patches play in her health routine, and how she still uses this drug-free solution to alleviate pain and decrease inflammation.

Dr. Christo focuses a good portion of his discussion with Schmidtthe inventor behind the patented technologyon how one particular patch (IceWave) provides pain relief. According to the LifeWave CEO: "I came up with a way of manufacturing nano-scale crystals and embedding them into a patch. These patches reflect very specific wavelengths of light that stimulate the surface of the skin. If someone has knee pain, for instance, they can apply the patches around the area of pain. The body heat will activate the crystals inside of the patch. Then the patch reflects the light, stimulates the skin and starts to reduce the inflammation immediately."

LifeWave's phototherapy technology has been tested in extensive clinical research, all of which helps substantiate the health claims associated with each patch. Importantly, these patches deliver various benefits without the use of drugs, chemicals, or stimulants. And unlike traditional forms of phototherapy, LifeWave patches are not devices that need to be plugged into an electrical outlet.

This non-drug, non-addictive approach, which uses natural body heat as a power source, has put LifeWave at the forefront of phototherapy technology. Particularly in contrast to mainstream pharmaceutical painkillers, which are known to have harmful side effects, including widespread opioid addiction plaguing many communities in our nation today.

"Even if you are educated, pain can be so isolating and tormenting that many feel they have been robbed of life and, as a result, are really angry," says Dr. Christo. But he also points to evidence suggesting phototherapy could be a panacea for pain sufferers. "Lab studies have shown that phototherapy can decrease inflammatory molecules like prostatic glands. So in general, light therapy might help slow down the amplification of the inflammatory process and reduce pain perception."

LifeWave.com has more information. A recording of the Aches and Gains interview is available on Dr. Christo's website and on the LifeWave.com homepage.

About LifeWave

Founded in 2004, LifeWave is a global health and wellness company with product distribution in over 100 countries. LifeWave's product line includes patented, phototherapy patch technology that provides a myriad of health benefits without the need for drugs, stimulants or needles entering the body. LifeWave also offers a breakthrough, caffeine-free, stimulant-free nutrition line, which produces results within minutes of use. Headquartered in San Diego, California, LifeWave is a privately held company and a member of the Direct Selling Association (DSA). For more information, visit www.lifewave.com, and you can also follow LifeWave on Facebook.

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE LifeWave

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NEW ORLEANS, and ANN ARBOR, Mich., April 12 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Rubicon Genomics, Inc., a leading provider of pre-analytical library preparation kits that increase the accuracy, efficiency and speed of genomic analysis, today announced an agreement with MDL Asia to expand its presence in the Chinese market. MDL Asia will leverage its extensive knowledge of the life science and diagnostics markets in China to network with distributors to increase the availability of ThruPLEX Plasma-seq and other DNA library preparation kits. MDL Asia is a leading consultancy that helps small and medium-sized life sciences innovators broaden their distribution networks across the Asia Pacific region.

Separately, Rubicon announced a number of activities at the upcoming American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 2016 Annual Meeting, including an Exhibitor Spotlight Presentation co-hosted by Beckman Coulter Life Sciences, a poster presentation confirming the utility of its ThruPLEX Plasma-seq kit for preparation of cell-free DNA libraries from liquid biopsies, and an Exhibitor's Booth (#2838.) Earlier this year Rubicon announced a non-exclusive distribution agreement in the US and Canada with Beckman Coulter Life Sciences for ThruPLEX Plasma-seq kits for research.

Additionally, Rubicon reported that based on its first quarter results, for the fourth consecutive year the company expects to post sales gains of greater than 40% in 2016. Rubicon CEO James Koziarz, PhD, commented, "Rubicon is off to a strong start in 2016, as exemplified by our new agreement with MDL Asia to expand our distribution in key Asia Pacific growth markets and our higher profile at important industry events such as the AACR Annual Meeting. In addition, we are announcing today that our revenue for the first quarter of 2016 was approximately double the revenue we received in the first quarter of 2015. We're pleased to see the continued strong acceptance of our single cell and cell-free library prep kits in the marketplace and we expect to continue to realize our annual revenue growth target of 40% or more, which Rubicon has achieved every year since 2012."

The Spotlight Presentation: ThruPLEX Plasma-seq--Fast and Reproducible NGS Library Preparation for Cell-free DNA from Liquid Biopsies, is sponsored by Beckman Coulter Life Sciences. Dr. Muhammed Murtaza, a leader in sequencing cell-free DNA to understand genomic alterations in cancer, will be a speaker at the presentation, which is scheduled from 10:00-11:00 AM on April 19 in Exhibitor Spotlight Theater B, Exhibit Halls G-J. In 2015, Rubicon announced that its ThruPLEX Plasma-seq kit had been automated on Beckman Coulter's Biomek FXP Liquid Handling Workstation, to provide a standardization and high-throughput processing solution.

Rubicon scientist Dr. Kamran Shazand will present data at the AACR 2016 meeting further highlighting the research utility of ThruPLEX Plasma-seq for constructing cell-free libraries that are capable of detecting alleles at low frequencies. Rubicon's poster #3621, High Efficiency Detection of Low Frequency Alleles in Cell-free DNA, Section 6, Poster Board #20, will be presented on April 19, 2016 from 1:00 to 5:00 PM.

For more information about Rubicon products, visit http://rubicongenomics.com/products/kit-selection-guide-2/

About Rubicon Genomics

Rubicon Genomics develops innovative, high quality, nucleic acid library preparation and companion products for research applications that enable easy, reliable, and highly sensitive analysis of samples. Rubicon is committed to teamwork and continuous improvement to provide excellence to our customers, shareholders, and employees. Privately-held Rubicon is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. For more information, visit rubicongenomics.com.

About MDL Asia

MDL Asia was established to provide small to medium-sized organisations in the Medical, Diagnostics and Life Science markets affordable opportunities for expansion into the rapidly growing and profitable Asia Pacific region. MDL Asia aims to create and manage partnerships by providing high quality business services and outcomes from our experienced management team located throughout Asia Pacific. MDL actively works with a number of International manufacturers via its network of Asia Pacific distributors to create significant revenue returns, with the goal of establishing long term successful partnerships. For more information, visit mdlasia.com/.

Contacts: Media

Rubicon Genomics Barbara Lindheim

Jamie Wibbenmeyer, PhD BLL Partners, LLC

Business Development (212) 584-2276

[email protected] [email protected]

SOURCE Rubicon Genomics, Inc.

Related Links

http://rubicongenomics.com


HARRISBURG, Pa., April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Secretary of State Pedro A. Cortes today reminded voters that requests for absentee ballots must be completed, signed, and received by their county board of elections no later than 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 19.

"As everyone knows, we have a very important primary election coming up on April 26," Cortes said. "Absentee balloting gives eligible Pennsylvanians who are unable to go to the polls on Election Day the opportunity to exercise their right to vote."

Absentee ballots may be cast by deployed members of the military, Pennsylvania students attending out-of-state colleges or universities, individuals with illnesses or disabilities, and individuals who will be away from their municipality on business on Election Day. Comprehensive information about absentee ballots, including a downloadable request form, can be found at the Department of State's website votesPA.com.

Applicants will be asked to supply basic voter registration information and to specify a reason for applying to vote absentee.

Although the deadline to apply is April 19, Cortes encouraged citizens who must vote by absentee ballot to submit their requests as early as possible.

"Completed absentee ballots must be received by county election offices no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, April 22," Cortes explained. "Due to recent cutbacks in service by the U.S. Postal Service, anyone who is planning to mail their absentee ballot risks missing that deadline."

Voters may also deliver their own absentee ballots in person to county election offices.

Pennsylvanians applying for an absentee ballot must provide their driver's license or PennDOT ID number. If they do not have a driver's license or PennDOT ID, they must give the last four digits of their Social Security number. If a voter has neither, he or she must present a copy of an acceptable photo ID. A list of approved alternative types of identification is available at votesPA.com.

An absentee voter can designate someone else to deliver the absentee application and ballot if he or she is physically unable to do so. Certification of Designated Agent forms are also available online.

For additional information, call 1-877-VOTESPA (1-877-868-3772) or visit www.votesPA.com.

MEDIA CONTACT: (717) 783-1621

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of State

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CHICAGO, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The nation's community colleges are making great strides to increase completion rates. Seven community colleges were honored for their work toward the student success agenda on April 11 at the American Association of Community Colleges' (AACC) Awards of Excellence Gala, part of AACC's 96th Annual Convention in Chicago, Ill.

In the category of Emerging Leadership, Dabney S. Lancaster Community College (Virginia), led by John Rainone, was named the winner. This category recognizes AACC member CEOs who have created a campus culture that supports employee leadership advancement at all levels. Rainone has developed an impressive mission-driven culture of teamwork across the institution. He hosts an annual event to acknowledge the contributions of faculty and staff, recognizes the volunteer efforts of employees and hosts lunches to increase communication. Building community partnerships also is a cornerstone of Rainone's strategy to bolster support for the college.

The Advancing Diversity category recognizes colleges that are dedicated to increasing diversity and advocating for social equity on their campuses and in the community. Halifax Community College (HCC) in North Carolina won in this category. In 2006, HCC, a minority-serving institution, appointed Ervin V. Griffin, Sr. as the college's first president of color. The board continued to advance diversity with the election of Bernella Delemora as chairperson, the first American Indian to serve in that role. This leadership launched new pathways to cultural diversity and community engagement. The college now offers a number of events featuring multicultural perspectives. These include the International Day and Food Tasting, an American Indian Heritage celebration and theatrical performances such as Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory, an American Civil War musical revue recounting the nation's history from both northern and southern perspectives.

The 2016 Exemplary CEO/Board Award went to Highline College in Washington. The college's board of trustees and President Jack Bermingham highlight mutual respect and trust in their collaboration to advance college initiatives to improve the student experience. Among the positive results of their collaboration are the implementation of a Diversity Statement to ensure a climate conducive to both teaching and learning, development of public-private partnerships around student housing, and working with cities and transit agencies to create a new light rail station adjacent to the college.

Angela Heaton of Rhodes State College (Ohio) won in the Faculty Innovation category. Heaton is the chair of physical therapist assistant program. Faced with declining retention rates, she launched tablet technology as a resource tool for students in the program. It streamlined the learning process by enabling students to take notes and review videos, class e-mails, lab assignments, and supplemental diagrams in one location, eliminating time spent in busy computer labs. The result was student retention in the program accelerating from 61 percent to 93 percent for the graduating class of 2016. Students frequently refer to Heaton's educational techniques as contributing to their success as graduate physical therapist assistants.

Maryland's Montgomery College, led by DeRionne Pollard, was named winner in the Outstanding College/Corporate Partnership category. Montgomery College and Holy Cross Health established the first new hospital in the county in 35 years, serving 1 million residents in a rapidly growing region of the state. On October 1, 2014, Montgomery College became the first community college in the nation to host a hospital on site when Holy Cross Germantown Hospital opened on the college's Germantown campus. The $202 million hospital added 700 high-paying jobs to the region during an economic recession, and addressed the growing need for qualified healthcare professionals as the baby boomer generation begins to retire.

El Paso Community College (EPCC) in Texas, winner in the Student Success category, is nationally recognized for its culture of excellence and success based on evidence combined with a strategic focus on completion. The college is led by William Serrata. By using innovative strategies, clearing roadblocks to graduation, and creating more seamless student services, EPCC transfer rates exceed the national average. While enrollment has grown by 25 percent over the past decade, graduation rates have outpaced enrollment growth, increasing 211 percent. EPCC also has effectively reduced the need for developmental education and established powerful partnerships with both K12 and four-year institutions.

The Community College Safety Planning and Leadership Award went to Maryland's Howard Community College (HCC), led by Kathleen Hetherington. College leadership empowered employees to develop and implement a Safe Campus Initiative. Creation of the initiative engaged various college departments and divisions including health and safety, emergency operations, public safety, human resources and student services. A distinguishing feature is a student intervention icon available to staff and faculty on their computers that leads to a website with guidance for addressing students of concern, information on the college behavior intervention team, and the HCC Emergency Operations Team.

Award winners were selected by a committee of the AACC Board of Directors. Sixteen finalist colleges also were recognized at the Awards of Excellence Gala.

As the voice of the nation's community colleges, the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), delivers educational and economic opportunity for 12 million diverse students in search of the American Dream. Uniquely dedicated to access and success for all students, AACC's nearly 1,200 member colleges provide an on-ramp to degree attainment, skilled careers and family-supporting wages. Located in Washington, D.C., AACC advocates for these not-for-profit, public-serving institutions to ensure they have the resources and support they need to deliver on the mission of increasing economic mobility for all.

SOURCE American Association of Community Colleges

Related Links

http://www.aacc.nche.edu


"Solution providers have more choices than ever before when it comes to selecting vendor partners. Identifying the right vendor with the right technologies and the right channel approach can mean the difference between successful adoption of a new technology or business model and an awkward, unnecessarily difficult integration," said Robert Faletra, CEO, The Channel Company. "Our annual Partner Program Guide and 5-Star ratings recognize the best channel programs available in the market today and serve as a valuable resource for solution providers looking for the right fit."

"This distinction is a reflection of our enthusiastic team and showcases the innovation behind Sharp's technologies," said Mike Marusic, senior vice president, Marketing, Operations & Services, Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America. "We strive to offer better solutions for our valued partners and we are meeting that goal. Our program keeps our customers one step ahead, and improves their efficiencies while also strengthening their position in the market."

The 2016 Partner Program Guide will be featured in the April issue of CRN and online at www.CRN.com/ppg2016.

Follow The Channel Company: Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook

About Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America

Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America, a division of Sharp Electronics Corporation, markets the advanced, MX Series multifunction printer (MFP) systems that help companies manage workflow efficiently and increase productivity. Sharp MFPs feature the Sharp OSA development platform, which seamlessly integrates network applications to create a personalized MFP that can meet virtually any business need, and Scan2 technology, which scans two-sided documents in a single pass to enhance scanning reliability and preserve document integrity. Sharp is a leader in the MFP industry in security.

Sharp's professional and commercial displays are specially engineered for business applications and are offered in a wide range of sizes and varying capabilities. From high-impact displays for digital signage, to state-of-the-art ultra-narrow bezel video walls, to the award-winning AQUOS BOARD interactive display systems, Sharp commercial and professional displays help you communicate, collaborate and disseminate information brilliantly.

For more information on Sharp's business products, contact Sharp Electronics Corporation, 1 Sharp Plaza, Suite 1, Mahwah, N.J., 07495-1163. For online product information, visit our web site at siica.sharpusa.com.

Become a fan of SIICA on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn and watch us on YouTube .

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. 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.

The Channel Company Contact:

Melanie Turpin

The Channel Company

(508) 416-1195

[email protected]

Peppercomm for Sharp

Sarah Sanzari

212.931.6175

[email protected]

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160411/353874

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SOURCE Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America
Designed to inspire and celebrate women in the workforce, the Smart Woman Summit will welcome women of all ages, professions and stages of their careers. The signature event platform will feature innovative and thought-leading speakers, dynamic personal and professional development sessions and opportunities to recharge in mind, body and spirit.

Smart Meetings publishes cutting-edge meetings content in print and digital magazines, hosts world-class networking events and webinars, provides a complimentary site-selection service and offers myriad digital resources.

Smart Meetings founder and CEO, Marin Bright, decided to combine her love of events with her passion for female empowerment by creating the Smart Woman Summit. Bright has set the pace for female meetings industry entrepreneurs and leaders with more than 20 years of experience directing successful teams in the male-dominated B2B publishing industry. The only female leader in publishing, Bright built a powerful brand and led her company toward innovation and sustained success.

Ever the working woman's champion, she created the Smart Woman Summit to encourage her fellow female ambassadors to push boundaries and defy limits. "Now that I am in a position to help other women, I want to give back and offer an experience that I didn't have, a place where women can come together to learn, but also to enjoy themselves and take a moment to breathe."

Unlike many women-oriented conferences, the Smart Woman Summit shines a light not only on business and professional development, but also on personal growth including health, women's empowerment, mental clarity, work-life balance and luxurious rejuvenation.

The Smart Woman Summit will take place June 24-26, 2016 at the Trump National Doral Miami. Speakers include primetime business, health and wellness experts Christine Hassler, Janine Driver, Starla Fitch and Steve Sisgold. The event will offer attendees numerous opportunities to expand their networking circles. Attendees will discover strategies, tools and techniques to enhance personal and professional development including health, mental clarity, leadership, work-life balance and more.

Committed to empowering women in the workforce, the Smart Woman Summit looks forward to educating and enlightening its guests and providing women with the newest tools for personal and professional growth. Companies interested in sponsoring The Smart Woman Summit, please contact Jennifer Harrington at 415-339-9355.

The event will be followed directly by the company's three-day Smart Meeting East National event on June 26-28, also hosted at the Trump National Doral Miami.

Learn more about The Smart Woman Summit here: http://info.smartmeetings.com/the-smart-woman-summit

Learn more about Smart Meeting East  National here: http://info.smartmeetings.com/smart-meeting-east-national-2016

About Smart Meetings:

Smart Meetings is the leading media company and the most trusted resource for meeting professionals in the meetings industry. Providing best-in-class service, Smart Meetings publishes cutting-edge meetings content in print and digital magazines, hosts world-class networking events, provides thought-leading and interactive webinars, offers a complimentary site-selection service and offers a myriad of digital resources.

Smart Meetings pioneered the widely-celebrated one-on-one hosted buyer program and has become the most effective media company to connect meeting professionals with premier hotels and destinations.

Media Contact:

Jennifer Harrington

[email protected]

415-339-9355

Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcDevfBB9rw&feature=youtu.be

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SOURCE Smart Meetings

Related Links

http://www.smartmeetings.com


COLUMBIA, Md., April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Sotera Defense Solutions, Inc. (Sotera), a provider of mission-critical data analytics, cyber defense and cloud technology-based solutions for national security customers, will be at booth #1529, Hall D of the 2016 AFCEA Defense Cyber Operations Symposium at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC April 20 - 22, 2016.

Sotera representatives will be on hand to demonstrate our data analytics tools, recently shown on a CBS 60 Minutes episode, which provides multiple data science analytical capabilities to include: distributed graph analytics; aggregate micro-paths; social media analysis and community tracking.

Sotera's approach to data science focuses on what the data can reveal vs traditional approaches using requirements analysis to satisfy the mission. Focusing on the data to find new methods to discover activities, capabilities and patterns of real-world objects is a proven methodology for innovative, cost-effective analytic, cloud and cyber solutions.

About Sotera Defense Solutions, Inc.

Sotera is an agile, mid-sized national security technology company that delivers innovative systems, solutions and services in support of the critical missions of the Intelligence Community, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security and federal law enforcement agencies charged with ensuring the safety and security of our nation. Learn more about Sotera at www.soteradefense.com.

Sotera Media Contact

Matt Talbot

t: +1.703.230.8257

e: [email protected]

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SOURCE Sotera Defense Solutions, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.soteradefense.com


WASHINGTON, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The St. Baldrick's Foundation, the largest private funder of childhood cancer research grants, is proud to announce Katherine Lugar as the newest member of its board of directors. Lugar brings decades of top executive management experience to the Foundation as president and CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA).

"We are thrilled to have Katherine expand her support of St. Baldrick's as she joins our board and brings her unique talents and perspectives at the policy and leadership level," says Kathleen Ruddy, CEO of the St. Baldrick's Foundation. "I look forward to the dedication, passion, fundraising tenacity and strategic ideas that Katherine will bring to our organization in an effort to help find a cure for children's cancers."

Helming the largest trade association representing the U.S. lodging industry, Lugar is responsible for setting the strategic vision for AH&LA and all of its affiliates, while championing the industry's voice on Capitol Hill, within the Administration and beyond Washington. Working directly with the volunteer officers and board of directors, Lugar transformed AH&LA since joining three years ago, growing the 24,000-strong group to its highest point in the organization's history and focusing its core mission on advocacy. Lugar is also the godmother and aunt of Caroline Richards, one of St. Baldrick's 2015 Ambassadors who passed away at the age of 12 after a one-year battle with osteosarcoma last year. Lugar and her husband raised more than $40,000 for St. Baldrick's in 2015 and started a Hero Fund to honor Caroline's legacy.

"This appointment is so very personal for me and I'm honored to help St. Baldrick's advance its incredibly important mission to find cures and more effective treatments for pediatric cancers," shares Lugar. "Children with cancer have got to have better and more compassionate options than what was available to Caroline. Having witnessed first-hand the talented and dedicated team, smart focus, and effective work of St. Baldrick's, I couldn't think of a more appropriate place to channel my passion and amplify their excellent work."

In addition, Lugar has more than 20 years of experience in private sector public affairs, including working on Capitol Hill and serving as executive vice president of public affairs for the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA).

To learn more about St. Baldrick's, visit www.StBaldricks.org, and connect on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Vimeo.

About St. Baldrick's Foundation

As the largest private funder of childhood cancer research grants, the St. Baldrick's Foundation believes that kids are special and deserve to be treated that way. St. Baldrick's funds are granted to some of the most brilliant childhood cancer research experts who are working to find cures and better treatments for all childhood cancers. Kids need treatments as unique as they are  and that starts with funding research just for them. Join us at StBaldricks.org to help support the best cancer treatments for kids.

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SOURCE St. Baldrick's Foundation

Related Links

http://www.stbaldricks.org


LONDON, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Storage Made Easy (SME) announced a partnership with Caringo, Inc. that will enable the Caringo Swarm object storage solution to leverage Store Made Easy's secure file-sharing, governance, and compliance features-making the Caringo Swarm solution even more secure and accessible to users worldwide.

Caringo Swarm provides a platform for data protection, management, organization and search at scale. Deep integration with Storage Made Easy's EFSS Cloud Control product provides enterprise customers with seamless, secure file access and gives enterprise IT a way to ensure a coherent policy-driven control of corporate files.

Storage Made Easy provides a comprehensive, unified Hybrid Cloud Solution built on top of the SME Cloud Control Gateway, offered either as a SaaS or as a hybrid on-premise solution. The Solution delivers the highest levels of management, security, compliance, audit, and access services for corporate data. The SME product adds a protocol gateway which can provide access to Caringo data over FTP/WebDav/SFTP and an Amazon S3 compatible API.

In addition to Swarm, the Storage Made Easy Solution currently supports more than 50 private and public data clouds and services such as OpenStack, Amazon S3, SalesForce, Office 365, Google Apps, and others.

"One of the most frequently requested features from our customers is file sync-and-share," said Tony Barbagallo, VP Product of Caringo. "We are excited to be able to provide this highly sought-after functionality by working with one of the industry's leading file-and-sync fabric vendors on a fully validated and integrated solution."

Storage Made Easy CEO Jim Liddle said, "Storage Made Easy and Caringo have been through an exercise to validate each other's technology and we both like what we see. We look forward to a long and fruitful business relationship."

About Caringo

Caringo was founded in 2005 to change the economics of storage by designing software from the ground up to solve the issues associated with data protection, management, organization and search at massive scale. Caringo's flagship product, Swarm, eliminates the need to migrate data into disparate solutions for long-term preservation, delivery and analysis-radically reducing total cost of ownership. Today, Caringo software is the foundation for simple, bulletproof, limitless storage solutions for the Department of Defense, the Brazilian Federal Court System, City of Austin, Telefonica, British Telecom, Ask.com, Johns Hopkins University and hundreds more worldwide.

Follow Caringo on LinkedIn or Twitter or visit www.caringo.com to learn more.

About Storage Made Easy

The Storage Made Easy Enterprise File Share and Sync Fabric enables IT to regain control of "cloud sprawl", unifying private and public file sharing into a single, converged storage infrastructure that can easily be managed and be used to set governance and audit controls.

The SME solution offers a "blanket" that enterprises can privately apply to wrap around all their data: on premises, within a public cloud, or on a third party software vendors' cloud (SharePoint or SalesForce for example). Customers use SME for security, encryption, audit, and control as well as to provide a data unification platform.

Storage Made Easy is the trading name of Vehera LTD who have sales offices in the UK, USA and Switzerland.

Follow us on Twitter @SMEStorage and visit us at www.StorageMadeEasy.com to learn more.

Photo(s):

http://www.prlog.org/12548813

Press release distributed by PRLog

SOURCE Storage Made Easy

Related Links

http://www.StorageMadeEasy.com


MONTREAL, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ - Telesta Therapeutics Inc. (TSX: TST) (PNK: BNHLF) today announced that a Type A meeting has been scheduled with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday, April 15, 2016. This Type A meeting will be focused on the FDA's responses to Telesta's questions concerning the regulatory pathway forward for approval of MCNA1 in the United States.

As previously announced, it is possible that the answers received to our first set of questions on the approval pathway and further clinical development of MCNA will require the preparation for and scheduling of a second meeting with the agency in order to be confident that the regulatory pathway in the U.S. is actionable for us or for a future partner for MCNA. In addition, we continue to collaborate with our key development partners to aggressively define and develop the regulatory approval pathway in their respective jurisdictions.

Telesta will provide a corporate update following an analysis of the Type A meeting's outcome and distribute this update via a press release on Monday, April 18, 2016.

About MCNA

MCNA is a biologic therapy developed to provide high-risk, non-muscle invasive bladder cancer patients who are refractory to or relapsing from first-line therapy with bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), with a therapeutic alternative to surgery. MCNA is derived from the cell wall fractionation of a non-pathogenic bacteria. Its activity is believed to be through a dual mechanism of immune stimulation and direct anti-cancer effects. MCNA was developed to be delivered as a sterile suspension for intravesical administration by urologists and urology nurses, following the same dosing paradigm as first-line BCG therapy, with the advantage that it can be prepared, handled and disposed of easily and safely.

About non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC)

Treatment options for high-risk NMIBC patients who fail first-line BCG treatment are extremely limited and treatment guidelines in most countries around the world call for radical cystectomy, which entails a surgical removal of the bladder and adjacent organs and glands. Bladder removal is a complex surgery associated with at least 28% to 45% surgical complications and up to 8% mortality, in addition to negatively impacting multiple aspects of quality of life. Patients who refuse or are not medically fit to undergo bladder removal face an increased risk of progression to muscle-invasive disease, likely leading to metastases and death.

About Telesta Therapeutics Inc.

Telesta Therapeutics Inc. is a well-capitalized public company focused on developing and commercializing human therapeutics for the U.S. market that advance human health and increase shareholder value. For more information, please visit www.telestatherapeutics.com.

Except for historical information, this news release may contain "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws that reflect the Company's current expectation regarding future events. Forward-looking statements and information are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while, considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements and information are not guarantees and there can be no assurance that such statements and information will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements and information. These forward-looking statements and information involve risk and uncertainties, which may cause, but are not limited to, changing market conditions, the successful and timely completion of clinical studies, the establishment of corporate alliances, the impact of competitive products and pricing, new product development, uncertainties related to the regulatory approval process, and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's ongoing quarterly and annual reporting. The Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements and information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. All written and oral forward-looking statements and information attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements.







1 Mycobacterium phlei cell wall-nucleic acid complex

SOURCE Telesta Therapeutics Inc.

Related Links

http://www.telestatherapeutics.com/


SAN FRANCISCO, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Testlio, the customer-focused mobile app testing company, today announced it has closed $6.25 million in Series A funding led by Silicon Valley-based Altos Ventures and Vertex Ventures.

Testlio is a global testing service provider that helps development teams enhance their quality assurance function. They enable customers to focus on their development capabilities by taking ownership of the test plan management and execution processes. Testlio leverages a carefully vetted global testing community to test software builds, delivering validated bug reports rapidly within a customer's existing development and testing environment. Customers gain the benefit of true real-world testing performed across the matrix of vast geographies, languages, device types and telecom providers.

Already profitable, Testlio grew 500% in 2015 and will invest the new funding to build out infrastructure in San Francisco and Tallinn, Estonia to support its global customers.

"Today, we partner closely with some of the most demanding companies in the world," said Kristel Viidik, CEO of Testlio. "In the future, our goal is to change the way companies think about their testing processes as a whole. With mobile applications, every brand is able to directly reach their consumers with a high-fidelity experience. Quality assurance plays a critical role in ensuring the best experience possible, and these companies are in need of a trusted partner to help deliver on this mission. We are expanding our service beyond mobile app testing so that we can continue to meet the changing needs of our customers now and in the future."

"Testlio has demonstrated their ability to deliver a high quality experience and expand their relationship with key customers representing some of the best brands in the world," said Anthony Lee, Managing Director, Altos Ventures. "This is a rare quality in today's fast-paced mobile industry. We want to help Testlio continue to grow and evolve as a company so they can stay focused on momentum without sacrificing quality."

For more information, visit www.testlio.com.

About Testlio

Testlio, founded by Kristel Viidik and Marko Kruustuk, focuses on the quality versus quantity approach to QA software testing. Testlio's global community of carefully vetted professional QA engineers and robust test management platform delivers consistency, transparency and speed. Committed to what matters most to its customers, Testlio understands the need to move fast while maintaining the highest level of quality. Founded in 2012, Testlio has offices in San Francisco and Estonia. For more information, visit www.testlio.com.

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SOURCE Testlio

Related Links

http://www.testlio.com


PHILADELPHIA, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Intellectual Property & Science business of Thomson Reuters today announced a strategic partnership with The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) to spearhead the development and monitoring of innovative output across the region.

NEPAD is one of the African Union's key technical bodies leading socio-economic development, providing tangible methods to advance the continental economy. This collaboration comes on the heels of the African Union's Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA) 2024 initiative, a continental strategy that aims to accelerate Africa's transition to an innovation-led and knowledge-based economy by boosting production in the science, technology, and innovation sectors.

Thomson Reuters will contribute the following:

Data to assist the evaluation of key innovation indicators

Training to accurately evaluate these performance indicators and monitor continent-wide scientific research

Collaboration in producing academic research and proprietary white papers

Ensure the inclusion of African journal data into international indexes, making the research more visible and accessible

"NEPAD is continually looking for new and innovative strategies to grow science, technology and innovation in Africa. This partnership will allow us to leverage both Thomson Reuters and NEPAD strengths to produce new knowledge in this area." said Professor Aggrey Ambali, Head of the NEPAD Science, Technology and Innovation Hub.

"In the global knowledge economy, innovation can be the key that unlocks a world of social and economic opportunity," said Viji Krishnan, Global Head of Emerging Markets, Intellectual Property & Science, Thomson Reuters. "The African Union has already taken meaningful strides towards a new age of innovation with the creation of NEPAD, and by helping them further these efforts, we're confident the continent will soon be on its way to a scientific revolution."

For more information visit: http://ipscience.thomsonreuters.com

Thomson Reuters

Thomson Reuters is the world's leading source of news and information for professional markets. Our customers rely on us to deliver the intelligence, technology and expertise they need to find trusted answers. The business has operated in more than 100 countries for more than 100 years. Thomson Reuters shares are listed on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges (symbol: TRI). For more information, visit www.thomsonreuters.com.

CONTACTS Jen Breen Associate Director, Media Relations +1.215.823.1791 [email protected] Jennifer Figueroa Media Relations +1.203.824.6261 [email protected]



SOURCE Thomson Reuters

Related Links

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NEW YORK, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Statement of James Kreindler (partner, Kreindler & Kreindler, New York) and Sean Carter (partner, Cozen O'Connor, Philadelphia), CO-CHAIRS of the Plaintiffs' Executive Committee representing the 9/11 Families and Victims.

On Sunday night, 60 Minutes aired a compelling, thorough, and immensely important story on still-classified evidence of Saudi involvement in the 9/11 attacks, called "28 Pages." It is the most recent example of why 60 Minutes remains one of America's most respected and consequential investigative news outlets.

In the segment, members of the blue ribbon 9/11 Commission and the Co-Chairs of the separate Congressional Joint Inquiry into 9/11 confirmed that their investigations revealed tangible evidence of possible Saudi government involvement in the 9/11 attacks, much of which remains unexplained and unresolved. The evidence includes details of critical contacts in the United States among Saudi government employees with alleged terrorist ties, two of the 9/11 hijackers, and the notorious al Qaeda cleric Anwar al Awlaki. Former Senator Bob Graham, who chaired the Congressional Joint Inquiry into 9/11, was asked whether the classified pages implicate the Saudi government, rich people in Saudi Arabia, or charities. His response: "All of the above."

Not long after the report aired, the Saudi embassy "responded" to the report, raising two "arguments." First, despite the contrary statements of three 9/11 Commission members in the segment itself, the Saudis said that the 9/11 Commission had "confirmed that there is no evidence that the government of Saudi Arabia supported or funded Al-Qaeda." In support of this theory the Kingdom once again cited (as it has done for more than a decade) a single sentence in the 9/11 Commission report that the Commission had not found evidence that "the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded the organization." Second, the Kingdom said that "on three occasions  2015, 2008 and 2006" the "court of appeals" had dismissed lawsuits against the Kingdom, urging that the "court findings were based on the sheer absence of any substantive claims against Saudi Arabia, plain and simple."

In America, the phrase "plain and simple" typically follows a straightforward statement of truth, which is most clearly not something the Saudi embassy understands.

In fact, the 9/11 Commission did not exonerate the Saudis of involvement in 9/11, as the actual members of the Commission made abundantly clear in the very story the Saudi embassy was purporting to address in its "response." Asked directly about the very sentence the Saudis relied upon in their later statement, 9/11 Commission member Bob Kerrey emphatically stated "It's not an exoneration. What we said  we did not, with this report, exonerate the Saudis." Kerrey went on to explain that "you can't provide the money for terrorists and then say, 'I don't have anything to do with what they're doing." Former Senator Kerrey's statements confirmed the most natural reading of the sentence the Kingdom invokes  it leaves conspicuously open, and thus suggests, that the Commission had found evidence that elements of the Saudi government and non-senior Saudi officials aided al Qaeda and those attacks. And in fact, every 9/11 Commission member who has publicly commented on the sentence has rejected the Kingdom's implausible and self-serving (mis)reading of it.

The Kingdom's suggestion that the "court of appeals" has on three occasions dismissed it for "sheer absence of any substantive claims" is a fabrication of equal measure, and blatantly false. In fact, the Court of Appeals has considered the case against Saudi Arabia twice, first in 2008 and most recently in 2013. Although the Court of Appeals initially dismissed Saudi Arabia on jurisdictional grounds in 2008, it reversed itself and reinstated Saudi Arabia as a defendant in 2013. And even in the 2008 decision, the Court of Appeals noted that the 9/11 families had come forward with a "wealth of evidence, conscientiously cited to published and unpublished sources" in support of their claims.

In fact, the Kingdom has never been willing to address the merits of the families' claims  it has at every stage hidden behind the defense of sovereign immunity, maintaining that US courts do not have jurisdiction to even consider the families' evidence that Saudi agencies and employees supported al Qaeda and the hijackers in carrying out the worst terrorist attacks in history on US soil.

If the Kingdom is as confident as it purports to be about its innocence, there is a simple way to prove it  just withdraw the immunity defense it has been hiding behind for 12 years and answer the charges on the merits, plain and simple.

A bill pending in the Senate and House, called the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), would require the Kingdom to do so. It simply says that if there is plausible evidence that a foreign state aided a terrorist attack on US soil, that foreign state has to respond to that evidence in US courts on the merits. That's just common sense and obviously fair.

The Kingdom's flailing response to 60 Minutes' powerful segment only makes it all the more clear that the 28 pages and other evidence of Saudi involvement must be released, and that JASTA should be passed now.

SOURCE Plaintiffs' Executive Committee representing the 9/11 Families and Victims
DENVER, CO, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ - Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. (TSX: TCM) (OTCQX: TCPTF) ("Thompson Creek" or the "Company") announced today production and sales results for the three months ended March 31, 2016. Total concentrate production for Mount Milligan for the three months ended March 31, 2016 was 40.1 thousand dry tonnes, with 19.1 million pounds of payable copper and 53.3 thousand ounces of payable gold, which represents an increase of approximately 24% and 16%, respectively, from payable copper and gold production for the three months ended March 31, 2015.

During the three months ended March 31, 2016, the Company completed three shipments of copper and gold concentrate.



Q1 2016

Q1 2015 Copper and Gold







Mount Milligan Mine









Average Daily Mill Throughput (tonnes) 58,099

39,569



Mill Availability (%) 96.6

87.3











Copper ore grade (%) 0.23

0.26



Copper recovery (%) 75.0

79.3



Copper payable production (million lbs) 19.1

15.4



Copper sold (million lbs) 15.0

14.8











Gold ore grade (g per tonne) 0.55

0.63



Gold recovery (%) 59.3

66.7



Gold payable production (000's ounces) 53.3

46.1



Gold sold (000's ounces) 44.4

36.8

During the first quarter of 2016, daily mill throughput at Mount Milligan averaged 58,099 tonnes, compared to 39,569 tonnes for the first quarter of 2015. Mill availability was 96.6%, compared to 87.3% for the same period in 2015.

"Operationally, Mount Milligan had a very good quarter compared to one year ago," said Jacques Perron, President and Chief Executive Officer of Thompson Creek. "The modifications and enhancements that were made in 2015 to remedy operational challenges experienced during the first quarter of last year proved successful, and as a result, daily mill throughput increased 47%, and copper and gold payable production increased 24% and 16%, respectively, compared to the first quarter of 2015. Copper and gold recoveries for the first quarter of 2016 were in line with our expectations and lower compared to the first quarter of 2015, primarily as a result of changes in the operational conditions resulting from increased throughput. Gold recoveries were further impacted as a result of lower gold grades compared to the first quarter of last year. During 2015, our primary focus at Mount Milligan was to increase daily mill throughput, and thanks to the hard work of our team, we achieved this objective. For 2016, we will continue to optimize the mine and mill operations to increase recoveries, and we are confident that we will achieve this objective, as well."

Mr. Perron added, "Activities in connection with the construction of the permanent secondary crushing circuit are going well and remain on schedule, and, as previously disclosed, we expect to complete construction and commissioning by the end of this year."

About Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc.

Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. is a North American mining company. The Company's principal operating property is its 100%-owned Mount Milligan Mine, an open-pit copper and gold mine and concentrator in British Columbia. The Company's molybdenum assets consist of its 100%-owned Thompson Creek Mine, an open-pit molybdenum mine and concentrator in Idaho, its 75% joint venture interest in the Endako Mine, an open-pit molybdenum mine, concentrator and roaster in British Columbia, and its Langeloth Metallurgical Facility in Pennsylvania. The Company's development projects are the Berg and IKE properties, both copper, molybdenum and silver exploration properties located in British Columbia. The Company's principal executive office is located in Denver, Colorado. More information is available at www.thompsoncreekmetals.com .

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release, other than purely historical information are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and applicable Canadian securities legislation and are intended to be covered by the safe harbor provided by these regulations. These forward-looking statements can, in some cases, be identified by the use of such terms as "believe," "project," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "strategy," "future," "opportunity," "plan," "may," "should," "will," "would," "will be," "will continue," "will likely result," and similar expressions. Our forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, statements with respect to: future financial or operating performance of the Company or its subsidiaries and its projects; future earnings and operating results; expected mining and concentrate grades and recoveries; and expectations regarding the optimization of Mount Milligan Mine and construction of a permanent secondary crusher, including the effects of secondary crushing.

Where we express an expectation or belief as to future events or results, such expectation or belief is expressed in good faith and believed to have a reasonable basis. However, our forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties which may cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed, projected or implied by those forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results and events to differ from those described in such forward-looking statements can be found in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in Thompson Creek's Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other documents filed on EDGAR at www.sec.gov and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com . Although we have attempted to identify those material factors that could cause actual results or events to differ from those described in such forward-looking statements, there may be other factors, currently unknown to us or deemed immaterial at the present time that could cause results or events to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Many of these factors are beyond our ability to control or predict. Given these uncertainties, the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

SOURCE Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc.

Related Links

http://www.thompsoncreekmetals.com


BOSTON, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Warner Communications, a world-class boutique public relations and communications firm, today announced it is working with Open Blue to launch Open Blue Cobia to the New York City market at an exclusive launch reception later this month in lower Manhattan.

A pioneer and leader in deep water open-ocean raised fish, Open Blue will mark the formal launch of Open Blue Cobia in NYC with an invitation-only tasting reception on April 18, 2016. The event will be hosted in partnership with The Lobster Place at the Cull & Pistol Oyster Bar, Chelsea Market. Warner is managing media relations and creative for the premiere event, and multiple food enthusiasts and influencers will be in attendance. Full details are as follows:

Open Blue Cobia Launch Reception

Monday, April 18, 3:00  4:30 PM or 4:30  6:00 PM

Cull & Pistol Oyster Bar, Chelsea Market

75 9th Ave, New York, NY 10011

The premier product of Open Blue's sustainable fishing initiatives, Open Blue Cobia are carefully cultivated in the deep, pristine ocean waters of the Caribbean Sea near Panama. Pure, healthy and safe - free of contaminants, hormones, colorants and pesticides, Open Blue Cobia is beloved by chefs for its versatility, and is raised far offshore and away from sensitive ecosystems, where the fish have plenty of room to grow in large, stress-free, deep-water enclosures that mimic their natural environment. This results in a healthier fish that is naturally high in protein and very rich in Omega 3 (DHA & EPA), with levels almost twice as high as farmed Atlantic salmon.

"Open Blue believes in not only bringing an outstanding product to our customers, but doing so in a manner which preserves and enriches the environment for the generations that come after us," said Brian O'Hanlon, Founder of Open Blue. "We are thrilled to be working with Warner, an agency that not only understands and embraces our mission, but knows how to communicate it."

"Consumers are increasingly interested in sustainable initiatives as it relates to their food," said Carin Warner, Founder and President, Warner Communications. "Open Blue offers an outstanding product that is environmentally responsible and sustainable. Our agency is truly proud to be working with Open Blue."

To learn more about Open Blue, visit www.openblue.com.

About Warner Communications

Warner Communications provides strategic integrated communications counsel, including corporate and product communications, public relations strategy development, media relations, social media marketing, promotions, special events, product introductions, crisis management, and corporate identity, and a commitment to delivering unmatched product quality and client service.

About Open Blue

Open Blue is a pioneer and leader in deep water open-ocean raised fish. Open Blue Cobia are carefully cultivated in the pristine ocean waters of the Caribbean Sea near Panama, far offshore and away from sensitive ecosystems. The fish have plenty of room to grow in large, stress free, deep water enclosures, and the company produces a reliable, sustainable source of premium fish. Open Blue is the single largest supplier of fresh cobia to the US and the largest deep water open-ocean farm in the world. The offshore operations are the culmination of a decade of cutting-edge investigative research on deep ocean aquaculture, in collaboration with the world's leading scientific laboratories and universities.

Media Contact:

Erin Vadala, Warner Communications

978-468-3076 | [email protected]

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160324/347762LOGO

SOURCE Warner Communications

Related Links

http://www.warnerpr.com


NAPLES, Fla., April 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- William J. Pulte, the founder and largest shareholder of PulteGroup, Inc., today announced that he sent the following letter to the Board of Directors of PulteGroup, Inc.:

April 4, 2016

The Board of Directors

PulteGroup, Inc.

3350 Peachtree Road NE, Suite 150

Atlanta, Georgia 30326

Ladies and Gentlemen:

As the founder, former Chairman and CEO, and largest shareholder of PulteGroup, Inc., I am writing in light of the company's public announcements this morning to reiterate my extreme disappointment in the leadership of CEO Richard Dugas and the lack of performance of PulteGroup under his watch.

I told Richard early on in his tenure that I intended to allow him to own and drive PulteGroup's operations and strategy and not to insert myself into the day-to-day operations of the company. Unfortunately, Richard Dugas' lack of performance and repeated bad decision-making has led me to conclude that the company needs new leadership.

Accordingly, I recently approached Richard Dugas and the Board and conveyed my disappointment in Richard Dugas' leadership and the need for an immediate change. Based on ensuing discussions I had with members of the Board, I understood that the Board was seriously considering my concerns, and I hoped that they would take steps to implement a near-term change for the benefit of PulteGroup shareholders.

This morning, however, I learned that PulteGroup announced that Richard Dugas had informed the Board of his intention to retire over a year from now. This falls far short of the short-term leadership change that PulteGroup shareholders and PulteGroup employees need.

In addition, the company also disclosed this morning in its definitive proxy statement for the 2016 annual shareholder meeting that the Board had determined not to nominate James Grosfeld to continue as a director of PulteGroup "for a number of reasons, including as a result of differing points of view between Mr. Grosfeld and the other independent directors over succession planning and other business strategy matters." The company had previously disclosed in its preliminary proxy statement for the 2016 annual shareholder meeting that Mr. Grosfeld was a nominee. The Board's decision not to renominate Mr. Grosfeld reflects an attempt to stifle any differing views on management and business strategy matters, which is contrary to good corporate governance. Jim Grosfeld is highly regarded as one of the best homebuilding executives and homebuilding financial experts in the history of the U.S. homebuilding industry.

Specific examples of the leadership failures of Richard Dugas and the inadequate performance of PulteGroup under his watch include, but are not limited to, the following:

Since Richard Dugas was appointed CEO almost 13 years ago, PulteGroup's stock price has not appreciated significantly, even when many peers have performed strongly since the Great Recession.

was appointed CEO almost 13 years ago, PulteGroup's stock price has not appreciated significantly, even when many peers have performed strongly since the Great Recession. Richard Dugas laid off key and irreplaceable homebuilding talent that have left the Company.

laid off key and irreplaceable homebuilding talent that have left the Company. After many years of losses at PulteGroup, Richard Dugas moved the Company's headquarters from suburban Detroit to Atlanta , which cost the shareholders tens of millions of dollars with no apparent benefit to shareholders. It is important to note that PulteGroup had become the largest homebuilder in the United States while headquartered in Michigan .

The shareholders and employees of PulteGroup deserve a strong and growing company, especially in today's highly competitive and growing environment. The necessary management changes are long overdue, and the succession plan announced by the Board only serves to further delay these changes to the detriment of shareholders. PulteGroup has great assets and many loyal and talented employees, whose potential is waiting to be realized with effective leadership. This is not about going backward; this is about going forward with the right CEO and the right strategies.

Accordingly, I am asking the Board to significantly accelerate the announced succession plan for Richard Dugas, and recruit an experienced and seasoned homebuilding operator as CEO, one who truly understands the homebuilding business.

I stand ready to assist in identifying such a person and enabling a bright future for PulteGroup and my fellow shareholders.

Bill Pulte

Founder

Pulte Homes (PHM:NYSE)

SOURCE William J. Pulte
TROY, Mich., April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Ziebart International Corporation, the global leader in detailing, films and protection services announces a national partnership with Journey 4 A Cure (J4AC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to finding ways to fund childhood cancer research, increase awareness about the realities of childhood cancer, and enhance the lives of children battling cancer. As a leading sponsor, the company will work with their U.S. franchised and company-owned locations, as well as the headquarters employees, to promote the nonprofit's mission of increasing funding for childhood cancer research and enhancing the lives of children and their families currently battling cancer.

"Journey 4 A Cure is so very excited about the opportunity to partner with Ziebart International Corporation. Childhood cancer is the #1 disease related killer of children in the U.S. The incidence of childhood cancer is on the rise, 1 in 285 children will be diagnosed with cancer before the age of 19. Despite compelling facts, childhood cancer research is severely and consistently underfunded. Our partnership with Ziebart International Corporation will support the Journey 4 A Cure mission and enhance our efforts to fund research, raise awareness about the realities of childhood cancer and help brave kids. We thank Ziebart International Corporation for this opportunity and their corporate values that foster giving back," said Donna Carmical of Journey 4 A Cure.

"As we continue to reintroduce our brand to new franchise owners, new markets and new customers, we want to make sure they all understand the culture of our company. In all of our local communities, we look toward ensuring that all children live a healthy, quality, happy life. We are proud to be partnering with J4AC to help in the fight to end childhood cancer," said Thomas E. Wolfe, President/ Chief Executive Officer, Ziebart International Corporation.

Ziebart will support their partnership through in-store donations at point-of-sale, ongoing awareness campaigns via their website and social media to promote online giving and a variety of events during Childhood Cancer Awareness month in September. "As the largest organized company of detailing, films and protection products, we are incredibly honored to share our stage with J4AC. Through in-store donations and online giving support, we look to help grow the awareness of this organization, that has positioned itself to help change the lives of many," says Larisa Walega, Director of Marketing, Ziebart International Corporation.

For more information on J4AC, visit www.journey4acure.org.

About Journey 4 A Cure

Journey 4 A Cure is a pediatric cancer foundation committed to finding ways to fund research, increase awareness about the realities of pediatric cancer and enhance the lives of children battling cancer. They "journey" toward achieving this mission, by enabling cutting-edge pediatric cancer research, informing the community about the realities of pediatric cancer, the statistics and funding inequities, and encouraging public policy reform.

About Ziebart

Ziebart International Corporation is the worldwide leader in vehicle appearance and protection services. Since 1959, our company has served the automotive enthusiast with valuable product and service offerings. Headquartered in Troy, Michigan, U.S.A., the Ziebart franchise has grown to an international network including approximately 400 licensed locations in 33 countries with over 800 service centers worldwide.

Contact:

Larisa Walega

1-248-837-3941

[email protected]

SOURCE Ziebart International Corporation

Related Links

http://www.ziebart.com


and Massachusetts General Hospital Recognized as Global Partner Volunteer of the Year

Millwood, VA, April 12, 2016

Project HOPE, the global health education and humanitarian assistance organization, today named Ann Perez, a registered nurse from Santa Fe, New Mexico, as its Volunteer of the Year. Massachusetts General Hospital was meanwhile recognized as Global Partner Volunteer of the Year after many years as a longtime partner in disaster relief efforts worldwide.

Ms. Perez contributed 1,408 hours of medical humanitarian work to HOPE in 2015, training health care professional in India and responding to the earthquake disaster in Nepal last year. Accepting the award at a special presentation during National Volunteer Week, at HOPE headquarters in Millwood, Virginia, Ms. Perez expressed her passion for medical humanitarian work.

Every volunteer says that they gained more than they contributed to their experience and I concur. In India, while elevating nursing standards and care, I learned the true meaning of hard work, devotion, dedication and generosity. Nepal was just two weeks out of my 26 weeks of work as a HOPE volunteer, but it was powerful teacher nonetheless. The one common thread connecting my experiences in India and Nepal is the beauty of the family bond in these cultures, said Ms. Perez.

Ann was one of the first HOPE volunteers on the ground in Nepal after the earthquake struck, Ms. Perez provided care to the disasters youngest victims.

Ann Perez is a credit to her profession and an exemplary HOPE volunteer. She did great work in India and was an outstanding nurse at a crucial time after the earthquake struck in Nepal. Ann not only provided excellent care to patients, she also comforted injured children and distracted them by playing games and listening to their stories during the most chaotic moments of their young lives, said Tom Kenyon, M.D., M.P.H., President and CEO of Project HOPE.

Each April, National Volunteer Week is an opportunity to inspire, recognize and encourage community and volunteer service and was established by the Points of Light Foundation, in 1990. HOPEs Volunteer of the Year nominee is selected through a committee comprised of Project HOPE staff members and alumni. HOPEs supporters participate through an online voting campaign to select the award recipient. In 2015, all of HOPEs volunteers filled 549 positions, providing care and health education around the globe. Other volunteers who were recognized for their outstanding contributions in 2015 were Harry Owens, Maureen OReilly, Freya McGregor and Jon Brack.

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) mobilized six medical volunteers to quickly respond to the earthquake in Nepal in April last year. All of the volunteers were experts in disaster response and specialized in emergency medicine, surgery and emergency management.

We are immensely proud and inspired by our medical volunteers and partners like Massachusetts General Hospital, our Global Partner of the Year. MGH is a longtime partner of HOPE in disaster relief and we are enormously grateful to great institution for their continuing efforts to help us deliver health care, education, medical training and humanitarian assistance to people in need in the developing world, said Dr. Kenyon.

The MGH volunteers donated 720 hours of service and focused their efforts on the Manmohan Memorial Teaching Hospital, supporting the local staff in treating patients and managing the emergency room system.

Their incredible work resulted in more patients receiving the best possible care, lower infection rates and earthquake victims receiving more one-on-one comfort from additional medical support, said Hilarie Cranmer, M.D., M.P.H., Director, Global Disaster Response, MGH Center for Global Health, Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School & Harvard School of Public Health.

For more information about volunteering for Project HOPE, please visit our website at www.projecthope.org/volunteer.

About Project HOPE

Founded in 1958, Project HOPE (Health Opportunities for People Everywhere) is dedicated to providing lasting solution to health problems with the mission of helping people to help themselves. Identifiable to many by the SS HOPE, the worlds first peacetime hospital ship, Project HOPE now provides medical training and health education, and conducts humanitarian assistance programs in more than 30 countries. Visit our website projecthope.org and follow us on Twitter @projecthopeorg.
Hyderabad, April 7 : At least 111 people have died due to sunstroke in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh during last few days as the two states are experiencing intense heat wave conditions, officials said.

As many as 66 people died in Telangana while 45 succumbed in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. Most of the deaths were reported during last one week.

According to Telangana's disaster management department, Mahabubnagar district accounted for highest number of deaths at 28, while 11 people died in Medak district.

Heat wave conditions claimed seven lives in Nizamabad, five each in in Khammam and Karimnagar, four each in Adilabad and Warangal and two in Nalgonda.

No deaths have been reported from Hyderabad and neighbouring Ranga Reddy district.

According to the met department, there ws appreciable rise in maximum temperatures at one or two places in Telangana on Thursday. The highest maximum temperature of 41 degree Celsius was recorded in Nalgonda, Hanamakonda, Khammam, Mahabubnagar and Ramagundam.

In Andhra Pradesh, 45 people died of sunstroke during last one week. Deputy Chief Minister N. Chinna Rajappa told reporters in Vijayawada that 16 of the deaths were reported from YSR Kadapa district while Prakasam accounted for 11 deaths.

Four died in Anantapur, three each in Vijayanagaram, Chittoor and Kurnool, two each in Srikakulam and Krishna districts and one in West Godavari district.

He said the government would extend all possible help the families of the heat wave victims.

He said hospitals across the state had been alerted to be prepared to tackle the situation. "People have been advised to avoid venturing out of their houses during day times, especially between 12 noon and 3 p.m.," he said.

According to the met department, the temperature was above normal at many places over Rayalaseema and appreciably above normal at one or two places over Coastal Andhra Pradesh. The highest maximum temperature of 42 degree Celsius was recorded at Anantapur and Nandyal.

Disaster Management Commissioner Dhanunjaya Reddy on Thursday briefed Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu of the situation and the steps taken to brace the heat wave.

He said the district administration along with the medical and health department has undertaken a massive awareness campaign and makeshift medical camps.

Oral rehydration salts and intravenous fluids have been made available at public places. Construction workers and labourers have been instructed not to work between 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Officials said all precautionary measures were taking in view of the forecast that the summer will be warmer.

The heat wave had claimed nearly 2,000 lives in the two states last year.
United Nations, April 8 : A record number of countries are expected to sign a historic climate agreement at a ceremony on April 22, the deputy UN spokesman said.

More than 130 countries have confirmed that they will sign the Paris Agreement on April 22, the first day that the accord adopted in December in Paris will be open for signature, Farhan Haq said at a daily news briefing here on Thursday.

"This is expected to surpass the previous record of 119 signatures for an opening day signing for an international agreement, set by the Law of the Sea in Montego Bay (in Jamaica) in 1994," he said.

More than 60 heads of state and government will be attending the signing ceremony to be hosted at UN Headquarters in New York by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, demonstrating the continued high level of engagement by world leaders to accept and implement the Paris Agreement, he said.

"The signing ceremony will mark the first step toward ensuring that the Paris Agreement enters into force as early as possible," Haq said.

"The agreement will enter into force 30 days after at least 55 countries, accounting for 55 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, deposit their instruments of ratification or acceptance with the secretary-general."

Adopted by the 196 parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Paris Agreement sets a target of holding the global average rise in temperature below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and preferably below 1.5 degrees.

On the basis of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, developed countries agreed to raise $100 billion a year by 2020 to help developing countries transform their economies.
London, April 8 : British Prime Minister David Cameron has been accused of "hypocrisy" after admitting that he owned shares in the Panamanian trust set up by his late father Ian Cameron, before selling them for over 30,000 pounds in 2010.

After three days of stalling and four partial statements issued by Downing Street, Cameron in an interview to ITV News on Thursday confessed that he owned shares in the tax haven fund, which he sold for 31,500 pounds just before becoming prime minister in 2010.

Cameron said that he made a profit on around 5,000 units he owned in Blairmore Investment Trust, but insisted the money was subjected to British tax rules.

He also divulged details of his 300,000 pounds inheritance and said recent criticism of his father was "unfair".

The Conservative leader was dragged into the 'Panama Papers' scandal after leaked documents from law firm Mossack Fonseca included details of a multi-million-pound offshore firm set up by his father.

"But I was keen in 2010 to sell everything -- shares, all the rest of it -- so I can be very transparent. I don't own any part of any company or any investment trust or anything else like that," Cameron said in the interview.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said it was in Cameron's "own interests" to disclose details of his family's arrangements with offshore tax havens.

Corbyn said that he wanted an investigation conducted by revenue and customs "about the amount of money of all people that have invested in these shell companies or put money into tax havens and to calculate what tax they should have paid over the years".

Leanne Wood, the leader of Plaid Cymru, accused Cameron of hypocrisy and asked him to report himself to the parliamentary standards committee.

The prime minister made the revelations about his involvement with the offshore fund set up by his father Ian after expose in the 'Panama Papers'.

David Cameron has been "more transparent" about his finances than any previous prime minister, and did not avoid paying tax, Skills Minister Nick Boles has argued.

Boles said Cameron had paid the correct tax on all his investments and denied that his shares in an offshore firm -- which he sold before he was elected in 2010 -- was "hypocrisy".

A Labour member of parliament has called for Cameron to resign over the revelations. Bassetlaw member of parliament and member of the Treasury Select Committee, John Mann, said it was a "matter of transparency".
New Delhi, April 8 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday greeted people across the country celebrating festivals associated with the new year like Gudi Padwa and Ugadi.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi also greeted the people.

Modi extended his greetings in a series of tweets.

"Greetings to people across India celebrating the advent of the New Year. May this new year bring joy and prosperity," he said.

"Wishing all my Sindhi friends on the auspicious occasion of Cheti Chand. We bow to Lord Jhulelal and seek his divine blessings.

"Gudi Padwa wishes to all friends in Maharashtra. Praying for a phenomenal year, full of happiness and success.

"On the special day of Ugadi, my greetings to everyone. I hope the new year brings peace and prosperity in our society.

"Navreh greetings to my fellow citizens. I pray that the coming year enhances the spirit of happiness and harmony in our lives.

"Sajibu Cheiraoba greetings to the wonderful people of Manipur. May the new year fulfil all your wishes", the Prime Minister said.

In her message, Sonia Gandhi extended her good wishes on Gudi Padwa, Ugadi, Navreh, Cheti Chand, Chaitra Shukladi, Sajibu Cheiraoba and the beginning of "vasantiya navratra" to all citizens.
Seoul, April 8 : At least 13 North Koreans working in an overseas restaurant have defected to South Korea this week, Seoul's unification ministry said on Friday.

Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee told an emergency press briefing that one male manager and 12 female employees, dispatched from North Korea to work in a state-run overseas restaurant, arrived in Seoul on Thursday.

It marked the first time that a group of North Koreans working at the same overseas restaurant have defected to South Korea, Xinhua reported.

South Korea has also recommended to its people not to visit North Korea-run restaurants when going on an overseas trip.

The UN Security Council adopted tougher-than-ever sanctions on North Korea last month over Pyongyang's nuclear test in January and its launch in February of a long-range rocket, which was condemned as a disguised test of ballistic missile technology.
New Delhi, April 10 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday described the fire at Kerala temple that killed over 90 people as "heartrending and shocking". He is expected to visit the accident site later in the day.

"Fire at temple in Kollam is heartrending and shocking beyond words. My thoughts are with families of the deceased and prayers with the injured," Modi said in a tweet.

At least 96 people were killed in an accident on Sunday due to a firework display which caused a massive blaze at the Puttingal temple in the coastal town of Paravur located about 60 kms from the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram.

More than 200 people have been injured.

"I will be reaching Kerala soon to take stock of the situation arising duer to the unfortunate fire tragedy in Kollam," Modi said.

Modi said he spoke with Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and also announced an ex-gratia relief of Rs.2 lakh for the kins of the dead and Rs.50,000 for those seriously injured.

"...arranging for immediate shifting for those critically injured, by a helicopter."

Officials informed the prime minister had directed authorities not to follow any protocol on his arrival at the site and instead focus on a better and extensive relief and rescue operation.
Bishkek, April 11 : Kyrgyzstan Prime Minister Temir Sariyev verbally tendered his resignation at a cabinet meeting on Monday, Xinhua cited the government press service as saying.

The announcement came after several parliament members accused Sariyev's cabinet of corruption.

"I will fight until my innocence is proved," Sariyev told the meeting, adding that he will demand an objective investigation into the case.

Sariyev was sworn in as prime minister in May 2015, two weeks after his predecessor, Joomart Otorbayev, stepped down.
Agra, April 12 : Ahead of the visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Kate Middleton on April 16, police have tightened security arrangements in the tourist complex area along Fatehabad Road leading to the Taj Mahal.

The royal couple is scheduled to visit Agra on Saturday. Officials said they will spend nearly two hours at the Taj Mahal.

Hoteliers said local intelligence officials had directed them not to rent out rooms to visitors from Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Turkey and other Islamic State (IS)-affected countries.

The whole area from Kheria airport to the Taj Mahal is being spruced up and sanitised for the high profile visit.

ASI superintending archaeologist Bhuvan Vikram told IANS that the scaffolding around the minarets will not be dismantled as was being suggested, so that the royal visitors get a "fair and unobstructed glimpse" of the 17th century monument of love.

Maintenance work alongwith mud-pack therapy to beautify the monument will continue.

A 70-year-old local photographer Surendra Sharma has sought the district administration's permission to present the royal couple an album of Queen Elizabeth's visit to the Taj Mahal way back in 1961.
Washington, April 12 : The US State Department has issued a travel warning for the US citizens planning to visit Saudi Arabia ahead of President Barack Obama's visit to the Gulf country.

In the warning, posted on its website on Monday, the State Department has urged the US citizens to "carefully consider the risks of travelling to Saudi Arabia", Xinhua news agency reported.

Obama is scheduled to participate in a summit of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council on April 21 in Saudi Arabia.

"There continues to be reports of threats against US citizens and other Westerners, as well as locations frequented by them," it said, adding the Islamic States (IS) terrorist group has directed or inspired multiple attacks on mosques last year in Saudi Arabia.

"Ongoing security concerns" in Yemen and Iraq also added a reason for issuing the travel warning, which replaced an old warning issued on September 21, 2015.

The warning said both Al-Qaeda and the IS are planning attacks in the kingdom, including "house compounds, hotels, restaurants, shopping areas, international schools" and other facilities.

It also restricted US government personnel and their families from travelling within 50 miles (80 km) of the Yemeni border, and to the cities of Jizan and Najran, without permission.
Chennai, April 12 : Tamil superstar Vijay's forthcoming actioner "Theri" will release in 144 screens in the US on Thursday with special premieres planned for Wednesday.

According to CineGalaxy Inc, the distributor of the film in North America, this is tipped to be the biggest release for a Vijay film in recent years.

In an official statement, CineGalaxy Inc confirmed that the film will be released in 144 screens across USA in places such as Fremont, San Jose, Los Angeles, Dublin, Roseville, Manchester and Newark among other locations.

Directed by Atlee, Vijay will be seen as a police officer and a doting father in the film.

"Theri", which has music by G.V Prakash Kumar, also stars Amy Jackson and Samantha Ruth Prabhu.

The film releases worldwide on Thursday, while the Telugu dubbed version, which is titled "Policeodu", will release on Friday.
Bhopal, April 12 : Famed Indian woman biker Veenu Paliwal has died in a road accident in Madhya Pradesh's Vidisha district, police said.

The accident took place on Monday when Paliwal was on a nationwide trip on her Harley Davidson moterbike.

She was on the way to Jaipur from Lucknow with her friend Dipesh Tanwar who was on another bike.

She sustained injuries on Monday when her motorbike slipped near Bagroda Tiraha region of the district.

According to the police, Paliwal was rushed to Gyaraspur hospital where she was referred to vidisha after first aid.

Paliwal was declared dead as soon as she was transferred to a hospital in Vidisha district late Monday evening, Kotwali police station incharge Rajesh Tiwari told IANS.

Her autopsy was conducted by a team of four doctors, Tiwari said.

Her friend Tanwar alleged that she was speaking to him before being treated at Gyaraspur hospital.

Paliwal's condition got worse immediately after being given an injection, Tanwar said.

Paliwal had recently been named the Lady of the Harley 2016.
United Nations, April 12 : North Korea will participate in the Paris climate agreement signing ceremony to be held later this month at the UN headquarters in New York, the UN spokesperson's office has said.

North Korea Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong will participate in the ceremony, Xinhua on Tuesday reported quoting the office as saying on Monday.

However, a reported meeting between UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the foreign minister on the sidelines of the ceremony cannot be confirmed, the office said.

More than 130 countries have confirmed to attend the Paris agreement ceremony on April 22, the first day that the agreement will be open for signature, according to the UN.

Adopted by the 196 parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Paris agreement sets a target of keeping the global average rise in temperature below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and preferably below 1.5 degrees.

On the basis of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, developed countries agreed to raise $100 billion a year by 2020 to help developing countries transform their economies.
Aden, April 12 : At least six people, five soldiers and an attacker, were killed and more than 10 others injured in a suicide bombing in Yemen's Aden city on Tuesday, a security official said.

"A suicide bomber blew himself up next to a police checkpoint in Aden's neighbourhood of Sheikh Othman," Xinhua quoted the security official as saying.

The bomber was also killed in his blast which targeted a checkpoint in Aden, the official added.

The security official blamed the attack on the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda branch, which has large influence and presence in the southern regions due to the government's absence and the security vacuum.

Scores of gunmen linked to the Al-Qaeda and the Yemen-based affiliate of the Islamic State group took control over key government compounds after defeating the Shia Houthi forces last year.

The port city of Aden, Yemen's temporary capital, has been witnessing a state of chaos and lawlessness during the past months resulted in the assassination of Aden's former governor, several high-ranking security officers and judges.

The turbulent and complicated security situation in Aden and neighbouring southern provinces of Lahj and Abyan is one of the biggest challenges for the Saudi-led Arab coalition forces operating in Aden.

The Saudi-led Arab coalition has dispatched thousands of soldiers from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Sudan and Bahrain into five anti-Houthi southern provinces to support and train local Yemeni security forces there.
New Delhi, April 12 : India and the United States have agreed, in principle, to conclude a 'Logistic Exchange Memorandum of Agreement' on mutual military logistic support.

It, however, does not mean that troops of one country will be stationed in the other country, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said at a joint press conference with US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter on Tuesday.

Parrikar said the growing interaction between armed forces of the two countries is a "significant aspect of bilateral relationship", pointing out that India has more joint exercises with the US than any other country in the world.

"In this context, Secretary Carter and I agreed, in principle, to conclude a Logistic Exchange Memorandum of Agreement in the coming months," Parrikar said.

Parrikar said the draft of the agreement will be ready in a month.

Asked if it will mean the presence of US troops in India, Carter said: "No one is talking about the US troops on Indian soil." He added that the details of the logistic support will be decided by the two governments.

Carter is on a three-day visit to India. He is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi later on Tuesday.
Kabul, April 12 : At least seven people were killed when a huge rock slid down a mountain slope and slammed their house overnight in Afghanistan province of Kunar, police said on Tuesday.

"The incident took place in Chawkay district around Monday mid-night. Those killed included a couple and five of their children," Xinhua news agency quoted a police official as saying.

"The house was destroyed by the sliding rock in the mountainous province. Heavy rain in recent days has caused the incident," he said.

The country was also rocked by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake on April 10.
Lucknow, April 12 : The Uttar Pradesh government acted illegally in prolonging the suspension of IPS officer Amitabh Thakur despite a contrary order of the central government, the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has been told.

The state government has refused to comply with a central government order that said his suspension stands revoked from October 11, 2015, Amitabh Thakur, the suspended Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, said before the Lucknow bench of CAT.

Thakur was suspended by the state government on July 13, 2015, after he lodged a police complaint against Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav for allegedly threatening him over the phone.

The suspension has since been extended.

Thakur has challenged his suspension in the CAT.

He told the CAT that the state government decided to continue with his suspension despite receiving a letter from the central government, dated March 31, 2016, which quashed the suspension with effect from October 11, 2015.

The central government passed the order under Rule 19(2) of All India Services Discipline and Appeal Rules, which the state government must comply with under the same rules as well as also under Article 256 of the Constitution, Thakur told the CAT.

He prayed before the CAT to direct the state government to comply with the central government order and to reinstate him immediately.

The IPS officer and his wife Nutan Thakur are well known for their outspokenness on corruption and filing of dozens of public interest litigation petitions (PILs).
Beijing, April 12 : Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has expressed grief over the death of 110 people in a fireworks disaster in a temple in Kerala.

"I would like to extend, on behalf of the Chinese government and in my name, profound condolences to the victims and heartfelt sympathy to their families and those injured," Xinhua quoted Li as telling his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi as saying in a message.

In a message to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said he too was shocked to learn of the tragedy that also left more than 350 people injured in Kollam district on Sunday.

"I'd like to express ... my profound condolences and heartfelt sympathies," said Wang.
Kathmandu, April 12 : Expressing concern over the present state of affairs in Nepal, the Himalayan nation's dethroned king Gyanendra Shah has indicated that he could become active in politics again.

In a media statement on Tuesday ahead of Nepali New Year 2073 Bikram Sambat, the last monarch of Nepal's Shah dynasty said: "The nation should get rid of the power-ravenous leadership that is only focused on personal gain. With such a leadership, the state has been weakening."

"The very concept of the state has weakened, regional and global politics is on the verge of a new stage," he said in the statement that indicated he has garnered support from some powerful nation to move ahead.

He said the Nepali people were losing their patience due to the mismatch between power-ravenous leadership and people's aspiration.

He said there was a need for a new patriotic leadership which could stand on its feet, "who can preserve the sanity of Nepalis and who believe that Nepal's existence and sovereignty is a prime concern".

Shah relinquished his throne in 2008 after the then political parties of Nepal decided to adopt republicanism in Nepal.

Gyanendra, who normally leads a reclusive life, has chosen to speak out at Dashain -- a major Hindu festival -- and on Nepali New Year during the past eight years.

He keeps reminding his countrymen that he may be a spectator to the ongoing developments but is definitely not silent. Otherwise, most of the time, he either spends his days with his family in a palace on the outskirts in Kathmandu or visits abroad.

Shah also urged the political leadership to bear in mind the geo-political sensitivity of the south Asian region.

"Our national values like religion, culture, language, history and civilisation are under attack and it is a matter of concern for us as to how we can hand over these monuments to the next generation. For this, we have to bear the new power dynamics in South Asia and emerging geo-political sensitivity."

"There is frustration and anger in the public against the political leadership in Nepal after the installation of the republican system and the political leadership has failed to meet the aspirations of the people."

In the past also, he vented similar ire against the country's political leadership, reminding everyone that he may become active again to preserve the gift given by his ancestors to him.

"Everyone knows here what we were, where did we stand, where we stand now, where the country is heading, what the society is thinking about and what should be our joint roadmap. For this, we have to make a honest contribution in this respect," he said.
Toronto, April 12 : An incidence of brain injury in a child can have adverse effects on the quality of relationships shared between the parent and the child, finds a study.

The findings revealed that concussion or mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is particularly high in the preschool years -- up to around 2 percent of children aged 0 to 5 years per year.

"The young brain is particularly vulnerable to injury because the skull is still thin and malleable. In the months following the injury, one of the first visible signs of social difficulties in young children is a decline in their relationship with their parents," said one of the researchers, Miriam Beauchamp, professor at University of Montreal in Canada.

Given the relatively limited social and cognitive skills of preschoolers, a concussion at this age can slow the development of new abilities, for example, certain communication skills.

"It may be due to specific neurological mechanisms, to changes in parenting, or to stress caused by the injury," said lead author Gabrielle Lalonde, doctoral student at University of Montreal.

The study published in the Journal of Neuropsycholog, aims to assess the quality of parent-child interactions six months post-injury.

The team recruited a group of 130 children aged between 18 months and 60 months and divided them into three categories: children with concussion, children with orthopedic injury (usually a fracture or sprain of the arm or leg) but no concussion, and a control group of non-injured children.

The results revealed that the quality of parent-child interactions of injured children following concussion was significantly reduced compared to non-injured children.

Parents should monitor behaviour changes in their child in the weeks that follow the trauma and adjust accordingly during this period.

"If, as parents, you notice the effects of the accident on your own psychological state, or behavioural changes in your child that make them interact differently and that persist more than a few weeks, you should talk to your family doctor or a neuropsychologist," Beauchamp suggested.
Dubai, April 12 : India and the UAE on Friday held discussions on posssibilities of mutual investment in the oil and gas sectors, including about the latter investing in the building India's strategic oil reserve.

These issues were discussed at a meeting between visiting Petroleum Minister Dharmedra Pradhan, and UAE's Energy Minister Suhail Mohammed Al Mazrouei.

"Had detailed discussion with Oil Minister of UAE;it's 3rd meeting with him in a year;agreed on few concrete projects," Pradhan tweeted.

"Discussed investment in Indian strategic oil reserve; mutual investment in oil, gas, refinery, petrochemical projects," he said in another tweet.

Gulf and Saudi oil majors, such as Aramco, the Kuwait Petroleum Corp and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, have earlier shown interest in storage in India as it reduces their transport costs into Southeast Asia.

In India's first phase of building strategic oil reserves, the storage cavern at Vishakhapatnam has been completed, while construction is in the final stages at Padur and Mangaluru, both in Karnataka.

Pradhan's visit to the United Arab Emirates is a follow up of the February India visit of Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Mazrouei.

During his visit, Pradhan will also meet the CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and the chairman of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

UAE contributes in a major way to India's energy security, being the sixth-largest supplier of crude oil. India is the second-largest destination for UAE's oil exports.
Thiruvananthapuram, April 12 : A contractor who organised Sunday's fireworks show at a temple in Kerala that ended up claiming 111 lives succumbed to injuries here on Tuesday, doctors said.

Surendran, 67, who had taken up the contract for holding the fireworks display at the Puttingal Devi temple in Paravur town, died at the Medical College Hospital here.

Hospital authorities said he breathed his last at 3.35 p.m., two days after he was admitted with serious burn injuries.

"He suffered 90 percent burns and a surgery was conducted on his large intestine. His kidneys were also in a bad condition," a statement from the hospital said.

Surendran had been named an accused by police. His son Umesh, who suffered 50 percent burn injuries, is being treated at the hospital.

Surendran was the second person to die on Tuesday, taking the toll to 111.

After suffering burns, Surendran reportedly told his family members that his license for explosives should be put on his body when he dies.

Seven temple officials arrested for the tragedy have told police that Surendran was given Rs.7 lakh to conduct the fireworks display.
Mumbai, April 12 : Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said the government's budget proposal to levy one percent excise duty on non-silver jewellery was an "attempt to kill" small traders and workers in the sector.

"It is not excise duty but an attempt to kill small jewellery traders and workers who are being crushed by the government," Gandhi told a rally of striking jewellers and workers at Zaveri Bazaar in south Mumbai.

A majority of retail jewellers across the country have been on strike since March 2 to demand withdrawal of the proposed excise duty, but Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has refused to budge.

According to Gandhi, the proposed excise duty was an attempt to snatch business from seven crore small traders and workers and hand it over to a few big companies.

"'Make in India' (initiative) is required, but even justice is needed... The Congress will raise this issue in parliament," Gandhi assured the traders.

The Congress leader said the government was acting more like a lawyer than a judge and oppressing weaker sections of society.

Gandhi said five or six big corporates and the central government have colluded to snatch farmers' lands, and the Congress would not allow it. The party would stand by the farmers.

"The government has tried to enact the Land Acquisition Bill thrice, but the Congress didn't let it happen... Ultimately, the government was forced to backtrack," he said.

Party leaders, including state Congress president Ashok Chavan, Mumbai unit chief Sanjay Nirupam and former union minister Milind Deora, were present on the occasion.

Deora dubbed the nationwide strike by jewellers as "unprecedented".

Meanwhile, referring to unconfirmed reports on withdrawal of strike by Mumbai jewellers from April 14, jewellers' representative I. Singhal said one of their leaders, Fatehsinh Ranka, had been threatened by a union minister.
New Delhi, April 12 : Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra, who was conferred the Padma Shri on Tuesday, says she is currently busy with her projects and is unsure whether she would be dining with US President Barack Obama at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner.

Priyanka, who found global recognition with her character Alex Parrish in the American TV series "Quantico", has been invited to the the special dinner with US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama later this month.

The "Mary Kom" star expressed her doubts over attending the special dinner due to her tight schedule for "Quantico" as well as for her Hollywood debut "Baywatch".

"Right now I am too busy with 'Quantico' and 'Baywatch'. That's why I am not sure if I will dine out with Obama. Not that I don't want to, but I am not sure," Priyanka told the media at an event here.

"If I get the chance to be there, I will ask Obama, 'Since this is your last term, what will you do in the White House'," the "Bajirao Mastani" star quipped.

Priyanka, along with some of Hollywood's biggest names like Bradley Cooper, Lucy Liu, Jane Fonda and Gladys Knight, has been invited for the dinner at the White House.

The non-profit White House Correspondents' Association, whose members include the reporters, producers, camera operators and other journalists regularly covering the White House, traditionally hosts this annual dinner to raise money for journalism scholarships.
Washington, April 12 : The economy of Ukraine is expected to grow at a slower rate of 1.5 percent this year, down 0.5 percent from the prognosis made in October 2015, IMF said on Tuesday.

Ukraine's GDP contracted 9.9 percent, the country's GDP growth is expected to stay at 1.5 percent in 2016, and reach 2.5 percent in 2017, Sputnik cited International Monetary Fund's (IMF) World Economic Outlook report as saying.

"Ukraine's economy is projected to return to positive growth in 2016," the report said.

However, the IMF report in October 2015 expected a two percent growth for Ukraine this year.
New Delhi, April 12 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to Saudi Arabia was quite successful in promoting India's interests and also in the fight against terror, Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla said here on Tuesday.

She also hinted at some "good news" soon from Riyadh on New Delhi's request to increase the Haj quota.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Saudi Arabia was very successful and fruitful in promoting India's and Indians' interests. Our bilateral relations have strengthened, and Saudi Arabia is ready to cooperate with us in the fight against terror," Heptulla said.

The prime minister's visit will have helped instil confidence in the 2.5 million strong Indian diaspora in the largest Gulf country, she added.

"Another aspect of this visit was that we have been seeking better facilities for the Indian Haj pilgrims. Also, we want the quota allotted to us increased. We may hear some good news very soon in this connection," the minister added.

Every year, 1,50,000 Indian pilgrims go to Saudi Arabia to perform Haj, though many more apply for it. The names are finalised through lucky draw system.

"I think, with strengthened bilateral relations, more investment would come into India from Saudi Arabia," Heptulla added.

Apart from being India's largest supplier of crude oil, Saudi Arabia is also India's fourth largest trading partner.
Kolkata, April 12 : The Election Commission on Tuesday removed Rajeev Kumar as the Kolkata Police commissioner following persistent calls from West Bengal's opposition parties for his shifting.

Additional Director General (CID) Soumen Mitra will replace Rajeev Kumar, who has been shifted to the Anti-Corruption Bureau as its additional director general, officials said.

"The city police commissioner has been replaced," a top West Bengal government official told IANS.

Additional chief electoral officer Dibyendu Sarkar told the media here that the decision was taken following the directive of the Election Commission.

"Following the direction of the EC, Kumar has been removed and Mitra has been named as his replacement. The order has to be executed by Tuesday," said Sarkar. He, however, refused to divulge the exact reason behind Kumar's removal.

Opposition parties had time and again demanded that Kumar be moved out of his posting as he was "working in favour" of the state's ruling Trinamool Congress.

The Bharatiya Janata Party had even accused Kumar of "orchestrating a botched sting operation" against party national secretary Rahul Sinha.

While campaigning in city for the polls, BJP president Amit Shah on March 29 alleged that Kumar "had a direct role" in the "failed sting, and claimed it was done at the behest of Chief Minister and Trinamool chairperson Mamata Banerjee.

Sinha, late last month had alleged that two of city police's special branch officers, with the motive to conduct a sting, offered him "a fat amount" to "cooperate with them" in smuggling cattle to Bangladesh.

The Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Front as well as the Congress have been up against Kumar, who as the then Bidhannagar police commissioner, led the investigation into the multi-crore rupee Saradha chit fund scam before the Central Bureau of Investigation stepped in.

The opposition had accused Kumar of "subverting" the investigation into the scam in which several Trinamool leaders have been arrested or interrogated by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate.

Kumar, a 1989 batch Indian Police Service officer, on January 29 took over as the city police chief, replacing Surajit Kar Purakayastha.

The EC's move has been welcomed by the opposition while former city police commissioner Tushar Talukdar called Kumar's removal "unprecedented" in the state and "shameful for a police officer".

"Kumar's removal has sent a strong message to all the others in the administration who have been working more like Trinamool activists," said CPI-M's Lok Sabha member Mohammad Salim.
Moscow, April 12 : A Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman has slammed the US for disrespecting international law, which has led to "mistakes" by Washington in the Middle East and adjacent regions.

"The problem is in the absence of the legal basis for actions," Xinhua news agency quoted Maria Zakharova as saying on Monday. She was ommenting on the recent statement of US President Barack Obama, who confessed that his worst mistake during the presidency was a lack of planning for the aftermath of the toppling of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

The US, firstly, violated international law and varnished its actions by information campaigns. A few years later, when the lustre fades and ceases to dazzle the eye, everybody will see the ruins of another state, while Washington calls it a mistake, and labels some other countries as aggressors, Zakharova said.

"Probably failing to plan for the day after what I think was the right thing to do in intervening in Libya," Obama said in an interview with the Fox News TV channel aired on Sunday.

As the Arab Spring revolts spread to Libya, the UN Security Council approved in March 2011 the establishment of a no-fly zone to protect civilians from air attacks.

In the months that followed, the US-led NATO forces started their military campaigns in Libya, providing support to rebel forces.

Zakharova said the US had acted in the same manner in Afghanistan and Iraq as it did in Libya, and added that Moscow was witnessing a similar scheme in Syria.
New Delhi, April 12 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday slammed the government policy allowing private airlines to fly to lucrative destinations without putting them under the obligation of catering to less economical routes like Himachal Pradesh and the northeast.

"If you are giving a private operator (permission) to fly to Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, can't you ask them to fly to Himachal Pradesh, northeastern states, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands," asked the bench of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice R. Banumathi.

Describing as "bluff" the government's position that it has framed the guidelines and was strictly adhering to them, the bench mockingly observed that the economic interest of private operators was being taken care of without any concern for air routes like Himachal Pradesh and the northeastern states.

Describing it as "largesse" to the private airlines without "insisting on corresponding obligations to cater to less lucrative routes", the court said: "We will go into the system."

The court also mentioned a petition by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy questioning the agreement between India and the UAE allegedly permitting Etihad Airways to carry 36,670 more passengers over and above the permitted number of 13,330 passengers per week.

The agreement between India and Abu Dhabi was signed in April 2013 and another agreement between Jet Airways and Etihad was signed in December 2013. Swamy had in 2013 challenged the Jet-Etihad deal and its approval by the government.

As Additional Solicitor General P.S. Patwalia, appearing for Air India, told the court that Shimla was a small airport with all its accompanied difficulties, the court said it was not going to be carried away by all this and it would bring out some more skeletons.

Reminding Patwalia that in the course of the last hearing on March 15, 2016, he had said, "we will do something", the court said: "We thought you will come back and tell us that this group will operate flights" to Shimla airport.

With the court leaving no doubt about its intentions, Patwalia said he has "understood the sentiments of the court" and would convey the same to the right quarters as the court directed the next hearing on April 21.

The court was hearing a petition by national carrier Air India challenging the Himachal Pradesh High Court's December 7, 2015 order asking it to commence flights on a trial basis connecting Shimla and Delhi.

The national carrier had earlier told the court that a flight connecting Shimla with Delhi was not economical as there were 12-15 one-way passengers only.

The apex court had on December 16, 2015, ordered status quo, thereby putting on hold the December 7 high court direction to Air India.
Ghaziabad, April 12 : The post-mortem report of BSP leader Narendra Kashyap's deceased daughter-in-law has indicated that her death occurred due to an ante-mortem bullet injury.

It also listed blackening around eyes and traumatic swelling in the middle of Himani Kashyap's forehead, along with contusions on both palms and haematoma and nose bleeding.

Himani, 29, was found dead in a bathroom of her in-laws' Sanjay Nagar residence here at 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday with a gunshot injury to her head.

Following her death, Bahujan Samaj Party's Rajya Sabha member Narendra Kashyap and five of his family members were booked in a dowry death case.

The post-mortem report said Himanshi sustained a head wound above her right ear, with blackening around the injury.

Her uncle Hari Om Kashyap, on whose police complaint the case was lodged, alleged that Himani was shot dead by the parliamentarian's family.

"Otherwise, why are there contusions on her palms and a hematoma on her forehead. The contusions on her palms occurred as she must have tried to defend herself. Hematoma could have occurred due to a strike by a blunt object on the forehead," he said.

He accused police of laxity in arresting three other accused - Himani's two sisters-in-law Sarita and Shobha and brother-in-law Siddharth.

"Police arrested the three accused on Thursday under the anti-dowry law. Investigation is still on and if we come across evidence against others, we will arrest them," said Superintendent of Police (City) Salman Taj Patil.

A Ghaziabad court on Thursday sent Narendra Kashyap, his wife Devendri Devi and their son Sagar to 14-day judicial custody in the case.
New Delhi, April 12 : Observing that builders dominate consumers and their projects are seldom delivered on time, a Delhi court has asked police to register a case against a real estate company.

Special CBI Judge Anju Bajaj Chandna allowed a revision petition filed by Ghaziabad resident Mithun Aggarwal and directed the station house officer of Connaught Place police station to lodge a case on the basis of the complaint and conduct a probe.

Aggarwal had challenged a magisterial court's November 2014 order dismissing his plea for a case against the real estate company BPTP Limited on charge of cheating and criminal breach of trust under the Indian Penal Code.

In his order, the CBI court said: "It is a matter of common knowledge that builders are dominating the consumers. The projects floated by the builders are seldom delivered on time, despite the fact that interest at higher rate is charged from consumers for delay while minimal interest is payable by the builder for his own delay."

In his plea before the magisterial court, Aggarwal said that he applied for a residential plot measuring 350 square metres in Parklands, Faridabad, following the company's advertisement, and paid Rs.22.38 lakh as plot price.

In May 2008, he said, he was intimated about allotment of an alternate plot measuring 302 square metres without his consent. He said he asked the company to give him an option to select a plot measuring 350 square metres.

Aggarwal filed a complaint before the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission where a settlement was arrived at, according to which a plot measuring 335 square yards was agreed to be given on further payment of Rs.22.23 lakh.

He paid Rs.22.23 lakh but the company failed to perform its part of the obligation, Aggarwal said, adding that when he visited the project site in December 2013, he found there was no plot demarcation or development work.
Kathmandu, April 12 : Nepal's Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli on Tuesday said his country will no longer be a laboratory for other countries to conduct experiments in.

He said social scientists have experimented in the Himalayan country in the name of language, culture, ethnicity, geography, region and identity in the past.

"But we will not let the country (to be used) as a laboratory," he said in his address broadcast across the country on the eve of the Nepali New Year.

He said Nepal wanted friendly relations with all countries.

Oli called on the agitating Madhes-based political parties to seek a solution to their grievances through parleys to end the political impasse, saying that dialogue could resolve all issues.

"What is the (cause of) displeasure in Madhes, I have not reached any conclusion. What is the end result of the killing of 59 people, merciless vandalism and attack on public and private properties and the squeeze on the nation for months."

Oli said the government panel led by Deputy Prime Minister Kamal Thapa should expedite the process of holding parleys with the agitating Madhesi parties and find a solution to their grievances at the earliest.

He said the government cannot afford to dilly-dally on finding the solution to the Madhes crisis.

"The implementation of the new constitution is a key task of my government, apart from reconstruction work," Oli said.

The prime minister said the nearly five-month-long border blockade pushed back Nepal, which was already struggling to recover from the devastating earthquake and its aftershock in 2015. He said he welcomed the end of the blockade.

Oli announced Nepal's commitment to human rights and criticised those critical of the country's government in the international arena on democracy, human rights and social justice issues. "This is unacceptable," he said.

"How can I discriminate in the name of caste, creed, ethnicity and other social evils. I have spent 14 years in jail for the sake of democracy and social justice," he said while appealing to the agitating Madhesi parties to come for talks.

"Democracy cannot be a horse without reins, as there are different dimensions to democracy; anarchy can't be accepted, the Nepalese prime minister said.

(Anil Giri can be contacted at girianil@gmail.com)
New Delhi, April 12 : The Indian Jewish community has reiterated its demand for recognition as a minority community in the country. The community has moved an application with the union minority affairs ministry to this effect, official sources said.

"We have received a request from the Jewish community to be notified as a minority community. We have forwarded their request to the concerned department," an official told IANS.

Currently, there are around 5,000 Jews who are Indian nationals, living in various parts of the country. The majority -- around 4,000 -- live in and around Mumbai.

At present, there are six notified minority communities in India, namely the Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs, Parsis and Jains.

"Jews have been part of the Indian society for 2,300 years now. But post Independence, we have not been recognised as a minority," Rabbi Ezekiel Isaac Malekar, the head of the Jewish community in Delhi, told IANS.

"If we get the official recognition as a minority community, a lot of things would become easier for us. For example, it would become easier for us to register our marriages, which are currently registered under special categories," he said.

"We would also be able to set up our own educational institutes and practise and promote our culture," Malekar said.
Chennai, April 12 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J.Jayalalithaa condoled the death of two people who had attended her rally on Monday and said solatium will be offered to their families.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Jayalalithaa said S.Karunakaran who attended the rally at Virudhachalam in Cuddalore district, around 230 km from here, became unwell suddenly and died while being taken to the hospital.

She said M.Radhakrishnan, while on his way back home after the rally, became unwell and died while being taken to the hospital.

"Since the model code of conduct is in vogue now, the party will provide financial assistance to the family of the dead after the elections," Jayalalithaa said.

In a statement issued here DMK president M.Karunanidhi condemned the ruling AIADMK as well as police for their inaction.

Expressing condolence on the death of the two, Karunanidhi said the people were brought to the rally venue in the morning and were forced to stay put under the hot sun for several hours.

He said police did not allow the people waiting under the sun to leave the venue.
Vidisha (Madhya Pradesh), April 12 : Famed Indian woman biker Veenu Paliwal's death was caused by internal injuries she suffered in the road accident in Madhya Pradesh's Vidisha district. Her post-mortem examination report has revealed, police said on Tuesday.

Paliwal was recently named the Lady of the Harley 2016.

According to police, Paliwal had left from Lucknow for Jaipur along with her friend Dipesh Tanwar. Both were driving their own motorbikes. Her motorbike slipped at a road junction and she fell. She was rushed to hospital to Gyaraspur hospital. After first aid, she was referred to a Vidisha district hospital. After reaching their at late night, the doctors declared her dead.

The accident took place on Monday when Paliwal was on a nationwide trip on her Harley Davidson motorbike.

Paliwal was declared dead as soon as she was transferred to a hospital in Vidisha district late Monday evening, Kotwali police station chief Rajesh Tiwari told IANS. Her autopsy was conducted by a team of four doctors.

Her friend Tanwar said she was speaking to him before being treated at Gyaraspur hospital. Paliwal's condition worsened immediately after being given an injection.

Her body has now been handed over to her family.
New Delhi, April 12 : India and the US are "destined to be strategic partners", US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said on Tuesday as the two countries announced an in-principle agreement on a military logistics deal.

Carter's three-day visit also saw the two sides agreeing on setting up a new Maritime Security Dialogue between officials from the defence and external affairs ministries, with the US emphasising on freedom of navigation in the seas.

"The US-India relation is destined to be one of the fine partnerships of the 21st century," Carter said at a joint press conference with Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar here.

Carter said as the US was reaching west, India was reaching east, and also lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he has a "tremendous vision" for India's future.

The two sides announced agreement for a Logistic Exchange Memorandum of Agreement, a new name for the Logistics Support Agreement that has been under discussion for almost a decade now.

While both Parrikar and Carter said the draft for the agreement will be finalised, Carter clarified that it will not involve the presence of US troops in India.

Parrikar said the growing interaction between armed forces of the two countries is a "significant aspect of bilateral relationship", pointing out that India has more joint exercises with the US than any other country in the world.

"In this context, Secretary Carter and I agreed, in principle, to conclude a Logistic Exchange Memorandum of Agreement in the coming months," Parrikar said.

Parrikar said the draft of the agreement will be ready in a month.

Asked if it will mean the presence of US troops in India, Carter said: "No one is talking about the US troops on Indian soil."

He added that the details of the logistic support will be decided by the two governments.

The bone of contention in the relation that emerged recently with the US decision to supply F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan also came up during Carter's visit, as Parrikar said he raised India's concerns with the US defense secretary.

Carter, however, attempted to allay the fear, and said the jets have been given to Pakistan to "fight terrorism".

"We take terrorism emanating from Pakistan very seriously," Carter said.

"What we do in Pakistan is directed towards counter-terrorism. We too have suffered from terrorism emanating from the territory, more specifically Afghanistan," he said.

"Pakistan has used F-16 in operations in FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas)," Carter added.

In support of the India-US Joint Strategic Vision for the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region and the maritime security objectives therein, both sides agreed to strengthen cooperation in the area of maritime security.

In this context, Carter described India as the "net security provider" in the region.

While the two sides decided to start a new bilateral Maritime Security Dialogue, they also decided to expeditiously conclude a "white shipping" technical arrangement to improve data sharing on commercial shipping traffic.

A navy-to-navy discussions on submarine safety and anti-submarine warfare will also be started.

A joint statement released later said Carter and Parrikar reaffirmed the importance of "safeguarding maritime security and ensuring freedom of navigation and over flight throughout the region, including in the South China Sea".

"They vowed their support for a rules-based order and regional security architecture conducive to peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean, and emphasized their commitment to working together and with other nations to ensure the security and stability that have been beneficial to the Asia-Pacific for decades," the statement said.

The progress on US-India Defense Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) was reviewed, and both sides agreed to initiate two new DTTI pathfinder projects on Digital Helmet Mounted Displays and the Joint Biological Tactical Detection System.

On-going discussions at the Jet Engine Technology Joint Working Group (JETJWG) and the Joint Working Group on Aircraft Carrier Technology Cooperation (JWGACTC) was lauded, and the two sides agreed to work towards greater cooperation in the field of cutting-edge defence technologies, including deepening consultations on aircraft carrier design and operations, and jet engine technology.

They noted the understanding reached to conclude an information exchange annex (IEA) to enhance data and information sharing specific to aircraft carriers.

Carter arrived in India on Sunday, and was hosted by Parrikar in Goa. Carter also visited Indian aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, and the Indian Navy's base at Karwar.

On Tuesday, Carter also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
New Delhi, April 12 : Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday met union Home Minister Rajnath Singh for the first time after assuming office. She also met Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari.

Mehbooba is understood to have discussed the controversy over the National Institute of Technology (NIT) - Srinagar, following the stand-off between Kashmiri and non-Kashmiri students and the police action on the institute campus.

After meeting Rajnath Singh, which she described as a "courtesy call", Mehbooba dismissed the possibility of shifting the NIT out of the Kashmir Valley as was being demanded by some students.

"Let me make it clear that it is an issue within the institute, and please do not give it a colour of local versus outsiders. The human resource development ministry is looking into the grievances of the outstation students, and I am hopeful that it will be resolved soon," the chief minister told reporters as she came out of the North Block office.

According to ruling Peoples Democratic Party sources, Mehbooba, on her first visit to New Delhi since she was sworn-in, discussed various state government proposals now under the consideration of the home ministry. These included continuation of modernisation of the police force scheme, revised ex gratia scheme including for loss of livestock in cross-border firing, and exemption of security-related expenditure on account of deployment charges.

Mehboba also proposed opening of additional routes and crossing points across the Line of Control.

These were Kargil-Skardu, Jammu-Sialkote, Turtuk-Khapulu, Chhamb Jorian-Mirpur, Gurez-Astoor-Gilgit, Titwal-Chilhas, Jhangar (Nowshera)-Mirpur and Kotli.

Expressing concern over rising crimes against women, Mehbooba sought support from the home minister for financial assistance in raising two all-women battalions for executive policing.

She also advocated adopting non-lethal means and better crowd control to prevent loss of human lives while dealing with law-and-order situations in the Kashmir Valley.

The chief minister also urged Rajnath Singh to take an early decision on the state government's proposal to recognise Nepal route as one of the routes under the policy framed for militants returning to mainstream, peaceful life.

On the return of Kashmir Pandits, the chief minister said not only the state government but the people of Jammu and Kashmir want the Kashmiri Pandit community to return to the valley with dignity and honour as the cultural milieu of Kashmir without them remains incomplete.

The home minister assured Mehbooba of full support from the Centre, sources said.

Duing her meeting with Gadkari, Mehbooba sought higher allocation under the Central Road Fund for the state and assured full support for land acquisition for construction of ring roads in the two cities of Jammu and Srinagar.
New Delhi, April 12 : A case of dengue has been reported from Okhla area of the national capital, an official said on Tuesday.

"A child aged between 5-6 years from Ekhan locality of Okhla was diagnosed with dengue and is being treated at AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences)," South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) spokesperson Mukesh Yadav told IANS.

Yadav said the SDMC has taken measures to create awareness about the mosquito-borne disease that claimed 60 lives in the city last year, as per data from the health ministry.

In 2015, as many as 15,867 cases of dengue were reported in the national capital.
New Delhi, April 12 : Can an affidavit by the Reserve Bank of India cast doubt on the nature of its Governor Raghuram Rajan? The question was raised in the Supreme Court on Tuesday during a hearing on the issue whether the names of defaulters could be made public.

Addressing the issue, counsel Prashant Bhushan told the court that after the apex court's December 15, 2015, verdict holding that the RBI was to guard public interest and no information sought on defaulters under the Right to Information Act could be denied, the RBI has asked the banks not to furnish such information to it.

Expressing surprise over the direction by the apex bank, Bhushan said: "He (Rajan) is a good man. I am surprised that such kind of affidavit are filed under his watch."

"That doesn't make him a bad man," Chief Justice T.S. Thakur said coming to the rescue of the central bank chief and thus checking Bhushan from saying anything further.
New Delhi, April 12 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the central government to give information about the drought situation in 12 states with details relating to affected states, districts, taluks and villages as the government opposed the plea for appointment of a court commissioner to apprise it of the situation.

A bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice N.V.Ramana sought the details from the central government as Additional Solicitor General P.S. Narasimha said that it was for the states to decide whether a drought-like situation prevails in a state or not.

The 12 states that are hit by drought are Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, and Haryana.

Putting the onus on the states to take a call whether a drought like situation prevailed or not, Narasimha said: "What are the factors based on which a situation can be declared as drought, it is in the domain of the state government and would be left to it.

"If in a situation the facts are so glaring (pointing to drought), then of course the court will exercise its judicial powers" and declare the drought, he said.

Turning the tables on Narasimha, the court asked: "If facts are so startling then the court can declare drought, then what is the role of the centre."

"It is between the states and the court and centre has no role (if a state is affected with drought and is not declaring so)," observed Justice Ramana.

In response, Narasimha said: "It is for the state to decide. We (centre) send advisory. If state says no, it is no so (drought like situation), then we have to defer to it."

But the court asked if the central government had given an advisory to Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat.

"We are not saying that the centre is all powerful. After assessing the situation and giving the advisory, what else you have done, given any financial assistance," it asked, as Narasimha sought to project the legalistic argument that it was for the states to decide and the central government had only a limited role of issuing an advisory.

Against the backdrop of Gujarat earlier saying that it would not implement the National Food Security Act, the court asked Narasimha that when parliament enacts a law and the president gives his assent, can a state say that it will not implement it.

At this, the standing counsel of Gujarat Hemantika Wahi told the court that the central government had extended the date and the state was delayed two months of the extended date in implementing the act.

Asking Narasimha where the central government had said so in its affidavit, the court asked: "Under what provision of law they (centre) can do this (extend the date of implementation)."

The court is hearing a PIL by NGO Swaraj Abhiyan seeking direction on the implementation of the welfare schemes in the 12 states and that relief under various welfare schemes including disbursal of dal, edible oil, egg and milk should be made available to all without making any distinction of below poverty line, above poverty line and others.

The next hearing of the matter is on April 19.
Paris, April 13 : World No. 8 David Ferrer announced on Twitter his withdrawal from the Monte Carlo Masters due to a calf injury on Tuesday, a day prior to his opening match against Germany's Alexander Zverev in the second round.

The Spaniard added that he would keep everyone informed about his potential return to the ATP Tour, Xinhua reported.

Lucky loser Marcel Granollers will replace Ferrer in the main draw.

Ferrer, a finalist in the Principality tournament in 2011 against Rafael Nadal, has also reached the semifinals here twice, respectively in 2010 and 2014.

His best result so far this season has been reaching the semifinals of the Auckland Open and the Argentina Open, where he lost respectively to American Jack Sock and to countryman Nicolas Almagro.

Ferrer also reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open before being ousted by Andy Murray, and the Rio Open where he lost to Pablo Cuevas.

He suffered an opening round defeat in Doha, where he was the defending champion to Illya Marchenko, and made a second-round exit in Acapulco, where he was the defending champion again.

His bad run of form extended to Indian Wells and Miami as well, where he failed to reach the second week and lost to Frenchman Lucas Pouille in the third round.
Global real estate transaction volumes fell in the first quarter of this year in line with weaker market sentiment, according to the latest capital market research.

However pockets of growth were registered in some regions with expectations for 2016 activity to stay broadly in line with 2015, says the report from JLL.

Based on JLLs preliminary data on global capital flows, real estate investment volumes in the first quarter of 2016 dropped 17% year on year to US$128 billion. This compares with US$154 billion registered in the first three months of last year, which was the strongest start to a year in this current six year cycle.

The heightened level of volatility and risk aversion that we experienced in the first four to five weeks of 2016 have combined with what is always the quietest quarter of the year to make the results for quarter one of 2016 look quite weak, said JLLs global capital markets research director, David Green-Morgan.

Nonetheless, recovery has been particularly quick, equity markets are back to early January levels and credit spreads have narrowed again. Capital remains unspent and more is likely to be deployed as we move through the year, leading us to believe that 2016 activity will be broadly in line with 2015 at around US$700 billion, he added.

A regional breakdown shows volumes in the Americas are 16% lower than a year ago at US$61 billion. The US mirrored the wider regional decline with a 16% fall but the Canadian market bucked the trend slightly with a more moderate 3% decline. The Latin American markets suffered most with falls of 81% in Brazil and 57% in Mexico.

European volumes are 20 percent lower in US dollar terms at US$46 billion with France and the UK recording the biggest falls of the major markets with 30% and 37% declines respectively. Germany performed slightly better with a 7% drop while, elsewhere, there were gains in the Nordics, Benelux, and CEE.

Asia Pacific volumes were 16% lower at US$21 billion with activity reasonably divergent across the region. Australia and Hong Kong came in higher than a year ago while South Korean activity also bounced back from the first quarter of 2015. Both China and Japan registered a decline and most emerging markets were all lower than the first quarter of 2015.
Rather than signing up for and searching dozens of websites, like many investors are doing now, they can come to one place, create a profile and begin searching for real estate investments immediately.

CrowdSeekr.com officially launched on January 14, 2016 and investors interested in diversifying into real estate should pay attention.

CrowdSeekr.com is seeking to become the industry standard search engine by indexing hundreds of real estate investment opportunities from around the country.

The investments listed on CrowdSeekr are real estate crowdfunding investments. Real estate crowdfunding is a method for acquiring or financing real estate by connecting sponsors or developers with online investors who each invest a relatively small amount in exchange for a percent of ownership. Investors typically earn a return by sharing in appreciation and operating income of the property.

Over $1 billion was raised through real estate crowdfunding in 2014; the market was projected to reach $2.5 billion in 2015, and is expected to continue growing rapidly. Although investment dollars have flooded into this growing market, tools for searching for and discovering deals are struggling to keep up.

The problem for investors is that, due to the proliferation of crowdfunding websites, they must now spend valuable time registering for and searching through numerous websites to find what they want.

That is where the problem arose for Tim Strange, president of Newmark Grubb Levy Strange Beffort Commercial Real Estate in Oklahoma City.

What I found out was there is not a good system in place for searching across multiple websites to find a deal that best suits an investors needs. I had this experience when I was raising equity last year and thats what led me to conceive of CrowdSeekr, Strange said in a recent interview.

Strange approached family friend Ashley Smith, an e-commerce attorney, and CrowdSeekr.com was born. Smith is now Chief Executive Officer and Strange is Vice President of Real Estate and subject matter expert. Marylee Strange rounds out the team as Chief Technology Officer, bringing over thirty years of experience in IT consulting and project management.

Smith, Strange and Strange have worked with a leading web development team to build CrowdSeekr.com. They recently secured proof of business concept funding from i2E, an Oklahoma nonprofit that provides support to startups. The team has also participated in an i2E-sponsored program to mentor student interns from an honors entrepreneurship class taught by Dean Daniel Pullin at the University of Oklahoma Michael F. Price College of Business.

Seven of the top real estate crowdfunding websites have already agreed to share their data with CrowdSeekr; the site launched with one of the industrys largest databases of crowdfunded real estate deals. Investors will now be able to search for deals filtered by return on investment, location, property type and other customizable search criteria.

Rather than signing up for and searching dozens of websites, like many investors are doing now, they can come to one place, create a profile and begin searching for real estate investments immediately, Smith said. For busy investors, this means a more streamlined and user-friendly real estate crowdfunding experience.

Noted real estate attorney and syndication expert Gene Trowbridge, CCIM has taken notice. CrowdSeekr is a great idea and Im happy to tell my clients when theyre looking for a crowdfunding platform to use, check and see if that platform is linked up to CrowdSeekr, he said.

For more information on how you can work with CrowdSeekr.com, contact the team at info(at)CrowdSeekr.com or Ashley Smith, CEO at 1.800.439.3857.
Infolinx System Solutions

Infolinx, a leading provider of enterprise physical records management software, is pleased to announce that they will be exhibiting at ARMA Houstons Spring Conference to be held April 19-20, at the Norris Conference Center in Houston, TX.

The day offers programs on a broad range of topics designed to help organizations delve into areas of records management and information governance. In addition to keynote speaker, Robert Smallwood, Managing Director, Institute of information Governance (IG), a variety of other presenters will provide fresh perspective and inspiring stories focused on the power to change our future.

Veteran exhibitor Infolinx will be highlighting their flagship solution Infolinx WEB. Available on the cloud or as an on-premises solution, Infolinx WEB now supports multiple languages as well.

For more information about ARMA Houston Spring Conference and to register, click here.

About Infolinx

Infolinx provides DoD5015.02 certified physical records management solutions on-premises or via the cloud. Departmental to enterprise solution functionality includes integrations with Microsoft SharePoint, Laserfiche RM, ONeils oneilBridge, Iron Mountains Connect, and an industry-leading feature set including advanced retention schedule and disposition management with integrated legal holds and citation reference, space management with billing component, robust searching, online requesting and transferring, permanent audit history, robust reporting, e-mail workflow notifications, and integrated RFID technology. Infolinx Systems Demo.
Bibliomotion is thrilled to announce the launch of EVERYDATA: The Misinformation Hidden in the Little Data You Consume Every Day by John H. Johnson, PhD and Mike Gluck (April 12, 2016).

The Global Information Industry Center reports that the average American  whether through emails, newspapers, weather forecasts, or fitness trackers  consumes roughly 34 gigabytes of data each and every day.

And while we know that a gigabyte is a unit of information equal to one billion letters or numbers, its hard to imagine how much data that actually is  let alone how our minds can absorb and interpret it. Whether its at work or home, this constant stream of data affects the decisions we make in every aspect of our lives.

Yet all too often, we make these decisions without fully considering the data that drives them. In their new book, EVERYDATA: The Misinformation Hidden in the Little Data You Consume Every Day (Bibliomotion, Inc.; Hardcover; April 12, 2016) John H. Johnson, PhD, leading economist and statistician, and co-author Mike Gluck teach readers to become effective, discerning consumers by explaining how to correctly interpret all the small bytes of data you encounter throughout the day (the everydata.)

Drawing on examples of misinterpreted data from the realms of health, parenting, business, politics, retail, and more, the authors show how easy it is to be misled by statistics, for example:



Nine out of 10 people throw out food thats OK to eat because they misinterpret expiration dates

Auto manufacturers misrepresent data so you can keep driving even when your gas tank is empty

Millions of pregnant women avoid caffeine because they interpret correlation as causation

One-third of parents mistakenly believe that vaccines cause autism

The Electoral College system responsible for red states and blue states masks significant variations in the data

Each chapter presents a key data concept  from sampling and correlation vs. causation to cherry picking and forecasting  which builds upon the next. The result is an accessible primer on how to become an educated and critical consumer of data, one that entertains as it informs. You dont need to perform sophisticated statistical analyses or spend days wading through studies and white papers in order to be smart about data. By recognizing the most common traps, asking good questions, and maintaining a healthy sense of skepticism, you will be well on your way to making better, more informed decisions.

Armed with practical guidance, readers of EVERYDATA will come away with the concrete tools they need to decide what to believe, what to question, and what to ignore.

HOW TO BE A SOUND CONSUMER OF DATA

Recognize data when you see and hear it. A newspaper article is data. A radio story is data. An email newsletter from a vendor is data. Your kids report card is data. Next weeks sales forecast is data. A map is data. Wherever you live, whatever you do, youre likely surrounded by data each and every day.

Get your facts right. All too often, poor decisions or data issues are simply the result of a mistake. Perhaps theres a wrong formula in a spreadsheet, or a misplaced decimal point in a key value. How else would 17,000 British men be recorded as pregnant if not for a coding error? One of the very first steps you should take is to verify that the data youre seeing is, in fact, accurate.

Understand where the data is coming from, and who is presenting it. In some cases, the person or organization may have an agenda, which means they may tailor the data (or cherry pick it, if you will) to fit their message. After all, you dont typically hear of a coal company pushing for more solar energy. Even in cases where there is no obvious agenda, the data you consume typically comes from somewhere, is collected somehow and is distributed by someone - all factors that can influence what ultimately ends up in front of you.

Watch out for the common data traps. Theres a good chance you can open your favorite paper (or go to their website) and find a story that implies causation, when the only proven relationship in the data is a correlation. What are some other issues youre fairly likely to encounter on a regular basis, in our experience? Small sample sizes, findings that arent statistically significant (or are statistically significant but have a very small effect), averages used deceptively, and misleading visuals - including infographics.

Leverage the tools in this book to make better decisions. Ultimately, people will never stop abusing data, intentionally or not. What you can do though is spend an extra minute thinking critically about what was just presented to you. In time, this will become second-nature. How much higher will your companys sales be next quarter? Is the newest study about cancer-causing foods something you should worry about? What is the right price to pay for that summer home? Take the questions that will have the biggest impact on your life and see how you can use the tools in this book to answer them.

ABOUT JOHN H. JOHNSON, PhD

John H. Johnson, PhD is President and CEO of Edgeworth Economics, and a professional economist, expert witness, author, and speaker. In 2009, Dr. Johnson left his role as Vice President of a globally-recognized consultancy to pursue the endeavor that would become Edgeworth Economics, a start-up that reimagined and innovated half-century old industry standards. In these few short years, Edgeworth has grown from six to 80 staff across the US and become one of the worlds premier economic consulting firms. Dr. Johnson is known internationally for his ability to explain highly sophisticated concepts in a simple, straightforward manner and brings this skill to his consulting, writing, and speaking.

At Edgeworth, Dr. Johnson provides consulting and expert testimony for Fortune 100 clients, trade groups, and government agencies. In his litigation work, he guides companies and outside counsel on the appropriate use and interpretation of complex data sets, and has served as expert witness in some of todays most high-stakes corporate lawsuits.

On the business analytics side, Dr. Johnson helps companies translate their complex internal data sets into strategic, actionable information across a variety of business settings including human resources, finance, marketing, manufacturing, and business intelligence.

Both aspects share the need to understandand properly applylarge, complex sets of data. He applies this same skill to his writing and speaking, where he helps audiences avoid the most common pitfalls people make when confronted with data, so they can become more confident and discerning consumers of data and make better decisions in their professional and personal lives.

Dr. Johnson is a frequent presenter on economic topics and the use of data, and has also authored numerous papers across his areas of expertise.

Dr. Johnson received a PhD in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his BA in Economics with Highest Distinction from the University of Rochester. He lives with his wife and two children in McLean, Virginia.

ABOUT MIKE GLUCK

Mike Gluck is an award-winning writer and marketer who has written for leading organizations nationwide. He has led the creation of multi-million dollar advertising campaigns, and has worked on behalf of Time Warner Cable, Fisher-Price, the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Riverside Health System, among others. As President of Gluckworks  a copywriting and marketing firm in Buffalo, NY  Mikes expertise is making complex topics easy to understand. He graduated from Johns Hopkins University.

AN INTERVIEW WITH JOHN H. JOHNSON, PhD AND MIKE GLUCK

Q: What is Everydata?

A: Every day we encounter massive amounts of information from our smartphones, computers, radio, and television. Over the last four years the amount of information in the entire world has doubled. There are estimates that suggest a single person consumes dozens of pickup trucks worth of data on a daily basis. Yet, we as individuals have very little training and experience in interpreting this information that we consume. Our book is about how you can be a better consumer of this Everydata that you see in your daily life.

Q: It seems as though Big Data has been at the forefront of data analysis and decision making for the past decade or so. What would you say are the main differences between Big Data and Small Data, and how we use them?

A: Big data is a ubiquitous term that refers to giant data sets that often comprise information on consumer behavior and prices and are processed on computers or large servers by data analysts and scientists. When we talk about little data, we are actually talking about the data that you, myself, and everyone else see every day: the grades on your childrens report cards; the number of steps on your smart watch; your morning email containing ten newsletters; the articles in the newspaper; and more. Big data has a very important role in our lives in terms of the way that things are analyzed and thought about, but for you, the average consumer of information, the little data is that which is confronting you and upon which you are making decisions without even realizing it.

Q: How does Everydata have an impact on our daily lives?

A: I picked up the newspaper and saw a story that said if a person drives more than 45 minutes to work, then they are more likely to get divorced. I was watching the news last night that covered how Hillary Clinton lost the Michigan primary even though she was allegedly up twenty points in a poll. I see a new study in the newspaper this morning that says if I drink more coffee then I am less likely to get cancer. All of this information confronts us every day. You dont have to have a specialized expertise in statistics or data to be able to ask the hard questions that will allow you to understand how to make sense of these data points and put them in their appropriate context.

Q: In the business sector, what do you think is the biggest mistake that managers and/or employees make when interpreting data?

A: The single biggest mistake that I see is when managers or businesspeople interpret anecdotal experiences as if those experiences represent the totality of the information that they need. As humans, were conditioned to find patterns, to look for information, to try to process things, to make sense of them, and to make connections. We do this in ways that sometimes exist and sometimes do not. To do this of course, the first place you turn to is your own experiences. Let me give you a simple example: if I go to Starbucks on Monday morning to get a coffee and have the best day I have ever had, does that mean that if I go to get coffee on Tuesday morning at the same Starbucks then I am going to have the same great day? Of course not. And yet every day, were confronted as managers and business people, with anecdotal experiences similar to this from which we try to extrapolate and turn into major decisions without looking into the totality of the information available to us.

Q: What are some specific data traps that people should be on the lookout for?

A: One of the biggest data traps that I find people fall into is confusing correlation with causation. We find a lot of statistical patterns in the world that are meaningless. For example, the sale of ice cream is highly correlated with crime over the course of a year. Those two things really have nothing to do with each other, but a statistical relationshipcorrelationexists. Correlations we see in our everyday lives are interpreted by many as causal, but the reality is that they are unrelated. Lets say that every Monday, my dog barks at 8:00 in the morning and at 8:01 the garbage truck comes. Does that mean my dog barking at 8:00 caused the garbage truck to come? No! Clearly, the dog heard the garbage truck before I did and started barking. While an obvious example, one can imagine how easily this can happen when looking at data that isn't as tangible. Thats the kind of thing we do all the time when we look at the newspaper and we see stories. Does grilled cheese improve your sex life? Do longer commutes lead to a higher probability of divorce? If I am a high school athlete, will I earn more money over the course of my lifetime? Fundamentally, these are all questions that were being presented as if theyre causal, but in fact most of what we see are simply correlations.

Q: Whats the first step to consuming data better?

A: Be aware of all the sources of data and information around you. And closely related, use your intuition to ask questions.

Q: Whats next for you both?

A: I wrote the book Everydata because I saw a need to help people better understand this volume of information. I dont think the volume of data and information in our life is going to get smaller. Rather, it is only going to get larger. I really think there is a void here where I can help people understand the information around them, use it more effectively, and come to better decisions. Just as I continue to do in my professional consulting with my clients, I want to be able to continue educate consumers about data, be able to share some of the great stories about data and get people to be better consumers.

PRAISE FOR EVERYDATA

"This book educates readers on how to navigate the increasingly dense information environment [Johnson and Gluck] hit key points on the importance of information literacy today."  Publishers Weekly

"This book will make you smarter, faster. Please read it before making decisions or forming opinions of any kind."  Seth Godin, author of Linchpin

"In todays data-saturated world, knowing how to use and interpret data is a true strategic advantage. In EVERYDATA John and Mike walk us through how we should and shouldnt use data to make decisions in our lives. They do it simply, clearly, and with unexpected humor! I cant imagine a more relevant read."  Paul Walsh, VP of Weather Analytics and Meteorologist, The Weather Company

With fun and verve, John and Mike take us through the essential steps to becoming a sophisticated consumer of the data that surrounds us. Dont be fooled by the cheerful tone and the lack of grandiose claims: if they succeed in educating us (and I am sure they will), the result will be more discerning consumers, better stewards of their own health, and, most importantly, a better democracy.  Esther Duflo, professor of Economics, MIT, and co-founder and co-director, J-PAL

Access to data is a critical driver of knowledge, curiosity, and innovation. But we need to understand how to interpret the data to tap into the wealth of possibility it creates. John and Mike are helping to spread that wealth by teaching us how, in everyday language, to confront the deluge of data we receive every day. An invaluable read!  Bradley Horowitz, VP, Photos and Streams at Google

The authors of EVERYDATA have masterfully distilled an applied statistics textbook into a best of, highlighting the most relevant and valuable parts we all need to navigate today's world of big data. I cannot recommend this book enough.  Joshua D. Wright, professor of Law and Economics, George Mason University and former commissioner, Federal Trade Commission

ABOUT BIBLIOMOTION

Bibliomotion is a book publishing house designed for the new publishing landscape. While many publishers work to retrofit old processes for new realities, Bibliomotion was founded by book-industry veterans who believe the best approach is a fresh one  one that focuses on empowering authors and serving readers above all else. Moving away from the top-down model that has dominated the publishing process for years, we give each member of the team  including the author  a seat at the table from the very beginning and in doing so, work side-by-side to launch and sell the best content possible, making it available in a variety of forms.
BootsOn Scholarship, for more information visit www.bootcampaign.org/KU

Boot Campaign, Serket Racing, and Kaplan University have joined forces on a new Boots On Scholarship Program designed to help current or surviving spouses and dependent children of U.S. military service members and veterans reach their higher education goals.

The Boots On Scholarship Program will offer up to 150 partial scholarships and three full scholarships to attend Kaplan University (KU). Applications are now being accepted through September 16, 2016. Information on how to apply for the Boots On Scholarship Program is available online at: http://www.bootcampaign.org/KU.

All too often, the sacrifices our military families make on behalf of our country are overlooked, says U.S. Marine veteran Mark Llano, owner/driver of Serket Racing and board member of Boot Campaign. The Boots On scholarships will provide greater access to a flexible, high quality college education to those who love and support our service members.

Llanos Florida-based team, Serket Racing, is dedicated to raising awareness and directing support for veterans and their families with every race and every win.

Charged with a like mission, Boot Campaign is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan military charity that promotes patriotism, raises awareness of military issues, and provides vital assistance for our nations current and former military heroes and their families.

Spouses of service members are faced with heavy challenges every day, especially when their spouse is deployed into combat, and all too often their own personal and professional goals are unfortunately put on hold or abandoned, explains Boot Campaign CEO Robyn Payne. Boot Campaign is committed to helping our military families, and is grateful to team with Kaplan University and Serket Racing to help spouses and their children keep on track and thrive in their desires to pursue a college degree.

Kaplan University is proud that more than 26 percent of our students are active military, veterans or military spouses, adds KU Vice President Pat Milligan, who oversees Kaplans military scholarship programs. Military spouses also represent one of the most successful groups of students at KU with respect to academic performance so we are thrilled to be able to unite with Boot Campaign and Serket Racing to build on that success.

About Serket Racing:

Serket Racing (serketracing.com) is a race team based in Wellington, Florida, that competes in the IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama. Started by former Marine, Mark Llano and Randy Webb, the Serket Racing team competes with the goal of raising awareness and support for those who have honorably served and sacrificed for their country: military veterans and their families. To learn more about Serket Racing and their mission, please visit http://www.serketracing.com. You can also join the Serket Racing community on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @SerketRacing.

About Boot Campaign

Established in 2009, Boot Campaign is a national 501(c)(3) charitable organization dedicated to promoting patriotism for America and our military community; raising awareness of the unique challenges service members face during and post-service; and providing assistance to military personnel, past and present, and their families. Retail sales of combat boots, apparel, and mission-focused merchandise, general public donations, and corporate sponsorships fund programs that support military families. Learn more at http://bootcampaign.org and join the #BootsOn community on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram@Bootcampaign.

About Kaplan University

Kaplan University offers a different school of thought for higher education. It strives to help adult students unlock their talent by providing a practical, student-centered education that prepares them for careers in some of the fastest-growing industries. The University, which has its main campus in Davenport, Iowa, and its headquarters in Chicago, is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission. Kaplan University serves approximately 40,000 online and campus-based students. The University has 14 campuses in Iowa, Indiana, Nebraska, Maryland, Maine, Missouri and Wisconsin, and a Kaplan University Learning Center in Maryland.

Kaplan University is part of Kaplan Higher Education LLC and Kaplan, Inc., which serves over 1.2 million students globally each year through its array of higher education, test preparation, professional education, English-language training, university preparation, and K-12 offerings to individuals, institutions, and businesses. Kaplan has operations in over 30 countries, employs more than 19,000 full- and part-time professionals, and maintains relationships and partnerships with more than 1,000 school districts, colleges, and universities, and over 2,600 corporations and businesses. Kaplan is a subsidiary of Graham Holdings Company (NYSE: GHC) and its largest division. For more information, please visit http://www.Kaplan.com.
The SeniorAdvisor.com Best of Awards characterizes the top-ranking in-home care, assisted living, and other senior living providers. This award recognizes the top one percent of providers and, more importantly, the winners are chosen by the consumers themselves. Chosen according to reviews written by seniors and their families, winners of the Best of Awards are the renowned 1,000 out of nearly 100,000 providers across the United States and Canada.

A long-time leader in senior housing, Ridgeline Management is making a big splash in the senior care community. With more than twenty facilities in nine states, the company has come a long way from their humble beginnings in West Linn, Oregon.

Ridgeline Management offers all of the standard senior care services. These include assisted living, independent living, and memory care. What makes these services stand out from the pack is Ridgeline Management's commitment to value. They strive to make all of their communities positive and vibrant places to live.

Indeed, Ridgeline Management is dedicated to keeping seniors as independent as possible for as long as possible, even when its more difficult to do so. Joy and wellness are the focus of each day and every member of its staff is committed to this mission.

A unique experience is offered at these senior care facilities. Its not the same old routine everyday. Its not getting told what to do. Integrity and honesty are built into the experience so the seniors are still in control of their lives.

Few senior care providers combine excellent medical care with as much freedom as Ridgeline Management. The company has one of the highest resident and family satisfaction rates of any in the states they currently operate.

Ridgeline Management has maintained an outstanding online reputation for several years, and regularly receives highly positive reviews from their families like the ones below from its winning community in Hobart, Indiana:

"The staff at Brentwood at Hobart were very friendly and took care of dad and made him as comfortable as possible during his stay. The security on the memory care floor was awesome and safety wasn't an issue." - Family member of a resident

Families are increasingly looking to online reviews to find out who truly delivers great care for our seniors, not just who claims to deliver great care, said Eric Seifert, President of SeniorAdvisor.com. Our SeniorAdvisor.com Awards program is all about celebrating the exceptional people who do just that. Were honored to spread the word about these organizations whom families can entrust with the care of their senior loved ones.

To qualify for inclusion in the Best of 2016 Awards, providers must have maintained an average overall rating of at least 4.5 stars while receiving three or more new reviews in 2015. Additional details and a complete list of award winners can be found on SeniorAdvisor.com. To see the full list of award winners, please visit https://www.senioradvisor.com/awards/best-assisted-living

About SeniorAdvisor.com LLC

SeniorAdvisor.com is the largest consumer ratings and reviews site for senior living communities and home care providers across the United States and Canada. The innovative website provides easy access to the information families need when making a senior care decision, and features trusted reviews and advice from local residents and their loved ones. For more information, please visit http://www.SeniorAdvisor.com or call (866) 592-8119.
Providing EAP services for employees can save employers significant amounts through increased productivity and savings on training costs by reducing employee turnover, said Maggie Young, Southwest EAP President

A study recently released by Chestnut Global Partners Division of Commercial Science showed significant improvements across several measures of workplace productivity among employees accessing employee assistance programs (EAPs). Chestnuts Division of Commercial Science conducted the study in collaboration with The Workplace Collaborative, a trade group of 14 regional EAP providers founded in 1994.

The study surveyed 1,788 employees on 5 measures of work performance and overall satisfaction: absenteeism, presenteeism (being at work but distracted by personal issues), work engagement, work distress (dread or negative feelings about being in the workplace), and life satisfaction. Study participants were surveyed at intake, when accessing EAP services, and then again in a follow-up 90 days later. Among study participants, absenteeism was reduced by 37%, presenteeism fell by 22%, workplace distress was reduced by 12%, work engagement increased by 7%, and overall life satisfaction increased by 21%. The lengthy interval between use of EAP services and follow-up suggests that the use of local EAP services produces long-term benefits for both employees and employers.

Southwest EAP of Little Rock, one of 9 Workplace Collaborative member organizations who participated in the study, significantly outperformed the overall results on all measures.

Maggie Young, President of Southwest EAP, said Southwest EAPs performance in the study shows that were attuned to the needs of both businesses and employees in our area. The difference in effectiveness between a local EAP provider like us and a national, one-size-fits-all provider offering mainly 800-number service shows up pretty starkly. Young said that annual costs to American businesses in lost productivity due to issues in employees personal or work lives affecting workplace performance are estimated to top $500 billion. Providing EAP services for employees can save employers significant amounts through increased productivity and savings on training costs by reducing employee turnover, she said, while also improving employee health and well-being and creating a happier workplace.

Southwest EAP has provided employee assistance programs to Arkansas companies since 1978. The company also offers training and organizational development, management consultation, and risk management services to its clients. For more information about Southwest EAP, visit their website at http://www.southwesteap.com.
The American Nurses Association (ANA) has recommended Ending Nurse-to-Nurse Hostility: Why Nurses Eat Their Young and Each other, by Kathleen Bartholomew, RN, MN, in its official position statement on Incivility, Bullying, and Workplace Violence as a resource for nurses. Now in its second edition, the cornerstone work has just been released as an eBook and offers 4 continuing education credits (CEU).

In 2015, the ANA issued a press release announcing its updated position statement on workplace bullying and violence, stating that the nursing profession will no longer tolerate violence of any kind from any source. Among the interventions recommended as primary prevention is the HCPro classic work by Kathleen Bartholomew, Ending Nurse-to-Nurse Hostility, Second Edition.

"I am honored that my second edition of Ending Nurse-to-Nurse Hostility is included in the ANA's position statement on incivility and bullying as a recommendation for nurses, says Kathleen Bartholomew. It means a lot to have the endorsement of my profession after a decade of work dedicated to raising awareness about the impact that our relationships have on both patients and nurses. Studying this topic and listening to nurses stories from all over the country has really shone a light on the incredible work that nurses do - especially their ability to create and hold the space for our patients to heal."

HCPro is honored to have published Kathleens work and congratulate her for this wonderful recognition of a lifetime commitment to making the nursing workplace a healthier, more collegial place.

About HCPro

HCPro, a division of BLR, is the leading provider of information, educational, and advisory products, services, and solutions in the vital areas of compliance, regulation, and management to the U.S. healthcare industry. The company helps the healthcare industry make better decisions about regulation, compliance, and management through authoritative analysis, trusted interpretation, and best-in-class education and training. HCPro provides practical strategies and solutions that serve customers' organizations, their patients, and their communities. The company's market-leading brands include HCPro and HealthLeaders Media. Additional information can be found at http://www.hcpro.com.
As the role of energy storage in the UKs energy infrastructure develops, the role of wider network control infrastructure will also have to develop to accommodate it.

Government Drivers for Energy Storage

The project is funded by the South Korean government and overseen by the Korea Battery Industry Association (KBIA). Innovation in energy storage is also a big driver for the UK, with the UK government recently allocating a 50m budget to encourage innovation in energy storage, demand-side response, and other smart technologies.

The role of Active Network Management in Energy Storage

LOTTE Chemical is currently working on testing a small-scale flow battery at the Power Network Demonstration Centre (PNDC), based in the UK. Smarter Grid Solutions will work with LOTTE Chemical to demonstrate the use of a flow battery within an Active Network Management (ANM) scheme. Energy storage is not a new concept to Smarter Grid Solutions. The companys ANM technology is used to manage and control different energy storage technologies, such as Lead Acid grid scale storage, Lithium Ion grid scale storage, and grid-to-gas electrolysers.

In the coming months, Smarter Grid Solutions will be involved in a live system trial at another test site in Scotland to manage local generation and the flow battery, with the goal of reducing generator curtailment and assessing the potential for other ancillary services.

Euan Davidson, Head of Power Systems at Smarter Grid Solutions said From our perspective, this is an exciting and timely development. As the role of energy storage in the UKs energy infrastructure develops, the role of wider network control infrastructure will also have to develop to accommodate it. This is one of the areas that Active Network Management and the use of our technology moves beyond generator curtailment. We look forward to our partnership with LOTTE Chemical and the results the energy storage project will deliver.

Next year, the consortium plans to deploy a larger flow battery as part of a community energy project in Scotland.

About LOTTE Chemical

Established in 1976, LOTTE Chemical has been solidifying its position by localizing cutting-edge petrochemical technologies and concentrating its efforts on the steady development of technologies. LOTTE Chemicals Yeosu, Daesan, and Ulsan plants boast of the largest scale of domestic and international operations and the companys products are distributed to 152 countries around the world. With the acquisition of Pakistans PTA in 2009, Artenius in the UK in 2010 and Titan chemical corp.in the Malaysia and Indonesia, LOTTE Chemical is now able to efficiently supply excellent products to an increasing number of countries. LOTTE Chemical also signed a deal to acquire the chemical business division of Samsung in 2015. The company is further accelerating its efforts to strengthen its global competitiveness by establishing overseas branches in Hong Kong, Russia, and USA, along with the sales corporation in China for active sales activities both in domestic and abroadAs Asias top chemical company, LOTTE Chemical will become a global chemical company that genuinely cares for the improvement in the quality of humanity and a balance with the environment.

About Smarter Grid Solutions

Smarter Grid Solutions delivers products and consultancy services that enable Distributed Network Operators (DNOs) and developers to integrate Distributed Energy Resources (DER). The company provides world-leading Active Network Management products, planning tools and a range of consultancy services, and is the only provider to uniquely combine real-time, autonomous and deterministic control into its Active Network Management solutions. Its products are transforming the utilisation and resilience of the grid, and managing connected customers at greatly reduced cost, without compromising safety and security. It supports customers worldwide from its offices in Glasgow, London and New York.
Matthieu is doing some really exciting things with his aerospace and automotive clients and we could not be happier that Cockpit is helping him achieve this.

Cognition Corporation (http://www.cognition.us), provider of software and services for medical device compliance and commercialization, and SEIntelligence (http://www.seintelligence.fr), distributors of high value PLM solutions in Europe, announced today a reseller partnership agreement. The partnership will provide industrial manufacturing companies in Europe with a high valued solution to their PLM needs.

President Matthieu Aubron founded SEIntelligence in 2013. Prior to SEI, Mr. Aubron had many years of experience in complex industrial environments and high stress operational safety. He wanted to offer industrial customers in Europe a solution to their PLM problems. He found the Cockpit Platform to be the best solution for these needs.

We are excited to partner with Cognition, said Matthieu Aubron. We have been working with Cognition Cockpit for more than three years, implementing System Engineering workshops on our customer projects. During our complex systems development, we have challenged Cockpit in managing all our development data (design, requirements, tests, project management, etc.) and Cockpit has always succeeded in an elegant manner. We have become more and more convinced by its approach and capabilities.

Cognition is very excited to welcome SEIntelligence into the Cockpit family, said David Cronin , CEO of Cognition Corporation. Matthieu is doing some really exciting things with his aerospace and automotive clients and we could not be happier that Cockpit is helping him achieve this. We are just getting started, but we strongly believe this partnership will bring success to a wider range of clients than would have been possible without it.

The distribution agreement will took effect on April 1, 2016, with immediate benefits to resellers and customers.

About Cognition Corporation

Cognition Corporation, headquartered in Lexington, Massachusetts, has been offering solutions for medical device compliance and commercialization for more than ten years. Cognitions Cockpit Platform provides the framework for an extensive set of compliance templates they offer. These templates along with professional services give companies a jump-start to reduce time to market.

About SEIntelligence

SEIntelligence is a European company headquartered in France, operating in France, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. SEIntelligence is a distributor of smart solutions for industry, specifically focused on the management of complex industrial systems. They provide consulting services to accompany their customers not only in the implementation of their solutions but also in implementing the industry state of the art. They have a deep understanding and expertise on how to develop the right system the first time.

Press Contact SEIntelligence

Matthieu Aubron, President

aubronm(at)seintelligence(dot)fr

http://www.seintelligence.fr/

+33 6 37 99 11 57
The ease of Singapore company registration is one of the many reasons why many local and global startups set up shop in the city-state.

The entrepreneurial revolution is taking over every corner of world with a spike in startup activity from the United States to Europe to Africa and Asia. In its recently published article titled A Look into Regional and Global Startup Industry Trends, Richmond Corporate Advisory Pte. Ltd. (http://www.rbcrca.com.sg), a leading Singapore company incorporation service provider, explores the current trends that startups are adopting.

The analysis focuses on the predictions for global and regional industries as well as the outlook for Singapores startup ecosystem. The company registration specialist says: Entrepreneurs can look forward to a lot of adapting and innovating. Keeping up with these changes is instrumental for startups to engineer their next steps, develop new strategies and remain competitive.

On a global scale, the wearable technology industry will see a significant growth as consumers embrace wearable devices. This year, eMarketer predicts that wearable technology usage will increase sixty percent.

With more individuals integrating technology in their household, information breach can be a cause for concern. More consumers will need privacy protection services.

Other technology trends for startups worldwide based on CIOs predictions include voice-based OSes and Internet of Things (IoT) devices, counterterrorism technologies, cyber security services, financial technology, digital health, digital manufacturing, autonomous cars, and space exploration.

Asian startups forging ahead

The markets in Asia are growing faster than the rest of the world and the startup ecosystem in the region continues to flourish. Tech in Asia estimated that startups in Southeast Asia received US$1.61 billion in funding from various angel investors and venture capitalists in 2015. This was a 43% spike from the total startup funding in 2014.

E-commerce has shifted the selling and purchasing behavior of consumers all over the world. In the midst of global e-commerce businesses, local startups in Asia are also thriving including Taobao in China, Flipkart in India, Rakuten in Japan, and Lazada operating in Southeast Asia.

Analysts foresee e-commerce startups offering both improved and new features to its consumers including price comparison, cash-back sites, coupon sites and affiliate marketing solutions. A more efficient and in-house delivery fleet for e-commerce giants in the region is also foreseen to ease industry-wide capacity issues and capture the anticipated record-breaking transaction volume.

Vibrant Singapore startup scene

When asked about the state of Singapore ecosystem, Richmond commented The ease of Singapore company registration is one of the many reasons why many local and global startups set up shop in the city-state. The startup scene in Singapore ranked 10th in Compass 2015 Global Startup Ecosystem Ranking report.

Read the full report on global, regional and Singapore startup trends here: http://www.rbcrca.com.sg/corporate-management/global-and-regional-startup-trends

About Richmond Corporate Advisory Pte. Ltd.:

Richmond Corporate Advisory Pte. Ltd. specializes in providing expert Singapore company registration and support services including accounting, secretarial, bookkeeping, and taxation services to entrepreneurs and corporate entities looking to establish a business presence in Singapore. Visit our corporate website to learn more.
Dr. Matthew Tomaino

i2i Systems, an early innovator and pioneer of population health management (PHM) technology, will host orthopedic surgeon Dr. Matthew Tomaino as the keynote speaker for its annual user conference, to be held May 19-20 in Las Vegas Nevada.

Tomaino, a practicing orthopedic surgeon for 22 years, will detail his journey from rejecting to embracing the concept of collaborative, team-based care for his patients. Individual expertise and technology provide a platform for successful outcomes in healthcare, but they cant produce exceptional care in the absence of a high performing team, says Tomaino. Team care focuses on leveraging the patient relationship as the focus of our collective efforts.

Tomainos philosophy supports i2i Systems own perspective on the real value of population health solutions to improve patient care. Dr. Tomaino knows that collaborative care, where patient and provider incentives are truly aligned and care teams are working as a synchronized team cant happen without the right PHM platform delivering insights into practice workflow, says Justin Neece, chief operations officer for i2i Systems.  We are grateful to have Matt join us along with several hundred industry veterans to drive PHM forward.

This years user conference, Transforming Outcomes, centers around the fact that data has become the new currency in healthcare. And, properly managed, data delivers actionable insights that make the difference in providers streamlining and improving care, empowering patient engagement, and building collaborative relationships with payers.

For more details on the conference, click here.

About Matthew Tomaino

Matthew M. Tomaino, MD, MBA founded Tomaino Orthopaedic Care for Shoulder, Hand and Elbow LLC in Rochester, New York in July 2008. His practice is dedicated to surgical and nonsurgical care of the Shoulder, Hand and Elbow.

He was Professor of Orthopaedics at the University of Rochester Medical Center until June 2008, and Chief of the Division of Hand, Shoulder and Elbow Surgery and Director of the Hand and Upper Extremity Fellowship until April 2007. From January 1994 until September 2002, he was a member of the faculty in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Chief of Microsurgery. He received his MD degree from the University of Rochester Medical School, and his MBA from the Katz Graduate School of Business. He is an active member of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand, the American Orthopaedic Association, and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Dr. Tomaino has contributed more than 100 journal articles and 50 book chapters, and is a member of the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery, and the American Journal of Orthopaedics. He is certified as a Team Stepps Master Instructor.

About i2i Systems

A KLAS Leader in the delivery of actionable population health, i2i Systems integrated Population Health Management and Analytics solutions have proudly served healthcare organizations for more than 15 years. The company offers a depth of experience gained from over 2,500 U.S. healthcare delivery sites across 35 states supporting 20 million lives. With i2i, healthcare providers optimize the clinical, financial and operational success of physician group practices, community health centers, health center controlled networks, hospitals, health plans and integrated delivery networks. i2is flagship product, i2iTracks, is 2014 PCMH NCQA pre-validated to ignite real-time, proactive care management. i2i Systems big-data platform, PopIQ, delivers a cloud-based comparative analytics toolset to leverage multiple customers data sets and provide cross-population views into global population health management.

To learn more, visit http://www.i2isys.com.

Contact:

Amanda Cecconi

615-473-7536

amandac(at)i2isys(dot)com
Rheumatology Associates, already the largest rheumatology specialty practice in the U.S., today announced that Dr. Padmapriya Sivaraman joined the practice, increasing the number of physicians in the practice to 15, and office locations to 8.

Dr. Sivaraman is a board-certified rheumatologist and internist and an active member of American College of Rheumatology. She earned her undergraduate degree at Kasturba Medical College. She completed both her residency and rheumatology fellowship at Case Western Reserve University, where she received the Peter Morgan Award in recognition of outstanding performance. Upon completion of her fellowship, she held a position on the rheumatology faculty at Case Western University. During her tenure there, she was invited to give lectures and received an outstanding clinical teaching award during her first year.

Dr. Sivaraman strives to provide excellent patient care through a patient centered approach of listening, teaching, dedication and compassion. I am pleased to join Rheumatology Associates and open an office in North Richland Hills. Our patients come from all over the metroplex, and this offers a convenient location for those who live in northern Tarrant County. Dr. Sivaraman and her family recently moved to Texas from Cleveland, Ohio.

Rheumatology Associates was founded in 1975 by Roy Fleischmann, M.D. Our group provides care to patients throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex with convenient locations in Dallas, Arlington, Duncanville, Grapevine, Irving, Plano, Lewisville and now North Richland Hills. We treat all varieties of rheumatic disease such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, osteoarthritis, gout, ankylosing spondylitis, osteoporosis, sarcoidosis, scleroderma, reactive arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis, to name just a few. We are proud to offer in-house diagnostic services including; full service x-ray, bone densitometry, and a CLIA certified laboratory for hematology, chemistry and immunology.

About Rheumatology Associates

Rheumatology Associates was founded in 1975 and is now one of the largest single specialty rheumatology groups in the United States. Our physicians have extensive experience in clinical practice, clinical research and basic science research. Our group provides care to patients throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex with convenient locations in Arlington, Dallas, Duncanville, Grapevine, Irving, Lewisville, Plano and North Richland Hills. For more information, visit http://www.arthdocs.com.
Atlanta Lawyer, Elizabeth (Betsey) Neely recognized for helping small business reduce legal costs "The costs of legal services in metro areas often exceed $400 per hour. Quite often that money could be put to better use."

Legal, expert speaker, Betsey Neely received national recognition as an Elite Speaker from FreeSpeakerBureau.com. The Atlanta, GA Lawyer was acknowledged for helping families and small business lower legal costs through free presentations to association groups and nonprofits.

"The costs of legal services in metro areas often exceed $400 per hour. Quite often that money could be put to better use." says the Atlanta, GA lawyer.

Neely uses her legal expertise to share expert advice about how to lower legal costs, prevent law suits and work with a lawyer - should you need one. Neely offers pro bono legal advice as a legal expert speaker to associations, club, nonprofit, and small business meetings and conferences.

In recognition for her willingness to provide her expert legal advice and her proven commitment to excellence in public speaking, Betsey has earned "Legal Expert Speaker" status with FreeSpeakerBureau.com, a professional website platform which matches expert speakers with audiences using a proprietary matching process thats similar to the technology used by Internet dating websites.

The LAST place you want to resolve a conflict is in a court of law, is Neelys unique message. She refers to her services to individuals and small businesses as Pre-Legal, which means Neely gives counsel before a lawyer is hired to determine if some other type of professional help would be better. If legal counsel is absolutely necessary, she teaches individuals and business owners how to hire and manage a lawyer for the best results and at the most affordable costs.

Neely has been a pioneer in the Atlanta legal community in many areas of law during her career. As counsel to the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia she developed a statewide conflict resolution program that became the model for universities around the world. Now, the Atlanta, GA lawyer is on a mission to use her expertise to help individuals and small business owners resolve conflicts and stay out of legal trouble.

Betsey has been named a "Champion of Justice" by the Georgia Legal Services Program, a statewide program for low income clients which she was involved in founding. She is a "Distinguished Professor" of Forensic Psychology at Argosy University, and is honored both as a "pre-eminent lawyer" and a "pre-eminent woman lawyer" by Martindale Hubbell, a directory whose ratings represent the opinions of judges and peers within the legal profession.

To receive her latest recognition as Legal Expert Elite Speaker from FreeSpeakerBureau.com, Neely completed a rigorous training program and earned endorsement by demonstrating a high level of expertise throughout a comprehensive vetting and verification process. The Atlanta, GA lawyer joined FreeSpeakerBureau as a legal expert in October 2015.

Unlike a typical speakers bureau, the FreeSpeakerBureau.com website encourages meeting planners to contact expert speakers directly because no money is being exchanged and no commissions are involved. Ethics guidelines for members discourage speakers from giving a hard sell for their services or premiums. Thousands of meeting planners and expert speakers throughout the U.S., Canada, and the UK have joined and are using the website to connect every day for free.

Not just a database of public speaker profiles, FreeSpeakerBureau.com is an interactive platform where organizations can post Guest Speaker Wanted listings up to a year in advance, which will then be automatically matched with expert speakers using PerfectMatch technology. Alternatively, organizations can proactively connect with local experts and browse through online portfolios which include detailed speaker profiles, their signature speaking topics, ratings, reviews, and video samples.
US based Talisen Technologies Inc. debuted its newest venture, Talisen International LLC, at the Dubai "Iotx" (Internet of Things) expo last week. Leveraging a number of recent US energy management successes, the company is now expanding into the Middle East to license their Enterprise Sustainability Platform (ESP) into the region.

Talisen created an energy management and analytics suite designed to drive savings in energy, operations and maintenance. ESP is built on its legacy technology to support clients with mission critical, enterprise IT infrastructure that are seeking ways to reduce energy costs. With this platform, you can access, collect, normalize and analyze data from a variety of equipment, software and applications. The ability to converge data from various repositories into a single master data warehouse provides a new level of insight and transparency into the operations and process across the enterprise. Talisens enterprise management solutions are deployed across governmental, aerospace and healthcare markets and ESP is used as the benchmark for energy management for large portfolios.

The Managing Director for Talisen International LLC is Mr. Mohan Menon, who will be leading the entity to leverage ESPs technology to gain efficiencies in energy, operations and maintenance.

Mr. Menon stated from Dubai last week, Talisens ESP will enable large-scale customers to keep their operating costs in balance by providing an efficient solution that saves energy and avoids costs.

As part of this expansion, the CEO of Talisen Technologies, Inc., Mr. George Brill, attended last week's IoTx, which is billed as the largest technology show of the year in Dubai. Talisen International exhibited at the conference which drew over 50,000 visitors. Some of the worlds largest technology leaders attended the conference offering an opportunity for Talisen International to promote a proven energy sustainability platform that can enable business growth with an enterprise cost savings solution in energy, operations and maintenance.

Talisen Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Talisen is a recognized global leader of enterprise solutions for organizations with sophisticated networks, applications and security requirements. To learn more about Talisen International, please visit our website at http://www.talisenintl.com/ or contact us at contact(at)talisentech(dot)com.

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Our preventative maintenance service plan, which we call the 'Comfort Club,' includes many services, which will help ensure you will always enjoy a system optimized to keep you comfortable.

Routine maintenance can help extend the life of a heating and air conditioning system. Fulton County and Cobb County heating and air company Assured Comfort has always believed that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. An Assured Comfort maintenance agreement is one of the best ways to keep an HVAC system up-and-running at peak efficiency.

Our preventative maintenance service plan, which we call the Comfort Club, includes many services, which will help ensure you will always enjoy a system optimized to keep you comfortable, says Jerry Hall, owner of Assured Comfort Heating, Air & Plumbing. Just as your automobile needs regular maintenance to keep it running smoothly and reliably, your HVAC unit needs regular system checks too.

The benefits of enrolling in the Comfort Club are extensive and include an annual cleaning and inspection of the heating and AC systems, discounted rates on repairs and diagnostic checks, priority scheduling, no overtime charges, and once-a-year carbon monoxide safety checks.

By being part of our maintenance plan, youll have a trusted, dependable service company ready to take great care of your homes heating and air conditioning equipment, Hall says. Youll be getting the preventive maintenance which can extend the life of your comfort system and save you money on utility costs. Youll also maintain manufacturer warranties that require annual maintenance.

For Atlanta-area homeowners and business owners who have been considering enrolling in an HVAC maintenance plan, right now may be an ideal time to do it. Through April 30, they can sign up for the Comfort Club at a special rate: Pay for a two-year maintenance plan and get the third year free. So, for someone with two systems, rather than pay the regular maintenance agreement rate of $229 per year, the cost would be averaged out to $152.67 each year, which is a significant savings.

To sign up for the Comfort Club maintenance plan or to learn more about it, please visit https://www.assuredcomfort.com/comfort-club/ or call Assured Comfort at (770) 872-4168.

Enter Assured Comforts sweepstakes to win a Georgia State Parks gift package!

The Comfort Club sign-up promotion isnt the only thing happening at Assured Comfort this month. The company has also launched a sweepstakes promotion to win four season passes to all Georgia State Parks and a one-night stay for up to eight people in the cabins at Red Top Mountain State Park in Cartersville, Georgia (approximately a $400 value).

No purchase is necessary to enter the sweepstakes. To enter, log into your Facebook account and like Assured Comforts page. Then fill out the online entry form at http://assuredcomfort.com/giveaway/. Entries must be submitted by April 30, 2016. The winner will be selected at random, on or about May 4, 2016. Dont miss out on the chance to win this Georgia State Parks gift package!

About Assured Comfort Heating, Air, Plumbing:

Founded in 2002 by Jerry Hall, Assured Comfort Heating, Air, Plumbing is a family-owned HVAC and plumbing company serving homeowners and businesses in Douglas County, Cobb County and the entire metro Atlanta area. Their professional team is dedicated to providing customers with high quality heating, cooling, plumbing and indoor air quality services. They also specialize in energy efficiency, providing home energy audits guaranteed to lower energy costs. On call for 24/7 fast repairs, they promise their customers You callwere thereits fixedyoure happy! For more information about Assured Comfort, visit http://assuredcomfort.com/ or call 770-872-4168.
Trunnell Electric (http://www.trunnellelectric.com), provider of top-quality commercial and residential electrical contracting services, is celebrating 80 years of meeting the electrical and lighting needs of communities and businesses in Maryland, Northern Virginia and the District of Columbia.

Since 1936, three generations of Trunnell family members have provided the leadership and technical expertise that keep Trunnell Electric at the top of the regions major preferred contractor lists and reviews. Serving commercial and residential customers, Trunnells seasoned technical staff provides superior electrical design, repair, installation and construction services including wiring, lighting and energy-efficient renovations.

The firm is well known for its fast-track expertise in the commercial arena, as evidenced by its recent advanced lighting and electrical renovation installation at the historic National Bohemian Brewery in Baltimore. For commercial building clients, Trunnell has the experience to advise and install energy saving technologies, such as LED lighting and sensor controls. Trunnells commercial building customers trust the companys ability to stay current with these new trends that are creating compelling savings on their operating costs.

The entrepreneurial DNA from the Trunnell Electric founders still runs strong in the second and third generation of Trunnells. When the company has your name on it, you look at things differently when it comes to pushing forward and persevering through tough times, said second-generation co-owner Jack Trunnell.

Adds third-generation V.P. of Commercial Services Brad Trunnell, The past 80 years of our business provide strong bedrock for the next 80 years. While we look to the past for our core values, we look ahead to future trends in electrical contracting. For example, our experience in the D.C. metro area with the installation of electric vehicle charging stations tells us that new development of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries for residential use will eventually reach price points that make them viable replacements for traditional gas-powered residential generators. Couple that with the development of emerging solar cell technology, and consumers will see real value in future energy efficiency alternatives. 

Trunnell plans to commemorate the start of its 9th decade with an open house celebration in May to coincide with National Electrical Safety Month. In addition, the company will continue its commitment to the community through its longstanding partnership with Rebuilding Together Montgomery County to help low-income homeowners make their space livable and safe through free electrical repairs and energy efficiency upgrades.

About Trunnell Electric

Since 1936, Trunnell Electric has set a high bar for quality services and customer satisfaction for residential and commercial customers in Maryland, Northern Virginia and the District of Columbia. Family owned and operated, the firm is led by three 2nd generation family members and one from the 3rd generation. The Trunnell Electric team of highly skilled and trusted technicians handles the full range of advanced electrical repair, installation and construction needs. Green energy-saving technologies are a company specialty. For more information, visit http://www.trunnellelectric.com.
Were pleased to have so many worthy nominations for the Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce Business Awards, said Linda Hearn, Chamber Manager.

During the month of May, the Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce celebrates area businesses, each year.

New for 2016, the Chamber announces its first Night of Laughter in conjunction with the Business Awards to be held on Thursday, May 19. Hosted by comic Matt Mitchell, also known as the "Casio Kid" on the Rick & Bubba Show, this event will honor 21 businesses and organizations in Calhoun County.

"Were pleased to have so many worthy nominations for the Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce Business Awards", said Linda Hearn, Chamber Manager.

The 2016 Nominees are:

Emerging Small Business of the Year



Calhoun Pickers

DayBreak Media

Lackey Inc.

Washin Coin Laundry

Sustaining Small Business of the Year



Anniston Water Works & Sewer Board

Climate Flow, LLC

Harris McKay Insurance

Insurance Planning Services

Mizzell Heating & Air Conditioning

Pediatrics Plus, PC

The Surgery Center

Valens Point, LLC

Young Entrepreneur of the Year

David Roberts- Crimson Flame Ministries

Donny Dunn- Dunns Heating & Cooling, LLC

Niky Vanhatten- Envy Salon

Jean & Steven Ellison- The Music Box

Leah Sparks- Southern Girl Coffee

Non-Profit of the Year



Community Actors Studio Theatre, Inc.

Georgia-Alabama Land Trust, Inc.

United Way of East Central Alabama

YMCA of Calhoun County

The nominees will be announced and recognized at the Chambers May 17th Business After Hours at Jacksonville State University, beginning at 5:30 P.M.

On May 19th, the doors of the Anniston City Meeting Center will open at 5:00 P.M., and dinner will begin at 5:30 P.M., with the program beginning and winners announced at 6:30 P.M. The cost is $25 per person, to attend. Visit http://www.CalhounChamber.com or call 256-237-3536 to purchase tickets before its sold out!

The Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce mission is to promote and sustain the economic growth of the Calhoun County Region, resulting in a community that is a dynamic place to work, visit and live.
I hope this book will display how people who are disabled are capable of the same achievements as everyone else

Writing has been said to have a positive impact on physical well- being. University of Texas at Austin psychologist and researcher, James Pennebaker, believes that writing about stressful events helps you come to terms with them, thus reducing the impact these stressors have on your physical health.

Author Greg Grant found this to be true when he began writing poetry in 2003 to cope with his mental illness. In his new book, Lets Fly, Grant has written poetry through the eyes of a man with Cerebral Palsy. Lets Fly is made up of 58 eclectic poems covering a wide variety of subjects such as parties, mental illness, age, acceptance and prayer.

I hope this book will display how people who are disabled are capable of the same achievements as everyone else, said Grant. I want to inspire others who are living with a mental illness to hold nothing back when chasing their dreams.

Through Lets Fly, Grant intends to spread acceptance of people with mental disabilities and show how they grapple the same feelings and concerns as those without a mental disability. As readers sift through the various poems they are likely to feel a kinship towards Grant as his poems describe topics everyone can relate to.

Lets Fly is intended for readers of all ages. Grants poetry offers valuable morals for young readers, while reminding adults of truths they may have forgotten.

Lets Fly

By: Greg Grant

ISBN: 978-1-5035-0632-9

Available in softcover, hardcover, e-book

Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Xlibris

About the author

Greg Grant began writing poetry in 2003 to cope with is mild Cerebral Palsy. Grant enjoys writing about good friends, life, love and happiness. Grant is passionate about inspiring others who live with a mental illness to hold nothing back when chasing their dreams. Grant lives in Melbourne, Australia.

# # #

For review copies or interview requests, contact:

Megan Hardesty

317.602.7137

mhardesty(at)bohlsengroup(at)com
When boomers in the Triangle area pick up this issue of Seniors Guide, theyll find articles that are relevant to them, not just their parents

The Seniors Guide is an invaluable resource for seniors in the communities it serves. However, the magazines staff recognized that their target audience was as much seniors boomer generation children or caregivers as the seniors themselves.

Ross Publishing, which publishes the Seniors Guide, also produces BOOMER Magazine in the Greater Richmond area, so the magazine decided to leverage the writers for its sister publication to create boomer-targeted content for Senior Guide. The result is a new 16-page section called the Boomers & Caregivers Corner debuting in the April-July issue of the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, NC) edition. This section includes content that is informative and supportive for caregivers as well as entertaining.

When boomers in the Triangle area pick up this issue of Seniors Guide, theyll find articles that are relevant to them, not just their parents, says Katherine Ross, vice president of Seniors Guide magazine. That includes relevance for their caregiving responsibilities as well for themselves personally.

This more diverse content will also appeal to advertisers trying to reach boomers in the regions where the magazines are published. According to Ross, We are trying to serve both the senior community and the businesses that are there to support them.

Seniors Guide, a Richmond, Va. -based company, publishes Seniors Guide magazines throughout Cincinnati, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio; Dayton, Ohio; Indianapolis, Indiana; Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; Richmond, Virginia; and Roanoke-Lynchburg, Virginia and features a correlating website of SeniorsGuideOnline.com. Seniors Guides mission is to help seniors and their families find the information they need on options available in senior housing, senior care, assisted living, independent senior living, retirement communities and other retirement living needs. Seniors Guide also has resources at http://www.HomeCareChoice.com for Cincinnati, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio; Dayton, Ohio; Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; and Richmond, VA. Ross Publishing, Seniors Guides parent company, began in 1991 and has been publishing helpful, free publications and websites ever since. In addition to the many Seniors Guide titles, the team at Ross Publishing is behind lifestyle magazine BOOMER and real estate publication Apartment Navigator.
Billion-dollar breakaway advisor teams have the scale to start their own RIA without aligning with the national platforms out there.

PFI Advisors (Pure Financial Independence) today announced the release of its first industry report on a pressing industry issue: The lack of economically viable options for billion dollar breakaway teams who are looking to transition to independence. The report. Pursuing the RIA Dream: New Transition Models for Billion-Dollar Breakaway Teams documents the challenge facing these advisors to breakaway and establish their own RIA firms.

Breaking away from the traditional wirehouse model and establishing their own RIA firm is becoming an ever-attractive model to better serve clients and achieve greater profitability for large wirehouse advisor teams, yet this movement is being slowed due to a lack of economically viable options for transition services.

Billion-dollar breakaway advisor teams have the scale to start their own RIA without aligning with the national platforms out there, said Matt Sonnen, CEO and founder of PFI Advisors and author of the report. They dont need to give up valuable equity or pay steep basis points just to get started. We have found a better way providing transition services through a consulting model.

According to the report, The current independent wealth management aggregator and plug and play platforms provide a valuable service, however, the economics of these models break down when applied to billion-dollar firms. These models provide transition services  real estate, office setup, technology, branding, websites  however the aggregators take a percentage of firm ownership and platform providers charge expensive, ongoing basis points on AUM. These upfront costs and contract requirements to pay for services that billion-dollar RIAs can readily acquire on their own become extremely expensive over time.

As an example, the report compares the aggregator and platform provider costs for a $2 billion breakaway team with $10 million in operating earnings and finds that the aggregator buying 50% equity charges $5 million per year in perpetuity, while the platform provider charging 5 basis points on AUM charges $1 million per year with a minimum 2 year contract.

What these breakaway advisor teams need is help upfront in order to transition their businesses, said Sonnen. Once they have done that, their natural economies of scale take over and they can command the business services, technology and investment platform support they need simply, easily and on a much more profitable and sustainable basis.

We wanted to go independent on our own, so we could own 100% of our bottom line and have the flexibility to invest back into the business, says Ajay Gupta, CEO and founder of Gupta Wealth Management, one of the more high profile billion-dollar breakaway advisors to eschew the national platforms.

The report concludes by identifying a consulting model as a winning solution. According to the report, Ultimately, what billion-dollar breakaways need in order to make the transition to their own RIA is to build a business footprint for their new firm as well as the RIA infrastructure to become operational. By tapping into the deep expertise and knowledge of industry transition consultants, breakaway teams can pursue their RIA dreams with confidence.

Our goal with this research is to facilitate the continued growth of the independent movement so that clients will be better served and advisors will be in a better position to control their own destiny, Sonnen said.

To read the full report, log onto http://www.pfiadvisors.com.

# # #

About PFI Advisors

Pure Financial Independence.

Today, wirehouse advisors looking to establish their own RIA are looking for guidance and support that won't require them to mortgage their future. PFI Advisors was founded in 2015 to service that unmet need. PFI Advisors provides office infrastructure, RIA infrastructure, and transition services for a simple consulting fee. There is no complicated long-term AUM fee structure or equity stake required to build the firms future and provide advisors Pure Financial Independence.

About Matt Sonnen

Prior to founding PFI Advisors, Matt Sonnen learned the ins and outs of the wirehouse model at Merrill Lynch in the late '90s. After leaving Merrill in 2005, he was introduced to the RIA marketplace a few years later when he helped build the infrastructure for Luminous Capital prior to their founding in 2008. As COO and CCO at Luminous, he navigated the technology and compliance challenges as the firm grew from $1.7 billion in assets to nearly $6 billion in less than five years. Luminous Capital sold to First Republic Bank for more than $100 million in 2012, after which Matt headed to Focus Financial Partners in New York City. There, he helped breakaway teams and recently-formed RIAs develop strategic initiatives to benefit from best practices, streamline operations, and improve efficiency before heading back to California to launch PFI Advisors with his wife and business partner.
Jeff Brodsly, CEO of Chosen Payments We are very grateful to our amazing clients and partners who have helped us achieve this prestigious award said Chosen Payments CEO, Jeff Brodsly.

Membership in the President's Club is an elite honor and a sign of Chosen Payments commitment to a philosophy it refers to as White Glove Service Delivery. This award is bestowed upon the top ranked payment processing companies in the nation. This is the fourth year in a row the Chosen Payments has received the award symbolizing excellence and growth in 2015.

The Presidents Club is the First Datas highest sales distinction, reserved for its top producing clients. We are very grateful to our amazing clients and partners who have helped us achieve this prestigious award said Chosen Payments CEO, Jeff Brodsly. Brodsly founded the company in 2008 after working for many years in the credit card processing business as a sales agent. Brodsly stated that he started Chosen Payments with merchants in mind and had a vision of providing more than just credit card processing services. The company motto is, Your Partner in Success and to that end the company has entrenched itself through financial donations and support of vertical industries including ground transportation, jewelry, uniform rental companies, optometrist offices, car dealerships and retail outlets.

Chosen Payments has provided financial support and assistance to many state and national industry associations to the direct benefit of their respective members. Brodsly serves on the board of many of the associations lending his business expertise to the mostly volunteer run organizations showing his commitment to the clients served.

The companys partnership approach includes providing personalized customer service through the use of dedicated client relationship managers and cost effective solutions. The company provides services such as credit card processing, check processing, gift/loyalty programs, ATMs, merchant cash advance and mobile applications. For more information about Chosen Payments, visit their website at chosenpayments.com.
Dairyland Auto and Dairyland Cycle, members of the Sentry Insurance group of companies, today announced a $100,000 contribution to the Step Up For Students Scholarship Program.

This is the first time Dairyland Auto and Dairyland Cycle has partnered with Step Up For Students which is funded by corporations with tax-credited donations. Dairylands contribution will fund about 17 K-12 scholarships, so financially disadvantaged Florida children can attend the school that best meets their learning needs.

Choosing the right school for your children is important, and were thrilled to have a part in providing this opportunity for Florida families that otherwise wouldnt have it, said Pete Anhalt, senior vice president of Dairyland Insurance. We are proud that our support of Step Up For Students is positively shaping the lives of children through education.

Step Up For Students helps administers the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program, which allows recipients to choose between a scholarship that helps with private school tuition and fees, or one that assists with transportation costs to out-of-county public schools.

We are grateful for the generosity and support of Dairyland Auto and Dairyland Cycle, said Doug Tuthill, president of Step Up For Students. Thanks to our donors, more Florida schoolchildren will have access to the learning environment that best suits their individual needs.

During the 2015-16 school year, Step Up For Students is serving nearly 78,000 low-income students attending more than 1,500 participating schools throughout Florida. Scholarships are valued up to $5,667 for the 2015-16 school year.

About Step Up For Students

Step Up For Students is a nonprofit organization that helps manage the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program. Students who qualify for free- or reduced-price lunch, or those who are homeless or in foster or out-of-home care may qualify. Since 2001, Step Up has awarded nearly 480,000 scholarships.

Step Up also helps administer state-funded Gardiner Scholarship, formerly known as Personal Learning Scholarship Accounts (PLSA), for Florida students with certain special needs. With the Gardiner Scholarship, recipients may use the funds for a variety of approved services including private tutoring, occupational therapy, instructional materials and other services.

For more information, visit: http://www.StepUpForStudents.org.

About Dairyland Auto and Dairyland Cycle

Dairyland Cycle and Dairyland Auto property and casualty coverages are underwritten by a member of the Sentry Insurance Group, Stevens Point, WI. For a complete listing of companies, visit sentry.com. In Texas, coverages are underwritten by Dairyland County Mutual Insurance Company of Texas, Austin, TX. In California, coverages are underwritten by Viking Insurance Company of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, WI. Policies, coverages, benefits and discounts are not available in all states. Savings based upon all available discounts. See your policy for complete coverage details.

For more information, visit: http://www.dairylandinsurance.com.
Still shots from the Braun Industries' rollover crash test set to debut at FDIC 2016. We want to lead the way in ambulance safety and design, and one of the ways we can do that is by ensuring our emergency vehicles meet and exceed current safety standards.

Braun Industries, Inc. is gearing up to attend FDIC International 2016. Being held in Indianapolis, IN, April 18-23, 2016, the custom ambulance manufacturer will have units on display in Booth #3665. More importantly, Braun is planning to debut footage from an ambulance crash test completed earlier this year. As the Fire/EMS industrys first ambulance rollover test, the video shows the incredible force exerted on an emergency vehicle and the effect on the module from a side-impact accident. Featuring a Braun ambulance that is over ten years old, it is also a testament to the safety and quality of Braun Industries unique SolidBody Construction.

This is something weve been working on for quite a while, says Braun Industries, Inc. President, Kim Braun. We are eager to show it first at FDIC 2016; having the opportunity to view the crash test footage with our dealer representatives and customers in person together at our largest trade show is something were very excited about. We have always been a company committed to safety and quality, but the strategic investment to conduct the industrys first rollover crash test is helping us take it to the next level with tangible proof. We want to lead the way in ambulance safety and design, and one of the ways we can do that is by ensuring our emergency vehicles meet and exceed current safety standards. Developing repeatable crash test scenarios in a controlled environment takes a lot of time and moneyand its not an investment our competition has been willing to make yet. We felt this was a critical initiative to undertake sooner than later, and were looking forward to sharing the results at FDIC 2016 first.

According to data collected between 1992 and 2011 through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administrative and U.S. Department of Transportation, there is an estimated average of 4,500 vehicle traffic crashes involving an ambulance each year. Of those accidents, 34% result in injuries and an average 33 people are killed. Recognizing the need for improved standards, new guidelines have been introduced in recent years for ambulance safety and design. Braun Industries, Inc. has focused their crash testing on meeting and exceeding the standards set forth by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). The rollover test that will debut at FDIC 2016 most closely compares to the proposed SAE J3057 body integrity test.

SAE J3057 outlines proposed procedures for conducting quasi-static structural integrity testing of the patient compartment for ground-based ambulance applications. Developed by members of the SAE Truck Crashworthiness Committee, it applies science to the design and testing of the patient compartment structure for a standardized, data-based approach to ambulance safety. This particular test focuses on the modular body and roll impact loading, or in simpler terms, how well the box holds up in the event of a rollover.

The crash test footage will be shown first at FDIC 2016, giving show attendees an exclusive look at how the Braun ambulance module holds up in an accident rollover. Condensed into a short 2-minute film, the video will be presented on a continuous loop in Booth #3665. Four large HD monitors and a sound bar will be mounted 15 feet high in the center of Brauns booth for optimal viewing on all sides. Representatives from Braun Industries direct and their national dealer network will be at the show to speak with visitors about crash test details and answer any additional questions about the safety and construction of Brauns ambulance models. FDIC 2016 exhibit hall hours are: Thursday, April 21 - 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm, Friday, April 22 - 10:00 am - 5:00 pm, and Saturday, April 23 - 9:00 am - 2:00 pm.

For those not able to make it to FDIC 2016, Braun Industries, Inc. plans to release the rollover crash test footage publicly in May 2016. However, those signed up to receive emails from Braun will get the next sneak peek scheduled for April 29, 2016. Those interested in learning more are encouraged to visit http://www.BraunAmbulances.com and subscribe to the email list. After April 29, 2016, the video will also be posted on http://www.BraunStrong.com, along with more information about Brauns ambulance crash test program. The company plans to release additional crash test footage in Summer 2016 as more tests are conducted.

# # #

If you'd like more information about the industrys first rollover crash test or Braun Industries, Inc., please call Chad at 419-232-7054 or email ChadB(at)BraunAmbulances(dot)com

About Braun Industries:

Braun Industries, Inc. is a leading emergency vehicle manufacturer that has been designing and building custom ambulances that are "Built for Life" since 1972. Braun's ambulance models offer exclusive innovations such as SolidBody Construction, the EZ-Glide Sliding Door, the MasterTech IV Multiplex Electrical Control System, and the VitalMax Lighting System. Braun is a member of the National Truck and Equipment Association (NTEA), the Ambulance Manufacturers Division (AMD), and the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA). Their 2016 lineup features 8 unique ambulance models, including the Express Plus, Express, The Responder, Signature Series, Patriot, Super Chief, Chief XL, Liberty, and Express. The company is headquartered in Van Wert, OH on a sprawling campus of 13 acres. The campus includes a 105,000 square foot Manufacturing Plant and 49,500 square foot Service Facility & Corporate Offices building.

For more information, visit http://www.BraunAmbulances.com
The Preserve offers best-in-class amenities, including garage parking, two passenger elevators, a state-of-the-art fitness facility and a business co-working lounge. Our ideal setting and high-end services give residents the exclusivity that the most discerning customers desire and deserve, said Jude Mason, vice president, multi-family operations, The KABR Group.

The KABR Group and The Pinnacle Companies have completed The Preserve, a 30-unit luxury apartment community geared towards adults aged 55 and over, as well as a limited number of non-age restricted residences.

Two-bedroom residences at The Preserve average 1,350 square feet and are as large as 1,640 square feet, far larger than all other apartments in the area. The units feature open concept floor plans and first class finishes, with rents starting at $2,875 per month. Occupancy is available as early as April 2016.

The Preserve offers best-in-class amenities, including modern access control and security service, garage parking, two passenger elevators, a state-of-the-art fitness facility, available on-site storage, a business co-working lounge and electric car charging capacity. Most residences include spacious balconies, many with natural views of the surrounding wooded property.

Our ideal setting and high-end services give residents the exclusivity that the most discerning customers desire and deserve, said Jude Mason, vice president, multi-family operations, The KABR Group.

Units at The Preserve feature upscale and premium finishes, as well as remote / mobile controlled thermostats, high-speed internet, all at no additional charge. Unlike many other rental communities, The Preserve is pet-friendly.

The Preserve is in an ideal location for empty nesters, said Michelle Melillo, broker of record for Pinnacle Companies Reality Group, exclusive broker for The Preserve. The property is set on 30 acres of scenic land, including a large amount of wooded land, yet is conveniently located near major highways, shopping and dining.

For more information and tours, visit http://www.thepreservewc.com or call 973-346-8255. Early leasing incentives are available.

About The KABR Group

The KABR Group is a diversified real estate organization founded by Kenneth Pasternak, Laurence Rappaport and Adam Altman, proven entrepreneurs and real estate professionals. KABR Group headquartered in New Jersey, owns, manages, and develops commercial, retail, and residential properties along the East Coast with a primary focus of NY Metro and Northeast Florida. The KABR Group current holdings consists of more than 4 million square feet of office, retail and industrial space, several thousand residential properties and a residential and mixed use development pipeline of several thousand units. For more information, please visit http://www.kabrgroup.com.

About The Pinnacle Companies

The Pinnacle Companies, founded by Brian M. Stolar thirty years ago in1984, is privately held and is among the most respected real estate development and investment companies in the tri-state area and Florida. Pinnacle is a developer and investment owner of residential, retail, office and hotel properties. Pinnacle has always been known as an innovator, able to anticipate trends in an ever-changing real estate market and create Whats Next, particularly in complex mixed-use and redevelopment projects. Pinnacle is a full service real estate company offering investment, property management, brokerage, construction and workout services.

Pinnacle has earned many industry awards for its leading edge and best of breed projects, which have included over 8,000 residential units of all types and an extensive developed portfolio of commercial projects and buildings of over two million square feet, located in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Florida. http://www.pinnaclecompanies.net @ThePinnacleCo
Canara Insight+ for Batteries is fundamentally changing the business of battery asset management by replacing upfront capital and costly hardware maintenance with a subscription-based, all-inclusive service.

Canara, the trusted leader in critical power analytics and facility management services, today announced the launch of Canara Insight+ for Batteries, the first-ever all-inclusive predictive monitoring service for mission critical facilities. The subscription-based solution bundles monitoring hardware, hardware replacement, and Canaras predictive monitoring service to provide a complete solution. Data center operators that embrace this model can simplify their operations and realize cost savings of up to 50 percent.

Canara Insight+ for Batteries is fundamentally changing the business of battery asset management by replacing upfront capital and costly hardware maintenance with a subscription-based, all-inclusive service, said Tom Mertz, CEO of Canara. The bundled model not only includes integrated monitoring hardware and an online portal, but also an expert power analysts to interpret performance data to predict and prevent failures, prolong asset life, and ensure uptime.

Historically, monitoring and managing backup-power systems in a data center environment involved substantial upfront capital, unplanned maintenance expenses, costly personnel training and time-consuming reporting. Unlike the traditional risk and react approach, Canaras new end-to-end service embraces a predict and prevent model through providing and managing every aspect of battery asset management. As a result, facility managers are empowered to focus on business priorities instead of the headaches of reviewing and analyzing performance data.

Canara Insight+ for Batteries groundbreaking hardware, Canara Quadrant Controller, gathers the same performance data with 80 percent less battery connections, resulting in a smaller hardware footprint and fewer points of failure than the traditional monitoring infrastructure. In addition, implementation and replacement is quick and non-intrusive.

Canaras predictive and monitoring analytics as a service not only removes upfront capital, but provides convenient visibility into current performance, extends battery life, protects systems from thermal runaway and reduces maintenance costs.

By gathering core data in a facility, we can help mission critical facilities improve energy and operational efficiencies and ensure availability, said Brian Hanking, chief technology officer at Canara. Our as-a-service model helps facility managers navigate the procurement, install, commissioning and replacement of their critical power infrastructure.

For more information on Canara Insight+ for Batteries, click here.

About Canara

With over 20 years of experience in the data center industry, Canara is a leading provider of predictive analytics and critical facility services. Canaras newest offering, Canara Insight+, is an innovative and all-inclusive predictive monitoring service that eliminates the need to purchase equipment. Canara Critical Power Analytics helps data centers across the globe maximize uptime and ensure efficient asset management of critical backup power systems. Canara Critical Facilities Services provides consulting and programs for critical facilities. Together, Canara's seasoned team of critical power analysts and facility operators provide unmatched visibility and intelligence into essential operations in order to detect potential threats, prevent problems and protect assets.

Headquartered in Atlanta and with a West Coast hub in San Rafael, California, Canaras customers include leading global companies such as CenturyLink, Cologix, Digital Realty Trust, Equinix, PG&E, and Fidelity Investments. For more information, please visit http://www.canara.com and follow @Canara on Twitter.
Paul Collins, Equiteq CEO The key message for consulting firm sellers in 2016 is that now is the time to prepare your business for sale

Despite the current negative sentiment towards overall M&A activity in 2016, first quarter 2016 results show no slowdown in this growth trend in the Consulting sector.

This is a steady deal market, with an overall balance of consolidation and fragmentation occurring in different sub-segments. The consulting sector is also incredibly resilient to economic and market cycles, with a long term average of 150-200 deals per month and deal activity remaining above 100 deals per month during the last financial crisis.

In 2015, there were 2418 acquisitions in the global consulting sector, including management consulting, IT consulting and services, Media agencies, Engineering consulting and HR advisory firms. This growth follows a trend of steadily increasing deal activity in this sector since the financial crisis.

While global deal volumes in the sector returned to near-peak levels, deal value trends also hit a post-crisis peak in 2015, with global consulting transaction revenue multiples at the highest level since 2007! This highlights the very healthy transaction conditions currently in this sector, where buyer demand continues to outstrip supply, ultimately driving deal values higher.

Looking at international trends, 20% of total global consulting M&A were cross-border deals, with 84% of this international deal activity within developed western markets. North America accounts for approximately half of total global M&A activity, with one third in Europe (mainly UK) and Asia-Pacific at 13%, largely driven by Australian deals. 75% of deals done worldwide were completed by only 5 countries: US, UK, Australia, France and Canada. The key factors that continues to drive foreign acquisitions are buyers proximity to the culture, economics and politics of the targets country.

In the consulting sector, we continue to see a large number of small value deals. In 2015, 83% of deal volume was below $100m with 70% under $40m, although deal values range from under $5m to over $500m. On average, these consulting sector transactions involved deal structures with 60% paid upfront and 40% as an earn-out over two to three years.

The key message for consulting firm sellers in 2016 is that now is the time to prepare your business for sale said Paul Collins, Equiteqs Founder and CEO. Although market conditions are different now than the last peak in 2007 and there remains some cautious optimism among buyers about near term activity, these positive conditions are unlikely to continue for long at current near-peak levels. Sellers should take advantage of the demand in the market while it lasts.

Equiteqs Global Mergers and Acquisitions Report 2015 is available to download for free here: http://www.equiteq.com/equiteq-edge/m-a-intelligence/2016-ma-report-1/ .

About Equiteq

Equiteq is the global leader in providing strategic advisory and Mergers &

Acquisition services to consulting and IT services firms. We focus 100% on helping owners fulfil their exit goals. We do this by achieving successful sales that deliver maximum value for firm owners and by providing strategic advice on what will best yield value growth and shareholder returns against their objectives. We have offices in New York, London, Singapore and Sydney.

About Equiteqs Global Consulting M&A Report 2016

The Global Consulting M&A Report 2016 is the only publicly available information on the Global M&A market. It covers professional services companies across all major industry segments including: management consulting, engineering, HR services, IT services and media consultants. The full report can be downloaded free from http://www.equiteq.com/equiteq-edge/m-a-intelligence/2016-ma-report-1/
CBS ArcSafe PD Alert

The CBS ArcSafe PD Alert partial discharge sensor option for the companys Remote Racking System (RRS) line has won Electrical Construction & Maintenance (EC&M) magazines 2016 Product of the Year Award in the Monitoring Equipment category.

The CBS ArcSafe PD Alert provides an additional layer of safety for technicians tasked with racking or removing circuit breakers and motor control centers. In the event of a breakdown in line-to-line or line-to-ground insulation, the PD Alert radio frequency (RF) non-contact sensor issues a visual strobe alarm or a digital alarm via email or SMS text message. Advanced signal processing and field-configurable setup allow the operator to set do-not-exceed thresholds for partial discharge values, or to issue an alert if partial discharge values indicate a condition that could be dangerous to technicians.

This recognition from EC&M is confirmation of the CBS ArcSafe teams dedication to design and development of electrical safety tools and solutions that continue to protect our customers workers, says Ashley McWhorter, president of CBS ArcSafe, Inc. We here at CBS ArcSafe could not be more appreciative of this award from EC&M. CBS ArcSafe has previously won EC&M magazines 2010 and 2012 Product of the Year Award in the Specialty Products category for its RSA-48 and RRS-3 VB, respectively.

The PD Alert can be used with any of CBS ArcSafes remote racking systems, including the RRS-1 for rotary, jackscrew-type breakers; the lightweight RRS-1LT made from aluminum extrusion; the programmable dual-mode RRS-4; and the RRS-2 for remotely racking extractor-type circuit breakers or motor controls, respectively. PD Alert also can be used as a stand-alone partial discharge sensor for monitoring critical electrical distribution equipment.

CBS ArcSafe previously won Product of the Year awards from Occupational Health & Safety (OH&S) magazine (2012-2015), and Plant Engineering magazine (2009, 2014). Other CBS ArcSafe product honors include Industrial Safety & Hygiene News (ISHN) magazine's Readers' Choice Award (2015).

About CBS ArcSafe

CBS ArcSafe offers the electrical industrys largest inventory of remote racking and switching solutions for low- and medium-voltage switchgear that do not require modification to existing equipment for operation. All our equipment is manufactured in the U.S. at our Denton, Texas, manufacturing facility. CBS ArcSafe offers 24/7/365 emergency support and is happy to develop custom remote racking and switching solutions for customers. Learn more at CBSArcSafe.com, or call toll-free at 877-4-SAFETY.
success in life comes when you simply refuse to give up. With goals so strong obstacles, failure, and loss only act as my motivationble

MyCNAjobs announces the recent addition of Professional Career Certification and Training Institute (PCCTI) to the myCNAjobs Scholarship Program. PCCTI has two campuses one in Chicago, IL and the other located in Oak Brook, IL. Both campuses are offering scholarships in support of the myCNAjobs mission to bring exceptional caregivers to the healthcare field.

The PCCTI Chicago campus recently granted a scholarship to an exceptional candidate, Ambria D. Ambria is 19 years old but she has more experience and heart for the CNA profession than many caregivers twice her age. Ambria was inspired at a young age to become a caregiver. Her mother was a CNA and would come home telling stories of how rewarding the profession was. Ambria wanted to experience the same joy her mother did from helping those in need.

At the young age of 8, Ambria began studying anatomy and her interest only grew as she progressed through grade school. She had her entire healthcare career planned out since the 4th grade Ambria states. Upon entering her Sophomore year in high school, Ambria became a medical assistant her passion grew and her Junior year she partook an internship as a Nursing Assistant at the local hospital. Her career path as a caregiver only prospered from there, her Senior year, Ambria completed Phlebotomy courses and achieved her certification, passing the boards with nearly a perfect score. Now, at age of 19, this born-to-be caregiver aspires to live out her dream even further by becoming a CNA.

Upon asking Ambria what inspired her at such a young age to be so driven she stated "success in life comes when you simply refuse to give up. With goals so strong obstacles, failure, and loss only act as my motivation."

PCCTI Chicago is overjoyed to welcome Ambria to their CNA program. The program director stated Ambria is exactly the kind of caregiver we love to support. She is the embodiment of our mission. PCCTI believes in providing educational opportunities to those seeking to enhance the quality of their lives and that of others. We recognize that a quality education is essential in assisting the student develop a sense of worth, high ethical standards and a sense of self-actualization as they pursue their professional and educational goals.

Ambria will begin CNA classes via the myCNAjobs Scholarship Fund this May.

About myCNAjobs

myCNAjobs is innovating the way healthcare companies hire and caregivers find work. Home care agencies, nursing homes, and assisted living communities recruit qualified aides efficiently through a suite of digital and career fair tools.

Caregivers, CNAs, and Home Health Aides easily connect with local jobs, career fairs, scholarships, and resources to build a schedule to fit their needs with a tech-powered platform.
"We are excited to have Linganore Winecellars as part of our community and congratulate them on their award winning wines." Helen Propheter, Frederick County Office of Economic Development

Linganore Winecellars is thrilled to announce that our wines were recipients of multiple honors in the 2016 Finger Lakes International Wine Competition. The annual competition was held from March 18-20 in Rochester, New York.

Eight wines received medals, with top honors going to our semi-dry white Terrapin, which won Double Gold in the category of White Blend. Terrapin is similar to a dry Riesling with a medium body and hints of honeysuckle and stone fruit. Its grapes include Vidal Blanc and Vignoles. Terrapin is a consistent favorite at festivals, and has previously won awards from the Governor's Cup and Wine Master's Choice.

Finger Lakes silver medals went to our 2014 Cabernet Reserve, Traminette, Melody and Chambourcin Reserve. Our 2014 Chardonnay Reserve, Blackberry Kiss and 2015 White Raven took home bronze medals.

More than 3800 wines from 26 countries were entered in the competition. All 50 states in the U.S. were represented, and Linganore was the only Maryland winery listed as taking home a medal in the double gold category. The family owned and operated winery is currently celebrating its 40th anniversary, and this is a perfect way to kick things off!

For more information about Linganore Winecellars, go to http:// http://www.linganorewines.com. For more information about Finger Lakes International Wine Competition, go to http://www.fliwc.com/.
We Can Fix That! I am passionate about repairing and restoring vehicles, and we were extremely impressed by the products and processes the Creative Colors International team provides each of its franchisees - Adam Hebekesuer

Creative Colors International, the nations leading on-site repair and restoration franchise, launched its newest Michigan-based location in Williamston, Michigan this April. This is big news as more local business owners and cost-conscious residents than ever before are seeking out alternatives to astronomical upholstering charges and replacement fees associated with damaged possessions composed of leather, vinyl, plastic and fabric.

This rising local demand for cost-effective repair and restoration services is what inspired Adam Hebekeuser to open the newest Creative Colors International location in the Lansing suburb of Williamston. According to Hebekeuser, Creative Colors Internationals revolutionary products and restoration techniques will help local customers save up to 90% on replacement fees by repairing worn and/or damaged materials.

Creative Colors International proved to be a perfect fit for us as Michigan natives raised by blue collar mechanics and auto workers, said Adam Hebekeuser. I am passionate about repairing and restoring vehicles, and we were extremely impressed by the products and processes the Creative Colors International team provides each of its franchisees. We are more than confident this business model will work extremely well in central Michigan, an area filled with business owners who can benefit from these services, and we cannot wait to get started.

The statistics suggest that repairing and restoring, as opposed to upholstering and replacing, can save local business owners and residents hundreds of dollars on any damaged item. For example, the costs associated with upholstering any type of seat can be very steep, ranging anywhere from $120 to $450 per cushion. And according to Terri Sniegolski, Creative Colors Internationals CEO, the commitment shared by all franchisees to help customers save money, and deliver on the companys We Can Fix That philosophy, has been the key catalyst for the companys expansion to 54 locations in 24 states with 125+ mobile units since its initial inception in 1980.

Were excited to open our newest Michigan-based Creative Colors location because we know Adam Hebekeuser shares the same We Can Fix That attitude that our other successful franchisees possess, said Sniegolski. We are thrilled about our expansion in Michigan because we know the local business owners and customers in and around Lansing will be eager to repair and restore their possessions at a fraction of the cost.

Hebekeuser is serving the mid-Michigan market, from Grand Ledge north to St. John's, east to include the Owosso and Flint region, south through Fenton to Brighton and all of the Lansing metro market in between. Adam and his team travel to their clients, making repairs convenient for customers, and preventing disruption to business. Their team also offers emergency service to their clients, providing service within hours of the request.

Serving the automotive, commercial and furniture industries, Creative Colors International offers affordable solutions for tears, holes, scuffs, scratches and other types of damage found on leather, vinyl, plastic or fabric through on-site repair, restoration, cleaning, dyeing and protection. For local residents, this means Creative Colors International can repair auto interiors, leather furniture, RV flooring, and boat vinyl, among other things. Additionally, for business owners, Creative Colors International can repair any upholstery found in critical locations around the company, such as waiting rooms, examination rooms, restaurant booths, hotel rooms, and theater seating, among others.

For more information on Hebekeuser and Creative Colors International, please visit http://www.wecanfixthat.com/MidMI/.

About Creative Colors International

Launched in 1991, the Creative Colors International (CCI) franchise system was created through its affiliate, J&Js Creative Colors, the original industry leader in refurbishment techniques and systems. Today, both companies continue to be family-owned and operated by the second generation. Catering to the abundance of upholstered items in every home, business and vehicle, CCI is the ultimate in on-site repair, restoration, cleaning, protection, and dyeing of leather, vinyl, plastic and fabric. Through proprietary technology, CCI restores damaged material at a fraction of replacement costs, saving customers up to 90 percent. CCI repairs are stronger than the original area and are nearly invisible to the naked eye. In the Automotive, Furniture and Commercial Markets, CCI offers on-site repair and restoration to all types of leather, vinyl, fabric, plastic and carpeting by repairing and redyeing holes, cuts, tears, burns, scrapes, fading and discoloration. For more information on CCIs services and franchise opportunities, visit http://www.wecanfixthat.com.

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Ruffalo Noel Levitz, the recognized leader in higher education enrollment and fundraising management solutions, today announced the keynote speakers for its 30th annual National Conference on Student Recruitment, Marketing, and Retention. This enrollment management conference will be held July 26-28 in Dallas, TX. The event serves enrollment managers, college admissions directors, college student affairs personnel, and other higher education professionals seeking to discover big innovations for todays big changes in higher education. Since 1996, more than 30,000 college and university leaders and staff have attended the conference.

This years conference features more than 120 sessions from campus personnel and leading authorities. Keynote speakers include:



Steve Pemberton, author of New York Times bestseller A Chance in the World and chief diversity officer for Walgreens Boots Alliance;

Dan Heath, co-author of bestsellers Decisive, Switch, and Made to Stick, and senior fellow, The Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE), Duke University;

Jim Hundrieser, associate managing partner, Association of Governing Boards (AGB) Institutional Strategies and 20-year veteran of higher education and enrollment management;

Bertice Berry, sociologist and author of the best-selling memoir, Im on My Way, But Your Foot Is on My Head, and other bestselling fiction and nonfiction titles.

This years National Conference on Student Recruitment, Marketing, and Retention covers the full spectrum of enrollment management and student success, from college admissions to graduation. The sessions also tackle critical topics such as college pricing and financial aid, college completion and graduation, campus marketing, and strategic enrollment planning. The sessions cover every sector of higher education: four-year public institutions, four-year private institutions, community colleges, and career and private schools. To register, please visit http://www.RuffaloNL.com/conference2016.

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About Ruffalo Noel Levitz

Campuses turn to Ruffalo Noel Levitz to reach their goals for student recruitment, marketing, financial aid, student success, and donor engagement. The firm is distinguished by its powerful array of technology-enabled enrollment and fundraising tools currently used by more than 1,800 colleges, universities, and nonprofit organizations across North America and beyond. In addition, Ruffalo Noel Levitz conferences, research reports, papers, and articles help clients stay on top of current trends. For the latest insights, visit http://www.RuffaloNL.com.
Peter (Pete) Kight Urjanet is one of the most exciting stories in big data.

Urjanet, the leading global provider of automated utility data, today announced that Peter (Pete) Kight, founder, former chairman and CEO of CheckFree, is joining its Board of Directors.

Kight founded CheckFree in 1981 with a vision of providing electronic funds transfer services to businesses and consumers. Over the following 27 years it became the standard for electronic Bill Payment. CheckFree, with revenues of $1.1 Billion, was sold to Fiserv, Inc. in December of 2007 for $4.4 Billion.

Pete is a legend in the Fintech industry and we are excited to welcome him to Urjanets board, said Sanjoy Malik, CEO and Chairman of the Urjanet Board of Directors. We believe Petes strong experience will be extremely valuable as Urjanet continues to grow around the world and expand into new markets.

Mr. Kight is also a member of the Board of Directors at Blackbaud, Huntington Bancshares Incorporated, MX, Insightpool, and Kabbage. He previously served on the Board of Directors for Fiserv (2010-2012) after his tenure as the companys vice chairman (20072010), along with Akamai, Inc. Technologies (2004-2012) and Manhattan Associates (2007-2011).

Urjanet is one of the most exciting stories in big data, said Mr. Kight. I look forward to joining the board as Urjanet continues to build a global network of utility data sources and provide the worlds biggest brands with access to data that is otherwise tremendously difficult to obtain and manage.

Urjanets Board of Directors also includes Sanjoy Malik, CEO and Chairman; David Ratcliffe, the retired Chairman, President and CEO of Southern Company; Sig Mosley, Managing Partner of Mosley Ventures; and Steve Fredrick, General Partner with Grotech Ventures.

About Urjanet

Urjanets mission is to provide the world with easy access to automated utility data. Our cloud-based platform connects directly to utilities to seamlessly acquire and normalize disparate utility bill and interval data. The processed data is delivered directly to industry-leading business applications.

Public and private organizations across the world use Urjanet data to achieve sustainability goals and reduce energy consumption and cost. Urjanet is rapidly becoming the global standard for utility data and powers applications from the leading energy and sustainability solutions providers.

Urjanet is a privately-held company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information, visit http://www.urjanet.com.
When dining at a fast casual or quick-service restaurant (QSR), long lines during peak hours are an inevitable part of the process. Due to unavoidable circumstances, what started out as a simple trip to get a quick bite to eat has now been reduced to the question, Should I stay or should I go? TrendSource and GroupSolver teamed up to uncover the reasons that might encourage a consumer in this scenario to either stick to the plan and stay in line or depart for an alternative dining option.

In order to uncover the answers to these questions, TrendSource utilized GroupSolvers unique platform, which algorithmically finds similarities in natural language responses and aggregates them based on their commonalities to provide a solution to the question(s) asked. The software identifies the most prevalent sentiments from the original qualitative data, and quantifies them, facilitating not only the identification of deeper, actionable insights buried in the data, but also helps the analyst avoid hours of endless, error-prone manual coding.

Using the GroupSolver platform, TrendSource was able to identify that, whether staying or leaving, consumers seemed to weigh three types of factors when determining their plan of action: external, internal, and justifying. Participants said that when external expectations like The workers are not moving fast enough are not met, internal factors like, Well, Im too tight on time begin to carry more weight. Finally, this stress on internal factors can ultimately encourage consumers to begin justifying their choice to leave with reasons like, This food probably wasnt that healthy for me anyway.

Interestingly, the reasons to leave were much more unified than the reasons to stay. Factors that influenced leaving fell into two groups: speed of service and time the customer could afford to wait. However, reasons to stay were much more irregular and included issues like the stores environment, food choices, and product affordability.

The lack of regularity amongst stay factors, though, is a point of opportunity for the restaurant industry by identifying the triggers that drive a consumer to leave, companies are able to develop strategies to convince them to stay.

While additional studies can look at the factors discussed above in the context of specific QSRs or fast casual restaurants to see how they might vary, these initial insights provide a preliminary look at some of the influences that are at play in the mind of the consumer while they wait in long lines. And while some answers have been provided, new questions like How does the time of day influence these consumer decisions? will lead to future studies.

Click here to view the full breakdown of the study [Infographic].

About GroupSolver

GroupSolver is a San Diego based technology company developing innovative solutions for market researchers. Its platform offers companies and research professionals a unique approach that blends qualitative and quantitative customer research methods. GroupSolver provides fast, unique and robust insights virtually in real time. Find out more at https://groupsolver.com.

About TrendSource

As a strategic market research consultant, TrendSource provides business intelligence, customer insight and compliance solutions to improve operational efficiency and enhance the customer experience. Each TrendSource program is tailored to your needs and executed using a systematic approach that ensures the right questions are being asked, the quality data collected are presented in easy-to-interpret summaries that identify economic benefit, ROI and recommended actions. For more info, visit http://trustedinsight.trendsource.com/
Gretchen Hall We are very excited to host the 2017 International Tour Management Institute Symposium and we certainly look forward to sharing our city with such a well-respected organization.

The symposium will draw attention to Little Rock as a major tourist destination. Little Rock is a cultural, historical and scenic gem. The city is home to the Clinton Presidential Library, the Arkansas Art Center, the oldest state capitol west of the Mississippi and many other world class attractions. Little Rock boasts award-winning restaurants, sophisticated night life and the excitement of a bustling city, located just a short drive from Hot Springs National Park, the Ozark Mountains and a wealth of breathtaking natural wonders.

The ITMI Symposium is a unique opportunity for key industry stakeholders to experience this extraordinary city, remarked Ted Bravos, CEO of ITMI. Even seasoned travelers will be amazed by the many facets of Little Rock and its proximity to countless natural and man-made attractions that draw over 5.4 million visitors annually.

We are very excited to host the 2017 International Tour Management Institute Symposium, said Gretchen Hall, Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau President and CEO. Little Rock has a pleasant surprise quality visitors discover when here. I know ITMI attendees will fall in love with our genuine people and wonderful amenities. We certainly look forward to sharing our city with such a well-respected organization.

Attendees at the International Tour Management Institute (ITMI) include domestic and international tour operators, tour directors and guides, meeting planners and travel journalists. Recognized as a leading tourism conference, participants come together to share knowledge, insights, experiences and success stories.

Representatives from leading domestic and international tour operators such as Globus Family of Brands, Tauck, Adventures by Disney, Destination America, Rick Steves' Europe, Collette, Worldstrides, EF Explore America, and cruise lines like Princess / Holland America Cruises attend this annual event.

About ITMI:

Since 1976, ITMI has been Americas premier training and certification program for professional tour directors, guides and travel staff. For more information about ITMI contact Annemarie Osborne Annemarie.Osborne(at)gmail(dot)com (800) 442-4864 (415) 957-9489 or visit http://www.itmisf.com.

About LRCVB:

The Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau (LRCVB) is the official destination marketing organization of Little Rock. LRCVB is charged with improving the quality of life and the local economy by bringing visitors, meetings, conventions and events to the city; and serving customers, visitors and delegates with courtesy, knowledge and skill. For more information about LRCVB, contact Libby Doss Lloyd at 501-370-3248 or by email Llloyd(at)littlerock(dot)com or visit http://www.littlerock.com

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Business / Economy

by StVince Musewe

In his visit to South Africa in the 90's the late Lee Kuan Yew, the Singaporean leader who took a poor tiny war ravaged outpost to become a world class economic giant, could not have put it better. He told an investment conference that the responsibility of reconciling long term economic need with short term expectations lay with political leadership. It is their responsibility to "resolve contradictions between the aspirations of their people and the realities of the economy. They have to settle on a formula which gives enough relief to many who feel they have been dispossessed  but will not cause serious damage to the competitiveness of the economy"As PDP we are very clear that the Indigenisation Act being promoted by ZANU (PF) should be scrapped and replaced by a broader and more inclusive economic policy of empowerment. But this empowerment can only happen when we are growing the economy. Our priority now must therefore be to grow the economy through new investments, more jobs and creating sustainable incomes while doing all we can to alleviate poverty.In our view, the insistence by ZANU (PF) and Patrick Zhuwao in particular, of implementing indigenisation at all costs continues to cause serious damage to the economy and it is the very people they seek to empower who are suffering from that policy.In our view indigenisation is actually a misnomer and merely a strategy for economic dispossession by ZANU (PF) similar to what happened with the land reform. It's a policy that will benefit a few while making investment unattractive and destroying livelihoods. It is a policy that will further de-industrialise our economy and result in the ownership of companies by a ZANU (PF) predatory rent seeking cabal.PDP promotes economic empowerment in its broadest sense. If we really look at it, the liberation struggle was all about empowerment as it sought to remove a colonial system which limited blacks by law from accessing opportunities and pursuing their ambitions in any sector of the economy as they wished without limits.We will therefore create opportunities for all Zimbabweans, especially our youths who and women, regardless of political affiliation. This involves broad based economic and social empowerment so that the majority of our people can meaningfully participate in the creation of wealth and not be limited as mere workers as was the case during colonialism. In addition, in order for meaningful and sustainable change, the term empowerment must be defined in the broadest sense of the word to include social empowerment. A holistic approach is therefore necessary so that we as a country can maximise on our human capital.It is also fact that any society cannot be fully empowered without economic freedom, unhindered access to information, the freedom to speak their mind without fear and the freedom to associate with whomever they want, wherever they want to discuss whatever they want. Empowerment can therefore not only be about the ownership of economic assets by a few ZANU (PF) cronies, but must include basic human rights. Only then can we say we are a fully empowered society that can live to its full potential."If Zimbabwe's economy had decent stewards with a modicum of vision, Zimbabwe's economy would have been the third largest economy in Africa, or better, because it had a good head start. It could easily have been the Singapore or South Korea of Africa. Mugabe and his mafia should have incubated, nurtured, supported and helped fund, right from 1980, many competent business entrepreneurs to set up businesses that would have developed strength at home, and rapidly grown into the southern and eastern African region. If this had happened, Zimbabwe would today have been a $100 billion economy at the very least, and instead of its citizens flowing in all directions running away from home, Zimbabwe would have been a magnet of immigrants dashing into the small country for opportunities."These are the words of Ken Yamatomo, a regular writer and researcher on Zimbabwean issues and he is correct in his observations. ZANU (PF) has actually delayed empowerment and development through their ill-informed policies. Their continued intervention in the economy has actually cost the country and it is time they go.Our new economic empowerment model must focus on critical issues such as, quality education, skills development, job creation, investment, entrepreneurship and access to capital. If we can achieve this, then broad based empowerment will be the result without the need for excessive intervention by government. Side by side, we must have a social empowerment agenda that focuses on improving the quality of life of all Zimbabweans and providing support structures for vulnerable or disadvantaged communities.For us at PDP, our position on empowerment is that first, you cannot force business partnerships as ZANU (PF) is doing through indigenisation and hope to create value. Second is that empowerment must never be a politically driven process, but must rather be socially driven to create sustainable social and economic transformation and development. Third is that the empowerment agenda must include more than the ownership of economic assets.Above all, it must involve the creation of an enabling environment for all citizens resulting in a vibrant, healthy, productive, responsible and rapidly developing society where all can enjoy freedom and live to their full potential.Another Zimbabwe is possible!
Triple E Technologies, LLC logo. Being the first EMV certified company with NBS is a huge honor for us. It shows our commitment to being a leader and forerunner in this industry.

Triple E Technologies, LLC (Triple E), a leading provider of payment software for the c-store and petroleum industries, announced today its OneTouch Suite software has been officially certified for inside EMV chip-and-PIN card acceptance by Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express.

As of October 2015, merchants who do not support EMV chip enabled devices and payment applications can become liable for fraudulent card transaction losses. The certification means enhanced fraud protection for Triple E customers affected by the recent payment card liability shifts.

We are excited to announce that Triple E Technologies has received EMV certification from Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express. said Dan Eloe, Triple Es CEO/GM. As a PCI/PA-DSS certified payment solutions provider, adding EMV support to our products has been a top priority for us, so we are very excited to achieve this certification.

Triple E is the first company to become EMV certified with NBS, a provider of payment processing solutions for convenience stores, travel centers, and unattended cardlock sites. Triple E developers worked closely with NBS and performed hundreds of tests to ensure the software passed all EMVs requirements. Being the first EMV certified company with NBS is a huge honor for us, continued Eloe. It shows our commitment to being a leader and forerunner in this industry.
Tom Stephenson Its my job now to make sure we deliver on promises to clients and fully execute the vision to facilitate smarter care and safer patients in hospitals across the country.

In a long-planned move to advance Amplion Clinical Communications into its next phase as a company, Tom Stephenson has been tapped as the companys new Chief Executive Officer. Stephenson has served as Amplions President and COO since joining the company in 2012. Amplions founder and former CEO, David Condra, will take on the role of Executive Chairman, where he will focus on growth and product development while serving as an advisor for special initiatives.

Stephenson is a healthcare veteran with more than three decades of experience leading technology ventures to long-term success. Prior to joining Amplion, Stephenson was CEO for Healthcare Management Systems (HMS). A Vanderbilt University graduate, he has also served on the boards of the Nashville Health Care Council and the Nashville Technology Council.

Its the culmination of a long term plan on our part, said Condra of Stephensons appointment. Toms previous experience at HMS uniquely qualifies him to lead us to the next level. Its the right time in the life of our company to make the transition and allow Tom to do what he does best, while allowing me to focus on my passion and strength in fueling future innovations in healthcare technology and communications.

In the past year, Amplion has made significant strides. The company introduced the availability of Amplion Alert, the industrys first care assurance platform and has signed contracts with multiple hospitals in recent months. Amplions latest technology integrates patient care communications for an unprecedented approach to nurse call, advanced messaging and reminders, and alarm management. Specifically, it helps hospitals support a culture of accountability and close the loop on care so they can assure that patient needs are met consistently in a timely manner.

Condra points to a strong pipeline of prospects and a growing roster of clients as factors driving the timing of the transition. The company plans to rely heavily on Stephensons deep operational experience to ensure growth happens in a scalable and sustainable way.

I came to Amplion four years ago because of Davids passion for fundamentally changing the way patient care is delivered, as well as the quality of the capabilities that were already well underway, said Stephenson. Its my job now to make sure we deliver on promises to clients and fully execute on Davids vision to facilitate smarter care and safer patients in hospitals across the country.

About Amplion

Amplion is building a better future for patient care. We combine capabilities in clinical workflow optimization, advanced patient communications technology and in-depth analytics to help organizations make data-driven decisions and create accountability within clinical teams. We close care loops and dramatically improve clinical and financial performance as well as patient and clinician experience. Safer patients. Smarter care. Assured. Learn more at http://www.amplionalert.com
George Remus Bourbon and Rye Whiskey is getting set to expand outside of Ohio and Kentucky to respond to consumer and distributor demand. In addition to the national launch, batch 002 of both the bourbon and rye products have started hitting Ohio and Kentucky shelves in early March.

Ever since launching in the fall of 2014 in 20 Cincinnati retail locations, we have seen tremendous growth to over 250 bar and restaurants across Ohio & Kentucky and believe we are well positioned to expand nationally, says Nate Lawton, co-founder. As we consider our expansion strategy, California, Indiana, Texas, Illinois, and New York will be our priority due to the whiskey popularity in each of those states.

As Remus looks to the future, they have been modifying the way the product is finished and filtered, Lawton says, We are trying to maintain a lot of the taste characteristics that come from our char #4 toasted American oak barrels, so we have been testing new ways to filter prior to bottling. We originally explored some of these new techniques with our limited edition Rye release last April and we are thrilled with Batch 002s reception among bourbon lovers in Ohio and Kentucky.

Remus has also established partnerships with local breweries, Rhinegeist, Madtree, 50W, Tafts Ale House and Braxton Brewing by providing them used Remus barrels at no cost so that they can be used for aging beer. As we expand, we would like to partner with new breweries that are interested in creating aged products using our barrels, says Lawton.

American whiskey sales continue to outpace growth of beer and other distilled spirits at +7.8% versus previous year to $2.9B in 2015. Whiskey in particular, the highest-priced products are flying off the shelves the fastest, Distilled Spirits Council spokesman Frank Coleman told The Associated Press. The whiskey category growth is being driven by high end premium and super premium brands like George Remus, with growth in these tiers between +8% and +26.5% respectively.*

About George Remus

Cincinnati was the epicenter of Prohibition in the 1920s with the majority of the countrys liquor produced in and around the Queen City. Yet this history is all but forgotten while the German beer heritage remains intact. Local startup George Remus Bourbon and Rye Whiskey formed in 2013 to restore this heritage to Cincinnati through launching a whiskey brand that pays homage to the citys most famous bootlegger, George Remus, and to the authentic style, flavors, and quality of Prohibition-era whiskey.



Data Source: Distilled Spirits Council Data Tables - 2/2/16

Media contact:

Chad Brizendine | chad(at)georgeremus(dot)com | georgeremus.com
New Logo The Decipher name and new logo reinforces the Companys innovative culture of rapid evolution and advancement said Howard Rosenberg, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer.

FRS Insight today announced that the company has changed its name to Decipher, effective immediately. The name change and new identity better aligns the company with its future strategy, product roadmap and innovation culture.

The Decipher name and new logo reinforces the Companys innovative culture of rapid evolution and advancement said Howard Rosenberg, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer.

According to research by The American Lawyer and LexisNexis, although 96% of US law firm managing partners say that lateral growth is part of their strategy, only 28% of lateral hires are highly effective. UK research showed even more stark results.

Our goal when we founded the business was to improve clients success rates with their lateral hires  preventing them from making a bad hire and ultimately advancing their firm's reputation while improving their bottom line.

Deciphers approach - unique in the market - continues to reshape the industry for investigative intelligence by offering greater transparency while working closely with our clients on an ongoing basis to improve these metrics. The Companys confidence in its ability to sustain significant growth in professional and financial services markets is well-supported by the long-term dynamics of the senior lateral hire market and the increasing costs associated with poorly performing lateral hires.

About Decipher:

Decipher is an independent corporate intelligence provider which assists firms with reducing the risk of a bad executive level hire. Our unique data-driven approach utilizes investigative technologies, extensive market knowledge and a global network of human and objective intelligence resources. Decipher executes assignments for some of the worlds leading legal and financial services firms. Decipher: Global. Independent. Discreet.

Visit http://www.decipherglobal.com for further information.
Crane Inspection & Certification Bureau CICBs concept of ensuring candidates pass their CCO written and practical exams with confidence, defines them as a leader in the industry

Crane Inspection & Certification Bureau (CICB) is now offering NCCCO (National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators) certification training and exams in Charleston, SC, establishing their fourth location in the Southeast and Midwest with on-site cranes for examinations. These programs are available for experienced operators and/or riggers, along with supervisors to obtain their required national certifications.

With the 2017 deadline for Crane Operator Certification fast approaching, and the specific OSHA requirements for Lift Directors in effect since 2010, CICBs CEO, Craig Epperson, is strategically moving to expand CICBs footprint across the US to provide NCCCO Prep Training and Exams to companies as well as individuals who need to be certified. To date, CICBs accredited practical examiners have administered over 10,000 mobile crane practical exams.

Parker Rigging, well known in the Low Country of South Carolina for their wide range of experience and expertise in the rigging and heavy lifting industries, will be supplying the cranes for the NCCCO Practical exams. We are very excited to work with Parker Rigging, said Billy Cook, CICBs Sales Director. Our companies have worked together for over 10 years and we are proud to have their brand next to ours as we grow in the region.

This union reflects our desire to collaborate with companies that we believe in. said Eddie Parker, IV, Owner/Operator of Parker Rigging Company. CICBs concept of ensuring candidates pass their written and practical exams with confidence, defines them as a leader in the industry.

Initially, CICB will host selected programs in Charleston starting in June of 2016. Programs scheduled include:

NCCCO (link to CCO) Test Prep & Exams:



NCCCO Mobile Crane Operator Certification for Boom Truck (BTF) and Telescopic Swing Cab (TLL) Cranes

NCCCO Recertification

NCCCO Rigger Level I

NCCCO Rigger Level II

NCCCO Lift Director

For a full list of programs offered by CICB, please visit the website at http://www.cicb.com

About CICB

CICBs professionally trained instructors and subject matter experts are not only NCCCO Certified as Mobile, Overhead & Articulating Cranes Operators, but are also CCO Certified Riggers, Signal Persons, Lift Directors and Crane Inspectors. CICBs instructors have been awarded the prestigious Top Trainer Award in 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011 and 2009.
These updates provide additional tips and insights into the paid strategies of thousands of brands and have made it simple for social media analysts to automatically generate and download their own reports on demand - saving additional time and resources.

Unmetric, the only social media intelligence platform focused on brands, today announced the full integration of its Promoted Post Detection feature to its Analyze product. Analyze for social media analysts is one of three core Unmetric products alongside Discover for brand content creators and Track for marketers.

Unmetrics Promoted Post Detection uses machine learning algorithms to identify and sort paid and organic Facebook posts with up to 95 percent accuracy. It also provides insights that help social media analysts compare their own brands internal paid and organic content, as well as benchmark performance against industry competitors and other brands doing well with their promoted content on Facebook. This is significant for Facebook because promoted posts arent publicly flagged.

Previously, Promoted Post Detection was available only for clients as a separate add on feature and only tracked a limited number of brands that the client selected. Now, social media analysts using Unmetrics Analyze product will have the ability to easily see what posts are promoted and organic for 40,000+ brands across multiple industries. Paid posts will be tagged PROMOTED and organic ones tagged ORGANIC. Because the Promoted Post Detection feature needs five days of engagement data to make a prediction, posts not yet five days old will be flagged NEW.

Each tag will include a probability value, an indication of how confident Unmetric is about the prediction (e.g. a probability value of 86 percent for PROMOTED tag indicates that we are 86 percent confident that the post is promoted). Users can set a threshold value of their choice (instead of the default 50 percent) to identify promoted posts. For example, an analyst could set a threshold value of 75 percent and focus only on promoted posts with a probability value greater than 75 percent.

Since launching Promoted Post Detection last year, weve fine-tuned the detection algorithms, and with the improved model and larger available data set, were able to provide probability values along with predictions, said Aswani Yeraguntla, Director, Predictive and Business Analytics for Unmetric. These updates provide our clients with additional tips and insights into the paid strategies of thousands of brands and have made it simple for social media analysts to automatically generate and download their own reports on demand - saving additional time and resources.

Unmetric clients with Pro+, Premium and Agency accounts will now have immediate access to Promoted Post Detection services and reports as part of the Analyze product. To learn more about how your brand can benefit from all of Unmetrics products and request a free demo, visit http://www.unmetric.com.

About Unmetric

Unmetric, the only social media intelligence platform focused on brands, helps digital marketers, social media analysts, and content creators harness social signals to track and analyze competitive content and campaigns, and to create better content and campaigns of their own. Unmetric is trusted by hundreds of global brands and digital agencies for real-time insights from the owned channels of over 40,000 brands across more than 30 sectors on all the major social networks including Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, Linkedin, and Instagram. The company was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in New York City with offices in Chennai, India and the U.S. For more information, visit http://www.unmetric.com.
The Estrada Family We take pride in catering to the needs of our customers! Were different because we can provide on the spot precise quotes  not estimates  with professional painters and Sherwin-Williams products. - Erick Estrada

Fresh Coat Painters is pleased to announce that Erick and Teresa Estrada of Pflugerville have joined the companys national team as the new owner of Fresh Coat Painters in Round Rock, Texas.

Fresh Coat offers residential and commercial painting services including interior and exterior painting, wood staining and finishing, and other services for nearly every protective coating application. They use quality, environmentally safe materials and offer a 24/7 call center, online scheduling, in-home color design consultations and detailed quotes. Fresh Coat Round Rock serves Round Rock, Pflugerville and Georgetown as well as the surrounding areas.

Erick has spent the last 10 years working in higher education, mostly specializing in enrollment, and has more than 20 years of total sales experience. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from Texas State University and recently earned his Master of Business Administration focusing in Small Business Management and Entrepreneurship. Although Erick will be leading the business, his wife Teresa, who graduated from Texas A&M University and works full-time as an engineer, will be helping with marketing and other elements of the business. The couple lives in Pflugerville with their two young kids and theyre looking forward to getting more involved with the community through Fresh Coat.

Ericks passion for business and entrepreneurship started with his dad, who owned and operated a printing company for many years in his hometown of El Paso, TX. He learned about Fresh Coat when the previous franchise owner painted their home and were impressed with the professionalism and dedication to quality.

Ive always enjoyed painting and working with people. Fresh Coat allows me to combine those two passions into a business that raises the bar in the industry and provides superior customer service and quality work. We take pride in catering to the needs of our customers! Were different because we can provide on the spot precise quotes  not estimates  with professional painters and Sherwin-Williams products, Estrada said.

Fresh Coat is committed to quality products and services and the company offers a 3-3-3 customer service pledge, so calls will be answered by a live person within three minutes, a quote will be delivered within three days (customer schedule permitting) and the job will be started within three weeks.

Families are pressed for time and we understand the value of the time our potential clients set aside to meet with us. We will respect that time from the first call through the final walk through. And, if you need anything at all, youll be working with me  the owner of the business  not a sales representative. Ill make sure our customers are more than happy with the results Estrada said.

Teresa added: There are a lot of great DIY-ers out there, but you can really tell the difference when a professional painter does the work. Hiring a professional painting company like Fresh Coat is a worthwhile investment. Let us show you what Painting Done Right! really means.

Fresh Coat was founded in 2004 as part of Strategic Franchising Systems. In the last year, Fresh Coat has been included in the Bonds Top 100 and named to Entrepreneur Magazines Franchise 500 list. Fresh Coat is also part of the International Franchise Association, the Small Business Associations Franchise Registry, VetFran and Minority Fran. All Fresh Coat employees are trained, dependable, fully insured and background-checked.

For more information about Fresh Coat Round Rock, call (512)686-5668, email Estrada(at)FreshCoatPainters(dot)com or visit http://www.FreshCoatRoundRock.com.

About Fresh Coat Painters

With more than 120 locations nationwide, Fresh Coat Painters brings quality customer service, top-notch painting products, professionalism and affordable pricing to the residential and commercial painting industry. They use quality, environmentally safe materials and offer a 24/7 customer service center, online scheduling, in-home color design consultations, and detailed quotes. All painters are bonded and insured employees. For more information, call 1-855-FRESH-COAT or visit us on Facebook.

The company was founded in 2004 as part of Strategic Franchising Systems. In the last year, Fresh Coat has been included in the Bonds Top 100 and named to Entrepreneur Magazines Franchise 500 list. Fresh Coat is also part of the International Franchise Association, the Small Business Associations Franchise Registry, VetFran and Minority Fran.
"Not all prepaid cards are created equal and some charge fees that can really add up. said Christina Tetreault, who authored the Consumer Reports investigation.

Over the past decade, millions of consumers have relied on prepaid cards to make purchases and manage their money, but some cards have come with high and unexpected fees. Finding the most economical and easiest card to use can be challenging. A new Consumer Reports investigation issued today aims to help consumers make smarter choices by rating prepaid cards on value, convenience, safety, and how well fees are disclosed.

The new report is being issued as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) works to finalize regulations governing prepaid cards, which are expected in the coming months.

Competition has helped make prepaid cards an attractive alternative to bank accounts by bringing down fees, said Christina Tetreault, who authored the Consumer Reports investigation. But not all prepaid cards are created equal and some charge fees that can really add up.

General purpose reloadable prepaid cards can be used much like a traditional debit card linked to a bank account and are used by an estimated one in four U.S. households. According to the Federal Reserve Board, prepaid cards are the fastest growing noncash form of payment. Unlike traditional debit and credit cards, prepaid cards dont enjoy the same legal protections that limit the financial liability consumers face in the event of fraud or merchant mistakes, although most card issuers provide these safeguards voluntarily.

Consumer Reports reviewed 20 different prepaid cards on four different factors: value (how much they cost to use); convenience (availability of in-network ATMs, bill pay features, and how widely the card network brand is accepted); safety (whether funds are protected with FDIC insurance); and how well fees are disclosed.

In general, the highest rated prepaid cards have fewer fees and make it easier to avoid them; carry FDIC insurance for each cardholder; offer features comparable to traditional checking accounts; and do a better job of disclosing fees.

Among the cards reviewed by Consumer Reports that were rated highly, four stand out. The American Express-Walmart Bluebird card was among the top four because it charges no monthly fee and offers some great services, such as bill pay and free access to in-network ATMs. Also highly rated were Chase Liquid Visa and Green Dot Prepaid Visa, which both charge monthly fees but are more widely accepted than Bluebird. Finally, the Halogen Reloadable Prepaid MasterCard, issued by Green Dot Bank, offers useful services such as access to free in-network ATMs and bill pay. While it charges a monthly fee, it can be waived under certain conditions.

The prepaid cards with the lowest ratings reviewed by Consumer Reports mostly scored fair or poor for value or convenience. The Univision MasterCard Prepaid card, for example, charges a monthly fee of $9.95. Both NetSpend prepaid cards rated by Consumer Reports (that are available for purchase online) charge $2.50 for an over-the-counter cash withdrawal at a financial institution as well as if you take money out using your card at an ATM.

Consumer Reports is not recommending the Prepaid Visa RushCards. In October 2015, Consumer Reports suspended its recommendation of these cards because of the widespread problems consumers were having when using them (RushCard was in the process of transitioning to a new card-processing vendor). The CFPB launched an investigation shortly afterwards, which is ongoing. Consumer Reports is monitoring consumer complaints registered with the CFPB and those complaints have declined after an initial spike  a step in the right direction. Consumer Reports suspended recommendation will remain in place until the matter has been fully resolved.

Consumers Union has long called on federal regulators to provide prepaid card users with the same protections that come with traditional bank debit cards and the CFPB has proposed new regulations that aim to do so. Among the new rules being considered by the CFPB:



Financial institutions would be required to provide periodic statements or online account access to customers who register their cards.

If consumers report account errors, card issuers would be required to investigate and resolve those errors in a timely manner

Consumers would also be protected against unauthorized use of the card, which could include fraudulent withdrawals and purchases.

Know Before You Owe disclosures would provide consumers with information about their prepaid card, such as applicable fees.

Consumers deserve strong protections with this fast growing new way to pay, said Pamela Banks senior counsel for Consumers Union, the policy and advocacy division of Consumer Reports. The CFPBs proposed rules would help consumers avoid costly fees and ensure that they are treated fairly.

About Consumer Reports

Consumer Reports is the worlds largest and most trusted nonprofit, consumer organization working to improve the lives of consumers by driving marketplace change. Founded in 1936, Consumer Reports has achieved substantial gains for consumers on health reform, food and product safety, financial reform, and other issues. The organization has advanced important policies to cut hospital-acquired infections, prohibit predatory lending practices and combat dangerous toxins in food. Consumer Reports tests and rates thousands of products and services in its 50-plus labs, state-of-the-art auto test center and consumer research center. Consumers Union, a division of Consumer Reports, works for pro-consumer laws and regulations in Washington, D.C., the states, and in the marketplace. With more than eight million subscribers to its flagship magazine, website and other publications, Consumer Reports accepts no advertising, payment or other support from the companies whose products it evaluates.

 30 

 2016 Consumer Reports. The material above is intended for legitimate news entities only; it may not be used for advertising or promotional purposes. Consumer Reports is an expert, independent nonprofit organization whose mission is to work for a fair, just, and safe marketplace for all consumers and to empower consumers to protect themselves. We accept no advertising and pay for all the products we test. We are not beholden to any commercial interest. Our income is derived from the sale of Consumer Reports, ConsumerReports.org and our other publications and information products, services, fees, and noncommercial contributions and grants. Our Ratings and reports are intended solely for the use of our readers. Neither the Ratings nor the reports may be used in advertising or for any other commercial purpose without our permission. Consumer Reports will take all steps open to it to prevent commercial use of its materials, its name, or the name of Consumer Reports.
Hoover Students visiting The Control Group These events are so enlightening for these students

On Tuesday, April 19th, 35 10th and 12th grade students from Hoover High School Academy of Information (AOIT) Technology, in partnership with Junior Achievement of San Diego, will visit The Control Group for a job shadow event. This will be the second time that The Control Group will host AOIT students in their Little Italy office location. The purpose of the job shadow will be for students to learn about the various job opportunities available in the technology field.

The students will tour the Little Italy office and shadow team members from the following departments: HR, Marketing, SEO, Development, Design and Content. They will rotate between departments where they will see real-time live work and have the chance to participate hands-on.

In December, The Control Group worked with the AOIT students for the National Hour of Code event. They also recently hosted students from OFarrell Charter School for a job shadow as well as were guest speakers at the school. These events are so enlightening for these students, says Tischa Culver, PR and Communications Specialist for The Control Group. We understand the importance of introducing them to careers in technology that they may not even know exist.

On April 15th, The Control Group will participate in Link2Downtown, where college students will tour various technology companies in the Downtown area. To find out more about the job shadow or other corporate social responsibility initiatives, please contact Tischa Culver at tischa.culver(at)thecontrolgroup(dot)com or 858-356-2254.

About The Control Group

Created in 2011, The Control Group is one of the fastest-growing technology companies headquartered in San Diego. Their expertise is in web development and internet marketing. The company is the developer of InstantCheckmate.com, one of the top people search engines in the world and NextGen Leads, an extremely high quality insurance leads platform focused on streamlining lead acquisition. Because the company is already profitable, it has been able to develop a company culture that is shaking up the Technology Sector. Core to the company culture is its reach into the community to make a positive impact by volunteering, supporting, and getting involved in numerous important causes.
FASHION + STYLE https://youtu.be/MQ9caMoZTnU

Michigan Fashion Week will host its first annual Michigan Fashion Summit. Michigan Fashion Summit has partnered with The College of Creative Studies to bring a standalone one-day conference that is dedicated to teach and develop fashion designers, fashion journalist, fashion models, fashion students and anyone involved or looking to get involved in the fashion arena. Attendees will hear from the worlds leading fashion designers, reporters, startups and established players in the industry. Speakers include Aki Choklat, an international accessories designer, Char Glover of Bravos Project Runway, Courtney Miarka of Closet Fashion Fix and Loren Hicks, Founder of Michigan Fashion Week, and many more. Detroit is making its come back in the fashion arena as well.

The Michigan Fashion Summit is a series of unique, hands-on, interactive workshops with action-oriented working sessions. Attendees will have over 14 workshops to choose from for their courses of learning. Guests will walk away with a new mindset and develop new skills that can immediately integrate into their fashion business. Our goal for Michigan Fashion Summit is to show all fashion professionals how to build profitable, passion-filled business they love!

WHEN: Saturday, April 16, 2016, from 8am to 3pm.

WHERE: The College of Creative Studies, A. Alfred Taubman Center for Design Education, 460 W. Baltimore Ave Detroit, MI 48202

WHO: 300+ Fashion designers, fashion bloggers, fashion stylist, fashion student and fashion entrepreneurs.

CONTACT INFORMATION: Loren Hicks 248-495-3985

Email: loren(dot)Jordan(at)MichiganFashionWeek(dot)com

ABOUT US: Michigan Fashion Summit is an extension of Michigan Fashion Week. Michigan Fashion Week founded by Loren Hicks, a Crains Newspaper Detroit 20 in their 20s award recipient. Michigan Fashion Week is a company designed to showcase and highlights Michigans prestigious talent in the fields of fashion design, photography, art and modeling, looking to present their businesses and talents in a professional manner. Through the production of industry related events and social gatherings, Michigan Fashion Week assists designers, and other industry participants in learning the business of fashion.

Early bird tickets are available and student discounts are available. Companies are invited to sponsor or exhibit, spaces are available but limited.
News / Africa

by Staff reporter

Cape Town - Struggle stalwart Winnie Madikizela-Mandela has been hospitalised, a media report at the weekend said.It is unclear why Madikizela-Mandela was hospitalised, Eyewitness News reported, but she was previously treated for a diabetic condition.The High Court in Mthatha last week dismissed Madikizela-Mandela's application for ownership of her late former husband, Nelson Mandela's, home, News24 reported.It is unclear when exactly she was admitted to hospital with EWN quoting friends as saying she was hospitalised after the judgment but then reporting others as saying she was taken in some weeks back. Her lawyer Mvuso Notyesi said they would appeal the ruling.In recent years, she has been hospitalised several times. In 2014, she underwent a surgery, the Sunday World reported.In June 2012, she had surgery for a broken wrist and in 2011 was hospitalised at least twice to treat her diabetes.
California [CNCDA] and Oregon [OADA] New Car Dealer Associations Select AutoAp, Inc. as a strategic partner to provide Safety Recall Management Solutions for their member-dealers. Choosing AutoAp as a strategic partner was both an easy and timely decision

The California New Car Dealers Association [CNCDA] and the Oregon Auto Dealers Association [OADA] have named AutoAp, Inc. a strategic partner, and will recommend their safety recall management solutions to their member-dealers.

Franchised auto dealers are looking for ways to increase customer safety, reduce the growing liability associated with selling vehicles with open safety recalls, and leverage safety recalls for net-new service revenue and increased customer loyalty. OADA and the CNCDA chose AutoAp for their unique approach and industry-best method of identifying vehicles with open safety recalls.

Selecting AutoAp as a strategic partner assures California and Oregon new car dealers that AutoAps highly accurate and effective safety recall management solutions have met their strict criteria and have proven value in the marketplace. Both OADA and CNCDA selected AutoAp because of its proven ability to reduce dealership liability and generate additional service revenue from knowing the accurate, daily recall status of dealer inventory.

"Our California dealers are facing increased pressure on the safety recall issue, and becoming more aware of the impact recalls can have on their business, said Brian Maas, President, California New Car Dealers Association. They are looking for an effective solution to help them manage recall liability, and AutoAp has a proven proprietary data and technology solution that makes this possible. Choosing AutoAp, Inc. as a strategic partner was both an easy and timely decision.

Greg Remensperger, Executive Vice President, Oregon Auto Dealers Association said, "Oregons Department of Justice has recently issued new administrative rules for auto retailers, making recall disclosure mandatory at the time of sale. We have been looking for a strategic partner to help OADA members with an effective compliance solution and AutoAps Dynamic Recall Management service does just that."

We are excited that two progressive, forward-thinking auto dealer associations have chosen AutoAp. Both OADA and CNCDA help their members learn about industry-leading solutions that can reduce their liability in the face of more stringent regulation. By combining the associations vast dealer operations knowledge with AutoAps unique and robust safety recall solutions, dealers are assured the highest quality and most timely safety recall status available, anywhere, said AutoAps CEO Mark Paul.

About OADA (http://www.oregonautodealers.org/)

The Oregon Auto Dealers Association advocates for more than 200 members throughout the state to improve general welfare of the local auto industry and educate our members on current events and best practices to propel business towards tomorrow.

About CNCDA (http://www.cncda.org/)

The California New Car Dealers Association is the country's largest state association of franchised new car and truck dealers representing over 1,100 dealer members. CNCDA members are primarily engaged in the retail sale and lease of new vehicles, and also engage in automotive service, repair and part sales.

About AutoAp, Inc. (http://www.autoap.com)

AutoAp, Inc. is an automotive safety recall management software developer providing highly-accurate, professional safety recall management solutions to help franchised automotive dealers make better business decisions on vehicle acquisition; reduce safety recall liability with daily inventory review and profit from net-new service revenue discovered in their sold-customer vehicles.

AutoAp also provides recall management solutions for rental car companies and corporate and government fleet owners.
Hotwire PR, the global PR and communications consultancy, has announced that it has entered into an exclusive co-branded partnership with Dubai based Active (Digital. Marketing. Communications). The agreement sees Hotwire extend its global network of offices to twelve and is part of its strategy to offer clients pan-regional communications support and global opportunities for its staff. Active becomes the second of Hotwire's global network of affiliates to join its exclusive co-branded partnership scheme, following on from Amsterdam based Yellow Communications.

Active is one of the region's leading communications consultancy serving GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) states and Levant (Lebanon & Jordan) with an impressive client list which includes Revlon, Xerox, Parrot and JP Morgan Private Bank. Independently owned, the agency has worked with Hotwire on a non-exclusive basis for the past ten years for clients including Ruckus Wireless, Seagate and Ciena.

The exclusive co-branded agreement will see Active add the Hotwire logo to its existing brand identity and will significantly deepen the operational relationship between the two companies. The partnership gives Active access to Hotwire's global sales, marketing and HR resources while Hotwire will benefit from Active's deep experience and network across the Middle East. Both companies will work together not just on supporting existing clients but on targeted business development across the region.

According to Andy West, Chief Development Officer at Hotwire, the agreement will bring benefits not just to clients looking to target this prosperous region but to the firm's 180 staff: "Working together, we can tap into a wider talent pool while offering our staff the sort of international opportunities that today's young PR professionals are looking for. We're delighted to be teaming up with Active and to building a strong EMEA offer for our clients and to providing career possibilities for our people."

Louay Al-Samarrai, Co-founder and Joint Managing Director said: "At Active we are always looking to evolve and enhance our solutions and services and this partnership gives us the support and access to the very best that the communications industry has to offer. Working closely with Hotwire, we can effectively tap into a much wider network of prospects, services and skills and provide our regional client base with a broader range of solutions to their communications needs."

Brendon Craigie, Group CEO at Hotwire added: Clients understandably want to work with the best partners throughout the world. We are driven by a desire to deliver the best possible international results for our clients. By aligning our award winning team and strategic presence in Europe, North America and Australasia, with outstanding regional partners like Active, we believe we bring a compelling alternative agency model to the one size fits all global agency model. It means that we can bring a similar level of consistency and ease of partnering that you would expect from a single brand solution, while enjoying the benefits of a best of breed model.

About Hotwire

Hotwire is a global PR and communications agency dedicated to helping ambitious companies change their game, build their reputation, and stand out from the crowd. Our communications experts work in Sector Practice teams to provide our clients with in-depth knowledge and experience of a number of market categories. From Sydney to San Francisco, were a team, with a one office mentality. Our international team works across our 22 wholly owned and network locations, including the UK, US, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Australia and New Zealand. We bring the best of our knowledge, skills and experience to all of our clients wherever they are in the world. http://www.hotwirepr.com

Hotwire is wholly owned by Enero Group Limited, a company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. The Enero Group is a boutique network of marketing and communications businesses that include BMF, CPR, Dark Blue Sea, Frank PR, Hotwire, Jigsaw, Naked Communications, OB Media, Precinct, The Digital Edge and The Leading Edge.

About Active

Active has been driving regional - across the Middle East and beyond - communication campaigns for corporations since 2003. With over 13 years of experience as a strategic PR and Marketing Communication Consultancy, Active provides relevant guidance and counsel to help clients achieve their communication and business objectives and deliver on ROI. This reputation has been built through a long and strong track record of delivery and adding-value at every stage in a clients communication campaign. Actives client portfolio includes Xerox, JP Morgan Private Bank, Commscope, Aspentech, Parrot, Arbor Networks, FMS Tech, Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group and more. Active has offices in Dubai (UAE), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Libya.

For additional information, promotions and updates, please visit http://www.activepr.biz, follow Active on Twitter @ActivePR_ME on Facebook, or on the LinkedIn Company page.
Survival and remission rates for multiple myeloma continue to climb as researchers and clinicians apply the latest research to patient treatment plans. With large conferences like ASCO still months away, its important to get timely updates on the latest treatment options for Multiple Myeloma.

Shaji Kumar, MD and David Dingli, MD, both Professors of Medicine, Hematology, at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, will review the latest treatment practices at a one-hour online CME program hosted by OMedLive.com.

Attendees will learn the newest advances in treating relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma including:

The efficacy and safety of new and emerging agents, prognostic factors and patient-specific clinical criteria for treatment strategy selection, therapeutic implications of combination regimens involving emerging agents with currently available treatment options, timing of treatment initiation and genetic profiling based on disease characteristics and individual patient profiles.

The therapy of multiple myeloma is evolving with the recent approval of several novel classes of agents: it is important that the role and impact of these exciting agents on the disease as well as specific toxicities are understood. David Dingli, MD

We recommend this CME program for hematologists, oncologists, internal medicine physicians, family medicine/primary care physicians, and other clinicians who care for patients multiple myeloma, a rare form of cancer affecting about 0.7% of cancer cases overall.

The online CME session will take place April 13th, 11 am  Noon EST at OMedLive.com. This activity is supported by educational grants from Janssen Biotech, Inc., administered by Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Karyopharm Therapeutics, Inc.

CEO Robert Rosenbloom said, were pleased to deliver this program on Multiple Myeloma ahead of the ASCO conference so clinicians can immediately expand their treatment options for patients. The life expectancy from the diagnosis of Multiple Myeloma increased from three months to four years over the past decade. We hope programs like this can increase it even further.

One of the unique aspects of OMedLives online learning platform is the ability for attendees to ask direct questions to the experts about multiple myeloma. The physicians will be replying to questions throughout the presentation. Attendees can also give their opinion on best medical practices via polling questions throughout the session.

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Center for Continuing Education and PlatformQ Health Education. The University of Nebraska Medical Center, Center for Continuing Education is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Further information:


GEM Advertising and Pathways to Pipelines

GEM Advertising is pleased to announce its first client for the newly launched GEM Chicago office. The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce has partnered with GEM to work on a project for the Chamber Foundations new initiative, Pathways to Pipelines. GEM will be creating the visual identity for the initiative, which will be unveiled for its inaugural event, Pathways to Pipelines - The ROI for Employers, scheduled to take place on May 24, 2016, from 8:00  10:30 a.m. at The Ivy Room in Chicago.

GEM Chicagos Managing Director, Sharon R. Butler, will spearhead the project, which will closely involve GEMs Creative and Design departments.

After being a client of GEM Advertising for several years, it is an honor to now be a part of the amazing GEM family, Butler said. I am thrilled to be in Chicago overseeing the launch and operations of our newest location, and I look forward to GEM becoming a part of the fabric of the local community as we become a strategic partner in growth for area businesses. Given my recent background at a regional Chamber in Connecticut, I couldnt be happier to be working on a project with the Chicagoland Chamber.

The Chicagoland Chamber Foundation coordinates educational resources, programs, and research to advance the activities of the Chamber, with a focus on workforce development, disability inclusion and business education. The Pathways to Pipelines event is designed to educate employers regarding the benefits of work-based learning experience through internships.

The event will provide best practices to employers on how to best utilize interns in an effort to create more meaningful work experiences for students while optimizing what can be accomplished for the employer. More than 100 local business leaders and university career guidance professionals are expected to attend the event. For more information on Pathways to Pipelines please visit the event page here.

About GEM Advertising

GEM is a full-service, international, award-winning communications and marketing agency. With nine in-house departments, GEM produces and polishes multifaceted branding campaigns that spark love affairs between brands and their customer-advocates. GEM sees the highest potential in their clients and works with a feverish degree of passion and clarity to drive that potential into existence using human and technology resources of the highest integrity. GEM Advertising has offices in New Haven, CT; Vancouver, British Columbia; Boston, MA; and Chicago, IL. To learn more about GEM Advertising, please visit: http://www.GEM-Advertising.com.

About the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce

The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce represents over 1,000 member companies, their 400,000 employees, and over $24 billion in revenue. We combine the power of our membership with our legacy of leadership and business advocacy to drive a dynamic economy. We focus on delivering value for our members, making Chicagoland a world-class place to live and work. Visit ChicagolandChamber.org.
Nepal Now, and for the rest of 2016, is one of the best and most meaningful times ever for travelers to visit Nepal, said Mike Rea, CEO of Tourism Cares

Nepal is open for business and travelers are invited to return to this desirable destination to experience the renewal, rebuilding and restoration of the tourism infrastructure of Nepal. Industry Non-Profit, Tourism Cares, has created a free map of Meaningful Destinations of Nepal to promote travel in 2016. The map is available at: http://www.tourismcares.org/nepal-map. .

This is good news for the traveling public as this provides an especially powerful window of opportunity for travelers to return to this beautiful mountain kingdom. The recovery from the earthquake is either complete or in full swing all across the country, creating unparalleled opportunities for learning, appreciation, engagement and giving back.

Now, and for the rest of 2016, is one of the best and most meaningful times ever for travelers to visit Nepal, said Mike Rea, CEO of Tourism Cares, the charitable community of the travel and tourism industry. Experience things today in Nepal that visitors wont be able to even a year or two from now

A number of factors contribute to this especially powerful window of opportunity for travelers and their families and friends, starting with the lifting on March 1 of a U.S. State Department travel advisory in place since the April 25, 2015 Gorkha earthquake that killed 8,617, injured 16,808 and displaced 2.8 million people. Other positive factors include new deals for travelers with tour operators and hotels, the upcoming peak travel seasons of spring and fall, a chance to enjoy Nepals cultural and natural wonders with a lot more elbow room, etc.

Perhaps most importantly, traveling now to Nepal will contribute to the recovery. To illustrate the points of interest, Tourism Cares is releasing the first Meaningful Travel Map which is available free to help travelers plan their trip in a philanthropic way.

For all these reasons, now is an especially inspirational time to visit Nepal: to honor the hardship of the last year; to celebrate its resilience, inspiration and creativity in rebounding; and to experience the best of the old Nepal, and the best of the new, before the rest of the world does.

Learn how you can support the Nepal Recovery Fund and the Returning to New Heights campaign at http://www.tourismcares.org/disaster-recovery/. The Good Travels research study on philanthropic travel can be found at: http://www.TourismCares.org/GoodTravels.

About Tourism Cares

Tourism Cares, Inc., a US 501(c)(3) public charity, preserves and enriches the travel experience for future generations. Founded and supported by leading associations and companies in the travel industry, the Tourism Cares community invests its resources, talent and influence in three areas: supporting underappreciated and at-risk destinations and communities; investing in those entering the industry and professional development for emerging leaders; and by sharing travel corporate social responsibility knowledge and best practices so that individual businesses can best support their own causes. Learn more at http://www.TourismCares.org and @tourismcares.

Media Contact

Nancy Harrison

Adventure Media

nharrison(at)adventuremedianews(dot)com

307.421.4473
SIGNiX E-Signatures for Financial Services SIGNiXs independent e-signatures meet compliance requirements for highly-regulated industries and provide financial services professionals with the ability to get documents signed quickly and securely anywhere, anytime.

SIGNiX, the leading Independent E-Signature service provider in the wealth management space, announced today that they will be sponsoring the 2016 Financial Services Management Technology Conference, known as TechLeaders, April 18-19, 2016 in Dallas, TX. SIGNiX will exhibit at TechLeaders 2016 to demonstrate how e-signatures can streamline wealth management processes.

TechLeaders is a general-session based conference that includes live demos and presentations from leading technology providers and round-table discussions to inform broker-dealer professionals and to encourage industry discussions. The two-day agenda is focused on bringing attendees the most-up-to-date tools, resources and technology innovations.

SIGNiXs executive vice president, Pem Guerry, will attend TechLeaders 2016 in Dallas. This technology is a vital tool when connecting financial advisors to their clients, and it provides an opportunity to improve both compliance and efficiency, while also reducing operating expenses and drastically improving the customer experience, said Guerry. SIGNiXs independent e-signatures meet compliance requirements for highly-regulated industries and provide financial services professionals with the ability to get documents signed quickly and securely anywhere, anytime. He also added that, The use of secure e-signatures has clearly become a technology best practice with rapidly growing adoption by broker-dealers and financial advisors.

During the conference, SIGNiX will highlight SIGNiXs e-signature functionality and the security benefits of Independent E-Signatures. SIGNiXs presentation will also focus on its unique partnership opportunities, including the SIGNiX Partner Principles. To see SIGNiX in action, visit their table during the conference.

About SIGNiX:

SIGNiX, the most trusted name in Independent E-Signatures, makes signing documents online safe and secure with comprehensive legal evidence permanently embedded in each document to eliminate any dependence upon SIGNiX. The companys cloud-based service uses patented technology to give businesses and organizations the most secure and legally defensible e-signatures available at a fraction of the cost of wet ink signatures. SIGNiXs products help the worlds leading companies become more efficient, decrease risk and boost profits.

For more information, visit http://www.signix.com. You can also follow SIGNiX on Twitter @signixsolutions, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

About TechLeaders:

The 2016 Financial Services Management Technology Conference is presented by Beacon Strategies, LLC and McCartan & Company. The conference will be attended by decision makers at leading financial services organizations. The goal is to connect technology solutions providers with those on the front lines fielding requests for new support and better resources.
Centric 8 PLM is a user friendly, comprehensive tool, adapted to our needs. I believe Centric will allow us to go a step further.

Centric Software announces that Avante Textil, the textile leader in Mexico, has selected Centric 8 PLM (product lifecycle management) to strengthen its leadership position by delivering products to market faster while maintaining competitive prices.

Founded in 1989, the Avante Textil group is vertically integrated from spinning yarns to producing fabric and creating clothing creating clothing for women, men, teens, lingerie, baby and sportswear. Avante employs 13,000 people and counts approximately 300 stores across the country. Avante brands include Altesse, Optima, Tops and Bottoms, Skiny, Ava Strahl, Baby Optima, Puppy & Co and Action Gear.

Faced with fierce, international competition, Avante Textil decided to look for a PLM solution to help them stay ahead of the market by bringing quality products to stores faster. Centrics knowledge of the fashion industry and powerful software made the difference.

We chose Centric because they are focused on the fashion industry. With Centric we feel we can improve our own processes and easily achieve our business objectives. Centric 8 PLM is a user friendly, comprehensive tool, adapted to our needs. I believe Centric will allow us to go a step further, explains Edgar Beltran, PLM Project Manager, Avante Textil.

In our globalized, competitive market, time is of the essence. In addition to being extremely competitive, our industry is becoming more and more international and comprises several different channels of distribution. We needed to find the best balance between quality and price. We selected Centric 8 PLM to improve responsiveness and deliver our products to market on time, explains Hector Ramirez, Marketing Director, Avante Textil.

Avante Textil will use Centric to streamline and speed-up product development. Centric 8 PLM is a comprehensive tool which will allow us to better manage our process from design to merchandising thanks to more transparent, easily accessible and unique, shared data, adds Ramirez.

Centric 8 will provide Avante Textil with a single version of actionable truth, which will allow the company to eliminate non-value added activities and focus on creating and developing quality products quickly. Centric will help us minimize errors while also avoiding redoing everything from scratch. With Centric 8, we will save time spent in product development.

Improvements in product development will also have a direct impact on the bottom line. By cutting down on time and improving the quality of our products we will also improve our companys global performance.

We are honored to count Mexicos textile leader as our first customer in Mexico, says Chris Groves, President and CEO of Centric Software. Centric will help Avante Textil deliver quality products faster to stay ahead of global competition.

Avante Textil (http://www.avantetextil.com)

Avante Textil is a 100% Mexican company founded in 1989. Vertically integrated our purpose is to transform the cotton and synthetic fibers into yarn, creating knitted fabrics and clothing; all of those who make up this great company place in each product: pride, attitude and effort. Always look after the future of more than 8,500 families and steady job creation. To learn more visit http://www.avantetextil.com

Centric Software, Inc. (http://www.centricsoftware.com)

From its headquarters in Silicon Valley and offices in trend capitals around the world, Centric Software builds technologies for the most prestigious names in fashion, retail, footwear, luxury and consumer goods. Its flagship product lifecycle management (PLM) platform, Centric 8, delivers enterprise-class merchandise planning, product development, sourcing, business planning, quality and collection management functionality tailored for fast-moving consumer industries. Centric Small Business packages extended PLM including innovative technology and key industry learnings tailored for small businesses.

Centric Software has received multiple industry awards, including the Frost & Sullivan Global Product Differentiation Excellence Award in Retail, Fashion and Apparel PLM. Red Herring named Centric to its Top 100 Global list in 2013 and 2015.

Centric is a registered trademark of Centric Software. All other brands and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Media Contacts:

Centric Software

Americas: Jennifer Forsythe, Centric Software, jforsythe(at)centricsoftware(dot)com

Europe: Maria teresa Rubino, Simply MOD, +39 389 457 3163, mariateresarubino(at)simplymod(dot)it

Asia: Emilie Gao, Centric Software, +86 186 1651 9769, egao(at)centricsoftware(dot)com

Avante Textil

Press Contact:

Hector Ramirez, Marketing Director, Avante Textil

email hramirez(at)avantetextil(dot)com

Edgar Beltran, PLM Project Manager, Avante Textil

email ebeltran(at)avantetextil(dot)com
eCreations named WooCommerce Expert We had to demonstrate our skills, experience and expertise in a one-on-one interview, as well as through a variety of client projects utilizing WooCommerce solutions.

eCreations has been named a WooExpert, based on its proficiency with the WooCommerce ecommerce platform. eCreations is the 14th company in the United States and the first in Arizona to be hand selected as a WooExpert by WooCommerce developer Automattic, also the developer of WordPress.com.

According to the WooThemes website, the WooCommerce ecommerce solution powers over 37% of all online stores giving businesses complete control to sell anything on the Internet. For developers like eCreations, WooCommerce is the most extendable, adaptable, open-source program to build the best online store for its clients. On top of its popularity and flexibility, it also provides extensibility with its powerful API. As far as future growth comes into play, the options are limitless.

Steve Tamulewicz, owner of Phoenix-based web design and services company eCreations, agrees the future, as a WooExpert, is exciting. Weve always recommended the WooCommerce platform as our first choice to our ecommerce clientele. Not only is it a reliable rescue solution for businesses who have had a negative experience with other applications and platforms, but it also provides the perfect expandability for clients already running on WooCommerce, and looking to grow their online presence or increase functionality, said Tamulewicz.

Since opening its doors more than 18 years ago, eCreations has offered results-driven Internet marketing strategies and cutting-edge web development services to clients across the country, including web design, customized web applications, ecommerce solutions, search engine optimization, online marketing and more. What differentiates eCreations from competitors is impeccable service, indisputable integrity and focusing on results.

Becoming a WooExpert is a true feather in our cap. They dont let just anyone become a designated partner, as proven by their stringent application, review and approval process, explained Tamulewicz. We had to demonstrate our skills, experience and expertise in a one-on-one interview, as well as through a variety of client projects utilizing WooCommerce solutions. I strongly feel having the capability to bring our clients vision to reality and delivering customized solutions is what helped us land this privileged designation. We are very honored to be part of this group of exclusive WooCommerce partners.

About eCreations:

eCreations is Arizonas premier web services firm offering clients results-driven Internet marketing strategies. The Internet industry, which includes website design, search engine optimization, hosting and other related services isnt just a job for us  its a passion. This passion will always be anchored by ethics, experience, and education. We promise what we can deliver and always strive to deliver more than what is expected. Since 1997, weve cultivated our core-competence, providing premium web services to companies small and large. Our Certified Web Professionals continue learning about the latest technologies. This ensures our clients receive quality, results-driven strategies. For more information, please visit our website at http://www.ecreations.net or call us at toll free 1-877-664-6306.
CME Outfitters (CMEO), a leading accredited provider in continuing medical education, is proud to announce its 9th Annual Chair Summit, being held this September 15-17 in Miami, Florida. Chair Summit is a multi-day conference that educates psychiatrists, neurologists, primary care physicians, and mental health clinicians, on advances in evidence-based treatments for a variety of neurological and behavioral conditions. This years conference is set to take place at the Biltmore Coral Gable, a beautiful and luxurious hotel and conference center a short 5 miles from the Miami airport. Chair Summit offers continuing education credit for physicians, nurses, pharmacists, social workers, case managers, and other clinicians with interest in the neurosciences.

Chair Summit differs from many meetings of its kind in that it encourages two-way learning by offering more than just lectures by Chairmen and engaging participants in small group discussions, networking, and giving attendees many opportunities to become involved via interactive device technology.

The conference includes sessions on topics of recent media notoriety and critical educational need among healthcare professionals in psychiatry, neurology, and primary care. Visit http://www.chairsummit.com for more information.

About CME Outfitters, LLC

CME Outfitters develops and distributes live, recorded and web-based, outcomes- and evidence-based educational activities to thousands of clinicians each year and offers expert accreditation and outcome services for non-accredited organizations. CME Outfitters focuses on delivering education to specialty audiences, with strong expertise in neuroscience, inflammatory, infectious, and autoimmune diseases, and cardiovascular disease. For a complete list of certified activities and more information, visit http://www.cmeoutfitters.com or call 877.CME.PROS (877.263.7767).

About neuroscienceCME

neuroscienceCME.com is an award-winning web portal serving clinicians, educators, and researchers in the neurosciences. Launched in October 2006, neuroscienceCME.com fills an identified gap in online resources for professionals around the world who practice in areas related to psychiatry, sleep disorders, pain, and neurology. The site's primary mission is to be a central forum for accessing, debating, synthesizing, and implementing the latest findings and best practices in the neurosciences. Visit http://www.neuroscienceCME.com to learn more.

CME Outfitters 

Improving Clinical Behavior  One Change at a Time

###
EagleLIFT Logo Nevadas unique geology makes the states residents and business owners susceptible to problems that may place their properties at risk.

EagleLIFT, Inc., headquartered in Rancho Cucamonga, CA, has expanded its operations to a new office in Las Vegas, NV to service the State of Nevada for their roadway, foundation and infrastructure repair needs.

The expansion is an effort to meet the growing service demands in Nevada and to provide quicker service for the region.

EagleLIFT provides our city, county, and state governments, commercial and residential customers with solutions that help them rehabilitate their roadways and existing structures without the need to rip and replace, states Don Moody, President and Founder of EagleLIFT. Nevadas unique geology makes the states residents and business owners susceptible to problems that may place their properties at risk. We are building our presence in Nevada to show them that there is a better way to repair their properties with our exciting no-excavation solutions.

EagleLIFT is a full-service foundation lifting and sewer rehabilitation company. For foundation issues, EagleLIFT is a provider of helical and push pile piering systems and the patented URETEK Deep Injection Process. Through the URETEK Deep Injection Process, EagleLIFT is able to lift, level, and stabilize foundations against soil failure and settlement by injecting a high-density structural polymer into the support soils underneath the property.

The Deep Injection Process is also used for sanitary and stormwater sewer sealing and encapsulation, whereby the polymer is injected around manholes and lateral lines and the soils are stabilized to voidfill, seal or realign the structure. This can be used for joint sealing, inflow and infiltration mitigation or stabilizing and compacting adjacent soils.

About EagleLIFT

EagleLIFT services the states of Nevada, California and Arizona. It has service locations in Southern and Northern California, Nevada and is opening a location in Arizona, target date, late 2016. EagleLIFT is a Class A- General Engineering Contractor and a Veteran Owned Small Business headquartered in Rancho, Cucamonga, CA.
News / International

by Staff reporter

British police are set to raid a 16 year old Zimbabwean boy at the Zimbabwean embassy in London. Officers are currently camped outside the building at The Strand, since Sunday after the boy (name withheld), ran into the Zimbabwean embassy at the weekend in what he says is his fleeing UK social workers preventing him from travelling back to Zimbabwe.In a public video (below), the boy narrates what he says is his ordeal at present and mentions he will not leave the consulate until they are given free passage to go to the airport to return to Harare.There will be a demonstration at Zimbabwe embassy, Monday at 9am to prevent Social Services from taking the boy away by force, a source said.On Tuesday the Zimbabwean Teen, who was due to appear in the Royal Court of Justice in London, went on the run and sought refugee at the Zimbabwean embassy, which is just 5 minutes walk away from the court.He says, "two Indian support workers brought me to the court. We arrived early and they wanted me to meet with my solicitor on record. I refused since I already told the court I no longer want him to represent me. I said I wanted to meet with my mother first. I went to the toilet and when I saw the opportunity, I ran for my life. I arrived at the Zimbabwean embassy alone.When asked how he had ended up in the mental health hospital in Norwich, the teen explained, "I was hunger striking to protest against my detainment in the UK. I had been in the country for 8 months with no school, no friends, no social life and no contact to family. I had been coerced by the UK social services to not speak with my family. I had also been coerced to lie about being gay or bisexual. My lawyer and my social worker had also coerced me to lie and exaggerate about the abuse I had suffered in the care of my mother.When I realized that these people don't give a sh.. about me and I had tried everything I could think of to get back to my family, I thought to stop eating. Instead of discharging me from their social care as per my wishes or taking me to a normal hospital and forcing me to eat, they instead locked me up in a glorified juvenile prison called Huntercombe Mental Health hospital Norwich where they got me waked up trying to defend myself from them injecting me with unidentified medicine and then they would end up injecting me all the same apparently to calm me down from all the hype of trying to defend myself.When I realized that they did not care about me or my health, I gave up hunger striking. But they still insisted on keeping me in the mental health hospital because they claimed I was resisting medication and being aggressive when resisting 6-8 men holding me down to inject me against my wishes and feelings".In this interview, the teen talked about why he has been in care, why he ran away, what has happened since then and what his fears and wishes are. The interview, which was conducted yesterday via skype, as mother and son were at the Zimbabwean embassy in London were they sought refugee since Tuesday.
Working with ACST provides the opportunity to help churches connect their entire community and provide stewardship solutions that create sustainable ministries.

Vanco Payment Solutions and ACS Technologies, two widely adopted and respected partners to the church community, have combined their market-leading online giving solutions and best-in-breed church management software to create the next generation of integrated e-giving capabilities for churches that want to connect their communities, streamline their operations and sustain the finances of their ministry.

Pairing ACS Technologies church management software with e- Giving from Vanco helps churches more effectively manage contributions and payments through seamless integration of church information and elimination of unnecessary work for staff. This allows churches to keep their focus on their mission.

For more than 18 years, we have helped faith-based organizations foster predicable, consistent income through one-time and recurring electronic donations and payments. Churches trust us as a certified provider to safely and securely process card and e-check transactions, Vanco Payment Solutions CEO Kevin Lee said. Our payment processing engine works seamlessly with ACSTs software, leveraging our deep expertise to support this critical part of ACSTs holistic church management solutions. Working with ACST provides the opportunity to help churches connect their entire community and provide stewardship solutions that create sustainable ministries.

We are dedicated to serving our nearly 50,000 clients with the best solutions we can provide. Most of the time, we develop those products and provide that support ourselves internally. However, when we meet exceptional partners like Vanco, we realize its in our clients best interest to combine value with a strategic alliance to offer the most superior products and services. ACS Technologies CFO Craig Hearon said. Some call this a best of breed partnership. We call it good business. But most of all, we call it the right thing to do for our clients to help them grow their ministries even better than before.

Vanco and ACS Technologies have been partners for more than 4 years. As the companies continue to create innovative solutions and respond to the needs of our joint clients, Vanco looks forward to its role as the exclusive engine behind the integration of payment and payment-related reporting data in this next phase of a long-standing partnership.

About Vanco Payment Solutions

Vanco Payment Solutions focuses on meeting the unique needs of more than 20,000 churches, schools and other faith-based organizations who count on predictable, recurring revenue. Churches, nonprofits and other relationship-oriented organizations  and the software providers and professional associations that serve them  rely on Vancos specialized approach to adding electronic giving and payment options that help them conveniently, securely and efficiently accept a broad range of payments, including credit and debit cards, enhance current capabilities and more effectively manage their operations. Vanco Payment Solutions is headquartered in Atlanta and has an office in Bloomington, MN.

About ACS Technologies

Founded in 1978, ACS Technologies is the leading provider of information management software and service solutions to nearly 50,000 churches, schools, and organizational offices. With brands such as ACS, PDS, The City, Realm, and HeadMaster, ACS Technologies enables churches and schools to manage every vital area of their ministry from finances to relationships, from events and groups to giving and serving. Whether online, desktop, or mobile, the passion that drives ACS Technologies is maximizing technology's value for ministry. ACS Technologies is a privately held company headquartered in Florence, SC, with offices in Greenville, SC, Phoenix, Arizona and Seattle, WA.
It is such a humbling honor to be selected as a semifinalist again for this prestigious award.

Proove Biosciences, Inc., the commercial and research leader in personalized pain medicine, is pleased to announce that Brian Meshkin, CEO at Proove Biosciences, is named as a semifinalist for the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2016 Orange County Region. Now celebrating its 30th year, the awards program recognizes entrepreneurs in over 145 cities and 60 countries who demonstrate excellence and extraordinary success in such areas as innovation, financial performance, and personal commitment to their businesses and communities. Brian Meshkin was selected as a semifinalist by a panel of independent judges. Finalists will be announced Monday, May 23and winners will be announced at a formal Awards Gala on Friday, June 17. The Awards Gala, which is held at St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort in Dana Point, California, is expected to host more than 500 Founders, CEOs, and other business leaders.

It is such a humbling honor to be selected as a semifinalist again for this prestigious award, said Meshkin. To be in the running for an award from an organization like EYin a dynamic and thriving community like Orange Countyreflects the commitment of the everyone at Proove to our mission of improving healthcare decisions to enhance patient care for our nations largest and most expensive health condition which is pain. Regional award winners are eligible for consideration for the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards. Award winners in several national categories, as well as the overall national award winner, will be announced at the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards gala in Palm Springs, California, on November 19, 2016. The awards gala is the culminating event of the EY Strategic Growth Forum, the nations most prestigious gathering of high-growth, market-leading companies.

The recognition from EY comes on the heels of Meshkins receipt of the 15th Annual Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award from the Orange County Business Journal last month. To learn more about Brian Meshkins journey as an EY Entrepreneur Of The Year semifinalist, follow Proove Biosciences on Twitter at @proovebio. To follow the latest program developments of the award program on Twitter, interact with @EY_EOYUS using #EOYOC and visit the Orange County regional website at http://www.ey.com/us/eoy/oc.

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).

About EY Entrepreneur Of The Year

EY Entrepreneur Of The Year is the worlds most prestigious business award for entrepreneurs. The unique award makes a difference through the way it encourages entrepreneurial activity among those with potential and recognizes the contribution of people who inspire others with their vision, leadership and achievement. As the first and only truly global award of its kind, Entrepreneur Of The Year celebrates those who are building and leading successful, growing and dynamic businesses, recognizing them through regional, national and global awards programs in more than 145 cities in more than 60 countries.

About EYs Strategic Growth Markets practice

EYs Strategic Growth Markets (SGM) practice guides leading high-growth companies. Our multidisciplinary teams of elite professionals provide perspective and advice to help our clients accelerate market leadership. SGM delivers assurance, tax, transactions and advisory services to thousands of companies spanning all industries. EY is the undisputed leader in taking companies public, advising key government agencies on the issues impacting high-growth companies and convening the experts who shape the business climate. For more information, please visit us at ey.com/us/strategicgrowthmarkets, or follow news on Twitter @EY_Growth.

About EY

EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.
HOLLOWAY AMERICA specializes in pressure vessel fabrication and components for pharmaceutical and biotech companies. HOLLOWAY engineers will be available to discuss the impact one-of-a-kind pressure vessels can make on any biotech companys specific processes.

HOLLOWAY AMERICA, a leading manufacturer of pressure equipment for pharmaceutical and biotech companies, recently announced it will host a booth at the 2016 INTERPHEX exhibition at the Javits Center in New York City. The event will run from April 26 to April 28 and is expected to garner more than 10,000 industry professionals and some 600 suppliers.

HOLLOWAY Director of Marketing Randy Colwell, as well as Director of Engineering Evelyn Gayer and Sales Engineer Stephen Lamb, invite INTERPHEX attendees to visit them at booth 3510 to learn more about the companys tanks and pressure vessels and how its equipment caters to the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Said Colwell, Each year we visit New York for INTERPHEX is unique to us because we have a years worth of innovations to share with attendees whose companies would benefit from them the most.

HOLLOWAY plans to have informal discussions with attendees about its pharmaceutical stainless steel tanks and vessels, which range from bioreactors to fermentation vessels to recovery and WFI tanks. We can custom build any type of pharmaceutical-grade pressure vessel to safely increase efficient production for biopharm companies, said Colwell. He continued, The pharma and biotech industries typically require entirely unique applications, so we always look forward to meeting industry professionals at INTERPHEX and discussing how our custom-engineered and fabricated equipment can help improve their processes.

In addition to sharing information about HOLLOWAYs stainless steel pressure vessels, Gayer said shes excited to take part in other aspects of INTERPHEX 2016: This is the best opportunity we have during the year to not only talk to companies about what HOLLOWAY can do for them, but we also learndirect from the sourcemore about their changing needs. Those technical conversations help us remain at the forefront of innovation, so HOLLOWAY can continue offering some of the most technologically advanced biotech processing equipment on the market.

About INTERPHEX 2016

The Javits Center has reserved more than 300,000 square feet of event space to accommodate INTERPHEX 2016s slated attractions, which include pioneering product launches, Engineering Olympics, and a 3D printing pavilion. Aside from American companies like HOLLOWAY, industry experts and suppliers from more than 48 additional countries around the world will attend INTERPHEX 2016 to share their own insights and technologies.

For details about custom-engineered stainless steel vessels for the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, contact Randy Colwell at 417.863.0077 or email info(at)hollowayamerica(dot)com. For information about INTERPHEX 2016, visit interphex.com.
Attorney Jacqueline Harounian

Wisselman, Harounian & Associates, P.C. is pleased to announce that law partner Jacqueline Harounian has been awarded the New Yorks Women Leaders in the Law Award for 2016. This is the second year in a row that Ms. Harounian has been chosen for this honor, which will be featured in New York Magazine.

Consistently recognized as one of the most accomplished, trusted, and skilled matrimonial law attorneys in the state, Ms. Harounian is well known for the many contributions she has made to the practice of law in New York. A partner at the firm since 2006, she leads a successful team of eight lawyers with a history of success in trial advocacy.

In addition to her practice, Ms. Harounian is also a frequently sought lecturer and has authored a number of articles on legal topics. She is an adjunct professor at Hofstra Law School and maintains membership in a variety of professional societies and non-profit organizations. She has won numerous awards for her exceptional advocacy and commitment to her clients, including the Hofstra University School of Law Top Women in Law award (2016), the HIA-LI Those Who Make a Difference Award, the NCBA Access to Justice Pro Bono Award, and many more. In recognition of her outstanding contributions to the legal field, Ms. Harounian has received a 10.0-Superb rating on Avvo, has consistently been listed in Super Lawyers for the New York Metro area, and has an AVPreeminent Rating with Martindale-Hubbell, the highest rating possible by this trusted service.

Ms. Harounian truly has a heart for those she serves and stops at nothing to deliver the highest level of service possible not just to her clients, but to her community as well. Wisselman, Harounian & Associates are extremely proud of her many accomplishments and look forward to many more years of success.

Wisselman, Harounian & Associates, P.C. is one of the most established, trusted, and highly-rated divorce and family law firms in Long Island. We handle the full gamut of divorce and family law-related cases, including pre- and postnuptial agreements, child custody and visitation, grandparents rights, Jewish get, same sex marriage, domestic violence, and more. Wisselman, Harounian & Associates will now provide a 15% discount off retainers and hourly rates to all Civil Servant workers, including Fire, Police related services, EMS and EMT, teachers of NY State, as well as Military members and Veterans. For more information on the firm and to schedule a free consultation, please visit http://www.lawjaw.com.
Having such extensive clinical experience combined with her extensive international experience in Patient Blood Management will help Accumen as we continue with our mission of Profoundly Impacting Healthcare.

Accumen, a healthcare transformation company, announced that Trudi Gallagher, has been appointed as Program Manager of Patient Blood Management offering. Gallagher was hired because of her deep expertise and understanding of implementing advanced Patient Blood Management programs. She will support the Patient Blood Management team and serve as a valuable resource for health systems as they improve quality for better patient care.

Gallagher joins Accumen after over four decades of experience as a Registered Nurse with a focus in Blood Management for the past 16 years. Her most recent experience was acting as the State Clinical Coordinator - Patient Blood Management with the Department of Health, Office of Chief Medical Officer of Western Australia.

Trudis experience and commitment to quality makes her a perfect fit for Accumen, said Dr. Irwin Gross, Senior Medical Director. Having such extensive clinical experience combined with her extensive international experience in Patient Blood Management will help Accumen as we continue with our mission of Profoundly Impacting Healthcare.

Disclaimer: Accumen has no authority, responsibility or liability with respect to any clinical decisions made and by - or in connection with - a providers laboratory, patient blood management, or other operations. Nothing herein and no aspect of any services provided by Accumen is intended - or shall be deemed - to subordinate, usurp or otherwise diminish any providers sole authority and discretion with respect to all clinical decision-making for its patients.

About Accumen

Accumen Inc. is a healthcare transformation company. Using a proven blueprint, innovative customized approach and proprietary technology, Accumen partners with health systems to set new standards of performance in the clinical lab- driving higher quality, better service and unprecedented value. Accumen delivers proven results in Clinical Laboratory Operations and Patient Blood Management with solutions that are designed to help clients create healthier labs, healthier hospitals and ultimately, healthier communities.

Accumen  Accelerating Breakthrough Performance. Find more information at http://www.accumen.com.
Multivariate Optical Elements can optimize the performance of traditional hyperspectral systems and in some cases reduce post processing and data storage by up to two hundred times.

Multivariate Optical Element innovator, CIRTEMO, announced today that Semiconductor Devices (SCD) and SCD USA will showcase a Multivariate Optical Element hyperspectral imaging demonstration at SPIE DCS 2016 exposition in Baltimore, MD April 17-21, 2016. SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing Expo (formerly SPIE DSS), hosted at the Baltimore Convention Center, is the key premier exhibition for researchers, engineers, product developers, and purchasers who specialize in optics and photonics.

Our goal for this demonstration is to help our partners and customers understand how IR sensors can be combined with Multivariate Optical Elements to provide high value chemical information in real-time. said Jason Williamson, CIRTEMO founder. Multivariate Optical Elements can optimize the performance of traditional hyperspectral systems and in some cases reduce post processing and data storage by up to two hundred times. This is a game changer for companies and end users developing hyperspectral imaging systems for industrial, defense, agricultural and life science applications.

CIRTEMO designs and manufactures patented optical filters, called Multivariate Optical Elements, which are encoded to detect/measure complex chemical compounds and attributes. Its patented Multivariate Optical Element platform enables optical systems to perform high value detection and analysis at the speed of light, to a variety of industries. Multivariate Optical Elements are ideally suited for point detection sensors and hyperspectral imaging systems.

During the SPIE DCS 2016 conference, CIRTEMO Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Ryan Priore, will be at the SCD and SCD USA booth #509 to provide a technology overview of how companies and end users can leverage the patented Multivariate Optical Element for advanced hyperspectral imaging applications. During the conference, Dr. Priore will also present Spectral imaging of chemical compounds using multivariate optically enhanced filters integrated with InGaAs VGA cameras on Tuesday, April 19th at 11:50 am in Room 322.

CIRTEMO primarily partners with Optical Filter Manufactures (OFMs) and Optical Component and System Manufacturers (OCSMs). The Multivariate Optical Element platform allows OFMs and OCSMs to differentiate their offerings with a well-protected IP position and enable their customers to tackle new applications that are not possible with traditional optical filters and coatings.

CIRTEMO is the second company to be founded to commercialize the patented Multivariate Optical Element platform that was invented by Dr. Michael Myrick at the University of South Carolina. Prior to founding CIRTEMO, Jason Williamson founded Ometric in 2005. Ometric successfully commercialized the Multivariate Optical Element platform in a wide variety of large industrial sectors, including pharmaceuticals, chemicals, pet nutrition, mining, food and many others. The company was sold to Halliburton in 2011. Although the exact sale price of Ometric is considered confidential, Halliburton paid more than eight figures for the company, and the transaction generated the largest royalty payment in history ever paid to the University of South Carolina ($2.7M).

About CIRTEMO

CIRTEMO designs and manufactures patented optical filters, called Multivariate Optical Elements, which are encoded to detect/measure complex chemical compounds and attributes. CIRTEMOs patented Multivariate Optical Element platform enables optical systems to perform high value detection and analysis at the speed of light, to a variety of industries, including life sciences, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, medical devices, agriculture, food and beverage, semiconductors, pet nutrition, environmental, plastics, and multiple cleantech applications. For more information, visit http://www.cirtemo.com or call 803-467-4189.

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For the past eight years, Trinity Oaks Wines has continued a legacy to help plant more than 15 million trees in 16 countries. The One Bottle One Tree program funds the planting of a beneficial tree for every bottle of Trinity Oaks wine sold.

For the past eight years, Trinity Oaks Wines has continued a legacy to help plant more than 15 million trees in 16 countries. The One Bottle One Tree program funds the planting of a beneficial tree for every bottle of Trinity Oaks wine sold in partnership with the non-profit organization, Trees for the Future.

To celebrate Earth Month and the 15 million tree milestone this year, Trinity Oaks wine is offering consumers $1 off a glass of Trinity Oaks at any bar or restaurant where it appears on the menu. Consumers are able to access this coupon through Ibotta, a digital coupon application. The offer runs through the entire month of April, ending April 30th. In addition, Trinity Oaks is supporting in-store coupons nationally throughout Earth Month.

Trinity Oaks wine labels are made from 100% post-consumer-recycled paper, and the capsule on each bottle is made from EarthFirst PLA (Polylactic Acid) film, which is made from plant-based materials and is carbon-neutral and certified compostable. The packaging features Nomacorc corks; which are recyclable and produce a smaller carbon footprint than standard wine corks. The bottles are made with a special lightweight glass and packed in shippers that do not require bleach (to make the paper fibers white) and made from 40% post-consumer-recycled paper.

The mission of the One Bottle One Tree program is to help restore the environment by planting trees in countries where they will have the most impact - communities that are most in need of reforestation. These areas are primarily tropical locations including: Brazil, Haiti, Honduras, Ghana, Kenya, India and the Phillippines, among others.

The Trinity Oaks portfolio includes five wine varietals: Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Trinity Oaks wine is carefully crafted with grapes selected from Californias best growing regions, including Napa and Monterey counties with a focus on coastal climates. Trinity Oaks wines are available in restaurants, grocery and wine stores nationwide and retail for $7.99. For more information on Trinity Oaks, visit http://www.OneBottleOneTree.com.

About Trinity Oaks

Trinity Oaks wines were founded in January 2001. Seven years following, Trinity Oaks committed to help plant one tree for every bottle sold in partnership with the non-profit organization, Trees for the Future. This program is now called, the One Bottle One Tree Program, and is the brands dedication and legacy of contributing 15 million trees to 16 countries to date who are in need of resources. Trinity Oaks is representative of a Trinchero Family Estates wine brand that is loyal to sustainable practices in the vineyards and the winery. These practices are evident in the corks, glass and shippers used to create Trinity Oaks wine. Visit http://www.trinityoaks.com to learn more.

About Trees for the Future

Since 1989, Trees for the Future has planted more than 100 million trees. It has helped families and communities around the world plant trees and change lives, enabling them to restore their environment, grow more food, and build a sustainable future. For more information on their programs, please visit: http://www.treesforthefuture.org.

IMAGES:

To download hi-resolution bottle shots, click here.

To download wine fact sheets, click here.

To download an infographic with more information, click here.

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Contact:

Olivia Moser, Public Relations Assistant

Phone: 707-346-6507 | Ext. 2226

omoser(at)tfewines(dot)com
The real missing ingredient for organizations who are trying to meaningfully shrink their threat exposure window is a data-gathering and analytics layer that connects to their entire infrastructure.

Seceon, the only threat detection and management company to visualize, detect, and eliminate cyber threats in real-time, today announced the availability of its innovative Open Threat Management platform. Comprised of a team of seasoned executives with expertise in security, big/fast data, machine learning and networking, Seceon has delivered a breakthrough solution effective at detecting and stopping the most dangerous and costly threats as soon as they happen, while dramatically lowering IT costs.

Seceon also announced that the solution has been successfully deployed at SeaChange International, a multiscreen innovator enabling video service providers to deliver personalized video services that seamlessly unite television with the Internet, and Plexxi, a pioneer in converged network infrastructure for public and private cloud deployments. Seceon is also announcing a distribution agreement with immixGroup, an Arrow company and the largest value-added distributor (VAD) of enterprise IT products for the U.S. public sector. The agreement will significantly enhance Seceons ability to provide government groups with the industrys most comprehensive security solution. Seceon was recently named one of CIO Review Magazines Top 20 Most Promising Enterprise Security Companies.

Addressing a Critical Security Gap

Despite an estimated $80 billion spent globally on security, according to Gartner, attackers are still getting through organizational security defenses. Most enterprises still remain focused on preventative security measuresperimeter-based security such as firewalls, antivirus systems and siloed device protectionand as a result, wind up missing intrusions through wide exposed surfaces in the modern digital enterprise and compromised credentials, often due to too many false alarms. The reality is most companies have trouble even knowing when and where they have been compromised. Today, most advanced attacks against enterprises occur for as long as eight months before they are even detected.

Most organizations have massive investments in threat mitigation infrastructure, and in most cases, that infrastructure is layers and layers of products purchased to solve specific problems, said Jeff Wilson, senior research director, cybersecurity technology, IHS Infonetics Research. The real missing ingredient for organizations who are trying to meaningfully shrink their threat exposure window is a data-gathering and analytics layer that connects to their entire infrastructure; one that distills disparate threat indicator data and identifies critical threat eventsand then builds a plan to respond to those events.

Seceons Open Threat Management Platform

Immediately upon deployment, Seceon enables todays security teams to see the threats clearly and quickly, along with any other obstacles to network performance, stop threats from inflicting extensive damage through surgical containment and elimination and predict insider attacks through behavioral threat detection modeling and machine learning.

Seceons software has provided us with unique insights into data flows, protocol types and other associated vulnerabilities, which has allowed us to significantly increase our visibility and thereby our level of security as an organization, said Co-Founder and VP, Engineering Ops and IT Ephraim Dobbins, Plexxi. Unlike traditional malware detection solutions and next-generational firewall devices that have to be in-line to analyze the data, Seceon performs host-based analytics outside of the data path in a much more comprehensive manner.

Incorporating direct feedback from security executives at numerous Fortune 500 to Fortune 2000 clients, Seceon built its platform to include five key functional areas:



Continuous monitoring with holistic visibility, automatically examining every movement within, in and out of the enterprise network;

Analysis of all enterprise connectivity, including users, devices, applications, servers and flows, to identify suspicious activity in real-time;

Visualization of relevant threats through a highly intuitive easy to use application,

Immediate push-button elimination of any threat;

Visual-enabled policy violation detection, combined with a policy creation tool-set.

Today, organizations are at an increased risk for infiltration, data theft, business disruption and financial loss for three primary reasonsthey lack solutions that can see the threats broadly in a single view, that can stop threats quickly or that can prevent threats from inflicting damage, said Chandra Pandey, Seceon founder and CEO. To address this critical gap, we assembled a world-class team of passionate, leading experts in security, big/fast data, networking, machine learning and human factors engineering to create a patent-pending solution for gaining visibility into all enterprise activity, surfacing the most relevant threats as they occur, and providing a means to eliminate them immediately. Through our continued focus in this area, we have gained significant traction with customers and technology partners who are embracing our new approach.

Customer Installations

In just a short time, Seceon has engaged in more than a dozen successful enterprise and service provider customer deploymentsspanning the Fortune 500 to medium-sized businesses in the technology and financial sectorssecuring millions of devices, users and critical resources. See customer testimonial videos at http://www.seceon.com/media/.

"Seceon OTM helps us surface and prioritize internal and external threats in real-time. It visualizes all of our IT echo systems and proactively detects threats, providing us clear actionable alerts so that our team can take immediate action, said Jim Godschall, Director of Information Technology at SeaChange International. It improves our teams productivity as we do not have to look into a large number of alerts generated by next-generation firewalls, logging, monitoring and other tools. The OTM intuitive user interface allows us to deal with issues in minutes rather than days.

Availability

Available now on an annual subscription basis for any size enterprise, Seceons OTM platform provides unmatched, real-time visibility into all enterprise activity through its highly intuitive interface, providing holistic threat detection based on how devices, users, behaviors, processes and policies interact and delivering automated elimination and containment of threats with service impact details. Offered directly from Seceon or its partners, the Docker container- based OTM platform can be installed according to customer preference on any virtual machine, be it in a private, public or hybrid cloud.

About Seceon

Taking a new approach to conventional threat detection and management, Seceon helps todays enterprise detect and stop both recognized and never-seen-before threats when they happen, instead of days, weeks or months. Leveraging intelligent data collection and analysis, Seceons Open Threat Management platform provides unmatched visibility across the entire networkfrom users and devices to applications and flows surfacing only the most relevant threats in real-time and the means necessary to eliminate them immediately. To learn more about Seceons comprehensive, Open Threat Management platform, please visit http://www.seceon.com or call (978)-923-0040.
Economist Beau Whitney These findings show what supporters of marijuana legalization knew would be the case  the cannabis industry has serious potential to boost Oregons economy. And this is just the beginning, said Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR).

Economist Beau Whitney, cannabis industry consultant Sam Chapman, and co-authors and researchers J. Hildegard Hinkel and Michelle Halle today released Oregon Cannabis Jobs Report: Retail Sales and Job Creation in Oregons Burgeoning Cannabis Sector, a white paper that details the economic impact on Oregon from the retail side of the states newly legal recreational cannabis industry.

The report, derived from data mined from a January 2016 survey of cannabis retailers throughout Oregon, indicates, conservatively, the retail sector of Oregons cannabis industry will create: 2,156 jobs, $46 million in wages, and an initial market of nearly $300 million (recreational, flower sales only, not inclusive of edibles and extracts) in the state.

Download Oregon Cannabis Jobs Report here: http://www.cannabisjobsreport.com

These findings show what supporters of marijuana legalization knew would be the case  the cannabis industry has serious potential to boost Oregons economy. And this is just the beginning, said Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR). To support this emerging industrys growth and job creation, we must level the playing field for these businesses by making sure they are taxed like all other businesses and have access to banking services.

This study was undertaken to provide a preliminary benchmark of the current status and future potential of the economic impact of the cannabis retail sector throughout Oregon. The cannabis retail sector at this stage of the industrys existence is limited to medical dispensaries and combined medical and adult use dispensaries. Early this year a survey was developed specifically to gather reliable and accurate data that would highlight key economic impacts of the cannabis retail sector including employment, sales, wages and expected growth for these businesses. Analyses derived from the survey provide the backbone of the report.

Oregons cannabis industry revenues are currently between $600 million and $700 million, illegal market and legal market combined, Whitney said. Nationwide its $45 billion bigger than the NFL, distilled spirits and wine.



The key aspect of the report is that it provides a baseline for future analyses. The ultimate goal of the report is to inform the public policy discussion around Oregons cannabis industry so that elected officials, community stakeholders and the general public can make pragmatic policy decisions based on data, and likely trends as the policy and business landscape continues to change on a seemingly day to day to basis.

The legal cannabis sector is creating jobs and opportunity around our state, Oregon State Representative Ann Lininger (D-Lake Oswego) said. Coupled with strong compliance and professionalism, legal cannabis businesses will demonstrate they are a positive addition to a community's jobs base.

The survey findings suggest that sales, employment and future prospects for growth are generally lower for medical only dispensaries than for medical/adult use dispensaries. These indicators are also affected by location where certain local government restrictions have only allowed already established medical dispensaries to continue to operate after passage of Oregon's HB3400, but have not permitted new cannabis retail establishments to open.

About the authors

J. Hildegard Hinkel, MPH, conducts public health and economic research and analysis for local and national organizations. Hinkel has a Masters in Public Health from the State University of New York.

Michelle Halle, MPA, is the founder of Barlow Strategies, a public policy consulting firm offering public policy research and analysis and regulatory compliance assistance in the cannabis industry. Halles career background includes almost 20 years of legislative and regulatory policy analysis and business management experience in the energy and manufacturing sectors.

Beau Whitney is vice president of Golden Leaf Holdings, one of the largest cannabis oil and solution providers in North America. Whitney is also an active professor of economics, and founder of Whitney Economics.

Sam Chapman is principal of New Economy Consulting, a political and business-consulting firm made up of policy experts, business consultants, researchers and lobbyists focused on advising entrepreneurs and investors in the cannabis industry.

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OroCRM is a uniquely powerful open source tool that can make a real difference to the bottom line for Magento eCommerce retailers and other businesses that sell products and offer services online.

Nexcess, a leading provider of performance-optimized managed hosting, has introduced a new range of managed OroCRM hosting plans in partnership with Oro. OroCRM is a powerful open source customer relationship management application that empowers online businesses to manage, analyze, and act on customer data from multiple sales, marketing, and support channels.

Nexcess' OroCRM hosting plans combine the power and performance of Nexcess' Secure Isolated Platform (SIP) Servers with the industry-leading multi-channel customer relationship management solution. OroCRM offers integrations with multiple sales and customer interaction channels, including Magento, among other eCommerce platforms, social media, email, and many more. The application's powerful analytics tools help companies understand and segment customer data, leverage sophisticated reporting tools for custom reports, and design and manage best-practice workflows for sales and marketing teams.

OroCRM is an excellent choice of customer relationship management tool for Magento eCommerce retailers, providing numerous integrations with the eCommerce application, including the eCommerce Dashboard for Magento, Magento account management, RFM analysis tools, abandoned cart recovery integration with automated emails, and email marketing tools that work with Magento customer data.

"We're incredibly excited to be adding a new application to our family of managed application hosting plans," commented Chris Wells, President and CEO of Nexcess, "OroCRM is a uniquely powerful open source tool that can make a real difference to the bottom line for Magento eCommerce retailers and other businesses that sell products and offer services online. We chose to bring OroCRM to Nexcess because it's a perfect complement to our existing lineup of optimized eCommerce and CMS hosting plans."

"We're thrilled to be partnering with Nexcess," commented Yoav Kutner from OroCRM, "We feel that their rich history as one of the top Magento hosting partners, and unique competency with application-optimized server environments, will add a lot of value for our users."

Nexcess' OroCRM plans are based on the same Secure Isolated Platform Servers as the company's highly regarded Magento hosting plans, which are engineered to offer the best possible performance for PHP applications that require rock-solid reliability. OroCRM from Nexcess is available in a range of high-performance dedicated server options, including ORO-400, a Dell R230 server with Intel Xeon E301230v5 processor, 16GB of RAM, and 300GB of data storage in a RAID 10 configuration.

OroCRM hosting from Nexcess is available now from a global range of locations, including Southfield, Michigan; San Francisco, California; and Miami, Florida, the gateway to South America. Nexcess' international facilities include data centers in Brisbane, Australia for proximity to Asia Pacific market; and Byfleet, UK, and Amsterdam, Netherlands, for optimal performance throughout Europe.

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About Nexcess

Nexcess is a Southfield, Michigan-based managed application hosting company founded in 2000, with data centers distributed throughout the United States, Europe, and Australia. Nexcess offers a variety of managed applications hosting services for Magento, WordPress, ExpressionEngine, and OroCRM ranging from entry-level packages to custom clustered/complex hosting configurations, with an emphasis on achieving maximum performance for high-traffic sites. For more information, visit http://www.nexcess.net.
News / International

by Staff Reporter

UNITED KINGDOM - A Zimbabwean man, known in social circles as Tee Fuz, has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a young woman, Leigh-Anne Zanelle Mahachi, was stabbed to death in a Sheffield home this morning.The 37-year-old man, from the Colchester area, was arrested this afternoon after South Yorkshire Police launched a murder probe and a manhunt.He has been remanded in custody where he will be questioned by detectives.South Yorkshire Police said a 22-year-old woman was found seriously injured in a property in Spotswood Close, Gleadless Valley, this morning.She was rushed to hospital but could not be saved.Emergency service were alerted to the incident at 8.15am.Paramedics were first to arrive, followed by police officers, residents said.A South Yorkshire Police spokeswoman said: "At around 8.15am today, police were called to Spotswood Close in Gleadless Valley to reports that a woman had been stabbed."The 22-year-old was taken to hospital but died a short time later. Her family has been informed."Investigating officer Detective Inspector Steve Ashmore said: "This is an extremely distressing incident and the victim's family is currently being supported by specially trained officers."We are treating this as a targeted attack and I can reassure members of the public that we have a large number of resources at the scene and are pursuing a number of lines of enquiry to establish the full circumstances."A murder investigation is underway and we urge anyone with information or anyone who saw or heard anything in the Spotswood Close area this morning to contact us."A post-mortem is expected to take place later today.Gleadless Valley resident said: "I saw the ambulance and police this morning at around 8.25am, now police are everywhere."A number of streets are cordoned off with police tape, with police officers guarding the scene.A number of blocks of flats are within the cordon.Another resident said a police major incident van is parked at the crime scene and forensic experts are carrying out searches of the area.She said they examined a number of cars and took photographs of them earlier today.
Our integration with the Kochava Collective allows us to target ads more accurately and bid more competitively on media to ensure the greatest ROI for our clients.

Aarki, a leader in mobile app advertising, announced today that it is now integrated with Kochava Collective -- the largest collection of cross-publisher mobile audiences. This integration enables Aarki, as a certified partner, to further expand its audience targeting capabilities for programmatic delivery. As a result, it can deliver better and more targeted user acquisition campaigns to mobile app marketers.

The Kochava Collective brings the best in mobile audience targeting to the best advertising brands in the world. We are thrilled to have Aarki join The Collective as the first programmatic partner populating the audience graph from leading ad exchanges in the mobile ecosystem, said Charles Manning, CEO of Kochava, With the inclusion of Aarki in The Collective, advertisers can now target audiences across AppNexus, LiveRail, DoubleClick AdX, MoPub, and 20 other supply sources.

Proprietary machine learning technology in the Aarki Encore platform allows the company to do more accurate audience targeting and publisher matching. With this integration, Aarki can now obtain data from billions of devices within the Kochava Collective and match target audiences with optimal publisher distribution.

Aarki can also help app marketers reach audiences on networks that they may not have been traditionally exposed to. The algorithms within Aarki Encore learn over time and adjust media and publisher allocation accordingly.

Aarki is proud to be a Kochava-certified partner. This partnership allows us to drive better audience targeting in our programmatic delivery,  said Sid Bhatt, CEO of Aarki, Our integration with the Kochava Collective allows us to target ads more accurately and bid more competitively on media to ensure the greatest ROI delivery to our clients.

About Aarki

Aarki is transforming mobile app marketing through unified optimization of creative and media. It delivers superior results using proprietary machine learning technology for performance optimization. The company's customer base includes leading brands, agencies, and app developers. Headquartered in Mountain View, California, Aarki is a global company with offices in Beijing, Manila, Tokyo, and Yerevan. For more information, please visit http://www.aarki.com or follow us on Twitter: @aarkimobile.

About Kochava

Kochava offers a unique, holistic and unbiased approach to mobile attribution analytics and optimization. Via its platform, Kochava provides mobile advertisers with precise real-time visualization of campaign data that spans from initial launch through conversion and lifetime value (LTV) reporting, including comprehensive post-install event tracking. Kochavas tools enable customers to turn their data into actionable information. With over 2,000 publisher and network integrations including Facebook, Google, Pandora and Amazon, Kochava is trusted globally by the largest brands in mobile gaming, commerce, news and media. For more information visit http://www.kochava.com.

Contact

Raj Misra

SVP and Global Head of Marketing

media(at)aarki(dot)com
DataXoom logo Channel Partners need an expert partner to deliver enterprise-class mobile data services designed specifically for businesses.

DataXoom Corp., the first value-added wholesale provider of mobile data services for businesses, announced today it received an award for Enterprise Mobility  Best Enabling Technology in the 2016 Visionary Spotlight Awards.

DataXoom recently updated its partner program, which included the beta launch of a sales-focused mobile application called DX Partner, which features quoting tools, videos, and deal registration. An integrated news feed within the application gives channel partners the latest product information and industry trends. The company revamped its channel program to meet the needs of its partners increasingly mobile work force. DataXoom combines its channel resources with a mobility solution that is custom designed for business use, featuring mobile data that is multi-carrier, simple all-inclusive pricing and consolidated billing, and superior terms.

The annual Visionary Spotlight Awards, from ChannelVision Magazine and Beka Business Media, recognize excellence in outstanding products, services and deployments across a broad range of communications technology categories, including voice, data networking, hosting, cloud services and managed services. Winners offer channel partners a cornucopia of opportunities to boost their roles as trusted providers and business success.

Were thrilled to earn this award recognition from ChannelVision Magazine and Beka Business Media, which reflects the commitments weve made to our innovative channel program, said Bryan Hagedon, Vice President of Channel and Partner Development at DataXoom. Channel Partners need an expert partner to deliver enterprise-class mobile data services designed specifically for businesses. With DataXoom, Channel Partners can provide their customers with best-in-class mobile data service across multiple wireless networks with one single and simple account, backed by management, reporting and sales tools, and world-class customer and tech support. DataXoom is the first business MVNO dedicated to the channel.

The winners of the 2016 Visionary Spotlight Awards showcase the best of the communications industrys overall innovation efforts, capacity for future-thinking execution and creativity.

We congratulate and thank DataXoom for its outstanding achievement in innovation in the communications industry, and for its dedication to channel partners and the indirect ecosystem, said Berge Kaprelian, group publisher at Beka Business Media. We have created the Visionary Spotlight Awards program to highlight the rapid pace of evolution within the communications industry, and to give innovators and industry visionaries the opportunity to gain the exposure and recognition that they deserve. DataXoom embodies these goals.

Channel partners can leverage DataXooms billing platform, which consolidates multiple wireless bills into a single, simplified one. DataXoom is helping to facilitate the channels transformation from product resellers to solution service providers, as Resellers pursue new opportunities to transition themselves from simple one-time sales to comprehensive service models with recurring revenue streams.

About Beka Business Media

Beka Business Media, Inc. is a full-service publishing company that produces trade magazines, provides web and email services to its clients and presents the CVx tradeshow in conjunction with ITEXPO. Beka also provides a daily direct e-blast service to its advertisers. The HTML-formatted releases are distributed to up to 50,000 qualified addresses.

Our publications include ChannelVision Magazine (http://www.channelvisionmag.com), a bi-monthly publication with a circulation of more than 29,100, which focuses on wholesale and indirect sales channels in the communications and IT space. It is read by telecom agents, IT value-added resellers, integrators, MSPs and service providers selling and distributing communications, cloud, IT, access and other network services.

Beka Business Media also publishes a variety of conference show dailies and show guides for various organizations and associations, as well as other custom publishing work. This includes the show daily and show guide for both the spring and fall INCOMPAS show, serving the competitive telecom industry.

Working with ITEXPO, Beka produces the CVx tradeshow for communications and IT channel partners. This event occurs once a year in Florida. Find out more at http://www.CVxExpo.com.

About DataXoom

DataXoom Corp. connects businesses to the mobile internet. DataXoom provides cellular data network connectivity for tablets, mobile Wi-Fi hotspots, USB modems, wireless routers, and specialty devices used by the mobile workforce. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Berkeley, CA, DataXooms mobile data service is designed to meet and exceed the requirements of an enterprise. For more information, call 855-533-2829, visit http://www.dataxoom.com or follow the company on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/DataXoom. If youd like to learn more about our newly-enhanced channel partner program, please click here.

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L-3 Communications (NYSE:LLL) announced today that its president and chief operating officer, Christopher E. Kubasik, has been elected to the Board of Governors of The Wings Club Foundation, Inc. Established in New York City in 1942, The Wings Club is a leading global foundation dedicated to the advancement and development of aviation.

I am honored to support The Wings Clubs mission as a member of this prestigious board, said Mr. Kubasik. The aerospace industry and The Wings Club share a vision of technological innovation coupled with a dedication to advancing aviation excellence. I look forward to contributing to their educational initiatives and promoting the critical role our industry will play in helping to guide the future of aeronautics worldwide.

Were delighted to welcome Chris to The Wings Club Foundation Board of Governors, commented Foundation President Mary Ellen Jones. He brings a wealth of aviation industry expertise and terrific commitment that we know will be of benefit to the organization.

Mr. Kubasik has more than 30 years of experience in the aerospace and defense (A&D) industry. Prior to joining L-3 in 2015, he was president and chief executive officer of the Seabury Advisory Group LLC, a leading aviation and A&D professional services firm, and previously president and COO of Lockheed Martin Corporation, where he also held a number of senior executive and finance roles.

Mr. Kubasik also serves on the University of Maryland Board of Trustees and is a member of the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), the Air Force Association (AFA), the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), the Navy League of the United States, and the Association of the United States Army (AUSA).

Headquartered in New York City, L-3 employs approximately 38,000 people worldwide and is a leading provider of a broad range of communication and electronic systems and products used on military and commercial platforms. L-3 is also a prime contractor in aerospace systems. The company reported 2015 sales of $10.5 billion.

To learn more about L-3, please visit the companys website at http://www.L-3com.com. L-3 uses its website as a channel of distribution of material company information. Financial and other material information regarding L-3 is routinely posted on the companys website and is readily accessible.

The Wings Club Foundation, Inc.

The Wings Club was founded in 1942 and is now the premier global aviation foundation. Its primary purpose is to encourage and support education in aviation and aerospace. The Foundation also supports charitable organizations that use aircraft to deliver humanitarian aid and outreach. The Wings Club is dedicated to preserving the history and traditions of aviation and affords a forum for educational speeches, discussion and debate on topical aviation issues.

Recognizing significant achievements that contribute to the advancement of aviation and aeronautics, The Wings Club Foundation presents not only the Distinguished Achievement Award, but also the Outstanding Aviator Award and the Distinguished Scholar Awards. For more information, please call (212) 867-1770, e-mail wingsclub(at)aol(dot)com or visit http://www.wingsclub.org.

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Teams from Savills Studleys regional offices were honored to be on hand to assist the students of DCs Hendley Elementary on Friday, April 8, during its STEM Expo 2016 at 425 Chesapeake St., SE.

Hendley Elementary School hosted a STEM Expo (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) featuring exhibitors who offered a variety of experiential learning opportunities to the more than 480 students of PK-5th grade student body. As volunteers, Savills Studleys team helped facilitate this by supporting individual classrooms, helping students navigate their STEM Expo schedule so they were able to truly benefit from the experience. Some members of the team worked at one unique station throughout the event, helping the exhibitor/scientist with presenting and then assisting the kids in interacting with that exhibit.

Hendley Elementary Schools goal is to help all of its students learn to think analytically and become independent, well-rounded individuals. All students take music, art, physical education and library classes as well as their core academic courses. For students as well as staff and parents, Hendley is known throughout the local community as a warm, welcoming place.

Thank you Savills Studley for an amazing day for our kids and a really promising start to our partnership to support their learning needs, said the schools Dean, Frances Evangelista. Our staff was so grateful, not only for their financial sponsorship that made the day happen, but the amazing can-do attitude from all the volunteers. We love our great kids, and it was wonderful to see these terrific people interacting with and appreciating them.

Exhibitors included:



Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Labs 3D printer

The DC Beekeepers Alliance

Washington Youth Garden-Friends of the National Arboretum

The Save Lucy Campaign, A Little Brown Bat  Empowering Youth to Conserve North American Brown Bats

The Raptor Conservancy of Virginia (rehabilitation of local birds of prey)

Mad Science of Washington, DC

Guy Brandenberg of National Capital Astronomers

35 Hendley students exhibited their own science projects and were judged for prizes.

Savills Studley was very honored to take part in Hendley Elementarys STEM Expo, said Executive Vice President Rick Rome. This was a wonderful way to expose children to the endless discoveries science has to offer."

About Savills Studley

Savills Studley is the leading commercial real estate services firm specializing in tenant representation. Founded in 1954, the firm pioneered the conflict-free business model of representing only tenants in their commercial real estate transactions. Today, supported by high quality market research and in-depth analysis, Savills Studley provides strategic real estate solutions to organizations across all industries. The firms comprehensive commercial real estate platform includes brokerage, project management, capital markets, consulting and corporate services. With 27 offices in the U.S. and a heritage of innovation, Savills Studley is well known for tenacious client advocacy and exceptional service.

The firm is part of London-headquartered Savills plc, the premier global real estate service provider with over 30,000 professionals in over 60 countries around the world. Savills plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (SVS.L).

For more information, please visit http://www.savills-studley.com and follow us on Twitter @SavillsStudley and LinkedIn.
Victaulic Series 795 Knife Gate Valve The big payoff is in downtime -- the drastic reduction from hours to minutes translates into greater efficiency for any operation. - Scott Sargent, product manager for Victaulic

Victaulic, the worlds leading manufacturer of mechanical pipe-joining systems, today announced the launch of the Series 795 Knife Gate Valve, the industry's first in-line maintenance knife gate valve. The new valve simplifies installation and maintenance, reduces downtime and improves worker safety.

The Series 795 Knife Gate Valve is ideal for fluid lines containing solids or abrasive materials common in wastewater treatment, hydroelectric power generation, mining and other industrial settings with applications such as lines for slurry and tailings or cyclones. It alleviates a longstanding industry pain point: the time-consuming, labor-intensive process of removing the entire valve from the pipeline to facilitate maintenance, rebuilding and repair.

The new valves innovative design can reduce maintenance downtime by up to 95 percent and generate up to 60 percent savings in annual maintenance costs. Victaulic developed advanced technology that encloses all wear parts into a single seat cartridge kit, which greatly simplifies maintenance. The design allows the valve to remain installed through ongoing maintenance cycles. In fact, one Montana mining company beta testing the Series 795 saw maintenance that once required hours of downtime reduced to minutes.

The new valve improves worker safety, because only one component has to be replaced versus removing the entire valve from the pipeline. This first-of-its-kind, revolutionary design eliminates the need for rigging with heavy chains and pulleys swinging over the heads of maintenance crews.

After we installed the new valve, it has run like a dream, said Amy French, senior maintenance planner at Golden Sunlight Mining in Montana. We have been so impressed with this unit we are looking at purchasing additional valves.

The Victaulic Series 795 Knife Gate Valve joins either grooved end carbon steel or plain end HDPE pipe. It is available in sizes 3-12 inches (80-300 millimeters) and rated to 150 psi | 1034 kPa | 10 bar.

This is the first knife gate valve that can be maintained in-line without having to disconnect the valve from a piping system and dragging it to a boneyard for repair or rebuild of worn parts, said Scott Sargent, product manager for Victaulic. The big payoff is in downtime -- the drastic reduction from hours to minutes translates into greater efficiency for any operation.

Additional features include:

 Installation-ReadyTM integrated coupling design

 A self-clearing seat that eliminates debris pushing to the floor

 Unidirectional polyurethane seat that is highly resistant to abrasive wear

 Flush port in lower housing for easy valve cleaning

 Anti-rotation screws for full 360 installation positioning

Information about product demos and complete details about the Knife Gate valve can be found at victaulicknifegate.com.

About Victaulic

Since 1919, Victaulic has been the originator and world's leading producer of mechanical pipe joining solutions. Used in the most demanding markets, Victaulic innovative piping technologies and services put people to work faster while increasing safety, ensuring reliability and maximizing efficiency. The company has 12 manufacturing facilities and 31 branches worldwide with 3,600 employees who speak 43 languages across the globe. With over 1,900 global patents, Victaulic solutions are at work in more than 140 countries across diverse business lines including oil and gas, chemical, mining, power generation, water and wastewater treatment, military and marine, as well as commercial building and fire protection. For more information visit http://www.victaulic.com.
Lori Katzman joined HNTB Corporation as senior project manager and vice president in the firms rail transit group in New York. Lori is a well-known, proven transportation industry leader with a deep understanding for the needs of transit agencies in this region

Lori Katzman joined HNTB Corporation as senior project manager and vice president in the firms rail transit group. Katzman is based in HNTBs New York City office.

Lori is a well-known, proven transportation industry leader with a deep understanding for the needs of transit agencies in this region, said Mike Sweeney, PE, HNTB Northeast division president. She is recognized for her innovative thinking and respected for a unique combination of skills and experience in the design, engineering, construction and program management of rail infrastructure systems. Lori is an important and valuable addition to our rapidly growing and nationally recognized transit practice.

As a senior member of HNTBs rail transit practice, Katzman is providing strategic support for key current transit projects and future opportunities, utilizing her extensive experience with program and design management for railroad terminals and related right-of-way infrastructure.

Prior to HNTB, Katzman was vice president of the Metropolitan Transportation Authoritys Long Island Rail Road where she led that organizations participation in the $10 billion East Side access program, the systems first expansion in more than 100 years. In that capacity, she represented the LIRRs interests with regard to the programs railroad systems and infrastructure engineering, tunneling and complex underground construction including an underground passenger terminal. Katzman also represented the LIRR with MTA Capital Construction, Amtrak and other stakeholders in this program to transform infrastructure and train service from Long Island into Manhattan.

Katzmans background also includes work with the Hudson Yards development project and the Moynihan Station Development Corporation project as well as leading multiple project management and technical efforts for the LIRRs safety and security programs.

A graduate of Syracuse University, Katzman holds a Bachelor of Science degree in environmental engineering. She also has attended the executive development program at the ENO Center for Transit Leadership.

In the New York region, HNTBs rail transit team is located in offices in New York City, Albany and Newark. HNTB serves as construction manager for the renewal and rehabilitation of New York City Transits Sea Beach line; program manager for New Jersey Transit in the implementation of Positive Train Control technology; owners engineer for the New NY (aka Tappan Zee) Bridge; lead designer of the Kosciuszko Bridge and the general engineering consultant for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority among other significant infrastructure programs.

About HNTB

HNTB Corporation is an employee-owned infrastructure solutions firm serving public and private owners and contractors. With more than a century of service, including more than 90 years in New York, HNTB understands the life cycle of infrastructure and addresses clients most complex technical, financial and operational challenges. HNTBs New York offices currently employ more than 400 full-time professionals in nine tri-state locations. Professionals nationwide deliver a full range of infrastructure-related services, including award-winning planning, design, program management and construction management. For more information, visit http://www.hntb.com.
[Art] has the power to help us think outside the box, revealing truths that provoke critical dialog and help us transform through a shared experience that can cut across culture, class, and other divides.

Art holds up a mirror to hypocrisy, injustice, and abuse, and mobilizes people in ways that nothing else can. In the spirit of creative expression, Omega is offering an exciting new workshop, Art & Activism: Agent-Provocateurs, May 27-30, 2016. Tiered pricing and scholarships are being offered, with a scholarship application deadline of April 29, 2016.

Art is a vehicle that can help us reflect, heal, and connect. It has the power to help us think outside the box, revealing truths that provoke critical dialog and help us transform through a shared experience that can cut across culture, class, and other divides. We are thrilled to be offering our new Art & Activism workshop, which will explore changes we wish to see in the world and celebrate a vision of what can be, said Carla Goldstein, chief external affairs officer at Omega.

Participants will spend the weekend making and experiencing activist artincluding visual art, music, performance, and improv. Together the group will share their passions for change, push creative boundaries, and connect creativity to action.

The workshop is being led by Joe Raiola and Patty Goodwin:

Joe Raiola is artistic director of Theatre Within, creator/producer of The Annual John Lennon Tribute, and senior editor at MAD magazine. He tours extensively in his acclaimed solo show, The Joy of Censorship, which has been performed in 44 states. He is a master teacher of the transformative and illuminative Theatre Within process, and a student of Zen for many years.

Patty Goodwin is a creative director in the Hudson Valley. Through the New York City creative services firm she cofounded, she has worked with artists across a spectrum of disciplines to design immersive experiences for global audiences. She is now mainly focused on creative strategy work for pro-social organizations, including Omega.

To learn more, visit eOmega.org, or call 800.944.1001. Follow Omega on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Google+.

About Omega Institute for Holistic Studies

Founded in 1977, Omega Institute for Holistic Studies is the nation's most trusted source for wellness and personal growth. As a nonprofit organization, Omega offers diverse and innovative educational experiences that inspire an integrated approach to personal and social change. Located on 250 acres in the beautiful Hudson Valley, Omega welcomes more than 23,000 people to its workshops, conferences, and retreats in Rhinebeck, New York, and at exceptional locations around the world. eOmega.org

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Datex experts have specialized experience providing technology solutions to couriers and other transportation & logistics service providers explained Michael Armanious, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Datex.

Supply chain technology solutions vendor Datex will exhibit at the upcoming Annual Meeting & Exposition of the Customized Delivery and Logistics Association (CLDA) May 13-16, 2016. Over 400 representatives and company decision makers will attend the event for three days of networking, education and collaboration.

The theme of this years event is Leveraging the Last Mile. This year, the CLDA Annual Meeting will focus on how carriers can better position themselves for business with shippers, LTL carriers and other transportation and logistics service providers. Topics include learning how to participate in the new collaborative economy, carrier relations, the future of the transportation industry, the LTL industry and final mile logistics carriers and more.

The Datex team includes technology experts with more than 15 years of experience helping transportation and logistics providers, 3PLs, couriers and messenger services and other supply chain businesses. Businesses that rely on state-of-the art technology are better able to compete more effectively, improve customer service and access real time information.

Datex experts have specialized experience providing technology solutions to couriers and other transportation & logistics service providers explained Michael Armanious, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Datex. Our team works hand-in-hand with couriers. They have a fast-paced, demanding job to do and need the best technology possible to power their operations.

Datex will exhibit in booth number 2 at the popular annual CLDA event.

About Datex

Datex provides flexible, reliable supply chain technology solutions to help make businesses more profitable. In successful operation since 1978, Datex has helped companies operate more efficiently and productively using state-of-the-art technology including award winning Microsoft-based warehouse management software, mobile computing devices and services such as EDI and mobile device management. A longstanding partner to industry-leading hardware manufacturers including Zebra and Honeywell, Datex clients include couriers, messenger services and transportation & logistics providers across the United States. For more information, please contact Laura Olson, Director of Sales and Marketing at 800.933.2839 or via email at lolson(at)datexcorp(dot)com.
Leah Daigle

International students attending universities in the United States, particularly females, may be less at risk for violent, non-sexual victimization than their domestic counterparts, due, in part, to their choices in lifestyles and activities, new Georgia State University research suggests.

Using data from the American College Health Associations National College Health Assessment II, criminologists from Georgia State University and the University of West Georgia assessed the extent to which international college students experience violent victimization, comparing their risk to that for domestic students. They also examined whether gender moderated this relationship for the international students.

Their article was published online in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence in March.

We found that, collectively, the international students college experience is different than that of students from the United States, said criminologist and principal investigator Leah E. Daigle, an associate professor in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State. International students, both male and female, are less likely to enter as first-year freshmen and report lower rates of drug use, binge drinking and having a disability.

Daigle and her colleagues found that female international students were significantly less likely to be victims of violent, non-sexual crimes.

Male and female students do, in fact, experience college differently from one another, Daigle said. It is likely that their role expectations, socialization and structural opportunities are fundamentally different, affecting where and with whom they spend their time, their degree of supervision, their likelihood of having contact with strangers and their exposure to risky and dangerous public places.

We found that international students may not engage in the same daily or recreational activities as do their domestic peers, therefore reducing their risk of violent victimization.

Simple assault is the most frequent type of violent crime against college students in the United States, accounting for 63 percent of violent non-sexual victimizations. Newfound freedoms and unstructured time, noticeable routines and under-developed executive cognitive functioning combined with a culture centered on partying help create an at-risk environment, the researchers said.

Binge drinking is often perceived as normal college behavior, said Daigle. But alcohol alters perceptions and judgment, decreases reaction time, impairs decision-making and delays the recognition of danger, increasing students attractiveness as targets and decreasing their personal guardianship.

Other college activities  going out at night, frequenting bars and parties, and recreational drug use  expose students to risky situations that may increase their chance of being victims of crime.

Our research shows female international students are potentially more protected from violence than other students, Daigle said. It also shows that this group of students may be more isolated from the typical college experience that produces victimization, which is instructive.

The article, The Extent and Risk of Violent Victimization Among International College Students Enrolled in the United States: A Gendered Analysis, was written by Daigle, Georgia State doctoral student Chrystina Hoffman and Lee Michael Johnson of the University of West Georgia.

Read the study 
"We want to return this historic waterfront gem back into the fabric of the community and became a neighborhood destination for a classic cocktail on the grand porch or Sunday brunch with the family. COO of Migis Hotel Group Peter Twachtman

On May 13, 2016, the landmark Emerson Inn, Cape Anns only historic grand hotel, will reopen after a significant renovation project. Located just 40 minutes north of Boston, this charming New England oceanfront inn offers 36 tastefully decorated rooms with luxurious linens, a casual yet sophisticated restaurant, private balconies, spa tubs, and sweeping views of the Atlantic Oceanall within walking distance of the quaint town of Rockport.

Acquired as the former Emerson Inn by the Sea by the family-run Migis Hotel Group in 2015, the beautifully renovated Emerson Inn will offer an authentic bed-and-breakfast experience with heartfelt hospitality reminiscent of days gone by. Enjoy a relaxing family vacation at the shore, or perhaps a romantic retreat complete with cocktails on the grand porch, a stay at the Emerson Inn will transport you back to a more tranquil and simpler time. Oceanfront views in the newly named Pigeon Cove Tavern will dictate a daily menu of locally sourced seafood, farm fresh ingredients, and artfully crafted classic New England dishes. Imagine enjoying fresh ocean breezes while spending cherished moments with your family and friends in this unforgettable location. Unlike anything else offered in the area, this classic Massachusetts seaside inn is the ideal place to hold your wedding, retreat, or special event.

From the renovated restaurant to the newly restored rooms, we have taken great care to preserve the details of the inns architecture and decor while making extensive upgrades to our guest amenities,  said COO of Migis Hotel Group Peter Twachtman. "We want to return this historic waterfront gem back into the fabric of the community and became a neighborhood destination for a classic cocktail on the grand porch or Sunday brunch with the family.

About the Emerson Inn

The natural beauty of Pigeon Cove has been a popular destination for summer tourists for more than 160 years. In the 1850s, Rockport businessman William Norwood turned his famous tavern into The Pigeon Cove Inn. Over the years, several local families owned the Inn and gave it many names, including the Hotel Edward. The most recent owners renamed it after Ralph Waldo Emerson, one of the Inn's most celebrated guests. Open year-round, the Emerson Inn is located at 1 Cathedral Avenue in Rockport. For reservations, please call 1-800-964-5550 or visit http://www.migishotelgroup.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter: @MigisHotelGroup.

About the Rockport Area

From a leisurely stroll through Rockport or nearby Gloucester, to a marine-life adventure, to a hike amidst the fall foliage or along the shores of the Cape Ann area, the Emerson Inn is surrounded by a diversity of summer and winter activities. With four state-designated cultural districts, Cape Ann ranks as one of the premier destinations for the traveler with an interest in art, theater, and culture. With festivals celebrating Cape Anns rich maritime and artistic heritage, along with an active fishing fleet and a picturesque seaside village, visitors to the Rockport area will enjoy the allure of Massachusetts coastal crown jewel.

About Migis Hotel Group

Taking inspiration from the Abenaki word migis, a place to steal away to rest, Migis Hotel Group (MHG) is a family-run, Maine-based, and very personalized hotel management company founded in 1968. Operating boutique hotels, destination resort properties, and award-winning dining facilities, MHG properties offer guests a welcoming environment for rest and relaxation from an often hectic and overburdened life. MHG strives to provide each guest with heartfelt hospitality and a memorable dining experience for an exceptional value. Current properties managed include Migis Lodge on Sebago Lake, Maine; Black Point Inn on Prouts Neck, Maine; The Inn at Oceans Edge, Lincolnville, Maine; The Sparhawk Oceanfront Resort, Ogunquit, Maine; 250 Main, Rockland, Maine; The Shire Woodstock, Woodstock, Vermont; and The Emerson Inn, Rockport, Massachusetts. For more information, visit http://www.migishotelgroup.com
News / Local

by Staff Reporter

Mwenezi East MP, Joshua Moyo (pictured right) has mobilised Zanu PF supporters and stakeholders to build party offices at Rutenga Business Centre in Mwenezi.Masvingo Mirror reported that the offices are due for completion in June 2016.The building of the offices is funded by organisations, churches, Chiefs, Councilors and Mwenezi residents who are willing to make contributions.Moyo said that Hasha and Chawas transporters have pledged to ferry loads of river and pit sand. Chief Chitanga has pledged 20 bags of cement with another 10 bags from Bishop of Zion Church of Christ from Hebron."As the initiator of the program l donated fence and five hundred dollars", he said. The stand for offices is completely fenced with a ZINWA connected tape water."If people continue to contribute then it means we are not going to face the difficulties on the progress of project", he added.Mwenezi East had no permanent offices for Zanu PF
We appreciate how Mr. Rusin can outline and explain a complicated topic. -William, Mattar Esq.

It is inevitable to law firms that technology will play an important role in the courtroom. Evidence such as social media accounts, email accounts and other public or private photos, videos and profiles will be discussed during the three hour national presentation given by F. David Rusin of William Mattar law offices. He is a frequent speaker on many topics related to personal injury. Rusins talk will be an opportunity for all attorneys and judges to learn how electronic evidence may be utilized in the courtroom.

Click here to register now for the live teleconference taking place on April 19, 2016. Learn about evidence characteristics to look for, expert witnesses and how state and federal rules apply to electronic evidence.

F. David Rusin earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Dayton School Of Law. Rusin, who has been presenting for over 10 years, says I enjoy learning the material myself and then lecturing on it. Another webinar is scheduled for May 10th regarding A Paralegals Guide to Admissibility of Evidence.

About William Mattar, PC

The William Mattar law firm was established in 1990. The trial lawyers at William Mattar represent individuals seriously injured in motor vehicle accidents across New York State including the Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Binghamton, Albany, New York City and Long Island. The William Mattar Immediate Response Team is available 24/7 and can be reached by dialing 444-4444. For more information about the firms trial lawyers, please visit http://www.WilliamMattar.com.
Our one-team approach simplifies the launch of a new site for our clients and quickly gets them on the path to fully realizing their eCommerce potential.

Lyons Consulting Group (LYONSCG), the premier eCommerce digital agency serving online retailers, branded manufacturers and B2B merchants, today announced the availability of the LYONSCG eCommerce Accelerator (LEA) for Magento 2.0. With the introduction, LYONSCG brings its approach of delivering a pre-selected set of integrations and select services to launch a fully functioning, branded storefront to its Magento 2.0 clients. LEA offers a robust feature set delivered in a rapid time to market while preserving Magentos native flexibility for future customization.

The firm made the announcement at the Imagine 2016 conference, Magentos annual conference being held this week at the Wynn Las Vegas.

LEA for Magento 2.0 is the best way for merchants to launch an eCommerce website rapidly on Magnetos latest platform while keeping development costs to a minimum, said Rich Lyons, CEO and President of LYONSCG. Our one-team approach simplifies the launch of a new site for our clients and quickly gets them on the path to fully realizing their eCommerce potential.

The LEA for Magneto 2.0 package includes the professional services resources needed to turn up an eCommerce site using a pre-defined content layout and navigation structure together with the application of the LYONSCG reference model. Customers skip much of the time-consuming front-end requirements gathering and project plan development via a pre-developed design and implementation plan.

We were extremely pleased to bring the concepts of LEA to the Magento 2.0 eCommerce platform, said Brian Wolfe, CIO and Vice President of Technology Services of LYONSCG. Weve invested the time and effort up-front to integrate extra features and enhancements which are carefully tuned for optimal performance.

With LEA for Magento 2.0 fees starting at $99,500, LYONSCG estimates that an online merchant can save as much as 60% of the comparable cost of a custom design-and-build approach if bought separately from a typical digital agency.

About Lyons Consulting Group (http://www.LYONSCG.com)

Lyons Consulting Group (LYONSCG) is one of the industrys premier eCommerce digital agencies, serving brands, retailers and B2B organizations with tailored solutions that maximize their online potential. Headquartered in Chicago with offices around the world, the firm offers a full range of digital strategy, digital marketing, application hosting and support, experience design and eCommerce implementation services for the SAP Hybris Commerce, Demandware and Magento platforms.

LYONSCGs approach is holisticwe provide every client with a creative, robust and increasingly profitable eCommerce website. LYONSCG is eCommerce Realized!
mins Sales Executive of the Year Awards is dedicated to honoring the most outstanding media sales performance in the media sector. min will salute those selling the print, online, on-air and multiplatform programs and creating a winning proposition for both the advertiser and the media brand. The entry deadline for this prestigious awards program is May 6, 2016 at 11:59 p.m. ET, with a final entry deadline of May 13, 2016.

For complete entry information regarding mins Sales Executive of the Year Awards, visit http://www.minonline.com/seoy.

This awards program is open to media sales and business development executives, account managers and leaders whose primary responsibility is to sell ad space of sponsorship programs for a media brand or to lead a team of salespeople. It is open to all sales/business development job titles  from Account Executive to Vice President, from Publisher to Sales Director.

Categories Include:

Salesperson of the Year

o Digital & Web Advertising  B2B

o Digital & Web Advertising - Consumer

o Single Title Circ under 250k - Consumer

o Single Title Circ over 250k - Consumer

o Single Title Circ under 50k - B2B

o Single TItle Circ over 50k - B2B

o Multiple Titles - B2B

o Multiple Titles - Consumer

o Events - Consumer or B2B

Hall of Fame

Sales Assistant of the Year

Sales Team Leaders

o Total Integrated Program - B2B

o Total Integrated Program - Consumer

o Multiple Magazine Titles - B2B

Multiple Magazine Titles - Consumer

o Single Magazine Title - B2B

o Single Magazine Title - Consumer

o Web & Mobile - B2B

o Web & Mobile - Consumer

Sales Team of the Year

o B2B

o Consumer

o Events

Entries must be related to the selling period of January 2015 to March 2016. The awards are open to sales executives at media companies worldwide, as the criteria for sales excellence is universal. Outside contract sales executives are eligible.

View the complete listing of eligibility requirements here: http://www.minonline.com/seoy.

The winners and honorable mentions will be recognized at an awards event in 2016 in New York City, in min and on minonline.com. Entries can be submitted online here: http://www.minonline.com/seoy. The entry deadline is May 6, 2016.

For questions regarding mins Sales Executive of the Year Awards, contact Mary-Lou French at mfrench(at)accessintel(dot)com. To sponsor the awards breakfast, contact Tania Babiuk at tbabiuk(at)accessintel(dot)com.

The Sales Executive of the Year Awards program is presented by min, the industry's trusted source on the consumer and b2b magazine business, reaching thousands of media executives through print, online and in-person events. For more than 60 years, min has been serving the magazine and media community with unparalleled coverage of this ever-changing industry. For more information, visit http://www.minonline.com.

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The goal of Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard is to support students and future lawyers educational efforts while concurrently raising awareness about an important issue.

The Personal Injury lawyers of Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C are proud to again offer three scholarships to deserving Illinois students who author winning essays in our fourth annual Scholarship Essay Contest.

All Illinois high school seniors 18 years old or older, college and law school students are invited to enter the contest by writing one essay on the topic of medical malpractice and the advancement of technology.

The goal of Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard is to support students and future lawyers educational efforts while concurrently raising awareness about an important issue. We want to wish good luck to everyone who enters, said Owner and Managing Equity Partner Patrick A. Salvi.

Application forms, essays, and photos must be submitted to scholarship@salvilaw.com by Saturday, April 30, 2016. Judges from the firm will then select the top three essays based on accuracy, grammar, style and originality. Winners will be notified of their selection on Sunday, May 15, 2016.

The first prize winner will receive a scholarship in the amount of $1,500, second prize will receive a scholarship in the amount of $750, and third prize will receive a scholarship in the amount of $250. Checks will be written out to the respective winners registered schools. The funds must be used to pay for school tuition or school-related expenses.

For eligibility information and more details on Salvi, Schostok & Pritchards fourth annual Scholarship Essay Contest, please visit http://www.salvilaw.com.

Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C. was established by Patrick A. Salvi in 1982. Today, the firm has offices in Chicago and Waukegan and 15 lawyers who are supported by a staff of more than 30 people, including paralegals, nurse paralegals and administrative assistants. Over the past decade, Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C. has routinely been listed as one of the top law firms in the state with the highest reported settlement totals. The firms record of success includes more than $1 billion in verdicts and settlements, including 215 cases with verdicts or settlements of $1 million or more.
Matthew T. Galati and Shaun K. Staller from global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP will present at the Philadelphia Bar Associations CLE  Business Immigration 101. The seminar will take place April 19, 2016 at 12:00 p.m. at the Philadelphia Bar Associations Conference Center.

Galati and Staller will discuss immigration processes and how they relate to businesses. The session will address an overview of the immigration law system, hiring foreign workers, options for new foreign owned businesses, paths to a Green Card, Form I-9 compliance, and E-Verify. In addition, there will be time allotted for Galati and Staller to answer any immigration law questions.

Galati focuses his practice on investor, business, and family-based immigration matters, particularly EB-5 matters. He works with business and individuals in various industries, with a specific concentration on startups and entrepreneurial clients. Galati is experienced obtaining employment-based nonimmigrant visas, including H-1B, L-1, E, and O-1 classifications as well as associated immigrant visas. In the EB-5 context, Galati has handled the preparation of hundreds of Form I-829 and I-526 petitions as well as advised clients seeking foreign capital through the preparation of exemplar Form I-924. He counsels individuals seeking green cards for family members and is experienced in immigration/federal court as well as in adjustment of status interviews.

Staller focuses his practice on U.S. immigration matters, with an emphasis on employment-based classifications and compliance in both immigrant and nonimmigrant visa categories. He counsels professionals, managers and executives, intracompany transferees, persons of extraordinary ability, and Treaty NAFTA professionals across a variety of industries. Additionally, Staller assists foreign investors in applications for conditional permanent residency through the EB-5 immigrant investor program. He is also versed in seeking asylum protections for refugees and waivers of grounds of inadmissibility.

Greenberg Traurig is also a sponsor of the CLE  Business Immigration 101. For more information about the program, please click here.

About Greenberg Traurig's Business Immigration & Compliance Group

Greenberg Traurig's Business Immigration & Compliance Group is a multidisciplinary business immigration practice representing businesses, organizations, and individuals from around the world on a wide range of immigration-related matters. The group has achieved international recognition for legal advocacy, results-oriented service, and responsiveness to its clients.

Greenberg Traurig's Immigration Compliance blog addresses the latest developments affecting employers, including the E-Verify program, Form I-9 compliance, Department of Labor issues (H-1B, H-2B and LCA), identity fraud in the workplace, electronic forms I-9s, EB-5 investor regional center compliance, and ICE worksite enforcement audits.

Greenberg Traurigs EB-5 Insights blog addresses the broad range of challenges and opportunities presented by the EB-5 program, including the immigration, tax, and securities compliance issues integral to creating and maintaining successful Regional Centers and projects.

About Greenberg Traurig, LLP

Greenberg Traurig, LLP is an international, multi-practice law firm with approximately 1900 attorneys serving clients from 38 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The firm is No 1. on the 2015 Law360 Most Charitable Firms list, third largest in the U.S. on the 2015 Law360 400, Top 20 on the 2015 Am Law Global 100, and among the 2015 BTI Brand Elite. More information at: http://www.gtlaw.com/.
SensoSCAN S-320 Sensogram Technologies is poised to provide state-of-the-art technology for the fast developing market for reliable wearable diagnostic devices.

Sensogram Technologies, the world leader in wireless vital signs monitoring technology announces a new strategic partnership with leading Swiss manufacturer, Swisstronics Manufacturing AG, a company of Cicors Electronic Solutions Division.

Cicor will be showing SensoSCAN for the first time to the European market at Medtec Europe 2016 in Stuttgart, Germany this week. SensoSCAN, the first product from Sensogram Technologies, provides continuous vital signs via Bluetooth to the cloud for remote access. Blood pressure, respiration rate, blood oxygen saturation, and heart rate can be monitored in real time from the device itself or virtually anywhere.

Cicor is well known worldwide as a proven precision manufacturer of extremely sensitive medical devices, said Dr. Vahram Mouradian, Sensograms founder and CEO. Our standards for vital signs measurement are the highest in the industry and to achieve consistently accurate information we needed a partner that could guarantee the quality of product and consistency on an ongoing basis.

The proven accuracy and reliability of a Cicor built SensoSCAN device, will have immediate impact on quality of care in assisted living, chronic care and remote medicine categories enabling more informed decisions across a broad range of use-cases.

Sensogram Technologies is poised to provide state-of-the-art technology for the fast developing market for reliable wearable diagnostic devices, emphasizes Cicor CEO, Dr. Jurg Dubendorfer. Cicor is determined to co-develop and produce dependable solutions for Sensogram in proven Swiss quality.

About Sensogram Technologies

Founded in 2011, Sensogram Technologies Inc. (Dallas, Texas, USA), and its subsidiary Sensogram Technologies AG (Bern, Switzerland), designs, develops, manufactures and markets wearable technology platforms that monitor critical vital signs such as blood pressure, respiration rate, oxygen saturation and heart rate in real time. Through best in class partnerships, these capabilities impact many markets such as personal health, wellness, assisted living, chronic care, first responder, military and fitness.

About Cicor

Cicor is a globally active group of leading companies in the electronics industry. It is organized in two divisions: Advanced Microelectronics & Substrates (AMS) and Electronic Solutions (ES). The Group's companies provide complete outsourcing services and a broad range of technologies for the manufacture of highly complex PCBs, 3D-MID solutions, hybrids and electronic modules. With 1958 employees at ten production sites worldwide, the Group supplies high-quality customized solutions to clients in Europe, USA and Asia. The shares of Cicor Technologies Ltd. are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (CICN). For further information, please visit http://www.cicor.com.
Palisades MediaGroup Were thrilled to have Andrea and Lauren join our team and help us reestablish our presence in NYC, said Roger Schaffner of Palisades MediaGroup. This is just a sign of our continued growth over the past three years, with new billings doubling.

Full-service marketing agency Palisades MediaGroup has opened a New York office with SVP and Managing Director Andrea Cardamone and VP and Account Director Lauren Foley leading the team.

Were thrilled to have Andrea and Lauren join our team and help us reestablish our presence in NYC, said Roger Schaffner, chairman and CEO of Palisades MediaGroup. This is just a sign of our continued growth over the past three years, with new billings doubling.

Cardamone has accumulated 15-plus years of media and marketing expertise in Los Angeles and New York City working with brands such as ESPN, Pepsi, Disney, Warner Bros and The Weinstein Company. Most recently, as SVP and Group Account Director at PHD, she led the agency team for both HBO and Bleecker Street. This will be a return engagement for Cardamone at Palisades as she worked at the company from 2004 to 2010 as the firms SVP, National Media, Client and Account Director.

Like Cardamone, Foley also comes from New York City. With over 12 years of media and marketing experience, most recently as an Associate Strategy Director at PHD, her accounts have included HBO, Bleecker Street, History Channel, ION Network and Cadbury.

Contact info for the new office is:

475 Park Avenue South

New York, NY

10016

646.517.4727

About Palisades MediaGroup

Founded in 1996, Palisades MediaGroup is celebrating its 20th year as an independent, full-service marketing agency. With offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York, Palisades staff of more than 100 experts specialize in digital media and creative, national and local audio/video investment, strategic planning, business intelligence, analytics and consumer insights, outdoor and print advertising. Clients include The Weinstein Company, UGG Australia, Dropbox, Mercury Insurance Group, Netflix, In-Shape Health Clubs, Belkin International Inc. and Del Taco. Visit palisadesmedia.com for more information.
Frank J. Nicchi (left), New York Chiropractic College president and chiropractor, presents student Bryan Pankow with a $2,000 scholarship check from Standard Process Inc. The opportunity to visit Standard Process is especially meaningful to me as I am very aware of the support Standard Process offers to NYCC and the chiropractic profession as a whole, and the companys position as a leader in the industry.

Standard Process Inc. presented a $2,000 scholarship to New York Chiropractic College (NYCC) student Bryan Pankow. The scholarship was presented during the schools Seventh Trimester Transition Ceremony on March 31. Standard Process awards three $2,000 scholarships annually to students studying chiropractic at the college.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank NYCC and Standard Process for the scholarship and for the chance to visit the companys corporate headquarters in Palmyra, Wisconsin, said Pankow, who is in his seventh trimester. The opportunity to visit Standard Process is especially meaningful to me as I am very aware of the support Standard Process offers to NYCC and the chiropractic profession as a whole, and the companys position as a leader in the industry.

This is the sixth year Standard Process has offered scholarships to chiropractic students at NYCC. The company also provides one $2,500 scholarship to an acupuncture student attending NYCCs Finger Lakes School of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.

Standard Process, a visionary leader in whole food nutrient solutions, provides scholarships to encourage students to study whole food nutrition while pursuing degrees in alternative health care. The company believes in the fundamental connection between nutrition and health, and that when students learn to apply this connection in practice, they will serve as catalysts to help patients achieve optimal health.

To qualify for a Standard Process scholarship, applicants must meet the following criteria:



Have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher

Provide a list of their contributions to the profession, the college and the community

Provide a letter of recommendation

Submit a written response to an essay question that applies to their field of study

If you would like to learn more about scholarships offered by Standard Process, contact Lisa Hackett, professional development coordinator, at 800-848-5061, or by email at lhackett(at)standardprocess(dot)com.

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About Standard Process Inc.

Standard Process is the visionary leader in whole food nutrient solutions. Based in Palmyra, Wisconsin, Standard Process offers more than 300 high-quality supplements made with whole food and other ingredients through three product lines:



Standard Process

Standard Process Veterinary Formulas

MediHerb herbal supplements.

The products are available exclusively through health care professionals, including chiropractors, acupuncturists, medical doctors and veterinarians.

Dedicated to the whole food philosophy of its founder Dr. Royal Lee, Standard Process goal is to ensure its nutritional supplements deliver complex nutrients as nature intended. To accomplish this, Standard Process grows the majority of its ingredients on company-owned, organically certified farmland. Using state-of-the-art manufacturing processes to retain vital nutrients within each ingredient, Standard Process manufactures its supplements in its certified organic manufacturing facility. Standard Process employs high-quality control standards and follows the Food and Drug Administrations current good manufacturing practices (cGMPs).

Standard Process also owns two subsidiaries, Cultivate by Standard Process and Lee Engineering. Both offer unique wellness solutions. Cultivate delivers scalable wellness programs to businesses, using on-site chiropractic as a central component of the program, to impact individual employee and overall company health. Lee Engineerings Royal Lee Organics offers Intelligent Healthful Living solutions for the home for home flour milling.

Standard Process employs over 370 people and has been in business since 1929. The company is recognized as a distinguished leader and innovator in workplace wellness and an exemplary environmental steward. It is a recipient of the Platinum Well Workplace Award from the Wellness Councils of America, and a Tier I participant in the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Green Tier program, which recognizes companies with strong environmental compliance records. For additional information about Standard Process, visit standardprocess.com.
www.africabridge.org Africa Bridge has a unique model of sustainable development to assist vulnerable children and entire villages escape extreme poverty, said Ken deLaski, president and founder, Vibrant Village Foundation. Past News Releases RSS

Africa Bridge today announced it has received a grant for $500,000 from Vibrant Village Foundation. It is the largest grant ever received by Africa Bridge and continues a collaboration between the two organizations that grew over the last couple of years. The grant will be used to fund the unique five-year community-driven development program of Africa Bridge in six extremely poor villages in Tanzania.

Escaping the engrained cycle of poverty is difficult. Fortunately, a little bit of money and know-how appropriately applied goes a long way. Africa Bridge provides very little direct aid. Instead, the organization teaches the villagers to help themselves. This is achieved by providing start-up capital for support committees and agricultural co-ops, but mostly through extensive training. Some of this is basic farming, some is beginning business and some is entrepreneurial. Africa Bridge also delivers support and training in care-taking and social services, as well as access to health care and education. The Africa Bridge program has proven successful in 28 Tanzanian villages, breaking the poverty cycle for thousands and bringing hope to a region that is among the poorest in the world.

Africa Bridge has a unique model of sustainable development to assist vulnerable children and entire villages escape extreme poverty, said Ken deLaski, president and founder, Vibrant Village Foundation. Were excited to extend our relationship with Africa Bridge because their mission dovetails with our commitment to realizing the potential of vulnerable communities.

The funds will be applied over a five-year period by Africa Bridge for work in the Kisondela Ward, where a population of about 12,200 people are spread between six isolated villages in Tanzanias southern highlands. The area is very remote from the countrys coastal commercial center in Dar es Salaam or tourist areas near Arusha and Mt. Kilimanjaro. Tanzania has one of the highest rates in the world for HIV/AIDS infection and, with poor access to health care, the incidence in Kisondela is above the national average. Around 20 percent of the population in these villages is considered vulnerable, including approximately 1,400 children, many of whom are orphans or living in elderly-headed households. The program in Kisondela will kick-off this month.

Were thrilled with the grant and eager to learn from Vibrant Village Foundation, and to implement their ideas for improvement during our work together in Kisondelas villages, said Mark Morford, chairman of the board, Africa Bridge. With our support, the program will lead to measureable improvements in vulnerable childrens lives, the lives of their caretakers, and whole villages. As weve seen in other villages at the end of our five-year program, village committees and co-ops will continue their activities and growth without further outside investment. Co-op members will have gone from eating one meal a day to three meals, from consuming protein once or twice a month to several times per week, nearly all of the children will attend school, and some of their guardians will even start their own businesses. Once too poor and weak to even dream, the villagers will start looking forward to a brighter future.

The Africa Bridge model of sustainable development pairs short-term startup capital with extensive training to enable villagers to overcome dire poverty. At the core, Africa Bridge organizes volunteer villagers into Most Vulnerable Children Committees (MVCCs), which identify and aid those most in need. We train committee members in social services, care-taking skills, legal protections and organizational management, as well as provide access to health care and education. The guardians of vulnerable children are selected by the MVCCs to join income-generating farm co-ops. We implement operating procedures and small business disciplines, while providing seed capital and ongoing training. As harvests and herds grow, the members earn income and co-op membership expands, creating self-sustaining development.

About Vibrant Village Foundation

Vibrant Village Foundation invests in the potential of communities around the world. We provide support in the areas of nutrition and health, clean water, agriculture, education, arts and economic development. Our goal is to achieve results that are measurable and long-term to improve individual lives. More information is available at http://www.vibrantvillage.org.

About Africa Bridge

Africa Bridge is a nonprofit, rural economic development organization that creates sustainable improvement in vulnerable childrens lives by providing start-up capital, education and training resources to families. Africa Bridge is currently working in 12 villages in Tanzania. Utilizing a holistic, integrated development model, our self-sustaining programs have improved the lives of thousands of children and their families, and helped lift 28 villages out of the poverty cycle. See http://www.africabridge.org for more information or to donate. Become a follower of Africa Bridge on Facebook.
Dean Gavello, Alliance Resource Group This partnership will not only be accretive for the company but it will allow us to offer our clients an even better pool of talented candidates.

Alliance Resource Group, a leading provider of staffing and recruitment services in the finance and accounting sector, proudly welcomes The Bennett Group and the companys Founder, Dean Gavello, to their team. Dean joins ARG after their recent acquisition of The Bennett Group. The Bennett Group was a dominant player in finance and accounting executive search and Alliance saw the acquisition as a natural opportunity to complement and enhance its current services.

As Principal of The Bennett Group, Dean specialized in recruiting for C-suite executive and management-level roles in the disciplines of accounting, finance, tax, treasury, financial reporting and internal audit. Dean brings over twenty years of proven success  and an extensive network of industry contacts and talented financial professionals  to his leadership position at Alliance Resource Group.

Im very excited to join with ARG, Dean said. I look forward to bringing my recruitment expertise and industry know-how to the firm. Ive experienced years of success placing talented executives with exceptional companies across Southern California and I look forward to continued success as part of the Alliance Resource Group team.

Dean is a well-respected, deeply entrenched industry professional, said Jennifer Hannigan, Alliance Resource Group President. Were happy to forge such a creative and productive relationship. This partnership will not only be accretive for the company but it will allow us to offer our clients an even better pool of talented candidates. ARG is committed to being the premier finance and accounting executive search and temporary staffing firm in the Southern California marketplace and this is just one more symbol of that commitment.

About Alliance Resource Group

Alliance Resource Group provides the very best finance and accounting talent to their clients and offers career-changing opportunities to candidates and consultants. When it comes to recruiting accounting and financial talent in Southern California, no one takes a smarter approach than Alliance Resource Group.

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If you would like more information about Alliance Resource Group, email info(at)allianceresourcegroup(dot)com or visit Alliance Resource Group on the Web at http://www.allianceresourcegroup.com.
News / National

by Staff Reporter

The Minister of Health and Child Care Dr David Parirenyatwa on a whirlwind tour of Masvingo Province has condemned the standards at Chiredzi General Hospital Maternity Ward and said the situation is just as good as saying there is no maternity ward.Masvingo Mirror reported that he made his observations after touring the hospital last Thursday.Parirenyatwa condemned the Ward for being overcrowded as everything is being done in one room from prenatal to neonatal services.The ward has some mothers and their babies sleeping on the floor. He condemned the ward as unsafe for the babies and mothers.He appealed to the business community to come and build another ward under their corporate social responsibility budgets."We agree that Chiredzi Hospital does not have a maternity ward. The maternity ward is one of the buildings which we have condemned. It was built in 1967 by the Rhodesians to cater for a few people but we now see an overcrowded building which is unsafe for the mothers and the new born."Everything is being done in one ward, that is pre- natal, post and neo natal services, in-fact there are three groups of mothers under one roof and that is not safe. We need a new maternity ward urgently and I call upon local companies to assist with funding for the building of the new hospital through their corporate social responsibility programmes" said Dr. Parirenyatwa.Chiredzi Hospital Superintendent Dr Paul Ngere said the ward is always overcrowded and on Thursday there was a better number of 35 patients but the previous week other mothers were sleeping on the floor with their babies as there were 65 patients in the ward."Minister your visit here is of great significant to this hospital since you have managed to see it for yourself. Our greatest challenge is of lack of a proper maternity ward and pharmacy. As you can see the maternity ward is always overcrowded and at times mothers sleep with their babies on the floor and that is a bad situation."Today there are 35 patients but last week the number was too high and that can be reduced if first mothers who are referred to this hospital are allowed to deliver at rural health centres. We also need a new bigger maternity ward as the current one was built in 1967," said Dr Ngere.
Gardant Management Solutions announced promotions for two members of the companys executive leadership team.

JoEllen Bleavins, who has served as the chief operating officer, is the new president. She will oversee the day-to-day operations of the Gardant portfolio. Bleavins experience as chief operating officer, vice president of operations, regional director and community administrator have well-prepared her for one of the companys top positions. Her evolving leadership role will help Gardant continue to carry out its mission and position the company for the future.

The role of chief operations officer will be filled by Julie Simpkins, Gardants Senior Vice President of Strategy & Business Development.

Simpkins has a wealth of multi-state operations and marketing experience, and she has played a valuable role as Gardant prepares for additional growth and expansion outside of Illinois. Simpkins broad healthcare and senior living management background, along with her engaging leadership style, will be a great asset as she transitions into her new role.

Rod Burkett will continue to serve as Gardants Chief Executive Officer. His focus will be on positioning Gardant as a leader in the assisted living industry, especially in the areas of affordability and accessibility. He will retain accountability for Gardants performance and continue his ambassador role with current and new partners, owners, investors, financing entities, regulators and trade associations.

Gardant Management Solutions is the largest provider of assisted living in Illinois. It operates more than 40 assisted living, senior living and memory care communities in Chicago and surrounding suburbs, the Metro East area of St. Louis, and other locations in northern, central and southern Illinois.

The company ranks as the 14th largest provider of assisted living in the country, according to Senior Living Executive, a publication of Argentum.

For more information about Gardant Management Solutions or the assisted living, senior living and memory care communities the company operates, visit http://www.gardant.com or call 1-877-882-1495 toll-free.
Organizations are often hesitant to shift to cloud-based enterprise platforms due to the uncertainty of whether data will be secure and continually accessible if it sits outside of a business server room. Past News Releases RSS AvePoint Provides SharePoint...

AvePoint Announces New Integrations...

AvePoint Accelerates Government...

AvePoint, the Microsoft Cloud expert, today announced the general availability of the latest release of AvePoint Online Services, AvePoints 100 percent Microsoft Azure-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform for Office 365 and Salesforce CRM. With the introduction of DocAve Backup for Salesforce and enhancements for DocAve Governance Automation Online, organizations can ensure seamless access to resources and extend cloud computing as business needs dictate.

DocAve Backup for Salesforce introduces comprehensive backup and restore capabilities for information stored in Salesforce CRM, reducing the costly vulnerability created by data loss from human error. The fully cloud-hosted solution allows for quick restore of a single contact to an entire CRM instance.

With DocAve Backup for Salesforce, administrators can manage and protect their CRM environment with improved:

Simplicity: With one click, back up content automatically or on demand  with all data stored securely in Microsoft Azure.

Flexibility: Quickly restore content at the organization, object, and record level, as well from a specific point in time to minimize disruption.

Safety: Ensure compliance for highly sensitive data using Microsoft Azure Encryption in conjunction with user account security as well as granular permissions trimming to grant or limit user features based on their role.

Visibility: Provide IT administrators with access to a centralized dashboard to view backup details  including records, time, and job status as well as user activity.

AvePoint also added enhancements to DocAve Governance Automation Online. By providing Office 365  SharePoint Online end users with an intuitive service catalog of all available resources, DocAve Governance Automation Online resolves ambiguity around requesting resources from IT and encourages adoption throughout the content lifecycle. With the latest features for SharePoint Online lifecycle management, organizations can control the level of access to content from creation to deletion or archival at the end of a retention policy.

Organizations are often hesitant to shift to cloud-based enterprise platforms due to the uncertainty of whether data will be secure and continually accessible if it sits outside of a business server room, said George Petrou, Chief Technical Officer, AvePoint. With the latest release of AvePoint Online Services, companies can ensure that Office 365 and Salesforce CRM data is properly backed up, easily restored, and accessed by the right users throughout the content lifecycle.

The latest release of AvePoint Online Services is generally available today, March 29, 2016. For more information on the platform and product features, please visit our website.

About AvePoint

AvePoint is the Microsoft Cloud expert. Over 15,000 companies and 3 million cloud users worldwide trust AvePoint to migrate, manage, and protect their Office 365 and SharePoint data. AvePoints integrated cloud, hybrid, and on-premises software solutions are enhanced by 24/7 support and award-winning services. Organizations across six continents and all industries rely on AvePoint to ease transition to the Microsoft Cloud, increase IT administrator productivity, and satisfy governance and compliance objectives.

A two-time Microsoft Partner of the Year Award winner, AvePoint has been named to the Inc. 500|5000 six times and the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 five times. AvePoint is a Microsoft Global ISV Partner, Gold Application Development Partner, Gold Cloud Platform Partner, Gold Collaboration and Content Partner, and US Government GSA provider via strategic partnerships. Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Jersey City, NJ, AvePoint is privately held and backed by Goldman Sachs.

All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners.
Donate & Learn Business Expo Keynote Speakers The Donate & Learn Expo Agenda is packed to the brim with keynotes, advanced workshops, networking, and even a silent auction!

Join 300 Toronto entrepreneurs, startups and business professionals at the Donate & Learn Business Expo on April 26, 2016 at Telus House. Dont just hear about the latest SMB strategies, learn how to master them!

Green Lotus and Startup Toronto join forces in support of Toronto entrepreneurs, startups, SMBs, and local charities! 100% of proceeds will be donated to the United Way Toronto and York Region.

The Donate & Learn Expo Agenda is packed to the brim with keynotes, advanced workshops, networking, and even a silent auction! Whether just getting started with social media, planning an online marketing strategy, or deep business branding, the Donate & Learn Expo will provide the knowledge, strategies and networking opportunities needed to improve social media, and online marketing results.

Donate & Learn Business Expo Details:

Date: April 26, 2016 at 9:30am  5pm

Location: Telus House  3rd floor, 25 York Street, Toronto

Cost: $20 early bird special

Register Now: http://greenlotus.ca/expo

Choose from more than 10 keynote sessions and advanced workshops on branding, video marketing, PPC, SEO, email marketing, and social media! Expo Speakers include business and branding experts from Microsoft Bing, YouTube, Constant Contact, and more.

Created by Bassem Ghali at Green Lotus, the Donate & Learn initiative strives to provide high-quality educational events while also supporting great local charities by replacing attendance fees with donations! Past Donate & Learn events have gained the support of over 1000 Torontonians, and raised more than $25,000 for the YWCA, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Toronto, and others.

Theres never been a better way to learn!

More About Startup Toronto:

Startup Toronto is a grass roots entrepreneur-led community of Startup Canada, connecting entrepreneurs to the startup ecosystem in Toronto, fostering support for business development, and providing programs and tools that help entrepreneurs accelerate business growth.
New Sioux Chief Building ...our expectation is that our new headquarters will be completed and ready for us in early 2017.

Sioux Chief Manufacturing, a leading maker of rough plumbing fixtures, has begun initial work on its new headquarters in the northwest corner of the Centerpoint complex in south Kansas City, formerly the site of Richards Gebaur Air Force Base.

Sioux Chief owner, Joe P. Ismert, says current activity involves the ground being leveled to make room for the new facility (projected to one day be in excess of 1,000,000 square-feet). Crews should begin pouring the foundation within the next few weeks.

Were excited to see construction activity ramping up, says Ismert. If all goes as planned, our expectation is that our new headquarters will be completed and ready for us in early 2017.

Almost all of the 600+ employees will be making the move to the new headquarters. Sioux Chiefs world-class extrusion operation will remain in the original Peculiar, Missouri facility.

One of the last items to make the move to the new headquarters will be the iconic sculpture of the Sioux Indian chief that has stood in front of the companys entrance for many years. Moving the heavy sculpture by truck for the 21-mile journey will be an event all by itself.

In my mind, said Ismert, well know were settled in our new home when the Chief is standing guard out in front of the building.

More about Sioux Chief:

Since 1957, Sioux Chief has manufactured innovative plumbing products. It is a leader in providing rough plumbing solutions for residential, commercial and industrial applications. Sioux Chiefs comprehensive product line is comprised of three core groups: Supply, Drainage and Support. Sioux Chief Products are sold to qualified wholesale distributors and retailers worldwide. The company is headquartered in Peculiar, Missouri  just outside of Kansas City. For more information, visit us online at siouxchief.com or call 1-800-821-3944.
Jeanna Van Rensselar, president Smart PR Communications In every transition there is opportunity. Companies that fully leverage those opportunities will be in a very comfortable position when the industry settles in. Past News Releases RSS

Smart PR Communications just released a set of marketing guidelines that address the rapidly changing technology industry and marketplace.

President Jeanna Van Rensselar said, The technology sector is evolving from a fast-growth industry to a mature industry. While this presents fewer opportunities for start-ups, it is excellent news for any company that is already established. The key to success, when it comes to marketing, is understanding the competitive environment of a mature industry.

Some of the hallmarks of a mature industry are:



Greater competition for market share

A trend toward selling to experienced, repeat buyers

Greater emphasis on cost and service

Reduced opportunity for introducing new products and services (although this isnt yet true for the technology sector)

More global competition

Reduced profits during the transition period

Fewer channel partners

A shift in manufacturing, distributing, selling and marketing strategies

In order to take this into account, Smart PR Communications developed the following marketing guidelines for the technology industry:

1. Monitor top competitors intensively.

2. Regularly assess the search rank of top key termspaying particular attention to the clients rank compared to competitors.

3. Concentrate marketing efforts on the top revenue generating products and serviceswith a tighter focus on those that face fierce competition.

4. Work closely with sales reps. They are the best source of information on how the company rates compared to competitorswhere they are winning and losing sales.

5. Treat existing clients like royalty and treat highly profitable existing clients like kings and queens. Use every opportunity to support sales reps in that effort.

6. Shift the marketing focus away from products and services toward customer service and cost (competing on cost alone is never advisablebut competing on a combination of customer service and cost is a sound strategy for a mature market).

7. Look for marketing partnerships with channel partners. For channel partners, look for opportunities to leverage upstream relationships.

8. Reassess differentiators. During the period of transition, differentiators that have been relevant for years tend to become irrelevantbuyers priorities are adjusting. This is especially true for product and service attributes.

9. Refine and reposition best-selling products and services.

10. Position the company as a leader at every opportunity.

It is important to look at this transition as a positive, Van Rensselar said. In every transition there is opportunity. Companies that fully leverage those opportunities will be in a very comfortable position when the industry settles in.

Smart PR Communications, just west of Chicago is best known for creating outstanding visibility for small to mid-sized technology companies. SPRC maintains offices on LaSalle Street in Chicago and in Naperville, Ill. To contact Smart PR Communications, call 630-363-8081; email: info(at)smartprcommunications(dot)com; or visit http://www.smartprcommunications.com.
Experience 'The Suite Life' with SuiteStory SuiteStory is like stepping up to the next level in hotels. Anyone who has flown in First or Business Class knows that their time and convenience is far more important.

SuiteStory is pleased to announce the formal launch of their travel booking website designed specically to help travelers discover and book hotel suites. Unlike traditional booking websites like Expedia and Booking.com, SuiteStory specializes in 4 and 5 star hotel suites only, without the clutter of standard rooms. SuiteStory's focus is on taking the work out of researching and booking an upgraded suite-only experience.Their services are available in London, New York, Paris & Hawaii. Ocial sources have reported that SuiteStory will launch in many key markets by the end of this year and soon operate throughout the world. Equipped with its machine-learning algorithms, full-screen detailed photography, and easy-to-use filters, SuiteStory will enhance customer experience by providing the most relevant suite results.

SuiteStory is the brainchild of industry experts Vikram Pradhan and Dmitrii Beliakov. Vikram is an experienced hotel revenue strategist with eleven years of experience in strategy, pricing, and inventory management with Starwood Hotels & Resorts. Dmitrii is a serial entrepreneur with thirteen years of cross-industry CEO experience including marketing, manufacturing, and HR related businesses.

Highlighting the unique service features of SuiteStory, Dmitrii stated, SuiteStory is like stepping up to the next level in hotels. Anyone who has flown in First or Business Class knows that their time and convenience are far more important. Similarly, staying in a suite opens up a whole range of convenient and time-saving services at the hotel. SuiteStory will give our guests a world of options for a quick, hassle-free, luxury experience."

Selling of premium hotel suites has always been a matter of concern for hotels. An industry survey by SuiteStory revealed that luxury hotels sell their suites approximately 33% of the time. The rest of the time they are occupied by free upgrades or they simply remain vacant. Online sales gures for suites are extremely low because regular travel sites provide little or no information about suites and the services that go with them, making it almost impossible for guests to discover, compare and book these suites. SuiteStory will make it a breeze for travelers to nd exclusive suites, compare, and book the one that meets their expectations, quickly and efficiently. Its other services include a blog, where consumers can get quick answers to everyday questions about hotels and find inspired ideas for travel. SuiteStory also oers a Best Price Guarantee for all their suites.

SuiteStory's intuitive booking screens are also a part of an innovative package designed to make it easy for those who book travel for someone else. Speaking about this breakthrough functionality, Vikram said, "We provide support for Executive and Personal Assistants to make arrangements at the hotel that no one else does today. For their requests, assisted booking is available through live chat, phone, and email. Need a suite for a small meeting? Done. Want to host a small reception in the suite? We do that too. Our entire inventory of more than 10,000 suites is instantly bookable with more suites being added daily. After New York, London, Paris, and Hawaii well launch in all major cities around the world. Before you know it, well be the only place youll need to book your stay anywhere on this planet.

For more information, visit http://www.suitestory.com
Taxpayer Advocacy Panel logo The TAP is vital because it provides the IRS with the taxpayers perspective as well as recommendations for improvement.

The Internal Revenue Service seeks civic-minded volunteers to serve on the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP), a federal advisory committee that listens to taxpayers, identifies major taxpayer concerns, and makes recommendations for improving IRS service and customer satisfaction.

The TAP provides a forum for taxpayers to raise concerns about IRS service and offer suggestions for improvement. The TAP reports annually to the Secretary of the Treasury, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, and National Taxpayer Advocate. The Office of the Taxpayer Advocate is an independent organization within the IRS that provides support for and oversight over TAP.

In trying to comply with an increasingly complex tax system, taxpayers may find they need different services than the IRS is currently providing, said Nina E. Olson, the National Taxpayer Advocate. The TAP is vital because it provides the IRS with the taxpayers perspective as well as recommendations for improvement. This helps the IRS deliver the best possible service to assist taxpayers in meeting their tax obligations.

The TAP includes members from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, and one member from abroad who represents U.S. taxpayers living overseas. Each member is appointed to represent the interests of taxpayers in his or her geographic location, as well as taxpayers as a whole.

To be a member of the TAP, a person must be a U.S. citizen, not be a current employee of any bureau of the Treasury Department or have worked for any bureau of the Treasury Department within the three years preceding December 1 of the current year, be current with his/her federal tax filing and payment obligations, be able to commit 200 to 300 volunteer hours during the year, and pass a Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal background check. Individuals who practice before the IRS must be in good standing with the IRS. New TAP members will serve a three-year term starting in December 2016. Applicants chosen as alternate members will be considered to fill any vacancies that open in their areas during the next three years.

TAP is seeking members or alternates in the following locations:



Alaska

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Florida

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

New Hampshire

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Puerto Rico

South Dakota

Tennessee

Utah

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Federal advisory committees are required to select members that represent a balance of perspectives. As such, individuals from underrepresented groups, Native Americans and non-tax professionals, are encouraged to apply. However, all timely applications from the locations listed above will be considered.

Applications for TAP will be accepted through May 16, 2016. Applicants must apply online at http://www.usajobs.gov.

For additional information about TAP or the application process, visit http://www.improveirs.org or call 888-912-1227 (a toll-free call) and select option number 5. Callers outside of the U.S. and U.S. territories may call 214-413-6523 (not a toll-free call). The TAP staff may also be reached via email at taxpayeradvocacypanel(at)irs(dot)gov for assistance.
This book offers the reader a pathway to understand what is important to consider while planning a wedding both in a family way and how to work with professional services before and on the wedding day

Author Tobey Dodge, CSEP wanted to look for a way to help families and event professionals with the lessons she learned after over 25 years in the wedding business. It prompted her to write The Other Side of the Aisle (published by AuthorHouse), a book that pulls at ones heart strings with endearing stories while she gently instructs brides, grooms, their families and wedding industry pros through her story telling about her own familys history, personal challenges, triumphs and determination to make her way in the business world.

This book gives a glimpse into the life and business journey Dodge took in order to build a successful wedding planning business. She shares how she attempted to fulfill the wedding dreams of nearly 800 couples and their families while managing to find love herself along the way.

This book offers the reader a pathway to understand what is important to consider while planning a wedding both in a family way and how to work with professional services before and on the wedding day, Dodge says. It simultaneously shares the inside story of a striving entrepreneurs quest to succeed in business and life while sharing the lessons she learned along the way for bridal couples and event pros too.

Dodge hopes that by sharing her life story to readers in The Other Side of the Aisle, it will inspire aspiring entrepreneurs and event professionals on how to deal with family and situational challenges through fun and heartfelt wedding stories. Her shared experiences, wisdom and inside look at weddings will hopefully provide a realistic road map to use as a measure of what challenges and situations they may encounter and the ways to handle these possible challenges along the way.

The Other Side of the Aisle

By Tobey Dodge, CSEP

Softcover | 6 x 9in | 164 pages | ISBN 9781504921374

E-Book | 164 pages | ISBN 9781504921381

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author

Tobey Dodge is one of the leading authorities in Southern Californias wedding planning industry. More than 800 couples have personally benefited from her expertise. Thousands more have absorbed her ideas and words of wisdom through numerous speaking engagements, seminars, press interviews and consulting assignments. Her weddings have graced the covers of People, Inside Weddings, Ceremony and the LA Times. Even the publishers of Here Comes the Guide (Hopscotch Press, 1996) have turned to Dodge for her expertise for the first Southern California edition. A Certified Special Event Professional (CSEP), Dodge has served as Educational Chairperson and a board member of the International Special Event Society, Co-Director of the Association of Bridal Consultants in the G.L.A. area and more recently, as the Wish Granter Chair for Wish Upon a Wedding, a nonprofit organization.

AuthorHouse, an Author Solutions, Inc. self-publishing imprint, is a leading provider of book publishing, marketing, and bookselling services for authors around the globe and offers the industrys only suite of Hollywood book-to-film services. Committed to providing the highest level of customer service, AuthorHouse assigns each author personal publishing and marketing consultants who provide guidance throughout the process. Headquartered in Bloomington, Indiana, AuthorHouse celebrated 15 years of service to authors in Sept. 2011.For more information or to publish a book visit authorhouse.com or call 1-888-519-5121. For the latest, follow @authorhouse on Twitter.
Samanta Tamang and Karma Yeshey share their advice for the royal couple Just be yourself, enjoy it and be respectable. Thats enough.

The Cambridges will be making their first official visit to the Land of the Thunder Dragon, where theyll meet King Jigme and Queen Jetsun (often known as the William and Kate of the Himalayas) and their baby son, who was born in February.

Samanta Tamang and Karma Yeshey collaborated with London-based company EuroTalk on the uTalk app for iOS, which now includes the Bhutanese language Dzongkha along with 131 other world languages. Ahead of the royal visit to their country, the consultants shared their advice for Kate and William:

Our country is quite accepting and quite free; you can do almost anything you want, being a Buddhist country. But we do have a lot of respect for our monasteries and sacred places, so dont touch anything! Just be yourself, enjoy it and be respectable. Thats enough.

But Samanta and Karma also had a couple of words of warning for visitors to Bhutan, which only opened to tourists in 1974:

The food in Bhutan is mostly organic, but its spicy with a lot of chillies! And the local wine might be very strong for them. We call it ara, its almost like vodka

The royal itinerary includes a trip to the Buddhist monastery Thimpu Dzong and a six-hour hike to the sacred Paro Taktsang, or Tigers Nest. Samanta explained, There are lots of really old sacred monasteries and architecture - we dont even know how they made it! If you can get to see it once in your lifetime, its amazing.

EuroTalks chairman Richard Howeson added, Wed like to wish William and Kate Tashi Delek (good luck) on their upcoming visit to Bhutan. And we recommend they learn how to say Naa May Sa May Kha Ma Tsha Mi Chi La (not too spicy, please) just in case!

Background

For more details, contact Liz Dyer, EuroTalk Marketing Manager on 0207 371 7711 or liz(at)eurotalk(dot)com.

uTalk for iPhone and iPad gives users the confidence to try out 132 languages instantly, learning from any language they choose. Its free to download, with paid upgrades to learn more with Essentials (9.99) or Premium (14.99). Review copies are available on request.

EuroTalk is a friendly, fun British-based language learning company with the biggest range of languages to choose from across apps and in-store products.

The company wants to enable people all over the world, of any age, to start learning to talk in a new language simply and with immediate results.
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News / National

by Stephen Jakes

Mthwakazi Republic Party will be officially launching the provincial structure of South Africa on the April 23, 2016.MRP secretary General Hloniphani Ncube said the event would take place at Yeovile Recreation Centre, from 10:00am hours to 15:00pm hours."The rally would be in Johannesburg in South Africa and the theme would be Towards the Restoration of Mthwakazi State through True Unity in our Diversity," he said. "The event would be targeting more than 3 million Mthwakazians who are living in South Africa after running away from the atrocities of the Mugabe regime ranging from Gukurahundi, ESAP, de-industrialisation of Mthwakazi, Fast Track Land Reform program and continuous killing of our people.""We have extended our invitations to other Mthwakazi groups be it Arts Groups, Social, political and so on who subscribes to our vision, to come and give solidarity Masseges," he added.He said the event would be graced by the National Executive leadership of Mthwakazi Republic Party led by the President Cde Mqondisi Moyo,and the provincial executives of all the provinces of Mthwakazi."The president would deliver the two year newly revised strategy of Mthwakazi Republic Party and touch on a number of issues that the party seeks to solve at once," Ncube said."South African province is a critical province in Mthwakazi as earlier mentioned that scores of Mthwakazi sons and daughters are exiled there due to political, social and economical alienation of the people of Mthwakazi. Since independence of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe regime have brought nothing more than sufferings and killings of innocent souls. A large number of Mthwakazi sons and daughters resort to migrate to South Africa to seek for a better livelihood.""We therefore, call upon all our Mthwakazi citizens to attend this crucial function that would give an informative update on how Mthwakazi Republic Party would usher in Mthwakazi independence," he added.
News / National

by Staff Reporter

Health and Child Care Minister Dr David Parirenyatwa has declared that health sector workers are not allowed to strike.He said they are in an essential service sector."Any grievances are allowed to be aired, but what is happening now, the new Constitution says that the health sector is an essential service and that is what they should read and that what we are interpreting into this," said Parirenyatwa."Anybody in the health sector is an essential service and they must now refer to that constitutional provision, but we always want an articulation of their views through the appropriate bodies and associations,".Government through the Health Services Board (HSB) introduced contracts for JMROs, which they finally signed last week following intense negotiations.Part of the contract states that the JRMOs were not allowed to go on industrial action because they were deemed an essential service.
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As app developers, we live in a different world from the publishers, said Valerie Trouze, founder of Edoki Academy, a digital studio based in Paris and London that produces education apps for children based on the Montessori teaching system. Traditional publishers still have to deal with paper, ink, printing, distribution. When we want to publish, we just push a button. I just cant get my head around what it is they have to do.

Trouze was one of a coterie of exhibitors in the new Digital Hall of this years Bologna Childrens Book Fair, which was visually dominated by stands from two major platforms  Microsoft Education and Google Play  and featured a score of digital service providers, companies offering software solutions, and independent producers.

The challenges that childrens app developers face these days echo those of traditional publishing, with increasingly narrow distribution channels being clogged by an exponential increase in product, making discovery by consumers more of a challenge. Major change is evident in the last two years, with the decisions by top toy manufacturers and childrens brands to use apps as a cross-platform marketing tool or supplement to existing product.

Today, if you look at the app stores, the childrens channels are often dominated by apps from Lego or Disney, for example, said Verena Pausder of Berlin digital studio Fox & Sheep, which produced the popular Petting Zoo app created by artist and childrens book illustrator Christoph Niemann. The result is that we have often seen our apps pushed off the featured app pages in the iOS store, which has made reaching customers increasingly difficult. Accordingly, said Pausader, her studios strategy has been to create one or two big brand licensed apps per year  working with the likes of German toy company Haba, in one example  and cross-promote the companys own apps through those sales.

What small, independent app-creators may lack in discoverability they can often make up for in quality; often, according to the independents, their apps can be far superior to what are offered by the larger licensed brands. This was born out by this years BolognaRagazzi Digital Awards, which were won by Wuwu from Denmarks Step In Books (in the fiction category) and by the math teaching app Attributes by Math Doodles, created by Carstens Studios in the U.S., for nonfiction. These are great examples of what can be done with the technology, noted Warren Buckleitner, editor of Childrens Technology Review and manager of the awards. They take the opportunity to make the reading and interactive experience better without distracting from the story, in the case of Wuwu, or the pedagogy, in the case of Attributes. And they do it in a way that is ethical  there is no up-selling to children within the apps, for example.

Of the more than one million apps available on iOS and Android, some 75,000 to 100,000 are labeled as being for children. But the bad news is that the app stores are flooded with cheap and mediocre content, or even crap, said Buckleitner, who also ran the half-day seminar Dust or Magic, which discussed best practices for childrens app development.

Jrn Alraun, of Berlin digital studio urbn pockets, agreed that the challenge has become how to acquire and foster an audience for original, high-quality, and typically more expensive apps in the face of increasing competition from companies that might be quick to put an inferior, free app into the market to cross-promote a toy, product, or movie. He added, The curated part of [Apples iOS] app store is really great, but the rest, not so much.

Nearly all the exhibiting app developers acknowledged that Apples iOS was, by far, the dominant platform, and their businesses lived and died by their ability to get featured on iTunes, though many expressed the belief that increasing sales of Android devices should expand the traffic to Google Play significantly in coming years.

Elsewhere in Bolognas Digital Hall, several companies were experimenting with virtual and augmented reality as a means to make their apps more distinctive and interactive. Victoria Productions, exhibiting as part of a Korean collective that brought eight developers to Bologna, offers vocabulary books that, when viewed through the camera on an iPad, have images are rendered in 3D. Mozaik, the largest textbook publisher in Hungary, took 1,000 titles and gave digital support to the textbook, offering narrative animations, video, and 3D renderings to readers through embedded links.

Its the interplay between technology and art that is unique, noted Neil Hoskins of Winged Chariot Productions, a consultancy that assisted Bologna with curating the Digital Hall. What people forget is that in many instances with augmented or virtual reality, you have the physical book that acts as the catalyst for the apps This is good for the ecosystem as, overall, well get more connections between developers and illustrators, matches where the digital side is looking for high-quality art, and the physical side is looking for high-quality digital augmentation.

Several attendees observed that only two of the companies present at the Digital Hall had also been exhibiting in Bologna for the past five years, and that digital studios and companies engaged in childrens media have come and gone quite quickly. Expanding to provide a separate Digital Hall this year was a big experiment, said Roberta Chinni, project manager of the fair. Our goal is to have engagement between the two halls. The illustrators are kind of the ambassadors at this point. Someone like Christoph Niemann can show how there is synergy, so we are optimistic that there is a future for the two sides to work even more closely together.
If theres one constant when it comes to the Association of Writers and Writing Programs nomadic annual conference of writers, publishers, booksellers, and others affiliated with the literary publishing world, its this: AWP inevitably takes on each year the personality of its host city. This years AWP, held at the Los Angeles Convention Center from March 31April 2, was a vibrant melange of multicultural voices.

The calls for more diversity in the book publishing industry that have grown louder in recent years reached a crescendo at AWP 2016, which had, it seems, more panels than ever addressing issues of diversity in both adult books and childrens books and inclusivity in terms of whose work is being published and promoted.

Panels that emphasized childrens and YA literature at AWP 2016 ranged from Making Monsters: Exploring Otherness in YA/MG Literature to Girls on Fire: Beyond the Strong Female Character in Books for Young Readers. We Need Diverse Books sponsored a panel on Shifting the Narrative Lens in writing childrens and YA books that featured Audrey Coulthurst (Of Fire and Stars, HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, Nov.), Alicia Williams (Genesis Begins Again, S&S/Atheneum, spring 2017), Daniel Jose Older (Shadowshaper, Scholastic/Levine, 2015), and Brandy Colbert (Little & Lion, Little, Brown, 2017). The session, moderated by Mike Jung (Unidentified Suburban Object, Scholastic/Levine, 2016), one of WNDBs founders, was billed as a discussion of how writers could make their work more inclusive by using classic world-building and storytelling techniques, and it was all that, but it was also also a call to action. Publishing is an industry in which, Jung noted, a YA novel written by an African-American writer and inspired by the Black Lives Movement could provoke lively bidding among 13 publishing houses, but at the same time, black authors are still published at a level that is disproportionately, staggeringly low.

In order to improve upon these statistics, Jung said, its necessary to begin at the very entrance into the publishing-industry pipeline through which a book must proceed: one must begin with the writing process itself. Were here to discuss craft, Jung told the audience. We need to redefine our understanding of craft, because craft is about more than just pure mechanics... Craft is inextricably linked to socio-political belief, self-understanding, cultural understanding, and the historical scaffolding upon which our society has been built. The craft of writing, Jung noted, is not just to practice creativity, but is also a method to examine, retrofit, and dismantle the mechanisms of power.

The panelists addressed the issue of the complexities of writing uncomfortable things about themselves and about the privilege that exists within their communities. Williams noted that shed never really thought about privilege within the African-American community until she thought about the notion of whiter skin versus darker skin, and straight hair versus curlier hair, and addressed it in her fiction.

The discussion then segued into one of oppression Olympics, or as Jung defined it, groups arguing that the injustices they must contend with are more important than [others], or that specific communities should speak for all communities. Is it possible, Jung asked, to write about that in-fighting without engaging in it? This prompted Coulthurst to respond, For someone to say its not my fight because Im not gay or because Im not black... I dont want to be that asshole. And Williams pointed out that we all have our pain, that what happens to anyone in the world affects us all. One of the greatest tragedies of the lack of diversity, whether its in books or in movies, Older pointed out, is that it sets different people against each other, when were just trying to get our faces in there.

Perhaps the most moving moments in the 90-minute session involved the discussion about the risks faced by teenagers who become involved in social justice issues, and/or speak out, demanding more diversity in the books that are published for their market. Children and youth who are different from the mainstream, Coulthurst said, explaining why her fiction always includes LGBTQ characters, are conditioned to accept being victimized because they are black or gay or something.

Its young people on the margins, Older said, for whom he writes and takes risks by writing YA urban fantasy novels that feature characters who are people of color. And, he added, Im writing for the kids who are people of color who are getting the shit kicked out of them or worse.

Taking risks for those young readers on the margins who might see themselves in the story is also Colberts mantra, the author said, noting that her next novel is about a black girl who is questioning her sexuality and is Jewish.

Im terrified, she admitted. Its easier to write about straight black girls.

Perhaps, inevitably, the conversation turned to the larger issue of diversity in the publishing industry itself. Older noted that he felt that there are a lot of white fantasies in the white supremacy of publishing that he feels he must subvert, such as describing in the opening scene in his novel, Half-Resurrection Blues, the presence of people of color in Brooklyns Park Slope neighborhood on New Years Eve, celebrating on the margins while the hip, young white kids who are more stereotypical denizens of that Brooklyn neighborhood partied in the streets. When submitting it to publishers, he said, hed changed white kids to rich kids, and then changed it back to white kids after its acquisition. What about those stories that people arent submitting? he asked. Because they think that white people cant handle it?

Williams pointed out that in the quest to ratchet up the number of books being published about and by people of color and from diverse backgrounds, its not enough for writers to hone their craft to be more inclusive and for publishers to consider diversity when acquiring and publishing books: readers also have to vote with your money and start getting comfortable with reading books that are way outside of your comfort zone, She said. After all, Jung concluded, industry-wide talk alone does not cause industry-wide change. Books are as deeply influenced by societal forces as we ourselves are.
Some Bologna Book Fairs have a major book everyone is talking about, or a trend that almost everyone seems to interested in. But for perhaps the third year running, this years fair appeared to be quietly and steadily productive, helping to lay groundwork for forthcoming deals, with interests and needs varying publisher by publisher and territory by territory.

I love Bologna, said Evy Tillman Hegdal, editor of childrens books and YA at Aschehoug in Norway, echoing comments made by many of her global colleagues. It is one of the highlights of the year when you work as an acquisitions editor, to meet all the people from all around the world who share the love and interest in childrens books. She commented on the wide range of fiction she was seeing, from science fiction and realistic, contemporary YA to illustrated middle-grade, as well as beautifully illustrated books and high-quality graphic novels. There are several titles I look forward to reading that hopefully will fit my list, she said.

On the acquisition side, it was a great fair for us, said Emmanuelle Marie, international rights director at Bayard Group in France. We acquired a few big titles in fiction, thanks to several auctions and with the help of our scout Kelly Farber. Among those titles are Last Descendents by Matthew J. Kirby, first in a series to be published in the U.S. by Scholastic, based on the video game Assassins Creed (an Assassins Creed film is due in December), and Timeless, a forthcoming middle grade series from HarperCollins, created by Armand Baltazar, a former art director at Pixar Animation, with film rights sold to Fox.

Holly Hunnicutt, deputy director of subsidiary rights at Macmillan Childrens Publishing Group, reported a good fair that saw her house in growth mode, highlighting titles from new and nascent imprints. Weve been showing our new list at Imprint  its a more commercial direction for Macmillan, with high-interest YA and some in-house developed properties. Titles published by another commercially oriented imprint, the crowdsourced Swoon Reads, were also attracting global interest, according to Hunnicutt and MCPG president Jon Yaged. Interest depends, territory to territory, said Hunnicutt, but theres always the book you fall in love with and can make people fall in love with, too.

For me, publishing is all about the relationships, and nothing substitutes for that in-person opportunity to meet and talk about the books you love, said Jennifer Brown, v-p and publisher of Knopf Books for Young Readers, who was attending the fair for the first time. Similarly, Enchanted Lion publisher Claudia Zoe Bedrick, back in Bologna for the first time in three years, acknowledged the value in the serendipitous aspect of the fair, not knowing whos going to be here. Im having conversations that I think are going to be generative in terms of new work and ideas.

First-timer Sally Kim, associate director of childrens marketing at Chronicle, was impressed by the way that passion for childrens books crosses national and linguistic boundaries at the fair. Back when I first transitioned from a career in corporate research and consulting over to publishing, I recall the distinct feeling of Oh wow. These are my people! Bologna brought back that same feeling, but with the added dimension of all these foreign publishers. We may not speak the same language, but we speak the same language. Despite the language barriers, I had heartfelt conversations with publishers from Japan, Vietnam, Brazil, and Sweden, and we oohed and aahed in unison over all the same spreads.

Japanese childrens book publisher Kaisei-Sha was celebrating its 80th anniversary at the show, including a party at its stand on Monday afternoon. Editor Akishige Yoo reported having a good day with steady meetings on Monday, primarily seeking nonfiction titles to build out the houses list. In conjunction with its anniversary, Kaisei-Sha recently completed a 36-book series, Friends Around the World, a photo-driven nonfiction series profiling real-life children around the world.

As always, numerous authors and artists were at the fair to meet with their international publishers and bring visibility to upcoming projects. Debut author Katherine McGee appeared in advance of the August publication of her novel, The Thousandth Floor, which currently has 24 publishers around the world; illustrators Mike Curato, Kelly Light, and Paul O. Zelinsky, could be spotted at the SCBWI stand; and other attendees included Mac Barnett, Jason Reynolds, Veronica Roth, and Sergio Ruzzier. Rick Riordan had what was likely the biggest event of the show; beyond meeting with his numerous foreign publishers, he spoke to a crowd of 1,200 (with at least 600 additional eager fans outside) on Tuesday evening at the Teatro Duse in an event organized by Mondadori, his Italian publisher. Riordan signed some 1,000 books at the event, which featured him in conversation with author Fabio Geda  a conversation that Riordan conducted entirely in Italian.

In addition to the announcement of major international prizes like the Hans Christian Andersen Award and the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, several other awards, including some new ones, were announced throughout the show. The first-ever Strega Prize, honoring narrative childrens books published in Italy, went to Susanna Tamaro (Salta, Bart!) and Chiara Carminati (Fuori fuoco), while Mexican artist Juan Palomino won the eighth annual International Prize for Illustration, aimed at encouraging new talent, selected from a pool of more than 3,100 candidates. The BOP Bologna Prize for the Best Childrens Publisher of the Year, awarded to publishers in six regions, went to Andersen Press in the U.K. (Europe), Groundwood Books in Canada (North America), Ediciones Ekare in Venezuela (South America), Book Island in New Zealand (Oceania), Kalimat in the United Arab Emirates (Asia), and Bumble Books, an imprint of Publishing Print Matters in South Africa (Africa).

The Agents Perspective

Upbeat and buzzy was agent Sophie Hickss take on this years fair. One of her biggest books was I Am Traitor, a science fiction thriller from Icelandic author Sif Sigmarsdottir. Its her first book in English, and I sold it to Hodder very quickly. For agent Barry Goldblatt, the fair seemed simultaneously quiet and busy. I feel like everyone has a super-specific need. They say, I need X, and I say, I dont have X, and the meeting is done. Though he usually presents more fiction at the fair, Goldblatt had been showing a picture book with success: Mervin the Sloth Is About to Do the Best Thing in the World (Greenwillow, Sept.) by Colleen AF Venable and illustrated by Ruth Chan.

It doesnt seem like theres been one big book of the fair, which allowed some of the other projects to shine, said Elena Giovinazzo of Pippin Properties. Were not having obsessive conversations about one book. Giovinazzo felt that publishers were looking for standalone, literary titles, either in middle grade or young adult, and had been pitching books that included Save Me a Seat (Scholastic Press, May) by Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan, Jason Reynoldss As Brave as You (S&S/Atheneum/Dlouhy, May), and a picture book, Peter H. Reynoldss Happy Dreamer (Scholastic/Orchard, fall 2016). I had at least three offers by the end of the day yesterday, she said on Wednesday.

In terms of micro-trends, several agents commented on a continuing desire for realistic fiction with a twist, either in terms of narrative (a shocker of an ending, an unreliable narrator) or subject matter explored. Or, as Writers House agent Merrilee Heifetz put it, A book that maybe in a different age might have been called a issue book, but has something more or different about it.

Transatlantic Agencys Fiona Kenshole reported that her colleague Marie Campbell had a book that was catching fire at the fair: Beware That Girl by Teresa Toten, a YA thriller due out in the U.S. from Delacorte in May. The book had already sold in Canada, Germany, Spain, and Brazil, and movie rights went to Awesomeness Films. Belying the no deals are done at the fair anymore adage, Kenshole told PW after the fair that Hachette France had read it overnight and pre-empted for world French rights on the last day of the fair, and Dutch rights were sold at the fair to Gottmer.

Koja Agency, a Stockholm-based rights agency cofounded by Catharina Lantz and Carin Bacho Carniani, just started up in January, and had a stand at the fair for the first time. Weve gotten a really positive response, better than we could have hoped for, Lantz said. People can walk by and see quite quickly what we do. Koja is representing smaller independent publishers including Urax and Natur & Kultur in Sweden, and La Pasteque in Quebec. Were looking for quality, something with an edge, said Lantz. People say that they have wanted to see these smaller publishers [at the fair] but they havent had the time, Carniani Noted.

Trends and Looking Ahead

If I can see one trend, its graphic novels, said Tillman Hegdal at Norways Aschehoug. Its a genre thats growing for middle grade, for YA, and for nonfiction. I can see they are coming, and for all ages. Thats interesting and I like it.

There were also indications that the increased attention to the issue (and lack) of diversity in the U.S. childrens book market was on the minds of international publishers as well. Everyone here is talking about diversity, said Suzanne Murphy, president and publisher of HarperCollins Childrens Books, and its nice to hear that happening on an international basis. Molly Kong, rights director at Disney-Hyperion, concurred, saying that she had been having luck getting attention for Eric Dinersteins forthcoming middle grade novel, What Elephants Know (May), about a boy in Nepal who is working to protect the kings elephant stable. Its a quiet book, but I think it has lasting appeal, opening readers eyes to a new culture and promoting social responsibility, she said.

I met with many foreign publishers, and one thing I noticed was the abundance of books about the earth and conserving it, noted Sonali Fry, editorial director at Little Bee. I also saw a lot of books about blended and diverse families. Although this has been a topic of discussion for some time now in the States, it was interesting to see that the need for these books has crossed over to other countries.

Although I heard a lot of people saying that there was no one big book, there were still plenty of good books, said Rachel Horowitz, literary scout for Maria B. Campbell Associates. Books with brands or movie options attached always move quickly and this year was no exception, with influential film agents at the fair looking for content, and publishers taking note of any title under option. Trend-wise, Horowitz noted interest in science fiction and video game-themed YA titles, as well as contemporary romance and a continued growth in books with LGBT characters. The next generation of readers is growing up in a climate where gay marriage has always been legal, she pointed out, and any stigma for gay or transgender people is shifting to one of acceptance. Thats definitely been reflected in contemporary teen literature.

The shows proximity to the London Book Fair (which is taking place this week) didnt appear to dampen attendance, which was up more than 9%, according to BCBF officials. Several publishers and agents PW spoke to were continuing straight on to London. Next years fair is scheduled for April 36, which puts it after the London Book Fair (March 1416) for the first time since 2007, and well before the Easter holiday on April 16.
News / National

by Ray Bande and Freeman Razemba

National heroine Victoria Chitepo has been described as a humble cadre who never used the liberation war credentials of her late husband, the founding Zanu Chairman Herbert Chitepo, to climb up the political ladder. Chitepo (88), who died in Harare last Friday, was accorded national heroine status for her immense contribution to Zimbabwe before and after Independence.Several dignitaries interviewed before the arrival of Chitepo's body at Bonda Mission in Mutasa District yesterday afternoon, described her as a humble cadre whose unwavering stance on the party's political ethos would be missed.The body of the national heroine arrived at the family's rural home near Bonda Mission at around 4pm. It was accompanied by Politburo member Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, her son, Kule Zvenyika Chitepo and zanu-pf Manicaland provincial chairman Dr Samuel Undenge.Several Government ministers, legislators, service chiefs and heads of Government departments welcomed Chitepo's body that was aboard an Air Force of Zimbabwe helicopter.Retired Anglican bishop, Bishop Sebastian Bakare, led a prayer service. Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs Mandi Chimene hailed the departed heroine for remaining steadfast in the Chitepo family after the death of her husband."I think she led by example. I came into politics way after the likes of Victoria Chitepo were there. But, she was quite humble and never wanted to show everyone that she was the wife of one of the founding members of the liberation struggle."I also think one of the things that we will learn from her is her unmatched steadfastness in the Chitepo family. If it were some of the cadres today, I think we would have changed many surnames after the death of the beloved one, but Chitepo was not like that. She remained steadfast and took care of the kids that Chitepo (husband) left behind."National Assembly member for Mutasa South Irene Zindi said: "What we are seeing these days is not what the likes of Victoria Chitepo taught us. I learnt a lot from Victoria Chitepo. She was not the one to aspire for the high table at every function, even though it would be clear that she deserved to be there."She never showed or boasted about being the wife of one of the most decorated liberation war fighters."Some of the leaders that we have today brag about the little achievements that they have made, yet some people like Victoria Chitepo remained calm and humble even though they had fiery liberation warcredentials. I will miss her and hope to continue emulating her. I wish we would all emulate her." Nyasha Chikwinya, the Mutare South Member of the National Assembly, also commended Chitepo for her patriotic stance."One would not believe that she is not originally from Zimbabwe, given the way she loved this country. She loved Zimbabwe and its people in a manner that most of us cannot match."She was more concerned with uplifting the lives of the youths and women. She loved children and that is why she gave sound education to her own kids," said Chikwinya. Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Minister Dr Christopher Mushohwe, spoke glowingly of Chitepo's humility."I remember when I was Governor for Manicaland she would come to my office, and each time she came, I would ask her why she had not phoned me so that instead I would be the one to drive to see her myself, but she would refuse."This is how humble she was. After all, all those visits were about the Chitepo Ideological College. She really wanted to see that coming to fruition and I think it would be a befitting tribute for us to make sure that the college is up and running," said Dr Mushohwe.Chitepo's body lay in state at her Bonda rural home last night, and was expected to be flown back to Harare this morning where it would lay in state again before burial at the National Heroes' Acre tomorrow.Earlier in the day, a funeral service for Chitepo was held at One Commando in Harare before the body was airlifted to Bonda.Dr Undenge, Muchinguri-Kashiri and Deputy Minister for Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development, Abigail Damasane, attended the funeral service, among other Government officials.On Saturday President Mugabe described Chitepo as steadfastly loyal. He said after her husband's assassination in 1975, Chitepo remained committed to the liberation struggle and worked tirelessly for the party.Born on March 27, 1928 in South Africa, Chitepo was a teacher by profession and married Advocate Chitepo in 1955. During the liberation struggle, inspired by her husband, she organised women to march in protest and co-ordinated care for detainees who were in prisons in places such as Marondera and Sikhombela.At Independence Chitepo held several Ministerial positions and was a former Member of Parliament in Manicaland. She was United Nations' eminent person and special advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Mr Boutros Boutros Ghali on preparations for the Fourth World Conference on Women (1994-1995).She was appointed a member of the Commonwealth Mission to South Africa in 1993, replacing Justice Simbi Mubako. Chitepo was awarded an honorary Doctor of Philosophy in Tourism and Hospitality Management degree for her contribution to national development by the Midlands State University in 2010.Chitepo is survived by four children and grandchildren.
Chester Brown raised eyebrows with his 2011 work of graphic nonfiction, Paying For It, which depicted his own sex life with prostitutes and argued for greater acceptance of sex work, including the legalization of prostitution. His new graphic novel, Mary Wept Over the Feet of Jesus (Drawn and Quarterly, April 2016), retells familiar Bible stories (plus one of his own) and argues that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a prostitute, and that Jesus spoke approvingly of prostitution.

Brown uses both scholarship (the book has more than a 100 pages of explanatory notes) and speculation to retell the Bible stories in a new way. One key to Mary Wept is the genealogy of Mary in the Gospel of Matthew, which includes only four women, all of whom were involved in some sort of sexual impropriety. "That all four of these women in some way relate to Mary implies Mary is a prostitute," he said. Brown devotes a chapter to each of these four women and then, in an original story, shows how Matthew might have been inspired to include them.

He also tells his own versions of other stories, including an alternate version of the Parable of the Talents (based on a lost gospel) in which a servant spends his master's money on prostitutes instead of investing itand is rewarded for doing so.

What was your intention in creating Mary Wept? What do you hope the reader will take away from it?

The main point in the book is that Jesus approved of prostitution and had a connection to it that his followers tried to cover up after his death. Theres also a side point that Jesus did not think it was important to follow the laws of Mosesor any laws.

Have you found other writers pursuing this line of thought?

Im not aware of anyone who interprets The Parable Of The Talents the way I do, or of anyone who contends that Jesus recognized the social benefits of prostitution, or of a modern writer who argues that the Virgin Mary was a prostitute.

What is the meaning of the epigraph that opens your book: "Bring me the stone the builders have discarded. That one will be the key?

The saying indicates that something that seems unimportant to supposed experts can turn out to be very important. In various versions of the saying, the stone becomes the capstone or keystone for an arch or a cornerstone for a building. Im quoting Lynn Baumans translation of the version of the saying in The Gospel Of Thomas, and she sees the stone, at least in that source, as symbolizing a key that unlocks spiritual insights.

Im using it as an epigraph because the Nazarean version of the The Talents had been discarded by those who built traditional Christianity, and its still being ignored by biblical scholars, but it inspired me to create Mary Wept.

This is your second book that centers on prostitution. Why is this such an important topic for you?

Sex-work is an important topic for me in the same way that homosexuality is important for homosexuals. Back when homosexuality was illegal, it was particularly important for gay writers and artists to create works that made it possible for the straight world to understand the perspective of non-heterosexuals. Our governments are oppressing those of us who are involved in the sex-for-pay demimonde. If one is being oppressed, one should speak out if one can. And the roots of that oppression are in the Bible. Im attacking those roots.

In the afterword, you refer to an argument that the highest form of charity is to give someone work so they can earn money. How does that relate to prostitution?

You're giving the prostitute dignity if you are hiring them as a prostitute as opposed to just giving them money charitably, and frankly, if you're hiring them as a prostitute you are probably giving them more money than if you were giving them charity.

I dont think sex is a bad thing. I dont think enjoying sex is a bad thing. I think God wants us to enjoy sex, and I dont think it's wrong to give people money. I see one particular sex worker regularly, and I know that the money I give her benefits her, that she's happy, that this money helps her. And I see that as something that's good for both of us. So I dont think I'm going against God's will in doing that.

Are you afraid the provocative nature of your story will get in the way of the point you are trying to make?

I'm sure most Christians are going to reject the book outright, although I might be surprised about that. We are actually having the Toronto launch in an Anglican church, and the guy who organized it asked the minister if she wanted to be onstage interviewing me and she said yes. I said "If you are offended by it and want to pull out of participating in the event, I would understand completely." She read the book and sent me an e-mail saying to her surprise she really enjoyed it and it sounded respectful and well informed, although she disagreed with some of the interpretations.

I was surprised by how positive her reaction was. I don't expect that is the reaction of most Christians; I think most Christians are going to have a negative reaction. But this is no longer a completely Christian culture. A lot of people have doubts, and I think a lot of people will be receptive to what I say in the book.
German Debut Drawing Attention

German Daniela Tully's War Fairy, which was written in English, has sold in a preempt to Italy's Garzanti, and to Gads Forlag in Denmark. Pontas Literary & Film Agency controls all rights and, in submission materials, said the debut novel opens with "one of the most surprising scenes that youll ever read. The novel alternates between Germany in the 1930s and the present-day Catskills and centers on a woman named Martha who receives a letter from her twin brother, a German soldier who died in World War II over forty years earlier. The letter, the agency explained, "uncovers a mystery that Martha had buried long ago, along with painful memories of being a young woman during the rise of the Third Reich."

Italian Thriller Sparks Flurry of Pre-Fair Deals

The Substance of Evil by Luca DAndrea has become one of the hottest international books in the run-up to this week's London Book Fair. At press time, 18 sales had closed on the book, with deals inked in Italy (Einaudi), the Netherlands (Xander), Brazil (Intrinseca), and the U.K. (MacLehose Press). Rights to the book are controlled by Piergiorgio Nicolazzini Literary Agency (PNLA). The novel is set in the mountains of Alto Adige, where a gruesome triple murder occurred in 1985. Thirty years later, an American documentary filmmaker becomes determined the solve the case. Einaudi/Stile Libero will publish in June 2016.

French Love Story Sells in Germany

France's JC Lattes will publish the love story Now Lets Dance by Karine Lambert on May 4. Deals for the novel have been made with Heyne in Germany and Mamaya in Greece. At press time, there were are also offers in on the book from publishers in Italy. In the novel, a man and a woman--each dealing with the death of their previous partner--meet at a spa and fall in love. The authors previous novel, published in France as L'immeuble des femmes qui ont renonce aux hommes, sold over 100,000 copies.

Spanish Novel Heats Up Abroad; Sells to Ecco

Yoro by Marina Perezagua, published in Spain in 2015 by Libros del Lince, was recently preempted by Elisabetta Sgarbi at La Nave di Teseo in Italy. Casanovas & Lynch Agencia Literaria controls rights, and North American rights have sold to Ecco. The narrator of Yoro is referred to simply as H., and is a child when the atomic bomb is dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. The book follows H. and another protagonist, an American soldier and former POW in Japan, whose paths cross in present-day New York.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  John Schnatter, founder and CEO of Papa John's Pizza, and former secretary of state and labor George Shultz will be featured in the Spring 2016 Presidential Lecture Series.

The Presidential Lecture Series is a diverse series of lectures on policy, leadership, culture and society. The series will feature prominent experts and practitioners from various fields of interest for both the academics and the community at large. Connected with each public presentation, speakers will be integrated into relevant curricular activities on the West Lafayette campus during their visits.

"From pizza to politics, these Presidential Lecture Series events will bring two well-known and highly respected leaders of business and government to campus," said Purdue President Mitch Daniels. "I'm very excited that our community will have the opportunity to hear the array of expertise and experiences that these top visionaries will share."

Daniels will lead both hourlong discussions, which include an audience question-and-answer session. Both events will be free and open to the public. Purdue Convocations assists the Office of the President with the series.

John Schnatter

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John Schnatter, March 28, 6:30 p.m. Fowler Hall

Schnatter has strong ties to Indiana. He was born in Jeffersonville and earned a bachelor's degree in business from Ball State University, delivering pizzas on campus while a student. After returning home to Jeffersonville in 1983, he started his own pizza company, knocking down a broom closet in his father's tavern, installing an oven and delivering pizzas out of the back of the bar.

He believed by using fresh dough and quality ingredients, he could make the same great-tasting pizza that locally owned shops offered but didn't deliver. Papa John's is now the third-largest pizza chain in the world, with more than 4,700 restaurants in 50 states and 38 countries and territories, and a market capitalization of $2.2 billion.

Schnatter was inducted into the Louisville Achievement Business Hall of Fame in 2000 and the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame.

George Shultz

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George Shultz, April 19, 6:30 p.m. Loeb Playhouse

Shultz, an economist, served in President Richard M. Nixon's administration as secretary of labor from 1969-70, director of the Office of Management and Budget from 1970-72 and as treasury secretary from 1972-74. He also served in President Ronald Reagan's administration as secretary of state from 1982-89. He is one of only two individuals to serve in four U.S. Cabinet positions. The other is Elliot Richardson.

Before entering government service, he was professor of economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Chicago, serving from 1962-69 as dean of the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. Between 1974 and 1982, he was an executive at Bechtel, becoming the firm's first president.

He is the Thomas W. and Susan B. Ford Distinguished Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

Writer: Greg McClure, 765-496-9711, gmcclure@purdue.edu

Conact: Abby Eddy, Purdue Convocations director of marketing, 765-494-9712, aeeddy@purdue.edu
Marisa Henry

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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  Purdue University graduate Marisa Henry has been named a Gates Cambridge Scholar. Henry, a Canadian citizen now living in Austin, Texas, is one of 55 recipients of the scholarship from a worldwide pool of 3,730 applicants outside the U.S. and the United Kingdom.

At Purdue, she has been a member of a multidisciplinary team designing a community-based water system in collaboration with the village of Endallah, Tanzania, and the Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science and Technology. Last spring, Henry traveled with the team to Endallah, where she surveyed how villagers use, access and need water as part of the project to alleviate economic water scarcity in the region.

Venkatesh Merwade, associate professor of civil engineering and Henry's mentor for the Tanzania project, said she has "an ability to find solutions by all means," and developed a strong leadership role during her two years on the project. This included finding funding and publishing on the work of the Purdue University Global Development Team.

Henry represented Purdue as an undergraduate researcher at the International Session of the Engineering Education Festival in Daegu, South Korea. While study has also taken her abroad to Sweden and the Netherlands to examine issues of diversity, she also contributes to her local community.

As a Global Engineering Program and College of Engineering ambassador at Purdue, Henry developed a water purification activity for high school students, which introduces them to real world chemical and physical processes and monitoring methods used by the water industry.

"Marisa has a talent for motivating those around her to invest their thoughts and effort," said Larry Nies, professor of environmental and ecological engineering.

Henry graduated from Purdue in December 2015 with a Bachelor of Science degree in environmental and ecological engineering and a minor in economics.

"The learning opportunities I had at Purdue extended far beyond my engineering classes to research, teaching and studying abroad," she said.

At Cambridge, Henry will pursue a MPhil in engineering for sustainable development.

"I am interested in researching the use of economic principles in engineering to design system strategies for water resources management," she said.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation established the Gates Cambridge Scholarships in 2000 with a $210 million endowment to enable outstanding graduate students from outside the United Kingdom to pursue full-time graduate studies in any subject at the University of Cambridge.

Henry underwent an application process through the National and International Scholarships Office, which is housed in Purdue's Honors College. NISO develops student-scholars' skills as they prepare their applications for Purdue's nominations for awards.

Source: Rosanne Altstatt, National and International Scholarships Office/Purdue Honors College, altstatt@purdue.edu
Many communities in Peru, South America, rely heavily on Alpacas like these to sustain a livelihood. Alpaca fiber is sold globally for clothing and other material goods and provides a means to survive. In recent years alpaca populations have been declining due to harsh winter weather. Core Foundation aims to bring agricultural technologies to these communities to help sustain alpaca populations, culture and communities. (F45 Fotografia Industrial Image)

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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  Reduced grazing land in Peru due to bitter cold temperatures and heavy snowfall has caused up to 230,000 alpacas to die annually in recent years in Peru.

A Purdue Research Park-based company will take agricultural technologies to Peru that could help restore and increase grazing land for alpacas and help cultures that rely on alpaca fiber to sustain a livelihood.

Core Foundation, an organization that aims to bring technology, education and professionals to South American communities, plans to take a Purdue soil mapping innovation to Peru to mitigate this issue. The technology was developed by AgSoil Analytics, a Purdue Startup Class of 2015 member. The technology aims to allow communities to better understand their soil function and determine the best places to grow grass that will provide essential nutrients for the alpacas.

"In June and July of each year temperatures drastically drop in the high regions of Peru, where the alpaca breeders are located, freezing alpaca food sources and causing high mortality rates. AgSoil Analytics' technology is one of the first we plan on implementing in Peru, and its benefit will reach more than 3 million people in the first year and eventually the whole country," said Ricardo Torreblanca, Core Foundation CEO and president. "Knowing the best places to grow grass is vital in these areas and conditions because certain grasses are good to fill up the alpacas but the softness of the alpaca fiber is dependent on the nutrients they get. This technology will not only help alpaca survival but also the quality of the alpaca fiber."

Torreblanca said alpaca fiber for clothing and other material goods is at the core of the traditional Peruvian lifestyle and deeply embedded into their culture.

"For thousands of years families have passed down the traditions of feeding and taking care of alpacas to produce alpaca fiber. These traditions have made Peru the number one producer of alpaca fiber in the world," Torreblanca said. "The communities that breed alpacas live in the Andes Mountains with no electricity and the only water source is from close by rivers or melted snow. They can live up to 80 miles away from a main road. Without alpacas the communities have no choice but to move to bigger cities to find other means to survive. This is not only damaging to the communities because of overpopulation issues, but also because their culture is lost in the move."

Core Foundation is seeking other agricultural technologies to implement in Peru and Latin America to help their mission to sustain communities, culture and alpaca populations. The organization also seeks funding and personnel to help implement the technologies into the Peru regions, beginning this summer.

Paola Torreblanca-Fischer, CEO and founder of White Tower Collection, an online company that partners with local foundations in Peru and the alpaca breeders to provide the world with ecologically responsible products from those regions, recently committed not only to buy their fiber but to also donate part of her profits to the Core Foundation.

"I design and sell scarves, wraps and other accessories that are made from alpaca fibers that are imported from Peru," she said. "I've seen firsthand how alpacas are vital to communities in these regions, and the importance of alpacas' health and nutrition for the fiber to be of highest quality. I want to help find a solution so these communities and cultures can stay alive and thrive."

Torreblanca said his goal is to attract other companies and people to join the effort.

"Unfortunately, this cause isn't widely known and hasn't garnered much attention, but it affects so many communities in Peru and is an issue that needs to be addressed," he said. "If other companies, foundations and people can donate, bring their own technologies or send people to help alleviate this problem that would be wonderful and make a huge impact to the lives of many."

Torreblanca said those interested in getting involved can contact him or Core Foundation via email, or at 765-418-6988.

About Core Foundation

Core Foundation is an organization that aims to bring technology, education and professionals to South America, to help fight serious problems like malnutrition, mortality and contamination. We believe in people's potential to do great things when they have the right opportunities. We work with governments, nonprofits and private companies to facilitate the speed in all our projects. Our projects include Suelos Fertiles Project, soil mapping to better agriculture in Peru, and Esperanza Project, designed to lower Alpaca Mortality rate.

About Purdue Research Park

The Purdue Research Park is the largest university-affiliated business incubation complex in the country. The Purdue Research Park manages the Purdue Technology Centers in four sites in Indiana located in West Lafayette, Indianapolis, Merrillville and New Albany. The more than 260 companies located in the park network employ about 4,500 people who earn an average annual wage of $63,000. The park is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, which received the 2014 Incubator Network of the Year by the National Business Incubation Association for its work in entrepreneurship. For more information about funding and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at foundry@prf.org

About Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization

The Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization operates one of the most comprehensive technology transfer programs among leading research universities in the U.S. Services provided by this office support the economic development initiatives of Purdue University and benefit the university's academic activities. The office is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, which received the 2014 Incubator Network of the Year from the National Business Incubation Association for its work in entrepreneurship. For more information about funding and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at foundry@prf.org. For more information on licensing a Purdue innovation, contact the Office of Technology Commercialization at innovation@prf.org

Purdue Research Foundation contact: Hillary Henry, 765-588-3586, hkhenry@prf.org

Sources: Ricardo Torreblanca, 765-418-6988, rtorreblanca@coreworld.org

Paola Torreblanca-Fishcher, whitetowergroup@live.com
CHICAGO (TNS) -- Do you roll your eyes in the checkout line when someone pulls out a card to pay for a candy bar or pack of gum? Get used to the feeling.

While 58 percent of Americans still use cash for small purchases, a growing share say they whip out a credit or debit card even when spending less than $5, according to a CreditCards.com survey of 616 people with major credit cards.

About 38 percent of people surveyed said they used credit or debit cards for small purchases, up from 33 percent in 2014.

For consumers -- particularly millennials who didn't grow up with the habit of carrying cash the way their parents or grandparents did -- the convenience of cards is hard to beat, said Credit.com expert Bob Sullivan.

According to the survey, 46 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds said they used debit cards for small purchases, 18 percent used credit cards and only 36 percent used cash.

"Every sign seems to indicate we're moving further and further away from cash, and it seems like things like mobile payments will only end up accelerating that," said Matt Schulz, senior industry analyst at CreditCards.com. "There used to be a stigma to using plastic to make small purchases, but that's clearly gone."

Millennials' preference for debit cards could be driving some of that growth, Schulz said. Many already have student loan debt, came of age in a recession and don't want to take on a new kind of debt with credit cards, he said.

But treating a debit card like cash is "generally a terrible idea," said Sullivan, who advocates keeping them tucked in a wallet except during ATM withdrawals. Although consumer protection measures have made it harder to get hit with a fee for overdrawing a bank account, "the $5 hamburger that can cost $40 is still a real risk," he said.

Fraudulent transactions also can be more problematic with debit cards than credit cards. A fraudulent credit card charge doesn't need to be paid immediately, and companies usually reverse disputed transactions. A customer whose debit card is targeted may be liable for a portion of the fraudulent charge and doesn't have access to stolen money until the case is resolved, said Sean McQuay, credit card expert for NerdWallet.

Experts said they expect the greenback may keep losing market share to plastic, mobile and online payments, but that doesn't mean it's going away.

"Merchants still pay fees for debit and credit card acceptance," McQuay said. "For the foreseeable future, cash will be part of the mix because of the cost of accepting anything else."

Sullivan said consumers should be wary of making small charges on either type of card because it can make it harder to stick to a budget.

"When people thoughtlessly swipe, swipe, swipe, it's less tangible and they often don't understand how much they're spending," he said.

Lots of small charges also can make it harder for customers to spot fraudulent transactions. A "bad guy" with a stolen card might make a small purchase to test that the card works before racking up big charges, Schulz said. Sullivan said some skip big purchases entirely, hoping many $10 or $20 fraudulent charges will go unnoticed over time.
A judge Monday rejected a Rock Island murder suspect's request to withdraw his Alford plea.

The motion, filed by TJ Eugene Johnson, 29, was denied at a hearing before Rock Island County Judge Walter Braud. At the conclusion of the hearing, Mr. Johnson indicated he plans to appeal the ruling.

At what was scheduled as a bench trial on Sept. 10, 2015, Mr. Johnson instead entered an Alford plea to one count of murder in connection with the death of Robert Tufts, 84, of Rock Island. In an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges prosecutors likely have enough evidence to meet their burden of proof at trial.

In exchange for his plea, Rock Island County prosecutors agreed to a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 20 years and dismissed charges of home invasion, residential burglary, aggravated battery and a second murder charge.

Mr. Johnson maintained his innocence but told a judge he was "scared" of the back-to-back prison sentences required if he was convicted of all charges.

One week later, Mr. Johnson filed a motion seeking to withdraw the Alford plea, stating he did "not agree" with the charges filed against him and stating he was "forced" to accept the agreement after being "improperly informed on information" regarding his case.

Mr. Tufts lived alone in the 900 block of 3rd Avenue, according to court information. His body was found April 27, 2013, after a mail carrier noticed the homeowner's car parked in the driveway and newspapers piling up outside. The carrier entered the home through an unlocked garage door and found Mr. Tufts, dead, on his bathroom floor.

Police said they found no signs of a forced entry, and investigators initially concluded Mr. Tufts died from natural causes or an accidental fall. The case was reopened in in July 2013 after Mr. Johnson's wife told police her husband and his father, Tracy Johnson, were responsible for the break-in and murder.

No autopsy was performed, and the body of Mr. Tufts was cremated. A forensic pathologist later said photos of the victim's facial bruising and lacerations indicated blunt force trauma, and cuts on his left hand appeared to be defensive wounds.

Prosecutors said that, during a Nov. 13, 2013, interview, TJ Johnson told police he and his father intended to commit a burglary and surprised Mr. Tufts in his bathroom, his father beating the 84-year-old man.

TJ Johnson identified a photo of the Tufts home as where his father killed an "older white male," prosecutors said. TJ Johnson later recanted his statements, claiming he lied about the pair's involvement in the crime.

Due to a lack of admissible evidence, prosecutors dismissed the murder charges against Tracy Johnson; he currently is in prison serving 50 years in connection with two unrelated Rock Island County burglaries. He is scheduled to be paroled in 2038 and discharged in 2041.
A Moline man was sentenced Monday to up to 20 years in prison after being told by a judge that he posed a high risk of re-offending because of his violent past and longstanding mental health issues.

Judge Walter Braud sentenced DeAnthony T. Parker, 33, to 12 years in prison for possession of a firearm as a convicted felon after finding him guilty of the charge at an Aug. 28, 2015, bench trial.

The judge also sentenced Mr. Parker in a separate case to six years in prison for felony robbery. A jury in December 2015 found Mr. Parker guilty of the Class 3 felony, as a lesser alternative to a Class X charge of armed robbery.

Assistant Rock Island County State's Attorney Mark Senko recommended the sentences in the two cases be served back-to-back, rather than at the same time, to deter similar crimes and for the community's protection. Mr. Senko cited a lengthy list of Mr. Parker's prior convictions dating back to 1994, including several battery-related charges.

In agreeing that Mr. Parker should serve the sentences back-to-back, Judge Braud said he was troubled by the violent nature that seemed "consistent" throughout the defendant's prior history.

"You have a terrible record," Judge Braud told Mr. Parker.

In determining proper punishment, the judge said he took into account the effect Mr. Parker's crimes had on society, including the potential risk of harm to those involved. The defendant's longstanding mental health problems, "through no fault of your own," also indicated a high likelihood Mr. Parker would re-offend, he said

"You are a high-risk offender, and I have to give you a high sentence," Judge Braud said.

In both cases, Mr. Parker is required to serve at least half of his sentence before becoming eligible for early release.

Monday's sentences will be served on top of a two-year prison sentence Mr. Parker was given in January after pleading guilty to felony mob action. In that case, Mr. Senko said, the charge stemmed from a jail fight that broke out between the defendant and a federal prisoner.

Mr. Parker's competency to stand trial was previously called into question after a series of odd courtroom behaviors, including eating his own feces before a judge, claiming in open court that a bailiff wanted to attack him and refusing to leave a holding cell.

Mr. Parker was evaluated for mental fitness and was ultimately deemed fit to stand trial by Judge Braud in February 2015.

On Monday, Mr. Parker's attorney, Jim Wozniak, read aloud a letter written by his client. It expressed remorse for the victims of his crimes and said his outbursts in court had been "a cry for help."
Thomas Vranas pleaded guilty Tuesday at a hearing in federal court in Chicago to one count of conspiracy to commit federal program bribery. He faces a maximum five years in prison.

He and co-defendant Solomon were accused of arranging to pay then-head of CPS Barbara Byrd-Bennett $2.3 million for her steering $23 million in no-bid contracts to their company, SUPES Academy.

Vranas and Solomon pleaded not guilty in October. Solomon's lawyer has said previously he is speaking to prosecutors about a possible plea deal.

Byrd-Bennett resigned as CPS head in June after word spread of an investigation. She pleaded guilty in October to fraud and is awaiting sentencing.
News / National

by Lloyd Gumbo

HISTORY will be made tomorrow when two heroines, who both died last Friday, will be laid to rest among men and women of their ilk at the National Heroes Acre, the first such joint burial in the history of the hallowed grounds.This comes in the wake of the conferment of national heroine status on Vivian Mwashita, a venerated war veteran and former Zanu-PF House of Assembly member for Sunningdale who succumbed to diabetes last Friday, the same day another national heroine Victoria Chitepo was found dead in the bathroom of her Mt Pleasant house.Zanu-PF secretary for Administration and Home Affairs Minister, Ignatius Chombo, announced Mwashita's national heroine status at her funeral wake in New Cranborne, Harare, last night.He was accompanied by service chiefs, among them Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander General Constantine Chiwenga, Zimbabwe National Army Commander Lieutenant-General Philip Valerio Sibanda, Air Force of Zimbabwe Commander Air Marshal Perrance Shiri and Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services Commissioner-General Paradzai Zimondi.Also present were Zimbabwe Republic Police Deputy Commissioner-General Innocent Matibiri and Welfare Services for War Veterans, War Collaborators, Ex-Political Detainees and Restrictees permanent secretary Brigadier-General (Retired) Asher Walter Tapfumaneyi.Chombo said the past week had been difficult for Zanu-PF following the demise of Cdes Mwashita, Chitepo and Chinyani Chinamano, the son of national liberation heroes, Cdes Josiah and Ruth Chinamano."On Friday, after receiving news of the death of Chitepo, we then received a letter from Charles Tawenga advising us of the death of Mwashita. "Then on Saturday, we also received news that the last son of Cdes Josiah and Ruth Chinamano had been found dead in Highfield."We then asked war veterans who worked with Mwashita during the liberation struggle, the likes of Chiwenga, Shiri, Tapfumaneyi and Minister of Water, Mai Kashiri (Oppah Muchinguri) for a detailed history of her contribution."They put everything together, starting from Rusape where she was born, then when she came here (to Harare) where she did her primary school, before going to St Peter's Kubatana in Highfield where she did her secondary education."They also wrote about how she went to the liberation struggle in 1975 where she was trained by such comrades as Augustine Chihuri before she also became a trainer during the bombing of Nyadzonia." Chombo said the Politburo was convinced that Mwashita deserved to be interred at the national shrine."As the Politburo, we completed the consultations this afternoon as instructed by President Mugabe that we should consult all the members to ensure there was consensus."Politburo members concurred that she was a consistent cadre who was committed to the liberation of the country. She is someone who was consistent during the liberation struggle and remained so even after Independence. Others were expelled while some were suspended from the party because they sold out, but she remained consistent."We even checked her history during her tenure in the Central Intelligence Organisation for more than 10 years and when she became an MP. We found out that her history was that of a consistent cadre. So, President Mugabe said she should be declared a national heroine," said Chombo drawing ululation from mourners who broke into song and dance.He said the family had also agreed to have Mwashita buried at the national shrine alongside Chitepo tomorrow. "It is the first time that it is happening that we have national heroines being interred at the national shrine at the same time," said Chombo.Mwashita, who was 58, joined the liberation struggle in 1975 and after training she was deployed in Rushinga where she operated until the end of the war. At Independence, Mwashita joined the Office of the President and later mainstream politics and became the Member of Parliament for Sunningdale and later Senator.She leaves behind, her husband, Mr Peter Muchicho, three children and six grandchildren. Mwashita was born at Rusape Hospital on September 26, 1958.She attended primary school at Rukudzo Primary School in Kambuzuma in Harare before enrolling at St Peter's Kubatana High School, in Highfield for form one to four.The national heroine then crossed into Mozambique in April 1975. At Independence in 1980, Mwashita first worked at the Zanu Headquarters at No. 88 Manica Road (now Robert Mugabe Street), in Harare.She was later attested into the Central Intelligence Organisation, where she served until 1992, before she retired to join politics. In 1995, Mwashita won the Harare South Constituency on a Zanu-PF ticket before becoming the Zanu-PF Senator for Mvurachena Constituency in Harare.
The Chicago Police Department said in a statement that officers saw a vehicle Monday matching the description of one sought in connection with an earlier shooting. The statement says officers tried to stop the vehicle, and a person fled on foot.

Police say a brief foot pursuit ensued, leading to an "armed confrontation" between the person who fled and an officer. According to police, the officer fatally shot the person, and no officers were injured.

Chicago police say the incident is being investigated by the Independent Police Review Authority.
Alvis Holley was convicted in September of two counts of attempted murder of a police officer and was sentenced Monday by Cook County Circuit Judge Nicholas Ford.

Prosecutors say the 28-year-old was observed participating in a narcotics deal in an alley. Holley could not tell the officers what he was doing or where he lived. When told to put his hands on the hood of the police car, he instead fought with the officers, shooting them with a .22-caliber handgun.

Holley fled the scene, but left a hat behind containing DNA evidence. The two officers, one of which is disabled, identified Holley as the shooter.
ROCK ISLAND -- Members of the Rock Island City Council verbally hammered a local construction company Monday night for an estimated $11.5 million relief sewer project on 6th Avenue they say has inconvenienced residents, gone past deadlines and cost more than expected.

Ald. Joshua Schipp, 6th Ward, went so far as to ask Brandt Construction President Terry Brandt to apologize Monday night to Rock Island residents for missed deadlines on the project.

Mr. Brandt would not.

The project extends along 6th Avenue from 6th Street to 24th Street. Originally scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2015, the city granted the contractor, Brandt Construction, of Milan, an extension until Dec. 18, 2015.

The project is still under construction and possibly could be completed by the end of May or early June, Mr. Brandt said.

Mr. Brandt attended Monday's council study session to defend his company's work and listened to a verbal barrage from some council members.

Mayor Dennis Pauley was among the city officials who said the project has taken too long and been poorly planned by Brandt.

"This project has had a lot of issues," Mayor Pauley said. "I think we had way too many intersections closed at the same time."

Mr. Brandt defended the project, saying there have been a number of challenges. He said workers have run into unknown sewer lines, fuel tank systems and Mediacom underground lines, along with 16,000 cubic yards of rock that had to be excavated in order to install the piping along 6th Avenue.

"We feel we've done an excellent job," Mr. Brandt said. "We employ about 150 people in our company. I'm very proud of each and every one that worked on this project."

While Mr. Brandt said he had not heard any complaints from residents or businesses, council members said they have received numerous complaints.

"I've gotten many complaints," Ald. Ivory Clark, 1st Ward, said.

Mayor Pauley asked Mr. Brandt if he met the 30-day requirement when asking for extensions on the project.

"I can't say that we met every single 30-day requirement," Mr. Brandt said.

"The answer is no," Mayor Pauley said. "And, the answer is you did come to the city for a meeting, and you were 30 minutes late for that meeting, which is not acceptable either."

Brandt has not met the deadline for substantial completion.

Instead of granting Brandt another extension, the city gave itself the option of assessing what is known as liquidated damages in the amount of $2,220 per day, meaning the contractor could be liable to pay that penalty if the city decides to enforce it.

City officials estimate Brandt owes over $200,000 thus far in liquidated damages because of the project being over deadline. Mr. Brandt told the council he will contest that.

Ald. Schipp has been a frequent critic of Brandt's work and did not change his opinion Monday.

"I would close by saying I think your testimony here today has been as lackluster as the performance on the job site," Ald. Schipp said. "We gave you an extension until Dec. 18.

"You blew past that. Now, you're telling us you're planning on disputing the liquidated damages? I don't understand in what universe that makes sense. Just in terms of integrity, in terms of professionalism.

"You got in over your head (on this project). This is 18 blocks of deep bedrock sewer work. Clearly, you weren't prepared."

Mr. Brandt told Ald. Schipp the project was substantial.

"We're just as qualified as the next contractor," Mr. Brandt said.

Ald. P.J. Foley, 3rd Ward, said the visit by Mr. Brandt made him chuckle.

"Your nonchalant behavior that everything is fine and all is well," Ald. Foley said. "All is not well. When you have six to seven streets shut down at one point, that is more than an inconvenience."

In other business, Bret Gardella, city economic development manager, discussed renewing a contract with Oklahoma-based Retail Attractions, a consulting firm that has been working to bring retailers to the city.

The city voted on a one-year contract last April for Retail Attractions, paying the firm $3,000 a month on a 12-month contract, Mr. Gardella said. City manager Thomas Thomas also supported renewing a contract with the firm for 2016.

Mr. Gardella said the firm has developed conversations with Starbucks and Chick-fil-A, which he said are interested in coming to the city. The council took no action Monday on a new contract with Retail Attractions.
Press release submitted by UnityPoint Health

UnityPoint Health -- Trinity Bettendorf Earns Blue Distinction Center+

Designation for Quality and Cost-Efficiency in Spine and Knee and Hip Replacement Surgeries

Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield has selected eight UnityPoint Health hospitals  including Trinity Bettendorf in the Quad Cities  as Blue Distinction Center+ facilities for Spine and Knee and Hip Replacement, part of the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program. Blue Distinction Centers are nationally designated healthcare facilities shown to deliver improved patient safety and better health outcomes, based on objective measures that were developed by Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies with input from the medical community.

Blue Distinction Centers+ for Spine Surgery

Spinal surgeries are among the most common and expensive elective surgeries in the U.S., according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), which creates a significant opportunity to improve quality and value within the healthcare system. For example, there were more than 465,000 spinal fusion operations in the U.S. in 2011, and hospital costs for a fusion procedure average $27,5681 according to AHRQ.

Hospitals designated as Blue Distinction Centers+ for Spine Surgery demonstrate expertise in cervical and lumbar fusion, cervical laminectomy and lumbar laminectomy/discectomy procedures, resulting in fewer patient complications and hospital readmissions compared to other hospitals. Designated hospitals must also maintain national accreditation. In addition to meeting these quality thresholds, facilities designated as Blue Distinction Centers+ are on average 20 percent more cost-efficient in an episode of care compared to other hospitals.

Quality is key: only those facilities that first meet nationally established, objective quality measures will be considered for designation as a Blue Distinction Center+.

Four UnityPoint Health hospitals, including Trinity Bettendorf, were recognized by Wellmark for meeting the rigorous selection criteria for Spine Surgery set by the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program. Others included Allen Hospital in Waterloo, Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines, and Methodist West in West Des Moines.

Blue Distinction Centers+ for Knee and Hip Replacement

Knee and hip replacement procedures are among the fastest growing medical treatments in the U.S., according to studies published in the June 2014 Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery1 and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons2.

In 2010, the estimated cost of hip replacements averaged $17,500 and the estimated cost of knee replacements averaged $16,000, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)3.

Hospitals designated as Blue Distinction Centers+ for Knee and Hip Replacement demonstrate expertise in total knee and total hip replacement surgeries, resulting in fewer patient complications and hospital readmissions. Designated hospitals must also maintain national accreditation. In addition to meeting these quality thresholds, hospitals designated as Blue Distinction Centers+ are on average 20 percent more cost-efficient in an episode of care compared to other hospitals.

Seven UnityPoint Health hospitals, including Trinity Bettendorf, were recognized by Wellmark for meeting the rigorous selection criteria for Knee and Hip Replacement set by the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program. Other UnityPoint Health hospitals included Allen Hospital in Waterloo, Finley Hospital in Dubuque, Iowa Lutheran Hospital in Des Moines, Methodist West Hospital in West Des Moines, St. Lukes Hospital in Cedar Rapids and St. Lukes Regional Hospital in Sioux City.

About UnityPoint Health -- Trinity

Unity Point Health  Trinity operates four full-service hospitals in Rock Island and Moline, Illinois, and Bettendorf and Muscatine, Iowa, with a total of 584 licensed inpatient beds. It also includes affiliated entities the Trinity College of Nursing & Health Sciences, the Robert Young Center for Community Mental Health, Trinity Health Enterprises and the Trinity Health Foundation. Unity Point Health  Trinitys leadership in quality and service excellence has helped earn top industry awards for patient safety, excellent outcomes and cost control. Its Illinois hospital campuses have been recognized twice on the Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals list and most recently its Bettendorf campus also achieved this ranking.

In December 2014 the Robert Young Center for Community Mental Health was selected as one of four honorees nationwide for the Connect 4 Mental Health Community Innovations award that recognized its integration of behavioral health professionals within primary care settings and vice versa. In addition, Trinity Bettendorf has received the 2015 Womens Choice Award  as an Americas Best Hospitals for OB Care and also for Emergency Care. Recently Trinity Rock Island was recognized with the American College of Cardiologys NCDR ACTION RegistryGWTG Platinum Performance Achievement Award.

About Wellmark

Wellmark, Inc. (www.wellmark.com ) does business as Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa. Wellmark and its subsidiaries and affiliated companies, including Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of South Dakota and Wellmark Health Plan of Iowa, Inc., insure or pay health benefit claims for more than 2 million members in Iowa and South Dakota. Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa, Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of South Dakota, and Wellmark Health Plan of Iowa, Inc. are independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

About Blue Distinction Centers

Blue Distinction Centers (BDC) met overall quality measures for patient safety and outcomes, developed with input from the medical community. A Local Blue Plan may require additional criteria for facilities located in its own service area; for details, contact your Local Blue Plan. Blue Distinction Centers+ (BDC+) also met cost measures that address consumers need for affordable health care. Each facilitys cost of care is evaluated using data from its Local Blue Plan. Facilities in CA, ID, NY, PA, and WA may lie in two Local Blue Plans areas, resulting in two evaluations for cost of care; and their own Local Blue Plans decide whether one or both cost of care evaluation(s) must meet BDC+ national criteria. National criteria for BDC and BDC+ are displayed on bcbs.com. Individual outcomes may vary. For details on a providers in-network status or your own policys coverage, contact your Local Blue Plan and ask your provider before making an appointment. Neither Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association nor any Blue Plans are responsible for non-covered charges or other losses or damages resulting from Blue Distinction or other provider finder information or care received from Blue Distinction or other providers.
In an email to media, the militants said the spring offensive had begun at 5 a.m. They dubbed the campaign "Operation Omari" in honor of Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, who died three years ago. The statement said waging jihad against American invaders is a holy obligation.

It said this year's campaign will incorporate suicide attacks, assassinations, and other tactics aimed at undermining the enemy's morale.

The Taliban added that in areas under their control, "mechanisms for good governance will be established so that our people can live a life of security and normalcy." The insurgents control several rural districts and last year seized the northern city of Kunduz and held it for three days.

The Taliban said they would try to avoid killing civilians or destroying civilian infrastructure, and would carry out a "dialogue with our countrymen in the enemy ranks" to try to convince them to join the insurgency.

More than 11,000 civilians were killed or wounded in 2015, according to the U.N.

The Taliban went through a period of infighting after Mullah Omar's death became public last summer. Mullah Omar's deputy, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, had run the insurgency in his name and was elected as his successor by a small clique amid mistrust from the rank and file.

The dispute had little impact on the battlefield, however, where the Taliban have advanced on a number of fronts over the past year. And in recent months, Mansoor has consolidated power, bringing several onetime rivals back into the fold.

The Kabul government has meanwhile been working with the U.S., China and Pakistan -- which has some influence over the Taliban -- to revive peace negotiations, but the insurgents earlier this year refused to take part in any talks.

The fighting subsides in much of Afghanistan during the winter, when snow and inclement weather descends on the mountainous border with Pakistan, making it difficult for the militants to travel back and forth and stage attacks.

But the Taliban remained on the march in the warmer south of the country, where they threatened or briefly seized strategic territory in three provinces.

The violence is expected to intensify once the poppy harvest in the southern provinces is finished in coming weeks. The Taliban will deploy extra forces to protect smuggling routes used for arms, minerals and other contraband that fund the insurgency.

Jabbar Qahraman, presidential envoy to Helmand, said most of the estimated 5,500 government troops and police killed in action in 2015 lost their lives in the opium-producing southern province. He blamed not only the Taliban but an "opium mafia" working with the insurgents. The drugs gangs "are a big headache as they are so active, and they have the full support of Taliban fighters in Helmand, each helping the other to their own benefit," he said.

Most of the world's heroin is produced from Helmand's poppy crop, worth up to $3 billion a year, with much of the profits going to fund the insurgency. Officials and diplomats in Kabul have said that Mansoor is the kingpin of this illicit trade.

Local officials say security forces have been overwhelmed by months of heavy fighting across Helmand. Ali Shah Khan, a tribal elder in Sangin district  which was under attack for weeks  said Kabul had been warned of the Taliban threat "so many times but no one listened and that is why the Taliban have gained control of more than half of the province."

At one point in December, the province's former deputy governor, Abdul Jan Rasoolyar, issued a plea for help on his Facebook page, warning the entire province could fall.

"Without good leadership and coordination between the security forces, they just let the Taliban gain control over more territory," Khan told the Associated Press last week.

U.S. and NATO forces formally concluded their combat mission at the end of 2014, shifting instead to a training and advisory role while continuing to carry out counterterrorism operations.

But as the situation in Helmand deteriorated last year, some 800 U.S. soldiers were sent there in the first deployment since the drawdown.

Some 13,000 U.S. and NATO forces remain in Afghanistan.
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...
News / National

by Fungai Lupande

A 25-YEAR OLD Harare woman has been fined $100 for attempting to use her sister's British passport to travel to the United Kingdom. Shumirai Mtetwa of Mandara was arrested at the Harare International Airport as she attempted to dupe immigration officials.She breached the Immigration Act.Mtetwa pleaded guilty when she appeared before Harare magistrate Mr Tendai Mahwe last Friday. Failure to pay the fine would land Mtetwa in prison for 20 days.The passport was handed over to the British Embassy. Prosecutor Mrs Francesca Mukumbiri alleged that on Tuesday last week around 4pm Minerals and Border Control Unit detectives received a tip-off that a Zimbabwean woman was using someone else's passport to fly to the UK.The detectives intercepted Mtetwa at the checkpoint tendering the passport. Detectives approached Mtetwa and asked her to produce her passport. She showed them the British passport number GBR 510236440. The detectives interrogated Mtetwa who confessed that the passport belonged to her sister Melody Mtetwa. Melody is in the United Kingdom.
Andy Sichter is SCAs Localworks Network Music Director. He oversees the music on 30 regional radio stations around Australia. This week he celebrates 35 years in commercial radio. We caught up with Andy for a look back over his career.

Congratulations on 35 years in commercial radio. Where did it all begin for Andy Sichter?

Andy: It really began back in the mid-70s growing up on the Gold Coast listening to 4GG. There was no internet back then, no iTunes or social media, so listening to the radio at night was pretty much the thing for kids to do. Id listen every night, to the Top 40 Countdown on the weekends and the request shows. I eventually got to know most of the on-air staff at 4GG and was fortunate enough to be able to hang out in the spare on-air studio a few nights a week to play radio. Guys like Greg Newman, John Jones, Gary Boughen and Ron Saywell were all willing to indulge my fascination with radio and empowered me with a wealth of knowledge about the business long before I got my first job. In 1979 I entered the first 4GG Junior DJ competition and came runner-up. I entered again the following year and won. From that point my career path was pretty much set in stone. I got my first job at 4KZ in Innisfail at the age of 17.

No doubt youve had some great mentors over the years. Who are those you admire most?

Andy: The ones that really stick in my mind are those truly inspirational individuals who drive you to be the best that you can be. Duncan Campbell has certainly been one of those people. I met Duncan when he was PD of PM-FM in Perth. We would often talk about programming, music research and crafting music logs. I remember being in awe of how driven to win Duncan was (& still is!) Hes very passionate about the product and has immaculate attention to detail. Hopefully some of that rubbed off on me!

Rod Brice is another. We, as an industry, owe Rod a great debt of gratitude for lifting the standard of regional radio in this country. He brought us the programming tools we had been sadly lacking, and would often bring some of the countrys best consultants with him on his visits. Having grown up listening to Rod on 4GG, it was pretty special to eventually work for him. It was through Rod that I met Brain Ford. I had the privilege of working under Brians direction for quite a few years. I always thought I was a pretty decent MD, but Brian took me to a whole new level.

He was a bit of a task-master, but you would take it all in and go back and do a better job the next day, the day after that and the day after that. He made me the Music Director I am today and for that Im eternally grateful. Mickey Maher, SCAs Head of Regional Content, is one of those truly inspirational leaders. Hes a great visionary, very passionate about the product, and is one the hardest working people in the business. Hes made some great changes in the past year alone and again, is one of those people that inspire you to be the best that you can be.

There have been many others along the way that Ive admired for their passion and knowledge, including Craig Bruce, Eriks Celmins, Dan Bradley, Steve Price (4TO-FM), Daniel Smith and Blair Woodcock. Ive observed, listened and learned from them all.

The MDs role is a position youve pretty much held for your entire career. Its obviously a great passion of yours.

Andy: Its the inspiration to get to work every day! Its just something I could never let go of. Ive been fortunate enough to have been MD at every station Ive ever worked at. Its always been my strength and my greatest passion. As an MD youre responsible for a significant slice of your on-air brand. For most music stations, the music can make up around 65% to 70% of the total on-air product. So its absolutely essential to nail it. Music is what I do best. Its where I want be and where I can contribute most to the company.

Do you still set yourself career goals after all these years?

Andy: Absolutely. Without goals in mind theres always the potential to fall into cruise control mode. Being content with where you are and what youre doing is fine, but having a goal in your sights is a great motivator to better yourself and ensure youre contributing 110% on a daily basis. Theres always a better gig out there, but youve got to be pro-active about it. It wont just be handed to you, you need to earn it!

As someone whos been in commercial radio now for 35 years, what are your top survival tips?

Andy:

*Give 110% every day and love what you do with an absolute passion. If you cant be passionate about it, its not the industry for you.

*Find some great mentors, those who are doing the job you ultimately want to do, and soak up as much knowledge as you can.

*Know your strengths and your weaknesses. Sell your strengths and constantly work to improve your weaknesses.

*Embrace change. Radio is an ever changing landscape and what works today wont necessarily work tomorrow. Challenge the safe option. Being a pioneer can be a good thing!

*Surround yourself with positive people who motivate you and drive you to be the best that you can be. Negativity is a killer in this game. Adopt a positive attitude and feed off of like-minded people.

What stations have you worked for?

Andy: In order  4KZ, 4LG, 4AY, 4TO, 4AY/4RR, 8DN, Radio West, 6GGG, 3CV, 4TO/4TO-FM, DMG Northern Hub, DMG Southern Hub, 4TO-FM, Magic107, 4TO-FM, Mix94.5 and 4TO-FM.
News / National

by Staff reporter

Former Zanu-PF senior official Didymus Mutasa says he would "rather die than rejoin" President Robert Mugabe's warring governing party as has been "maliciously speculated" on social media and in some political circles over the past few weeks.Speaking in an interview with the Daily News yesterday, Mutasa said he had chosen to be part of the Zimbabwe People First (ZPF) party that is led by former Vice President Joice Mujuru, because he wanted to see "the authors of the country's problems (Zanu-PF) consigned to the dust bins of history" before he quits politics.The soft-spoken politician also said if he had wanted to be re-admitted into Zanu-PF, he could have made such moves "a long time ago", but had never contemplated doing so because of "a dearth of democracy and humanity in the ruling party"."Some people are genuinely confused because of the talk that I may rejoin Zanu-PF. But the truth is that I would rather die than rejoin them. What is there, after all, to envy in Zanu-PF?"I was expelled from Zanu-PF and I refused to apologise for my beliefs because handidi (I don't want to). Let me make this clear, I don't ever want to be associated with Zanu-PF," Mutasa said emphatically.He added that no sane person could now want to identify with the former liberation movement, a party he said had the "tragic tendency of being heartless and burying its head in the sand like an ostrich" while the country burns and people suffer."Zanu-PF is consumed by its terrible factional and succession fights and I cannot be associated with that. Imagine if I were to rejoin Zanu-PF, which of the two factions I would work with?"I am very happy as a member of People First, and as such nothing will ever attract me back to the chaotic ruling party," Mutasa said.Asked if he did not feel that he was in the same category as Mugabe, who at 92 is accused by not only those in the opposition but also many within Zanu-PF of being too old to remain in active politics, he said age was just a number."Politics is not determined by age. I am motivated by what is going on in the country. People are suffering and there are so many things that have to be corrected first before I leave politics" he said.Quizzed further if Mugabe's departure from the helm of the country would on its own make Zimbabwe a better place, Mutasa said the problem was also a result of the system, the governing party and those bigwigs who were jostling to succeed the nonagenarian."The problem is not with Mugabe alone, it also lies in the people who surround him and those who want to succeed him. If they behaved differently, we wouldn't have many of the problems we are facing right now," he said.Mutasa spoke at a time that respected Zanu-PF elder, Cephas Msipa, has confirmed what the country's opposition has always complained bitterly about, that the ruling party uses violence and other thuggish methods to win elections and to remain in power.Speaking candidly in an exclusive interview with the Daily News at the weekend, Msipa  who has been one of the few consistent voices of reason in Zanu-PF  also warned Mujuru and ZPF to brace up for a violent suppression by the ruling party, as has happened repeatedly to former prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC.Msipa's frank admission of Zanu-PF's violent tendencies came hot on the heels of similar sentiments by former Zambian vice president Guy Scott, who also recently said Mugabe used violence to remain in power."They (ZPF) have a mammoth task before them. I know Zanu-PF are good at defending themselves and remaining in power. Since 1980, they (Zanu-PF) have been using the same tactic."They will do everything possible to destroy their opponents. They use all sorts of dirty tactics, including violence and intimidation. They think to win an election they need to use force," a sad Msipa said.Ever since Mujuru formally launched her party, her supporters have been at the receiving end of Zanu-PF's jungle justice, with ZPF members being attacked wantonly around the country  as has happened to Tsvangirai and the MDC since 1999.In 2008, Tsvangirai was even forced to withdraw from that year's controversial presidential election run-off after serious violence broke out, amid reports of hundreds of MDC supporters being murdered in cold blood."Our problem in Zimbabwe is one of fear and Zanu-PF is taking advantage of that, which is very sad," Msipa said, adding that it was not only ordinary Zimbabweans who were fearful of Mugabe and Zanu-PF, but also ruling party bigwigs as well."I know that for a fact, and my friends in Zanu-PF are now even afraid of talking to me since I retired from politics. They fear that if they associate with me they will be chastised. That is why I wrote my book, In Pursuit Of Freedom and Justice."People must feel free. People died for this freedom. We suffered and sacrificed so that people can be free. I really get very angry when I realise that people are not free to exercise their freedom," he said.Last week, Msipa also said keeping Mugabe in power was tantamount to "punishing" the increasingly frail nonagenarian, further urging the long-ruling leader to retire immediately."My serious advice to him (Mugabe) is that he should rest now, as he has done so much for the country. In a way, he has done a lot for this country, and really in all fairness we are punishing him. When will he rest, when he is dead?" he asked rhetorically."I feel sorry for him as a friend. I think he must just be given time to rest. We live in this world for a much shorter period than we realise. He really needs a rest. A race is run up to a certain point and there comes a point when you must rest."It's good for him, good for his family and good for the party. We need new ideas. These can only come with leadership renewal. I would like him to rest," the concerned Msipa emphasised repeatedly.The former Midlands Provincial Affairs minister  who fondly refers to Mugabe as muzukuru (Shona for nephew)  said there was no doubt that Mugabe had played his part, which was why he now needed to pass on the baton.He challenged some Zanu-PF hardliners who were advocating for the nonagenarian's further stay in power to be "human and stop punishing" him."We should all feel sorry for him. We are punishing him. Those who are saying he should continue, we don't seem to care about him. I know some people want him to stay for their own protection."I also know some of them feel he is protecting them. He gave them certain positions and so they are afraid that if he goes they will lose those positions. It's unfair for us to punish a man for all this time. Let him sit back and watch. It's very important after all that hard work," Msipa said.He also claimed that just before he left active politics he had asked Mugabe to retire, an offer that was turned down."I went to see Mugabe with my two sons where I told him to retire. He told me that in politics you don't retire, but that you rather die there. That's his philosophy. So in a way he seems to be enjoying the position, but he must also think of rest, because he is punishing himself physically. We are all human beings and the fire in us burns out and you can't go on trying to keep putting on some light when it's burning out," he said.Asked what kind of a person Mugabe was at a personal level, Msipa described the nonagenarian as a "difficult" character to understand."He is in a way difficult to understand. He can be very charming but also he can be repellent and very cruel. He can be very charming and the next moment he can do things that you cannot believe he can do."For instance, when Murambatsvina (operation clean-up) started, I phoned him because I thought that was uncharacteristic of him, but when he has decided that this man is my enemy, he will do everything to crush you."That is his problem, there are no two ways about it. So in short, he can be very cruel if you stand in his way because he wants things to be done in his way," he said.
Well, its all over but the ruminating and regurgitating: Hedge fund king Bill Ackman had his blinders ripped off, read the handwriting on the wall, and wisely deep-sixed his attempt to bolster his sagging pockets by going after Norfolk Southern, a damn good railroad that doesnt need a radical makeover.

Canadian Pacific is a great railroad. Always will be. E. Hunter Harrison is a great railroader, an icon, arguably one of the best operating executives of all time, not to mention a two-time Railway Age Railroader of the Year. He always will be. Stanley Crane didnt need a transcontinental to shape his legacy. Neither did Bill Brosnan. Or John Barriger. Or the Claytor brothers, Robert and Graham. Or Jack Fishwick. Or Al Perlman. Or William C. Van Horne. Or James J. Hill. Or William Wallace Atterbury. Or Samuel Rea. Neither does Hunter Harrison. He and his leadership transformed the Illinois Central, CN, and CP into better railroads.

Ackman brought Hunter to the CP and made him his trump card, his vehicle for tripling the railroads stock price and enriching his coffers. He couldnt have pulled anything off without Hunter. And yes, he provided Hunter an opportunity to do what he does best, and Hunter delivered, as we all knew he would. But lets see what Ackman does next, now that Norfolk Southern, the railroad industry, the railroad shipping community, and the United States government have told him to take his hedge fund and shove it. Ackman may have been hell-bent for horsehide, but its his hide thats been tanned.

My guess is that Ackman will eventually dump all his CP shares, like another hedge fund with a very dubious name, the Childrens Investment Fund, did with its CSX shares a few years ago, and move on to his next target. Thats the difference between him and an investor like Warren Buffett. Mr. Buffett loves our industry, believes in it. Ackman doesnt. He couldnt care less about it. And he couldnt care less about Hunter Harrison, who does love this industry and wants to leave it a better place. I believeand I think many would agreethat Ackmans only interest in Hunter is what he can get out of him.

When history books are written years from now, E. Hunter Harrison will be listed among the great railroaders of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Ackman? Hell be long-forgotten, an asterisk at best. Bill who? Oh yeah, whats-his name, that hedge fund guy.

There, Ive said it. Call me what you want: naive, an idealistwhich I am, a foamer, an apologistwhatever. This is how I have always felt, deep down in my gut. I dont like or trust hedge funds. Theyre based on greed. Theyre inherently sinister. They have little or no place in our great industry. They may create some benefits, but nothing the railroads cant figure out on their own. I do realize, however, that there were many agendas in play here, corporate or other. So what? Its the outcome that matters.

Norfolk Southern? Another great railroad, with a long lineage of strong leaders: Arnold McKinnon. David Goode. Wick Moorman. And now, Jim Squires, who I will call Squire James, the knight on the Thoroughbred who successfully fended off a hostile, unnecessary takeover attempt by William of Ackman, King of Hegefundmoney.

Am I being too harsh? Perhaps. But, dear readers and railroaders, this is my blog. I can say what I wish, within reason. As legendary jazz drummer Buddy Rich, whose tongue could be as sharp and fast as his double-stroke rolls, once told an audience, You have a request? I dont take requests. This is my band. I play what I want.

Now that Ive opened my big, Newark, N.J., Italian-bred mouth, heres what others have to say:

 Cowen and Company Managing Director and Railway Age Wall Street Contributing Editor Jason Seidl: Calling off the dogs: CP is walking away from a negotiating table that never really existed. Presumably it was the Department of Justices opinion last week that broke the camels back as the company feels there is no clear path to a friendly merger. Unless another party should take the issue up, shareholders will not be voting to urge NS management to speak with CP management. As weve been saying for some time, the likelihood of a deal getting done was a long shot. In recent weeks, many parties have expressed their opposition to a transaction, but the most significant deterrent came on Friday (April 8), when the DOJs press release hit the wires. The DOJ said the voting trust proposal put forth by CP makes no sense. Other recent letters of opposition came from the U.S. Army and Rep. Bill Shuster, the Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. This followed several high-profile transportation companies coming out against the deal, such as UPS and FedEx.

 A railroad president, speaking off the record: NS was a potential acquisition victimprey, reallythat escaped. The hunter (no pun intended), EHH/Ackman and party, underestimated the heights of the external challenges, in particular the influence of the shipping community and government, that big money could not overcome. So theres a lesson to be learned among the Big Seven. The customer is king, with a captivating voice, and government does have the capability of non-regulatory influence. Combining the two makes it very clear: Do what youve committed to do when it comes to the customer and fulfill your regulatory requirements, without exception. It will afford nothing but upside in the way of customer growth and weaken the need for any further regulatory tightening. Customers and government are powerhouses to be respected, not fought, provided you perform to the expectations set forth before you.

 Edward Wytkind, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO: We are pleased that Canadian Pacific has ended its ill-advised hostile takeover bid for Norfolk Southern. In February, the Executive Committee of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO urged regulators to reject merger schemes that harm the economy, freight service, safety and the public interest, and slash middle-class railroad jobs. Canadian Pacifics plan failed on every count. On [April 8], we continued to speak out against this transaction with a filing before the Surface Transportation Board. We will now turn our attention to ensuring that Americas freight railroads continue to be an engine for middle-class job growth and economic expansion.

 House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.): I believe this proposal was bad for America, and our nations military also raised concerns about the negative implications it could have for national defense. This merger was not in the best interests of the country, the U.S. freight transportation system, railroad employees, rail shippers and short line railroads, and I am glad that Canadian Pacific heard that message and decided to move on. The railroads should now focus on improving the movement of goods to continue our economic growth.

Railway Age Capitol Hill Contributing Editor Frank Wilner: I think much of the glitter fell off Ackman after he compared Valeants CEO, Michael Pearson, to Warren Buffett. Nobody is calling Pearson a genius anymore, with Valeants stock down 90% and Ackmans Pershing Square in deep doo doo as a result.

And here are two excellent headlines (wish Id have thought of them): Ackmans Train Deal Runs Out of Track (Bloomberg News). Canadian Pacific Demonstrates How Not to Pull Off a Merger (The New York Times).

Finally, from someone very close to me: Money shouldnt always have the last word. The biggest mistake a CEO can make is believing that he or she is only accountable to a shareholder, or shareholders. Companies, CEOs included, need to remember that they also report to society and its many stakeholders. This is an example of society saying no to a shareholder driven only by greed and profit, which is a very narrow focus. The old-fashioned, old-school business as usual approach doesnt work any more. More and more, companies are going to be held accountable to society for their intentions and actions. What happened here is encouraging!
Nossaman LLP has expanded its internationally recognized Infrastructure Practice Group with the hire of Shant Boyajian, former Senior Counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. Boyajian joins the firm as an Associate and will be located in its Washington, D.C. office.

During his time at the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Boyajian served as the senior infrastructure staffer and lead author and negotiator on the Fixing Americas Surface Transportation (FAST) Actthe largest infrastructure bill in U.S. history, which was designed to provide long-term funding certainty for surface transportation. Previously, Boyajian served as Counsel to the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit for the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. While there, he helped negotiate and draft the language for the federal-aid highway programs contained in the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (Map-21) Act, which funded surface transportation programs at over $105 billion for fiscal years 2013 and 2014.

Shants legislative experience and the relationships hes forged at both the federal and state level will be an immediate advantage for our clients, said Patrick Harder, Chair of Nossamans Infrastructure Practice Group. Additionally, his extensive and nuanced understanding of the legislative process, and his work on the FAST Act and MAP-21 will add to the bench strength of our already robust practice.

Nossamans Infrastructure Practice Group is one of the nations deepest and most respected practices. Having worked in 30-plus states, the group advises on transportation infrastructure, social infrastructure, and water and wastewater infrastructure projects ranging in size from $500 million to $10 billion. These projects include Floridas I-4 Ultimate, I-595 and Port of Miami Tunnel P3s (the latter two being the nations first and second availability-payment contracts), Indianas East End Crossing P3, Californias Presidio Parkway P3, North Carolinas I-77, and Marylands Purple Line LRT.

We are thrilled to have Shant join our practice, said Simon Santiago, Leader of East Coast operations for Nossamans Infrastructure Practice Group. His extensive experience drafting and building consensus for critical infrastructure legislation will be a valuable asset for our clients and help us enhance our services in the Washington, D.C. region and nationally.

Nossamans best-in-class Infrastructure Practice Group, national platform, and the opportunity to work on the nations leading infrastructure and transportation projects attracted Boyajian to the firm.

This is an outstanding opportunity. It allows me to work with the leading practitioners in the practice area and leverage the lessons Ive learned during the legislative process on the largest, most innovative projects in the nation, Boyajian said.

Boyajians government service also includes serving as Counsel to the Panel on 21st Century Freight Transportation, where he was lead staffer for the Panel concurrently with his position as Counsel to the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. He holds a J.D., cum laude, from the Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law, and a B.A. from Patrick Henry College. He is admitted to practice in Virginia and the District of Columbia.
Man behind shooting at train sentenced to 4 years in prison

MOSCOW, April 12 (RAPSI)  The Amur City Court in the Khabarovsk Krai has sentenced a local resident to 4 years in prison for shooting at a passenger train, RIA Novosti reported on Tuesday.

Yuri Pichugin was found guilty of shooting at a passenger train on the Khabarovsk - Komsomolsk-on-Amur route in August 2015. The man was under influence of alcohol when he made two shots at the train which was located at nearby train station. A bullet from Pichugins rifle penetrated the wagon and only by miracle no one was hurt.

The court found that the convict illegally sold a gun to other person and was repeatedly prosecuted for various crimes, while new crimes were committed during the conviction period. He was found guilty of illegal arms trafficking and hooliganism committed with use of weapons.
Navalny to pay Russian senator $6,000 for defamation

MOSCOW, April 12 (RAPSI, Lyudmila Klenko)  The Moscow City Court on Tuesday upheld a lower courts ruling ordering opposition politician Alexei Navalny to pay over 400,000 rubles ($6,000) to Russian senator Dmitry Sablin who claimed to be defamed, RAPSI reports from the courtroom.

Earlier, the Lyublinsky District Court obliged Navalny to refute information posted on his website. The statement said that Sablin had allegedly obtained his property by crime.

Alexei Navalny is a Russian political and public figure, leader of the Party of Progress. He finished second in the Moscow mayoral elections in 2013 and is the author of one of the most popular political blogs that was banned for promoting unauthorized public protests.

Navalny was given a five-year suspended sentence in July 2013 for embezzlement at the Kirovles timber company and has been charged in several other criminal cases.

Navalny was also an organizer of the protests in Moscow in 2011-2012, including a rally in May 2012 that resulted in public unrest and clashes with the police.
Roscosmos wins lawsuit over seizure of Russian cosmic bank accounts in France

MOSCOW, April 12 (RAPSI)  Russian space agency, Roscosmos, has won a lawsuit in France over seizure of the agencys bank accounts in relation to the Yukos case, communications director of the corporation Igor Burenkov told journalists on Tuesday.

We won the court proceedings in this matter They admitted that our arguments are valid and that our bank accounts should not be closed. Its not over, though We protected our interests and we shall continue to protect them, Burenkov said.

According to Burenkov, Roscosmos will later provide detailed information on this trial.

On Monday, various media reported that $700 million of Roscosmos funds and Russian government enterprise Cosmic link were seized in France in relation to the Yukos case. Later vice-prime minister of Russia, Dmitriy Rogozin said that funds were not really arrested, but frozen.

A tribunal for the Hague Permanent Court of Arbitration announced in July 2014 that it had issued awards in three cases filed against Russia. The tribunal ordered that Russia pay Yukos Universal Limited (Isle of Man) over $1.8 billion in damages. Hulley Enterprises Limited (Cyprus) was awarded about $40 billion, and Veteran Petroleum Limited (Cyprus) got over $8 billion. Russian authorities moved to set aside the ruling and turned to the District Court of The Hague.
News / National

by Staff reporter

Former Finance minister and People's Democratic Party (PDP) leader Tendai Biti has sensationally claimed that President Robert Mugabe has this year alone blown almost $20 million on foreign trips.Biti, who was the Finance minister during the inclusive government era from 2009 to 2013 and clashed on several occasions with Mugabe over constant foreign travels, told journalists at his Harare offices yesterday, that Zanu-PF has now run out of ideas to manage the country.As the Finance minister Biti used to bankroll Mugabe's foreign trips and has an inkling on the expenditure on foreign trips.He said the country is going through a liquidity crunch spawned by government's actions of raiding RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement) balances at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe."The government is raiding these accounts to raise cash so as to support their bloated expenditures such as endless foreign trips for the president and hotel bills for (Vice President) Phelekezela Mphoko.Mphoko has been staying in a hotel since he was appointed vice president in 2014 and even though there has been calls from both the opposition in the governing party for him to leave the lap of luxury in a presidential suite he has been adamant in his demands for accommodation fit for the royalty.His lavish lifestyle has provoked the anger of many ordinary Zimbabweans, especially as the majority are trapped in the unforgiving jaws of hunger."This is against the fact that Mugabe has so far spent almost $20 million on foreign trips, including trips to obscure events such as the one in India," Biti said.The former MDC secretary-general said Zimbabwe is grinding to a halt as the Zanu-PF led government has no desire of turning things around."In short, they are as carefree and indifferent as they are clueless," he said, adding that the country needs structural reforms if it is to move forward.He said the Zanu-PF government failed to meet its 2013 election promise of creating over two million jobs, as several companies have since closed down instead.Biti also said the Indigenisation policy, which requires foreign-owned firms to cede 51 percent of their shares to locals, must be repealed, if the country is to lure any investors and get foreign direct investment."There is massive shrinkage of the economy since 2013 with the growth rate being minus 1,8 percent in 2015 and that of 2016 being minus 3,5 percent. The outlook period of 2016/2018 will be in the red. Land invasions are continuing, the Indigenisation Act has not been repealed and continues to scare investors and the civil service is still infested with thousands of ghost workers," he said, adding that Zimbabwe is in a circle of economic recession."the government has started the crime of printing money through the issuance of Treasury bills that are now clogging the market. This government has been criminally issuing Treasury bills with total domestic debt now standing at $6 billion. The continued reliance on toxic Treasury bills is a major factor contributing to the current liquidity crisis," he said.Biti said, Zimbabwe must walk the talk on policy reforms and increase transparency.He however said the only way to deal with Zanu-PF was for opposition political parties to come together and work as a united force.He also criticised government's plan to regulate the social media, claiming this was a fascist plot and the hallmark of desperation from a country that already has a battered international image."Zimbabwe is burning and we are in trouble. Mugabe and his corrupt cronies lack the competence and the commitment to provide solutions to our national challenges which they in any case are guilty of creating," Biti said.
As we see a surge in inflation globally, it is now critical that everyone is aware of the implications this will have along every step of the insurance and reinsurance value chain.
Out of vogue are the cries of, we must reduce our dependence on foreign oil! Today, we must pursue renewable sources of energy! is all the rage. But what is the cost of this vastly different message? Safety. Security.

The EPAs Clean Power Plan makes carbon reduction, not reliability, price, or safety the priority of the electric grid. But, forced closure of coal-fired power plants, making up nearly 40 percent of the nation's electric generation, will undermine the stability of the entire electric grid and present a significant threat to our national security.

The 2014 winter storm, dubbed the Polar Vortex, consumed huge amounts of energy resources, which was reflected when U.S. peak demand occurred at night during the coldest parts of the storm. The peak demand left intermittent, non-dispatchable, renewable generators unable to provide power to millions. As a result, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) expressed concern over several regions where natural gas demand to heat and power homes rose sharply, severely curtailing the availability of natural gas for electric generation. Put simply, homes and power plants were in competition with each other for a limited resource, with power plants were barely able to keep up.

Electric generators and distributors have invested, planned, and trained to ensure the dependability and resiliency of the electric grid so that when emergencies arise, blackouts do not occur. To effectuate this, utilities and their supply chain partners stockpile commodities.

Today, most coal-fired power plants are characterized by their on-site coal reserves which is traditionally a 30-60 day stockpile. In contrast, natural gas is delivered to power plants by pipeline, and the store of gas to these is considered just-in-time. This means the power plants have a limited ability to store the natural gas on premises. Supply problems look significantly worse when you factor in that coal can be delivered to virtually anywhere by rail, where natural gass delivery is limited to the pipeline infrastructure and capacity in place.

Even the Department of Homeland Security notes the importance of grid stability, stating that [w]ithout a stable energy supply, health and welfare are threatened, and the U.S. economy cannot function. By shifting away from coal, the EPA erodes not only a stable energy supply, but also threatens national security and the lives of thousands.

Much has been written on the skyrocketing price of electricity under the Clean Power Plan, but in this scenario, even if you can afford electricity to power and heat and cool your home  you may still not have access. If man-made or natural disasters incapacitate portions of the grid, EPAs alleged avoid of 2,700 to 6,600 premature deaths and 140,000 to 150,000 asthma attacks in children will seem like a pittance in comparison to the real deaths caused by lack of access to electricity.

This is no imagined threat; the news is littered with stories of the results of lack of access to electricity. Sixty-five thousand people suffered heat-stokes and 1,300 died in Pakistan from a massive heat wave and no access to electricity. Nearly 4 million deaths a year in Africa can be directly attributed to the lack of stable and reliable energy  more than HIV and Malaria combined.

Dont be fooled by Climate Change politics. The EPA is trying to force the United States into energy poverty on a massive scale and erode the foundation of a stable electric grid so that we may reduce the global temperature by an estimated 0.018 C by the year 2100.
Hassan Mneimneh specializes in the Middle East, North Africa, and the wider Islamic world. This piece has been published in collaboration with the Middle East Institute. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sen. Ted Cruz, when asked at last month's CNN town hall meeting to defend his controversial proposal to target Muslim neighborhoods in the United States, made a valuable distinction between Islam and Islamism.

Islam, the White House hopeful noted, is a religion, while Islamism is a political ideology. Cruz's elaboration, beyond this initial distinction, may garner less support from researchers examining Islamism in its multiple expressions, but the Texas senator can indeed be excused: These experts themselves are rarely in agreement about how to label and categorize their subject matter. When compared to the "Islam hates us" aside of another presidential contender, Cruz's remarks reflect an apparent attempt to understand a complex situation, rather than an effort to appeal to the primal fears of the electorate.

When it comes to Islam and Islamism, a multitude of terms and categorization schemes are in competition. Some are built upon known words and expressions, and may thus be easier to conceive -- such as Islamo-fascism and Islamic supremacism -- but they carry with them the effect of eliminating nuances by assuming undue similarities. Others, while hopefully more accurate, are too arcane for the non-specialists; often, even to the specialists, they may be too opaque without the assistance of copious footnotes.

Yet, for the sake of an informed political conversation, we may need to agree on the broader definition and usage of four terms: Islam, Islamism, radicalism, and jihadism. Used separately or in combination, these terms provide a sound definition of virtually all the expressions of the subject matter.

Islam is the religious tradition that shapes the faith and, to different degrees, the culture of its Muslim followers. Most Muslims believe in the unity of the Islamic truth, the message that Islam has delivered through the Prophet Muhammad. They do, however, disagree on the substance of this truth. Many doctrinal versions of Islam thus coexist. The most commonly mentioned division within Islam is the split between the Sunni and Shiite sects. But today's Sunni Muslims, at about 1.3 billion -- possibly the largest denomination of any religion in history -- are not a homogeneous group, neither in their formal faith nor in their practice. The most religious among them range from the followers of ecstatic masters to disciples of literalist scholasticism, while the less religious are indistinguishable from their fellow citizens. At more than 200 million worldwide, Shiite Muslims display the same spectrum of religiosity as their Sunni counterparts, together with a parallel pattern in doctrinal variations.

In fact, it may be convenient to de-emphasize the Sunni-Shiite distinction in many contexts, and to introduce instead another scale, applicable to all. Muslims worldwide can be observed as being orthodox, conservative, or secular.

For orthodox Muslims, their identity is largely determined by their faith and religious practices. They are Muslims first, with other aspects of their life qualifying, but not overriding, their Muslim identity. In the United States, they would be American Muslims, and they can be fully committed patriots, or choose to separate themselves from others. In all cases, it is their understanding of their faith that frames their social and cultural mindset.

The overwhelming majority of the global Muslim population is better labeled as conservative. Their faith is of principal importance to them, but so is their country, culture, and community. And like most people, these priorities are imbued with elements of their faith. Irish Americans, for example, are more Irish on St Patrick's Day, and the Christian faithful more spiritual on Easter. All are, however, proud Americans on the Fourth of July. And so are conservative Muslims. They are Muslim Americans in the United States, Muslim Turks in Turkey, Muslim Indonesians in Indonesia, and Muslim French in France. They usually see no conflict between their faith and their culture, but if one were to emerge, loyalties would have to be deliberated. The Muslim French, for example, are not of one opinion on the banning of the Muslim scarf in public schools.

Secular Muslims may be a small minority, but they are influential. For this segment of the Muslim population, faith -- or the lack thereof -- is relegated to the private sphere. Their Islamic legacy is still appreciated, to different extents, but it is not essential in shaping their worldview. These are citizens from Muslim families or from an Islamic background who would generally accept the designation of Muslim with a qualifier: cultural Muslims, or non-practicing Muslims. Many, however, would prefer to avoid the application of the Muslim label altogether.

Whether Sunni or Shiite, orthodox, conservative, or secular, Muslims may or may not embrace any of the multitude of ideologies -- socialism, liberalism, nationalism, racism, anarchism, libertarianism, and so forth. And some orthodox and conservative Muslims may choose Islamism.

Islamism is a wide range of political ideologies that asserts that Islam, as a faith, ought to inform or shape the political order. In its softer forms, Islamism would seek to frame the political process with Islamic values such as piety, modesty, and social solidarity. At its most extreme, it may negate any institution or idea not rooted in Islamic dogma.

The conciliatory practice of Tunisia's Islamist party, Ennahda, after it won elections in 2011 is at one end of the Islamism spectrum. At the other end lies the Islamic State group, or ISIS, which engages in the material obliteration and physical elimination of anyone or anything not in compliance with its own understanding of the religious order.

Cruz was thus partially correct in expounding on Islamism. The Islamic State, but not Ennahda, would seek to subjugate or destroy the United States. He would have been more accurate had he qualified his use of the word Islamism. What sets Ennahda and other civic expressions of Islamism apart from the Islamic State, al-Qaida, and the political system of the Islamic Republic of Iran is that this latter group espouses radicalism.

Radicalism is the conviction that no compromise can be reached at the fundamental level between the non-Islamic order as it stands, and the desired religious vision. The Islamic State group and its companions can be viewed as expressions of radical Islamism. Beyond Islamism, some doctrinal variations in Islam as a religion, such as Salafism or Wahhabism, also preach the incompatibility between Islam and non-Islamic institutions, without suggesting a break with the existing political order. It may be appropriate to refer to them as radical Islam. It is often noted that radical Islam is a path toward radical Islamism. Some counter with the suggestion that radical Islam may actually be a path away from radical Islamism. For example, the deradicalization program in Saudi Arabia does not question the radical faith elements of the jihadists it attempts to reform. It merely underlines the religious commandment of accepting the judgment of the Saudi rulers in not seeking their application.

Radical Islamism is often expressed as jihadism. Jihad, in the Islamic tradition, has had multiple uses. In the 20th century, prior to the rise of Islamism, an emphasis was put on the non-violent meanings of jihad. It is fair to assume that this battle has been lost, at least for the time being. Today, jihad is warfare launched by Islamist non-state actors. Jihadism is the corollary of radical Islamism that considers that the defeat of the political order incompatible with Islam can only be achieved by force. Jihadist practice has varied, but it has rarely been in compliance with the conventional Islamic view of jihad as just war.'

In sum, Islam is the religion in its diversity; Islamism is a range of political ideologies that demand Islam in the political practice; radical Islam is a form of the religion that objects to non-Islamic culture and institutions; radical Islamism adds the rejection of the non-Islamic political order; and jihadism is the use of force by non-state actors toward the achievement of Islamist goals.

2016 presidential candidates, take note: While Islamists and their ilk will no doubt continue to be of great concern to American voters, it is the responsibility of the country's leaders and elected officials to get the terminology right, and to do so without slandering an entire religion and its followers.

(AP Photo)
The State of Israel turns 68 next month.



Is Israel doomed? Will bad demography, bad neighbors, and bad Israeli behavior turn the once hopeful and idealistic notion of a thriving Jewish democratic state into a veritable Middle Eastern Sparta -- isolated in the international community and struggling to survive in a hostile region even as it occupies a restless and growing Palestinian majority?

Having worked the Israel issue for half a dozen secretaries of state, I certainly wouldn't want to minimize the challenges Israelis face at home and abroad.

Still -- and I concede up front that the view from Washington, DC isn't the same as the one from Jerusalem -- I'm more convinced than ever that Israel is here to stay. I may not be around to mark Israel's 100th birthday. But Israelis will. And here's why.

Highly Functioning State: The region in which Israel lives is melting down at a rate no one would have anticipated. Indeed, if there are any state disappearing acts, these may be on the Arab, not the Israeli, side. States such as Libya, Yemen, and Syria are fragmenting, while dysfunctional states such as Iraq, Lebanon, and Egypt are saddled with political, economic, and identity challenges they just can't overcome. In short, with the exception of the Arab monarchs, a good part of the Arab world, including many of Israel's traditional adversaries, have gone offline.

On the other hand, even with all of their problems, the region's three non-Arab states --Israel, Turkey, and Iran -- are probably the most highly functioning polities in the region. All are domestically stable; all have tremendous economic power; and all are capable of projecting their power in the region. Of these three, Israel by far has the best balance of military, economic, and technological prowess and brain power. The state seems likely to maintain that edge for the foreseeable future. By any significant standard -- GDP per capita; educational assets; share of Nobel prizes; even the global happiness index -- Israel leads the region, and much of the rest of the world, by wide margins.

Security Environment More Favorable Than Ever: Compare the situation Israel faces in 2016 with any other period since the founding of the state, and there is little doubt the country is stronger, more secure, and holds a more pronounced qualitative military edge than it ever has. Furthermore, with the exception of Iran, its traditional adversaries are weaker, and amid their disarray they are falling further behind.

The situation of course is far from perfect, and there are no guarantees it will last long. After all, this is the Middle East. Israelis face a rash of individual attacks by young Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank, as well as a more substantial threat of terrorism from groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and aspiring ISIS wannabes in Sinai. But these aren't existential security threats to the state. Iran's putative quest for a nuclear weapon has been constrained for now. Functional cooperation with Jordan, improving ties with Turkey, close relations with Egypt, and an emerging alignment of interests with Saudi Arabia against Iran, all suggest a certain lessening of the Arab state allergy to Israel.

The U.S.-Israel Relationship: There's no arguing that the U.S.-Israel relationship has been through pretty tough times. Still, despite the highly dysfunctional relationship between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the United States and Israel maintain an extraordinarily close bond. The two sides are now negotiating another 10-year security arrangement that will increase U.S. assistance to Israel, and several Republican and Democratic candidates have all pledged they will invite Netanyahu to Washington early on in their administrations.

Tensions over the unresolved Palestinian issue will persist. And even on the Republican side, the next president will find Netanyahu a difficult partner. Still, in a region with not a single Arab democracy, a rising Iran, and threats from transnational jihadists, Washington will almost certainly continue to look to Israel as an ally in a turbulent and violent region. Indeed, a Middle East in meltdown will provide the best set of talking points for the continuation of the U.S.-Israel special relationship. The threat of significant terror attacks on domestic soil in the years to come will only further emphasize the commonality of the challenges that bind the two countries together, even though other issues may divide them.

The real question is not whether the state of Israel will exist at 100, but what kind of state it will be. Much of course will depend on how the two dimensions of the Palestinian issue that threaten Israel's stability, security, and democratic and demographic character play out. Can a national minority of 1.7 million Palestinian citizens be integrated and more readily accepted into an Israeli polity based on the concept of Jewish statehood? Secondly, can a sustainable solution be found to the national aspirations of West Bank and Gaza Palestinians living in territories that Israel either occupies or controls to varying degrees?

Thirty-plus years shy of the centennial, these questions are impossible to answer, and the odds of resolving them anytime soon are long indeed. Still, Israel -- now well into its seventh decade -- isn't some hapless piece of driftwood floating aimlessly on a turbulent sea. It is a highly functional state that has powerful agency, extraordinary human resources, a demonstrated capacity to deal with its security challenges, and neighbors who seem to be growing weaker, not stronger.

Israel will reach its centenary and have many good reasons to celebrate its 100th birthday. But Israel's neighbors, and the challenges that are likely to remain, won't make it an entirely happy occasion, nor allow Israelis to completely enjoy it.
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Supa Mandiwanzira Information Communication Technology (ICT) minister yesterday said government had no intention to ban social media, but would instead introduce a raft of laws to penalize abusers of the facility.Addressing members of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on ICT, Mandiwanzira said the proposed Cyber Security Bill, Electronic Transactions Bill and the Information Communication Technology Bill, to be brought before Parliament soon, were meant to curb abuse of social media by individuals.Mandiwanzira said President Robert Mugabe had also expressed concern over abuse of social media when he returned from his Japan trip, adding government then decided to regulate the use of that media.
Cesar Millan will not face animal cruelty charges for an incident broadcast on his "Cesar 911" reality series.

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The 46-year-old Dog Whisperer was under investigation after a dog he was training bit a pig on the ear on the Feb. 26 episode of the Nat Geo Wild series.

Los Angeles County Animal Control officials announced Millan won't face criminal charges Monday after inspecting the pig and interviewing those involved with the shoot.

Millan responded by saying he is "pleased but not surprised" by the news.

"They have found that we did nothing wrong and no charges will be brought against me or my team," the star wrote on his website. "My team and I are 100% dedicated to the proper care of all animals and our animal handling procedures are safe and humane."

"We will continue to rescue and rehabilitate even the most difficult problem dogs," he added. "Our work has saved the lives of thousands of animals that otherwise would have been euthanized."

The dog in question, Simon, has a history of attacking other animals, including his owner's pet pot-bellied pigs.

Millan previously said he "effectively helped" Simon overcome the aggressive behavior, allowing the dog to avoid being euthanized.

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"The pig and the dog became friends," he told People magazine in March. "Nobody is looking at the whole story. They're looking at a moment that happened, which I understand -- it's a sensitive subject."

"I don't use animals as bait," he asserted. "It's ridiculous that they'd take something and turn it into this, when my main goal is purely harmony and balance."

Millan is best known for the series "Dog Whisperer with Cesar Milan," which ran for nine seasons on the National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo Wild.

"Cesar 911" premiered in 2014 and airs new episodes Fridays at 9 p.m. ET.
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Los Angeles residents had to evacuate from their posh neighborhoods due to a massive methane leak, which according to reports is the biggest leak ever recorded in the United States. The circumstance had brought widespread nosebleeds, headaches and nausea. Although a lot of residents have already returned to their homes following the gas leak last February, they could still be in for the most surprising turn of events.

For Los Angeles, including other areas in Southern California, there will be a scheduled series of blackouts this summer of 14 days in length, according to a Buzzfeed report. This was due to the recent gas leak. This means the that the millions of residents may experience a couple of weeks with no electricity without any notice. Based on some reports, it could possibly be turned off one block after the other for brief periods.

The gas storage facility located in Aliso Canyon plans to look into the problem by asking their consumers to conserve energy, especially in the peak months of summer. They will also be asked to lower their water heaters or use air conditioners in a frugal manner.

Once the blackout begins to affect Southern California, the homeowners and renters may secure themselves from the heat with the use of a backup generator, according to University of Houston finance professor Craig Pirrong. He added that the affected people may also store emergency supplies such as food that does not have to be cooked. Professor Pirrong also said that while blackouts rarely happen, they could also bring great disruption in the lives of people once they occur.

The Los Angeles City is set to announce rebates that will urge the residents and businesses to reduce their use of energy in an effort to ward off the widespread power outages. According to a statement from Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, everyone can help overcome this difficult period by making their buildings more efficient, by taking some actions to cut back on the use of natural gas and electricity and by conserving energy, according to a feature from the Realtor.
Chinese investment in the Australian real estate market doubled last year. An annual report showed that China was the biggest investor for the financial year that ended on June 30, 2015. China received approvals to spend $18 billion which was three times the figure the Unted States put in and six times of what what Singapore had invested.

The prices of Chinese approvals were up from the $12 billion when China overtook the US for the first time as Australia's largest foreign investor in real estate. Foreign investment in Australia generally required government approval.

Chinese investment had been helping fuel a construction boom in Australia that had been shielding the economy from downturns as the years of success in the mining sector investment came to an end, according to a feature from Financial Review.

Australia was now the second-most-popular market for Chinese investors after the U.S. Some Chinese investors had become more careful in recent months due to Beijing's introduction of controls to prevent excessive money from leaving the nation. The controls were implemented due to the nation's stock market slide and sluggish economic growth.

During the second half of last financial year, the Australia also initiated a crackdown on homeownership laws abuse by foreign buyers. The government had ordered several residential-property owners to return their properties to the market after allegations of illegally acquiring said established properties. The current laws generally allowed foreign investors to only purchase homes before they were built, typically in apartment and condominium developments.

Juwai.com's chief executive officer Charles Pittar stated that there still remained a great pent-up demand for international property among foreign investors.

Chinese investment share had risen from below one-tenth to over one-quarter of the entire Australian foreign real-estate investment since 2012. This showed that observers who claimed Chinese investment was failing were badly informed, as appetite for residential property soared, according to a feature from Domain.
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First revealed in their booth at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con, Hasbro's massive The Black Series 6-inch scale First Order Special Forces TIE Fighter saw mass release the following October.
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Government has gazetted a Statutory Instrument (SI) to stop double taxation of Zimbabweans living and working in South Africa or South Africans working in Zimbabwe.The provision was gazetted last Friday.Part of the SI reads: "Subject to the provisions of article 16, 18 and 19, salaries, wages and other similar remunerations derived by a resident of a contracting State in respect of an employment shall be taxable only in that State unless the employment is exercised in other contracting State."The proposed law is yet to be tabled before Parliament for approval although it has come into effect on a temporary basis until the lapse of six months.
Rachel Schwartz, director of programing for Dawgs For Israel, didnt know what to expect when around 17 members of Athens Justice for Palestine entered the room in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, where her organization was hosting two Israeli soldiers to speak about their experiences in the Israel Defense Forces Feb. 22.
SHARE Mother Angelica, shown March 2, 1999, is both Mother Abbess of the Lady of Angels Monastery in Irondale, Ala., as well as chairman of the board or the Eternal Word Television Network. Angelica, a folksy Roman Catholic nun who used a monastery garage to begin a television ministry that grew into a global religious media empire, had died. She was 92. (Philip Holman/Birmingham Post-Herald via AP)

By JAY REEVES, Associated Press

Mother Mary Angelica, a folksy Roman Catholic nun who used a monastery garage to begin a television ministry that grew into a global religious media empire, has died. She was 92.

Known to millions of viewers simply as "Mother Angelica," the founder of the Eternal Word Television Network died Easter Sunday at the rural Alabama monastery where she lived about 45 miles north of Birmingham, according to EWTN Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael P. Warsaw.

"Mother has always, and will always, personify EWTN, the Network which she founded. In the face of sickness and long-suffering trials, Mother's example of joy and prayerful perseverance exemplified the Franciscan spirit she held so dear. We thank God for Mother Angelica and for the gift of her extraordinary life," Warsaw said in a news release late Sunday.

Mother Angelica had been in declining health since suffering a severe cerebral hemorrhage on Christmas Eve 2001. She never regained her full speaking ability and had other, less-severe strokes through the years.

Bedridden for months, Mother Angelica was placed on a feeding tube this fall as her health slowly declined, fellow nuns at Our Lady of the Angels Monastery said in an announcement released in November.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley said in a statement Sunday that Mother Angelica will live forever in the hearts of those touched by her sermons.

"On this Easter Sunday, it is only fitting that the Lord chose today to call home one of his humble servants, Mother Angelica. She devoted her life to ministry, converting untold numbers of people to the church. She left an indelible mark on Alabama, the Catholic Church and the world as a whole," Bentley said.

Although she had been out of the public eye for years and was no longer appearing on her trademark "Mother Angelica Live" show, old episodes of her show have remained a programming staple on Eternal Word.

"We want you to know how much God loves you, and that's a lot," she told viewers at the end of an episode taped in November 2000.

Mother Angelica displayed both deep devotion to Jesus and a comic's timing on the episode, drawing laughs when she couldn't reach her Bible during the opening sequence. An unseen aide hands her the book from off camera.

"That's when you appreciate long arms," Mother Angelica deadpanned.

Mother Angelica was born Rita Rizzo in Canton, Ohio, in 1923. She entered the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration monastery in Cleveland at age 21 and joined other nuns in moving South to open a new monastery in Alabama in 1962.

With only $200, the nun began broadcasting a religious talk show from a TV studio put together in the monastery garage in suburban Birmingham in 1981. That show grew into Eternal Word Television Network, which has long had the blessing of the Vatican.

While critics sometimes accuse Eternal Word Television Network of being too conservative or too liberal, it says it tries to stick to the leadership of the Vatican. The network reports extensively on statements and trips by the pope.

Despite its humble beginnings, EWTN Global Catholic Network calls itself the world's largest religious media network. It has 11 TV networks that broadcast Catholic programming to more than 258 million households in more than 145 counties and territories.

Eternal Word's radio operation includes a global shortwave broadcast; satellite and Internet radio channels; and more than 300 Catholic radio affiliates in the United States. Its print services include The National Catholic Register newspaper, the Catholic News Agency and EWTN Publishing Inc.

The nonprofit broadcaster reported total revenues of $46 million in 2013, the last year for which tax records are available. Of that, $45.4 million came from donations.

An associated catalog division reported revenues of $2.7 million in 2013, mostly from sales, records show.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11:00 a.m. Friday at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville. Interment will immediately follow in the Shrine's Crypt Church.
In this March 25, 2016 photo, an Atlanta Police Rides-For-Hire Enforcement vehicle sits amid taxi cabs outside the departures area of the domestic terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. A battle over background checks for Uber drivers at the world's 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 use of fingerprints to check criminal records of its drivers, saying its own record checks are sufficient. (AP Photo/Jeff Martin)

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ATLANTA (AP)  A battle over background checks for Uber drivers at the world's 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 airport's plan to use fingerprints to check criminal records of its drivers, saying its own record checks are sufficient.

But the district attorney in Uber's hometown of San Francisco has called the ride-booking firm's process "completely worthless" since drivers aren't 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.

Atlanta's city council on Wednesday is set to consider the airport's plan for screening drivers for Uber, Lyft and other ride-booking firms when proposed new rules go before the council's 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 nation's fourth-largest city, was among the first in the nation to require drivers for Uber and other ride-booking firms to undergo fingerprint-based background checks using the FBI's database. Houston's program began in November 2014, and city officials there say they're far more thorough than any other way of checking someone's criminal past.

"Public safety is our No. 1 priority  that's something the city of Houston does not compromise on," said Lara Cottingham, Houston's deputy assistant director of administration and regulatory affairs. "That's the reason we license any vehicle for hire."

Since Houston's ordinance went into effect, the city's 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 don't 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 Houston's 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 they've lived in the past, then search public records from those places, the report states. But the checks don't 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 we've seen is that the number of drivers getting licenses continues to grow and their business continues to thrive," Cottingham said.

However, Uber maintains that Atlanta's 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 haven't been released.

The ride-booking firm Lyft also says Atlanta's 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 Uber's 'industry leading' background check," the lawsuit states.

"Uber's 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.
'... for two reasons: the poor quality of education, and the low rate of female participation in the labour force.'

'Unless something is done quickly to remedy these problems, India will just have a large population of low-skill, low-wage, males trying and failing to feed their families adequately.'

Professor Avinash Kamalakar Dixit, who was awarded the Padma Vibhushan this Republic Day, tells Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com about the dangers confronting the Indian economy.

Dr Dixit, who finished his graduation in mathematics and physics from Bombay University in 1963, his BA in mathematics from Cambridge in 1965 and his doctorate in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1968, is the John J F Sherrerd '52 University Professor of Economics Emeritus, 2010, at Princeton.

Could you tell us about your Mumbai days and your journey from then till now?

I remember Bombay (as we old residents still think of it) as a vibrant but clean and pleasant city. I think on the whole it has changed for the worse: Too crowded, too noisy, too dirty. And it is much hotter, at least five degrees Celsius warmer than I remember.

I was educated at the Aryan Education Society's high school, Jai Hind College and St Xavier's College. I am happy that despite the xenophobic and Jesuitical connotations of these names, none of these institutions attempted to drill any jingoism or doctrinaire religion or intolerance into me; they just gave me a good education especially in math and sciences.

Tell us about your love for economics and your interactions with economists like Paul Samuelson, Robert Solow and many more you must have come across in your quest to learn economics? Which economists have had the profoundest impact on you?

Then I went to Cambridge and did the Math Tripos. I like math and found in economics an ideal way to use it -- a combination of rigorous analysis and interesting social questions.

I was lucky enough to be in the MIT graduate programme, where people like Joe (Nobel Prize winner Joseph) Stiglitz and George Akerlof were a couple of years ahead of me, and ones like Stanley Fischer and Robert Shiller a year behind me. One learns as much from fellow students as one does from professors.

Samuelson and Solow were, of course, outstanding teachers and mentors. To learn from Samuelson you had to have read the basic textbook material in advance. Then from his lectures you got the subtleties and glimpses of how he thought; those stayed with you in your own research skills and habits.

Solow was the best lecturer I have ever had the pleasure to learn from. Not only was he always crystal clear, but he also made even very abstract and dry material interesting.

Later I learned game theory from reading all of Thomas Schelling's books. There are people who prove theorems in game theory, and there are those who live game theory.

Schelling teaches you how to live game theory. So those are the three who have had the most impact on my thinking and research style.

Were you expecting the Padma Vibhushan?

Not at all. I did not even know I might be eligible. For one, not being a citizen.

What was your reaction when you heard about the Padma Vibhushan? What was the reaction in the family?

Pleasure, of course, but mostly surprise. The reaction I received from the family -- many cousins, nephews and nieces -- was a bunch of congratulatory e-mails. In fact, that is how I heard of the award.

I had been stuck in Munich after a conference because a big snowstorm on the East Coast led to cancellation of return flights for two days. I returned to a flooded e-mail Inbox.

How has life changed, if at all, after the recognition from the country of your birth?

Would you believe, after the amazing and almost imperial splendour of the ceremony, life settles down to much the same tempo and routine as before.

As an economist, could you describe your assessment of the Indian economy?

The Indian economy has lot of strengths. Its high-tech sector is, of course, very valuable. And much hope is placed on the demographic dividend -- the large fraction of population of working age -- it will enjoy in the coming decades.

But there is a great danger that it will waste this dividend, for two reasons: The poor quality of education, and the low rate of female participation in the labour force.

Unless something is done quickly to remedy these problems, India will just have a large population of low-skill, low-wage, males trying and failing to feed their families adequately.

Moreover, India's infrastructure is very poor compared to that in China and some other countries, and the quality of economic governance -- protection of property rights and enforcement of contracts -- is also problematic.

Unless these deficiencies are remedied, it will be difficult for the country to attract investment, and it may lose out to many other developing countries in a race to attain middle and high-income levels.

IMAGE: Professor Avinash Dixit. Photograph: Steven Waskow, copyright transferred to Avinash Dixit via a written statement - photosubmission@wikimedia.org

If you were to outline three important reform measures that could help the Indian economy become more resilient to external shocks, what would they be?

It is not merely resilience to external shocks that is relevant. But I can think of three measures that are important for the resilience of an economy more generally:

a. Education that imparts a flexible set of skills.

b. Labour markets that avoid rigidity, but accompanied by social measures like retraining and safety nets that ameliorate the impact on individuals of job loss.

c. An independent central bank led by a competent and confident economist (and India is indeed lucky to have Raghu(ram) Rajan.

Your name has often come up as a contender for the Nobel Prize in economics. Could you tell us how have you looked at the Nobel prize for economics?

The thing most people don't realise about the Nobel Prize is that it is given for a body of work on a specific topic; not to a person for his/her lifetime's cumulative contributions. My style of research is unsuitable for that. I get interested in different topics and switch every few years.

If I wanted a Nobel Prize, I should stick to just one area within economics for a very long time. So don't hold your breath!

I don't think the prize committee has ever been guilty of an error of commission (giving the prize to someone who didn't deserve it). But I think they can be accused of some errors of omission, and I don't mean with regard to myself.

Jagdish Bhagwati, probably jointly with T N Srinivasan, surely deserves one for work on the theory of ranking different policies to tackle economic failures.

So does Dale Jorgenson for his work on investment and productivity.

And my greatest regret is that Robert Wilson has not got one for his pathbreaking work on bidding mechanisms and auctions. Hopefully, these omissions will get corrected in the next few years.

Is the American economy headed for another severe recession, as many economists have been predicting? Is there any basis to their statements?

As Niels Bohr and Yogi Berra both said, 'Prediction is difficult, especially about the future.' And I am no macroeconomist. So I will pass on this one.

The India of your dream is...

I was asked to speculate what the world economy will be like in 100 years (this was published in In 100 Years, editor Ignacio Palacios-Huerta, MIT Press, 2015). I attach a PDF of my essay. You can pick anything from my 'dream scenario' which is intended for the world but, of course, applies equally to India.

And here goes... (You can read the entire essay, here)

In my dream world, the political institutions of economic governance, and indeed politics as a whole, will be contentious but with civility and respect.

People will debate others who hold opposite views, but will not think that those differing views automatically make the others traitors or devil-worshippers or communists or whatever may be the favored condemnable category of the day. I believe that one of the most important ideas to emerge in the eighteenth century was that of "His Majesty's loyal opposition" in Great Britain. This recognised that the Opposition in parliament could criticize and challenge the actions of the government of the day, without their basic loyalty to the monarch and the State being thereby called into question.

This permitted the scrutiny and dissent that was essential for the functioning of democracy, and for reducing the risk of emergence of absolute rule or tyranny. Such loyal opposition, not only in legislatures but also from media, non-governmental organizations and other social groups, is more necessary than ever in today's world where control of information and technologies of coercion can put dangerously great powers in the hands of governments.

I dream that we will all have several concentric circles of loyalty: To our family and friends, our social groups, our nations, our international organisations, and to humanity as a whole. But we will all retain a spirit of loyal opposition, keeping those to whom we delegate some power of authority over us always on their toes.

How might my dream scenario be implemented? The ideal path would be one where everyone wakes up tomorrow morning, realises what needs to be done, and contributes to bringing it about with a cooperative spirit and good will. But alas, the likeliest path is through a deep crisis.

As Mancur Olson pointed out (Mancur Olson, The Rise and Decline of Nations: Economic Growth, Stagflation, and Social Rigidities, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1982), reforms of institutions often come about after a war or some other crisis has dissolved the previously entrenched coalitions and destroyed the power of special interests. Therefore my dream scenario may follow one or more of my nightmare scenarios.

My seemingly disconnected thoughts in this essay may, after all, constitute a coherent narrative of the economic history of the coming century! Will we move to a fifteen-hour work week? Will we be another four or eight times as rich as we are now? Will we colonise the moon or mars? I don't know, and don't much care. I believe that the improvements in institutions and organisations that figure in my dream are much more important than any increases in leisure or any substantial increases in material wealth in today's first world.

With good institutions, a good level of economic well-being can be sustained; without them, even great wealth can be fragile.

I do hope that today's poor world catches up with the standard of living that prevails in many of today's advanced countries, and that the currently rich countries retain their level of economic well-being. Advances beyond that would be nice, but they are not my biggest hope or concern.
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by Staff reporter

The spokesperson of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association Douglas Mahiya has come out guns blazing accusing Higher Education Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo of allegedly doctoring a letter circulating on social media claiming that war veterans chairman, Christopher Mutsvangwa, was groveling at President Robert Mugabe and asking for forgiveness.The letter started circulating a day after President Mugabe held an indaba with the war veterans in Harare on Thursday to try and find common ground as the factional fights in the ruling Zanu-PF party intensify.Mr. Mugabe at 92, is the world's oldest serving president and has stated that he will stay in his post "until God says come'" and has thus far made no clear indication as to his preferred candidate for succession, creating an ongoing and intensifying power struggle.There are allegedly two factions in the ruling Zanu-PF party - Team Lacoste backing Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa and another called Generation 40 led by the party's Young Turks and enjoying the support of first lady Grace Mugabe, Professor Moyo and party political commissar Saviour Kasukuwere. The majority of war veterans who met Mr. Mugabe a few days ago are said to be backing Mnangagwa.The controversial letter is addressed to President Mugabe and allegedly written by Mutsvangwa.In an exclusive interview with VOA's Studio 7, Mahiya said, "That is the work of Professor Jonathan Moyo and his allies. If ever the national war veterans chairman wanted to do that, he would have given it directly to the president in secret and it would be up to the president to publish it or not."When he was fired by President Mugabe from cabinet, Mutsvangwa told the daily Newsday newspaper that after his "bitter" experience as Zimbabwe's ambassador to China where he was recalled under unclear circumstances, he now has a general loathing for assignments that solely depended on an individual's discretion."I neither care for that Politburo post, nor indeed for the ministerial appointment," Mutsvangwa said."So Norton constituency, yes; war veterans' chairmanship, yes; Politburo and Cabinet appointments - I don't' really care. In fact, two days ago I asked His Excellency for the honour of dismissing me because I only came in to save the revolutionary ethos and not to be served."Mutsvangwa was suspended on allegations of convening a war veterans meeting without informing Mr. Mugabe, the war veterans patron. His wife, Monica, was also slapped with three-year suspension for allegedly undermining Mrs. Mugabe.But the alleged letter shows a flip-flopping Mutsvangwa. It reads in part, "It is with a sunken heart, utmost sincerity and absolute humility that I throw myself at your feet to apologize profoundly to you personally Your Excellency, As the First Secretary of our Party, our Head of State and Government, Commander In Chief of the Zimbabwe Defense Forces and the Patron of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association, which fate has thrust upon me to be the National Chairman since November 2014, and also to your family, the Party of Zimbabwe as a whole, for all that I may have said or done to offend any or all of them, therefore, earning my current social and political censure and rancor."COMPLICATED WAR VETERANS/FIRST LADY RELATIONSHIPIn a clear sign that the relationship between the first lady and the war veterans remains complicated, the former freedom fighters had a resolution at the meeting that stated that party slogans must only seek to praise Mr. Mugabe and not his increasingly powerful wife who is also the ruling party's Women's League boss.Mahiya said the move not to praise the first lady is not unique as Mr. Mugabe's first wife, the late Sally Mugabe was not praised and given equal status to her husband.Asked why war veterans are seeking to exclude Mrs. Mugabe now, Mahiya said, "It has been the norm since the period of the revolution, to have it that way, to us we had discovered that it usually brought about problems and disunity in the party (Grace Mugabe slogans). We still feel that if we do that the party will be more united than ever."But who deserves a slogan in the party? Mahiya said, "The president not anybody else because this country came out of the liberation war. The president is sacred and it is only him and the forces that brought about independence  ZANLA and ZIPRA, and the late Vice President Joshua Nkomo and not anybody else deserves to be mentioned in party slogans."One of the slogans the war veterans want dropped is "Munhu wese kuna Amai" which urges party cadres to back the first lady.KASUKUWERE UNDERFIREMahiya reiterated another war veterans resolution that there is need for the party to dismantle Zanu PF's powerful commissariat department headed by Local Government Minister Kasukuwere and replace it with one led by freedom fighters.The war veterans are accusing Kasukuwere of engaging in corrupt activities and being a divisive figure who spends time expelling and suspending party members.The resolution referring to this issue read in part, "The meeting resolved that the primary role of the commissariat department must be mass mobilization and political education of the party members and never that of expelling and suspending members from the party."The war veterans though appear to be on a collusion course with President Mugabe on some of their resolutions.In February, Mr. Mugabe defended his wife, Grace, and Kasukuwere at the 30thedition of the 21st February Movement celebrations, which marked his 92ndbirthday."We hear a lot of misguided party members attacking my wife and that is very rude. These people do not respect us. We know there are some youths who are being given dagga to demonize their leaders and we will not accept that. We also hear some people attacking Kasukuwere over the suspension of party members. You have to know that Kasukuwere has the right to execute his duties without fear or favor because he is the man on the ground to defend the party," said Mugabe.Mahiya though said Kasukwere must be relieved of his duties "because he does not understand the history that brought about independence  he must realize that we are the custodians of the party Zanu-PF as it is stated in the party constitution and party manifesto."Efforts to get a comment from Moyo, the first lady or Kasukuwere were futile as they were said to be in a crucial Central Committee meeting.
Promoters, who have a higher degree of accountability and public responsibility, should share more details about themselves, says N Sundaresha Subramanian.

Image: Many Indian businesses still look up to their promoters for vision and guidance. Photograph: Reuters

The Panama Papers expose that rocked the world last week has brought out some interesting details about the foreign interests of promoters of Indian companies.

Some of them had used trust structures, others invested in personal capacities and so on.

Many of these companies have rushed to explain that these were legitimate investments, made by following all rules and regulations.

There is no reason to disbelieve this; it is certainly possible that each of these were legal investments, made of legitimate tax-paid money.

Understandably, business chambers such as Assocham have jumped to their defence.

Instead of seeing all the remittances abroad with a needle of suspicion in the context of the so-called Panama Papers, we must realise a fair amount of liberal foreign exchange regime is in operation and which is how it should be, its secretary-general, D S Rawat, stated on Monday.

Let us not pre-judge the outcome of the investigations being done by a multi-agency government team. It would certainly find out what is permissible and what is not.

However, one aspect that could be relevant to the securities market is disclosure. Where does the obligation end, of a promoter to disclose his personal interests?

Despite the corporate structure, board of directors and management, many Indian businesses still look up to their promoters for vision and guidance.

For most of the outside stakeholders such as creditors, institutional shareholders and even business partners of a listed company, the buck stops at the promoter or controlling shareholder.

Being such a vital cog, can the promoter get away with not disclosing his personal interests to public shareholders?

More so, when these are sought to be stashed away in tax havens?

What about the assets acquired in the name of immediate family?

Should the board of directors and management be kept at dark of these foreign assets, especially when these are in areas where the company itself has business interests and the promoters holding could be seen as a conflict of interest?

In the past, research entities and proxy advisers have raised questions about transactions between promoters privately held companies and the listed firms.

Rules were tightened significantly in the Companies Act and Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) corporate governance norms.

Then, some dilution had followed after businesses argued against this.

There is already substantial disclosure in the annual reports about earnings of directors and top management in the form of salaries, fees and other perquisites.

However, every now and then, shareholders are struck by such surprises.

It should be a good issue for Sebi and its various committees to discuss if promoters need to disclose their foreign interests and, if so, to what level of granularity.

The issue of such foreign assets held by immediate relatives and connected persons should also be deliberated on.

When ordinary investors are required to disclose their investment history threadbare under global regulations such as Fatca, why cant promoters, who have a higher degree of accountability and public responsibility, share more details about themselves?

If these investments are legal and legitimate, they should not have any problem in disclosing these.

The Supreme Court has taken an important step by asking billionaire Vijay Mallya to disclose his personal assets and those of his immediate kin.

Given the importance of promoters in the Indian listed universe, the regulators should examine if disclosures by them could be so enhanced as to minimise unknown risks and nasty surprises for investors from offshore locations.
New Delhi remains a priggish suitor to Washington's overtures, but it has begun appreciating potential tech benefits to ties with the US, notes Ajai Shukla.

IMAGE: US Secretary of Defence Ash Carter and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar tour the INS Vikramaditya at the Indian Naval Station Karwar. Photograph: Senior Master Sergeant Adrian Cadiz/AshCarter/Flickr

Ashton Carter is in India again for his third visit in a year as America's defence secretary. He is one of an apparently inexhaustible stream of United States officials making frequent pilgrimages to India to participate in an incredible 80 dialogues under way between the two countries.

Last month, Delhi hosted Admiral Harry Harris -- the chief of the US Pacific Command, a domain that in his words 'stretches from Bollywood to Hollywood' -- who expansively looked forward to the day when 'American and Indian Navy vessels steaming together will become a common and welcome sight throughout Indo-Asia-Pacific waters.'

A couple of days later, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar subjected Harris' proposal to a dose of reality, observing testily that the question of joint patrolling did not arise. The Indian Navy has never carried out joint patrols with a foreign navy. However, it routinely carries out 'coordinated patrols' with the navies of maritime neighbours, each one's ships and aircraft remaining on their respective sides of the International Maritime Boundary Line.)



Undeterred by India's standoffishness, an American Congressman, George Holding (a Republican from North Carolina) has introduced a Bill in the House of Representatives entitled the 'US-India Defense Technology and Partnership Act.'

If passed by the US Congress (which is packed with India-huggers), this will write the defence relationship into US law, formalising our status as 'a major partner of the United States.'

US President Barack Obama's administration has nurtured the US-India relationship, instituting the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative and establishing an 'India Rapid Reaction Cell' in the Pentagon to deal with bureaucratic hurdles.

The new legislation seeks to write these ad hoc measures into US law so that subsequent administrations inherit these structures. The Bill also notes, somewhat controversially: 'The (US) President is encouraged to coordinate with India on an annual basis to develop military contingency plans for addressing threats to mutual security interests of both countries.'

Yet, New Delhi remains a priggish suitor in the face of Washington's ardent embrace. Even those Indian mandarins who are willing to put aside Cold War confrontation and two generations of technology denial regimes do not yet see unalloyed strategic convergence with the US. True, there are common concerns about an aggressive China's emergence.

Sure, the US wants to build up India and its military as a bulwark that would share the burden of regional security. Yes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Act East' policy aligns with the Obama administration's 'rebalance to Asia.' Even so, most insiders sum up the strategic relationship thus: Convergence to the East, divergence to the West.

Indian policymakers note bitterly the American belief that the road to peace in Kabul runs through Islamabad, thereby cutting New Delhi out of a significant role in Afghanistan. They point out that, notwithstanding the Indo-US convergence on China, Washington tacitly supports the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and the development of Gwadar port, which will strengthen the China-Pakistan relationship.

Despite America's counter-terrorism dialogue with India and increased intelligence sharing -- which Indian officials downplay as 'tactical cooperation' -- Washington accepts the continued existence of India-focused jihadists in Pakistan, while demanding tough action by Islamabad against pan-Islamist groups in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

The US continues supplying cutting-edge war-fighting equipment, such as Block 50/52 F-16 fighters, to Pakistan for 'counter-terrorist operations,' ignoring New Delhi's protests that such capability is not needed to fight terrorists.

A top Indian policymaker sums up: 'India and America were never together on AfPak, even during the George W Bush presidency. We are not in alignment now either, and we never will be.'

Yet, signalling growing strategic maturity, New Delhi has de-coupled US-India ties from the AfPak paradigm and is, in fact, pushing to militarily associate India with US Central Command, which is responsible for America's military interests in AfPak, Iran and West Asia (India and the Indian Ocean fall under the US Pacific Command, with which New Delhi already works.)

That has allowed the defence relationship to steam along nicely. An expanded Indo-US defence framework agreement was extended for a decade till 2025. As US policymakers never tire of repeating, the US does more exercises with the Indian military than with any other.

This summer, the Indian Air Force is taking a big contingent of aircraft to the US for the highly regarded Red Flag Exercise. American defence equipment is flowing in steadily and, if India contracts for the M777 ultralight howitzer and signs repeat orders for C-17 Globemaster-III transport aircraft and P8-I maritime aircraft, the US would retain its new status as India's biggest arms supplier.

Under the DTTI, set up in 2012 to facilitate US-India defence trade, India seems likely to request US expertise in designing its second indigenous aircraft carrier (the first is almost built and is scheduled to be commissioned in 2018).

If, as seems likely, the Indian Navy switches from its current (Russian style) ski-launch tradition to an (American style) catapult system for getting fighters airborne from the carrier, a host of American systems, including the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter, carrier-launched airborne early warning aircraft like the E-2D Hawkeye, and specialist helicopters could make an entry into the Indian Navy.

Just as Russia has come to dominate the land segments of armoured vehicle and air defence systems, the US may similarly dominate several dimensions of the Indian Navy's aircraft carrier battle groups.



Dr Carter knows that, at least in the short-to-medium term, the US-India partnership would obtain greater momentum from high-technology transfer than from talking up the China threat.

The DTTI framework has promise, now that the Pentagon has begun viewing it as a mechanism for joint development, rather than just as a backdoor through which US vendors could bypass the Indian acquisition process.

New Delhi, too, has begun to appreciate the potential technology benefits in the relationship, now that it is looking beyond the Make in India slogan, which is more about low-tech, build-to-print component manufacture, than high-end systems engineering.

India has a long tradition of defence trade on a government-to-government basis. But America is different, with its large private defence vendors, who own the intellectual property that goes into their systems. That means New Delhi cannot pick up the phone to Washington and say, 'Will you give us this technology?'

Although the US government does control technology, obtaining access will also require a parallel process of negotiating with vendors and making a business case for transferring systems, technology and manufacturing to India. And that would be best done by India's new crop of private sector defence vendors.
The grenade exploded in a Karachi anti-terror court injuring 15 people. Rajeev Sharma reports.



A truly bizarre story from Pakistan.

It happened in an anti-terrorist court in Karachi on April 11.



Anti-terrorist court no 3, was in session on Monday. A terror case hearing was on. Judge Shakeel Haider was holding court.



The police presented before him exhibits seized during an anti-terror operation. One of the exhibits was a live hand grenade which was placed in a glass jar.



The inquisitive judge asked the police officer how a hand grenade functions. The police officer was no less overzealous. He immediately took out the exhibit from the glass jar and removed the pin. And then seconds later boom!

The exhibit, a court property, exploded destroying part of the court, injuring 15 people, five of them seriously. The injured included the judge, several advocates and policemen.



Fortunately for the victims, the hand grenade had depleted explosives, else none in the court would have survived.



The incident sent shock waves through the Pakistani security establishment. An immediate fallout of the incident is that all anti-terrorist courts in Karachi have been shut down till further orders.

Obviously, the Pakistani authorities now want to put in place new standard operating procedures. This will inevitably mean having a re-look at the way court exhibits are stored and produced before a court. The incident raises a question on why live ammunition and explosives need to be produced before a court.

Perhaps this question may be relevant even in the Indian context as many of the laws are similar in both countries.

In this bizarre story it is not difficult to determine who was at greater fault: The judge or the police officer who took the pin off the live hand grenade. Obviously, the police officer should have known better and warned about the consequences.

If the judge were still to insist on arriving at the veracity of the police claims about the type of weapons seized from terrorists, considering the growing pro-activism of the judiciary in Pakistan, the police officer should have ensured that a live demo was arranged for the judge in a controlled situation, not inside a court room.

This is not the only incident which shows the Pakistani police force in poor light. Some years ago, a truck bomb, driven by a suicide bomber, was allowed entry inside the police lines in Karachi.

In that incident, the explosives-laden truck was duly stopped by the alert guard at the entry point. The driver said the truck was carrying gifts for children of police personnel living in the complex on occasion of Eid which was over four days earlier. He explained that in view of the disturbed conditions he could not bring the gifts on Eid.

The security guard telephoned his senior officer who told him to send the truck in, stating who thinks of police personnel's welfare these days.

The truck went rammed into the office complex blowing up everything in the vicinity. Many police personnel were killed, including the senior officer who had permitted its entry.

Rajeev Sharma is an independent journalist and author of several books on Pakistan. He tweets @Kishkindha
Senior Indian and Pakistan Army officers held a flag meeting at the Line of Control in the frontier Poonch district on Tuesday.

"A Battalion Commander Level Flag Meeting was held at ChakanDaBagh in Poonch sector at 1100 hours today to take forward the peace process initiated since the Brigade Commander Level Flag Meeting of 21 September 2015," a defence spokesman in a statement said."

"The representatives of the two nations deliberated to address on the recent ceasefire violations in Poonch Sector."

"In the meeting, which lasted for nearly thirty minutes, the 'Colonel' ranked officers leading the respective delegations, acknowledged each other's efforts in maintaining peace and tranquillity on the Line of Control in the recent past," the statement further said.

"The flag meeting ended on a positive note and both sides reaffirmed their faith in ensuring everlasting peace and tranquillity on the Line of Control by redressing mutual concerns on priority in the future," the statement added.

After a lull of nearly seven months, the ceasefire on the LoC was violated again on Sunday with Pakistan army resorting to mortar shelling and firing in Poonch sector, a development that comes amid a fresh chill in relations between the two countries.

Meanwhile, in Islamabad, Pakistan army had accused India of resorting to firing across the LoC in the Neza Pir sector.
Two youths were killed and another wounded on Tuesday when security forces allegedly opened fire to disperse protesters in north Kashmir's Handwara town of Kupwara district.

Protests erupted following allegations that a girl student, on her way home, was molested by a soldier posted in an army picket in the town.

High tension gripped the district after youth joined the protesters and started heavy pelting at police and army troops.

"Two persons were killed and another wounded in the town," said a senior police officer. He also said that another civilian was critically wounded and shifted to Srinagar for treatment.

Inspector general of police, Kashmir zone, Syed Javaid Mujtaba Gillani told Rediff.com that there was pelting in the town following allegations of molestation of a girl.

A local resident said that heavy stone pelting was continuing in the town.

However, a defence spokesperson, in a statement said that the incident will be investigated and the guilty will not be spared.

"The army deeply regrets the unfortunate loss of life. Matter will be investigated and anybody found guilty will be dealt with as per the law," said the statement.

Heavy police reinforcements have been dispatched to Handwara to avoid any untoward incident.

Image: Clashes broke out between army and protesters in Srinagar. Photograph: Umar Ganie
Uttar Pradesh police on Tuesday claimed to have solved the case of murder of National Investigation Agency officer Tanzil Ahmed by arresting two persons and contended that domestic dispute was the motive behind the crime.

Among the two arrested is nephew of Ahmed's brother-in-law Rehan, Inspector General of Police (Bareilly Zone) Vijay Kumar Meena told a press conference in Bijnor.

The alleged mastermind, identified as Muneer, is still at large and will be nabbed soon, Meena said.

Giving details, the IGP said that the accused followed the 45-year-old NIA Deputy SP on motorcycle after a wedding reception of a relative on the intervening night of April 2 and 3.

Ahmed was returning home in Sahaspur village of Bijnor district with his family after attending his niece's wedding in another nearby village in the same district, which is about 150 km from Delhi.

The attackers overtook his vehicle at Sahaspur village and Muneer allegedly fired at Ahmed, killing him on the spot, he said. His wife was critically injured in the shoot out, but his two children escaped unhurt.

Along with Rehan, his accomplice Zainul was also arrested.

About the motive of the crime, Meena said that it was borne out of domestic dispute, family matters and share in a property deal.

DGP Javeed Ahmed has announced a reward of Rs 50,000 to anyone who helped in his arrest.

The killers had pumped as many as 24 bullets into Ahmed and four into his wife Farzana, as their 14-year old daughter and 12-year old son watched the gruesome incident from the back seat of the Wagon-R car in which they were travelling.

In the beginning, the police termed the killing of Ahmed, posted as Inspector initially with the NIA's intelligence wing and later in its investigation department, as a "planned attack" and did not rule out the possibility of a terror angle behind the shootout.

Ahmed, who has been with the NIA ever since it was formed in February 2009, had been investigating many cases especially related to banned Indian Mujahideen terror outfit. His superiors termed him as a thorough professional in intelligence gathering as well as investigation.
Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, reached Assam on Tuesday, after attending a lunch hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and his wife received the royal couple as they arrive at Tezpur Airport on a two-day visit to Assam. Photograph: PTI Photo

The royals enjoyed an evening around campfire at Assams Kaziranga national park on Tuesday as local artistes performed folk dance to mark the end of harvest season.

IMAGE: Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton interacts with the girls of Jhoomar dance cultural troop at Diphlu River Lodge in Kaziranga National Park of Assam on Tuesday. Photograph: PTI Photo

The royal couple received a warm welcome at the national park, which is home to the worlds largest population of one-horned rhinos, as young men and women danced to foot-tapping music.

The local artistes performed Assams traditional dance forms of Bihu and Jhumur, holding each other's waist and moving hands and legs forward and backward synchronously. Photograph: PTI Photo

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge interacted with the artistes after their soulful performance by the campfire. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters

Prince William was also seen trying his hand at a bamboo-made musical instrument called Gogona. Photograph: PTI Photo

The royal couples visit comes a day ahead of Bihu, which marks the beginning of Assamese New Year and signifies the time of harvest. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters

They will enjoy safari inside the Park on Wednesday and visit a centre for Wildlife rehabilitation and conservation.
According to the new data, India accounts for the most with 2,226.

IMAGE: A graphic to show the break-up of the tiger population around the world. Credit:  WWF

For a clearer image, click on the photograph for an enlarged version.

There is good news for wildlife enthusiasts ahead of the 3rd Asia Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation that takes off in New Delhi.

The number of wildcats has seen an increase worldwide after decades of decline with India having more than half of these.

The number of wild tigers has been revised to 3,890, based on the best available data, said World Worldlife Federation and the Global Tiger Forum.

They said that this updated minimum figure, compiled from International Union for Conservation of Nature data and the latest national tiger surveys, indicates an increase on the 2010 estimate of as few as 3,200.

This increase, they said, can be attributed to multiple factors, including increases in tiger populations in India, Russia, Nepal and Bhutan, improved surveys and enhanced protection.

The report comes a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the third Asia Ministerial Conference on tiger conservation where tiger range countries will discuss key issues, including anti-poaching strategies.

For the first time after decades of constant decline, tiger numbers are on the rise. This offers us great hope and shows that we can save species and their habitats when governments, local communities and conservationists work together, said Marco Lambertini, Director General, WWF International.

The conference is the latest step in the Global Tiger Initiative process that began with the Tiger Summit in Russia in 2010 where governments agreed to the Tx2 goal to double wild tiger numbers by 2022.

IMAGE: The number of wild tigers has been revised to 3,890 from 3,200 in 2010. Photograph: Reuters

While Indias tiger count stands at 2,226 according to the latest survey, Russia holds the second highest number of wildcats at 433. Indonesia has 371 tigers while Malaysia 250. Nepal, Thailand, Bangladesh and Bhutan have 198, 189, 106 and 103 tigers each, according to the data compiled by the wildlife groups.

Other countries which have tigers are Myanmar, China and Laos.

In 2014, tiger range governments agreed to announce a new global tiger estimate by 2016, based on full, systematic national surveys.

However, not all countries have completed or published these surveys and the new minimum estimate of close to 3,900 tigers is based on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species account for tigers, updated for countries where national tiger surveys have taken place since the IUCN assessment.

Vietnam also has some tigers.

A WWF statement said that 100 years ago there were 100,000 wild tigers while by 2010, there were as few as 3,200.

IMAGE: Climate change, poaching and illegal encroachment of land is considered as the three main threats to the existence of tigers. Photograph: Reuters

In 2010, tiger range governments agreed to act to double wild tigers by the next Chinese Year of the Tiger in 2022 and this goal is known as Tx2.

Over the three-day meeting, countries will report on their progress toward the Tx2 goal and commit to next steps.

This is a critical meeting taking place at the halfway point in the Tx2 goal. Tiger governments will decide the next steps towards achieving this goal and ensuring wild tigers have a place in Asias future, said Rajesh Gopal, secretary general, GTF.

The prime minister will address the conference on the essential role tigers play as a symbol of a countrys ecological well-being.

A strong action plan for the next six years is vital. The global decline has been halted but there is still no safe place for tigers. Southeast Asia, in particular, is at imminent risk of losing its tigers if these governments do not take action immediately, said Michael Baltzer, Leader of WWF Tx2 Tiger Initiative.

Tigers are classified as endangered by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, threatened by poaching and habitat loss and statistics from TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, show that a minimum of 1,590 tiger skins were seized by law enforcement officials between January 2000 and April 2014, feeding a multi-billion dollar illegal wildlife trade.

Giving countrywise details, the statement said that in Malaysia, the first nationwide tiger survey is underway while in Myanmar there are ongoing talks with the government about development of a new tiger action plan which will include recommendations for surveys and protection measures in selected priority sites.

While in Thailand site specific data of tiger populations is available, in China, it said that evidence of tigers is only found in Northeast China in Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces and a field survey of Heilongjaing Province is underway with results expected later in 2016 while preliminary results indicate a promising increase in numbers.

Similarly in Indonesia, an island-wide occupancy survey was published in 2011 and extensive survey work across Sumatra is ongoing.
The Bombay high court on Tuesday granted interim protection from arrest till April 18 to actor-producer Rahul Raj Singh, who has been booked for abetting the suicide of his girlfriend and TV star Pratyusha Banerjee.

Justice Mridula Bhatkar also directed Rahul to appear before Bangur Nagar police station in suburban Goregaon from Wednesday onwards till April 18 between 11 am to 1 pm.

The judge also directed that in case Rahul is arrested, he should be released on a bond of Rs 30,000.

The court was hearing the anticipatory bail application filed by Rahul.

The accused's lawyer Abad Ponda said his client is currently in hospital and the copy of first information report has not been furnished to them.

However, the police has filed a report before the court.

The court then perused the report, in which the police alleged that Rahul, who was staying with Pratyusha at a flat in suburban Goregaon, used to assault her. He used to borrow money from her and also withdrew money from Pratyusha's account, which is why she committed suicide, according to the report.

The 'Balika Vadhu' fame actor was found hanging at her residence in Goregaon on April 1. She was then rushed by Rahul to a hospital in Andheri, where she was declared dead.

Rahul, who has been booked for abetment of suicide, has been undergoing treatment for alleged depression at a hospital in Borivali since April 3.
The Taliban it has launched its annual spring military offensive in Afghanistan, titled Omari Operation.

The Taliban said the operation has been named after its deceased leader Mullah Omar, and is part of its 15-year-old jihad against the American invasion and effort to reestablish an Islamic system in Afghanistan.

With the advent of spring it is again time for us to renew our Jihadi determination and operations, the group said.

In a statement sent to reporters Tuesday, the group promised large scale attacks on enemy positions, martyrdom-seeking (suicide) and tactical attacks against enemy strongholds and assassination of enemy commanders in urban centres.

The Taliban also said they would try to avoid killing civilians or destroying civilian infrastructure, and would carry out a dialogue with our countrymen in the enemy ranks to try to convince them to join the insurgency.

The Taliban inflicted heavy casualties on Afghan security forces during the 2015 fighting season, killing nearly 6,000 personnel, including soldiers and police, while another 14,000 were wounded.

The militant group also captured more territory then at any point since it was ousted from power in 2001 for harbouring Al-Qaeda.

The United States-led military coalition ended its combat mission in 2014, leaving behind some 13,000-troops, mostly Americans, to train Afghan forces and conduct counterterrorism operations.
News / National

by Staff reporter

President Robert Mugabe's daughter, Bona, has flown 8,245 kilometres to Singapore in order to give birth.At a time when there are numerous world-class health centres and hospitals in Zimbabwe, Bona Mugabe Chikore, flew to Singapore with her mother, Grace following afterwards, so she can deliver. Two entourages on taxpayers' expense are at present in Singapore.Her father, Robert, revealed this during the funeral of the late heroine Victoria Chitepo. Mugabe said his wife, Grace was unable to attend as she is in the Far East with daughter Bona, about to give birth. The funding for the trip is from the government treasury which expenditure Mugabe's office has remained mum about 'There was such a great friendship between my present wife and Mai Chitepo. I was not able to get her on the phone yesterday; she had to run, vakaenda kumwana, mwanasikana," said Mugabe.He continued, "akati ndoda kuberekera kuno kwandakadzidza. Kunana Chiremba vandinoziva so she is about to give birth. She is about to give birth, it's a matter of days... She will be heartbroken," said Mugabe.
IMAGE: The damaged temple building of the Paravur temple in Kollam district. Photograph: PTI

'You can understand the ignorance of people, but how can we forgive the authorities and police when they very well knew the dangers?'

'Just see how many families are destroyed.'

Paravur resident R Radhakrishnan explains to Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com the importance of the temple festival, but does not want fireworks or elephants to be a part of it.

Radhakrishnan decided to live in Parvaur quite close to the temple because his wife belonged to the area though his business is based in Kollam.

On the fateful day, his wife, children and her family were at the temple enjoying the fireworks till 2.30 am. Barely half an hour after they reached home, while his daughter was still watching the fireworks from her room, there was an explosion and all she could see was fire at the temple site.

Radhakrishnan, below, left, talks about the need to ban fireworks and parading elephants in temples in Kerala in the name of tradition.

My wife Shailashree grew up in Paravur and lived here till we got married. I have been coming here regularly for the last 20 years. We built a house and came to live here only three years ago. Our house is just half a kilometre from the temple.

From the time I got married, I have noticed that the natives of Paravur make it a point to take leave from work to be a part of the festival wherever they are. Some of them take leave for all the seven days, while some come here at least on the last day if they get only a day's leave. People of Paravur are passionate about this temple festival.

My family believes in God, but does not believe in visiting temples and following rituals blindly. But all of them used to go to the temple during the festival especially on the last day as they enjoy watching the fireworks. I didn't go as I don't believe in these kinds of rituals and traditions.

I watched the fireworks for a while from our terrace. I got the impression that every explosion was stronger than what I had seen before. Each group was trying to do better than the other. Somehow, I felt uneasy watching it and hearing the ear splitting noise.

My wife and children were at the temple till 2.30 am. They left when the last round of competition was going on. We went to bed by 3, but our daughter was still sitting in her room and watching the fireworks. That was when the explosion happened and we all got up.

Even though I knew the situation would be grave at the temple ground, I was not in a mental condition to go and help people. I went there only after 10 the next morning. It was like a war zone. By then, the local people and the police had cleared all the dead bodies. One has to appreciate the kind of united effort of the people of this place to help the injured.

The entire village is so shell shocked that they are not in a position to talk about the disaster.

I am absolutely against these kinds of things, which we call tradition. Whether it is fireworks or parading elephants, I am of the opinion that it is time we stop this nonsense. But all the local people look forward to the festival.

Till 8 at night, they were apprehensive as the district collector had said no to competitive fireworks. They were so angry that I heard many people abusing the collector for doing so. The rumour was that somebody went to Thiruvananthapuram to get permission from the government.

I could see excitement in the air when they got the news by 9 that after all, the fireworks would happen. All the disappointed faces lit up.

When the fireworks started, there was a speech thanking all those who intervened to make it happen. As they didn't name anyone specifically, I do not know the people who worked behind the scenes.

You cannot blame any politician as they were under tremendous pressure from the local people to somehow get permission to have the fireworks. Naturally the temple authorities try their best to seek the help of those politicians who would be able to get permission.

You cannot blame any particular political party as I am sure all the political parties might have tried their best to see that the fireworks happened.

My opinion is that you cannot take such serious issues so lightly just to get some votes. I feel whoever they are, they should be given proper punishment so that nobody influences matters like these for their benefit.

The common people might have behaved in a stupid manner, but the authorities should have been firm when they are dealing with the safety of tens of thousands of people. There should not have been any lenience on their part while enforcing rules. They should have made people aware of the dangers involved. Just see how many families are destroyed.

It is true the people of Paravur are intoxicated with Kambam (competitive fireworks). Only when something goes wrong will they see the bad side of it. That is the reason why local people go and shout at those who speak against this. They haven't got anything against the person; they are just passionate. That was why they abused the collector for denying permission.

It is a fact that the sick and the elderly people find it difficult to tolerate the noise pollution we have for several hours. Even healthy people get upset when loud explosions goes on continuously for hours.

It is due to the lack of knowledge and disregard for rules that such a tragedy happened. I am told that not only men, but even women refused to move away from the ground where the fireworks took place.

The reason why the event that was to start at 10 pm, started only at 12 am was because they could not control the surging crowd. They had to be far away from the place, but people just pushed each other to stand very close. They didn't understand the danger involved.

But if the organisers had stood their ground that they would not start unless people moved away, this would not have happened. They should have been stricter.

I feel they should have been careful as they knew what they were handling. The police also should have been strict. They also erred.

You can understand the ignorance and passion of people, but how can we forgive the authorities and police when they very well knew the dangers?

Had the explosion happened earlier, the magnitude of the tragedy would have been much, much, more.

When the explosion happened, it had reached almost the end of the festival and the majority of people had left. Also, 80 per cent of the explosives was used by that time.

Imagine what would have been the situation if it had happened earlier.

I strongly believe that this should not happen again in any temple in Kerala, so also the use of elephants for temple festivals and also some barbaric activities like piercing the spear through your body. All these acts should be completely banned.

A temple should be a place where people can go and pray peacefully.

Had this been under the Devaswom Board, I feel this might not have happened as when it is under the government, they are bound to follow certain rules.

On the other hand, here they themselves are the lawmakers. They conducted it without the permission of the collector. It is true that it is not possible for the Devaswom Board to manage all the temples, but there should be a common code of conduct for all the temples in Kerala.
News / National

by Staff Reporter

The body of the late national heroine, Amai Victoria Fikile Chitepo has been flown back to Harare from the family rural home in Bonda, Manicaland.Family spokesperson, Dr Teddy Zengeni told the ZBC News that the Chitepo family is overwhelmed with the support received from government, friends and the general Zimbabwean populace.The body will lie in state at the family home in Mt Pleasant as it awaits burial this Wednesday at the National Heroes Acre.Amai Chitepo, who is widow of the late Zanu National Chairman, Herbert Chitepo, died on Friday in Harare was declared a national heroine.After independence in 1980, Amai Chitepo was appointed the Deputy Minister of Education and Culture before serving as Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism.She also served as the Minister for Information, Post and Telecommunications and as the Minister of Local Government, among many other portfolios.Even after retirement, Amai Chitepo remained active in politics and was a member of the Zanu PF Central Committee at the time of her death.
NATO to expand Aegean mission to stop migrant smuggling

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 6 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, NATO to expand Aegean mission to stop migrant smuggling, 6 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfb96.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.

Last updated (GMT/UTC): 06.03.2016 20:15

NATO says the alliance is expanding its mission in the Aegean Sea to stop the smuggling of migrants to Greece and into Europe.

The Associated Press quoted NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg as saying the alliance will operate in Greek and Turkish territorial waters, where smugglers have been bringing tens of thousands of migrants into Europe.

Stoltenberg told the news agency on March 6 that more ships will be on the way to the region to add to the three already there.

The statement came on the eve of a key summit in Brussels at which European leaders will persuade Turkey to accept "large-scale" deportations of economic migrants.

The European Union says Turkey has made progress toward implementing a cooperation-for-aid deal signed in November. But it said too many migrants were still heading from Turkey to Greece with nearly 2,000 arriving daily in February.

More than 400 have died or gone missing while attempting to reach Greece from Turkey aboard unseaworthy boats since the beginning of 2016.

Turkish media reported that at least 18 migrants drowned off the Turkish coast after their boat capsized on March 6. The Turkish Coast Guard rescued 15 others in the Aegean Sea, near the coastal town of Didim, the state-run Anadolu agency reported.

The victims' nationalities were not given.

Based on reporting by AP, AFP, dpa, and Reuters

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

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Blast rocks district court in Pakistan

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 7 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Blast rocks district court in Pakistan, 7 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfba6.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.

March 07, 2016

By RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal

A Pakistani policeman looks for evidence after a deadly suicide attack in Shabqadar on March 7.

A blast has rocked a district court building in northwestern Pakistan, causing many casualties.

RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal said the explosion occurred at the court in the Shabqadar district on March 7.

Police told Radio Mashaal that the bomber ignited his explosives after police stopped him from entering the court building.

Two police officers were among those killed.

TV footage showed widespread damage and the charred remains of at least two vehicles at the scene.

A group affiliated with the Pakistani Taliban and calling itself Jamat-ul-Ahrar claimed responsibility and said it was revenge for the hanging of Mumtaz Qadri who was executed last week for the 2011 killing of a provincial governor.

Shabqadar is located about 150 kilometers northwest of the capital Islamabad. It is adjacent to the Mohmand tribal area, which has seen several attacks in recent days.

With reporting by Reuters

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

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Egypt accuses Hamas, Muslim Brotherhood of chief prosecutor's killing

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 7 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Egypt accuses Hamas, Muslim Brotherhood of chief prosecutor's killing, 7 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfbb6.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.

March 07, 2016

Egypt has accused the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and the Palestinian militant group Hamas of involvement in the killing of Egypt's chief prosecutor Hisham Barakat last year.

Interior Minister Magdy Abdel-Ghaffar told reporters on March 6 that the car bombing that killed Barakat was carried out by members of the Muslim Brotherhood trained in the Gaza Strip by Hamas.

Ghaffar said 14 people were arrested in connection with the prosecutor's assassination.

He said that attack was ordered by Turkey-based officials of the Muslim Brotherhood while Hamas provided training and explosives.The minister said "this is a very big conspiracy that started a long time ago."

Hamas denied the accusation, describing it as "baseless."

Barakat, 65, was killed outside his Cairo home in June 2015. There was no claim of responsibility for the attack. The Muslim Brotherhood denied involvement.

Barakat had sent thousands of supporters of Islamist former President Mohammed Morsi to jail after his ouster in 2013.

Based on reporting by AP, Reuters, and the BBC

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

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Tunisia says it foiled attempt to establish IS emirate; 53 dead

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 7 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Tunisia says it foiled attempt to establish IS emirate; 53 dead, 7 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfbd6.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.

March 07, 2016

A pitched battle between Tunisian forces and extremist attackers on March 7 left at least 53 people dead near Tunisia's border with Libya, the government said.

Tunisian Prime Minister Hassid Essid said on state television that the attack was an Islamic State (IS) attempt to carve out a stronghold on the border.

Gunmen attacked the city of Ben Guerdane at dawn on March 7 and fighting continued past nightfall, forcing Tunisia to close its border with Libya.

"This is an unprecedented attack, planned and organized. Its goal was probably to take control of this area and to announce a new emirate," Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi said.

The attack and ensuing fighting left 35 attackers, seven civilians, and 11 members of Tunisia's security forces dead, the government said.

Eyewitnesses said corpses lay in the street and gunmen hid in homes as darkness fell. Residents of Ben Guerdane said the gunmen spoke of creating a caliphate and "liberating" the town.

Tunisia, a relatively stable state in the volatile north Africa region, has repeatedly clashed with extremists on the borders with Libya and Algeria in recent years.

European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said the attack "once more demonstrates the gravity of the threat faced by Tunisia."

Based on reporting by AP, dpa, and AFP

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

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Two killed in security operation along Tajik-Afghan border

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 7 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Two killed in security operation along Tajik-Afghan border, 7 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfbe6.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.

March 07, 2016

By RFE/RL's Tajik Service

DUSHANBE  Tajik officials say one of the country's border guards and a suspected terrorist have been killed in an ongoing security operation along the border with Afghanistan.

Muhammad Ulughojaev, a spokesman for the Tajik border-guard service, told RFE/RL on March 7 that the operation was launched on March 5 after nine armed militants crossed into Tajikistan from Afghanistan.

Ulughojaev confirmed that a border guard had been killed in the course of the operation, but dismissed reports of additional casualties among Tajik personnel.

One member of the "armed group of terrorists," whom Ulughojaev identified as Faskhiddin Valadi Kurbon, was killed and two other members of the group were arrested.

Tajik security forces and border guards were continuing to search for the remaining members of the group, according to Ulughojaev.The search is reportedly focused on islets in the Panj River, which defines a large segment of the Tajik-Afghan border.

The Tajik National Security Committee had earlier said that the armed group was led by an Afghan national named Mirafzal Arbob Sherafzal.

Afghan officials say that the nine were members of the Taliban, which controls parts of the Imam-Sahib district of Afghanistan's Konduz Province bordering Tajikistan.

Imam-Sahib Governor Amanuddin Kuraishi told RFE/RL on March 6 that the part of the Tajik-Afghan border where the intrusion reportedly took place is fully controlled by Taliban.

Kuraishi alleged that Mirafzal Arbob Sherafzal, the man initially named as the leader of the group, used to be involved in the trafficking of illegal goods and is currently an active member of the Taliban.

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

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First prayer house for Muslims in Georgian army opens

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 7 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, First prayer house for Muslims in Georgian army opens, 7 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfbf6.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.

March 07, 2016

By RFE/RL's Georgian Service

TBILISI  Georgian Defense Minister Tina Khidasheli has opened the first prayer house for Muslims serving in Georgia's armed forces.

Khidasheli said at the March 6 ceremony at the 3rd Infantry Brigade headquarters in the western city of Kutaisi that Georgia is a country where freedom of religion is guaranteed by the constitution.

Two more Islamic prayer houses for military personnel are expected to start functioning soon, she said.

Muslims make up about 10 percent of Georgia's population. But many have complained about roadblocks and even open hostility to efforts to build mosques or open Islamic schools in Georgia.

In 2014, a pig's head was nailed to the door of a building that was expected to house an Islamic school in the city of Kobuleti in the Ajara region.

Local Muslims called the incident "an act of desecration."

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

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IS recruiter, would-be fighters jailed in Georgia

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 7 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, IS recruiter, would-be fighters jailed in Georgia, 7 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfc06.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.

March 07, 2016

By RFE/RL's Georgian Service

TBILISI  A Georgian court has sentenced four men on Islamic extremism charges.

The Tbilisi City Court on March 7 found Aiuf Borchashvili guilty of recruiting fighters for the Islamic State (IS) extremist group and sentenced him to 14 years in jail.

Giorgi Khutunishvili and Davit Pirisebiya, who had been recruited by Borschashvili to join IS, were found guilty of being members of a terrorist organization and sentenced to 11 and 10 years, respectively.

The fourth defendant, Giorgi Kuprava, received a suspended one-year sentence after he agreed on a guilty plea deal with investigators.

All four were arrested in 2015.

Georgian officials have said that dozens of Georgian nationals have joined IS militants in Syria and Iraq.

One of them, Tarkhan Batirashvili, also known as Umar al-Shishani, is a battlefield commander in northern Syria.

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

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Afghan Supreme Court confirms sentences in woman's mob killing

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 7 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Afghan Supreme Court confirms sentences in woman's mob killing, 7 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfc16.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.

March 07, 2016

By RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan

Afghan women hold up placards of Farkhunda Malikzada during a protest in Kabul in July 2015.

Afghanistan's Supreme Court has confirmed a 20-year prison sentence against a man who falsely accused a woman of burning the Koran, which provoked an angry mob to beat the woman to death near a Muslim shrine in Kabul.

The court also confirmed prison sentences ranging from 10 to 20 years against 12 others involved in the brutal mob killing of Farkhunda Malikzada, a 27-year-old student of Islamic law, in March 2015.

The Supreme Court rulings  the final stage of the appeals process in the Afghan courts  were confirmed on March 7 by Basir Azizi, a spokesman for Afghanistan's attorney general.

A 60-year-old amulet seller at the shrine, Zainuddin, fabricated the story about the burning of the Koran after Malikzada criticized his peddling as un-Islamic.

Zainuddin and three others were initially sentenced to death in the case by a trial court after video showed them involved in killing Malikzada.

But the sentences against Zainuddin and two others were reduced to 20 years on appeal and the death penalty against the fourth was reduced to 10 years because he was a minor.

Sentences of 16 years for nine other men were also confirmed by the Afghan Supreme Court on March 7, while the court upheld the 10-year sentence against the minor.

Video of Malikzada's brutal murder circulated on social media and shocked people across Afghanistan.

Police later confirmed there was no evidence to support the Koran-burning allegation.

The killing prompted unprecedented protests across Afghanistan.

Malikzada's reputation since the killing also underwent a transformation  from a pariah to a martyr  when it became known that she was a student of Islamic law and a devout Muslim who was defending Islam when she was wrongly accused.

Her death also sparked a civil-society movement to limit the power of clerics, strengthen the rule of law, and improve women's rights.

Some rights advocates said that without video footage of Malikzada's killing, the case would have gone unnoticed and unprosecuted.

However, some public and religious figures said the killing would have been justified if Malikzada had in fact damaged a copy of the Muslim holy book.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, The New York Times, and BBC

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

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U.K. terror chief warns IS planning 'spectacular' attacks on West

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 8 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, U.K. terror chief warns IS planning 'spectacular' attacks on West, 8 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfc24.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.

March 08, 2016

Britain's counterterrorism chief has warned that the Islamic State (IS) militant group wants to launch "enormous and spectacular attacks" targeting Western lifestyles, not just military targets.

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley told reporters in London on March 7 that while IS once struck primarily at symbols of the state, such the military and police, the group is now planning broader attacks like last November's string of attacks in Paris on a concert hall, stadium, and bars, which killed 130 people.

"You see a terrorist group which has big ambitions for enormous and spectacular attacks, not just the types that we've seen foiled to date," he said.

Rowley stressed that police have no information about such an attack at present, but said authorities should plan for all possibilities.

Rowley said IS is no longer content to simply radicalize so-called "lone wolf" attackers through propaganda on the Internet, but is "trying to build bigger attacks."

He added that the group is also trying to bring extremists trained in Syria into northern Europe to launch strikes.

Based on reporting by AP and AFP

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

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News / National

by Staff Reporter

All is set and logistics are in place for the burial of two gallant daughters of the soil, which is set for tomorrow (Wednesday) at the National Heroes Acre in Harare.Victoria Chitepo and Vivian Mwashita died on Friday, were declared national heroines and will be buried on the same day tomorrow at the National Heroes Acre.30 buses from Harare, 10 from Manicaland and one from each province will ferry mourners to the national shrine.In an interview, the Minister of State Harare Provincial Affairs, Miriam Chikukwa said Manicaland province has made history as two heroines died on same day, were all declared national heroes and will be laid to rest on the same day.She said people will be ferried from usual pick up points tomorrow morningHarare Province representatives of the Women's League, Mrs Joice Kasinamunda and war veteran, Phanuel Matsenga commended President Robert Mugabe for recognising the good work the two heroines played during and after independence.Harare Provincial Administrator, Mr Alfred Tome encouraged Zimbabweans to come in their numbers to pay their last respects to the heroines.He said the two heroines bodies will pass through Mbare's Stordard Hall early in the morning tomorrow before burial at the national shrine.
Georgia PM wants marriage between man, woman enshrined in constitution

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 8 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Georgia PM wants marriage between man, woman enshrined in constitution, 8 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfc36.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.

March 08, 2016

By RFE/RL's Georgian Service

At least 17 people were injured after gay rights campaigners were attacked by antigay activists in Tbilisi in May 2013.

TBILISI  Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili says his ruling coalition will draft a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

Kvirikashvili and the Georgian Dream (GD) coalition appear eager to quash a civil rights lawyer's effort to legalize same-sex marriage in the socially conservative, mostly Orthodox Christian country in the South Caucasus.

Georgian officials frequently cast their country, which is seeking closer integration with NATO and the EU, as a beacon of European values in the former Soviet Union, and Kvirikashvili said on March 7 that GD is committed to wiping out all forms of discrimination.

But he said that "such an important value" as marriage as a union between a man and a woman needed to be enshrined in the constitution.

Article 36 of the Georgian Constitution reads: "Marriage shall be based upon equality of rights and free will of spouses."

GD's proposal is expected to offer replacing "spouses" with "a man and a woman."

Georgian civil rights lawyer Giorgi Tatishvili petitioned the Constitutional Court earlier this year to legalize same-sex marriage. Shortly afterward, GD made an initial announcement about plans to amend the constitution.

Gay rights groups in Tbilisi then condemned the coalition's plans to enshrine marriage as a union between a man and a woman, urging the authorities not to play "political games" with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) issues.

Several gay rights groups also issued a statement saying that even if gay marriage were expressly legalized, most gays in Georgia would be unable to officially register their unions due to what they called "the violent environment in Georgian society."

On May 17, 2013, at least 17 people were injured in violence that broke out in Tbilisi before the start of a rally to mark the International Day Against Homophobia.

In 2014, the premiere of a Georgian comedy that supports gay-rights was canceled in Georgia after a radical Christian group, the Union of Orthodox Parents, protested in front of the parliament building and demanded that the film be banned.

The influential head of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Ilia II, has publicly criticized what he calls "gay propaganda" and called on Georgians "to respect the nation's traditional values."

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

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Ukraine retracts appointment of 'homophobic' family ombudsman

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 8 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Ukraine retracts appointment of 'homophobic' family ombudsman, 8 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfc46.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.

March 08, 2016

By RFE/RL

Ukraine's government has retracted the recent appointment of Adrian Bukovynskiy to the post of family ombudsman after activists complained he is biased against homosexuals.

Bukovynskiy's appointment to the post had been announced on February 24.

But the Ukrainian government's website announced on March 8 that Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk was reopening a search to fill the post.

The website said Bukovynskiy was never confirmed as the government's family ombudsman because he failed to pass a background check.

Bukovynskiy's nomination sparked harsh criticism from gay rights activists in Ukraine who compiled material from 2013 showing he had publicly expressed "homophobic" views.

Those statements included calls to defend "traditional values," as well as condemnation of laws protecting the rights of gays in the European Union and the United States.

Bukovynskiy also publicly defended legislation in Russia banning what lawmakers there have deemed as "gay propaganda."

Bukovynskiy had said he would endorse a similar law in Ukraine.

With reporting by khpg.org

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

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Turkey's government seizes private news agency, Cihan

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 8 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Turkey's government seizes private news agency, Cihan, 8 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfc5c.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.

March 08, 2016

A privately owned Turkish news agency, Cihan, says Turkey's government has seized control of its offices amid a widening crackdown on supporters of Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based Muslim cleric who opposes President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The Cihan agency said on its website site late on March 7 that an Istanbul court would appoint an administrator to run the news agency at the request of a state prosecutor.

The U.S. State Department on March 8 said the seizure of Cihan was "just another example of an unnecessary crackdown on journalism."

Earlier in March, Turkish authorities seized the country's largest circulation newspaper, Zaman.

The seizure of Zaman was an issue raised during Turkey's summit with EU leaders in Brussels on March 7.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the seizure of Zaman was "unacceptable" and was a violation of European values.

Based on reporting by Reuters and Cihan

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

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Australia, Iran said negotiating deal to return 9,000 Iranian migrants

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 9 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Australia, Iran said negotiating deal to return 9,000 Iranian migrants, 9 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfc6c.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.

March 09, 2016

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif is reportedly negotiating a deal with Australia for the return of nearly 9,000 Iranian migrants.

Australia hopes to send nearly 9,000 Iranian migrants back to their homeland under a new deal with Tehran, Australian media reported on March 9.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop was reported to be negotiating an agreement with her counterpart, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, to end Tehran's longstanding refusal to accept the return of Iranian asylum seekers.

Under the repatriation agreement expected to be signed by Zarif when he visits the Australian capital, Canberra, on March 15, Australia would secure guarantees from Iran that Iranians who returned home would not be persecuted or punished.

The deal was reported to cover almost 9,000 Iranian asylum seekers, including about 400 in Australian-funded immigration centers on Pacific islands.

Most live in Australia. It is not clear how many of them are genuine refugees who could not be sent back to Iran, but Australia regards the majority to be economic migrants seeking better jobs, rather than refugees.

Australia has refused to resettle them while Iran refuses to take them back.

The new agreement would reflect Tehran's determination to improve relations with the West in the wake of last year's landmark nuclear accord.

Based on reporting by AP, The West Australian, and Sky News

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

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Afghanistan: Taliban militants attack government offices in Helmand

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 9 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Afghanistan: Taliban militants attack government offices in Helmand, 9 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfc7c.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.

Last updated (GMT/UTC): 09.03.2016 10:20

Taliban fighters have attacked government offices in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand, where the militants have been gaining territory in battles against government forces in recent months.

A spokesman for Helmand's governor said gunmen attacked the police headquarters and intelligence agency offices early on March 9 in Gereshk, about 20 kilometers north of the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah.

The spokesman said security forces repelled the attack on the intelligence facility.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, in which suicide bombers struck inside the police compound.

Jabbar Karaman, a lawmaker appointed by President Ashraf Ghani to investigate the situation in Helmand, said at least seven attackers were killed in the battle with police.

He said three police officers were also killed and an unconfirmed number of civilians were caught in the crossfire.

Fighting has raged across Helmand, a major poppy-growing region, for the past three months, with Taliban forcing government troops to withdraw in late February from the districts of Nawzad and Musa Qala to the north of Gereshk and Lashkar Gah.

There also has been fighting among militnat factions for control of smuggling routes.

U.S. and British forces saw heavy fighting in Helmand at the height of the 15-year war.

Based on reporting by AP

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

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Kyrgyz detained in Russia for forgery

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 9 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Kyrgyz detained in Russia for forgery, 9 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfc8c.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.

March 09, 2016

By RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service

MOSCOW  A group of Kyrgyz nationals has been detained in Moscow for allegedly forging documents.

The spokeswoman for the Kyrgyz Embassy in Moscow, Aidana Makilova, said on March 9 that the detained individuals had been charged with issuing forged identification documents to Kyrgyz migrant workers.

She did not disclose how many Kyrgyz nationals had been taken in by Russian authorities.

Makilova's statement comes the same day that Kyrgyzstan's State Committee for National Security announced it had detained a police officer in a suburb of the capital, Bishkek, on suspicion of illegally providing foreigners with Kyrgyz national passports.

The unidentified officer was detained while allegedly taking a bribe from a potential "client."

With reporting by 24.kg

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

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Afghan officials vow fresh probes into police torture video

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 9 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Afghan officials vow fresh probes into police torture video, 9 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfca9.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.

March 09, 2016

By RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan

The two-minute footage was posted this week by the Pajhwok news agency and shows a group of men, including some in Afghan police and army uniforms, beating and kicking the man and dragging him behind a marked police vehicle.

Authorities in Afghanistan say they're investigating the circumstances around a disturbing video clip that appears to show police officers taking part in the brutal torture of an alleged terror suspect.

The two-minute footage was posted this week by the Pajhwok news agency and shows a group of men, including some in Afghan police and army uniforms, beating and kicking the man and dragging him behind a marked police vehicle.

A police spokesman in Kandahar Province, Zia Durrani, told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan the incident took place two years ago in the Maiwand district and two policemen were currently serving jail terms in connection with the case.

But it was unclear what happened to the suspect, who Durrani said was detained while trying to plant an explosive near a security checkpoint in the volatile southern province.

"Tie his hands and drag him," one of the mob shouts before the vehicle drags him  hands tied behind his back  about 10 meters. They appear to be trying to force a confession. "Now do you admit it?" a male voice asks repeatedly.

The suspect, barefoot and clad in traditional Pashtun clothing, remains silent as the abuse continues before he is loaded into the back of the police truck.

"The suspect wasn't a local man, he was a would-be bomber, but nevertheless police officers should not have behaved the way they did," Durrani said. "We investigated this incident two years ago, when it happened."

Pajhwok quoted Durrani as saying that a second suspect in the same abortive bombing had been killed in a firefight with police.

Afghanistan's Interior Ministry responded after the video's posting by condemning the incident, which it acknowledged "is linked to police forces," adding that it violated human rights and Islamic values.

Pajhwok quoted the chairman of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission on March 9 as saying that the commission would also investigate.

The video on Pajhwok's Facebook page has been viewed more than 170,000 times and drawn thousands of comments.

Written by Farangis Najibullah based on reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

Copyright notice: Copyright (c) 2007-2009. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036
Russian activists in St. Petersburg, Moscow demand Savchenko's release

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 9 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Russian activists in St. Petersburg, Moscow demand Savchenko's release, 9 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfcbc.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.

March 09, 2016

By RFE/RL's Russian Service

ST. PETERSBURG  Russian activists in the city of St. Petersburg have staged an protest calling for the release of jailed Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko.

About 10 activists on March 9 raised large letters fixed to wooden planks, to spell out "Save Nadezhda!" on the Neva River embankment in the city center.

Nadezhda is the Russian variant of Savchenko's first name, which means "hope."

The activists told RFE/RL that the sentence had two meanings  a call for the release of Savchenko and to preserve hope in Russia about the future.

After 30 minutes, police arrived at the scene and made the activists remove the letters. There were no arrests.

In Moscow, two Russian protesters were detained on March 9 after displaying signs in support in Savchenko.

The protests came a day after police in Moscow detained 35 demonstrators, mainly women, for expressing support to Savchenko in the center of the Russian capital.

The majority of those demonstrators were released later on March 8.

Savchenko is awaiting the reading of a verdict on March 21 in a Russian court where she has been put on trial in connection with the deaths in 2014 of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine.

Kyiv and Western governments say she was kidnapped and illegally transported into Russia where she is facing a political show trial.

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Copyright notice: Copyright (c) 2007-2009. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036
Protesters across Ukraine continue to demand Savchenko's release

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 9 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Protesters across Ukraine continue to demand Savchenko's release, 9 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfccc.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.

March 09, 2016

By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service

Activists clash with police at the Russian Consulate during a rally in support of Savchenko in Odesa on March 9.

Protesters across Ukraine have continued to demand the release of Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko from Russian custody.

Police in the Black Sea port city of Odesa used tear gas to disperse hundreds of demonstrators on March 9 after they pelted the Russian Consulate with eggs and painted the building's door red.

Protesters in Odesa also burned an effigy of Russian President Vladimir Putin in front of the consulate.

In the western city of Lviv, about 200 protesters threw eggs, stones, and small bottles of iodine at the Russian Consulate  leaving difficult-to-remove brown stains on the building.

Demonstrators also threw paper planes with the inscription "Free Savchenko."

A smoke bomb was also thrown onto the Russian Consulate grounds in Lviv.

Protests calling for Savchenko's release were also held in Kyiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Cherkasy, and other Ukrainian cities.

Savchenko is awaiting the reading of a verdict on March 21 in a Russian court where she has been put on trial in connection with the deaths in 2014 of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine.

Savchenko insists she was kidnapped and illegally transported into Russia where she is facing what Ukrainian, U.S., and European Union officials have described as a political show trial.

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

Copyright notice: Copyright (c) 2007-2009. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036
Russian activists, western journalists attacked trying to enter Chechnya

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 9 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Russian activists, western journalists attacked trying to enter Chechnya, 9 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfcd17.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.

March 09, 2016

By RFE/RL

The Committee to Prevent Torture said its workers and the journalists were still within Ingushetia on March 9 when they were attacked by about 20 men  thought to have come from Chechnya  who burned their minibus.

A Russian rights group says two Western journalists and two rights activists were hospitalized after masked men with knives and clubs attacked them as the group tried to enter Russia's Chechnya region from neighboring Ingushetia.

The Committee to Prevent Torture said its workers and the journalists were still within Ingushetia on March 9 when they were attacked by about 20 men  thought to have come from Chechnya  who burned their minibus.

Maria Persson Lofgren, a Moscow-based correspondent for Swedish Radio, and Norwegian reporter Oystein Windstad of the Oslo daily Ny Tid were hospitalized with injuries from the attack.

Another reporter with the group, Aleksandrina Yelagina of the Russian magazine The New Times, said the attackers called them "terrorists" and said they had "no business on our territory."

Swedish Radio gave a similar account.

"They shouted that we were terrorists, not journalists," Ginna Lindberg, head of the broadcaster's foreign news division, quoted Persson Lofgren as saying.

The Swedish broadcaster added that the attackers, described as a large group of young men armed with knives and clubs, had robbed the group before setting their vehicle ablaze.

Ny Tid, the Norwegian daily, said Windstad was also hospitalized along with rights activist Yekaterina Vanslova and the group's driver.

Pavel Chikov, a prominent Russian lawyer and rights advocate, wrote on Twitter that Windstad had teeth knocked out and suffered lacerations on his face and legs in the attack.

Dunja Mijatovic, the media-freedoms representative for the Organization for Security and Cooperation In Europe (OSCE), said on Twitter that reports of the attack were "troubling news."

The Russian news site Mediazona, whose reporter Yegor Skovoroda was with the group, said that prior to the attack their minibus was being followed by cars with license plates indicating the vehicles were from Chechnya.

Russia's Kommersant newspaper quoted Skovoroda as saying that the group was attacked near the settlement of Ordzhonikidzevskaya in Ingushetia, just west of the border with Chechnya.

Skovoroda posted a photograph of the group's burning minibus on his Twitter account.

Chechnya's Kremlin-backed leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, and his supporters have publicly vilified the Committee to Prevent Torture's activists.

The organization was previously known as the Committee Against Torture, which was branded a "foreign agent" by the Russian government in 2015 because it received foreign funding for activities that authorities deemed "political" in nature.

It oversees a group of rights activists operating in Chechnya called the Joint Mobile Group.

After the attack, a lawyer for the Committee to Prevent Torture, Dmitry Utukin, posted surveillance video showing masked men bearing assault weapons that he said were trying to break into the Joint Mobile Group's headquarters in the town of Karabulak in Ingushetia.

Masked men last year destroyed the Joint Mobile Group's office in Chechnya's capital, Grozny, after it criticized Kadyrov's policy of burning down houses belonging to relatives of suspected Islamic militants.

Kadyrov has been accused of running Chechnya as if it were his own fiefdom, often disregarding Russian law in his pursuit to keep order in the restive North Caucasus republic.

The Kremlin has tolerated Kadyrov's alleged excesses because it relies on him to maintain order and suppress separatism in Chechnya, where Russia has fought two wars against rebels since 1994.

Russia's state-run TASS news agency quoted an unidentified law enforcement source in Ingushetia as saying that the rights activists and journalists were targeted by "about 20 attackers."

"They took away the mobile phones from [the journalists and human rights activists], set their Ford vehicle on fire, and drove away," TASS quoted the source as saying.

The Interfax news agency quoted an unidentified law enforcement official as saying that a probe had been launched into the attack and that authorities were attempting to apprehend the assailants.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Russian Service, AFP, dpa, Dozhd TV, TASS, and Interfax

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

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News / National

by Staff reporter

Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko, has resuscitated his $50 million defamation claim against Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ) - publishers of the Daily News, Daily News on Sunday and the Weekend Post.In his fresh legal action after his previous claim was recently dismissed by the High Court with costs, Mphoko is arguing the default judgment that was entered against him was an "ambush".But in a replying affidavit deposed by ANZ Group Editor, Stanley Gama, the company rubbished Mphoko's application, calling on the court to once again dismiss the VP's claim with costs.Gama said had Mphoko been present at the pre-trial conference which had culminated in the default judgment against him, "perhaps the judge would have knocked some sense into his head regarding his claim of $50 million whose chances of success are ice in hell".The last time the matter was heard, High Court judge Justice Joseph Musakwa dismissed Mphoko's lawsuit with costs following an application by ANZ lawyer Alec Muchadehama to have the case thrown out, after the VP failed to attend the pre-trial conference in person - choosing instead to send an official from his office, one Themba Ndlovu, to represent him.Mphoko is now arguing that his absence then had been necessitated by the fact that he was attending to State business."The order in H.C 6788/15 was erroneously sought and granted in the absence of the applicant without having taken into account the fact that the applicant was acting president on the day and so was saddled with State functions," Mphoko said.But Gama shot back, accusing him of failing to explain the nature of State business that he was attending to on the day."The nature of government business has not been outlined. Later on I watched ZBC television and saw applicant opening a branch of Choppies Supermarkets and distributing wheelchairs. I understand applicant had or has had interest in Choppies Supermarkets. Talk of government business," the ANZ Group Editor said."The court was not even advised that applicant was then acting president. Such a reason would in any event have been irrelevant  after all he sued in his personal capacity," he added."I am also advised  that the applicant has followed a wrong procedure in seeking redress. Applicant ought to have known that the respondents would oppose the application."With this knowledge, applicant ought to have proceeded by way of court application as opposed to a chamber application."I am further advised that the rules of court are there to be strictly followed. Failure to abide by the rules renders an application liable to be dismissed."Further, applicant must not over-exaggerate the importance of the office of the President. The incumbent of this office must be humble, uphold the Constitution and lead by example, including respecting the courts and their processes," Gama said."It is most unfortunate that applicant wishes the existence of criminal defamation which has since been outlawed. Criminal defamation was a draconian law which was outlawed by the Constitutional Court of Zimbabwe. It was outlawed in many progressive jurisdictions world-wide."It is spine-chilling that a person who occupies the office of Vice President and claims to be a highly-decorated liberation icon could wish the existence of such an odious law such as criminal defamation."I must add that applicant is a Vice President and a politician. He attracts publicity even on the slightest of things. The President of the Republic, Mr Mugabe, has advised that politicians must develop thick skins."Despite the so many publications and caricatures thrown at the President, he has never sued anyone. Perhaps Applicant may learn one or two things from the president regarding the relations with the media vis-a-vis suing for defamation," Gama said."Even when one considers the quantum of damages, a staggering $50 million, it is apparent that applicant's aim is to threaten the media."It appears this applicant's primary aim is to have third respondent closed. Such approach has a chilling effect on the media. And yet, applicant must be day dreaming to expect to be awarded $50 million for merely a story based on an interview with Jabulani Sibanda," Gama added.Mphoko's lawsuit followed a June 5, 2015 article that the VP took exception to that was based on an interview with firebrand former war veteran's leader Jabulani Sibanda.In the story, Sibanda claimed that Mphoko had sold out during the liberation struggle when he allegedly diverted weapons meant for the late Joshua Nkomo's Zapu to Zanu  a move that Sibanda further claimed could have led to the needless deaths of thousands of people.
Iraqi Kurds say IS militants shelled village with 'poisonous substances'

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 9 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Iraqi Kurds say IS militants shelled village with 'poisonous substances', 9 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfce9.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.

March 09, 2016

Iraqi Kurdish officials have accused Islamic State (IS) militants of using "poisonous substances" in the shelling of a village in northern Iraq.

The officials said the attack with mortar shells and Katyusha rockets filled with a chemical agent took place on March 8 in Taza, a mainly Shi'ite Turkoman village about 20 kilometers south of Kirkuk, a region under Kurdish control.

Kirkuk Province Governor Najmuddin Kareem said more than 40 people were hospitalized with respiratory problems and skin irritation.

None of the victims died, although five remained hospitalized late on March 9.

Wasta Rasul, a commander of Kurdish Peshmerga forces in the region, said a total of 24 shells and rockets were fired into Taza from the nearby Bashir area, which is under the control of Islamic State militants.

The allegations came a day after Syrian Kurdish militia accused Islamic militants and other groups fighting President Bashar al-Assad's forces of shelling a mainly Kurdish residential neighborhood in the northern city of Aleppo with chemical agents.

Based on reports by Reuters, AP, and AFP

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

Copyright notice: Copyright (c) 2007-2009. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036
Ukraine: Poroshenko offers to swap Savchenko in prisoner exchange with Russia

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 10 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Ukraine: Poroshenko offers to swap Savchenko in prisoner exchange with Russia, 10 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfcf6.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.

March 10, 2016

Hunger-striking Ukrainian military pilot Nadia Savchenko delivers her final statement to the court in the Russian town of Donetsk on March 9.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said he is ready to secure the release of celebrated Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko through a prisoner exchange with Russia.

The Russian trial of Savchenko on allegations that she aided the 2014 killing of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine wrapped up on March 9.

She rejects the charges and has been on a hunger strike since March 3 to protest her detention.

"If you ask me if an exchange is possible I would tell you 'yes' for the first time, using my constitutional right," Poroshenko said in Ankara on March 9 after meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

But he added that Russia has not come up with "any satisfactory initiative" for such a swap.

Earlier in the day, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said talks on a prisoner exchange could not take place "in theory or in practice" until the verdict, which is expected on March 21.

Savchenko's detention and hunger strike provoked an outpouring of protests in Ukraine and Russia on March 9 and prompted world leaders to call for her immediate release.

Based on reporting by AFP and TASS

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

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Top IS commander reported still alive but badly wounded in Syria

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 10 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Top IS commander reported still alive but badly wounded in Syria, 10 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfd06.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.

March 10, 2016

A video grab showing Islamic State military leader and Georgian native Umar al-Shishani (Tarkhan Batirashvili) with other militants.

A top Islamic State (IS) militant commander who U.S. officials said was "likely" killed by air strikes last week was actually only badly wounded, Syrian observers and activists say.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a network of observers within Syria where the air strikes occurred, told news media late on March 9 that Umar al-Shishani, an ethnic Chechen who was born in Georgia, was "seriously injured" by the U.S. strikes, but survived and was transported to a hospital in Raqqa.

"He's not dead," observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP. "He was taken from the province of Hasake to a hospital in Raqqa Province where he was treated by a jihadist doctor of European origin."

CNN reported that opposition activists in Syria are also saying Shishani, whose real name is Tarkhan Batirashvili, was "critically injured" and taken to a hospital.

U.S. officials on March 8 had told several news organizations that Shishani was "likely" killed. But they stopped short of saying he was dead and said they were still investigating the matter.

Shishani is considered one of IS's most capable leaders. One official called him the militant group's "secretary of defense."

Based on reporting by AFP, dpa, and CNN

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

Copyright notice: Copyright (c) 2007-2009. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036
Balkan states shut down migrant route to northern Europe

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 10 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Balkan states shut down migrant route to northern Europe, 10 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfd1a.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.

March 10, 2016

By RFE/RL

The so-called Balkan route to Northern Europe traveled by more than a million migrants in the last year appears to have shut down completely and possibly permanently  this week.

Macedonia, whose border with Greece has been the entry point for asylum seekers hoping to live in countries like Germany and Denmark, has not allowed any migrants to pass through since March 7, following suit with the tight restrictions imposed on migrants by countries to the north like Slovenia and Serbia.

The interior minister of Austria, which launched a wave of border closings in the region this year, proclaimed that the closures were permanent and will save Europe from further heartaches and headaches caused by the migrant crisis.

"My position is clear: the Balkan route remains closed and that permanently," Johanna Mikl-Leitner told German newspaper Die Welt on March 10.

Only such a "consistent signal" will deter migrants from crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greece to start the trek to Northern Europe, she said.

"This alliance of reason has so far provided the decisive contribution to preserve stability and order for the people in Europe," she said.

While Austria and the Balkan states adopted tight restrictions to the consternation of top European Union officials last month, on March 10 EU President Donald Tusk appeared to take credit for the shutdown.

"Irregular flows of migrants along Western Balkans route have come to an end," Tusk said on Twitter.

"Not a question of unilateral actions but common EU28 decision.... I thank Western Balkan countries for implementing part of EU's comprehensive strategy to deal with migration crisis."

Macedonia was not the only one not letting migrants into the country. Slovenia, Croatia, and Serbia said they would bar entry to transiting migrants starting at midnight.

Slovenia said it would make exceptions only for migrants wishing to claim asylum in the country or for those seeking entry "on humanitarian grounds."

Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar said his country would not go back to the liberal policies followed last year, when most migrants were waved through by border guards. He declared that "the route for illegal migrations no longer exists."

Even German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who once seemed to welcome migrants with open arms, has thrown her support behind a plan being negotiated with Turkey to essentially turn back half the migrants who make their way to Greece and accept only migrants eligible for asylum under EU rules.

Speaking during a visit to Washington on March 9, Danish Foreign Minister Kristian Jensen said Merkel had underestimated how many people would arrive after "sending out invitations to refugees around the world" last year.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and AP

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

Copyright notice: Copyright (c) 2007-2009. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036
Hunger-striking Ukrainian pilot 'consuming liquids' again

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 10 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Hunger-striking Ukrainian pilot 'consuming liquids' again, 10 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfd223.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.

Last updated (GMT/UTC): 10.03.2016 13:12

By RFE/RL

Russian authorities have charged Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko with murder and illegal border crossing, and state prosecutors are seeking a 23-year jail sentence.

Hunger-striking Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko has started drinking water again, reducing fears she could die in a Russian jail before the verdict in her politically charged trial is delivered later this month.

Her lawyer Mark Feigin said on Twitter on March 10 that Savchenko made the decision to tone down her hunger strike after a request from Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

But Feigin later told RFE/RL's Russian Service that a purported letter from Poroshenko he had given Savchenko turned out to be a fake. He asserted that it was orchestrated by Russian authorities in an effort to discredit Savchenko, her lawyers, and Ukraine.

Poroshenko's office confirmed that the president had not sent Savchenko a letter.

A pair of Russian pranksters who call themselves Lexus and Vovan  and who claimed last year that they had duped British rock star Elton John into believing he spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone  said they were behind the hoax.

Poroshenko's spokesman, Svyatoslav Tseholko, said the Ukrainian president had "has passed his words of support to Savchenko via her sister Vira and her mother," but it was not clear whether Poroshenko had urged her to halt her hunger strike.

Savchenko had stopped drinking fluids on March 4, calling on Russian authorities to send her home to Ukraine and vowing to return "dead or alive."

Symbol Of Defiance

Now one of the most prominent figures from a war between Russia-backed separatists and government forces that has killed more than 9,100 people in eastern Ukraine and ruined ties between Moscow and Kyiv, Savchenko is regarded as a hero in her home country and a symbol of defiance against Russia.

Russian authorities accuse Savchenko, 34, of acting as a spotter who called in coordinates for a mortar attack that killed two Russian journalists during the conflict. They have charged her with murder and illegal border crossing, and state prosecutors have asked the court to to sentence her to 23 years in prison.

Savchenko says she was seized in eastern Ukraine while fighting with a volunteer battalion and illegally taken to Russia, where she has been jailed ever since and went on trial in September by force. She has repeatedly said she will not recognize the court or its verdict.

At a tense hearing on March 9 during which Savchenko raised her middle finger at the court, the judge said that he will begin announcing the verdict on March 21.

Before Feigin said that the purported letter from Poroshenko was a hoax, he posted what he said was a letter from Savchenko that she addressed to "Ukrainians and kind people around the world."

In it, she wrote that she would begin drinking water but would continue to refuse food.

"I will do everything I can to save myself for the further struggle and victories for Ukraine and for the truth," the handwritten letter said.

Rights groups and Western governments, including the United States, have called for Savchenko's immediate release.

Ukrainians protested outside Russian consulates in several cities on March 9, in some cases pelting the buildings with eggs and other objects, and police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd in the Black Sea port city of Odesa.

Some Russians have also protested in support of Savchenko, accusing President Vladimir Putin's government of conducting a shameful and illegal show trial. Dozens of demonstrators were detained by police in Moscow on March 8.

The German government said on March 9 that Savchenko's trial "violates the spirit and letter of the Minsk agreement"  the French- and German-brokered accord aimed to end the war in eastern Ukraine.

Fighting in eastern Ukraine has diminished under a fragile cease-fire that is part of the Minsk deal, but the separatists still control parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions and other aspects of the accord seem far from implementation.

The war followed Russia's takeover of Crimea, which came after Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was pushed from power by protests over his decision to scrap plans for a landmark deal with the European Union and draw closer to Russia instead.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Russian Service, UNIAN, Twitter, Interfax, Reuters, AP, and AFP

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

Copyright notice: Copyright (c) 2007-2009. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036
Probe launched in Ukraine into missing Russian soldier's lawyer

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 10 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Probe launched in Ukraine into missing Russian soldier's lawyer, 10 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfd315.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.

March 10, 2016

Police in the Ukrainian city of Odesa have launched an investigation into the disappearance of the lawyer of a Russian citizen who is on trial for allegedly fighting alongside separatists in Ukraine's east.

Yuriy Hrabovskiy, who stayed in a local hotel, went missing on March 5.

Hrabovskiy's client, Aleksandr Aleksandrov, and another Russian citizen, Yevgeny Yerofeyev, were detained in Ukraine's eastern Luhansk region in May 2015 and later charged with terrorism.

The two men first admitted in a video that they were on active duty with the Russian military in eastern Ukraine when they were captured, but later retracted that.

Moscow contends Yerofeyev and Aleksandrov were not serving in the country's armed forces when they were detained by Ukrainian forces.

On March 9, a court in Kyiv was forced to reschedule Aleksandrov's trial to March 15 due to Hrabovskiy's absence.

Based on reporting by UNIAN and Interfax

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

Copyright notice: Copyright (c) 2007-2009. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036
U.S. turns Islamic State chemical weapons expert over to Iraqi government

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 10 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, U.S. turns Islamic State chemical weapons expert over to Iraqi government, 10 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfd512.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.

March 10, 2016

The U.S. military says it has transferred an Islamic State (IS) chemical weapons expert captured last month, to the control of Iraq's government.

Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook told reporters on March 10 that Sulayman Dawud al-Bakkar was transferred to Iraqi control after the U.S. used information he provided to conduct airstrikes against the extremist group's chemical weapons production facilities.

Cook said the airstrikes conducted as a result of al-Bakkar's capture "disrupted and degraded" the group's chemical weapons capabilities.

"We feel good about the damage we've done to the program," he said.

Al-Bakkar, who is about 50 years old, once worked for Saddam Hussein's Military Industrialization Authority where he specialized in chemical and biological weapons.

Iraqi and U.S. officials have said that he was captured by U.S. Special Forces in a raid last month.

Based on reporting by AP and Reuters

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

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'Staggering surge' in Iranian executions linked to tough drug laws

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 11 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 'Staggering surge' in Iranian executions linked to tough drug laws, 11 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfd615.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.

March 11, 2016

A United Nations rapporteur says tough antidrug laws are likely behind a "staggering surge" in executions in recent years.

Ahmed Shaheed, in a report released on March 10, said 966 people were executed in Iran last year, up from 697 in 2013 and 91 in 2005.

The "staggering surge" in executions, including more than half of last year's total, were due to drug violations, he said.

"Under Iran's current drug laws, possession of 30 grams of heroine or cocaine would qualify for the death penalty. So there's a number of draconian laws," he said.

But he noted that hundreds of journalists, bloggers, activists, and opposition figures also "currently languish in Iran's prisons," some under the threat of execution.

Shaheed said executions of juvenile offenders were "strictly and unequivocally prohibited" under international law. He said at least 73 had been executed in Iran between 2005 and 2015, the highest number of any country.

Shaheed has not been allowed to visit Iran as part of his mandate, now in its fifth year.

Based on reporting by AP and Reuters

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Russia expects Syrian government to attend peace talks

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 11 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Russia expects Syrian government to attend peace talks, 11 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfd72ef.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.

March 11, 2016

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad

Russia says the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has indicated it will send delegates to peace talks on the Syrian conflict in Geneva next week.

Damascus has yet to publicly confirm it will be taking part in the talks.

Asked whether Russia, a close ally of Assad, was encouraging Damascus to attend, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, "They're not refusing."

"They said straight away that they are taking part, they're ready, they will be the first to arrive, wherever is needed," she said.

The Syrian foreign minister is expected to formally announce his government's position on the Geneva talks at a news conference in Damascus on March 12.

Meanwhile, Syria's main opposition bloc said it would take part.

The High National Committee said in a statement on March 11 that it would attend as part of its "commitment to international efforts to stop the spilling of Syrian blood and find a political solution."

The UN-brokered talks coincide with the fifth anniversary of the start of the conflict that has killed more than 250,000 and displaced millions.

They will take place in Geneva just over two weeks after a cease-fire agreement took effect that has reduced violence but not halted the fighting.

Based on reporting by Reuters

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Car explodes near mosque in Russia's North Caucasus

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 11 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Car explodes near mosque in Russia's North Caucasus, 11 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfd815.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.

March 11, 2016

A car has exploded near a mosque in Russia's volatile North Caucasus region of Ingushetia.

Local officials say the explosion occurred early in the afternoon of March 11, right after Friday Prayers in Ingushetia's largest city, Nazran.

One person was hospitalized with injuries.

No more details were provided.

Violence is common in Russia's North Caucasus region, which includes Ingushetia, Daghestan, Chechnya, and Kabardino-Balkaria.

Islamic militants and criminal groups routinely target religious clerics preaching traditional moderate Islam, Russian military personnel, and local officials.

Based on reporting by TASS and Interfax

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

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News / National

by Morgan Tsvangirai

The national crisis



Student challenges



Conclusion

A good afternoon to the student leaders and all students gathered here.It is with great pleasure that I address you here today. I say great pleasure because the party I lead, the MDC, has a special relationship with the student movement. It is the student movement, the labour movement and the constitutional movement that founded the MDC in 1999. So when I come here, I know I am among friends, among the stakeholders of the party I lead.Students have a special place in the heart of the party and that is why some former student leaders have over the years occupied high positions in the party. As a party, we value the youth, we value the student movement as a key stakeholder in the founding ethos and the envisioning of the new Zimbabwe that we week.So I am happy to be here.I want to start by saying the country is currently facing a huge crisis; a crisis of the economy; a crisis of expectation due to the many unfulfilled promises but most importantly, a crisis of leadership. The current leadership of government has chosen to ignore the multi-layered crisis facing the people; it is choosing instead to focus on the issue of the succession issue of our 92-year old President, whose age is a crisis unto itself!Everything has been tucked at the backseat of government attention as everyone in the party in government looks at how to poise themselves to succeed Mugabe.I will talk about the challenges facing students later, but those challenges cannot be divorced from the acute national crisis that we all face. Students are part of the general population of the country. They are Zimbabwean too and their challenges reflect the monumental crisis that we all face. There are no jobs, the economy has collapsed, and the government is mired in debt while policy inconsistency especially over the controversial issue of indigenization, has firmly shut the doors of any prospective investment into the country. Yes, the people must be empowered but we do not have to burn the whole house down!As I speak to you the whole country is facing starvation and no sufficient resources have been mobilized to address this key the challenge. In the middle of all this suffering, the President tells us that $15 billion of diamond revenue has simply disappeared without trace. This is the same thing we were telling him when we were in government and he was not listening to us. But now the chickens have come home to roost.Only in nearby South Africa, President Zuma is in trouble over the US$16 million that he used at his Nkandla home. There is outcry over that money but here, a whole country is in muted silence over billions of dollars that cannot be accounted for. That is the national challenge that we all face; this conspiracy of silence even in the middle of this huge, unmitigated man-made crisis!So the challenges that we all face are a reflection of this national crisis that we have to confront collectively as a people.We are in an unmitigated crisis and the facts tell a very grim story---a country with 90 percent unemployment, 14 million people facing starvation, policy consistency in government, a 92 year old President who wants to die in office, an external debt of over $10 billion and a fearful people who can't utter a word over this sad national predicament. That is the sum total of our national challenge and I would add that the fearful lot also includes energetic, bright young students at our country's universities who are too lily-livered to confront the political cause of their sad predicament!I am aware of the challenges facing our students at tertiary colleges and universities. Only last month, I was addressing students at the MSU campus in Zvishavane and I am aware of the challenges that you all face.They range from overcrowding due to inadequate accommodation, high tuition fees ranging from $500 to $1 400 per semester, inadequate lecture halls, a politicized administration and the victimization of student activists.I know many students across the country have dropped out, even though affordable education was one of the country's prime achievements after independence. Here at the University of Zimbabwe, I am well aware of the rot, including a ridiculous ill-fated attempt to force students to pay parking fees! Academic freedom is under threat while the administration has been heavily politicized by a party and government whose head is also the chancellor of all universities.After all, this is the same university where the chancellor's wife is said to have acquired a doctorate in murky and very suspicious circumstances that threaten the very standards and credibility of our prime institution of higher learning.The rot here and at all our universities and tertiary institutions is just but a mirror of the national rot. I am also aware that most female students have resorted to prostitution and other immoral means to survive. This is indeed a national shame because university education must be affordable. After all, education is a basic right under our new Constitution.I want to conclude by leaving you a challenge.Rights will never be voluntarily given to you, especially by this government. Rights will have to be demanded.As students, you must not look at your problems in isolation. They are part and parcel of the national rot under this clueless party in government.It must be made clear to everyone that all these challenges we face are a reflection and a consequence of the crisis of legitimacy stemming from the stolen election of 2013. No one can do business with a bunch of thieves masquerading as a government.The only credible way forward for all of us as a collective is to ensure that we usher in a legitimate government at the next election. Any government must be a product of a free, fair, peaceful and credible election.We must all join hands in demanding not only the implementation of the Constitution, but also the institution of far-reaching reforms to ensure that the next election does not breed yet another uncontested outcome.As students, you represent the future of the country. You are the leaders of tomorrow. But the leaders of tomorrow cannot just stand idle while tomorrow is under siege from the men and women of yesterday.Ahoy mastudents ahoy!I thank you!
Prominent Azerbaijani rights activists not allowed to leave country

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 11 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Prominent Azerbaijani rights activists not allowed to leave country, 11 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfdac.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.

March 11, 2016

By RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service

Baku says that Azerbaijani human rights activists Leyla Yunus and her husband, Arif Yunus, are not permitted to travel abroad to receive medical treatment.

The Court of Appeals in Baku ruled on March 11 that the couple cannot travel to Germany due to their suspended prison terms.

Leyla Yunus and Arif Yunus were sentenced to 8-1/2 and seven years in prison, respectively, in August after a court found them guilty of economic crimes.

The sentencings were denounced as a travesty of justice by the two defendants and by international human rights groups.

In November and December, they were released on health grounds and their imprisonment sentences were reduced to suspended sentences.

Leyla Yunus, 60, the founding director of the unregistered Peace and Democracy Institute in Baku, and her husband, Arif Yunus, 61, who worked for the organization, say they need urgent medical treatment in Germany.

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

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Russia: Moscow launches investigation of opposition Parnas activist

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 11 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Russia: Moscow launches investigation of opposition Parnas activist, 11 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfdb22.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.

March 11, 2016

Russian authorities have launched investigations against an activist of Russia's Parnas opposition party, Natalya Pelevina.

The Russian Investigative Committee's spokesman, Vladimir Markin, said on March 11 that investigators had found documents in Pelevina's house proving she received $35,000 from the U.S.-based National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

According to Markin, the money was used "to discredit law enforcement agencies that investigated the mass disturbances on Bolotnaya Square on May 6, 2012."

The protest on Bolotnaya Square called for greater democracy in Russia on the eve of Putin's inauguration for a third term as president.

Russian authorities declared the NED as "undesirable" in July under a law that Moscow says is needed to prevent foreign organizations from being used to undermine Russian security. The NED is largely funded by the U.S. Congress.

The Parnas party, led by former Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, openly positions itself as the Kremlin's opponent.

Its co-chairman, Russia's former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov, was shot dead near the Kremlin on February 27, 2015.

Based on reporting by rapsinews.ru and Interfax

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

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Pakistani military officer shot dead in Peshawar

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 11 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Pakistani military officer shot dead in Peshawar, 11 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfdbc.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.

March 11, 2016

By RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal

A Pakistan military has been shot dead in the northwestern city of Peshawar in an attack claimed by the Pakistani Taliban.

Local police official Kashif Zulfiqar told RFE/RL that Colonel Tariq Ghafoor was killed on March 11 while on his way to a nearby mosque.

Zulfiquar said a probe into the killing had been launched.

The Pakistani Taliban, Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack in an e-mail sent to RFE/RL.

No further details were immediately available.

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

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Two gunmen killed in Russia's Daghestan

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 11 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Two gunmen killed in Russia's Daghestan, 11 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfdc15.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.

March 11, 2016

Police in Russia's North Caucasus region of Daghestan have killed two gunmen.

Police say the gunmen were killed during a special operation near the village of Orota in the central district of Khundzakh on March 11.

The special operation continued as security forces searched for possible armed individuals in the area.

No casualties among security forces and local residents were reported.

Daghestan is beset by deadly violence linked to an Islamist insurgency that is rooted in two post-Soviet separatist wars in neighboring Chechnya.

Organized crime, business turf wars, political disputes, and clan rivalry also contribute to the bloodshed.

Moderate Muslims, journalists, police, and government officials are regularly targeted in attacks.

Based on reporting by Interfax and TASS

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

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Pakistan parliament passes law against child sexual abuse

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 12 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Pakistan parliament passes law against child sexual abuse, 12 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfdd15.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.

March 12, 2016

Pakistan's Senate passed a bill that for the first time criminalizes sexual assault against minors, child trafficking and pornography.

The amendment to the penal code, which will go into force after being ratified by the president, also raises the age of criminal responsibility from seven to 10 years old.

Under the legislation, sexual assaults will now be punishable by up to seven years in prison. Previously, only rape was illegal.

Also, child pornography, which was previously not mentioned in the law, will be punishable by seven years in prison and a fine of 700,000 rupees ($7000).

Pakistan in August was hit by a major pedophilia scandal when hundreds of pornographic videos of children from the village of Hussain Khanwala in Punjab province were found in circulation.

About 20 arrests were made. But at the time, only the acts of rape and sodomy were illegal.

The new amendment also criminalizes child trafficking within Pakistan. Previously traffickers were only liable for punishment if they removed children from the country.

"This is a very important step to realize the obligations of Pakistan" under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Sara Coleman, UNICEF's child protection chief, told AFP.

Based on reporting by AFP and Channel 24 Pakistan

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

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Two Ukrainian soldiers killed in eastern Ukraine

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 12 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Two Ukrainian soldiers killed in eastern Ukraine, 12 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfde15.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.

March 12, 2016

The Ukrainian military says two of its soldiers were killed in clashes between government forces and pro-Russia separatists in southeast Ukraine over the past 24 hours.

Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said on March 12 that one of the soldiers was killed in a mortar attack in Avdiyivka, just outside the city of Donetsk, which is controlled by the separatists.

Lysenko said the second serviceman was killed when Ukrainian troops came under fire some 25 kilometers north of Donetsk. Another soldier was also injured in that attack, Lysenko said.

Lysenko said there had been a "sharp increase in attacks and provocations" by the separatists in the past day.

He said rebels were using "mortar, armored vehicles and artillery" which are prohibited under the Minsk peace agreements aimed at ending the conflict.

Earlier this month, NATO's top commander General Philip Breedlove warned of an uptick in attacks along the frontline in eastern Ukraine.

The conflict in eastern Ukraine has left more than 9,100 dead since it broke out in April 2014  shortly after Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine.

Based on reporting by AFP

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

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Syrian government to attend Geneva peace talks

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 12 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Syrian government to attend Geneva peace talks, 12 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfdf12.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.

March 12, 2016

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem (file photo)

The Syrian government has announced it will send a delegation to Geneva to take part in UN-sponsored indirect peace talks with the opposition.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem told reporters on March 12 that the government team will head to Geneva on March 13 but will not stay more than 24 hours if the opposition does not show up.

The talks are scheduled to begin on March 14.

The last round of indirect talks collapsed on February 3 during a Russian-backed government offensive in Aleppo. The new round of negotiations comes amid a two-week partial cease-fire that has mostly held.

The High Negotiations Committee, a Saudi-backed umbrella opposition group, said it will attend the talks and press for a transitional governing body with full executive powers in which President Bashar al-Assad and his associates would have no role.

The dispute over the fate of Assad has been the main obstacle in previous rounds of talks.

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura has called for presidential elections in the next 18 months, but Moallem dismissed the idea.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the UN-sponsored peace talks should go ahead as planned, but that Russian and U.S. monitors are meeting first to discuss alleged cease-fire violations.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AP

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

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Greece struggling to move thousands of migrants from muddy tent city

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 12 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Greece struggling to move thousands of migrants from muddy tent city, 12 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfe22b.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.

March 12, 2016

Greece is struggling to move thousands of migrants trapped near the border with Macedonia, as an outbreak of Hepatitis A threatened a large-scale health crisis.

More than 12,000 people, including thousands of children and babies, have been living in a muddy tent city near the northern border town of Idomeni.

They're hoping to cross the border, but Macedonia and other nearby nations have closed their frontiers.

The AFP news agency reported that some 200 migrants protested against conditions at the camp on March 12, chanting "open the border" and sitting on a cross-border railway line

Authorities have handed out leaflets in Idomeni, urging migrants to move to buildings and hospitality centers across Greece.

Greek health official told Reuters that a nine-year old Syrian girl had been diagnosed with Hepatitis A; another case was reported on March 11.

The European Union and Turkey this week agreed on a controversial plan that would see migrants sent back from Greece to Turkey.In exchange, the EU would resettle Syrian refugees from Turkish camps in a "one for one" swap.

With reporting by AFP, Reuters

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Report: Islamic State forcing enslaved women to use birth control

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 12 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Report: Islamic State forcing enslaved women to use birth control, 12 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfe28.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.

March 12, 2016

The New York Times is reporting that Islamic State radicals are using contraception to ensure enslaved women do not become pregnant and can be passed among its fighters as sex slaves.

The report released on March 12 adds to other mounting evidence of organized, wide-scale sexual crimes being committed by the extremist group as it tries to organize a religious state in captured territories in Syria and Iraq.

The newspaper interviewed more than three dozen Yazidi women who escaped from the militant group.

The paper cited a gynecologist who examined the women and found only a small percentage had become pregnant during their enslavement.

Thousands of Yazidis were captured by Islamic State militants when they overran northern Iraq; the group considers Yazidis to be devil-worshippers.

The United Nations and human rights groups have accused the Islamic State of the systematic abduction and rape of thousands of women and girls as young as 12.

Many have been given to fighters as a reward or sold as sex slaves.

Based on reporting by The New York Times and Reuters

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

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Another IS chemical attack hits Iraqi town

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 13 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Another IS chemical attack hits Iraqi town, 13 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfe31d.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.

March 13, 2016

Iraq's government in Baghdad says militants who call themselves the Islamic State (IS) have carried out a chemical attack near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on March 12  the second such attack within days.

Iraqi officials say the poisonous chemicals used against the town of Taza killed the three-year-old daughter of a Shi'ite militia member who is fighting against IS militants.

They say the attacks wounded about 600 other people in Taza who are suffering from infected burns, suffocation, and dehydration. Hundreds more fled.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told a meeting of village elders in Taza later on March 12 that the attacks "will not go unpunished," and that "the perpetrators will pay dearly."

Iraqi Kurdish officials say IS militants shelled Taza on March 8 with Katyusha rockets and mortars filled with "poisonous substances."

Taza is a mainly Shi'ite village about 20 kilometers south of Kirkuk, a region under Kurdish control.

Wasta Rasul, a Kurdish Peshmerga commander, said the chemical attacks on Taza came from the nearby Bashir area, which is under the control of IS militants.

Based on reports by AP, Reuters, and AFP

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

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News / National

by Staff reporter

Read full statement below:

President Robert Mugabe has clarified the indigenisation and economic empowerment policy, which has often been misinterpreted.In a statement, the President said conflicting positions in the interpretation of the policy have caused confusion among Zimbabweans, the business community and potential investors thereby undermining market confidence.The major highlight in President Mugabe's position is that the policy is sector specific and is implemented differently.Presidential statement to clarify the government position on the National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Policy:Published on 12-04-2016Government introduced the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Policy to deliberately empower the historically disadvantaged indigenous Zimbabweans and to grant them ownership and control of the country's means and factors of production. This is to enable them to be significant players in the mainstream of the country's economy.However, conflicting positions in the interpretation of the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Policy have arisen of late. This has caused confusion among Zimbabweans, the business community, current and potential investors, thereby undermining market confidence. This situation has also led to the increase in the cost of doing business, thus further weakening the country's economic competitiveness.It is, therefore, fit and proper that I provide clarification on the this very vital national policy, for the guidance of Government Ministers, the business community and current and would be foreign investors.I wish to start by pointing out that the implementation of the National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Policy, distinguishes three economic sectors, namely: the Natural Resources Sector, Non-Resources Sector and the Reserved Sector. These sectors are to be approached differently, in terms of the implementation of and compliance with the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Policy.Natural Resources SectorPertaining to the Natural Resources Sector, it should be emphasised that Government attaches great importance to the indigenisation of this sector. Business in this sector deal with the exploitation of our natural and depleting resources such as minerals. Government has, therefore, a sacrosanct duty to ensure that such resources are exploited in a manner that safeguards the best interests of the country's current and future generations. As such, in terms of the Policy, Government and/or its designated entities, will hold a 51% stake in businesses in the Natural Resources Sector, with the remaining 49%, belonging to the partnering investor(s). The need for investors in this sector to comply with the prescribed indigenisation obligations is therefore non-negotiable.For existing businesses in the Natural Resources Sector where Government does not have 51% ownership, compliance with the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Policy should be through ensuring that the local content retained in Zimbabwe by such businesses is not less than 75% of gross value of the exploited resources. Local content here refers to the value retained in Zimbabwe in the form of wages, salaries, taxation, community ownership schemes, and other activities such as procurement and linkage programmes.Non-Resources SectorThe second category relates to businesses under the Non-Resources sector, which include the financial services sector. Businesses in this sector should exhibit the following socially and economically desirable strategic objectives that contribute towards the turn-around and sustainable socio-economic transformation of the economy. Such initiatives, include the following:Beneficiation of raw materials that are extracted in Zimbabwe for the purposes of value addition and exporting, in order to generate the much needed foreign exchange;Transfer of appropriate technology to Zimbabwe for the purpose of enhancing productivity, which is critical in reducing import dependence;Creation of employment and imparting of new skills to Zimbabweans;Granting of ownership and/or employee share ownership for value to indigenous Zimbabweans as may be agreed between an investor and indigenous Zimbabwean partner(s); andDeveloping and creating linkage programmes, enterprise development, value chains and any other desirable objectives as may be defined by the responsible line Ministers for the purpose of attracting foreign direct investment into Zimbabwe.Sector based empowerment credits or quotes will be granted to reflect the contribution of investors in such businesses to the national development efforts. This will be agreed upon through negotiations involving the relevant line Ministers and the private investors. The role of the Minister of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment is to coordinate the activities of line Ministries in the implementation of the Policy through the relevant Cabinet Committee, which he chairs.Financial Services SectorThe banking sector shall continue to be under the auspices of the Banking Act, which is regulated by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, and the insurance sector under the auspices of the Provident and Insurance Act. This policy position is essential for the promotion of financial sector stability, confidence and financial inclusion. These institutions will, nonetheless, be expected to make their contributions by way of financing facilities for key economic sectors and projects, employee share ownership schemes, linkage programmes and such other financial empowerment facilities as may be introduced by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, from time to time.Reserved SectorsBusiness under the Reserved Sectors category are reserved for Zimbabwean entrepreneurs. Except for existing businesses and where a special dispensation is granted by the relevant line Minister, the Reserved Sector businesses shall include the following:Transportation - passenger buses, taxis and car hire services;Retail and Wholesale Trade;Barber shops, Hair Dressing and Beauty Salons;Employment Agencies;Estate Agencies;Valet Agencies;Grain Milling;Bakeries;Tobacco ProcessingAdvertising Agencies;Provision of Local Arts and Crafts, and Marketing and Distribution of the same.Government shall, from time to time, decide and publish in the gazette, any changes to the list of businesses falling under this sector.To the extent that the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act may not sufficiently conform with this policy, I have directed the Law be amended or changed forthwith accordingly.His Excellency R.G MugabePresident of the Republic of Zimbabwe, and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence ForcesHarare, 11th April, 2006
Afghan militant group ready for peace talks

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 13 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Afghan militant group ready for peace talks, 13 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfe415.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.

March 13, 2016

An Afghan militant group, Hezb-e Islami, has said it is ready for peace talks with the government.

The group led by notorious warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar said in a statement on March 13 that it wants peace.

The U.S. State Department lists Hekmatyar as a "terrorist" for supporting Taliban and Al-Qaeda, but U.S. and Afghan officials have met with Hezb-e Islami representatives in the past few years in an effort to help end the war.

Last year, Hekmatyar called on his followers to support the militant group Islamic State (IS) in the fight against the Taliban.

In its statement on March 13, the group criticized Washington for adding two of its members to the list of global terrorists on March 10.

Abdullah Nowbahar and Abdul Saboor, explosives experts, were both blacklisted for their roles in deadly attacks in Kabul.

The Taliban, the main militant group in Afghanistan, has said it will not participate in direct peace talks in Kabul scheduled for this month.

Based on reporting by Khaama and 1TV

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

Copyright notice: Copyright (c) 2007-2009. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036
Belarus detains prominent businessman once close to president

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 13 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Belarus detains prominent businessman once close to president, 13 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfe52b.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.

March 13, 2016

Yury Chizh in Minsk in 2011

Belarusian authorities have detained prominent businessman Yury Chizh on suspicion of large-scale tax evasion.

Chizh had been a close adviser to Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka since the 1990s but had reportedly fell out of favor in recent months.

If convicted, Chizh faces up to seven years in prison.

Chizh, owner of the Belarusian firm Triple, was detained by the KGB, the Belarusian security service.

Dmitry Pobyarzhin, a representative of the KGB, said Chizh was in a "KGB detention center."

In 2012, Chizh was included on a list of European Union sanctions imposed on Belarusian individuals and companies in response to the country's human rights violations.

The EU ended five years of sanctions against Belarus and Lukashenka in February, citing improving human rights.

Based on reporting by Reuters and Interfax

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

Copyright notice: Copyright (c) 2007-2009. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036
Al-Nusra clashes with Syrian rebels, capturing bases

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 13 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Al-Nusra clashes with Syrian rebels, capturing bases, 13 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfe5c.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.

March 13, 2016

Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, the Al-Nusra Front, has seized bases and weapons from a Western-backed rebel group in fighting in northwestern Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on March 13 that the Al-Nusra Front also detained dozens of members of the 13th Division rebel group, one of the factions of the Free Syrian Army backed by the West.

The 13th Division, which is led by the prominent rebel commander Ahmad al-Siud, said on Twitter that Al-Nusra Front fighters attacked its bases and seized weapons in the town of Maarat al-Numan in Idlib Province early on March 13.

The group gave no other details.

The clashes came two weeks into a cessation of hostilities in Syria and on the eve of peace talks in Geneva between President Bashar al-Assad's government and opposition groups.

The halt in fighting, agreed by government forces, rebel groups, and their international backers, excludes the Al-Nusra Front and Islamic State militants.

Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

Copyright notice: Copyright (c) 2007-2009. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036
Russia accuses Turkey of operating 'inside Syria'

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 13 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Russia accuses Turkey of operating 'inside Syria', 13 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfe612.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.

March 13, 2016

Russia has accused Turkey of deploying troops "a few hundred meters from the border inside Syria" to prevent Kurdish groups in northern Syria from consolidating their positions.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview aired on March 13 that Moscow has evidence of Turkey's rampant military "expansion" inside Syria.

"While demanding that Kurdish positions are not reinforced in Syria, Turkey has been claiming its sovereign right to create 'security zones' on Syrian soil," Lavrov told Russia's REN TV.

There were no immediate reactions from Turkish officials to Lavrov's comments.

The comments come as Ankara imposed curfews on two towns  in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast  where its security forces are set to launch large-scale operations against militants linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

The Syrian conflict has sparked growing friction between Turkey and Russia, which says the Kurds should be included in diplomatic efforts to end the five-year civil war.

Earlier this month, Lavrov said any attempt to keep the Kurds out of peace talks would infringe on the rights "of a large and significant group" of people living in Syria.

Based on reporting by AFP and AP

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

Copyright notice: Copyright (c) 2007-2009. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036
Afghan provincial police chief seeks reinforcements

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Publication Date 13 March 2016 Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Afghan provincial police chief seeks reinforcements, 13 March 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/570cdfe718.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.

March 13, 2016

The chief of police in Afghanistan's Ghazni Province has warned that several districts in the central province may fall to the Taliban if the government in Kabul does not take urgent measures.

According to local media reports, Aminullah Amarkhil said on March 13 that eight districts are on the verge of collapse but there are not enough security forces there to stop the militants' advance.

Amarkhil was quoted as saying the strategic Kabul-Kandahar highway that passes through Ghazni has made the province a prime target for the Taliban.

The police chief has threated to quit his post if the central government doesn't send reinforcement troops to Ghazni.

There were no immediate comments from authorities in Kabul.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan's Defense Ministry said in a statement on March 13 that at least 26 militants were killed in military operations by Afghan security forces over the past 24 hours.

The ministry said the air and ground operations took place in the Herat, Helmand, Uruzgan, Baghlan, and Kapisa provinces.

Based on reporting by khaama.com and pazhwok.com

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

Copyright notice: Copyright (c) 2007-2009. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036
News / Press Release

by Tawanda Bvumo - PDP Secretary for Defence

The conferment of national heroine status to the late Vivian Mwashita is highly demeaning to the people of Zimbabwe but especially the late Victoria Chitepo who will also be buried at the national shrine on the same day, on Wednesday with Mwashita.Mai Chitepo, who died last Friday at her home, was an unwavering struggle icon who fought tirelessly for the liberation of Zimbabwe, despite facing personal challenges after her husband; Herbert Chitepo was murdered by known Zanu leaders in March 1975 in Lusaka, Zambia.She continued to diligently serve the people of Zimbabwe after independence in various ministerial positions that she held and will also be remembered in helping in the upliftment of marginalized, rural women.Herbert Chitepo was the Zanu chairman when he died in a car bomb and was reburied at the National Heroes' Acre after independence in 1980.However, Mwashita like other Zanu PF crooks is a well-known fraudster who received hundreds of thousands dollars from the War Victims Compensation Fund in 1997 after claiming to have suffered 94% disability from war injuries.Mwashita is also remembered for vote rigging in the August 1995 Harare South parliamentary election against an independent candidate, Margaret Dongo.However, after Dongo's defeat was announced, she was convinced that the election had been rigged, and challenged the result in court. The subsequent court case revealed serious defects in the electoral roll, including the registration of many non-resident voters, suggesting that at least 41% of the names on the roll were inaccurate.Dongo went back to Harare South as an independent candidate in the re-run and on 25 November 1995 she won the re-run against Mwashita. Mwashita then resorted to the use of political violence against those perceived to have voted against her and Zanu PF.We, therefore, find the attempt by Zanu PF to bury Mwashita at the same shrine with the Chitepos as an attempt to undercut their illustrious history and their great legacy as Zanu PF and Robert Mugabe are troubled by the memorable work that was done by Herbert Chitepo during the liberation struggle.It is a shame that since Zanu PF is responsible for the death of Herbert Chitepo; it wants to score cheap political points even in death.It is for this reason that as the People's Democratic Party (PDP), we will not be going to the National Heroes' Acre to pay our last respects to Mai Victoria Chitepo and we will honour the role she played during the struggle and post-independence in private.As PDP, our position is that the conferment of hero status is an important status and it cannot be done by a subjective organisation like the Zanu PF's Politburo, which will most certainly discriminate against deserving individuals other deserving people such as the late Patrick Kombayi and Wilfred Mhanda.
Why IU lost to Rutgers: Hoosiers blow early lead, drop 5th straight

Indiana scored two touchdowns on its first two possessions but didn't score another in a 24-17 loss to Rutgers on Saturday
Halloween events, fall festivals pack October in Abilene, Big Country

From family-friendly to frightful, there are plenty of opportunities to don the costumes and scare up some treats.
Nellie Doneva/Reporter-News Jayce Barbee, left, brought his infant daughter Hattie Barbee for a checkup and immunizations with Dr. Brad Barham, back, at the Professional Association for Pediatrics.

SHARE Nellie Doneva/Reporter-News Registered Nurse Niki Branch gives several immunizations to Hattie Barbee at the Professional Association for Pediatrics.

By Scott Kirk, Special to the Reporter-News

In some ways, Brad Barham, a physician at the Professional Association for Pediatrics, feels like he's fighting an opponent he can't see when it involves the topic of vaccinations.

It doesn't take a very long search on the Internet to find stories linking vaccinations to a variety of diseases and disorders, including autism.

But as ominous as that may sound, there isn't any credible study proving such a link, Barham said.

"Vaccines are a tough issue," he said. "Anybody with a laptop and an agenda has a louder voice than I do."

A lot of the resistance to vaccinating children comes as a result of a 1998 study by British gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield that purported to link the MMR vaccination for measles, mumps and rubella to autism.

Wakefield's work has since been widely denounced as fraudulent and the British medical journal Lancet, which printed the research, later issued a retraction, claiming it had been duped and that Wakefield's work was "utterly false."

As a result of Wakefield's study, immunizations in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the U.S. decreased and the instances of mumps and measles increased.

Barham noted, however, that the study's impact  or lack thereof  on autism was interesting.

"You didn't see autism rates go down," he said.

Wakefield continues to insist that his work was valid.

"Nothing's panned out with that," Barham said. "Vaccines have stood the test of time."

Although the Wakefield study largely has been discredited, Barham said he still hears concerns about the issue from parents, whom Barham said he doesn't blame.

"All parents want to do the best thing for their children," he said. "I tell them, 'Trust your pediatrician. Give me a chance to earn your trust.'"

Barham suggested parents follow the vaccine schedule recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is available at tinyurl.com/n7p9s9n. He said it is important to stay on schedule with a child's immunizations.

Barham said the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia also offers good information on childhood immunizations.

According to CHOP, many parents may be overwhelmed by the number of shots given to their children during infancy and may have tendency to want to limit the number of shots the child receives. Parents, however, should realize three things before altering the schedule of shots for their children, the hospital said.

First, shots are administered when the child is considered to be most at risk of getting a disease.

Newborns are protected somewhat by antibodies given to them by their mothers at birth or through breast-feeding. However, that protection wanes during the first year, particularly in children who were premature and don't have as high a level of antibodies in their blood stream as their full-term counterparts.

Secondly, because the robustness and length of protection from the mother's antibodies can't be predicted, following the vaccination schedule represents the most conservative approach.

Finally, because most vaccines require multiple doses, limiting vaccines to one or two per visit creates more doctor's visits and may cause the child to be more vulnerable to a disease for a longer time.

According to CHOP, a study has shown that children who receive multiple vaccines at once suffer no more stress than children whose vaccines are limited.

Beyond the vaccinations required by Texas public schools, Barham also stressed the importance of getting flu shots, which may have an added benefit of helping to prevent ear infections.

A study by the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston reported in March that rates of ear infections during the first year have declined. The study cited vaccinations as one reason for the decrease, along with more women breast-feeding and a reduction of smoking by parents.

Children who suffer an ear infection during their first six months are more likely to have ear infections throughout their adolescence, according to the study.
Incident reports released Monday by the Abilene Police Department:

Robbery, 1100 block of Lytle Way, Sunday

A woman told police someone stole her medication and purse in the parking lot of north side business.

Deadly conduct, 1900 block of Denton Street, Saturday

A man told police his roommate shot a firearm at another apartment in the building.

Aggravated robbery, 1200 block of Grape Street, Saturday

A man told police someone robbed him with a knife, stealing his money and cellphone.

Theft shoplifting, 1600 block of Highway 351, Saturday

Police arrested a 36-year-old woman for stealing $459 in merchandise from a business.

Theft, 900 block of North Bowie Drive, Saturday

Police said someone stole a man's lawn mower and weed trimmer from under the porch of his house.

Burglary, 2600 block of Nonesuch Road, Saturday

Police said someone stole property from a woman's apartment.
The Abilene Police Department is seeking the public's help in finding Amber Thebo, 15, after her mother April Walker reported her as a runaway April 4 from an apartment complex in the 2500 block of Nonesuch Road.

According to the APD's media release Monday, detectives learned Thebo reportedly attended a party at Kirby Lake in the early morning April 4. Multiple witnesses reportedly told police Thebo was transported voluntarily from Kirby Lake to an apartment complex in the 1200 block of Yeomans Road.

Police encourage anyone with information about Thebo to contact APD at 325-673-8331.

Two residents of the apartment who said they made contact with Thebo reportedly told police Thebo told them she was going to the Dallas/Fort Worth area to see a friend.

According to Thebo's mother, he had run away to the same area in the past.

An Amber Alert was not issued because Thebo's disappearance does not meet the Texas Department of Public Safety's criteria.

Police said at this time Thebo is a voluntary runaway case but detectives submitted this case to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on Friday and made a missing flyer.
Opinion / Columnist

The People's Democratic Party (PDP) leader, Tendai Biti, seems to be misled and misinformed about the political landscape in the country. Biti's allegations are intended to justify the regime change agenda agents' call for the so-called Security Sector Reforms and criticizing the indigenisation policy. The political malcontent has no agenda in his political discourse.Biti is alleging that ZANU PF will not reform itself unless out of power. Zimbabweans should never be satisfied with mortgaging their struggle to political parties of dubious credentials. "It is up to the youths, churches, women, civic society and all of us to force ZANU PF to make the necessary conditions to allow Zimbabwe a free and fair election." These words are coming from a political upstart whose career only began with other buffoons like you-know-who as they urinated inside fridges and pantries at the University of Zimbabwe. It escapes him that the country has been holding free and fair elections since independence.Biti is a social misfit! That is the reason why he has failed to build and consolidate a following with the electorate as he is viewed as someone who is power hungry, myopic and lacking in the national vision. It sounds quite barbaric for Biti to allege that the elections in Zimbabwe have been militarized. Somebody please tell this fella that the military is not involved in elections but there is an independent body known as the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) that administers the polls, so Biti should not take us for a ride.Politicians should stop lying to the electorate and start telling the truth. Biti should not think that he can fool us; he should rather be busy recruiting people to join his little-known party. The man recently refused to join other political parties that participated in the so-called Zimbabwe Electoral Reform Agenda simply because of the presence of his arch-rival, Morgan Tsvangirai.The man is saying to be talking to progressive parties while he snubbed their invitation. This becomes a fascinating paradox as he is calling for their support in his endeavour for the so-called security sector reforms. This shows that the man has run out of ideas and is desperately seeking political relevance. It is a known fact that Zimbabwe has been fulfilling one of the tenets of democracy; that is holding elections at prescribed intervals.These elections have been held under free and fair conditions and they have been internationally recognized. Biti is a clear and present danger, not only to the nation through blatant misinformation and disinformation, but to himself because he has come to believe his warped propaganda. He is simply unfit to lead a nondescript party, let alone to govern a country with such a rich history as Zimbabwe. His perception of self as being imbued with leadership qualities is as laughable and misplaced as it is pitifully frightening.It is a fact that despite himself, Biti expresses admiration and envy for the leadership qualities of President Robert Mugabe. His attempts at slighting President Mugabe's economic policies are a question of sour grapes. Simply put, Biti is a lightweight on issues of economic importance.It should be known that MDC-T and other opposition parties are struggling to form coalition forces to fight ZANU PF that continues to successfully defend itself in all elections since independence. Thus the opposition coalition always suffers a stillbirth.
The spirit of generosity was on display Monday morning.

Dan Harbeke, public relations director for Union Pacific Railroad, presented a check for $10,000 to Trish Trifilo, president of the Abilene Cultural Affairs Council.

Union Pacific is one of the sponsors for "How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night?" bronze sculpture that will be unveiled at the 2016 Children's Art & Literacy Festival in Abilene June 9-11. The dinosaur character comes from the book of the same name illustrated by Mark Teague, the honoree for the 2016 CALF, and written by Jane Yolen.

"We've been involved with these folks for so long," Harbeke said, adding that his company has gotten to watch the behind-the-scenes process and follow the work of the artists. "The sculptures are so true to the stories and it's pretty clear to the kids, who are captivated."

Union Pacific sponsored the bronze "Duck on a Bike," on the lawn in front of Vleta's in 2015 and the glowing Man in the Moon sculpture, at North First Street and Cedar Street, in 2014.

Abilene was named the Storybook Capital of Texas by the Texas State Legislature in 2015. The dinosaur sculpture of the 18th Storybook Sculpture. It's permanent home has not yet been chosen.

After Harbeke delivered the check, Lynn Barnett, executive director of ACAC, had a delivery of her own  she presented Harbeke with a miniature version of the 8-foot-tall bronze sculpture.

Harbeke has a 1-year-old daughter at home. When she gets older, she'll be one of many children at CALF.

"This will be stop No. 1," he said.
The Postal Service is still working to resolve a situation with lead contamination in water at Abilene's main branch, a spokesperson for the post office said Monday.

'The safety and well-being of our employees is of the utmost importance to the Postal Service,' said Arlene A. Sanchez, corporate communications for the Dallas, Fort Worth and Oklahoma districts., echoing comments made shortly after initial reports.

Sanchez said that after learning of possible issues with the water supply at Abilene's main post office/federal building, postal management took immediate steps, including turning off the water, restricting access to water fountains, posting warning signs, and providing bottled drinking water.

'Portable hand-washing stations have been made available as well,' she said.

The Postal Service 'will continue to supply these alternatives for as long as necessary,' Sanchez said.

Sanchez did not give a timetable in response to questions about such from the Reporter-News, only saying that the postal service was 'working diligently' to resolve the issues.

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 in certain portions of the building. Among the sites tested were drinking fountains, restrooms, breakrooms and the building's outside water faucet.

Testing at the main post office, though, showed 11 of 21 samples exceeded EPA action levels for lead of 15 parts per billion at the building, while six of 11 samples also exceeded the EPA action level for copper of 1.3 parts per million.

Concerns were created when water dispensed from outlets in the building's sinks was noticeably discolored.

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 a report generated after the testing.

After initial news reports caused some concern among residents, city of Abilene officials emphasized in a news conference in late March that the city's general supply did not have lead or copper contamination issues, problems being limited to the post office location.

As of Monday, concerns from the public had seemingly been resolved, said Cheryl Sawyers, the city of Abilene's spokesperson.

'We are not aware of any customer concerns related to the lead issue in the federal building,' she said in an email.
President Barack Obama this week lauded new Treasury regulations aimed at curbing so-called corporate inversions, in which U.S. companies merge with foreign firms to ease their tax burdens. Although the practice is legal, the president said companies "effectively renounce their citizenship" and "stick the rest of us with the bill" by performing such maneuvers.

The new rules already have scuttled a proposed $160 billion merger between Pfizer, based in New York City, and Allergan, a former U.S. firm now headquartered in Ireland. The merger was expected to save Pfizer, a pharmaceutical giant, about $35 billion in taxes.

What should the U.S. government do to discourage companies like Pfizer from moving overseas? Are more rules the answer?

Ben Boychuk. Two numbers help shed light why a corporation such as Pfizer would want to merge with a company like Allergan and end up based in Dublin instead of New York: 35 and 12.5.

The United States has a corporate income tax rate of 35 percent  the highest in the developed world. Ireland's tax is just 12.5 percent.

True, no American corporation with halfway competent tax attorneys and accountants will ever pay the full 35 percent. Pfizer's effective tax rate was around 25.5 percent in its 2014 filings.

Why wouldn't Pfizer go for the more favorable rate? Wouldn't you?

The hand-wringing over corporate inversions is really a conflict over fundamental principles. President Obama and many Democrats treat paying taxes almost as a moral act. For a corporate giant like Pfizer to use existing laws to get a better deal is repugnant to them.

But for Pfizer's corporate officers, it's simply a matter of doing what's best for company's shareholders. If you have a 401(k) or a government pension, you might be one of them.

Companies want to remain competitive. They seek every possible advantage. That's simply what corporations do.

Remember: What Pfizer tried to do is perfectly legal under U.S. tax code.

Less clear, however, is whether the new Treasury regulations are legal. They probably aren't. In order to find out, a company would need to challenge the rules in court. And in order to have standing to sue, that same company would need to spend several years and risk tens of millions of dollars tussling with the IRS.

What does seem clear, however, is that the rules will make it increasingly difficult for U.S. firms to do business.

Perhaps instead of punishing companies, the Obama administration should seek to make the tax code more competitive. Obvious, right? Even some Democrats believe the U.S. corporate tax rate is too high.

But the lowest rate Obama will entertain is 28 percent. Better to stick it to the corporations and settle for anemic economic growth than to entice companies to leave Dublin for New York with a better deal.

Joel Mathis. Here's one underlying conundrum on the issue of business taxes: Are corporations people or aren't they?

We already know the Republican answer to this question: "Corporations are people, my friend," as Mitt Romney famously said in 2012. That point of view often means that corporations have the same rights as you or I  including the right to free speech, which in practice means that corporations have just as much right as you or I to spend thousands or millions of dollars to influence the workings of government.

Oddly, though, corporations rarely bear the same responsibilities as people.

Case in point: Crossing borders and adopting a new nationality is, in most cases, quite hard  and often illegal  for real people. Corporations, though, increasingly act as persons without a country, able to contort themselves to pick the country in which they can pay the lowest wages while picking another in which to pay the lowest taxes. The result: Big corporations can make millions in profits in the United States while doing relatively little to contribute to the community's upkeep. And, oh yeah: Many of the companies still keep their top executives in the United States  making the whole thing a bit of a fiction.

The equivalent? If your family adopted a Canadian child and declared Canadian citizenship  all while staying snug at home in Peoria. It's absurd. No wonder Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump have made a dent in this election year.

Republicans will tell you that companies flee  or do corporate inversions to transfer their citizenship abroad  because of America's high corporate tax rate of 35 percent. Don't believe them. A Reuters analysis last year of six such companies found they had an average effective tax rate of just 20.3 percent.

Is it wrong for companies to move overseas for tax breaks? It's certainly unfair. Let's give big corporations a choice. They can keep the tax advantages and international flexibility that real people don't have, or they can have the legal personhood that gives them an outsized say in our politics. They shouldn't have both.

Ben Boychuk is associate editor of the Manhattan Institute's City Journal. Joel Mathis is associate editor for Philadelphia Magazine. Email them at bboychuk@city-journal.org and oelmmathis@gmail.com.
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What is the real meaning of the Panama Papers, millions of documents leaked from a law firm, Mossack Fonseca, showing that leaders around the world have stashed their money in offshore accounts? In many cases, offshoring was not illegal. Rather, the practice betrays a lack of confidence in the tax laws and other conditions in the leaders' own countries, even as they were supposed to be enforcing those laws and creating better conditions at home. They were guilty in many cases of hypocrisy.

President Xi Jinping of China has implored members of the Communist Party to eschew the trappings of wealth, and he has carried out a campaign to root out corruption and emphasize "socialist core values." He might be embarrassed that relatives of top officials in China opened offshore accounts to hold their riches. According to journalists who examined the papers, "eight current and former members of the Politburo Standing Committee, the country's top decision-makers, have relatives with secret offshore companies." One of them was Xi's brother in law, Deng Jiagui. In Russia, too, President Vladimir Putin has made a show of urging businessmen and others to bring their offshore property home. But the Panama Papers show that Putin's pals, including a mysteriously wealthy professional cellist, were moving hundreds of millions of dollars through offshore accounts.

For some leaders in the West, too, the Panama Papers proved unsettling. The prime minister of Iceland, Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, who had promised to defend the nation's currency and stressed the importance of keeping money in Iceland, was found to have an offshore company, held for a while with his wife. British Prime Minister David Cameron has been thrown on the defensive about a disclosure that he earned money from an overseas investment trust established by his late father, which he sold before taking office as prime minister. Although there was nothing illegal in it, the optics are bad; Cameron has been outspoken about fighting international tax evasion.

Note how reactions differed, based on the type of government. In Iceland, a massive street protest by outraged citizens led the prime minister to resign. In Britain, Cameron is being openly challenged by other politicians. And in China? Censors went to work not only blacking out any mention of the reports about Xi but blocking any online search for "brother-in-law" lest it reveal news of Deng's holdings. In Russia, Putin said "your humble servant" was not named in the documents so "there is nothing to talk about." He added that the leak of the Panama Papers was an American plot against Russia. "In this connection, attempts are made to weaken us from within, make us more acquiescent," Putin declared, ever the paranoid.

The Panama Papers have made an important contribution to accountability. In democratic societies, this means that leaders answer for their actions. In China and Russia, they try to conceal the truth.

The Washington Post
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By Scott Kirk, Special to the Reporter-News

The 276 traffic cones in front of the Texas Department of Transportation at 4250 Clack St. have a special significance.

The cones represent the 276 TxDOT employees who have been killed on the job since 1938. Nine of them represent employees from the Abilene district who have died while working on roads, officials said Monday. TxDOT spokeswoman Mary Belle Turner said the latest one, Juan Martinez, occurred in 2005.

TxDOT has declared this Work Zone Awareness Week, but Bill Parrott, safety officer for the Abilene District, said safety is the most important issue every day for the department.

"We preach it day in and day out," said Parrott. "It's the first thing we talk about before we go out in the morning and we have a recap safety meeting in the afternoon to talk about what went right and some things that didn't work."

Parrott and Glenn Allbritton, director of construction for the Abilene office, both said distracted driving is a problem.

Parrott mentioned cellphones as a menace.

Allbritton said he would leave it up to lawmakers to determine whether cellphone use should be banned in work zones as they are in school zones.

Parrott said that construction work gets more dangerous the faster and heavier traffic is.

Distance also plays a factor, he said, explaining, "The closer we get to the centerline, the more dangerous it becomes."

Parrott said that all employees have the option to stop work if they believe it is dangerous.

"TxDOT pushes the safety timeout, whether it's the first day on the job or you've been there 30 years," he said. "Any time something doesn't feel right, you can stop it."

Allbritton said construction company workers and motorists also are in danger in work zones.

"There are probably more workers from construction companies on TxDOT projects than TxDOT employees," he said.

In June, an employee of construction company was killed on a TxDOT job in Ballinger.
Opinion / Columnist

Dr Parirenyatwa condemns Chiredzi General Maternity Ward as unfit for purpose."We agree that Chiredzi Hospital does not have a maternity ward. The maternity ward is one of the buildings which we have condemned. It was built in 1967 by the Rhodesians to cater for a few people but we now see an overcrowded building which is unsafe for the mothers and the new born," he said. "Everything is being done in one ward, that is pre- natal, post and neo natal services, in-fact there are three groups of mothers under one roof and that is not safe. We need a new maternity ward urgently and I call upon local companies to assist with funding for the building of the new hospital through their corporate social responsibility programmes."Zimbabwe's health delivery service was at its best 1980, when we attain our independence; from that point on it has been a matter of steady-she-goes match into decline. Mbuya Nehanda Maternity at Parirenyatwa Hospital, the biggest referral hospital in the country and named after the Minister's own late father, has been in a deplorable state for years. By the late 1980s the spotlessly clean floors was dirty with tiles missing and premature babies were dying unnecessarily because the hospital did not have enough incubators.If a big hospital like Parirenyatwa does not have something as basic as an incubator one can only imagine what state rot and decay small backwater hospitals like Chiredzi General Hospitals must be in. For a regime that has presided over all this rot and decay and therefore has a very low tolerance level to condemn Chiredzi maternity ward; it must be because the ward is really in a mess.What shocked me the most is that the Minister is calling on private sector to build a new ward! For a start, the Minister must be the only one in the country who does not know that the country's economy is in total meltdown; companies have been closing down right, left and center and the few still operating are in ICU. There is no private sector left to help build the ward!Second and most significantly, the Minister must have heard the news that Zimbabwe had $15 billion looted from Marange diamonds alone in the last seven years. The story shows that the country is rich and therefore can afford to pay for the up keep of its essential services like health, education, etc. It has failed to do so because there is corruption and looting at a grand scale.Leaders like Minister Parirenyatwa and even more so President Mugabe and his family have long ago stopped relying on the country's substandard health system. President Mugabe's daughter is right now in the Far East in the state of the art hospital to have her baby; she will be seen dead in Chiredzi Maternity Ward! We the ordinary people have no choice but to rely on this rotting and decaying health system because that is all we have and can afford.It is up to us the people, we are the ones wearing the pitching shoe and not the leadership, to make sure we have a health system that is fit for purpose. By doing nothing to stop the rot and decay we the people and no one else condemned ourselves to having a health service, education service, power supply system, etc. that are in advance stages of rot and decay and in many cases are no longer fit for purpose.If we are serious about restoring our health service, the economy, etc. back on a healthy footing then we must accept that we have a corrupt and wasteful regime that has long stopped serving the nation interests. If we want change then we must seek to replace this tyrannical regime which has long seized to be fit for purpose!
Cambodian opposition lawmaker Um Sam An (C) is escorted by police officials at the Ministry of the Interior in Phnom Penh, April 11, 2016.

A Cambodian court on Tuesday officially charged opposition lawmaker Um Sam An with two criminal offenses over his accusations that the government conceded land to Vietnam along its border, his lawyer said, in a case widely seen as another instance of the ruling partys persecution of the political opposition.

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court placed Um Sam An, a lawmaker from the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), under pretrial lockup for incitement to commit a felony and incitement to cause discrimination, attorney Chhoung Chou Ngy said. Authorities then took him away to the countrys notorious Prey Sar prison.

The charges arose from Um Sam Ans accusations that the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) had failed to stop land encroachment by Vietnam and used improper maps to demarcate the border between the two former colonies of France.

He faces up to five years in prison under the two incitement charges, the first of which carries a penalty of six months to two years in jail plus a fine. The second charge is punishable by one to three years in jail and a fine of 2 million-6 million riel (U.S. $500-U.S. $1,500), Chhoung Chou Ngy said.

The attorney told RFAs Khmer Service that the court has violated the constitution by sentencing his client to prison.

This is contrary to the constitutions Article 80 because he still has immunity, he said, referring to the provision in the charter that grants National Assembly deputies immunity from arrest and prosecution.

It means that the court has arrested and detained a lawmaker who has immunity, he said.

In the meantime, Prime Minister Hun Sen has renewed his threat to arrest anyone, including lawmakers, who discusses Cambodia-Vietnam border issues.

Those who dare to say the border map is fake will be arrested whoever they are, he said, adding that Um Sam Ans arrest and detention resulted from accusatory posts about the issue that he made on his Facebook page.

In accusing the government of using fake border maps, Um Sam An posted what he said were the valid French colonial maps of Cambodias border with Vietnam, which the constitution mandates are the only ones that can be used for border demarcation.

Parliaments extraordinary session

Also on Tuesday, the National Assembly held an extraordinary session to determine whether the court can continue its investigation of Um Sam An.

Chheang Von, a lawyer from the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP), told reporters after the meeting that parliament had approved a motion to let the court continue its review of Um Sam Ans case, because he had committed an obvious offense via social media.

He also said Um Sam Ans comments had provoked conflict between Cambodia and Vietnam and confused the public.

The CNRP boycotted the session and held a separate press conference to denounce parliaments move.

CNRP lawmaker Son Chhay told reporters that the partys deputies boycotted the session so that they could avoid violating the constitution.

We dont want to breach any laws, he said. We want the National Assembly to be independent.

With reference to Article 80 of the constitution, Son Chhay said a lawmakers immunity can be stripped only if the National Assembly has a two-thirds majority vote, although the CPP does not currently have such a supermajority.

Civil society responds

In response to the courts action against Um Sam An, a group of 13 civil society organizations said Monday that his arrest flouts the constitutional guarantee of parliamentary immunity.

Not only does the arrest plainly undermine the constitutional guarantee of immunity for members of the National Assembly, but it also signifies the shrinking democratic space and intolerance of political pluralism in Cambodia, the groups said in a statement.

The very reason for the constitutional immunity for elected politicians is to ensure that they can freely discuss alternative views and represent the interests of those who elected them by ensuring those who exercise public power are held accountable, the statement said.

Military police apprehended Um Sam An on Monday in northwestern Cambodias Siem Reap province shortly after he returned from an overseas trip.

The Ministry of Interior said he was arrested because of his comments about the government selling land to Vietnam as well as accusations that the Cambodian government used fake maps to demarcate its border.

Despite the constitutions guarantee of parliamentary immunity, justice officials have argued that the lawmakers arrest is legal because it falls under the exception of in flagrante delicto that allows for individuals to be prosecuted if caught red-handed committing a crime.

Opposition party Senator Hong Sok Hour also faces trial on several charges for making similar criticisms.

Police arrested him last August for posting comments on social media that claimed an article of the 1979 Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship Treaty was meant to dissolve, rather than define, the border between the two countries.

Reported by Moniroth Morm and Tha Thai for RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
The Cambodian Senate has overwhelmingly approved new controversial labor legislation that the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party says is necessary to regulate trade unions, but opponents say is just a way to dilute workers power.

After about two hours of debate, 40 out of the 46 senators voted on Tuesday to approve the measure without making any changes. All the lawmakers that voted to approve the legislation were members of Prime Minister Hun Sens CPP.



During the debate, however, You Seangheng, a Sam Rainsy Party senator, asked the senate to send the measure back to the National Assembly, saying the legislation would restrict union rights to protest or hold demonstrations.

The draft law needs to be amended at least fifty percent, he said in a floor speech. There are still many loopholes. Unions recommendations have not been accepted, and I request the senate return the draft law back to the assembly.

Critics of the legislation, including domestic and international human rights groups as well as Asian parliamentarians, have expressed concern over provisions that force unions to report their finances to the government and increase authorities power to close down labor groups.

But CPP Senator Mam Bun Neang told reporters that You Seanghengs arguments are groundless. He said that the draft law will protect both employees and employers.

This is the opposition partys habit," he said. "They oppose everything, but if we look into the law in context, the draft law is lawful."

Ministry of Labor Ith Samheng also defended the measure during the debate, saying the draft law wouldnt allow the government to persecute unions over protests or demonstrations, but will stop people from provoking chaos.

Unlike what some politicians have said, the government is not afraid of demonstrations, he said. But it is important that all demonstrations comply with the law.

The legislation will be sent to the Constitutional Council for a review before sending to the King for final approval.

Though the legislation has won approval, it has also been the target of protests that turned violent earlier in the month as the National Assembly began considering the legislation.

There are some 3,400 trade unions in Cambodia. The CPP, with the backing of garment factory owners, want to restrict unions as they blame them for the poor labor relations they claim threaten to undermine a lucrative sector of the national economy.

Around 700,000 factory workers form the bedrock of Cambodia's $7 billion textile industry, which supplies brands including Gap, Nike, and H&M.

Reported by Tha Vuthy for RFA's Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Brooks Boliek.
Taiwan officials and lawmakers on Tuesday hit out at the forced deportation of dozens of the island's residents to mainland China, whose communist government has never ruled the island.

Eight residents of Taiwan, which has no formal diplomatic ties with the African nation, were deported to mainland China by Kenyan officials, who said they were being sent "back where they came from" after being accused of fraud. Not all had been convicted or tried.

Earlier on Tuesday, Kenyan police broke down a jail wall and used tear gas to force a second group of Taiwanese to board a plane for China, Taiwan's foreign ministry said.

"They refused to cooperate with the deportation... so the police broke down the walls, using tear gas, and then more than 10 police went in with assault rifles," foreign ministry official Chen Chun-shen told reporters in Taipei.

"Our colleague went immediately to the prison to see the detainees but faced all kinds of impediments," Chen said.

He added that three of Beijing's envoys to Kenya were present at the time. The foreign ministry said 37 Taiwan residents are in a second group scheduled for deportation on Tuesday.

Diplomatically, Kenya only recognizes the government of mainland China, and Taiwan's envoys have no diplomatic status there.

Beijing insists its diplomatic partners withdraw recognition from Taiwan, which remained under the control of the losing side in the Chinese civil war, the Kuomintang (KMT) nationalists, after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. Beijing has also blocked the island from membership of international bodies, and has threatened to use force if Taiwan ever seeks formal statehood.

No diplomatic ties

"We have no diplomatic ties with Kenya, so the dispute over sovereignty affected their deportation," Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker Luo Chi-cheng told reporters.

"But actually, Beijing knew perfectly well that these people were in detention, and that they were citizens of the Republic of China," Luo said, using the formal name of the old KMT regime, which Taiwan still uses.

"China basically took them into custody and took them away, which is a huge affront to our nation," he said. "I call on the government to ... demand that China release them and allow us to deal with [the allegations against them]."

KMT lawmaker Lu Yu-ling told RFA she was "extremely unhappy" about the treatment of the Taiwanese.

"We have reciprocal agreements with mainland China for the purposes of fighting crimes, and for mutual judicial assistance," Lu said. "They should have proceeded according to those agreements."

"I hope the mainland Chinese government will release these people to us as soon as possible, to face due legal process," she said.

Of the 37 due to be deported Tuesday, 15 had already been cleared of criminal activity linked to an investigation of a telecoms scam, while the remaining 22 had been arrested but not tried, Taiwan's foreign ministry said.

Taiwan Strait Tensions

Tensions across the Taiwan Strait eased in recent years under the island's KMT president Ma Ying-jeou, who backed greater economic integration with its larger rival, but close ties with China sparked fears of political interference in the island's vibrant democracy, as well as a 2014 student-led Sunflower Movement that occupied key government buildings in protest at a proposed cross-straits trade deal.

Beijing in January struck a warning note following a sweeping victory by DPP president-elect Tsai Ing-wen, who takes office in May, saying her win poses "grave challenges" to peaceful ties with Beijing.

Tsai and the DPP won not just the presidency but a first-time majority in the island's parliament, ousting the KMT and relegating it to the status of opposition party for the first time in Taiwan's history.

The DPP victory was a reminder that many of Taiwan's 23 million residents identify as Taiwanese rather than Chinese, and that there is broad political support for de facto self-rule, if not formal independence.

The Chinese Communist Party and the KMT nationalist party were bitter foes during a civil war that flared up after the defeat of Japan in World War II, and the KMT government fled to the island from Chongqing after losing to Mao Zedong's Soviet-backed communist forces.

The Taipei government sees itself as the legitimate continuation of the KMT regime that began with Sun Yat-sen's 1911 revolution and the fall of the Qing dynasty, while Beijing says Taiwan is a breakaway province that must one day be reunited with the mainland. Taiwan was governed separately from mainland China throughout the Japanese occupation (1895-1945) and since 1949, and has never formed part of communist China.

Reported by Miao Chiu-jyu for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by the Cantonese Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.
The Myanmar governments release of up to 200 political prisoners last week has prompted both praise and caution from rights groups and the international community, as State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi works to have others freed or politically motivated charges against them dropped as soon as possible.

The Myanmar News Agency on Monday said 161 political prisoners of conscience, including political activists and students facing trials for their involvement in a protest against the National Education Law, were released from prisons across the country on Friday.

A report by Agence France-Presse, however, put the number at about 200, citing an unnamed senior police officer as the source.

Rights groups and the international community have welcomed the move but point out that scores of activists still face trial or remain in jails, many of whom were arrested under the former military junta that ruled the country for a half-century or the quasi-civilian government that was in power until late last month.

The new NLD-led governments release of large numbers of political prisoners has been welcomed in Burma and around the world, but there are hundreds more still in prison or facing charges, said Brad Adams, Asia director at New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW).

The NLD has correctly made releasing political prisoners a priority and should now follow through to ensure that all remaining activists are freed and that charges dropped against hundreds of others, he said in a statement issued Monday.

Only a first step

On Friday, a court dropped charges against and freed 69 students who had been jailed for more than a year while awaiting trial for participating in a March 2015 protest against national education policy in the central Myanmar town of Letpadan in Bago region's Tharrawaddy district.

Courts in other parts of the country also released more than 100 other activists the same day, including 88 Generation Peace and Open Society members Mei Mei and Nilar Thein, and land rights activists Su Su Nway and Naw Ohn La, HRW said.

The European Union also lauded the freeing of student protesters, calling the move a signal that the new government is committed to upholding human rights and fundamental freedoms.

We look forward to the release of all remaining political prisoners and their full rehabilitation, the EU said in a news release.

London-based Amnesty International said the prisoner release was only a first step, and that the NLD must also reform the countrys legal framework, which has long been used to silence dissent.

Of course, a prisoner release is only a first step  the NLD must also reform the countrys repressive legal framework, which has for too long been used to clamp down on dissent, said Laura Haigh, Myanmar researcher for London-based Amnesty International, in a statement on Friday.

As long as these laws remain on the books, human rights defenders and activists will remain at risk of being jailed simply for expressing their opinions. Thankfully, the NLD has acknowledged the need to repeal and amend repressive laws, and we are looking forward to seeing the government following up on this.

Rights-abusing laws

The countrys independent Myanmar National Human Rights Commission welcomed the news that Aung San Suu Kyis pledge to have political prisoners and activists released and said it will do its best to help the governments human rights promotion and protection activities, according to a report in the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar.

Last week, the governments newly formed Legal Affairs and Special Cases Assessment Commission, led by former army general and house speaker Shwe Mann, proposed the amendment or repeal of 142 laws used to prosecute political activists, HRW said.

The NLD-led government should also use its absolute majorities in both houses of parliament to repeal or amend the many rights-abusing laws that have been used to prosecute dissidents and others during a half-century of mostly military rule, HRW said.

The prisoner releases came just before the start of Myanmars New Year holiday on Monday, a period when the president has traditionally granted pardons to detainees.

In a second statement on Friday, Aung San Suu Kyi said that more political prisoners would be released some time following the holiday after their cases had been scrutinized.

Before the recent round of releases, Myanmars Assistance Association for Political Prisoners put the number of political prisoners in jail at 100, and the number of activists and students facing trials on political charges at 400.
A group of Tibetan government workers detained on April 8 after protesting the loss of their jobs in unclear circumstances were beaten and robbed by Chinese police before being released two days later, a Tibetan source living in the region says.



The group of 29 were taken into custody after gathering outside government offices in Machu (in Chinese, Maqu) county in the Kanlho (Gannan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in northwestern Chinas Gansu province, a local resident told RFAs Tibetan Service.



They were later beaten up by the police, who also damaged and confiscated their mobile phones and took away their gold rings, RFAs source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.



The protesters, who were first described in earlier reports as numbering about 10, demanded compensation for the losses and damage to their property, but the authorities refused to oblige, the source said.



The [protesters] suspect that their appeal for their jobs has been given a political twist and that authorities are now doing their best to damage their future prospects, the source said, adding that the fired workers have explained they had no political motivations for staging their protest.



They were just asking for their jobs to be restored, he said.



'The right qualifications'



Those who were detained had held low-level posts for at least three to four years in various government departments including the department of forestry, sources told RFA in earlier reports.



After they had worked hard in those departments during that time, the Machu county government issued an order ending their employment on the excuse that they lacked the right qualifications for their jobs, one source said.



Some of the workers hired to replace them had come from outside the county, though, and had backdoor connections to influential county officials, while others had received only an elementary school education, he said.



A second group came to protest in support on April 9 and were also taken into custody, RFAs source said.



All protesters have now been released and allowed to go home, but they were told to report later to the Machu county office to express their views and concerns, he said.



Reported by Kunsang Tenzin for RFAs Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney.
Officials in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region are offering a cash bounty of up to 5 million yuan (U.S. $774,000) for tips about suspicious activity linked to terrorism or religious extremism, RFAs Uyghur Service has learned.

"The program is a necessary step that corresponds to the reality and development of Xinjiang, said a government official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

While informants can cash in, the amount of money they receive depends on the quality of information they give, local law enforcement officials told RFA. The reward program took effect on April 11, according to authorities,

The reward amount depends on value of information, A Uyghur police officer based in the Hoten (in Chinese Hetian) Prefecture told RFA. We report the information they provide to us to the local public security department, which evaluates the value of the information.

The rewards fall into various categories with information about bombs, bombers and bomb making raking in the most cash.

Information about a bombing somewhere, or making bombs, or planning to make bombs for an attack is the most valuable, another local police officer explained. The top information will be awarded 5 million yuan.

This includes the planning stage, the officer added. If someone informs us before the attack, the cash reward will increase because that is preventive work.

Not just terrorism

While the reward program is linked to terrorist activities, it can also be used to encourage people to talk to officials about religious extremism, according to authorities.

If someone provided us information about illegal religious activity, they can also get the reward, said another police officer based in the Hoten (in Chinese Hetian) Prefecture.

The information regarding religious schools is also considered valuable information, and the informant also deserves a reward, but the 5 million yuan only goes to the informants who provided information about activity linked to terrorism, said another police officer.

While the main aim of the program is interdicting terrorist activity, the officer said someone has already collected some money for turning in an illegal religious school. Under the program an informants identity is confidential.

In our village we rewarded a guy who informed us about an illegal religious school, the officer said. We have arrested that school teacher.

When pressed about the arrest, the officer declined to say anything else.

Suspicious minds

But that type of action is exactly what concerns the human rights activists, who see it as another way for the Chinese government to put pressure on Uyghur society.

We know in the Chinese cultural revolution that a mechanism to award informants existed during that period, said Uyghur human rights activists Enwer Tohti. Under this mechanism, everybody spied on each other. If a guest came to your home, the police station near your home knew it within five minutes.

That kind of activity breeds suspicion and undermines the local society, he said.

Under these circumstances, you can't say you have a healthy society, he said. At the end of the day, this surveillance mechanism harmed social relationships, the fabric of society, and created a social hypocrisy.

Rights groups accuse the Chinese authorities of heavy-handed rule in Xinjiang, including violent police raids on Uyghur households, restrictions on Islamic practices, and curbs on the culture and language of the Uyghur people.



China has vowed to crack down on what it calls the three evils of terrorism, separatism, and religious extremism in Xinjiang.

But experts outside China say Beijing has exaggerated the threat from Uyghur separatists, and that domestic policies are responsible for an upsurge in violence that has left hundreds dead since 2012.

Reported and translated by Jilili Musa for RFA's Uyghur Service. Written in English by Brooks Boliek.
The Afghan Taliban has announced the start of its warm-weather fighting season, an annual declaration marking the launch of a violent summer.

In an e-mail to media organizations on April 12, the militants said the so-called "spring offensive" had begun at 5 a.m. local time.

The Taliban said it was dubbing the campaign "Operation Omari" in honor of Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, who died three years ago.

The statement said waging jihad against the U.S. invaders was a holy obligation. The war is in its 15th year.

Hours before the Taliban announced their offensive, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul issued an emergency warning to U.S. citizens, saying it had received reports that insurgents were planning attacks on a major hotel in Kabul.

New Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansur has escalated the war, spreading it to every corner of the country and even taking control of a major northern city, Kunduz, for a few days last year.

On April 11, a Taliban suicide bomber on a motorcycle killed at least 12 army recruits on a bus in eastern Afghanistan, hours after a similar attack killed two people in the capital, Kabul.

Based on reporting by AP and AFP
Oil prices surged to their highest level of 2016 on April 12 after a Russian state news agency report was issued about an agreement between Saudi Arabia and Russia on freezing their production.

The report by Russias Interfax news agency on April 12 cited an informed diplomatic source in Doha who claimed Moscow and Riyadh have reached a consensus on freezing oil production.

The U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in May gained $1.81 per barrel for a close at $42.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was the highest closing price since November.

In London trading, Brent crude oil for June delivery -- the European benchmark -- closed on April 12 at $44.69 a barrel, an increase of $1.86 from the closing price a day earlier.

The global price of oil has been rising for the past week amid speculation that a meeting of OPEC and non-OPECE producers in Doha, Qatar on April 17 could result in production freezes that reduce the global oil glut that has depressed prices.

Based on reporting by AFP and Interfax
Soviet tanks roll into Budapest and Prague.

Russian banks set up secretive offshore accounts and shady shell companies that stealthily buy influence and gobble up strategic assets across Europe.

Quislings in the East and fellow travelers in the West toe the Leninist line.

Business and industrial lobbies in both East and West parrot Putinist talking points.

A network of Communist parties and front groups advance Moscow's interests.

A web of opaque front corporations, murky energy deals, and complex money-laundering schemes ensnare foreign elites and form a ready-made Kremlin lobby.

Past, meet present.

In many ways, Russian corruption is the new Soviet Communism. The Kremlin's black cash is the new Red Menace.

In the East, an alliance of satellite states with Soviet-style socialist command economies and authoritarian political systems has been replaced with a loose grouping of kleptocracies with Russian-style crony-capitalist economies and dysfunctional governance.

And the Soviet Union's attempts to subvert the West with the power of an idea has given way to Vladimir Putin's Russia seeking to corrupt it with the lure of easy money.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

"The Kremlin does not need to be the outright leader of a bloc of nations a la Warsaw Pact; instead, it can exacerbate existing divides, subvert international institutions and help create a world where its own form of corrupt authoritarianism flourishes," Peter Pomerantsev and Michael Weiss wrote in their widely circulated report, The Menace of Unreality: How the Kremlin Weaponizes Information, Culture, and Money.

Capturing Elites

The Soviet Union sought to spread Communism and establish a bloc of nations loyal to Moscow. Vladimir Putin's Russia seeks to spread its corrupt business model to establish a bloc of nations dependent upon the Kremlin.

The Soviet Union was primarily concerned with its immediate neighborhood, Eastern Europe, but also sought to spread its socialist model outward.

Putin's Russia is also concentrating on its immediate neighborhood, the ex-USSR, but has also set its sights on pushing kleptocracy farther afield.

It has used murky energy schemes with opaque ownership structures like RosUkrEnergo, EuralTransGas, and Moldovagaz as carrots to capture and control elites in former Soviet states like Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova.

Farther West, the Kremlin has deployed shifty shell companies like Vemex, an energy trading company with a mindbogglingly opaque ownership structure ultimately leading to Gazprom, which has captured between 10-12 percent of the Czech energy market.

The Kremlin has indeed mastered the art of the corrupt deal to create patron-client relations well beyond Russia's borders.

"Gazprom, with the silent support of the Kremlin has set up 50 or so middleman companies, silently linked to Gazprom and scattered throughout Europe," the late energy analyst Roman Kupchinsky, former director of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, said in testimony before the U.S. Senate's Foreign Relations Committee in June 2008.

Kupchinsky cited the Vienna-based Centrex group, owned by a Cyprus-based Holding company and RN Privatstiftung in Austria, as well as the Gazprom Germania network.

Such fronts, he added, "do not add any value to the price of Russian gas being sold on European markets; yet they earn enormous sums of money which appears to simply vanish through shell companies in Cyprus and in Liechtenstein."

Kupchinsky also told the committee that "in Hungary, shady companies with suspected links to organized crime and to Gazprom seek to control large segments of the domestic gas distribution and power generation business."

'This Is The Story Of An Invasion'

There is also evidence that Putin has recruited some members of his old intelligence network in the East German Stasi to set up front companies throughout Europe.

A September 2007 investigative report by German journalist Hans-Martin Tillack uncovered how Gazprom Germania was "something of a club for former members of the East German security services."

"This is the story of an invasion. A massive campaign, planned well in advance. The General Staff is located far away in the east, in Moscow, the capital of Russia. The target area is Germany -- and the rest of Western Europe," Tillack wrote.

"But the story of this invasion is teeming with ex-Stasi officers and shady figures. It is a story of letterbox companies that do not even have a letterbox, of companies nestled within companies. The overriding impression? That they are concealing the flow of funds."

But it is an invasion in which many elites in the West are either willing -- or unwitting -- participants.

"Acquiescence to Russian corruption, with illicit funds regularly laundered throughout the West, works to the Kremlins advantage both domestically and internationally," Pomerantsev and Weiss wrote.

"If the premise of the neoliberal idea of globalization is that money is politically neutral, that interdependence will be an impulse towards rapprochement, and that international commerce sublimates violence into harmony, the Russian view remains at best mercantilist, with money and trade used as weapons and interdependence a mechanism for aggression."

Communism, despite its faults, attempted to appeal to universal human ideals and aspirations. But in practice, it cut against human nature.

Corruption appeals to the most universal and basest human instinct -- greed. And sadly, it is often in sync with human nature -- which makes the new Red Menace potentially more dangerous and insidious than the old one.

Corruption isn't just a matter of good governance anymore. It's now a national security issue and needs to be treated as such.
MONTREALGay affiliate network Stunner Media has joined forces with longtime partner Jean Bourne Group to purchase one of Europes largest DVD distribution companies, Prowler Distribution.

The DVD business, founded in 1993 in the VHS days, is a well-known carrier of major gay brands like Bel Ami, UK Naked Men, BlakeMason, BoyNapped and Butch Dixon and has licensing deals with the likes of Falcon and Raging Stallion, among others.

Prowler Distribution will continue under its current name. The new team is working closely with former owner Millivres Prowler Group (MPG) to guarantee a smooth transition.

Stunner first became familiar with MPG during its search for a distributors to handle BlakeMason DVDs. Prowler was the only R18 DVD distributor in the United Kingdom. The two companies continued to work closely together, and when MPG decided to sell the distribution side of the business, Stunner was a natural fit.

The Prowler Distribution sale was prompted by MPGs decision to focus its efforts on Gay Times, DIVA, Expectations, and the retail side of Prowler. Stunner and MGP will continue to collaborate, especially on the Prowler retail stores, which are the leading stores for gay DVDs in the U.K.

Jean Bourne Group CEO Benjamin Willis said, "it is our strong long-running relationship with Simon Topham, CEO at MPG, and Jay Michaud, president at Stunner Media, that made this deal possible. We are already in a very successful partnership with Stunner as co-owners of the brand BlakeMason.com and with MPG as co-sponsors of the annual Prowler Porn Awards, this year to be in London on May 11. I am delighted with the purchase and look forward to working closely with all our customers, suppliers and partners."

Majority owner Stunner Media stated, Prowler Distribution has long been the best European distributor of gay porns top brands and itll be business as usual after the ownership change. We want customers and studios to be confident knowing that Prowler Distributions great service wont change.

MPGs Prowler Products Wholesale (which deals in herbal viagras, poppers, calendars and more) was not part of the deal and will continue to function as a separate business.

All Prowler Distribution inquiries can be directed to [email protected] or +44 (0) 16 1850 2503.

All Prowler Products Wholesale orders will be handled by Antony Van Garrett: [email protected] or +44 (0) 20 7424 7487.
Separatist leaders in Georgia's South Ossetia region have announced that they will hold a referendum on joining Russia in the coming months.

The Kremlin, meanwhile,says that Russian troops stationed in Moldova's pro-Moscow breakaway Transdniester region can't pull out of the region unless they are allowed to pass through Ukraine.

And in the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, Moscow is pretending to be a peacemaker, while at the same time continuing to arm both Armenia and Azerbaijan.

And then, of course, there's always Donbas, where the OSCE is reporting a significant increase in cease-fire violations amid fears that Moscow is preparing for a spring offensive.

Despite speculation in the Russian media that Vladimir Putin is preparing to turn inward and focus on domestic affairs, the Kremlin leader is clearly keeping his options open abroad.

And this is because given Russia's economic difficulties, it will be very difficult for Putin's team of spin doctors to put together a compelling domestic narrative for the upcoming political season.

So he's being careful to maintain a ready-made menu of foreign crises.

Putin has absolutely no domestic achievements to boast of since he returned to the Kremlin four years ago.

He owes his sky-high popularity and his very legitimacy to success in foreign affairs -- and he knows it.

And for this reason, we should be keeping our eyes wide open for the next manufactured crisis.

Keep telling me what you think on The Power Vertical's Twitter feed and on our Facebook page.
BRUSSELS -- EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn has criticized a decision by Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov to pardon all politicians facing criminal investigations over the wiretapping scandal that engulfed the country in 2015.

Hahn told RFE/RL that Ivanov's announcement that he would "pardon everybody is something which, in my understanding, is not acceptable" nor in line with the rule of law.

Hahn also said he has "serious doubts if credible elections are still possible" in Macedonia.

Macedonia's parliament was dissolved on April 6, ushering in an early election on June 5 aimed at ending a political crisis sparked by opposition allegations that the governing conservatives illegally wiretapped some 20,000 people -- including police, judges, journalists, and foreign diplomats.

Macedonian opposition leader Zoran Zaev on April 12 called on Ivanov to resign, saying his decision to halt all criminal investigations into the wiretapping scandal amounted to a coup.

Zaev also said he would call for public protests against Ivanovs decision.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Rikard Jozwiak in Brussels, Reuters, and AP
In a new report, Freedom House warns that economic woes are threatening the stability of "entrenched dictatorships" in the former Soviet Union, the migration crisis is fueling populism in Eastern Europe, and reforms in the Balkans are in retreat.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's "naked embrace of autocracy" deepened in 2015, the U.S.-based human rights group says.

Freedom House made the assessments in its annual Nations In Transit report, which monitors the democratic development of 29 countries in the former Soviet Union, the Balkans, and Central Europe. It was published on April 12.

The report assigns each country a score to measure democratic progress. Weighted for population, the average Democracy Score in the 29 countries covered has declined for 12 years in a row.

On The Brink

The situation is particularly grim in the former Soviet Union, where seven countries are led by "dictators" who have been in power for at least 10 years -- Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan.

Freedom House says the collapse in global commodity prices, especially oil, combined with U.S. and European sanctions on Russia and Russian countersanctions, has driven economies of the region "to the brink."

Economic troubles have pushed Russia into recession and triggered similar currency crises and budget shortfalls in other oil- and gas-producing countries including Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan.

The crisis has also rippled through non-energy-based economies that are dependent on Russia through subsidies and migrant labor, with Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan "also facing possible recession in 2016," the report says.

Nate Schenkkan, project director of Nations In Transit, told RFE/RL that these states now have to face the consequences after years of failing to diversify their economies or create transparent and accountable systems of government.

"It's certainly likely that there's going to be considerably more social protest in this year," he said. "There was probably more in 2015 already."

"Anecdotally, we know that there are large numbers of labor migrants returning, especially to Tajikistan," Schenkkan added. "This then creates a large class of unemployed young menand that of course is a very potent potential protest group."

Harsher Crackdown

Schenkkan said that leaders in the region had responded with measures intended to "reaffirm their control."

In Russia, the report says, Putin's "naked embrace of autocracy since his return to the presidency in 2012 deepened in 2015 with an ever-harsher crackdown on civil society and political organizing."

It says Russian "innovations in authoritarianism," such as restrictions on nongovernmental organizations, spread further within the region.

"One of the foremost among those [new tactics] is the 'foreign agents' law, the branding of NGOs as foreign agents which in Russia has been frankly very effective in driving NGOs underground or forcing them to leave the country or to cease their activities," Schenkkan said. "And you've seen this imitated in a number of countries in Eurasia.

"You have in Tajikistan quite similar legislation that's been applied somewhat arbitrarily and unevenly -- but has been applied," he said. "In Kazakhstan, you have a different kind of NGO restrictionthat's also having very, very pernicious effects now that it's being applied in 2016. And in Kyrgyzstan, a 'foreign agents' law has been debated in parliament now for over a year."

The report says Tajikistan's government pursued "one of the harshest crackdowns the region has seen in years," banning the main opposition party and imprisoning its leaders.

The country "began prosecuting lots and lots of civil society activists as well as people like the lawyers of those members who were arrested as well as the lawyers of the lawyers," Schenkkan said.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev held early elections to reaffirm his mandate while signing a new law to "increase control over civil society," he said.

Schenkkan also said that governments were increasingly prosecuting people for speech on online platforms, and that the "charge of inciting ethnic or social hatred is now being applied more widely."

In Kyrgyzstan, he said, the government had been "using the tools of the state, especially the security services, to blacken the names of the opposition and to put its opponents on the back foot and try to prevent them from organizing rallies or organizing expressions of discontent."

The Nations In Transit report says Azerbaijan "continued a crackdown that began in the summer of 2014," citing last year's sentencing of investigative journalist and RFE/RL contributor Khadija Ismayilova to 7 1/2 years in prison.

In Belarus, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka freed political prisoners and allowed "mild criticism" ahead of a presidential election in October, in an effort to "court the EU and replace the patronage that Russia can no longer provide," the report says.

Ukraine "remains the single most important opportunity for establishing democracy" in the region, it adds.

The government achieved "some progress" in reforms in 2015, but continuing Russian occupation of Crimea, the separatist conflict in the country's east, widespread corruption, and impunity for crimes during the political upheaval of 2014 are holding back further progress."

"Ukraine is really at a pivot point where they have to go forward," Schenkkan warned. "And if they don't, there's a real significant threat that Ukraine falls back and continues a tradition of very, very corrupt governance."

Balkan Retreat

In the Balkans, Serbia and Montenegro have begun the EU accession process, Albania and Macedonia are official candidates, while Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo are potential candidates.

But Freedom House says reform "has slowed and now retreated," with the region's average Democracy Score back to where it was in 2004, as the EU struggled to find a balance between ensuring short-term stability in the Balkans and pressing for convergence with European norms.

There has been modest movement "backward," Schenkkan said. In part, he said, that is because some leaders who have dominated their countries' political systems have been "eroding checks and balances and eroding independent institutions that might push back against them."

"That's certainly the case that we see in Serbia, it's very much what we saw in Macedonia, and to another degree in Montenegro," Schenkkan added.

The report says that state-building in Kosovo and Bosnia has reached an "impasse," with governmental structures built to keep the peace preventing progress, and political and economic stagnation fueling popular frustration.

It also describes "gradual success in functionalizing local governance and protecting media" in Kosovo.

These developments risk being compounded by European border closings to prevent migrants from reaching the EU, the report notes.

With crippling youth-unemployment rates, turning the Balkans "into an island inside Europe would be catastrophic for the region's development," Schenkkan warned.

Rising Populism

Meanwhile, Freedom House warns that the EU's "disjointed response" to the migration crisis has left the door open to xenophobia and nationalism in Central Europe.

It says several leading politicians in the region joined Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in using xenophobic rhetoric to denounce migrants, positioning themselves as protectors of their countries' Christian identity against a Muslim "invasion."

Schenkkan said that renewed nationalism, as well as the erosion of freedom of movement and other fundamental principles, were threatening the consolidation of democracy in Eastern Europe and the entire European project.

"The European Union is a project that requires countries to give up some sovereignty in exchange for other benefits. So this very aggressive, nationalist approach to politics and to policy challenges the values of the EU but it also challenges the policies of the EU," he said.

"And as we are seeing, the EU is having a very hard time now transforming and finding new policies in part because of this kind of rejectionist approach by leaders who are not necessarily interested in finding a solution within the EU."
Three historic developments have taken place in Syria in the last month and a half. The first was the declaration of a nationwide cease-fire, agreed upon by President Bashar al-Assad as well as most nonjihadist factions of the Syrian opposition. The second, Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement that Russian forces would begin a partial withdrawal from Syria. The latest historic moment was the Assad government's recapture of the central city of Palmyra, which had been occupied by Islamic State (IS) extremists for most of the past year.

Any of these events could have substantial impact on the collective efforts to combat IS, but each of them is clouded in myth, distortion, and broken promises. While world leaders debate the next steps to resolve the Syrian crisis, and while public focus on IS may be fading as the group's March 22 attacks in Brussels recede from short memories, a considerable amount of disinformation about Syria's current events could mean that the best efforts of the international community are just castles made of sand.

The promise made in Moscow, Damascus, and Tehran is that a successful cease-fire in Syria will allow Assad's forces to concentrate their efforts on IS.

It is not a coincidence that after the cease-fire took effect, the first targets of the pro-Assad coalition -- which includes Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commandos, Lebanese Hizballah fighters, Iraqi Shi'ite militias, Russian private military contractors, and of course Russian air and ground units -- were IS targets in Aleppo, followed soon thereafter by a ground campaign, supported by Russia's air power as well as mercenaries, against Palmyra.

These efforts had the appearance of being the first wave of a new anti-IS campaign. The reality, however, is that Russia and Assad have already moved on to other goals that have nothing to do with defeating Islamic extremism and may in fact empower the terrorists.

Immediately following the Syrian government's victory over IS in Palmyra, I conducted a thorough analysis of Russia's actions in Syria that shows that the facts on the ground dispel the narrative that Russia is fighting terrorism.

Before Putin declared mission accomplished in Syria, Russia's bombing campaign had broken the backs of Western-supported rebel groups. Somewhere between 80 percent and 90 percent of Russia's air strikes hit areas where IS is not in control. Those air strikes worked, and right before Putin declared the partial withdrawal, he drove the major nonjihadist rebel groups to accept a cease-fire.

But during the period of intense Russian bombardment, IS fighters took advantage of the weakened rebels and launched their own offensives, particularly near Aleppo. While Assad and the Kremlin benefited from IS gains north of Aleppo, this had consequences as IS gains south of Aleppo threatened the government's supply lines to its key bases near the city, particularly the Kweres airport. The very first targets Russia bombed once the cease-fire was in place were IS positions near Kweres, not in northern Aleppo, followed quickly by the assault on Palmyra.

I discussed how Palmyra was geographically and economically significant for the Assad regime, since it lies on a key road between Iraq and the Syrian capital, Damascus, and since it is the only large populated area close to Syria's most important natural gas and (to a lesser degree) oil fields. My colleague Hassan Hassan argued that Assad's primary motive for attacking Palmyra was political, since the quest for a political solution to the Syrian crisis has begun again in earnest and Putin and Assad were trying to position themselves within the international community as leaders in the war on terror.

The belief that Assad and Putin conducted this campaign to help ensure the survival of the Assad government, not to fight terrorism, is one that stems from five years of observing the actions of both the Syrian regime and its ally in Moscow. If that seemed a bold statement to make immediately after a successful campaign to retake territory from IS, events which have taken place since suggest that we were right.

Since their recapture of Palmyra, instead of advancing deeper into IS territory the pro-Assad coalition launched an offensive against rebel groups around Damascus that were party to the cease-fire. In the last week and a half, air strikes have taken place in five regions, leading some rebels to conclude that there is so much fighting it is almost as if the cease-fire had never been signed.

A bigger concern, however, is that the Al-Nusra Front, the Al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria that was also not party to the cease-fire, is on the offensive but is not being bombed by Russian aircraft -- or by any aircraft, for that matter.

Once again we see a familiar pattern: With world attention shifted away from Syria, the pro-Assad alliance is allowing Syria's most radical elements to advance while it is fighting some of the rebel groups who have been enemies of IS and could help restore order to the country in the future.

We will probably continue to see fighting between Assad's forces and IS in the near future, as IS still controls territory between Damascus and Palmyra that is crucial for the government's supply lines. IS fighters have captured a cement factory about 48 kilometers northeast of Syria's capital and have reportedly kidnapped more than 100 workers there. But like Palmyra, these are battles of convenience in territory that is not central to the IS extremist group's operations. The IS heartland in northeastern Syria has largely been ignored by both Russia and Assad.

All of this is coming at a time when new opportunities for fighting extremism have taken root.

Since 2013, as Assad's brutal campaign against the Syrian people was reaching its apex, pro-democracy activists and nonjihadist rebel groups have had an ugly choice to make -- either fight both Assad and religious extremism, or make some sort of acknowledgement that such a position is completely untenable. Uneasy and morally challenging alliances are hardly anything new, but for the Syrians who are making these decisions, the enemy of their enemy is often the one who is now imposing its will on the people within territory they control. In parts of Idlib and Aleppo provinces in particular, even in areas where IS had been militarily ejected by the locals in 2014, the Al-Nusra Front has a major presence.

But that dynamic may be changing. Soon after the cease-fire in Syria took hold, activists once again took to the streets to protest against Assad. In Ma'arrat al-Nouman, a key crossroad where Idlib Province meets Hama Province, supporters of the secular Free Syrian Army clashed with the Al-Nusra Front, who appear to think that now is a good time for them to accelerate the imposing of order on the territory they control, a process which started in 2014.

Since those clashes, there has been significant backlash against the Al-Nusra Front as even some prominent figures have openly criticized the group. Ideological struggles that were shelved as the fight for survival took priority are now emerging once again, but as stated before, Russia and Assad are already voting with their bombs for their candidate in this race.

In the wake of the horrifying attacks in Paris, Brussels, and beyond, worldwide there is considerable urgency in the discussion about how to best combat the black flag of Islamic State. But in a world that is still weary from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, global powers are looking to back foreign champions to bear the brunt of this fight.

The Obama administration, for instance, has backed Kurdish militia groups in northern Syria as its own proxies in the battle against IS, and is providing them with air support and weapons. This has its own geopolitical consequences beyond just the fight against terrorism, but so far it has been effective in regaining at least some territory from IS extremists.

There are also voices calling for different powers to spearhead the fight against IS. Some think more support of non-IS Syrian rebels will be most effective. On April 7, rebel groups seized the northern town of Al-Rai from IS, but on April 11, IS fighters pushed back and recaptured the town -- a key supply line between Turkey and the rebels. Others believe Turkey or Jordan could take a leading role, while still more are skeptical about any of these choices and believe that Western intervention is the only sure way to defeat terrorism that springs from Syria. Still others believe that Assad and its allies in Russia, Iran, Lebanon and Iraq are the only ones who can restore order to Syria.

But many of these options are mutually exclusive, and too many of these conversations are detached from the realities on the ground in Syria. Nowhere is this more obvious than the discussion about the role the Syrian regime plays in this conflict. The facts are clear -- the violence brought to Syria by the Syrian government, violence that started more than two years before IS had a presence in Syria, has created the environment in which radicalism has thrived.

At best, the defeat of IS is not the goal of Assad and his allies, though they fight terrorist groups when it's convenient. At worst, the actions of the government and its allies have enabled groups like IS and the Al-Nusra Front, while dealing a serious blow to forces that have fought against IS in the past. Any strategy to defeat Islamic State that does not accept these facts is a castle made of sand.
The European Union has extended for a further year sanctions against Iran over its human rights record.

In a statement on April 12, the EU said the action covered 82 people and one entity.

It said the 28-nation EU had imposed asset freezes and travel bans against Iran since 2011 over "grave human rights violations" and these measures have been regularly updated.

Last month, Iran reacted angrily to the latest United Nations report on human rights in the country, saying it was "biased, discriminatory, and prepared with political motives."

The UN report noted, among other things, that in 2015 Iran carried out nearly 1,000 executions, "the highest rate in over two decades" and many of them juveniles.

The EU was a broker of the July 2015 landmark deal with Iran, under which Tehran agreed to curb its nuclear program in return for the lifting of economic sanctions.

Based on reporting by AFP
Iran and Italy have signed a series of bilateral agreements during a visit by Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi to Tehran.

Irans state news agency, IRNA, reported on April 12 that the agreements include plans for cooperation between the Italian electricity and gas company Enel and the National Iranian Gas Export Company.

Enel said the memorandum of understanding lays out details for possible cooperation involving natural gas, liquefied natural gas, and related infrastructure.

The firm said in a statement that the agreement could include information-sharing, studies, and analysis and training -- "as well as exploring future opportunities for long term supplies."

Irans Deputy Energy Minister Ali Reza Daemi said the two countries also agreed to build several biomass, solar, and geothermal power plants.

IRNA reports that other deals include a car component agreement with Danieli Group, an agreement with the Milan Airports company to renovate Tehrans domestic airport, and deal focused on promoting tourism in Iran.

Based on reporting by AP and IRNA
Kyrgyz human rights activists have gathered outside of parliament in Bishkek to protest against a proposed "foreign agents" law being considered by lawmakers.

The bill would require noncommercial, nongovernmental organizations involved in political activities -- and which receive any funds from foreign sources -- to be labled as foreign agents.

The bill is similar to one in force in Russia since 2012, which NGOs say has been used to silence dissent.

Critics say these laws unfairly label NGOs as "foreign agents," thus suggesting they are involved in espionage.

On March 12, the Kyrgyz legislation passed in its second reading.

If the parliament approves the bill again on its third reading, it will go to the president for his signature and become law.
Russia's Defense Ministry says a Russian military helicopter has crashed in Syria, killing two military personnel on board.

The Defense Ministry says the Mi-28 attack helicopter was not shot down, but crashed in Homs Province early on April 12.

The pilots' bodies have been recovered and brought to Russia's air base in Hmeymim, the ministry said.

The cause of the crash was unclear.

"A group of specialists is working at the crash site to investigate the incident," the ministry said in a statement.

President Vladimir Putin announced on March 14 that Russia was withdrawing the bulk of its military contingent in Syria.

Around half its fixed-wing strike aircraft flew out in the days that followed.

But Russia continued to ship significant quantities of military supplies to Syria.

Analysts say the Kremlin has changed rather than diluted its military capabilities, increasingly relying on helicopters to support the Syrian Army.

Based on reporting by Reuters and Interfax
Iran has voiced concern at rising cease-fire violations in Syria, saying they could negatively impact peace talks this week aimed at ending the five-year-old conflict.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the comments in Tehran on April 12 after talks with United Nations envoy Staffan de Mistura.

The UN envoy arrived in Tehran after holding meetings with Syria's foreign minister in Damascus on April 11.

Nevertheless, he said Tehran was "happy to see that we are approaching a political solution to this crisis", ahead of talks due to resume in Geneva on April 13.

The United States on April 11 also expressed concern at the recent increase in violence, which it blamed on Syrian government forces that are backed by Iran.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP
ON MY MIND

Russian state television's botched "expose" of opposition leader and anticorruption crusader Aleksei Navalny is telling on a number of levels. That the Kremlin would commission a hit job on Navalny isn't surprising -- they've been doing that for years. That they would accuse him of being in the employ of Western powers is also no shocker -- it's a standard talking point.

What it does show is that Vladimir Putin's regime is very worried about the damage corruption allegations can do in the wake of the Panama Papers revelations; and that they're worried about Navalny's ability to document and spread information about official malfeasance.

But why would they do such a sloppy job of it? Why would they botch this hit job in such obvious and transparent ways? Perhaps it was a rush job, put together in haste after last week's Panama Papers bombshell. Perhaps Putin's vaunted propaganda machine is completely losing its mojo. Or perhaps, in a more sinister interpretation, the Kremlin just doesn't care about being even close to convincing anymore. Perhaps the "expose" wasn't meant to convince -- but to send a signal. In which case, Navalny had best prepare for a high-stakes show trial.

IN THE NEWS

A Russian military helicopter has crashed in Syria, killing two military personnel.

France has frozen $1 billion in Russian assets in connection with a lawsuit by shareholders of the defunct Yukos oil company.

Reuters is reporting that Ukrainian Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko will not serve in the country's new government.

Six NATO countries will send more than 1,000 troops to military exercises in Estonia in May.

President Vladimir Putin has removed Boris Gryzlov, the former speaker of the State Duma, from the Security Council. The move came days after Viktor Zolotov, who will head Russia's new National Guard, was named a member of the council.

Former Finance Minister Aleksei Kudrin will reportedly draft a new economic program for Vladimir Putin.

A 3-meter-high bronze statue of bombastic Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky has been unveiled in Moscow to mark his 70th birthday later this month.

WHAT I'M READING

Sanctions Bite

The Warsaw-based Center for Eastern Studies has a new report out on the effect of sanctions on the Russian economy.

"Although they are not the deciding factor, the Western financial sanctions are nevertheless an important factor affecting the deteriorating economic situation in Russia," the authors write. "They have significantly undermined the opportunities which Russian companies have to attract foreign capital, thus contributing to the deterioration of their financial condition (which is particularly prominent in the case of energy firms subject to sanctions). Therefore, Russian businesses need more support from the state. However, this support is becoming more difficult due to the dramatic fall in oil prices -- revenues from oil exports are the main source of budget revenue."

Exposing the Navalny 'Expose'

Russian bloggers and journalists continue to point out discrepancies and inaccuracies in Russian state television's broadcast alleging that opposition leader and anticorruption activist Aleksei Navalny is a paid agent of U.S. and British intelligence.

Here are rundowns from Insider magazine, Meduza, and RFE/RL's Moscow correspondent Tom Balmforth.

The death of a Cosmonaut

Today marks the 55th anniversary of Soviet cosmonaut Yury Gagarin's historic first-ever orbit of the Earth on April 12, 1961.

NPR has a sad and creepy story about Gagarin's close friend Vladimir Komarov, a cosmonaut who died in the failed Soyuz-1 mission in April 1967.

"So there's a cosmonaut up in space, circling the globe, convinced he will never make it back to Earth; he's on the phone with Alexei Kosygin -- then a high official of the Soviet Union -- who is crying because he, too, thinks the cosmonaut will die."

Read the rest here.

The Death of a Journalist

What does it mean when a Russian man with no known enemies, a journalist covering cultural affairs, is killed in his apartment with no sign of forced entry? Journalist and author Masha Gessen has this moving piece in The New York Times on The Art Of Reading A Russian Obituary.

Karabakh Machinations

RosBalt interviews Caucasus expert Sergei Markedonov on how the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh went "from from bad to worse."

The Open Wall looks at "how Russia is playing both sides against the middle" in Karabakh.

Meanwhile, In Ukraine

On the Atlantic Council's website, Anders Aslund takes a look at the economics of Ukraine's political crisis.

Ukraine, meanwhile, is preparing to make its Soviet KGB archives available online.

Putin Loves His Nukes

Vladimir Putin's absence at the recent nuclear summit in Washington raised eyebrows. Simon Shuster has a good piece in Newsweek on why Putin isn't interested in arms control and why Russia is rebuilding its nuclear arsenal.

The Art of Electronic Warfare

Russia has been steadily expanding its electronic-warfare capabilities. The Jamestown Foundation takes a look at the the book Radioelektronaya Borba (Electronic Warfare), by a group of Russian defense experts.
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
Disputes over top jobs in Ukraine's next government have delayed a parliamentary vote on a cabinet reshuffle that is likely to see the departure of Finance Minister Natalia Jaresko and tighten President Petro Poroshenko's grip on key policy areas.

A new coalition deal is needed to end a political deadlock that has stalled billions of dollars in foreign loans under a program of the International Monetary Fund.

Legislators on April 12 were in the final stages of reaching a new coalition deal following Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuks announcement on April 10 that he would resign.

A close ally of Poroshenko, parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Hroysman, has been nominated to replace Yatsenyuk.

But Oleksiy Honcharenko, a deputy in Poroshenko's parliamentary faction, told journalists late on April 12 that the coalition talks in Kyiv had ended for the day without an agreement on who would become the ministers of economy, energy, culture, and health.

Honcharenko said he hopes that a vote on the coalition and government would take place in parliament on April 13 or April 14.

Yatsenyuk, who survived a no-confidence vote by parliament in February, has been blamed in part for the country's slow pace of reform.

Hroysman was nominated by the presidents Petro Poroshenko Bloc (BPP) and has the backing of Yatsenyuks party, the Peoples Front.

Disagreement

However, Hroysman reportedly has raised objections to some of the candidates for ministerial posts that have been proposed by the Peoples Front party.

Earlier on April 12, the deputy speaker of parliament Andriy Parubiy said four independent deputies had joined Poroshenkos BPP faction.

That would mean BPP and the Peoples Front party have enough members to form a coalition with a small majority.

Some key posts appear to have been agreed upon in the April 12 coalition talks in Kyiv.

Oleksandr Danylyuk, a 40-year-old former investment manager and deputy head of Poroshenkos administration, has been mentioned as the likely new finance manager.

He would replace U.S.-born Jaresko who has been praised for her handling of the countrys finances amid an economic meltdown and the conflict with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

But analysts say Danylyuks nomination could raise concerns among reformists that the reshuffle under Hroysman will consolidate too much power in the hands of Poroshenko and his closest political allies.

People's Front lawmaker Viktoria Syumar said on April 12 that the current arrangement between Yatsenyuks party and the BPP could fall apart by April 14 if an agreement isnt reached quickly.

Syumar said that scenario would be a quick road to snap elections.

Early parliamentary elections also would further delay stalled reforms under the $17.5 billion IMF program.

With on reporting by Reuters and AFP
The Better Business Bureau Serving Central Virginia will host its biannual shred day event, Secure Your ID Day, from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday in the BBB parking lot at 720 Moorefield Park Drive in Chesterfield County.

BBB volunteers will guide cars through a moving line, unload their disposable documents and lock them in bins to be transported to International Papers shredding facility. To encourage identity theft prevention, BBB will give shredding scissors to every 25th car and each car will have the chance to win a home shredder.

According to the Federal Trade Commissions 2015 annual summary of complaints, identity theft is the second most reported issue, up 47 percent from the previous year.
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
Thank you everyone who shared inspirational bravery, but the winner is Mary Pettitt, who witnesses it every day at work. Mary, please e-mail me a mailing address at suzanne.wardle@roanoke.com and I will get this book to you ASAP.

You might (or might not) have heard of Mathews County. It's a small piece of land that juts out into the Chesapeake Bay. The U.S. Census Bureau lists the population as 8,862. The county's website says Mathews "still does not have any traffic signal lights. However, there are lights placed at either end of the swing span bridge to Gwynn's Island that could be considered traffic lights by some."

Yet this small place is home to an extraordinary number of brave people. A large number of residents fought as sea captains during World War II. Author William Geroux, a former writer for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, details the story of one family in particular, in which seven brothers went to sea to face German U-boats.

The book has received excellent reviews; a Roanoke Times review came out Sunday.

If you'd like to enter to win a copy, answer this in the comments: What act of bravery do you most admire? It could be historical or personal. Perhaps something you witnessed, or maybe something you did.

I'll pick a winner Tuesday, April 19. Good luck!
COVID-19 drove a dramatic increase in the number of women who died from pregnancy or childbirth complications in the U.S. last year, a crisis that has disproportionately claimed Black and Hispanic women as victims. A government report released Wednesday lays out grim trends across the country for expectant mothers and their newborn babies. It finds that pregnancy-related deaths have spiked nearly 80 percent since 2018, with COVID-19 being a factor in a quarter of the 1,178 deaths reported last year. The percentage of preterm and low birthweight babies also went up last year, after holding steady for years. And more pregnant or postpartum women are reporting symptoms of depression.
CHARLOTTESVILLE  The Charlottesville man and social media star who made headlines in January after a standoff with police and his subsequent arrest has been released from jail after pleading guilty to two weapons charges.

On Monday, an attorney for Bryan Silva said the well-known persona that his 25-year-old client has exuded to thousands on Vine, Facebook and other online platforms was different from the man sitting in chains in Charlottesville Circuit Court. Quiet and cordial, Silva accepted a deal from the prosecution, pleading guilty to possession of a firearm by a felon and a lesser charge of brandishing a firearm.

In exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop Silvas felony abduction charge.

About 7 a.m. on Jan. 3, the day after Silva turned 25, city police arrived at a home on Jefferson Park Avenue to follow up on reports of a domestic disturbance. Authorities said Silvas 17-year-old girlfriend called from a neighbors house to say that Silva had threatened her with a handgun and temporarily held her against her will.

When officers arrived, detectives attempted to contact Silva in the house, but he refused to cooperate, leading to an hours-long standoff. Silva posted a video to his Facebook page at the time that appears to show him screaming profanities at police officers through the windows of his rented house.

The video would go on to be viewed more than 200,000 times, although that certainly wasnt out of the ordinary for Silva. A popular Internet personality and self-proclaimed lean bodybuilder, Silva made a living by posting self-made videos on his social media pages that show him rapping about his supposed criminal activities and gangster lifestyle. Before it was taken down, Silva had more than 1.6 million followers on his Facebook page.

The standoff ended about 3 p.m., when officers fired canisters of tear gas into the house, causing Silva to surrender without resistance. He was charged with abduction and possession of a firearm by a felon.

Although news of his arrest quickly circulated among his online following, details of the incident itself remained sparse until Monday. Prosecutor Joe Platania told the court that Silva connected with the girlfriend online roughly a month before his arrest. The girl, who has since left the state, said she was homeless and that Silva had offered to fly her to Charlottesville to stay with him.

The girl told detectives that on the morning of his arrest, Silva became incensed over a picture she posted on Facebook, grabbed a pistol from the bottom of his coffee table and began waving it around back and forth, threatening her. She added that the gun was a black 9 equipped with a laser sight, and that Silva pointed the sight at her.

She also believed that Silvas erratic behavior was the result of a significant amount of Xanax he had taken earlier in the day, Platania said.

With the gun in hand, Silva continued to argue with the 17-year-old and told her that he wanted her out of the house, according to her interview with police. But he continuously changed his mind, telling her at times to stay and at other times to leave. At one point, Silva told her to drop her bag of packed belongings and stay, which she did because, as she told detectives, she was scared of him.

Eventually, Silva threw the girls belongings out into the street and told her to leave, at which point she went to a neighbors house and contacted police.

After Silva surrendered, authorities searched his home and located the handgun, a black Smith & Wesson 9 mm pistol, which was equipped with a laser sight.

Speaking on the plea agreement, Platania told Judge Richard Moore that while the abduction charge against Silva was warranted, the detention was brief and the victim in the case did not wish to be involved in a trial.

With his charges and pleas finalized, the last issue at hand was to determine whether Silva could be released on bond until his sentencing. While the plea agreement called for him to be released on supervised house arrest at his mothers home in Orange, Moore seemed unsure.

When called to the stand, Silvas mother, Robin Silva, told Moore that despite working two jobs and with the help of Silvas older brother Phillip, she would be able to keep Silva in check at her home. She further stated that if she witnessed or became aware that her son violated the terms of his house arrest in any way, she would contact authorities and forfeit Silvas bond.

Acknowledging that he was self-employed through his social media presence, she added that her younger son would not have access to the Internet at her home, meaning his online antics may be put on hiatus.

But Robin Silvas testimony took a turn when she was asked by the judge if the charges facing her son had sunk in, to which she replied that she did not believe the allegations made by the girl who called the police on her son in January. She added that her son was trying to help the girl after meeting her online, and that all of us know how dangerous online can be.

Seemingly unnerved by her testimony, Moore told Silvas mother that there appeared to be a disconnect between her interpretation of her sons actions and the seriousness of the charges to which he had just pleaded guilty. Silvas attorney quickly interjected, saying that he had not prepared Robin Silva for the evidence that would be presented, and that her mother bear instinct likely caused her to speak out against the allegations in the case.

Ultimately, Moore accepted the terms of the plea agreement, allowing Silva to be released on $20,000 bond to his mothers home so long as he wears a GPS tracker, submits to drug tests, abstains from alcohol and only leaves the home at the consent of the court.

He is due back in court on July 5 for sentencing, where he could receive a maximum of five years in prison on the gun possession charge, 12 months in jail on the misdemeanor charge and up to $5,000 in fines.

Later this month, Silva is set to stand trial in Orange for misdemeanor charges of marijuana possession, destruction of property and failure to appear in court.

Before Mondays hearing was finished, Moore admonished Silva to stay out of trouble, telling him, [this] better be the only time in your life that anything like this happens.
Porn Site XHamster Shuts Down In North Carolina In Protest Of Anti-LGBT Law

Trending News: Porn Site Kicks North Carolina Below The Belt By Blocking Its Access To Porn

Why Is This Important?

Because now North Carolina simply has no choice but to reverse the law.

Long Story Short

Porn site XHamster.com has blocked access to its site in North Carolina in protest of the controversial 'bathroom' law that discriminates on LGBT people.

Long Story

North Carolina has been taking some serious heat for its discriminatory law, HB2. PayPal halted plans to open its office in Charlotte, rocker Bruce Springsteen cancelled a show in Greensboro and protesters have been rallying in Raleigh, but this latest move against the controversial law really hits below the belt.

XHamster.com, a porn site you may or may not use, isn't accessible from North Carolina and won't be for the near future due to the controversial 'bathroom' law, which the porn site, and many others are calling "discriminatory."

HB2, which was signed into law in March by Governor Pat McCrory, says all bathrooms, change rooms or locker rooms in public facilities like public schools and college campuses can only be used by people who's sex designated at birth matches the stick figure on the door. Clearly, this discriminates on transgendered people, who may not feel comfortable using the loo that matches their genitals.

The law also prohibits local governments from passing legislation to protect LGBT people, an obvious response to Charlotte passing a law protecting these people from discrimination by businesses.

On the other side of the debate, advocates of the law say it's an extension of freedom of religion.

We have spent the last 50 years fighting for equality for everyone and these laws are discriminatory which XHamster.com does not tolerate, said Mike Kulich, XHamster's spokesman, an official statement quoted in The Huffington Post. Judging by the stats of what you North Carolinians watch, we feel this punishment is a severe one. We will not standby and pump revenue into a system that promotes this type of garbage. We respect all sexualities and embrace them.

Kulich adds that while the law discriminates on transgendered and gay people, North Carolinians are more open-minded with their porn habits.

Back in March, we had 400,000 hits for the term Transsexual from North Carolina alone, he said to HuffPo. People from that state searched Gay 319,907 times."

XHamster plans to replace the page with a petition protesting the bill.

Hopefully, it will get as many signatures as the transsexual searches, Kulich added.

But while XHamster is talking up a big game about equality, how does it explain a "Make America Great Again" Donald Trump ad on its search page for "big cock" when the Republican frontrunner plans to appeal the Supreme Court's gay marriage ruling? Kulich told HuffPo the company doesnt support all of Trumps policies and it "will continue to support equality regardless of who gets elected.

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question

Is this protest by XHamster legit or is this just a well-executed PR stunt?

Disrupt Your Feed

This protest is sure to make North Carolina's legislators start to sweat.

Drop This Fact

There have been 50 anti-trans bills among 200 anti-LGBT introduced this year in the U.S., according to Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, who spoke to ABC News.
The Danville Water Treatment Plant has increased the amount of carbon being used to treat drinking water in response to recent complaints that a bad odor and taste have returned to the water, Barry Dunkley, director of water and water treatment, said Monday.

Dunkley said representatives from the state Department of Environmental Quality were on the Dan River last week and noticed the odor.

A cause for the odor has not yet been found, Dunkley said, but the DEQ and the water treatment plant are running tests.

Right now, we cant say if its algae or not, Dunkley said. Samples are being examined. Were treating the symptoms and trying to find the cause.

Dunkley said his department and the Halifax County Service Authority have worked with Virginia Techs efforts to secure a $500,000 grant from the DEQ to explore why the Smith and Dan rivers have seen changes that have affected the taste and odor of the water.

They are waiting to see if the grant is awarded, Dunkley said.

The DEQ has been very supportive about these problems, Dunkley said. Virginia Tech wants to get [the study] underway as soon as possible so graduate students can work on it over the summer ... and we want to get answers as fast as we can.
LEXINGTON  Living next to a bed and breakfast, 10-year-old Ashton Dunford often befriended his temporary neighbors.

On Saturday night, he may have saved their lives.

Authorities credited Ashtons quick actions for helping about 40 guests escape the Good Place Farms Restaurant Bed and Breakfast, where they had been staying as part of a wedding party when a fire broke out about 11 p.m.

None of the guests was injured as the building burned to the ground.

Ashton, who lives with his family in a rental house on the Crestview Lane property, had gotten to know some of the patrons earlier in the weekend and was visiting them in the B&Bs living room when he and others smelled something burning. After going downstairs, Ashton saw smoke coming from a room that housed the furnace.

I knew something was going on, he said Monday afternoon, standing next to the charred remains of the business, a rambling barn built in the 1800s and converted into a country inn several years ago on a hilltop northeast of Lexington.

As flames rapidly took to the buildings hand-hewn logs, Ashton ran back upstairs and began to scream at the occupants to get out.

I was just worried about getting everybody else out of the house, he said. I knew I could get out of the house.

The 10-year-olds familiarity with the layout of the building helped him make sure that everyone escaped safely, owner Justin Peery said. And the fact that he was even there that night, Peery believes, was because of his propensity to make friends with nearly all of the B&B patrons, often getting invited inside to socialize.

I think God had the right people in the right place at the right time, Peery said.

Peery lost both a business and a home to the fire. Everything I had was in there, he said. Its still hard to swallow.

The cause of the blaze has not been determined. Although foul play is not suspected, the extent of damage to the building may make it impossible to determine an exact cause, said Ty Dickerson, chief of the Lexington Fire Department.

Damages were estimated at about $1 million, Dickerson said.

Rockbridge County Emergency Management Coordinator Robert Foresman said Ashtons quick response allowed all of the buildings occupants to escape. But they had no time to retrieve their personal belongings  including gifts, flowers and other trappings for a wedding that they planned to attend Sunday afternoon.

When the fire broke out, Peery was in town grocery shopping for a reception he never got to host. On his way back, he took a panicked call from Ashton, who was on one of his guests cellphones. Peery called 911 as soon as Ashton hung up.

A volunteer firefighter, Peery said he knew the buildings age and wooden construction would make a fire devastating. I knew that it would go in a matter of minutes, he said  which was confirmed when he rounded a turn a few minutes later to see his business consumed by fire.

By then, everyone was outside. The guests  who had traveled from Missouri, Alabama, Florida, New Jersey and London  received support from the American Red Cross. The wedding went ahead as planned Sunday at a different site, with both Peery and Ashton in attendance.

That no one was injured is the greatest thing about this, Peery said.

Peery, who bought the 8,600-square-foot barn in 2010 and converted it into a B&B a few years later, said he was especially moved by the support from his guests.

For 40 people to stand behind you when youve lost your home, and all of your belongings, and everything youve worked for in your life, he said, his voice trailing off as he surveyed the ruins of his business, from which a few wisps of smoke still rose on Monday afternoon.
A ROTHERHAM charity in the money after winning a public vote is appealing for fresh support to help it scoop more cash.



Anti-domestic abuse charity Rotherham Rise triumphed last month in the Johnstone Paints Community Spirit Award, netting 20,000 to help develop a new womens centre in the town centre.



Now Rise has been shortlisted among ten candidates for a further 10,000 to spend on kitting out a kitchen at its new base.



Chief executive Sue Wynne said the charity aimed to run courses at the centre on Main Street to boost the skills and employment prospects of all women, not just those bidding to escape abusive relationships.



The 20,000 Community Kitchens fund, set up by British cooking brand Stoves, aims to help projects to transform their kitchen facilities.



A public vote is running on the Stoves Facebook page (http://wshe.es/gaVOOxeV) until May 3.



The projects which receive the most votes will be awarded bronze, silver and gold prize packages, worth between 2,000 and 5,000.


The recently formed Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) is set to take over the Russian-owned DTZ-OZGEOs diamond claims in Charleswood, Chimanimani.

Mines minister Walter Chidhakwa said the company would compensate DTZ-OZGEO for all the machinery and equipment after evaluation.

He was quoted by New Zimbabwe.com as saying that the Russians were happy with the government consolidation process and were supportive of the policy.

"We had discussions with the Russians and they were supportive of government policy and they indicated that they will not take government to court, he said.

"What they want is for us to agree on the value of their assets and they are willing to sell to us and then they will look for other opportunities to invest in other sectors of the economy."

Reports had previously claimed that government would exempt DTZ-OZGEO from giving up its claims and join ZCDC.

Harare had since ordered mining companies that were operating in Marange out of the diamond fields after their refusal to be part of ZCDC.

Their mining licences had also expired.

Meanwhile, Chidhakwa said ZCDC would help boost revenue inflows into the cash-strapped government's coffers.

He said ZCDC would not wait for six months or a year to declare dividends to government, but would ensure funds were transferred to the treasury every month.

"ZCDC has the instruction to transfer money into fiscus to sustain government operations as well as help the affected communities," said Chidhakwa.



Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished